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hxhhasmysoul · 4 months

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So, fanfic ideas.... If JJK and HxH characters were in No Power world, what would their job be if not become Jujutsu Sorcerer or Hunter (in your opinion)? Why? Please pick your top 5 fav characters from each.....

HxH

I have written several no powers moder AUs for this fandom. There's a lot that can be done with these guys.

Gon

I often put Gon in some field researcher shoes, in some biology filed, I did entomology and marine biology. But any specialisation suits him as long as he can go and observe by himself. He could also do some pro sport, team sports are interesting for him because how his personality is kinda both suited for it and clashes with it. I have also pictured Gon as an investigator and an artist, as he's very curious by nature and also creative.

Killua

For me Killua always starts off trapped in the plans his parents make for him. He's following his parents clan plans, be it business, law, medicine, competitive sport. And you can either make him try to make it his own or try to break off into something else. He's analytical and good at handling things and planning ahead so administrative work actually suits XD what a horrible thing to say. But also jobs that would lean into his protective side.

Alluka

She gives me very strong creative vibes, so any art or design related job suits her. She would also be good with people, she lives with Nanika and such cohabitation requires a lot of people skills.

Nanika

She wants to be around others but also to heal, so I see her as a doctor.

Canary

I've written her as an engineer, as a journalist, doctor. She gives off a nerdy vibe but she also has very high integrity. She could also do well as a fixer, considering how well she handled Amane.

Leorio

Doctor is obvious, it's a normal job. But he could also be any form of activist or idealistic politician. He could work as a community organiser, or someone helping troubled youth. He has this strong drive for serious societal change.

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JJK

I've never written a modern AU for this fandom.

Yuuji

Gege said that Yuuji would be a firefighter if he wasn't a sorcerer and that's a very good job for him. But any first responder job suits him. He's also good with animals so he could work at a rescue or sanctuary. He could also do well in medical fields because he's kind and strong and listens to what others tell him. He would make a great nurse or physiotherapist. But also a surgeon, that requires a lot of stamina and strength. Though doctor would feel more like mum pushing him into things because he's not very bookish. But we know his mum is capable of steering his life and development.

Nobara

Model, actress, idol - she's got the drive for it and the interest in being seen, making her mark. But also engineer, mechanic, repair person and obviously a carpenter. Wood has a lot of personality and I think she'd appreciate that. I could see her making furniture.

Kenjaku

They are very versatile. They could be a researcher, human reproduction comes to mind first, but to be honest whatever would catch their fancy they would just go for it. They are clearly a jujutsu and barrier nerd, so that could translate to physics or mathematics or maybe psychology? They could also embrace a career in comedy. But I also see Kenjaku as doing spy stuff, running intelligence or counter intelligence operations. They are so good at plotting, putting pieces on the board exactly where they want it.

Sukuna

Any high powered job would suit him, anything that would let him look down on others - business, politics, organised crime. But also teaching, especially university teaching, omg he has the professor vibes. He knows so much and he judges others on not having studied enough. But he also wants his students to excel, it's just that they will excel through tears, cursing his name. He could also be a therapist, some people in jjk already think he is one.

Yorozu

Scientist and engineer suit her. Cybernetics would be good for her, or working exotic materials and states of matter. Entomology too but more as a hobby that informs her studies. But also a wedding planner, she absolutely knows what's up. She'd specialise in theme weddings.

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scotianostra · 2 years

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Reverend Patrick Bell was born on May 12th 1799 at Auchterhouse near Dundee.

Born into a farming family Bell was brought up at the farrm at Mid Leoch and attended Auchterhouse Parish School, Patrick Bell was only 27 when he had the idea that led to his invention, which was one of the first pieces of mechanical agricultural machinery to be used. He failed to profit financially from his invention, preferring instead to become parish minister. He studied Divinity at St Andrews University and was ordained as minister of Carmyllie Church in 1843.

Two stained glass windows at Carmyllie Church commemorate his life. He was minister in the parish from 1843 till his death in 1869.

The following excellent article is reprinted here with the kind permission of the Dundee Courier and Advertiser in 2008.

The 2008 harvest has been a trial, but spare a thought for those who had to struggle in the far off pre-combine days, when crops were cut and bound into sheaves. All highly labour intensive stuff but at least the binder could cut and bind the sheaves in one operation - before that it was sickle or scythe for cutting and hand binding.

It was an Angus man who started the world's farms on the way to harvest mechanisation. Patrick Bell, a farmer's son from Mid Leoch, near Auchterhouse, developed the first successful reaper in 1828.

He had a very analytical mind and was especially interested in engineering. He installed a gas lighting system at Mid Leoch and even took an interest in the cultivation of sugar beet, growing some and extracting sugar from it a century before the industry came to Scotland.

Many people, historians included, have mistakenly credited Cyrus McCormick of America as the inventor of the reaper in 1831. However, it should be Patrick Bell who is recognised as the designer of a machine that was deemed far more efficient and reliable than any previous attempts. Four of his reapers went to America where it is likely they influenced the designs of both McCormick and his contemporary Obed Hussey.

Patrick Bell designed and built his reaper when he was a divinity student at St Andrews University, getting the idea for his cutting system from a pair of garden shears that were stuffed into a hedge. He took the shears through a gap in the hedge and tried them on some standing grain. His first design was built in model form and with the help of a Tealing carpenter a full size version was assembled. Fear of derision led him to spread earth on the floor of his shed where he planted stalks of harvested grain to trial his machine.

The reaper cut the grain adequately but it fell unevenly for gathering for hand binding. Undaunted, he developed a canvas conveyor that the cut grain fell back against. It was then transported to the side of the machine falling into a neat windrow. A revolving reel to pull the crop on to the knife was also included in his design.

Eventually satisfied with his machine's performance he and his brother took the reaper out to a field of wheat at 11pm when prying eyes were asleep. The "guid horse Jock" was yoked, but the trial started disappointingly. In their excitement the brothers had forgotten to attach the reel. They hurriedly brought it out to the field and fitted it. The machine then worked very satisfactorily. Confident of the reaper's ability a public trial was staged at Powrie Farm on the 10th of September 1828. It received a favourable report in the "Quarterly Journal of Agriculture" and received a premium of £50 from the Highland Agricultural Society, which barely covered costs.

Bell did not file for a patent believing that his invention should benefit all. This led to various copies being made that were inferior to the Bell-made machines and they did nothing to encourage wide-spread usage. However around 10 of Bell's machines were sold in east central Scotland and, as previously mentioned, four crossed the Atlantic, others went to Australia and Poland.

At this time in history labour was still cheap and many farmers did not see the benefit of such a machine, preferring to stay with traditional methods. This was another case of a good invention being too far ahead of its time. However, the Bell machine was to prove itself as far as reliability and longevity was concerned, as the original machine continued for many harvests at Mid Leoch before going to work for many more at his brother's Inchmichael Farm.

In 1852 it was put in a good state of repair and shown at the Highland Show at Perth where it was thought by many to be the latest machine on the market. However, the Americans eventually began to sell greater quantities of reaping machines no doubt due to their lightness, manoeuvrability and competitive mass-produced pricing.

Meanwhile, now ordained, the Reverend Bell became minister of Carmyllie parish where he continued an interest in engineering, working at his bench at the manse. He remained unaffected by all the clamour that his machine had caused.

The Inchmichael machine, fastidiously looked after by his brother, ended up in the Science Museum in London where it still resides today.

Two contemporary models of the machine were presented to the National Museum and one is on show at the National Museum of Rural Life at Kittochside, East Kilbride. A third was presented by his daughters to the agricultural department of Aberdeen University.

Today's combine harvester has thus developed from the work of two ingenious Scotsmen - it is a combination of Andrew Meikle's threshing mechanism and Patrick Bell's reaper.

#Scotland #scottish #religious figure #reverend #Church minister #farmer #inventor #history

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corabaumgartner · 3 months

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Five Things Every Great First-Person Shooter Needs

It pulls water from any pool of water, and it’s capable of taking pictures enemies from as much as 70 feet away. This one has a 36 inch barrel (different sizes can be found), and it is available in varied colours. It’s excessive-powered stream will intensify any water war scenario, and the truth that it reloads fully in just 2 or three seconds makes it a should have across the pool. If you really wish to get your use out of it, I extremely recommend making a shoulder strap for it, so you possibly can strap it to your back and pull it out when needed. Sure, this Nerf Super Soaker Scatterblast Blaster would possibly look basic, but its simplicity is one among its strongest factors. It shoots five streams at once, and is a pump motion shotgun-type blaster that not only seems to be great, however it really works nice as properly. There’s no batteries required, and it’s only a solid design all-around.

The superb water gun has functionality to store water up to 10 liters and hearth it as much as forty feet. The cost of making one such gun is $2150. The gun has been made from each day use elements. We provide you with more particulars about this invention. An engineer in London has made the world’s most refined water Orbi Gun that may hold 10 liters of water. Alex Begrave, 27, is from Streatham Hill who has designed this marvelous water gun. It took him 50 hours of arduous work invent the primary Gatling-Style machine. The fascinating truth is that he used day by day life elements to manufacture this water gun. The water gun has a range of forty meters which is quite impressive and costs only $2150. All of the components are joined together to make the gun work effectively. The rotation of mechanism of the gun is made doable through windscreen wiper while the pump is made using the strolling pole. The windscreen wiper is simple to handle, high power and might be bought on low cost second-hand price.

Average soaking energy and vary Not very kid-friendlyExpensive High water capacity Kids arts & crafts Protect yourself with one of the best self-defense weapons It is straightforward to fill and refill Hide the keys (or passcode) to the locked storage It's lightweight therefore simple to hold

What’s extra, you don’t even have to take your palms off of the handlebars to hearth, as it adds a quickfire button that also attaches to your bike’s handlebars for firing. It’s a drive-by capturing, bike style! This bike blaster requires four AA batteries (not included). It’s one of the coolest gifts for boys obtainable. It’s no secret that I love all things Zombie Strike related (I even have a few them on my record of cool toys for boys). And their new Zombie Strike Extinguisher is very useful in battle. Why is it top-of-the-line water guns out there? Because of its small size and value (underneath $10), you should purchase two and dual wield your weapon throughout your water struggle. The water tank lights up, and each pistol holds 4 ounces. It shoots over 20 ft away, which is spectacular for a pistol of its size.

Shooters nowadays, the boring ones at the very least, have given us enemies who only show impression by well being bars. They absorb harm till they decide to die. They occupy fight areas that pull us ahead due to the promise of extra XP or leveling up. Too many shooters nowadays are about engineering fun by way of the psychology of the Skinner Box reasonably than via enjoyable play. A foul shooter is sort of a bowl of cheap ramen, or the product of a hammer used with out goal. A superb shooter, on the other hand, is like an excellent bowl of savory ramen, or a home built by a grasp carpenter. This year, I acquired to dive again into video games like Halo, Bulletstorm, F.E.A.R., Shadow Warrior, and Rage, all wonderful shooters, and i obtained to take a look at a ton of great new ones, like Betrayer, Wolfenstein: The new Order, Titanfall, and Destiny. Sure, these games have their weaknesses-identify me a game that doesn't-however in all of them, motion and taking pictures is sublime. So hey, if you're on the market wishing you had shooters more interesting than the brand new Borderlands, give them a shot. You'll have a blast. GB Burford is a freelance journalist and indie recreation developer who just cannot get enough of exploring why games work. You'll be able to attain him on Twitter at @ForgetAmnesia or on his blog. You may support him and even suggest video games to write about over at his Patreon.

Warframe is definitely the most effective free FPS video games around. Valorant has Overwatch type avatars combined with spectacular 5v5 shootouts of CS: GO. That and four totally different gaming modes - Unrated, Spike, Competitive, and Deathmatch included, it’s no wonder that this is likely one of the quickest-growing free FPS on-line games today. Unrated and Spike focuses on the better of 13 or 7 rounds, whereas Competitive mode has solely 5 rounds of gameplay. In Deathmatch, gamers keep respawning until one of them makes forty kills. Team members can even revive fallen comrades by accumulating seven factors, which will be acquired by killing opponents or accumulating assets. Players get to choose amongst 11 accessible avatars, every with their distinctive abilities. Not all of them are available immediately though. It's essential unlock all avatars with in-recreation purchases. Valorant is a should-play if you’re in search of the very best free FPS video games as we speak.

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puutterings · 10 months

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the most flagrant errors; the proper method. this

...In skill he may be the equal of the Western molder, but in efficiency he is noticeably inferior. A pattern that he has been working on for some time he will handle with remarkable speed, but give him a new one that requires a different twist from what he has been accustomed to, and it will take him some time to figure out its geometry, and the chances are that he will make many puttering mistakes before he adopts, or is patiently shown, the proper method. This is true in all other lines of work done by the ordinary Japanese mechanic. In patternmaking he excels; that is, as far as finish goes. The Japanese are traditionally very fine carpenters and cabinet makers, and in working with any sort of wood he is thoroughly at home. He does not always grasp the scientific principles of a pattern, particularly the intricate ones, but he will copy a model or a blueprint faithfully. In turn, these models or drawings must be absolutely accurate, for the patternmaker is likely to copy the most flagrant errors.

— “Hi” Sibley, “How Japan Turned Its Gardens Into Foundries” in American Machinist 47:10 (September 6; 1917) : 397-399 (398) : link (Michigan copy) same (Harvard copy, via hathitrust) : link

Synopsis — The war has been a remarkable stimulus to Japanese mechanical industries. This article tells how the demand for castings wherewith to build machines resulted in the creation of numberless backyard foundries in Japan.

The article is informed and kinetic; displays some dismissiveness vis-à-vis Japanese workmanship. Interesting account of Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture (facing Tokyo, across the Arakawa).

Walter “Hi” Sibley (1881-1973) “South Bend native made a name for himself as writer, illustrator” by Margaret Fosmoe, South Bend Tribune (July 5, 2015) : link

a chill is an object used to promote solidification in a specific portion of a metal casting mold. : wikipedia : link

some Kawaguchi photos, ca 1985, at asfaltics : link

#1917 #Hi Sibley #Kawaguchi #metal casting #geometry #chills #foundry

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topmarinemechanicalservices · 2 years

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The Basics of Boat Building and Repair

While some of the basic skills of boat building and repair are common in all types of marine vehicles, there are also several aspects of this industry that are not easily mastered by just anyone. For example, shipbuilding involves specialized processes that create air pollutants, including combustion sources, heat used for metal treatment, and sandblasting and grinding operations. These activities require specialized workers, which include electricians, carpenters, and test crews.

Using epoxy is a great choice for home boatbuilding, and can be used to make many different types of boats. Boats are basically small boats made of wood, plywood, or fibreglass, but some are made out of composite materials such as glass-reinforced plastics. GRP boats have been around since the early 1950s, when the first hand-lay-up techniques were developed, utilizing a cold-cure polyester resin and glass reinforcement. Visit: https://ignitionmarine.com/marine-mechanical-services-canada/ to know more about boat building and repair.

Unlike many other industries, shipbuilding requires highly skilled labour to perform specialized tasks. This means that the entire process involves careful planning, engineering, and communications. Many aspects of this work are highly skilled and require excellent planning, engineering, and inter-departmental cooperation. This process is typically divided into three distinct phases: rip-out work, steel structure refitting, and test and trials. The final outcome of the process is delivery of the ship.

Surface preparation is the second stage of ship building. During this stage, large pieces of equipment are assembled on the ground. Often, this process is accompanied by a great celebration, during which the vessel is lowered into the water. As the ship begins to take shape, its interior is also built. To complete the process, equipment is blasted with an abrasive profile to ensure good adhesion and protection.

Boat building and repair requires extensive manual labor and high-risk procedures. There are many hazards in this industry, including exposure to lead paint, epoxy resins, and solvent vapours. Uncontrolled exposure to these substances can damage the central nervous system, cause kidney and liver damage, and cause sensitization reactions. The process is interdependent, and all employees should be aware of the hazards in their environment. The hazards involved in boat building and repair are often interrelated and can affect other parts of the process. View here to get more info regarding this topic.

Shipyards generate different kinds of waste that must be dealt with. During the building process, scrap metal and paint are produced. The wastes from these processes must be treated before they are discharged into the water system. Additionally, sanitary wastewater needs to undergo biological treatment before it can be discharged into the sewer system. Garbage may also require special treatment to prevent the introduction of foreign animals or plants. These pollutants affect human health and should be properly disposed of.

Montgomery has worked on private and commercial vessels and has a wide range of boat projects. The diversity of these projects shows that he is not afraid to take on the biggest projects. He and his crew are capable of rebuilding delicate rowing boats that have cold moulded hulls. They also work on large-scale projects involving laminated hulls and lapstrake rowing boats. The diversity of work that Montgomery has done in the past is impressive.

Click this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boat_building to get more enlightened about the topic discussed in the article above.

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senseiofbullshit · 2 years

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CARPENTER OKUYASUUUUUU

Okuyasu would build you a house given the right tools. A lot of people hc him as dumb, which I get somewhat, but people also don't give him enough credit. I think he'd do well at any job that's not super technology or number focused. He's also a hard worker. He will get things built for you in record breaking time. Even if he were a mechanic, he'd be really good at it. For him, it's more about skills than knowledge and he'd excel in a skillbased job. Carpenter Okuyasu? Construction worker Okuyasu? I've even seen people hc him to become a professional baseball player and to me, it fits.

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huskeddevotee · 3 years

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Random hcs I have

Troy has a lovely singing voice. It's quiet, soft in mood but rough in tone, melancholy and remorseful. He rarely sings, but he'll always sing "The House Carpenter" on the anniversary of Leda's death, and on the anniversary of him and Ty leaving for Pandora. Does this in private, away from his followers or sister.

If you gave him three wishes, one of them would be seeing his dad again, one would be becoming the person he wants to be, and the other would be for Tyreen to be cured of her curse and find happiness.

Zane is...not a liar, but definitely a bluffer. Wainwright is only about 2 years younger than him, he's only married three times - he's true about what he says, just exaggerating the details. The middle child of the Flynt family and you can definitely tell.

Also: crippling lonelines. His relationship with his digi-clone is not a joke or for show. Its genuinely the only friend he has for years until taking up with the raiders.

Ava lost her parents in Maliwan's war. She was at school when her neighborhood was destroyed. Doesn't know how to feel about it - her parents were absent at best and neglectfully abusive at worst.

Before everything went to hell, was a bright prodigy that everyone expected to go on and do great things, even if she was a troublemaker. Excellent at math and science, wanted to be an engineer on a legendary cruise ship, The Chariot, so she could do what she loved while seeing the world. After losing everything, her appreciation for mechanics died, having watched advanced technology be used to destroy her home.

Amara came from a family with 3 sons. All of them were expected to be celebrities and renowned citizens. She was supposed to help take care of her brothers, than get married and take care of her husband. Her siren powers manifesting saved her from such a life, instead taking the glory that was meant for her siblings.

Bounces between Mom Friend and the chaotic feral child that needs a Mom Friend to not die. She and Fl4k share the Mom hat.

Fl4k struggles with anger and frustration. They spent their life as one of thousands of identical sets, made to serve and repeat the same tasks over and over. The desire to be free from their set role infuriated them nearly to madness. Even after freeing themselves, still have no idea how they actually feel about their old life. They just know thinking about it makes their engine turn hot. Could be grief, remorse, regret, vindication; it doesn’t matter now.

Loves reading and books and knowledge still. It tears them apart because it reminds them of the Archives, and they have to wonder if they really have gained sentience, or are still stuck as another library bot. Hands itch at Hammerlock’s room on the ship - wants to both read every single book and set the place ablaze.

Lorelai’s dads were both ex-soldiers - Pops was from the Atlas Lance, Dad was a sergeant from Vladof. All of her combat training and strategies come from them. They went off to Eden to live out retirement, so the Maliwan-Atlas war didn’t touch them. If they had been on Promethea, Katagawa Jr. would have been murdered on the Zanara in the first week of the invasion.

Lorelai regularly sends videos of her viciously maiming Maliwan and CoV soldiers to them. They could not be prouder.

Wainwright didn't have too happy a relationship with his mother, Margaret, either. Most of their conversations were her complaining about and being nasty towards Montgomery; this damaged his relationship with both parents. What his mother said was often true, but he was smart enough to realize what was airing her understable and warranted feelings, and what was trying to turn him against his old man.

First time he saw Hammerlock, didn't think much of him. Gentlemanly hunter with a flair for eloquence? That's his entire family tree. It took a while into the hunt where they met, but Hammerlock had something most of his family didn't - humility and compassion.

At some point, the Vault Hunters showed him that audio log of Montgomery activating GenIVIV for the first time. It didn't go well.

Tyreen's biggest insecurity that doesn't stem from trauma is her lack of...well. Actual talent. She can't sing, do art, make anything; meanwhile, Troy's a prodigal seamster, mechanic, artist, cook - he just succeeds as everything he does and she just. Stands in front of a camera and smiles. Not even her grand speeches are her own. Troy is better than her at everything and it infuriates her.

Highly aware that people can't actually be nice to her. Its either show or deranged misguidance. She cant have people smile at her and ask about her day, offer to bring her coffee while they get their own, jump up grinning genuinely when she enters a room. Her God Queen persona can't allow it, no matter how jealous she gets when all these things happen to Troy.

When Troy started calling himself the God King, silently wept. He'd fallen down the path she did. Watching her dissolve into a shell of her former self did nothing to keep him from the lure of violent power, and she did nothing to stop it. She killed her brother as she knew him the same way she killed herself. And neither of them were themselves enough to save the other.

#bl3 #borderlands 3 #troy calypso #tyreen calypso #zane flynt #amara the siren #wainwright jakobs #ava the siren #my writing #ive been cursed with a headache thats been nerfing me for like three days #jncorhency gang #i wanf die

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thefloatingstone · 4 years

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If you’re doing Self Quarintine (and you should be if you can help it) here’s some Youtube recommendations! Some of these I have posted about or recommended before but with almost all of us stuck indoors now’s a good time to remind you of some cool things you can watch for free!

I’m not gonna imbed the videos, I’ll just post the link because otherwise I would only able to post 5 and I want to collect a few so you can make a playlist or something. (I could make a playlist too but then I couldn’t tell you what each video is and you can’t pick and choose which one sounds interesting to you)

In no particular order:

Polybius: The video Game that doesn’t exist

An hour long documentary in which the youtuber did extensive research to find the origin of the “Polybius” Urban Legend, which speaks of an early arcade game reportedly seen around the early 1980s which reportedly gave people migraines, insomnia, nausea, subliminal messages, and in some cases heart attacks.

The Universal S

A shorter video in which LEMMiNO does his very best to try and track down where exactly this S that we all drew in middle school comes from? Why does literally every country on earth seem to HAVE their children draw this S?

I also recommend LEMMiNO’s video on the Dayltov Pass Incident and the perplexing UFO cases

Down the Rabbit Hole: Henry Darger

Fredrick Knudsen has an incredible fascinating series called “Down the Rabbit Hole” which simply focuses on... anything you can discover and go digging into. From weird internet personalities, to bizarre happenings in history. This video is about the artist Henry Darger, a man who lived in the early 1900s and for all intents and purposes had a perfectly average, lonely life, until it was discovered just before his death he had spent literally decades writing and drawing a fantasy world in what is possibly the longest piece of literature ever written.

I also recommend his video on the Hurdy Gurdy

Bedtime Stories Channel

I’m actually just gonna link the whole channel for “Bedtime Stories”. If you like weird and creepy stories, all of which at least claim to be “true” then Bedtime Stories is great. Coupled by illustrations and subtle sound effects, Bedtime Stories is literally listening to someone tell you a story about such things like hikers who mysteriously went missing, Sightings of Bog Men in Florida and giant Birds over Chernobyl, as well as weird and unsettling murders that remain unsolved. Sometimes the facts are a little dubious or have been disproved, but that’s not the point of the channel. It’s here to tell a creepy story, not give you a documentary.

A Journey Through Rule of Rose

Rule of Rose is a Survival Horror gave for the PS2 which has rather bad gameplay... but a FASCINATING story with just as many layers and symbolism as Silent Hill 2 could boast. It tells the story of one young woman traveling back into her own childhood in an orphanage in the 1930s, and all the horrors that contains. From repressed grief, abusive relationships, child neglect, abuse, and bullying... but it ALSO contains symbolism of societal class structure, politics, eating the rich, and how power structures work. Not for the faint of heart, but HIGHLY recommended.

I also super highly recommend his video on the similarities between Silent Hill 2 and Solaris

Clemps Reviews Crisis Core

Mr. Clemps is a great internet gamer who reviews JRPGs and other games he simply enjoys. Sprinkling in a heavy dose of comedy and very fast jokes and observations, Clemps’ videos are always upbeat, fun, and incredibly enjoyable to watch. I’m linking part 1 of his Crisis Core video in which he explains why the PSP game remains a personal favourite of his despite its flaws.

I also recommend his video on Eternal Sonata

Defunct TV: The History of Dragon Tales

Defunctland is a channel that deals with theme parks and theme park rides that are no longer standing, or which are no longer around in their current form. Defunctland also has a sub series though, called “Defunct TV” where they look at the origin of children’s TV which are no longer airing. I recommend the video on Dragon Tales which is incredibly wholesome, and a genuinely uplifting and soft story of good people trying to make good things for children. (I also recommend the videos on Bear in the Big Blue House, Zoboomafoo, and Legends of the Hidden Temple)

Hagan’s Histories of Polar Exploration

A Playlist for Diamanda Hagan’s videos about the doomed Franklin Expedition from the late 1800s, where England tried to find a passage through the Northern Arctic to the Pacific Ocean. This went horribly horribly wrong, with every member of the Expedition dead. Over a 100 years later we are still fuzzy on what EXACTLY happened, but apart from the arctic chill, there is also evidence of faulty canned food, a series of bad decisions, and cannibalism. Caution advised for this series.

I also recommend the rest of Diamanda Hagan’s channel. She is NOT for everyone, but if you enjoy somebody reviewing Z grade indie movies as well as just BIZARRE films, really bad Christian media bordering on Science Fiction (without making fun of religion itself) hot takes of classic (and modern) Dr. Who, an introduction to Red Dwarf, She’s an EXCELLENT channel to check out.

Good Bad or Bad Bad: Pass Thru

A half podcast half review show where two guys watch a terrible film, decide if it’s “Good” Bad or just Bad Bad and tell you if you should watch it too.

That’s it. That’s the whole show.

I recommend diving into the untold madness that is one of the best(?) bad film makers currently still producing batshit insane movies, the immortal Niel Breen.

There is literally nothing I can say that’ll prepare you for Niel Breen.

(I also recommend their more recent video for “Dancin’ It’s on!”)

History Buffs: Apollo 13

Do you like History? Do you like movies ABOUT History? Do you want to know if the movies about history you watch actually resemble what really happened in any way at all? History Buffs is an EXCELLENT channel, which does talk about the merit of a film itself, but is mainly focused on letting you know just how true to life that historical film you watch is. I highly recommend his longest video which covers the space race between the USA and the USSR, leading to what is known as “The most Successful Failure in NASA’s History”. The Infamous Apollo 13 and where the words “Houston, we have a problem” came from.

If you’re not interested in Apollo 13 however, I also recommend his video on the movie Casino, as well as his video on the female philosopher, Agora.

The Internet Historian: The Goodening of No Man’s Sky

With videos with literally MILLIONS of views, you probably already know the Internet Historian. But I still want to recommend him very highly because his videos are just THAT good and entertaining. I recommend his newest video, documenting that time we were all pissed off about No Man’s Sky, the difficulties the game studio was in when the game released, and how they have been working hard to finally create what is now a truly brilliant game which is winning major awards. A really good underdog story of how a video game company actually saw what was wrong with their game, and FIXED it.

I also recommend his video on Fallour 76 as well as the Failure of Dashcon

8 Creepy Video game mysteries

Hey. Did you know that sometimes there’s some REALLY weird shit in video games, hidden easter eggs which took literal decades to find as well as just a lot of “what the actual fuck?”. Oddheader is a channel with a dedicated discord and Reddit form solely focusing on trying to find or replicate bizarre video game finds, mysteries, and hidden glitches. Even if it means getting in his car and driving to a specific arcade just to check a rumour about Street Fighter II’s arcade version. So if you like getting spooked by weird game shit that’s not just some dumb creepypasta, this is a great place to start.

I also recommend his video on weird discoveries in DVDs and movies.

Red Letter Media: Best of the Worst

Look you already know who Red Letter Media is.

You know... these guys:

Here’s a video of them and Macaulay Culkin watching 3 terrible movies together.

I recommend literally any and all of their videos. Their discussion on Carpenter’s The Thing is amazing.

The Impact of Akira: The film that changed Everything

Ok trying to pick just ONE Super Eyepatch Wolf video is literal torture. Originally I was going to suggest his recent video on Final Fantasy 7 for the PSone but I realised I recommended something FF7 related with Clemps, so instead I will recommend The Impact of Akira, a video talking in depth about Akira both as a film as well as a manga, how it completely and utterly changed the anime industry both in Japan as well as the west, and why it is still a meaningful and one of the most important anime/manga even to this day, still being unsurpassed despite so much competition.

However, ALL of Wolf’s videos are incredible, so I also recommend his videos on wrestling (despite me not caring about wrestling at all), His video on how media scares us, The bizarre reality of modern Simpsons, Why the Dragon Ball Z manga is great, and literally any other video he’s made. He hasn’t made one bad video yet.

Was Oblivion as Good as I remember?

Exactly what it says on the tin. The Salt Factory goes back to playing The Elder Scrolls Oblivion and now with hindsight and modern sensibilities, gives feedback on his experience and whether Oblivion still holds up. This isn’t a super in depth review of the game’s mechanics or how its put together or how it was made. This is simply one guy talking about his experience replaying it with somejokes thrown in and how he felt revisiting it. It’s pretty good.

I also recommend the video he did on Morrowind (because I’m biased).

Weird Japan Only PS1 games

Thor High Heels is SO GOOD and deserves SO MUCH MORE subs than he currently has. THH focuses a lot of obscure and lesser known games as well as big popular titles like the Yakuza series, talking about what he likes about them, what he thinks is cool, and just what kind of atmosphere and mood a certain game has, even if the game itself is kind of ass. He’s done several videos on games that were only released in Japan, as well as videos talking about the fashion in Squaresoft games and how it inspired as well as was inspired by real world street fashion, the aesthetic of PC-98 games and other topics. He also styles his videos and thumbnails after promotional art for video games from the 90s and generally just has an excellent style to his channel over all. Very chill.

Blue Reflection Review

ValkyrieAurora is a channel run by Sophie where she talks about games she personally likes and enjoys. Her videos are really laid back and her voice is really calm and pleasant to listen to. She’s made a bit of a reputation for herself as “The channel that talks about the Atelier Games” and general is just a really enjoyable channel worth checking out if you just want something soothing to listen to.

Ancient Chinese Historians Describe Japan

Voices from the Past is a channel were historical text is read out loud in english. These can be anything like the above video where Chinese historians describe the people of Japan around 297 AD, Accounts of “Dog-Men”, or the worlds oldest letter of complaint from 1750 BC. If you’d like something interesting historically to listen to but don’t want a full blown history lesson, this is a really good way to hear contemporary people talk about their experiences and what they thought about each other in their own words, without opinions or input given by the narrator.

The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet

Whang! is a channel that covers weird internet stories, some horrifying, some curious and interesting, and some just plain weird. His video on The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet and its update, are about a song which was recorded off the radio in Germany around the 1980s, and after one person online asked if anyone knew who the artist was as they couldn’t find any information, led to the realization that NOBODY online knows where this song came from or who sang it. It’s a fun mystery to look into that, unlike some others on this list, is not creepy or unsettling, although perhaps a little frustrating.

I also recommend his video on The Most Mysterious Anime theme song, and the haunted Ebay Painting.

5 Lost, Destroyed, and Locked away Broadcasts

Yesterworld is similar to the Defunctland channel in that it talks about obsolete rides, theme parks and other forgotten pieces of entertainment. Although the majority of the channel focuses on movie rides, rollercoasters and Disneyland, I recommend the video on lost and locked away broadcasts which you can no longer see. I also recommend the video about Lost and Rediscovered movie props.

The Nightmare Artist

I talked about this one recently as I just discovered this channel. This video is about the renowned Polish artist Zdzislaw Beksinski who painted surreal and horrifying paintings during his lifetime. There is no mystery here or anything like that, it merely talks about the impact WWII left on Beksinski and how the trauma his country and people suffered influenced his painting, and how certain images and motifs can be seen to directly reference this terrible part of Poland’s history.

Disabilities in Prehistory

Modern media likes to portray how “savage” the ancient past is, and tell us stories of how any person born with a deformity or disability would be thrown over a cliff or dumped in a well because they would be too big a drain on a community to look after. But here’s the thing... according to archaeological evidence, it turns out our ancient ancestors actually did their best to look after its disabled members to the best of their abilities. This video talks about archaeological finds of people who had genetic disabilities and what we can learn from their remains. TREY the Explainer is a great channel for archaeology and also talking about what answers we could have for sightings of cryptids. (not ALL of which we have answers for)

I also recommend his video on Pre-Contact dogs as well as Homosexuality in Nature and the Genetic History of the Ainu.

Decoding “The Secret: A treasure Hunt”

“The Secret” was an art book released in the 80s full of beautiful paintings, but it is also more than that. The book has a fantasy story talking about 12 fantastical races who left wonderful treasures for humans to find,and the book’s paintings and riddles will tell you where you can find each of these treasures which are yours to keep if you can solve the puzzle... and the treasures are 100% true and can actualy be found and claimed, if you can solve the riddles in the book. The video tells the story of the artbook, who was behind it, what the treasures are, how many have been found and various other facts and details.

I also recommend the videos on this channel “The Game: A scavenger Hunt” and “The investigation of Erratas”.

5 Ancient Inventions That Were WAY Ahead Of Their Time

I would recommend you be careful with this channel as its main focus is existentialism and rather alarming topics such as “how close are we to the apocalypse” and other things whose titles alone are enough to upset me. However this video is nothing like that. This video is exactly what the title suggests it is. 5 ancient inventions that were so incredibly ahead of their time you’d think they were made up. From the computer used by ancient Greeks to steel swords we don’t know how to replicate, this video is a great mix of mystery and history.

Although I caution you with this channel, I recommend Joe’s other videos about mysterious books, as well as his video on the most inbred people in history.

However, I know I keep repeating this, I highly recommend caution with this channel. Perhaps its just me and the topics of life and existent are just triggering for me, but I’d recommend maybe just doing a search for the titles I mentioned and not to go searching through the video library unless you’re not bothered by this kind of thing.

Anyway I could keep going, but I think that’s a LARGE amount of videos to keep you occupied for the time being as well as some suggestions for further viewing.

Please enjoy, let me know if you found something interesting, and look after yourself!

If you enjoyed this list at all, please consider tipping me for a coffee

☕️ Ko-fi ☕️

#self isolation #Youtube #Links #Recommended #recommendations #documentary #long post #ask to tag #tumblr ate the 'read more' I put on this so screw it #Just scroll past or hit J to skip this if you want #No editing we die like men

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courtwizardsirdoctorclydesdale · 3 years

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Laura (1944) dir. Otto Preminger

"In one of the most celebrated 1940s film noirs, Manhattan detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) investigates the murder of Madison Avenue executive Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) in her fashionable apartment. On the trail of her murderer, McPherson quizzes Laura's arrogant best friend, gossip columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) and her comparatively mild fiancé, Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price). As the detective grows obsessed with the case, he finds himself falling in love with the dead woman."

Laura is a classic noir and one of my personal firsts. I actually stumbled across it while looking for another of Tierney's films, but opted for this one instead because of the absurdity of the synopsis. Given that I can't even recall what I was origninally attempting to find I would say this movie left an impression.

Despite its synopsis the plot is actually rather well conceived, the characters each have understandable motivations and flaws, with none of their actions seeming out of place. The mystery in this "mystery-noir" isnt very complicated but its also not poorly concieved. Only a few, if standard, plot holes really bog it down without being outright detrimental to the story.

Mechanically speaking its nothing special. The odd shot here and there and some padding occasionally, but its mostly just serviceable. A few iconic shots yet remain, most notably the interrogation, the final scene and my personal favorite the scene with McPherson alone at Laura's apartment really carry the classic noir visuals and lighting you'd expect. Most of the praise you hear for the movie are about the soundtrack done by David Raskin, which carries an odd sort of optimism most 40's soundtracks tended to adopt but still felt unique enough to carry the identity of the film.

On my personal notes for the film I must say my favorite aspects include the performances and the set design. The set design is excellent, every prop of every room lets you know that it's taking place in high society, everyone barring our own detective is of the elite. From the chairs to the clocks, to the actual custom made painting of Gene Tierney "The most beautiful woman in film history."

The only actor who did less than good, was Vincent Prince who gave an honstly average performance for the time. Some other details I appreciated was Laura filling the role of the "Femme Fatale" without adhering to the trope itself, she played a self actualized character which was pleasant to watch. McPherson is a wonderful trope, as the noir protag, being a dashing hero, who gets the girl and agitates all the wrong people. While not innovative he really does play the part well. I particularly liked the bit where he clearly smirks at Waldo's dick.

To wrap it up Laura is an okay film, nothing to write home about, but rather pleasant and good to just relax with. If you're looking for cheesy noir inspiration then this is a good representation. Ive watched it a couple times over and its just good uncomplicated fun for a classic film. I would reccomend it to anyone interested in the genre but not quite to general audiences today.

#old movies #cinemetography #film #old hollywood #vintage #Laura #Noir #Film noir #1944 #40's

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turnupthestrobe · 4 years

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Halloween 2020 Film #1

City of the Living Dead/Gates of Hell (Lucio Fulci, 1980)

I thought, since I’m newly back on Tumblr, and sine I haven’t written in a long time, and since the world is a terrible place and it doesn’t really matter what I do, that I’d try to write about a horror film every day this month. I really sort of dislike writing about film right now, and even moreso hate writing about myself, but it’s an exercise I feel like I should participate in, and to be honest, I don’t have much else to do right now, so why not?

The first film I watched this month is Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead. Fulci emerged as a horror filmmaker int he late 70s but he’d been making movies for 20 or so years already, as kind of a journeyman, working on whatever genres were popular at the time. Early in his career, he made a number of sex comedies, which is kind of hard to imagine give the listlessness of his later films, which rely on slow, dreamlike pacing that seems fairly antithetical to the kind of madcap sex comedies popular in Italy in the 60s and early 70s.

Fulci fared much better with two excellent giallo films, Lizard in a Woman’s Skin and Don’t Torture a Duckling, and in westerns, especially the devastating Four of the Apocalypse, which despite it’s old west milieu, could arguably be seen as a horror film as well.

He made his first proper horror film in 1977, with the Psychic, but it was 1979′s Zombie that brought him his first attention from horror fans in America (it was featured on the 8th cover of Fangoria magazine). Released in Italy as a Bootleg sequel to George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, Zombie’s mix of gauzy atmosphere, over the top gore and an grinding, pulsating synth score by Italian soundtrack mainstay Fabio Frizzi caught audiences’ attention around the world and bumped Fulci’s reputation from talented if not especially visionary working filmmaker to cult horror legend.

Fulci followed Zombie up with a handful of films revealing his unique vision as a filmmaker. His imprint on his films is primarily aesthetic, as he showed little interest in putting together a coherent narrative and had any quality performances thwarted by his films being postdubbed, which was standard for Italian genre films at the time, making them easier to dub for foreign markets.

This period of Fulci’s career resulted in some of his best work, namely City of the Living Dead (1980) and the Beyond (1981), which made up kind of a loose trilogy with slightly lesser The House by the Cemetery (1981). These films show Fulci at his most aesthetically pronounced, following vague, ephemeral and ethereal threads and obsessions, not the any foregone conclusions, but in a kind of phantasmagorical. almost psychedelic vein.

These films are full of atmosphere, slow burn drama punctuated with shocking acts of violence. The extreme gore of these Fulci films became something of a director’s hallmark, as did he preoccupation with eyeballs, seem often in closeup and more than occasionally in states of distress or mutilation.

Watching the City of the Living Dead again this year- I think it’s the best of Fulci’s early 80′s films, the most atmosphere and “complete” feeling in terms of creating a tone of absolutely dread and despair (The Beyond, meanwhile, is the more fun and exciting of these films, though it certainly has its share of creepy and disturbing moments), I was struck by a few things.

The eye trauma thing is almost a joke among horror fans. People love to point it out as though it weren’t very much obvious and on the surface of the films. Fulci was fascinated with eyes, both showing them in extreme closeup and occasionally mutilating them in graphic ways. This motif actually fits into the narrative of City of the Living Dead, and to an extent the Beyond, as both films feature moments where characters are destroyed be seeing. The idea is perhaps that there are some things that are so horrible, simply seeing them is a horror unto itself, one that can result in the body’s expulsion of organs or, simply, life.

The gore in these films serves a similar purpose, I think. Fulci really escalated the goriness of his films through his career, with later films like A Cat in the Brain becoming especially disgusting, but also self-referrential (Fulci plays a version of himself in that one). Like the idea of seeing something so horrible it destroys our lives, Fulci strove to put to most horrible images he could imagine on screen.

As much, City of the Living Dead is at moments pornographically violent, with a character getting a drill through his head in close up, and another vomiting up her intestines upon viewing the visage of a dead priest who serves as one of the avatars of ultimate evil in the film. Again the idea seems to be showing the viewer, as the character, something so terrible it cannot be unseen, a co-mingling of many contemporary horror tropes from the body horror of the early Cronenberg films to the silent, cannibalistic masses of George Romero to dark and unstoppable evil that lurks around the corner in John Carpenter’s Halloween to the supernatural elements of The Exorcist, the Omen and the Ammiityville horror.

And yet, at the same time, I don’t think Fulci was operating by some kind of thesis of the nature of horror, or by the nature of seeing. His films are too loose and shambling, too detatched, for him to have much of an intellectual agenda as a director. Rather, I think he distilled these popular elements instinctually and regurgitated them through his own filter, a combination or personal obsession and adherence to the demands of the marketplace.

In truth, I am the last person in the world who gives a fuck about authenticity in film, but Fulci is remarkable in that he managed to be both fully authentic, adhering to a person vision and aesthetic, and yet entirely inauthentic, making films without any particularly welll-developed narrative or actual sense of artistry or personal intentional, at the same time,.

The results of this are mixed, but when they work, as in City of the Living Dead and the Beyond, the work incredibly well, creating singular nightmare scenarios that play by an internal logic that only exists within their own realities. And the notion of seeing and not being able unsee as a mechanism of horror is especially strong in the se films , particularly in the ocularly obsessed City of the Living Dead, which has a bleakness to it that highlights the sense of dream of what might be seen, what should be unseen and what the true nature of visual horror means for the viewers of a horror film.

#halloween #halloween 2020 #countdown to halloween #horror #lucio fulci #city of the living dead #gates of hell #1980 #review #film review #horror review #horror movies #personal writing #pointless exercises

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bladetea2 · 3 years

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Woodworking With Carpenters Square and Steel Grabs

"Depend on Tanner for more than 15,000 items. Our valued customers count on Tanner's experienced sales and technical support team to provide quality products on time." - Greg Genser, President and Owner, Genser Wood Products. " Tanner is an excellent source for all of our framing, siding, interior and exterior coverings, roofing material, and related products. The timing for delivery is even better once you purchase a system or kit from Tanner." Whether for home construction or commercial projects, a carpenter's square is a tool of choice. The basic carpenter's square is formed by placing two opposing sides of a triangle flat against each other and aligning them so that they are exactly parallel. The result is a measure of how much space (length x width) can be used for a particular item. For example, if a carpenter needs to frame a picture accurately and needs to know exact dimensions in order to correctly place it, he or she will use these markings to get exact specifications. The same method is used when marking walls to get a precise dimension. Other uses of carpenter squares include measuring materials to determine quantities of lumber. This is especially true for rafter tables. Measuring for rafters, or second story walls, first requires finding the appropriate carpenter's square measurement. Once this is established, accurate measurements can then be calculated for each individual rafter. Billious Inc. Using the carpenter's square to calculate precise angles and degrees is a snap. The formula for calculating right angles is F-min(angle) + B. To find B, simply multiply the number of degrees required by the angle you are working with. Using the right angles, the proper measurements can then be calculated. Using the appropriate material for the job is a breeze because everything needed is included in these simple formulas.

Carpenters often use these tools as tools to lay wood together. The plumb bob, which is a flat wooden tool similar to a mitre saw, is sometimes added to this tool. If a solid piece of wood is to be cut to a specific length, such as a beam for a stairway, then it is important to have the right measurements for each end. These tools are also used to mark strips and joints, such as those in the corners of walls and door frames. By using the appropriate markings, a craftsman can make sure that the corners of the wall or door are straight and perfectly aligned. The carpenter square can also be used to mark angled cuts. A perfect cut is difficult to get, especially at an angle. Using the proper angle, the carpenter can ensure that each cut is precise. In order to mark an angled cut accurately, it is important to make sure that the carpenter square is leveled and accurate. Measuring the angle between two squares of different sizes, then using the size as the base measurement for one side and the other side, will make marking a perfect angle a snap. The carpenter square and steel square also come in handy when marking fire doors and walls. Using these measuring tools allows builders to make sure that the building is fire resistant. This is especially true for larger structures, like houses or hospitals. The carpenter squares and steel squares have been around for centuries, but their accuracy has improved significantly over the years. While square and steel blades were initially made manually, they are now fully computerized. These measuring tools can be found in many stores, including home improvement stores. While they may not be as precise as their mechanical ancestors, they are still highly effective.

#precision #framing #lights #tool #building

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disappointingyet · 4 years

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The Unbelievable Truth

Director Hal Hartley Stars Adrienne Shelly, Robert Burke, Mark Chandler Bailey USA 1989 Language English 1hr 30mins Colour

Auspicious debut

If you’d asked me in 1992 who my favourite young movie director was, I’d probably have said Hal Hartley. I was really taken with Hartley’s early films, which I felt were sharp and funny and distinctive. But it’s been a very long time since I’ve watched any of them, so I thought I’d revisit his feature debut, The Unbelievable Truth.

The Unbelievable Truth mostly takes place in suburban Long Island. At the time it felt like a lot of US indie movies came from unglamorous places that were about an hours’ drive or train ride from New York City. Towns where bright young kids would probably feel bored and trapped, and yet with the cinemas and book stores and record shops of the East Village within reach at the weekend. That description applies equally to the filmmakers and their characters.

Here, that character is Audry (Adrienne Shelly), who has applied to Harvard, is obsessed with the threat of nuclear annihilation and has clearly outgrown her doofus of a boyfriend, Emmet (Gary Sauer). When we first see the two of them together, Emmet is dressed in a new suit with a fat tie, Audry is mostly wearing black. They have a ‘conversation’ that’s actually two paralllel monologues, his full of Reaganite nonsense, hers full of teen doom. (She says later: ‘Emmet wears boxer shorts with dollar signs on them’ – I don’t think that’s a metaphor).

Meanwhile, Josh (Robert Burke) has arrived back in town after years in prison. Josh is notorious locally, even though everyone has a differing account of what he has done. Audry, predictably, is drawn towards this mysterious guy who seems the opposite of Emmet.

Burke – who you’ll probably recognise from one of his long TV series stints – does not look like an indie movie lead in any of the most common forms. He’s not a Steve Buscemi or a Bill Murray or an Adam Driver. Here, he mostly makes me think of Clint Eastwood. Josh looks lean and dangerous, although Bruce actually plays him as patient and self-aware and just trying to keep a low profile, which is a bit difficult with the character’s past.

Shelly, who my memory insists was even better in Hartley’s next film, Trust, is spot-on as Audry, one of those kids who temporarily get the idea that because they read lots of books they are somehow ‘better’ than their less-educated parents and exes. She’s got a bunch of lines I like, including, “I want to be a carpenter. Jesus was a carpenter. He was a radical. I like radicals.’

The supporting cast are all excellent – I particularly like Mark Chandler Bailey as Mike, the guitar-playing mechanic, and Kathering Mayfield as Audry’s mother. Like most people in this film other than the leads, they only have a handful of credits. Exceptions to that are Matt Malloy (you’ll know the face) and Edie Falco (that’s her with Burke in the diner a couple of pics up), both then at the start of long and busy careers. Also briefly in the film as well as working as a wardrobe supervisor was Kelly Reichardt, who went on become one of the finest directors around.

So what are what are the key elements of Hartley’s early style? One is characters behaving in a melodramatic way that the film itself undercuts. There are occasional intertitles saying something like MEANWHILE. There are verbal riffs that are repeated or semi-repeated. Characters often talk at apparent cross-purposes.

And most memorably, the characters often move as if they are doing modern dance rather than attempting to be naturalistic. We’re introduced to this from the start, particularly when Josh carries Pearl into the diner, and it continues from Emmet’s absurd attempts to start fights, and – best of all – the whole of the long final sequence. It might sound pretentious and off-putting as an idea, but I find it compelling, often funny, sometimes poignant.

Hartley has carried on making films, although I’m not sure when the last one to get beyond the festival circuit was. He lost me with 1997’s Henry Fool, although he was so into the film that he made a whole trilogy about its characters…

But The Unbelievable Truth holds up. Rewatching, I still think it’s funny and stylish and fresh.

#hal hartley #adrienne shelly

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fuse2dx · 4 years

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August ‘20

Ruiner

Ruiner frames its action at an isometric tilt. There’s a lot of red; in the game’s interface, as the prominent colour of the neon lighting that adorns its stages, and in the blood that is frequently spilled. Its cyberpunk setting isn’t anything particularly new, but as a unifying aesthetic, the glitchy effects, and out-there personalities doing their best to cope in a dystopia do well to build a convincing and intriguing world. Stages are action packed and throb with electronic noise and big loud industrial bass hits, with the play being akin to an arena shooter; enemies surging at you in bite size, minute-at-a-time waves, with each of these closing out with a grading screen serving as the pat on the back to keep that dopamine rhythm pulsing. It’s a pretty hypnotic cocktail.

These stages evolve out of a singular hub city, and while it’s not particularly big, there’s just the right level of hubbub, and it has a lovely Hirusawa Susumu track acting as an excellent, melancholic mood-setter. Based on the size of its world and the the quick-fire action being split between a very small number of stages, it’s not surprising to say it’s fairly brief - I mean, how could it get so big? But what is important is that it’s plenty of fun and and has style by the bucketload. I got a good kick out of it.

Carrion

On one hand, a horror game where you play the horror is just the kind of flip on a genre that’s needed to freshen things up a bit. On the other, it’s one straight out of the spoof ‘Peter Molydeux’ playbook. What a carri-on.

... I’m sorry. After your initial escape from a lab, Carrion centres around a hub world, with individual stages then breaking off to allow for more specific themed stages. What you’re trying to do within these is to spread your big, goopy self around, where certain spots will act as save points but also count toward unlocking an alternative path back to the hub and opening up new routes in the process. What’s unique to this particular metroidvania take is that while there are new skills that open up new routes, your movement in general is uniquely freeform - point in a direction and off you go, free of any worries about platforming and the gravity that’d otherwise bind you. While it may not be the most precise movement given the size to which you grow - and boy does this become a point during some forms of combat - it does remain responsive, and quite fun to simply shamble about like a giant congealed blob of bloody, multi-toothed sinew-y mess. Everything scales up nicely on both sides of the fighting, with distraught pistol-equipped humans turning to shielded folks with flamethrowers, all the way up to drones and mechs that are just as mobile and / or deadly as yourself, even in spite of your own upgrades that allow for more ranged, varied, and sharper extremities. It’s not especially long, and is never so taxing as to demand too much expertise of you, but it is fun and importantly, quite unlike anything else out there.

Yoku’s Island Express

Pinball continues to feel like a lost art form to me, with the nuance of skilled play being more like a foreign language than another type of game you can easily pick up. Yoku, newly-appointed postmaster, is but a tiny little bug, and as such is indebted to these skills in his efforts to travel and clamber about an environment much larger than he. Flippers are casually littered about to shoot you from one area to the next, but there’s also plenty of sections you’re led to by the story that are small yet just detailed enough to play like a neatly sectioned off area of a complete table - complete with requirements for precise shots to move forward, and those inevitable moments where you have to sit back and watch as your ball falls with miserable, exacting precision between the flippers. Failure typically sets you back a few pickups, but given these are just as quickly re-earned, you’re never punished too hard - there’s certainly no three strikes and out mentality here. It’s a very friendly interpretation of pinball’s mechanics, and there’s a decent enough story layered on top, with its characters and art demonstrating enough pleasant charm that you can definitely see this being a great way to introduce pinball to a younger audience. That’s not to say it’s not enjoyable from an older player’s point of view - just that you know what’s being presented is a wisely palatable version of a classic hobby, rather than the arse-kicking ordeal you may be used to.

Rime

I am certain that Rime would love me to compare it to a certain Fumito Ueda PS2 game. There’s the ultra-minimal scene that’s set as a boy washes up on an island; a sparse, beautiful, somewhat Mediterranean set of landscapes, and with very few ways to interact with it all that don’t involve clambering over things or shouting out in wordless desperation. But as you’ll have noted, I haven’t found it in myself to justify using that game’s name here.

As much as I wanted to give this a chance, it often felt directionless, uninspired, and at worst, slow and tedious. The puzzles are derivative of any number of games I’ve played before, and the biggest danger is that you might assume as to their difficulty and over-engineer your approach, rather than not be able to tackle them. The platforming is simplistic and regularly drawn out with ledges, ledges, and more ledges to climb across and dangle from; even if you were to find a way to fall to your doom, as is tempting, it is unlikely to take you back much further than a few seconds. Crucially, there’s really very little to sink your teeth into on any front, and even when the game does finally start to weave some plot threads into the game’s canvas, it’s well into the latter half - long after I’d already racked my brains for any hint of an allegory that’d fit, and given up on expecting one. Sadly, to the point that the actual story felt like a cheap afterthought when it did finally start to unravel. This bounced off me much harder than I’d expected - I came away wishing it had forged a bit more of an identity and a purpose rather than just an aesthetic strung together with some weak elements of play.

If Found

As far as interactive elements in visual novel-type games go, If Found has a different approach to most. The story’s primarily told by means of a diary - one that’s full of witty observations, personal reflections and enigmatic sketches - that you actively erase as a means to push events along. The diary belongs to Kasio, a trans girl returning to their small Irish hometown after a stint away at university in the city; a return that’s not met in the warmest or most understanding fashion. As a mechanic, the erasure of this diary is loaded with meaning; peeling back layers of a scene often matches a more poignant set of observations, and the scrubbing of such personal details away offers a painful reflection on an identity being chipped away at. It’s very much a story about finding one’s self, about coming of age, and as it rides these highs and lows it does an excellent job in making you ride along these alongside the characters, and it does one hell of a job to make you think about the compassion that you both see and offer in the world outside. I’ll put my hands up and say that there are some elements of the story running in parallel to this main one that didn’t gel with me quite so well, but this is a minor footnote to an otherwise highly enjoyable play through. In a short space of time, Annapurna have done a great job in winning me over with their publishing choices - particularly in holding up the kinds of voices and ideas that fit these smaller titles so perfectly.

Double Kick Heroes

It’s a rhythm game. I like rhythm games! It’s about a zombie apocalypse. Oh no. It’s... a heavy metal rhythm game? Ok, maybe we can work with this.

After a trailer name dropping a bunch of familiar artists - Jinjer, Carpenter Brut, Gojira - what surprised me straight off was that none of these licensed artists featured in the game’s story mode. They’re all sectioned off in a separate menu, and while on the bright side they’ve each given a unique stage with a visual theming in keeping with the bands in question, it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Instead, all tracks throughout the story were composed by just one person, and with only a small handful of featured musicians being included to diversify things. It starts with more (arguably) palatable hard rock numbers, but goes up to and includes grindcore, death metal, black metal and the like, meaning that not only is it going to put a lot of folks off right away, but that it’s asking a heck of a lot for one composer to cover all of these sub-genres with the appropriate care. While it was refreshing to hear some types of music I’d normally not expect to hear in a game, some tracks inevitably grated, and while I enjoyed some others, I wasn’t ever bowled over too strongly either.

The story itself is fairly by the numbers. It sees an on-tour band fighting back against a zombie uprising, and has unsubtle references to any number of heavy artists, albums and songs shoe-horned in at every opportunity. It also bears the hallmarks of its dialogue being written by someone that has a very particular sense of humour which personally all fell very flat. While the team undoubtably do love music, the over-enthusiastic style rubbed me in a similarly uncomfortable fashion as Jack Black does regularly, with his half-comedian, half-musician schtick. The gameplay itself is based around the drum parts of its songs also corresponding to different weaponry on your car that holds the hordes back, and while this on its own can prove tricky, higher difficulties also mounts other expectations - like steering your vehicle, or alternating pedals to shoot different parts of the screen. Some of my frustration with all of this is likely my own fault for having chosen to play on the ‘Hard’ difficulty, but traditional wisdom feels a little bit lost when you can still get damaged when your combo meter is racked up well into triple digits.

In all, Double Kick Heroes presented some pretty unique gaming scenarios; like having to work out the best controller configuration to play blast beats with, or asking out loud “did I just hear the words ‘we are Genital Absolution’ coming from a Nintendo console?”, and it’s clearly a small team working on something they really care about. I respect that. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I was hoping, but I hope they’re proud of what they’ve created.

Manifold Garden

A puzzle game taking significant inspiration from the works of M.C. Escher is a pretty good starting point in my eyes. It being presented in a wonderful manner certainly doesn’t harm either; from the UI all the way into the game, it’s beautifully clean and defined, opting for delicate shading rather than messy textures, and with its intricate, recursive geometric patterns, you’ll likely find cause to stop and take stock on a regular basis.

One button looks after your basic interactions with the world (pushing, picking up, and so on), with your other crucial way of interacting with the world being the ability to approach a surface and then assign it as ‘the new down’ - spinning everything about an axis, planting your feet to it, and changing your perspective on everything. There’s a nice steady introduction of puzzle pieces as you ease your way in, but they all stem gracefully from these simple mechanics. That I - not the world’s greatest puzzle gamer - was able to enjoy this without every getting too stuck may hint at it perhaps not being as complex as some puzzle fiends might desire, however this amounted to me coming out the other side with great waves of satisfaction, and nought but positives to say. I would go so far as to say that it’s the most fun I’ve had playing a puzzle game in a long, long time, and to boot it’s also perhaps the game where I’ve used the screenshot button the most copiously. Wonderful stuff.

#ruiner #carrion #yoku's island express #rime #double kick heroes #manifold garden

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therealconservative101 · 4 years

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Want To Put America First? Focus On Our Education

Our nation, like every other, has problems within our borders. While the media and elected officials across the nation portray our most important problems as a wall and governor’s yearbooks, we as a nation tend to ignore arguably the most important problem: our education.

We have all heard numerous times in our lives: “children are the future”, and they truly are. The students sitting in school today are the future doctors, politicians, lawyers, teachers and artists. They are also the future carpenters, electricians, plumbers laborers, and mechanics. All of these jobs are necessary for our society to function. Yet every student is taught the same as if they are all going to have the same path in life, and that is just one of the many problems in our educational system.

Everyone reading this has sat in a classroom for years and many can attest that school is not for everyone. Yet instead of focusing on students’ strengths, our nation approaches our education with a liberal arts mindset. Yes, we need our core classes like math and English but these subjects are focused on too heavily. Schools, in all levels of education across the nation, judge and rate our students on their performances in their cumulative grades in all core subjects as well as examinations in the respective subjects and this is not a true assessment of our students. The next mathematician in our country is looked down upon because he or she cannot remember how President James Polk acquired New Mexico. Just like how the future architect is judged for not remembering that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.

A liberal arts education has its benefits, however it cannot possibly help most students. Our education needs to direct our students towards specific careers and fields based on the skills and knowledge they obtain and develop in elementary and middle school. Successful education systems all over the world use this mindset such as Germany. After World War II, Germany went through the Miracle on the Rhine which centered their funding not into their military, but into several domestic policy issues such as education and it truly paid off.

In Germany, children aged three to six, may opt-in to attend kindergarten. After that, school is compulsory for nine or ten years. From grades one through four children attend elementary school (Grundschule), where the subjects taught are the same for all. Then, after the fourth grade, they are separated according to their academic ability and the wishes of their families, and attend one of three different kinds of schools: Hauptschule, Realschule or Gymnasium.

The Hauptschule (grades 5-9) teaches the same subjects as the Realschule and Gymnasium, but at a slower pace and with some vocational-oriented courses. It leads to part-time enrollment in a vocational school combined with apprenticeship training until the age of 18.

The Realschule (grades 5-10 in most city-states) leads to part-time vocational schools and higher vocational schools. There is also the possibility for students with high academic achievement at the Realschule to switch to a Gymnasium upon graduation.

The Gymnasium leads to a diploma called the Abitur and prepares students for university study or for a dual academic and vocational credential. The curriculum differs from school to school, but generally includes German, mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, art (as well as crafts and design), music, history, philosophy, civics, social studies, and several foreign languages. In recent years many states have changed the curriculum so students can get the "Abi" at the end of the 12th grade. Other city-states are making the transition but may still require a 13th grade.

This system provides different types of students with different skills and abilities with a more individual approach to education. This allows weaker students to focus on their best skills and pursue a career path where they can succeed, while allowing stronger students to garner more of the appropriate attention needed. It allows focus on different levels of intelligence in different ways unlike our educational system.

Our educational system actually does the opposite. Especially schools in urban areas of the country, our educational system suffers from a “Brain Drain”. The literal definition of this is the emigration of highly trained or intelligent people from a particular country. Focusing the term to our education, the “Brain Drain” takes highly skilled and intelligent students and places them in classrooms with students who struggle academically.

We can see radical integration of intelligence levels in schools with the current mayor of New York City, Bill De Blasio. The mayor wants to abolish the Specialized High School Admissions Test. The mayor even wrote in an op-ed for Chalkbeat(an education website) “The Specialized High School Admissions Test isn’t just flawed — it’s a roadblock to justice, progress and academic excellence,”. The mayor and many other elected officials focus more on the students demographics then students capability.

Another flawed integration of intelligence levels can be seen in “AP For All”. The name itself is the first of many problems in our education. Advanced Placement is not for everyone, in fact it is an opportunity for the students who are capable academically to take a college course in high school. While AP courses are a great addition to our schools, statistics show only 59% of the students scores showed they are qualified in the respective subject in 2018. Allowing deserving students into AP classes simply brings down the course itself once again harming the education of both the top students and the academically average or academically weak students.

While there is a laundry list of problems with the courses and curriculum in our school system, a problem that is overwhelmingly ignored is the classrooms itself. Our classrooms are extremely outdated and shows how much we truly ignore the need for improvement in our education. We have been through two different revolutions between the past three centuries; the Industrial Revolution and the Technological Revolution. Despite society completely changing during these two revolutions, our classrooms seems to have changed the same.

Our schools use bulk processing of students—lumping them by age and clustering them in groups of roughly twenty. Then, the desks in our classrooms are placed in rows that are directly parallel to the front of the room where the teacher stands showing the clear authority of the teacher. And finally, students hear a bell to know when to get up, and move on to the next classroom.

This has been the way classrooms are made for centuries, so what is the problem? The problem is that the design of the classroom and some of the behaviors that go with being in it are based on past ideals. Schools were used during the Industrial Revolution for the sole purpose of preparing children to work in factories. Classrooms continue to be designed to simulate factories preparing students for the assembly line, not for the current real world. We have an unlimited amount of resources due to the rise of the internet. Times have changed and our classrooms need to change as well. Our classrooms need more technology and less students per teacher. The classroom also needs to become comfortable for the students to develop skills and attain knowledge. Our classrooms don’t need to resemble assembly lines.

Our teachers are underappreciated and need the recognition they earned. According to the National Education Association, the average K-12 teacher earnings was only $58,353 as of 2017, which in fact is almost $3,000 less than 2010. To work so diligently and put so much dedication for the future of our nation, teachers should receive a salary that reflects the important work they provide.

As a global leader, the United States should have one of, if not the greatest, education system in the world. Yet we disappoint our teachers and our students with an embarrassment of an education. The Trump Administration is halting any possible improvement of our education with his latest budget proposal. According to the White House, the Education Budget will have a $7.1 billion or 10.5-percent decrease from the 2017 enacted level. Our teachers need to be given the resources to make a proper curriculum and courses to allow them to teach as efficiently as possible. Our nation needs to provide our students with the necessary environment and resources to learn and develop.

If our politicians truly want to put America first, they will reform our education system into an effective system. An effective system that works for all students. A system that will directly benefit our future blue collar workers and our future white collar workers. It will take time, and it will take funding, but our nation's future is priceless.

#putamericafirst

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minipliny · 5 years

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oh my GOD i hope readmore mobile doesn’t break again because i wrote more ??? moby dick ??? fanfiction??? aka pequod office comedy and i c a n n o t consign it yet to the open waters of AO3

It is an ironic circumstance, that men often receive the pleasures of life when they are least positioned to enjoy them; thus the Marquis de Lafayette, in the flourishing of his fortune and with an overladen table, received an abounding Nantucket cheese for lighting up the streets of Paris with whale oil, and was only inconvenienced by it.

This was mighty bad timing; had but a crumb of that monstrous cheddar been lowered down to him in his prison-cell, that poor Frenchman would have wept! - and just the same, the fine cheese laid before Ahab at table could have been vermescent hard-tack; it penetrated him mechanically, but that inward Bastille of the heart received no provision.

And so Ahab left his fare half-tasted, and his officers under the still spell of that silent glance no more thought of eating the remnants than of seizing the sextant from him.

The harpooners had a happier meal; they were all the brighter, for being at last in clean shirts upon a clean ship. To see the transformation wrought upon that oily deck, you should have thought our thirty hands willing and ready to take scrub-brooms to the Slough of Despond, and make light work of sixteen hundred years of filth. But something remained in their exhausted countenances of try-works ash; they looked fled from some new-fallen Troy, although, good Heavens! with an outlandish variety of household gods stowed in their trowsers-pockets. Besides, that narrow deliverance or delivery of Tashtego’s, from the whale’s case, had weighted a little on them; and Daggoo was doing what he could to make light upon it.

“First I thought,” said Daggoo, “that’s an end to their infernal pipe-smoke belowdecks! How easy I’ll breathe; how sound I’ll sleep. But then I remembered, that they’d have to make harpooneers in your places - one of the boat crews, well! - and as soon as you’d hand them a harpoon, with their arm a-tremble, they’d dart it backwards and sideways, and I’d be stuck full of irons like a hedgehog.”

From the calm and straightforward way he voiced these grim imaginings, he seemed not to be skylarking at all; Tashtego said only - “It’s not that we smoke; it’s that the carpenter sneezes.”

“And why d'ye think he sneezes?” said Daggoo.

Queequeg, having finished a trencher of salt-junk, expounded upon the excellence of tobacco for the constitution; as for being rid of Queequeg, they should have great trouble unless their captain became more inclined to social niceties, for the closest he had come to death was at the hands of a six-quart tub of molasses. This had been on his first voyage; he had been dispatched to row it over by way of sweetening a gam; a squall had blown up, the tub rocked on its bench, and pitching over had dashed poor Queequeg into the Pacific in its headlong rush. The other oarsman had made a grab for Queequeg, and disdained the tub, which wended on its lonely way.

“If I see a six-quart tub round Cape-Horn, I’ll sing out for molasses,” said Tashtego. “Hmm-mm-mm, so much for all this gamming and dancing. There was one of the crew missing when we were embarking from Honolulu - well - we thought, he’s deserted; diseased; died of dysentery; but the third mate said he’d declared a friend of his was aboard a Yankee whaler near us. He asked the captain if he’d seen the fellow - the captain turned pale - barged into the cabin. All right! there’s a muffled sound; the mate sprang open a sea-chest - there he is dead-drunk, that’s a way to recruit! More fool that captain, he was a slack fellow at the oar.”

“Oh, you don’t dance for you’re too busy yarning, Tashtego,” said Daggoo, “here! I don’t want any of this cheese.”

As for Tashtego, he had either made such short work of the salt-junk, or, having been made a harpooneer, was so relieved at being able to display any fastidiousness at all about his dinner, that he spurned that butt of cheese entirely; which left it to Queequeg, who contemplated it and then rolled the entire remnant in a pocket handkerchief and tucked it into his jacket.

“You’ll burst, Queequeg,” Tashtego said, “just when we’ve scrubbed the decks clean again.” and he prodded Queequeg with his fork by way of emphasis.

“O let him have it; when you are our Paul-Cuffe it will be a shame to be so exact about our provisions,” said Daggoo, “why, Tash! you’ll be summoned to meet the President, and he’ll say, what a dashing sort of whale-captain, but why d'ye starve your men of cheese?"

"All right, oil your boat with it for all I care,” Tashtego said, blowing a spiral of smoke up to the heavens, though it stopped at the cabin-rafters, “there’s $200 advance on my pay sold already to an agent, for my wife in Gay-Head; there’s my ambition done."

As for Daggoo, he slanted Queequeg a long look, but kept his own counsel.

There, you may, say, what unprepossessing details of men who furnish forth such splendid feats for your narrative, Ishmael; what d'ye bother us with these for? Well, here are the Pagan harpooneers at rest, and therefore in miniature. I have seen the curious sort of theatre they have on the Java Islands, and the players for it. What possesses their makers, to paint their faces so intricately, and to adorn their clothing in queer chasings of gold and azure and vermilion, I know not; for, the stage being rigged in cotton cloth, the oil-lamps being kindled, what extraordinary, gigantic forms live and move before you! what supernatural shapes appear, from a little flat-leather puppet made by a mortal hand! but as for the detailing, you can’t see a scrap of it.

As for that Paul Cuffe, who was entertained by no other than James Madison, I myself have not met him; but his son entertained me very hospitably at his estate near Stockbridge, having a Nantucket-friend in common with me, and being desirous of some briny reminiscences of the Atlantic from which he was now barred.

How curiously are traced out the paths of a man’s fate! for that son was a Quaker by birth and conviction, a sober merchantmen and whaler; but when but a boy, the hour of national fate came upon him, his love of country pressed him to service, and in 1812 he shipped upon a vessel, with a letter of marque.

God only knows, if one of the Englishmen who jailed him so cruelly as a Yankee, had a father who had been outraged that the elder Cuffe be jailed in Massachusetts as a Black Indian.

He afterwards set out again in his former professions; lived very peacably among Catholics and South-Seas heathens; and by reason of a crippling of his foot, had lately turned yeoman-farmer to the family estate.

Let us leave that much-travelled mariner under his own vine and fig-tree, and turn ourselves to Queequeg; who had ventured up on deck, and hailed me where I sat leaning against the ship’s furniture. He cut a good figure, whether or no bloody, blubberous and dishevelled; but let us say that his ablutions had served to gild that lily, and that we greet our fellow-man more joyfully when that joy is unmixed with fright. The same, I am sure, applied to my own proper person.

As for what I had been employed in doing for some hours, the answer is - nothing, but lose a game of dominoes to a Portugese sailor. Three cheers, then, to the grand old customs of whaling! for what confusion, what seas of ink have been spilled, what astrological ransackings between calendars Babylonian, Hindu, Hebrew, Parsi, Julian and Gregorian, upon fixing a rest-day. But the Sabbath, to be enjoyed upon a whale ship, is simply and according to the laws of hygiene and common-sense, fastened upon the day after trying out. For, aside from the scrubbing here mentioned, and setting men to the mast-heads and the wheel, which is a work of necessity, no duties are assigned. And for men who have laboured night and day so ceaselessly and amid such smoke and heat, what could be sweeter than rest! what more reasonable!

These laws of whaling-Sabbath, however, are not so strict, as not to be revoked, the instant a whale should be spotted.

So there we sat, exchanging pleasantries, when Queequeg took hold of my hand, turned it over, and deftly palmed something in it in a pocket-handkerchief.

At that instant, he declared to me, that it was a relief to him that the spermaceti was decanted entirely into barrels; since if I took a fancy to cast myself into it, he should only have to haul me out by the ankles.

This thought astounded and distracted me; so that my countenance certainly did not display any culpability in the matter of the cheddar-cheese. In fact, upon quietly unwrapping it, I was filled with a sort of unnameable awe. It struck me very forcibly that it had been carved already; and carved at the captain’s table, and thus by the captain’s fork; so that graven upon it, and perhaps magnified homeopathically a hundred- or a thousand-fold, were the gloomy impressions of Ahab’s teeth!

Nevertheless, in all my reveries, upon the tabooed nature of this cheddar-cheese, I was rapidly taking a bite from it; and would have continued, had I not heard the distinctive tread of the first mate. I stuffed the cheese into my jacket as fast as the Spartan-boy in the fable; it seemed to burn there.

Now, Starbuck being a thoughtful first mate, he had noted, that in the entire practical business of whaling, Queequeg had been my preceptor; and that I had submitted to his experienced judgement countless and perhaps supernumerary queries on this subject. This struck Starbuck as laudable, inasfar as the responsibility of the harpooneers to the oarsmen went; and excellent, as to the safety of the boat. For certainly as a boy-whaler he had dogged the steps of his own elders, and, the hands aboard a whaler growing greener, with every year he was employed in this business, that instruction grew ever more necessary.

But as to Queequeg, in the second dog-watch, having collapsed almost to the point of insensibility in retrieving his colleague out of a sperm whale head - as to Queequeg, who would be about again at one o'clock in the morning to superintend the watch - as to Queequeg having to be a schoolmaster at this hour, this was an excess.

"There, that’s duty done and more than done,” said Starbuck, “rest ye, man."

Queequeg being very cheerfully engaged in what he was doing, did what he could to convey, that these southern stars below the Equator had a sweet smack of home for him - being not so distant from the arrangement of constellations, that were at once making their storied motions over his parents and married sister - and that he should rather then rest on deck.

All this had once furnished material for a domestic dispute between myself and Queequeg on the subject of the Milky Way; for, try as I might, I could not convince him that this being a lactatious splattering of a Greek goddess was not some freak or hobby-horse of my own, and the general belief of the Christian world. We had to call in the old Manxman for arbitration.

Besides the meaning, there are the specifics of that starry almanac, which marked out for Queequeg so precisely the flourishings of different crops - I should have made a very poor gentleman-farmer, as I was too saddened that the cultivation even of yam and taro was so exacting a science, rather than being furnished forth without the attendant curse of Adam, to pay a very profound attention.

As for these ideas being conveyed, which between boat-header and steerer were more usually along practical lines, the married-sister did materialise a moment in the mind of Starbuck; but in a very plain sort of guise! and without the peace-treaty, that had attended her betrothal.

"Here’s one man’s stars my own reversed - well, Starbuck, but familiar all; never has my heart misgiven me before, to see the Bears sink out of view; I traverse one Creation. And how low swung and sank that whale-head - nearly to the very deeps, if not arrested! Is’t too clear a sign, to see a man brought out from it? And yet those sweet assurances I might have had from this seem most invisibly bright, and dipped beyond mine own horizon.”

And seeing Queequeg still stood patiently at his station, said “As seems well to you, Queequeg; but rest.”

Starbuck went briskly then about the decks, with an inspecting eye, as of a man heedless of his own advice, and bent upon wresting out of the good condition of the tackles, the boats, the rigging, and all the sundries, some plank of certainty. Queequeg however, as a man will when recalled to his own exhaustion, lent his head upon my shoulder, and closed his eyes. The reader may be familiar with this mingling of sensations; how there steals over that one furnishing himself for a pillow a most loving, amiable, and sweet feeling, and at that self-same moment, over that shoulder and then that arm a gradual numbness, so that Queequeg dozed upon a marmoreate flank of mine.

I remained ten more minutes awake, in the quiet consumption of the cheese, which was as a foretaste of paradise after months of forking down bits of duff. As to the implications to the law of property, let it be said it was fairly the harpooneers’ to dispose of, and if Aristotle is right that two friends are but one soul, that inhabit different bodies, then Queequeg in one this occasion pasturing me on cheddar, was only pasturing himself.

I was half-awake, and happily replete, when Starbuck passed me by again; and gave myself and Queequeg a brief and desolate glance. He had not meant, I think, to embark upon an idle conversation, but if you picture Achilles, after his chariot-horses had spoken that once to him, standing with curry-comb in hand, and without reason or expectation, still hoping for another word - so Starbuck, standing in silence upon the forecastle deck.

#my writing #moby dick

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