#apparently i’m in my *separate and reunite them* era | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ayuuria · 3 years

Text

Yashahime Translation: Animage Magazine March 2021 Issue

Please do not repost this translation without my consent! This includes screenshots of any type and amount. If you wish to share this translation, simply link to this post.

For more information regarding the use of my translations, click here.

The Two Beast Kings

At his daughters’ crisis, Sesshōmaru makes his satisfied appearance! It appears he has some kind of connection with Kirinmaru but their intentions are still unclear. In what way will the two beast kings be involved in the fate of the Yashahimes?

While chasing Tōtetsu who is the last of the Four Perils, Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha finally confront Kirinmaru. The three of them are overwhelmed by Kirinmaru’s immense power. Saving the girls from a desperate situation was none other Sesshōmaru. The impact of the clash between the two great demons shook the earth and was put to an end in a moment. While Towa and others are left pondering what the relationship between Sesshōmaru and Kirinmaru is, they somehow managed to survive the fierce battle.

The spirit of the Tree of Ages considers Kirinmaru’s existence as one that should be killed. However, looking at his actions, they do not seem to be simply “evil”. Kirinmaru intended to defeat Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha as they were “the half-demons who would take his head”. However, he could’ve buried the three with one strike of his overwhelming strength. It appeared as though he was not taking the battle seriously in episode 18.

On the other end, although Sesshōmaru saved the girls from a crisis, it looked as though he was not truly hostile towards Kirinmaru. The meaning behind Kirinmaru’s words to Sesshōmaru “I will still have you work for me” puts a weight on one’s mind.

The relationship of the two beast kings who bare many mysteries. It might be a little longer before the full picture behind their motives becomes visible.

Character Bios

Sesshōmaru A proud, ruthless greater demon whose father is the Dog General. Towa and Setsuna’s father. (A man of) very few words, he does not show his thoughts for the most part.

Kirinmaru A beast king on par with the Dog General. He was in a long slumber but was awakened by his elder sister, Zero. Apparently, he’s trying to destroy this world to a degenerate state.

Jaken A small demon who serves under Sesshōmaru. Cowardly but helpful, he placed upon himself the role of child rearing and caretaker to Towa and Setsuna who had been taken from their mother not a moment after being born.

Rin Towa and Setsuna’s mother. She accompanied Sesshōmaru for a long time as a child and has faith in him. For some reason, she is currently sleeping within the Tree of Ages.

Higurashi Towa In order to save Setsuna who had her memories and dreams stolen, she searches for the Dream Butterfly. Her explosive power when Setsuna was driven to a corner was enough to leave a scratch on Kirinmaru.

Setsuna Even in the feudal era she sometimes plays the violin she borrowed from Mama Moe. The details on how she came to wield her favorite naginata, Kanemitsu no Tomoe, will become clear?

Moroha Although she is Inuyasha and Kagome’s daughter, in order to escape Kirinmaru, she was placed in the care of the wolf demon tribe in her early childhood. She carries the sword Kurikaramaru, which she received from her master, Yawaragi.

The Mystery Behind Sesshōmaru’s Actions

14 years ago, Sesshōmaru took a newborn Towa and Setsuna from Rin and sheltered them in the forest of the Tree of Ages in order to keep them away from Zero and Kirinmaru. However, 4 years after that when Zero burned the forest, Sesshōmaru tolerated her actions. The intentions behind what he is thinking is unreadable.

The Dream Butterfly and Rin

The Dream Butterfly steals Setsuna’s dreams and takes them to Rin who is sleeping within the Tree of Ages. It seems Kirinmaru has something to do with the actions of that Dream Butterfly. What is Kirinmaru’s “profound plan” regarding the Dream Butterfly that Konton of the Four Perils spoke of? And what is the reason behind Rin’s slumber?

Moroha’s Master

Yawaragi, the wolf demon who trained Moroha who was separated from her parents and raised by the wolf demon tribe. The of two them broke their ties 3 year ago but reunited due to Konton’s trap and fight each other as teacher and student. During that battle, Yawaragi explains to Moroha how to fight without becoming Beniyasha. Putting her life on the line, she bestows upon Moroha the grand technique “Crimson Backlash Wave”.

The One Who Will Defeat the Beast King

The prophecy the Shikon Jewel once told Kirinmaru was “(The one who will destroy Kirinmaru) will be one who is neither human nor demon and can impossibly traverse time”. He seems to think it refers to Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha but the difference in strength between the three of them and Kirinmaru is obvious. Presently, it would probably be difficult for the girls to defeat Kirinmaru.

Inheriting the World of “Inuyasha”, Director Satō Teruo

Following the “Inuyasha” Rule for Shot Divisions and Presentation

— Director Satō, please tell us first the details of how you became involved in this current work.

Satō: “Inuyasha” was the first work I took part in as a freelance producer and it also taught me the fundamentals of production. Afterwards, I was the assistant director for “Inuyasha The Final Act” and because of that, they reached out to me this time asking, “We’re going to make a work that inherits the world of “Inuyasha”. Would you be interested?”.

— As a work that inherits the world of “Inuyasha”, what points do you place importance on?

Satō: Among the viewers of this work, there will of course be those who watched “Inuyasha” but reversely, I think there will be those who come to know of “Inuyasha” through “Hanyō no Yashahime”. I intentionally created the work so that when these people reach the point of wondering “What kind of work is “Inuyasha”?”, they’ll get the same taste (as “Hanyō no Yashahime”).

There’s also a task for “Hanyō no Yashahime” to “Inform the generation that doesn’t know “Inuyasha” that there’s a wonderful work by Takahashi Rumiko-sensei called “Inuyasha”.” Just like “Great Detective Conan” that’s also on Yomiuri TV, families can enjoy (the work) together as parents become nostalgic and the children have a fresh feeling. From there, it would be great if the children are told “There’s a work called “Inuyasha”.”

For that reason, I felt that I wanted to depict the characters that were carried over from “Inuyasha” in a way that didn’t feel off as much as possible. The serialization for the original work “Inuyasha” ran for 12 years and the anime continued for 4½ years, so I think everyone has a complete image of each of the characters within themselves. I’m conscious of trying to stick to that set image people have of “This person was this kind of character.” as much as possible.

— Director Satō, you were directly in charge of the storyboard for episodes 1, 2, 4, and 6. What sort of things are you mindful of as you create the images?

Satō: In “Inuyasha”, there was something like an ““Inuyasha” rule” for shot divisions and presentation. I wanted “Hanyō no Yashahime” to inherit those rules. Episode 1 for the most part depicted “Inuyasha” since then so we couldn’t exactly break away from that rule. However, starting from episode 2, if we suddenly used a different shot division method that feels as though it’s from a different work, the viewers probably wouldn’t be able to follow along. Thus, in order to show that rule from the start, I did as much of the storyboard as I could myself.

— What kind of rule is it exactly?

Satō: For example, how Inuyasha releases the “Wind Scar”. Also, I was frequently asked “Tessaiga is always written with dokkun (translator’s note: pulsing sound effect) but what is the “dokkun disposition”?” or “What is “mokomoko”?”. The pulsing Tessaiga does when it transforms is what we call the “dokkun disposition”. The “mokomoko” refers to the fluff that Sesshōmaru trails behind him. There are people who call the fluffy scarf worn during events like the coming-of-age ceremony “Sesshōmaru’s Mokomoko” and we call it “Mokomoko” at the production site too (laughs). Conversely, there are many people who give Setsuna’s mokomoko the same volume as Sesshomaru’s like in the “Inuyasha” era, and I remember at the beginning (animation character designer) Hishinuma Yoshihito-san was always correcting them like, “Please make hers more subdued than her father’s”.

— How do you do the shot divisions?

Satō: We use a sort of old-fashioned method of shot division that’s different from the current trend. Currently, there’s a lot of finely chopped, speedy shot divisions and while cutting battle scenes short is easier, we purposely make it one continuous shot so that the battle is endless. My thought process is that I want there to be traces of “Inuyasha” in that part of the screen.

Even the Effects Have Traces of the Parent Generation

— You spoke of Setsuna’s mokomoko but does she herself know of her father’s mokomoko?

Satō: I don’t think she knows. The clothes were probably given to her by her caretaker, Jaken, like “Let’s have you wear this” (laughs). Towa and Setsuna were named by Rin in episode 15 but they were babies, so they didn’t know. Probably while Jaken was in charge of educating them, he told them “You’re Towa and you’re Setsuna.”

— We heard that Moroha’s clothes is the same as Inuyasha’s “Robe of the Fire Rat”.

Satō: Yes. Just like the “Armor of the Iron Rat” that appeared in episode 16, it is made of fabric from the fire rat. Inuyasha himself is inside the black pearl and Moroha was left in the care of the wolf demon tribe, so Inuyasha couldn’t give the clothes to Moroha. However, I think the wolf demon tribe probably got their hands on something similar somewhere.

— What is the reason for Towa’s clothes being a school uniform?

Satō: It’s probably Towa’s own uniform for living in the feudal era (translators note: basically, it’s her way of dressing for the times). Her reason for dressing as a boy is because “It’s easier to fight in” after all, and it’s something I discussed with Takahashi Rumiko-sensei and (Series Composition) Sumisawa Katsuyuki-san many times. As to why we made her core like that. First, starting from her being a child that avoids the standard femininity, we came up with all sorts of thoughts like “Why not just give her an appearance with a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu like originality”. From within (those ideas), it was Takahashi Rumiko-sensei who came up with “It’s easier to fight in”. She said, “Rather than having a complex reason, wouldn’t a simple reason like this be easier to for the people watching to understand?”. That’s how Towa’s appearance and character were solidified.

— Towa’s weapon is also a little different. What she thought was the national treasure, Kikujyūmonji, was actually a fake, and she creates a blade with her demonic power at the part where it broke.

Satō: That part is probably also Sumisawa-san’s sense. Turning the broken sword into a demon sword. Even though she once obtained the real thing through Riku, the result was that she continued to wield the fake one. I think that part makes things more entertaining.

In a sense, “Inuyasha” was also a story about a sword’s growth. Inuyasha’s Tessaiga absorbs the demonic energy of demons it cuts and turns many techniques into its own. On the other hand, Sesshōmaru created the weapon, Bakusaiga, from within himself. Whether Setsuna inherited that or not is something to look forward to going ahead.

— How did you create the techniques for the three?

Satō: There are various techniques such as Setsuna’s “Scrouge of Swallows” and “Cyclone Burst” and Moroha’s “Crimson Dragon Wave”. The creation was basically Sumisawa-san coming up with the (kanji) characters and us coming up with how to portray them. We had the photographers match the shade and disposition of the effects to the parent generation and lineage. Towa and Setsuna have the same blue and green as Sesshōmaru and Moroha has the same yellow effect as Inuyasha’s “Wind Scar”.

We Want Towa and Everyone to be Happy

— Of the episodes that have aired thus far, which one in particular left an impression on you?

Satō: Episode 15 where Riku talked about the past. It was an episode that was related to the crux of the story and I think it was a crossroad of the past. The fact that it only appears as flashbacks to the three princesses who are the lead characters is characteristic. It was to the point that I was surprised on the day of the recording like “Oh, they’re not here!”. For this episode, we had Yamaguchi Kappei-san, the role of Inuyasha, do the commentary for the PR spotlight and it had an “Inuyasha” feel to it. Rin has grown-up a little bit but for her acting, we ordered that we “Want you to be conscious of childhood Rin” when addressing “Lord Sesshōmaru”.

— Episode 15 was also the episode that revealed Rin was the mother of Towa and Setsuna. What were you conscious of when depicting Sesshōmaru and Rin?

Satō: Regarding that, it was something I wondered about the most as an Inuyasha fan when my work in “Hanyō no Yashahime” was decided. Since Rumiko-sensei did not depict this, there were probably fans that had complicated feelings with how the relationship between the two is presented… In that sense, I’d say it’s best to make it so that the two can properly live together in happiness. How do I put it, it’d be hard to look at if things stay as they are.

— Director Satō, you yourself want everyone to be happy.

Satō: Correct. The moment “Inuyasha The Final Act” ended, I thought everyone would be happy, but it ended up like this… Based on the actions of the other characters, I would like to shape Sesshōmaru and Rin-chan’s afterwards in a way that everyone can agree to. Regarding Moroha, there’s the matter of when she will meet Inuyasha and Kagome. It would make me happy if you could pay attention to that part going forward.

— This month we published an illustration of Sesshōmaru and Kirinmaru (P. 42~). Director Satō, do you have any situations you would like to see in future copyright illustrations?

Satō: As a fan, I would like to see the parents and children sitting together. “Inuyasha, Kagome, and Moroha would be there and beside them would be Sesshōmaru, Rin, Towa, and Setsuna” like they had a family gathering at New Years. I think that kind of situation would be fun. However, in actuality I think that might be difficult as the dog brothers don’t get along (laughs).

— In episode 18, Sesshōmaru finally appeared before his daughters and that created major movement in the story. Please tell our excited readers some highlights going forward.

Satō: Episode 19 is a story where the demon slayers play an active, albeit not serious, role. You could say it’s a breather episode and it feels as though the tempo is completely different from episode 18. However, please enjoy it while relaxing (laughs). Following with episode 20, Shiori-san, the half-demon who appeared in “Inuyasha”, will make an appearance. It is an episode where she and Setsuna will interact. Sumisawa-san thought that in order to depict half-demons, this was something that couldn’t be left out and Inuyasha walked down this path as well. Then, the final chapter begins in episode 21. Things will move all at once. Zero, who started appearing in episode 14, will especially be a key person going into the final episode. Please pay attention to her relationship between Kirinmaru and Sesshōmaru.

Having Takechiyo Around Is A Big Help!

“Takechiyo is fun to move. As a therapeutic mascot character, just him being there is a big help and he has room for growth going forward. From the start, Takechiyo was born from “having a character that could be messed with in some way or another like Shippō” but he feels completely different. Also, with Fairouz Ai-san’s tenacious acting, he has grown into a very good character. Apparently, he’s a favorite of Sumisawa-san (laughs).” (Satō)

Sesshomaru’s on A Different Level! The Role of Sesshōmaru, Narita Ken

Episode 18 was his first appearance outside of flashbacks. The impression I got was that it’s as though Sesshōmaru thinks Kirinmaru is “Not an opponent worthy of my time”. That’s why I didn’t even insert a breath and imagined that “he could easily win this” during the scene where they crossed blades. I also checked with sound director Nagura Yasushi-san like “Would you like me to insert a breath?” but he said, “No need”. On the other hand, Kirinmaru was taking breaths so I really think Sesshōmaru is on a different level. Even my impression of Hosoya Yoshimasa-kun was… the level is not the same. Just kidding (laughs). Hosoya is quite adorable so it was fun doing (the scene) with him. What will become of the relationship between Sesshōmaru and Kirinmaru is something to look forward to going ahead.

Today’s Diary

This month we visited Sunrise’s studio #1. The selection begins in the conference room lined with plastic models of Sunrise’s works. Hishinuma-san, what do you think seeing all these works we have collected? **

“We created “Hanyō no Yashahime” with the intention of simply gearing it towards the children of today, but there’s a wide age range of contributors. From elementary schoolers to those in their 50s, I can really feel that the work is loved by everyone. It seems there are many people whose deep-rooted support for us stems back to the “Inuyasha” era.”

Which character is the easiest for you to draw?

“The one who’s easy to approach is Moroha. There’s a part of her that resembles her father (Inuyasha) so at first, I was conscious of copying (him). However, over time, I gained the ability to bring out her uniqueness.”

Who is the most popular on-site? (translator’s note: aka the studio)

“I’d have to say there’s a lot of staff who say, “I want to draw Moroha!”. When the plans were stood up, Towa and Setsuna were the two protagonists but Takahashi Rumiko-sensei’s design of Moroha was so appealing that the 3 of them became the main characters you see now. That’s why I want the on-site staff to love on Towa and Setsuna more! Especially for me, I want to continue to sympathize with Towa and watch over her growth with the emotions of a foster parent. Of course, the parent that gave birth to them is Rumiko-sensei.”

The main story is finally approaching its climax. Please show us your enthusiasm.

“My main job right now is designing and copyright illustrations but the staff are working hard towards the climax that will be at the end of March. The story development is going to be hardcore, but I would be really happy if you continued to support us. Look forward to it!”

** Back story: This month’s Animage held an art contest for Yashahime with the judge being animation character designer, Hishinuma Yoshihito. Also, this page has a “One point lesson” on how to draw the 3 girls. However, that one is heavily image reliant so I will not be translating it (I do not post scans as much as possible).

#yashahime #hanyou no yashahime #yashahime: princess half demon #translation

175 notes · View notes

afreakingdork · 3 years

Text

Review: ZOMBIE LAND SAGA REVENGE

It took me far too long, but after rewatching season one (and re-reading my review of it ((boy was I astute as heck, I sure wasn’t this time around!))) I finally got around to binging season 2 and boy does this series not stop. No, I mean that literally. Revenge picks up pretty much right where the last series left off and just keeps chugging. It truly felt like there was no interruption between the two shows. They are still treating Lily with the same total respect. In episode 5 "Little Bodda Bope SAGA" when she followed Light into the restroom and he asked her why she was in there, I had a moment of terror where I thought they might play it like a joke, but instead Lily just explains that it doesn’t matter because it’s only her (aka the only other person) there. This earnest and progressive treatment almost got me because in episode 4 "Pure-Hearted Electric SAGA" when Ai and Junko reunite, I genuinely thought they were going to kiss when they both jumped for one another. I mean look at this moment:

The two had been admiring each other from afar, but the thought of separating hurt them both so much that they had to reunite as pictured. Plus, they reveal at the end of this episode that Ai was secretly watching old videos of Junko on the web and got so embarrassed at her finding out that she started blushing and closed out the window in a fit. I mean, COME ON! I’m getting the vapors just remembering it, but the point is, this show treats it’s characters with so much love that the love flows back to the viewer.

I also love how this show twists tropes back on to themselves. Just before episode 7 "Maimai Revolution SAGA" I was thinking how refreshing it was that no new character(s) was introduced for this season. So many shows (New Game!!) try to add characters with seasons to get more hype. Instead, episode 7 was a sweet episode that helped reinforce several facts about the characters. One, that these girls are giving it their all for a multitude of reason, but above all else because it is what they honestly and whole-heartedly want to do. Second, that while enough effort anyone can sing and dance, the true soul of being an idol is more than that. It takes something you have to dedicate your whole life (after-life) to. It was so touching that Maimai got an up-close view of that and it instead made her more sure of wanting to live her own life to the fullest because she saw the ferocity with which the girls approached Franchouchou.

I will say, where the show does not sadly match up to the first season is with the pacing. I get the jarring ploy in episode 1 "Good Morning Returns SAGA" where they were trying to surprise the viewers with what happened, but sticking the real recap all the way down at episode 10 felt way too reductive to the storytelling flow. Plus, they stuck said recap right after the Yugiri arc (episodes 8 and 9 "The Saga Incident, Part One” and two, respectively) where those episodes in and of themselves were just suddenly shoved into the show. The only lead in for the Yugiri arc was Okoba mentioning in the end of the previous episode that (once again!) he could not find the identify of “Number 5.” Then episode 8 just starts up and we are in the thick of the Meiji era. I loved seeing her backstory, but it was just so sudden.

In season 1, the little tidbits of deeper lore felt like bait for a larger story. In season 2, sadly, important information is mostly sort of tossed out in the middle of larger conversations and blown past. The biggest example of this is Jofuku. Obviously there is some things that have been lost in translation. For example, he has the same name was an alchemist who served an emperor during the Qin Dynasty and was tasked to find the Elixir of Immortality. Jofuku mentions that his is Saga in passing and doesn’t elaborate on this, but you obviously get the gist that his life has become dependent on Saga’s existence. Also is a totally chill conversation he just casually mentions how there is a curse upon Saga and that it’s apparently so specific that it even says that Saga will meet its end in the Reiwa era. Also, he VERY casually mentions that all of our protagonists were killed BY THE CURSE because they would have somehow saved Saga in one way or another. All this buckwild information is mostly blown past! That isn’t to say that everything that is casually mentioned wasn’t set up. Take the Yugiri arc itself; it’s been established that she is a legendary courtesan, but throughout episodes 8 and 9 many people ask why she is so legendary or what makes a courtensan legendary anyway. All of these casual mentions culminate when you find out that she is actually know as:

That was such a wild reveal and totally set up!

Also, small nitpick, but Mamoru Miyano wasn’t allowed to go even 1% as feral as he was in season 1 and that is a damn shame.

Verdict:

PS: HOW WERE IDOLS SUPPOSED TO SAVE SAGA FROM ALIENS!?!?!?!?

#me #review #anime review #zls #zombie land saga revenge #zombieland saga #zombie land saga #anime #zlsr

7 notes · View notes

breakupspells18 · 3 years

Text

Guaranteed spells that work in 24 hours

Fascination Spell for affection

Who would not like to draw in the adoration for their life towards them? Being single gets too extreme now and then! In the event that you also need to draw in somebody in your life do this on a full moon day. Set up an air pocket shower with either shower bombs or you can likewise add chocolate milk to the tub. Take at any rate nine cherries and track down the most obscure of them. Eat every one of these cherries and appreciate the delight it brings to you. While you do so envision existence with your sweetheart and you'll perceive how mystically you'll pull in him. Wash well after this.

Love spell to resuscitate the lost enthusiasm:

With time it is extremely normal to lose the flash of your relationship. The substance and enthusiasm don't continue as before as it was at first. In the event that you also feel along these lines, this spell will assist you with restoring the energy of your adoration life. You should simply, light a pink flame. It works better when both of you play out the spell together. When you light the candle, clasp hands and serenade as long as the candle brambles, "My blood (your name) and (accomplices name) blood is one, join us indeed". With this straightforward spell, you will see your relationship going in a different direction.

Love spells with an image:

To play out an adoration spell with an image, take image of the individual you need to project this spell on. You may take a genuine picture, a picture on telephone or you may essentially imagine the substance of that individual. Sit in an agreeable and calm spot. Take a gander at their image and converse with them and reveal to them whatever you feel for them and what you need them to feel for you and say, "Come to me, I want you". The more you envision, the more will you pull in.

Love spell to get somebody far from your affection

No one prefers the part where you feel somebody is coming excessively close to your accomplice. Commonly we face the present circumstance where we sense somebody is attempting to get among you and your accomplice. To get somebody far from your adoration, do the accompanying:

Take a green stew.

Take a piece of fabric.

Put green stew and 2 spoons of sugar on the material.

Pour lemon drops on it.

Take a piece of paper and record the name of somebody you need away from your sweetheart on the off chance that you know the name or you may skirt this progression and simply think about that individual.

Overlay that paper and afterward place it on the material.

Presently wrap everything along with the fabric and spot it on the porch for one evening.

Following day, reclaim the fabric from the porch and spot it 1 foot under the ground.

Thusly, you will before long see your adoration life returning to typical with nobody getting among you and the affection for your life. Love spell to get somebody far from your affection is an extremely compelling spell whenever done appropriately.

Love spell to bring back a sweetheart

You may have separated from your accomplice because of any explanation anyway there comes a moment that you need the things to get the manner in which they were previously. You need your sweetheart to return to you. There could be any treachery for your partition, a family issue, a private matter, or even a separation. This spell will bring back your ex-darling, ex, or ex. If so with you too then do the accompanying spell :

Snap a photo of your darling (actual duplicate of the image)

Take any red bloom

Put both the things in a little box.

Take a red stew and consume it.

Put that stew in the case as well.

Presently seal the container firmly

Cover the container with red material and afterward attach a bunch with a red lace.

Presently place that crate before you and say so anyone can hear 'I love you, my affection, return to me', multiple times.

Whenever you have done this, presently you can loosen the strip and take off the fabric.

Presently place that crate anyplace in your room where nobody can see it.

Love spell to attract a lot somebody to yourself ensured love spell to get your ex back

Love spell to attract constantly somebody to yourself as the name proposes is utilized to draw in somebody you have been smashing on! We as a whole need somebody we frantically prefer to be pulled in to us too and it is normal to need somebody pulled in to you.

To pull in somebody you should simply, wash up. Fill your bath and add a shower bomb (chocolate ideally). Light some scented candles and have a glass of red wine. As you do so say to yourself, "I'm everything affection and open to cherish, I draw in adoration". Appreciate this pleasurable time. You'll before long beginning seeing individuals getting pulled in to you!

Ensured love spell to get your ex back will bring your ex-sweetheart, beau, or spouse running back to you. You folks may have parted because of any explanation yet will reunite by doing this spell. All you need to is, Take an image of the individual you need to project the spell on and say, "Return to me, I am nothing without you nor are you". Serenade this in any event 100 times each day for 3 days. You will before long get a call or message from your ex.

Love spell to develop the lost energy in a relationship

Losing enthusiasm has been a typical issue seeing someone. A great many people subsequent to going through some together find that they are losing enthusiasm they once had. With everything as it was before you just in some way or another vibe as though a sparkle is absent. Love spell to develop the lost enthusiasm in a relationship is utilized to restore the old energy. Play out the accompanying advances:

Take a couple image of you and your sweetheart.

Spot it on a white material and pour a couple of drops of nectar on it.

Presently wrap the material and make a bunch.

Light a red heart-formed flame.

Spot it under the ground for 1 evening.

Take the material out and loosen it.

Presently put 1 spoon sugar and 1 spoon salt in it.

Take a piece of paper and compose, (accomplices name) and (your name) together we stay, joined together and in adoration

Presently again wrap the material and spot it in a protected spot in your room.

Play out this spell bit by bit in a legitimate technique with full confidence. This spell will work rapidly and you will before long beginning seeing similar enthusiasm and fire in your connections.

Love spell to revive a relationship that is falling to pieces

Once in a while we don't understand how and when our connections begin falling to pieces directly before us. It is something we can't prevent from occurring anyway we can generally put forth attempts to restore the relationship that is falling to pieces. Nothing harms more than seeing somebody you really love disappearing from you. This affection spell to revive a relationship that is falling to pieces does some incredible things and gives the ideal outcomes in less time.

Play out the accompanying advances:

Snap a photo of your darling.

Ensure it is an actual duplicate and the face ought to be obviously apparent.

Treat the image as a genuine individual.

Converse with it, say noisy and clear the amount you love him and the amount you care about him.

Envision fun occasions with your accomplice like the bygone eras when you were glad.

Snap that photo wherever you proceed to ensure you converse with that image each day.

Rehash this for 15 days and you will perceive how your relationship will begin falling in good shape.

It is a basic technique without any fixings and successful work. Inside a couple of days, you'll begin seeing its outcomes.

Love spells that can work immediately in 1 moment

There are a ton of affection spells that can work immediately in 1 moment. You may counsel an online spell caster or visit one close to your place. Love spells are demonstrated, effective, and give speedy outcomes whenever performed with legitimate technique under meeting.

Here let me examine a portion of the affection spells that can work immediately in 1 moment :

Creative mind: No matter what you need, you should simply envision. For instance, you need somebody to see you or fall head over heels for you at that point, snap their photo on the telephone, or simply envision their face. As you do as such, converse with the image in a manner of speaking a genuine individual and advise them precisely what you feel for them and what you need them to feel for you. As you do as such, you will see the individual moving toward you out of the blue. Creative mind is an incredible spell.

Paper reciting: This is a real and antiquated technique for reciting. You needn't bother with any uncommon fixings or forces. You should simply compose a serenade with red ink on paper. As you serenade the spell, draw a circle around the composed serenade. This technique adds a great deal of capacity to the serenade and the outcomes are quicker.

Spells that really work, all things considered

Practically every one of the spells whenever utilized under appropriate interview function admirably, in actuality. These spells produce wanted outcomes as well as work in a brief timeframe. You don't need to stand by long for the outcomes. When you cast a spell, inside a couple of days you will experience its outcomes.

Spells that work, in actuality, are hundreds and thousands. As I have effectively informed that whenever performed with the right strategy spells show brings about reality.

A few spells that really work, in actuality:

Love spell to pull in somebody: Visualize the individual you need to draw in. Make him a piece of your life. Envision him being with you generally. Wish him great morning, converse with him about your day, and express whatever you feel about him. As you will do this for 2 to 3 days, you will discover the individual moving toward you.

Love spell to separation with somebody: Love spells not just bring you near the affection for your life yet can likewise be utilized in the event that you need to say a final farewell to somebody you were once infatuated with. On a red sheet, compose the name of your darling above and your name beneath it. Light a flame and tear the sheet into equal parts, one with your name and another with his name. As you do so say, "I merit harmony and I will get it". Consume the name of your sweetheart and quench the candle. This spell will itself make you and your accomplice head out in different directions.

The most effective method to project an affection spell on somebody

There are different strategies for projecting an affection spell on somebody you love. You can project an adoration spell on the off chance that you need to draw in somebody, discover your perfect partner, make enthusiasm in your affection life, or regardless of whether you need to say a final farewell to your accomplice. Various love spells can be utilized for various reasons t

#spells #guaranteed spells

1 note · View note

countdown-to-destruction · 4 years

Text

Inuyasha Sequel: a rant

Put this up this earlier on a post I re-blogged, tried to edit a part or two where I didn’t like the way I had phrased it, and ended up messing up the whole format I wrote this in. Luckily I wrote this as a draft earlier anyways! So I did a some fixing and now I’m just copy-pasting it again and making it a text post instead. This will be very long and a little nit-picky but I wanted to make a post ever since I heard about the upcoming sequel to Inuyasha, Hanyō no Yashahime. I did put a TLDR at the end for those who don’t want to read everything. Not sure how many people in the fandom still follow me and will see this, as it's been a long time since I was actually active in the fandom, but it's hands-down both my favorite manga and anime of all time and I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately so I had to post something. Before reading this be sure to read all of the translated character bios for Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha so that this makes sense.

When I first heard that Inuyasha would be getting a sequel I was excited! But after reading up on it, to be completely honest I'm not feeling this sequel anymore. I know it’s an unpopular opinion but hear me out. Firstly, it seems like Rumiko is mostly involved in the character design aspect and the writing is up to Katsuyuki Sumisawa. The music will be produced by Kaoru Wada which is great! And from what I’ve seen and read online a number of others who worked on the original series will reunite so hopefully the story will go well. However, knowing Rumiko isn't personally writing and not knowing how much input she has or will give makes me unsure about watching. The original Inuyasha anime followed and was based off of the events in the manga, and there was no manga prior to this for it to be based on. Depending on what happens this could be an alright sequel or a total miss. Unfortunately sequels in general are known to be disappointing in some way.

Secondly, if I hear anything about Rin being the mother of Sesshomaru's twin daughters I'm out. This part will be a SUPER long and in depth explanation on why I think this way, feel free to skip if you're not interested. Please don't come for me on this, I'm here to explain my thoughts and feelings on the sequel and the theories around it so far, not start an argument. I'm more than aware that there's plenty of controversy out there on this pairing and personally I do not support it. I never saw their relationship as more than a friendship, or something akin to child and guardian as Sesshomaru and Jaken are basically Rin's caretakers up until she goes to live in the village with Kaede. He definitely cares for her deeply but I can't see it in a romantic way, being that Sesshomaru isn't even a character focused on romance to begin with. He learns compassion through Rin's second death but that doesn't mean he loves her romantically. As a reminder his main goal is to seek power and be powerful, and it's stated that he needed to learn compassion and grief in order to mature. It's what helped him learn to wield the Tenseiga at its full potential. In addition, she was really young when they first met and still was when she went to live with Kaede. The idea of Sesshomaru (an adult) having romantic feelings for a kid under ten years old (around eleven at the end of the series, and still a literal child in all ways) and waiting for her to age with the intention of marrying her sits totally wrong with me. Age wise I realize that Inuyasha is decades older than Kagome and that his father was much older than his mother, Izayoi, as well. The difference here is that Kagome was a teen when she met Inuyasha (who not just physically, but more importantly mentally was also a teen) and clearly Izayoi was old enough to conceive Inuyasha and give birth. As far as the audio dramas (more specifically "Asatte") go they're generally considered as an outtake reel and are essentially parodies, or a form of satire. Some will debate on this but realistically there’s plenty of reasons this is true, and those who take the time to properly check them out understand that. For me I've always had a headcanon that at some point in her teen years Rin would inevitably develop a one-sided crush on Sesshomaru and that he would ultimately set boundaries and reject her, seeing her as more of a close companion than a love interest and wanting her to live with someone she can grow old with. He gave her the choice to follow him and it's most likely that she would, but I think that once she began aging he would want her to have somewhere to settle, given that he enjoys roaming and seeking out other powerful beings to battle. It's strange to me that they decided to give Sesshomaru hanyō/half-demon children in general but based on the artwork we've seen it's fair to guess that they might have made Sesshomaru and Rin a pairing in this sequel.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I want to clarify that if you ship them together I'm not writing this here because I want to hate on your ship for no reason, or in order to create an argument on if the pairing makes sense, these are my thoughts and opinions on the matter and I’m voicing them because it’s what I believe. I already know that somebody won’t like this and will take it personally. People usually say that once Rin is an adult the pairing is acceptable but I disagree. I find it quite creepy that someone would think it would be alright for an adult to wait around for a kid to grow up with the intention to marry and/or sleep with them. Watching from a distance is the same exact thing, after making an impression on the child... let’s not normalize this. In this situation it would be grooming. We all have our own opinions when it comes to our ships and fandoms and I try to respect that but I can’t get behind this one.

Next we have the apparent lack of parental figures for the heroines. Where are the original Inuyasha characters at? Moroha's character bio says she barely knows her parents (Inuyasha and Kagome, our former main protagonists) and has been alone since she was young! It makes me think either something has happened to them or some kind of bizarre event separated them. And sorry, not related, but why does she transform by PUTTING LIPSTICK ON?? That part threw me for a loop.

When it comes to Setsuna and Towa their parents are absent too. I find it difficult to believe that Sesshomaru wouldn't keep track of his children given how he treats Rin and reacts to her going missing in any capacity. Especially if he happened to be fond of whoever their mother is. One daughter works as a taijiya/demon slayer for Kohaku and the other mysteriously transports to Kagome's era and is raised by Sota (I thought we had finished with the time jumps when the well closed but apparently not. When the Bone Eater's Well closed after Kagome's return it gave a sense of finality and closure to the story, and showed that Kagome had chosen where she was most happy and felt she belonged. I think that bringing the theme of time travel back into the sequel makes it feel repetitive, like something right out of a predictable fanfic. Props to Sota for taking in and raising a child who showed up out of nowhere though).

Another thing that came to mind when I read these character bios was why Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter and Sesshomaru's daughters are the exact same age. Of course there's nothing wrong with that. It only struck me as odd because suddenly everyone is having kids at the same time. And so far there's no mention of other characters like Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Jaken, Kaede, or Miroku or Sango's three children or where they are. One might expect that a story focused on the children of some of the original Inuyasha's main characters would feature appearances from those who had important roles in the previous series and their children. Which brings me around to wondering what made twin daughters a trend? Two sets of twin girls is a unique choice (Sango and Miroku's twin daughters. For such a small group of parental characters, what are the odds of two sets of twin girls? Where is the creativity and again why the repetition?).

Lastly, Sesshomaru's daughters lack some of the common yōkai/demon characteristics we see on Inuyasha and other characters. Their ears are human, and they have no markings or otherwise (that I noticed) with the exception of Setsuna's mokomoko/fur which is similar to Sesshomaru's. So perhaps they take more after their human mother? Given that Inuyasha seemed to inherit strong genes from his father it's interesting that they did not. Their ages also interest me as they appear to age the same way as humans do. Yōkai/demons are known to have a longer lifespan than humans and appear to slow down or almost stop aging at some point. Perhaps this confirms that the slowdown in aging occurs once they reach the equivalent of a human teen?

Overall Inuyasha was a fantastic manga and great anime on its own, and I never got the feeling that it needed a sequel. As a stand-alone it was everything it needed to be. I thoroughly enjoyed both formats of the original, though I do have a tendency to disregard certain parts of the anime. I always preferred the manga more when the anime dragged out certain scenes (Shichinintai/Band of Seven arc for example) or straight-up excluded, changed, and added others. Taking that into consideration the sequel might end up being the same for me in that way, but rather than one scene that plays out for too long or an excluded, altered, or unnecessary added scene, if it’s not any good I’ll simply disregard it altogether. When the anime comes out I certainly plan to try watching it out of loyalty to the fandom, and due to the fact that it's "technically" canon (without Rumiko being the writer I don't necessarily consider it canon, much like how some folks do or do not consider the movies canon) but I get the feeling that I'll wind up giving up on it in disappointment.

TLDR; Overall I'm left questioning if the sequel is worth watching (for me) given what I've read and heard so far, but nonetheless I will give it an optimistic try! I'm currently wondering how much we'll see of the original Inuyasha characters, if we get to find out what happened to them, if the number one pairing I'm not fond of will make an appearance (and cause me to drop the whole thing), and questioning parts of the character backstories and designs (why is there a repetitive and recurring theme of time travel and does it end up hindering or ruining the story, why do the protagonists all lack parents, and why do the hanyō/half-demon characters lack common yōkai/demon traits and does it make them more human than demon?).

#inuyasha #hanyo no yashahime #sesshomaru #please don't be sessrin #kagome #a feudal fairytale #internal screeching #my thoughts #my opinions #unpopular opinion

25 notes · View notes

lastsonlost · 5 years

Text

Because God forbid the guy tries to talk to people instead of demonizing everyone that doesn't agree with him.

It's not like he's betraying the left or anyting.

Captain America has a new mission for the Trump era: “to create informed, responsible and empathetic citizens.”

Chris Evans, who stars in the upcoming “Avengers: Endgame,” is launching A Starting Point, a new website aiming to get regular citizens involved in politics.

“You don’t want to alienate half your audience,” Evans told The Hollywood Reporter. “But I’d be disappointed in myself if I didn’t speak up. Especially for fear of some monetary repercussion or career damage — that just feels really gross to me.”

Evans, an outspoken Trump critic, was spotted in Washington D.C. in recent weeks with several lawmakers, including U.S. senators from both parties.

The site, which doesn’t have a launch date, is co-founded by Evans with actor Mark Kassen and entrepreneur Joe Kiani.

Evans has become known for his presidential clapbacks since President Donald Trump took office.

In October 2018, following President Trump’s tweet about the “Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People,” Evans responded by telling his 10 million followers, “‘Help! I’ve never done anything wrong in my entire life, but somehow hostility is at an all time high. Just because I kick beehives all day, it’s not MY fault when people get stung! No one has EVER been treated so unfairly. Sad. Also, where’s Obama’s birth certificate?'”

Evans, a Boston native, also didn’t mince words when it came to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s past support of the Trump.

“I really hope he’s not a Trump supporter,” Evans told THR. “I’m just hoping he’s one of those guys that maybe supported him and now regrets it.”

“Maybe he thought it was going to be different — and even that bothers me — but maybe there’s a chance now he just thinks Trump’s an absolute dumb shit, which he is,” Evans said. “If he doesn’t, if he’s still on that Trump train, I might have to cut ties. It’s really tough.”

But this is how the Daily Beast spins it.

Chris Evans, heretofore known as America’s Hottest Chris, is getting into politics. Or at least, that’s how the reveal of his new “secret, non-partisan civic engagement” venture has been framed.

Here is what we know about “A Starting Point,” Evans’ “secret” (?) “civic engagement” (?) project:

It will be a website

It will feature interviews with politicians from both parties

The project became public when a video Evans sent out to Congress members got leaked (or “leaked”) to CNN. Apparently Evans was inspired to create this platform when he wanted to “get both sides of an issue in a succinct way that he can trust.”

And for some reason, instead of asking policy researchers, or academics, or librarians, or journalists, or anyone else who might actually be a “non-partisan” expert on various issues, he chose to ask: partisan politicians.

This whole thing appears to have been teased back when Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX)—who infamously was an administrator on a Facebook group that circulated conspiracy theories and white nationalist memes—showed off his Captain America glass eye to Evans. Just so we’re clear on the state of our nation: an American 2-year-old with a genetic condition can’t get a wheelchair covered by his insurance company, but a congressman can have a Captain America glass eye for fun. Sure, Chris Evans, the problem with America is definitely that politicians don’t get enough of a chance to talk about whatever they want.

Here’s the thing: If you can hear the phrase “both sides” in contemporary American discourse and not immediately see red flags, you are in deep trouble, pal.

First of all, there are more than two positions on any given political issue. Democrats do not all agree, nor do Republicans. There are liberals and moderates and conservatives—a whole spectrum of ideology. And the idea that framing every issue as something in which you choose between two parties’ positions will somehow reduce partisanship seems very flawed.

Medicare for All/Universal Healthcare/Single Payer

Open borders

Free college

Universal basic income

Here are some issues that do not fall under that category:

White nationalism

Tracking the menstrual cycles of imprisoned immigrant girls to prevent them from obtaining abortions

Putting immigrant children in cages

Separating immigrant children from their parents and then losing track of their origins so that they can’t be reunited

In fact, most issues would benefit more from fact-checking than from a view of “both sides.” Are claims about the costs incurred by undocumented immigrants accurate? How many children have been lost by the federal government? Would universal healthcare really be prohibitively expensive?

Evans’ video doesn’t give any indication of the “policy issues” or “common questions” to which he is going to get politicians to provide clear information. The only question we do see politicians answer is “what inspired you to get into politics in the first place,” and shockingly, no one says “my massive, ravenous ego” or “an insatiable thirst for power.” Weird.

In the video, Evans tells the politicians, “This is a chance for you to talk about issues that matter to you,” because apparently the many campaign stops, televised appearances, and Sunday morning talk shows are not enough. He tells them he’d like to keep their answers to a minute long and they all laugh about how hard that will be, though anyone who’s watched a political debate knows that politicians can very easily spend a full minute not answering a clear and direct question.

And then, while promoting his website that is supposed to be “no spin,” he tells the politicians he’s offering them “a chance not only to galvanize your base, but you might change some minds.”

How is this “no spin?”

Evans’ fundamental question—“Why isn’t there a place that I can go to hear both sides of an issue in a succinct way that I can trust?”—is truly baffling to me. Why on earth would you trust politicians more than journalists?

There’s a couple telling moments in the video. Evans says, “Right now, a lot of people don’t buy the things they read and hear,” and a politician responds, “there’s a lot of mistrust.” The clip conveniently cuts off before specifying where there’s mistrust, but anyone who has been paying attention over the last couple of years knows where that sentence was going.

“In the media.”

Journalists work very hard every day to hold politicians accountable to the people who pay their salaries. They work really hard to get politicians to answer questions—something that should be considered a politician’s responsibility, part of their job. And very few journalists have celebrity power they can use to persuade politicians to talk to them.

And now here we have Chris Evans telling politicians he’s got a bunch of questions for them, but “if you don’t like any of ‘em, we’ll skip ‘em” and “if you don’t like any of your answers, we can do ‘em over.”

This isn’t accountability. This is simply giving politicians a new platform to push their agendas. And the idea that a website like this is where you’ll get news without “spin” feeds into the misconception that has weakened journalism to a truly frightening degree.

Journalists do not “spin.” They report.

Of course not.......

Political spokespersons “spin.” Politicians “spin.” Pundits “spin.” It feels like this was something we used to understand, and I’m not sure why we don’t anymore.

When I was a news reporter, I didn’t care about changing people’s minds. Changing them from what? To what? Why? I had no stake in that. I cared about informing people, helping people feel less unsure and more savvy, shining a light on the way their government, or their city, worked. I cared about holding power to account. And politicians have power.

So do celebrities. And I’d love to see one of them use their power to do something about the national mistrust that has been sown, pitting Americans against each other. Journalists are no different than anyone else. They have bills to pay. They worry about their rights, about gas prices, about their safety. Wouldn’t dismantling this myth of the nefarious journalist, hell-bent on manipulating the people despite having nothing to gain from doing so, go a lot further in “promoting respectful discourse?”

We have a president who repeatedly calls journalists the enemy of the people. You know who benefits from mistrust in journalism? Politicians. When you doubt the accountability journalists provide, it gives powerful people cover to get away with abusing their power.

Do these people know that Chris Evans is a very adamant and very vocal critic of trump and his supporters?

66 notes · View notes

schizo-spoon-blog · 4 years

Text

Spoonbender Society: Selected Schizoepistles

FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE:

We Live In A Society

People say we live in a democracy/democratic republic, a form of government intended to amplify what people think and address problems they find to be important. But it doesn’t ever seem to function that way.

The issue is in voter suppression, but as always not in the way people generally think voter suppression works. The issue is psychic, spiritual, and social suppression of citizens. Systemic over-development of senses of rationalization, neuroticism and anxiety, industrially incentivized narcissism.

People develop a deathly fear of what others think, or may think, or what they may have thought about them or what they think, what they may think, or what they may have thought.

A democracy where we’d rather not hear what other people have to say, because we find their thoughts offensive and retarded. That’s one thing people are happy to share. But because we suspect that there are so many offensive retards in the world, we fear... "Perhaps I’m a retard too?" You wonder that even for just a second in your life, if you have a soul. It’s OK to be a retard really, but you’ll never believe that it’s OK, and that's probably What Your Fucking Problem Is.

The opinions of us purported non-retards, to avoid sounding like complete retards, end up soft, ambivalent and stale, phrased like True Neutral Orgasm in Ego-Death Nirvana, but less Chad, less gratifying, and nobody cums. To not be reminded of the possibility of our own retardation, we like to pretend that if the retards just shut up and nobody can hear them, they go away. If they are Physically Removed from our presence, their evil thoughts and their malicious intentions will go away with them. We win. But they don’t. They never do.

We always fail to Psychically Remove them. We lose.

We can hypothesize a law of conservation of hatred, correlate one too of love, but the truth is banal. How can it be in light of our timeline? Why are these Hate Groups all over the place? Hitler’s corpse is rotting or burned to a crisp, or embalmed in a tomb or made a toilet for Some Rich Dude ((parenthetical removed)). (Or was he cloned?)

Great Fatherland Germany - defeated by the "untermensch" and partitioned like a cheese between rats. That Great "Faustian" and "Supreme" "Aryan" Race is subjugated by the hated "Juden" and all the "vermin" of the world, humiliated, castrated to be reunited a shadow of its former self. Yet the Nazi threat is omnipresent nearly a century later, in an era which may be an alien planet to those who lived in Hitler’s time.

How is it that the Great Allies, our fathers and grandfathers, achieved such total victory over so loathsome a foe, so unsympathetic and vile, only to see his Evil infect their own countrymen and posterity? How can something so thoroughly defeated still persist in what could be our neighbors or our co-workers our bosses or our employees? Each one could be a secret Nazi now. In parenting blogs moms worry that their children are becoming Nazis from goofy men they see in videos on line. Marriages are ending in divorce because the husband or wife is allegedly or apparently a Nazi. How could this happen?

Have you ever seen “The Matrix? Who hasn’t? You know all about the red and blue pills, and all the rainbow-flag DLC that it comes with, black and pink and green and brown and in configurations invisible to the human eye, I’m sure. If you don't know, the pills are portals to different realities. Take the black pill and you only see death, take the white pill and everything’s alright, take the blue pill you vote for Hillary, take the pink you become genderqueer. But this is not about taking any pills. This is about going off your meds. Going straight edge - except for whiskey, cigarettes, cocaine and pussy. It’s about the spoon - no, not for shooting up. It's for bending - with your mind. Remember? That spoon - The Spoon That Isn’t There.

That spoon is a Nazi.

If you are aware that there is no spoon you can tie it into knots. You can make it into a balloon animal. That Nazi Spoon could be a Jewish Socialist from Vermont, or a kosher Brooklyn Zionist, or a Dominican Taxi Driver. It could be an evil copy of your own son from Bizzaro World. It's probably your uncle. It could be Rottweilers, and Chihuahuas. Whether Pitbulls are Nazis or Jews/Blacks is an ongoing debate in the contemporary discourse.

But imaginary shit can be whatever the hell you want. You don’t have to be "The One" to Bend the Spoon. You don’t have to be anyone at all. What was the name of the kid who said the line about the spoon again? Nobody knows, nobody cares, and that's the beauty of Spoonbending.

"The Nazi" is the guy who keeps talking when he should shut up. He might be autistic, but he could just be an asshole. There is a strong possibility he could be both. Why does he keep saying all of this ridiculous stuff? He’s more offensive and more retarded than the usual, but it feels like He Has To Be This Way. Like it’s his curse, He Knows Too Much. He fell down some rabbit hole and ended up gorged on Fascist Propaganda. He mentions some girl named Celine. He rambles on about some guy you’re pretty sure is a Tekken character... the guy who turns into the Devil maybe. He mentions a vacation in Turkey with his family but insists on saying Constantinople and there’s a wild-man tear in his eye. He insists he knows about Atlantis and calls you gay for saying you liked Aquaman. Instead of saying goodbye he says “Subscribe to Pewdiepie.” The Nazi belongs in an institution. You wonder if he has guns and if maybe he should have them taken for a while. He probably doesn’t, but you can’t be sure. He’s 12.

When is it too early to become a school shooter? Is 12 too early to be an incel?

12 is probably the age at which incels hatch from their human hosts.

“Who is Pewdiepie, and how has he groomed my nephew into the Hitler Youth?” many families today are asking. They think they’re looking at a spoon. Conditoning fills your heart with a desperate desire to see the spoon. A fact, pure fact, logical, reasonable, peer reviewed, widely accepted, So True, a Textbook Fact. The spoon. Everyone else sees it too. That goddamn Nazi Spoon.

You ever try to ask this at a party as an ice-breaker and see how the guests react?

“So, anyway, was The Holocaust Real?”

“Excuse me, what?”

“What do you think, was it real, how many people do you think died, don’t the gas chambers sound goofy to you?”

”Um… no… they don’t sound goofy. What are you talking about?”

“You ever hear about the Nazi Roller-coaster they had at one of the camps? They’d put Jews into a roller-coaster except they’d fly off the edge and get splattered. That’s how the Nazis killed ‘em. I swear. I read it in a book by a Holocaust Survivor. Impossible to believe if it weren’t so True. No shit. You hear about that?”

”I’m… gonna get another beer.”

Of course there’s a Correct answer to that initial question. It’s also the Right answer. Who would ever get this wrong? It's the 2+2=X of History. Well…

Pop-Quiz, Random Nazi Check, Anybody here Hate Jews? You a Groyper, Son? What’s so funny? You think the Cookie Monster committing genocide is a laughing matter boy? We don’t take kindly to your kind around here.

Maybe you should give the Nazi-check thing a try, it’ll separate sheep and goat real easy for you.

If you do this everyone will think you are The Nazi.

The Nazis hated Jews, but did they hate real Jews as Jews exist, or did they hate the Fascist Propaganda Jew who was a work of fiction? On that note, were you in love with your last failed relationship, or just pretending you were? Have you ever had one impression of a person, but then learned they were another kind of person entirely? That first impression you had, the one that wasn’t True, was that a Real Person, or Imaginary? But you still spent all that money and sweat on an imaginary girl, huh?

Hope her hole was real.

I think that fake bitch of an ex you dated was a nazi. Your ex was a fascist. Oh, was she Jewish? It doesn’t matter, changes nothing. I’ve never met her - wouldn't matter if I did. When I imagine her, she's in Hugo Boss black and got skull-and-bones on her officer's cap, and she's saying racial slurs as she ruins your life, cheats on you, drains your bank account and kills your dog after getting custody over it in court. I imagine all bad people this way. All women who rejected me were exactly like this.

But I must breach working-class anti-fascist solidarity, and admit, on That Question ("Would you?").... Yeah, I would. Sorry bro. Take me away Comrades, I admit it, I'd give it to that Nazi Jew raw. Would I do that to her as she exists, or the Fascist Propaganda her who is a work of fiction?

That depends. You still got her number?

haha it's ok you can call me an incel, it's a step up from what i actually am

(User was banned for this post.)

The Nazi and the Fascist aren’t my hallucinations. That’s not my mental illness. But it’s adjacent to me, it’s thrown at me without my Consent, and it's a Trigger. I'm paranoid about commies myself.

In the multicultural cyberpunk year of 2019, with its trans-human gender-sex-orientations, anti-racist ethno-narcissism, fanatic anti-normalism, cultish critical theory intersections, grand byzantine minimalism, placidity, in such splendid predatory banality… In the absolute state of the world! – Aah! An undead ideology conceived by a salty Frenchman in the badlands of South Dakota in the 1890s shambles forth the devour all that is Good and Holy in the Great United States of AmeriKKKa, God Help Us All! And A Child Will Lead Those Dreadful Legions of Corruption Upon All The Meek Of Our Fallen World!

Or it’s just a spoon that isn’t real.

Nobody wants to be straight-forward, and I gotta navigate the labyrinths of euphemism. Maybe there's something weird going on - how people talk, how people act, how people think, none of those correlate to each other. It makes you feel schizo when you do all your mental rain-man calculus and realize there's a fucking Elephant in the living room and he's not wearing any goddamn pants. Once that little ray-of-sunshine blesses your tiny bug-man brain to enlighten you that the elephant is real, and the spoon isn't, it's only a matter of time before you're crowned in tinfoil a Potato King on your off-grid Bug-out estate in the Idaho Panhandle, or start drinking yourself to death and bullying mailmen (or both).

If you'd like to avoid that sort of Elephant-Mania Spoon-denialism, maybe you should try answering Uncomfortable Question instead of being so Weird about it, oh wise Mr. Kirk, Mr. Shapiro, Mr. Talking-Head, Mr. Important-Guy, Mr. Movement, Mr. Politics, Mr. Voice of Reason, Mr. Metatron. Take it from a schizo-maniac with a manifesto, you’re freaking out the hoes.

Try Praeger U talking points out on a Tinder date and watch her shrivel up from instathot to instahag -- she will go through menopause before your very eyes, that's how dry her pussy will get. Trying not to sound racist while talking about the Antarctic Nazi base and the importance of craniometry in ethnocultural anthropology will get you more action than anything that sounds like a paraphrase of Charlie Kirk -- because even if you're still being cringe at least you aren't being fake. Point and laugh at that fucking elephant - the moron isn't even wearing pants! That'll get her thinking about taking your pants off. Or not - it's not foolproof. If she doesn't laugh, red-flag, she's a Nazi so Begone Thot!

Please, for the love of God, go off-script! See the damn elephant and forget the spoon, and forget the wise Mr. Kirk, Mr. Shapiro, Mr. Talking-Head, Mr. Important-Guy, Mr. Movement, Mr. Politics, Mr. Voice of Reason, Mr. Metatron. Take it from a schizo-maniac with a manifesto, you'll go insane if you don't.

[. . . ] [T]hen there's that neuroticism, that narcissism, that fear. The whole point of these politics groups and gatherings and Q&As is what, anyway? Is it really just basic marketing tactics, like a live-action advertisement you expect for people to passively consume as though it is persuasive? To shove free-markets and free-speeches down my throat and have me swallow it without having anything that’s been bothering me answered? What do I look like to you, an Ideology Whore? You don't even reciprocate a good time, huh? I'm not that kind of girl. You didn't even buy me dinner. You made me pay to bore me. I'd cuck you if we dated just to make a very important point -- fully aware it'll go over your head. Fuck you.

We gotta hear The Script. We gotta recite The Script.

Real Conservatives Think Like This. Real Progressives Think Like This. White People Walk Like This. Black People Walk Like This.

Gotta hear that joke ten thousand times so you can recite it like a mantra in your sleep.

Free markets mean free people. Facts don’t care about your feelings. Private Companies can do what they wish. What you do in your bedroom is your own business. We want legal immigration, not illegal.

Abolish ICE. Your childhood hero says Trans-Rights. Do you not want me in the movement? Abolish whiteness.

The Racism of Lowered Expectations.

Reparations.

A white nation.

Workers of the world unite!

Abortion is a human right.

Have you got it memorized?

Let’s go over it a few more times.

Say it with me! Hillary was found innocent in a hundred hearings and it is sexist to besmirch her reputation.

Repeat after me! Trump’s economy is the best in history, and if he's racist why is black unemployment is at historical lows.

You benefit from unearned privilege. You suffer from toxic masculinity.

The world is about to end and everything you know and love will die, and it is your fault, for not believing in the correct things at the correct time.

Are you laughing yet?

I’m dying. I feel like an e-girl, and my orbiters are sides.

But do you wanna know what I really think? The whole bit about psychic and social suppression? You ever hear about the Procrustean bed? Well, what if we put your political, social, moral consciousness and your psychic abilitys into a bed like that. We could talk about it. You ever play Xenogears?

Or you could just put me in a box. I really wouldn't mind. I'm Houdini. Hey, was Houdini a Nazi, like Henry Ford? Can we get a fact-check? I didn't mean to be problematic.

Break the Conditoning - Step outside the box, and use it as a step ladder. Ascend, Beyond the Box - use The Spoon.

Bush did 9/11, the Israeli’s danced, the Aliens killed JFK - sure - but I only say this because of my MK Ultra Schizo-brain. It’s true, it’s false, it’s fact, it’s myth, I don’t have to believe any of it -- I also don't have to believe any of you if I don’t want to. My feelings do not care about your facts, and did you know that some of the world's most uncomfortable facts are manifested into being by uncomfortable feelings? Is it the fact of the bullet that kills the political dissident, or the feelings of his executioner? Is it the deranged lust of the rapist that violates his victim, or the fact of his power to do so? I guess it depends on whether the perpetrator said "nothing personnel kid" before he committed the act. I don't know about that Nazi Rapist's feelings, but MY feelings are valid and I can believe or disbelieve whatever I want on the basis of my feelings, and my feelings alone. My feelings bend the spoon of your facts.

Are you going to say I don’t have the right, Adolf? Sucks for you, bud, I may be a commie by blood, but the heart that pumps it was assembled in the ole USA -- and we got the Right to be a Retard here in America. It's a Free Country.

[Note: please insert image of Jonathan Frakes from Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction]

Now that the dust has settled: Was the Nazi Roller-Coaster Real? Or did we put the Truth in a Mass-Grave? We will let you know at the conclusion of our program.

Sincerely and Full of Suffering Your Friend Always, Orcbrand

2 notes · View notes

scyllua · 5 years

Text

The 200th chapter of Golden Kamuy has been released this week; being the last chapter to be compiled in the upcoming vol.20 and following author Noda's narrative pacing, it also closes the current miniarc. Apart from chap.200 being a serialization milestone for the manga, this chapter was highly anticipated by many fans because of its probable resolutions... even though at least part of it had already been guessed by fans (I'm specifically referring to the Japanese fandom, since that's the one I follow). In any case, the chapter's highlights would be as follows:

1. It's not stated outright, but the hints given should be enough as to figure out who was behind Koito's kidnapping. The Japanese fandom had even correctly identified the masked kidnappers, ie. who White Hat and Black Hat were. I must confess I got their identities the other way round. 2. Koito Heiji (otherwise referred to, in justly earned respect and awe, as Koito Papa by the Japanese fandom), adding to all the badassery he boasted in the previous chapter, manages to pay a homage to Freddy Mercury in the middle of a rescue mission. 3. Tsurumi, on the other hand, makes a very Tsurumi-like entrance, including the added effects of back lighting and several undone buttons on his inner shirt - though the lighting was mostly a Koito's Vision filter. I couldn't say about the buttons for sure, though he does have them done in the previous panels. 4. I was correct in my theory, more or less. As That One Character We Were Eagerly Expecting To Know The Fate Of (you know who he is) had no current active role in the plot and his presence was a literal obstacle for it to progress, I'd assumed Noda had one viable option for him: to make him leave the current manga events, either by having him disappear/escape/flee (...he's done it in the past...), or by killing him. And, well, it turns out that he [beep beep]... 5. SUGIMOTO HAS TERRIBLE AIMING. I've always thought so and this chapter serves to further prove my point. No wonder he usually resorts to strike (or pierce, if the bayonet is affixed) with his rifle rather than to actually shoot.

This chapter is mostly action-driven and no new piece of information for the plot is given (save for those that can be deduced... and the resolution, of course), so this post will mainly feature my fan comments. With my standard warnings about possible mistakes and mistranslations applying to the whole post, of course.

Heiji and Tsurumi make it to the Goryoukaku on foot and then go their separate ways to enter the building Koito is being held in. Upon entering in perhaps the least subtle way to carry a rescue, Heiji is knocked unconscious by an unseen attacker. The other two, the ones in the white and black hats, flee the place, and Tsurumi finds Koito. Father and son reunited, Tsurumi will later explain that he killed one of the kidnapper in his way there, and the other two just then, two unknown but presumably Russian men. Some not-at-all-suspicious-but-very-familiar soldiers then clean up the place... Fast forwarding, Koito is shown to have joined the army instead of the Navy, as he'd first intended because of his father and late brother. Back to the present, Ogata flees the place on a horse as Sugimoto silently asks him to get well and come back... so he can kill him then.

Jumping onto the action and the fan comments...

If the previous chapter was Fast & Furious: Drift in Hakodate, I was looking forward chap.200 to being Lethal Weapon 1902, 1902 being a reference to the year the story takes place and not any numbering, of course. Koito Sr. and Tsurumi were a badass (military) duo, after all... but there's practically no further action involving the two of them. I was just wondering why Heiji didn't let go of the tricycle's handle... until he makes it to the Goryoukaku and intends to rescue his son in the least subtle way possibly devised for such a goal:

With a Freddy Mercury homage and yelling his son's name. I must admit it's a very stylish appearance, though. ...Unfortunately, Heiji is knocked unconscious by an unseen attacker, but given that yell must have been heard across the fort (I'm fan-assuming here Koito got his lungs and vocal chords from his father), the boy realized his presence in the place. His two kidnappers, a bit of very suspicious gun-action involved first, flee the place, but one of them has the time to sort of bid him farewell in a particular way...

VERY FAN COMMENT HERE! In the previous chapter, when Koito is led to the telephone so he can talk to his father, the Man in the White Hat reaches to him and places a hand on his back. He might have just been intending to lead him away, but the gesture does seem even friendly, as though he's trying to console the boy. That was why I assumed that was Tsukishima, who in spite of his seriousness, is a very empathetic person... though it didn't sit well with me that Koito could have broken his nose in that occasion. It turns out (IMPLICITLY STATED, OF COURSE) it was Ogata, so I can't but be a bit amused that, well, Koito must have flattened his nose at the very least.

Back to the chapter, this is the part when Tsurumi decides to make HIS appearance...

And I should color that panel for RavenTears with at least some use and abuse of sparkles and probably a rose undertone (because of the Koito's Vision filter, I mean). And, by the way... have you noticed how Tsurumi has several buttons of his shirt undone? If you check the previous panels featuring him, he seems to have all of them properly done under his torn coat. Why, yes, I'm going to fan-assume he just took his time to undo a few buttons and run a few laps in order to appear sweaty just before making that entrance. Coldly calculated to the last detail. Including what his best angle could be for the occasion. We can expect nothing less of him.

A little skip here. Father and son reunite and we're shown the bodies of the dead kidnappers, the men in the white and black hats. Quite conveniently, Tsurumi explains he killed one of the kidnappers in their way to the Goryoukaku... in a very clean shooting for the standards of the bloodshed fighting scenes of this manga, may I add, with the alleged accomplice taking his time to perform a very histrionic scene of him falling from his horse. Oh yes, and let us not forget that Tsurumi was the one who pointed out to Heiji -and the readers, by extension- the man was one of the accomplices and that he must be trying to reach the fort to alert the others, blah blah, all the while the apparently unarmed man did nothing to actually hinder them in any way. Hmm. There's also a passage with Koito and Tsurumi talking about the anpan, the sweet the latter gave the boy in their first meeting. It's explained it was part of the food served for a ceremony held for the 25th Regiment (remember the Goryoukaku served as a military training grounds), and someone... must have just forgotten the anpan in the place. Well, I tend to suspect Tsurumi as a principle in this manga, but I must also say the anpan being in the place does seem to be a coincidence. A coincidence plot-wise, but included in the plot so that fans could speculate as to the identity of the kidnappers (or the mastermind behind them), in any case. I've seen Japanese fans wondering about the meaning of the anpan, but I personally think it has no purpose other than to hint at Tsurumi, at least as far as the plot has gone up to this point.

And now in the chapter! And because the dead bodies of the kidnappers must be taken care of! A small group of the less suspicious soldiers in the vicinity takes care of the clean-up!

That's it. No words needed. Partially because there's no text in the above panels, of course... but if anyone can think of a more subjective panel (speaking of the one with Tsurumi in the front and the rest of this men in the background), please let me know! Oh, and do note that Ogata seems to have some abrasions or minor wounds on the face. I wasn't expecting Kikuta to have been part of the ruse, but the mastermind aside, there indeed seems to have been at least 3 people involved: a) Three men ambush and kidnap Koito in chap.198. b) While the men in the white and black hats kept Koito in the Goryoukaku, there was the rider who wins the Award to Best Fall From Horseback After Being Shot in chap.199. Let's assume the latter already planned he wouldn't make it to the fort after intercepting Tsurumi and Heiji... c) So the mastermind would be in charge to knock down Heiji upon his arrival at the fort. Quite conveniently and even more suspiciously (two adverbs I tend to use too much when talking about Tsurumi), Heiji's assailant isn't shown. The above about who Heiji's assailant was is my speculation only, of course. When I was going over the previous chapters, though, it did add up that the whole ruse could have been carried out by three people only at the same time if the correct situations took place.

And now, in another skip all the way to Asahikawa... The Stairs of Fate. Well, not really. Koito joins the army instead of the Navy, and in the day he presents before Tsurumi with his father, he crosses paths with a certain someone in the stairs. My sister and I dub it the Stairs of Fate because the scene reminds us of Yuusaku's first meeting with Ogata, but of course, nothing seems to indicate it's the same staircase (...though I haven't compared the scenes so closely, either...) Fateful encounters in staircases and instant disliking on second meetings, I suppose.

Back to the present, or more specifically, to tense situations between life and death that took place in the closing years of the Meiji Era and featured a psychotic one-eyed sniper and a young swordsman from Satsuma... Upon hearing Shiraishi and Tanigaki in the vicinity of the hospital room he's still in, Ogata literally kicks Koito in the face, threatens the doctor and nurse to keep quiet, and makes his swift exit from the current plotline, or so I'm assuming.

And here's the reason why I'm complaining about Sugimoto's awful aiming: he intends to shoot the horse (which, as you can see, it's way larger and theoretically, an easier target), but he misses and almost hits Ogata instead.

Meaning, if Sugimoto went for Ogata's head instead, he could have shot the horse...? In any case, and upon studying the scene more carefully, I suppose there's always room to speculate whether Sugimoto doesn't change his mind at the last moment and actually tries to shoot Ogata. The panels don't suggest it, at least not to me, but as I wrote... we can always speculate. And lastly on that regard: Sugimoto is a formidable hand-to-hand fighter, but for the sake of this manga, I'm hoping he keeps away from high precision guns and resorts to pummel his opponents to a pulp, as at the very least he never seems to miss his targets with that approach.

This is the fourth Ogata's "HaHa!" scoffing moment I remember, though I haven't thoroughly checked the manga and might be missing on a few. ...Sugimoto's last line (thought, in fact) literally says, get well and come back because I'll kill you. The idea behind the line would be, "recover and come back to kill you", if I'm being clear enough about the meaning I think this somewhat poetic death promise entails. The caption (which is featured in the chapter as it's published in the Young Jump magazine, but removed in the compiled volume) is 殺意と決意の約束, lit. "a promise (full) of killing intent and determination"... with the detail that the reading given for 約束 (yakusoku) is the English word "engage". Please note that the main meaning for 約束 is "promise", but it can also refer to any kind of such a pact or arrangement... a date or an engagement included, depending on the context. It's also a pretty common word in Japanese, hence there's no actual need to add its reading in a seinen manga... unless, of course, the given reading of "engage" has been done deliberately because, well, it's Sugimoto and Ogata.

Indeed, I think the added reading of the term 約束 as "engage" would be deliberate for the sake of the fans, but I won't dwell that much in the canon when I can add more fan comments instead.

As soon as I read the Golden Kamuy weekly chapter, I send a lengthy summary + many more fan comments + any speculative theory I might have to RavenTears. We both thought it was very likely Ogata could die by the end of this volume precisely, or otherwise (if Noda felt like building up the arc) in the next: apart from being fan-mentally prepared to accept the fact, we also came up with our scenarios as to how these chapters could unfold. And I must say that, even though this arc has given us no dead cat (not yet, at least) and thus, we were wrong in our assumptions... RavenTears did describe one scene exactly as it eventually happened in the manga.

...The above WhatsApp chat screenshot doesn't have to do with that scene, though, and it's been resized so the text can't be read. I didn't think you'd be interested in knowing how much I can swear when writing in Spanish about GK, after all. Instead, we were discussing as to how the above scene of Sugimoto silently telling Ogata to come back (to kill him) would become another of the key moments for this pairing in the Japanese fandoms... as a favorite scene by Japanese fans of this pairing didn't make it to the anime when that whole manga arc was omitted from the second season (Hint! "I don't particularly like you either, Sugimoto."). I'd render Sugimoto's line as, "recover and come back to me... so I can kill you," but given my limited inspiration in this regard (because of my limited Japanese and the pairing itself, which I'm not actually a fan of), I asked RavenTears for her version. She said, "go, get well, and come back to me [sparkle emoticon]" but as you can see, she didn't include the last "kill" part. My next message, as seen in the screenshot, ends with a [heart emoticon] because I then added something in the lines of, "(come back to me) so I can fxxking beat you to a pulp, make you bleed, tear you apart with my teeth and suck off... your other eye". That'd be more or less how I've come to think of their canon interaction, thus I can't deny that I also find said relationship (in the canon manga) to be oddly sexual in spite of the violence involved.

I have many more things to write about this chapter, my fan comments and speculations (and how RavenTear's made a lot of sense to me and are pretty interesting to take into consideration, at any rate), but since this post has gotten rather long already, I should be leaving all of them for another entry.

#Golden Kamuy #fan talk

10 notes · View notes

stuffandnosense · 6 years

Text

All Of Us - Plance - Chpt 1

***Help, this ship has taken over my brain. 😅 But apparently I’m not alone, so yay!

————-

“So...Lance proposed to me, but...I turned him down,” I tell the silent, comatose figure in the hospital bed. “That happened. Yesterday.”

WI can’t get his face when I told him no out of my head. Like I’d betrayed him. Like he didn’t understand. “Wh-what do you mean? Why…?”

I backed away as he got up off his knees, brushing the dirt from the ground in my parents’ backyard off his knees. “Lance...I care about you, but I’ve always been your consolation prize, and we both know it. That’s been fine until now...we needed each other. Not many people can understand what we’ve both been through. But I’m not going to be that for the rest of my life.”

“What are you talking about?” he questioned. “You are not—”

“I am. It was always Allura for you, even after she and Lotor—”

“They’re married, Katie, why would I still be pining over her?”

“Don’t ‘Katie’ me right now! And see, you at least admit you used to!”

Lance shook his head in frustration, and I guess I’ll always wonder if I misread him. If that frustration was really because I was wrong.

“Kind of hard to deny that one…”

Allura and Lance tried to keep it on the down-low the few weeks - or was it months? - they were together back then, after we thought Lotor had betrayed us. In the end it was all part of the plan to help solidify his rule of the empire and bring peace - in the end it was because Lotor was trying to protect all of us, including Allura - but for a while there we all thought it was real.

Allura was quiet for days. Distant. Threw herself into Voltron’s battles with the scattered Galra forces with new vigor, and none of us blamed her. We’d all seen that maybe there was...something, developing with Lotor before it all went down. Before he suddenly declared Voltron an enemy of the new Galra empire.

Then she got better. And early one morning not long after, I saw Lance coming out of her chambers. They never announced anything, but eventually we all just sort of knew.

And Lotor’s plan worked. The divided Galra empire reunited against a common enemy, and with all of the generals loyal once again to an emperor they thought was with them, with the old ways again, their tongues were loosened. It was easier to root out those too stuck in the past, who would never agree to a Galra empire that peacefully ruled a free people. And of course, even before we realized it was all a ruse, he was doing everything in his power to be certain that Voltron - that Allura, that none of us - would ever actually be harmed.

Lotor’s attempt to both bring peace and keep us safe didn’t work for all of us...but that wasn’t actually his fault.

“Did I do the wrong thing with Lance?” I ask my silent companion. “Granted, I don’t really know why I’m telling you...but I guess, you were always pretty good at listening. I think. It’s getting harder to remember…”

How long has it been? Six years? Seven? No, five years since the war finally ended and almost four since we all came home, so maybe more like eight, since I’ve really talked to him. This him. The real him.

“I could really use your help right now.” My vision is misting over and I have to blink furiously to clear it. I’m torturing the ends of the ponytail I finally grew back out last year, too, twisting and pulling at the longest strands that hang over my shoulder.

It’s almost hard to breathe, my chest hurts so much. I believed everything I said to Lance - that our relationship was one born of need and necessity. We love each other, but not that way. Not really. I always thought it would be easy to let go, when the time came. When we’d outgrown our need of each other in that way. So why does it hurt like this?

“Lance, you’re going to find someone else someday--someone you can really give yourself to because they don’t know Allura, or me...someone who wasn’t there, so it doesn’t have to be complicated.”

He reached out to me. I think he wanted to pull me in, but I wouldn’t let him. I did give him my hand, at least. “Pidge...if I found somebody else someday, they’d be the consolation prize. Don’t do this.”

Something cracked in me then, I think. I squeezed his hand. “Look...I’m not saying it has to be over right now, I just mean...we both know where this is going. We were always just...an interim.”

“An interim?” He laughed once, short and harsh, and yanked his hand away. “Gee, tell me how you really feel.”

“Lance, come on, don’t be like that. I’ll always—”

“Care, I know, you said that,” he spat back bitterly. But the vitriol seeped away almost immediately and he just looked tired. “Sorry. I uhm...me too. You know that, right?”

“Of course.” I reached out for his hand again. “Come on, come back inside. We don’t have to do this now. Let just...fire up the video games or something.”

Lance shook his head absently, and the ring box he’d been squeezing in one hand he finally slipped back into the pocket of his jacket. “That’s okay. I should go.”

“Lance…” He caught me off guard then, and did manage to get me into a hug this time. It took a moment or two, but I returned it. “You’ll see, Lance,” I said into his shoulder. “You’ll be okay. We’ve got our whole lives ahead of us. Just at some point were going to have to make them a little more separately.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. His breath was warm on my neck.

“You know you can always count on me for video games and nonsense, right?” I teased gently.

A silent nod. He wasn’t letting go, and at that point I wasn’t going to make him. It seemed too cruel. We stood there for a long time, and after another moment or so I didn’t want to let go, either. It felt like...the end of an era, somehow.

Lance was the last of the other paladins I still saw regularly. I’d always known that when that inevitably changed, I would really have to face the fact that it was time to move on from Voltron. I would always have that family - we still kept in touch, of course - but it would be different from now on.

Now on. Literally from that moment. Because I knew when we held on for so long that Lance was going to leave. He wasn’t going to stick around a while longer. Even if I was only making him realize the truth, I’d hurt him. He would forgive me - he’d already forgiven me - but after the five year celebration of the anniversary of the end of the war next week, he was going to leave. Move back home to Cuba, probably, and stay there this time.

When he finally released me Lance mumbled that he would get his things from the drawer I’d given him in my room two years ago, and get going. My throat hurt by then so I couldn’t answer. I just nodded, and he didn’t look at me as he turned and headed back into the house.

It wasn’t until he’d disappeared inside that I realized the shoulder of my shirt was wet.

I didn’t cry. Not then. Lance got his things together and he was laughing with my parents on the way out of the house. Something Dad said. He and Mom didn’t know what had happened. They didn’t see the bag; he’d already put it in his car. Lance smiled at me as he left to head back to his apartment. Like he was trying to tell me not to be sad.

“You don’t have to go, you know,” I told him. “My parents have practically adopted you by now anyway. Dinner is soon.”

“Nah, I should go home and call and see how my family’s doing getting ready to come over for the stuff next week.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek, maybe just because my parents weren’t far away. “Bye, Pidge,” he whispered.

I was still in too much shock to see it then. That behind that smile he was broken. He wasn’t only hurt because the supposedly inevitable had finally come. But it’s so clear looking back now that I suddenly feel like I must have been crazy not to notice.

A strangled sound comes out of my throat, and it’s so loud in the quiet room of the long term care facility, I’m not sure it was me at first. A tear trails beside my nose, and I know in a moment it will all come out, but I guess that’s all right here. The silent form in the bed isn’t going to tell anyone. I don’t even know if he can really hear me.

I sob. “Shiro, what did I do?”

————

*Thank you so much for reading! I hope you are enjoying it, and I can’t wait to hear from you!

#plance #pidgeance #pance #lance #pidge #lance mcclain #pidge gunderson #vld #voltron #fanfic #multi chapter #angst #romance #team #future #plangst #vld all of us #all of us

110 notes · View notes

neurotic-nimrod · 3 years

Text

Wine In the Time of Coronavirus, Part 35: Closing Ranks (DIAM Tasting 2021)

The latest recap of what I hope will soon be a thing of the past – COVID-era Shelter-in-Place Zoom tastings in lieu of being able to actually get together in real life in the same place – has us revisiting some old friends. Several, in fact.

First, there’s Evan Goldstein, MS, of Full Circle Wine Solutions, who helped organize this 2021 incarnation of DIAM Wine Conversations (focusing, as you’ve probably already guessed, exclusively on a tasting of DIAM-enclosed wines). Evan is one of the true mensches of the wine business, and had previously hired me to speak at the 2015 version of this event (held traditionally, rather than virtually). And as you’ll see below, this years’ sample wine lineup reunites us with some quality producers previously featured on 1WD.

But first, I feel compelled to share some of the market insights that DIAM’s François Margot, who also spoke at the event, shared with the attendees – because some of those didn’t feel familiar, and might strike many of you as downright surprising. The preamble: DIAM has some statistically-relevant data behind their insights; they make 2.4 billion closures used in 70+ countries.

Premumization is UP – Despite COVID’s economic impact, people are spending more money per wine bottle. This is a growing trend that’s being fueled by generational shifts (more an more Millennial dollars are being spent vs. those of Boomers).

Still wine volume sales are UP; also DTC FTW! – Specifically, by 4%. Again, surprising given COVID. On-premise sales have, predictably during the pandemic, absolutely tanked, but online wine sales are booming,up an astonishing 167% globally (with DTC increasing over 30%). I think that it’s worth pointing out here that the genie cannot be put back into the bottle easily on this one. Yes, we should expect on-premise sales to pick up dramatically once COVID safely recedes and people are back out and about, but we can’t just think that consumers are going to pretend that they will forget about the convenience and flash sale action they enjoyed during COVID. Online sales – especially DTC – have hit the fast track and are more the-trend-of-now then they are the-coming-trend.

Hot categories are changing – First, the not-surprising part: Rosé sales are still going strong. The somewhat-predictable parts: Cans/convenience packaging are up, and Flavored wines have “exploded” in sales growth. Now for the parts we didn’t see coming: Sauvignon Blanc is up, and sparkling wines are down (apparently, folks just aren’t feeling all that celebratory at the moment).

OK, now that we’ve gotten the surprises out of the way, let’s get drinking!

NV Roederer Estate Brut Rosé (Anderson Valley, $35)

Yes, DIAM makes enclosures for bubbles. Arnaud Weyrich has headed winemaking for about a decade at Roederer Estate, and said that he uses DIAM because he was tired of getting bottles sent back to him, or having his tasting panels reject their rosé (“the cork would actually mute the fruit, creating something dull and boring”), and was concerned that people who didn’t know the brand would just assume that they didn’t like the wine (rather than suspect a faulty cork had deadened its flavors). This sparkler is a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend, from all-estate vineyards, and is first-press only. It’s quite floral – lots of rose petal and white flower action here, as well as slight red berry notes. Cherry, some red apple, yellow apple, and subtle citrus all make appearances. Incredibly drinkable, this one won’t stick around long once opened. Evan’s take was “hyper-delicious,” and I’m inclined to agree with him.

2018 Hugel & Fils Pinot Gris ‘Classic’ (Alsace, $22)

Speaking of friends, we’ve been there! Alsace’s 2017 vintage was described as “a real emotional roller-coaster” due to the worst frost seen in the area for three decades. That doesn’t seem to have slowed down Hugel’s textbook example of Pinot Gris, though – an “absolutely archetypal example,” according to Evan. And there’s a good reason this line is called “classic.” Melons, citrus, intense minerality, hints of smoke and wet stone with great balance between viscosity, ripeness/sweetness, acidity, and textural astringency… Indeed, this is just a “classic” go-to white wine pick (no matter what stopper it uses).

2012 Melville Estate Chardonnay (Santa Rita Hills, $50)

Hey, we’ve been there, too! “We’ve been all-in on DIAM” since 2008, Chad Melville told us. “We take a lot of risk, because we own our own land, and do our own farming.” The DIAM closure is a bit of an insurance policy for their wines. “Texturally, the wine is as fresh as if it was just bottled.” Mad props to Chad for bringing us a Chardonnay with this much age on it. As mentioned, this one is from all estate fruit (hand harvested), and also saw some sur lie aging. It’s an absolutely lovely deep lemon color now. It’s big (14.5% abv), but also balanced, and holding up great. Grilled citrus peel, lemons, grilled peaches, honeydew melon, toast, and mesquite honey… Touches of creaminess, tons of vivacity… and just a fantastic texture. This is killer right now (but probably not getting much better after this point).

Gary Farrell’s Theresa Heredia

2017 Vietti ‘Perbacco’ Langhe Nebbiolo (Piedmont, $28)

This “baby Barolo” is blended from fifteen different Grand Cru vineyards in the region, all vinified separately, and sees two years in large Slavonian oak casks. The operative word here? Yum. Violets, juicy black cherries, truffle, dried wild herbs, and hints of tobacco leaf grace the nose. The palate is so vivacious, so spicy, and so savory, with chewy tannins and just-ripe plum fruitiness. Long and peppery, and elegant overall.

2018 Gary Farrell Hallberg Vineyard Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley, $55)

Hey, we know these guys! Winemaker Theresa Heredia did side-by-side comparisons to pick exactly which DIAM closure they were going with, focusing on finding freshness and consistency. “It’s really heartbreaking as a winemaker to put all of your blood, sweat and tears into these wines” and have them impacted by TCA, she noted. This single-vineyard delight is from the Green Valley sub-appellation, and sees 15 months in 40% new French oak. The story of the vintage was gig quantity, and good quality – “one of my favorite vintages of Hallberg” Heredia proclaimed. It’s certianly one of the most vibrant Hallbergs that I can remember – tons of tea like spices, wild raspberry, multiple types of cherries. The palate is just banging – so alive, so fresh… so fruity (cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, and citrus) without being obnoxious about it. The finish is ridiculously long. It needs food to tame some of that liveliness, but this one is just superb for those who like things lively.

2018 Domaine de la Mordorée ‘la Reine de Bois’ Châteauneuf du Pape (Rhône, $112)

Hey, we’ve visited these guys, too (and they happen to make some great Tavel)! The name of this typically Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah/Vaccarese blend from 65+ year old vines means “Queen of the Woods” And that queen kicks all kinds of butt. There’s a savory nose here, full of black raspberry, black cherry, red plums, red raspberry, and a complex array of dried herbs. This is so young… almost reticent right now. The palate has touches of iron and stony minerality throughout the dense, spicy black plum fruit flavors, and great freshness complimenting its touches of earthiness. The purity here is just undeniable.

Cheers!

Upscale your palate! My new books are now available from Rockridge Press!

Source: http://www.1winedude.com/wine-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-part-35-closing-ranks-diam-tasting-2021/

0 notes

bunny-wan-kenobi · 6 years

Text

Bunny Reviews: Star Wars The Last Jedi *SPOILERS*

**spoilers abound!** You’ve been warned…

So I finally saw The Last Jedi today after DAYS of scrolling through my dash and seeing every possible reaction along the spectrum of outright loathing and disgust to adoration and glee. So basically, I went into the film nervous, skeptical, but hopeful.

To give some background, like many of you reading this, I’ve been watching Star Wars since I was a toddler laughing as my dad acted out scenes as Jabba and the Emperor. My sister and I staged lightsaber battles when we were 8 and my library bag was filled with books from the now “Legends” era. I love Star Wars, I love its characters, and I’ve enjoyed it through its many iterations, including the prequels (I will defend them to death so don’t start), the animated shows (I still remember how awesome those first shorts were), the comics, the EU books, and The Force Awakens.

Now that we’ve established that, here is my opinion of The Last Jedi in a nutshell: It’s a beautifully shot film with some poignant character moments draped over an uneven plot and some disheartening characterization choices.

Okay, that’s out of the way *exhales*

Now let me say this: I get it. There’s a lot of good in this movie, a lot of genuinely evocative material and solid performances to praise here…but I also understand the complaints because this movie does have A LOT of problems. So here’s my (fair as I can be) take:

The Great (like I teared up and it was so GOOD)

- Mark Hamill’s performance. Whatever script he was given, he still shone and gave this role his all–as always. He was wry, anguished, conflicted, and strong, and you believed every single nuance of emotion he imbued this film’s Luke. The gravitas and dedication he brought to this character intensified my already deep love for Luke Skywalker, and nothing can change that. I felt his despair, his bitterness, but there was also fierce pride I felt when he chose to take a stand and defend what he believed to be right, leading to…

- Luke vs. Kylo. Any fight that starts with Luke Skywalker giving you sass is a win in my book, no matter how it ended. I just enjoyed seeing Luke as I know him best: self-assured, unflappable, and utterly human. The fight was well-shot and I have to say I got chills when Luke declared “And I will not be the last Jedi” and then cutting to the shot of Rey being a Force boss. Everything right with this movie can be encompassed in that one sequence about courage, persistence, and hope, which is at the heart of Star Wars.

- Carrie Fisher. Every scene with her carried more weight knowing she is no longer with us, and her last conversation with Rey especially made me tear up. We do indeed have all we need. Her Leia remains in this film as beloved, strong, and defiant as always, maybe a bit worn and weary, but still every bit a Princess–our Princess, and this film allowed her to captivate us once more.

- Luke and Leia’s reunion. I wanted MORE of this, so much more, but this quiet scene of a brother grieving with and loving his sister was beautiful.

- Yoda shows up. Guys I NERDED OUT here, like to have Frank Oz come back and play ROTJ!Yoda was the perfect surprise I needed. And to have him show such understanding and affection for Luke during one of his lowest points felt fitting and was another lovely character moment.

- Luke’s final scene. Context aside, the way his passing was framed against the double sunset and the Force Theme wrung tears out of me and I couldn’t help it because it’s LUKE and all of my love for this character just streamed out in this moment.

The Good (it’s solid, thumbs up)

- The female characters. This film is still very much Rey’s story, and I still appreciate the innocence, compassion, and thoughtfulness Daisy brings to this protagonist. And now she is joined by more of Leia, Admiral Holdo (a role that really surprised me–in a good way), aaaand…

- Rose Tico! I love Kelly Marie Tran, and her Rose is adorkable, caring, and endearingly noble. It’s unfair that we haven’t had another Asian lead in Star Wars until her, but I’m glad she’s here now. I like that she does get a bit more narrative heft with her love for her sister and desire to see the oppression of the First Order end. And she’s an animal lover! And frees exploited creatures! She is actually the best.

- Finn’s arc. I will disagree with some people by saying that he actually has an arc, but I believe he does. In TFA, we meet Finn as a former child soldier escaping from the First Order and trying to just survive. He’s inspired and encouraged by Rey and is determined to stay with her and protect her, and so he helps out the Resistance towards that goal. But he hasn’t actually joined in the Resistance–he still believes their cause is pretty futile because he KNOWS how vast and awful the First Order is. And so in TLJ, he has to process all of that and decide whether he wants to commit to this effort for the long haul. In being exposed to others like him also exploited by the First Order and working with Rose and Poe, he comes into his own and chooses for himself to be part of this, and that’s a big step for him. It could have been executed better, but there was a discernible change by the end of the film, and we see a Finn who is more settled in his decisions and less afraid. He has never been a coward, and now he’s showing more courage in choosing to stand against those who used and harmed him.

- The opening sequence. It was frenetic, desperate, and moving, similar to the feelings I got during the opening of the new Star Trek film during Kirk’s birth–the same sadness and sacrifice permeates this scene.

- The cinematography. I have to give this film props for some gorgeously framed shots and good use of color and atmosphere. There were a lot of moments that stayed with me simply because of how they were captured.

- The acting. Everyone here is dedicating themselves to these characters, and it shows. This is a truly solid cast, and I appreciate them so much. There is a true sense of camaraderie among these characters, and they have good chemistry together. I also have to give a shout-out to the visible diversity evident in the different worlds visited, the Resistance pilots, and even the casino scene. That matters, so keep it front and center.

- The PORGS. Y’all knew this was coming but how could I NOT mention my precious smol birbs with vacant, souless eyes and pudgy tummies? I just…love them (and we got to see baby Porgs OHMYGERSH)

The Problems

- This does not feel like a proper sequel to The Force Awakens. There are so many major plot points and themes developed in TFA that are either tossed out or wrapped up messily in TLJ. Rey’s parentage being a significant struggle for her character and alluded to symbolically through her connection to the Skywalker lightsaber and other motifs? Nope, she’s an abandoned nobody (Kylo’s words, not mine) and we should all just leave that question in the past like it doesn’t matter who would make you think that? Snoke being a major villain player behind the scenes? Nope, he’s axed off in the height of anticlimax before we even find out who he is and where he came from (not all of us should need to read EU books to understand a movie plot y’all). Rey and Finn having an immediate connection with romantic dimensions? Nope, let’s throw in a last-minute love triangle! (everyone LOVES those). You can really feel the tension of the writing and directing problems plaguing this sequel trilogy because it’s so apparent in the lack of continuity. It’s like several interpretations of Star Wars got mashed together and this is what happened…

- Luke Skywalker. Oh Luke, what have they done to you? Look, I am not against seeing Luke struggle with failure, despair, even loss. We’ve seen it, and it can certainly be part of a character’s journey. I could even appreciate it in this movie…if it was detached from the larger context and motivations of this character as established by previous canon. In TLJ, I’m supposed to accept that Luke Skywalker, who could not even bring himself to kill his father because of his compassion, would attempt to kill (even on “impulse”) his unarmed nephew because of his dark potential? I’m supposed to believe that Luke, stuck in a depressed and bitter stupor, would exile himself for more than a DECADE and abandon his beloved sister and friends while KNOWING they were suffering? I’m supposed to accept this bitter, Logan-ized version of Luke for two hours and then watch him die without ever truly forming a connection with Rey or reuniting with his loved ones? He dies alone, and I’m not okay with that. Yes, characters change, but it’s not always necessary to make a character suffer and harden to make them interesting. We’ve already seen Luke fail. We’ve already seen him suffer. I didn’t need nor want to see Luke, defined by his compassion and optimism and openness, portrayed as cold and closed off from the world and calloused from pain. As I said, Mark played him beautifully, but he deserved a much better story than this–and I think the fans did too, leading to…

- The overall treatment of the original trio. So TLJ is on one level about accepting failure and making peace with the past while moving forward. But the thing is, the sequel trilogy has so far piled SO MUCH FAILURE onto our original heroes that the original trilogy begins to leave a bitter taste in hindsight. Every single thing these characters we love fought and struggled for is rendered broken and scattered here, and then they die with their aspirations tragically unrealized. Star Wars is predominately a space fantasy opera with hope at its center, but it takes a fatalistic edge when you look at what they did with Luke, Han, and Leia. Not only do we NEVER get to see these characters all reunited, but their sendoff is tragic and more bitter than sweet. Han is separated from Leia and killed by his son. Luke lives alone for years in self-loathing and bitterness, and after his glorious re-entry into the world and knowing another Jedi is out there, he still dies alone. Leia loses her husband, son, brother, the Republic and only really gets to say goodbye to one of them. This is depressing as hell and not the note you want to end on for some of the most iconic characters in cinema. And if this all was meant to service the theme of “failure is part of life,” it did it in the most unwieldy way possible by reaching the suffering threshold that tested the limits of not only these characters, but also fans. It honestly would have been better if these characters were dead from the outset, legacy intact, and the sequel trilogy focused entirely on the new characters.

- The fact that the entire Canto Blight subplot could be excised from the movie and little would change. It gave us more time with Rose and Finn, which was good, but it didn’t further the plot, especially given that it takes up a good 20-30 minutes of screen-time. It felt unnecessary, and I wish it had been better woven into the main plot rather than as a side adventure.

- With that comes also the issue that the Resistance plot…doesn’t really make much sense. So this handful of ships are just cruising along on fuel and the First Order is just…not destroying them all? Like they HAVE smaller ships to destroy them with…why not just be done with it already? Why are all the Resistance’s plans failures because of simply poor logic? That undermines one of the main themes of the movie because this failure doesn’t hold much weight if we know it’s mostly plot contrivance rather than a genuine character struggle! Like…many of the conflicts in this movie feel engineered by plot need rather than organic.

- The Rey/Kylo dynamic. This was by far one of the most problematic aspects of the movie for me and the part I found most disturbing. In a year that saw the visible emergence of neo-Nazism and the #MeToo movement, the way the scenes of Kylo and Rey were framed felt downright uncomfortable. Kylo is a space Nazi–let’s just own that. He already contributed to genocide of several planets, believes in the First Order’s cause which has oppressed so many vulnerable peoples, and uses manipulation and torture to reach his ends. And Rey knows that. He tortured her in what must have been only a few days ago in this timeline AND murdered his father and her new father-figure. Not only that, but in THIS movie we see Kylo manipulating her further by calling her a nobody, outlining everything wrong about her, and then coercing her to join him. What kind of messed up BS is that? I’m angry about this because this is not okay. Luke tried to save Vader because he believed love could turn his father’s heart. Though it proved that Vader still had the capacity for good, it didn’t absolve Vader of his previous crimes. Rey barely has any real connection with Kylo and then suddenly in this movie wants to redeem him and put the rest to the side. This is not the same situation because it is framed with a romantic tension in this case as if we are also supposed to feel really bad for Kylo and want him to get together with Rey on Team Good. Do I see Kylo’s complexity? Yesss….but he also made choices that brought him to this place, and the movie made Rey look foolish in light of diminishing the weight of Kylo’s previous atrocities. The Light Side is NOT equal to the Dark when the Dark is defined by its selfishness, corruption, and persecution of others–don’t use the Force to make your “both sides” argument.

- That’s not how the Force works! Okay, so apparently the Force really DOES give one unnatural abilities because there were many scenes in this film that strained my credulity–think mountain of salt, not the grain. Even my mom (not too big of a Star Wars fan) was like “She [Leia] CANNOT survive in space like that–that seemed unbelievable.” That and Luke’s astro-projection were jarring plot conveniences that did not feel consistent with the logic of the Force that had been established so far and also felt kind of cheap in the way they were used. Using the Force does have limits, but here Force abilities were treated like a crazy AU mod.

- This film rides on plot conveniences rather than characterization. The story works by stringing set pieces together without giving enough heft to the characters’ development. The side characters and even Rey’s arcs are left strangely underdeveloped alongside these big battles and scenes framed as epic (like Finn’s battle with Phasma), leaving some moments oddly hollow. I honestly can’t say much about what Rey’s arc was…failure? Letting go of the past? Becoming a Jedi? Not enough was explained to chart a significant internal change in her, an issue that plagued other characters like Poe as well, who suddenly was framed as this hot-headed aggressive man in contrast to his buoyant but level-headed presence in TFA. Leading to…

- The treatment of the POC characters. There were a lot of moments that felt sadly tone-deaf for our current time. We didn’t need to see Rose tase Finn for laughs and then see both of them get stopped by white police telling them to put their hands up. We didn’t need to see Poe slapped and shot by white superiors and alluded to as this seductive “bad boy,” fitting neatly into certain Latino tropes. We didn’t need the total erasure of Finn’s backstory and past trauma, which was completely unacknowledged in this film, which spent more time lecturing him about being a coward (again–he’s not). As a woman of color, these moments irk me because it’s been so normalized to treat POC this way, and I don’t like seeing a franchise that boasts about its new progressiveness take advantage of that goodwill by sidelining its few main characters of color.

The Whole Nutshell

There was much of TLJ that I enjoyed, but by the end, I left the theater in much of the same state that I arrived: confused, conflicted, and yet hopeful. I’ll be honest and say that this was not the sequel to TFA I would’ve liked to see, and it will probably go down as the most mixed bag of Star Wars movies for me. The fact that my father, decades-long Star Wars lover, said this movie “was disappointing and didn’t emotionally connect to him” speaks volumes. This is the only Star Wars movie he has EVER described in that way–he didn’t even say that for Phantom Menace! Again, reactions to TLJ span widely, but even that is telling.

Considering everything that has been going on behind the scenes, I think TLJ represents a failure to realize a cohesive vision for the next chapter of this space saga, and a failure to understand and honor the characters who built it. There’s a solid movie still in there, and it has its flashes of brilliance and beauty, but its overshadowed by the continuity issues and divisive characterization decisions. It’s better than what I expected, but it’s not one I’m looking forward to re-watching anytime soon.

Bunny’s Grade: 6/10

#star wars #the last jedi #tlj spoilers #sw meta #tlj #luke skywalker #finn #bunny reviews #bunny posts

35 notes · View notes

steveclinekh · 4 years

Photo

He Starved, Suffered and Nearly Died, but Never Lost Hope Genocide survivor went on to be a Cambodian minister, and seeks now to inspire the young The Straits Times 22 Mar 2020 Wong Kim Hoh Senior Writer [email protected] PHOTOS: KELLY HUI, VENG SEREYVUTH Veng Sereyvuth has a passionate belief.

“You are born with the power to dream, to make choices, to craft your destiny. No one except you can steal that from you,” he says.

Before you dismiss that as a platitude, consider who he is and what he has gone through.

The 61-year-old survived the Cambodian genocide during which more than two million people died under the Khmer Rouge, which was in power between 1975 and 1979, led by Marxist leader Pol Pot.

His life has been both a melodrama and a potboiler: a village boy who became a cyclo driver, a smuggler, a prisoner, a refugee, a political science graduate and, eventually, a politician who served as Cambodia’s minister for tourism and minister for culture.

Along the way, he starved, suffered and stared death in the face on several occasions. But through it all, he never gave up hope.

Today, he is a businessman and educationist; he has built hotels and other properties and is chairman of the board of trustees at the Pannasastra University of Cambodia, a private university in Phnom Penh which provides an English-based education.

Mr Veng does not have the statesman-like gravitas one expects of someone who has spent more than two decades as a senior minister.

Dressed in jeans and a white shirt with a cotton krama (a traditional Cambodian scarf) around his neck, he radiates approachability and joviality.

He was in Singapore recently to put the finishing touches to No One Born Poor: Prisoner, Politician, Pioneer, a book about his life published by Write Editions and available at major bookstores in June.

Calling the book a tribute to the country he loves, he hopes that his story of “challenging life, confronting the unknown and embracing its ups and downs” will give hope to many people, especially the young.

He was born the second of six children in the remote village of Prey Deoum Thieng in the Cambodian province of Prey Veng.

His father was a teacher and his mother ran a provision shop. The couple later separated, and Mr Veng and his siblings were raised by his mother, whom he describes as a “commander-in-chief” and the strongest person he knows.

Life in the village was idyllic. He loved going to school, spurred on by his mother who fervently believes that education is not just the ticket to a better life, but also makes one a better person.

But civil strife soon rocked the country when a military coup overthrew head of state Prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1970.

The Khmer Rouge started becoming more powerful; they were communist revolutionaries who saw religion, education and freedom as dangerous.

Realising that life in their village was getting untenable, Mr Veng’s mother decided to uproot her brood to Phnom Penh in 1972.

She decided to do it first with Mr Veng, who was then just 12, before coming back for her other children.

Because the Khmer Rouge killed villagers who tried to flee for the city, mother and son escaped through rice fields in the dark of the night before taking a boat across the Mekong to get to Phnom Penh.

“It was a real ordeal, a life-anddeath situation. I saw dead bodies, and heads on bamboo poles,” recalls the amiable man whose other siblings arrived in the city several weeks later.

With no income from a provision shop to feed her brood, his mother started selling noodles.

Mr Veng continued his education at a French Catholic school, but sold bread to office workers before classes began and became a cyclo – a three-wheeled taxi – driver after school ended.

Life was tough but as he writes in his book: “I didn’t see myself as a cyclo driver, as it was not my final mission in life. It could not be. It must not be. The cyclo was a tool to meet two needs: to fill my stomach and pay for my education. Nothing more, nothing less.”

In 1975, the Khmer Rouge won the civil war and captured Phnom Penh. They emptied the cities, forcing millions of Cambodians, including Mr Veng’s family, back to the countryside.

Not long after they began their trek to a village in Prey Veng, Mr Veng’s mother told him to go back to their Phnom Penh home to get a 20kg pot of preserved fish because it would provide sustenance for their month-long journey.

But the then 15-year-old was stopped by soldiers who ordered him to turn back. When he moved forward, a soldier pointed a gun at him. Mr Veng begged for permission to get his pot of fish. To his surprise, the soldier let him through.

The episode taught him one thing: You need courage and conviction for everything you do in life.

“For me, it means protecting the preserved fish, at all costs, for my family.”

The Khmer Rouge were brutal in their quest to set up an agrarian utopia, torturing and killing intellectuals and anyone else they considered a threat to communism.

Mr Veng and his brothers escaped death, but, like millions of their countrymen, were sent to slave at labour camps.

The Khmer Rouge lost their grip on power in 1979 when Vietnamese forces took control of Phnom Penh.

It was not just another chapter in the country’s history but also in his life. To help his family survive, he became a smuggler, sneaking to the Thai border to buy cartons of cigarettes – apparently more valuable than money then – which he would trade or sell.

It nearly cost him his life on several occasions. Once, he was denied entry at a checkpoint by soldiers who wanted his cigarettes.

To get across, he made eye contact with people on the other side of the metal barrier and told them in a low voice to leave a gap for him to pass through when the barrier was lifted.

He made a dash for it on his bicycle, pedalling furiously as the sound of bullets reverberated behind him. By the time he stopped, his feet were bloody from the desperate pedalling.

Asked if he has ever thought about death, he says with a laugh: “When you live in a structured and orderly society, you think about things like that. But when you live in hell...”

He continues: “I had no choice. I just did what I needed to do to feed the family. You get out of a situation first and get scared later. You deal with death only when it comes.”

His family cried each time he went away because they were worried he might not come home.

“Every trip was three weeks or a month long. Things could happen: sometimes you could not get the goods, sometimes there were shootings, sometimes you just could not get back i nto Cambodia. I had stayed in forests where I just ate what I had and what I could find.”

Hunger was a constant companion. “You can check with your doctor friends but when you’re really hungry, your stomach feels like it’s being cut into pieces with a knife,” says Mr Veng, who was once so weak from hunger he had to be propped into a sitting position at mealtimes with a rope tied to the ceiling.

The year 1979 also marked one of the lowest periods in his life.

Soldiers stopped him on his bicycle while he was riding home to Prey Veng with a sack of 200 bicycle spokes he hoped to sell. They accused him of sending the spokes to the Khmer Rouge and threw him into a dark prison for a month.

Then, one day, he was taken blindfolded to the Mekong. He felt a gun muzzle on his left cheek, and heard the weapon being cocked as he was asked if he was part of the Khmer Rouge.

He just blurted: “I’m a student.” That split second of telling the truth, he says, spared him from getting his head blown off.

The era of the Khmer Rouge might have been over but fear and uncertainty still blanketed the country.

Overwhelmed by the hopelessness, he and his family decided to “turn this game of life around” and take the big risk of escaping to the Khao-I-Dang refugee camp – set up in late 1979 and run by the Thai Interior Ministry and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – across the Thai border.

They split into two groups. He and two of his sisters set out first. The plan was to reunite with his mother and other siblings at the refugee camp.

Thousands had died undertaking the weeks-long journey which was fraught with many dangers, from landmines to trigger-happy soldiers. Mr Veng and his two sisters moved mostly at night to avoid getting caught.

They made it, and so did the rest of the family.

“It was a miracle. The border stretched for hundreds of kilometres but we managed to find one another,” he says.

They stayed in the camp for one year.

“It was a completely different life. There were no guns and no fear. You mingled with other people and walked about freely in the camp. You could sleep and wake up, a free man.”

Nearly a year later, the family were told that they would be going to New Zealand.

“It was surreal, we were speechless,” recalls Mr Veng, who landed in Auckland with his family in September 1980.

There, he worked at several places including a printing firm and an ice-cream shop while attending English, maths, economics and accounting classes at a polytechnic.

In 1984, he got accepted into the University of Victoria on a special admissions scheme. It was hard because he had not mastered the English language, but his will bulldozed through the obstacles, and he graduated with a degree in political science in 1987.

He never forgot Cambodia though. For a year, he was haunted by nightmares of what he had lived through. To exorcise his demons, he shared his story openly with his lecturers and classmates.

He also joined the secretariat of the Khmer Association in New Zealand to help new refugees adapt to life in the country. The association also built the first Cambodian pagoda in the country.

The urge to return to help rebuild his homeland was “instinctive”.

“It’s my country. It’s where I came from and I wanted to give back. Gratitude is my attitude,” says Mr Veng, who spent more than a year working as a taxi driver – “you can make a lot of money” – before heading for Bangkok in 1989.

He could not enter Cambodia because the country was still in political turmoil. In Bangkok, he volunteered with The National United Front for an Independent Neutral and Cooperative Cambodia and worked with refugees along the Thai border.

In 1993, he took part in Cambodia’s general election and became a member of Parliament as well as minister for tourism, a post he held until 2004.

“It was one of my top achievements,” says Mr Veng, who was also minister to the council of ministers and minister for culture.

Among other things, he chaired an initiative to step up the flow of tourist dollars in the region, resulting in the signing of the Asean Tourism Agreement in Cambodia in 2002.

Except for two of his sisters, Mr Veng’s mother and other siblings have also returned to live in Cambodia. He has a son, 22, who is studying public policy at the University of Victoria; his former wife died in an accident several years ago.

The congenial man, who holds both Cambodian and New Zealand citizenships, went into business after leaving politics in 2013 but focuses a lot of his attention on education for young Cambodians.

Mr Veng, who often gives talks to inspire others, says his philosophy in life is simple.

“I believe that on the canvas of humanity, we are to paint goodness: the able extending goodness to those without hope, the distressed and the needy.”

Chairman of the Board: H.E. Veng Sereyvuth held various ministerial positions in the Royal Government of Cambodia since 1993, including co-minister of Council of Ministers, Senior Minister of Tourism, and Senior Minister of Art and Culture. H.E. Veng Sereyvuth received a Business Administration's degree from Victoria University Wellington, New Zealand;

0 notes

anotheruserwithnoname · 7 years

Text

Belated thoughts on The Doctor Falls

(Spoilers, obviously)

A late “review” owing to me being out of down and offline for the Canada Day long weekend. Now to make up for lost time...

I make no secret of nor do I apologize for the fact I was very disappointed with Series 10 as a whole. I stand by my opinion that it is - taken as a whole - the weakest season of 10 we’ve had since the series returned. BUT, in the 9th inning, Steven Moffat managed to score a home run, even though it was more of the “players fumbling to catch the ball” inside-the-park homer than a “knock it out of the park” blockbuster. It ranks a solid 3rd behind The Name of the Doctor and Hell Bent among Modern Era finale episodes and for the most part left me smiling (albeit a sad smile).

More thoughts after the break:

I’m going to get the negative stuff out of the way first.

I have mixed feelings about how Bill’s fate was handled (not the fate itself). I love the fact that Moffat managed to come up with a way to get Bill out of her dilemma and reunite her with Heather in such a way that promises future adventures (Big Finish and Chris Chibnall take note). It’s great that we finally got a pair of Moffat companions (including Nardole, though more on him in a moment) who basically survived their time with the Doctor. However, I wish Moffat hadn’t copied what he did with Clara and Ashildr in Hell Bent: making the companion immortal and sending her off on adventures with an immortal companion of her own (only difference being the romance direction: with Clara it was separation from her OTP; with Bill it was reunion with her OTP). I spoke to a few friends who watched it on Saturday and they were very upset by this. Not because they were Clara fans (believe me, they aren’t - in fact they pretty much hated Series 8 and 9) but because it was so similar to what happened last season. And I am annoyed at people saying that this is setting up the spinoff everyone wants, when that’s exactly the same thing they said with Clara and Ashildr in 2015! (That said, I agree with everyone who says getting the four together would kick ass. Big Finish, again take note.)

I also wish Heather had been referenced more during the season. If she was supposed to be Bill’s OTP, why was she basically forgotten for 10 episodes? As a result, while it was great to see Heather return, it still had a feeling of deus ex machina about it that was unfortunate. And any viewers who missed The Pilot and jumped on late - they were screwed figuring out what the heck that was all about with the woman made of water.

One last negative was the fact we were left with no real resolution for Nardole. We saw him setting off with a bunch of kids and a girlfriend(!) but the impression given is they were still dead because they’d be spending their time moving up the ship and eventually the Cybermen would regroup and get ‘em. I hope Moffat plans to resolve this at Christmas because I felt the story wasn’t completed. This one I’d hate to have to leave to Big Finish to flesh out but perhaps they’ll have to.

OK - negative stuff over. Time for the positives.

Despite the fact I disliked World Enough and Time on the whole, I said I loved the opening and the closing minutes of that episode. Well, The Doctor Falls was basically all “opening and closing minutes,” (you can take that literally as virtually every scene felt like a teaser or cliffhanger and the longer running time flew by) and it was great and exactly the type of episode I was starved for this series. Had Series 10 had more of these I might have even joined the chorus of those calling Series 10 the best, even without Clara.

Despite the criticism I just stated, I loved how Bill and Heather were reunited (read my complaint again and the bottom line is I wanted there to be more of them) and Pearl Mackie gave her best performance ever as Bill. The character had a shaky start in my opinion, but Mackie was exemplary and Bill stands proud with the other iconic companions because of it. She’ll go far.

And Matt Lucas was great as always, and in some respects I’m going to miss Nardole more than Bill (ironic since I hated Nardole in the 2015 Christmas special). That’s nothing against Bill or Pearl Mackie, but even though he was shoehorned in to a good chunk of the season, Lucas just felt right once it was decided to make him a proper companion, and that was something that occurred to me way back in Return of Doctor Mysterio. I’d say Lucas would go fear but the guy’s already gone far. So I’ll just say he’ll go farther.

The Master Twins were amazing and had terrific chemistry and while I don’t believe for one second that this is the end for the Master (the Missy incarnation, perhaps), it was a unique resolution to Missy’s arc that I’m sure had many going “why hadn’t we thought of that?” I also found it fascinating to see how the Saxon Master reacted to having a female incarnation (despite the Doctor’s comments last week, Saxon seemed to suggest Missy was his first/only female version). He wasn’t that thrilled about it, really, which caught me by surprise. It added an unexpected depth to their meeting. I only wish we saw Simm regenerate into Gomez but then maybe that opens the door for another incarnation, if Missy is truly the final Master. I kind of hope she is, because it would be great to think that in the end, after teasing the concept for 46 years, the show finally made good on the promise of redeeming the Master. Plus, let’s be honest, male or female, who could follow Michelle Gomez?

And then there was Peter. What can I say? I mean, his speech about kindness is one they’re going to be quoting for years. And I hope the other Doctor actors are ready because just as with the Pandorica speech and the Zygon Inversion speech, they’re going to be asked to recite it forever. I’ve given up on awards, but Peter Capaldi is in my opinion the best actor to ever pilot the TARDIS, and I’m not just saying that because he’s the incumbent and I liked Whouffaldi. No - all the actors who have played the Doctor were amazing (yes, even him - whoever you want “him” to be). But Capaldi is the best. And I am including Sir John Hurt as I say that, with no disrespect intended to the late legend (or any of the others).

The regeneration - I mean, wow. And to see him repress it. That’s new and will make the Christmas special absolutely fascinating to watch from a performance perspective, alone.

David Bradley as the First Doctor? I don’t know about that. This isn’t 1983 when Richard Hurndall could step into William Hartnell’s shoes because no one had DVDs of any of Bill’s episodes. Apparently we’ve already had some viewers state confusion on Twitter over who this old guy is. I’ve no doubt that David Bradley will do a good job, but recasting an earlier Doctor, especially one with such a different acting style... jury is out. Much as I like Bradley I actually would have been more in favour of Sean Pertwee appearing as his dad. Ask me again on December 26.

Finally, of course, me being a Whouffaldi fan I cannot end this without mentioning the Clara flashback. I can’t begin to express how important this was. For her to have been omitted ... while it might have worked from the memory block perspective, it would have made the sequence feel incomplete. Does it mean the Doctor remembers Clara? Actually, we know that he does to a degree already - he says so to Clara herself in Hell Bent that he remembers their adventure together and has been able to piece together a lot about Clara, and at the end of the episode he sees Rigsy’s portrait of her, so he now remembers her face and, thanks to the diner, her voice. But then again - he would remember her face and voice from the diner if it was a “fresh” memory, right? Instead, he remembers her as she was in Last Christmas. So is it possible that Bill’s tears did more than give Twelve a stay of execution? That they - or the fact the Doctor is mid-regeneration - have undone it. Time will tell. I’m aware of certain tabloid reports today (also mentioned on the BBC) and I refuse to get my hopes up. But maybe it was foreshadowing. Or Moffat simply realized that to leave Clara out of a roll-call of every Modern Era companion would have made him look like a dick. Either way, we got a final direct reference to Clara to end the season on. (And River fans got one too, so everyone’s happy.)

One of these days I’ll do a proper postmortem on Series 10, going into detail as to why I didn’t care for it as a whole. But for me the finale hit all the right notes and leaves me looking forward to Christmas, even though a sad milestone awaits.

PS: Because there seems to be a lot of people harping online about Clara’s appearing in the flashback and the potential for her to appear at Christmas (of the “don’t bring her back ever” variety) let me state for the record that as far as I am concerned Bill Potts and Nardole are welcome to reappear or be referenced any time. Hopefully they’ll get a nod at Christmas.

#twelfth doctor #bill potts #the doctor falls #nardole #doctor who commentary #DWS10SPOILERS

13 notes · View notes