Disclaimer: Views are of the blogger's own and does not (necessarily) reflect actual common-sense.

Sunday 27 January 2019

A post about GTA

No, it's not Grand Theft Auto or grand theft auto. GTA stands for GTarcade. Started by a Chinese Walker, this company is perhaps most well known for a game featuring its very own Victoria's Secret Angels and... well, the Gainax's law of physics/Tecmo's law of physics (not to be confused with Einstein's law of atomic physics). Even up till this day, John doesn't know why he even bothered to download the browser client software. Maybe he's out to explore an alternate gameplay interface. Thanks to that Chinese Walker, John L'Otter was able to develop ideas for a turn-based JRPG. But that would only count if the Sakaguchi Hero takes notice of what John is doing.
If you think the Sakaguchi Hero will have this kind of reaction, you're most likely crazier than John.

The gender equality challenge
Believe it or not, you can enforce gender equality when playing League of Victoria's Secret Angels. More specifically the third instalment. Firstly, select a male toon. But make sure the timer doesn't expire. Otherwise, you're stuck with a Kasumi, Hitomi, Lei Fang, or Tina Armstrong (Seong Mi-na if you prefer a salty Korean instead). After that, this would be where the fun part starts.

At the beginning of the game, you'd be getting plenty of... well, girls in the squad. But this is not to say gender equality is a longshot. One thing about LOA3 is you can easily throw the recruitment die more than 10 times per week if we're talking about normal recruitment. Normal recruitment die rolls would result in any one of these below:

1. Epic hero (because hero in this context can be race-neutral, but NOT the word angel)

2. Epic hero shards (you need 50 of the same kind to recruit an actual hero)

3. Epic souls (for purchasing epic hero chards in the shards store)

If John remembers it right, normal recruitment has a small chance of getting the kind of stuff elite recruitment can give you. Which would be any one of these below:

1. Legendary hero

2. Legendary hero shards

3. Legendary souls

Note: It's likely that there's a small chance of your elite recruitment rolling a Legendary+ grade hero/shard. If so, then it'd explain why normal recruitment has a small chance to roll a 20 (i.e. legendary grade stuff).

John L'Otter pulled off the #IMPOSSIBRU!
Believe it or not, John managed to make the average cynic look like this Westeros-Japanese meme below.

Until now, it felt like a weird dream where you're not just any hero, but the Goblin Slayer himself. Not because of girls like the Guild Girl and Cow Girl, but rather the D20 favoured John as if Tymora has nothing better to do apart from rigging the rng code. To prove John L'Otter wasn't a lying sea otter, allow him to point out the guys available in his heroic roster:

Rare heroes: They're all guys, so no need to mention them by the name. Okay, it's actually because they're just a bunch of nameless dudes.

Epic heroes: Rattler (Skeletor definitely got a male voice), Hope (assuming it's a he and NOT a she), Edgar (aka Jon Snow of the Night's Watch)

Legendary heroes: Alucard (the first legendary dude unlocked), Darion (aka Jon Stark of Winterfell), and Maxwell (Jaime Lannister under the banner of House Tyrell)


Out of these dudes above (i.e. NOT Gandalf, Snape, and John O'Kult), Jaime Lannister, Jon Snow, and Jon Stark were chosen to fly the gender equality banner at the command of John L'Otter. This means the current party is made up of 3 dudes, 3 ladies, and 2 more ladies as non-combat party support (Note: John needs to be very specific about the support because it may mean another thing to sex-starved single dudes).

Not bad for someone playing this game for like slightly more than one week at most.

Immediate goal: Get Glacia
John really needs to get her. And it has got nothing to do with the boobs. The reason why being that Telina has now unlocked Frostbringer. And this particular Divine Arma can give bonus stats once Glacia is present in the party. At the same time, she confers bond bonus for Darion and Sheila. So yeah, it's killing three birds with a stone instead of just two.

Support party members
BR most likely stands for Battle Rating. It's not just about your own character, but also the entire party. At 15K BR, you can unlock a slot for non-combat support members. At 20K BR, the second slot will be available. The third slot has yet to open for John, but that's because 40K BR is needed. From there onwards, it's an additional 10K BR needed per slot.

Now when you choose which character to slot in for the support, please make sure a bond bonus is available. BR isn't exactly dummy proof. Those who know the mechanics (trust John when he said it's only a matter of time) would try making the party work for them instead of the BR. This involved the formation, who's in, and who's going to play non-combat support. Most importantly, try to trigger one bond bonus for each combat party member (including yourself).

Right now, John has unlocked two slots. One for Amora and the other for Natasha. Once Glacia joins in the fun, she's going to take over from Natasha. That'd give the party at least one bond bonus per member.

XP scrolls and levelling up
Unless John got it wrong, support members' BR contributes to the overall BR. Hence, please have a good idea on how you're going to set up your support member network before reaching 40K BR. You should have plenty of time for that.

In the game, XP scrolls are available. If you've just unlocked a high-end hero (*cough* Maxwell *cough*), use them on that hero. Once you unlocked your preferred support member, then divert the XP scrolls to him/her. However, please note that this can only be done if all your combat party members got a high enough level (i.e. at least 60-65).

When it comes to levelling up, normal dungeons work better than elite ones. They're easier to clear and you have 10 tries per stage. At the same time, normal dungeons drop XP scrolls by default. So they're very useful for character levelling, combat or non-combat.

Party anchor?
If you managed to obtain your first legendary hero early in the game, try to make him/her the party anchor. This is because by the time other legendary heroes are unlocked, that particular hero should have attained a high enough level together with the augments and what-not.

For John, it's the katana girl. Otherwise known as Katrina, she's effectively a Rule 63 Sasaki Kojiro. Sanguine Rose deals an insane amount of damage for an AoE dps move, so you'd need plenty of that from her. At least John needs that.

To be cont'd...
(Because John realises it's more constructive to post less and write more)

Saturday 26 January 2019

安らぎの慟哭

Okay, John is feeling restless. However, he doesn't feel like doing anything. It's like a cat going around in circles despite having more than just a ball of string to play with. So he might as well do some... well, doodling on gaming interface design. Or something like that.

Been doing this since...
...since John L'Otter lost count? John is pretty sure he did more than just a one-shot Total Recall. Either way, this song may be that one thing keeping him going for this post.


Three gods of light in heaven above
Five spirits of the wild for the fae below
Seven kings of men share a throne
Fifteen pillars in all hide a dove


*???: Hey, Rios. Do you think peace can only be achieved by war?*

Rios Ua'Corm: Don't mess around with me. I'm not going to die for your peace!

*Music plays with gameplay footage involving Rios and Leorc separately*

We desire peace...

*A handsome youth walking in a meadow morphs into a lion*

We war in order to obtain it...

*A beautiful maiden leaps off a cliff and transforms into a crow*

Where can a dove be found?

*A satyr exits from a burning village*

Leorc Irais: That boy must die. For the sake of peace, he must die.

Rios Ua'Corm: My life is not for others to take away. My death is for me alone to decide. If the world must burn because of this, so be it.

*Trailer credits*

*???: You have my blood, but you have your mother's soul.*

Gameplay interface
John will be going by the Dualshock interface. In the future, maybe he will start on the Xbox and Nintendo Switch interface.

Left analogue stick: Out-of-combat party movement
Right analogue stick: Camera zoom (both combat and out-of-combat)

D-pad: Party member movement (during combat)

Triangle: Offensive action
Square: Defensive action
Cross: Control action
Circle: Buff action

L1, R1, L2, R1: Familiar effect

P.S; This post is truly short. Fact is, my brain is still under a state of... well, 50-50.

Add P.S: Seriously, don't assume you're descended from Albert Einstein unless your DNA is proven to be Jewish.


Tuesday 22 January 2019

Maybe Drifting will be reserved for this...

Thanks to a moment of brain hibernation, John L'Otter accidentally stumbled upon an actual use for the Drifting label. Long story short, Drifting is now officially a label reserved for snippets of random stuff and some other meatier stuff equally random. Like this.

There's a famous saying. Or a curse depending on whether you're an able minister in times of peace or a crafty hero in times of chaos. One of John's favourite fantasy novels happened to be something written by the late and talented Sir Terry Pratchett entitled Interesting Times. This had to be John's only moment of completing a Discworld novel. It's not exactly John's fault, though. Firstly, John's parents' education level never progressed beyond the GCE'O level because they're born in the wrong era. Secondly, John ended up in the wrong school. As a result, claims of any other student in Gan Eng Seng (Secondary) School managed to read stuff like this or that should be seen as highly questionable. It's not that John was a genius. Rather, he's a sea otter compared to the other river otters. Maybe that's why he became the only Cao Cao in an environment where everybody else was a Liu Bei.

And speaking of Cao Cao, here's a message to all belonging to the class 1H, 2H, and beyond until 1999.

John suddenly remembered Gina, Rachel, Wanting, and Pamela from class 1G and 2G. Then there were also Yufen, Daisy, and Yali from different classes either one year older, a year younger, or two years younger. In Henderson Primary School, there's Lijen. In ITE, there were Cheryl and Sharifah.

During his years at class 2H, Mr Lee got a problem with John. No, not the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Just another Mr Lee unrelated to the Oxlees. Whether it was for real or not... well, John prefers thinking that he might be suffering from depression due to constant bullying starting from primary school.

Enough of past memories resembling (somewhat) that of the King of Yue, Goujian. This comes to mind the question of whether parents in Singapore are truly different from those in the U.S. Your thoughts?
Any misunderstanding involving the SBC is a result of your own LSD, coke, and 'shrooms. Also, SBC stands for Singaporean Born Chinese.

An end to the wrangling?
The husband of Ivy Ng has spoken. Ditto for the MFA's bro. So will it be over soon? Or will Chrisover Daughtry's most famous song become more famous (in Singapore and Malaysia)?


Believe it or not, Dr Mahathir was most likely out to test the 4G leadership more than seeing Singapore as Israel's that other BFF. Going by the signs... yeah, this saga most likely won't last long. A happy ending is VERY possibly on the cards so long agreement can be reached concerning the 2km gap which got the entire Pasir Gudang up in arms. Either both will be resolved or both will remain in a state of 50-50.

Note: If this happens, it means John got lucky. Because his surname isn't Teo/Cheung/Zhang.


Universal rage quit?
If you want to talk about artistic creativity, here's a positive demonstration.

New ideas on new story ideas John mentioned before
Again, let's go back to this. Maybe John can do both at the same time, but it depends on whether meritocracy is just another form of Darwinism. A few more ideas being rolled out.

1. Name of the protagonist is changed to Rios Ua'Corm. His weapon of choice is a hunting spear. As for magic, it's all about runes. Must be those Celtic angmohs. Oh, and Rios seems to be someone fond of blowing things up.

2. Name of another vital character is an old knight honourable but rigid named Leorc Irais. He got a problem, though. And that problem has a name. Refer to point 1.

3. Familiars will be featured prominently. Leorc's familiar is a male lion (gotta be gender specific for visual reasons, no matter how politically incorrect). Rios' familiar is a female crow.

4. The lion's name is Gerwein. The crow's name is Morrig.

5. Familiars do have a human form. If it's a male, be very sure he's gonna be more handsome than G-Dragon and the entire BTS put together, If it's a female, be very sure she's gonna be more beautiful than Park Shin-hye and Black Pink combined.

6. The deadliest aspect of a familiar assuming human form reads something like this video below.

To be fair, the dude responsible for Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru isn't just about Kenshiro.


7. This game is the classic JRPG turn-based retro(?) format. However, there's an important(?) aspect of the gameplay known as seizing ground. Self-explanatory or not, you use your own imagination. Even if you're a Singaporean, it's no excuse.

8. Will there be a female lead? Maybe someone named Claudea Rhead? After all, John needs to come up with a name...

歌いましょう
Stumbled upon this article. Which comes to mind an interesting question: If you have creativity and principles, should people entitle the right to crucify you just because they're offended?

To every self-respecting person of creativity, this is no laughing matter.

And speaking of 歌いましょう, here's a song to end this post. John needs to log in and invoke all his characters in Neverwinter...

Sorry, lyrics translation is currently in a state of 404. And it's not the fault of John L'Otter.

Saturday 19 January 2019

Rambling mode...

This post should be seen as 100% rambling. The reason why being that the brain of John L'Otter has entered U.S mode. Okay, maybe the situation over there across the ocean is worse than this sea otter's brain.

So did he do any wrong?
No, not this he. John doesn't identify himself with the river otters, so apathy is quite obviously expected. John is more interested in this he. So did he do any wrong? It won't be surprising if this was just another day of British media. It's not as if Leeds got 3 points docked over a 50-50 reason against Blackburn. Oh wait, that's John's beloved Boro. If there's any reason to argue this he did no wrong, let's refer to the Mogganaut's own words.

A person of Salsa Bielsa's intelligence wouldn't commit this kind of mistake if he was doing something ethically wrong. So what if his grandfather wasn't Lee Kuan Yew? He's still a genius. End of argument. Don't believe John, go ask Pep.
Let's be honest with ourselves: We don't mind Leeds hiring her to spy on our teams.

Getting unblocked?
After spending a number of farcical years not of his own doing, he's back. His name is Tan Cheng Bock, you can never block the Bock. Okay, that's extremely cheesy, corny, or whatever you wanna call that. Seriously, if the Workers' Party wants to find a worthy ally, PSP will be that very friend it needs. Erm no, PSP=/=the portable gaming console done by Sony. PSP stands for Progress Singapore Party. And yes, it really sounds more politically correct than Singaporeans First Party. Then again, Singaporeans has always been known to be politically correct. *shrugs* As for John, he prefers Berserk to the currently ongoing Oxleygate saga.


Getting blocked
It's very common for guys to get friendzoned by girls on Facebook. And because John needs to be fair at the risk of sounding politically incorrect, allow him to say "vice versa as well". Not so recently, Singaporeans experienced some sort of naval invasion after two nations agreed on a ceasefire of sorts. To set the record straight, this wasn't the worst case of a political breach of trust. 9 years ago, something happened. And being the salty people they're capable of becoming, those salty Koreans weren't amused. John knows this sounds like a joke made at the expense of 박여신's agency, but in reality, actual circumstances were anything but a laughing matter.

Compared to ROKS Cheonan, the presence of Pedoman was nothing. Compared to the fallout 9 years ago, this one is nothing. To be honest, below scenario would have more impact.

The reason behind the current brain hibernation?
Spent quite some time playing League of Angels III. To be honest, this one was more addicting than the first one. When John played League of Angels I and Wartune, the feeling he got was trying to navigate the keys unless he desired auto-pilot mode. It was... well, frustrating. Not so much about the gameplay, but rather John's brain couldn't keep up. So yeah, some games were fun. Sad thing, though, was that John's brain couldn't adjust to the pacing. After all, players like Xavi, Paul Scholes, and Marco Verratti aren't Theo Walcott.

And therein lies the possible reason why John's brain might have tired out. League of Angels III is more... well, user-friendly. Not n00b friendly unless you wanna go full auto. The tactical value of the gameplay is nigh zero, but the strategic aspect can be quite fun if you're a sucker for trying to make the seemingly broken/insane work. Right now, John managed to unlock the astral artillery. The Divine Arma bow known as Dreamfall Meteor is a blast on the Department of Dps Rampage. Quite obviously better Divine Arma will unlock one by one (Frostbringer would be that first actual challenge to get and use). For now, Telina is now a certified sniper.

If there's such a thing called pet peeve from John, it'd be the fact that gamers can't delete their characters. You most likely can only have one character per account. Because John intended to create a male character instead of a female one, he realised too late that character creation has some sort of timer. As a result, he had no choice but to use a female character. Then again, it's a video game. You know what it means?

Interesting fact:

Waiting to be fixed...

New story ideas...
But no, John is not gonna implement them. Let's see things this way: If Hirano Jigokuta must finish Hellsing before starting on Drifters, what makes John think he's smarter than a certified story-telling genius?

Three gods of light in heaven above
Five spirits of the wild for the fae below
Seven kings of men share a throne
Fifteen pillars in all hide a dove


John doesn't want to speculate how good this poem of his is, but it's actually inspired by J.R.R Tolkien's attempt at poetry, which is something no Singaporean can ever pull off. That's how fallible the river otters are. Then again, a sea otter is also an otter.

A few ideas running inside, but John isn't going to leave his (watered down) version of Berserk behind.

1. Usage of runes. This needs to be tweaked because runes do exist in both the real world and John's fantasy world. There's at least one idea going on, but it's more practical to say screw it until the moment comes.

2. The main character is a druid. Adopted by the fae, no less. His personality? Tentatively like Oda Nobunaga when he was still the Fool of Owari.

3. Fireworks, explosive runes, and a destructive Aozaki Aoko. John is gonna leave it at here.

4. The guy's name is Iraff D'Niel. John might have based the name off Jon Irenicus if not for a gross lack of creativity.

5. Do the fae have a problem with humans and vice versa? *shrugs*

Anything else?

Okay, no. Apart from this song.

Don't you love it when you realised what's truly wrong with everything around you including yourself? Yeah, we're all screwed, Singaporean or no Singaporean.

Wednesday 16 January 2019

Hey, let's do some racism!

Okay, that's a joke. Elsewhere further away from Asia, Steve King attempted doing his own Stephen King. But there's a problem: His fellow Republicans decided to become a party of Shining Johnnies. And no one messes with a Shining Johnny. Not even Steve King. But that's because he's no Stephen King in the first place.

Now it must be stated that endorsing white nationalism in the U.S is like saying Singapore belongs to China. Why? Because we got the ethnic majority and we all know (roughly) who to look for whenever someone behaves like a local dick to his fellow local Singaporeans. When it comes to dealing with those not of your skin colour, he/she who is wicked in the smallest things is wicked in the bigger things. But I guess that's what it means to be a human being. Namely, to be dickish.

So let's take a break from the negativity and enjoy this song below.


If you're tired of the Singaporean brand of positive creativity or the current Hollywood fare, then perhaps Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel is for you. Part 1 is over, now we're entering Part 2. Aimer truly brought to life the entire Fate series with her songs. Last Stardust summed up Emiya Shirou's one and only path in Unlimited Blade Works while Hana no Uta sang out the voices of Shirou and Matou Sakura's feelings for each other. As for I beg you (no, you're not seeing this wrong. The lack of capital letters for a song title is Aimer'ly correct), it leads the listener into the chaotic nature of the Grail. There are two aspects of that dark tower (not that one created by Stephen King), namely the primal and humane.
You know things have gotten real when Kotomine Kirei has never given a damn to which political ideology gets the Grail.

The primal aspect refers to Angra Mainyu. Rather than what's exactly wrong with humanity, this Servant was the true representation of what's wrong with... well, humanity. To know more, just go to the TYPE-MOON Wiki if you don't want to burn your time playing Fate/hollow ataraxia.

The humane aspect would be Sakura. This was also the reason why Aimer nailed that heavenly feel of Heaven's Feel for I beg you. The rhythm might sound weird to the average listener, but I know better, On the first glance, it sounded like some kind of LSD trip. But it felt natural for an acid trip (not that it's literally one because the cops would have busted me before this post is done). This was because Sakura's mental state has gone 200% unstable after Matou Zouken managed to infuse that damned Grail inside her (Note: The part on being 200% unstable was actually an understatement due what I've said about that Angry Mainyu). No, Sakura wasn't to blame for having to be a walking Grail. It's already bad enough to see innocent souls perishing at her hands. Yet, who was responsible for all this? That dickish Zouken who decided to make an Irisviel out of a person unrelated to the Einzbern bloodline (which in turn made Kiritsugu much less of a dick considering the events within Fate/Zero). Actually, every member of the Matou family was certified dickish except for Kariya. Sakura didn't count because she's adopted due to Tohsaka Tokiomi being... well, a dick.

As the song progressed, the unnatural feel became more natural. In fact, the song was effectively a feel of paradox where the unnatural was natural and vice versa. This brought forth that chaotic nature of the Grail within Sakura while the lyrics portrayed her only reason to try staying sane. Or more specifically semi-sane given the nature of the lyrics (and the Grail). Unlike Hana no Uta which was intended to be a duet between Shirou and Sakura, I beg you is all about this being Sakura's very own song. In fact, you can call this her image song.

So how would I rate this song? While I personally prefer Unlimited Blade Works out of the three routes, Heaven's Feel has to be the climax of the whole Fate/stay night saga due to the insane strength boasted by the plot and characters. This is also why I rate this song as... well, believe it or not, the highest so far out of Aimer's Fate/stay night songs. Maybe Steve did make a mistake by saying I shouldn't be so obsessed with anime. No, I don't mean Steve King. I'm referring to Steve Ang from (the now defunct) 32SIB@Clementi Camp.

Note to self: Wait... I beg you sounds eerily like what one would expect in Kariya's image song as well now that I've listened to it again.

Yes, this is John L'Otter breaking character
However, I'm not going to list this under Breaking Character for a reason: Because it has got nothing to do with history. But there's a reason why I'm breaking character here. This has got something to do with my past and there's no way I can become John L'Otter since I'll be addressing the presence of dickish people. And sea otters are dickish. They're not like the river otters you see in Punggol, Clarke Quay, and elsewhere in Singapore.

When I was in NS, I had the chance to deal with people who treated me in a humane manner. Even though the likes of Der Schlange, Enick TK, Carling, and Chief K enjoyed making fun of me, the three Tamil ladies and another Tamil Encik actually made me feel... well, more humane. Even though names like Komala, Santhya, Pathi, and Shankar weren't Chinese, they chose to respect the humanity of this Singaporean Chinese guy here. Humanity cannot be trusted, but that's because you meet vicious people together with the nice ones while knowing that you can't call the former monkeys. Because no matter how vicious people can be, they don't look like monkeys. Or gorillas. Or just about any type of primate.

In particular, Encik Shankar made me feel awkward because he put in too much effort in praising me while Komala said Kuok Minghui was different from other guys (i.e. every other guy was a jerk with Kuok Minghui being the only Emiya Shirou).

One of those who actually got no problem with me was the owner of a comic rental shop. I think she's still there. Anyway, she once asked me whether I was from China. Now if you're a local Singaporean, how would you react? Of course, you'd react like an angry Singaporean! But not me. Far from reacting like some Angry Mainyu, I actually answered no. In a calm manner. After all, she didn't commit any legal crime against me. The same couldn't be said about others during my dark days from Henderson Primary School to Gan Eng Seng (Secondary) School and all the way to ITE Dover before it moved house to somewhere else.

In Henderson Primary School, I was mocked Chicken McNugget. As if I was the only living thing walking on two legs. In Primary Four, I remember this wicked girl who refused to give me her medicated oil when everyone in the class was itching from some pong pong tree sap (by my guess). But the rest got her help. Just not me. So I had to use my saliva to ease the itch. Then everyone in class 4D gave me that dirty look. If someone tells me she's under no obligation to help me, then allow me to reply that Oda Nobunaga was under no obligations NOT to deal cruelly with his enemies.

At Gan Eng Seng, I had to deal with dickish classmates singing cruel songs and calling me spastic. There's this particularly dickish guy during Secondary Two who character-assassinated me before my science teacher. To David Long Junaidi, please be informed that some guy surnamed C was making use of you to make himself feel good and righteous. So please don't feel bad if you remembered what happened during 1996 while we're still in class 2H. There were two classmates who felt it's right to make me commit a mistake just to say "Oh, you stepped on his beret! I gonna tell teacher!" Bloody KN and son of Yang Tie Xin, you think it's fun waging psychological warfare on someone who was never your enemy? Oh and one more thing: If you're old enough to read GTO, then I'm old enough to know who's a liar in the name of convenience. As for that McDonald guy, I never offended you but you chose to treat me with subtle hostility.

In ITE Dover, I had to deal with two Blobs instead of one. I forgot one Blob's name, but I remember that other M.Blob. Then there's this little dog who verbally abused me as if I was a dog. He was my most hated enemy in the whole of ITE. Remember calling me pus? And there's this part in being betrayed for no reason at all with the first Blob being one of them. Look, I was never a member of the Danish royalty, my name wasn't Hamlet.

My teachers from Henderson Primary School to Gan Eng Seng (Note: There's no Primary School version during the 90s) to ITE Dover tried to help me, but they never truly affirmed me. This was because I'm sure they're not adequately trained. So no, they're merely ignorant albeit well-intended. Therefore, I still have to thank the likes of Mrs Ko and Ms Ho for their efforts. The only person in my schooling years to truly affirm me was Ms Ho Peng. But she's my principal, not my form teacher or subject teacher.

When I thought about this a few days ago, I realised one possibility behind why I was hated for no reason. Remember that nice lady owning the comic rental store? If her question was the reason why I had to suffer so much, then I really have to thank her in advance. At least a moment of curiosity gave me something to work with. No matter how politically incorrect her lack of malice was.

So why was I mistaken for a Chinese from China? After all, I don't recall people asking my parents whether they're from China. It wasn't until a few days ago that I decided to go Google search for facial features of Chinese people. From my best of knowledge, the ancestors of your local Singaporean Chinese neighbour came from the south. Regions like Fujian and Guangzhou belong to the south, hence the word 唐山 referred to southern China rather than the whole of China.

In other words, the only possible reason why I was mistaken for a mainland Chinese was that my features resembled someone from northern China. Ironically, it means I don't look like someone from 唐山, a place associated with the Chinese race. But there's a problem: My mother is Hokkien while my father is of Fuzhou ethnicity. So why in the blue hell would I end up having the features of someone from the north since my parents are of southern ethnicity? I don't know. Maybe I was adopted like how Emiya Shirou was adopted by Kiritsugu. Or maybe I was born a Kurt Wagner minus the complicated factors. Interestingly enough, I was born in the month of Nightcrawler 1982.

Searching for my roots(?)
I came across an interesting site detailing different sub-types of the East Asian people. When we talk about East Asians, one of the most common jokes would be either every one of us look the same or the Americans are just too damned dumb to tell their (Asian) friends from the Japs.
Think I found this in Reddit.

Looked more positive, dogmatic, and arrogant? Wonder if that's the reason why I became an enemy of the schoolyard democratic system. Anyway, I doubt I was born a Jap because my eyes don't look like one. And speaking of the eyes, I asked a departmental BFF of Nanny Wee (of the DDR-GIC fame) about which aspect of my features resembled a mainland Chinese. She said "the feel". When asked whether it's my eyes, she said no. When I asked whether it's any part of my features, she said it's because of the 气质. Basically, it's the accidental way of saying "You're screwed. You'd have better luck getting either a Japanese or Korean girlfriend because you won't get a local Singaporean girlfriend". Okay, that's a joke. I truly doubt I'm a descendant of Oda Nobunaga anyway.

So in this post, I'll be listing a few Sinid types. Nothing much, just a few things I've noted. Also, there's no way I can chuck in every Sinid in this post. Hence, I'll just put in some of the... well, more prominent ones.

Disclaimer!
I do NOT profess to be a geneticist. Otherwise, chances are that I'd know Dr Ng Swee Lian personally because she's actually one. Below portion should be seen as my attempt at analysis without the aid of genetic science. I must say this for a very good reason: I do NOT want to get sued, be it until my pants drop or not.

If there's a reason why Korean guys are tall, it's likely because they managed to become part of the contemporary Korean DNA. Unlike Japan, the Koreans were more chummy with their Big Bro Hua. Of course, things were never that straightforward. History rarely is. In the Tang dynasty, the Koreans were certified badasses for a reason: They're forced to because the Tang dynasty China was being dickish by invading their kingdom. More specifically kingdoms because that was during their own version of the Three Kingdoms era. Instead of Wei, Wu, and Shu, they got Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. Fast forward to Ming dynasty China and the Koreans became BFFs with Big Bro Hua. So it's not surprising to see the migration, immigration, emigration, or whatever you want to call that happening so long it's legal (And yes, piracy existed and it's 100% illegal). Interestingly, there are two other Sinid types which are arguably more Korean: Choshiu and Manchu-Korean. But there's a problem. And I'll come to that later on. In a later post.

Notable examples of the Huanghoid facial features:
We all like celebrities. Period. It's very likely many of our dream mainland Chinese celebs boasted of the Huanghoid genes.
Zhang Bichen
From: Tianjin
Height: 1.68m
Northerner: Yes
Height level: Huanghoid

Notes:
1. The late political titan Lee Kuan Yew possibly had Huanghoid genes. The northerners were traditionally well-off intellectuals. That suited his family background despite the geographically obvious. At the same time, he's a Hakka. Commonly believed to have originated from the Yellow River region, this assumption is reinforced by the fact that Lee Kuan Yew was also literally one titan of a man with his height reaching a whopping 1.80m mark. His eldest son Lee Hsien Loong is slightly taller at 1.83m. I tried Googling for Lee Hsien Yang's height, but nothing turned up. Either way, I'm convinced the younger Lee should be quite tall. Credit goes to the correct Lee Wei Ling for the info of the Lee family's ethnicity. After all, she did release a book.

2. China wasn't the most peaceful place to live in as interesting times were known to form a large part of the Chinese people's history. Maybe that's why Lee Kuan Yew wasn't a fan of democracy when it comes to bossing a Chinese (majority) society. In fact, Taiwan is now in the kind of political crisis known as a roller coaster ride starting from Chen Shui Bian's second tenure as the president. Seriously, election polling results do not lie in Taiwan ever since another Lee assumed power (i.e. Lee Teng Hui. That Kaohsiung girl from CT-MRI should know what I'm talking about).

3. This resulted in northerners bailing out to the south. Don't laugh, it happened before when the Song dynasty government had to move its capital from Kaifeng to Lin'an (i.e. from the north to south). When the Ming dynasty was at its death throes, the Manchu threat was compounded by peasant rebellions. In fact, it was another Li named Li Zicheng who officially ended the Ming dynasty. In turn, the Manchus took down the newly (self) crowned Emperor of China because someone named Wu Sangui was pissed off at Li Zicheng bedding (?) his girl. After all, there's a Chinese saying: 朋友妻不可欺,兄弟的女人不可把.

Translated in English, it means "Do not take advantage of your friend's wife, do not chase the skirt of your bro's girlfriend". Actually, the second part was invented by yours truly. Any case of coincidental plagiarism will result in credit given to the other person, not me.

Needless to say, the fall of Beijing would have resulted in the same thing.

4. What possibly happened (genetically speaking) was that the Lee family wasn't the only northern clan fleeing south. There were many others. As a result, inter-marriage between the northerners and their shorter southern cousins was possible.

Do I have Huanghoid genes?
On the first glance, it seemed to be the case. My father actually still has his wedding photo with my mother. His height is quite obviously NOT of the Huanghoid type. In fact, my family was one of 160 (i.e. the Kuok family is never a family of northern height). And besides, Nanny Wee's departmental BFF said my eyes didn't look mainland Chinese to her. I looked at myself in the mirror and my eyes looked local. Interestingly, the shape of my father's jaw looked like a Huanghoid. Then again, I won't be surprised if there are also other Singaporean Chinese like him.

Verdict: Pretty sure the answer is a No. If it is indeed true that I have Huanghoid genes, why is it that my height is of Japanese level instead of Singaporean level? It doesn't make any sense especially given how un-Singaporean the shape of my jaw is.

To be continued...
(Because this post is getting too long)

Wednesday 2 January 2019

A Crucible's Lore: Magic and affinity

Okay, this is John L'Otter spending his New Year's Eve in the comfort of his den. Unlike most Singaporeans, you won't see him at MBS. Unlike most Americans, John isn't interested in spending such a day at NYC. Like the typical writer, he's more comfortable typing out stuff. Maybe that's why he's a sea otter instead of a river otter or beaver.
Dated-31 Dec 2018

Note: This post is the official retcon to any previous post dealing with magic.
Dated-9 Aug 2020

Magic:
Those who do not know magic call it an art, but those who use it call it power. Art cannot save lives but power can. Art cannot destroy but power can. There is nothing soothing about the latter, for destruction is never a form of beauty unless in the eyes of the demented. As for the former, every life saved means at least another life lost as a result.

Magic is classified into three categories; Thaumaturgy, metallurgy, and traits. Thaumaturgy is the usage of magic without physical boundaries. Metallurgy, on the other hand, is magic used within a physical form. Because the craftsman is never the same as his craft, magic is merely a non-living thing used by the living. Hence, there is a wall separating either from crossing over to the other. The living cannot be sustained by what is not, the non-living cannot be given life by what is alive, and the wielder cannot be subjugated by what is wielded lest he is corrupted. In fact, rumours have it that the Age of Renown was ended due to one such person.

Thaumaturgy:
Thaumaturgy is a power subjugating the laws of nature and expressing the resultant change in the form of visible power. It is imagination overcoming logic, a supernatural force capable of severing lives and binding the living. There are five runes in total, one for each Circle. Namely, Order, Chaos, Life, Dearth, and Speech. To use thaumaturgy, two runes are needed together with what the user desires to happen. One rune as the bridge between the wielder and that waiting to be used, the other rune shaping further the resultant force. Below is the list of what the respective runes do when thaumaturgy is triggered:
Order represents the justification of organising. Therefore the rune Nem is synonymous with stability and strengthening from the outside.

Chaos represents the justification of what cannot be controlled. Therefore the rune Lug is synonymous with power overflowing from one end to the other.

Life represents the justification of being alive. Therefore the rune Aen is synonymous with power and strength coursing inside.

Dearth represents the justification of demise. Therefore the rune Mor is synonymous with loss occurred.

Speech represents the justification of connection. Therefore the rune Bri is the only constant whenever magic is used.

Metallurgy:
Metallurgy is magic worked in the reverse direction. Instead of subjugating the laws of nature, power is used to reinforce. Instead of expressing itself through what is visible, change expresses itself through what is invisible. Unlike thaumaturgy, it does not overcome logic but rather works with it. Like thaumaturgy, it begets the severing of lives and the binding of the living. Unlike thaumaturgy, only one rune is needed: Bri. Like thaumaturgy, there must be something shaping further the resultant force. Namely, the user's elemental affinity. If the rune Bri is a tree, the elemental affinity is its root and the Circle of that affinity is the soil.

Elemental affinity:
Individuals during an era defined, prospered, and ended by magic were able to use it, each one's elemental affinity deciding the nature of manifestation. Elemental affinity is not what binds the individual to the supernatural force of magic, for in this current age not all are able to use it. Rather, elemental affinity will only trigger upon the individual experiencing what it means to command magic. Each person can only have one elemental affinity with the freedom of choice giving way to a game of random chance. Below is the list of properties of all elemental affinities:
Spring: Magic and steel beget burgeoning life, for spring is the season where life arrives in the most vibrant way. Thus, let what is wielded invigorate with every swing and every hit. The Age of Renown's term for spring would be Earr.

Summer: Magic and steel beget a burning surge, for summer is the season of passion and power. Thus, let what is wielded consume with every swing and every hit. The Age of Renown's term for summer would be Samh.

Autumn: Magic and steel beget fortitude at a cost, for autumn is the season of preparing for what lies ahead. Thus, let what is wielded give strength in proportion to what is lost when power flows. The Age of Renown's term for autumn would be Fomh.

Winter: Magic and steel beget determination indomitable, for winter is the season to survive. Thus, let what is wielded fortify resolve when power flows. The Age of Renown's term for winter would be Geim.

Physical affinity:
Physical affinity refers to the individual's inclination when it comes to weapon mastery. While it's possible to be a learner of all trades, this is not something which intuition and reasoning can agree with each other. To be a master of none requires intellect and nothing else. To be a master of something, the mind must be understood as a union of rationality and instinct. To reach the peak, the mind must bring out the best in the body while the physical must ensure the effectiveness of the mental. Otherwise, no fire can ever be sustained without wood. Below is a list of examples of physical affinity:
Sword: The mind decides where to slash, when to thrust, and how to parry. The body decides how deep the blade bites and how stable the footing.

Dagger: The mind decides when to flick, where to pierce, and how to bait. The body decides when to stand, when to advance, and when to fall back.

Arrow: The mind decides where to let loose, who to aim, and when to run. The body decides how much ground can be covered in the shortest time possible.

Spear: The mind decides when to attack, how to guard, and how far the distance. The body decides how fast and forceful every move is.

Tome: The mind decides what the situation is, how to exploit it, and when to destroy. The body decides how far the mind can go.

The Unchanged:
There are two forms of living proof pointing to the past when the Age of Renown was truly alive. Even though an age defined by magic in both its rise and fall was already over, reminders do exist in the form of non-living pieces and living beings. The Reverted and Unchanged belong to the latter, those whose lives are deeply rooted in the past instead of moving unfettered towards the future.

The Unchanged are literally living objects of the past, for the Age of Renown was one defined by the political power wielded by the Homm'Nua and Homm'Eot. The former refers to the elves while the latter refers to the dwarves. Despite the ability to use both thaumaturgy and metallurgy, the elves are of Chaos while the dwarves are of Order. This results in an expression of power known as a Testimony.  Magical expression from the elven race is able to overflow, its name the Testimony of Flood. The same force from the dwarven folk is hard to overcome, its name the Testimony of Rock. Perhaps this is a key reason why the Homm'Nua are wary of the Relentless Ones albeit the Homm'Eot are more accommodating in comparison. Below is the list of Unchanged races and what to expect from each:
Homm'Nua: Commonly known as elves to the vulgar races, they are native to the Isle of Mists where the kingdom of D'Armur is. Ruling from D'Argatem with a number of their brethren seen beyond the boundaries of their motherland, the destruction of the Age of Renown was unable to compromise their ability to perform magic.

Homm'Eot: Commonly known as dwarves to the humble races, they are native to the Islands of Crags where the kingdom of Eisenstein holds absolute rule. Adopting a non-interference policy unless force is needed, there are those who nevertheless ply their metal crafting trade within mainland Causacea and the island city-state of Histalonia. If there is a way to anger an otherwise composed dwarf, using the word Frankensteiner as a way of addressing would be it. Some speculate this is due to a misplaced understanding of their ability, for Eisenstein is a nation rich in metal ore. Most laugh it off for the same reason.

Half-blood: Individuals of either dwarven blood or elven lineage, they belong to neither parent entirely. But because magic is in the blood of both the Homm'Nua and Homm'Eot, half-elves and half-dwarves alike possess whatever magic ability inherited from the powerful half of their parentage. Despite what some scholars may say, the half-bloods are nowhere inferior to their pure-blooded kindred. A fact which is a constant source of chagrin to the Homm'Nua and amusement to the Homm'Eot.

Relentless Ones: Conceived from a decision made by their founder Eijon de Morte, the Relentless Ones possess both Testimonies. At the same time, they are also called Monsters of the Gods by the locals of Gastony, the very place they call home. The elves look down on them, the dwarves respect them, and the rest fear them. This is a race where power and instability converge.

The Reverted:
The Reverted, on the other hand, are individuals whose ability to use magic is awakened through personal trauma. But because traumatic events would lead to a mental shutdown, those unable to do so are a rarity, perhaps even an unnatural occurrence. Mentally defective or not, the Reverted are neither elves nor dwarves, let alone the Relentless Ones. As a result, their supernatural capabilities are expressed in the form of traits, something which the Unchanged also possess. The Reverted are scattered all over the world, be it Causacea, the Southlands, or the Furthest East. However, the underground city of Deis does have a considerable number of them although the Holy Quintet Church's intention is a question only the decision-makers know.

Traits:
Traits are another form of magic, but not like thaumaturgy and metallurgy. Rather it is a manifestation thereof. For the Unchanged, it can be racial and individual. For the Reverted, it is always about the individual. As a result, while the Unchanged do have more options in the event of a fight, the Reverted do boast of the element of surprise. At the same time, a hypothetical conflict between two users of magic would be further complicated by the fact that a Reverted and an Unchanged can match each other when it comes to raw power. No matter what, it is fortunate to know that such wars will never happen for a good reason: The existence of demons.