#Building a positive safety culture

[constructionsafetynetwork]

Building a Positive Safety Culture in Construction: Essential Strategies for Success

In the construction industry, where risks and hazards are inherent to the job, building a positive safety culture is paramount. It’s not just about complying with regulations; it’s about cultivating an environment where safety is deeply ingrained in every aspect of work. This article explores the strategies and practices essential for building a positive safety culture in…

[agooduniverse]

this post is wild to me bc it perfectly illustrates the issues inherent to corporate pride/rainbow capitalism and yet somehow its contributors draw the complete opposite conclusion

[ot3]

top 10 pokemon that are girls

'gender'.... much like 'animals' this is a concept from our world that has made itself present in the pokemon franchise. all pokemon began having genders (except for the ones that don't) in the second generation of games, in order to facilitate the pokemon breeding mechanic which has become a staple of the main series

you may think this means the issue of which pokemon are girls and which ones aren't is already settled. but do we really trust game freak to be the deciding voices on this one? i certainly don't. so here's a nonexhaustive look at some pokemon that are doing their best to be role models for young women everywhere who have been picking up and enjoying these games for decades.

#10 - NIDORAN♀

Not only is Nidoran♀ canonically a girl, she is the first pokemon to be canonically a girl as the gender distinction between Nidoran types predates the introduction of gen 2's breeding system that gendered all pokemon. she broke the glass ceiling, and for this we salute her.

#9 - KANGASKHAN

Both culturally and in media single mothers are subject to a lot of scrutiny and scorn, but kangaskhan breaks the mold. powerful, responsible, yet loving and joy-filled. the look on her baby's face tells us all we need to know; she holds on tight to the pouch, clinging to the safety she knows her mother can give her, but gazes awestruck and wide-eyed at the world around her, knowing its wonders will be there waiting for her as soon as she feels ready for it.

#8 - CELESTEELA

Technically, celesteela's gender is 'unknown', but it's obvious that celesteela represents what life can look like for a woman who truly has it all. As one of the largest and heaviest pokemon ever discovered, she's not afraid to take up space. she doesn't feel the need to soften herself to be more accepted by the world around her, but she's also comfortable enough with her feminine side to let it shine through where and when she wants. nobody tells her how to live her life but her and also she has big lazers

#7 - MISMAGIUS

Well she's not called MISTER magius now, is she?

#6 - LYCANROC

Perfect embodiment of the wolfgirl you knew (or, perhaps were?) in middleschool. There are many doglike/canine pokemon in the dex, but something about lycanroc's exaggerated unkempt mane and lanky, awkward posture evokes the physicality of a teenager who exists as a beast beyond the boundaries of her own body.

#5 - CHIKORITA

This saultry little binch...

#4 - RAYQUAZA

It's an uncomfortable truth in life that many women find themselves in the position of needing to play the mediator in order to stop the people around them from acting in destructive or harmful ways. But just because mediating conflict can be a difficult and unfair position to be put into, that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Rayquaza just goes to show us all everywhere how a real woman can still thrive under these circumstances, doing her best to build a more peaceful world while not letting that push her into the shadows or make her take a back seat in her own life. she is a community leader and an innovator.

#3 - SALAZZLE

She's the archetypal femme fatale. A dominatrix. A baddie. Does she make me uncomfortable? Yes, absolutely. But I'm not a furry so I'm not really the target audience of what's happening here.

#2 - SLAKING

I know so many butches who look exactly like her. you love to see it.

#1 - MEWTWO

as one feminist philosopher has said: "I see now that the circumstances of one's birth is irrelevant, it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

I think any woman living in a patriarchal society can sympathize with mewtwo's story. enraged at being treated like the property of the people who created her rather than her own fully realized person, she goes on a rampage where it quickly becomes obvious that she is even more powerful than that what she was originally created in the image of. Although this takes her down a dark path, she eventually learns to self-actualize by working on herself rather than pointlessly lashing out at people who had nothing to do with hurting her. it's empowering stuff. doubly empowering because she killed all those clowns who DID hurt her

now, of course, there are plenty more pokemon that are girls than just what i've listed here today. but i hope youve learned a little something from this.

[m2ysafety]

10 Ways to Build a Positive Safety Culture in Your Workplace

Building a positive safety culture in your workplace is critical for protecting your employees and preventing accidents and injuries. A safety culture is an organizational culture that prioritizes safety as a core value and provides a supportive environment for safe behavior. Here are 10 specific actions that employers can take to build a positive safety culture in their workplace:

Provide Regular Training and Education

Regularly learning from safety training institute and education is essential for building a positive safety culture in the workplace. All employees should receive regular training on safe work practices and procedures and any specific hazards associated with their job tasks.

Involve Employees in Safety Decision-Making

Involving employees in safety decision-making is critical for building a positive safety culture in the workplace. NEBOSH qualification doesn't require any Prior knowledge of Health & safety and employees should be encouraged to identify and report safety hazards, and to provide input on safety policies and procedures.

Foster Open Communication

Fostering open communication is essential for building a positive safety culture in the workplace. Employees should feel comfortable reporting safety concerns and hazards, and management should respond to these reports in a timely and effective manner. Regular safety meetings and forums can also provide opportunities from NEBOSH IGC Course in India for employees to share safety concerns and suggestions.

Lead by Example

Leading by example is critical for building a positive safety culture in the workplace. Supervisors and managers should model safe behaviour and promote safety as a core value. This includes following safety rules and procedures and encouraging employees to do the same.

Provide Adequate Resources

Providing adequate resources is essential for building a positive safety culture in the workplace. This includes providing appropriate personal protective equipment, ensuring that equipment and machinery are properly maintained, and providing access to training and education programs.

Reward Safe Behavior

Rewarding safe behavior is critical for building a positive safety culture in the workplace. Employees who consistently follow safety rules and procedures should be recognized and rewarded for their efforts.

Conduct Regular Safety Audits and Inspections

Regular safety audits and inspections are essential for identifying potential safety hazards and areas for improvement. Employers should conduct these audits and inspections on a regular basis and take action to address any identified hazards.

Establish a Safety Committee

Establishing a safety committee can help build a positive safety culture in the workplace. This committee should include representatives from different areas of the organization and should be responsible for developing and implementing safety policies and procedures.

Implement a Near-Miss Reporting Program

Implementing a near-miss reporting program can help identify potential safety hazards before they result in accidents or injuries. Employees should be encouraged to report near-miss incidents, and management should take action to address any identified hazards.

Continuously Improve Safety Programs

Continuous improvement is essential for building a positive safety culture in the workplace. NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Process Safety Management should be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changes in technology, regulations, and best practices.

In conclusion, building a positive safety culture in the workplace requires a commitment to regular training and education, employee engagement, open communication, and continuous improvement. By prioritizing safety as a core value and providing a supportive environment for safe behavior, employers can protect their employees and prevent accidents. Make the next step in your OHS career with the M2Y Global Academy in India.

[ofbreathandflame-archive]

i haven't read the acotar series but yeah there are...SO many issues with it. I was about to say I'm not surprised that people wanted the racism to be more violent so they could acknowledge but actually, y'know what? No, I am surprised. I'm concerned that people want characters of colour to be dragged through the dirt and be the victims of horrific acts before they can acknowledge the racism of the author. I cannot emphasise how crestfallen, how upset I felt when I searched up what Illyrians were for the first time. Like...oh. They are brown, like me. But they are also a whitewashed version of what white people want them to be: a violent, primitive nation that treat their women awfully, just so that white people can come in and save them, as if they weren't the ones ramping up that kind of misogyny in the first place.

I look across the YA sphere and I see white authors constantly say, through their writing, that poc are violent, that we are backwards, that the women should not exist and do not have lives unless they are attached to white people. I feel that the only time this has kind of been challenged in a mainstream YA fandom has been the grishaverse, and even then, the rep for brown peoples is muddled and vague at best, and the rep for Black people feels like there was no exploration of culture at all.

What I'm trying to say is: it's not great in the YA market, but SJM is by far one of the most racist authors out there. White fans shouldn't be begging for the violence against characters of colour to be ramped up so they can decide when they can step in and say enough is enough.

ugh! this was so beautifully put!

thiis will be a long discussion!

i really want to preface this by saying i would really implore everyone in their free time to read toni morrison's playing in the dark! it's a deep dive into the ways blackness (and in this case minority status) is defined by white superiority; how the very presence of the non-white is always used to reiterated the inherent superiority of their white peers! poc are used as conduits to uphold beliefs of white supremacy - the very existence of the nonwhite existing to boasts the intelligence of their white peers.

sjm's work moves in such racist territory that it so easy so see these mentalities etched into her work. every single poc that is included in the story is relegated to this ideology; their very existence speaks to the power of the main character. the primary function of the interactions deal in shame, humiliation, and cowardice (see: tarquin, nehemia, thesan, helion, tarquin, cressida, nesryn, lucien, the unnamed enslaved @ endovier, baxian, unnamed illyrian population etc).

morrison opens up her novel by asserting that we should be conscious of the way the author's imagination expresses itself:

“Both [reading and writing] require being mindful of the places where imagination sabotages itself, locks its own gates, pollutes its vision. Writing and reading mean being aware of the writer’s notions of risk and safety, the serene achievement of, or sweaty fight for, meaning and response-ability.”

morrison also posits that author's intenionality and/or bias are unfortunately apart of the creative process of imagination, reiterating:

“The imagination that produces work which bears and invites rereadings, which motions to future readings as well as contemporary ones, implies a shareable world and an endlessly flexible language. Readers and writers both struggle to interpret and perform within a common language shareable imaginative worlds. And although upon that struggle the positioning of the reader has justifiable claims, the author’s presence—her or his intentions, blindness, and sight—is part of the imaginative activity.”

this initial opening builds an understanding of the creative process, in a wholesome way. what i mean is - morrison is establishes that the creative process is informed by our own perceptions and understanding. the way our the narrative voice reconciles normalcy vs. unknown says something about the author. or what the author has put to page. the reason i am even discussing this is to make a similar point: sjm's writing oftentimes subconsciously asserts the dominance of the 'main, white character,' in conjunction with a ethnic, poor, nonwhite individuals of the story. when we meet celaena, we are immediately aware of aelin's 'superiority' over the slaves in endovier. the function of her slavery is to relate her power, while the story views the enslaved as dump, hopeless, individuals whose only goal is to die for their liberation in an endless cycle. aelin even complains that she 'finally' can talk to compotent people with assumption that the enslaved at endovier were somehow too dumb to adequtely communcate with her.

a court of thorns and roses invents an entire culture whose only cultural practices seemed be filled with violence, misogyny, and brutality. then the story argues that only three (3) out of thousands of brown men actually have common sense. that they're so dumb and brutish that they'd absolutely choose to have barely any resources out of spite of their benevolent high lord. cassian, rhys, and az are the strongest in history. and to relate their power, we get these dumb brutes who just seem okay for fighting for a country that would not even be allowed to enter....that's actually some crazy racist writing lmaooo. or the fact that nuala and cerridwen are trained spies, who up to this point, make so much money they'd probably be able to retire...and they just choose to be also the handmaidens...for five-hundred year old fae. like...immediately after acotar, there back working. rhys and feyre can still be reeling from that experience but nuala and cerridwen can just serve because that's just what they like to do.

the next notable quote states:

“These speculations have led me to wonder whether the major and championed characteristics of our national literature—individualism, masculinity, social engagement versus historical isolation; acute and ambiguous moral problematics; the thematics of innocence coupled with an obsession with figurations of death and hell—are not in fact responses to a dark, abiding, signing Africanist presence”

“The fabrication of an Africanist persona is reflexive; an extraordinary meditation on the self; a powerful exploration of the fears and desires that reside in the writerly conscious. It is an astonishing revelation of longing, of terror, of perplexity, of shame, of magnanimity. It requires hard work not to see this.”

in this way, the nonwhite becomes the site of a descent into darkness, hypersexality and power for white people. think of the way in which feyre's darkness is often times heavily associated with the nonwhite (see: court of nightmares). this sexy, liberated, dark woman using south asian culture to establish superiority while eschewing the people who are the originators of said culture.

but - really want to move this away from a discussion on individual characters and really focus the subject on sjm's role as the write. ultimately, feyre, aelin, nehemia, rhys...aren't real. they are reflections of the author's own internal dialogue. i actually really resonated with this observation/ assumption morrison's makes and that is:

“I assumed that since the author was not black, the appearance of Africanist characters or narrative or idiom in a work could never be about anything other than the “normal,” unracialized, illusory white world that provided the fictional backdrop.”

ultimately, i believe the racism comes from the fact that, although these are fictional worlds born from sjm's imagination, a lot of the racism comes from the fact that sjm is writing what she believes to be normal. and so - that's why the problem ultimately persists. violence against woc and poc are justified already. it doesn't matter that rhys slaughters hordes of illyrians because the assumption is that they're probably horrible, brutish people who ultimately deserve to die; nevermind, they could have had complex reasons, just like rhys. it's okay that the illyrian women are oppressed because...that's just the way things have always been. the only queen who helped rhys and feyre is humilated, murdered, and has her head shaven. we get one sentence about her and the story moves on. nehemia planned her own brutal murder, awoke dorian's power, and as a reward....her entire country is burned to the ground and the liberation of ellywe is delegated toward one sentence about maybe going to visit. , sorcha gets her head cut off (and its treated as a joke by the fandom) and dorian blames her for essentially being 'too fragile' or something like that. poc are already being brutalized in these stories, we're just positioned not to care.

and im not saying that ya isn't extremely racist - but i think sjm is by far one of the worst racist authors i have come across. not even ms. bardugo or aveyard or her other peers have this many racial problems by comparison and boy are there still problems even in those stories. like damn even george rr martin has like...semi-better writing (but he's actually another author that really exemplifies what morrison was talking about and id love to one day talk about that. but it woul take me quite awhile. i do like like asoiaf obvi, but it just has a lot of problems that i cant ignore). lmaooo even armentrout made some attempt to rectify her representation issue and thats saying a lot.

[chaotic-beautiful]

Build up where ??? HOTD

Those who are defending HOTD writing , fighting tooth and nail like obsessed fangirls , are they even watching the same show ??? This show is literally garbage writing , zero characterisation and full of illogical plot holes looking like pot holes on a muddy village road .

Where to even begin ? Atp, a whole 200 page book can be written on the lack of writing and cringe fanfiction OC inserts of showmakers that are not even subtle anymore.

Where's the smartly written dialogs and interesting scenes between small fry characters and MCs ?? Interestingly composed scenes of diverse cultures , grounding scenes of daily lives that are somehow intricately connected to who they are about one or more characters.

Truly , true art can not be replicated or replaced . I'd watch old clips of GOT where it's just two random characters talking to each other and nothing else happening over this entire dump on fire season . Such memorable quotes n conclusions that kept us all on our toes came out of such conversations.

Let me not even start on our female characters. Whichever gave the showmakers this idea that a person who doesn't even identify with that particular gender will be ideal candidate to play a feminist icon in the show ? They do not understand the power that comes from embracing the fragility, gentleness, allure and softer sides of being a woman . And the show makers ?? They've zero idea about Women , their bodies , their hearts , pregnancy, motherhood , marital bond , importance of husband wife bonding and rearing children . They've zero idea what makes a woman strong . I've seldom seen such poorly written female characters, each weak , pathetic , cut board cut outs ( Rhaena , Baela , Haelena ) and unrelatable. They're denied of agency ( Alicent ) , femininity ( Rhaenyra ) , ambition, ruthless strive. Catherine, Sansa , Dany , Cersei , Arya even small female characters that appeared for a season are of fuller blood and flesh , feel like real life and they each embrace different sides of what being a woman actually means.

Show makers have zero respect or true regard for LGBTQA characters. They literally deleted a bunch of canonically established book characters belonging from that group . They treat Ser Laenor like garbage . No body cared about him when he was in the show , he literally proposed to be there for their children and for a fresh start with his wife but was then kicked out from her life because atp, she felt she needed a new husband to secure her position and safety of her children and decided to seduce and manipulate an emotionally vulnerable Daemon mere days after his wife's death.

And now in the show every one has moved on. Where is Laenor?? Is he alive ? Why is Seasmoke so restless and ready for a new rider ?? Can he sense that his rider is gone? Does your favorite girl boss cares ?? No ! Neither does the show.

But nor does the viewers , because hey we've got a hot toxic lesbian kiss that pretty much ruins the essence of both the characters and deviates them so far away from their book selves that they're no more the same characters. They might as well just change their names and introduce them as OCs . Yay for representation. We won ! Not.

The show stinks so badly of racism that it makes me feel sick. The Valeryons are played by a bunch of Bl actors without that having any effect on the story . AND yet those same characters are treated like disposable and insignificant within the story , existing as props to enhance the story of White characters. How typical. 🤔 They erased Nettles whose story reverberated through the heart of Westeros for eons to come and was truly inspiring , because that could not endanger what they're trying to do with their OC Rhaenyra, not comfortable making her human by showing her jealous and possessive of her OWN husband whom she loved crazily and was prepared to cross all limits of morality for him . No , that'd make her a human being and a wife . Can't have that here. Doesn't fit with our narrative. Can't show her to be dismissive and vindictive as she was of Nettles because of who she was and where she came from. Can't have the simp Daemon of the show look outside of his cheater wife, when Nettles was without a doubt the most important person for him near the end of his life.

They ruined another book , ruined great characters and those who have no idea about the book and the essence of these characters are praising and defending this garbage by attacking the books fans . It's indeed an interesting psychological study how like minded people are attracted to like minded stuff.

Mike drop.

[dxxtruction]

Something to just consider is that Armand is a collectivist. Culturally I think this makes sense, considering he would've been raised in his foundational years in that sort of culture that values collectivism over individualism. He's also had to live in several high control environments afterwards, which demanded servitude, where putting himself first would've led to trouble, up to and including death. In the Children of Darkness, for example, the very idea of seeking pleasure at all is against the commandments, and since he is forced to lead this group (under careful surveillance), he can not therefore show if he even wishes to seek pleasure, because this would disrupt the collective thought, and further, place a level of threat upon himself for disobeying the laws he's meant to be upholding. He's at threat that he can be killed for it, because that's how such laws are handled. So he necessarily can not hold an individualistic, self serving, opinion, and hope to live, and lived in that kind of envoirment for centuries. Even the TdV carries on the same sort of traditions to less strict, more secular, degrees. Seeking pleasure in TdV is rewarded, even exhaulted, but the great laws are still imposed to the level of threat which is death, and everyone is always surveilling each other on this matter. He's a collectivist, especially in situations which impose certain, or uncertain threat of violence, for going against the group, or person, as in such a situation being individualistic is perhaps the last thing you may get to ever do. Nothing personally driven, therefore, seems that worth it provided the risk.

Whether he remembers this earliest period of childhood, or not, those sorts of values (likely positive then as things like sharing, community building, reaching mutually beneficial decisions, aid, and consideration of others feelings). Ingrained into his personality, and he doesn't have the kind of amnesia where it appears his personality was fundamentally changed by it. Rather, that since it's more of a dissociative amnesia barrier protecting him from traumas, that his personality would rather be fragmented, as opposed to altered. (Meaning such values are still there, but are now also acting alongside various further alteration to what is means to be in collective. And that if such amnesiac parts ever do surface, it is only reacting as if it is re-experiencing, and in the same context to the trauma. Depending on how complex this part is it could take on further environmental inputs while in this state, developing or simply having, essentially, its own personality... but I digress).

He does things for the group, which can at times only be one person, more-so than he serves himself. Placing what serves situation and context more highly that individual personal traits and feelings. But, by thinking he has no self, he naturally falls to self justifying everything wrongful he personally does, as for the benefit of the group. It's a cognitive distortion which doesn't recognize it's own selfishness because it sees itself as being selfless regardless of actual outcome. Further, this makes it so he takes no responsibility for others actions he may have caused, or to how a situation came about because of himself, if he doesn't then apply having any self to that situation. He'll bend to opinion even if its false, and create or even take on an entire role of falsehood, if he believes it serves a mutual benefit.

He uses this as a kind of shield against the world he must fundamentally view as threatening, and imposing, with very limited spaces of safety. But doesn't impose himself in healthy ways, therefore becomes an enabler of certain toxic behaviors getting out of hand, and creating unsafe environments. Desiring such places being controlled, and predictable, environments, but not fostering what's needed for that, and certainly not in a healthy way. Rather lending to manipulating others, or using threats, or force, to make it so he's secure in this. Again, self justifying that it's for a collectivist benefit. If he does at all recognize his own selfishness it's due to how he's able to come out of his own cognitive distortions, and dissonance, and admit faults and failings. Seeing that hiding his own faults and failings from others is something selfish, and therefore that he does indeed have a self there. In doing so, developing an understanding that he acts as a self in all things, and therefore understanding the effects of his actions are actually his. (Or else falling right back into the distortions). He has to be selfish, in a way, to ever be truly selfless. If that's really his goal.

To want something for itself, as opposed to some other means. To want good, love, and safety, for itself as opposed to what it does. He has to develop a sense of his own idea of these things, in order to form a consistent and more secure identity, not founded or attached to a group or person. And further needs whatever self that is, to be embraced, by himself, and not insecure in how others would react to it. To not be afraid of this self expression and personal desire, thought, opinion, feeling, and so on. By developing his own person he'd be able to better embrace his own bad qualities, even change them. As he then feels he has such agency, and isn't just simply reacting and serving to the world around him. I think there's something in how he changes Daniel which says he is moving in sort of this direction, there's something in how it appears he's roaming around on his own right now that suggests he is on a journey of this sort. I'm not expecting greatness out of it, but I am thinking there will be progress for present day Armand in future seasons. I think he is capable of change, and is not fundamentally as he appears. (And this would align to his narrative arc in the books anyway.)

And just also like I don’t think he knows entirely where the boundaries of anything really are or should be. Between himself and others or like where right begins and wrong ends and so forth. Not a moment in his memorable life, mortal or immortal, hasn't been without the presence of vampires, and therefore conditioned more under vampiric understandings as opposed to human ones. And because he's disconsidering of self, and hasn’t exactly been modeled what these should be, he's not able to function sanely in his environment. He's not sane I think I can say. But I do think he’s someone who learns experientially, and can do that on his own, so where those must lie he’s not in total lack of awareness either.

[pearlprincess02]

selena gomez and justin's composite chart

sun

taurus sun: this is one of my personal favorites. your house is either well furnished with great woodwork, a fireplace, a bathtub, and a serene backyard or you could be planning to make a very comfortable place for you'll. love is stable, neither of them giving upon the connection. both want to earn for themselves/family. an aspect of traditionalism is prevalent, either related to family or culture. they find it very comfortable to be around each other. perhaps that's also how they view it, "comfortable" and in love. they love to cook/bake together and shop together. skin ship, slow dancing, wine, sex, and money all. prefer to do things and show than be up all in their head. not much talking in my opinion. both of them or one of them could be incredibly stubborn though lol. would make friendly next-doors. the food is top-notch too.

sun in 8th house: you guys probably view eachother as soulmates. this placement leaves you guys transforming into something completely different, it feels like. this energy may drive you both insane, causing intense attraction to eachother. your love for eachother is extreme.

moon

cancer moon: a nurturing connection that will grow an urge to protect each other from. one person can begin to take on a mothering role over another. others may not see how much it scares one another to care deeply about a connection. this connection becomes an emotional sanctuary for one another and there is a desire to “come home” to one another. very sensitive to each other's emotional changes. be careful to not monitor each other's emotions too much. others may not see how losing or being apart from this person can feel like a house fire. you two begin to bring each other comfort the closer you get. 

moon in 10th house: the two people see the other person can provide what they need to build, in the outside world, safety and security. the moon is naturally opposite to the 10th house on the wheel. the other side of the same coin, moon and Saturn. so while the moon is our basic need for security and safety, the 10th is where those things happen. where we go and do the things that the 4th needs. so in this placement we have two people joining their most subjective personal states and feelings in a context of getting ahead, public image, status, what's external to us. they can be prone to identify outside external circumstances as the problems, difficulties and the supportive things that are working within the relationship. its not a really personal place for the composite moon to be. they relate emotionally in their thoughts about where they want to go, how they want things to go to achieve their goals in order to meet the moon needs. "What we can become together? Where are we going? How our combined lifestyle can provide or be the vehicle for what we want to achieve?"

rising/ 1st house:

libra rising: all the affection and the internal and positive dynamics of the relationship are visible to others, they really like being together, appearing in public, they are romantic, traditional gestures are very usual to them. they are very adaptable, they show a lot of harmony together, but they can suffer from a lack of assertiveness when necessary, such as when they need to better select the people they talk to and the places they go.

jupiter in 1st house: planets in the first house are most easily seen by others. jupiter here expands your relationship in the sense that everyone always seems to see you two around, you’re “loud” (not necessarily in volume but in appearance) and may enjoy traveling together. sometimes you can seem too much for others or surprisingly focus too much on yourselves.

mercury

taurus mercury: their way of communicating with each other is sensual, calm and peaceful. they wouldn’t like to raise the tone with the other and they’ll be very tactful when it comes to speaking the truth. both will think things through before saying them to the other and they’ll love to show their affection through gifts, letters or notes. communication is essential for them and they are very private about their relationship. it may have been a while before they decided to/dared to speak. they would love to go to restaurants, to shops, museums, or stay at home together. 

mercury in 8th house: both can profoundly change their way of seeing things, having met and interacting with this person can mark them. they can deliberately talk about things that may be difficult for others to understand, and even about traumas and not so pleasant experiences, with the other they will not feel judged or frowned upon. both may find the other’s voice and mindset very appealing. they may be in an overly sexually active relationship, and they would like to talk about their sexual preferences and they may be very vocal and expressive in sex. there is no dominant in the relationship, both can be versatile in sex.

venus

gemini venus: gemini venus in the composite is all about excitement. this energy will find pleasure on little day trips and exploring new things. an abundance of communication is shared between individuals. the pair that’s always taking photos of each other and laughing about memes. verbal compliments aren’t unusual and there’s a spark of novel creations ignited with this placement in the composite.

venus in the 8th house: this relationship is infused with intense emotions, passion, and a powerful attraction. the couple's connection is not superficial and may involve a merging of identities on an emotional, spiritual, or financial level. there may be a tendency to keep the relationship private or hidden, as the eighth house is associated with secrecy and hidden agendas. the couple also experiences a strong desire to control or possess each other, which could lead to issues of jealousy or possessiveness. this relationship is emotionally charged.

mars

aries mars: in this relationship you are very attracted to each other, the sexual tension and desire are visible to both you and everyone else. there’s something exciting in their relationship, perhaps it is the teasing that occurs or how you seem to be a challenge to the other. you’re both people with strong temperaments, you know what you want and go after it regardless of the opinions of others. you encourage each other and are proud of each other's achievements. the goal of this couple is to create a space in which the other feels loved and respected in their entirety. sex is hot, passionate, it leaves you tired and very satisfied. it is the moment in which you fully enjoy each other, it’s usually somewhat noisy and can feel like an intense and once-in-a-lifetime experience regardless of whether it is the first time or not. when there are arguments, both are very clear with what they think and feel, they can say things very frankly, which can sometimes hurt.

mars in the 7th house: both of you may feel like you have found the person you want to be with long-term or marry in the case of some, others may feel like you are even jumping at such a statement. in this relationship they feel like one and seek to continue growing and improving as a couple. when problems arise, they quickly propose solutions, they know they can really speak and be heard by their partner. in sexual terms, one may be more active or dominant than the other. even so, both will prioritize the love and pleasure of the other.

celeb's masterlist / 1H - 6H / 7H - 12H

crds:

composite sun + house

composite moon + house

composite rising + house

composite mercury

composite venus + house

composite mars

[indignantlemur]

Larger image (STRONGLY recommended): HERE The resolution on this is painful, so I'm including detail shots below the cut.

This meeting room was furnished many centuries ago by a renowned artisan who could carve stone and shells in stunning detail, and could shape and colour glass in a way that was never seen before and has never been replicated since. He took the secrets of his techniques to the grave, dying at an unexpectedly young age in a duel with a public safety official over the seizure of a rare and extremely toxic pigment imported from a Clan to the far south. His name was Kelenthor, and he was the only Clanless to ever attain such a high level of renown and fortune purely on his artistic talent. He lived during what would eventually be called the Post-Unification Andorian Renaissance. While this artisan was alive, he had a somewhat adversarial relationship with various officials and was known to use his art as a medium to mock and criticize his social betters. He was beloved by the general populace for exclusively taking on students from the lower social classes - almost as much as he was resented by the upper classes for his habit of hiding subversive messages in his commissioned works. Regardless of where one stood with Kelenthor, none could deny his talents. If you wanted the best of the best, Kelenthor was the one to commission. As such, he was eventually commissioned to design and create furnishings for a number of rooms and even entire buildings which are now used exclusively by government officials today or otherwise preserved as precious cultural works.

This particular room is widely regarded as his best work: the walls are conspicuously and almost insultingly plain, barely carved at all. At the centre of the room lies a heavy and imposing table of solid marbled stone - also barely ornamented, save some bevelling along the edges. The surface was treated with a substance which renders the stone almost entirely impervious to damage. No matter how one might rain blows upon it, barely a scratch remains to remember them by - much like many of the politicians who have sat at this table since its creation, which many believe was the subversive message behind the thing in the first place.

The focal points are the throne-like seats arrayed around the blunt instrument of a marble table, intricately carved and inlaid with precious shell and glasswork, iridescent and shining under even the faintest rays of light. Each scatters prisms randomly around the room, illuminating the shadows and often causing quite a few headaches when meetings stretch too long. More importantly, every single one of them was deliberately carved to be as uncomfortable as possible. No one in a position of power, Kelenthor once said, should be comfortable there.

First up, courting and wedding bands! Shral and Dagmar are only courting, so they have simple rings with minimal ornamentation, with Dagmar's being modified to fit as a cuff earring.

Thoris is married, so he has two bands on each antennae. Quite often marriage bands are more decorative and ostentatious than his, but Thoris isn't one for baubles and it's bad enough he has to wear these ridiculous robes. Frankly, if he could get away with just wearing his old Guardsman uniform to these meetings, he'd vastly prefer to. As such, his wedding bands are almost incongruously plain for his rank and status.

Next up, the lady and gentleman in the foreground! These two are Ministers, and high-ranking Andorians besides, so they ornament themselves rather loudly in comparison to our main cast's more sedate preferences. The lady on the left is Minister Zaathi, who we will be meeting in-fic very soon, and she's very fond of gemstones and carved hair beads - and not afraid of losing any, if she sheer number she's wearing are any indications. It's a weighted fashion statement, if nothing else, from a woman whose home province is small and relatively modest otherwise.

By comparison, Minister Bhael - on the right - is much more conservative in his ornamentation, but his robes are heavily embroidered and that is quite a lot of Andorian silk to be toting around. A closer look will reveal that his sleeves are embroidered with an ocean wave pattern, which is particularly interesting given the relationship Andorians have with the sea. Is it some kind of political statement, or just an odd choice of attire?

If those two are making statements with their sartorial choices, then Thoris has them all beat for layered meanings.

The silvery outer robes of office are closer to a cloak than a robe, with an inner layer that is belted around the waist and a loose outer layer that is joined to the inner layer at the shoulders and seams along the upper arms. This permits the maximum range of movement for the wearer. Being made of Andorian silk, which is several times stronger than Terran silk, it is an excellent means of protection against slashing and stabbing weapons. Despite their merits, however, Thoris loathes them. They're lightweight, sure, but they're still long and ostentatious and entirely too liable to get caught on something in a real fight. Sadly, they're also mandatory, or he'd have binned them ages ago.

The vibrant blue mid-layer is a heavy material, durable Andorian silk woven through with tiny filaments of something very similar to a carbon fibre composite, providing a measure of protection against many forms of projectiles, though less so against phase weapons. The innermost tunic is more obviously armoured than the other two layers, with panels mimicking an extensive chitin pattern along the length of the torso and forearms. The sleeves in particular draw attention to a very vibrant yellow flash - much like the chitin of the predatory veeg he is known for hunting in the past.

Next we come to Shral, who is obscured partially by shadow at Ambassador Thoris' right hand - and ready to draw his ushaan-tor at a moment's notice.

This is not standard armour for an Andorian, but rather something one might wear while sparring or training in their personal time. The armour takes the form of layered, almost beetle-shell like layers, layered over a long, cowl-necked tunic. The cowl is an unusual choice for sparring attire, as it provides a potential hand-hold for an opponent - only a very arrogant or a very skilled duelist would wear such a thing while sparring.

In contrast, Dagmar stands in the light on Thoris' left. Her working attire is lightly embroidered, and features large, pearly buttons - but otherwise she's almost conspicuously plainly dressed. Hyper aware of how shockingly pink she is in comparison to everyone else in the room, Dagmar wears muted and neutral colours to try to off-set how glaringly alien she is - which, ironically, only serves to highlight her differences even further.

@the-lady-general  @starrynightgardens  @emilie786  @horta-in-charge  @emochook  @velvet-luvie  @creature-of-the-stars @unknownfacelessfanfictions @auroramagpie

[stranger-rants]

You don’t think it’s possible for someone to support Israel because they are Jewish and have a strong ethnic and personal connection to that region (his bar mitzvah was literally in Israel) without actively being full of hatred towards Palestinians? There’s this narrative going around that Noah is somehow this deeply psychotic and racist person who wants Palestinian children to be exterminated, but isn’t it far more likely that he’s just deeply connected to his culture, fearful of the rise in antisemitism, and sad about 10/7? He condemned Hamas, a terrorist org. He never said anything about hating Palestinians.

Btw I personally support Palestine and agree that Israel has gone too far in its actions. I just don’t demonize everyone on the other side which is apparently a controversial position to take

I think that ongoing support of Israel as a settler colonial state hinges on the apartheid and genocide of the Palestinian people. Noah “Zionism is sexy” Schnapp is racist as is anyone who supports Zionism because it is a racist ideology. The establishment of any nation should not require the dispossession of land and resources of an entire group of people, but that’s what Zionism does.

Israel is no different than any other settler colonial state. Noah is not more or less ethnically tied to that land than I am to America. As a person raised within a setter colonial state, I could recognize the power and privilege I have to be able to live here or I could buy into a radical ideology based on the idea that I’m inherently superior to the indigenous people here and thus I deserve this land more.

Noah Schnapp has explicitly sided with Zionism. I don’t give a single flying fuck if he has been to Israel or he had his Bar Mitzvah in Israel. There are indigenous Palestinians who can’t return to their land because of Zionism. I’ve lived here in America my whole life. My immediate family is here. That doesn’t change the violent racist history of this place.

I didn’t call him psychotic. I didn’t demonize him. I am speaking in plain and simple English here - Noah is a Zionist. Zionism is a racist ideology. Israel as a settler colonial state that is younger than my grandparents has been displacing, imprisoning, torturing, and killing the indigenous people of that land for decades on the basis that they have a right to build an ethnostate on said land.

Stop conflating Jews and Judaism with Israel. Stop conflating Jews and Judaism with Zionism. Stop using the fear of antisemitism as a rhetorical device to excuse Zionist propaganda. There are many Jews sacrificing their safety to condemn Israel. There are many Jews who have suffered because of Israel.

Israel does not represent Jews or Judaism. It is a violent settler colonial state supported by other violent settler colonial states. Jewish safety and freedom shouldn’t hinge on apartheid and genocide. That’s not true safety or freedom. The only way forward is to free the Palestinian people. Stop the genocide. End the apartheid. Build a state based on equity for all, not just some.

This isn’t a religious conflict. This is a genocide and you can either support the oppressor or the oppressed. He chose the side of the oppressor. You’re not stating a controversial opinion by arguing in his favor, for him arguing in Israel’s favor. The U.S. government argues in Israel’s favor regularly, providing billions in weapons. We all see the consequences of that.

I will remain angry with him as is my right.

[thedevilundercover]

bc of this post by @deadly-halowos I have some thoughts

I'm going to just like brain dump so read it if you wish to hear me rambling abt symbolism and shit

I personally think that there's a lot of space to world build with the LOA.

For one, I think that the LOA should have a city for the families of the LOA agents and the more bureaucratic stuff.

Some of the families of agents must have been in the LOA for generations and also it's just a safety measure for Ra's to have everyone's family under his hand so even if they try to revolt he could quickly catch their family members and threaten them with their family.

I also have a visions of it being like the Walled City of Kowloon. Just huge, towering buildings/maybe some cyberpunk tomfoolery. The higher up you were, the better position you had in the LOA. The lower levels are dark, filthy and dangerous and the higher up you go, the better buildings, the more sunlight. People work hard to rise in rankings so they can get themselves and their families out of the lower levels.

Most of the generational agents start out in the mid levels, it's bad, but not as horrid as the lowest levels. The lowest levels are for the the failed agents who have to fight for scraps and die often because of infections and diseases.

Culturally, the people who have been living in the city basically worship Ra's. It's a dictatorship of the vilest nature. They have to pledge their allegiance to Ra's from a young age and they all have to work somehow.

Children are indoctrinated quickly. They believe in the LOA with the entirety of their hearts and they don't even care if its their own father/mother/sibling/friend that they're ratting out or beating up. (think George Orwell's 1984)

[dailyanarchistposts]

Sadness and subjection

No, the masses were not innocent dupes; at a certain point, under a certain set of conditions, they wanted fascism, and it is this perversion of the desire of the masses that needs to be accounted for.

—Deleuze and Guattari[11]

In order to rule, those in positions of power need to constantly crush and subdue the forces of transformation. They do not merely need obedience; they need their subjects to be separated from their own capacities. As Audre Lorde writes, “Every oppression must corrupt or distort those various sources of power within the culture of the oppressed that can provide energy for change.”[12] Empire’s hold is increasingly affective: it suffuses our emotions, relationships, and desires, propagating feelings of shame, impotence, fear, and dependence. It makes capitalist relations feel inevitable and (to some) even desirable.

An important insight shared by many radical currents is that these forms of violence and control are ultimately toxic for everyone. For men to “enjoy” the benefits of patriarchal masculinity, their capacities for vulnerability and care must be eviscerated, replaced by a violent and disconnected way of being built upon shame and woundedness. For white people to become white, they have to internalize entitlement and a hostility to difference, hiding from the ways their lives depend on institutionalized violence and exploitation. Settlers must build their lives on a living legacy of genocide, indebted to ongoing extraction and dispossession. Being privileged by Empire means being sheltered from its most extreme forms of violence and degradation, and to be enrolled in a stultifying form of life that recreates this violence. Most of what is called privilege has nothing to do with thriving or joy; this is why privileged white men are some of the most emotionally stunted, closed-off people alive today. None of this is to deny that there are pleasures, wealth, and safety associated with whiteness, heteropatriarchal masculinity, and other forms of privilege. Instead, it is to insist that everyone, potentially, has a stake in undoing privileges—and the ongoing violence required to secure them—as a part of transformative struggle. As Jack Halberstam writes in his introduction to Fred Moten’s The Undercommons,

The mission then for the denizens of the undercommons is to recognize that when you seek to make things better, you are not just doing it for the Other, you must also be doing it for yourself. While men may think they are being “sensitive” by turning to feminism, while white people may think they are being right on by opposing racism, no one will really be able to embrace the mission of tearing “this shit down” until they realize that the structures they oppose are not only bad for some of us, they are bad for all of us. Gender hierarchies are bad for men as well as women and they are really bad for the rest of us. Racial hierarchies are not rational and ordered, they are chaotic and nonsensical and must be opposed by precisely all those who benefit in any way from them. Or, as Moten puts it: “The coalition emerges out of your recognition that it’s fucked up for you, in the same way that we’ve already recognized that it’s fucked up for us. I don’t need your help. I just need you to recognize that this shit is killing you, too, however much more softly, you stupid motherfucker, you know?”[13]

Empire is killing all of us, in different ways, and all of us, in different ways, are marked by incredible legacies of movement and revolt. Its forms of control are never total, never guaranteed. The word “sabotage” comes from those who destroyed factory machinery by throwing their wooden shoes (sabots) in the gears of the early European factories. Slaves broke their tools in the field, poisoned their masters, learned to read in secret, and invented subversive forms of song and dance.

Empire reacts to resistance by entrenching and accumulating what Spinoza called sadness: the reduction of our capacity to affect and be affected. We’ve chosen not to use this word very much in this book because we’ve found it can be misleading in many ways, but the concept of sadness is important for Spinoza. In the same way that joy gets conflated with happiness, it’s easy to hear “sad” in terms of its familiar meaning as an emotion, rather than the way Spinoza intended it: as a reduction of capacities. For Spinoza, sadness cannot be avoided or eliminated completely; it is part of life. All things wax, wane, and die eventually, and the process can provoke thought, resistance, and action. Sadness and joy can be intertwined in complex ways. But Empire accumulates and spreads sadness. Drawing on Spinoza, here is how Deleuze put it:

We live in a world which is generally disagreeable, where not only people but the established powers have a stake in transmitting sad affects to us. Sadness, sad affects, are all those which reduce our power to act. The established powers need our sadness to make us slaves. The tyrant, the priest, the captors of souls need to persuade us that life is hard and a burden. The powers that be need to repress us no less than to make us anxious … to administer and organize our intimate little fears.[14]

Empire propagates and transmits sad affects. Sadness sticks to us; we are made to desire its rhythms. Terrible situations are made to feel inevitable. For this reason, we speak of the entrenchment of Spinozan sadness as that which is stultifying, depleting, disempowering, individualizing and isolating. But this entrenchment might not feel agonizing or even unpleasant: it might feel like comfort, boredom, or safety. We have found the notion of “subjection” helpful here, because it goes beyond a top-down notion of power. In an interview, the critical trans scholar and organizer Dean Spade explains why he uses this term instead of the more common activist term “oppression”:

“Subjection” suggests a more complex set of relationships, where we are constituted as subjects by these systems, engage in resistance within these systems, manage and are managed within these systems, and can have moments of seeing and exploiting the cracks and edges of these systems. I chose to introduce this term, despite its unfamiliarity in most activist realms I am part of, because I felt its intervention was a necessary part of my argument about how power works.[15]

Today, especially in the metropolitan centers of so-called “developed” countries, subjects are enmeshed in a dense fabric of control. Some of us are steered into forms of life that are compatible and complicit with ongoing exploitation and violence, while other populations are selected for slow death. New forms of subjection are invented to contain each new rebellion, enrolling subjects to participate in the containment. Prisons and policing come to be felt (especially by white people) as a form of safety and security. Misogyny is eroticized and objectification reaches new heights, taking new forms. Desires for affluence and luxury are entrenched amidst growing inequality. Through cellphones and social media, surveillance and control are increasingly participatory. When they are working, these forms of subjection are felt not as impositions but as desires, like a warm embrace or an insistent tug.

[twinflames-rewrite]

WindClan Culture

The Pious: WindClan’s meadow territory lies closest to the Moonstone, and they believe that this allows them to be StarClan’s favored Clan. As a result, they are dedicated to their ancestors. They sleep underneath the stars and take time every day to honor their ancestors.

WindClan cats are often muted colors, with long legs and slender builds. WindClan litters are given 'themed' names. While some cats prefer litters named after all birds or all colors, other cats will name their litter after meaningful places or items.

Below the cut are the following expansions to WindClan's culture:

Council

Holidays

Territory

Territory Powers

Territory Tales

WindClan's Council

WindClan's council has a varying number of members, but usually at least three. These cats are chosen by the healer. Members will hold their position until they step down or retire.

WindClan's council is responsible for giving advice and guidance to warriors. They also are in charge of the Clan's wildfire preparedness, and take charge on fire-fighting patrols.

The deputy is chosen by the leader. While it is not required for the deputy to be one of the council members, it is rare for a leader to choose a non-council member.

Clan Holidays

MAJOR WindClan’s main holiday is in Leafbare, during the longest night of the year. It is customary to fast during the day if possible, and then keep a silent vigil all night to reflect on StarClan and one’s place in the world.

MINOR While WindClan's major holiday is in Leafbare, they still celebrate the holidays of the other seasons.

Newleaf: WindClan celebrates the arrival of newleaf by participating in a scavenger hunt. Each cat finds a collection of items that is important to them. Typically this would cover one item for each cat they'd consider family, and is more about following one's intuition and reflecting on the relationships they hold dear. The item will then be used to decorate their nest until the next Newleaf celebration!

Greenleaf: To prepare for wildfire season, the WindClan Council spends the day reviewing fire safety with all the Clan members. Warriors are reminded of their fire-fighting duties, and apprentices are taught how to properly run messages between groups. Queens and kits are taught how to safely evacuate camp, and shown where the fireproof places on the territory are located.

Leaf-fall: WindClan's Leaf-fall holiday is a day to mourn the dead. WindClan cats are buried with their newleaf-holiday trinkets, and on this day, cats close to those who have died since the last Leaf-fall holiday will place additional trinkets on top of their grave. A solemn meal is eaten together as a Clan, and the Healer will then list off those who have died since the last Leaf-fall. Cats will then take turns saying the names of those they wish peace in StarClan, as a way of caring for their memory and legacy.

WindClan's Territory

A meadow with sparse rock outcroppings. While plentiful in prey, WindClan had to learn to manage wildfires during the dry season.

Territory Powers

WindClan's territory has granted them a variety of abilities to help them thrive in their home.

Gust: Causes a large gust of wind in a desired direction. A hunting patrol can stay ‘downwind’ of prey when working together.

Windbreaker: Toughens the skin, providing some resistance to fire and harsh wind, as well as claws.

So Below: Causes a bright ‘star’ to briefly appear. Can be used to disarm in battle, to locate a cat lost in the meadow, or religiously, as a way of calling StarClan’s attention to oneself.

Territory Tales

THE TUNNELER WindClan warriors tell stories about a rabbit-dog called The Tunneler. It poses as a large, dark rabbit to lure cats into the tunnels. Once inside, it will maneuver to be behind the cat and chase them as a dog. It will confuse the cat by alternating between prey and predator, until the exhausted warrior can no longer keep moving. Cats who are skeptical of its existence believe it is a story made up to explain tunnel disappearances, as well as giving a face to the terror that being surrounded by earth can evoke.

THE WILD HUNT When the full moon is especially large and bright, a collection of ghostly cats roam all four territories. Named the Wild Hunt, the group catches prey and chases off predators. WindClan believes that these cats are StarClan warriors who have returned to the land of the living due to the power of the large moon. The StarClan cats have returned to drive predators away from the Clan territories, protecting their descendants.

[blueratgrmln]

🌟OPEN DISCUSSION about the 2020's era of shipping culture, Sonadow in the Sonic Fandom, and how well-intended activism can circle back to the language and violence of oppressors 🌟 (Broken down into PARTS for the sake of readability and my own attention span lol. >>>FULL ESSAY HERE<<<) (>>>PREVIOUS PART HERE<<<)

PART 5

LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE OF OPPRESSORS

Now is where I will delve into the connection between Sonadow shipping (and overall shipping) debates and how well-intentioned activism loops back into mimicking oppressors. Thinking about how Sonadow is historically important to the Sonic Franchise, the Sonic Fandom, LGBTQ+ Sonic Fans, and maybe even video game history as a whole, I feel major discomfort and even dread when I see so many people (particularly those that are young) throwing around very serious accusations at (fellow) Sonic Fans and (fellow) Sonic shippers. Accusations supporting pedophilia or pedophilia itself is one of the most egregious. I've seen it thrown at Sonadow shippers, Vector x Espio shippers because Vector is 20 and Espio is 16 (despite it being another extremely popular LGBTQ+ headcanon-ed ship due to lack of representation), and even Knuckles x Rouge because Rouge is 18 and Knuckles is 16. It strikes me as counterintuitive and unnecessary at least, and actively dangerous at most/worst, seeing fellow Queer people utilizing the morality-policing, fear tactics, surveillance methods, censorship mindset, and rhetoric/language of our oppressors and using those things against the people in their own communities. Realizing that long-time Sonadow fans who felt inspired to come out and be unapologetically Queer because of that specific ship have been facing harassment and slander from fellow Queer people (who are likely younger than them), getting called "pedos" or "dangerous" or "suspicious" or "unethical" over the mere act of creating representation and Queer Joy with fictional characters and seeking some sense of comfort while surviving homophobic environments...bluntly, my stomach is churned and my blood is boiled. The last thing we need in this rapidly backwards-turning world is more in-fighting within the broader LGBTQ+ community that distracts our thoughts, emotions, time, energy, organizing, education, community-building, and activism away from the oppressors who are causing us real-world tangible harm, suffering, and death.

A random teenager on the internet drawing fanart of Sonic and Shadow holding hands, or even random adults on the internet drawing suggestive art or outright porn of these characters, is NOT going to be the catalyst that rapidly or gradually normalizes pedophilia or inspires worldwide support for unethical relationships. And yes, this includes content about the "weirdo/unethical/dark" ships that are found in the shadowy fringes of the internet and Fandom spaces. I am uncomfortable with a lot of it myself. But those ships and the people that engage with them ALSO can't have the same level of impact and reach (key words: Same Level) that real life oppressive systems have to cause widespread suffering. The key difference that makes widespread abuse possible is that the real life oppressive systems are disguised as wholesome safe environments that develop trust and closeness with community members. Those oppressive systems and the harmful people that support them are usually NOT on the freaky/dark/weird fringes of society, they don't outwardly appear that way, and they demonize the "degenerates", not associate with any such label. The Catholic church institution is a big example, the institution covering up uncountable cases of their clergy members abusing minors while those clergy members are positioned as a pure, trusted facet of society that people actively look to for guidance, safety, and belonging.

At NO point am I ever going to say that everyone online is perfectly pure and that we should ignore everyone's behavior online. When we do encounter legitimate creeps causing harm to real people (not watered-down definitions of what being a creep means) we absolutely need to call them out and keep each other safe. HOWEVER, by pitting fellow Sonic Fans, fellow Queer people, fellow shippers against each other with this blanket "us vs them" mentality that overshadows the real life patterns and signs of how widespread oppression and real world harm happens, we end up accomplishing a lot of what our oppressors want anyway: divisions, distractions, and outright mimicking the violent language and behaviors that they display toward us at ourselves. This is the point where well-intentioned activism goes wrong and circles back around to oppression without meaning to.

Many people are super-duper-sure that they have dismantled all of their -isms and -phobias and now identify with labels and movements that are on the right side of history. But all of us STILL need to be aware of the fact that our thought patterns, behaviors, logic, and emotional responses can be tied to previously held beliefs and mindsets, and they can sometimes carry over and linger in our minds even after significant "character development". This is true even if we don't immediately realize it and think that we are a "safe person" within our own marginalized communities and for other marginalized communities. It can be really hard to identify if/when that is happening sometimes, but it is pertinent that we are actively checking in with ourselves, listening to constructive criticism, and cross-analyzing whether we are unintentionally mimicking the language, behaviors, and violence of our oppressors, and what effects that can have on the people in our shared communities and the people we care about.

PART 6 HERE

[laidee-flegman]

Journaling prompts for Sexual awakening

1. Sexual Awakening: Describe your first memories of discovering your own sexuality. What was it like, and how have your feelings evolved over time?

2. Sexual Identity: Write about your sexual identity and orientation. How do you define yourself in terms of your sexual preferences?

3. Relationship with Your Body: Explore your relationship with your body and how it has evolved in the context of your sex life.

4. Favourite Sexual Experiences: Reflect on your most memorable and enjoyable sexual experiences. What made them special?

5. Fantasies and Desires: Share any sexual fantasies or desires you have, whether they are unfulfilled or something you've explored.

6. Communication with Partners: Discuss the importance of open and honest communication with your sexual partners. How do you express your needs and desires?

7. Sexual Boundaries: Explore your sexual boundaries and limits. How do you establish and communicate them in your relationships?

8. Consent and Respect: Write about the significance of consent and respect in your sexual encounters. How do you ensure everyone's comfort and boundaries are honoured?

9. Intimacy and Emotional Connection: Discuss the role of emotional intimacy in your sex life. How does it enhance your experiences?

10. Sexual Well-Being: Describe the practices and routines that contribute to your sexual well-being, including self-care and sexual health.

11. Challenges and Growth: Share any challenges or difficulties you've faced in your sex life and how you've grown from those experiences.

12. Sexual Education and Resources: List books, websites, or resources that have helped you expand your knowledge and understanding of sexuality.

13. Sexual Confidence and Self-Esteem: Reflect on how your sexual confidence and self-esteem have evolved throughout your life.

14. Body Image and Sexuality: Explore how body image and self-perception affect your sexual self-esteem and interactions.

15. Educational Experiences: Write about any experiences of sexual education, whether formal or informal, that have been influential in your sex life.

16. Solo Exploration: Share your experiences of self-pleasure and how they have contributed to your understanding of your own body and desires.

17. Sexual Adventures: Discuss any sexual adventures or experiences that pushed your boundaries or took you out of your comfort zone.

18. Supportive Partners: Acknowledge and appreciate partners who have been supportive and understanding in your sexual journey.

19. Sexual Health and Safety: Write about the importance of sexual health and safety, including discussions about STIs, contraception, and protection.

20. Cultural and Societal Influences: Reflect on how cultural and societal norms have influenced your perceptions of sex and sexuality.

21. Gender and Sexual Expression: Explore the connection between your gender identity and your sexual expression and experiences.

22. Advice for Others: If you could offer advice to someone looking to enhance their sex life, what insights would you share?

23. Sexual Celebrations: Write a positive affirmation or statement celebrating your sexual experiences and the importance of sexual well-being.

24. Intimacy and Relationships: Discuss the role of sex in building and maintaining intimacy within your romantic relationships.

25. Looking to the Future: Share your hopes, aspirations, and goals for your future sex life and sexual well-being.

[biggayarsonsbiggaytumble]

listen im absolutely positive that there are antisemites in the antizionism movement (because its likely that antisemites can be in literally ANY large and diverse group of people) BUT i seriously do not believe its the epidemic that a worrying amount of jumblr wants you to believe. in fact, zionists (not jews, but zionists who happen to be jews) have a way worse problem with anti-palestinian racism and islamophobia.

seriously, i hear all the time that anti-jewish rhetoric is everywhere but scrolling through the latest in the antisemitism tag is literally just zionist calling people antisemites for even daring to bring up the destruction and death that the settler colony of israel has caused.

criticizing and condemning israel is not antisemitism. we are not criticizing jewish people. the colonizers HAPPEN to be jewish but they are not evil because they're jewish, its because they are murdering people and destroying an entire culture of people who have lived there long before israeli settlers came. they haven't made any headway in "defeating Hamas" like they said they're doing and look at all of the destruction. look at the advertisements they are already releasing for houses built on top of the rubble of people's homes. people who are either dead or using a ripped up tent that isn't even safe from the bombs. meanwhile every Israeli ive seen "so affected" by this is sitting in nice air conditioned buildings and having get togethers with family and food.

i would ask my fellow jews who are not convinced by me to imagine if this was happening to us, but it already is! there are so many jewish Palestinians being forced from their homes to make way for settlers that do not have roots in that land. the idf is also killing so many jewish people, those who disagree and those who just happen to be in the indiscriminate crossfire.

zionism is not good for jewish people. zionism is fundamentally an answer to the Jewish Question. they do not want us to reside in their communities. they dont want to think of the jews and our safety and instead are more content to kill two birds with one stone: put all the Jews in a place where we dont have to worry about them or have to accommodate or accept them AND get rid of all those brown people we hate so much. hey, and if we help them with the ethnostate, we can abuse them politically to get what we want as well!

im antizionist because i am against being used by those who don't have my best interest in mind. im antizionist because ive been to the settler colony of israel and the anti-palestinian racism and islamophobia was suffocating and disturbing. im antizionist because im also native american and this is a story ive heard so many times before, this story is in my blood and in my skin and i know how it ends. i don't want it to end that way.

please have some empathy and open your eyes. see what is happening to your fellow human beings (something that has happened to us as a people that still wounds us to this day) and stop using your identity as a weapon against others when its unjust. i know its hard to criticize Israel because its such an ingrained part of our identity as jews. i used to be a zionist because i truly believed that was my land. but it isnt. it never will be. it belongs to Palestine.