Not the Greek alcoholic honey drink. Librarian-adjacent. Occasionally I make art, but mostly just do this insane garbage. Most used tags below: click on 'Pages' and then 'Tag List' for more
Pinning this condensed tag list here because I can’t seem to edit any of my pages and have the changes go through. (Still more tags in the link up yonder.)
Side Blog Mostly For Containing Perfect Cell Thirst (But Has Robots and Glowy Stuff Too)
Another Side Blog About Books and Libraries
Raku Plays Her Faves (Ys VIII) (Xenoverse 2) (Pocky and Rocky)
Raku’s Peaceful Blog - Raku’s Crafty Blog - Raku’s Fangirl Blog - Raku’s OC Trivia Time - Raku Draws Stuff
Games: Ys VIII - Skyrim - Xenoverse 2 - Pokemon - Pocky and Rocky - Threads of Fate - Earthbound - Okami
TV: MST3K - Rifftrax - Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Conan O’Brien - Animaniacs - Transformers
Anime/Manga: DBZ - Sailor Moon - Aggretsuko - One Piece
Art: Maneki Neko - Comics - Gemstones and Jewelry - Awesome Awesome Art
Others: Kitties - Red Pandas - Penguins - Flowers - Water - Scapes
You know, when I've remarked that a lot of the responses to my posts feel like people are just plucking out keywords they think they recognise based on the shape of them and replying to what they imagine the post says based on that, the possibility never occurred to me that this is actually how many American schools are currently teaching kids to read.
Like, my assumption this whole time has been that when folks go "I misunderstood this post that says [thing] as saying [unrelated thing] because I mistook [word] for [completely different word that happens to start with the same letter]", that was a bit. What do you mean they're teaching kids a reading method that's tailored to produce this exact error?
Please also keep in mind that region and age will effect if the American has been taught this way. There are young adults who were taught to read like this, but this system was forced more fully into place within the past 10-15 years, so many current teenagers are effected by it.
Many teachers TRIED to warn about this, but our government forced the changes. I have met multiple teachers who've openly complained and tried to talk to the boards if directors about it, but if you didn't/don't comply, you could lose your job.
The fastest way to accomplish The Project is to cease being afraid of The Project. The Project cannot maim you. The Project cannot kill you. The Project is more afraid of you than you are of it. It is okay if The Project turns out differently from how it was in your head, and it is okay if it has flaws. You are capable of engaging with The Project.
'lazy people don't feel guilty about not doing anything' is insane to me and I have been trying to make my brain believe it for a long time, it shocked me to my core when I first heard it
there’s very few things that drive me up the wall in fandom as much as this weird new assumption that fandom is primarily a space for younger people that older folks are only accepted into in a trial basis if they promise to centralize and accommodate younger fans, and further, anything else is creepy and predatory. IT’S OKAY FOR ADULTS TO PRODUCE CONTENT FOR OTHER ADULTS.
if I have to read “women in their 30s” used as an insult one more time I swear I’ll - step away from that user and just hang out with the other grownups who consistently create good content because I’m also an adult and too busy comparing car insurance to fight with teenagers on the internet, but goddAMMIT I’ll be annoyed
Quick note before reading: I have had this sitting in my drafts for almost three years. And it's STILL not finished. Yes, I agree with you; that's pretty sad. But, Dana deserves a little love, even if it's incomplete and a bit rambly (and ranty too, tbh). There are some spoilers for Ys 8 under the cut, in case the tags didn't help.
Get ready....this one's long and I get opinionated.
So I've been kind of glossing over Dana's part of Ys VIII's story. This is grossly unfair, because there's a lot going on in it. The developers took the time to really create a world - her world - that could have very easily just been phoned in. Just enough detail to say, here's Dana, here's a person or two she talks to a couple of times, okay, motives established, let's move on.
In fact, one could argue that even though Adol's the main character of the franchise, Ys VIII is really a game about Dana. I mean, hell, it's right there in the title: Lacrimosa of Dana. And far as I'm concerned, Dana's definitely the more interesting of the two.
Adol's...fine. He's...well, he's there. And he fights with a sword and stuff. But in this game, personality-wise, he only has dialogue choices and a few voiced lines. When I looked him up on a fan Wiki, it` did mention that Adol was born to a peasant family, learned swordsmanship from his dad, and was inspired to be an adventurer by hearing tales from a traveling merchant. He also writes down his adventures, and wants to share his legacy with the world. And that's all great! But other than a line at the end about finding journals in his house, most of that doesn't come across in this game. In this particular game Adol's just a generic good guy.
Dana, on the other hand, has loads of motivation and a beautifully nuanced personality. She can kick ass without being overly aggressive, take the lead without being a tyrant, be approachable and kind yet still stand up for herself (and defend others) when it's called for, break a few rules when necessary without completely abandoning her principles. It's one hell of a balancing act, and Dana pulls it off while still being a little unsure of herself and without having all the answers.
Not to mention Dana has beautiful flowing blue hair and looks like a fairy dressed in ribbons, but is strong enough and skilled enough with magic and a pair of curved swords to slay a fucking T-Rex.
I love Dana so much, y'all. So, SO much.
I haven't done her justice in any of my posts so far. Not even close. So this one's going to be an attempt to rectify that.
(I know I've posted that screenshot before, but here you can see it in a proper resolution.)
Unfortunately, there's going to be lots of game spoilers. Can't be helped, I'm afraid. But honestly, if you only read one of my Ys VIII related text vomits marathons, please let it be this one. Because this is where Falcom did it right. When I say I want to see more female lead characters with agency and such, Dana is an excellent example of what I mean.
So a very very VERY quick and bland recap of Dana's history up to the end of Chapter 4:
Dana Iclucia, a magically gifted child who lived in the ancient kingdom of Eternia, was taken in to live and train at the Temple of the Great Tree when she was fairly young. When she came of age, she was named as the Maiden of the Great Tree, which in her society was sort of like a combination of celebrity and grand high priestess. At some point after this, something cataclysmic happened (we don't know exactly what yet) (but eventually we will) to wipe out the entire civilization except her. Now she's awakened several centuries? or maybe even millenia? later in Adol's time, somehow, with a huge gap in her memory about what exactly happened and how she got there.
In this post, however, I'm mostly going to focus on Dana's life in the past, before she meets up with Adol and his crew. Characters like Dana aren't created in a vacuum. She was shaped by events in her life; her reactions to them eventually led to a position of prominence in her society. She had friends and neighbors that she cared about, and who cared about her. She had mentors that she looked up to. And while we don't learn very much about them, Dana did have parents who loved her.
You might remember back in Chapter 2 that Dana saved her temple, the people in it, and the Great Tree itself from a fire that she saw in a vision. Downside being, she ruined the temple interior by flooding it with water from a reservoir that, we assume, she (and the friends she got involved) also had to wreck in some way. So from this we can see that she's not afraid to act on her visions, even if the action isn't the best choice or fully thought out.
But what would prompt Dana to be like this in the first place? We get an answer in Chapter 5, where she tells everyone about a traumatic event from her childhood.
Even as a little girl, Dana had visions of the future, both good and bad...in fact, mostly bad. And terrifying. They disturbed her so much that her mother made her a ring that suppressed her abilities, just so she could have a chance at a happy childhood.
And it worked...for a while.
One day, while Dana and her father were away, their shed caught fire, and her mother died in the ensuing blaze. Dana blamed herself; she believed that if she hadn't been wearing her ring, she would have seen the fire before it happened, and therefore prevented her mother's death.
On one hand it breaks my heart, because in no way was this her fault. Wanting to have some relief from constant terror you can't really control, especially as a child, isn't a bad thing. But on the other, this event largely made her who she is. It's why she takes action. After it happened, she vowed to no longer ignore sadness and suffering, and do everything in her power to prevent it.
It's a highly idealistic goal, sure. But it's it's still excellent motivation; it's what makes her an active character as opposed to a passive one. And when Dana becomes the Maiden of the Great Tree, she's in a position to do more towards that goal than almost anyone else in her society, aside from their queen.
Dana is the one taking action. There's no dude telling her what to do, or subtly undercutting her authority by giving her cute nicknames or saying dumb shit like "You're so cute when you're angry." While she does delegate some tasks - usually the boring ones, while she sneaks off and investigates more interesting problems - she doesn't just sit around the temple giving orders. She's nicknamed "The Wandering Maiden" for a reason. She wants to personally help whoever and wherever she can, and actively seeks out those opportunities. Things still happen to her that are beyond her control, but ultimately she finds a way to do something about them (or despite them), rather than giving up or looking to someone else for direction.
I mean, you could argue that, this being a video game and all, the story doesn't matter all that much since the tasks you as the player need to do remain the same no matter what the narrative is. Sorry friend, I disagree. Playing as a character - especially a female character - who actively takes the initiative, as opposed to being stuck in the background and/or having the choices made for her, is especially welcome.
I know I keep harping on the fact that she's a lady. And these days you might be forgiven for thinking, "Okay Raku, Jesus tap-dancing Christ, you've made your point, Dana's female. So what?"
At the risk of showing my age, back when I was a little girl and even when I was growing up, female lead protagonists in video games just were not a thing that many developers bothered with at all. (One of the only exceptions I could think of off the top of my head was Alis from Phantasy Star - but I didn't find about her until well after my childhood.) If women were included at all, they were almost invariably damsels in distress to be rescued or less-than-second-bananas to the dudes, the real heroes of the game. It was the main reason guys were shocked to find out Samus Aran was a woman back in the day - women in games just didn't do stuff, at least not the important or interesting stuff. They weren't the main focus.
And even when demand for strong female protagonists in video games did get large enough for more developers to pay attention, a disheartening number of them interpreted that as "Katherine from Taming of the Shrew cranked up to 11" or "OK, she can hold a gun or something, but she still has to wear skimpy clothing and/or have massive tits and/or at some point be given a flimsy excuse reason to bend over so her perfectly shaped ass is on display." Most importantly, she could never ever ever be better than any of the dudes at anything that mattered. (At least the ones that made it to my neck of the woods - again, if there was more variety elsewhere, I didn't get to see it.)
"B-b-but Dana wears skimpy clothing!" I'm glad you brought that up, imaginary internet person. I don't really mind it in Dana's case because a) it's not overly sexual, and b) pretty much everyone else in her society wore similar things because they lived in a warm climate. Even the dudes.
Speaking of dudes, I'm not saying they need to be excluded from a female lead's life entirely. Take Dana's good friend Rastell, for example, who's a young guard in training.
Clearly the two are kind of sweet on each other. I really like how their relationship is nicely balanced. Rastell's a significant part of Dana's life, but her world doesn't just revolve around him or his wants. She encourages him and cares about him as a person without completely fawning over him, or dropping everything she's doing the instant he needs something. Nor does she pull rank and boss him around or treat him like crap because she can.
Likewise, Rastell does his best at his training so he can be a better guard for her AND the city. He loves her without being overbearing, too possessive, clingy, or a complete doormat. Rastell isn't jealous of Dana's superior position in their society; he still respectfully calls her "Your Eminence" like everyone else (though he could probably get away with calling her Dana because they were childhood friends).
It's a relationship that's healthy, supportive, and important without completely dominating either of their lives, and honest to god I wish we could see more like it in media AND real life. Wishful thinking, I know.
More pets go missing around the Fourth of July than any other time of year. If your cat is afraid of fireworks, keep them inside and STAY HOME. Make sure they have cozy places to hide. Play music to help cover the loud noises. Keep windows shut - cats can easily bust through screens if they are scared enough. Draw the curtains to block out flashes of light. Use a calming pheromone diffuser such as feliway if you have one. And if they are up for it, play with them for distraction!
