#Activism and Peace Work

[coyotepoet]

Need unity. Please vote. Colors...

Colors… (The new world is here. Let’s be kind to each. Call someone you miss. Help the people you can. I pray our leaders are helping our brothers and sisters countries. Be a friend. If someone is afraid. Call Johnnie. I wrote this poem in 1978 and added some lines.) Black, white, brown and yellow. What is the different? I am so tire of the colors, tossed in my face. Isn’t a man, just a man, a…

[slowtumbling]

Am I a Peace PRAYtivist?

Reprinted from PeaceSigns October 26, 2016 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)The term “peace activist” itself offers me a clue as to why I seem to be rather imbalanced when it comes to living a life of peace.“Activist” implies action, working for peace, and though that is a good thing in my book, I often find myself wondering why it is so…

[melanielynngriffin]

Magical Years - Happy 2024!!

Hi friends! I haven’t posted in a while. Or worked on my memoir or drafted an essay or submitted an article for publication or … well, done much of anything in the writing realm. I told you I have a job, a real full-time job, for the first time in a dozen years. I’m working at Third Act, organizing folks over sixty to protect our planet and our democracy, and I love it. But it’s eaten my writing…

[sapphic-biohazard]

I ship tyzula in a ‘this story is azula-focused and action-filled with lots of tension and conflict and drama so it’s nice she’s got a pink gf on her side’ way, and I ship maizula in a ‘this story is focused entirely on these two fucked up girls who are fucked up in different ways who then try to be less fucked up as possible for each other’ way. I also ship mailee in a ‘let’s explore azula’s deep sense of abandonment and rejection and jealousy and let her work out how platonic love is the safest for her at the moment and make her be the centre of the trio where the rest of the trio is dating’ way.

[plantanarchy]

this is truly the year of all my most annoying coworkers throwing a tantrum and quitting!!! woohoo!!

[yappacadaver]

Crazy wild shit man

[xiyao-feels]

The thing is I do get the, like, instinctive suspicion of JGY? Or—well, no, I think a lot of it is classism. But suspicion is honestly a really reasonable response to JGY's activities under JGS! It's worth it to ask: was he really in danger of his life? And even if he was, having had to do this to survive—what will he be like, when he doesn't have to anymore?

They're fair questions! The problem is they're questions we can answer from the text. He absolutely was in danger of his life. And as to what he'd be like when he didn't have to anymore—

I've talked about the watchtowers a lot because they're such a good example, and the kind of thing that would never have happened without him. But sometimes I want to shake people and say, look at the result of his governance! Look at the world WWX wanders through, post resurrection! Look at the peace, look at the way the juniors really get the chance to be kids!

This isn't something that happens automatically. Or really what I want to say is, it means something about the powers of the cultivation world. You can't just treat it as an interesting background fact to the juniors' characterization, with no depth beyond that! The cultivation world under WRH was the way it was because of WRH; the cultivation world under JGS was the way it was because of JGS; the cultivation world under JGY was the way it was because of JGY, and the way it was was better than any other time we've seen it.

[mohntilyet]

not to mention the entire antaam fleet like 😭 that was the PERFECT moment to show off what the lords could do!!! The antaam fucked over rivain, theyve been a thorn in the whole nations side for a long time now, they would not pass up a chance for payback via full scale naval warfare so that the veilguard can do what they need to!! Sure dreadnoughts are dangerous but at this point they probably have tricks up their sleeve, thats one of the few things they have!

also wouldn't it be personal because does solas not try to blow up kont-aar because he's trying to 5d chess tevinter and the qunari into destroying each other. like. i know technically this would not be incredible widespread news because the attack was stopped, but i don't think the wonderful citizens of kont-aar would have missed the tsunami that nearly hit them and the shockwave that actually hit them. rumors go around. and i assume irian/vadis tell varric. who i think would tell isabela. who would tell the group she leads. who would care because ofc, they LIVE IN RIVAIN, and now know that solas and his followers thinks they can trade rivaini lives* to further his plans.

*while i also think there's probably a divide between kont-aar and the rest of the nation, it's one that the rivaini love to jump across and back over. an interesting comparison to be made here with most of rivain having similar sentiments towards dairsmuid and the chantry. like this is the country specifically mentioned to have a lot of citizens who follow the qun/are non-andrastian + it being MUCH more multicultural and accepting than other nations. any attack on rivain, even if it's a qunari settlement, would fan a lot of flames that solas cannot put out so the idea of trying to him taking multiple steps back because he didn't realise how intensely the qun/rivaini/lords would react is very fun for me. it would have been soo interesting for rivain to be a hub for efforts against solas because of how it's not influenced by andrastianism, how he (or his agents) specifically fucked them over, and (maddeningly for solas) also part of this resistance has spirits who willingly guide them against him. this could have even been a plot device where the door goes both ways and solas finds out rook's plans because he manages to eavesdrop through a seer or something.

and on the spirits. all the stuff where the mourn watch regularly communicates with spirits could have been done with rivain as well, and with different takes on being 'friendly' with spirits. iirc there's a spirit in the hall of valor which is so interesting but it's literally just there for flavour text. THERE'S A SPIRIT IN THE HALL OF VALOR THAT DOES NOTHING BESIDES LIKE. SAY HI. ??? bioware i would have liked to see more spirits and seers and the matriarchal pantheists you have talked about please. and also the idea of the peaceful qunari settlement being pushed to protect the country they are part of and what that means for them as qunari vs. rivaini. taash's storyline could have contributed to this . so A LOT less about choosing a side, more about how kont-aar has developed, changed, how rivain has influenced it and what it means to be qunari. not the qunari agents and fighters that we have seen, but their 'civillian' way of life in kont-aar.

complete waste not seeing any of established lore reflected in the lords of fortune or rivain because i stupidly actually thought we were going to see some kind of settlement and be introduced to a very different cultural norms.. in my beautiful mind i like to think taash is a little taken aback by how badly mages/elves/etc are treated. like they understood it was different outside of rivain (they would have been young when the dairsmuid circle annulment happened right? so they don't 'remember' it themself, they likely heard others talking about it when they're old enough to understand) but until they actually saw what was happening first hand, they had a weird dissonance about it. but what we got was a deserted beach, ties to another faction (wardens are fine!! they are great !!!! the fourth blight is interesting!!!! yet they are not the faction with a lack of info about them!!!!!) and also the hall of valor that exists as flavor text with nothing meaningful behind it besides a pub used in a few cutscenes and a minigame.

[copias-juicebox]

When it all burns down, I will hold you close for the minute it takes! 🖤 Credit Scene in Rite Here Rite Now, 2024

[ryoun]

one of the things that makes moon okgyeong relatable to me is how she’s sooo bored in life, in the things she’s doing—the pansori, so she longs for some thrill, and i can feel her on a very deep level.

[betweenblackberrybranches]

Part 2 of the little comic

Moon really does not like the situation but Y/N can't just not do their work.

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

[coyotepoet]

Heal, not kill...

“Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without.”― Gautama Buddha Heal, not kill The world had turn blood red. Where are the voices of calm and peace? Brother killing brother in Iraq. Who do you support? Murder and slaughter doesn’t stop when a new Army appeared. Soldiers and guns don’t bring peace. They add to death and the murder. Internal conflicts must be repaired by the countries in…

[slowtumbling]

PeaceGrooves

PeaceGrooves was originally founded as an incubator for the creation of games and other story-telling venues that would educate players in peaceful ways to affect positive change. My graduate theory paper “Video Games as Change Agents for Peace” presented this idea over ten years ago. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, PeaceGrooves was never able to fully realize its full potential and so…

[sunnyashe]

A prequel to this: we might get there. maybe. just setup for now

next scene under cut!

Rumble and Frenzy both stiffened instantly. Scrap. 

Rumble side-eyed his twin, watching shock dawn to horror on Frenzy’s faceplate.

Jazz.

“Seems the terrible two are taking the party outside!” Jazz was still standing directly behind them, his grin practically audible. Fragger fed off Cassetticon fear. “‘s there a reason you didn’t pay for that engex?”

“Nope,” Rumble responded immediately, turning to face Jazz. The word dragged out, ending with a lilt, as if he was unsure.

Simultaneously, Frenzy launched into a ramble on the spot. “We have special instruction, clearance, from the Prime! He wants energon samples from across the undercity for…”

Rumble picked up the thread as Frenzy trailed off. “Because he wants to try out the local culture! The Op’s so bored of the fancy shmancy energon they keep serve’n him in that palace, so he asked us to bring him some of these commoner…delicacies!”

Jazz exaggeratedly brought a digit to his helm, miming a comm exchange. "Wow! I thought you might've been stealing for yourselves, but if you're stealing for the Prime, it must be fine!” After a beat, he sighed theatrically “OP says he didn’t order any engex, you sure you didn’t get the wrong guy?”

Frenzy was still rooted to the spot, facing the street. :Turn around, dumbaft!: Rumble crackled through to him with comms, :Face that slag-head helm first! It’s too late to run.:

:Idiot, it’s called deniability!:

:What, like you talking to him didn’t give up the jig?:

:I was telling the concrete!:

:It’s too late, flickerbrain, grow some self-respect!:

:What, like how you respect Autobots?:

In one swift movement, Rumble dropped all of the stolen engex he was holding. He hopped in front of Frenzy, snarling, with a fisted servo extended to crack his brother’s stupid visor.

A warm, scarred servo yanked Rumble up by his backplate. Frenzy, who had unsheathed a vibroblade from who-knows-where in retribution, was also bodily hoisted up into the unforgiving air of Kaon’s industrial sector. Jazz’s rictus took on an amused tinge, “Woah there, mechs. It’s my job to keep violence off the streets, you know? You’re makin’ it real easy.”

Rumble wiggled in his grasp, limbs flailing ineffectually, “Then be glad about it, turbofox wannabe!”

Frenzy twisted his helm to attempt to bite Jazz’s servo “Yeah, you’re so great at your job! Now let us go!”

Jazz tilted his head, as if considering. As soon as he moved to speak, Frenzy plowed over whatever he was about to say with an interrogation he had little diplomatic power to execute. “Why the frag are you even here? Low-end neutral bar in the sticks? Does your job require engex overcharge or some slag?”

Rumble fought with renewed vigor, as if Jazz was diverting processing power away from his grip to consider his answer the question. “Yeah! Too scared of fighting a little crime without bein’ drunk?”

“As a matter of fact,” Jazz said blithely, ignoring them, “I was considering letting you miscreants off with a warning and a promise that you’ll give that poor bartender a sparkfelt apology.” 

Rumble glared at the underside of Jazz’s helm distrustfully, sending Frenzy a databurst comm, :Liar.:

:No slag.:

Jazz continued on, unruffled, pretending not to be hacking their private comms, “But, y’know…there’s no harm in a little catch-up. I haven’t seen you two since the war!”

“As if it’s over,” Rumble growled. Bitterly.

Jazz’s smile widened, and Rumble realized he kind of fucked up. “Anyway, how’s Sounders doing?”

Frenzy scoffed, crossing his arms while dangling a meter in the air, “Who the frag is Sounders?”

Jazz laughed a little, softly. He lowered Rumble to the ground. The Cassetticon ripped himself out of Jazz’s hold as soon as his pedes hit the cobbled, gritty floor, arm raised defensively. Maybe he was making good on that obvious falsehood from before? It wasn’t like him, at all, there was probably another trick–

Frenzy was still suspended midair. With his now free left servo, Jazz materialized two pairs of miniature stasis cuffs, lightly spinning them between two digits with obscene expertise.

“So, my mechs. Where is Soundwave?”

[alaynestcnes]

It's 2024 and there's still those who feel the need to tell people who ship Jonsa that all the evidence is a reach. Why is that? Why are they so preoccupied with a ship that they think is delusional?

I think Sansa and Sandor is delusional, there's zero chance of it happening but I'm not sending anons to the people who ship it saying it's never going to happen.

The antis just need to admit that they're terrified that Jonsa is going to happen. GRRM has subtly sprinkled Jonsa dust and it's the critical reader who sees it. That's why you have people who don't ship any of the characters and aren't interested in any of the fandom ships who see the links between Sansa and Jon and wonder what it's about and why it's there.

we got that modern day cassandra curse. no matter how much evidence we have, the greater fandom will ignore it. but that’s ok, half the takes this fandom comes up with are terrible so i would rather keep them away from jonsa as long as possible.

[marthashlyn3]

‘ Revelations’ Remix ’ featuring God’s new ideas.