Made in Japan instead of America (yes, I know this is fast)

As stated above, it's quite fast that I'm doing a new post. The liberating thing about blogging but not being an influencer is that you're under no stress to do things in a certain way and within time constraints. Because I'm neither a streamer nor a social influencer, I'm able to enjoy playing FF14 while still having a job and an actual life at least once every Sunday.

Asmongold quits FF14(?)

If there's one bad thing about being a henjin, it'd be that I don't feel I belong to my country. But if there's one good thing about being a henjin, it'd be that I get to know things which my fellow Singaporeans wouldn't since my brain functions differently. Are these things frivolous? Yes. But the good part about knowing frivolous things is that they played a role in preventing me from entering despair. Not that I expect people to understand me though.

 

Let me point out the only reason why I know Asmongold exists is because YouTube has a list of recommended videos on its home page. The accuracy can be laughably inaccurate, but that didn't prevent me from clicking one of his videos dealing with Blizzard's woke culture. Then from Blizzard, he went to FF14. From FF14, he went back to Blizzard. Whether Blizzard has gone less woke, however, is a matter not of my interest. I can only handle this much cynicism before I quit like a French.

 

Because of my henjin curiosity, I decided to search Asmongold FF14 on Google. Long story short, there's acrimony involved. I'm not going to take sides here, but I'm going to say something (and hopefully not come across as scolding people).

 

Firstly, I went through the FF14 Reddit and the responses were understandably negative. There were exceptions where the statement would be more neutral. There's a post stating that purists do exist among the FF14 fanbase. I'm not going to dissect the dark side of FF14 fanbase psychology here. A major reason is that those who comment on the official Reddit channel are probably gamers outside Japan. As for me, I'm currently at Kujata and I've got no plans to migrate beyond the ocean, Balmung or no Balmung. My impression of Japanese gamers is that they tend to mind their own businesses. Interestingly, they often leave a greeting before any dungeon/raid/trial and say "Good Game" at the end. It's a very different culture from what I've experienced in other MMOs. While gamers do say, "gg tyfg" in ESO after dungeons and trials, the frequency isn't at the Japanese level. For your info, there are three Japanese servers catering to non-Japanese gamers (Tonberry and Kujata are excluded because they're more like a melting pot of Japanese and English-speaking non-Japanese gamers). Ramuh for Taeyeon's fellow South Koreans, Typhon for Tzuyu's fellow Taiwanese, and Masamune for Dita's fellow Indonesians.

 

Back to Asmongold's FF14ドラマ starring Yoshioka "confirmed unrelated to Seijuro" Riho as a Miqo'te. The way I see it is that it's a reaction versus reaction kind of thing. I've gone through the Reddit posts and I have a good idea of the situation minus the b-word. Of course, it's been months since the incident and I'm very sure it's not even 10% as severe as a certain kyodai kujira jiken way before I started playing FF14 (don't ask me what kind of kyodai kujira jiken because I can assure you it's not some kind of sexual innuendo).

 

My knowledge of streamers is a combination of random curiosity and the close relationship between ZOS and ESO streamers. The former is the reason why I know names like Pokimane and Josh Strife Hayes while the latter enabled me to know names ranging from Alcast to Niniskya. But if I say I knew Pokimane's latest stream, you all can call me a liar.

 

Hopefully, history won't repeat itself. But if so, then I say it's better for us to pay little heed and carry on with what we're doing. As a gamer, I do recognise the need to have a life from work to church. I don't have to be Dr Carl Jung Shin-ri to understand that when you move on from a certain episode, not turning back is 100% therapeutic. Easier said than done, but at least we can try. The drama wasn't for great watching. Hence, I'm not upping any links. But will I up a meme?

(Solo) Duty インポシブル?

Currently, I only manage to reach the end of the Ishgardian civil war involving Ser Aymeric and those from the south end of Ishgard if you get what I mean. It felt absurd to see my Dragoon hitting level 80 despite not even halfway through the post-Heavensward MSQ. Without the Road to 80 XP buff, things would probably be very different. It's an OP boon, but it's probably going to give me some shock once I reach Shadowbringers. That feels like a longshot distance to me, so my goal in FF14 has changed from getting my Temasek island to just enjoying the ride. It's possibly an attitude cultivated from my time playing ESO. So yeah, it works both ways. I'll have an easier time until the end of Stormblood. Then my brain will have to start sweating from Shadowbringers onward.

 

So far, it seems that I have my own fair share of solo Duties terribly hard to complete without a combination of Very Easy difficulty level and Echo activation. The Echo system is quite interesting as the developers are probably out to strike a balance between hardcore and casual for instanced solo fights. Most of them are doable from a casual perspective. Then you have a few that felt quite hardcore. I finished the level 40 Astrologian job quest involving an instanced duty synced at level 44. It wasn't pretty because the final phase was a literal brawl where I couldn't target the Ishgardian gentleman (not to be confused with a supreme gentleman) since everyone was jumping on him. Using Benefic and Aspected Benefic wasn't an option because my brain has a tendency to shut down once it has to process too many things (so much for being a Singaporean). The only Plan B was using Helios while keeping my fingers crossed (figuratively) that the Sharlayan lady can single-target heal the Ishgardian gentleman. The brawl was a disaster the first time around. The only reason I could think of was gear level. Running an instanced duty synced at level 44 was never a good idea if the gear level is around 30.

 

Of course, I didn't wait to craft better gear. Instead, I just chose Very Easy. With the Echo activated, it's weird to see my Astrologian downing the AI with two shots of Malefic. The brawling part was nerve-wracking in the sense that it's really as chaotic as a real-life free-for-all. Even if I was running with gear ranging from 39-41, I wouldn't be confident of keeping the Ishgardian gentleman alive in normal difficulty mode. That's how nutty the brawl was.

 

It's not just the level 44 Astrologian fight that murmured インポシブル. There were two more solo duties which made me feel the same way. The first was the second jailbreak since saving General Raubahn. The failure part was the inability to save the second last refugee (you save the last one only after helping Aymeric to take care of his fellow ser). The trick in getting this done lies in getting the direction right straightaway. If you have to waste precious seconds navigating the Vault, it's a certified duty failure because you wouldn't be able to reach the poor fellow in time. If you're running as a ranged DPS, you'd have an advantage due to Peloton. If you're running a melee class, I wouldn't be surprised if you have to deal with a major strategic handicap. Even running it with Very Easy and Echo switched on, I counted the fellow lucky to be saved. If I remember correctly, his HP was down by more than half. If I had to be honest with myself, I should have targeted the enemy behind instead of spamming AoE attacks.

 

The other one was the siege duty in the post-ARR MSQ where I had to take down a dragon before it took down an entire city. This was a DPS check against a flying Minas Tirith. Instead of seven layers of defence, however, I was dealing with a single layer of nigh-invulnerability. You can damage the boss. But that reptile can take so much damage, it's easier to take down Rome itself. This is the kind of fight you probably wouldn't win without food (I'd use HQ Apkallu Omelette) and potion buff. Apart from the insane durability, there wasn't anything of much worry since mechanics were effectively non-existent. At the same time, the duty is synced at item level 110. Even if you're geared with a full Augmented Ironworks set, you're still on the back foot. I'm not sure how well Potent Poisoning Potion would work, but I wouldn't be surprised if using Mega-Potion of Strength whenever engaging that flying Sauronsaurus would work better.

 

WARNING!

The second part of this post involves events spanning from Heavensward to post-Heavensward. Unless you've progressed to Stormblood or don't mind having your curiosity nuked, please stop here.

 

Don't look at me, look at Thordan

Recently, a fellow Singaporean got himself into trouble and possibly accolades from human rights activists. Long story short, his name was Ken "not Lim" Kwek of the Sex.Violence.FamilyValues fame and his latest work happened to be #LookAtMe starring Adrian "not The Hunter" Pang as Pastor Josiah Long Island Iced Tee. Again long story short, it got banned. Truth to be spoken, I'm not going to watch it. The reason why is that I've already learnt how to appreciate works like Vinland Saga and Tokyo Ghoul. Then we have Heavensward.

The interesting thing about the Heavensward storyline is that it may well be the most misunderstood plot in FF14. Why I say this is due to the darkness of the storytelling having nothing to do with religion. Because I'm more into Japanese dark fiction than its Hollywood counterpart, I'm actually likelier to be sympathetic towards the villains. Two good examples of this are Askeladd of Vinland Saga and Washuu Kichimura of Tokyo Ghoul. Then we have Elidibus.

 Moral of the story: There are clearly things the Japanese are good at and I'm not referring to the oppai.

Was Thordan a sympathetic villain? It depends on which one we're talking about. Thordan VII was a man with the noble goal of establishing a utopia for his people. But there's a problem: His methodology was nothing short of cynical. This is why I see him as a sympathetic villain. His actions were not driven by religion but by a faithless heart beneath the facade of faith. As for Thordan I, I hold no love for him. Imagine Teledji Adeledji as a crown-wearing Elezen and you'd get the picture.

Based on a true story in FF14.

 

The evils of the Ishgardian theocracy beg forth two questions:

1. Is religion a product of humanity?

2. If so, then does that mean the evils of religion came from humanity instead of religious faith?

We must understand that FF14 is made in Japan. This includes storytelling and the Japanese are known for their no-holds-barred approach. If you expect political preaching, you're really going to be sorely disappointed. While the nationalist lobby does command a strong influence in the political circle, the folks on the ground don't care for games of musical thrones. There are things they're capable of being angry at. Then there are things they couldn't be bothered with. As a result, you don't get to see woke themes in their works. This gives the Japanese brand of creativity a unique identity which the Cool Japan initiative failed to utilise.

Hence, it'd make more sense to see the darkness of Heavensward as the darkness of human nature. The cause of the Dragonsong War was never religion. It's down to one thing both clergy and atheists are capable of. That is greed. What Thordan I and his followers coveted was that which the Garleans would have sought as well. One side was religious while the other was atheistic, but both were nevertheless a pack of power-hungry dogs. The lies Aymeric was out to expose were never caused by religion but by human greed. But what if you realised your righteousness was defined by liars instead of the truth? It's never about "them" but "us". Frame it from an objective perspective and you realise not everyone on both sides has the courage to ask the same damning question. There's something harrowing about the priest's visage when he decided to murder a child (if you're pro-life, be glad that Vidofnir was around to save the day). It wasn't the face of religion but the dark side of human nature.

So why is Heavensward happened to be such a misunderstood story? I believe the reason is that we're so indoctrinated by the us-versus-them narrative that we failed to see Heavensward for what it is: A story told by the Japanese instead of Hollywood. Hence, we shouldn't see it as anti-religion or pro-left because that's never the intention of the developers.

If you need definite proof of what I've said, refer to what Matoya said in response to Alphinaud's anguish concerning justice after you finished The Antitower dungeon in the post-Heavensward MSQ. So what did she say?

 

"There's no such thing as cosmic justice." 

 

If you're an atheistic romanticist, you're going to be sorely disappointed by the context of her words. As a Christian, I chose to view the gravity of her words not as a form of blasphemy but something else.

Made in Japan instead of America (plus my HDMI cable died)

As stated, my Samsung HDMI cable died some time ago. The signs were already there when there were moments my PC couldn't revert from screensaver/hibernation mode. In short, the comatose mode was a warning sign I should have noted. Thankfully, I got myself a new HDMI cable.

In other news, 10th October has passed. For the ignorant, 10th October was World Mental Health Day. So why did I mention World Mental Health Day? This was due to me stumbling across a few articles reminding me of the fact that every society is a closet containing fine clothes and skeletons alike.

https://www.cigna.com.sg/health-content-hub/thought-leadership/mental-health-stigma-in-Asia

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/lady-wearing-mask-people-with-strange-behaviour-mentally-ill-1412861

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/about-1-in-3-youths-in-singapore-has-mental-health-symptoms-study

I'm not an American, but this happened to me as well.

I'll be brutally honest here. I've forgiven the sinners who did what is evil and those who did not do what is good. But the memory is still fresh as ever. Would things have changed for the better if my form teacher told my parents the truth during Secondary 2 instead of pointing out my lacking academic results? I don't know about the rest, but two teachers in 1996 knew my situation. One didn't act while the other (i.e. my form teacher) didn't pursue the matter all the way. As a result, my future is ruined. Thankfully, my church ensured that I wouldn't become another Fa Zheng. Incidentally, my church is a Reformed church. Those who know John Calvin's theology on human nature will know what I'm talking about.

 

This comes to the question of why I can call myself an incel and henjin even though these are unwanted labels (i.e. Wilde Versus Peterson and the fact that the LDP didn't like Koizumi Junichiro). On one hand, I believe in accepting what is factual. On the other hand, I don't believe superficial facts should dictate how I live my life. At the same time, there's always this urge to strike back at the sins of the sinners. It could have been worse because there's always the option of striking the sinners instead of their sins. This is why I'd rather be an ungentlemanly Singaporean instead of a supreme gentleman. Or Vash the Stampede instead of Million Knives if I want to make it sound better.

 

This comes to my ありがとうございました note to Soken "he doesn't own SoftBank" Masayoshi. Otherwise known as the FF14 version of Uematsu "the OG of FF music" Nobuo, he actually composed a few songs which I'd call the unofficial anthems of 10th October. I'm not joking here because Soken-san accidentally did something good that many of my fellow Singaporeans failed to do. There's something about the songs that spoke to my inner self.

At the same time, I discovered there's something admirable about Azem and the Warrior of Light. Without spoiling it for those yet to play Shadowbringers (or FF14 as well for that matter), allow me to point out:
1. Azem is the first and currently the only character I admired like Emiya Shirou admiring Kiritsugu. No other characters from Japan to Hollywood come close to Azem.

2. The Warrior of Light isn't defined by his/her light and darkness when it comes to moral identity.

 This meme could have been funny if not for...

Do you know the thing about FF14 memes? Some of them are actually as funny as the Gentleman of Light. In fact, this meme would have been funny if I didn't do the dumbest thing ever.

I really have to say sorry to the Dark Knight tank in my first healer dungeon run here. The reason why was that I assumed one thing I should never have assumed: To target a group mate, you have to click on him/her. As a result, I had trouble alternating between DPS and healing (i.e. FF14 functions like ESO as in tanks and healers need to pull their own weight on the damage-dealing department).

 

It was a nightmare run where I felt I did a massive hard-done disservice to the tank. It was a travesty of justice that I got a commendation just because the only thing I did right in healing was to spam Helios to keep everyone alive while staying close to the tank (i.e. refer to what I said above).

 

Those who played Astrologian should know what is Helios. Yes, this was me astroturfing as an Astrologian. Then I went online. Google is your good friend for a reason: This. That's where I went terribly wrong. If I had clicked on the tank via the group list UI, I'd have saved myself and the rest plenty of trouble. Granted I did say I was learning the ropes (it didn't help that my first and current healer job is an astroturfing Astrologian instead of a White Mage), but I believed I'd have been scolded if I was playing another MMO. The fact that Square Enix believed insulting people and cancel culture are never part of its Human Rights Charter clearly helped a lot.

 

Truth be told, I'd have a much easier time had I known this trick. To all my fellow newbies out to try a healer, please don't follow my dumb mistake. Right now, I have this heavy feeling of failure. Scarily, the only way for me to exorcise the demon of failure is to try again. That's likely going to take me a few days to recover from the keyboard headbanging. Hopefully, I don't mistake Esuna for Essential Dignity again. It's not a joke, that actually happened and it cost the tank a respawn since I key-bound the two next to each other.

 

Thankfully, the trainwreck of a dungeon run was Tam-Tara Deepcroft at level 15. If I did a Haukke Manor instead, I shudder to imagine what's going to happen.

Some things I thought about as an (astroturfing) Astrologian

Apart from the dumb mistake of not doing what I should do, astroturfing as an Astrologian did throw up some interesting questions for me. One of them is how much mobility I need. The trick I see in using Astrologian is weaving the Arcanum mechanic into the spell casting. This requires me to slow down, pick a card, and play it. Think of it as a holding midfielder with the ball at his feet and thinking where to pass. It's not an understatement to say that Astrologians need to process at least two things at a time per 30 seconds. For me, there's no way I can try doing that while moving.

This means I need to rely on higher raw healing (i.e. Savage Aim and Savage Might instead of attempting Quicktongue melds). Helios is good for phalanx tactics (and it worked decently well in that first run of mine), but that's not a given for every fight. For the tank, it's Benefic and Essential Dignity (note that I'm NOT going beyond level 30). Right now, I need to decide whether the Benefic II-Benefic I rotation should be used or just Benefic II with Essential Dignity. I should have an easier time once I unlock Aspected Benefic (and Aspected Helios as well for that matter) since I don't see any point in sticking with Benefic I beyond this point.

As for the card buffing, I find recalling the different cards to be surprisingly easy. It's like testing something for the first time only for it to be imprinted inside the head. I still need some testing to see whether this feeling is legit or not, but I have to say it's the first time I felt decently confident at something I shouldn't be in the first place. Either way, I'd probably be aiming to master a two-symbol Astrodyne usage.

But before that, I really need to learn the ropes by running specific dungeons instead of doing a Duty Roulette to settle myself into a healer's pace. Otherwise, the only thing I'd be confident in is causing a wipe.

For the damage dealing, I find it easier to spam Malefic with casting Combust in between. This is the opposite of my Black Mage approach where I'd first apply the DoT. The reason is that as a healer, I need to switch between damage and heal while playing a DPS means I can floor the accelerator and feed off the momentum. In short, I need to quit my habit(s) as a DPS player if I want to be good at being a healer, let alone an actual Astrologian. In mob fights, it's harder for me to process things. Against bosses, it should be easier since my focus function like a sniper's scope instead of a machine gun. Wait, that came out wrong.

Haiyo! Dark Forces!

When it comes to resonating with myself, it's not just Shadowbringers. When we talk about mental resilience, it's never my fellow Singaporeans but Guts of the Berserk fame. In fact, I'd say Guts was the OG of the dark Japanese fiction protagonist archetype. I doubt it's a coincidence that characters like Emiya Kiritsugu and Vash the Stampede arrived after Miura Kentaro's OG. My liking for great characters instead of merely strong ones is clearly connected to the dark side of Japanese storytelling.

 

So why Guts instead of my fellow Singaporeans? Originally, I had no intent to alt a tank job, let alone a healer. Then it happened after I defeated Thordan in the final Heavensward trial. Long story short, Thordan and Ramuh had something in common apart from being geezers. Both ah-kongs saw something in the Warrior of Light. Ah-kong Ramuh was composed while ah-kong Thordan was seized by terror. The source of this terror? Guts.

 

Okay, that's a lie. Guts merely inspired the Dark Knight job. Something is inspiring about the Dark Knight job backstory. And that is the lonely road of righteousness where warriors of darkness fought for the greater good without being noticed, let alone appreciated. If you need any proof that FF14 isn't something you'd expect from Mediacorp, look no further than the Dark Knights. Needless to say, I blame my urge instead of Miura-san for trying out the Dark Knight instead of Warrior class.

 

The thing about being a tank is that trusting your back to the healer is a major part of your job. Self-heal can only take you this far unless you're a Warrior.

For Dark Knight, my current best bet for self-heal is Souleater. Actually, that's every Dark Knight's only bet. The fun part of using Dark Knight is that it has some nice MP recovery options. When it comes to MP usage, it's synonymous with one word: Darkside. There's a reason why Dark Arts is legit. I actually went through the Dark Knight official guide and what I see is an interesting balance between resource usage and resource-free usage. In other words, the hard part is waiting for me on the other side. There's no way I can plan beforehand how to make things work until I reach... well, the other side.

 

Running Dark Knight is far more straightforward than astroturfing an Astrologian just like how it's more straightforward running a Warrior compared to a White Mage. Just get in there, trust your healer, and get the job done. And don't forget to commend the healer before saying bye unless you're a Warrior. In this case, it's your call.

 

I ran two dungeons on Duty Roulette: Tam-Tara Deepcroft and Haukke Manor. In the former, I actually ran with Grit against mobs and switched off Grit in favour of Provoke against the last boss. If I didn't realise better, I'd think that's the way to get things done in striking a balance between aggro management and surviving a boss fight. Thanks to a kindhearted fellow DPS player in Haukke Manor, I realised I got it wrong. His/her advice was simple: Just turn on your Grit. If there's anything good in being a newbie, it'd be that I have no reason to be arrogant. Humility is a virtue even if others see it as an obscenity once you look at the world long enough. This is also why playing video games can be a positive distraction so long as no one calls Dr Carl Jung Shin-ri. For me, I'm lucky because I have a life at least once every Sunday. In a real sense, church to me is what Godo was to Guts and Rem to Vash. It's really a good thing that the FF14 community is far removed from the people who scarred me emotionally in school.

 

Unlike my astroturfing Astrologian, I'm much more confident in doing Duty Roulette with my Dark Knight. The only catch? I'm nearing my 50K Grand Company seals cap.

Made in Japan instead of America (i.e. my current journey in Eorzea but yet to go beyond)

It's been a very intense August. For the world because of 15th August and Yasukuni Shrine. For Singapore because of 9th August, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb. Then there's me going through Final Fantasy 14 like half the Japanese madman Sakaguchi "not Ango" Hironobu was. FF14 is a game where my mental faculties have to be 100% functional. Otherwise, I might as well quit it. So how intense is the game so far? I've just finished A Realm Reborn storyline (but not the aftermath storyline, let alone Heavensward). It took me just one try to defeat Lahabrea, but I couldn't recall what I did right half of the time at least. The only thing screaming in my mind was never to get myself into an AoE overlap. Beyond that, I was moving around less like Conan the Japanese and more like Conan the Cimmerian. It's so insane, I felt more like an Ainu than a Singaporean. The fact that I saw parallels between Gridania and Ainu-Mosir (i.e. Hokkaido before the Yamato called it so) didn't help.

 

So how does Final Fantasy 14 fare in my report book? Originally, I decided on a 30-day subscription. Now, I upgraded it to 180 days. It's that good. However, I'd say it's not for everybody. FF14 is a game demanding quite a lot of your gaming time. Once you enter Eorzea, it'd be difficult for you to go elsewhere. Effectively, it's the antithesis of ESO in terms of how demanding it is. At the same time, it's very easy to take the omotenashi culture in the FF14 community for granted. That's until I realised there are rules to ensure your freedom is never an excuse for irresponsibility. But before people start crying hell, high murder, and Izanami's wrath, let me point out that for all its flaws, Square Enix has no intent to infringe on anyone's human rights.

 

Note: This is NOT to say the community fear punishment. My recent MSQ duty roulette involved my teammates waiting for me because I was slow to catch up with them. There was even one of them using the cheerleading emote. The Praetorium can be a bit mind-boggling if you're not used to the layout while quite mind-boggling to navigate the first time around. Also, I need to learn to remember commending my fellow players after getting too used to playing MMOs made in the West. There are still moments when my brain tripped.

 

The Road to 80=Road to the Final Victory?

Those born in my era may know about the Garou Densetsu series, otherwise known as Fatal Fury. From Terry Bogard to Rock Howard, the characters have dominated the youth of many a gamer. (just don't ask me about Shiranui Mai). There's this particular instalment entitled Road to the Final Victory. Hence, the second part of the title. So what is The Road to 80 all about?

 

Simply put, it's a free pass for you to reach as high as 59-60 before you enter the final quest of ARR. Which by the way consists of a triple threat (i.e. Praetorium, Porta Decumana, and the Lahabrea solo boss fight). It's not a joke when I say it's a free pass to power levelling. While it's a good thing I have a job and a life at least once every Sunday, I still recognise the challenge posed forth by the intensity of my tunnel focus. If there are things I have to do first, I need to discipline myself to do them. No one is going to do it for me, so I have to be independent in this area of my life.

 

The good thing about Road to 80 XP buff is that it alleviates the negative impact my focus can have on my daily life. I don't know how things were in the past, but the Road to 80 buff is something a person in my situation needs. Granted I've reached Heavensward's version of end-game level (i.e. 60) without even stepping through the gates of Ishgard, but the level syncing system would mean I should have plenty of chances to unleash my inner Cimmerian once again. And more than just once again.

 

There's something about a guy called Gaius

FF14 is never short on characters leaving a deep impression on me. There is Estinien who reminded me of myself due to his relationship with Alberic Bale and Nidhogg respectively. Then there is Cid Garlond whose life with Father Iliud was a reminder of my life in my church. Hopefully, I can start talking more in-depth about them.

 

[Spoiler: Comparing Estinien with Foulques is like seeing my ungentlemanly self with a so-called supreme gentleman.]

 

Gaius van Baelsar is an interesting guy, I have to give him that. When we talk about the portrayal of dictators, we all can expect certain traits from megalomania to outright homicidal. After all, both Hitler and Stalin were dictators. But is Gaius such a... well, guy?

 

Due to the manner of my life, I have the capability (?) to see myself and the world in fictional works. Storytelling transcends the boundary separating C.S Lewis and Lee Kuan Yew. I'm not denigrating the founding Prime Minister of my country nor am I elevating the author of The Chronicles of Narnia Instead, this is my philosophical understanding of storytelling. So why did I mention this?

 

Gaius reminded me of my country's educational system. Despite his despotic Garlean self, Gaius is a meritocrat. Not only does that make him more of an Oda Nobunaga, but it also makes him more of a Singaporean. But therein comes the problem: Pastor Lee once said that the best ideology is one which becomes better the further you push it. So is meritocracy good? Yes. Is it the best? No. Push meritocracy to the max and you get social Darwinism. Meritocracy has to be tampered with by compassion and grace. Otherwise, everyone will become an intelligent neanderthal.

 

Is Gaius advocating the devolution of humanity? Firstly, Gaius is an atheist. He doesn't believe in gods. Sure the primals are real, but he doesn't see them as gods. Secondly, Gaius believes in the glorification of man. After all, he's an atheist. So no, he's not an advocate for devolving humanity. When he decried the gods of Eorzea as false, we need to understand he's using the atheistic language instead of the Judeo-Christian language.

 

Since he only believes in the merit of humanity, this means he believes in the merit of strength. However, he's not someone out to invade and destroy for fun. Instead, he believes in the strong shepherding the weak. The strong have the moral obligation to protect the weak. That's his point. Instead of might makes right, Gaius' belief is more about right justified by might. Philosophically, it'll be hard to argue against his logic. If we're to see it in terms of the just war theory, we'd realise a just war can only be effective if the correct side emerges as the victor. How do we remember the Unionists waging a just war against the Confederates? Abraham Lincoln. Ultimately, there has to be a greater power involved. Lincoln called that power God instead of William Sherman. Gaius called it man. Unlike Lincoln, however, Gaius' philosophy was never the just war theory but a just conquest theory.

 

Morally, I don't agree with Gaius. Philosophy-wise, that's where the line separating right makes might and might makes right gets blurred. So is Gaius right? On one hand, you have the refugees of Ala Mhigo proving Gaius wrong. But when you get to fight Rhitahtyn sas Arvina, that's where the Ala Mhigo logic is challenged. While the Ala Mhigans view Gaius as a brutal oppressor, Rhitahtyn saw Gaius as the reason why his people finally stopped killing each other. This creates a contradictory aspect of Gaius' character. Is he a man of bloodshed or a man of peace? Can the end justify the means due to helplessness?

 

This is why I don't hate Gaius. I disagree with him, but I don't hate him. I can't call Rhitahtyn a liar, but I also can't ignore the Ala Mhigans' suffering. This is why I see my country's educational system in Gaius. It ruined me, but it also gave many others a future. If I want to be factual, I cannot ignore the testimony of many just because I can never have their manner of life. It's a very weird situation to be in especially given how I used to be more impetuous towards the system. Do I resent my lot in life? Let's just put things this way: I still see myself in Estinien and Cid Garlond like how I see my church in Ser Alberic Bale, Father Iliud, and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.

 

Crafting like a Japanese madman (i.e. Muramasa)

As a casual gamer, am I as mad as Muramasa in saying crafting in FF14 is an essential must? In case you don't know who was Muramasa, he's a swordsmith of legendary status alongside Masamune (not to be confused with Date Masamune). In Japanese pop culture, the weapons he forged are known to be demonic. Although I can't say whether Muramasa was insane, it's true local Japanese folklore associates weapons crafted by him with homicidal acts of literal insanity.

 

If there's anything I learned in playing ESO, it'd be crafting is vital. If there's anything I learned in playing FF14, it'd be crafting is a must if you want to manage your finances properly.

Unlike ESO where crafted gear can last you for 70-80% of the game content (seriously, Hunding's Rage and Law of Julianos are still good unless ZOS did something unforgivable), crafting in FF14 is more of a necessity. Can you get away with little to no crafting? I don't know, but I've seen the benefits of level-capping your tradecraft professions (i.e. 50 for A Realm Reborn, 60 for Heavensward, and so on). It allows my character to have better gear while spending less on whatever inferior stuff from the NPC vendors. Case in point: HQ gear is always a good thing to have, be it selling or keeping. At the same time, I use alchemist tradecraft to craft HQ elixir for my character and equally HQ Raptor Stew for that much-needed punch in DPS when necessary. The culinarian tradecraft is a very fun source of minor roleplaying since you can craft low-level food and drink for that very purpose.

 

For those adverse to grinding for tradecraft XP, you have the levequests. The only tricky part lies in getting the materials for high-level stuff. This is where your fieldcraft professions come in. Fieldcraft professions are the easiest to level up, so I strongly recommend capping them. Fisher fieldcraft can be trickier because it takes quite some time to catch the fish you need, but botanist and miner professions should be very easy to level up.

 

But if you want to level up your tradecraft professions, it's advisable to level up all of them. At the same time, you have the market board for a reason in case you need something for your... well, something. The reason why I say that is because high-level craftable items would need components which only another tradecraft profession can provide. That is unless you want to buy stuff from the market board. I prefer prudent financial management even though it's only a game. When it comes to levelling up every tradecraft profession, I recommend setting a mark. Once you reach that mark (e.g. level 30), then move on to another profession. Once you've done it for all professions, then rinse and repeat until you level-cap all of them.

 

This requires much more effort. However, it's also a choice between going fast but spending more and going slow but being self-sufficient. If you have the patience of Tokugawa Ieyasu, see crafting as a top priority. After all, it was patience enabling Ieyasu to unify Japan under one single mon. The cuckoo did sing after all.

July has ended, the most Asian month has arrived, and... Final Fantasy XIV?!

I guess things have returned to an actual semblance of normality. If there's anything I've learnt from June to July, it'd be:

1. My current physical state.

2. Time seemed to pass by much slower even when I look back at those two months.

As a result, I had to tell my superiors that I would only help out no longer than end of July. Physically and mentally, I don't want to run myself to the ground. And it clearly didn't help that work-life balance remains a challenge in Singapore. Or maybe even nations with an East Asian majority for all I know.

Asia, August, and the letter A

August, I have to say, may be the most surreal month of the calender. As a national disgrace, I couldn't do well in mathematics and science. As a henjin, I seemed to be some kind of natural in terms of history. Even until today, I can't tell you why history remains the only reason why a toxic educational environment was wrong about me.

So what's uniquely Asian about August beyond the letter A? We have three days of note related to Singapore and also the reason why South Koreans should pay attention to Singapore beyond Jackson "not Yee" Wang.

1. 6th August. This was the day when an atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

2. 9th August. This was the day when an atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Twenty years later, Singapore declared independence. In short, National Day in Singapore is also the Memorial Day for Nagasaki and effectively South Korea's National Day.

3. 15th August. This was the day Japan officially surrendered. It's also the day Singapore was officially liberated together with the Korean Peninsula. In short, the National Liberation Day of Korea is also the National Liberation Day of Singapore.

Before I continue, let me just wish my own nation a happy 9th August and 57th National Day. I may behave like a henjin together with the facial features of a Yamato+Ainu+Slav, but that doesn't make me any less a Singaporean. Last time I check, Singaporean isn't a race unless it can be proven an American race actually exists.

Final Fantasy XIV: It's never here I come because it's now here I am

I have to admit it: I really like the Shadowbringers theme song. There's this unique identity in the form of guitar playing along the feel of an apocalyptic Wild West type. Then you have the lyrics that just scream Dark Knight (not the American one). It's a dark song, but the tune is surprisingly uplifting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ugtWT_iNqw

So long story short, I'm now part of the FF14 community. No, Asmongold has got nothing to do with it. Actually, the reason why was due to me being encouraged by two names:

1. Tonberry

2. Kujata

There's a reason why FF14 is the national MMO of Japan. Most MMOs are developed by the West. Hence, the main audience would be the Western gamers. After all, every brand has to grow its own local audience before taking flight abroad. For Japan, gaming developers don't seem to be that gung-ho on the idea. Yeah, they gave us the Phantasy Star Online series. But any wagers on whether we're going to see a PSO3? Personally though, it'd be good if PSO2 can be seen as the sci-fi counterpart of FF14.

The fact that FF14 is made in Japan means a great deal to me. No, it has got nothing to do with my facial features. Rather, it'd be the timezone issue. One major hurdle in playing MMOs from Neverwinter to ESO was the perception that the majority happened to be in the Western half of the world literally. As a result, I had to deal with the fact that many players were like 12 hours behind. This greatly impeded my desire to do the more end-game stuff. For FF14, however, being made in Japan means there are quite a number of players (to say the least) being only 1 hour ahead. For your info, Japanese time is only 1 hour ahead of Singapore. But there's a problem: In every Japanese server, the players are clearly Japanese. Yes, I know that's a terribly lame thing to say.

The good thing about curiosity is that you're bound to discover unexpected things. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I came across this. So I had two choices: Either heading to Materia (timezone in Oceania would be like 5 hours ahead if I remember it right) or the obvious Far East. Originally, the idea was to enter Tonberry. However, it seemed that it's relatively congested with Kujata being the only available server for someone like me. So yeah, here I am in Kujata.

Guess I'm going to stop here for now. If there's anything I've learnt about myself, it'd be that I'm no content creator and it's always better that I'm not one myself. But yeah, I believe I'll be back talking more about FF14 very soon.

 

Note: There is a local Singaporean Free Company in Kujata for those who are both Singaporean and free to choose a Free Company.

Add note: No, I'm not one of them. Someone else sent me a FC invite and I accepted. And besides, I chose Order of the Twin Adder as my character's Grand Company. Raubahn Aldynn's speech of a fair and just Ul'dah was truly stirring while Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn's dream of liberty and unity resonated with my rationality. But it was Kan-E-Senna who made me realise a life of peace without conflict is the life I want. Ironically, I chose Halone as my character's deity.

Probably won't be updating this until end of July

Well, it happened. Due to some terribly insane surge in workplace cases, I decided to help out for the next two months. This probably means I won't be updating this blog until July says bye instead of hi.

At the same time, High Isle will come out on 6th June. This means I'm going to spend quite a bit of time running through the new zones, doing quests, and playing Tales of Tribute. Not to mention as well rap building for the new companions. And yes, sealing all the Mount Fujis as well. Who would have imagined volcanic activities beyond Morrowind? Then again, Japan isn't the only nation with volcanoes.

Basically, this post is bibimbap of different stuff.

Analysing stuff

I still don't know how Pastor Lee and Mr Chin knew my penchant for analysing things and posting them on Facebook. In case you've yet to notice it, Twitter is never constructive for analysis. There could only be two possibilities: Either they knew I was masquerading as Pang Tong and Fa Zheng or there's a secret stalker/admirer/guardian/Xi Shi in the church.

As for Ryan, I didn't recall saying I was an honest person. I still remember that was a YAF program taught by Mr Lee (i.e. before he was ordained as Pastor Lee) stressing the importance of affirming people (i.e. no one can say people aren't capable of being terrible because we really are). So what was Ryan's affirmation to me? My honesty. I'm never the most honest person in the world, but I can assure everybody I'd never say I'm honest. So who told Ryan that? And he's not the only one saying that. It's baffling. I'm not Pang Tong or Fa Zheng, but I don't need the calibre of Liu Bei's strategist to know how Ryan expresses himself. If Ryan doesn't talk like Ryan, it means something isn't right. In this case, Ryan clearly didn't talk like Ryan. In fact, Ryan admitted that he's never good at affirming others. And I knew why he said that.

So why do I have the urge to analyse things all over the world? Hero worship is not recommended especially in the light of the SBC sexual abuse scandal, but it's true I admired three senior individuals in my church for their willingness to challenge the narrative and speak as if they knew what they were talking about. The impact left by Mr Soh, Mr Lee, and Mr Tay still remain in me. Is it a sin to challenge the narrative? Only if you don't know the common ground between mainstream media and alternate media. The whole thing, to put it in hyperbolic form, was like pursuing the shadows of the Three Heroes of Early Han. No one in my schooling days had been so inspiring, hence my hyperbolic praise.

So does acting on the urge of analysing things make me a henjin? Well, the answer would be yes. As a certified henjin, I don't have to deny being one. It's not that I'm extraordinary. I'm just... well, idiosyncratic. But give me a choice between surviving like an animal and living as a henjin? I'd take the henjin option, thank you very much.

Translating (into) English on Facebook

Don't ask me how I stumbled upon this. You wouldn't want to and I don't want to explain myself until the cow comes home. It's going to be a nightmare for someone ten times more capable of expressing himself in written words than spoken speech.

I recently came across an interesting aspect of politicians of non-English speaking descent interacting with their followers on Facebook. Not every politician is Lee Hsien Loong, Boris Johnson, or Joe Biden. We also have Volodymyr Zelensky, Kishida Fumio, and Yoon Suk-Yeol. When you look at anything written by PM Lee (or his wife as well for that matter), there's no translation dropdown user interface. Why? Because they're of English speaking descent. Actually, all we Singaporeans are.

But what if there's this drop-down user interface? In this case, we have two possible situations:

1. You'll see the post in its original text and equally original language. By original language, I clearly don't mean the likes of 死に頃.

2. You'll see the translated post with the original text viewable via the dropdown user interface. Interestingly, the FB mobile platform would reveal both since the mobile format seems to function differently from the desktop version (e.g. whether you can detect a comment was hidden or deleted).

For the sake of convenience, let's call the first possibility Route A and the second one Route B.

Why are there two different routes of reaching out? When you see a post, the first impression counts unless your post is of an edited photo without telling people it's edited. If Route A implies reaching out to a local audience, then Route B would be reaching out to an international audience. The usage of the dropdown box would be more of a necessary formality for Route A. But for Route B, is it the same? It depends on the context of the post. If we're talking about sharing a link which is in the original language, that'd imply the audience to be both the locals and diaspora. Autotranslation is never an option. The last time I came across news of autotranslation, the Osaka Metro effectively became a meme.

There's such a thing called growing your personal brand. This is not your grandchildren's social influencer playground, this is your grandparents' political marketing. In the world of social media gone global (and equally insane), the need to interact with locals and diaspora is very real. If you don't grow your brand, your career progress would be harder because everyone else is jumping onto the bandwagon. Even the PAP which used to be wary of social media during the GE 2011 is now using it.

Interestingly, it seems that heavyweight politicians are now using Route B more often than Route A. I did a bit of "investigation" and the results are surprising. For President Zelensky, it's natural for his FB page to feature the Route B posts 99% of the time due to the current war. For PM Kishida, he's not that far off. Around 80% by my guess. For President Yoon, he's surprisingly homogenous at an estimated 60% although it must be stated his inauguration was less than a month ago. Reaching out to both the locals and diaspora is to grow their personal brand. Circumstantially, you can say it's creating positive PR. Psychologically, it may be a show of ambition depending on the person. Despite what you may think due to social influencers and celebrities, marketing isn't an obscenity. At least not by default.

 

Note: Above post is brought to you by courtesy of Henjin Inc.

Should I have done this sooner?

Closer to home literally, there's playing ESO. I admit I've gotten too dogmatic on using the Backstabber CP due to the 15% additional critical damage (going down to 10% in the next patch). One thing about dealing DoT damage is that Thaumaturge does make a very big difference. Without it, your DoT damage is going to result in a DPS deficit in any group run. Recently (ok, not so recently), I decided to revert to using full Ilambris for my Magicka Sorcerer main. The initial assumption was that the DPS would be better than the two previous builds involving Ring of the Wild Hunt and full Slimcraw respectively. However, things didn't seem to turn out that well.

This was when I decided to ditch Backstabber. The assumption of using Thaumaturge over Backstabber was down to two things:

1. Ilambris proc is DoT damage, hence I need Thaumaturge to even things out.

2. The build I'm currently running should be more on consistent damage than critical damage despite a critical chance of 54% or so. This is due to how Ilambris function with either morph of Force Shock (i.e. 66% chance to proc=insanity).

At the same time, I'm running Crushing Shock (because Force Pulse won't affect the primary target) with Degeneration (for the Major Sorcery) and Crystal Fragments with Bound Aegis, Camouflage Hunter, and the Greater Storm Atronach ultimate (i.e. this is the front bar). This means I'm doing DD-DoT hybrid damage build with a focus on maximised Ilambris proc.

Currently, I've only run through a veteran non-DLC dungeon since I respec my main. However, the results were exceptionally good to the point of surreality. Why surreality? This was due to running it with a Necromancer of post-1800 CP. I'm not an elitist as in I don't believe having a higher CP means having an advantage where myself is concerned. But if the other person has the higher CP, I'd take notice. Truth to be spoken, I went in without expectations. Then the next thing I realised, I out-DPS'ed the Necromancer. The surreal part came in the form of 54% DPS. Even today, I still can't believe myself the インポシブル can be made ポシブル. While it remains to be seen in the longer run, I believe I might have done something which should have been done in the first place. With that being said, I suspect it's Degeneration making this insanity possible. Seriously, it feels truly insane.

Moral of the story: Ilambris isn't for everyone. Don't believe me, go ask Alcast.

 

Note: Is it possible to use Ilambris without Degeneration? Assuming it's something like Crystal Fragments, Crushing Shock, Haunting Curse, Bound Aegis, and Camouflage Hunter with Flawless Dawnbreaker ultimate, I wouldn't be surprised if Nerien'eth would be a better choice.

Fun Fact 1: My Khajiit alt is now running on Crushing Shock with Harpooner's Wading Kilt on a 5-piece medium and 2-piece light. It's quite easy to push up the critical chance and critical damage for a catblade build if you can spec the critter right complete with the Shadow Mundus stone effect.

Fun Fact 2: I always relish running a veteran dungeon with a Necromancer as the other DPS for a reason. It's called a worthy challenge. For some reason, I don't have a good head-to-head DPS record with Necromancers with Nightblades being the other bunch.

Plans for Update 34

My plan is to run High Isle with all my toons. Right now, my Khajiit alt is in the middle of doing the Craglorn storyline while my High Elf alt should be able to enter the Systres fray soon since she already cleared all the POI quests in Summerset with the storyline quests left. For my Dark Elf main, he's definitely the first to go. And besides, he already established a close friendship with Jakarn starting from their hijinks in Stros M'kai. For my Orc Nightblade, he's raring to go since starting Morrowind can wait (i.e. I ran that with 3 toons out of 5). My Breton Warden is the slowest in progress since the plan was to finish all the POI quests and main storyline for the entire Daggerfall Covenant maps (I managed to achieve this in Aldmeri Dominion maps for my Khajiit alt). Of course, I may do a U-turn since I already did that for my Dark Elf main (i.e. he's part of the Covenant instead of the Pact) Currently, the dude is stuck at Alik'r Desert until at least my catblade finishes the Craglorn storyline.

As for the Planemeld storyline, I think I'm going to populate Hollow City 100% and stop there for all my alts. The same goes for Orsinium (i.e. there's always a completionist in me). But these two can wait with Orsinium intended to be a higher priority for my Orc Nightblade alone for storytelling purposes.

A Requiem From Winter Past

It's weird, I know. Someone of my situation and nationality should do more teen-friendly stuff like Crazy Rich Asians and The Fraud Squad. But no, I insisted on following the path of G.R.R "not J.R.R" Martin and Miura Kentaro instead of Kevin "unrelated to Guan Yu unless proven by science" Kwan and Kyla "unrelated to Zhao Yun unless proven by science" Zhao. To set the record straight, there is more than one way for me to know the plot and characters. Due to personal reasons, my information came from the series fandom sites and YouTube videos.

When it comes to appreciating great storytelling, I function like a henjin. I still remember coming across an article on the play Hamilton where it stated that one side of the Potomac criticised it as liberalism while the other side criticised it as not doing enough to highlight racial injustice. As for this henjin, I recognise the fact that dealing with fiction is effectively dealing with human beings since one is the product of the other. Unattainable idealism dictates a must for the other party to agree with you at least 90% of the time while politically incorrect realism says unattainable idealism is literally... well, unattainable. As a henjin, I don't agree with both sides of the Potomac where such criticism was concerned. As a henjin, I don't have issues with Alucard's final battle against Alexander Anderson in Hellsing Ultimate. The occultic theme of Hellsing to me is merely an obstacle I can easily bypass because I know the real theme of the series. In this sense, maybe it's true my brain doesn't function like that of a normal human being. Personally, I believe Japanese storytelling within the darker side seems to have a fondness for Friedrich Nietzsche's famously understated words on monsters and staring at the abyss.

I don't agree with him when he said God is dead, but I agree with him on the above statement.

I like Japanese storytelling. I really do. It's not a case of poring over individual works. Rather, it's what I see as the collective. Western storytelling tends to be idealistic and preachy (a funny thing considering the fact Hollywood is doing the same thing as churches every Sunday). I don't mind dealing with preachy plots. To deny it would be calling myself a liar because I really don't mind reading The Chronicles of Narnia. But try to convince me that CRT is a must? Not every revolution was a success because you don't mistake the battle for the war. Ever wondered why voters did the unthinkable by voting the son of a dictator as the new pangulo?

For the Japanese, they can be refreshingly philosophic. It took me years after watching works like Jin-Roh, End of Evangelion (not the 2.0 version), and Kara no Kyoukai to start understanding what I was dealing with. Before that, I was just a moron derided by a toxic educational culture. Even today, I can't reach a clear understanding of the famous last words of Ryougi Shiki's grandfather. Instead, I did a brute force interpretation of what he said. Works like Attack On Titan and Tokyo Ghoul are popular because the likes of Isayama "Hametsu no Hajime" Hajime and Ishida "unrelated to Mitsunari unless proven by science" Sui are native Japanese instead of Japanese living elsewhere. Japan is indeed insular, but it can surprisingly work in both ways instead of one. It's just that we human beings are cursed by the risk of subjective bias, thus the difficulty in seeing the other side of the coin.

Interestingly, this is also a key reason why I enjoy playing ESO. While Neverwinter remains the MMO I've played the longest from 2014 to 2019, ESO is doubtlessly the best MMO I've played so far. This is not to shoot other titles down because you know what people say about taste. The fact is that apart from the Gates of Oblivion arc, I was able to immerse myself entirely into the game. There's something interestingly Japanese about ESO. The storytelling I've grown to appreciate does have shades of the Japanese style here and there. This is also the reason why I'm having high hopes for High Isle. This is the first time I'm saying it for a new episode. Granted people do say Final Fantasy 14 has a better plot. Granted Fire Emblem Heroes and Another Eden do have better storytelling than ESO (Note: Fire Emblem Heroes and Another Eden are NOT MMOs). But we're dealing with actual Japanese, hence an actual Japanese storytelling culture. The thing with storytelling is that you always have to start from your local audience whether you like it or not.

This comes to A Requiem From Winter Past. Truth to be told, I have no hopes of getting it published. The reason why is that the local demand for fantasy is restricted to foreign works. There's something amusing I detect about the term foreign talent: Why is it that foreigners are the ones regaling us with tales of Jon Snow and Guts? You can have a market for fantasy works in Singapore, but you cannot break into the market if you're a Singaporean? I personally find this weird. Is it due to a lack of ambition or have we gotten used to what we've done instead of what we can do? In terms of fantasy works from beyond Singapore, we're very globalised. When it comes to local ambition, we seem to be insular. We're not Japan but part of us functions like Japan.

Clearly, there's no way I'm able to gauge my writing ability with others because what I write has no local market value. But do I regret writing A Requiem From Winter Past? The answer is no. Whether the likes of Kadokawa and Neil "the Guy" Gaiman will take notice of a Singaporean henjin doesn't matter an inch. I'm merely doing something I have an affinity for.

Flushing too much of myself into Jack instead of the opposite

In Tropic Thunder, there's a famous (or infamous depending on your sensitivities) scene involving Ben "not Sasse" Stiller and Robert "I am Iron Man" Downey Jr. In that scene where Simple Jack and an equally simple Hollywood culture caused Sean "I Am Sam" Penn going home empty-handed, Stiller's character mentioned flushing so much of Jack into himself that he couldn't revert to his actual self. Beyond the usage of the R-word reportedly 17 times, I believe we should really have a civilised discourse on how Hollywood romanticises things.

For A Requiem From Winter Past, it's the other way around. Instead of Ben flushing too much Jack into himself, I flushed too much of myself into my characters. It's not deliberate. But was it instinctive? The answer is yes. I still remember a Hong Kong movie I watched while I was either a child or tween. In that movie, the protagonist was a comic artist drawing up images of sex and violence. At the first glance, this is something for moralism to hammer. In reality, this was a person cursed with a dysfunctional childhood where no one understood him. Now let me point out that I don't believe in cheap grace. At the same time, however, I don't believe legalism works.

I realised that there's a part of myself in that person. Not only him but also the likes of Salvador Ramos and Elliot Rodger. Is it a scary thing? This reminds me of what Drizzt Do'Urden saw in his nemesis Artemis Entreri during the events of the novel The Silent Blade by R.A "not rated R" Salvatore. I'm not boasting when I say what Drizzt saw in Artemis was what I see in these people. Like how Drizzt didn't walk Artemis' dark path, I didn't walk the path of these individuals. Like Drizzt seeing part of himself in Artemis nevertheless, I saw part of myself in them.

I don't regret flushing too much of myself into my characters. The reason is that storytelling is what makes us humane, be we the tellers or the audience. Even if someone says storytelling alone isn't enough, I'd insist that storytelling is more of a driving concept than something we can easily see. Even if someone derides fiction because they prefer biographies, my question is this: Is a biography not a form of storytelling as well?

I find it far easier if things can be seen in terms of their nature instead of form. As for the end of this post, I'm going to up some songs synonymous with my characters.

This is for Aeravor

 

 

 

This is for Cale Ryvers

Fun Fact: Drengr is how I would describe Cale's character.

 This is for Lars Alies

This is for Irlia Eliaden

Fun Fact: This is what a bluebird means.

Current chapters of A Requiem From Winter Past

Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Chapter 5  Chapter 6