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claire-starsword · 13 hours
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We should put sex and magic on their own pride flag. Represent all the animal girls and wizards on this beautiful website
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claire-starsword · 15 hours
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If I think about Ralsei too much my heart starts to hurt
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claire-starsword · 1 day
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it constantly melts my brain that there is a disturbingly large segment of usamericans who consider themselves “progressive” and yet whatever part of their brain that’s capable of critical thinking turns off as soon as someone blames any issue on russia or china or north korea. they’ll hear “movies don’t have gay people in them because of China” and think yeah that makes sense, they’re so regressive and authoritarian. it’s a good thing we don’t have any authoritarians who hate gay people in this country
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claire-starsword · 1 day
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claire-starsword · 2 days
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You guys rlly don't realise how much knowledge is still not committed to the internet. I find books all the time with stuff that is impossible to find through a search engine- most people do not put their magnum opus research online for free and the more niche a skill is the less likely you are to have people who will leak those books online. (Nevermind all the books written prior to the internet that have knowledge that is not considered "relevant" enough to digitise).
Whenever people say that we r growing up with all the world's knowledge at our fingertips...it's not necessarily true. Is the amount of knowledge online potentially infinite? Yes. Is it all knowledge? No. You will be surprised at the niche things you can discover at a local archive or library.
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claire-starsword · 2 days
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do not understand people who get bored of seeing common animals. understand even less when they act with annoyance or hostility just because they're common animals. a deer or a sparrow or a field mouse is like a sunset to me
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claire-starsword · 2 days
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webtoon trying to force me to install their app as if i wasn't gonna figure out to bypass that just using the desktop version of the website lol
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claire-starsword · 2 days
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ShiningInktober Day 2 and 3 (very late) - Bowie and Odd Eye
Wanted to draw them together for angsty reasons lmao
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claire-starsword · 2 days
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Should go without saying but never date a cop and christ never marry one. Rule of thumb if he's legally untouchable he's ethically unfuckable. You don't like that cop, you like buff men in tight clothing. I can show you more of those, better ones. Take my hand.
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claire-starsword · 3 days
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claire-starsword · 4 days
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Interlude Between Battle 12 and 13
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You know, one of the challenges I was thinking of doing between the Shining Force Girl Power was the Magic Only Run (which if you want to see @claire-starsword is doing a great one), CENTAURS Only Run (which has the same amount of characters as the girls) and a Non-Human run.
The Non-Human run would be fun cause I'd have a bigger team to work with. Luke, Ken, Tao (half-elf), Hans, Gort, Mae, Khris... and one of them that would be included is Guntz the Armadillo-Man turned Literal Tank. That's the guy who's being mentioned here. He's SO MUCH FUN TO PLAY WITH!
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I... completely forgot there were chests in this town, and one of them has the ELVEN ARROW... There's a STEEL SWORD NEXT TO IT! However I WOULD need to Promote Diane and Amon. I WAS going for the Promotion at Level 20, but let me open this up to you guys!
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claire-starsword · 4 days
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having to see one of those cheery "the youths' votes can take this country by storm!" posts in support of the "lesser evil" candidate in the middle of backing up a genocide is just fucking heartbreaking at this point.
also completely breaks the "lesser evil" rhetoric like, either you acknowledge the two options are fucking bleak or you sound cheery and revolutionary about it. you can't have both. and if you're doing the latter just to raise morale that just means you fucking enjoy manipulating the hell out of young people's hopes. hopefully i don't have to tell you that is bad and also casts doubt on everything you say.
and the fact that the tone hasn't changed in four years is just. wow. refuse to acknowledge four years of people's disillusionment including a fucking genocide. look like an alienated fuck frozen in time. act shocked and outraged when people don't believe in your goals. you're so good at politics.
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claire-starsword · 4 days
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Bloodline of the Sacred Dragons - Chapter 2-5
[warning for needles and coerced blood tests. Yes, in Shining Force. this one is a ride]
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"No."
The old lady flatly refused.
"Please, master. Don't be selfish. We just need Randolf's help for a little while," Krin begged the old lady with her hands clasped together.
This lady, known as Granny of the Experiments to the mages of Manarina, was Krin's teacher, Tyrin's friend, and Randolf's employer. She was an exceptional weirdo among the already weird mages.
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As his boss, the old lady refused to grant Randolf permission to leave. No matter how one looked at it, she seemed to just be having fun causing problems for Tyrin and the rest.
He and Krin were at a loss on how to deal with her tantrum.
The other four, standing outside her laboratory, gathered near the half opened door without thinking, listening in to the discussion.
"If I said no that's a no. If I let Randolf go, I won't be able to continue my sublime research, will I?"
"Ma'am, this is an order from Master Otrant," Tyrin told her gravely. At least he hoped to impart the gravity of the situation. But it didn't work with her in the slightest.
"Otrant was once just a naughty brat I gave plenty of beatings and scoldings to. That one's a hundred years too young to order me around!"
She laughed, and Tyrin began sweating as he tried to persuade her.
"So this is the kind of place my sister's been studying at?" Karin whispered.
"I guess." Bleu scratched his nose at her words.
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"Who was that? Is there someone outside?"
The old lady had heard Karin speak, and went to look outside her room. Her ears were apparently in pretty good shape for her age. With a bit of regret for having talked so carelessly, Bleu and the others entered the room.
"Ooh, if it isn't a Sacred Dragon. Good. Excellent. Alright, if you all help with my experiment, I'll let you have the dwarf."
The old lady's eyes shined as she saw Bleu, and Randolf angrily raised an eyebrow at what she had said.
"Hey hey hey, I'm not a thing. Don't go handing me over as you want. First of all, to let him help on the experiments, what do you want to turn him into? Or, are you gonna turn someone into a dragon…?"
Randolf looked at the machine in the corner of the room. It was bigger than Bleu. The imposing contraption, covered by a transparent dome, was a shapeshifting machine.
The reason the old lady was known as Granny of the Experiments was due to turning people into a bunch of different animals with that machine. That's why even the bulletin boards in Manarina had posters warning to beware of her.
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"Even I can't turn people into Sacred Dragons. That's why I'm still researching. I hardly get the chance to pick up such a rare material to experiment with. Hohoho!"
"Bleu isn't any sort of lab animal!" Karin shouted.
"To me, all creatures are lab material, me included. You, and you, and you, and you…"
She spun around pointing each one of them.
"This machine, it looks a lot like the one in the Ancient Tower at Prompt… So you want me to get inside?" Bleu asked. Camallia wanted to say something, but the old lady was faster.
"The machine in the Ancient Tower was only for breathing lifeforce into an artificial creature, like Dark Dragon. It sucked out the life of living beings that entered it and transferred it to something else. This machine here is very different. It was dug out from the Bustoke Quarry a long time ago. Good ol' me here restored it, and it became usable again."
The old lady scolded Krin for not being awed and clapping like a pupil should. The poor girl praised her after way too long. A bit angry, she continued to explain the machine.
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"This machine can transform a creature into another kind of creature. For example, it can turn giant worms and such into cute chickens and cows. Oh, it's such a groundbreaking invention."
She made a dreamy face, enchanted by her own words.
"But, I don't think anyone would want milk or stew from a cow that used to be a worm…" Karin mumbled, disgusted. Karna nodded, her lips tightened together.
"You don't understand the greatness of this research. Foolish little girls."
Karna got terribly angry at the old lady's insult, puffing her cheeks. But, suddenly remembering her reason for being there, she quickly calmed down.
"Old lady, have you seen a man called Gong, maybe?"
"Gong? Let's see…" She inclined her head, trying to gather her memories. "Ah, do you mean that huge monk? He helped me here a couple of days ago."
Karna beamed.
"It could be him. So, could you tell me where he is now?"
"He left."
"Ehh?"
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She froze instantly, after having jumped in joy at first.
"He just suddenly walked out. I have no clue where he went."
He ran away, whispered Tyrin in Karna's ear. Probably, thought everyone who heard him.
Bleu too started wishing to ran away like Gong. He didn't have time to waste with this stuff.
"We can't spend too much time here. I enter that, then you give us him, right?"
"Don't give in, Bleu. This is a waste of time too," Karin rushed to stop him as he touched the machine.
"Whoa, whoa, who told you to enter? What I want is your cells. Turning a Sacred Dragon into a frog or a snake wouldn't be much fun now, would it?"
Rummaging through a box, the old lady chided the hasty dragon. Right after, she exclaimed "here, found it," and took out an odd tool with a needle.
"What, I'm just gonna take some blood from you all."
Her face contorted with glee as she carried the giant injection needle.
"Hey, hey, you don't mean even from me, do you?"
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Randolf took a step away from her.
"I don't see why not. I still don't have many dwarf cells, after all."
Hurried by Bleu and Tyrin, who were fed up with all that, everyone agreed to her procedure against their will. Even Randolf and Cerberos fell in her clutches. The one who resisted the most was Camallia, who tried to plead religious reasons, and that she was a foreigner, but the old lady didn't care at all for that. In the end, she went after half of the group had already done it.
"One Sacred Dragon, one dwarf, one elf, one half-elf, three humans, and one cerberos… Hohoho. Now, what crystals should I use…"
This time, she began rummaging through another box, full of crystal slabs shining in every color of rainbow. It was as if she had immediately forgotten about everyone else in the room.
"Hey, you're a bother to my work. Out."
She ushered them out of the lab. Camallia wished from the bottom of her heart that this old mage's research with their cells never got completed.
"Well then," Tyrin relaxed his shoulders, then asked his old friend, "guide us."
"Hang on, why do I have to do this?"
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Randolf grabbed Tyrin's orange-brown robe, stopping him from running ahead.
"What do you mean 'why', I explained everything before. And the old lady has allowed you to."
"The old lady is the old lady, I'm talking about me. I'm no kid to be sent out by my guardian. I do what I want to."
"Then, can't you consider it?" Tyrin requested once more.
Randolf stubbornly rejected it. "I refuse. I shouldn't take anyone who isn't a dwarf through the secret path. Besides, I have nothing to do with this Manual and what it will be used for. I'm not sticking my nose in that kind of trouble when it's not worth a cent."
"Cheapskate."
Someone murmured.
"What did you say?"
Randolf turned around, and saw Karna with her puffed cheeks.
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"I said you're a stingy miser, that's what you are. Lending a hand to people in trouble is the right thing to do."
She began preaching to the stubborn dwarf as a priest was bound to do.
"That's my decision to make."
"Cheapskate," she made the same face again. Of course, it was useless to preach to a man several times her age. Besides, Karna wasn't one to keep a dignified front for long.
"C'mon now, a young girl shouldn't talk like that. Not to mention, you seem to be a priest too."
"Oh, I can speak however I want to a dwarf like you. I don't think the gods will forgive your actions."
"My, what a difficult kid."
"You're the difficult one!"
Karna had got angry to the point of tears, and Karin hurried to calm her down. She hugged Karin, burying her face in the older girl's chest.
Randolf felt a bit troubled, as he did not intend to make her cry.
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His gaze fell downwards, and when he raised his head again, the white dragon was right in front of him.
"Randolf the dwarf, I beg you once more. We need your help."
Bleu's long neck was bowed down all the way to the dwarf's face.
"Bleu, you shouldn't ever have to go this far."
Karin tried to push his head up. A proud and noble Sacred Dragon, hero of times past, shouldn't lower himself to a mere dwarf. But, Bleu's head stayed firmly where it was.
"If you want us to beg, then, please."
Joining the plea for help, Karin also bowed down towards Randolf, by Bleu's side and as deeply as him. Not leaving her sister alone in that, Krin also bowed by her side.
"I ask of you as well, dwarf, sir."
A bit late, Camallia joined them. Hers was a more elegant gesture, bending her upper body without lowering her head as much.
"Now, what will you do, dear friend. I will ask of you once more as well. To retrieve the stolen Manual, we require a dwarf's assistance..."
Tyrin bowed.
Karna quickly lowered her head as well by Karin's side, her face stained with tears.
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"Fine, I get it, stop pestering me, you all. I'll guide you, now get these heads back up already."
Randolf had at last joined the group.
Translation notes:
With thanks to Spriters Resource, here's a refresher on what the shapeshifting machine looks like:
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And the machine in the Tower of the Ancients that gives power to Dark Dragon (we only see it after it's destroyed by Cain):
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The similarities between them kinda start and end with having a glass dome. I don't see any entrances in the last one and Darksol does not put anyone inside it to supply Dark Dragon with energy, so yeah, the writer took some liberties here. Of course, there's no original explanation for it so it's not a big deal.
Karna is confirmed here as a half-elf. According to the afterword at the end of the book (which I'll be translating eventually), the writer did contact someone (he doesn't clarify who exactly) to ask on the issue of her looking like an elf while listed as a human in the manual. The way he talks about, it was very likely a mistake, and deciding to make her a half-elf was just a hasty fix. They decided the same should go for Taya even though she's not even in this book.
Rolling my eyes at the dwarf racism that seems to be going on here. I don't recall dwarves being established as a lesser race anywhere in the first game and its extra content, with Gort even being a legendary hero in Guardiana (despite centaurs dominating the army there in general, but that's mentioned more as centaurs being the prejudiced ones, as opposed to everyone else being on it). The SF2 encyclopedia has a note on Randolf being from a "rougher" subrace of dwarves, so he seems to attract this kinda comment, but in the same sentence that book establishes regular dwarves as respected, so the portrayal here still sticks out as the writer doing his own thing. Which feels pretty bad, especially when Randolf is so far the only character defined just as a worker as opposed to having some special heritage, religious or academic connection.
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claire-starsword · 5 days
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claire-starsword · 5 days
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one of the things i can't really get over is talking to someone who works at the new york times (in a very local capacity and has never dealt with their overseas reporting) and realizing they genuinely, earnestly don't think there is a systemic bias in their reporting. they actually couldn't see it. this is someone who is very sharp and religiously fair in their own reporting. but it simply never occurred to them, even through the war in iraq, through the caliphate mess, through the thomas friedman op-eds, and through 75 years of reporting on palestine, that there may be a systemic problem in the new york times and that it is deliberate. at worst, they would say, it is an error on the part of these individual reporters. they were careless. they were sloppy. but they can't possibly mean it.
but you know, if you can't see the bias, you don't see the mistake until it's a scandal. and you think it's made once. but in fact the scandal is that this mistake was made a thousand times. when you make a mistake a thousand times, it's not a mistake, it's policy. it's an editorial decision. i think i was just really sad to see someone defend it not on the basis of malice, but rather on the basis of an earnest and thoroughly casual dehumanization. what's the problem if a headline is incorrect? what's the problem if a humanitarian organization is inferred to be a terrorist organization? what's the problem if an entire people are characterized as rapists? what's the problem if a cause and effect are incoherent? what's the problem with a few missing historical facts? these were all just earnest mistakes. people might be terrorists and rapists and things are complicated and history is disputed. i can repeat that endlessly even over the corpses of 13000 children. what's the problem with that? i don't see a connection between our reporting and the dead children. we report on the dead children too. i think our reporting is very fair. we talk about the dead children maybe a third as often as we talk about why they should be killed. that seems fine to me. yes the president of this nation quoted us, and the president of that nation quoted us, but this is surely correlation and not causation.
it's the kind of casual racism that makes you walk and talk like a fool. the editorial board knows what it's doing. but the casual racists, the ones who don't even want to be racist but have simply never lived a life that confronted their racism—they're being taken along for the ride. footsoldiers in a march for genocide who think they're on a scenic hike.
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claire-starsword · 6 days
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claire-starsword · 6 days
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