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tender-history · 5 years

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On Research: Worldbuilding and Culture

Hullo, in this post I’m going to talk about how I research and do world-building for my stories!

I’m doing this through the following ways:

1) using chapter 1 of my historical Taegi fic to illustrate what I did to research the era and the culture for that period,

2) providing the templates and tools I used in the hopes that it can help some of you all writers if you ever want to write your own research-intensive stories or original fiction that requires world-building!

While I’m using my BTS Taegi fic as a means to explain my process, this post is for any sort of writing project - original or fanfiction. If you follow me for fic, though, there will be chapter 1 spoilers for it. So if you haven’t read that yet, be-warned that there be spoilers below!

> How I do my research/world-building:

If your idea for the actual story is agnostic of time-period or setting, identifying that is possibly the first step. My initial idea for this story was to have it take place during a war (the Imjin War between Japan and in 1590s was the first choice) but finding the spooky landscape to set it against while also maintaining the drama and tension of a battlefield was going to dilute the characters and their inner conflicts.

So I went back to reading about Korean history in broad terms (Google Books is your friend) , trying to locate a time-period to set my story in. I finally chose this time-period because it was very interesting to me in multiple ways.

- it’s still a way away from the big social reforms in Korea in the 1800s that would push it into the Modern Period of history

- it was a time period when common people and peasants began to lose trust in the king and the upper-class bureaucracy, leading to peasant rebellions and some villages stockpiling their own grains

- it is a time when global influences were beginning to creep into Korean society, including Christianity. In fact, just a few years from this, a major wave of persecution would be unleashed against Catholics in Korea.

- I chose this time-period also because I wanted the level of organization of society that’s in this fic. It’s been established already, which means the characters are at a point of history where things are more or less stable in terms of what is expected of them as a member of this society. I needed that stability to create a quieter sort of period mystery.

To research for this story (or any other), once I pick the time period, I start looking for answers to my biggest questions:

1) how did they live: this includes food, travel, interests, societal hierarchy and organization, family structure, music, religions, and mythology. Basically, anything that they shared as a cultural group. In doing this, I had to separate royalty from common folk, because so much history is written about the royals and there’s so less about the folk. I looked up everything from the food that the common people ate to the issues they faced (winter and the gap between rice and barley cultivation was a huge aspect; so huge, in fact, that the popularity of kimchi can be attributed to needing a protein source in the winter that wouldn’t go bad). I looked up clothes and fabrics and the layout of villages. I looked for traditional crafts. And when I did, I found myself going down rabbit holes about caste professions (the shaman, for example, is of low caste in Joseon society, which was surprising to me considering so many period fics I’ve read has depicted them in a different fashion.)

I know that this feels very disorganized and random, but that’s because I have been doing world-building—both fantasy and historical—for a long time, and my process is built basis what I’ve historically realized works for me. But to make this post more useful, I’ve figured out a template that helps to look into culture. I used to use this to build original fantasy worlds, and I think it is useful.

And here is a graphic where someone has analyzed Japanese culture through this lens:

Most cultures share elements of commonality. You can use this graphic above to figure out how to research. For example, the culture of Joseon Korea as I have tried to research for this fic comprises of:

1) Language (written and spoken - so Korean; Hangul, + Chinese characters);

2) Religion (shamanism + neo-confucianism)

3) Government (caste system + agrarian bureaucracy + royalty) etc.

You can fill in the blanks this way for any time period and thus get a better understanding of the culture you’re writing about.

Additionally, I’ve spoken about the cultural iceberg on twitter before, but I find it very useful when I’m researching to pick up on each element in it and look up information pertaining to them.

This is how I use the iceberg:

> the top portion is usually the things that we’ve picked up on, through Run episodes or general Bangtan stuff. Like, we know hanbok is Korean traditional dress. We know the kind of food they eat. We know the music scene in SK, and that the major festivals are seollal and choseok.

> the bottom portion is where you gain deeper intercultural understanding. Notions of modesty, for example. We know that gender roles in Korea are more entrenched than they are in the west. In this fic, men are the ones mostly occupying spheres of influence, but women have their own spheres—we’ll get to that in a while. If you see, there’s an aspect called ‘nature of friendship’. This is where the concept of hyung-line/maknae-line/same-age friends all fit into this culture. It’s less visible than the top half, but you can still gain knowledge of it. Similarly, ‘attitude towards elders’ or ‘concepts of beauty’ are both aspects of culture. These are keywords you can use to learn more about culture. Again, you can also use this in original writing projects to build your fantasy world. I know I do :)

Now that I know how my characters live, I come to the second stage of planning/world-building:

2) where in society are my characters: since I’m writing a mystery, I need someone who wants to solve it. I need detectives. I read up on everything I could about the Joseon lawmaking process, going through scholars and bureaucrats and ministers before I found a smaller, quieter force: the podocheong. I also need medics, people in charge of administration, senior officials, and so forth. For each of this, I tried to look into how my character could have entered that role, what that role comprises of, and where it puts them in that society. Seokjin, because he is a senior official, would require to have taken a test to enter into that force. His family would have to be of a particular class status to even enable him to take it. Knowing this, I looked up everything I could about the gwageo because I found it so fascinating! There were whole coaching centers dedicated to just teaching children of upper-class bureaucrats so they could pass the gwageo! If you belonged to an upper-class yangban family, and you didn’t pass the gwageo for four generations, your titles could be stripped from you. This is another nugget of information that I thought would be an interesting premise for a character being a in a particular conundrum—you’ll see that later in the story.

For Taehyung, being an artist in that age would have come with interesting baggage. Calligraphers and painters were usually higher-class folk. Peasants simply did not have the time or the materials to pursue art. But there are outliers—inkstick craftsmen, for example, are among what was considered the ‘vulgar common caste’ but they were the ones who made ink and color pigments.

This just helps me create a richer world than I would have without putting in this research. It also makes your world seem more cohesive, lived-in, and deep.

So now that I know how they live and who they are, we come to:

3) what are my external/internal conflicts: my characters behave the way they do because of the culture and the customs of the time period. My external conflict—the murders—have to be set against a background of this, and informed by this. So I chose to make Yoongi a sort of disgraced scholar because it allows him to operate outside of his station: he needs to talk to Taehyung, or villagers for example who are all beneath his station, and he wouldn’t be able to do that to the same effect if he is a regular scholar like Jin is. The culture simply won’t allow him to. That also leads to friction between yoonjin, and secrets once they start appearing. His current station helps him integrate better into Tae’s world, while removing him from the world he’s working for. It also serves for his internal conflict, fears and grief.

Now if I were to extend this example to a more contemporary story: say your characters are in modern Seoul. Your external/internal conflicts can still be tied into the culture. Expectation on children to look after their aging parents OR the character’s family values vs. individual outlook OR Korea’s culture of students studying late into the night vs. the slowing job industry etc. For a Jinkook fake-dating AU, say, consider what are the troubles that Jin and Jungkook, who have 5 years between them, individually face. 27 year old Jin’s place in society, social spheres and worries will be very different from just-out-of-college Jungkook’s.

Why does any of this matter?

I just think putting in some effort to understand culture makes for richer characters, a richer world, and better writing. Not to mention it lets you learn about a new culture, which I think is fascinating, especially if you spend so much of your time thinking/talking about 7 Korean boys.

So to summarize— I guess this is how I research/worldbuild:

1) Find out when and where

2) Find out who, and how that character is affected by the customs/culture of that era/setting

3) tie my external/internal conflicts back to the era/setting so that the world feels truly lived in and alive.

For truly good world-building, make sure that your conflicts are caused by limitations imposed on a character due to their cultural setting, or because whatever is happening is outside of their comfort zone. Human beings don’t live in a vacuum. The society and the values that we grow up in affects everything we do, every decision we make. Even rebelling against that culture is an aspect influenced by that culture. Your world (fantasy or otherwise) will feel way less flat if it follows the rules of actual cultures world over.

*mic-drop*

If you found this post useful as a resource for writing/world-building, please consider a small ko-fi donation!

[PS: Clarifying that I will not be taking ko-fi for the fic itself - only for the original content that I provide here, on this blog, which can be used for fanfiction or original world-building.]

#writing #world-building #Taegi #bts fanfiction #bangtan fic #bts fic #.research #.writing

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akatokuro · 5 years

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The Inevitable StS Rewatch, Episodes 37-38

Aiolia, are you like... okay? (HE IS NOT, IN FACT, OKAY.)

- Last time, I meant to write about these eps but I got hard-derailed with the need to scream at the walls about Milo. This seems to happen to me pretty often. It might be a problem.

- This whole Shaina-->Seiya subplot is still stupid as hell, and the way Seiya treats Shaina here is condescending as hell, but to be very very generous Seiya is at least perceptive enough to not fight back seriously because he understands Shaina essentially has a death wish. Sanctuary will fuck you up hard, dude. The mask issue is yet another way to approach the fundamental ways the entire institution of Sanctuary will break people over its knee.

- Hahaha, I love the way Aiolia enters the scene here, so ominous and terrifying! It's a great contrast to the very mellow, normal dude in the back Aiolia is framed as in his earlier cameos. HEY, SHAINA, DID YOU AND THE OTHER SILVERS REALLY FORGET I WAS A GOLD FUCKING SAINT WELL GUESS WHAT HERE'S A REMINDER

- Lia, are you... having fun sloooowly lifting Shaina into the air first - totally not to terrify her or anything, nope, no grudge here, what are you talking about, hahaha!

- I'm going to be repeatedly gushing about this through the next couple eps, but holy shit, Aiolia's Japanese VA is SO FUCKING GOOD.

- The way he's animated here is so good too! The combination of his flat tone as he introduces himself, his flat expression, and the way only his eyes move when he greets Seiya specifically - it really conveys a sense of tension and Lia being in very, very forced, tight control of himself right now.

- "lmao not even the gold saints knew that there were TWELVE ZODIAC-THEMED CLOTHS! like! twelve zodiacs! god! not just leo and sagittarius! who would ever have guessed!" yeah this is the most obvious thing for the broader lore to instantly fucking throw out the window because no.

- It's a semi-common fanon thing to regard Aiolia as "stupid", but honestly, he's never struck me as such - I like this moment where he's sizing up Seiya's answer re: Sagittarius, and comes to the conclusion that he's telling the truth. But still, murder mission means murder gon happen!

- Aiolia has problems with self-control--his emotions sometimes get the better of him and he can't help himself when he really needs to punch something because he's just SO FUCKING ANGRY--but that's a different thing altogether than just being stupid, especially since I think Lia is pretty self-aware about that aspect of himself.

- I love how Aiolia TOTALLY came here to murder the shit out of these kids, too. Like, think about the contrast with Milo later, when Milo offers to spare Hyouga for Camus's sake - Lia is apparently close friends with Marin, but does he extend the same courtesy? No. That Seiya is Marin's student doesn't fucking matter. He's here to perform a very baggage-ridden mission for Sanctuary, and that is what he is going to do, because Aiolia would really like to turn himself into a Good Saint Robot.

- And again, even as he's warning Shaina, Aiolia comes across as very tightly controlled and very short, played up as frightening and intimidating. His expression and tone doesn't change as Shaina pleads and he points out her emotional shortcomings. Aiolia can run very hot, but he can also turn himself very cold, and the combination of the two feeding into each other is what can make him potentially scary as hell, especially when you remove his inhibitions via a bit of brainwashing!

- That little detail of Lia clenching his fist and his fist shaking as Seiya accuses him of being another assassin from Sanctuary is really good. It should be clear from Lia's VA taking a BEEP BOOP BOP approach to his lines here, but Lia is internally struggling a lot already, and trying to press it down.

- Not struggling with internal conflict about his orders per se, mind you. Moreso struggling with not losing his shit over how fucking mad he is.

- And when Seiya tries to explain the situation to Aiolia, he gets this.

- Aiolia isn't actually stupid, but this is why he's interesting. He dumbs himself down because he feels he can't trust himself - both his actual thoughts and instincts, as what happened with his brother proved to him, and his ability to restrain himself. So what can he do but commit himself to his orders and the rules, especially knowing that he's already walking on a very thin tightrope compared to most people because of his TRAITOR'S BLOOD? (lmao, thanks Milo! Clearly the best friend Aiolia could ever hope for!) There might be a temptation to write off Lia as the "good boy" of the Gold Saints, since he's pushed as the protagonist figure amongst them, but he's really not. He's pretty complex.

- Lol considering how hard Shaina was shitting on and disrespecting Aiolia in earlier episodes... is seeing her so frantic and then flattening her effortlessly a little bit cathartic for you, Lia...? Just a little...?

- Lia's expression still not changing as he turns his FLATTEN BEAM onto Seiya. Truly the TermiLia right now.

- I love Aiolia's response to Seiya bleating off about his brother and why Lia is so loyal to Sanctuary. He is obviously trying to appeal to Lia emotionally by hitting what he knows are emotional weak spots and Lia is not having any of that shit. you are literally just making him madder seiya

- These sure are the words and expression of a very, very bitter man!

- Aiolos isn't exactly an interesting character to me as he is, because the series is by and large mostly interested in him as a straightforward admirable martyr figure - but he could be if you re-interpret him under a more critical lens. His treatment of Aiolia is kind of... something. I don't actually remember him ever offering a truly kind word to his little brother. Like, ever.

- There's even a fun ambiguity if you want to his line in this flashback about "You should be able to do this, because you have the same Cosmos I do - because we're brothers." Yes, it could be read as encouragement - as Baby Lia is obviously doing here - but it's also setting forth an expectation.

- Oh shit, this is some of the stuff I was planning on going through in my upcoming EIGHTEEN PAGE AIOLIA META. Uhhhh....... man, this situation sure sucks for Lia, being left behind like that! Aiolos! Issues! Probably! Yeah!

- Fucking Silvers!

- I'm glad Lia states that he hated Los and used that for fuel in terms of becoming a strong Saint, and also vaguely suicidal. You can totally see it. Leo Aiolia is a cold and hateful person in a lot of ways! It rules!

- Okay Seiya you deserve to be punched for this one

- lol Lia narrowing his eyes in response too hoo boy

- seiya why are you stripping that's shiryuu's deal

- ahhhh shit aiolia's va is SO GOOD! he was already pulling the "flat, controlled tone" before but after seiya hit him with THAT garbage he goes extremely low and dangerous and outright monotone, very audibly you're on thin fucking ice you little shit

- One of the little things that I like about Lia and how he subverts your first impression of "oh, this is the nice, protagonist-y Gold, right?" is that when you piss him off, he gets vicious and downright venomous verbally. Aiolia is capable of outright dripping with contempt for people in a way that's totally "oh, this is what he's been thinking the whole time, he was just holding it back." Like here, when he's practically sneering about "Oh, so this is all you've got after six years training with Marin, huh? You fucking scrub loser."

- Damn, I like Seiya crying as he attacks Aiolia again, knowing that it's hopeless! That's a nice touch. A LITTLE SCARED, HUH SEIYA?

- Lia, you totally should have been able to see Shaina moving and jumping in front of Seiya like that in time to pull back. You really should have. Is your mad getting the better of you? I know Seiya kicked it up several notches, but damn, man.

- yeah i do not think this is the face of someone who is actually going to be losing that much sleep over """"accidentally"""" punching the shit out of shaina

- And Seiya calls out Aiolia for not stopping his attack when he totally had the capability to do so, lmao

- Hahaha, so Lia lets Seiya punch him to let off some steam and goes: "Yeahhhh, my bad. Eh."

- I also like the detail that Lia can heal with his Cosmos! (And lol that Lia was originally going to just leave her there before Seiya called him out.) It's not an ability you actually see a lot of Saints have, including the Golds.

- Lia asks Seiya why he's doing this. Seiya starts to explain, but then Lia immediately cuts him off with THE POPE'S ORDERS ARE ABSOLUTE. aiolia are you like.... okay... i mean you asked him and he was answering y... all righty then. i mean i know that's what you've convinced yourself to cope but

- Then the shitty Silvers show up, and even these guys continue to shit on Lia for his TRAITOR'S BLOOD. Lia gets visibly mad and reiterates his determination to fulfill his mission and murder these damn kids. The Silvers ignore him, and obviously enjoy twisting the knife about being able to ignore him!

- Aiolos decides he's had enough of his bath and decides to give Seiya a hand! Wow!

- okay seiya really rocks the sagittarius cloth though. better looking than aiolos in it. sagittarius seiya is the best looking gold saint tbh. shiryuu is really hideous in libra unfortunately

- And this is Aiolia's face when Seiya puts on the Sagittarius Cloth. WHAT COULD HE BE THINKING? HMMMM.

- I love Aiolia, but he definitely has that smug Gold Saint arrogance running through his being as much as anyone else. "FOR THE GOLD CLOTH TO CHOOSE THE LIKES OF YOU..."

- But this whole thing is great, too. He was willing to let Seiya go - for the day - out of respect for Shaina and okay yeah he did feel a little bad about that, but now that Seiya's put on a Gold Cloth? Nah, you little shit. Sorry Shaina, looks like it's right back to murder o'clock for Leo Aiolia!

- Seiya, with Aiolos's help, manages to land a punch on Lia. He is very cute in his excitemement about this! AIOLIA IS NOT.

- THE TERMILIA HAS UPGRADED TO A NEW, MADDER MODEL. You'll note the feel of this whole thing is REALLY CLOSE to the intimidation of vicious, brainwashed Aiolia later on. All of that was legit in him. That's why it's still interesting as a facet of his character.

- Lia throwing out the "kono Aiolias" left and right. Considering his earlier talk about how much he hated his brother and wanted to surpass him, are we projecting a little bit onto this new kid wearing his Cloth, Lia? Maybe... maybe a little?

- "Aiolia, why are you so loyal to the Pope!?" "BECAUSE I AM DEEPLY TRAUMATIZED--I MEAN, BECAUSE, UH, HE'S A GREAT MAN! YEAH! FUCK YOU!"

- Lia's face when Hyouga and Shun arrive on the scene. YIKES.

- And here when he effortlessly blocks Hyouga and Shun's attacks, with a "lol, you're really going to try to fight KONO AIOLIA, the gold saint?" Again, the contempt and sneering just drips off of him - he's actively mocking them - in a way that is totally, one hundred percent consistent with the way he acts when he is brainwashed, and against Hades's mooks much later. Again, holy shit, I would LOVE to get actual insight into Lia's brain re: his opinion of Milo and the Silvers.

- It is sort of sad, though, as the more pissed off and frustrated Aiolia is obviously getting - jesus christ he just came here to murder some kids out of self-loathing, and then this bullshit with Shaina, and then that bullshit with the Silver Saints, and then the MEGA FUCKING BULLSHIT of Seiya putting on his brother's Cloth and actually hitting him, and now THESE little shits show up and complicate things even more - it feels like he more forcefully repeats those rote robot-lines about "as a saint, for justice, in the name of Athena, pope is like a GOD." Aiolia has issues, man.

- As the Bronzies keep challenging him, we get another shot of Aiolia's shaking, clenched fist. Once again I must emphasize that his VA is doing a fucking amazing job of continuing to escalate Lia's various shades of mad and the various levels of "I am seriously point two seconds away from ripping you little shits apart"

- Yes, Aiolia is refusing to listen and obviously repeating lines he's been "fed" - but once again, I don't think it's stupidity, per se. It's thirteen years of trauma where he had to crush out any personal doubts in order to survive in the environment he was in. But god these kids are making it HARD and reviving OLD FEELINGS and that's PISSING HIM OFF so they GOTTA FUCKING DIE because SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP.

- Hi Saori! Thanks for showing before everyone died!

- Leo "Fuck you I don't have time for this bullshit" Aiolia vs Kido "Fuck YOU I don't have time for this bullshit" Saori, go!

- I like how Lia refers to Aiolos by his name here, and as "the traitor Aiolos", though we see how in private, in his head, he still called him "nii-san" and he reverts to "nii-san" fully once he knows the truth. Aiolia had a hard life.

- thanks for the unnecessary flashback, episode, this writeup is already getting too long doot doot doot

- It's very hard to be told that "welp, I coped and doubted myself and twisted my thoughts and sense of self for thirteen years for nothing huh!" And I appreciate that Lia doesn't instantly believe her - he needs hard proof, because otherwise it means pretty much his whole life and everything he "worked" for just falls apart. He wouldn't be a bad fit as an Umineko character, really! <_<

- Saori selectively leaving out that Mitsumasa was also a horrible person but okay BABY SAORI IS CUTE AS FUUUUUUCKKKKKKKK

- God I love that Aiolia was totally willing to murder this young girl, too, to test if she was bullshitting him about being Athena. He was really going to try to punch her fucking head off. Aiolia owns.

- I LOVE SAORI FOR CALMLY AGREEING IT TOO HAVE I MENTIONED I FUCKING LOVE HER AND THAT SHE IS THE COOLEST?

- Lia's response to Seiya's outrage at the way he demands "proof." Even though it's brief, you really do get a sense of the weight of what Lia has been struggling with since Aiolos was framed, and how hard it is for him to just throw it all aside. And his "I need it!" re: proof.

- The ghost of Aiolos finally shows up, after all this time - exclusively to shit on his little brother. Hoo boy.

- It REALLY feels like twisting the knife for Aiolos to shoot him with basically "You're not only unworthy of being a Saint, you're unworthy of being my brother! You fuckup! You moron!" Like, again, if this is an indication of Aiolos's parenting methods with training Lia, uh... no wonder Lia has such deep-set issues...

- Like, Aiolia has legitimately suffered a LOT because of Aiolos's actions all this time, so to not have a single shred of compassion and only a very stony "you fucking failure" is pretty. Uh.

- Not that Lia challenges this himself, of course, as he cries over the fact that Los wasn't a traitor and "still fights for justice." Fully indoctrinated, after all!

- "I'm not suicidal over these developments or anything. Nope. Totally not running off here to get myself killed in atonement, encouraged by my brother's ghost who was yelling at me over what a sin I've committed. Not at all. Pay no attention to the sad lion behind the curtain!"

- Doesn't escape Saori's notice, either, as she quietly asks Lia not to die as he heads off.

- And Leo Aiolia exits the episode just as he entered it: in desperate, desperate, desperate need of some serious fucking therapy.

#rewatching sts #aquarius camus did nothing wrong

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harshabennur · 7 years

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Everest Base Camp - A noob's journey

Day 1:

I am sitting on the floor at the chaotic domestic airport at Kathmandu, Nepal. March 4th 2017 was the day I decided to trek to the Everest Base Camp. In hindsight, I have no clue why I decided to do this arduous activity. I am fortunate to have met Jamling Norgay (son of the great Tenzing Norgay) a few times. Jamling motivated me to do this trek when I last met him on March 4th.

Before I say anything further, its best you know that I havent done any form of writing (expect emails!) in a long long time. If memory serves right, the last time I wrote more than a paragraph was during my B school days. So, it will be ideal if you set low standards of writing from this blog!

Also, pardon me if I keep going back to events before I started this trek once in a while. I do not know how tough this trek is going to be, but the prelude to this trek has definitely been a real challenge (I am nursing an injured and severely abused lower back).

I had initially planned to do this trek alone. Maybe some sense prevailed later and here I am with my office buddy Manu, both embarking on something we don't know how well we are prepared for. We landed in Kathmandu yesterday around 3.30 pm. While the immigration is smooth, collecting your baggage is a looong wait. A short 15 minute drive brought us to our stay for the night - Hotel Thamel. A small and clean hotel, ideal for overnight stay. Our guide - Durga ji was waiting for us to complete our paperwork - permit, flight tickets to Lukla, coordinates of the guide at Lukla, his fees, etc. He also gave us 2 massive duffel bags to carry our luggage. Once done, we stepped out to get some essentials - local sim card with 10 GB data :), sleeping bags for rent, hiking sticks and a few knick-knacks.

Strongly recommend the food at Thamel House Restaurant (a short walk from our hotel). A sumptuous dinner and tasting authentic local cuisine - done. This part of the city doesnt seem very crowded. The locals seem very friendly and speak Hindi decently well.

Durga ji had given strict instructions that we could pack a maximum of 10 kilos each in our duffel bag which would be carried by our guide/porter. This turned out to be a serious challenge. Despite being extremely choosy about what we packed in our luggage, it was impossible to fit in all essentials within the given weight restriction. It took us a few visits to the hotel reception where the weighing scale was located and removing more gear (some really essential) to bring down the weight to 10 kilos. I am really worried about leaving out few critical peices of clothing - have left behind 2 warm tees, one thermal inner lining and a pair of hiking shorts. We ended up not carrying many other important things - the long range lens of my DSLR camera, the camera bag which now leaves the camera vulnerable to damages, sports shoes for post hike moving around, etc. Not to mention, we left behind most part of the chocolates, energy bars and snacks we were carrying to make our journey more bearable. This task left Manu and me really frustrated.

Before I continue, our flight has been delayed due to bad weather in Lukla. I had read about Lukla's unpredictable weather, but was hoping we would be lucky. The operator - Tara Air/Yeti Airlines says there is a possibility of cancelling all flights to Lukla today. Obviously, this is not great news, leaving us helpless. Praying to the weather gods to give us a half hour clear window to make it to Lukla today.

Update:

Unfortunately, our flight to Lukla got cancelled after multiple reschedules. The low hanging clouds at Lukla made it impossible for planes to land on the short landing strip. Frustrated, we left the departure zone back to the check-in counter and received tickets for next day flight departing at 12.30 pm. This wasn’t encouraging because the locals say that the best time to leave for Lukla is early morning, post which the place gets heavy cloud cover. We headed back to the hotel and checked in for another day. Manu decided to take a separate room not able to sleep owing to my snoring! (our guide had put us on twin sharing).

With nothing much to do, we decided to take a stroll around the city. Unfortunately, the entire city was shut due to Dussehra festival and the place resembled a ghost town. Durga ji called us in the evening suggesting we take a helicopter to Lukla. This meant that our existing plane tickets would go waste. Manu and I pondered for a short while and decided to take the chopper. We didn’t want to risk losing another day because our return date to India was not flexible. We had to head out at 5.30 am for an early morning helicopter ride. Thankfully, we didn’t have any preparation to do since we were already packed and ready. Another Nepali cuisine dinner brought an end to the day. After having 3 meals of the local cuisine, I am convinced that their food is generally very pleasant, tasty, largely non spicy.

Day 2:

We arrived at the airport by 6 am and Durga ji’s friend there whisked us past the long queues at entry, check in, etc and parked us at the office of a heli operator. After a short wait and some paperwork, we driven to a far corner of the airport where many helicopters were parked. Some more paperwork and few safety instructions, and we were taken to the chopper. Both of us were fairly excited since it was the first time for us in a helicopter. It was a great experience to get a bird’s eye view of the beautiful work of mother nature. Sitting next to the pilot, I got a crash course on how to fly a a helicopter. The pilot even allowed me to get a feel of the cyclic (the joystick which acts as the rudder). Good fun! We got a radio message saying Lukla had heavy cloud cover. We were forced to land little lower at Surke and after a wait for about half an hour, the clouds cleared enough for the heli to take us to Lukla.

Our porter and guide - Phuri Sherpa was there to meet us. After pleasantries and a quick breakfast, we started on our trek from Lukla to our destination for the day - Phakding. The trek to Phakding is not the typical trek we expected. Phakding being at a lower elevation than Lukla, most of our trek was downhill. Barring few steep inclines, we kept going downhill most of our trek. Walking downhill is heavy on knees. Manu developed a small niggle in his left knee, hopefully he should be fine by tomorrow. The trek was extremely scenic with the river Dudh Koshi accompanying us all along. Couple of long steel bridges and buddhist temples make for some interesting sights.

A 4 hour trek brought us to Phakding. Our guide recommended a guest house which overlooked the river. The rooms are tiny, basic but clean. We were tired after trudging along the rocky downhill path.

Both of us decided to do some stretches to relax our muscles. I was particularly concerned about my back. The last 2 days before flying into Nepal were hectic owing to official travel and last minute packing. I had slept for a total of 4-5 hours over two days. While the rest of me was able to function fine, my lower back kept giving signals that it was tired.

I should mention that I suffered from a slipped disc three years ago. This lower back injury brought most physical activities to a screeching halt. My motorcycle riding, weekend sports, gym, etc had to be put aside. While yoga, physiotherapy and adequate rest did improve the condition of my lower back for a while, I have been guilty of not being persistent in my efforts. From a guy who could squat 330 pounds to struggle to bend down to pick up a pencil, it has been a tough ride. To cut a long story short, it has been a miserable 3 years from a fitness point of view. People who have suffered from lower back injuries will know that the injury affects your mind as much as your body.

Coming back, we walked around the village after another tasty Nepali lunch. It is a village of approximately 50 buildings, most of them being guest houses for trekkers like us. The people from Lukla onwards look very different from those in Kathmandu, People here resemble the Tibetians. The kids here are like extremely cute and are like mountain goats. You can see toddlers running on the rocky path faster than us. A siesta and bowl of garlic vegetable soup for supper brings our day to an early end. Manu is keen to have a long sleep and is not impressed with me going typity-type on my laptop. Will try to add few photos here and call it a night.

#everest base camp trek #ebctrek

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specialchan · 4 years

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Common errors of analysis: carrying your conclusions backwards in time via /r/communism

Common errors of analysis: carrying your conclusions backwards in time

This is an informal post (a polemic in areas) addressing a common mistake I have seen that I have also been guilty of making. The reason for posting it here is as follows: although I am in a party I am the only comrade in my area, and I am guessing that quite a few posters here are not in parties yet, so I am hoping this post can be helpful for me and for them in the absence of helpful comradeship. The idea is to illustrate the error using a modern, relevant example (Chinese billionaires; woohoo!) and then to explain how criticism, originating in the self, in books or from comrades, can help address such an error. The example is something which has been discussed many times in a circular way; I hope this post can make future discussions on that topic more productive.

Introduction

Conclusions invariably come after investigation, and not before.

Mao - Oppose Book Worship

This post is for those who may accidentally come to the correct conclusion by incorrect means (thus being unable to reproduce them), and those who correctly observe the world but explain this observation incorrectly - their ideological baggage blurring their views. Those who view the world through the Marxist lens (allowing them to correctly identify the forces which act upon the object) but process that information as an idealist (linking these forces to a pre-existing idea within their head; indeed, foregrounding the observation to the ideal) are somewhat common within the growing (primarily online) leftist movement (these are my roots, too).

It is great that the communist movement has been attracting more and more supporters (and we can expect an acceleration in interest as contradictions deepen). This means that we must work even harder to identify errors within the greater movement and also within ourselves. We should double down on our struggle sessions, constructive criticisms and our readings to ensure that we are not making errors in our investigations; errors which, although they may seem small at first, will translate into greater ideological problems if they are left unchecked.

These errors surface as inaccurate understandings about the material world; understandings which, inversely, present entry points for addressing the underlying error of investigation. This is true of the error I wish to address today; the creep of idealism into Marxist analyses.

The Entry Point/Example: Illustrating why this is incorrect

There is a very relevant entry point for this, although it may not seem to be an obvious error due to its appealing (and seemingly accurate) ultimate conclusions. Example: One might understand that China is run by a Communist party and then work backwards to explain the existence of every contradiction within the PRC. Let me be clear that China's socialist legacy continues to persist and will ultimately win out, but this specific error of investigation leads new Marxists to look to the wrong places and miss the struggle being waged.

When a budding Marxist Leninist (a half-straw ML, perhaps, although the following is more a synthesis of common arguments I have seen - can we name it GenSino?) says something like:

Billionaires exist in China but they are heavily regulated if they step out of line.

One can corroborate this statement with a simple observation: indeed billionaires exist in China and indeed they are subject to capital punishment and the stripping of their assets; something not commonly seen in other countries. But the "line" and the mechanism for regulation are abstracted:

They are party members who are watched very closely; if they act against the wishes of the party then the party will crack down on them. See: Xi's anti-corruption campaign.

This unclear statement will not do. Who within the party regulates them, and why is the line drawn where it is? What are the wishes of the party if they allow for members to accumulate such wealth? What exactly isn't allowed?

Xi and his anti-corruption team regulate them! A strategic concession was made to the bourgeoisie but the party still maintains control over them.

Here we have reached an impasse for which we will continue to talk in circles if the error in thinking is not addressed. The confused ML will never be able to explain where the "line" is drawn (and why it is drawn "there") while maintaining the image of a homogeneous party within their head; hence they resort to abstractions and the words of politicians. Yet they have (accidentally) come to a correct understanding in a few instances (although they may not realize it) which present the correct path forward.

They understand that something within the party "regulates" the striving of the bourgeoisie, yet also that the bourgeoisie is able to reproduce their own wealth in the first place. If they cannot move forward from here it is because their ideological baggage is weighing them down and leaving them confused: they are working backwards from an assertion (China is socialist) and trying to reshape contradictions to fit the mold of this assertion without challenging it.

Following this, another line that typically comes out is an appeal to socialist elements to outweigh or explain away the aspects that are not socialist. Something along the lines of:

Yes there are contradictions within the PRC but the country continues to exercise democratic centralism and economic planning. Productive forces.....2050. Here is their constitution and some statements from party officials.

This does not explain the existence of the bourgeoisie; in fact it complicates it. It is a flippant disregard for Marxist analysis in an attempt to preserve the ideal. Here the goalposts are moved to a vast generalization about the party's direction. But this generalization is so vague and lazy that it cannot be proven false! Either we talk in circles are we make un-falsifiable generalizations.

Instead of dealing with abstractions and generalizations, we must focus on concrete forms. If the bourgeoisie exist within the party - a communist party of some 90 million - but there are forces within the party "regulating" them, then we can understand that there is an opposing force within the party that stops the bourgeoisie from wresting complete control. This in itself contradicts the confused ML's idea of a homogeneous party; thus what the "strawML" also fails to understand is why the "line" exists and why it has moved over the past decade.

For this unfortunate misunderstanding, history must be a monolith that is understood from the perspective of the present: China is socialist now and every historical event has led to the point in time where this assertion is made; every action and contradiction of the past logically expanded and contracted to reach the current political economic conditions; all under the steadfast control of "the party" who has maintained control for 70 years. Events are understood by their end-point: it is said that the "line" moved because Xi came into power, and the "billionaires" exist because a strategic concession was made to them. This is then extended to the future: these contradictions will be erased by 2050.

This, unfortunately, is lazy liberalism in direct opposition to the Marxist conception of history; it posits an idea as an agent in the world, granting it the ability to enforce change, instead of the correct, materialist, dialectical conception of the world which births ideas. Let's continue with our fake discussion:

Why do forces within the party oppose the striving of the bourgeoisie?

Because they are communist!

Good, there are communist forces within the party! Indeed there are millions of workers and those of the "left line" struggling within the party and the greater country against the striving of the bourgeoisie. Now how were those "billionaires" able to accumulate such wealth, and what would we call them and those who support them?

I already told you, because they were allowed to! The communist party made strategic concessions to capitalism and the bourgeoisie in order to develop the productive forces. Please excuse my sass I am but a strawML......

As the "strawML" said, the bourgeoisie exist within the party as well; this is our "out" from the ideological trap. We have crudely identified two lines which are in direct opposition to each other within the same party, and budding Marxists should be able to understand why they are in opposition (class interests). Although it may be unclear we have now found our mechanism (leftist push-back) and the "extent" of the bourgeoisie's power (the extent of the rightist's power is directly tied into the extent of the leftist's power). What we come to understand the CPC as is an arena for line (or class) struggle. Contradictions in discourse and in material reality - in this case the idea of the "acceptance" of bourgeoisie within a communist party - are entry points for correcting mislead Marxists. Once this class struggle is made clear the confused ML can be steered toward Marxist literature on the subject (this should help cement it).

Wouldn't it be better for the "strawML" to first ground their observations within the vast Marxist literature? They would not have to "cudgel themselves over the head" (as Mao would say, and as the "strawML" has done here) to gain an accurate understanding. Here is another reasons why the error must be corrected: ease of mind!

Further Exploration of the Error

All the budding Marxists with views like the above are comrades, albeit confused ones (take it from a former confused ML; confusion is not chauvinism, so do not feel I am waging an attack). This confusion seems to be amplified by the typical mediums of "online ML" knowledge production: passing around ready-made conclusions on Twitter and on forums like an online game of "telephone", handing out easy answers to present to the nay-sayers. But without fully understanding them yourselves, when you try to re-produce them in different contexts you will come to incorrect conclusions.

Let me be clear that while the original observation produces a few accuracies (ie: communists and capitalists exist within China) it is perverted by idealism; most notably by its semantics (which are in contradiction to Marxist theory) although in more ways than that. The breaking point is the error of abstracting the historical actors, thus leaving them immune to the forces of history (namely class struggle); applying the ideal of a strong, united CPC backwards in time to explain complex events instead.

Investigation must precede the conclusion, and it must be grounded in Marxist science - that which we take to be basically correct and use as the base of our argument. Ignoring 150+ years of scientific observation, or more specifically cherry-picking it to prove your conclusion correct while moving backwards in time to investigate it, is a glaring mistake that leads to misunderstandings.

In this post, for instance, there are several fallacious (and common) assumptions that are drawn out by the error of investigation:

a) That the party is a homogeneous entity which is able to self-correct. The problem is referring to the "party" as an abstract whole and not examining the forces within it and without it which act upon it (chiefly the internal struggle which produces a compromising party line; "billionaires, but to an extent.....markets, but state control" etc). This leads to the incorrect assumption of the party's overarching "master plan".

b) Stemming from a): that every historical event must be reshaped to fit this current idea of a continuous, strategic, homogeneous CPC. What we get is the incorrect idea of a "strategic concession" to billionaires and several nested inaccurate assertions (such as the privatization of SOEs and smashing of the iron rice bowl being done strategically) from working backwards in history.

c) Stemming from b): that the bourgeoisie were able to accumulate wealth and reproduce their class by the good graces of the CPC - that is that communists planned and wished for a select few to be able to amass and hoard such wealth by exploiting labour, and that this method of wealth accumulation is good and moral but "corrupt" forms like bribery and embezzlement are not.

d) That the same monolithic party which "allowed" for the mass accumulation of wealth among a select few (and all the contradictions which came with this) did so with socialist intent; they were, in the long run, thinking of the workers and the peasants, and so they subtly improved worker rights after stripping them (?) and so on (was this a "strategic concession" to the workers? Where do we "draw the line" for our abstractions?).

When you begin with a contradiction and try to fit it to an ideal you will produce contradictory conclusions; hence the error of investigation can and will lead to further inaccuracies. The strange idea that communist billionaires magically granted healthcare and worker rights to the proles after stripping it from them is thought up, when really it was Chinese workers and communists (within and without the party) who fought to gain those rights back.

Correcting the error

Let us leave idealism to the liberals. When the president of the United States says that they are invading the Middle East to bring freedom, we do not judge this policy by our pre-conceived ideas about American politicians; we do so because we have observed the real-world effects of such interventions and we can correctly link our observations to real-world forces (and other events in history). The American who observes the intervention and all of its destruction but connects it to their own pre-conceived ideals of America forms a contradictory idea out of their own cognitive dissonance: something of moral relativism such as "the greater good". We sit here and make fun of them for being "brainwashed" and then commit similar errors of investigation! Sure, the two errors are scaled but neither the idea of the "strategic concession" or the idea of "moral relativism" are scientifically correct.

Many of us more-sheltered citizens of the West came to be Marxists while shedding our Western idealism and seeing the world "how it really is" - it was Marxism that provided the scientific truth and tools which we could use to bring out these truths; to prove that the propaganda we were fed about communism and the West was false. But our old liberal ideals are incredibly pesky and difficult to do away with - they invade our thoughts and colour our analyses with idealism and moralism. This cannot be so; we must continually struggle against liberalism, idealism and opportunism. This is how we avoid committing the same errors over and over.

The struggle involves a few different methods. Firstly, we read the work of communists who have written about such errors and how to avoid them (including corrections). Most, from Marx to Stalin to Losurdo have written about distortions of Marxist thought and practice, but Lenin and Mao are perhaps the most prudent. The danger is in reading what they have to say and thinking "it couldn't be me". Too many imagine themselves to be Lenin and not Kautsky; at least, until it is revealed that socialist revolution is not a fight for the right to freely smoke weed and play communist video games (this is my weekly allowance of hyperbole).

This is why we (secondly) remain open to criticism from our comrades. If a comrade is criticizing you for a view that you have, take a second to consider what implications their criticism may have on your thought and practice. Communist criticism is to be welcomed as it builds understanding; to reject a comrades criticism to protect your ego (assuming it is apt criticism) is weak liberalism.

This goes both ways: you must be willing to provide appropriate criticism to comrades when they commit errors. I made this unclear comment recently; I feel it confused some comrades and I notice that it spawned a post (which I didn't know how to respond to) so I might as well acknowledge it as related:

I know it's super tempting to accept the words of others as fact, especially when they are popular, but I'd advise some caution towards accepting arguments that, for example, have trouble qualifying themselves using correct terminology (or otherwise have a selective allergy to the literature).

The point is that Marxism is our science, and a tendency to stray from it usually points to an incorrect analysis. It can be difficult to accurately identify an error in another comrade's argument - especially if it is a popular argument - but with a good grounding in the Marxist literature and with constructive discussions it will be much easier.

Conclusions

Hopefully this post (crudely) plants the seed that a budding Marxist should not feel like an enemy for being confused (and thus temporarily un-aligned on any given topic), and that their confusion is probably a symptom of a greater error in investigation. Inaccurate statements which are made out of confusion can be entry points for identifying and correcting these errors; this will surely be helpful to them (me)(us).

One such error which is central to this post is to start with a conclusion and move backwards. Another entry point for this: one could start at SWCC and still make it to the conclusion of class struggle. Ultimately, however, it is better to start with a grounding in Marxist theory and then proceed forward with your investigation before making any conclusions.

Submitted September 11, 2020 at 06:30PM by TheReimMinister via reddit https://ift.tt/3bQWZNd

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armstrongd-blog1 · 4 years

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eddiejpoplar · 6 years

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By Design: 2019 Bentley Continental GT

The news release on the Bentley Motors website says “The long wheelbase and short nose lend the car a sense of dynamism, even when viewed at a standstill.” If you believe that, you’re a great deal more gullible than you should be. It’s going to be a good long while before the long hood and tight passenger compartment ceases to be the most desirable look for front-engine performance cars. Look at the last Packard V-12 roadster from 1939, and you know it’s powerful and fast with no need for a vulgar chrome insignia on its flanks telling you how many cylinders are under the hood.

Apart from the copywriter’s unconvincing hyperbole, this is an extremely attractive little coupe. Or at least seemingly so, because there’s nothing little about any German-era Bentley Continental. They’re big cars, and even the least powerful of any built since Volkswagen AG took over is an impressively fast, capable conveyance for four people who will be transported in both comfort and style. But because of that stumpy front end and the giant 22-inch wheels on this new Continental, you get the sense of a tight, compact coupe—more Porsche than Packard. Which, when you think about it, is not a bad thing. Both P-cars are worthy of emulation, and Bentley’s native history is validation enough for anything the firm might do today, whether it conforms to our proportional preconceptions or not.

I find the rather wide (as compared to all the finer trim pieces on the car) chrome band on the side to be both inappropriate and poorly executed, skewed off-datum as it is. But that’s the only part of the styling that clashes with the Bentley tradition of understated quality. From Vanden Plas bodies of the Cricklewood cars in the ’20s to coachbuilt bodies of the first Rolls-Royce Bentleys, there has always been some reserve in shapes and detailing of cars carrying Walter Owen’s name. I am particularly pleased by the subtle undercuts beneath each important styling line. It works well everywhere, but it’s especially effective on the rear fender indication.

What is unequivocally superior about Bentley design today is the interior work. The execution of every single bit of wood, leather, metal, and plastic is faultless in the current generation. Bentley volumes are many times higher than they ever were in the era of the British Empire on which the sun never set. So it is not astonishing that buyers outside the land of rising damp might want to see bright orange paint on their Bentaygas and Flying Spurs. That each and every model can be customized to buyers’ exact requirements means every potential Bentley owner can be assured of personal satisfaction as well as astonishing performance and unquestioned prestige. Even if they don’t really look like they’re going fast “when viewed at a standstill.”

1. It takes a lot of confidence in your precision manufacturing capability to position the gas cap door to cut through complex surfaces. Nice work.

2. The now-traditional small outer lamp is nicely placed on the front of the outer fender surface in such a way as to generate a profile line perfectly recalling the shape of “Olga,” the prototype R-Type Continental from 1951.

3. A complex inner lamp generates an inner bulge that fades away in a short distance, again a sensitive, respectful evocation of a long-term Bentley morphology.

4. The hood centerline peak is slightly more prominent than aesthetically desirable. A flatter line would have been better.

5. Tradition, modernity, evocation of racing Bentleys in the ’20s—the grille is everything it should be on a 21st century Bentley, including the centerline rod.

6. If there is anything a bit questionable on the front end, it would be these angled arms, seemingly more at home on an Italian supercar than on a historically inspired design.

7. The huge corner openings are not philosophically out of place, but you wonder about their gigantic size.

8. Another almost-subliminal indication of the size of the Continental is its door handles, too low on the body side for a small coupe, ergonomically correct for this one.

9. The bottom of the sill droops just a bit before the rear wheel, making the rising chrome strip and the suggestion of a wedge form even more incongruous.

1. The most interesting aspect of the Continental’s body surfaces is the indentation below each styling line, most notably the rear fender profile line.

2. The mirrors are enormous, thus making the whole ensemble look like a small, nimble coupe. It isn’t. It’s a big car—very fast but nothing like a Lotus.

3. The relatively short hood also makes the car look smaller in photographs than it is, and it’s antithetical to the recent Mercedes-Maybach’s hood, which seems twice this long.

4. The wheel design is interesting in that the bright rim is discontinuous, each of five segments starting with a blunt end that doesn’t touch the rim.

5. After looping toward the center, the bright strip becomes part of the rim, tapering to this sharp point just before the next segment.

6. There should be symmetrically opposite wheels on each side of the car, but there are not. This tightest bend of each spoke segment should point forward and not back as it does on the right side of the car. Driver’s side wins here.

7. The huge open area of this 22-inch wheel provides a great view of the enormous brake discs.

8. This hokey chrome bit with its ostentatious cylinder-count announcement suggests the German owners have no comprehension of traditional British understatement. Too bad.

9. The rear of the V-section chrome strip is crimped flat to cross the flat flange around the wheel opening.

10. This crisp line derived from the outer end of the exhaust outlet is comprehensible.

11. This parallel crisp line above the trim strip, derived from no other feature, is not.

1. Camera lens distortion, sure. But these mirrors are really, really big. Good for safety but not for scale.

2. This little separator allows the main door glass to go down. The same constraint existed on the R-Type long ago.

3. Bentley has legitimate access to the Rolls-Royce air-conditioning outlets as seen here. Notice how elegantly the chrome trim beneath the wood aligns with the outlet rib.

4. Almost a novelty in this age, the steering wheel is simply round, with no humps, bumps, or surface-material changes. On the other hand, the hub is definitely off-center. But it looks good and looks like it would feel good.

5. Wood use is discreet and quite welcome.

6. In the age of giant Tesla tablets, the GPS screen seems like a transplanted smartphone face.

7. The organ stop A/C flow controls are another Rolls-Royce carryover idea.

8. These A-pillars are really excessive, blocking far too much view. Bentley should be able to engineer something as strong but not as wide.

9. The center console seems a little too traditional—cluttered and confusing.

10. The “Chairman Mao” diamond quilting is unpleasant and looks cheap to me, though I know that there’s a lot of skilled work that goes into making the seat covers and door panels.

11. These round speaker covers could be made less obtrusive, but perhaps the metal presentation is considered more upscale.

12. This small control panel looks like a mistake. It hangs below the rest of the trim piece, which is elegantly smooth on the cockpit’s passenger side.

1. In this view you get an even more notable sense of the atypical undercut fender profile line.

2. The roof profile line is emphasized by an undercut down to the transverse roof panel.

3. Although the backlight surface is relatively large, the blackout panels painted on the inner surface reduce the transparency to about half the total glass panel area. It’s odd but not uncommon these days.

4. There is a big drop between this spoiler edge and the tapering roof, another element of the surface undercuts prevalent on this coupe.

5. The trunklid is really small, giving the impression that loading baggage will be an unpleasant chore. Presumably even golf bags will fit, pointing out the overall apparent size discrepancy.

6. The very fine chrome trim around the taillights is nicely proportioned …

7. … as is the slightly thicker license recess trim.

8. … whereas the horizontal exhaust outlets are symmetrical, a much nicer shape.

9. Notice the lamp outline sags a bit as compared to the upper profile, which is very pure …

10. The two flat sections of the chrome strip really should have been left off. The main thrust of the V-section trim pieces would have been preserved without breaking up the wheel opening.

11. In publicity pictures, the B at the wheel hub is always presented as though it were on a weighted center, such as a Rolls-Royce or a car sporting dubs. Let it go.

IFTTT

#IFTTT #Performance Junk Blogger 6

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jonathanbelloblog · 6 years