#Village Development Foundation

[trashycosmos]

i don't think it's even been 5 days since i learned of palworld but i'm 1000% getting it as soon as i can. it's been all over my tiktok feed and i'm OBSESSED

[olis-inkwell-symposium]

Developing Backstory: Bringing Characters to Life

1. Where It All Started: The Character’s Origin

Place of Birth: Where did your character first see the world? Think about the impact of this place—was it a busy city where they had to fight for attention or a quiet village where everyone knew everyone’s business? This location doesn’t just say where they’re from; it shapes how they see the world.

Family and Upbringing: What was their family like? Were their parents loving or distant? Maybe they were raised by someone other than their parents—a mentor, an older sibling, or even alone. Family (or the lack of it) is usually one of the most significant factors in shaping who someone becomes.

Society’s Expectations: What was expected of them when they were young? Possibly, they were born into wealth, with all the pressure to continue the family legacy, or maybe they were raised to be invisible in a world where survival mattered. How does this influence who they are now? Do they accept or reject those expectations?

2. Childhood Events That Left a Mark

First Taste of Conflict: Think about the first time the character realized the world wasn’t a perfect place. Maybe they witnessed violence or faced betrayal. What was that moment, and how did it stick with them? This moment usually lays the foundation for the character’s emotional landscape—fear, hope, ambition, or distrust all come from these early life lessons.

Childhood Dreams: When they were young, what did they want to be? Every child has dreams—did they want to be a knight, a scholar, or even just someone who could travel the world? Did they have to give up these dreams? How does that lost dream shape them now?

Formative Relationships: Who was their first best friend, mentor, or enemy? Childhood friendships and relationships often create deep bonds or wounds that last into adulthood. Did they have a mentor who taught them everything, only to betray them? Did they lose a childhood friend that still haunts them?

3. The Teen Years: Where They Start to Become Who They Are

Trials and Tribulations: What’s the biggest challenge they faced as they grew up? Was it losing a loved one, failing at something important, or maybe being forced into a role they didn’t want? These teenage years are where the emotional armor starts forming—how did the difficulties they faced shape them into the person they are now?

Education or Training: How did they learn what they know? Were they formally trained by an institution, learning everything by the book, or did they learn through experience, like a street-smart survivalist? What impact does their education or lack of it have on how they interact with others?

Teenage Bonds: Did they have a first love or a first major falling out with someone close to them? These experiences often create emotional scars or connections that they carry with them into adulthood. How does that past friendship or romance influence their behavior now?

4. Key Life Events: The Big Moments That Define Them

Trauma or Loss: Was there a moment that changed everything? Think about a significant loss—maybe a loved one, their home, or a sense of identity. How does this event affect their worldview? Do they build walls around themselves or dive into relationships with reckless abandon because they fear losing more?

Victory or Failure: Did they experience a moment of triumph or devastating defeat? Success and failure leave their marks. Were they celebrated as a hero once, leading them to overconfidence, or did they fail when everyone was counting on them, leading to crippling self-doubt?

Betrayal: Was there a betrayal that shaped their adult relationships? Whether it is a friend, family member, or lover, betrayal often changes how we trust others. Do they close themselves off, constantly expecting betrayal, or try to rebuild trust, afraid of being left alone again.

5. Where They Stand Now: The Present Moment

What Drives Them Today: What’s the one thing pushing them forward now? Is it revenge, the need to restore their family’s honor, or maybe even just survival? Whatever it is, this motivation should tie directly back to their experiences.

Emotional Baggage: What unresolved emotional wounds are they carrying? Everyone has scars from their past—some are visible, others not so much. How do these emotional wounds affect how they treat others, how they react to conflict, and how they move through the world.

Current Relationships: Who’s still in their life from their past, and how do they feel about it? Did they reconnect with someone they thought they’d lost, or are they haunted by unresolved issues with people from their past? Do they have any ongoing tensions or regrets tied to these people?

6. Tying Themes to Their Backstory

Cultural or Mythological Influence: How does their personal story tie into the larger world’s mythology or culture? Do they carry a family legacy, a curse, or a prophecy that hangs over them? How does this influence their interactions with others and their perception of themselves?

Recurring Symbols: Are there objects, dreams, or people that keep showing up in their life, symbolizing their journey? Perhaps a recurring nightmare haunts them, or they carry an object from their past that’s both a source of comfort and pain

7. Character Arc: The Journey from Past to Present

How Does Their Past Shape Their Growth?: Every character has emotional baggage that needs resolving. How does their backstory drive their arc? Do they need to forgive themselves, let go of the past, or accept who they’ve become to move forward?

Unanswered Questions from the Past: Are there any mysteries in their backstory they need to solve? Maybe they’re unaware of their true parentage, or maybe there’s a forgotten event from their childhood that will resurface and change everything.

[reasonsforhope]

"In China, a landscape architect is reimagining cities across the vast country by working with nature to combat flooding through the ‘sponge city’ concept.

Through his architecture firm Turenscape, Yu has created hundreds of projects in dozens of cities using native plants, dirt, and clever planning to absorb excess rainwater and channel it away from densely populated areas.

Flooding, especially in the two Chinese heartlands of the commercial south and the agricultural north, is becoming increasingly common, but Yu says that concrete and pipe solutions can only go so far. They’re inflexible, expensive, and require constant maintenance. According to a 2021 World Bank report, 641 of China’s 654 largest cities face regular flooding.

“There’s a misconception that if we can build a flood wall higher and higher, or if we build the dams higher and stronger, we can protect a city from flooding,” Yu told CNN in a video call. “(We think) we can control the water… that is a mistake.”

Pictured: The Benjakitti Forest Park in Bangkok

Yu has been called the “Chinese Olmstead” referring to Frederick Law Olmstead, the designer of NYC’s Central Park. He grew up in a little farming village of 500 people in Zhejiang Province, where 36 weirs channel the waters of a creek across terraced rice paddies.

Once a year, carp would migrate upstream and Yu always looked forward to seeing them leap over the weirs.

This synthesis of man and nature is something that Turenscape projects encapsulate. These include The Nanchang Fish Tail Park, in China’s Jiangxi province, Red Ribbon Park in Qinghuandao, Hebei province, the Sanya Mangrove Park in China’s island province of Hainan, and almost a thousand others. In all cases, Yu utilizes native plants that don’t need any care to develop extremely spongey ground that absorbs excess rainfall.

Pictured: The Dong’an Wetland Park, another Turescape project in Sanya.

He often builds sponge projects on top of polluted or abandoned areas, giving his work an aspect of reclamation. The Nanchang Fish Tail Park for example was built across a 124-acre polluted former fish farm and coal ash dump site. Small islands with dawn redwoods and two types of cypress attract local wildlife to the metropolis of 6 million people.

Sanya Mangrove Park was built over an old concrete sea wall, a barren fish farm, and a nearby brownfield site to create a ‘living’ sea wall.

One hectare (2.47 acres) of Turenscape sponge land can naturally clean 800 tons of polluted water to the point that it is safe enough to swim in, and as a result, many of the sponge projects have become extremely popular with locals.

One of the reasons Yu likes these ideas over grand infrastructure projects is that they are flexible and can be deployed as needed to specific areas, creating a web of rain sponges. If a large drainage, dam, seawall, or canal is built in the wrong place, it represents a huge waste of time and money.

Pictured: A walkway leads visitors through the Nanchang Fish Tail Park.

The sponge city projects in Wuhan created by Turenscape and others cost in total around half a billion dollars less than proposed concrete ideas. Now there are over 300 sponge projects in Wuhan, including urban gardens, parks, and green spaces, all of which divert water into artificial lakes and ponds or capture it in soil which is then released more slowly into the sewer system.

Last year, The Cultural Landscape Foundation awarded Yu the $100,000 Oberlander Prize for elevating the role of design in the process of creating nature-based solutions for the public’s enjoyment and benefit."

-via Good News Network, August 15, 2024

[metamatar]

In 2005, the tellingly named studio After Stone wall Productions released a film titled Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World. Featuring interviews with various LGBT activists from different countries outside the West, spliced up and lumped together haphazardly, the film delivers the following overarching messages: that it is not safe to be queer in the "developing world," that what queer spaces do exist in the "developing world" are to be found in certain metropolises: Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, Calcutta, Rio de Janeiro—and that these sites trace their genealogy to the Stonewall riots. Furthermore, according to the film, queerness/gayness and sometimes transness (when it is acknowledged) were invented in the West. Epistemic breaking points such as the Stone wall riots and canonized locales such as San Francisco and Greenwich Village are the originating points of this innovation against the backdrop of a timeless, pervasive heterosexism. This cosmopolitan gayness/queerness then "spreads" from the metropole to the periphery, forming a web from city to city This coincides with Jack Halberstam's (excruciatingly white) analysis in his book In a Queer Time and Place: the idea of "metronorma tivity" that "the rural is made to function as a closet for urban sexualities in most accounts of rural queer migration" and that "the metronormative narrative maps a story of migration onto the coming-out narrative" (2005, 36-37). We can extend Halberstam's analysis further and see the ways that the closet/rural/(post)colony as well as out/urban/metropole get col lapsed onto each other—the queer is always pulled closer to the heart of capital.

The overarching savior narrative occurs towards the end of the film, when each interviewee, in clips spliced together, tells his or her story of emigrating to the West. After a particularly heart-wrenching story of Ashraf Zanati's departure from Egypt, the narrator comments that "Ashraf Zanati left Egypt. Ashraf had become part of a planetary minority." Although the film purports to care about the status of queers in the "developing world," it actually forms a wounded attachment that fetishizes displacement and bifurcates the queer from his or her society. This narration of non-Western countries as inherently unsafe for queer subjects produces the very displacement it describes, in a manner similar to the ways nine teenthcentury colonial archaeology laid the foundations for Zionism and the dispossession of Arab Jews. Writing about the European "discovery" and destruction of the Cairo Geniza—a building that had housed pieces of paper documenting centuries of jewish Egyptian history—Shohat (2006) shows us that the discursive/ archival dislocation of Egyptian Jews by the forces of European/Ashkenazi colonialism anticipated the later dislocation of Egyptian Jews. This dislocation would form part of the backbone of Zionist historiography's production of a "morbidly selective 'tracing the dots' from pogrom to pogrom." The fetishization of queer displacement, as projected by Dangerous Living, performs a similar historical flip to the one Shohat documents: "If at the time of the 'Geniza discovery' Egyptian Jews were still seen as part of the colonized Arab world, with the partition of Palestine, Arab-Jews, in a historical shift, suddenly became simply 'Jews'" (Shohat 2006, 205). Through various colonial practices, there was a discursive bifurcation between the "Arab" and the "Jew"; in the case of case of Dangerous Living there is a similar bifurcation between the "Egyptian" and the "Queer."

Papantonopoulou, Saffo. “‘Even a Freak Like You Would Be Safe in Tel Aviv’: Transgender Subjects, Wounded Attachments, and the Zionist Economy of Gratitude.” Women’s Studies Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 1/2, 2014, pp. 278–93. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24364930. Accessed 11 Nov. 2024.

[eatmangoesnekkid]

Creativity is a flow state. Creation is a form of divine energy. Do not become so obsessed with your creative projects or self-development that you inflame and stress your tissues and blow your circuits out. Do not overdose on how-to, self-care or motivational YouTube videos which can have an adverse effect and drain your vital energy. A certain element of healthy obsession is required but you do have to make time to rest, nap, play, exercise, lay up, spend time in nature, and prep nutrient-dense meals. Begin now building your capacity to feel safe in this world when you permit your work move a bit slower. Initially it may feel difficult or impossible—be okay with mastering the difficult or impossible. This is the magic of deep tissue nervous system work. It means learning to breathe deeply through uncertainty and the discomforts of the unknown and not always have dates, times, or answers while witnessing other people finish projects or level up around you. It means listening to your body when it needs to urinate and not just waiting until you are about to pee on yourself before you get up from the computer to relieve your overworked bladder. It means discovering ways to relax when you take days off. It means eating real food. It means turning off your phone or computer and playing records in low lights for the evening. It means letting yourself relax and just play with no aim or objective. Be okay with stepping out of constant productivity and hustle culture and aligning with the smaller, the slower, the gentler. This appears simple and easy, but for most, it will be surprisingly difficult and uncomfortable. But when you do so, you will be more magnetic, aligned, and healthy in the long run. Because female physiology doesn't run off of just light or achievements. It needs a strong foundation of supreme care, nutrition, and tending, or else it begins to weep and eventually scream. The female body is the pillar of the entire family/village/community and requires a lot more love and respect from us. Never forget that. -India Ame'ye, Author

[ganondoodle]

totk thought

i feel like totk (as unfinished and duct taped together as it feels, which is wild given the time and everything) missunderstood what was so appealing about a direct sequel to botw, at least in my opinion

i have talked in length about what good of a foundation botw built to keep going with its world and characters and mysteries, and how totk needlessly, bafflingly, throws ALL of it away instead (and i do mean all of it, to me other than their models being the same no character feels like that character anymore etc), which is connected to my next point

alot of people were worried about them reusing botws world, some really didnt like it, some thought it would be fine as long as they changed enough (which they didnt..), and i thought it was really appealing bc i was excited to see this world progress, grow (not size), to .. change, but not how totk did 'change', its all rather surface level anyway, but the change i was interested in was seeing locations i loved be expanded, built upon, developed- and i feel like that is what they should have focused on, if you reuse the same world you CANNOT get it to feel as new and exciting as it did the first time for returning players, which id say is most of them, so you need to shift focus

aside from its mysteries and story potential of botw to be built further (which totk does not, you cannot change my mind, dont try) soemthing i was THRILLED about was just to see how the world has grown- i hoped to see the towns maybe expanded, new buildings in hateno added, someone perhaps painted their house, someone built or IS building a new additional room to their home (maybe you could help finish it?), some thing that made it feel like time passed and people lived there, sure, adding some mushroom stuff is change .. but its rather surface level, like all other changes

in taburasa (tarrey town?) there could have been new houses, maybe they tunneled into the mountain and built cellars there, have some buildings be attached to the sides, the narrow pathway secured with stonewalls, something that felt .. logical? instead they ,,,, removed ... buildings??? homes you literally built a few years ago?? just to make way for kiltons little figurine project, which was funny, but also a little? why remove buildings to put him there, couldnt it have been on the other side of the bridge?? or like a balcony on the side of the cliff?(even the forest .. well the forest is mostly gone and its now an ugly to look at playground for a short little building thing, it all feels so ..... idk, forced? pasted on, this isnt there bc it makes sense, this is your playground)

same should be said about the main regions villages (though my idea there is to actually change it via devastation aka death mountain collapsed and gorons forced to move or adapt, or the zoras dried out and them being forced to go elsewhere, rito being trapped in an actual dangerous blizzard so cold you need special gear for it an cant glide etc bc its damn stupid to put the points of interest in the EXACT same location as last game and then neither change them signifacntly, permantenly, NOR use anything existing as the base for the new dungeons, like making the water temple be an ancient cistern or .. waterworks underneath the now dried out lakes instead), the village of the zoras isnt expanded or anything, its got mud there and an insulting statue change but the mud goes away and then its the same as ever, just like all the other things are undoable and it all goes back to before (aside from death mountains lava)

WHY would the stable in that big empty field just ... vanish? esepcialyl that one?? there isnt anything like a dramatic change there, there is not bossfight there, theres nothing, its just gone and its empty footstep replaced with a semi annoying quest (that is also reused ....)

why the fuck did malanya move???????? the horse god????? leave them there and have the way to them now built in awe of them or soemthing, show that people are travelling there now having found their spring, have it overgrown with flowers that have funny horse shapes or something, even if they dont show up for other people, let them give you a quest that introduces new kinds and colors of horses instead of one random old guy in the spy post after which suddendly there is new pattern??

the statue of in the gerudo highlands, instead of having a very specific puzzle suddendly pasted on, toppled over or broken to reveal an entrance to a new or old shikah/yiga base, or an old gerudo town that shows there was a group that once lived up there (maybe ganondorfs followers???? those that stayed loyal or soemthing??)

akkala fucking fortress?? prime material for a dungeon revealing disgusting secrets of the shiekah persecution or something? no its .. a cave like any other in the door. somehow. in the dirt. (what what waHT WAT)

castle town rebuilt, that farm ruin rebuild! maybe to let all your horses roam there in a big space?? a central tavern hub for the recovering land! ruins that felt like untold stories or teasers to be given a purpose! the fairy fountains being in the same place but their lair expanded, a larger flower or now like a little lake, people actually manaing to visit them now and there being little shrines or offerings, decorations! maybe one of them had to flee (if the "cataclysm" actually .. did anything) which would make that impact much stronger, no, they are just picked up and plopped into the next best place to create the surface level illusion of change without understanding how that comes across, they have to be unlocked again, for some reason, and now its music with the most annyoing quest attached than even the sign guy- why?

how cool would it have been to find a spring and the fairy not being there, her spring is, its open, but she isnt there, a kidnapped fairy somewhere in the udnerground? a corrupted one? since its reusing the same world what you need to do is think about how to surprise the player that grew accustomed to things and attached to chaarcters, and significantly mix up the main points, focus on the characters and narrative to hook them without making it feel forced, its diffcult yes, but so is game making, and botw was such a great basis that imo its not even that hard to come up with compelling things

im not saying there arent any changes, or there was no attempt, but it falls flat or utterly missunderstood WHAT needed to change, the spypost is the biggest attempt at that, but even that doesnt feel like it was done bc it made sense, like the things they wanted to happen where the first thought and the entire thing built just to support that, so all it serves for is to give you that 'hub', even though that position is weird? the place chosen a little disrespectful imo and not very save either, hyrule castle was cleared after clam gan was done for, why would you built a SPY post on the ground level directly in front??? well ,, that was bc the cataclysm happens and the castle is AGAIN the place of the boss, and AGAIN poisoned, the people there couldnt have known it, it makes no sense even if you say well the ground was so poisoned from botw still they wouldnt built there, .. but then right in front? in the middle of a flat field? you could have used the farm ruins for that hub? put it on the hills that are all around?

even characters, instead of like expanding on their character and continueing or challenging their ideals its just so flat, all of them have abilities they never had before, that were never hinted at, other than being vaguely genetically connected to the champions, excuse me, those dont matter, the SAGES i mean, you see riju struggle like, once, with a power she didnt use to have and it only really serves to make her power used by you not her herself (the others didnt need that excuse?) tulin makes me the most mad and his cuteness only worsens it bc he was a little side NPC in botw, now suddendly the main guy (instead of teba?? i guess he was too old, sorry teba, only kids can be blessed with powers or something) he has no character arc and .... he can just use almost an exact copy of revalis storm, just sideways, which is both boring and insulting given how much revali struggled to learn it (which also explains his attitude!!) other characters just seem to forget part of themselves bc its not relevant, robbie has de-made cherry into a little bucket size thing, washt she important to him? purah doesnt have any interesting beat to her either, she just .. offscreen made herself the perfect pretty age with the tech that supposedly vanished as soon as clam gan was done? what? and only serves you to tell you where to go over and over, its sad (not saying botw gave her a super intersting arc or sth, but it built the basis for it, you could have expanded on it? have her reunite with impa? anything?) (and not all shiekah tech is gone, its still there, aaaaaaaaaargh it doesnt make any sense!!!! but its to serve you so, it serves YOU, PLAYER CHARACTER)

the entire game is awfully plagued with that problem, nothing it does feels logical or lived in bc it only serves YOU (and their new favorite thing that everyone loves and should obsess over, sonau/zonai! who doesnt love everything being THEM TM), and once you have checked it off your list it ceases to be anything, theres is no thought about why a contraption is there or what purpose it once served, bc it never has, it serves only to fling you somwhere; to some extent that is fine, like the snowy mansion dungeon in twilight princess is a weird way to build a mansion/fortress but you know its a dungeon so its gotta be that way, back when dungeons where dungeons, but you can easily overdo it, i think its good to think about the world and how to make it interesting for the player at the same time, there needs to be a balance of believability and deniability; a character telling you to press a button is gamestuff, a little weird but ok, a dungeon being built a little weird, well, its a dungeon- people walking around in normal ass summer clothing in the region thats frozen solid? that makes it less believable, even if the game joke about it that they are freezing or explains via 'these people dont feel the cold' or whatever (pokemoooooooooon)

especially with botws foundation, you could have achieved that, easily at times, theres so little restriction anymore, the wasted potential and needlessly thrown away 'everything' still hurts

[girlactionfigure]

🧵𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭? 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭: 𝐈𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐬.

Enough is enough, Let’s set the record straight: the claim that Arabs welcomed Jews to Israel after the Holocaust is a false narrative and just a lie. The reality is that it's a much more complex and challenging history. Here’s a comprehensive look at the real dynamics of Jewish immigration and the reception in Israel.

1/ An Ancient Bond: Jews and the Land of Israel.

Let me first say that The idea that Jews arrived in Israel only as Holocaust refugees disregards their ancient and continuous connection to the land. Jews have maintained a consistent presence in Israel for thousands of years, documented in ancient texts and archaeological findings. Cities like  Jerusalem, Hebron, and  Safed were significant centers of Jewish life long before the 20th century. This deep-rooted connection shows the significance of Israel to the Jewish people throughout history.

2/ The status of Israel in the 1880s

By the 1880s, when the First Aliyah began, Israel was largely neglected and in disrepair. The region suffered from economic stagnation, sparse infrastructure, and minimal habitation. Many areas were desolate, with abandoned villages and a general lack of modern amenities. Public health conditions were dire, with widespread malaria and typhoid fever, and there was a severe shortage of medical facilities and basic health care. The land had been left in a state of neglect by previous rulers and local inhabitants, who had not invested in its development.

3/ The Transformation by Jewish Immigration.

Jewish immigrants arriving in the 1880s faced severe conditions but undertook significant efforts to transform the land. They joined the local Jewish community and they established agricultural settlements, drained swamps, and developed irrigation systems, turning barren land into productive farmland. New towns and cities emerged, such as Tel Aviv, which started as a small neighborhood and grew into a bustling urban center. Their work laid the foundation for the modern state of Israel, significantly enhancing living conditions and infrastructure.

4/ Hostility from Local Arab Populations.

Despite the historical presence of Jews, the arrival of Jewish immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was met with increasing hostility from local Arabs. Many of these Arabs, who began migrating to Israel around the same time as the First Aliyah, viewed the Jewish newcomers with growing animosity. This hostility manifested in violent confrontations and revolts, such as the 1929 Hebron massacre, where 67 Jews were killed, and the Arab revolt from 1936 to 1939, which targeted Jewish settlements and British authorities. This resistance reflects the significant opposition Jews faced, contrary to claims of a warm welcome.

5/ The Arab Mufti’s Alliance with Nazi Germany.

The situation grew more complex during World War II. Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of  Jerusalem, sought an alliance with Nazi Germany. In 1941, he met with Adolf Hitler, offering support for the Nazi regime and advocating for anti-Jewish policies in Palestine. This collaboration proves again the intense hostility Arab leaders had towards Jews and their aspirations, complicating the notion of Arab support for Jewish migration.

6/ The Efforts of Local Jews to Aid Holocaust Survivors

In stark contrast to the hostility faced, local Jewish communities in Palestine went to extraordinary lengths to assist Holocaust survivors. As the horrors of the Holocaust became known, Jewish organizations in Israel, including the Jewish Agency and various relief committees, worked tirelessly to find refuge for survivors. They orchestrated complicated immigration operations, known as Aliyah Bet, to bypass British restrictions and bring Jews to Israel. The efforts of these local Jewish organizations were instrumental in providing sanctuary and rebuilding lives.

7/ The Birth of modern Israel and the 1948 War.

The Holocaust heightened the urgency for a Jewish homeland. Despite restrictive British immigration policies, many Jews found refuge in Israel. The establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948 was met with fierce opposition from neighboring Arab countries, who rejected the creation of a Jewish state. This rejection led to the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, driven by the refusal to accept a Jewish state and resulting in significant losses for the Arab forces.

8/ Displacement and Historical Complexity.

The narrative that Jews “took away” Arab land oversimplifies a complex situation. The land of Israel has always been home to a diverse population, including Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The 1948 war and subsequent conflicts led to significant displacement on both sides, including the expulsion of Jews from Arab countries and the creation of Palestinian refugees. This complexity reflects a turbulent history rather than a simple story of land grabbing.

9/ Refuting the “Jews Left” Myth.

The claim that Jews left Israel and returned only after the Holocaust is misleading. The fluctuating Jewish population in Israel over the years does not negate the fact that Jews have consistently maintained a presence there. The migration waves of the 1880s and 1920s demonstrate a profound connection to the land, driven by historical and spiritual significance, not by temporary circumstances.

Saying that Jews left Israel and came back only after the Holocaust is like saying that pasta isn’t Italian because there was a shortage in the 1930s. The essence of our connection to the land has remained unbroken, despite periods of challenge and fluctuation. Just as Italian cuisine remains Italian regardless of temporary shortages, the historical and spiritual bond of Jews to Israel endures despite the changing dynamics over time.

11/ Conclusion: Resilience Through Truth

The ongoing attempts to distort, manipulate, or deny Jewish heritage and historical facts only serve to strengthen our resolve and unity. No one welcomed us to Israel after the Holocaust but the local Jewish community, who worked tirelessly to provide refuge and rebuild lives. Despite the efforts to alter or obscure these historical truths, they remain steadfast and undeniable.

We will not let you change our history. No matter how much people try to change this fact, it won’t work. Throughout history, countless attempts have been made to erase or undermine the Jewish people, and each time, these efforts have failed. Today, with a strong and thriving State of Israel, it is not only misguided but delusional to believe that such attempts can succeed. The more history is challenged or distorted, the closer and stronger we become as a people. Our connection to the land, our historical narrative, and our cultural identity are deeply ingrained and resilient, reinforcing our unbreakable bond to the land and our unwavering strength as a nation.

@AP_from_NY

[breached-containment-script]

Some arguments KA shippers make are valid and true. But that they don't necessarily do anything nearly enough to be valid anti-zutara arguments!

Stuff like, that quick burns probably wouldn't scar (Katara's hands) or that if she had gotten scarred, that Toph's feet should have gotten scarred too. This is valid.

That it's true that when Aang's negative aspects get developed to their final extreme forms in theories and fanfiction, it can feel weird and offputting to people who naturally gravitate towards staying approximately around canon vibes; that some descriptions of behaviour sound too strong to some people which results in pushing them away from zutara as a negative reaction to associated criticisms of Aang. But that also personal headcanon developments (even those with strong foundation in canon) are individual preferences and people are able to choose which headcanons to like, without using disliked ones to paint an entire show interpretation negative.

It'a true that most of Aang's bad behaviour in the show can be attributed to him being just a kid and not being self-aware enough yet. He's not intentionally malicious in most cases. His negative reaction towards Water Tribe culture and food is a depiction of a kid not knowing how to respect something that makes him uncomfortable, even if this kinda clashes with him having already had friends from all over the world. Unfortunatey, canon progression doesn't depict him learning as many lessons as he should nor does it show him outgrowing negative traits even though it should have. THIS is the source of headcanons which appreciate intentionally exploring main character developing in a negative light. His negative traits constantly repeat and have a common stay in his canon character. This is a fact, especially with his claim that he'd be in the Avatar state had it not been blocked, out of frustration that actors on a stage implied Katara doesn't feel the same way about him. This is a very bad thing, we've seen both him and others being afraid of it, it causing massive destruction and Katara having the burden of calming him down. How would she theoretically calm him down in the case he did enter the Avatar state because of this reason? Assuming she didn't have romantic feelings for him (which should always exist as a valid option for any character, to test if they have a healthy interaction) - she could pray he'd accept it and calm down on his own, or be under extreme pressure to lie that she likes him back. Even if she did like him back, having to admit under the threat of a destructive force being unleashed, IS NOT GOOD. Especially as the characters never addressed this later.

Yes, Zuko did a lot of bad things but not only are they overblown by KA-fans and Zuko-antis, they constantly purposefully ignore that he got punished repeatedly, suffered in canon for his actions and kept doing very risky and selfless things to make up for his past, they also forget that time flows FORWARD and that WHEN events happened on a timeline MATTERS. It's not an argument that Zuko burned Suki's village in book 1 when he helped rescue her and others by risking his life in book 3 and she forgave him. One thing is collateral damage in a cartoon filled with cartoon violence, and another when for example Long Feng kills Jet. Viewers should be able to discern the tone difference, because shows (or any creative work) especially with multiple writers, aren't homogenous, and aren't tonally or message-wise completely unified. Don't start your deduction argument from the idea that a show is fully consistent and is absolutely sending a singular message, start an inductive analysis from ideas about what a show's context is, what its goals are, what the tone feels like in each section, did it accomplish what it was aiming for, etc. Likewise Zuko could have been written even better in some areas and with more context!

However him hunting down heroes, knocking out Katara etc. isn't a gotcha argument some people think it is, because Katara knocked him out as well, twice even so badly he didn't wake up for quite some time; and he was struck, rejected, ignored, mocked and criticised by both Iroh, the gaang and Katara especially after he sided with Azula under Ba Sing Se, but then they forgave him as he actively worked to atone, and Katara herself forgave him for what he did. She then risked her life to save him back. The writing is very logical and consistent in this.

[starry-bi-sky]

The fun thing about CFAU danny is that he grew up in crime alley during his early developmental and foundational years, and was only in amity park for four years before his accident. Which means: potential to explore how this affects his personality. How does he act?

If he grows up in crime alley, which is rife with violence and crime and he like everyone else bares witness to it, how will that change who he is compared to canon?

Because he’s not gonna be the exact same as canon, thats not how development works. Something’s gonna change. So is he violent? Is he a thief? A liar? A follower, a leader? A backstabber? How selfish is he? Because selflessness gets you killed.

How willing is he to get shot/stabbed/murdered/trafficked for another person when he’s surrounded by people who take priority over themselves more than others? And is largely not taught otherwise? (And are valid for their self-preservation?)

What’s his kindness look like, is it rough? Tough love all the way through, showing other kids how to bloody up their knuckles to keep their own face safe?

Showing kids how to file down their teeth with the broken glass at their feet, so that when they bite they make it hurt?

Or is it more gentle, but still bloody, showing kids how to keep their head down and out of the way of the bigger, meaner kids barreling their way past? How to blend in, how to hide? How to not get caught?

Is it a third option, and always bloody, always hurting? Does he get in the way, take the hits? Always a shield, never the shielded? His nose having been broken so many times it’s permanently crooked, are his eyes always black? His lip always bleeding? Does he have scars?

Is it a fourth option, a fifth option, a sixth? Is it bloody? It may as well be, Crime Alley is always bloody. Always bleeding. Danny will see death, he will see suffering, he won’t unless he closes his eyes and covers his ears.

Does he have bad habits? Stealing, smoking, drinking, kids mimic the adults and even if his parents try to teach him out of it, it takes a village to raise a child. If the village is violent, then the child will be too. Is he malnourished? Jason was. He will be.

How does Dan change in comparison to canon vs a Danny who grew up in crime alley? Does he change at all? Or is Danny just more horrified by him, because he’s more similar to him than he previously thought?

What are his thoughts on Batman and Robin? Does he like them, think them myth, distrust them? How does his time in Gotham influence his perspective on the people there, on the world around him? His thoughts on Bruce Wayne (beyond the improbable him immediately figuring out Bruce Wayne = Batman)? The Elite? Does he have an accent? What’s his education like?

And CFAU Danny is fun because I get to explore that. He is ultimately still Danny - still kind, and selfless, sarcastic, punny. But how does he show it? What other traits does he have? What has changed, and what has stayed?

[wauzmons]

In my last post, I mentioned that there will be a new editor, which wasn't available in Spore. It's going to be one of the main components of EE's tribal stage: The HUT EDITOR!

So how does it work? In Spore's tribal stage you had a "village" at a fixed location, with a fixed layout, where you could place premade buildings in exchange for food. In EE this will be a lot more in depth!

First you will be able to place a "hearth" which flattens out an area of the map and determines it as a gathering point for your tribe. Instead of just collecting food, there are different building materials like thatch or wood, that you have to gather.

With these materials, you can use the hut editor, which will work similar to the building editor from Spore's civ stage, to create huts and tents. These will be freely placeable in an area around the hearth. Additionally there will also be decorative props that you can place.

The actual tribal stage foundation won't release until version 0.5.0, but there's a lot of work to do in preparation! So you can follow the development even more closely, I created a huge roadmap in Trello, which lists upcoming features and known bugs!

There are over 100 features listed, a lot of which are documented in the "Planning" cards. Check it out here!

[comicaurora]

Slowly making my way through the TOTK B roll stream, had a few thoughts on the emptiness of the sky islands. In a way, would it not be more surprising if there were more remains to be seen? Ignoring the whole 'it's a game, decisions were made by the developers' bit, nature can take over surprisingly quickly in the right circumstances. In a way, it's more surprising so much survived in BOTW (like the bomb hut ruins. Fire damaged wood? Should be gone in a decade or two anyway). (contd)

So the thing about the Sky Islands in Tears of the Kingdom is that, not only are the ruins fairly well-preserved - presumably due to having been in the Sacred Realm for the last 10,000+ years - but even with them damaged and tumbledown, it's fairly clear from the layout of the islands and their structures that they were not residences. That's not something that would've been lost to erosion and time, that's something foundational to the architecture of the place.

When the game designers want to show a place people live on the surface of Hyrule, they hit a few key points: distinct-looking homes with beds, places that make food, and an inn for travelers. The buildings are different sizes, decorated or personalized by the residents. They're laid out relative to one another in a way that allows for easy, convenient traversal. It's intentional design that makes the villages feel lived-in, cozy, and worth protecting.

Inside the buildings, little details show the presence of living people, even if the building is empty at the time. Table settings, notebooks, pictures on the walls. They feel like they've been shaped by the influence of people, living and working and customizing their environment.

These are all, to be fair, things that we wouldn't expect to last very long if the town fell to ruin. When we explore the sky islands, we aren't expecting to find well-preserved paper maps or notebooks or anything. But if they were lived-in - if they were Zonai population centers rather than temples, ritual centers and factories - that would still be reflected in the basic layout of the structure itself. A residence is designed to accommodate for every basic need, meaning we'd expect the buildings to have places for them to sleep, to eat, and to relax. On the Sky Islands, we find none of these things.

The most common buildings on the sky islands are these isolated stone one-room ruins. They look and feel like storehouses - a few pots, some crumbled masonry. No doors or interior rooms for privacy, no comforts, no sign of a place to sleep, no adjoining buildings. These things were never homes.

The Great Sky Island is the only really plausible candidate for a place the Zonai might've actually lived, being about town-sized with several buildings, but it's not laid out like one. The buildings are either small one-room storage sheds or the massive Temple of Time, and there's no sign of other specialized buildings that could have been used for things like food, rest or other necessities. The Great Sky Island feels like a large, beautiful public park built grafted onto the Temple of Time.

The larger dungeons are more internally complicated, but not in the way that residences are complicated. The water dungeon looks like some kind of huge open park - wide avenues, plazas, devices built for mobility. It feels like a place meant to be traversed and admired, not stayed in.

The wind dungeon is more clearly built as a weapon platform, nowhere we expect people to live. It makes sense that it feels sterile and lifeless.

The larger, more complicated sky islands are also designed for clear utility. The spheres are some sort of celestial observatories, featuring a control system, a treasure chest, and nothing else.

Wildcards like Lightcast Island were clearly built to serve a single purpose - in this case, a lighthouse and attached microdungeon - but contain no signs of life. Zonai came here for a reason, but they didn't stay.

The glide challenge islands are visually impressive, but ultimately the rings are empty - they don't even have structures on them. They exist for the dive challenge and nothing else.

Same deal with the labyrinths, which exist explicitly as puzzles and challenges.

The mines in the depths are also clearly structured for utility - storerooms, construct part repositories and a lot of conveyer belts for moving zoanite. The purpose of the building is very clear just from the layout, and these are not places where anyone was supposed to be staying outside of work hours.

This, along with the layout of towns on the surface, shows that the designers are very good at constructing architecture that reflects the in-story utility of a place, which means the lack of signs of life in the sky islands is not a limitation of the console or the imagination of the artists - it's an intentional design choice.

The end result of all of this? The Sky Islands feel like somewhere that the Zonai built and visited, but not where they lived. They feel cold and unwelcoming and liminal. There's no sense of loss or tragedy, just a feeling of emptiness - people used to come here, but they don't anymore. There's none of the poignancy of an empty dining table's unused place settings or an abandoned child's toy. None of the Sky Islands that descended during the Upheaval were places where the Zonai lived. At the peak of their power they were mistaken for gods, a massively thriving technologically advanced civilization - I'd expect their homes to be cities, towers of jade and marble bustling with the activity of a post-scarcity utopia. None of the Sky Islands show us anything like that, and given how well the designers can portray a lived-in place even without any people in it, this is assuredly intentional. The Zonai built and visited and used the Sky Islands we can explore, but as a whole they lived somewhere else.

But throughout it all, there's this pervading unease - the fact that there's no obvious tragedy makes the sky islands feel more unnerving. We know just enough of the story to infer that something happened to the Zonai - something bad, if we read into Rauru and Mineru's reaction - but whatever it was left no scars. The Zonai constructs don't even realize anything's amiss. The buildings have been damaged only by time and gravity; the forges and mines and observatories and temples are silent and abandoned, like the Zonai all went home one night for dinner and just never came back.

The Sky Islands don't feel dead, they feel lifeless. A place people passed through but didn't leave their mark on. When Link traverses the islands, he isn't just alone - he doesn't even have the comfort of signs of life. The only evidence he has that anyone ever came to these islands are the fact that somebody built them in the first place. They left no marks, no art, no notes, no diaries, no toys, no graffiti. They're just gone.

[rage-city]

i want to share with you all an exciting development at the intersection of renewable energy, ecological restoration, and Indigenous sovereignty.

Tyonek is a remote Dena'ina Athabascan village located 40 miles from Alaska's largest city, Anchorage. for time immemorial, the Dena'ina have stewarded and honored the land. but the legacy of settler-colonialism and extractive capitalism has impoverished the people of Tyonek.

Indigenous people have been disproportionately affected by climate change and pollution. i encourage you all to be a part of the renewable energy transition and support the Tribal community of Tyonek as they advance the engineering, procurement, and construction of a decentralized solar microgrid.

https://bit.ly/Tebughna-Solar-Program

[adore-laur]

HARRY & NADINE

— a glimpse into her pregnancy and how harry loves it oh-so-much. from the foxtail universe and inspired by this ask 🌱

——

At thirty-six weeks pregnant, Nadine was ready to pop. The summer days were long and miserable, and her intuition told her the twins' arrival was near. Or maybe her body just really wanted to be done carrying around ten extra pounds. Getting out of bed and even standing up from a chair was a mini workout. Her spine felt close to snapping in half most days. She felt enormous, and although she had been excited to show off her bump, it was becoming quite an inconvenience. Not being able to hug her husband and feel his heartbeat against her chest was criminal. Even worse was not being able to lay on top of him at night, skin to skin. How cruel!

Harry had measured the fundal height that morning using a roll of twine before cutting it and taking it to the greenhouse to get an exact measurement. Her belly was forty-one centimeters. In other words, she was massive.

Yesterday, she found out that they had fully developed lungs. Two souls were breathing inside of her. It was miraculous.

Nadine was in the home stretch now, and her patience was wearing thin. She preferred to have a spontaneous labor rather than a medical induction, so she roped Harry into finding natural methods to encourage the babies to finish baking in the warmth of her womb. His suggestions included lounging in bed all day, drinking raspberry leaf tea, and taking a stroll down to the village. Relaxing, but not the type of mild activities that piqued her interest. Her hormones craved a more rousing experience.

While feeling hot and bothered by watching Harry build a raised garden bed under the sweltering July sun, she perused the handwritten notes she took at the beginning of her pregnancy. Under the "Natural Induction" heading, she scanned the dozen or so bullet points and tapped her pencil against the word sex.

Peeking at Harry from under her floppy sun hat, she whistled to get his attention. He finished hammering a nail into a slab of wood before fixing his gaze on her. There's the handsome papa-to-be. He was a vision as of lately—more buff and dedicated to tending the gardens while Nadine grew budding flowers of her own that kicked and pressed against her bladder.

"I have a question," Nadine said, straightening her posture in the patio swing and stroking her bare bump. It sat heavily on her upper thighs, decorated with coffee-colored stretch marks.

"Nadi, you shouldn't even be outside right now," Harry replied exasperatedly, wiping sweat from his brow. His tattooed arms were tan and slick from hours of diligent work spent outside, the muscles bulging as he lined up a slender piece of wood against the half-built rectangular foundation. It was a gift for the twins. He planned to make them each an indoor and outdoor garden.

He'd been behind schedule, busy prepping the house for parenthood, and was now putting in overtime with the flower beds. But Nadine knew he was using it as a distraction from doting on her excessively. While she didn't mind being taken care of, she really didn't need Harry helping her put clothes on or insisting on showering with her. So for the last few weeks, she had shooed him away from her with the promise that she'd rest.

Today, she had truly tried her best, but after an hour of sitting on the couch and crocheting baby rompers, she found herself wandering to the backyard. Somehow, it started with her innocently admiring Harry as he got lost in the steady rhythm of woodworking and ended with her wanting his weathered hands all over her body.

Nadine half-scowled and half-smiled at his grumpy tone. "I'm in the shade. Technically, I'm resting."

"I would prefer it if you rested in air conditioning," he said, surveying his work. His hands were planted on his hips, and Nadine felt a throbbing pulse of need in between her legs. He'd left her alone, like she asked, but now she was aching for his eyes to feast on her.

"But I like watching you."

Harry scratched the scruff on his jaw and plucked a screw from his pocket. "I know you do, baby. Why can't you watch me through the window?" He resumed assembling the wood pieces.

Nadine hummed thoughtfully, then said, "Fresh air is good for pregnant women." She didn't like that his full attention wasn't on her, so she added, "Especially ones who are turned on."

Harry went to pick up the drill, but he stopped himself and turned to face her instead. The cropped white T-shirt he wore gave her a sneak peek at his fern tattoos. Further down, athletic shorts that were far too short and disrespectful hugged his sturdy, suntanned thighs. "I wasn't aware of that fact," he said lowly, taking a few casual steps toward her.

Nadine's swollen feet pushed off the ground to rock the swing. She removed her sun hat to view him more clearly, and before she could fix her mussed hair, Harry was leaning over and kissing down her neck like a starved and desperate man. His hands gripped the back of the swing to stop it from moving, his taut arms locking her in. "Have I been a neglectful husband?" he murmured, his kisses trailing over to her chest. "Even though my wife has been sending me away to the garden and refusing to let me dote on her?"

"Oui," she whispered, taking one of his hands and placing it over her breast. Through the thin fabric of her bandeau top, her nipples peaked. Although sore and enlarged as a result of preparing milk, they responded to Harry's touch in the same way they always had. "Your wife is in dire need of affection."

"I'm on it," Harry replied, sitting beside her and continuing to work his mouth and hands.

Nadine moaned, tilting her head to the side. She felt spoiled since she didn't have to move—not that she would have been able to without toppling over and wheezing. Harry licked under her jawbone before nipping the skin there; the softness of his lips was an addictive sensation. It was so lovely. Until she began to sweat and be tickled by his beard.

When she couldn't take any more of it, she giggled and pushed him away. "No more," she said, breathing heavily.

Harry rubbed his palm over her belly, feeling for kicks. He was obsessed with it. "I was just getting started, Dove."

"You're going to make me have a hot flash."

He stole a quick kiss. "Well, we can't have that, can we?"

"It's all your fault," she mumbled as a surge of heat spread across her flesh. Not even an ice bath could tame it.

"Maybe you should go inside now," he said, switching back to being concerned.

Nadine shook her head and said, "Your very pregnant wife needs one more thing."

"Anything, sweetheart. Your wish is my command."

She slowly stood up, groaning from all the aches that introduced themselves. "I need a belly lift. I feel like I’m about to burst.”

Harry's eyes lit up. "Yeah?" He sprung off the swing and interlaced his fingers, palms up, ready to hold her bump up like he had done several times before. Carrying double the weight during pregnancy was difficult to endure, especially now that the twins were fully developed. They pressed and kicked and stretched her beyond her wildest imagination, and while it was a magical experience growing two humans all by herself, it was often uncomfortable to even walk—or waddle, as Harry had affectionally called it. He was always eager to provide temporary freedom from it. "This might be the last one we do," he added, a soft smile gracing his lips.

"Better make it the best one yet."

Harry settled behind her and cupped the bottom of her bump. With a kiss to her cheek, he lifted, and the instant relief Nadine felt was second to none. She leaned back into him, sighing happily as the ten pounds transferred into Harry's gentle and trustworthy hands. "This is pretty good practice for holding two babies," he said. "God, I'm going to miss this unbelievable bump.”

"I just want them out of me," Nadine complained, wishing the relief was permanent. She wanted her body back. She wanted her babies snuggled in her arms.

"I know. I'm so in awe of you," Harry whispered over her shoulder. "Every single day."

"You've been saying that a lot lately."

He let go of her bump and moved to stand in front of her. "This hasn't been easy on you. It sure as hell doesn't look easy. Despite the lows, it has been such a joy watching you experience this."

"It's rewarding," she said, smiling down at the little kicks protruding from her skin. The fluttery sensation always made her want to cry. "I feel like a champion."

"You are. Ma déesse résiliente." Harry dropped to his knees and kissed both sides of her belly. "Et mes précieux bébés."

The babies kicked more firmly, and Nadine's heart soared. "They love their Papa."

"Mm, I love it when you call me that." For a minute, his thumbs stroked her stretch marks. Then he looked at her curiously and said, "You never asked me your question, by the way."

Nadine reveled in his submissive position. "I was going to ask if we could have sex."

He laughed loudly. "You're insatiable. I already tasted you this morning."

"Yes, right after you measured the fundal height of my uterus. Very romantic, mon amour."

With a tender bite to her inner thigh, he raised his nose to the frilly hem of her pajama bottoms. "Let's take this inside, shall we?"

——

[moniquill]

"A night on the village"

Basket is woven from red and yellow cedar bark

Lisa Telford, American, born in 1957 is a weaver who creates contemporary garments, shoes and other objects using Northwest Coast style weaving techniques. Her work serves as a commentary on Native identity, stereotypes and fashion.

Born in Ketchikan Alaska, Telford is a Gawa Git’ans Git’anee Haida Weaver and comes from a long line of weavers including her grandmother, mother, aunt, cousins, and daughter. She learned the traditional techniques of Haida basketry from her mentor Delores Churchill, and Haida cedar garments thanks to Holly Churchill. She began weaving in 1992, and for twelve years closely followed the tradition that form must follow function. It wasn’t until a friend asked her to submit a contemporary basket for a show that Lisa experimented beyond the borders of traditional form. This opened a door for her, and in 2004 she was asked to design a contemporary cedar-clothing piece for a show. She used traditional methods and materials, but felt more confident and inspired to experiment – creating a contemporary clothing item from cedar.

With her National Artist Fellowship from Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, Lisa collaborated with Preston Singletary (Tlingit), known for his glass art. Preston has developed techniques to mimic the woven texture of basketry, paying homage to the geometric border designs of traditional Northwest Coast baskets. Lisa worked with Preston in his Seattle, Wash. based hot glass studio learning the hands-on skills of working with glass, how to incorporate designs and shapes, and experimenting with forms such as dress figures, working collaboratively as a designer with Preston. They hope to create some new and compelling pieces, joining their expertise from their respective disciplines.

[kcokaine]

Long post so sorry but re: jjk characterizations.

I highly disagree about Geto not being well written, because if you think that then by default that means Gojo isn’t well written either. They are both two sides of the same coin or two halves of one whole. The ying and yang correlation between them runs deep and is seen in tons of imagery in the show as well as the openings and Gege’s art up and down the series.

Nothing about Gojo’s character of who he is in Jujutsu society makes sense without Geto and vice-versa. So I understand you may not like Geto’s character/decisions but short changing him as “simply apart of Gojo’s life” is incorrect unless you feel the exact same way about Gojo. I’d argue any development Gojo has post Geto is more a reflection on how others in the series view him and not any real growth of his own, the undertones of the entire series, and the only reason why Kenjaku could trap him, is that he was still hung up on Geto—Gojo spends the entire series low key mourning him. (Something important to consider here, which is a whole dissertation on its own, is the isolation that comes with being the strongest. Other than Geto, Gojo does not have deep relationships in the series. Unlike Sukuna, he doesn’t reject the need for others though, he accepts the isolation but also humbles himself to accept he is just a cog in the wheel. Which is why he tells Yuji its okay if he is forgotten).

The foundation of both Geto and Gojo’s characterizations and diverging of their paths is the star vessel/Riko incident. 

In fact, it’s that incident causes them to swap their budding ideologies. Gojo right after Riko died wanted to kill them all, it’s Geto who stopped him. Had Geto not then him and Gojo would have been ejected from jujutsu society just as Geto was after he lit up that entire village. 

More importantly though, that incident also separated their power levels. Before they were considered relatively equals even if Gojo had the edge of having the legendary inherited ability.

You said re: Geto: “Him being a victim in an unjust system is not portrayed well enough”

Honestly, it's not portrayed at all cause that is not what is defection is about. Ultimately, Geto doesn’t care about the system, he finds fault in all non-sorcerers/cursed users as they cannot control their cursed energy and that is how curses are born. His friends died from protecting civilians from curses, not from the “unjust system”. He is only seen as being against the current system as the current system isn’t in line with his ideologies. Truthfully, Geto could have killed the higher ups by himself, at anytime, but he wants to save all sorcerers/cursed users. He wants to prove to him his ideology is the right way. If Jujutsu society went along with his plan he would find no reason to fight them.

It’s Gojo alone that blame’s the system for Geto’s defection. From Geto's defection Gojo becomes a teacher (which is what Geto would have been) as he feels he can change society by being a direct influence on the next generation to show Geto that he is wrong, but Geto doesn't even care about that (this also underlines the fact that Gojo struggled with connections/relationships as he couldn't identify Geto struggling and he also could not even fully understand his reasons for leaving). As you could argue perfect system or not ultimately curses would be killing Geto’s friends and he still would have came to the same conclusion. The cruelty of the jujutsu world had nothing to do with his defection. Additionally, I have to stop and make clear here that Gojo does NOT have selfless motivations. A good example is Megumi, Megumi being his ward was self-serving so the Zenin's didn’t raise Megumi to try to destroy him like what had happened in the past. Gege even said other than money Gojo was not there for Megumi. Plus the huge fact he didn’t even consider adopting Megumi at all until after Geto left and Gojo decided to try to prove him wrong. But that 3 YEARS LATER after Toji died, but I digress.

Due to Gojo’s “level-up” so to speak in unlocking RCT/purple that completely rips apart the yin-yang that balanced them. Geto isn’t content like Nanami to “just let Gojo handle things” as he knows not even Gojo handling all the missions is the solution to curses being born at all. Geto is perfectly content to be wrong he just wants to live his life in the pursuits of what he thinks are the right choices. That’s why he asks Gojo, are you Gojo Satoru because you are the strongest or are you the strongest because you are Gojo Satoru. It’s Geto in that moment who challenges Gojo not to go along with the get along, he only did that because HE had decided to live his own life the way he thought was best.

Geto’s principles do seem a bit dry but that’s because they are based on utilitarianism (which is pretty cut and dry and not that sexy lol) and he is only driven to be or seen to be a villain because of those principles.

Ultimately you may still not like Geto, and like I said that’s fine, but he and Gojo are cut from the same cloth and Gojo never progresses past Geto and lives his life on that regret. That said, I do feel like fans and fanfiction do Gege's characters better justice than he ever did. The pacing of JJK is too quick and Gege does not do a good job with connecting themes, you really gotta puzzle piece them together.

Also quickly re: Naoya, isn’t liberal, he’s rebellious. There’s a difference in terms of Japanese culture. The culture as a whole doesn’t foster liberal thinking or questioning of ideals (which is literally why Gojo heard from somewhere “black ppl have stronger bodies” and didn’t think to question it because you are literally raised not to question authority to the point they wouldn't even stop to be like "hey this doesn't sound right", its pretty bad and its why Japan as a whole has been terribly slow to progress past archaic laws or thinking.) So while Naoya doesn’t want to be controlled by his family and idolizes Toji—it’s only because of his strength, not his liberal ideals of leaving the family and jujutsu society. Naoya very much wants to be the strongest IN jujutsu society and leader of his clan and by any means necessary. That’s why he becomes a vengeful cursed spirit. However I do not see him as a complex character, only as a allegory in relation to the theme of"those who are the strongest in jujutsu society" vs "those who want to be the strongest in jujutsu society".

You lost me at the comparison of geto and gojo having the same depth and importance

[grapesodalover]

another MCD aaron rant for all of the aphmau baddies‼️

i really wrestle with whether i think aaron’s sacrifice was good or bad writing.

i lean more towards good writing bc i think it was such a unique way to end aaron’s character arc. when we first meet him, it’s clear aaron is still filled with immense grief, bitterness, and namely, a desire for vengeance against zane. aaron’s only goal was to kill zane, avenge his fallen village, and imo, die afterwards to be reunited with his family.

however, this is all shaken up when he meets aphmau, baby lilith, and the rest of phoenix drop. through his journeys and interactions with all of these people, he’s learned that there’s still beauty and love in life. he learned that good people still exist, and his view of the world doesn’t have to be clouded by his anger and depression. he learned what it meant to trust and care for others again.

he also learned how deeply aphmau and the rest of the cast/village cared for garroth. in a sense, i think he grew to care about garroth too. at the very least, he understood how integral garroth was to the foundation of phoenix drop.

in aaron’s final letter to aphmau, he explicitly states how he no longer sought vengeance, and how his death was not for that purpose. he took what aphmau said to him at his old village to heart, as he writes “my death was not wasted on a horrible man, but a good one.”

again, aaron realized how precious life was, and he knew that if laying down his own meant that MORE life would abound and flourish, then he was okay with doing so.

when it comes to characters whose development stems from their desire for revenge, i’ve NEVER seen a character resolution like aaron’s. usually, it’s all about said character realizing the value of life and then WANTING to stay alive. however, aaron still dies, but he does so to protect and SAVE lives. and i think that’s so tragically beautiful.

aaron knew he was going to hurt aphmau and those around him by dying, but he knew the pain and consequences of losing garroth would be far greater.