#Also SE please give me more worn out items

[volkswagonblues]

a lil guide to the Fire Nation for the ATLA fic writers out there

(aka. a no means exhaustive primer on east asia by an asian person)

This is a guide for fic writers want to write a canon-era story set in the Fire Nation, or featuring Fire Nation characters. A quick little primer on the tiny details of everyday life that you might not think about, but certainly stuff that would make me, an asian person, wince if I were to encounter it. BRUSHES, not quills. CHOPSTICKS, not forks. 

(note #1: this was partly inspired by a chat with @elilim​) 

(note: #2:  I originally intended it for zukka fic writers before realizing that other writers might find it useful. so apologies for a slight Zuko-bias for that reason)

(note #3: this is all stuff i was thinking about when writing firebender’s guide, in case anyone was wondering)

1. CLOTHING

Okay, I think the most straightforward way to describe what everyone’s wearing most of the time is “tunic”. They’re all just...tunics of different colours and varieties. Later when Zuko’s the Fire Lord he wears robes. The show provides a better visual guide than I could, here are a few notes to keep in mind:

a) Japanese people wear their collars LEFT crossed over RIGHT

I don’t think this would come up in writing as much as it would in art, but it’s considered bad luck to do it the wrong way because that’s only for dead people. Let my boy Zuko demonstrate:

b) There are no buttons

This is picky, but Wikipedia says “Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothes appeared first in Germany in the 13th century.[6] They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe.” I kinda believe it. If you look closely, characters’ clothes are always tied together or wrapped in some way with a belt. If there are fasteners, they’re braided frog closures that go into a little loop, like the qipao-style dresses women wear in Ba Sing Se, or Zuko’s casual prince’s clothes in the topmost image. Anyways, I don’t think Zuko or Azula or the Gaang would technically button or unbutton anything when they’re changing clothes. Clothing is designed to be tied, not buttoned.

[so much more under cut]

c) This isn’t a real rule, but there’s something called koromogae, or the seasonal changing of clothing in Japan.

This is something I learned when I was writing firebender’s guide, and I just liked the fun detail about there being a strict calendar for when to wear something. I liked the idea of someone like Zuko, who actually spent most of his formative years outside of the Fire Nation, coming home and just suffering mutely through the summer heat because upper class etiquette says no changing into cooler clothes until August 15. 

From My Asakusa: 

And this website:

Generally, people change from thick, heavy, dark-coloured clothes for winter to thin, lighter, bright-coloured clothes for spring and summer. In traditional Japanese culture, particularly in formal settings such as tea ceremony, it is important to acknowledge the changes of seasons—in such circumstances, not only the patterns and colours of the kimono that are worn but also the utensils and furniture that are used are required to change. By changing their clothing, people notice and appreciate the change of seasons. [Japan Foundation]

Here are some visual guides from the official creators for clothes: (notice how it’s pretty much always left over right)

2.FOOD AND EATING

a) Traditional cuisine

It seems like the most common foods in canon are Fire Flakes and meat, to the point where poor Aang had to eat lettuce out of the garbage at some point.

HOWEVER, the Fire Nation seems to basically a big subtropical archipelago, so I would guess that seafood and rice are common. If you want to write about characters eating, a. quick google for “traditional japanese cuisine” would help you come up with a menu really quickly.

Wikipedia says:

The traditional cuisine of Japan, washoku (和食), lit. "Japanese eating" (or kappō (ja:割烹)), is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes; there is an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Side dishes often consist of fish, pickled vegetables, and vegetables cooked in broth. Seafood is common, often grilled, but also served raw as sashimi or in sushi.

But before we get too serious, at one point the Gaang eats a “smoked sea slug” (Sokka’s Master) 

Oh ATLA, never stop being you.

b) Utensils

One thing to keep in mind is chopstick etiquette. Someone like Zuko or Toph, for instance, would have completely internalized all of these.

Another thing is that there are no glasses. Cups and bowls are made of ceramic or clay. Let the Gaang show you:

And another note: characters won’t eat “bread” in the European sense, ie. a baked lump of dough. Steamed buns, yes. Fried pancakes made from batter, yes. Flatbreads, okay I’ll give it a pass. Rice or noodles should be the most common carbs of choice.

3.ETIQUETTE

“In the homeland, we bow to our elders” - angry schoolmistress in The Headband.

Japan Guide has a list of etiquette rules for visiting Japan, which is interesting but not too necessary to read. In general, based on what The Headband tells us, Fire Nation characters would have been raised with a strong nationalist curriculum that values communal contribution over individualist expression. Even someone like Zuko, who openly rebels against that, probably couldn’t help but be affected by it. In general the Fire Nation seems to have an East Asian-ish set of values. It’s patriarchal, all the positions of authority are filled by men; there seems to be a strong emphasis on patriotism; there’s a sense of diffidence and respect towards one’s elders; and finally, there’s an emphasis on “knowing” one’s place in society and fitting into what’s expected of oneself.

I don’t really know how to describe it, but in China and Japan I sometimes feel like there’s rules for everything, and even people born and raised there acknowledge it could be stifling at times. You could go down a rabbit hole researching points of etiquette (for instance, rules on who has to sit where in group dinners...), but to me the most important thing is acknowledging that Fire Nation has a rigid system of etiquette, and also, they’re an imperialist power who’s pretty prejudiced against foreigners. Poor Aang/Kuzon gets called “mannerless colony slob” just for being slow on the bowing action (!!!)

(in firebender’s guide I had a lot of fun imagining the stupid microaggressions Ambassador Sokka has to face in the Fire Nation, so obviously I’m just biased)

4.WRITING AND DESKS

Characters would probably write on paper, with a calligraphy brush. Not quills or pens -- a brush. Technically, old Japanese and Chinese texts should be written top to bottom, right to left, but the show itself doesn’t do this, so I think you’re fine. 

One fun thing about traditional calligraphy is that you don’t use bottled ink. You have something called an ink stone, and then you grind your ink yourself by rubbing the ink stone in a special little dish with a bit of water. In my (very few) encounters with this stuff in the calligraphy lessons of my youth, the ink stones can be plain or have beautiful designs on the side. It looks something like this: 

ATLA is an East Asian-ish universe, so characters are likely to be kneeling at a table, not sitting. To demonstrate, here’s my boy Sokka doing his famous rainbow at Piandao’s:

and here’s the war chamber meeting when Zuko speaks out against a general’s plans to sacrifice some soldiers:

THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS: This is Zuko’s cute little setup when he’s writing his goodbye letter to Mai. In this case he’s writing in a chair and table. It’s possible that some furniture items, like a sitting desk and a bed in a bedframe (not a bedroll or futon) are special royal palace features. Normally in a private setting we see characters sitting on the ground or on a slightly elevated platform with a low table. Maybe Caldera is just different? Or rich people are just different: the Bei Fongs also have a sit-down dining table + chair setup.

(That little rectangular box is his ink dish!!)

5.A NOTE ON GENERAL CULTURE

It’s worth talking about a few general points of East Asian culture. I can’t claim to speak for ALL of Asia, and I don’t think I should. But I do think ATLA fic writers who want to set something in the Fire Nation should take a few moments to at least skim the wiki pages for filial piety and Nihonjinron (literally, "theories/discussions about the Japanese"). There’s a certain...vibe to...asianness... that I’m not sure I can explain without like, a doctorate degree in sociology. 

It’s a bit like gender, I guess. There’s no definitive checklist to what is a woman and what is a man, and we can argue that gender is performative, that it’s a construct, but at the end of the day gender is still (tragically) real in the sense that it still shapes people and affects how we walk and talk and dress and think. Nationality is the same. Obviously, the Fire Nation is a made up place in a made up show, but out of respect to the cultures that inspired it, I do think it’s worth familiarizing yourself with some of these cultures’ codes and values.

Also, ahem, if I can direct you to war crimes in the Japan’s colonial empire. Again, worth remembering that the Fire Nation was an imperalist colonizer too.

I might do a continuation of this post and talk through my more abstract takes about Fire Nation culture - Is Zuko an example of filial piety gone right or filial piety gone wrong? Why I think Zuko’s flashbacks are like, at least part teenage melodrama bullshit (the reason is son preference), how someone like Sokka might be treated once he’s openly Water Tribe in the Fire Nation (probably with racism...), specific aspects of asian homophobia and racism, etc. We’ll see.

This is not a definitive guide. Comments and critique welcome.

If you think there’s a factual mistake, PLEASE hop in my asks and let me know. I also think there’s a huge blind spot in ATLA for South and Southeast Asian representation, so I acknowledge that I can’t speak for all Asians, and there is no such thing as a “pan-asian” identity.

If there’s something else you’re curious about, I’m not a historian or anything, but I like research. Ask me and I’ll try to answer the best I can.

And oh, one last thing, this is how I do research when I wrote firebender’s guide, in case anyone’s interested in learning more (LINK)

#Avatar The Last Airbender #zukka #atla fic #my fic #fire nation

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Anaticula Pt 50

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 - Pt 7 - Pt 8 - Pt 9 - Pt 10 - Pt 11 - Pt 12 - Pt 13 - Pt 14 - Pt 15 - Pt 16 - Pt 17 - Pt 18 - Pt 19 - Pt 20 - Pt 21 - Pt 21b - Pt 22 - Pt 23 - Pt 24 - Pt 25 - Pt 26 -  Pt 27 - Pt 28 - Pt 29 - Pt 30 - Pt 31 - Pt 33 - Pt 34 - Pt 35 - Pt 36 - Pt 37 - Pt 38 - Pt 39 - Pt 40 - Pt 41 - Pt 42 - Pt 43 - Pt 44 - Pt 45 - Pt 46 - Pt 47 - Pt 48 - Pt 49 -

From Kings Cross home again you felt yourself pulled through the house to the distant Southern Wing. Between the torn edges of the tapestries that straight on glimmered like new under its enchantment to reveal themselves only to your bloodline and fading of the portraits half cast in shadows all curiously peering out you with scowls breaking from their face. Each of them wondering what brought their youngest relative to this wing.

Aloofly you released your braid that slid down over your back. Your head tilted back in front of the red double doors etched with golden accents above which you read the name ‘Ignus’ you recognized as a cousin for your ancestor and former Headmaster at Hogwarts Phineas, opening the door you looked around eyeing the entirely golden room with bright red wooden furniture inside making you whisper, “Someone was colorblind.” Stepping inside you heard someone coming up behind you while you moved to the alcove in the wall shifted into a small study still packed with notes and random trinkets.

Neville behind you asked, “Snooping for anything in particular?”

You shook your head saying, “No, just, had to come in.”

Neville walked to your side peering up at the books on the shelves, “Does it ever get old?” You glanced at him with a curious grin, “Sensing things?”

Chuckling to yourself you replied, “At times. This is different. Just have to find out why.” Making him chuckle and help you flip through each book and skim over every page, the second shelf of which when reached found Draco curiously joining you.

Draco skimmed his fourth book asking, “What are we looking for?”

You shrugged then reached out for another book only to miss the spine and knock your knuckle on the shelf, soft echoes of a memory tried to play for you but it was too worn from years of dusting on the shelves. Sliding your fingers along the shelves you crouched down until you found a tiny scuff in the wood. 

Turning your head you peered around the books there until you found a tiny groove, emptying that portion of the shelf with the help of the guys around you a clear outline was discovered. Without a lever or button to press you simply pressed on the back and heard a click, retracting your hands you eased the shelf out only to pause seeing the back was a false back. A sliding latch there like on the back of a picture frame was turned and it easily came free revealing a leather binder that you turned over in your hands.

Across the front of it you read the message in latin, ‘A Black in Need Has a Friend in Deed.’

Draco’s brows furrowed, “In Deed, why the space?”

You shrugged and grabbed the leather strap on the side untwisting it from the securing fob to open the binder revealing a stack of Deeds to various properties, “Wow.” Easing back you sat down and crossed your legs while you set them all out, “The Paris Manor.”

Neville, “This one’s in Rome.”

Draco, “These are in Russia.”

With furrowed brows you eyed the others, “Barbados?” Flipping through the twenty reading from Barbados you left the others to the boys, who read off one in every continent including one in Antarctica as you got up and moved to the large map along the wall. Tracing the longitude and latitude lined your fingers paused on empty ocean making you shake your head, “There’s nothing there.”

At that the boys turned and climbed to their feet joining you, Neville said, “Maybe they’re unplottable now?”

“Maybe…Phineas might know.” Turning around you spotted the knight in the portrait on the wall and asked, “Would you be able to get a message to Phineas through his portrait in Hogwarts, we have a question for him? Please, thank you.” His head bowed and he raced off. In his absence you drew out one of your Thestral items to locate the islands on the map, a task coming up with the tiny creature simply circling the empty ocean in that same area.

Behind you Phineas’ voice sounded clearly, “I was informed you requested my aid?”

With a nod you turned, “Yes, um, we found these deeds, and these twenty,”

He nodded, “Yes, the sanctuaries.”

Your brow inched up and you three asked, “Sanctuaries?”

He nodded, “Yes, my cousin had an interest in magical beasts, those islands hold a variety of them.” As you took notes he listed all he could remember of them then he added, “All the islands are connected by archways with settlements on each sitting empty. Also bit of a nutter, expecting the world to collapse, though, best you find those now, seems it might come in handy.” His head turned to the right and he said, “Was that all? Albus is calling me.”

You nodded, “Thank you very much, yes.”

Phineas nodded and said with a grin your way, “Do not worry, before you dug those up none but Ignus and I knew of those islands.”

With that he left and you glanced at the pair of them making Draco smirk, “Anyone up for an exploration?”

Neville grinned, “They did say we would be on our own till dinner.”

You nodded and after hiding the deeds again and righting the shelves and books you left the room to go find the twins. Excitedly through your enchanted doorway you eyed the tropical paradise, with brooms in hand you soared overhead tracing the miles of land on each forming crude maps for each mimicking the one for Hogwarts to mark the creatures there. None that could be traced by Muggles and docile for those with magic, at your side Draco said, “Think of how many we could hide here.”

You nodded, “Exactly.”

Magical condos were set up on each complete with self sustaining greenhouses and water systems, upon returning you began to formulate plans, already you had a list of names of possible targets, and with the space needed to hide them you could now begin to form a plan. Back in your room you set out the maps then glanced at your door saying, “K?”

Across your bed you were all settled and popping up at the foot of it K eyed you all asking, “Yes, my Mistress?”

“I have a question to ask you, that might upset you, but please hear me out.”

“You can always ask me anything my Mistress.”

You wet your lips then asked, “How would one go about finding another House Elf in need of a house to serve?”

You could catch his momentary flinch and inhale before answering, “There are listings, in certain unsavory places you yourself should not wander through. Though it is easier for a fellow Elf to send out word for others. You are wishing for another Elf, Mistress?”

Scooting the maps closer to his view he climbed up onto the bench at the foot of your bed and looked them over, “We own these lands, and soon there will be a great many to protect. A task greater than the Order can handle on its own.” Wetting your lips you continued, “We have ways to find out who would be taken next, if we could get House Elves to assist in the gathering and tending to those living on these islands I think we could outlast this. What do you think?”

In a relaxing exhale he looked you five over then nodded, “It sounds like a remarkable plan. I will send out word for as many Elves as possible. Once bound none can spill your secrets, even when cursed. Word has spread of how our family treats our Elves we should have plenty of applicants by the end of the week.”

“Thank you K.”

He grinned and nodded his head, “Anything for you, my Mistress.”

.

The Pears would be arriving for New Years instead of Christmas granting you a bit more time and saving you the hassle of having to guide Petunia through their interrogations on how your mother had grown up. 

In a fresh snowfall you stepped through your doorway and out into the empty park and took the brief stroll through the empty streets to the Dursley home. Since Marge’s last visit did not go as planned Vernon was called to go out to their family home out near Shropshire freeing Dudley and Petunia to come and stay with you. A knock on their door had Petunia animatedly opening it to usher you inside, “Come in, come in, just rounding up the last bits. Dudley!” Upstairs shuffling was heard and she flashed you a quick grin, “You are certain there will be room for us all?”

“The Black Family home isn’t much of a home, per se,” her brow ticked up, “One of the oldest families in the Wizarding World, there’s a lot of money behind it and it’s more of a castle than a house.”

“You live in a castle?”

“It is safe, mostly between there and the Weasley home we spend our time. Their home is around the same size as yours. It was more about a safe place to hide that no one could find. But no, there’s plenty of room, much needed since the Malfoys and Tonks’ will be coming over this year again.”

She nodded again, “And they know we’re coming?”

You nodded, “Yes, trust me, no one is going to give you a hard time. You’re family.”

In a few moments Dudley was down the steps with his bag in hand asking, “Harry’s gonna be there? We haven’t had a Christmas with Harry in years.”

“Yup. You ready?”

Petunia nodded then asked, “How are we traveling?”

“I can call the doorway if you like unless you’d like to take the scenic route through to London for the Grimmauld Place entrance.”

Dudley, “Doorway? Like when Harry left last time, just going through our door?” You nodded, “How do you do that?”

With a chuckle you asked, “You’ve seen Howl’s Moving castle?”

Dudley nodded, “So it’s like their doorway then, with a dial and all?”

You nodded, “Something like that, more with runes than with color wheels, and only certain people can call the doorway or pass through it, any intruders are sent off to the marshes.”

To the doorway you led the duo and into the dimly lit hall they followed you trying to read the runes etched into the worn and faded wallpaper along the walls until the stained glass door before them was opened and they both gasped in the first sight of the main hall you led them into. Behind them the door was closed and looking around they took in all they could in following you through it to their rooms, “I’ll show you to your rooms then we can pop back down for some tea.”

Along the way to the matching silver, yellow accented rooms you pointed out a great deal of what was along the way until they entered their assigned rooms to inspect them and eagerly come back to your side for the walk to the window coated sitting room where tea was waiting for them. There Petunia asked in taking her seat as Dudley peered up at the painting with penguins chasing butterflies, “Are you alone here?”

You shook your head, “No, my cousins Draco and Neville are sleeping. Neville’s baby sister Nellie just had her tonsils out so they had a late night ice cream party when she got home. Their parents are upstairs sleeping, Draco’s parents should be along after work, they work with Dad, Regulus and Remus. There was an incident in the Ministry yesterday so they all got called in early. The Tonks’ should be in tomorrow. The Weasleys, well, Harry’s at theirs till lunch helping to shift everything to come over by lunch, had some big snow and they need to get some repairs on their sheds and pig pens, small stuff.” 

You giggled softly serving the tea, “So no, not alone, just the only one up right now. Oh, and you remember Severus,” she nodded, “He’s coming too, along with Barty, another of our Professors. Hagrid should be along too with Minerva and sometimes Dumbledore drops by if he’s up to a crowd, usually avoids family gatherings.”

Petunia, “You really get on with all of your Professors then?” Lifting her cup for a sip as you added a sugar cube to yours.

“Yes, most of them are like family. When I had to play dead I spent a lot of my time with them.”

Dudley asked sheepishly, “Those creatures, over the summer,” he wet his lips, “Are more of them coming?”

You shook your head, “No.”

Petunia caught the moment of tensing you had and asked, “What about the ones who sent them?”

“Umbridge sent them, hoping to get Harry expelled. She has been suspended, and there are others, who would come after Muggles, we’re doing all we can to keep as many safe as possible. It’s happening again, just like before. The war is starting up again.”

Dudley, “What happens if they come after us again?”

“We’ll come and get you.”

Petunia, “To live here? What would we do then?”

You wet your lips and lowered your cup to its saucer on the table, “You could, or we could take you to one of the islands we’re setting up for the people we are hiding away. Sort of like a resort when we’re finished with them.”

Petunia, “How much would that cost?”

You shook your head, “Not a thing, it’s all self sustaining. It’s a sanctuary from the war.”

Dudley, “But it’s your war? Why would it affect us?”

With a sigh you answered, “Every was has its innocent casualties. Bystanders sucked into it. Our worlds are so intermingled with yours that it would be impossible.” In a reach into your pocket you brought out a trio of chains with a clear pendants filled with bubbles and tiny rubber duck they both accepted, “Which is why I wanted you to have these. If you ever feel anything, if you’re ever in need of help or just get a gut feeling of being unsafe give the pendant a squeeze and we’ll come to check on you.” They nodded and adjusted the chains in their hands to put them on as you said, “I do hope you never need them, but just in case…”

Petunia’s eyes met yours as Dudley asked, “Who’s going to come for you, if you feel unsafe?”

Forcing a grin onto your face in a poor mask of your misty eyed reaction, “None of us are safe. We’re all targets, any and everyone they can hurt they will.” After a quick sniffle you raised your cup again at the quiver of Petunia’s lip, “We just have to be smarter and faster than them.” Sipping on your drink.

Through the door Fred and George strolled through grinning at the guests and filled the empty seats saying, “Store room is all good. Most of Diagon Alley is shut down already.”

You nodded and Dudley asked, “Store room?”

“We have a shop.”

.

Before long a full spread on the Daily Prophet’s first page was another look into Scrimgeor’s stances on certain topics reading a lot like déjà vu for Fudge all over again. With it came a stack of letters, Charlie’s included a lengthy promise of coming home this year. Sebastian’s letter along with others from friends and your distant pen pals, including Fleur, who would be moving to England soon after a lengthy search for a suitable position to warrant it. 

Long and oddly distant Sebastian’s letter read packed with details including a full update on his baby sister and the season so far that was taking him out to Spain next after the Holiday break. Him and Viktor both were excited as ever hearing that you were joining one of the teams for Ireland and both had questions of the premier for your first film they both asked if you and Hermione would be going there and were in need of dates again stirring a grin onto your face.

By lunch more relatives had shown up and the duo mingled getting to know your new family with special curiosity towards the Grangers, who shared a bit with Petunia on more of the Wizarding World and how they had adjusted to it. Though of course when K, Dobby came through their curiosity was attempted to be masked but at the first sighting of Idris and Opal Dudley broke into a barrage of questions for you and Harry leading to a lending of a set of creature books for beginners to help show them more of what creatures you could have handled in your travels.

From dinners to a nightly film selection the Dursleys enjoyed their time with you especially how ordinary your gifts seemed to be, past the expensive earrings the Pears had sent you for the premier, mainly books and clothes to their surprise. Two nights they enjoyed your company then had to go home again leaving you anxious in the interlude of a night separating them and the Pears. With a wide grin you met the couple at the station and led them back to your home where they settled in and got straight to asking about your plans for your next film.

Two already had been filmed and with a number of directors asking to audition you for roles with a pile of scripts you had been sent on just talk of your work ethic and personality alone there seemed to be no lull in the promising career you seemed to be beginning in their eyes. Along with Quidditch you seemed to be building quite the public image and in the past months Bernadette’s manager had graciously taken the task of taming the request for even odd modeling jobs from magazines and agencies your mother used to work with in hopes of helping you find your start.

.

On your final night at home in a loss for sleep after your spending the day checking in on the shop Oliver would open again in a few days the sound of a conversation inside the family tree room had you waiting in the shadow along the wall of the open doorway listening in out of sheer curiosity.

Harry, “Sirius, what is this?”

“This is the Black family tree from my parent’s house in Grimmauld Place. I hated the lot of them. My parents with their pure-blood mania. My mother did that after I ran away. Charming woman.” He said pointing at his burn mark over a branch with a small bud with your initials by it.

Harry, “Where did you go?”

“Round your dad's. I was always welcome at the Potters'. Long as James’ whims were seen to, liked to get his way and when he didn’t,” he let out a puff of air, “There wasn’t a county large enough for the both of us. More than half of every year he sent me out of our dorm. I see him so much of his good side in you, Harry. The rest from Lily. You are so very much alike the best of both of them.”

“I'm not so sure. Sirius, when I was...When I saw Mr. Weasley attacked, I wasn't just watching. I was the snake. And afterwards, in Dumbledore's office there was a moment when I wanted to...This connection between me and Voldemort. What if the reason for it is that I am becoming more like him? I just feel so angry all the time. And what if, after everything that I've been through something's gone wrong inside me? What if I'm becoming bad?” A silent tear streamed down your cheek and you shifted into a Demiguise to cross the doorway unseen then shift back again.

“I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harry. You're not a bad person. You're a very good person who bad things have happened to. You understand? Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.”

“I don’t feel very good sometimes.”

“When all this is over, we'll be a proper family. You'll see.”

“Really?”

Sirius nodded, “You’ll see, no more hiding. We can stop looking over our shoulders. So you just dig in and we’ll see the other side of this, you’ll see.”

Continuing on you headed for the kitchen to get a cup of apple cider you carried through into the film room to sit up watching yet another film of your grandmother’s. In doing so you seemed to be picking up on more of her memories trapped in the films filling in your mental image of who she once was. Not so far from yourself as it turned out making you wish you could have met her assuming she would have liked you.

After days of being unable to form a sentence to you after your last time speaking in the Triwizard Tournament Charlie settled onto the cushion beside you with an offered blanket and a mug of his own simply hoping his presence would help you even in silence. Though morning found you soon enough snuggled against his side stirring at his alarm to get ready for his flight back, a stolen hug and peck on the forehead later and once again he was gone completely aware of the tears in your eyes and sniffle pitifully hidden in your stroll back to your room to get some more sleep.

.

The third week of January found you back in Hogwarts and onto the days leading up to the Ravenclaw vs Slytherin match. Already in the final year of so many players mini tryouts had been held with those players asked to practice with the seventh years to pick up where they had left off in the following year.

Hogsmeade again came after with similar mini winter themed sales and treats for you all. The first exams were held and you were back into prepping for your NEWTS in May.

.

Valentines rolled around again and this time without news from Sebastian but a care package from Charlie. Dragon themed candies and a fuzzy blanket coated in tiny hatchlings blowing flames and sneezing icicles had you sitting up on your bed sniffling after a few giggles before you wrapped it around you and waited out your gap between Arithmacy and lunch in a try for a nap while the twins were with Katie and Angelina.

To the sound of the clock ticking away you tried not to think about anything past the dragons on your blanket. The opening of your door opened your eyes in the closing of it again. Up your steps someone climbed, barely felt footsteps and a hop over your legs lowered your gaze to Crookshanks who trotted for your arms and crawled into the blanket you raised turning to plop down in front of you. Contently he purred through your kiss on his head mumbling, “Hey Crookshanks.” Covering yourselves again at the drop of a pair of shoes, right behind you the waft of a familiar perfume announced Hermione in her move to lay out behind you with her arm draped across your middle. “Hey Hermi.”

Weakly she chuckled and settled behind you saying, “Thought you could use the company.”

“Charlie sent me a care package.”

“I noticed, nice blanket. I see he’s sticking to the dragon theme.”

You nodded then levitated the gossip magazine on the bed in front of you, “Take it you read the gossip.” Meaning the article containing pictures with Sebastian out on the town with one of the Veela from their cheer team including one of them kissing in the lift of their hotel. “I knew he would find someone else. Had the dream before he even left the school. I’m ok, just a bit tired today.”

“I’m glad you’re not torn up about it. Though I did want to ask, have you dreamed anything about those two again? The ones trying to impress me?”

Weakly you chuckled and shifted to your back waving your sketch book over ensuring Crookshanks wasn’t disturbed in doing so and showed her a couple of the sketches you had on the duo. Flipping through the book she asked, “So, you just have these dreams, about everyone’s lives? Is that normal, for Seers I mean?”

You shrugged, “Trelawney says some are more open than others. Sort of like that old fable, about the weak man drawing a circle around himself, then those drawing one around his family, and the greatest drawing a circle around many, even strangers, and seeing to all their safety. Just depends on how strong they are, the closer they are the more you see. But most of mine are on the blondes still and the boys.”

“I’m sorry.” Your head turned to catch her eye when she looked at you, “I know it must be hard for you to sleep, with all this. Is it still an every night occurrence?”

You nodded, “Even with the Occlumency lessons. Some are less draining than others, mainly those closest to me. It’s the ones on strangers that take the wind out of me.”

Her head tilted in another glance at the pair, “So, roughly three years. At least I’ll have graduated.” You nodded and she set the book down, “I can’t imagine being here without you.”

“You’ll do wonderfully.”

She shook her head, No, I mean, you helped get me here, into this world. All they sent me was a letter, you actually welcomed me and my parents into this world. Gave us literature on it, invited us to your homes and families. I will never forget that, and even with Ron and Harry here, I still can’t imagine being here without you. It won’t be the same.”

Weakly you giggled and said, “I can’t imagine not coming here next September. Having to let go of it, it feels almost as much home as, well, home is. I mean, what would you do?”

She shook her head, “I don’t know. I know something has to be done about the Ministry.”

You nodded and giggled, “Anyone could handle it you could.”

Softly she giggled as you did again, “I’m certain you could do a great deal more.”

Shaking your head you said, “I think it best I’m not in charge. I can enforce the rules, but making them, I doubt I could trust myself with that.”

.

Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor came up the following weekend. Gryffindor loses in twenty-two minutes, 240 to 230, even though they caught the snitch. A stunning yet much needed quick match in the growing storm worsening the aim of their chasers in trying to score goals against the icy winds.

Pt 51

#HP Crossover #Christmas Break #Back to Hogwarts

[triskellionquinn]

Elias Whines About Fashion (Rant incoming, fair warning)

... Okay, what the fuck is that Squeenix? 

I mean, seriously. I wear some questionable items, but what the fuck is that? What are those pants!?

The shirt.... is salvageable. Though I’m not a fan of the idea of wearing long gloves to cover up those god awful sleeves, I’ve been wanting a classy doublet (much like the Riviera one from the Saucer but a bit more formal that doesn’t dye as badly) for a while, but those sleeves.... The collar’s bad, but workable. But the rest of this outfit makes me hate my eyes. 

Also I love how we were promised a “Male only outfit” release.... only for it to be a male version of a female outfit that already exists. I get that they’re trying to be more open to those who prefer an androgynous style.... But seriously WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE PANTS? Shoes too, but we have a couple pairs in game already that we can use as alternatives so I’m not nearly as bothered by those. But holy fuck this outfit looks like whoever designed it got completely shit-faced and lost in the Bed section of Bed, Bath & Beyond, picked up a set of grey sheets and went “Yep, that looks good”. Then decided to take half the sleeves off a Latin ballroom dancer’s shirt, slap the waiter’s vest over it then put a tea saucer on the model’s head before deciding that was the look to go with only to realize that they forgot the final touch: The shoes! So they grabbed some coasters to form a heel, stole some poor electrician’s electrical tape and tadah~! One train wreck of an outfit to release later so that the people who play males (or non-binary characters with masculine traits) will stop coming after them about preferential treatment to those who play female-based avatars.  

We’re just looking for equal treatment here SE. We don’t want ‘male versions’ of outfits designed for females. We want the same opportunity to have outfits unique to us as men that aren’t frilly or designed to be androgynous (at least not all the time). When was the last time there was a set released (in game, not cash shop) where there was a stark design difference between the ‘male’ and ‘female’ set? While I’m at it when was the last time males got a strictly unique design solely for them? Nearly every single (if not every single) ‘unique’ glamour outfit wearable by males are also able to be worn by females with the exception of swimwear (which there are male and female versions of). 

“It’s easy to hate on it, let’s see you design something then!” I hear you saying. I’m no artist, but I know what I like to wear, and I know what I find aesthetically pleasing in regards to clothing. 

So trying to keep in line with the general tone of the Quaintrelle outfit... I’d lose the flared sleeves, shorten them to t-shirt length and fold down the collar. The doublet is really nice, it’s just the weird length of the sleeves plus the popped ruffled collar makes it look like Elvis and a flamenco dancer got into it and all that remained was the blended mish-mash of their stage outfits. I’d lose the flare and ruffles on the pants entirely, tighten them up and crop them at the knee where the ruffle ends in the first place, with the sock covering the lower half of the leg (borrowing from historical men’s fashion here). Replace the shoes with some 1920′s style lace up boots (ankle height, men’s style) and the hat with an Ivy cap (a type of flat cap).

The way the belt sits makes their hips look too low, which gives the pants a saggy look. Not a good look when the waistcoat itself sits higher and curves upwards at the hips. 

TL:DR?

SE needs to stop making ‘male versions’ of female outfits, and vice versa. The comments surrounding having male only releases only come across as insincere (and a little bit sexist) when they end up being ‘genderbent’ versions of clothing that the girls have had for months now. Adding the subtext of ‘are you happy now??’ with every instance that this becomes an issue and SE ‘caters’ to those of us who cry out just belittles the playerbase and fans of the game. 

Rant over, for now. Just keep in mind these are my opinions, my thoughts and observations (and more than enough alcohol to remove what little brain to mouth filter I have). Some people might like the outfit, I don’t. I think it was a waste of resources and shows how very little care SE has for the male side of the player spectrum. We were promised male only outfits, designed to be worn by the males in the game.... Not a ‘male version’ of something that’s been in the games for months that was only accessible by females. That’s not what we meant, and you know it Squeenix.

#ffxiv #rant #glamour #gender equality #i fully expect to lose followers over this #but these are my thoughts

[annamariamule]

Single Traveler Tips, Part 1 How to Pack Really Light

Here are our tips on How to Pack Really Light. I have traveled for 5 weeks with only an overnight bag. Traveling so conspicuously light on an international flight, two fellow travelers asked me to give them an impromptu tutorial on how to pack! Although baggage fees add to the pain today of packing too much, there are two greater problems: 1. Chasing lost luggage around the globe and 2, Dragging it from place to place when there are no working elevators or escalators!

After I had one checked bag temporarily “lost” on a 1 hour non-stop flight, I have come up with the following initial packing tips:

How to Pack Really Light Tip 1:

In 2015, permissible carry-on bags are about the size of a large purse! Restrictions are not just based on the bag’s height, length and depth but on its total weight. When I traveled to SE Asia for New Yr’s,, China Air only allowed 11 pounds. When you take into account the bag’s own weight with wheels, not much is left.

If you buy a new carry on, be sure to note its weight and purchase the lightest version available.

Before going to the airport, hoist your packed bag onto your bathroom scales to see if you are overweight.

  How to Pack Really Light Tip 2:

Every item of clothing you pack must have more than one function. The only exception is a bathing suit. However, many of today’s bathing suits when paired with a beach wrap or skirt/slacks are acceptable streetwear. Athletic wear has also gone mainstream and can double as sleepwear, especially if morning coffee is served in a B&B lobby!

How to Pack Really Light Tip 3:

Only take a maximum of two colors that can be worn together. Even in tropical climates, take dark colors or prints that won’t show you spilled your coffee in your lap on the airplane.

How to Pack Really Light Tip 4:

Try to pack only what you can wash out in the sink.  Even in Siberia in January, I was able to wash out clothes ad hang them over the radiator.

How to Pack Really Light Tip 5:

Before you head out of town, one last tip: Take your rollerbag on a brisk walk around your home. Lift it up on the bed a few times and then decide what you need to throw out!  Please check out our tips on How to Pack Really Light and send your own via our Contacts page.

      The post Single Traveler Tips, Part 1 How to Pack Really Light appeared first on Solo Trekker.

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#Solo Trekker

[reddiess]

your reddie first kiss fic was sooooooo lovely v v cute. if ur still taking prompts could i suggest reddie where richie pathetically attempts to get eddie to wear his jacket without actually saying 'pls wear my jacket u would look so cute'

thank you sososo much anon, I’m sohappy you liked it! I loved this prompt so much because it made me think of90′s punk Richie and preppy Eds ugh I could write 30k more of this so I hopeyou enjoy~if you have a prompt for me feel free to message me i love making myself cry(i also made a mixtape for this listen to it oops)As the months and then the years pass on after the summer of1989, Richie somehow finds himself in the music scene of the eighties and earlynineties. He listens to the radio stations that play rough, raw songs from hisfavorite local bands all day, even obtaining an electric guitar somehow onwhich he strums Don’t you (forget about me) by Simple Minds when he’s alone at home and wants agetaway. He thinks the lyrics he listens to speak to him, and maybe they reallydo. They help him clear his head and gather his thoughts when he feels likefalling apart. He records the bestsongs he hears and makes mixtapes of them just so he can play them again andagain, eventually learning all the words while he struggles to copy the chordprogressions on his shitty guitar. He wears torn jeans that are too short athis ankles and plain shirts he tucks into them. His hair is getting longer andlonger, unruly curls framing his face more and more before he decides to get itcut again – the hair is unstoppable, the speed it’s growing at. He has it shortin the summer because he doesn’t aspire to spontaneously light on fire, but nowthat it’s September and it’s getting colder and colder he doesn’t have itchopped off quite as regularly.

Eddie can’t pinpoint whenit happened, but he does notice that Richie has been really into music andradio lately. He finds it extremely cool – it suits Richie and with the way helooks now, like he could have his own punk band it just somehow all fitstogether. Eddie doesn’t know when Richie became so cool and he doesn’t know whyhe’s friends with him still, plain old Eddie with his clean-cut appearance,hypochondriac Eddie Kaspbrak with his button ups and suspenders. He imagineshow weird they must look next to each other, total opposites. But Richie’s beenhis best friend his whole entire life; he doesn’t give two shits about otherpeople’s opinions.Richie has this jacket that he really likes; it’s a denimjacket that he’s sewn all kinds of things onto himself – he’s proud of hishandiwork. It’s warm, it looks very alt-rock and it’s patched up with all ofhis favorite band’s logos, plus it looks really good on him so what’s not tolike? Eddie says he should take that thing off sometimes but Richie has grownquite attached to it.Eddie hopes he washes it because he sure does wear it a lot. “Thanks Eds, you wanna try it on?” Richie asks thefirst time Eddie compliments his jacket. The smaller boy insists he’s fine soRichie stays put, except now he can’t get that image out of his head – becausehonestly, Eddie would look so cute in something that clashes with his style somuch. He continues sewing stuff like studs and patches onto thefabric until it looks well-worn and much like the ones he’s seen Joe Elliotfrom Def Leppard wear. Several opportunities present themselves where he couldgive it to Eddie, except Eddie Kaspbrak is always prepared for the worst andnormally has his own with him - even in summer. What a loser.*As Eddie steps out into the late September wind, raindropsstart falling onto him right away, dampening his hair. It’s not actuallyraining per se, but it is falling lightly, like water is being filtered througha strainer onto his head. He hates this kind of weather, but if you live inDerry you learn to get used to it. “So cold,” he mumbles to himself, looking for thewarm sweater he wore this morning. “Shit, I left my sweater inside! Waitguys, I’m gonna go grab it.”There’s a jacket being flung out in front of him, the denimone Richie always has on. “Wear this,” he says and upon looking,Eddie realizes his friend is only wearing a thin t-shirt.“No way, you’re going to get sick! Put it on, I’m goingto get my sweater.” He’s already walking inside when Richie decides to puthis jacket back on with a frown. So maybe he has pictured Eddie in his jacketbefore. So what if he wants to keep Eddie warm at all times. It’s not like heactually gets to do it.Eddie emerges from the school once again a minute later, nowclad in a soft looking gray jumper. It makes him look even smaller than heactually is and Richie wonders, not for the first time, how little Eddie wouldlook like with his jacket on. It would be far too big on him, but Richie issure he could pull it off. Eddie has grown over the years but is stillconsidered small for his age - he’s not all skin and bones, more of a soft,slim figure, but he never grew tall. He remained as delicate and graceful as hewas and in Richie’s eyes that’s better than anything else.It hurts to not be able to tell Eddie how much he cares forhim and it hurts not to be able to hold him, or to kiss his cheeks or hold hishands. There is no use in lying to himself. But at the same time it’s ablessing to have Eddie as his best friend because he is the most amazing friendanyone could wish for. So he walks Eddie home in the rain as he normally does; it’sin the opposite direction of his own house but the longer he doesn’t have to gohome the better. They’re walking with Mike for about halfway but he has to takea left where they go right, so they say their goodbyes. Eddie is visiblyshaking from the cold wind, trying to warm up his arms as he walks - Richiecan’t take that, it just won’t do.“Will you please put this on?” he asks, taking hisjacket off again but Eddie just shakes his head. “It’s really cold now, I don’t want you to get sick.We’re almost home.”They round the corner to the house as he shrugs it back onagain. He still can’t get the picture of Eddie, pretty, delicate Eddie in hisjacket out of his head. This is ridiculous.They sit around in Eddie’s room for a while, the smaller boydoing homework while Richie reads a book. Jet city woman by Queensrÿche is playing - one of Richie’s favoritesongs of all time - and he can’t help but fidget all around with nerves. He’strying to gather the courage to say something, to do what he’s wanted to dothis whole week now, except Richie is a chickenshit when it comes toconfessing. For another hour he doesn’t say anything, but then he’s aboutto leleave and it’s almost too late again. Eddie walks him down to the frontdoor and Richie is already going except - there’s something burning a hole intothe inner pocket of his jacket and he wants to get rid of it. Just as Eddie isabout to close the door, Richie turns back.“Wait,” he walks up to him again. “Um… Ihave something to give you.”“Yeah?” Eddie hums, unsuspicious.Richie pulls the item out of his pocket and thrusts it intoEddie’s hands. “Here. Just, um. Listen to it okay?”And just like that he’s gone; his long legs allow him to getout of view fairly quickly. Eddie looks down; it’s a casette that says Mixtape for Eds in Richie’sfamiliar scratch. He runs up the staircase so he can listen to it, and by theend of the casette he’s crying.*Richie is standing at the stairs with Bill and Ben, waitingfor the bell to ring and the others to arrive when Eddie spots him the nextmorning. He’s in all denim today with his pants ripped at the knees, whichEddie knows is more a statement than anything else, his glasses are slidingdown his nose – and he looks so good.He doesn’t notice Eddie until his friend is standing rightnext to him, tugging on his sleeve. “Can I talk to you?”“Sure, Eds,” he answers in surprise, followingEddie somewhat further away from their friends.“What’s up with those two?” Ben turns to Bill afterthe exchange, who just shakes his head.“N-no-not a clue." "I’ve got one,” Stan chimes in. Ben shouts insurprise and almost falls down the stairs.“When did you get here?” He wheezes, clutching hischest. If Richie were here he’d make a joke about Ben having something to hide,but he’s over there talking to Eddie and they… both look weirdly emotional.It almost looks like they’re fighting, with the way Eddie’s eyes are shiny withtears. They can only see Richie’s back now but even that looks slumped.“I think Richie finally confessed." "What?!” Bill and Ben exclaim at the same time,turning to their friend.“What? He’s been in love with Eddie for like twoyears.” Stan deadpans. “Don’t tell me you guys didn’t know.”Bill is not sure you’re supposed to give out someone’s secretlike that, except maybe it wasn’t such a secret, now that he thinks about it.Maybe it does all make sense now, as he looks back to his friends and seesEddie yanking Richie down for a kiss so quick you’d miss it if you blinked. Andmaybe it makes sense that they both look happier they’ve had in a long timethat day, and the days after. Maybe it makes the most sense to see Eddie inRichie’s beloved jacket all the time now, wearing it proudly on top of hislight-colored button ups as if it was a statement. Maybe it is. 

#anon #answered #reddie #oneshot #it #it movie #it 2017 #reddie fanfic #reddie oneshot #i write things

[gokul2181]

Asha Parekh on nepotism debate: Has anybody thought about those star kids who fail to make it? | Hindi Movie News

New Post has been published on https://jordarnews.in/asha-parekh-on-nepotism-debate-has-anybody-thought-about-those-star-kids-who-fail-to-make-it-hindi-movie-news/

Asha Parekh on nepotism debate: Has anybody thought about those star kids who fail to make it? | Hindi Movie News

She has been hailed in Bollywood as the ‘hit’ girl and remains one of the few actresses whose name has featured before the hero’s name in a film. She is probably one of the few Gujarati girls who achieved glory in the Hindi film industry. Asha Parekh turns 78 today and she remains a woman who has worn many hats – actor, director, producer, distributor and an authority figure of several film bodies. During her tenure as the CBFC chairperson she took radical decision and while managing CINTAA, she ensured that it has a house of its own. In a freewheeling conversation with ETimes, the actress with the Midas touch reveals more.

How different will be your birthday this year? It is going to be different as I won’t be calling my close friends for lunch. I only have four to five close friends and on this day we generally go to a restaurant for lunch and in the night my family comes for dinner. But this year, neither my friends nor my family members will be coming but my building people, this year, have organised a party for me at night.

So will there be any virtual cake cutting with your friends? No, there won’t be any virtual cake cutting but I will be cutting a real cake with my building friends. They have been very sweet and I have been lucky to have such wonderful neighbours. I don’t do video calls with my friends we just speak on the phone.

You share a very close relationship with CINTAA and recently reached out to help a veteran actress in dire straits. Do you think there has to be some kind of pension plan for actors, especially retired ones? They are giving good money but I don’t know what they have thought about Smriti Biswas. Since I am not there so can’t really say what they are doing. The film industry welfare trust will be giving her Rs 5000 a month for her medicine. But don’t you think the government should come out with a plan for the film industry which contributes so much to the government coffers? They should. And it’s not only the top stars who need the money but supporting artistes too should be helped. Just today another actor Akshat Utkarsh committed suicide. These are the people who need money and if they are members of CINTAA, I am sure CINTAA would help them out.

You have said in the past that you are a practical person and therefore took care of your finances wisely. Were you always like that? I think people who are in the film industry, the moment they attain fame, start feeling that they should own a Mercedes and a flat. They start paying very heavy EMIs and squander away their money. When their films or TV serial stops, then their frustration slowly turns to depression and then they either try to commit suicide or resort to drugs. This is a very sad story that people fail to understand that you won’t be on top forever. There will be a time when you will come down. What would be your advice to such people? Film people have now become very wise. The top stars have started investing their money in different places for the sake of security. But what about character artistes? They are in bad shape and something has to be done for them. When Cine Artistes Association came into being, Shammi Aunty was one of the founder members and she had told me that initially it was called Character Artistes Association but later it turned into Cine Artistes Association, and now it has become Cine and TV Artistes Association. In terms of sheer numbers, CINTAA has more TV artistes than actual stars.

How did you plan your financial security? My parents were there to help me and they helped me in my investments. I won’t call myself a rich person but I am happy and comfortable in my own space.

Do you think there is a sense of insecurity among artistes when it comes to finances especially when you start getting older and work trickles down? Of course there are a lot of insecurities. What happened to Mr Rajesh Khanna was pure insecurity. During his difficult phase, there was no one around him and he was all alone whiling away his time drinking. He acted in all kinds of movies that came his way. It’s not that he did not have money and properties. He had both.

In the past, you had mentioned facing similar problem. Please tell us. I was the only child of my parents and after the death of my mother, father and aunt, suddenly I was all alone. There was a total vacuum in my life. I used to sit all alone during evenings and slowly depression started seeping in. I used to cry a lot and I didn’t know what was happening to me. Then it suddenly hit me that it was not depression but plain loneliness in the absence of my near and dear ones.

When was this? It was in 2003 after I lost my father. At that point of time I had no clue what I should do and often felt that ke abhi mar jana chahiye. One day while speaking to my doctor friends’ Dr Ashok Khatolkar and his wife Rekha, I suddenly started crying. They immediately sensed the urgency and visited my place and realised what was happening to me. They told me that they will arrange a psychiatrist for me and later I was put on medication. You also have a fear of flying. Tell us more. A year after the depression episode, my doctor suddenly changed my medicine. I was supposed to go to England with a layover in Dubai. I don’t know what happened to me at Dubai airport, I suddenly started getting those anxiety pangs. I felt that I won’t be able to reach Birmingham. I was feeling sick and for a moment felt that I should go back to Bombay. While sitting in the lounge, I rang up my friend in Birmingham and told her that I am not coming. There was also a couple in the lounge who was flying to Nigeria and the lady was watching me all along. She informed me that I was not looking alright and enquired about my problem. I told her my plight and she then requested me to join them for lunch and then we chatted. When my flight was ready for Birmingham I said to myself ki ab kya hoga. I slept throughout my journey and stayed in Birmingham for 10 days and did not want to come back to Bombay because of fear of flying.

Nepotism is a prevalent word these days and in your book you have mentioned about groupism. Did it really exist during your days? There was no groupism during my time. Actor’s children often see their parents getting adulations from all quarters. They see people running behind them so the feeling that hume bhi actor banna hai slowly starts seeping in. But does everybody become an actor? You can count on your fingers and see how many of them have made it. Has anybody thought about those star kids who fail to make it, what happens to them? They go into depression.

Do you see any drastic change that has happened which is not good for the film industry? During our time, we had single producers who put their heart and soul in their film. Kahi se bhi paisa jama kar ke picture banani hai iska ek nasha tha. But now you have the corporates. Their style of working is so different and it is all materialistic. During our time, we only had one secretary but today there is a whole entourage. I wonder why it is needed.

How many people used to accompany you during your shoots? Only my hair dresser and make up man. I seriously don’t understand why do you need 10 people around? I will tell you a hilarious incident but I won’t name the star. I was once told by this actor to come and meet him at his shooting location. Since the work related with our association so I went there. When I reached the shooting location, he was busy in a shot and thus sent the message through his man Friday to escort me to his vanity van and wait inside. When I entered the van, I saw this young girl sitting in the van and she had make up on her face. I assumed she must be some artiste so I started a conversation and asked her if she is an actor. I felt like an idiot when she told me that she was the actor’s hair stylist. Truth be told, the actor didn’t even had an inch of hair on his head. Pata nahi aadhe inch ke baal mein kya hair style kar rahi thi.

I remember one gossip item on your giggling fits about you by a glossy magazine? They wrote that I was on drugs. After I read the piece, I got very angry and rang the proprietor and confronted him on the rubbish his publication had printed. The publication got very upset and I believe they must have run out of stories and thus created this story. I was really very angry at them and I said how dare do they do this to me. Later they apologised for that story. Gossip tab bhi hota tha but abhi koi has ke baat kare toh they will write that they are having an affair. The stuff today is all fabricated.

Are you single by choice, circumstances or didn’t find the right man? I remember reading that Saira kept asking you get married? It was not destined. It’s not that my mother didn’t want me to get married. The two proposals that came for me, both had divorced their wives socho mera kya hota (laughs). I am very happy as I am. I am happy that I don’t have children.

But you did want to adopt a child? I did want to adopt and I also saw one little fellow and I loved him so much. I wanted to adopt him but the doctor said that I cannot adopt the kid who was just year and a half as he had some health issues. Then my mother fell sick and then it was the turn of my father. sab nikal liye..

You have held two important posts – CINTAA and then CBFC chairperson. What were the challenges you faced? CINTAA was at Famous studio and everyone used to find it difficult to travel from the suburbs to Mahalakshmi. At that time Amjad Khan was the president and he started the practice of having meetings at his house. Before Amjad Bhai expired, they had this cine artistes’ welfare trust made which had big people like Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt Amrish Puri and Dara Singh. I was the only lady in that group and I was made the treasurer at that time. There also came a time when FWICE declared that no shootings will take place in South. When this was announced, I was the president of CINTAA and at that time and Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala were supposed to shoot for Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se in Chennai. The very next day, I found everyone from Mani Ratnam to K Balachander at my house requesting me to grant permission for the shoot. I had to say NO to them and also added that the instruction has come from FWICE. I told them that we all are associated with the FWICE and I can’t do it and this made them really upset with me.

There is another important thing and that was buying the new CINTAA office. From Famous we moved to Garib Society and then we asked the government to give us land to make our own building. I and Amrish Puri, used to go early in the morning to meet the Chief Ministers. We met Narayan Rane, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Manohar Joshi and finally we spoke to Bala Saheb Thackeray. They helped us allot a plot behind Kokilaben Hospital. CINTAA never talks about my contribution and this really upsets me.

Another important position you held was that of CBFC chief and had to deal with films like Fire, Elizabeth and Censor which had Sanjeevani Kutty’s (office bearer in CBFC) character in it? Sanjeevani was great help to me and she taught me a lot during my tenure as CBFC chief. I would be lenient but she would be really strict with the guidelines. During Fire there was a lot of hullabaloo so I had to watch the film. After I saw the film, I felt yeh hota hi hoga so I cleared the film and all the hungama stopped after that but still people like Anil Dharker and Pritish Nandy spoke against me.

But Shekhar Kapur was upset with you during the certification of Elizabeth? I would like to ask Mr Shekhar Kapur what certificate he got in England? It was RA and we were giving him a UA but he insisted upon U and later moved the tribunal. There also we won and the film got UA certificate. That one was a painful affair.

Zakhm too was one controversial film that you had to certify? Tanuja Chandra was abusing me and they thought they can get away with it. Mukesh Bhatt even went ahead and met LK Advani but they had to do what we had asked them. Aisa sab hua during my tenure as CBFC chief.

Not many know that you were also a distributor? Gulshan Rai used to distribute all Nasir Husain films. When Baharon Ke Sapne and Teesri Manzil were launched, Gulshan Rai said that he would take Teesri Manzil but would avoid Baharon Ke Sapne. But Nasir Saab insisted that he has to either take both or none. Gulshan Rai eventually forfeited both the films. The very next day Nasir Saab came to me and said that he has plans to open a distribution office and asked if I can join him.

One day it so happened that a distributor came and said that we should not be giving films to a certain exhibitor but I had already signed the paper and told that I cannot stop it as the deal was done much in advance and the agreement could not be cancelled. This really upset the distributor. My shootings had reduced by then so I used to go to the office regularly. Another very upsetting experience was when an exhibitor came to the office with the print of my film Rakhi Aur Hathkadi. He had come to the office a day after the release of the film and said madam yeh dabbe le jao aur doosri film do, I was so upset as I had worked really hard for the film. We distributed about 21 films.

No More acting for you? I have worked like a mad person and during my time I was doing three things at the same time – shooting for my TV serial Kora Kagaz, being CINTAA president and CBFC chief. It was around the same time that Star Plus gave me a new show Kangan. The serial almost raised my blood pressure as it had become too hectic and I had my shows too.

But there was another gossip about you was that media got you married to Shammi Kapoor? Luckily that gossip fizzled out quickly and it came at a time when Shammi was seeing someone else.

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[spicynbachili1]

Pokemon’s single-player battles are aging poorly

Charizard used Earthquake! Charizard used Earthquake! Charizard used…

I’ve grown increasingly exhausted of Pokémon with each generation, despite feeling the games are improving overall. From Gold through Pearl, I had unyielding optimism to “catch ‘em all” and excessively grind my team up for however many or few trainers awaited me in the postgame. Yet, even though I consider Sun and Moon among the best Pokémon games to date, I’ve been too hesitant to actually complete my own playthrough.

I had a hard time pinpointing why I felt this way other than age until Pokémon Let’s Go addressed a part of the problem. It replaced battles against wild Pokémon with Go-styled capture encounters. Strangely, I felt a bit relieved that one of this long-running franchise’s main gameplay styles was being downplayed in favor of what many consider a minigame. Even Chris Carter’s review agrees the removal of random battles feels relieving, cutting down on the feeling of grindiness in a beneficial way. It’s a sign that something about Pokémon’s battle system has aged poorly, which is odd given that it remains an enjoyable centerpiece of the franchise.

For being one of the most iconic RPGs on the planet, Pokémon uses a battle system that feels extremely different than most others. On its surface, it’s mostly straightforward and traditional, being a turn-based RPG where you only use one of your six party members at a time — barring occasional exceptions — alternating turns with your opponent to attack, swap party members, or use an item. Other battle mechanics greatly increase damage relative to max HP as you level up, making one-shot KOs increasingly common as long as players make optimal decisions. Combining the limited action availability with the risk and rewards of offense-heavy gameplay means that every decision you make could drastically shift the battle for or against your favor, which is ideal for exciting reversals and tense comeback stories.

This is a major reason why the competitive Pokémon scene is so popular. High-level play is a battle of planning and mind games, calculating both what an opponent can do and what that opponent will do. It makes for exciting and tense matches about both sides trying to predict each other but never being certain what will actually happen.

But those intrinsic design strengths mostly apply to multiplayer. The same cannot be said for an average single-player Pokémon battle. AI opponents tend to be far more predictable both in the options they have and what decisions they make. Without a human opponent, the tension between move animations instead becomes a waiting game of selecting the same moves over and over while the exact result you expect keeps playing out. Just raising teams to expected levels relies on repeatedly knocking out simple enemies, which becomes more time consuming the more ‘mons you’re trying to raise, yet no less predictable.

That doesn’t mean single-player Pokémon battles are bad per se, but it does mean they can get overly routine with age. When we were first introduced to this gameplay, it was a brand new idea to toy with so many possibilities in this unfamiliar system against hundreds of wild and NPC Pokémon. Even if we just spammed Earthquake on our fully-evolved starter (I did), we were constantly learning more things to take into account such as the fact that Flying-Types and Levitate users require other moves. There was just so much data to parse that there was always something new for kids like our previous selves to discover about this system, so it didn’t get old for a while.

Times have evolved, and the internet now allows us to parse entire libraries of information with ease and convenience. The fun social aspect of battling other kids on the playground during the days of Red and Blue is now an online phenomenon that people dedicate years to studying and mastering. And similar to the feeling of constantly discovering new Pokémon and moves in the single player campaign as a GameFAQs-less kid, keeping up to breadth with the metagame’s strategies and planning around them invokes a similar thrill of constant discovery and learning.

But little has changed to evolve the single-player battling along a similarly interesting path, and I worry that this system’s age has begun to show. Now, spamming Earthquake and occasionally Flamethrower feels a lot less interesting because we’ve already learned all we need to know about that strategy two generations ago. Given that these games are designed expecting players to spend dozens, often hundreds of hours in single player training to prepare their teams for multiplayer, this is a huge problem that future generations need to address for the sake of all veteran Pokémon players. Single-player superfans will have a less interesting time sweeping armies of Team Rocket grunts with similar teams, while multiplayer maniacs have to play solo for hours anyway just to prepare a team for online play.

I probably don’t have to tell you guys this next part, but Let’s Go doesn’t provide a permanent solution. Even if it makes for a great spin-off experiment, replacing one gameplay style with a completely unrelated one leaves this awkward feeling of something being missing. Future games should instead revise these battles in some way to make them more refreshing in a normal playthrough.

The caveat here is Pokémon’s single-player battle system is also its multiplayer battle system. Giving the system itself a radical paradigm shift towards single-player-focused design would risk collateral damage against the multiplayer side. Instead, it would be best to address the specific issue of how single-player battles play out so that they can draw upon similar excitement as multiplayer battles.

Game Freak has been trying to spice up their random encounters for years, hence their pushing for new wild battle types such as horde battles and SOS battles. To their credit, SOS battles make for many of the most strategically challenging boss battles in the franchise, even more than most trainer bosses, and I consider them at least comparable to the exciting risky-and-rewarding decision making you can get out of a good multiplayer battle. As random encounters, they’re a hearty helping of EXP but otherwise can feel like padding. They’re trying to do something about how repetitive and mindless AI battles feel, but they haven’t quite nailed it yet. That’s probably because they haven’t sufficiently addressed the one common thread between them that isn’t shared by multiplayer battles: the AI itself.

Refining trainer and wild Pokémon AI and capabilities can allow them to more closely resemble the risk-and-reward challenges of a human opponent. Actually, Game Freak is already halfway there. Ever since Emerald, sometimes-recurring postgame facilities challenge players in restricted battles against trainers who fight closer to real players than any other AI enemy. They still don’t entirely solve this problem since they’re limited to postgame battles with temporary level restrictions, but they’re onto something.

Applying smarter AI and broader move sets to every wild and trainer battle could finish the job. A difficulty curve that gradually introduces more complex battle strategies in regular encounters can keep things feeling fresh. It’s true that its simplicity is a part of how most of us got into Pokémon in the first place, but a difficulty selector (one available from the get-go unlike Gen V’s, please) can satisfy both worn-out veterans and youthful newbies. Also, it’d be great if you could finally skip the catching tutorials by playing on a higher difficulty! Or on any difficulty. Or ever.

Smarter AI could arm themselves with a broader variety of moves, not unlike Let’s Go‘s Master Trainers. It could recognize a player Pokémon’s role by its species or by observing its behaviors and attempt to counter that role. Smarter AI could also rely on mechanics usually only seen in competitive play and throw veteran players for a loop and make more memorable encounters. Simply put, smarter AI could help players tired of single-player battles have more fun.

One of the big appeals of this franchise is how you constantly work with your Pokémon to overcome increasingly bigger trials. These games emphasize the journey of training because that is at the heart of their themes. By proxy, they will probably remain grindy. And that’s okay, 99% of great RPGs are grindy in some sense, but there’s a difference between an enjoyable and rewarding grind versus an exhausting and stagnant one. A grind that does more to challenge and entertain veteran players on their way to the Pokémon League would serve the heart and soul of these themes much better.

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        from SpicyNBAChili.com http://spicymoviechili.spicynbachili.com/pokemons-single-player-battles-are-aging-poorly/

[ciathyzareposts]

Shadow of the Comet – Final Rating

By limbeck

The first time I played Shadow of the Comet was probably some time in the late ’90s or early 2000s. I was relatively fresh in RPGs and the Cthulhu Mythos, and still at university. So, a Cthulhu Mythos inspired adventure game definitely looked like just what I needed to fill my appetite for relevant pop culture.

I don’t remember much from that playthrough, but I sure as hell remember being impressed by the fact that I could face some of the Great Old Ones (GOOs) and frantically looking for walkthroughs through my brave dial-up connection to get through the final stages.

“Frantic” is a word perfectly associated with some parts of the game

This time around, I had a mixed bag experience, though I think that my gameplay posts mostly focused on the negatives and contained quite a few rants. I am a man of small patience it seems. Nevertheless, the playthrough was by no means a negative experience. There were many things I enjoyed in the game, namely the setting, some of the character interactions and the story, cheesy as it was. However, as Ilmari and Vetinari commented in the introduction post, the clunky interface, along with some sanity breaking puzzles broke my immersion.

I am talking about you, dark chamber puzzle

But let’s see how fair I am to the game using the PISSED rating. This is my first time, so please bear with me.

Puzzles and Solvability

We start with what frustrated me most in the game. It is an adventure game and puzzles are essential for the player’s enjoyment. Unfortunately, many of the puzzles in the game were bad. They were bad in many ways. I may be overreacting, as I am a soft adventure gamer. I play the games mostly for the stories and, as mentioned above, I lose patience with an obscure puzzle easily. I hope you will agree with me though, when I say that these features do not make good puzzles:

Timed sequences when the time you have at your disposal is very little. I like it when the game gives you time to think and I prefer it if that time is not during a reload. There were way too many puzzles that I only had a few seconds to think of something before I died. At least I died with variety. Examples include the scene at the forest clearing at night, the temple of Dagon, all encounters with cultists and that damned JONAS chase.

Action sequences that do not involve clever thinking but just being able to press the right buttons at the right time. As above, I want to play the game at my leisure. I can understand that such fast paced encounters add to the atmosphere of the game. My fleeing from JONAS fits with the horror theme of the game, but it was not enjoyable at all.

Lack of clues and feedback. There were many puzzles when I felt I was stumbling blind. Sometimes, I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing and sometimes I knew what I had to do, but the options were so broad that it practically forced you to bruteforce it. What made it worse was that sometimes items that were completely unresponsive in one scene held vital clues after an event took place.

Pixel hunting. There were many puzzles when I had to be standing in a specific point, such as the one with the key to the Necronomicon under the carpet in JUGG’s house. 

JUGG sure hid it well

Mini games. Sliding tile puzzle.

Dead ends. I only encountered one, when I forgot to refill my naphtha bucket, and Charles mentioned another one with BISHOP and the cemetery key. I think that in 1993, there was enough experience in design to avoid dead ends. Still not a big problem if you save regularly, as you were not walking dead for too long.

On the good side, though there were some clever puzzles, like the last one at the stone circle or the one with the wings at the top of the lighthouse, even if the latter made no sense at all. The UI did not allow you to directly combine items in your inventory, so the designers had to find other ways to challenge the player. Some of them were clever and they make sense, but most of the time, they make sense only retrospectively. I understand their intention of pushing the player to think logically and consider what he could see in the room, but they mostly relied on visual cues. I also liked the fact that you could reuse some of your items and you didn’t have to throw them away after use.

I will keep that magnifying glass until I die

Overall, I must say I am not satisfied with the quality of the puzzles in the game, but there were good moments and many missed chances.

Score: 3

Interface and Inventory

This is another category where the game could have done a lot better. The tools were there, but they seem to have been only partially implemented. You may remember that in my first session I misunderstood the “laser sight” to work with any object I could interact with. I was wrong. It turns out that it was about what I could pick up. This made the whole game a lot harder. It meant that I had to be standing at the correct place to interact with something and the lack of feedback meant that I couldn’t know if I was meant to be standing at a different pixel or that there was indeed nothing there. This is indeed a missed opportunity to improve user friendliness.

That lack of feedback annoyed me many times. My laptop’s L (Look) key would be worn out if it was made of a slightly less durable plastic. I think I can see the letter fading away. And yet, in most cases I would never get a description (see my rant about the naphtha pool). It wouldn’t hurt to have a description of the room and something more helpful or even just some flavour text.

That rifle on the wall holds a vital clue, but it took me some time to really look at it. Maybe that’s my fault after all.

Another problem was the clunkiness of movement. I played the floppy version and there was only keyboard support. That’s not a bad thing per se. The game was well designed around it, but it always felt that it was responding too slowly. That was a real problem when I had to act quickly, such as when being chased by JONAS. I did not have the courage to try the same in the CD-ROM version, but I remember moving with the mouse was much clunkier.

Other than that, inventory management and controls were very simple and intuitive. There was no way to combine objects at will, but that may have hurt the variety of the puzzles, not the interface.

Score: 4

Story and Setting

The story of the game is based on what is considered a typical Lovecraftian story (I think some of the best of his stories do not follow that pattern, but that’s not for this post). A small, quiet town which hides a disturbing secret, usually a cult to some horrific extradimensional beings with unpronouncable names. The protagonist is slowly introduced to the underground of the town and the story reaches a frantic conclusion, usually in a short time span, which is sufficient to kill or drive the protagonist mad.

In this game, kill more often than turn mad

Seen in that setting, the story is a bit cliché, but it works. The writers may have been a bit too excited and included too many GOOs too close together, but for someone not so much into the Cthulhu Mythos, it should not be a problem. What could be a problem, though was the way that I was railroaded into some situations, without really having any idea why I should be doing it. The whole storylet with the lighthouse and the gypsies is my pet peeve here.

The motives of the characters are explained in a satisfactory way. Each character has a small background story and their relationships are shown through your conversations with them. I empathised with some of them, particularly poor, tragic CURTIS and even BISHOP, while at the same time, could not help getting annoyed by Miss PICOTT and ZEKE. Regarding the villains, for most of the time they remained distant and I only had second-hand information.

A nice example of unnecessary, but entertaining, background fluff

In summary, it is a passable, but cliché, story, with memorable, but cliché, characters in a nicely fleshed out little town.

Score: 7

Sound and Graphics

I am torn with this one, particularly about the graphics. So, let’s start with the sound first.

In the floppy version, which I played, there were only two or three different background music scores, which they repeated a few times after loading or after some scenes, but there were long periods with no music at all. The themes were very nice and fitting to the atmosphere. If they had more storage, they could do better. I want to believe that the CD-ROM version had more variety.

Sound effects consisted entirely of digitised recordings and they were annoying for the most part. They would usually play once when you entered a new screen. For example, the same bird chirp would play every time a forest screen loaded and the same very annoying cat meowing would repeatedly play in all cemetery screens.

There was no speech in the floppy version, but the little I saw of the CD-ROM version did not leave me much impressed. MorpheusKitami’s comment in the first gameplay post seems to imply that there is much to be desired from the speech in the CD-ROM.

Now to the graphics. As I mentioned above, I am torn. The technique used to digitise photos for the exterior of the buildings gave some nice realism and added to the atmosphere of the town. Another thing that struck me as ugly were the cutscenes. It was a mix of faux-3D and 2D animations, with too sharp angles and very flat colours. That dived quite deeply into the uncanny valley.

The interiors were almost entirely hand-drawn though and this was a mixed bag. Drawing was clear. You could understand that a desk was a desk and that there was a lamp on the mantelpiece. However, sometimes the proportions were overblown, as someone commented early on.

My room is a good example. It would be impossible to warm it up in winter and the door is twice my height

I need to praise some of the locations that were very nicely drawn and coloured appropriately to enhance the atmosphere of the particular location. That goes for the cemetery at night, the crypt of the HAMBLETON family and even JONAS’s maze. I think the colours and drawings were just right there.

Anyway, all things considered, I am sorry, but I cannot go very high on this one.

Score: 5

Environment and Atmosphere

Reading previous reviews, it seems that this criterion is the one that presents the most difficulty to reviewers. I count myself to be on the lucky side. Looking at a Lovecraftian horror-themed game like Shadow of the Comet, I believe I knew what sort of atmosphere I should experience. I was expecting a slow burn at first and a flood of horrific revelations at the end. What started as a quiet stroll in the park would end as a frantic dash through a dark forest with clawed hands reaching for you.

The game managed to achieve this feeling quite well, provided that you would not get stuck in puzzles for too long, but maybe that was part of the horror experience. Illsmouth I think is the perfect little town, with its inhabitants following their daily patterns and only speaking to you if they feel like doing so. I come from a large city, but have spent far too many summers in my parents’ village on the island. I can see the similarities and hope that my village is not built over a forgotten temple of Dagon.

I believe I would have noticed

The horror part is also well presented, but less so. There are scenes and locations that take you in, but many times it feels forced. The appeal of Lovecraft’s stories is that you do not really know what you are dealing with until the very end. Here, you are fed with a lot of exposition and are immersed in lore. I understand that this is an adventure game and not a horror story, which is also why it is not easy to get the atmosphere just right.

Still, there were scenes which worked very well, and I will mention again the discovery of CURTIS’s corpse and the section in the cemetery and in the crypt. One could say that the chase by JONAS also works towards the horror atmosphere, but I died too many times to appreciate it.

Score: 7

Dialogue and Acting

The game has a lot of dialogue, but less than half of it offered multiple options. In most cases, dialogue played as a cutscene and my only contribution was to hit enter and read the next line. The designers introduced dialogue options when they considered them critical for a puzzle or to lead me to a different branch of the story, usually my death.

Exhibit A

I believe this approach worked quite well in the building up of the setting of the game. Illsmouth locals got their life through these chats, either with PARKER or among themselves. I also enjoyed the dialogue puzzle at the town hall which opened the path to the Mayor’s office. In most other cases, however, my options seemed inconsequential, even though some answers seemed clearly more appropriate than others. A potential dead end via dialogue was reported in the comments, with BISHOP potentially leaving without ever giving me the cemetery key, but I did not have a saved game before that to verify. I am willing to give the game the benefit of doubt, but other design choices make this benefit very small.

The quality of the dialogue is adequate and mostly appropriate for the type of game. Some horrible one-liners aside (“Say hello to SATAN”), the dialogues were written keeping the characters and overall story in mind and were not too cheesy (SATAN line aside).

I cannot say much about the voice acting of the CD-ROM version. The little that I saw seemed awkward and there were problems with the synchronisation with the speaker’s sprite. May be too much to ask from a game of that era, but I think the Case of the Serrated Scalpel did it better (if it did not, I apologise. I played most of the game with sound off because of a bug).

Score: 5

So, that gives us a PISSED of 31 / 0.6 = 51.666, rounded up to 52. There was a wide range of guesses, as high as 62, but ShaddamIVth guessed correctly. That makes it two games in a row, after the Journeyman Project.

  I hope you enjoyed the game and the review and that I’ll be able to write something more before Prisoner of Ice in 2025 or so.

CAP Distribution

100 points to limbeck

Blogger award – 100 CAPs – For blogging through this game for our enjoyment

32 points to TBD

True Companion Award – 25 CAPs – For playing along with most of the game and providing useful commentary

Obscure music reference Award – 5 CAPs – For putting monster mash in my radar

Adam West Award – 2 points – For knowing how hard it is to get rid of a bomb

28 points to Charles

True Companion Award – 25 CAPs – For playing along with most of the game and providing useful commentary

Superhero mashup Award – 3 CAPs – For the mental image of Bruce Wayne changing into his Batman uniform in a Gotham City phone booth

25 points to MorpheusKitami

True Companion Award – 25 CAPs – For playing along with most of the game and providing useful commentary

15 points to Laukku

Free betting cash Award – 15 CAPs – For guessing that I would not be able to solve the photo development puzzle and almost getting it right.

13 points to ShaddamIVth

Psychic Prediction Award – 10 CAPs – For guessing the final rating for Shadow of the Comet

Pipe Master Award – 3 CAPs – For enlightening all of us on the functionality of a sprague (totally unrelated to Prague)

5 points to Vetinari

TLDR Award – 5 CAPs – For summarising my review in less than 50 words

5 points to Andy Panthro

Nicholas Cage Fan Club Award – 5 CAPs – For reminding me that there Colour out of Space is now a movie

5 points to Patryk

Miskatonic Theology Professor Award – 5 CAPs – For debating the position of world religions in the otherworldly mythology of the Ancient Ones, as described by H.P. Lovecraft and the curators of his works

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/shadow-of-the-comet-final-rating/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

[iaahillyer]

Plaster Transfers and Recycled Materials: Q & A With Melanie Gritzka del Villar

Our exhibition at Hillyer examines the tie between Mexico and the Philippines. Can you elaborate on this relationship and what inspired you to make work about this subject matter?

Well, historically, Mexico and the Philippines were under domination of the Spanish empire and formed part of “Nuova Hispania” or “New Spain” from the 16th to 19th century. During this period, The Philippines were officially administered by Mexico. For two and a half centuries (1565 to 1815), huge vessels - also called the “Manila Galleon” or “Nave/Nao de China"- would navigate the Pacific, from the port of Acapulco (Mexico) to Manila (the Philippines). The complete trade route transported cargo such as silver, silk, porcelain, and spices, from Seville in Spain to the Mexican port of Veracruz, overland through strategically positioned cities such as Puebla, to the port of Acapulco, on to Manila and back. This colossal enterprise ensured a rich intermingling and assimi-lation of customs, traditions, language and aesthetics between both nations.

I was inspired to work on this subject when I first visited Mexico in 2015. I was curious to find a mango species called “Mango de Manila” in one of the markets and wanted to know more. Up to that point I was unaware of the shared history between Mexico and the Philippines. The more I found out about this connection, the more fascinated and excited I became about the whole subject matter. I guess the fact that I’m half Filipina from my mother’s side and having lived my teenage years in Spain makes the theme extra intriguing as it touches upon my own cultural roots.

What about found/discarded objects attracted you as to include them in your art?

I've been using found materials since my student days in the UK. During that time, found materials such as cardboard boxes were readily available. England was the third country I had lived in, hence the cardboard box was also a fitting metaphor for my own feeling of living in flux or "living out of a suitcase/box”. Since then, I have continued to be attracted to found objects and recycled materials wherever I’d find myself.

Having lived in several countries (Germany, Spain, UK, Thailand, The Philippines) my art is really shaped by an ongoing search for harmony out of disparate cultural, geographical and environmental elements. Found objects carry layers and a specific history, allowing me to engage in a dialogue with the item itself and my immediate environment. I consider overlooked surfaces and objects as poetic portals and holders of latent possibilities for alternative narratives. 

More recently, the use of recycled materials has also come to reflect my philosophy of trying to live as a more conscious human being on an endangered planet. Using recycled and found materials for me is a practice that helps me to stay aware of my surroundings and to appreciate what is there...to find something beautiful in the discarded and to infuse it with new meaning. My driftwood series "Traces" is a good example here. By uplifting fragments from the flotsam and jetsam of our throwaway lifestyles, I hope to inspire audiences to challenge given hierarchies of value.

How do your pieces tie together present and future as you display trade routes developed in the 16th century with more recently found objects?

Good question. For me, the Puebla (Mexico) wall sections I’m portraying with the photographic plaster transfers, as well as the driftwood fragments I’ve collected from broken boats on the shores of Philippine islands hint at the layering of history over time. In both cases, what I’m capturing is the history of the object revealed through the scratches and different colours of paint. These layers may also symbolise the complexity of what makes up Mexican and Philippine culture. Regarding the future, I guess the fragility and brittleness of these paint layers could remind us how some as-pects (cultural, historical, etc) could be lost if we don’t try to appreciate and keep them alive.

The gel transferred maps act in a similar way. In this process, I enlarged the original image of the maps and then transferred the printed image into gel medium. The result is an elastic yet fragile sheet which reacts (expands/contracts) depending on the humidity of the environment. Maps are not absolutes; though they may include real scientific data, but ultimately represent a particular world-view. My transfer technique serves to highlight the tension between the totality of the world as a coherent and complete structure - which the maps seek to represent - and the un-stable state of the medium through which it is communicated. Moreover, the fact that I have add-ed my own writing to the transferred maps adds another temporal dimension, blurring the time scale of the maps. My gel transferred maps of trade routes between Mexico and the Philippines may remind us that world-views are inherently transitional and change as history unfolds, from the past and present into the future.

My work on the myth of “La China Poblana” also deals with cultural constructs over time. This leg-end is based the historical figure called “Mirrha”. Her true origin is disputed - some say she was an Indian princess, some say she came from the “Mughal Kingdom of The Philippine Islands”. She was bought in Manila in the 17th century by the Portuguese captain Miguel de Sosa and shipped over to Puebla in Mexico to work as a servant to his wife. Mirrha converted to Catholicism, was baptised as Catarina de San Juan and led a life so devout that she was almost canonised as saint - which the Church objected to. After Sosa and his wife died, Catarina married Domingo Suárez, the Chinese servant of a local priest, adding to the legend that she was Chinese. Catarina was widely admired for her generosity and exotic beauty. She stayed in the collective im-agination of the residents in Puebla who honoured her by wearing her dress style: typically a white blouse and colourful embroidered red and green shirt. In the early 20th century, her image eventu-ally morphed into the popular symbol of Mexican femininity as “La China Poblana”- (in the colonial era the word “china” was used to refer to anything or anyone that came from Asia).

For my exhibition “Retracing Roots / Routes”, I reinterpret the story of La China Poblana using my own selection of images: an image found on the internet of a Filipino mestiza in the 16th Century, an old portrait of my mom, and vintage image of a Mexican lady I found in one of Puebla’s flea markets). I also wrote a short text for each of the characters. By reenacting the myth I expand on an existing popular narrative and stereotype and try to hint at the constant evolution of cultural constructs. Including my mother gives the work a personal twist. My mother, just like me, is a mes-tiza (mixed race): we have Spanish, Malay and Chinese ancestors. Again, past, present and future possibilities are linked into a continuum.

You did a residency in Mexico and while there you worked with a local artist to do a mural. Tell us about that experience.

Yes, I did a one-month residency at Arquetopia in Puebla last year during which I did my research on the Mexico-Philippine subject. The mural was actually a side-line project, independent from the main residency. It happened through sheer coincidence. A local friend of mine took me on a mural tour in the neighbouring town of Cholula. I was so inspired by the tour that I had to approach the guide at the end of the session and thank him. Then I showed him some of my mural work and he immediately told me: You must make a mural whilst you’re here. I didn’t take his comment that se-rious, but truth to be told, the next day he sent me a poster of their mural project with my name on it and an image of the wall I was supposed to paint! The campaign was part of an official initiative by the city of Puebla to re-generate one of the oldest neighbourhoods of the city. When I checked out the wall in person I was shocked by the size of it, it was huge. The wall itself was around 300 years old and I loved the color and the worn surface where they paint would chip off. Given that I didn't have much time left in Puebla I wasn’t sure whether I could commit to it. In the end I decided to go for it. My mural design was based on my research on the Philippine-Mexico connection. It was a great experience, I had lots of help from my new friends and we had so much fun together, especially on the scaffolding. It was an amazing opportunity and I’m very pleased that I was able to leave my mark in Puebla. You can check out my mural on my website: http://www.gritzkadelvillar.com/murals/

You are a world traveler - how has this influenced the work you create? How has living in DC influenced you?

I’ve touched upon this in your question above. But yes, through travelling I’m exposed to many cultural influences. I love using different cultural references in my work. I’m always eager to discover how cultures are linked to one another throughout history.

I’ve really enjoyed exploring the art scene in D.C. and building a new creative network here. There are some amazing people, venues and opportunities. I feel really fortunate for having been able to show my work in quite a few locations. Living here has also reminded me of the four seasons! I’d moved here from Thailand - so although I’m half German, I had to get used to winters again, haha. It’s also been very educational to be able to observe social structures here. In terms of my art: I’ve been collecting and using found objects to make new work, especially wine boxes and pieces of road turf. Some of these works are still in progress.

What’s next for you?

I have a few things cooking: a silent auction at the Mexican Cultural Institute in DC on Sept. 23rd, a group show at Viridian Artists Inc. Gallery in Chelsea, NYC, September 5th - 30th, and possible a group show at Strathmore Gallery, in Bethesda, MD - to be confirmed. I’ve also applied for an artist residency in London which would start next January if I get accepted. Fingers crossed!

#acreativedc #dcarts

[gastro-nomique]

Modern, Minimalist Mom Capsule Wardrobe – Year 3

My minimalist mom capsule wardrobe was so popular the last two years (and made dressing each day so fun and easy) that I couldn’t help do it again this year. Only a little bigger and even better.

Every piece here is a proven winner– that shirt, cardigan, hoodie, and pair of jeans that you’ll reach for again and again. The ones that you love to wear and can be worn a millions different ways. These are the items that keep us comfortably chasing the kids all day- cotton, denim, and sneakers- done in such a laid-back-chic way.

The result is a high-performing, workhorse of a wardrobe that will give you an effortlessly cool look every day of the week.

Plus, for the first time ever, the ENTIRE WARDROBE is from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale so you have the opportunity to save big.

If you’re already a Nordstrom card holder, you can shop the sale now! If not, you’ll get your chance to shop these sales on Friday, July 21st. If you want to get in on these finds you have to hurry, though, items are selling out rapidly and the sale is ending soon.

  Classic Tops

Free People Split Back Turtleneck

$68, Now $44.90

This looks so cozy and I love that it’s edgy while being totally covered up. I would wear it with both jeans and yoga pants (win!) and layered with a simple tank like this favorite also on sale!

  Hunter Plaid Shirt

 $148 Now $99.90

I always have to have at least one quality plaid (I’m from Seattle, are you surprised?) Plus, so great for layering under vests and sweaters… But they aren’t all equal and the drape and material of this one are top notch.

  Make + Model Brushed Hacci Sweatshirt 

$45 $29.90

I love me a stylish sweatshirt! Because honestly, if I can wear sweats all day and still look good, I’m gonna do it! This looks extra, extra soft and would be a great staple please- especially at this amazing price.

Lush Raw Edge Side Slit Tee 

$24 Now $15.90

I’ve come to despise basic straight bottom tees. Why? Because they can make any outfit look dowdy. This twist on the boring basic tee is a great way to up your style points on any outfit you put together.

  Pants

PAIGE Hoxton High Waist Ankle Skinny Jeans 

$189 Now $99  

I’ve been looking for some darker wash jeans to wear to girls’ nights and date nights and with this discount, it’s kinda impossible to resist.

Everyone I know adores Paige jeans and I’m no exception. They are the first luxury brand jeans I started buying regularly because I know they will last and I’ll get more than my money’s worth. Plus, they make me feel great when I wear them and this high-waisted design will be especially slimming!

PAIGE Transcend Hoxton High Waist Undone Hem Skinny Jeans 

$199 Now $131.90

Speaking of Paige jeans, this pair is at the absolute top of my wish list. I wear A LOT of jeans (like every day that I’m not wearing yoga pants the 9 months of the year it’s not sunny here). So when I find a pair that gives me a chance to show off a little flair without going crazy, I get excited.

The slanted hems are really cool (I like them so much better than the step hem that is popular right now) and I could see wearing these while volunteering at school as well as for date night making them super versatile.

  Note: If you’re looking for a more straight-laced black jean, check out this pair of Instasculpt skinny jeans also on sale- because who doesn’t want to be instascupted?!

  Zella Live In Slim Fit Leggings in Grey Graphite

$59 Now $38.90

As I said, I wear almost exclusively jeans and yoga pants in cooler weather and the only yoga pants I wear are Zella. I ALWAYS stock up during the #NSale too because of the great prices.

The thickness of these pants makes me always feel sucked in and sleek without feeling compressed if you know what I mean. I’m excited to add this grey graphite pair to the rotation.

  Zella All In Ankle Leggings

$75 Now $49.90

Although I’ve seen the high waist Zella leggings (on sale for $35) featured by a ton of fashion bloggers this year. I still prefer the mid-rise, ankle cut (the high rise just makes my hips and stomach look weird).

I like that these are a subtle upgrade of the basic black tight too.

  Sweaters

Free People Electric City Pullover Sweater 

$98 Now $64.90

Maybe it’s because I’m a child of the 80s but I just can’t resist a comfy sweater to curl up in front of the fire with a good book in. This one is so pretty and doesn’t look bulky or scratchy, both of which are a total must.

  Billabong Snuggle Off the Shoulder Sweater 

This is probably the edgiest of my picks. I wouldn’t wear it during my normal day-to-day but I love it for fall or winter date nights. It’s just sexy enough to make it special.

  Gibson Bell Sleeve Cozy Fleece Pullover  

$59, Now $39.90

The bell sleeves on this top are so feminine and current, who would guess it’s made of fleece?! Did I mention how much I like to be comfortable?

  Note: If you like this sleeve, definitely check out this super fun top for nights out – now 40% off!

  Layering Pieces

Caslon® Mixed Print Open Front Long Cardigan 

$89, Now $49.90

I have picked up a long cardigan with a cool design at each of the last couple sales and I always get so many compliments on them. This is definitely the one for this year.

  Love Token Faux Shearling Vest 

$120, Now $79.90

I’ve been eyeing faux shearling vests like this since last year’s sale but just couldn’t decide if I was edgy enough to be able to rock one. The knit back of this one makes it feel more accessible to me for some reason and it just looks so ridiculously comfy!

  Vince Camuto Contrast Trim Quilted Vest 

$118, Now $58.90

Is there anything better than a quilted vest on a crisp and cool fall day? They are so wonderful for staying warm (something I struggle with) and I really love the interesting contrasting colors and gold details on this one. It’s a total stand out amongst the standard quilted vest and it’s 50% off!!

  BLANKNYC Chill Pill Cardigan 

$88, Now $57.90

This contrasting cardigan is another super warm item that you can wear with anything. It’s also a unique piece that not every other mommy at school pick up will be wearing. Such a good find.

  Athleisure Tops

Brunette Fries Before Guys Sweatshirt

$79, Now $51.90

I love a soft sweat shirt for cool evenings, to pair with yoga pants while on the go, or for lounging around in once I’ve changed into my PJs around 6 pm (I’m not the only one who does this am I?).

Also, if you have daughters they NEED to see you casually rocking this, like every day. Let’s make not so subliminal messaging work for us guys!

  The North Face Hooded Fleece Pullover

$99, Now $69.90

If your kid has an outside sport, this is the top you must buy! Take it from this Pacific Northwesterner, cozy plush fleece is luxuriously warm – especially when layered under a coat on a cold and windy field. Treat yourself, you won’t be sorry.

  Nike Gym Zip Hoodie 

$60, Now $36.98

This vintage zip hoodie is so light-weight and soft that it feels like butter. I think I wore it every day for two weeks straight when I first got it. Great for moderate weather as well as layering when it gets cooler.

  Zella Drop the Armhole Tank 

$39

I have a confession to make; although I love running around in yoga pants and I think the athleisure trend was maybe one of the best things to happen to me, I still have trouble figuring out what to wear with them.

I’m a fan of the half tuck when I wear jeans so I often feel like untucked tees and tanks with my yoga pants look a little off. That’s why I included this tank from Zella even though it’s the only item in the capsule not currently on sale. The tie in the front gives this casual top just enough structure and I love the effect.

  Finishing Pieces

UGG Elvia Waterproof Tall Boot 

$249.95, $164.90

These waterproof boots look like such work horses – perfect in the snow and slush but also super cute with skinny jeans or black Zellas – all while being ridiculously comfortable – what can’t they do?

  Converse Jack Purcell Signature Ox Low Top

$69.95, Now $45.90

I am so smitten with the color of these iconic shoes. Not white but Platinum. They’ll give your outfit the polished look of a white shoe but be a lot easier to keep clean. Sold!

  Nike Juvenate SE Sneaker

$95, Now $70

Speaking of iconic shoes, snagging a discounted Nike in basic black, which I can wear with everything while running around all day, is kinda a must for me. The softness of this one is what sold me.

  TOMS Deia Block Heel Bootie

$97.95, Now $64.90

Last year I bought a similar pair of gray Toms boots during the sale and I could not believe how comfortable they turned out to be. Having chronic back problems means I only do heels rarely.

I bought my Toms boots with the idea of wearing them to date nights when I intended to be sitting most of the time. Much to my delight, I found they are comfortable enough to walk around in for extended periods of time- whoo hoo!

  Sperry Saltwater Spray Wedge Waterproof Rain Boot

$129.95, Now $84.90

For the days when the Ugg boots are overkill, a good pair of Sperry boots are my go tos. I got mine last year during the sale and wore them almost every day during the winter. So00 cute and easy to wear, love ’em!

  Halogen® Asymmetrical Zip Boiled Wool Blend Coat 

$199, Now $129.90

Last but not least, the most exciting coat I’ve seen in years. Finally, something that I can wear during the day or out at night that’s more than a pea coat! I just love the cut of this coat as well as the colors it comes in – both the grey dove and the black are gorgeous.

Note: A shorter thermal jacket from the North Face like this is great for running around too. I got mine two sales ago and still wear it constantly.

  So that’s it!! Whew, what a list! I hope you find something (or many somethings) to love here and that you’re able to act in time to get a great deal!

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The post Modern, Minimalist Mom Capsule Wardrobe – Year 3 appeared first on Modern Parents Messy Kids.

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