#eastern WA is just… weird

[daywalking-king]

That’s just western washington, obv none of yall have seen the east (/j)

i love living in western washington. i can literally just get on the ferry

[anghraine]

Perhaps the most purely surreal aspect of the election, btw, is that it actually went pretty great in my state (Washington). I don't even mean standard West Coast results. Washington is sapphire this year.

Harris/Walz are running about 20 points ahead of Trump statewide—currently, they're further ahead here than in Oregon or California. They're winning in Whitman County in eastern Washington and came within a few of points of winning Spokane County. Clark County, which is adjacent to the border with Oregon and contains the Portland suburb of Vancouver WA, can be a lot "swingier" than Multnomah County just to the south (which contains Portland) and a ballot box was literally blown up there to screw with the election results. Clark County worked to get new ballots to everyone affected and Harris is not only clearly winning in Clark, but further ahead than Biden in 2020—leading Trump by nearly 10 points iirc.

One of the few politicians I truly like, my beloved governor Jay Inslee, is stepping down, and had endorsed his Democratic AG, Bob Ferguson. Ferguson is easily winning the state, though not leading as much as Harris is, which is a kind of nice change from so many Democrats (including pretty mediocre ones) doing better than her, even though I've liked Ferguson as AG.

I will say that Ferguson was running against what goes for a good Republican candidate these days—a "moderate" with ties to King County (Seattle) who was not the first choice of the vile Washington GOP, but beat out some far-right assholes in the Republican primaries. For part of the campaign, it seemed like Reichert (the Republican candidate) might be "normal" enough and local enough to conceivably eke out a win, but in the event, Ferguson is ahead by double digits.

Our Democratic senator easily held her seat and also ran ahead of Ferguson in counties like Whitman.

Inslee's acknowledgment of Trump's win includes zero congratulations or unity blather, but instead remarks that Washington State sued the first Trump administration 97 times and won 95 of those cases while he was still president, and we will do it again if we have to (these suits were of course driven by AG Ferguson, now our governor-elect).

For the first time in generations, Washington Democrats actually won every statewide elected office—there are nine of them and the margins of the victories vary a lot, but the GOP failed to win even one, and the state government remains a Democratic trifecta as well.

There were four deceptively-worded, Republican-funded, corporate bullshit initiatives on the state ballot this year. Three are already dead in the water. As Governor Inslee put it, "Washingtonians sent an unequivocal message that they want action on pollution and climate change. Washingtonians also made clear they want to preserve the equity of our tax system with the capital gains tax on the super wealthy. When they or a loved one need long-term care, they want the WA Cares Act to be there for them." Yup!

Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez (a current Democrat in the House) is still leading in the Trumpy WA-3 district, which redistricting only made redder than it was before (when her victory was considered one of the biggest House upsets of the year). She's about three points ahead still.

This may sound like bragging about my state and isn't really meant that way. It feels like existing in a weird capsule because we're still very much in the USA and affected by national politics and we have our own right-wing assholes, of course, but so much about the country we live in is decided thousands of miles away from here, in large part by people who don't seem to share even the most basic sense of reality with most people here. It is a very strange experience to feel so estranged from what's happening in so much of the country.

[loriache]

The world's major cities

So, Kabru copes with stress by reciting important world cities. That's very cute. Let's move on from that character beat, though, and get weird about Lore.

Cities!!

Kahka Brud and Izganda we know - Kahka Brud is the city nearest to the Island, the dwarvern port with a large population of Half-foots. It's also partially built into the ruins of a dungeon, the Brud Dungeon Cluster. That's really neat!

Senshi is from Izganda; it had mines and a large dwarvern community.

Sadena is where Daya is from - it had a dungeon. Her family were dungeon-keepers.

Dozahk is where one of Senshi's previous comrades was from; he's a "city dwarf", the son of metropolitan merchants, and so I assume it's a pretty big city.

They're all on the Eastern Continent.

Kabru doesn't list Bonnario, which is also written on the World Map, on the Eastern Continent, so I guess maybe it's not that important of a city? I don't know if it comes up anywhere in the story or extras, but I'd expect it to if it's on the map. I didn't notice anyone's bio saying they are from there, but I could have missed it.

Merini is the city on the Island, arguably also on the Eastern Continent. And, eventually the name of the country too. ...I know continents are established by agreement and not landmass, but despite what that line from the manga's ending says, I seriously doubt it will get considered a separate continent. It's big but it just doesn't seem that big... it's only my subjective & half assed calculations (in this post) that puts it about the size of Aotearoa or the UK, but I genuinely can't imagine it being so much bigger that it warrants being considered a continent as just one country that's already attached to the Eastern Continent.

Anyway based on grouping all the Eastern continent cities in here:

....I'm going to go ahead and assume this bubble is just cities from the Eastern Continent.

Then, the cities in these bubbles could be from two other continents:

Though I don't know which. He doesn't include Wa, so I'll assume not the Eastern Archipelago. If he's going by proximity, the nearest places to the Eastern Continent are the Northern Continent (where Laios, Falin, and Marcille are from) and the Southern Continent. We don't get any city names for those AFAIK, though.

If anyone has any speculations, I'd be quite curious; I can't really tell what the vibe is of these names, they mostly just sound "fantasy-like" to me. Since this panel is a throwaway joke, the ones that don't come up elsewhere were probably just transliterated literally however, so if they're supposed to sound reminscent of something it would be easy to miss.

Utaya isn't here (not surprising, if I was Kabru and trying to keep myself calm) so it's possible that he isn't listing cities on the Western Continent.

He could also have just started listing with the continent he's on, and the separate bubbles don't mean anything, but A) less fun as speculation-fodder that way; and B) he definitely switched continents at some point or it wouldn't be labelled as "the world's major cities" but rather "the Eastern Continent's major cities" or just "names of cities".

[blazescompendium]

Blaze's Compendium Entry #3: Do not try to steal from Vouivre!

The Vouivre is known to be a Draconic creature from the French folklore. Specifically from the Eastern part of France. The Vouivre is not to be confused with her fellow local dragons such as the Guivre, Wivre or the Melusine. Her differs herself for two key elements: Her almost always feminine humanoid looks (Although, sometimes shes also described as a fierce serpentine dragon) And the jewel in her forehead, called the Carbuncle. This jewel is precious to the Vouivre because it grants her eye sight, and also (according to some sources) heat. It could also be or not be her only eye, depending on the legend.

Vouivres are neutral beings. Generally they don't pick fights with humans, only if provoked or in self defense. Which is fairly common, since the greedy humans try to steal her jewel all the time, which is said to be more valuable than ''any mineral found in any Brazilian mine'' (Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or'')

The jewel received it's name thanks to the Latin world ''Carbunculus'' which meant something like hot coal. That's because, according to the legend, the Vouivre's jewel was hot and bright like hot coal.

It does not help that the Vouivre is usually hoarding lots of gold and treasure in her lairs, which also attracts many unwanted attention. If, the Vouivre needed to fight, fortunately for her she was blessed with such strong flames that she could completely carbonize a human being to ashes. (Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910- Beauquier)

But more often than they would like, the Vouivre would be hunted down during their most vulnerable period: When she had to take off the Carbunkle out of her forehead, and bath or drink water. That's the period she had to protect the Carbuncle, it should not fall into water, it would lose it's fire powers. And although there's few to no sources that state that this would kill the Vouivre, the Faune et Flore de la French Comtee book states at least one instance where removing it for too long would kill the creature. If you consider that the Carbuncle is destroyed after falling into water, it means she would also die.

In most of the tales, the Carbuncle serves as the Vouivre only eye. There's few sources where it is just a jewel embed into the creature's forehead, and in others it was part of a crown she wears. According to some sources as Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or, looking directly to her Carbuncle (or her eyes) would cause confusion, panic and fear, making you completely immobilized.

According to a web page from the Fremch Comtee government, the Carbuncle is ''so valuable that not even all world's gold could afford it.'' This page in question is long dead, but there's some content of it available at the site Blackdrago. Not the most reliable source out there, but at least they saved this page's content. Also saved in Blackdrago, there's also a dead link to an article of the Fremch Comtee government about the origin of the Myth. This page is available at the wayback machine!

Fun fact: Carbuncle is also the name of the infection caused by the Anthrax. Anthrax has its own name meaning ''coal'' (ἄνθραξ) in greek. That´s because the infection causes skin damage that looks like coal. The relation with the Vouivre is probably none, but i thought it was cool enough to put here. Please i can't stress it as much as i want but do not google it!

For those more versed in Mythological beings, demons and mysterious fantastical beings, you may recall the name Carbuncle as another mythical creature from the South American Folklore. The Book of Imaginary Beings, 1975 edition (Jorge Luis Borges) Describes the Carbuncle as a mysterious creature that the 16th century Spanish Conquistadors painted as elusive. A poet-priest called Martin Del Barco claimed to have seen one in Paraguay, and has described it in its 1606 poem ''Argentina'' (If you asked me, it's weird that it was in Paraguay, but was featured in the Poem named Argentina... but, ok.)

The Carbuncle, not only for it's name shared an eerie similarity with the French Vouivre. Martin described it as a ''small animal, with a shining glowing object in it's head, like a glowing coal.'' It's jewel was also sought after, and supposedly very valuable. I wont dive too deep in this creature here and now. The point is that the Vouivre had some similar creatures, even such a distant ''cousin'' as the Carbuncle of South America.

Final Fantasy's interpretation of the (Creture) Carbuncle.

Back to the Vouivre:

The window of time to get the Vouivre in her vulnerable state varies according to the region, or tale. Some say is once a year, or even weekly. The book ''The Drac: French tales of Dragons and Demons'' (Felice Holman, Nanine Valen, Stephen Walker - 1975) Tells about a tale where the Vouivre comes out only once a year. Normally the sources agrees it's when there's an important mass, and the people are too busy to care about the creature. This could be at Easter or Christmass (Christmass would be specially told in the Audrey region). In deeply catholic societies, nobody would flee from the church just to hunt the Vouivre. (Oh boy some did)

In tales from Monthier the Vouivre would come out at the eleventh first midnight bell from the clock, during Christmas night. The common sense is that they are generally very intelligent, that's how they know the perfect timing to be alone.

But also on her weak spot was the fact that the Vouivre had very frequent habits, which could mean that someone smart enough would eventually figure out how to reach her. She also had the ability to stun foes, although i just found one source about this skill in the book Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or' Honestly, she's just trying to be alone, hoarding her treasure and caring for her hygiene. I can relate.

According to the book ''Faune et Flore Populaires de la French Comtee'' The name Vouivre came from the Latin word Vipera, which means viper. Vouivre can also means just ''wyvern'' in a general term, and not specifically this tale. Going by the Indo-European root you get to the word ''Gwer'' which means something warm or hot. From there, the word Wyvern comes from. It was meant to refer a fire serpent, or a type of dragon. This relation with the warmth and heat could also explain the Jewel that the Vouivre has, and the relation of this creature with the fire element.

There's some speculation about her name influencing regional dialects. For instance, the Morvan Dialect Glossary has the word Vouavre. This could mean heat or something wet. If the translation goes for the first option, this could theoretically be another association, or even where the original name of this dragon came from. Morvan is a dialect of the region Burgundy and is a french derivative. But i could not find any translator for this dialect, nor any confirmation this word even exists, so take it with a grain of salt.

She could canonically use agi!

There's a lot of places in Eastern France that bears the Vouivre name, that's how popular the legend was there. Many of those places are described in books such as the ones mentioned above (sources will be in the end of the article) are simply too old, some are not even there anymore. But surprisingly you can use google maps to check, and see that still there are many places with the name out there.

During my research, i also found out there's a french movie about this legend, called La Vouivre (1989). Honestly, it seems pretty interesting. It's about a WW1 veteran who became obsessed with the legend. (Just as did i, when i wrote 40ish pages of research for this text) I will take my time to watch it some day, and i will probably post my thoughts here.

Because their tendency to get mugged by Humans, Vouivres tend to like isolated places, where they can live alone and in peace. This could be old monasteries, old castles, caverns, or deep woods. No matter the source, Vouivres always like to be alone, have regular habits and are (mostly) neutral. Some of those locations in Eastern France are so associated with this creature, that it has either named it or became a symbol of this place.

Take for instance The castle of Vaugrenans. (We will be back to it later) The place was destroyed in the 17th century, and now is just ruins in which people said a Vouivre lived. It got so associated with it, there's a sign near it telling about the legend. In this case, the Vouivre was also interpreted as a creature who controlled, and used snakes. This particular feature can be seen in Kaneko's design of the Vouivre, since she has a snake in her body.

This Picture was taken from Google Maps, you can check by yourself! It depicts the Vouivre from the Vaugrenans Castle ruins.

The Vouivre were also commonly associated with rivers and streams, where supposedly they took their baths and drank water. Some hills, falls and mounds also got associated with it.

At least in one Source they used their feminine looks to seduce the human assailant, and get out of the danger. (Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or').

Most of sources agrees that the Vouivre has bat-like wings, and when flying through the night sky, lets out a flame trail, like a shooting star. The sources like the Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910 states that the creature could reach 2 meters tall.

The book ''The Drac'' Describes some tales of people that tried to actually rob the Vouivre. One man actually succeeded in getting her treasure, but not the Carbuncle. He made home with gold, but ended up dying by a mysterious illness, and the fortune disappeared.

In the Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910 book, there's a legend about a man that succeeded in stealing the Carbuncle and also killing the Vouivre. The man blinded the creature taking the jewel, and had prepared beforehand a pit full of spikes. The man made the dragon fall to her death, and took the Carbuncle. But the thing was so valuable he never managed to sell it, dying without seeing a single coin from it. The treasure vanished not long after his passing.

Another tale from this particular book tells the horrifying story of a poor and hungry family, that ended up trying to steal the Vouivre's treasures to survive. The mother has the not so great idea to invade the dragon's cave with her infant son, while the creature was absent. But they takes too long that the Vouivre gets back before they could leave. In a hurry the mother left the children behind, who got stuck inside the cave when the Vouivre closed it. The mother waited camped in front of the cavern getting help from her neighbors, crying for her son. Exactly one year later, when the Vouivre exited the cave, her children was unharmed and could escape. Honestly, who would invade a dragon's den with a toddler? That's on her.

The legend was also spread from all over Eastern France. Regions such as Burgundy, Niverneeis and Baurbonnais were also prolific Vouivre nests, according to legend.

In the book Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910, the author also compares the Vouivre to two other mythical beings. First: The Basilisk. Some people made this association due to their similar habitats, but the Basilisk being actively violent towards people.

There's a piece direct from page 12:

''...It (The Basilisk) was believed to be close related to the Vouivre. But much more terrible. (...) It inhabited old walls, attics and old houses, and guarded treasures...''

There are some similarities, but those are generic traits of mythological monsters and demons. They could be attributed to any creature, but i found interesting.

The Basilisk, by Kazuma Kaneko.

The other mythological creature discussed in the book that could be related to the Vouivre is the Melusine. Another distant cousin? The Melusine are humanoid creatures, sometimes half fish and half snake. In this book, the author draws parallels to the Vouivre, due to Melusine some times possessing snake-like features.

Much popular in Europe during the 14th century, the myth of the Melusine ended up making appearances in many coat of arms around Europe. Like the Holy Roman Germanic Empire, Escandinavian and the Warsaw City. Although many times treated as a snake, the association with the Vouivre comes from some draconic interpretations. This could be one of the origins, but its unclear.

This was not the only mention of the Melusine relation with the Vouivre. In the book Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or', this also mentioned. They do share similar bodies, but the Melusine lacks the distinct Jewel in her forehead.

The Melusine, as it is portrayed in Shin Megami Tensei: If... by kazuma Kaneko.

There are some surviving records of first hand accounts of people who swear that they saw the creature. According to Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910:

-In 1835 a villager from Jura, in the Dole district was about to go inside a pit where he saw treasure. He supposedly ran away crying in horror and blacked out. He said he had met a Vouivre face to face. Other villagers from that place and time swear they saw the creature as well.

-In 1850 in Augeraus someone actually tried to shoot the thing. According to the account, the demon was naturally unharmed.

Again at the book Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or', There's actual names of People that got involved with the creature, supposedly:

-A couple called Jaquot and Jaquette (There's no way this is real, this is some serious Wario and Waluigi stuff)

-A Man called Nicolas Broreau

According to legend, this man actually survived his encounter while trying to steal from the creature. The creature stunned and seduced him, using her brains to get her jewel back. She even gives him some of her gold, but since he did not made what she demanded, the gold turned into rocks. This was also one of the few instances of sources where the Vouivre had two eyes, and not only the Carbuncle.

Those were the more interesting ones, but there are a lot of cases, and a lot of legends, it's hard to put everything down here. But again, sources will be in the end.

But by far the most interesting story of the Vouivre came from the book Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or'. Here we go back to the castle of Vaugrenans, a chateau in eastern France. We are presented to the owner of the castle, but she was ruined by her beauty and excesses. This turned her into the demon Vouivre, who terrorized the town. She had a son, a knight who fought her to put an end to her destruction. According to this legend, the archangel Michael helped the Knight named George, who ended up killing the Vouivre destroying her Jewel and crushing her with his Horse.

In depression for killing his mother, he asks the Archangel to be punished. Michael burns the man and spread his ashes. He later is reborn as a child again, and was supposedly canonized.

When i first read this story it caught my eye that this is too similar to the Saint George tale, of killing a dragon. The name and everything. This tale could be indeed be a rationalization of the saint's lore. As i said above, this place is indeed known for the Vouivre legend, but there's nothing there indicating that this Saint tale is really associated with it as far as i have gone.

There's also a city in north-western France, called St. Georges du Vievre. This city has a name very closely related to the Vouivre and also depict a Saint George. This village today has less than 1000 people living there, and was first shown in a map in 1164 with his latin name: ''Sanctus Georgus De Wevra''.

Supposedly, Vievra refers to neraby woods called Guevra. This was the name of the place at least at the 11th Century. The name indicates that there was a dragon who ate children living in that place, that according to legend was killed by Saint George. (Probably not the same of his legend, this could be a regionalization of the myth, but all indicates it was just a regular Wyvern) This dragon was a Wyvern, the original meaning of the name Vouivre. Simply a Wyvern. The word could predate Latin, maybe going for more indo-European roots, but honestly it's hard to know.

The emblem of the village is literally Saint George killing a giant snake, which take us back to the original meaning of Vouivre and Wyvern, coming from the Latin word Vipera.

This village, as far as my research has gone, lacks any Vouivre tales or legends. Instead, the name here is merely a recall to its original meaning as the word for viper and Wyvern. This was sourced by the book ''Gentillhomeires des pays de l´eure'' Franck Beaumont, 1999. I've only found articles about it, the book is quite elusive. If you have it, or ever found it let me know!

In conclusion:

As such any local folklore, it's almost impossible to pin down the origins for the myth of the Vouivre. The common theme here is that of ''Risk and Reward'' type of cautionary tale, but also the European fascination with dragons.

Dragon tales were not uncommon at France, and we even already told about the Wivre, Guivre and many others. What makes the Vouivre tales interesting is that she was almost always minding her buisness, when the humans are the ones who cause her trouble. It's also worthy to note how in almost all of the tales there's never a happy ending for those trying to steal from the demon, even when they seems to achieve success in their endeavors to get the treasures from the Vouivre, something goes wrong. It goes to show how some things are just not made for human hands, no matter how much our species try to go over it. There was never pressure to hunt the Vouivre, most of them were not doing anything wrong in their tales, but yet the Humans tried to conquer their power to themselves.

There are many other interesting draconian mythological beings in Europe, and the Vouivre is specially popular in the particular Eastern region of France. It's a good display on how folklore and cultural traditions can influence a community, becoming naming conventions and symbols of that place's history. Today there's many people that fight to preserve this history, and i believed that researching and posting about it would do it's part.

I hope you all enjoyed. Please reblog, like, or interact to the post to spread the Vouivre's tale.

And remember, never try to steal from the Vouivre!

Sources:

Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or''

Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910- Beauquier

The Drac: French tales of Dragons and Demons'' (Felice Holman, Nanine Valen, Stephen Walker - 1975)

About the South American Carbuncle:

The Book of Imaginary Beings, 1975 edition (Jorge Luis Borges)

Note: All the books are in french, and i used software translation to read it. I am not familiar with the French geography, so if i got any place or name wrong, let me know!

[imustbenuts]

personal thoughts about playing JP games in JP vs EN, a lot of weird thoughts that probably won't make sense to many

not a dig at localization or translation or anything, just a word vomit on how im perceiving things.

theres 2 main categories in my head when i play games made by japanese devs. Western Themed, and Eastern Themed.

for Western Theme, games like final fantasy (all of it), some/few entries of fire emblems, no more heroes, and elden ring all fall into this category.

for Eastern Theme, it's games like persona, shin megami tensei, sekiro, sengoku basara, tales of series and RGG games

in my head, games in the Western Themed box are games i find far more enjoyable in english localization or dub, and actually find some of the japanese script to be kind of off putting. the Eastern Theme would be the opposite, games that are far more enjoyable in full JP than EN.

learning japanese has done quite a bit to my brain and the more i learn the more i think, "@_@ oh god im in a weird place where people won't understand me help"

because see, if i try to explain, it becomes weird and very subjective. and one of the main factor is that language is kind of intrinsically tied to culture in my head, which, :v

trying to type it down to explain anyway:

as an example, calling people by titles such as "Lord", "Sir", "Madame", "Knight", works far better for a Western themed game than an Eastern one. like, yes, that makes sense if i think about it, historically and even right now, those terms instantly spring up the images of a medieval knight and societal system in stone castles. cool beans.

but we don't use the word knight for Samurais. this is a whole other thing referring to the Japanese class of people wandering around with swords serving their feudal lords.

and in JP, it works the same. Kishi is used for Knights rather than the word samurai. for Lords, 卿(kyou) is used for English lords, and 殿(tono) is used for JP lords. but the japanese pronouns are still there, with some of the roots just reminding me of how a stereotype in JP media would speak. the -sama suffix is the same, and other words like -chan or anime/japanese rooted verbal tics can totally get in there, pulling me out of the immersion.

its like running face first into "Tis but a flesh wound" in the script - you know that specific root is in monty python, a fully ENGLISH bit. a good example of JP would be running into a cat who says "wagahai wa neko de aru", refering to nastume soseki's book I Am A Cat.

especially in the case of Final Fantasy. with very few exceptions like 7, a lot of them fit better wtih an EN script bc of how much western themed theatrics and setting is packed in there.

as an example, i think i prefer seifer in ff8 for example going "One of these days, I'm gonna tell ya 'bout my ROMANTIC dream!" like a dumbass jock over "itsuka kikasete yarusa! ore no ro~~~~~mantikku na yume wo na!" like a dumbass JP highscooler (which he kind of is, but still not a dipshit jock)

so its really the little things like that. subs not dubs doesnt work for me anymore, im in a very strange place, kupo.

another thing is really, just... the tropes. the deep disconnect between how people behave irl and how anime thinks people behave irl. kind of like how Hayao Miyazaki puts it in 2014,

so, learning Japanese has actually done a weird bit where it's caused me to actually fully understand the JP, meaning when i pick up on the script getting off putting, it gets off-putting.

when people usually go "subs not dubs", its voiced from a sense that the JP voice is better than EN. but as the years go by this isn't really true anymore, some dubs can have serious quality that's unthinkable back in 2010 ffs. i think this is largely bc anglo-speaking audience do not understand JP, and so builds an imagination between the sub and the tone of the voice acting to carry the work.

but just like old ps1 horror games, that imagination is doing a good bulk of elbow greasing.

to explain:

there are times when JP writers puts in an objectively anime trope or thing. especially in the case of FE, where sometimes that it becomes 'ew' to people who aren't hardcore anime nerds. im talking things like the whole big booba onee-chan Camilla and the kawaii imouto/otouto Sakura and Takumi tropes thats kinda there in FE Fates. and the JP version of Anna's S support in Engage and the weird undertones thats going there.

masking it with subs can cause the audience to kind of brush it off as "aaah those silly japanese" or "ok this is just an anime trope". i mean, hell, check some discourse from people who yell about how this is censorship essentially defending it from what is effectively lolicon tropes and it's just. :v

and thats the thing. once that localization or sub barrier is removed, once im hearing actual JP and past any subconscious filter, i fully see the scene in its original form. i would then have a reaction exactly like hayao miyazaki.

having that ignorance kind of protects an audience from just how deep the writers ouroborous'd themselves into the nerd sphere. i kind of wish i had that sometimes. the creep vibes in some original JP scripts makes me want to crawl out of my skin, and there is no way i can explain this to an audience without first sounding like im disparaging the original work, shitting on the writers, and bringing in my personal bias into the conversation.

which, yeah i guess it kind of is. but man. if elden ring can commit to their bit with anime tropes used in a good/interesting/subtle way, then so can every one else.

when i started learning JP to play JP games never to see the light of localization, this was not the experience i expected, tbh.

so in summary, im totally disillusioned to the idea of Original = Best, Localization = Censorship at this point. that rose colored glasses are hanging on by a thread now. kind of wondering what other stuff i'll run into but it's been a real interesting journey that i totally get if people wont understand.

loneliness and language learning goes hand in hand lol

[rialovesrice]

Is that halal?

So, I have to preface this by saying that, not all Arabs are Muslims, and not all Muslims are Arabs. In fact, the country that has the highest Muslim population is Indonesia, which is situated in Southeast Asia. It is also stated that, in Book 4, Grim was given a steamed pork bun to eat, and pork is haram (not allowed) in Islam, thus implying that although Scarabia dorm does have a lot of Middle Eastern elements, students that reside there may not necessarily be Muslims. All that said, lets jump in:

It was tough being the only girl in the all-boys school, but being the only hijabi? Man, Yusra couldn’t catch a break

For one thing, she had to run around doing all sorts of errands for Crowley and show up to class early, while staying on top of her salat (prayers)

Why was that a problem? Let's just say, in a school where all the toilets were for men, having to run all the way back to Ramshackle to take Wudhu for prayers then rush back in time for afternoon classes wasn't exactly easy, especially for someone of her atheletic (or lack thereof) abilities

There was also the problem of her hijab, the most glaring one being, she only had one

ONE hijab, which coincidently had been her ancient, frayed crinkle hijab

It had taken a good two hours, and a whole lot of pleading, for Crowley to give her extra allowance to buy another ONE more

And finally, there was the halal issue

She had yet to find a single halal-certified meat product in that cafeteria, and if she had to make do with eggs and tuna cans for the remainder of her stay, she was going to LOSE it

"Why not just ask someone in Scarabia? I heard most people who come from the Scalding Sands are Muslim", Deuce asked

"Yeah sure Deucey, she should definitely do that. 'Hey there, random stranger I don't know, would you please help me get some halal meat?' ", Ace quickly retorted, and Yusra swore she could feel her migraine grow stronger

That or maybe the heat radiating of the many people in the cafeteria

She could hear the start of an argument coming from Deuce's indignant response, and she couldn't handle another headache

"It's fine Deuce. It's a good idea, but Ace is right, it'll be weird if I just go up to someone and ask them for meat of all things. I think I'll just go get some fresh air instead", Yusra said, as she pushed aside her disappointment of a salad, which Grim quickly pounced on

"More for me then! Nyahaha!", Grim chuckled victoriously, before realising that she had been eating pure vegetables

"Never mind", he grumbled and sat back down with his chicken sandwich

Soon Yusra found herself in the botanical gardens, hoping to bump into a certain carnivore who she could irritate into sharing a space in the shade

Walking around for a while, she spotted someone opening their lunchbox and was about to promptly ignore him-

*"Allahumma baarik lanaa fima razaqtana wa-qina adhaban-nar. Bismillah", was that...

"Thanks for the food Jamil! ", the man with the white turban said before digging into what looked like...

"Um...", she cleared her throat and a few heads heads instantly swiveled in her direction, but she was too hungry to be embarrassed

"Sorry to interrupt, but, is that halal"

(will make a part two soon)

End notes:

This takes place before the events of book four, but after the events of book two.

*this is a common dua said before eating btw

[jira-chii]

The moment the One Piece anime becomes art

(Big spoiler warning for the One Piece Wa no Kuni arc, around the episode 1070 mark of the anime. Yes, I know the manga is better, but what I am about to talk about is a little more special for viewers of the anime, and fans of animation in general.)

For the tldr, this twitter post covers a lot of the things I am about to talk about.

One Piece is great. You don't need me to say it. So I'll cut right to the chase. The moment One Piece transcends being a run-of-the-mill (and sometimes kind of mediocre) anime, and becomes art, is when Gear 5 is introduced.

Is this a hot take? I honestly don’t know. Gear 5 is goofy, it’s weird. It’s so different from traditional mainstream shounen anime. I’m sure it’s an abomination to hardcore Japanese anime purists. 

But it is also a brilliant example of storytelling by using visual animation to its full potential. It weaves together so many complex ideas, and even carries an important message for the anime industry in general.

What do I mean by ‘art’?

Obviously this is a subjective question and I am using the term ‘art’ very liberally. I am actually referring to something called ‘textual integrity’.

Textual integrity is when all the elements that comprise a text work together to faithfully deliver on its author’s intent, from start to finish. It’s when recurring symbols, dialogue and story beats in a novel or movie start to match up. Or when the colour palette of a painting works in harmony with its motifs to convey a mood or idea. It’s the kind of thing that makes you think: “Oh! So that’s what that was about!” when you notice. Sometimes it even gives you a new point of view on the topic.

Dissecting each of these elements, trying to work out what they say on their own and how they play their role in the bigger picture, is one of my favourite embarrassingly nerdy activities. So please indulge me as I explore just some of the many, many elements that make up the colourful tapestry that is One Piece’s Wa no Kuni arc. 

(And please note, my interpretation is just one of many - that’s just part of the fun of analysing art!)

How the 'idea' of Wano is built

The Wa no Kuni arc (which I’ll abbreviate to Wano arc) is, much like many other main arcs in One Piece, about the fight for leadership over a country. 

The history of how Wano came to be in its current state is framed through the story of Oden. Oden, the former Shogun, was executed before he could fulfil his goal of opening up the land of Wano. With his death, the country is plunged into a dark age, where the poor starve and are forced to slave away for Kaido’s benefit. But Oden’s son, Kouzuki Momonosuke, manages to escape to the future along with a band of loyal retainers. They enlist the help of pirates and return to free Wano.  

That was a very bare bones summary, but it does give an overview of some of the ideas the arc explores: leadership, succession, rebellion etc. The conflict for Wano’s future is most starkly characterised by its two competing leaders - current ruler Kaido, and Momonosuke, the son of the previous Shogun. And nowhere is this more obvious than in their character designs.

Momo and Kaido are both eastern-style dragons, but that’s where the similarity ends. They are totally different in almost every other way: different colours, different sizes (initially), different levels of confidence, and importantly, different ideals. This is because they represent different values as potential leaders for the one country: Kaido wants to keep the country closed and turn it into a weapons factory for his own benefit, while Momo wants to free the people, and (after some deliberation), seems likely to follow in his father’s footsteps and eventually open the country. 

This arc has elements of a war story about national identity, it explores what true leadership looks like, it has tons of political intrigue, spying and sabotage, and it even serves as both a coming of age and a revenge story for Momonosuke. The clash between Kaido and Momonosuke on its own is already a compelling narrative. There’s a clear preference in this conflict too. How often have we heard the Akazaya Samurai serving Momo be referred to as the ones who will bring Wano out of the neverending night into a new dawn? 

There’s a solid good vs evil formula right there. But then we throw pirates into the mix and things get...slightly more complicated…

How pirates complicate things

The Wano arc primarily centres around a domestic power struggle. From an outsider’s perspective, the Straw Hat pirates are a foreign party that basically overthrow Wano’s current Shogun to reinstate their preferred ruler. 

Politically speaking, this looks bad, and Luffy knows it. Pirates really should have no business meddling in the affairs of other governments. That’s why the deliberate move to not be portrayed as heroes is a smart one. 

There’s another meta layer to this decision as well. Wano Kuni is very clearly based on the forced opening of sakoku Japan to the Western world. It would have been so dangerously easy to go down the path of a simple story about the pirates ‘saving’ Wano and ‘enlightening’ them to the outside world. But unproblematically portraying a ‘foreigner’ as the big strong saviour of a country clearly based on Japan definitely has problematic Eurocentric overtones!

In One Piece, pirates are not heroes. But it can be easy to forget that when your main character is such an incredibly likeable pirate. Trying to reconcile these two seemingly opposing facts is really, really hard, and Oda definitely does not choose to take the easy way out!

And yet, Wano arc goes a long way to conveying the nuance of this message. Through the careful interweaving and layering of its plot, symbols, motifs, character designs, character arcs and more, everything culminates to lead us to the final answer: Gear 5. 

Wa

I know that sounds like a joke title but I promise it’s not.

‘Wa no Kuni’ translates to “the Country of Wa”. It is never mentioned what ‘Wa’ actually means, but the most obvious interpretation would be ‘Japan’. ‘Wa’ commonly refers to “japanese style”, as in wagashi 和菓子 (Japanese sweets) or wafuku 和服 (Japanese clothes).

The character Wa 和 by itself can also mean peace or harmony, and this is the interpretation that stands out to me. Because I think this is a concept that also captures the complexity of One Piece itself. 

‘Wa’ to me is about finding peace through harmony, but when the world is as complex as it is, that harmony requires us to embrace, rather than reject contradiction. 

Have you noticed Wano arc includes many recurring motifs that contrast, conflict and seemingly contradict each other?

For instance, I mentioned previously that our ‘heroes’, the Akazaya Samurai under Kouzuki Momonosuke, were commonly associated with heralding the new dawn. In fact, the ‘Kou’ 光 in Kouzuki 光月 is the character for light!

But the ‘zuki’ 月 part is actually ‘moon’. Isn’t it strange that the clan that we are supposed to be rooting for, the band of ‘heroes’ who will bring about a “new dawn”, is associated with ‘moonlight’?

This concept is extended further, in the design of Gear 5 no less! It is explained that the Fishmen worshipped a previous incarnation of Luffy’s new form as the Sun God Nika, however our introduction to Luffy in Nika’s iconic pose is against a moon. 

This is not a coincidence. Did you notice the Kouzuki clan symbol includes a sun as well?

We're not just exploring the duality of the sun and moon either. Gear 5 is actually a mix of Eastern and Western influences. The animation very much seems inspired by Western slapstick cartoons, but the visual design is reminiscent of fuujin and raijin gods, with even a bit of that komainu lion dog influence. 

And while the cloud shawl/scarf coupled with Gear 5’s moon association evokes Asian moon goddesses, don’t you think “Nika” sounds awfully similar to Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory?

The Eastern symbolism clearly represents Wano, while the Western bits are everything else. We see something similar with Izou’s character design: his style of dress is distinctly Wano (Japanese) style, but his chosen weapon is a gun, a symbol of the outside (Western) world. The mix of Wano and non-Wano influences tells us this is somebody who has embraced both parts of his identity. 

It is fitting then, that Gear 5 should also incorporate a blend of diverse influences, representing the melting pot of creatures, races, time periods, hopes and desires that make up the alliance ultimately responsible for ushering in Wano's 'new dawn'. It’s even possible to see links in the design to the Minks (moon symbolism and predominantly white colour scheme) as well as the Fishmen (Nika already established as the sun god worshipped by former slaves).

Gear 5 encapsulates 'Wa' because it embraces chaos and makes it work. Who could ask for a better god-figure, to represent the insane group we can only call the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai alliance? 

When I first started Wano, I thought it would be a story of hope in the future overcoming the darkness of the past. I thought this would be a story about teaching a country to let go of traditions that it held onto too tightly, and wholly embrace the unknown (I too am sometimes at risk of developing a Eurocentric mindset...and I'm Asian).

I was wrong, of course. Nobody let go of tradition. It's more complex than that. Momo's insistence on trying not to rely too hard on the Straw Hats symbolises that (which is also why I find Luffy being forced into claiming Wano as his territory just to protect them under the Yonkou system a little uncomfortable, but that’s a story for another day).

Opening oneself up to new experiences does not mean completely discarding your past. Momo has physically changed, but he is still Momo. Yamato is still trying to be Oden, but he will do it in his way. The history of what lays beneath Wano has been passed on to the new generation. All of this will influence Wano's future moving forward.

Harmonising complexity starts with accepting it. The past matters. Everything that has happened, no matter how terrible or beautiful, has resulted in what we see, hear and feel today. And all of that, regardless of how hard people try to hide it, will continue to matter in shaping the future.

'Wa' is not just Luffy's answer to Wano. In true textual integrity fashion, 'Wa' encapsulates the philosophy of One Piece, and I think it also conveys Oda's wishes for Japan as well as the world.

'Wa' captures the complexity of what being a pirate is; how a leader should act; what freedom means; what chasing your dreams looks like; what it is to live. And none of it is sunshine and rainbows.

The world is complicated. It is chaotic. There is no sense in distinguishing black from white, good from evil, or even the sun from the moon. Everything is mushed together to create this terrible, beautiful mess. ‘Wa’ is an answer full of contradictions, and yet there is this harmonious balance within the chaos, a perfect reflection of our imperfect, complex world.

I do love that there is a side character named Hamlet in this arc, because this writing is nothing less than Shakespearean. But the reason I call Gear 5 art is not purely because of the writing alone.

Let's get meta

Alright, we’re going to step away from the story, get a little bit meta, and talk about the presentation of the arc as a whole, including how it is structured.

Wano Kuni is depicted in a way to deliberately evoke imagery and symbolism of Japan: even before we reach the country, the crew are assaulted by carp and great waves, clearly inspired by Hokusai’s own; the lineart is stylised to look like calligraphy; and the music utilises shamisen and koto, which fits in perfectly with how the whole arc is structured like a traditional kabuki play, right down to the red, green and black curtains that frame the start of each clearly marked Act. 

Everything presentation-wise in this arc has been carefully prepared to make it feel as Japanese as possible. Why is why when Gear 5, in all its cartoonish, physics-defying glory, appeared so suddenly in the middle of what had been primed to be the most Japanese anime set in basically Edo Japan, it was a bit of an understatement to say I was definitely caught off-guard!

It felt like I had fallen for a trap. In the middle of watching my kabuki play, suddenly I realised it was I who was being played all along...

And that’s the point!

Gear 5 is pretty much the least anime thing to happen to the One Piece anime. At the climax of the arc, we do not get the full satisfaction of a badass final fight like one would expect at this point of the story. Instead, we get the most cartoonish and batshit insane sequence I have ever seen in One Piece.

It is downright insulting to Kaido, who had been built up to be this huge, menacing final boss. Gear 5 essential reduced him to a googly-eyed snek - the poor thing even got blown up like a balloon at one point!

The closest thing I can compare it to is the Davy Back Fight arc. But doing Looney Tunes shenanigans during the looney-by-nature Davy Back Fight is a totally different story to doing Looney Tunes right in the midst of the tension of seeing a whole country’s beacon of hope fall in battle against their oppressor. 

The contrast is stark, it is shocking, it is tonally subversive, and unexpected. It is such a deviation from what we are used to.

...And yet, isn’t it glorious, that when Luffy basically reaches god-status, he not only decides to break the rules of anime physics, but the rules of mainstream anime as well?

One Piece, through Gear 5, is subverting the shounen anime battle formula. And while I don’t know if Oda intended for the animation to be so starkly western, I am absolutely certain it was what the animator’s intended. 

Because this deviation from the norm is sending a message, not only to anime fans, but to individual artists, animators, storytellers and creators in general. And that includes the big animation studios. 

The message is important: break free from the status quo. There are no clear lines that define what anime can and cannot be. Let japanese animation take inspiration from western animation, and vice-versa. In fact, this is something that should be encouraged of all animation. 

One Piece is encouraging us all to experiment and surpass our boundaries. It is telling us that even a smash hit mainstream shounen anime can still break all the rules and be not only successful, but create something unique and new and truly, truly special…even if some people think the result is a little bit ugly. 

If that’s not art, I don’t know what is. And I am so, so happy One Piece did it. 

[smbhax]

Well, this explains why I nearly froze my face off in my hour walk to the Post Office this morning. = P That little chill was *not* in the forecast I looked at earlier. ; ) (Eastern WA state)

The sign downtown on the way home said 4℉, and I thought “That’s weird...”

Update: My weather app continues to be in denial, it’s 4 pm now, still 9 degrees F according to weather.gov, and the app insists it’s 21 degrees. ; D ... Dang I guess I should probably get a different weather app finally, this one got weird after the original dev left.

Update 2: Finally found a replacement Android weather app: Weawow. It’s free, ad-free, you can select from multiple weather providers, and you can configure the widgets to show whatever you want.

Update 3: Went crawling back to my previous weather app because I find its information just way easier to read; it’s Weather Timeline, an app whose original developer took it off the Android store in 2018 because the costs of getting the weather data he wanted were getting too high, or something. Which was too bad because he was really good at presenting weather information in a clear and readable way. Anyway it got bought by the owners of MyRadar (which seems well regarded on r/weather, for whatever that’s worth...), who said they were going to be retooling it and re-releasing it... And it hasn’t been updated since 2019. ; ) It’s developed some quirks but still works quite well.

What happened with it the other day, where it was flickering between two temperatures all day, ten degrees apart, may be due to, well, it seems that the local NOAA weather station here has gone down. : P So any place that was getting their local weather from the NWS has had to switch to a different source, and it was rocky there for a little while. The Weather Timeline app seems to be okay now so eh...yeah I just went back to it. : P If you never downloaded it before, you still can’t because it still isn’t publicly relisted on Google’s Play store (and it’s looking like probably never will be), which is too bad.

[bdbdhdjdhdh]

My Hero PSLE: S3E11 "Bestowed upon thee a sacred wish"

"*sets the gay kid on fire* HA! LGBBQ!"

-Someone who no longer exists for obvious reasons

"Ok, I wanna introduce you to my team and reveal their life stories like the Disney villain I am before I kill you, so I bet ya'll already know Tempest, the Corvi with the broken horns. Then there's Al-Luhai, the Chronicle that Six killed. Wait, have you met him already?"

Wa lao eh please lah, just kill us already, still need to do what, explanation of entire team's life stories first, haiya.

But hang on a minute now, who's Six?

"Uh. Looks like ya'll are confused. But Six is just like right there,"

*points to Thunder Hands*

Huh. So he does have an actual name. I mean, Six is ok, I guess.

"Yeah, so Six killed Al-Luhai, the Chronicle who tried to take that coward Keeper's Deadly Sin. I presume Six already revealed his entire life story to ya'll cos he just likes to talk that much. Anyway I dunno a lot about Al-Luhai, other than then the fact that he used to be a student at the Corvi university or something, and snuck in despite not being a Corvi, planning to steal their magic, but thrn was found out and got expelled. Damn what is wrong with the Corvi sia, anyway he never really told anyone much about what his life story was, only that he experimented a lot and his experiments could be considered rather...unethical,"

"OMG JUST KILL US ALREADY PLEASE SPARE US THE ENTIRE INTRODUCTION OF YOUR ENTIRE TEAM PLEASE..."

"Ok ok fine, I'll skip the rest, but I'm not gonna be killing ya'll, I'll need the help of an Exuvia in taking down one, after all,"

Then Juqla was like: "Oh yeah the other Exuvias hey Xiao Ming maybe they'll know something about you!"

And now Kiefer dun understand. "Huh? He's an Exuvia, right?"

"Oh yeah he is, but it's sorta complicated eh,"

"AYAAYYAYA WHATEVER! Why I am even wasting time talking eith ya'll anyway! Time to start the sacred ritual!"

"The Sinful Ritual," -e. dad jokes by Six.

So Kiefer went to go lay out the entire seven Deadly Sins on a table for everyone to see.

Then Grandmaster suddenly remembered something.

"And before you even think of it, that guy there,I've already set Lahk-Raiu locks on ya'll!"

"Oh..ok...nvm..." Hehe Grandmaster just like "aiya fine".

So Kiefer then tore a hole in the middle of the table, and sat in it, then chanting some weird af incantations.

"DHFUCJSNDSJSXIDJEHYDUDHRHFUXU! SNSMXJCJDIODKEKEJDKDIJDJDJDJXJD! DUDIDJDJDJDJDJSJDHDHDHDHHDDHJX!"

definitely not cat on keyboard right now!

Ok but the ritual actually worked. After he said all that shit, the skies start to change and the Deadly Sins started glowing.

Then a hole formed in the sky and the Seven Deadly Sins shot up into the sky, going PEWPEWPEW up into it.

Then it started raining pretty heavily like got tornado coming liao.

Then a ray of sunshine appeared through the dark clouds. Then a golden eastern dragon emerged from the ray of sunshine.

"AHHAHHAHAH! YOU HAVE PASSED MY TEST! SPEAK, MORTAL, OF YOUR DEEPEST DESIRES, AND I SHALL GRANT THEM ALL!"

Eh, that's probably what "Bestowed upon thee a sacred wish" means, collect all seven Deadly Sins, recite some forbidden incantation, and the dragon god will grant you a wish! Yay!

Oh but now, Kiefer and Tempest and the rest really like to ding zui liao leh.

First Kiefer loaded a gun and shot into the dragon's eye. It hit him multiple times and his eye was bleeding a lot from that. He might even go blind if dragons' body anatomy follow humans (must have hit a blood vessel or something* lmao.

"What our deepest desires, oh great Lord of the Heavens," Kiefer said in the cool anime protagonist form when the anime protagonist is about to go and fight the ultimate last boss, "IS FOR YOUR DEMISE!"

[divergent-one-1984]

Organized Crime Ring in Astoria, NY, in a neighborhood under the jurisdiction of 114th PRECINCT and in apartment buildings managed by CENTRAL ASTORIA, LLC. I have been the victim of TARGETED COMMUNITY HARASSMENT SINCE SUMMER 2016 because of my race and gender, I am an African American woman (because of a rumor / gossip mill started by staff at NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION while I was employed there from 2014 to 2016 I was made the victim of targeted psychological harassment). Due to the illegal access and leaking of private, personal, confidential information by wiretapping / cloning / hacking of personal devices and illegal surveillance in my residence. This includes leaking of confidential medical information ((HPV, strains that can cause cervical cancer and an Abortion) - Sujected to NOISE HARASSMENT, DIRECTED CONVERSATION, and SLEEP DEPRIVATION all night up until now at 7:52AM from tenants who live above me

In addition to the HATE CRIME element to the ongoing stalking and harassment there is a Religious Zealotry / Nuttery / Judgmental / Fundamentalism / Extremism element to my daily harassment as I am being harassed by mostly Muslim and Latino people. Based on facts / my observation, I would estimate that 9 out of 10 people harassing me on a daily basis are Muslim or Latino, with Muslims ranking number 1, Muslims who appear to be from Middle Eastern / Arab countries and countries on the Asian continent. All of the tenants in my apartment building are involved in my daily harassment, especially the 3 apartments surrounding my apartment. 2 of the apartments are occupied by Muslim tenants and the 3rd apartment is occupied by Latino tenants. Out of the 9 apartments in my apartment building. 2 of the tenants, including myself are African American, the remaining 7 apartments are occupied by Latino and Muslim tenants, with the Muslims being in the majority.

I have been attempting to sleep since about Midnight. I was listening to music for a while last night, immediately after I turned the music off, one of the STALKERS /HARASSERS / ABUSERS in the apartment upstairs started making noise. The layout of the apartment above me is the same as mine therefore this tenant has been sitting in their bedroom all night just talking, either to themselves or via a phone, or maybe its a recording since I cannot hear a response. I can only hear one person talking loudly, clearly and annoyingly and laughing (with and annoying evil connotation, the laughter seems unatural and being done intentionally every like 1 to 2 minutes, not like a free flowing natural conversatiom would go. The laughing is a reference to a conversation I had on my personal cell phone regarding an in person conversation I had with DEVIN ELTON THOMPSON (a person I am constantly harassed about and who is someone think may have something to do with me being targeted. In JUNE 2016, while him and his daughter was in the US, I briefly met up with him at his relatives house the day he was to fly back to EL SALVADOR, CENTRAL AMERICA. I was telling him about then WORKPLACE MOBBING I experienced at NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION and that being the reason why I quit. He made a statement that "Everyone was laughing at me", I guess because I quit my job and reported the WORKPLACE MOBBING to NYS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. At the time I did not know, but its clear he was in on the harassment and made that statement as a DIRECTED CONVERSATION because I think he already knew about what had been done to me. I thought it wa an odd statement to make. If I just told you I was harassed at my job and had to quit, that response is just weird. When I got to the home of his relative there was a an FDNY HELMET laying on a table, which was a harassment tactic, leaving objects around to psychologically harass the target through subliminal messaging. I had been to DEVIN'S relative's home many times before and saw no indication of FDNY, if I recall it was never a topic of conversation. I am an observant person. I believe this FDNY helmet was strategically and intentionally placed go remind me of NATSHA LIGGINS MODELO, the mean girl who started harassing me and I believe initiated the WORKPLACE MOBBING at NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. About 1 or 2 weeks after I quit she left NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION and went to work for FDNY, during this time the investigation re my complaint filed with NYS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR was underway. FDNY was also an agency I was trying to obtain employment with shortly prior to quitting NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. A former colleague of Mine was trying to get me a job working with him at FDNY.

The monologue is repetitively interspersed with their native language, a few catch phrases such as "Lisa Leslie" (see previous post from some days ago for context and more detail) for the purposes of DIRECTED CONVERSATION.

This tenant upstairs has been talking and laughing nonstop, not allowing to fall asleep or stay asleep.

[firemama]

Coworker on the overnight shift: is it true that autistic people like to collect stuff?

Me, focused on sorting and stocking thread: yah. Or, often, anyway. Not everyone. Obviously.

Her: Huh. What do you collect?

Me, sweating, trying to thing of a normal answer that is also true: oh... you know. Things. Uhm... i collect uhhhh. Rocks? Like, crystals?

Her: oh cool, i like big colored rocks! Like the cut ones. The slabs.

Me, trying not to immedeatly infodump about how fucked up quartz classification is: yeah thats agate probably. Nice.

Her, so very unaware: do you collect anything else?

Me, thinking this is probably fine so far: uh. Uh. Nope.

So anyway heres the list of "collection habits i *have*":

Rocks (as stated), mainly trypes of crystal or gem

Round clear orbs NOT marbles with the little swirl inside ONLY clear ones with nothing inside.......

Miniature pieces. Like tiny things. Yes like tiny bread or tiny pots n pans. Yah those.

Pins. Like even bad ones that arent funny.

Scarves. I live in florida. I dont wear scarves. But i collect them. Its a mystery. I like them.

Littlest Pet Shop figures up until very very recently where i tooth and nail forced myself to give them up to give to my younger cousins who are actually young enough to, you know... play with them. Rather than just. Horde them.

Ink and colored inks. Crave more but expensive.

Acrylic Paints. Also expensive so i made myself stop buying it ezpecially since i dont actually paint all that often, but i continue to crave having enough paint to look like a fucking craft store in terms of paint hue options.

Plants. Specifically plants that produce edible product but pollinators are also welcome in my home. This has been a difficult thing to collect because every time we move they die and also it is very hard to keep plants in fucking florida sometimes.

Puzzles. The idle day dream the one day i will collect and put together every puzzle is not only impossible but yet still something i crave doing.

Game achivements. I soent two years tooth and nail trying to get a terrible awful achievement for minigolf perfect game in the fucking Dream Daddy game.

Notebooks. My favorite kind is grid paper notebooks. Spiral, bound, hard cover, sketch, lined....mm...delcious.

Qoutes. I have a notebook of favorite quotes.

My own art work. I have painted exactly 2 (two) ink canvases that i have willingly given away after painting them exclusively to be gifts. And i still fucking regret it.

Sharpies. I steal them if they are near me. I dont ever buy any. I only end up Taking. But i have MANY.

Old Toontown Cards. Im jot like a pricy collector but sometimes i find one at a yard sale and do not Hesitate to get it.

Board games. Want all.

Nail polish. I dont paint my nails: collect anyway.

Wrappers from werthers orginals caramel candies. I had to thrownmine away during the last move........ but i had like 3 boxes at some point.

G2 pilot pens (.7 mm)

(Edit: Dice. Lots of dice. Let the fact that i had to edit and add this prove that there are probably other things i collect that i also forgot to add lmao)

Things i WOULD collect if given free income and space for storage? Things i desperately want to collect?

A fucking craft stores worth of glitter.

Thread and yarn and string. All the colors. Just like acrylic paint. Just like glitter, too. I just want... ALL.

Books. Like the puzzle thing, it is absolutely impossible to collect them *all*. But my brain still wants to.

Food. Its an impulse thing. If one of every food existed in my possession i would be Happy.

Trees. Would need SO much space and land but t r e e s.

Thisbisba weird one, but... house styles? Want to slowly collect accents and designs from different types of archetecture into one house. Build and expand it over time.

Fragrance oil. All of them. Yaaaaa.

Broken glass. I do not collect this because i have common sense.... but i want to.

Ornate eastern hand fans. I do not know why, but it is a passive craving i have had since i was young.

Beads. Duct tape and decorative tape. Paper. Stickers. Whole collections if manga. Whole collections if novel series. Movies and dvds. Every single hard copy disk expansion for the sims 1, 2 and 3. Every single pet in wizard101 and every singly piece of clothing in loveNikki. YOU DONT UNDERSTAND. IF I HAD UNLIMITED MONEY I WOULD JUST DEDICATE WHOLE ROOMS TO EACH COLLECTION OF THINGS. I would have all the things, ALL OF THEM.

[jeanjauthor]

What’s your top five favourite things that have happened or people have done or that you find really interesting, in the world pre mordern?

So many things to choose from...

Writing. That has to be the single most amazing thing. (Yes I'm biased, shush.) To be able to take symbols, connect them to sounds, to meanings, to real-world objects but also to actions, to qualities, to quantities, and make them last, take these words and make them last beyond your lifespans. To know that 500 years from now (assuming we stop fucking up our planet and fix things), there might be a human who reads 20th century English who reads my stories, realizes that I'm writing about things in my Theirs Not series that took place before the turn of 2500, when it's 2521 to them...and them trying to think about how much is still the same (our humanity, hopefully!) while everything else is wildly different (projected future technology, aliens, etc)... And to know that written on the goddamn walls of Pompeii and Herculaneum, time-encapsulated for nearly 2000 years, are the exact same human bullshittery that are written on the bathroom walls of the AFK Tavern in Everett, WA. "for a good time..." "...eats shit" "(poetry about a lover)" "(slams about a rival)" "(rival responds)" (rival of rival responds to that)"...

It's kinda hard to top that, but I'll have to say the invention of chocolate as we know it. Conched dark chocolate properly tempered and mixed with the finest ingredients... Chocolate is freakin' incredible, just sayin'.

Wondering how that first ancient family with a grainary felt when that tiny feline predator hunting the rats and mice decided to rub up against them with that weird rumbly noise...and then climbed into the lap of one of them, to settle down, rumblepurrrr, and oh so trustingly fall asleep on them. (Also wondering how long ago it was the first human had The Desperate Need To Pee warring with The Inability To Wake The Gosh-Darn-Too-Cute KittyCat Sleeping On Me, Dammit.)

Marveling at the abso-damn-lutely identical pyramid features spread around the world, with some of them verifiably 12,500 years old. Some of these structures had villages around them of literal thousands of people...in an era before provable agriculture. Which makes me wonder how they fed all those people, and if they did so in a way similar to the kind used by the Coastal Salish peoples, which was definitely not-quite-as-obvious European/Middle Eastern style agriculture with its squared out pastures and dug up fields, but which was still very palpably managed, including whole meadows of camas lilies (not the white ones; those are death camas, VERY deadly), and white oak groves, and hazelnut orchards, and berry patches up one side and down the other... Seriously wondering at how everyone was fed.

And (I know this first one is technically from the modern era, but) I honestly 1000% believe Wally Wallington hit the head on the nail on exactly how they built Stonehenge, and I believe that Nova: Secrets of Lost Empires hit the nail on the head in how they moved the Moai stones of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) by literally rocking them in a side by side waddle like you'd rock a dresser drawer or bookcase to get it into position, and I believe Joseph Davidovits 10000% cracked how the utterly unnatural limestone blocks of the Giza Pyramids were created using remarkably simple-to-create cement-style geopolymer chemistry...and that this is how most of the stones were sculpted ih ancient Egypt (Khemit), including geopolymer granites that were ground up, patched together with cement mortar (which takes only 5% or less!) and troweled into place and shaped when semi-stiff, like at the leather-hard stage of working as-yet-unfired clay.

[rachelfatpants]

it’s been a long time. Life is weird, COVID sucks. I was starting to do a little better and get more active before COVID! But then I got lazy and gained some weight back. But now it’s time to get it in gear. I just had another check in with my doctor and my blood sugar is still high, exactly the same as where it was 8 months ago, when it was alarmingly high. My doctor was concerned then and frustrated now. I got put on more meds and warned that if I don’t start to take it at least a little more seriously I will literally die. So ya. In other life updates, I have a boyfriend now, which is crazy. He lives in eastern, WA, so it’s long distance for now. But we visit each other. I bought an Apple Watch to try to help get me more active, and both the bf and I bought water backpacks to help us get moving as well. I’ve been on my new meds for 2 days. Today I went through the Washington state fair food drive through and did not make good choices. Whoops. I’ll try to post here more again. Especially when I start training again. I’m gonna start over with couch to 5k again I think. Or maybe just work on walking the dog as much as I can. Or a mix of the two. So far I’ve done nothing.

So I guess basically here I am starting over AGAIN. Let me know if you have any questions! I hope to be back and see all you friendly faces that I’ve missed.  

[ayman-eckford]

(Me and the leather jacket and white and red kuffia)

Meet the alters. Part 13

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu.

I suddenly realized that I don’t have a proper post ‘bout me. So, In sha Allah, there it is.

Name: Well, problems start here. I don’t have one proper name. It’s more like a bunch of names and nicknames.

So: Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, Abu Jihad, Anwar, John.

Most of the time here I signed as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.

Age: 21

Gender and orientation: Heterosexual and cis-gender, of course.

Birth city:’I believe that I was born in Saint Petersburg.

But I left it when I was a teen. Hope never came back.

Religion: Islam. Ahlus-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaah

Nationality: Don’t have&recognize it. Nationalism is a shirk! I’m just a Muslim.

Neurotype: Autistic and dyspraxic.

Role in the System: Ayman’s co-host most of the time.

Origin as an alter: I was splitted in January after Ayman’s main refugee interview in the Home Office. And at first I couldn’t understand who I am.

I’m partly an introject- I look like Ayman’s friend from Russia. And I have some of the features and movements of two other “real” people. I am not a copy of these people, I'm a completely different person, but whatever.

It scared me at first. I feel like I’m not real. Or my reality, my past is not real.

It doesn’t mean that I have a proper past:

-Part of my memory is not Ayman’s memory. I used to believe that I have my own past, my own story.

-In this story I didn't have my own childhood. Well, I have, I think, only I don’t remember.

“Parents”: In the System I have parents. Not from my memory, from my story, but the one from whom I was splitted. And because I was splitted from two of them I have something from them in my mimics and movement and voice too.

My Mum is our primary protector Lilian. And Lina, Ayman’s wife, at first confused me and her. She was the one who noticed me. Only it was weird for her that “Lil” liked nasheeds.

So, I looked a little bit “girly” like my Mum. She likes that I’m her son because she has always wanted to have a kid. Only I’m older than she and she explained it like some kind of weird temporal anomaly/time loop like in sci-fi. So we believe that I’m her son from the future. I love her, despite the fact that she is a kafira.

My Dad is another System protector, Abu Aziza al-Qureishi. He is a Muslim too. We are sharing the same part of the inner world. Only he behaves with me more like my amir then like my Dad.

Interests: I’m a politician, like my Dad, and scientist, like my Mum. My main interests are Middle Eastern politics and “Salafi-jihadism”.

So I’ve never tried from endless podcasts, books and studies about IS and sometimes people joke that I could speak only about Sham. Of course it’s not literally true.

My most unusual hobbies are crayoning and beading.

[enjoy-the-small-thingsxx]

Australian border check points!

What happened was governments installed FEAR in the people and turned a lot into selfish people and in the process gave up EVERYONE’s freedom shame on them now we have to fight to get it back.

(The Australian)

A year ago, Australia was burning. The ferocious, fatal bushfires that devastated large swathes of the country’s east coast felt relentless. They destroyed lives, livelihoods and so much more.

The fires that burned for months on end, and the subsequent, heaven-sent summer drenching that helped put an end to it all, were a reminder of this savage land of extremes we call home.

They also gave cause for another reminder. Of how we as Australians take care of each other. How no distance, no border on a map could quash or erode the innate desire we have to look out for our mates. The ones we know, and the ones we never will. We’ve always been like that, haven’t we?

t’s who we are as Australians. Or maybe it isn’t, not deep down and not really.

I ask that question because COVID has turned state against state in a way that I’ve never seen in my near-half century on the planet. One weary year down Pandemic Road, and I’m a little deflated to say that as much as we have seen good among us, perhaps even seen glimpses of our best, we’ve also seen some pretty average carry-on. I don’t say that to be deliberately provocative, it’s an honest observation.

Twelve short months ago, when NSW burned, nobody said Queensland water bombers were for Queensland fires only. When struggling farmers couldn’t feed their stock, nobody stopped the convoys from leaving Western Australia. No one said: Those greedy eastern staters only want to take WA feed and that’s for WA animals. Suggesting that now is the stuff of insanity, yet that’s been the spirit of the COVID-19 age.

What is it about the threat of COVID that changed us? Or is it a case that the ugliness was already there? I don’t know. Perhaps it’s as simple as the difference between a threat we watch from afar versus one that can strike with the simplicity of a sneeze. Heaven knows it’s easy to be magnanimous watching someone else’s house burn down on the telly, from the comfort of your own couch.

As the NSW government deftly continues to manage current clusters, notably without the need to imprison citizens or destroy the economy, pot shots were being lobbed from across state aka enemy lines. Criticism. A vocal and deliberate undermining. A thinly veiled disappointment that it hasn’t yet gone badly wrong. This isn’t who I thought we were.

Maybe it’s as simple and as distasteful as politics. COVID has shown us that voters won’t punish a leader for saying things that in any other circumstances would have triggered a reputational crisis. Queensland hospitals are for Queenslanders was apparently an OK position to take, even as a heavily pregnant woman was refused treatment. Voters rewarded the hardness, the fortress mentality and no doubt in two short months the same thing will happen in Western Australia.

COVID has shown us that voters will excuse an astronomical level of incompetence, excused by collective amnesia, and the subsequent human toll as long as they believe they’re being kept safe. Fear really is the opiate of the masses.

The Victorian and West Australian governments again slammed the doors shut as the New Year arrived. No policy, no planning and no clue. The worst of decision making that threw tens of thousands of lives into chaos, a revolving state of turmoil. With the notable exception of NSW, nobody wants a national standard, because I’m guessing there’s no votes, no leverage in consensus. At times, it felt like some weird, continuous version of State of Origin, Hunger Games Style. No Australia, just faux nation-states and their leaders, beating their chests.

It appears to be all about bread and circuses aka JobKeeper right now, but let me propose that it may be a different story come March when the bread runs out and the circus moves on.

The federal government must lead, but it’s fraught with electoral risk. It must solve a dilemma of its own making, namely, what to do with the national cabinet; how to repair our fractured nation, rather than serve the optics and agendas of the attending premiers.

I’m not interested in a so-called new normal that puts our national interest second.

Changing one word in our National Anthem is well intentioned cosmetic surgery. Right now, we are anything but one and we are certainly not free.\

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/pandemic-reveals-ugly-aussie-is-not-an-isolated-case/news-story/cdeca513f6648a8fca27df75c734ff1a

[curejunereblogs]

An Extensive List of Phantom Thieves (怪盗)

but first the criteria:

The boundaries for what makes a thief a phantom and whether it's different from a gentleman thief are wobbly

We can't really just allow everyone who calls themselves "kaitou" to qualify, because there's Kaitou Sai from Nogami Neiro who is a serial killer which is A Very Bad Thing. most good examples of thieves have a "no kill" rule

If we set that they have to steal for Good Reasons, we cut off Kaitou Joker, who is very much a phantom thief, so we have to allow "thrill of the chase" as a valid-ish reason for stealing. no bonus points though, it just not instant disqualification

I found that "sends a calling card" is a good rule to stick to so I trimmed my original surprisingly long list based on whether I know for sure they send announcements or cards or letters or such. If you don't say "come and get me" to your target, you're pragmatic, a realist and also a coward

Which led me to a conclusion that to be a proper phantom thief, the main thing you should be after is the spotlight. You have to steal the show. Otherwise you're just a thief, maybe a gentleman, but not a phantom. Contrary to the name, you have to be seen. Good phantom thieves have a give-and-take relationship with their audience - they take the treasure, and give back a performance or some other form of entertainment (or purpose in life in some cases).

The following compilation doesn't include: books, hentai, eroge, BL, things where i couldn't translate the title into English, the ones that don't send calling cards(as far as i know) and in general a bunch of media i most definitely missed

Phantom Thief Hall of Fame:

- Kaito Kid(1987), Kaitou Saint Tail(1994) and Kaitou Joker(2007) are all brilliant examples of the genre, and if you don't know any of them, they all have a bunch of passionate fans each and they can all be googled really easily

- Joker and his gang from Persona 5(2017); i'm consiously placing him in the second/fourth place because even though he's really cool, very popular and is The phantom thief to a lot of people unfamiliar with the genre... he doesn't have a tophat (his persona is not enough)

- ... I'll just mention that Lupin the 3rd(1967) exists and go on

- and of course, Lupin III and about a quarter of all phantom thieves are in some way based on Arsène Lupin(1905) by Maurice Leblanc

- ex. there was a french-canadian cartoon about Lupin called Night Hood(1996)

- Cat's Eye(1981), cited as an inspiration for Saint Tail, is about a trio of sisters who steal stuff in order to get closer to their dad and it's epic

- Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne(1997), like Saint Tail, doubles as a magical girl series and is about magical stealing and the clothing is eastern and the manga swerves into weird territory in the end but it features one of the precious few phantom thief & phantom thief romances

- King of Bandits Jing(1995), while doesn't have the aesthetic, has the weirdness, the charm, the calling card (i think) and is generally cool enough to steal his place on the list whether he’s a phantom or not

- The Acrobat/Man of Twenty Faces(1990), also known as Akira Ijyuin; charming child somehow without most of the problems the CLAMP protagonists tend to suffer from

- Phantom R the titular Rhythm Thief(2012), a great example of a dancer show-off, has a dog

- The Black Rose from Ashita no Nadja(2003) is a tuxedo mask-esque character

- Kaitou Kiramekiman(2000) is a cool retrofuturistic-looking duo trying to save the world in a show that is tragically more about their police counterparts Doing Absolutely Nothing because the villains tend to be more popular in that franchise

- Pacricon(1999) takes place in a world where money has been cancelled(?), has a hella cool calling card

- Shadow Lady(1995)... well, there's a lot of fanservice - like, a lot, and it's tiring and i warned you - but there's also some genuinely funny twists like cancelling her heist on live tv just because she didn't feel like doing it. it also got very unceremoniously axed

- Kaitou Alexandrite(2006) owns/co-owns/frequents a bordel so there's some nsfw to be seen on occasion but it's tolerable and could be described as tasteful i guess. she stole someone's voice once. it also features one of the best identity reveals

- Chat Noir from Granblue Fantasy(2014) is a fighting unit; he has a "calling card" skill and i think that's beautiful

- Phantom Skye from Harvest Moon DS Cute(2005), a not-very-secret character, is an absolute cheese but it loops right back into being charming

- Kaito Rousseau(2006) for Nintendo DS, where a tiny thief boy is horrible at going unnoticed unless he disguises his face as whatever you draw on your ds screen

- Mask DeMasque from Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations(2004) is a thing?

- Sly Cooper(2002) is known as Kaitou Sly Cooper in Japan so he fits the bill

- PxP(2006), short manga about a girl thief in high school

- Sweet Kaitou Vanilla Moon(2010), pastry-themed phantom thief? hell yeah!

- Kaitou Reinya(2010), a short comedy that is not to be taken seriously but you might get a few chuckles from it and i don't regret giving it a second chance (warning: cartoonish animal abuse)

- Cat's Eye(s)(2010), a remake of the original tale of three sisters with different PoVs

- Kaitou Jack from Nishikida Keibu wa Dorobou ga Osuki(2013); it's a gag manga about a cute phantom thief boy and an old man detective that acts like a schoolgirl around that boy. ... I'm only mentioning it here because I like Jack's costume and "i'm-SO-done-with-this" faces and it's mostly intended to be funny. mostly.

- Kaitou Okami-Zoku Shonen(2013), a oneshot about a werewolf who eats people's hearts (metaphorically! through kisses) but is really stylish about it. Think P5 protagonist but alone and a werewolf

- Phantom Thief F's Scenario(2013) is a vocaloid song about a diamond heist on a luxury liner

- Kaitou Le Vin(2014) is about six people stealing wines and it's epic but they can't shut up about wine for one second

- Gaitou Alice(2015) is about a guy looking like Kaito Kuroba going into people's hearts to steal stuff before P5 made it cool. Features amazing artwork but kinda gross stuff closer to the end so it's kind of understandable why it got axed but it has a kind of weird charm to it

- Mystic Thief X from a mobile dating game Miss Detective's Undercover(2017) (i'm scraping for phantom thief content) is honestly excellent at his job. he might only be showing off for one person but damn it's romantic af and i love him

- Kaitou Shounen Jokers(2017) is a sequel to Kaitou Joker, and is directly about the previous protag's kid going to a phantom thief school (i have no hard evidence he sends calling cards but if he doesn’t take after dad i’m-)

- Kaitou Saint Tail girls!(2018), a sequel to Saint Tail, is very cute and has two new Saint Tails working together! i wish i knew more about it

- Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger(2018), live-action series that is a must-watch for anyone who loves phantom thieves because it's a masterpiece of a tv show; besides the three thieves it also features the best police officers in the genre (it kind of has to since they're protagonists too but boy does it deliver)

- Secret x Warrior Phantomirage(2019) is also a live action and it's all about girls stealing enchanted hearts! i actually don't know if they send cards but it feels right placing them after lupinrangers and they're definitely show-stealers

- Kilroy(2018) is a western comic about a guy who broke an unconventional mirror and has to do unconventional repairs

- Kaitou Kamaitachi(2018) has a cute reporter boy and a lot of butterflies

- Destined Memories(2019) is another mobile dating game, there are thieves (called the Crows) in victorian england and they send notices and it's way better at being a phantom thief story than an actual phantom thief story by this company that i'll maybe mention later if i get to compiling a list of thieves that don't send cards

- I really want to put Majo Kaitou Lip☆s(2019) in this category, I want her to send calling cards, but there's like two chapters out so there's still time. The artwork for this series is GORGEOUS and the idol imagery is amazing and i love it so much I just want her to be popular

i might've ignored some phantoms you may have heard about, but 50% i've checked and they don't send calling cards. If they do, additions are welcome!