Chapter 16 end curiosities

Quite the silly curiosities today.

Castalia is reading without glasses? Remember, she uses a reading stone. The drawing is quite small but she is holding something on the page, in fact we only see one hand holding the book and the other one is not holding the page on top but it's inside the book instead.

To see how she holds the stone you would have to go back to the scene where she overhears Kes and Wes talking.

In the next panel the hand holding onto the book is not stretched but curved. That's because the stone is between her hand and a book cover.

So she is reading a book about herbs, then wants to switch to Shakespeare. As I previously stated, Kane has some of the bad quartos and probably many more pirated versions of Shakespeare's books.

Remember how previously Castalia had surpassed Fickle in the list of Kane's favorite things? This is when she surpasses books.

In the course of our lives we always underestimate how important the network of love and affection around us impact on our decisions and on so many other things.

People who have nothing and no one ends up living an existence that makes them invisible at the eyes of others and sometimes they lose their minds too.

This man has 2 brothers, 3 friends, a crew of twenty and nothing more. It's a very small network that he tries to enlarge and keep dearly close to him. Even so, being a guy, he thinks they respect him and are loyal to him... mostly. This kitty here loves him and she told him so.

There are times, in the life of a man, where everything comes down crumbling like a castle made of cards... sometimes in a bad way, other times it's a very good thing. This is the case.

This is a more important gesture than it looks like.

Oh yeah, you got the reference, it's not the first time I use it... I am a sucker for Snowhite! XDDD

There is something primordial about the scene where the witch tempts Snowhite with a red juicy apple and she takes it... Eve made the same mistake and look where we are now, LOL.

Apples are symbol of temptation and corruption... maybe.

Beware of apples! They look innocent but they are evil! Muahr ahr ahr!

Pea is a bit funny in this portion of chapter but she never lacked a sense of humor, even though she is a proper lady. Let's not forget the "everybody vs. the doctor" card game and also that she played the part of the little devil when teasing Westley with Calli as the little angel.

The "good boy, good boy" bit we saw in the aunties... was something she used to do with Cassandra (poor Foxy always the victim). In short she is part of the devilish duo so a bit of mischief is to be expected from her.

Now here the gossip concerns Kane so she is very curious about it. Let's not forget she already stated she doesn't like blond men and if he were to act like a Duke, instead of a pirate, she would probably crash land on him. But he is a pirate and that's enough to make her say - twice already - "what a waste" and keep her with her feet on the ground, attached to reality. Nevertheless she is still curious.

Okay, while Lio and Calli perform a reprise of the little comical bit we saw in chapter 8... Kane states and extremely Italian concept.

A lot of proverbs and sayings, in Italian, are related to theatrical performances of sort: street performance, marionettes, commedia dell'arte and so forth.

We use these sentences, particularly in Sicilian, to refer to several actions like: unpack (to close the show and collect the marionettes), be noisy and feisty (performing the opera dei pupi) to the most typical don't open a show by yourself, don't be theatrical and so on.

There are two possible explanations as to why one should never perform in front of the comedians (in this case a company of actors, and when referring to Calli and Lio Kane always thinks of them as a company of actors not a comical duo or comediennes in the modern acception of the term.)... can you think of any?

The Pirate Balthasar - Chapter 16 END

Because today shall be a very long day for me... I must anticipate the release by a lot!

I hope you enjoy it. This chapter marks the end of the volume as well. Which means we are finally entering the final volume of the story. (as usual click on the title of the post to go and read on Smack Jeeves).

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Chapter 16 C curiosities

There aren't many curiosities this week, except for the fact that Pifo now kinda switched sides (LOL, yes, he is still gay but for some reason he's not in the girls' club anymore).

In fact this is the remark that gets him kicked out and sent directly to boys' night. It's the second strike! He had already commented on Kes being cruel.

Don't you know, Pifo? During girls' night you always take your sisssttaaaas' side! ;P Welcome QT to the club.

Okay, so Kane was still very vague with the flowers and bees, but Castalia is really super dense.

Anyways now she knows... so what's next?

The other detail that doesn't show up very much in the previous page is that Rose gets to have her flashback anyways... but instead of remembering her first time with Jack, not another Unchained Moolody, she finally remembers that Kes had not been very nice between the bushes.

So she's all like, Moooo, I remember you: you got to pee!

Kes can be pretty scary!

Alright, it was a short update. We learned a bit of the differences between the girls and also that Kane is the kind of guy that would boast about everything except intimacy (whether he has a intimate life or not).

The End

The pirate Balthasar - Chapter 16 C

Mistakes and typos fixed and here we go with our freshly squeezed update.
Enjoy.

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Flowers and bees curiosities.

This week is a bit frustrating having to write the curiosities. I watched some of the recent TV-shows, that just aired, and found them to be completely flat, simple and rather boring. No brainer, really!

At one point, one realizes, also from comments here and there, that smart writers have it easier than intelligent writers. People will nit-pick at the smallest, most insignificant details and completely loose track of the big picture anyway, so why put a big picture to begin with?

Relying on this lack of memory allows such shows to go on for ever and ever without anybody realizing that the same character is doing one thing in episode 8 and its opposite in episode 12.

Why bother constructing?

Anyways I don't give up because I write essentially for myself and I write because I don't find gratification as a consumer. Nobody has created something fit for my brains or suitable for my emotions in quite a while, therefore I must compensate by drawing and writing the stuff I have always wanted to see.

Ah! Yes. Back to the curiosities.

Callista went to see the doctor because it's the day after and whether she is not feeling alright or she just want to make sure everything went right we must not forget one thing: this ship is under strict doctatorship! Anyways she follows Wes' order of: nobody suffers in silence.

As simple as that.

She is a smart girl and explained what happened. Hence the doctor's surprised reaction: ah!

The joke is old... and she also said it wrong... at the risk of sounding anti-Semite.

Clearly what is the word she was supposed to use? Gentile, precisely.

Funny enough the reaction from Kane and Wes is not on her mistake anymore (it's like they are getting to used to her) but on the joke itself.

Dried figs are supersweet. Like... honey coated dried fruits.

In a way they are saying that the scene is too sweet, diabetes anyone? Duh! But also dried figs have been a well known snack since ancient times. In fact they were sold as snacks in amphitheaters during Greek plays or in Rome during the games in the Coliseums and other Circuses.

Why not the usual phrase: the birds and the bees?

Aside from the fact that the sentence as we know it came to be pretty late, and due to a famous pamphlet, this scene is building towards a silly misunderstanding that will culminate in the next release... hence I will not anticipate too much.

I can only tell you that Kane is to be taken literally: he is talking about flowers and bees.

If he says so it must be true.

Not even his brother, not even his father or his mother... surely this has nothing to do with the literal "full name going in the same sentence with the word love".

This is about actually hearing somebody professing affection openly and with sincere heart to you.

This is Kane being touched and moved. That's the true realization.

The Pirate Balthasar - Chapter 16 B

I hope everybody enjoyed a Happy Halloween.
I know I did... I scared everybody like there's not tomorrow (so evil muah ah ah).

As usual, click on the title of the post if you prefer to read the release on Smackjeeves.

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Chapter 16 - Curiosities

"If the mountain..." (I think I wrote this sentence the other way around in the Italian version and I shall have to fix that, LOL).

This proverb was chosen because of its being coeval to the story itself in the first place. Although it has always been attributed to the Prophet Mohammad it was actually something that Francis Bacon first mentioned in one of his essays.

The second reason I chose it it's because, being Cat Egyptian (not black African), he was probably raised a Muslim. Chances are that if the butt bucket was not introduced by the previous pirate Balthasar, grandpa Cosimo, it would have been introduced it. Currently there are 3 Muslims on board - although Cat does not really believe, traditions and how you have been raised become habits: Cat, Yusuf (the tall guy with the pointy nose) and Husein (the short guy with the turban).

The third reason I chose this it's because of it's literal meaning... I think it's very direct and to the point. Not to mention poignant.

Somnambulism... is a real disease but it was not taken seriously or not seriously treated until the XIX century.

But we know from Shakespeare that people knew it existed!

Most of the time the action done during the condition of sleep walking is not connected to subconscious will at all. In fact, if you consider for example, La Sonnambula by Bellini... Amina really does not have reason to walk in the sleep, she is not guilt ridden and she does not care for Rodolfo either... she simply walks. Most modern cases are completely not connected to the person's wishes either.

In our case is Callista driven by the"troubled heart" sentence she overhears in her sleep or did she miss Cat so much that she went to see him? Was she simply so sleep deprived that the sleepwalking condition kicked in or was she only half asleep? Who knows... it went well anyways.

Remember the line: outside of danger everyone acts cool?

I think it also applies to love advise. How many times you go to a friend to ask: what should I do? - and they tell you: you should tell him.

Which is something they would never do themselves. LOL There you have it!

Lio has had a nice conversation with Foxy but much like Kes she has not said the "L" word yet, neither has Castalia. Ironically enough all these emotionally constipated and clueless women are pushing the little sister to go ahead and confess. Turns out Callista really is the bravest girl on Earth! Ha ha ha.

Pudic. Funny enough while other online dictionary don't have a clear definition except the one related to pudendal... wikitionary has the same definition as my old Oxford Dictionary.

Clear proof that old books and paper still are better than the web, when it comes to content (also proves that the web needs to go semantic and that the google engine is getting worse and worse day by day).

Btw I just came out of class where I told my students: If I say a complicated word and you don't know what it means... please stop me and ask me so that I may answer: go get a dictionary!!! - that's what my teacher always told me when I was a kid XDD it was the best thing that ever happened to me, let me return the favor. (honestly, I think it makes people more proactive).

The contemporary version of it would be: do not panic, google it! Ha ha ha.

As somebody already noticed on Smack Jeeves, Cat and Callista's story is a palindrome (go get your dictionary, now XD). But while Cat was physically giving things to Callista to help her metaphorically, Callista is emotionally giving help to Cat to raise him up psychologically.

Starting with the key point that these two are the same, share the same view and see each other like a reflection in the mirror, Cat develops immediate understanding and thinks: I have been there, I can help.

Callista, by reaction, enters as a round and does the same in return: I have been there, I can help.

So if he physically gave her shoes of the same size - metaphorically gave her legs to walk.

She gave him a feeling of the same size - metaphorically gave him legs to walk too.

The whole thing is also about them walking - hand in hand - without tripping (Callista on tongue and feet and Cat on low self esteem). He gave her his hand first, the second time, on the island, when he did not know what to do... she was the one who reached out and stretched her hand out to him.

Of course when you get comfy shoes, no matter how comfy they are you still have to get used to the fact you have comfy shoes, especially if you did not have them before. So it might take a few days to adjust (but luckily the shoes - in this case Callista - know how to put you at ease by being at ease) Cat is still a bit out of it, actually not a bit... he is so much out of it that he forgets his most important headband!!!

In short his waking up and rushing to work is the most gigantic "HUH?" he ever uttered.

But Callista, being the smart girl she actually is, since she understands that what they have been through is a delicate moment in life for both of them bur requires adjustment, decides to remove any form of embarrassment and puts the blame on the hair being too long. Isn't she a cutie?

The Pirate Balthasar - Chapter 16 A

Alright people,
here we go!

The release is out and you can click on the title of the post to read it on Smack Jeeves or follow the flash file to Issuu to download the pdf. (although I will be uploading the finished chapter in the download section once it's done - about to upload chapter 15 btw)

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Hype~! Cover chapter 16!

Take this!

Muah ah ah ah! Is this spoiler? Is this hype? No, it's sheer cruelty (and after this post I will receive tons of phone calls from WWF and Greenpeace!).

Who knows what this really means though.... maybe I am just teasing you, maybe I am cheating... can you trust a smiling pirate? Never trust a smiling pirate!

I gotta go and fix the google calendar now, for some reason it got messed up again (I think it doesn't like being synchronize with outlook).