#IVA cultural

[czgif]

Iva Janžurová (as a man trapped in female body) in You Are a Widow, Sir! (Pane, vy jste vdova!) 1971, dir. Václav Vorlíček IMDB

[jumioxox]

drdttober day twelve - traditional clothing

[kemetic-dreams]

[talonabraxas]

The Lotus Flower

The lotus flower is intimately connected with Lord Sri Krishna. Sanskrit language has many words for “lotus,” one being pankaja, or “mud-born.” Panka means “mud,” and ja means “born.”

The roots of the Lotus flower grow in the muddy water, away from the source of sunlight. As the lotus plant grows and rises above the murky water, it catches the sunlight to bloom and reveal its beauty.

The Lotus flower is regarded in many cultures, especially in the eastern religions, as a symbol of purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration, and rebirth.

Bhagavad Gita:

ONE IS NOT TOUCHED BY SIN — WHEN ONE GIVES-UP WORLDLY ATTACHMENT — AND DEDICATES ALL WORK TO GOD:

One who gives up all worldly attachment, and dedicates all deeds to the Supreme Spirit of God, is not touched by sin as a lotus leaf by water. (Book: Word of God Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 5 verse 10): Ajay Gupta

ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः।

लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा।। (5:10)

Transliteration from the original Sanskrit to English…brahmani: — -in the spirit of God (Brahman); adhaya: — -having placed; karmani: — -actions; sangam: — -attachments; tyaktva: — — having given-up; karoti: — -acts; yah: — -who; lipyate: — -is touched; na…sa: — — not he; papena: — -by sin; padma…patram: — -lotus leaf; iva: — -like; ambhasa: — -by water.

The lotus plant grows and gets all nourishment from the water in which it grows. It withers away and dries up if taken out of the water. While growing in the water, the lotus leaf is so slippery that water drops do not wet it, and water just slips off.

Similar to the lotus leaf, a person who remains unattached with the world, and dedicates all deeds to the spirit of God is not touched by the effects of karma deeds.

The Blooming of Lotus flower signifies rising from the lower regions of lust to the higher regions of enlightenment.

Lord Vishnu is depicted with four hands holding holds four things: a conch shell, a disc, a mace, and a lotus flower, the lotus flower being a symbol of enlightenment and purity.

Both Hindu and Buddhist scriptures abound with analogies of the lotus flower. The word is used as a respectful appellation while describing various attributes of God like “lotus-like feet,” and “lotus-like eyes.”

The lotus flower is one of Buddhism’s most recognizable symbols of enlightenment and is important in many Buddhist traditions. The famous ‘Lotus Sutra’ is one of the most important texts of Mahayana Buddhism.

Krishna Lotus by Talon Abraxas

[y-rhywbeth2]

Elves: Language/s

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index[tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. There's a lot of lore; I don't know everything. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest. Frankly these posts may get updated now and then. etc]

Physiology and quirks | Names & Clans and Houses || Pan-Cultural things: Social life | Time and 'Growing Up an Elf' | Homes | Language | Art | Entertainment | Technology || Elven 'Subraces' still a wip || Philosophy and Religion & Pantheons || Half-elves | [WIP]

I have a weak spot for fictional languages and a compulsive need to poke them with a stick and babble about it. It was this or get sucked into trying to build actual headcanoned conlangs out of this nonsense. So.

If your character has elven on their character sheet: no they don't, the elves are just humouring you. No PCs actually learned this istg.

'Are you still putting off that elven subrace post?' YES.

The 'Elvish' you put on your character sheet as a language proficiency - or Lalur ('the Singing') in Elvish - is actually a pidgin tongue akin to Common, a 'simple' trade tongue that allows elves from various backgrounds to communicate. Elven languages tend to be varied, sometimes to an extreme extent. Drowic altered rapidly due to adapting to Underdark survival and meddling from the church of Lolth, and each drow city has a different dialect; and the Lythari dialect is utterly unlike any other.

As per the advice in Drow of the Underdark (1e), it's a perfectly valid choice to simply cherry pick words from canon glossaries and invent your own elven languages and dialects.

'Standard' Elven seems to look like this: 'Ai armiel telere maenen hir.' 'Qu’kiir vian ivae, qu’kiir nethmet. Ivae marat vand Cormanthor. Mythal selen mhaor kenet. Qu’kiir vand tir t’nor' Very big on diphthongs and ' .

Menzoberranzan Drowic looks like this: 'Khaless nau uss mzild taga dosstan.' 'Kyorl jal bauth, kyone, lueth lil Quarvalsharess xal belbau dos lil belbol del elandar dro.' They like their hard double consonants along with their dipthongs.

And the Lythari dialect looks like this: 'Na kwast wahir athu kyene wekht unarihe.' Seem to be a lot of 'clipped' sounds.

Put a moon elf a drow and an elven lycanthrope in the same room and tell them they have to use their mother tongue and they're not going to get anything done. A fluent speaker of the standard surface elven can make out about 14% of drowic by linguistic overlap, but nothing more, and such applies to other elves: a group of green elves and a migration of aquatic elves that encountered each other once had to spend time breaking down language barriers to talk to each other.

Usually the structure of elven languages flows like English, because the writers aren't actually making a genuine conlang. And then sometimes it really doesn't which makes trying to mine vocabulary and grammar annoying.

As well as spoken languages for daily communication, there are complicated mystical formal languages like Seldruin and 'High Drow' which is used by powerful spellcasters (High Mages and High Priestesses of Lolth respectively).

Elves also utilise alternate forms of communication like sign language and a sort of braille on a regular basis, even if abled. Drow are most known for their use of sign language (its lack of verbal component in particular is useful in the open Underdark, where making a noise is extremely likely to guarantee your death) but surface elves also use it, and use of 'braille' was promoted by moon elves for the sake of the visually impaired and blind, though many sighted elves also use it for secret messaging. Drow in particular make use of it for that, but they're hardly alone.

The alphabet elves use to write in Elven and Common is espruar, created by moon elves and adopted by other elven people (likely due to the amount of wandering and mixing the early moon elves got up to, pre-Crown Wars).

There's also an older variant which is a bit more curly, probably closest to the pictograms used by early elves that were 'predecessors' of the Thorass alphabet... which also might actually double as music instructions.

Seldruin is written in a distinct and basically extinct alphabet called Hamarfae.

Elven includes at least six grammatical tenses not found in the languages of shorter lived races to accommodate the elven understanding of time. While it hasn't come up in canon, with the Seldarine being ambiguous about gender elves should probably also have more complicated grammatical gender as well.

Just about every word in Common has about ten or more potential translations in an elvish language, each with a slightly different nuance which may be context sensitive as every word in elven appears to have several meanings within itself. Sort of like there's a word for every facet of a concept or thing, depending on what about the topic you specifically want to discuss.

Want to talk about the winter this year? Two words that will get translated into 'winter' in Common are Loress and Orth. Loress means winter as in the aspect of the season as a period of dormancy, slowing down and hibernation and winter's effect on plant life, you'd probably use it to discuss gardening and crops. Orth means winter in its aspect as a period of danger and consequences (closed roads and frostbite and death by exposure). But in common they just say 'winter.'

What you stress and how you use it will give you an entirely different sentence.

For general elven: Ar means great, Cor also means great, Selu means great.

Cor has connotations of 'grandness' and 'monarch,' carrying connotations of highest authority, and possibly a sort of peak: the highest point its possible to reach, and maybe culmination and fulfilment.

Ar also means 'sun,' probably the colour gold (since teu means silver and moon), as well as connotations of a high rank and the responsibility of guardianship and/or guidance judging by the title 'Arakhor' (ar + akh (duty-need) + or (woods) - the tree guardian, grandfather tree, the one who protects the woods)

(Thus gold elves, the Ar'Tel'Quessir have a name that communicates that they are the people of the sun (by golden appearance and affiliation with Labelas Enoreth), the 'highest' of the People, and they are those with a duty to look after the elven people and their ways.)

Not sure about selu, it places an emphasis on a translation into 'high' and it mostly crops up in connotations of High Magic. Usually gets contracted to sel, like 'Seldarine.'

And then, by changing the stressed syllable, a word has a different meaning.

For example 'Cormanthor,' 'Cormanthor,' and 'Cormanthor' are three different words!

Combining Cor = 'Grand/great ' + Manth = 'Promise/vow,' apparently with connotations of hoping/having faith in the promised outcome + Or = 'Wood,' 'place,' probably also 'copper'

Cormanthor means 'the King's Vow Forest.' Referring to the forest of Cormanthor.

Cormanthor means 'Place of Great Promise.' Referring to the capital city of Myth Drannor, Cormanthor.

Cormanthor means 'Ruler of the Forest True,' and 'King of the Oathlands,' was the green elven title for the coronal (king) of Cormanthor. Apparently when stress is taken of manth and or they combine meanings to get 'faithful-wood/land' or 'oathland'

And then there's 'Cormanthyr' which is a different word altogether whose nuance can be translated as 'the Fulfilment of Promise' and 'Culmination of Hope and Faith' simultaneously.

Also sometimes seems like nouns double as adjectives.

Theur means 'shield' and 'unbreakable,' 'unyielding.'

Aegan means 'physical strength' and 'strong.'

Plurals are just come in so many variants.

Vel -> Vael Sig -> Sige Or -> Ora Athil -> Athila Quess -> Quessir

[sorenblr]

Now that you've completed the SMT V stream, I (and I'm sure some other folks, too) would love to hear what you think of it compared with the other main Megaten games you've played on stream. I think you've done SMT 1, SMT IV and SMT IV:A so far. Include Persona 1 too if you'd like.

And that dreadful Tokyo Mirage Sessions: pound sign Fire Emblem, too

SMTV is hard for me to discuss because there's very little about it that compels me to deeper thought. It really, genuinely bores me to think about, and anything I do have to say about it only evinces an incredibly cynical read of the series. I'll just put whatever I have left to say here, so that I don't feel the need to revisit.

It's just, you know, this bloodless cultivation of recycled semiotics from Nocturne. We ragged on IV for being overly invested in derivation and homage, but it looks almost daring coming off of V. The only really original idea that it brings to the table, the notion of Nahobino as the 'true' form of these divided and depreciated myth images, is almost offensive in the way it reframes designs that at least try to approximate real cultural attitudes towards religion as lesser, enervated reflections of yet more Tokusatsu tripe. Apart from that, it's a very inert piece of storytelling. I feel like a joke is being played on me whenever the game presumes an emotional investment in characters like Tao or Yuzuru.

I generally think highly of all the little design wrinkles that were implemented under Komori's stewardship, and that owe to his experience directing the more balance-intensive affairs of Etrian Odyssey. The new utility of consumables, dampeners as a limited means of addressing weakness in party structure, the need to attend to enemy and player Magatsuhi gauges etc. All necessary supplements to a battle system that was beginning to wear thin by 2016. Only my opinion of everything that enfolds it, the exploration, was diminished on this second playthrough. The layouts are still compelling, with a novel emphasis on managing layers of verticality, but they're populated with so much idiot open-world cruft. Vending machines, chests, glory crystals, health orbs, Miman. An overabundance of piddling incentive to keep you in a state of compulsion, and which I believe contributes to the exhaustion that many players feel come Taito. I still like the Miman, but they essentially exist in a continuum with the fucking feather collectables in Assassin's Creed.

(All the colored orbs littered around the sands are the perfect wedge to that design sensibility. They're almost totally inconsequential and only worth pursuing for the feeling of having absorbed more bright bobbles into yourself. They whisper to your lizard brain so that you don't feel too unstimulated navigating the space, which is never deigned to be worth the doing for its own sake. I'm out here picking up orbs and I can't even use them to extend the duration of Spartan Rage. Videogames are fucking stupid.)

It also made me more conscious of the ways the game fails to leverage art direction against what were probably non-ideal production conditions. It's never easy to forget that you're in a world of economically distributed UE4 assets, with no less than four brilliant hues of sparkling sand and ruined structures that have largely forfeited the Tokyoite specificity of previous games in favor of the same vending machines and multi-floor apartments and office buildings repeated ad nauseam. Daat never feels more like a hostile environment than a self-conscious playground. The concept art backdrops and rudimentary 3D textures of IV/IVA, and the claustrophobic interiors of I- all more lively by far. Pretty good skyboxes, though. No complaints there.

I think the series has moved into the sort of tired self-pastiche that every franchise turns to after decades of iteration. Time and chance happened, and now it's Angus Young crawling out of his mansion and into his boy-clothes to duckwalk across the stage while his grapefruit-sized prostate wages war against him from within.

If I were to rank just the main series from what we've streamed thus far, it would be something like I > IV > V > IVA. The only sense in which TMS has it at a disadvantage is that it emulates more cleanly. I'm glad that we're done with the latter half of the series and can finally move on, but I'll never forget that big huge enormous ass...

[furinana]

Reminiscing about when Krishna's portrayal in SMT4A got in trouble

The brown skin comment as if actors portraying Krishna in a definitely-not-blue-way wasn't a recurring thing is definitely... funny to say the least.

Whether Rajan Zed's outrage (or even the necessity of reporting it) is justified or not, it provided a hilarious comment section for sure:

For those that are familiar with how demons are depicted in SMT, there's a nuanced view on the interpretation of religions in the games in which there are occasions where they shouldn't necessarily be seen as the 'raw' look of how they were in the scriptures.

As how Doi and Yamai explained in a Famitsu interview, context play a key part for aspects they choose to deviate:

That being said, fans can't ignore that industry trends and the teams behind Atlus games being mostly Japanese definitely influence what role and what kind of design elements gets picked for myth figures in Megaten.

REGARDING KRISHNA'S ROLE:

In Megaten, let alone SMT4 itself, Japanese deities are in most instances portrayed sympathetically while deities from other cultures antagonize the protagonist, often in extreme ways. We could say it went even a little beyond for Krishna in a particular aspect.

SMT IVA's writer Yusuke Miyata envisioned Krishna as the one responsible for the persecution of Christians in Japan even though this was solely on Japan's part if you read real world history.

[Excerpt from SMTIVA's Setting Materials]

Fairly enough, Krishna in this context wasn't Krishna per se but Kokuten, a forced fusion between Mahakala (a buddhist version of Shiva) and Shinto deity Okuninushi due to religious syncretism. Also, remember how Flynn defeated Okuninushi in a sidequest in the original SMT IV? You could say this was the first step towards unsealing Krishna even before Nanashi was a thing).

In any case, the weight of this action was pushed both towards Krishna since he kept his memories even after he separated himself from Kokuten and the Law side itself as referenced by Japanese-Catholic martyr Tokisada in the Four Wings, Four Heads sidequest from SMT IV.

Look, as someone that comes from a country that was colonized by Portuguese missionaries, the thought of them failing miserably in Japan makes me scoff. The writers washing away the blood from Japanese hands even if it's a fictional setting is reasonably controversial nevertheless.

REGARDING KRISHNA'S DESIGN:

Doi provided a "contextualized" design for Krishna but didn't include a "rooted in their own myth" version as well, so the one we fight against and summon in the Cathedral of Shadows even across different games end up being a Krishna with this extra layer of context. For comparison, it'd be the equivalent of players summoning Thor as Thormann from SMT1 or Azazel as Nishi from Soul Hackers.

Thus, we have one of most important figures in Hinduism appear as either a "British colonizer-friendly" design or fused with Flynn that has Japanese and Star Wars elements (that were also based on Japanese culture) that for obvious reasons wouldn't make sense anywhere but in SMT4. We don't have Krishna as his standalone self even though Lucifer, Lilith, Gabriel and Merkabah all have their own alongside their "disguise to hide in the crowd".

And as a very small sidenote, the discussion also provides an insight on the perspective that the franchise does have its habit of putting myths and gods of different levels of worshipping on a blender for the sake of being superficially used as tools for the player (which well... comes with monster-catching game genre territory where titles present themselves with the prospect of monster x human allyship but they are essentially glorified cockfights).

[N is set as the primary antagonist of Pokémon Black & White for not wanting the creatures to be slaved to their trainers' will. By the end of the game, you will have him convinced that achstually Pokémon do like to follow orders and beat up other Pokémon. Anyone seeing parallels between Dagda and Danu's alignments here?]

Going back to our boy Rajan Zed, at the end of the day... he's just a loud spokesperson that will inherently criticize any "grey-area" depiction of Hinduism (and can't be compared to average followers that mostly won't care about some random depiction in a Japanese videogame).

He clearly hadn't given up on expressing his dismayal as SMTV got released either.

To the point that Nobuyuki Shioda (writer for SMT strategy guides and the "Journey to the Mythical World" colums in the official SMT4A website) couldn't help but give a statement on the issue:

"Please don't misunderstand. The games are not made to denigrate Hindu deities. Focus has been given on respecting mythological depictions in recent years as well. But I know the games are not for everyone. We have to make an effort to gain understanding."

Then we finally have the most sensate comment from the crowd:

And to finish things:

"This guy is a pain in the ass, so let's fuse him with some small fry" "Slime might be the possible result" "I don't want a slime lol"

[an-au-blog]

I hear ya. Also I used to think that liking One Piece meant you were part of the LGBTQIA+ community or at least an ally. Then Yamato and Kiku got introduced and that got shoot down really quick

ugh that too, yeah. I'm still so angry about Yamato btw, like you have no idea how pissed I was when I got to him. Not just about the fans invalidating him, but about the show itself encouraging it.

While I'm on this train of thought lemme just rant real quick (sorry in advance)

I understand that in Wano where there are people like Iva who can help with transition, or it's just culturally more rare??? i guess??? (I'm trying so hard to excuse them) But the way that he's portrayed by the artists themselves is so disrespectful to me. It's not that they can't it's like thwy just don't want to

look at the very first time we see Yamato:

✔️ respectfully dressed

✔️ has a masculine vibe even though he has no binder/surgery etc.

Amazing! 10/10 Love it!

...

and then they went OUT OF THEIR WAY to make sure we knew he's afab like????

✖️ overly sexualized AND DISPROPORTIONATE feminine figure (that they make for any afab btw but we're not talking about how misogynistic that is atm)

✖️that gross way sanji acts (lowkey conflicted about that because he uses he/him but also like??? acts like he would with a woman which I chose to believe is him being bisexual rather than transphobic)

I'm fine with him being a pretty boy, I love pretty boys, I'm fine with him being comfortable in his body, doesn't make you less of a man, but they just pull this elaborate and unnecessary shit? I'm so angry.

That full-grown man is a warrior, even just crom his genetics from his father, hell, even just because he's an oni! He should have more than just skin on his arms??

At least Kiku was left with some dignity, idk I'm just... Thinking about Yamato's design is pissing me off, sorry for rambling.

[uwlmvac]

Pottery with collared rims, where the rim has been thickened to look as if a collar runs around it, is uncommon at Late Woodland sites in the La Crosse area. These three grit-tempered sherds from the Sand Lake Archaeological District near Onalaska have thickened rims that do not quite appear to be full collars, so the excavators called them “pseudo collared.” The pseudo collaring suggested that people in the area may have been experimenting with collaring techniques more common among groups in southeastern Wisconsin, north-central Illinois, and to a limited extent elsewhere in southwest Wisconsin.

For more information: 

Boszhardt, Robert F. 2004  The Late Woodland and Middle Mississippian Component at the Iva Site (47Lc42), La Crosse County, Wisconsin, In the Driftless Area of the Upper Mississippi River Valley. The Minnesota Archaeologist 63:60–85.

Finney, Fred, and James Stoltman 1991  The Fred Edwards Site: A Case of Stirling Phase Culture Contact in Southwestern Wisconsin. In New Perspectives on Cahokia: Views from the Periphery, edited by James B. Stoltman, pp. 229–252. Monographs in World Archaeology No. 2. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.

Kelly, John M. 2003  Delineating the Spatial and Temporal Boundaries of Late Woodland Collared Wares from Wisconsin and Illinois. Master’s thesis, University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. https://www.academia.edu/460476/Delineating_the_spatial_and_temporal_boundaries_of_Late_Woodland_collared_wares_from_Wisconsin_and_Illinois

[blacklegsanjiii]

•°♤°• (ASLXSANJI GODAU) A party or celebration is held once a year for the Revolutionary Army to celebrate how they are alive and thriving. During one of these parties, Sabo sings "Falling in Love With You" by Elvis Presley. Many of the members find it so enduring and beautiful. Unaware that the song Sabo is singing is the first song he sang to his wife, Sanji (Bc Sanji is THE Malewife) During their first life as gods.

Sabo's a fucking simp. A menace, a cultured one, but a simp all the same. Koala groans and Kuma says it's sweet. Iva is probably grumbling to themselves that Sabo is the moon and Candy-chan is the fucking ocean.

[czgif]

Igor Orozovič and Iva Janžurová in Only For Tereza (Jedině Tereza) 2021, dir. Jaroslav Fuit IMDB

[kaynes-secret-blog]

Idk which country is the worst to worldbuild Iskra (where the story takes place) or Iva (100 year old war going on, lots of cultures mixed together but also fighting for independence and the the whole deal with the islands being or not being part of the country since they were anexed without the knowledge of the native leaders and just tossed in the Iva territory even though they are geographicly and ethnically closer to Iskra but to be honest Morana was tired™ and old™ and very stressed™ when she made those decisions 800 years ago so those things should have been revised by her daughter but she was lazy and tried to terceirize that shit and opsyy your country is a political mess all bc you wanted to do pretty paintings instead of doing your JOB)

I have

So much lore for Iva

And not even one scene

Takes place there

(but Iva is very important for the protagonist since his family is from there, he may be born in Iskra but his parents were actually escaping from the war

Well, at least his mother's family were

His father on the other hand....... Let's say he got in trouble with some not very good guys and had to flee the country or die, but this isn't important, just trivia, anyway lol the infodump)

[katierosefun]

👻🎬💛🎨✨️? (Also hi! I hope you're doing well! :^] also I am really looking forward to reading that new fic you posted later!!!)

hiii iva!! i'm well, i hope you are too, and aah thank you <33 // from these asks

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

um . . . i don't know how wild this is, but one of my more obscure headcanons, i should say, might be that like. joo won fucking sucks at card games, especially mao. (which is a ridiculously fun card game, but i can imagine joo won hating it. the poor guy will do something, and dong sik will give him an extra card with an obscure penalty description.

"card for talking."

"i was asking a question!"

". . . another card for talking."

joo won, glaring at dong sik and wondering how much he actually loves his partner: >:(

and later, dong sik grinning at joo won and going, "card for not kissing cardmaster on the cheek."

"how is that a rule."

"card for talking."

"does that rule only apply to me, or all the other players?"

"card for talking again. gosh, you're bad at this, aren't you, inspector han.")

(also, that kissing rule absolutely only applies to joo won. ji hoon keeps getting extra cards because dong sik somehow also made it a rule that no one's allowed to laugh when he penalizes joo won.)

🎬 If a movie or show were based on your fic, which fic would you choose and who would you fancast?

hm, i've def thought that last ones out would make an interesting film/short film of a kind. i'd definitely keep the original cast of beyond evil, but as for whoever would play mi yeon . . . not really sure, but i did see han so hee whip out a baton in my name (2021), and ever since then, i've been thinking "omg she's twinning with joo won :)" and i think it'd be neat if she played a grown version of mi yeon.

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?

mm, that writing for yourself is the most important and most sustainable way to keep yourself from getting burned out. i'll admit that i sometimes have moments of self-doubt and annoyance about like. how i think fandom culture has very drastically changed since i was writing fic. (tiktok is a scourge on society and i think it's personally responsible for making people unable to just enjoy slower forms of storytelling.)

so like, teaching myself to really try to get away from all the noise and get swept in "what's popular / what's not / what'll get me the most kudos, hits, attention, likability / what'll make people want to keep reading what i write" has been a hard but freeing lesson to teach myself.

actually, just in the last few weeks, i found myself kind of. burnt out from writing fic in general? i think it might have been a mix of just my personal life + academics really taking a toll on my creativity, but i think i also found myself really craving external validation through ficwriting as well--and when i realized that was starting to spiral somewhere, i sort of closed myself off for a bit and?? weirdly?? found myself writing some more of my original works instead, and what was so great about that was that it was fun and freeing and just? giving myself space to explore what i want to write and what interests me alone gave me a lot more energy to get excited about writing again.

i feel like i've learned a variation of this lesson a million times lmao, but like! i'm always a little bit in awe of how no matter the number of times i come across this realization, it always makes me fall in love with writing just a little bit more.

🎨 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

oh . . . maybe the very last scene in in my breath again.

✨️ Out of the comments you’ve received on your fics, what are two or three of your favorites?

well, first of all, i always brighten up whenever i see you comment on my fic, just because they always make me feel appreciated :'))

i also really love this comment from if it rises fast / it can't last and also this comment from stars by the pocketful, because i just. really feel happy when people nail the exact mood / line that i felt proudest of!

and of course, there are a good handful of others who i just. always kind of. hold onto their comments very dear, just because sentimental reasons haha

[stellevatum]

So some rambling about my AU version of the Bugboy:

It is implied his Canon incarnation is his ancestor; my personal story with my Cipher Nine is they retired quietly to Alderaan. House Hyllus was created as a vassals to the then-Sith Empire aligned House Thul. They were absorbed into the Organa fold sometime after House Thul's decline from power in the 3000 odd years between the Cold War and the star of the Clone Wars.

His father, Andronik, is not an Imperial captain; rather a captain in Alderaan's peacekeeping force. His mother (unnamed in the game but I will be calling her Iva) was an envoy to Alderaan from Jurio.

So unlike their canon selves their union doesn't have the whole icky Imperial colonization marrying locals post conquest vibes-- even if they were in love, the empire did conquer and colonize the planet, so.

Vector was born 46 BBY on his family estate in the Castle Lands. He spent most of his life out in the fields and Killik mounds of the region, with some occasional visits to his maternal family on Jurio, and in royal court in Aldera.

In 26 BBY, at age 20, Vector underwent his Joining, becoming Dawn Herald of the Oroboro. This Joining was consensual and not some shady Imperial research mission where he was subtly manipulated into it to spy on the nests. For this incarnation, Vector consented and was part of the diplomatic effort by Bail and Breha in letting Killiks have a voice they did not always have. They are the indigenous race, and would do for a more unified Alderaan to learn from their wisdom and culture.

Oroboro Nest is still a large part of the Castle Lands and House Hyllus has always had same affinity with the insectoids, so it was no surprise Vector took to it. As Dawn Herald, he could speak for the Killiks in a way that is more accessible. Sometime before 22 BBY, Vector was part of Bail's entourage: he represented Killik interest in the to the Senate. (Fun fact: I learned Oroboro means "our home" in Killik, it is also the Killik name for Alderaan proper!)

It is through Kar's friendship to Bail where she is introduced to Vector sometime in late 22 to early 21 BBY, and started a casual relationship shortly after. Kar and Vector also bonded through their mutual enjoyment of history, cultures (particularly music), affinity for tea, and exploration.

An interesting side note to their relationship--Killik joiners have a unique way of interpreting the world; while most are still Force blind, they can sort of grok with them. This is part of why they both are able to easily bond together. He is probably one of the few outside of Palpatine and Cuy'val Dar she has confided her Force sensitivity to.

Vector was not involved with the nascent rebellion at first; as far as he knew Bail and the others were simply good friends. Unfortunately due the circumstances of her defection (the whole botched killing Palpatine and getting half her body fucked up in the process thing), Kar did not inform him of her defection and departure and Vector was convinced she was KIA in later 20 to early 19 BBY.

However, it is the Rebellion and Bail Organa that brings them back together once more. Vector was considered trusted enough by Bail to garner support from the Killiks in the early resistance. The nests would assist Alderaan rebel cells and the Hidden Path. Kar was tagged in as soon as she made contact to run the intelligence and work with the Hidden Path to safely escort them.

They marry sometime around 14 BBY. Their son, Orad, is born in the Oroboro nest around 10 BBY. (A Killik nest not the strangest place she's given birth! Ijaan and Parja, Orad's half sisters were born in the Urdnot female camp on Tuchanka around 16 BBY.)

While he didn't directly fight, Vector was very much involved in the rebellion as much as Kar was, focusing more on the mutual aid and support side, Kar serving as the intelligence and thorn in the Inquisitorius' side.

Vector surprisingly had very little culture shock at the Milky Way reveal; and was eager to learn of the cultures of a whole new galaxy while representing the nest's. Killik history and the uplifting by the Celestials bears a lot of similarities to the Leviathans and Rachni of the Milky Way; no doubt it's what sparked an interest in Vector and why he is very sympathetic towards them.

As such, when in the Milky Way he does serve as a sort of envoy/mediator to the Council and Rachni, as they attempt to mend their mutual issues in a post Reaper world. Project Crucible was only the starting point, Vector worked hard to foster a good relationship after, even up until his death. In fact he was expected to meet with the Council but as he had some time, wanted to visit the nest on Alderaan-- and died along with the planet's destruction.

After his death, Kar and their daughter Parja championed Rachni rights to the Council in his stead/memory. (Parja despite not being biologically his, was the most like him.)

Some interesting things to note as I reintroducing myself to Killik lore:

Killiks are one of the first uplifted species to have been gained the ability of spaceflight, thanks to Kar's biological family, the Celestials.

They are also, are responsible for the removal of many Killiks off Alderaan as part of a way to keep the planet from being destroyed

Her family also manipulated the Thuruht give to create Centerpoint Station in the Corellia System for them, and the Thuruht nest was also responsible for the sealing and wardship over the artificial Celestial Abeloth/The Mother.

Sadly a lot of this is revealed after his death, but no doubt he would find a certain amusement in the fact that Celestial and a Joiner were an item.

[pacosemnoticias]

CCDR contra a demolição do antigo cineteatro de Ovar quer a classificação do imóvel

A Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Centro (CCDR-C) recomendou à Câmara de Ovar a preservação e classificação do cineteatro local, edifício de 1944 que a autarquia adquiriu por 375.000 euros em 2018 e quer agora demolir.

Em documento a que a agência Lusa teve acesso, esta terça-feira, a CCDR-C reconhece que a sua tomada de posição sobre o imóvel desativado há décadas surge na sequência da auscultação que lhe foi dirigida pelo Movimento 2030, que tem dois eleitos na Assembleia Municipal de Ovar, distrito de Aveiro.

A CCDR-C reconhece que “a amputação do volume leste do edificado” operada em 2016, para evitar riscos de derrocada para a via pública, resultou no “desaparecimento de toda a espacialidade e funcionalidade interna do cineteatro”, mas, ainda assim, defende que o restante imóvel deveria ser sujeito a classificação patrimonial, porque, “em termos nacionais, escasseiam os exemplares classificados de cineteatros e raros são os casos referentes a arquitetura modernista”.

No parecer enviado à Câmara de Ovar, a conclusão da CCDR-C é a de que “falharam os objetivos de proteção e valorização do património cultural – tarefa fundamental do Estado e dever dos cidadãos – pois não houve atempadamente o espoletar de um procedimento de classificação, quer da parte de um, quer dos outros”.

Referindo-se ao posicionamento do cineatro junto à principal área verde da cidade, a instituição adianta: “Aguarda-se a entrada nos serviços do Projeto de Arquitetura de Requalificação do Espaço Público – Entrada Principal do Parque Urbano, altura em que se poderão confirmar as intenções da autarquia relativamente ao futuro do remanescente do Cineteatro de Ovar, enquanto ainda detentor de valor cultural intrínseco”.

Quanto à restante condução do processo, a CCDR-C afirma que “seria expectável que, em desenvolvimentos futuros, se estabelecesse um diálogo da autarquia com os munícipes” e, ainda a propósito da intervenção popular, acrescenta que, por requerimento do ator e encenador vareiro Pedro Damião, a comissão reencaminhou para o instituto público Património Cultural o pedido de “início de procedimento de classificação de bens imóveis” relativo ao cineteatro.

Para o Movimento 2030, a CCDR-C assume “uma posição clara e inequívoca em defesa da conservação do histórico edifício”.

Fernando Camelo de Almeida, que foi eleito para a Assembleia Municipal de Ovar pelo CDS-PP, mas entretanto se desvinculou do partido, também acolheu positivamente a posição da CCDR-C, lembrando que a câmara, além de não ter ouvido as forças da Oposição “nem tão-pouco a voz do povo, gastou 19.500 euros, mais IVA, num projeto que pode nem sequer ser legalmente viável”.

Contactada pela Lusa, a autarquia liderada pelo PSD mostra-se surpreendida com a posição da comissão: “Estranha-se o parecer da CCRD-C, que recebeu as competências do ex-IGESPAR [Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitetónico e Arqueológico] sem conhecer o projeto da Câmara Municipal de Ovar para a requalificação daquele espaço, que se encontra ainda em elaboração”.

A mesma fonte oficial adiantou, contudo, que, como a autarquia já previa fazer, “a intervenção da CCDR-C será solicitada, uma vez que o espaço em causa está inserido na Zona Especial de Proteção das Capelas dos Paços e, obrigatoriamente, a comissão terá que ser ouvida em qualquer intervenção”.

Devido a este debate público, o assunto motivou a petição “Demolição do Cineteatro de Ovar NÃO”, que, desde o fim de semana, conta já com mais de 240 assinaturas contra “a demolição total e definitiva do histórico edifício” e a consequente “perda irreversível de património edificado com um importante valor sentimental para muitas gerações de ovarenses”.

[globalfintechseries]

X4 Summit 2024 Recap: Qualtrics Shows Why Organizations Need a C-E-Xy (Customer Experience + Employee Experience) Makeover

Historically, organizations kept employee experience (EX) separate from their customer experience (CX) initiatives, costing them uncontrolled attrition and poor customer loyalty. At the Qualtrics X4® 2024, we connected with the global leaders from the Experience Management (XM) industry. These XM practitioners shared their insights on how organizations can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver human-like experiences across multiple touchpoints. We will tell you how popular brands use Qualtrics XM solutions to establish a real “human” connection with customers and employees to showcase their values, innovation, and ethics.

Experience Management: An Introduction to New-age Business Values

It’s true that organizations still suffer from an “experience disconnect.”

According to a PwC report, 54% of US-based consumers feel the customer experience offered by most organizations needs improvement — There’s an experience gap that prevents brands from becoming iconic entities despite meeting the baseline expectations.

For most parts, these brands deliver products and services that exceed the parameters linked to speed, consistency, convenience, and friendliness. However, there is no assurance that they will still be considered “experience champions” or leaders as the experience gap widens each time we discuss the trends.

The reason?

Currently, organizations are “flying blind” with their experience management strategies. The experiences are disjointed due to the lack of shared vision and efforts. Leaders at the helm lack the initiative to connect the customer experience with the employee experience. They lack the edge to take on new demands arising in the AI-led experience management landscape. In 2024, companies have fewer chances to get it right with “Experience Management.” Say less than one, especially if you haven’t begun your experience journey to figure out the gaps in the GenAI era.

Why Do Organizations Need a CEX-y Makeover in 2024?

When CX and EX work together, organizations reap incredible results from this ‘connected’ XM approach.

If the customer is king, then your employees are the king-makers. Give customers what they want and they will buy more, and come back again. Give employees what they want, and they will stay and perform better. Along the same thought, customers and employees behave similarly and have similar aspirations when they talk and act with humans and technology-powered assistants like chatbots and IVAs. When organizations listen and respond to their talks and actions, customers and employees naturally become your biggest champions and advocates.

World-renowned brands such as Porsche, DISH, Adidas, and Hyatt have figured out one thing is essential to their existence and growth — CX + EX, embedded into their organizational culture. They have mastered the Connected XM. We knew them for their managerial expertise, sustained by human efforts, in bringing together CX and EX under one roof. Last week, we heard them narrate to the experience management industry how adequately they match and exceed expectations using technology.

Thanks to Qualtrics!!!

AI at Qualtrics is not something that was cooked up in the last six months to impress customers and users. The experience management solutions provider has been working on its AI roadmap for the last four-and-a-half years, CEO Zig Serafin revealed during his opening keynote last week at the X4 Summit.

“Making businesses more human using AI” emerged as the highlight of the event showcasing how Qualtrics customers and product leaders are working with powerful new capabilities of the XM Platform. Powered by Qualtrics AI, an XM-specific AI specialized in human connection and purpose-built to get you closer to your customers and employees. For years together organizations have attributed their success to delivering high-quality customer experience (CX) in the physical and digital realms. At Qaultrics X4  Summit, we witnessed the role employees play in taking CX efforts to new heights. New technologies can now support customer-facing employees to collect, track, and analyze conversations and sentiments for personalizing CX across different touchpoints.

With AI at their fingertips, CX leaders can empower their employees with superior EX that directly impacts how organizations can increase productivity, retain talent, improve products, and optimize customer support. All these, together with EX and CX ingredients powered by AI, drive revenue and strengthen organizational culture.

How Did Brands Embrace a CEX-y Makeover Using Qualtrics?

At the X4 Summit, eight companies stood apart from the crowd by revealing their true business value through exceptional CX and EX initiatives. They were bold, creative, and honest about their XM efforts, and that was visible in the way they reaped benefits from investing in XM solutions to build human connections for their businesses.

DISH Network

With the help of Qualtrics, DISH recorded a 10-point NPS increase within a year. It also reduced customer churn by using Qualtrics’ insights. Its cutting-edge approach to using Qualtrics AI to collect and analyze video feedback is helping agents uncover new customer insights from unstructured data. These insights are directly connected to business-wide improvements that are further cultivated to design and operate a customer-centric culture.

On Day 2 of the X4 Summit, I spoke to Christina Sansone, vice president of CX transformation at DISH Network VP of CX transformation. Customers have a strong affinity toward brands that offer them a great CX at all touchpoints. DISH Network’s customer-centric culture is a living example. I asked Christina how her organization uses AI-powered video surveys and feedback software for sentiment and emotional analytics.

How has an XM solution provider like Qualtrics truly enabled DISH to meet its CX objectives?

Christina said, “Customers have to continually engage with your product to know they are getting value from it. When customers stop engaging, something is wrong.”

“We piloted an XM campaign (with Qualtrics XM Video Feedback) last year for our NPS survey. Within two weeks, we had roughly 100 videos come back to us. We were just shocked (with the results)! The pilot proved that our customers understood technology and wanted to send us the video feedback. It was a very relevant piece of information. We used the videos a lot of time to emphasize the specific points or parts of the customer journey. We do analysis of the customer experience. We talk to the customers to understand what can be done to improve the experience… But when I play the videos, and show them what the customer said, it makes it all so real. You can’t argue with the customer from that perspective,” added Christina. 

Christina mentioned how they use the customer video feedback to encourage the field agents– it kind of cross-overs to the EX part as well.