Tag: fantasy

Pop Culture and Japan

Fire Water Of The Kamuni: Burash

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Japanese spirits like shochu aren’t that well-known in Western countries. But when you develop a taste for shochu, it’s easy to disappear down the rabbit hole and drinking the spirit has inspired the creation of a spirit for my horror world of The Frontier.

No matter where you come from on The Frontier, alcohol is the great equaliser, playing a vital role in religion, politics and everyday life. The same goes for the kamuni, who use alcohol as a way to be closer to their beliefs, celebrate and mark important milestones.

A popular drink within kamuni culture is burash, a type of spirit that can be made from several ingredients and has a huge range of flavour profiles.

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Pop Culture and Japan

Unlocking The Mysteries Of Tinek And The Secret Brewing Techniques Of The Kamuni

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The drinking traditions of different cultures is fascinating and Japanese sake is one of the most unique beverages on the planet. I enjoy drinking it so much that it inspired the creation of a fantastical drink that fits into the world of The Frontier, a horror western universe inhabited by monsters and gunslingers.

Tinek is the spirtual drink of the kamuni and you can learn more about it here.

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Pop Culture and Japan

Cultural Displacement And Complex Identities: An Overview Of The Kamuni

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Japanese culture has had a big impact on me. Hell, it inspired the creation of Yamato Magazine and it’s been influential in crafting a world in which I’ve been able to publish my debut novella AT THE DEAD OF DUSK. Set within a dark western world called The Frontier, the novella follows an infamous witch hunter transporting a young woman across dangerous terrain.

When creating The Frontier, I dipped into my love of Japanese culture and created a group of people called kamuni. Much of the kamuni’s history has been inspired by the Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan who have their origins in Hokkaido. Read on to discover more about the kamuni.

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Flights Of Fantasy

Flights Of Fantasy: Geralt Of Rivia

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Geralt of Rivia.

When it comes to sake, there’s something magical about drinking Japan’s national drink. The same can be said for shochu, which is produced from a huge range of ingredients that create different flavour profiles. 

Geralt of Rivia is a character who’d develop a taste for shochu and here’s a Flights Of Fantasy edition that showcases the kind of styles The White Wolf would enjoy.

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Flights Of Fantasy

Flights Of Fantasy: Kest Murrowson

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Japanese sake can be interpreted in many different ways and a perspective that I like to associate it with is fantasy. From the magical koji mould that’s vital to producing sake, to the heart and soul brewers put into their craftsmanship, there’s definitely a fantastical element to Japan’s national drink, which is where the inspiration for Flights Of Fantasy comes from.

The segment pairs sake with different fantasy characters, revealing their motivations and the stories behind the bottles. This edition of Flights Of Fantasy focuses on Kest Murrowson, a member of the main trio from Sebastien De Castell’s acclaimed The Greatcoats series.

A man of logic, stoicism and tremendous fighting ability, Kest’s sake flights feature drinks with hidden depths.

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Poetry

Psycho Samurai

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Psycho Samurai produced by Photography Fables.

When you go into the city at night

Beware the psycho samurai

Dread hunter of the dark

Who stalks the backstreets and alleyways

Where righteous folk fear to tread

They say he was a good man once

As honourable as the day is long

Others whisper of the madness that always beat in his chest

Tempered by a woman

His geisha love

Her loss broke the chains of sanity

Now he roams

Wraith like

Waging war on the wicked 

Sword singing for blood

An unquenchable thirst for vengeance

Flights Of Fantasy

Flights Of Fantasy: Brasti Goodbow

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Brasti Goodbow.

Flights Of Fantasy matches sake with different fantasy characters, using bottles that compliment personality and motivations. If there were ever a character who liked to discover new drinks and get thoroughly sloshed it’s Brasti Goodbow from Sebastien De Castell’s The Greatcoats series. 

Irreverent, impulsive and supremely confident in his mastery of the bow, Brasti is the kind of guy who’d make an excellent drinking buddy. His sake flights are brash, masculine and have more to them than meets the eye.

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Flights Of Fantasy

Flights Of Fantasy: Falcio Val Mond

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Flights of Fantasy creates a saking tasting menu based on the personalities of different fantasy characters. Falcio Val Mond from Sebastien De Castell’s The Greatcoats series is one of my favourite fantasy heroes because of his complexity, stubborn idealism and swashbuckling attitude. 

The First Cantor of The Greatcoats has dedicated his life to bringing justice to his homeland of Tristia, so his choices of sake would be loud, indomitable and have an air of adventure.

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Flights Of Fantasy

Flights Of Fantasy: Jaime Lannister

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Jaime Lannister.

Flights of Fantasy examines sake through the lens of the fantasy genre, pairing bottles with different characters. Many styles of nihonshu are complex, echoing the personality of characters like A Song of Ice And Fire’s Jaime Lannister. 

The Kingslayer is a multifaceted character of many contradictions. This means his sake flights would have the same kind of rich layers that need to be stripped back slowly to truly understand who Jaime Lannister is as a man and a drinker.

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Flights Of Fantasy

Flights Of Fantasy: Daenerys Targaryen

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There’s something magical about sake. From production right up until it’s poured into a glass, the mystical qualities of nihonshu deserve to be celebrated and that is where Flights of Fantasy comes in. It’s a series that imagines the sake that different characters from fantasy literature would drink as an extension of their own personalities and motives.

Daenerys Targaryen is one of the most well-known fantasy characters of the last decade and her quest to retake her birthright has been forged in fire and blood. Such a single-minded pursuit is thirsty work, so let’s look at the sake she’d drink.

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