#along with its natural resources such as crops

[insigniagroups]

[beguines]

Today, strawberries have replaced much of the citrus and olive trees in the strip, and despite the relatively small area of farmland used for this sector, it enjoys high economic and social value. In all of the ways that citrus cultivation has been targeted, strawberries seem designed to survive Israel's eco-colonial practices. Strawberries are able to survive on partially saline water, they have faster production cycles, are easier to cultivate and replant after destruction and uprooting, are more mobile after moments of displacement, require less space and distance between each planted crop, and enable farmers in Gaza's northern peripheries and along the buffer zones to remain visible to the observing Israeli occupation forces. As a crop with limited historical roots in the country, it adapts well and is highly versatile. The use of compost for the cultivation of strawberries enables significant increase in fruit productivity, saving Gazan farmers the use of precious water supplies and decreasing its need for the use of fertilizers.

Despite this, the conditions of Gaza's ongoing colonial isolation and erasure make it increasingly impossible for farmers to sustain their livelihoods off of the land, even with strawberry production. In today's Gaza, as the agricultural export industry is fully reliant on the Israeli permit system, strawberries are slowly being replaced with other low-growing, fast-yielding, cost-effective and high-demand fruits and vegetables. Indeed, as a colleague at the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, the largest agricultural development institution in Palestine, told me during my time in Gaza, the most recent crop to slowly begin its replacement of strawberries in this line of forced colonial transition is pineapple—with the first pineapple farm planted in Khan Younes in 2017.

Examining the conditions that make strawberry production more practical and fuel the transition from citrus production requires examining the ongoing Israeli colonization of natural resources that supplant and suppress traditional modes of relating to nature. Witnesses of Israeli neo-colonial violence, the disappearing orchards in Gaza mark its new disconnected reality. The transition from the orange to the strawberry—and perhaps later to pineapple—is more than a shift in markets and produce. They affect the history and identity of Palestinians in Gaza. The links between cultivation and national or communal identity are well-known and documented in other contexts, including their intersection with colonial nation-branding. But in the context of aggressive climate change the instabilities, tensions, and erasures that come with transitions in vegetation are growing increasingly stark. For example, in the case of the Swiss canton of Valais, global heating has resulted in the growth of cacti, Opuntia, that are proliferating on the mountainsides of the canton, encroaching on natural reserves and causing a biodiversity threat. Used to "seeing their mountainsides covered with snow in winter and edelweiss flowers in summer" warmer and drier temperatures have given way to what is named in media coverage as an "invasive species colonizing the slopes." Launching an uprooting campaign in 2022, the press release stressed that "this invasive and non-native plant is not welcome in the perimeter of prairies and dry pastures of national importance." Evidently the discourse mobilized is dominated by aggressive language of aliens and invasion, which contributes to the use of violent and war-like metaphors to push for pre-emptive and combative control. In the Gazan case, the transition, as well as local responses to it, are less pronounced and weeded through long-term colonial policies imposed by the occupation. That said, the transition to strawberry cultivation nevertheless carries a similar ecological, cultural, and socio-political impact. In place of the orange, the strawberry is surfacing as the symbol of Gaza, redrawing the boundaries of the identity of its besieged inhabitants. Whereas in the past the orange was a continuous link between Gaza and the rest of historic Palestine, with deep generational roots and a symbol of steadfast and continuous presence, the abrupt transition from oranges to strawberries distances Gaza from the constructed identity and vegetal knowledge production of Palestinian farmers elsewhere. Put differently, this symbolic and political transition at the level of fruit production can be seen as another mechanism through which Israeli neo-colonial violence reifies Gaza as an enclave: divided and partitioned from the rest of Palestine.

Shourideh C. Molavi, Environmental Warfare in Gaza: Colonial Violence and New Landscapes of Resistance

[fursasaida]

In just one month, approximately 462 hectares (4.6 million m²) of woodland, "notably pines and oaks, as well as around 20 hectares of centuries-old olive groves," have been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, said Georges Mitri, Director of the Land and Natural Resources Programme at Balamand University. Since the escalation of tensions between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on Oct. 8, the latter has used white phosphorus to set fire to forests and fields in border areas. The 1980 Geneva Convention, which Israel has not signed, prohibits the use of white phosphorous on civilians and in civilian areas due to its devastating effects on humans, animals and the environment.

[...]

Amid the ongoing economic crisis, the attacks targeting olive groves ahead of harvest season have a major negative impact on the local economy in the area. "Traditionally, people gather around the olive trees, harvest their crops, press their oil together... A big part of their lives is being lost," lamented Younes. “The olive trees being burned are centuries old," he pointed out. “If we were to replant them today, how long would it be before these fields became productive?” Giving an estimate of the economic losses attributed to the daily fires in the South, Mitri put the figure at nearly 20 million dollars. In the long term, Younes is particularly concerned about the environmental impact of the phosphorus bombs. "We have no choice but to wait until the end of hostilities before assessing the situation on the ground," he said. In Younes’ view, the greater the rate of absorption of phosphorus into the soil and water, the greater the risk of dramatic long-term consequences on Lebanon’s environment.

I'll add here that southern Lebanon has never fully recovered from 2006. There are still unexploded cluster bombs in the ground, killing and maiming people. There is still chemical contamination. The economic impact on agriculture has never been fully recouped. The cancer rates are still elevated and unaddressed. The labor structure and which crops are grown changed after 2006 and have never reverted. I remember weeping watching the bombing of Gaza in 2021 as I was in the middle of writing a paper about the long term legacies of the July War in Lebanon, with these additional long-term violences of the bombing at the forefront of my mind along with the immediate deaths and tragedies. This is a horrifying compounding of an existing injury, at a time when Lebanon is in economic free fall and (as the article also explains) in the middle of fire season, and with firefighters unable to do much because the area is. being bombed.

[justpoliteconversations]

Apple Merchant [BOTW!Link x Isekai!Reader] (Part 6)

Plans are being made. And Link is facing his demons as well as he can.

Still taking time to inch my way back to full speed. Things are getting better though and I can feel my fingers itching to write more and more. Still riding the joy of pure indulgence with a feel good favorite. I can never stop myself from rambling in this one.

Part 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Alternate Extras: Embrace

Masterlist

TW: Choosing not to display warnings. Read at your own discretion.

Disclaimer: Don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise.

---

Finally back in Hateno after several weeks of long, uncomfortable (sand infested. lizalfos infested) travel along the coast (doing your standard business. gathering what supplies you could for Link), and you were ready to just slip into bed for the rest of your life. Maybe even retire early. Ensure you never have to see another damned lizalfos for as long as you live (you won't, but the thought is there).

But it was simply not to be. You'd barely crossed the gates into Hateno proper and already you were planning (reluctantly) an even longer trip into territories you'd never (well. not never. but not for long) thought to venture to. And honestly, you weren't looking forward to it.

And by the look on Skim's and Adino's faces, neither were they.

Not even a day after returning to your home village you'd broken the news to your guards that you were planning a trip towards Goron territory. Though, if you were lucky and utilized your resources wisely, you might never even have to set foot in that brimstone hellscape of a volcano (you hoped).

You'd thought once (some years ago), that maybe it would be a place you should visit. The Gorons were known to be friendly to travelers. The paths were littered with unclaimed mineral and gemstone deposits. And the infrastructure for travel was there thanks to the thriving tourism industry in the area.

It'd seemed like a wonderful idea when you'd started planning such a venture in your early days of merchanting. Back when you were still riding high from making your first small fortune and were still relatively unaware of the world at large. Of its challenges. Of its dangers.

That was until you started gathering information on the hazards in the area, and your opinion of the region took an immediate and drastic turn.

The high death rates associated with heatstroke, dehydration and smoke inhalation were concerning enough. But learning that the volcano occasionally erupted (killing dozens, even hundreds of travelers when it did), and was infested with talus' (over 40 confirmed sightings. nearly 20 unconfirmed). It was enough to put you off.

Skims and Adino knew this. You'd made it a point to explain to them why you wouldn't be heading that direction ever (but apparently not ever, because here you were. planning). No matter how much money could be made harvesting minerals or trading with the locals.

Not the produce trade though, despite what one would think coming from a land known for its lava lakes and frequent wildfires.

The volcanic soil was actually an excellent source of fertilizer (which you wanted. in bulk. as much as you could shove in your mindslate). Making the region around the volcano one of the more prosperous lands for growing crops and herbs. Even when compared to the more central settlements of Hyrule, right on the bread-belt of the land (if you were willing to risk the guardians, that is).

It was a region a farmer (and merchant) could make a fortune, if they were lucky enough to hit brown gold. And if one was willing to take staggering losses everytime the volcano blew its top. And there would be losses. There always was when mother nature got involved with the lives of mortals.

No. You had been eager to get into the fish and cloth (and sand) trade. So close to the volcano, magma deposits were unusually close to the surface in the surrounding lands. And while this created the most beautiful hotspring (entire lakes worth) tourist attractions, it also limited the amount of life-sustaining (and fish-sustaining) water sources in the area. Which, in turn, limited the number of local fisheries and livestock flocks the land could sustain.

The constant presence of ash and volcanic runoff also poisoned much of the water sources in the immediate areas around the mountian. Further adding to the lack of available water sources for fish and livestock (and people too, for that matter. Hence, the sand. A natural filtering agent for locals in the area) to live off of.

So. Fish and cloth (and sand). Those had been your plan a couple years ago. Until the reality of the territory's dangers made you reconsider. And later, dismiss the idea all together.

Knowing this, of course Skims questioned your sudden interest in the northeastern part of Hyrule. A territory you had said yourself was not worth the risk of death and revenue loss to expand your business ventures into.

You had been honest with them, of course (you were always honest with your most trusted guardsmen. when confronted, at least). Though not necessarily forthcoming with the details. Which, frankly, was par for the course as far as your more private dealings were concerned.

"I'm looking to acquire localized goods for an important client." You offered in way of an explanation, letting the things you hadn't said speak volumes. And, of course, Skims merely nodded. Still looking doubtful, but willing to accept your reasoning as your own without contest.

That was another thing you liked about him, other then his fierce loyalty and care. Easy going at the best of times, accepting at the worst. You never had to worry too much about Skims poking holes in your reasonings or explanations. You just needed to pay him, and he was willing to turn a blind eye to your eccentricities.

Adino, on the other hand.

"It's a waste of damned time no matter how important this so-called client of yours is. Just use the stable system instead of draggin' us along to that Goddess forsaken hellhole." Adino snapped, irritable still so soon after the previous trip (the bite a lizalfos nearly took out of his rear near Highland Stable not having helped his already sour attitude). Narrowing his eyes at you with suspicion.

Which was fair, honestly. In any other situation, letting the stable system deliver your desired product would have been the most efficient (and cheapest) way for such a limited and precise order. What would take several months of travel for a merchant (yourself included), the system could get delivered several weeks earlier. Maybe the same amount of time, or slightly longer than originally calculated, if the weather turned unfavorable or a blood moon cluttered up previously clear roads with monsters.

Without knowledge of your mindslate or the connection you have with Link (the previously mentioned client), it does sound like a bullshit reason to undertake such a dangerous journey out of the blue. Especially when there are safer and more cost efficient methods to achieve the same results (sort of). But the fact of the matter is that the system would not be quick enough to deliver your order before Link begun his journey towards Death Mountain.

(And it would be soon. Already there were rumors of the Zora Domain's endless rains easing at the boarders.)

Tally up the timeables, and getting the merchandise yourself was the only feasible way to get ahold of what you needed when you needed it. Where the stable system would require a two way trip to acquire your goods, you needed only one way to get it yourself (and add the slate's instant delivery to Link, and you're set). It was the only way to guarantee you'd meet the rapidly approaching deadline.

Also, you didn't trust the stable system to be as discerning as yourself when choosing suitable product. While you didn't doubt they would put forth their best efforts, you acknowledged that a delivery guild probably had limited knowledge of advanced spell craft and their associated counterfeits.

You couldn't afford to make any mistakes when it was The Hero of Hyrule's life you were working to secure.

Only the very best would do for Link, after all. Even if you had to put in the footwork to ensure it.

You smiled tiredly at Adino, noting how his thin brows were pulled into a deep frow. How his eyes flickered over your road-weary face and sagging posture with veiled intent. Searching and prying and worried. Lips pulled down in displeasure.

He was worried for you. Keeping secrets (something you'd seldom done so openly before. something you'd rarely done, period). Taking seemingly unnecessary risks (something you'd never done at all before this little proposal). All behaviors that were definite red flags. All behaviors that were concerning. Especially coming from someone like you (who you'd become).

And you loved that about Adino. How quietly observant and caring he was when he cared enough to try. Even if he acted like a prickly little cactus most of the time.

"Trust me. I wish I could just let the stables handle this." You'd begun, meeting Adino's (and Skims) gazes as you continued. Sighing. "But this is something I have to do myself. It's important to me."

Skims nodded, having already accepted your reasonings regardless. And slowly, reluctantly, Adino nodded too. Still looking as surly as ever, but willing to back down quietly so long as you were in possession enough of your thoughts to acknowledge the strangeness of your current plans.

"Thank you." And you meant that. Even as the next words hurt your very soul. Perhaps even more than the damned sand (yeah right). "I'll pay you triple if you agree to accompany me as my bodyguards." Skims' and Adino's eyes lit up at that, and you could practically see the rupee signs swimming within them. The bastards.

And somehow Red was suddenly there as well, looking just as bright-eyed and eager as she nodded along with the boys.

Your brow twitched. And Red grinned. Far too many teeth caged within blood red lips.

You sighed.

'Damnit, Link. Why do you cost me so much money.'

---

Sitting on the edge of the Zora Capital's Central Reservoir, Link held the slate in his cold-numbed hands. Looking out over the misty landscape laid out far below, cushioning the shining zora city in its translucent shroud.

The divine beast calmed at his back, as was the spirit still trapped within its confines (patient. kind. understanding. even in the face of death and heartbreak).

His fingers tightened on the slate's smooth edges at the reminder. Knuckles turning white from the pressure of his grip. The chilled ache of his bones a painful burn against his exposed flesh and skin.

His shoulders begun to shake. He wanted to sleep in his own bed, with his own pillow and his own blankets. He wanted to bathe in his shiny round bowl of a bath with his nice smelling soaps and hair cleansers.

He wanted to go home.

He was afraid to go home.

But no. That wasn't true. Not really. It wasn't that he was afraid to go home (to his home. to your home).

It was that he was ashamed. Ashamed of what he had lost. Ashamed of how he had failed.

Seeing Mipha's face (and that was her name. Mipha. the zora woman he may have once loved. not some nameless face peering out of her tomb with sad, accepting eyes) had finally made him understand the weight he carried upon his shoulders now. The burden of his past failings.

And he didn't know how to reconcile these feelings. Of who he was, and the pain he'd left in the wake of his death.

And who he was now, and his inability to grieve these people who had once meant so much to him. And who, in some ways, still did. Even if he couldn't remember why he felt as such. Even as the guilt tore him apart at the seams.

Far below, in the dark waters of the Domain's endless web of rivers. The flashing white of paper slips beneath a rising current. The ink fading into the darkness of the depths.

---

AM,

Thank you for everything you've done for me. Without you, I don't know if I'd have the strength to continue on. Knowing so much has been lost because of my failure.

I'm afraid of what I'll find if I remember who I used to be. I don't think I can be the man so many remember.

I don't want to be him. He's dead. I'm not him anymore. I'm me.

Is it selfish of me to just want to be the man I am now?

I'm sorry I couldn't be stronger for you and everyone who ever believed in me. I'm sorry I don't want to remember how to be strong.

I hope one day you can forgive me.

-Link

---

Back to the shadows to rest.

I forgot the tags before sleeping! Sorry Babies, I know you already found it, but I'll still tag you regardless!

Tagging: @littlepanda7 @2000babies

[emilybeemartin]

Inktober Days 22-24

Day 22: "Scratchy"

Saguaro, cholla, prickly pear, pincushion, hedgehog, barrel cactus—how magical are these amazing plants? Iconic, unique, perfectly tuned to their environment. The pleats on a saguaro help it bulge and shrink to accommodate water availability, and the inhospitable trunks provide shelter for desert birds. 

Saguaro NP produces some of my favorite educational videos in the system, thanks in part to Feature Fridays with Ranger Freddy Gutiérrez Fernández-Ramírez. Just to add to the scritchy-scratchy theme of this prompt, some of the more unusual videos featuring Ranger Freddy show how to remove jumping cholla barbs from your skin and clothes. Rangers in Saguaro carry hair combs in their first aid kits—and it’s not to fix flat-hat hair!

Day 23: "Celestial"

In recent decades, park managers have come to recognize natural soundscapes and pristine night skies as tangible resources, just like clean air, land, and water. As I was entering the NPS field, a big effort was kicking off to designate certain units as Dark Sky parks, and Big Bend is the king of them all. It has the lowest levels of light pollution of any park in the lower 48 and is famous across the NPS for its breathtaking starscapes.

Protecting natural darkness opens up amazing new opportunities for visitors and rangers. I love assisting with night sky programs, because I remember how I felt when I first traveled away from the greater I-85 corridor and saw my first pristine night sky. It’s a primordial type of magic to see stars unveiled from urban lights and humid haze. And the good news is, unlike other endangered resources, dark skies are salvageable. When towns and cities take steps to reduce their light and air pollution, there’s no slow, agonizing recovery—the stars come right back. They’re just up there, waiting to peek at us again.

Day 24: "Shallow"

I have to confess—I used to look down on Congaree, despite it being the only national park in my home state of South Carolina. I thought of it as muggy, buggy, and a bit boring. But when I was researching wetland habitat for A Field Guide to Mermaids, I was stunned to realize just how special this landscape is. Our country used to be covered in immense floodplain forests along river corridors, but the natural flood cycles that made these lowlands so fertile also meant the land was prized for agriculture. Rivers were straightened, forests were cut down, and the rich soil was planted with crops. Because of this, Congaree protects the largest swathe of bottomland floodplain forest left in the United States.

And it’s a gorgeous park, as well. There’s something evocative and eerie about walking the elevated boardwalks over tea-colored water. Spooky cypress knees reach up through the water like outstretched arms, and several massive national and state champion trees loom up out of the thick forest.

This park may not have the accolades some of the grander, more storied parks have, but I’m proud that it’s my home state’s park and glad that it protects one of the last intact forests of its kind.

------

Another big thank you to the folks who have preordered Thirty-One Days of National Parks: The Artbook! The Big Bend page features a little guide to starhopping from the Big Dipper out to other stars!

[thecreaturecodex]

What's your options on bugbears in Golorian being all serial killers or atleast obsessed with fear? I think that has room for, improvement. Definitely feels weird for them though.

I love it.

It's one of my favorite lore changes between D&D and Pathfinder. It makes bugbears feel less like "goblin, but giant". And Paizo has made it clear that some goblins mutate and just grow to Medium size, so you can have giant goblins if you want 'em.

@monstersdownthepath suggested that bugbears have a demonic taint to them. Despite their CE nature, I'd suggest sahkils instead. Bugbears are the Fear of Marauders, of Banditry, of Murder. Only they're mortal. But I bet a lot of their souls end up in Xilbaba when they die.

I imagine that small groups of bugbears are somewhere between bandit gangs and terrorist cells, roaming around and striking for maximum psychological impact as much as to get material goods. Larger communities would be like Halloweentown, only much less friendly. With running competitions for "most blood drained in a single evening". And adopting more terrible monsters into their numbers as Honorary Bugbears. Life's no fun without a good scare! If the Thing Hiding Under Your Stairs and The Shadow on the Moon At Night really wanted to kill you, and then looted your supplies and took over your village until the well runs dry or next year's crop doesn't plant itself. That's a bugbear clan.

I also love the implication in Ironfang Invasion, through characters like Scarvinious and Scabvistin (great naming convention too, IMO), that some, but not all, bugbears are envious of hobgoblins. They like the idea of civilization, of order and rigidity. And so they enlist. And because of their strength and power, they can succeed. If they "beat the bear" out, in Scabvistin's words.

So if you want to give bugbears another hook, here's my alternate, but not necessarily incompatible take. They're brood parasites. Because what's scarier than a baby that's not yours taking over your life?

We know that in Pathfinder canon, goblins and hobgoblins are both communal breeders (thanks to nursery locations in both Rise of the Runelords and Jade Regent). A mother bugbear sneaks into a goblin creche and leaves her baby behind, after killing one of the young and either eating it themselves or feeding it to Junior. The somewhat addlepated and mutation-prone goblins won't notice or mind a slightly hairier infant, right? And then the bugbear baby takes more than its fair share of resources, maybe knocks off a few of the other kids, and then either leaves the goblin colony at a young age in order to find more bugbears, or stays and muscles his way into a leadership position.

Doing the same to a hobgoblin community is riskier. The hobgoblins are much more in tune and observant. But in this case, it becomes more of a mutualistic relationship that could tip into parasitism on either end. Maybe the bugbear can get along in the hobgoblin village by learning discipline, or be content with the role of scavenger or brute. Or the bugbear could try to take over, if the hobgoblins are weak. And if the bugbear doesn't have the resources to survive and thrive, the hobgoblins send them off on a suicide mission.

And even though they only rely on other goblinoids for raising their young...most of the time, there are rumors that they do this to other peoples. Even if it happens once in a hundred years, everyone will know the story of how the Munson boy got very hairy and very big very quickly, and then slaughtered and spit-roasted the family dog when he was only 4? That kind of fear keeps the bugbears powerful. And makes the bugbears very happy.

[fatehbaz]

[A] luscious Owari Satsuma citrus tree, whose species was originally imported from Japan, currently experiencing the ravaging effects of an aphid infestation. [...] Where did they come from? [...] And a question that nineteenth- and twentieth-century individuals may have added is, who is to blame? Jeannie N. Shinozuka’s monograph, Biotic Borders: Transpacific Plant and Insect Migration and the Rise of Anti-Asian Racism in America, 1890-1950 [...] [examines] such human and nonhuman interconnections [...] [and] meditates on such questions in the historical setting of the American empire, including its transpacific borderland.

Toward the end of the nineteenth and through the twentieth century, the already present anti-Asian racism in the United States was infused with a conservationist attitude of sustainable yield and efficient use of the vast but vanishing natural resources of North America.

---

Unsurprisingly, these racial anxieties appeared just as the American empire expanded well beyond the continent’s borders. The economic threat of chestnut blight or citrus scale played into a native invasive binary that conveniently placed blame for the species’ decline, along with pest and disease introductions, on poor and immigrant groups, while excluding and erasing a longer colonial history of importations of destructive plants and animals by colonial and antebellum planters. These fears were founded not just in the economics of decline, based on a fear of the threat posed to cash crops often grown on increasingly large-scale farms, but also in jealousy surrounding agricultural innovations [...] of certain immigrant farmers [...] in a society plagued with racial anxieties of a so-called yellow peril. Paradoxically, wealthy American citizens interested in beautifying landscapes often held an orientalist fascination with a fetishized and consumable version of a Japanese countryside in the form of tea gardens. [...]

---

The work also discusses the role of newly ordained technocratic officials in giving supposed scientific validity to attitudes toward plant, animal, and human invaders from the Orient.

Plant biologists such as [D.F.] and entomologists [...] were on the forefront of crusades to prevent economically damaging insects and plant diseases from entering the borders of the United States and “degrading” the native stock. Many of these individuals, like [D.F.], were closely associated with some of the leading eugenicist organizations, for example, the American Breeder’s Association, within the United States. Their efforts at plant quarantine culminated in Plant Quarantine Number 37, or PQN 37, a law intended to prevent diseases and infection from foreign animal and plant bodies. This law set a precedent for similar policies regulating humans perceived as alien, including the Immigrant Act of 1924, which limited immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, while completely excluding individuals from Asia. Similarly, officials, [...] [entomologists] included among them, seized and destroyed the property of Japanese immigrants [...].

---

Shinozuka’s work is [...] a contribution to environmental history and Asian studies, [and] it is also a fresh conversation on borderlands and the role that [...] migrant groups, played in such porous places as the US Mexico border and Hawaii, the Pacific gateway to the US empire. Both domains offered opportunities to immigrants and scientists alike [...]. [I]mmigrant labor provided muscle power to corporate-owned American sugar plantations in Hawaii while also experiencing accusations of importing such damaging insects as the termite or Oriental beetle. What Shinozuka makes clear is that while these insects may have originated in southeast Asia, their spread was enabled by the context of American colonialism and empire. The trifold factors of urbanization, industrialization, and monocrop agriculture, all promoted in the interest of American business and marketed as a modernization effort in supposedly backward places like Hawaii, created the perfect circumstances for insects to swarm and disease to spread.

---

All text above by: Jacob Gautreaux. "Review of Shinozuka, Jeannie N., Biotic Borders: Transpacific Plant and Insect Migration and the Rise of Anti-Asian Racism in America, 1890-1950". H-Environment, H-Net Review. August 2024. At: h-net dot org slash reviews/showrev.php?id=60450. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.]

[loominggaia]

Evangelite Economy

ECONOMY

Evangeline’s entire economy relies on slavery in order to keep labor and export costs cheap. Its food prices are so unbeatable, foreign powers have little choice but to buy from it. Crop farming, ranching, and slaving are the kingdom’s biggest industries. It also has notable fishing and whaling industries along Noalen’s western coastlines.

Folkvar Kingdom and Etios Nation are the only Great Kingdoms that refuse to trade with Evangeline Kingdom, due to the war. However, private citizens often ignore these embargoes and cross borders to do business there. It’s not uncommon for Evangelite ranchers to travel to Folkvar Kingdom to sell their livestock, for example.

Throughout most of its history, Evangeline had a large, exploited peasant class supporting a tiny upper class. But Queen Indiga’s generous reign has created a new middle class, which has boosted every aspect of the kingdom’s economy.

Currently, Evangeline Kingdom is thriving economically. With its abundant natural resources and convenient location, this kingdom has never known much financial hardship throughout its history. When it does face financial trouble, it’s usually due to corruption by poor leadership.

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Read the Series

[ogize]

Delving into me and Ogata’s Wasteland AU Lore

Each GK groups are factions similar to mad max. They are fighting for resources as well as searching for tattooed prisoners. The tattoos lead to some type of sanctuary with abundant resources and fertile land. The prisoners though have either got infected and became really powerful/unique zombies (similar to resident evil) or are part of factions (eg. ushiyama, Shiraishi, ienaga, hijikata) but have unique characteristics (like dead rising). Though there was an outbreak, it has been mostly controlled the world has not been restored to its previous state due to the pathogen also affecting the land and crops. Making resources scarce.

Ogata is mainly part Hijikata’s faction, though not completely. As he has no loyalty for any particular faction, unless I’m considered a faction. So we both tend to jump around a bit. Mainly doing our own thing, exploring the wasteland and gathering our own resources and valuables to sell. Occasionally encountering small factions that we may have to deal with.

Scattered amongst the vast wasteland are havens. Which are cities that have not completely disintegrated from the outbreak and have been restored for habitation. Me and Ogata have made our home in one of these havens, where Hijikata’s faction also is located. We do occasionally work with them to explore uncharted areas. Ogata mainly as a sniper. Then me as his spotter and also the medic of the faction along with Ienaga. Due to the nature of the wasteland I also carry my own fire arms and rifle. Especially when me and Ogata are traversing the wasteland on his bike and we get tailed. I would need to get them off our backs while he drove.

Me and Ogata have random encounters throughout the wasteland that I need to write about more. Like maybe me getting kidnapped and him obliterating a whole faction to save me.

This part may change but as for the prisoners I was thinking henmi is a zombie covered in sharps. Boutarou is a zombie that you encounter him near the ocean as he stays mainly underwater. Kei is an agile zombie. Toni is a zombie you encounter only at night and echolocates like a clicker.

[planetsviews]

10 Lesser-Known Animals and Their Unique Eating Habits 🦜🌿

Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis)

Habitat: Madagascar 🌴

Diet: Insects, particularly wood-boring grubs 🪲

Feeding Habits: The aye-aye uses its long, thin middle finger to tap on trees to locate hollow chambers where grubs reside. Once a grub is located, it gnaws a hole in the wood with its forward-slanting incisors and uses its elongated finger to extract the grub. 🦷👆

Blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus)

Habitat: Deep sea, off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand 🌊

Diet: Crustaceans, sea urchins, and other deep-sea creatures 🦀

Feeding Habits: The blobfish lacks muscles, so it doesn't actively hunt. Instead, it floats along the sea floor, opening its mouth to suck in any edible matter that drifts by. 🍽️

Pangolin (Pholidota)

Habitat: Various habitats across Asia and Africa 🌍

Diet: Ants and termites 🐜

Feeding Habits: Pangolins have long, sticky tongues that they use to probe ant and termite nests. They have strong claws to break into the nests and a sticky tongue to lap up the insects. 👅

Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)

Habitat: Rivers in the Indian subcontinent 🌊

Diet: Fish 🐟

Feeding Habits: The gharial has a long, narrow snout filled with sharp teeth, perfect for catching fish. It uses a swift side-to-side snapping motion to catch fish swimming by. 🐊

Star-Nosed Mole (Condylura cristata)

Habitat: Wet lowland areas in North America 🦔

Diet: Small invertebrates, aquatic insects, worms 🪱

Feeding Habits: This mole uses its star-shaped nose, covered in sensory receptors, to detect prey. It can identify and consume small prey in a fraction of a second. 🌟

Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin)

Habitat: Swamps, river forests of the Amazon Basin 🌳

Diet: Leaves and vegetation 🍃

Feeding Habits: The hoatzin has a specialized digestive system that ferments vegetation similar to a cow’s stomach. It spends hours digesting leaves in its crop, a part of its digestive tract. 🐦

Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus)

Habitat: Eucalyptus forests in Australia 🌏

Diet: Termites 🐜

Feeding Habits: Numbats use their long, sticky tongues to probe into narrow crevices and galleries within termite mounds. They can eat up to 20,000 termites a day. 👅

Leafcutter Ant (Atta spp.)

Habitat: Tropical rainforests in Central and South America 🌲

Diet: Fungi that they cultivate 🧫

Feeding Habits: Leafcutter ants cut leaves and carry them back to their nests, where they use the leaves to grow a special fungus, which serves as their primary food source. 🍄

Purple Frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis)

Habitat: Western Ghats of India 🌄

Diet: Termites 🐜

Feeding Habits: Spending most of its life underground, the purple frog comes out only during the monsoon season to breed. It uses its specialized tongue to feed on termites in underground colonies. 🐸

Vampire Finch (Geospiza difficilis septentrionalis)

Habitat: Galápagos Islands 🌴

Diet: Blood of other birds, insects 🌿

Feeding Habits: The vampire finch pecks at the skin of larger birds like boobies to drink their blood. This behavior likely evolved due to scarce food resources. 🦜

These lesser-known animals each have unique and fascinating feeding habits that highlight the incredible diversity of the natural world. 🌍✨

[rjzimmerman]

Hidden in Midwestern Cornfields, Tiny Edens Bloom. (New York Times)

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

The little tracts of wilderness grow on Maple Edge Farm in southwest Iowa, where the Bakehouse family cultivates 700 acres of corn, soybeans and alfalfa. Set against uniform rows of cropland, the scraps of land look like tiny Edens, colorful and frowzy. Purple bergamot and yellow coneflowers sway alongside big bluestem and other grasses, alive with birdsong and bees.

The Bakehouses planted the strips of wild land after floodwaters reduced many fields to moonscapes three years ago, prompting the family to embark on a once-unthinkable path.

They took nearly 11 acres of their fields out of crop production, fragments of farmland that ran alongside fields and in gullies. Instead of crops, they sowed native flowering plants and grasses, all species that once filled the prairie.

The restored swaths of land are called prairie strips, and they are part of a growing movement to reduce the environmental harms of farming and help draw down greenhouse gas emissions, while giving fauna a much-needed boost and helping to restore the land.

As the little wildernesses grew, more and more meadowlarks, dickcissels, pheasants and quail showed up, along with beneficial insects. Underground, root networks formed to quietly perform heroic feats, filtering dangerous nutrient runoff from crops, keeping soil in place and bringing new health to the land.

The fertile soils of America’s vast prairies made the heartland ideal for growing crops. But today in Iowa, less than 0.1 percent of original prairie remains, scattered in fragments around the state.

Prairie strips are helping to reverse that loss, and are being adopted at an increasing clip. Researchers counted 586 acres of prairie strips on farmland across seven states in 2019. As of last year, they had spread to 14 states, filling 22,972 acres.

While the acreage accounts for a tiny fraction of the Midwest’s farm fields — Iowa alone has roughly 30 million acres of cropland — researchers said the strips had disproportionately positive impacts.

“There are a whole suite of dramatic environmental benefits that come with this small intervention,” said Lisa Schulte Moore, a professor of natural resource ecology and management at Iowa State University, and a founder of its prairie strips project. “If you put a bit of prairie back, it makes a big difference.”

To be classified as a prairie strip, restored land must adjoin active cropland, reach a width of at least 30 feet and be sown with dozens of native plant species.

Researchers at Iowa State found that when prairie strips were planted in and around soy and corn fields, they acted as both “speed bumps and diapers,” Professor Schulte Moore said.

Soil erosion and surface runoff plummeted, as the prairie plants held soil in place and transpired water. Levels of nitrogen and phosphorus carried in surface runoff from adjacent cropland decreased by as much as 70 percent, absorbed instead by the prairie strips, resulting in less water contamination. The prairie strips created better conditions for helpful bacteria, resulting in dramatically lower levels of nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas generated by chemical fertilizer, compared to cropland without prairie strips. The strips also drew twice as many native grassland birds and three times as many beneficial insects, compared to fields that had not been rewilded.

While the research did not show that prairie strips affected yields in adjacent cropland, tests found that the strips boosted the health and fertility of the soil where they were sown. “When people buy farms, they’re buying the soil,” Professor Schulte Moore said.

[insigniagroups]

[memento-morri-writes]

Hey!!! Since you said you have a lot figured out for your WIPs I'm interested in your answers!!

what natural resources does each nation have that the others don't? do they export/trade it at all? (For any WIP you wanna answer for!)

@bloodlessheirbyjacques 👀❤️‍🔥

JACQUES, I LOVE YOU!!!!!! I'll try to keep this at least somewhat brief, but be warned, you have NO idea what floodgates you have just opened. (I actually intended to make a post like this literally over a year ago, so thank you for helping me make it!!)

Get ready for:

Econ 101 - A Crash-Course in Continental Trade Policy

Before we get started, here's some things you might find helpful:

a map of the continent (see below)

an explanation of why Anvia and Oryn don't get along

under the cut because hoo boy, this is a LOT.

Anvia, the kingdom where ATQH takes place (and which Fallon rules) is primarily an agricultural society. The country's position in the middle of the continent, plus the river running through the kingdom providing fertile land, gives makes it the best-suited area for agriculture on the continent. (Side Note: It gets colder as you got west-northwest on this continent. Oryn is cold, with long winters and short summers, while Oraine is extremely hot and the land dries up quickly.)

They grow crops and raise animals not only for their own survival, but for export to the neighboring nations. Anvia also has a decent number of craftspeople living in its larger cities, who use crop byproducts (or non-food crops) and animal products to make other products, such as textiles, leather products, etc.

Thus, Anvia's main products/exports are food crops (apples, wheat, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, lettuce, cabbages, carrots, peas, hops, among other things), created food products (wine, ale, baked goods, jams, jellies, preserves) as well as animal products (largely wool, but things like eggs, cheese, and milk may also be exported), and craftsproduts (textiles and leather products, for example).

Due to the fact that most of Anvia is farmland, be it crop fields or livestock pastures, there is very little opportunity for logging. Even the areas that haven't been developed for farming are largely prairie-like areas. Also, Anvia lacks substantial access to mountains or mineral deposits for mining. So they are lacking in construction materials such as timber, stone, and metals.

Oryn, on the other hand, is ripe with construction goods. They have massive mines scattered throughout the kingdom, especially along the mountain range that borders with Anvia. (Ironkeep, the fortress to the Northeast of Westcliff, is a major stronghold built to protect Oryn's most profitable mines.) Additionally, a massive portion of the kingdom is covered in forests, so logging is another major industry.

(Side Note: Kristopher's father and the current king of Oryn, Pierre, has increased both of these industries massively. The working conditions in both tend to be hazardous, with many people being injured or killed. (Fun Fact: If you want to know how Pierre runs his kingdom, listen to Eat Your Young by Hozier.) Kristopher believes that his father is ruining Oryn, not only by ruining much of its natural land, but also by working the people so hard.)

Notably, Oryn is also home to significant number of craftspeople, specializing in blacksmithing, metalworking, and jeweling. Orynian weapons and armor are said to be stronger and more durable than any others, and jewelry made by Orynian jewelers with Orynian stones is highly prized across the continent and beyond.

Oryn's main exports are lumber, stone, metal (raw, processed, and crafted into items), and jewels (raw, processed, and made into jewelry).

However, what Oryn severely lacks is fertile farmland. Not only is most of the land covered in trees, but the soil is quite rocky -- far from ideal for large-scale farming. (The hilly, mountainous terrain doesn't help.)

So, you can probably see why Oryn and Anvia need each other. They are forced to trade with one another to ensure the survival of both kingdoms. However, as I've explained in the past, the two kingdoms have a long history of tension between them -- which actually was the result of conflict over resources to begin with. However, despite this obvious codependency, neither one has been willing to suck up their pride and open direct negotiations between the two nations. (Fallon has tried several times during her rule, but has never once received a response from Pierre.)

So, this is where Oraine steps in. Oraine has a very hot environment, and aside from a few choice crops, not much of trade value grows there. (Their main exports, aside from a few "exotic delicacies", are fancy goods, such as fine clothes, art, and fancy furniture.) However, what Oraine does have is massive amounts of accessible coastline. Because of this, they have a long history of ship-building and maritime trade. Fortuitously for Oraine, Anvia and Oryn's border is mostly treacherous mountains, which makes overland travel difficult.

So, at some point in the past few centuries, some clever Orainian had an idea, and Orain graciously stepped in, offering to conduct trade between the two kingdoms -- for a fee, of course. Eager to continue their mutual cold-shoulder treatment, Anvia and Oryn were quick to accept the proposal. It was agreed upon that both Anvia and Oryn would be able to use Orainian ships to send their goods to each other, to Oraine, and beyond.

There are multiple companies (each owned by wealthy merchant families) that offer these services, both within the continent and beyond, and each is free to set their own price and negotiate their own service contracts with individuals, companies, or the nations themselves. However, they are charge a hefty tax that goes directly to the pockets of the ruler (currently Empress Adrienne) of Oraine.

Not only that, but Orainian merchants are well aware of how necessary their services are to both Anvia and Oryn. As such, their fees are often ridiculously overpriced. And Anvia and Oryn pay them, because they don't have any other choice. (Well, they could choose to talk to each other and begin their own trading initiatives instead of settling for Oraine's horrid prices, but why would they ever do that?)

To tie all this back to the messy international politics of the continent, the Empress of Oraine has her own fleet of trading ships that carry out trades on her behalf. It is these ships that the rulers of Anvia and Oryn are required to use when they wish to send something more between them for political purposes. Orainian leaders have long claimed this is to "supervise" and "prevent increased hostility", but in reality it's just another way to line the ruler's pockets.

The rulers of both kingdoms have signed contracts with the Empire, including a rate of charge for the service. The Empress continually pushes to raise said rate, with the monarchs attempt to negotiate a lower price -- or at least keep the same one they had before. But it's a precarious slope, because if they push too hard, the Empress could retract her offer altogether, which would be disastrous (at least in the short term) for the two kingdoms, until they were able to communicate in a civil manner and establish their own trade barriers. (Of course, the Empress has no intention of actually rescinding her offer -- it's far too profitable -- but the monarchs don't know that...)

And that's all, folks!! To anyone who read all 1,092 words of this, I am hugging you (if you accept), and buying you your favorite meal. Hopefully this isn't too boring of a read...

[marxism-transgenderism]

The eastern half of the present-day United States, especially the lands between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean, offered an unusually lush environment that was conducive to corn cultivation. The resource-rich floodplains of the Ohio’s tributary rivers were annually replenished by floodwaters, easily tilled, and highly prized for growing corn. These floodplains had attracted hunter-gatherer groups long before plant husbandry played even a minor role in subsistence patterns. One of the most important aspects of this region was the dependable aquatic protein sources of wetland and swampland foods that were found adjacent to the natural levee soils. These tributary systems were extensively settled and brought under cultivation during the Late Precontact period. Early European travelers provided accounts of riding for days along such natural levee ridge systems, through a landscape of planted fields with adjacent “infield gardens" dispersed widely within larger and more extensive “outfield” systems. Indian women gathered resources from a variety of environmental zones, supplementing corn crops with edible plants harvested from the marshes, swamps, and wetlands. Indian villages, located in environmentally diverse landscapes with wetlands next to fertile dry lands, were avoided by Euro-Americans, who favored dry land with waterways deep enough to transport large river craft. Deep water held little interest for Indian women because they retrieved an ongoing supply of plants with edible roots from shallow, fresh water. Euro-Americans with limited interest in swamps eventually drained and transformed them into dry land, stripping the Ohio River valley of its natural fertility.

—Susan Sleeper-Smith, Indigenous Prosperity and American Conquest: Indian women of the Ohio River Valley, 1690–1792

[kudzucataclysm]

a bit more background to the current situation of the world in SE…in which, humanity might as well be living in its last fucking days

In the aftermath of the nuclear exchange, as the nuclear firestorms and volcanic ash from Europe and the US raged across the planet, this caused the planet's populace to move into cities for protection. By the time of the Martian invasion, most governments on Earth were weakened by the storms and environmental/political chaos, which crippled governmental efforts.

The United States itself was the victim of both a minor supervolcano eruption and nuclear exchange that culminated in the collapse of the world order- the western US fell to alien pathogens and radiation while the vast mid portion of the continent was split open and turned into a wasteland. The east is all that remains of proper civilization, but even that’s not untouched; in the aftermath of the nuclear war and the departure of the federal government/authorities, the east devolved into a massive urban civil war that destroyed countless cities, towns, and lives.

Until 5 years later, in which an extraterrestrial civilization from the planet Mars invaded Earth which caught humanity by surprise. The global war (excluding the armies of the US and Europe) that followed only lasted for 5 hours, during which the superscientist Dr. Lupe Altena discovered a way through unknown means to communicate with the Martians directly. The Union of Nations authorized Altena to negotiate peace with the invading extraterrestrials by any means necessary. Altena managed to negotiate peace by "saving" humanity at the cost of sovereignty; life on Earth had suffered greatly, almost 20% of the human population had been killed and much of the planet's wildlife was now endangered - Lupe pointed out that Mars would risk wiping out an entire potential food source if the war went on, which marked the end of the invasion.

“On the behalf of hundreds of national governments, the Union of Nations has ceded the entirety of the planet Earth, with all its states and peoples, to the extraterrestrial invaders from Mars [] The surrender halted a worldwide assault that only yesterday claimed untold numbers of human lives in mere hours...”

“EARTH SURRENDERS.” The Times, December 1965, p. A1

In the days that followed:

Global food supplies plummeted, stockpiles were decimated and supply lines were in limbo. Millions were without food, and an untold number of preventable deaths occurred.

The meteorological phenomena that resulted from Martian deaths wreaked environmental destruction across the planet. “Nuclear firestorms” raged across continents, destroying the environment, infrastructure, crop lands, and killing millions. Mixed with the Yellowstone incident just a few months before, made large sections of the planet uninhabitable for human life.

The alien disease known as “ADP” or “Adirondack Plague” fully emerged in the human population as the Martian infestation worsened. Even more human deaths occurred, including a sharp rise in hostile ADP-mutated creatures.

Human populations moved into cities for protection, abandoning rural areas to be swallowed up by alien wildlife and natural disasters.

15-20% of the human population was presumed killed in those two months of 1962 alone.

Mars rules Earth, but due to the actions of Lupe Altena and Agent Hammond, humanity was spared the worst possible consequences. Earth is now considered a “wildlife management and gamekeeping project” by the Martian government, in order to prevent humans from destroying themselves again. National governments for humanity remain in place, but with less power and authority over their own resources; governments now function more along the lines of a peacekeeping force, keeping citizens in line and ensuring that the Martian overlords can do as they please without interference.

With the eventual assistance of Mars and an international team of superscientists, the Promethean Society, a global coalition of countries (IndoChina, East Africa, etc) managed to wrangle the former United States back into relative order when remnants of the US government before the war was found hidden in the Rocky Mountains and forced to concede to being monitored and exploited by foreign governments. While the midwest had fallen to firestorms and the west to alien pathogens, negotiations were made: Indochina would take the west coast (the Republic of California), the USSR would take Alaska, and the east coast along with the former provinces of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, and Québec would be handed over to the new, smaller government of America; but under the careful eyes of Mars and corporations.

The now Disincorporated United States of America, aka DUSA, aka ‘Medusa’, is a shell of its former self. Under the supervision of Mars and megacorporations, DUSA was rebuilt in the decades to come under foreign occupation and oversight. Cities such as Necropolis Metro, or the NEC, and Las Nevadas however were put under full corporation-military-alien occupation to establish control over its economic bounty.

Necropolis Metro was established as a Zone of Control under the international community and divided into a number of smaller zones controlled by various member countries, but Mars is acknowledged as the true hand of authority and thus rule the entirety of Earth from this city. To police the population of Necropolis the military police and its civilian offshoot, the Peace Officer Unit was founded. Free market capitalism was enforced on the NEC and Las Nevadas, opening the door for foreign workers and companies to come in and do as they please while the poor and marginalized are crushed under the heel of the occupiers.

The 1970s were spent rebuilding, quoted as being “hell”, under Operation Furnace and a new outbreak of ADP that killed tens of thousands of children nationwide. The 80s experienced a minor economic boom that helped the entire country recover, but that didn’t last; in 1995 the economy was sent into a severe recession due to laissez-faire economic practices. In 2005 the DUSA is still in this recession with no end in sight.

As of 2005, the NEC is under the control of 3 foreign entities: the Union of Nations, the five companies collectively known as HYDRA, and Mars. The companies, aka HYDRA, mainly oversee South Gate NEC* while the UN oversees North Gate NEC* but HYDRA keeps its own private militaries stationed there as well. Mars is the ultimate authority and has final control of the NEC, but acts more in a supervisor role than actual administration/governance. DUSA has its own government monitored by other global leaders, but is ultimately under control by Mars as well.

At this point, just assume that Mars rules everything, and that won’t be changing anytime soon…

[onwesterlywinds]

PROMPT #2: Horizon

When the Crystal Tower had first emerged along Mor Dhona's shattered skyline, Ashelia Riot's initial reaction had been one of dismay - as well as no small amount of indignation that the wreckage of the Praetorium had already been overshadowed. But the ubiquity of NOAH's operations in the region helped to restore some normalcy to life at the Sandsea: in keeping with Sylvan Rain's prediction, the realm's next crop of would-be heroes turned to new horizons scarcely three weeks after the Riskbreakers' grand victory, and no small number of them were set on plumbing the Labyrinth of the Ancients.

A'zaela Linh was among them.

The Riskbreakers lacked two significant resources following Operation Archon: leads, and coin. The Eorzean Alliance had seen fit to reinstate the utmost confidentiality to any further missions against the Garlean Empire, and Ashe found the mere thought of begging Raubahn Aldynn for her inclusion galling in the extreme. The mad rush of visitors to the Sandsea's bar, inspired by the company's fifteen minutes of fame, had since slowed to a trickle; the resulting profits had prevented them from bankruptcy but did not leave them with enough overhead to make the kinds of investments that would ultimately provide security in near- or long-term future.

That made A'zaela's partnership with NOAH something of a godssend, as it would empower them to keep an ear to the ground for intelligence of a realm-threatening nature. Even so, their best dragoon would need outfitting for such a dangerous mission.

"Really, Ashe, it's fine," A'zaela said for the umpteenth time as Ashe pulled her axe from the belly of a particularly large leech. "I-I can find other work to get the equipment I need. You should think of yourself."

It was a polite way for her to say that Ashe was still wearing the same cast-off warrior furs that had barely deflected Gaius van Baelsar's bullets. All the same, Ashe shook her head. "Nonsense. You're out in the field far more often than I am."

A'zaela wrinkled her nose but offered no protest to that logic.

Ashe stared down at the dead leech without the faintest idea of how best to claim her proof of victory from its slimy hide. "If you're looking to repay me," she said, "consider a detailed report on the Crystal Tower's interior more than sufficient compensation." She settled on skinning the turgid lump of flesh as if it were a sandworm, then regretted the course of action immediately as a foul-smelling ooze emerged from beneath her axe's heel.

The task did not require two people, and yet A'zaela surged into action at the creature's tail. "I can start by telling you what I've seen so far."

"Please do."

"The good news is that the Labyrinth's dangers seem to be… self-contained, if that makes sense? They were created to guard the Crystal Tower. Even now that they've woken up, they're not in any danger of leaving."

Ashe breathed a sigh of relief, even as she tore the leech's pelt free.

"But there's a lot we still don't know." It was reassuring to Ashe that her friend used the word "we" to describe NOAH and its work. "Like how so many of the Tower's defenses are intact after so long, let alone how they operate at all. G'raha - he's a researcher from Sharlayan - he expects that Syrcus Tower will be even more dangerous, since it was the center of the Allagan Empire."

"Well," Ashe said. For a moment, she might have left her remarks there; then she stood and straightened her back, and the Crystal Tower shone out at her through Mor Dhona's roiling, aether-drenched sky. "…Fucking Allagans."

"A-Ashe?"

"I'll not claim to be especially well-versed in history," she said, perhaps as a concession, "but it is always striking to me that none of our present troubles would exist without the Allagan Empire and its legacy: Dalamud, Garlemald-" Ludo. The thought, the memory of him might have stopped her nascent rant on any other day, with any other friend in her company. "I cannot look on that bright blue eyesore without imagining the endless conquest once required to sustain it - all the Ala Mhigos and Domas of ages past. Power begetting power; misery begetting misery."

When she turned back to A'zaela, it was to find her with her ears lowered, her tail curled almost between her legs.

"I'm sorry, A'zaela," she said at once, surprised to realize that she meant it. "I didn't mean to imply- That is, I know you despise the Empire as I do."

"I understand," A'zaela replied, though her voice had fallen even quieter than usual.

Ashe busied herself with scraping away as much of the leech's subcutaneous fat as she could, then folding the pelt into her satchel. "Do you think there's a way for Allag's legacy to be redeemed?" she asked at length. "That all its technology could be… I don't know, repurposed? That it could come to stand for something greater than oppression?"

But A'zaela simply shook her head. "I don't know, Ashe." She, too, stared up at the glowing crystal spire, though her face conveyed a more mundane sadness than Ashe might have expected. "I suppose… I suppose we'll find out. When the expedition's over."

***

Ashe spent much longer in the Seventh Heaven's bathrooms than she'd intended, but the leech's stink had lingered all up and down her arms in a manner that no amount of scrubbing had seemed able to remedy and she was loath to greet Ilberd in such a state. When at last she emerged devoid of her armor, Astodan stood next in line for the toilets, this time wearing a porter's coat and a low turban to hide the linkpearl in his ear.

"Your comrade should know," he murmured, "that her activities have attracted the notice of a particularly high-ranking imperial defector."

She knew better than to draw attention to the warning by acknowledging it in public - and yet the mere possibility of a threat to A'zaela of all people sent a chill through her blood. "What do I need to do?"

Astodan scowled at her. "I'll inform you should I learn more."

The bastard would make her work for the information, much as he always did, but it did not bear thinking of with A'zaela unreachable in the Labyrinth. She pushed past Astodan without another word to him and made her way over to her old contact flashing Resistance hand signals from the bar: hostile territory, ready to engage.