#yes I copied the info from the wiki don’t @ me
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
tiny little bby Alhaitham with his fluffy hair and Wenut toy sitting there with his grandma, and saying stuff like “In the legend of the desert folk, Quicksand Eels and Wenut are all descendants of the giant serpent that once devoured the sun. Although this statement is but groundless, judging from the research on Sand Grease Pupa, it does share many similarities with the body fat of Wenut given their respective composition. It is precisely because of this that….”
6 notes
·
View notes
Note
Ooh you watched it too! For some reason, the two seconds of Vincent we got reminded me of Tystar, but flipped.
Re: the venom potency thing, I was actually wondering. Am I remembering right that there’s a bit of a semantic distinction between a true vampire and a vampire master? Like, courtesy of Cazador and the Rite of Perfect Slaughter, we don’t have a ton of variation in the vampiric ecosystem of Baldur’s Gate, but aren’t there covens of vampires elsewhere, like in Amn or Athkatla or something? Where there are multiple true vampires with their own spawn, but a single vampire lord? Because presumably Amanita Szarr, when she was being pressured into partaking in the “family rites,” wasn’t expected to usurp Donnella or whomever, or Cazador or anything like that. So maybe Vincent was a true vampire from a different sire, but because Cazador is the vampire lord of Baldur’s Gate, Vincent is still “a servant of [that] dread master.” Hence the second cousin twice removed brother. And why a certain murder-happy vampire lord might have potentially benefited from sending him on an errand where he was a tad less likely to return (don’t trust Cazador, don’t trust him AT ALL, I suspect foul play and I’ll blame him even if it isn’t his fault)
Or there’s always the chance it’s due to whatever is keeping a vampire’s head even slightly animated, given that IIRC decapitation is one of the tried-and-true methods for vampiric permadeath. And whatever is keeping it generating any amount of blood. Cuz while head wounds bleed a lot, the head is mostly bones and brains and muscles and juices. Not a lot in the way of large blood vessels. So something’s squidgy either way. (Honestly, wouldn’t be surprised if Araj wasn’t involved in some of the alchemical nonsense. In wider FR lore, her family has a history of mucking about with illithid blood via having their daughters go and boink with them, and they kept vampire illithids as pets/livestock, so. Add in her creepy biting fetish, and this is firmly in her wheelhouse, I’d say.)
Does anyone have a copy of the new DMG/MM/whatever manual has vampire details in it? Cuz I think I remember part of the promo for this event was that they’d be playing around with new features from 2024 5e. Maybe there’s new info? Who knows! Not I.
Also also, upon hearing Vincent say “darling,” I am firmly and irrevocably convinced that he’s where Astarion picked up the affect. Cuz shamelessly gratuitous flirt seems like an odd match for a 39 year old magistrate, questionable morality or not, at least for something that makes up such a huge part of his outward personality. So I’m imagining Vincent helping him build a mask to draw people in. I’m also imagining them as like an ace/qp relationship, cuz Astarion deserves more platonic cuddles in his life.
In conclusion, I’ve had Vincent for less than a day and if anything else happens to him, etc etc and so on.
Hi there! Yes, I most definitely saw the one-shot as I am a huge D&D nerd haha (just ran a Western-inspired game last Saturday for a friend's birthday), so I love to see the BG3 companions being played in this format. I didn't know that they were trying out 2024/One-D&D mechanics though! That may explain some of the vampire lore discrepancies, though I would be surprised 😂
It's interesting, Cazador Szarr is called both a vampire lord (basically leader of all types of lesser undead) and a master vampire (specifically can lead large gangs of spawn) in bg3, but descriptions of both seem pretty scarce via my minimal FR Wiki dives. While Vincent being a true vampire could explain his venom potency, it would seriously lower my opinion of him, because we would have no reason to believe either via lore or d&d mechanics that he'd have to follow Cazador unwillingly. Regardless, you do bring up an interesting point about Amanita Szarr and their family rites--one could argue she was made into a true vampire, not a spawn, which would certainly complicate her story (though I'd say, even though people complain about Astarion not turning his romanced Tav/Durge immediately into a true vampire, that does seem kinda risky given just how much power you'd get on top of suddenly dealing with sanguine hunger, so I've always assumed she was made a spawn).
I don't have a copy of the new 2024 d&d rules myself! Others feel free to weigh in if you know whether they might explain anything new about d&d vampires 😊 though tbh my best guess is that Jeremy Crawford, as big of a lore geek as he must be, just didn't think too hard about the implications before deciding on a dice roll that Astarion would know the decapitated vampire they found 😂 it made for some amazing roleplay, so it was worth it!!
And as someone who friendzoned him my first run, I wholeheartedly agree Astarion deserves all the platonic cuddles 🥰
#ask me anything#astarion#bg3 oneshot#bg3 vincent#spawn family lore#Apologies to the two askers still waiting!! work has left me way too drained lately 💀
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Lore: Details about the “Orb”
Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were written up to the game version v4.1.104.3536 (Early access). As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information. Written in June 2021.
Let's start with the context, because everything related to Gale is packed heavily with Forgotten Realms lore, and since the game is not fully released, whatever extra information that the game could provide to help us understand this is not there yet. Also, it's always important to keep in mind this post about "Context, persuasion, and manipulation" to be sure we are talking in the same terms.
The lore
I'm going to enumerate some objects or elements related to Forgotten Realms lore that I personally see worth checking out in addition to other “orbs” that I've seen the fandom put attention on. All this information can be expanded using the references and sometimes wiki, even though I personally distrust forgotten realm wiki, unless I can check that info from the original sources.
Shadow Weave
The Shadow Weave is the space between the strands of the Weave. If the Weave is a spider's web, the gaps in between are the Shadow Weave. Shadow Weave reaches everywhere the Weave does, and more. It is not subject to Mystra’s laws or state of well being. If Mystra were to die and the Weave collapses, the Shadow Weave would persist. [Magic of Faerûn 3e. Personal Comment: Yes. It explicitly says in the book that it’s independent of Mystra’s well being. Clearly this has been modified in 4e since the Shadow Weave needs the structure of the Weave to be somehow stable. It collapsed when the Weave did so, so we can see this begins a series of inconsistencies]
Shadow Weave is a dark and distorted copy of the Weave created by Shar, more suited for spells that drag life or confuse the mind (necromancy, control, illusion schools), and gives more difficulty to cast spells that manipulate energy or matter (evocation or transmutation schools). It can't sustain spells that produce light. Both Weave and Shadow Weave are means to use Raw Magic (see at the end of the post). The more familiar a mortal becomes with the secrets of the Shadow Weave, the more detached they become from the Weave. Shadow Weave is NOT a part of Mystra, so Mystra can't block people from accessing magic via Shadow Weave.
It’s a common mistake to make the analogy that the Shadow Weave is to Shar the same way the Weave is to Mystra. No. Shadow Weave is NOT Shar, while the Weave is Mystra. Shar never developed that level of commitment, making herself one with the Shadow Weave. This is one of the reasons why she could not sustain the Weave during the Spellplague when she tried to corrupt it completely into Shadow Weave.
All this information belongs to Magic of Faerûn 3e and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3e and novels of 4e. There is nothing about Shadow Weave in 5e. If it weren't for Ed Greenwood's twitter, we should have guessed it disappeared from the lore. So far we know it's slowly recovering in the same way the Weave is. And the Shadow Weave doesn't feed on Weave. For some mysterious reason, fandom started to think so due to BG3.
Death moon orb
This artefact belongs to the 3rd edition, created by a Netheril wizard. From him, it passed to the hands of Szass Tam, who saw it destroyed when the Spellplague corrupted the magic in it. I won't give more details about this object because it looks so unrelated to what Gale has in his chest. Not only is its shape inconsistent with what we see in-game, its powers and properties are unrelated to what is explained in EA. The object is cursed, compelling its owner to cause greater acts of evil; it has a size that changes and looks like a violet-black sphere. In my opinion, the only detail in common with Gale's “orb” is the name "orb". Which is a fallacy, since Gale says explicitly that he uses the word "orb" for the lack of a better one, because clearly what Gale has in his chest is not an orb, but a mass of Black Weave.
Netherese orbs
These objects are found in Neverwinter MMO in the quest Whisper in Darkness:
The Netherese are foul plague upon this world, corrupting everything they touch. They have cursed the Gray Wolf Tribe, turning them into bloodthirsty monsters. We must find what the Netherese intend to do with their werewolf slaves. The Shadovar Emissaries use the Netherese Orbs powered by Soul Shards to communicate orders from the Prince of Shadow.
This is all the information we have of this object. That's all. It comes from a Neverwinter MMO game which belongs to 4th edition. Once more, the concept that Gale's “orb” is not an orb but a black mass of untamed magic makes me believe that these objects don't apply either. The nature of their magic is compatible though: Netherese orbs are made from shadow magic by Shadovar, descendant of Netheril stuck in the Plane of Shadow (called Shadowfell later on, read more in the post of "The Netherese in 1492DR"). This plane is the source of Shadow Magic, they don't use Raw Magic. Ethel explicitly said in BG3 that Shadow Magic is Netherese Magic, so maybe we can consider this object filled with Netherese magic? In any case, these Netherese orbs are used for communication... which has nothing to do with Gale's “orb”'s properties. There is also no reference of consuming Weave to remain stable.
Devastation orb
The mention of a "devastation orb" happens only in Yartar in Princes of the Apocalypse (related to the god Tharizdun, the mad god):
In page 5 we have some context: Four elemental cults grow in power in the Sumber Hills, claiming abandoned keeps that connect to an underground fortress once part of an ancient dwarven kingdom. The leaders use elemental magic to create devastation orbs capable of ravaging the countryside. They’ve been testing these magic weapons, bolstering the cults’ ranks, and infiltrating various communities, all directed by visions the prophets receive from the Elder Elemental Eye (Tharizdun). These orbs are plainly described as: essentially bombs of elemental energy to unleash natural disasters.
In page 222 we have a more detailed explanation of what these elements are:
Devastation Orb: (Wondrous item, very rare) A devastation orb is an elemental bomb that can be created at the site of an elemental node by performing a ritual with an elemental weapon. The type of orb created depends on the node used. For example, an air node creates a devastation orb of air. A devastation orb measures 12 inches in diameter, weighs 10 pounds, and has a solid outer shell. The orb detonates 1d100 hours after its creation, releasing the elemental energy it contains. The orb gives no outward sign of how much time remains before it will detonate. Regardless of the type of orb, its effect is contained within a sphere with a 1 mile radius. The orb is the sphere’s point of origin. The orb is destroyed after one use.
Again, I don't see a real connection with Gale's “orb”. These devastation orbs are not netherese-based, they have elemental energy, and despite the explosion, they don't have any mechanics that resemble the consumption of Weave to remain stable. However, I do find a link between these devastation orbs, their process of construction, and the book that Gale found out. The remotest concept I can scratch here is that, whoever crafted the book with that piece of blackest Weave, could have used the knowledge of the construction of these devastation orbs. Instead of filling them with elemental magic, they filled it with a blackest weave of netherese magic. A procedure that could have been applied to the netherese tadpoles as well.
That's all the information I could gather that remotely is called “orb” or has some vague chance to be that blackest weave.
The Game BG3
In the game, all the info that Gale provides in EA about the “orb” is given before his revelation. The what it is, the how it works and the how it feels. In the revelation scene we only learn the details that are personal and intimate for Gale: the why he ended up with the orb, and potential solutions he can guess so far. To show proofs:
During the meeting:
Tav [Wisdom/tadpole] Try peering into his mind. If he won't open up, you'll sneak in. [Success] Narrator: For a split second you see a swirl of untamed magic – then his defences drop like a portcullis.
During the Protocol:
Tav: I simply want to know what it is you're keeping from me Gale: I'm dangerous. Not because I want to be, but because of... an error I made in the past. [before Gale speaks of his loss] It makes me dangerous – even in death. [after Gale speaks of his loss/tadpole intrusion] I told you how I sought to win the favour of Mystra. I did this by trying to control a form of magic only one wizard ever could. I failed to control it. Instead it infested me. It makes me dangerous... even in death. […] Tav: The darkness inside you, what is it? Gale: It's magic from another time and another place. It is something that is beyond me, yet inside me. That makes me dangerous... even in death.
During the stew scene or the ask for artefacts in neutral or lower approval
Tav: [Wisdom/tadpole] you sense secrecy and danger. Use your tadpole to probe Gale's thoughts. [Success] Narrator: you become one with Gale's mind and you can feel something sinister oppressing you. It's... inside of you, a mighty darkness radiating from your chest. You could try to push further, but your hold over Gale feels brittle. It won't be easy delving deeper without him noticing. Delve deeper: [Success] Narrator: “ you see through gale's eye, staring down the corridor of a dread memory. A book, bound, then suddenly opened. Inside there are no pages, only a swirling mass of blackest Weave that pounces. It's teeth, it's claws, it's unstoppable as it digs through you and becomes part of you. And gods, is it ever-hungry.
Gale: The only way to “appease” said condition is for me to take powerful magical artefact and absorb the Weave inside. [...]Tav: What happens if you don't consume any artefact? Gale: Catastrophe. [...] Think of it as... tribute. The kind a king might pay to a more powerful neighbour to avoid invasion. As long as I pay there will be peace. But should I ever stop, along comes a war. I can assure the battlefield would extend well beyond the borders of my body alone. [...] I will consume the magic inside. What was a powerful artefact will be rendered no more than a trinket. But it will save my life- even if only temporarily.
Tav: That condition of yours is a very expensive one. Gale: I obtained it in Waterdeep. Nothing there comes cheap.
Artefacts scenes:
Gale: I can feel the storm abating. [...] I will feel it stir again – like a distant thunder sending tremors through the soul. I will need to consume another artefact before the lightning strikes. There's no choice but to find more. [...] It's good to perceive this constant fear repressed into a quiet scare. Let's hope it will last a good long while.
During Revelation scene:
Gale: The gist of it is that he sought to usurp the goddess of magic so that he could become a god himself. He almost managed but not quite, and his entire empire – Netheril – came crashing down around him as he turned to stone. The magic unleashed that day was phenomenal, rolling like the prime chaos that outdates creation. A fragment of it was caught and sealed away in a book. No ordinary book, mind you; a tome of gateways that contained within it a bubble of Astral Plane. It was a fragment of primal Weave locked out of time – locked away from Mystra herself. ‘What if’, the silly wizard thought. ‘What if after all this time, I could return this lost part of herself to the Goddess?”
Narrator: You feel the tadpole quiver as you realise Gale is letting you in. Into the dark. You see through Gale’s eyes, staring down the corridors of a dread memory. A book, bound, then suddenly opened. Inside there are no pages, only a swirling mass of blackest Weave that pounces. It’s teeth, it’s claws, it’s unstoppable as it digs through you and becomes part of you. And gods, is it ever hungry… [...] This Netherese taint.. this orb, for lack of a better word, is balled up inside my chest. And it needs to be fed. As long as it absorbs Weave it remains stable – to an extent. The moment it becomes unstable, however.. [...] It will erupt. I don’t know the exact magnitude of the eruption, but given my studies of Netherese magic, I’d say even a fragment as small as the one I carry…. It’d level a city the size of Waterdeep
Tav : I should godsdamned kill you GALE: Perhaps that is what I deserve, but you deserve no such thing. To kill me is to unleash the orb.
So far, if we don't use the tadpole, we learn from Gale that he is unwillingly dangerous, there is an ancient magic stuck in his chest—acquired in Waterdeep—that he never could control and it inspires a dreadful state of mind (constant fear). It requires Weave to stay stable, and if it is not fed, a catastrophe will happen that will extend past his body.
With the Tadpole we learn, in addition, part of the details we can learn during the revelation scene: it's a swirl of untamed/chaotic magic which is an ever-hungry "blackest weave".
During the Revelation Scene all the information acquired by the tadpole intrusion is given, in addition to describing this mass of magic as an "orb" despite its inaccuracy. We also learn that killing Gale will only unleash the orb instead of putting an end to the problem.
Gale said everything that is important related to the orb before the party scene, excluding only the personal information since he is a private person. This was exactly the boundary he set when he promised during the stew scene that he was going to explain the what, not the why. With the use of the tadpole we only learn details, simple extra descriptions; all information that Gale will willingly share during the revelation scene anyway.
We can learn a bit more of the “orb”'s function if we explore the goblin party. There, Gale explains part of the mechanism of the “orb” in a "poetic" way, that may or may not be taken exactly as such:
Gale: Two shadows are darkening my soul.The shadow within and the shadow without: you. You led me down this path. [...] I don't know myself anymore. All this... It's not who I am. Around you, I'm not who I want to be. I should leave.
Tav: [Insight] Stay. We make each other stronger. We make each other survive. /OR/ [Deception] You don't stand a chance alone. You're free to go. I dare you.
[Success][DC15] Gale: [...]. Few things are more powerful than the will to live. But carnage such as this.... the shadow within is spreading like poison, corrupting kindness and compassion. [...]. Tonight I need to wash my hands of blood and my mind of shattering memories.
This shows that when playing an Evil Tav who sides with the Goblins, we have an extra description for this “orb”. Again, I ponder every bit of information with its context: Gale is a poet, and he tends to speak with metaphors specially when it comes to emotional painful states of mind or when it comes to the “orb” (which puts him in a very emotional state that even the tadpole doesn't), so these lines can perfectly be understood as a poetic way to describe his deep regret for participating in massacring the Tieflings. However, there is this detail that I can't overlook: the shadow within, understood as the blackest Weave, is spreading across his body, corrupting his good essence. As we saw in the post of "Extensive list of Gale's approvals", compassion and kindness are key elements in Gale's personality. This scene shows a potential that is not explored in EA: the “orb” seems to set a path in which it will corrupt Gale.
Now this could be considered as a potential beginning of a shift of alignment, but it goes against what Sven said several times in interviews and presentations: he stated that they were not considering to change alignments in the companions (if you can imagine all the extra branches that it opens up, it makes sense not to allow it given the already colossal proportions of the game), so it's hard to suspect how Gale would evolve from here, or if this situation will give him reasons to attempt to kill this Evil Tav eventually (which is my personal guess). Sven suggested many times that companions could potentially kill Tav or other companions during their sleep. We saw this happening in EA with Astarion. Using datamining content, we saw the same with Lae'Zel and Shadowheart. I don't see why not to give in-character reasons to make this mechanism work with Gale as well.
As an extra (datamining) detail, we have Ethel's vicious mockery line emphasising the concept of "the shadow within":
Ethel: I can smell what's under those bandages wizard, you're all rot and ruin.
Putting aside the unnerving detail that Gale's concept art has bandages on one of his hands while the game is oblivious to this, the idea of Gale's “orb” as a source of rot and ruin, in combination with that necrotic aura when he dies, gives us a sure idea that there is a “disease” spreading in Gale's body as a consequence of this blackest weave stuck in his chest.
All the in-game information was presented, so now let's drag conclusions: Comparing all the information extracted from the scenes, we can now consider how much potential has the lore object named before:
Shadow Weave: Could Gale's “orb” be a fragment of Shadow Weave?
Strengths of the argument: Gale's “orb” is described as "blackest weave". It could barely be a hint, even though the Shadow weave has no canon colour nor physical description in the corebooks. So this is a very weak strength.
Weaknesses of the argument: Shadow Weave doesn't feed on Weave (this is a fallacy so far I've checked. It would make no sense to feed on the same object that it needs to exist.) Shadow Weave doesn't explode nor is chaotic.
Death moon orb:
Strengths: It's called an "orb". And it was made by a netherese arcanist, so it must contain “netherese magic”.
Weaknesses: This object was destroyed during the Spellplague. It's a physical orb which changes size, but it's not an "amorphous mass" of magic. It doesn't consume Weave.
Netherese Orb:
Strengths: It's called an "orb". It's made of shadow magic (which is not netherse magic in corebooks but in game Ethel used both denominations as synonymous). We know Shadovar are masters of Shadow Magic. Read more in the post "The Netherese in 1492DR".
Weaknesses: This object doesn't appear in the corebooks. It's used for communication. It doesn't seem to have any explosive properties nor consumes Weave.
Devastation orb:
Strengths: It's called an "orb". They explode with the intensity to destroy a city.
Weaknesses: It's made of elemental magic (not netherese magic). It's a solid object, a bomb (not an amorphous mass). It doesn't consume weave.
Personal speculation
I don't think any of these canon objects are or inspired Gale's “orb”. If we take the descriptions in-game as they are, and considering the importance that Karsus and his folly have been given in the whole game (to the point that Larian added ingame books explaining part of it) I support two hypothesis that, by now, they must be obvious for lorists since I want to work with what the game (and datamining) gives me:
1- The concept that this is a piece of corrupted Weave that Karsus' Avatar allowed to have access to when he disrupted the Weave. Gale calls it “primal weave” as well, which is a concept that doesn't exist so far in the corebooks, and one could relate, very barely, with raw magic. Maybe.
2- Heavy magic (key concept during 2e)
To understand this we need MORE lore (I know, this has no end; this is why I think a lot of misunderstandings with Gale’s character come from the big holes of lore that EA leaves, which is obvious, it's EA) So, allow me to clear out the concepts:
Karsus' Avatar is the name of the spell that caused Karsus' folly and made him a god for just an ephemeral moment. The notes regarding the spell’s essence were nowhere to be found. It’s believed that Mystra, the reincarnated form of Mystryl, snatched the spell information from the ruins of Karsus’s enclave and sent it “on an eternal journey to the ends of the universe” (who knows what this means). Besides, as if this were not enough precaution, Mystra changed the rules of magic on the material plane making it impossible to cast spells over 10th level. Karsus' Avatar was a 12th level spell.
Raw Magic is “the stuff of creation, the mute and mindless will of existence, permeating every bit of matter and present in every manifestation of energy throughout the multiverse. Mortals can't directly shape this raw magic. Instead, they make use of a fabric of magic, a kind of interface between the will of a spellcaster and the stuff of raw magic. The spellcasters of the Forgotten Realms call it the Weave and recognize its essence as the goddess Mystra.” [Player's Handbook 5e]
The creation of the Weave allowed all mortals to have access to magic through study. The Weave works like a barrier and an interpreter to use the real source of magic: Raw Magic. For more information on this, check the wiki (otherwise each of these posts will be mini books of lore). Few mortals can tap magic from the raw magic. Spells like silver fire are part of the raw magic. Some wild mages can tap into it as well, but at the cost of making their spells very random. Only Weave-disruptive events can allow an uncontrolled influx of raw magic into the world (which can be considered what happened during Karsus' folly)
Mythalars are immense artefacts that work like intermediates of the Raw Magic. They don't use the Weave, they have direct access to Raw Magic and were used to power up magical artefacts around them (thanks to these objects the Netheril cities floated in the air). Touching a mythalar causes instant death since Raw magic is harmful for most mortals.
So the first hypothesis (corrupted Weave) means that when Karsus cast this spell and became the Weave itself for a brief moment, he may have access to Raw magic directly. His spell Karsus' avatar started using common Weave, but in the second he connected deeply with the Weave and with Mystryl's powers, he had access to Raw magic as a god. His spell may have changed the source of its power from the Weave to Raw Magic, adding the latter's randomness and chaos to the spell itself and therefore, corrupting the Weave. The transition, so violent like the whole event, may have corrupted part of the Weave that was being used while casting the spell. According to Gale's description, the “orb” stuck in his chest is a piece of Weave with the active effect of Karsus' Avatar (the spell), but the Narrator gives us the extra information that it's corrupted. Apparently Gale never realised this object was corrupted, or may have known it and he tried to cleanse it so he could return it to Mystra. Either way, the source of the corruption may have been the sudden transition to Raw Magic during the casting. My main problem with this hypothesis is how a spell can be stuck in a piece of Weave, since Gale's “orb” maintains Karsus's avatar's effect.
On one hand, Karsus' Avatar main effect is “to absorb god-like powers”. In that moment of history, this spell was aimed at Mystryl, and therefore to the Weave. The disruption of the event “stuck” the effect of “absorbing weave” in a piece of Weave, while the chaotic nature of this “orb” could be attributed to the direct presence of Raw Magic, also stuck in it. Now, another weakness of this hypothesis is that nothing of this causes a "corruption disease" as Gale implies it (we only know that the failure of the spell turned Karsus into stone). So we don't have a good argument for this effect beyond the one “I believe that since the moment was disruptive, it must have corrupted something, and that corruption is quite unhealthy in a mortal body”. Which it's not of my liking, but this is what we get up to this point in EA.
The second hypothesis I talked about is another lore concept intimately related to Karsus in 2e: Heavy Magic (which I personally prefer over the first hypothesis).
Heavy magic is physical, tangible magic, usually presented as a viscous mass of chaotic nature. It can crawl, entering into cracks of a wall or a body, for example. Karsus created a distilled version of this magic called super heavy magic, and experimented with people. The subject eating a bit of this magic will have heavy magic spread on all the inner walls of their body and will kill them (it's not a disease, but it spreads inside and kills). The usual effect of the stable super heavy magic was to magnify the powers of a spell or enchantment (it allowed spells to be stuck in it), however it could be used for everything.
Karsus used this element to enhance enchantments on walls, for example projecting illusions endlessly. This means that this product has the ability of keeping a spell functioning in it (as we see that this black weave keeps the function of the Karsus' avatar). [Dangerous Games, 2e]
Naturally, heavy magic absorbs life energies (maybe another characteristic fitting the concept of disease and necrotic effects). There is an event (2e) related to this aspect in which the renegade arcanist Wulgreth became a lich after heavy magic overflew him [Power and Pantheons, 2e]
As it is easy to see, this concept shares a lot of similarities with the object stuck in Gale's chest. But there is still more:
In the novel Dangerous Games (2e), strongly focused on how Karsus experimented with Heavy Magic, it is explicitly said that Karsus infused himself with super heavy magic before casting Karsus' avatar (probably to magnify the spell power but we also know that heavy magic can get spells stuck in it). He grew taller, and glowed in a white-silver radiance. Babbling arcane chants, the super heavy magic raged within him until he came into a state of being between a man and deity. Then it followed his folly. Karsus “died”, turning his body into red-hued stone, bound in eternal torment to relieve repeatedly the moment he became aware of his folly.
So there exists a chance that a pieces of super heavy magic (in which Karsus was infused when all this happened) may have kept Karsus' Avatar effect stuck in them. One of these pieces could have been recovered later around the red stone where Karsus is now. This could potentially be the object or, at least, in what it had inspired Gale's “orb”. It's also worth noticing that one of the main characters in this novel Dangerous Games was looking for ways to safely contain heavy magic and avoid its damaging effect, so there is extra lore information about vessels that could justify the sealed book that Gale found in Waterdeep.
As an extra detail on this matter, we know that the runes of teleportation may have been made with heavy magic: "Gale: See that rune? Netherese, I think. Weave's so thick on it, it's almost viscous."
Since Gale is calling "Weave" to the element attached to the teleport runes, it makes me wonder if this was a slight variation that Larian made of the canon concept of Heavy Magic to not add new concepts to the already complex world of Forgotten Realms. Maybe, in the end, both hypotheses are the same: the second one is strictly more canon-related than the first one, which is more or less the same but simplified in terms and concepts.
As a last conclusion from my personal point of view, I see no much sense in calling this thing “orb”. In game it's clearly described as an amorphous black mass, not an orb. And it made me remember Gale's original description, when the EA was not released yet: it's the only way where I can see its nonsensical origin, which was done in a completely different context.
Gale has one ambition: to become the greatest wizard Faerûn has ever known. Yet his thirst for magic led to disaster. A Netherese Destruction Orb beats in his chest, counting down to an explosion that can level a city. Gale is confident he'll overcome it, but time is not on his side.
After the game was released in EA, Gale's description changed radically, and therefore his current description has a different approach entirely, removing the concept of "orb" for what we know in the game: “ancient chaotic magic”.
Wizard prodigy: Gale is a wizard prodigy whose love for a goddess made him attempt a dread feat no mortal should. Blighted by the forbidden magic of ancient Netheril, Gale strives to undo the corruption that is overtaking him and win back his goddess’ favour before he becomes a destroyer of worlds.
This is one of the many details that make me believe that Gale's original concept/character was changed significantly before the EA release. But this is a mere personal speculation. For more details on netherese magic, read the post of "The Netherese in 1492DR".
Source:
2nd edition: Powers and Pantheons, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Dangerous Games by Emery Clayton. 3rd Edition: Faith and Pantheon, Magic of Faerûn 4th edition Player's Handbook 5th edition: Player's Handbook, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
This post was written in May 2021. → For more Gale: Analysis Series Index
57 notes
·
View notes
Text
Infinite is connected to Solaris
This is gonna be a long one, strap in.
Infinite, Infinite, Infinite. The most recent in-game villain, and the most powerful in recent history as well. Despite being only around 3 years old, he’s become extremely popular. and half of that is because of the song.
Mephiles, Iblis, and Solaris. Villains over 10 years old that haven’t been used since their original game appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Or... have they?
Now I want to say before all of this, this all could be coincidences, me being delusional, or something otherwise. It is ONLY a theory, but for something as crazy as I’m claiming I need to preface with this for my own sanity.
But i’m gonna cut the bullshit. You’re here to see how I am going to bs my way to saying that Infinite the Jackal is connected to a dead god from what is regarded as the worst Sonic game.
And, like most of these, I need to start with some house cleaning, some things you need to understand.
1. Time Eater is Mephiles
You might have seen me meme about this before...
...But yeah that’s exactly the situation.
I had theorized this before I knew Ian Flynn thought the same thing. Their identical color-schemes, almost identical aesthetic, and completely identical power-set.
Even the name Time-Eater, that was Mephiles, and Solaris’s goal. To eat time.
2. Ifrit is Iblis
Now i’m going to assume you have two questions
If Time Eater is Mephiles, than where’s his counterpart, Iblis?
Who the fuck is Ifrit
Long and Short,
But, more importantly,
Ifrit is what caused Silver’s Future post Sonic 06.
Ifirit was their retcon for keeping Silver’s future the way it is (even though they defeat it at the end of sonic rivals 2, causing the future to not be that way, hence why Silver was 3 conflicting backstories. Thanks guys.)
So, when it comes to fire demon that destroys the world and causes the future that Silver the hedgehog lives in, that’s a good amount of evidence already, especially with the preface that Mephiles is alive in the form of Time-Eater. If Mephiles was reborn, why wouldn’t also Iblis? and Ifirit is so uncannily similar theres no other candidate.
also, might I add:
(thanks @zorloser)
For you who don’t know, Ifrit’s story ended being re-trapped in it’s pocket dimension with Eggman Nega.
3. The Phantom Ruby
The Phantom Ruby... Oh, the Phantom Ruby.
A very new addition to Sonic, and yet very important. It was the leading mcguffin of two games, and is made out to be very powerful.
yes I know that’s a lot up there, but you need to understand the Phantom Ruby to fully understand this theory.
It’s also very important that Eggman didn’t create the Phantom Ruby as he claims. He created Infinite, not the stone attached to him. Despite there being prototypes, which does confuse me, but from what info we’re given from the wiki the Phantom Ruby seems to have come from Classic Sonic’s universe, even retreating there after the events of Forces. This is also confirmed in Episode Shadow:
Although, Eggman did name it, seemingly on a whim.
~Tangent Time~
Despite being CALLED a Ruby by Eggman, the Phantom Ruby doesn't LOOK like a ruby, despite being magenta.
Rubies CAN be dark even to the point of being Black, but never connected. They’re usually just one shade.
(And don’t you dare say “The chaos emeralds don’t look like emeralds bc they’re not green. They’re all TECHNICALLY emeralds, they’re part of the beryl family, and even if only green beryls are called emeralds, they are all the exact shades of beryl.)
But what the Phantom Ruby DOES look like, is obsidian.
note this for later.
4. Infinite
For those who don’t fully know Infinite’s backstory, it’s expanded upon on the wiki and Rise of Infinite
Now that we’re all on the same page, lets continue to him now.
Lovingly referred to as the “Masked Clown.” Infinite goes about the entirety of Sonic Forces revealing nothing of himself, the only things we know about him are from Episode Shadow and Rise of Infinite. We don’t even see his real face in-game.
Although we have enough to know that his personality changed post Phantom Ruby, it’s even mentioned on the Wiki. Although how much of that change was spurred on by being beat up by a 15 year old, we’ll probably never know.
Although his goal has always been the same. Starting the planet over as a desolate wasteland. What a fun dude to be around. Probably the life of the party.
5. Connections
(i’m using Mephiles and Time-Eater intermittently, same with Iblis and Ifrit.)
Alright, now we’re all on the same page. Let’s move on.
I’m going to play a game we’ve played before. I’m going to name something about Infinite or the Phantom Ruby, and add something that’s eerily simmilar to Solaris (Mephiles + Iblis)
All of this Info can be found on the Sonic Wiki
Phantom Ruby: -It is an interdimensional gemstone of incredible power- Ifrit: It is an interdimensional, demonic fire-creature of incredible power- (wow those are, the same description huh)
Infinite: -After Infinite's fusion with the finalized Phantom Ruby prototype, he acquired the ability to generate, destroy, and manipulate virtual realities, which he could turn into virtual reality projections to interact with reality.[32] Said virtual realities are illusions, which Infinite creates by exercising control of one's visual and depth perception by feeding the brain false information- Ifrit: -Described as capable of binding one's soul, the Ifrit can enslave others with powerful mind control powers.- -Ifrit, which manages to use some kind of mind control on Sonic and/or Tails (or Knuckles and/or Rouge, depending on which team the player is controlling), but is defeated by the other teams, and is destroyed.-
Infinite: -Infinite's newfound strength proved so great that he was able to effortlessly defeat figures like E-123 Omega and Silver the Hedgehog, and ultimately best even Sonic the Hedgehog twice. He was even able to single-handedly overwhelm the entire Resistance army during Operation Big Wave. His power was such that not even the Miles Electric was able to give an accurate reading of his capabilities.[31] Time Eater: -the Time Eater has demonstrated immense super strength; even in its incomplete form, it easily knocked Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic unconscious with a single hit. After being completed, the Time Eater was able to effortlessly repel both Classic and Modern Sonic's and knock them out using brute force alone-
Phantom Ruby: Its powers can also warp the fabric of space-time,[1] allowing it to create pocket dimensions such as Egg Reverie Zone and Null Space, as well as teleport entities from place to place. When used alongside the Chaos Emeralds' time-space powers, it transported Classic Sonic and itself to another dimension, and later sucked Dr. Eggman into a rift- Time Eater: Its signature skill however, is creating "Time Holes",[8] spacial rifts that lead to any point across time and space, including alternate timelines and across different dimensions.
Infinite: When everything you know has come and gone (You are at your lowest, I am rising higher) Only scars remain of who I was (What I find in the ashes, you lose in the fire) When there's no one left to carry on (This is an illusion, open up your eyes and...) This pain persists, I can't resist But that's what it takes to be infinite Solaris: -Much like his two halves, Iblis and Mephiles, Solaris is immortal and virtually indestructible.- -As a transcendent life form, Solaris possesses a unique state of existence that lets him exist in the past, present and future simultaneously, making him omnipresent throughout time and virtually impossible to defeat unless he is attacked simultaneously in all eras-
Possible reach:
Phantom Ruby:
Solaris:
(I’m refering to the odd red-stone in the middle, also that the wings somewhat resemble Infinite’s sword.)
~Tangent Time~
remember the first tangent? Where I meantioned that the Phantom “Ruby” looked more like obsidian than a ruby?
Well someone else looks like a certain type of obsidian, Snowflake Obsidian to be exact:
Alright Reaching time over.
Now you might have noticed that the Ifrit-Infinite connections seemed to fit just a bit more-Maybe it was just me- even down to the Phantom Ruby and Ifrit’s OPENING DESCRIPTION being almost copy/paste, which i’m still amazed at.
This get’s to the next part of my theory.
6. Where are they (Mephiles/Iblis) now?
Welcome to~ where are they now!
Mephiles, or Time-Eater, So far is undocumented. It’s said they were “Destoryed” at the end of Sonic Generations, but for all we know it was just the machine additions, and Mephiles was “destoryed” over 10 years ago and he started kicking again.
Iblis, or Ifrit, was locked in it’s own pocket dimention along with Nega, and hasn’t been seen since...or have they?
haha that’s a callback! Do you remember the beginning of this post or is it too mindbogglingly long for your brain to comprehend in one sitting?
7. The Phantom Ruby is Iblis/Ifrit
let’s talk about the power set of the Phantom Ruby. Interdimentional, very powerful, capable of some kind of mind fuckery.
Ifrit is, Interdimentional, very powerful, capable of some kind of mind fuckery, immortal and is constantly on fire,
You may be wondering about this “Fire” thing. “Solaris was a sun god and infinite has no connection-” WRONG!
sorry that was forceful.
Infinite used a very specific and strange method to destroy the planet. He made an illusion of the sun, and set it on the planet. Out of all the methods, and interesting choice to be sure. But not for a sun god.
also: “What I find in the ashes, you lose in the fire”
“What are you saying you dumb bitch?” You might be thinking. First of all, rude, second of all, I’m saying that the power inside the Phantom Ruby IS Iblis/Ifrit, hence their connection.
Before I get to timeline and other stuff, some minor things:
The decision to have Infinite take on specifically Silver, and showing Silver being able to withstand a fight against him for a good amount of time, as well as giving them a minor repertoire, which no other seemingly “unconnected” Resistance Fighters get.
the name “Infinite” fitting the naming scheme if “Iblis and Ifrit” and you know how this franchise is about naming schemes.
Now, where we last left Ifrit he was trapped in a pocket dimension with Nega.
Where we first find the Phantom Ruby is “In Sonic Mania, the Phantom Ruby appeared on Angel Island after a dimensional breach occurred in the atmosphere.” (via sonic wiki)
Now, it is kinda hard to connect those two lines, but the dimensional causation is there.
(I could add an ENTIRE subsection of me trying to connected Mephiles to the time-traveling nature of Little Planet, therefore connecting Solaris to Classic Sonic’s world ((and “fun is infinite)) but this theory doesn’t need to be any longer and I cannot physically do any more research.)
it’s possible Ifrit would be trapped, Mephiles was trapped in the Scepter of Darkness, so it’s more possible than impossible.
But, Imma be fully honest with you guys, Most of this is because of the song.
If you haven’t heard “Infinite”, What is wrong with you. Go listen to it. Oh my god.
But, some of the lyrics, don’t totally make sense knowing Infinite’s backstory. But it makes more sense seeing through the lens of the added Ifrit influence.
“And after all this time you're back for more“ (If talking about Shadow, it wasn’t a “long time” inbetween Infinite’s defeat and his rise. And Infinite has no stated relationship with Sonic. However, Solaris and subsequently, Iblis, do.) “When everything you know has come and gone“ “But that's what it takes to be infinite“
Even the name “Infinite.”
He chose that name after fusing to the Phantom Ruby and “ABAndoNiNg hIS pAsT SeLf”
But, the Phantom Ruby has no connotations of immortality. None specified. it’s possible it’s power could be used to trick the user into immortality, but it’s never specified. You’d think he’d be called “Phantom” or, even, “Zero” (his working-and possibly true-name) But no. Infinite.
Now, think back to the connections earlier, and the info I took from Solaris’s wiki.
“Omnipresent throughout time and space”
Sounds pretty “Infinite” to me.
Am I saying Infinite is the new Iblis Trigger? Yes.
Ok my fingers hurt from writing this sorry it’s so long
bye
383 notes
·
View notes
Text
I so badly want a Roman prequel series. More than a Solangelo book. There could be so many great things in it.
Ideally, we’d get a series, basically original PJO but on the Roman side, presumably then following Jason in the same way we originally followed Percy.
But that would just be rehashing what we’ve already seen! Jason’s story would be too similar to Percy’s! - I hear you cry. But bear with me.
Yes: there would be some big similarities - following a son of one of the big three as he grows up and masters his powers and all that. And yes it would also conclude with him fighting a titan. But! I also think they’re different enough that it would read more as parallels than just copy and paste. It could be really interesting.
For one thing: Jason is starting way earlier than Percy. And I am desperate to know about the wolves thing. Correct me if I’m wrong, but all the info we have thus far is pretty vague, no? We know he went to the wolves when he was about two years old. But we don’t really know how long he stayed with them.
There’s the idea that he was raised by wolves (which don’t get me wrong I love that) and only went to the Legion when he was older - for parallels sake say about twelve. But we don’t know that’s the case for sure. He might’ve just spent the more or less normal time period with the wolves, or even if he were there longer than most - a year, two years even - he might’ve toddled off to camp still pretty young.
Cause this is another thing: we know very little about Camp Jupiter. In CHB you see for a fact that there are plenty of young demigods there, talking ten and under. Unless I’m mistaken, we never really heard mention of any little kids in the Legion right? Hazel was what, thirteen, in SoN, which is fairly young, but I don’t think there was any mention of anyone much younger than that. There was the little girl helping Terminus, but she was from New Rome not the Legion. And the Legion isn’t a summer camp of course, that’s a crucial difference.
They are quite literally an army, preparing for war should one ever arise. So do they have a minimum age requirement? Would not be unreasonable to assume they would. We know the majority of Legionaries are legacies from New Rome as opposed to actual half bloods, so it’s not unreasonable to think these kids live normal lives in New Rome until they hit a certain age and get conscripted/have the option to join the Legion for training.
If this is the case, then Jason might not’ve been with the wolves for years at all. He could’ve done his time and then been passed along to the care of New Rome. Set up somewhere to go to school and grow up and have something of a life to prepare him for his future in the Legion. That would be an interesting difference from Percy who had grown up not knowing about his heritage, for Jason to be fully aware of his godly parentage and to grow up knowing he was heading to the Legion as soon as he was old enough. I’m not sure about timings because in The Lost Hero pretty sure he’s fifteen and has twelve lines on his tattoo “for twelve years of service in the Legion” according to the wiki; but the wiki for the tattoos alone says the lines can be for years at Camp Jupiter or for completed quests and such, so it could mean he was toddling about CJ at three years old in mini Legionnaire armour like Caligula (oh the irony), or just that he crammed a crap load of cool stuff into just a few years when he was older.
So the series could quite happily start with him joining the Legion and maybe just summarise his life before that, have the important parts explained as relevant to the plot, I dunno. But it would give us more info on how Camp Jupiter actually works because personally I am clamouring for more info on the Romans.
Presuming that Jason is at least a Probatio by the time he’s about twelve (and it’d be cool to see him earn his full place in the legion too), that also means we’d get to see other people’s stories happening alongside his.
We know he fought the Trojan Sea Monster at some point, so that would be a cool quest to see play out. We don’t know a lot of other things he’s done, but we can assume he’d have been in the Legion when Reyna turned up, which would also be a really interesting story to follow.
We know from tSoM that Reyna and Hylla were on Circe’s island, when Percy was about 12/13, and it seems in SoN that he and Reyna were both around the same age, 16 or so. We know Reyna and Hylla spent some time after tSoM on Blackbeard’s ship before she made it to Camp Jupiter. So somewhere between ages 12-16, she would pop up at camp and I firmly believe she would’ve been Jason’s friend before they both became Praetors. And I would kill to see it. I wanna see them go on a quest together so badly. They would be an awesome team.
But we’d get to see Jason go through the steps, Probatio to Centurion to Praetor. We’d see him improving the Fifth Cohort’s standing in the Legion. We’d see Reyna become Praetor. (We’d ideally see Jason and Octavian gently bitch at each other like with Percy, but that’s just for me.) We’d get to see Jason and Reyna being Praetors together for a bit hopefully. That would be cool. And no doubt the series would conclude with their side of the Titan War, with Krios’ defeat - which would be so cool to see!
Being able to see more of their side of the war would also be really interesting as well. Because surely, there was more to it for them than just that one battle out of nowhere right? They must’ve been aware of the war and enlisted by the gods to help out right? Maybe there were some other titans for them to fight, maybe they had defectors too? Perhaps they were under the impression Kronos was still chopped up in little bits and Krios was running the show, either wanting to take Kronos’ place as the big cheese, or thinking the titans were working to reform Kronos, but they were kept out of Luke’s side of things so they didn’t realise that he already had been? Who knows. Certainly not me, cause we don’t have any books on it.
And there would be opportunities to have almost crossovers. Particularly regarding the war. They might just overhear things that don’t necessarily make sense to them but that we get, stuff like that. See some aftermath from one of Percy’s visits to the area. So many options.
Oh also actually, just for added angst and a different view than Percy’s, there was that freaking tragic bit in HoH I think where Jason thinks about his mother. The part about following orders and rules bothered him, but he insisted on doing so and keeping his promises because his mother had abandoned him and broken her promise. That would be an interesting aspect for the narration and his point of view because it’s the exact opposite of Percy. Percy doesn’t mind pushing the limits with the gods and exploiting loopholes or calling them on their faults, focused on surviving till the end of the day when he can go home to his mother and forget the gods and their stupid rules. Jason, on the other hand, doesn’t have anywhere to go back to. Camp Jupiter and the roles he’s given there are quite literally it for him, so even though he may resent it as much as Percy, he feels the need to bite his tongue and do everything in his power meet expectations and stay in line, etc. And yes, it’s for the benefit of others like he said in HoH, but maybe also the threat that if he makes too much trouble, where else is he gonna go and who else outside the Legion does he have?
Unfortunately we wouldn’t get to see Frank and Hazel come into it as newbies because that would’ve only happened after the war, so unlikely the series would continue after they beat Krios. But it’d still be a good set up to lead back into HoO alongside original PJO.
Also, I wanna know if Jason would’ve been particularly aware of his dad handing him off to Juno, or if she took a back seat until yoinking his memories out his head and dumping him on a dusty bus. I quite like the idea of him knowing, that she wouldn’t have been shy about popping up now and again as his patron, maybe sending him quests, offering occasional assistance like Poseidon did for Percy. Juno cared about her little champion, you can’t tell me different. I’d like to see her drop by from time to time. Or if he just accepted he was Jupiter’s and his dad basically never wanted to talk to him, and was a bit blindsided when Juno popped up after his hit on Krios.
Maybe he was just heading to bed after a long day of Titan slaying, thinking what he’d have for breakfast tomorrow and poof - Juno staring at him in his PJs, doesn’t he feel underdressed. Barely gets out an “um-?” before she’s like “got a quest for you. Surprise!”
(Since we got The Fall Of Jason Grace from Apollo in ToA, this series could be called something silly like The Rise Of Jason Grace to mirror it. I dunno.)
Either way, I need this. We deserve this. I will literally pay like 20$ per book if we could get this.
Wrote this hella sleep deprived and without sources and I’m still in ToA and haven’t read the extra books yet like demigod files and the Probatio one, so anything I’ve missed, had been answered, or is just plain wrong, let me know.
#imagine cute little baby Jason in his armour tho#Jason little boots grace#he’d have been cuter than Caligula#we urgently need Roman prequels#please rick#take all my money#just please#pjo verse#pjo fandom#pjo hoo#heroes of olympus#pjo headcanon#jason grace#camp jupiter#pjo Romans#reyna pjo#percy jackson#Praetor Jason is so interesting to me#I really wanna see it#I hope he was friends with Dakota#he could be their third on his quest with Reyna#heroes of olympus headcanons#hoo headcanon#jason grace headcanon#jason grace imagine#heroes of olympus imagines#hoo imagine#pjo imagine#baby jason#percy jackson headcanon
61 notes
·
View notes
Note
hi! so i’ve been reading up on chinese history and mostly going down wikipedia rabbit holes but i came across your posts about qing dynasty hairstyles. just curious, where did you actually find these information? do you have any tips on researching more niche topics like this? i’m having a hard time with it and i’m not able to find solid info with references or are credible :/ maybe my chinese isn’t that good but I find that searching questions in chinese also doesn’t yield a lot of results. Maybe because i’m using google and not whatever is allowed in China? thanks for the tips !! have a good day :>
Honestly the information on the Qing hairstyles posts I’ve been gathering and holding on for so long and it’s all gathered in bits and pieces so I can’t really list individual sources anymore. It’s hard for me to talk about my process of researching information because 1) it’s totally chaotic and 2) it’s usually not born out of like an inherently academic interest but a more practical need. I write Huan Zhu Ge Ge fanfiction, so everything I have ever looked up about the Qing dynasty is because I needed to know these things to write my fics.
I’m not even sure if any tip for searching for information in Chinese I can give is going to be useful for anyone, mostly because the method is very specific to me as a Vietnamese person.
(tl;dr: use Chinese search engines and search using Chinese characters not pinyin.)
Other than just cultural osmosis from dramas, most of my research for my fanfics come from these sources:
1. Wikipedia
I usually start with English Wikipedia mostly because I’m a third culture bilingual whose default internet language is English, but for topics on Chinese culture and history, Vietnamese Wikipedia can sometimes have full Wiki articles when the English version are just short stubs. If failing that, I sometimes wander into Chinese Wikipedia, but I don’t find Chinese-language Wikipedia articles are as helpful as the Chinese equivalent, Baidu Baike. More on that later.
2. Google searches
Sometimes, you do get some information from cultural blogs/tourism blogs/websites that tell you things about Chinese culture/history in general just through history search but as you can already tell, they tend to be very general.
3. Information already translated into Vietnamese by other people
So this is where in recent years the popularity of dramas such as Zhen Huan and Ruyi come in useful. There are Facebook groups for fans of these dramas where the people running the fan pages do know Chinese and they have translated a lot of information on Qing clothes, customs and historical records into Vietnamese. A lot of our series of posts on Qing dynasty costumes are retranslated from these Vietnamese sources. For the Qing dynasty costumes posts on this blog, I did do a cursory “reverse engineering”? fact check by putting the names of the different clothing articles etc. through Baidu Baike and running through Google-translated versions of those Baike articles, and if they more or less match what the Vietnamese translations were saying, I’m taking them as probably at least somewhat credible/not totally made up.
(This is why you shouldn’t take everything we say on this blog as irrefutable.)
4. Baidu search engine, Baike and other Chinese sources
Ok, so the thing you need to know about me is that:
I’m Vietnamese
Since the mid-2000s, I have only ever watched Chinese dramas subtitled in Vietnamese (as opposed to dubbed). Watching subbed dramas helps a lot with listening comprehension but also recognition of common Chinese characters because all Chinese dramas come with Chinese subs as well. This does mean that while I can’t speak or write Chinese, I now can watch raw dramas and understand maybe about 40%? depending on how familiar I am with the tropes in the drama.
In my bored uni days I used to moderate a forum on Chinese dramas, which required, among other things, searching for and translating Chinese entertainment news.
All this means is that over the years, I have developed certain tricks to search for information in Chinese as a Vietnamese person.
Firstly, it is always much easier to search things on the internet using Chinese characters instead of pinyin, which is usually pretty useless when conveying actual information because Chinese is full of homophones. I can’t actually type Chinese, but the thing about smartphone Chinese pinyin keyboards and Chinese search engines such as Baidu is that if you type in pinyin, it will auto-suggest Chinese characters for you. Of course you then need to be familiar with pinyin and able to read some Chinese characters to know that you’re searching for the right thing. This is where my years of watching Chinese dramas with subtitles come in as it means sometimes I can guess the pinyin by listening to the spoken Chinese and use that to search things and/or recognise the corresponding Chinese characters.
(When you see us use Chinese characters on this blog, I’ve basically just opened Baidu, typed in the pinyin in order to copy the Chinese characters. Yes it’s a whole process.)
The search engine Baidu pretty much works as Google does, and if you search a term, of the first things it will give you is the Baike page for that thing. Baike is probably about as reliable as Wikipedia on non-sensitive topics that would not be subject to censorship, which is good enough usually.
Baike is obviously in Chinese, so to understand that, I would Google translate it into either English or Vietnamese. These days, Google translate is surprisingly okay when translating Chinese-English that if I’m not too invested in the topic, I can make do with just getting the general idea through the Google English translation. However, if Chinese-English fails, and I translate it into Vietnamese. Google is usually better at translating Chinese-Vietnamese as Vietnamese does have Chinese roots and shares syntax and grammatical structures.
Sometimes, when Google doesn’t give me the information I need, I will also put bits of the text that Google can’t make sense of into a Han-Viet converter. Without going into the historical relationship between Vietnamese and literary written Chinese, what this essentially does is convert the Chinese text into Han-Viet words, which is the Vietnamese equivalent of probably Shakespeare English? or maybe Middle English. These Han Viet words are now also written in the modern Vietnamese roman alphabet, which means I can now read the words, and understand maybe 50-60% of it, as vocab used in modern formal written Vietnamese still borrows significantly from Chinese words/have Chinese roots. Han-Viet converters online also come with a dictionary, so the bits I don’t understand I can look up the Chinese characters and understand the information that way.
Reading whole articles in Han-Viet is a pain in the ass and I would never do that, but bits of converted Han-Viet combined with Google translate usually gives me a pretty good understanding of simple Chinese text like Baike articles.
Keywords
In terms of keywords, it can sometimes be tricky if you don’t already have a term that you’re searching specifically. If you have a more general question then I guess in that case you would either have to know some rudimentary Chinese to search on Chinese search engines, or resort to searching in English. But if you can form questions in Chinese, I would suggest using Baidu for your searches, instead of Google.
Navigating Chinese internet as a person who doesn’t speak Chinese can be very daunting and I guess...it just takes time to get used to? I’m not sure if I have any advice other than that, to be honest. -h
18 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Night Ali Disappeared ~ A PLL Night of Terror ~
In other words, the night Ali had too many people against and after her and she almost got murdered for it.
*most info comes from a PLL site if I can’t remember every little detail so I rewrote the majority of my version of events and copy and pasted some parts along with some of the pictures, so credit goes to them for putting it altogether for us.
Link: https://prettylittleliars.fandom.com/wiki/Sequence_of_Events_-_Alison%27s_Disappearance#The_Day_Alison_Went_Missing_-_September_1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lets take a trip down memory lane shall we??? This is gonna be a long one. Read it if you want to or read it from the link as well :)
1. The morning of: Alison went to Hilton Head to meet up and be with Ian to get her mind off of - A. And at the same time Melissa was there with Ian but in separate rooms. Melissa showed up in Ian’s room and was angry with Ian for knowing Ali is there with him and he tells her that Alison means nothing to him, that’s when Alison finds Ian’s creepy pedo videos and it happens to be one of Toby and Jenna. She gets a copy of the video and then leaves.
2. Alison checks into the Lost Woods Resort under her Alias Vivian. Sparia also found out she checked in another time. But the dates are confusing. This will be explained later on (#23).
3. Alison then dressed up as Vivian Darkbloom and had Duncan fly her from Hilton Head to a field near Philadelphia 6-7 hours before the girls believed her to arrive (I’m not sure if it’s true or not). She then was going to meet A face to face finally after having a newspaper convo back and forth with them, but supposedly that never happened. They were supposed to meet nearby of what looks like a creepy doll hospital (cuz Mona loves dolls), supposedly Alison called the police that same day near the street where the hospital was - not sure what for if this was true as Alison never confirmed it.
4. Alison then goes visits Jenna in the hospital, to show her the video of Jenna and Toby together as blackmail, because she thought Jenna was A. Turns out to be false as A sends her a death threat right after leaving Jenna’s room.
5. That afternoon: Alison then “returns home” from Georgia with bags looking very tan and saying her arms are sore. One bag had a tag on it from Hilton Head, Spencer obviously questions it and Alison asks her “why so many questions?” and reiterates she can’t spill every detail and tells the girls to “wait for it” repeatedly.
6. Alison returns home and finds a gift from her mom with the infamous yellow top and she turns around after changing in her room and sees a threatening message from A on her mirror.
7. That same day, Alison bought a storage locker to hide Ian’s videos before stopping by to see Emily and flirt with her some to then give her a snow globe with the storage locker key inside the bottom of it. Alison then leaves for a “prior engagement” although it was never revealed who she went to see next before coming to Spencer’s barn for the sleep over.
8. Before heading over to the sleepover. Alison returns home again and runs into her mom (on the phone with Radley because Bethany escaped and Charlotte escaped as well to go after her). Her mom wanted to Ali to stay in for obvious reasons even though the excuse that she just didn’t want to her going out. Alison then fights back by saying she planned this ages ago and was told it was ok to do. Then she mentions about Spencer being a bully and that she took care of it (really, Spencer a bully?). Then Ali’s mom remarks to Ali “She knows things about that family Ali doesn’t know” and Ali asked curiously “Really, like what?” Ali’s Mom responds that she’s seen what they are capable of and reminds Ali’s that she can never turn her back on a Hastings. -Which is exactly what Ali did after her and Spencer fought again #12). Alison then pretends to go to her room and sneaks back down to go into her moms purse to grab some sleeping pills while her mom was distracted on the phone again- what does Ali need those for? Oh, we’ll find out soon.
9. That Night: Alison arrives at Spencer's barn and pranks and jumps to the barn doors and scares the girls. Heading inside, she gets a text from Toby to meet her. The girls hang for a bit and gossip about Beyonce’s new song and then Ali throws some shade at Emily for liking it too much (totally not homophobic am i right??). She then spikes the girls drink with her moms medicine to knock them out. Aria drinks first and Spencer jokes to Aria to not drink to much or she’ll tell them all her secrets. The Ali ironically says “Friends shares secrets, that’s what keeps us close. Drink up”.;) We can only assumed Emily, Hanna and Spencer drank afterwards. After the girls fell asleep, she then meets Toby outside of the barn doors so he can thank her for getting Jenna to leave him alone. Toby then gives her his sweater because she was cold.
10. After speaking with Toby, Alison leaves Spencer’s backyard to meet up with Ezra. *cringe*.Toby also saw this as well (Although this was never even mentioned by Toby either -plot hole-).Ezra is clearly mad at Ali since she lied to him about her age and then he ends things with Alison in a not so nice way..
11. *Spencer wakes up and notices Ali was missing, so she waits for her to return.*
Alison then goes to meet Ian at the kissing rock after speaking with Ezra. (flashback moment: (I know you wanna kiss me”). this is where they fake Ian hurting Ali in the video later discovered. Alison then threatens him with his videos to make him leave her alone, Ian then says not tell anyone or else people will get hurt and then ironically “storms” off.
12. Alison returns to the barn to find Spencer awake waiting for her. Also she didn’t have Toby’s sweater anymore. Where did it go? (plot hole - only to be planted in Toby’s room to frame Toby for Alison’s murder at some point.)
They go inside Spencer’s house and have a fight about Spencer telling Melissa about her and Ian again. It gets heated and Spencer tells Alison she is sick of her games and told her, "You are dead to me already. “ Alison leaves and then Spencer runs after her. (Charlotte and Alison’s mom witness the fight and pays Charlotte off not to say anything - which is weird to pay off your own daughter). Spencer wants to continue the confrontation with Alison and Spencer grabs a shovel acting as if she was going to hit Alison with it and Spencer collapses to the ground in the midst of Alison trying to stop Spencer. Alison then discovers Spencer had been taking ADHD meds (not to mention the sleeping pills mixed in her system from Ali already) and Spencer begs Ali not to tell anyone and she agreed and then sends Spencer back to the barn with the shovel in head and Ali then waits for her to fall back asleep. (Melissa also sees the fight and sees Spencer walking away with the shovel)
13. Meanwhile, Ian, Garrett and Jenna all meet up in Alison’s bedroom to look for the videos she stole. Melissa comes in furious looking for Alison in hopes to confront her about Ian and Ali hooking up. Garrett and Jenna leave Melissa and Ian alone to talk it out and go outside in the backyard. Alison comes up to them and then Ali reminds Jenna of the promise she made to her earlier that morning,(”If you ever come back to Rosewood, I’ll bury you”) so Jenna and Ali get into a cat fight, Ali knocks Jenna to the ground and she comes back up with the infamous now burned in Spencer’s fireplace (thanks to Mr. Hastings) field hockey stick in attempt to defend herself. Garrett takes the hockey stick from Jenna and proceeds to attack Ali with it and hits the tree next to Ali, she then falls to the ground next to the tree telling Garrett to hush with her finger. Garrett and Jenna flee the scene, with Jenna thinking Garrett killed or hurt Ali badly.
14. Garrett comes back to check on Ali to see if she’s ok (even though she wasn’t even hurt), but then notices she was talking to someone and proceeds to listen and watch to see who it was. Byron (Aria’s dad) came to speak to her about not exposing his affair to Ella because he didn’t have anymore money to give her to keep her quiet. Alison says "If you don't pay for your mistakes, how do you become a better person?" Byron replies back "You say all these grown-up things, yet you're still a child." Alison smirks and says "You know what I'm capable of." After Garrett makes some noise, Byron starts to leave and Alison threatens him again saying it's his last chance to save himself. Byron turns while he is leaving and replies, "Yes it is," presumably meaning he was going to tell Ella himself (which he obviously doesn’t). Alison then screams to him "You made your bed Mr. Montgomery,"
15. While Byron was leaving, Byron turns back when Alison spoke about his bed (LOL) and sees Melissa coming out from Alison’s back door on the phone with someone and says to them, "What do I have to do, call 911 to get your attention?" This is the part where we never found out who she was talking to, but it was important enough to show it to us.
16. Jason (out of nowhere) came outside to grab a drink of water from the watering hose since he was drunk and high and notices Melissa and presumably Alison talking to each other and calls out Ali’s name and then he sees Charlotte talking with Melissa instead, although this is false and never really confirmed who it actually was. As Alison and Bethany were wearing the same outfit that night, not Charlotte. It wouldn’t make sense for it to be Bethany talking to Melissa since she arrived much later, and Alison never confirmed this information either. So who knows what Jason really saw. So right after seeing them, he passes out on a lawn chair. Sometime after this, Garrett or Jenna, or both, slipped a note to Jason that says "I know what you did", in order to make him believe he hurt Alison, since Jenna thought Garrett had killed her.
17. Alison returns to the barn watching the girls sleep some more and waiting to get another text from A, in order to rule them out. As some time passes, Alison decides to head home thinking she won since A didn’t try to kill her. As she was walking back to her house, she sees her mom obviously angry at her through the window for sneaking out and then all of sudden. BAM!! Charlotte hits Alison over the head with a rock only because she presumed it was Bethany since she was wearing the same outfit. Her mom then proceeds to bury Alison where the gazebo spot would be (pilot episode). She is screaming to Charlotte, "What have you done?! What have you done?!" Alison attempts to tell her mom she is alive, but cannot move or speak due to temporary paralysis. After Ali’s mom buries her, she then calls Detective Wilden and pays him off to give Charlotte an alibi and sends her back to Radley.
17. Not long after, Alison dug her way up reaching out of the ground for help/to get free, and who was there to grab her hand? Mrs. Grunwald of course, as she sensed something was wrong with Alison and had to come see what was going on and found her hand reaching for life. She then takes Ali to the hospital to get help, but then Ali runs away.
18. Meanwhile, Bethany finally shows up at Ali’s backyard, and so does Mona who was finally ready to confront and to kill Ali. But just like Charlotte’s mistake, Mona only saw the back of Bethany and presumed it was Alison and hit her over the head with the same shovel Spencer had earlier. This is when Bethany’s head gets hit so hard that it makes an indentation on her skull and she falls unconscious next to where Ali was previously buried. Mona then flees the scene.
19. Shortly after, Melissa shows up and sees Alison (obviously presuming it was her without checking) and assumed Spencer killed her based on the fight she witnessed they had earlier that night. She then proceeds to bury Bethany who was still alive in order to protect Spencer (”this whole time”)
20. And then we come back to the Pilot opening scene where the girls wake up to find Spencer and Ali missing from the barn. Spencer comes back to them and says that she looked everywhere for her and she thinks she heard her scream - which we know was probably from Bethany.
21. Later on that night, we see Alison walking on a random street after leaving Mrs. Grunwald’s aide. She is dazed and confused, hurt and traumatized by what she just went through. And who to pull up beside her? Mona. (I wonder what Mona’s plan was since she thought she killed her).
So Mona takes Ali to the Lost Woods Resort and checks in under Vivian Darkbloom’s name for Alison. Mona proceeds to clean Ali up and Ali tells Mona what happened and about A who tried to kill her. So smart and cunning Mona persuades Ali to fake her death so A could leave her alone for good.
22. The next day: Mona helps disguise Alison in a Vivian like wig so she can disappear. She then gives Mona tips on how to become popular and then Ali takes a car and leaves showing Mona with a eerier grin as she drives away, thinking she finally won.
23. Which comes back to the last bit of information involving Alison checking in again on 9/6 at the Lost Woods Resort 5 days later as she already checked in the night she went missing and she left the next day. So this had to be Mona checking in as her again or a plot hole in plotting clues in the storyline of Alison’s disappearance that ended up not making sense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s crazy how many people Ali saw the night/day she went missing and was almost killed. Like this girl clearly attracts trouble and drama and shit she shouldn’t be into at 15 years old.
Well, I hope you had fun reading this tale of terrors with me (if you made it to the end and didn’t go to the link lol) as much as I had fun putting it altogether and reminiscing on how it took the show 4 seasons to tell Alison’s disappearance story.
#pll theories#pll pilot#a is for answers#pretty little liars#mona vanderwaal#Alison DiLaurentis#Ian Thomas#Vivian Darkbloom#Toby Cavanaugh#melissa hastings#Spencer Hastings#Cara Grunwald#Ezra Fitz#Aria Montgomery#Emily Fields#jenna marshall#Garrett Reynolds#Byron Montgomery#Hanna Marin#that Duncan guy on a plane#Charlotte DiLaurentis#bethany young#mrs dilaurentis#cece drake#jason dilaurentis
19 notes
·
View notes
Note
All the questions for the "get to know your author" asks😎✌️✨
I don’t know whether to love you because I got an ask, or hate you because that’s a lot of questions
Is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?
One of my original stories, which I love a lot, but it has heavy themes of imperialism that I feel like I should wait until I have a better grasp on first. Like yeah I could write it now, but at the same time I don’t want to.
What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?
None that I can think of.
What order do you write in?
Usually in chronological order, from the first scene to the last scene, but sometimes when I’m planning or brainstorming and I want to write a certain scene I will.
Favorite character you’ve written?
I haven’t started writing her story yet, but Aisha is my favorite OC.
Character you were most surprised to end up writing?
None that I can think of.
Something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now?
Nothing because I haven’t gotten far enough in any stories that it’s too late to change stuff.
When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?
Do you know how little I talk about my stories? I get super excited when someone lets me talk about my stories
Favorite genre to write?
Fantasy and sci-fi!
What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?
I listen to music, read the characters info sheet, or watch/read similar stuff or whatever inspired that story.
Write in silence or with background noise? With people or alone?
Alone and with music to concentrate, preferably.
What aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?
My characters! My OCs used to be one dimensional and now I feel like they’re real people. I can definitely do better, but it’s not horrible anymore.
Your weakness as an author?
God I can’t write descriptions for the life of me.
Your strengths as an author?
Dialogue
Do you make playlists for your current wips?
Yes! All my current wips except gold rush have playlists! I want to share them, but there’s still the whole Spotify issue if anyone remembers that
Why did you start writing?
I’ve always liked writing, but I think the first time I wanted to write a story was in second grade and I saw two of my friends working on a story, and now it’s a hobby.
Are there any characters who haunt you?
OCs? Alexandra, I hate her so much what was I thinking. Canon characters? Not really.
If you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?
Give your OCs personalities that aren’t carbon copies of yourself or else.
Were there any works that you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style?
My first fanfic that I like to admit was mine was a Mary Sue pjo thing, so I like to think some of my style comes from that. And maybe the lunar chronicles? Atla has effected how I think of worldbuilding. And I hate to admit it but @salt-warrior’s more poetic writing makes me want to have more poetic descriptions, but I’m not good at it.
When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, etc.?
Okay I’ll usually start a notes page or Google doc that has notes, character arcs, and other stuff I need to remember when writing, while the outline itself is on a Google doc.
Do you write in long sit down sessions or little spurts?
Depends on my inspo, but usually little spurts.
What do you think when you read over your older work?
It’s either “this is so good” or “what the fuck was I thinking” there’s no in between.
Are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?
Some violence, though I’m usually fine with it, and common triggers. I try to keep extremely triggering stuff out of my writing, but I at least add warnings.
Any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?
Martial arts classes have changed how I think of fight scenes!
Have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or story?
I’m literally reading through the Atla fandom wiki to have a better hold on the cultures.
Copy/paste a few scents des or a short paragraph of something that you’re particularly proud of.
From Age of Aisha: “Katara realized with a jolt that mostly everyone on the ship was from the Southern Water Tribe. They had seen her grow up. The world may have lost the Avatar, but that ship had lost a family member.”
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Can we talk about Seven Three for a sec?
Ok, so I haven't been paying as much attention to the Super manga as I should. I know Goku threw the villain a Senzu again, Vegeta got something cool from the Yardrats, Merus is a pure boy... And about Seven Three.
Of course, when he first showed up, I saw the whole talk about how he pretty much looked like the forbidden Frit love child... and, honestly, yes he kind of does, even though Frit's kind of now on the shipping backburner so to speak for me. I even described him like that when I was telling my brother about him coming back (manga somehow came up; he didn't know who I meant by Seven Three, he instantly understood once I brought that up). I lost it (in a good way) once I saw his official coloration was turquoise and blue.
A tad odd but literally the second image for him on his wiki page is him without the top of the uniform... and, not saying I'd save that image for... personal reference use, but I was not really expecting the sort of Cooler plating on him. Might need to keep that in mind, don't know where I'd use said info. The question is, is it just an android thing or would Hit have that sort of thing too? Is it representing a natural plating or it just acting as separatable armor? These are questions I probably don't need to have answered or have use for the answers to. Just... curiosity's sake.
Also, just noticed he has what's basically like copy abilities. Kirby? Velvet Scarletina? Some other reference I probably know but it's evading me?
Anyhow, in conclusion, Seven Three is interesting.
#dragon ball super#dragon ball super manga#seven three#frost#hit#just little ramblings#Not just looking at Seven Three to fill my need for U6 in even the smallest bits
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
I was asked by @floraone about my personal experience about Sailor Moon, so enter at your own risk, it’s a reaaaaaaally long post. There’s a lot of ramblings, and some pictures 😅
Alright, some context. I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 yo, born in 1988. When I was a kid (7 or 8 y/o), during the summer break (which is December - March on this side of the equator) I attended what in Arg is called "colonia", which essentially is going on the weekdays to a club or school, meeting with other kids, and doing sports and going to the pool, supervised by teachers. It's the place your parents sent you in the summer in place of regular school, because they had to work. All this to say, I started watching Sailor Moon on TV after these summer classes.I came rushing home, and while one of my parents fixed me lunch, I would turn on the TV to watch an episode of Sailor Moon.
I found it! Thank you, internet. It aired from 1996 to 1998, first in a channel called "The Big Channel" and then in "Magic Kids" https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Kids If you go to the 1996 seccion in "cronologia" you'll see the mention of Sailor Moon being aired for the first time.
People my age, from my country, who had access to paid cable TV will remember these logos fondly:
About the dub: Some of the names were changed for the latin american version. Rei and the outter senshi stayed the same, but Mamoru was called Darien, Usagi was Serena, Minako was just Mina, Ami was pronounced Amy, and Makoto was Lita (hence my handle, Lita Kino). I believe these names were the same as the English translations. Well, also, no one called them "senshi", instead they were "guerreras de la luna" (moon warrior, in it’s feminine form). Also, they were called "Sailor Scouts" (yes, in English), but I have no idea where this came from, probably from the English version? Oh, and The Dark Kingdom was called "Negaverso", also no idea where they got this name.
Also, it's worth noting, when I say "latin american version", I mean that usually, voice overs are made in a neutral voice? accent?, that it's not from any particular american spanish speaking country. So it's not Mexican, nor Chilean, nor Argentinian, but a mix of all of them, and not one of them in particular. We all have a specific way of speaking the spanish language, not the meaning per se, but kind of the sing-song quality of the tongue. So, to spanish speakers, someone from Venezuela and Colombia sound really different, even if we all understand what is being said. So most movies and series in latin america are usually "voiced-over" in a way that will sound native to no one, and "neutral" to all. (These are not made for Spain, that voice-overs are made in a distinctive spaniard accent)
About censorship
Recently, I've read about some episodes that were cut or smashed together in the english dubs, and from what I've read that was censored, that never happened in the Latin American versions. I know that Michiru and Haruka were made to be cousins in some translations, but not in the latin american one. Though I know their dialogue was often modified and "softened" to imply their relationship, instead of saying it front and clear (this was modified in the Crystal dub, that they are more literal and use the word "novia", meaning girlfriend, in a romantic context). The only outright censorship the classic anime had, as far as I know, was making Zoisite a woman, dubbed by a woman voice actor.
Daily life? Back then
In regards to my friends at that time, I know most of them were aware of Sailor Moon as a series, but I don't remember any of them being big fans.
There were tons of SM merch like school supplies (pencils, backpacks and such), but I don't think most of it was officially licenced. This is an example of a fannypack from around that time, that I found in an online market page:
Oh, a really really cool thing we had was these magazines that came monthly (starting in 1996), that had a bunch of cute articles about the series and characters, a central page with a "poster", and a comic version of the anime series (that's based on a manga, yeah, I know 😅) With these magazines sometimes came the movies in VHS format, and this is how I realized the movies existed. Also, there was this book called "the friendship book", that had a bunch of quizzes and questions to write about your friends, all SM themed. Oh, I also remember it had a brief explanation of the "I Ching", and a simplified version to "play" with your friends, and try and predict your love life. I have no idea where my copy is, it's possible I lost it :(
Here’s the short comic in one of the issues:
I believe we had the manga, translated to spanish, and flipped so it would read from left to right, but honestly I was too little to care about it, so I can't give you a detailed description of the manga story in this country. I only have only one edition from that time, that I bought when I was little, a 1998 Spanish (from Spain, not Latin American) edition of "The Lover of Princess Kaguya". I was little so please don't judge me, but I found that this "comic book" (as I saw it at that time) being in black and white was the perfect place for me to practice colouring so yeah. I defiled it 😅:
About Crystal, I just found out it was dubbed in latin american spanish, I never knew It was never aired in Argentina as far as I know. Turns out, some of the voice actors are the same that did the original series, mainly Usagi / Serenity / Queen Serenity / NQS (whose voice actor is the same that dubbed Lisa Simpson in the LA version of The Simpsons xD)
You can find more info, in spanish, in this page: https://doblaje.fandom.com/es/wiki/Sailor_Moon_Crystal
I have no idea about an Argentinian fanbase, though I'm sure there are tons of fans here. As I said, none of my school friends were particularly fond of the series, but as I grew up, I found tons of people who love SM as I did. Specially in the conventions world, there a lot of fan-made goods.
In regards to daily life nowadays, as a lot of my friends now are small-shop owners, and entrepreneurs, I've come to know and love a lot of people who make art for a living, sometimes SM related. Here are some of my favourites:
This is my favourite tattoo artist in the world. She’s an AMAZING ilustrator too. Would you look at that half sleeve? 🖤🖤🖤 https://www.instagram.com/bazanjara.tattoo/ Also, if you want to see the tattoo she did on me: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bykswm4AoWm/
She makes everything piggy 🖤🖤🖤 https://www.instagram.com/mundochanchan/ https://www.instagram.com/chanchanglobal/
She makes tons of stuff in air dry modeling clay https://www.instagram.com/poteitos.cosaslindas/
He’s an ilustrator, sometimes makes pins and sticker with his art. It may look cute, but most of what he draws is scalotoglyc humor 🤭🤭🤭 https://www.instagram.com/brunancio/
I even had some friends make me a SM mate 🇦🇷:
In regards to SM being a big LGBTQ+ representation, I know Haruka and Michiru are big parts of that here as well. I know someone who has Neptune and Uranus' symbols tattooed as a nod to that part of her identity, for example.
I'm sure there's a lot more to SM in Argentina, but this is as far as I know. Hope it helps!
22 notes
·
View notes
Text
placide wants to know about the cursed usb that you got, but its the macguffin or whatever so you’re gonna have to play the game to find out
the difference between the cinematic trailer is...noticable. For obvious reasons, but Johnny looks a little off-model here. His nose is too big, I think, and his hair and sunglasses seem kind of flat, but I know he has some kind of shader that makes him slightly blue to stand out from the rest of the game-world so that could be it.
another screenshot - notice the faded-blue tinge he has, and also shadows don’t seem to affect him like they do others.
netpig being slang for NetWatch agent,
yeah you killed the hot cop for NOTHING you monster
Alt in this case is Alt Cunningham, Johnny’s ex. from the wiki
in essence, a weird form of cloning, some might see it as immortality; personally I don’t because I think that from a philosophical point an exact copy of you ceases to be you the moment it is made - at best it would be someone who thinks it’s you running around and living your life, but that’s besides the point. The voodoo boys seem to want soulkiller, or something along those lines. Alt’s ghost is in the Net, and Johnny’s ghost could also be a result of Soulkiller. What the Voodoo boys want with it is anybody’s guess - considering the theme of souls, spirits and black magic in ‘voodoo’ practice they may want it for a cultural/gang related reason, or a more practical one such as interrogation and exploitation. They probably aren’t the only one’s interested in it either.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
There are definite changes from the 48 minute demo, some of them im not really that jazzed about. I have been avoiding most news and hype from this game because I really want to enjoy it, but a sad fact of the industry is that publishers will promise the earth and then consumers will inevitably be disappointing when they can’t deliver something that is impossible to make by current technological capabilities. Still, I pre-ordered the game (only time I ever have) and I am 99% sure I will like it, as long as I don’t have unrealistic expectations. I like cyberpunk genres so I’m gonna enjoy it regardless. Graphics wise its pretty, and with new PC’s coming out I’m sure it can be modded to whatever ultra 8K gold-plated textures in the future.
I’m slightly worried about the story/dialogue elements. Even in the 48 minute demo, there didn’t seem to be much variation in the types of dialogue V could say - just asking questions and then “yes”. Obviously they haven’t revealed much because of spoilers but I’m still gonna keep an eye out, since dialogue and story matters the most to me (others will favour gameplay, though)
I know people go on and on about wanting to romance every swinging dick in the game, but I do kinda want more info on that. Romance options in viddy games are my secret guilty pleasure and this game is absolutely CHOCKERS with future beefcake waifus.
I am worried about jackie and his health, my bro, my esse, is my video game buddy ok? James Vega was my favourite mass effect character, cyber-vega was my favourite part of the demo, I am a sucker for being flirted with in video games ok sue me, its supposed to be escapism. I know that recently some people will complain if there’s sexism or racism in a game because they don’t distinguish narratives from the morals of its creator, but I think CDPR and Mike Pondsmith are sticking firm and not being too swayed by needlessly inflammatory games “””journalists””” which I’m happy about. Cyberpunk as a genre is dark, gritty, and unpleasant at times and it looks like the game is staying faithful to it.
Now onto the dev Q&A!
46 notes
·
View notes
Text
This is going to be a copy-paste of a rant I did on Twitter, which you can find here. It will be spaced like my individual tweets. I’ll also fix a few stray typos.
Buckle up, boys and girls, because SakuMo's about to make an unpopular opinion thread. The disparity between commissioned fanart vs commissioned fanfiction: a thread.
First, a few disclaimers:
Don't @ me about legality. All forms of paid fanwork are technically illegal.
This is not an attack on fanartists; I have nothing but mad respect for them.
There is a HUMONGOUS gap between the way fanart is viewed as a whole and the way fanfiction is viewed. If I had to make a comparison, I feel like fanart is the jocks/popular kids of the fandom world, whereas fanfiction is the chess/av club.
Fanart is seen as this amazing thing that talented people make and should be paid for. Fanfic is viewed as something teenage girls do to insert themselves into stories to date/have sex with canon characters. Those things exist, but so does "bad" fanart, for lack of better wording.
I can't scroll through Tumblr or Twitter without tripping over at least 6 artists advertising their commission info. In my near 20 years of writing fanfiction, I have only seen TWO writers do the same, and they severely undercharged and were still given flack for it.
Writing good fanfiction, the kind that makes you scream, "I've always wanted this!" and come back to read it again and again, takes time. Good writing takes years and countless hours to craft, the same as good art does.
Really good fanfic authors research their canon of choice thoroughly so they can adhere to it or bend it in a way that seems plausible. Owain's wiki page is practically my homepage from all the research I've done for fics.
But there is just this huge disconnect between how fanart is treated vs how fanfiction is treated. It's commonplace for fanartists to charge upwards of $40 for fanart, but a fanfic writer asking for $1/100 words is seen as ludicrous and overcharging.
"Anyone can write fanfiction, though."
Yeah, and anyone can draw stick figures and call it fanart. Truly good fanfiction takes hours upon hours to craft. It takes a grasp of grammar rules (which are a mess in English) as well as a varied vocabulary, knowledge of theming--a lot.
And yet fanfiction is still viewed as lesser in the fanwork kingdom, and fanfic authors aren't valued anywhere near the way fanartist are. And that isn't to say fanartists should be valued less; it's to say fanfic authors should be valued more.
I was discussing the pipe dream of a fanfic zine the other day with a friend, where the focus was on fics with maybe 1-2 illustrations, like in children's books. She asked me, "I love it, but would anyone honestly buy it?" The fact I could not definitively say yes speaks volumes.
Maybe I'm just a bitter fanfic author, but writing commissions should be as normalized as fanart comms, and fanfic authors should be able to charge reasonable rates for their work without being bullied for it.
Just like fanart, fanfic isn't something you can just pull out of thin air, at least not if it's any decent caliber. There are fanfic authors who obsess over their fics as much as actual authors, and they are valid to do so.
"Just write original content to make money on your writing."
This is dismissive and feeds into the idea that fanfic is lesser. This ideology isn't nearly as ubiquitous in fanart circles as it is in fanfic circles. Fanfic is a valid art form and deserves respect.
I'll repeat that: fanfic is a valid art form and deserves respect. Fanfic authors are valid writers and deserve respect. They should be able to ask for fairly priced commissions just as easily as fanartists. But as things stand now, they aren't and they can't. And it's not fair.
Do me a favor: head to AO3 and look up your favorite fandom. Read a few fics. You'll probably find some dreck in there, but I can guarantee you'll find some published-caliber writing in there, the same as you'd find HQ art mixed in with "lesser quality" art in a Google search.
I know you will because I've seen it. I've seen fanfics that surpass the quality of canon authors, and I've seen published books that are of vastly lesser quality than fanfiction. Fics that treat the canon better than the canon writers do.
And while you're there, kudo and more importantly COMMENT ON those fics. Feedback is lifeblood for fanfic authors, and it is also not as ubiquitous as it should be. I love getting kudos, but I C H E R I S H every comment and have cried over some.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. Now please go out there and thank a fanfic author. Comment on their fics, on every chapter. Interact with them. Commission them. Treat them with the same love and care you do your fav fanartist. Because they deserve it and don't get it enough.
#sakumo says stuff#fanfiction discourse#fanfiction#fanfic deserves respect#fanwork discourse#fanart vs fanfic
11 notes
·
View notes
Text
Q&A #93
Next update is very close to being done, so time to get back on the answering questions horse. Plan is to also do these as twitlongers for those that no longer want to deal with tumblr.
Anonymous said: The good news is that for explicit content posted in the past, tumblr seems to be willing to let it stay (if my reading of their announcement is correct) -- you may be able to keep this blog as an archive, but wherever you choose to move I'd gladly follow. (I'm already pledged for a dollar on Patreon so that shouldn't be a problem.)
Actually, belay my last message, creating your own website might not be a bad idea. I know that SilverBardGames has their own website and that's like my other indie game developer (with explicit content) that I follow. Word of mouth might still work to spread the good word.
That’s the plan. I do definitely need to sort out a website though sometime. If this experience has shown me anything it’s that relying on a single resource is a baaaad idea.
justanothorguy1 said: Where are you going to post you new download links for you games?
Will still post them here, the patreon, TFGames, and the Collective. Will also post them going forward on the twitter.
rafaelivri said: 1. Somehow my slaver that I recruit started with cum lust+++. Is this even intentional (that they can have it from the very beginning)? 2. Any way to get rid of it?
Worked out what was causing that and it should be fixed in the update.
Anonymous said: I'm not sure if this a bug but recently I've been getting a lot of slaves and slavers whose descriptions say that they're barely taller than a goblin.
Maybe a weird run of RNG? Not heard that from anyone else yet so one to keep an eye on I think.
Anonymous said: was wondering if theres a walkthough for no haven somewhere? i played a bunch of it and interested to figure out what i missed
There is a wiki which you can find a link to on the No Haven page here. Not something under my control though so no idea if there’s a walkthrough out there.
Anonymous said: watch as your posts get flagged anyway tho *shrug*
Been over a month and no flagged posts so worked out how to handle that apparently :D
Anonymous said: I don't think your link in the latest blogpost is supposed to lead to some tony mo and his videogame loveletters on patreon.
Oops missed a character in the copy/paste. Thanks for the spot.
Anonymous said: i had a idea for a no heaven maybe some content where your bed warmer slave takes control of you in bed if there dominate and your secretly submissive. and if the there a dominator or hypono they start taking more control of your over time secretly controlling you and camp form behind close door.
That’s been on the books for awhile where certain slaves will be very dangerous to have as a bedwarmer. For a start those mantras coming in the next update just might end up being used on you in future updates.
joyfullyunadulteratedruins said: Is the Hypnopics thread gone? That's the only way I can download No Haven now, and the download link here is still on version 0.821
Looks to be still there to me?
Anonymous said: [no haven 0.832] imgur a/d4SJMAC is it intentional that a fel person doesn't want to get corrupted?
[no haven 0.832] imgur /a/J0ooMqC the love being desecrated drone until entirely embedded sounds to me like the check doesn't have to be done anymore, but I keep having to do it.
Yeah for some reason they may not always think that you have their best interests at heart :)
That other one is a temporary bodge of their thoughts to overwhelm their resistance. In future though there will be more permanent alterations possible like with slaves in the next update.
Anonymous said: Could we, in the future, have a fourth-wall option to discard a slave or slaver? No reward given, just a simple deletion. It's happened to me a few times where assignments that involve specific slaves - such as the lamia in Dance the Night Away or the drow males in the Deep Mtns quest - bug out at the turn in and leave behind a slave you cannot get rid of. Also been numerous times where I've gotten an abysmal roll on a slaver and had to wait for a guaranteed disaster quest to get rid of them.
Previous anon here who was asking for the fourth-wall purge. Yes, I am aware that there's a quest to remove unwanted slavers. However, since you can't reliably force it to pop, its usefulness is inconsistent at best. Also, it gives a payout and only works on slavers - the purge I'm asking for would be more universal and give nothing. Just a convenient deletion to improve gameplay. The accompanying picture could be a screaming stickman being sucked into a black hole.
I’d prefer to fix bugs rather than do workarounds if possible. Been down that path before and it only complicate things badly.
The reason why there’s no outright dismiss a slaver is that from the beginning on of the challenges I wanted was some of your own slavers so just booting them would lose a lot of fun possibilities.
Saying that I do want to do more with morale/reputation so that slavers have a chance to get fed up enough that you can drive them away. I’m also planning a new assignment which will be a risk free depending on choices way to dump unwanted slaves without need for chancing the Whore Makers.
Anonymous said: Hi! Thank you for for that great game! Some questions about the future: 1) Will we have any mechanics with C:Devices and C:Enchantment in the near future? 2) Any plans to expand the list of slave trainings with anal/vaginal tranings or something else?
Thank you!
Maybe not near, near future, but certainly sooner rather than later as both I want to have as encampment roles. Next update also has some of the groundwork for enchanting.
Yes absolutely more training is coming including bimbo training in the next update.
nh-maikochan said: Bug report: Had a slaver level up and had the option for the aspect "Friends in High Places", however, when I clicked on -View Choices-, it instead gave me the entry for "A Friend in Every Port", however the text for that made reference to Scouting the Deep Mountains instead of the Dreadsea Coast. "Aspect: A Friend in Every Port - Requires Friendly and two Scout the Deep Mountains Success or Crits, awards an additional two assignments on Scout the Deep Mountains Success or Crit results."
So just had an interesting bug. I took a slave to auction, my camp leader going along on the assignment, got a critical result, and while the assignment said that the slave was sold, she ended up coming back with me. Some factors that may have had an effect: Had gotten word that bimbo slaves were in demand, and the slave was indeed a bimbo and my leader has Inquisitor, which activated giving me an assignment.
First one I’ve sorted for the update.
Other was that slave bimboborn? Cause I think that might be causing issues with selling.
Anonymous said: Hi! What do you think about oppotunity not only gain new perks when slaver lvl up, but to remove existing ones, such as Unruly or Reserved for example? Thank you!
My current plan is to use hypnotic to tackle those unwanted mental traits. Certainly not a bad idea though.
Decided that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to pull in questions from other sources to give as much info as possible out in one place at one time. So going forward I’m also going to be including some of the questions asked elsewhere along with including the answers I made.
From TFGames: I'm a little confused as to biomancy and hypnotism and changing other characters. The odds seem to really not like being "in the field" but I can't figure out where else to be? Also, I can't seem to figure out what hypnotic triggers actually do when you put them on a slaver. Is there a way to alter someone's personality via hypnotism or domination? In terms of customization and exporting... is it just the char-gen where you can export a character? Is there a way to say, see a slave get captured, manipulate or change them via training and influence, turn them into a slaver and then export that character and see what happens on their career? Alternatively, is there a way to change the names of the slaves you capture and slavers you recruit? For say, immersion purposes >.> Or generate and specify your own "number two" ?
Hypnotic triggers on slavers currently are used for respect checks which are when a slaver doesn't want to do something like go whore themselves out, where a slutty outfit, or be corrupted and you need to persuade them. Using the triggers is a lot more effective than some of the other options. In the next update triggers will also be used on slaves to help with their training and unlock new bonuses. In future those slave mantras will be able to be used on anyone including yourself, and I'm also planning extra usage to deal with annoying traits like reserved and unhinged. Currently it's just the main character. I'd like to do more, but given I also want to move away from rags I'm not planning to do anything with it for now. There is an option to nickname under help and options. I don't think it's ideal though in the current implementation and it needs another look sometime.
From TFGames: Is there any get mind controlled content besides the "dreams" ascociated with Lacey's toy?
Being possessed is the main one which is a rare outcome from corruption which then has a bunch of follow up text at end of day, during respect checks, and leadership challenges. The Quick as You Like mini-adventure if you go on it assignment has MC content, especially if you 'win' the race. There's the hidden cults when you go into town where you can lose control. There also might be some assignments that have a bit of MC action if you go on them. If you're submissive there's also mind control content in the story line assignment to unlock the hidden area and slave auctions.
From the Patreon: A suggestion to add more interplay with your slavers in NH - in the "Talk" menu add a topic called "ask for rumours" where you can ask your slavers if they have any leads/tips. Depending on certain factors they could offer you a tip-off for a mission (type & quality determined by slavers type and your relation with them), to be added to your list, in exchange for gold/supplies/days off/sexual favours. Could also lead into leadership challenges if you rely too much on a slaver. Slavers could also have an x% chance of approaching you for a chat each day and ask you for things and you could choose what to charge them (no charge leads to a relation increase, refusing outright leads to a decrease). Would be a way of getting slavers to wear things/do things that they otherwise wouldn't and vice-versa. Looking forward to the update.
That's a really neat idea. Added it to my to do list.
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
FAQ - Miscellaneous
What is this month’s mystery pattern?
Please refer to the image below.
This image is also pinned in the #general channel of the official Onmyoji discord server.
Which shikigami is better, x or y? Is [insert shikigami name here] useful/useless?
No shikigami is better than the other and no shikigami is completely useless (except Satori and Hone Onna).
If you’re comparing to shikigami who do very similar things like Zashiki vs Oitsuki vs Kaguya, then it is important to take what context you want to use them in.
If what you’re asking is actually “who can i shrine?” then the answer - anyone you don’t plan on ever using, or dupes of shiki you have already maxed the skills of.
Are the collab shiki good? Are they worth getting?
Doesn’t matter if they’re good or ‘worth it’, the real questions here are “do you want to give up an opportunity to get a limited shikigami?” and “would you regret not getting them?”. Even if you don’t particularly want the collab shiki, you may want the shards for trading purposes.
Each of the anime collab events has 3 parts. Once the 3rd part for any of the collabs has happened it won’t come back and the trading price will gradually increase.
When will GL get Nura?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(There are licensing issues, so there's no knowing when the collab may or may not even come to your server. It took JP server a very very very long time for him to arrive, so please be patient.)
What about the Bleach collab, when will GL get that?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(TW/JP doesn’t even have it yet, please be patient)
Why does CN get cool events/free stuff/certain rate-ups and not GL? I want GL to be treated the same as them!!
The majority of all events will come to GL regardless if you demand it or not. Some older events like Yamakaze super oniou are completely skipped over so GL could catch up to other servers. To compensate for that, the rewards from such events are made available elsewhere. Anything that doesn’t come to GL, or even TW&JP, is CN exclusive.
If your demands are for rate-up to be the same as CN, then surprise! GL already has the same rate-ups! (excluding the double SSR releases with rate-up for only 1 of them when the server was still new, that was GL exclusive) What you’re actually asking for is to be treated like TW/JP.
If you still really want to be treated exactly like CN and gets the same exclusives as them too, then go play on CN.
I heard this shikigami I just got/am working on is going to be nerfed and rendered useless-....
If you personally have not seen where such info is from (eg; official Onmyouji weibo or dashen/网易大神 account, ingame patch notes for CN, CN patch notes reposted on NGA forums or NGA weibo, etc), then consider anything relating to nerfs or buffs untrue.
Same goes for news about new shikigami, new skins, any brand new content in general.
I heard that the next SSR/SP is going to be...
Unless you’ve seen the leaks for this sort of info, please consider these rumours as speculation only.
To know what shikigami are potentially going to please check the unleased shikigami part of this page on the wiki, there’ll be a list of unreleased and some unconfirmed shikigami.
Is the game P2W?
You can play the game the P2W way, but it is not necessary. Being completely F2P is possible. Besides, whether you’re P2W or F2P, we’re all still be subjected to the same rng when it comes mitama stats!
Like with any game with micro-transactions; remember to spend responsibly and moderately.
What should my pvp team be?
Teams for pvp are very flexible, so as long as you know what you’re doing you could use almost anything. If you don’t, then maybe don’t do pvp yet. Go figure out what your preferred play style is, which shiki you prefer using and what synergises with them first.
If you just want to copy the current meta, then the answer is easy - spectate pvp when it’s pvp time in your server. (not tier 8 though, that has its own unique meta)
Or if you want a more specific answer, then ask this question; “my current pvp team isn’t working too well, how can I improve it?” or “how do I counter certain teams (eg, Bakejujira teams) with the shiki & mitama/souls sets I have?”.
Were the drop rates for 6* in mitama/soul 10-11 nerfed?
Unfortunately, the harsh truth is - no, you’re either experiencing some very bad rng or you only just became able to farm mitama/soul 10. If the latter, for your first few runs drop rate for mitama/soul 10 will seem great, then as time goes it seems like it gets worse and worse. That ‘worse drop rate’ is actually the norm.
Best ways to get 6* are farming mitama/soul 11, sougenbi, the goryou/totem dungeons, true orochi and exchanging orochi scales. (just for reference, mitama/soul 10 only has ~3% drop rate for 6*)
Were the rates for black daruma shards from boss raids nerfed?
Again, unfortunately, the harsh truth is - no. Please accept the fact that you are experiencing some bad rng at the moment.
Were the drop rates for memory scroll fragments nerfed?
First, ask other GL players if they are experiencing the same low drop rate as you. Second, ask CN or TW&JP players if they experienced a low drop rate during their most recent scroll event.
If the general response seems to be “yeah, drop rate feels lower than usual” then it has in fact been nerfed. This would be a perfect time to contact ingame support or complain about in the official Onmyoji discord.
I don’t have my 1st 6* shikigami but there are lower level players who already have multiple 6*s... am I progressing too slowly?
No, you’re not. Those players could be level suppressors, you could be over levelled, maybe they’re players who took the asap in “6* a farmer shiki asap!!” way too seriously.
Most people make their first 6* by level 30-50. If your level is anywhere in that range, you’re doing just fine.
Don’t worry too much about progressing too slow or fast, play the game at your own pace.
Where can I find a [insert name of some type of 3rd party tools/bots/auto-clickers/whatever]?
That’s an odd way to ask “how can I get myself potentially banned?”.
Don’t use 3rd party tools. You can get banned for using them.
If you do use 3rd party tools, then never ever post screenshots of you using them. Why? Because it’s evidence that can be used against you should anyone decide to take that proof, that you posted yourself, and report your account.
Is selling accounts ok to do?
CN accounts - yes. There’s an app/site set up especially for that and is authorised or made by NetEase. I don’t know the full details, so to know more you’ll have to ask CN players.
GL, TW & JP - no.
KR, VN & TH - probably no.
I keep seeing other player’s say “dalao” and “dalao daidaiwo“, what does it mean?
“我亲爱的大佬,请带带我” or “my dear dalao please daidaiwo” is a CN meme. In the context of Onmyouji it basically means “op player pls carry me”.
大佬 / dalao = experienced person, op player in a game 带带我 / daidaiwo = carry me
What does “african“ and “european” mean in the context of Onmyouji?
In CN the unlucky streak and full SSR collection achievements are literally called “African Onmyouji” and “European Emperor”. The terms themselves aren’t unique to Onmyouji and are commonly said in chinese gaming communities, particularly ones for gacha games.
Just because these terms are common does not make using them ok.
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
Thank you so much for all the information.I knew about the director, but not about Christa Winsloe, who wrote the original play, or the fact that the writer was a lesbian. I will look for your blog, as I am interested in learning more about this film. I really appreciate if you recommend readings related to Winsloe's lesbianism and the fact that her play was inspired by her own life. Also, When the play was first published and whether there is any translation of it into English. I am sorry, if I am asking much, but I am really interested to read more. I watched this movie 11 years ago, and rewatched it recently. I wonder why I couldn't see how special it was before. I also wonder if it was inspired by Clemence Dane's novel, Regiment of Women (1917), or maybe vice versa, in case that the original play was published before 1917? I see much similarity between the two story-lines, and scenes, and characters, though the essence of the love relationship between the pupil and the teacher is completely different in these two works, as in Regiment it is manipulative, abusive, and non-mutual. Have you read Regiment, or any article discussing the connection between the two works? I also love the music so much. One of my all time favorites, or maybe the best. I never get tired of watching your video. :)
(Source: another comment to my video (Mutual Love at First Sight - Mädchen in Uniform https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bJVYYV3dLE) by Xena Gabrirlle.)
___________________________
Hello again :D
At first, sorry, the title of the book in German is Das Mädchen Manuela, and this is the tag on dorothea-wieck but the link in description is correct.
Warning. The answer is very long, and it's muuuuch longer than I thought. I suppose, no complains from both sides (my writing and your reading of this is/will be enjoyable.) Mädchen in Uniform is my yyyeeess, but Christa Winsloe /with or without MiU is so much yes.
Also, sorry for the long links, but I think about shitty redirecting which Tumblr uses and if it's wrong all the links are not links.
___________________________
Yes, I can recommend you something. I'm one of lucky owners of Christa Winsloe's autobiography, but it's in German. (I have almost no German, but I've read a little with 100% help of Google translate and some other sites.) You can be a lucky owner too. eBay has the best variants to chose from, so search for Auto-Biographie und andere Feuilletons. (Yes, it's also about Christa's love of cars.)
Also, I would recommend Christa's (semi?)-autobiographical book Girl Alone about her lesbianism (including a way of finding her real lesbian self *(me) waving by pride flag*), but Amazon has no copies *Whyyyyy??? T_T* If I'm not mistaken it's in English originally (!!!). Winsloe was giving English lessons in her early 20's, so I think writing in English was easy for her.
SEARCH HERE: www.amazon.com/GIRL-ALONE-Christa-Winsloe/dp/B006G3YZB0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530739149&sr=8-1&keywords=Girl+Alone+Christa+Winsloe
___________________________
NOW, ARTICLES (not too much details, or it will be endless):
1) "The fact that her play was inspired by her own life."
Hertha Thiele's (Manuela) interview with a little bit about Christa. The article starts with info about the film, about Thiele & some info from two interviewers about Thiele's opinion on MiU, etc.
It has my most favourite Christa's quote (the only one known apart from what she wrote???) This is also about me. "The experience (life at boarding school Stift) is one which I had to write from my heart."
tlweb.latrobe.edu.au/humanities/screeningthepast/reruns/thiele.html
2) It was found via Tumblr. How first of two known Christa's partners/lovers/girlfriend's, Dorothy Thompson fell in love with Christa Winsloe and about their relationship. That Fateful Christmas, 1932 (my title.) There's also a few pictures with Christa. However, her portrait with autograph (!!!) is on another site too. I've found the photo a few years ago via Google, but source was different.
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2012/12/dorothy-thompson-and-sinclair-lewis.html
3) Yesss, the photo with autograph is part of short biography in German
http://www.fembio.org/biographie.php/frau/biographie/christa-winsloe/
4) A little bit similar to #2. This is where I found my most favourite Christa's photo which is profile picture on YouTube.
http://thisrecording.com/today/2014/7/10/in-which-dorothy-thompson-could-not-forget-vienna.html
5) I suppose I stumbled upon this article long ago, but I don't remember reading it. At least, I remember this user. https://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2112318.html
!!!!!! 6) There somewhere were 2 parts of a very rare article. . . I have to find the parts again . . .
Yesss, Google search querie Christa Winsloe Erika Mann (the last played Fräulen von Attems who taught girls how to play in 1931 movie version) gave what we need, but the second part.
Title: Maedchen in Uniform. From repressive tolerance to erotic liberation. Author: B. Ruby Rich
So, here are both parts:
https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC24-25folder/MaedchenUniform.html
https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC24-25folder/MaedchenUniform2.html
7) Oh, and don't forget to read Wikipedia (Christa and MiU):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_Winsloe
German version is probably more detailed, but (I forgot to mention) it has Christa "Kate" Winsloe. LOL, Käte is Manuelas Mutter in the book. Therefore Christa made part of herself related to Manuela through mother. (I can talk about this and other similar "coincidences" forever, just ask for more.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mädchen_in_Uniform
Articles found after "asking" Google. I've never read them before or completely now.
8) Mostly about Christa + MiU, and a little about a few years after.
http://www.lesbengeschichte.de/Englisch/bio_winsloe_e.html
9) The movie (and the book) is based on the play "Gestern und heute" (Yesterday and Today). Something about it (15 pages).
https://www.academia.edu/1780103/_Yesterday_and_or_Today_Time_History_and_Desire_in_Christa_Winsloe_s_Mädchen_in_Uniform_._In_German_Life_and_Letters_65_2012_457-471
There are much more (something new, not repetitions), I suppose. You can simply search Christa Winsloe on Google, but I think this long list is enough.
___________________________
"When the play was first published and whether there is any translation of it into English."
Going back to article #1, "Winsloe was a lesbian. She wasn't even sixteen when she married Baron von Hadvany (There's an) - the marriage only lasted two or three days, yet they both remained in contact for a long time. I met the Baron shortly before Christmas in 1930 on the occasion of the Leipzig theatre premier of Rittner Nerestan (which I later called Gestern und heute - Yesterday and today)."
Sorry, I don't remember where I read it, but I distinctly remember that the first version of the book (Rittner Nerestan, as we can say judging by Thiele's words) had been written during Christa Winsloe's marriage.
Somehow another articles says that Christa had been married for years. In one article was info that she left Ludwig von Hatwany and moved ??? (place was mentioned). Anyway, I suppose the info that ex-husband helped Christa by money is true. Christa is a great sculptor and artist (drawings), so I'd like to use second part of a pun found on Tumblr (about her marriage). "The details are sketchy."
Christa was born on 23.12.1888, so she turned 16 in 1904. Therefore, according Hertha Thiele this can be the year.
However, the play on the stage was in 1930 (because it was a year before the movie), and final version was probably written in 1933 as Amazon says https://www.amazon.de/Das-Mädchen-Manuela-»Mädchen-Uniform«/dp/3861995387 Despite of this, my memory gives 1932 as the year. Maybe it's just the difference between finished book and publication.
___________________________
The book yes, is translated, but I have no idea if the first play survived ever the way as it was in German.
___________________________
"I am sorry, if I am asking much." LOL, don't be sorry, another Christa's new fan. Honestly, because of my habit of trying to talk (to almost everybody who asking/commenting about MiU which has happened rarely) about Christa, I suppose there are ~5 of females who became her fans, and you are the 6th :D
___________________________
"I watched this movie 11 years ago, and rewatched it recently." Wow, 2007??? You were lucky.
I watched it on 11.24.2011 only because I wanted to watch teacher/pupil, but couldn't believe this was possible. Then I found MiU on one of the lists on Wikipedia (lesbian movies, not LGBT ones, I'm sure). Happily, it's not tragedy, so I decided to watch.
I've watched parts too many times to count, and even listened to parts as audio. German pronunciation is sooooo beautiful.
" . . . and rewatched it recently. I wonder why I couldn't see how special it was before."
Agree 100% with part since "how". The reason why MiU is special for me is it's higher rated, boarding school-included (instead of public one), more emotional (Manuela's part before she tried to end her life) version of my since 11 to 13 y.o. past.
___________________________
"I also wonder if it was inspired by Clemence Dane's novel, Regiment of Women (1917), or maybe vice versa, in case that the original play was published before 1917?"
Hmmm . . . We both have no idea now. If Hertha were right, The play was written in 1914, so . . . maybe?
Honestly, I haven't even heard about this book. BUT it's seems like a challenge forms to try to turn "manipulative, abusive, and non-mutual" relationship into completely opposite. *rubbing hands in anticipation*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regiment_of_Women Ooooh YES, yes, yes, this book is very similar to MiU, and now I have some ideas even before reading. Thanks :DDD
● Update: YAY, I’ve found Regiment of Women by Clemence Dane on Play Books (complete and free), thanks to gutenberg.org 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁 (This is also a separate post with main tag #XenaGabrielleAsk)
Also, I've found (accidentally) own post and your mentioning the book probably solves the mystery I've been unable to solve until now. Manuela is in love with the Headmistress??? Yes, you read these words exactly. (Sorry, my English wasn't good then, and I can't correct the post :( ) http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/58436934031 (Whole part of an article with my comments.)
ALSO, later update: http://middleagedwomen-curves.tumblr.com/tagged/tell-me-your-story/chrono It's females' stories about their crush/love, and a lot are teachers ❤ It's sooo interesting and also some can be used as ideas.
Ooooh, thanks to Instagram there are some similar great pictures, but Google found one as text also. Imagine Fräulein von Bernburg's doing this to Manuela. "Before you kiss a girlーgrab her waist, pull her closer to your body, look into her eyes, look at her lips while you're biting yours look back at her eyes again, grab her face gently, then slowly lean in and kiss her. It'll drive her crazy, I promise.
___________________
Since you're MiU fan, I can recommend you something better than a manipulative teacher.
1) Have you watched Cracks? LOL, I have a blog about this too (but it hasn't been updated for a number of years.) http://cracks2009.tumblr.com No spoilers, except I'm 1000% sure main girl will never abandon her dearest teacher. Also, it's based on a book by Sheila Kohler. My long search gave nothing, so I had to buy this book. Somehow, eBay had a cheap brand new one.
2) How about Loving Annabelle? The info everywhere is that it's ~ based on/similar to/remake of MiU 1958, but nothing about 1931 version *angry* But it has some wonderful f/f scenes :DDD Alternative end is the only reason for YES, instead of *why the Hell it ended this way?*
3) Bloomington is about a student and college teacher, but it has f/m in between because of almost "I hate you" (not at the same time), and split up in the end :(
4) Olivia, 1951? It starts almost like MiU when main character is a new pupil at boarding school. BUT no teacher/pupil kiss, only pupil/pupil. However, the girl loved her teacher so much, and was looking at her (when she was reading to the girls) almost like Manuela.
I watched it once in 2012? (and maybe rewatched lesbian parts later), but it's what I remember about lesbianism there.
● Update 5) I've found a post here on Tumblr and remembered Matilda by Roald Dahl Great Children's book. There's also movie, but I've not watched it completely yet. (No spoilers, if you don't know, but it's the happiest ending of sll teacher/ pupil f/f if a few I've ever read or watched.)
___________________________
"I also love the music so much. One of my all time favorites, or maybe the best."
YES?! YES? I thought of commenting that it's probably my most favourite classical piece. GREAT.
● Update: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZdiY1pTaR4 is the video the music is from.
Aaaand: https://dorothy-zbornak.tumblr.com/post/57970831013 This is version as a song in Polish :D I added original lyrics and translated it in English (I understand all (except one line) finally.)
Oh, also there were periods in the past (during a few years until a couple of years ago) when I listened to song version many times + music version too (but much less times) on repeat and am listening now too *happy*
___________________________
"I never get tired of watching your video. :)"
THANKS. I tried (but there's one grammatical error, unfortunately).
I thought I did it in another video, but this one has it more than one timeーlonger kiss.
Part from Hertha's interview, "When the film went to Romania, a letter came from the distributors there, asking `Please, twenty more metres of kissing'." I wanted this too, since the moment I'd read these words, and I found a way (not 100% realistic as it's clearly a freeze frame at least one time, but yes, it IS longer.)
You can look for more MiU-related videos on my channel. I have some fan-fictions/drabbles about Elisabeth (von Bernburg)/Manuela too.
http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/tagged/fanfiction (there are some that aren't mine, though), but I can look and give link to each if you need.
___________________________
Oooh, have you ever watched Anna and Elisabeth? The same Wieck and Thiele as lead characters. My 2nd of top 3 lesbian films (and I wrote fan-fictions too; because these two must be happy together as characters).
___________________________
● Update: The end of your first comment, "the maker/director was a woman and as some scholars suggenst probably a lesbian herself." I forgot about it/forgot to comment. Yes, you're right about Leontine Sagan (Schlesinger // Wikipedia confirmed I remember right.) I read about it somewhere. Also, she played everybody's favourite E.v.B on stage. There are 2 posts from her book Light and Shadows (bought and upload by a girl from East Russia.) http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/114300921565 http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/114397860189
She's much better looking than masculine 50 y.o. Meltzer? in the very first version in 1930 on stage in Leipzig (Hertha Thiele was chosen by Christa Winsloe for stage, and for the movie probably too, but there were many girls who tried, so Thiele wasn't sure (she would be chosen for the movie too).
I don't know if I'm the one, but Sagan as Bernburg look like combination of Dorothea Wieck and Christa Winsloe (oh, the director of the movie playing E.v.B. on stage look like E.v.B. in the movie + MiU's author). Great.
Also, once I went a little too far and . . . (AU visual story (with terrible proportions due inability to correctly combine wide-height of original and new part(s)) based on Thiele's interview) http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/87629548774
___________________________
Hope we'll talk more soon.
You can send me an ask (but it won't allow much of a text) http://dorothy-zbornak.tumblr.com/ask, or send a submission (longer) on dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com (I made ability to submit only there), but it will be answered on dorothy-zbornak.
If you have any better ways, I'm ready to think about any.l
2 notes
·
View notes
Photo
Which button? Remember “green” for the “light”! Not sure how? See the copy of the handout from your 1/31/2020 email below:
Beginning of Semester Reminders:
1. Ready? Publish your course by the 1st day of classes (or whenever you want your students to be able to see your class). https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-13030-415257126
2. Always Develop Materials in a Canvas Development Shell: Why? Campus Solutions is evil, meaning that if for any reason the scheduler has to make a change to the course… a number, a typo, instructor name, room change etc., Campus Solutions deletes your course shell…without any warning.
How to get a Development Shell: https://www.sdccd.edu/about/departments-and-offices/instructional-services-division/online-learning-pathways-1/faculty/index.aspx
Have your 10-digit Employee ID & Course Name Ready
Naming convention: D-Shell-Subject-Course-Firstinitiallastname
(Ex: For my master development shell for English 101 materials, my development shell name would be: D-SHELL-ENG-101Master-AGUM)
Magic Words: State that you are from the San Diego Community College District (don’t abbreviate or assume they know… they are a global company)
Make sure you specifically ask for a “Canvas Development Shell”
Getting a New Course Ready
1. Copy materials from your development shell or past courses into your new course:
Dave Giberson’s Tutorial: Copying content from one course shell to another: http://sdccdolvid.org/copying-selected-items-one-canvas-course-another/
Dave Giberson’s Tutorial for copying selected materials from one course to another: http://sdccdolvid.org/copying-selected-items-one-canvas-course-another/
PDF Tutorial: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-13035-4152239683
2. Update any links to the LRC or Library Materials: Our new library system should be up and running by 1/15. https://library.sdcity.edu/home Please see Librarian’s 12/5/19 email or for more info: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LvONnW3JQFdBwdssb2If_M6112FzcjFd/view
3. If desired, clean out your Inbox & Archive old messages if you want to keep them: https://guides.instructure.com/m/4152/l/719693
4. Optional: Customize your Course listing menu so you only see your current courses in the drop down or see them first (the default is alphabetical for up to 20 courses: https://guides.instructure.com/m/4152/l/719654
General Reminders:
All mentor messages are on a Tumblr blog so you can easily search through the list or see what had been posted if you didn’t have access to SDCCD email or are looking for a specific link.
Tumblr Blog: http://cityonlinementor.tumblr.com
Browser Changes:
All encouraged to stop using Explorer as a browser. It is no longer supported by Microsoft for security patches and updates: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support. For a list of recommended browsers, please see: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10720
Upcoming Events for Online Professional Development
Looking for self-paced PD?
1. SPACES: Social Presence, Accessibility, Collaboration, Engagement for Students. Digital tools such as Zoom, Clips, Adobe Spark, WAVE Web Accessibility, Mind Mapping and many more are explored.
On your FLEX link, use the dropdown for “District” to register. Self-enroll in SPACES: https://sdccd.instructure.com/enroll/PEFGPT
2. Can-Innovate Archived Sessions: https://onlinenetworkofeducators.org/caninnovate19/caninnovate19-full-program/
Answers to Common FAQs:
1. Problems with PeopleSoft or MyPortal: Contact (619) 388-6800 or Myportal Faculty Help 2020: https://mysdccd.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/MYS/pages/267681828/Faculty+Tutorials+College
2. Do we have a plagiarism checking tool in Canvas?
Yes, but only until the end of February 2020 unless City or the District funds it. The Vice Chancellor is waiting for Miramar & CE to support it. City has already communicated this. Mesa is in the process. Unicheck is the plagiarism checker we used this past semester. This is a link that show you what it looks like from the student and teacher views: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-14358-how-to-use-unicheck-in-canvas
*Avoid using Unicheck near the end of February UNLESS you get confirmation from SDCCD Online Pathways or me that it has been renewed to avoid having difficulties with student submissions.
3. Why can’t my student see my class? You have to click on the circle that says “Publish” on the right side of your course and any materials/pages, etc in your course.
4. If a student disenrolls or I drop a student, does the student’s work come back if s/he re-enrolls? Yes – the work should still be there. That said, it is a good practice to download your gradebook and download crucial assignments from the gradebook. Archiving doesn’t keep any submissions. Tutorial: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-16544-4152813647
5. Is it true SDCCD Online Pathways Staff is now at City?!? Yes – they are now on the Broadway side of the MS Building next to Family Health at City. Yay!!!
6. How do I move materials from my developmental shell to my teaching shell? https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-12935-415257077
7. Do I have to be SDCCD Certified to teach online for City, Mesa, or Miramar: Yes. If you completed certification at another campus, contact the SDCCD Online Dean or support @sdccdonline.net, your area’s dean, and your chair to get checked off.
8. How Do I Get Certified: https://www.sdccd.edu/about/departments-and-offices/instructional-services-division/online-learning-pathways-1/faculty/faculty%20training.aspx
0 notes