#how many days without kuro iii

[strawberry--bride]

Admin-san what are some kiseki and subaru headcanons? I would love to know more about their father-daughter moments ^_^

Thank you very much for this ask and showing interest in my little baby. uwu

These headcanons were written together with @subaruwu since they have a much better grasp on Subaru than I do. (I fail as a Subaru stan, I know. :'')

My headcanons (from Kiseki's POV)

1. Kiseki developed a strong connection with her father from a very young age onwards. As a newborn, she would never sleep alone in her crib and could only fall asleep when Subaru would take her into their coffin and lay her on top of his chest.

2. As a toddler, she began to adapt his behavior more and more. She even picked up on his manner of speech with her first ever word being 'fuck' (くそ). -> comic here

3. When it was time for her to enter kindergarten, she was very adamant about changing her hairstyle to imitate her dad. At first she would bump into furniture because it obscured her eyesight, but she has learnt to make it work.

4. Kiseki refers to Subaru as 'papa' (パパ). As a result, Ayato and Laito now pick on Subaru by mockingly calling him 'papa-baru'.

5. Subaru can basically do nothing wrong in Kiseki's eyes. While Sharon never holds back to call Subaru out on his flaws (of which there are many, trust me), Kiseki will always take his side.

6. When they had to talk about what they would like to become in the future as part of one of her kindergarten classes, she answered 'I want to become papa's bride' without hesitation. Sharon would like to object.

7. Another time they had to talk about their heroes/the person they look up to and Kiseki prepared a whole 20-minute speech on all of the things which make her papa the best one in the whole wide world.

8. The other kids at her kindergarten and even the teacher are honestly horrified of Subaru. He came to pick her up once and saw how she got pushed by one of the boys in her class which unleashed an unstoppable anger inside of him because how dare that scoundrl hurt his perfect little princess. All the teachers and some of the other parents had to combine forces to stop him from punching the kid into another dimension.

@subaruwu's headcanons (from Subaru's POV)

i. Little Kiseki is the kind of child who wanders into the garden and makes friends with every breathing organism within a 3 mile radius. Animals are drawn to her the way they are drawn to her father as well. And besides, they're so much less scary than, for instance, other kids. It's easier to 'socialize' with them.

She finds all kinds of critters and presents them proudly to her parents so that they may greet them as well. Subaru then instructs her to place them gently back into nature…. But sometimes he fails. and then Sharon will discover a frog in the bathtub.

ii. Subaru religiously reads Kiseki to sleep every day. Sometimes, he even makes up stories: those are her favorite.

iii. Anything Kiseki wants, Subaru gets her— within reason. He should really consider himself LUCKY his daughter has such a sweet soul, otherwise she'd be spoiled rotten at this point.

iv. He can spend literal hours just staring at her. Specifically when she was a newborn, he'd just be completely enthralled watching her nap in his embrace. As we've talked about before, her mere existence has boosted his self confidence on some level. He made this perfect, sweet girl- so that must mean he can't be all bad.

v. Using a silly voice, he sometimes converses with her through Kuro-san… only when no one else is around, though!

vi. Subaru does not like having to share Kiseki's attention with his brothers. ;-; And he gets really jealous and annoying. 'this is MY baby' vii. As we know and have seen in the past, she imitates his behavior… and it embarrasses him. Kiseki really holds a mirror up to him this way. He's trying to be better, but doesn't fucking succeed god fucking damn it old fucking habits die so fucking hard.

viii. Subaru tries his best to set rules. But Kiseki doesn't always follow them. So he's like "…. aight. it is what it is." — correlates with his ass spoiling her xd. Kiseki is just… the exception in some many ways. He can't get mad at her.

ix. Subaru approaches the world with his emotions, Kiseki approaches the world with her mind. They learn from each other each day.

x. Kiseki and Subaru are both very passionate. Subaru wants to share the world with his little baby and be with her all the time but Kiseki the gemini will eventually desire freedom

#subaron #guest muse: kiseki #kiseki sakamaki #headcanons #(( I hope you like these anon! ))

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Steve Yurko

  I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

  Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

  My next guest in this series is Steve Yurko, co-host of The One Piece Podcast, a podcast with a subject you can probably guess. He's also a former storyboard artist for Rick & Morty and is currently working for Netflix Animation. As a ride-or-die Sanji fan, Steve chose the Baratie Arc, where Luffy and the gang run into an East Blue restaurant with a cool chef that loves to cook and kick.

  A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Baratie arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Arlong Park arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

    Dan Dockery: So a friend tells you, "I'm done with the Syrup Village arc and I'm not sure if I want to watch this next one. I think I might be tapped out on this whole One Piece thing. In one sentence, how do you get them to stay and watch the Baratie arc?

  Steve Yurko: The Baratie arc laid down the foundation and created the formula of the One Piece arc as we know it.

  That's pretty good!

  Yeah, I’d say that, when I first started it, One Piece was my third favorite. I was more of a fan of series like Shaman King and Naruto, but after Baratie, things shifted. It was a turning point for me. I would hope that it would do the same for anyone who’s, say, previously apathetic towards the series.

    How old were you when you first read it? Or watched it?

  It feels weird to say this, but my introduction to One Piece was Chapter 1. Like Dragon Ball Z, the first episode I can remember watching was, like, Yamcha training on King Kai’s planet, and I’d get Goku and Yamcha confused and stuff, because I had just dived in. So for me to start a story like One Piece from the beginning is kind of rare. I was 15, I think.

  So, we're jumping into Baratie, and we first see the guy with the brass knuckles, Fullbody. He's trying to act cool on a date and he's being mean to everyone else. And then we have Sanji being typical Cool Sanji and Fullbody acts up and Sanji just tears through him. How did you react? Did you know immediately that you'd like this waiter?

  Well, I don't want to alarm you here, but my first thought was “Sanji’s cool!” I’d seen images of him before, and I saw his black suit and blond hair and I figured, “Oh, another crew member, probably. Looks distinct enough.” So I often have to look back and wonder “Did I like him because of his edgy coolness?” but I think now it’s because there were more layers to him. Like, he definitely stands out from the other Straw Hats, but he also has this distinct fighting style with cool reasoning. He’s a cook and he doesn’t want to bust up his hands trying to punch people in the face, so he uses his feet. So, he does like these cool capoeira kicks, which only gets better as they go along because I feel like so many anime characters, the stronger they get, the more they start to fight the same with fast volleys of punches and laser blasts. So Sanji’s kicks are a great way to differentiate himself from the main cast and other anime heroes. 

  So, then we have Luffy, he shows up by damaging the Baratie. Enter: Zeff. Full disclosure: In my infinite naivete when I first watched One Piece, I thought Zeff was going to be the new crew member. And then I thought Gin was going to join the Straw Hat crew. And then when Sanji finally joined, I was like, "This guy? Really? Dark horse candidate over here."

  You didn’t know yet?

    I guess I hadn't watched the first ED yet — when the crew slowly shows up and stands beside one another.

  You saw Usopp’s silhouette appear and thought, “Eh, I’ve seen enough.”

  "That must be all of them."

  It happens.

  So, you meet Zeff, and you learn about Sanji and Zeff's relationship, and we get a big One Piece flashback. What do you think of that? Because it would become a staple of the series to kinda pause, see what happened to an important guy, and then come back.

  Such an incredible story and so gruesome and terrifying. Sanji’s original flashback is so underrated because it could happen to anyone! Like, you’d have to go out of your way to get stranded on an island, but going days and weeks without food or any real comfort? I think people underestimate how traumatizing that would be. And then Zeff losing his leg because he hacked it off for food, it’s brutal. Just thinkin’ about that, I feel it in my shins. Because that almost happened to me with a minor injury. I let a minor injury get infected, and I could’ve been close to losing a leg.

    Wait, what? Gahd.

  I was doing box jumps at a gym, and my shin hit the corner of this wooden crate.

  Yeah, those things have no give in them.

  Absolutely. And at the time, I thought it was just this dark spot on my shin. And I figured it was, ya know a bruise. So I let it be. And then I picked at the scab and I realized “Wow, that’s a little deeper than I thought. I guess I’ll go to the doctor if it gets worse.” And I kept going to the gym, wearing pants over like this open wound. And my left leg is so swollen. So I went to two different doctors, as the first one did tests and then sent me to another one. And when this doctor saw me, the look on her face said “Oh, this is bad.” So I laughed out loud about how dumb I was and the doctor turned to me and said “This isn’t funny. This IS SERIOUS.” It had gotten infected with bacteria and it was spreading, and she just took a sharpie and drew around the infected area, and gave me antibiotics and was like “You have to keep this elevated, and if the redness goes outside of this line, go to the hospital.” But luckily, I recovered, even though the doctors were like “Honestly, we thought you’d go to the hospital.” So when Zeff severs his foot with a rock, how does anyone not feel that? 

  Do you think that's one of the reasons Luffy is fascinated by Sanji at first? His mentor, Shanks, lost his arm and was cool about it. Zeff lost his leg and was cool about it. Basically twins.

  That’d be an interesting conversation that we never got to see. Just two dudes talking about how weird it is that both their father figures did that, with only Luffy thinking it’s cool. 

    Don Krieg's ship gets blown in half by an incomprehensibly cool character, Mihawk, the first Warlord to appear in the show. You see Mihawk arrive — what is your reaction to him? Because it's not a case of "The villain of the villain is my friend," but rather "Oh, he did that to the villain? I hope he does not do that to us, as that would suck."

  It’s almost like the good guys meeting the bad guys, and then a tornado comes in. But here’s the thing: I missed the issue of Jump where Zoro fought Mihawk. So I assumed that Zoro had just won. The greatest swordsman in the world shows up and Zoro beats him. Boom. The climax of his character arc has been achieved. Nothing left for Zoro. 

  He just did it.

  I didn’t find out until so much later that Zoro lost. I wasn’t quite aware of what made for a captivating story yet. At that time, an obstacle appears, an obstacle gets taken out, ya move on. I almost want to apologize to Mihawk. 

  I love how One Piece does this though. They do it with Smoker and Aokiji and the like. It reminds me of The Witcher III when you go off the path a little bit, and you're at a Level 4 and then a Level 39 Gryphon swoops down and decapitates you. It keeps the "power levels" interesting.

  Luffy starts up Breath of the Wild and goes right for Calamity Ganon. But Mihawk is like the analogy for the Grand Line. He represents it, without revealing too much. Mihawk is like a Pizza Hut demo disc of danger.

  I really like that. And no one knows, to this day, exactly how powerful he is. Over 20 years later, and we're still wondering how he matches up against Shanks or Blackbeard or whatever. One Piece has so many characters where Oda hasn't shown his full hand in regards to them, yet we're totally emotionally invested in them. That's good storytelling.

  He’s doing something right. And I love that Mihawk has a little character arc here, too, where he shows up nonchalantly slicing up Krieg’s ships, probably doesn’t expect much, and then he’s taken aback by Zoro’s gusto, because he hasn’t seen anyone like that in a while. And he slices Zoro down. But he respects him, when in the beginning, he clearly didn’t respect anyone around. Mihawk wants to see him be better and try to take him down one day. For him to willingly build someone up like that is rare. Like Frieza wouldn’t do that.

    So, Don Krieg — what were your opinions of him at the time? Because he's a really bad guy surrounded by more morally grey guys like Mihawk and Gin.

  What I like about the East Blue saga is that every main villain is an antithesis of Luffy and what makes Luffy a truly great captain. Buggy is all about treasure. Kuro is about ambition and the fortitude to be a pirate. Krieg is about might and strength, and Krieg thinks he has both of those because of his weapons and armor. But Luffy has willpower and ambition and doesn’t let the world change his views. Luffy is incorruptible whereas Krieg is willing to poison his own crew when stuff starts going south. Krieg isn’t fondly remembered, but he really serves his purpose in the story.

  So, after Krieg is defeated, Sanji turns down Luffy's offer to join the Straw Hat crew. Now, he knows this is a bad idea. He's not gonna find the All Blue floating around on the Baratie. Why doesn't he go immediately?

  Well, he knows it’s a bad idea but he’s completely misinterpreting Zeff’s sacrifice. He feels that since Zeff sacrificed his leg, he has to repay him by working for him indefinitely. But the reason that Zeff did that was because he wants Sanji to live on and chase his dream. That’s why Zeff took pity on him in the first place. He’s an older, worn-down man now, and he stopped chasing his dream. And now he wants to see Sanji or someone get a win. It lifts his spirit to see Sanji and live kinda vicariously through him. 

  So, the second time I ever cried over One Piece was during Sanji's goodbye and Zeff's "Don't catch a cold." The first time was when that little dog was trying to protect his dead owner's shop in Orange Town, but that's a different story. But this shot of Sanji on his knees thanking Zeff with all the cooks surrounding them is so iconic, and Sanji's acting like it's a gift that Zeff gave him that Sanji could never repay, while as you said, Zeff just wants Sanji to be happy. What did you get out of that? I assume that you're a human with human emotions.

  I cry every time I watch that. When I first saw it, I was like “How? How is a series this good?” And there’s so much to that ending sequence. Because the Baratie is built on this rough, angry masculinity. Just these dudes being mean and fighting each other and customers all the time. There’s never a time or a place for lending a shoulder to someone else. No emotional embraces of any kind. Just everyone berating everyone. No one can open up — just stupid man babies. And then you get to this moment where Sanji is leaving and they’re all trying to be cool while playing it off. Especially Zeff, who can’t give a legitimate goodbye, but rather a “Don’t catch a cold.” But there’s so much to that statement and the facade crumbles. All these grown men start bawling. 

    I've never thought about it that way. There's all these little hints of kindness, like feeding the bad guys, and it's a masculinity powder keg. And then Sanji, in an ultimate display of putting his heart out there, bows to the man who saved him and the keg explodes. That's really cool.

  ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  Favorite One Piece character?

  Sanji

  Favorite One Piece villain?

  Enel

  Favorite One Piece moment?

  March to Arlong Park

  Favorite Straw Hat Crew pairing?

  Luffy and Zoro

  Favorite moment of the new Wano anime arc?

  Soba Mask’s debut

  If you could eat one Devil Fruit, what would it be?

  Whatever Kanjuro’s fruit is

  Moment that made you cry the hardest?

  Sanji leaving the Baratie

  Moment that made you cheer the loudest?

  Straw Hats at the Tower of Justice standing across from Robin

  One Piece location that you'd like to live in?

  Whole Cake Island. Ya eat well, ya know, you can survive Big Mom

  Favorite fight scene?

  Sanji vs Mr. 2, of course

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with Botchamania creator Maffew about his favorite One Piece arc: Alabasta!!

        Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

[jewlwpet]

Girl Alchemist Egg--Tale of the Rose track 1, translation

As far as I know, nobody else seems to be translating J. A. Seazer’s latest Utena album, which came out in August, to English (please correct me if I’m wrong)... so the job falls to me.

This is track 1,  知恵の竈(アルデル)実験祈祷室, or “Aludel of Wisdom Experimental Prayer Room”. An aludel is a kind of pot used in alchemy; it goes in a furnace (this is significant).

EDIT: I accidentally left out the romaji for one verse and missed a reference in the title; the version with all corrections (at least for now) is here.

EDIT 2: I changed my translation of the title to “Wisdom’s Aludel Oratory-Laboratory”. See here for my explanation as to why that’s a better translation.

金より不純物を除き それを純粋な形と成し それをうまくなし遂げる者は かくて、 賢者の石を作りえよう それは偉大な力の「石」であり 「石」と呼ばれていて石ではない 

To remove impurities from gold To shape that into a pure form The one who successfully accomplishes this, By this means, can create the philosopher’s stone  It is a Stone of great virtue  And is called a “Stone” and is not a stone.[i]

 錬金術師たち

Renkinjutsushitachi

The alchemists

ああ、永遠の知恵の錬金術   ああ、永遠の知恵の実験室   ああ、永遠の知恵の竃劇場

Aa, towa no chie no renkinjutsu Aa, towa no chie no jikkenshitsu Aa, towa no chie no kamado gekijou, gekijou

Ahh, eternal  wisdom’s [ii] alchemy Ahh, eternal  wisdom’s laboratory Ahh, eternal  wisdom’s furnace theater, theater

夢ではなく現れるドラゴン 世界創造の始めに 波の上を漂っていた神の如し

Yume de wa naku arawareru doragon Sekai souzou no hajime ni Nami no ue wo tadayotteita kami no gotoshi

It was not a mere dream; it materialized, the dragon![iii] Like unto God, who in the beginning created, Hovering over the surface of the waters.[iv] 

蒸留、昇華、煆焼、煮煎  反射、溶解、下降、凝結

Jouryuu, shouka, kashou, shasen Kansha, youkai, kakou, gyouketsu

Distillation, sublimation, calcination, decoction, Reflection, dissolution, descent, coagulation[v]. 

すべて水のなか 黒そのものより さらに黒 そして ルビーの燦然たるいろの耀き その間に発生する ああ、祝福される緑 万物芽吹かす緑

Subete mizu no naka Kuro sono mono yori Sarani kuro Soshite RUBII no sanzentaru iro no kagayaki Sono aida ni hasseisuru Aa, shukufukusareru midori Banbutsu mebukasu midori

Everything within water[vi], A blackness  still more black Than blackness  itself[vii], And, too, The ruby’s  brilliantly-colored radiance,[viii] All the  while: generation, Ahh, happy  green, Which dost  produce all things[ix]!

神の霊気の緑 カバラの緑 渦巻く宇宙 秘術師よ緑のライオンを 哲学者の火 賢者の火 鞴よ 錬金炉アタノールの火を熾せ

Kami no reiki no midori KABALA no midori Uzumaku uchuu Hijutsushi yo midori no RAION wo Tetsugakusha no hi Kenja no hi Fuigo yo Renkin ro ATANOORU no hi wo okose Behold!

The green of God's mysterious presence, The green of the Kabbala[x], The spiraling cosmos, The Magus, the Green Lion[xi]. The fire of the philosophers, The fire of the sages![xii] The bellows! Light the fire of the alchemical furnace, the athanor.

見よ 哲学の竈||実験室 宇宙の竈||実験室 散らかり放題の 貧乏吹き屋の実験室

Miyo Tetsugaku no kama no jikkenshitsu Uchuu no kama no jikkenshitsu Chirakari houdai no Binbou fukiya no jikkenshitsu

The philosophical furnace--the laboratory! The cosmic furnace--the laboratory![xiii] Scattered unrestrainedly, A poor smelter’s laboratory

われら 価値ある人間たらんがために 価値を目指す 錬金術師

Warera Kachiaru ningentaran ga tame ni Kachi o mezasu Renkinjutsushi, renkinjutsushi

For us To have value as humans To aim for value Alchemy, alchemy 

それは一月十七日月曜日正午頃、私の家で、立会人はぺるネル一人だった。人類救済一三八二年の年である。私は水銀に投入を行い、それを約半ポンドの純銀、鉱山のものよりも良質の純銀に変化させた。その後、やはりぺるネル一人の立会いのもとに私の家で、同僚の水銀に赤い石を用いて同じことを行い、四月二五日夕方五時、本当にほぼ同量の純金に変成した。普通の金より確実に良質でより軟らかく、よりしなやかであった。これは真実である。私と同じく理解していたぺるネルの助けをて、私はこれを三回実現したのである。 二コラ・ヴァロワ

Sore wa ichigatsu juunananichi getsuyoubi shougogoro, watashi no ie de, tachiainin wa PERUNERU hitoridatta. Jinrui kyuusai sen sanbyaku hachijuu ni nen no toshidearu. Watashi wa suigin ni tounyuu wo okonai, sore wo yaku han-pondo no jungin, kouzan no mono yori mo ryoushitsu no jungin ni henkasaseta. Sonogo, yahari PERUNERU hitori no tachiai no moto ni watashi no ie de, douryou no suigin ni akai ishi o mochiite onajikoto o okonai, shigatsu nigonichi yuugata goji, hontouni hobo douryou ni junkin ni henseishita. Futsuu no kin yori kakujitsu ni ryoushitsu de yori yawarakaku, yori shinayaka deatta. Kore wa shinjitsudeari. Watsahi to onaji rikaishite PERUNERU no tasukeote, watashi wa kore o sankai jitsugenshita nodearu.

The first time that I made projection was upon a Monday, the 17th of January, about noon, in my house, Pernelle only being present, in the year of the restoring of mankind, 1382. This was upon Mercury, whereof I turned half a pound, or thereabouts, into pure Silver, better than that of the Mine. And afterwards, following always my Book, from word to word, I made projection of the Red Stone upon the like quantity of Mercury, in the presence likewise of Pernelle only, in the same house, the five and  twentieth day of April following, the same year, about five o'clock in the evening; which I transmuted truly into almost as much pure Gold, better assuredly than common Gold, more soft and more pliable. I may speak it with truth, have made it three times, with the help of Pernelle, who understood it as well as I. --Nicolas le  Valois[xiv]

[i] The last two lines of this verse are from Les Cinq Livres or La Clef des Secrets, by Nicolas le Valois, a French alchemist rumored to be the deceased Nicolas Flamel, supposedly using an alias after attaining immortality through the Philosopher’s Stone. I don’t know of any English translation of this text, but the original French is online at https://alchimie.000webhostapp.com/cinq_livres_valois.html. It’s likely that the first lines are also from alchemical texts; I just haven’t been able to identify them

[ii] Eternal wisdom—a phrase from Heinrich Khunrath, used in the title of his book The Amphitheater of Eternal Wisdom. There is an English translation by Peter J. Forshaw, but I have not yet been able to find it; I have, however, contacted the translator inquiring how to obtain it.

[iii] Carl Jung, Psychology and Alchemy: “The dragon is probably the oldest pictoral symbol in alchemy of which we have documentary evidence. It appears as the Ouroboros, the tail-eater, in the Codex Marcianus, which dates from the tenth or eleventh century, together with the legend 'the One, the All'. Time and again the alchemists reiterate that the opus proceeds from the one and leads back to the one, that it is a sort of circle like a dragon biting its own tail. For this reason the opus was often called circulare (circular) or else rota (the wheel). Mercurius stands at the beginning and end of the work: he is the prima materia, the caput corvi, the nigredo; as dragon he devours himself and as dragon he dies, to rise again in the lapis. He is the play of colours in the cauda pavonis and the division into the four elements. He is the hermaphrodite that was in the beginning, that splits into the classical brother-sister duality and is reunited in the coniunctio, to appear once again at the end in the radiant form of the lumen novum, the stone. He is metallic yet liquid, matter yet spirit, cold yet fiery, poison and yet healing draught - a symbol uniting all the opposites.”

[iv] This is a clear reference to Genesis 1:1-2. “Like unto God” recalls the story of the Garden of Eden; Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because it would make them like God. Alchemists were also seeking knowledge that would make them like God, although the authors quoted in this song emphasized that one could not attain it without God’s blessing.

[v] These are all names for different techniques in the chemical process. Most are still used in chemistry today (only the terms “reflection” and “descent” are no longer used, as far as I know).

[vi] Valois explains that “water” means something different in alchemy. Basically, this water is a truly universal solvent, capable of absorbing anything into itself. He uses an interesting metaphor for this: “It's this Maid Beïa, which has not yet been corrupted or lost its liberty, to marry infirm and ill-shaven bodies, as captives are, who can never leave their filthy prisons without the help of men. Thus preserving liberty with its integrity, we see in a philosophical manner this luminous star making infinite circulation turns, until it came in some reign.”

[vii] Putrefaction, the nigredo, the black stage in the alchemical process. The idea is that there must be sacrifice to facilitate new growth.

[viii] The philosopher’s stone is sometimes called the “celestial ruby.”

[ix] These two lines are from The Rosary of the Philosophers; however, I used the translation of the quote found in the translation of the Exposition, rather than the original text, although that can be found in English too: http://sociedadquimicamexico.org/rosarium.pdf. Here, it’s given as, “O blessed greenness, which engenders all things.”

[x] Many alchemists, both Jewish and non-Jewish, drew on the Kabballah (Jewish mystical texts), although how well they really understood it is questionable. I myself am not at all well-versed in this, but it seems that in the Kabballah, the color green represents healing and harmony.

[xi] The Green Lion typically represents the same thing as the dragon. E.g. The Glory of the World mentions “the Green Lion that imbibes so much of its own spirit.”

[xii] The author of The Glory of the World wrote of “indelible, living, or Divine fire, of that kind which God has placed in the Sun; and wherein God Himself burns as with Divine love for the consolation of all mankind... This is the fire of the Sages which they describe in such obscure terms, as to have been the indirect cause of beguiling many innocent persons to their ruin; so even that they have perished in poverty because they knew hot this fire of the Philosophers. It is the most precious fire that God has created in the earth, and has a thousand virtues -- nay, it is so precious that men have averred that the Divine Power itself works effectually in it. It has the purifying virtue of Purgatory, and everything is rendered better by it. It is not wonderful, therefore, that a fire should be able to fix and clarify Mercury, and to cleanse it from all grossness and impurity. The Sages call it the living fire, because God has endowed it with His own Divine, and vitalising power.”

[xiii] Different names for the athanor, a kind of furnace. The alchemists viewed their work as the creation of a microcosmos, a “petite universe” if you will. “Cosmic furnace” doesn’t seem to have been common in English, but one does find the French version, fourneau cosmique.

[xiv] This passage is adapted from Exposition of the Hieroglyphical Figures. By attributing it to Valois, Seazer continues in the tradition of claiming him as part of the legend of Flamel. We can infer from this passage and its attribution that the two voices we hear singing this song are meant to represent Nicholas and Per(e)nelle, Flamel’s wife, purported to have been an alchemist in her own right.

#j. a. seazer #revolutionary girl utena #shoujo kakumei utena #sku #girl alchemist tale of the rose #WHEW #THAT WAS A LOT OF WORK

[proven-paradox]

Rosa’s Campaign Journal, Session 3

((Want to listen to us play this game? You can check the VoD over at KomodoKiss’s Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/308141352))

<Entry for Tempest 29, 23 P.C. continued>

After leaving the mansion, we went to the mayor’s office. Percy took the lead for this one, showing the mayor’s people to be remarkably open minded about a talking imp. Mayor Stark had gone home, but we got directions and were able to arrange a meeting with her. We were let into her home, refined but a bit minimalist inside. After explaining what we’d seen and what questions we had, we got what answers we could. She explained that she’d been attempting to get the mansion cleared of danger and restored for a long time, but town funding was too limited and the utility of doing so was never significant. When the topic of the wizard who entered the mansion before came up, she spoke with open contempt for the man, describing him as a “greedy son of a bitch.” The town payed him to find and mark traps, and also allowed him salvage rights. They could not pay him enough to remove corpses or traps. He determined that the lord of the manor was missing from his investigation. She confirmed the corpse on the third floor was expected, and that there were no keys found in his investigation. She also indicated the animated skeletons were new. However, Stark provided evidence that there were trap markings on the third floor which had been erased in the meantime, further proof that there was some conspiracy in place here.

After discussing with her for a while, my understanding of the mansion’s history is as follows. The Bertholdt family included many doctors and physicians with philanthropic tendencies, well respected and liked. At some point they discovered an inexpensive cure for a ‘plague’ that was otherwise extremely expensive to cure, meaning it affected the poor disproportionately more to than the rich. (If this was the same as the venom Derek was afflicted by, “plague” is an odd term, but those were Stark’s words. Perhaps that story is separate from the Death Sleep Venom.) One night the entire family was killed, save for the head of household, one Darius Bertholdt III. His corpse was never found. After a period where no further evidence was found, they labeled Darius the killer, swept the case into a dark corner where it was forgotten, and removed the family’s name from the history books. At this point I suspect the corpse (and accompanying wrathful spirit) was Darius, but we still have no leads on who his killers were. Based on the language in his note, I suspect it was an organization, and based on how the case was handled after I suspect one with significant political clout.

After further discussion, Stark suggested that maybe this third party needed us to open the door to bypass the flashbang trap we set off. It’s conceivable, but it seems like they already had some access to that room anyway. Darius’s hand was missing, presumably it’s the one we found on the third floor, and it was clutching the note and the key. If they planted those, then they already had access to that sanctum. If they didn’t, then how did those items get onto the third floor between the time it was searched by the town’s hired wizard and when our own investigation began? There are still many questions unanswered. Regardless, I recommended mayor Stark post guards at the sanctum. I also mentioned the cockatrice problem in the garden, which she promised to send guards to deal with.

That done, we made our way back to the inn. On the way, Percy purchased one of Fairman’s health potions, and I purchased a pair of joints and some chalk from the general store. The latter will be used mostly for research purposes; some of the figures I need to perfect are best done on a large surface, such as a wall or floor. My scratch notebook is no longer sufficient for such studies. At some point I noted Kiniky attempting to assault Percy. When I asked, the imp and warlock acted like this was completely normal, and Helja said she understood and told me I needed to “get up on yo game.” The conversation quickly went nowhere and at this point I regret asking. I still have no adequate explanation for anything that was going on there, and I suspect I’m going to have to learn to accept these idiosyncrasies from my new companions.

We met back up at the tavern (imp still striking elf, elf still standing by passively). Percy headed to Spyro’s room to fetch her while Helja and I picked a table. When Spyro and Percy came down, it seemed Spyro had physically separated Kiniky and Percy, setting him on her horns. I saw Kuro sprinting to their room at this point, trying to do so unseen. Spyro called them over, but they were already up the stairs, seeming to desire privacy for some reason. I think I spied a shield on them as they went up, but when they came down a few moments later that shield was gone. They filled us in on their progress: neither Spyro nor Kuro had anything kind to say about the kids they spoke to, calling them rather boring. Apparently they got the rumor from a gnome or dwarf from the tavern.  Apparently Derek was very keen on the rumor when they heard it, rushing off to check it out immediately. After that, Kuro quickly recounted a situation and they had had a run-in with a magically inclined dwarf previously, which at the time seemed like a possible suspect. (Not long after Kuro and Helja got a missive that gave their guy a solid alibi, leaving us with no suspects once more.) At this point I relayed what we learned with Mayor Stark to Kuro and Spyro.

Kuro and Helja got a private missive and walked away from the table to go over that. Meanwhile Spyro, Percy, and I continued discussing what we’d learned. I suggested that perhaps Derek’s eagerness was brought on by magical coercion. A properly worded Suggestion spell could have brought about that behavior, and that is a second tier spell that I could cast myself. Well within the realm of possibility for someone with the resources our third party seem to have.

Ryan called Kuro over for some small task while Helja returned to the table at this point. While they were out, Spyro and Percy spoke to Ryan asking about who might have spoke to the kids to plant the rumor for Derek. He said that there was no unusual patrons other than the man Kuro and Helja dealt with. Percy and Kiniky were still quarreling, so Spyro separated them again and gave Kiniky a sip of ale, ignoring Percy’s disapproval. Then Kuro returned to the table, visibly shaken.

They said they’d encountered one of the town guards. They said this guard let them “they’d figured out the situation” and that we didn’t need to keep investigation. Spyro talked about Kuro being attacked, in confusion. Apparently she can read lips (good to know) and what Kuro was telling us at the table didn’t match his conversation with Ryan at the bar. At this point I ceased believing anything Kuro was telling us; clearly something had happened outside that got to him. They said the guard revealed that “they” just wanted us to open the door for them, but when I pressed Kuro on who they were and what they wanted, the goliath said it was “classified,” started talking about leaving town. The rest of the party seemed keen on the idea.

At this point I stopped paying full attention. Once Kuro began recounting our time in the mansion to bar patrons, I had to leave. I despise lies in whatever form they take. The direct lies Kuro was telling us, and the recounting so exaggerated and embellished that it was practically false, was more than I was willing to stand for. I was very close to telling them to leave without me at that point. Instead I walked outside to think without the distracting sounds of a lively tavern. It seems Spyro followed me, attempting to be stealthy about it. Eventually she came to ask what was wrong, I told her of my objections to lies, and she asked if it were hurting anyone. What I wanted to say was, “Yes, obviously it hurts my feelings, you should be able to tell this because I am out here with clearly hurt feelings.” Instead, I just asked after what happened to Kuro. She made some excuse--I’d guess she’d jump at any chance for coin, so I don’t particularly care about her take on the matter. Once I went through the required social motions to get her to leave, I just returned here to my room.

I come to the end of the night in a deeply foul mood. We’re no closer to knowing who’s actually behind this, and about out of ways to find a new lead. Save for one--as I utilized my spells in combat, I gained the understanding needed to access the second tier of spells. Among my new powers is that of Augury. First thing in the morning, I will purchase a set of cards to use as a focus for this spell and hopefully divine a new lead we could use to gather more information.

But for now, I am tired. Now that this entry is finished, I’m going to do a bit of work before bed. I’ve unlocked the second tier of spells available to me, and now I must work on the third. Being able to mentally submerge myself in a context where my mindset is welcome will hopefully calm me enough to sleep.

<Begin entry for Tempest 30, 23 P.C.>

((The writing begins somewhat sloppy, but after a bit the script rights itself.))

I greeted this day with a bit more work on my circles after the required morning prayers. Going slowly but steady before being interrupted by Kuro at my door, eager to explain themself after the previous night. After the explanation I understand their actions much better. They described going out to the stables after Ryan requested it, likely under the influence of a Suggestion spell. Outside, they were the victim of a Hold Person spell. The caster--still unseen--gave them most of the answers to our investigation. We had most of it right; we were set up to open that bottom room for them, they had what they were looking for, and wanted us to stop investigating the mansion. All we’re missing is WHO these people are. Kuro didn’t see much of their attacker, but the person was human sized at least, so we know we are either working against at least two conspirators, or one who can cast Disguise Self or some other effect to appear at different heights.

Kuro said that they are willing to leave us alone if we stop our digging. Kuro advocated this action, out of concern for the people of the town. (I do think that concern is genuine, not just a veneer for cowardice.) I, for one, am not going to rest after being used for some foul organizations schemes. But I do believe that Kuro is right that we are in over our heads. We need allies against them. I intend to show Father Namfoodle the symbol we found; he will know what it means. I now have access to the Augury spell; I can use it to make sure he’s not one of our conspirators. I very much doubt it; of all the people in this town he has impressed me the most. But still, he potentially fits the description of the one who targeted Derek, and his presence wouldn’t have been seen as unusual by any of the townsfolk. It’s possible he’s one of the conspirators. But I think we can trust him. Unless the cards warn against it, I will seek his help in this investigation.

((The text here is shaking, and the pen was pressed into the page so hard that the impression shows on the next page.))

He’s one of them. Tower, for catastrophe. Fool reverse, for naivete and recklessness. Namfoodle is against us.

#Rosa Campaign Journal #DnD 5e #welcome to paeranthia

[recentanimenews]

Heeding the Call: Cthulhu and Japan

Depending on your interests, the name Cthulhu may stir feelings of some strange familiarity, or an excited, nearly existential sense of horror to come. Despite the fiction that birthed much of the “Cthulhu Mythos” being moderately popular, the cosmic horrors introduced by H.P. Lovecraft have morphed into a life of their own thanks to the work of his protege, August Derleth, leaving future generations to encounter the unknowable in various forms spanning video games, tv shows, movies, and perhaps the most popular forms, table-top roleplaying and board game experiences. Perhaps less well known, though, is the fact that the Cthulhu Mythos is exceedingly popular in Japan, and has a wide and exciting history of adaptations, works, and impact upon many of the genres we love in Japan to this day. Today, we’ll be taking a look and exploring that history!

The history of Cthulhu in Japan is a bit more diverse than you might initially think, and isn’t as unified as it might seem! The first bits of spreading horror came from translations of H.P. Lovecraft’s original works into Japanese in the 1940s, appearing in the horror publication Hakaba (or Graveyard) Magazine, translated by Nishio Tadashi. These early translations would prove vastly popular, and over the years ended up leading to numerous Japanese adaptations and inspirations based on Lovecraft’s original works.

Anime and manga fans are likely somewhat familiar with Kaoru Kurimoto, creator of Guin Saga, Hideyuki Kikuchi, creator of Vampire Hunter D, fan favorite horror author Junji Ito, and legendary mangaka Shigeru Mizuki, who all claimed Lovecraft as a direct influence on their works at some point. That existential, cosmic, unknowable horror is certainly present in Ito’s works like Uzumaki, and Mizuki’s interest in folklore and yokai make an attraction to the Cthulu Mythos a lot more understandable. Mizuki actually drew an adaptation of the classic story The Dunwich Horror under the title Chitei no Ashioto, simply moving the story and characters to Mizuki’s beloved setting of rural Japan.

Perhaps one of the most influential Lovecraft inspired creators in anime though is Chiaki J. Konaka, likely best known to many for his work on series like Serial Experiments Lain, Digimon Tamers, and Big O, as well as other series like Armitage III (which takes its name from a Lovecraft character!), RaXephon and Texnolyze among many others. Konaka’s career extends into the Tokusatsu side of things as well, having worked on numerous Ultraman series ranging from Tiga, Gaia, Max, and more, as well as many other series. Konaka worked in references to the Cthulhu Mythos into many of his projects, and even wrote his own short fiction; one of them, Terror Rate, was even published in English, and was even a guest of honor at the HP Lovecraft Film Festival in 2018!

Much of the spread and popularity of Cthulhu fiction in Japan is owed to a few people, one of the most notable being Ken Asamatsu. Asamatsu has spent much of his career translating and spreading Lovecraft’s works in Japan, running fanzines and other publications in order to spread his love of the existential dread universe. While Asamatsu has worked on a few manga himself, he isn’t exactly an anime or manga creator, but without his input and dedication, it is unlikely that these works would ever be as popular as they are today!

Existential, creeping, unknowable horror translates well to other mediums as well, so it should come as little surprise that video games share various callbacks and influences from the Cthulhu Mythos as well. Atlus’s Shin Megami Tensei series and its many spin-offs feature numerous callbacks to Cthulhu Mythos characters and creatures, with some of the most obvious being Nyarlathotep’s direct role in Shin Megami Tensei: Persona and Persona 2. Many of the other titles reference things like the Necronomicon, with that same text being the initial persona of Persona 5’s Futaba Sakura.

        Aside from Shin Megami Tensei, there are less obvious, but somewhat hard to miss, references to many of the tropes and unique style of horror in the Cthulhu Mythos in From Software’s Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, and most directly Bloodborne games. Demon’s Souls in particular draws heavily on the existential, unknowable horror that is descending upon the kingdom of Boletaria and the secrets behind its true collapse, and the Dark Souls games similarly feature somewhat Lovecraftian ideas and monsters. Of the three, Bloodborne is the most direct with its inspirations, with characters routinely discussing the fact that seeing more of the truth may drive one mad, cosmic entities controlling, mutating, and destroying humanity, fish people (a staple of Lovecraft’s works), and humongous, tentacle-faced monsters (here known as Amygdala).

        Ironically, however, there is actually another reason for the popularity of Cthulhu Mythos in Japanese media that helped spread its flavorful influence amongst various genres, and it actually has little to do with Lovecraft’s actual writings themselves. Instead, many Japanese fans encounter Lovecraft’s elder gods through the table-top role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, first published in Japan 1986, and the explosion in popularity was not only a staggering success, but it continues to this day! Although many Western fans might assume that TTRPG games like Dungeons and Dragons are popular in Japan due to some of their influences in fantasy anime, Call of Cthulhu reigns supreme as the most popular TTRPG in Japan, and its popularity likely helped introduce many Japanese to the TTRPG genre in the first place!

Call of Cthulhu is, essentially, a group mystery adventure game, and that seems to have really hit big with Japanese audiences far and wide, because the game has remained in print since its initial introduction in the nineties, and has fans of all ages and genders playing in groups, to the point that some places will find their rooms for group meetings rented out to play games of Call of Cthulhu! Recently, the game even got some favorable air time in an NHK news segment, talking about the game itself and the fun that can be had with it! With this popularity came the growth of a somewhat unique phenomenon: Replays, essentially narrative, semi-novelized versions of Call of Cthulhu campaigns collected and printed for other people to read, similar to today’s popular “actual play” podcasts and videos such as Critical Role or The Adventure Zone. Even today, Call of Cthulhu replays are extremely popular, with new versions being printed all the time, sometimes even adorned with amazing, cute anime styled art and other interesting little design choices, like semi-doujinshi level works featuring Touhou characters, and more! These Replays became so popular that they soon spread to other types of TTRPGs, and are the inspiration behind anime such as Record of Lodoss War, Slayers, and many others!

    If one were to search Cthulhu on Amazon.jp, you’d actually find that most of the results are these colorful and interesting Replay books, almost more so than you’d even find the original novels and stories by Lovecraft himself! There are many other fascinating fan inspired books about the Cthulhu Mythos, including a personal favorite of Cthulhu monsters arranged in a book similar to those of Kaiju and Tokusatsu stylings (even featuring a cartoon Lovecraft on the cover doing the famous Ultraman pose). There are other small Cthulhu publications in Japanese, include a manga anthology called Zone of Cthulhu and numerous adaptations, and Gou Tanabe’s versions are even being translated into English, with The Hound and Other Stories already available, and At the Mountains of Madness coming later this year.

Of course the Cthulhu love isn’t limited to just print media; many anime have featured some nods and callbacks to the mythos, such as in the visual novel and anime of the same name Demonbane, which is even set in Lovecraft’s beloved Arkham. Main character Kuro Daijuji works with Al Azif, the living personification of the Necronomicon, to defeat the nefarious Black Lodge (a very probable nod to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks here). As mentioned above, numerous works by Chiaki J. Konaka draw from the Cthulhu Mythos, but Digimon Tamers might be the most surprising, with callbacks to Miskatonic University and Shaggai, as well as a computer AI that seems to have more in common with the Great Old Ones than it does Skynet! Another example is a fairly popular series, Bungo Stray Dogs, where one of the characters... is actually named Lovecraft! But that's not all! His "The Great Old Ones" ability is a reference to Cthulhu's origins. Probably one of the most famous examples is Nyaruko: Another Crawling Chaos, where the monsters of Lovecraft’s works are revealed to actually be aliens, but still very weird! The anime is a comedy featuring numerous Mythos characters repurposed or slightly renamed, such as Nyarlathotep as Nyaruko, the Yellow King Hastur, and more. The series of novels proved popular enough to spawn 3 anime seasons and other spin offs, proving that even if you take the horror out of the Mythos, people will still find it entertaining and… cute?

Speaking of cute, this brings us to a few interesting final tidbits about the Cthulhu Mythos and Japan. Aside from the direct popularity, the language change and differences have led to a few running gags in Japan about the series, one of which has to do with the somewhat infamous Cthulhu cultist chant, “Ia Ia Cthulhu Ftaghn,” with “Ia Ia” being pronounced very similar to the Japanese expression “iya iya”, which has a few various uses in casual Japanese, either meaning something similar to “um” or “no” depending on how and where it is used. The second comes from the fact that Japanese, being a syllabic language, actually has an easier time pronouncing the supposedly “unpronouncable” names of the Cthulu Mythos creatures, with Cthulhu being translated as クトゥルフ, or “Kutourufu”, which is not only a lot easier to actually say, but sounds oddly cute for the sinister elder god!

Cthulhu mania seems as popular as ever both outside and inside of Japan, with new games, movies, comics, and more drawing inspiration from the titles. Although Lovecraft’s own works are less popular than when the fascination started, the current passion for his ideas stems from the attractive allure of the unknown, the potential darkness lingering in shadows and dark pools of water. Whatever the reason people flock to the Cthulhu Mythos, it seems like we can look forward to numerous adaptations, inspirations, and callbacks for years to come… until perhaps even Cthulhu awakens! Until then, it’s best to keep your wits about you and stock up on your esoteric lore… You never know where the elder gods might pop up next during your next anime, manga, or video game binge!

Have any secret and mysterious ancient Cthulhu influences we didn’t mention? Know of any other influences on Japan you’d like us to cover? Let us know in the comments!

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Nicole is a features and a social video script writer for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

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