#Even if it would in my case be the equivalent of a weeb learning Japanese to read untranslated doujin

[southwarkfair]

So fortunately (or perhaps very very unfortunately) there has been a breakthrough in the "comprachico" mystery, which I am now apparently committed to investigating. 

I mentioned that the name/general description was brought up in some academic studies on jesters I was reading - one of these (the most recently published) actually does have a pretty exhaustive list of sources, though they're reproduced quite uncritically and with a lot of tortured speculation by the author. The only locatable english-language source the author used for their mention of "comprachicos" is a victorian book, "giants and dwarfs" by Edward Wood, published 1868. Not that impressive on its own, theres a lot of victorian pseudohistory out there. Interestingly though, it appears to have come out one year before l'homme qui rit, and cites a verifiably existant pre-victorian source. "Miscellanea curiosa, medica, psysica", a medical journal from 1670, published in Leipzig, Germany. This is also cited by the first book I mentioned.

This journal (as far as i can tell its the right one? the date is one year off) is available in full on Internet archive, along with Wood's book, both of which i will link at the end. Like many historical medical texts, it is written entirely in Latin. I, alas, due to my mere peasant's education, cannot read a word of it. I did briefly skim for the word 'comprachico', but since there is no mention of this word or of any specific individual or group carrying out the mutilations in Wood's book either, this seemed unlikely and I predictably did not find anything. I also looked out for diagrams that might seem to pertain to the folkloric "dwarfing" practice described by Wood. There were one or two that I thought might possibly be related but i won't share them here as i imagine many would rightfully find them upsetting.

However, I did wonder if the Leipzig journal might be the one referenced by Hugo in the actual in-universe action of l'homme qui rit, when ursus looks up gwynplaine's mutilation in an old Latin medical text. I double checked and the book owned by ursus is actually called "de denasatis" by "Dr John conquest". On the off-chance that this was anything resembling a real book, I searched for it and found a reddit thread linking another article, written in 1910, by John Boynton Kaiser. This article, from the Journal Of Criminal Law and Criminology, was pondering on the exact same question as I was - the origin of Hugo's comprachicos. On the topic of "artificial jesters", it again cites the same Leipzig journal as Wood.

It also goes into detail on Hugo's possible historical inspirations, for the story in general and specifically for the comprachicos. Kaiser claims, I think correctly, that even if the idea is not new, the word itself was made up by hugo. I used this tool, which scans for keywords in archived Google books going back to the year 1500, and there is no mention of comprachicos or any variation thereof until after the publication date of l'homme qui rit. The name is apparently a simple mashup of spanish words for "male child" and "purchase". or as google translate would have it, uh

Kaiser writes that in hugo's journals the author also considered other names for his "child-buying" group based on other languages, and he apparently wasn't sure what their ethnicity should be. This further points to the fact that the specific group itself is made up, though he apparently maintained among colleagues that it was real.

I should note that the English texts I have linked, if you are interested in reading them for yourself, are deeply disturbing in content as well as archaic and prejudiced in tone:

https://archive.org/details/b24887067

https://archive.org/details/s3id11855980/page/12/mode/2up?view=theater

https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol4/iss2/8/

None of this, of course, proves definitively that such "artificial jester" practices were ever carried out in real life, by an organized group or otherwise. It moreso just indicates, as I suspected, that they weren't fully invented by Hugo. Kaiser's article claims there is other evidence, but i really dont know at this point. Honestly I'm now very much hoping that all this shit is completely made up, because Jesus fucking christ.

Anyway, aside from that, the 1910 article maintains that hugo documented his research and writing process extensively in his journals and personal papers. I'm quite excited by this prospect, as it might provide answers to some other questions I've been wondering about, such as the origins of the many unique character names. I'll have to see if anyone has translated any of this background material into English. Or perhaps i could learn French. Its getting to the point where I might have to just learn French 

#Being a monoglot Englishman is so totally embarrassing dude. And at my age. #Also If I'm really serious about pursuing history learning French would honestly be a good start #Even if it would in my case be the equivalent of a weeb learning Japanese to read untranslated doujin #Anybody else ever wish they were an old timey Oxford type dude. #Instructed in Latin and ancient greek while getting their cock sucked in the dorms by the future secretary of the treasury or whatever #Nice work if you can get it #ableism // #racism // #l'homme qui rit #jester lore

[jeidafei]

D.Gray-Man Chapter 234 Theories

Guys! Thank you so much for your responses! I’m so happy! I’m posting replies to comments on the Translation Notes here as some are going to be very, very long!

@team-hemsworth​  your theory is actually very good, my mind is blown :o but what about the 3rd side of the war? i’ve always thought the heart is already awaken and is leading the 3rd side (i don’t even know where that thought came from though) i also think the world the noahs lived in was an alternative universe and the exorcists actually existed there once and bookman clan along with the noahs, are survivals from that world (again, don’t have any fact to back that up, just my intuition)  

Thank you! As I said, I typed that out very fast, it was like a stream of consciousness XD Once I had a good night’s sleep, I woke up finding a lot of loopholes that needs addressing, such as: If Mana/Earl really is the Heart, why is he affected by Innocence? Cross states a few chapters ago that he must keep Mana in this amnesiac, defenseless state away from the Heart and Innocence, and his fears came true later; in Lost Fragment of Snow, Red hit Mana with his Innocence-embedded arm and caused Mana to go even crazier, forgetting even his mission of searching for Nea. 

However, one thing of note is that while Red was hitting him, he noticed light particles flying out of Mana’s head. Could that light have come from within Mana himself, not Red’s arm? Could it be Innocence coexisting with the Noah? We have already seen that this is possible in the case of Allen Walker. 

Anyways! Back to your comment! My theory right now is that the 1st side is the Black Order, the 2nd side is the Noah and the Earl, and the 3rd side consists of Nea, Past!Allen, Cross and the residents of Campbell Mansion.

Bookmen, of course, don’t take a side. 35 years ago they were on the Noah’s side to record the war, and now they moved over to the Order’s side just to fill their history books as well.

I think the purpose of the 3rd side is essentially the same as the others: Preventing the end of the world, but it seems they want to go about it differently from the Noah and the Order. As Road have said to Allen before she disappeared, Nea “was fighting for Mana’s sake, but that’s a secret.” 

Having known Mana and Nea from childhood, Cross is repulsed by how the Noah is using Mana for their own revenge, clinging to a prophecy. The Noah seem not to care much about the welfare of this new world and its people, so long as they get their revenge; they seemed to think it a lost cause anyway, and only wants to avenge The Pillar that destroyed their world. 

Meanwhile, Cross seem to not like the Order and their ways much either. We’re not sure about his reasons yet, though.

As for the Heart, yes it most likely has awaken. Waaaay back in Chapter 158 there is this scene:

I don’t remember where this following anecdote came from, but the Earl also once said that the Heart is very sly and would create diversions to misdirect those looking for it (i.e. Allen and Lenalee). So in short, the Earl only let the Black Order survive for so long, in order to draw out Apocryphos and the Heart. 

I think for the Earl, this war isn’t between them and the Order, it’s them and the Heart aka The Pillar. To put it harshly, The Order doesn’t mean a rat’s fart to him.

According to the Earl above, he doesn’t want the Heart to learn the secret of the Akuma’s evolution. He wants to keep the Order ignorant about the souls within them. But who is the only Order member willing to see Akuma as souls/humans in need of salvation? Allen Walker. 

From flashbacks we saw that Mana’s persona was fighting the Millennium Earl persona. And we know that Mana cursed Allen with the ability to see Akuma’s souls as his last act, the ability that gave him the unique weapon of “empathy”, the very thing the Earl does not want the Order and the Heart to learn about. 

What if Mana intentionally gave Allen that particular curse, to hand him the only weapon that could destroy the Akuma for good?

As for the Noah’s “world”, in my simple opinion, I think it’s this same world we’re in. The Noah are the only survivors of the Pillar’s cleansing, and thus they became ancestors of the humans of today (I remember they said that somewhere). That is why ALL humans have the possibility of awakening into Noah. 

I think the Noah’s intention is to evolve their descendants (the world’s people) into the ultimate Akuma, which someone speculated that maybe the Ultimate Human, like themselves. As we can all see, with each passing Level, the Akuma become stronger, more human, more sentient. I think their intention is to use those Ultimate Humans as their army to fight the Pillar.

This also came to me just now: What if the Pillar was the original form of Innocence that broke apart and scattered all over the world in 109 pieces, with the Earl as its Heart?

@thelunarvoid​​

This is such an interesting and logical theory! Actually, the new infos we got out of this chapter make so much sense! Since the Noah hate and intend to sabotage “the Pillar” that much, it is only logical that Apocryphos (the human shaped independent innocence) wants to harm the Noahs as well, as it is the protector of the Heart. I wonder how the reaction of the Order’s members will be, if they find out the tragic fates they put themselves into by siding with the “substance” that actually wants to destroy the whole world once more. 

Yes, exactly! Apocryphos itself said that it is like the “Grim Reaper” for Noah. 

Allen doesn’t want anyone in the Order to find out though, because if they do, they’ll lose faith in the Innocence and get punished by becoming Fallen Ones. Such is the fate of those who displease/betray the Innocence. 

As for why The Pillar destroyed the world, it also came to me just now (again, heh) that in the Noah’s highly-civilized world 7,000 years ago, Dark Matter might have been the source of all technological advances, including the incredible Noah’s Ark. As we can see, Dark Matter now also has tremendous potential in creating machinery like the Akuma Egg and the Akuma themselves, and giving the Noah powers equivalent to that of Innocence’s. 

This may have displeased God somehow that the puny humans dare to aspire to be as powerful as him, the ultimate creator. So 7,000 years ago, he sent the Pillar down to destroy everything. The Noah however, survived. 

It might be the FMA weeb within me, but like in FMA, creating life, defying death, bending the rules of nature is taboo, as that is supposed to be God’s sole privilege. Perhaps the advances in Dark Matter technology, analogous to “science” might have modified God’s world too much for his liking? And now by trying to evolve Akuma into humans (well, the Earl did promise to bring back dead humans), the Earl, who is kinda an alchemist, might be attempting the very thing only God is said to be able to do, with Dark Matter instead of Innocence.

@apeironstella​

 Additionally, on Allen being the “sign/signpost”- maybe this is reading too much into it, but it being written with “ 目印”, kanjis for “eye” and “mark/stamp/seal/emblem/symbol”, given the wound “mark”/”curse” he got from Mana when he ‘summoned him as an Akuma’? The name itself is clearly important here, but not completely sure how, just wanted to mention the possible kanji play there too?

That’s an awesome observation! I haven’t noticed at all.

The Japanese definition of 目印 is “a mark put on something for it to be recognizable instantly”. So the essence of this kanji use is “a mark/sign for the eyes to notice” rather than “a mark/sign on the eye”, but it can be a nice play on word, too! I think what Nea means here is that he will come back with the name “Allen” as his definitive mark, so Cross should keep an eye out for any Allens approaching Mana.

@jjfole​​ 

Omg. Wow. I mean it's an impressive theory. I also still wonder what were the Noahs back then, all the questions still without answers ahaha

Originally, I think they were normal humans created by God. Like, descendants of Adam and Eve. But like I said earlier, the humans of the world 7,000 years ago might have experimented with Dark Matter and augmented their bodies so much, that they become so powerful that God struck down with the Pillar and destroyed them, and the Noah Clan are what’s left. So the Noah repopulated the world with their descendants, and are trying to recreate these people into super-darkmatter-humans again to avenge God. 

That’s all for now. I’ll add more when there are more comments! Thank you soooo much for your input! It’s a very fun thought exercise for me, musing over all these theories. I’m a writer after all!

#dgm #d gray #d gray man #d gray man 234 #long post #dgm spoilers

[a-shmeeb-abroad]

On 2017 and the Entirety of Last Year

January arrived in a gust of stinging cold wind and brown vegetation covering the landscape, exactly as it did last year. Inspiration rolled in with it and I decided to revive this old website. So with that:

Good morning my friends and family. How are you doing? It’s been a while since I last checked in; in fact it’s been nearly a year if I remember correctly. I hope you and your families have been well and have spent 2016 in prosperity, comfort, and happiness. If you didn’t, it’s my utmost hope that 2017 brings about better circumstances.

I thought I would give a little bit of an update into what’s been going on in my life during this past year. As mentioned in my first blog post, if you can possibly remember back that far, I try to avoid the day-to-day report kind of blog and rather focus on important situations and details while further elaborating the importance of each. I’m going to do my best to keep up with that practice. Let me know how I do.

When we last left off, spring was just arriving into Kanoya in a rush of warmth. Though it hasn’t exactly begun yet, last weekend promised warm temperatures with clear skies. I’ll be taking advantage of that as soon as I can, as my boyfriend and I make a trip up to a small town called Kihoku to watch some stars. It’s known as one of, if not the best place in Japan to watch the stars, so I’m eager to have this experience. Living in the countryside allows for stargazing, and my current favorite location is at the shrine on the cliff overlooking the ocean, though it’s my understanding that “I haven’t seen nothin yet,” but I digress.

Immediately following my last post, I took on a new responsibility and kind of dove head first into community involvement in Kagoshima. I was elected to and accepted a position of Communications Coordinator in an organization called Kagoshima Association of JETS, or KAJET for short. As a group, it is our responsibility to facilitate and organize near-monthly events for the foreign communities across Kagoshima Prefecture, so that kept me busy for a while since we decided to revamp and redesign a website in the process. I’ll remain in this position officially until about April, when our new wave of KAJET members is sworn in after our election process. For any Kagoshima JETs reading this, apply. It’s a blast.

As 2016 went on, I became much more involved in my school and my students’ lives. I continued to run a weekly English club which has gained a few more part time members, much to my delight. During the staff switch in April – where teachers at the end of their tenure transfer to another school somewhere else in the prefecture – I found myself with a new ALT supervisor, who assisted me in changing my work hours so I could tutor students after school. Many of them took an English proficiency test called Eiken, which implements an interview exam. Thanks to my help (this is according to my vice principals and principal), our school had 37/39 students pass. This was a monumental achievement and I won’t lie, I’m still lowkey proud of myself. AND THEN IN ADDITION to everything, I’ve been given substantially more responsibility in planning lessons and teaching classes. Before, I would teach maybe 7 or 8 classes a month. These days I find myself planning for 3-4 lessons a day, teaching 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years alike, teaching full lessons with just the supervision of the Japanese Teacher of English, and even acting as a substitute teacher in some cases; when a teacher is absent, I will occasionally be asked to teach the entire class on my own.

 Not everything was sunshine and rainbows, however. Early in the year, I found myself gaining a substantial amount of weight from stress, culture shock, and various “cultural activities.” What I didn’t realize upon arriving here was how powerful the drinking culture was and how many people partook. The enkai, or dinner and drinking party, is common in the workplace here, usually used to celebrate the beginning or the end of an important period or event. This leads to things like the end of the year enkai or the new year enkai, or even “the students just finished exercising for 8 hours during their sports festival and we as teachers are going to celebrate the end of that” enkai. And this doesn’t include the ALT hosted ones, or the visits to Kagoshima. So I guess in short, I went to a lot of them. And as much as they say you won’t be forced to drink alcohol, there were some cases where people commented outwardly if I chose not to have any so there were times when it became difficult to refuse. So of course, as we all know from seeing beer bellies and whatnot, alcohol makes you gain weight. I was not the exception.

Unfortunately, this led to some cripplingly awful issues with self-image and insecurity. I admit that I struggled daily, be it with a shirt fitting tighter than normal, or realizing my face was a little rounder than the week before. But it led to me making healthier choices in my life all around. I cut calories and made my own dinners. I began bringing lunch to work whenever possible. I weaned myself off sugar and have a dessert maybe once or twice a week at best. And most importantly, I cut out drinking alcohol to once or twice a month. In addition to everything, I enrolled in a gym (the process of which could take up an entire blog post on its own) and began training to return my stamina to its former glory. I’m thrilled to report that since starting this process, my skin is gorgeous and clear, I’m able to run full a full 10k at a steady pace without stopping, and I’ve lost nearly 10 pounds. My clothes are no longer snug, even with my layers of winter wear underneath them.

But beyond all these changes that have occurred throughout this year, the most important thing that has changed is my mindset and outlook on my life here. As my blog says on the top, I am a future bilingual nurse and to be honest, I planned to already be halfway to that point at this very moment. But things are different now.

I’ve absolutely fallen in love with my job and teaching high school students. At least for now, I think I will be remaining in the field of education and obtaining further certifications to enhance my experience and increase my opportunities in the future. As of this moment, I’m considering 3 years in total on the JET program and relocating elsewhere in Japan to continue my career. Perhaps my next location will be somewhere with trains and public transportation apart from busses and a ferry. But, as I have learned, plans continuously change so we will see if I have the same plan a year from now.

In order for this to happen, I will have to study my Japanese harder and harder every day. From where I stand, I can already see how drastically it has improved in such a short time. But the rate, in this situation, is not what matters; it’s the overall ability. So in preparation, I will be taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, or JLPT, for the N2 level in summer. N2 is the equivalent of professional business communication, while N1 is a native level of speaking.

Furthermore, and though I believe I’ve successfully done this up until now, my mindset of Japan must continually be changing and adapting. To successfully coexist in another society and culture means to efficiently discard all stereotypes and preconceived ideas of a place and people, and rely heavily on observation and respect of their customs and behaviors. I never came here with the mindset of “Japan is an anime dream land, and all my wildest weeb dreams will come true,” and to be honest, I believe anyone who does so will find themselves unsuccessful in building a life here. Rather, I’ve looked at it as simply relocating to a place that does things differently that what I am used to, and that I am now faced with the task of re learning how to act and why to do so. This is one of the main reasons I stopped writing my blog last year. I wasn’t looking at Japan as a place where I lived and worked, but as a kind of exciting adventure. I didn’t seriously consider establishing a life here but saw it as a gap year experience to improve my language ability and my knowledge of another culture. But as I spent my days living and working, interacting with my neighbors and coworkers, and doing my best to respect the mannerisms and practices of a rich and historical land, I realized that my outlook on this entire situation was completely wrong. I am not writing a travel blog, and even after my first post, I knew this. I realized that this blog was just an extension of my real life; I was essentially writing as I would have, had I still lived in America, by simply updating my family and friends on what I was doing during the day. The location was just…different.

I guess what I realized was that 2016 was a year of healing and change for me. I took many difficult and previously unsavory situations and mindsets, and I turned them around and made them work in my benefit. I’ve blossomed in my workplace, and I’ve done what I can to get involved in my community. I visited the US twice. I became healthy. I found gentle, kind love. As the first month of 2017 comes to an end, I know in my heart that only I can continue the improvement.

I don’t think I’ll stop writing my blog. There are bound to be more beautiful and eye opening experiences within the next few years, and I am eager to share those moments with you back home. Of course, if you ever have any questions regarding my posts or just my life in general, I welcome them and will be happy to answer to the best of my abilities. I’ll end my post now with a quote from one of my class comedians, as advice for your continued happiness in life: “Don’t think. Feel.”

Christine