#but considering how most interpret the outside regions as seeing them as almost the same

[emolgabrine]

OKAY SO

I think I got it. Kanto and Johto DO have different accents, as well as different dialects. I'm basing this both off the Hgss trainer themes and the real world dialects the regions are based on (Default for Kanto, Kansai for Johto.)

So, the Kanto has some trumpets and keytar, as well as some drums. The theme sounds more energetic

Johto's theme also shares the trumpets and keytar, but there's chimes instead of drums. It sounds like a battle theme, but like a casual song too.

So what I'm thinking is Kantonian accents have that kick of energy, and are more lower pitched. Meanwhile Johtonian accents have a little chime to them and are higher pitched. Those with mixed accents (and what those from outside regions assume everyone sounds like in both places) have both a kick of energy and a chime, with their pitch being in the middle of the spectrum.

Also with the different phrases, sometimes it's hard for those from the opposite region to understand what the other is trying to say unless they have family and/or heritage from said other region.

[rockofeye]

What else can be said about Manbo Klemezin besides being a broom-wielding lwa represented by St. Claire found in northern Haitian regions? And is Manbo Filomiz a representation of Lasirenn or a lwa of her own right?

Hi,

Metrès Klemezin Klemey is a lwa who originates in the north of Haiti, but the north has had it's own WIDE diaspora within the country. Klemezin comes with her broom because she is concerned very much with cleanliness, purity, and the out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new stance. Folks often reduce her along with other metrès yo from the north like Filomiz, Severinn, Lovana, and sometimes lwa like Marie Bossou or Madan Letan as small spirits who do not occupy important places in wider practice, and that's a mistake.

In many areas of Haiti, Klemezin is the spirit who makes the kolye for initiates; which is a piece of ritual gear that tells the story of the initiate's spirits and provides important protection. It takes different forms across Haiti, but in most places it is worn in various patterns that denote initiatory status across the the chest and belly of the initiate. Without the kolye, initiation cannot move forward and is not complete. It was Klemezin who created the first kolye and who is responsible for the ceremony of creating them. It is not a ceremony like a fet or anything, but each sosyete has their own regleman for their construction and wear. Her attributes (including her veve in many area) get assigned to Lasirenn a lot, but that is a Mistake.

Filomiz is similarly a lwa who comes from the north. I've seen folks talking about how the Filomiz served in the north is different than the Filomiz served elsewhere, but that's a misunderstanding of the spirit and spiritual diaspora within Haiti. I'm not sure why she would get equated with Lasirenn, unless it's an interpretation that is saying that all female lwa who come from the water (which is a lot of them....almost all the ones I named above are considered lwa dlo in some way or another, and there are many more). In the north, she is one of the female lwa who some say takes the form of a fish in some places, and there is a lakou that has a large basin where folks say she lives as a fish.

Instead of being equated with Lasirenn, I see Filomiz often described as the Ezili Freda of the north or more important than Freda in the north, which is not really a thing. Filomiz and Severinn are very similar to Metrès Freda in presentation, but neither are they more important or less important than the other. Filomiz often arrives as the untouchable woman; she can come across as a bit cold because she doesn't always want to be touched or embraced if she feels the situation is not elevated enough for her. She is often powdered h-e-a-v-i-l-y when she arrives, and receives attention like a queen with folks more often approaching her than her approaching them.

The misunderstanding of importance of Metrès Freda versus Metrès Filomiz or Metrès Severinn or as there being multiple spirits named Filomiz often relates back to a misunderstanding of Vodou in the north. It is strongly lakou-based in that the lakou does not share the same regleman as the lakou down the road, which is a divergence from the asogwe line of Vodou, which is what most people outside of Haiti are familiar with.

With asogwe temples, of which there are thousands, you can go from one to another and see recognizable regleman in each. Things may vary a bit here and there, but the principles are the same. When you venture to the north, asogwe does exist there but lakou-based Vodou is much more common. A lakou may only serve a very small handful of spirits, like five or less. They may be spirits very linked to a particular place, like Filomiz in her basin or a family spirit that lives in a particular tree or Souvenans or Soukri, or they may be spirits that have chosen to attach themselves to a particular family and that family/lakou may have a very visible presence of serving that spirit only and holding that spirit above everything else.

None of those things mean those spirits don't walk elsewhere and don't present themselves in different ways, it just means in that very visible lakou, that spirit is held in a different way. That's something we learn with discernment and instruction, so it takes time.

I hope this answers your question!

[the-insomniac-emporium]

thoughts on Bela///Donna?

What a lovely can of worms you've placed in my inbox, dear nonnie. I cannot wait to open it and lose followers (regardless of what I actually say).

Since this is, uh, a subject of some debate among RE8 fans, I will be inputting my thoughts on the idea of the ship (and the possible controversy), as opposed to doing HCs or something for it (which I recognize might be what you were asking for, despite the excessive /s).

This is all based on my playthroughs of the game, as well as what I've managed to double check on the fandom/wiki for it. I know that a lot of people who read fanfic for the game haven't actually played it, likely having been lured in by Tall Vampire Milf, and so I hope that some people will be open to a reminder of, like, canon vs fanon? I've mentioned in a previous post that there's a lot of details for RE8 that are not made clear, and I feel the need to reiterate that in this post. Capcom left a lot of stuff up to people's imaginations, or kind of just hinted at in game or in concept art.

But more importantly, regardless of what game we're talking about, regardless of the conclusion I come to (and the one you come to) at the end of this post, I want to say that I absolutely understand the need/desire to have your own perspective/take on the characters from the game, as well as their dynamics. If a ship makes you uncomfortable because you see the characters as being family members, it's totally okay. Block the ship tag, or filter it out when you look through fandom stuff, don't follow people who post for it, etc, etc.

If you think of characters as being family-family (like, not just "we got married and are now a family" but, like, "we're siblings/parent and child") and still ship them? uh. sorry, bruv, maybe think of hitting that unfollow button. No, seriously, hit that unfollow button. This blog is anti-incest, thank you very much.

The last thing I'll say before putting it under a read-more (for both length and major RE8 spoilers) is that I recognize that I might have missed something, either in game or developers talking about things on social media, and so if you read through this and go "god, J, you're such a dumbass for forgetting *critical piece of media*" or even just "okay but have you seen *small but meaningful piece of media*?" please. Just. Please. Tell me. Link me to that shit. I WANT to know if I'm wrong. I've literally avoided talking about this for as long as I could in order to TRY and make sure I have all the context I need.

With that said, let's examine what context we are given for Alcina Dimitrescu, Bela Dimitrescu, Donna Beneviento, and their relations to each other. I will be leaving my personal thoughts on Bela///Donna at the very end of this, as somewhat of a conclusion, somewhat of just a "hey, this is what you technically asked me about".

Firstly, let me begin by explaining what I consider to be the 3 tiers of "canon"

In-Game/Direct: The highest, truest tier, the definitive canon. This is everything that takes place in game, excluding certain hallucination scenes (ex: Mia was not really in House Beneviento, but we can infer some things from what Donna made Ethan hallucinate about). Things either happen, or are directly stated by characters. There's some wiggle room for dialogue, as characters can lie, but overall we, as the audience, assume we are being told the truth. At the very least, games usually eventually make it clear when a character has been dishonest. Examples of Direct Canon include the following: Ethan is infected with the mold, Lady Dimitrescu drinks blood, Heisenberg wears sunglasses, Mother Miranda can shapeshift.

Concept Art/Developer's Notes/Indirect: Mid-tier and debatable, the "we think, but we're not sure" of canon. Resident Evil: Village contains lots of concept art that the players can browse through, all of which include notes from the developers about the game, characters, environments, and story. Sometimes the notes make something "direct", but oftentimes they do not specify whether the listed idea is still canon or if it was removed during development. This tier also includes information that is implied/can be inferred from tier 1 information, but is not directly stated. Examples of Indirect Canon include the following: Donna's mother died by suicide, Moreau was going to have his lover fused to his back, Duke was originally a fifth lord, Heisenberg was going to have a twin. As you can see, not all of the concept art ideas made it into the final version of the game, so it can be hard when some information seems like it might still be true (such as the matter of Donna's parents).

Fanon/"False": Sometimes collective ideas in a fandom become so widespread that people start interpreting them as actual canon. Sometimes it gets hard to remember what's just obscure lore and what's fanon. When we get a piece of fiction as overall vague as a lot of Resident Evil: Village is, there's bound to be some confusion over time. That's one of the main reasons I waited to talk about Bela////Donna until after I had recently replayed relevant sections of the game, as I wanted to remind myself of what we're actually told. Examples of False Canon are difficult to pinpoint, but might include things like: Hufflepuffs are good at finding things? The Avengers got along for awhile and all had their own rooms in the tower? There's a number scale for the danger level of ghosts in Danny Phantom?

For this post, I will be limiting the majority of my notes to the first two levels of canon, and will do my best to mark them as such. Now... let us... begin.

Alcina Dimitrescu:

Born no later than 1914, Alcina Dimitrescu was 44 years old when she was granted the Cadou by Mother Miranda. (1st Tier: Canon. Source: A note in the castle basement from a servant is dated 1958, and mentions both Alcina and her children. Secondly, Miranda's experiment notes state that Alcina was the 181st subject, and was given the Cadou at age 44. By doing math, we can then determine the earliest Alcina could have been born.)

Alcina refers to the other Lords as her family once without any disdain (when Ethan first arrives at the castle and is caught, Alcina says "you've escaped my little brother"). In a private journal (located near where she threw the infamous vanity) she insults the other Lords, and expresses anger that she is "treated like a sister to them". She argues with Heisenberg without any hesitation, and seems honest in her hatred of him (per Maggie Robertson's wunderbar performance). (1st Tier/2nd Tier: Canon with a sprinkle of interpretation for the last line)

Alcina openly refers to Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela as her daughters, and wrote in her experiment journal that she felt instantly connected to them (as mother and daughters). (1st Tier: Canon).

Bela Dimitrescu:

Likely born in the 1930's or 1940's, in order to be an adult by 1958 (the first dated appearance of the Dimitrescu daughters). (2nd Tier: Based on inference)

Dialogue shows that all three of the daughters do love their mother, and reinforces the bond Alcina's journal mentions. (1st Tier: Canon)

We are not given any information about how Bela feels about the other Lords, or even what she knows about them. Once can assume that she shares the ideas of her mother, either because Alcina tells her things directly, or because Bela (who is eager to please her mother) picks up on them over time. (2nd Tier: Based on inference)

Donna Beneviento:

No idea when she was born. If you've read one of my recent posts, then you know that it's almost entirely a matter of 2nd and 3rd tier canon.

Of the four lords, Donna seems to have the most story within the 2nd tier, and has very, very little in the 1st tier. Duke says she's somewhat isolated, and that her "playmates" never leave the house. Miranda's notes state that Donna is mentally ill, and the gardener's diary states/implies (bit of both) that Donna has severe social anxiety. (1st/2nd Tier: Mostly canon)

Supposedly, her parents committed suicide while she was still a child. This is indicated in concept art/the attached developer's notes. However, the only part that's also directly stated in game is that her parents (specifically her father) died while she was young. (1st/2nd Tier: Mostly canon)

While Donna only has one voice line in the game (and it's sad), Angie talks a fair bit. Angie seems to disapprove of the other Lords, or at the very least enjoys mocking them, as well as enjoys watching them fight with each other. As Angie is connected to Donna, and Donna has some level of control over her, one can assume that the two have similar (if not the same) opinions. (1st/2nd Tier: Mostly Canon)

Donna was adopted by Mother Miranda as an adult. It's unclear exactly how old Donna was, or what exactly Miranda did as her "mother", just that Donna was excited about it. (1st Tier: Canon)

Other Relevant Information:

Heisenberg refers to the other Lords as his siblings a minimum of 1 time. Similarly to Alcina, however, he openly insults them and seems to hate them. He just, you know, hates Mother Miranda the most. (1st Tier: Canon)

Mother Miranda does not actually give a shit about the four Lords, intended for them to die before the ceremony, and has been manipulating them for her own gain this entire time. Her notes and dialogue make it clear that she only cares about getting Eva back. Somehow mother of the year and worst mother ever. At the same time. (1st/2nd Tier: Mostly Canon)

It's unclear who treats Alcina "like a sister" to the other Lords. Were there cut lines of dialogue that cemented the idea of them being a "family"? Did Miranda call them a "family" as part of pretending she cared about them? I've done my best to dig around, but there's very little in game that treats them as a family of any sort.

As each Lord ruled their own section of the region, they don't have any mentions of interacting with each other outside of meetings with Mother Miranda. None of the notes for any Lord (and their relevant experiments) mention what the others are doing. In game, their environments are very separate, very well divided, though this is likely as much for gameplay as it is for story.

Conclusion:

I do not not believe there is enough in game evidence to suggest that Alcina and Donna consider themselves to be siblings. There's the possibility for a large age gap, Alcina was a fair bit older than Donna when she met Miranda, Donna is a social recluse whose closest bonds were with dead blood relatives and dolls, Alcina openly dislikes (if not hates) the other Lords, they seemingly lived very separate and distanced lives, and Mother Miranda does not enforce the idea of "family". Furthermore, the sheer contrast between how Alcina interacts with/speaks of the other Lords compared to how she interacts with/speaks of her daughters says a lot about her feelings. Even if Heisenberg takes the brunt of her anger, Alcina never once says anything remotely positive about anyone other than Miranda and her daughters.

As Alcina/Bela and Donna are not blood-relatives, the definition of what would count as "incest" does vary depending on who you ask. Personally, I do count non-blood relations as potentially incestuous. For example: Alcina "dating" one of her daughters would be incest, regardless of the fact that she's a mutated human and her daughters are weird swarms of flies.

Now, I do understand how popular the idea of the four Lords being a real, chaotic but still close family is. And as I mentioned above, it's totally valid to not like the Bela///Donna ship, whether it's because you think they're family or some other reason. I don't personally see them that way, even in my definitely-not-canon stories.

Do I personally ship Bela///Donna? Nope. Have I liked art for the ship? Admittedly yes, even if I thought some of it was, like, maiden x Bela because Donna didn't have her veil and I'm a DUMBASS who doesn't always remember to read tags. Would I ever write for it? Yeah, probably, assuming I didn't miss anything in game/that I don't eventually change my mind.

[mittensmorgul]

Can’t everyone use tumblr how they want?

YES!

This site is exactly what people make of it for themselves. That was the exact point of that post. The fact that people reacted negatively to it at all proves my point. Seriously.

I have a number of other anons that are clearly from people who don't actually follow me, and are only here in a reactionary fashion having seen it on someone else's reblog, or else heard about it in passing and decided the best reaction to an ultimately harmless and rather bumbling post was to take personal offense and bring anonymous hate to a stranger on the internet. (and at least one not-anonymous "go kill yourself" type comment on the post itself)

THAT was the point of making that post.

For people who might be new to this fandom or new to tumblr in general (or even for people who have been here for years), your experience here is exactly what you make of it. I haven't seen that sort of vitriolic kneejerk reaction to anything I've written or posted in years. That post touched nerves. So it was a bit of an experiment, and I'm sorry to everyone who experienced any of that negativity second-hand. NOBODY should be made to feel like shit when engaging with something that is supposed to be fun. But I've learned over the years that that's exactly what some people consider fun.

There are new people to this fandom since the absolute free for all of the weeks after November 5th. We all reveled in those weeks before the show collapsed in on itself two weeks later. It was like 15 years worth of Hiatus Blogging followed by... well... some of the worst genuine hurt and disillusionment I've ever experienced or witnessed inflicted on a fandom by a piece of media.

There have to be at least a few people who floated into this fandom during that emotional roller coaster who want to make sense of it all, who were at least curious enough about how a show could've brought the characters to that emotional moment in 15.18 before effectively ignoring it all and burning the entire 15 year narrative to nothing just two episodes later.

Some folks stuck around to dig through the ashes of fandom in search of carrion, and that's fine. Some have zero desire to ever engage with the show or the fandom beyond mocking it for ever having existed at all, and that is also fine! But some folks? They might be wondering why anyone ever saw anything in this narrative to begin with, and they might be interested in knowing that there is this vast collection of information available to them (funny that none of my self-righteous anons even mentioned those, outside of one pointing out that my phrasing introducing that section of links was easily interpreted as condescending... which... yeah... again that was the point, and no I will not edit that language. none of us are free from sin).

Tumblr hasn't "changed." It was always this way. This site is not a monolith. Fandom is not a monolith. Even smaller groups within fandom aren't monoliths. Things that are considered "tumblr standard etiquette" do not exist across this entire website. And even within the supernatural fandom, and even within the tumblr-destiel-portion of the fandom there aren't "rules" dictating how you interact with anyone. Well, the one specific rule we should all be able to agree on is that you don't bring hate to real actual human beings, and yet...

There has ALWAYS been the option to engage with fandom here on whatever level an individual chooses. And that hasn't really changed since the finale aired. Anyone who thinks that Tumblr or the fandom has "evolved" or "changed" has likely just fallen in with a different fandom bubble then they'd existed within before. None of the bubbles have actually popped or disappeared. But which one you experience is entirely your own choice. You curate your experience here.

That was the point, illustrated by the vast array of comments I actually got on that post, structured with a little bit of everything including "tumblr mom from 2014." Everything pisses some people off, you know? Even the perception that some stranger on the internet might dare to lay down an arbitrary "rule" that zero people actually have to follow. See what I mean?

Because if any of the people who kneejerked at it actually followed me, or knew me at all, they wouldn't have kneejerked. They would've seen the point.

So your experience is what you make of it here. There are resources for people actually interested in engaging with the narrative or the fandom or the history of it. People mock "tumblr moms" or "fandom moms" all the time, but there wouldn't ~be~ a fandom without the people who actually build those resources. I.e. adults with the time, money, and personal investment in actually sustaining the fandom, instead of running around with torches trying to burn it down at every new whiff of perceived ~drama~ to latch on to.

For example, all of the scripts we've been acquiring and sharing with the entire fandom free of charge. I know that the fandom bubbles who seize on those scripts like hungry vultures to cough back up out of context "gotcha" posts postulating whatever theory of the differences between script and screen will dredge up the most drama or outrage in their fandom bubble... they haven't even considered how those scripts were acquired and made available to them. To them, they are "leaks." They are gifts that fell out of the sky and landed in their laps. There isn't even the barest curiosity about their origins or relevance beyond whatever social nourishment they derive by making up stuff and spouting it out with unearned authority. It's sad. But if that's how they enjoy the fandom, it's nice to remind them that none of the fandom they cannibalize would exist without the rest of us, too.

Yes, even the people you disagree with. Even the people who ship the things you find disgusting or repulsive. Even people who have an entirely different experience to your own. Even the people who are only here for those gotcha posts.

Fandom is not by nature a nihilistic shitshow, or no fandom would survive the amount of drama the 1% try to bring to it. Here have a fanlore article about this phenomenon. Right now, in Supernatural fandom, it feels like more than 1%, but I promise it really is only 1%. They're just really loud. There's actually other avenues to participatory fandom available to anyone who chooses to find them. Parts of this vast fandom that aren't focused on that 1% of reactionary leg-chewing at every turn. None of them are (as the linked article confirms) truly 100% free of unnecessary drama or bad behavior (including ME, I mean I MADE THAT POST!), but on tumblr you can curate your own experience. Fandom actually can be fun without burning down the thing you claim to be a fan of, or attacking other real human people for having the audacity to exist on the internet in a way you might believe is out of touch or pathetic. Seriously, nobody deserves to experience that from anyone over a fucking television show. Like seriously, take a step back and examine your life and your choices at that point.

Tumblr was exactly the same as a fandom community when I joined as it is now. Throughout my entire time here, I've curated my own personal experience to exactly what I derive the most personal satisfaction from. During that time I have had numerous friends and mutuals lament that their personal experience had become so toxic, but they were afraid to trim those blogs from their dash for fear of having no content left to engage with at all. For years there have been follow lists and blog recs and people desperate to find a more "peaceful and fun" fandom experience. People grow exhausted and embittered when their entire experience of fandom is an emotionally draining drama train. It's like pandemic doom scrolling, but for the thing that should be a respite from that sort of mindset, something that's supposed to be entertainment. The show did enough to us all, we don't have to turn around and re-inflict it on each other day in and day out on tumblr dot com.

So if even one person saw my post and thought well shit maybe I actually want to engage with a wider swath of fandom and see what's there, after seven months of post-finale drama, this whole other region of fandom is still here, still being the curators of the archives, the creators of stories and art and meta and gifs and videos and actually caring about it all that will keep this fandom going long after the current round of exhausting drama inevitably plays itself out.

The amount of in-group language in the negative replies I got was unsurprising. It's like folks are living in an alternate universe that doesn't mesh at all with what I experience on this exact same hellsite. Almost like we exist in entirely different bubbles of fandom, with entirely different purposes for existing at all. Everyone on this hellsite gets to pick which bubble (or bubbles) to take up residence in. Some people simply forget that their personal bubble isn't the universal defining experience of this site. Unfortunately, I doubt my little disruption to their bubbles will actually make any of them see that, but you anon... I think you did.

You are highly encouraged to engage with fandom EXACTLY THE WAY YOU CHOOSE. You have the ultimate power in controlling your entire experience here. Tumblr and Supernatural Fandom on tumblr is not Just One Thing that everyone who wants to participate in must conform to one specific code of ethics or behavior to be part of. And that NOBODY has the right to tell anyone else they're doing it wrong (including ME! I am 100% including myself in this!).

It's not MY job to dictate how anyone else experiences this fandom, as much as it was not the job of the people who reblogged my post (which I did not personally shove into their eyeballs with a demand for compliance... how did any of those people even *find* my post?) solely to tell me how *I* need to change how I experience the fandom, you see? Don'tcha love hypocrisy!

But the point was made for those who care, and a lot of people got to update their block lists (I still don't block anyone, as I said I curated my fandom space here and generally don't follow folks that don't personally make me happy and enrich my life by engaging with their content. However other people choose to engage with *my* content (any of it, going back nearly 50k posts over the last decade) is their business entirely. Sometimes I just feel the need to draw out people who are all too eager to expose their own whole asses in public. Mission accomplished.

[fashionablyiconic]

It’s… probably not in good taste to post that last one right now (the one that looks like a dementor), consider Kabul just fell to the Taliban

I believe you are referring to the Balenciaga collection? Likely look 1 for that collection.

ok.

I don't know how long this has been sitting in my inbox. I queue and shuffle my posts and I'm not online all the time (hence the queuing) but given the information in the ask I can guess this was sent to me between the 13th and the 16th of August. And when queuing posts, I actually do that through WeHeartIt (I know I need a better system) so i don’t always see my tumblr, specifically this one. Which is also why this response may have been delayed. I apologize for the delay in my response...and that this response will probably be long but I've been flitting between two different responses to this ask so I'm leaving it open to a discussion here. I honestly am unsure how to proceed.

Before we go farther, obviously I didn't hand select this look to be posted in tune with current events in the world. I think I queued up the collection about two weeks ago. It was shuffled and queued and then I went offline to begin my work week. I do not know the order of posts I only knowhow many days my blog will post and what collections I will be featuring. The posting of that image was not intentional nor was it to drum up any publicity or ruckus.

This Balenciaga collection had its debut on June 6th 2021 (my posting has been incredibly delayed) and follows the vision of Demna Gvasalia, creative director of Balenciaga. Gvasalia's focus has been about technology and "deep fakes", and has gotten really into the use of veils, masks, and coverings in his design. He has created the motif of "clones" who wear similar headpieces, creating unified and artificial aesthetics. Often the use of covering the face assists in his creation of "digital clones" in a world where "We no longer decipher between unedited and altered, genuine and counterfeit, tangible and conceptual, fact and fiction, fake and deepfake. Technology creates alternate realities and identities, a world of digital clones.” (his words exactly). My interpretation of this motif is that in our digital world the use of anonymity is not only valuable but almost necessary...so how not wear Balenciaga to hide when so much of our lives, information, and identity is connected to the internet. That's why Gvasaslia opens with "the one that looks like a dementor".

Kabul has fallen to the Taliban, an religious and military organization that has had a presence of at least some kind in Afghanistan since the 1990s. Most commonly known for their government control in 1996-2001, where one of the most notable uses of their power was to enforce mandatory burqa for women and restrict female autonomy to the point where they weren't permitted to leave their households alone. The Taliban ALSO has a history of censorship and destroying art and even ancient and historic monuments like the Buddhas of Bamiyan.  More recently, as in the past few days, there are reports of Taliban covering advertisements featuring women and specific art. 

I will just quickly note that I believe a mandated dress code, specifically for women, is abhorrent. That goes both ways with mandatory head coverings like in Iran and Taliban-run regions AS WELL AS the banning of head coverings like in France and Quebec. Women should wear what they feel represents their identity without fear persecutions. The enforcement and/or banning of certain kinds of dress are two sides of the same coin that is policing women’s bodies and autonomy.

So I have a question and this is a genuine topic of discussion not just me being a smartass.

My question is this: With the acknowledgment of current events, do I remove the image due to it’s CURRENT associations and disregard the original artistic intent OR do I leave the image up regardless of all associations and connections, be it emotional or critical, simply due to the fact that the initial intent of the image (or rather the garment) stands independently on its own? 

I can argue both sides here. On one hand I recognize that in light of the events going on in Afghanistan there may be quite an emotional reaction illicted from the image in question and that is not necessarily always a good thing. I can’t help but remind myself that I have needed to make spaces for myself that avoid certain content in the past (most recently with TikTok) for this blog. On the other hand, however, Demna Gvasalia’s intention with the garment and the rest of the collection appears to be completely unrelated from anything close to the resurgence of the Taliban. In fact, it also seems like a form of censorship in favour of an unrelated issue. 

Personally, I quite like the look. With Gvasalia’s intention in mind, it reminds me of wanting complete anonymity in aspects of my life that I don’t get to enjoy (like at my job where people see me and regularly connect with me in a way that means that sometimes I get the “why do you look familiar” question outside of my work. I work in retail). It feels haunting yet not weighed down. 

Anyway, I’m feeling very conflicted and if you have opinions, I’m open to hearing them because I’m very split right now on the matter. Thank you for the ask and I apologize if it took me a minute to respond...also I’m sorry this post was a bit of a mammoth but I wanted to think about it because it was such a loaded subject. Images and words have power. 

Here’s some ways you can provide support to the people in Afghanistan if you are able to, if there’s other places or ways to support PLEASE let me know.

The Federation of Anarchism Era 

Islamic Relief Canada

Women for Women International

(Edit: fixed some grammar and spelling. That’s dyslexia for you)

[konohagakureship]

Hidan and Kakuzu d&d au! Two more members of the Akatsuki Fellowship!! They are travelling around Khorvaire, in the world of Eberron!

au! Akatsuki D&D

Headcanons:

All the info related to places and clans is from the canonic lore of Eberron, or from interpretations that I’ve found here and there, and also a bit of my own homebrew lore. I’m gathering all the info and sources in my WorldAnvil page so you can check it out if you want :)

And this is the map with notes so you can pin all the locations.

This time I chose to put only the info relevant to the characters to make the post shorter. But still, this will be a LONG post so be prepared xD

Founding of the Akatsuki Fellowship

All the members of the party met in Sharn, the biggest city of the continent of Khorvaire. They were there for different reasons but ended up travelling together across the world.

Hidan the bloody warlock

Hidan was born in the warrior nation of Karrnath in the city of Atur, where the living and dead coexist in a daily basis.

His parents were members of the Blood of Vol cult, and actively participated in the life of the Crimson Monastery, the largest worship site dedicated to Vol in the entire continent. 

From a young age, his parents instructed him in the faith of the Divinity Within and encouraged him to follow their path and become a Seeker of the Blood of Vol.

The Blood of Vol is a religion centered on the belief of Divinity Within, which means that they do not revere any deity but the blood that courses through their own veins. The followers of the Blood of Vol are called Seekers, and many of them are necromancers employed by the government of Karrnath to control their undead soldiers. 

Seekers believe that death is a curse prevent mortals from achieving divinity, so by breaking the curse of mortality, humanity will be able to live a plenty existence. Necromancy is an attempt to fight the curse of mortality and prevent the loss of the knowledge and skills obtained by past generations. 

Contrary to the popular belief, Seekers cherish life and do not want to become undead. Those who become undead are considered to be martyrs who have given up their own chance at divinity to help others, since they will become tools for the living.

The Blood of Vol cult is ruled from Atur by The Crimson Covenant.

At the age of twelve, Hidan showed signs of possessing magical abilities, which catched the interest of the Cult and welcomed him into the Crimson Monastery to train his powers in favor of their religion and ulterior plans.

Hidan had always been an avid follower of his faith, but soon after joining the Monastery he started to interpret it in his own terms.

His warlock status made him believe that his blood carried the divine will, and that his mission was to actively fight for the Divinity Within by converting all the misguided mortals to The Blood of Vol, or sending them to their deceiving gods to see for themselves how misguided they were. 

The years passed and Hidan only grew more powerful and reckless, learning and crafting unique invocations to unleash his magic at its fullest potential.

His ever growing power mixed with his free interpretation of the beliefs of The Blood of Vol, marked him as an individual too independent and powerful to escalate in the ranks of the Cult.

In an attempt to channel his energy and give him a purpose, The Covenant prompted him to join the Order of the Emerald Claw, the paramilitary arm of the Blood of Vol, and sent him to Rekkenmark.

The Order of the Emerald Claw is an outlawed organization of Karrn patriots and Blood of Vol worshippers spread throughout Khorvaire. They continue to operate in a semi-terrorist fashion to this day, proclaiming their desire to see Karrnath once again rise to power.

Their connection to the Cult is only known by highest ranking members of the Order.

Hidan was sent to Rekkenmark, in the border with Thrane. His cell had the undercover mission to hunt down any paladin of the Church of the Silver Flame that entered Karrnath with the intention of killing Vol’s vampires and undeads.

The Blood of Vol is a forbidden religion in some regions of the continent due to the evil connotations associated with their practices, and many groups such as the Church of the Silver Flame actively works to destroy them.

His days as an Emerald Claw Knight were short, though.

At the beginning, Hidan thought that the Order was his rightful place, that surrounded by powerful patriots he will be able to bring the divine will to all the mortals and spread his faith to the edge of the world.

However, he soon started to feel disenchanted with how the Order handled their business and how little they cared about his divine will. He realised that like in the Monastery, the Order also lacked of determination, and so he began to make their creed his and reform it by his own standards.

The time passed and Hidan grew more reckless and discarded his superior’s orders more frequently, which caused friction within his cell. 

By recommendation of The Covenant, when the situation became unsustainable, The Emerald Claw “prompted” him to take his own path and fight for the Order by himself in his own terms, far away from Rekkenmark.

Instead of going back to Atur, Hidan decided to travel the world, free from any restraints, finding misguided mortals to convert to the Blood of Vol and killing all those who didn’t want to achieve immortality.

Unsurprisingly for everyone but himself, his homicidal activities granted him the status of “kill in sight” in many cities, and soon the bounty for his head was high enough to buy a villa in the upper levels of Sharn.

So Hidan, a powerful warlock and Seeker, spent the following years running away from the law and inquisitors of every city he stepped on. He never bothered to hide his presence anyway...

After a near death experience with a Flame paladin in Sigilstar, he traveled to Sharn, where he knew he could hide from prying eyes and find refuge in one of the Order’s liars. 

However, The Emerald Claw rejected to host him as he attracted too much attention, forcing him to hide in the lowest levels of the city, where he was told that there was a unofficially Vol-friendly tavern run by elves.

Little did he know, that in the Callestan district lived one of the most renowned bounty hunters of Sharn, who was currently drinking a pint in the same tavern he choose to spend the night in.

Kakuzu the bounty hunter

Kakuzu was born in the port city of Zarash’ak, in The Shaodw Marshes.

His father was a human from House Vadalis (beast tamers), while his mother was a human with a quarter of orc blood from House Tharashk with the Mark of Finding (bounty hunters).

He was raised within the Tharashk House and learned how to bounty hunt from a young age. Even though his training was focused on the ways of his mother’s House, he enjoyed spending time with his father and help him train and sell his imported beasts from the Eldeen Reaches.

Kakuzu spent his childhood proudly working for House Tharashk, dreaming of becoming a renowned bounty hunter and awakening a powerful Mark of Finding. However, his dreams would sunk when at the age of seventeen he finally manifested his dragonmark. 

It was an aberrant dragonmark.

The dragonmarks are passed through bloodlines and when two members of different dragonmarked families reproduce it often results in aberrant dragonmarks. Originally aberrant marked were seen as outcasts and outsiders, often shunned by the houses and eked out a pitiful existence. Now they unite under their own House, House Tarkanan.

Kakuzu tried to hide his new mark, constantly covering his body as much as he could and not getting intimately close to anyone for fear of being discovered and casted aside. His mood soured in a couple of months, and he ostracised himself from his closest friends and family.

But after a couple of years it had grown up so much that it almost took his entire back, and inevitably the House found out about his condition and expelled him from the clan.

Abandoned by his people, he traveled to Sharn in an attempt to join the Aberrant Dragonmarked House Tarkanan.

House Tarkanan is a house only formed by aberrant markeds, from any race and clan. They are usually bounty hunters, mercenaries and accountants.

When House Tarkanan first established itself in Sharn, the halfling Boromar Clan attempted to assimilate them, but the offer was turned down. This resulted in the Boromars attempting to destroy the House. When this proved too difficult a deal was struck. Since the Boromar clan doesn't traffic in assassinations, it was agreed that so long as House Tarkanan doesn't take contracts against the Boromars, they would be permitted to stay in Sharn without paying a fee.

Despite being shunned away by his family and now working as a bounty hunter for a bunch of criminals, Kakuzu found his place in Sharn. He also worked as an accountant for the clan from time to time, a nice changes of winds from his usual, dirtier, business.

He made himself a name in Sharn, and over the years was granted the title of Baron, as a senior assassin of the Clan. Kakuzu was well known in the city, especially in the districts of Lower Dura. 

He established his residence in the lawless district of Callestan mainly because the rent was cheaper, but also because his best informants also maraud those streets, inns and ateliers.

Kakuzu is a baron of House Tarkanan, and his main income comes from the clan’s dealings. However, he takes freelance work if the pay is good enough, and he usually doubles his fees if the contract is from his former House.

House Tharashk, despite expelling Kakuzu many years ago, is often interested in hiring his services in the big city, since bounty hunters that are not from House Tarkanan or the Boromar Clan are not allowed to make business freely even after paying a bountiful fee.

House Tharashk has deals and a close relationship with House Thuranni. The elven house team with them whenever they need to find artifacts or people, in exchange for influences and intel. They are currently working together with the Emerald Claw in Stormreach (Xen’dirk), seeking ancient artifacts for Lady Vol. 

House Thuranni is involved in many dubious affairs and unofficially allied with many organisations, such as the Blood of Vol and the Emerald Claw. The Thuranni fought alongside Karrnath during the War, and they have an important presence in Atur with their True Shapers academy.

These unofficial affairs turn every Thuranni establishment into a safehouse for those allies who need refuge or a meeting point.

So Kakuzu visits The Shadowkeeper tavern whenever the Tharashk need something from him, to catch up with his informants, or just to drink a large pint.

...though cashing in a good bounty for a dumb Seeker, is also interesting.

-------------

We have 6 out of 8 members of the party!! yeyyy!!! now i need to finish the other two ;)

[takadanobaba]

Jin Norizuki’s Birthday PriZoom 7/18/2021

Oh the things I do for Jin Norizuki

That was SUCH an experience. I had a lot of fun!! 

Main takeaway is that I am now acutely aware of when to YO in a song

(Okay so this is my first time attending a prizoom (or even any kinpri screening outside of Luna’s sss rabbit sessions!) so this is all entirely new to me and I can’t really compare it to much, but I figured that it’d be good to write up a report of sorts to fill in for Luna in a way!)

The prizooms are also accessible to everyone and don’t require any Japanese info confirmation!! If you’re interested in attending please go and support kinpri!!!

(Note: I think about Jin wayyyy too much and interpret them as nonbinary, so I use they/them pronouns for Jin. It’s just automatic for me at this point and feels weird otherwise haha so I’ll be doing that in this)

Jin is my all time favorite character and love of my life who I’m extremely delusional about so when a prizoom was announced for their birthday I went INSANE because I didn’t expect Jin’s birthday to be acknowledged AT ALL given how they’re usually excluded/treated like a side character (+ kinpri’s been putting out little to no content lately anyways....haha....). I was waiting in anticipation ever since it was announced (around June 6th) and even put in a time-off request for my work the day of its announcement just so I could attend!!!! ........ You can imagine my frustration at kinpri waiting until the very last minute to put out details about Jin’s prizoom ^^;

💙 💙 💙 💙 💙 💙 

Also!! I’m a complete ~ foreigner ~ and managed to get tickets perfectly fine with my American credit card (and putting in some very obviously Not-An-Actual-Resident-Of-Japan address info...)! So if anyone’s curious about attending a prizoom but worried about region-locking, it’s possible! Very possible! If you’re interested in it, please go! You don’t need to have a Japanese phone number/credit card/address/etc. to purchase PriZoom tickets on RakutenTicket! It’s such an experience! If you need any help buying tickets then I’d be more than happy to assist!! Please support the PriZoom screenings and help increase the demand for more kinpri content!!!!!!!!!!!! I will personally become a living prizoom advertisement

(Also if any kinpri staff find this: I’m sorry for not respecting rules this time but I just wanted to provide a detailed account of the prizoom event and encourage participation for other foreign fans! I won’t do this again!!!)

💙 💙 💙 💙 💙 💙 

I only attended the first and third showings (consisting of the first movie and Over the Sunshine!) because I wanted to see the new/not currently archived content (the second/pride the hero showing’s bonus was just Jin’s birthday video by Joji which I already revisit little too much ahaha). I also went to the chat-only rooms because I wasn’t very confident that I wouldn’t be awkward with my nonexistent cheering experience and intent to just observe what its like (despite knowing that the cheering rooms are more fun based on what Luna said haha). That, and I was planning on using the EXTREMELY OBNOXIOUS soundboard of ABSOLUTE CHAOS for everything since I have issues with voice dysphoria and figured it’d be good to stick to the room with that normalized as the one and only cheering method so participating would be a little less annoying to others, since we’d all have the same idea ^^;

I’m more active on twitter and follow/am mutuals with pretty much anybody who likes Jin enough to post about them, so it was cool seeing almost everyone there! At least half of them tweeted about this being their first prizoom haha. Jin’s birthday was also promoted as a good introduction to prizooms since the first showing was set at a price point of 718 yen instead of the usual 1,760 yen? So, lots of first timers attending! I guess most people had the same thought process as me about the whole insecure-about-not-being-used-to-proper-cheering/using-their-mic thing? Because most of my twitter following ended up in the chat-only rooms with me! Fun!

Also interesting how most people chose the male voice option for the cheering soundboard feature since there’s actually only 2 men who love Jin like that (I’m included in that number!!) in the Jin-obsessed twitter circle. I guess it was because it sounds kinda Joji-ish? and therefore fitting for an event dedicated to Jin! What with them being meant for each other and all.... Plus being Joji is just a fun way to play off having issues about using your own voice (I... project onto Joji a lot.)

👆 👆 👆

Okay I actually typed up all of the above during the second showing (since I wasn’t occupied attending that one) and everyone had the same train of thought and was definitely being Joji. You know that one “song” in Over the Sunshine- Glorious Schwarz- consisting of Joji just going wild infodumping for 3.5 minutes? Yeah EVERYONE who selected the male voice option was spamming 「おれもー！」/ “ME TOO!!!” during that (including me!). So it was like:

“I weighed 4646 grams at birth! ☆” 

“MMMMEMEEMEMMT MEE ME MEEE EMME ME   ME TOO M M ME TOO”

SO OBNOXIOUS. I LOVE IT. EVERYONE SHARING THE SAME BRAINCELL. THE JOJI BRAINCELL.

💙

The highlight of the prizoom  (in my opinion) was when some guy repeatedly hit よっ！/ YO! to the music in the first movie, which then led to everyone having a collective ~ Realization ~ 

After that happened, everybody joined in and started YO!-ing along in the other lives. Beautiful.

(Blurred recording of Dramatic Love and Showcase Night just so YO!u can see what I mean.)

(I only did those two to test screen recording after failing to archive the first Jin bonus while using the soundboard feature in the first showing, initially I didn’t intend to record anything but the bonuses and will not be doing that anymore. If you attend, don’t be like me or worse!!!! Please!! I’ll delete these if needed/after a few weeks. Also just wanted to mention that Koi no Royal Straight Flush is up there in Kinpri’s Most YO!-able songs)

I love this soundboard feature. Sounds like hell. Prizooms are truely a new form of art because of it. Amazing how cheering screenings have evolved over a pandemic. Music feels empty to me without the YO!s now. After this I ended up listening to the entire kinpri discography so I could determine the YO!ability of each song. Not sure if every prizoom is like that? But I really want to go to more showings just for the community experience! I’m morbidly curious as to how many people would try to YO! to Platonic Sword. I considered going to Rei’s because they’re showing Shiny Rose Stars, but I probably won’t though since money and sleep are things (They really should make tickets no more than 1,000 yen.... they’re zoom meetings with audio problems....THE AUDIO ISSUES ARE FUN THOUGH! YOU CAN SPAM “GANBATTE” WITH EVERYONE!!) Plus while I do like every kinpri character, none of the street boys are really my favorites and going to every showing regardless of character would be a lot. I assumed that I was only going to try attending Joji’s until they announced that they were gonna do something for Jin!! So if you want to see what it’s like PLEASE get tickets and experience it for yourself!! It’s so much more fun participating !!!! Relying on 1-2 people to post event summaries isn’t exactly consistent coverage of every prizoom either!

\ よっ！/      \ よっ！/      \ よっ！/

So much of this is a community experience that you just have to see for yourself! It’s really cool seeing people go all out for their favorites and just going wild. Notable participants include:

- Two separate people just working out the entire time (one of them doing “Prism Exercise” meaning very high effort full-body cheering and dancing? It was really impressive seeing them go all-out for such a long time!)

- Two (2!) Ai cosplayers!!! One attending the prizoom with a Jin cosplayer!!

- The lady who cosplayed Jin in their cute green pre-retirement prism star outfit WITH A HUGE JIN PUPPET IN THE SAME STYLE AS THE SHUFFLE PUPPETS IN THE STAGEPLAY!!!

- That one person who just had a Minato fish head on the entire time (?!)

- A Victoria cosplayer who showed off a really nice!! drawing of Jin they did during the participant showcase at the end of the screenings

- The person with a REALLY CUTE!!!!! homemade Jin plushie!!

- Two people who attended with 3D/vtuber style models of the Go Go Glorious! (YMT29 subunit) members: Noel Tokyo and Mikado Shibuya (who also had a model of Ai!)

- A really cute Joji vtuber model!

💙 💙 💙 💙 💙 💙

The bonuses were Jin’s birthday video from 2016 and a birthday message of sorts from Jin!

I actually didn’t manage to properly archive the first one as intended because things went horribly wrong so I ended up with nothing but just a terrible (said affectionately) little recording of the soundboard I linked earlier. But whatever I shouldn’t be doing that anyways. Hopefully kinpri includes that and the other prizoom bonuses in something later.... the thought of any content being stuck as lost media terrifies me. I don’t have a good enough memory or a high enough Japanese proficiency level to type it out but it wasn’t particularly analyzable or anything (telling that to myself to make me feel better about losing it). Just the usual Jin being dramatic and going on an evil monologue. Jin being evil ASMR. I lovingly burned another one of Jin’s evil laughs into my mind too so there’s that.

For the 3rd showing bonus however I did not fail though it’s arguably the less interesting bonus of the two since it’s unvoiced. I really love Jin’s voice. Big sexy. Actual dialogue is pretty similar to each other from what I’ve gathered (ending with one of Jin’s cute little アーーーッハッハッハッ！！！！！’s (the text effect for the unvoiced bonus was an appreciated detail!). 

(I’m not very confident in my ability to provide a good translation so I’ll just not embarrass myself)

“ AAAaAAaHAHAAHAAa ~ ! ! ! ! ! ! ! “

💙

Yes Jin I’ll support you in the future-!!! ヾ(>▽ <、 )

I’ll never not be obsessed but it’d still be nice to have more substantial content to gush about and do that with.... Kinpri come back and release an anime continuation.... give me the Jin plot development....kinpri come back my happiness is a little too reliant on you

After the showings you get an email asking for feedback which is cool! I’ve been waiting to complain about how 法月 is written as Noriduki instead of Norizuki for the longest time but I never had a chance until now haha. Makes it so painful for me to buy Jin merch. Also begged for an anime continuation. I wonder how much they take into account feedback? I guess I’ll see when/if they start writing Jin’s name how it’s supposed to be.

ANYWAYS

IF YOU WANT TO GO TO A PRIZOOM, DO IT!

Prism shows really are best experienced with a community!!! If you like kinpri it’s a GREAT OPPORTUNITY to experience what a cheering screening is like with the Japanese fanbase from the comfort of your very own home which is most likely nowhere near Japan!! Everyone should experience prism shows!!!! I have no regrets and I’m still so hyped from the prism sparkle!!!

ANYBODY CAN ATTEND AND BUY TICKETS EVEN WITHOUT JAPANESE INFORMATION!!!

 \\   GLORIOUS SCHWARZ!   //

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Fire Season Comes Early To California (CNN) Fire weather is coming early to California this year. For the first time since 2014, parts of Northern California are seeing a May “red flag” fire warning due to dry and windy conditions. The warning coverage area extends from Redding in the north to Modesto in the south, and includes portions of the Central Valley and the state capital of Sacramento. The warning also extends to the eastern edges of the Bay Area. A brush fire that started Friday in Pacific Palisades flared up Saturday due to gusty winds, burning more than 1,300 acres and threatening homes in Topanga Canyon. Topanga State Park in the Santa Monica Mountains is about 20 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The Palisades fire caused about 1,000 people to be evacuated from their homes early Sunday, with other residents on standby to leave.

Pandemic Refugees at the Border (NYT) The Biden administration continues to grapple with swelling numbers of migrants along the southwestern border. Most of them are from Central America, fleeing gang violence and natural disasters. But the past few months have also brought a much different wave of migration that the Biden administration was not prepared to address: pandemic refugees. They are people arriving in ever greater numbers from far-flung countries where the coronavirus has caused unimaginable levels of illness and death and decimated economies and livelihoods. If eking out an existence was challenging in such countries before, in many of them it has now become almost impossible. According to official data released this week, 30 percent of all families encountered along the border in April hailed from countries other than Mexico and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, compared to just 7.5 percent in April 2019, during the last border surge. The coronavirus pandemic has had far-reaching consequences for the global economy, erasing hundreds of millions of jobs. And it has disproportionately affected developing countries, where it could set back decades of progress, according to economists. About 13,000 migrants have landed in Italy, the gateway to Europe, so far this year, three times as many as in the same period last year. At the U.S.-Mexico border in recent months, agents have stopped people from more than 160 countries, and the geography coincides with the path of the virus’s worst devastation.

The U.S. conversation on Israel is changing, no matter Biden’s stance (Washington Post) In Washington, support for the Palestinian plight is getting louder in Congress. On Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote a widely circulated New York Times op-ed pulling the spotlight away from Hamas’s provocations to the deeper reality of life for millions of Palestinians living under blockade and occupation. He pointed to the havoc unleashed in recent weeks by rampaging mobs of Jewish extremists in Jerusalem, as well as the questionable Israeli legal attempts to forcibly evict the Palestinian residents of a neighborhood in the contested holy city. “None of this excuses the attacks by Hamas, which were an attempt to exploit the unrest in Jerusalem, or the failures of the corrupt and ineffective Palestinian Authority, which recently postponed long-overdue elections,” Sanders wrote. “But the fact of the matter is that Israel remains the one sovereign authority in the land of Israel and Palestine, and rather than preparing for peace and justice, it has been entrenching its unequal and undemocratic control.”      In another era, Sanders would have cut a lonely figure among his colleagues. But he is not alone. A number of Democratic lawmakers, including solidly pro-Israel politicians, issued statements indicating their displeasure with the casualties caused by Israel’s attacks in Gaza. Others were more vocal, accusing Israel of “apartheid.” Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) tweeted: “This is happening with the support of the United States....the US vetoed the UN call for a ceasefire. If the Biden admin can’t stand up to an ally, who can it stand up to? How can they credibly claim to stand for human rights?�� Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a center-left pro-Israel advocacy organization that increasingly reflects the mainstream position of American liberals, said in a briefing with reporters last week that the “diplomatic blank check to the state of Israel” given out by successive U.S. administrations has meant that “Israel has no incentive to end occupation and find a solution to the conflict.”

Mexico City is sinking (Wired) When Darío Solano‐Rojas moved from his hometown of Cuernavaca to Mexico City to study at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the layout of the metropolis confused him. “What surprised me was that everything was kind of twisted and tilted,” says Solano‐Rojas. “At that time, I didn't know what it was about. I just thought, ‘Oh, well, the city is so much different than my hometown.’” Different, it turned out, in a bad way. Picking up the study of geology at the university, Solano‐Rojas met geophysicist Enrique Cabral-Cano, who was actually researching the surprising reason for that infrastructural chaos: The city was sinking—big time. It’s the result of a geological phenomenon called subsidence, which usually happens when too much water is drawn from underground, and the land above begins to compact. According to new modeling by the two researchers and their colleagues, parts of the city are sinking as much as 20 inches a year. In the next century and a half, they calculate, areas could drop by as much as 65 feet. Spots just outside Mexico City proper could sink 100 feet. That twisting and tilting Solano‐Rojas noticed was just the start of a slow-motion crisis for 9.2 million people in the fastest-sinking city on Earth. And because some parts are slumping dramatically and others aren’t, the infrastructure that spans the two zones is sinking in some areas but staying at the same elevation in others. And that threatens to break roads, metro networks, and sewer systems. “Subsistence by itself may not be a terrible issue,” says Cabral-Cano. “But it's the difference in this subsistence velocity that really puts all civil structures under different stresses.”

Today’s the day: British holidaymakers return to Portugal as travel ban ends (Reuters) Sun-hungry British visitors descended on Portuguese beaches once again on Monday as a four-month long ban on travel between the two countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic ended, in a much-needed boost for the struggling tourism sector. Twenty-two flights from Britain are due to land in Portugal on Monday, with most heading to the southern Algarve region, famous for its beaches and golf courses but nearly deserted as the pandemic kept tourists away. Visitors from Britain must present evidence of a negative coronavirus test taken 72 hours before boarding their flights to Portugal and there is no need to quarantine for COVID-19 when returning home. Back at home, most British people will be free once again to hug, albeit cautiously, drink a pint in their pub, sit down to an indoor meal or visit the cinema after the ending of a series of lockdowns that imposed the strictest ever restrictions in peacetime.

Afghans who helped the US now fear being left behind (AP) He served as an interpreter alongside U.S. soldiers on hundreds of patrols and dozens of firefights in eastern Afghanistan, earning a glowing letter of recommendation from an American platoon commander and a medal of commendation. Still, Ayazudin Hilal was turned down when he applied for one of the scarce special visas that would allow him to relocate to the U.S. with his family. Now, as American and NATO forces prepare to leave the country, he and thousands of others who aided the war effort fear they will be left stranded, facing the prospect of Taliban reprisals. “We are not safe,” the 41-year-old father of six said of Afghan civilians who worked for the U.S. or NATO. “The Taliban is calling us and telling us, ‘Your stepbrother is leaving the country soon, and we will kill all of you guys.’” At least 300 interpreters have been killed in Afghanistan since 2016, and the Taliban have made it clear they will continue to be targeted, said Matt Zeller, a co-founder of No One Left Behind, an organization that advocates on their behalf. He also served in the country as an Army officer. “The Taliban considers them to be literally enemies of Islam,” said Zeller, now a fellow at the Truman National Security Project. “There’s no mercy for them.”

A Desperate India Falls Prey to Covid Scammers (NYT) Within the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak, few treasures are more coveted than an empty oxygen canister. India’s hospitals desperately need the metal cylinders to store and transport the lifesaving gas as patients across the country gasp for breath. So a local charity reacted with outrage when one supplier more than doubled the price, to nearly $200 each. The charity called the police, who discovered what could be one of the most brazen, dangerous scams in a country awash with coronavirus-related fraud and black-market profiteering. The police say the supplier—a business called Varsha Engineering, essentially a scrapyard—had been repainting fire extinguishers and selling them as oxygen canisters. The consequences could be deadly: The less-sturdy fire extinguishers might explode if filled with high-pressure oxygen. A coronavirus second wave has devastated India’s medical system. Hospitals are full. Drugs, vaccines, oxygen and other supplies are running out. Pandemic profiteers are filling the gap. In many cases, the sellers prey on the desperation and grief of families.

Full-blown boycott pushed for Beijing Olympics (AP) Groups alleging human-rights abuses against minorities in China are calling for a full-blown boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, a move likely to ratchet up pressure on the International Olympic Committee, athletes, sponsors and sports federations. A coalition representing Uyghurs, Tibetans, residents of Hong Kong and others issued a statement Monday calling for the boycott, eschewing lesser measures that had been floated like “diplomatic boycotts” and further negotiations with the IOC or China. “The time for talking with the IOC is over,” Lhadon Tethong of the Tibet Action Institute said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. “This cannot be games as usual or business as usual; not for the IOC and not for the international community.” The push for a boycott comes a day before a joint hearing in the U.S. Congress focusing on the Beijing Olympics and China’s human-rights record, and just days after the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee said boycotts are ineffective and only hurt athletes.

Grief Mounts as Efforts to Ease Israel-Hamas Fight Falter (NYT) Diplomats and international leaders were unable Sunday to mediate a cease-fire in the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel vowed to continue the fight and the United Nations Security Council failed to agree on a joint response to the worsening bloodshed. The diplomatic wrangling occurred after the fighting, the most intense seen in Gaza and Israel for seven years, entered its deadliest phase yet. At least 42 Palestinians were killed early Sunday morning in an airstrike on several apartments in Gaza City, Palestinian officials said, the conflict’s most lethal episode so far. The number of people in killed in Gaza rose to 197 over the seven days of the conflict, according to Palestinian officials, while the number of Israeli residents killed by Palestinian militants climbed to 11, including one soldier, the Israeli government said.

Israel, Hamas trade fire in Gaza as war rages on (AP) Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes on what it said were militant targets in Gaza, leveling a six-story building, and militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel on Tuesday. Palestinians across the region observed a general strike as the war, now in its second week, showed no signs of abating. The strikes toppled a building that housed libraries and educational centers belonging to the Islamic University. Residents sifted through the rubble, searching for their belongings.

Israel’s aftermath (Foreign Policy) In Israel, the aftermath of days of violence in mixed Arab-Israeli towns has led to a one-sided reaction from state prosecutors: Of the 116 indictments served so far against those arrested last week, all have been against Arab-Israeli citizens, Haaretz reports. Meanwhile, Yair Lapid, whose centrist Yesh Atid party’s chances of forming a coalition government has crumbled since the violence broke out, placed the blame on Netanyahu. If he was in charge, Lapid said on Sunday, no one would have to question “why the fire always breaks out precisely when it’s most convenient for the prime minister.”

Long working hours can be a killer, WHO study shows (Reuters) Working long hours is killing hundreds of thousands of people a year in a worsening trend that may accelerate further due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization said on Monday. In the first global study of the loss of life associated with longer working hours, the paper in the journal Environment International showed that 745,000 people died from stroke and heart disease associated with long working hours in 2016. That was an increase of nearly 30% from 2000. “Working 55 hours or more per week is a serious health hazard,” said Maria Neira, director of the WHO’s Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health. The joint study, produced by the WHO and the International Labour Organization, showed that most victims (72%) were men and were middle-aged or older. Often, the deaths occurred much later in life, sometimes decades later, than the shifts worked. It also showed that people living in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific region were the most affected.

[momentous000]

Americanized: A struggle with identity and culture

This is a reflective essay I wrote for my first semester college english class. It was the first college essay I was assigned to write  and I found it intimidating, realizing that my writing skills will finally be put to the test. I wanted to share my story because I know that I am not alone in struggling with these experiences. I am still struggling with balancing two cultures and learning to make peace with feelings of frustration and shame. 

As first-generation immigrants, my parents are unfamiliar with the American education system, specifically, college in its entirety. While my parents have been supportive of my education, they do not have the knowledge or time to guide me along the process. As a result, I was forced to become independent within my academic journey. In becoming self-reliant and navigating through The Academy on my own, I struggled to balance my cultural and academic identity.

Growing up, my parents instilled in me the importance of education as a foundation for success. The guidance they provided was limited to: “Be a good student,” which meant, “earn good grades.” To please my parents, I finished my homework, studied dutifully, and earned fridge-worthy grades throughout my academic career. They congratulated me on every report card, with the same phrase: “Good job, anak, keep doing well,” my father would always write on every report card. With every A I brought home, they sounded like a broken record, it started to feel like they were mocking me. Their response was so superficial, so focused on the letter grade. I graduated high school with a 4.2 GPA, decorated with cords. According to my parents’ definition, this proved I am a good student. They were proud of me.

Nevertheless, I know a good student is not defined by the grades they earn. I consider myself a good student because I value and apply the knowledge I learn beyond the classroom setting. But, the more I learned, the more I withdrew myself from my family to focus on my studies. In prioritizing my academics, I struggled to balance my Filipino identity. The more serious I was about perfecting my academic skills, the more I held my parents accountable for the same standards they placed on me. While dealing with my perfectionism and familial expectations, I feel compelled to further conform to the academic standards of the Model Minority Myth. A model minority is a racial group whose members are perceived to have a higher level of success compared to others. The media often portrays Asians as a poster child for this myth, using seemingly positive stereotypes, such as “all Asians are good at math.” Not only does this have detrimental effects on diverse Asian ethnicities, but also race-relations in general.

As a result, the Model Minority Myth and my parents’ expectations forced me to bolster my sense of agency. Both conditioned me to attach my self-worth to my academic accomplishments. As a second-generation college student, would I become another prized possession, a trophy, for my family? My older sister, fortunately, went through the college experience before me, attending Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) and successfully transferring, and graduating from the University of Virginia (UVA). Despite our similar paths, the future of my education solely rests in my hands. I must have exigence because if I do not, how will I repay my parents for their sacrifices, if not for an educated daughter destined to pursue a better life than theirs?

For this reason, I adopted the habits that eventually isolated me from my family, such that of Rodriguez in Scholarship boy: “with ever-increasing intensity, I devoted myself to my studies. I became bookish, puzzling to all my family. My ambition set me apart.” Like Rodriguez, when I was in high school, I would come home every day armed with knowledge I was eager to share with my parents. My eyes lit up, almost alarmingly, chattering on about Crime and Punishment. Yet, as I was rapt in my speech, my mother’s eyes glazed over. She curtly commented on how all the books we were reading were too old, too Eurocentric:

“Fyodor… ano? Russian, talaga? Why do they make you read those books?”

“It’s a classical novel, mom. It brilliantly explores morality and religion—”

“He murdered someone? Wow! Don’t start thinking like him!” “The author didn’t commit a murder. Raskolnikov is a complex character that—” “Why all the books you talk about are old? No modern or Asian?”

“Well, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad—”

“Do you have to write an essay on it?”

“Yes.”

I started to feel contempt against my parents’ way of life. Their philosophy was “not only different but starkly opposed to that of the classroom,” as stated by Rodriguez.

While I am adopting the identity of a scholar, according to my parents, I am becoming Americanized. In his song Kuya Derrick, Nak, a Filipino-American rapper, shares his similar struggles with maintaining his identity: “Our parents wanted us to grow up in America without becoming American.” My parents assumed American education was stripping me of my native culture because they claim The Academy has a standard, monolithic, mindset. Despite explaining The Academy’s emphasis on not only diversity in ethnicity, but as well as in thought, I do agree with them: I am struggling to be proud of, to retain, my Filipino identity while simultaneously becoming a member of The Academy.

In our image exercise in class, I chose the image with a group of people surrounded by thought bubbles and collaboration. I interpreted the frenzy of intellect as an example of scholars sharing their insights in The Academy. As an introvert, I see myself as the first person from the right, the one listening and contemplating the ideas they learned. While I do not see my introversion as a problem, my analytical thinking exacerbates my shyness and self-criticism. These issues not only hinder my contributions, but growth in The Academy. Currently, I am weighed down by the “Panic Monster.” To guarantee my successful transfer to UVA, he is always awake in my mind, pressuring me to confine myself in the yellow walls of my aunt’s attic, suffocating me with the constant transfer of knowledge. The only way to shut him up is to obey his orders: study and the “Panic Monster” takes a nap. To make the most of my college experience and to better engage in The Academy’s frenzy of knowledge, I plan to become more confident in my skills and embrace a hint of extraversion.

Now that I am paying for my education, I feel a profound sense of determination to take advantage of my resources. I do not want to be a passive student, just dutifully doing their work and waiting for two years to go by. I will participate in class discussions, connect with my professors, and take honors courses to grow further as a scholar. I will exhaust this campus of its resources by taking advantage of the tutoring centers, getting free merchandise from Student Life, and joining campus clubs such as the Honors Club and the Pride Alliance. To refrain from wasting the precious days of my “Life Calendar,” as Urban explains, I will further challenge my shyness by becoming involved outside of NVCC’s campus. I will explore Annandale, instead of constantly being cooped up in my aunt’s attic, and meet new people from various backgrounds in one of the most diverse colleges in America.

My parents, like most immigrants, wanted me to succeed and pursue the opportunities they missed. They were living their American Dream vicariously through me. I should be grateful for their sacrifices. While they do not have the same intellectual curiosity as I do, I take for “granted their enormous native intelligence,” as Rodriguez confessed. While I have an English accent in Tagalog, my parents can fluently write and speak in our native tongue. While I am forgetting the language, they manage to speak both English, Tagalog, and even a regional dialect, though they have an accent. While I can quote classical literature, they can cook a variety of traditional Filipino cuisine that I enjoyed eating growing up and still do today. While I held contempt for them, imagine how heartbroken they felt when they witnessed their child becoming increasingly disconnected and foreign from their family. I want to learn more about my roots, I want to study my history.

I strive to express gratitude towards my parents’ strength in moving us here after political persecution and extrajudicial killings of human rights advocates in the Philippines forced us to flee and seek refuge in America. I strive to reclaim my Filipino identity and culture by being less judgmental, and truly understanding my parents’ way of life, our culture’s way of life. I must not let the rules of The Academy and my Eurocentric education consume my identity. I aim to learn how to cook traditional meals, learn our rich native history, and respond to my parents in Tagalog.

footnotes:

A reference to the first Academy, founded by Plato. It is also used to describe the overall intellectual work and environment of colleges or universities.

anak means child in Tagalog, the main language of the Philippines.

“What”

“Really”

“Older brother”

The name Tim Urban coined for upcoming deadlines during his TEDTalk on procrastination.

[0bsidian5ire]

Prompt #2: Soul Collectors

Prompt: Bargain from @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast's #ffxivwrite2019

Set after Kharagal has met up with the Scions, but before Ifrit has been defeated

The first time Kharagal ran into Voidsent was on an escort job for a trader to Camp Bronze Lake. She'd heard of them before then of course, but Limsa Lomisa wasn't the kind of city that attracted people who wanted more raw arcane power. Half the point of arcanism was that it enabled mages to use less aether rather then more after all. Which meant that the Arcanist Guild hadn't taught Kharagal much more then that Voidsent possessed things, absorbed aether in a very weird manner and died oddly.

They really could have mentioned that by "possess things", they meant "can possess the gas rising from the vents around the lake", Kharagal grumbled to herself as she cast Ruin at the floating bombs that surrounded the caravan. The guild had been right about about the Voidsent's aether feeling weird, or rather wrong. It was like something in the center of the balls of gas that made up the bombs was eating the aether of anything the gas came in contact with, including the aether of her spells. Only the thing eating the aether didn't feel like it had any aether itself. It was like aether was draining into a hole.

Out of desperation, Kharagal shut her spellbook and swung it through the ball of gas. Surprisingly, her book briefly met resistance as it entered the ball of gas before scattering the gas. Whatever it was that was eating the aether blipped out of existence as the gas thinned out. Well at least that works, Kharagal thought and repeated the process with the other bombs.

By the end of the fight, Kharagal was getting annoyed at how the Voidsent seemed to not die correctly. She disrupted the gas body of the last Voidsent Bomb and paid special attention to how the hole of non-aether at the center of the gas seemingly disappeared into nothing. No aether released on "death"... she mused to herself. And it has to be going somewhere... What's really going on when you die? She shook herself and went back to the trader to give him the all-clear. She had a job to get done.

Still, the encounter didn't leave her mind. The Xaela had very few taboos on what was acceptable to do with aether. One of the universal things everyone agreed was not to be done with aether was to trade it to other beings for power. What kind of beings would accept aether in a trade, only myths talked about. Particularly one myth about a khan who had wanted to rule all the tribes and summoned a army of demons to fight his battles for him, rather then fighting them himself. The greatest of the demons had asked not just for the khan's aether, but for the aether of all his tribe and the khan had agreed. However, the khan's tribe found out about what he had agreed to and cried out to Nhaama for help against the khan for there was no other tribe who could stand against the demons and help them. Nhaama had answered them by flinging a solid moonbeam at the khan's ritual site. It had killed not only the khan and his army of demons but his entire tribe as well. However, the aether of his tribe had not been bargained with yet and so their souls were saved. For the soul is made of aether and aether lives on in the aetherial plane even after death... Kharagal finished the last line of the myth to herself. If Voidsent were the demons the myth was referring to and Voidsent ate aether... Does that mean they can eat souls? I should check with Nhagi'a after this. She mentally chewed on the idea the rest of the way to Camp Bronze Lake.

"Oh boy... Voidsent..." Nhagi'a sighed heavily and looked at Kharagal through his fringe of hair. His ears flicked, revealing emotions Kharagal was still figuring out how to read. "You do pick the hard to talk about topics, Kharagal. First the Elementals and now this..." They were in the common room in the Waking Sands talking over rounds of chilled cactus juice. "I'm actually amazed you've not encountered Voidsent before given your aether levels."

"They're attracted to high concentrations of aether?" Kharagal doubted that was all of it; the House of the Crooked Coin should be crawling with them in that case.

"Very much so." Nhagi'a fingered the staff next to him. "It's something we thumaturges have to deal with from time to time. Either Voidsent are attracted to all the aether we release, or the thumaturges that don't have a lot of aether think they can make the power difference up by summoning something stronger with the aether that they do have. You see that last one a lot when dealing with rouge thumaturges and they need to boost their numbers." He bit his lip. "It always ends badly for the mage."

"Because the Voidsent eats their aether?" Kharagal shuddered at the thought.

"If only." Nhagi'a took a deep breath and a long daft of cactus juice. "That's the best case scenario. Often times you'll find they were sacrificing other people to the Voidsent so it wouldn't eat their aether." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "It happens often enough that people disappearing in a given area is considered a reason to get the Thumaturges Guild involved since someone might be summoning Voidsent. And the more people missing, the worse the Voidsent ends up being to deal with."

"How do you get worse Voidsent?" Kharagal took a sip of her own drink.

"Depends on the size of the portal the mage can make to summon them and how much aether they can promise the Voidsent in question." Nhagi'a shuddered again and gripped his staff, this time more tightly. "And the... things... it can possess."

"Oh." Kharagl imagined how annoying it would be to face something that seemingly drank aether and was also hard to take down physically. "I'm assuming that has a huge effect on how hard it is to fight."

Nhagi'a nodded. "Voidsent that posses body parts are less dangerous then the ones that posses bodies. The ones that possess non-organic things are a lot more limited in what their body can do then the ones that take over organic beings. The worst are the ones that take over people though. Sometimes the person is still in there and the Voidsent can make use of their abilities and memories."

Kharagal felt the blood drain from her face. "What happens to them?"

Nhagi'a looked up at her. "I'm amusing you've felt how Voidsent... cease existing." At Kharagal's nod he let out a sigh. "So they don't really die. For whatever reason, it is possible to run into the same Voidsent again. We think they go back to their plane of existence when whatever they are possessing is... sufficiently destroyed. Which they can then be summoned from again."

"And the aether they've eaten?" Kharagal was almost afraid of the answer.

"Goes with the Voidsent." Nhagi'a winced at that.

Kharagal did too and took a long draft of cactus juice. She looked at Nhagi'a. He was rarely this subdued and was probably dealing with... something related to the topic at hand. "Hey, you want to go see who can destroy some training dummies faster?" Usually, Nhagi'a was more then happy to demonstrate how hard this thumagury hit.

Nhagi'a's ears flicked forward in what Kharagal by now knew was clear interest. "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea," Nhagi'a grabbed his staff and nearly ran out the door, a look of relief on his face.

Kharagal was right behind him. Practicing destroying your problems always made her feel better. And the Voidsent problem definitely deserved being throughly destroyed in her opinion.

Author's Notes: As far as I can tell, there aren't any Voidsent in Othard. Even in Eorzea, they naturally occur mainly in The Black Shroud with a few groupings outside if that region. And most of the Voidsent outside The Black Shroud are specifically summoned by mages. As often as the WoL runs into them, most people probably don't.

The myth Kharagal is remembering is a mythical retelling and interpretation of Xande pacting with the Cloud of Darkness and the 4th Umbral Calamity. Most of the taboos that the Xaela have about what can't be done with aether can be summed up with "don't be an idiot like the Allagans were", even if they can't remember who the Allagans specifically are.

Given where this is in the MSQ, neither Nhagi'a or Kharagal have their job stones yet. Nhagi'a in particular has yet to finish the Thumaturge quest line and become OP at sending Voidsent back where they came from.

[sweettoothshipperrotg]

Arranged Marriage... SweetTooth AU?? :3

Well, this is what happens when I allow the plot bunnies (pun fully intended) to hold me hostage: y’all end up with a thirteen page fic. (sorry?)

Kinda long disclaimer: My brain setted this during victorian times in England, more specifically in the 1840′s London. Bunny is an army lieutenant that had been assigned to the British colonies of New South Wales (aka Australia), Toothiana is a princess from one of the many Indian states that were under indirect british rule (she still held her title as maharani but could not kick the dudes out of her region). Although I did as much research as I could to inform myself and provide argument for the fic, I apologize if you feel that I was disrespectful/misinformed in the way I depicted the characters and circumstances here. It was not my intention and I would appreciate if you can offer constructive criticism so I can improve. What I DID do is try to keep it as ambiguous as possible so although it does not directly mention anyone in particular, the idea still remains (don’t go around colonizing countries an being an asshat to people) 

A/N: Whenever you see boldened and cursive text it’s because the characters are speaking a different language apart from regular English.

Ok, I’m done, I promise. ^^;

Hope you like it!

“I have been eagerly awaiting the day I could finallymeet you…and I am not disappointed. You are beautiful.”

The words that came from her fiancé’s mouth would havesent any other young girl’s heart aflutter. To Toothiana…they felt completelyhollow.

Every fiber of her soul was begging her to turn back,ran to the closest port, and sneak onto a ship that would take her far awayfrom here and closer to her beloved country. Yet she remained rooted on herspot.

The atmosphere was charged with tension, silence stretchingand making everything worse.

All eyes were on both of them, sizing, judging, and losingno detail of the interaction among the betrothed couple.

Their dark clothes and pretentious faces wereunnerving to say the least.

They thought themselves above her and her people.Fools, the lot of them.

Toothiana kept her head held high. The people who hadaccompanied her and her younger sister had instructed her on how she wassupposed to curtsy and handle herself when she met her fiancé. She refused togrant him said honor.

She was the heir to the throne of Punjam Hy Loo,daughter of Haroom and Queen Rashmi. She bowed to those worthy of it.

Her disruption of protocol sent tongues wagging; awave of poorly concealed whispers filled the room.

The man in front of her seemed to tower above most ofthe attendees. His bright red uniform and medals pinned to his chest, proof ofhis prowess in battle, seemed obnoxiously loud and reminded her of howdifferent and apart they truly were. Of how men sporting the same uniform hadinvaded her country and taken by force what didn’t belong to them.

To look at him, to think of why she had to do this wasmaking her sick.

She had been taken away from her home with courteoussmiles and polite words that did nothing to hide how the invaders held all thecards and they had no quarrel with twisting her arm into submitting to theirwishes.

So they had shipped off across the ocean, away fromthe deep colors of the green jungles she loved so much, from the colorful lifeof her city, and from the comfort of being among her people.

She dearly missed the sun kissed bedroom she had grownup in, the morning chants and prayers of the devotees inside the temples, theair full of spices and the perfume of the flowers in bloom.

The trip had been horrific. Storms and rough seas madeher fear that she would die in the middle of the vast ocean without theappropriate rites, her soul becoming chained to the sea and not be allowed totranscend to the beyond and see her parents.

On those nights where it almost seemed that the shipwould capsize at any moment, she held tight to her baby sister (a merelythirteen year old girl who had tragically been roped into this voyage due tosharing the same lineage) and allowed a few rogue tears to trickle down her face.

The only comfort had been the kind young man thatstationed himself outside her cabin to make the sisters feel more secure,promising to keep them safe at all costs.

Jackson Overland Frost had been a true blessing duringher long journey, joining her at the port before they departed and using hiswits and charm to win her over. He had offered his services to accompany her,serve as her interpreter, and to help her navigate this new culture full ofstrange and different aspects.

He had proven a good, amicable companion. Since he wasthe only one who spoke to her in her language, it had initiated an almostinstant bond between them.

He treated her and her sister with the upmost respectand saw them as equals.

Although he did not share the same nationality as herfiancé, he had provided as a diplomatic envoy between countries and had quicklybecome friends with him.

In fact, Jack had provided her with far moreinformation about her intended than any member of her escorts.

Toothiana did not know much of Lord Bunnymund. He wasthe sole heir of his family’s titles at his 26 years of age, had ascended tothe rank of lieutenant during his military service but had been eventuallydischarged from the army (the reason of said discharge had not been explainedto her).

“How is he? Tell me about his real colors”,she had asked him while gazing at the miniature with the rendition of the manshe was to marry.

“Bunny? Well, he’s real annoying, realgrumpy, and really full of himself!” He said with a playful smile thathad made her little sister burst into laughter. “But in all seriousness, I havenever met a stronger, more honorable man than the likes of him. Truly, the lastof his kind.”

She was not able to get any more meaningfulinformation out of him. Any other pertinent details, he proclaimed, she wouldhave to ask the man himself.

Right now, Toothiana wished she had extricated moreinformation from Jack.

The small painting had not made him justice, of thatshe was certain.

Despite belonging to the upper class, his face did nothave the softness or paleness of noblemen his age. His features knew themerciless lash of the wind and the unforgiving rays of the sun, making himstand out from the sea of faces that seemed to quake at the mention of notbeing as white as snow.

His hands looked rougher than those of the pamperednoblemen.

The voice that had greeted her had sent a shiver downher spine: deep, calming, kind, instead of the monotonous plummy ones she hadheard since the beginning of her journey. It was the type of voice that shewouldn’t mind hearing for the rest of her days.

However, his eyes were the most striking of his attributes,two orbs of vivid green that sucked the air out of her lungs when she firstlooked at them.

Despite how pleasing he was on the eyes, she wasdetermined to not budge an inch.

They wanted to make her dance to their tune? Fine.

But she would be the one to mark the tempo.

“And I hope that you do not prove asconceited and vain as the rest of your countrymen”, she retorted with asweet smirk. Even if no one but Jack and her sister could understand her, shewas content with her words.

Jack snorted at her comment, barely covering hislaughter and trying to pass it as a fit of cough.

Although it was only for a moment, she could swear shesaw her fiancé smiling at her display of spirit.

His fiancé was nothing like he had expected.

The ones that had arranged their union had granted himlittle information about her.

Whatever he received should be taken with a grain ofsalt, anyways.

Their derisive remarks and snide commentaries againsther being a foreigner and from a different culture got on his nerves.

He hated this place.

Aster was certain of this once he had been forced toleave his post at the army and practically dragged back to his country to sitdown and submit to orders like a good puppet.

He had been received with a scowl by the ones sittingatop of the political playfield.

And, stars above, the almost unending procession fromone minister’s office to another just to receive the same lecture from stuffyold men with no idea of how real life was beyond their very noses, almost droveBunnymund mad.

They had no qualm of gloating about how lucky he was to not have been executedfor his seditious actions against the crown.

What did they knew of his motives? Absolutely nothing.

They had never gone hungry a day of their lives. Theyknew not of sore muscles and tired bodies after strenuous hours of labor underthe sun. They feared not the crack of the whip, nor the unkind treatment of strangersthat had no roots to their lands.

While stationed as an officer, he had tried to breakpeace between the locals and his countrymen. But the latter refused to give anyquarter to what they considered belonged to them.

The moment that he was demanded to comply withatrocities like the ones they had ordered of him had been the straw that brokethe camel’s back.

Bunnymund had taken action against those who commandedhim. Slowly and discreetly, he had aided local insurgent factions, providingresources, information and even shelter to those who were on the run.

Unfortunately, he was caught without any means ofescape.

The first month that he stayed in prison had beentesting.

His once fellow officers now treated him like thelowliest of criminals, spitting insults whenever they passed him by.

The beatings and punishments were administered withardent fervor.

When the infection had settled in, he truly thought hewould die in that filthy cell and not even be given a proper grave.

Those days spent at the camp’s infirmary – confined tohis bed not only by the fever but by the manacles to prevent any chance ofescape, and being look down by the doctors and nurses that kept him alive – hadcrawled by agonizing slow.

Illness decided not to kill him, and back to the cellhe went.

He was careless enough to lose track of the time hespent there, only when he was released he found out that his confinement had lasteda year and 3 months.

Out of nowhere, he was presented to the commander ofthe camp and informed that his family had pulled enough strings for him to besent back to his country to be dealt with by higher authorities. He was givenhonorable discharge of the army and was forbidden to return, the disdain in theofficer oozing from every word.

And throughout this horrid experience, Bunnymund hadnever uttered a word. He had not complained, nor begged, nor retracted from hisactions. It was a waste of time to try to convince them.

He was placed on the next ship back to his countryunder heavy scrutiny of two officers who had been assigned to police him thewhole trip. They did not engage with him, but the surly looks they gave himwere a dead giveaway of their opinion of him.

When the ship finally docked, he was not greeted byany better circumstances.

He had only seen his parents once. His father had donewhat he did best and berated and screamed at him, telling him what adisappointment he was to the family name.

His mother had stayed behind her husband, a silentlook of disapproval battling with the sorrow of seeing her only son in such aregretful state.

They had not allowed him to see his sister.

Days flew by. Although it was nothing compared to hisprevious accommodations, the room he was confined in told him that his ordealwas far from over.

He had been escorted to a fancy chamber, where theminister of foreign affairs was waiting for him with a reproving look and a litpipe that wafted its acrid smell all over the room.

That’s when his future purpose was laid in front ofhim.

He was to marry a princess from a small region of acountry he had never had the opportunity to see for himself.

She was the heir to the throne and her influenceweighted a lot on the hold his country had over hers.

There had been several rebel uprisings on neighboringregions and, if the princess allied herself with said insurgents, his countrywould lose an important trade point and area of influence.

They simply could not let it happen. And since theprincess and her sister were both too valuable to kill and yet too dangerous toallow to act freely, they had decided to extract her and ship her away so shecould not play her hand against them.

The diplomats had found the perfect excuse, too. Arebel war lord had threatened her throne, fully intending to kill her and takeover the region. Under a poorly disguised attempt to “guarantee her security”,they had taken her and her sister away and were on their way here.

In order to bind her to his country, they were forcingher to marry a complete stranger.

Since he had fallen from grace, he would pay his dueby playing said role. And the minister made it quite clear that Bunnymund hadno say on the matter.

He had dreaded their meeting since the man informedhim on their imposed betrothal.

What did she look like? Any description of women fromher country had not been favorable – the opinion of men who claimed to haveseen them not proper for polite society –, but Aster knew better than to trustthose pompous bigots.

What would she think of him? Arranged marriages werenot uncommon in their times but it felt like there was an ocean between themwith how different they were.

Would they get along? It almost seemed impossible thatthey would be able to find common ground.

But to his surprise, princess Toothiana had turned outto be quite a remarkable personality (at least to his standards).

Their first encounter was full of tension and statelyprotocol. The latter she broke with a confident smile on her face, clearlyletting all those haughty toffs she would not be intimidated by them.

Although he couldn’t understand her, judging by what ahard time Jack had had to try to conceal his laughter Aster knew the womanstanding before him had more fire within her than any other.

She had refused the dresses they had provided her with–thankfully, because Aster thought her own clothes made her absolutelybreathtaking, any intention of putting her into something more restraining andstifling a disservice to her person–, as well as stubbornly stuck to speakingin her own language . He liked how her rich voice traveled through the room,the unknown words twisting and wrapping around him in a pleasant sensation.

Although she had never made any acknowledgement of thefact, Bunnymund knew princess Toothiana could understand his language. Thespark of understanding gave her away, despite how everyone else considered herand her sister as uncivilized and inferior creatures.

She couldn’t have easily traversed among the wolvesthat surrounded her had she not been a bright and confident woman.

Even though they had not spent much time together, hedid find himself thinking of her: her warm smile when talking or watching overher sister –which reminded him so much of his own–, her bubbly and melodiclaugh when she and Jack shared a secret joke, even the grace she carriedherself with.

Her entrancing eyes followed him around and he couldnot deny the effect her beauty had on him.

But it was more than just that. Her strength anddetermination had quickly casted a deep sense of admiration within him.

She had left everything behind and was facing thisabysmal uncertainty head on.

He truly felt grateful to be by her side, especiallywhen she managed to irritate diplomats and nobles the way she did. And despiteenjoying what an interesting woman she was, he knew there was a whole lot moreto find out.

His fiancé definitely was a mystery, but one he didn’tmind to unravel.

Their wedding came sooner than expected.

Suddenly, Bunnymund found his garments a tadconstricting around his throat. His reflection stared back at him paler than hewished.

He was not ready for this.

Meanwhile, Jack was leaning back against his chair andhaving the time of his life. He had a smirk hanging from his lips and a glassof strong liquor on one hand, claiming that just because Bunny was going towaste such a fine kind of liquid courage didn’t mean he had to.

The young man had always liked to crack jests at hisexpense, which got them into extensive verbal banter. His carefree naturelacked the discipline and method the military service had instilled into Bunnymund.

Bunny found it rather amusing that despite not likingeach other in the beginning they had ended up friends.

It was good to have him around, a friendly face amongthe sea of pampered halfwits who were attending.

Several diplomats and ministers were there to gloat atwhat a good idea had been to match two of the empire’s greatest headaches.

Aster’s family was nowhere to be present. His fatherand mother had been outraged at the news he was marrying a foreigner theyconsidered beneath their status.

His only regret is that he hadn’t been able toproperly talk to his sister. Not even his letters had been answered, probablyintercepted by his father and now serving as tinder for the study’s chimney.

Luckily, Jack had stayed by his side, refusing todepart until his friend was in more stable grounds.

Aster could only imagine how his fiancé might bedealing with the situation from her end.

The wide open windows didn’t feel like they wereletting any air in. The walls were starting to close in on him.

He needed to leave the room, he needed to move.

Without any further explanation he was out the doorand into the corridor before it all became too overwhelming.

A sliver of light from a door slightly ajar caught hisattention.

Peering in, he was surprised when he saw his futurewife and sister in law sitting by the window sill.

The princess was no longer using her colorful clothes.She had been forced into a white wedding dress that constricted her movementsand truly did not complement her dark skin the way her usual garments did.

Although she did look beautiful and any woman from hiscountry would have been raving at the soft satin fabric and the delicate pearlsand crystals embroidered into the dress, it was clear to see that this was notwhat she wanted.

She had had no say in any of the wedding arrangementsand no one had been sympathetic enough to try to make her more comfortable.

His fingers brushed something small that had beenburning the inside of his pocket since Jack had handed it to him (his quips atbeing tired with being an errand boy due to Aster’s house arrest ignored) andwatched the two sisters, wishing he knew what they were saying.

“Our parents would be proud of what a strongwoman you are”, the younger girl commented while trying to put a bravefront for her sister.

“I think they would be proud of the both ofus”, Toothiana cupped her face and stroke her cheek with her thumb. “Youhave been through so much because of me, but I’m glad I have you with me.”

These words filled the young princess’s eyes withtears. She had been doing her best not to cry, to try to be strong and carryher family’s name with dignity. But everything had been possible thanks toToothiana.

A deep sense of fear took over her at the idea ofbeing sent away from her or that her sister’s husband would not allow them tostay together.

“I won’t feel brave if they take you awayfrom me. I don’t want to be alone.” She couldn’t keep her voice fromquivering; tears threatening to break lose in any moment.

Toothiana pulled her close to her chest and squeezedtight, almost to make sure that what remained of her family was truly there.Tears started to form in her eyes. “Do not worry, little sister. I will notallow anyone to separate us.”

They remained like that for a few moments, wishingthat the clock would stop counting down the seconds.

Eventually they separate.

“Why don’t you go with Jack for a while andask him to tell you about sledding through the snow again?”, Toothianasuggested, knowing the young man always managed to cheer her little sister up.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I want some time on my own before I have togo.”

The girl smiled and nodded, quickly exiting the roomin search for the fair haired boy that had swiftly had become their friend duringthese testing times.

Toothiana would have to thank him for being so kindand staying until everything had settled down – although she was certain thathe was also hoping to catch a particular black-haired girl’s attention before allwedding celebrations were over. She didn’t know much about Emily JanePitchiner, but knew that her friend would never fall for a shallow woman andthe girl seemed to have a sensible head on her shoulders.

If Jack had chosen her, she was bound to be special.

The memory of the pair made Toothiana focus on theview before her, thinking at the same time of her own parents and how in lovethey had been.

Nothing of these was related to love. Not even asingle aspect of her wedding was truly hers.

In her home her engagement and wedding would have beenone of the greatest events of the region.

Suitable men would have been called from far and wideto attend the ceremony where she would choose her own husband. There would havebeen exchange of gifts, prayers at the temples, celebrations.

She would have used a beautiful red dress and adorned herselfwith jewelry and flowers, like other brides from her culture.

She would have her family and friends join her groomand her in the joyful yet solemn occasion, clapping and cheering when thenewlyweds exchanged garland as a symbol of acceptance.

There would have been demure side glances, nervouslaughter at being caught watching, a rush of excitement while holding hands.

Toothiana forced herself to cast away those images,looking down at her hand and tracing the delicate and intricate traces of hennathat her sister had painstakingly drawn onto her hands.

It had been the only aspect of her culture they hadmanaged to have, mainly because the sister had done it at night when everyonewas asleep and then it was too late to do anything about it. The princessesrelished on how the maids and instructors assigned to them fussed on howuntoward it was.

A choked sob escaped from her throat and tears rolleddown her cheeks before Toothiana could hold them back. She made no movement towipe them away.

She had been hiding her emotions to both not givethose bastards the satisfaction and to not worry her little sister. But now shewas alone, she could allow herself to cry a little.

The door slowly creaked open and she turned aroundexpecting her sister or even one of the annoying ladies that had done nothingbut pester and nag at her.

She quietly gasped when she saw Bunnymund lingering atthe door, as if considering if he should pursue this course of action.

Turning around, Toothiana wiped away her tears and triedto swallow down the feeling of embarrassment at someone seeing her crying.

“I’m sorry.” He uttered courteously, sounding a tadashamed. “I didn’t mean to walk in on you, princess.”

She gave him no answer.

“I know that you wished not for this union.” Bunnymundcleared his throat. “And I would not do you a disservice by saying that this isthe way I wanted my marriage to unfold.”

Well, at least they were being honest.

“But…”, he paused to gather strength. “Despite thecircumstances, we find ourselves together in uncharted territory. I know nothow to be a good husband and I’m sure that Jack has made you aware of my manyflaws.”

Toothiana smiled, wanting to turn around and poke funat him about the fact that no matter how much they bickered, Jack had a trueappreciation of him as a friend. Yet she remained quiet.

“We may not know much about each other. But in whatlittle time we have had, I have realized that I’ve never met a braver, more strong-willed,and kinder woman I would wish to marry.” He slowly and carefully approachedher, letting her know he meant her no threat or harm.

Her heartbeat accelerated the way it always did whenhe looked at her with those green eyes of his.

Despite her cautiousness around him but she hadmanaged to see that he was nothing like the noblemen from this country.

He had always been gentleman towards her and hersister, his presence making her feel safer. Whenever they sat with Jack andinteracted he showed true interest in what she had to say, curiously askingquestions and wanting to know more about her and her country.

And, through enough persuasion, she had found out ofwhy he had been discharged from the army and forced to come back to hishomeland.

Jack had only explained the general details, insistingthat it was better for her to hear it from Bunnymund himself, but she wasgrateful that now she knew what an outstanding man her future husband was.

Toothiana had found something she never imagined shewould find in him: kindred of spirit. Despite the differences, they shared alot in common. Their passions and ideals did not clash with the other’s, butthey burned brightly with the same intensity.

She was starting to want to know more about him.

“What I’m trying to say is…you’re not alone,princess.” He stared at her with meaningful intensity. “I promise I will carefor you and protect you to the best of my ability, til death do we part.”

Aster kneeled down while pulling a small box from hispocket and offering it to her.

Uncertain, she took it and cautiously opened.

Tears prickled at her eyes and a wave of emotion swepther as she stared at a delicate necklace with black beads on the chain and agolden pendant.

A tradition among her people was that the groom wassupposed to tie it around her neck, recognizing her as a married woman.

“Jack told me that it was customary in your countryfor the groom to gift these to the bride.”

Silence stretched as Toothiana took the necklace toadmire it in its full splendor.

Noticing the lack of verbal response and the way hisfiancé was crying, an instant feeling of panic gripped at him. Had he offendedher? Had he ruined an important custom from her country? Had Jack lead himalong just to make him look like a fool?

“I… I apologize if I have offended you, princess. It wasnot my intention to…” His face started to feel redder by the second as hespluttered.

She chuckled and shook her head to let him know hisfears were unfounded, a couple of tears still trailing down her face due tobeing moved by such a sweet gesture.

He took that as a good sign. Standing up he extendedhis hand towards the piece of jewelry. “May I?”

Her beautiful smile when she nodded made his heartskip a beat, while he inched closer so he could put the necklace on her.

It felt strangely intimate (yet not unwelcomingly so).They had never been so close, and thus never felt the heat radiating from theother’s body.

Toothiana could finally appreciate the finer detailsof his features, while Aster was finally able to let her perfume tickle theback of his nose.

Once he was satisfied with how it looked he slightlystepped to fully gaze at the enchanting woman, now looking even lovelier withthe smile that graced her lips.

He was as bold as to take her hands in his, but wasrelieved when she didn’t pull away.

“From now on, you are my path, and I choose you.”

Toothiana couldn’t be happier that they agreed.

*****

THE END, my lovelies!

Also, three cheers for Jack being such a good bro

I hope you liked it and that my writing did justice to the topics that were depicted here. See you soon and don’t hesitate to send me prompts! :D

P.S.:

I add bellow the links that I used as reference/inspiration to write this piece:

https://www.britannica.com/event/Indian-Mutiny

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/indian_rebellion_01.shtml

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/empire/g2/cs2/background.htm

https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/colonisation/

http://cbhsyearfivehistory.weebly.com/aboriginal-lifestyle-after-british-colonisation.html

http://www.britishempire.me.uk/page102.html

https://museumsvictoria.com.au/longform/journeys-to-australia/

https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2016/12/01/10-things-you-should-know-about-slavery-australia

https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/australia-has-a-history-of-aboriginal-slavery

https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/australia-needs-to-own-up-to-its-slave-history-20150427-1muhg3.html

https://www.quora.com/In-Ancient-India-a-woman-chose-her-husband-in-Swayamvar-true-or-false

https://www.manhattanbride.com/insights/indian/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swayamvara

https://www.kuberbox.com/blog/mangalsutra-different-states-india/

[tipsycad147]

What is a Goddess?

A Goddess is a Divine female being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in and worshipped by people and is often believed to be the source of life and being and worshipped as the principal deity in various religions. For thousands of years, around the world our ancestors are believed to have worshipped a Divine and powerful Mother-Goddess, who was honoured as the Mother of all life.

The Goddess Within, the Goddess Outside.

Where is the Goddess? Does the Goddess dwell within us? Is the "still small voice" of conscience, a manifestation of the immanent deity within ourselves? For many, the immanent Goddess provides a immense and satisfying intimacy with the inner Goddess. Finding a connection to the divine within ourselves, seeking the strength of the Goddess within to better our lives, can be a transformative, enlivening and empowering experience.

The immanent Goddess need not be confined to human form, many cultures perceive the immanent Goddess within nature, in plants, trees, mountains and stars, each inhabited by a unique Goddess spirit that is both mortal and immortal. For every star that dies, another is being formed in nebulous gases in the universe. For each plant or tree that dies, another is waiting to be reborn in the seeds of the previous, the spirit of the Goddess becomes immortal in that this energy always exists in uncountable forms.

To others, the Goddess is transcendent, and exists outside ourselves, here the Goddess becomes the Universe, Gaia, Mother Nature, the Great Goddess or the Great Mother. The transcendent Goddess is vast beyond measure, timeless and immortal, a unfathomable spirit that is at once everywhere and in all times.

Many that walk the path of the Goddess see the divine as both immanent and transcendent, believing that the Goddess within can be called upon for strength and vision in facing the challenges of life. Whilst perceiving that the energy of the Goddess exists throughout nature where each fragment is the Goddess, yet no one fragment contains all and she exists as a force beyond individual plants, animals and people.

Where did the idea of a Goddess come from?

Our prehistoric ancestors were hunters and gatherers, who depended on the earth to provide, food, clothing, shelter and life itself. The importance of fertility in crops, in domesticated animals, in wild animals and in the tribe itself were of paramount importance to their survival. Their society was probably matriarchal and that children took their mothers' names. Their life was based on lunar (not solar) calendar and time was experienced as a repetitive cycle, not linearly as we think of it today. Thus, the Female life-giving principle was considered divine and shrouded in mystery.

Natures Mother who bringest all to life and revives all from day to day. The food of life Thou grantest in eternal fidelity. And when the soul hath retired we take refuge in Thee. All that Thou grantest falls back somewhere into Thy Womb.

Third Century AD Prayer to Terra Matris.

Cave paintings and rock carvings of Goddesses, some as old as 35,000 years B.C.E. or earlier, depict the Divine life-giving Goddess. The Venus of Willendorf, is perhaps the most well known of these ancient Mother-Goddess deities, most of the early images of the Goddess show an abundant, round, full figured being. An early symbol in human history is the zig-zag, which was used by Neanderthals around 40,000 B.C. and has been interpreted as representing water. The Goddess is closely associated with water and births.

In mediaeval times, it was claimed that Britain was given to their ancestors by the Goddess Diana. In 1136, Geoffrey of Monmouthshire, describes in his "History of The Kings Of Britain" how refugees escaping the siege of Troy, were seeking a new homeland. Their leader called upon Diana to help them:

" O powerful Goddess, terror of the forest glades, yet hope of the wild woodlands, you, who have the power to go into orbit, though the airy heavens and halls of hell, pronounce a judgement that concerns the Earth. Tell me which lands you wish us to inhabit. Tell me of a safe dwelling-place, where I am to worship you down the ages, and where, to the chanting of maidens, I shall dedicate temples to you. "

In the ancient world, Goddesses were commonly patronesses of cities, justice, was, handicraft and home life, agriculture, love and learning. They were seen as standing for aspects of human nature and civilisation rather than that of nature and the elements.

Apuleius in his work Metamorphoses, declared that Isis was the embodiment of all other Goddesses and identified with the Moon and nature. It would be this concept of the Goddess that would become dominant in modern paganism.

The faces and aspects of the Goddess are not static or frozen in time but are forever changing, evolving and metamorphosing. In each age, like children growing, so the Goddess grows and changes with us.

So it was during the years 1300-1800, in English love poetry, the most popular Goddesses were Venus - Goddess of Love, Diana - Goddess of Chastity and Hunting, Minerva - Goddess of Wisdom, and Juno as a symbol of Queenliness.

After the 1800's Juno is replaced by Proserpine - Goddess of the Seasons or the Dead, by 1830 Minerva is replaced by Cere or Demeter - Lady of The Harvest. The Goddess Venus also undergoes changes during this time, acquiring dominion over the woodlands or the sea, and Diana becomes associated with the Moon, the greenwood and wild animals.

Is the Goddess only for women?

No, during the Goddess worshipping era of the past, the Goddess was the central figure, and was celebrated by men, women and children. The Goddess embodies all mystery and magic and by giving her this allegiance, man sanctified and purified himself.

She was both nurturing and fierce. She was the one the all things came from and all things returned. A renaissance of Goddess worship has take place during the middle of this century with the re-emergence of Wicca. Here both men and women celebrate the Divine Goddess and God, a spiritual balance is taking place, acknowledging both the female and male aspects of Divinity, the New Age Aquarius, with its feminine energies, hopes to bring balance to the destructive aspects of the Piscean Age.

Does anyone still believe in a Goddess?

Yes, many cultures never lost touch with the Female Divinity, the Hindus of India have many Goddesses amongst their pantheon of deities. In Japanese culture, the great Sun Goddess, Amaterasu is still honoured as the Divine Mother of the Japanese people. In China the Goddess of Mercy, Kwan Yin (Quan Yin) still attracts many devotees. A feminine presence was added to Christianity by the Council of Ephesus in 431 CE when the Virgin Mary was named Theotokos (Mother of God). With the re-emergence of Wicca, Dianic Wicca, Goddess and Neo-paganism, more and more people are incorporating Goddess worship into their beliefs.

What kinds of Goddesses are there?

There are many thousands of Goddesses, throughout the world, each region had its own aspects of the Goddess, the Great Mother Goddess, however appears to have had a universal following. The Goddess has been known by many names and aspects in many different cultures and ages: Anat, Aphrodite, Aradia, Arianrhod, Artemis, Astarte, Brighid, Ceres, Demeter, Diana, Eostre, Freya, Gaia, Hera, Ishtar, Isis, Juno, Kali, Lilith, Ma'at, Mary, Minerva, Ostare, Persephone, Venus, Vesta, etc.

The Goddess is often visualised in her three aspects: Maiden, Mother and Crone, and her corresponding sacred colours white, red, black.

I wove it once with colours white, With black I wound it through Then I did dye it with a red That binds the life to you.

These aspects are mirrored in the phases of the moon: waxing, full and waning. The Maiden represents youth, emerging sexuality, the huntress running with her hounds. The Mother symbolises feminine power, fertility, and nurturing. The Crone is wisdom, the compassion which comes from experience, and the one who guides us through the death experience. All aspects of the Triple-Goddess represent different types of healing and growth.

Reclaiming The Goddess

The Goddess did not simply die out or go into cold storage, only to be revived in the same forms she manifested then, instead she remained veiled and denigrated and ignored most of the time or else she is exalted, hymned and pedestalled as an allegorical abstraction of female divinity.

In allowing the Goddess to become an abstraction, we have lost touch with the Goddess. We no longer speak the language of the Goddess, we have forgotten how and we have allowed the concept of the Goddess to be almost erased from consciousness.

With the resurgence of modern Paganism, with it views on a balanced human and divine nature, so some have found that the Goddess has always been there, yet somehow humanity forgot and so the idea of a Goddess as a central point of creation is finding a welcome response.

Modern Goddess Worship.

The Neo-pagans, modern witches and even scientists, are starting to view Gaia after the Greek Goddess, or Mother Earth, as a bio system and we are all dependant upon each other for survival. She attributes consciousness to the earth and believes it to be spiritual as well. In other words, Gaia is a living and evolving being that has a spiritual destiny. Goddess worship is an attempt to reintroduce the sacred aspect of the earth and to remind us all that She is our ever- bountiful Mother. The Goddess is the giver of all life and is found in all of creation.

An acceptance of the Goddess is important to both men and women, for men it allows them to acknowledge the feminine energies within and to accept their desire and need of a protective, nurturing feminine presence. "The importance of the Goddess symbol for women cannot be over-stressed. The image of the Goddess inspires women to see ourselves as divine, our bodies as sacred, the changing phases of our lives as holy, our aggression as healthy, and our anger as purifying. Through the Goddess, we can discover our strength, enlighten our minds, own our bodies, and celebrate our emotions."

When an individual seeks the Goddess either through Wicca, the feminist movement, the New Age, or the liberal church, he or she is beginning a journey to bring to balance the female and male energies. We are a blending of both male and female energies, so it it natural to want to balance our spiritual lives, by accepting the Goddess and God, we start our quest to discover our inner 'higher self'. This higher self, is often referred to as the "god self," and is the path to pure truth, deep wisdom. The Yin Yang symbol is a perfect reminder of the balance that is achieved when these two energies come together in a positive way.

http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/an_introduction_to_paganism/what_is_a_goddess.asp

[gffa]

I’ve quoted a lot from this book, it’s one I think is really worth reading as it has a lot of overviews of Star Wars through the lens of psychology and this interpretation of Anakin is one I thought was really interesting, as someone driven by fear rather than by evil.  That it doesn’t excuse that his actions are evil, nor excuse that he could have applied the mindfulness teachings he was given and didn’t, but that he’s far more complicated in what actually drives him, all that scared little boy that he could never move past, not with Sidious there sabotaging every step of the way. Anakin is still responsible for Anakin’s choices, but it’s so, so much more complicated than that!

The most common answer to my question is, “Darth Vader is evil and the Jedi are good.” But I argue the point that Darth Vader really isn’t evil. His actions are clearly bad and should be characterized as evil, but those actions are motivated by something else. He is driven by a magnified emotion we all experience to one  degree or another. Darth Vader is motivated by anxiety. Therefore, the correct answer to my question about the difference between the Jedi and Vader is where they place their sense of control. Vader attempts to control everything external to him, whereas the Jedi strive to demonstrate self-control and allow for free will. 

and

More failures ensue, and Anakin focuses on them, building further on his increasing lack of control. Instead of looking inward, focusing on his emotions, and being mindful of the moment and his purpose, he externalizes and emotionally reacts with little thought to his underlying fears and anxiety. Over and over he runs into variables he cannot control, and this plants more seeds of anxiety, doubt, and fear.

Anxiety Disorder’s Need for Imperial Control: Was Darth Vader Evil or Scared? Frank Gaskill

“Father-son myths attracted huge audiences in the 1970s and ’80s. Men feared being like their fathers, but they wanted desperately to bond with them even if they could never really please them enough to feel anointed.” —psychiatrist Frank Pittman “Join me and we can end this destructive conflict….” —Darth Vader to his son Luke

Viewing Star Wars for the first time was and is for many people a life-changing experience. Princess Leia’s ship comes into view with Tatooine in the distance as Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer closes in. This opening sequence is the iconic memory from Lucas’s classic film that we all share. Despite the power of the opening scene, the image that held me captive as an eight-year-old seeing Star Wars for the first time was the moment when Darth Vader steps through the smoking air lock his troopers blasted open. With his black cape flowing about him, Vader stands to survey the damage in the smoke-filled corridor. Without a word, his mere presence bleeds ultimate power and fear. The only sound we hear is his slow, deep breathing. I knew I liked Vader. Throughout the next 40+ years of viewing the Star Wars films, I knew Vader was similar to me, but I was unclear initially how that could be. He didn’t feel like a villain to be feared and at times seemed almost aspirational in his goal of galactic stability and peace. As the films progressed, he became more and more human. As a little boy, I couldn’t understand what I was sensing about Vader. As my dad and I left the theater that night in May 1977, he held my hand. Squeezing it, he looked down at me and said, “You know, that Darth Vader was pretty cool.” I looked into his eyes and agreed. Vader was cool. The 54 Darth Vader toys and figures inhabiting my office are a testament to that coolness. But how could a murdering, planet-destroying, princess-torturing (his daughter, I might add) machine of a man be cool? Cool is probably not the right word, but more important, I don’t believe Darth Vader was evil. Darth Vader wasn’t a bad guy. He was just very scared.

This Present Unconscious Menace Living under Imperial rule has to be stressful. Freedoms are being undermined, the Senate is dissolved, the existential threat of the Death Star is unleashed, and the knowledge that all the Jedi have been killed or expelled offers little to no hope. The tiny rebellion has little chance against the Imperial Starfleet or the regional governors who hold planets captive on the basis of fear. Other threats are ever present from the Hutts, bounty hunters, slavery, and bribery. Stress is omnipresent under the Empire. As Ben Kenobi tells Luke, there had been a sense of safety and hope when the Jedi were considered “the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic, before the dark times … before the Empire.” In the present day, we may not be living under an empire, but we could be living under another, more sinister menace that is walking among us every day. In my private practice as a psychologist, I see a lot of scared kids and parents. More accurately, I serve the needs of a lot of anxious people. As a society, we are working harder in our jobs now than at any other time in history. Levels of anxiety are the highest ever reported. Individuals are reporting 40 percent more stress, worry, and panic now than they did in the 1950s. With parents under such intensive pressure and stress, the lives of children are similarly under mounting pressure. Living in such conditions on an ongoing basis raises levels of anxiety to pathological levels. Our innate fight-flight-freeze responses tend to engage in situations in which these responses are not needed. When we lived in caves and jungles, fight-or-flight responses served us well and kept us alive. However, exaggerated or uncontrolled responses to anxiety can have dire consequences in those who have limited awareness of how fear can affect them personally in regard to anger outbursts and rash decision-making. In Star Wars, the Sith are well versed in anger as this emotion is what they use to channel the Force. A deeper human emotion fuels the anger of the Sith. Emotions need to be addressed because without such attention, the dark side awaits. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an approach to psychological treatment that alters thinking patterns and/or behaviors that cause problems in people’s lives. CBT is used in an attempt to reduce anxiety-based negative thoughts and behaviors that interfere with successful living. CBT is the state-of-the-art tool for anxiety reduction. Anxiety can be paralyzing. It can make you feel that you are under an existential threat, but CBT can help. Before beginning CBT sessions, my most frequently used tool is an introduction to the true nature of Darth Vader. As he is one of the best-known characters in cinematic history, the majority of my clients, even little five-year-olds, have a good understanding of his story. My first session with anxious and fearful kids begins with a foundational question: “There is only one difference between the Jedi and Darth Vader. What is it?” The most common answer to my question is, “Darth Vader is evil and the Jedi are good.” But I argue the point that Darth Vader really isn’t evil. His actions are clearly bad and should be characterized as evil, but those actions are motivated by something else. He is driven by a magnified emotion we all experience to one degree or another. Darth Vader is motivated by anxiety. Therefore, the correct answer to my question about the difference between the Jedi and Vader is where they place their sense of control. Vader attempts to control everything external to him, whereas the Jedi strive to demonstrate self-control and allow for free will. Darth Vader wants peace and justice throughout the galaxy. He aspires to an admirable goal for sure. Vader so much desires and believes in a peaceful galactic future that he implores his son to join him on his quest and to destroy the Emperor. Vader actually wants the same goal as the Jedi, but he pursues that goal in a manner that leads him down a frustrating, failure-ridden, and dark path. Vader’s Childhood: Tell Me About Your Mother … Experiencing so many early life stressors must be very hard on young Anakin. His time on Tatooine probably reinforces within him a deep-seated sense that he is controlled by life circumstances. His ultimate unconscious conclusion could be that he has little control over his own destiny, and this may reinforce his desire to seek control of his own destiny. Control of future events drives him. In its response to being controlled by so many factors, Anakin’s nature is to attempt to control as much as possible, even things far outside his ability to control. When under stress, people tend to seek ways of gaining control, sometimes even using magical thinking. Before he leaves his mother to train as a Jedi, we get a clear glimpse into Anakin’s heart as he says, “I will come back and free you … I promise.” Although the sentiment is beautiful, we are able to see the pressure this 10-year-old child places on himself. No child should feel that he is responsible for saving his parent. Perfectionism has been described as a kind of neurosis that pushes someone to achieve severe and exacting goals. A subtype of perfectionism in children has been identified as “pervasive perfectionism.” Such individuals are very well organized and tend to set incredibly high personal standards. However, these individuals often react strongly and very negatively to mistakes in a way that results in anger outbursts or meltdowns. Pervasively perfectionistic children tend to have parents who have high expectations of them or are often very critical (think about the Emperor as Anakin’s father figure with unreasonably high expectations). Having such a perfectionist manner of thinking leaves a person with unavoidable failure as nobody can be perfect, not even one who expected to bring balance to the Force. Having repeated experiences of failure plus never feeling a sense of perfect completion can leave one feeling defeated, shameful, and guilty. Individuals who tend toward perfection often develop a dichotomous way of thinking that is very moralistic. Anakin, as he turns to the dark side, surmises his dichotomous manner of thinking by stating, “If you’re not with me, then you are my enemy.” Obi-Wan responds to the Sith way of thinking by stating, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” The Story of Anxiety and Fear in Vader’s Life Anxiety is a powerful force, one required for survival. Anxiety is a more modern term for a base emotion we know as fear. Fear affects all the parts of our brains but especially the limbic system and a little area called the amygdala. When researchers electrically stimulate the amygdala, individuals can immediately experience a fear response and demonstrate all the symptoms of fear, including sweating and a rapid heart rate. Human beings need this fear response especially when living in caves with lions, tigers, and bears as their adversaries. With the fear response, heart rate goes up, breathing quickens, and blood flow moves to the extremities, placing us in a ready state to fight or run. This state is often called fight or flight. In the physical body’s effort to survive, it will attempt to control the external environment in any way possible even if that requires jumping out of the way of a car, fighting off a perceived attack, or jumping onto a robot that hovers over lava. In an increasingly stress-filled world, people’s bodies often invoke the fight-or-flight response as the biological self perceives an existential threat despite the absence of such a threat. Examples of this can include public speaking and taking a test, which for some people can result in sheer panic. An underlying propensity for anxiety or a perfectionistic style can fuel the fight-or-flight response and makes us believe in the little “brain lies” that can cause us to think we must control variables that are far beyond our control. Stressed brains seek control over stressors, real or imagined. Fear and the need to control external events repeatedly arise in Anakin’s personality. He fears for his mother and feels the need to return to Tatooine to free her. He also fears the loss and potential death of Padmé, the woman he loves, after a blaster hit causes her to fall from a Republic gunship during the chase for Count Dooku. Ben Kenobi embarrassingly challenges and reprimands Anakin so that his Padawan will remain focused on the mission. Anger and frustration are clearly evident in Anakin’s face. His heart is with Padmé and cannot be in two places at once. In this moment, he loses sight of the mission because of his fear for Padmé’s safety. A true Jedi would release his fear and not allow emotions to cloud his judgment. A similar display manifests during the Jedi rescue mission against General Grievous’s ship. As Ben and Anakin are trying to rescue the Chancellor, Anakin wants to break off the attack to help save the clone pilots who were being slaughtered behind him. At every turn, Anakin demonstrates his core of fear and unreasonable goal setting. He repeatedly experiences the pull to save others to prevent bad things from happening. Ultimately, the variables that he strives to control grow into the most unreasonable and unattainable goal of all: the establishment of peace and order throughout the galaxy. As Anakin attempts to control seen, unforeseen, and imagined tragic life and galactic events, he experiences failure time and time again. Anakin fits the model of the “pervasive perfectionist.” He increasingly responds with anger and ultimately rage. He perceives himself as having failed his mother by not saving her from the Sand People. Imagine the personal sense of failure when she dies in his arms. His response to this perceived self-imposed failure is to react with rage in an attempt to seek moralistic justice by killing an entire village of Sand People, including women and children. More failures ensue, and Anakin focuses on them, building further on his increasing lack of control. Instead of looking inward, focusing on his emotions, and being mindful of the moment and his purpose, he externalizes and emotionally reacts with little thought to his underlying fears and anxiety. Over and over he runs into variables he cannot control, and this plants more seeds of anxiety, doubt, and fear. Hope of Redemption I grew up in an abusive household where I would be physically attacked for even minor infractions. For a child struggling to see the best in people, finding coping mechanisms in the midst of this upbringing was incredibly difficult. Seeing Return of the Jedi seems to be the only thing that got me through my childhood. Star Wars became a coping mechanism and gave me hope that things could be better. The familial relationship between Luke and Vader is the most tortured I could imagine, but Luke never gave up hope that there was good within his father. The moment Vader comes back to the light and saves his son was always a teary-eyed catharsis for me. If Vader could come back from such ugliness, maybe my dad could, too. It took me years to decode why Return of the Jedi was my favorite part of the saga, but once I connected the dots, it made sense. I just wish I would have had someone there to point it out to me sooner. That’s why I tell this story often, to show that Star Wars helps. And for the little boy I used to be, it was the only help I had. The culmination of his anger that is based on fear and doubt is a physical assault against his wife. As Anakin’s fear increases, his anxiety escalates, resulting in an intensification of his desire for external control. This never-ending cycle is what leads him down the path to the dark side. Vader on the Psychoanalytic Couch Our emotions are complicated. Sometimes we don’t even have the words to express accurately the way we are feeling. This lack of emotional language can be very hard for kids, particularly for boys. An example of confusing emotions would be when someone is both angry and sad. It would be hard to come up with words to explain the emotion other than “sangry.” Even adults can emotionally revert to this childlike feeling. The best visual of such an emotion is when Luke responds to the knowledge that Darth Vader is truly his father. We see and hear shock, anger, sadness, and fear all at once expressed in Luke’s face and his tortured scream. One model of understanding complicated and even competing emotions is to think about our emotions in four boxes: (1) mad, (2) sad, (3) worry, and (4) happy. When mad, we are typically being blocked by something that has been placed in our way. Anakin is mad that he is refused permission to sit on the Jedi Council. The Jedi have blocked his way. But worry is why Anakin ultimately becomes Darth Vader. Worry is seated in a person’s desire to control the unknown. People are unable to control the past or the future, but those who remain firmly rooted in the present can manage their circumstances more effectively. Yoda and many other Jedi stay rooted in the present. Yoda once tells Luke, “Difficult to see. Always in motion the future.” I like to rewrite the quote as “Difficult to see. Always emotion the future.” Darth Vader’s emotions cloud his judgment, and this focuses his mind and heart on the future and the past, not on the present. Anakin was not mindful of the present as Sidious gained greater control over him through lies and deceit. If Anakin had been more aware of his complicated emotions and the way fear ruled his life, he might have become more aware of the dire circumstances that held him within the grip of the dark side. Being mindful of the present may have resulted in the destruction of Sidious rather than the destruction of Vader’s own life by his own turning to the dark side. With You Always Star Wars is just a movie series, not a real story, but we can still dream it all happened. Although the films have a nice, tidy ending as Anakin returns to the fold and dies in his son’s arms, we are left with a complicated picture of a little gifted boy who turned to the dark side. The character of Darth Vader has fascinated us and will continue to fascinate us for generations to come. It is all too easy to cast a blanket commentary on Darth Vader by calling him out as bad or even evil. We similarly can name the white-dressed princess as good and pure. Such simplistic and dichotomous thinking can cause us to miss the great emotional depth of the characters in Star Wars. These characters are complicated, real, and relevant to our lives. Good people can be bad. Bad people can be mean but also have great aspirations. Darth Vader does a lot of bad stuff because he is scared. And he’s really cool, too! Thanks, Dad.

[csenvs3000-2018-blog]

Interpretation: Not For the Weak-Hearted

When we went around the room on the first day of class, discussing our experience with interpretation, I didn’t have much of an answer. In fact, my answer was somewhere along the lines of “honestly, I don’t even know what nature interpretation is, and I’m here to find out”.

Over the course of the semester I’ve learned some solid foundations to help me figure out just what nature interpretation is. I’ve learned the basic principles of planning, running, and evaluating a walk. I’ve learned about how to balance risk to make sure that a program isn’t too boring or too scary. I’ve been able to, on multiple occasions, see professionals in the field interpreting nature and setting an example. The funny thing is, if you were to ask me today what nature interpretation is, I still don’t think I’d be able to answer. This isn’t however, because I’ve learned nothing. This is because I’ve learned one very important thing: nature interpretation can be done an infinite amount of ways. Interpretation is as much an art form as anything; the art of grabbing an audience’s attention and holding it through a presentation, ensuring each member walks away with something.

This leaves me to consider where I fit into the world of interpretation. I think that I bring a very specific view of the field with me, and as such have broken my ethic as an interpreter into three fundamental principles:

1)      Let people be free to discover on their own. In my opinion, the best way to learn is through experience.  Someone once told me that “experience is a bitch of teacher, but it’s a damn good one”, and as I consider this, I begin to realize how many of the lessons that I will never forget are ones that I learned from experience. Because of experience, I know that if a mountain bike trail is marked as “professionals only”, one should probably listen to it or risk some serious wipe-outs. Because of experience, I know that reef sharks are only going to chase you if you run from them: the best thing to do is stand your ground. Because of experience, I know that some of the best stories come from times when you had no plan, no idea, and no direction. This is something that I think everyone should experience, and as much as I can teach people facts and lessons about nature, few of them will truly grasp my point until they learn it from experience.

(What do you do with a single free day in Victoria? Follow vague directions to a local knowledge spot and climb out over a 200+ foot drop into a gorge of course. No plan, no idea, no direction - just four guys and a goal)

2)      Life begins outside of your comfort zone. Contrary to what we spoke about in class, I’m a firm believer that people should be constantly challenged, and that the best way to experience nature is to constantly put yourself in a state of discomfort. When I’m home for the holidays, I’ll often go for walks through the forest near my house. Its easy to get to and a good way to spend an afternoon. Last year, however, I decided I didn’t want to do that anymore because I’d grown up in that forest and it wasn’t new anymore. Instead of walking the same trail, I ended up bushwhacking and doing some off-trail exploring. I ended up in waist-deep snow. I found an abandoned hobo camp. I tracked a deer for 40 minutes, trespassed on in a farmer’s field, and still couldn’t find it. And best of all, I got hopelessly lost. I found myself in a very uncomfortable position: I had no idea where I was and was running out of daylight. Now, before I go any further its important to mention that this forest isn’t massive; I knew I could walk in any direction for under two hours and figure out where I am (I’ve been briefly but genuinely lost in an expansive forest before and its not something I’m eager to do again – see section 1). However, trudging through the snow trying to find something familiar afforded me two benefits. First, I began to notice little things in the environment that I hadn’t before in my desperate attempt to find something familiar. And second, I felt more alive than I had in a long time. All I had was myself and my skills to rely on. I trusted myself to find my way home, and I felt powerful when I eventually did. I do my best to do things that make me this kind of uncomfortable as often as I can - from illegally climbing through gorges in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia, to snorkeling with sharks and stonefish on the Ningaloo Reef, to boating into polar bear territory to collect firewood in the Cree Nation of Wemindji, to something as simple as walking through the Arboretum at night and trying not to jump at the shadows. The times in life when I am most exhilarated, and the times when I grow the most, are the times that I am deliberately uncomfortable. This is something that I think people need more than ever in a time when so much of our society and technology is focused on keeping us comfortable (read: numb).

(”What do you mean we’re going past the stop sign? Isn’t that illegal?” “Yes it is, Calder, but you won’t believe what’s down there!”)

3)      Give no quarter. There are obvious exceptions to this one, but as a general rule I believe that most people are capable of that which they think they are not. Last year, I underwent surgery to fix a foot that had been broken for two years. While this surgery fixed the break itself, it didn’t fix the chronic pain that accompanied it, and since March I’ve lived in near constant pain. Despite this, I continue to live my life the way I did before the surgery, and before the break. It takes some more teeth-gritting, some extra care, and a lot of Tylenol, but I have been able to meet (and exceed) my limitations despite this injury. I’m now a part of a gold-medal winning Quidditch team, I run 8 kilometres almost daily, and I’m in the best shape of my life. I have had the good fortune to realize that my injury can’t hold me back, and as an interpreter I think this is an important concept to pass on. Anyone and everyone can be outdoorsy, in most cases the only thing holding people back from going on a hiking trip, jumping into a lake, or climbing a mountain are their own perceived limitations that stop them from trying in the first place.

(A fracture of the 5th metatarsal - broken for over two years...)

(...and 8 months later, a regional gold medalist) 

If I had to sum up my ‘style’ as an interpreter in a single word, I’d choose “unforgiving”. My ideal program is one that promoted experiential learning that will make you uncomfortable and realize the only thing holding you back all along was yourself.

[grimdarkandhandsome]

The Extended Wizarding World

TLDR: A fantasy setting in which HP, The Magicians, and similar stories are all canon.

The EWW is a fantasy world in which almost all schools, locations, and characters from the following stories exist:

All big-budget Harry Potter stories, movies, and Pottermore

All Magicians stories

New World Magischola

When you have a dream about Harry Potter, your dream may well have been set in the EWW. It's the Wizarding World that you see when you squint.

Britain is much like it appears in the Harry Potter books. North America is slightly more magical than it appears in the above stories. Many graduates from Ilvermorny (in Muggle Massachusetts) and Providence Prep (in Muggle New Hampshire) go on to study at Brakebills (in Muggle New York).

What is Magic Like?

In regions with access to wandmakers, magicians use wands. In regions without, wizards use their hands.

The etymology of magical incantations is culturally influenced by the scholarly traditions that pass them down. In Britain, magic is usually studied through a regional lens based on corrupted Latin. Spells from other traditions, such as Waddiwasi, are etymologically distinct.

The origins of magic are not completely certain, but the curriculum of Brakebills more or less represents the mainstream academic perspective. The prevailing stance is that magic comes to this Earth from another world, and has done so for millions of years. Animals and plants are well adapted to take advantage of the secrets of magic. Dragons are the most famous example of this type of adaptation. The human body is less magical than that of many animals, but humans have developed technological and intellectual means to use magic. This often is done via the alchemical properties of magical plants and animals, such as in wand use or in potion making.

The magical animals and spirits of the source canons are mostly all endemic in many regions. Most of these creatures are either rare, remote, naturally equipped for stealth, or intentionally hidden by magicians. Because of the International Statue of Secrecy, magical zoologists like Charlie Weasley monitor magical creatures and, when necessary, enchant them to be invisible to Muggles.

Historically, the use of magic was discovered independently in many parts of the ancient world. Always difficult, it was usually the domain of experts and shamans. Magic has been forgotten and rediscovered many times in Earth's history. Magic is similar to mathematics in this way.

There are many pseudomagical traditions that are largely ignored by the magical community, such as Scientology. These are Muggle traditions that do not make use of magic as magicians understand it. In fact, most magicians are very disconnected from Muggle culture and would consider Scientology and computing to be similar and equally useless.

However, the presence of pseudomagical traditions is sometimes invoked as a argument in favor of the International Statute of Secrecy. Some writers say that the ease with which the ignorant stumble into falsehood when pursuing magic shows how important it is for magic to be maintained exclusively by well-educated initiates.

Culture

Magical communities in some regions are secular, and in some regions they are also religious communities.

The scholars of past centuries assumed that magical ability was only possible among people from magical bloodlines. (Indeed, they thought all positive traits required noble blood.) In the last 100 years, academics have called this into question. The topic of bloodlines is very controversial in most academic circles.

Racism, homophobia, misogyny, and other forms of intolerance are common in the magical community in some regions, and rare in other regions. The magical community is not necessarily familiar with Muggle perspectives on bigotry, however.

Outside of higher academia and politics, the magical world is less globalized than the Muggle world is. Magicians on one continent often have minimal interactions with or knowledge about magicians on other continents.

The magical world is also disconnected from Muggle culture. The International Statute of Secrecy is controversial but is nevertheless globally enforced, and this creates a divide between the two cultures. In general, magicians are only aware of Muggle affairs that happened several decades ago. Many magicians don't realize that skyscrapers exist, because they spend all their time Apparating between remote or Unplottable locations. For the same reason, most magicians rarely think about maps or geography, caring little about the distance between one building and another.

In the last few centuries, anti-superstition movements have erroneously led most humans to consider magic fictional. The governments enforcing the International Statute of Secrecy have considered this a welcome boon to their task.

One more clarification: the Dark Lord who took power in London in 1997 presented a regional, not global, crisis. (However, some historians claim that his influence would have widened over time were he not deposed.)

Multiple Worlds

The otherworlds seen in The Magicians do exist, but little is known of them even in the magical community. The Neitherlands is the most-visited of these worlds.

Many otherworlds are parallel universes that are fairly similar to the Earth of the EWW. One such world is the Earth seen in the Simon Snow books (a la Rainbow Rowell). On Snow's Earth, magic has a different relationship with linguistics, and magical Britain is led by different institutions.

All of these parallel worlds are accessible in theory but have never been visited outside of a few rare instances. These parallel worlds are relevant to the internal workings of the Mirror of Erised and the prophecies of Seers.

Futhermore, there exist thousands (at least) of parallel worlds populated by parallel instances of the same people. There is a world in which the Weasley's house burns down and there is no poltergeist at Hogwarts (the world of the HP films). There is a world in which Draco Malfoy wears leather pants (fanfiction). There is a world in which Alice Quinn dies ignobly by bad luck (Magicians backstory).

The fact that Quentin makes a remark at Brakebills about reading about Hermione in a book is not a contradiction. This should be interpreted as evidence that some powerful mage created a screwed up multiversal time loop involving Quentin.

Murkier details:

It seems likely that one of the otherworlds that should theoretically exist contains a land called Narnia (not Fillory). However, no one has ever seen this place.

Which fantasy novels have been published in the EWW? Plover's books or Lewis's books? Did a magician publish a biography under the guise of fiction, under the pen name Rowling? When one wakes up in a universe, how might one distinguish which universe one is in? 

I think these text-within-text details should be left up to the writer telling stories in the EWW.

Other stories that i have not integrated into the EWW, but which you could if you are clever:

Winter Tide (Ruthanna Emrys)

So You Want to Be a Wizard (Diane Duane)

Artemis Fowl (Eoin Colfer)

Little Witch Academia (Yoh Yoshinari)

[sciencespies]

This simple test reveals if your mental images are more vivid than other people's

https://sciencespies.com/humans/this-simple-test-reveals-if-your-mental-images-are-more-vivid-than-other-peoples/

This simple test reveals if your mental images are more vivid than other people's

Consider the statements below. What do they describe? A trip on psychedelics? A dream?

I felt I could reach through the screen to get to another place.

Lasers became entire fans of light sweeping around, and then it felt as if the screen began to expand.

I saw old stone buildings … like a castle … I was flying above it.

In reality, they are statements that different people reported after viewing the “Ganzflicker” on their computers – an intense full-screen, red-and-black flicker that anyone can access online and that we use in our experiments.

In less than ten minutes, it creates altered states of consciousness, with no lasting effects for the brain. Visual experiences set in almost as soon as you start looking at it.

But our new study, published in Cortex, shows that while some people see castles or fractals in the Ganzflicker, others see nothing. We have come up with a theory of where those individual differences come from.

Like a computer screen, the part of your brain that processes visual information (the visual cortex) has a refresh “button” which helps it sample the environment – taking snapshots of the world in quick succession.

In other words, your brain collects sensory information with a certain frequency. Yet you see the world as continuous and dynamic, thanks to your brain’s sophisticated ability to fill in the blanks.

For example, your eyes have a blind spot right outside the center of vision, but you don’t see a patch of blackness everywhere you look. Your visual cortex extrapolates from the surrounding visual information so that your whole field of view appears to be complete. If the sensory information being processed is the Ganzflicker, this will interact with your brain’s own rhythms to alter how you fill in or interpret what you are seeing.

Ganzflicker is known to elicit the experience of anomalous sensory information in the external environment, called pseudo-hallucinations. “Simple” experiences – like seeing lasers or illusory colours – have previously been explained as your brain reacting to clashes between Ganzflicker and the brain’s rhythms.

But how do some people see complex pseudo-hallucinations such as “old stone castles”?

Capacity for mental images

The brain is composed of many different regions interacting with each other, including “low-level” sensory regions and regions that correspond to “high-level” cognitive processes. Discriminating whether a line is vertical or horizontal, for example, is considered a low-level sensory process, whereas determining whether a face is friendly or annoyed is a high-level cognitive process. The latter is more open to interpretation.

Visual mental imagery, or the mental simulation of sensory information – the “mind’s eye” – is one of these high-level cognitive processes. High-level processes can interact with low-level processes to shape your brain’s interpretation of what you are seeing.

If someone sees simple pseudo-hallucinations in the Ganzflicker, their brains may automatically interpret that information as more meaningful or realistic with help from their mind’s eye.

What most people don’t realise is that everyone’s imagery is different. Some people have imagery that is as vivid as actually seeing something in front of them. A small proportion of people have a “blind mind’s eye” and cannot even visualize the faces of their friends or family. This condition is called aphantasia, and has attracted an increasing amount of attention in the last few years.

Many people are, of course, somewhere in between these extremes.

The power of Ganzflicker

It is very difficult to describe and compare imagery experiences, since they are private, internal, subjective events. But it turns out that the Ganzflicker can help.

We discovered that imagery ability can be reflected in an individual’s description of a ten-minute experience with Ganzflicker. Almost half of people with aphantasia see absolutely nothing in the Ganzflicker.

The other half see mostly simple patterns like geometric shapes or illusory colors. Compare that to people with visual mental imagery, for whom the majority see meaningful complex objects, such as animals and faces. Some even see entire pseudo-hallucinatory environments, like a stormy beach or a medieval castle.

Going back to the idea of brain rhythms, it’s possible that people who see imagery have naturally lower-frequency rhythms in visual cortex – closer to the Ganzflicker frequency – which makes them susceptible to experiencing pseudo-hallucinations.

People with aphantasia, on the other hand, have naturally higher-frequency rhythms in the visual cortex – which may give them a buffer against the effects of the Ganzflicker.

Our theory is that mental imagery and pseudo-hallucinations elicited by Ganzflicker are tapping into the same processes in the brain. This means that Ganzflicker captures a dynamic projection of people’s imagined experiences, like opening a window to the mind’s eye.

Ganzflicker is therefore a promising tool for understanding individual differences in mental imagery and its interaction with the visual environment.

The experiment can help people share their unique experiences with each other – ultimately bringing subjective experience into the real world.

Reshanne Reeder, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Edge Hill University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. 

#Humans