#by the time we were free

[emilyelizabethfowl]

i've looked into it bc it's something i'm unfamiliar with - no wonder! it's a Kujawian tradition (region near the sea) while i grew up on the opposite side of the country haha

from the Etnographic Museum in Toruń

"Wzory wysypywane piaskiem stały się jednym z elementów sztuki ludowej charakterystycznych dla zdobnictwa kujawskiego, wyróżniającym go na tle sąsiednich regionów. Zwyczaj ten znany był na Kujawach od 2. poł. XIX w. Rozpowszechnił się w okresie pouwłaszczeniowym wraz ze wzrostem zamożności mieszkańców wsi, której efektem stała się większa dbałości o wnętrza mieszkalne i obejścia. Ta forma zdobnictwa, przekazywana z pokolenia na pokolenie, była domeną kobiet i cieszyła się wśród nich dużą popularnością. Do wysypywania wzorów używano białego piasku przynoszonego lub przywożonego zazwyczaj z tzw. piaśnicy, czyli miejsca gdzie kopano piasek. Musiał być suchy, sypki i miałki, dlatego wymagał odpowiedniego przygotowywania. Dla najstarszych tradycyjnych piaskowych wzorów charakterystyczne były motywy mitycznego drzewa życia, a także nawiązania do archaicznej symboliki solarnej i lunarnej."

Translation:

"Patterns created with sand became one of the elements of folk art characteristic for the kuyavian decoration, making it distinctive from its neighbouring regions. This custom was known in Kuyavy since the 2nd half of the 19th century. It became more common after the abolition of serfdom following the villagers becoming better off financially, which in effect caused them to care more about the state of the areas inside and outside of their homes. This form of decoration, passed on from generation to generation, was women's domain and was fairly popular amongst them. To create the patterns they used white sand carried on foot or on a carriage, usually from so-called "piaśnica" that is a place where the sand was dug out. It had to be dry, loose and fine, so it required the right preparation. For the oldest of the traditional sand patterns, it was characteristic to use motifs of the mythological tree of life, as well as relate to the archaic solar and lunar symbolism."

"Sypanie piaskiem" is an old custom from the rural parts of Poland that consists in drawing protective or decorative symbols with sand.

[sciderman]

well - webtoons is over, gang

[solasfenheral]

the craziest thing about veilguard shying away da's traditional messy grappling with it's own politics is that this is the game where the blight is literally confirmed to be a legacy of imperialism and one that is rotting the world from the inside out. like brother, the ideology is coming from inside the house.

[marypsue]

Man, it's cool and all if you see a metaphor for marginalisation in the monstrous, and if you want the power fantasy of 'what if you could just eat anybody who threatened you/pissed you off'. Me too.

However, as soon as you start saying 'no, these monsters are a 1:1 on Specific Marginalised Group, and you have to treat them in the fiction like they are directly representative of real human members of the marginalised group', BUT you also, in the fiction, make them hurt/kill/eat humans? And then try to shame me, your audience, for noticing or engaging with the bit where they kill people, because you made them directly representative of a real-world marginalised group? You have lost me, and also, I think, the plot.

[apollos-olives]

i've been thinking about this for months but honestly i think no one knows how to interact properly with palestinians. we've already gone over the whole "parasocial relationships with palestinians are bad" thing but then there's the other issue of just using palestinians as news outlets. so many people followed me because i was talking about palestine and educating people on tumblr about palestinian culture and that's literally all they use me for. they don't care about me as a person, as an actual human being, who has a life outside of just talking about palestine online.

i notice when no one interacts with me outside of that. i notice when no one treats me like a person with likes and dislikes and hobbies and interests. no one really interacts with my personal posts that talk about my day-to-day life. no one really cares about it when i share about my work, my school, my family. no one cares about seeing palestinians as people with real lives. they only see palestinians as history books, or news channels. they only share our posts and our stories when it relates to the occupation. i've posted hundreds of small posts about my life and my struggles and my celebrations and my activities and no one cares. and i'm not demanding anyone to care, but it does tell me that people only follow me for the information i can give them, and that they don't follow me because they actually really care about me as a person. people see me as a news outlet. as an object. just an information machine. and i've seen this happen to other palestinians on here as well, not just me.

palestinians have lives. we have personalities. we're just normal people who are undergoing genocide. the best way to comfort those in need is to befriend them and let them know that you care about them. yes, please donate, please advocate, please keep boosting palestinian voices and sharing palestinian news. but also please talk to us!! treat us as people!! we have likes and dislikes and hobbies and personalities and we're human beings just like you!! please treat us more kindly and interact with us outside of just the genocide. we want to be treated as humans. only following palestinians for news and education and nothing else plays a part into the dehumanization aspect of the genocide. we just want to be treated like normal human beings.

i've seen this happen to other palestinians on this site and other places as well. i've had several discussions about how people don't interact with us unless it's about the genocide. it's really isolating and makes us feel as though no one cares about us as individuals with different beliefs and personalities. we just want people to actually care about who we are as people outside of our oppression.

[flowersforthemachines]

Some facts about Taash (and also the Lords of Fortune, the Qunari, Dragons and other related things) gathered from the banters

Featuring Shathaan's stories about the Crows!

I went through all companion banters on DanaDuchy's channel after playing the game to write down all facts about companions/the world that I haven't seen brought up anywhere in the game as a writing reference (and for funsies).

Note: This list may not be exhaustive. I might have missed some something or didn't write it down because I considered it common knowledge. If you have anything to add, please DM me or send an ask! (do specify what banter the information is coming from, though)

Note 2: Posts from this series (mostly) don't include information from banters specific to quests or between companions and faction members. I plan to do another playthrough to capture more of those and will add any relevant info to the character posts.

Other characters' posts: Bellara, Davrin, Harding, Lucanis, Emmrich, Neve. I'm also planning a post about just the Lighthouse some time later

About Taash

General: 

Taash gets grumpy if they stay inside for too long

Taash may polish their treasure hoard or clean the dishes (even somebody else's) to get out of their head

When Taash is feeling sad, they ask somebody else about how they are doing, so they can focus on somebody else instead of themselves

Taash doesn’t like talking about their feelings because it makes them sad (Lucanis can relate)

Taash doesn't read books before bed because they have a tendency to stay up past their bedtime to finish the exciting parts

Taash seems to care quite a lot about fibre and digestive health (they are so real for that). For example, they enjoy the smell of coffee but don’t drink it because it’s bad for their guts

Taash drinks alcohol 

Taash once requested Bellara/Lucanis to cook them a demon (the suggestion was disregarded) 

Taash liked Lucanis’s deep-fried peppers 

Taash liked Bellara’s stir-fry 

(If Rook is in romance with Taash) A spirit of devotion appears next to Taash after they enter a relationship

Taash doesn’t want to look for more dragonfire tablets because “they are just more orders”, and they already have enough  

Taash doesn’t kill in cold blood and needs to get angry in order to kill someone

Taash has good taste in gemstones, knowing which colours match which (based on the banters where they recommend gemstones for Emmrich’s lich helmet). They say it’s a Lord of Fortune thing, they have to know how to make gems look good 

Taash isn’t afraid of the Fade, because the spirits there mind their own business and don’t try to possess anyone (or anything) 

Taash thinks that even if the Nevarrans almost brought their dragons to extinction, they will still come back eventually

Taash is extremely excited to hear that Morrigan can (potentially) turn into a dragon and wants to ask her about it next time they meet 

Taash doesn’t mind finding no loot when hunting dragons because as long as you survived an encounter with a dragon, you have a new story to tell 

Taash doesn't think of dragons as monsters since they are a natural part of the world and have been around longer than anyone else

On fire-breathing: 

Taash started breathing fire when they were a toddler

Taash needs to eat greens after breathing fire, or they get headaches 

According to healers, fire breathing hurts Taash’s lungs

Taash accidentally set their first female partner’s hair on fire during their first sex

Taash once tried to cook with their dragon breath and accidentally melted a pot and set the kitchen on fire 

On Taash’s sense of smell:  

Taash got their heightened sense of smell after they got sick and couldn't breathe through the nose for a couple of months. After they recovered they could suddenly smell everything

Tassh can smell when someone is ovulating. They can also smell who had been in the room before them, and who is hungover 

Taash could also tell Neve got together with Rook or Lucanis from the smell even before anybody told them

To Taash, Minrathous smells rainy and ‘like rich people hurting poor people’

Early life and the relationship with Shathann: 

Taash learnt to swim before they learnt to walk

Shathann sometimes wouldn't let Taash play/go swimming until they finished their studies (like being able to tell the difference between some pottery shards)

Shathann gifted Taash axes during one of the gift-giving holidays when they were younger. They were simple kindling choppers, but Shathann helped decorate them to make them look like Qunari weapons. During a conversation with Bellara, Taash realises that may be the reason they are still using axes to this day

Axes are also good at lodging between dragon scales and allows them to climb up

Taash grew up poor, though they didn’t realise it because Shathann always made sure they had enough food, even at her expense (like pretending she didn’t want to eat because “Rivaini food is too rich for her”)

Taash spent the money they made from their first job as Lord of Fortune on buying Shathaan a dress. Shathann didn’t appreciate it, instead urging Taash to buy themselves boots or some other useful things 

Shathann hated apples because their skin would get stuck in her teeth (“Evataash, that fruit is stupid!”)

If Taash chooses to pursue Rivaini culture and wear Shathann’s horn as jewellery, they have a blacksmith do runes in the old Qunari language along the edges and get a Seer to bless it

Shathann stopped telling stories about the Crows after Taash once climbed on the roof to play as a Crow

The things Shathann taught Taash about the Crows:

Antivan Crows make themselves invisible to dragons by imitating the dragon's shadow

Antivan Crows coat the beaks of actual crows with poison so that the crows can kill people by pecking

Antivan Crows can slow down their breathing until they become invisible

Antivan Crows come through houses at night and kill children who aren’t in bed

Antivan Crows can do a special move that stops their enemy's heart

Antivan Crows can strangle a Qunari with their own dar-saam (but only if it’s tied incorrectly)

Relationships with companions: 

Bellara gives Taash advice on cooking dinner for their mother

Davrin teaches Taash to use buckets filled with water and sand for lifting

Taash has never flown a kite before and asks Harding to teach them

Harding's mother sends Taash a letter with homemade candies after Shathann’s death, calling it “a hug from afar” (Taash appreciated the gesture and liked the candy) 

(If Rook is in romance with Taash) Taash asks Lucanis about what Rook likes to eat, and Lucanis offers to teach them how to make coffee/tea/chiocolata calda 

Taash isn’t scared of Spite, and even convinces (or more like intimidates) him not to talk about how other people smell without their permission

Lucanis agrees to teach Taash how to kill targets with flair (with varying degrees of success when it comes to cool one-liners) and then plans to ask Teia to make a Crow cape just for them (Taash is very excited about it, as they love crow capes)

Taash insists Neve should get some trophy from Aelia (a ring, or an amulet with her name) to show everyone she beat her, and doesn’t understand why Neve isn’t interested in something like that 

Taash offers their blood to Neve for blood magic purposes (Neve doesn’t take up the offer)

Taash thinks Neve’s ‘dresses’ are pretty

Taash thinks nobody can go toe-to-toe in magic with Neve

Taash offers to hook Neve up with their jeweller to get her a discount (in case she wants a new leg) because “Neve deserves nice things”

Lords of Fortune:

Lords of Fortune have a drunk game where they throw a goblet made from fool’s gold into the water for others to find. Whoever finds it gets free drinks for the rest of the night. The game has only one rule: no punching in the junk

There is also another drunk game where drunk Lords jump off a giant cliff. The only rule is not to hit the water face-first

Even if those are “drunk games”, you can participate in them sober, as long as you are willing to be as stupid as the drunk people

The Lords of Fortune pick new jobs by Isabela throwing daggers at a map or racing nugs (the winner picks the job - could be its owner, or the nug itself)

The lords used to blindfold Mateo (the faction merchant) and spin him around in circles until he tripped on something like a map. They stopped doing that because a Seer told them to quit (the whole thing gave Mateo headaches) 

After Shathann is gone, Taash is in charge of appraising Qunari artifacts for the Lords until they find a better expert

The Lords of Fortune work with a Dalish clan keeper Shivanas (Taash calls them ‘Shiv’) who appraises artefacts for them (tells them what’s okay to sell and not to sell etc.) 

After losing his hand, a Lord named Bernst got a lock-pick hand prosthetic decorated with gems

About Dragons:

Different breeds of dragons can mate and produce offspring. That’s how ice- and lightning-breathing dragons came about

The muscles of dragon wings’ are vulnerable behind. Another weakness is the underbelly

Fighting Dragons is all about making them come to you, either by having them see you as a threat (so they come down to assert dominance) or prey (so they come down to eat you) 

There is a dragon called Wildervale Spitter, which can breathe fire or poison gas. The “fire breath” is actually just poison that burns when the dragon breathes. Most dragons always ignite their breath. The Spitter's special for being able to choose whether to light it up.

Dragons have an extra eyelid that they shut while breathing fire in order to protect their eyes

About Qunari etc.:

Eb-ketarra means something like “growing memories.” When you graft someone’s horn onto yours, you also add their strength to yourself

Qunari food uses a lot of oil for frying

Qunari have a much better sense of smell than humans

Qunari can bury their dead with large jars inlaid with a flame pattern. It’s called ‘issalatar’ and is empty inside, representing that the deceased’s body is also empty now that their spirit is gone

The Rivaini armada can hold its own against the Antaam fleet, but only in good weather. They can’t match the Antaam in firepower, but they can outsail them

Isabela is apparently still a captain of the Siren’s Call 

[ebonytails]

Happy famife, happy life

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Gaslighter? I hardly know her!

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[lnmei]

Here’s a bit of a departure from my usual art posting but I’d like to get the word out about my dear friend Edrian and his friend Angeles’s endurance performance and hunger strike for a free Palestine in Los Angeles starting today, June 17th. (More info on Edrian’s Instagram and at venerations.cargo.site)

Edrian will begin cutting out paper dolls and ribbons to reach 35,647 of each, reflecting the reported death toll of Palestinians killed by Israel’s genocide in Gaza since Oct. 7th. He will not move from the venue until he is done and do nothing aside from cutting with few exceptions made for his own physical and economic survival. In addition to that and to represent a microcosm of the suffering in Gaza and Palestine, he will be on HUNGER STRIKE until he finishes. It’s an impossible task to do alone before starving so audience participation is essential. I’m spreading the word to ask for support through participation!

You can participate in a number of ways (more detailed instructions here):

Spread the word. Word of mouth and social media sharing are crucial as this performance is being promoted pretty exclusively via word of mouth.

Donate money to Palestinian aid funds! Certain high donation amounts can help Edrian continue his endurance performance by allowing him to engage in life-giving activities like showering or socializing with a loved one, and reaching the 100k total goal allows him to end his hunger strike.

If you live in and around Los Angeles, visit the venue (800 Date Ave, Alhambra, CA 91803) There you can help him cut and show your support. ***The performance is on the second floor of the venue and there is no elevator so it is not accessible except by stairs :(

If you don’t live near LA, you can cut paper dolls and mail them to the venue address to count towards the total. (printable templates here) This is what I will be doing. It’s easy to do with any spare time you’re not using your hands. I recommend mailing them in small batches if possible to get them in on time and reduce the risk of losing mail. I also recommend including info about the count of paper dolls in each parcel (for example include a note telling the total number of paper dolls) Every small amount counts!

If you are an Art Center College of Design student or alumni, sign the petition to pressure Art Center to divest from Israel! Art Center has refused to host Edrian and Angeles for their performance, torn down their posters promoting it, and in general refused to take a stance against Israel’s genocide. As artists and human beings we must resist genocide and refuse to support institutions that side against the people.

He is also live-streaming his performance and documenting progress if you would like to show support just by being present.

If you’ve never participated in a political performance before now’s a great chance, any little bit counts! I appreciate any time or effort you take to read this, support my friends, and work towards a free Palestine! ♥️🇵🇸

[egophiliac]

Hello! Could I ask how many chapters does the jp server currently have? I believe you're at the 12th part but I'm not sure. Part 7 came out in the eng server and the measly 16 chapters with no chapters within chapters destroyed me, so I'm trying to estimate how many we'll get when parts come out

yep, we're in the middle of 7-12 right now! they started splitting them up further starting with 11, so we got chapter 11 part 1, then chapter 11 part 2, and we're due chapter 12 part 2 (and maybe 3?) later this month. we've been getting them more regularly though, so it seems like they're switching to smaller but more frequent story drops!

I think Eng is following the same chapter breakdown as JP for these ones, and they've mostly been a decent length each IMO -- 9 was on the short side (two-person dorms go by so fast...) but we're getting nice little wrap-ups to the characters' arcs so I personally haven't felt, like, shortchanged or anything so far! it is SUPER hard being patient though (I'm lucky enough to be able to play it immediately and I'm still dying over here), so. ...I'm hoping the smaller drops help with that. :')

if you want the actual chapter numbers so far:

chapter 8 - 117-139

chapter 9 - 140-157

chapter 10 - 158-191

chapter 11 - 192-211 (part 1) / 212-226 (part 2)

chapter 12 - 227-244 (part 1)

(pretty sure these are correct, but if someone notices that they're off, please let me know!)

[vaguely-concerned]

from what I infer from some of his dialogue, my guess is that while lucanis hasn't had a proper relationship before he has had one night stands and short term flings. and -- listen, I know he's a dick and a menace and probably a hopeless case but please do still spare illario dellamorte a moment of your thoughts and pity for the role of incredulous yet intrepid wing man that he's all but certainly had to play on several occasions for that to happen. there are 100% people out there who were trying SO fucking hard to get no strings attached laid by this stupidly hot emotionally unavailable mysterious stranger who won't be in town for long without lucanis ever realizing it. people who would have remained tragically unlaid if illario weren't there to clue him in.

I'm just imagining Illario staring in pure dismay and disbelief at his dumbass of a cousin failing to pick up what someone isn't just putting down but scattering all over the floor like glittery confetti burning with a magnesium flame brightness to spell out 'SIR PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE RAIL ME THIS IS AN OFFICIAL ENTHUSIASTIC INVITATION TO MY BED' and having to push him out the door after them like 'maker's breath sometimes i don't understand how you have the wits to grip the right end of a knife, lucanis, they were throwing themselves at you and you just stared at them in mild puzzlement until they gave up and went away go fucking GET THEM for the sake of my sanity if nothing else!!!'

[lucky-fy]

made it gayer

[spacedlexi]

some clem thru the years practice

[arscorpii]

episode 1 / episode 39

[moodyvoid]

When you really think about it, Hawks took his goal of creating a world where “Heroes have time to kill” a little too literally. 🙃

[navree]

Incorrect, the fact that Biden has dropped out and a candidate with history of supporting medicare for all and being more receptive to a ceasefire in the I/P conflict has made me go from "I cannot morally support the Democratic nominee" to "I am voting for the Democratic nominee despite the fact she isn't perfect in every respect." I'm really happy this played out. The Dems for the most part abandoned the old Obama platform and it feels like its possible an actual progressive agenda could come to pass in my lifetime.

Kamala 2024!

If you weren't going to vote Democratic in this election before Biden dropped out you're a dorkass loser who does not care about any of the issues you're yammering about here and also a fundamentally bad person, and I hope you get run over by a bus.

But you got one thing right in all of this gibberish, Kamala 2024.