#and ones that are still in active use in China no less

[melonymint753]

So I initially just wanted to add an "acktually, the dots mostly represent fire, not legs, and 熊 is also used to describe a big fire, isn't that neat! And please credit the Chinese language for the characters next time :D"

But my need to double check things made me dig a little deeper, and uh. That's not how it worked actually.

熊 is not 能 on legs.

能 WAS bear.

Look, a chonky fella with ears, legs and a little tail! That got stylized over the ages. Since OP has decided to skip over this not "too important" bit, I'm going to pick up slack and point at how the bear's legs became the two "匕"-s, the upper left part is the head, and the 月 radical, while meaning "moon” on its own, takes on a "flesh" vibe when it's part of a character. So the modern character is still a chonky fella with legs, but square.

What happens next is a bit blurry (since Baidu results are various levels of source: Just Trust Me), but people started using this word for “bear" to also express energy/ability and just. decided that 能 should exclusively mean that.

Using 熊 to mean "bear" has some element of chicken-and-egg-ness. Some places say that when people wanted a new bear character, they added fire under its original form to express how bears were warm, or could survive forest fires, and the "big fire" meaning came later. Others say that 熊 meant a big fire in the first place (a fire so strong it's like a bear, if you will), and when people decided they wanted 能 for themselves, the bear meaning got moved over.

From the above picture, you can tell that 熊 had some form of beastness pretty early on. The second character already shows the "能 over fire (火)" structure, and a cursory search says it existed in the hundreds of BC times.

So basically, humans invented a word for "bear", decided they didn't want to share an adjective with an animal (???like why), and lit a fire under it to chase away the original meaning. Now in modern times, 熊 can still mean a stubborn person, while another animal is used to describe impressive stuff: 牛, aka bull/cow. The animals still win.

Image source

Articles , all in Chinese

What I love about Japanese

Sometimes it’s frustrating. I’m learning it because I love anime and want to be able to engage with the culture, but all the shounen I-belive-in-my-friends inspiration can’t help you when you’re faced with a list of 1000 kanji to learn before you’re at the reading level of a five-year-old. Sometimes I wish I’d picked a language with a writing system that made sense. 

But then once in a while something comes along that makes it all worth it. 

Now this. This is the kanji for ability.

It’s a nice enough kanji, has some radicals of its own but isn’t too full of itself. Learning all about it isn’t too important, what you need to know is that this is the character for ability. 

Now. 

This. 

This here is the kanji for bear. As in the animal, not the verb.

That’s right. According to the Japanese language, a bear is ability 

ON LEGS

[bibleofficial]

it’s me & my faggoty ass scrunchie against the world

[misstycloud]

Platonic vampire father x reader

• Vampire, who is greatly feared and treated as a legend among the townsfolk. He’s the one parents tell their children will come for them unless they start to behave. Living alone for hundreds of years was alright by him, vampires were mostly solitary creatures anyhow. He slept during the day to regain his strength, then fed by nightfall. Sometimes it was just one or two humans, other times he took the lives of entire families in one giant serving. It was all simply fine- until it wasn’t. For one who had lived so long in solitude it seemed humourous to feel lonely all of a sudden.

• The vampire had not meant to have a child. It occurred without plan. However cold he may be, something urged him to keep you; the tiny, defenseless(not by human standards), and certainly hungry child he’d created. It was a hoax, that vampires could not procreate in the traditional sense; made up by the few vampire parents who did care enough about their children to ensure no one should hunt for them. If humans knew there were multiple ways and how easy it was to make more of this damned race, then the search for these children would be endless. Plus, burning the children would surely be easier than to behead a fully fledged adult monster?

• Now that you were sleeping soundlessly within his grasp, how could he ever let you go? There was no way he could let you run around like a child needs to, should the two of you live close to any civilisation. So he fled, deep into the wilderness where no one ought to find you. Yet it wasn’t too far out so it’d be impossible to find prey- especially with the help of his knowledge and ability to travel far distances. Good luck his uncle had a large castle standing empty for your use. Further luck was it that vampire father had killed him long ago, otherwise there’d be an unpleasant battle for territory.

• You were hopelessly adorable when you latched onto his wrist, teeth bared and fangs ready. They were small, but vicious. There was no question you’d be ruthless when you grew up. During the first year after a vampires birth, they had to feed from their parents. It was similar to how human babies gain nutrients from their mother whilst in the womb, and later rely on her milk to survive the harsh conditions of the outside world. He’ll find the best humans to eat so you’d be getting the finest nutrients afterwards.

• He loves getting you cute dresses and styling your hair. You’re like a fine china doll. Playing is also fun. You’re so full of energy that even he- exceeding physical abilities and all- had to take a break every now and then. He cannot count how many times he has been forced to chase you high-speed around the castle in order to prevent you from knocking anything over. An ordinary human would never have vitality to care for a vampire child. Apart from the likelihood of being drained on the spot, vampire children are very high maintenance and would tire a human beyond compare in less than a week. His favourite activity with you is teaching you to hunt. It’s a fantastic way to bond. He’ll make sure to encourage you and give you good opportunities; the complete opposite of how his parents taught him. They were rough and did not care at all, which was not rare for vampires but still.

• No matter how wonderful you looked while tearing the coachman’s throat out, vampire father would be lying if he said he didn’t miss the old days when you were younger. You didn’t have to wristfeed anymore and could do nicely by yourself. As he rested within his coffin, he reassured himself he was still needed. You would not reach adulthood until you were 150 years old, and even then you would still be his child- you would need him yet.

• Vampire father has servants who work in the castle. Maids and butlers who clean(no chefs of course) and are human. Whenever you asked your father about where they came from, he responded with ‘I took them to work here for us’. You noticed three things about the servants: they were a lot weaker than you, constantly scared in your or your fathers presence if their erratic beating heart was anything to go by, and they were often replaced. It was one night, you were reading, and a maid walked in to sweep the floor. You’d recognised her as Zoe. She was one of the only few who’d managed to stay(alive) for more than four years. However, the Zoe in your memory was youthful with dark hair and bright eyes; this one in front of you was worn down and grey.

• This realisation opened up your mind for curiosity aimed towards humans. Previously, you hadn’t really noticed them or cared. You saw them as food and disposable, just like your father did. But now you began thinking about the differences between you as species. Clearly, vampires were the superior race, being faster, stronger, more durable and free of illness. Although the loneliness of a vampire could count as a disease itself, the only inevitable, natural suffering of a creature of the night. So if vampire were superior, how come you all live in shadows? Why, despite there being fewer of you, did you not rule as royalty? And how come weak beings such as humans were almost happier than a vampires ever been? You wished to know the simple joy humans knew. You wanted to understand how they could be so happy as they were. How did they chose what path to dedicate their lives to when they had such short ones? You desired answers to the question on wether one could really be fulfilled in a mere 100 years; a lot of humans didn’t even make it past that age.

• You were more intrigued than ever. You just had to learn more about humans and their strange perspectives. They were so different from you. Unfortunately, your vampire father did not like your newest interest. He had taken you into the forest to hide you from humans and now you actively sought them out? You would end up chased or burned in sunlight! He would never allow that to happen to you. He’s your father and he’s sworn to stand by you.

He’ll protect his little doll.

[apas-95]

Idk how to feel about China opening diplomatic relations with the Taliban. Yes Afghanistan's assets should be unfrozen and the entire reason the Taliban runs Afghanistan now is the fault of the US, but they are still an extremely brutal reactionary theocracy enforcing the most extreme gender apartheid in the world. It's not China's (or anyone's) place to change that obviously, but I can't bring myself to celebrate China opening diplomacy with them as a win for the third world.

So, in a word: non-interference.

You're right that the Taliban are a reactionary organisation, and you're right that they're in power because of US interference and invasion. Furthermore, you correctly point out that China should not attempt to change the internal political structure of Afghanistan, but the reason for that is much more than an abstract notion of sovereignty or respect - it is moreso a matter of practicality.

The Taliban are in power because they are the Afghan-nationalist group most favourable to US interests. The US would prefer its puppet government be in power, but failing that, there are groups it very much does not want to take power, such as Afghan communist organisations. The US directs more resources to undernining those groups than it does the Taliban. In any case, the Taliban are still better for Afghanistan than the US-comprador government is, but they are still ultimately in power due to continued US intervention. The US refusal to recognise the Taliban is an element in a continuum of intervention, attempting to tip the scale towards US-favourable groups - it is, counter-intuitively, an element of the exact strategy that is keeping the Taliban in power.

China's non-interference policy not only does not influence the internal affairs of other countries - inherently, it actively *weakens* US influence in those countries. If the threat keeping US-favourable groups in power is sanctions, blockade, and international non-recognition, then the credible promise that China, an incredibly useful partner, will engage with *whichever* domestic group takes power, no matter their ideology, allows for organic Afghan interests to express themselves and bring about organic Afghan political goals. Similarly, the provisioning of no-strings-attached investment, infrastructure, etc, makes US support of preferred groups less effective, as Afghanistan is both less desperate for support, and also has less incentive to take aid packages that include 'restructuring' demands.

In essence: refusing relations with the Taliban, like the US is doing, is part of the exact gradient of political-economic pressures that keeps the Taliban (the group least threatening to US interests, other than an unsustainable puppet) in power. Opening non-judgemental relations to *whoever* achieves power weakens that gradient, and strengthens the ability for the genuine interests of the Afghan people to determine who achieves and retains power. China refusing to open relations with the Afghan government because they do not align ideologically would not change that gradient at all, and could only add yet another set of foreign interests overriding those of the people (interests which could not be more commanding than those of the US military empire, in any case). Free and non-judgemental relations with a reliable trading partner is precisely the environment that weakens the political base of reactionary organisations, and strengthens genuinely revolutionary ones.

[doodlepede]

something i love about Dunmeshi is the principle that the only thing that really matters is whether you're getting enough nutrients. You need to eat enough, in terms of both quality and quantity.

An entire fit is made about Shuro not eating enough, and how it had dire consequences for his physical and mental health. When the party was briefly aghast that Izutsumi is a picky eater, I expected a lecture about how variety is the spice of life and that you have to just get over it to survive down here and yadda yadda fucking yadda but that isnt what happened.

Senshi was forced to cannibalize a member of his party (so he suspected) because it was that or starve to death. Is Izutsumi going to starve to death if she doesnt eat the mushrooms in her rice? no. Senshi lets it go. He's way more concerned with the way she holds her utensils improperly.

Marcille impresses upon Izutsumi that sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do in order to get where you need to go, and she remembers that Tade was willing to do things she didn't want to do because she wanted to prove her gratitude - it's lucky she's being fed at all. Maizuru directly tells her that she should practice gratitude.

A less complicated story would have Izutsumi concede, but she doesn't. The show doesn't call attention to it, but Senshi cares enough about ensuring a young'in eats properly that he actively tries to make things she will actually like, and he doesn't seem bothered by it. He's willing to go completely out of his way to make the leftover dumplings more appealing to her, using the changelings to make each one unique so there has to be at least a few she ends up liking.

Rather, Izutsumi learns to pick her battles. So far at least, she is unwilling to eat things she doesn't like, but she is willing to fight for her newfound party, since she gets something good out of it: She is being actively accommodated for. She is being allowed to be picky. That unconditional love and support from her, ahem, found family, is the good thing she gets out of fighting with them.

-

I found out a couple days ago that Ryoko Kui is a picky eater, saying so herself in response to an interview question asking if there were any foods from the manga she'd like to try. Knowing that, it only makes sense why she'd have a sympathetic attitude toward picky eaters. How many people grew up hearing that "there's starving kids in China or Africa" or other equivalent? How many kids were forced to sit at the table, awash with guilt and shame or anger and frustration, and above all else, boredome, trying to choke down some vomitous vegetable or other foodthing. How many people still face that pressure, from peers or internalized, to just get over it, as if being picky is the worst thing a person could be? Did Kui have to deal with that?

Considering that fun fact I learned recently about that link between pleasure and nutrient intake, that you literally get more nutrients out of food that you enjoy.....

I'm happy Izutsumi has people who won't treat her that way, y'know?

[gallifreyriver]

Reminder that Zuckerberg actively lobbied with Republican PR firms to make TikTok illegal because he couldn't compete with it.

Reminder that for all its faults TikTok has brought tons of awareness to important issues that barely got any coverage until they blew up on TikTok, and more that still barely got any mainstream coverage even after they did.

Reminder that TikTok has become the largest and easiest place for people to come together and organize, and has 150 million active users in the US.

Reminder that congress, especially conservatives, stand to gain a lot by banning it, because it means less people will hear about all the problematic (fascist) shit they're trying to pass, such as the 300+ anti-trans bills, the bills seeking to make abortion a felony punishable by death, or how they're trying to remove the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). They also get to 'look tough' against China.

Reminder that claims of concerns over data privacy are bullshit, because China could literally just buy our data if they wanted it. Tech companies just like and including Facebook collect and sell our data all the time. China wouldn't need to build an app to get it.

Reminder that banning TikTok sets a precedent that Congress could come for literally any other social media they deem 'a threat' and ban that too. Yes, even your personal favorite one.

Reminder that we should care about this and instead of saying "Good Riddance TikTok!" we should be actively trying to stop this violation of free speech and stop handing more power to fascists just because we personally don't like a thing or think it's cringe. This is bigger than your personal tastes.

Please sign this letter from the ACLU to your members of Congress and urge them to listen. There's also a hearing this Thursday on March 23rd at 10am EST in DC where the TikTok CEO will be testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The hearing will be open to the public and will also be live streamed online.

I don't care if you hate TikTok or think it's "cringe." If you all actually hate Facebook and fascists as much as you say you do, then you won't stand for letting them win this fight to ban it.

[arminreindl]

Benggwigwishingasuchus: The Fisher Crocodile

I once again come bearing news from the realm of Pseudosuchia. Yes, we got a new taxon. Benggwigwishingasuchus eremicarminis ("Fisherman Croc's desert song") is a new basal member of the poposauroidea, a clade you might have heard about before.

But first some more key notes. Benggwigwishingasuchus has been recovered from the Anisian Fossil Hill Member of the Favret Formation, located in the US State of Nevada. It is known from a decently complete skeleton that preserves much of the neck and torso, a decent chunk of the limbs but only small pieces of the skull.

Left: Press release artwork of Benggwigwishingasuchus looking across the Panthalassan Ocean (Jorge A. Gonzalez) Right: Fossil material

As said already, Benggwigwishingasuchus is considered a member of the poposauroidea, one of the most enigmatic groups of early pseudosuchians. The reason for that is that we primarily know them from their most derived members, the bipedal Poposaurus, the sail-backed ctenosauriscids, Lotosaurus, the ornithomimosaur-mimics of the Shuvosauridae and Qianosuchus. As you can see many appear kind of like proto-dinosaurs and most have lost their osteoderm armor, requiring a whole different skeletal structure to support their erect posture. But until recent years we knew little and less about where they came from. This is thankfully starting to change now, since we now not only have Benggwigwishingasuchus, but also Schultzsuchus (formerly "Prestosuchus" loricatus) described earlier this year, Mambawakale from two years ago and recently assigned to the group as well as Mandasuchus (similar to Mambawakale originally described as something else and recently considered as a basal poposauroid). Thanks to these we are slowly starting to see a transition. Schultzsuchus still has pretty standard armour for example, but Qianosuchus shows clear signs of reduction, with Benggwigwishingasuchus kinda falling into the middle between them.

Assorted Poposauroids: clockwise from top right: Poposaurus (Skye McDavid), Arizonasaurus (Gabriel Ugueto), Lotosaurus (Gabriel Ugueto), Shuvosaurus (Joschua Knüppe)

What's also interesting about Benggwigwishingasuchus is its ecology, or what little we can infer based on the circumstances of its preseration. You see, the Favret Formation preserves marine sediments and was previously best known for its ichthyosaurs (including the giant Cymbospondylus). So its kind of weird seeing a rather lanky pseudosuchian there. What's weirder still is the fact that the preservation seems to suggest that it wasn't swept out. No, its still reasonably complete, partially articulated and in the classic death pose with its back bent backwards, this thing was moved little before being burried. BUT. It wasn't marine. The skeleton fits of a terrestrial animal and both limb proportions and histology show no evidence of it being a swimmer or diver. Instead its hypothesized that it might have been an animal that inhabited the coast, possibly drawing sustenance from the sea but not actively adapted to forage in it. In this sense Benggwigwishingasuchus could parallel Ticinosuchus from Switzerland and Qianosuchus from China, both of which were coastal animals yet not explicitly aquatic (in the case of Qianosuchus it was originally proposed given its specialised tail, but recent work seems to suggest it was never very fast nor enduring).

Top image: Benggwigwishingasuchus standing on the skull of Cymbospondylus (Joschua Knüppe) Bottom left: Ticinosuchus among a group of Tanystropheus (Zach Robinson) Bottom right: Qianosuchus holding a fish (Gabriel Ugueto)

All in all, Benggwigwishingasuchus is an interesting animal that does fill in some gaps in the fossil record, both phylogentically and ecologically and though the description is sparce on actually describing the skeleton, here's hoping that more research will come out eventually. Hell, they dropped a histology on it like a day after it was named.

Wikipedia:

Benggwigwishingasuchus - Wikipedia Papers: A new pseudosuchian from the Favret Formation of Nevada reveals that archosauriforms occupied coastal regions globally during the Middle Triassic | Biology Letters (royalsocietypublishing.org)

Diverse growth rates in Triassic archosaurs—insights from a small terrestrial Middle Triassic pseudosuchian | The Science of Nature (springer.com)

[xclowniex]

Will you get red note?

No. Tik tok isn't banned in NZ so I don't really see a point. Like rednote has to follow ccp rules around what content is allowed and the guidelines just aren't something I personally could get behind so I don't want the app.

I will say that a lot of the discourse surronding tik tok being banned is just.... ignorant. Both in like what actual censorship is and the ccp laws surronding data collection. This post is long but it covers tik tok censorship, ccp laws surronding data collection and the sinophobia behind the US governments decision to ban tik tok.

Like I truly don't care what social media another person uses, but I do find it hilarious that the same people who complained about tik tok censorship, are now getting censored by the ccp. Like I've seen a few posts from people complaining they can't post lgbt content as it gets removed. And this is because the ccp is not pro lgbt and your content must adhere to ccp values when you post on rednote.

And I find it funny because tik tok censorship isn't really like that heavy? They don't allow discussions of violence and sex if it's not educational, and dont allow hate and that's about it. People often would complain about how "when I talk about x my videos get less views" yet I've seen plenty of other creators who post similar videos in x topic get the same amount of view. Like it's nor censorship, your current audience just doesn't like when you make x content.

And this is particularly also applicable to people saying tik tok censorship discussions of Palestine as they don't. It's beneficial for them to push that content as rage bait is a huge part of their algorithm. By giving you content which makes you angry or upset, you're more likely to comment which means you spend more time on the app and more of that same content gets pushed to you.

Also literally every instance of leftist antisemitism involving Palestine I've reported on tik tok has been found not to break guidelines.

And the ccp can get your data from tik tok. Whilst US data is stored in US data centres, because the parent company byte dance is a Chinese company, the ccp can request that data and get it. Like their request will not be denied.

I also see a lot of people being like "well what is the ccp going to do with my data" and they're not going to do much with just your data, but it's when they have data from large groups of people is where concern comes in.

In information security, it's not uncommon knowledge that the CCP wants to do propaganda through social media. If they have data from a lot of people, it's essentially as if they've surveyed enough people to get the general views of entire populations. That's the bit which is dangerous.

And the reason for the tik tok ban isn't because of pro Palestine activism. It's because of genuine data concerns but mainly sinophobia.

Like the fact that US social media companies also collect a shit tone of data about you (and also sell it) yet don't get banned but tik tok does, is sinophobia.

The concern from the US government isn't that the data is collected in the first place, it's that China is the ones collecting it.

Because if it was privacy concerns, privacy laws would be much more useful, and would also likely lead to tik tok still being banned because of ccp laws where China can access data collected by Chinese companies at any time.

And I do want to stress that this doesn't mean that tik tok is this evil company as it isn't. It's not their choice that the ccp has access to the data they collect. The ccp didn't create tik tok full stop but also certainly didn't create it to collect data. And I also want to stress that my criticisms lie with the ccp and not Chinese citizens or the Chinese diaspora.

And last thing on the topic I have to say, the ccp will get your data one way or another if they truly wanted it.

Like they don't need tik tok to get your data. Xi jingping isn't sitting there going "well fuck, my plans are all ruined because tik tok was banned". The ccp has hacked the NZ parliment multiple times over the years. Like I think tik tok collecting data is the least of our concerns about data being collected.

Especially since it's not just China wanting your data. The data of people in a country and outside of it is beneficial to any government as it does help them plan stuff both in terms of positive and negative things domestically and for defense and military purposes. Is it good for them to collect it? Fuck no. Should they? Also fuck no. And any country which really wants your data, will get it anyway with or without a social media app. Which is why I still choose to use tik tok.

The only way for you to have no foreign government collect data is if you're born in the middle of rural buttfuck nowhere, never get registered so the government doesn't know you exist and live completely off the grid.

Because of this, I do think we should be focusing on getting more privacy laws and also upping cyber security in every country. We need to invest far moeeninto cyber security

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

The Burden of Debt For Wei Wuxian: Part One

The burden of debt was consistently placed upon Wei Wuxian and it very much was do to the classist expectations that Jiang Fengmian held regarding his former servant as well as Madam Yu's derision of servant class.

Yes, Wei Wuxian has an ideal social position as a favored servant and "spoiled" in the sense that the position came with many benefits reserved for what the real world equivalent of scholars would have received moving through the political courts of China, but as the novel world is anachronistically strewn with various points of historical and loose context, it carries over these aspects into fictional sects that rely on familial blood associations for inheritance of them. What had once been typical xianxia sect dynamics were inverted to resemble the political systems of the mundane human world, and is also brought up within the novel itself as having significantly changed the cultivation world's own dynamics.

Wei Wuxian is in full awareness as to what his position is to the Jiangs and as such is able to hold secure in this and what he means for the family. He is brought in by Jiang Fengmian with the expectation to be a servant for his son and a right hand, not a brother. This is noteworthy to point out as Jiang Fengmian does not hold the same expectations or protections he reserved to Jiang Cheng. As a sect and clan heir Jiang Cheng should not be placed in extreme danger as what was argued for the Indoctrination. He is the only male blood heir for the clan, Wei Wuxian, being neither family nor adopted, had the expectations of representing their clan as a servant would and the expendability if it came to such. Madam Yu on the other hand irrationally disliked Wei Wuxian dueto his mother and saw this placement of expectations as a derision, of her blood, and the lack of respect of her place as the other Jiang leader and mother of the future of Yunmeng because he was ambivalent to her nature and self.

Wei Wuxian knew what he was to Jiang Fengmian and willingly would serve the lord that had afforded luxuries he would have no access to otherwise if he had not been found by him and by that extension would serve his son that would take his place in debt for this. While proud of his own abilities and intelligence he uses those in service to the Jiang principle and reputation that he was raised to follow. Filial Piety does not just extend to birth parents but to the community that has actively raised and nurtured you. To do less is shameful, a lack of character and respect to the fundamentals you learn to follow.

Madam Yu saw him as a servant more favored than her own son, Jiang Cheng saw this relationship much the same way. Jiang Fengmian did not respect the morals of Madam Yu that Jiang Cheng also embodied but he could easily continue to believe that due to the debt of having been raised under the Jiangs meant that Wei Wuxian could not and would not usurp his claims. These two consistently bring up that while of a favorable position, Wei Wuxian to the family, is still a servant and use that to condemn both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Fengmian's characters as well as using this as a boon that despite Wei Wuxian's talents he will and never can be more to overshadow their places of higher standings.

Even after the Jiang parents own deaths, Wei Wuxian places his position as servant that owes a debt to the Jiang leadership to keep Jiang Cheng safe as they had ordered, not as a brother. Due to his lack of knowing that Jiang Cheng had tried to impulsively protect him and thus Jiang Cheng losing his cultivated core, he sees this as a lacking on his own part for not doing as ordered by his leaders and the threat of the collapse of the sect that fostered his talents he was to use for. He rationalizes the transfer of his core to Jiang Cheng is giving back what was already made by the Jiangs teachings and thus already something that is by default Jiang Cheng's. He is giving back what was given by Jiang Fengmian after being picked up off the streets as debts are meant to be repaid in full return for what had been taken.

This was already a cycle as Jiang Fengmian had looked for an orphaned Wei Wuxian due to the debt he had owed Cangse Sanren for saving his life in their youth and further debt upon Wei Wuxian to now serve the clan for that chance of life repaid again. Similarly, Wen Ning, much like what Cangse Sanren did, saved both Wei Wuxian as well as Jiang Cheng by harboring them as well as Wen Qing. Due to their association with Wen Ruohan and the other Wen aggressors, Wei Wuxian makes his own stipulations of debt by asking Wen Qing, an esteemed doctor of the cultivation world to perform the transfer. Her clan had helped destroy the Jiang's and in that sense she was given an equal opportunity of survival back to Jiang Cheng upon this agreement that Wei Wuxian would later assist her if called upon.

Wen Qing secures a call of safety for herself and Wen Ning for the shelter they provided Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, as well as the personal debt expected repayment from Wei Wuxian's begging for her to perform a transfer of power for an enemy of her people she is supposed to be politically loyal to and in service to. Due to the surgeries success, he metaphorically has given this protection and talent fostered by the Jiang's back to who he sees it as having been provided. The physical debt of life being saved has been repaid with this action by Wei Wuxian to Jiang Cheng in exchange for that debt to be expected repayment to the Wen siblings eventually for their secrecy and harboring the two.

Wei Wuxian himself due to his own personal moral and loyalty still does stay by Jiang Cheng's side as the expected right hand man he was told to be by Jiang Fengmian, even with the loss of his core, his talents for creating Gui Dao are a draw for cultivators to be drawn to the newly established strength that Yunmeng Jiang held. In essence of strength and reputation Jiang Cheng was politically untouchable due to his tie with Wei Wuxian as his right hand servant that followed his command. Despite his strengths not being due to a core any longer he was still able to entice the world to make Jiang Cheng and his home seat of loyalty prosper with raw intelligence and being able to harness unorthodox methods to create something new that was not understood within the expected framework of the Jianghu. Despite Wei Wuxian's own complacency with staying an advisor to Jiang Cheng alone, Jiang Cheng's jealousy from their youth still festers.

Jiang Cheng refusal to see any of Wei Wuxian's support without the debt he now associates with Wei Wuxian having been the cause of his parents deaths, despite his own self admittance during the event he knew he had no reason to place that guilt in Wei Wuxian. This debt and jealousy is now further twisted that Wei Wuxian further owes him for something that was not his to claim on the death of Jiang Fengmian. This placement of repayment for deaths is insatiable and stays as such the more Jiang Cheng's jealousy and hate for what Wei Wuxian as a person grows. The more Jiang Cheng hates, the more trouble Wei Wuxian seems to cause for him and the more Jiang Cheng in claim needs to clean up. The debt grows and Wei Wuxian is indeed as ungrateful as Madam Yu had always said. This fracture in morality continues as they become adults set upon their own moral ideals that clash as well as the expectations of what Jiang Cheng sees as Wei Wuxian's debts owed to "Yunmeng Jiang" for all that they had done for him, what Wei Wuxian wants or does is lesser in the face of what Jiang Cheng sees as owed to him first. This claim of debt is ever growing along with Jiang Cheng's hate for Wei Wuxian himself now.

Eventually Wen Qing is in need of Wei Wuxian's help as well to save Wen Ning, and not only due to what Wei Wuxian sees as being owed for her help previously to save Jiang Cheng, but also because he knows Wen Ning as a kind good person that does not deserve to be treated like a slave prisoner based on cruelty alone. He argues this with the cultivators present that they are being cruel and callous towards those with tenuous ties to Wens that were already killed based on their own cruelty and want of power only. He notes the hypocrisy as well to claim all Wens deserve the treatment despite those of the same name previously sitting amongst them not being a part of this encampment. He states that it is because of Wen Ning that Yunmeng Jiang stands as well due to his kindness that would have gotten him killed if found out.

Out of desperation and disgust he kills the Jin guards that refuse to admit to their own inhumanities while claiming righteousness to save Wen Ning as well as the Wens willing to follow him for protection and safety. He leaves the others to do as they want that stay.

While Mianmian and Lan Wangji try to attest that Wei Wuxian did what he did to save others as he always placed the safety of others regardless of life circumstance above political gain, they are talked down as it being irrelevant due to prejudice associated with the Wen name surviving and further rumors being told loudly now that Wei Wuxian's reputation is stained and Jiang Cheng's tenuous like of him can be exploited. The text itself delves into Jiang Cheng's own thoughts that he is not at any point worried about what could become of Wei Wuxian or the harm potentially waiting now for Wei Wuxian, but of the trouble that Wei Wuxian and work he has made for Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng resents that Wei Wuxian can't stay in line and voiceless in his morals and can't stay down as Jiang Cheng told him to, complicit as long as their positions stay the same and unthreatened. Jiang Cheng the master and Wei Wuxian the dog that acts untrained.

[ghoulsbian]

i kinda have this headcanon that tatara has a website out there somewhere, one that isn't easy to find, dedicated to the documentation of ghoul genealogy in china and hong kong. it's purposefully made uneasy to find so it doesn't fall right into the CCG's lap. i think that he gets his knowledge through finding communities of chinese ghouls on encrypted websites and talking with the people on there. he's messaged with hundreds of people over the internet in trying to find information about ghoul bloodlines in china.

it's also really important to him because it's one of the only places in his life he still gets to use his knowledge of mandarin anymore. everyone in these communities writes in mandarin at pretty much all times and it's really a breath of fresh air for him, because i remember there being some side thing in tokyo ghoul about how written japanese gives him a headache. he has a rather old and used laptop that he uses for all of this. he's very much a no nonsense, no frivolousness type of person, so he doesn't care much about keeping up with the latest technology. the used laptop gets the job done and that's all that really matters to him.

i think that either on this website, or on another website that the genealogy documentation website links to, he has some stuff online dedicated to preserving the history of the chi she lian as well. he's the last remaining person who was apart of it and he feels immense grief over the extinction of it. he wants its existence to be known of even after he passes, no matter how near or far in the future that may be. i think that no one he knows personally really knows of the existence of these websites, but not necessarily because he's hiding it from them (he is pretty much surrounded by only ghouls after all). it's more so the fact that he's not often asked about personal activities or inner workings. i think if anyone were to know, it would be eto, because she does inquire about these things more than say ayato or hinami would, even if she doesn't do it frequently.

as for another online activity, one that requires far less encryption, i think tatara plays Go online. he prefers to play it in person but this is another thing that can only be entertained by eto. they play together sometimes but not very often at all. i think he plays online as a way to relax when he gets a short bit of time away from aogiri duties.

idk i love thinking about him!!

[twinliches]

do you think any of the ongoing troubles faced by the crew of the iss are going to have implications on international space law in the near-mid term?

what a great question! for those unaware, two astronauts are currently stranded on the ISS until at least early july due to technical failures in Boeing's return capsule.

while the astronauts are safe and sound and in no need of rescuing at the moment, the problem of astronauts in distress has actually been exhaustively been addressed by international space law and was even one of the first things lawmakers worried about. for example, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST) states that:

States Parties to the Treaty shall regard astronauts as envoys of mankind in outer space and shall render to them all possible assistance in the event of accident, distress, or emergency landing on the territory of another State Party or on the high seas. [...] In carrying on activities in outer space and on celestial bodies, the astronauts of one State Party shall render all possible assistance to the astronauts of other States Parties. [...] (Article V OST)

keep in mind, this law was written in the sixties. the drafting of this provision was less about getting stuck on space stations and much more about the fear was much more that us or ussr astronauts would accidentally land on the wrong side of the iron curtain and be detained. but still the issue of astronauts in distress was taken incredibly seriously - so much so that the second space treaty, the aptly named 1969 Astronaut Rescue and Return Agreement (ARRA), focuses entirely on the issue, reiterating that:

If information is recieved or it is discovered that the personnel of a spacecraft have alighted* on the high seas or in my other place not under the jurisdiction of any State [i.e. outer space], those Contracting Parties which are in a position to do so shall, if necessary, extend assistance in search and rescue operations for such personnel to assure their speedy rescue. [...] (Art 3 ARRA)

what does that mean in practice? not much right now, as the astronauts are not in distress, they are simply delayed. you wouldn't call search and rescue on yourself when the train has a malfunction that makes it late either. but should a case of distress occur, and it is impossible to intervene on a national level by sending a falcon rocket up, it could be argued that the only other nation that has ratified the treaties and can currently easily and regularly access the international space station** - russia - could be obligated to provide assistance for their rescue. even though, while legally sound, i wouldn't want to touch that diplomatic baseball bat to a bee's nest if you held a gun to my head.

tldr; there are no implications for international space law as of yet*** as the situation is not severe, and if it became so, our beloved envoys of mankind would not be on their own. hopefully.

* we can fight about the word alighted an it's implications in this scenario but I don't have my cologne commentary on hand and I don't go into battle unarmed.

** China also has independent access to outer space and its own space station so it could in theory provide assistance but i have no idea if they can dock with the ISS or not.

*** the question if Boeing has to compensate for the damage incurred from the delay is also unanswered but as these are American astronauts and an Americans company that is national space law and therefore not my problem. #internationallawforever

[mask131]

Some times ago, I posted about the vandalizing of the Wall of the Justs at the Parisian Shoah memorial. The post is here if you are interested, and it got many, many notes, so I thank you very much!

But I hope this post will also get as many notes - because we found the guilty party. We know who did it and... gosh, it sounds like a fucking joke but it is not, and it just proves how complex the situation is, and how dangerous the times we are living are.

If you recalled the obvious guilty party, the first suspects, the ones that seemed to have done that were the so-called "pro-Palestinian" activists that in fact are just antisemitic people disguising their hatred under the pretense of "fighting for Palestine". It is well-known that the pro-Palestinan manifestations, events and representatives in France have all versed at one point or another into very antisemitic comments or actions, and the movement is currently being parasited by antisemitism - ranging from actual antisemites who use "Zionist" as a way to designate all Jews, including French-Jews who never saw Israel in their life ; to people who are taking back antisemitic slogans without knowing they are antisemitic in the first place.

The reason the investigation directly was aimed at them was very simple: the red hands, or red handprints, is a symbol that many pro-Palestine manifestants have been using recently. Which, in itself, sparked a whole new debate - about whether it is an antisemitic symbol or not. Because while for some it is the universal "You have blood on your hands" symbol, for others it refers to the blood of a soldier of Israel on the hands of his murderer, during the second Infifada... And while attacking the Wall of the Justs would have been a new low and a new step for these left-leaning antisemites (because so far they only attacked Jews, now they would attack those that saved Jews and assorted Nazi victims during World War II), it was in line with a new form of radicalization of the movement - see the "Block Out" phenomenon on Internet, a cancel culture aimed at those that did not support enough Palestine... As a personal note I will say: where was all this energy and effort when the it was time to defend the Uyghurs against their wiping out by the Chinese regime? It is still time today, their suffering is still going on... But as a prominent Uyghur activist said (I think it was Rebiya Kadeer, but I do not have my notes with me so I might be mistaken) - people care less about the Uyghurs than Palestinians for one simple reason "Because it isn't Israel that is killing us..." It is China, and as a result nobody really cares...

Anyway, I digress... So while it is known, confirmed and recorded that the so-called "pro-Palestine" activists in France are slowly oscillating and sinking into antisemitism, it isn't actually them who did these red handprints. No, they're not guilty this time.

In fact it is something I talked about when I made my original post: there was another very likely suspect which would have surprised nobody. Neo-Nazis. Because while the pro-Palestinian movement is currently crystallizing in France the entire antisemitism wave that has been on the rise for a decade now among the extreme-left, the extreme-right political groups have also been gaining terran and strength for quite a long time, and now, we have actual neo-Nazi parties very vocal and active today... Due to the ungodly amount of terrorist attacks France had to face, due to the frightening strenghtening of radical and extreme Islam in France, due to the whole endless debates about immigration in France, and due to the hyper-violent civil unrests that are clearly just to cause chaos and nothing else (like the riots following the death of Nahel Merzouk, which clearly were not about the Nahel case and just to cause as much destruction and steal as much things as possible)... Well of course, when these types of problem arise, who gains the upper-hand? The extreme-right.

And so now we have far-right candidates so popular they have a good chance of being elected as the representatives of France, and we have many groups of antisemitic Christian fanatics popping up everywhere, and we have neo-Nazi movements literaly returning like some perverted phoenix from their ashes... As such, it was thought that maybe these red handprints could have been the work of a neo-Nazi movement, who would use the current situation to perform their antisemitic deeds while blaming the extreme-left for it... After all, the two movements have been currently doing the exact same thing. Before the Hamas attack, far-right groups were defacing Jewish cemeteries and soiling Simone Veil's grave with Nazi swastika ; and today far-left activists are "denouncing" Israel by... tagging on Jewish temples drawings mixing the six-point stars with a swastika...

So, you know, the typical horseshoe effect. The two extremes are literaly doing the same things, and as such we have a hard time differentiatng one from another.

But no... Turns out it isn't them either! Turns out... it isn't even French people who did this.

And here's where the dark joke comes... You know who did it? FUCKING RUSSIA OF COURSE!

We forget to so easily that Putin is literaly sending his agents in every friggin' political or social event that goes on in the world right now... And in fact that's the whole point: Putin wants us to be so obsessed with the Israel-Hamas conflict and how Gaza is trapped in it all, so that we forget about how Russia is currently destroying Ukraine.

The investigation found out that the people who painted these red hands were three men that had recently arrived in Paris from Bulgaria... They were staying at an hotel and the very day following their crime, they left France for Belgium (Bruxelles to be precise). Now... You're going to say "So they're just Bulgarians? They're not Russians, nothing proves its Russia". Except for one thing... While yes the involvment of Russia has not been "confirmed", Putin's Russia is not known for its vivid imagination... And they have literaly done the same thing some times ago.

If you recall, I posted about it before... It happened last october. Right after the Hamas attacked the music festival, causing the whole madness we are into today, blue David stars were painted on buildings where Jewish people lived, echoing the dark times of the Nazi Occupation in France... Here is the post I made back in February, and I couldn't guess how far things would go back then... While everybody was getting scared about the return of French antisemitism turned out... It was a group of people from Moldavia that was paid to paint those stars everywhere. Paid by... a pro-Russian, pro-Putin Moldavian businessman, Anatoli Prizenko.

You can read more about this on my old post, but investigation concluded it was indeed an operation where Russian forces used the Moldavians as puppets. All to cause fright and chaos in France. When you consider that Bulgaria, like Moldavia, is unfortunately today one of the "screen-countries" Russia likes to use to shield themselves when doing their dirty chores... Blue stars, red handprints... This is clearly the same thing, done all over again.

And where the "joke" part comes out even more - in the sense of a perverse, venomous, fetid joke part of some putrid dark comedy... Russia has currently been truly harassing France through all sorts of operations, each more outlandish than the next, and yet all working in their own way to cause fear and chaos... More specifically two cases are regularly being brought up.

Case 1: The Doppelgänger operation

In June of 2023, the French authorities warned about what was called the "Doppelgänger operation". A massive campaign of Internet misinformation created by Russia. The purpose was simple: create mirror-websites to the official websites of French information networks, newspapers and TV channels. They were almost identical to the official news outlet of France, to the point many mistook them for the real thing - sometimes the only difference you could spot was in the URL. ".fr" became ".ltd", and ".com" became ".cam".

And all those fake websites shared articles about the Ukrainian-Russian war, articles written purposefully to spread misinformation about Russia. Some claimed that the Ukrainian population were in full distrust of their government and wanted to see it brought down... Others wrote that all the Ukrainian operations were disasters and failures. Some invented fake tragedies and disasters in Russia to try to paint Ukrainians as the villains. And others yet wrote about how the donations of Europe to Ukraine were either wasted by the Ukrainians, or would cause economic crisis in European countries...

Case 2: The bed bugs hysteria

In september of 2023, the discovery of bed bugs on several public places in Paris was shared on social media. Some were discovered in a movie theater, the presence of others was attested in some subway lines... The social media being what they are, it became a hot topic talked about by everybody, shared by everyone - and the facts were exaggerated, and rumors started spreading, and soon an entire mass hysteria started overtaking France. It wasn't just Paris anymore, but all the big cities that were supposedly infested by "bed bugs". People claimed to find them in every public places - every theater, every subway line, every hotel, even in hospitals...

Turns out, there wasn't as much bed bugs as the social media wanted us to believe. It was mostly a sanitary mass panic, echoing the fear caused by the Covid epidemic and fed by the worries about the upcoming Olympic games. And... and also fed by Russia. Investigations revealed that there was a lot of fake accounts, troll accounts and bots created by Russian servers and Russian URLs, and who spent their entire time spreading and sharing bed-bugs articles, writing fake articles twisting the facts, and spamming everybody with news of this mass hysteria..

This is the sore and infuriating conclusion. Remember, everyone, that this isn't just about Israel and Palestine... It isn't just about the Hamas or Netanyahu... And we already knew that, because already in Europe it was clear this wasn't truly about what happened in the Middle-East - it was also about the shadows of antisemitism and the wraith of the Nazi presence, it was about the extreme-left movement spreading from the USA university down to European ones, it became a fight about the Jewish and Muslim populations in Europe rather than in Palestine and Israel - and even more, a political fight between the far-right and the far-left across the continent... But it isn't just about that anymore, because now Putin is in the dance and Russia is gleefully putting oil on the fire in hope it will burn everything... This is a fucked-up chess game with many, many players... That all look the same in the end, somehow, so it becomes hard to identify which one does which move.

But at least we know who painted the blue stars, and who painted the red hands, and who pits the extreme-left against the extreme-right, and is trying to make sure the Jewish people of France are feeling scared in their own country. Putin and what he turned Russia into.

[sgiandubh]

When you do not know a thing about the issue at stake...

...perhaps it's better to remain silent.

Some of you know, others don't - and that's fine - but my main field of expertise is labor law.

I just read this in anger and disbelief:

Look, lady. I don't care who the hell you are, what you do for a living or why you felt entitled to answer those insistent questions on your side of the fandom. I suppose you are North American and have no idea of how things work on this side of the pond. It is fine: I might know what a Congress filibuster is, for example, but I'd be severely unable to judge the finer points of competence sharing between Fed and state level.

The difference between you and me?

I keep my mouth shut and/or do my own research before opening it in public.

Have you no shame to write things like: 'It was discovered clothing factories in Bulgaria and Portugal made it and how workers were exploited, mostly women, because these factories were in special economic zones in these countries exempt from EU employee rights and regulations.'

HOW DARE YOU? What strange form of illiterate entitlement possessed you to utter such things with confidence, comfortably hidden behind a passive voice ('it was discovered')?

Portugal joined the EU in 1986. Bulgaria (and my country) joined the EU in 2007. I have given 5 relentless years of my life to make this collective political project a reality, along with hundreds of other people my age who chose to come back home from the West and put their skills to good use for their country. In doing so, I rejected more than 10 excellent corporate job offers in France and China. To see you come along and write such enormities is like having you spit in my face.

Article 4 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (aka The Treaty of Rome) is formal and clear, as far as competence sharing between the EU and its Member States goes (the UK was still, back then, a full member of the EU - it quit on February 1st 2020):

That means that ALL the EU regulations are being integrated into the national legislation of the Member States. This is not a copy/paste process, however. And because it is a shared competence area, the Member States have a larger margin of appreciation into making the EU rules a part of their own. While exceptions or delays in this process can be and are negotiated, the core principles are NEVER touched.

Read it one hundred times, madam, maybe you'll learn something today:

THERE ARE NO SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. THE WHOLE FUCKING EUROPEAN UNION IS A SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE, THIS IS WHY IT IS CALLED THE SINGLE MARKET.

What the fuck do you think we are, Guangzhou? We'd wish, seeing the growth statistics!

Now, for the textile industry sector and particularly with regard to the Bulgarian market, a case very similar to my own country. Starting around 1965, many big European textile players realized the competitive advantage of using the lower paid, readily available Eastern European workforce. In order to be able to do business with all those dour Communist regimes, the solution was simple and easy to find: toll manufacturing.

It worked (and still does!) like this:

The foreign partner brings its own designs, textiles and know-how into the mix - or more simply put, it outsources all these activities. The locals transform it into the finished product, using their own workforce. The result is then re-exported to the foreign partner, who labels it and sells it. In doing so, he has the legal obligation to include provenance on the label ('made in Romania', 'made in Indonesia', 'made in Bulgaria' - you name it).

The reason you might find less and less of those 'made in ' labels nowadays at Primark and more and more at Barbour, Moncler and the such is the constant raise of the workers' wages in Eastern Europe since 1990 (things happened there, in 1989, maybe you remember?). We are not competitive anymore for midrange prêt-à-porter - China (Shein, anyone?), Cambodia and Mexico do come to mind as better suppliers. To speak about 'exploited female labourers in rickety old factories' is an insult and a lie. They weren't exploited back in the Eighties, as they are not now (workers in those factories were and still are easily paid about 50% more than all the rest) and the factories being modernized and constantly updated was always a mandatory clause in any contract of the sort. Normal people in our countries rarely or ever saw those clothes. You had to either be lucky enough for a semi-confidential store release or bribe someone working there and willing to take the risk, in order to be able to buy the rejected models on the local market.

If I understood correctly, you place this critical episode at the launch of the limited SRH & Barbour collection, for the fall of 2018. How convenient for you, who (I am told by trusted people) were one of the most vocal critics of S during Hawaii 2.0!

And as far as Barbour goes, it never pretended to manufacture everything in the UK only:

This information is absolutely true. You can read the whole statement, signed in October 2017 by one of their Directors, Ian Sime, here: https://www.barbour.com/us/media/wysiwyg/PDF/Ethical_Statement_October_2017.pdf

And a snapshot for you:

Oh, and: SEDEX is a behemoth in its world, with more than 75.000 companies joining as a member (https://www.sedex.com/become-a-member/meet-our-customers/). Big corporations like TESCO, Dupont, Nestle, Sainsbury's or Unilever included.

I am not Bulgarian, but I know all of this way better than you'll probably ever do. The same type of contracts were common all over Eastern Europe: Romania, Poland, the GDR (that's East Berlin and co, for you) and even the Soviet Union. I am also sure your Portuguese readers will be thrilled to see themselves qualified by a patronizing North American as labor exploiters living in a third-world country with rickety factories.

You people have no shame and never did. But you just proved with trooping colors you also have no culture and no integrity. More reasons to not regret my unapologetic fandom choice.

I expect an angry and very, very vulgar answer to this, even if I chose to not include your name/handle. The stench of your irrelevance crossed an ocean.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

Three years ago, Andrea Vanek was studying to be an arts and crafts teacher when spells of dizziness and heart palpitations suddenly started to make it impossible for her to even take short walks.

After seeing a succession of doctors she was diagnosed with long COVID and even now spends most of her days in the small living room of her third-floor Vienna apartment, sitting on the windowsill to observe the world outside.

"I can't plan anything because I just don't know how long this illness will last," the 33-year-old Austrian told AFP.

The first cases of COVID-19 were detected in China in December 2019, sparking a global pandemic and more than seven million reported deaths to date, according to the World Health Organization.

But millions more have been affected by long COVID, in which some people struggle to recover from the acute phase of COVID-19, suffering symptoms including tiredness, brain fog and shortness of breath.

Vanek tries to be careful not to exert herself to avoid another "crash", which for her is marked by debilitating muscle weakness and can last for months, making it hard to even open a bottle of water.

"We know that long COVID is a big problem," said Anita Jain, from the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme.

About six percent of people infected by coronavirus develop long COVID, according to the global health body, which has recorded some 777 million Covid cases to date.

Whereas the rates of long Covid after an initial infection are declining, reinfection increases the risk, Jain added.

- 'Everything hurts' -

Chantal Britt, who lives in Bern, Switzerland, contracted Covid in March 2020. Long COVID, she said, has turned her "life upside down" and forced her to "reinvent" herself.

"I was really an early bird.... Now I take two hours to get up in the morning at least because everything hurts," the 56-year-old former marathon runner explained.

"I'm not even hoping anymore that I'm well in the morning but I'm still kind of surprised how old and how broken I feel."

About 15 percent of those who have long COVID have persistent symptoms for more than one year, according to the WHO, while women tend to have a higher risk than men of developing the condition.

Britt, who says she used to be a "workaholic", now works part-time as a university researcher on long COVID and other topics.

She lost her job in communications in 2022 after she asked to reduce her work hours.

She misses doing sports, which used to be like "therapy" for her, and now has to plan her daily activities more, such as thinking of places where she can sit down and rest when she goes shopping.

A lack of understanding by those around her also make it more difficult.

"It's an invisible disease.... which connects to all the stigma surrounding it," she said.

"Even the people who are really severely affected, who are at home, in a dark room, who can't be touched anymore, any noise will drive them into a crash, they don't look sick," she said.

- Fall 'through the cracks' -

The WHO's Jain said it can be difficult for healthcare providers to give a diagnosis and wider recognition of the condition is crucial.

More than 200 symptoms have been listed alongside common ones such as fatigue, shortness of breath and cognitive dysfunction.

"Now a lot of the focus is on helping patients, helping clinicians with the tools to accurately diagnose long COVID, detect it early," she said.

Patients like Vanek also struggle financially. She has filed two court cases to get more support but both are yet to be heard.

She said the less than 800 euros ($840) she gets in support cannot cover her expenses, which include high medical bills for the host of pills she needs to keep her symptoms in check.

"It's very difficult for students who get long COVID. We fall right through the cracks" of the social system, unable to start working, she said.

Britt also wants more targeted research into post-infectious conditions like long COVID.

"We have to understand them better because there will be another pandemic and we will be as clueless as ever," she said.

[accio-victuuri]

xiao zhan’s mfw interview clues, talismans and matching ads. 🎤

based from the ones released today: v magazine, tencent fashion, tod’s and mr. bags. nothing too big, just some connection/s to already established cpns. feel free to appreciate and enjoy the interviews for what they are even without clowning. 🫶🏼

* V Magazine China

when he talked about superpowers, he has changed his answer from being invisible, he just wishes that there will be no disputes in the world. tho the topic is really about what he wants a parallel world to be like. interesting answer. i’m gonna wait for wyb to have an interview with a similar question and see if they will match 😂😂😂

he also answered that his style is more casual and comfortable which is exactly the same as wyb answered a similar question. not that we ever doubted how similar their personal style is. they may choose or prefer different pieces, but it has the same feel. this is who they steal each other clothes and blend in when they want to.

how he answered the question what he learned about style is to subtract. which may mean less is more or something like that. it matches what wyb said he learned about a different thing — acting. so i see this as a similarity between them, they don’t do overdo things.

🎤: If you had two hours of free time, where would you like to spend it?

🐰: Just strolling around. A city-walk.

I hope he does this with WYB! We was this happen in a lot of ZZ’s vlogs.

🎤: What is the most surprising thing from Gucci 2024 Autumn/Winter Women’s Wear show?

🐰: I think the biggest surprise is the bag. I like it very much, the shape of the bag is very avant-grade and bold.

His interest in bags is here again 👀 In his 2019 interview for MFW, he was asked about what his favorite accessory and he answered bag. The CPN happened because WYB was asked in an interview of his promotion of a jewelry brand (Emphasis ) about what jewelry he will give to his loved one. he answered a bag. lol. the question is about a jewelry but he still answered something different. who is he thinking about? a certain someone who loves bags?

🎤: Do you have any unforgettable anecdotes during the Chinese New Year that you can share with everyone?

🐰: There seems to be no Chinese New Year because I spent the Chinese New Year with the crew.

A confirmation what we already know, that he spent CNY in HD. the thing we won’t ever know tho is if WYB was there. Tho some clues point to the answer being yes.

* Tencent Fashion interview

Not much here but he just repeated how he loves bags. Lol. && how his priority is to film. I imagine the same is true for WYB.

* Tod’s interview

I didn’t share the translation for that. sorry! here it is in all it’s glory. not much cpn tho because the questions are centered on his clothes and the show.

🎤: After watching the first show of Tod's new creative director Matteo, can you share with us your first impressions?

🐰: Excited! and then when I was watching the show, I have been taking pictures all the time. Because there are many coats which I like it very much, including the bags, and I think it’s a brand-new attempt. You can see the second show, which is very unique especially it is placed at the tram stop in Milan — I heard that this tram stop is still in active service, can still be used.

🎤: What are the highlights of today’s outfit? Can you introduce it to us?

🐰: Today’s outfit is a more elegant and low-key style. It is a design of the collar on this coat, in fact you can see that it is actually a leather material, this collar can stand up, then you can put it on here and put it on in another way. Then, include this pair of shoe which is also my favorite loafer and this belt, it is also has a very unique design, it has a hemp material and then combine it with leather.

🎤: If you were asked to recommend one of the most “Italian” items you saw on the show today, which one would you recommend?

🐰: Ah~ it’s so difficult! I think there is a lot of it — I think it’s leather, I think everything about leather, the coat including leather on it’s shoes and trousers.

🎤: What are the three must- have travel stuffs during fashion week?

🐰: phone, passport, also…also the (important) card.

🎤: In a series of film and television works, how do you think different costumes help shape the character’s image?

🐰: It does help yourself to get into the role better.

🎤: You have been to Milan Fashion Week many times. Compared with the first time, what changes do you feel this time?

🐰: This time I felt more relaxed and also more cordial. There is a feeling of going home, especially there is DDV Yeye ( Tod’s CEO ) just now, he always tell me how he always welcomed me back says “Welcome back!” I felt woah! that moment was very warm. Then, of course there is conscious lifestyles of Tods that can’t live without.

🎤: Not long ago, you sang “As You Wish” at the Beijing TV Spring Festival Gala. What kind of New Year wishes do you have for everyone?

🐰: (smooth and healthy) for everyone

* Interview with Mr. Bags

this is year 3 of his interview with him! it’s one i’m waiting for cause xz is comfortable with & i feel like he can get away with asking more personal questions.

🎤: Yes, then I saw your personal clothes later I did serious study and research of it on internet. I think our Xiao laoshi really have a personal style, is very good at dressing and I just found out that — for example you will wear some hats, then the scarf and then you will also wear some of these big coats?

XZ: That’s right.

🎤: It looks warm, it has a sense of youth.

XZ: In fact, I felt it safer and then it’s more comfortable because I’m actually myself, in terms of personal clothing I prefer not too many colors, It is mainly; gray, black series and white colors. Those that are comfortable to wear and can’t go wrong and also most effective.

same thing about his personal style and what colors he chooses which is very close to wyb’s.

🎤: I also heard that Xiao Zhan is actually a very homely person. If it weren’t for work then you would just stay at home so I wonder what you usually do when you are at home?

XZ: Actually, I can also play games, sometimes I will have fun, but for most of time I spend my time working out.

this matches some recent fake rumors. 😭😭😭 especially with the part about how xz prefers to stay-in. and then how he likes to play games! who does he play games with??? WYB. there are already a couple of fake rumors and interviews of them talking about the two playing! it’s so nice to hear it from xz.

THE ALLEGED TALISMAN. 💛

p1 is GG recently, from his flight back home and p2 is a not so clear photo of WYB’s phone during HB screening where you can see what looks like a yellow paper. I have no question that GG does this, we have seen it before. but i like the idea of WYB doing something similar, maybe GG even drawing one for him. and this may be the reason why they chose this type of card case.

Finally, the matching ads by Shu Uemura and Loreal. Two different brands and products but I can’t help but see the similarity with the ads 🥹🥹🥹

-END.

[kaeyacollection]

So, I searched in google and apparently peacocks symbolize divinity and beauty (and also the Ming Dynasty, but I have no idea about history more than small buts here and there, even less Chinese history, so...).

Do you know if this is true or a page where I can check it?

Oh anon

Dear sweet anon

This goes far beyond the Ming Dynasty

So many cultures saw that bird and thought, "What a mighty fine beast! We gotta put that thing in some stories!"

And yes they do double as a car

Kartikeya rode it around the world (while his older brother Ganesh circled around his parents 'cause they were his world)

And Hera, after plucking out the eyes of dead Argus and planting them into the tails of a peacock, used two of them to pull her chariot

The gods themselves have a whole range in what they represent/preside over while all still using peacocks or their feathers as one of their main symbols

Lakshmi, a principal goddess in Hinduism, is associated with peacocks and represents wealth, prosperity, fortune, fertility, royal power, abundance, and beauty

Which is a mouthful vs Kartikeya being the Hindu god of war (and victory! Good for him - did not win that race around the world though)

Also while we're here, keep an eye out for the word Mayura which is just sanskrit for Peacock, it's usually translated but some art pieces and works will just leave it at that (which does help differ them as peacock+ but can make it harder for people just starting out on peacock lore to find anything beyond recently made children's stories with how awful current search engines have become)

On the Greek side of things, Hera mained overseeing all things marriage while her counterpart Juno had marriage and love to look over

Which hasn't come up yet but next archon is the Goddess of Love and his passive is Glacial Heart, so like, concern lmao

But anyways back on topic to something not at all concerning

We have Christianity making them the symbol of immortality, royalty, and resurrection-

Which we do not have to be worried about because our OTHER favorite Captian already did that! Not like this game is about cycles or anything haha

...

Besides that association bled over from Greeks believing the flesh of a peacock never decayed

Oh! And Renaissance angels had peacock wings! Moving on!

Since you brought up the Ming Dynasty I gotta talk about how in China peacocks are considered an earth phoenix!

...

Hm

Resurrection aside

There's also the Fenghuang, which are also sometimes called phoenix, but those are all over the place in all sorts of combinations due to it being a hella old tale 🤷 so I'm not sure if only some stories with the specific peacock combinations count for what we're doing or what, but just a heads up if you see it and you're like 'Oh! A peacock!' Like yes! but only sometimes! And even then it's like just the tails, sometimes it's tail is a fish! I am unsure if we should be counting Fenghuang!

But that's okay! Because peacocks themselves are still considered an earth phoenix in their own right and represent dignity, beauty, activate luck, and fame!

as taken from https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Chinese_Customs/animals_symbolism.htm (a website as old as Google and recommended by Georgetown University)

On other not a peacock but getting an honorable mention for being peacock adjacent anyways is the Huma bird, a bird that flies but can never land, it's also called phoenix like! .... maybe I don't bring the bird up actually! (My boy will never die and - oh god I've made a realization anon how could you I need to reblog something right now immediately)

Also it's another bird of fortune that gets listed as being compassionate just like some of the prev peacock depictions listed already

(It also gets to decide who's king!)

Apparently there's a superstition about their feathers being unlucky and being eyes of the devil that is said to have originated in the Mediterranean but like

I've only seen it said by British men mad about the change of fashion

So I'm not looking too hard in that direction but it is something I've come across so might as well chuck that in there if Greece got their mention

Also while looking for stories of peacocks I stumbled across someone saying there's "An old Hindu proverb states that the peacock has the feathers of an angel, the voice of the devil, and the walk of a thief."

Which I can't confirm since it's one of the things not cited in the website and looking it up is always just 'a guy I just met happened to say it at me' and I mean like - yeah snsjdjd and unfortunately I only have the translated phrase to work with so I can't like see if there's a better source than that 🤷 but! We already have the connection to all three so even if it's not true it doesn't mean the game didn't run with it after dropping that Sailwind outfit

There was something else I wanted to add on but tumblr got screwy and I've forgotten in panic lmao

This answered none of your questions but I had fun and that's the most important part 🥰

If anyone has anymore information please add on! This was only a very brief introduction that was already getting pretty long

But tldr: they're associated with divinity cause the gods and most people think they're neat and wanna include them (which is also why in some areas it's kind of forgotten cause it was a little bit of a fad) and they're associated with beauty cause they're beautiful ✨️😌✨️