Hitai de Bodemloze

Hitai de Bodemloze
	; ; Also known as f0ma;
Date Joined:	29/03/2013
Badges/Roles:	Citizen, Civitate, Artifex, Content Emeritus , Patrician
Patron:	Robin de Bodemloze
House:	House de Bodemloze
Patronized on:	31/08/2014
Forum Profile:	Here

Hitai de Bodemloze is a former editor of the Critic's Quill, serving in the role from March 2015 through to September 2015. He is best known on Total War Center for his creative writing and Content work, as well his service to the Curia.

Originally known as f0ma, he joined the forum in 2013 after being inspired by Robin de Bodemloze's AAR Takeda. He quickly came to make himself at home in the Writers' Study, penning his first AAR and a number of creative writing pieces. In 2014, Robin de Bodemloze became editor of the Critic's Quill, and invited Hitai to join his team as a junior staffer. After Robin's resignation from the Quill, Hitai eventually rose to the rank of Deputy Editor under his successor m_1512. Being groomed to take over the publication in light of m's upcoming promotion to the Hexagon Council, Hitai had a profound effect on the publication's philosophy, emphasizing professional literary criticism and a more theoretical examination of AAR writing. At around the same time, he also took up a position in the so-called 'Triumvirate' as part of the traditional three-man team running the Writers' Study. During this time, Hitai was awarded Citizenship under the patronisation of Robin, as one of the first Citizens appointed in the post-CdeC period. After m's promotion to Hex in 2015, Hitai was promoted to Editor of the Quill, retiring from the Writers' Study team in order to focus on the Quill full time. During his tenure as a Content Staffer and active member of the Writers' Study, Hitai was awarded an Emerald Scribe's Quill, a Gold Writers' Study Medal, the Librarian's Choice Award in the 2014 Scriptorium Writing Competition, Best Writer in the 2015 Member Awards, and a Phalera. He was the author of 22 separate reviews and articles for the Critic's Quill, making him the fourth most prolific Critic of the pre-CMS era.

Like his father's, Hitai's reign as editor was an unfortunately short one, as real life commitments forced him away from the site and eventually into retirement. Like many ex-staffers, Hitai would go on to become a regular in the Curia. In the Curia, Hitai was known as a conservative and a traditionalist, favouring the preservation of the status-quo, as well as advocating for a return to past practices and principals. He was one of the few vocal supporters of bringing back the CdeC in the modern era. Like many other conservative-minded Curialists, Hitai effectively retired from Curial politics after the passing of the Curial Overhaul 66 bill in early 2019. In his years as a Curialist, he served as a replacement Censor once in 2015, and later as a full Censor for two terms in 2018, where he was forced to take over as de facto Curator on two separate occasions in what would come to be known as the 'Winter of the Four Curators'. During this period he would also join the unfortunate ranks of Curial Officers subjected to a Vote of No Confidence - however, thankfully for him the vote failed. He would later serve an uneventful term as Magistrate in 2019, presiding over a grand total of zero cases.

Hitai now spends his time lurking the forums and occasionally posting in the Writers' Study, still trying to pen a magnum opus that might rival his father's masterpiece.

Biography

Early Years (2013 - 2014)

"For what it's worth I hope readers of my AAR support this piece of writing [The Road to Kyoto] - as a favour to me, to support a fledging writer like you once supported me - either way. The story is very good!"
—Robin de Bodemloze, Takeda - Afterthoughts: the ramblings of an accidental writer

One of Hitai's early avatars, c.2013-2014

Hitai joined Total War Center on March 9, 2013, after having stumbled across Robin de Bodemloze's AAR Takeda. After a month of lurking in the Writers' Study, Hitai eventually posted the first chapter of his own AAR, The Road to Kyoto. A Shogun II: Rise of the Samurai AAR, it traced the resurgence of the Fujiwara Clan as they sought to reassert themselves during the Genpei War. Much to his astonishment, his humble work was endorsed by Robin, who had just finished penning Takeda that year.

During this time, Hitai struck up a friendship with Merchant of Venice, another young Shogun 2 AARtist, whose own work Way of the Bow would be a source of direct competition for Hitai's own. Heavily influenced by Takeda, Hitai and Merchant formed the core of a second generation of Shogun 2 AARtists, later being joined by Tigellinus and his In the Light of Dusk. Each of them strove to emulate Takeda in both philosophy and style, in a literary movement not seen before in other spheres of AARtistry on Total War Center.

The Road to Kyoto would eventually falter and run out of steam by early 2014, as Hitai began to focus on other projects. Among these were the experimental Shogun: Mongol Invasion AAR A Thunder that Shook the Heavens, and the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim AAR By Gods' Jest. The first had been at attempt at a long-form novel style of AAR, with 8,000 words per chapter, which proved impossible to keep up. The latter was an ill-conceived love letter to several older Skyrim AARs, including Katsumoto's The Tralan Chronicles, and LuckyLewis' The Hunter of Blunders, which Hitai fast ran out of inspiration for. Neither AAR was successful, but both proved to be invaluable learning opportunities and allowed Hitai to gain a greater understanding of AARtistry.

Alongside his AARs, Hitai also dabbled in creative writing, penning several stories. Whilst some short pieces such as Trailblazers, Scions of Chrysanthemum and Senbazuru were largely failures, his Spring Morning in a Han Palace was warmly received. A diary of a Chinese courtesan, it's microfiction format using chapters of only 55 words proved to be popular, even though the story only ran from November 2013 to July 2014. A science fiction collection of stories under the banner of Dies Irae proved to be much more successful however. Running from January 2015 to March 2016 and inspired by General Retreat's earlier Pax Anglia, the short and snappy sci-fi vignettes were incredibly popular, eventually leading to a first place finish in the 10th Monthly Creative Writing Competition.

Hitai's most successful story in this period was undoubtedly however his Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai AAR Yokai. Running for 30 chapters from August 2014 through to May 2015, the supernatural tale of demons and exorcists in revolutionary Japan took second place in the 53rd and 54th Monthly AAR Competitions, and first place in the 55th and 57th iterations of the competition, often in direct competition with Merchant of Venice's Way of the Bow.

Four victories in the Tale of the Week competition (213, 225, 230 and 232) brought Hitai's tally of Writers' Study points to 33, earning him the Writers' Study Gold Medal.

Serving the Site (2014 - 2016)

A Critic in Training

In the summer of 2013 Robin de Bodemloze became editor of the Critic's Quill, replacing the venerable Juvenal, who had just retired after three years overseeing the publication. As part of his efforts to revitalize the team, Robin invited Hitai to join Content Staff. Impressed by some of the poetry Hitai had been working on in the Study, Robin asked Hitai to help cover the regular reviews of the Scriptorium Competition winners. Hitai made his debut as a critic in Issue 38 of the Quill, reviewing General Brewster's poem For My Lady. Alongside this, he also produced a requested review for Lorem Ipsum's Empire: Total War AAR A People, but a Nation?.

Robin resigned from his position as editor shortly after the publication of Issue 38, and control of the Quill fell to m_1512, already a veteran staffer. Following this change and having proven himself in his first articles, Hitai was allowed more free reign to choose which topics he wanted to cover. In January 2014, Hitai and Merchant of Venice exchanged reviews of their Shogun 2 AARs, whereafter Hitai built upon his knowledge of Shogun 2 artistry to publish a two-part series entitled An Author's Guide to East Asia, which discussed how AARtists could go about writing stories set in an Asian setting.

By Issue 42, published in June 2014, Hitai began to regularly cover the Writers' Study news, a long standing tradition of the Quill which he hoped to revive. Owing to his hard work, Hitai was promoted to Deputy Editor at the end of that month.

Joining the Triumvirate

A Sheriff and his Deputy

The Editor Ascendant

A Conservative in the Curia (2017 - 2020)

Fighting the Good Fight

The Winter of the Four Curators

"We vote people in to take decisions in our name. That is precisely what Hitai did. He even followed the Constitution to the letter and he even took care of a possible unconstitutional participation of the referred. He performed his office in a very considerate, calm and over all commendable manner and he did so with the utmost integrity."
—Aikanar, Vote of No Confidance (VONC) - Hitai de Bodemloze #13

The Curia had scarcely recovered from the Hotseat Scandal when fresh drama would unravel. After four back-to-back terms as Curator, General Brewster finally stepped down in September. PikeStance ran unopposed as his replacement and was elected Curator on 20 September 2018. A week later Hitai ran unopposed to secure his second term as Censor. However, before PikeStance could even take up his position, he was removed from office after receiving a Curial warning on September 30. Various disputes had erupted in the aftermath of the Hotseat Scandal that saw Gaming Staff taking a lot of criticism from many quarters, including from the nascent Curator. Hitai, along with atthias, opted to give PikeStance a Curial warning, after comments of his were found to be unbecoming of a citizen. PikeStance, having been unable to access the Politia or prosecute his duties whilst his referral had been underway, was removed from office and his term marks one of the shortest in Curial history. Hitai, as the senior Censor, would take over as acting Curator.

Hitai's avatar from 2018-2020

However, the removal of PikeStance as Curator led to a period of chaos that few could have anticipated. Whilst PikeStance immediately elected to appeal Hitai and atthias' decision, Hitai himself became subject to a Vote of No Confidence, put forward by Nicholas Rush. Although support for Hitai was overwhelming, Hitai himself admitted the Vote had some merit. During PikeStance's referral, he had consulted with General Brewster over how best to interpret the Constitution with regard to whether a Curial warning would lead to a removal of office for PikeStance. His actions here skirted the boundaries of SND; whilst usually it would undoubtedly have constituted a breach of office and an abuse of power, General Brewster had been allowed continued access to the Politia in this period owing to an administrative oversight, which meant he was already privy to the circumstances of PikeStance's referral. Furthermore, Hitai had deliberately misconstrued an article of the Constitution that mandated that the Censor whose term was closest to ending should take over in the absence of a Curator. However, as Hitai was now into his second term and was the more senior of the pair, he chose to take on this responsibility himself - partially to shield atthias from a potential VonC, which - given the state of the Curia at that time, as well as the ambiguities surrounding PikeStance's removal - he saw as a likely consequence of their actions.

The VonC was eventually withdrawn without going to vote, but Hitai's problems were far from over. Whilst he attempted to ensure the day-to-day running of the Curia and begin elections for the new Curator, a chaotic period of bitter sniping erupted between different Curial factions, leaving Hitai and atthias no fewer than nine separate referrals to deal with that October. For differing reasons, several of these referrals mandated that both Hitai and atthias recuse themselves, requiring the drafting in of temporary Censors; elections won by Veteraan and Settra respectively.

Aikanar beat out General Brewster to become the new Curator in October. However, as Aikanar tried to steady the ship, PikeStance brought a Vote of No Confidence against him at the beginning of November, for a supposed overreach of Curial powers, after he had dismissed Pontifex Maximus' Vote of No Confidence against then-Moderator Katsumoto. Despite widespread opposition to the vote, it was nevertheless enough for Aikanar to tender his resignation.

After Aikanar's resignation, Hitai was once again forced to take over as acting Curator. However, the passing of the Ostrakon bill and the subsequent removal of Citizen referrals left Hitai and atthias will little work left as Censors, although they did run into trouble regarding whether or not they should still be arbitrating open cases from before the passage of the bill. After this, Hitai had simply to put in motion the next election for Curator. Eventually, ex-Content Hex and Hitai's old boss StealthFox was elected Curator in late November, becoming the fourth and final of the Four Curators that winter.

Hitai would not seek re-election when his term came to an end in January, and it was clear that the Curia had been broken by the Hotseat Scandal and the Winter of Four Curators. A change was needed, although neither Hitai nor anyone else in the Curia could have predicted what was going to happen next.

The End of the Line

"Instead of looking for ways to restore culture, we work to destroy it."
—PikeStance, Curial Overhaul Order 66 #142

Post-Order 66 Contributions

"Order 66 led to something of a clean slate for the Curia though, at least inasmuch as it killed off what remaining hopes there were for a return to the 'good old days' - whatever that term meant to people. And with that, those ideas held by a broad part of the conservative and traditionalist wing of the citizenry became untenable, so much so that many of us are now rather disinclined to keep participating."
—Hitai de Bodemloze, This and That About the Curia #31

After having retired from Curial politics, Hitai only returned to the Curia several times, largely to complain about the current state of affairs and the supposed failings of Order 66.

In October 2019, after seeing that no applications were forthcoming, Hitai put himself forward for the Magistrate's position to replace TheDarkKnight, whose term had just come to an end. Hitai would run against PikeStance, beating the elder Curialist by 5 votes to 3. His term was largely uneventful however, as it came during a general lull in disciplinary activity following the permanent banning of several high profile debaters and repeat offenders. General Brewster would replace Hitai in February 2020.

In April of that year, several discussions began about the state and future of the Curia, including Imperator Majora's This and That about the Curia and Finlander's Strategic Vision of TWC. Although pessimistic about his chances and largely resigned to the fact that his era of the Curia was ended, he nevertheless posted several times to share his thoughts. After receiving positive feedback, Hitai designed and proposed his own strategic vision for the site and the Curia, entitled House Cup 2.0. This proposal was in effect an expanded and improved version of Inkie and Derpy Hooves' 2014 House Cup proposal. In the proposal, Hitai advocated for a re-imagining of the Curia along social lines, wherein the Houses of Total War Center could mobilize to organize competitions and social events in order to inspire sustained site-wide activity. Despite some positive feedback, it failed to effectively galvanize the Curia or attract the requisite enthusiasm to make it possible, with a general consensus that it would be too much work. Hitai abandoned the proposal, content nevertheless that he had however, - at long last -, finally put his money where his mouth was and put forward his own vision for change.

Hitai still hopes to one day return to his project in the Living History Forum, Xiao shuo, a complete history of the Writers' Study during his heyday from 2013 to 2015. He is also hoping to write an expansive history of the modern Curia, from the abolition of the CdeC through to the promulgation of Order 66. Aside from these projects, he no longer actively participates in the Curia.

Returning to the Study (2020 - Present)

Hitai's avatar in autumn 2020

"I have been threatening for over a year now that I'll return to write my magnum opus..."
—Hitai de Bodemloze, Private Correspondence, 2018

During his Curial years, Hitai had sporadically participated in his old stomping ground of the Writers' Study, penning two abortive AARs. These were the 2015 Yue Fei, a Medieval II: Total War AAR using the Chinese language Shaoding: The Road to Luoyang mod, and the 2019 Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim AAR Reforged. Neither were successful, but both provided Hitai with valuable experience and served as effective lessons in experimental AARtistry that he would be able to take forward into the future.

In November 2018 Hitai won Tale of the Week 285: Haunted and, later in April 2019, Tale of the Week 290: Colonialism. These victories brought Hitai to 35 Writers' Study points, making him the joint highest point's earner in Writers' Study history, alongside his old friend and rival Merchant of Venice.

After many years away, Hitai announced his formal return to the Writers' Study community in October 2020 with a new Shogun 2 AAR entitled Osaka, a retelling of the famous historical siege of Osaka in 1614-1615. He has tentatively stated that he hopes this AAR will be the one he is finally able to finish.

Personality and Relationships

When Hitai first joined the forum, whilst not what anyone would call immature, he was certainly an upbeat and exuberant poster, and his posts were often adorned with a surfeit of smilies and emoticons. Likewise, when he first joined the Curia, he was a rather indecisive figure, often easily swayed by the arguments of others and unable to properly articulate himself. However, after several years his posting style matured considerably - partly perhaps because of getting older, but also perhaps borne out of continued debates with influential Curialists. Nevertheless, rumours persist to this day that behind the scenes in private threads he returns to his old ways. Thankfully for him, due to Staff Nondisclosure Agreements these rumours cannot be verified. He is also noted for always using female/androgynous avatars on the forum, although this doesn't seem to have had much of any bearing on how he has ever conducted himself. He probably just thinks they're cute.

Coming of age in the 2013-2015, much of Hitai's generation no longer posts on Total War Center. He counts among his old friends Merchant of Venice, Tigellinus and McScottish, all of whom were active when Hitai began posting in the Study, as well as m_1512, who he worked closely with on the Quill for over a year. These days he still maintains close ties with Content and its current Hex Admins, Alwyn and Caillagh de Bodemloze. Among Curialists, he is previously known to have stated that he holds Halie Satanus, Iskar, Aikanar and General Brewster in especially high esteem.

Hitai is one of the strongest and most vocal proponents of the House system, and is known to take a considerable amount of pride in being a de Bodemloze. He has been a strong advocate for his family, and can become noticeably upset when they are in any way slighted.

Curial Ideology

In the Curia, Hitai was one of the most prominent conservative voices of the post-CdeC era. He was an advocate for maintaining the Curial status quo and frequently opposed bills that he believed would bring about too radical a change - up to and including the abolition of the Curia. Despite his defense of the Triumvirate system, he was also one of the few vocal supporters of the CdeC, and frequently voiced his desire for its return. He never put forward any proposal to this effect however. Although he is a conservative and a traditionalist, his opinions often clashed with those of other conservatives. A more socially minded conservative, Hitai was a long time advocate of the House and Patron systems, as well as Curial roleplaying, which often brought him into conflict with other conservatives who often desired a more empowered Curia as an administrative counterweight to the Hexagon Council. Despite these differences, he was nevertheless part of a conservative bloc that resisted the opening of the Prothalamos for over four years, before their eventual defeat in Order 66. As a former member of Content Staff, Hitai was also a member of the Content Lobby in the Curia, and was often involved in supporting proposals and citizenship applications from his old staff branch.

Hitai only ever drafted two proposals: the first to open up the Living History Forum so that all citizens could contribute, and the second his ill-fated House Cup 2.0 initiative. He has been on record as having said he regrets not doing more whilst he still had the chance.

Voting Record

New Usertitles provided by MMFA (Nov. 2014)- Support
Patrons voting in their own citizen proposals (Jan. 2015) - Support
Votes of No Confidence (Apr. 2015) - Support
Open the Prothalamos to all full members with no active infractions (Mar. 2016) - Oppose
Abolition of the Triumvirate (Mar. 2016) - Oppose
Change in the procedure for referrals (Apr. 2016) - Oppose
Resignation of Awards Change (HigoChumbo's proposal) (May. 2016) - Support
The citizens handbook (Mar. 2018) - Support
Patrician Class (Apr. 2018) - Support
Constitutional Amendment - Quaestiones Perpetuae (Apr. 2018) - Abstain
Open the Living History Forum (Apr. 2018) - Support
Wub Censor Smiley Alternative (Apr. 2018) - Oppose
Constitutional Amendment: Section I - Footnote 2 (Apr. 2018) - Oppose
Welcoming Letter for New Members (May 2018) - Support
Archive the CA Forum (May 2018) - Oppose
Political Meandering (May 2018) - Support
Alternate Modding Staff Proposal (Sep. 2018) - Support
Gaming Service Shield (Medal) Decision 1 (Sep.2018) - Oppose
Gaming Community Badge Act (Part 1) (Sep. 2018) - Oppose
Post of the Fortnight (Nov. 2018) - Abstain
Remove Citizen Referrals and Reintroduce Ostraka (Nov. 2018) - Abstain
Open the Prothalamos to full members with no active infractions (Nov. 2018) - Oppose
Restructuring the Site Leader Page (Nov. 2018) - Abstain
Curia Description Changes (Nov. 2018) - Support
Dual Consulship & Aedile Act (Nov. 2018) - Oppose
The House of Noble Discourse (Dec. 2018) - Support
Repurpose the Consilium de Civitate and Hookers and Blackjack Forums (Dec. 2018) - Support
Rename Curator to Consul (Dec. 2018) - Oppose
Curial Overhaul Order 66 (Feb. 2019) - Oppose
Troy Badges Competition (May 2020) - Support
Wub Censor Smiley Replacement with Cookiegod icon (Aug. 2020) - Oppose
Augustus Brewster (Sep. 2020) - Oppose

Current/Former Badges and Roles

Badge	Description
	2014 - present.
	2018 - present.
	2018 - present.
	Content Staffer for the Writers' Study and the Critic's Quill, later Deputy Editor of the Critic's Quill, 2013 - 2015.
	Content Director for the Critic's Quill, briefly Content Director for the Helios, 2015 - 2016.
	2018 - present (Phalera awarded in 2016).
	Three terms, 2015, 2018 - 2019.
	One term, 2019 - 2020.

Awards Achieved

Award	Type	Reason
	Phalera	Awarded for exceptional contribution in the Content and associated areas of the TWC boards amongst many other stellar contributions, please accept this with out thanks. Received on March 19, 2016.
	Scribe's Quill (Emerald)	For your stellar work in Content and a progressive reign in the CQ. Our thanks and a small quill as our appreciation and hope for your return to staff. Received on September 23, 2015.
	2015 Member Award Winner	Awarded for winning Best Writer in the 2015 Site Awards. Congratulations! Received on May 30, 2016.
	Scriptorium Writing Competition Librarian's Choice	For The Presidence of Ambriel, Librarian's Choice in the 2014 Scriptorium Summer Writing Competition! Congratulations! Received on November 23, 2014.
	Writers Study Competition Medal (Gold)	Received on April 28, 2015.

Trivia

Contrary to popular belief, the name 'Hitai' does not come from Japanese, but actually instead from Persian.
At last count, Hitai is one of only five people to use the vB4 Default skin on the forums - the least popular skin. However, as he is in the company of GrnEyedDvl, he believes he has made the correct choice.
Is the only staff member of the Critic's Quill to ever have had to review one of his own pieces of writing.
Was once the sole contributor of articles for an issue of the Critic's Quill - the only time in the history of any Content publication where this has happened.
Despite not being patronized for his modding or debating ability (as he doesn't have any), he is a member of both the Artifex and Civitate Groups. This is a holdover from when he served as de facto Curator.
Is one of the few members to have the Tournaments Joined and Tournaments Won tabs listed underneath his avatar on the forums. This is owing to his having participated in the now defunct TWC Olympics in 2014, where he was knocked out in the semi-finals of the Chess category by someone he still suspects to have cheated.

This article is about a member of TWC. Members are usually responsible for updating their own pages as they wish, therefore the information shown may not be up-to-date.
For current staff list see here. For current citizens list see here.

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Hitai de Bodemloze

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