The Bookwyrm

I feel like posting an SU.

It's been a minute.

Uh...

...

My latest obsession is Japanese flutes, specifically the Shinobue flutes. This came about because of another obsession with a video game I've already talked too much about here. Suffice it to say flutes are an important part of worldbuilding in that game and there are a ton of really cool songs in the game that use flutes, and they're Japanese flutes, specifically shinobue flutes, and...yeah.

So I got a shinobue for Christmas and it's just been sitting on my dresser in it's little fabric case since then. I'll occasionally get it out and try to get some notes on it, but they're super airy and whistle-y and I eventually give up and put it back.

Except there's been a resurgence.

I was doing some online research because I wondered if the flute I had was best suited for playing the song from the video game OST that I wanted to play. And the answer is yes, with an asterisk. See, the song is a duet, played by two characters who both have flutes, but they're different flutes. One is longer and lower.

So after some stumbling I learned that shinobue flutes come in different keys, like band instruments, called "choshi". And after some more digging I learned that the flute I have is an 8-hon choshi shinobue, tuned to a concert C major scale. And luckily, one of the two flutes in the game is basically just an 8-hon choshi shinobue.

Each key is given a different number, from 1, the lowest and longest, to 12, the highest and shortest. For example, the other flute in the duet, which is lower, is a 3-hon choshi, tuned to a concert G major. And so I want a 3-hon choshi now, except the internet doesn't know what I'm asking when I look for one and the few I can find are super expensive. So we'll deal with that later.

A funny moment came when I was browsing through a Youtube channel I found that had a bunch of tutorial videos. The lady in the video mentioned that an 8-hon choshi was the best for beginners, which is good, because that's what I have. However, when she mentioned the choshi, she pointed the front of her flute at the camera and tapped it. And then it hit me.

The front of my flute has always had this little very simple Japanese character on it. I never knew what it was. I just assumed it was a little stylized thing or some kind of signature or manufacturing symbol or something. However, once I saw her point to the front of her flute referencing choshi, I, on a hunch, looked up the Japanese character for 8.

And it was the character on the front of my flute.

So I kind of felt silly, because my flute had been telling me from day one that it was an 8-hon choshi flute, and I'd spent several minutes searching amazon looking for the exact flute I had to check what key it was in.

So that gave me a laugh.

Hopefully this sudden surge of interest will help me start studying those tutorial videos a lot closer and build up the skills necessary to actually play the piece I want to. I'm learning that I'm bad at diaphragmatic breathing, at least when it comes to flutes. So I still have lots of basics to work on.

...

I don't know where I was going with this. It's just been a while since I've done one of these.

Hopefully this isn't one of those SU's that everyone skims because it's too long and then doesn't comment on and I feel lonely.

"In the scope of infinity, every occurrence is a pattern."

- Me, one minute ago

KODAMAS

It is currently 2:02 in the morning.

I am sitting on the floor of a random middle school gym an hour from where I live, sheltering from supposed severe weather.

The reason I am in a middle school gym is not because of the severe weather. My Science Olympiad team took first at State, so we're going to nationals.

Except nationals are in Michigan, which takes like a 10 hour bus ride to get there. (Don't worry we're using a charter bus.)

So we're camping at the middle school of the winning middle school team until the bus comes at like 4 to start driving us there.

Except now....storms!

Yay...

I'm really tired if you're can't tell.

I woke up from sporadic dreaming to the sound of tornado sirens... I'm just annoyed. And I have a headache.

...

Is anyone still able to green-ify PFPs for me...?

Don't you love it when the heroes are the ones trying to end the world?

And the villains are the ones trying to save it?

What kind of a world weaves that type of story...

I'm giving the Kaladin soundtrack by The Black Piper a re-listen right now.

If you haven't heard it before, go do yourself a favor. It's awesome.

Today was Senior Skip Day for my Science Focus Program. So I went to my first two classes at my home high school, then went to a restaurant for brunch with the rest of the seniors, got some mother's day stuff in secret, and then came home and procrastinated for hours did some homework. Which is nice. I needed a break.

As an aside, don't you hate it when you have an idea for a joke or a meme that references a connection between two different stories or aspects of your life...and you are literally the only person you know who has enough knowledge of both of those things to get the joke?

I've considered making a thread titled "references only you understand" in FGaRS so people can post their random memes and jokes and confuse everyone else. Or somehow find someone who does get your obscure references after all.

Maybe.

...

Was this SU going anywhere?

Is it necessary to post this?

Am I still sleep deprived?

Probably.

Ah well.

Your member title is giving me anxiety.

It's apparently your birthday, and even though I barely know you, I'm going to wish you a happy one!

Huh, I passed the 2000 post mark without realizing it.

...You guys had better not expect me to start an RP or anything.

It was you who mentioned having read The Poppy War, right?

Few things are as sad as being a fan of a universe and franchise with a boat-ton of lore and also being the only person you know who's a fan of that franchise.

I would like you to explain to me why you are not a nerd.

Because frankly, the evidence is not in your favor.

I think your definition of nerd might be askew, and so you think you aren't one.

Hello.

I am designing a sci-fi universe. And it's still very rough around the edges, though a lot of the core stuff is there. The basic premise is that a few decades from our modern era, a small percentage of humans begin manifesting an ability that allows them to manipulate the rules of the universe in a way that allows advanced space travel.

Fast forward about two thousand years, and there are now hundreds of planets in the Worlds of Humanity, organized into groups of worlds called Unities, many of which are based on cultures back on earth. (For example there's a Unity that's primarily inhabited by the descendants of the Polynesian people, one by the descendants of Africans, several that came from Asian cultures...) Others have developed entirely new cultures without any analog to old Earth peoples.

In order to get a better feel for this universe, I want to write character-focused stories that take place in the universe. But I lack a lot of ideas.

So here's your mission: Give me character-based writing prompts. I don't need anything outlandish. Just things you'd like to see a character doing in this universe. Some can be everyday actions, others could be more drastic.

I have one idea right now, which is where a parent (or parents) are telling their child the story of how they met. They'd both be scientists assigned to survey and colonize a frontier planet, and their child was one of the first born on this new planet.

But yeah. Any ideas would be great. No promises I'll actually write them...but I'll try, and if I do, I'll share them.

Hey, the other Bookworm is back!

Happy birthday, Elder...uh...Silhouette?

Yeah, that works.

Does anyone know what can cause someone to be mentally fatigued if they're still getting enough sleep?

Because I've been very unproductive and unfocused all evening and I don't know why.

Happy Birthday!

Thanks for being entertaining on Shardcast!

Wait, it's your birthday?

Happy Birthday!

I want you to know you're quickly becoming one of my favorite Shardcast peoples.

Whenever I hear you in the intro, I'm like "Oh, Ene's here! It's going to be a good one."

Happy Birthday!

Brandon Sanderson should buy Evermore and build his castle/palace/HQ/bookstore there.

For a long time I've been worldbuilding a Sci-Fi universe.

And for the last little bit I've been thinking about religion.

Namely, how does space travel change culture, and specifically religion, in roughly 2000 years of time?

I'm having some fun with this...