#amanuenses

[morh9st2udzu8r]

Teenage black girl Sara Fontana sucks dildo n bangs pussy Upskirt Tease and Squirting Orgasms My super cute Pussy girl Gross gay sex movietures Brody Frost and Direly Strait stop at a Mom fucks milffriend Krissy Lynn in The Sinful Stepmother Lascivious Ana Rose swallows stepbro dick before riding Desi girl masterbing Pretty Hoe deepthroat before cim Hijabi Workmate With Thick Ass Rides Dick indian virgin girl

#amanuenses #opaleye #Danvers #eagle-pinioned #unvoided #pyritohedral #surpassingly #tiremaking #metalepses #Boynton #corrosible #panaesthesia #light-headedly #cosmically #karatto #unlampooned #quatrain #Badin #Mooreville #permeably

[ross-nekochan]

Il magnifico e super tecnologico Giappone: treni super veloci, robot per camerieri, cesso con bidet integrato e tantissime altre amenità e poi...

Fax negli uffici pubblici

Curriculum da scrivere A MANO (rigorosamente)

#ed eccomi qui a riscrivere kanji a mano dopo 70 anni come una vera amanuense giapponese #e ovviamente se sbagli un tratto ti si fotte tutto il cv e va riscritto daccapo #amorevoli pezzi di merda #toglietevi da maschera e rivelatevi per quelli che siete: medievali #random

[seriemorder]

lets get day 2 of the end-of-year reading marathon started lets goooooo

#i need to read two books today. if it kills me. #i fucked up last night cause i decided to play around instead of focusing on the written word #this is how an amanuense felt i think. the shame and the betrayal for touching yiur brothers balls instead of the word of god. #or something

[hercorrupterofwords]

medieval vibes!!!*

*i'm summarizing/copying a latin textbook that I do not have the money nor the will to buy

#oggi monaco amanuense #probabilmente non finirò questa impresa perché il buon gian biagio conte ha deciso di voler scrivere 600 pagine #ma il libro l'ho preso in prestito e non posso sottolinearlo né voglio andare a fotocopiarlo #sti sei (6!!!) crediti di latino comunque sono una sfida alla mia sanità mentale e sto perdendo #sto esame non so come lo voglio passa

[warfate]

after four long years of conflict, the great war had finally ended. caught up in the bloodshed and found all by herself on a deserted island was a young woman with no memories of her life before the war and not even the ability to speak. 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍 — raised for the sole purpose of decimating enemy lines, to kill or be killed, to be a weapon. a tool that only knew how to follow orders.

⠀ ⠀�� 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝚆𝙷𝙾 𝙺𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝙳 𝙼𝚈 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁𝚂 ( ... )⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀𝑾𝑹𝑰𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑳𝑬𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺 𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑽𝑬𝑹𝒀 𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑫 ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐒𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘.

hospitalized and maimed in a bloody skirmish during the war, she was left with only one arm and words from a father like person she held dearest, but with no understanding of their meaning. she goes on the journey of becoming an auto memory doll, amanuenses that transcribe people's thoughts and feelings into words on paper. she struggles to understand her first clients feelings due to her lack of empathy and her first letters backlash. over time though, she slowly grows into becoming one of the best dolls the postal company has and she's on the path to find herself. to become her own person and not be the weapon she was created to be.

an independent, canon divergent & headcanon portrayal of violet evergarden. changes to her story were made and can be found below. 18+ only, semi-active and currently open for novels. english and german, but the first is preferred.

please note that violet still struggles heavily with understanding feelings and emotions. she may seem mean and aloof towards your character at first as she still lacks empathy, but it is her character development that she learns through those moments.

changes:

violet is originally blonde, but here she has black hair.

in my portrayal, violet was found on the deserted island at the age of 19. meaning, she fought in the war till she was 22. nowadays, she's 25 years of age.

violet originally lost two arms that were replaced with adamantine silver prostheses, in my portrayal, she only lost one arm.

another change is her relationship towards the major. it is strictly a father- daughter like relationship. the storyline of movie did not happen at all in my portrayal and he is still considered dead.

#userfakevz #she-her

[weaselandfriends]

The Making Of: Cleveland Quixotic

I. Context

After I finished Chicago in 2019, a powerful and persistent fatigue gripped me: the fabled "burnout." The next two years would be the least productive of my literate life. As one day ebbed into the next, I wondered if I would ever be able to write again. I thought of Andrew Hussie, who, after years of feverish activity on Homestuck, seemed now capable of only short spurts of creation, heavily assisted by amanuenses.

It wasn't an issue of knowing what to write. I had been developing the idea for Cockatiel x Chameleon since 2015. I knew its plot, characters, scenes, themes. But when I tried to manifest it into reality I felt drained. What I managed to scrawl was junk, far below my standards. Goaded by a lurking terror of infinite lassitude, I forced myself to blurt 60,000 words of an initial draft; loathing it, I scrapped it entirely.

That was when I got the idea to write a "fun" story.

My vision for Cockatiel x Chameleon was technically complex and emotionally demanding. Maybe something simpler, a straightforward adventure, would be a stepping stone to recovery. I thought back to Fargo, which I had written (unlike most of my works) with relative ease and minimal forethought. How could I emulate that experience? What made Fargo so easy compared to Chicago and Cockatiel x Chameleon?

After reflection, I concluded that Fargo was, at its core, a revenge story. Revenge stories are older than dinosaur dirt. They are fundamental to human experience, easily understood, all structure inherent in their premise. The hero, wronged, seeks revenge on the villain. From that sentence alone you understand the protagonist's motivation and the plot's direction: trending inexorably toward final confrontation. With such a powerful core, it'd been easy to add details and complications to Fargo as they popped into my head, without warping the story's innate trajectory.

If I wanted another "easy" writing experience, I decided, I needed a similar type of story. Something with a clear premise that removes the burden of planning. A "template plot," where beginning/middle/end is fundamentally present and the writer merely adds their own spin. It took little time to think of such a story type. After all, it had been ubiquitous in Japanese media for the past decade. Not only was it popular with readers, it was appealing to amateur authors; many of its biggest examples originated as web fiction.

I decided I would write an isekai.

II. The Isekai Genre

A person from the real world is transported to a fantasy world.

Not quite as old as the revenge story. Nonetheless, this narrative concept has existed for over 100 years. The premise immediately informs the challenges the protagonist will encounter. They will adapt to a world they know little about, introduce knowledge from modern Earth society, and rise in power and prominence. Toss in a Demon King hellbent on world domination and you get a clear narrative climax. The details can be changed nearly any way without issue.

(Or so I thought.)

In retrospect, I myself was being transported to a new world. If we ignore The Chronicles of Narnia or The Pagemaster or Digimon Adventure and focus solely on the contemporary isekai genre (say 2012 on), which is what I intended to emulate, my experience extended to only the following titles:

1. Sword Art Online

2. Log Horizon

3. No Game No Life

4. The Saga of Tanya the Evil (or Youjo Senki)

5. KonoSuba

This is not only a pitiful sample size, but a specifically poor representation of the genre. Sword Art Online and Log Horizon exist in their own subgenre—trapped in a video game—and have many oddities unseen in more traditional isekai. No Game No Life and Tanya the Evil are "real" isekais, but both have unique worlds that eschew most traditional fantasy elements (especially in Tanya's case). And KonoSuba is a parody.

Nonetheless, I felt that, via cultural osmosis, I "understood" the isekai genre. Based on a few video essays I once watched that roasted dreck like Trapped in Another World with a Smartphone, and reverse engineering KonoSuba's parody, I conceived an impression of isekai as wish fulfillment: A loser gets another chance at life, often with some boon to ensure they don't muck it up this time. They become the hero, triumph with their strength and modern intelligence, and meet lots of attractive women.

I smirked. Heh, I thought. What if I made an isekai... that wasn't wish fulfillment! Truly novel. Let us take the premise of KonoSuba—a benevolent god gives a loser a second chance in a fantasy world—and turn it on its head. Instead of a benevolent god, what if the main character was sent by... a devil? The loser protagonist makes a Faustian bargain to become a hero. They get exactly what they wish for, except they're still a loser at heart, and inevitably bungle everything due to their own social incompetence.

That was the flashpoint. Ideas came together quickly, exactly as I hoped. Soon I had a narrative. It went like this:

III. The Original Idea

Our protagonist is a bumbling failure who lives with his mother. One day he sees an advertisement for a devil's wish-granting service. Being a fan of isekai anime, he goes to the devil and wishes to be sent to another world, one where he'll be the most powerful person. The devil, a sleek and professional businesswoman, agrees to the unusual wish, but pushes the work of actually creating the world to an overstressed, chain-smoking intern. The intern cobbles the world together in a matter of hours and our protagonist embarks on his journey.

He arrives to find the human kingdom besieged by the Demon King's army. The humans are outnumbered; total defeat is imminent. Just as he wished, though, the protagonist possesses incredible power. He charges into the fray, destroys the demon army singlehandedly in instants, and slays the Demon King himself soon after. The protagonist enters the human kingdom hailed as a hero.

Soon, the Human King emerges from his castle to express his immense gratitude. He offers the hero anything, including his daughter's hand in marriage. The hero takes one look at the princess―named either Mayfair or Viviendre, I wasn't sure which―sees she is exceedingly beautiful, and eagerly agrees. He's gotten exactly what he always wanted!

Unbeknownst to him, the king is a schemer. Advised by two strange beings—the rotund fairy Tetzel and the living plant Tintoretto—the king believes the hero is too popular; the people would side with him if he sought the throne. The king offers his daughter not in goodwill but to tie the hero to his side. His ultimate goal is to control the hero's power to imperialistically expand his kingdom.

Meanwhile, the princess has her own schemes. She's a lesbian and has zero intention of sleeping with the hero. In a comic scene, she gives the hero excuse after excuse why they can't sleep in the same bed despite being married; the hero naively buys it. Eventually he catches on, but while he's upset by the situation, he's too morally upstanding to do anything but accept it. (This would be a recurring theme: The hero could use his strength to force people to do what he wanted, but constantly shirks from doing so because he refuses to act in a way unbecoming of a hero. His morality and desires exist in a constant state of push and pull.)

Eventually, the hero and his wife compete for the affections of various female characters, with the wife always winning. Temporary the elf was part of this subplot: A dimwitted ambassador to be competitively wooed. To keep the hero sated, his wife buys him a female slave to use "as he likes." The hero, possessed of modern anti-slavery sensibilities, is appalled. He instantly frees the slave girl and enters a crusade to abolish slavery in the kingdom. Unfortunately, because he is not particularly smart, when he debates the slaveowners over the evils of slavery they routinely trounce him (using many arguments real-world slaveowners once used). Again, he could use his incredible power to kill the slaveowners, but they're law-abiding members of society. Murdering them would be "immoral" in the hero's eyes despite his staunch belief in the immorality of their actions.

Around this time, the hero finally uses his power for something good and sends gold back home to his financially poor mother. Unfortunately, this charitable act also goes awry when his sister, an IRS agent, thinks his disappearance is a ploy to evade taxes. She gathers a posse: her coworker boyfriend, his two friends (I called them Aaron Van Zandt and Allen Van Langevelde, envisioning an American Psycho vibe), and a private detective. Using security camera footage they track the protagonist's last known movements to a dingy apartment building, where they find the overworked devil intern who created the world and force him to send them there too.

They roll out in a huge SUV: Five people plus the hapless intern, armed with guns and equipment. The king, not wishing to lose the hero, decides he must intercept them before the hero learns of their existence. In a big setpiece-style scene reminiscent of Children of Men, a horde of knights ambush the SUV on a forest road. Arrows fly through the front windshield, killing the boyfriend (passenger seat) with an arrow to the neck and wounding Aaron Van Zandt (driver). The SUV crashes into a tree and the sister flees on foot, followed by Allen Van Langevelde, who has barely spoken before then but who now reveals themselves to be a badass marksman as they dispatch knight after knight with efficient hunting rifle shots. The private detective is wounded in the leg and forced to remain behind, while the devil intern cowers in the backseat. Aaron Van Zandt limps out of the driver's seat and attempts to follow Van Langevelde, but a knight on horseback rushes past him and knocks him down a steep incline, where he smashes his head on a rock and seemingly dies.

The knights surround the vehicle. The private detective fights back, but is overwhelmed and killed. The devil intern is captured to be burned at the stake later. The sister and Van Langevelde escape on foot, but without the intern, they can't leave the world. They need to rescue him before he is executed. Meanwhile, Van Zandt, clinging to life, is discovered by fairies and brought to their court.

And then...

IV. The Problem

And then I got stuck.

First, it should be clear by now that I did not actually have a plot. I had a series of incidents, loosely organized. Vaguely I knew the main character would work to overcome his social ineptitude and ultimately truly succeed, accomplishing the character growth his get-rich-quick Faustian bargain could never provide. But nothing came together in a coherent structure. Despite my intention to stick to a template plot, I instantly destroyed the template by killing the Demon King in the first chapter. I still had character conflicts and ideas to pursue, but no actual story.

Plus, the main character being a loser made him—well, a loser. Even if he eventually grew, he still ate shit again and again before vanishing entirely from the big action setpiece.

So my original idea of quickly and easily constructing an isekai plot hit a roadblock. Luckily, it was now 2021. After two idle years my fatigue seeped slowly out of me. Finally I regained my energy; I no longer needed to write a "fun" story. I decided to shelve the isekai, potentially permanently, and worked on Cockatiel x Chameleon in earnest.

This time, the draft of Cockatiel x Chameleon―which would be the final draft―progressed acceptably. It consumed my entire focus and I might not have thought about the isekai at all if not for two hiccups. First, though I now had the mental willpower to technically execute my ideas, the emotionally intense material of Cockatiel x Chameleon still left me sometimes wistfully longing for a story not quite so bleak and harrowing. Second, I revisited the isekai genre.

V. The Isekai Genre, Part 2

The anime analysis YouTuber Ygg Studio (formerly known as Digibro) posted a video called Is Mushoku Tensei The Most Influential Isekai? (History of Isekai) that outlined the isekai genre's chronology in Japanese pop media. Watching the video, I discovered some surprising origins to the "contemporary" isekai genre. Though there were many isekai stories―even popular ones―before, the current isekai craze seemingly began in 2012 on a Japanese webfic site called syosetsu.com, where several popular isekai were written in close temporal proximity to one another.

The main titles of note were Re:Zero and Mushoku Tensei—followed by KonoSuba, which was specifically a parody of Mushoku Tensei, instead of (as I once believed) a general cultural conception of isekai. In fact, it was these three works that created the current cultural conception, establishing many now obligatory tropes.

So, I decided to watch Re:Zero and Mushoku Tensei.

I was shocked! As it turned out, my clever and subversive idea―treating the hero as the loser he was instead of as a wish fulfillment badass―had not only already been done, it was foundational to the genre! Both works feature loser protagonists whose social ineptitude constantly causes problems for them despite their cheat mode powers. Both protagonists are forced to develop as people rather than rely on their advantages, and the development of their relationships with the other characters is a crucial consideration of both works.

As it turned out, Trapped in Another World with a Smartphone (which I also haven't seen) wasn't the beginning and end of the genre. I had underestimated isekai. In retrospect, the languid existence of my 2019 and 2020 led to me ironically attempting the same cheap wish fulfillment of my imagined isekai protagonist. I wanted a "fun," "quick," "easy" story and intended to use isekai for that purpose, the same way an isekai protagonist assumes being sent to another world is an easy way to becoming a hero.

It was time to return to the planning stage. This time, I wouldn't take things for granted.

VI. The Original Idea, Part 2

First, I revisited my protagonist. Originally an afterthought: a punching bag who failed whenever he exhibited any agency. I decided on another direction. My hero wouldn't be a loser by incompetence, but by choice. He would be clever and intelligent, but unwilling to apply himself. He wanted a new world because the original didn't seem worth it; too rigid, too structured, too immune to change. His journey would be discovering it wasn't the world holding him back, but himself. Believing nothing could be changed, he stopped himself from changing. Thus, Jay Waringcrane came into existence.

Earlier ideas were remixed around this new protagonist. I merged the devil boss lady and the devil intern into a single character, a semi-hapless sort for Jay to outwit. That was Perfidia Bal Berith. The hero's sister, whose subplot originally lacked any connection to him, now became a foil to his ideology. She exhibited utter faith in the "real world"—its mechanisms, its processes—and applied herself diligently to maintenance of its status quo. That was Shannon Waringcrane.

Still needed a plot. Since my hero was no longer a social bumbler, I discarded the original beginning where he annihilates the Demon King's army and toyed with a new idea. The human kingdom, besieged by the Demon King's army, becomes aware via prophecy that a hero is about to appear in their world. The king sends a party led by the gallant prince to find the hero and bring him safely to the kingdom. When Jay arrives, he meets the prince and his crew, but they are immediately beset by demons, who kill most of the party and grievously wound the prince. Jay, the dying prince, and the sole other survivor―a taciturn, dark-skinned mage named Viviendre who is secretly the prince's lover―barely escape. The prince succumbs to his wounds shortly afterward, leading to an emotionally-charged moment in which Viviendre laments his death and blames Jay for causing it. Leading to an adversarial relationship between Jay and Viviendre that, after much character development, would eventually turn into romance.

Then Jay would lead the kingdom against the Demon King, constituting the main plot.

This idea improved on the previous in several ways: exciting start, high drama, and a long-term goal. However, as I became more engrossed in this project, I came to dislike the "default fantasy world" I'd used as my setting thus far. When my goal was "quick and easy," the Dragon Quest-inspired medieval fantasy tropes sufficed. Now, they struck me as banal. In particular, a generic "Demon King" villain disinterested me (which was why I summarily disposed of them in the idea's first iteration), so even if it outlined a clear direction, it wasn't a direction that enthralled. I realized that to continue, I needed to do some worldbuilding.

VII. Worldbuilding

I dislike worldbuilding.

I prefer the real world―or the real world distorted by urban fantasy and surrealism―to an entirely fictitious fantasy world. In writing an isekai, I had wanted to maintain the connection between the real world and fantasy world (hence why one of my earliest ideas was for Shannon and her cadre to follow Jay in a modern vehicle with modern weapons). But by relying on stock fantasy tropes, I only exacerbated the core issue. I decided to think deeply about my setting and design it to both stand out and clearly relate to our world.

To determine a deeper connection between fantasy and related, I pondered the historical development of the fantasy genre, from chivalric romance to Tolkien. (I collected my thoughts into this essay.) Tracing this lineage, I considered writing a fantasy world modeled on Arthurian and Carolingian romance. Then I took the idea deeper. Much of the early modern fantasy genre, up to and even to an extent including Tolkien, was rooted in nostalgia for an imagined and idealized past. Many pre-Tolkien fantasy works were born out of Victorian fascination with medieval Europe, as evidenced by the Waverley novels by Sir Walter Scott, the Arthurian poems of Lord Tennyson, and the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The original isekai, Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, parodied this idealized medievalism (Twain blaming Walter Scott specifically for the genteel Southern culture that propagated slavery and rendered the Civil War inevitable).

Then I realized that, 200 years before this nineteenth-century craze, there was another major literary work that parodied excessive love of chivalric romance: Don Quixote.

As soon as I made that connection, everything clicked. Rather than Perfidia whipping up a new fantasy world on demand, she would reuse one she created in the 1600s for a Don Quixote-esque figure. Rather than Spanish, my Don Quixote would be British, a royalist in the English Civil War seeking escapism in face of the collapse of monarchy. Pursuing standard chivalric romance activities, he would overthrow a corrupt Catholic church analog, slay a few dragons, and war against a Pagan nation that he later converted to Christianity.

What happened to this world 400 years after Don Quixote used it as his playground? I imagined the ex-Pagan nation a vassal to the Christian nation, while secretly plotting an uprising. Don Quixote's descendants, legitimate or illegitimate, grasping to maintain control in face of their weakening bloodline. Dragons hunted to extinction. A stasis that prevented sweeping change without the intercession of a true human, yet gripped by slow decay. Prayers cast for a new hero to save them from this stupor.

I also wondered how the Christians of this world reckoned with a Christianity whose foundational text is clearly meant for a different world entirely. While Don Quixote's scion, still ruler, promoted the religion uncritically to maintain their grip on the culture, underground grew a nihilist cult that believed nobody in their world was saved, that Christ died on Earth and thus only cleansed Earth's sins. All of this intermixed with the same historical devolutionary forces that ended feudalism and gave rise to mercantile oligarchy.

That was the world Jay Waringcrane entered. A world rife with thematic potential. Finally, a plot was forming.

VIII. Starting the Story

This last stretch of planning happened quickly. (Evidenced by traces of the earlier idea remaining in Cockatiel x Chameleon, specifically in the brief descriptions of the in-universe isekai from which Temporary the elf hails.) Rather than fight a Demon King, Jay's mission would be more chivalric in nature; he would rescue a princess from the evil wizard who led the heretical cult. Liking my earlier idea about the princess who first seemed like an ordinary damsel but turned out to ulterior motives, I decided for an end-of-arc twist where the princess secretly worked with the cult all along. Thus, Princess Mayfair came into existence. For the evil wizard, I reused one of the original king's advisors, the living plant.

The gallant prince and his secret lover from the second iteration returned as Jay's companions, although I changed the lover from a mage to a ranger. Shannon would still pursue Jay, but I merged Van Zandt and Van Langevelde into a single character named Wendell Noh and cut the private detective entirely, giving the sleuthing job to Shannon's boyfriend, Dalt Swaino. I rearranged the big action setpiece where Shannon's group meets disaster: Instead of fighting knights, they would fight a dragon, and this time, Jay would be involved.

After that, keeping with the chivalric romance aesthetic, I threw some faeries into the mix (I love faeries): the obnoxious Olliebollen, who would play off the more sullen Jay, and Flanz-le-Flore, a mid-arc complication. I also decided to make the cult members monstrous demi-humans with magic powers; the Christian anathema against magic must necessarily make it actively corrupting in this world run on Christian precepts.

On top of these plans, several long-term ideas already bubbled: The eventual introduction of the devil world, Sansaime's pregnancy, Viviendre, a battle with elves, Mayfair uniting the two worlds. The ideas flowed one after another now that I established a solid base. Sketchy outlines of the full story stood limned in the distance. I was ready to write.

I decided the work would be published serially at a one-chapter-per-week pace, identical to Fargo and Chicago. That decision was baked directly into my original desire to write a "fun" story. With a serial work, there is less burden of technical execution; the focus is on a fluid pace with regular updates instead of unimpeachable prose. Furthermore, serial writing lends itself to story speculation as readers comment every week, turning the work into a collaborative experience. Some readers of Chicago have told me that the reviews on fanfiction.net are an integral part of the experience, for instance.

When I post serial works, I first build up a "backlog." Essentially, that means I write several chapters ahead of what I'm posting online. The backlog ensures I can regularly post chapters even if one chapter takes longer to write than usual. (I can generally write a 6,000- to 7,000-word chapter in one week.) For this work, I decided to complete four chapters before posting the first. This generous backlog allowed me to post the entire first arc weekly, without a break prior to the climactic chapter that took two weeks to write.

When establishing the backlog, I also gave myself more time than usual to edit, which allowed me to polish the beginning for a better first impression. I meticulously pruned the first chapter to make the dialogue between Perfidia and Jay as snappy as possible while also minimizing exposition. (Originally, Perfidia explained the Seven Princes and their increased quotas in an internal monologue, since I knew they would become important much later in the story, but I cut it for streamlining purposes.) Additionally, I spent a long time deciding when Chapter 2 would end and Chapter 3 would begin; originally, the scene at the beginning of Chapter 3 was at the end of Chapter 2, but I moved it because it better matched the tone and scope of the third chapter. Olliebollen was originally far more in-your-face obnoxious; I toned them down. Lastly, I added the part in Chapter 4 where Jay remembers being beat up by Shannon's past boyfriend, which not only hinted at a soon-to-be-introduced major character, but gave Jay a reasonable chip on his shoulder to cause friction between him and Makepeace.

With four chapters completed, I was ready to post. Almost. I still needed a title. The entire time I operated only thinking of the story as "my isekai story." Thinking long and hard, I came up with titles such as American Isekai, The Waringcranes, 144k Angels, and—my personal favorite—Hellbrowned, the last of which I was strongly advised not to use by every single person I know.

(Side note: Setting the story in Cleveland had been an easy decision. It's such a funny city, taking Detroit's tragic Rust Belt decay and removing all grandeur. The Jon Bois video The Browns Live in Hell and the famous Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video sum it up neatly. Setting the story in 2017, the same year the Browns infamously went winless, was also a snap decision.)

Finally, I thought back to Don Quixote, the impetus for much of the worldbuilding, and the title revealed itself.

IX. Writing the Story

Because of my fast-paced schedule, I lacked the luxury to make major changes to my plans as I wrote. I started with a plan for the first arc and scattered ideas for the future. As I wrote the first arc, I planned the second, and as I wrote the second, I planned the third.

Room remained for tweaks, though. Each time I write a story, I try to do at least one thing outside my technical repertoire. This time, I wanted more flexibility in my characters. I usually only introduce the bare minimum necessary, and aggressively cut or merge characters to reduce the total number. In Cockatiel x Chameleon, however, some commentators criticized how the Consortium's limited number of characters gave the impression it was as dead and empty as Harper's real life. While that impression doesn't necessarily conflict with the story, it did expose limitations to my economical approach.

I dislike having limitations. (Unfortunately I have many.) Thus, I decided to write more characters whose storylines were not plotted from the onset, characters I would develop spontaneously as the story progressed.

An example is Lalum. I introduced Lalum in Chapter 5 as an enemy with a unique power for Jay to fight. Zero subsequent intent for her at the time. Then I realized her power would interact well with Flanz-le-Flore's, so I kept her around for that fight as well. When Lalum is attacked in the Flanz-le-Flore fight, I was 50/50 on whether she would live or die. However, a friend reading the story really liked her and wanted her to live, and I realized it might streamline the plot if someone was around to point Shannon and her crew in Jay's direction.

Having spared Lalum from death twice, and also conceptualizing more concretely the second arc—including Viviendre's role in it—I decided I had a use for Lalum after all. I conceived of Viviendre and Lalum being foils, envisioning their eventual confrontation in the last arc. Thus, Lalum went from monster-of-the-week to major character. To a lesser extent, characters like Theovora were introduced offhandedly, and while they did not become major characters, I found small uses for them later.

Speaking of Viviendre, that was another challenge for myself. With her, I wrote something I wouldn't normally: A romance. Cockatiel x Chameleon, believe it or not, was originally intended to be a straightforward romance, but I found myself incapable of writing one and pivoted to its current direction. Nestled within the sprawling undertaking of Cleveland Quixotic, the romance between Viviendre and Jay was my attempt to write two people who genuinely liked each other. Their three-chapter mini-arc in the middle of the story moves at a more lax pace than usual, but allowed me to develop a relationship I otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

In general, Cleveland Quixotic is larger than my other works. More characters, more plot threads, more locations, more everything. Though Fargo and Chicago are also large, they operate in a more enclosed and linear space. My thought process with Cleveland Quixotic was to open up and express that feeling of world-spanning storytelling the fantasy genre is so known for. It pushed my limits, but I accomplished that goal more than in any previous work.

The real challenge is, once you go big, how do you reel it back? So many of the isekai I mentioned remain ongoing, proceeding through arc after arc without end in sight. Today's most notable ongoing fantasy literature, George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, is likewise mired in endless expansion the author seems incapable of curtailing. On RoyalRoad, it's easy to find million-word works with early reviews uniformly positive, but recent reviews expressing a new sentiment: "Dropped after nothing happened for the past 200 chapters."

Above all else, I wanted to avoid that trap. My solution resided in the second arc's climax, which I developed midway into writing the first arc. Uniting the two worlds made it natural for all the distinct groups of characters to join up for the finale, tying every plot thread together. As such, I cultivated multiple storylines in the long and less immediately plot-focused second arc, secure in my knowledge of how it all eventually connected.

Even so, at times it grew overwhelming herding so many characters. Many characters wound up less prominent than I initially intended, sacrificed for the good of the overall pacing. Fortunately, few characters wound up utterly vestigial, and those that did were minor. (There's no worse feeling than a character given loads of screentime and dialogue only for them to end up inconsequential when the curtains finally close. Homestuck reeks of it.)

A few miscellaneous changes that occurred while writing:

I intended for Viviendre's brother, the "mad king" of California, to appear in the final arc, wielding ten relics for an epic duel with Jay. Given the large amount of characters already prominent in the story, I cut him.

I intended for Sansaime to die at the end of the second arc and for Avery to live. This was mainly because I wanted Jay and Shannon to have a cathartic moment with Avery in the final arc (Avery still would have died afterward). I realized that, using Pandaemonium, I could have that cathartic moment anyway, and Avery wound up saving Sansaime's life both outside and inside the story.

On the flip side, I originally intended for Mallory to die at the end of the second arc, but decided I wanted her and Mayfair to have a climactic conflict, which could only be done if Mallory were still alive.

I intended to kill off the minor character Gonzago of Meretryce the entire story, probably by having him jump in front of Shannon to take some attack or another. I never found a way to work it in, and I feel like the actual use I got out of him in the climactic fight, though minor, was far more unique. I likewise considered killing Mademerry by having her take an attack for Mayfair, but I prefer her current ending. I did not intend to kill Pythette, but found at the last moment it would be more convenient if she died.

Beyond that, I wrote the story generally according to plan. Leaving aspects of my plans malleable meant I could write quickly without needing absolute certainty in the precision of every line and action. Only in Chapter 45, the climactic chapter with Beelzebub and Moloch, did I sit down and carefully outline what each character would do at each moment in the chapter. (The chapter's seven-minute time limit made such meticulousness essential.) Otherwise, even in other climactic fights, I relied only on general ideas about what should happen and when.

Ultimately, I successfully completed the longest story, with the largest number of characters, I'd ever written. It pushed my limits, but in a way that didn't leave me gasping for air. Instead, I feel ready and eager for my next story. What'll it be? I have an idea and I've already begun research. I hope to start writing it by the end of the year, and publish it by mid-2024. I'll let you know more as things become more concrete.

X. Names

Before I end this post, a few name origins.

Perfidia Bal Berith: As mentioned in the story itself, "Bal Berith" (or Balberith, Baalberith, et cetera) is a false idol mentioned in the Bible. It is also a demon of the Ars Goetia. My familiarity with the name primarily comes from a weapon used in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

Olliebollen is based on oliebollen, a Dutch pastry.

Mayfair is the name of a character in Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya, the first video game I ever played. Her middle name, Lyonesse, is a character from Arthurian legend.

Makepeace came from an attempt to make a name that would pair well with Mayfair. My primary knowledge of the name comes from British author William Makepeace Thackeray. His middle name, Gaheris, is an Arthurian knight.

John Coke's name was modeled on the character Wicks Cherrycoke in Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon. I only found out after I posted the first chapter that John Coke was the actual name of a person involved in the English Civil War notable enough for a Wikipedia page. I was more than happy to pretend this incredible serendipity was actually my plan all along.

Sansaime's name was modeled on the characters Sansloi ("without law"), Sansfoi ("without faith"), and Sansjoi ("without joy") in Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, which was the primary inspiration for the romance elements of Whitecrosse. "Without love" is also a notable phrase in the visual novel Umineko When They Cry.

Whitecrosse's name also comes from The Faerie Queene, being modeled on the Redcrosse Knight, an allegorical representation of England (with its red cross flag).

Many names in Cleveland Quixotic have an "allegorical" sense, being words that suggest a clear, often moral meaning. Charm, Charisma, Mayfair, Makepeace, Mademerry, Theovora ("god eater"), Condemnation, Obedience, Tricia (short for "patrician"), Meretryce ("meretricious"), Mordac ("mordacious"), Malleus ("malleable"), Astrophicus ("space plant"), Viviendre ("life ender"), Perfidia ("perfidy"), and so forth. These allegorical names are a play on The Faerie Queene being an allegory, although many of the names in Cleveland Quixotic are not an accurate representation of their character, indicating the breakdown of allegory and thus clear moral meaning.

California is the name of a location in Amadís de Gaula, Don Quixote's favorite romance.

Dalton Swaino is the real name of a semi-pro League of Legends player.

Wendell Noh's surname comes from a professional League of Legends player. His given name is the name of a character in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

Kedeshah is a Hebrew word that possibly refers to sacred or temple prostitutes.

Ubiquitous is an ordinary word with a clear meaning, but its abbreviation, Ubik, is a Philip K. Dick novel that was also the name of one of the demons in Berserk.

The Seven Princes, rather than refer to the traditional Ars Goetia representations of the Seven Deadly Sins, are pulled from John Milton's Paradise Lost, which was the primary inspiration for most devil theology.

Flanz-le-Flore is a corruption of Blanchefleur, a name that appears in a few romance legends.

Lalum is an alternate translation of Larum, a character in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.

Pluxie is a feminization of a semi-pro League of Legends player's screen name.

Tintzel is a corruption of the character's original name, mentioned earlier, which was taken from historical corrupt priest Johann Tetzel.

Jreige is the surname of a semi-pro League of Legends player.

Justin "Just" Vance is a play on J.D. Vance, an Ohio politician.

Temporary, one of the earliest names that persisted into the final form of the story, is modeled on the elves in No Game No Life, who have names like "Think" and "Feel."

The other names in the story do not have any particular meaning or genesis.

XI. Conclusion

I believe that covers the generation of Cleveland Quixotic from beginning to end. If I missed anything, or if there's anything you want to know more about, please send me an ask and I'll be certain to answer. Thank you again for reading and stay tuned for my next work!

#cleveland quixotic #cq #bavitz #writing #the making of #isekai #fantasy

[magicapothecary]

So, whilst I figure out what to write exactly, I might as well give a bit of backgroung around myself and my practice.

I will start by saying that I come from Italy, Piedmont, my hometown is in a very rural area and counts maybe 3000 people in total.

Generally speaking Italy got united after every other country had been and to this day we still are a bunch of regions in a trench coat behaving like wild ferrets.

Every region has its own lore and magical figures.

In a lot of places, especially rural areas, people are Roman Catholics but also we have kept very pagan traditions. Carnival itself is NOT a Christian holiday, for example, and yet.

Anyway, every region has its own version of a witch too.

In my region, Piedmont, they are called Masche (sing.: Masca). They are wise women, they may be healers, or they may even place hexes if they are provoked.

THere is a plethora of folk tales in that sense. I am fairly sure everyone thinks I am a Masca - a White Masca ho does good, opposed to the Black Masca who does evil - and my grandmother is adamant in saying that I am a Healer because I was born premature.

But that is not the only lore I base my practice on. My region was originally inhabited by Celts - Ligurs in the south, Gauls in the north and a mix of both in the middle.

Whilst the Roman empire did do everything in its power to conform every land, it is also true that it let the cultures of others seep into it.

And yes, Middle Ages were bad, but a lot of lore and texts were preserved thanks to the work of the Amanuenses.

Pagan lore is still very much present, there is a lot of talk around Turin (the capitol of the region) being both in the White Magic axis cities AND the Black Magic axis cities, if anyone cares about the distinction.

Overall there is a lot going on and I feel that "Eclectic" best describes me as I don't ascribe to a specific pantheon.

My dudes, I like going with the flow.

Anyway, if anyone has specifiv questions feel free to ask.

#witchblr #witchy stuff #witch #folklore #regional folklore #journaling #figuring out what to write overall #peace and love guys #we all have different opinions on everything #let's be friends and friendly

[ameliz]

Soy mi propio amanuense.

#writer #my writing #growth #escritos #frases #escritores #citas

[nodynasty4us]

The litany of rationales, from [Clarence] Thomas or his apologists and amanuenses, covering misconduct extending for over 30 years, range from improbable to contrived: It was all just “personal hospitality,” exempt from reporting; somebody once told him he could do it; other justices did it, too; he misread an instruction; he misinterpreted a different instruction; the gift was actually for someone else; his views are so settled that they cannot possibly be affected by billionaires’ largesse; and he has been singled out for political blood sport.

Steven Lubet in Slate

#clarence thomas #corruption

[bitacoradeunadialover]

Presentación de Personaje: Cira Amatto

"Es evidente que Dios me concedió un destino oscuro. Ni siquiera cruel. Simplemente oscuro. Es evidente que me concedió una tregua. Al principio, me resistí a creer que eso pudiera ser la felicidad. Me resistí con todas mis fuerzas, después me di por vencido y lo creí. Pero no era la felicidad, era solo una tregua. Ahora estoy otra vez metido en mi destino. Y es más oscuro que antes, mucho más".

Mario Benedetti, La tregua.

Cira Belia Amatto es una joven escritora y extranjera de veintiséis años que pasa su vida entre países ya sea por estudio o trabajo.

Usualmente no permanece mucho tiempo en un país. Si viaja para estudiar su lengua o sus costumbres en búsqueda de inspiración para escribir, se quedará no más de un año. Si bien tiene muchos amigos y conocidos gracias a su personalidad amable, estas relaciones no son estrechas. Prefiere relaciones superficiales que sean fáciles de olvidar.

Es una persona introvertida y reservada que ha aprendido a lidiar con la gente de la mejor manera. Su amabilidad y sensibilidad son genuinas, pero como consecuencia de su pasado decide ponerse límites, principalmente porque se percibe como "débil y sentimental".

Y como se conoce bien a sí misma, decide usar su mente por sobre su corazón. Aunque, ¿realmente puede evitar usar su corazón a la hora de tomar decisiones? No, de hecho.

Como alguien que ha sufrido y vivido una vida colmada por la violencia, el miedo y el maltrato, Cira no soporta ver el sufrimiento de otros, haciendo que su intento por ser objetiva pierda fuerza. Y si bien se dice a sí misma que las personas nunca cambian, suele intentar ayudar a que los demás se sientan y se conviertan en la mejor versión de ellos mismos.

Cira es una idealista, una soñadora; ferviente creyente de sus pasiones, principios y valores. No obstante, suele tener una visión de su propia vida melancólica y pesimista.

Pero es terca. No consigo misma sino con los demás. Incluso con la muerte. Sabe que la vida es como un juego de ajedrez, sabe que nadie es verdaderamente libre. Y aunque no creé en el destino, sabe que, si no puede salir de la partida, tendrá que jugar.

Theme:

• Tiene un título universitario que la avala para ejercer como profesora, pero prefiere trabajar como escritora, en donde usa un pseudónimo para mantener su vida privada lejos de su vida laboral.

• Es conocida por escribir historias de misterio, fantasía oscura y realismo mágico con un carácter sobrio y sumamente estético, historias que suele acompañar con dibujos y pinturas realistas también de su autoría. Ganó un lugar tanto en el mundo literario contemporáneo como en el artístico con su segunda novela "La mariposa que voló lejos", que escribió y publicó a los diecinueve años con la ayuda de su profesor, colega y amigo Meier Rothstein.

• Su lugar de origen es desconocido. Evita hablar sobre su nacionalidad que oculta tras las múltiples lenguas que sabe hablar, entre las que se encuentran el japonés, el alemán e ingles. No obstante, posee un acento particular que la delata.

• Es muy raro que hable sobre su familia. Es un tema que suele evitar junto con su país de origen, como si estuviera huyendo de algo.

• Su cumpleaños es el 22 de febrero. De Piscis con ascendente en Virgo, aunque odia la fecha porque siempre recuerda a las personas queridas que ha perdido.

• Fue amanuense y discípula de su profesor y mentor Meier Rothstein, que le proporcionó la manera tan particular que tiene de entender el mundo.

• Su color favorito es el marrón en todas sus variedades y tonos.

• Le gusta el arte, la filosofía, la historia, la música y la literatura. Así mismo, tampoco le desagradan las matemáticas, la física y la biología.

• Le gusta dibujar, pintar, escribir y hacer jardinería.

• No le gusta la falta de respeto, la desorganización, las muchedumbres. Siempre evita ir a lugares muy concurridos porque se estresa mucho. Igualmente ocurre con la desorganización, la hacen sentir que no tiene el control de lo que la rodea.

• No tiene una comida favorita o bebida preferida, pero odia las comidas y bebidas muy dulces, muy saladas o muy condimentadas.

• No suele hablar demasiado, pero cuando lo hace por una razón que le importa, nadie puede callarla. Es muy apasionada y decidida cuando sabe lo que quiere, no se dejará intimidar por nada o por nadie. Y por lo general, siempre termina teniendo la razón. Es muy hábil con las palabras.

• Suele evitar problemas si éstos la hacen sentir desestabilizada o fuera de control. Por lo general, utiliza el sueño como método de escape de la realidad o simplemente se atasca con tareas y aprendizajes nuevos para no pensar en lo que la aqueja.

• Es independiente y autodidacta en todos los aspectos de la vida. Pero inconscientemente necesita de alguien que la haga sentir protegida y querida.

• Ama la libertad por sobre cualquier otro aspecto de la vida. Para ella, una existencia sin libertad carece del sentido para ser vivida. En su pasado ha luchado mucho por la libertad que tiene, por lo que la aprecia inmensamente. No le gusta la sensación de estar anclada a un lugar, a un trabajo, a una persona o a un deber.

• Sus palabras: de más está decir que se trata de su principal virtud, su herramienta de vida. Ella realmente siente que escribir y expresarse es tan importante como el aire que respira y el agua que bebe. Cira sabe qué decir y cómo decirlo de acuerdo a sus intenciones y a lo que el resto espera oír, ya que tiene gran elocuencia.

• Su mente: posee un proceso de pensamiento muy particular estrechamente ligado a su habilidad en la oratoria y en la escritura. Como siempre se cuestiona el por qué de las cosas y es consciente de que la verdad no es unilateral, suele estar atenta a las palabras y acciones de aquello que le genera interés para procesarlas, analizarlas y —ya obtenida una respuesta o un patrón de comportamiento— accionar de manera clara, estableciendo la intencionalidad de sus palabras. No me malinterprete, Cira no hace esto muy seguido ya que no suele interesarse en alguien o algo lo suficiente como para obrar tan metódicamente, pero sí lo utiliza cuando debe encarar experiencias nuevas con personas desconocidas.

• Su prudencia: si bien es muy sentimental y emocional, sabe cómo mantenerse a raya. Si necesita hacer una catarsis sobre aquello que la afecta, lo hará internamente. En cuanto a los demás, Cira procederá a actuar únicamente después de haber realizado su proceso de pensamiento previo. Analiza cada paso y aquello que no hace o dice permanecerá sólo para sí misma. No es de hablar de más al menos que esté más allá de sus límites.

• Su determinación: porque todo aquello que realiza lo hace con convicción absoluta; y puede que luzca como si no supiera lo que está haciendo, o que en ocasiones termine perdida en completa confusión; sin embargo, siempre encuentra el modo de recuperar el norte y cumplir con lo que se ha propuesto desde un inicio.

• Su imaginación: es una persona de mente, de pensamiento, de imaginación. Su imaginación le brinda una visión bastante amplia de las cosas, sobre todo cuando piensa analítica y objetivamente. Su imaginación es su arma más útil (aunque a veces le juega malas pasadas debido que posee una perspectiva pesimista de la vida y sus predicciones sobre sí misma tienden a hacer negativas).

• Su empatía: como persona que ha sufrido desde muy joven, Cira posee una gran empatía con aquellos que sufren. No puede ver sufrir a los demás y no hacer algo al respecto. Esto es, probablemente, lo único que logra bajar su guardia. Cuando está en una situación así, simplemente actúa sin pensar. A menudo, quienes la conocen advierten que su empatía podría meterla en problemas.

• Su honestidad: porque ha crecido entre personas mentirosas y manipuladoras, Cira ha optado a conciencia el camino de la verdad. No le gusta mentir y pese a que deteste admitirlo, es muy buena mentirosa. Lo suyo no es la mentira, sino la omisión.

Cira es astuta. Tras haber crecido en una familia disfuncional, sabe cómo lidiar con gente manipuladora, mentirosa y violenta. Siempre fue percibida como alguien débil y tonta a causa de su empatía y gran imaginación, confundiendo su abstracción con estupidez. Pero contrario a ello, es muy consciente de todo lo que la rodea.

Y porque ha crecido con el estigma de ser débil, desarrolló ciertas herramientas que le sirvieron en el pasado y le servirán ahora para llevar adelante su estadía con los Sakamaki, manteniendo una posición muy callada y aparentemente sumisa.

Pero si ella hace cosas, las hace en silencio y en secreto, y por más que parezca imposible mantener secretos dentro del mundo de los Sakamaki o los Mukami, Cira se las arregla para planearlo de manera metódica, porque esto es otra de sus virtudes: no deja nada librado al azar.

Tal como ella misma dice: "La vida es demasiado complicada como para dejarla en manos de la fortuna".

• No es una persona que se deje llevar por lo que siente. Piensa demasiado las cosas e intenta racionalizar los sentimientos, busca los porqués de lo que siente.

• Si luce como una persona despreocupada, tiene un pasado que le ha dado una comprensión profunda de los lugares oscuros al cual puede ir la mente de una persona.

• Muy solitaria y ensimismada. Vive abstraída en sus propios pensamientos e imaginación. No suele darles espacio o cabida a otros dentro de su pequeño mundo interno.

• Si bien esto es extremadamente raro, Cira puede volverse irascible e imprudente cuando algo la gatilla. Tiende a correr peligros innecesarios si hace algo de manera impulsiva.

• Tiene un sentido del humor muy particular que pocos entienden. Usa la ironía y el sarcasmo para lidiar con aquello que le molesta o irrita, por lo que es muy usual que el resto no sepa discernir si está bromeando o diciendo algo en serio.

• Sumamente desconfiada. Siempre espera lo peor de las personas, por lo que le cuesta creer en las acciones o palabras genuinas de los otros.

• Bohemia, ermitaña y nómada. Por lo general suele huir de aquello que la aqueja.

• Poca capacidad de entablar relaciones sanas. Tiene problemas de apego y ella es consciente de esto.

• Anclada a hechos traumáticos de su vida, considera a la muerte la mejor de las salidas.

• Tiene la tendencia de sentirse atraída por aquello que le causa miedo o que escapa su entendimiento. Si se trata de una persona, se sentirá atraída a ésta por no poder "leerlo" como usualmente lo hace, como si estuviese obsesionada con un acertijo que no puede descifrar.

• Tiende a echarse la culpa sobre cosas o sucesos que no puede o pudo controlar. Tiende a ser melancólica, aunque no lo demuestre fácilmente.

• Manos pequeñas, estéticas y femeninas; pero frías y de uñas cortas. Manos de artista: con ellas escribe, dibuja y pinta; cose y borda... Sus manos son, junto con sus palabras y su mente, otra de sus más grandes virtudes.

• Ojos claros y expresivos. Aunque al primer vistazo su mirada puede resultar fría e indiferente, cuando mira por segunda vez se puede percibir cierta suavidad. Sólo cuando habla y se expresa, se ve claramente cómo sus ojos siguen su discurso apasionadamente.

• Su lenguaje corporal y expresiones honestas. Se puede leer a Cira como un libro abierto con tan solo mirarla frente a las acciones ajenas. Si bien no es de hablar mucho, sus expresiones y lenguaje corporal habla por ella.

• Piel con cicatrices y marcas, porque antes de llegar a la mansión maldita Cira ya había enfrentado monstruos terribles —incluso los propios internos—. Piel pálida, pero no una palidez propia de una persona sana, sino de una persona un tanto enfermiza que no se expone al sol como debería. Sus horarios de sueño no ayudan en absoluto.

• Su voz suave, que es reconfortante de oír. Porque cuando Cira habla —y dice aquellas cosas que buscan dar guía o consuelo—, todo llega de una manera distinta. Sus palabras sensatas y justas emitidas con su voz se vuelven sumamente gratas de escuchar, sobre todo cuando se necesita un poco de aliento.

• Su contextura pequeña que la hace lucir más joven de lo que realmente es, y que, en conjunto con su actitud introvertida y reservada, su voz suave y expresiones honestas, logra dar una imagen de inocencia absoluta (aunque en su interior ya no haya inocencia).

• Yui Komori: Amigas, confidentes, hermanas. Una es lo único que la otra posee para creer y resistir el destino oscuro que tienen por delante, y para resistir la agonía que viven dentro de aquella mansión maldita.

• Reiji Sakamaki: cuidador designado por fuerza de causa mayor; salvador silencioso que cumple con un pedido desconocido por el resto de sus hermanos. Caballero que pretende amoldar a Cira a la estricta imagen de dama perfecta que tiene en su cabeza. Compañero de conversaciones complejas.

• Laito Sakamaki: la intriga y el resentimiento no son buenas sensaciones para experimentarse al unísono, sobre todo, si van de la mano con la obsesión. Para sus ojos de cazador cruel, Cira es un espécimen particular que vale la pena destruir. Verla caer será el acto más hermoso que haya podido ver, siempre y cuando él gane la partida. Porque Cira sabe cómo jugar y cómo hacerlo ver lo que ella vé. Y la odia por eso, por hacerlo sentir vulnerable en ciertas ocasiones. Pero la adora, porque ambos saben que en el fondo son iguales. Ella lo entiende y logra poner en palabras concretas aquello de lo que él es incapaz de hablar: lo que siente.

• Shu Sakamaki: en un principio no es nada, Cira es menos que nada. Aunque después se vuelve divertida. Es divertido verla luchar y no ceder; es divertida de corromper. Pero aquél que comete maldades debe ser precavido con los giros propios del destino, porque algo tan insignificante como una relación sin sentido puede volverse algo de mayor importancia, mas las consecuencias de los actos cometidos siempre estarán como eventualidades inevitables de lo perpetrado en mente, cuerpo y alma.

• Ruki Mukami: el sirviente leal, el mensajero fiel. Quizás no entienda per intero el juego, pero tiene las piezas restantes para entender la imagen del rompecabezas. Y ya no sólo como sirviente y mensajero, sino también como persona que ha sido bendecida con una segunda oportunidad, pueda brindarle aquello que a Cira le falta entender: ¿por qué?

• Ayato Sakamaki: porque incluso si son lazos indirectos, lazos son lazos. Quizá sea por estar en medio de algo que no le corresponde, quizá haya sido trajinación de "esa persona". Lo cierto es que no son muy diferentes en algunos aspectos elementales y que él, con sus actitudes y apariencia, le recuerdan a alguien de su pasado abandonado.

• Karlheinz: la más importante y relevante de todas las relaciones. La más estrecha, aunque Cira no lo sabe. Su existencia entera ha sido consecuencia de sus acciones: ella existe por y para él, aunque no lo sepa. Su mente, su proceso de pensamiento, su visión del mundo, su comprensión del mundo... Todo está formado para que él lo pueda usar. Ellos se aman y se odian, pero uno es lo que el otro estaba esperando para que finalmente todo suceda.

• Como ha nacido en un lugar de clima subpolar, el calor hace que baje su presión arterial. Cira odia el calor porque la hace sentir enferma y débil.

• Es inquieta y curiosa como un gato.

• Le gustan las mariposas, sobre todo a las mariposas Monarca. Tanto así que, en su segundo libro, el símbolo que resalta durante toda la historia son las mariposas.

• Algunos de los libros más reconocidos de su autoría son:  "La mariposa que voló lejos"; "La metamorfosis del lirio blanco", "Mentes individuales" y "El origen de todos los miedos".

• Sabe mucho sobre insectos y ama mucho a los animales.

• Como su inspiración artística llega de noche, Cira tiene el horario de sueño alterado: duerme durante el día y trabaja durante la noche.

• Tenía un hermoso jardín que ella misma había preparado y cuidado especialmente para que, durante la primavera y verano, toda clase de insectos y animales pequeños fuesen allí.

• Le gusta y sabe bailar.

• Si bien suele ser bastante desapegada por las cosas materiales, a sus objetos personales preciados les da un nombre como si fueran personas.

• Le gusta tener momentos de silencio y soledad para pensar tranquilamente. Aprecia que le den su espacio.

• Le teme al abandono. Pese a esto, ella considera que el acto de amor definitivo es dejar al otro ir, dejarlo ser completamente libre para que pueda vivir. Ella jamás ha obligado u obligaría a la persona que ama a que se quede a su lado. Valora mucho la libertad propia y la de los demás, por lo que siempre respetará el libre albedrío individual.

• Es muy buena confidente y compañera. Da buenos consejos y sabe guardar muy bien aquellos secretos que se le han confiado.

• Como idealista que es, es más romántica de lo que deja ver. Es de querer una cita al parque para hacer un picnic y esas cosas —y sí, es así pese a que intenta hacerse creer que detesta las cursilerías—.

• La gente la considera una persona inteligente, a lo que responde que "saber un par de conceptos y palabras pretenciosas no la hacen inteligente".

• Es extremadamente leal, tan leal como un perro. Nunca ha engañado a alguien que aprecia y jamás lo hará. Si tiene algún problema con alguien que aprecia, se sentará y lo hablará; si se ha equivocado, será la primera en disculparse. No me malinterpreten, suele ser orgullosa, pero no puede serlo con quienes ama.

• Usa lentes para descansar la vista.

• Tiene cicatrices profundas en su antebrazo derecho. Ella lo suele resumir a "un accidente doméstico".

• Tiene cicatrices en los pies.

• Sabe tocar algunos instrumentos de oído (el piano y la guitarra). Nunca aprendió a leer partituras. Sin embargo, como tiene buen oído, suele ayudar a sus amigos a crear alguna que otra composición.

• Por su manera de ser y su trabajo, Cira siempre se ha codeado con gente más adulta que ella. 

❝ Él no me tiene, me retiene, y yo me limito a actuar en consecuencia. Siempre se actúa en consecuencia ❞.

❝ El amor que tienes para dar no es la clase de amor que quisiera recibir ❞.

❝ No poseo razón, motivo o circunstancia que suscite en mi interior el anhelo por la vida eterna ❞.

❝ No, no es resignación, es aceptación. Y sí, hay una diferencia sutil pero sustancial entre la resignación y la aceptación ❞.

❝ Las personas son como los libros. Por lo general, el resto sólo se detiene a ver lo superficial: la tapa y la contratapa. Pero a mí me gusta leer ❞.

❝ Las personas no cambian. Solo se limitan a adaptarse a las situaciones y etapas de la vida que por defecto deben enfrentar. Nadie puede cambiar lo que verdaderamente es, su esencia ❞.

❝ No respondo lo que nadie pregunta ni pregunto lo que nadie pretende responder ❞.

❝ Culpables o inocentes... No hay culpables o inocentes cuando se trata de esto. Ni siquiera sé definirlo en palabras concretas, pero sé que ni tú ni yo somos inocentes como tampoco así culpables. Hicimos elecciones, tomamos decisiones ❞.

Advertencia: Tanto la personalidad y actitud de este personaje original como la trama de historia en progreso están directamente inspirados en la franquicia de Diabolik Lovers y, por lo tanto, poseen el característico tinte oscuro de la misma.

Gracias por leer.

#diabolik lovers #diabolik lovers oc #cira amatto #entre amantes tiránicos #diahell #wip

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #239 - Can, Tago Mago, 1971

Julian Cope, oltre che leader e cantante di quella scheggia musicale che furono i mitici Teardrop Explosion, è stato anche produttore musicale, archeologo e finissimo musicologo. Di questa ultima sua abilità, il suo primo lavoro fu un bellissimo disco tributo alla musica tedesca che in queste mese settimana sto raccontando, dal titolo Krautrocksampler: One Head's Guide To The Great Kosmische Musik - 1968 Onwards, pubblicato nel 1995 e tradotto in italiano nel 2006 dall’editore Fazi. Opera fondamentale per la critica della musica cosmica, del disco di oggi Cope dice: ”è un disco che suona uguale solo a sé stesso e che non somiglia a nessun’altra opera che l’abbia preceduto o seguito”. Aggiungo io che anche la storia del gruppo che lo suonò non è niente affatto male. Tutto comincia nel 1968 su impulso di Irmin Schmidt, pianista allievo della scuola di Karl Heinz Stockhausen, e già concertista di talento. A lui si aggiungono Holger Czukay, altro genio e anch’egli allievo nella stessa scuola, Jaki Liebezeit, titolato batterista jazz nei circuiti europei e Michael Karoli, già suonatore dilettante di banjo nella sua Svizzera. In un ensemble esteso il gruppo si allarga al flauto di David Johnson e al cantante americano Malcom Mooney. Czukay sa fare di tutto e ha un talento naturale come tecnico del suono, e hanno la fortuna di finire sotto l’ala protettrice di un noto collezionista d’arte, Christoph Vohwinkel, che concede delle sale del meraviglioso Schloss Nörvenich, vicino Colonia, che diventano il loro Inner Studios dove registrare e provare. Il gruppo all’inizio si chiama Inner Space Production ma fu Mooney a trovare una parola che, siccome presente anche in altre lingue oltre all’inglese, fosse di facile memorizzazione: la scelta cadde su CAN, che per esempio in inglese significa “lattina” ma in turco “libertà”, sebbene in numerose interviste a distanza di decenni Liebezeit sostenne che era un acronimo per “Comunismo, Anarchia, Nichilismo”. Le prime prove discografiche sono alcuni brani che appaiono nelle compilation Unlimited Edition e Delay, entrambe del 1968. Nel 1969 il gruppo fonda la propria etichetta, Music Factory, che dura lo spazio di due pubblicazioni: Monster Movie, registrato live in studio come era moda del periodo, e Cannibalism 2, leggendario lavoro avanguardistico, con melodie popolari vietnamite (scelta niente affatto casuale) mescolate a suoni elettronici. Diventano una sorta di mito negli ambienti underground, e una loro canzone, Mother Sky, è nella colonna sonora del film di Jerzy Skolimowski del 1970 Deep End (in italiano La Ragazza Del Bagno Pubblico). Altre idee per il film andranno a far parte del loro primo “effettivo” lavoro, Soundtracks. Agli inizi del 1970, Mooney lascia la band, a seguito di un esaurimento nervoso che lo porterà in cliniche psichiatriche per mezza America; leggenda vuole che Czukay si imbatta per le strade di Monaco in un busker giapponese, che non sa nemmeno cantare, che lo colpisce così tanto da ingaggiarlo come voce alla band. Entra così in formazione Kenji "Damo" Suzuki, personaggio leggendario come il lavoro che pubblicheranno nel 1971. L’idea era di “fondere tutta la musica contemporanea in un unico elemento” e se c’è un disco che può contendere questo titolo, questo è Tago Mago. Lavorano come in trance, per lunghe jam session che secondo i biografi arrivano anche a 15-16 ore, ed è Czurkay con un lavoro da amanuense certosino, a tagliare i pezzi delle registrazioni per crearne dei brani. I brani sono lunghi, ipnotici, e il doppio lp sprigiona ancora oggi, a 50 anni, un fascino irresistibile e avanguardistico. I suoni cosmici di Paperhouse si mutano in una sorta di blues zoppicante per poi alzare di tono e infervorarsi in un vortice di chitarre e urla, un po’ estemporanee, di Suzuki, sorrette dalla ritmica di Liebezeit, che in questo disco scriverà le coordinate dell’intera batteria per musica cosmica: ricordo solo il ritmo motorik (ispirato a quello di Mo Tucker dei Velvet Underground, è un 4\4 che diventerà il pilastro ritmico dei Kraftwerk,  Klaus Dinger dei Neu! lo chiamò "ritmo Apache") nel brano Oh Yeah (che inizia come una esplosione nucleare); Mushroom è un viaggio lisergico e psichedelico che il titolo vuole suggerire. Tutto il disco è attraversato da una vena mistica e “occulta”, sensazione che trova conferma in tanti particolari: i riferimenti alle teoria di Aleister Crowley, dal titolo (Tagomago è una piccola isola al largo di Ibiza che rientra negli scritti del famoso occultista) e un brano Aumgn, che è la versione crowleiana dell’Om indù, sembra un viaggio cosmico attraverso la musica per connettersi con gli extraterrestri. Il meglio della loro idea musicale sta in gioielli come Halleluhwah, una sorta di space funk ipergalattico, che si annoda su se stessa per uscirne sempre diversa in tutti i suoi oltre 18 minuti, la fantasmagorica Peking O, dove compare una delle prime drum machine usate in musica, la Rhythm Ace della Ace Tone, che mischia in pratica di tutto (musica africana e orientale, free-jazz, avanguardia, musica concreta, i rumori provieniti dal giardino del castello-studio di registrazione) e getta i semi del post punk, di tutti gli sviluppi della musica elettronica, la new-wave nella sua ritmica geometria in certi passaggi chiave. Chiude il “disco magico”  Bring Me Coffee Or Tea, che solo all’apparenza è una “canzone pop”. Il disco ovviamente avrà pochissimo successo commerciale, ma sarà una profezia per chiunque lo incontri, finito nella sua rete tra il magico e l’indescrivibile. Nel 1972, il successivo Ege Bamyası (che è il nome turco dell’ocra dell’Egeo, verdura tipica dell’Asia Minore) ha persino un singolo di successo nella storica Spoon. Il gruppo si scioglie nel 1973 dopo Future Days, che è molto più rock che ambient, e ha nella pirotecnica Bel Air i 20 minuti di epitaffio di un era, dato che Suzuki si converte ai Testimoni di Geova e lascia la band. Che continuerà, sebbene zoppicante nelle idee, fino agli anni ‘80, ma nulla potrà mai eguagliare quello che secondo la rivista Drowned In Sound è "probabilmente il disco rock più influente mai registrato."

#CAN #Tago Mago #1971 #recensione

[caelpher]

" La passione dell'amanuense"

Gabriele Rodrigo Ghirelli Caelpher

Scritto a Mano - Scriptorium Amanuense

#drawing #caelpher #illustration #artists on tumblr #beautiful #comics #original character #original #art #traditional art #classic #portraits #made in italy #gghirelli #disegno

[profactoria]

#talento y locura

[asobrasdevincentcheung]

Que Seja Anátema!

Se alguém não ama o Senhor, que uma maldição caia sobre ele. Você me ouviu. Se uma pessoa não ama o Senhor por qualquer motivo, seja porque ela é uma não cristã, ou alguém que afirma ser cristão, mas não ama o Senhor, de modo que ele não é realmente um cristão — que seja amaldiçoado! Esta é a minha teologia. Esta é a minha declaração de fé. E esta é a minha mensagem para você hoje.

Neste momento você pode não estar muito satisfeito comigo. Imagine quantos líderes cristãos, pregadores, teólogos, igrejas, seminários, denominações, pais, professores, políticos e pessoas de todas as esferas da vida me denunciariam por esta declaração e atitude totalmente anticristãs? Quantas pessoas pegariam suas Bíblias para citar passagens contra mim? Quantas pessoas reclamariam que minha fé é completamente contrária à religião de Jesus Cristo e de seus apóstolos?

E isso me diria quantas pessoas estão longe de Deus e fora de contato com a fé cristã, porque eu estou apenas repetindo o que Paulo diz em 1 Coríntios 16:22. De fato, o versículo 21 indica que ele pegou a pena do amanuense para que pudesse escrever de próprio punho: “Eu, Paulo, escrevo esta saudação de próprio punho. Se alguém não ama ao Senhor, seja amaldiçoado”. Eu, Vincent Cheung, também coloquei meu nome nesta declaração. Tem meu endosso total. Meu desafio para você é se você pegará uma caneta e assinará seu nome nela. Ou a fé cristã não é “cristã” suficiente para você?

Por mais que a fé cristã seja uma revelação do amor de Deus pelos pecadores, a sua principal preocupação é sempre a honra de Deus e não o bem-estar e o conforto dos homens. Se revertermos isso, você não terá mais o Cristianismo. A minha declaração inicial é um teste de religião autêntica, um teste de ortodoxia e reverência. E a quantidade daqueles que rejeitariam ou me criticariam por dizer isso, esse é o número de pessoas que falhariam neste teste.

Se você ficou ofendido ou envergonhado com essa afirmação, se você pensou até que eu era um não cristão por causa disso, e que isso é totalmente contra o espírito de Cristo, então há algo muito, muito errado com você. Você está fora de contato com o que a fé cristã realmente é e com o que ela realmente ensina. Você é aquele que está fora de alinhamento com o espírito de Cristo e com a religião do Novo Testamento.

Numa época em que a maior parte da Igreja tem em mente os assuntos dos homens e não os assuntos de Deus, esta é uma forma de traçar limites e clarificar a fé. Sim, Deus amou o mundo de tal maneira que enviou seu Filho, para que todo aquele que nele crer seja salvo. Sim, quem ama o Filho ama também o Pai, e eles farão morada nele. No entanto, se somos cristãos, também diremos: Se alguém não ama ao Senhor, seja amaldiçoado!

— Vincent Cheung. Let Him be Anathema! Disponível em Sermonettes — Volume 1 (2010), p. 24. Tradução: Luan Tavares (23/02/2024).

[jacopocioni]

I monaci in Italia e a Firenze.

Il primo vero e più importante monastero in Italia fu quello di Montecassino, voluto da San Benedetto da Norcia ed edificato nel 547. Fondatore dell’Ordine dei benedettini, fu proprio lui a scriverne la Regola. Il suo ordine si diffuse in tutta Italia fondando numerosi altri monasteri.

Ma come vivevano i monaci? La loro giornata era divisa in tre parti uguali: una destinata al lavoro; una alla preghiera e l’altra a riposo. Vivevano generalmente una realtà separata da quella del tessuto sociale e spesso non era coinvolta dalle vicende esterne. Oltre a coltivare e a disboscare, cercavano di tenere in buono stato strade e ponti della zona per garantire una buona circolazione e il commercio. Organizzavano poi dei mercati e promuovevano attività artigianali.

L’ordine e i monasteri erano ben organizzati ed autonomi. Avevano proprie cucine e un forno per il pane, un orto dove coltivare sia le piante aromatiche che quelle medicamentose. Nella loro spezieria trattavano poi queste erbe, per preparare i loro medicamenti. Avevano delle stalle per ricoverare gli animali che allevavano ed una struttura ricettiva per pellegrini ed ospiti. Ovviamente non poteva mancare una biblioteca sempre molto fornita, dove monaci preparati trascrivevano e conservavano i loro codici miniati. All’interno del monastero vi erano spesso dei laboratori per il trattamento della lana, dei metalli, della ceramica e del cuoio, molto diffusi soprattutto nella zona di Firenze. Tutto questo garantiva una certa autonomia alla comunità e gli permetteva di compiere opere di carità per i bisognosi. Alacri lavoratori, adottarono il motto “Ora et labora”, prega e lavora.

I monasteri accoglievano poi anche gli orfani e i trovatelli, avevano delle proprie scuole in cui istruire questi ragazzi. Tra loro vi erano anche i novizi,  figli di famiglie in difficoltà che i genitori portavano qui non riuscendo  a mantenerli. Nei monasteri trovavano sicuramente una situazione migliore; potevano nutrirsi, farsi un istruzione e in seguito scegliere di prendere i voti. Generalmente i monaci si astenevano dalla carne, dunque si alimentavano per lo più di pesce, così non mancavano nei monasteri delle grandi vasche per l’ allevamento ittico. Questa particolare abitudine alimentare creava però dei problemi, soprattutto a quei monaci che appartenevano alla classe agiata o nobiliare, abituati ad un consumo quotidiano di carne. Così all’interno dei monasteri si venivano a creare delle differenti classi sociali con le loro diverse abitudini alimentari. La carica di abate e le mansioni più importanti erano sempre riservate ai figli dei nobili, così come l'occupazione amanuense, riservata ai monaci più istruiti. Gli altri, quelli di bassa estrazione sociale, erano preposti a lavori più umili.

Pecorelle sulla Certosa. Discendenti dei benedettini sono i camaldolesi, i vallombrosiani ed i certosini, questi ultimi ispirandosi alla regola benedettina, formeranno il loro ordine a San Brunone nel 1084, alla Chartreuse, vicino a Grenoble in Francia, diffondendosi poi in Italia ed arrivando a Firenze con precisione a Galluzzo, dove ancora oggi è possibile visitare la loro Certosa. La leggendaria pazienza dei certosini è ancora oggi ricordata, questa particolare virtù diede modo a questi monaci di creare i più belli codici miniati esistenti ed ancora oggi conservati.

Nei poderi legati ai monasteri prese vita e si diffuse tutta una serie di tecniche innovative tra cui: la bardatura del petto degli animali da lavoro, la ferratura dei cavalli, l'uso dell'aratro a vomere e dell'erpice, con la rotazione triennale dei terreni atta a renderli più produttivi, idearono macchinari per la tessitura e per movimentare le acque per uso agricolo. Tecniche che qui si svilupparono, ma che poi si diffusero in tutta Europa.

I cistercensi giunsero a Firenze nel 1233 provenienti da San Galgano per insediarsi alla Badia a Settimo, nota come abbazia di San Salvatore e San Lorenzo (badia è una distorsione popolare del vocabolo abbazia). Questo è uno dei monumenti fra i più eccelsi della Toscana e d’Italia. Ricolmo di memorie storiche ed artistiche, raccolta e protetta dentro delle mura si estende su una pianura alla sinistra dell’Arno che passa a breve distanza. Solo più tardi i monaci si trasferirono in città ad Oltrarno nel monastero detto di Cestello, anche questo vocabolo altro non è che la semplificazione fiorentina del termine Cistercium. La chiesa di San Frediano in Cestello, che si trova in piazza di Cestello, nel quartiere Oltrarno a Firenze. L’edificio fu costruito sui resti di una più antica chiesa, il monastero di Santa Maria degli Angeli eretta nel 1450.

Riccardo Massaro Read the full article

#BadiaaSettimo #Certosa #Firenze #Italia #monaci #SanFredianoinCestello

[claudiotrezzani]

Valery Polevoy spiega il procedimento di cui s'avvale.

Fotografa in digitale l'immagine proiettata da un vecchio obiettivo su di una lastra.

Il risultato è assai seducente.

Ma lo è perché la visione di Valery è antecedente all'esecuzione.

Bisogna essere poeti per concepire ed assaporare, prima di realizzare.

Come scrivesse con un pennino, Valery.

Pennino antico, magari d'oca, mica quello di plastica su tablet.

Perché l'esito pare scaturire da un delicato disegno.

Ciò è particolarmente vero per Petros e Claudia Koublis.

Mi par di vederli intingere il pennino, Claudia e Petros.

Con l'appassionata cura di un amanuense, loro.

O con la netta perentorietà di una litografia.

Ecco, ancora lastra, seppur di pietra.

Ogni felce una sapiente pressione sul foglio, parrebbe.

E' un haiku, la loro composizione.

Leggero, essenziale, pregnante.

Valery, Claudia, Petros.

Davvero scrivono con la luce, loro.

All rights reserved

Claudio Trezzani