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syyskirjat · 1 month

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Sueños de piedra (ch1)

Okay, I promised (to myself) to check out whatever media won the ultimate obscure blorbo tournament ( @who-do-i-know-this-man (I wasn't sure whether to tag you or not but in the end I figured I might as well, hope you don't mind I guess))

Turns out that it's a guy from a 2015 Spanish YA fantasy book

And turns out there's a free sample available! Which is lucky for me because I'm currently very broke

Sueños de piedra by Iria G. Parente and Selene M. Pascual

I don't speak Spanish so I'm gonna rely on the translator quite a lot lmao (well I understand some Spanish actually, but definitely not enough to read a whole book)

The title translates to something like "Dreams of Stone" I think?

Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away, a prince rewarded a wizard for helping rescue a young girl in trouble. Charming. Too bad none of this is true. In reality, the prince dreams of glory and revenge; the magician, with her spells not always being a disaster and the young woman in trouble, with fleeing from a past that torments her... and from the memory of the man she has killed. Once upon a time...

(Yes this is just Google Translate, sorry)

Okay so, prince, magician and a damsel in distress? Prince wants revenge for something, who knows what, magician is having trouble doing the magic, and the damsel is in fact a killer? Ok ok

The dedication goes as follows:

To all those who embark on a direct journey towards their dreams every day. May you always reach your destination.

Okay so Marabilia is a place? That's apparently also the name of this book series. Is this like the kingdom then? So it consists of three islands, two small ones and one big? Or is it supposed to be a continent? It definitely seems too small to be a continent

I know the blorbo is called Arthmael de Silfos so I'm guessing he's from the Silfos area in the north of the big island then. I can see what's probably a city called Duan and a forest called "Merlon Forest". We also have different towers around the big island, one of which seems to be called the Tower of Black Magic. (I didn't even need to use the translator for those yay xD)

Okay the first chapter is called Arthmael so I guess we're meeting our blorbo already, which is nice

— Let me make it clear: are you going to give my crown to a bastard?

Okay..... the very first line and I already think Arthmael might be a bit of a spoiled brat (I assume he's in fact the prince)

Apparently Arthmael just found out that he has an illegitimate older brother but I guess this brother's mother is noble anyway so it's legit? I dunno yet. Arthmael thinks this guy is blackmailing his father somehow and is already considering poison as a solution

And anyway, what kind of a name is Jacques for a king?

lmao, so much shade to all the kings called Jacques

Okay so Jacques's family is very powerful and loved by the people of Silfos and the king fears a civil war if he disrespects his claim to the throne. Alright. Kinda weird since based on Arthmael's thoughts, this society has a similar attitude to bastards as in European history, but okay then. I wonder if Jacques is even actually the king's son or is this some kind of a ruse?

Arthmael is very cheeky and even references his dad's love life directly to his face, his dad is not very happy

The king tells him to just be a good boy and hopefully they'll find him some crown princess to marry so he'll get a kingdom that way

I guess these different areas on the map are kingdoms then, that makes sense. They look like very small kingdoms but this is a small place in general.

Arthmael doesn't seem to mind this idea except that there's only one possible princess like that in Marabilia and that's Ivy de Dione. Not sure what's wrong with her.

Well, who knows? Maybe, if I wait a few moons, some other bastard, in Verves or Idyll, will come out from under a rock and come offer me her hand.

Somebody's very snarky, that's cute

Arthmael is very haughty about how the people have always known him as the crown prince and accepted him as such, Jacques laughs and asks what has he even done for the people. He's like well he hasn't really done much yet because he was planning to do things once he became king, but he's been supporting the local business (taverns) and employing servants (lmao). Also apparently there are some girls he's seeing...

Apparently Jacques's family are big traders and business people (despite being noblemen) and create lots of jobs, and also big on charity, so everybody loves them

Arthmael is jealous of how proud his dad looks when Jacques says this, and how he's never looked at him like that

Well, I guess you're kind of a little shit so it makes sense, Arthmael

— If the smartest thing is to become the idol of a few starving people in order to be king, I can do it too.

Oh my god, this little brat

He declares that he's going to be a hero, to overshadow the charity of Jacques' family, because heroes are remembered by history while philanthropist aren't

So he plans to become a storybook Prince Charming, saving damsels in distress etc.

Jacques finds this understandably hilarious, the king is not amused

Once Jacques leaves, the king again offers to arrange a marriage to Arthmael, specifically with the princess of Dione

I'm almost tempted. I have never been to Dione, but they say that their ships are the lightest and fastest, and that sailors come to their shores from the other side of the sea, speaking strange languages that only they understand. Who come from lands where women wear short dresses, if they wear anything at all. Places where war is so normal that, as soon as a child is strong enough to pick up a sword, they push him to the front lines.

Alright then, I see what he fixates on

Was there anything wrong with the princess then or?

Barbarians. I remove the thought from my mind.

Oh okay. What a charming young man /s

Dione is like right next to Silfos according to the map btw, is this like one of those neighbourly feuds?

Okay he says it's because he doesn't want a foreign kingdom, he wants to keep his home, which is fair I guess

The king is like what do you want me to do, kill Jacques and his pregnant wife? And Arthmael is just like yeah great idea, because he's a dumbass. The king is like wtf

Apparently Jacques' family is from that Duan city that I noted earlier, and his mother died a few days ago and apparently "her loss is greatly felt"

The king regrets spoiling Arthmael too much, and talks about how Arthmael doesn't understand anything about suffering or anything and only cares about girls

Arthmael is already considering faking his death to make them all feel sorry, because of course he is, he's exactly that kind of guy

He says he doesn't want to go try to charm the princess, he'd rather just go off on his own (also there's a whole bit about how only a man can rule Dione or something and the king of Dione won't accept his daughter to become a ruler)

His dad tells him no, just stay here and be a good boy, don't make everybody gossip about drama in the royal family

Arthmael is like hey you managed to hide your bastard son for years, you can hide my disappearance

They fight a bit more but then Arthmael just storms out, grabs a few things from his room and leaves

a change of clothes, a bag of coins, my sword, and my favourite cloak. I do not need anything else.

Okay then, good luck I guess

To be a hero you only need a brave heart. Or so they say.

I feel like you also need to not be a selfish prick but maybe that's optional

Okay end of first chapter!

Our blorbo seems like a real brat!

But I guess the point is probably that he needs to learn some lessons along the way, or something like that, idk. I'm sure there's a reason for why whoever entered him into the tournament likes him so much

I'm guessing the damsel in distress is not the princess? Probably? She wasn't called a princess anyway. TBH she's the character I'm currently the most curious about. The next chapter is from the point of view of someone called Lynne and I hope that's her. Could be the magician too though I guess? No wait, I think the magician is a guy. Altho idk maybe Lynne could be a guy's name, I don't fucking know.

I'm guessing that Arthmael will try to rescue the damsel so he can be a hero, because that's what heroes are supposed to do, but then it'll go wrong somehow? And then the magician will get involved somehow, I have no clue.

That's all my predictions I suppose. Altho I'm guessing that Jacques might turn out to be a villain somehow, I didn't get the vibe that he was particularly great either, just not as much of a brat as Arthmael, and it would then be something for Arthmael to do when he gets back home. Then again maybe the book will surprise me, who knows. To be honest, it would feel a bit like a cop out if it turns out that the guy he hates actually is evil, but it could be handled well, and it's not like I like Jacques either so far. He seems extremely sus too

No guesses as to what the title refers to yet, it could be anything

Idk, like I said, the damsel's storyline is the one that interests me the most rn, it might actually get me to read further (good job, blurb, you got me)

I still have a surprisingly good amount of the free sample left, there's actually nine chapters here, so idk, maybe I'll keep going? We'll see

I'm pretty happy with how much I was able to follow the text even on my own, altho I definitely had to rely on the translator. I would not have had the patience to try to translate all of this myself. But I definitely understood multiple full sentences! Yaaay xD

Apologies to fans of this book series, I hope I didn't seem too rude

#sueños de piedra

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shandit · 2 months

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My Current Guesses on Legends: Z-A Starters

So with Pokemon Legends: Z-A being announced, since we now know from PLA that Pokemon will gain a special final evolution based on their new environment. I wanted to toss my hat into the ring of predictions for which 3 previous starters we're gonna get.

First off let me say which ones I'm sure we're not gonna get and why.

Gen 6 Starters

As with PLA, Gen 6's Starters will not be part of the starters in PLZA. More than likely, they will be caught in the wild just like the Gen 4 Starters were in PLA.

Gen 1 Starters

I think it's very safe to say the Gen 1 Starters are not going to be picked. But, let me explain my proper reasoning.

With the reintroduction of Mega Evolution, and the likely fact PLZA will have our Protag & Crew be the ones to discover Mega Evolution, it's very likely the Starters we get will gain Mega Forms. This said, It's very unlikely GameFreak will use Pokemon with existing Mega Forms, even if said mons get a regional form. Because of this, I can safely say Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur are not going to be on the roster, and same goes for...

Gen 3 Starters

Same thing here, with the fact these guys already have Mega Forms, I find it highly unlikely GF is going to give them both a new regional evo + a new Mega.

PLA Starters

This one's kind of a given. Pokemon isn't going to reuse any of the starters from PLA cause that would just be odd to keep giving starters other regional forms (That said I am sad at the loss of Mega Typhlosion :[ )

Gen 9 Starters

The simple answer to this is just, the Paldea trio are just, too new. While I don't think that entirely rules them out. I do think it makes them less likely to be chosen for the next mainline game.

Now with the obvious removals talked about, let's go down the line of who's left and talk about why or why not they're likely to be chosen.

Chikorita

I didn't originally have anything to say about Chikorita, since I felt their odds were snuffed out by the other grass types here, however upon doing some more research, specifically on Meganium, I learned the daylily (the flower theorized to be what Meganium's flower is based on) was actually brought to Europe around the late 1750's-early 1800's. And with France's Urbanization having occured around the mid 1800's (Which is the time period people are guessing PLZA will take place in) There actually is a good chance for Chikorita to be chosen as their plant actually fits with the location and time period! However I cannot think of what type changes would make sense for this, so I do have to dock some points for that.

Overall chances - 6/10

Totodile

Totodile sadly doesn't seem like a great fit for PLZA. It is essentially just what it is, a Crocodile. And, a quick google search will show you, that besides the barren ice land of Antarctica, Europe is the only continent to not natively have any form of Crocodile or Alligator. GameFreak would have to get very creative here with something of French history or folklore to make Feraligator work for this.

Overall Chances - 1/10

Turtwig

Now Turtwig is an interesting one. Not only is there the fact the extinct turtle species Torterra is based was discovered in North-West Europe (Though mostly Germany & Switzerland) but Torterra as a Pokemon has a lot of potential when it comes to regional forms, thanks in part to the tree on it's back. France's national tree is the Yew, specifically the European or Common Yew, it's an evergreen tree that sprouts red berries (these berries are also very poisonous, meaning we could get a change of typing here to Grass Poison). I could see a Kalosian Torterra having an Ancient Yew tree on their back sporting a great harvest of berries. But, potential put aside, I don't see Turtwig being here simply cause there's another Gen 4 starter that fits the bill of this game much, much more than them.

Overall Chances - 4/10

Chimchar

Chimchar is one I just can't vouch for out of the few fire types we have here. Their Sun Wukong relevance is way to impactful on who the mon is, and Sun Wukong, while being from a story of "Journey to the West" only went to India, and never actually went to the actual west of the world. I also once again have to toss them to the side because of the face there is one more Gen 4 Starter that only makes sense to be in this game, and it's not them.

Overall Chances - 1/10

Piplup

THIS, THIS RIGHT HERE IS A GUARANTEED PICK.

Piplup is absolutely going to be the Water Starter of PLZA, you cannot change my mind about this, and for those of you not in the know, I have one name that will explain why.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

Empoleon, as obvious as their name is, is in fact based on the Ex-emperor of France, General Napoleon Bonaparte. And, if we go back to the prediction of PLZA taking place in the mid 1800's... Guess what historical events seemed to also take place in the mid 1800's. Oh you know, just THE NAPOLEONIC WARS!

Piplup is my only and 100% has to be there guess, it would be a crime if they were not the chosen starter for this game. I legit would actually be angry if GameFreak missed this opportunity. As for potential typings... Water-Dark "could" make sense since Dark Type is just Evil type in Japan, and Napoleon is an evil dude in history. But I think Water-Fighting is much more likely, with Empleon probably going to take on much less of an Emperor Penguin look, and more of General Bonaparte, give him the Hat GameFreak, it would look funny.

Overall Chances - 10/10

Snivy

Snivy is also pretty much a guaranteed pick, and this is just from the simple fact of Serperior. Who is (supposedly) based on King Louis XVI of France & other European aristocrats, and that the fleur-de-lis, aka the French insignia used by many Noble families is visible in their design... Honestly, along with Piplup I would be flat out shocked if Snivy was not the grass starter for PLZA, like I would be baffled at how much of a lost chance that would be. As for potential regional typing, I could see it being Grass Ghost to represent the death of the French Monarchy... But that's it for my brain lmao

Overall Chances - 10/10

Tepig

Tepig is an odd one. On one hand, Snivy being basically guaranteed makes me obviously think another Gen 5 pick isn't going to make it into this group, but on the other hand...

Nah, I got nothing. Tepig is based way too much Chinese Culture and the tale of Zhang Fei to really fit into French culture. Just like Chimchar's inspiration from Journey to The West, it would feel wrong to change Tepig for the exact same reasons.

Overall Chances - 1/10

Litten

This one was more of a wildcard pick here for me, simply cause none of the fire types left had any real connections to France like Water and Grass had, I just found the idea of a regional form for Incineroar to be interesting. Though I had no idea how they would change a professional wrestler into something more fitting for early 1800's France... THAT IS UNTIL I DID SOME RESEARCH BABY!

So French Wrestling is actually really interesting, while it started in the 1830's, their style of wrestling, titled Graeco-Roman, was invented by a soldier FROM THE NAPOLEONIC WARS! Not only that, but it's even named "Classic Wrestling" meaning there actually is a good chance for Incineroar to be based on this style of wrestling for their Regional form! What better thing for the Wrestler Starter to use what is to many people the first style of wrestling that was used in the First ever Olympics! As for typing, Fire Normal could make some sense... I just really don't want it to be Fire Fighting, I think a lot of people would be disappointed if it somehow got the infamous Fire Starter typing.

Overall Chances - 9/10

Popplio

What can I even say about Popplio? I mean I guess maybe the fact Sirens originate from Europen folklore? But even then it's mostly Greek origins for that. There's nothing really tying Popplio in to fit the bill here, they're outclassed by a certain penguin of french origins.

Overall Chances - 2/10

Grookey

I think the Galar Starters are going to be the hardest to even justify, really the only thing any of them have going for them is the fact they come from Galar, which is based on Great Britain, a country that was France's rival in the war to own the world.

However none of that has anything to do with Grookey, the drummer monkey really doesn't have anything to offer! Rillaboom could maybe play a different instrument, but I don't think going from a pair of drum sticks to a bugle is probably gonna work out well. Perhaps though I'm just not putting my mind into it well enough.

Overall Chances - 3/10

Scorbunny

Again, I've got nothing. Realistically I guess you could make a pun here and have Cinderace being a French foot soldier. Though French hares are a common animal, and rabbits in of themselves are abundant all across Europe. I'm just personally wondering what exactly they could do with the fella that makes them properly unique enough to earn that spot, and right now I just don't see it.

Overall Chances - 4/10

Sobble

Last but not least, We have Sobble. Now surprisingly, I could actually see them being used, Intellion is based on James Bond and 007, and being a spy, well French spies obviously existed, there's also the fact a spy can also be an assassin if need be. Water Poison Intellion that shoot poisoned bolts of water from fingertips, yeah that could work.

Issue here though you have to put Sobble up against the other water types here, and well... Piplup.

Overall Chances - 3/10

And that's it! So TL:DR for anyone not reading here are the rankings most likely to least likely by types

Grass :

1 Snivy

2 Chikorita

3 Turtwig

4 Grookey

Water

1 Piplup

2 Sobble

3 Popplio

4 Totodile

& Fire

1 Litten

2 Scorbunny

3 Tepig & Chimchar

Meaning the most likely Starters for PLZA are going to be

Snivy, Litten, and Piplup.

#pokemon legends z-a #pokemon #pokemon day #pokemon legends

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myemuisemo · 18 days

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There is so much characterization tucked into "The Statement of the Case" in the 2nd of Letters from Watson about The Sign of the Four. To marshal my thoughts at all, let's go by character, starting with my cinnamon roll Dr. Watson, then turning to Holmes and to Mary Morstan.

Watson

Watson's close observation of Miss Morstan demonstrates that he's capable of making deductions from observation. He deduces from the simplicity of her attire that she has limited means, and he has a good deal to say about how the character promised by her features and manner.

In an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents, I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature.

This is a tiny bit amusing because all of Miss Morstan's actions suggest she has the orderly soul of someone who would have been an accountant in an era more supportive of women's careers. This woman keeps receipts. She may be nervous about bringing her concerns to the Great Detective, but she's not the slightest bit delicate.

Watson seems a bit pricked in the ego by Holmes' extensive knowledge of cigar ash, as he's touting his experience with women. That would be a monograph, indeed, something sold discreetly, in a corner of the bookshop behind a curtain. I'm going to guess that the third continent, after Europe and Asia, is Africa, both because the British did a good deal of colonial meddling there and because it makes Holmes suggestion of The Martyrdom of Man so much more apposite.

Holmes

The Martyrdom of Man turns out to be a progressive best seller about world history. Author Winwood Reade's perspective is to show the importance of Africa in the development of the world. This is entirely at odds with Victorian self-confidence about the white European and American missions of colonialism. Holmes is implying, deliberately or not, that Watson knows less about at least two continents than he thinks he does.

Reade's prose feels comparatively modern -- it has the sprightly feel of early 20th century writing rather than the long, turgid sentences of the 19th century. I've been distracted by reading bits of it, as while it's not how an historian would handle its topics today, it's an interesting read.

A side note on Winwood Reade is that he was open about being an atheist, so his book is also at odds with the popular idea of Divine Providence smiling about the endeavors of the British Empire. Contemporary audiences would surely have drawn some conclusions about Holmes' religious and political leanings.

The book recommendation is preceded by Holmes establishing that he's not a sentimentalist:

He smiled gently. “It is of the first importance,” he said, “not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. A client is to me a mere unit,—a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellant man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.”

My first reaction was "welp, he really is ace, isn't he?" On reflection, I think that reaction is both right and wrong. On the side of "right," there is no way that Holmes, as written, is a neurotypical allosexual heterosexual. Asexuality is not the only possible category for him, but it's a solid contender.

On the side of "wrong," what he's arguing for from "I assure you" on is simply not to judge a book by its cover. We're used to that as a moral. We're also accustomed to believing that "body language" and such can give clues to the person within. Heck, Holmes was just on about handwriting analysis. So there's a messy little tension here between two views that were common then as now: "outer aspects reveal the person's true nature" and "don't judge a book by its cover."

Mary Morstan

I like Mary Morstan a good deal, not least because she keeps receipts.

This image from the New York Public Library gives a sense of Mary's plain beige walking suit, though the feathers are far too big.

My first reaction to Mary Morstan's backstory was to check the publication date of Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess, because how many little girls were being left in boarding schools by their UK Army officer fathers who were serving in India?

Quite a few, it seems. It was standard practice to send children back to the UK to boarding school "for their health." That last euphemism raised my "what in the racist colonial claptrap" hackles, but there was a legit health concern -- malaria. Malaria is potentially deadly for anyone and worse for children, since a child who survived might have ruined health and intellectual development for life. It was not until 1897 that surgeon Ronald Ross established that malaria was transmitted by mosquitos. Miss Morstan was a child in India in the 1860s; she really would have been sent away for her own safety.

Meanwhile, although A Little Princess was published in 1905, it was expanded from a short story published in 1887. a few years before The Sign of the Four was written. That doesn't mean there's a connection: stories about a common situation and the fears arising from it are going to have similarities.

Miss Morstan's lack of English relatives did have me wondering if her mother was Indian, especially as her complexion lacks "beauty" (isn't translucently pale). Since she's blonde and light-eyed, presumably we're to assume that both parents were English or Scottish. (The genetics of eye color inheritance weren't established at all until 1907, but people obviously had folk beliefs about how much children looked like their parents, and in what ways, before that. Using today's knowledge, it seems possible that her mother had one English parent and one Indian parent, but who knows?).

At twenty-seven, she is "on the shelf" -- past the ordinary age of courtship and marriage. Her job as either a companion or a governess implies she brings no financial assets to a marriage beyond those mysterious pearls. Watson's musings that twenty-seven is "a sweet age" establishes both that he's head-over-heels for Miss Morstan and that he's enough a man of the world to prefer a woman "a little sobered by experience" to a blushing debutante.

So do the mysterious pearls mean we're going down a path superficially similar to Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone (1868), where a heroine inherits a mysterious gem from a British Army office relative? Rachel Verinder's uncle was a horrible person who came by his gem in the worst way; but Mary Morstan's father was a guard at a prison for political prisoners, which doesn't bode well for his connections. Mary has far too much good sense than to wear her pearls, though.

I do want my cinnamon roll Dr. Watson to get the girl.

#sherlock holmes #letters from watson #the sign of the four

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blubushie · 6 months

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Opinion on criptids? not including yeti, Yowie, bigfoot, or similar ape beings.

Aha! I'm talking about primates anyway.

Lucky you, cryptids are a former hyperfixation of mine. What else is a bored kid in the Outback supposed to do except obsessively read his book on cryptids and plot journeys to discover them?

Disclaimer: reason I'm not mentioning some obvious cryptids here (cough chupacabra cough) is because I'm not including cryptids that are likely misidentifications of other things (like how chupacabras are most likely coyotes and dogs with severe mange).

Listen, I've seen a yahoo. Maybe those yams went bad and I was just hallucinating. Maybe my childhood vivid visual hallucinations kicked back in for one evening. I don't know. All I'm saying is that I find it very interesting that practically every culture and continent on the planet has a story about large, hairy, ape-like beings that walk on two legs and have similar behaviours of reclusiveness, evasion of humans, piling things in their environment, knocking things like wood and stones, and chucking things at people who get too close. Also a lot of them supposedly pong quite a bit.

Almost like we had a distant ancestor that evolved and maybe spread around the globe some 300,000 years ago before humans even evolved...

Also Aboriginal Australians and Papuans have DNA from a, as of now, unknown human species. We have no idea what the fuck it is but it's presumed to be a situation similar to how European humans mated with Neanderthals (and eventually assimilated them into the human genome to the point of extinction). This coupled with so many mobs having stories about yahoos stealing away women in the night? I ain't saying nothing besides something's crook in Tallarook.

Anyway! If there's anything out there it's probably in the ocean. I'm keen to believe that maybe there's a freshwater plesiosaur somewhere in Loch Ness since plesiosaurs did travel from ocean to estuary to brackish water to freshwater and then out of the rivers back to the sea again. And with fully-freshwater plesiosaurs being likely, who's to say they didn't end up in the Loch? Well, science, since the Loch only formed by melting glaciers about 10,000 years ago and is completely landlocked, but fuck that we're talking cryptozoology! I think it's more than feasible that some juvenile plesiosaurs (much like crocodiles) survived the meteors and continued to reproduce... Just not in the Lock. I've been on the open ocean. I believe in sea monsters.

I'm fully convinced of the Blue Mountains panther because I've found the fucking tracks. No, dipstick I mentioned it to one time in person, big cat tracks look nothing like fucking dingo tracks.

Megalodons. Cliché, I know, but hear me out. A lot of people think that Megalodons pulled a colossal squid situation and went deep. I don't think so. See, Megalodons wouldn't have remained at a 15m size in the depths. There's too much pressure at deepwater, and the amount of food they'd need to maintain that level of mass without starving is much higher than the amount of food available at that depth. They'd need to feed so often that they'd defo be spotted because even colossal squid arise from the depths at night to feed, though they still remain pretty deep.

So deepwater? No. HOWEVER. However. A Greenland shark situation where Megalodon gradually evolved to maintain colder body temperatures and moved to the geographic poles to feed, remaining under the ice caps? More likely. Additionally the colder waters would mean that the Megalodon's metabolic rate would be incredibly slow to the point they'd only need to some up to the surface maybe once every six months to make a kill and then return, unpotted, to the darkness to digest. Now if only there were large, blubbery, calorie-rich prey items big enough to sustain a 15m apex predator's nutritional needs in frigid waters. Oh, if only the Megalodon had specifically evolved to hunt these large, blubbery, calorie-rich prey items... Hmm...

There's something in Lake Champlain. There's been recorded echolocations of an unknown animal. Do I think it's a plesiosaur? No. Do I think it's a freshwater dolphin or other caetacean? Yes.

The thylacine still exists somewhere in Tasmania.

Aliens.

Other miscellaneous ones I think are real are:

British big cats. Escaped/released exotics, especially after the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act. There was even a puma caught alive in 1980 near Cannich in Scotland. She was named Felicity after her capture. You can read more about her and other (Scottish) big cats here.

Eastern cougars, Puma concolor couguar, haven't kicked the bucket yet.

Queensland tiger is either a surviving small population of mainland thylacines or a bloody Thylocaleo population that survived to the modern day. (They also might just be tree kangaroos though--far more likely.)

Min-Min Lights (I've seen them)

Zanzibar leopard. This was a leopard subspecies that lived on Unguja Island in Zanzibar, Tanzania. They went extinct in the mid-1990s after a bounty program enforced by the government and due to habitat loss. A living leopard was recorded on camera in 2018, but scientists keep whinging about how it's probably just a feral African leopard that was introduced to Zanzibar. I pity the hopeless.

Malagasy hippo. Supposedly gone extinct ~1,000 years ago, the last known sighting was 1976.

Aliens (again)

Humanity's greatest sin is thinking ourselves so wise that nothing remains a mystery to us.

#blu whos #cryptozoology

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therealtruthalways · 4 months

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Full 10 Min Report, Experts CONFIRM Barack Obama Birth Certificate is FAKE

Obama’s Presidency Was A Fraud & Has “9 Points Of Forgery” Everything Obama Did Should Be Undone

“Today you're going to hear lots of information that some of you are going to understand and going to be able to tell the true story. In fact, please know that this is a very technical, but the evidence is clear if you'll pay attention. Please note you're going to hear about two separate experts. These experts are two separate continents with no knowledge of each other and they draw similar conclusions. Again, that said, I know some of you are going to get this story and are going to tell the story the way it was.”

—- “We and anyone else who dared to question the document have been the line falsely labeled grossly criticized in the bulk of the media on certain internet sources for years. Today we're going to set the record straight. I believe you will be shocked by what you hear and see today.”

—- “Like the sheriff just told you, when you conduct criminal investigations, you have to let the evidence lead you. You never lead the evidence. And in doing this, my motive was to clear the document. Because to be quite honest with you, I didn't believe it. I didn't believe this was possible. I didn't think this would ever happen in this nation. I didn't believe it.”

— “Back in 2012, I told you about Reed Hayes, a document examiner. Let me tell you about Reed Hayes, a man with 40 years, since 1974, 40 plus years of experience in examining forensic document, handwriting, a man who's well respected in his expertise, a court recognized expert, a document examiner. He is the man you go to when somebody gives you a bad check with a bad signature. This is the guy you run to. — Mr. Hayes told me right off the bat, I'm an Obama supporter. I voted for him twice. He goes, and I will never do anything to hurt the President of the United States. What I had said to him was, Reed, I am not asking you to hurt the President of the United States. I'm asking you to take a look at this document and clear it and tell me there's nothing wrong with it. Would you at least do that? And he took a look at it. And when he called me back, he told me, Mike.”

“I can't clear this, there's something wrong with it."

And I asked him, I said, Reed, would you continue? I said, I know your position, but would you continue? And his answer to me was, this is what I do. I'll look at it, I'll do it. That's a man of integrity, respecting what his ability is to get to the truth. Because for Sheriff Apoyo and myself, this was never about Barack Obama. This is about a document. You take that document and you remove the name, Barack Hussein Obama, and put your name on there. If it was your document and it was brought to us, we would do the same thing with this document.”

— You are looking at two long-form birth certificates from the state of Hawaii. According to the dates on the certificates, these births took place in Honolulu during the month of August of 1961, just 16 days apart. The birth certificate on the left belongs to Barack Obama. The birth certificate on the right belongs to Johanna Ane.

After five years of intense investigation, which included consultation with one of America's most respected forensic document examiners, and a team of European media forensic experts, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has reached a conclusion utilizing forensic techniques both old and new. It is the opinion of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office that the birth certificate on your right, belonging to Johanna Ani, was in fact used as a source document in the digital creation of Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate.

Nine points of forgery in which words, letters, and hand-placed date stamps have been digitally copied from the Adneid long-form birth certificate and pasted onto Obama's long-form birth certificate”

They COULD NOT clear the document. Much more info in this video if you watch it all

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elbiotipo · 11 months

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I need to share what I had to witness in the Youtube comments section of a video about the pros and cons of living in the US and Europe, which had me thinking "I wonder what elbiotipo would think of this": there was an Argentinean saying that he moved to the US 10 years ago (he didn't state how old he is now), and claimed that he knows the "European way of life" due to growing up in Argentina (???), so he really made it look like he knows what he's talking about and can say which of those places are better to live, then saying he prefers the US. I think what made this even funnier is that another user replied to that guy, one that grew up in Netherlands and moved to Argentina, and added that Argentina is not like living in Europe at all and there's no such things as an European way of life since we're talking about a whole continent, unlike the US. Now I knew Argentina has this bad fame of being perceived as "European" but that's probably the first time I see one that genuinely believe they're the same. It reminded me of some of the gaúchos we have in Brazil but that guy was being a bit more extreme about it

There are a bunch of assholes (mostly upper class people in my experience) in Argentina who believe they are Proper Europeans unfortunately Cursed to be born in Latin America and they want to Escape From Latin America and go back to Europe, or if that fails, to a "proper country" like the US (I'm sure you've heard of these guys, if gaúchos in Brasil are any similar) That guy sounds particulary unbearable. Like I'm imagining him talking and I want to tell him to go shit himself.

And yes, there are many sections of Argentine society that are proud of their "Europeaness", after all, it was the Eurocentrism encouraged during the XIX-early XX centry administrations to "civilize the country". The truth is that Argentina does have a majority of inmigrant descended people, and this has been considered -especially by the Porteño elite- the core of the country, dismissing all the other people who make this country. This is the core issue with racism in Argentina; the belief that European inmigrants (we never tak about Asian, Middle Eastern ones...) built this nation, and the rest are just useless people, or even aren't there because all Argentines came from Italy and Spain (this is why you find people saying Black Argentines or Indigenous Argentines "don't exist", which you can see is patently untrue the moment you walk through any street). I'm not mincing words here, this is how racism expresses itself here.

In some cases, it has expressed itself as a rejection of the country itself, like "this country is shit, I wanna go back to my grand(grandgrand, usually)parents home in First World Europe". The funny thing is that comments like that Dutch person show the truth: for all their eurocentrism, they are still Latinos born and raised here and their idealization of Europe or the US makes no sense, because they have no idea how's life there; they BELIEVE they do because they're white and wealthy, but they don't. They're basically highly privileged assholes who want to shit higher than everybody else, and since money isn't enough, they start claiming cultural/racial kinship with a First World that doesn't care about them.

You can't escape from Latin America if you're not a Latin American first.

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canmom · 5 months

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Animationo Night 177 - Kizazi Moto + Fatenah

Hey everyone. It's Animation Night again. We aten'nt dead!!

Huge apologies to European viewers that I couldn't stream this one earlier. Still, I'd like to get back into the swing of things, so we're back. (Bros. We're so back.)

So. tonight we're gonna be checking out Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire. This is a collection of scifi films created by studios from five different countries across the length of Africa.

The impetus came from the South African studio Triggerfish - originally a stop motion studio, but they switched over to CG a few decades ago. We saw some of their work back on Animation Night 166 in Star Wars: Visions, which came close enough to the stop motion feel as to leave me in doubt. There's no question they have a ton of talent.

Like Visions, this short film collection has the financial backing of the Mouse; it also has another American, Spiderverse director Peter Ramsey, serving as executive producer. But there's no monolithic franchise involved this time - the individual directors and studios were given considerable creative freedom. Styles range from anime-esque to Hanna-barbera; stories span aliens in high speed races through near future dystopias to apocalyptic stories about gods.

The creators are a little hands off towards the term 'afrofuturism'; in an interview with Skwigly magazine, producer Tendayi Nyeke asks us to interpret it just as scifi more broadly:

We don’t use the word Afro-futurist! Part of that is we are seeing science fiction, but through the context of Africa, and trying to demystify Afrofuturism. It’s not a genre for us. Because, you start to raise questions like can a French person do an afro futurist movie? And what does that even mean? So it’s an African filmmaker using science fiction as a medium to communicate. Science fiction allows them to imagine big futures. I love when a lot of Western science fiction is looking at a dystopian context, we’re looking at hope. It really comes from trauma in some ways, though we have a rich heritage prior to the trauma. And then we’re like, hey, technology is evolving. We’re evolving as human beings. If there was hope, what could that look like? Science fiction as a medium allows you to explore that just by its design.

Among the filmmakers, there is considerable ambition to change the general layout of the animation industry. Raymond Malinga, director of Herderboy, remarks:

But somehow, because of all these things like colonialism and everything, it’s almost like our creativity was stifled by that and we just keep on accepting the fact that we are supposed to tell mundane things, you know? Mundane. Normal. So with “Herderboy”, I just took one of the oldest professions of the whole continent. And I said if I can update that and Ugandans watch that, they can start saying, you know, if cattle herders can look cool, then what else can look cool?

It's a cool interview, he's very charmingly down to earth when he talks about how after working on the film for a year he has no idea what's funny or not. Isn't that a mood...

Of course, until fairly recently there were a lot more animated films about Africa, such as the French Kirikou series, than animated films created in Africa. Which is nuts when we're talking about an entire continent, right? Thanks, "legacy of colonial extractivism". But things are really moving now! African animation was the subject of Annecy 2021, and in the online version of the festival I got to see the impressively varied Mshini TV collection of the edgier end of the spectrum, which carried all sorts from Newgrounds-esque flashes to South Park-like comedy skits. And this year at Annecy 2023, I got to see the first feature-length animated film from Cameroon, The Sacred Cave. A bug is spreading!

With this field, Kizazi Moto stands out for its startlingly high level of technical polish. And of course, I just like scifi. From the Mouse's perspective, they have their eye on the long game - trying to capture an 'emerging market' and all that. But, I would far rather they spend their money this way than having animators add yet more weight to the sinking Star Wars boat, you know?

So let's go take a look at what they've put together! In total, Kizazi Moto comprises 10 films, typically about 10 minutes long each. You can get summaries here or just watch along tonight, and I'll be posting my thoughts on each one later~

And. For a dose of the heavy along with this fun stuff - the ongoing genocide has put Palestine and specifically the Gaza strip in the front of everyone's minds. While there have been a few animated films touching on the occupation from the Israeli side, like Waltz With Bashir, a celebrated psychological drama in a realist style in which a former Israeli soldier reflects on whether he did a warcrimes, and Seder-Masochism, in which Nina Paley attempts to lay out a story about how the patriarchical Abrahamic religions suppressed an ancient matriarchal religion (she is a terf, how did you guess!), which includes the undeniably conceptually effective but highly equivocating This Land Is Mine segment... there is less available from the Palestinian side for the obvious and sad economic reasons.

But, a couple of weeks ago, Animation Obsessive wrote an article to celebrate Fatenah (2009), a short film animated in the West Bank about a woman in Gaza struggling to get breast cancer treatment. It's available free on Vimeo:

It's directed by Ahmad Habash, a native of the West Bank who came to study animation here in the UK, and secured WHO funding after they saw his student film. But the film is not a one-note activist project, it's a careful character study trying to give a convincing portrait of the different facets of its title character's life. This film was completely new to me and I'm grateful to AniObsessive for highlighting some Palestinian art in my favourite medium. So I'd like to slot this into my little Twitch show as well!

I have a bunch of other short films I'm excited to show, between recent Gobelins works and another AniObsessive piece highlighting their favourite short films from the festival circuit which have become available online. But given the ludicrously late start, I don't want to pack too much in to this one. We'll save that for another week!

I know Animation Night has been very spotty recently. I've been going through it with the old brain a bit ('a bit' she says). I'm trying to get things back on track with sleep and stuff, thank you for all the kind things people have said, and for bearing with me.

So! Let's go! Animation Night 177 will be going live in just a moment in its usual home, https://twitch.tv/canmom!

#animation night #kizazi moto

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stromuprisahat · 1 year

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so i've seen a few of your posts around, and it's clear that you're white supremacist scum, which isn't surprising seeing as you're a fucking slav and i've never met a slav who isn't a literal nazi. still, it's so amusing to see you call black people "dirty" and rail against our presence "poisoning" your media when your own people aren't well-known for being particularly spectacularly civilized. in fact, slavs hated by almost every other european, but whatever, that's beside the point.

listen: there aren't even any black people in your country, but you're obsessed with constantly attacking us for "invading" your dumbass fantasy stories. why? why can't you just be fucking normal and accept that people can look various ways that aren't aryan lmao. newsflash, moron: fantasy worlds aren't real, but even in the real ancient and early medieval world that inspires much of the fantasy genre there wasn't yet this obsession you freaks have with skin color. the people in fantasy worlds can look however you want, without any connection to real-world politics. you and your followers are pathetic. just thought you should know <3

Well hello, hateful chauvinist, who doesn't use anon button! What a surprise! Care to add the topic of those particular posts that made you so upset?

which isn't surprising seeing as you're a fucking slav and i've never met a slav who isn't a literal nazi

I just adore uneducated swines calling us "Nazis". Honey, we were literally the inferior group, supposed to be moved to Siberia for some forced labour. So yeah, calling us Nazis is incredibly correct, wokeflake!

it's so amusing to see you call black people "dirty"

Provide direct quote, please.

rail against our presence "poisoning" your media

Believe it or not, "diversity" is the exact opposite of making everything fit the same mould. When you take a piece of media and make it fit US-POV, you're likely to piss off people, who were happy to see some representation of theirs for a change.

when your own people aren't well-known for being particularly spectacularly civilized. in fact, slavs hated by almost every other european, but whatever, that's beside the point.

Did you just call us primitives, rightfully looked down on by the rest of the continent? May I ask where are you from? What's your education about our history?

listen: there aren't even any black people in your country

Not quite. We live in 21st century and Czechoslovakia had some economical ties to African countries, so we got some gentic exchange as a treat, which makes probably dozens of descendants around Prague mostly and separate individuals, who stumbled on us gods-know-how. But you should know that since you're an expert on us, shouldn't you?!

I guess colonial history is something to boast about now, isn't it? And we're the bad ones for not enslaving other nations and importing their people to bully them for decades...

but you're obsessed with constantly attacking us for "invading" your dumbass fantasy stories. why? why can't you just be fucking normal and accept that people can look various ways that aren't aryan lmao. newsflash, moron: fantasy worlds aren't real

To paraphrase Tolkien:

I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by "people can look various ways that aren't aryan". I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects, but there might be some Gypsy blood in our veins if that's what you need to know.

I'm against US-Americanisation of our stories. Taking a story with colouful characters and making them look the same is bad, but the opposite is politically correct, since that's what paper "diversity" looks like.

What we love about our stories is we can see ourselves there. Us, our world, our culture, our land... pretty, ugly, but all ours. Reflection of what we look like, not just caricatures of poor cleaning ladies, whores and mafia members with shitty pseudo-Russian accent.

I'd expect you to know something about the value of self-recognition in fiction.

but even in the real ancient and early medieval world that inspires much of the fantasy genre there wasn't yet this obsession you freaks have with skin color. the people in fantasy worlds can look however you want, without any connection to real-world politics.

There's a brand new fantasy world build from a zilch, and there's heavy inspiration by real history and culture. I don't know what's your idea of middle-ages, but people in backwards rural areas didn't move much. Population was pretty homogenous here. You could find merchants and scientists from distant areas in well-developed cities, but the best we can do anywhere else is different hair-colour and even that could be a reason for suspicion. Mousy brown is the safest around here. Darker the complexion, more likely to be identified as čert.

If you insist on adding visibly different groups- skin colour (since you need to add it), culture, clothes, religion-, it's likely they'll live in separated districts or areas. See: Jewish quarters in history.

you and your followers are pathetic. just thought you should know <3

I'll pass your love to my followers, I'm sure they'll be happy to recieve it.

#reply #Slavs #já a švábi #vs.#chauvinistic piece of shit

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alexseanchai · 6 months

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Trick or treat? (For the ficwip game!)

We know from Yuri on Ice ep 12 that Stéphane Lambiel won silver at the Torino Olympics. Year not stated onscreen; in RL this was 2006. RL Lambiel also came in fourth in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

One of Victor's gold medals seen in ep 10 looks suspiciously like the ones handed out in 2006 in Torino.

We know from the Ice Adolescence preview trailer that ten years before the show, Victor participated in the Olympics in Paris.

Conclusion: Stéphane Lambiel won silver in Torino in 2010. Victor may have won gold in both 2006 and Torino, we're unlikely to know until we actually get Ice Adolescence, but he definitely won gold in at least one of the two.

(Evgeni Plushenko and Daisuke Takahashi, who took two of the 2010 medals in RL, probably don't exist in YOI; if Evan Lysacek does, then probably something about competing against Victor knocked him down to bronze or below. Christophe Giacometti may or may not have medaled at the 2010 or 2014 Olympics, but probably not both; the fact Victor remarked on sharing multiple Grand Prix Final, Europeans, and Worlds podiums with Chris tells me they have never shared multiple Olympics podiums and may never have shared the Olympics podium at all.)

And since 2006 Paris Olympics is far from the only example of YOI setting an event somewhere other than where the RL event that year was: in order to avoid having two significant-to-Yuuri competitions in Sochi, I can move the 2014 Olympics to wherever I like! Since one of the losing bids for the RL 2014 Olympics was Jaca, Spain, which lost partly because Spain was going to host only the mountain events in Jaca, with the ice events and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Zaragoza—the problem being that the bidding city has to host both those ceremonies—I have therefore switched Spain's 2014 bid from Jaca to Zaragoza.

(I'm on team "Yuuri came in like eighth in the 2014 Olympics". He therefore wanted to burn his Olympic team jacket out of shame, but Minako stole it before he could. It's stored either with the rest of his old costumes or with hers, possibly both on account of Minako stores the lot at her studio.)

(2018 and 2022 Olympics in YOIverse are definitely in Pyeongchang and Beijing, same as RL, though. We have official art showing Beijing, and though RL 2017 Four Continents was in the same venue as RL Pyeongchang Olympics figure skating and therefore could plausibly be what Seung-gil's coach was talking about, that venue is in Gangneung and the Olympics are by far the more important competition.)

#yuri on ice #ice adolescence #victor nikiforov #yuuri katsuki #okukawa minako

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beardedmrbean · 3 months

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“Oh my god I’m a descendant of slave owners?!” Woah, now you are going to tell me that several chinese have cannibals ancestors (especially towards kids) and central Asians are descendants of a prolific rapist

Who they often make big statues for

The founding fathers are green with envy

Also what with the Latinos shitshow

My brothers in Christ most of your countries and cultures was the result of colonialism.

If we were to ever decolonized the Americas, 95% of the continents population went bye bye

Oh no a PUERTO RICAN have European blood?

She does know what a taino or native mesoamerican looks like right?

Also I think a lot of non whites (especially black Americans) think we never cross breed unless it’s was non consensual

Which is a lie-also a lot of confederate soldiers married black women

The Jim Crow laws was to keep us divided much like the crack did in the 80’s

Also I think a lot of non whites (especially black Americans) think we never cross breed unless it’s was non consensual

I wouldn't use the term cross breed, but ya.

Was also thinking Latin America would have a tough time specifically because of that, there were no empires to conquer in what became the US or Canadian territories meanwhile we had the Aztec Emprie in Mexico, the Mayan Empire in Central America, Inca Empire in western South America, and there might be some more that I'm missing

But ya they were already organized into societies so once they were subjugated it got easier to hoard resources without sending so many people over so there's a lot of confusion that would be going on there.

As for

“Oh my god I’m a descendant of slave owners?!”

Everyone has something in their family history that if they were held accountable for it today would land them in hot water, thankfully we're not responsible for the sins of our ancestors.

If we were reparations for slavery would bankrupt every nation and person in the world, and that would just be step one.

Also what with the Latinos shitshow My brothers in Christ most of your countries and cultures was the result of colonialism.

Yes the border crossed you, but you wouldn't have been there if the area hadn't been colonized.

Also as I'm sure most Texans will be able to tell you, while the US gave military and economic assistance to the Republic of Texas, it was the people of Texas that decided to seek independence from Mexico, those people included the Latino population of Mexico wasn't just transplants from the US doing it so if your family was in the territory then and has been there the whole time it's possible they helped in the fight for independence from Mexico.

In the end with all of this it's mostly just important to remember that sunny hostin is a terrible person who is both incredibly racist and sexist, gonna be a few other things she is too but those are good enough to start with.

#zoomer huey anon #I think #anonymous

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mediaevalmusereads · 6 months

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Civilizations. By Laurent Binet (trans. Sam Taylor). Picador, 2019 (English trans. 2021).

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genre: alternate history

Series: N/A

Summary: Freydis is a woman warrior and leader of a band of Viking explorers setting out to the south. They meet local tribes, exchange skills, are taken prisoner, and get as far as Panama. But nobody ultimately knows what became of them.

Fast forward five hundred years to 1492 and we're reading the journals of Christopher Columbus, mid-Atlantic on his own famous voyage of exploration to the Americas, dreaming of gold and conquest. But he and his men are taken captive by Incas. Even as their suffering increases, his faith in his superiority, and in his mission, is unshaken.

Thirty years later, Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, arrives in Europe in the ships stolen from Columbus. He finds a continent divided by religious and dynastic quarrels, the Spanish Inquisition, Luther's Reformation, capitalism, the miracle of the printing press, endless warmongering between the ruling monarchies, and constant threat from the Turks. But most of all he finds downtrodden populations ready for revolution. Fortunately, he has a recent bestseller as a guidebook to acquiring power—Machiavelli's The Prince. The stage is set for a Europe ruled by Incas and Aztecs, and for a great war that will change history forever.

***Full review below.***

Content Warnings: violence, child death, animal death, incest

Overview: My book club picked this novel as our subject for November, so here I am, writing a review. I didn't know what to expect going in, but the premise intrigued me; after the first few pages, however, I was fully immersed and impressed by the author's understanding of history. While I wouldn't recommend this book if you're not a history lover, I would absolutely recommend it to those who are interested in historical thought experiments, such as what would have happened if the European colonization of the Americas was unsuccessful.

Writing: I'm reading the English translation of this novel, and since I don't have the original, I can't comment on whether or not Taylor renders Binet's prose faithfully. But I do think Taylor did a great job of making the text feel like the historical sources it was imitating. The novel is written in a somewhat plain, unadorned style that is common to things like sagas and chronicles, and though there were some modern expressions here and there, I think that on the whole, Taylor and Binet succeeded in infusing the prose with historical flavor.

I also liked the repeating imagery that held the disparate parts of the text together. For example, the color red shows up a lot, as does vultures, condors, and other birds that seem to signal auspicious moments. It made the book as a whole feel more literary, and it created through-lines that helped sell the idea that we were reading a continuous "history."

Lastly, I appreciated the ways in which this book defamiliarized things like religion by presenting Christianity from the Inca's point of view. There were a few moments when Binet would be describing something about religious custom and I wouldn't quite understand what was going on until the Inca overheard a key term (like "inquisitor"). The practice of considering what Christianity might look like to other people was a valuable thought exercise, and I think it did a good job of exposing some of the inherent cruelty of the 15th-16th century religious conflicts (and politics).

Plot: There isn't a plot to this book so much as there is a narration of an alternate history, but I'm also the kind of reader that finds history fascinating, so this narrative was highly entertaining for me. I really appreciated the level of historical knowledge required to write this book; one can see through all the details that Binet has a pretty extensive understanding of 15th-16th century Europe, and I loved seeing how the author imagined all these pieces working differently had colonization not happened.

I'm not sure, however, if the author had an equal understanding of the Indigenous peoples that are featured in this book. On the one hand, I can understand the purpose of wanting to imagine what a history of Europe might have looked like if the Inca had sailed to Spain and created a new empire there; on the other, it seems like the Indigenous peoples are a little less nuanced than their European counterparts. Maybe that's due to the fact that a lot of these peoples and cultures (along with their histories) were wiped out, so I don't know how much I can fault the author.

Characters: There are a lot of characters in this book, so I'm only going to focus on a couple of key players and broad themes.

Part 1 of this novel follows Freydis, daughter of Erik the Red, and imagines what would have happened if she and her followers had reached as far south as Panama. I really enjoyed how Freydis was fashioned to be the leader of the Viking band, rather than a mere instigator as in the sagas. I also liked that her story contained several nods to the literary conventions of Norse-Icelandic sagas, and it imagined interactions with Indigenous peoples that were more complex than just open hostility.

Part 2 follows Christopher Columbus and his failed expedition, imaging him as becoming a captive of the Tainos and living his life as something akin to a court jester. I appreciated the way Binet wrote Columbus as something of a religious fanatic who doesn't quite give up his faith, even when it's clear he lost. Binet also succeeds in presenting the Tainos not as cruel, but as rightfully defending themselves from a group of would-be colonizers who believe in their own superiority.

Part 3 follows Inca ruler Atahualpa as he sails to Spain and establishes a new empire in Europe. This is by far the longest section of the book, and I enjoyed the way Atahualpa was presented as both ambitious and generous. His advisers, too, were varied in their personalities which made them feel like real people (and not stock characters), and the relationship between Atahualpa and Princes Higuénamota was complex and fascinating, portraying a deep level of love and respect that felt different from a romantic or king-adviser relationship.

Part 4 follows Miguel de Cervantes as he navigates Europe after Atahualpa's death. I personally didn't get a much out of this part, and Miguel wasn't as interesting as his companions, but it was a nice snapshot of the empire, so I can't complain.

TL;DR: Civilizations is an impressive reimagining of history and constructs a complex view of what Europe might have looked like if the colonization of the Americas failed. The level of historical knowledge required to write this book is sure to satisfy history lovers, as well as the prose style, which imitates real-life historical texts.

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thelivebookproject · 1 year

Text

2023 Is Here! (Reading Goals)

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a lovely entrance to 2023 and has a joyful year full of the things and people you love. May it be better than the last, in every single way!

In my case, after giving my brain a break in 2022, I am BACK with all of my goals and my detailed lists, including, of course, reading ones. So here are my 10 goals for 2023:

Reading (at least) 55 books (follow me along in GR & SG!)

12 books in French

12 books in Spanish

12 non-fiction books

12 LGBTQ+ books

12 books by European writers (excluding British ones)

12 books by African/Afro-Caribbean writers

12 books by Asian writers

4 books by writers from Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, etc.)

4 books by Latin American writers

You could ostensibly go, "Andrea, why the focus on the continents/nationalities of the authors?" to which I would answer the same thing as I do every year: I read a lot of US/UK writers. Like, a lot. Easily 95% of my yearly reading is taken up by US-UK writers. Which is GREAT, don't get me wrong, and if I didn't like them I would simply not read them -but it also means that there are a lot of vital experiences and narratives that I miss out on. I want to expand my reading pool and discover new authors and new ways of telling stories, and if to do that I need to literally sit down with a list of all the countries in Europe and start researching writers I will do that. Just hand me a map and some pins, we're reading the world this year!

To begin with, I'm tackling two books that I bring over from 2022:

L'énigme de la chambre 622 - Joël Dicker [GR] -> I've been reading this for a week now but it's super long and it's in French, so it'll take me a good ten days more probably...

Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders #1) - Robin Hobb [GR] -> I started reading this end of October, read about 20%, and didn't touch it again. I'm finishing this in January come what may, I can't keep lugging it around!

As always, I'm open to any and all recs you may have, but in the meantime, tell me -what are your 2023 goals, if you have any? How is the year looking?

#2023 goals #currently reading #reading goals #2023 reading goals #thelivebookproject #booklr

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olderthannetfic · 8 months

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@Kizai moto-anon. (The one abt how good the anthology was bc it was authentic and so on) Kizazi moto left me super angry by the end, bc of Disney. I was like "Damn wow what about live action?" and then I remembered that no disney doesn't give African stories a chance, let's just look at the next lazy aF european fairytale race swap, instead of more african stories. I have tons books abt Grimms fairytales, and HC Andersen, and w/e, I don't need another fucking LA ver of a european fairtytale, I'm fucking tired ok? Esp not the lazy shit disney poops out now, seriously I got several physical media of LA or animated european fairytales since childhood. I even bought books and vids of asian fairytales, but I only got like two african fairytales books, and some mini-booklets with fairytales. -The books are called smth like "African folktalkes" or "Folk tales from Africa" it's from a collection by the publisher where each continent had like 2 books, I think the collection was discontinued but a feature was that it had art by African artists from each place the fairy tale was from. Same with the other books btw- Why do we need "LA redos" which everyone thinks looks like ass anyway, instead of just giving that money to African studios and then we finally get a fairytale from any country there? I want an LA version of the Kizazi Moto project! With more advertising though, fuck disney for trying to kill it off with no ads and no attention.

Fuck Disney in general.

Also, the "fairy tale" model isn't actually that useful if we're trying to go broad culturally. Folklore, sure. Mythology, sure. But the entire notion of a 'fairy tale' is kind of culturally specific.

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omnivorousshipper · 2 years

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Can you please write an au of Rowen meeting before F6 and starting to date then when the team goes to London and sees Owen's photo, Roman shouts "My boyfriend is a criminal!?!?"? Bonus if you can add Shobbs!

Hi friend! I know you sent this in a long, long time ago, and I'm so sorry about that!! I hope still enjoy this!

~~~

Life couldn't be more perfect.

Laying in bed, head propped up in his hand, he stared down at the sleeping figure next to him.

Owen had entered his life like a hurricane and Roman couldn't be more thankful.

After the heist in Rio, Roman had traveled the world and had enjoyed everything he could get his hands on. Food, alcohol, women, men, riches, and everything in between. Along that road, he had bumped into the most gorgeous person at a car auction.

Owen had slid up to him, voice dripping with honey sweet promises if he let Owen outbid him on one of the many cars. Safe to say, Roman didn't let him, but when he met the man's narrowed gaze, he wiggled the keys in front of him and gestured him to follow him.

And that's how he made love to Owen for the first time in the newly acquired car.

Roman had given the car to Owen, he wasn't an asshole after all, and Owen stayed by his side.

When Owen wasn't off working, he would be almost attached at the hip with Roman. He shared all the worldly pleasures Roman could find and showed him news heights of joy Roman never knew existed.

They had stopped in Egypt to enjoy one of the many luxurious hotels. Owen was wrapped up in the silk sheets, completely naked underneath them. His face was peaceful as he slept.

Or so Roman thought.

"I'll have to leave soon," Owen mumbled and cracked on eye open. Roman couldn't help but caress his face and smiled at his sleepy expression. Owen was a lot like a cat: wanted constant attention, wasn't afraid to use his teeth and claws, and could nap at a drop of a hat.

"Do you have to?" Roman pouted. "Can't you tell your mom you'll be late?"

"This job isn't for my mom," Owen yawned. "I've been freelancing for a bit."

"But you just got back from Russia."

"And now I have to go on another trip, love," Owen smiled at him. He reached up and cupped the back of Roman's head to pull him down for a kiss. It was slow and full of passion, but it didn't go any further. "It won't take more than a week at most. I'll be back before you know it."

"If you say so."

"Don't worry, I'll even bring you back a souvenir."

When Roman dropped Owen off at the airport, he felt his heart sink as he saw his boyfriend disappear into the crowd. He wasn't exactly sure what Owen did for work, but he knew he was in the family business with his mom. At least he was family orientated.

Sighing, Roman was about to call for his own private jet when his phone rang. Raising an eyebrow, Roman answered.

"What's up Dom?"

"So what? We're expected to work for the Hulk now? Why do I smell baby oil?" Roman wrinkled his nose and nearly flinched when he saw Luke Hobbs come out of nowhere.

"If you think you can't handle it, then the door's right there, Pearce." Hobbs sent him a steely look, and Roman responded under his breath about him being a hard ass.

"You've got the best crew in front of you, Hobbs. What'd you got for them?" Dom crossed his arms and all eyes turned to Hobbs.

"I've been hunting this target for the last few months. Across four continents and seventeen countries. You're going to help catch him. His name is Owen Shaw-"

Roman let out a choking noise as Hobbs said that name and threw down the file he had been holding. Hoping against all hope, Roman desperately wished it wasn't who he thought it was.

Staring back up at him was Owen.

His Owen.

"Shaw was the head of his squad, a high ranking captain and spy before he went rogue. Now, he's pulling jobs all over the European and Asian continent-"

"There's no way!"

Everyone turned at Roman's outburst, who desperately wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole.

"Got something to tell us, Pearce?" Hobbs asked, eyebrows raised and arms crossed.

Oh fuck.

"You've got this all wrong!" Roman insisted. "There's no way he's a criminal!"

"I beg your pardon?" Hicks snorted. "That guy has blown up several government buildings because he was bored."

"He wouldn't do that!"

"And how would you know that, Rome?" Brian asked. "Do you know him?"

"I- no, yes, maybe, I don't know!"

"It's yes or no, Pearce," Hobbs growled. "Are you helping him in his heists?"

"What?! No!" Roman clenched his fists. "My boyfriend would never-"

His mouth snapped shut.

Everyone was staring at him wide eyed.

"Boyfriend?" Han scoffed. "You sure know how to pick them."

"If anything, he's out of Roman's league." Tej pointed out.

"Hey!" Roman glared. He and Owen were perfect for each other.

...which he might have said that part out loud by the large grins the crew were sporting. However, Hobbs wasn't smiling.

"Can you contact him?"

"Uhhh. What happens if I do?"

"Are seriously this dumb?" Hobbs snapped.

"Hey! I'm not just going to let you arrest my boyfriend!"

"Either you call him up and we talk this out, or I hunt him down and throw him him prison where you can talk to him through a window."

Roman gulped. He would rather the first option. Pulling out his phone, he tapped his foot nervously as Owen's phone rang, but didn't pick up.

He called three more times and left several texts before looking back at the crew. None of them looked impressed.

"I could try calling his brother..."

"His brother?" Dom asked.

"Yeah, he and Deckard are really close-"

"Wait." Hobbs' body went rigid. "Deckard Shaw?"

"Um, yeah. He's a really nice guy and loves Owen a lot-"

"I know who he is." Hobbs snapped.

"How?"

"Because we've been dating for a year." Hobbs sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Mouth hanging open, Roman couldn't believe he wasn't the only one dating a Shaw.

This was going to be interesting.

#roman pearce #owen shaw #luke hobbs #deckard shaw #hobbs and shaw #shobbs #rowen #fast and furious 6

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femmesandhoney · 5 months

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Europeans talk a lot of shit about america to deflect from their own bloody history of violent colonialism. Especially the brits like who the fuck's fault do you think america is??? Lmfao??? They wanna act like they're soooo advanced with culture and art and blah blah blah and the only reason they have such like...pristine landscapes/well-preserved history still present on the land is because they pillaged burned and destroyed everyone else's and used the blood money to enrich themselves. Europeans needs to have several seats and address their own structural inequalities/dirty secrets if they wanna act all high and mighty about Americans. I'm so tired of their obnoxious egos, false sense of self-importance, and self-aggrandizement they try to justify by pretending they don't have skeletons in their closets, too. They looove to call americans self-centered as if they can enter any conversation without immediately going "well i'm EUROPEAN [and you should be impressed by that] and how DARE you not research and study my country's culture and history (not the violent part and especially not what we did to africa asia and the american continents tho aha) before you made a random post on the internet when i don't even follow you. Americans are so full of themselves, they didn't even research everything about me specifically before talking to themselves on their own blog."

And TBH if Americans weren't right about british "food" (pey whet??? Lmfao????) brits wouldn't get so butthurt and defensive and immediately go "yeah well you don't have healthcare 😋" like damn 0-60 real fast, must have hit a nerve a little too close to home, huh? Go back to bootlicking for your monarchy and preaching to everyone about how it's fine to have one ackshually and shut the fuck up about how bitter and jealous you are that americans make tasty food. (Lbr here. No country has a monopoly on tasty food)

i love the UK and find it a very beautiful place, but same as anywhere, there's people who really hate americans for no discernable reasons and just want to see everything we do and say in the worst light even when we're obviously joking around. it's just like can yall lighten up please for once in your life lol. and yeah it's always odd when anyone not just brits try and attack americans for the trauma we go through at the hands of our government. like wow thanks you really showed me!🙄

and you're so right most all countries have delicious food and i do think i'm lucky as an american to have grown up where i did because i had access to a lot of other cultural cuisines just because of the larger city i lived in. i feel very sorry for people who don't get the same access and variety that most americans do, we get to try so much and it's wonderful lol

#i think you're pretty correct in most of this ask lol i cannot respond to all of it tho but its just like yeah basically #i have more nuanced ideas about this but i won't bog down your point either

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