Jenna Moran's blog posts on learning Chinese are excellent, and who knows how long the Eos-sama website will be up after all the shenanigans. So, here's an archive.
Here we see a man with his arm wrapped companionably around the shoulders of his spear; the spear, embarrassed by the man’s attentions, displays a sweatdrop prominently to one side. This is “wǒ (我),” the legendary ideogram for, well, oneself.
I can’t really explain why the “self” is a drunk guy staggering through the streets of China, arm wrapped around the shoulders of his best friend, a hopping animated spear, while the spear—
Having tasted no alcohol at all, but only blood—
Mumbles excuses to everyone they pass. I think it must probably be a guy thing. Later on they will probably do other guy things like punch each other, arm wrestle, and spit. The man will win at arm wrestling and spitting but the casual exchange of punches will result only in a tragedy. If you are a woman and you want to use this ideogram for yourself you may be a little perplexed. You may think things like “man, men really do normalize the male perspective” and “I don’t think a man with a hooked spear taller than himself would actually be very good in bed.”
However this radical feminist perspective may be premature. Many of the great scholars of ancient China mastered complex Taoist techniques, and so it is very possible that the hook is actually some sort of delicious fried tofu or something. If this does not assuage your concerns it is probably for the best that you are not living in an enclave of sizzling Taoist ideogram monks.
Deep contemplation of the letter “wǒ (我)” and the expenditure of Aspect Miracle Points may yield instruction on the following miracles:
Incorrect Pronunciation (2 AMP))
You master the art of pronouncing wǒ (我) incorrectly. So thoroughly do the subtleties elude you that you may drive others into a frenzy of helpfulness—your pronunciation will practically force your target or targets to correct you, stretching their mouth in a comical fashion, gesturing at their lips, and repeating the word wǒ (我) with a slow, exaggerated, and deliberate abandon. Yet no matter how they wǒ (我) at you, and no matter how fervently you wò or wō or wƍ or even wǿǣǣǶ at them, the immaculateness of your confusion remains impenetrable to their instruction. You have 2 Edge, or increase 2 Edge to 3, on any mundane action designed to trap your target or targets in an indefinite loop of helpful corrections of this sort.
Once you develop this ability you retain it for the remainder of the story.
Man Grasping Spear (1 AMP))
Throwing an arm around the shoulders of a hopping animated spear, which you must obtain separately, and (if necessary) disguising yourself as a man, you may camouflage yourself as an instance of the character wǒ (我). You derez into a collection of apparently random lines cross-hatching the walls or objects behind you and will only be recognized as a man or disguised woman holding a hopping animated spear by those who have recently looked up the history of the character wǒ (我) on the Internet.
This is a Lesser Enchantment of Wǒ (我). It has miracle level 4 and requires your miraculous action to invoke.
This is a one-use ability. You must retreat to an appropriate fastness and contemplate “wǒ” again while spending 1 more MP before you can repeat its use.
Keanu Reeves Technique (0 AMP))
Declaring “whoa” in the inimitable fashion of Keanu Reeves, you reveal that you have totally failed to pronounce wǒ (我). You should be ashamed of yourself, and also ashamed of Keanu Reeves. Wǒ (我) is not said like “whoa” at all, but is actually more like “waaha,” only without the humorous articulation of the h. However, bear in mind that you are probably still saying it wrong, even after I have so carefully and inarticulately explained. There is only so much wǒ (我) that a blog post can explain!
In Nobilis, you may declare “whoa” and then feel ashamed of yourself as frequently and as firmly as the other players will permit.
Fake It Till You Make It (2 AMP))
Repeat the word “wǒ (我),” stretching the sound out longer and longer and in a progressively more silly tone of voice, and you will eventually trigger the “perfect tone” that makes you a real martial artist. (If you’ve ever seen someone in a movie trying to scare off their assailants by pretending to know martial arts, posing exaggeratedly, and repeatedly drawing out the word “wǒ (我),” you now understand what they were intending to achieve.) On completion of this perfect tone, which always requires at least twice the current pace of the conflict and hence cannot be performed in a flurry, you bleach your hair blond, extend it fiercely upwards, surround yourself in a coruscating nimbus of Chi, and gain the ability to perform Aspect 5-level martial arts until 30 subjective seconds have elapsed. Afterward you will suffer a Serious Wound, “Depleted,” which you may mitigate to a surface wound either with a defensive miracle or by allowing yourself to faint.
This is (also) a one-use ability. You must retreat to an appropriate fastness and contemplate or practice “wǒ” again while spending 2 more MP before you can repeat its use. Further, you cannot develop this ability again while still suffering from the wound “Depleted.”
Me, Myself, and I (2 AMP))
You have created a cunningly constructed origami you with the word “wǒ (我)” for a face. You may use a 0-MP miraculous action to possess this origami you as if using a difficulty 1 Treasure miracle on an Anchor. However, this origami you is fragile and will come apart if splashed with water, ripped by an opponent, or after three scenes of use in any case. An origami you is a mystic link to you, even if you haven’t done anything with it recently; however, a scene where someone uses that link to help, hinder, or otherwise affect you counts as a scene of the origami you’s use.
Each 2 MP constructs a single origami you. You may only have one origami you at a time—a man may only have one spear, after all—but it counts towards your ofuda cap.
Ofuda Errata
Speaking of which, let’s make that cap [Treasure rating+1], ’cause not everybody has Treasure but everybody loves ’em some ofuda.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
A Book of Divine Letters: Wǒ
Deep contemplation of the letter “wǒ (我)” and the expenditure of Aspect Miracle Points may yield instruction on the following miracles:
Incorrect Pronunciation (2 AMP))
You master the art of pronouncing wǒ (我) incorrectly. So thoroughly do the subtleties elude you that you may drive others into a frenzy of helpfulness—your pronunciation will practically force your target or targets to correct you, stretching their mouth in a comical fashion, gesturing at their lips, and repeating the word wǒ (我) with a slow, exaggerated, and deliberate abandon. Yet no matter how they wǒ (我) at you, and no matter how fervently you wò or wō or wƍ or even wǿǣǣǶ at them, the immaculateness of your confusion remains impenetrable to their instruction. You have 2 Edge, or increase 2 Edge to 3, on any mundane action designed to trap your target or targets in an indefinite loop of helpful corrections of this sort.
Once you develop this ability you retain it for the remainder of the story.
Man Grasping Spear (1 AMP))
Throwing an arm around the shoulders of a hopping animated spear, which you must obtain separately, and (if necessary) disguising yourself as a man, you may camouflage yourself as an instance of the character wǒ (我). You derez into a collection of apparently random lines cross-hatching the walls or objects behind you and will only be recognized as a man or disguised woman holding a hopping animated spear by those who have recently looked up the history of the character wǒ (我) on the Internet.
This is a Lesser Enchantment of Wǒ (我). It has miracle level 4 and requires your miraculous action to invoke.
This is a one-use ability. You must retreat to an appropriate fastness and contemplate “wǒ” again while spending 1 more MP before you can repeat its use.
Keanu Reeves Technique (0 AMP))
Declaring “whoa” in the inimitable fashion of Keanu Reeves, you reveal that you have totally failed to pronounce wǒ (我). You should be ashamed of yourself, and also ashamed of Keanu Reeves. Wǒ (我) is not said like “whoa” at all, but is actually more like “waaha,” only without the humorous articulation of the h. However, bear in mind that you are probably still saying it wrong, even after I have so carefully and inarticulately explained. There is only so much wǒ (我) that a blog post can explain!
In Nobilis, you may declare “whoa” and then feel ashamed of yourself as frequently and as firmly as the other players will permit.
Fake It Till You Make It (2 AMP))
Repeat the word “wǒ (我),” stretching the sound out longer and longer and in a progressively more silly tone of voice, and you will eventually trigger the “perfect tone” that makes you a real martial artist. (If you’ve ever seen someone in a movie trying to scare off their assailants by pretending to know martial arts, posing exaggeratedly, and repeatedly drawing out the word “wǒ (我),” you now understand what they were intending to achieve.) On completion of this perfect tone, which always requires at least twice the current pace of the conflict and hence cannot be performed in a flurry, you bleach your hair blond, extend it fiercely upwards, surround yourself in a coruscating nimbus of Chi, and gain the ability to perform Aspect 5-level martial arts until 30 subjective seconds have elapsed. Afterward you will suffer a Serious Wound, “Depleted,” which you may mitigate to a surface wound either with a defensive miracle or by allowing yourself to faint.
This is (also) a one-use ability. You must retreat to an appropriate fastness and contemplate or practice “wǒ” again while spending 2 more MP before you can repeat its use. Further, you cannot develop this ability again while still suffering from the wound “Depleted.”
Me, Myself, and I (2 AMP))
You have created a cunningly constructed origami you with the word “wǒ (我)” for a face. You may use a 0-MP miraculous action to possess this origami you as if using a difficulty 1 Treasure miracle on an Anchor. However, this origami you is fragile and will come apart if splashed with water, ripped by an opponent, or after three scenes of use in any case. An origami you is a mystic link to you, even if you haven’t done anything with it recently; however, a scene where someone uses that link to help, hinder, or otherwise affect you counts as a scene of the origami you’s use.
Each 2 MP constructs a single origami you. You may only have one origami you at a time—a man may only have one spear, after all—but it counts towards your ofuda cap.
Ofuda Errata
Speaking of which, let’s make that cap [Treasure rating+1], ’cause not everybody has Treasure but everybody loves ’em some ofuda.