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petr1kov · 1 year

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I just wanna thank you for your post on the Mandela Effect as a South African! I get the whole effect people are trying to describe but calling it specifically that out of all the weird collective-memory incidents is weird af because that wasn’t even a global thing like the berenstain bears seems to be (I get that ‘cause my childhood memories are berenstein too) + it wasn’t even a phenomena in the region concerned + the people who coinedthat term didn’t seem to have actual exposure/connection/proximity to the events surrounding it.

No one who was actually in or near South Africa remembers him dying because the whole movement to free him was such a big deal it was truly inescapable. You’d have to live under several rocks of wilful ignorance to not know about it. There were a few Black freedom fighters, peers of his, that did die in jail or under police custody, notably Steve Biko, that were publicised during that same time period. I honestly do wonder often if American/European people just heard news of some notable Black anti-apartheid activist in Africa dying in jail and assumed it was him because they’d mashed all those guys together in their minds? Was it a news report about events in a far away country with bad information?

it’s could very well be because of their status as Black activists that got arrested; people in the western world often talk about Mandela as a MLK-esque figure who single-handedly ended apartheid and its flattens the whole history into a narrative about a messianic figure - the sheer determination of a special individual - when in reality he worked with a collective with many Black people and ANC members who did the same acts of resistance and even went to the same prison as him. He actively did try to push back against this narrow, individualistic idea of his role in history when he was alive. Many of these freedom fighters and political figures often get written out of history when the story is told internationally because of this, and their contributions to the movements (along with possibly one of their deaths) may have been subconsciously misattributed to Mandela.

So being from here, everyone I’ve talked to thinks it’s the weirdest thing it’s called the Mandela effect because it seems more like people living far off not taking in the news properly more than a true mass misremembering or… case of collective inter-dimensional travelling.

yes, exactly! this is what truly bothers me about the mandela effect being called that. regardless of whether or not people use it to mean the silly parallel dimensions theory or simply to refer to the mass misremembering of something (as most people tend to do today), which i do find kind of fun and interesting on it's own, still keeping it named after mandela is just incredibly tone-deaf.

no matter which version you look, every definition of this term is based around the fact that those supposed changes in people's memory vs reality are always small, mundane and inconsequential enough as to go unnoticed by someone not paying attention, and like. mandela dying during the apartheid in the 80s is the absolute OPPOSITE of an inconsequential or unimportant event that nobody would pay attention to for years. it's the sort of thing that would bring massive consequences to the history of an entire country, which in turn would also affect the world at large in different ways, most obviously when it comes to black liberation movements.

seeing this term get used to refer to actual silly and inconsequential things such as the berenstain bears misspelling or pikachu's tail not having a black tip is just crazy to me. it's hard not to see it as a dismissal of mandela, as if he is some sort of fictional character from a fictional country, whose impact in real life is on-par with monopoly's mascot not wearing a monocle. and i just know that nobody would so easily accept such a ridiculous conspiracy/concept getting thrown around like this if it were about an US or european president 🤷‍♀️

#ask #and it's not like i'm an expert on south african politics or anything like that. it's just that this reeks of americentrism to me #not to mention racism of course. it's as if world history that's outside of america and europe is as real as a fictional bear to them #long post

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gascon-en-exil · 6 years

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I Liked Fates Before It Was Cool!: Conquest Part 3

Prologue

Opening Chapters

Conquest Part 1

Conquest Part 2

Chapters 21-Endgame, in which this turns into the end of a Pokémon game.

Chapter 21

This may just be the worst filler chapter in Fates, dull and forgettable in pretty much every way. This isn’t even the first time in Conquest that Iago has pulled his Faceless stunt against Corrin, and it’s still a dumb and poorly-developed source for a conflict. Why does Iago hate Corrin so much on this route anyway? Lilith also dies here, her death even more random and pointless than the one in Birthright. I actually had an idea for how they could have killed her off in Conquest and have it carry some actual emotional weight: have her take a killing blow from Takumi in Chapter 23. It would emphasize just how far gone Takumi is and tie Lilith’s sacrificial love for Corrin back into their Nohrian siblings’ love, particularly as Elise does take an arrow for Corrin back in Cheve. But nope, death by random Faceless it is.

Even the experience of playing this chapter is less challenging and more highly annoying, between the beefy Stoneborn stunning units and the Faceless hordes clogging the road to the end. I also hate how the rubble blocking certain paths up the stairs can be hard to see; at least once several of my units got stuck in a dead end because I couldn’t tell at first that the way I was sending them was impassable.

Before moving on, I should probably explain the Pokémon thing. Conquest’s lategame has always felt conspicuously methodical to me when compared with the other routes and with FE lategames generally. It reminds me very much of the typical (and infamously formulaic) experience of a Pokémon game, which end with a long and tedious trip through a cave that forms a physical bottleneck to the final area of the main story (this chapter) followed by sequential challenges against the Elite Four (22-25, with the four Hoshidan royals even faced in ascending order of age), a “surprise” fight against a regional Champion (26, with “surprise” in quotes because, just like with Hans and Iago, it’s rarely surprising that you have to fight them at some point), and then often a challenge against one or more otherworldly legendary Pokémon in the postgame (27 and Endgame, in which Corrin faces off against two incarnations of an insane dragon from another dimension). To contrast, Birthright’s final confrontations are more spread out and don’t even feature half of the Nohrian siblings, and the true climaxes are those that have been built up throughout the route. Revelation does throw multiple antagonists against Corrin in sequence, but in its tradition of imitating the endgame of Radiant Dawn each of them represents a different story thread getting hastily wrapped up to make way for the fight against Fates’s overall antagonist. This is not to suggest that Conquest’s lategame has no effective moments, but the deliberate scripting doesn’t help this route’s reputation for lazy plotting.

Chapter 22

I have two problems with this chapter, although one will take just a few sentences to resolve. The Dragon Veins on this map have their action described as “flatten a levee,” when what they actually do are destroy walls separating the different sections of the field. A levee is not a wall on land but an artificial embankment against a river or other body of water built to prevent flooding. They’re kind of a big deal in New Orleans, and their appearance and function do not remotely resemble the walls in this chapter. Weird word choice, localizers.

The other, more substantial problem I have here concerns Sakura and her supposed innocence. In a sense I appreciate that Sakura does here what Elise refuses to do in Birthright and takes up arms against Corrin; it highlights her resolve in spite of her characteristic timidity and helps differentiate the two little sisters in a more substantial way than the fetishistic anime tropes that they each apparently embody. I also appreciate that Sakura’s reluctance to fight comes through in the way this chapter is structured, in that she’s enclosed behind...”levees” healing her forces from afar and that you’re not required to fight her to end the chapter. What I take issue with is how easily the game casts her in the role of innocent victim after the battle, simply because Garon and his minions show up (from where?) and kill all the surrendered Hoshidans. Yes, this is a war crime and yet another demonstration of how terrible these people are and how we’re obviously going to be killing them later, but Sakura and even more so her retainers and Yukimura were earlier attacking the Nohrian army. This would have been a good point to demonstrate some genuine moral greyness in someone who gets nothing of the sort of otherwise (and that’s not even getting into her standing alongside Yukimura, a man revealed earlier in the route to be a bit sketchy himself), but thanks to Garon the scene is skewed in favor of flat villainy and justified outrage again.

Chapter 23

...Alright, I’ll be the one to ask it. Why does Hoshido have a Great Wall? It’s my understanding that, in contrast to Nohr pulling from over a half dozen Western European cultures, Hoshido is meant to be representative of solely Japanese culture - and yet when I think of East Asian countries with oversized walls I’m obviously not thinking of Japan. Perhaps some projecting on the part of the writers of the kind of defenses they think Japan would have had if it had been a large continental territory like Hoshido?

Regardless, I don’t have much to say about the specific content of this chapter. I’ve already remarked that Takumi’s arc in Conquest is well-executed, and his last stand atop a great wall overlooking a gorge in the setting sun makes for a fittingly dramatic end even before it goes all possession-assisted suicide. The deaths of his retainers have a bit of punch to them too, particularly since it’s become so customary on this route for Corrin to spare defeated opponents.

This policy along with the scope of this battle do however bring up a larger point I wanted to make when comparing routes. Both Birthright and Conquest end with Corrin’s army invading the enemy nation, conquering their capital, and deposing their sovereign along with various others who get in the way. There is though a strong contrast between the presentation of these two invasions, and they happen to involve this series’s varying representation of the scale of its wars and the forces under the player’s control. In some cases it’s understood that the characters that make up the playable cast, plus a few major NPCs like merchants, literally represent the entirety of their side of the conflict. In other cases the playable cast are implied to be merely the vanguard of a much larger army. This can sometimes get awkward, but most of the time it’s fairly clear-cut that, say, all of Blazing Sword follows the first model whereas Gaiden and its remake are evenly split between an army of the first type (Celica) and an army of the second (Alm post-Deliverance Hideout).

For basically all of Birthright and Revelation and even parts of Conquest Fates uses the literal one-to-one scale model, and that manifests clearly in Birthright’s endgame. Corrin’s army sneaks into Nohr, passing through a supposedly abandoned fortress and a river of lava to reach a succession of two secrets passages that allow them to infiltrate Castle Krakenburg. They could not be feasibly marching with a whole army at their backs, and as such the conflicts they face in Windmire play out either as ambushes, Corrin’s personal family drama, or quick surgical strikes against enemy commanders who are unambiguously killed off. Not so in Conquest, where even before Garon’s army joins up with Corrin’s there’s enough of a rearguard to secure the major military installations that they seize on the way to Shirasagi and also keep prisoners of war. Azura also alludes to rebellion among the army’s ranks, a concern that would be completely baseless were the player not meant to assume that their visible army was being followed by legions of unnamed soldiers. The effect of this is that Conquest feels much more like a, well, conquest, and there’s a greater consideration for the standard rules of engagement in wartime (and Garon’s callous disregard for them) to match the larger scope and less personal conflict. Sure, the Hoshidan royals are still crying that Corrin has betrayed them and they can’t be a family, but since Corrin doesn’t really know the Hoshidans in the same way as they do the Nohrians I don’t find that to be at the emotional core of these chapters.

Chapter 24

As natural as it is to feel sorry for Takumi for what he goes through in Conquest - exacerbated even further here after this chapter when Hinoka apparently forgets about him entirely when contemplating whether Corrin can keep their family together - Hinoka might be even sadder on a meta level. Here she is, a woman whose life has been defined since early childhood by the kidnapping of her beloved sibling forced to fight that sibling now siding with their own captors as they invade and conquer her home...and yet for the small amount of time the main story spends building up her character and motivations this confrontation carries all the emotional weight of a single-chapter boss and little else. The biggest character moments on this map are less about her and more about other royals: Azura steels herself to march on her adoptive home, Xander doubles down on the pragmatic rationalization of an abuse victim, and Camilla gets to do her performative violent flirtation routine with a side of Corrin smothering that actually manages to be kind of funny. Even the retainer banter that Hinoka excels in elsewhere feels bland in this chapter.

As such I don’t really have much more to add. This map’s gimmick is a clever expansion of one used in an early Birthright chapter at least. And, uh, the Hinokacopter I guess? I suppose the question of the day is whether that’s more or less silly than Camilla’s catwalk strut.

Chapter 25

Now that’s a less fine hunk of obnoxiously self-righteous man right there.

Intriguing foil and bara porn potential aside it’s not that I hate Ryoma, even in Conquest, but it frustrates me how unsubtle the writers were in their love for him. I recall reading meta once that Ryoma fails as a proper Camus because there’s never any acknowledgement that he’s fighting for the wrong cause, and I have to agree. Corrin tells him that they’re working to save Hoshido too in spite of appearances, but Ryoma’s suicide is still presented as an honorable tragedy that spares Corrin a painful choice that’s ultimately pointless since Iago and Garon try to kill them in the next two chapters anyway. Also, while Ryoma finally abandons his desire to drag Corrin back into the Hoshidan fold after being told that Hinoka is dead (but no reaction to Takumi’s apparent suicide - sensing a pattern there?) the rage that replaces it lacks the well-intentioned antivillainy of the traditional Camus. He’s just pissed off enough to kill Corrin in revenge for killing his sister...or rather stand there for ages waiting for you to finish the rest of the chapter. At least Xander’s passivity and nerfed stats in his final Birthright confrontation make sense in context.

The strange thing is that I have no moral problem whatsoever with the concept of honorable suicide, but this particular scenario makes me kind of hate that Ryoma does it anyway. He dies a hero for Corrin and Azura to cry over, nothing like the flawed but honorable (in his own way) individual Xander is acknowledged to be in Birthright. Ryoma’s final stand and death flatten his motivations from earlier in the route to the point where the player is not encouraged to examine them. His controlling and manipulative behavior from Chapter 12 go completely forgotten, and it’s not until this very chapter that he accepts that Corrin truly cares about and wants to be with his Nohrian family - because Corrin claims to have murdered Hinoka. (Side note: this is arguably the most Hinoka ever matters to the plot of any of the routes, yet another sign of the serial neglect of her character.) Ryoma is every bit as flawed and complex an antagonist or even an ally as Xander, but you have to dig at the story to understand that. This leaves me with a deeply unsatisfying impression of imbalance, not only because these two are the most clearly established foils among the royal siblings but also because it perfectly encapsulates the prevailing creator bias of Fates, a bias that the players were seemingly meant to accept at face value.

Chapter 26

*yawns*

This chapter and the last two may throw almost everything Conquest has to offer at you to really amp up the difficulty, but in terms of story Chapter 26 is just a speed bump to get to the big reveal at the end. Iago and Hans are still not remotely interesting villains, and nothing interesting comes of them here. Leo even gets the honors of killing Iago just as he does in Birthright. Actually, there is one good bit - the moment when all the siblings stand up to Iago and Hans and announce their intentions to kill them and how they’re going to get away with it, turning one of Iago’s usual tactics against him. It’s the most satisfying showdown with these two in any of the routes, in my opinion.

I think this would be a good time to bring up a theory I heard recently from a YouTube critic explaining how Iago and Hans’s obvious two-dimensional villainy could plausibly exist in-universe: as Anankos is using Garon to destroy both Hoshido and Nohr, it benefits his long-term goal to give high-ranking positions to destructive individuals who will not only gleefully kill off the opposition but will cause dissent and disruption among their own ranks through their blatantly awful behavior. This is likely a case of giving the writers credit for more than they deserve, but the Fates fandom is no stranger to having to do most of the worldbuilding work itself.

Chapter 27 + Endgame

I’m going to step back a bit on my criticism of Conquest’s formulaic lategame, because despite the rigid structure leading up to this finale and some shared story elements with Birthright’s endgame - the Yato power-up, the shattering of the Yato reversed by a conversation with the dead and the power of friendship, Azura’s death and continuing mystery, an all too quick smoothing over of the political situation following the battle - these chapters and Conquest’s ending are substantially better than I remember them from earlier playthroughs.

Let’s start with Xander. He goes from threatening to kill Corrin if their claims about Garon turn out to be a ruse to the first of the Nohrians to defy the newly-revealed slime monster masquerading as his father - for precisely the reason that he’s lambasted as an idiot with daddy issues on the other routes. Alone among his siblings he knew the real Garon long enough to understand what he was truly like, so it’s fitting that he’s the one to understand that they’re facing a monstrous imitation of the real man and then rally the others to join him. That’s a profound turnaround, and as such Siegfriend powering up the Yato really lands as a strong moment.

Then there’s the resolution of Takumi’s arc, which unlike with Ryoma’s two chapters ago doesn’t tidily push the reality of his feelings of loss and resentment under the rug because of the current circumstances. Corrin and Takumi get to reconcile in the setting’s equivalent of limbo, each acknowledging that their mistakes led them to this point. This does not, however, then resolve itself with the conclusion that Corrin chose the wrong path in the end; instead, they validate their decision in the face of a bright future for Nohr and peace with Hoshido (which will presumably involve a hell of a lot of diplomacy and trade agreements, but details...). I believe this was an important writing choice to make for the player, to allow for Conquest’s ending to feel like a proper resolution instead of a monstrous lie as Xander describes the war in the final cutscene.

And that cutscene, and the scenes in the Nohrian throne room preceding it - actual acknowledgement in the story of Nohr’s culture and class system at last! There’s even an oblique hint at the resource scarcity that Birthright spells out, that the Nohrians feel they must make war to support their country. As much as I would have preferred all this worldbuilding to be sprinkled throughout Conquest rather than crammed into the ending I’ll take what I can get. We have to live with friendship superpowers and easy diplomacy and, er, Camilla’s bouncy breasts to get there, but all the same the finale is a strong one.

Oh, and Azura...it’s easy to forget about Azura, considering she never explains in this route what her song will do in the endgame and she dies offscreen immediately thereafter. It’s frustrating that she has so much less presence on this route compared to Birthright when here she’s the one who directs Corrin on the path to invading Hoshido instead of coming up with any other kind of solution. Way to completely dodge any kind of responsibility for that decision, Azura.

Next time: ending and final thoughts on Conquest

#Fire Emblem #Fire Emblem Fates #Fire Emblem Conquest #FE14

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juunshua · 6 years

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henlo! can u post a gif tutorial cause your gifs are so pretty and look amazing, even on mobile which messes up with everythjng 😆

ahh anon u flatter me!! thank you for your kind words!!! i honestly have ways to go, but it means a lot that u say this thank you

so for starters i have a mac + photoshop cs5 so a lot of this tutorial will be based on what you do for that, but i’m sure u could do the same thing on pcs (actually pcs have more programs available so i highly recommend, if u have a pc, finding a tutorial that is based around pcs) and other photoshop versions too! but i think the general process is still the same, a different tutorial might just be more nuanced^^

1. Finding/downloading your video~so for normal mp4 videos on youtube i use this website. it’s pretty useful it can download from actually a wide variety of sites like naver (up till 1080p!) ~for v app videos i use this site~ts files i find on kpopexciting or kpop24hrs (u need an account for kpop24hrs i think to download video but! signing up isnt difficult and its nothing fishy. i use it a lot esp for older ts files it has a good archive, kpopexciting tends to be faster though.)~the higher quality files you find the better! i find that it tends to go mp4~honestly finding the right high quality video is a HUGE part of making gifs look nice2. Extracting your video~there are many many many ways to extract your video but I highly recommend downloading avisynth! There are ways to download it for pc! avisynth is beautiful because it doesn’t really reduce the quality of your video to the extent that photoshop does, plus it can extract 60fps from ts files. some gifs ive made through avisynth ( x x x ) if you’re interested in avisynth further, tumblr user @/brandinator is a good place to start! if you want to know more regarding how to use it and a different tutorial through that, let me know! ~now i’m not sure if there is an avisynth tutorial for mac anymore, BUT theres another great program, vapoursynth, that mac users can look into. here’s a tutorial that i’ve found~Before I got avisynth I used VLC player for ts files but I had to basically screenshot each frame individually. Some gifs I’ve made through this method ( x x x ). these gifs are 60fps only bc i found a user who uploaded the ts file in 60fps. usually you cant get 60fps w/o avisynth. but this is also me saying that if you cant get avisynth or vapoursynth, there are still ways to work around it i think! one of my fav giffers for the longest time didnt use either!! and sharpening and coloring were always on point.~I think pcs can use kmplayer? id look into that if you have a pc~for normal mp4 videos I just use photoshops ‘import video frames to layers’ option (under file in the menubar)! you can use avisynth as well, but for me it takes forever to extract what i want in avisynth (minimum like a minute ish), whereas ps can get the part of the video i want to gif in a couple of seconds. I think it’s self explanatory but basically you find the video you want to extract, find where u want ur gif to start, and for photoshop cs5, you hit the ‘shift’ key and let the part u want giffed in the video play. when youre done u lift the shift key and hit ‘ok’ (idk if it differs for different versions of ps). i extract all!!! frames!! it makes it look smoother too :)

3. Coloring/Sharpening/Cropping/Etc~now this is the step that I can’t really give a tutorial on because honestly it varies for everyone! but i feel that this is the step that a lot of ppl need guidance with (me included) because it is the hardest step, probably because it is so ‘up in the air’ for lack of a better word? there is no one right way of doing it the possibilities are literally endless but here are some tips~Coloring: ~most important rule: don’t whitewash ur gifs!! ~other than that, the world is yours. ~honestly have fun with this part! coloring is something that i haven’t fully learned yet ~i tend to play around mainly with the curves, selective color, hue/saturation, and color balance layers ~you can also download psds other ppl have made (i dont do this myself) and use those! ~also i feel that a lot of the times, the right coloring can make ur gif seem higher quality. coloring can also play a role in reducing gif size if u do it correctly. ~honestly this part is just a lot of experimentation, over the course of a gifset and over the course of time in general. some people find their coloring style easily, but i was not one of those people. ive spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to adjust what layers to get the colors that i want and i think only as of this era ive been able to execute the coloring i had pictured in my mind. so patience is a virtue!!! ~Sharpening: ~ah yes my biggest enemy: sharpening ~first things first, i sharpen my gifs using smart sharpen + topaz ~settings for my smart sharpen are 500%; 0.4 ~check the box that says ‘more accurate’ and i personally remove ‘gaussian blur’ ~some people also use topaz denoise, and/or topaz clean ~ honestly topaz is a lifesaver for me bc it smoothes out a lot of grain that can be introduced via coloring! also!!! it can reduce gif size by a lot!!!!!!!!!!! ~on topaz denoise i hit the ‘light’ setting on the side and adjust the settings accordingly ~idk how to use topaz clean even though I have it, because it refuses to work ~to apply topaz you have to hit ‘flatten frames into layers’ ~some gifs i’ve made with just topaz and no avisynth ( x x x x) ~there are ways to make it look nice without topaz but i’ve forgotten how after i got it ~id duplicate the frame then use smart sharpen and ‘gaussian blur’ under ‘blur’ ~then adjust the opacity levels in some way. ~my settings for the opacity levels aren’t good so i’ll refrain from sharing ~some gifs ive made through this method ( x x ) ~last but not least i’ll bring up avisynth again. avisynth is nice at preserving video quality ~a lot of ppl i know say they don’t even sharpen gifs out of avisynth ~here are some gifs i have made with avisynth + topaz ( x x x x x x x ) ~honestly when it comes to sharpening, im still floundering with it. my sharpening needs a lot of work but, amongst the people who i consider good sharpners, most of them use avisynth, topaz denoise and/or clean, and smart sharpen! so all the resources are here !

~Cropping: ~it’s super important to follow tumblr dimensions otherwise gifs come out looking grainy! even when they’re not ! (case in point: x in which i used 168 instead of 178 for the dimensions)~Timing: ~Timing is so important!!! I almost forgot!! Always make sure u dont have duplicate frames for starters! for 60fps source videos i use .03, for mp4s i typically use .04 but sometimes the frame rate is kinda funky so you may have to go slower accordingly! and the important thing about timing is that if u use smart object, when u save ur gif, it’ll be in a different timing? like .04 gets changed to .07 but in order to fix that, u can simply just save ur gif in the wrong timing, and then reopen the gif in ps, simply change the timing to what u want on all ur frames, and then save it again!! idk if that made any sense but laskdjf this was the biggest mystery for me for so long omg4. Saving the gif~personally the save settings I use are “Selective/Adaptive” ; “Diffusive”; Dither: 100%; 256 colors. sometimes this makes the gif super grainy so i use “pattern” instead of “diffusive” in those instances5. Pray Perseverance ~a lot of the time when you’re giffing, gifs won’t come out the way you want it (i’m sure for every gifset i’ve uploaded on tumblr, there’s a gifset that i started making and never finished because it looked really bad). idk sometimes it feels like photoshop has its own will, sharpenings wont always work the same way each time, video quality won’t be the way you want it, i’m honestly still very experimental right now I don’t have ps figured out at all. so yeah…sometimes all u can do is that when u hit that save for web button (that ruins everything alskf), pray that ps doesnt mess it up too bad ahahaha but also that even when it does, its okay and you can try again! or try something new!

this is a super generic guide! let me know if you need more information!

#anon #replies

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fatecaster · 7 years

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Sensational meditation cushions for beginners you’ll love - Reblog

Find the original blog post at: http://ift.tt/2qXXRvj

Sensational meditation cushions for beginners you’ll love

Meditation cushions are one of the most important items to have when doing the intended practice. Its primary job is to provide you with the physical comfort and support necessary for a complete and fulfilling practice. Thereby it’s enhancing your overall experience and it helps to incorporate this practice as a part of your daily life.

Is a meditation cushion necessary? Why?

Meditation is the process of simply clearing your mind and allowing energy to naturally flow through the body. Any discomfort could potentially disrupt the natural flow of energy and ultimately the meditative process.

Finding a cushion is crucial to creating a balanced meditative experience. Your physical comfort and stability are imperative in your practice, akin to finding the right mattress. You want something that is suitable to your body’s particular needs and allows you to easily transport yourself to that sacred place. Finding a pillow is not only significant for the physical experience, but for the spiritual and mental state as well.

What are the different types of meditation cushions available?

There are a few cushions that are commonly used amongst both beginners and masters alike. Although there are many variations, these are the basic core of those used in most practices.

Zafu

Usually a rounded and overly stuffed cushion, which is approximately 14” in diameter, and 8” high. Zafus are great for those with hip issues and those who have trouble with the lotus position. It helps to elevate the hips, making it easier to accomplish the task.

There is also a crescent-shaped zafu, which provides wider support for hips and your legs. I personally have found the crescent shaped zafu beneficial as it prevents my legs from becoming numb and falling asleep.

Zabuton

A longer (30” x 28”), but thinner cushion. Although it can be used independently, it is mainly used in conjunction with the zafu by being placed underneath it. This creates additional support for the knees and ankles, especially important during long meditation sessions. This can create a more positive and productive experience.

It should be noted there is an additional alternative to the zafu. Tibetan style meditation seat cushions act similar to a traditional zafu. These can also be used with a zabuton. However, they are rectangular in shape, thus creating a larger space to facilitate the body and accommodate the knees.

Does the filling matter?

The filling within the cushion, especially the zafu, is paramount in your decision. The two most prevalent fillings are buckwheat hulls and kapok. (this latter one, by the way, has an amazing flower as you can see on the picture).

Although there are additional fillers, like organic cotton and synthetics such as polyester, I personally would recommend to choose them. In my opinion, the best choices are the ones enumerated above. And I tell you why.

Buckwheat Hulls

Despite these outer casings can be hard, somewhat heavy and noisy, they provide a firm yet stable base that readily molds and conforms to your body shape, and does not flatten. They provide for easy removal to adjust the cushion height, and those extras can be maintained as replacements if existing hulls break down. This is my personal preference as I have found that I require a firmer foundation enhances my posture and maintains my alignment organically.

Kapok

A natural fiber similar to cotton, it is a soft and spongy cushion, which might be more comfortable at first blush. Kapok, unlike cotton, will not get moldy. It is lightweight and convenient for portability. The downside is that it is not easily removable for adjustment purposes, and will flatten with use over time, requiring a new purchase.

It should be noted that as zabutons are thinner and not held to same standards as zafus. They require less filling and primarily use kapok or cotton to ensure the softness needed.

What should I consider before using the product?

There is a myriad of factors involved in determining which meditation cushion to buy. Factors include from the basic to the sublime. These are the questions you should ask yourself before buying a product.

I would strongly recommend that, whenever possible, you physically try all possibilities to determine what best suits your needs. If indeed, your option is restricted to an online purchase, you locate a vendor with a fair return policy. Lastly, even aesthetics play a role in your choosing… it is your sacred space eventually. What color sets the tone for you? What makes it more appealing? Knowing your possibilities, the decision becomes simpler to make.

There are a variety of meditation cushions out on the market, and I know making a decision is not easy. Especially if you’re a beginner. So here’s a little help for you. I collected my personal picks, denoting both their pros and cons.

Twin Fish Zafu Meditation Cushion by Citrus Fitness

PROS

It utilizes a buckwheat hull stuffing, which readily molds to your body shape and offers great stability, and tested it up to 200 lbs of weight to ensure that it maintains your shape.The zipper enclosure to adjust the hulls to your individual preference.

It includes a handmade cover, made of organic cotton, which includes a zipper closing allowing it to be easily removed and is machine washable.

Modestly priced for its given features.

CONS

At 12.5” x 7”, this product runs significantly smaller than traditional zafus, making it difficult for most body sizes to comfortably use.

The cover fabric is a bit thin and might be subject to wear and tear more readily.

The cover depicted from the manufacturer was significantly more vibrant in color than what was received. There have also been reports of unintended

Markings on the cover, making them seem damaged.

The handle (for portability) is also thin, possibly increasing the odds of ripping due to the weight of the buckwheat husks.

Round Cotton Zafu Meditation Cushion Pillow by YogaAccessories

PROS

The cover for the zafu is either 100% twill cotton or silk depending on which of the pillows you choose from.

The product is 6” in height and the diameter is about 15”, which makes the zafu more spacious for those with long legs and with to maintain position.

There is a side zipper which makes the cover removable and you are able to adjust the filling inside.

This zafu also comes with a handle, making it easy to transport.

This a very reasonable price considering the quality that you are receiving.

Due to the interchangeable covers, it could also look great as a living room or bedroom décor.

CONS

The cushion tends to get dirty easily and it collects lint often.

The marketing for this product is unclear and it is difficult to determine whether the stuffing is cotton or buckwheat hulls.

The wear and tear of the cover will continue in a matter of months if used on a frequent basis.

Although the covers are removable and interchangeable, the silk covers will probably require dry cleaning.

Crescent Zafu Pillow by Waterglide International

PROS

Utilizes buckwheat hulls, making it easily adjustable and stable.

The dimensions are 16” x 8”, giving 2” extra in diameter, which allows for more space for wider hips than a traditional zafu.

The crescent shape makes it easier for the knees and the ankles to stay in a comfortable position.

The cover is twill cotton and it is removable and machine washable.

Like all of the other zafus listed, this does come with a sturdy handle for portability purposes.

You have more color options which can work great for decoration purposes as well.

CONS

The seaming is rather tenuous, and the stitching readily tears open, exposing loose filling. In it of itself, this is an obvious issue, especially when being transported.

Different models reflect different construction. Some contain interior liners, while others do not.

Marketing needs to reflect qualities specific to each product.

Price is slightly more expensive.

Jumbo Zabuton Meditation Mat by Zafustore

PROS

The mat is 36” x 30”, considerably larger dimensions than a traditional zabuton accommodating those with long legs.

The mat is only three pounds, making it lightweight and easily portable.

Stuffed with kapok, which is enclosed in a separate casing.

Removable and machine-washable cover.

Long-lasting durability with minimal wear and tear. Reports indicate that it can well over five years with multiple washes.

Overstuffed and firm, making it a suitable choice for independent use without a zafu.

Made in the USA, which means strict quality control employed.

CONS

Despite its ultra-light weight, the manufacturer did not include a handle, greatly curtailing what could have been easy portability.

With a slicker than usual feel, this product might be disconcerting to a beginner.

It is a little bit pricier, compared to its competitors.

Buckwheat Zafu and Zabuton Meditation Cushion Set (2pc) by Zafustore

PROS

Although the zafu is filled with buckwheat hulls which mold to your body, the zabuton is filled with kapok, which is a natural fiber yielding a softer cushion that effectively protects the knees and ankles.

The zafu does have a zipper, it is adjustable in height and it is double stitched so that it remains sturdy.

The zafu is 14″ wide and 7″ tall and weighs up to 7 lbs. The zabuton is at least 30″ x 28″, which ranges towards the typical perimeter of both a zafu and zabuton. However, the zabuton is considerably lightweight enabling portability.

The benefits when using a complete set are readily apparent. The zabuton helps to pad the knees and ankles while the zafu provides support for the spine, hips and other areas for alignment. By purchasing a set, you are addressing all the physical needs at a more economical price than if purchased individually.

CONS

Only the zabuton is washable.

The buckwheat hulls can be too thick and the zabuton can be too thin for your liking.

The zafu and zabuton may come off as smaller than what is the norm.

You would have to constantly fluff up the zafu and despite it having buckwheat hulls, it does tend to flatten.

Conclusion

I would recommend purchasing the zafu and zabuton set. While this may appear to be a costlier alternative, it is actually less expensive than purchasing the cushions individually. Both items offer maximum comfort and stability.

The set has the requisite pleating and sturdier stitching than some of the single zafus listed. The cushion is more likely to resist major wear and tear and be a long-lasting part of your meditation practice.

I hope this article helped you to make the first step on the path of regular meditation.

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