yakalskovich | (no subject)

Nobody there except me knows Teja's canon; it can't be called a fandom. The entire fan base of Teja consists of me and the Lady Carolin; I think I mentioned her?

No I meant I don't know most of the characters the players on MW use. You told me about Tower which is how I got started. But the overwhelmingly majority of them are completely unknown to me. I just follow along for fun. :)

I think it's more interesting to pick up an obscure character, or one from an obscure canon, than do a popular character from a popular canon. Those don't do well, or last long. No Harry or Ron has survived for any amount of time, nor have several attempts at hobbits, or Aragorn. Elrond is doing well, and in the first years I was there, Gil Whimple was a fixture everybody knew. Avengers!Loki barely manages to show his horns there for reasons of something; but there is a lady who does a contingent of steampunked Norse gods that I love to bits.

I however am probably queen of obscure characters from inaccessible canons that I just make work under their own steam. Both Teja and Urquhart fall in that category.

I actually think putting a character into a situation with others he doesn't know is an excellent method of character study. I periodically throw Ivo into a situation just to see what he will do.

~~And it's just fun as hell!~~

Obscure charrie from obscure canon. He would fit right in with Milliways...

OH GAWD!

I would never get anything done ever again!

No, (COMMA) best for Ivo to stay in his own quarters.

You could bring him in autumn or winter when it's not so busy?

[[Look no comma!!]]

(YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! NO COMMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Maru, I am hoping to build my business so that I am busy year round!

But I'll think about it. :)

I must say he is lovely and I want him to have a bigger readership. *smooches Ivo*

People always read each other's canons in Milliways, unless it's something as utterly obscure and unreadable as Teja's...

*dying*

Yeah Ivo is one of those intense science types. I can't see him being incredibly popular in MW.

But I love him!

OT: (and I do not say this to provoke anyone) What did you think of the recent ruling in Germany considering circumcision? I am, of course, (COMMAS FOR EMPHASIS BUT NOT NECESSARY FOR CLARITY) shocked as is the entire Jewish population.

But I am curious as to the German layman POV.

???

It was aimed at Islam, and overshot the mark by about a million miles.

P.S.: Intense science types do very well in Milliways!

Edited 2012-06-30 02:39 (UTC)

I guess it hit us (the Jewish population) as eerily remniscent of that 1933 legislation that outlawed kosher slaughter.

Why are they going after the Muslims?

Most boys in America are circumsized at birth regardless of religious affiliation (for health reasons). And recent studies of the spread of AIDS has shown that circumcision is important in preventing transmission of the HIV virus.

So I guess I was a bit baffled as to why Germany took that radical step. I did try to look at it in the context of the rulings on female "circumcision" (which I do not believe is biblically-ordained, but I am not as familiar with the Koran and the Christian Bible).

It just seemed a strange hill on which to stake a claim.

Given Germany's very recent history....

And again I do not say that to upset anyone. I just felt the timing was really inappropriate.

They have the same anti-islamic prejudices here as they do in America. It's a thing at the moment.

I find it stupid. And I don't think the next higher court is going to uphold the ruling, and not for any religious reasons. Parents need to be able to make decisions about the physical wellbeing of their children.-

Oh so it was not the equivalent of Germany's Supreme Court? (Forgive me, COMMA I am not familiar with the political structure of Germany.)

*phew* I was really worried there! I personally don't have any family left in Germany (ours were all killed in the war) but I do have friends who have relatives. It was quite disturbing to think we would all have to pack up and move to Israel.

Yes, (COMMA) anti-Muslim sentiment is very high here. It's funny because the Jewish and Muslim communities cooperate in Austin. We share a kosher butcher and back when I was shomer shabbos (meaning I did not engage in any activity on Shabbat save prayer and family), COMMA I used to race the setting sun to the shul and would pass Muslims on their way. We always laughed saying, "Yeah, COMMA we're late!"

Well, and that same anti-Muslim sentiment happens here, too, in addition to a large Turkish immigrant community who were brought to Germany in the 1960s when the economy boomed beyond the ability of the native population to supply enough workers, and they stayed and live here in the third generation now, still occupying a socio-cultural niche similar to Hispanics in the US, with attempts to emulate black culture from there as to rap, hip-hop, ghetto style etc. But they're all Muslim, and many of the younger ones consciously turn back to Islam for cultural identity, as the Germans still won't let them 'arrive' the way the Ruhr Polish immigrants, for example, had completely arrived after a generation or two at most.

It is not a good situation. There is a certain conservative anti-Islamic set of opinions that's popular in several middle and north European countries which is pro-Europe, pro-Israel and anti-Islam, a muddled right-wing populism supported by people from Henryk M. Broder through Thilo Sarrazin to Anders Behring Breivik -- look up those names in Wikipedia if they don't mean anything to you. That court ruling came out of that spirit, one would assume.-

I wonder what the prevailing wind is in Germany? I have a feeling Europe is getting ready to swing conservative again as economic conditions worsen.

Which is worrisome...

That's interesting that the younger Muslims have returned to their cultural roots for identity. I rather suspect that is the result of so much overt racism. Nationalities that do well here fully assimilate.

Not entirely OT: Have you ever seen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw81BRrTxJI&feature=mv_sr

Video doesn't work for me, sorry. And yes, I think the reversal to fundamentalist religion is mostly a reaction; fundamentalists of all three 'faiths of the book' have been shown to be a reaction to modernity, not a genuine continuation of medieval traditions. The book about it is The Battle For God by Karen Armstrong.

The movie is American Dreamz. It is absolutely hilarious -- all about assimilation into American society (of an Orthodox Jew and a Muslim suicide bomber no less!)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465142/

I suspect it isn't popular because most people are uncomfortable with the sheer truth of it.

I know many young Jews who have become religious as adults (the "baal'ei teshuva"). They did so not because they are rejecting their secular upbringing. Rather, they seek meaning in what they perceive to be a very confusing world -- where material goods matter more than other people, where one's value is determined by one's looks or one's wealth, where there is no sense of community or responsibility to one's fellow man. I do not find them at all fanatical. Most of my friends fall into this category, as do I myself. :)