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Author Archives: Confanity
Your life may depend on what you overhear
門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む (Monzen no kozou narawanu kyou wo yomu; “The child before the gate reads sutras they never learned”) Definition: The place you live in has a strong impact on you. People who live somewhere for a long time will unconsciously … Continue reading
Deep, deep turtle
盲亀浮木 mou.ki.fu.boku Literally: blind – turtle – float – tree Alternately: An incredibly rare event; something nigh-impossibly difficult to find. By implication, something you really should take advantage of while you have the chance. Notes: 盲亀 is, as the characters … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged blind turtle, Buddhism, 盲亀, driftwood, opportunity, 浮木
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Magic Monday – Uneasy lies the head
Crown of Shadows Shadows are strange, abstract entities that only truly exist in the realm of the Shadow – the psychic mirror of the material world. Many are benign, but the touch of even the best-intentioned can be dangerous to … Continue reading
Posted in Rules, Setting, World-Building
Tagged administration, artifact, crown, item, Magic Monday, Shadow
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Wise guys’ noses, eyes
Smart enough not to say “Smell you later”? 目から鼻へ抜ける (Me kara hana he nukeru; “[In] from the eyes and out the nose”) Definition: Especially perceptive and shrewd. Able to quickly understand and correctly judge a situation. “Smelling out” a situation as … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Kotowaza
Tagged 目から, 鼻へ, Kefukigusa, perceptive, quick discernment, shrewd, smelling out
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Challenge accepted: Artifact dash
Today I finally got around to reading a post from a couple of months ago over at an RPG blog called Semper Initiativus Unum about “megadungeons and artifacts.” As is generally the case when I write this kind of post, a … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellaneous, Musing, World-Building
Tagged artifact, challenge accepted, gaming, Kusanagi, megadungeon, RPG, sequence breaking
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Back to back they faced each other
面従腹背 men.juu.fuku.hai Literally: face/mask – obey – belly – back/defy Alternately: Putting on a show of obeying or going along with someone while secretly opposing or resisting them, at least mentally. This defiance will likely manifest eventually, but as long … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged 腹背, 面従, literalism, pretend to obey, secretly oppose
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It’s just a mallet Gotye used to know?
It’s like falling off a bicycle: you never forget how 昔取った杵柄 (Mukashi totta kinedzuka; “The handle of a mallet that one used to use”) Definition: Abilities and skills gained in one’s youth. By extension, such skills that one has managed … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Kotowaza
Tagged 餅つき, mallet, mochi, riding a bicycle, skills, 昔, 杵柄
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Take a breather and call me in the morning
Kaynahara. 無病息災 mu.byou.soku.sai Literally: not – sick – stop – disaster Alternately: To be healthy. Notes: 息 primarily refers to “breath,” but has been associated a variety of words (cf. 息子 – musuko – “son”), and in this case refers … Continue reading
On YAOSC scaling
One of the central conceits of YAOSC’s mechanics is that many things scale up or down in a relatively abstract way. The obvious example is the dice rolled for checks, which vary to represent variable difficulty levels. But the idea … Continue reading
The curse of the wart-cure??
ミイラ取りがミイラになる (Miiratori ga miira ni naru; “The mummy-hunter becomes a mummy”) Definition: A person, sent to get someone and bring them back, themselves ends up staying away. A person who goes to convince someone of something ends up being convinced … Continue reading
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