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vampwritesstuff · 4 years ago

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Wing Beifong x OC / Part 1

Before this starts, you should know a few things about my OC.

Her name is Kana Soshi. She is an earthbender and is blind in her left eye, Lin taught her seismic sense, she is unable to metalbend. Has helped Lin out at the Republic City police department before and considers her as somewhat of a mother figure. She’s known Bolin and Mako for a long time and she met Korra and Asami through them, Bolin is her best friend.

Yes, I know that some of the events are out of order, I didn’t feel like rewatching the episode. But without further ado, here is part 1!

Wordcount; 5,203

“So are we sure there’s an airbender in Zaofu?” Kana asked as she leaned against the cool metal of the airship they’re currently flying in, she would have much rather been on the ground where her Earthbending and seismic sense were of use to her. Even though she could use seismic sense, she could not metal bend, and that made being on this airship insufferable, not being able to combine metal bending with her seismic sense could not have been more infuriating to her. “Yes, Kana, we’re positive that there will be an airbender there.” Korra said as she and the rest of Team Avatar sat around the area.

Kana absentmindedly stared off at nowhere while she played with a strand of her brown hair. One of her green eyes had a certain gloss over it, a tell-tell sign that she was blind in one eye, she was glad to have her seismic sense for that reason as when in battle her eyesight was often a hindrance in her ability to fight and know where and who she was aiming at.

Constantly, Bolin would ask Kana to teach him, and every time she tried, he could never seem to get it down. But that didn’t discourage him and that made her happy that he had such a strong spirit. So when they landed in Zaofu, a little bit of her detested the fact half the city was made of metal, but she quickly forgot that as her bare feet touched the ground. “Finally, my bending can be of some use to me.” Kana smiled as Bolin came up next to her, putting his arm around her, “C’mon, Kana, being on the airship wasn’t that bad!” He mentioned, “But when most of your sight and bending depend on being on the ground, I would rather have blown up that airship.” She pouted to her best friend.

“Hello! Welcome to Zaofu, home of the metal clan.” A gray haired woman said as she came out to greet them. “I’m Suyin Beifong, the matriarch of the clan.” She smiled at everyone. Kana smirked to herself, realizing now why Chief Beifong wanted to stay on the airship. She figured Lin might have some bad blood with her family in Zaofu. As everyone walked, they met Opal, she was the airbender. “Pleasure to meet you Opal!” Kana said happily as Suyin led them all away and towards an arena type place. It had large metal columns placed in it and it was placed deeper into the ground than where the group stood. “Those are my two youngest, Wei and Wing. They’re playing a game called power disc. Came up with the game themselves.” She told each of them as they watched the boys bend a metal disc at each other and hit the columns. That continued back and forth until one of them missed the disc and it flew into the net behind the raven haired boy, a bright red light lit up and a buzzer was heard, “And Wing goes down!” Shouted the boy, whom Kana could assume was Wei.

Her sight lingered on Wing a little longer than she would let on. Suyin turned to her and Bolin, “Do you two metalbend? The boys would be happy to teach you power disc.” Her smile fell as both of them shook their heads, “We don’t, but Kana here uses seismic sense!” Bolin boasted for her, Kana sheepishly rubbed her arm as Suyin smiled at her, “Well that's wonderful to hear, I’m sure you would love to learn to metalbend, we can teach you.” She offered. “Oh, I only use my seismic sense to help me see because I’m blind in one eye, I’ve tried metalbending before, it's never worked for me.” Kana sighed as she saw the look of pity from Suyin, she hated people knowing about her sight problem, she hated the looks of pity anyone would give her once they found out, she despised that everyone would dote on her once they knew.

Thankfully, Su’s advisor came up and whispered something in Suyin’s ear that made her eyes widen. “Avatar Korra, why did you lie about this being the only people you had with you?” She questioned as everyone’s eyes went wide. Kana knew she was talking about Lin, she watched in amusement as Korra and everyone else stuttered over their words. “Well, you see, our chief of police didn’t want everyone to know she was here and asked us not to tell. But since the secret is out, I guess Chief Beifong is gonna have to deal with it.” At Kana’s words, Suyin’s eyes widened, “Lin’s here? Well I would love to see her.” She said, leaving everyone all confused. She had stopped paying attention to Su’s words as her eyes went back to the playing arena, Landing on the two twins playing another game of power disc, not noticing everyone was heading inside until Bolin pulled her away.

At the dinner table, Kana sat in between Bolin and Asami. She loved Asami, she was her greatest friend other than Bolin, though Kana hated how she always tried to convince her to wear shoes, to which Kana would always tell her no and end the conversation at that. It didn’t fail to happen that night either as everyone was preparing for dinner.

“Come on, Kana! It's just for an hour at least!” Asami pleaded as she held a pair of flats in her face, pushing them away Kana gave Asami an exasperated look, “How many times do I have to tell you no? I don’t like shoes, they mess with my seismic sense!” She told her as she gave a sigh, knowing Kana wasn’t going to ever change her mind about shoes.

So there they sat, at a fancy table with the Beifong family eating the fancy dish that their chef prepared, she didn’t bother to remember the name of the dish. Kana looked to the head of the table as Suyin cleared her throat and addressed her. “So, Kana, how did you come to learn seismic sense?” She asked, Kana noticed that the entire Beifong family had their attention on her, “Well, Chief Beifong taught me after the accident that caused me to go blind in my left eye.” She said shortly, placing her fork down on her plate. That caught the twins attention, as well as Suyin’s, “If you don’t mind me asking,” Kana knew where this question was going, “How exactly did you become blind in that eye?” she asked, she and everyone else seemed to genuinely want to know, any time some one would ask, Kana would brush them off. But this was the matriarch of the metal clan, and she did not want to disappoint her.

So Kana let a heavy sigh leave her mouth before speaking, “Back when I was 12, I got caught in the middle of a turf war between the triple threats and some other gang. I was suppoesed to be with Li- Chief Beifong but I was dumb and slipped away from her as soon as I got the chance to explore.” She took a breath before continuing, everyone was paying close attention. “While I was looking at some stuff I realised that some triple threats and other thugs were fighting each other, next thing I knew, some stray ice shard from a waterbender hit me in the eye, and that's when Chief Beifong got there and saw me, she took care of the gangs and later healers said that they could not repair the damage done to my eye. At first I was able to see out of it just barely, but over time the sight completely left my eye.” She said, running a gentle finger over the skin around her eye as Kana stared down at the table, everyone had a solemn look on their faces, Bolin placed his hand on her shoulder while Asami did the same with the other shoulder. Silently Kana stood from the table and cleared her throat, “I’m going to turn in for the night.” She said and quietly left to her room for the time being. As she shut the door, Kana placed herself on the floor and let a gentle sob escape her throat.

Losing her sight had really impacted Kana, and everyone in the dining room could tell. Asami sighed, “I see why she hates wearing shoes now.” Trying to lighten the mood, “You know, this is the first time she’s talked about the accident since it first happened.” A voice said from the doorway, everyone looked over and was surprised to see Lin even after she had stormed out earlier on during dinner. “ What do you mean?” Wing asked as he looked at his aunt, “Exactly what I just said, losing her sight in that eye was very traumatic for her, she had nightmares for weeks afterwards.” Lin told them, everyone's eyes softened and Lin scoffed. “You all act like it affects you too, Kana is a tough young woman, I taught her seismic sense so she could still kick ass when she helped me out at the police station. She was more angry than sad about losing her sight, also, she despises anyone giving her pity. So if you’re gonna do that any time you’re around her then don’t bother speaking to her.” Lin said as she walked back out of the room. “Remember when we fought Amon? Kana really did beat some equalist ass!” Korra laughed as the rest of the team avatar laughed along with her. “I felt so bad when Amon took her bending, but she showed us she didn’t need her bending to fight Amon.” Asami said and they all agreed.

“Oh! Oh! Remember when she threw Unalaq in the air with a pillar of rock? He screamed like a little girl when she was in his face right after he hit the ground!” Bolin laughed loudly, Korra butted in, “And when she punched him in the face for being annoying! She did the same thing to councilman Tarrlok.” She laughed. Everyone at the table had begun laughing at the stories of Kana not giving a shit about who she was beating up.

Wing’s heart fluttered when he heard the stories about her, Kana really seemed like a cool person and he wanted so desperately to get to know her better.

Later that night as he and Wei were preparing to sleep, Wing decided to ask his twin a question, “Hey, Wei?” He began, “Yes, Wing?” Wei responded. “What do you think about Kana?” Wing asked as he set his metal cuffs on his dresser. “Think of her in what way? She seems like a very determined person and I think that’s admirable about her.” Wei told his twin as he sat himself on his bed, “I mean, yeah you’re right about that, but I don’t know.. I get butterflies around her, and hearing all those stories about her just invested me more, what should I do?” Wing ranted as he fell onto his own bed with a deep sigh. A chuckle escaped Wei’s lips, “Seems like you have a crush, Wing. But if you really want something between the two of you, I’d do something before she and the rest of her group leave Zaofu.” Wei advised, Wing nodded his head, thinking deeply.

It was true that Kana, along with everyone else she came with, plus Opal, were going to have to leave at some point to continue the search for more airbenders. So many thoughts clouded Wing’s mind as he tried to think of what he would do. Kana seemed like an angel to him, but he hadn’t even spoken to her once! How was he going to become closer to her if he hadn’t ever spoken to her or introduced himself. Wing couldn’t help the yawn that escaped his mouth, his exhausted state of mind could barely let him think straight. He would deal with his feelings and thoughts in the morning. With that, everyone in the Beifong estate was peacefully asleep.

Sadly, that peace hadn’t lasted long for a certain earthbending girl. Kana bolted up in her bed in a cold sweat, “It was just a nightmare, one I haven’t had since I was younger.” She mumbled to herself as she lifted her body from the emerald green sheets of the bed. She placed her head in her hands and she took deep breaths. “I need some fresh air.” Kana told herself as she stood up and headed towards the door. Opening it, she checked if there were guards around, once she made sure there was none she walked from her room and towards the garden of the Beifong estate. Once outside she let out a breath of relief and sat on the steps in front of the door.

“Can’t sleep?” The voice startled Kana as she wasn’t paying attention to her sense. Turning she saw one of the twins, “Uh, yeah. Rough night.” Kana looked away, she’d be lying if she said she knew which twin he was. “Wanna talk about it?” Wing asked her as he took a seat on the steps, Kana shook her head. “No, but I could use a distraction,” She started, “But first, I’m still not good with telling you twins apart, mind telling me?” Kana gave a sheepish smile to Wing as he laughed, “Yeah, I can help with that, and I’m Wing.” He told her as he stood from the steps and offered a hand to her. Taking it, Kana was surprised at how effortlessly he pulled her up. Wing’s heart fluttered once more as she grabbed his hand, her small hands were cold from the night air but he was disappointed when she pulled her hand from his. “So what's this ‘distraction’ you got for me?” Kana raised an eyebrow at Wing, he smirked and grabbed her hand once again.

Wing pulled her up to one of the metal covers that surrounded the estate, he metalbended an opening large enough to fit through and once both of them were on the other side Wing bended the metal back into place. He continued pulling Kana up a hill where there was a small cliff face, they could see the entirety of Zaofu, “Wow, Wing this is amazing.” Kana said as she sat down with Wing on the grass and looked out at the city, it was even more stunning at night. “Yeah, I found it a while back. I come here every time I need a distraction or to just clear my thoughts.” Wing said as he looked over at the brown haired girl that sat next to him, admiring the city. Wing took the moment to really study the girl beside him, taking in little details like how her short hair would flow with every breeze and the way the moonlight reflected in her eyes, the small smile placed on her lips as she closed her eyes. Kana looked at peace, and Wing was thoroughly enjoying the look. Then she opened her eyes and looked at him, Wing blushed as he’d been caught staring, “We should get back to the estate, we don’t want anyone finding out we’re gone and getting worried.” Kana told him, ignoring his stare as she stood up and pulled him up with her.

They walked down the hill in silence until they got back to the steps in front of the garden, “Wing,” Kana put her hand on Wing’s shoulder before he left to go inside, “Thank you for tonight. It means a lot.” She told him as she walked passed and back to her room. Wing stood there, a blush on his face and a hand on the shoulder that she touched. He walked back to his and Wei’s room in a daze and held a stupid grin for the rest of the night until he fell asleep. Kana had a peaceful sleep for the rest of the night, glad that she had spent some time with Wing to clear her head.

The next morning, Kana sat on the steps as she watched the twins spar with Korra and Bolin, well spar wasn’t the right word for Bolin. “I can’t believe I’m sparring with the Avatar!” Wing said excitedly after he tangled Korra in her own cables, the same couldn’t be said for Wei, “I can’t believe I’m stuck with her friend.” Wei complained, Bolin tried to bend the meteorite at Wei but it fell from his hands, “Hold on I got it,” Bolin tried, “Don’t got it.” He slumped over, Kana gave an encouraging smile, “Don’t worry, Bo, you’ll get it eventually.” She offered him a thumbs up and he smiled, but that quickly turned to horror as he dodged metal being thrown at him by Wei, “Trial by fire, best way to learn!” Wei claimed as he continued shooting at Bolin, finally Bolin picked up a small rock and bended it at Wei, hitting him in the forehead just as Mako and Asami showed up. “Nice shot little bro, but I thought this was supposed to be metalbending?” Mako asked as Wei agreed while rubbing the spot the rock hit, “Yeah, cheater.” Wei grumbled. “Listen, Mako, metalbending is extremely hard! Only 1 in 100 earthbenders can metalbend.” Bolin stated before everyone turned to Kora as she took Wing down with some metal, proceeding to jump in the air, “Woohoo! Metalbending champion!” She exclaimed, bringing her arms up to show off her well toned muscles. Bolin gave a comical look, “She’s the Avatar, that doesn’t count!” He stated, Kana giggled at how Bolin was acting.

“You guys might wanna get cleaned up, Opal’s farewell dinner is soon.” Asami told everyone, Kana saw Bolin slump once more and begin to sulk. Kana walked over and lightly patted his shoulder, “Hey, you’ll see her again once we are finished looking for more airbenders.” Kana comforted him, although that only seemed to perk him up less than what Kana thought it would. “Hey. Kana, why don’t you try metalbending?” Korra questioned the brunette, “Oh, I’ve tried before. Never worked, and besides, I’m fine with my seismic sense.” She said before sighing, “But it would be nice so I could use my sense on that damned airship.” Kana added before Bolin swung an arm around her shoulder, earning a jealous glare from Wing, “Alright, alright. We know you hate the airship.” Bolin teased as he ruffled her hair, earning a nice punch to the gut from Kana, a laugh erupted as Bolin doubled over in pain. “I didn’t even punch you that hard.” She rolled her eyes, Mako let out a playful scoff, “Kana, even your softest punches hurt.” He laughed, Kana’s eyes widened before her eyebrows furrowed, “Do they really?” She asked, everyone, besides Wing and Wei, nodded with a laugh at how confused Kana looked. “Why do you think I refuse to do hand to hand combat with you?” Korra laughed, she truly did not enjoy being punched by her, Kana shrugged, “I just thought you didn’t wanna hurt me, miss Avatar.” Kana jokingly used the nickname she gave Korra when they met for the first time, Korra wasn’t a fan of it but never told her to stop.

“Anyways, are we just gonna stand around talking about how you guys can’t handle a punch, or are we gonna clean up for Opal’s dinner?” Kana asked, changing the subject. Everyone nodded and headed to their temporary rooms to prepare. Kana settled on taking a shower in her room’s adjoined bathroom, as the warm water hit her body, she relaxed and gave a small smile. It felt nice to clean the dirt away from her skin as she scrubbed it with a milk and honey scented body wash. After scrubbing her hair with shampoo and conditioner and washed it out, Kana stepped out of the shower and shivered as the cool air hit her wet skin. Wrapping a towel around herself, Kana proceeded to dry off in her room and get dressed in a bathrobe, lazily, Kana walked to Korra’s room and knocked on the door. Korra answered, “Yes?” She asked, “Hey, wanna do me a favor and bend the water out of my hair, please?” Kana asked hopefully, with an amused sigh, Korra nodded and bended the water from Kana’s hair and moved the water to her own bathroom sink. Thanking her, Kana left and headed back to her own room. Once there, she sat down at the vanity table, Kana examined herself before deciding that she didn’t need any makeup for the dinner. Instead, she went to the wardrobe and chose a lovely forest green dress like a robe that had many silver embellishments, putting the dress on made Kana feel like she was some kind of earthbending princess. Laughing at herself, Kana placed the large silver necklace around her neck as it hung right above her breasts, she grabbed the arm cuffs and placed each one on both of her wrists before placing two ankle cuffs on her own ankles, to finish the outfit, Kana placed a metal belt piece around her waist. Kana twirled in front of the mirror and smiled, this was by far the most expensive clothing she had ever worn. A knock at the door startled Kana from her trance, “Hey, Kana, it's Korra and Asami. Are you ready for dinner?” Korra questioned loudly from the other side of the door, “Yeah,” she started as she opened the door, “I’m ready.” She looked up at Asami and Korra, they both were staring at her with wide eyes, “Does it not look good?” Kana asked self consciously, “No! You look amazing! We just never expected you to dress up so nicely.” Asami assured the earthbender, and received a smile as Kana saw Korra nod in agreement, “Well then, lets go knock the socks off those boys.” Kana winked at both Asami and Korra as she walked past them and towards the dining room.

Once they stood in front of the door, the guards opened it and everyone stopped what they were doing, most of the boys’ stares were focused on Kana as she took a seat between Bolin and Wing, “What’s with the look, Bo? You’ve seen me dress up before.” She giggled, “Yeah, but never in earth kingdom clothing!” He exclaimed, “I guess you’re right.” She thought before paying attention to what the chef had made for the dinner, he had made Opal’s favorite veggie wraps. Kana didn’t exactly care to listen to whatever mush Bolin was spewing to Opal, so she turned to Wing, “How has your day been so far?” She asked him once she had finished a bite of her food, “It’s been great! I mean, I got to spar with Korra which was totally cool. But I’ll admit I’m going to miss Opal.” Wing said, gaining a sad tone towards the end of his response. In a kind gesture, Kana put a hand on Wing's shoulder and offered a sympathetic smile, then she was hit with an idea, “Wanna sneak out tonight and go to the hill?” She asked referring to the cliff that he had shown her the night before when neither of them could sleep. Wing perked up and gave a fast nod, “Yeah, that’d be awesome.” He told her, trying to contain his excitement.

The rest of the dinner went by smoothly, and soon everyone was leaving to prepare for bed, except for Kana and Wing. Kana did put on some more comfortable clothes before she would meet up with Wing. They both had decided to wait until everyone else seemed to be asleep so they could meet. But the sound of someone yelling caught Kana’s attention, she opened her door in confusion as Bolin ran past, in the process he grabbed her wrist and pulled her along, “Bolin! What’s going on?” She shouted at him, “They’ve got Korra!” He exclaimed, passing more doors as he ran towards the outside of the estate. He had already woken up Mako and Asami, so she pulled her wrist from his grasp and started to run at his pace.

Once outside, Kana finally understood who Bolin was talking about. There was a group of four people running through the courtyard, one had Korra slung across his shoulder. Thinking quickly, Kana created a rock wall in front of the group. They quickly stopped and turned to see who stopped them, “Leave Korra alone!” Kana shouted, jogging towards them to get close and dodging blasts of rock and water. Her seismic sense had instinctively kicked in and Kana was able to narrowly avoid a rock coming at her from behind. She stomped a foot on the ground, using a large chunk of earth to throw at the intruders. Kana noticed that Bolin had only been staring in awe as Kana skillfully dodged attacks from multiple angles, “Bolin! Get your ass over here!” She yelled, momentarily she was distracted and didn’t notice the large rock that had been aimed at her.

A painful cry had alerted everyone else to where they were, and as they got there they saw Kana struggle to her feet as Bolin tried to deflect any attempt to knock her back down. Once she fully stood up, Kana gave the others one glance before turning back to the people that had Korra. Everyone noticed the change in Kana’s attitude and it sent a shiver down their backs. Kana angrily ripped a large portion of rock from the ground and hurled it at Korra’s captors but, much to Kana’s displeasure, the man with long greasy black hair had deflected it. Finally everyone else was working with you and Bolin to get Korra back, they had a chance to run and they took it, but they were unexpectedly caged in by large metal panels. Those present turned to see where the metal came from and they saw Wing, Wei, Su, and Lin. “Thank the spirits.” Kana muttered as she had a moment to breath, but that moment didn’t last long before lava started to pool from under the makeshift trap and melt the panels, “That guy can lava bend! That’s so cool!” Bolin exclaimed, but noticed everyone’s deadpanned looks, “But very bad! Very bad for us.” He corrected himself.

“Are you all okay?” Su asked as she pulled a panel to protect the group from the tall lady’s explosions. “Could totally be better.” Kana quipped sarcastically as she bended a rock at the group, only for it to be deflected once again by the earth bender. “Watch out!” Wing said as he pulled Kana back down as another explosion was sent her way, narrowly missing her but a sharp rock hit her forehead, and it began bleeding down her face. “Thanks.” Was Kana’s short reply as she kept them distracted long enough for the others to devise a plan, ignoring the pain of her cut and the looks of worry from her friends. Su, Lin, and the twins would go on top of the dome and drop in from above and grab Korra while the others would distract and temporarily stun the combustion lady. Stunning the lady was up to Kana and Bolin.

“Ugh! We can’t get a clear shot!” Bolin exclaimed a few minutes later as his and Kana’s attempts were continuously shot down. “Are we a go?” One of the twins asked from the radio, “No go! No go!” Bolin and Mako shouted, “Go? Got it!” Came the voice again, “No! Don’t go! No go!” Mako repeated into the radio but it was already too late. Lin and Su were already lowering from above, “C’mon Bo, we’ve gotta make this shot or Lin and Su are toast!” Kana gripped Bolin’s shoulders. He nodded and they both took a small piece of rock, then the combustion lady looked up and Kana saw their chance, “Now Bolin!” She shouted as she and Bolin tossed their rocks right at her, hitting her not once, but twice in her third eye looking tattoo. Lin was able to grab Korra and soon they were being hauled back up, but the air bender brought his glider out and soared up after the three. As he got closer to Lin, Su grabbed her sister’s cable and swung her out of the way, taking some metal and bending it at the man, successfully ripping the fabric of his glider and he began spiraling downwards.

As he landed, he began to create a large cloud of air, and once it cleared there was no sight of the intruders anywhere. “Where the hell did they go?” Kana asked angrily, as she frantically looked around for any trace of them. Suddenly she became dizzy, Kana placed a hand on her head, finding that her wound from early was still bleeding, “Shit..” She muttered and sat on the grass as she tried to make the spinning stop, “Kana! Are you okay?” Bolin asked worriedly as he saw his friend with her eyes screwed shut and sitting on the ground. Everyone else noticed as well, but Asami was the first to figure out the problem, “Her head is still bleeding! We need to get her medical attention!” She said as Mako picked Kana up from the ground, running up to Su, Lin and the twins. The four gave a confused look until they saw Kana’s condition, and quickly Su led the way to her office where they could patch Korra and Kana up.

At first, Kana was refusing the help, but as her headache worsened she finally gave in and let them wrap a bandage around her head and give her medicine. As the pain went away, Kana found herself slowly growing tired and letting a yawn slip, “I can take you to your room if you’d like?” Wing asked as Kana looked up to him and nodded. He helped her stand up and kept a firm grip on her waist so she wouldn’t fall, “Guess we’re gonna have to take a rain check on going to the hill, huh?” Kana half heartedly joked, “Yeah, guess we are.” Wing said, although he didn’t mind, he just wanted Kana to recover safely. Sometime through the obscurely long walk to Kana’s room, she had fallen asleep and Wing had to carry her to her bed. As he laid her down in the bed and covered the girl with the blanket, she grabbed his hand while half awake from the movements, “Thank you, Wing.” She tiredly stated before falling back asleep. He smiled, hesitantly leaning down and leaving a small kiss on her forehead, then he left the room. Shutting the door and sighing, “You must really have it bad for her.” Wing jumped as he noticed Wei standing in front of him with a smile on his face, Wing nodded, too tired to argue with his brother. “I think she’s warming up to you.” Wei teased as he and his twin walked to their shared room, “Yeah, I think so too.” He said as they both fell on their beds and contently fell asleep.

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ariela-of-aedyr · 5 years ago

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2019 in Fanfic: a Summary

I’ve wrote, like, a lot this year compared to in other years, and while I could just reblog my masterlist or something, I thought that instead, I would share a couple of snippets from some of my favourite pieces from each month of this year.

January:

“Wait, are we talking about the Night With The Cake?” Eder glanced back and forth between Ariela and Aloth with an arched brow. “Thought we weren’t allowed to bring that up.”

- From a Clearly Super Serious untitled drabble about repressed memories and why Iselmyr cannot be trusted to wield Modwyr [x]

“You helped me find a way to accept parts of myself that I had never thought that I might be able to, and I have watched you do the same for everyone else around us. You are a kind and compassionate soul- sometimes more so than you should be, in fact- but then, that is what makes you the woman that I love.”

- From Doubt, in which Ariela finds the pressures of the Deadfire to be becoming too much, and Aloth attempts to reassure her [x]

February:

He was sure that it probably was, and yet his eyes never made it to the sight that she was seeing, distracted instead by the way the moonlight shone onto her pale blue skin, giving her an almost ethereal glow. The smile upon her lips lit up her entire face, and, just for a moment, he found that he had forgotten to breathe. “Yes.” He remarked, dimly. “Very beautiful.”

- From Make a Wish, in which Ariela and Aloth almost, but not quite, have their first kiss [x]

March:

The words kept flowing from her lips, and yet they were all the wrong ones, her confession of love refusing to be spoken aloud. She had kept it to herself all of this time, she supposed, perhaps it was best that she didn’t make a grand confession now. Though she knew in her very soul that this was likely her last chance to do so, that once he walked out of the gates of Caed Nua, she would probably never get an opportunity to tell him how she felt again; what would a confession now even achieve? He had already chosen to leave.

- From Parting Gift, in which Aloth departs Caed Nua after the events of the first game and Ariela sees him off [x]

“Princess Ari has been captured by a fearsome dragon, and she needs our help to escape!” Vela informed dramatically, and Ariela gestured towards a stuffed toy in the shape of a dragon that was standing guard on the floor before her.

- From Fierce Battle, in which Aloth walks in on Playtime and ends up being convinced to join in [x]

“I don’t want your service. I don’t want your obedience. I want your friendship. I wouldn’t have you blindly follow me into this fight, Aloth…” Ariela let out a shaky breath, and then mustered the closest approximation to a smile that she could, as she looked into his eyes. “But I would be glad to have you at my side. If that is what you wish.”

- From Confession, Part 2, in which Aloth shares a major revelation with Ariela, right after their escape from the Defiance Bay Riots [x]

April:

“Darling, do you not realise how happy you make me? The very idea that you actually feel the same way about me as I do about you is…” She trailed off for a moment, trying to find the right words to express her sentiment. “I think that I must be dreaming. Sometimes. When you kiss me, I don’t know how that moment can possibly be real. Sometimes I wonder if I’m actually still dead, and this is just some beautiful dream that my mind came up with to distract me."

- From Early Days, in which Ariela and Aloth discuss their fledgling relationship [x]

She squeezed shut eyes that were overflowing with tears, bit back a sob, and focused. She had spent the majority of her life trying to be normal, pretending that she was just like everyone else around her. But she was not. She was different.

A wave of energy exploded from her very soul, a physical manifestation of her fear and desperation that sent her would-be killer hurtling backwards, his knife cutting a jagged path across her skin as he was pushed off of her and smashed into the bookshelf once again, hard enough to crack the oak shelves and knock several heavy tomes to the floor.

- From Rude Awakening, which explores the night that led to Ariela fleeing her family home, a few years prior to the first game [x]

May:

Ingredients covered every surface, while the sink behind him was piled high with evidence of his previous failed attempts throughout the morning. The heat from the oven beside him was starting to frustrate him, and the way the light shone through the window across the room in just the right way so that it caught his eye every few seconds was beginning to make him feel anxious, seeming to be reminding him that the hour was getting later, and that Ariela would surely soon be awake.

- From Surprise, in which Aloth attempts to surprise Ariela with a cake for her birthday [x]

“I want to build us a home here. One for you and me, and Vela. And whoever else needs it.” Glancing around at the estate; at the big stone house where she grew up, the sprawling, well landscaped garden, and at her daughter, sitting cross-legged on the floor, humming cheerfully, her smile widened into a grin. “This might be my past, but I think that it can also be our future.”

- From Old Home, New Beginning, a drabble set a year or two after the events of Deadfire [x]

June:

So, on that fateful day, when an adra colossus rose from beneath her keep, and relieved her and those living on her land of their souls, it could have just been coincidence that one particular little orlan girl was spared; that none of the falling debris landed anywhere near her, nor was her soul snatched away. But it might also have been little ‘thank you’ from the God of Light. After all, he might have needed the strength of the Watcher’s soul, but surely there was no need to take away the most important person in her life as well.

- From an untitled piece talking about Ari’s relationships with the Gods [x]

July:

Kana remembered the way that The Watcher’s smile had evaporated. That was the part that had stuck with him throughout the years. It was such a small thing, and yet so poignant. How the woman who had always remained so positive- who had spent the last couple of months trying to brighten everyone’s worldview even despite the things that had been happening around her- had suddenly gone quiet; her expression sharp, and her eyes cold.

- From Memories, a short piece exploring the Companions’ reactions to Ariela taking Vela [x]

August:

“You were lost and vulnerable, and people took advantage of that- of you- and made you think that you should do something terrible.” Ariela leaned forward, meeting the boy’s eye as he finally looked up, and fixing him with an encouraging smile. “But you didn’t do it. And that just shows how strong you truly are.”

- From an untitled piece dealing with the aftermath of Eder’s personal quest [x]

September:

She loved him dearly, and had done for quite some time now. And there was not a thing in the world that she would not do for him. She would tell him such, time and time again if she had to, until he finally became accustomed to the idea.

- From an untitled piece in which Ariela and Aloth discuss their plans for after the events of Deadfire [x]

Aloth’s hand wrapped around hers once again, and for a moment she smiled, letting out a long breath and revelling in the warm comfort and reassurance from her lover before she focused once more on the battle at hand.

And then pain shot through her, as Aloth’s grip tightened uncomfortably.

- From an untitled drabble exploring how terrifying ciphers must be in battle [x]

October:

[No fics :( ]

November:

Five years passed, and Ariela found peace. She found love, and lost it once again. She raised a daughter, with whom she spent every afternoon, reading and laughing and painting. She built up her lands to create a safe place for those that needed it. Caed Nua and its surrounding lands had become known far and wide as a haven, and their Lady as a kind and compassionate soul. Death had no place within its walls.

And yet it found its way in all the same, as death is wont to do.

- From Dancing With Death, which explores Ariela’s many, many close calls with death across the years [x]

December:

Ariela felt a slight heat flush her cheeks, all of a sudden beginning to feel self conscious about having spilled out her heart in such a manner. And then Aloth’s expression softened completely, and she relaxed against him once again, feeling completely at home in his arms, and feeling more love and support from this sweet, wonderful man than she had ever felt before in her life.

- From War and Teas, Chapter 2, in which Ariela worries about the upcoming competition and Aloth attempts to understand just what it all means to her [x]

#there's other fics and drabbles that I liked that didn't make the list #and I didn't even touch on Key to the Heart which was a huge part of this year and which I'll hopefully get back to sometime in the New Year #but yeah here's a little snapshot of my year #em-j talks #em-j writes

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natsumi-no-hotaru · 6 years ago

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Chihayafuru #21: Win the war, not the battle, yo!

AKA. Harada-sensei is super cool! Totally get why Chi-chan would want to give him Valentine choco lol.

[Previously: Reunion with our Fukui homeboy and them feels. Basically a hug-and-protect-Taichi fest.]

The no-karuta days aka. exams are finally over, and the Karuta 5 gang gathers for their usual practice session. The episode begins with a back-and-forth dance between Chi-chan and Taichi as they struggle to improve in their own ways. Chi-chan seeks to emulate the seamless fluid movements used by Arata, overjoyed and fired up by her reunion with her childhood rival, while Taichi attempts the opposite - doing all he can to not let his spirit be dampened by thoughts of Arata’s superior skills and Chi-chan’s leaving him behind to chase after her longed-for rival.

Get serious, Taichi!

Since nationals last summer, Chihaya always seemed so frantic during practice. Is it because she met Arata? Man, why can’t I get over it? I can still change.

Strangely enough, Taichi’s self-training method of reciting the poems randomly without looking at the actual cards reminds me so much of his younger self taking pride in having memorized all of the Hundred Poems and lording it over the younger Chi-chan back in primary school. That boy seriously needs to update his karuta strategy - it’s after all a game, not schoolwork.

I love how everyone (except for Chi-chan, lol) is so shocked at Taichi’s ability to keep track of the poems - he didn’t recite any poem twice!

You don’t have to push yourself so hard! Humans aren’t supposed to be perfect!

Oh, did I make any mistake?

You were perfect!

The camaraderie between Nishida and Taichi is so heartwarming to watch. Someone has to take care of the president, particularly when someone *side glare at Chi-chan* forgets. It’s also great to see the continuation of Nishida’s character development from the previous episode, for only a good friend who really wants to keep playing with Taichi would endeavour to impart heartfelt advice on taking a more organic approach to karuta.

It’s important to know what’s been read, but you have to feel the cards on the field!

I really didn’t expect Taichi to be so self-conscious about practicing the more physical aspect of karuta. Kudos to Nishida for putting that out there - I hope Nishida’s character will further fleshed out as we approach the end of season 1, in the same thoughtful manner as were Tsutomu-kun’s and Kana-chan’s.

You never practice swinging because it’s embarrassing right? You need to learn the distance between yourself and the cards! You’re playing karuta with both your mind and body!

Gawd, this girl. If only it was equally hard to detract her from her games later on at the tournament.

That hopeless girl

At times, Chi-chan is almost like a proper bishoujo heroine, the kind of girl that Kana-chan would love to groom Chi-chan into. I’m talking about those moments when she doesn’t speak much except to make insightful comments, looking sweetly expressive and gentle with her hair undone, or demure and proper with her hair tied up as she sits in contemplation. Those moments are rare and few in between but they do hint at a quietly growing maturity within Chi-chan which will add further depth to her karuta playing. She won’t be so easily distracted from her main purpose, even if such distraction comes from sly people like Sudo.

Of course, in the mean time, we have to make do with an incredibly impressionable Chi-chan. *head slam*

When Sudo told her that Queen title holder gets good scholarships...

Yup, the damage is done.

She was soon goaded into a stupid bet that involves the loser shaving their head. Gawd, the recklessness of this girl.

She absolutely deserves her team-mates ganging up on her.

Lol, what a shame.

I love how everyone is so much more hyped about protecting her hair than the affected party herself.

And here is her opponent, who already charms Chi-chan with her blinding innocence and adorableness.

Yup, Chi-chan is absolutely done for.

A guide to Chihaya’s evolving arsenal by Harada-sensei

I want to give Chihaya-chan as many weapons as possible. She needs more than her game sense. She needs situational awareness, timing, accuracy... The most important thing in karuta is talent, but talent is never equal. She needs more than one weapon to use, so she doesn’t find herself overwhelmed by prodigies, like the Queen and the current Master.

That’s the face of a man with a lot of expectations for his young disciple, even if she is a nobody facing a primary school rising star who everyone expects to be the next Shi-chan (Shinobu Wakamiya).

Harada-sensei is so much fun to watch - has always been so since his first appearance - however it’s been a while that his role as Chi-chan’s mentor and coach is put in the spotlight like in this episode. I love that his presence is established right in the beginning, with his energetic confrontation with his long-time rival and friend, the head of Suihoku Society, and that it gains more prominence as he is shown to shower Chi-chan with constant attention and support even before her match officially starts.

Harada-sensei quickly asserts himself as an authority on karuta, as even the small details reveal the wealth of his experience in competitive karuta. When Kana-chan asked Chi-chan to wear a prepared hakama, Harada-sensei refused to let Chi-chan change because the AC would not be turned on, “for every sound matters” at this level of the game.

What makes Harada-sensei so awesome is how well he understands Chi-chan’s playing style - her strengths and weaknesses - and adjusts his coaching accordingly to bring out the best in her. In this case, she needs to learn patience and inner calm so that she will not be swept away by her or her opponent’s speed.

And it works beautifully. Ririka did have her moments of blindingly fast triumph (vividly captured by the animation of her card-taking sequence) but it is Chi-chan who ultimately has control of the match.

Good job, girl! You did it!

Now that Chi-chan enters the second half of the match, it’s time to change tactic and take her young opponent for a ride.

I love how cutesy Harada-sensei’s movements are, lol.

The match draws to an end

The interactions between Chi-chan and Ririka are absolute adorable. Portrayed as a younger, more inexperienced version of Chi-chan, Ririka makes for a more interesting opponent than the previous Sakura-san, even though she’s set up for defeat. Chi-chan manages to show her mature side, besides her youthful silly side, as she could pick up better on what goes through her opponent’s mind and adjusts herself accordingly. It’s awfully sweet of Chi-chan that she internally dotes on Ririka and is relieved that Ririka is not so disheartened by her looming defeat that she could not take a card or two. Told ya, she can be quite a bishoujo heroine when she wants to.

The tears they shed at the end of the match are really heartwarming and I’m so proud of Chi-chan for protecting Ririka from getting hurt by comments about her not living up to the hype. Other may say whatever they like but as Chi-chan said, it is vital to keep our faith in those precious memories of how the people dearest to us cheer us on our path and derive strength from them.

That’s it for now. I’m looking forward to Chi-chan’s next performance and hope to write another post again, amidst my crazy work schedule.

Until next time, then!

Omake

Chi-chan stuffing herself with choco and scaring the hell out of Kana-chan lol.

Taichi’s tears of disappointed expectation as the senpai he looked up to in his youth gave up on ever becoming the Master, perhaps even on karuta itself.

Ahaha, Taichi. You better keep your promise then, you silly fierce boy.

Until next time.

#Chihayafuru #chihayafuru anime #chihayafuru season 1 #chihayafuru marathon #karuta #ayase chihaya #Chihaya Ayase #Mashima Taichi #Taichi Mashima #natsumi watches #natsumi talks

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fabula-novo-mundo · 6 years ago

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Theonymy: On the Names of fal’Cie

The gods of Fabula Nova Crystallis (FNC) are, as the title of the mythology would suggest, multifaceted. This post will be the first in a series that attempts to analyse them from a polytheistic, specifically, a fictional or otherworld reconstructionist perspective.

Names are essential to storytelling. In the Final Fantasy series of games especially, names are drawn from many different cultures and languages, even within the same title: Nomura Tetsuya, the series’ lead character designer for the last 22 years, and one of the creative leads behind the original Fabula Nova Crystallis project, drew from Okinawan (“Yuna”, night; “Tidus”, sun), Ainu (“Wakka”, water), and Arabic (“Lulu”, pearl) while creating the characters of the Final Fantasy X series. These names often subtly allude to the positions of the characters or their future arcs in the context of the story or its themes, and understanding their etymology can frequently be illuminating.

This doesn’t hold a candle, however, to the significance of the names of gods, which describe their relationship with the world itself, and have their origins in epithets used to describe them by their worshippers. For example, the chthonic jötunn Hel, whose name derives from the Proto-germanic *haljō, from the Proto-Indo-european *kol-, “to cover/hide”, as one covers a corpse in the soil of a grave; or the Irish psychopomp an Morrígan, whose name either translates to “Great Queen” or “Phantom Queen”, as befits a goddess who manifests to doomed warriors; or Nebt-het, the netjert of death, whose name translates to “Lady of the Temple Enclosure”, describing her role in ritual.

fal’Cie

Firstly, the term “god” itself should be addressed. Often applied in english-language literature across religious traditions to describe a wide array of entities, it often fails to capture the nuance that culturally specific terms have for these entities. For example, in norse tradition, the word “god” is typically applied to the Æsir and Vanir, but not their enemies (such as the Jötnar) despite the latter often being of equal power and cosmic significance to the former two; additionally, the word often fails to describe the nuance of the word “kami” in Shinto tradition.

This word, kami, in fact is the term often used to describe the higher deities in the original japanese scripts of the Fabula Nova Crystallis franchise (this term became “god” in the english, of course), particularly concerning the most supreme living being in the mythos: Bhunivelze, the Shining God (Kagayakeru Kami), for whom the terms for lesser spirits in the mythology were considered inadequate or degrading by his historical worshippers.

However, being apathetic (at best) to the Shining One myself, i will use this term for him anyway: fal’Cie, the name for a living, material god in the various worlds of the setting[1]. In the rest of this post, and in subsequent writing, i will use the collective and singular term “fal’Cie” to refer to inorganic spirits in Fabula Nova Crystallis that are themselves descended from inorganic spirits.

The term “fal’Cie” itself deserves analysis. In the original japanese scripts, the kana for this term is ファルシ, “faruShi”, which is very nearly a correct transliteration of the english-language word “fallacy” — whose definition is of course “a mistaken belief or error in reasoning.” This will become incredibly important later when i discuss the nature of mythology and cult within the setting, but for now let it simply be noted that it is important that the term used for spirits in this world is nearly synonymous with the concept of “misconception.”

The related term “l’Cie” provides another avenue for analysis of the theonym. l’Cie, written ルシ, ruShi, are (formerly) human servants or slaves of fal’Cie. The term, especially in the original scripts, is pronounced almost exactly the same as the italian “luci”, or “light”, and when romanised, is quite clearly just the french word “ciel“ or “sky” with the last consonant shifted forward. Both of these concepts allude to the origin and master of all living fal’Cie and, indeed, all souls and Matter in the FNC, in the most exalted Lord of Light, Bhunivelze.

The fa- prefix that forms the word fal’Cie is then theorised by FNC fans to have its origins in the Latin famulus “servant,” in line with the origin of the “fa” note in solfège (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti) from the Latin hymn Ut queant laxis. This would, fittingly, give us an etymology for the term fal’Cie that comes to something along the lines of “Servant of Light/Heaven.” Personally, i’m not sure how much merit this association actually has, convenient though it is, so i’d like to propose an alternate theory.

There is only one obvious association that the fal- prefix could have in west european languages. It has already been covered, indirectly, but bears discussing again: the word “fallacy” derives ultimately from the Latin fallere, “to deceive,” and the fal- stem in descendant romance languages still retains this association with falseness (french and italian, used in the “l’Cie” part of the word, are, of course, romance languages, which makes an italic etymology for fa(l)- the most likely). This would give “fal’Cie” the etymology “Heavenly Deception” or “Deceiving Light,” both of which could help elucidate the beings’ true natures.

It should be further noted that words in japanese containing the syllable シ (shi), which is a homonym for 死 “death,” often become associated with death by association: for example, the japanese numeral 四 “four,” also pronounced shi, is historically considered inauspicious.

[1] i am aware that in the brand change from Final Fantasy Versus XIII to Final Fantasy XV, the term “fal’Cie” was replaced with “Astral” as a term specific to the world of Eos, but insofar as these entities still exist as the crystalline descendants of the Fell Trickster Lindzei and the Hallowed Tyrant Pulse, the theonym “fal’Cie” is still correct, and i will use it when describing these entities in the context of the wider setting. The word “Astral” itself shares connotations with the celestial etymology of the original term, which hints at the Astrals’ true nature, even after the rebranding.

Pulse

Stout fashioned earth, that future might take root. — Analect I, “The Vanished Gods”

The first theonym i would like to address is the most simple. Pulse, the Terrestrial Potentate, is a male fal’Cie who is credited with shaping the physical world. Concretely, this means he is the entity responsible for the creation of, well, nearly everything that can be seen, touched, or otherwise mundanely sensed in the mortal realm.

His symbol is ten bidirectional prongs or arrows emanating from a central eye, five upwards, five downwards. In Final Fantasy XIII we find its analogue in the many-pronged double-headed spears of the Gran Pulsian l’Cie Oerba Yun-Fang, which makes it doubly clear that this symbol is supposed to be phallic, and possibly a symbol of fertility or rulership, an association strengthened by the fact that the Etro-venerators of the Kingdom of Lucis and the otherworldly leisure house Serendipity depict Hallowed Pulse as the King on their playing card sets, and give him the title “the Mighty Potentate.”

The origin of the english word “pulse” is Latin pulsus, both words to describe a beat, throb, flow or stroke. This highlights the deep connection that the Hallowed Pulse has to the mortal world and all parts of nature that lie within, as the source of and indicator for the terrestrial realm’s strength and vitality.

The etymology of pulsus can reveal more, however: pellere, to push, drive, affect, compel, expel, propel, repel, dispel, impel, strike, banish, or conquer. This helps us see the significance of the ten arrows as a symbol of force, power, domination, and divine kingship, and solidifies the Divine Pulse’s associations with violent rulership or tyranny. Pulse is very much the archetypal patriarch, and the domineering attitude of his descendant fal’Cie towards the mortals they live alongside reinforces this.

Lindzei

Sage turned mind's eye inward, seeking truth profound. — ibid.

The third and youngest offspring of Light, the etymology of “Lindzei” is much less transparent than her elder sibling’s, but by examining the Heavenly Ruler’s iconography and associations, it is possible to determine some likely candidates.

Analect II, titled “Lindzei’s Nest,” from Final Fantasy XIII, gives us the following from the perspective of a Gran Pulsian demagogue:

And lo, the viper Lindzei bore fangs into the pristine soil of our Gran Pulse; despoiled the land and from it crafted a cocoon both ghastly and unclean.

Lies spilled forth from the serpent's tongue: 'Within this shell lies paradise.' Men heard these lies and were seduced and led away.

O cursed are the fools who trust a snake and turn their backs upon the bounty of Pulse's hallowed land! For those who dwell in that cocoon are not Men, but slaves of the demon Lindzei.

Ye who honor Pulse: rise unto the heavens, and cast down the viper's nest!

The serpent imagery here would seem oddly out of place if it weren’t for the universal symbol of Lindzei used by his descendant fal’Cie and the mortal societies she patronises. Lindzei’s symbol is that of a statuesque feminine figure with exaggerated hips, arms, and a headdress, whose stylised silhouette strongly resembles a uterus and ovaries. However, seen from another angle, this extremely stylised shape also resembles the hood of a cobra. It is fitting that a fal’Cie who is so associated with duplicity and tricks would be represented by such a multifaceted symbol.

This gives us a clue to the origin of the first part of Lindzei’s name. The germanic stem lind-, seen in the english word “lindworm” (dragon) and in many other germanic words for “snake”, has its origin in the Old norse linnormr, ultimately deriving from Proto-germanic *linþaz “flexible.” This is by far and away the likeliest candidate for the etymology of the Fell Lindzei, and strengthens the already existing trickster archetype or Satanic associations the gender-ambiguous (yet highly feminised) fal’Cie possesses.

The other associations of the word *linþaz are also worth discussing. The english word “lithe” descends from *linþaz, and the concept of flexibility or bendsomeness is itself highly relevant to the nature of this uranic fal’Cie. Lindzei is, above anything else, noted for his “dark cunning,” her skill with words, and, in the history of the Etroites, is effectively considered the midwife of the mortal races, who cultivated the very first human civilisations after their Goddess’ death. Given that societies patronised by Lindzei’s offspring (e.g. Cocoon, Milites) tend towards being extremely technologically and politically advanced, as well as lacking in superstition or fear towards the natural world, this idea has significant merit.

Which brings me to the Linden tree. Originating again from *linþaz, the Linden in germanic cultures has associations with femininity, divine protection and fertility, as well as truth-seeking, jurisprudence and political deliberation in general. All these associations are relevant to Lindzei, who above all his siblings is associated with the political life of humanity, and to whose followers is the true salvator and protector of the mortal peoples from nature or Pulse’s violent tyranny.

This leaves only the suffix -zei, pronounced “zeɪ” as in “say”. In fact, the word “say” — being of ancient germanic origin in *sagjaną, whose descendants are frequently pronounced as “z” (e.g. german sagen, dutch zeggen (past singular zei)) — is my personal best guess as to the actual etymology. Lindzei being so strongly associated with language and society, it seemed natural to me that this would be alluded to in her name.

Overall, this would give an etymology for the theonym that comes to something along the lines of “Speaking Serpent,” very fitting for a Lucifer-esque trickster figure.

In Analect VIII of Final Fantasy XIII, Lindzei is given an additional epithet “the Succubus,” which strengthens the Trickster/Satanic archetype associations, and yet further feminises the fal’Cie who is so demonised by devotees of Hallowed Pulse.

In Serendipity and on Eos, playing cards depict Lindzei as the Jack, with a caption describing him as “the Solemn Ruler,” who is “commanding from his throne on high.” This solidifies the uranic and political associations that the fal’Cie has.

Etro

Fool desired naught, and soon was made one with it. — Analect I, “The Vanished Gods”

For the Infernal Goddess, who is barely acknowledged by most mortal cultures in the setting, the problem of naming is particularly pertinent. To most peoples, She is simply Death, the embodiment of their mortality — but to those of Her children (for all mortals are born from Her broken corpse) who venerate Her, She is also known as “Her Providence”. This epithet is in fact the only name by which She is known specifically in the version of Eos depicted in the rebranded Final Fantasy XV, where the remnants of Her crystalline soul provided the Lucis Caelum[2] dynasty with its magic.

The epithet “Providence” of course alludes to Her gift (or curse) of prophecy, and associations with probability/entropy — misfortune, and prudent preparation to stave it off in particular.

Given that the Crystal of Lucis is referred to as the soul of the planet Eos itself, and yet is also termed the “Light of Providence” by the Astrals, it is possible that “Eos” is in fact itself another epithet for Her Providence Etro. Eos, originally greek ἠώς, means “Dawn” and is also the name used for the hellenic thea of the Dawn herself. This word ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-european *h₂éwsōs of the same meaning.

It may seem counterintuitive for a Goddess of the Underworld to be referred to as the Dawn personified, but it is worth noting that She is also associated with entropy and disaster and yet is still called Her Providence. As the Lady of Chaos, She may bring the dawn if She so chooses by drawing the darkness back into the Unseen Realm, and in fact this is the role She plays as the Queen of Valhalla and by protecting the people of Eos from the Starscourge (which is a manifestation of the Unseen Chaos).

Like many death deities in our world, it is possible that Her true name is so rarely uttered because of this fal’Cie’s deathly nature, and how tied She is to destruction, chaos and entropy in general — it is not uncommon for such terrible spirits to often be referred to with euphemisms to avoid invoking either their wrath or their destructive natures. Surprisingly, one thing both Pulsian and Lindzeian cultures agree on is their fear of or even hatred for this entity.

Unlike Her sibling fal’Cie, She is entirely absent from the mortal realm and Her influence can only be felt through the chthonic Unseen Realm which awaits Her children between death and rebirth. Also unlike Fell Lindzei and Hallowed Pulse, Her Providence bore no fal’Cie of Her own, as She was granted no divine gifts in life.

The concept of the Unseen Realm will be revisited later in this series, but for now let it simply be noted that She is depicted as the Queen on playing cards created by Her devotees, and referred to on the writing below the illustration as “the Veiled Goddess.” Personally, i believe this epithet refers to mourning veils, as well as the veil between the Visible and Unseen Realms which is Death — i.e., “Veiled Goddess” is a euphemistic manner of describing Her nature as the Dead and Death Goddess.

The actual name of this fal’Cie (if indeed She can be considered a fal’Cie alongside Her kin) is not even alluded to until the very, very, very end of the post-game in Final Fantasy XIII, and outside its two direct sequels Her name is even then seldom referenced except euphemistically. There are many possible reasons for this, but that’s a topic for another post.

Children of Hallowed Pulse scour earth, searching substance for the Door. Those of Fell Lindzei harvest souls, combing ether for the same. So have I seen.

The Door, once shut, was locked away, with despair its secret key; sacrifice, the one hope of seeing it unsealed.

When the twilight of the gods at last descends upon this world, what emerges from the unseeable expanse beyond that Door will be but music, and that devoid of words: the lamentations of the Goddess Etro, as She sobs Her song of grief.

— Analect XIII, “Fabula Nova Crystallis”

Etro, written エトロ (Etoro) in kana, has an extremely ambiguous etymology, as is noted by several fans of the setting. i will list what i consider to be the likeliest possibilities here, and describe the reasoning behind each as best i can.

Firstly is the french être ”to be,” triply relevant due to the presence of french and other italic languages in the FNC’s theonymy already; the nature of the Veiled Goddess Etro as mother to all human-kind, midwife of all re-born human souls, and as She who endows mortals with the formless heart that delineates us from our fal’Cie cousins; and, lastly, due to a possible connection with the etymology of Her cosmic antithesis, the Shining God Bhunivelze, which will be covered in the next section.

Second is the italian tetro “gloomy”/”grim,” which has obvious connections to Veiled Etro’s chthonic nature as She resides in the perpetual twilight of the Unseen Realm of Death.

Third, the Breton etre “betwixt,” whose etymology is entirely distinct yet is geographically proximate to the previous french. Veiled Etro, powerless in the world of Her birth, was granted a power beyond any living fal’Cie in the Immortal Realm of Chaos, and used this power to grant this primordial force to Her mortal children in a perpetual cycle of death and rebirth, between one world and the other. Thus, the concept is relevant to Her nature.

Fourthly is the Proto-Indo-european *kʷetwóres “four,” an association that might be clearer when examining the numeral’s descendants, but which i am fond of as a potential etymology for Her Providence due to the association that the number has with death in japan, as discussed previously. The reconstructed *kʷetwóres becomes Latin quattuor, italian quattro, greek τετρα- (tetra-), Proto-balto-slavic *ketur-, and many others whose stems all resemble the name “Etro.”

Fifthly is the italian etra “heaven,” ultimately derived (via italian etere) from greek αἰθήρ (aether, transliterated into japanese kana as エーテル, “ēteru,” which is remarkably close to “Etoro”) which is a good way of describing the formless fluid nature of the Chaotic realm over which Her Providence Etro presides.

Last, but certainly not least, is the option that i personally find the likeliest: the Latin ceterus, or greek ἕτερος (heteros), both of which mean “other one,” both descended from the Proto-Indo-european suffix *-(e)teros — a suffix which means “one that is especially more than [prefix],” making fundamentally important word stems such as *ḱe- (here) or *sem- (one), into a general term for “that which is distinct from this.” This is incredibly important to understanding the Veiled Lady, who has largely been defined by being set apart from every other fal’Cie in Her lack of godliness, Her dominion over Chaos, Her cosmic opposition to the source of all living fal’Cie, and most notably, Her total absence in human culture or the majority of historical accounts concerning the world’s fal’Cie. Etro is the Great Other who is set apart from wider society, ostracised, scapegoated, and painted as a childish Fool or terrifying monster, regardless of cultural context or era.

Etro’s symbol is quite mysterious, as befits the Veiled Goddess. Similar to the etymology of Her name, there are many possible interpretations of Her sign.

The most obvious might be the image of a sprouting seed, which fits Her rebirth function and also matches the possible french etymology être.

The second is that of an eyeball cut in half longways, pointing downwards, which matches Her associations with prophecies and visions, as well as the world below. Etro’s Gate, the other of Her prominent symbols, which is the Door of Souls through which the dead and newly-reborn must pass to enter or exit the Unseen Realm, is also, notably, in the shape of an eye as seen from the front.

The silhouette also somewhat resembles an avian head viewed from the front, with the eyes near the base of the image, and this has immense importance to Her avian associations (the presence of (white — possibly swan) feathers is Her single most important omen/symbol after the Door of Souls). The softly-thinning curved prongs arguably resemble feathers themselves, or perhaps multiple sets of wings stretched upwards to the sky.

The fourth thing to note is the sphere of something fluid at the heart of whatever the image is depicting, which represents an organic flow of some kind, most likely the primordial Chaos that the Unseen Realm and the hearts of Her children are composed of. Within this dark fluid seems to be concealed some sort of staff or spike, which might represent a concealed blade or other weapon of some sort. Either way, this strengthens the already existing associations Her Providence has with concealment.

It might also possibly speak to the twin martial and spiritual functions, or, in DnD-esque Final Fantasy terms, physical and magical power — two things that are extremely relevant to Her Providence, who is so delighted by contests of violence. The fact that this dark fluid and the weapon concealed within are surrounded by the husk or wings/feathers of the symbol could either be an allusion to the Chaos that lies at the heart of every mortal (and Etro Herself), and the Unseen Chaos that Etro is charged with keeping at bay to preserve the Visible World.

[2] Note the connection to italian luci and french ciel here in the Latin Lucis Caelum, which are both referenced in the theonym “fal’Cie.”

Bhunivelze

Luminous lamented, for creation spiraled unto doom. — Analect I, “The Vanished Gods”

This supreme fal’Cie of light, “the god who rules all things,” and “holds the world in his palm” is in fact primarily referred to not by name, but simply as “God,” singular, monotheistic and absolute. He is also given many epithets related to light and the sun, such as “the Shining God,” or simply “Luminous.” All fal’Cie depicted in the setting, and thus, all Matter itself — everything that doesn’t stem from Chaos, to be clear — stem from this being’s great, near-absolute power as the self-made centre of all existence.

But his etymology is much less transparent than his realm. There are only a few narrow possibilities i have been able to find, and they are even then only tentative, so of the five entities discussed here i am most likely to revisit the Shining One at a later date.

“Bhuni-” may have an origin in the Latin bonus “good”/”right”, whose romance-language descendants often mutated the word into bun- stem words, all associated with correct morality. This has a credible link to Shining Bhunivelze’s associations with purification and correct action.

The second option i find more credible, myself: Proto-Indo-european *bʰuH- “to become”[3], which becomes Proto-germanic *beuną “to become” (from whence the english “be”/”been”), Kurdish bûn “to be,” Sanskrit भूमन् (bhū́man) “world,” भू (bhū́) “earth”/”matter”/”world,” and particularly भूमि (bhū́mi) “limit”/”extent”/”foundation”/”earth.” As Bhunivelze is the foundation of everything that can be seen in the material realm, and possesses absolute control over all visible Matter, his name being to do with the world itself, or the concept of limits/extents, or even matter/substance itself, would be extremely fitting.

The concept of Bhūmi is particularly relevant. The word represents the earth element in Hinduism, and is embodied in the devi of the same name who is analogous to “Mother Earth” and is also known as Prithvi; however, the term Bhūmi is used differently in Mahayana Buddhism. Within Mahayana-thought, the bhūmis are the ten[4] stages of attainment that must be passed in order to reach bodhi, or enlightenment. This concept is most certainly relevant to the self-declared most enlightened being in all creation.

“-velze” requires some more work. In katakana, his name is written ブーニベル (Būniberuze), which could help with finding more candidates.

Firstly, the dutch/Middle german vels(e) (plural velzen) “rock” — it is arguably a stretch, but i think it bears mentioning due to the fact that the Lord Bhunivelze does in fact have associations with stone/mineral — not just in that he is the god of all solid Matter (something that i will discuss later in the series), but that he is associated with crystalline structures in particular. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, we are given the following Oracle of Etro, which is the first time the Shining One is actually referred to by name:

In the physical world, it contains within its form endless chaos. By the will of the deities, it gives birth to all living things. I speak of crystal.

The eternal dream world of the crystal lies within the Unseen World. Even the gods long to find their way to that place. In all crystal, the heart that shines most brightly is called Bhunivelze.

— “Bhunivelze’s Sleep,” Yeul’s Confessions

With Proto-germanic *beuną this would give Bhunivelze an approximate etymology of “Stone Coming Into Being,” “Stone Appearing,” or “Growing Stone.”

Second is the Hindi वली (valī) “lord”/”saint”, which is even more of a stretch than vels to be honest, but is worth mentioning. This would give him an etymology akin to “Lord of the Universe.”

The last guess i have for this etymology is the english “verse,” from Latin versus, based instead on the original japanese pronunciation. The reason i think this is plausible is due to the Shining One’s connections to the Biblical God, whose words speak creation into being. This would, with Latin bonus or Proto-Indo-european *bʰuH-, give the Shining One an etymology something along the lines of “Good Verse” or “Verse Coming Into Being,” both of which are quite fitting.

We can go one step further from “verse,” however: If we take Proto-Indo-european *bʰuH-, and the original japanese pronunciation, we can form Bhu-niverse, which is to say, the english word “universe” (ultimately derived from Latin ūniversus, “turned into one”) — a lot more plausible given the numerous Sanskrit bhū́- stem words listed above meaning “entire world.” This is the likeliest etymology for Shining Bhunivelze, in my opinion, and gives us a final meaning of “the World Coming Into Being.” This concept is incredibly relevant to the nature of Bhunivelze and Matter in general in Fabula Nova Crystallis, and will be discussed at length later on.

[3] Here the possible connection to the speculated french etymology être for Etro, also “to be,” which would highlight their shared cosmic significance as the ultimate light and dark principles.

[4] The number ten is incredibly important to the Shining One, who bears ten wings in his full manifestation and whose Latin-alphabet name (not coincidentally, the Latin alphabet is sacred to him) is composed of ten characters.

Mwynn

Maker forged fal'Cie, from fragments Maker's own. — Analect I, “The Vanished Gods”

Barely referred to except by the hints of hints even in the most hidden parts of the Fabula Nova Crystallis video-games, the majority of our knowledge about this most ancient of deities comes from the 2011 Square Enix video describing the central mythology of the entire setting.

Mwyn is a Welsh word with a dual meaning, the more common of which is neglected by FNC fans, so i will cover the less common first.

Mwyn is an adjective meaning mild, tender or gentle, which alludes to the Deepest Mwynn’s role as Mother to all creation, and particularly in raising Her offspring Shining Bhunivelze (in the Mortal Realm) and Veiled Etro (in the Unseen Realm) and instructing them on their respective cosmic positions as the wellspring of all Matter and the shepherd of all Chaos. Unfortunately, the etymology of this word is unclear, but it might possibly originate from Proto-Indo-european *men- “to think.”

Mwyn also means “ore” or “mineral.” Similar to the hypothetical bhū́mi and vels etymology for the Shining One Bhunivelze, this is relevant to our Deepest Mother Mwynn as the ancestral crystal of every soul and heart and speck of Matter that exists, as far as can be known. The etymology for this word is not much better-attested, though likely ultimately descends from Proto-Celtic *mēnis, meaning the same thing, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-european *(s)mēy(H)- “to cut”/”to hew.” The concept of cutting/hewing crystal is central to the almost parthenogenesis-like method by which fal’Cie (and, indeed, the ancestral mortals born from the Veiled Goddess Etro’s blood) are created, so i ultimately find both definitions of mwyn to be relevant here.

Unfortunately, there is only one depiction of the Deepest Mother available for analysis, but unlike Her chthonic daughter, who is frequently depicted badly wounded, sleeping/comatose or dying, She is depicted with Her body and all Her limbs intact; and within a great tapering double helix, a great disc — likely the universe — lies beneath the soles of her feet. This symbol is ultimately the logo used for the Fabula Nova Crystallis setting as a whole, and it warms my heart to know this long-forgotten Goddess receives some recognition in this form.

In time the gods departed, leaving all by their hands wrought.

Fal'Cie were as Man forsaken, orphans of Maker absconded.

— Analect I, “The Vanished Gods”

i dedicate this etymological analysis to The Dead Goddesses: to my Veiled Infernal Queen, Etro, and to my Deepest Ancestral Mother, Mwynn. We stand guard over your legacies still.

#alterpagan #pop culture paganism #fabula nova crystallis #final fantasy paganism #final fantasy kin #ff paganism #ffxiii #ffxv #fft0 #Lindzei #Etro #Bhunivelze #Mwynn #ffxiii kin #ffxv kin #fft0 kin #final fantasy xiii kin #final fantasy xv kin #final fantasy type 0 kin

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luvkirby4ever · 6 years ago

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Of birds and morons: a look into Mother 3′s most intricate unspoken running joke/motif

Shoutout to @amphibizzy for convincing me to talk about this. There’s so much Mother 3 meta that I want to talk about- maybe next time I’ll make a video essay to spare you all from reading so much >o<

Tldr; Duster and Wess have bird motifs that don’t quite translate over well, making Wess’s mannerisms slightly less harsh in context but outs him as surprisingly superstitious. May be a nod to Japanese mythology, too.

So, a starting point. Did you know that at beginning of chapter 7 after Ionia joins you (still tied up at this point) that if you go back and talk to Wess he says something rather strange?

For clarity, the entire original conversation reads "Washi no inemuri uranai ni yoreba kyou wa TRIPLE LUCKY da yo. Jishin o motte daikatsuyaku shinasai." which translates as “According to my sleep divinations, today is triple lucky. Go forth with great confidence.”

Weird, right? Since when has Wess believed in something like fortune telling through dreams? Is that why he believed Alec’s dream of Hinawa? And what does this have to do with birds?

Be sure to remember this.

Part 1: Cleaning crew bird boys

So now let’s take a step back and look at the easiest part of all this. In all of Mother 3, there’s only 1 bandana that Flint can equip (the manly bandana that Lighter gave him), otherwise the only characters than can equip bandanas are Duster and Salsa. The bandanas (except the manly one) all have a bird names, with the types being the chick, sparrow, rail (the kana used refers to the water rail, a type of bird), swallow (also a bird), crow, kite (also a bird), and Horus (the Egyptian god whose head resembles a falcon).

Now that’s all well and good, but let’s say that’s not good enough. Wess and Duster’s connection with watching over the Hummingbird Egg seems pretty solid with Duster’s bird bandanas but let’s go deeper.

When Wess snaps, he consistently refers to Duster as “aho” (moron) and “anoaho” (that moron). Which is needlessly cruel, but... also a pun. Yes, that’s right. The game totters around the joke that Duster is bird-brained, through which Wess is the main spark and Duster is the conduit. And for the record’s sake this isn’t me excusing Wess’s actions- I’m making an intricate webcomic about his relationship with Duster and him learning how to be a better person for a reason, after all- but I’ve literally heard nobody else talk about this so I honestly think people don’t know about it.

In Japan, “aho” means “moron”, but it is also the onomatopoeia for a crow’s cawing. There’s a trope known as the “idiot crow” in Japanese media based on this. What will happen is that something dumb will happen and a crow will fly by and caw “aho aho!”. Which means “caw caw” but also means “moron moron”. Thus the joke. So Wess’s “aho aho!”-ing and using “anoaho” makes him sound like an old crow, commentating on Duster’s mistakes.

Will I get banned from the fandom for making a Homestuck “caw caw motherfucker joke with Wess or-?”

This also feeds into Duster being a bird- “aho” (”moron”) is also used in the word “ahoudori” (”albatross”). Which is a bird, of course. And it’s no coincidence either- albatross are known as “idiot birds” in Japan- that’s what “ahoudori” literally translates to.

One more thing that I’ll add to the “Duster’s a bird” pool aside from making a “HEY GUYS LOOK HE’S A FEATHER DUSTER” joke is that his “aho” bird-ness lends him to more “you are ____ type of bird” jokes, which is actually extrapolated by Lighter in game.

In the Japanese version Lighter says “Sugoshi CONDOR? Iya sakatta. Sugoshi hagetaka? Gaahaahaaha.” This translates as “[You’re] a bit condor-ish? No, that’s not it. [You’re] a bit vulture-ish? Gahaha.”

A bit “vulture-ish”? Why does he say that? And why did Mato translate it as going bald? Because it’s another wordplay pun! Much like how “ahoudori” (”albatross”) is literally “idiot-bird”, “hagetaka” (”vulture”) is literally “bald-hawk”. But even more than that, “hagetaka” (a noun) is similar to “hageru”, the verb for “to bald”. Since “hageru” is an ichidan verb, you can conjugate it as “hageta” to say “balded”. And then you tack on “ka” at the end to make the statement a question. So, in short:

Hagetaka=vulture

Hage=bald

Taka=hawk

Hageru=to bald

Hageta=balded

“Hagetaka?”=“Have you balded?”

Hagetaakaa=the “balding eagle” enemy on Mr. Oriander

Damn, Lighter! That’s a choice pun. Now, whether or not he was mostly doing it to make a bird joke, to note that Duster looks balder without an afro, or genuinely comment on Duster’s hairline is anyone’s guess. But hey thanks for the bird fodder Lighter!

Part 2: Idiots don’t catch colds

If there’s one Japanese idiom you’ve heard, it’s probably that one. It’s a funny little superstition- the idea that you’re so dumb that your brain lacks to capacity to get a cold- but surprisingly it may be a belief by which Wess operates. And yes, this still has to do with birds! In a roundabout way!

Wess being the type of person to believe in magical dreaming and superstition was a very hard concept for me to process at first after I read that “triple lucky” bit during a Mother 3 playthrough. With the exception of Duster-related things, Wess seems like a fairly understanding and reasonable person: he tells Flint to be careful and consider his family before rushing off to confront the Mecha-Drago, he wants to help search for Hinawa, he’s adamantly opposed to Fassad’s BS and is one of the only villagers to actively oppose him, and he even tells Duster (upon inputting “no” during a dialogue tree in early chapter 2) that Duster can target any hatred or resentment he may have towards him, since by Wess’s logic that doesn’t matter as long as their mission succeeds.

So if anything he’s a bit crass and willing to sacrifice his own pride/comfort/personal relationships for the greater good, but his convictions are strong and seemingly grounded in his own sense of justice and logic. Which is why I always took him as someone who wouldn’t believe in PSI, magic, or anything supernatural like that. But since he *does* seem to believe in that sort of thing, let’s break down what we know:

Wess refers to Duster as a moron

Duster’s IQ is often tied with Boney’s for lowest party member IQ

Wess tells Kumatora in chapter 3 that “morons like that don’t get hurt or sick”

Duster canonically doesn’t catch fevers while Kumatora and Lucas do

In Japan, there’s the idiom “idiots don’t catch colds”

Wess claims to have dreams with fortune telling powers

Says Lucas will have a “triple lucky” day

Lucas proceeds to successfully pull 3 out of the 7 needles before the chapter is over

It’s almost as if Wess wants Duster to be a moron, because superstitiously Duster would be safer that way. Hm. It’s also strange that Wess almost seems magical, which may have legitimately been viable at some point since Wess was planned as a playable character for a long while (Therefore he could have been a PSI user with thunder attacks to replace his bombs). There’s an Earthbound 64 screenshot of Wess being alive while Duster is fainted and even all the way up through Mother 3 you can still access data suggesting Wess was a normal party member from the debug room (I could make a whole post on that- you can use a glitch to pull up all of his stats except HP and PP).

So Duster may be a bird and Wess an old, superstitious crow with maybe some sort of ambiguous connection to magic... but so what? Well,

Part 3: It’s Yo-kai time! (Yatagarasu, Kotengu, and Karasutengu)

This is a much more speculative section, though I try to be reasonable.

You know, I skimmed over the fact that Duster’s final and best bandana is the Horus Bandana, named after the Egyptian deity with a falcon head. Horus’s right and left eyes represent the sun and moon, respectively. His left eye (the moon one) was injured in a fight, explaining the moon’s phases. Funny, considering that Duster also has a left side injury.

But perhaps Horus isn’t the only ancient deity that we can talk about. I propose the most compelling case, Yatagarasu:

(He’s the bird sitting atop the bow)

Yatagarasu is the Japanese name of a myth that originated in China. He’s a 3-legged crow that is representative of the sun. Specifically in Japan, he represents the will of heaven and divine intervention. He symbolizes guidance, as well as rebirth after tragic stuff like battle/war.

Yatagarasu is prominent enough that there’s a Yu-gi-oh card and a Persona based on him too, which is pretty cool. But even cooler is that he sounds a lot like what the Egg of Light, Wess, and Duster were responsible for. The Egg was responsible for the rebirth of their lives for the citizens of Tazmily. And Wess and Duster’s task to protect the Egg for reasons they don’t understand for the sake of a village that doesn’t appreciate their work seems like they’re doing god’s work, so to speak.

An important thing about Yatagarasu too is that it defies the normal Japanese superstition that crows are bad luck. Yatagarasu is a harbinger of good. I’m not sure if any of this was intentional or not, but I think comparing Duster, Wess, and the Egg of Light to it is a pretty solid theory.

So let’s briefly skim over Kotengu and Karasutengu, which are lesser Tengu with bird-like faces. (For my own reference there’s really good write ups here and here about them.) For the most part the important thing is that they are bird/crow yokai, but one intriguing thing I found is that Kotengu is that they tend to live like hermits (like Wess and Duster), carry items/weapons stolen from humans (the thief aspect), and collect magical items (the thief tools).

Conclusion:

So do I think Wess and Duster are supposed to represent bird tengu? I don’t know! Maybe not completely deliberately, but I definitely believe in the strength of the bird motifs (especially crow Wess). I had drawn a silly little picture about it 2 years ago for Inktober, in fact...

Whatever the case, I hope someone out there appreciates the info dump. There’s a lot of Mother 3 stuff I’ve examined meticulously so that my Mother 3 webcomic, DutyBound, can be the best it can be. Sometimes there’s so much info I want to share but nobody who will listen, though!

So if anyone ever wants to hear some more crazy in-depth Mother 3 meta, I’m your guy >.<

#mother 3 #wess #duster #meta #long post #egg of light

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lakelake2-blog · 6 years ago

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LTC Core Wallet

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Looking with this number of customers about the respective subreddits, Litecoin�s community is only right behind Bitcoin and Ethereum. Litecoin can make good progress at terms of merchant re-homing with point associated with selling, merchant settlement gateways in addition to banking services via Coingate, Coinpayments, Coinify, Coinbase Trade, Gocoin, Paybear, and so forth Thanks to its similarity along with Bitcoin with the main program code being essentially often the same, Litecoin could likely piggyback from r and d discoveries achieved by the Bitcoin community. Weaknesses Because the idea is a fork regarding Bitcoin, Litecoin does not necessarily need unique and/or superior capabilities compared to various other blockchains. Many consider Litecoin as a test out networking of Bitcoin in addition to for that reason, a lot of improvements signing up to Litecoin will also be implemented inside Bitcoin as well (SegWit is an example). When this might add more features to Litecoin the fact that that otherwise will not appreciate, it likewise makes the idea less most likely to have superior attributes exclusive only to Litecoin, making this difficult for you to standout. As a retail store of value, Litecoin declines at the rear of Bitcoin significantly throughout terms of business deal volume level and brand popularity, without having any major differentiating features. As some sort of medium of exchange, Litecoin had a great benefits against Bitcoin throughout the early years mainly because it has faster confirmation time, yet the newer technology blockchains are even faster. The benefit Litecoin has versus the modern blockchains will be in merchant usage. Coating 2 solutions are created which arguably is much better intended for small purchases as a result of personal privacy and speed. Super Market, which was launched previously in 2018, already provides over 3, 600 nodes. Should it become prosperous, paying together with Litecoin is usually even much less compelling. Litecoin is backed with the Litecoin Foundation which does certainly not have a lot of resources (see their best and newest fiscal statements: https://litecoin-foundation.org/2018/07/unaudited-financial-statements-2018-05. Realization Entire Rating: B We have now a neutral view on Litecoin because although Litecoin likes a large community holding up typically the coin, there is usually no technical capabilities special to it. Along with dependable coins and level 3 solutions becoming more together with more well-known, Litecoin�s benefits proposition as being a sound channel of trade diminishes. When Litecoin works in changing certain attributes, those capabilities will be copied for you to Bitcoin soon, the same as just how SegWit was completed. When the upgrade falls flat, then it would in a wrong way impact typically the cryptocurrency. Therefore, going ahead, many of us consider Litecoin would likely not have any major unique advantages that may differentiate itself from all other cryptocurrencies.

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sqgworld · 7 years ago

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30 Day Watcher Challenge: Day 11

Prompt list by @ohyashas

11. Companions: Tell us about your Watcher’s opinions on their inner circle! Do they recruit all of the available companions? Do they do all of their quests? Are there any that your Watcher is particularly fond of/hostile towards? Do their opinions towards any companions change during the game or their personal quests?

Right, let’s just go through the companions in the order we meet them, White March included, shall we? I’ll be keeping this as spoiler free as possible, though there will be hints at how the companion quests end. Also, yes, all the companions were recruited.

Under the cut, this post is looooooong.

Aloth: Their introduction to each other was certainly... unique, shall we say. Ninleyn found himself very amused with the entire situation before he convinced the drunkards to back off. And though Aloth seems a bit too eager for Ninleyn’s company after he recounts what had happened at Cilant Lîs, they grow to be very good friends over time. They grow so comfortable with each other, in fact, that by the end of the journey it was not uncommon to see the two turn their heads towards each other and either of them whispering something snarky that would make the other smirk in return. At the revelation in the beginning of Act III, Ninleyn can only look at Aloth with empathy; his soul was once in a similar position as the slightly younger wood elf and so he can’t bring himself to be angry.

Edér: “Seventeen and a half.” And Ninleyn thought his encounter with the wizard had been strange. They’re initially a little sceptical towards each other, though not in any hostile way; they’re just not quite sure what to make of each other. But after enough shows of genuine concern on both parts all of that disappears. They quickly discover that they have similar senses of humour, and Ninleyn enjoys the more simple times he spends with Edér, the air sometimes silent filled with the smell of the smoke emitting from the meadow folk’s old, trusty pipe; sometimes filled with quick quips or pleasant conversation. When Ninleyn cannot help Edér find peace the way he had hoped he could, he feels immensely disappointed in himself, and has trouble facing the man for a while. They get over it pretty quickly, though.

Durance: Their relationship is a bit strained, as is to be expected. They are not actively hostile towards each other, at least Ninleyn is not hostile towards the priest, but the continued questioning, the avoidance behaviour does irk the hunter quite a bit. Why was the ugly old man supposed to travel with him? What did he have against Watchers? Halfway through his journey Ninleyn has concluded that the gods really do hate him for his blasphemy and so have decided to torture him both with unending nightmares and this infernal priest. But by the end of their trek, Ninleyn finds himself sympathising with Durance in his anguish. A part in both of them, no matter how small, suddenly understands what the other must be feeling. They’re still not friends, by any means, but there is suddenly a mutual understanding that remains until they part.

Kana: Oh, Ninleyn likes him. Unconditionally. Sure, he’s a bit too much on the gaping-at-things-in-amazement side of things for Ninleyn to handle sometimes, but Kana is cheerful and curious and sometimes that’s all the wood elf needs to cheer up. Many long conversations are spent going back and forth with questions: “What was your birth village like?” “What’s that scroll you’re reading there?” “What’s it like to have your soul be bonded to a lion?” “Hey, can you teach me how to read?” Kana’s a bit surprised at that last one, but agrees with a cheerful grin. A heartbroken Kana is not what Ninleyn wants to see, even if they have only known each other for a short time, so when Kana’s quest for the Tanvii ora Toha ends, Ninleyn does all he can to console his new friend.

Sagani: Hunter meets hunter, what can I say? She’s sceptical at first, of course, wouldn’t you be if you’d already been swindled by a so-called Watcher? Still, there’s an immediate recognition of each other in their meeting, rangers and hunters as they both are, and all throughout the journey there lingers an understanding between them that none of the other companions ever quite grasped. They share many a tale of great kills with one another, and both come to see the benefits of the other’s hunting techniques, both learning as they grow. That Sagani then also decides to mother Ninleyn a bit when he doesn’t immediately get up for supper, is not unexpected. When Persoq is finally found Ninleyn stands ready and protective as Sagani tells her former elder all she feels he needs to know. She is thankful to him but all the wood elf does is nod curtly, like it was a matter of course.

Pallegina: At first, Ninleyn is simply amazed at her appearance: tall, strong, and with feathers growing along her hairline. He’d never seen anything like it. He gets over the fascination quickly, however, and Pallegina seems to appreciate that. They quickly begin bonding over their mutual dislike of the gods and have many conversations about how terrible they are. Honestly, they do not interact too much, but they come away liking each other well enough, and by the end of the journey Pallegina trusts Ninleyn’s judgement enough to let him guide her words as she negotiates the trade deal.

Hiravias: Their first impressions of each other were mainly related to smell: “Well, he’s been on the hunt for a long time.” “Hm, he smells a bit like cat.” They bond initially over their similar encounters with the Seeker God, Ninleyn expressing that he understands why Hiravias made the choice he did as regards his faith. But they quickly devolve into juvenile bantering back and forth, spewing stupid comments at one another like they breathe air: constantly. Ninleyn was always very much of the opinion that people’s opinions of the gods were their own affair, and the same goes for Hiravias in his final moments of ideological struggle.

Grieving Mother: This is another relationship that is hard to pinpoint. Throughout their travels, Ninleyn goes from being intrigued by her, to sympathetic for her profession, to nearly enraged at her actions. She is a good woman, he can sense that, but what she has done... just remember that Ninleyn has a reputation for honesty in-game and that he is very dedicated to not concealing the truth from anybody, even if they so wish it. He does like the Grieving Mother, however, on a personal level, and her dedication to the lives of others is one he enjoys witnessing.

Zahua: Ninleyn thinks he’s good fun and an intersting man, though his nose does not appreciate the savannah folk’s lack of bathing. Still, Ninleyn has never met anyone from Ixamitl before – which was frankly a miracle with how much he had travelled – so he takes the opportunity to learn as much as he can. Ninleyn sympathises very much with the loneliness that Zahua expresses, not through words, but through tone of voice when he talks about his lost home; the hunter knows what that feels like, to an extent, though nowhere near as potently as Zahua, he suspects. Fulfilling one’s ascribed purpose is not always easy, Ninleyn knows this very well as he refused the one ascribed to him, but he still does his best to help Zahua achieve what he had always been told he should; to bring peace to the old man, maybe, he wasn’t quite sure.

Devil of Caroc: No immediate problems with her, Ninleyn thinks she seems fair enough, if a little hotheaded. She is also uncommonly intrigued with his abilities, which does admittedly freak him out a bit the first time he finds those lifeless eyes staring at him so intently. He does feel a great amount of sympathy for her current condition, having almost had his soul torn out himself by that bîaŵac in Cilant Lîs. He doesn’t express this however, he gets that that’s not what she needs from other people. He also easily understands her desire for revenge, and though he finds the final decision hard to make, what must be done must be done...

Maneha: Another person that Ninleyn likes right off the bat. She’s good fun, always up for a bit of fun and Ninleyn is almost always willing to comply. But he quickly gets the distinct feeling that there is more to Maneha’s search for the Abbey than she lets on. He doesn’t press the issue, however; everyone has their own reasons for being here, very few of those reasons being altruistic. When Maneha does ultimately entrust him with her secret he promises to help however he can. And when they finally reach the Abbey of the Fallen Moon and Maneha is confronted with the choice that might change the course of her life, Ninleyn leaves her to it, with only a few words in warning.

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wendyalice-archive · 7 years ago

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Remember how historical Liszt entered a depression he never left when wagner died because he loved his son-in-law. Remember when loid Liszt made only two comments about her relationship with wagner and both were negative. God that could have been such a great story line but nope

So I didn’t know until this ask that Liszt was a fan of Wagner???? because most of my knowledge in this stuff is a mixed fruit salad: sometimes there’s too much melon and not enough of anything else

-The Melon is Scriabin–

IN EITHER CASE

So I’m starting to wonder if it’s more popular to talk about Wagner and Liszt not liking one another???? Because this is not the first time a Classical Composer anime/manga just sort of mentions offhandedly that they’re related through Wagner’s marriage to Liszt’s daughter and never mentions that Liszt and Wagner were even friendly (looking at you Classi9)

Like Okay I swear I remember reading Liszt wasn’t happy about the marriage because Wagner and Cosima didn’t tell him about it HE WAS TOLD ABOUT HIS OWN DAUGHTER’S WEDDING IN A NEWSPAPER and I swear I was told somewhere Liszt had been livid

But I just quickly read up on this and two things

1) Liszt and Wagner were super buddies!!!! But I guess that waned rather unfavorably over their lifetimes

2) Can we talk about Hans Von Bulow catching his wife, Cosima, in bed with Wagner and literally letting her have THREE children with him and then when she wants to get a divorce, after some back and forth, he’s like “you are in love with a higher being than me, a mere mortal, and I applaud you. Go, be merry.”

Like holy fuckballs, Classicaloid I get why maybe you were worried to get into that but WHY DIDN’T YOU CAN YOU IMAGINE WAGNER BLUSHING AND DYING OVER HEARING WHAT A TERRIBLE MAN HE WAS AS LISZT GIVES HIM THE BULLET POINT LIST OF ALL THE STUFF HE DID AND HAS DONE

(”My daughter!” Liszt says, too jovial to sound properly despondent, “And did I mention how you screwed over a poor theater owner and his wife?”

“Hopefully not at the same time,” Chopin says, swiping left and then right on his tablet before tapping at the glass screen rhythmically. He’s been on a Rhythm Game kick apparently, Kanae doesn’t question it.

Wagner groans, covering his face yet is unable to cover the redness peeking out from golden curls, his poor ears like two, shining red beacons.

Kanae hurries to his side and tries to come to his rescue, “Come on! Wa-kun isn’t like that! He’s a proper and respectable young man!”

“I don’t knooooow~!” Mozart adds in as he skates by, practicing on one foot and then the other, “The way he looks at your friend in the glasses tells me he hit puberty early~!”

Wagner shoots him the dirties look he can must from the spaces between his fingers as Kanae’s left eye twitches.)

But the only other thing I have is like, I honestly feel you and this is probably one of the biggest criticism of Classicaloid I am torn on. I do feel that their episodes are the best when they do connect back to their historical selves, but so much of the show has been about the Classicaloids moving past or trying to. With this new life they can leave behind the painful stuff of their pasts and with these new perspectives they can move past who they were. Plus, let’s be fair, some of the composers have very, let’s just say, adult aspects of their lives and weirdly enough, if I recall this right, this show is like a Age 7+ esque show for Japan over there? I know, boob cake for kids but like, ratings are different in Japan.

Though it would have been nice because, well, it’s a weird thing for the show to skip out on because they seem to like referencing how the Composers felt about each other in their last life and how that translates into their new one

#thetruerarkher #Classicaloid #I definitely want to write a whole story where Liszt reminds everyone of the dumb shit they have done in the past #and Laughs because they try to do the same to her but she's like YEAH AND IT WAS FUN AND I HAD SEX WITH EVERYONE IT WAS GREAT #Liszt being confident and proud of how great she was like SIGN ME UP

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theajjf · 4 years ago

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It Ain’t Satsuzai… But Then Again - by Jay Drew

New Post has been published on https://www.ajjf.org/it-aint-satsuzai-but-then-again-by-jay-drew/

It Ain’t Satsuzai… But Then Again - by Jay Drew

The phrase “What’s in a name?” gets bandied about, usually in regard with ancestry or history, if you will. Does the surname Smith indicate that somewhere in your family tree there was a blacksmith – undoubtedly toiling under a spreading chestnut tree? The name game gets far more convoluted when we throw in a foreign language. At Camp Kodenkan in 1978 Professor Fisher provided me and others a recipe for Okazaki Liniment. No name other than Okazaki Liniment was offered at the time. Somewhere, the grapevine hinted, there was another name for the massage oil – Satsuzai. Or was it Satsusai with an “s” rather than a “z?” Eric Pietrelli’s seminal paper on the subject gave a small pause for confusion with the artistic font he used on his cover sheet. Was the 6th character a “z” or an “s?” Well it didn’t match the two other characters that looked like an “s” so it must be a “z.” Once you got into the paper and read the content, it was settled – it was a “z.” We now had a far more interesting name than liniment, we had SATSUZAI, and it was our secret sauce for massages!

But there was a small problem. When some upper rank members of the AJJF took a class from Sensei Keith Okazaki he informed them that the Okazaki family never used the name satsuzai, they called it “Bug Juice.” So where did the name originate?

I had the advantage of starting this investigation in 2019 that others did not – the world wide web. When you plug satsuzai into search engines, your results pretty much end up with links to AJJF / Danzan Ryu pages that discuss Okazaki liniment, but you generally don’t find links outside of that world. I did, however, get a hit on a scanned document from the War Department, dated 1945 (TM 3-48 1). This was a listing of Japanese to English words. I downloaded the document and did a search for satsuzai. After a few moments of CPU cycles, the screen showed the highlighted word satsuzai with the word liniment after it. Huzzah, I had found a magic secret decoder ring. But I was curious as to why the American military would know this, but seemingly no one else? And then I notice that I was in the “T” section of this ad hoc dictionary and that there were two letters preceding the highlighted satsuzai, they were “t” and “o.” The word in the dictionary was not satsuzai, it was tosatsuzai.

Plugging tosatsuzai into the web search engines now gave hits in Japanese to English dictionaries and behold the translations they offered – liniment. But one hit was more interesting than the others: “An English-Japanese Dictionary of the Spoken Language,” available on Google books. The first edition was compiled by Ernest Mason Satow and Ishibashi Maskata, in 1875. The online version is the 3rd edition, dated 1904. As the title suggests, it lists English words first and then the Japanese equivalent. In this document, “satsuzai” is found twice, once as satsuzai and once as tosatsuzai. In this dictionary liniment is translated to satsuzai. It’s the first occurrence encountered in this dictionary that is quite interesting. That first instance is found as tosatsuzai and the English word linked to tosatsuzai is embrocation. The illuminating thing is the definition of the word embrocation:

“the liquid or lotion with which an affected part is rubbed or washed; a kind of liniment.”

Thus, tosatsuzai is not just some liniment, it’s a special type of liniment for rubbing!

The kanji in this dictionary is a scanned document. The resolution of the kanji is too poor to make a definitive comparison to modern Japanese-English dictionaries.

I did have a little fun with this newly found morsel of knowledge. At the 2020 AJJF National Convention I approached Professor George Arrington – a great researcher of everything Danzan Ryu and I mentioned the word satsuzai. George’s quick (and possibly correct) response was “no such word.” I then put on my Morpheus overcoat and said “What if I told you there was a word called tosatsuzai?” He immediately brought forth modern technology to bear on the matter – he searched the web via his phone. His audible response of his search result is not suitable for this paper. Suffice to say he was bemused. So where did satsuzai come from?

I consulted with my brother in law, who is a translator in Japan, and he suggested that perhaps some folks were hearing it incorrectly and writing down what they heard, or that satsuzai – tosatsuzai was akin to y’all and you all, a contraction.

But then again…

I have found the word satsuzai associated with the word liniment in a few places apart from the Danzan world. The War Department published two technical manuals TM 30-481 and TM 30-482 and you will find satsuzai (without the “to” prefix). It is listed as liniment on page 604 of TM 30-482 and with various combinations such as sekken satsuzai (soap liniment), on page 622. The trouble here is that it also lists satsu as liniment on page 603. A couple of the entries have kanji associated with the listing, but the scanned documents do not provide enough detail to render them above chicken scratching. Bear in mind that it was an army document that led me to pursue the word tosatsuzai as the Japanese word for liniment. Neither TM 30-481 or TM 30-482 lists tosatsuzai.

A respected dictionary “The Original Modern Reader’s Japanese-English Character Dictionary,” by Andrew Nathaniel Nelson, does list satsuzai as liniment on page 453 and the kanji is readable and it matches what is found on online kanji dictionaries. And if one believes that Andrew Nelson’s work is credible (it is), satsuzai is a legitimate word. For added confusion though, on page 277 of his work you will find tomatsuzai, which is defined as liniment-ointment on the same page you find tosatsuzai as liniment.

Since Keith Okazaki stated that the family did not use the word satsuzai, you couldn’t say it was a private/proprietary name unknown to the outside world. Yet modern online dictionaries do not seem to recognize the word satsuzai. The War Department recognized both tosatsuzai and satsuzai, depending on which publication. A respected published dictionary recognizes both satsuzai and tosatsuza,i as does a turn of the century (1904) dictionary.

Perhaps satsuzai was a colloquial term that fell into disfavor, or tosatsuzai has a more pedigreed history that those who write online dictionaries prefer. I do say that tosatsuzai’s translation to embrocation has an old-time sophistication, with which I have become enamored.

How did we in the Danzan community start using the name Satsuzai? It may simply be someone asked, “How do you say liniment in Japanese?”

What do I now label my bottles of embrocation? Bug Juice. It has fewer letters than Okazaki Liniment or Tosatsuzai and chews up less tape on my P-Touch labeler. If y’all come up to me and say Satsuzai I might say you’re 2/3rds there or I might let it go. After all, I said it for over 40 years and old habits are hard to break.

What should you call it? I say dealer’s choice. I am reminded of what my father once told me: “Call me anything you want except Late for Dinner”.

For some more fun, sometime ask me about how to make Okazaki Liniment / Bug Juice / Tosatsuzai / Satsuzai. I know of 4 different recipes and when I mix it, I do a substitution from what I was originally taught. That makes it five different ways that I know on how to make it.

And now – The Pictures (or graphics if you prefer):

Japanese:

Tosatsuzai : Kanji: 塗擦剤 Kana:とさつざい

Kanji information for 塗 Nelson # 1124 On-yomi: to Meaning: paint, plaster, daub, smear, coating

Kanji information for 擦 Nelson # 2025 On-yomi: satsu Meaning: grate, rub, scratch, scrape, chafe, scour

Kanji information for 剤 Nelson # 5424 On-yomi: zai Meaning: dose, medicine, drug

Chinese:

塗 Mandarin Pronunciation is tú- defined as paint, smear, apply (as in makeup)

擦 Mandarin Pronunciation is cā – defined as wipe, scrub, rub, scour; brush

剤 Mandarin Pronunciation is jì – defined as dose

Back to Kiai Echo March 2019 – February 2020

#Kiai Echo Articles

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katsu-sauce · 7 years ago

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Tanaka Minami WUG Blog: 8/16/17

Title: Jimemi~(虎>ω

Hello, it’s Minami! Lately I’ve had the privilege to record a wonderful song! I’m so glad to have completed it! I really want everybody to listen to it as soon as possible! I can’t stop all this excitement!

The latest chapter of Scorching Ping Pong Girls! It’s being serialized in Tonari no Young Jump but the last chapter with Ariga-chan! She was so cool that I got goosebumps! I really hope it gets animated again so everybody can watch it!

It’s summer vacation time now! Although the Obon Festival holiday has already passed… I wonder where everybody else went? When I was a student, I used to stay over at my grandmother’s house for a while and play games with my cousin. I remember riding my bicycle along the rice paddy roads too~

Putting aside all that nostalgia, I went bowling with the cast of Assassination Classroom! ***TL Note: Minami voiced Okano Hinata in Assassination Classroom

I-i-it was lots of fun!

It was the best! Back then my scores used to be filled with gutter balls, but… This time around I kept on getting spares, and by some miracle I got a strike! I was so happy!!! Next time I hope to get a score over 120! Later that day we had dinner which was so delicious!

I’m glad we were able to keep up with each other share our stories with each other ever after we finished recording for the series. Those days back then with Assassination Classroom were really great. I was so nervous back then, but I’m so glad to have gone through such a meaningful experience.

So I heard that #OurHolyGrailWar was trending on Twitter. Some time ago we did a group pull in FGO including Kana Ueda and Mafia-san. During that time I was the first to pull Caster Nero, heheh. I usually do pulls by myself but it was really pleasant doing it together with other people. I don’t have a Twitter account, so I was really grateful that Takahashi Rie-san could put out my gacha pulls! I’m thankful.

So the result was Caster Nero, 2 Fran-chans, 2 Nobus, and a bunch of event craft essence. Umu, I got the whole rotation. As soon as I pulled Caster Nero, I could feel the entire room shaking because of Kajita Mafia-san lol. Even though I rolled Nobu multiple times, I could only draw Nito just once…

Before I knew it I had already done 20 ten rolls since the first day of the event and max leveled Nito as soon as I could. In total during the group pull, we had 10 Sheets Nito pulled. But then overnight, Bun-san had drawn 5 Nitos (You did it!) Also, when Abe-san got Waver, he sent it to Mita-san. Kana-san just got Holmes. And Shimazaki couldn’t really get anything… Overall it was such a chaotic but fun time! I was pretty happy!

I got Nero to NP lvl 2! Woooow, kids these days sure grow fast! However, I still haven’t given up on getting my Nito to Noble Phantasm level 5! I’ll report it as soon as I do! I’m looking forward to the second part of the event! I hope you all enjoy it too!

Now then, on the 11th I went to the Rara Maji event at Summer Comiket! I was so glad to see lots of Tuners there! I love Tsubasa! Quite a few people told that she was their oshi! I also got her t-shirt! So many people tried pulling for Yukata Tsubasa, I could feel their overflowing love!

So when looking at Tsubasa’s story… There’s some part of her that even I’m still not aware of. Hurry up Tsubasa’s story! Is how I feel lol. I was glad to have talked a lot about the game. Thanks for sticking around during the hot weather! Please continue supporting Tsubasa-chan!

And then on the 13th, was WUG’s 4th Live Tour in Oomiya!

I really love our white one piece dresses. Whenever we did spins it’d go “HIRA HIRA~~~!” Occasionally I’d get blown away a little lol.

It was our 2nd time there but I was so glad so many people came! Yup yup, after going through so many venues I can see everybody quite clearly now. In the past I was really frantic about myself and I couldn’t get a good view of everyone. With that in mind, I tried relaxing a little more at lives. Yoppi, on the other hand, told me that it’s very unlikely for me not to cross eyes with anybody at a live lol.

At the Oomiya performance I felt the audience even more. I want to try my hardest at lives and have everyone enjoy it! I’ll do my best! And that’s that!

So this time around a new gacha has started! Granblue Fantasy Swimsuit gacha! There’s Swimsuit Diansa along with Linaria too! But anyways there’s a ton of voices on that card! Linaria’s swimsuit is so cuuuute! Everyone is so cuuuuuuute~! My eeyes! Please please try hard to get them!

Another thing! The DVD of “Wake Up Girls, Pajama Party Ganbappe!” was released at Comiket! I wonder if there were some people who bought it?? It has me acting how I usually do outside of work, so I hope you watch it! It sure was fun playing a werewolf lol.

Also the PriPara Christmas Dream Live is out now on DVD and Bluray too! In it I sang in the units Triangle and NonSugar! ***TL Note: Minami’s characters in the series are Pinon (aka Non Manaka), Junon, and Kanon. Those 3 characters make up the entirety of Triangle, while Non Manaka is part of the newer unit, NonSugar.

My performance with Triangle was… Interesting. I was pretty frantic there too, yep lol. It was Non-Sugar’s first time performing so we’re looking forward to more performances! Thank you very much!

Come forth to everyone, Swimsuit Nitocris!

PS Her 2nd swimsuit form is really “dangerous” lol ***TL Note: BLESS THAT SWEET NITO ASS(assin)

#minami tanaka #fate grand order #assassination classroom #ansatsu kyoushitsu #wake up girls #wug #pripara #granblue fantasy

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bemanistyle · 8 years ago

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[REPORT] EDP × beatnation summit 2017 -beatnation 10th Anniversary- & After Party!

What happens when you bring the biggest names in BEMANI together for a special live event and after-party talk show? You get…

EDP × beatnation summit 2017 -beatnation 10th Anniversary-

-INFORMATION-

Originally announced just about 3 months ago on Konami’s BEnama #161, this event was not only a major EDP (Exit Tunes Dance Party), but also a celebration of the beatnation records label’s 10th anniversary!

beatnation records, for those unfamiliar, is Konami’s in-house label that has released various albums, such as BEMANI Original Soundtracks, or artists’ solo albums. The 7 members include:

dj TAKA (Ishikawa Takayuki)

DJ YOSHITAKA (Nishimura Yoshitaka)

L.E.D. (Kakuta Toshiyuki)

Sota Fujimori

Nekomata Master (Sato Naoyuki)

kors k (Saito Kosuke)

Ryu☆ (Nakahara Ryutaro)

In 2007, the group held their first concert: “beatnation summit –beatmania IIDX premium Live-” in two small locations in Japan, with just 600 and 200 visitors able to attend each one. The label, the games’ popularity, and the live industry has grown since then, and this year’s event was a celebration of the past 10 years of the beatnation label.

This year, some special ticket sets were sold, including a Super VIP set, containing a Limited-Edition pen light, a wristband, a ticket to the front section of the concert, and a ticket for the after-party talk event, held the next day.

It also contained a redemption card to exchange for the Official Pamphlet – a roughly $15 premium booklet including artist profiles and interviews, a special talk session, and most importantly, these pictures:

Excellent.

On the day of the event, March 18th, interested parties headed over to STUDIO COAST in Shin-Kiba, located conveniently east of Tokyo Station, in a somewhat quiet industrial part of the city. There was a limit on the queuing for goods this time, so if you wanted to secure a purchase as fast as possible, you had to turn up at 6am for a randomly-numbered ticket, which determined your place in the line that was starting at 8:30, with goods only going on sale starting at 10am. Some fans turned up early, only to receive a disappointingly high number:

【#EDP2017】新木場スタジオコースト到着。整理券配布始まってます。整理券はすべてランダムで配布されてます。

整理券を受け取った後、列成形は8.時半からとのことです。 pic.twitter.com/sfcV3ElMYM

— ぼぶだんぷ@EDPありがとうー！ (@nabarinobob) March 17, 2017

What exactly were they hoping to get? Take a look below at the catalog for event goods:

There were also a large number of CDs available for sale, although those didn’t require waiting in much of a line or arriving early.

For those arriving at a normal time…

Over the river and…

Here we are! STUDIO COAST, also known as the “ageHa” club venue, was ready for the crowds, and a line formed around 10am towards the gachapon capsule machines, where one of 21 different designs was available:

I tried my luck 4 times with the following results:

On a stage area just left of the building, there were 3 massive cut-out stands of the crew, as well as kors k in one of his signature poses, and Ryu☆’s newest album:

Lots of fans enjoyed taking pictures with these until after the event finished! A great new idea for this year’s EDP.

Speaking of new ideas – a very interesting collaboration between EDP and two popular magazines, GROOVE and Sound & Recording, yielded three different items: a custom T-shirt with your choice of various event photos of the concert, a standard T-shirt with 4 choices of colors and logo designs, or a Totebag with those same choices:

After the official goods area had quieted down a bit, I wandered over to take a peek…

This time around, credit cards were accepted in addition to cash and the whole process went extremely smoothly, especially compared to previous events. What sold out first was almost all older goods/back stock, followed by the official event goods:

Some lucky winners (who purchased over 10,000円 worth) got their hands on one of these artist signboards:

色紙当たりましたありがとうございますァアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアアア！！！！ #EDP2017 pic.twitter.com/iMqgzhaJfq

— ○おうめうろこ3/18EDP○ (@Oumeuroko) March 18, 2017

When it was time to head inside, guess who had the #1 ticket in line?! None other than Mr. “Gorilla of the North” – who travelled all the way from Hokkaido for this event:

A1のゴリラさんです #EDP2017 pic.twitter.com/PeJnivv4jB

— おれす@ミリオン��湾公演 (@olasejim) March 18, 2017

After grabbing a drink ticket (which I should have IMMEDIATELY exchanged for a bottle of water but forgot…) I proceeded into the Super-VIP [forefront] area which held around 150 people just in front of the main stage.

The venue for this event was quite nice, with excellent sound, plenty of ventilation and, an amazing stage setup including lasers (By MiU) and smoke/ice.

【EDP×beatnation summit 2017-beatnation 10th Anniversary-】レーザーを担当させて頂きました🌸✨ありがとうございました！！皆様お疲れ様でした(∗ ˊωˋ ∗)♡🔥楽しかった😂❤️10周年おめでとうございます✨💓 #EDP2017 pic.twitter.com/c4Gnlcciwt

— みゆう ♡ MIU (@miuchapa) March 19, 2017

Just before curtain time, we were lucky enough to get a great shot of the rare 北のゴリラ in his natural habitat:

Meanwhile, backstage, the artists and other performers were having a fun time:

The 4thは仲良いんです@RyutaroNakahara pic.twitter.com/NM8WzVYBFq

— κ ø ® š κ (@S2TB_korsk) March 18, 2017

かなたんさんとOSTERさんと☆楽屋にハートのベッドが！！ pic.twitter.com/JuD0gpFYcB

— 星野奏子 (@hoshino_kanako) March 18, 2017

MC P*Light & RoughSketch #EDP2017 pic.twitter.com/ohFTz29pZh

— P*Light (@P_Light) March 18, 2017

-ANOTHER FLOOR-

Before the Main Floor (stage) started, the Another Floor (with an amazing line-up) got started in a separate area, with none other than beatmania IIDX Pro-player DOLCE. as the opening act:

今回ANOTHER FLOORの一番手でかけさせてもらったセットリストはこちら！改めてめちゃくちゃやらせてもらってすみません＆ありがとうございました！！！楽しかった！！#EDP2017 pic.twitter.com/IEaVKFhgyo

— dolce_iwate (@dolce_iwate) March 19, 2017

Massive New Krew also brought their latest hit “HADES” to the floor:

ええやん。MNK久しぶりに来たけど、寿司前より良くなってんちゃう？ pic.twitter.com/Xlv6M3Lqgc

— ヒゲドライVAN Gt. 社長 (@aida_yusaku) March 18, 2017

MASAYOSHI IIMORI also gave a special performance there:

今日はこんな感じでした pic.twitter.com/Fgk9EIrgV6

— MASAYOSHI IIMORI (@masayoshiiimori) March 18, 2017

Unfortunately for many fans hoping to see their favorites on the Another Floor, the timetable overlapped with the Main Floor. While the passage between the two areas was open, moving from your initial spot would mean you aren’t getting back there. Most everyone in the VIP area with me stayed there the entire time. If I had just bought a normal ticket however, I’d probably go back-and-forth to catch all the best moments of both. My only gripe is the overlap of the times.

-MAIN FLOOR & SETLIST-

The main stage heated up at 3:30pm, with an excellent opening act by kors k! His set included:

Gimme a Big Beat

Insane Techniques

M4K3 1T B0UNC3

the shadow

Playing With Fire

Rave Cannon

Uh-Oh

smooooch ・∀・ (2014)

Super Rush

gigadelic (2017)

トップバッターでした！ありがとうごさいました、最高に楽しかった！#EDP2017 pic.twitter.com/XUyEDp13mQ

— κ ø ® š κ (@S2TB_korsk) March 18, 2017

Next up, Sota Fujimori brought back some classic tracks along with some new ones for a high-energy set that blew my mind, finishing with a special guest appearance by Camellia:

Rise’n Beauty

Back Into The Light (Feelings Won’t Fade)

Fly Above

In Heaven

Transport

TECH-NOID

VOLTEXES IV

ANDROMEDA

GLITTER

Rock The Club

Entrapment

aura

VOLTEXES III

New Decade

New Century

紫陽花 -AZISAI- (feat. Camellia)

ラーメン屋「藤森」の店主がいた #EDP2017 pic.twitter.com/Ejd3aCSPt0

— P*Light (@P_Light) March 18, 2017

After that, a hardstyle all-L.E.D.-G set got the crowd even more pumped up!

鴉

THE DEEP STRIKER

RISING FIRE HAWK

DAWN OF FALCON

BITTER CHOCOLATE STRIKER

After the last song, everyone knew what was coming next. As L.E.D. quickly changed clothes, everyone switched their penlights to pink, for Prim‘s set, including an unexpected twist!

Primちゃんも今回も征服成功したとの事で満足して星へ帰られました✨ pic.twitter.com/mdQSRiLjY1

— moimoi (@MAYUMIMORINAGA) March 18, 2017

†渚の小悪魔ラヴリィ～レイディオ†

恋する☆宇宙戦争っ！！

キャトられ♥恋はモ～モク (player defeats Yellow Rapika & Prim collapsed)

共鳴遊戯の華 (White Lopica sings, channelled through Prim’s body)

轟け！恋のビーンボール！！

A chronicle of the stage events was illustrated by Prim and later sent to moimoi:

Primちゃんからステージの絵コンテみたいなものが送られて来ました😄#EDP2017 pic.twitter.com/f8kd6bdZk1