"these researchers published a paper on something that literally any of us could have told you 🙄" ok well my supervisors wont let me write something in my thesis unless I can back it up with a citation so maybe it's a good thing that they're amplifying your voice to the scientific community in a way that prevents people from writing off your experiences as annecdotal evidence
So, when 1.0 was released, they introduced the playable races, as is normal for fantasy MMOs. However, they also introduced something else, and that was that after choosing a race, you also chose one of two "clans", which basically means different cultural groups of that race. Over the years we have been introduced to more clans, technically, but the CC is still limited to only the initial two. Furthermore, it is not like the clans really matter, because either they are completely ignored like the Duskwights, or they are just randomly chosen whenever we visit a new area and they go "actually, in THIS place we call the races THIS".
I still wanted to make a list of all the races and clans we know of, how they are separated, and if they do have names, and so on.
If you have something to share about what you know, or your headcanons, or your OCs/WoL, please tell me!!
Every racial lore from Bozja content should be taken with a ladle of salt, since apparently the main writer was allowed free reign due to his status within Square Enix, so I get the vague impression they rarely cared about keeping things consistent, which is not their strongest or even stronger suits anyway.
Hyur
The basic human race, most hyur clans do not have special cultural elements to them, as they are more often than not the default of locations and thus their culture is based on the location.
Midlanders: They live in Eorzea's low-lying regions, and that is basically what identifies them. They are more often than not the default hyur. Because Midlanders refer to where they live by the regions, they do not have a unique culture. Height for male models were from 168 cm to 182 cm, while height for female models is from 157,4 cm to 170,5 cm.
Highlanders: These hyur call the mountains home, either on the mountaintops, by them or between them. Most highlanders live in the mountainous Gyr Abania. Though many think they are tall, they can be as short at Midlanders. Most highlanders will identify as Ala Mhigan or Gyr Abanian, but not all. Also, due to sexism and because 1.0 did not have female Highlanders (because they strived for "realism", lol), there are several female characters that should by all account be Highlanders but use Midlander models. Height for male models is from 184,8 cm to 200,2 cm, while height for female models is 173,1 cm to 187,6 cm.
One could technically say that no matter where one is on Hydaelyn, if a hyur lives in mountainous areas they are highlanders while if not then midlanders, but that is a bit boring, so let us continue.
Tonawawta: Hyurs that reside in Tural, in particular the northern Xak Tural. They have various communities that differ culturally, and those hyur that live in Tuliyollal seem to focus their culture and identity around that instead. Tonawawta seem to normally be the height of Midlanders, and often have darker skintones.
Ilsabardian Hyur: While we know of the hyurs living in the Near East, we do not know what they are called. We mainly know of the hyurs of Thavnair, who seem to live fairly balanced with the other races there. Mainly the Ilsabardian hyurs were separated from Eorzea by the founding of Ala Mhigo, and they now live in Werlyt, Thavnair and Corvus (while we don't know for sure, the fairy tale book in 7.5 shows only hyurs). One could argue that the hyurs of these places would be further distinguished into other clans, since Eorzean hyurs have two, but for simplicity's sake we go with this. Even though Bozja is in Othard, the lorebooks call the hyurs there Ilsabardian.
Dalmascan Hyur: The majority of the Kingdom of Dalmasca in Othard.
Far Eastern Hyur: Hyurs which nomenclature and culture is mainly based on Japan, they live in Yanxia/Doma and Hingashi. (Personally I would call them "Eastlanders", but perhaps that is too Eorzea-centric).
Sharlayan Hyur: It is unknown how many of the hyurs in Sharlayan are culturally born and raised there, compared to those that move there to study, as Sharlayan do not make these records public to encourage equality. Their nomenclature seem to be based on wherever their family originated from, though.
Hume: The hyurs of the First, though not sure if they would be considered their own clan or not, so I won't write much about them.
Hyune: The hyurs of the Ninth, same as with the Hume.
Thirteenth's Hyurs: We know from voidsents' flashbacks that there existed hyurs on the Thirteenth.
We do not know for certain that there are hyurs on the Fourth, but... come on, search your heart, you know they would sooner cancel the game than not have hyurs be important in the MSQ.
My headcanons: It is mentioned that only the Duskwights stayed behind in Gelmorra, which implies that all the hyurs of Gelmorra left with who would become the Wildwood elezens. If there were still hyurs left that tried to live underground, they would be called "Lowlanders".
Elezen
The elves of the setting. They were thought to have been the original inhabitants of Eorzea since the First Astral Era, and were the main inhabitants after the Sixth Umbral Calamity, yet were displaced by the Hyuran migratory waves, eventually being forced to the northern parts of the land.
Duskwights: Elezen were forced into the Black Shroud by the secon hyur migration wave in Year 660 of the Sixth Astral Era, then went underground and established Gelmorra with the following hyurs in Year 740. When half the elezens and all hyurs of Gelmorra left in 1077 to found Gridania with the elementals, a group of elezens stayed; their skin-tone is apparently a result of the damp and dark enviroment. They prefer to live in what remains of Gelmorra, or make new tunnels, though some enter Gridanian society, risking discrimination for it. Though forenames are the same as the Wildwoods', no Duskwight and Wildwood would have the same surname. Male height is from 194,1 cm to 209,8 cm, while female height is from 183,5 cm to 198,4 cm.
Wildwood: Elezens that left Gelmorra to found Gridania in 1077, most elezen found in Eorzea is probably of Wildwood blood. Heights are the same as for Duskwights.
Ishgardian Elezen: Elezen that first moved northward in Year 350 of the Sixth Astral Era because of the first major hyur migration wave. Although their elezen population uses a mix of Duskwight and Wildwood models and nomenclature, it is stated that the Ishgardian Elezens are their own clan. If I were to make a clan-name for them, it might be "Wyrmwraths", "Wyrmfoes" or "Wingspears"
I have read some players' WoL to be elezens of other areas in Eorzea, and I am curious if they would be considered their own clan, or if they are Wildwood/Duskwight or the like depending on their ancestry.
Eschva: Nomadic elezens of Landis, Ilsabard, of which Clarisse originates from. They made a deal with the Garleans in order to continue their unique lifestyle. Their nomenclature seems similar to Eorzean elezens. OBS: They might not be only elezens, I say it here because the one Eschvan we know is one.
Landisian Elezen: Other elezen of Landis are also present in Bozja content, but they are not mentioned to belong to Eschva and their unique lifestyle, nor do they seem to be included in their deal with the Garleans. Their nomenclature is similar to Eorzean elezens.
Dalmascan Elezen: Mainly seen through Bozja content, their nomenclature is the same as in Eorzea. They belong to the 10% Other. It is unknown if Dalmascan Elezen can be considered their own clan, or if they are more related to Wildwoods and Duskwights; they use both models for Dalmascan elezens.
Sharlayan Elezen: Although Elezens of Sharlayan keep the Eorzean elezeni nomenclature, I would personally assume most elezens on Sharlayan find themselves not identifying with other clans, finding themselves to be Sharlayan first and foremost.
Elves: Elezen of the First. It seems they mostly lived in Lakeland before the Flood of Light. They, like Ishgard, use a mix of models, but have their unique nomenclature. In particular it seems like Duskwight models are used more in Rak'tika.
Eldite: Elezen of the Ninth.
Thirteenth's Elezen: We know there were Elezen on the Thirteenth.
We do not know if there are elezen on the Fourth yet.
Lalafell
Plainsfolk: Lalafells that abide in the green regions of Eorzea, like the Black Shroud and La Noscea. They initially arrived from their native southern isles around Year 500 of the Fifth Astral Era, left during the Sixth Umbral Era, and returned around year 980 of the Sixth Astral Era. Their nomenclature does not practice family names as surnames, but surnames are given when they are of age that in some way rhymes with their forenames. Men's names are AB CB (Paiyo Reiyo), while women's are ABB AB (Utata Uta).
Dunesfolk: Lalafells that live in Thanalan's desert regions, their eyes are covered by a membrane to protect from sand. The Dunesfolk descend from the lalafells that helped found Mhach around Year 500 in the Fifth Astral Era, and during the Sixth Umbral Era were forced into a nomadic lifestyle in the outlands, which is how they slowly changed their appearance, eventually founding the state Belah'dia in Year 737 of the Sixth Astral Era. Nomenclature is fairly similar, but men's names are AAB CCB (Lolorito Nanarito) while women's are AAB AB (Tataru Taru), and the royal family add a middle name that acts as a family name (Nanamo Ul Namo of Ul'dah).
"Islesfolk": What I call the lalafells from the southern isles where Plainsfolk, Dunesfolk and Milalla originate from. One of those isles was Aloalo Island, which has been abandoned for about a century now. Lore states that people migrated to Aloalo at the end of the Fourth Astral Era, but since it specifies the island itself, I believe the people came from the other southern isles.
Dalmascan Lalafells: We do not really know if there are lalafells native to Dalmasca, as we only have one example of such, Pagaga, from the Bozja storyline, and I already said why we might have to take any content originally from Bozja content with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, Dalmasca does have a coastline, so it would make sense that some lalafells traveled there, since they are a merchant-conscious people. If there are Dalmascan lalafells, they are amongst the 10% Other minority.
Dwarves: The lalafell of the First, they mainly reside by the mountaintop. They all dress with clothes including an aesthetic beard, and to take off the helmet in front of outsiders more than oftens means exile for the offender. Though lalafells are amongs the spoken main races other places, on the First they used to be viewed as beast tribes. Perhaps because their bodies are covered with the exception of a handful of dwarves, they use both the Plainsfolk and Dunesfolk models seeminly at random.
Milalla: The lalafell of the Ninth, and everyone use the Plainsfolk model. Technically these Milalla originate from Aloalo, but we do not know if there were Milalla on the Ninth to begin with or not. Currently the Milalla nomenclature seems to enjoy palindrome-sounding names.
We do not know if there are lalafells on the Fourth or Thirteenth yet.
My headcanons: I love other people's headcanons of other Lalafell clans around Eorzea, like the Snowfolk and Seasfolk. Personally I would love for there to be a lalafell clan, or subclan of the "Islesfolk", that live almost permanently on boats and ships, hahah.
Miqo'te
Although there were miqo'te on Eorzea, during the Third Astral Era the vast majority ran to Dalmasca due to being targeted by the Empire of Allag.
Seekers of the Sun: Twenty-six tribes of diurnal miqo'te who returned to Eorzea in the Fifth Umbral Era. When they noted that the Eorzean alphabet had twenty-six letters, they took it as a sign, and each tribe took one letter to represent them alongside their representative animal. Seekers are descendants of these tribes that keep to this practice. The tribes are spread across Eorzea and beyond, but they all use the letters, separated by an apostrophe, as a preffix to their names, and practice a patronymic and patrilocal culture (also patriarchal but the game and lorebook HEAVILY disagrees on what these words mean, lol).
Keepers of the Moon: These nocturnal miqo'te have lived in the Black Shroud for centuries. They have struggling relationships with Gridania, being often seen as poachers. They are unique with their matronym and matrilocal culture, in which men do not get their own name, but take their mother's name with a suffix, separated by an aprostophe, that denotes him as her Xth son. Although the first lorebook states that all miqo'te ran to Ilsabard during the Third Astral Era and only returned in the Fifth Umbral Era, I like to imagine that the Keepers never left and mainly hid in the Shroud, which is one of the reasons this is practically the only place where nocturnal miqo'te live. This is mainly because the story of the miqo'te's refuge and return are more integral to the Seekers' lore, and we never learned how the Keepers came to be in the Shroud nor how they survived there until modern day, so I like to believe they have their own ways with the elementals. As far as we know, there are no other places on Hydaelyn with nocturnal miqo'te.
Dalmascan Miqo'te: Seems to be diurnal descendants of miqo'te that arriwed in the Third Astral Era and stayed behind rather than follow the Seekers of the Sun to Eorzea in the Fifth Umbral Era, their nomenclature is similar to theirs but without the letter based on the two miqo'te we meet in Bozja. They would belong to the 10% Other minority of Dalmasca.
Hhetsarro: Diurnal nomadic miqo'te of Tural, in particular Xak Tural. It seems they mainly live nomadic lives following the animals they herd. "Strangely" enough (psst, it's XIV's lazy lore consistency and sexism) the "males are rare among the miqo'te" is not applied to Hhetsarro, who seem to be more males than females.
Mystral: Miqo'te of the First, with the light going on there it is natural that most of them use the diurnal Seeker model, though there is one male who uses the Keeper one. They are mainly living in the lower parts of Kholusia, and seem to be the majority of Eulmore, though the leadership has consisted of Hume and Gosko. Their nomenclature consists of two words hyphenated. Like with the Hhetsarro, there seems to be more of a balance between the genders compared to previously established lore for the miqo'te (because god forbid we keep to established lore when said lore can limit men from authority positions).
Fourth's Miqo'te: From the Evercold trailer, there is a possibility that there are miqo'te native to the Fourth.
Thirteenth's miqo'te: We know from voidsents' flashbacks that there were miqo'te on the Thirteenth.
We have not met any miqo'te of the Ninth yet; the miqo'te in Solution Nine are descendants of the Hhetsarros native to Xak Tural when the dome fell upon them.
Mithra: Though also the name of miqo'te of Vana'diel, mithra is also said to be the common ancestor of the miqo'te from long, long ago, possibly hailing from Meracydia. This is mostly thought to be a meta joke hiding in a minion description referencing the mithra of FF11.
Roegadyn
We know almost nothing about roegadyns, except that the ancestors of the two Eorzean clans hail from Aerslaent, an island in the Northern Empty. It is possible that this is where all roegadyns on Hydaelyn came from.
Hellsguards: Roegadyns that left Aersleant long ago to reside by Abalathia's Spine, their skin colours are often more tuned to red and dark compared. Their original culture long forgotten, their names are descriptions in the Common tongue, inspired by their old nomenclature. As such, Hellsguards do not really have surnames the same way hyurs and elezens have; the second name can be shared amongst family members, but it is not a steadfast rule.
Sea Wolves: Roegadyns that left Aersleant much later than Hellsguard, escaping from a tyrant. Their nomenclature a descriptive name of two words in their roegadyn language, followed by a patronym.
Far Eastern Roegadyns: Roegadyns of Yanxia and Hingashi, they are entirely integrated into their Japanese-inspired cultures and nomenclature. Bozja content implies there are also roegadyns born in Nagxia. They seem to mainly use Hellsguard models, which might mean they were amongst the roegadyns that left Aersleant at the time, but we do not know.
Nagxian Roegadyns: Bozja content states that there are a few roegadyns native to Nagxia, and that their names and culture seem unique enough that their names are difficult for those "outside of [their] clan to pronounce", which is why I separate it from the other Far Eastern Roegadyns, which are more obviously based on Japanese cultures.
Ilsabardian Roegadyns: There are some Roegadyns that seem to have lived amongst the mountains of Ilsabard, which has since mainly been completely integrated in Garlean rule. We also know that there are some roegadyns native to Bozja according to Bozja content.
Galdjent: The roegadyns of the First, they were a sizable population in the Kingdom of Voeburt but after the Flood of Light are found everywhere.
Thirteenth's Roegadyn: From voidsents' flashbacks, we know there were roegadyns on the Thirteenth, seemingly using Sea Wolf models.
We have seen no signs of roegadyns on the Fourth nor Ninth.
Au Ra
Raen: Au Ra that left the northern Othard and nomadic lifestyle behind, they are nowadays part of the Doman and Hingan cultures, with a Japanese nomenclature. Though many have integrated into Doma and Hingashi, there are also Raen that live by themselves in small states or principalities. Raen are unique with their bright scales. It seems like there are Raen that migrated to Nagxia, from Bozja content and the 2026 Make it Rain Campaign, but we know very little about it except that they still seem to keep to Japanese nomenclature (this can also be XIV's standard lazy lore consistency at play).
Xaela: Au Ra that never left the southern Othard and still practice nomadic tribal cultures, their scales are almost black. Their nomenclature is more based on Mongolian names. The tribes' main identifier is that they live in the same region, but every tribe has a unique culture and lifestyle that can greatly differentiate from others.
Thavnairian Au Ra: Descendants of Au Ra that left upper Othard to settle in Thavnair, their scales seem to be somewhat darker to the Raen's, but I could be wrong.
Drahn: Au Ra of the First, they mainly use Raen models, with some few using Xaela. They mainly resided in the Kingdom of Voeburt, where they were the royal family, but after the Flood of Light they are living various places.
Fourth's Au Ra: We know from Evercold's trailers that there will be Au Ra on the Fourth, though we do not know if they will have a unique name yet.
Thirteenth's Au Ra: We know from voidsents' flashbacks that there were Au Ra on the Thirteenth using Raen models.
There is one character who is an Au Ra, but whose scales are green; we do not know where she originates from.
We do not know if there are Au Ra on the Ninth yet.
Viera
Viera clans are a bit easier to track, as their ancestry are based on the forests or the region they dedicate themselves to. Similarly to Seekers of the Sun and Xaela, the Viera clan only denotes which forest the viera comes from, and within each forest are multiple villages.
Rava: They live in the Golmore Jungle and seem to have had more direct contant with the Garlean invasions and such.
Veena: The viera of the Skatay Range, it seems they are not limited to the forests at the mountainous tops, but the mountains themselves.
All Dalmascan viera we meet are descendants of Rava and Veena that leave their regions behind.
Shetona: Viera of Tural, in which they seem to live mainly in the northern Xak Tural. They do not seem to have any particular lifestyle tied to a Green Word like Rava and Veena, though they do seem to put large importance on hunting. All Shetona use the Rava models, and are usually of darker skin colours.
Hingan Viera: We know from the New Years event that there are viera in Hingashi, as the NPCs for the event are specifically from there and not other places of Othard, and that they are very isolationist nation. Other than the one nameless male viera we meet, we do not know much about them, but I have my headcanons that their clan is called "Chise" and which culture is unique from the Yamato Japanese one.
Viis: Viera of the First, their lifestyle and practice seem to be more similar to the Rava, with them following the Green Word and exiling those that leave the woods.
There are no signs that there are viera on the Fourth, Ninth or Thirteenth; the viera living in Solution Nine are descendants or survivors of the Shetona native to Yyasulani.
My headcanons: Because Rak'tika is supposed to be the Black Shroud of the First, and the Viera have lived there for who knows how long, I like to imagine that there USED to be a viera clan living in the Black Shroud, taking the elementals' words to be the Green Word, but they died out by the Sixth Umbral Era.
Hrothgar
Hrothgar, in particular Ilsabardian ones, are somewhat interesting in that the two CC clans actually belong to one clan, the Ilsabardian one, but they belong to different groups based on whether they have a queen they have given their loyalty to or not. These "clans" are flexible and one can switch between them multiple times throughout their lives.
Helions: Ilsabardian hrothgars who have a queen they are loyal to. Their surname is their queen's name prefixed by an "A-".
The Lost: Ilsabardian hrothgars who do not have a queen they are loyal to, for whatever reason. Their surname is the name of the last queen they served, suffixed by "-sch".
Xbr'aal: Hrothgars of Tural, specifically the southern Yak Tural. Unlike the Ilsabardian hrothgars, their lifestyle is gender-neutral, so they do not follow a woman, but whoever is worthy of leading (it just so HAPPENS that the leader is male, the one time we finally meet a hrothgar community when female hrothgar models are available, because again, lord forbid lore consistency would limit a man's authority if there is no reason for the leader to be a man).
Ronso: Hrothgar of the First, we do not know where they resided before the Flood of Light, but now are mainly in Rak'tika and Lakeland.
We do not know if there are hrothgars in the Fourth, Ninth or Thirteenth.
Within pseudo-linguistics, the misconception that some languages have words so unique to themselves that they are untranslatable, is as common as a ‘latte’ in a Starbucks. Articles on the extra-ordinarily peculiarity of words from a vast array of languages, shown off as exhibitions in a curiosity cabinet, are presented as linguistics, when in reality they are to linguistics what the Bible is to an atheist.
Next to four, or forty, no let’s say 54958 and ¾ Inuit words for snow, a word like ‘l’ésprit d’éscalier’, so uniquely French that it presumably is not found in English – staircase wit – seems to be a favourite one in these texts. The problem here is that articles dealing with words like the aforementioned ones are sadly read and accepted as true by the vast majority of humans, and yet, the paradoxical in claiming that a world is untranslatable seems to evade most of these people’s minds.
The main problem here however is not a naïve but harmless fascination with linguistic diversity, but rather the ways in which this naïve fascination has been turned into a less cute ideology of linguistic evolution, which in turn has been adopted by a number of colonial powers throughout history in order to facilitate the expansion of a number of colonial languages. This happened in China, where Mandarin through the use of a common script became the accepted standard language in China, and this happened even more visibly throughout the British Empire, where a false belief that certain languages did not have the capacity to express certain ideas helped English become the global monster it is today.
Untranslatability however is of course a myth; while a specific language may have a more efficient way of expressing a specific thing, this does not mean that another language cannot understand or perceive the same thing. At the same time however, this dismissal of linguistic evolution has in similar ways been used to support colonial powers linguistic expansion. The argument being that if every language is inherently capable of expressing every human experience, then the attempts to save an endangered language seems ridiculous. And indeed, many people argue that language revitalisation programmes constitute a waste of money, precisely because of the fact that they mean that it does not matter what language one speaks, as long as one speaks.
Or to paraphrase Shakespeare, a rose is a rose no matter what name it is given.
The main fault here however is to mistake language revitalisation for a wish to keep a dying language alive against better knowledge, when what language revitalisation really is, is a way to make sure that human knowledge embedded in a culture’s collective memory is not lost forever. Moreover, when people state that an endangered language cannot possibly be modern enough to express modern concepts, they mistake language for something which, like human society, follows basic ideas of hierarchies. While colonialism and class has created an idea of certain languages as less suitable for human interaction then others – an idea as old as language itself, think of Ancient Greek who gave us the word barbarians, from βαρβαρος, i.e. someone who can’t speak proper Greek – it is important to realise that no language is better suited than another to express a certain idea. Ayoreo-Totobiegosode, a language spoken by some 340 people in Paraguay is as capable of adapting to changing circumstances as say English.
No language is inherently weaker than another language, and to believe that e.g. English is more suitable for scientific debates than say a near-extinct language in the Great Western Australian Desert is to misunderstand the way language functions in the first place. A language creates words for new phenomena whenever it needs a word to describe a new thing, and this ability to invent new words is inbuilt in all human languages.
While it is foolish to talk of the Gaelic word cianalas as untranslatable, or to deem another language as inferior for not having a one-word translation of the same, the existence of the word does say things about the ways in which the Gaelic culture has chosen to interact with the world. In other words, to quote Nettle, ‘the vocabulary of a language is an inventory of the items a culture talks about and has categorized in order to make sense of the world and survive in a local ecosystem’. Thus, whenever a language dies, an entire wealth of knowledge relating to a specific area of expertise is lost, be it marine life as with many Oceanic languages, or snow as is the case among many reindeer herding tribes such as the Evenk and the Saami.
Let me give you a couple of examples to demonstrate what I mean by cultural linguistic diversity; in English, if I were to say ‘Iàin killed his wife’, most native speakers would assume that Iàin was an evil man who killed the woman he had married, but the truth is that the use of his in this sentence is ambiguous. Technically his wife could have referred to another man’s wife, say Sean’s wife, as his is used to refer to both his – someone else, and his – his own. In Swedish however, this ambiguity is avoided by the use of two different words; when referring back to one’s own possessions, or in this case one’s own wife, the word sin is used, whereas someone talking about something belonging to another man – his – would use the word hans. Swedish cultural practice has in other words seen it important enough to create a word to describe this difference.
Similarly, where Finnish does not bother to distinguish between gendered pronouns, and the word hän is used to refer to both males and females, English on the other hand uses three gendered pronouns, i.e. he, she and it.
In Japanese, counting becomes a veritable task, as the make-up of an object is essential for the speaker to decide what count-word to use, whereas several other languages deems it impractical to have any count-words for numbers above say five.
The only thing these examples show however, is that human existence is a diverse thing, and that given time, the inherent wish to communicate will create ways of talking about culture specific things in very efficient and incredibly detailed ways. That a Gael is ‘in his teacher’ if he is a teacher (tha e na thìdsear), whereas an English-speaker simply is a teacher does not mean that Gaelic is in any ways more or less peculiar than English. That the Hawai’ian language has ways of distinguishing possession depending on whether a thing is alienably or inalienably possessed, whereas Gaelic on the other hand does not have a verb to express possession does not in any way prove that a language can have untranslatable words or concepts, it merely shows that the culture in which a language is spoken has deemed it important to create linguistic definitions for some very culture specific things.
Can I just say, uh, I’m pretty sure noticing you’re asexual is harder than noticing you’re gay, straight, pan or otherwise. Like, I just read someone’s desciption of hitting puberty and, like, there’s nothing like that. There’s no sudden ‘boob’ moment, no sudden ‘fuck, I’d fuck that’ moment, not sudden anything. You just, like, plod on through life as usual going ‘oooh, that’s pretty, I’d like that hair’ or ‘oooooh, they’re nice, I’d like to be close to them’ but there’s no like, ‘oh, someone would want to fuck that but I don’t’, you know? You just- you don’t notice, you don’t realise everyone else has ‘had a moment’ but you haven’t, you just- keep going as you always have.
And then, much much later, you start to wonder why people are getting so caught up in drama for romance or sex, like, why bother? It’s not worth it, they’re not worth it, why are you doing stupid things for something that’s so- and then you wonder if there’s something wrong with you, start mentally over compensating. Like ‘uh, okay, um, who should I date? Who can I stand to date? Who could I stand to fuck?’ like- it’s not, it’s not something you want, but you want to fit it, to be normal.
Sometimes you don’t even know that you’re doing it.
Sometimes you don’t even know asexual’s a thing.
I dunno, I guess, I just feel like, uh, people should understand more?
I think this was during the time Hanzo's only legendary skins also changed his ultimate and all his lines that mention dragons to mention wolves instead, and I still think they should have had him get a rooster skin and completely seriously, unironically replace all dragon/wolf mentions to "the cock".
This past week 11 years ago Goong was airing in Korea.
To me Goong is the best kdrama ever. Such amazing plot, very original for the country (monarchy never was an plot in their dramas till this show comes), beautiful crew work in directing, music, scenery, fashion, makeup, art direction.
The best OST in kdramas without a doubt, beautiful instrumental scores that get you to rollercoast of emotions and can we talk about Peharps Love? It’s THE ANTHEM. That song makes me emotional not only because perfectly describes Shin and Chae Kyung love story, but it’s so beautiful that a lot of people who never even watched the show still keep singing this famous song and connecting to their lives without even knowing it was from Goong, this couple.
Everytime I listen I get the feelings.
Amazing cast. The acting in this show can’t be contested. All of them are great.
Joo Ji Hoon and Yoon Eun Hye have such PERFECT CHEMISTRY. There’s lot of great onscreen couples in kdramas, but they for sure are iconic one. Their duo is so natural. so real. All their scenes we could see they were giving their best. Plus, the development of their feelings for each other aren’t the ‘tada’ kind of way, ‘boom, we’re in love’, no. It def takes time. It flows very organically.
So good for two actors in their very first role, no wonder they got their awards because of it. The scene where Chae Kyung says she decided go to the exile and Shin reacts to it breaking down and crying so hard on her. CHILLS. Ji Hoon was incredible. A+ acting (He was very humble at time saying he knew he wasn’t good enough but he hoped to get better, and hello, now he’s one of the most respected actors there, gladly, after his scandal years ago :/, really great acting). I tear up just remembering that scene. Very powerful, very earnest, so heartbreaking.
The BEST KISS IN KOREA TV HISTORY.
When I see polls or threads of “best kiss in kdramas” and there’s not Goong’s kiss in first place, let alone there at all (believe there are polls without them in it), one thing of the two:
- Or it’s the most pure bullshit, like bulshit at exponential levels, or the person behind it never even watched the show.
There is one especific epi, not going to spoil (because you should watch), we got two of the best groundbreaking kisses for Korea tv history.
One of the being public, on the streets in front of hundred people. This is a very big deal for their patrons. When the scene was filmed from afar, people on streets really didn’t know they were actors doing a scene, they really thought were two young people in love open mouthing kissing each other (thank gawds for Ji Hoon really liking to kiss Eun Hye, they didn’t have do it for real, since camera was far but they went for it) for everyone to see. We can see people’s reaction there and it’s priceless.
Other… True Love Kiss like True Lover Kiss. (and TONGUE).
The only french kiss in Kdrama history, as far I know of, some others can trick us, but theirs was obvious. You can think, how nasty. Nope! It’s was the first real passionate kiss. Can I remind you this masterpeace was in 2006? When people there use to be even more conservative about it like it’s almost illegal? The kiss got a big repercution after.
But it was planned to be that way, nope. It had to be a big kiss, with all the love for sure, (but what can we do if Ji Hoon got so into it they do not rehearsal kiss and try do it in one take if possible) he put his tongue there and Eun Hye actually replied. This usually never happens in kdramas, there’s no response by the girl, just the guy pretending a much while kiss and basically they’re very staged.
But she did and we got two people giving the kiss of their lives on each other. I don’t know what was going on with those two while filming that day, but I thank all gods for their urge and director for letting happen. HIS FACE, hers too. They just gave all to the scene, no fcks given to others (the street kiss was also intense, his face after loool)
The kiss alone was like a real kiss. It was beautiful, honest, emotional, realistic, passionate. Do you know the type of kiss screams true love but you also can see how they would be on bed without seeing anything? For Korea, it was almost that, but for me I wanted more and more.
Joo Ji Hoon and Yoon Eun Hye kiss was the grounding breaker kiss to others that came after in Koren tv.
We got to see, rarely, but see paionate kisses in kdramas thi past decade after Goong, some even implying in sex and stuff -with Eun Hye even-, true make out, yet, none of them could beat Goong *oh boy, imagine if only we had gotten a sex scene - sighs*. If the kiss alone was epic, include on this the moment it happened, the fcking amazing acting on it, the build up, the score, Shin & Chae Kyung’s love story. Everything made it become fcking iconic.
I basically wrote an essay on the kiss, but can you imagine my shock when I watched that show years ago? I literally screamed when I saw it in my screen. Not only because the kiss was happening but HOW it was.
Even tho it has been 11 years, Goong trully feels timeless. Rewatching it feels like it was made last year.
Goong is pure perfection? Of course not. It has flaws, we all don’t like epi 9, or think second half of last episode was incredible rushed with some wtf things, ok. Some people complains it’s ‘slow’ sometimes, I get the OTP is so good you don’t have patience to watch the elders scenes, but I really can appreciate the development of the whole story, even if I can’t wait to see my otp onscreen again. Plus, watching Goong with patience and admiration it’s that exemple of good things happen for those who wait.
The story itself was well done and gets you hooked, it makes you laugh soooo hard, get pissed soooo hard, cry sooooo hard.
Is2g, I cried. Not inside, I literally cried. It’s rollercoast of emotions. Again, a matter of perspective.
It’s been 11 years and I still hope Joo Ji Hoon & Yoon Eun Hye can be leads in another kdrama. Chemistry like theirs can’t be used only once in lifetime. Please.
You know what I’ve been wondering? John and Daisy are literally the same age, so why is Finn 23 and Rey 19? Like, what’s the significance? Why not just stick to 23 for both of them?
What I find even more interesting is that Anakin was 23 in RotS and Luke was also 23 in RotJ. In both stories the two men made a very important life decision about the Dark and the Light, just like Finn does in TFA.
Finally what happened between the end of RotJ and the beginning of TFA is still very much a mystery, their respective ages might make more sense when we learn more about that.
And nerdy sidenote. TFA was shot in 2014, so both John and Daisy were 22 at the time.
Yeah, I was wondering about that too. I mean, fine, Luke is 19 and Rey is 19, so *parallel*, but why not Finn also? Why make him randomly 23 unless there’s a reason behind that?
23 isn’t random though, like @luminousfinn said, it’s another Luke/Anakin parallel in terms of the age at which they chose the light or the dark. And it’s a likely parallel to Kylo as well, since if you assume he turned around the time Bloodline was taking place, he fell to the dark side at 23.
Yeah, 23 is the Age of Decision in Star Wars. In the first movie, Luke’s 19 but he’s really treated like a child hero. When it starts out, he’s childish. That’s why the Tasche station line, that’s why the scene where he plays with a toy, that’s why he’s so sheltered and under his uncle’s influence he tries to pass up on his destiny because he’ll be late for dinner. The whole reason he goes to Kenobi’s is because he thinks he’ll be in trouble for losing R2D2. This isn’t protrayed as unusual for his age, it’s just the way his life is. The movie’s for children and the hero is someone who starts out with a life similar to theirs.
Luke grows up over the course of the trilogy, but a lot of his reactions as he does as still very boyish. From silly stuff like appealing to Kenobi’s ghost like he’s asking one parent to convince another he’s ready to play little league to serious things like his reaction to Biggs’ death during the trenchrun. Even in the ESB duel, I get the impression he’s a child being bullied, toyed with and then abused when he tries to defend himself.
But in Return of the Jedi? Luke is 23. He’s an adult, and he is a complete badass. And that’s when he has his true choice on whether or not to turn to the Dark Side.
Looking at the PT, Anakin starts out as a literal child but when you get to the second movie and he’s 19… He’s still very childish. (Very dangeorus, but very childish.) He’s still under adult supervision. He’s resentful to Obi-Wan and whines about him all the time. This is when he, like Luke, loses his parent. This is when he, like Luke, becomes a combatant in a war. However, this is also when he has his first encoutner with the Dark Side, and murders a whole bunch of people, but doesn’t fall completely. It’s because he’s still forming as a person, because he’s still not reached the Age of Decision. He can still be turned around. In RotS, he’s 23, a grownup and makes his choice then to turn to the Dark Side.
Honestly, it gives the impression that Jedi just mature that way. Obi-Wan was a padawan until he was 25, no one commented that that was a long time. Meaning that Jedi are under constant adult supervision well into their early 20s.
Rey’s a kid who has been on her own her whole life, like a Dickensian street urchin, but the point is she’s still going through her coming of age arc. She hasn’t reached the Age of Decision yet. She can come very close to the Dark Side in her fight with Kylo and may have even killed him then without falling completely, because she’s still forming as a person. Her sense of right and wrong is still forming.
Finn’s a grownup. His sense of right and wrong has formed and through some miracle it formed correctly. We saw him make his decision. That’s why, for all his Luke parallel, his plot is shaped more like Han’s ANH arc where he has to decide whether or not his newfound friends are worth fighting evil for, or if he should just go make a peaceful life by himself.
We’ve seen various character arcs in the first two trilogies. Luke and Anakin had coming of age arcs, the ones where they had serious moral choices along the way and at the end. Leia, Han, Obi-Wan and Padme got what’ I’d call learning to love arcs, where they developed relationships to others and figured out what was needed to maintain those relationships. Finn’s had his coming of age and never knew a world that wasn’t against him. He’s most likely going to get something similar to Leia or Han, where he devlops relationships with others and learns how to maintain those. He doesn’t need moral guidance, he needs social guidance. He’s already very likable and dependable, so the most fulfilling development would be turning him into a leader, whether he becomes a Resistance fighter or a Jedi.
It is also worth noting, Kylo is 29 in Ep VII. That’s Han’s age in ANH. Well into adulthood. Han’s plot in ANH was about choosing friends (who later became his family) over his own interests. His plot over the course of the OT was about throwing aside cynicism for idealism. We saw Kylo choose his own desire for power and to be Vader’s heir over his family. We saw at no point did he even attempt to cultivate a friendship. So far, Kylo’s motivations are purely selfish. He wants the inheritance. He wants to kill his uncle. He’s not really a leader, not someone who forms strategies or plans, he just kind of throws his weight around and undercuts Hux. We may see, if he truly does parallel Han, Kylo begin to put aside his selfish motivations in favor of supporting the First Order until he becomes a leader of the forces of evil, a dark mirror to Han putting aside his own cynicism in favor of the Rebellion until he became a leader in the Alliance.
Not a popular opinion on tumblr I know but I would argue character death is good for stories, actually, and often a death with long narrative consequences is much better use of a character than having them linger with no more important plot beats to hit.
Character death isn’t writers being mean to viewers or something characters don’t “deserve,” it’s an important part of narrative and plotting to give stories stakes and emotional beats. The work making you have an emotion is in fact the point, not something to avoid.
I feel old saying this. But I really miss one shot stories in comic books. These days most comics have a muti part issue story arc. Which is nice, but sometimes I like it when a comic book tells a story that only takes one issue but has a bigger impact. Example Batgirl #16. How do you feel about one shot stories in a long running comic book series that often have story arc that runs for multiple issues?
I’ve said this for a while, and agree.
The thing is, long form comics totally work, but I think when you have a monthly published ongoing, having no variation in story length makes things a slog to read. There should be one-shots and two-parters in between your six-month-to-year-long epics and monthly comics just seem completely unwilling to do that by in large, which is why the vast majority of comics I’ve read for the past ten years have been me waiting for the trade collection to come out.
Given, I’m pretty sure that this is in the minority opinion when it comes to comic consumption.
Oh, yeah, I remember liking this post because I was going to write my own experiences as a fledgling comic reader, then I forgot, then the like was drowned amongst other likes, and only unearthed now with the Oldest-Newest listings, hah.
Anyway, I remember this was my problem when I was recommended New52!Wonder Woman. I bought the first volume, maybe the first two? And the story kept going, and sure, it technically changed settings and tune and introduced new characters, but it kept the arc, and... I didn't care for the arc that much (mainly because I knew that I did not like the misogynistic changes they made to WW). Yet it took, what, two years to finish the story? It certainly FELT like two years to me, and that is a bit crazy if you want to draw in new readers.
I mean, I might not have LIKED the Extreme Slow Burns of cartoons like Steven Universe, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, that frog fantasy one, and so on, where many episodes were one-off comedies with breadcrumbs in the background until they finally had to adress a bigger story, but I do think there is a reason those shows were popular, too!
Also, I still believe this is one of the many reasons Sword of Sorcery/Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld in New52 did not work; again, a long story that did not even get to finish, but got cancelled, and it spent so much of that time either trying to be Game of Thrones Lite, or to create the world-building that never got far due to the cancellation. Compare that to the original comic, which first issue introduces the important characters and the general plot, gives us an antagonist and a problem, the main character solves the problem and the issue's story ends happily, BUT with the obvious larger plot still ready to continue next issue.
And I LOVED Sword of Sorcery: Amethyst! I hated its cancellation so much, I have an entire folder on my computer with documents where I created the rest of Nilaa/Gemworld (actually in my headcanon-world, the world is called Gemworld and Nilaa is just one of the multiple continents that would be relevant in much later arcs), the other Houses, tried to mix both the original version with the New52 one, stole a ton of palace drama cliches from Chinese palace dramas because I was into that at the time (still am), and so on. I wrote a fanfic which continued from where the comic ended! I LOVED this series and I hated that they cancelled it, but I understand why it did not necessarily sell well to newer or older readers.
As a non-comic book example, I played FFXIV from 5.2 on, and I remember how excrutiatng the 6.X patches were at the time, especially at 6.4 onward. Like I know it is just four-five months, but it felt like forever just to get a whole lot of padding for a story that should have finished one and a half patches ago... not helped by the fact that they initially promised the patch stories would be Back to Basics with the Warrior of Light going on adventure like the beginning of ARR, and the Scions going their separate ways for a while. They have made good patch stories that work by themselves till the next patch, but that was NOT it.
Thank you, translators. The fandom would not be what it is now if you hadn’t put in the hours of work that you have. Words cannot express how appreciated your efforts are. *humble bow*
Found this in the Oldest-Newest Likes list, and I had almost forgotten that I used to stream Ylvis and live translate it. Good times! I had planned to write a thank you for the longest time, but I was too shy so I just... short-circuited and did not write anything.
They don’t actually give you an encyclopedic knowledge of something when you get in a degree in it. They give you the skill to learn more about it on your own.
That was what I was told when I got my driver's license, too; I am not suddenly an expert driving, I was just deemed good enough that I could keep advancing on my own without being a danger on the road.
i was looking up historically accurate clothing as a bit of art inspiration and found the online museum of saudi arabian costume.
there’s a bunch more gems just like these and they’re all so beautiful and unique. there’s also great information about the clothing, too, such as how they were made, who wore them, what fabrics were used, what the different parts of the costumes were called, etc. just a really fun and informative site and i thought i would share my find.
alright I've got to do some quick math to explain attitudes towards AI to my boss.
we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem) to view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)
please rb for larger sample size!
Question 1/3
What is your age, and do you feel AI is a net positive or net negative in our lives today?
