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homosexual-fanfiction · 2 years ago

Note

Hi Camp! :D

I just wanted to say thank you so much for posting The Negligible Self, I loved it so much! The ANGST and tension literally had me squeeing out loud, I was hooked. Omigosh I'm such a fan of these dorks. I was like, GET TOGETHER ALREADY DAMMIT.

Also, the way you write is so wonderful! The chapters went by so fast and I ended up staying up waaaay later than I should on a work night (the curse of "oh, one more chapter" attacked me). The entire story felt like so much love and care was put into it and was so so so well thought out.

AND REIGANS INTERNAL MONOLOGUING WAS SO WELL WRITTEN. I find Reigan to be a kinda hard character to write tbh but the way you wrote his thought process out and him refusing to come to terms with his feelings and even consider his emotions are requited with Serizawa is so accurate and so obnoxious to read (in a good way).

ALSO ALMI AAAAAA I REALLY LIKED HER WHHHHY!!! My heart! I adored her character and the complexities you added with her relationship with the guys. Her part of the story was so sad and I really became attached and started wondering how she was doing and if she was okay and aaaaa. I became attached to the sweet older lady character.

Literally some parts made me chuckle out loud too like with Dimple being well, himself.

Also, your notes on the chapters were really fun and made me smile too. I love the voice you use when writing your thoughts. (Literally laughed at Reigan pushing you down the stairs, your dorky laugh noises, stepping over Reigans body, etc.) It really helped lighten the mood. I actually looked forward to your notes alot too! I'll miss those.

The ending is so wonderful and I loved your story so much the the life you breathed into all the characters and their relationships.

I'm looking forward to reading more of your works, sorry I gushed so much and thanks for reading my word vomit ashdgbdhcj! Great job, I loved it so much and thank you again so much for writing and posting it! Please never stop writing! (well, unless you want to obvs but yeah you know what I mean.)

-☆Rosie

BAUUH! hello! thank YOU for reading & going out of your way to come leave me a message :) i'm so glad you enjoyed it, it was a blast to write!! i'm already missing it haha [facing very deliberately away from the epilogue wip]

i hope you got enough sleep in the end lol, and yeah i tried very hard to make reigen rationalize everything he was doing in his own infuriatingly reigen way. i've said this before so apologies if you've already heard it, but it's funny how such a huge plot point was reigen REFUSING to come clean about shit when i generally hate to read a fic that relies on miscommunication or just a lack of communication.

but like reigen is obnoxious and he really wouldn't believe serizawa liked him back even if it slapped him in the face (or held him and cared about him and put a flower behind his ear and tucked him into bed and brought him food and came back to his apartment again and again and again to make sure he was okay (reigen voice if they found out who i really was they'd reject me in an instant)) so i tried my best to play off of that in the most reigen way i could lol. very glad that didn't seem to annoy people out of reading

god aimi AHH aimi... i'm so glad you like her! my poor little lesbian lady, she was only doing what she could. wanted to have her cake and eat it too, but unfortunately... yeah

and aw i'm glad you liked my goofing in the notes too, most of that really was just the first thing that came to my mind lol. the stepping over reigens body one was planned a few days in advance tho, i could not pass up that opportunity. and dimple was so fun to write he does NOT miss a chance to take a shot and we love that about him. dimple our favorite little hater

thank you so much again, it really was a ride to get that all done start to finish and i'm very happy that people out there enjoyed/are enjoying the story :) and you don't need to apologize at all haha. i'll write for as long as i have the inspiration to <3

#askbox #THANK UUU #i'm not proofreading this so i hope it all makes sense lol

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genaleah · 4 years ago

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ANSWERING WILDCARD QUESTIONS

For the first time in about a year maybe??? Some of these might be even older than that.

Yes, it is Korka! I definitely want her involved, she’s a wonderful character and there is a *lot* of fun paranormal stuff going on in this setting that she can help them research. Also, I’d just love for her and Nelson to become friends!

Thank you! I love him a lot, and it’s fun to picture him interacting with the other guys. They’d all make for some interesting uncle figures, but they might not be that great in terms of role models.

OHOHO. Devilish laugh. That’s a wonderful idea, and a good way to keep him occupied at some point. He’s a great character, but he’s incredibly powerful, and I want these dudes to solve their own problems whenever possible.

A good question! I don’t remember most of my dreams, but there’s usually a consistent look to the vivid ones. Lots of water, mountains, creeks, and high, winding roads. There are also a lot of buildings that are closely integrated with nature, even though I have almost never seen construction like that.

I had not, but now I have! Here’s a trailer, for anyone else that missed it:

https://youtu.be/33HXHaaagsw

I really like these new models! I’m looking forward to watching a playthrough when that’s available. Just like with Rhombus of Ruin, I don’t think I’ll be able to play this one myself.

DOUBLE FINE, I WISH TO SPEAK WITH YOU- no, I’m kidding! I think great minds think alike. But I’m really excited to learn more about that character and possibly involve them in this whole au eventually.

I’ve actually tried to avoid almost any info about Psychonauts 2 so I can go in mostly-blind, and a lot of the characters are vague to me. It’s fun to look forward to, but it’s also a little harrowing because I don’t know how to anticipate for it!

N...NO..... I NEED TO... Honestly those are old enough that it might be a good idea for me to re-make them, as well as the playing cards I made for the mega playlist cover. I think it’d be nice to remake them as vectors... that might make for a nice art stream sometime. I’ll mention publicly if I start doing that, and sharing any of these conceptual Wildcards arts when they’re done.

And if you’re just curious about what the tarot cards for the other characters are going to be, it’s this:

Eddie: Judgement, The Magician, The Emperor

Manny: Death, Justice, The World

Sam: The Chariot, The Tower, Strength

Max: The Devil, Wheel of Fortune, Joker

Although! I may actually give the Moon card to Max instead of the Devil, and replace the missing card from Nelson’s selection with the High Priestess? 🤔 I’ll decide when I get to it.

Could be! I’ve flip-flopped occasionally on if I want the split-a-cab gang to participate much in the story. I think they deserve a break, and splitting an apartment in New York seems like a good situation for the four of them.

Oh boy, that must be so disorienting for him. The Psychonauts deal with a lot of hippy-dippy weirdness in a seemingly organized way, but it seems like they’re not as paranoid about safety as a real federal organization would be. Not necessarily a good thing, considering one of their camp counselors went AWOL one day, and the head of the Psychonauts got kidnapped the next. They kinda need to get their act together.

Fun fact, in one of the earlier drafts of Chapter 3 I was actually going to make Nelson get scanned by the equivalent of a metal-detector for malevolent thoughts at the door and get really spooked by it, but I decided against it.

YEAH IT’S ON THE LIST

Honestly, a big bulk of the plot in this just regards characters having to face their mental health struggles... via facing it as literal internal demons, unstable powers, etc. It’s going to take a little while for any of Eddie’s teammates to realize how MUCH he has going on under the surface because he does a pretty good job of hiding it. “Needing to help others above ever helping themselves” is a hard issue to notice if you’re not looking for it. But it’s a guarantee that once they find out he needs help, they’ll give it; whether that’s making sure he’s not working himself too hard, or fighting off demonic cultists. Care comes in many forms.

SHE NEEDS TO REST.... POOR SYBIL (on the upside, they don’t TECHNICALLY work there, so she might be fine most of the time.)

Strong Bad isn’t a Psychonaut! He’s just a vlogger and a petty (psychic) criminal. It’s honestly not very different from canon.

Free Country, USA is a smalltown hotbed of psychic activity. Nearly everyone there has some mild capacity for supernatural powers, but nobody really notices or cares. Strong Bad just pops the tops off of cold ones and.... sometimes alters reality, a tiny bit. But mostly just in regards to media. The cartoons, comics, etc, that he invents and talks about have a tendency to suddenly voip into existence and nobody knows how. I swear, there’s actually a line of him saying something to this effect, but I can’t find it anywhere. Don’t worry about it! Nobody in town is ever going to do anything truly nefarious with their powers, so it’s not a high priority on the Psychonauts’ radar, just a weird footnote.

The only reason Homestar is an actual agent is because he seems like exactly the kind of guy to sign up for a job like that on accident and then stick with it. And he’s a talented telekinetic! None of his other friends know about his job or notice his absences.

And just for fun, here’s some weird instances of psychic overpowering that happened in the cartoon:

---

(Poor Strong Sad)

I’ve actually answered this one before! BAM Pretty sure all of it is still accurate.

Nelson: He sees floating sheets of paper containing notes, questions, etc. Anything that he wants to know more about regarding that person. The notes are subject to edits, cross-outs, ripped pages, etc.

Guybrush: He sees the item that the person is carrying that he wants most. As he gets to know people better, he sees them for their useful skills first.

Manny: His view of most living people is not very kind...

The people he’s closest to will eventually look a lot less garish. More like a flattering, camera-ready versions of themselves.

Eddie: Sickass sketch drawings that look like they belong in the margins of a composition book. The illustrations improve as he gets a better picture of where they’d fit in the internal lore of his mental world.

Sam: A lot like Nelson; Sam pictures case files, though his are a bit more in-depth.

Max: Max’s visions of people are highly personal and uncomfortable for those who witness them. He sees Nelson as a puzzle with a piece missing. Guybrush is a ripped up voodoo doll. Manny is a forgotten ofrenda. Eddie is a powder keg with a long, lit fuse. Sam is Sam, but he’s the wrong one.

I also got two questions that were pretty big subjects, or that I didn’t want to repeat, so I’m gonna cover them pretty broadly:

REGARDING [X] CHARACTER OR SERIES INCLUDED IN THE AU

Sure, I support it! I’ve gotten this question a few times in regards to things that I haven’t had time to delve into yet, or I’m not interested in, so I’m not going to include it into the AU myself. But if you want to explore an idea like that, feel free! This AU is pretty dang collaborative.

My main focus is just on the main 6 properties: Psychonauts, Puzzle Agent, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Brutal Legend, and Sam & Max.

But my general rule of thumb for “characters that exist somewhere within the background of this story” are any other properties owned by Telltale, Lucasarts, or Double Fine. And considering all of the licensed games that Telltale was getting into before it kicked the bucket, that includes some really weird characters, even up to the Venture Bros. I loved that series, but I’m not really interested in doing anything with them for this story! Partly for my sanity, the canon I’ve picked are already a lot of content to play with.

ASSORTED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WILDCARD AU DISCORD

There’s no particular criteria needed to join the discord, and it’s not strictly on a need-to-know basis! Because it’s been a long while since anyone has joined, I've been hesitant about adding new people in... But I‘ve decided to try sending invitations again! Everyone who had asked about it in the past will be getting a ping by me in about a day or so, since I want to double-check if you’re still interested. If you’ve been nervous to ask you can reply to this post or message me privately.

Some things to keep in mind before asking or accepting the invite:

If you’re not a friend or a follower I recognize, I will likely double-check your tumblr along with some other current members before sending the invite.

Here’s the Rules page, so you know what to expect before you join:

Be Mindful - Respect other people's boundaries, don't do or say things that would cross the line. If your behavior makes other people feel uncomfortable or unsafe, I will remove you from the chat. In most cases I will try to resolve things with you and offer a chance to do better, but that will depend on the severity of the situation. And if you have any concerns regarding another member of the chat, you can contact me privately.

Health Boundaries - While discussions of mental health do occasionally pop up, do not rely on the chat for help. None of us are equipped to handle serious mental health concerns, and it will only cause distress for everyone. Please seek real help if it is needed! If you rely on people beyond the point that they have asked you to stop, I will remove you from the chat.

NSFW - Generally speaking, try to keep NSFW talk to a minimum. Swearing and humor is fine, but don't get too explicit please! Discussions should usually keep to a PG-13 / occasional R, but no NC-17.

Spoilers & Censorship - Please use the spoiler function to hide story spoilers, as well as discussions and graphic depictions of gore/excessive blood/body horror/severe psychological horror. Include a content warning so that people know what they could potentially be seeing when they click on the censored content. If the spoilered content is the subject of a back-and-forth discussion, please use another warning when you are switching to a different spoilered topic. (Note that these rules were added to the chat later, so be careful when using the search function or back reading.)

The canon series involved with the Wildcard AU are Psychonauts, Puzzle Agent, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Brutal Legend, and Sam & Max. Please be mindful of story spoilers!

Channel Organization - Also be mindful of which channel you're in and move a discussion over if need be! That way they don't get too clogged with unrelated info.

Creative Criticism - When it comes to writing, art, or character creation; try to be open to suggestions from others! Nearly all of the creative work in the chat is collaborative, so input from others is important! Creative criticism is not the same as judgement, and is not a personal attack.

Have fun! - Discussions move quickly in this chat! Don't feel bad if you ever need to step back, whether it's because of the speed or a disinterest in whatever current topic we're focusing on. If you ever want to come back, we're happy to have you and can give quick explanations if you feel out of the loop! :thumbsup:

We’re a group of approx. a half dozen to a dozen people, either posting very very quickly in a span of a few hours or barely anything for a few days. We’ve been in an activity uptick lately and there’s about a year and half of back content, too. If it’s hard to keep up on, not that interesting to read through, or you just have a hard time gelling with the group that's already there, there’s no shame in just lurking or dipping out if you need to.

We also talk a lot about Psychonauts OCs, so anticipate that.

#wildcard au #wildcard hcs

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goattypegirl · 4 years ago

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Harrow the Ninth Live Read: Chapter 6-11

Con: It’s been a while

Pro: We finished part 1!

Con: this post is hella long now.

Chapter 6

Eighth House icon. Oh no. Gotta say, not a fan of the characters from the Eight House in Gideon the Ninth, whose names I now forget. There was Big Dude and Mayonnaise Twink.

OH OK WE’RE STARTING OFF WITH SOME LOCKED IN SYNDROME SHIT.

So, panicked person wheeling Harrow is given the title “Sacred Hand.” I vaguely recall seeing that before; is that a title given to Lyctors? Is this one of the OG Lyctors finally making an appearance? Wheeling the frozen Harrow to the Emperor to “unfuck accordingly?” Well, maybe not. Presumably another Lyctor would be able to “unfuck accordingly” themselves.

Oh disregard it is a Lyctor! And if we go back to the Dramatis Personae, this should be... Mercymorn! Originally of the Eighth House! She seems nice.

“It was his order that she not be touched.” Did the Emperor do this? But hwhy?

Calling Harrow and Ianthe babies is kind of hilarious. Aaaand Mercymorn just knocked this random person unconscious. OH wait is this the person the Emperor said to make static-y noises at? Survey says... maybe? They were called the Saint of Joy, which seems a unique title?

The whole description of the Lyctor and the way she visually dissects Harrow is so poetic, but something else catches my eye here. Harrow says her eyes did not have such a startling transition, which helps confirm my theory that Harrow is suppressing or undid the Lyctor process.

Also using the power of Cringe, Harrow partially(?) undoes the paralysis spell done to her. “An emotion was playing out over her face that was- not unfamiliar to you- but nonsensical; you discarded it.” Eh? What emotion could this be referring to? Confusion over what Harrow did? Awe? Fear? All of the above?

OH okay before I forget, Harrow formed a bone hook inside of her to do that, and she made that bone sheath to hold on to the sword, so maybe her necromancy isn’t being suppressed? Well, maybe. That feels more... internal? Like she hasn’t grown any full ass skeletons from bone dust yet.

...Why is Harrow afraid of telling Mercymorn her actual age? Why is the Body telling her to lie? Why fifteen??

Relief? That’s what flashed across Mercymorn’s face? Oh, duh, because Harrow did that and didn’t immediately die. Duh. Also she straight up said “hiss”? That is weird. Also, thinking back, it is weird there wasn’t an age requirement in the Lyctor trials. Also Mercymorn took Ianthe too???

“You’re not as pretty as Anastasia.” Anastasia being the member of the Ninth House listed with the Lyctors, but not as one of the Saints. Doing this liveread has its advantages, namely that I can remember shit that happened earlier!

OH WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT. “AS Anastasia,” not “As Anastasia was.” Implying Anastasia’s still alive? Matches her name not being struck through in the Dramatis Personae, and Mercymorn said there were 3 OG Lyctors now. Which matches with Anastasia not having that line about being a Saint! I’ve connected the two dots!

Okay there’s a lot going on here. Why is this normal necromancer so fascinating to Ianthe and Harrow? What she’s doing is pretty dope to be fair. Mercymorn called Ianthe 12... which... huh. More on that in a second. First, I need to google what the fuck an animaphiliac is... probably in an incognito window. Oh, okay, it’s just a style of necromancy in this universe okay thank God. Mercymorn also said Ianthe wasn’t as attractive as Cyrus... which is weird... And it reminds Ianthe of being with Mummy... I assume she means her mother, comparing her to Coronabeth? Oof.

So, back to the lowballing age thing. Mercymorn assumes Ianthe is 12, probably because she’s super old and has forgotten how mortals age. Harrow seems to have subconsciously picked up on this, which is why she lied about her age. I’m still in the camp of the Body being non-supernatural in origin. Yes, she has Gideon’s eyes, BUT, she spoke in the voice of Harrow’s mother and Aiglamene. SO, my theory is that the Body is a product of the trauma Harrow’s gone through, that’s kind of externalizing Harrow’s inner thought process. Like I said earlier, I’ve read Twig, and this is reminiscent of that.

OH hey we’re headed to the frontline apparently? Because 3 warships got shot down suddenly? Which begs the question I’ve had in the back of my mind since first picking up this series, who the fuck are they fighting??? Probably not Ressurection Beasts, given what we know about them. Other humans, probably? Dominicus (probably) isn’t Earth or humanity’s home planet.

Okay, hold up. The Emperor is trying to get to the frontline now, Mercymorn wants him to return to “the Mithraeum”, which is presumably the capital of the Empire outside of the Dominicus system? Also, Emperor’s been on the ship for 80 years, and been away from the Mithraeum for 100... Once again, the math’s not adding up...

Okay, so God hugs Mercymorn, she freezes, he confirms that he is leaving, and that he knows exactly who shot down 3 warships???

Okay cool we’re not headed to the fronline, we’re headed to the Mithraeum, whatever the fuck that is.

Ohhh and the Cohort necromancer girl died, or committed suicide? And the Emperor brought her back? ...There’s a story there.

Ohhhh Mom and Dad are fighting.

OKAY ONCE AGAIN A LOT TO UNPACK HERE BUT THE MITHRAEUM CAN ONLY BE REACHED BY ONE MEANS???? AND IT MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH BEING A LYCTOR???

...Hey. So. Here’s something. In the description of Mercy’s sword, it says it has a white knob at the end of, and I quote “-you didn’t know the exact technical word. It was a pommel though.” There’s a disconnect there, between Harrow’s knowledge, and the narrator’s knowledge. This has happened a few other times, like just a few pages ago, Harrow says a room is used for bodily functions, but the narrator jumps in and says no one in the universe would call it that, it’s a toilet. And this is going to sound kind of batshit, but like 6 years ago i was in to Undertale, and there was a popular theory that the narrator in that game was a separate character from the PC and... a lot of the points used in that theory kinda ring true here... even the use of second person narration...

So the narrator is a separate character from Harrow? Now, whether this narrator exists in-universe, or if this is a really cool stylistic choice, is another story. Right now I’m leaning towards... I don’t know. Well, hm. If the Body is a kind of externalization of Harrow’s inner thought process, maybe the narrator is an internalization?

That makes no sense.

Something to keep in mind.

Anyway, the shuttle detaches. There’s a sort of irony, in God being tired of people martyring themselves for him, but giving a speech saying “hey if you die in my service I love you.”

OKAY I think we’re about to go faster than light using necromancy? This should be good. OH OKAY WE’RE TAKING A SHORTCUT THROUGH HELL. COOL.

...so what was their original method of faster than light travel that turned out to be unusable? did it have to do with neutrinos in italy?

okay I love Mercy and the Emperor’s dialogue here. Again, objectively, I’m sure they’re bad people who have committed several warcrimes... but the way they bicker is just hilarious.

I’m googling hyperpotamus, and i’m only getting other Harrow the Ninth livereads, so it appears to be a term made for the book. But I have a terrible feeling it’s a pun on hippopotamus.

There are so many quotes here that I absolutely love, including “said the Lord of the Nine Houses, who apparently existed within a complex power dynamic.” and “The magma metaphor falls apart from here.”

...Oh. Okay, serious time. Even at the very start, just post-Resurrection, two of the Lyctors fell to the Resurrection Beasts. Well, one died, and one was “removed from play.” Which sounds horrifying.

So we’re dipping into Hell because you can move fast there. Hell is full of angry ghosts. This explains the ghost ward. Lyctors have hacked the system, and so can kind of survive there. And we learn what happened to Cassiopeia, one of the deceased Lyctors. (Interestingly enough it says she baited physical portions of the Ressurection Beast. Not a beast. Nor is it given a number...)

ALright so entering the River physically sounds fucking horrifying. I’m very glad we only have to do it this once and it definitely won’t come back later in the book nope definitely not.

“and that you felt alone in your head.” ;_;

Chapter 7

Sixth House icon.

There’s not a lot to say here, besides how freaky this is. How much do you want to bet that the faint wail Harrow hears is coming from the coffin with Cyntherea’s body?

JOHN. GOD’S NAME IS JOHN?? #NAME LORE UNLOCKED. IM JUST SO HAPPY I FINALLY HAVE A WAY TO REFER TO HIM WITHOUT STRUGGLING TO SPELL EMPORER EVERY FUCKIN TIME.

Also, Mercymorn knowing his like actual human name further implies some stuff about the timeline of the Ressurection, which I was wondering about previously... but that’s a discussion for later because Harrow’s in Hell!

Not a lot to say here besides

fuck.

A few things. One. I think they’re going to get out of this okay? And by okay I mean alive? We know Ianthe, the Emperor, and Harrow live up to the point of the Prologue, and I don’t think Mercymorn is going to die already.

Two. Cassiopeia was from the Sixth House, going by her Cavalier’s last name, which explains the chapter icon.

Three. The lights? The last page or so is very metaphorical, but, at the beginning it says Harrow perceived herself as a “sickly radiance”, and that she perceived the others on the ship as a light as well. She later said she was an “ova cluster of two hundred pinpricks of light.” So I think in this deep part of the River Harrow accidentally sent herself to, souls (maybe?) are displayed as lights. Harrow’s own soul is literally made up of the hundreds of dead House Nine kids, which is. Spooky. But then, at the end, when they jump out of the River, they bring 5 lights with them. So... either something hitched a ride with them, or it has something to do with Harrow suppressing Gideon and the Lyctor ritual. Everyone else on the ship has undergone the Lyctor ritual (or something similar, in John’s case), and they only have 1 light each. At least to Harrow’s eyes. BRUH IDK WHAT”S GOING ON.

Chapter 8

No further answers here, this is a flashback chapter! So, sheared skull = flashback. And this chapter is going to feature the Fourth House, apparently. Who was Fourth House again? Oh no it was the kids. Oh no. ;_;

So, we are continuing through Harrow’s re-imagination of the events of Canaan House, with her Ortus OC in tow.

Of course Harrow is overwhelmed by normal tea, and of course Harrow thinks dressing up skeletons is stupid.

AND of course Harrow would have a private prayer wishing doom on anyone that looks at her with any kind of emotion.

Hold up, the Anastasian tomb? Reserved for warriors? And presumably derived from the word Anastasia, the mysterious not-Lyctor of the Ninth House??

I can already tell Anastasia is going to become my Pepe Silvia.

Ohhh this is going to be a lore bomb about the timeline of the Ressurection and I’m going to need to pull out my copy of Gideon the Ninth to see if any of this shit actually happened.

TEN? TEN NORMAL ASS HUMANS? AND FIVE NECROMANCERS?? BUT THERE WERE SEVEN LYCTORS. THE MATH DOES NOT CHECK OUT.

Okay so I checked and none of this shit actually happened! In fact, Teacher actually said there were 16, 8 necromancers, 8 cavaliers. Where the fuck is Harrow getting 10 from? Who knows! And rather than explicitly saying “hey check out the basement labs to see how to become a Lyctor,” Teacher actually said fuck if I know. Not actually. But still.

Oh of course it’s called the Sleeper!! I had Kill Bill sirens playing in my head when I first read that.

So, had a whole ass monologue here, but this is already very long and im sleepy, so to very quickly summarize, the Parahumans series had an entity known as the Sleeper that was intentionally very mysterious and raised a lot of questions amongst fans, and the fact that there’s another entity here known as the Sleeper is flooding me.

So, I’m spooked. Again, this entire conversation did not actually happen. Teacher’s dialogue is precious. “go where I durst not go: because I love my life, and I love noise, also.” and “I do not know the answers to any of these questions, only that, already, you are being too loud.”

So, the rest of the chapter plays out with Ortus complaining to Harrow. Intriguingly, he says that Harrow doesn’t have much of an imagination, when she says there was no one else to choose as her Cavalier... And then one of the skeletons says, “Is this how it happens?” harkening back to Parodos, when the Body says something similar. There’s a lot to unpack here. One, like I said previously, because Ortus, and apparently the entirety of Canaan House, is a product of Harrow’s mind, they can maybe give some insight into Harrow herself. However, the fact that Ortus seems to break character and chastise her for her lack of imagination is... I don’t know.

Okay, theory time. “The Work” alluded to in the letters is not only the suppression of Lyctor-hood, it’s also the erasure of Gideon, and the creation of these false memories. Meaning Lyctor!Harrow somehow crafted them; there was conscious effort behind it. Which means we can totally pick these scenes apart to gain further insight into Harrow! The skeleton and the Body asking if this is what happened, and Ortus breaking character (maybe) are her subconscious breaking through... Maybe that ties into my idea of the narrator being an internalization or compartmentalization of Harrow’s trauma? Hmm...

Chapter 9

Seventh House skull, and not a flashback. I’m guessing this is because we’re going to inter Cyntherea’s body here.

Okay, so time seems to have passed. IDK how much of the River Harrow remembers here. It seems like she recalls it like a bad dream. Ianthe’s here, and they’re in a chapel made of bone. Or at least one absolutely covered in bone.

Here’s a question. The necromancy Harrow excels at, that’s creating a whole ass skeleton from a single bit of bone. Is she actually creating a new skeleton? Or is she reforming one. Like if she had two teeth from the same skeleton, could she use that to make two new skeletons? In the last chapter the Ressurection was described as not creating anything new... does that apply to all of necromancy, or just what the Emperor did?

Also another side note, Harrow says the stars glow with an unearthly light, which matches what the Emperor said, that they restarted the stars near the Mithraeum with thanergy, so they’re weird now. Except... wasn’t Dominicus restarted the same way? Or is the Dominicus system a hybrid of thanergy and thalergy? I’m getting my energies mixed up.

Anyway yep it’s Cyntherea’s funeral, and Harrow is checking the fuck out.

Okay we have a new Lyctor... and I’m guessing it’s Augustine, since he and Mercymorn are fighting.

Okay and John’s giving a speech and giving more lore about the pre-Ressurrection and it’s confirmed that this guy is Augustine and-

First gen? Second gen? Sixth installation?? Valancy? ANASTASIA?

bruh im so flooded and this is supposed to be such a reverent moment.

Ohhh this is awkward now that they’re pulling Ianthe and Harrow forward. Okay we get a formal introduction to Mercymorn and Augustine. Augustine trails off before the third... and asks if he, the third surviving Lyctor, knows about the missile strikes...Is the third Lyctor the one leading the people who shot down the warships, which is sounding increasingly like a rebellion rather than a battle against others? Who’s the third again ah fuck it’s ORTUS.

ORTUS is apparently interested in “you-know-what”. Which I don’t know what. Please elaborate.

ORTUS is here and he’s skeletal. OH AND SO IS RESSURECTION BEAST NUMBER SEVEN.

FUCK.

(bruh what the fuck is a pseudo-Beast)

Okay yep time to fight an eldritch god.

Speaking of which, God’s name is John confirmed.

And Harrow bled from the ear and fell unconscious, hearing the name ORTUS.

Chapter 10

Pog we’re almost done with part 1. Fifth skull, sheared, so it’s flashback time.

I don’t recognize immediately where we are; apparently this is in the library in Canaan House? Though I don’t remember one from Gideon the Ninth. We see a bit of personality from Ortus, when he complains about Fifth House poetry, which is nice.

Oh, wait, never mind, that was Magnus speaking. Ortus remains as boring as ever.

Hehehehe dick jokes.

Hey so no fake vow of silence in the false memories of Canaan House! That’s interesting. As is Magnus and Abagail being here, and them being pretty fleshed out characters. As are these cooking instructions from the Lyctors...

HOOOOOOOLD the phone here. The cooking notes mention an M and Nigella... which was the first name of Cassiopeia’s cavalier... How would Harrow know that? The easy explanation is that this is a note that Harrow actually found, and is placing here in her fake memories... The other explanation is that something funky is afoot...

Ooohkay Magnus is asking if this is how it happens now. The simulation is breaking down. AND ABAGAIL CAN TELL THAT HARROW IS A LIVING WAR CRIME. PANIC.

Okay now we’re getting Ortus emotion! He is a grown ass man Harrow. At least, he would be, were he not a figment of Harrow’s imagination.

HEEEEY

WHAT THE FUUUUCK

WE’RE CONTINUING ON THIS DYING EGGS THING

PROBABLY WILL BE RELEVANT LATER.

Okay and the simulation breaks down further when Ortus says “you did have a cavalier with a backbone, I’m not them.” Interestingly enough, it’s hours later Harrow realizes something’s weird... Huh...

Chapter 11

Seventh House skull.

Literally just a paragraph saying Harrow sleepwalked and stabbed Cyntherea’s body.

...She sleep walked... the Sleeper from the fake Canaan House...

#harrow the ninth #harrow the ninth liveread #harrow the ninth spoilers #the locked tomb

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thinking-in-symbols · 4 years ago

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Quinquennial Life Assessment

So, it’s been a few years. When I was 19 I posted a sort of “roadmap” for the evolution of my life on this blog. Today I thought I’d revisit that. I want to take a look back and see what progress I’ve made, and then in a separate post I want to turn to the future, think about how my vision for it has changed, and consider how I can reincorporate these goals into that vision.

This is the list of things I wanted to get done in varying time frames. I’ve crossed off the things I’ve done to get a sense of my progress:

1 year:

At 19, my hopes were to accomplish the following things by age 20:

- Joined, and consistently participated in, at least 2 campus organizations that suit my interests, at least 1 of which should be competitive in nature - well, I joined the ISO and KVRX, my college radio station! Neither of those were competitive, but in retrospect I don’t really care about that :-)

- Made concrete plans to study abroad - Nope, unfortunately I never did this. I’m not quite sure I regret that, all things considered - I traded that experience for other things. I did make plans to spend a few months abroad of my own accord, and I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling global pandemic. But as it stands I haven’t done this.

- Learned C++ and python to proficiency - Hm. “Proficient” is a relative term. But I think I have a tendency to downplay my skills, so in the interest of counteracting that I’m going to count myself as “proficient” in these languages. I think that’s fair.

- Gone on at least a several day road trip with at least 1 friend - I’ve gone on several trips with @meeshbug, my very lovely girlfriend and best friend in the world :-)

- Decided on a concentration beyond the extremely vague umbrella of “computer science” - Unfortunately as far as my education is concerned I never really did this. If anything my interests have *broadened* rather than becoming more focused. More on this later...

- Made meaningful, ongoing contributions to an open-source project - You know what? I’ve published the source of everything I’ve ever made, and I’ve gotten to the point where I can make stuff that’s not trivial. So I’m giving myself credit for this one.

- Learned to cook enough meals to eat in most days and not get sick of my own food - I wish. I’ve learned to cook a fair amount of stuff but I still get way too depressed and lethargic to apply that consistently. Whether I consider myself to have achieved this honestly depends on the month.

- Learned to keep my living area clean - I’m much better at this than I was at 19, but at 19 I could barely clear a path to walk across my room. So there’s more work to do. More on these last two later.

- Gotten a pet - Meesh and I have a dog named Courage (after the dog of cowardly fame) and a cat named Jax!

2 years:

- Independently written a piece of software to completion and deployed it publicly - I’ve always pretty bad at actually seeing projects through to completion, but I do have a few full, independent projects under my belt at this point. I’ve built a simple game engine, a pathtracer, plugins for games I like, and some other stuff.

- purchased and begun regularly using some basic amateur radio equipment - Ah man. I got my license but I still haven’t gotten any equipment. I guess I have to get on that...

- purchased and begun experimenting with some basic music recording equipment - This one I’ve done, but I haven’t done as much experimenting as I’d like.

- hosted a party - I did this for my 21st birthday and it’s one of my favorite memories! Honestly this was probably the last time I had all my really close friends in one place. I’m actually getting kind of emotional about that.

- done some kind of hallucinogen - I have now done this. I definitely did get something out of it, albeit not what I expected. This is something I actually only did pretty recently and it’s still having a pretty profound effect. Maybe I’ll write a separate post about this.

- Gone camping with friends - Despite my best efforts, this hasn’t happened yet. Pretty fucked up.

3 years:

- learned to play another instrument besides the piano (guitar?) - I don’t feel comfortable crossing this one off quite yet, but I went ahead and bought myself some guitar equipment and have been messing around with it lately :-) I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet and pay for lessons if I’m serious about this, which I am.

- Written and recorded a song - Damn, I can’t believe it’s been 5 years and I haven’t even done this.

- Met a group of people I can play music with - nope

- Owned a leather jacket. I can’t believe I’ve still never even owned a leather jacket - I’ve done this and wore it frankly too much. Kinda cringe.

- Worked as a professional software developer - Yep! Worked as a software developer for a retail company for a couple years. I’m actually not working as a software developer right now, though; I’m working in a sort of adjacent position. More on this later.

- Participated in research related to my field - That’s pretty ambitious. Not sure I’ll ever do this, unfortunately. But we’ll see.

- Been to a film festival - Oh shit, I totally forgot about having written this. That’s a cool idea. I should do this, it’s not like it’s hard (well, at least in principle. I guess covid kind of changes the situation).

- Gotten a dog - Courage is one of those, I think, although he might also be part rat.

- collected 50 records - Lol, my dumb ass really thought I was going to buy $1,000 worth of records on college money. No, I haven’t done this, but I’m on my way there.

- Purchased a desktop computer - Well, my dad gave me his old desktop. That’s not really a purchase but I think it counts.

5 years:

- Begun accepting freelance development gigs - haven’t gotten here yet and I’m not totally sure this is a direction I want to go in my career. Freelancing has its own stressors as I’ve come to learn from others. No career path is sunshine and roses and I’m trying to internalize this fact.

- Participated in a student film - Nope. I don’t even know why I wrote this down to be honest.

- Gotten laid by solving a 5x5 Rubik’s Cube in front of a girl because surely that’s gonna have to work on someone eventually, otherwise I wasted a lot of time - These are getting weird. Surely I didn’t really expect this to happen, right? Well, either way I now have a long-term girlfriend, so I don’t - wait, Meesh has seen me solve a Rubik’s cube and she saw it before we started dating. So actually I’m going to give myself credit for it. I’m the one who makes the rules here.

- Fleshed out my political opinions - Yes, I now know everything about politics and can answer 100% of questions on political issues. Just kidding. But I know where I stand.

- Participated in a protest or some other kind of political event - Done! Went to a few protests as part of the ISO, participated in lots of their events, and attended some protests with friends as well.

- Studied abroad - Nope :-/

- Learned a language other than Spanish - I took a semester of French! But I don’t quite want to give myself credit for this one because I really would like to learn a different language to something resembling fluency.

- Run a marathon - Lmao. I am in much worse shape now than I was when I wrote this post, and even at that time I could probably do like 7 miles if I really pushed myself. How sad.

- Gone hiking outside of texas - This is weird because I’d literally already done this when I wrote this post. But I’ve done it more since then, so hey!

- Been out of the country with a friend - This I had also already done. I guess the point is to have done it without “adult supervision” or whatever. I haven’t done this since writing this list so I guess I have to leave it uncrossed.

10 years:

- Lived with a girl for an extended period of time - Meesh 🥰

- Spent at least 6 months living on the road in an RV, preferably with a dog and a girl - God, I am so close to being able to do this. I don’t want it to be an RV anymore - those things are expensive. But a van? Still pricey, but doable, especially if I’m willing to sacrifice some comfort. This has actually been front-of-mind for a while. I’ll let you know when I get the balls to pull the trigger.

- Started making Real Money - Well, yep, I have gotten to that point. I do have other thoughts on this, though. Money is weird, man.

- Lived in a long-term living space outside of Texas (i.e. not including RV time) - How long is long-term? Three months? If so, I’ve done this by living in Boston with Meesh for a few months after she went there for law school. However, I anticipate staying there much longer in the near future, so I’ll wait on this crossing this one off.

- Written a book about something, idk - Not yet. I’m halfway to the deadline on this one and I have some ideas, but ideas aren’t worth all that much, especially to me, who rarely sees them through. We’ll see where this goes. It’s not exactly a priority and historically I struggle to get even my priorities done. It might make more sense to replace this with recording a concept or narrative album, for which I also have ideas that I happen to take more seriously.

- Learned to solve a 6x6 Rubik’s Cube - nope

- Gotten laid by solving a 6x6 Rubik’s Cube - nope

- Lived in an apartment where I pay all the rent - Yes! :-))) We love independence

- Earned an advanced degree (this one’s iffy) - This hasn’t happened, and whether it will ever happen is something I’ve been thinking a lot about. I sort of decided half-way through college that I would be totally burned out on school by the time I graduated. But in retrospect it takes way less time to burn out on work than it does to burn out on school, and grad degrees are a different kind of thing. So it’s worth revisiting.’

- Given a best man speech (Sam, this means you have to get married within the next 10 years. Good luck out there.) - Holy shit, Sam, you maniac, you actually did it! Sam got married back in 2019 and I gave his best man speech! It’s another one of my favorite memories :-)

- Gone on a cruise with someone I’m dating - Hmm, not yet. I’ve gone on cool trips, but none on a boat. Maybe that’s something to aim for after the pandemic passes :-)

Retrospective:

1yr: Completed: 5/9

More than half isn’t bad! I’m not gonna worry too much about whether I got these things done within their assigned “time-frame”. I’m a procrastinator in my heart and I don’t see any reason to put that kind of pressure on myself. The point is, they got done. That’s enough for me.

The things I did best in in this category were academic things, and things to do with relationships. I’m proud of the academic achievements, I really feel like doing them has increased my belief in myself and my sense that I’m good at the thing I’ve spent the last four years studying. And of course, I am so happy to be in a loving, fulfilling relationship that brings so many good things into my life. I almost feel like the things I accomplished sort of fell into my lap - of course I’m gonna do programming stuff as a programming student, and getting pets / going on road trips are things I did as a result of my relationship with Meesh. I don’t say that to downplay the accomplishments, but I do think it’s worth noting.

The things I haven’t done are more to do with personal development, which is disappointing. I would like to be able to say, 5 years down the road, that I’ve done the personal development I expected to do in just a single year, but maybe that’s a lot to expect. These are problems I’ve dealt with my whole life. I think what this means is that I can’t expect everything to fall into my lap. Those things are going to take real concerted effort to change. I’m not quite sure how to go about that, though.

2yrs: Completed: 4/6

Two-thirds! Even better!

Lots of these are one-time accomplishments, not so much long-term commitments to personal development. The good news is, I did them, and I think those resulted in some development in their own right :-)

Again, though, the things I didn’t do so well are the things that require long-term, concerted effort. For instance, while I crossed off the one about experimenting with music, it’s really only the initial investment that I’ve really done at this point. It remains to be seen whether I’ll be able to follow through on the commitment to actually experiment and learn.

3yrs: Completed: 4/10

This category also follows the same pattern I’ve noticed with the last two. The other thing I’m noticing is that so, so much of my effort over the past few years has been going towards developing a very particular skill: programming / computer science. Music and art are so important to me, but I’ve done very little real development in those areas. I mean, I’ve done some. But not as much as I would have hoped for half a decade.

5yrs: Completed: 4/10

This is getting a little more fun because less of my goals have to do explicitly with my degree. I’m starting to think beyond college, which is good, because the stage of life I’m in right now requires me to start thinking about the kind of life I want to build now that I’m done with school. Also, I’m at the deadline for this one right now! So this is a particularly interesting category because it really shows where I thought I’d be by this time.

The goals I accomplished in this timeframe are, again, mostly things I’ve done through my relationship, but politics also feature pretty prominently on this part of the list. I spent a lot of time reading and researching political issues during college and really did look for ways to participate. I honestly made politics a pretty big part of my identity over the last 5 years, and I think it will stay that way forever, but I’ve gotten to the point where I think I need to devote less of my mental energy to knowing more. I know what I need to know. It’s time to think about other things.

10yrs: Completed: 4/11 (and counting!)

There’s some career stuff in this section that I’ve been able to do, which is good news. I’ve always been scared about entering the working world. All things told, it’s gone more smoothly than it could have. But I also have lots of lingering doubts about what I want to do in the long term. So one of the most pressing goals I should aim for is to resolve those doubts.

Ultimately, I have a lot of time left, and I’m not even done with this time frame, so I’m not gonna spend much time dissecting the things I haven’t done. What I’ll do instead is say that while I didn’t do everything on this list, I feel proud of the things I have accomplished. I said when I first wrote this list that it’s sometimes hard for me to feel that my life is moving in any particular direction, and I’m still feeling like that five years later, to be honest. But looking back on these things has helped me see that I actually am making progress in my life. Not in all the ways I want to, but that’s OK. There’s still time.

In the next couple days I want to come back to this and reorganize this list into an updated set of goals, for the same time frames. Maybe that will help me think through exactly what it is I want out of the next five-ten years, with the benefit of having analyzed the things that I did and didn’t do well over the previous five.

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dillydedalus · 4 years ago

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april reading

oh yeah this is a thing. anyway in april i read about uhhh.... first contact (twice), murderers on skis & victorian church politics

the yield, tara june winch a novel about indigenous australian identity and history (now and throughout the 20th century) in three narrative strands. imo the narrative strand that consists of a grandfather writing a dictionary of his language (wiradjuri) in order to prove a claim to some land is by far the strongest, but overall i liked this quite a lot. 3/5

land of big numbers, te-ping chen a solid short story collection focused on modern china and young(ish) chinese people, both in china and the diaspora. i particularly liked the stories that had some slighty surreal or speculative elements, such as one about fruit that strongly evoke emotions when eaten and a group of people stuck in a train station for months as the train is delayed, which imo use their speculative aspects in effective (if not super subtle) ways to talk about society. 3/5

the pear field, nana ekvtimishvili (tr. from georgian by elizabeth heighway) international booker prize longlist! a short, fairly depressing read about a 18-year-old girl at a post-soviet school for developmentally disabled childred (but also orphans, abandoned children & other random kids) who is trying to get a younger boy adopted by an american couple. there seem to be a lot of novels set at post-soviet orphanages etc & imo this is a well-executed example of the microgenre, with the pear field full of pears that are never picked bc they don’t taste right as a strong central image. 3/5

the warden, anthony trollope (chronicles of barsetshire #1) ah yes, a 6-part victorian series about church politics in an english town, exactly the kind of thing i’m interested in. not sure why i committed to at least the first two entries of the series but here we are. despite this lack of interest (and disagreement with most of the politics on display here) i found this quite charming; trollope has a gift for an amusing turn of phrase & making fun of his characters in benevolent ways. 3/5

the lesson, cadwell turnbull first contact scifi novel set on the virgin islands, where an alien ship arrives one day. the aliens seem benevolent & share helpful technology, but also react with extreme violence to any aggression. they claim to be on earth to study.... something, but it’s never entirely clear what. the book makes some interesting choices (like immediately skipping over the actual first contact to a few years in the future, when the aliens are already established on the islands) but i thought much of it was kinda disjointed and confusing. 2/5

the heart is a lonely hunter, carson mccullers look, i get it, it’s all about the isolation & alienation (& dare i say loneliness) of 4 miserable characters projecting their issues on the central character singer, who is kind and patient and also deaf and mute, thus making him the perfect receptacle for their issues without really having to connect with him as a person and how that isolation hinders them socially, artistically, emotionally, politically, but like... i didn’t really like it. i didn’t hate it but i just felt very meh about it all. 2.5/5

acht tage im mai: die letzte woche des dritten reiches, volker ulrich fascinating history book about the last week(ish) of the third reich, starting with the day of hitler’s suicide and ending with the total surrender (but with plenty of flashbacks and forwards), and looking at military&political leadership (german and allied) as well as prisoners of war, forced laborers, concentration camp prisoners, and everyone else. very interesting look at what kästner described as the “gap between the not-anymore and the not-yet.” 3.5/5

firekeeper’s daughter, angeline boulley) i’ve been mostly off the YA train for the last few years, but this was a really good example of contemporary YA with a focus on ~social issues. ANYWAY. this is YA crime novel about daunis, a mixed-race unenrolled ojibwe girl close to finishing high school who is struggling with family problems, university plans, and feeling caught between her white and her native familiy when her best friend is shot in front of her and she decides to become a CI for an fbi investigation into meth production in the community. i really appreciated how hard this went both with the broader social issues (racism, addiction) and daunis’ personal struggles. there are a few bits that felt a bit didactic & on the nose (and the romance... oh well), but overall the themes of community, family, and the value of living indigenous culture are really well done & i teared up several times. 4/5

the magic toyshop, angela carter i love carter’s short stories but struggle with (while still liking) her novels so far. this one, a tale of melanie, suddenly orphaned after trying on her mother’s wedding dress in the garden, coming of age and awakening to womanhood or whatever. carter’s really into that. it’s well-written, sensual as carter always is, and the family melanie and her siblings are sent to, her tyrannical puppet-maker uncle, his mute wife and the wife’s two brothers, both fascinating and offputting (& dirty) make for an interesting cast of characters, but overall i just wish i was reading the bloody chamber again. 3/5

barchester towers, anthony trollope (chronicles of barsetshire #2) (audio) lol tbh i still don’t know why i am committing to this series about, again, church politics in 19th century rural england, but it’s just so chill & warm & funny (we love gently or not so gently - but always politely - mocking our characters) that i’m enjoying it as a nice little trip where people do some #crazyschemes to gain church positions or fight over whether there should be songs in church or whatever it is people in the 19th century fought about. it’s very relaxing. there also is a lot of love quadrangleyness going on and that’s also fun. trollope has weird ideas about women but like whatever, i for one wish mrs proudie much joy of her position as defacto bishop of barchester, she really girlbossed her way to the top. 3.5/5

semiosis, sue burke (semiosis #1) i love spinning the wheel on the “first contact with X weird alien species” & i guess this time we landed on plants! plant intelligence is interesting and the idea of plant warfare is really cool. i do like the structure, with different generations of human settlers on the planet pax providing a long-term view but this allows the author to skip over a lot of the development of the relationship between the settlers and the plant and locating the plot elsewhere, which i think is ultimately a mistake. i might continue w/ the series tho, depending on library availability. 2.5/5

one by one, ruth ware a bunch of start-up people go on a corporate retreat to a ski chalet in the alps, avalanche warning goes up, one of them disappears, presumably on a black piste, the rest get snowed in & completely cut off when the avalanche hits and then they get picked off *title drop* (altho really not that many of them). nice fluff when i had a miserable cold (not covid) but fails when it tries to go for deeper themes... like an attempt to address classism and entitlement sure... was made. also like what kind of luxury skiing chalet does not have emergency communication devices in case internet/phone lines are down... i’d have sued just for that. 2/5

fake accounts, lauren oyler the microgenre of ‘alienated intellectual(ish) probably anglophone person has some sort of crisis, goes to berlin about it’ is my ultimate literary weakness - i almost never really like them, they mostly irritate me & yet i can never resist their siren call. this one is p strong on the irritation, altho at least the narrator does not ascribe much meaning to her decision to go to berlin after she a) discovers her boyf is an online conspiracy theorist (probably not sincerely) and b) gets a call that said boyf has died, it’s really just something to do to avoid doing anything else. but other than that it’s so BerlinExpat by the numbers, like she lives in kreuzkölln! put her somewhere else at least! there is one scene that elevates the BerlinExpat-ness of it all (narrator asks expatfriend for advice on visa applications, expatfriend assures her that it’s really easy for americans to get visa, adds “especially now” while literally, as the narrator remarks, gesturing at the falafel she’s eating) other than that, the novel is.... fine. it’s smart, but not really as smart as it thinks it is, which is a problem bc it thinks it’s just sooo incisive. whatever. 2/5

the tenant of wildfell hall, anne bronte this is reductive but: jane eyre: i could fix him // wuthering heights: i could make him worse // wildfell hall: lmao i’m gonna leave his ass anyway i enjoyed the part that is actually narrated by the titular tenant of wildfell hall, helen (which thankfully, i think, is most of it) because the perspective of a woman who runs away from her abusive alcoholic of a husband is genuinely interesting and engaging, while gilbert, the frame story narrator who falls in love with helen, is.... the worst. i mean he’s not the worst bc the abusive husband arthur is there and hard to beat in terms of worseness, but he’s pretty fucking bad. imagine if helen had found out that gilbert attacked her secret brother over a misunderstanding, severely injured him & LEFT HIM TO DIE & then (when dude survived & the misunderstanding got cleared up) apologised like well i guess i didn’t treat you quite right! she’d have to run away from her second husband as well! poor girl. 3/5

#the books i read #long post #lol i keep forgetting to finish & post these #anyway gilbert fucking sucks! like his name is gilbert you can do better helen

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firemagicked · 4 years ago

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Maw: Desperation

There was no sunlight in the Maw.

And death knights didn't eat.

There had been before him and since, other mortals into the Maw. The Ebon Blade even said some had gotten out again, but Lyren was less focused on that.

The light in the Maw was weak and pale, more shadows than light. And never changing. Nothing changed. It could have been days or weeks or mere hours. It could have been months. Time keeping devices and magics flowed too strange to be depended on.

Magic was in technical abundance… but it was that which came from souls. A literal river of them and Lyren hated it, hated every bit of arcane magic he needed to use that needed more than he could give it. So he rationed his own magic, and ate conjured mana buns and ignored the way his internal fire didn't like this place of Death at all, the his dependence had to be on arcane over fire because at least there was an outside source to sift through and transform into arcane if necessary.

At least he had brought his sword instead of using a staff as was more common focus when he had a companion that preferred throwing their face at the enemy. It was the one upside.

He was surviving. Not thriving. But he was surviving - and it was finding Darnath, the first time, that nearly outdid him.

The mark barely gave him any notice as two bodies dropped next to him, a furious and familiar death knight, and one of the winged beings who was paying for attempting to abduct him. The mark lit up with recognition - if it was weaker than it should have been, if other signals even now still felt stronger, it didn't compare to Lyren physically seeing him.

"Darnath!" For expediency's sake, now he used fire on the winged being.

He was hoping for a greeting. Even just his name. Any sort of words. Instead what turned toward him - was Darnath's body and none of his intelligence. Darnath's body gave a snarl, raised his sword in Lyren's direction - then paused.

"Darnath?" he asked it again, so, so hopeful. Not-Darnath strode toward him - but though there was a glimmer of recognition now as hands that had both once held his children and tried to strangle him came closer. Lyren tensed up, and swallowed. "Now would be a great time to say something if there's any part of you in there."

Instead, one hand left the sword to tug at Lyren's robes - still with enough magic in them they were recognizable, if dirtier. Darnath's head gave a nod, as if satisfied - and then just began walking off.

Lyren - stared. It was… There was no sign of improvement. Nothing. So much for the former Lich King's idea this whole adventure would "fix things". They had been better off on Azeroth. He should have - should have just dragged them back to Atlas. Fuck, what had he been thinking? Jumping into a death portal. Now they were far away from home *and* Darnath was still… gone inside.

Maybe if he brought him home, Alinith could have fixed it. Or Javinth, or maybe Mira would have had an idea. Any of them, a better resource that was more - … or at least equally trusted as the guy that had lost his very important Hat of Death that led to their world breaking.

(Mira was a little crazy but her heart was in the right place.)

(Javinth… was pretty good these days and knew some sort of soul magic he absolutely refused to divulge.)

(Alinith couldn't be trusted as far as Star could throw him but he seemed invested in Darnath's continued existence at least and had fixed Lyren's fuck ups before.)

Anything would be better than now and for a brief, brief moment Lyren closed his eyes and wanted to sob. The burn of moisture was there, the pit of despair, the yawning loneliness and guilt. For just a bare moment it seemed overwhelming.

He gave himself that one moment, before tucking all of that into a ball to deal with never and straightened up, and opened his eyes. "Wait up!" he called to what was left of the man he loved, and ran after him.

(Reaching for his shoulder was how he found out that not-Darnath might not be trying to kill him anymore, but he now bit. Unrelated, he now would have a scar on his right ear perfectly matching Darnath's teeth.)

-----

The first time he lost Darnath's body in the Maw, one of the Ebon knights grimly declared, "It may be for the best."

The subsequent fight was how Lyren ended with his magic chained and unconscious. When he was let go, he immediately left the camp, struck out into the Maw, and went to find Darnath.

Eventually, Darnath simply… wandered right back up to him. As if he hadn't been gone in the first place or in an entirely different area. He also tried to immediately bite him. Lyren was beginning to think Darnath was seeing it as a greeting now. Lyren did not approve, but he was so relieved to see him even the newly bleeding wound wasn't deterrent of his happiness.

His magic was stretched thin, his food had basically no true nutritional value, the lack of sunlight was possibly making him actually sick, they were cut off from all contact - but he had Darnath. It had to be enough.

The third and last time he lost Darnath's body in the maw was both the worst and the best. It was yet another rescue attempt of Azerothian denizens. Sometimes it was other knights, sometimes it was the original leaders stolen… sometimes it was new people that had come into the Maw since. Lyren had, honestly, stopped keeping track. They almost all failed except maybe to get one or two people through a supposed gateway to somewhere not the Maw.

They were over the river of souls when Helya herself popped up… and Darnath threw himself straight at her while the rest of them went flying off… on the opposite side of the bridge.

Lyren had felt the river of souls. It was impossible not to when he had first opened his senses up. But being in it - being in it the river was no longer like a singular piece of the Maw. Now he could feel each individual coursing through it. Some endlessly. Neverending in their rush onward - except - there was something -

"LYREN!"

It was his name. It was a voice he hadn't truly heard all this time in the Maw.

It was a soul. It was Darnath. Lyren was still spinning from that fact alone when Darnath came up with a plan and put it into action. `"Maybe Just...stay put. And. This, is going to be a wee bit uncomfortable."`

One of the souls was there, pushing at his mind until it penetrated his defenses and shoved inward and he knew it was Darnath but - `"Wha - Hey!"` - that was still his mind! And his body and most recently he was all too used to a close Darnath meaning he was about to get hurt. It was natural to resist and evidently Darnath knew that.

But they both knew it had to be done. Darnath's soul clung on but his voice was in Lyren's mind, soothing at the necessary hurts. `"I know I know. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, but if I don't get in fast and lock the path others might realize and try to follow."`

The mark on Lyren's back warmed, welcoming the new presence… and Lyren felt such relief he wanted to be able to just focus on nothing but the warm feeling of Darnath with him. Except he couldn't. They didn't even have time for the full explanation Darnath wanted as Lyren struggled out of the river of souls with one burrowed determinedly into him. Not a long term solution to be sure - but Lyren wasn't going to let it be a long term anything.

Somewhere in here, there was a body to find.

Unfortunately… they refound the Ebon knight before Darnath's body. A couple of them stared at him like they could see and Lyren ignored it, traveled with them on autopilot with a new murmur of Darnath banter in the back of his mind. It was wonderful.

It was distracting.

They were at the portal out before he knew it, surrounded on all sides… and there, out of nowhere, was Darnath's body crashing through the enemy.

`"...Am I really talking with just grunts and growls? No wonder he's not getting laid."` Darnath seemed less than impressed with himself. Which was a confusing sentence Lyren was never again going to think.

The thing was, the waystone portal was glowing. It was active. They had to go now if they wanted to go.

The problem was, last time he went through a portal he had lost Darnath. And right now his body housed Darnath's soul. If they went through again, there was no guarantee that this time, he would be able to find him again and soul and boy might remain separated. It was insane, and impulsive, but he knew it had to be done. `"Hold on a minute you two."`

He took a breath and stared at the body, empty of the usual soul occupying it. Occupying. A lot more made sense, but not all, and none of it was to contemplate now. He could only hope the feral death knight who absolutely was not really Darnath at all right now would give him a little leeway. `"Okay, we need to go through the glowy thing veeeery soon, but can you do something for me real quick first?"`

Disturbingly, feral death knight had learned to parrot some things… including a key phrase of the Ebon knights as he glared, full of wrath and a hunger wholly belonging to the undead. `"Get on with it."`

Notably, he did not give Lyren his hands. The phoenix stared before rolling his eyes and mentally going, 'fuck it'. It had to be done. Likely only from surprise, he was able to yank one the death knight's hands toward his back. He began struggling - and biting at him - almost immediately but Lyren still got one palm against his back where the demonic mark was anchoring Darnath's soul.

`""Lyren wa-!"` Oops. Evidently Darnath's soul wasn't quite ready for it to be suddenly connected to its more usual occupant as immediately after the soul left him… the big death knight slumped unconscious over him. He kept his feet, but only barely.

There was still fighting going on - fighting they were losing. Lyren couldn't risk it. He dragged Darnath's unconscious form over to the waystone step by step, aware with each breath how less and less blades rang out. He didn't look back. He could focus on hating himself later for it.

They made it through the portal.

But not intact. @darnath

#LyrenFlarewind #DarnathWindere #Dar and Ly Shadowlands adventures!#mentions of others #FlarewindFamily #Mira #Alinith #Lywriting

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thanksjro · 5 years ago

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More Than Meets the Eye #2- Yet Another Robot Falls Out of the Sky

Issue #2 opens with a phone call between Brainstorm and Rodimus, and it’s going well, all things considered. They only get sidetracked twice in their 30 second conversation, which is honestly pretty good for them.

Brainstorm and Perceptor have managed to suss out what exactly happened to make the quantum generators explode as fantastically as they did. Brainstorm’s calling now as opposed to after all the testing Perceptor wants to do, because he’s impatient and is so self-assured that he’s already got the answer, it might actually kill him to wait.

Yep, Brainstorm’s that guy who walks around talking on speakerphone in the middle of work. Is he doing it to keep Perceptor in the loop while he’s busy working on the generators? If he is, he’ll never admit it, because he’s too tsundere to admit he wants to be noticed by his science senpai.

Brainstorm, much like a majority of the Lost Light crew, has a complicated relationship with relationships.

Rodimus tells Brainstorm to get his butt out in the field, so they can find the rest of the ‘bots who got thrown through the stratosphere after the quantum jump, then takes another call from Chromedome, who’s over with Rewind and Hound pulling Cyclonus out of a lake. Chromedome and Rewind have run into the guy who committed an act of terror on their former place of employment twice in the last few hours. We’ll see just how the hell he wound up there a bit later on. What’s important in the here and now is the fact that we’ve gotten our first glimpse at Rewind’s magic color-changing pants.

Issue #1

Issue #2

What a strange and terrible power this tiny robot holds.

Up in the sky, a small yellow ship vops into existence from a portal that looks very similar to the one the Lost Light went through during their quantum oopsie. Inside, we find a guy who apparently fell asleep while holding a lit weld torch and a gun. He’s got no idea what’s going on, or who he is, or that he’s in grave danger.

Honestly, not the WORST name I’ve ever heard out of Transformers.

No, actually, that’s not his name, but rather some repressed trauma trying to work its way back up to the surface. His real name is Skids, and he’s just kind of making it up as he goes at this point, as he sets the ship to crash into the planet below and jumps out.

Now that’s just gratuitous.

This is about par for the course when it comes to Skids- he’s just so very extra, all the time.

The ship crashes behind him, and it would appear that vague sense of paranoia was completely justified, as the burning remains reconstitute themselves into multiple giant robots with swords.

So we’re gonna have to deal with that.

Back over on the Lost Light, Rung’s getting patched up by Ratchet, and we get our first taste of his perpetual forgettability. Of course, Rung knows who Ratchet is, because everyone does, and butters him up for no real reason other than he can, I suppose. Or rather, because Roberts was feeling a bit cruel.

Twist the knife a little more, why don’t you?

Of course, Rung’s assumptions are quickly dashed against the rocks, as Ratchet proceeds to loosen up his sticky fingers by smashing his hand with a mallet right beside him.

As Ratchet reattaches Rung’s arm, they get to talking about their new friend, Tailgate, who’s still passed out. Swerve’s watching over him, because he’s just a nice guy like that.

That’s the smallest Tailgate’s feet will ever be.

Drift calls the medical bay to let him know that they’ll be bringing in the guys who fell out of the ship, so Ratchet should put on a smile so they’ll feel better. This, of course, doesn’t sit well with Ratchet, who starts griping about Drift’s newfound hippy-dippy state of mind, a result of him having almost died back during the Chaos storyline. Swerve, never one to miss out on a good trash-talk session, starts feeding the fire, until Ratchet gets distracted and burns Rung by mistake.

Then Whirl wakes up and starts strangling people.

Whirl wasn’t meant to be on board this ship, and he probably hasn’t seen Rung since he got booted from the Wreckers, so waking up from a fight still raring to go and finding the guy who tried to make him connect with his Feelings™ hovering over him was bound to start some nonsense.

Ratchet tries to talk him down again, with Swerve “assisting”, but nothing seems to be getting through to Whirl until Rung threatens him with prison time. Whirl doesn’t like prison, to put it lightly, so he snaps out of his stupor, drops Rung, and leaves the medibay. No one is particularly sad to see him go.

All this commotion must have woken up Tailgate, who’s introduced to the others. He asks if he’s on board the Ark- you know, the one from roughly six million years ago- and suddenly all the weirdly ancient internal parts Ratchet found inside him start making a lot more sense. Swerve bribes Ratchet with food to get to be the one to break the news to Tailgate.

It goes about as well as one could expect.

Back over with Skids, we see that not everyone survived the fall through the stratosphere, as the burning bodies of Hyperion and Polaris sit in the foreground as Skids prepares to face off with the giant yellow robots.

Corpse desecration! Fun for the whole family!

Polaris slams into one of the yellow robots. Thinking quickly, Skids makes a makeshift bomb out of Polaris and a gun, blasting his fuel tank and making a very big explosion.

There’s still another robot to deal with, but it looked pretty cool.

Back on the Lost Light, Cyclonus seems to have recovered from his dip in the lake, and he’s finally getting his meeting with Rodimus.

They’re so awkward. I thought you two were supposed to cool.

Also, major dumbass points to Cyclonus for tying himself to the roof of the ship like camping gear on the top of a family sedan, and making it through a goddamned quantum jump.

Here we get a glimpse at the thought process behind Rodimus even bothering to be in the same room as this guy: Cyclonus turning on Galvatron back in Chaos probably gave him and Optimus an extra few seconds to save the entirety of reality from the Dead Universe. That’s a pretty big solid, and he recognizes that. However, there’s still the whole Kimia thing, which was pretty un-chill of Cyclonus to have been a part of.

It probably doesn’t help that the Venn diagram for “Lost Light crew-members” and “dudes who were on Kimia when shit went down” is practically a circle.

Yeah, Cyclonus kind of isn’t allowed to have friends until issue #21.

Cyclonus isn’t going to apologize for what happened on Kimia, because- and this is honestly a pretty fair point- virtually everyone on this friggin’ ship is a war criminal and ought to know the score by now. War is hell, y’all. He doesn’t want a fight, he just wants to cruise around on this space-yacht and chill out for a little while.

Like, perhaps love?

Nah, that’s crazy-talk. He’s too stoic and emotionally-dead inside for all that.

Rodimus hears him out, and agrees to let him stay on the ship, on the condition that he’s going to have to deal with Rodimus being the guy who’s going to judge his every move, like an easily-disappointed father. Rodimus will be Cyclonus’ Optimus.

Ultra Magnus comes in to add that if Cyclonus screws up, he’ll be breaking out the heavy hammer of justice to pound him flat.

Also, he brought Whirl. It’s time for Cyclonus and him to kiss and make up.

What a beautiful start to this friendship.

Back outside, Swerve’s accompanying Tailgate on a cool-down walk, so he doesn’t pass out due to stress twice in a 24-hour period. He’s probably uncomfortable when people start crying, which is a staple of the Tailgate-brand freakout.

I looked into this, and unless I missed something, the “overheating optical filaments due to emotional stress fizzing up and away from the eye” thing is the only real instance of Transformers being able to cry. Roberts really made the robots have a physiological response equivalent to crying so he could hurt them more thoroughly.

As they walk, Swerve starts asking questions, because he’s incapable of shutting up- literally, he has logorrhea. He asks to see Tailgate’s alt-mode, what he did for a living before he fell in the hole, what the ruined decal on his arm used to say, and it turns out that Tailgate’s a pretty interesting little dude. He was on a bomb disposal squad with the Primal Vanguard.

The two of them catch sight of Rewind and Chromedome on a cliff, and Swerve makes introductions, comparing the pair to Rack’n’Ruin in terms of closeness, Rack’n’Ruin being two robots who share a lower body.

You know, when it’s put like that it sounds a bit dirty, doesn’t it?

Skids falls into the scene, and demands that someone take the Inhibitor Claw off of his back. Chromedome obliges, because he’s the only one tall enough to reach Skids’ upper body. Once the thing’s off, Skids’ can activate his onboard weaponry, which he does with aplomb.

Chromedome, you fool! You’ve made him too cool!

As Skids kicks the ass of this mystery ‘bot, more of his memories come back, until all he’s missing is the short-term stuff. Once he’s done, everyone tells him how awesome he is, Swerve having maybe fallen in love just a bit, as he asks just what Skids’ whole deal is.

Skids is a theoretician, which means he forms/develops/studies the theoretical framework of a subject. I can’t imagine that pays too well, maybe that’s why he’s moonlighting as a hired gun or whatever.

Chromedome seems to know Skids, and invites him back to the Lost Light so they can try and figure out what exactly is going on with his brain, and also that gun that he’s been holding in his hand this entire time, but never noticed or used.

Yeah, that one.

Tailgate’s wandered off to get a closer look at the robot Skids annihilated, getting its last words: nineteen eighty-four. Guess he really likes Orson Welles as an author.

The Lost Light takes off, and as everyone congregates on the bridge, Rodimus wonders just what the hell he’s going to say to them all. Between Ultra Magnus’ bleak starkness and Drift’s blindingly sunshiney outlook, he figures that he’ll just wing it.

Down below, Swerve’s managed to convince Tailgate to try transforming, by way of talking his ear off, then walks away the moment he begins the conversion- he’s a little stiff, so it’s going to take a minute. Swerve starts chatting Skids up and poking him in the ass, because that’s what you do when you want to be friends with someone. And Swerve really, really wants to be friends with Skids.

Skids doesn’t really cotton to this whole questing thing the Lost Light’s trying to do, and asks for a little more clarification on just what exactly they’re trying to accomplish. He’s not super impressed with the information once he has it.

Rodimus, having collected himself enough to face the crew, announces the deaths of Ore, Polaris, and Hyperion, and that while their collective passing is very sad, they’ve got to press on with their journey. Their next scheduled stop is Crystal City, once they figure out where the hell that quantum explosion dumped them.

Whirl brings up the fact that every good adventure team has a sweet name. Swerve tries to pull a Chaos Theory Optimus and take back the suffix -cons by calling themselves the Crusadercons, but nobody seems too keen on that idea. Don’t worry, Swerve, you’ll get there one day.

While the boys try to name themselves, Rodimus is given the phone. Red Alert’s on the line, and he’s freaking out, because there’s a murderous monster on board the ship.

You can tell the art style hasn’t settled yet, because they’re still photoshopping the insignias on after the fact.

A sparkeater is a major problem, but it’ll have to wait until next month to be dealt with, because that’s our cliffhanger ending for this issue.

#transformers #jro #mtmte #liars A-to-D #issue 2 #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #comic script writing

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scripttorture · 5 years ago

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Hi, how are you? I hope you're having a great day. If it's not too much to ask, I read the articles you linked about child soldiers, and they were very helpful, but not exactly what I'm looking for.. Do you happen to have links of first account stories or diaries of child soldiers? Two lead characters in my wip have been child soldiers in multiple wars in their country. (The setting is light fantasy, think non-European medieval times) (Child soldiers ask/1)

(Childsoldiers ask/2) Theyserved their country, and outside of war time, they received militaryeducation but were under significantly less pressure and stress, sowhile they never felt patriotic toward their country, they didn’tfind a reason to leave yet. That is until they turned 15-16 and wereforced to fight in the front field, where they saw the brutality oftheir own country by themselves, they tried to escape right then andthere, – (Child soldiers ask/3)–but were Captured by the enemy and spent a few weeks doing forcedlabor in an enclosed camp, before they were sold into slavery andbecame house slaves for a nobleman of their country’s enemies. Theymake friends with a slave there, who with a story of his own, hastried multiple times to escape but was always captured, punished(whipped), and forced to work right away. (Child soldiers ask/4)Theyfinally escape when the nobleman’s child bride kills him on the veryfirst night and joins them in a long escape out of the country,before they were rescued by the other slave’s friends. The storydoesn’t go too far in terms of time span, they don’t finish a year inslavery and then after that they help out (but don’t participate inbattle) in another war, before the story ends, maybe another 6months. (Child soldiers ask/6)Sowhile I have the elements of their rehabilitation into the peacefulcivilian life completed, I’d like more in-depth information about howthey would personally feel in that situation. The girl feels a lot ofshame for leaving her country, but has no wishes to return until theyfix the system, while the boy absolutely hates it and – (Childsoldiers ask/7)–onlyfeels resentment for it because of the abuse he suffered, but that’sonly after they learn what normal children their age should be doingand how they’re treated. Symptoms of anxiety and PTSD are prominentin their lives, but should I add more? And would the abuse the boysuffered from be counted as torture? I know this is long so thanks inadvance for your patience :) (Child soldiers ask/8)

I don’t think you will find the kind of in-depth first hand accounts you’re looking for without paying for them. That said there are books by former child soldiers that might fit.

I’m not aware of any diaries, most of these books were written years or decades after the fighting stopped. On a basic level I’m not sure many children that young keep a regular diary and many adult diarists have found it impossible to keep one going through a war.

This is a research book based on interviews with child soldiers that I’m ordering (M Wessel’s Child Soldiers: From Violence to Protection). This one is a first hand account, I Beah A Long Way Gone. There’s also E Jal’s War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story. Girl Soldier co authored by G Akallo and F J H McDonnell might also be useful, it draws heavily on Akallo’s experience as a child soldier. Child Soldier by C Keitetsi may also be useful.

I have not read any of these first hand accounts. I find it… telling that all of the detailed first hand accounts I can find in English are by Africans. The difficulty finding accounts from European and Asian child soldiers may reflect a bias in the publishing industry, or simply one in the search engine I’m using.

Searching for the Khmer Rogue, recent conflicts in the Balkans and memoirs from Poland during world war two will probably all bring up more memoirs from child soldiers. However those available for free may be shorter and vaguer, while more detailed memoirs may be untranslated.

You can also find accounts by using Amnesty International’s search function. There are 171 results relating to child soldiers. I have not read all of them and Amnesty’s interviews tend to be on the short side but these do contain useful first hand accounts.

In terms of whether the characters ‘count’ as survivors- I think it’s important to remember that we’re talking about a purely legal distinction and I think you could argue the case either way.

The UN declaration against torture says that to be torture something must cause severe pain or suffering. But it explicitly says that need not be physical. Something that is intended to cause mental distress (desecration of corpses or religious sites, forcing Hindus to eat beef or Muslims to eat pork, etc) can be defined as torture.

I think that the systematic exploitation and bullying of a child by armed forces could count under modern law.

However there’s no indication in this that these soldiers have been ordered to bully this child or that they’re doing it for one of the four very well defined motivations the UN declaration outlines.

But the argument about whether it meets the strict legal definition seems like a distraction from the real question here which seems to be: ‘how traumatising is this scenario? Is the symptom level appropriate?’

I think it could be however it’s unclear to me whether the characters are both suffering from PTSD and anxiety or whether one has PTSD and the other anxiety.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to give all the survivors in your story the same symptoms. There is variety in survivors in real life. If you’re writing multiple survivors in the same story then it’s important to try and reflect that variety.

Two symptoms seems like a perfectly reasonable level for the girl to me. It could also work for the boy. But personally if I was writing this scenario and trying to put forward the idea that the boy has lived through more I would give him more symptoms as well. If you are trying to establish something as ‘worse’ in the narrative then you should be prepared to back that up with consequences for the characters.

The slave character, who has been tortured and forced to work for a relatively long time, should definitely have more then two symptoms. I think something more in the range of 3-5 would be appropriate.

I get the impression from the other asks you’ve sent that you tend to consistently underestimate symptoms.

Try not to look at symptoms as flaws or limiting factors on your characters. They are not things that you have to struggle to reduce.

Try instead to think of them as opportunities for you, the author.

Disability and mental illness should not be an insurmountable barrier to the plot. Because it is not an insurmountable barrier in most people’s lives.

These things do create difficulties and problems, often problems that are socially constructed. But people who live with disabilities and mental illness find ways around these problems every day. This necessary creative thinking is an addition to any story.

If your character is in a wheelchair and the important plot device is up a flight of stairs then that shouldn’t mean the character can’t succeed. Instead it means they need a different, less obvious, way to get what they need.

And the solution you choose tells readers more about the character. They might build a device that lets them glide right to the top or plant explosives around the foundations and bring the tower down or hire someone to carry them up. Each of those solutions tells you something about the character as a person.

Symptoms are like that. They are narrative opportunities.

Think about why you’ve chosen PTSD and anxiety. Think about which character they work best with. Think about what those symptoms add.

And consider the other common symptoms and the common memory problems your characters could have. Use them to create varied survivors with different responses.

I worry any time I see an author say their character ‘only feels’ a particular emotion. Because this is never true for people. And while authors often mean ‘this character feels that particular emotion a lot’ sometimes they mean it literally.

A well-written character is not one emotional note, whether they’re a survivor or not.

Resentment towards the adults who exploited and hurt him isn’t unreasonable. Shame about the atrocities she was forced to participated in isn’t unusual.

Think about how to build on these starting points.

If the girl feels ashamed about what she did how does she feel about the people she left behind? Does she think they’re immoral or does she feel sympathy for them and the way they’ve been manipulated?

Does the boy primarily resent the people or what happened to him? Does he associate everyone from his country with what he endured? If so does he view the country that enslaved him differently? Does he see the girl he’s escape with as an exception or does his view of his country effect how he sees her?

Even if these emotions are experienced more often these characters should feel more then one thing. Think about what might prompt other feelings.

If the girl is trapped in a depressive spiral what could pull her out of it for a while? Anger or defensiveness on behalf of her friend? An odd incident that prompts a laugh? Awe or pride at the realisation of how much she’s already done? Because by escaping an active army and enslavement in a foreign country she has already achieved much more then most.

Similarly what could puncture the boy’s rage? What would shock him? What would make him cry?

Is he holding on to anger because he’s afraid of what he might be or feel without it?

A lot of this boils down to standard writing advice for any character: they should feel like complete people.

That doesn’t mean they can’t be flawed, or wrong or missing something important in their lives. It means that they need to feel ‘real’; as if they have dreams and fears and personalities that are possible.

Writing survivors is more complicated but that doesn’t mean the usual approaches to character creation don’t apply. Personal history or traumatic events shouldn’t replace a character’s personality, wants or worries.

And that can be hard to write. Because you’ve got to do all the same work you would for a non-traumatised character, then add another layer of work on top of that.

In fact it’s more then that, because you have to merge all these things and make it look seamless, effortless for the reader.

I emphasised a lot of the planning and thinking part of character creation here. And that is important.

But if you’re struggling with your confidence or character creation generally there is no substitute for practice.

Give yourself permission to experiment, to learn, to get things wrong. This is part of everyone’s writing process.

So yes, think, plan, search for opportunities with things like symptoms. But also practice. Write short scenes or stories. Write multiple versions of the same scene. Try out writing the same character with different symptoms to figure out which you like best.

I hope that helps. :)

Availableon Wordpress.

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#park-chimchim #writing advice #tw torture #tw child abuse #tw child soldiers #tw slavery #writing victims #writing survivors #mental health #rehabilitating child soldiers #child soldiers #survivor accounts #diverse responses are not only realistic #they make a fictional world seem more real

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alexsmitposts · 4 years ago

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The Biggest Lie About China’s Xinjiang “Internment Camps” For years now Western media and governments have maintained an almost ceaseless barrage against China over what they claim are networks of “internment camps” built and used in China’s western Xinjiang region to persecute the Uyghur ethnic minority. These claims are a mix of half-truths, truths taken out of context, and outright fabrications and lies. Yet the biggest lie of all is a lie of omission – hyping, exaggerating, and even fabricating stories about China’s abuse of Uyghurs – while downplaying or entirely omitting the very real terrorist problem China faces in Xinjiang. The BBC in a 2020 article, “China Uighurs: Detained for beards, veils and internet browsing,” would claim (emphasis added): Predominantly Muslim, the Uighurs are closer in appearance, language and culture to the peoples of Central Asia than to China’s majority ethnicity, the Han Chinese. In recent decades the influx of millions of Han settlers into Xinjiang has led to rising ethnic tensions and a growing sense of economic exclusion among Uighurs. Those grievances have sometimes found expression in sporadic outbreaks of violence, fuelling a cycle of increasingly harsh security responses from Beijing. It is for this reason that the Uighurs have become the target – along with Xinjiang’s other Muslim minorities, like the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz – of the campaign of internment. The term “sometimes found expression in sporadic outbreaks of violence” is a deliberate and spectacular understatement with the BBC itself having previously documented the grisly terrorism extremists in Xinjiang have carried out. Xinjiang is the Epicenter of Bloody Terrorism Protected by Western Media Silence The BBC’s 2014 article, “Why is there tension between China and the Uighurs?,” reported that (emphasis added): In June 2012, six Uighurs reportedly tried to hijack a plane from Hotan to Urumqi before they were overpowered by passengers and crew. There was bloodshed in April 2013 and in June that year, 27 people died in Shanshan county after police opened fire on what state media described as a mob armed with knives attacking local government buildings At least 31 people were killed and more than 90 suffered injuries in May 2014 when two cars crashed through an Urumqi market and explosives were tossed into the crowd. China called it a “violent terrorist incident”. It followed a bomb and knife attack at Urumqi’s south railway station in April, which killed three and injured 79 others. In July, authorities said a knife-wielding gang attacked a police station and government offices in Yarkant, leaving 96 dead. The imam of China’s largest mosque, Jume Tahir, was stabbed to death days later. In September about 50 died in blasts in Luntai county outside police stations, a market and a shop. Details of both incidents are unclear and activists have contested some accounts of incidents in state media. Some violence has also spilled out of Xinjiang. A March stabbing spree in Kunming in Yunnan province that killed 29 people was blamed on Xinjiang separatists, as was an October 2013 incident where a car ploughed into a crowd and burst into flames in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. These are hardly “sporadic outbreaks of violence” but rather a concerted campaign of terrorism. It is terrorism that has plagued Xinjiang and wider China for years. Also rarely mentioned or linked to China’s policies in Xinjiang is how many thousands of Uyghur extremists have travelled abroad fighting in Western proxy wars in places like Syria and who will eventually attempt to return to China. US State Department-funded and directed Voice of America (VOA) in its article, “Analysts: Uighur Jihadis in Syria Could Pose Threat,” would admit (emphasis added): Analysts are warning that the jihadi group Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) in northwestern Syria could pose a danger to Syria’s volatile Idlib province, where efforts continue to keep a fragile Turkey-Russia-brokered cease-fire between Syrian regime forces and the various rebel groups. The TIP declared an Islamic emirate in Idlib in late November and has largely remained off the radar of authorities and the media thanks to its low profile. Founded in 2008 in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, the TIP has been one of the major extremist groups in Syria since the outbreak of the civil war in the country in 2011. The TIP is primarily made up of Uighur Muslims from China, but in recent years it also has included other jihadi fighters within its ranks. The TIP has claimed responsibility for the 2011 Kashgar attacks in Xinjiang killing 23 people. Reuters would note in its article, “China envoy says no accurate figure on Uighurs fighting in Syria,” that (emphasis added): The Syrian ambassador to China told Reuters last year that up to 5,000 Uighurs are fighting in various militant groups in Syria. Terrorism within China and a small army of terrorists honing their skills with US cash and weapons in a proxy war against Syria eventually to return to Chinese territory is certainly justification enough for China to take serious measures against extremism in Xinjiang. But by now downplaying or omitting the terrorist threat in Xinjiang, the BBC and the rest of the Western media are attempting to decouple current Chinese policy in Xinjiang from the very real and extensive terrorism that prompted it. Washington’s Role in Supporting Xinjiang Extremism Worse still is that China’s terrorism problem in Xinjiang is the direct result of US funding and support. Not only did the US arm and train militants in Syria Uyghur extremists are fighting alongside, separatist groups like the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) who openly seek Xinjiang “independence” have literal offices in Washington DC and are funded by the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED). In fact, the US NED’s grant money to subversion in China is divided into several regions with their own dedicated pages on the NED website. Xinjiang is is listed by NED as “Xinjiang/East Turkestan” – East Turkestan being the fictional country extremists seek to create. Much of the extremism in Xinjiang is also linked to extensive support from US ally Saudi Arabia and NATO member Turkey. While the US funds political subversion and Turkey aids Uyghur extremists fighting in Syrian territory, US ally Saudi Arabia funnels money and resources into Xinjiang itself to radicalize Muslim communities with Riyadh’s politically-motivated and extremist Salafism. The LA Times in a 2016 article titled, “In China, rise of Salafism fosters suspicion and division among Muslims,” would reveal: Salafism is an ultra-conservative school of thought within Sunni Islam, espousing a way of life and prayer that harks back to the 6th century, when Muhammad was alive. Islamic State militants are Salafi, many Saudi Arabian clerics are Salafi, and so are many Chinese Muslims living in Linxia. They pray at their own mosques and wear Saudi-style kaffiyehs. The article also noted (emphasis added): Experts say that in recent years, Chinese authorities have put Salafis under constant surveillance, closed several Salafi religious schools and detained a prominent Salafi cleric. A once close-knit relationship between Chinese Salafis and Saudi patrons has grown thorny and complex. And that: …Saudi preachers and organizations began traveling to China. Some of them bore gifts: training programs for clerics, Korans for distribution, funding for new “Islamic institutes” and mosques. This invasive radicalism transplanted into Xinjiang by the US and its Saudi allies has translated directly into real violence – a fact repeatedly omitted or buried in today’s coverage of Xinjiang and left out of US and European condemnations of China for its policies there. The US and Europe has waged a 20 year “war on terror,” invading entire nations under false pretexts, killing hundreds of thousands, displacing tens of millions, carrying out systematic torture, and building a global-spanning surveillance network – all while more covertly arming and funding real terrorism in places like Libya, Syria, and even in China’s Xinjiang. All of this has been done with the help of a complicit Western media bending truths or entirely fabricating lies – but also by omitting truth. It should then come as no surprise that US and European media has chosen to lie about China’s current policies to deal with what is clearly a real and dangerous terrorism problem in Xinjiang. But the world can choose not to believe these lies.

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i-just-like-commenting · 5 years ago

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The Witcher review

When I first read critics’ reviews of this show, they seemed to fall into two camps: non-fantasy fans who dismissed it as nonsense, and fantasy fans who said it got good but took a while to get there. Knowing I was a fantasy fan, I figured I might be in the latter camp, and started watching it. Casually at first, one episode a day, taking a break for Christmas…and then about halfway through I was hooked and marathoned the rest of the series. I genuinely liked this series…but it has problems, and I can see why it lost a lot of non-fantasy fans from the outset. Let’s get the bad out of the way first so I can gush about the good.

Barriers of Entry

Most TV viewers are not fantasy readers. Those of us who are may regret that, but it’s not a genre that everyone gets into, and it has its own storytelling quirks that can be off-putting to newcomers. This is why, for all that it failed in later seasons, Game of Thrones did well for general viewers in its early seasons. The small bit of fantasy hinted at isn’t all that different from the zombie films people are used to, and the rest feels mostly like period piece drama. Magic only gets introduced gradually, with an explanation of what it is and how it works as it’s introduced. Also, there’s a map.

The Witcher doesn’t have any of that scaffolding. It is full high fantasy, magic-heavy, thick in world-building from the very instant it opens. It explains very little about anything; by the end of season 1 I don’t know what Cirilla’s powers are, how Witchers are made, or what the Conjunction of the Spheres is that gets repeatedly mentioned. Now, as a fantasy reader I’m used to this; ideas and supernatural mysteries get introduced and not explained until later because the characters in-universe understand the and don’t need an explanation. All I need to know is that Cirilla has some dangerous power that Nilfgaard wants, that Witchers are made and not born, and that the Conjunction is an important thing that happened in the past that may be relevant in the future. Presumably all will be made clear in time.

But I really would’ve liked a map. Up until the penultimate episode we’ve no idea of what this place looks like, how everything is connected to each other. It makes the stakes of Nilfgaard’s invasion harder to fathom. How big are they as a kingdom? How at risk are the Northern Kingdoms? How many Northern Kingdoms are there? A few map shots in the first episode as Calanthe prepares for war, a few more as the series progresses, all of that would have helped situate the story and have it feel more grounded spatially.

As for temporally…

Timeline Shenanigans

I have no problem with this series choosing to have three different timelines for its three different characters that don’t meet up in the “present” until the final episode. Certainly there have been excellent series that have done this in the past (N.K. Jemisin’s Fifth Season comes to mind). But time stamps would’ve been really nice. Let the first episode play out as it does, but when we jump back to Ciri for the last time, have a heading that says “30 years later,” confirming to the audience what they suspect from some throwaway lines about Calanthe, that this is taking place much earlier than Ciri’s scenes. Do the same when Yennefer is introduced, keep updating how far along we are with Geralt’s story, not just to clarify the timeline but to also build suspense as the viewers realize that the plotlines are catching up to each other.

However that wouldn’t fix all the problems inherent to the time-jumping. Between episodes 5 and 6 we find out, for example, that Yennefer and Geralt have met several times already and are pretty heavily involved with each other. It works well enough because the actors are very good, but it’s a bit “oh, really?” when you find that out.

Likewise, I have no idea how long Jaskier has been around having an obvious crush on annoying Geralt; is it months? Years? I think it’s years, because that’s the same time frame for Geralt and Yennefer’s hookups, but maybe it wasn’t that long? And how long did Yennefer’s education take? When did her immortality kick in? How much time passed between Geralt and Yennefer breaking up and Geralt deciding to seek out Ciri? Was it right before? Years later? How old is Jaskier supposed to be at this point? Was Yennefer’s joke about crow lines an indication he’s approaching middle age? Time stamps!

This show is really lucky it had as good a cast as it did to carry it through these narrative issues.

Special Effects

The elves, hedgehog people, and fauns all look…bad. Like, almost Halloween costume bad. Don’t know what else to say. The other effects were really good, so they stuck out.

But now let’s talk about how this series rocked:

Have I mentioned this cast is fantastic?

So my interest in Henry Cavill may have been less than high-minded, but he is in fact absolutely fantastic in this. The show also walks that fine line with “jerk with a heart of gold” characters where it explains their dickishness without excusing it. We understand that with the life he’s led and the discrimination he’s faced why Geralt is cold and aloof, but we also see how being that way destroys his relationships with people he cares for, especially in episode 6. And Cavill manages to convey perfectly how, at the moment he sees Ciri, Geralt realizes that his whole life has been leading up to him taking on this role as protector and guardian. He needs someone to need him, even if that terrifies him.

And then there’s Anya Chalotra as Yennefer who you might call a deuteragonist since she doesn’t show up until the second episode and isn’t the title character, but honestly the show is as much about her as it is about Geralt. You start with her as an abused child with a spinal deformity who thinks she’s unimportant and worthless. You have her trying to conform herself to the purposes others give her, literally changing her body to meet their expectations, failing, flailing about trying to find a purpose, and then in the final episode landing on the grim realization that she is the only one who can protect all the Northern Kingdoms. It’s an excellent arc, even with the timeskips sometimes making it not as smooth a one as it might have been. Again we have Anya Chalotra to thank for making it work in spite of the narrative missteps.

Even Freya Allen, though she doesn’t get much to do plotwise, does a great job portraying the internality of Ciri’s journey this season, as she slowly realizes her beloved grandmother may have, in fact, been terrible – but that this doesn’t justify what was done to them.

Relationships you can root for

Two broken and emotionally distant people learning to break down their barriers and be vulnerable to each other? Sign me up, nothing is hotter. I really like Geralt and Yennefer, and I honestly hope they find common purpose together next season and realize that, wish or no wish, they’re good for each other and should try to work it out.

But Jaskier and Geralt’s relationship is honestly great, too. While I don’t think they’re sexually interested in each other and therefore this counts more as a “bromance,” I also hate the term “bromance” and prefer to just say that their unacknowledged but obvious affection for each other is charming. I’m guessing Jaskier will come back later? Maybe he was just in the short stories they use here, but that would be a shame.

The soundtrack “slaps” – that’s the term young people are using, right?

While “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher” is attaining meme status and so many Youtube listens that it threatens to break into Billboard’s charts, let’s not forget how all the music in this series is so good. Like, literally, even if you can’t get into the show at all because of its other problems, check out this score, it’s amazing. It is incredibly frustrating that it’s not up on Spotify yet, though a few tracks are available on Youtube.

Its total embrace of being a fantasy series

And here we come back round to the beginning of my review. While Game of Thrones did well in its early seasons by easing its audience into its fantasy setting, as seasons went on it seemed progressively more and more embarrassed that it had to be a fantasy story. The Stark children’s warg powers are forgotten, prophecies are removed, the House of the Undying is reduced to like one room, bye-bye krakens and any kind of water magic, Euron’s just a pirate now, and who is this Lady Stoneheart you speak of? They even dispensed with the big final threat of the White Walkers as quickly and unceremoniously as possible, just so they could get back to the politics.

The Witcher, on the other hand, is a fantasy series from its first frame to its last and loves it. There’s monsters and magic everywhere, Destiny sets everything up to follow fairy tale rules, and humans share the world with multiple other sentient species. It does not apologize for this, and it has a very lived-in feel to it that many magic-heavy universes fail to achieve. You believe that this is a world where the supernatural is natural, where people have seen and lived alongside magic their whole lives. We see how magic is integrated into combat, healing, and politics, and it’s all believable in spite of how unbelievable it is. It makes it refreshingly fun and escapist without feeling completely divorced from reality.

So overall, I recommend the series while really wishing they’d structured it more clearly and accessibly. And had better makeup effects because ugh.

#the witcher #review

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helloalexalexa · 5 years ago

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Emily Alexa Acosta Prof. Halbert Barton

P1: Silent Infiltration

There is a silent war that was initiated in the 1960s in the Catholic Church that is very little known about by a majority of its members, but which camp you fall under is of eternal importance. The bulk of the 1 billion in the church are unfortunately cafeteria catholics who don’t even realize that their guidance is tugged at by Trads and Modernists. Both silently have severe disdain for the other and secretly believe that the other group is ruining the church.

In the 60s the pope held what is known as the second Vatican council or Vatican II. This council was going to revolutionize the church by bringing in an emphasis on having the laity participate in church more and not have so much reliance on just priests and nuns to be the leaders of the faith. It’s the obsession of both Trads and Modernists to this day. The council ended up barely changing anything, it mainly accomplished only making how the church was run dictated in very vague rubrics and guidelines. That’s how the modernists silently infiltrated. Being that there was no longer language upheld by the Vatican as to what is allowed or rejected explicitly, modernists found wiggle room to add new things to parishes and the mass that have changed how the church looks to unrecognizable levels. It was a slow internal disfiguring of the church, done little by little through things like “voting in suggestions” on small things that simply built up for over 50 years.

Modernists are easily spotted if they call themselves “charismatics”, but trads just know them as Susan from the Parish Council. Their number one focus is voting in as many light shows, dancing and guitars to catholic mass to make it feel like the laity are included more. The Susans from the parish council are typically seen as from the boomer generation. They can range from active senior citizens that like running groups at the church to even priests, bishops or the pope. They love going up to priests and ask them things like why they wouldn’t want to be in a suit and tie instead of “those out dated weird clothes that only the mentally disturbed wear.” They also love voting themselves in to take over roles only the priest does, like touching the eucharist or reading aloud from the bible during mass. All in the name of “bigger participation”. No more emphasis on teaching theology to the faithful. What is important to them is that a person FEELS loved, and they accomplish this in only singing and dancing in front of the altar or organizing pot luck parties. Traditions of the old church are boring and don’t connect with the youth and poses a threat to a dying church that is too outdated to attract newcomers in their minds. Trads to them are also the meanest believers by their bold talk and closed mindedness. They point to Trads as the reason why the church doesn’t “catch up” to the world by adopting what is currently popular.

Trads spot each other a mile away. With their personal Latin missals in hand, men in suits and extremely modestly dressed women in their veils, they tend to run in groups and follow their favorite Father YoungTrad. They all learn latin and reject any liturgy that dates after 1962 and only attend Latin Mass. When they happily meet each other one of the first things they do is greet each other with a banter of wits. Who can out “trad” the other? It’s mainly done to gauge just how devout to the cause they are, and then to know how safely intense they can go into conversation about the faith. It starts off light mocking all things Novus Ordo. For something to be described as novus ordo is strictly an insult. The most extreme belief Trads can say to one another is proclaiming the age old motto “Salus extra ecclesiam non est”. The stereotype for trads is that they are majorly in their 20s to 30s and also range from laity to priests, bishops and the pope. These are self taught faithful that hold to the doctrines and dogmas of the church and fight all things “new” from being introduced to the church. They are almost obsessed with philosophy and theology and know their church history straight from original texts and sources. They have a fire that everything modern is ruining the faith because it abandons the beauty of the intelligence of Catholic theology for fleeting emotions.

Realizing a modern or traditional parish is as obvious as the building they’re in. Trad parishes indulge in the beauty of gothic style architecture and intricate design. Every detail of the church naturally leads the eye to flow upwards to face the one and only cross present at the front of the church all the way up to the ceilings that depict heaven. Even the altar is facing away from the congregation so that the priest can stand at the front facing God along with the crowd to offer their prayers on their behalf. His back is to the congregation because no one should be looking at him. Every eye looks at what’s most important which is either the Cross or an image of God. Every corner has a saint or an angel smiling back at you, whether in stain glass, statue or painting. To its best ability it reminds the faithful of the reality of the infinite spiritual beings that are always present with them. Trad-popular architecture is hard to distinguish from architecture that designed medieval or renaissance era churches.

In contrast, churches produced by modernist inspirations are hard to argue are churches at all. They’re more so large lecture halls whose design flow lead the eye to focus on the pulpit in which some person is going to speak from. They celebrate almost a cooking show styled “show and tell” performance mass on a table. Walls are bare and usually white or beige in the name of “humility” but that intention is drowned out by the concerts and light shows that frequent their masses. Almost nothing is around to bring to mind a single thought of heaven. They can actually go unattended because the faithful don’t even realize its a church to attend since its so easy to miss their single minimalistic cross that’s the only “holy” indicator in sight.

But silently modern churches close down and traditionalist churches keep rebuilding to expand. Too bad the bulk do not know of the riches of the faith since the modernists successfully infiltrated our catechism curriculum and stripped the altars of relics, statutes and art to make room to guitar equipment and flat beige walls. Cafeteria Catholics have no idea of the teachings of the church because modernists have voted out teachings that do not focus on how “Jesus loves everyone no matter what.” Us trads find ourselves in an engulfing sea of the Nones. But silently we’re infiltrating back. Slowly we are finding ourselves to be the only ones left that uphold the importance of faith discipline. The Boomer Susans are slowly aging out of any capacity to be present in church and seminaries are finding that only trads sign into their programs. Trads are the only ones left keeping up tithes and the only ones left signing up to catechize because we’re the only ones that even know the basics of the faith anymore. We’re careful to not be too open about being trad. If identified many priests and fellow believers know of our burning desire to undo everything from Vatican II and try to suppress our participation. But I am hopeful that the progress of the trad movement is getting our church back to where it produced the amazing saints that have changed world history and are celebrated globally to this day.

Glossary

-Cafeteria Catholics: People that identify as catholic but only like to pick and choose what they personally like that the faith teaches and rejects everything else taught. The notion is that they’re in a lunchroom choosing what to eat from the menu options.

-Trads: The slang name of people who are traditionalists in their view of the faith. They take every doctrine from the beginning of church history as fact that cannot be changed. Alternative slang term for them is RadTrad which is short for Radical Traditionalist emphasizing the extremity of their beliefs.

-Modernists: Believers that want to “modernize” the church to better reflect “world wisdom” and take away any supernatural aspects of the faith and make it more of a metaphorical mindset.

-Laity: Any Catholic that is not apart of a religious order. A catholic that is not a priest, nun, brother or deacon.

-Susan From The Parish Council: A meme character created by trads personifying the majority of the type of person a modernist tends to be. Susan is literally a grandmother that is a part of the parish council that is out of touch with what children/youth like and keeps trying to attract them with felt banners and finger paints but produces only cheesy results. Usually only their grandchildren are seen forced into their church activities and are never older than 7 in the memes. They always turn hostile to trads and exert their parish council authority to suppress tradition.

-Boomers: People born roughly in the mid 1900s (~1945/~1965)

-Latin Missals: A missal in general is essentially a “how to” instructional book on celebrating a mass. It contains the liturgy (explained further down in the glossary), prayers and readings needed for mass. Latin missals specifically give the “how to” hand guide to celebrating mass in the form before Vatican II introduced an “updated modern” version of the mass handbook.

-Father YoungTrad: Another meme character devised by trads to personify the type of person traditionalists tend to be. In stark contrast to Susan, Father YoungTrad is a fit and young priest that is extremely orthodox in his leadership and mainly only celebrates Latin mass. His parish is thriving with young people and young families that are well informed of the faith.

-Latin Mass: The name of the rite of the mass celebrated before the changes of Vatican II. Entire mass is celebrated in the official language of the church which is latin. The order of the mass that was the only way the mass was celebrated for about 1,500 years.

-Liturgy: The specific laws/rubrics on how a mass is celebrated.

-Novus Ordo: Latin for “the new order”. It is the name of the new rite of the mass that Vatican II came up with. In social circles it is used as an adjective to identify any aspect of the church/mass/or faith teaching that is not traditional and just a new invention after the 60s that have no actual church history basis.

-“Salus extra ecclesiam non est”: Latin for “there is no salvation outside of the church” and has been a slogan in catholicism since the 3rd century to signify that the catholic church is the only one true church. It is extreme because it declares that other religions including other christian denominations are not the church of the one true God. Trads say it to reinvigorate themselves to the importance of the duty they have to convert as many as they can.

-Nones: A new term coined by well known Bishop Robert Barren to identify the growing number of people that check off the “none” option whenever surveyed to identify which religion they practice or identify as.

-Seminary: The institution that men attend to become priests. “Priest school” where their graduation is actually their ordination to the priesthood. Lasts about eight years to obtain bachelors and masters degrees and includes apprenticeship at different parishes.

-Tithes: The practice of the laity to give ten percent of their salary to the church/provide support, whether financial, goods or talents.

#soc3

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paddlingspace · 5 years ago

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Pelican Rise 100X Recreational Kayak Review: All You Need to Know

Pelican Rise 100X is the most affordable of Pelican's 10 ft boats. With its basic Ergobase seat, no thigh pads and only one non-waterproof storage hatch in the back, it is a no-frills package for those on a budget. Pros: Lightweight Very stable Affordable Cons: Limited storage Does not come with a paddle Basic seat No thigh pads Pelican International is well known for its beginner-level recreational kayaks. It seems like everywhere you go to paddle, you see a couple of Pelicans on the water. In this review, we will look at Pelican's most affordable 10 ft kayak, the Rise 100X. Size and Weight The Pelican Rise 100X is 10 ft (305 cm) long and 28 in. (71 cm) wide and has a deck height of 14 in. (36 cm). The kayak weighs 38 lb (17.4 kg). The Rise is a little heavier than Pelican's other popular models such as the Argo 100X and the Trailblazer 100 NXT, which weigh in at 36 lb (16.3 kg) and 35.6 lb (16.2 kg), respectively. Not a big difference, but still something to bear in mind. Capacity The Rise has the same capacity as Pelican's other 10 ft models, 275 lb (125 kg). Remember that this includes you, your clothes, your gear and your paddle, so if you're a bigger person you might need a bigger boat, too. Construction and Material The Pelican Rise 100X is made by thermoforming. This is a process where a mold is pressed into a heated sheet of plastic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISRnKbaEWlY A video from Pelican International showing how their kayaks are made https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQWpxNRDxbs Another video from Pelican explaining the manufacturing processes behind its kayaks Pelican uses multilayer polyethylene plastic called RAM-X. It is pretty durable and impact-resistant. It also regains shape easily in case of deformation. Pelican also stresses that it uses a lot of recycled plastic for its boats and recycles over 90 percent of leftover plastic from its production. If you are an environmentally conscious person (which we all should be), this is important to know. Cockpit In terms of cockpit size, the Rise looks better than both the Argo and the Trailblazer. Its generous cockpit is 54.8 in. (139 cm) long and 25 in. (63.5 cm) wide. For comparison, the cockpit of the Argo 100X is 50 in. (127 cm) by 24.5 in. (62.2 cm). The Trailblazer 100NXT has the cockpit size of 42.5 in. (108 cm) x 20.5 in. (52 cm). While in most cases even the Trailblazer will be roomy enough given the limited capacity of the boats, a larger cockpit still means more comfort getting in and out of the boat. Seat The Rise 100X comes with Pelican's Ergoform™ adjustable backrest and the basic Ergobase™ seat. Generally, it provides enough comfort during what the boat was designed for: short trips on small bodies of water. The Trailblazer also has the Ergobase™ seat, while the Argo features a little more advanced Ergoform™ seat with more cushioning and some ventilation. Thigh Pads The kayak has no thigh pads which add a lot of comfort while paddling. Unless you are really on the budget, we recommend spending a little to get a model that has them. Unfortunately, Pelican does not sell the thigh pads separately (which they should). Footrests Pelican Rise 100X has molded footrests with four different positions. These are useful if you have different people using the kayak because they need no adjustment. However, the positions are about 5 inches apart, and if your ideal length is in between, you're out of luck. Adjustable footrests that are used on more advanced models let you set the footrests exactly where you want them. Again, this is no big deal on short trips that the boat is designed for. Paddle Holder The Rise does not have a dedicated paddle holder. This is not a problem in most cases but sometimes you want to put your paddle away and take a short break. Normally you would just put the paddle shaft across the cockpit but the problem is it can roll back and forth (sometimes even rolling off the boat). That can be annoying. Some other models, such as the Argo or the Mustang, have two small indentations on the rim of the cockpit to solve this problem. A tiny but useful comfort feature. Storage Pelican Rise 100x does not offer a lot of storage. There's a bungee on the front deck, a kind of table with a small open compartment in front of the paddler, and a hatch with another bungee in the back. The hatch is not waterproof, so there is no dry storage in the boat. There is also a bottle holder between the paddler's legs. It's tilted, so it won't hold an open container such as a coffee a cup or soda can. Water bottles are fine. Handles Pelican Rise 100X comes with two carrying handles, one in the front and one in the back. These are useful as you can just grab a handle and drag the boat to or from the water. However, because the kayak is so lightweight (38 lb or 17.4 kg), you can easily put your shoulder inside the cockpit and carry the boat around without scratching the hull. Another important point: if you transport the kayak on top of your car, do not use the handles to strap the boat to the car. The handles are not designed to resist forces like that. Instead, Pelican recommends that you buy a couple of S-shaped steel hooks (sold at most hardware stores) and put those in the holes where the handles are attached. Also, don't forget two lateral straps to secure the boat. Stability The Pelican Rise 100X has a multichine twin-arch hull (here's a page on Pelican's website explaining different hull types) which gives it a lot of stability on calm water. This hull shape is ideal for recreational kayaking as long as you stay away from white water or big waves, which you should in this kayak. Pelican even shot a video to show how stable its kayaks are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tELNfxbHQh4 A short video demonstrating the stability of Pelican's kayaks. Maneuverability and Tracking The Pelican Rise 100X is a short boat. It is very easy to turn and it will be especially useful on smaller rivers and creeks where a longer boat would be harder to handle. On the flip side, shorter boats do not track as well. They are susceptible to winds and waves and are harder to keep on course. If you're just paddling around on a small lake (which recreational kayaks like that are designed for in the first place), you'll be just fine. On longer trips, you'll want a kayak that tracks better, which means a longer kayak. Speed In general, the longer the boat, the faster it will be (there's some advanced physics behind that which we will not delve into). 10 ft boats are not fast, and neither is Pelican Rise 100X. You will have enough speed to paddle small lakes and rivers and have a lot of fun on the water. But if you plan to go on longer trips, cover large distances or do kayak camping, you might want to look at longer boats (these are normally referred to as touring kayaks).

Durability

In general, polyethylene kayaks are very durable. Pelican uses a layered sheet polyethylene that it calls RAM-X and prides itself on the toughness and durability of its boats. They even shot a series of short videos to demonstrate how indestructible their kayaks are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3s6Bxr08Xc A short video called the Toughest Kayak where they drop several kayaks to see how they resist impact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrFFFHU2tGo Another short video from Pelican where they drive an SUV over several kayaks. You won't believe how tough these boats are. In any case, it is good practice not to drag your kayak on hard surfaces such as concrete boat launches, stones, gravel etc. Even though the kayak is impact resistant, it is not extremely abrasion resistant, and you can literally rub a hole in it by dragging it around too much. Due to the boat's low weight, you should not have any problems carrying it to the water. If that is not an option, consider using a kayak cart. This will prolong your kayak's life considerably. Care Polyethylene kayaks require very little care and maintenance. However, there are some basic rules to follow: INSPECT THE HULL FOR DAMAGE. As strong as it may be, your kayak's hull can be damaged by abrasion or sharp objects. Holes and cracks in a polyethylene hull can be tricky to fix and usually require heat and patches (see some instructions here and here). The hull can also be deformed during off-season storage. In that case, some heat (such as from the sun) will usually be enough to return the hull to its shape. CHECK THE RIGGING. Bungee cords and other hardware on your kayak can deteriorate from time and the sun. It is a good idea to inspect everything before the season and replace anything that's damaged or worn. KEEP IT DRY AND CLEAN. Your kayak does not have to shine, but it's a good idea to rinse or spray it after each use, and then let it dry. This will not let the mold grow and will decrease abrasion from the sand. Also, if you paddle in the sea, rinse the boat off with fresh water to stop corrosion from the salt. STORE AWAY FROM THE SUN. Direct sunlight is harmful to almost any plastic. Leaving your boat under the sun for a few days is OK, but in the off-season, try to find a place indoors or at least cover the kayak from the sun. COVER THE COCKPIT. If you store the kayak outside, covering the cockpit will keep the rain, dust, and mice/spiders/whatever away. Make sure the cockpit is completely dry before you cover it. TRANSPORT WITH CARE. A lot of the damage occurs when the kayak is being transported. Take extra care when putting it on and taking it off your vehicle. Warranty Pelican offers a limited lifetime warranty on its RAM-X™, RAM-X PREMIUM™ and POLY-XR™ boats (hull and deck) and a 1-year warranty on product component parts and accessories. IMPORTANT: Pelican's website says the warranty applies only if you register for it within 30 days following the date of purchase. Registration can be done either via their website (click here) or by completing and returning the registration card found in your owner’s manual. You can find the complete terms and conditions of the warranty on Pelican's website here. Read the full article

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ofstarlightandfirehearts · 6 years ago

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Kingdom of Ash

So it's been a few hours since I've finished KOA and I'm still nowhere near okay because so much happened in it - so much joy and also so much pain in this book. I loved every second of it.

Before I start on my thoughts on it (all under the cut to not spoil anyone) I just wanted to give a shout out to Sarah J Maas - for creating such beautiful, beautiful flawed, complex, very human characters in this beautiful world. It has been a wonderful ride, following this amazing, strong badass character go through her trials, her struggles and still being so unyielding, still so full of light and hope even in the face of darkness. I love Aelin's character so much. So... what I'm saying is... Thank you so much, Sarah.

Now, onward. Also... this will be lengthy.

I think the best way to do this is by characters and my favorite (heartbreaking) moments from each of them or around them in their chapters.

But first... Aelin, Dorian and Manon just... they shone through this entire book. All of them had their personal doubts about their task - CAN Dorian get all the Wyrdkeys, CAN Manon unite the Irontheeth and the Crochans, CAN Aelin live with herself if Dorian somehow forged the lock and CAN she let him do it, CAN she rule Terrasen if she were to find a way to live after forging the lock?

I had so much fun reading each of their POVs because these were the 3 rulers of the new world, that better world they all fought for, and yet how much they doubted how can they make it happen, will it happen, if it did happen how can or should they rule? There was a lot of internal struggle with them all. There were a lot of personal revelations for them along the way and it was really, a beautiful journey.

Okay, now for them all separately. The sections for Aelin, Dorian and Manon are gonna be long.

Aelin: - Her not being tricked by Maeve's mind games, holding on through Cairn's tortures all for Terrasen - that was her one thought that kept her from breaking: how can I protect Terrasen? - Her escaping Cairn and her running into Lorcan and Gavriel, and her screaming TAKE IT OFF TAKE IT OFF and then Rowan, bless him, trying to calm her down enough to try to get it off. That part just... that gutted me. - All the blood oaths... including Gavriel's. That was such a somber, beautiful moment. The one with Fenrys was just... amazing. She refused to let him stay there in that camp alone AND SHE BROUGHT HIM BACK TO LIFE. - Her using her power - all that power she had kept pushing down to save for her showdown with Maeve - to save the soldiers (and Lorcan and Elide) at Anielle. That was some next level AMAZING, badass shit man. I will definitely be drawing this scene. - Her falling through the worlds after forging the lock - after opting to save Elena over them taking Erawan with them... only to be betrayed by those stupid, ugly selfish gods... and then having Aelin get payback by unleashing literal hell on them in their realm. -Her falling through the realms was so... cool. So cool. - AND WE ALSO GOT A CAMEO FROM THE WONDERFUL RHYS AND FEYRE. SHE FELL THROUGH EFFING VELARIS. I FREAKED. I'M STILL FREAKING. THAT WAS AN AMAZING WAY TO BRIDGE THE TWO SERIES. - AELIN/CHAOL/DORIAN REUNION.

- The comraderie between her and all the females in this series. Her and Hasar's fond bickering, same with her and Borte and Ansel. The faith and pride she had in Yrene and Elide. Her friendship with Lysandra will always be one of my favorite things about this series. The weight of the world that only she and Manon can understand up in the aerie after the battle and her support in Manon's loss. There were so many beautiful friendships between all the females in this book. THIS GIRL MAKES FRIENDS WHEREVER SHE GOES AND IT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING. - The final showdown - her playing with Erawan, trying to pit him against Maeve. And then after Erawan was carried away, her pulling her cadre out of their hallucinations, opening up that portal to allow the old Fae of Terrasen through, having Fenrys deliver his well-deserved killing blow to her. - Her coronation - the Little Folk coming to give her Mab's crown - LET'S JUST TALK ABOUT THEIR NEVERENDING SUPPORT OF AELIN THROUGH ALL THE BOOKS. AND LET'S GO BACK TO THE KING OF THE NORTH - THAT BEAUTIFUL STAG WHO LIT THE WAY FOR AELIN AND THE KHAGANATE TO GET TO ORYNTH. - Okay, Aelin's coronation - the procession, how she had all the females go down into the city with her because they all played just as huge of a part in the war. They honestly did so much. - AELIN/CHAOL/DORIAN GOODBYE EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT A FOREVER GOODBYE. LOOK, I SOBBED THROUGHOUT THAT WHOLE PART. MY BABIES. MY BEAUTIFUL BABIES WHO STARTED IT ALL, BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH AND LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH. I CANNOT. - The ending - her waking up to the field of those flowers that were thought to be wiped from existence during the first siege all those years ago. Another scene I must draw.

Dorian: - Dorian learning how to shapeshift was just... I wasn't expecting that at all. And he learned it so well from the Stygian spider - and the way he LEARNED how to do it - by digging into the spider's mind and finding that kernel of power and taking it for himself. - This poor kid is still so traumatized by what happened to Sorscha. And I know there's a lot of mixed feelings about Sorscha but honestly I liked her. His guilt over her, and also how he left Rifthold in ruins to flee. His doubts on ruling, can he rule, how will he be different from his Valg "father" and also the ultimate question he had to come to terms with: Was he himself part Valg, since his father's body was possessed by a Valg. - His friendship with the Thirteen. I just. And then at the end... that's who he looked up to the skies to find, not knowing he'd never find them in those skies... or any skies ever again (crying). - MORATH AND MAEVE. Those were some of the most stressful chapters of this book and I was worried for a bit, especially when Maeve found him. - THE WAY HE TRICKED MAEVE AND BROUGHT DOWN MORATH FROM THE INSIDE. THAT WAS BADASS, DORIAN. I’M SO PROUD OF YOU. I will also be drawing this. - CHAORIAN REUNION. HIS REACTION WHEN HE SAW THAT CHAOL WAS STANDING. STANDING. AND THEN RUNNING TO HIM. THOSE STUPID, STUPID BEAUTIFUL BOYS AND THEIR STUPID BEAUTIFUL RELATIONSHIP. - Him desperately trying to reconnect himself with Aelin after Aelin pushed him back out the portal as she finished forging the lock by herself. The sheer panic Dorian had because he could not, would not let his friend do this alone. That was heartbreaking. - Dorian is so clever - I always forget how clever. His ruse at the end with Erawan - and as Yrene had him pinned down, him nonchalantly going, "Oh btw, I was the one who destroyed Morath." - I know a lot of people were kind of complaining about the lack of Manorian in the book but WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN. THIS BOOK WAS FULL OF MANORIAN. Their quiet support of each other. Them knowing each other so well - Dorian figured out Manon was the one who led the Ironteeth back to the Crochans to prove herself just like that. Him thinking of who he most wanted to be like when learning how to shapeshift himself, and he thought of Manon. - The ending where he wants wyverns as part of his aerial legion, and he wants Manon to come and teach those future riders how to fight, how to be. - “What do you want.” You, all of you. GDI. -THAT BIT WITH YRENE. "You could just get married." AND THEN DORIAN BLUSHES FURIOUSLY. BOY. YOU WANT TO BE WITH MANON. JUST GET MARRIED ALREADY.

Manon: - OKAY I'M JUST GONNA START IT OFF WITH THE THIRTEEN AND JUST HOW MUCH THEY LOVED MANON AND RESPECTED HER. SO MUCH THEY ALL SACRIFICED THEMSELVES FOR HER, THEY DID THEIR UNYIELDING SO SHE CAN HELP CREATE THAT BETTER WORLD THEY ALL WISHED FOR, EVEN IF THEY COULDN'T BE A PART OF IT, AS LONG AS MANON LIVED THAT'S ALL THEY CARED ABOUT. LOOK, I THINK I CRIED FOR THOSE ENTIRE 2 CHAPTERS AND THEN THROUGH HALF A THIRD CHAPTER. I'M STILL GETTING TEARY EYED THINKING ABOUT THEM. HOW DARE YOU SARAH. HOW DARE YOU. - That field of flowers, how everyone at Orynth paid their tributes to the Thirteen and Manon in the center of it, quietly mourning those beautiful, brave loyal twelve women who have done nothing but support her for all those years. I just can’t get over it. This will be the first scene that I draw. - How Aelin promised that she would put up a statue, something to pay a permanent tribute to them. - THE PART WITH ABRAXOS ALMOST DYING AND ALL ABRAXOS WANTED TO DO WAS SAVE MANON. JFC. AND MANON LITERALLY BEGGING ISKRA, HER ENEMY. TO LET ABRAXOS GO. - Manon's doubts over winning over the Crochans. It was a long, long process for her to do so but she kept at it, trying to earn their respect as much as she could. - The showdown between her and her grandmother and the Yellowlegs heir. Hells. yes. - The way the crown lit up as soon as it sat on Manon's head. You go girl. - I loved Glennis. - The passing of the eternal flame through all of those hearths in even the remotest parts of the country when the word went out their Crochan Queen needed them to fight for Terrasen. That was a powerful, powerful scene. - When she went to the Ferian Gap to speak to Petrah, to lay out the truth of what the Ironteeth at Morath planned to do - what her GRANDMOTHER planned to do - which made those Ferian Ironteeth rebel and join them against Morath. In other words... MANON WAS BORN TO LEAD. - The end, when she sees Dorian and he realizes the Thirteen are not there. "I miss them." (CRYING) - I also love how she struggled to care, to feel that being a caring leader did not make her a weak one because that's what she was taught. A good leader does not care, they are ruthless and do what must be done - but Manon has always had a softer heart, even if she didn't want to admit it, and her caring... it made her a stronger leader. - Her realization that the curse had been broken - they all - Ironteeth and Crochans - can return to the Wastes. Because the curse finally, finally broke. Starting with the Thirteen's sacrifice. Even in death, they helped her get home. - Her promising to stop by Rifthold to pay our wonderful King of Adarlan a visit time to time.

Rowan + the cadre (minus Lorcan): - Rowan, you beautiful beautiful bird you. He was so relentless to get to Aelin and after finding her... his patience with Aelin afterwards, helping her train, helping her heal. - I'M SO ECSTATIC WE GOT ONE MORE CARRANAM SCENE WITH ROWAELIN IN THAT FINAL BATTLE. - Rowan exacting exquisite revenge on Cairn after finding out Cairn whipped Aelin. I think Cairn deserved an even more gruesome death than he recieved... and that death already was gruesome. - Rowan finding the strength to tear himself out of the hellish hallucination that Maeve played with him... with a little help from his Fireheart. - Rowan's reactions as Fenrys told Rowan little by little just what was done to Aelin in those months apart. - Listen, Rowan's farewell to Dorian and Chaol was just as emotional for me. - HOW MUCH HE JUST LOVES AELIN. THAT EVEN THOUGH HE'S HELLA ANGRY AT HER (Hello, forging the lock scene) HE LOVES HER SO MUCH AND THAT HE'LL TAKE HER ANY WAY, whether Aelin possessed exponential amounts of magic or not - he just loves her as she is. - How he noticed right away that she wasn't as warm as he remembered after she gave most of her magic to forge the lock. AND ALSO AFTER SHE JUST GOT BACK FROM DORANELLE. He could see she was faking most of that famous Aelin bravado and swagger. - Fenrys - god my heart broke for him so many times. He had to watch his brother literally kill himself because of the stupid blood oath to Maeve, HE couldn't do anything to stop it or help Aelin as Cairn tortured her over and over and over again... but it was the thought of Aelin being almost burned alive, that he knew she was being taught to fear the power that she loved so much that Fenrys fought and WON against the blood oath with Maeve. - How he couldn't winnow because it reminded him of Connall and it hurt too much and Aelin understood why he couldn’t. - Fenrys being that lifeline to Aelin during those months too, and it never stopped being their personal form of communication even after they were rescued from Maeve. I loved the relationship between Aelin and Fenrys. - Gavriel - everything he did was to get back to his son, and by god, he did get back to Aedion just in time... TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF. JFC KIDS. STOP SACRIFICING YOURSELVES. - Also, Gavriel, was that really necessary? Was it? - Gavriel being the gentle voice of reason, of being super sweet with Elide, using his magic to brace her leg. Also for being the buffer between Lorcan and Elide, which could not have been more awkward of a situation to be in. But he did it without complaint. - THE CADRE'S TRIBUTE TO GAVRIEL IN THAT ROOM AS THEY SUNG THE SONGS OF OLD TO HONOR THEIR FRIEND WHO HAD FALLEN FOR NO GREATER CAUSE THAN TO AEDION (and Terrasen).

Elide/Lorcan: - Lorcan. Lorcan, Lorcan. You big lovestruck idiot. The entire book he tried so hard to get Elide to forgive him. - I was LEGIT scared he was gonna die in Anielle. BUT ELIDE CAME AND SAVED HIS ASS. And she would not let him go, even as he told her to abandon him so she might make it back in time. This whole scene had me on the edge. - LET’S ALSO TALK ABOUT HOW ELIDE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO REALIZED LORCAN WAS NOT UP ON THE WALL WITH THEM. And she did not care, she literally took Chaol’s horse and went hunting for her tall brooding brute. - LISTEN, THIS BIG BROODING BRUTE PUNK GAVE UP HIS IMMORTALITY TO BE WITH HER. LIKE. LORCAN. - ALSO. LORD LORCAN LOCHAN. - ELIDE IS A BADASS OKAY. From pretending to be Cairn's jilted lover to get intel to find Aelin - which was HER idea, btw to her facing down her uncle - her abuser for so many years and telling him she will never think of him again as she walks out leaving him there with her head held high, even though all she wanted to do was run. - She is so smart. So so clever - SHE came up with the plan to take down Erawan. And holy shit, it worked. - Her friendship with Yrene was so sweet. I love how those two bonded. - Elide walking down during Aelin’s coronation, but not wanting Lorcan to brace her foot. She wanted to take that walk down the aisle with pride. I’m so proud of you girl.

Chaol/Yrene: - YRENE IS MY FAVE. Like what an angel. SHE is also one of the biggest badasses in this series. TAKING DOWN ERAWAN THROUGH SHEER WILL AND TALENT ALONE. - All the healing she did - always endlessly healing and she did this while being PREGNANT. - Her always healing while Chaol was fighting kept me on edge because if one of them falls, both do. And this is the sole notion that kept Chaol fighting so hard. - Chaol and his father - what a complicated relationship. But Chaol kept his shit about him around his father. And as furious as Chaol was that his father kept all those letters from his mother from him... "Keep them, those will be the only things to keep you company" is more or less what he said before wheeling himself out of the room... and Anielle. - Chaol's first thoughts as he went down during the final battle was Yrene. And the joy he felt when he saw she was there after waking up from his unconsciousness, alive with him after taking down Erawan. The pure pride he has for her. UGH YOU TWO STOP IT. - Yrene's beyond brilliant idea to build a Torre Cesme on the main continent, so that she may still teach others how to heal. And she’s going to be asking some of the Old Fae from whom a lot of the healers are descended from. - Yrene has such a gentle soul - I love how she's thought of ways to help Elide's foot for days after she met Elide because she just wants to help her and fix her foot. - I was sad we didn't get as much Chaorene as I would have liked but there was so much going on.

Aedion/Lysandra/Evangeline: - First off... Aedion made me so angry this book. Like... how dare you blow up at Lysandra like that - humiliate her and SPEAK TO HER LIKE THAT. Do you think it was easy for her to go along with that plan? Knowing that her best friend was somewhere being tortured, not knowing if she'd ever even SEE her best friend ever again alive? His treatement of her during the first half just pissed me off. - And he didn't realize how much he hadn't meant it until Lysandra had shifted into Aelin's likeness as she tried to take down the ilken... THAT ALMOST KILLED HER. And she did that to rally HIS army to keep fighting. - LIKE YOU NEEDED HER TO HAVE A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE TO REALIZE HOW SHITTY YOU'VE BEEN TREATING HER? GET OUTTA HERE. - So yes, I felt like him having his title stripped from him was justified. For that treatment of Lysandra alone. And I love how Lysandra told him straight up just that too. "I've had men degrade me but never as you have and it is unforgivable." - But I also like how the newly appointed general was like "Yeah thanks, so Aedion what are we gonna do?" - LYSANDRA YOU DESERVE ALL THE MEDALS IN THE UNIVERSE. THIS GIRL IS A FIGHTER, SHE IS A BADASS, CONSTANTLY SHIFTING INTO WHATEVER SHE CAN TO TAKE DOWN AS MANY MORATH SOLDIERS AS POSSIBLE. I FEEL LIKE SHE DID THE BULK OF IT IN ALL HER FORMS. - As angry as I was at Aedion... I was also super happy when they did sort of get back together. And I like how it was subtle. - ...Except for that hallway scene. If you know what I mean ;) - EVANGELINE! What a sweetiepie. This girl wore down one of the toughest Lords of Terrasen. I love how soft Darrow was with her. It was very, very sweet. And bless her heart, I love how she wanted to keep busy being Darrow's messenger, and I love how Darrow kind of sensed that she needed a purpose. Something to ground her while her friends fought. - Aedion, as much as you made me angry the first half of the book, I gotta hand it to him for holding off Morath for like 90% of the book before Aelin + co. got there. You go Aedion, you go. - THE BLOOD OATH. HE FINALLY GOT HIS BLOOD OATH WITH AELIN. AND SHE DID IT BEFORE SHE WAS CROWNED. I cannot.

Nestaq + the Khaganate: - DISAPPOINTED WE DIDN'T GET MORE NESTAQ. I WANTED MORE SARTAQ WORSHIPPING THE VERY GROUND NESRYN WALKED ON AS HE DID IN TOWER OF DAWN. - I feel they were just there for the updates in the war, what was happening sky-side... I just needed more from them. I know there was a lot going on but... a little bit of Nestaq cuteness would have been great in that big clusterfuck of a situation. - I will say, the cute thing at the end where Sartaq teases Nes about being Empress and she makes that face. Cute, Nesryn, cute. - I DID WANNA SEE MORE OF BORTE AND YERAN BECAUSE THOSE TWO CRACK ME UP. - I fell in love with Borte in TOD and I was even more in love with her in KOA. She is so fun, so snarky... I love how she got the opportunity to lead the cadre at the front lines during that final battle. - "You are all Fae?" Oh Borte.

Okay so I'm gonna end it here. I still have so many thoughts and feelings on this series. Still sad that it's over because I love these characters so much.

If you've read all the way through... I congratulate you. And I'm sorry that I like to talk :P But I appreciate it!

Feel free to message me if you want to continue talking about it BECAUSE I'M NOT DONE TALKING ABOUT IT.

#kingdom of ash #kingdom of ash spoilers #koa #sam talks tog

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kalico-to-the-letter · 6 years ago

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REVIEW // RWBY | 6.11 | “THE LADY IN THE SHOE”

AKA my Naruto: Shippūden experience revisited.

Welcome in to my review of Volume 6, Chapter 11, entitled, “The Lady in the Shoe”.

In this episode: Atlesian pride is at sea. A shared demon is faced.

The hands, though … the hands.

HOW SHŌNEN OF YOU.

We’re officially in a weird spot with this, the sixth and current season of RWBY.

I have – as have most of us, I’m sure – known for a long time now that the 26th of January would be the airdate of the season finale. Despite that knowledge, it was never something that had never rung any alarm bells in my viewing experience of the season – until now.

With only two (!) episodes left for this season, we remain hanging on the cliff of an uneven storyline’s hastily-escalated climax. (Remembering of course that the finales have tended to be at least double-length episodes.)

The whole thing was very entertaining, and at times, edge-of-the-seat action material. As a singular package, this episode is very good. And if there were, say, five more episodes left, instead of just two, I wouldn’t have any issues at all.

But therein lies the issue. Naruto and Dragon Ball can pull off storytelling like this – RWBY has struggled with it forever, yet the show can’t seem to stay away from it or find the formula to make it work within its own limitations.

I’ve criticised this show in the past for its tendency to act like it has more time and more room to manoeuvre than it actually does. This is also not the first time I’ve identified shōnen storytelling characteristics in the show. But it seems to remain an ongoing issue directly affecting the pacing of seasons. As up-and-down as last season’s overall quality was, it was one of the better-paced runs in the show’s history. And when this season opened with a good episode, then an ok episode, then four great episodes in a row, and we were getting these great set ups with the antagonists and Team RWBY’s internal issues, I thought that the lock had been picked after all – that the show could stay consistent in quality and pace at the same time.

Call it a wandering focus, or a loosening of the grip – the unique, tight direction of this season was lost with the arrival in Argus. The early stories of the primary antagonists were pushed to the sideline, as was the Ozpin story. Any problems still within Team RWBY were instead transformed into Qrow’s issues with life itself, and even though Yang and Blake are fighting Adam now and will probably smack his ass around next week, they have had far less to do with each other than one might have expected, given their obvious issues.

Of the main storylines for this season, the only one that has been consistently featured and worked on is the story of Ruby’s personal growth, which is still fantastic as far as the positives go, and this episode continues to build on that by giving her some fun moments, with Weiss in particular.

I struggle with the grade for this episode, too. Perhaps more than any other episode I’ve assigned a grade value; this could well be the best episode I’ve not given at least an “A-“, and it’s solely down to the season’s recent pacing woes. Ultimately, it was all very well done. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the execution of Blake’s plot was flawless in this episode, and I must spotlight it.

It was staged and crafted in all the right ways, from fighting and flying around in the trees to being forced into the open above a waterfall. The swordplay choreography hit its beats without making the fight look like a dance, which maintained the sense of danger. It created some telling images, such as Blake catching one of Adam’s swords in the sheath of her own weapon, or Blake losing that sheath to the water, or Blake’s own sword being shattered to pieces. She’s had this weapon forever, and now it’s gone – you can’t say that’s not a big deal. For a second, I thought she had been stabbed again, and the afterimage clone was used to counter that strong parallel of the first fight with Adam, years back. The scene held its drama throughout, and built even higher as the fight progressed onto the bridge and brought Yang into the situation.

And even though it left on another cliffhanger, it was not the irritating sort like the fight against the mecha suit. It was more in keeping with better shōnen cliffhangers, an ending which still had deeply satisfying components despite choosing not to resolve the overall storyline. Yang’s arrival was momentous on its own, tossing her beloved bike into the water, and then squaring off with Adam. In another acknowledgement of the parallels, the fight was back-and-forth rather than Yang’s original headlong charge into defeat.

Consider the complexity at play here. Despite being the fresh fighter and going toe-to-toe with an old tormentor, Yang knows that she cannot defeat Adam on her own – only “hold him off”. When her hand shakes again. of course Adam is quick to call her out for her supposed lack of nerve. And of course, Blake is there to take it and reinforce their bond. “She’s not protecting me, Adam. And I’m not protecting her. We’re protecting each other.”

They both had turns fighting him solo in the Volume 3 finale. They both lost spectacularly, and Adam has haunted the both of them ever since. Blake wounded his pride at the end of Volume 5, but that wasn’t a real fight. Here, they will, at last, fight him together, and exorcise the demon they both share – the demon that tore them apart in the first place.

An ending like that to this story – and this whole scene, really – is almost enough to make up for potential storytelling malpractice. So, let’s bring it home, Volume 6: I can’t say I’m not intrigued about what happens next.

OBSERVATIONS:

What’s more impressive? Sniping a missile out of a sky from the ground, or catching a missile with a giant mecha suit and throwing it at a moving airship? Open the polls.

I see Weiss and Ruby riding on a giant bumblebee … Nothing.

I feel like Nora’s trying to get something from Ren … I’m stupid.

The fight against Cordovin was something straight out of an JRPG – plenty of making the sword-wielding heroes look tiny against a giant boss enemy. Not quite Final Fantasy or Nier, but in the ballpark.

The reveal of Adam’s scar is pretty gnarly. No one tell Weiss about the SDC brand right on his freaking eye.

Blake didn’t just lose her weapon – she lost her coat. Oh my goodness. Let’s just … whew.

I got chills when Yang blocked the charged strike and just frowned at Adam.

Of course, I would have preferred both stories to wrap up in this episode, but given how both it played out, I feel instinctively that one of these two storylines should have ended with this episode.

The Gang vs Cordovin isn’t the most compelling fight on paper, and it isn’t helped by some heavy-handed emotional manipulation, but hits all the points it needs to. That cliffhanger was genuinely annoying and unnecessary, though.

Cordovin isn’t a great antagonist, is she? Like, we were literally introduced to her four episodes ago, and here she is having a fight stretched over three episodes. Remember Neo and Cinder? And Salem’s crew? I’d care more about a fight with any of those jokers than I do about this fight with Cordovin. It’s still cool to see Ruby and Weiss killing it, and Qrow seems to have stopped his moping.

The main disappointment with the realisation that the finale is so close also comes from the promising set ups from the early parts of the season, such as Cinder’s involvement with Neo, or Emerald’s return to the villain crew – or even more recently, with Saphron and Terra’s issues with the Atlesian camp kind of fizzling into nothing. A lot of ideas which started strong but seem to have since been shelved for either the finale or Volume 7, which doesn’t really feel necessary. With Atlas almost promising to be a battleground, the next season pretty much writes itself, and skipping through these random Volume 6 subplots feels like a bit of a waste.

GRADE: B+

Against the time pressure of a rapidly winding-down season, “The Lady in the Shoe” puts RWBY in a strange place. On the one hand, it is another example of the show’s historically misguided tendency to dig itself into the "shōnen" hole and demand more of itself than it can deliver, and leaves the trajectory of the remaining two episodes in a murky state. On the other hand, it is an episode buoyed by strong execution and compelling character beats. Blake vs Adam, in particular, is a scene which goes down as one of the strongest and most complete of the entire series, in terms of fight psychology, staging, and dramatic involvement. At the very least, it all keeps one guessing. – KALLIE

#rwby spoilers #rwby reviews #rwby6 #rwby volume 6 #rwby

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mendooutdoors · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on Men Do Outdoors

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30 Hiking Tips You Didn't Even Know You Needed

Don’t suffer on your next hiking trip, learn these hiking tips to make your life and journey a whole lot easier.

At the same time look like an absolute boss, showing off you incredibly cool new acquired skills.

Let’s get right into the hiking tips with no.1 which is definitely one of my favourite hiking activities. Enjoy 🙂

1. Learn fire making.

Practise makes perfect and what better place to do it then your own backyard. Grab some twigs, grab some fire starters some matches and have water handy just in case everything gets out of hand.

2. Spark, Oxygen, Fuel

When building a fire make sure that you take into consideration 3 components of a good fire. It needs ignition which is the match, it needs fuel, which is the wood and fire starters and it requires oxygen.

If you starve the fire of oxygen then it won’t light up. Make sure that there is adequate airflow in your fire build.

3. You won’t always have the perfect conditions

Once you figure out a fire technique that you have successfully mastered, try doing it again with soaked wood and then finally try recreating the experience as if it was raining.

A good way to do this is to use a hose and sprinkle water on yourself and the fire.

4. Learn to pitch a tent.

Do it incorrectly and the rain will come in, or the wind will tear the joints. Tents need to be pitched tight, and you must be able to set your tent up in a few minutes.

So it’s always a great idea to play around with it before you go out on your trip. Also most importantly, at this point, you will most likely have the manual on how to set it up and pull it down.

In most cases, you won’t carry said manual with you while backpacking

As an added bonus you can have a camping day in your backyard. Let’s face it, that is a fun thing in itself

5. Creative Pegs

Sometimes you might have to improvise setting up a tent as you might lose pegs, camp on hard ground or be surrounded by a lot of trees.

Use the environment to your advantage. For example, if the ground is to hard, find some heavier rocks you can place on top of the tent ropes.

If there are too many trees around, the tie your tent to the tree.

If the soil is to wet try putting the pegs in a 45-degree angle towards the tent and then lay rocks on top.

Improvisation is the name of the game when backpacking in the wilderness.

6. Find out how to remain warm.

Practice outdoor camping in the yard, to see how obstructing the wind, using a hat, and eating fatty foods before sleeping can keep you warmer.

7. Layer up like an Onion

Just like an onion what you want to try and do is layer up. By that, I mean putting on multiple layers of clothes. jumper on shirt on shirt on singlet, pants on pants, socks on socks.

By doing this you trap air between the layers and that ends up keeping you warm for longer periods of time.

8. Cotton is not your friend

Make sure to try and avoid cotton clothes as they do not retain heat very well and additionally keep moisture on your body which can cause hypothermia. If possible try getting woollen clothes.

Not only are woollen clothes nice to the touch but they also don’t retain smells, dry quickly and wick moisture away from your body (move moisture away from your body)

9. Don’t keep it in

Make sure to urinate before going to bed so that your body does not have to continually waste energy warming up your urine inside of your body.

Additionally who really likes to get out of bed in the middle of the night to take a pee

Get Your’s Here

10. Keep yourself off the ground

If you tend to sleep cold make sure to keep yourself off the ground by using a mattress or leaves and layers of grass.

The ground literally steals your heat and energy and no matter how much you warm it, it will cool down quite rapidly which in turn will give you a terrible nights sleep and sore bones and muscles

Are you enjoying this hiking tips guide? Make sure to share them with others 🙂

11. Warm Water to the rescue

If you are still cold warm up water and put it into a bottle then place it in the bottom of your sleeping bag. After a short while, you should feel nice and toasty in your sleeping bag.

12. Get the right Sleeping Bag

There are plenty of sleeping bags on the market, but did you know that some sleeping bags are made for men and others specifically for women.

It’s not a sales tactic but in most cases, women sleep colder due to the fact that their bodies are designed to keep warmth internally to protect the reproductive system.

13. Eat high energy snacks

Find the most densely nutritious snacks to eat before bed so that your body has something to work with while you sleep.

Luckily for you, I have done the research and created an article here for you 7 high energy foods to warm you up during winter

14. Stay Hydrated

You don’t usually associate dehydration with being cold but seeing as you are mostly made up of water, you require it to run all the processes in your body in an optimal state.

If your body isn’t running at an optimal state, it’s wasting energy which it could use to stay warm.

15. Learn to prepare over a fire.

It’s not as simple as it seems. Block the wind, cover the pan, keep the fire going and don’t burn yourself.

Well just like with everything keep practising and you will find the best way to cook.

16. PUT A LID ON IT

See what I did there with the title 🙂

If you have pots and pans make sure to have a lid for them so that you can cover food while cooking.

It’s also great if you are thinking of storing your food for a bit and as another added bonus you can use the lid as a plate with a comfortable handle in the centre.

17. Don’t burn your hands

Have a spondonicle on hand (a tool to grab your hot pots and pans) so that you don’t have to reach for the super hot pots with your hand.

Trust me, you will do it once and forever remember not to do it again. Keep Burn gel Handy.

18. Keep burn gel ready

Yeah, trust me, this is one of the nicest things to put on when you burn yourself.

In most cases you will burn yourself while cooking, throwing sticks into the fire or stepping on a coal in the dark. Keep the get handy just in case

Have you got any hiking tips of your own? Comment below to get them featured on this page.

19. Don’t pour fuel on the fire

I have seen it happen multiple times where someone is cooking at a fire and next moment someone pours methylated spirits on the fire.

Next moment there is a massive panic, eyebrows are burnt and a few holes appear in the clothes of the person who was cooking.

This is a likely scenario, but I have heard of people needing to be airlifted due to the fire exploding into a person’s eyes.

20. Cook your food on COALS

Cooking on the fire is probably only good for boiling water. Everything else, use coals.

When you have a hot fire, just push it to one side which in turn will uncover red-hot coals. Then shovel them over to a small pile away from the fire so it’s not to hot for you to work on your food.

Next, cook your food on the nicely laid out coals. As an added bonus you can throw in a few potatoes wrapped in aluminium foil into the coals under the pots and pans and have them cook at the same time.

21. Learn about edible plants

Understanding the best ways to identify cattails and three or four wild edible berries can make a journey more pleasurable, especially if you ever lose your food to a bear.

Just make sure you read the right guides to your area and in most instances stay away from mushrooms unless you really know what you are doing.

22. Learn how to walk

Surprisingly, something we don’t really think about can be improved in most cases. For example, walking for long distances you should keep your feet pointing forward at all times.

Might seem silly but a lot of people tend to end up having their feet pointing outwards from a straight-ahead position. This, in turn, uses more energy

To improve your walking ability, try walking over many different types of terrain. Such a rocky, sandy, on a slope etc. Try this with and without your backpack.

23. Learn the proper way to put on your backpack

If you have a backpack with a harness you need to really make sure that 80% of the weight is on your hips and only 20% or less on your shoulders.

By moving the weight of the bag onto your hips you will find it more comfortable but also it will prevent you from long-term injury if worn incorrectly.

A good way to know if your backpack is resting well on your hips is to have your hands slide in and out from under your shoulder straps with ease.

24. Learn to pack your bag correctly

By packing your bag correctly, you will keep the centre of gravity in line with your body. In doing this making it so much more comfortable to carry.

25. Waterproof, Waterproof… Did I say Waterproof?

That is correct, either get yourself some rubbish bags or some heavy duty reusable waterproof bags and wrap your sleeping bag in it, your mattress in it, your clothes in it your you electronics.

You can never underestimate how much water will get into your bag and through your gear. Either way, would you prefer to learn it the hard way?

Or have a nice crisp warm and dry sleeping bag to get into at the end of a rainy night. I know what I would prefer.

26. Learn your animals

First of all not only is it a lot of fun to spot random animals and knowing what they are in the wild but it can also be advantageous to you to know which animals mean no harm and which ones can kill you.

Can you distinguish if a bear is “bluff charging” or stalking you? Playing dead will make you a bear’s dinner if it’s the latter. Hint: great deals of sound typically means he simply wishes to terrify you, however you need to check out this one.

Also, information on snakes and spiders can help in determining if you have a potentially hazardous situation or not

27. First Aid

Learn the basic first aid, keep a full first aid kit with you at all times and know how to use each individual component of the kit.

28. Learn how to cover up Snake and Spider Bites

This is crucial information if in the instance you get bitten you can buy yourself valuable time till first aid arrives. Check out this guide on what to do.

Snake Bites – What you need to know, to Help you Survive

29. Read the Sky

An important skill to learn is cloud reading, can you tell when a storm is on its way? Can you tell if it’s going to be cold tonight?

The sky can actually provide you with plenty of information that will help you determine the next course of action for your trip and if you should keep your rain gear handy.

30. Learn to navigate

A GPS just won’t cut it out in the forest, it might not get signal, might run out of battery or just stop working altogether. What will happen then?

By learning a few basic skills, like how to use a compass and map you can really get yourself out of a predicament.

Additionally what I like to say is that a map and a compass is like a key to the outdoors world. With them, you can go anywhere safely and find your way back as well.

And finally, it can actually be a lot of fun, plotting a course to follow and hitting every checkpoint along the way. For more information check out 7 advanced navigation techniques

If you are interested in some more hacks and hiking tips check out

13 Camping Hacks that will forever change the way you camp

These are just a few of many hiking tips. Do you have any of your own that I didn’t mention? Comment them below and I’ll include them in this post

If you liked this post and learnt a thing or 2 make sure to share it with friends and family on Facebook and Twitter.

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