#i used to have a big book of korean mythology

[tosahobi-if]

I love all the characters so far, but honestly I'm just really excited to learn about the folklore. I've always loved mythology and folklore but I've never heard of any Korean until I found this. Super excited, thank you for making this ❤️

thank you! i'm glad i can share some of my country's history with you guys 🤗

here's a fun myth! the founder of gojoseon (the first korean kingdom), dangun is the son of the prince of the heavens (hwanung) and a bear that transformed into a woman (ungnyeo). the day dangun founded gojoseon is considered a national holiday! it's called gaecheonjeol, or national foundation day. some say that the day is actually celebrating the day hwanung descended from the heavens, but it depends on who you ask.

(fun fact: gojoseon was located around modern-day liaoning, which is in the northeast of china. if it sounds familiar, it's also because that's around the area where the mc was born!)

[fioras-resolve]

So I've been thinking about translating Pokemon to Toki Pona, and the general linguistic nature of the games.

Like, Pokemon X and Y are very strange to tokiponize, even just down to the titles. Because like, those letters are not part of the Toki Pona alphabet. Yet, the letters are core to its box legendaries, Yveltal literally looks like a red Y, and has Y in its name. How do you translate this? Well, you look up the origin of the name and find an article stating they were named after the x and y-axis. It seems weird at first, but it's fully consistent with the legendaries. Xerneas is a soweli, who travels horizontally, while Yveltal is a waso, who travels vertically. Even the akesi Zygarde, representing the z-axis, moves vertically. I think it's fair to say poka and sewi, aside and up, should be the new titles for Pokemon X and Y, maybe sinpin for front instead of poka, but I'm not sure about the legendaries.

As for other Pokemon, well, I'm actually willing to transliterate in certain cases. This one other post I found has Pikachu as "sowelo", roughly translating to "yellow creature." This is like, fair as a choice, but the name Pikachu is a very iconic one, and if somebody were actually playing a tokiponized Pokemon game, they would instantly recognize this yellow creature. Pikasu just seems like the natural fit, considering it hasn't been localized into anything else. Plus, it lets you set up Pikasuli (suli meaning big) as the name for Raichu. But then we get into much thornier territory when we ask that about literally any Pokemon that isn't Pikachu. There are many other Pokemon that have preserved their original name across localizations. Like, all of the various Pika-clones to show up throughout the series, like Pachirisu and Togedemaru, kept their Japanese name in an attempt to capture the same Pikachu spark. Should they have their names tokiponized as Pasilisu and Toketemalu?

I guess this brings us into a deeper question of the distinction between a Pokemon name being the name of an animal, like a pigeon or a mouse, versus the name of a character/mythological figure, like a Phoenix, Tsuchinoko, or Bigfoot. For example, the legendary Lugia is called that in all languages, but its counterpart Ho-oh is named differently in Korean and Chinese to match those cultures' mythological birds. The Treasures of Ruin have Chinese names (despite them being different in both pronunciation and order across different localizations) and the fact the names are in Chinese and they're part of a quartet indicates legendary status. Except in China, where it doesn't, so they added 古, meaning ancient, to the start of each name. So the question for a Tokiponist is, how do you convey a Pokemon's legendary status through naming structure alone? I genuinely don't know, but I have a few ideas. Perhaps adding suli meaning important or majuna meaning ancient (I know majuna isn't in the original Toki Pona book, but it is in the official dictionary) could convey that status handily. Let me know what you think.

Lastly, wordplay! This is a kind of fun with language that should be preserved. Of course I'm going to translate Ekans as Iseka, the word for reptile backwards. Of course Girafarig is gonna be Nenanen, the palindromic version of nena meaning bump, and its evolution Farigiraf as Anenena. You've gotta be able to preserve the silliness too. Anyway I'm bad at coming up with normal creature names so that's gonna be it for me

[thevindicativevordan]

This might be a bit out of your wheelhouse, but you've spoken glowingly about Kenan before, and I wanted to hear some of your thoughts.

What do you think it would take for DC to give Kenan the spotlight again, either in the form of his own comic or a feature role in an animated series? And how much do you think the sociopolitical optics of China impact his editorial interest/popularity or lack thereof? If Kenan was, for instance, Korean instead (an East Asian country that is generally viewed more favorably by the American public than the Chinese), do you imagine he would have gained more traction and gotten more coverage considering his powerset is not generic Kryptonian? Or do you think the fact that as long as he's a 'foreign' character, he's forever doomed to take a backseat to Clark, Kara, Conner, and Jon who are built in the All-American mold?

Also, as an addendum, do you wish his appearances in more mainstream title (Action Comics, etc) would feature more of his mystical and yin & yang elements of his design? What kind of potential do you think those powers give him compared to the typical Kryptonian flying brick?

Actually have spent some time thinking about this! Short version: Yang was too good at his job.

Kenan is steeped in both Chinese mythology and modern Chinese culture. If you're not someone who has spent a lot time studying the present and past of China like Yang has, it's going to be tough to use Kenan to his full potential. Sure there's other appealing traits Kenan has that make him stand out, PKJ mentioned in an interview that one thing about Kenan which interested him is that unlike the rest of the Superfamily, Kenan starts off as an asshole. He doesn't intrinsically lean towards good, it's something he has to struggle with, and that appealed to PKJ because it was a trait he could hone in on and keep in mind when writing Superfamily interactions. For a team book that's enough to make Kenan stand out, but for a solo book? You need more than that.

Think of how Kenan struggles to be a hero because of how he's torn between his father's democratic ideals and his mother's loyalty to the CCP. He doesn't have an inbuilt love for democracy, what does democracy mean to a young Chinese man who is more concerned with money, women, or food? Asking those kinds of questions about protagonists who aren't from America leads to interesting stories. Or look at how Yang explored the concepts of Yin and Yang in New Super-Man, how he avoided going for simplifying them as good/bad. That's the kind of mistake that someone not knowledgeable about Chinese culture might have made.

Most Big 2 superheroes tend to be American because that's what most of the writers working for DC and Marvel are. If Kenan were Korean instead, I don't think he would have gotten more use, it's that he's not American that intimidates some writers. And there's also the problem of Kenan being a late addition to a franchise that DC typically has no clue what to do with. When you don't even know what to do with your lead character Clark, who is one of the top 3 most iconic superheroes of all time, and you can't seem to stop screwing up other long-time Family members like Kara or Kon, no surprise that DC didn't know how to handle the latest addition.

Plus they already decided that Jon was going to be their guy for 5G, so why waste time pushing Kenan? He wasn't getting a movie or a cartoon or an HBO MAX show. Plenty of other attempts at adding new Superfamily members had disappeared, some like Linda Danvers had much longer runs on solo titles. What's Kenan's measly 24 issues to Linda's 80? I'm glad he was spared that fate because damnit, he's a much more interesting character than Linda or Cir-El or Chris Kent or any of those other guys were. He should be getting adapted outside of comics. In the wake of Jon being completely wrecked, and Kon still a question mark, Kenan is the best "heir" to Superman.

For now I'm just happy to have Kenan in Action, cemented as part of the Superfamily. Would I like him to get more focus, to see greater exploration on how his powers differ from the Kents/Els? Absolutely. If Yang was up for it, I would love a backup from him that explores Kenan's power and relationships. PKJ is taking influence from manga for Clark's fight scenes, would be great to see some of that same influence applied to Kenan too. All kinds of cool ways that Kenan's qi manipulation powerset could be showcased, I mean c'mon the Dragon Ball route is patently obvious. Kenan as the Goku of the Superfamily is a low-hanging fruit but what the hell, I think it could be fun!

[shukuchiismx]

ABOUT THE TAILS~

Welcome at my class, cuz today yall gonna learn more about kumiho’s tails!

Above we have what i like to call the “peacock effect" but why that is so important for me to write a post about it? Well, i’m hyped as a hell and it may be useful for artists, so… [also it’s important canon info for my own muse].

So, you all probably noticed this [^], that in this moment on the 'a new dawn’ animation Ahri appears like with having just one tail, but it only seens like this cuz yall didn’t looked close enough...

Now, here we can see, with the help of the red lines [they’re hella bad made but still...] how a kumiho’s tails align. and if you need more proofs, here’s an ingame pic of how her tails align while she is walking.

This image makes it clear that Ahri’s nine tails align in groups of three, to form one big, fluffy 'mega tail'. So what about it you may ask, well…

Let’s betake again to my Fave mythological book “The Encyclopedia of Korean legends and literature” [pag. 324 this time] for more kumiho trivia that no one asked for!

Thanks to said book, we know that the “Peacock effect” is observed on two distinct situations, one is the use of their powers [or magic if you preffer], it’s widely known that kumihos rely on the movement of their tails to generate enough energy to use magic/ powers. so having all tails moving separately will generate more energy what in turn would allow for an stronger, more effective spell/ a more destructive attack.

The other situation where it occurs is when the nine tailed fox is ‘distressed’ [and by distressed i mean, angry, scared, or any other reason that would put them into an unconfortable situation], it is a form to express that they are feeling uncomfortable with a situation, or a method to 'look bigger and menacing’ against a potential threat situation and/or person.

[some exceptions also are related to occur, although rare, like a kumiho using the ‘peacock effect’ to impress an fellow member of their race, generally for romantic reassons, or in Ahri’s case, we know that she have an canonically quirt of showing the ‘peacock effect’ when she’s anxious or exited ]

While a full fanned out set of tails are great for generating energy, and giving a better balance for the gumiho in a fight situation, it is not a great thing for conservating energy or space in general. [After all, why would they want to knock things up while relaxing on the couch, by having the full set of tails waving around like that?].

This tails’ position [that i like to call of 'mega tail’] is also an indication that the nine tailed fox is question is feeling confortable/ relaxed. [and also that they’re friendly to approch].

(note, unless your muse is the biggest jerk of them all, they will probably met luna while she’s showing the ‘mega tail’ more times than the ‘peacock effect’).

[celiabowens]

underrated SFF books (YA and Adult)

So uhm, since I keep seeing the same books on my dash all the time (and I like them too, just...there’s more! to read!) here’s a list of less popular SFF books, divided into YA and Adult. I’ve tried to mention when there is lgbt rep and the trigger warnings. Also, books written by poc will be in bold. Please point out any typo or mistake or if I’ve forgotten specific rep/tw mentions.

All of these are books that I’ve read and enjoyed (by enjoyed I mean anything from 3 stars and above), but if anyone wants to add titles please feel free to do so!!

YA:

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi: beautifully written, fairytale-like story rich in mythology (inspired by several Hindu myths. There’s a full list on goodreads indicated by the author herself). Roshani’s prose is gorgeous.

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi: it’s a companion novel to The Star-Touched Queen, but both can be read as a standalone. I liked this one more than its companion and I particularly loved how the romance was written (slow burn, but specifically, the author really highlights the mutual respect between the characters, we love to see it).

The Young Elites by Marie Lu: fantasy trilogy set in a world inspired by Renaissance Italy, in which children who survived a mysterious and deadly illness ended up with strange and dangerous powers. Secret societies and a female villain!

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu: historical fantasy following Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, a girl as talented as her brother, but afraid of being forgotten because of the lack of opportunities she has to be seen and heard. Nuanced sibling relationship, no romance.  

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski: fantasy f/f romance! Both a coming of age story set in a society with a rigid class system and a slow burn f/f romance with a lot of banter. TW: abuse.

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore: magical realism. The book follows two families of traveling performers that have been locked in a feud for over a generation. This was the author’s debut and I remember getting an arc of it and being impressed by both the prose and how the forbidden love trope was handled.

When the Moon was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore: another magical realism novel. One of the main characters is a trans boy and the book focuses on issues of racism and gender. One of my favorite YA!

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton: fantasy romance set in a village that periodically sacrifices a young man in order to keep a deal with the devil that ensures their prosperity. Also, polyamorous and non-binary rep.

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee: first book in a duology following avatar Kyoshi’s life. It explores the political and cultural aspect of the Earth Kingdom and Kyoshi’s past. Bisexual rep.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He: sort of a murder mystery fantasy, as the main character finds herself suddenly thrust into power once her father has been murdered. The story has a slow build up to a last part full of twists and machinations and it features lots of court intrigue. Warning: the ending is quite open and afaik there isn’t a sequel planned as of now.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones: a quite unique take on zombies influenced by Welsh mythology (it’s super cool). The novel follows Ryn and their siblings, as they try to get by after their parents’ death by working as gravediggers. Only well, the dead don’t always stay dead. The characters read a bit younger than they are imo. There is chronic pain rep.

The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas: retelling of the original ballad of Mulan. The book follows Mulan, who’s trained her whole life to win a duel for a priceless heirloom, as she joins the army. There’s a lot of political and historical details, which I really appreciated. Do not go into it expecting a fun adventure though. The descriptions of war aren’t extremely graphic, but be aware of the fact that most of the book is set during a conflict.

The Candle and The Flame by Nafiza Azad: standalone fantasy set in a city on the Silk Road! It’s a quite slow-paced tale about love, family and politics. It has lush descriptions of landscapes and cultures (and FOOD, there are some really great descriptions of food). It’s a very atmospheric book and while I struggled a bit with the pace I’d still recommend it.

Forest of a Thousand Lanters by Julie C. Dao: sort of an East Asian inspired retelling of Snow White, but following the Evil Queen before she became Snow White’s stepmother. I honestly haven’t read its sequel (which should focus on Snow White herself), but I do think this can be read and enjoyed as a standalone too.

The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner: it’s hard to point out exactly what this series is about because it has evolved so much with time. It starts out as classic quest/adventure series with The Thief (which may seem a classic and simple book, but is actually full of foreshadowing and has a really clever set up), but develops into a complex and intriguing political fantasy in The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia (and then goes back to the quest theme in book 5, Thick as Thieves).

Adult:

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong: I’m cheating with this one because it’s technically a short story but I love Alyssa Wong’s stories so I’m putting it here anyway. It can be read for free and you should just...read it.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang: grimdark fantasy (TW: abuse, self harm, rape, drug abuse), inspired by Chinese history. It’s adult, but follows younger MCs and the unique blend of different historical periods/inspirations makes it extremely interesting. The characters are extremely fucked up in the best possible way, plus the use of shamanism is awesome. Please make sure you check all the TW before reading.

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang: a Japanese-inspired militaristic fantasy, with elemental magic, a badass housewife dealing with her past and hiding a sword in her kitchen’s floor. It has interesting and nuanced family dynamics and a great reflection on propaganda and the use of narratives.

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri: first book in an epic fantasy duology inspired by Mughal India (TW: abuse, slavery). I really liked both Empire of Sand and its companion and I find them pretty underrated. Both books have great slow burn romance (with a focus on mutual trust and respect) and focus on culture, religion, self acceptance and politics.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: a fantasy bildungsroman set in Mexico during the Jazz age. It’s a great approach to adult SFF as it follows a young girl on a life changing adventure. It features Mayan mythology and a god slowly becoming human (this trope is everything!).

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden: a coming of age story inspired by Russian folklore. The trilogy as a whole has one of the best arcs I’ve ever seen: each book is perfectly self-contained and has its own arc, but also fits perfectly in the bigger picture of the trilogy. The atmosphere is amazing, the cast of characters is extremely well developed. Also frost demons are better than men.

The Binding by Bridget Collins: historical fantasy, but with very minimal fantasy elements. It’s set in a world vaguely reminiscent of 19th century England. I’d say this book is about humans and self discovery. It’s about cowardice and the lies we tell ourselves and those we wish we could tell ourselves. Gay rep. (TW: abuse, sexual assault, pretty graphic suicide scene).

The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett: starting with City of Stairs, it follows a female diplomat and spymaster(!!). The whole trilogy features an interesting discussion about godhood, religion, fanatism, politics, without ever being boring or preachy. It has complex and rich world building and a pretty compelling mystery.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett: heist fantasy following a thief as she’s hired to steal a powerful artifact that may change magical technology as she knows it. Set in a Venice-like merchant city. Also, slow burn f/f romance.

Jade City by Fonda Lee: sort of a gangster urban fantasy, heavily inspired by wuxia and set in an Asian-inspired metropolis. It follows a pretty big cast of characters, each with their own journey and development. It features nuanced family dynamics and a lot of political and economical subplots. Not extremely prominent, but book 2 features m/m side rep.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse: inspired by Native American culture and specifically by the idea of subsequent worlds. It has a kickass MC and a good mix of original elements and typical UF tropes. TW: the book isn’t extremely violent but there is death and some gore.

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine: space opera inspired by the Mexica and middle period Byzantium. It focuses on topics like colonialism and the power of narratives and language. It has one of the best descriptions of what it’s like to live in between spaces I’ve ever read. Also very interesting political intrigue and has a slow burn f/f romance (and a poly relationship recalled through flashbacks). I ranted a lot about it already.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee: a Korean-inspired space opera with a magic system based on math. It’s honestly quite convoluted and difficult to follow, but it also features some of the best political intrigue I’ve ever read. Plenty of lying, backstabbing and mind games. It also features lesbian and bisexual rep and an aroace side character (TW: mass shooting, sexual assault, abuse). I also really recommend Yoon Ha Lee’s short-story collection Conservation of Shadows.

The long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers: character driven space opera featuring a found family journeying through space. A fun read, that also deals with topics such as sexuality and race. Quite easy to go through, as the world building and plot aren’t particularly complex themselves. f/f romance.  

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo: an Asian-inspired fantasy novella that gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric (non binary rep) as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life. It focuses on bonds between women and the power that lies in being unnoticed. f/f side rep.

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark: an urban fantasy novella, based on Orisha mythology and set in an alternate, sort of steampunk, New Orleans. I really like how creative Clark’s worlds are and how good he is at writing female characters (which rarely happens with male authors).

The haunting of tram car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark: novella set in an alternate steampunk Cairo populated by supernatural entities. It’s set in the same world of a Dead Djinn in Cairo, which is a short story you can read for free.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: epistolary novella set during a time-travel war. It has gorgeous writing and an amazing f/f romance. As a novella, it’s quite short but it’s beautifully crafted and so complex for such a short book!

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard: a novella set in the Xuya universe (a series of novellas/short stories set in a timeline where Asia became dominant, and where the space age has empires of Vietnamese and Chinese inspiration), but can be read as a standalone. It’s a space opera featuring a disappeared citadel and the complex relationship between the empress and her daughter as war threatens her empire.

One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake: self-published urban fantasy following two rival families in New York. Sort of a Romeo and Juliette retelling but with gangster families and magic. Honestly recommend all of her books, I love how Olivie writes and especially how she writes female characters.

[nocturnalswarehouse]

I was tagged by both @thequeenofthewinter and @blossom-adventures. Thank you both!

Relationship Status: Single

Favourite Colour(s): Pink, but specifically a pink that's a mix between Barbie pink and dusty rose. I can't totally describe it, but I have a travel mug that's the exact colour

Favourite Food: Uhhhhhhhhhh, good question. This constantly changes, I'm a big foodie. I will say my favourite cuisine is Korean.

Song Stuck in My Head: Nothing atm, but I've been on an Anastasia (the Broadway musical, not the Disney movie) hyperfixation lately.

Last Thing You Googled: Whether or not Carly Shay and Freddie Benson are end game or not. I'm watching the iCarly reboot and just got to the episode where they faked a relationship.

Time: 7:36pm

Dream Trip: PERU PERU PERU. I've been wanting to go since grade 4 and I have not been able to shut up about it. I LOVED learning about Inca mythology and I want to go learn more about it in its birthplace.

Last Thing You Read: A reading for class. Some experimental essay thing that was interesting, but confusing to follow.

Last Book You Enjoyed Reading: It's been MONTHS since I've read for enjoyment over school. And I don't remember the last book I read, but I LOVE They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. It's the saddest book I've ever read, and such a beautiful story.

Favourite Thing to Cook/Bake: Literally any cookie. My friends are obsessed with my matcha chocolate chip cookies, I make chai chocolate chip cookies using my family's chai spice, and since the holidays are approaching, I'm getting ready to bake eggnog cookies!

Favourite Craft to do in Your Free Time: I don't have a specific craft that I do in my free time, as in my free time I normally focus on media I need to catch up on (yes, need XD if I'm to go into the film industry I have to keep up). But when I absolutely can't focus and need to do something, I'll find a garment of mine that needs mending (currently have a pant leg I need to mend, but I can't find my thread and it's driving me nuts).

Most Niche Dislike: Okay, so I work in a kitchen and absolutely hate it; I'm hoping to switch to Front of House soon (I know I am for sure, I just don't know when). You must continue cooking one of the dishes I make until the sauce is thoroughly soaked into the noodles. Most of my coworkers, when helping me on my station (we've been getting slammed on panfry lately, to the point where I'll get 10 dishes at once, and the menu launch stresses me out), will shut off the stove and plate when there's so much sauce it almost looks like a ramen. I absolutely HATE that.

OH! Also, when someone doesn't tuck in their chair at a table. I got that from a summer camp I went to for three years where we had to tuck our chairs in or the supers (supervisors) would get mad.

Opinion of Circuses: If it's Cirque Du Soleil? I absolutely LOVE it. If you don't know, Cirque Du Soleil is a cruelty-free circus where all the performers are trained gymnasts, dancers, and musicians. I love going to the shows, and I've seen most of the travelling shows. I've seen a few that are set in specific locations (Mexico, Disneyworld). The one I want to go to the most is "One," the Michael Jackson Cirque in Las Vegas.

Do You Have Any Sense of Direction: I like to call myself a "human navigator." If I've been there enough, I know exactly where to go. In a mall back home, I'm the GPS because I know where every store is. If I've never been there, you want me to have the map because I can quickly figure out maps to real life.

[bookshopkat]

Asian Fantasy Novels for the Lunar New Year

Photo by Thyla Jane

Happy Year of the Ox!  The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, is a major celebration in many Asian countries.  Marking the first new moon of the lunar calendar, this celebration lasts for days and is a time for family and friends, lantern festivals, dragon and lion dances, gifts of money, fireworks, and feasts.  There’s something enchanting about the Lunar New Year, with its bright lanterns lining every street and its sparkling starbursts lighting the night sky.  At its heart is tradition, cultural beliefs, and a mixture of mythology and magic.  Simple charms are used to bring good luck and drive away evil.  The supernatural has a firm place amid the celebrations, from shoe-stealing ghosts in South Korea to Vietnamese kitchen gods to the lion-like monster Nian in China.  As such, this holiday presents a marvelous opportunity to both celebrate various Asian cultures and conjure a sense of wonder.  So, to celebrate the Lunar New Year, here are four fantasy novels rooted in Asian culture and lore.

Jade City by Fonda Lee

On the island of Kekon, jade grants those with the ability to wield it special powers, but promises pain and death for anyone lacking the right genetics who tries to use it.  As a result, jade smuggling is a profitable business and those families with the capacity to use the mineral, called Jade Bones, make up the highest class of society. But now ordinary citizens are somehow gaining the ability to use jade, and it is throwing the society of Kekon into turmoil.  As suspicion fuels inter-clan warfare among the noble class, the future of the island nation hangs in the balance.  In the midst of this chaos stands three siblings. Kaul Lan, the new, young, peace-loving leader of his family, finds himself faced with the uncomfortable necessity of bloodshed as he tries to steer his clan through these uncertain times.  Lan’s brother, the hot-tempered and passionate Kaul Hilo, is like a warrior straight out of old tales: honorable, protective, and hungry for battle and glory.  Their sister, Shae, is an independent modern woman who chose to cast aside her jade along with her traditional roles in favor of freedom and marriage to an outsider.  Added to this cast of characters is Wen, Hilo’s forbidden lover, who is burdened by the combination of coming from a disgraced family and being a rare Stone Eye, a supposedly cursed person completely immune to jade.  All four have their differences and disagreements, and the tension between them mirrors the growing strain in their homeland at large.  It will take them all, however, to find out who is responsible for the dangerous drug allowing non-Jade Bones to wield the sacred stone before it is too late.

This is a novel that bridges high fantasy and urban fantasy, weaving a tale of heroism, betrayal, and intrigue against the backdrop of a thoroughly modernized enchanted society. Lee’s narrative is intricate and interesting, her world building is exceptional, and her magical system is comprehensive and intelligent.  Running throughout the entire tale are elements of Chinese myth and culture, with folklore concerning gods and monsters playing a vital part.  Complex, well-written, and engaging, Jade City is grand and unique fantasy adventure.

Tears of the Wind by Phung Lam

This collection of short stories is a touching as it is magical.  Taking place on the fictional Island of Wishes, each tale explores human nature and the deepest desires people harbor in dark corners of their minds. From a lonely heart seeking solace to a soul hungry with ambition, this anthology explores the not only the power of wishes, but the question: what would people do if the one thing they truly wanted most could be theirs?  It’s basically impossible to find an English version of this book, and I had to rely on the Smart Book translation application for the ebook format.  That led to some odd phrasing in portions of the text, but the collection was nonetheless enjoyable. That is because Lam writes not only with imagination but also with a keen understanding of humanity.

The narratives are dreamlike, the content somewhat akin to magical realism and the tone ultimately surrealistic.  Ranging from heartrending to horrifying, Lam weaves stories about the darkest parts of ourselves, when we harbor wishes we dare not name, as well as about the unforeseen and often terrible consequences of getting exactly what we think we want.  The author explores the nature of love, the power of longing, and the baser side of our very nature. It’s an engaging collection that seems, and its core, to turn upon one basic thought: be careful what you wish for.

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

Set in late-nineteenth-century Malaya, on the island of Borneo, this novel sparkles with folk beliefs and superstitions.  Li Lan is a spirited girl and only child from a family wrapped in what can only be called genteel poverty.  Her life is certainly not perfect—her mother is dead, her father, although loving, has allowed his grief to lead to opium addiction, and her marriage prospects are extremely limited—but things aren’t so very bad.  Apart from occasional longings for beautiful new clothing such as she sees other wealthier girls sporting, Li Lan would be reasonably content if it weren’t for one thing: her father has asked her if she would like become a ghost bride.  He says it almost as a joke, but the moment he speaks the words, the wheels of fate start to turn. The rare tradition of ghost brides is meant to mollify the spirits of wealthy young men who died without marrying, and it presents both tempting and terrifying prospects. While accepting would mean financial help for her aging father as well as a place for Li Lan herself in one of Malacca city’s most affluent households, it would also mean giving up any dreams of love, passion, or children of her own.

Li Lan, of course, refuses, especially when she starts to develop feelings for another decided living man.  But the choice may not be as easy as the thinks.  She finds herself haunted by Lim Tiang Ching, her spectral suitor, and he is determined to have her.  Tiang Ching, the young woman soon learns, was selfish and cruel when he was alive, and death hasn’t improved him. Desperate, Li Lan seeks the help of a local wise woman, and unwittingly finds herself embroiled in a supernatural struggle where ghosts are all too real and her only hope hangs on a mysterious young man who may be more than he seems, and who is most definitely keeping secrets.  On top of that, she begins to realize that the Lim family is harboring some dark secrets of their own, and one of them may be deadly.  

Choo’s narrative is imaginative as well as brimming with cultural folklore and traditions.  A blend of mystery and fantasy, it is engaging from start to finish.  Many of the characters are interesting and a little quirky, although a couple feel less well developed and there were a few moments when I felt the protagonist was a bit too flighty for my tastes. Nonetheless, this is a fun, entertaining fantasy book, perfect for an evening of light reading with a cup of tea or coffee at your side.

When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

This is a truly wonderful novel blending together magical realism, mythology, family drama, and a deeply touching coming of age tale. It’s a beautifully written and imaginative narrative where opposites don’t so much collide as they do interweave in a complex dance.  Dreams tangle with reality, childhood blurs with adolescence, Korean tradition intersects with modern America, folklore mingles with daily life, and stories become solid enough to touch. Through it all runs a profound understanding of emotion and the human spirit.

Lily has always loved visiting her Korean grandmother, catching stars to learn what stories they hold and listening to traditional tales from their ancestral homeland.  This, however, is different.  Now Lily, along with her mother and her sister, are moving in with the old woman because Lily’s grandmother is sick, and isn’t getting any better.  A new city, a new school, and new fears about her beloved relative would all be difficult enough, but Lily has another problem: upon arriving, she sees a tiger straight out of one of her grandmother’s tales.  This is both a metaphor for many things: words unsaid, terminal illness, fear, and long-ago mistakes.   It is, however, also an introduction of the magical real.  Upon informing her grandmother about the big cat, Lily begins unraveling the old woman’s greatest tale yet, and takes the first step in a personal journey to discover family secrets and leave her childhood behind.  As marvelous as it is heartfelt, When You Trap a Tiger addresses conflicts between generations and cultures, as well as the reconciliation of the past, through the lens myths and storytelling. At its core, this is a novel about the power of both love and stories, as well as about one girl finding herself.

Perhaps one of these books will make an excellent companion over the next several days as celebrations of the Lunar New Year progress. Blending Asian folklore with a sense of the fantastic, these works may prove to be the perfect way for those not immersed in these festivities to still capture a bit of the season’s spirit.  Readers hungry for an interesting narrative that is a little out of the ordinary will likely find any one of these to be a feast for the imagination, as well as a wonderful way to start of the Year of the Ox.  Happy Reading!

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

The Divine Principle: Questions to consider about Old Testament figures

▲ An 1843 prophetic chart illustrating multiple interpretations of prophecy yielding the year 1843.

________________________________________

The Divine Principle: Questions to consider about Old Testament figures

by Richard Barlow (late 2012)

1. Did they exist? 2. Were they consciously doing (for the providence) what the Divine Principle reading of their actions is? Were they doing it in that spirit? 3. Was there a result? Did their actions change anything? Or is it just magical thinking? Even if they thought that their sacrifice was doing stuff, did it? All the people going to the Temple and making offerings to Yahweh thought that that was important. The great shock for the Jews was that they did all those things; they had built the Temple; they had the huge on-going sacrifices and yet the Romans came and stuffed them, and expelled them from their own land and destroyed the Temple. They thought, ‘we did everything and yet this happened. Why?’ Ultimately culminating in the holocaust. ‘Our prophets told us we were the chosen people and we were going to have the messiah. But no messiah and now mass extermination, it is like instead of being the chosen people, we are the cursed people, we are the people that the world hates, so why?’

In the black Divine Principle book, especially, it says this was Moses’ second course for going into Canaan and he struck the rock twice and therefore the people… In other words there are huge consequences from small actions. Another example is Abraham didn’t cut the birds in two and therefore the sacrifice …, all that kind of stuff. They are great stories and there are lots like that in mythology and in various cultures – but is God the kind of God that requires such things? According to the Divine Principle these stories are all about Satan. It is all about ‘man is in the mid-way position between God and Satan’ that Ken Sudo keeps going on about. And in order for man to be able to separate from Satan and come back to God he has to fulfil conditions and time periods through central figures, etc. So a person gets locked into this thing.

And now what is going on is because Rev Moon did not fulfil in a way that is apparent, now they are saying that it is Cain and Abel between Hyun Jin Preston and Hyung Jin Sean. But people are saying, ‘Hang on, I thought Rev Moon did Cain and Abel. I thought the elder son position was restored, blah, blah; Satan was subjugated; we are in the era of the coming of Heaven, blah, blah. And yet the Church is going back and using typology from before again. ‘Oh, we are going to have X number of years before this and before that and we have to fulfil this condition and that condition.’ It is never-ending.

Because the Church keeps on having get-out clauses – and even if it does not obviously happen next January (in 2013 on Foundation Day), it will be like when Jesus didn’t come back for the Millerites on October 22, 1844.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Disappointment

‘Well it is because our faith wasn’t sufficient and we didn’t lay a big enough condition, blah, blah, and therefore now we have to…’

Rev Moon has talked about all sorts of dire things before, because if people don’t unite with him this and that would happen… There was that stuff where the messiah could not come again for another six thousand years, because the whole of the providence would be claimed if we failed. The last time was two thousand years because the people failed to accept and unite with Jesus and it meant that the providence had to go back to Abraham and be relaid. But now, at the time of Rev Moon, if the providence is not fulfilled it will have to go back to Adam. It will go back to hell and mankind will go back to something like a Stone Age. There has been all of that explained in the Unification Church.

The Church also says the opposite, which is that Satan could not invade the third Adam, the third stage, because Adam and Eve fell at the top of the growth stage (the second stage) and therefore the third Adam is absolutely destined to fulfil and accomplish and therefore don’t worry about it.

And they play with the theology. That is what happens when you have spiritual formulae. You can always re-jig them.

__________________________________________

“If you attend the messiah, you are in “the eye of history” – like St Peter at the time of Jesus. You are a special generation. This time will only happen once. You will be remembered by future generations …

… Moonism has turned out to be a combination of the worst aspects of Korean shamanism, neo-Confucianism, and Old Testament and New Testament obscurantism. It has no useful role to play in mankind’s spiritual evolution, other than as an object lesson in what to avoid.”

Richard Barlow

__________________________________________

‘The whole thing about the messiah is a human construct’

Backbiting and Rumor Mongering

Breaking Silence on In Jin, Ben, Alistair Farrant

How “God’s Day” was established on January 1, 1968

Divine Principle – Parallels of History

[banjodanger]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine(2009)

I’ve got a lot to talk about, so I’m going to jump right in with a very unpopular opinion. This may SHOCK and OFFEND certain readers, but I’m not one to shy away from speaking my mind. More sensitive readers should beware, however, because I’m not going to shy away from rattling cages and saying what NEEDS to be said!

So, ready yourselves, because...

Origins is not the worst X-Men movie.

There. I said it. PBBBBBBTTTT!

I’m not arguing that this was a good movie, hell, there’s a good argument that this isn’t even a competently made movie. But this movie is also responsible for some of the absolute best movies to come from Fox’s X-Men. First Class and Days of Future Past are two of the absolute best movies of this series, and it’s doubtful the other two Wolverine solo movies would have aimed as high as they did if this movie hadn’t been so widely mocked. If you go back to watch this movie, try to keep in mind eight years later this series would get nominated for a screenwriting Oscar. Whatever your opinion of awards, that’s a hell of a turnaround, considering the story this movie tells is like three separate stories stapled together. Finally, however much this movie misunderstands Deadpool, it was right on in casting Ryan Reynolds and eventually gave us better Deadpool movies than we could have hoped for. It shouldn’t go unnoticed that both of those movies use Origins as a solid foundation for jokes. I’m not going to talk too much about Deadpool in this movie, because I plan to cover it in more detail when I get to the first movie.

But I’m not discussing those movies, I’m discussing Origins, and Origins is not very good. The CGI looks cheap and outdated, not just by the standards of the time it was released but by the standards of five years previous. And the movie makes said terrible CGI hard to ignore because, to quote the philosopher Michelle Branch, it is EVERYWHERE. Most people are quick to bring up Wolverine’s claws effects, and they should because they somehow look worse than any of the three previous movies and it’s the most easily noticeable. I’m not expecting them to have Hugh Jackman actually fighting and jumping around on top of a nuclear vent but it looks like they’re doing it in front of computer wallpaper. That hill outside the Hudson’s farmhouse literally looks like the default Windows XP desktop. I’m surprised Agent Zero isn’t hiding behind the recycle bin. This isn’t to say I don’t expect lots of CGI in my comic book movies,but I expect better when someone is dropping over one hundred million for a guy with metal claws to fight a mute with impossibly long sword fists.

I could ignore all the bargain basement effects if there was a good story, but there isn’t one. There’s about two or three stories and they’re all bad. Gavin Hood wanted to make a throwback sevnties-style revenge movie, completely self-contained and R-rated(Hey, does that sound familiar?), but the producers wanted extra characters they could spin off into their own films. And as much as I want to excoriate them for that, I can only get but so mad. This was a big franchise that was approaching ten years since its first film. They were looking towards the future and that’s what their job was. The problem is that failure to find a common ground comes through on the screen. Some of the strongest scenes are between Logan and Victor, to the detriment that most of the other characters who come off as unnecessary cameos. That boxing scene between Logan and Fred Dukes could be a thirty second phone call without really losing anything.

It’s disappointing, too, because a lot of the performances in this movie aren’t bad. Believe me, I wanted to hate Will.I.Am. I was going to drag him and talk about all the terrible music he made but...he’s not bad in this movie. I’m not going to say he missed his calling by not becoming an actor full-time, but I enjoyed his performance and wish the movie had used him a little bit more.

My humps is still one of the worst goddamned songs ever.

Gambit was great in this movie too. Taylor Kitsch had this bizarre run of putting in good performances in hated movies. After this, he did John Carter then the second season of True Detective. That’s a shocking run of bad luck, and too bad to, because he’s good in all three. We missed out not getting at least one more movie with his take on Gambit, because he gets maybe fifteen minutes of screentime but he manages to be memorable, charismatic and charming.

Helicoptering with a bo staff still isn’t part of his goddamn power set though.

And I’m not going to forget Liev Schrieber, who makes an absolutely compelling villain. The only problem with his character at all is that he puts such a great performance that it stretches belief to imagine this is the guy that becomes a silent henchman in the first movie. There’s simply nothing in his performance to suggest they’re the same person. It would be like if the twist of Phantom Menace was that Darth Vader was originally Jar Jar Binks, or if they hired Nora Ephron to write a Hellraiser prequel. 

Even the Scott Summers we get in this movie is pretty good despite looking like a guy that steals copper wiring out of abandoned gas stations. Although I really question why Gambit watches them run off and I guess just assumes they’re being abducted by a good guy.

That leads me into the whole problem with prequels. Things happen in this movie and characters seem to live simply because earlier movies dictate that we have to see them again. It simply does not make sense for Kayla to leave Stryker alive. She has every reason to kill him, but she doesn’t, because he needs to be the villain in X2. Gambit doesn’t chase after the kids because they didn’t want to have him interact with Professor X. Sabretooth survives because he has to fight Wolverine on top of the Staute of Liberty while making no reference to their apparent relationship as siblings, or any words of any kind. This movie is awkwardly shoehorning itself into the lore established by the previous movies and it results in characters saying and doing things that go against what this movie seems to lead up to. The ending of most of those seventies revenge flicks was a bloody murder. Here, Stryker hurts his feet a little. It’s just not the same thing.

Ok, are you ready for the problematic parts?

Let’s start with Native American representation, because it ends up being a pretty big part of this movie. Lynn Collins’ Wikipedia says she claims Cherokee ancestry, so I’ll give the movie credit on that, but as near as I’ve been able to suss out, the myth she tells does not exist outside of this movie. First off, Wolverines do not howl. At all. They’re not wolves, they’re related to weasels. They’re small, vicious bastards. That information was readily available in 2009, by the way. Furthermore, the information I can find says that the moon in Native American mythology is predominantly gendered as male. Now, that’s not a blanket statement. This was the research I was able to conduct, and mythology, as with a lot of oral traditions, are a pretty mutable thing. Given that I was unable to find any mention of this myth that didn’t quote it from the movie, I feel pretty comfortable calling this myth nonsense.

Hey, what’s your tolerance for fatphobia? Because that’s going to impact how you feel about Blob’s character. Look, from his very first appearance he’s been a fat joke. That’s it. He’s a rude fat guy whose mutant power is being fat, hell, part of his power set is described as a “personal gravity field.” So while I can’t blame the movie entirely for this character being problematic, you’ve got to ask why they chose this character as the one that had to stay true to the comic book. He was in poor taste when he was created, when this movie was made, and now. And I absolutely can blame the movie for making him a fat joke.

At least they didn’t go the Ultimate comics route and straight up show him eating another character. Small blessings.

On a more final note, there’s that very strange character choice in the beginning credits. I know that they want to illustrate early that Wolverine doesn’t view violence the same way Sabretooth does, but why would they choose nazis as the villain in that moment? Even if they weren’t the most enjoyably killable villains in history, the last three movies have made the atrocities of the Holocaust a huge emotional linchpin of a major character. So it comes off as a genuine shock that this movie would use, in its introduction, a moment of sympathy for these very same villains. So you needed to show Wolverine with sympathy? Have a bar fight in France after liberating the country. Have them fight in the Korean war. Maybe Wolverine mourns a kid shot on the front lines. There’s a hundred choices that don’t involve Wolverine getting sad over a bunch of nazis.

So, why don’t I think this is the worst X-Men movie? I’m clearly not calling it a forgotten classic, and I’m not recommending you watch it unless you’re a weird completionist blogging about your arrested development on Tumblr. Sure, there’s some forgotten performances in here that deserve some consideration, but the movie is mostly a mess, a result of too many cooks with diverging visions. There’s a good revenge flick here, but it gets buried and muddled by a desire and knowledge that this movie has to simultaneously explain the past that led to the first movie and set up future installments. It tries to do too much and ends up not doing much of anything. I followed up on some of the people involved in this movie. Obviously Ryan Reynolds had the last laugh, but it still took seven years and a leaked teaser. Hugh Jackman learned from the mistakes in this movie and the rest of the Wolverine movies are pretty great. Gavin Hood, who got this job after being nominated for a foreign language Oscar, directed another big-budget flop with Ender’s Game. However, earlier in 2020 he apparently bought a four million dollar house so I don’t feel bad for him. Also, the flop of Ender’s Game could possibly involve Orson Scott Card being a vocal and unapologetic homophobe. Seriously, what is it with beloved fantasy authors and hate towards LGBT groups? You can conceive of wild, uncharted space and magical realms but the idea that two guys love each other is too far out?

Next in the series, from failure comes success, as we meet Xavier and Erik as frenemies and launch a million slash fictions.

[recentanimenews]

OPINION: The Life and Times of an Indian Otaku

  Makoto Shinkai's Weathering With You marked a historic first in my anime watching career. Contrary to popular belief, being the first anime to be released in Indian theaters is not the historic first in question (that honor goes to Shinchan: Bungle in the Jungle). Rather, Weathering With You would become the first film I'd ever watch on opening day — "first day first show" as we Indians call it. In the mad scramble to get tickets, I'd emerged a winner. Was it worth the struggle?

An emphatic yes. It was so good I went on to rewatch it twice.

    To fans in India: I’m so happy to tell that ‘Weathering With You’ (Tenki no ko) will release in India this October! We have licensed the Indian distribution rights to PVR Pictures and BookMyShow backed company Vkaao.

— 新海誠 (@shinkaimakoto) August 10, 2019

  The Indian theatrical release of Weathering With You in 2019 marked an important moment in the history of the Indian anime fandom. The story of how Shinkai noticed (and fulfilled) an online petition by Indian fans asking for its release here is already the stuff of legend. Because access to anime (especially in theaters) was so scarce in India, even in 2019, fans sought to have the film legally released in theaters. And thanks to Shinkai, it worked. To Indian anime fans, this represented the moment Japan — and the rest of the world — recognized our existence in the fandom. But Indian otakus didn't spring up overnight. Anime has had nearly three decades of history here. It just looks a little different than the rest of the world. The origins of anime in India go back to the '90s. Prior to the economic reforms of 1991, we had one — yes, only one — TV channel, the state-owned Doordarshan. The post-1991 wave of private TV channels brought with it a flood of international TV shows, among them anime like Robotech (which aired on the newly-created Star Plus). Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama, the anime adaptation of the Indian mythological epic of the same name, was released in 1992 and had a long and troubled production history, but the end product was a grand success, with its all-star Hindi cast and catchy songs turning it into a TV fixture for well over a decade. It even received a US release, with Bryan Cranston voicing the lead role. The remainder of the '90s would see various anime achieve varying degrees of success, from Nippon Animation's 1989 adaptation of The Jungle Book — which became a nationwide hit — airing in India starting in 1993, to late-night anime like You're Under Arrest and Gunsmith Cats. Despite this, there wasn't yet an actual fandom surrounding anime at the time. That would all change upon the turn of the century.

  Cartoon Network revolutionized the Indian anime market when the channel arrived in 2001. The launch of dedicated anime programming block Toonami brought with it two anime that would permanently shape the future of the fandom: Dragon Ball Z and Cardcaptor Sakura (albeit in its heavily-edited Cardcaptors form). While I never watched Dragon Ball Z (compared to all my friends at school), I did watch some Cardcaptors with my sister, which would actually be the very first anime I watched. My own viewing habits notwithstanding, DBZ was very much the anime of the moment. Schoolkids would frequently shout out famous lines from the iconic English dub. We'd even invented various hand games based on attacks and moves from DBZ. In 2003, another monumental shift would come as the childhood classic Pokémon hit the small screen, followed closely by Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Beyblade. The merchandise associated with these franchises turned them into smash hits with a younger audience. All the cool kids had Pokemon cards and Beyblade tops. Battling with them at school was the stuff childhood was made of. To this day, these toys continue to sell well. Beyblade tournaments are still very much a thing. While many of my schoolmates were avid fans of DBZ, there were other trends in anime that could be observed, trends that had to do with language. From my experience, certain anime were only available dubbed in Hindi — a language spoken largely by the northern half of the country. Coming from a south Indian city with a significant north Indian population, I could observe a clear trend wherein Hindi-speaking north Indians grew up with these Hindi-dubbed anime, while people in the south (who spoke other languages) largely grew up with titles that were available in English (or Tamil, as fans of DBZ's Tamil dub can testify). Interestingly, these Hindi dubbed anime tended to be ones that were popular in Japan but not so much in the West — stuff like Doraemon, Shin-Chan, KochiKame, and Case Closed. This gave the north Indian anime scene a rather unique flavor. An even more interesting case is that of India's northeastern region (comprised of states like Nagaland, Manipur, and Meghalaya). Being culturally different from the rest of India, these states have had a history of consuming Korean and Japanese media, and they embraced anime and manga in a way the rest of the nation had not. Anime-related cosplay is huge in the northeast, with some of the best cosplay conventions in the nation taking place there and becoming a part of the local fashion scene. The general acceptance of otaku culture in the region continues to be high.

Eventually, anime would become a little more accessible to all. The launch of dedicated channel Animax in 2004 represented another watershed moment in the fandom. The shows Animax brought over were unlike anything we'd seen in the medium. Shows like Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Inuyasha, and K-On! redefined what anime meant for Indian audiences who had previously seen anime as a childhood interest and no different from other cartoons. As the channel slowly began to shift its focus to the older teen/young adult demographic, more mature anime like Cowboy Bebop, Hell Girl, Akira, and Welcome to the NHK challenged our conservative notions of what was acceptable to air on TV, especially considering these shows aired in daytime slots rather than late-night. This honeymoon period did not last. Animax was delisted by service providers in 2012. The years to come would be some of the most frustrating for us anime fans, as availability was at its most inconsistent and uncertain. While the channel attempted to make a comeback later on in 2016, it eventually disappeared for good in 2017. Despite all these problems, I look back on Animax fondly. Thanks to it, we became aware of the existence of the entity known as "anime." We began to actively seek out anime over other forms of animation. In short, it resulted in the formation of an actual fandom centered around anime. Anime fan clubs began to pop up in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Kolkata. Widespread conventions outside of the northeast region came next. Anime Con India was started in 2010, followed closely by Delhi Comic-Con in 2011. Anime conventions in India are a curious thing. They are very unlike the sprawling, sophisticated conventions of the West. The funds simply aren't there for that sort of thing. I don't recall a single Indian anime convention that was attended by a voice actor, animator, or the like. So what are Indian cons about? In an interview with The Citizen, Anime Con India founder Nitesh Rohit talked about his reason for starting the con: "like any other belief and faith they all needed a temple to congregate (at)." This statement really resonates with me, and sums up what Indian cons are about. What they lack in scale and facilities, they make up for in intimacy and a feeling of togetherness. They are more or less small-scale events for anime fans to find other fans, to network with them, and basically feel less alone. Because feeling alone was part of the original Indian otaku experience. The early fandom was largely an urban phenomenon, as going to cons wasn't an option for everyone and the internet wasn't what it is today. So, you had these disconnected pockets of fans. People around you were unlikely to share your interest in anime and may have even judged you for it. The general consensus in India was (and still is) that animation is a medium for children. And remember, for a long time, anime accessibility varied by region. So, if you were lucky enough to find a kindred otaku, there was no guarantee they were into (or had even heard of) the same titles as you. This meant that we hadn't really had the ability to develop any sort of unique culture or traditions of our own. Things like going to cons, renting anime DVDs, memes and in-jokes — these things didn't exist for the vast majority of early fans who were school-going kids or college students of little means. A culture of our own wouldn't arise until much later — when that generation grew up.

  Of course, it wasn't just us who grew up — technology did, too. The internet became more ubiquitous. Social media and forums enabled us to network with each other regardless of location, in ways we'd never have imagined. To the scattered fandom of the early days, this has been nothing short of a blessing. The other big change ushered in by the internet was the era of streaming. Until then, most of our anime viewing took place on television and as previously stated, was not always very consistent. Accessibility improved greatly with the launch of Netflix in 2016. In today's India, Netflix is a household name, with a significant portion of young adults having access to a subscription. With a catalog of over 200 anime, Netflix has been responsible for pulling in many new fans. Plenty of people "come for the movies, stay for the anime." Series like My Hero Academia, Death Note, and One-Punch Man have become mainstream successes in this fashion, with a significant following even among non-anime fans. Another streaming service that is beginning to make inroads into the Indian market is Crunchyroll, with simulcasts like Boruto and originals like Tower of God, and the fact that it is free makes it accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Most Indian anime fans I know of have heard of Crunchyroll, and as more titles get licensed it is inevitable that its popularity will rise. And us otakus are doing plenty to help it do just that.

The success of Weathering With You is a shining example of the tight-knit nature of the Indian anime fandom. All it took was one person (an anime fan named Divishth Pancholi) to create a Change.org petition asking for its release in Indian theaters. The petition went viral, getting over 50,000 signatures and attracting the attention of Shinkai and the producers, resulting in its release here. Today, that event is seen as a smaller part of a greater Indian anime movement that is pushing for increased availability and acceptance of anime in India. Hashtags like #IndiaWantsAnime frequently make their presence felt on social media. This fandom isn't without its problems — it isn't the most inclusive when it comes to non-male fans, the "animation is for kids" specter hasn't been fully shaken off, and I'd love for anime BluRays/DVDs to be more widely available here. But I am grateful for the fandom's existence for getting me into anime in the first place. Without them, I'd have never been sitting in a movie theater on October 11, 2019, watching Weathering With You.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[calypsomarshall]

intro !

⌠ BRITTANY O’GRADY, 21, FEMALE, SHE/HER ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, CALYPSO NATALYA MARSHALL! according to their records, they’re a SECOND year, specializing in LINGUISTICS, CULTURE, & ASSIMILATION + ADVANCED ENCRYPTION; and they DID NOT go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (dark red combat boots, a mass of messy curls, the smell of coffee and cinnamon spice, ink stains on her fingers, multilingual curses falling off her lips). when it’s the (capricorn)’s birthday on 01/11/2000, they always request VEGETARIAN LASAGNA from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. ⌿ lily, 20, she/her, gmt ⍀  

[@gallagherintro​​]

|| CONNECTIONS PAGE || PINTEREST || ABOUT || STATS || BIO ||

[ c h a r a c t e r ; ]

the basics:

Full Name: Calypso Natalya Marshall

Nickname(s): Cal, Callie

Age: 20

Date of Birth: January 11th

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Ethnicity: African American

Nationality: American

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/her

Orientation: Bisexual

Language(s) Spoken: English, Russian, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Latin, Dutch, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Greek, Ancient Greek, Archaic Latin

Accent: Central American

Relationship status: Single

the personality:

zodiac sign: capricorn

mbti: INFP

temperament: melancholic

element: earth

enneagram type: type 5, the investigator

five positive traits: determined, loyal, hardworking, patient, intelligent

five negative traits: guarded, stubborn, impractical, self-critical, moody at times

likes: the smell of lavender and woodsmoke, the colors purple and red, the sound of busy new york streets at night time, neon lights, reading a good book, being flirted with

dislikes: cigarette smoke, ignorant people, rudeness, being vulnerable, feeling trapped, sports

bad habits: picking at her fingernails, tapping surfaces when anxious

hobbies: reading, learning languages, playing guitar, watching old sci-fi/horror movies, coding, flirting

fears: enclosed dark spaces, clowns, needles, car crashes

[ s t o r y ; ]

background:

born on January 11th to her mother Olympe and her father Alexei, she grew up in a little red-brick apartment in Brooklyn

her mother was a ballerina, having been a dancer all her life, and worked with a dance company as a teacher

her dad was always gone on ‘work trips’ (he actually worked as a spy, but never told calypso as he didn’t want her involved in his life)

he was a big part of calypso’s life when he was home - making blueberry pancakes for her on the weekend, teaching her a little bit of self defense, taking the family out to the movies, etc.

when he died she was 15 and it hit hard - calypso was told it was a car accident by his ‘company’ and her mother (though he was really killed in action on a mission)

her mother, grief-stricken, became distant - and plagued by the secret of her husband’s death, she became entirely focused on her job, leaving calypso alone at home most of the time

calypso became pretty closed off, choosing not to make any real friends to avoid opening up to anyone about her dad

instead spending countless hours reading and learning

she speaks french and russian due to them being her parents’ mother tongues

she used read all of her dad’s old mythology books as it would help her feel closer to him, and bring back memories of when he would teach her about constellations

however, when she was 17 she opened one his old books she found it hollowed out, with two extra passports of his (each holding a different name) and a wad of russian money

her mother finally broke and admitted everything when calypso confronted her, and told her that he was killed in action as a spy (though they were never given specifics) instead of a car crash

she instantly did as much research as she could on her father and how he died, which is how she picked up computer skills and hacking - to bypass firewalls on encrypted websites

managed to crack a firewall of a russian intelligence agency, which was coded in russian, ancient greek, and archaic latin to keep people out -- all languages she knew

this is how she was noticed by the school, as one of the alumni worked for the agency and had to rethink their whole security system after the attack

when she received her letter, she said yes instantly, knowing it was her only chance to either find out what happened to her dad through the school, or gain the skills to find out the truth on her own

now:

she can get super obsessive about things, and buries herself in her studies - unfortunately, not always the ones she needs to be doing for school - but the things she’s most interested in

for example, she currently head over heels into ancient greek / archaic latin

she’s always been in love with the idea of love - her parents were like the romantic movie example of a perfect couple, and she yearns for that perfect relationship

she’s flirty as a result of that, desperate to try out relationships all the time and find love whenever and wherever possible

which results in her heartbroken nature -- she’s constantly searching for the perfect ideal of love, and has never found it, so constantly carries a sadness with her

lots of one night stands, friends with benefits, etc, as a result of that

she has a lot of trust issues due to her parents lying to her over her whole life, as well, so that element will pop up from time to time when she starts getting really close to people

others:

her father gave her a pair or dark red combat boots for her 15th birthday - the last gift she ever received from him - and you will hardly ever see her without them. they’re so worn in they feel like a second skin to her

weirdly good at hitting a target, but still learning how to properly use any weapons - they still freak her out a little, especially as she knows they were somehow involved in killing her father

she still sometimes has panic attacks in/around cars - although she now knows that’s not how he died, she spent two years thinking that was what killed her dad

she’s p thin and small so in a fight her strengths are stealth and agility

but she way prefers being the ‘behind the scenes’ person, like translating or coding

loves mythology and old stories

is basically obsessed with the constellations: she feels like they connect her to her dad’s memory, as well as the fact that they’re a constant factor in life, something she doesn’t have a lot of 

stubborn as hell, once she sets her sights on something she’s entirely determined to get/do it, partially why she’s so good at languages - pure willpower.

uhh she’s really empathetic?? if a friend of hers is sad or angry or anything she tends to adopt those emotions, burdening herself with other people’s problems constantly

that’s also why she’s a vegetarian -- she can’t think about meat separate from animals.

connections page 

[tender-history]

On Research: Worldbuilding and Culture

Hullo, in this post I’m going to talk about how I research and do world-building for my stories!

I’m doing this through the following ways:

1) using chapter 1 of my historical Taegi fic  to illustrate what I did to research the era and the culture for that period,

2) providing the templates and tools I used in the hopes that it can help some of you all writers if you ever want to write your own research-intensive stories or original fiction that requires world-building!

While I’m using my BTS Taegi fic as a means to explain my process, this post is for any sort of writing project - original or fanfiction. If you follow me for fic, though, there will be chapter 1 spoilers for it. So if you haven’t read that yet, be-warned that there be spoilers below!

> How I do my research/world-building:

 If your idea for the actual story is agnostic of time-period or setting, identifying that is possibly the first step. My initial idea for this story was to have it take place during a war (the Imjin War between Japan and in 1590s was the first choice) but finding the spooky landscape to set it against while also maintaining the drama and tension of a battlefield was going to dilute the characters and their inner conflicts.

So I went back to reading about Korean history in broad terms (Google Books is your friend) , trying to locate a time-period to set my story in. I finally chose this time-period because it was very interesting to me in multiple ways.

- it’s still a way away from the big social reforms in Korea in the 1800s that would push it into the Modern Period of history

- it was a time period when common people and peasants began to lose trust in the king and the upper-class bureaucracy, leading to peasant rebellions and some villages stockpiling their own grains

- it is a time when global influences were beginning to creep into Korean society, including Christianity. In fact, just a few years from this, a major wave of persecution would be unleashed against Catholics in Korea.

- I chose this time-period also because I wanted the level of organization of society that’s in this fic. It’s been established already, which means the characters are at a point of history where things are more or less stable in terms of what is expected of them as a member of this society. I needed that stability to create a quieter sort of period mystery.

 To research for this story (or any other), once I pick the time period, I start looking for answers to my biggest questions: 

1) how did they live: this includes food, travel, interests, societal hierarchy and organization, family structure, music, religions, and mythology. Basically, anything that they shared as a cultural group. In doing this, I had to separate royalty from common folk, because so much history is written about the royals and there’s so less about the folk. I looked up everything from the food that the common people ate to the issues they faced (winter and the gap between rice and barley cultivation was a huge aspect; so huge, in fact, that the popularity of kimchi can be attributed to needing a protein source in the winter that wouldn’t go bad). I looked up clothes and fabrics and the layout of villages. I looked for traditional crafts. And when I did, I found myself going down rabbit holes about caste professions (the shaman, for example, is of low caste in Joseon society, which was surprising to me considering so many period fics I’ve read has depicted them in a different fashion.)

I know that this feels very disorganized and random, but that’s because I have been doing world-building—both fantasy and historical—for a long time, and my process is built basis what I’ve historically realized works for me. But to make this post more useful, I’ve figured out a template that helps to look into culture. I used to use this to build original fantasy worlds, and I think it is useful.

And here is a graphic where someone has analyzed Japanese culture through this lens:

Most cultures share elements of commonality. You can use this graphic above to figure out how to research. For example, the culture of Joseon Korea as I have tried to research for this fic comprises of:

1) Language (written and spoken - so Korean; Hangul, + Chinese characters);

2) Religion (shamanism + neo-confucianism)

3) Government (caste system + agrarian bureaucracy + royalty) etc.

You can fill in the blanks this way for any time period and thus get a better understanding of the culture you’re writing about.

 Additionally, I’ve spoken about the cultural iceberg on twitter before, but I find it very useful when I’m researching to pick up on each element in it and look up information pertaining to them.

This is how I use the iceberg:

> the top portion is usually the things that we’ve picked up on, through Run episodes or general Bangtan stuff. Like, we know hanbok is Korean traditional dress. We know the kind of food they eat. We know the music scene in SK, and that the major festivals are seollal and choseok.

> the bottom portion is where you gain deeper intercultural understanding. Notions of modesty, for example. We know that gender roles in Korea are more entrenched than they are in the west. In this fic, men are the ones mostly occupying spheres of influence, but women have their own spheres—we’ll get to that in a while. If you see, there’s an aspect called ‘nature of friendship’. This is where the concept of hyung-line/maknae-line/same-age friends all fit into this culture. It’s less visible than the top half, but you can still gain knowledge of it. Similarly, ‘attitude towards elders’ or ‘concepts of beauty’ are both aspects of culture. These are keywords you can use to learn more about culture. Again, you can also use this in original writing projects to build your fantasy world. I know I do :)

 Now that I know how my characters live, I come to the second stage of planning/world-building:

2) where in society are my characters: since I’m writing a mystery, I need someone who wants to solve it. I need detectives. I read up on everything I could about the Joseon lawmaking process, going through scholars and bureaucrats and ministers before I found a smaller, quieter force: the podocheong. I also need medics, people in charge of administration, senior officials, and so forth. For each of this, I tried to look into how my character could have entered that role, what that role comprises of, and where it puts them in that society. Seokjin, because he is a senior official, would require to have taken a test to enter into that force. His family would have to be of a particular class status to even enable him to take it. Knowing this, I looked up everything I could about the gwageo because I found it so fascinating! There were whole coaching centers dedicated to just teaching children of upper-class bureaucrats so they could pass the gwageo! If you belonged to an upper-class yangban family, and you didn’t pass the gwageo for four generations, your titles could be stripped from you. This is another nugget of information that I thought would be an interesting premise for a character being a in a particular conundrum—you’ll see that later in the story.

For Taehyung, being an artist in that age would have come with interesting baggage. Calligraphers and painters were usually higher-class folk. Peasants simply did not have the time or the materials to pursue art. But there are outliers—inkstick craftsmen, for example, are among what was considered the ‘vulgar common caste’ but they were the ones who made ink and color pigments.

 This just helps me create a richer world than I would have without putting in this research. It also makes your world seem more cohesive, lived-in, and deep.

So now that I know how they live and who they are, we come to:

 3) what are my external/internal conflicts: my characters behave the way they do because of the culture and the customs of the time period. My external conflict—the murders—have to be set against a background of this, and informed by this. So I chose to make Yoongi a sort of disgraced scholar because it allows him to operate outside of his station: he needs to talk to Taehyung, or villagers for example who are all beneath his station, and he wouldn’t be able to do that to the same effect if he is a regular scholar like Jin is. The culture simply won’t allow him to. That also leads to friction between yoonjin, and secrets once they start appearing. His current station helps him integrate better into Tae’s world, while removing him from the world he’s working for. It also serves for his internal conflict, fears and grief.

 Now if I were to extend this example to a more contemporary story: say your characters are in modern Seoul. Your external/internal conflicts can still be tied into the culture. Expectation on children to look after their aging parents OR the character’s family values vs. individual outlook OR Korea’s culture of students studying late into the night vs. the slowing job industry etc.  For a Jinkook fake-dating AU, say, consider what are the troubles that Jin and Jungkook, who have 5 years between them, individually face. 27 year old Jin’s place in society, social spheres and worries will be very different from just-out-of-college Jungkook’s.

 Why does any of this matter? 

I just think putting in some effort to understand culture makes for richer characters, a richer world, and better writing. Not to mention it lets you learn about a new culture, which I think is fascinating, especially if you spend so much of your time thinking/talking about 7 Korean boys.

 So to summarize— I guess this is how I research/worldbuild:

 1) Find out when and where

2) Find out who, and how that character is affected by the customs/culture of that era/setting

3) tie my external/internal conflicts back to the era/setting so that the world feels truly lived in and alive.

For truly good world-building, make sure that your conflicts are caused by limitations imposed on a character due to their cultural setting, or because whatever is happening is outside of their comfort zone. Human beings don’t live in a vacuum. The society and the values that we grow up in affects everything we do, every decision we make. Even rebelling against that culture is an aspect influenced by that culture. Your world (fantasy or otherwise) will feel way less flat if it follows the rules of actual cultures world over. 

*mic-drop*

If you found this post useful as a resource for writing/world-building, please consider a small ko-fi donation!

 [PS: Clarifying that I will not be taking ko-fi for the fic itself - only for the original content that I provide here, on this blog, which can be used for fanfiction or original world-building.]

[timetoresurface]

POLYGLOT (3) / JJK

The prefix poly- comes from Greek and means “many” or “multi-.” The last part of the word comes from the Greek term glōtta, meaning “language” or “tongue." = a person who knows and is able to use several languages.

Word: I’m no writer and English ain’t my mother tongue, but I’ll try my very best to make this as great as I possibly can. I’ll try to be your polyglot and put my weird romantic dreams into words.

I’ve never experienced love like this on Tumblr. Thank you for reading, liking and reblogging my baby. There is also some more dialogue in this part, please don’t cringe while I’m still learning how to be as real life as possible.

Pairing: reader x Jungkook Genre: romance Warnings: none Word count: 2374 words

Summary: Your academic background consists of a wide range of languages. You only studied Korean with a linguistic point of view in mind, as Hangul is a perfect phonetic language. Learning a new culture and their music always excited you so when an opportunity arrises to be a translator in Korea you didn’t even hesitate for a second. No, you immediately booked your one way ticket without even being certain that you had the job.

PART (1) / PART (2) / / PART (4) / PART (5) / PART (6)

After the night you had all spend together it became easier for you to feel comfortable around them. They had shared funny anecdotes that had filled the room with laughter. They also talked about some of the hardships of being in their position, they can barely poop without someone noticing and stirring up a little drama. It drives them crazy from time to time but to them it is worth it. Which is the most important thing, you guess.. You could never live like that but you weren’t an idol. You were just you. Translating your way through the world.

“Y/N can you film our secret handshake?” Halsey asked you nicely. She and Namjoon had been practicing for what felt like hours. They had to create and perfect their little shake. You took her phone and started filming after giving a clear sign for them to start.

Your eyes wondered over to the youngest of BTS. He was holding Taehyung’s little dog while looking like a snack himself. He had just changed into a new set of clothes and the white T-shirt seemed to be handmade for him. Like his body was the only body allowed to wear that shirt. Yes, that shirt was that strong. Or maybe it was Jungkook. Halsey took back her phone and went to chat with Namjoon about something. Everyone seemed busy so you naturally gravitated toward the puppy.

“How cute.” Was the only thing you could say while holding out your hand to pet the little man. Your eyes looked pleadingly in the direction of Taehyung and he only seemed to encourage your behavior.

“You can pet him. He likes people.” His words were barely said and your hand had found its way toward Yeontan. You started to stroke it gently not wanting to touch Jungkook by accident. Which was really difficult as the puppy itself wasn’t that big. Every time you unexpectedly touched Jungkook’s arm you felt him tense up beneath your touch. 

“He’s really tiny.” You said. Taehyung had left and you were alone with Jungkook. He looked a bit panicked while just nodding his head to your remark. “Do you think he will get any bigger?” You asked him curiously while your eyes remained on the little dog. You thought he was shaking his head but you weren’t sure so you looked up and your eyes locked for a second. The moment his brown eyes connected with yours he looked away. It felt like you were an ugly troll that couldn’t be directly looked at. You never thought you could understand the frustration behind the greek mythology character Medusa, but here you were thinking she had it easy. At least she turned people into stone while you had ti endure the awkward glance.

“You want to hold him?” He asked you while offering you Yeontan. You nodded your head and suddenly a wild puppy was in your arms. The little dog looked a little bit lost in your hold but started to relax as soon you started to pet him. 

“He isn’t rea-“ you started to say but Jungkook was nowhere to be seen. Where did he go? Why did he leave you with a dog that is not yours and you had just met. Luckily for you Taehyung was a good father and immediately came to your rescue.

“He was needed for a little touch up.” Tae knew it was a lie and you knew it was a lie so did it still count as a lie? 

“Yeontan is a real ladies man.” You said while Yeontan tried to lick your face.

“Yes, he gets all the girls. It’s a shame he will never know the real struggles and rewarding hard work to get a girl.” 

“I don’t think you know either. You just have to get into the streets of Seoul and you can find a girl willingly to be your woman.” you liked to joke around and Taehyung seemed to enjoy your banter and played along.

“A willing girl is not necessarily what we seek.” He quirked an eyebrow.

“What is it that you seek my dear Tae?”

“I still haven’t figured that one out myself. When I find the answer you’ll be the first I’ll tell..” You both started laughing and Yeontan started to bark and reach for Taehyung.

“He’s a real daddy’s boy. Barely leaves your side for more than five minutes.” Taehyung grabbed the puppy out of your arms and started to kiss his little baby.

“It’s because he knows he has to cherish every moment with me as I’m more away out in the world than home.” He looked sad but the love in his eyes for the little dog were genuine. You were a bit jealous that he had someone to love so deeply.

“You really do know how to make a light and airy moment heavy with regrets and uncertainty.” You remarked.

“What can I say, it is a gift. I thought a European girl like you would appreciate my gift.” His smile returned to his face and it gave his eyes that extra spark. He was a really good-looking boy.

“Oh we do, but we also like to laugh. A European girl is even harder to decipher, or that’s what I’ve been told.” You both laughed but were interrupted.

“Have you dated a lot of people?” Jungkook suddenly appeared next to you and you had no clue where he came from and how long he had been listening. His eyes were desperately searching for yours.

“I’m in my twenties. Of course I’ve dated people but I don’t know what you deem as a lot and I don’t know what you consider dating.” You said bitterly. He did leave you fifteen minutes ago with a dog that wasn’t yours. Taehyung started coughing and Yeontan saw an opportunity to escape. Tae immediately excused himself with a huge grin on his face while running after his son. Jungkook on the other hand was quiet. He seemed to wait for more.  “Have you dated a lot of people?” You asked him.

“I can give you the exact same answer as you gave me.” The conversation had to be continued as Hyun Shik entered the room and started to give orders.

“Please, let’s have fun for our last scene. When this is finished the filming will be done and history will have been made. Be proud. Stay strong and please don’t break anything.” He looked at Namjoon for the last part, who tried to ignore his last remark. Everyone ran to his position and you joined them toward the set. Somewhere at the side there was a chair for you to be comfortably seated in while the 7 boys and Halsey were working hard to get the dance right in front of the camera. 

After the filming was done everyone was tired and it was already past one in the morning. Hyun Shik made its way over to you.

“Will you get home safely? I can drive you home so you don’t need to take a cab.” You could barely speak so you just nodded your head. You weren’t necessarily needed so early in the morning because Halsey was only scheduled after lunch but you felt the extra support was needed. He guided you toward the parking-lot with is hand hovering at your back. Once inside there were only three cars left as everyone had rushed home as soon as the shooting had ended. Only Jungkook was to be seen standing next to his car. 

“Hey, what are you still doing here? I thought I saw you leave about half an hour ago.” Hyun Shik remarked after spotting Jungkook. He had changed into black jeans and a long black hoodie that hid his extremely well built body. It didn’t hide everything but you could imagine what was underneath. 

“I live near Y/N so I thought I could drive her home.” He tried to look confident but you were sure he didn’t know where you lived and definitely not if it was close to him.

“Yeah, you are right. I live all the other way so maybe that is more logical. Do you mind driving with him Y/N? He does live closer to you than I do.” If you remembered correctly Hyun Shik only lived a ten minute drive from you which is definitely not all the other way, but you simply nodded. Feeling a bit excited to share a private moment with Jungkook.

“Let’s go.” Was all that the young boy stated and that was all that Hyun Shik needed to hear to start walking to his car alone. 

We got into the car and we both fastened our seatbelts. He put the engine on and simply asked “So where do you exactly live?” 

“I knew you didn’t know where I lived.”

“I remember you saying over at my place that it wasn’t far from were you lived. You didn’t want anyone to call you a cab or drive you home after dinner. So yes, I don’t know where you live exactly but I do know the area as I seem to live there too.” He tried to explain himself and you were surprised he remembered so much. 

“Yes, we are practically neighbors. You can just drive home and I will walk from there.” The only reason you said something that dumb was so he could protest. A girl shouldn’t walk alone so late at night blabla, you can spot that exact scene in every romantic comedy. The real world is nothing like a movie and blame it on all the Korean TV-shows you had seen but silently you had hoped he would be more galant. 

“We never got to finish our conversation from before.” He suddenly remarked.

“I didn’t know you could actually hold up a conversation with me.” Why were you so on edge? You felt so nervous and insecure it made you feel annoyed and the only outlet you had seemed to be him. Apparently he didn’t seem to mind your rudeness. 

“I’m a bit shy around new people. I’m sorry.” You would be lying if his little confession didn’t make your ice cold heart melt a little bit. 

“Well, what do you want to know?” His hands gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter, making his knuckles white. It was fascinating to watch him drive. His eyes were focused on traffic and it gave you a good chance to study his mannerisms. He couldn’t keep his fingers from tapping along to the music and his leg never stopped bouncing.  

“What do you want to know as you were the first one to start the conversation?” On the outside you looked confident but on the inside not so much. You stopped looking at him as your hands seemed to be more interesting at this point.

“I’m just going to tell something about myself and maybe afterwards you can figure out if I’m worth it to talk too about this kind of things.” He looked expectantly at you and you simple nodded your head. He saw your nodding head as a sign to continue.

“Well, I have dated girls before. No I’m not gay but I definitely don’t mind if people are. I feel like being an idol most certainly impacted my view on dating. Sometimes dating might be locking eyes with the same girl at award shows three times in row. Or sometimes dating is meeting once and never even touch each other and you really want a second date but neither has the time. Sometimes dating is a quick kiss and touch in a barely locked room.” During his speech he never looked over at you. He only stared at the road ahead or at the bright red light in front of you.

“I don’t think your kind of dating is weird. Even if you’re not an idol, dating in your twenties is something like you explained. Sometimes you like each other but the timing just isn’t right. Sometimes the other person doesn’t like you and your just wasting time.” It felt nice to talk about something like this with him. You were scared the boys might’ve never really touched a girl or have never been in a relationship. It made you feel more at ease to know they hadn’t just thrown away their teenage years without some experimenting.

“I don’t want to waste time.” He silently confessed.

“Nobody wants to waste time, Jungkook. Sometimes you only know after everything is over that you could’ve done something better.”

“Have you experienced something like that?”

“On multiple occasions but it felt real when it was happening so I don’t regret a thing. Every crush or person I liked has left an impact. They made me who I am today.”

The rest of the car ride was silent. It was peaceful. You had both said what you wanted to say and the conversation you had started hours ago was finally finished. You started to recognize the neighborhood Jungkook was driving through.

“You can drop me off somewhere around here if that is possible.” You said after passing the entrance of your apartment building. He immediately pulled over and parked at the side of the road.

“I’ll walk with you. It is never safe for a young woman like yourself to walk alone at night in a strange city.” It felt like your heart skipped a few beats.

“I can walk alone. You don’t need to waste time and to be honest, this area of Seoul doesn’t feel as lonely as before.” He looked straight into your eyes and the whole world felt like it stopped. His eyes scanned your face while a smile crept on his face.

“i’m glad you’re feeling home but I could never forgive myself if I let you walk all by yourself  so late at night.” He started to unbuckle his seatbelt and opened his door. “Let’s go Y/N.” Was the last thing he said before slamming his door and walking over to your side. You watched him stride over to your side. His hair was still styled but some strands started to have a life on its own in the wind. Never before had you seen someone so good-looking without any effort as him before, and it scared you.

“Will you please get out? It is starting to look weird just standing here by your door.” He said after opening your door. You finally got out of your trance and tried to get out of the car with your seatbelt still on. This got a laugh out of Jungkook and your face reddened. You tried to hide your blushing cheeks while unbuckling your seatbelt.

“So where do you live exactly?” He said while you got awkwardly out of his car. You simply pointed toward the right direction and started walking. It was only a five minute walk but it felt like hours. You stopped at the entrance of your building and turned your head toward Jungkook.

“Thank you for driving me home and also walking me home.”

“It was no problem. It is nice spending time with someone like you.” Blame it on the lack of sleep or blame the eyes of the boy before you for not thinking straight, but the following you really said and immediately regretted: “What is that even supposed to mean? Spending time with a subordinate?”

“To be honestI feel honored you chose me to drive you home. I know Hyung Shik lives actually ten minutes from your place and I feel like you knew too. So thank you.” The emphasis on thanking you. The wind blew your hair out of your face and there was nothing to hide your red cheeks. 

“Thank you for wanting to drive me home. I’ll see you in a couple of days when we leave for America?” He simply nodded and turned around. You typed in the code of your apartment and started to get inside, but you didn’t feel like saying goodbye yet. You watched him walk slowly away. When you thought he wouldn’t turn around anymore you turned your back and walked inside the building.

“Wait!-“he quickly grabbed the door before closing. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

[tsanasreads]

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee is a space fantasy book aimed at younger readers. It's the first in a series and is entirely unrelated to Yoon Ha Lee's other books, which are adult science fiction. I don't generally read much middle grade, but I picked this one up mainly because of the author. I'd say its also at the older end of the category: the protagonist is thirteen years old, but spends much of the book pretending to be sixteen, so there is a bit of a YA feel to it as well.

THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD MIN comes from a long line of fox spirits. But you'd never know it by looking at her. To keep the family safe, Min’s mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting. They must appear human at all times. Min feels hemmed in by the household rules and resents the endless chores, the cousins who crowd her, and the aunties who judge her. She would like nothing more than to escape Jinju, her neglected, dust-ridden, and impoverished planet. She’s counting the days until she can follow her older brother, Jun, into the Space Forces and see more of the Thousand Worlds. When word arrives that Jun is suspected of leaving his post to go in search of the Dragon Pearl, Min knows that something is wrong. Jun would never desert his battle cruiser, even for a mystical object rumored to have tremendous power. She decides to run away to find him and clear his name. Min’s quest will have her meeting gamblers, pirates, and vengeful ghosts. It will involve deception, lies, and sabotage. She will be forced to use more fox-magic than ever before, and to rely on all of her cleverness and bravery. The outcome may not be what she had hoped, but it has the potential to exceed her wildest dreams.

Dragon Pearl follows Min as she sets out on an illicit adventure to find out what really happened to her brother. She sets off with almost nothing other than her fox-based shape-shifting magic and magical Charm, and finds herself very far away from her home planet. It was a fun space adventure involving morally ambiguous adults, new friends and dangerous situations. I enjoyed it a lot and I look forward to any sequels that may be forthcoming. Although the story is quite self-contained, it sets up a possible series and I definitely want to read those other stories. As well as not being a big middle-grade reader, I also tend to steer away from space fantasy books, having been burned a few times before. To be honest, I wasn't sure how strong the fantasy element would be before I started reading, but I was assuming it would mostly be science fiction. It is set on other planets and in space, so it's science fiction if that's your definition of it. But the world building is very deeply steeped in Korean folklore and the associated magic. The story very prominently involves shapeshifting supernaturals and ghosts, and the titular pearl is a magical terraforming device. This worldbuilding worked for me very well. It felt very consistent — perhaps because it's directly based on real mythology rather than being entirely fictional. (I am trying very hard not to name the authors that previously ruined magic in space for me, can you tell?) I highly recommend Dragon Pearl to fans of science fiction and fantasy, especially space adventures. Readers who are already fans of Korean folklore, or just want to learn more about it, will also find much to like here. I hope I will have the opportunity to give this book to my niece before she outgrows it. 4.5 / 5 stars First published: January 2019,  Rick Riordan Presents (Disney) Series: book 1 of ? (I thought I saw the second book announced, but I am failing to find any info right now) Format read: ePub Source: Purchased from Kobo store Content imported from Blogger https://ift.tt/2RXJ5Rh. If you would like to leave a comment, please do so at the aforementioned link.

[shukuchiisms]

About the tails~

If you thought I was not going to write a giant post to gush over about the 'tails thing', like I said I would do, you do not know me very well!  So welcome at my class, cuz today yall gonna learn more about kumiho’s tails!

Above we have what i like to call the "peacock effect"  but why that is so important for me to write a post about it? Well, i’m hyped as a hell and it may be useful for cosplayers and artists, so... [also it’s important canon info for my own muse]

So, you all probably noticed this [^], that in this moment on the 'a new dawn' animation Ahri appears like with having just one tail, but it only seens like this cuz yall didn’t looked close enough.

[headmore cuz long, very long]

Now, here we can see, with the help of the red lines [they’re hella crooked but still] how a kumiho's tails align. and if you need more proofs, here’s an ingame pic of how her tails align while she is walking.

This image makes it clear that a gumiho’s nine tails align in groups of three, to form one big, fluffy mega tail.  So what about it you may ask, well...

Let’s betake again to my Fave mythological book “The Encyclopedia of Korean legends and literature” [pag. 324 this time] for more kumiho trivia that no one asked for!

Thanks to said book, we know that the “Peacock effect”  is observed on two distinct situations, one is the use of their powers [or magic if you preffer], it's widely known that gumihos rely on the movement of their tails to generate enough energy to use magic/ powers. so having all tails moving separately will generate more energy what in turn would allow for an stronger, more effective spell/ a more destructive attack.

The other situation where it occurs is when the nine tailed fox is  ‘distressed’ [and by distressed i mean, angry, scared, or any other reason that would put them into an unconfortable situation],  it is a form to express that they are feeling uncomfortable with a situation, or  a method  to 'look bigger and menacing' against a potential threat situation and/or person.

[some exceptions also are related to occur, although rare, like a kumiho using the ‘peacock effect’ to impress an fellow member of their race, generally for romantic reassons, or in Ahri’s case, we know that she have an canonically quirt of showing the ‘peacock effect’ when she’s anxious or exited ]

While a full fanned out set of tails are great for generating energy, and giving a better balance for the gumiho in a fight situation, it is not a great thing for conservating energy or space in general. [After all, why would them want to knock things up while relaxing on the couch]. 

This tails' position [that i like to call of 'mega tail'] is also an indication that the nine tailed fox is question is feeling confortable/ relaxed. [and also that they’re friendly to approch].

(note, unless you’re the biggest arseholle of them all, you probably will met luna while she’s showing the ‘mega tail’ more times than the ‘peacock effect’).

// Before my final considerations, i will put some small trivia and observations here:

1-- When ahri trows her charm, in what seens like the spectator, and the video goes like all psychedelic, it corroborates what i’ve wrote about the charm magic on an old post is actually canon:

“Being under the effect of this spell is like using an hallucinogenic drug, that puts the targert in an  euphoric and additive experience…”

2-- This is the second time we see ahri floating while showing her tails in the 'peacock effect' what may be hinting something that i’m currently reading about, and that I'll write about when I'm sure about.

Anyway, other than write about how the tails connect to the body [that i will in the future], i wrote everything i wanted about kumiho’s tails, if you read it all till here, thank you for coming to my ted talking and have a nice day/ afternoon/night!!!

[astyle-alex]

*Initiate Fangirl screaming* In a manner that is truly unprofessional, and one I thought I totally could avoid falling into on Patreon, I have to use exclamation points and over-abundant italics and squee sound effects, because OH MY GOODNESS THAT WAS AWESOME!!!! Age old Korean Mythology, modern day Seoul, fantastic YA Angst and Drama... Ugh, it was absolutely wonderful, and I am SOOOO happy to have found it! This is a brand new release, and it doesn't feel like there's a huge push behind it. My store only hold of it in the middle of June and we only got 4 copies, but I'm making it my personal handsell of the summer (the one that I'm personally going to push when I'm talking to customers on the bookfloor). Because it's AWESOME. I spent a while in Seoul in 2014 (attending Yonsei University), and this was just SUCH a great burst of nostalgia that I now want desperately to go back. The setting here is rendered beautifully, pulling on the glorious mix of tradition and modernity that makes Seoul a truly unique city. I would have liked to see more of it, have the characters go into deeper discussions about the neighborhoods and their quirks, but I can step back and admit that the desire I have for it is not one shared by the average American teenager. But still, it was fabulous to virtually revisit some old haunts. The story itself is fabulous, too. It's just like a K-drama, full of twisty bits of turnabout and family drama and personal identity angst. And it's been perfectly reworked to fit the feel of American YA with angry protagonists and existential angst that confronts some very real psychological issues. The combination is alluring and the execution is wonderful. The characters are all excellently developed, with complex psychologies and diverse reactions to stimuli. They feel things, and face those feelings (or avoid them), in ways that are all realistic and crazy and perfect in their imperfections. They all make irrational decisions, feel things that exist in direct opposition to other things they feel, and grow as people without noticing every step they take. It's beautiful, man, just beautiful. Now, admittedly, it is NOT the next Pulitzer winner... it's not the kind of literary that impacts the history of writing culture, but it's a dang good start on pushing the mainstream of pop art towards being more. The main thing that keeps this from being more right now is that it doesn't have a point, a purpose, a grand theme meant to shift the common person's paradigm. There are important themes in it, Friendship, Forgiveness, Family, and Bonds by Blood and Beyond... and they are elegantly rendered. But there's no point. Not in the way things like Coyote Sunrise have a point, or To Kill a Mockingbird, or even Lord of the Rings... It's got potential to get one as the series develops, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. Things like this can definitely shift big boundaries, the Tortal Series by Tamora Pierce, or even the Grisha Verse by Leigh Bardugo, push proof enough of that, but it does take them more than a single book. It's rare for a YA series to hold up to that potential, but I'm hopeful. Appropriate for anyone age 12 & up, and if you're looking for a great summer read, with the spice of a unique setting and the pull of a good ghost story and a drama-filled romance, this is an absolutely perfect choice.