任是无情也动人

Looking at cashew's fics sorta kinda reminded me of a fic I read (reread, actually) recently, in which we're introduced to some Japanese OC's (not students, thankfully) in a mainly Hogwarts fic. Naturally, the "original" stuff (and not just the Japanese stuff) is all trumped up versus the topics that Hogwarts had. This in turn reminded me of a thread on SD.net, also somewhat recently, which talked about Japanese education, it's pros and cons and stuff.

So basically, for Japan and I guess most far Asian education systems, you have a teaching method that emphasizes on rote memorization, obedience and a complete unquestioning of authority. In Japan in particular you also have an emphasis on uniformity, conformity, and cooperation - working within the structure/company/system/school etc. Cirricula are usually set by a central system for a large region if not the whole country, and all kids are forced to learn it.

For western... well, American, I guess, you have a system that emphasizes critical thinking, questioning, experimentation/hands on stuff, and individuality. You also have very varied levels in different schools and regions. There's also a larger margin for slackers and underachievers, if we believe census reports concerning grades of different countries.

Obviously, neither is 'better', per se. But they both have good points and bad points. And there's also other good ideas or bad ideas that might not be mentioned. So I was thinking, and I wanna throw the question out there: What kind of system do you think would bring the best of (both) all worlds together? Say, for a child that's just entering grade/middle school who's pretty much a blank slate in all ways that matter where it comes to education.

What kind of courses *should* the child be required to take (again, idealistically) for such a grade/middle school? Ethics and morality? Philosophy and logic? All the hard sciences? Language classes that emphasize certain classical works? History (when and where)? Sports? Music/Arts? (Note we're not talking college here, so there probably wouldn't be any topic-specific classes like "Socrates" or "Advanced OChem". These should be classes that set good fundamental skills and knowledge.)

Any thoughts?

( Cut for those who don't care )

In my rewritings of the last part of the Afterlife Arc for YvtW, I've just gotten to the segment dealing with Mg back on Middle-earth. So while my mind was on the subject, I got to thinking about a couple of things...

( cut for those who aren't interested )

I'd love to hear what ossian has to say on any of these issues... though I don't think we'll ever get to deal with them in-story at the rate things are going. ^_^;;

Okay, I finished redoing the 0.2 Mirror cards as well, and I moved all my MtG stuff over to a tripod website instead of my angelfire one, since it was taking up so much space. I'll leave the old angelfire pages up for now, but I'll probably delete them whenever I need more room there. Besides, all the links to it from my main YvtW website has been changed to the new place anyways.

( The new pics up at Tripod. )

Also, last night, I fiddled around with making Kenshin cards... Getting the pictures and coming up with card errata isn't hard. The hardest part is the flavor text, so I left those out. However, if anyone has any nice suggestions for flavor text - whether it be narration from the manga or dialogue from a character - I'd like to hear them. The more the better, so I can find a good fit, spacing wise, on the cards. Anyways... here's what I have so far:

Spoiler:


( More cards )

The card attributes, mana cost, and colors aren't final. I might tweak things after I get done with everything. Especially attack values for cards with double strike. It occurs to me that a double strike of attack 5 is actually 10 damage total unless the creature gets killed by another creature with first strike or double strike. So technically, I can give Kenshin a attack of 3 and his combat attack value would still be 6. I might also need to fix the toughness values... but I'm not sure if I should.

Now, I need a bit of advice... I'm going to associate most of the good guys with white (good, purity, etc.), most of the villains of the Kyoto Arc with red (chaos, fire, bloodlust, physical might) and black (evil, necromancy, self-destruction). I'm unsure what colors to relate the Oniwabanshuu to though... typically, ninjas are associated with the color black, but the Oniwabanshuu aren't evil (unless we're talking about whacked-out Aoshi)... blue (psionic, duplicity, sky/sea) might be a better match...

So I'm in the process of streamlining my YvtW MtG cards with the new card-maker program.

Here's the page.

I've redone both the 2.0, 3.0, and non-character pages. The 0.2 page is still the old version. Lookit the vast differences.

BTW, Mg, if you're reading this... double check my mana costs for game balance or whatnot, k? Thanks.

Hrm... I've gotten most of the ideas covered earlier down. But now I'm stuck on a ending to the scene. I need to end the conversation and get our heroes outta that particular limbo somehow. But I can't think of anything. Help?

( so far... )

When the last scene with me and Elrohir took place, we'd just met the fake-serpent-guardian. This is supposed to be the Logrus, who whisks us off elsewhere for a confrontation. But I'm kinda stuck on actually writing the scene, since it's been a while since I've read the Amber series. So I thought that two minds would work better than one. :p

1. What do you recall of the personality of the Logrus-serpent? I would guess that it would be cryptic, since it probably plays the games of intrigues that the Princes of Amber and the Courts of Chaos are known for. What about overconfident? Manipulative? Petty? Cunning? Loquacious about nothing? Terse? Flashy? Condescending? Etc...

2. What kind of motives would set it personally against whatever is between Llwella and "Locke 2.0", instead of manipulating a Chaosian or Amberite to do it? I suppose if it could predict that someone of Urd's and her sisters' power would get involved, then sending a Prince/ss of its native multiverse would be outpowered... But it still needs some kind of underlying motive, or even emotion.

3. Hypothetically, how would it handle rivalry in the arena of other deities over Chaos? Like Loki, for instance, and possible others in other mythologies and fiction. Cooperation? Competition? Friendly or otherwise? Any/all of the above depending on the other guy?

4. IIRC, a lot of what goes on especially in the second Amber series is that the Logrus and the Pattern(s) play the lords and ladies of their domain like chess pieces... although said nobles tend to do that on their own to each other as well. A possible trap that I need to beware is to write myself into a serious confrontation with an entity like the Logrus, who obviously has enough power to do whatever it wants to a much lesser entity, no matter how friendly with other deities. It's not like said other deities can do much to it. So if the Logrus is actually serious about things, it's highly implausible writing to get us out of this adventure alive, even if other powerful entities intervene... However, if the Logrus is treating this like a game, or a wager involving other unnamed deities, and even the likes of Llewella are pawns to it, then there is more plausible room to get out of this alive. Thoughts?

In addition to finding a very nifty site which has synopses for the manga stories, I came across the following picture today. Needless to say, my first impression was like "whoa! they read my mind!" Fer sure, it fits in right well with what I have planned for YvtW. ^_^

It occurs to me that if I make a suggestion to the others in the arc/thread, then I should be obligated to at least consider it myself. Practice what I preach, so to speak. And actually, this has been something I've been pondering lately. Oh, and ossian? I'm gonna need your feedback on this one.

What I refer to, of course, is the "end result" of my part of the Afterlife arc. Now, ossian and I have already decided that MU Loki would be involved, which also brings in the indirect involvement of MU Hela. Currently, my short terms plans also involve the Logrus, which is a pretty obvious character to bring in when it comes to any adventure that has its start in Amberite nobility/politics. Now, these foes might or might not be working together, to any degree... but together or apart, I don't think anyone doubts that they are all big-name players in the grand scheme of things.

So, naturally, when pitted against these foes, at least two of whom are known for their cunning and trickery, if not outright power, I really think it would be a stretch to say that a bunch of bumbling Net Eventers (half of whom aren't even on the actual quest in question) can totally show up and outsmart them. Even with limited (and sometimes decidedly unhelpful) aid from the OMGU Norns. Unlike other RP'ers who I shall not name (unless forced to), I don't have any pressing need to prove my character as some kind of Great Force Beyond Reckoning in the Omniverse.

Anyways... my point is... we never decided on what would happen *after* we found Locke 2.0's soul, didn't we? I think everyone, right now, assumes that we're looking to ressurect him. After all, that's what you do with souls who've died, right? It's not fair to the dead soul who "died before his time"... yadda yadda yadda

Well. Why be fair? In the story sense, what dramatic value is there to be fair? In the IC world-POV, what logical reason is there that the various malevolent and cunning foes out there will *allow* things to be fair? Heck, haven't we learned our lesson with Mg, regarding: bringing peeps back from traumatic afterlife experiences is "not a good idea"?

So my current thought is this: whatever reason there was for our foes to take all the trouble into offing Locke on Earth 2.0 (and I would suspect that most offworld deities would prefer to stay the heck away from the Thread worlds, where they're highly vulnerable), what's to say that reason still doesn't exist? The very fact that Llewella (and possibly Urd) wants to get him back might point to the fact that there is still some plot there. (Granted, they might also be doing it out of remorse or just because they're good guys.) So there's no way to guarantee Locke 2.0's continual safety, even if we're to bring him back to life, unless we can come up with a 24/7 guard around him that is capable of taking on whatever plots our foes can come up with - which is to say, "not happenin'".

The other solution is both simple and elegant, IMO. Let's think - if bringing him back to life is dangerous, then what alternative is there that is not dangerous? Why, getting him to perhaps the only safe place when it comes to the foes we're facing - a *good* afterlife realm that is watched over by being(s) of sufficient power and possibly omniscience. The end of this quest doesn't have to go much further than to *find* our errant spirit.

Moreover, if there is something that still makes Locke a target, placing him in an afterlife that is also beyond *our* reach would also help decrease the threat to him and to us. After all, he would be safe and happy... and we (and others) wouldn't be in danger of learning the secrets or whatever that got Locke into this mess in the first place. Plus, it's not like these places don't exist all over the fictional realms. The DCU Heaven, for one - where none (living) who don't have a pure soul can enter, and which is accessable through CBY's self-proclaimed connection to Didi. And I'm sure there are other alternatives out there.

Of course, if ossian still wants to use his 2.0 character in the future, and needs him to be alive or accessible, then I'd be happy to try and come up with a way to get him back. But dramatically speaking, and without suspending too much disbelief or developing "jobber-auras" of our own... I think this idea really deserves some thought.

So what do you think?

(Edited for asterisk-overdose and spelling/grammar)

Scene 2: This will take place mostly concurrently with the previous sequence of scenes. Posting wise, it should go between (one of) the splits in the previous sequence.

Summary/notes: Me and Elrohir arrive at where the sun is descending into Tuat. Other souls are also gathered there for the journey down into the underworld. So the sun-boat goes down into Tuat, and most peeps are dropped off at the first gate 'cause they got separate ways from Ra (exception possibly being the pharoah(s)). So we go through one or two doors (check Book of Gates) before Elrohir notices something odd about one of the serpent doorwardens. His warning comes late and the two are transported elsewhere (some kind of limbo?) and confronted by the Logrus, who first tries to talk them out of their trip and then threatens them. Resolution continued in separate (set of) posts.

( scene )

Plans and maybe rough draft for the next couple of scenes regarding the characters I'm responsible for.

(Last updated 2/4 3:48 pm)

( Read more... )

( blah )

In prep. for the sphinx scenes in YvtW, I'm going to need some good riddles to draw on...

This site has 2 good ones on the top, though I might reword them a bit...

I. (check)
"At night I arrive, un-fetched.
By day I am lost, but not stolen.
What am I?"

II. (check)
"I am always to be, yet never was.
None ever saw me, nor ever will.
I am the confidence of all who live and breathe,
And the despair of all under mortal time.
What am I?"

( more )

What has gone before: Urd's messed up spell (most of them don't quite work as expected, even if they didn't get interrupted near the end) sends our company of travelers hurtling through a portal into realms unknown. Reminded at the last moment that she'll need one of our bunch to stay behind as a marker, Urd grabs the last person to go through and falls through the portal herself.

( the scene )

Just found this *delicious* site which has a list of Egypt's cooler ancient sites.

Avenue of the Sphinxes

Temple of Thebes

Goodness... why have them wake up to one giant Sphinx when I can have them dropped at the foot of a whole street-full of sphinx-like creatures? Besides, FBH made a crack about too many large metaphysical critters too, IIRC. *insert evil laughter*

So CBY gets the Avenue of the Sphinxes, one of the FBH's gets the Temple of Thebes, another of the FBH's gets dunked in the Nile, and the last one will be right across the river in West Luxor, where is conveniently located the Valley of Kings.

Meanwhile the rest of us will be up near Giza with the Pyramids of Khufu and the like. Hm... I suppose I can have Elrohir go talk with the Great Sphinx. It's not like the others can't confront the Great Sphinx in there own time, if they play their cards right. This way I can divvy up the personalities I wanna try out for the Sphinx(es)... The Great Sphinx will be the deep and serious one. CBY can have the Greek version. And I guess FBH can have the not-too-serious ones.

According to the background essay on the Book of Gates, apparently the gate system of the underworld that it depicts is very similiar to the gate system in The Book of the Dead (not that I've noticed. sigh). The fact that this and other books put the passage through the gates before the judgment (weighing?) of the soul, I guess the there's quite a lot of stuff to take place before the Hall of Maat, chronologically. Since I don't wanna go back and look through the BotD for the exact refs there, I suppose I can use the BoG version of the 1-5th hours instead.

Actual text found here
Analysis of the Am-Tuat and Bood of Gates

( more )

According to this guide to the various underworld texts, The Book of the Dead isn't the main text for going into the Afterlife. It is the most popular, however, and it's the only that actually gets a *commoner* into "heaven", as opposed to heaven being a pharoah-only club. Since none of our characters are pharoahs (except for maybe the sons of Elrond, and even that's a stretch)... I guess we're stuck using that.

Book of Heavens/Earth - stuff about the gods. Not neccessary for my use.

Book of Caverns - apparently for the underworld journey of the king. I can excuse not using it by saying the commoners' path (by the Book of the Dead) being a different path than the path of the pharoah.

Book of Gates - doesn't say who this is for. I'm guessing it mainly focuses on obstacles into the underworld. I guess I'll need to at least familiarize myself with this version as well.

Amduat - the path of the sun god. Nothing much to do with the rest of us.

Pyramid Text/Coffin Text - collections of spells, basically. They're mostly merged into the Book of the Dead anyhow. So no worries there.

Okay, I've done most of the research, and I've a fairly good idea of the Egyptian afterlife. Or at least enough sources to fake it. So now I've gotta figure out who goes where.

After agonizing over how to split the group again, I decided just to forget all that and have everyone one his/her own. If they manage to join up with someone else in the group, it'll be up to them (and me, as the narrator). Of course, at first I thought the Egyptian afterlife wouldn't be big enough to keep us apart for long. But then I found this quote: "In Egypt one person could have multiple afterlives - each different part of the person would be able to have its own existence after death..."

*insert evil laughter*

( Okay, here are my tentative plans... )

RELATING TO THE WEIGHING OF THE HEART

(Takes place after the CHAPTER OF COMING FORTH BY DAY... and before THE SEVEN ARITS)

( rest of it )

Note to self: find out what Khert-Neter refers to.

THE CHAPTERS OF COMING FORTH BY DAY

Summary: hymns to be recited for "coming forth", for entering Khert-Neter, and in Amentet; they're supposed to be recited on the funeral day, "entering in after coming forth"

( rest of it & appendices )