#this includes my name being franz

[schadenfreudich]

Was making a joke, because I accidentally wrote France as Franz (my name), and said "I should have named myself Frank". But then I remembered that France in german is "Frankreich", which would also not be better.

Also refraining from making the joke, that I could make here.

Anyways, something something France and Franken (pretty sure it's something like Franconia in english, but I don't like that word) have the same name origion, so do names with Fran-. "Frankreich" even comes from the much older "Frankenreich" that also included parts of what now is Germany.

[eros-vigilante]

The Many References in Teniwoha's Samsa

If you haven't read "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka, the one thing you likely know about the short story is that in it a man turns into a bug. And this is enough to recognize the allusion of Samsa being named after the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, as well as the imagery of a dragging tail and onomatopoeia of "zuki". However, there are several deeper layers to Teniwoha's symbolism of themes and references to "The Metamorphosis" that add a great level of cohesion with Immiscible Discord's story. First, I would like to say that "The Metamorphosis" can be found as a free pdf online, and is a very good short story, so if you have the time and energy you should read it. This post will only be summarizing the themes that are referenced in Samsa and Immiscible Discord and will not include some of the other great commentaries Franz Kafka has. And of course, it will spoil the progression of the plot. Also, all quoted lyrics are from Amiaryllis' english cover, which is also very good and worth listening to. The lyrics will not be quoted in order.

The biggest and first theme the surrealist nature of the story expresses is that Gregor Samsa has been led to - and does - believe that his worth is tied to his ability to work. When he discovers he is a bug, he is only concerned because he is going to be late for his job if he cannot figure out how to get out of bed in his new body. He is determined to go to work because his entire family relies on his job to pay for their lives. ("i've grown monstrous down to the very core of my soul") This is comparable to Mafuyu's relationship to academics. Their mother relies on them to fulfill her dream of Mafuyu becoming a doctor, and so teaches them that nothing matters as much as this goal. Even when Mafuyu is stressed or physically ill, they push themselves to attend school, club activities, cram school, and study. Mafuyu's academic performance is their worth to their mother, as Samsa's income is his worth to his family. ("so could the bravest of souls face me and bear the toll?") When Samsa's family discovers he is an insect, they are horrified. Samsa finds this reasonable as he also considers his form monstrous. It is another theme of the story being from his perspective that he has good faith in his family to the point of seeming either naive or to have a low self-esteem. Actions that are most easily justified as disgust and hatred are rationalized by him, despite acknowledging at points that his family was not as affectionate to him after they began relying on him for money, as well as acts of physical violence such as his father shoving him back into his room.

("those painful fights, fearful nights") This is an interesting thing to compare to Mafuyu's experience of being gaslit by their mother. They believe very strongly- because they were told- that everything their mother is doing is for them, their future, and is in their best interests. This prevents them from questioning her actions and sacrificing their own desires in a self-destructive manner, which is also something Samsa does. For instance, he hides himself with a bedsheet so his sister does not have to see him when she brings him food, despite him finding this uncomfortable. ("craving any smile or attention just from you") Samsa's sister is the only one who still shows affection towards him, as she is the one who brings him food, but eventually she too festers fear towards and dehumanizes him. By the end of the story, the entire family blames their despair on him becoming an insect and no longer believe he is Gregor Samsa. The most direct reference to the story in the lyrics is when his father throws apples at him and has to be stopped from killing him by his wife, Gregor's mother. He crawls back into his room and he is locked inside. ("i beg, don’t throw those rotten apples at my chest before they lock up, lock up samsa") This could best reference when Kaito says that Mafuyu's mother is killing their feelings or true identity. Additionally, Mafuyu's mother places all blame for Mafuyu's recent behavior on Kanade's influence. And as the family plans for their life after his death, Mafuyu's mother tells Kanade that she plans to convince Mafuyu to go back to doing what she wants, no matter how extreme she must be about it. ("if it all goes to plan, then, we’ll soon rejoice") In the end, Gregor Samsa stops eating, and dies of starvation. All the while, he still thinks fondly of his family and believes they are in the right for their treatment of him. Gregor Samsa is used to form a strong representation of the extent to which Mafuyu has been gaslit. ("so please don't tell me that you'll be giving up on reality, samsa") The biggest difference (other than the bug transformation) is that Mafuyu has people who still dearly care about them, and not just for what they can provide. While all of Gregor Samsa's family abandons him, the other members of Nightcord do not abandon Mafuyu. Mafuyu has a reason to live, and people to tell them that they do not deserve to be locked away. ("i know that brilliant light will shine as the clock strikes 25")

He could already hardly feel the decayed apple in his back or the inflamed area around it, which was entirely covered in white dust. He thought back of his family with emotion and love. If it was possible, he felt that he must go away even more strongly than his sister. He remained in this state of empty and peaceful rumination until he heard the clock tower strike three in the morning. He watched as it slowly began to get light everywhere outside the window too. Then, without his willing it, his head sank down completely, and his last breath flowed weakly from his nostrils (Franz Kafka).

[fitzrove]

The insane story of how Pia was cast as Elisabeth

"Still completely overwhelmed by the offer to play this role - not just any role, but the main role in a world premiere - I began to study not only the book of the play, but also the story of Elisabeth of Austria. [...] What is the historical truth, which real figures are behind the roles in the musical? All of these questions suddenly became relevant to me, and I found all of the answers to them in Hamann's books. [...] While studying the countless photos of Elisabeth in the picture section of the book, one particular image suddenly took my breath away. When I looked at the photo of the empress's death mask, I thought I recognized the delicate facial features of my colleague Pia Douwes.

What happened next is something Pia still likes to tell as an anecdote. After a performance of Les Misérables, I showed up in a coffee house with that book in my hand, put it on the table in front of Pia, turned to the page with the picture of the death mask and said: "Pia, look, that's definitely you!" She replied, somewhat piqued: "Hello, Uwe, that's a death mask and I'm sitting here and I'm still alive. Thank God!" Despite my uncharming comparison, she couldn't deny a certain resemblance. Apparently, that evening I spent a long time chatting to her about all the details I already knew - the musical and the historical details about the empress. A plan had been maturing in my mind for a long time: I wanted to stand on stage alongside Pia in the role of the empress, or at least I could imagine it very well. In Vienna, the castings for the title role had long been underway and were almost complete, but Pia nevertheless began to put out feelers through contacts in the scene. Names like Dagmar Hellberg and Daniela Ziegler had already been mentioned, and the division of the role within the play between a young and an old empress was also being considered. [...]

As chance or fate would have it, director Kupfer had to go to the Amsterdam Opera for work, and so he and his production team, including Viktor Gernot, who had flown in especially for the role of the already-cast Emperor Franz Joseph, took the opportunity to conduct a casting for the title role on site. After Pia had sung "Wie du" and "Ich gehör nur mir", everything was clear for Sylvester Levay, who was also present at this important decision. The subsequent duet with Gernot was just a formality."

From Uwe Kröger's autobiography "Ich bin, was ich bin. Mein Leben". Amalthea Verlag 2014.

[macademiastudies]

Nov. 9th Journal

Day one of the 50-day challenge

🦉 Habit 1: Studying - Data Analysis Course Assignment Unit 3 - Data Analysis Course 3.3 - Data Analysis Course 3.4 - Do one practice with Cognos - Type out the rest of my handwritten notes - Complete the Text-Based Python Slot Game - Make a wireframe for the app I've been wanting to make for years

🍂Habit 2: Physical Activity - 10 minute AB workout - 30 minutes of walking 🕯️Habit 3: Self-care - No soda today - Include one vegetable in every meal - 1/2 bottle of water today (gotta start small) - Hang my clothes - Do my hair with heatless curls - Fill up a lip care tube for myself - Set up my home office desk 📰 Habit 4: Reading - You Need a Budget, by Jesse Mecham (100 Pages) 🏛️Habit 5: Language Learning - Really sit down and think about what I want to learn, because right now I want to learn it all

🎻 Song of The Day: Mouvement I, Voyage Vers la Lune - Franz Gordon 🤎 Quote of The Day: “There is no shame in not knowing something. The shame is not being willing to learn.” - Alison Croggon, The Naming 📜 Currently Studying: Python, Data Analysis 🪶 Recommendation of The Day: please start learning that new school you've always wanted to. It's never too late to change an old habit or to learn a new skill. There are a lot of internal and external struggles when you begin but the entire Journey and learning by itself is always worth it.

Images are mine but please just credit if you use!

This Challenge is entirely credited to @ros3ybabe

Divider credits to @strangergraphics

[lego-man-speer]

Nuremberg Defendants: Part 2, Joachim von Ribbentrop - Nazi Foreign Minister

Continuing my Nuremberg Defendants series. Check links to see posts I've made on previous defendants (Hess wasn't part of the series, but I've already made a post about him):

Rudolf Hess

Alfred Rosenberg

-Joachim von Ribbentrop was born as Ulrich Friedrich Willy Joachim Ribbentrop on the 30th of April, 1893. He was not born into aristocracy (his father did not have the “von” in his name), Joachim grew up in an average middle class family with an older brother and a younger sister.

-Ribbentrop's mother died from tuberculosis when he was still very young. This event undoubtedly had an effect on him for the rest of his life (and I will explain in detail as we go further).

-He had no formal education after the age of fifteen. In school Ribbentrop was an underachiever and showed no signs of being an academic. His father had paid for French and English language tutors to teach him both languages.

-At seventeen, Joachim and his brother were sent to London for a year to polish up their English. After that year they both moved to Canada.

-Ribbentrop's life in Canada seemed to have been a happy one. He was popular, invited to many parties and was argued to have been sort of a ladies man. He worked as a banker and also as a construction worker, going on to help the reconstruction of the Quebec Bridge. Ribbentrop also had a passion for dancing and ice skating. he was even a member of a Canadian ice skating team.

-It was during this time that both Ribbentrop and his brother came down with tuberculosis. Ribbentrop's brother died, however Ribbentrop fortunately survived but had to have one of his kidneys removed. The effects of having his kidney removed were very clear. His left eye would sometimes droop, giving the effect of him looking tired. As a result he had a crippling inferiority complex.

-When the Great War broke out, Ribbentrop carefully returned to Germany to fight for his nation. It was during the war when Ribbentrop first met Franz von Papen (who will be the topic of a future post), a man that went on to become Chancellor under the Weimar Republic.

-After the war, Ribbentrop made a living out of his champagne business, which involved smuggling champagne from other countries. At this time, Ribbentrop was friends with Jewish people, even doing business with them. Ribbentrop was the only member of the inner circle that had previously moved around Jewish circles prior to joining the Nazi Party. He had no strong opinions at the time, people knew him as a moderately conservative monarchist. At elections he would vote for the DVP.

-Gradually Ribbentrop's personality began to change. Gone was the polite and somewhat shy young man, now he was becoming more insufferable as he went on long rants on the dangers of communism. What's more is that Ribbentrop had asked his aunt to adopt him aged in his early thirties so he could add the 'von' (a sign of German nobility - his aunt was a 'von Ribbentrop') to his name. His aunt agreed but was required to pay her a regular sum of money. When he stopped paying, his aunt took him to court and forced him to continue paying.

-In 1920, Ribbentrop married Anna Elisabeth Henkell (Annaliese to her friends). Anna's parents were not fond of Ribbentrop and considered him to be an idiot. The marriage produced five children, and Ribbentrop's eldest (Rudolf von Ribbentrop - born 1921) went on to serve in the Second World War as well as writing a book about his father post-war. Anna was a very ambitious woman and often pushed Ribbentrop around in all matters, including political. Hitler noted that it was clearly her who wore the trousers in the relationship.

-Fascinatingly, Ribbentrop didn't join the Nazi Party until 1932, which was around the time that Hitler was starting to get desperate for power. In late 1932, Hitler was using Ribbentrop's house to hold talks with Franz von Papen (as Papen was an old war friend of Ribbentrop's - and at this time Papen had lost his job as Chancellor of Germany, he was looking for a way to return to power. This moment in history is often referred to as the “Backstairs Intrigue”.)

-For the first few years of the Nazi regime, Ribbentrop had no government role. He mostly spent time in Britain and France, trying to establish connections for Hitler. In 1936, he was made Ambassador to Britain after the incumbent had died suddenly of a heart attack. Ribbentrop's appointment was unexpected, nor did he want the role. Prior to becoming ambassador, Ribbentrop was fond of holidaying in Britain and had hoped to one day retire in St Ives in Cornwall.

-He had a very bad reputation as ambassador and was dubbed 'von Brickendrop' due to his multiple gaffes while in this role. His most famous was when he almost knocked over King George VI by doing the Nazi greeting when the King had reached to shake Ribbentrop's hand. He was not well liked by the British Press nor the British public. Throughout his position (which lasted just over a year) he spent no longer than just a few weeks in London, mostly to stay close to his beloved Führer back home. Overall, his experience as Ambassador turned Ribbentrop from being an Anglophile to an Anglophobe.

-In 1938 Ribbentrop was made Foreign Minister, succeeding Konstantin von Neurath (who will be the topic of a future post). This was the position that Ribbentrop had dreamed of (and a position that his long-term enemy, Alfred Rosenberg, had also hoped for). In this role, Ribbentrop had significant influence over Hitler in the early years of World War 2, even encouraging Hitler to invade Poland despite threats from the British as he claimed “they would not fight seriously.” In this post, Ribbentrop's proudest achievement was his Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (also referred to as the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact). After the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Ribbentrop gradually lost influence in his role as Foreign Minister.

-Ribbentrop's role in the Final Solution was fairly ambiguous, but he was most certainly aware that atrocities were taking place. Ribbentrop preferred to look the other way and have someone else do the work. From August 1941, Ribbentrop ordered all future communications sent to the Foreign office to be directed to the office of his subordinates. There is no evidence that Ribbentrop intervened in the exterminations, except on one occasion which was purely on the issue of jurisdiction, rather than humanity. Ribbentrop had involved himself in other war crimes, such as legalising and encouraging the lynching of captured Allied bomber crews in Germany. Although the likes of Göring opposed such measures, and the army favoured it in only a few circumstances, Ribbentrop wished to Lynch the perpetrators of 'every type of terror attack on the German population”, despite this being a violation of international law. This was the main charge against him on count 3 of the Nuremberg indictment (war crimes).

-From 1945, Ribbentrop was essentially powerless. After the suicide of Hitler on the 30th of April (ironic because that's also Ribbentrop's birthday), Ribbentrop fled to Flensburg in an attempt to secure a role in the Dönitz government. Ribbentrop was quickly turned down and so fled to Hamburg, where he went by the alias Johann Riese. He was captured by the British after his whereabouts had been exposed. Ribbentrop was discovered asleep, wearing pink and white pyjamas and a small tin of poison attached to his genitals. Upon being woken up, he began to mumble nervously in German, but as soon as he became conscious of the situation, he spoke in perfect English a prepared speech: “The game is up. I congratulate you. You know who I am. If you had come two days later, I would have already given myself up voluntarily.” The British had also discovered a letter written by Ribbentrop to “Vincent Churchill” (not a spelling mistake on my part, that's Ribbentrop's mistake).

-At Nuremberg, Ribbentrop was a depressed and broken man. So much so that his lawyer (Dr Martin Horn) feared he was close to a psychological breakdown. In fact, Ribbentrop was considered one of the worst suicide risks at Nuremberg, and prison Psychiatrist Dr Kelley was instructed to keep a close eye on him. Ribbentrop's first lawyer was Dr Fritz Sauter (who was also acting for Baldur von Schirach - a subject of a future post), however at the start of 1946 he ceased to be his lawyer either because Ribbentrop dismissed him or he resigned out of exasperation (sources differ on this). Ribbentrop was therefore represented by Dr Martin Horn. On the witness stand, Ribbentrop was a mess and had a tendency to ramble and contradict himself.

-Ribbentrop was found guilty on all four counts of the Nuremberg indictment and was sentenced to death by hanging. He spent his last few days closely studying his Bible. After the unexpected suicide of Göring on the night of the executions, Ribbentrop was the first to be hung. On the scaffold his last words were: “God protect Germany, God have mercy on my soul. My final wish is that Germany should recover her unity, and that, for the sake of peace, there should be understanding between East and West.” He then turned to the Protestant Pastor Gerecke and said “I'll see you again.” Ribbentrop's hanging was badly botched, his neck didn't snap when falling through the trapdoor, therefore strangling him to death. Ribbentrop took around 10-20 minutes to die.

[amtskind]

die herrlichkeit des lebens (2024)

with kafka's 100th death day approaching this year, 2024 is full of new media about our favourite author.

@sepulkralkreatur and i watched yet another take on kafka's life:

"die herrlichkeit des lebens" (the glory of life) is a movie about kafka's last year, beginning at the baltic-sea and ending by the death-bed. it centers around kafka's romantic relationship to dora dymant and his outbreak from family and prague as a whole - with him moving to berlin. unfortunately, his tuberculosis progresses and he has to move to a sanatorium, where he looses the ability to speak, eat and drink - until he finally dies, with dora being next to him in his last moments.

i got to say, i feared that this movie might be full of kitsch and focus on romance rather than franz kafka - and my initial thought wasn't far from reality in the end - unfortunately.

while the kafka series had this darker and yet funnily-absurd touch to it (which was very fitting for him - kafkaesque!) and strictly followed every aspect of his life, the kafka-feeling in the movie was reduced to fragments of his writing, other people from his life and sporadically added biographical elements - like his illness.

all of this sounds so negative - but let's view the movie from a different perspective: maybe i shouldn't compare the series with the movie in the first place; the series included more facets of biography and had a larger variety of characters and themes - because it was intended to be a biopic.

the movie on the other hand, was based on a novel of the same name by michael kumpfmüller - which dealt with kafka's last year with dora. although having many biographical references, the novel still remains a form of fiction - which makes the movie more distant to the state of a biopic. we shouldn't view the movie as a biography, but rather as a romanticized adaptation of kafka's last year.

the movie features max brod, ottla and elli (kafka's sisters), as well as elli's husband karl hermann. although the characters make phone-calls with kafka's father - he isn't seen anywhere. he remains an oppressing, invisible power towards kafka throughout the whole movie. despite this being a possible, well done metaphor - i would have wished to see more of other characters, with more insight into their feelings in these hard times. but yet again - the movie wasn't made for this intent.

and it is worth considering, that not much is known about his time with dora, since her belongings, including possible letters and memories to franz, were confiscated by the gestapo in 1933. similiar to the legend about kafka's doll (which funnily enough was also mentioned in the movie, that was wholesome), fiction is there to close those holes in his life - and we have to be aware of the fictional nature to the movie.

although i am not the biggest fan of romance-movies and this one didn't necessarily scream "kafka" in your face - i enjoyed it. the actors did a great job and brought some sort of lightness with them. the sets and scenes were full of details and beautifully arranged, making it very lifelike. the following may sound a bit grotesque, but even the medical treatmant and dying-scene was done very realistically, making his suffering even more gruesome. and of course - my favourite thing: the metaphors. the hospital-beds at the beach instead of loungers made dreaming of freedom during a serious illness very impactful.

thank you henriette confurius (dora) and sabin tambrea (franz) for the movie and paying tribute to wonderful people 100 years ago!

more posts:

comparison of the actors and their roles

[forffax]

@matoitech THANK YOU CHASE!! making a seperate post and putting it all under the cut bc it's Long <3 (also noting at the beginning that "Voided 2" is the name of the story centering them that I've been working on for years <3) Athanasius: She/Her, Zephyr: She/him, Lux: He/Him, Ferdinand: He/Him, Alan: Any (including neos)

1. How did you choose their name? Athanasius, Zephyr, and Lux: Behindthename! I was around 14 when I created them, so I was probably just looking for names that sounded cool... I don't think there was any particular name theme I was going for, lol. I remember I only found out the proper pronunciation of "Athanasius" (atha-NAY-shus) later, and I still pronounce it "uh-thana-SEE-us" skdhjs. Ferdinand: Probably also behindthename? Possibly subconsciously influenced by the band Franz Ferdinand, because I was really into them at the time (and still am to an extent lol). Alan: Also not entirely sure where his name came from! I think it just sounded Right to me. In the original draft of the story Lux had a wife and kid in Saluria and the kid's name was Apollo, so I may have just had "A" names on the brain...

2. Were they created for the story, or was the story created for them? Athanasius and Zephyr: These two were created for their original story! It was an assignment in my 8th grade English class where we could write whatever kind of story we wanted and then we would share it with the class ^_^. Their initial story has very little in common with the current Voided 2— they weren't even a part of my main oc universe, which was also in its infancy at that time! In their original story, Athanasius and Zephyr were strangers with traumatic pasts (an abusive father and a dead brother, respectively) who became friends and found comfort in each others company, slowly beginning to help each other heal... & now they are inseparable siblings who have supported each other through the hardest times in their lives :] Lux: Initially, Lux was the aforementioned Dead Brother, who had been killed in front of Zephyr when they were teens... So in that way, he was created for that original story, but then later I drew him and really liked his design (& really liked the idea of incorporating them all into my main oc universe) and created the beginnings of Voided 2 around him! I distinctly remember thinking "okay but what if he was secretly alive...." and then everything exploded from there skdjfgks Ferdinand: He was created for the story, but similarly was fleshed out by having more story developed for him after his creation! I think Ferdinand came around not long after I decided that Lux was alive and came up with everything involving Saluria and the Salurian War... & I don't remember the specifics but he was always intended to come back after dying ^_^ a lot more of the important aspects of his story and character (non-op trans man, has a sister that's still alive, in school to become a doctor, rebuilt his body piece by piece, displaced about ten years out of time) came about much more recently than his actual inception! Alan: Xe was created the most recently out of the whole family, and he was definitely created for the story! I wanted Lux and Ferdinand to have a kid, and thus Alan came to be :] However, much like their dads, Alan's story was created after she came into being... they're not direct family but David & Alex also were created and then immediately expanded Alan's backstory ^_^

7. What attribute of them (some facet of their personality, their history, their look, or whatever etc) would you find most important to somehow preserve if they were transplanted to an AU fanfic? Athanasius: It's funny, because of the nature of my oc universe I kind of loosely think that the original version of Athanasius still exists in a different universe... but other than having orange hair and the same first name, they're completely different people. For more "traditional" AUs, I think the core aspects of her as a person (appearance, Zephyr and Lux's adoptive sister, strong need for community and a closeness to her family, being a butch) are absolutely necessary to preserve. I enjoy AUs more if they're less "here's a reimagining of the character in this place/time" and more "they're essentially the same person, I'm just putting them in Situations"... so like even in a fantasy setting she'd still be Her, you know? (<- guy who has a fantasy AU but never talks about it). Zephyr: Seeing a Zeph without her mullet is like a butterfly without its wings.... Okay real answer. Similar to Thana, I use AUs as a Playing With Toys/Putting them in Situations thing, so I'd probably keep nearly everything the same about him? Within reason like there's a "Lux comes back early/Lux never leaves" AU bouncing around in my head and I think Zephyr in that would be less Melancholic and would def have a couple less Issues but she'd still be very similar as an adult I think... dunno! It's fun but a lot to think about... Lux: sdjifhsdk okay in Lux's case no matter what he's losing an eye simply because I think he looks weird when I draw him with both eyes LMAO. Core part of his character 2 me. Lux's personality I think stays similar no matter what you do to him, but also I feel like he's been so molded by his experiences in Saluria that it's also key that he's a traumatized war veteran... but ALSO ALSO I refuse to even consider that in a "Real World" AU he would join the US Military bc. he Would Not Do that. it's complicated! He's a generally pacifistic guy forced to fight for his and others lives... Ferdinand: While I don't necessarily find it vital that he dies in an AU, having others think he died is always fun... specifically thinking abt my fantasy AU here. But I think more important is having a tense/strained relationship with his blood family and him finding community & love elsewhere. He also would not enlist in a "Real World" AU unless explicitly forced to... He probably also retains an interest in healthcare 👍 Alan: Becoming disabled very abruptly is important to his character I think. So he's losing that leg no matter where he ends up sdkjfgs. His past of being a test-tube baby and living in an orphanage for a good while is also pretty important imo, but obvs that can't apply to every AU... so just having kind of a "experimentation" type backstory and not having any family outside of David/Alex for a while is probably something I'd keep every time!

9. If your character could have handed their role in the plot to someone else, would they have? Athanasius: She spent a lot of her worse moments wondering how different things might be if she was just Zephyr's blood-related sister instead... would there be less distance between her and the world? Would her dad and Zeph be less sad if she had vanished instead of Lux? She's scared of the answer to that. It took a long time before she really felt like she "belonged" anywhere, and even then it felt... fragile. Like the smallest misstep could shatter everyone's "acceptance" into "tolerance"... Zephyr: She never thought about it, really. Or tried not to. Lux would've been a better student. Lux would've been a better role model for Thana. Lux would've been strong enough to be there for their dad. Despite his best efforts, these thoughts kept her up at night for years and years, slowly creeping in with the colder months. He had decided to make a conceited effort to move on and NOT entertain those thoughts anymore... and then Lux came back. Lux: This is something he was explicitly doing everything in his power to avoid.... His aunt who brought him to Saluria after The Incident constantly remarked that she should've snatched Zephyr instead, and just the though of his brother having to go through this instead made Lux fight even harder.... :( Ferdinand: He had nearly two decades to spend thinking about this... eventually he decided not to dwell on it too much. Things ended up the way they did, and he can't change that. In his darker moments, though, especially towards the beginning of his time as a soul without a body... he often flipped between "I wish I hadn't let this happen to me" and "I wouldn't wish this on anyone". Alan: If anything, I think he wishes that xe could've been there for Alex and David more, especially when he hears about/remembers the whole story. I don't think they would've wanted to trade places with Alex, but instead I think she wishes that the experimentation had never been done in the first place and that all three of them could've grown up together as siblings...

16. What is your character's favorite leisure activity? Athanasius: She's a gamer sjdkfs! She's a huge sonic fan (she and Zephyr played the original games as late teens and loved the sonic adventure series when they were in their late college years :]) and she's kept her childhood consoles. She's mostly into older games, but she'll check out the newest releases of her fav series when they come out! Zephyr: Does laying comatose on the couch count She likes doing puzzle type activities, from sudoku to picross to crosswords! He likes to think it helps her calm his rapid thoughts down... Art and writing are sometimes leisurely for Zephyr, but since she does that for his job, it can be hard to engage with that outside of obligation, even though she genuinely has a love for them. Lux: Anything that keeps his hands busy! I think he would try a lot of different things just because he was curious about them. He's not fantastic at most of the things he tries, but usually Lux will try to get decent enough to be proud of his progress before moving on to something new. He can knit a pretty passable scarf :] Ferdinand: Absolutely has a mostly anonymous blog where he generally posts just aesthetic pictures he takes. He'll occasionally wax philosophy on the nature of what it means to live and what our place is in the world and such... Ferdinand also likes showing off his garden on there ^_^ He's very responsive to any comments he gets, and he's made a good handful of friends online! Alan: He loooves reading! Mainly encyclopedia type books (especially when she was younger) but also loves a good mystery novel. They also enjoy just going out into the woods and bird watching :]

17. Is your character holding any grudges? Are they likely to stop?

Athanasius: Oh she 100% held a grudge against Lux for a good while, especially when it first came into question if he was really dead + when he initially returned only to not explain anything and tried to run away again... Thana, while not having much of an initial connection to Lux herself, saw firsthand how her dad and sibling were after he vanished... But after actually sitting down and talking with each other, they began to build a much healthier relationship and are now very close :] I think it took a while for that resentment to fully fade, but as of now she's happy to have him as her brother!

Zephyr: She held a grudge against his dad for about a year after he told her and Thana that he wasn't entirely sure that the remains buried under Lux's name were actually his... it was almost like tearing that wound clean open again. He eventually saw his dad's perspective, but even today it's a bit of a sore spot between them. Lux: There were times when Lux was fueled by nothing but anguish and hatred. Hatred towards the war, hatred towards the Vacares, hatred towards his aunt, hatred even towards his family back home (these periods were particularly brief, and quickly followed by such an intense shame that he nearly hurt himself). By the time Lux was finally able to return home, all that was left of the burning anger was a profoundly exhausted sadness. All he had left to do, he thought, was apologize to his last remaining family and then disappear for good this time. As he began to recover, I think his anger definitely returned, which at times alarmed him after being emotionally numb for years and years. He's grown to be much better at regulating and recognizing his emotions now! Ferdinand: For a good while, he did have a grudge against the Vacare that killed him. That began to lessen a bit with time, but it's something that will probably be with him for a good long while, if it ever fades at all... It really doesn't take up much of his thoughts, though. More than anything, he has a new appreciation and love of life that he cherishes every single day! Alan: Not really, to be honest! He doesn't get angry in general very easily, and also has a hard time empathizing with others. Xe doesn't necessarily hold a grudge over their childhood being intensely fucked, but she does sometimes wish he had been allowed a "normal" life.

19. Does your character have any health issues, whether they're aware of them or not? Athanasius: She's type-1 diabetic! She has an insulin pump on her left side. Zephyr: She is suffering the consequences of decades of HORRENDOUS posture. He's got a generally bad back and if she throws it out he can be bedridden for a few days. Lux: Besides the obvious (missing an eye) he's got chronic pain, both from the many, many injuries he received during the war and in his joints. Usually he manages it with Lunoir healing techniques (using soul energy to help numb the nerves sending pain signals), he also has crutches and a wheelchair for particularly bad days. Ferdinand: None particularly, other than the general aches and pains of wear and age! Alan: Again, besides the obvious (missing his left leg below the knee), xe's hypermobile! They have a cane and a chair for days when walking unassisted hurts too much.

20. Free Space #2: Which of your OCs would you most like to meet in person, if they could become real (or you could visit them) for a day?

Can I say the whole family. skjdfgks but I want to give Lux a hug sooo bad... both because I love him and I think he would give really good hugs. I'd also love to just sit down and talk with any of them! I feel like a lot of myself ended up in Zephyr, so I wonder what that would be like, to meet her both from my perspective and for him to meet me from her perspective.... I'd also be ecstatic to meet thana, she's like the cool aunt who you play games with and hear wild work stories from.. I think she'd be a bit weirded out by the whole "meeting the person who thought you up" thing but I hope we would have a good relationship! Ferdinand would probably take it the best out of anyone, and I feel like we could have a really nice conversation about the nature of creation :] I also want to give him a hug very badly. Alan might be a bit awkward at first? But I think that's how it is with both him and myself when meeting someone new. We could probably bus to the mall or something or just walk around and swap stories about our lives :]

[archduchessofnowhere]

This Barbie is an Empress: Sisi and her dolls (part 1)

So I finally watched the Barbie movie and I'm not who I was before! And while I can't stop thinking about the wonders and horrors of girlhood, I also can't stop thinking about dolls. Because I'm not immune to consumerism.

Lately everyone's been sharing historical Barbies, so you've probably already seen the one Elisabeth got. But that's far from being the only doll of the empress ever made. So buckle up for the compilation of Sisi dolls I found after scrolling for hours through selling websites!

First we have THE doll, released by Mattel in 1996 as a Limited Edition: the Empress-Kaiserin Sissy Impératrice Barbie! A name that has the same energy as Mojo Dojo Casa House:

Based on the iconic Winterhalter portrait, this doll is a lovely reproduction - or it would be, if it wasn't for whatever the heck is going on in Sissy Barbie's head. The Marie Antoinette-esque hairstyle is really my only complain, because how can you mess up Elisabeth's most recognizable feature? Remove that thing from her head and it's a perfect doll.

Surprisingly for a limited edition, this one can actually be found relatively cheap on the internet: I've seen the prices range from 30 to 100 dollars, a far cry from other limited edition queens (the actual Marie Antoinette Barbie costs over a 1000!). By the way, my birthday is 11 December.

Less known is the other Sissy doll Mattel released exclusively in Europe in 1997, with a mini book included in the Italian version:

Since the doll looks more like Ariana Grande than Elisabeth you may think that perhaps it's just some generic princess doll called Sissy. But nope. It's meant to be her:

But Mattel weren't the only ones making Sisi- I mean Sissy dolls. In 1997 a French-Canadian cartoon called Princess Sissi premiered, and of course it soon had its series of dolls made by Giochi Preziosi, an Italian toy company. I tried my best to find all of them, but I'm sure I'm missing a lot here.

The cartoon committed the capital crime of making Brunette Queen Elisabeth a blonde, so the dolls all really look more like Barbies than the actual Sissi Barbies. First we have Princess Sissi, I can't read what Blue Dressed-Sissi and Red Dressed Sissi are, and Skilled Rider Sissi.

Unlike the previous four, these Sissi dolls are deluxe dolls, I guess because they come with a little accessory. Young Sissi (you can't see it well in this picture but it comes with a squirrel that I believe is a character in the series?), Rider Sissi, Great Ball Sissi and Carriage Sissi.

Imperial Bride Sissi, Young Empress Sissi, Court Sissi and Dining Room Sissi.

But of course Sissi didn't come alone! Because you can't play Princess Sissi without the prince:

She's everything. He's just Franz.

The Sissi and Franz from the left apparently can dance, which sounds cool. But with that exception, the only thing different about the Sissi dolls from this post is their dresses, other than that they are exactly the same.

These weren't the only Princess Sissi dolls that I found, but I'm about to reach the picture limit, so I'll leave those dolls, as well as the dolls from the 2015 Sissi cartoon, for a different post. If you know about more dolls based on Elisabeth feel free to add them to the post!

[coffeeandkhun]

Traumerei's possible Peter Pan syndrome

Lo Po Bia Traumerei is such an interesting villain. It's been foreshadowed since the season 1 that he'll play a big role in the story of TOG. In this post, I'm talking about his name and the possible impact on the story. There will be spoiler from the whole webtoon, just to be warned.

Traumerei has got his name from Kinderszenen, a set of piano movements written by a German composer Robert Scumann in 1830's.

Kinderszenen includes 13 pieces of music - just like there were 13 irregulars climbing the tower before the Arlene & V -incident happened. Kinderszenen means "Scenes from Childhood" and movement no. 7, Träumerei, is one of the most famous pieces by this famous romantic era composer.

Träumerei means either dreams or reverie, but Traumerei WE know is not a day dreamer or an innocent, playful man like his name would suggest. He's a resentful and distrusting tyrant. More than that, he is overly obsessed about being able to control others and is constantly testing their obedience, complaining bitterly about how he's "used to being betrayed", like his own behavior had nothing to do about why this happens.

There is another word Träumerei reminds us, that is trauma, although the etymology is different. Word trauma has it's origin in Ancient Greek, and means a physical wound or damage. Today, when talking about trauma, we usually don't mean a psycical wound however, but a mental one.

To this point, we have learned that Traumerei has nightmares he can't remember - memories that are probably somehow linked to Baam or his parents, because he started to have those nigtmares only after hearing about his existence. He also had a habit of feeding his memories to the monster Leviathan, the very reason why he can't remember.

Leviathan is a biblical sea serpent, a dragon or a devil, and is sometimes associated with the cardinal sin of envy - as is the color green.

“O beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” - William Shakespeare

It could be the memories and/or emotions he fed to Leviathan are related to something he committed in his jealousy, maybe something parellel to what happened between Wang Wang, Nen Neya, Yasratcha and him. In s3 c111, after sending Wang Wang away, he says: "I felt something I haven't felt in a long time... from a mere creature... but I've gotten rid of it, so it's fine now." We don't hear what exactly he felt, so we can only guess, if it was envy or something else.

It's possible that Traumerei used to be different, but there really was a traumatic betrayal that changed him, like he keeps suggesting. Or then he's more like those people in the real world who find it difficult to accept that people around them mature. They feel betrayed and jealous when their friends, who are now married, have children and/or a career, are not ready to have online gaming all-nighthers with them just about any time they want.

In Jungian Psychology, there is an term for an individual, who, just like Peter Pan, refuses to mentally grow up and meet the responsibilites of the adult life - puer aeternus.

“…remains too long in adolescent psychology; that is, all those characteristics that are normal in a youth of seventeen or eighteen are continued into later life, coupled in most cases with too great a dependence on the mother.” - Marie-Louis von Franz

From his own point of view, Traumerei could be just a child bullied by everyone. Just like a cliché teenager, he's also easily bored and prone to mood-swings. We don't know about his mother (he never answers when Nen Neya asks, unfortunately), but we know that he has a somewhat dependant relationship with Jahad, "the Father".

Whatever Traumerei gave away to Leviathan, we can be quite sure that these were not the best and most beautiful memories of his life, but the worst and most traumatic ones. Getting those memories back might change him or destroy him - we don't know yet, but I would guess it's the latter. I personally find it difficult to see his cruelty could somehow be atoned - because unlike Yasratcha, who was dominated by him, he "made" himself and keeps only accusing others. I might be wrong, and we'll see when the story evolves. But even in TOG world of morally gray characters, Traumerei is on his own level of darkness.

[silbrith]

Music Monday

Thanks for the tag @penna-nomen!

Rules: Choose a few fics you wrote that were inspired by a song - not just with song lyrics in title - and share the tune and the link to the fics. If anyone wants to guess which goes with which go for it in comments or tags!

Like Kate, I've always loved the classics. I include both popular and classic music in my stories. Whittling down the list to a few favorites is a daunting task, but here goes —

The Woman in Blue (Caffrey Conversation). Klaus Mansfeld, a friend/enemy is linked to Franz Schubert, contrasting with Neal's love for rock music. In later stories, the opposites theme is expanded to include Klaus's evil brother Rolf who is tied to Rachmaninoff.

In The Queen's Jewels (Caffrey Conversation), Neal is framed for a crime he didn't commit. Bound for Botany Bay (John Doyle) and The Chain (Fleetwood Mac) play in his head. They're later replaced by The Rising (Bruce Springsteen). The White Collar team celebrates his name being cleared with a CD of songs, including Footloose, Born to Run, Unchained Melodies, and Born Free.

Nocturne in Black and Gold (Caffrey Conversation): Neal's theme songs are Sounds of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel) and Nara (E.S. Posthumus). Neal associates heist planning with Rachmaninoff's Folia Variations. Peter uses Bridge over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel) to pull Neal out of a dark place and then scores a double-play by having it featured in Cinereous Skies in the meta series Arkham Files. At the Zoo (Simon & Garfunkel) provides a lighthearted moment. Neal and Sara make a game out of Mockingbird (Carly Simon & James Taylor). Both songs are also included in Cinereous Skies.

Arkham Files (set in the 1970s): A Little Help from My Friends, Long Time Gone, and Woodstock with its line about stardust, are plot elements in The Locked Room.

Crossed Lines (Caffrey Conversation x Supernatural): In Whispers in the Night, Peter reveals that Dean Winchester isn’t the only one into classic rock. Songs include Hot Blooded (Foreigner), Bad to the Bone (George Thorogood & The Destroyers), and Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves (Eurythmics). When Dean, Mozzie, and Peter are afflicted with a dork curse, they belt out Rawhide and Happy Trails at a diner.

Dark Rabbit (Crossed Lines): Angela Caffrey is mesmerized by a dulcimer-playing vampire. Inspiration: The Kiss, played on the dulcimer by Scott Williams.

Six-Crossed Knot (All Souls Trilogy fandom): a series about Jack Blackfriars—an Elizabethan musician and artist turned vampire. Inspiration for Jack: Cymbeline (Loreena McKennitt). Jack's theme song, Touch Me Lightly (Tobias Hume), was featured in Walking Shadows. Leonard Shoreditch's customized theme song It Was a Lover and His Lad is in Fretwork. Nothing Else Matters (Apocalyptica) inspired Tangled Knots.

Can I squeeze in one more series? Reflections (The Supremes) is the inspiration for Sedlow Chronicles (original sci-fi fantasy). That song and People Are Strange (The Doors) are featured in the second story Shadows of Crellos.

[manmetaphysical]

It is well known that Sagittarians make great teachers, lawyers, performers, comedians, artists, philosophers, leaders and musicians. And even with Mercury in Sagittarius, great writers too. So that runs the gamut. So this is a comprehensive round up just in case you missed how multi faceted this zodiac sign actually is, its range is wide. Top of the list are the giants like William Blake who straddles poetry, art and mysticism, and Ludwig Beethoven whose work is monumental and will still be listened to in hundreds of years. But there was  also Oliver Messiaen who composed music  La Constellation du Sagittaire which was his zodiac sign.

proteusastrologydotcodotuk.files.wordpress.com

Sagittarians make great magicians like Franz Bardon.  He was much less known than Aleister Crowley, but nevertheless regarded as one of the most important occultists of the 20th Century, and still we have Dion Fortune, let’s not forget, who was also a Sagittarian and an acute psychologist. for a modern Sagittarian magicians look to  Uri Geller. Needless to say Sagittarians also make great astrologers like Robert Hand Nik Kollerstrom and Karen Hamaker-Zondag and these are only the known charts.

Dec 2nd, is the birthday of Britney Spears, who in spite of her wobbly personality is still much loved and, when on form, delivers the goods as a performer. But so many Sagittarian singers. Note also Christine Aguilera, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, and Nicki Minaj- who all love to perform. But before them some of the greats of old include Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick and thunder thighs (Sagittarius is linked to the thighs) herself, Tina Turner who became the ultimate Buddhist fulfilling the yearnings of her spiritual nature.

There are also some oddball singers Little Richard, Frank Zappa, Ted Nugent and Tom Waits, and there are two outstanding opera stars Maria Callas, whose voice no one can match, and Jose Carreras.

Sagittarians can even be great hedonists crazies who go off piste from time to time, but are still entertaining. There’s Jim Morrison of the Doors, Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath, Jay-Z and wild man Billy Idol. Some Sagittarians in this category can come across with a certain edgy swagger like Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.

Then there are philosopher teachers, leader and gurus like Osho, Bruce Lee and B.K.S. Iyengar also embody many quintessentially Sagittarian traits as ultimate teachers all offering some form of physical practice yoga and martial arts-which marries the higher and lower self. Iyengar said ‘my body is my temple and the asanas are my prayers’ but he also said, as a true Sagittarian, that ‘honesty is essential’ in teaching. With Mercury in Sagittarius he could sometimes be difficult to understand when speaking. But there’s also wiseacre, Noam Chomsky, who functions in dual areas as linguistic philosopher and political activist, and then there's author who popularises 'Life School' philosophy, Alain de Botton.

Then we have the artists and painters from Masaccio, to Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Jan Toroop to Lucien Freud and the ever controversial, Marina Abramovic. But one mention must go to French artist and teacher of painting, William Adolph Bougereau, His name was tarnished as being too traditional, not  being ‘modern’ enough by Picasso and the art gallery owners who ganged up against him and cast him into the margins of art history as an old fuddy duddy, but he was was as skilled and technically accomplished as any of the Renaissance painters, ran his own school and more hard working and prolific than any of the Impressionists or Post-Impressionists or Cubists.

Then we have the visionary Sci Fi writers  Philip K. Dick author of the stories that made it into film: Blade Runner, Minority Report and The Adjustment Bureau. Dick spoke of visions of the future that have if not come true, then are resonating widely. His imagination was as fertile as any and he worked at top speed even bringing downloads of Gnostic wisdom into novels like Valis. Also Arthur C. Clarke and C.S. Lewis were both Sagittarians. These are the big names in the field whose legacy remains strong.

And the film directors can’t be bigger Fritz Lang, Stephen Spielberg and Ridley Scott who directed some of the best known films in past decades and has just directed Napoleon. But working on a smaller, more intimate scale we should not ignore Woody Allen, John Cassavetes, and the lesser known Argentinian film director, Marco Berger.

And who is the most loved actress in the UK?  Yorkshire born, Dame Judi Dench as talented and versatile as any actress can be. But world renowned actors include Liv Ullman, John Malkovich, Christopher Plummer, Brad Pitt, Kim Basinger, Julianne Moore and Jake Gylenhaal, most of them known around the world not just in their home countries.

Finally the athletes. Sagittarius is a fully developed physical sign – the hybrid centaur- so we have runner Florence Griffiths-Joyner, Donovan Bailey, and Oscar Pistorius, and football player Kylian Mbappe, along with Tennis players Boris Becker and Monia Seles.

See who else you can recognise in the collage of famous Sagittarians and in the list.

And now to end with comedian Bill Hicks, a Sagittarian, capturing the essence of a daily thought in the minds of these fiery, idealistic spirits:

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it’s very brightly colored, and it’s very loud, and it’s fun for a while.

Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, “Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?” And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, “Hey, don’t worry; don’t be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride.” And we … kill those people. “Shut him up! I’ve got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.” It’s just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok …

But it doesn’t matter, because it’s just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”

If you think the world is accelerating towards a collective psychosis, you are not alone but it could be a  magnified reflection of our own fears. According to author Paul Levy to recognise that there’s a dream-like quality to reality is the first step to activating your creative higher self, and to use the Daimon- the inner genius or ‘higher’ self- is a way to counter the wetiko mind-blindness that appears to have become virulent in the world. This means taking a ‘quantum’ perspective and Sagittarius is at home with the quantum world and the weird and multiple perspectives and dimensions it brings to bear on the old solidified way of seeing reality.

#Sagittarius #Sagittarian #Jupiter #Zodiac #SagittarianWriters #SagittarianArtists #SagittarianLeaders #SagitarianSingers #SagittarianComedians

0 notes

manmetaphysical

[goosebumpsbm]

let's hear that Slappy's Nightmare theory!

So my theory on Slappy's Nightmare, without any of my specific headcanons for the story or characters tacked onto it, is that it's just that: A nightmare. There is no "Wally", nor is 'Wally' Mr. Wood's first name, he's only a product of Slappy's mind. My reasoning for this line of thinking comes a combination of the backstory written for Slappy in the 2008 re-release of 'Night of the Living Dummy', the fact that this backstory lines up with the brief bit of exposition in 'Slappy's Nightmare', and the prologue to 'I Am Slappy's Evil Twin'.

In Nightmare, Jimmy reveals that Slappy was created by a sorcerer out of coffin wood. Jimmy makes a passing comment on the sorcerer being 'evil', and Slappy tells him 'not to call him that.' We get a more detailed version of this backstory in the 2008 re-release of NOTLD1, which is included in the back of the book. A sorcerer creates two dummies out of coffin wood, the wood is cursed and imbued with powers. When the first dummy is destroyed, it only makes the second one "twice as evil and a thousand times ruder", and also hints that he may have been kinder before the other dummy's death. We know that this is a direct reference to NOTLD1, where Wood is crushed by a steamroller and the twist is that Slappy is alive as well. In the prologue to 'Evil Twin', where we learn that 'Mr. Wood' is actually the name given to the red headed dummy by his creator, Franz Mahar. (We also learn that 'Slappy' is Slappy's given name, which opens up the question of how exactly Lindy picked up Slappy's name in NOTLD1 without ever having met him first). Franz was a ventriloquist sharing a stage in England with a magician named Kanduu. Kanduu brought Wood to life in order to intimidate Franz, and Franz instead left for America. We know Franz learned some magic from Kanduu, because he uses this magic to bring toys and dolls to life. We also know from this book that Slappy's original purpose was for a less evil reason: he was meant to be a companion to Franz, along with Snappy(though I don't really acknowledge the rest of the book because it's so tonally different from the prologue). All of this to say that 'Slappy's Nightmare', when I take all of this into account, seems more likely be a mishmash of Slappy's own thoughts and experiences than a recollection of events, as dreams often are.

Dreams are the mind's way of compartmentalizing or bringing attention to your experiences, whether in a day or over the course of one's entire life. Definitely seems like the right combination for a really funky nightmare to me. Jimmy makes a comment on Slappy's creator which is swiftly rebutted(hinting at his and Franz's origins in 'Evil Twin'), Slappy is given a task to complete three good deeds(another direct reference to his original purpose, and how he's kind of 'lost' that), but is sabotaged by "Wally" at every turn("Wally" being Wood or maybe even just a representation of the evil magic that corrupted him).

Keep in mind that this is just my interpretation of a story in a saga of books that are wildly inconsistent with one another, especially across different runs of the series itself, and I also see the irony in trying to make something consistent with it lmao. But I hope this was fun to read!

Edited 5/30 for better phrasing

[capybaraonabicycle]

For the art ask game, 3, 15 and 16?

Thank you for the ask!! I was so hoping someone would send one in :)

3. What artist do you wish people knew more about?

This is difficult because I am mostly aware of the standard artists you meet in art class - almost all of which are western men - and the most 'niche' of the ones I love would be like Georges Braques and Wassily Kandinsky and Umberto Boccioni and Edward Hopper and Canaletto and Ai Weiwei and Franz Marc - and I feel like for any one of those names I will have people at my throat for mentioning them in a sentence that includes the word 'niche'.

There are two that I can name though, that I don't know from art class and I believe they are at least somewhat niche:

There is Kent Monkman, a contemporary queer Cree artist who I was introduced to at uni. He uses a multitude of art forms (and you can check them out on his website) but I am most familiar with his paintings, especially the "Shame and Prejudice" exhibition that we looked at in class.

The exhibition features Monkman's genderqueer alter ego Miss Chief Testickle who tells Canadian history from her perspective and the paintings are, in my opinion, very clever and impactful. I analysed "The Subjugation of Truth" for class and there is a ton of subtle symbolism to drive the political message (painting in traditional settler style, putting the viewer into the position of the indigenous men, having the queen hover menacingly above it all) in the art work.

This is it:

Another really famous of the works is "Resurgence of the people" which references an old settler image with George Washington replaced by Miss Chief:

I'm not sure whether this one is the exact reference but it quotes some picture like this:

I really like Monkman's style and I think his images are very strong and often for the topic of indigenous history with settlers, the violence in them is palpable. Another impressive one would be "The Scream" :

Then I would like to mention the possibly most important artist of my childhood, Estonian-Swedish illustrator Ilon Wikland. She illustrated most of Astrid Lindgren's books and her style is just - so cozy and soft, I want to live in her art.

I feel like many people do know the books and her art, but few will know her name. So she counts :) (she's still alive btw, I had to look that up and was surprised)

15. Share a photo of your favorite contemporary artwork

I'm not sure I have one special favourite art work but this is something I saw at the documenta exhibition semi-recently and it really stuck with me. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to find the title, but I remember it was something similar to "deep belly breath".

(It's the blue one in the front)

It's a pretty big plastic, higher than I am tall and it is fluffy and blue and there is water in the middle. I love it mostly for looking like an alien being, but the fluffyness has a nice feel to it too (or rather 'a nice look', I obviously didn't touch it). Together with the title and the water and the dark fur on the inside, there is a sort of desperation and drowning feeling to it, softened by the fact you really want to hug it and climb into the water and be safe in your cocoon.

No idea whether any of this was intentional, but I had to stick with it for a good 10 min before being able to walk on (even though I was already tired) and I had to come back multiple times. I also had my aunt take a picture of me with the art and I am wearing a dw shirt so it's perfect :)

The work was made by someone from the art collective *foundationClass, an organisation based in Berlin who prepare students for art school. They made a bunch of cool, often political, art for the documenta

I have to say I am also particularly fond of the Möbiusship, though, that has been circulating on tumblr

16. What museum or gallery do you want to visit?

I really want to visit the Munch museum! He is one of my favourite artists and when I was in Oslo once, the museum was closed for renovation. But now it should have reopened, so I just need to get myself to Norway and reserve a full day for Munch :)

[transgenderer]

Prayer among the Kwakwiutl

Kwakwiutl Ethnography, Franz Boas. note that the original text includes the kwakwiutl words for but im just typing up the translations because i dont have the symbols. my notes in parentheses+italics

All nature, the heavenly bodies, rocks and islands, waterfalls, animals, and plants are being of supernatural power who man can approach with prayer, whose help he can ask, and to whom me may express his thanks. Prayers do not have a fixed form that makes them potent by the power of the repetition of the formula. They are all similar in form but express the emotion that fills the one who appeals for help or renders his thanks. At the end of a prayer, the supplicant himself answers, "Hau, it will happen that way".

The powers are addressed by honorific names; animals, by descriptive names that differ from their everuday names, without being exactly honorific or sacred. All are addressed as "Supernatural One". The sun is the Great-Chief or Father. Dangerous places are called Old-Man, Great-Owner-of-the-Weather; plants used as food or medicine are called Life-Owner, Long-Life-Maker

A number of these terms have the ending "-Making-Woman" like the last or like Rich-Making-Woman, and Right-Making-Woman. Evil powers are named in analogous forms, such as Short-Life-Maker-Woman and Killing-Woman. I am not at all certain whether these terms are nowadays in any way felt as personifications. They are also applied to very specific action, such as such as Sore-Healing-woman and in ordinary speech, such as poor (literally "pitiable-making-woman"), which is used as an adjective.

The olachen (note: usually eulachon or candlefish, a ~6-inch fatty river fish) is addressed as Chief-of-the-Upper-Side-of-our-World (?! what could this mean? perhaps because they swim up rivers to spawn, towards the mountains?). Salmon are generally called Swimmers. The halibut is called Born-to-be-Giver-in-the-House, Scenting-Woman, Flabby-Skin-in-the-Mouth, Squint-Eye; the beaver Throwing-Down-in-one-Day, Tree-Feller, Weather-Owner (connection to "owner of the weather" for dangerous places? perhaps because beavers make trees fall, dangerous, and falls from the sky like weather?)

Halibut Hooks are called Younger-Brothers

When praying, the supplicant stands still or sits down in front of the one he is praying to and directs his eyes at him.

At sunrise the Indian may pray to the sun, "Welcome, Great Chief, Father, as you come and show yourself this morning. We come and meet alive. Oh, protect me and let nothing evil befall me today, Father!"

"Look at me, Chief, that nothing evil may befall me this day which is made by you as you desire, Great-One-Walking-to-and-fro-all-over-the-World, Chief!"

When caught in a gale at sea, the canoe man prays to the sun, "Press down the sea in your world, Great Chief, Father, that it may become good, that your world may become right on the water, Great Father!"

Dangerous rocky islands and points are called Old-Man. In passing one of these in rough water, the traveler will pray "Look at me, Old-Man! Let the weather made by you spare me (so the source of danger from the weather is also the cause of the weather? perhaps sense that the rocks want to be broken up on? almost like cui bono), and, pray, protect me that no evil may befall me while i am traveling on this sea, Old-Man, that i may arrive at the place to which I am going, Great-Supernatural-One, Old-Man", or when passing in good weather,

"Oh Old Man, I pray before you. Have mercy and watch the weather that you are making, that it may remain calm at sea, Good-Supernatural-One; protect me, that the words of those who hate me may not penetrate me, that what they wish to do to me may just go into them" (belief that bad weather is caused by enemy magic? unclear)

A cascade in Knight Inlet is so high and full that it causes a strong wind and heavy spray at its foot. When the Indians go there for olachen fishing, they undress, and the whole tribe visit the falls in their canoes. One man stands up in his canoe and prays, "Welcome, Old-Man, we have come and meet alive. I have asked you for this, Great-Supernatural-One, last year when I came, I beg you to have mercy and to blow off all evil from us, all our sickness, Great-Supernatural-One, so that we may come to life. Protect our sickness, Great-Supernatural-One, and also, please, let the weather you are making be fine, Great-Good-Supernatural-One, you who are not a common person, Old-Man"

The workman will also pray to the material or tool he is going to use in his work

[section about praying to a tree you are about to fell, a trap you are building, and a net you are using to catch fish]

The hunter prays to his game or other animals he encounters. After killing a grizzly bear, he says, "O Great-Supernatural-One, you are lying there, overcome by me, friend! I have struck you first with my death bringer. Listen to me, Supernatural-One, now i will take by war your power of not respecting anyone or anything, of being fearless, and your wildness, great, good Supernatural-One"

After killing a beaver, he prays, "Welcome, friend Throwing-Down-in-One-Day, you Tree-Feller, for you have agreed to come to me. I wanted to catch you because I wish you to give me your ability to work, that I may be like you, for there is no work that you cannot do, you Throwing-Down-in-One-Day, you Tree-Feller, you Owner-of-Weather, and also that no evil befall me in what I am doing, friend"

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 85 and 86 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episode 84 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

TURN-85: A Wielder of the God Card The Divine Winged Dragon of Ra?!

A researcher named Franz appears before Judai, who learns from Pegasus and Hayato Maeda--who rushed over from I2 (Industrial Illusions, Inc.)--of his employment with I2 and the threat he poses by using a copy of the strongest card, The Divine Winged Dragon of Ra. Judai and Franz duel, and right as they start, he summons The Divine Winged Dragon of Ra. By all rights, he should incur a punishment from the God, but he controls said God with the Mound of the Bound Deity Magic Card he himself created. It all comes down to the Skyscraper 2 -- Hero City Field Magic that Hayato designed for Judai.

TURN-86: The Runway of Dueling

Just as Judai laments his lack of competition, a drum is suddenly struck amid a flurry of cherry blossoms--from which a pro duelist named Kabukid enters the scene, clad in kabuki clothing, and challenges Judai to a duel. Claiming that pro dueling is about dueling to entertain the audience, Kabukid activates his Kabuki Stage -- Great Bridge Field Magic to set a flashy stage. Harboring some doubts about such flashy dueling, Judai...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(EDIT, 1/21/23: Reuploaded 86 with an additional card error fix, as I missed an earlier instance of Dramatic Pose in Kabukid’s hand after its activation that should’ve been New Year Drum; see #3 in the list below if curious.)

Just narrowly missed getting these out in time for Christmas, but episodes 85 and 86 are finalized! Hope everyone's having a gentle holiday season, and hopefully these help a bit as these are two of my favorite episodes in Season 2. 85 I definitely remember being pretty hype with Ra--copy or not--showing itself in GX, and both the OST and Pegasus reappearing (as well as some coloring choices in a lot of the scenes to give things a bit more of a grim look [which we saw some of in 82, but it does feel as though the art quality starts to pick up a bit here]) definitely helps add a bit of weight to it. 86 is also a fun one with quite a few Japanese references, and specifically to kabuki theater--so much so that I'd actually popped onto some Japanese-learning forums when first working on 86 back in 2011 for help to decipher some--and has Judai meet someone who's so into his craft for others that he hadn't thought of enjoying the process for himself. Definitely is a shame the dub does away with most of the culture nods, understandable as it might be, since the original sound design also adds to the fun feel of the episode, with the drums and vocal interludes here/there, but making Orlando a Broadway actor is probably the best way to adapt Kabukid’s character (though it does make the kabuki callbacks with his deck fall a bit flat). Also got us an OP update as of 85, featuring a disappointed not-Principal Chronos after Samejima’s return [I’ve been waiting to use that new clip since translating the names in the OP as I started finalizing Season 2], as well as one of the few episodes where Judai properly uses Bubbleman’s two effects correctly in 86, lol.)

Interesting as both episodes are, equally interesting (on some level) were some of the animation/card fixes I worked on for them; I fixed up nine errors in 85 and 12 in 86. List below the spoiler, as usual, for the curious! Also including some Translation Notes for 86, as there were a couple of cultural nods throughout.

Enjoy! Next time, it's a Judai VS Manjoume rematch as Judai tries to undo Saiou's hold on him, with some help from the O[jama]-Heroes! Shouldn't stain their friendship too much, hopefully.

Fixes/Edits! (85)

As Judai and Franz begin their duel, setting up their Disks on a split-screen, there are several frames (except for one) as their screens split apart where there’s a gap between their actual screens and their borders--all the while Judai’s screen has a bit of a gap under him where they didn’t fill him out so the trees behind him are visible.  Fixed in Sony Vegas by first cropping the split-screen so that the gap under Judai is gone, then moving Judai and Franz’s screens up to the borders in each frame with the error.

As Judai braces for his first attack coming from Ra, there’s a black hole on his Disk where Neos should be; it turns to normal as he moves to brace for impact.  Fixed first by blanking that spot into a regular Monster Zone in Photoshop, then applying a proxy in AfterEffects.

A unique error happens in the eyecatch, as the show’s logo appears statically a few frames before the usual sparkles appear, which the logo then fades from as normal.  Fixed this in Vegas by first redoing Franz and Judai sliding across the screen during the frames before the sparks light up to create the logo, then redid the sparkles over those frames 1) using a template video that I applied a chroma-keyer effect on to remove the black background and 2) masking the sparkles to just the thin area they first appear in, then expanding the mask a bit as more appear.  Looks pretty good in motion.

After Ra destroys Neos, Judai takes damage from Mound of the Bound Deity, but has another black spot on his Disk, this time where a Defense-Mode Card Gunner should be.  Fixed in AfterEffects by applying a proxy there.

As Franz boasts about how Judai’s mere tricks won’t work on a god, he loses his mouth for a quick frame before he starts chuckling as he starts his next turn.  Fixed in Vegas by just keeping his closed mouth from the previous frame there.

As Judai tries to attack Franz’s 1 LP directly with Glow Moss for game, Franz counters by using Fusion Undone to undo his point-to-point-transfer “fusion” with Ra--but the ATK counter that appears shows Ra’s ATK dropping from 4400 to zero, and not 4499 as it was previously shown to be at.  Fixed in Vegas by masking in its ATK counter from the scene showing it rising to 4499 as Franz joined with it, made easier since the border/colors on this ATK counter don’t change like they usually do, lol. (This is one of the errors I’d have expected to be fixed on the DVD release, and the dub didn’t pick up on it, either.)

After Glow Moss’s attack connects with Ra, we see it being destroyed and Franz’s LP dropping, but there’s an outline for a card where Ra was on his Disk.  Since Ra was being destroyed here, I fixed this in Photoshop by removing the outline and making it a normal Monster Zone, over the handful of frames as the shot fades from the Ra closeup to showing Franz.

After Franz thinks that he’ll be able to use Revival of the Dead (Monster Reborn) to resurrect Ra, Judai opts to activate his Necro Illusion Quick-Play, but a few things happen: 1) just before Necro Illusion appears on the field, we see a yellow and orange rectangle on his Disk where Glow Moss and Neos should respectively be, and 2) Judai’s half of the split-screen, which Franz slides onto eventually, has a sudden background change as Franz’s starts to slide back up and Judai starts to declare that he’s reviving Ra.  Fixed first in AfterEffects by applying Glow Moss and Neos proxies over those rectangles, fading them out as Necro Illusion appears, then in Vegas as I simply masked in the changed background behind Judai from later in the shot to keep it consistent throughout.

After Judai brings back Ra to his side of the field, Franz stares it down--but for some reason, Ra is on his Disk despite it being on Judai’s field.  I originally thought to fix this by wiping that Monster Zone clean on one of the last frames of the shot and then re-do the gaussian-blurred zoom-out that happens, but that proved to be a bit difficult--instead, I fixed it by using Photoshop to blank the Monster Zone over the 14 frames it’s in, then reinserting them into the footage in Vegas, maintaining the gaussian blur.  I think the Zone still looks consistently edited in motion, for the short shot it is.

Fixes/Edits! (86)

As Kabukid and Judai begin their duel, setting up their Disks on a split-screen, their screens split to reveal Shou and Kenzan looking up at Chronos and Napoleon’s picnic-viewing setup, but Judai’s side takes two frames longer than Kabukid’s to leave the screen.  Fixed in Sony Vegas by timing his split to Kabukid’s, then holding the full shot of Shou/Kenzan/Chronos/Napoleon over the extra frame or two saved.

As the group looks on while Kabukid mentions that his Kabuki Stage -- Great Bridge lets him summon a Level-4-or-below Monster from his hand, the split-screens split to show Kabukid about to summon Ben Kei--but while he’s placing Ben Kei in his fourth Monster Zone, we see his Yoshi Tsune in Zone 2 when it’s shown later to be in Zone 3, and his mouth is also missing initially during the screens’ splitting.  Fixed first in Photoshop as I blanked Monster Zone 2, then in AfterEffects as I applied a Defense-Mode Yoshi Tsune proxy in Zone 3, and then finally in Vegas as I held his closed mouth over the frames where it was missing.

(EDIT, 1/21/23: After Kabukid notes that his Great Bridge Field Magic’s effect forces Wildman into Attack Mode, he then notes that Ben Kei can attack as often as the amount of Equip Cards on him; we get a glimpse into his hand and see that, along with his Shizuka the Heavenly Dancer, it has a copy of Dramatic Pose in it--except Dramatic Pose was already played, and he plays New Year Drum in a couple of scenes from his hand. Fixed in AfterEffects by applying a proxy for New Year Drum over Dramatic Pose, slightly touching up the artwork I grabbed from the scene in which he activates it which is the only spot it’s visible in, and masking in Kabukid’s thumb and Shizuka’s card over it, as well as the original card’s outline to blend it in.

After playing Kabuki Stage -- Cherry Blossom Mountain, Kabukid compares it to Mt. Yoshino in Nara, Japan, and its cherry blossoms, but as he does, we get a glimpse of his hand, and a repeat of #3 above with a copy of Dramatic Pose still there with his Shizuka--as before, Dramatic Pose was already played, and he plays New Year Drum in a couple more scenes yet.  Fixed in AfterEffects by applying the New Year Drum proxy over Dramatic Pose and masking in Kabukid’s thumb and the original card outline to blend it in.)

After Kabukid activates New Year Drum and Shou and Kenzan wonder about its effect, we see Judai contemplating things a bit, but the start of the panning shot here shows him above the bottom edge of the frame, so the cloud background behind him is visible.  Fixed in Vegas by cropping the shot slightly to remove that.

After the eyecatch, as Judai starts to question Kabukid’s style, the two are on a split-screen; as it splits to show Chronos and Napoleon wondering what he’s getting at, there’s a quick frame where the border between them pre-split is still visible between the two individual screens.  Fixed in Vegas by just masking the Chronos/Napoleon shot behind them over it.

After taking damage from Burstlady attacking Battle Claw Fox, Kabukid notes that now Burstlady will be destroyed during that turn’s End Phase, but his lip-flaps are out of sync with the line as spoken; there’s an audible pause after he says the “Burstlady” in the “And with this, Burstlady...” part, but the lip-flap pause happens earlier after he says “And with this...” instead.  Fixed in Vegas by moving the pause a bit later in time with the line.

A bit later, as Judai ends his turn and Kabukid notes that it’s time for them to part ways with Burstlady, we go over to Burstlady as Battle Claw Fox appears behind her, but there’s an odd gap in the neck/shoulder strap on her left that shows some skin.  As previous shots showed that the strap was a continuous red, I fixed it first in Photoshop by filling it in, then in Vegas by re-doing the panning on the shot, applying an initial bit of gaussian blur to the edit.

After Judai reiterates to Kabukid that he won’t lose as long as Kabukid’s not being serious, we see Chronos/Napoleon and Shou/Kenzan on a split-screen wondering about it, but as the screens split to show Kabukid about to question what makes him so sure, a few things happen: 1) an odd coloring glitch happens around Shou’s mouth, 2) the border on Shou/Kenzan’s screen cuts off along the top corner, and 3) the Shou/Kenzan screen takes a frame or two longer than Chronos/Napoleon’s to leave the shot.  Fixed in Vegas by first redoing the Shou/Kenzan screen’s split using a still without the coloring glitch, then masking on more of the border over the gap up top, while timing it to leave the shot with the Chronos/Napoleon screen.

As Kabukid shields himself from the impact of Neos’s attack on Genghis Ghan, his LP falling to zero, his Disk is missing the orb in the middle, which should be lit up red since his Disk is on.  Fixed in Photoshop by cutting/pasting the orb from a different shot and doing some editing to blend it in for the frames in which it’s visible (while also adding screen-blended layers on top to cover it up as the dust flies around), and then threw the fixed frames into the footage in Vegas.

After Shou and Kenzan cheer for Judai’s win, Judai turns to them and audibly says, “Sweet!”--but his lips don’t move.  Fixed in Vegas by adding two quick lip-flaps to him from a different but similar shot, adjusted to fit his face in this one.

After Kabukid and Judai have a conversation about dueling again sometime, Shou and Kenzan walk over asking if they can see one of his bits.  Judai looks up at them, and Kabukid agrees to it, reaching over to grab his wig--but as Judai turns back to him, two things happen for two of the movement frames involved: 1) his hair from the previous frames post-turning-to-Kenzan/Shou stays as his head rotates back to Kabukid, with a visible outline for the new hair, and 2) his hand holding the GeneX medal he won ends up behind Judai’s right shoulder instead of staying in front.  (I actually noticed this one as I was finishing revising the sub script, lol.)  Fixed this with a Photoshop/Vegas combo: first, I used the Clone Tool in Photoshop with the last frame after Judai turns back to Kabukid to add on more trees in the background around where Judai’s duplicate hair is in the earlier frames, which I then masked his new hair over using the visible outline for it--this got rid of the duplicate hair in both frames--and then, I masked out Judai’s hand and the GeneX medal, keeping them in view as I masked Kabukid grabbing his wig on top of it.  Now, Kabukid’s wig moves in front of Judai’s hand, while Judai’s hair moves normally!

For the preview, an error similar to #5 happens as Manjoume draws vs the pro he beats early in 87, except this time the character model gap happens on the right of the frame; fixed in Vegas for 87 proper by slightly cropping the shot accordingly, then applied the fix for the hardsub’s preview.

Translation Notes! (86)

Kabukid’s Kabuki Stage -- Great Bridge Field Magic is a reference to the fabled site of the battle between Benkei and Minamoto no Yoshitsune, one of the most famous samurai fighters in the history of Japan, at the Great Gojou Bridge in Kyoto--Kabukid’s Yoshitsune is based on the same Yoshitsune, while Armed Samurai -- Ben Kei later appears playing the part of Benkei in Kabukid’s performance, all keeping in relation with with his Kanjinchō (a popular kabuki dance-drama)-themed Deck (as noted on Yugipedia, though it does seem to also pull from another play called Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, since the New Year Drum card he plays later and equips to Shizuka is part of this one).

7:04: RE: Kabukid’s Warrior Monk Halberd, a souhei would be a monk soldier who used a naganata/halberd as their weapon of choice; it was equipped to Ben Kei to connect to how Benkei was a souhei himself.

7:12: RE: Kabukid’s Dramatic Pose card, a mie is a pose in kabuki where the actor freezes and poses to establish a powerful moment in the performance.

10:08: Kabukid compares his Cherry Blossom Mountain card to Mt. Yoshino, located close to Nara, Japan, which is famous for its cherry blossoms.

15:59: Genghis Ghan's name is a pun off of "Genghis Khan," the famous Mongolian warlord; the "gun" stored in its mouth adds another layer to it.

[bopinion]

2023 / 36

Aperçu of the Week:

“Keep pushing!”

(Literally every Formula 1 team principal over radio)

Bad News of the Week:

"Opposition is crap" is what Franz Müntefering, the legendary party leader of the German Social Democrats, once said. He may be right. But that should in no way justify the fact that some opposition politicians limit their political positioning to just that: opposition. In other words, being against. Against everything the incumbent government does. Basically. But that is precisely what Friedrich Merz, head of the largest opposition party in the Bundestag, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is doing.

As a reminder, Merz was fired by Angela Merkel at the time. He earned millions at Blackrock and thought he was in heaven - on his third attempt and after almost 20 years of political abstinence - when he finally became head of his oh-so-beloved party. But the 20 years have not been kind to him. Sometimes it seems as if he has been on another star. His catchphrase at beer tent speeches is "Kreuzberg is not Germany - you are Germany!" He is usually applauded for this.

You have to know that Kreuzberg is a district in Berlin that was very colorful for decades. Many peoples, many languages, many cultures, many religions. Beautiful, actually. But for Merz and people like him, the epitome of non-German. And then also woke - where you can order your cappuccino with almond milk, families can have two mothers or two fathers, and there's no one named Friedrich in kindergarten. So for a stick conservative, it's hell on earth. And for the political opponent (i.e. the Greens and everyone to the left of the CDU - in other words, everyone), the home of the ideologically lost.

Merz is wrong in two respects. For one thing, even Kreuzberg is gentrified these days. Investment bankers like him live in the barely affordable old buildings. And there are far more SUVs on the street than rickshaws. So the image of a parallel society outside the "usual norms" no longer holds water. On the other hand, we now live in the 21st century. In which "Who's afraid of the bogeyman?" is no longer played in the playgrounds and everyone knows that the vegetables at Tarek's or Giorgios' on the corner are better than those in the supermarket. So Merz has disqualified himself with his Kreuzberg bashing. Once again. My hope is that this will slowly get around to his clientele...

Good News of the Week:

At the latest when it became clear that China's head of state Xi Jinping would not be attending, the G20 summit in India looked like a flop. And then intermediate shades - such as whether the host would call itself Bharat instead of India - seemed to dominate. So a pure show event with pretty pictures for the evening news and political experts mainly analyzing what is not happening? No, far from it. India achieved many small breakthroughs and even three major ones that were not expected.

First, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sherpas succeeded in issuing an official final declaration that was supported by all 20 states. Which seemed unlikely with Russia and the U.S. at one table. Even if the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is not mentioned by name, the use of brutal force is condemned. An "impressive diplomatic achievement," as Die Tagesschau writes. "The host saved a presidency that was threatened with failure."

Then a gigantic infrastructure project was launched that clearly positions itself against China's "New Silk Road." At this point, at the latest, Jinping might have regretted not coming. India, the Middle East - including Israel! - and Europe are to be better connected with the help of the United States - with rail tracks, hydrogen pipelines and power lines for renewable energies. Apparently a plan to be taken seriously. Because Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni immediately took the opportunity to announce in New Delhi that her country (the only participant so far from the European Union) was withdrawing from the partnership program with China.

And finally, the G20 effectively became the G21. For the "African Union" was welcomed as a new member on the very first day. The maltreated continent is thus given a voice at the table where the fate of humanity is decided. The bottom line is that one thing is also clear after this summit: there are more and more significant players whose self-confidence is growing. The world is becoming more multipolar. And that is a good thing.

Personal happy moment of the week:

Last week I was having a lot of happy moments. Bavarian moments with a Canadian guest to be precise. It's always nice to be able to introduce someone to your region, culture, cuisine, language, country, city, etc. If this is well received and appreciated, you are happy that you are privileged to live here. And even things that are commonplace for you start to shine again. Bella Bavaria!

I couldn't care less...

...that the Kremlin's United Russia party was declared the winner in sham elections in the Russian-occupied territories of eastern Ukraine. Key word of this statement: sham elections.

As I write this...

...everything in Germany revolves around the ball. First, on Sunday, the German men's basketball team won the world championship in Manila in a complete surprise - yes, (also) against the USA. And my second home country Canada won the bronze medal - yes, against the USA. Then the German soccer federation fired national coach Hansi Flick for losing a test match against Japan on Saturday in a crash. After he got knocked out in the preliminary round against Japan at last year's World Cup and hadn't improved at all since. If Germany were not hosting the European Soccer Championship next year, they would even have to fear for qualification.

Post Scriptum

Germany's society is aging. That's why we need a good half million immigrants every year, even if some on the political right don't want to acknowledge that. However, we are facing international competition. In which we are doing anything but well. I just read a series of interviews in which expats tell why they gave Germany a chance (leading technology companies, public safety, moderate climate) but then left again (excessive bureaucracy, difficult language, lack of a welcoming culture). As long as no one at least speaks English at the foreigners' authorities, landlords bluntly prefer "Bio-Germans", foreign educational qualifications are not recognized and little Fatima is looked at askance in kindergarten, there will be no preservation of our prosperity.