#Our Composite Nationality

[philosophybits]

I know of no rights to race superior to the rights of humanity, and when there is a supposed conflict between human and national rights, it is safe to go the side of humanity.

Frederick Douglass, "Our Composite Nationality (1869)"

[nasa]

A Geminid meteor streaks across the sky as the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft is rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Make a Wish! How to See the Geminid Meteor Shower

Every December, we have a chance to see one of our favorite meteor showers – the Geminids. To help you prepare, we’ve answered some of your most commonly asked questions. Happy viewing, stargazers!

These radar images of near-Earth object 3200 Phaethon were generated by astronomers at the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory on Dec. 17, 2017. Observations of Phaethon were conducted at Arecibo from Dec. 15 through 19, 2017. At time of closest approach on Dec. 16 at 3 p.m. PST (6 p.m. EST, 2300 UTC), the asteroid was about 6.4 million miles (10.3 million kilometers) away, or about 27 times the distance from Earth to the Moon. Credit: Arecibo Observatory/NASA/NSF

What are the Geminids?

The Geminids are caused by debris from a celestial object known as 3200 Phaethon striking Earth’s atmosphere. Phaethon’s origin is the subject of some debate. Some astronomers consider it to be an extinct comet, based on observations showing some small amount of material leaving its surface. Others argue that it has to be an asteroid because of its orbit and its similarity to the main-belt asteroid Pallas.

All meteors appear to come from the same place in the sky, which is called the radiant. The Geminids appear to radiate from a point in the constellation Gemini, hence the name “Geminids.” The graphic shows the radiants of 388 meteors with speeds of 35 km/s observed by the NASA Fireball Network in December 2020. All the radiants are in Gemini, which means they belong to the Geminid shower. Credit: NASA

Why are they called the Geminids?

All meteors associated with a shower have similar orbits, and they all appear to come from the same place in the sky, which is called the radiant. The Geminids appear to radiate from a point in the constellation Gemini, hence the name “Geminids.”

A Geminid streaks across the sky in this photo from December 2019. Credit: NASA

When is the best time to view them?

The Geminid meteor shower is active for much of December, but the peak will occur during the night of Dec. 13 into the morning of Dec. 14, 2023. Meteor rates in rural areas can be upwards of one per minute this year with minimal moonlight to interfere.

What do I need to see them?

As with all meteor showers, all you need is a clear sky, darkness, a bit of patience, and perhaps warm outerwear and blankets for this one. You don’t need to look in any particular direction, as meteors can generally be seen all over the sky. If you want to take photographs, check out these helpful tips.

An infographic based on 2019’s meteor camera data for the Geminids. Credit: NASA

Do you have any advice to help me see the Geminids better?

Find the darkest place you can and give your eyes about 30 minutes to adapt to the dark. Avoid looking at your cell phone, as it will disrupt your night vision. Lie flat on your back and look straight up, taking in as much sky as possible.

A Geminid streaks across the sky in this photo from December 2011. Credit: NASA

What will the meteors look like?

According to Bill Cooke, lead for the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, “Most meteors appear to be colorless or white, however the Geminids appear with a greenish hue. They’re pretty meteors!” Depending on the meteor’s chemical composition, the meteor will emit different colors when burned in the Earth’s atmosphere. Oxygen, magnesium, and nickel usually produce green.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[struggling-author]

more pictures of the lovelies 🥰😍

inspired by this post

I love the idea of Sun Warrior Azula as bridging the gap between Fire Nation and Air Nomads. Like look at her! She would fit right in at any Air Temple, while also still maintaining her unique Firebending look and culture. Discovering the Sun Warriors could really give Azula some new perspective in life on her journey of finding herself, a way to channel her pride and ambition as a Firebender into something positive and find a new purpose, beyond the weapon her father had made her. Then she and Aang could travel around together and bring their near-extinct cultures back to life all over the world!And bonus she gets a cool blue dragon to race with Appa.

credit:

first Aang by our lord and savior @adajel!

second Aang by the talented @vosveti!

and both Azulas also by @adajel

edit/composition by me

[achelouise]

my love, my muse —kaveh

fandom: genshin

pairing: kaveh x reader!

a/n: i just realized i hadn’t written for kaveh, which is a crime against humanity. also kaveh x muse!reader brainrot sjzjjwjzjqjjajajajh (also switching formats, iiiiiii have no idea what im doing, can you tell)

— student!kaveh, who, even though loathed and respected his project partner to bits, would rather die than ever try to draw him for an assignment. “don’t even think about it,” he hisses, just as alhaitham quirks an unimpressed eyebrow. he understands that he has many friends and acquaintances that are willing to pose for him, but a small voice in the back of his head needles at him- telling him that no, we cannot create art with them as our muse. and to him, nothing is more important than making sure every single artwork he produces is with the utmost sincerity.

— student!kaveh, whose resolve crumbles bit after bit as the deadline creeps up, with no model to look for in sight, and is starting to think perhaps he should turn to his volunteering friends after all. he cannot compromise his diligence for his passion as a scholar, and so he heads to pupsa café, hoping to buy some coffee to prepare for his all-nighter that night.

—student!kaveh, who doesn’t even realize he’s pouting until he hears a cheery, unfamiliar voice bring it up- and he tilts his head up to find that he spilled all the coffee in his mouth onto his shirt (much to your alarm).

“you,” he gurgles, “you’re the muse i’ve been looking for!”

“excuse me?”

— perhaps he was a bit sleep-deprived, which explained his lack of inhibition, but student!kaveh latches onto you like a moth to a flame, stars swirling in his eyes. are you a student of the akademiya? which darshan are you from? which nation were you from to bless you with such beautiful eyes? could you be his muse? he asks them all, because he has to know.

— student!kaveh, who only later apologizes for his overbearing first-impression, while swearing up and down he wasn’t like that usually, and explaining his current predicament. perhaps you pitied him, or found him quite charming- whichever it was, you accepted his proposal to be his muse in exchange for some funds, much to his delight.

“thank you, thank you, oh, thank you! my assignment won’t be so lifeless after all!”

— student!kaveh, who arranges a time and place for you at his dorm with a sense of bravery he has absolutely no idea where he picked up from. when you come in with the most random set of outfit he’s ever seen, he chooses to hold back his tongue over your enthusiastic participation.

“sit tight!” he says, holding comically large canvas whose shadow swallowed up the whole room, “relax, and do whatever your heart tells you to do.”

— student!kaveh, who usually simply sketches things out of pure photographic memory, starts simple and structured for once. where would the chair go? where would you sit? would you look too stretched out if the table properties next to you weren’t matching? where should he exaggerate? how would the chandelier be hanging to get the perfect lighting? how would the painting behind you affect the composition?

— student!kaveh, who usually lets his hand dance on his canvas, plans everything out this time, and lets his mind flourish under the guidance of your radiant beauty. your soft smile, your relaxed posture, and your twinkling eyes lets him have fun- and he finds joy in drawing backgrounds, especially the furniture, for once- to emphasize the way you pose.

— student!kaveh, who drinks an ungodly amount of coffee every night and lets his sheer will do the rest, stops by in the kitchen to make you some snacks. he worries for you; “are you alright? is this posture tiring you? do you want water? i can get some for you. do you want some snacks, too? we can take a break. i don’t have much here, but i can always make a quick trip to the market.”

— student!kaveh, who finds joy in conversation with you while he works. you seem to harbor a decent amount of knowledge fitting for a scholar. if you talk about other subjects, kaveh’s more than willing to listen. if you enjoy studying architecture, that’s fine too! whatever the topic is, you both seem to have an endless stream of opinions and discussions to open up about, and watching your mouth run off on any particular topic brings him much satisfaction. it is always fascinating to understand another person deeply interested in a subject.

— student!kaveh, who starts to explore other color schemes in order to find the perfect one for you. your radiance is something that should be brought out and emphasized on his canvas, something future generations can look at and admire. maybe a bit of pink for the shadow? how about purple to shade your hair instead of gray? would yellow compliment your shoes? he thinks of them all, dabbling in this and that, until his palette blooms in different smears of colors.

— student!kaveh, who is willing to go on a rant to explain how you were the perfect muse, how your smile made his hand itch to draw it out, how your eyes crinkled and held the weight of your soul, how- oh. did he say muse? would you like to be? kaveh doesn’t mind in the slightest if you could continue to. in fact, how about he treats you to a nice meal tonight? the sun is setting, anyway, and it’ll be his way of saying thank you. (please say yes.)

— student!kaveh, who, after half an hour of deliberation on whether parting his bangs in a certain angle would make him look more presentable or not, shows up that night at the venue with a small sketchbook in his hands, telling you not to worry about it. every time your lips turn a certain way, or when the light hits your hand just right, he frantically sketches it down underneath the table, much to your confusion.

“did you enjoy the meal? hm? that? oh, it’s nothing. please, go on. you said something about how your friend could aether-edit?”

it was a pleasant time, despite him constantly dodging your questions on what in teyvat’s name he’s doing, and believing the constant rush he feels inside his head whenever you laugh is perfectly normal. you’re his muse, aren’t you? it’s only natural.

(and if the dinner spreads any rumors- well, kaveh thinks it’s normal to feel giddy, too.)

— student!kaveh, who, when looking at his graded paper days later, is pleased to know it is graded with high praise. the professor even commented on how he is finally starting to get a firm grasp on studying basic anatomy of architecture. (hmph. he thinks he was pretty good at anatomy up until then as well, but okay.) good- he’s put a lot of effort into that painting.

— student!kaveh, who insists on thanking you for the high grade again, the next time you run into each other- only this time with a bouquet of flowers, and a blush on his face.

[elancholia]

Our children are alienated pussies and we lack social cohesion.

Bring back chariot racing.

We don't build things any more! Modern public architecture sucks!

Turn the National Mall into a colossal neoclassical hippodrome.

Literature and the humanities are in decline!

Chariot races will furnish a perfect occasion for the composition of odes.

The male loneliness crisis and/or social atomization of late capitalism!

Consider the bond—presumably homoerotic—between two charioteers of the same faction cooperating to hem in and crush a rival against the spina.

Uhh sports gender biology spaces!

Chariot racing is open to all. A chariot is even sort of like a wheelchair (disability win!). All are equal before the terrible will of the gods, the merciless intensity of speed and mass, and the idiot mania of panicked horses.

[waitmyturtles]

(Source)

The Lower House (House of Representatives) will be hearing Thailand’s marriage equality bill at 9:30 am Bangkok time (10:30 pm Eastern for those of us in the States). The bill, if passed, would still have to be approved in Thailand’s Senate.

(Source and source)

Below the fold is Bloomberg.com's report on the happenings (source):

Bill to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage in Thailand Heads to Parliament

Bill is supported by most major parties, needs king approval

Thailand would be first in region to codify marriage equality

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat, March 26, 2024 at 2:00 PM PDT

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage could face a vote in Thailand’s parliament as early as Wednesday. If it passes, the country will be the first in Southeast Asia to establish marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.

The House of Representatives will take up the legislation, technically an amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code, for second and third readings when it meets at 9 a.m. Lawmakers may vote later in the day.

The bill would legalize marriage for same-sex partners aged 18 and above, along with rights to inheritance, tax allowances and child adoption, among others. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s administration has made it a signature issue, and advocates say it would also burnish Thailand’s reputation as an LGBTQ-friendly tourist destination.

Taiwan and Nepal are the only places in Asia that currently recognize same-sex marriage, and recent efforts elsewhere in the region have had mixed results. Hong Kong has yet to comply with a 2023 court order to establish laws recognizing same-sex partnerships, and India’s Supreme Court refused to legalize same-sex marriage, saying it’s an issue for parliament to consider.

The Thai bill would change the composition of a marriage from “a man and a woman�� to “two individuals,” and change the official legal status from “husband and wife” to “married couple.”

Thai laws have protected LGBTQ people from most kinds of discrimination since 2015, but attempts to formalize marriage rights have stalled. In 2021, the Constitutional Court upheld the law recognizing marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. Last year, a bill to recognize same-sex civil partnerships failed to clear parliament ahead of elections.

Rights advocates have higher hopes for the bill pending now, noting that it has broad support from most of the major parties. If it passes, it will need to be approved by the Senate and endorsed by the King. Then it would be published in the Royal Gazette and take effect 120 days later.

Srettha’s government has also promised to work on a bill to recognize gender identity, and the health ministry has also proposed legalizing commercial surrogacy to allow LGBTQ couples to adopt children. Thailand is seeking to host the WorldPride events in Bangkok in 2028.

Legalizing same-sex marriage could have positive effects on tourism, which contributes about 12% to the nation’s $500 billion economy. In 2019, before the pandemic froze international tourism, LGBTQ travel and tourism to Thailand generated about $6.5 billion, or 1.2% of gross domestic product, according to industry consultant LGBT Capital.

Formal recognition could boost the reputation of a place already considered one of Asia’s best for LGBTQ visitors, said Wittaya Luangsasipong, managing director of Siam Pride, an LGBTQ-friendly travel agency in Bangkok.

“It will become a selling point for Thailand and raise our strength in the global stage,” Wittaya said. “It will create a relaxed and safe atmosphere for tourism and help attract more and more LGBTQ visitors. We could also see more weddings by LGBTQ couples, which could generate income across industries and local communities.”

[cafulur]

Modern Personal Assistant Labru AU ✨📋🐉

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- Laios is a renown animal/monster expert (not sure yet if this is modern as in no monsters or just a modern version of their realm w/ monsters included)

- he does most of his research independently, occasionally working alongside small groups of other scientists

- a new animal species / monster mutation emerges that completely captures the world’s and Laios’s interest. As one of the top zoologists / monsterologists in the nation, he gets requested to head the first ever research on this unknown creature.

- something about this species is so bizarre that in addition to studying it, Laios is suddenly also having to do press conferences to explain to the masses wtf is going on.

- … except he kind of can’t. the first time he gets on the mic in front of a bunch of people, one reporter asks if there is concern for reproduction as we’ve only found two females of the species. Laios goes on a 20 minute rant about the egg laying process they recently discovered and how according to x-rays of the eggs they do not require a mate to reproduce but appear to still seek and thrive off of community. A conference that should’ve had enough time to answer dozens of questions ends with him only have answered two and a half, as he greatly struggled to be succinct and not derail into mile long explanations. But to Laios, every detail counts!! They’re all important pieces to the puzzle!

- his boss pulls him aside— “listen, you’re the only person on the planet at the moment who has the most knowledge about this thing. if you’re going to also be it’s’ spokesperson, you need to handle your PR better and read the room. we’ve assigned you an assistant to help with any future public appearances.

- enter Kabru, works in public relations, usually political, and is all too comfortable with addressing the masses. local elections just ended and so as a PR specialist he’s being assigned unconventional work by his management company during this downtime, which includes a rambly scientist with zero social cues or ability to read the room.

- Kabru sits down with Laios at a café a few days before the next conference and they run through a little practice session. Kabru clears his throat and acts as a reporter.

- “So, Mr. Touden, how long do you expect the research to go on for before we know if we can integrate this species into our local environments? Is it even safe for us to be near them?”

- “it’s not a question on whether or not it’s safe for us but whether or not it’s safe for them. they seem to be flighty little guys, and don’t even agitate or fight when provoked. but something about the oils from human skin damages their feathers, they have almost the same texture and composition as paper. it’s really fascinating actually, they somehow appear to be resistant to water but our oils break them down very quickly, and so we’re thinking they might thrive better on reserves people can’t access. but that’s also not exactly ideal due their apparent difficultly living in captivity and small spaces, as well as the potential need to migrate. closing off their environment may actually—“

- Kabru knows deep, deep down in his heart of hearts that he needs to cut the man off right then and there, show him how he could be more concise and clear with his words, and maybe not ramble so much. but Laios is positively glowing with both wonder and genuine concern for this creature, and Kabru cannot help but be completely captivated.

[mariacallous]

MYKOLAIV, UKRAINE—Kateryna Nahorna is getting ready to find trouble.

Part of an all-female team of dog handlers, the 22-year-old is training Ukraine’s technical survey dogs—Belgian Malinois that have learned to sniff out explosives.

The job is huge. Ukraine is now estimated to be the most heavily mined country on Earth. Deminers must survey every area that saw sustained fighting for unexploded mines, missiles, artillery shells, bombs, and a host of other ordnance—almost 25 percent of the country, according to government estimates.

The dogs can cover 1,500 square meters a day. In contrast, human deminers cover 10 square meters a day on average—by quickly narrowing down the areas that manual deminers will need to tackle, the dogs save valuable time.

“This job allows me to be a warrior for my country … but without having to kill anyone,” said Nahorna. “Our men protect us at war, and we do this to protect them at home.”

A highly practical reason drove the women’s recruitment. The specialized dog training was done in Cambodia, by the nonprofit Apopo, and military-aged men are currently not allowed to leave Ukraine.

War has shaken up gender dynamics in the Ukrainian economy, with women taking up jobs traditionally held by men, such as driving trucks or welding. Now, as mobilization ramps up once more, women are becoming increasingly important in roles that are critical for national security.

In Mykolaiv, in the industrial east, Nahorna and her dogs will soon take on one of the biggest targets of Russia’s military strategy when they start to demine the country’s energy infrastructure. Here, women have been stepping in to work in large numbers in steel mills, factories, and railways serving the front line.

It’s a big shift for Ukraine. Before the war, only 48 percent of women over age 15 took part in the workforce — one of the lowest rates in Europe. War has made collecting data on the gender composition of the workforce impossible, but today, 50,000 women serve in the Ukrainian army, compared to 30,000 before the war.

The catalyst came in 2017, years before the current war began. As conflict escalated with Russia in Crimea, the Ukrainian government overturned a Soviet-era law that had previously banned women from 450 occupations.

But obstacles still remain; for example, women are not allowed jobs the government deems too physically demanding. These barriers continue to be chipped away—most recently, women have been cleared to work in underground mines, something they were prevented from doing before.

Viktoriia Avramchuk never thought she would follow her father and husband into the coal mines for DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company.

Her lifelong fear of elevators was a big factor—but there was also the fact that it was illegal for women to work underground.

Her previous job working as a nanny in a local kindergarten disappeared overnight when schools were forced to close at the beginning of the war. After a year of being unemployed, she found that she had few other options.

“I would never have taken the job if I could have afforded not to,” Avramchuk said from her home in Pokrovsk. “But I also wanted to do something to help secure victory, and this was needed.”

The demining work that Nahorna does is urgent in part because more than 55 percent of the country is farmed.

Often called “the breadbasket of Europe,” Ukraine is one of the world’s top exporters of grain. The U.K.-based Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, which has been advising the Ukrainian government on demining technology, estimates that landmines have resulted in annual GDP losses of $11 billion.

“Farmers feel the pressure to plow, which is dangerous,” said Jon Cunliffe, the Ukraine country director of Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a British nonprofit. “So we need to do as much surveying as possible to reduce the size of the possible contamination.”

The dogs can quickly clear an area of heavy vegetation, which greatly speeds up the process of releasing noncontaminated lands back to farmers. If the area is found to be unsafe, human deminers step in to clear the field manually.

“I’m not brave enough to be on the front line,” 29-year-old Iryna Manzevyta said as she slowly and diligently hovered a metal detector over a patch of farmland. “But I had to do something to help, and this seemed like a good alternative to make a difference.”

Groups like MAG are increasingly targeting women. With skilled male deminers regularly being picked up by military recruiters, recruiting women reduces the chances that expensive and time-consuming training will be invested in people who could be drafted to the front line at a moment’s notice. The demining work is expected to take decades, and women, unlike men, cannot be conscripted in Ukraine.

This urgency to recruit women is accelerating a gender shift already underway in the demining sector. Organizations like MAG have looked to recruit women as a way to empower them in local communities. Demining was once a heavily male-dominated sector, but women now make up 30 percent of workers in Vietnam and Colombia, around 40 percent in Cambodia, and more than 50 percent in Myanmar.

In Ukraine, the idea is to make demining an enterprise with “very little expat footprint,” and Cunliffe said that will only be possible by recruiting more women.

“We should not be here in 10 years. Not like in Iraq or South Sudan, where we have been for 30 years, or Vietnam, or Laos,” Cunliffe said. “It’s common sense that we bring in as many women as we can to do that. In five to 10 years, a lot of these women are going to end up being technical field managers, the jobs that are currently being done by old former British military guys, and it will change the face of demining worldwide because they can take those skills across the world.”

Manzevyta is one of the many women whose new job has turned her family dynamics on their head. She has handed over her previous life, running a small online beauty retail site, to her husband, who—though he gripes—stays at home while she is out demining.

“Life is completely different now,” she said, giggling. “I had to teach him how to use the washing machine, which settings to use, everything around the house because I’m mostly absent now.”

More seriously, Manzevyta said that the war has likely changed many women’s career trajectories.

“I can’t imagine people who have done work like this going back and working as florists once the war is over,” she laughed.

[seat-safety-switch]

Do you know a Fiero Guy? You either answered in the affirmative to my question, or you're wondering if I'm talking about the dude who hosts a restaurant review show. The Pontiac Fiero changed the world, and continues to forge the art of message-board shitposting even today.

With its NASA-grade composite bodywork, snazzy mid-engined handling, and grudge-filled axing of the entire program by jealous General Motors accountants, it was a revolutionary vehicle that didn't get enough time to shine. This, of course, inevitably leads to many people who bought these cars for approximately six hundred dollars and proceeded to make it the cornerstone of their entire personality.

Now, Mid-Engined Guys of all stripes have existed since the first time that anyone jammed an engine into the mid of a car. Toyota MR2 guys. Ferrari guys. Corvair guys are honorary members, to a much lesser extent, before they snap-oversteered into a tree because their suspension turned into every letter of the alphabet before fatally ejecting them while they were busy screaming at me about how Ralph Nader is the Antichrist. Even the humble Previa minivan has its rabid adherents, foaming at the mouth with the urge to tell you that their powertrain design is simply superior to our crude front-engined shitboxes.

For the Fiero, things are even worse. You've got national pride mixed up in it. Guys with a Fiero often have several thousand miles of once-pristine farmland dedicated to an infinity of undervalued parts cars they have no intention of ever restoring. And they won't sell them to me at a discount, so that I can embark upon the quest of becoming a Fiero Guy myself, which is the worst part of the whole thing. I was gonna put a Slant Six in one.

[stygiovictoria]

Hi! Can you tell us more about what’s going on in your roleswap au? I love the composition!

hello! so sorry if this is really late, i'm assuming you mean the most recent version!

put simply our au only swaps out the roles of zuko and azula, so technically it's not a full roleswap, but... who cares! not me! anywho.

i'll explain what we have so far in chronological order — so everything before the series stays pretty much the same up until zuko and ozai's agni kai. somehow ozaiheard through the grapevine that the dai li were capable of controlling minds, so he contacts them, and says pretty much, “the fire nation won't make a second invasion attempt on you guys if you give us your mind control tech.”

the dai li readily agree, and ozai uses their tech to convince zuko of the following while he's in bedrest instead of banishing him:

1. ursa was the bad parent, ozai has always been caring and loving toward him, and ursa had to leave because she was so cruel

2. zuko got his scar from a training accident

3. the fire nation was working for the good of the world the whole time, none of what they do is unjust in anyway, they're just trying to save everyone

Ozai keeps zuko stuck at home so that nobody is able to show the truth to him (though he tells zuko he can't go outside because he's very sick and weak), and puts up a front of being a loving and caring father to better manipulate him. because zuko no longer holds doubts about himself in his mind and has been so heavily brainwashed by ozai, he becomes a much better firebender, and slowly falls into the same manipulative, crazy habits that azula has.

azula is then pushed off to the sidelines because of this, and feels very unseen. This makes her start to resent ozai and zuko and want to overthrow them, so she remains selfish and working for the fire nation at first.

Zhao is who ends up getting sent to find the avatar, but after he escapes Pohuai stronghold, ozai sends azula and iroh to go find him in his stead to “make use of them”. this is how she ends up taking the role of zuko.

azula ends up failing and turning at the siege of the north just as zuko did, so ozai lets zuko go with a ship full of people to “take care of” (monitor and continue brainwashing + worship) him. zuko so genuinely believes that he's working for the good of the world here and wants to make everyone friends with him, but as time goes on, his frustration and small memories of his past grow, and his behavior becomes more unhinged.

we have been working on this au together for a while, but it's not fully fleshed out yet, so that's all i can say for certain (+ no spoilers unless we create a fic or anything in the future!)

pls remember my best friend has been helping me a lot with this! her account is @dimlylitsmalltown, she mainly only reblogs, but if you get the chance go show her some love guys!

[artandthebible]

Christ Carrying his Cross

Artist: Giampietrino, probably Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli (Italian, active 1495–1549)

Date: About 1510-1530

Medium: Oil on wood

Collection: The National Gallery, London, United Kingdom

Overview

Christ turns to look at us as he carries the Cross on which he will be crucified. This type of painting, in which the viewer is put in the position of the holy women on whom Christ looked on the route to Calvary, was especially popular in North Italy in the sixteenth century. Christ’s eyes appeal to us in his pain to stir our emotions and arouse our compassion.

Giampietrino’s composition is based on a silver-point study of the same subject by Leonardo, which was also used by a range of artists working in Lombardy at the time.

[philosophybits]

Man is man the world over. This fact is affirmed and admitted in any effort to deny it. The sentiments we exhibit, whether love or hate, confidence or fear, respect or contempt, will always imply a like humanity. A smile or a tear has no nationality.

Frederick Douglass, "Our Composite Nationality (1869)"

[candypalace]

Translation: Heterodoxy Pamphlet. Music Writers Reflect on 20 Years of the GazettE, Part 1/6 (2002-2004)

Hello friends! As promised long long ago, I'm starting the Heterodoxy series where music writers reflect on their work with the band in the last 20 years. This might take some time since not all the texts are ready just yet, but I will do my best to finish them as quickly as I can. This is Part 1/6, hope you enjoy it!

scan credit: @rad-is-more

Text by Hiroko Yamamoto [1]

the GazettE was born in March 2002. The band was formed by Uruha and Reita, who were dear friends from elementary school, Ruki, who they crossed in the previous band (back when he was a drummer) and who later changed to vocals, and their first drummer, Yune, who also invited his buddy from a previous band, Aoi. Two months later, they played their first show at Meguro Rokumeikan, a live venue that can be described as a gateway to success for visual kei bands. Their first maxi single "Wakaremichi" has a melancholic, catchy melody and an impressive fast-paced sound. During the encore of their 20th anniversary live at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in March this year, Ruki looked back on the beginning of the band: "We are the GazettE, and 20 years ago we got together thinking this would be the last band of our lifetimes”. It was during those young days when the band was standing on the stage with recklessness and foolhardiness when such strong headbanging songs as “Kantou Dogeza Kumiai” and “Waifu” were created, yet they continue to stay popular to this day. The band's forward momentum is best represented by the time when they had to play “Kantou Dogeza Kumiai” over and over again because they didn’t have many original songs yet. While they were firing the audience up with their so-called "violent songs", they also had an amazing ability to write emotionally rich compositions with Showa-inspired melodies, such as "Juunanasai" (later included in the pamphlet with CD for their first Nippon Budokan concert). Everything in the GazettE of those early days, up to their make-up and costumes, was elusive and funny in a good way, as conveyed by "Sentimental na Onigokko", a song about bullying, which presents the listeners with a droll world view of a locked room.

The band’s first turning point came the following year. In 2003, when their first drummer left the band, Kai, with whom they had played together in session shows, quickly took his place. This made the current five members, and the band moved to a new office. It was Ruki who made a last-minute call to Kai, and the drummer had to join in right from the next day's show. From this point on the band’s rapid progress officially began. the GazettE of those times actively participated in organized taiban [2] events. They were even nicknamed “taiban killers”, as their heat-packed shows helped them steal away fans who had come to see other bands. In the next three months they released three consecutive four-track mini-albums, "COCKAYNE SOUP", "Akuyuukai" and "Spermargarita", which increased the number of their fans in geometrical progression. Incidentally, at the time they called themselves "Dai Nippon Itan Geisha Gazetto" [3]. The name derived from the thought of what the word “Visual Kei” would sound like if it was a Japanese word [4]. On their 15th anniversary in 2017, the band held a concept show at the Yoyogi National Stadium. On that stage today's the GazettE performed songs from the Dainippon Itan Geisha era, so hopefully fans who didn’t know their early days got to know them. The sense of unity between band and fans that rose steam from the live house, the "Jump to us!" screams, and the band's stage presence all developed during that exact period. Back in September of 2003, the band sold out a two-day one-man show at Takadanobaba AREA, and only four months later, in January 2004, their one-man show "JUDGMENT DAY" at SHIBUYA-AX was sold out. On the day of the show, the venue was overflowing with fans, and the venue’s doors were barely closing. The band was not informed that the tickets had been sold out until the day of the show, and how they were surprised by the scenery in front of them and the crowd’s enthusiasm almost seems funny today.

Particular about every aspect of their performances, videos, sets, playing their music live, even coming up with their own ideas for photoshoots and never stopping the work until they are satisfied – this is the GazettE. When I was covering them in a magazine for the first time, I felt that a band of an entirely new generation that took over from the royalty of Visual Kei (although there was no such term back in the day) had entered the scene. I remembered their down-to-earth attitude, in which the live show and the fans who attend it are the most important thing. I also remembered that young the GazettE had a simple goal of keeping the band going, rather than becoming a band that was listened to by a certain number of people. Come to think of it, that hasn’t changed a bit. Truly an ironclad band.

[1] Hiroko Yamamoto / Born in Tokyo. Impacted by glam and punk rock as well as blues in her college days, she started a band and spent her life immersed in music. After working for an entertainment editorial production, she became a freelance writer. She covered the GazettE for the free papers and visual-kei specific magazines like Neo Genesis. She was particularly impressed by the band’s stance with its emphasis on live performances and believing in their music and their fans without being influenced by trends or critical opinions. Currently writes columns on music, as well as films and doramas. (From the pamphlet’s credits)

[2] 対バン (taiban) - A live with several bands performing. Usually those are beginner bands that split the venue and equipment rent as well as other costs.

[3] 大日本異端芸者 (Dai Nippon Itan Geisha) can be translated as “Heretic people of art (professional performers) of the Great Japan”. We know Ruki never chooses names for anything without putting a lot of meaning into it, and I’d say there are many layers to this title as well. 

大日本 (Dai Nippon) initially referrs to the Japanese Empire (大日本帝國 Dai Nippon Teikoku, 1868–1947), which embraced the Meiji, Taishō and Shōwa eras in Japanese history, though nowadays it is considered a nationalistic way of referring to Japan. Dai Nippon expressed the overall aesthetics that the GazettE (then - Gazetto) was working with at the time: Japanese flags on the Wakaremichi cover, the silhouettes of children wearing Imperial Japan school uniforms on the COCKAYNE SOUP cover, lyrics (Oni no men) and the use of traditional melodies (Back Drop Junkie [Nancy]), their iconic indie photoshoots with lots of elements clearly inspired by Japanese culture and so on.

異端 (itan) means heresy. This word is also clearly important for the GazettE’s vision and positioning since we see it literally everywhere: in the fanclub name, 20th anniversary live name, merch etc. If we look up the meaning of the word “heresy”, we’ll see the following: “an opinion profoundly at odds with what is generally accepted”. Not only “being profoundly different” is a key principle of Visual Kei, it is also one of the grounds the GazettE exists and continues to work on.

Finally, 芸者 (geisha, “a person of art”) is a pretty well-known word internationally. While most people associate geisha with professional female performers, the Japanese word itself doesn’t have any gender markers, and the first geisha, which appeared around the first half of the 18th century, were actually male. At the same time, it might refer to the androgynous nature of Visual Kei.

[4] “Visual Kei”‎ is partially a gairaigo — a word that came from a foreign language. The question they asked themselves was “if the concept of v-kei had to be translated through the prism of Japanese culture and values, what would a Japanese word describing it sound like?” And the answer is, apparently, “heretic people of art”.

[heavenlymorals]

Some artists that I think Arthur would really like cuz I'm kinda bored(aka, an excuse to show art history):

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925):

John Singer Sargent is an icon and his composition is legendary. He wasn't that focused on very intense detail as he was with form and it's amazing what he was able to do. Eye catching, yet unrendered. Realistic, yet simplistic. Though he paintings were phenomenal, I think Arthur would enjoy his charcoal portraits the most, though. They are so beautiful and I feel like Arthur would be fascinated by how Sargent was able to use tones to give the allusion of detail rather than actually drawing out the detail. I think Arthur would adore how Sargent made them feel so real with how simplistic the composition is.

Thomas Moran (1837-1926):

Thomas Moran is a landscape artist whose main muse was the vast American frontier. His most famous paintings are that of Yellowstone National Park and the gorgeous Grand Canyon. His oil paintings are colorful and vibrant and have so much emotion to them. Given that Arthur is often outdoors and is super connected to nature, he'd probably really enjoy Moran's oil paintings of higher elevation like canyons and mountains.

Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889):

Alexandre Cabanel is a portrait artist who created some of the most iconic oil paintings to have ever graced our eyes. His academic style of painting focused a lot on detail and precise rendering, unlike Sargent. Given the general gloominess and the melodrama of his oil paintings, I feel like Arthur would really like the figures that Cabanel painted, especially considering how emotional they are. Arthur, being emotionally repressed, might connect even more with them because of it. Cabanel was a damn genius.

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1825):

I know some of y'all are like "what the hell is Civil War hero and US President Ulysses S. Grant doing on this list?" Well, cuz he was a pretty dope artist too. In the few drawings we have from him, his main medium seems to be watercolor and his watercolor drawings are really unique. They focused more on composition than detail and they remind me so much of Arthur's own drawings, except they are in watercolor rather than lead or charcoal. I think Arthur might also enjoy how personal they all feel and how simplistic.

Winslow Homer (1836-1910):

Homer was an impressionist painter whose main muse was the everyday man and woman. His oil paintings are vibrant and full of life as they depict the everyday life of workers rather than people of leisure. Unrendered strokes from the brush put so much personality into the paintings and even life. Beautiful and bright paintings, all of them, but I feel like Arthur would connect most with the ones that depict land rather than the ones that depict water.

[shredsandpatches]

(tags from @tuttocenere on the post I'm replying to)

It's basically the same thing you'd do in any language -- you set the text so the less singable sounds aren't at points in the melody where they'd be emphasized or would be hard to sing (and of course that's balanced with the way singers have to modify their vowels anyway). It's just harder to do that in translation, fitting the melody while also preserving something of the original meaning, and this translator was just not up to the challenge at all.

My local opera company always does opera in English, incidentally. I don't think they've ever done Mefistofele though.

Today in really terrible translations. Why, I ask you.

[grainjew]

Nikaposting Pt 2: Symbology & Syncretism

This is the second of a series of posts about Nika & associated religious practice in the One Piece world. As I write and post the rest of the series, I’ll add links to this header.

Pt 1: Crypto-Religion | Pt 3: Joyboy was Shandian | Pt 4: Sun God Tropes

Enormous credit to @oriigami for being my discussion partner through all of this and having a substantial influence on the final product. Check out our ao3 series Joyful for a narrative rather than analytical take on the Nika tradition, and definitely go read her OP blog @kaizokuou-ni-naru for meta and translation fun facts.

-

So About That Sun Symbol (and all those sun gods)

Context note: This post assumes you’ve read pt 1. If you haven’t, the TLDR is that the Nika cult is best categorized as a crypto-religion and may not ever have existed outside of a cryptic and oral form.

There’s a lot of sun gods in One Piece. And there’s a lot of appearances of that sun symbol we discussed briefly in pt 1, with the disconnected rays. This post will cover that symbol, the survival of non-Kuma Nika cult branches, and the proliferation of sun gods across the One Piece world.

The sun symbol can be found everywhere, in what seems at first to be a wildly disparate collection of places. There are a number of borderline cases, so I’ll be defining the “Nika sun symbol” as being any symbol with a central circle, disconnected rays, and four- or eight-fold radial symmetry. This leaves us the below list (images of the majority of these instances can be found in this very helpful post):

The Kuma-Bonney/Buccaneer version found in his church and on the amulet he left for her (8 circular rays) ; this is our basic template for the symbol

The Alabasta national symbol (8 droplet-shaped rays; the droplets seem to be drawn at various different orientations depending on the panel)

The Kozuki crest (8 circular rays in the center of a bird in the center of another circle also there’s some sprouts or something)

The Shandian crest (8 circular rays inside a larger circle, also the central circle contains the kanji for kami/god)

The Sun Pirates’ mark (4 more traditional flaring rays; the rays seem to be drawn inconsistently, especially in the anime)

There’s also Ace’s dagger, which has the basic template version, but one can assume he bought that thing in Alabasta or something like that.

From this we can conclude that the sun with disconnected rays is not exclusively a Nika symbol- in fact I would be surprised if it was, because of how prominently it was displayed in Kuma’s church (see the discussion in pt 1). However, Alabasta, Shandora, and Wano are all poneglyph countries, and were all involved in some way or another in [incomprehensible void century muttering]. I would be extremely unsurprised if the sun with disconnected rays wasn’t a more widely-spread popular symbol among [void century muttering] countries back then, which was adopted by Nika worshippers as their secret symbol around that time and simultaneously retained in more benign form by certain nations as an element of their national symbology.

(Sidenote: If you were unaware, Oda snagged this symbol from a castle in his hometown and clearly just seems to enjoy drawing it. However that doesn’t matter to us in meta analysis land. We continue.)

The Nika cult absolutely survived outside Kuma’s family: at the very least, among slaves on Mariejois. There’s a very high chance Fisher Tiger heard Nika stories while enslaved- the compositional similarity of the Sun Pirates’ mark to the base Nika symbol, Jinbe’s pissed off refusal to answer any of Who’s-Who’s questions, Fisher Tiger’s own status as a warrior of liberation, and of course, the Sun Pirates’ name and the importance of the sun to the residents of Fishman Island all point in this direction.

The proliferation of the Nika sun symbol across the world also points, to me, to at least pockets of the Nika cult potentially surviving in cryptic form across the world, like Kuma’s family did, with various levels of conscious awareness about what their rituals and symbols actually mean and what secret seditious knowledge they’re actually carrying.

However! All that said! Not all sun gods are Nikas- At least, not completely.

Upon their arrival at Egghead Island, Dorry and Broggy identified Luffy as the Sun God. However, I contend that Nika was not originally Elbaf’s sun god.

In expository Nika dialogue, Nika is specifically cited as a god of slaves (& as an ethnic or cultural god of the buccaneer people), and the giants as far as we know are (1), not a traditionally enslaved people nor particularly easy to enslave, (2), are based on Vikings & have their own pantheon which includes a god of war, & (3), while I can absolutely see how a tradition of a prolonged fast > feast festival would have evolved around a Nika figure, it does still feel a little strange. That’s supposed to be a Luffy-alike!

Besides this, the Shandian pantheon also includes a sun god, and I think it’s reasonable to assume that the sun god in question existed prior to any awakened user of the Nika fruit running around causing issues (although, more on my thoughts about Joyboy and Shandora in pt 3). Human sacrifice traditions also feel about as odd for a Luffy figure as fasting does, and while obviously Luffy, Joyboy, and Nika aren’t the same person, with the way One Piece’s narrative conventions work they’re probably quite similar.

Solar deities are the lynchpins of many if not most traditions in the real world. Sun’s a very notable noticable thing that follows a set course across the sky and brings light and life! And especially in One Piece, where the sun is also a critical thematic element and motif, I would be surprised if the majority of One Piece cultures hadn’t developed their own sun gods at some point or other.

So, all that said, why were Dorry and Broggy calling Luffy Sun God? Syncretism.

Not every god has a mythical zoan or the things would be wildly more common- only gods and figures with, as @oriigami put it while we were talking about this, a particularly potent wish attached to them. Even fewer gods have awakened mythical zoan users around. So when an awakened user of a sun god’s mythical zoan is running around (and particularly, a sun god with an incredibly potent wish attached, because Nika is a god of liberation as well as the sun, and it’s a god that people wish they could be and emulate as a matter of course), it’s easy to fold them into your mythology as your sun god. Tradition is very malleable! He’s the sun, even if he’s not exactly how you traditionally pictured it.

Traditions are very good at working with what they get, and at the moment what they get is a smiling, laughing pirate captain and liberator of slaves. What could be better?