#but remember that that’s not actually what indigenous people are usually asking for!

[warmhappycat]

We need an option for “I was voting Dem, and now I’m voting Dem even harder.” The debate didn’t change who I’m going to vote for, but yeah, it did change my mind. Fingers crossed that I’ll make a full recovery.

[magicaguajiro]

Swamp Witch Travels: Finding Sacred Space

Myakka River and Paynes Creek State Parks

As I dive deeper into my practice of bioregional animism, I look to parks for sacred space and places to connect with spirits of all kinds. In Florida we live in cities divided by nature preserves and swamps, and we are also incredibly blessed to have an amazing State Parks system. These parks offer us peaks into ecology and history of the Land that reveal to us some of Its Mysteries. Here are a few things I’ve learned as a Folk Witch.

Make an offering when entering. For ancestral reasons, I use tobacco. Use what you're guided to. Introduce yourself, your intentions, etc. Also, pick up trash and be respectful. Don't wander in places you don't know, or take things you don't have knowledge on. It’s usually best to practice Leave No Trace but when have Witches been known to follow rules… Do as ye will. But always ask and give something in return.

There are different spirits!

Trees, plants, rivers, hills and even entire forests and parks can have their own spirits. At parks like Myakka and Payne’s Creek, there are platforms you can climb for an aerial view of the park. This is a great place to connect with the Genus Loci of a place! (For more on Genus Loci, I recommend Folk Witchcraft by Roger J Horne) Some spirits will want to talk to you, some won’t. Respect their choices and don’t expect anyone to talk for free.

Protection is Key!

Protection is important for witches and animists. Many spirits and natural places are dangerous, for example some Rivers are known for drowning and can be seen as having a harsh and dangerous spirit. When protecting myself day to day I wear spiritual jewelry from my Cuban traditions. Shark and gator teeth serve as great protection from water spirits and in general. My spiral shell ring is protective and I often use it in ritual. Bodies of water are also great places to bless things and hold rituals of cleansing and power! Not only spiritual protection, but physical protection is needed as well. In these swamps, we have gators, sharks, panthers, bobcats, bears, snakes, PEOPLE and even more things that would gladly expedite your role in the food chain. I’m not saying be afraid of animals, rather have respect and recognize you are in their domain. Carry bear spray, don’t wander too far off known trails, and be careful of other people.

I once heard a saying, the Swamp knows everything about death, and doesn’t consider it a tragedy.

Enjoy the Scenery, and Learn!

Take it all in and take your time! If you need to escape heat and mosquitos check out the visitor centers and gift shops! I justify spending a bit too much here on considering it an offering to the Land. Try talking to the people who work here or making friends! This is a great way to learn Folklore and secret places to explore.

On Remembering Ancestors of the Land

In working with the Land, you must honor the Ancestors of the Land. These are the spirits of all the people who lived on the Land before you. For me, this begins with my Ancestors and the other Indigenous groups of the area. In Florida, the tribes who remain today are the Seminole and Mikasuki. We should look to Indigenous tribes for wisdom on how to approach and respect the Land, but that doesn’t mean read online about it and go appropriate it. It means go and actually talk to real life people. You can and certainly should also honor other people, including any folk saints or historical figures who may serve as tutelary spirits or otherwise.

And always remember to say Fuck the Colonizers!

Happy Witching Friends, May the Dry Season bring us all Renewal!

[mrs-toohot]

Ryder, decoded

So the THTH writers apparently googled “Australian slang” and went copy/paste into his dialogue with absolutely no concept of what any of it means or how commonly it’s used.

So, as your resident Australian, I’m going to translate for you.

Below, you’ll find the examples I found so far, a translation, and a rating out of ten for how commonly it’s used / how accurate the slang is.

Disclaimer: I am born and raised Aussie. My ancestors were convicts. And while I do live in a major city, I grew up in the most country of country towns; population 847. So I am fluent in Aussie.

So without further ado:

Buggers.

If you look up the word buggers you’ll find it’s short for buggery which is the act of engaging in anal sex. But it’s not really used that way any more. I would never use “sexy buggers” that’s kinda weird. It’s only ever used these days as a light-hearted term, such as “cheeky bugger”(usually said with a hair ruffle). Alternatively, you can say someone’s “playing silly buggers” which means they’re messing around/being silly.

Accuracy of usage: 6/10

True-blue.

I see this and I think of this song which I believe they may have played at Steve Irwin’s funeral. It’s basically the same as “proper” or “right” for the Brits. Interchange with “verifiable”. Is entirely a stereotype and wouldn’t even be used ironically these days. In its place, we would use “fuckin’”. The only time this word is used is when you’re describing someone as “he’s a true-blue Aussie battler” (he’s very Australian)

Accuracy of usage: 1/10

Sheilas & blokes.

No. Absolutely not. Sheilas 🤢 is a way of describing a group of girls, but it’s very outdated. You could still call a guy a bloke, but it’s not interchangeable with “guy”. A bloke is specifically very traditionally Aussie & masculine, and you’d almost be more likely to use it as an adjective (I.e. “he’s a bit blokey”). I’ll be honest, you want someone who’s “blokey”, think “Gary from LITG”.

Accuracy of usage: 1/10 and 4/10 respectively

Ripper

Means ‘great’. And unless it’s in relation to specifically calling someone else a ‘ripper legend’ (shortened to ‘ripper ledge’) it’s not used commonly whatsoever.

Accuracy of usage: 2/10

Bonzer

No. Absolutely not. Never in a million years would bonzer be used today. It also means ‘great’ but this can’t even be used ironically. Even in the deep dark depths of country western NSW, using this word will get you looked at weird.

Accuracy of usage: -10/10

Crikey

Sorry to disappoint, but this one’s also a no. It means essentially “wow”. The only time we’d use this is to amuse internationals. We associate this word with ol’ mate Steve as much as you do.

RIP buddy 🪦

Accuracy of usage: 2/10

Fair dinkum & arvo

You’d ask if something was ‘fair dinkum’ if you were questioning if the aforementioned statement was true, or you were trying to figure out if someone was for real. “I’m Spider-Man”, “oh, fair dinkum?” It is… not common. Very outdated and only your countriest of the country boys would use it (and only if they’re 60+)

Now- ARVO- this is a different story. I use arvo EVERY DAY. It is short for afternoon and I don’t remember the last time I used the full word. “What’re you doin s’arvo?” Absolutely used every single day.

Accuracy of usage: 3/10 and 10/10

Have a squiz and take a gander

Both mean the same thing: take a look. Do not ask me where they come from but welcome to Australia. I have definitely said “give us a squiz” or “I’ll take a squiz” lol. The latter is still said but only by much older people. A funnier version ( only said ironically) is ‘have a captain cook’ (rhyming slang for ‘have a look’)

Accuracy of usage: 9/10 and 7/10

Have a yarn

Means ‘have a chat’, ‘talk’, or ‘shooting the shit’. This is actually really commonly used by indigenous Australians, and ‘yarning’ culture is really crucial and involves a cuppa tea 😁 I liked seeing this one pop up.

Accuracy of usage: 10/10

Possible upcoming slang:

Yeah, nah: No

Nah, yeah: Yes

Have a root: Sex

Pull your head in: Calm down, get it together, wisen up

Ta: thank you

Sweet as: sounds good

Righto/Righteo: alright

No worries: not a problem, that’s okay. Often said in conjunction with ‘she’ll be right’

No wukkas: no worries, short for “no wukkin furries” which is an intentional mispronunciation of “no fuckin’ worries”.

Bloody oath: bloody hell/Fuckin’ hell

Ocker/yobbo: super Aussie guy, see “bloke”. Specifically very country.

Drongo: forbidden phrase. Never used ever. Means an idiot/dork. If they use this I quit.

Flamin’ galah: said ironically, very funny. Said seriously, no.

Dropkick: super common. Similar to derro or deadshit. A loser, someone who is going nowhere in life.

Derro/deadshit: derro is short for derelict. Someone who bums cigarettes at the train station. Wears thongs (flipflops) everywhere even in winter.

Bum: (verb) to bum sth: to beg for/ ask for / grift for. “Can I bum a smoke off ya” (often followed by “I’ll pay you back”)

Let’s see what gems they come out with this week, shall we?

[nicosraf]

You liked a Tweet about saying how wanting to dismantle the Christofacist System is genocide. Xtianity is and always has been genocidal to people like me you bigot. You can hide behind your book being Queer but we know

I wasn't going to respond because I'm still not convinced you're being sincere, but I'll be sincere! I can't find the tweet I liked, but I remember it, I think. This is the last time I'm going to respond to you. But I do hope you read this.

On Twitter, someone shared that a Tiktok user supposedly dreamed that all the Christians were taken away in a Rapture and the world became a better place. Someone quoted that tweet saying that wishing an entire religion was gone was a fascist/genocidal position, which it is! Even if the religion is awful, it's genocidal to want a group of people dead, you know, for what they believe. It's just the definition of the word. Don't be afraid of it.

I'm really fascinated by your use of "people like me" and "we know." Why do you think I'm not like you? You don't know anything about me. I don't know anything about you. I could ask, but you could lie, so I won't. I know that you know yourself though. So, why aren't I like you? And who is we? You are you in community with?

Is that community stronger than the one you hold with me? If it is, why?

Do you think I'm a Christian? I've never said I am. I've never talked about my beliefs. And I won't because they're personal to me.

"Genocidal to people like me" - I keep coming back to this. You know, I really know genocide. I worked as a reporting fellow, and I met a journalist from Kashmir that wrote about the ethnic cleansing conflict. We had a good discussion making comparisons between the militarization occurring there and with the displaced people I was working with at the time along the Mexico-America border. I've seen genocide. I'm familiar with the de-humanization, the treatment like your people are dirty and need to be kept out and eradicated.

In Mexico, priests are murdered a lot. Sometimes it's really violent. Dismemberments and hangings and all that. It's really dangerous to be a priest in Mexico, but in some communities, they run the migrant homes, argue with paramilitaries. You ask, "Why are you doing this?" And they'll say it's their faith, it's why they became a priest. They believe in goodness.

I knew a priest who was threatened by organized crime. They told him to hand over the Cubans in his care. He said he wouldn't. And then he was "disappeared", and it's been 2 years now. We'll probably never find him. I can still see him really vividly in my head. His glasses, his hands clasped together.

At the same time, my poor Mexico has only adopted Christianity through genocide, right? I've written about that too. The Franciscans and the children of the noble Nahua-indigenous people who worked together to destroy the indigenous religion; they ran into the villages and stole the wooden figurines and burned them. And, you know, when Hernan Cortes introduced a statue of Mary to the indigenous people, it's said that they took her and put her beside a statue of an indigenous goddess. Cortes was so mad that he threw a violent tantrum.

Historically, Latin Americans have been seen as bad Christians. I've seen why. In my home town, there is a statue of the goddess of death. Her name is Santa Muerte. At the same time, most people who worship her will call themselves Christian. Christianity means different things to different people, religion usually does.

Christianity is not fascism, actually. I guess I'll die on that hill. Christianity isn't the white American evangelicals you might know calling for rapture and apocalypse. To me, it's been priests in migrant shelters, it's been Latin Americans clutching their rosaries because they spent days kidnapped and tortured. It's also been something that is deeply heretical – a death goddess – but still Christian because this person has decided it is.

It's also a horror to me. I was put in conversion therapy. I will never be a regular person because of what was done to me. I was put in a Christian school where I was harassed over my clothes by nuns, saw violent homophobic and transphobic attacks in front of me routinely. I will never be comfortable with my identity because of Christianity. I will spend the rest of my life suffering because of what was done to me, by people I trusted.

But I know genocide. I know what it looks like, I know what it is. And if you want 2.6 billion people dead, then I'll say that's a lot of innocent people dead. That's genocide. A lot of those in the third world, a lot of colonized people who've made Christianity their own.

I don't know how old you are. For your sake, I'll assume you're my age. In which case, I'm not going to say "touch grass." Instead, just, please, volunteer at a migrant shelter, volunteer at a soup kitchen, work to protect the rights of un-housed people, organize a strike. Speak with your neighbors and ask them if they ever want to hang out, how their jobs are going.

A book written by a trans gay Mexican poking fun at Christian lore and exploring his interest in angels is not.... worth saying all this. Again, I'm not going to reply if you send me anything like this again. But I hope your week goes well. I hope that you go to sleep cozy. And if you're afraid of how scary things are for queer/trans folk, then I'm with you. I really am. You know, I self-published to avoid the book getting banned by fascist-Christians, and when I first announced ABM, I was harassed by Christians; they told me they would burn my book.

I hope you can find some peace in between all the fear. I wish that for both of us.

[zozo720]

Today on "lukewarm takes nobody cares about" All my problems with Legends Arceus, specifcally the story-related ones, come down to how unbelievably rushed the "true" ending feels The main ending with Origin Form Dialga/Palkia? It's good, it's fine, it's a climax that the game does a good job building up to. Kamado is an ass but that's clearly intentional, and at least he has a clear motive and all that.

The postgame ending feels like they came up with the Volo fight first, and then had to scramble to create literally any justification for it to happen. They basically just gave him Cyrus's motivation, made him look vaguely "crazy and evul XD" and hand-waved it as "Oh, the Celestica tribe is involved".

And I must ask... who even ARE the Celestica people at this point? They're VERY vaguely talked about in the Old Verses, it's implied Cogita wrote them, which implies that she's the last Celestican, which implies that Volo MIIIIGHT be a descendant of them, which is why he says "the blood of the ancient Sinnoh people flows through my veins". Please note how much I said "Implies". There's having hidden lore and leaving it up for interpretation, and then there's vaguely shrugging and dumping incoherent, very-easy-to-miss text. All this is to say, Volo's motives are indecipherable, not because he's a multi-dimensional character, but because they don't bother elaborating on them, he's just a helpful friendly guy the whole game and then BAM, he was actually evil and crazy all along! It's no wonder fan interpretations of him range from "tragic sexy sad-boy who's upset because his indigenous people were wiped out for unknown reasons" and "insane murder-man who's immortal and for some reason, really likes screwing with NYC subway conductors from the future. Also he's sexy." And then there's the Arceus ending. Simply put, WHY is there nothing to say that the player character would be able to go home? I've seen several responses genuinely upset at the prospect of the MC being stuck in Hisui forever, possibly ripped away from their life and family. And even if you assume the MC has no problem staying in Hisui forever, that doesn't address the Copperajah in the room that is Ingo.

Now, Ingo being in PLA was cool back when the game first came out, but over time, it's become apparent that this was a pretty lame move. Most PLA discussion and fics are centered solely around either him or Volo (usually with ableist stereotypes in abundance) all at the expense of the other genuinely interesting cast of PLA.

And of course, of COURSE, they don't bother resolving his arc at all. The most he gets is an implication that his memories might return, but then what? He'll still be stuck in Hisui, except now he can remember what he's lost? Is this Arceus's "grand plan" or something? Now sure, for gameplay reasons, the player would wanna stay so they can keep playing the game, but there are so many ways to write around that, as demonstrated by the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. That series always ends with the MC having to return home or disappear, but they always come back somehow. There's always some justification for it. In Legends Arceus, nothing gets truly resolved aside from the conflict with Kamado and Dialga/Palkia. Volo? His goals with Giratina are stopped and he just gets to walk away scot-free. No punishment, and no elaboration on his motives. Cogita and the Celestica tribe? All we get are allusions and vagueries in the Incarnate Forces sidequest. Arceus's mission to "seek out all Pokemon"? Your reward is that he invites you to his space apartment and beats the stuffing out of you. The Player/Ingo? Stranded in Hisui with, as of now, no canon return home.

[sissa-arrows]

Historic ramble I suppose but as a historian I do get a bit offended when people refer to Al-Andalus simply as an "Arab kingdom(s)", since many of the previous people there who also invaded the region (such as the Visigoths) did convert to Islam and some retained their positions in power, and many of the "Arab" rulers were actually Imazighen.

It's more accurate to call it an Amazigh ""kingdom(s)"" (DNA research proves that many Portuguese and Spanish, especially those in the south like Algarve and Andalusia, have the most Amazigh ancestors outside of North Africa, which is why they are visually similar to one another and tend to have darker skin). Even more so than the Canary Islands, which were entirely habited by indigenous Imazighen (like the Guanches from Tenerife) prior to Castillian colonization. Which is sad because even if many Canarians today have indigenous Amazigh ancestors they culture has been nearly lost because of genocide (even if many Canarians are trying to reclaim their Amazigh/North African identity, which is a story for another time - and I wonder if you'd be interested in it).

You also mentioned this before I believe!

The way I started reading the first few words and was expecting some history revisionism (that’s usually what I get in my ask box about “Arabs and North Africa”) but I got pleasantly surprised. Cause yup while the conquest itself was done by both Arabs and Imazighen the people who actually mixed with the local and lived in Al Andalus were mostly Imazighen the Arabs left super fast their goal was just spreading Islam.

A southern Portuguese has more Imazighen ancestry than I, an Arabized Algerian, have actual Arab ancestry. The amount is still under 10% (I think it’s 6 or 8 I don’t remember the study exactly) but comparatively they have exactly 0 actual Arab ancestry.

I knew that Canarians were Imazighen (I’m also claiming Sicily by the way) but I didn’t know about the reclaiming of their Imazighen identity it seems really interesting!

[beardedmrbean]

Oh I mean when I say do leftists see history as a Disney cartoon because how they talk about people

“Indigenous people wouldn’t do that to their native lands!” Well that because most tribes learn from the mistakes of their ancestors, like modern American farming-

Holy shit Dave is right that they never left their metropolis area

But there this complaints how geeks spaces don’t want black people in it

Black activists: Why don’t white people want us in it?!

Me: Every since we somehow switch from racial equality to black supremacy

Hmm what we done in media? Oh yeah let start in black Panther where

1. They made a oversized shantytown with different African cultures, many of which hate each other guts

2. Expect to believe that everyone with sympathies with the main antagonist, now the movie did point out Killmonger was a hypocrite because he took a mask that didn’t belong to wakandans because he felt like it. And did the exact things he bitch about white colonizers to Wakanda

Though the irony is that Killmonger represents a lot of bitter black supremacists with a pan Africa fetish

Oh oh fantasy, my Indian friend pointed out that the issued with modern fantasy is that they are using a post mayflower American structure vs any form of feudalism

Because my chimera republic made realize it more easier to create black fantasy characters in a colonial and beyond world like ones based off George Carver or Bass Revees

Also like that black elf in rings of power and black Aragon, the problem to me that they look like larpers especially the black elf

Pssst modern Hollywood hairstylists, the fade was a post ww2 thing black men started after vets return from duty, so it automatically stick out for most black people

Also if you want to use Middle Ages hairstyles for black characters. Just go to the tribes that exist as many hairstyles we use today are thousands of years old and if you stretch it to the 13 century you have enough resources for reference

Actually someone pointed out that lot of fantasy places have LA demographic structure, this got me thinking and I’m paraphrasing

Who more bigoted?

My countryhick West Virginia friend who gave me a lot of insight on American history including my people and you who help me try to research west African cultures like the Yoruba?

Or the colored hair, glasses, usually upper middle class feminists that rarely interact with non whites unless they’re genetrifed and lived in gated communities?

Keep in mind a lot of them write or influence current fantasy stuff

Oh I mean when I say do leftists see history as a Disney cartoon because how they talk about people “Indigenous people wouldn’t do that to their native lands!” Well that because most tribes learn from the mistakes of their ancestors, like modern American farming- Holy shit Dave is right that they never left their metropolis area

Not all of them, but for the most part ya, it's respect for the land created after generations of learning that it's important to respect the land, with a additional healthy sized dose of religion and remembering to thank the land and everything else that provides for their needs.

"Noble Savage" is the term you're looking for there, "soft bigotry of lowered expectations" is another one you'll see a lot and not just for natives.

Low hanging fruit in Berkeley talking about why voter ID laws are bad and racist because black people may not know how to get one, or be able to afford one, or even get to the dmv.

Forever funny

But there this complaints how geeks spaces don’t want black people in it

Geek spaces are welcoming and inclusive, they just want you to geek out with them and not start trying to force changes, I honestly don't blame some people for gatekeeping their hobbies. People are coming in and demanding changes to fit their sensibilities and what not and when they're done the 'space' completely different.

That and all the other stuff you mentioned as well.

The question to ask is, why are you in this particular fan space if you are going to change 80% of it, can you maybe just make your own instead?

Oh oh fantasy, my Indian friend pointed out that the issued with modern fantasy is that they are using a post mayflower American structure vs any form of feudalism Because my chimera republic made realize it more easier to create black fantasy characters in a colonial and beyond world like ones based off George Carver or Bass Revees

Look up the show Firefly, if you don't already know about it. There's two really good SciFi western tv shows and neither of them are Westworld, the one besides Firefly is The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. and it's there in my list because it stars Bruce Campbell.

Which actually you might give that one a look too,

Keep forgetting how much of a giant Julius Carry was, it's got a lot of steampunk elements and it's funny as heck.

Mentioning Bass Reeves made me think of that.

Also like that black elf in rings of power and black Aragon, the problem to me that they look like larpers especially the black elf ECT

Never saw the show, but everything I did see told me they had zero respect for the source material so I didn't expect respect for anything else to appear.

Hair thing we have current year references that since as you said, they haven't really changed them up much in the last few thousand years.

Who more bigoted? My countryhick West Virginia friend who gave me a lot of insight on American history including my people and you who help me try to research west African cultures like the Yoruba? Or the colored hair, glasses, usually upper middle class feminists that rarely interact with non whites unless they’re genetrifed and lived in gated communities?

I'm sure you already know the answer. As a generalization at least.

The joke about internet racists being a tolerant group of people, 'they don't care what race you are so long as you're racist' actually pans out to be fairly true a lot of the time.

Granted a lot of them aren't actually terribly racist, they just like to be able to rip on each other and like doing it Eric Cartman style, le edgy people.

The "Anti-racists" are the ones to watch out for, that's the people from berkeley in that video up there.

It's performative for them, look at how tolerant and accepting I am.

Like this.

I know it's what you want there my whatever you are, but there's a multitude of reasons why this

won't be happening, but I'm sure you've managed to take great strides in the effort to eradicate racism and didn't just totally become a joke for millions of people of all colours.

Except maybe this creature

I love how that's become a insult to people for some reason, she just called him a individual thinker and is mad because he doesn't support the hive mind.

Granted any positive accomplishment in the black community is greeted with several different cheers about how they all share in that accomplishment, but when bad shit happens all of a sudden we're not a monolith.

That's human psychology tho so not much more to expect from that honestly.

Multimillionaire tv host saying she's oppressed and that black people can't make it in the US will forever be funny to me, also sad because that sentiment is holding people back by saying things like that, since it's discouraging, why should I try if I've got no chance to make it anyhow.

May as well just get mine any way I can or maybe lay down and give up.

[sapphicsvibes]

Okay then, so what do you think of groups that exclude afab people? I've been seeing tons of transfems groups being exclusionary to afab people, but I haven't seen you complaining about that before. Not only is that misogynistic, but it's heavily transphobic. So why just complain about 'afab only groups' if transfems can have anti afab groups?

Gonna try my best to answer this as someone who is not trans fem.

*also I am speaking about perisex people as a perisex person—this post doesn’t have anything to do with, nor am I speaking about intersxism*

But over the past few years, there has been a lot more overtly exclusionary language, like afab, used that often ostracizes transfems from queer spaces. within the trans community, trans women (esp indigenous and black trans fems) are the most oppressed and face the highest level of abuse, violence, homelessness, etc. When I say violence, I also mean vioelnce in the way they are treated within trans/nobinary spaces, and how terf language has become more and more acceptable to use to keep them out.

There are trans and nonbinary groups right now, who use afab as an identity and specifically list trans fems as their oppressors/enemies. These groups/people who identity with the term afab and use it as an identity usually do not want trans fems in their spaces.

And that language isn’t just exclusive to Tumblr.

I remember going to a cafe and saw a flier asking for participating for an autism study, and it’s like ‘we want queer people and women - afab only please’ and no one saw anything wrong with that.

There are afab exclusive trans/queer spaces everywhere and it is so normalized. And it pushes this idea that transfers do not belong in these spaces because they are harmful to afabs.

Meanwhile, transfems are still the most brutalized in the queer community, they still face the most homocides, cases of homelessnesss, etc. they are not represent in legislative spaces and are often denied jobs in queer places. 

The trans/queer community has adopted transmisogynstic language and in using that, has painted trans women as their oppressors and gives transfems no space or platform to feel included. 

And what’s worse is many spaces have started referring to transfems as ‘amab’ when transfems don’t even use that term to refer to themselves because transfems don’t have anything in common with most amab people who aren’t transfem — which a lot of people…don’t get…and idk why….

Anyway, with all that is happening and all that will happen with how terfy trans/queer spaces are—I don’t think it’s wrong that transfems don’t want to be lumped in with people who paint them as oppressors, rapists, and who exclude them. I don’t think it’s wrong for transfems not to want to be lumped in with people from the community who identify with a term that has literally excluded them, and a term that terfs use. With how shitty the trans, queer, nonbinary community treats them, why would they want a space where those very people who excluded them can ruin.

As a black nonbinary transmasc person….I really don’t ever shame groups that kick out their oppressors. Transfems not wanting afab people in their communities when for years, afab people have hurt them, painted these harsh pictures of them, excluded them from trans AND womens spaces while using harmful language isn't bad.

and of course, this wouldn't have been a problem if the term afab stayed in intersex spaces. if perisex non trans fem trans and nonbinary people didn't adopt these terms and misuse them, and make afab a fucking identity that people actually eqaute to being trans masc/nonbinary/ etc.

it's so funny that we have people who call themselves afab, proudly, getting upset that transfems are like 'no afabs please' and having the audacity to call it misognsytic and transphobic.

bitch, you started it in the first place!!!!

[floralovebot]

Hi, I want to ask your opinion on something. You made a post that said changing the Winx's races is bad. I agree that it's not okay but I have a question about Helia. I thought he was Native American when I was a child but you've said he's Asian. Is it wrong to think he's Native American?

I had to think about how to answer this for a while tbh! Sorry for the late reply

Anyway, I probably could answer this with a simple yes or no but I really feel like I should explain my answer.

I'm pretty sure you're referencing this post! Anyway, the biggest issue with race changing the canon characters of color is that when you do it, you're participating in erasure. Again, it's not more representation to, for example, make Flora asian - it's erasure because you're intentionally erasing her being latina. Now like I said, I don't have an issue with like,, children not noticing their canon races or ethnicities. It's perfectly fine if a little kid sees characters as something else! The problem is grown adults ignoring and erasing their canon races.

When it comes to Helia specifically, he is very much coded as asian, specifically east asian. I want to clarify that it's not explicitly canon. Rainbow has never stated what race he's supposed to represent and they've never said if he was based on a real person. We don't even know what planet he's actually from! So his race is all coding. However, that coding is still,,, fairly obvious. And I specifically want to touch on how Rainbow depicts their east asian characters versus their indigenous characters.

Most of their east asian characters have either dark blue, black, or brown hair and more narrow eyes. Like,, that's their go-to when trying to make a character Noticeably asian. They're also fond of putting their asian characters in traditional clothing (like qi pao or hanfu) rather than casual clothing. I added Helia at the very bottom so you can see how he compares to other, canonically asian characters.

While Rainbow has absolutely depicted asian characters in offensive ways (espero...), it's usually pretty respectful. Meanwhile,,, their depiction of indigenous characters is... anything but.

Like before, I put a picture of Helia so you can compare him to the canonically indigenous characters. As you can see here, their depiction of indigenous characters is,, extremely racist! It follows a lot of racist stereotypes like red skin, face paint, headdress, feathers, etc. Just,,, all around Not Good. And you'll notice that Helia doesn't really "fit in" visually. That's not to say that he has to look like that to be indigenous but remember that this is an animated show with intentional designs made by white people. If he was meant to be seen as indigenous, he would likely share more characteristics with these characters (like having darker, red-toned skin). Again, their depiction of indigenous characters is extremely racist. I don't think there's a single indigenous character in winx that doesn't look like a walking stereotype out of an old cowboy film. Unfortunately, Helia would absolutely look different and more like those racist designs if he was meant to be indigenous.

Now, to actually answer your question. Is it okay to see Helia as indigenous, and specifically indigenous to the americas? Well... as Helia's racial coding is still just coding and not explicit, it's not a crime if you don't see him as asian. Like,, while I do absolutely think he was meant to be seen as asian, it's still technically ambiguous enough that it's not a Bad thing if you don't see him as such.

That said, you need to be extremely careful with how you think of and portray Helia as indigenous. I've talked before about Rainbow including quite a few stereotypes about east asian men with Helia, and unfortunately, most if not all of them, can also apply to indigenous men. For example, Helia is calmer and wise (often shown to give advice in poetic ways), connected to nature (ie, birds, plants, Flora), frequently meditates, etc. These are all common stereotypes for indigenous men. I'd actually recommend reading this wikipedia article!

Anyway, seeing him as indigenous isn't inherently wrong, but there's absolutely a chance that you're picking up on indigenous stereotyping rather than coding or a headcanon. Like the long hair, connection to nature, the pacifist comment, the weird and kind of cryptic one-liners he occasionally has... Unfortunately, a lot of the indigenous!Helia headcanons/redesigns I've seen have been really racist. And the common reasoning for why they think he's indigenous often comes down to these common stereotypes.

So like,,, god I know this is long but honestly the answer is complicated. It's not a simple yes or no. It really, really depends on why you think he's indigenous. Like. Just ask yourself yknow? Why do you think this? Think of an actual reason that isn't just "vibes". And if you're creating any kind of content, even if it's just daydreaming tbh, how are you depicting him? Is there even the slightest hint of a stereotypical depiction? (And again, please research stereotypical depictions because there are a lot and quite a few contradict each other)

If you're confident that you're not stereotyping him, then honestly, it's not that bad to see him as indigenous. I do ask that you try to see and understand him being asian coded, as I do think that's important, regardless of whether or not it's in your face explicit. However, it's not like. a crime if you don't see him as asian. Just be very, very, Very careful with how you think of and portray indigenous!Helia.

Also,,, I didn't know quite how to fit this into the rest of the post but,, while it's not Bad for you to not see Helia as asian, you should think about why that is. For example, there are still a lot of people in the fandom who don't see Nabu as asian, despite his coding being extremely in your face and honestly canon at this point. But because he has darker skin, he's from Andros, and he was with Aisha, a lot of people assumed he was black. That's not inherently a bad thing, but some of those people get really mad when others point out that he's very much south asian which,,, is a bad thing. I understand the feeling of losing rep and wanting to protect that, but you shouldn't bulldoze other groups to do it.

I'm not sure what your opinion of asian Helia is, but if you're like,, against him being asian or refuse to see that very intentional coding just because you really like the idea of him being indigenous,, you should think about that and reassess things.

[drsp00n]

Some amateur (and even high budget) horror pet peeves of mine

I'll try to be as brief as I can be (lie) but feel free to ask me to ellaborate if I don't make sense:

Takes place in middle class USA: That's it, that's the post. I feel like one of my biggest issues with modern horror is just how americacentric it is. There's a treasure trove of concepts and stories that can be found in other cultures yet we are recycling the most mass appeal shit possible. As someone who isn't white and isn't living in the US, I'm tired of mascot horror. I went to chuck e cheese once, I don't know what an animatronic is. I want to see a horror story about indigenous people's interactions with creatures of the forest from the 7th century, I don't care about your US high school experience.

Relies heavily on nostalgia to build atmosphere: I think we are actually stagnating culturally. "REMEMBER THE 2000s!?" has become the new "REMEMBER THE 90s?", which itself has not fucking died because of the aesthetic in emulating things from the past. The culture of consumption and instant gratification has only gotten worse and offers nothing in the realm of substance. Why build atmosphere when you can just rely on people's sentimentality? Hell don't even be accurate, just grab a bunch of shit from different eras and throw it in there.

Liminal space/impossible space/Non-eucledian geometry: Listen, I love me a good infinite pit of death. I love me a good blood lake. I love an endless staircase. Abandoned city, empty school, love em. But I feel like some people's concepts of liminal space is just going outside??? When you want to rely on the vague recollection of a shared experience, much like relying on nostalgia, you also have to recognize that some of these things are just... normal? These environments only make sense from a human point of view. The way they're placed is uncanny, but also very calculated. To me, it works against the genre itself because only another person could come up with something like this.

Digital and analog horror: There's a ghost in my computer dick, aahhhh. This goes kind of hand in hand with the reliance on nostalgia. But it really seems like not many people have delved into the genre further than the typical possession story or zombie-adjacent apocalypse. Within a year it became saturated. There are a few fun stories here and there, but these stories can only function in the realm of having all the time in the world to lead you around an easter egg hunt, or having a youtuber do it for you. ARGs can be fun, but most of them are tedius and pedantic. The payoff is usually not worht the buildup and the aesthetics get old very quickly. They're neat as something you can do basically from your bedroom with a shitty laptop, but beyond that they're not that remarkable because most are lacking in that creative spark.

It was capitalism all along: Alright, time to throw hands. Greed has been a driving force for most of the tragedies in human history. Many stories have themes of capitalism that are not outright addressed, but are just visible enough for you to realize that it's one of the main causes for the events of a story. However, I feel that we have reached a point in social awareness that gives people the resources and information needed to say meaningful things. We KNOW capitalism bad, but what do we do with that? Nothing! Political themes and horror are at odds because while we are running around from big scary monsters, people in the real world are actually dying by the thousands due to corporate greed. Horror itself is not something that HAS to say very meaningful things on a large social scale, but I just tune out when the villain is a CEO that turned 7 children into ghost fuel to make a 4% profit on the 2019 fiscal year. Someone in the story died because their boss exploited them too much and now they're a wraith? That sucks, that happens all the time in the real world. Have a little bit more tact with this subject matter or don't use it at all.

Mascot horror: As stated above, I can't take these kinds of stories seriously because they rely on such a dumb premise to begin with. These are stories for literal children, so I shouldn't complain too much. But they take center stage on most social spaces, so I will complain. In stories where the ghost of middle class children get to possess robots or costumes or whatever, EVERYTHING should be fucking possessed. You've probably heard every other criticism about how lazy and saturated the field is so I don't have to bring it up. But I can't engage with the premise in general.

I get that this is mostly a mainstream issue, but sometimes I wish people would just pick up a book sometimes and tell something new instead of trying to be barely deritative of something else lol

[plusanimablog]

Sum-Up

(I thought the person who sent the ask in was telling me that today was the day it was released. I fooled myself.)

I read Anima some time in high school and it still is one of my favorite manga. I got some things to ramble because it's actually good/not a sports manga so settle in.

In Philosophy, the Anima is the soul, the irrational part of the soul that's distinct from a person's rational mind. It's your id, basically: your instincts, your needs, what you do instead of why you do. The Anima in this story can only come to children who are in distress. When they reach a point of contentment, usually in adulthood, their Anima will disappear. The Kimunkle tribe allows the adults to hold onto their Animas forever. Why? Because they want to stay intune with nature. Well worn-out stereotype about indigenous folk? Sure...but you can at least see where the author was coming from.

In the afterword, the author says that Cooro became "human" in the last chapter despite keeping his Anima. So he and Senri are going to go through the rest of their lives with their Anima while Husky and Nana are likely to lose theirs. Being a massive fan of Mutant Media (as Tv Tropes calls it), I'm happy with this ending. I want people to keep their powers. I don't like the notion that magic is a crutch that a person has to grow out of. No one needs to use it but demonizating it, saying it's "for children" rubs me the wrong way. I dunno, I'm pretty immature myself so that's probably the reason.

Still, I'm glad I allowed to like Nana again because her speech in Chapter 53 really tied my applicability of the series. Most people like to deny this but everything, from materials to eras to the self, it's fleeting. Nothing is permanent. You may like one thing for a long while only to find your tastes changing. You may be one thing for a long while only to find yourself completely. I brought Mono No Aware in the tags because I'm a pretentious dickwad but also because what little I understand of it is thus: there is beauty in futility. There is art to be found in something you know will not last forever. We reread stories that we've read multiple times before despite knowing the twists because we remember how it made us feel, how it still makes us feel. We love people around us knowing that they could die any day or any minute or even any second. We celebrate holidays and birthdays because they only come one time a year, making them seem fleeting in the long run. Nana says that she knows that she will not have her Anima forever but it's fine; it's important to her now and she's not gonna rush something just because others will shun her because of it. Nana knows the impermanence of self and how she must love her changes, regardless of what they are and how they come.

And now it's time for the QUEER READING: Anima can stand in for any minority. This includes races, disabilities or orientations (The slave thing loses the series a whole point because of how I thought it could have handled better but I understand the author not wanting to linger on an entirely separate culture; still lost the series a whole point though...). When you're an Anima, regardless of your ethnicity or nationality, that's your new race. That's how everyone is going to see you. You are now a person of a different country. You can be a hero, a villain, a costume, something to admire, something to observe, something to villify or something to avoid. You just can't ever be you in the eyes of non-Anima. You're every Anima they've ever heard of. That's the race part. Disabilities and sexual orientations have to share their similarities, namely that 1. People have differing reactions to Anima depending on the culture and 2. depending on the person and the Anima, the Anima doesn't have to be permanent. You can heal certain disabilities or choose to live with them. Some keep a certain label their entire lives, modify it or ditch it entirely for a new one (biological kid of a lesbian over here). Animas explicitly are said not to be permanent but that doesn't make them any less important in the time a person has them.

Last thing to bring up: I love Cooro. He reminds me of Luffy in how so goddamn simple he is while being the most complicated character in the story. We always know how he feels but never what he thinks which is my favorite type of character to read about. I hope that where he is, he's nursing a temporary stomachache from eating too many apples.

So how I feel about the series over all (I may be autistic but damn if I can't bury the lead!): It's brilliant. I like how I never wanted to skip ahead or drop it even when I was disappointed. I felt like some things could be written but compared to the last 2000s series, they could stay in as long as I know the overall experience isn't compromised. I recommend this series to anyone who's okay with depictions of racism, slavery and child marriages. And I mean that unironically.

Series Rating: 8.5/10

Tomorrow is chapter zero. After that, so long fairies.

[ladyimaginarium]

check-in tag!

1. why did you choose your url? — idr tbh. all i& remember is that. imaginarium& is our& innerworld's name.

2. any sideblogs? if you have them, name them and tell why you have them. — @imaginariumrpc my& rpc sideblog for stuff i want to reblog but not on my main, currently a mess & in the state of archiving & transferring posts onto this blog considering this blog is the one i& mainly use & its multipurpose. — @dominusornatum my& rp blog that hasnt been used but may revamp. — @brumoustoska Erica's& sideblog. May or may not add a nsft blog but idk yet.

3. how long have you been on tumblr? — uhhhh since 2016 i& think.

4. do you have a queue tag? — no but im& debating lmao

5. why did you start your blog in the first place? — this used to be a rp blog actually but i& repurposed it into a multipurpose blog bc. i& left the tumblr rpc for several reasons especially bc i& was dealing w/ my& system that i'd& recently discovered at the time & just. mental health issues.

6. why did you choose your icon? — bc khadija& is one of my& ocs & she's& cute.

7. why did you choose your header? — i love stars. like, i'm& obsessed.

8. what’s your post with the most notes? — one of my& old twdg edits iirc.

9. how many mutuals do you have? — many lmao but s/o to a, simy, emma, hal & leli.

10. how many followers do you have? — over 100.

11. how many people do you follow? — over 400.

12. have you ever made a shitpost? — aren't all my posts shitposts /j so many times.

13. how often do you use tumblr each day? — a lot, i& don't keep track tho bc thats lame.

14. have you had a fight/argument with another blog? who won? — i&. don't like arguments or conflict or any kinda disk horse especially when it comes to fandom & shipping disk horse bc tbh i& have more important things in my& life to focus on & a lot of this is like chronically online shit, so i& avoid them the best i& can within reason. so. no.

15. how do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts? — usually i'm& happy to wave them goodbye as i& scroll past them bc of ocd hell, but when it comes to indigeneity or queer issues or anything of the sort its my& duty so.

16. do you like tag games? — yes !! please continue tag me& or any of us&!! ♡

17. do you like ask games? — yessss!!

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? — tbh they all should be but uh. i& think audit especially in the plural & queer & disabled communities. hal bc they're so iconic in the plural community as a whole & they do so much for systems its great tbh. also emma bc she's a forever icon in the twdg fandom & abri ( idk what ur actual name is so lmao ) in the gangsta fandom bc uh. they're iconic asf. & although we're not moots persay bc marzi has a rp blog, but marzi's portrayal of mitch & just everything twdg related on @phantasmagcrical / @gciltyascharged has me& go like AGLJAGGALJGALGAJGAJLAGLJAGJL hennywayz ily marziiiii ♡

19. do you have a crush on a mutual? — no? /lh but i& appreciate all of my moots. ♡

20. tags? — @briala @dethqveen @aabblleeddnntt @abri-chan @tearfulangel @emmiewlw @dreamlandsystem & anyone else if you wanna do it !!

[tetrafelino]

Tag Game To Better Know You! Send this to people you'd like to know better!

I got tagged by @knivesofwater! Thank you ^.^

🦁🦁🦁🦁

what book are you currently reading?

I've been reading the lotr trilogy (for a while) and I'm a little ways into the third book, Return of the King. I'm also reading Literaturas da floresta: textos amazônicos e cultura latino-americana by Lucia Sá - it's this very interesting study on the often overlooked literary traditions of four indigenous south american cultures and their influence on latino american literature. I'm taking my time with this one too, but it's worth it to really absorb the information.

what do you usually wear?

At home sweatpants, outside basic jeans. I have an infinite rotation of perfectly inoffensive tshirts and sweatshirts ready at all times. The nicest thing I wear on a daily basis are my converse shoes (black). I enjoy the colours grey, blue and brown. Other than my haircut (that I cut at home myself) which serves as a sort of permanent statement piece, I'm just not a very interesting person to look at.

how tall are you?

I've no clue really, but somewhere between 1,65 and 1,70m.

what’s your star sign? do you share a birthday with a celebrity or historical event?

Leo! No birthday that I remeber, but I was actually born on the date Vincent Van Gogh was fatally wounded (which is not the same as the date he died). So there's that.

do you go by your name or a nickname?

Irl by nickname, but tumblr is basically the only place where I'm called by my full first name, so I mostly keep it that way here.

did you grow up to become what you wanted to be as a child?

Haven't really become anything so far, so no.

Are you in a relationship? If not, who is your crush if you have one?

I don't think I'm cut out for that. dtf tho. I do have this really embarassing crush on a goth guy from college, and I hope he doesn't remember I exist.

what’s something you’re good at vs something you’re bad at?

I'd say I'm good at anticipating people's needs and reactions, but I'm bad at comunicating my own.

Dogs or cats?

Cats! I love dogs, but I just find cats easier to handle. And nicer-smelling.

if you draw/write, or create in any way, what's your favorite picture/favorite line/favorite etc. from something you created this year?

ooohh I'm always excited to share! let's see...

"Amongst romans, such a relationship is seen as making one man the lesser for taking cock in ass."

okay no sorry I'm gonna be serious now

"Is it your goal to upstage every creature you show yourself to?" He asked without moving his mouth.

The night-black panther did not answer, though it looked a little too smug, even for a cat.

I do have one drawing I really liked but I never finished rendering it so it's... rough.

what’s something you’re currently obsessed with?

Oh so that's where the emptiness is coming from.

what’s a hidden talent of yours? 

I can imitate my cat's vocalizations perfectly, and I use this to fool my family on the daily.

what's something you wish to have at this moment?

A nice chicken parmesan would be perfect tbh. With a side of rice and fries and a tall glass of iced tea.

🦁🦁🦁🦁

aaaaah idk who to tag - I guess any mutual who wants to do this can go ahead and use me as your tagger! Especially you.

[kinsey3furry300]

While this is very cool, the big problem with this is, sometimes the traditional crafters are dead wrong because they don't realise just how new most traditional crafts are over an archaeological timescale. This is why achedemics should reach out to other communities to see if they have insight, but also why those communities should listen to what the achedemics say in return.

I remember reading archaeological text books where it said pre Colombian Mexicans kept knives in the rafters of buildings, and we didn't know why so it must be religious. Turns out if you don't have shelves that where you put them to stop your kids playing with them, no one had ever asked a mother with toddlers where they would keep them if they lived in this space. But I also remember reading a 2000+ word essay by a modern potter on how a lot of Greek pottery must be ornamental or ritual because its unglazed and as a result porous and won't hold fluids. Yeah, you cook with it once and the fat clogs the pores, and it holds fluid after that. That's been known archaeologically basically forever, and confirmed once the scanning electron microscope was invented, but to someone who's never cooked with the pots they make, they would never see it. We thought some hairdoos on roman staues must be wigs as no one could figer out how to do it, until they asked a hairdresser, who was able to re-create it by sewing hair in place. We ignored indigenous Easter Islanders when they said they walked thier statues into place, we forgot roman concrete, Lost the recipefor greek fire... but sometimes the acedemics spot clear problems in simple solutions offered by laypeople, and it causes wild misinformation about the past to spread if not countered. Knowledge has to be a two-way street.

Its like that weird roman dodecahedron, the idea that some granny solved it and knitted glove fingers using it is really really cool...

... its just a pity that knitting as a technology wasn't known until the 11tc century AD. Its a medieval Egyptian Arab technology to make more breathable cotton, and wasn't known in Europe until after the crusades. Nålebinding, or knottless knitting, may have been known in Scandinavia as early as the 5th century, but doesn't seem to have spread south and was unknown entirely in classical antiquity. We have a lot of well preserved fabrics from Greece and the roman empire, and while corse loose-knit wool fabrics are known, they are either made on a loom or basket-woven together by hand (with one late roman helmet liner that may be Nålebinding from a danish bog and one from an alpine salt mine but that's controversial). Knitting, historically speaking, is a new technology we've not yet found the boundaries for. Crochet is white-hot bleeding edge tech, being 18th century. It will be millenia before we understand the limitations of Crochet, and that's awesome.

Sometimes the nerds in their ivory towers need to listen to some wisdom from outside their comfort zone, and Sometimes traditional craftspeople need to be gently sat down and told that there are living tortoises older than their "traditional" craft. The experts are often wrong, and arrogant about it. The same unfortunately, its also true of the non experts. If an old mystery has a clear, simple, obvious solution that appeared online in the past ten years, give it a good hard look to see if that solution actually fits the evidence. Just becaues its a logical solution to us today, doest means its the logical solution people in the past would have picked. The world isn't usually simple enough to provide us with the satisfying answer we want, and that's okay.

Edit: quite funnily since posting this I have received an article on Roman Nålebinding, and it appears that while knitting with needles was indeed unknown in classical Greece and Rome, Nålebinding was in fact known and used in both Greece and Rome, but remained a niche thing only used in certain local areas. Fiber crafts really are the academic fronteer that never rests. As Ursula Vernon said "In historical accuracy there are two groups who will always spot if you're wrong by a single year and call you out: the gun people and the textiles people, and I fear the textiles people more."

Something I find incredibly cool is that they’ve found neandertal bone tools made from polished rib bones, and they couldn’t figure out what they were for for the life of them. 

Until, of course, they showed it to a traditional leatherworker and she took one look at it and said “Oh yeah sure that’s a leather burnisher, you use it to close the pores of leather and work oil into the hide to make it waterproof. Mine looks just the same.” 

“Wait you’re still using the exact same fucking thing 50,000 years later???”

“Well, yeah. We’ve tried other things. Metal scratches up and damages the hide. Wood splinters and wears out. Bone lasts forever and gives the best polish. There are new, cheaper plastic ones, but they crack and break after a couple years. A bone polisher is nearly indestructible, and only gets better with age. The more you use a bone polisher the better it works.”

It’s just. 

50,000 years. 50,000. And over that huge arc of time, we’ve been quietly using the exact same thing, unchanged, because we simply haven’t found anything better to do the job. 

[jayswing101]

For the crafting ask, if snd only if you want to: 🌼🌿🍉

Oooh these are some interesting questions~~

🌼 Do you have a project (current or a past one) you want to talk about?

There's two I'm currently working on that I've also been working on for a while now, but I'm just going to talk about one so this answer doesn't get super long 😅

I'd love to talk a bit about the first ribbon skirt that I've ever made! I'm using two fabrics for it, both with designs I love and that I'm excited to wear, and four ribbon colours. All the materials come from an Indigenous-owned shop that I've loved for years (4 Generations Creations), and the artist and owner of this shop is the reason I feel comfortable wearing a ribbon skirt in my daily life, so it was cool to get my fabric and ribbons from her!! I'm hand sewing because I don't like using a sewing machine, and there's a total of eight panels that make up the skirt, so it is taking a while to make 😅

It's a bit of a non-traditional style because I'm making it with a tie-waist so that it's adjustable, and it's also going to be a lot fuller than ribbon skirts typically are, but I want to wear it every day and I prefer fuller skirts (they feel less "feminine" somehow? and also I can wear shorts under them and then run around like I'm still wearing pants and it's great). Most importantly, it's going to have some nice big pockets!!

🌿 What tips would you give a beginner? What is something you wish you had know when you started?

I have two big tips. 1) Take care of your wrists!! Beading and sewing can both be really hard on your wrists so it's important to take care of them. Do some wrist stretches, work on your wrist strength and grip strength, try to remember to take breaks, and if your wrist starts hurting - stop working!! Some beaders like to use a soft wrist brace for extra support while beading, and if your wrists tire easily, that might be something you want to try too!

2) Your work doesn't need to be perfect!! Especially as a beginner, it's hard to get tension right when sewing or beading, and it's also hard to get the spacing between beads/stitches right. The first couple pieces will look funny, and your lines will be wonky, but that's okay! You took your own two hands, and you made something, and that's beautiful. No matter how "aesthetic" your creation turns out, you still made it, you still learnt from it, you did an activity that people have been doing for thousands of years and that's so cool. So, don't be hard on yourself if your seam is crooked or there's a weird gap between your beads, your ancestor a hundred years ago also had a crooked seam and a weird bead gap. You're human and you're learning - it's not going to be perfect and all those imperfections are part of what make your work so magical~ don't let the fear of imperfection prevent you from finding a craft/hobby you enjoy

🍉 Are you a planner, or are you more of a "eh, we'll see how this one goes" -type of crafter?

In general, I'm a "we'll see how this one goes" type crafter. I'm very much driven by the wants and desires of the bees buzzing in my brain, so my crafting tends to be more impulsive than planned out 😅 the most planning I usually do is drawing out a template to follow while I'm doing flat-stitch beading because I cannot do anything more complex than a circle without giving myself some guidance, but the colour choices and bead placement are usually made on the spot, in the moment. The most planning I've done is attempted to figure out how much fabric I need for a specific sewing project before buying the fabric (it was all based on a guess. a good guess luckily, but not an educated one. I am a chaotic crafter and it does stress me out sometimes but also it's fun to be a crafting gremlin) Oh! I did make a paper mock-up one time because I could not figure out how to fold and cut the fabric and needed to use something to practice. Maybe that's actually the most planning I've done 😅

Send me a crafting ask!

[rauthschild]

The Roman Catholic Church Never Ended Slavery...

People from other countries often contact me and ask me what I am doing, being involved in fights over their assets.  It's because the mechanisms used to steal their assets and impersonate them are, most of the time, being exercised in this country and under our laws, even though the actual government isn't administering any of this theft and craziness. 

As usual, it's the Brits.  Always the Brits.  And they are working as Overseers for the Popes.  

There is no actual British King for the reasons I have pointed out on numerous occasions: William the Conqueror made sure of that. 

The person playing King of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales is actually an Overseer of the Commonwealth lands working for the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church at the same time that he or she functions as the head of the Church of England.  

This conflict of interest is expressed throughout the history of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales for the past 800 years and results in numerous occasions, like the one pointed out yesterday, where the King of Britain or his officers get involved in the slave trade, which is still supported by the Roman Catholic Church. 

You will remember that during his First Inaugural Address, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (a British Territorial Officer) announced the sale of all the Municipal citizens of the United States and the fact that they would be traded using "clearinghouse certificates".  

These clearinghouse certificates are otherwise known as birth certificates and these pieces of paper are issued as commercial bonds held against the labor and overall value of the slaves, by Cede and Company, a private brokerage embedded in the heart of the larger Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation. 

If you are surprised that slavery is alive and well in the modern world and that the Roman Catholic Church is the chief promoter of slavery, think again. 

Which side of The American Civil War did the theocracy running the Federal Civil Service fight on? 

The South.  

The Church has been pro-slavery for centuries and is the chief culprit responsible for its continuance--- albeit, a sanitized white-collar version of the crime. 

Ever since Pope Nicholas V the Church has imposed a "Christian duty" on Christian Monarchs (1492) to enslave non-Christians -- which leaves the British King pretending to be a Constitutional Monarch, while in fact enforcing slavery on all the Municipal (city-state) citizens in his realm.  Just like FDR. 

https://medium.com/illumination-curated/how-pope-nicholas-v-used-the-church-to-start-the-disgraceful-slave-trade-af8879f9c98c

The Church has done nothing to correct its vicious errors and dogmas despite all the top-dressing and the purportedly civilized governments of the NATO group all uniformly decrying slavery out of one side of their mouths and in some of their jurisdictions, while eagerly practicing and promoting it otherwise. 

Take a look at 18 USC 1595 and 18 USC 77, PEONAGE, SLAVERY, AND TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS. 

What in the name of God is going on here?  

You will have to define which "God" and which jurisdiction of law you are talking about in order to answer this fundamental question.  

Slavery, peonage, and trafficking is strictly prohibited on the land and soil by all the various governments, however, it is not prohibited at sea, the realm of Satan. 

And while living people are not supposed to be impacted by the resulting crimes, there is no law against enslaving or trafficking "persons" -- defined as corporations--- including corporations that are defined as citizens. 

So now you have the "legal work around" they use to justify continuing their venal practices -- they simply "redefine" everyone as a citizen and define all citizens as corporations, thereby dehumanizing their victims on paper, which then leaves them a free hand to commit genocide or any other crime against these  legal fiction persons. 

In the realm of international law either on land or at sea, all the moving parties are dead. On land we use our "lawful persons" to conduct business, and at sea we are reduced to functioning as "legal persons".  

Autochthonous Americans are specifically owed the protection of our "persons" under Article IV of both The Constitution of the United States (Municipal theocracy) and The Constitution of the United States of America (Territorial democracy).  

The only way our erstwhile subcontractors evade this obligation is by pretending that we are foreigners in our own country and that we are voluntarily adopting foreign citizenship obligations and subjecting ourselves to their own Pope and their own King.  

They have endeavored to change our natural political status "for" us, without any disclosure, so as to expedite this crime of unlawful conversion against us. 

They have tried to keep their activities secret, because this particular crime is prohibited under both the Geneva and Hague Conventions and is a recognized capital crime carrying the death sentence. 

This dehumanizing genocide on paper that the British Monarch, Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Popes operating as Roman Pontiffs, have promoted against the living people of this planet in the name of "Christianity" is a gross disservice to the memory of Yeshuah, and a hypocrisy that has been promoted via fraud for the purposes of violent conquest and unjust enrichment. 

This has been done by Principals that owe us good faith service and protection under contract and treaty. 

Even now, they are trying to ignore the requirements of their own laws and contractual obligations and they continue to promote the idea of a "new" form of Corporate Feudalism, in which living people are deemed to be nothing but franchises of  so-called "national corporations" --with all these corporations then taking the place of feudal monarchs.

In our opinion, the first thing that needs to happen is for the Church hierarchy to overturn Pope Nicholas V's dogma concerning the enslavement of non-Christians. This Medieval dogma needs to go away and the Church's involvement in promoting slavery of any kind imposed on anyone for any reason needs to end. 

The second thing that needs to happen is for the Templar hierarchy to realize that their part in all of this is known and their butts are in the wringer. 

Their black robed priests are likely to be slaughtered but even more important for the business-minded Templars, their entire schtick and the true nature of their courts will be exposed. The deception which is the basis of their worldly power will be destroyed. 

As a result, they have to deliver more than the appearance of justice.  They have to render justice itself and stick to it and honor their contracts or their entire edifice will crumble like so much compost. 

Finally, the people of the world need to wake up and do their own work of self-governance, to populate the land and soil jurisdiction of their own country, and to impose their superior general jurisdiction over these criminals and miscreants. 

It goes without saying that the banks are liable.