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Subject: "Gallian Gothic: Ryūjin no Yōkai"     Previous Topic | Next Topic
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Conferences Mini-Stories Topic #195
Reading Topic #195, reply 5
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Oct-08-20, 06:04 PM (EDT)
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5. "A Few Notes"
In response to message #0
 
   I started this mini immediately after A Name to Call Her Own, intending them as a set explicating some of the origins of both characters as a pair, but it kind of ran aground early on. I wasn't happy with the framing or the direction the action took early on, so I let it lie and went on with the main series instead.

Enter Philip, who worked out an entire outline for how the thing ought to go down and thereby gave me a better framework to steer it by, as well, as some of the key visuals and philosophical elements to work in, et voilà!

Ryūjin no Yōkai - It's explained in the text what this phrase means; the only thing to add here is that in this context, it ties into what little is known about Meiling's background in the source material, where basically every supernatural being who isn't an outright oni* is lumped together under the general heading yōkai—even human magic-users who have transcended ordinary mortality, which seems a bit unfair. Mind you, the source is cagey about whether she's actually a dragon, but if she is, I guess dragons are yōkai in the Touhou universe? Whatever, man.

Anyway, it means a slightly different thing in the Fire Nation vs. IRL Japan, but the essence of it is the same—they're spirit creatures manifest in the physical world. Whether their purpose is explicitly malign is a matter of interpretation.

over six chi tall - The chi, known to linguistically indifferent foreigners (i.e., the British) as the "Chinese foot", is a traditional unit of measure that has changed wildly over the centuries, from the equivalent of as few as 10 to as many as 15 Western inches. At present it is officially defined as 12.6 inches or 32 centimeters. In flat shoes, Meiling stands six feet, five inches (1.96 meters) tall, or 6.1111... modern chi. That is way taller than practically anyone else in Dìqiú.

the Dragon of the East - As opposed to the "Dragon of the West", Fire Lord Azulon's elder son, General Iroh.

komodo rhinos - Just what it says on the tin, an animal combining the stature and heft of a rhinoceros with the reptilian nature and lethality of a monitor lizard. Sort of like a patrol dewback from Star Wars, but ill-tempered.

a girl who thinks herself the next Avatar Kyoshi - Kyoshi, like Meiling, was noted for her great height; she was at least a head taller than almost everyone else for most of her very long life.

a five-pointed star, gold or gold-plated - In the source, Meiling wears this badge on her hat, and the fact that it says dragon on it for no obvious reason is the main source of the fandom speculation that she is one, or related to one.

lucky number eight - In Chinese numerology, eight is the most auspicious low integer, rather than seven as it is in Western superstition. This was almost the title of the piece.

if there even was an Avatar any more - This story takes place toward the middle of the Hundred-Year War, during the time when Avatar Aang was frozen in ice and believed to be dead by the relatively few people who even knew he had ever existed, although his replacement had never appeared.

Zhuo Guang 36 - The 36th year of the era of Avatar Roku, the one before Aang—just about the midpoint of Roku's life (he lived to be 70). This was before the Fire Nation, and the Fire Sages with it, went off the rails.

the flame of dragonkind itself, undying, eternal - One is almost tempted to say "greater than distance or time."

exercising their fundamental right to self-preservation - The "blue-collar workers decide they're taking no shit from the Man" all-out free-for-all is a staple of kung fu movies set in latter-day imperial China, and I couldn't not nod to it here.

old Master Tsien - I have something like a complete biography of this guy rattling around in my head, weirdly enough, but I managed not to go all Tom Clancy and put it into the scene. :)

something hard and metallic - I am also indebted to Philip specifically for the "wakes up in human form, has to spit out the badge" visual. A nice little touch of comic relief after the heavy stuff that just went down.

Hong Meiling disappeared exploring the Cave of No Return - Obviously the cave contains a stable Veil Nexus, which no one understood in Meiling's time; they weren't discovered and identified until well into the era of Avatar Korra.

For the record, Meiling didn't believe that the cave led to Certain Death and go into it because she was feeling suicidal, or anything like that. She assumed it had to lead somewhere, and just wasn't particularly bothered about never being able to find her way back. And she was right! Just not in quite the way she expected.

--G.
* Weirdly, the Scarlet sisters are filed in this category, I guess because some versions of the European vampire mythos credit the Devil with their origins (hence all the stuff with crosses and churchyards and whatnot). This is doubly weird because the Scarlets aren't bothered by crosses; some versions of Remilia and the SDM itself have them all over the place. It also means they're vulnerable to the setsubun bean-throwing thing, which makes zero sense in context. Ah, ZUN, what are you like.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
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  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
 Gallian Gothic: Ryūjin no Yōkai [View All] Gryphonadmin Oct-08-20 TOP
   RE: Gallian Gothic: Ryūjin no Yōkai Astynax Oct-08-20 1
      RE: Gallian Gothic: Ryūjin no Yōkai Peter Eng Oct-08-20 2
      RE: Gallian Gothic: Ryūjin no Yōkai Gryphonadmin Oct-08-20 3
          RE: Gallian Gothic: Ryūjin no Yōkai Astynax Oct-08-20 4
  A Few Notes Gryphonadmin Oct-08-20 5
      RE: A Few Notes gamlain Oct-08-20 6
          RE: A Few Notes Zemyla Oct-08-20 7
      RE: A Few Notes Proginoskes Oct-08-20 8
          RE: A Few Notes MoonEyes Nov-16-20 9


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