#BUT they were both in the starting and ending large group sections at least

[racetrackmybeloved]

spot deserved more.

will die mad about how criminally underused spot was in livesies. they set up his character so much just to give us... nothing. in act 1 they laid the groundwork for him to be this intimidating major character, his name was mentioned four times before he even appeared on screen.

"there was spot with all his cronies" - ensemble, carrying the banner

"spot conlon's turf!" - jack

"that spot conlon gets me a little jittery" - finch

"even spot conlon sent over a kid just to say 'next event you can count on brooklyn'" - david

and then they only gave him four lines.

"borough what gave me birth" - brooklyn's here

"newsies united!"

"let's see what pulitzer's got to say to you now"

"have a look out there mr pulitzer. in case you ain't figured it out, we got you surrounded"

brooklyn's here is a bop of an introduction song, but why is it all he gets? his entire presence in the musical is limited to:

show up

have a cool 'im the most powerful/respected person in this room' moment

push jack

shake hands with jack, slap a table, distribute the newsies banner

go to pulitzer with jack and davey, mostly just stand to the side

hug tommy boy (??)

sell papers again

that is it.

look, i'm not just saying this because of how much bigger his role was in 92sies, because obviously there are different constraints blah blah, but why bother setting up a character if all you're going to do with him is have him stand threateningly off to the side? for the majority of his screen time he's just standing there looking intimidating.

there are characters with even less (smalls, mike and ike come to mind), but none of them are set up as if they were going to be main characters. heck, none of their names are even ever mentioned! as opposed to spot’s, which is mentioned five times. (the aforementioned four, plus “let’s hear it for spot conlon and brooklyn!” from david).

also, they completely underused tommy bracco as a dancer. (yes i know that he was tommy boy in OBC but this is specific to the proshot, mostly bc that's all i've watched lol).

we know that tommy bracco is a damn good dancer, why wasn't he in the large group sections of the curtain call? aside from jack, davey, crutchie and les, he was the only newsie to not appear in the large group at the end. all of the other brooklyn newsies were there, just not him. (he did get a small group section with elmer, kid blink and sniper, but wasn't in the starting group dance either). also, for the end part of finale, he's standing off to the side with crutchie, les, kid blink and oscar. (ok that's probably just a spacing thing but. it still annoys me Let Him Dance). (also side note, oscar just ,, being there during finale is hilarious to me. and morris standing at the top for almost the entire song?? they look SO done)

but yeah. give me anything, give me how this (sorry tommy bracco) objectively tiny guy became the most feared newsboy in new york, tell me how he is as a leader, show me jack and davey going to talk to him, tell me what happened after the strike, GIVE ME SPOT CONLON

[misspelledwordswizard]

Chapter 17 - We got a little too excited about the change of environment.

Previous chapter / Next Chapter

We all looked around in an attempt to recognize the place we were sent to, there was also no sign of the Postman who supposedly passed through the portal shortly before us. Of course, me and especially Sky recognized the place quickly, the others may have taken a while, but the fact that we were on na island in the sky would drop at some point, and they would end up associating it with the first hero.

— We’re in my Hyrule! Well, not exactly Hyrule, but it’s my time. – Sky commented excitedly, heading towards the large pumpkin in front of us. – Come on, this is the perfect time for pumpkin soup!

Still a little lost and confused, we just followed the blond into the place. I must admit that I’ve always wanted to try this famous soup from the game, but I still haven’t been able to process all the information about the sudden change in environment. At least, in Wild’s time and mine, I had many years to adapt to the idea, so the weight of time travel and that kind of thing hadn’t hit me yet.

Entering the establishment, it was exactly like in the game, the atmosphere was comforting, it would easily be a place I would come to on a rainy day to eat and read a book. The chandelier that was most likely broken by Sky, at least all players break it, is in its rightful place, not seeming to have any damage. The whole pumpkin theme was actually very pretty, I felt like I was in a themed café that is popular on the Internet because people like to take pictures.

Our large group sat at the large round table – which had to be supplemented with a few benches – while Sky went to talk to the owner and cook, Pumm. Everyone there seemed happy to see the hero again, and confused by the group that accompanied him. I imagine that the great hero of his people disappearing out of nowhere is something to be commented on and caused great concern.

While we waited for the sleeping hero to return, everyone looked at each other a little lost. Of course we knew that this was Sky’s time, but he was acting so casually about it, and didn’t even listen to any prior conversation, just dragged us along as if it were a regular visit. But in the end, it was good to see him so calm and happy, he was at home and that was evident by the way he acted.

It was when the aforementioned guy approached the table carrying a tray with five bowls that I started to pay attention, soon understanding what he was doing. I instinctively got up and went to the counter to get the second tray with the rest, so he wouldn’t have to make another trip. We both passed a bowl to each other, until only our own were left. The smell of the pumpkin soup was definitely divine, and it made my mouth water. Since we hadn’t skipped lunch, everyone was hungry, so there was no hesitation in devouring the food, which was greeted with sounds indicating how good it was all around the table.

As I put the spoon in my mouth, I could feel the sweet taste of the pumpkin in perfect harmony with the spices and creaminess. God, this is divine. Nintendo should open a Zelda-themed restaurant and sell the most famous recipes, it would make a lot of money! Maybe it was because I’ve always wanted to try these foods, or because I grew up romanticizing them, but it brought me great comfort. I’d never been to that place before, not in person, and yet drinking this warm and refreshing soup brought me a section of peace, as if I were at home.— That’s good, I want more! – Wind said with his mouth still full, his bowl was still half empty, I scolded him with a slight tap on the back of his neck.— Finish eating first before asking for more, and don’t talk with your mouth full!— Okay, sorry. – He said after swallowing the soup while massaging the affected area.

The others’ giggles were heard and silenced by a look from me and the Sailor. We all finished eating in a comfortable silence, not that it lasted long, since hunger made everyone eat quickly. After promising to come back here later for Wind, we were finally ready to leave. It must have been mid-afternoon, and our concerns turned to how we would get everyone to Skyloft.

Sky could very well go with his Loftwing there, and even take one of us with him, but it would be unfeasible for him to make nine trips to drop us off one by one while he picked up the others. There was also no one around to hitchhike, if that was a thing here – I mean, would they let strangers ride in their loftwings? – so now we were working together to come up with a plausible solution. Or rather, Sky was coming up with a solution, since we didn’t know what possibilities were viable around here.

— I can go and look for help, I’ll find people who are available. It might still take a while, everyone is busy with the transition to the surface. – Sky commented thoughtfully.

— That seems to be the most viable option, if it doesn’t disturb them, it would be good to do it. – Time considered the idea. Really, even if it took a while to find people, it would be faster than Sky making nine trips.

— Okay, one of you can go with me now to stay there and speed things up. – The hero of the skies looked between us, as if choosing the best person to leave momentarily alone in Skyloft. – Maybe you’re the best option to come with me. – He finished speaking directly to me, with a gentle and shy smile on his lips while I looked at him confused and surprised.

— No way! – Before I could say anything, the Veteran intervened, with na irritated tone that left everyone confused. – Are you stupid? If she goes, she’ll be alone, even if for a short time, it’s dangerous for her to be away from all of us!

Everyone acknowledged Vet’s point, which was quite logical. It also made him an unviable option, since he’s also under some “protection” after what happened, but I think it’s best not to mention that so as not to irritate him further. Sky seemed embarrassed by his suggestion, apologizing softly and looking away with a puppy dog face. Bad Legend.

— Well, then I’ll go!

— No way! – I cut Wind off, who frowned in the same second. – If it’s not safe for me to be there alone, it’s not safe for whoever’s there for you to be left unsupervised. – Maybe I was being strict, but I couldn’t help but worry. About Wind, of course, not just the residents of Skyloft.

— She’s right. I’ll go, it would also be good if the Old Man were the last one, so there would be someone to take care of things there and here. – Twilight concluded, and finally we all agreed, ending the discussion.

With that settled, Sky headed towards the... flying thing? I don’t remember what it’s called. He jumped off the edge, making everyone let out a gasp of surprise – except me, who was already expecting it, so I had to fake one when I realized it. A whistle was heard and a large red bird was seen diving towards the falling hero. We had a few seconds of tension, some processed what had happened, others were too surprised and apprehensive to react, and then the bird resurfaced with Sky on its back.

— So cool! – Wild exclaimed and approached the edge of the island to take a closer look.

— Ah, now I want to be the first even more! – Wind completed, joining the Champion.

— Come on, Rancher. This is as close as I can get, you’ll have to jump up here.

Twilight agreed without worries, approaching the edge and with a push mounting the bird, still a little apprehensive. He makes it look easy.

— You can wait inside the restaurant if you want, this might take a while.

◇

It was almost half na hour before we had any sign of the hero of the skies. Sky returned to Pumpkin Landing with Pipit, he might not be much help, but he would still speed things up a lot. Unable to control the youngest of the group for long, we allowed Wind to be the next to go, along with Warriors who promised to control him. 

The rest of us waited outside the Lumpy Pumpkin, I sat on the edge of the island, swinging my legs as if I were on the edge of a river. The breeze here was much softer than I imagined it would be, I could feel the wind, but it didn’t bother me. Wild sat next to me, with a smile, so we sat side by side, just watching the horizon. It was late afternoon, the sun would set in about na hour, so the sky was very beautiful, without many clouds, only the islands and birds could be seen in the distance.

— What other types of islands do you think there are around here? – The Cook asked next to me, curious. – I mean, if there’s a pumpkin island, what else could there be? – He added, making me laugh.

— Hm, maybe there’s an bug island? – I said, pretending to think of the most absurd thing possible.

— What? I don’t think we’ve reached that level! I think a heart-shaped island, if there’s a lake like that, why not an island?

— Oh, do you want a bet?

— You don’t have money to bet.

— Oh, right. – I said frustrated, thinking of a solution. I really want to bet something, because I know I’m right. – What if we make a slap bet? – I said, remembering one of my favorite sitcoms.

— A what bet?

— Slap bet! We bet, if I’m right, I can slap you, and vice versa. – Even knowing how stupid this idea would be, I always wanted to do this.

— I wouldn’t hit you, not even as a joke! – The killjoy said, frustrating my stupid childhood dreams.

— What if I find a representative? – He looked at me confused, so I tried to explain myself. – I’m going to sell my idea to one of the boys, if they buy it then the bet goes between the two of you, and I’ll just be the judge.

— You’re really determined, aren’t you? I’ll be in if you can convince someone. – The Champion gave a mischievous smile, liking the new idea. Oh, come to think of it, I’m practically sacrificing him, since I know I’m right, but this is a too good joke to waste.

I got up and went towards the boys who were left on the island, I have four great options, even though at first I thought Wars would be the best option – at least he would agree with my stupid idea. Of those left, Four wouldn’t get involved in this, Hyrule wouldn’t hit one of his brothers, Time will reprimand my offensive joke, and Legend will call me an idiot, but I still want to try.

— Who here wants to give Wild a fair and pre-agreed slap?! – I asked them with some undue excitement at the moment, receiving confused looks and judging my soul. – I mean, we want to make a bet, but instead of money we’re going to bet slaps. But I need a representative since he wouldn’t hit me, who here wants to buy my idea?

Time sighed in frustration and walked away, Hyrule seemed even more incredulous and Four looked at me as if I were na idiot. Which I am. It was the Veteran who first showed interest, curious about all this.

— And what kind of bet is this?

— Oh, we’re betting that there might be another island around here. I kicked na island of bugs, Wild kicked na island shaped like a heart!

— And if they’re both wrong? – Four questioned.

— Nothing happens. If either of you accept, I’ll have to stay away from the bet and be the judge of the slap bet.

— And how sure are you about that? – Rulie was the next to ask, not seeming very sure about all this.— I’m absolutely sure I’m right!

— Then I’m in, I don’t mind slapping the Champion, and if they’re both wrong, which is likely, I won’t get in trouble either. – Legend said, with a confident smile on his lips, and I was excited to have a volunteer.

— But what if he’s right? – Four countered, bringing up other logical points.

— Oh, a heart island in the sky? Don’t you think that if that existed Sky wouldn’t be talking about it all the time? He’s a “hopeless romantic.” If that existed, there would probably be some silly legend about soulmates related to this island and he would be talking about how he would like to go there with his love one day. – The Veteran retorted, rolling his eyes in disgust at the Hero’s whole melodrama.

Tired of arguing, Four just let it go, as did the Traveler, who, even though he didn’t like the idea of his brothers fighting, decided not to get involved. Finally, I went back with Leg to where Wild was, and made them both sign the bet, along with na oath, demanded by the Cook, that from now on I would be completely biased about this bet until it was finalized, and that as a judge I should not get involved or favor anyone.

Poor Wild, I hope Legend goes easy on the slap. 

◇

Finally, Sky returned with Pipit to look for another partner. I would be one of those who would go, by Time’s decision, and he also demanded that it be with Sky himself – I think he doesn’t trust me much in leaving me away from a Link.

Getting on a Loftwing is something to be talked about, to say the least. I was a little scared at first, you never know, what if I end up annoying him and he throws me into the air. No, I know that Sky’s Loftwing wouldn’t do that, he’s really like his partner, the two share that detail. The hero himself helped me up, after all I’m not as physically skilled as the others, and soon we were flying through the skies towards Skyloft.

When I felt the big bird move, I instinctively clung to Sky, as if my life depended on it – and it did – and he laughed at me. How ugly, laughing at my misfortune, I thought he was different from his brothers. But soon after, he comforted me by caressing one of my hands that tightly gripped his waist, comforting me. I relaxed a little, but still stood firm, my body glued to his back, my face resting on his shoulder, his good smell flooding my senses. What a good smelling boy.

I could vaguely see what was in front of us, when I realized, we were heading towards a floating rock with a hole in the center. If I remember correctly, if we pass through the middle it will propel us forward at high speed. I was scared shitless, but I trust Link, I know nothing will happen to us. What didn’t stop me from hugging him even tighter and hiding my face in his tunic until we passed.

I felt a strange sensation, and soon our speed increased drastically, my heart raced with pure adrenaline, I felt dizzy, I think I fainted for a second. But then, we stopped. I gathered the courage to look around, still holding on to my poor friend, who didn’t even seem bothered. We were above Skyloft, close to the ground, as close as possible. I could see the others waiting down below. It was a beautiful sight. The landscape was lit by the sunset, which fell divinely on the trees and waters there, it was possible to see Loftwings flying around – I think I saw Groose’s in the middle – and the clouds helped to make it all even more beautiful. When I looked at Sky, he was already looking at me, his beautiful blue eyes full of charm and happiness for showing his home to his dear friends, I smiled thinking how happy he must be.

— Hold on to me. – He said as he adjusted himself on the Loftwing, putting both legs in the same direction and pulling me closer. – Put your legs around my waist, it will be safer that way.

— What? Why? – I asked, even though deep down I already knew the answer I didn’t want to hear.

— Let’s jump, don’t worry, my cape will serve as a parachute, just hold on tight to me.

— No way! I’m not crazy enough to do this! – He put my own arms around his neck and helped me put my legs around his waist. The proximity between us distracted me from what I was trying to avoid, and knowing this, the bastard just held me tight by the waist and jumped. – SKYYYY!!!!!

I screamed as I grabbed him with all my strength, closing my eyes. If before I was crushing him, now I must have broken one of his ribs with my thighs. My despair only increased when I felt his hand let go of my waist, now my life depended on me not letting go of him, and man, there was no chance of that happening. It was only when I felt our falling speed decrease drastically that I opened my eyes again. Thanks to his cape, we arrived safely on dry land.

— It’s okay, you can let go now.

He tried to calm me down, but all I could do was shake and hold myself steady, my body not obeying my will to let go of this suicidal maniac. I’ll never trust him again. It was only when Twilight approached and grabbed me by the waist that I managed to free myself. Or rather, Sky freed himself. I was placed on the ground, but at the same time my legs went wobbly and I almost hit the ground, but the two men next to me grabbed me, one in each arm, and pulled me to my feet.

— I think it’s better if we help you walk for now. – Sky commented, holding back a laugh.

— You’ll pay me, birdman!

— If you want, I can carry you like last time. – the Rancher teased, laughing at my irritation.

— Don’t you dare!

[onecornerface]

New study finds cash-transfers didn't have some expected benefits- But why??

A new study (NBER Working Paper) seemingly finds that a monthly cash-transfer ($1000 a month over a few years) to poor people in the US failed to benefit recipients’ mental and physical health or food security in a bunch of ways after the first year. It’s apparently more ambitious than some previous studies of cash transfers in the US. This may be some evidence that UBI doesn’t have all the benefits we’d like it to have for helping poor people or some subsets of them, which could impact future debates on UBI. There may still be consequentialist and/or deontological reasons to support UBI, but we need to ensure they’re aligned with the best evidence on the (good and/or bad) results (or lack thereof).

I’ve read the Twitter summary thread, and skimmed several sections of the paper (especially intro sections and Discussion), but haven't fully read the paper.

Some initial thoughts & questions I’m wondering about—

My main concerns are about the mechanisms, by which I mean how the cash-transfers impacted people’s behavior or psychology in ways that would bring about the measured results (assuming the metrics/results are valid). One of the most puzzling results is on food security.

“We also find that the transfer generated large and highly statistically significant improvements in food security in the first year. However, mirroring our results for mental health, these improvements were short-lived and, by the end of the program, participants in the treatment group reported no better ability to meet their food needs than those in the control group.” (Page 3)

If cash-transfers indeed fail to improve food security for a lot of people after the first year (yet apparently did help during the first year), why? What are the mechanisms by which it would fail?

From my armchair speculation, I can kind-of-sort-of imagine how psychological adaptation (or suchlike) may explain how cash may fail to improve mental health or stress after the first year, leading to something of a return to baseline (albeit with many reservations).

And some of the physical health results also might not be too baffling, since the relationship between income, medical care access, and health results, may well be complex and wonky. Medical access may be reduced by non-income factors, effective medical advice may not be taken up, and many medical practices may be ineffective. That said, there are still a lot of very plausible mechanisms as to how poverty would worsen health—it’s not all specious correlation (even if some is), and it’s not all the result of third-factors causing both poverty and illness (even if some is) and/or illness causing poverty. So there’s still some more explanation needed as to how a lot of these wouldn’t be impacted much, or would be impacted only temporarily, by cash transfers.

All that said, I’m still more puzzled by the food-security results. People’s food needs are a lot more consistent and predictable than their physical healthcare needs, and seem less likely to change due to any return to baseline.

Do the recipients develop a bigger appetite or altered metabolism after the first year? Do they start making worse (or at least, less food-focused) spending decisions, resulting in less money to spend on food? Or what? Was there something else they preferred to spend their money on, besides food, after the first year? Did they not have enough money to spend on food? Did rent take up so much they didn’t have money for food?

Maybe some of them spend more money on drugs or suchlike, resulting in less money for food—but the study seems to find mixed results as to whether drug use increased or not (see Page 36, and search the document for “drug” to see variations of the same claim throughout), and I assume a large chunk of the recipients didn’t spend a lot of money on drugs (even if there was also a large chunk who did). So, in any case, I don’t think very much of the food security result can be easily explained by “recipients spent the money on drugs instead of food.”

So… what gives? Why did food insecurity go down and then back up again??

I’ve skimmed the paper, and it looks like most of it consists in arguments that their statistical methods and suchlike are valid and not confounded, or suchlike. I probably don’t have the expertise to evaluate any of those arguments. But it doesn’t look like there’s much, if any, discussion on the mechanisms. Maybe it’s in there somewhere, I don’t know.

The results wouldn’t be magic. If they’re valid, they should be happening as a result of the recipients changing (or failing to change) their consumption patterns or other decisions or circumstances in various sorts of ways. So what are those? If there aren't any plausible mechanisms (which admittedly would be very hard to show), this could also be reason to question the validity of the results.

It sounds like the lead author, Sarah Miller, is in favor of cash transfers. So the negative results can’t be readily explained by a lead author’s bias against the policy.

Some of the failure may be explained by the fact that the study was only three years, and some benefits may take many years of cash transfers to achieve. However, this doesn’t address why the study did find a bunch of benefits in year 1 which then ceased in year 2. This pattern of benefits appearing and then disappearing also seems to count against the possibility that the study’s method was simply unable to detect the benefits. Apparently it did detect the benefits in year 1, which makes it puzzling why they disappeared in year 2.

A bunch of twitter commenters seem to think the study confirms UBI sucks actually, because poor people are just intrinsically shitty and make bad decisions that keep themselves poor and in bad health completely regardless of what the government does—as the critics had been saying all along.

I’m certainly open to the possibility that poor people tend to make bad decisions, and I want to guard against any politically-correct bias that wrongly rules it out. If and insofar as poor people make decisions that contribute to keeping themselves poor and in bad health (whether these decisions are bad or defensible, which is a further question), then we should want to know what those are, so we can work with them to improve their situations more effectively and ethically.

Many progressives are likely too biased toward underestimating the agency of some poor people, and may well underestimate how many poor people could somewhat improve their situation by making different decisions. I think we can concede a lot of these points without drastically undercutting the position that poverty is obviously extremely bad and unjust, that some forms of government intervention & redistribution are effective, and that the main in-principle objections to government redistribution are weak.

I’m also pretty confident that most of the critics are ideologically committed to the “poor people make bad decisions” hypothesis for biased and unempirical reasons—and also seemingly haven't put forward any detailed hypotheses for how exactly the “poor people make bad decisions” view actually explains the evidence.

Arguably, even if poor people make bad decisions, this isn't enough to explain how and why their consumption or lifestyle decisions (etc.) were impacted by cash-transfers in the right sort of ways to explain any of the main interesting data.

My ideas on the study here are all very provisional. But the study seems worthwhile for UBI proponents to get ahead of, and develop a well-thought-out empirical analysis as to what it does or doesn’t imply for UBI.

[loganwritesprobably]

First Meeting With.. (D.M., C., B.)

P1 w Ace, Law & Sanji | P2 w Zoro, Robin & Luffy | P4 w Benn, Shanks & Smoker

Here is another three lovely characters for you to meet: Crocodile, Mihawk and Buggy! All readers are gender neutral, so everyone is welcome to enjoy. No Y/N is used! Buggy's section is a little short, but honestly I think it's just fine as it is, it made me laugh at least CW: In Mihawk's section, the reader experiences a massive loss, and expresses some passive desire for death, take care with that

The casino was a little overwhelming when you first walked in, between the bright and sometimes flashing lights, and the various noises coming from patrons and machines alike, but you seemed to thrive here. You'd always liked card games, so that was what you gravitated toward when you'd first arrived. This, however, was far from your first time here, and you'd found a way to play the system. You'd play a few games, and lose intentionally with small bets, then you'd slip away to play another game and lose just once with another small bet, before retreating to the bar for something to drink and maybe something to eat depending on the time of day. You'd chat with other frequent patrons, and some of the staff. Finally, to end your night, you'd pick out whichever game you were most inclined to that night and place a large bet, and win. Your secret? You could count cards.

You didn't come too often, it was a delicate balance that you were striking to not be caught in your actions, but when you did come you always won big. The house couldn't always win, after all. Your wins were spread far enough apart, with enough losses in between, that you hadn't been flagged yet. It was a win, for you at least.

Tonight, you'd already done all your losses, and you were sitting at the bar. The woman behind the bar, Alisa, was lovely and you had gotten to know her in a fairly casual way, at the sort of level that you usually knew a co-worker. You knew very little about her, but you got along enough to happily chat whenever you were both at the bar. As you were happily chatting, you watched Alisa's face change, eyes widening and smile falling. That couldn't be anything good, but you didn't look up, you didn't want them to realise you knew someone was approaching.

A very large man sat on the stool beside you, dressed in fine fabrics and more fur than anyone had any right to be wearing in the desert. He was handsome.

"Sir Crocodile, what can I get for you?" Alisa asked, and that told you just who you were dealing with - the damn owner, and one of the seven warlords of the sea. You took a deep, steadying breath, and sipped your drink casually. Crocodile ordered himself a drink, and you didn't look at him. There was a long, silent minute, where even the sound of the slot machines faded into the background and there was only you and Crocodile. Alisa returned with his drink, and he took a first sip, before he turned to you.

"You're good, I'll give you that." He said, and you glanced at him as if seeing him for the first time.

"What can I say? I make sure I dress nice for the casino." You replied, hoping to ease some of the tension.

"You know what I'm talking about, though I'll admit, you do clean up well." You'd take a compliment where you could get it.

"So I'm busted?"

"You had a good run, but you can either leave and never come back.. or I'm willing to offer you a deal."

You were a powerhouse pirate in your own right. Your crew wasn't quite at your level, but every day they worked harder to match you in strength and ability - and they were getting there. Hell, you were sure they'd start to surpass you soon, and then maybe you'd have to start trying. You didn't mind. It felt good to see a group of people you'd been nurturing grow into something more. Your bounty was no Straw Hat level, but it was nothing to sneeze at in your humble opinion. A couple million berri - what you wouldn't give to have that much berri at your disposal.

You'd crossed paths with Mihawk only once, very early in your career, and you'd had the sense to stay out of his damn way. It was a good thing you did, he killed a man not ten minutes later, not that you stuck around long enough to find out why. You chased your crew from bars and away from market stalls, back onto your boat, and took off sailing again. He hadn't seen you, you were sure, and that was a good thing, but you'd seen him.

Never had you anticipated getting into a situation where you were crossing paths with him again - certainly not voluntarily.

Karai Bari was a damn hot island, not quite something you were used to, and well swimming several miles didn't help with how hot and out of breath you were. A dozen men approached you with swords and guns, and you could only hold up your arms in surrender.

"I'm not.. here to fight!" You panted out, desperately searching the crowd for a sympathetic face. You found the least sympathetic amongst them in Dracule Mihawk.

"My ship was shot down by marines sailing away from here, my crew.. I don't know where they are or if they survived. Please, I just want to live." You asked, hands beginning to tremble as reality set in. They were good people, and now you had no idea what had become of them. You'd demanded some of the younger members take to paddle boats to get to safety, but you didn't know if they'd made it. There'd been devil fruit users amongst them, and they were certainly dead by now. The knowledge of it weighed heavy on your shoulders - you were meant to protect them. You collapsed down to your knees in tears, sobs wracking your chest. You were meant to keep them safe.

"I take it back," you whispered, voice thick with tears, "I can't do it without them. Do what you want to me."

It was the last hand you'd expected that came to rest on your shoulder and gently squeeze.

"Get up." Came the voice of the world's greatest swordsman. "A Captain's grief should not be witnessed here. I'll take you somewhere private, where you can grieve properly, and I'll organise a rescue mission for any survivors."

He was a little odd looking, and that was putting it nicely. He was some sort of clown, judging from his large red nose, and he was.. well, all head. He was a head, directly attached to feet, and you couldn't quite understand how his hands were also attached to him. It was unnatural, and more than a little unsettling. He was yelling at you, bouncing up and down, and all you could do is stare.

"It's flashily rude to stare ya know!" The guy yelled, which finally forced you to blink yourself back into full awareness.

"What the fuck?" You managed, finally crouching down to look at him properly.

"I'm Buggy! Genius Jester! Star Clown!" He yelled, and you shoved a finger in your ear to rub it.

"You're also fucking loud." You muttered, running a hand over your face.

"Hey! I'm looking for.. well.. the rest of me." You told you, realising that maybe yelling at you wasn't the best way to get your help.

"For what?" You asked dumbly, blinking at him owlishly. The rest of himself? Was he some sort of hippie, what did that even mean?

"I'm a chop chop man! My body comes apart." He explained, splitting his hand from the rest of his body as your face contorted in disgust.

"I'm going to be sick."

"You get used to it. Now stop being useless, and help me out! My leg is around here somewhere, I can feel it."

[sserajeans]

you are in love | 52. the christmas fair pt. 2 (written)

it took the group of 12 about an hour to finish all the food they bought, trying a dish from almost every stall in the fair. from boxes of chicken and pizza to plates of corndogs and cups of drinks, the table was a mess once they were done.

deciding to play a lengthy game of rock, paper, scissors to determine the unlucky one responsible for cleaning up, leehan ended up victim after wonyoung gaslit him into thinking she did rock when he did scissors (she initially formed paper).

"can we at least watch the fireworks through the ferris wheel?" leehan sighed and started with his own trash, stuffing everything in a plastic bag.

"wouldn't it be cute to watch it together though?" jiwoo suggested as she scrolled through her pinterest feed and found cute couple pictures to recreate when the fireworks show would start.

"we can watch the first round together by the fences, then those who wants to catch it on the wheel can go?" yunjin suggested after pondering for a minute, handing leehan both her and kazuha's garbage.

"sounds cool!" y/n exclaimed as she helped danielle with an unusually large pile of garbage that the two gathered while waiting for leehan to reach their side.

"thanks guys..." leehan muttered and huffed before dumping the now overflowing trash bag into the nearest garbage can.

everyone around the table laughed at leehan's continued bitterness of having to be in charge of the garbage, despite being finished with the task. wonyoung handed him a wet wipe as minji took a candid photo and drew a garbage bag with flies around the boy. that was going to be one hell of a birthday post.

"we still got about 45 minutes before the show starts... so... games section?" kazuha asked with a knowing tone that came with a pinch of excitement.

the rest of the table cheered and nodded long as they pulled out maps of the fairgrounds, huddling up together to figure out an efficient route that would allow them to spend time together while hitting all the activity stalls they each wanted to do. (minji’s idea, and she was quite frankly, very good at it.)

to put their 45 minute activity extravaganza in summary, hanni is a good shot with a pellet gun which scared the shit out of minji, y/n could be a fisherman as an alternative career choice (while leehan cried beside her to have mercy on the fish), wonyoung can throw darts like a mad woman, and kazuha’s eyes are extremely sharp chasing around ping pong balls under cups.

“fireworks show in a minute!” yunjin announced, leading the rest of the group by the edge of the fairgrounds bounded by metal fencing to overlook the rest of the town.

“wait i’ll catch up in a bit!” y/n yelled back, doing her best to aim 5 individual sandbags into the holes in a tilted wooden board. she was oddly determined to win the stall’s grand prize, a bunny plushie that she told danielle looked “extra adorable” and that she “must win it no matter what.”

“y/n, you can win it later! come on it just struck 9:00!” danielle nagged the lee, who almost ignored her in suit of determination if it weren’t for the brief “just one more!” y/n muttered before landing the winning throw right after.

the stall’s employee handed y/n the bunny plushie, her eyes tired after entertaining the hundredth customer. the two girls raced for the metal fences where everyone else was waiting with their eyes fixed on the sky, expecting the fireworks any minute.

and just as lee y/n stumbled in front of the metal fences, the first firework shot to the sky, bursting in colors of red, orange, and yellow.

her face froze in awe at the marveling shades of colors painting the night sky, their chosen viewpoint provided near zero obstructions to block the view, so the city lights combined with the fireworks was one of the most truly beautiful sights to remember. they’d capture it in camera if any device did it justice.

this view, accompanied by her heart racing as she tried to catch her breath, created a surreal experience for y/n.

the show was scheduled to go on for another 10 minutes, so once the initial shock settled in, y/n came to the rest of her senses, and felt something warm. a soft and warm something that grazed her right hand.

if it were up to her physical instinct, she would’ve grabbed it in desperation, given the 1 degree weather they were in that caused her hands to go ice cold. but it’d be awkward, obviously, because she knew danielle was on her left since they ran there together, and she was in too much of a rush to notice who was on her right.

allowing curiosity to get to the best of her, she turned to her right, eyes locking with the damned ones she was avoiding the whole night.

of course, it was hanni, who already was looking at her before she took a glance. for almost half a minute they stared and stared, eyes never leaving the other’s.

you know what people say? how eyes are windows to the soul?

hanni’s windows were glossy, an almost clear reflection of the red heart-shaped firework shone on her brown orbs. her eyes were windows to a soul bearing what felt like the weight of losing the world. vulnerability. a look of longing.

y/n’s windows were foggy, like a translucent glass pane filled from the condensation brought by the contrast of cold and warm weather. like the emotions she's felt the past few weeks. cold, a freezing cold, but also a warmth, a comforting warmth.

to hanni pham, she was beginning to realize in that moment that lee y/n was the world. the world she felt the weight of losing. but, to hanni pham, lee y/n was also the sun. the sun in which she revolves around.

it was the perfect description. y/n, her sun.

how could she live without her sun?

the earth without the sun would lose direction, light, and warmth.

the earth needs the sun, the way hanni pham needs lee y/n. and she’d never forgive herself for how stupid and selfish she had to be, and for how far things had to come, just for her to realize that.

to realize that she may love her best friends like family, but there would always be something more for lee y/n.

did she really, finally say that in her head?

that she loves lee y/n. and that she always has. finally putting a name to the unfamiliar and bewitching pull her childhood best friend had on her.

the intimate moment felt like hours for the two, stuck in their own world, their own universe with a completely different construct of time from reality.

but remember how the eyes were windows to the soul? windows that carry all emotion and thought?

it was very clear. one could look into them and see what was going on. any outsider could.

outsiders including their friends around them.

y/n felt a tug on her shoulder.

"y/n! gyuvin and leehan are gonna ditch us for the wheel!" wonyoung exclaimed, pointing at the two boys racing to take advantage of the almost non-existent queue.

"wait wha- okay but what about dan-"

"hey you're not the only one who's friends with her, you know!" jiwoo, who had overheard y/n's hesitance to leave danielle and struggle to reply, gave y/n a side eye as danielle let out a soft laugh, her eyes forming crescents with the warmest smile known to mankind.

"it's fine, y/n." she said, giving her date, a slight push towards wonyoung's direction. "i'll be fine."

"OKAY! you got the green light! now y/n use your swimmer legs and RUN! are you actually gonna let the boys win??"

masterlist. next.

taglist: @yyeonmis @lostamoeba @jisooftme @yoontoonwhs @awkwardtoafault @lcv3lies @limbforalimb @kaypanaq @manooffline @kimsgayness @justme-idle @mightymyo @sewiouslyz @txtbrainrot @li0ilthecxnt @captivq @paranoxic @sofakingwoso @pandafuriosa60 @haerinkisser @lesleepyyy @haechansbbg @rosiehrs @jiwoneiric @blue4hour @bzeus28 @keiji-jin

[taiwancho]

July 2 – Taipei 101

July 2 – Taipei 101

I started my day bright and early, waking up at 6:45 am as I am still getting used to the 12-hour time change. I looked out the window of my room to finally see Taipei in the daylight. I spotted several things – a park behind the hotel where a group of people were doing Tai chi and, on the other side of the hotel, a busy road with lots of shops, banks, and other buildings. I headed downstairs to the hotel breakfast where I sat with my friend and classmate Landon as we tried the large selection of Taiwanese breakfast foods. From then until lunch time, Landon and I walked around the hotel area going in and out of several 7 Elevens and checking out architecture and parks. Around lunch time we met up with Rebekka, Mitchell, and Tian – our other friends and classmates. We found a “hole in the wall” spot to eat and were especially relieved to find a menu with lots of pictures and at least some English. 3 pm was our official meet up time with the rest of the group and we headed to go see Taipei 101. We took the extremely fast elevator up and enjoyed the views of the busy city of Taipei integrated into the mountains and greenery – a unique sight. We ended our excursion by having a feast at Din Tai Fung where we tried a wide variety of dim sum including the famous 小笼包 (xiaolongbao) as well as some very tradition Chinese dishes like 酸辣汤 (hot and sour soup). 

Academic Reflection

I have been to Taipei 101 before about 7 years ago, but there are some very interesting aspects about the skyscraper that I paid little attention to back then. First of all, Taipei 101 is one of the tallest buildings in existence. I have been to the top of Hong Kong’s Sky 100 buildings and several Westfield towers, but none of those compared to the 508 meters put up by Taipei 101. Standing at the top lookout seeing just the shadow that the building casts over part of the city is impressive. 

The 800-ton damper on the 88th floor is another aspect of the building that makes it unique to me. Actually standing in front of the damper, it is hard to believe that 800 tons of weight fit in the golden sphere. I really liked that the damper is a visible part of the attraction of the building – one would even be able to see it swing if there was an earthquake strong enough to need to make it move in order to stabilize the building. The elevators in Taipei 101 (that take you to the top of the building) are the fastest in the world and I could definitely feel it both on the way up and down in the pressure in my ears and how the weight of my body felt. 

Although Taipei 101 is not the tallest building in the world anymore, it still is an impressive feat and interesting spectacle with its unique design of 8 tapering sections, each with 8 floors – 8 being a culturally lucky number for the Chinese. 

[jpt1311summerbnixautumn]

Convention Blog Post

On August 1st, 2021, I went to Tampa Comic Con with my dad. This was the first and only convention I've ever been to, but I'm planning on going again with my dad this year at the end of August. At the time I was 15 and a very anxious teen so i was SO stressed about going and being judged. I had planned to cosplay as Nobara from Jujutsu Kaisen, but I decided last minute not to wear it because I didn't want to be embarrassed if I saw someone I knew while walking into the convention center (for context I lived an hour away from Tampa and there was no way I would see anyone I knew but you know when you're nervous you don't think clearly). I was very into manga and anime back then, and I was going with my dad because he's HUGE on Marvel and DC Comics, which I am also still interested in. I didn't have any big expectations going in, or really any sort of plan. I was hoping to buy some Chainsaw Man merch but that was really all I thought of ahead of time.

The convention was 3 days long: a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We decided to go on Sunday, when tickets were reduced and the convention closed earlier than it had the previous days. We also got there as soon as it opened, and I was praying that both of these conditions would make for it to be not nearly as busy as I was anticipating, but I never could've imagined how insanely packed it was. From the short walk to the parking lot to the center, we passed numerous people decked out in cosplays of all kinds. Some just wearing shirts with their favorite characters, others wearing an outfit that they bought from Amazon most likely, and a few people adorned in completely homemade cosplays that they had clearly spent days, if not weeks, completing. I didn't wear a cosplay because I thought I would be one of the only ones, but it turned out that my normal clothes were actually in the minority. After going through the long process of entering, getting our wristbands, and traversing the center to make it to the convention space, I was amazed at how many people I had already passed. And my shock only grew as we stepped inside the large room. The space was like a labyrinth, a maze with walls of tables and booths, filled with all kinds of merchandise. I had thought that fanmade anime merch like keychains and art prints would be the main thing being sold, but I was very wrong. There was a GIANT section right next to the entrance that was just at least 10 long tables of boxes filled with vintage comics. There were multiple woodworking booths that sold beautifully intricate sculptures and wall art that were all well over $300 (which seemed a very appropriate price for the amount of detail that was hand carved). It's easy to say that I was very overwhelmed by all this.

I have always LOVED people watching, and I've never been to a better place to do so than this convention. After walking around for about an hour just taking all of the information in, my dad and I went to a little snack stand and each got a cheeseburger and a drink. The few tables they had were full, so we sat against a wall and surveyed the crowd. People of all ages were cosplaying and interacting. I saw one middle aged man dressed as Batman go up to a kid dressed as the Joker who couldn't have been older than 12 and start pretending to have a rivalry with him. There were so many group costumes for things I couldn't have even imagined cosplaying. Another teenage girl was sat on the floor a few feet away from me with her group of friends, wearing her interpretation of Bill Cipher from the show Gravity Falls. It genuinely filled me with so much joy to be able to watch all of these diverse groups come together to just celebrate what they like. I was so nervous going in, but everyone there seemed so friendly and at ease, I couldn't help but feel a lot less embarrassed.

My dad and I sat on the floor for about an hour and finished our food, and we went to explore the rest of the convention. We stopped at almost every booth, and I had bought 2 things along the way, a Gojo Satoru poster for my friend's birthday, and a Neon Genesis Evangelion shirt for my other friend's birthday (all of our birthdays are within a week from each other so it was nice to be able to get their gifts all in one spot). The event didn't really seem like my dad's cup of tea, and I was getting worried that he wasn't having fun, but he reassured me that he was just enjoying walking around and hanging out. After 3 hours of being under bright fluorescent lights and surrounded by people and bright colors, we were both starting to get a headache and decided it was time for us to head out. I know lots of people stay at conventions from open to close every day that they run, and I have to give MAJOR props to them because I am not nearly strong enough for that. On the way out, my dad and I passed a booth that we missed before that was selling $5 vintage tees. I dragged him over to look and was SO excited because all of the shirts they had were actually really cool. He bought 2 Marvel shirts, and I was very happy that he wan't leaving empty handed. I also got 2 shirts, an oversized graphic tee of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show that my dad made me watch as a kid, and a Def Leppard shirt that I still wear to this day (shown below in a picture way too big for this post but it won't let me make it smaller).

3 years later, as a much more confident college student, I can't wait to return to Tampa Comic Con. I'm planning on wearing a Sailor Moon cosplay that I wore for halloween last year (added below in case anyone wanted to see), and after my previous experience, I'm no longer nervous about being judged. Comic Con is a place where the only requirement to be accepted is to be kind <3

(So so sorry this is over 1k words I just got really into writing about my experience and reminiscing. Please don't dock any points I'm just overly passionate)

[harpagornis]

Have you heard the tragedy of rounded wingtips the wise?

Pterosaur wing diagram by Federico Benzan. This was on Wikipedia’s pterosaur page for the longest time… until someone noted them paddle-shaped wingtips….

Recently a controversy (which I’m using the broadest definition of the term since this hasn’t actually caused any significant drama) revolving around the maxim that pterosaurs have rounded wingtips has erupted on twitter. World renowed paleontologist and actually-legitimate cryptozoologist Darren Naish has noted that there has been an emphasis on “rounded wingtips” when describing and depicting pterosaur wings in modern paleoart; upon a response from Dave Hone (whoch has published the paper responsible for this) this has evolved in a broader conversation about wing membrane lobes and the actual shape of the pterosaurian distal phalange.

TL;DR: pterosaur wing tips were rounded to some extent… but also not.

What is “pointy” actually?

Examples of alleged modern pointy wings, a frigatebird (putneymark) and a Mexican free tailed bat (jabz photography). Note that in both cases the sharpness of the wing is undermined by different segments (feathers and cheiropatagia respectively) that still blunt the terminal profile. Pterosaur aktinofibrils apparently did the same.

First of all, lets get a few things straight:

The Dave Hone paper linked above that started this whole thing doesn’t explicitly make a pointed wing an impossibility, just unstable and stupid. Natural selection doesn’t operate on intentional perfection, so a “subpar” design can still exist if it doesn’t flat out damage an animal’s survival. Thus, a pterosaur with pointy wings could hypothetically still fly, just not as well as one with a stable rounded wingtip.

That said, there is evidence that most pterosaurs had terminal phalanges that were curved to some degree, so this selective pressure is evident on the fossil reccord, though not universal (see below).

Darren Naish doesn’t dispute the presence of some roundness (though he clearly favours a minimalistic take on that). What he is mostly concerned with is what he calls a “convex lobe”, a section of the membrane projected that blunts the wing shape.

With that out of the way, we are left with two main issues:

Are pterosaur wings universally blunt? Or are there exceptions?

Was there evidence of a lobe?

The former is already semi-addressed: most pterosaur wings have curved end phalanges, as the paper demonstrates. HOWEVER, this actually doesn’t seem to be universal: in rhamphorhynchids at least, the terminal wing phalanges seem to be pointy, and in the case of Bellubrunnus they actually do the opposite of most pterosaur phalanges and curve outwards.

Bellubrunnus by Dave Hone. Notice pointy wing phalanges.

So yes, for whatever reason rhamphorhynchids and a few other groups gave this trend the wingfinger. However, they are the exception that proves the rule, as they are considered aberrant for this.

Onto the next point, the presence of a lobe. I think we can safely argue against the massive lobes seen in some diagrams like the article opener, but Darren Naish actually argues against even small lobes like in this reconstruction of Bellubrunnus:

By Matt Van Rooijen.

This I have to disagree with. Abundant studies have some that the distal section of the wing membrane of pterosaurs was full of rigid aktinofibrils (Witton 2013, th aofrementioned Dave Hone paper), so it was clearly an adaptation to generate a more rigid membrane in this area. While this does not prove the existence of a large lobe, it does make the existence of a small degree of convexity, certainly enough to at least smoothen the terminal wing in conjunction with the curved phalanges.

Muzquizopteryx wing end by John Conway. The artist has largely popularised rounded wing tips by emphasising the curved phalange with just a little bit of soft tissue trailing, which I think is a good, plausible compromise.

Along the way some people on twitter used examples of alleged pointy wings in modern animals like some seabirds and bats. However, in both cases the “sharpness” of the wing is severely undermined:

In most birds, flight feathers have round distal margins. Additionally, they form the wing in multiple segments; if one feather is damaged, others can make up for it. They certainly did not have a bony element sticking out as in the “pointy pterosaur wing” model. In fact, I find pictures of birds with fully sharp wings to be fairly rare, with even triangular winged species like falcons and frigatebirds usually having splayed feathers at some point in their flight cycle.

In bats, the wing is inherently rounded due to the presence of multiple wing fingers. Sharp wing fingers are by themselves rather rare in healthy specimens — they’re emmersed in membrane, hence why they lost their claws — at most you have species where the third finger is particularly elongated as to form a subtriangular wing. Like pterosaurs they have specialised fibers (in their case muscle groups) that prevent fluttering and maintaing the membrane’s shape in flight.

So yes, I think pointy wings are biologically inaccurate and evidence points towards at least somewhat round wing tips. But not too round, as large convex lobes are absent.

Prehistoric Planet

Prehistoric Planet azhdarchid model. Since this is a teaser picture I’m assuming it is okay to use.

This controversy has come just in time for Prehistoric Planet’s release, easily the most spectacular prehistoric documentary to date. Since Darren Naish and Mark Witton had creative control on pterosaur wings, how do they fare?

In pteranodontians, they are in fact rounded. Not too rounded, but a combination of curved phalanges and some soft tissue trailing make them more in line with the modern paleoart trend.

Azhdarchids, on the other hand, have extremely pointy wings. This makes less sense to me because they were inland flyers, which tend to have broader wings, though their distal phalange curvature is less pronounced so a large convex lobe would be necessary to create their rounded wingshape.

Overall I’m satisfied with the results, but I hope the discussion continues, especially since some people are naturally being imbeciles and going the opposite direction.

[winterpinetrees]

Council Minutes (The Gap Years part 9)

June 18th 2019

The Elven Capital / Interstate 82

zooming the third person narration out a bit. I have ground to cover and no need for consistency.

……

Though the dual desertion may seem like it would allow for a higher chance of survival, we belive that both monitors were lost to the void soon after they abandoned their posts. 

While the High Council searches for three missing heirs, the rest of the elven world keeps turning. They have ceremonies to attend, disputes to resolve, children to parent, and as the report explains, huge breakdowns of infrastructure to handle. The report is clinical, concise, and catastrophic. Two of the monitors responsible for maintaining the very existence of the Nile Delta Voidport abandoned their posts and pushed off into the void, where, based on previous incidents, they almost certainly ceased to exist within a few hours and cannot be recovered. A Volunteer Watch has been assembled until new monitors can be brought in, but until they are, a centuries old hub of trade and travel is in a very precarious situation. 

Apex Ishtar Mercuralis, the most important woman in the world, puts her head in her large hands. She has a plan. It’s both extremely good and extremely bad. Ishtar knows why monitors have such a high rate of desertion. Ishtar also knows that this is a supply and demand problem, and that her plan to increase supply is, well…

Councillor Gullin Eburos, Plaguekeeper, Lord of Gens Eburos, clenches one hand into a fist. “I still dissent. For thousands of years, the positions of monitor and arbiter have been at least somewhat voluntary. We are making enemies of the same group that even Lazarus dared not anger”.

Ryn shoots him a glare. “Do you have a better plan? We are dragging this planet out of a stagnant period that has lasted since the north star was in Hercules. We need better infrastructure”.

“I cannot condone our soldiers going into settlements that have provided sanctuary since the north star was in Hercules and conscripting children! They’ve already been Betrayed!”

“So kidnapping and coercion are only a problem for you when elves are the victims? Without a stable void, humans outperform us at trade and production. Either we start preparing now, or we’ll end up scrambling once we’ve been unveiled”. 

There are five human seneschals on the edges of the room. In their indigo and gray uniforms, they almost look like part of the room itself. They vary in age from twenty-one to over sixty and have little in common other than their purpose and their intelligence. All five look at Ryn, then at Gullin, and then at each other. They will gossip about this later. 

The Plaguekeeper composes himself. “A spark like you cannot understand that the void, and the Betrayed, are not things to treat lightly”.

Ishtar’s eyes flare indigo. “Enough. We agreed on a plan and we will see it through. Besides, we’re already pissing off every other enclave by conquering the human world. We’re not doing this for popularity. We’re doing it to save the worlds,”

The council falls silent. The Apex has spoken, and this is not a democracy. They will stay the course. 

With too much to do, the council does not break for lunch. Their seneschals bring in food, (and coffee for Ryn, an uncouth commoner habit that Amedi has started to adopt). Discussion continues. 

“Shouldn’t this issue have been resolved by the Harbormasters?”

“Have someone from the undercouncils pay her a visit”.

“That’s a serious violation of section four of the Lazarus Reforms”. 

“I always hated Lachlan, but it is still a bit strange to know that he’s dead”.

“If the situation gets any worse, then our job in the human world will get a lot easier”.

And then the ever present topic of the missing heirs. Councillor Devana Marolak, traitor to her bloodline, representative of the Hunters, somewhat recently divorced (she got to keep the pet hawk) brings them back to it.

“The older Adust heir legitimately does not know where his sister is. That line is skilled in telepathy, but even they have limits”.

Ishtar had ordered that there would be no torturing of their noble prisoners. She seems to have been ignored. “Unfortunate. And we lost your niece's trail somewhere in the Great Plains?” The subtle insult is more effective than telling Devana off directly. 

“...Yes. I typically avoid human turns of phrase, but we’re trying to find a needle in the human world’s largest collection of haystacks”.

Ryn smiles in spite of himself. “Noble culture is built on deception and survival. It shouldn’t be surprising that we can’t catch anyone. They’ve been raised for this”. 

The four nobleborn councilors grumble and shift the arms that bear their vambraces. Ryn’s statement would make more sense if they were chasing nobility-by-merit, but the three lost heirs are all children. Children from the high nobility, yes, but none of them had ever really been tested. That makes it even more insulting how Kova and Marin escaped capture. Marin and his band of humans even killed a nobleman. His name was Kiper Chrysos and he fell to one human boy with a makeshift club and another with a concussion rifle set to kill. It’s not just a death, but a disgrace. 

The nobility are tied together by a great web of violence. They all know that the elven world prospers when the fit survive and the strong conquer. The names of those killed by another are announced with great ceremony, and kills are marked on vambraces as trophies and burdens. All five of the high council have new marks from the coup a few weeks ago. However, the rules are very clear. Names are only declared for the elven dead, and only long-lived elves can suitably carry the weight of killing an equal. Legally speaking, Kiper was killed by no one. He might as well have been mauled by a bear. One of the other soldiers, a young Gens Tiercel elf with an undercut and a very promising future, was also shot. The impact crushed his spine, an injury that would paralyze without magical treatment and will still take him months to recover from. Speed and movement are everything to the Tiercel. The injury is a more devastating blow than the human responsible will ever understand. Marin’s survival is impressive. He’s clearly very fit, and worthy of his noble birth and Lazarus’s bloodline. That doesn’t mean anyone is happy about it. 

“We’ve secured the town of Vya, at least. And our troops are being subtle about it. If Marin comes back, he shouldn’t notice anything is off until it’s too late, '' Councillor Amedi Kebero, only here because every good council needs a scrappy upstart, explains. They all know that Marin was in the suspicious car now. The analysts did some great work and confirmed the car as belonging to one Sierra Bracken, a billionaire’s daughter that matches the description of the girl from the fight. Where would the High Council be without humans to handle the data!

 “Amedi, your time at the Conservatory proves you have a skill for killcraft.” Ishtar adds. The young elf turns to her excitedly (their ears literally perk up). Six small marks on their vambrace catch the light. 

“The nobility won’t admit it, but they're frightened of Marin’s band. We need to prove our own bravery before asking them to risk their lives against the human world. Will you join the strike team?”

“I’d be honored to, Apex”.

“Good. You’ve been overseeing the operation, so you should already know the team. Esther will stay here and keep your affairs in order, but you should be back soon”. The human girl nods. Amedi smiles at her, the sort of smile you give a dog that’s been very good, and Esther smiles back.

“Should I use Mercuralis colors?” they ask. “Marin may recognize me. My signature is…well it’s from a regional, lower genus, and I did win my year”.

“That was quite the way to brag, Amedi,” Devana says.

Ryn is more serious. “Use whatever colors are your strongest. We cannot truly begin until the heirs have been captured”.

“And try your best to bring him in alive. We’ve already killed enough elves,” This is Ishtar’s penance. She is many things, but at least she isn’t killing children. In that small way, she is better than the Sondaicas who killed her parents and her brother and left her with nothing but a legacy and a betrothal.

In her name, if not by her direct actions, tens of thousands of Betrayed will be conscripted and three billion humans will die. But of Sondaica and its allies, only a single elven child has been killed. Marin’s death wouldn’t be a catastrophe. There are other heirs to Gens Sondaica safely imprisoned, and Marin is already old enough to be in those strange gap years between the thresholds of legal adulthood, but Ishtar just doesn’t want to. He seems like a good kid.

Never mind that Ishtar killed her first elf during those same gap years, that Amedi killed three, or that the old Apex murdered her own star-crossed love in a coup when she was about the same age as Marin. Never mind that her brothers never got a chance to grow older than her children are now. Never mind that the nobility prosper when the fit survive and the strong conquer, and that there really isn’t any room for good kids.

What’s the point of taking over the world if you can’t even try? Ishtar is trying. She has a plan that is both extremely good and extremely bad. Things are going to be different this time.

…………

In the human world a few hundred miles away, Sierra receives a call from an unknown number. She ignores it, but then the caller leaves a voicemail, and curiosity gets the best of her. The message is not in any language she can understand. Sierra puts it on speakerphone once they are back in the car.

“Is this your girlfriend!” 

Marin takes the phone from her hands so quickly that she barely even registers the movement. 

“Yes! That’s her!”

Clay leans back over his seat. “Are you sure it’s her and not a trick? What if she was captured? What’s she saying?”

“This is real. I left some codes in my message. Little things only she’d know. If Zerada had been captured she’d have found some way to tell me”.

“Well what’s she saying?”

“When we were kids, we sometimes climbed this really big statue on Mid-Year's Night. It’s of my oldest ancestor, Lazarus Sondaica. He took over the world a long time ago. We’d sit on his shoulders and watch the fireworks”.

Sierra interejects. “So it’s like the Statue of Liberty, but for the opposite of liberty?” 

Marin takes a moment to understand the question. “Yes. Anyway, she says to meet her in Las Vegas on that same night, by a different Lazarus”. 

“When is Mid-Year’s Night? Is that the solstice?” Brian asks.

“Actually yes! Well, the night before. This year that is the night of the 20th, or two days from now.”

Sierra tries to take her phone back. “That’s a huge drive from here. How does she know we’ll be able to make it?” 

“It’ll be rough,” Brian explains. He’s gotten a feel for driving distances. "Fifteen hours, at least."

Marin sighs. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what she means by a different Lazarus”.

“Is there a big statue in Las Vegas?” She has cell service for once, and types that exact question into the search bar. (using a VPN of course. They don’t want to be tracked.)

“Not that I remember. There’s a lot of little ones,” Clay says. 

“Google’s telling me about the Statue of Liberty replica? Does that work?”

Brian pulls the car around and starts driving south, “Emma Lazarus!” 

Marin looks at him. He seems to recognize the name. “Who?”

Brian looks over at Clay and Sierra, who both seem confused. “No one? Emma Lazarus wrote the poem on the Statue of Liberty! ‘Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame /With conquering limbs astride from land to land; /Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand’?”

Marin blinks like he’s been awakened from a dream. He looks down at his feet. “‘A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame /Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name’”

Sierra looks at them, “What the hell guys”. 

Brian and Marin meet each other's eyes. “‘Mother of Exiles’”.

He accelerates the car. That 15-hour time assumed that they sped a bit. “We need to get to the Statue of Liberty replica”.

The elf has one more thing to add. “Vya is about half way. We could stay the night there, if it’s safe”. 

Clay looks skeptical. "If that's half the drive, we'll get there in seven hours. It'll be getting dark by then. Are we sure we should risk a potentially hostile ghost town at night?"

"Then we'll visit first thing tomorrow"

"Fine."

………

The poem in question is "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus. I am so close to plot events I’ve been imagining for years! It’s so fun. Unfortunately, I am also doing the writing equivalent of hacking through underbrush to figure out how everything else fits in.

[fcble]

SOCIAL SNAPSHOT ! [ 2/5 ]

Fable’s YouTube channel currently has 1.6 million subscribers and 639 videos. The channel was launched in late 2017, though no videos were uploaded until the spring of 2018, when the group’s lineup was finalized and slowly introduced to the public. The majority of their content is split into five main categories, most of them containing smaller sections.

ON THE RECORD is Fable’s main variety show. The seasons air sporadically, often centering around large events in their career. Currently, there are five seasons.

경천동지 / TAKE THE WORLD BY STORM — The first season, which followed the group from the end of their debut preparations to the beginning of their debut promotions, ran for eight episodes in almost real time, from July to August 2018. It’s often used as a baseline for demonstrating the group’s growth. Common sentiments are “It’s so nice to see that Haksu and Andrew don’t hate each other like this anymore” and “Remember when they used to be scared of Jaeseop?”. They tried very hard to be funny and it was very obvious.

LIVE IN ASIA — Taking a bit more of a relaxed approach to variety, their second season was filmed during their first Asia tour. The six episodes aired in September 2019, shortly after the tour concluded. They split into four pairs to complete an almost Amazing Race-style scavenger hunt around the cities they were visiting. The winning pair was Kiyoung and Andrew.

겨울방학 / WINTER BREAK — The third season showcased Fable’s first company-sponsored vacation. They stayed on Jeju Island for a week and a half, filming the ten episodes that aired from January to March 2021. Since filming took place during winter, they spent most of their time indoors, except for one rather sad visit to the beach.

AROUND THE WORLD — During Fable’s world tour, they brought back the format of the second season. Season four is comprised of seven episodes, released from September to October 2022. This time, they competed in two teams. Andrew is a two-time winner, accompanied by teammates Haksu and Intak. Other highlights of this season include Eunsu’s brief participation via FaceTime, and guest appearances by Mingeun and Andrew’s families.

축제 2023 — Aptly named for the current year, the most recent season has twelve episodes, aired inconsistently from April to August 2023. In celebration of Fable’s fifth anniversary, the season accompanied the release of their second full album and its repackage, featuring conceptually related trips around Korea.

BY ◯◯, also known as the BYLINE SERIES is the solo content of each of the Fable members. The videos range from vlogs to covers to whatever else is on their minds. The upload schedules are determined by the members themselves. In order of popularity, the smaller series are:

BY HAKSU — As arguably the most popular member, it makes sense for his videos to perform the best. Haksu was also the first to start uploading solo content in late 2019. He tends to release a lot of song covers with a few much-beloved vlogs sprinkled in between. Andrew can often be found playing a piano accompaniment in the background.

BY BYEONGHWI — In some alternate universe, Byeonghwi is a YouTuber instead of an idol. He has a knack for being engaging on camera—a skill that also serves him well in his current career—framing shots, and editing it all himself. As a result, he uploads about once a month. Each video is an event, as they show off the ordinary lives of himself and the rest of the group.

BY MINGEUN — If there’s one thing Mingeun’s going to do, it’s cover a song better than the original artist, at least according to the comment sections on his few videos with their comment sections enabled. Most of his videos are vocal or dance—sometimes both—covers of kpop songs he likes, indie pop songs Andrew introduced to him, and whatever else he’s listening to at the moment. He has a few very popular covers, though most are not.

BY YEJUN — When it comes to Andrew’s individual videos, they’re almost indistinguishable from any of his livestreams. They all take place at night, and his nights are almost indistinguishable from each other as well. He goes to the twenty-four hour convenience store, he tries to write music, he stares up at the few visible stars in the sky—all captured in 480p.

BY KIYOUNG — Judging solely from Kiyoung’s videos, it’s very difficult to tell that his job is being an idol. Sure, the other members make brief appearances in his vlogs here and there, but most of them show off more of his life outside of work. Most of his friends aren’t idols, and their faces are carefully blurred out or hidden in each of his videos, making it look like he shares his meals with a bunch of apparitions.

BY INTAK — For a music producer, Intak makes videos with extremely poor audio. His are always ASMR-esque, but with a shitty phone microphone instead of a more professional one. He shows off his music production process, speaking as little as possible. He tends to leave it to the editors to write evocative captions for his accompanying visuals.

BY JAESEOP — Jaeseop’s videos come once every few months, usually immediately before or after promotions. It’s become a running joke that an upload from him means a comeback is right around the corner. Almost everything he shows off in his videos was previously seen in the more frequent uploads of the other members. When it comes to putting together his own solo content, he does not have a single original thought in his head.

BY EUNSU — A now defunct series. For a few months between when he started the series and when he left the group, he interacted the most with fans. He would give requested advice to fans based on his limited knowledge from his lived experiences. The comment section of his videos would often correct him, or argue that he should not be listened to.

LEGEND OF FABLE is another one of the group’s reality shows, produced in conjunction with Mnet. Its six episode run spanned from February 12, 2020 to March 18, 2020. Very loosely inspired by the Joseon era story The Tale of Cho Ung, the members played the roles of eight princes vying for power. Fitting in with their concept, their various activities somehow managed to extol Confucian values in the twenty-first century. The result of the casual competition was indecisive, leaving it up to the fans and viewers to debate who would have made the best theoretical ruler of Korea.

A second season was rumored to somehow follow Kim Manjung’s The Nine Cloud Dream and assumed to air some time in 2021. There have been no updates since then.

OFF THE RECORD is the overarching playlist for all of their behind the scenes content. This includes:

PLAY-BLE — Most of the behind the scenes content is within this series. Everything from MV filming to concept film shootings to recording studio behinds can be found here.

AIR-BLE — Extra broadcast videos is the second of the behind content categories. This is mostly just compilations of moments where someone turned a camera on backstage at a music show. It also includes a bit of extra content from their concerts, tours, fansigns, and other live performances.

STAGE-BLE — The more fun performances are also considered behind the scenes content. Normal dance practices, themed dance practices, live practices, part switch versions, etc. are all grouped together. The most popular of these is a Goblin (2016)-themed dance practice of their 2020 song, 꽃처럼.

The last category of content is all of their music videos. On very rare occasions, they’ll film music videos for their b-sides. It’s much more likely for them to release live or other similar performance versions. Their most-viewed video remains their 2020 breakout hit, 가자, sitting at 74 million views.

[jynxeddraca]

About Tav Moonridge

Early life stuff:

Tav and her family aren't originally from Baldur's Gate - Felicity, her mom, was an animal handler and Iados, her dad, was a leather worker. Both were from towns near Waterdeep and they moved to expand the leather working business.

They settled in the Blackgate district in the Outer City.

Her dad died when she was 5, sending her mom into a deep, alcohol-fueled depression forcing Tav to have to start taking care of herself.

Tav actually started pick pocketing at 6 to make sure there was money for things like food and rent - even though she was still young enough to not really understand money and she was not great at picking pockets.

In fact, she got her wrist broken by people catching her hand in their purse often.

Despite her bleeding-heart nature as an adult, as a child she had hardened off her heart and was actually deeply unpleasant to be around if she didn't like you.

She especially disliked the men her mom brought home, even Euphony - who ended up being Temerity's dad.

Euphony often described Tav as being "The grumpiest 8-year-old he had ever met" and talked her into learning the lute so she would actually have a hobby and maybe not be so grumpy.

It worked, and though she genuinely hates being compared to Euphony in any manner - he did plant the seed of loving music in her.

He also honed her pick pocketing skills because he thought that was a necessary life skill. There were other reasons, but we won't go into that here.

When Euphony vanished and their mom died (unrelated to the disappearance) - Tav hyperfocused on taking care of Temerity, her small circle of friends, and herself - pretty much in that order.

Cat and Serena - her two best friends - did make sure Tav took care of herself (as much as they could), acted her age, and had fun now and then.

They also got her in trouble now and then too though.

Tav has never been particularly great in a fight so talked her way out of trouble when she could - but if blows came to blows she didn't fight fair. Biting, clawing, and cutting words were all on the table.

She fully bit a chunk out of someone's ear as a kid.

Sometime as a teenager, around 16 or 17, she has an epiphany about urchins, poor life choices, and falling into the same pattern of behaviors that adults did to her that kept her life more difficult than it needed to be.

Because of this epiphany, she starts trying to help current urchins from starving or falling prey to the elements - even managing to recruit other people (mostly former urchins themselves) into helping provide spots where kids can go for temporary shelter or a meal if they really need one.

It takes time and she has to learn how to allow herself to care about other people again, but within the year she has 3 other people helping her keep an eye on the city's less fortunate urchins.

Her friends jokingly refer to this as her "Network" and by the time the events of BG3 role around it's a decent sized group of adults/older teenagers who all are willing to give up their couch for a night and spare a hot meal. Tav especially is well known as a safe person to go to for help.

Tav knows a large portion of the urchins in Baldur's Gate by name or at the very least by sight.

Post game time! Obviously this is going to contain spoilers end game as well as contain many headcanons and deviations from game canon. Much of the focus is going to involve her relationship with Astarion as well.

First of all, I feel like Jaheira adopts Yenna, or she leaves with Halsin because the city is just ~*~trauma~*~ at this point.

Astarion does move in to the small townhouse that Tav shares with Temerity. It is crowded, especially with all the stuff Tav hoarded during their adventure.

They also do not really have doors to the bedrooms as it's technically a one-bedroom with the actual bedroom being in the loft (Temerity's room) and a makeshift one being under the loft (Tav's room). Both rooms are sectioned off with curtains.

Astarion immediately sews the silencing rune into the curtains upon moving in.

Tav and Astarion break into Cazador's palace shortly after end game, sack it, and look for anything that can be useful to help Astarion live in the sun again.

Sometime after, Cazador's palace burns to the ground. Astarion refuses to confirm or deny if he did it - but Tav is fairly certain he did based on how he grins whenever he talks about it.

Ransacking Cazador's former palace does not help the cramped space by the way, even with their bags of holding Gale crafted - thanks to the phase spiders and their silk they found in the blighted village - space is at a premium.

Also, Temerity does NOT like Astarion and they both act a bit like cats being forced to share the same space.

Temerity does warm up to Astarion during that first winter because Tav gets horrifically ill and Astarion does commit to taking care of her.

They both still snipe at each other, but it ends up more like sibling banter than the previous "Take a walk at noon" "Go kiss a beholder" banter it had been.

Astarion can never decide how he feels about the kids that show up to sleep on the couch or for a random meal - but it does solidify in his head that Tav has always been Like That™ and he thanks every deity again that he didn't meet Tav before the Nautiloid.

Thanks to his association with Tav, Astarion gets a reputation among the orphans as a "safe" person (Astarion disapproves) who will sometimes give really good advice on slight of hand, and if you're really lucky advice on how to wield a knife (Tav disapproves).

Since there's often urchins in the house, Astarion does worry that Tav will want kids one day. Tav assures him that she absolutely does not want children as she already raised a kid - Temerity - and does not want to raise another.

Tav writes down the ballad version of events as she had been composing in her head for most of the adventure and realizes that Volo beat her to publishing the events of the Netherbrain.

It is not the most accurate account, embellishments have been made, as have insinuations of her love life - which Tav had expressly forbidden Volo from writing about.

Tav publishes her ballad in a book along with her account of the adventure, names it: 'The Ballad of Brains, Brine Pools and Balderdash', and out of spite the first page states "Ballad and true account of the adventure leading to the defeat of the Absolute as written by Tav Moonridge - the leader of the heroes of Baldur's Gate who destroyed the Netherbrain."

While Tav is having a publishing war with Volo, Astarion does his first check in with the spawn he released into the Underdark.

Mentioned this in another headcanon list but Tara discovers that the Ring of the Sunwalker is in Gale's tower in Waterdeep, and Gale gives that ring to Astarion during the epilogue party.

Between the rewards for saving the city and selling some of the things they got during adventures (and stole from Cazador), Tav and Astarion end up purchasing a larger house.

Temerity does move into the house as well because I feel like family homes tend to be multi-generational in Faerun.

Works out beautifully because Tav and Astarion end up being professional adventurers, so Temerity gets the house to herself quite a bit.

At some point, Astarion deems it "safe enough" to check in on the spawn in the Underdark with Tav, and Tav decides to donate some of the books they gathered during their adventures.

Gale, somehow discovering Astarion and Tav are going to check in on the spawn, sends copies of books and plenty of writing materials to donate to the spawn as well.

Full headcanon here - Sebastian is in charge of the library in the ruins and is delighted about the book donations since most of the reading material left in the ruins are delicate and can't really be used for casual reading.

He also is spending time transcribing and preserving old scrolls and books from the library.

Tav and Sebastian get along quite well and Astarion does not know how to feel about that.

They both visit the spawn semi-annually to check in on them and make sure things are going good.

Otherwise, most of their adventures are about locating a wish spell or the like to cure Astarion's Vampirism.

Araj periodically sticks her nose in their lives trying to get more blood from Tav and/or Astarion to bite her.

At one point she does attempt to hire people to kidnap Tav while they're out adventuring - it does not go as Araj planned and Tav tells her that if she tries to pull that again Tav won't talk Astarion out of hunting her down.

This got long so I'm going to stop it here for now. Have a cookie if you made it this far.

[vinbee631]

3 - What Is This Feeling? (So Sudden and New?)  

Prodigal Sons and Daughters Alike

Roman and Janus had easily agreed to continue their self-led tour without Remus when it became clear he was antsy to check out his section of the school. While Janus and Roman had slightly different interests, the performing art wing had a large blend of different classes, meaning they’d likely be seeing a lot of each other.

Chapter title is still obvious at this point in the story, from Wicked. I think I dragged out the first day a bit too long but it's okay! You made it!

Roman and Janus had easily agreed to continue their self-led tour without Remus when it became clear he was antsy to check out his section of the school. While Janus and Roman had slightly different interests, the performing art wing had a large blend of different classes, meaning they’d likely be seeing a lot of each other.

As they worked together to find their classes, Janus’ mom and Roman’s father had the chance to talk about whatever they pleased. The boys wouldn’t have even noticed this fact as they directed each other around, but they realized after a moment that this interaction would give them as much time as they pleased to wander.

(They agreed on that particular observation silently and cheekily, grinning at each other as they rushed off to the closest classroom to them, their parents absentmindedly following along.)

It was such a big school! At least five times bigger than the boring public high school he would have previously been stuck in. Unlike that place, Roman felt he could wander the halls of Sanders Academy for days without getting bored!

The two students decided to take a quick detour to the section of ore classes. It was a little surprising that none of those teachers had shown up for orientation, but that meant they didn’t waste too much time there before moving on.

After that, it was straight to the auditorium and its surrounding classrooms. “There are a number of teachers hosting classroom- events? I guess?” Roman noted from a paper he pulled out of his labeled folder. “I can’t tell from the description exactly what that means, but a lot of these are teachers we have. We could start there?” 

“Well, the auditorium is right here. It wouldn’t surprise me if the bigger events were happening in there. We could start with that and then work our way around?” Janus suggested.

“Sounds like a plan! Let’s go!” Roman and Janus both rushed through the doors, slowing down only because of insistence from their (fondly) exasperated parents.

They were by far not the only students with the same idea, as the auditorium seats were quickly beginning to fill up. Luckily, there was still penty of room for Janus, Roman, and their parents in the third row, right at the end. 

Janus pointed out he was grateful to not have to step over other freshmen just to sit down, and Roman couldn’t help but agree with a small laugh. 

An announcement a few minutes later told them they were just in time for the first presentation, a group dance from some of the upcoming seniors. Apparently, it was their final project last year, and they had competed with the routine over the summer.

It was going to take an unfortunate amount of restraint on Roman’s part to not rush to the stage and copy their moves.

Janus rolled his eyes when Roman shared that with him. “I can’t say I agree, but your enthusiasm is- admirable, I suppose. Causing a scene would definitely get you some attention from upperclassmen and teachers alike, if that is what you are looking for.

Roman flushed, just a touch embarrassed. “I wasn’t actually being serious. I’m just… excited, alright?”

“And, I’m just teasing. Alright?” Roman rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure, alright.”

Just as they directed their attention to the stage, the performance began. It was a smaller group than Roman expected, but it was the perfect size for the upbeat, yet personal song. It wasn’t a solo piece, every member played their part, but they each had a distinguishable moment, and then combined for the choruses.

It was magical.

And, when it was done, and the dancers settled with bright grins on their faces, Roman’s applause echoed loudly over everyone else’s. Or at least, it seemed so to Janus, who plugged one of his ears and rolled his eyes exasperatedly. 

Roman was nearly bouncing up and down in excited stims as the performers came offstage to talk to the kids that had gathered for the show. 

“Is it too self-centered to be proud of enthralling someone so deeply by my incredible performance?” Roman blinked up at the dancer that had addressed him directly with a teasing smile. Another picked up on his sarcasm and rushed over, throwing an arm around their shoulder.

”Your performance? So boastful, we can’t be encouraging this behavior in the babies! They’ll absorb it and all turn out like you!” Roman giggled a little, staring up (seriously, these seniors were tall) at the two in front of him. They seemed close.

“Whatever, anyway, nice to meet ya pipsqueaks. This your track?” The first one asked, tipping an imaginary hat and bowing to him. 

“Uh, y-yeah! I’m also doing dance!! And this is my friend Janus, he’s in the performing arts track,” he replied enthusiastically, making the second dancer looked like they wanted to pinch his cheeks. “I can speak form myself, but thank you Roman. It’s nice to meet you,” Janus added.

“You’re cute… not in the patronizing adult-y way but- sweet. It’s nice to see such eager kids. I’ll be looking forward to working with you in the future- uh… Roman! And, I’ll hope to see you around in the future, Janus! Nice” the first person proclaimed, patting themself on the back for their short-term memory skills. 

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it, too, thank you! Uhm… what are your names? Can’t promise I’ll remember them in a week, but I’ll try!” The second person chuckled. “Same, man. The name’s Ryker, and this is Nolan. Welp, we’re doing a few more of these little performances throughout the day, so if you get bored and need some proper entertainment, feel free to come back! We’ll see you around!” 

Roman gave them an excited wave as the two joined the rest of their fellow performers back onstage. 

“Making more friends already? I hope you don’t get bored of me too quickly, if this is what you’re always like,” Janus teased. 

“I could never! You’re too cool for that. Besides, they’re like- adults. If I spent all my time trying to be friends with them and just being totally intimidated, I’d exhaust myself.”

“Oh, so you’re saying I’m simpler? I suppose being an easy friend is not necessarily an insult,” Janus continued with a smirk, as Roman whacked him lightly on the arm. “Terrible! You are terrible, I don’t know how I’m gonna put up with you,” he joked, laughing along with Janus.

“Alright, you two, you can continue teasing each other another time. What would you like to do next?” The pair perked up as Janus’ mom offered her firm suggestion to keep moving so that they wouldn’t run out of time. Immediately, they pulled out their folders and decided the best route to take so that they could visit every classroom they needed to, and a few they wanted to as well.

As the two of them ventured off together, comparing notes and combining schedules, their parents looked on with proud smiles. If this was how the rest of their schooling was going to go, any sense of worry they may have felt about leaving the boys here by themselves evaporated as fast as it had formed.

If Roman and Janus were already this close, were already looking out for each other and joking with each other and bonding- yeah, they were going to be just fine.

…

Eventually (and it was a very long eventually), the boys decided to meet up to grab something to eat before their parents had to leave. They only had an hour or so left, so it was the perfect opportunity to get their enthusiastic boys from dragging them around any further, and perhaps getting an actual goodbye from them before they left them to their devices for a whole semester.

Remus practically barelled into his brother when he spotted him, and the twins and Janus spent the majority of dinner excitedly reporting the most memorable parts of their self-led tours of the school. 

Oh, and eating something too, of course. But there was nothing particularly exciting about dinner, other than the fact it wasn’t the normal, inedible school food. 

“Well, boys,” The twins’ dad stood with a comically dad-like sigh, “I believe it’s time we started the drive home. Janus, it was very nice meeting you. I’m sure you boys are going to be great. Just remember to be careful, and to call your mothers. They’ll want to hear from you.”

“Of course, Pops, we won’t forget!” Roman chirped, running over to give him a hug. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Janus doing the same with his mom.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll stay out of trouble. And I promise to remember to text back at least half of the times you reach out to me!” Remus added, barelling into the two of them.

“I suppose that is mildly reassuring,” Their Pops responded dryly. “Alright, well, we love you boys very much. Have fun, I know this is something you’ve wanted for a long time, so make the most of it!”

“We will,” they promised in unison, watching as the three parents walked off and out the doors.

“I’m gonna miss them,” Remus said, perhaps the quietest he’d been all day.

“Yeah,” Roman agreed, “but we’ve all got each other. Now, should we go get to know the rest of our roommates?”

The other two nodded, and together, they walked back to their dorm, basking in the comfortable silence brought on by the bittersweet moment they’d just left. 

Janus was the first to fish his keys out of his pocket, and they were back. Although, there were a few noticeable differences from the last time they were in there, the biggest being the two boys sitting on the couches in the living room and talking about something they couldn’t overhear just yet.

Patton perked up when he noticed the door closing, and he nudged the other boy to get his attention. “Hey Remus! And, you must be… Roman and Janus?” Patton waved from where he was sitting on one of the couches, jumping up from his seat to greet them. “I ran into Remus earlier today, but it’s nice to meet you two!” 

“Good to see you’re still a ray of sunshine, Pat,” Remus noted with a grin. “And… you’re- Logan? Or Virgil?” 

The person on the couch gave a quick nod, standing as well to join the growing group. “I am Logan. It is nice to meet you. Unfortunately, I have not seen Virgil. I was hoping he would arrive now, or sometime soon.”

“Huh, maybe he just got caught up talking to his parents or something. We’ll probably see him later. Anyway, how was your first day? I know there were a lot of activities to choose from, but I dunno what was going on in the music wing!” Roman asked. 

“I- well, I did not participate in many of the self-led activities. In fact, I spent much of the time collecting some of my syllabuses early and determining the fastest routes to my classes in my schedule. What about you?” 

Remus scoffed. “Jeez, you don’t have to be so nerdy. I mean, yeah, this is school, but it’s not meant to be so- constricting. Like, it’s not public school.”

“I am aware of the distinction. Although, I am of the firm belief education should be best suited to a student’s needs and should not be centralized. The public school system is an excellent example of the opposite of an effective education, but so is assuming that being ambitious labels a ‘tryhard’ or a ‘nerd.’”

“Huh, I guess I never thought of it like that. I agree, though now I am tempted to use tryhard as a silly nickname for you.” 

“I cannot tell if you are serious, but please do not.” Remus laughed at that. “Nah, just messin’ with ya. I’ll find better nicknames for you soon, just you wait!”

“Don’t worry about him,” Roman reassured, whacking his brother gently on the back of the head. “He talks all big, but he’s a softie. Any nicknames he or I use are out of the kindness of our hearts and absolutely, definitely not for teasing purposes.” 

“I thougth you said sarcasm was my thing,” Janus teased, sparking a whole new conversation.

The five of them inevitably spent a while talking, getting to know each other and sharing their favorite childhood stories. After all, they were going to spend the rest of the year living together, there was a lot to learn so they could be best friends!

Just as Logan was about to suggest turning in for the night and talking more in the morning, the flow of conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Dr. Picani,” Logan noted as he opened the door, making the four boys in the living room perk up even more, “to what do we owe the surprise visit? I should hope we’re not in trouble for anything after only being here for a day.” Emile shook his head with a smile. “No, nothing like that, thank goodness. I just wanted to let you know that your sixth roommate is going to be a bit later to move in. I don’t have any details, but he’s not available to move in until the night before school officially starts, the staff and I figured you should know so you weren’t left wondering about an empty room.”

Logan nodded. “Well, thank you for letting us know. It is appreciated.”

“I trust you five will be available to help him move in and make him feel welcome when he does arrive, yes?”

“Of course!” Patton piped in, sliding in next to Logan. “I can even give him a tour before classes start if he needs it!”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Dr. Picani agreed. “We’ll have to see if he’ll be up for a tour so early in the morning, but you can definitely ask! I’m sure I’ll see you boys around this week, so if you have any other questions, just let me know!”

A chorus of “thank you”s followed him out the door that Patton swung shut behind him. “That’s kind of a bummer for Virgil,” Patton frowned sympathetically. “I hope he’s still excited for school, even though he’s missing the fun freshman stuff.”

“I wonder why he’s moving in so late. Do you think something happened to him?” Remus questioned. 

Roman shrugged. “He could just live really far away, or have a busy summer schedule. God knows I can relate to that.”

“I will admit I am curious as well, but his personal problems are not mine to make guesses on,” Logan concluded. “Anyway, I believe I will be heading to bed now. There may not be a strict class schedule tomorrow, but some good sleep would benefit everyone.”

The others agreed, some more begrudgingly than others, but they all bid their goodnights and wandered off to their own rooms. Some spent more time organizing their rooms and making them a lot more livable, while others did actually retire early like they promised.

Initially, Roman worried he wouldn’t be getting any sleep that night, but the comfort he felt with his brother right next door, and his three new friends (with a fourth on the way) sleeping soundly just feet from him as well, he was able to get some rest. 

[sliceofsky]

〔 amber riley, 36, cis woman, she/her ) cleo sheehan was seen listening to “ together again ” by janet jackson. cleo is a social worker and known to be vivacious & flaky ( harper )

𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚜

full name ~ cleo rose sheehan birthday ~ NOVEMBER / 25 / 1986 job status ~ employed as a social worker relationship status ~ (currently) single orientation ~ questioning

𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚘 (tws : death, depression)

cleo rose sheehan was born in huntsville, with both of her parents in the picture. her dad worked as a car mechanic, while her mom stayed home to take care of her. she was welcomed into the larger sheehan fold, where she was surrounded by a close, large family. 

she was five years old when she met daisy schumacher, who quickly became her bff. as kindergarteners, few adults had faith that the two girls would actually stay best friends for the rest of their lives, but they insisted that was the case. it might’ve been defiant stubbornness, or divine luck, but those two five year olds were right. they carved out their own little social niche, and even developed a secret language (which was quickly forgotten, since regular english was easier).

cleo’s next best friend was introduced to her when she was 11, and her mom gave birth to her younger sister. cleo took to the older sister role quickly, and soon she was volunteering for any extra time she got. this came as a relief to her mom, who’s second pregnancy was much more difficult for her. even if cleo wasn’t at an age to really understand postpartum depression and the medical aftermath of an emergency c-section, she knew that she needed/wanted to help. 

school was, in comparison to her home life, a place of lightened responsibility. many subjects came naturally to her, but the ones that didn’t usually had at least one nerdy guy in the classroom who’d let her copy off his homework. she learned pretty young that being nice to a gawky dude made her life easier, until very suddenly, it didn’t.

both cleo and daisy feel a certain amount of shame over the fact that their first falling out was over a guy. they were 14, just starting high school, and daisy was obsessed with a guy known in their school for having facial hair and a love for golf. cleo wasn't head over heels for him, but he once wrote an entire essay for her: he had caught her crying and stressing out over how she couldn’t finish an essay on macbeth in time, since she was taking care of her little sister the night before. he was the knight in shining armor who wrote it, and asked her on a date. she said yes, and it sparked a fight that (momentarily) ended her 9 year friendship with daisy. 

they refused to talk for six months, and cleo found a new little friend group. it was hard for her to battle the feeling that she didn’t quite belong there. she got along with them well enough, but she couldn’t quite feel like she was part of the group. after six months, when she and daisy reconciled over some schumacher-standard brownies, cleo felt that she knew exactly where she was supposed to be.

any order that cleo’s world held crumbled when her mom died. as a 16 year old, cleo didn’t quite understand how she was supposed to cope with a world without a mother, especially when her father was so grief-stricken that he could hardly get out of bed. it was at the funeral when the stars aligned for her, and cleo found purpose in the wreckage. as a hymn played, cleo looked over at her five year old sister, and decided that the only way out was through, and she would carry his sister as far as she could.

she went to grief camp that summer, where she got to spend time with counselors and social workers alike. she worked through all the steps with a single minded intensity, taking mental notes with the hopes of bringing them home and taking her family through healing. everything else fell to the side, and she spent her summer with family (which included the schumachers). 

she had a rocky start back at school, where her grades took an immediate and understandable plummet. cleo got dangerously close to failing her junior year, but was saved by a mix of cram sessions and teacher sympathy for her situation. by the time that senior year rolled around, she was facing a new normal. the academics were easier to stomach, and she had a strong sense of what she wanted to do. she wanted to become a social worker, to use all that she had learned and shared with her family to save the world. 

her self-sufficiency seemed to be a siren song to a handful of guys in her grade, and she indulged in some casual dating. emphasis on casual, considering that she never fell in love with any of them. she just had fun on arcade and movie dates, and let guys buy her dinner. it was a perfect setup, until prom season came around, and cleo watched on in abject horror as two guys attempted a promposal at the same time. this ended in a fistfight in the middle of the cafeteria. cleo decided to go to prom with friends instead.

cleo went to college soon after, and majored in social work. among the classwork and social scene, she got into her second falling out with daisy, which was sparked over daisy getting an invite to a sorority that turned cleo down. cleo took this news with a level of derision (“why would they pick you and not me??”) that sparked an hours-long fight that kept most of their dorm floor awake. they decided that their 13 year friendship had reached a conclusion, but this conviction lasted for a month.

cleo’s first long-term relationship came in her junior year, when a ta asked her on a date and promptly swept her off her feet. gone were the days of high school guys fumbling over compliments, and cleo loved every minute. that is, until he pointed out that every single time anyone in her family called, including daisy and her family, she would take it. no matter what. he expressed that he was worried that she would always choose them over him, and her response was a dumbfounded “of course i always will. that’s my family.” he ended things pretty soon after.

with graduation came a new level of excitement, since cleo was finally able to do the things she always wanted to do. she jumped into social work with zeal, and quickly found that it was an impossible job. luckily, according to her words, “i’m an impossible woman”. she found little ways to handle it all, but after three years of being bombarded with the worst of humanity, she was nearly ready to give up entirely. 

daisy convinced her to take a break and go on an extended vacation, so cleo put in a sabbatical, and let herself be whisked away to brussels. schumacher money plus sheehan charm turned out to be a winning combination for having a fabulous vacation, and when it was all over, cleo had a photo album of european locales and a million stories to tell her clients.

this became her new cycle: work until she was about to burn out, and then jet off to some lovely spot to recharge. her and daisy’s final falling out came during one of these vacations, where they had a long, loud fight about every issue they’d ever had while stranded in miami. the cell service was terrible, and cleo was haunted by a recent death of a client, and it got ugly and mean. they brought up beef from elementary school. there was no clear escape, since there were no taxis to be found. they spent exactly five minutes apart, trying to find the way back on their own. at the end of the five minutes, they realized that they were walking down the same street, just on different sidewalks. cleo crossed to daisy’s side, and they made up. 

in the years after florida, cleo and daisy went to japan, and most recently, a cruise on the caribbean. she also went on approximately 42 first dates, none of which turned into a relationship longer than six months. it turns out that for cleo, when the loves of her life are already family and work, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for another person. there’s still that little question for her, that romantic part of her that wonders if there is something that’ll find her one day. 

that leaves her where she is now: she’s recently had her 16th work anniversary, and she celebrated it with daisy by getting herself a hamster. the hamster is a male named primadonna, and she dotes on him as much as she can.

[rabbitcruiser]

World Hello Day 

Greet everyone you meet with a friendly smile and wave and witness the power of communication to build bridges and bring about peace.

World Hello Day may sound extremely basic, as it encourages us to take the opportunity to simply greet people, and to recognize how important simple communication is in our daily lives. The story of how it came to be, however, is a long and interesting one.

History of World Hello Day

World Hello Day was first created in 1973 in order to show people, especially the people of the Middle East that conflicts can and should be resolved through communication, and not violence. The idea is that clear, honest communication breeds peace. In the 1970s, the conflict between Egypt and Israel was quite severe, and many people began to fear yet another huge war would end up coming of it.

World Hello Day was in fact created as a direct response to the Yom Kippur War that had just finished in October of 1973, during which thousands of both soldiers and innocent civilians were killed. Some soldiers had also been tortured and flat out executed.

The peace discussion at the end of the war was the first time that Arab and Israeli officials met for direct public discussion in 25 years. The concept of World Hello Day was created by Brian McCormack, a Ph.D. Graduate of Arizona State University, and Michael McCormack, a graduate of Harvard. Over the last 42 years since its creation, World Hello Day has been celebrated in 180 countries, as citizens of each of these countries take advantage of this time to express their concerns for world peace.

Thirty-one winners of the Nobel Peace Prize have stated that World Hello Day carries substantial value as an instrument for preserving peace, and as an occasion that makes it possible for anyone in the world, individual, organization or government, to contribute to the process of creating peace.

World Hello Day Timeline

1948 Israeli War of Independence/Palestinian Nakbah

As the British planned to withdraw from Palestine and the United Nations got involved with partitioning it into an Israeli section and an Arab section, conflicts broke out among the two people groups. The conflict lasted until 1949.

1967 Six Day War

Israel and Syria again find themselves in conflict for six days in June of this year.

October 1973 Yom Kippur War

Sometimes called the October War, this Arab-Israeli conflict was started by Egypt and Syria on October 6 and it lasted for 3 weeks. The war drew in other large world powers such as the United States and the Soviet Union.

1973 Inaugural World Hello Day

Americans Brian McCormack and his brother Michael were concerned about the conflicts in the Middle East, so they mailed letters to more than 1300 government leaders and press outlets to encourage their participation in World Hello Day and, ultimately, aim for peaceful communication.

1974 Second World Hello Day includes at least 15 countries

After so many letters were sent to government leaders and press outlets, the word began to spread and World Hello Day celebrated its second year, with at least 15 countries celebrating. In the four-plus decades since its initial celebration, World Hello Day has garnered the support of 180 countries.

1979 Peace treaty is signed

Israel and Egypt formally sign a peace treaty on March 26 to end the conflict between the two countries that has existed for more than 30 years.

1982 Lebanon War

Israelis and Palestinians again enter into conflict resulting in the bombing of Beirut and southern parts of Lebanon.

1992 High-ranking US military officer writes to founders

In a letter acknowledging the importance of World Hello Day, Colin Powell, the highest ranking military officer in the US at the time, wrote that the word hello “serves as a door through which to gain access to greater understanding among peoples and nations as we continue the quest for world peace”.

2016 Singer/songwriter K-Syran dedicates song to the day

In an effort to promote the day, Artist and Activist K-Syran performed and dedicated a special acoustic version of her song “Hello” to World Hello Day. The song was on the Billboard Top 40 for several months throughout the summer of this year.

How to Celebrate World Hello Day

Participating in World Hello Day is quite simple: all you have to do is say hello to at least 10 people during that one day. This is supposed to send a message of openness and goodwill to others, and the creators of the holiday hoped this small gesture alone would demonstrate how communication can be instrumental in resolving disputes and preventing conflicts.

[vitaminwaterreviews]

NCT 127 - Sticker

I really don’t know what to think about this album as a whole. Wikipedia tells me that it won a daesang at AAA, and it charted incredibly well. The title track was just SO weird, and not really in a good way. I know the incominggggg producer from some other songs, and this was definitely not my favorite work of his. The album managed to feel kind of empty to me, kind of like the fromis_9 album I listened to a couple days ago. But at the same time, I liked several songs, I liked their sounds and the neat extras that they did. The album was certainly cohesive, and the songs were distinct, so … I dunno why I didn’t really vibe with it as a whole. Maybe I’m just not in the mood. Average rating is 7.3, which I think is fair. There were some very good songs in here, many of which I’ll be adding to my playlist, but the album as a whole felt like it didn’t do enough for me. It is largely hip hop influenced, so maybe I’m missing some lyrical nuance, but I’ve gotta judge musically. That said, this is the second ever boy group album I’ve listened to, after Don’t Mess Up My Tempo (6.9), and I definitely did prefer this one, both in the rating and in actuality.

- Sticker

Very curious samples, as expected from NCT

Incomingggg

This MV feels very black mamba so far

Haha and then the piano just casually walks into it

I’m so confused

Like it’s original, sure, but I don’t get it yet.

Yeah, it’s no Cherry Bomb. Also I should mention that Cherry Bomb is the only NCT song I know

Oh okay well this section is different at least

I’m just not convinced, that wasn’t enough to really tie it together

7/10

Lemonade

This definitely feels more cohesive than the previous song

I notice the bass much more

I also really really like the vocalist’s tone hear, low and sultry

And now we build

Antidrop

Lol did he just skrrt?

He totally did haha

Yeah I thin OMG he just said Cherry Bomb ily

Yeahhh this is good

8/10, good, solid, I like it

Breakfast

Oh okay, nice and thicc bass, I like the beat

Yeah, house music, I do like house music

I dunno. It’s good, I don’t know if it does enough for me

Mmm I dunno what changed but I love the end here

8/10

Focus

And now our voices are high and light

This definitely feels like the least … intense of the songs so far

Like all the floaty and airy vocals

The background music is still Thicc and Bassy though

Except whatever that synth is doing the harmonies, that’s a cool sound

Nice little ad libs

Yeah I hear these vocal harmonies, don’t think I don’t

8/10

The Rainy Night

Well, we start with piano and vocalizations, as we’d expect

Haha what is this rnb slow jam bullshit, this isn’t the NCT we know and love

(I actually quite like this to be clear)

Actually this feels kind of Exo to me

8/10, very pretty, well produced

Far

What does this song remind me of?

This song totally reminds me of something

I love the vocal colors in the pre-chorus

I dunno though, again, I just want more out of this song. I feel like they’re relying a lot on their sound

Okay, the nananana part is nice, much needed

Ah, here we are, the SM bridge

7/10

Bring The Noize

No real comments so far, this is … kind of boring, musically

Even the pre-chorus vwooooom is kind of meh

Yeah, the chorus sure does noise

Damn even the SM bridge is kind of a letdown

I guess his low sexy voice is low and sexy

5/10, but don’t get me wrong. I think this song does what they want it to do perfectly, I just don’t like what they’re trying to do

Magic Carpet Ride

Haha and now we get some mellow electric piano stuff

I’m still not totally convinced

Also: in terms of the album so far, I like what they’re going for. It’s artsy, but cohesive, and that’s what we want in an album

7/10, good, nothing special

Road Trip

Haha and now we’re proper poppy

I dunno though, like I think Exo would do this song better for some reason

Not that NCT do it poorly, it’s just … kind of bland?

7/10

Dreamer

Trombone! A whole brass section, wow

I’ll tell you what, if nothing else, they’re trying to keep the album interesting all the way through

I do appreciate these vocal harmonies here, or the singing with rapping behind it, I dunno what it is

The chorus might be better if it wasn’t a group chorus

I’m reminded of Sweet Summer Day for some reason

7/10

Promise You

Woahh hear this bass in the background?

They’re definitely making it feel all epic like with those saws

And I love the intensity of the synth in the foreground

8/10

[psychologeek]

I'll start with the end.

"I will not be overly litigious over the north African and Levant examples you chose as I'm not an expert on all sections of post colonial history and even the areas I do know it's not a scholarly level most of my classes are European and American history."

This, here, is important.

You talk about European colonialism, and act like this is the only bad thing, because that's all you know about.

You are mostly aware for things you were taught - which are also the things someone has considered important enough to teach.

From your words, I understand you don't study this field.

You say this yourself - you aren't an expert.

But you can't talk about a single place, to illegitimate a single state, without knowing the super complicated geo-religo-political history of the entire area (and more) - which is at least 150 years of history.

~

I'm not saying that they ARE the best solution, but I do say that what you call "ethnostate" was a counterpoint to the empires, end the rise of nationalism.

(which is why we see an increase in those after ww1, and in even more after ww2).

AKA Pretty much: "each group who desires it should have their autonomy and ability to self-government. A place this group won't be a minority."

~

"largely popularized by 1848 revolutions" - I'm putting a careful pin on that one, as (modern day) Zionism might been influenced by that, but is way older than that.

(I just. Can't deal with summarising 500 years of history rn).

~

Yes, there's a difference between the Ottoman Empire (Turks) and the arab nation (arab) - by language and some culture. Different dynamics then the previous Chaliphates, but still controlled a MASSIVE land.

Which is why the Arabs who lived in those places wanted to "liberate the arab nation".

(and yes, I'm saying arabs - as arabs, arabic, and Islam are NOT native to most SWANA area. From the babri minority in Morroco to the Hindus in India (and Pakistan) . Babri, Aramic (Assyrian), Coptic (Egypt), etc. are the og languages. Or, you know, USED to be.)

I'm sorry, but. Umm. This is an ethnostate. So, are you fine with that kind of "United Arab state"? Or is Jordan also to be destroyed?

I love how you compare "arab and Jewish state" like it's the same thing.

Hi, do you remember that part of Britain's way to help with this arab-state thing was to forbid jews from purchasing land in what they called "Transjordan"?

Anyway.

Things become important because people want/need them.

Looking back at history, we can't judge it by our own views - but at the viewing of the political and environment that were during that time.

You can't expect a 17th century poet to say "love is love". But you can recognize the "I don't think a man should be hanged for that" (non accurate quote).

~

"I feel the need to state thar the reason the colonial powers exited Africa is not because there was a conspicuously large nationalist movement in any area specifically but that the the concept of colonialism started to deeply unsettle Europeans who were becoming conscious of the atrocities it entailed."

Oh yes, all the poor, innocent Europeans who just realized this might be bad.

Nothing to do with the falling of the German and Italian regimes, everything post-Vichie (france), or the massive political changes in Britain - and the general mess in Europe.

No, nothing like that.

Pan-Arabism is the result of over 1,000 of years being under similar government. Also the fall of the ottoman empire and the last Chaliphate. See "The Muslim Brotherhood" for more.

~

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh:

Please please read about the Bangali genocide. This was very needed.

"Relations between West and East Pakistan quickly broke down due to a lack of a contiguous border and thus Bangladesh fought to separate which ironically formed a micro nation state out of this as they are both majority Bengali and Muslim."

No, they fought to separate bc of military governance, and extensively economic discrimination against East Pakistan. (And things like Ethnic and linguistic discrimination, India-Pakistan war, etc.)

I mean, maybe the moral of this is that borders shouldn't be straight lined drawn on a map, but rather related to the population needs and opinions.

(btw, this is another ethnostate, with 99% of the population sharing the same ethnicity. Funny how no one complains.)

~

"Imperialism before the European colonialism was only small scaled, bc they didn't have the proper technology"

Screaming in history:

~

Neo-Assyrian Empire

(Honourable mention)

Area:

670 BC: 1,400,000 km2 (540,000 sq mi)

had fast communication that equivalent to 19th century communication.

Moved populations from their og places.

(I use wiki for the image)

~

Ottoman Empire:

Area:

1481: 1,220,000 km2 (470,000 sq mi)

1683: 5,200,000 km2 (2,000,000 sq mi)

1913: 2,550,000 km2 (980,000 sq mi)

~

Umayyad Chaliphates:

Area

720 : 11,100,000 km2 (4,300,000 sq mi)

(Arab Peninsula is Red. Everything else is, literally, NOT arab. I wonder how ARABIC got there?

Well, the same way that Spanish and Portuguese are in South and Central America. The same way English in North America and in India and Africa and Australia. The same way French in Africa and North America)

Empire statistics:

Here (yes, this is wiki - not a reliable source. But it gets the dates and places+- fine.)

18/27 (20/30) of the largest empires are pre-1491 (66%)

Only 5 are European: (British, Russian, Spanish, French2, Portuguese 2). 2 are arguable (Roman, Ottoman - as it was closer to Chaliphate. Don't judge places by current politics. Judge it by historical politics.) 23-25/30 (76-83%)

By population percentage, we have Roman (5th place) and British (12th) and Nazi Germany (25th) - 3/25, AKA: 12% (dropping the Romans (pre-1491), giving us 91% of, apparently, non-colonial empires)

This is what I'm talking about when I say "euro-centric view".

~

Minorities in the middle east:

Kurds had been fighting since 1920s.

Rojava is fighting against Assad's regime - and Arduan (Turkey).

Also look up Baluchistan - Suni minority, constantly oppressed by the Iranian Regime, ~60% illiterate (schools can't teach in the local language, which is a HUGE problem.)

From what I know, there's also Druze fight for autonomy in Syria (this might be wrong, my Arabic is not so good and I only recently heard about it) in Suadye - Jabel Al-Druze (Druzes' mountain). Non-violent protests since August 2023, about discrimination and latest about economy (government say they have to sell the wheat to government, but pay very little=poor.)

(trilingual translation is hard.)

Oh, and let's not forget the Yezidis, under genocide and enslavement (many women and girls in sex slavery).

~

I feel like I'm losing track of my thoughts.

Anyway, good night.

Just because your sentiment is targeted towards jews zionists does not mean that its not repackaged right wing talking points and bigotry.

Putting a cut off date for jews indigenousness at its core is still anti indigenous folk and putting a cut off date for an indigenous group regardless if it's targeted towards jews.

Calling jews colonizers for trying to rebuild their nation on land that was stolen from them is at its core anti land back movements.

Claiming that openly queer jews are "pink washing" is at its core queerphobic as you want queers you don't like to be silent or hidden away.

Claiming that jews are inherently white is at its core erasing and invalidating poc who do not fit your idea of what poc should be/look like.