Warning: In this post you'll learn about my ignorance.
Yay, a package from Malaysia!
I entailed myself to a consuming ban for some months this year. Too much on my bookshelf, on my DVD-rack, too many games unplayed - not to speak of ebooks. It was a refreshing experience, albeit a hard one at times.
I heard of
A thousand thousand islands (ATTI) on G+, as with many gaming products I buy.
+Zedeck Siew had been on my "RPG"-circle for some time and I followed him and his partner in this product,
+Mun Kao, with great interest. When Zedeck posted that the zines are available (again?), I did not hesitate and ordered them. Payment was solved via PayPal. Shipment was fast, considering the long journey the zines had to take.
Some days ago I found this little brown envelope lying before my door. The envelope was damaged, the zines were unharmed, though. I browsed through the A5/half-letter-sized zines and smirked. I loved them, even though I only read a few sentences - certainly Mun Kaos genius pencil-art had something to do with this, too.
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| My smartphones camera sucks... |
What did I know about the setting the zines alluded to? Not much, I have to say. It is a long-time project, the zines are only a tiny part of it. It shows us the authors image of an original southeast Asian (SEA) fantasy world. It is generously illustrated by a talented person. Zedeck(?) uses the terms counter-colonialism and pre-colonialism in his posts about the setting.
Wait, southeast Asia...
What do I know? Ah. I like the cuisine! Ok, I like the cuisine of some parts of this vast region I know of.
Uhm, I don't know if the region is strictly defined - yes (thanks
Wikipedia). Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia - yeah, I like the cuisine.
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| Malaysian cuisine brought to me by... an american |
There has to be more I know. Wait, I studied medicine! No, this doesn't help much. The high number of HIV-infections in this region is the only thing I really remember. Sex-tourism comes to mind.
One of my best friends, Swentie, is half-Filipina.
Another friend went on a backpack-trip - Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia(?). She said the people were wonderful, friendly, and open-minded (which, speaking as a German, is a thing of note. We tend to be a little grumpy here).
.svg/550px-Southeast_Asia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png) |
Von Keepscases - Eigenes Werk,
CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8636461 |
Ah, another thing: Many religions! Buddhism is probably the reason for the veggie-recipes I like so much. Zedeck mentioned Ramadan once in his posts, so Islam is a thing, too. Hinduism probably. Christianity? Probably, I don't associate it with SEA, though.
For my western eyes, they have beautiful scripts-characters. For my western ears, the languages sound alien, sometimes funny.
That's about it.
I don't know shit about SEA. And what I know comes from second- to third-hand sources.
I mean, I don't know shit about south-America. And probably half-a-dozen other, big regions of this world. But right now, I am confronted with SEA. With pre-colonialism SEA.
How can it be, that I consider myself an open-minded and cultured man and know so little of a region with over 600 million people living in? Okay, somehow I became a radiologist, this surely consumed time. Really bad geography and history classes
could be an explanation (and mine were
so bad). But I guess it is more the fact that exactly these classes happened more than 20 years ago. Since then, I learned - and probably thought - with my belly.
What Zedeck and Mun Kao are creating with their setting is wonderful. For me, it is a strange yet compelling world... evocative with every short sentence. My mind-theatre is working full-time since I read
Kraching. Shivers are running down my spine when I retell the stories in
Hantu (which seems to be setting the tone for the supernatural in ATTI without being closely attached to it). This is a setting I want to play so much, which I want to read more about...
...which I
need to read more about.
When I read a euro-centric fantasy book, I can probably start playing right away. My mind is slow these days, but it produces enough ideas to fill an interesting evening for my friends. I feel at home and safe.
My biggest fear with these wonderful zines, with this most promising setting is that I cannot help but fall back to the non-informed preconceptions I have of SEA and therefore of the roots of ATTI. I would fill in the blanks with other clichés I got from other Asian countries (India and Japan come to mind - oh, please, let me not check the facts I know of these countries).
I know that a zine, no matter how awesome, cannot fill the blanks I speak of. I'll have to read about SEA in other places. But, Zedeck (and Mun Kao), I will consume every piece of "knowledge" you give me via A thousand thousand islands, for that I feel more at home and safe in your fantasy world and probably in SEA.
F
BUY THE ZINES
HERE.
[EDIT]
The more I think about SEA, the more things I "remember". But they all have some things in common - they are either news from western media (like terrorism by the Abu Sayyaf, natural disasters or the pope visiting), things I "learned" from other media or various tropes. There is little if nothing from SEA-natives. All through the lens of the western world. Films from SEA might be of use for my attempt to know more about SEA, but I think I only know Ong Bak and Art of the Devil - recommendations are welcome. Same goes for books, they need to be translated to english or german, though.[/EDIT]
