#especially west australian culture

[rebellum]

To me the autism to autism communication thing seems very interestingly like cross cultural communication. Idk it reminds me of how while I love speaking to people from the middle east who moved/are visiting here, because they're SO FRIENDLY by canadian standards, if they're new here then they also often don't know about Canadian personal space bubbles, which are rather large by many cultures standards. Like they'll just stand like.. right there. Just in front of me. Speaking directly into my face. And to them I'm sure canadians seem rather standoffish and a little cold, like how Scandanavians seem to Canadians.

[onemore2morrow]

can I be real? I know everyone is like “Trump is too incompetent to invade Greenland/Canada/Mexico, he won’t actually do it” but I think we need to start bracing ourselves for that reality. I mean this is kind of what militaristic empires do. Since the beginning of… the beginning.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I’m not trying to fear-monger anyone. I’m just posting this because I’m curious if anyone else feels this way or if I’m alone.

Why do you think the Tik Tok trial was utter bullshit? Most of it is racism, yeah. But there’s a second, hidden motive. To cut the American people off. Regardless of your opinion on the app, that algorithm is something everyone is after. It’s less of a social media app like Instagram or Facebook, and more like a Reddit or Tumblr with video. It’s connected people all across the world. Allowed for mutual aid and the sharing of information. It spreads ideas like wildfire, both good and bad. And that is a threat to the American government because they cannot properly censor it. That’s why they want it to be sold to an American company.

And sure, with VPNs people will maybe be able to use it for 6 more months. But what’s 6 more months in the grand scheme of things? In a year they’ll be able to do whatever they (the government) want, all across the world, and keep Americans cut off and isolated. Sure, information can still flow in from places online. But you’re kidding yourself if you can’t recognize the way Tik Tok shared information is special. And the broad, American general public will not have access to news like that anymore.

So now you have a country with the most powerful military and their citizens mostly cut off from the all the rest of the world still uses. I give it two years before we (the American people) start hearing about “rogue cartel attacks” down at the Texas border. Or AI videos of some “Mexican terrorist group”.

And now there’s that thing Oklahoma where you HAVE to be enrolled at a college, trade school, or military to graduate HIGH SCHOOL. I.E. if you don’t have the money for college or trade school, you have to enlist just to get your high school diploma.

And I could talk about the increased xenophobia from Europeans and Australians. But I’m too tired and bored. I just wouldn’t be surprised if it comes out people have been paid to stoke the flames, and just make Americans afraid of leaving.

I know this is a very American centered take. I know America isn’t the center of the world. Believe me, I’m a cultural psychologist. But I’m an American who thinks this all too much to be a coincidence. And I think we (the West) have all collectively adapted a “that could never happen to us!” fallacy that is going to get torn down real soon.

Edit: and with Trump literally JUST being sentenced and a convicted felon, I would be SHOCKED if Vance doesn’t invoke the 25th so he and DeSantis can start their Project 2025. Especially after the Twitter war.

[labyrinthinehallow]

Friends I know it’s a reach in the sense that it’s not this deep in tf2s lore, but I think associating sniper with this song oughta happen more often. Can we give him this one

This could easily be me projecting more than I should. Being fake American AND fake Brazilian has done numbers on my psyche when it comes to the “come on LF don’t project onto this new character you like” challenge that I effortlessly fail every time, but Snipers “he’s Australian -> WELL he’s actually a New Zealander!” lore drop hit way harder than it was likely meant to.

*if you read more the alt texts are slightly important to my incessant rambling

To self indulge (something I am good at as a gluttonous product of man):

On one hand, the reveal of his nationality was a funny bit to play. We get the punchline, and then we move on and have something to draw funny art about. But on the other hand, I know anyone in the same boat would’ve gotten it as well, myself included; understanding the moments realization that you belong to two cultures, and yet you feel worthy of neither at the same time. The additional knowledge that you just aren’t quite like your peers growing up because of small differences that eventually mean nothing over time (this more for some than others, like Sniper himself). At least it clears up why you didn’t fit in as a child, but now there’s more deep rooted conflict to where you belong in its place—in my own experience, I still don’t feel like I’ll ever truly be home, and I got to know it from day one while he waited 26 years. Again, the comics really brisk past his reveal quickly and we aren’t left long to think about how the news hits him, learning after everything that he isn’t actually born an Aussie. That’s just how TF2 carries itself, with heavy punches and quick succession for humors sake. But I’d like to think about it from his perspective more, especially as a character who seems to shovel so much to the side to never be unpacked ever again.

I don’t think his parents abandoning the team immediately would’ve helped him to process this new information about his identity healthily pssshh whaat. What that’s crazy.

Not to dissect the lyrics too heavily I’ll just loosely translate the first few with my own pov for Sniper with how it’s been sitting in my head. Everyone reading is encouraged to skip this because it will not make sense because I am not eloquent

I can picture him sitting in his parents lab as they drone through their demise that marked his beginning. The realization coming then rather than when Miss Pauling had told him about his parents nationalities before the mission, as he heard her before, but it didn’t sink in properly until now. [“born in the East New Zealand, raised by the West Australia.”].

[“Torn in between cultural dressings*”] *cultural dressings in this context being less literal and more abstract, referring less to the culture shock of actual cultural clothing, but the culture shock of his parents from Australia, as humbler and more free spirited(?) Outbackers, compared to the dysfunction and spotty intelligence of the scientifically driven pairing he originated from. I think sometimes about how different he would’ve been if he stayed with his biological parents, in a way. They’re kind of awful (IMO), but it makes me wonder about if he’d ever long for something beyond their interests in science and tech, something less rigid and more freeing. That’s besides the point though.

Knowing he cares deeply about both his parents (though he doesn’t explicitly state he loves anyone), but now feeling inadequate to both countries. His brain death scene shows us he loved his adoptive parents when he wishes to stay with them rather than return to the living, and his willingness to risk his life for his father even after his mother abandoned them shows care for the other two. That’s what makes both homes feel right, but neither feel whole to him; being raised in a country he was proud of, only to realize it’s not his, juxtaposed by his real home country—a country he never lived in, and has never known. [“Both may feel right, but neither feels whole.”]

[“Mother I’m torn between two different homes.”] for this I’m just. I can’t help but imagine him at the payphone for this one. By the time he knows this all, his adoptive parents are dead and his biological parents ditched, he has nobody to really confide in about this, and how could he articulate it to his team at all? It’s a dysphoria (for lack a better word) that I haven’t even managed to articulate myself for YEARS and I’m trying to talk about a character in the same shoes! idk how he’d do it! He probably just wants to talk to his mom. The one who actually STEPPED UP🗣️ … and can’t. So I can picture him venting to the phone instead, the dial tone on the other end is his closest grasp of comfort for this.

Now that I’m done spamming, I’d like to conclude this simply: I think he deserves this song for its relatability to his conflict as a character born in one place, feeling out of his element, then learning it’s because he’s actually from a different country he also knows he’d never belong in. Mother by Haley Heynderickx for Mr. Mundy a treat?

I know this is a letter salad and I don’t have any idea as to whether or not anyone’s gonna understand what I’m saying, my head feels like soup and I’m sharing my brain rot as a distraction from the last day or so. If you read all that then take this lil wip here as compensation. If anyone else felt they related to him in that sense as well don’t hesitate to share, we’ll all find home eventually.

ദ്ദിᵔ.˛.ᵔ₎

[whenua-and-moana]

Banaba

How the West Made an Island Unhabitable (and Consumed its People's Bones)

Banaba, aka Ocean Island, is a small island in Micronesia. It's legally part of Kiribati [kih-rih-bas] but geographically, culturally, and politically very distinct. At three hundred kilometres from its nearest neighbour, Banaba is one of the most isolated places on earth.

It is also among one of the most ecologically devastated.

In the 1900's, a UK / Aotearoa / Australian owned mining company dug up and shipped away huge amounts of Banaba's phosphate-rich soil for use as fertilizer. They grew rich and created Aotearoa's massive agricultural industry from literal stolen land.

More than just the physical earth was taken. Phosphate mining stripped the layers where Banabans had buried their dead for thousands of years. The dust of their bones fed the lands of the West, creating rich green fields that Banabans would never see the profits of.

When I say 'huge amounts' of earth; 90% of the island's surface was stripped away.

[Left image: an aerial view of Banaba showing a roughly oval island with no vegetation in the centre. The outside is ringed by a thin strip of forest. Right image: a photo of the edge of a mining area. In the background is a forest, but then the ground drops off sharply into irregular rocky terrain.]

The ancient sacred caves were destroyed. The island's only source of fresh water was irreversibly polluted and left it unusable to this day. The interior of Banaba became one great hollow of uneven rock, so full of dips and pillars that it is now almost completely impassable on foot. It was left a barren land.

Banaba is not the only Pacific island devastated by phosphate mining; most notably, its neighbour Nauru had 80% of its surface stripped away. But nowhere has been exploited to quite the same extent as Banaba.

There were further indignities and horrors inflicted on the Banaban people, including indescribable atrocities carried out by Japanese occupiers during WWII, and tbe Britain-led forceful relocation of Banabans to Rabi Island in Fiji. Many still live there today. Others have migrated away.

[Image: Banaban girls performing a traditional dance on Rabi Island.]

The traumatic experiences of Banabans, the mass murders and the separation from their ancestral land have all caused significant cultural loss. This includes the loss of the Banaban language.

Approximately three hundred Banabans have returned to their home island, surviving due to supplies shipped in every few months. The only freshwater source remains unusable and severe droughts strike Banaba every three to four years. Although a desalination plant exists there, the vulnerability of the island became all too clear in 2021 when the plant broke down in the middle of a drought. It took three months for repair equipment to arrive. During that time the residents had no fresh water. Their only food was fish because all of their crops had died. They survived by sucking the liquid from fish eyeballs.

And an Australian mining company wants to do it all again.

Part of the reason that people returned to Banaba, despite the difficulties of life there, was to protect it from further mining. But in August last year, the Australian mining company Centrex announced a plan to restart phosphate mining on Banaba. The plan has been paused due to protests from the Banaban people, but it could be restarted again at any time.

We cannot leave it here. If you want to do one small thing to help, you can sign this petition from Banaban community leaders to stop the proposed new phosphate mine. But more than that, Banabans have been campaigning for Australia and Aotearoa to fund ecological restoration projects, especially for the sacred caves that were once the island's source of fresh water. As Katerina Teiawa says:

"We need to move away from this same continuous narrative of ‘the poor Banaban people, who have no water, help them’ and move towards an approach that is actually finding a solution.

This whole thing is a series of crises. We can’t just keep telling the story of devastation and vulnerability over and over again. Where does the crisis end, if not with justice?"

[ladyimaginarium]

Indigenous History Month ask game !

What is your Indigenous identity/identities?

Are you connected, semiconnected reconnecting or disconnected to your culture?

What is your favorite indigenous character? (Canon, headcanon and OC's are okay!)

What does your indigeneity mean to you?

Where are your traditional lands?

What's something that you'd like to see for indigenous representation in media and why?

Can you speak your traditional indigenous language(s)? If so, can you say something in it?

Can you share some traditional knowledge if possible?

If you're connected, semiconnected or reconnecting, can you share a favorite traditional story of your people?

What's an unpopular opinion you have?

What's an intracommunity discussion you'd want to see be talked about more?

Do you have any pet peeves surrounding your community?

How does your indigeneity effect your queerness?

How does your indigeneity affect your plurality, if you are plural and if applicable?

What are your peoples' architecture like?

If you could share one thing with your ancestors, what would it be?

Indigenous vampires or Indigenous werewolves?

What's something you'd want nonindigenous peoples to understand?

What is your faith, if applicable?

Do you practice your traditional indigenous religion?

If you don't practice your indigenous religion, what do you practice, if applicable?

What's something that you feel the loss of with colonization?

Do you own traditional attire?

What is your favorite cultural clothing?

Do you have plant & ecological knowledge?

What's something that makes you proud of your indigeneity?

How has decolonization impacted you?

How do you show up for your community?

Who's your favorite indigenous celebrity, if applicable?

What's something you'd want to say to your future descendants, biological or otherwise?

Note: this is by Indigenous people for Indigenous peoples ONLY! While this was mostly made for Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island, it's by no means exclusive to these groups, it's not specific to one culture, but nor is it open for all POC to use. This inherently includes First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Indigenous Americans, Alaska Natives, Greenlandic Inuit / Kalaalit Nunaat, Indigenous Mexicans, Indigenous Central Americans, Indigenous peoples of Abya Ayala (South America), Afroindigenous people in the diaspora (ie Black ndns, Black Americans, Black Canadians, Black South Americans, Black Carribeans, Black Mexicans, etc), Indigenous Africans (Maasai, Somalis, Tigrayans, Xhosa, Zulu, etc), African Diasporic Asians (ie the Siddi in India), Pasifika (Native Hawaiians / Kanaka Maoli, Polynesians, Melanesians, Micronesians, etc.), Aboriginal Australians & Torres Straits Islanders, Māori, Papuans, Black Austronesian peoples, colonized people in China (ie Tibetans, Uighurs, etc), the Ainu of Ainumoshir & Ryūkyūans/Okinawans of Ryūkyū in Japan, colonized people in India, Central Asia & Southeast Asia, Indigenous Taiwanese, peoples of West Asia (Indigenous Palestinians, Jewish people predominantly in the diasporas, Armenians, Kurds, etc.), Indigenous Europeans (Sámi, Karelians, Basque, Crimean Tatars, Irish Travellers, etc.), Indigenous Siberians, Romani & mixed race indigenous peoples! Do not use these for yourselves if you're not Indigenous in any way and especially not if you're white. Zionists, Kahanists, blood quantum purists & enrollment enforcers & assimilated Indigenous peoples who have no intention of connecting to their cultures whatsoever & do not fight for indigenous sovereignty DNI with this post. Please no discourse in the notes or with each other, I want us all to be kind to each other and to have fun with each other, ty!! 💕

[curioushabitforarivergod]

helloo! For the ask game please: 6, 8 and 11 💕

hiya ty for the ask! yap warning ahead <33

from the 2024 in review fic asks

—

6. what characters captured your heart?

this will probably be a little boring, but for so long i pretended harry wasn't my favourite character. i finally accepted my love for him lmao — i realised i struggle to read fics where he isn't a mc. he's def got all my heart now

i def fell deeper in love with tom and voldemort, a lot due to just understanding him a lot more. on that note, i fell in love with a lot of fem characters too, especially bellatrix, druella, minerva. also sirius, i've read so many harry & sirius fics this year. ugh there's just so many characters i love, but harry and voldemort/tom are number 1 and close 2 in my mind

8. what fic meant the most to you to write?

west of the setting sun definitely wins here because its the first multi chap fic i've written. it's hyperfixation central there for me — ancient rome, harrymort, voldemort written the way I love to see him, torture, blood, sexual tension, parseltongue — and i adore it. its the fic im having the most fun with too, playing with canonnical history, how far i can push harry before he shatters and how voldemort voldemort can get while still being technically tom riddle

hopefully it will update before the end of the year, no promises, i've got about half left to write and one scene is giving me serious strife. for now, go read this snippet because i cunted too close to the sun with voldie <33

11. what fic was the most difficult to write?

it's not yet published because it's part of a fest, but i have a euphemia-centric fic where she's a d'harawal woman (aboriginal australian) struggling with disconnect from cultural identity. i had to piece together an endangered language with barely any resources out there, thanks to colonialism

i was also writing for a culture that wasn't my own and having to highlight a lot of terrible things in my countries past. things like the stolen generation, assimilation policies, systemic racism and language/cultural repression that have caused generational trauma for so many first nations people. despite not being a first nation person, i had to take breaks and distance myself from the work several times because it's such a struggle to write about these things, especially from a white-passing person with white privilege and no experience of these conditions

and then, to top it off, i had to share that with an irl friend to beta which was terrifying because i didn't want to be culturally insensitive and write a story i had no right telling. so yeah, lots of moving parts there. keep your eyes pealed for nangiri'o ora when it comes out, i guess

[historia-vitae-magistras]

Could you go into the meaning behind the aesthetics? I'm intrigued but I'm uncertain if I'm fully grasping everything I want too!

Character by character? Sure. Clockwise from the top left: young anglos only I will have to do the others another time

Alfred: Clockwise from the top left: chalkboard to represent his math and science oriented brain from early days especially as he predates calculus in multiple handwritings to show the collaboration of science. Lady liberty emerging from the fog, his ideals looming over him. The microscope is a sign of innovation. The moon is his hops and ambitions ever upward. The car both the american auto industry and the innate loneliness of it. The national bird, the eagle in flight, the ferocity and aim he often has for his goals. the horseshoes for the old west but also the odd nostalgia Alfred has for things that never were. Then the star, rusting on a warship. theoretical end of empire but never the end of american airpower. And finally his portrait is his spacesuit. The only one without hair/visible human features because no country has ever projected such a strong image around the world and it obscures him.

Matt: Whittling with a small knife because he's got anxiety and a lot of woods. a looming moose for the darker force and mystery of nature and his own personality. Pancakes because he's a domestic fuck when permitted. a hatchet. Lots of wood an also war crimes. his tools are often weapons too. Maple tapping. A reliance on the natural resources at his disposal that shaped his culture tightly. man's outline in front of a fire is for Matt's propensity for salt and burning and personally annihilating obstacles when properly motivated. sunrise through a frosted window. Spring and hope rising over winter and despair. A repeating rifle. He too, is the result the arms of empire. And finally his 'portrait' a young man facedown in the sheets, lots of curls. This one is popular for Matt aesthetics for the hair but he's a tired, depressive bastard who tends to linger in safety rather than push himself for better.

Jack: a selection of fossils. The happiest part of his childhood was in natural history but these very collections are soaked in empire. A kangaroo and joey. His fauna but also his instincts of aggression about his environment and sometimes his sister. Meat pies because they're popular but also, born a penal colony he lacked a lot of agency over his own food and being as fast growing as he was he's a chronic snacker. map of Australia. could be self explanatory but even all the way down there he's pretty concerned about his place in the world and tends to look at himself at globes when he sees one. Two horses. Man and his country love to race but also I picked two because he really is not a person who prefers to be alone for long periods of time, as misanthropic as he can be. Surfboards: he loves his water-sports but the sunny, 'no-worries, mate' attitude too. Coffee on books. He's always been very keen to prove his wine, coffee, cuisine and tastes can stand up to the snobs and a flat white was an Australian invention. Golden wattle is the national flower and symbolizes resilience, often appearing first after fires and floods. And finally the portrait. A young man with a collar pulled up and one hand on the back of his neck, pondering his future? being a bit sheepish? both suit him.

Zee: Two sheep gently headbutting each other. Sheep and a stubborn affection is something she shares with Jack even if it probably influenced her culture more. Books because she's the best educated of her generation for a long time but the titles for birds, fairytales and oxford classic texts are for her famous birds, her two sets of folklore and culture and her oxford education. Kiwi box on bike handlebars. Bicycles were a massive part of early feminism and her own independence. The box and kiwi silhouette see something she probably knocked together herself. She's handly like that. Silver ferns are a national symbol and very hard to kill, resilient and the shape is very elegant and invokes Māori art and resistance. A grumpy looking Kea. This image looks very cranky but they're the goofiest and probably smartest birds on the face of the earth. Map of new zealand on a globe. Her name is bigger than she is on the map because its somewhat imposed on her nd there's also her brother always in the corner. A canoe or boat to symbolize her maritime culture, but also her own ability to build and engineer and pilot one. Her portrait I chose a woman with her hair type elegantly put up and looking away, back to a wall, a hint of a smile on her face because she has her strict lines and a slog of struggles but also a pretty decent place in the world.

[mybeingthere]

Bark paintings by John Mawurndjul.

John Mawurndjul (born 1951) is an Australian contemporary Indigenous artist. He uses traditional motifs to express spiritual and cultural values, and is especially known for his traditional cross-hatching style of bark painting techniques.

Mawurndjul was born in 1951 in Mumeka, a traditional camping ground for members of the Kurulk clan, on the Mann River, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Maningrida. He is a member of the Kuninjku people of West Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, and grew up with only occasional contact with non-indigenous people.

He was tutored in rarrk, a traditional painting technique using fine cross-hatching and infill by his uncle Peter Marralwanga and elder brother Jimmy Njiminjuma and began producing small paintings on bark. During the 1980s he began producing larger and more complex works, and in 1988 won a Rothmans Foundation Award.

During the 1990s his work was included in major exhibitions dealing with Aboriginal Australian art, such as Dreamings in New York (1988), Crossroads in Japan (1992), Aratjara: Art of the first Australians in Germany and the UK (1993–1994), and In the heart of Arnhem Land in France (2001).

In 2000, Mawurndjul's work was amongst that of eight individual and collaborative groups of Indigenous Australian artists shown in the prestigious Nicholas Hall at the Hermitage Museum in Russia. The exhibition received a positive reception from Russian critics, one of whom wrote: "This is an exhibition of contemporary art, not in the sense that it was done recently, but in that it is cased in the mentality, technology and philosophy of radical art of the most recent times. No one, other than the Aborigines of Australia, has succeeded in exhibiting such art at the Hermitage. (retold from wiki)

Images are via newguineatribalart.

[psychotrenny]

Sorry I’m stupid but I want to understand more. Is an Anglo an English European-decent(?) speaker with no Spanish heritage (aka not Hispanic) and if yes is that often relevant in discussions abt the fictional concept of race and ethnicity? I feel like in America whiteness usually is treated as a monolith so even if u speak Spanish as long as it’s Spain Spanish no one cares but I might be wrong and completely unknowlagable abt the sub-divisions of white in America (or ur not even American and so it’s just relevant to where u live so u put it in ur bio)

Oh I put Anglo in my bio because I spend a lot of time on the internet talking to people from outside Anglophone nations so it felt relevant to note that I'm culturally and linguistically English/English-Adjacent. Anglo is a loose term with a specific meaning that can vary depending on context but I'd normally use to mean someone whose cultural/ethnic background is of a majority English-Speaking nation (as opposed to say a nation that uses English as an official language but most people still retain indigenous first languages for use at home), especially if they themselves speak English as their first language. For me specifically I'm an Australian entirely descended from North West Europeans; mostly Cornish (a traditionally celtic speaking people who had been assimilated into speaking English by the end of the 18th century) and Lowland Scottish (a people who by the 14th century spoke Scots, an Anglic Language related to but distinct from English) with some English, Welsh, Irish and Breton if you look far back enough. Still, even if I had non-British heritage I'd probably still consider myself Anglo if I lacked any sort of real cultural connection to it. The fact that I'm neither geographically or lineally *English* English is why I use a broad term like "Anglo" rather than "English" more specifically

[mintaikk-deadaccount]

Trying to be more positive, and I don't like people associating me with things I hate irl, so here are some things I love. Reblog this with things you love!

-Art. Pretty much any art. Paintings, sculptures, digital art, traditional art, etc

-Cartoons. I really like shows like Pokemon, Helluva boss, Hazbin hotel, Lego monkie kid, Bluey, and my favorite cartoon movie is The Lego Batman Movie

-Drawing. Definitely one of my favorite things, and I do it all the time. My entire account is a drawing blog, lol

-Video games. I'm not really a "gamer" in the traditional sense, but I love video games like Pokemon, Hollow Knight, Minecraft, and I'm trying out Cookie Run Kingdom

-Pokemon is going in its own little section. I literally have about 5 roleplay blogs for it, lol. I also really love drawing Pokemon and studying the lore of the games

-Birds. I really love birds! I have bird feeders which I haven't filled in a awhile, but I loved watching the birds come down and eat. I hear a crow and a Bluejay every morning, but I've only seen the Bluejay once, and I really want to see them again! And there's a Robin, a Sparrow, and a dove couple that live in my tree and I really love them

-Plush toys. Most of them are in the basement as I redecorate my room, but there are some that I still sleep with. My favorite one is this teddy bear named Bosco

-Plants and herbs. I find that stuff very interesting, and I love learning about plant life and the different uses and symbolism of flowers and herbs

-Mythology and fairytale. I love going around and reading books and fairytales from different cultures. I'm currently reading 2 books called Journey to the West, an old 1600s Chinese book, and the Red Swan, which is a book containing a bunch of Native American myths

-Crystals. I have a Crystal's collection, and I really enjoy learning about them

-Demonology and whatever the study of angels is called. I have like 30 page papers on different demons and angels in Abraham's religions because I find that stuff so interesting! Thank my sister for letting me rant to her for 30 minutes about it, lol

-Moths. Moths are very cute. My favorite moth is the Luna Moth (even if they only live for a week in their moth form, lol)

-Possums. Opossums are one of my favorite animals, but Australian Possums are cute too

-Fashion. I like a bunch of different fashion senses, especially androgynous and alternative fashion

-Weirdcore, dreamcore, and traumacore. It teaches us not to be afraid of the unknown, and can help people cope with their trauma

-Music. Music is my entire life. My favorite genres are classical, rock, screamo, whatever fantasy music is called, pop, and showtoons, and whatever the genre for video game music is called

-Stickers, pins, figurines, etc. They're all very cute

-The cafe aesthetic. I don't go to many cafes because I don't live near many where you can sit down, but I still really like them.

-Borzois. They're so freaking goofy

-Goijg on walks. Mostly at the evening, because that's my favorite time of day

-Room decorating. Currently decorating my room right now, and planning on how to do it is very fun

-Shipping. As someone who doesn't really care for dating, I really like shipping characters in fiction

-Cryptids. I love cryptids a lot! And I p9ve studying them as well

-Mythical creatures. I love them a lot. Fairies, dragons, sirens, etc

-Cottagecore. Nature also works, bit cottagecore has a nice feeling to it. The scenery is very comforting to me

-Mushrooms. Mushrooms are very interesting, and I like the names and visuals of them. The food is okay

That's all I can think of right now, lol. Thanks for reading if you got this far!

[mattydemise]

I remember when Australia had a distinct identity and the more media you’re exposed to, the worse it gets. This is what happens when you grow up watching American television series and movies, being exposed to nonstop American propaganda. I grew up resenting Australia because it wasn’t America. I even got myself an American honey because no Australian was good enough for me. The reality is that after I grew up and as I’ve matured I realised that America isn’t this infallible empire and the last bastion of humanity. In fact, it’s the opposite. American culture has bled into every country in the west. Good thing, bad, that’s up to you to decide, but I distinctly remember Australia being different than it is today, especially the youth culture which is now an extension of the worst aspects of the urban America you see in the media.

DO NOT LET SOCIAL MEDIA TURN YOU INTO AN AMERICAN

[news365timesindia]

[ad_1] Debasis Sen in Australia (PC: Debasis Sen) The Indian cricket team is currently touring Australia for the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which gets underway at the Optus stadium in Perth from November 22. Rohit Sharma and his boys will play five Test matches against the Aussies. The Indian captain did not travel to Australia with the team owing to family commitments. The Indian cricketers will be practicing at the WACA ground over the next week, trying to acclimatise to the conditions and pitches. It is always challenging for visiting teams to tour Down Under. The Indians did find it tough as it took them 71 years after their first tour Down Under in 1947-48 to win a Test series on Australian soil. Virat Kohli led side defeated the Aussies in 2018-19. The Indian team then won again in Australia during the previous tour in 2021-22. Cricket is a quintessential part of Australian culture, and covering the sport can be both thrilling and daunting. For journalists and photographers covering cricket in Australia, the experience offers unique challenges due to the country’s vastness, extreme weather conditions, and logistical hurdles. For the Latest Sports News: Click Here Debasis Sen in Australia (PC: Debasis Sen) The weather in Australia can be unpredictable and this can be particularly challenging. Take for instance, Perth, the venue for the first Test of the series. The West Australian city experiences some of the hottest temperatures in the country, with the sun so intense that it can cause devices to overheat and shut down. Heat exhaustion is a real concern for photographers working on the ground, especially during long, hot days at the old WACA or Optus Stadium. The oppressive conditions not only make it difficult for journalists, but also for players and spectators. Even in other cities like Adelaide and Melbourne, where the weather is generally more temperate, sudden temperature drops can be a serious challenge. It is not unusual for someone to leave their hotel room in Melbourne wearing shorts and a T-shirt, only to find that the temperature has plummeted by 20°C in a matter of hours. Another challenge of covering cricket Down Under are the vast distances that needs to be covered from one city to another given the nature of its landscape. A flight from Sydney to Perth, for instance, is a nearly 4,000-kilometre journey—about the same as flying halfway from India to London. Domestic travel across the country is also lengthy, and this can be exhausting for journalists covering multiple matches over the course of a long season. Debasis Sen in Australia (PC: Debasis Sen) Even between other major cities, flights are often over two hours long. The sheer travel fatigue can be overwhelming, and the need to adapt to different time zones and climates makes the job even harder. In the past, food had been a significant challenge for anyone from the subcontinent covering cricket in Australia. The touring Indian media in the past often had to contend with limited culinary options, especially in smaller cities. However, this has changed significantly in recent years, particularly with the rise of Indian restaurants and food culture. Today, in nearly every major city in Australia, you will find a wealth of high-quality Indian restaurants. Covering cricket in Australia is an exciting and dynamic experience, but it comes with its own set of unique challenges. From the harsh weather conditions to the vast distances, the physical and logistical demands on travelling media are immense. However, the country’s passionate cricket culture makes it a rewarding place to cover the sport. The challenges are outweighed by the thrills of experiencing world-class cricket in one of the most diverse and stunning countries on the planet. Also Read: From signed shirt to dropping in at Kirribilli House, Aus memories to savour The post India tour to Australia: Challenges of covering cricket Down Under for the travelling media appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports.

[news365times]

[ad_1] Debasis Sen in Australia (PC: Debasis Sen) The Indian cricket team is currently touring Australia for the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which gets underway at the Optus stadium in Perth from November 22. Rohit Sharma and his boys will play five Test matches against the Aussies. The Indian captain did not travel to Australia with the team owing to family commitments. The Indian cricketers will be practicing at the WACA ground over the next week, trying to acclimatise to the conditions and pitches. It is always challenging for visiting teams to tour Down Under. The Indians did find it tough as it took them 71 years after their first tour Down Under in 1947-48 to win a Test series on Australian soil. Virat Kohli led side defeated the Aussies in 2018-19. The Indian team then won again in Australia during the previous tour in 2021-22. Cricket is a quintessential part of Australian culture, and covering the sport can be both thrilling and daunting. For journalists and photographers covering cricket in Australia, the experience offers unique challenges due to the country’s vastness, extreme weather conditions, and logistical hurdles. For the Latest Sports News: Click Here Debasis Sen in Australia (PC: Debasis Sen) The weather in Australia can be unpredictable and this can be particularly challenging. Take for instance, Perth, the venue for the first Test of the series. The West Australian city experiences some of the hottest temperatures in the country, with the sun so intense that it can cause devices to overheat and shut down. Heat exhaustion is a real concern for photographers working on the ground, especially during long, hot days at the old WACA or Optus Stadium. The oppressive conditions not only make it difficult for journalists, but also for players and spectators. Even in other cities like Adelaide and Melbourne, where the weather is generally more temperate, sudden temperature drops can be a serious challenge. It is not unusual for someone to leave their hotel room in Melbourne wearing shorts and a T-shirt, only to find that the temperature has plummeted by 20°C in a matter of hours. Another challenge of covering cricket Down Under are the vast distances that needs to be covered from one city to another given the nature of its landscape. A flight from Sydney to Perth, for instance, is a nearly 4,000-kilometre journey—about the same as flying halfway from India to London. Domestic travel across the country is also lengthy, and this can be exhausting for journalists covering multiple matches over the course of a long season. Debasis Sen in Australia (PC: Debasis Sen) Even between other major cities, flights are often over two hours long. The sheer travel fatigue can be overwhelming, and the need to adapt to different time zones and climates makes the job even harder. In the past, food had been a significant challenge for anyone from the subcontinent covering cricket in Australia. The touring Indian media in the past often had to contend with limited culinary options, especially in smaller cities. However, this has changed significantly in recent years, particularly with the rise of Indian restaurants and food culture. Today, in nearly every major city in Australia, you will find a wealth of high-quality Indian restaurants. Covering cricket in Australia is an exciting and dynamic experience, but it comes with its own set of unique challenges. From the harsh weather conditions to the vast distances, the physical and logistical demands on travelling media are immense. However, the country’s passionate cricket culture makes it a rewarding place to cover the sport. The challenges are outweighed by the thrills of experiencing world-class cricket in one of the most diverse and stunning countries on the planet. Also Read: From signed shirt to dropping in at Kirribilli House, Aus memories to savour The post India tour to Australia: Challenges of covering cricket Down Under for the travelling media appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports.

[cheerfulomelette]

This is especially egregious in the UK, because drag acts are part of our culture.

Christmas pantomimes (are those common outside the UK? If not, they're comedic plays based on fairytales, like Puss in Boots) have roles specifically for drag acts - panto dames and the lead male character are played by men and women, respectively.

Dame Edna Everidge and Lily Savage were drag personas who hosted primetime family TV shows

Dame Edna Was Australian and worked there, in the UK, and in the US. She hosted her own talkshows, appeared on serious TV like Parkinson and 60 Minutes, in an event celebrating the Queen's Golden Jubilee, and was a major feature in the Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She did insurance adverts. She was in Ally McBeal and the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band film. She had multiple Broadway shows. She was on a commemorative postage stamp and was given the key to the city of Melbourne.

Not even remotely controversial

Lily Savage was less wildly prolific, but equally diverse.

She guest-presented Top of the Pops, appeared on the radio show Woman's Hour, and acted in films and West End plays. She was on children's TV, and hosted breakfast shows. She narrated documentaries, and hosted Saturday night TV shows like Blankety Blank and Lily Live!. She advertised cars, bingo, soft drinks, and hosiery.

She was also not a controversial figure

And that's before you get into the role of drag in the wider canon of British entertainment going back to vaudeville and beyond. Drag shows were a staple act of comedy and charity events. The Monty Python crew dressing as women in their skits and films was utterly unremarkable. Yet somehow, we're supposed to believe that drag is both new and dangerous when it's neither... unless you're a Nazi:

Wherever and whenever it occurs, anti-drag rhetoric is manufactured outrage from people who are desperately hoping that, if they pretend hard enough and loud enough, we'll believe their version of history is the one that's true. It isn't, and we won't let them get away with pretending it is.

[patheticbatman]

West of the Sun, East of the Moon Explanation

Main Text • Glossary

So this is the second longest story I’ve ever written, clocking in at 31 printer pages if you condense the formatting. And that’s not including this or the dictionary I whipped up! 

In terms of Ada, this started because of the Avatar the Last Airbender (ATLA) resurgence of 2020. If you know anything about ATLA, you know the show is largely based on East Asian cultures, with little bits of Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and Alaskan cultures thrown in. The Fire Nation is largely based on Japan with SEAsian tidbits. The Earth Kingdom is largely based on China, Korea, and a little bit South and West Asia. The Air Nomads and the Air Nation are based by Himalayan cultures. The Northern Water Tribe is basically a European fantasy country with enough ice and Alaskan culture details to make it seem different. The Swamp Tribe is SEAsian inspired. And the Southern Water Tribe is the most based on Eastern Russian and Alaskan cultures (this including those cut off by the USA/Canadian border) prior to colonization, with a bit of Indigenous Australian flair in terms of Sokka’s boomerang, but is the least portrayed and the least accurate of the show. 

I follow a blog called mostly-mundane-atla (MMA) on Tumblr, and they’re Iñupiat. They talk about the show from an actual Indigenous Alaskan perspective, share details from various cultures from that area, nuances that the show missed out upon, and hold a little art festival called Kuspuk week. As the show mimics the early era of colonization for Alaskan peoples, that would mean kuspuks would exist, as they were an invention of that period. But the show keeps its Water Tribe members in parkas, to make them feel (to a less knowledgeable audience) more simple and old-fashioned. A choice with which MMA strongly disagrees, as it distances and romanticizes audiences from actual Indigenous peoples alive today. To put it plainly, they’re tired of that treatment, which is very common in media. MMA wants more modern representation! Indigenous people are NOT extinct and remnants of the past - they are alive!

All this to say, West of the Sun, East of the Moon (WSEM) was inspired by MMA’s efforts to encourage accurate portrayals of living Indigenous people, especially Indigenous Alaskans.

The tale, originally called ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’, is one of my favorite fairy tales - I think one of the first adaptions I read was Edith Pattou’s East. It fits into the Cupid and Psyche type tales, which to modern audiences would likely be grouped under ‘Beauty and the Beast’ type tales. I love those types of stories to bits and pieces. But frankly, it’s been done a billion times, and the combination of ‘white girl with non-white Beast man’ has definitely been overdone.

But when my pan-but-in-the-closet Dominican-American friend Laurie, on whom Dani is based, and who also enjoys those types of romances, nearly moved to Alaska for a nursing degree oppurtunity, I had an idea. Instead of writing a story about a white girl trapped into learning to accept a Man of Color despite his rough edges and (to her) peculiarities (also known as cultural elements outside those of the majority), what if

The ‘bear’ was a nonbinary lady

The ‘bear’ was not cursed. Many tales make becoming an animal a punishment, and many modern fantasy movies especially put this punishment on characters of color. For example, the majority Disney movies that have a main character of color have that character spend the majority of the run-time in different bodies. It’s an institutional racism thing, not wanting to depict People of Color as much and feeling the need to punish them in this way.

The ‘bear’ was in a happy, comfortable environment

The ‘girl’ chose to be there far more willingly, and can leave far more easily.

The ‘bear’ and ‘girl’ get together at the beginning and like each other. 

The ‘bear’ actually helps the ‘girl’ explore her own aspects of her heritage she repressed to fit with the majority

The ‘bear’ does not have to mimic all recognizable signs of (Western, colonialistic) civility to be loved prior to being ‘fixed’

For again, the ‘bear’ does not need to change and stays a ‘bear’

The ‘bear’ gets to keep his bear form. I always thought it was lame that he couldn’t turn back if he so desired. And besides, the ‘bear’ type character should not have to give up all that makes them not align with what is normal for the majority. 

The ‘girl’ learns to detach herself from her unhealthy family but not reject her roots

The ‘bear’ is not the only one keeping secrets - in this story, the ‘girl’ tortures herself with her instinct to bite her tongue, after years of crap from her family.

The ‘girl’ is not punished by outside forces for her mistrust - it’s very self-inflicted. But also, the ‘bear’ is not blameless either. In both the traditional and WSEM versions, the ‘bear’ IS keeping secrets. 

The ‘bear’ being a bear is not made out to be the crux of the problem, but rather their lack of communication. Though all the Cupid and Psyche stories have this problem, few lay it out plainly, frustrating more maturing readers into yelling about how they’re stupid because they cannot tell each other the truth. In reality, while honesty is the best policy, the little reasons to keep such things to yourself grow quickly and crush one’s soul - it takes a lot to make coming clean feel worth it after a while. Even to the detriment of a loving and worthwhile relationship. I’m not saying I’m a rocket scientist for writing it this way, I just know a couple years ago I would not have had the life experience to understand it. 

The plot still hinges on inopportune candles a bit, so I’m pleased about that. But I decided to up the ante a bit by also making other light phenomena relevant to the story. While Disney’s Brother Bear is another example of romanticizing and distancing Alaskan cultures, I adored it as a kid and still love its art and the memories it made. Especially in that it made me fall in love with the idea of seeing the Northern Lights. 

I made sure this story was set in this year, 2024, because we’re actually at the height of a 12 year magnetic cycle! From summer 2024 to 2025, the auroras will be brighter, more frequent and reach much further than usual. In fact, on May 12th, they actually reached as far south as Georgia! I was asleep though, I’m actually devastated I missed it. Hopefully this strong cycle reaches this far south again. But I digress - I figure seeing a fogbow, sunrise and sunset on Ada and Dani’s oceans, AND the northern lights would be pretty cool. 

Another cool theme that runs throughout is food. MMA points out that traditional Alaskan cuisine is often seen as weird and backwards, but essentially is no different from sushi. Many Alaskans did not have a lot of wood for fuel, and plants are scarce in the winter, and so they developed a safe way to eat qassaq and quaq! It’s pretty ingenious, and I’d like to try it one day. I love seafood. (Yes Annika is my self-insert character.) Combined with my enjoyment of the show Dungeon Meshi this year, and my interest in helping combat the stigma surrounding foods not often cooked by white Americans, I wanted the story to center around food and how availability and environment affects cuisine*. Lots of immigrant parents dearly miss food from home, and Laurie’s family was no different. Every time I slept over her house, her mom made crêpes. As a kid I didn’t like them, but as an adult I’d like to try them again! My palate used to be comically narrow. 

Speaking of Laurie, let’s talk about Dani! Dani and her family are very similar to Laurie and her family, though I don’t think was able to capture Laurie’s quick wit very well. Limits of the author, etc. Laurie’s real name is similar to Dani, and so is the way her mother says her name, I always loved hearing her say it. Laurie does have severe reactions to heat, and swears up and down one of these days she’s going to move up north. Currently she’s thinking Germany, but she’s trying to get her degree first. 

Dani’s reconnection to her Dominican and Karifuna heritage is not the focus of the story, aside from the scene where she gets her hair done, but it kind of occurs on the sidelines. She slightly speaks more Kwéyòl as the story goes on, she opens up about her heritage, she starts wearing her hair in a more natural fashion, and starts wearing earrings inspired by Garífuna ⁂ art.

Laurie feels constrained by her life. I’m not sure I’ll ever show this to her, but I wanted to create a little world where she’s free to be who she would like to be and do what she wants and love who she without guilt. Dani never wears skirts for a reason.

Ada is based on my friend Rose (though she’s more feline than ursine) and my attempts at making a more modern Indigenous person with MMA’s ideas in mind. Ada is trans but doesn’t feel pushed to perform complete femininity - hence they keep their mustache. A lot of Asian and Indigenous people have difficulty growing facial hair, and I like to think that Ada is proud of it. 

She does have a lot of tuniit (The puberty on, the self-sufficiency and the ready for marriage ones), which was specifically a woman tradition. Men rarely got or did tattoos. She gets her kakiniit done off screen but during the course of the story. Her wrists have a bunch of y-shapes on it to show that she has the tools to hunt and take care of herself. She likes to hunt! MMA said that while these tattoos are highly personal, they would rather more Indigenous Alaskan characters have them than not. Just like with the tattoos of the Māori and other Pacific Islander cultures, they’re making a comeback! So unlike my Whale Rider adaption, I did end up drawing tattoos. Plus I gave Ada spider bites because I thought they fit with her look. Both her tattoos and piercings were later additions. I did adapt a Nunavut Inuit story a while back, ‘Lumaaq & Loon’, and I did not draw tattoos on either the mom or the sister. I think I would now, but still not draw the tattoos for Whale Rider. Regardless, what was done is done.

Rose DOES know about this character, and wanted to see more transfem characters where their trans-ness is relevant to the story. Thus, Ada going from using exclusively they/them to also using she/her. 

Ada being a WEIOlympian activities as well as being a great cook was an addition that kind of came to me as I wrote the story. I knew I wanted to include Nalukataq, because that seemed really fun and because Laurie/Dani like festivals. And since I drew the pictures before doing the writing (and thus more research) I did not realize that doing flips at Nalukataq is pretty top tier stuff. So yeah, I wasn’t going to redraw that lol.

Ada is from two Indigenous peoples because many Indigenous people are mixed! Sometimes parents marry outside their race or even just to neighboring peoples, but since Indigenous people are not a monolith, that makes them mixed. And since the USA government (I am unsure about the other colonizing governments) requires a person to be a certain amount of just one nation in order to be considered legally native, many lose their rights as legally Indigenous people despite possibly having no other heritage. It’s a system designed to squeeze people out of their rights and heritage, which is crazy.

But since a lot of Indigenous representation, especially ones from or set in older times, portray mostly unmixed people, mixed Indigenous characters don’t get a lot of representation! Even if they’re still completely Indigenous!

So Dani is both Iñupiat and Yup’ik, with a hint towards maternal white heritage that is not explored. They’re Iñupiat because I wanted them to have family up in Utqiagvik, and Yup’ik because I wanted them to have family in Kotzebue/Qikigtagruk (K/Q). I set the story in K/Q because I wanted to learn more about the southern end of coastal Alaska ever since I read Michaela Goade’s ‘Berry Song’ book for one of my education classes (it was a class everyone had to take about fostering literacy). While Ms. Goade is from the Tlingit and Haida nations, which are further south and east, I went down a berry rabbit hole for a while. Her illustrations made everything look so pretty and delicious. But I did not want to set the story as far south as her island on the edge of a wide, wild sea, because polar bears are not found that south. I could’ve made Ada a grizzly or a Kodiak or even a pizzly bear, but it did not feel the same. And besides, MMA pointed out that Indigenous Alaskans aside from the Inuit/Iñupiat don’t get as much attention, because they aren’t generally located in the stereotypically icy areas that are romanticized, like the tundra. As such, Ada is both Yup’ik and Iñupiat.

And they’re also a bear. I spent hours figuring out their lore for being a bear, and it didn’t come up naturally in the story *at all*, especially since Ada and Dani set reasonable boundaries about secrets, so I’m going to dump the bearlore here.

A lot of peoples in Alaska really respect bears, especially polar bears. Many believe/d that animals who were especially powerful, like bears, could shapeshift to human at will. And powerful angakkuit could shapeshift into animals - bears being on the impressive side. 

Also, many Alaskans believe in a type of reincarnation. For example, if you live in a small village and your grandmother dies, then the next baby born is her! The baby might not be a girl, but they both will have the exact same atiq. So regardless of a baby’s sex, they were named after the latest person who passed away.

Combining this together: once upon a time, a powerful angakkuq was an incredible polar bear shifter (I’m not going to route where he was always a polar bear). He died, and his atiq was passed on, and on, and on, until an Iñupiat woman named Ada❧ was born. She eventually died of old age. Barbara, our Ada’s mom, did not keep up with the atiq/naming tradition, partly because Ada was assigned male at birth and partly because she was still reconnecting. So when Ada started turning into a polar bear around puberty, the two of them had to figure things out quickly. When Ada finally realized who they got their powers from, they changed their name to Ada.  

Ada started out as a polar bear cub. She used to change when sad, but can now do it at will. Her polar bear form can only age when she stays in that form. As such, while Ada is in her late twenties, her polar bear form has barely reached adulthood. Similar phenomena with illnesses, injury, hunger and thirst. If a polar bear only gets hungry every 12 hours, then if Ada are in polar bear form right before returning to human form, she has another 12 hours as a polar bear before she needs to eat again. 

Alright, I’ve talked inspiration, characters, timelines - let’s get on to the art!

The title picture was something I whipped up two years ago, when I was blowing though title pictures when because they were easy and didn’t require knowledge about any changes to the stories I would make. Well, I was wrong. To reflect that I moved the setting to a (nearly) opposite longitude, I changed the ‘directions’ in the title. To be quite honest, the title does not make as much sense anymore, because the ‘girl’ character Dani does not travel to an unknown land, but the name strikes my fancy, so that’s that. As such, it is now WEST of the Sun (like how when Ada and Dani were west of the sunrise in New Jersey), and EAST of the Moon (like how when Dani drove Ada home, they were east of the moonset.) I’ve included the original below, so you can compare the versions and how I moved things around. The letter ‘t’ is supposed to look like a little star! Also I forgot to include the Iñupiat or Yup’ik version of the title.

The second picture was the one I finished first, though it took two weeks. I’m somewhat unsatisfied with how I portrayed Ada’s progression from bear to human, but it’s done. Dani’s glasses gave me a hard time. I actually drew and inked this one before I decided Ada wasn’t a guy (see the next sketch)(to be honest old-Ada looks like one of my classmates). I changed them digitally after I took the picture of the actual drawing. The window is probably a bit large for such a cold area, but it’s a sacrifice of realism for artistic purposes.

The third picture was probably the one that suffered most/caused most suffering because I drew it before writing the story. I didn’t include a big enough crowd, I could’ve drawn Barbara, and I ended up editing Dani’s hairstyle to fit into the timeline. BUT. It is finished, and I did a decent job of portraying a flip and a truck! I hate drawing cars nearly as much as I dread drawing horses. This is the fourth to last story to draw for this long coloring book project and I’ve been avoiding horses for a bit now. As both Ada and Dani lean more towards feminine, both wear female kuspuks, which have a bit of a skirt on the bottom. But it’s not a skirt in place of pants, so it does not count. Here’s a picture I drew a couple years ago for MMA’s Kuspuk week, featuring the character Jet as a nalukataq. 

On the back end of the truck is a red hand MMIWG sticker. MMIWG, which stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, is a call to attention the disproportionate crime against Indigenous ladies. They are six times more likely to get murdered, attacked and/or disappeared in comparison to the average American and Canadian woman, which skews white. As modern Indigenous AND female characters, it would have felt wrong not to include such a reference. If you ever see somebody with a red handprint over their mouth, it’s a good indicator that they are aware and support survivors and families of MMIWG. 

The naluaqtit are just random faces basically.

The fourth picture was the last one I finished (if you don’t count the title picture).  It was honestly a bit of a breather for me, as I’m pretty good at drawing faces. Though I did overdo the lip on Ada’s polar bear form, and had to erase it digitally later. I wanted to draw a kunik and later a kiss as both equally important loving gestures, and that’s why they each get their own picture. I probably should have drawn them closer, but I’m going to say Ada has a strong nose in that form, as most polar bears do.

Last picture was an exercise in clothing and kisses mostly. I wanted to get the wrinkles and the positioning just right. They’re both things I avoid. I’m pretty pleased with how I drew Dani’s shoes. Ada’s shoes are heels I like looking at, but they hurt my feet so I can never wear them. 

As the last four stories illustrated (though in my original plans, they’re split across different volumes) I wanted each to reference my Snow White adaption in some way, as that was the first I finished, and in my head these stories are grouped in fours.

4. West of the Sun, East of the Moon: Ada’s final outfit is based on Snow White’s wedding outfit in my version, which in turn is based on the dress Disney’s Snow White wears for most of the movie.

3. Chantha Rasphone: the Magic Mirror that the stepmother uses to spy on Snow White finally becomes a character! It ended up being a bit more affable than I originally intended, but I’m still growing as an author, please extend me some grace. The Mirror, or Spejo (Spay-hoe) as it is called in Chantha Rasphone, appears in Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Swan Lake, Aladdin, The Snow Queen and now Chantha Rasphone. I would be happy to talk more about it, but that’s for a different explanation, methinks. I’m getting distracted.

2. Tatterhood: this is a stretch, but I finally made a dwarf lady a main character! In Snow White, it does not get very explored, but her best friend is a girl named Valentine, who is descended from a colony of dwarfs† who escaped being court slaves. A helpful, magical dwarf (like in the Nose Tree, though in my adaption the dwarf is Valentine and not the usual male)  and a mischievous, evil dwarf (like in Snow White & Rose Red, a story I thought a lot about adapting but ran out of time) are stock characters in many fairy tales. But rarely are they the focus! I’ve only ever (casually) came across one published stlry that had a dwarf main character, ‘Jepp, who Defied the Stars’ by Katherine Marsh (it’s excelent). I figured I could add to the number!

1. The Acacia Tree: the second to last  picture is of the evil stepmother looking into a mirror. It’s not going to be The Mirror, Spejo, but it’s a reference to the second (non-title) picture in my Snow White, where the stepmother looking in the Magic Mirror to see some form of her stepchild. I wanted to end and begin on such a story.

I’m proud of a lot of the sketches, and Ada changed quite a bit, so I’m including a bunch of sketches. 

*I barely touched on how much economics affect food - which is a TON. But I also wanted to write a story based on stereotypical Romance Movie rules, where money does not come up too often and everyone is at least *okay* financially. While many romances do feature economic differences, I did not want that to be an issue for these characters. It is sadly one of the more fantastical aspects of my story. But it’s also a story with a woman who turns into a bear. So work with me here. ⁂ Garífuna is a a maroon culture [Black and Indigenous] from St. Vincent. While Dominica and St. Vincent are about 200 miles away from each other, they’re close neighbors in terms of sea and history. The Garífuna have a similar though distinct culture as the mixed peoples of Dominica. I could not find much in the way of explicitly maroon art of Dominica, but I did run across the art found in the Garífuna Museum of Los Angeles and based Dani’s earrings off paintings from there. 

❧ Our Ada is named after Ada Blackjack, an Iñupiat woman who got stranded on the uninhabited Wrangel Island for nearly two years, alone for eight months except for a pet cat, Victoria. She had joined an expedition as cook and seamstress, all so she could pay for her son’s tuberculosis treatment. While our Ada would not get powers from this lady - I feel uncomfortable ascribing such fantasy to a real woman’s life - I liked the name and thought it would be nice to honor her legacy. It also felt like an accurate character name, as it was the name of an actual Iñupiat person. Plus, a lot of transfemmes I know like older/‘grandma’ names, so that worked out!

†The magic creature dwarf has the plural ‘dwarves’. To differentiate themselves from the mythological creature, very short humans prefer the plural ‘dwarfs’.

[dsandrvk]

Saturday, August 31 - Rabaul, PNG - Part 1

The port of Rabaul is the former capital of the PNG province of East New Britain which shares a fairly large island with West New Britain. It lies at the head of an elongated bay, which is actually a caldera, and is surrounded by several active volcanoes, including Tavurvur, which is considered one of the most active volcanoes in PNG. An eruption in 1937 pretty much destroyed the town, but it was built back until another major eruption in 1994 covered much of the city in ash, collapsing 80% of the buildings. At this time, the decision was made to move the capital away from the caldera and down the coast. Now there is little here but buildings supporting the port and a few other businesses and some housing.

Rabaul was originally the capital of German New Guinea, before being captured by the British in the early days of WWII. It then became the capital of Australia-mandated Territory of New Guinea, until it was captured by the Japanese during WWII and became Japan's main base of military and naval activity in the South Pacific. The caldera is an excellent natural harbor and the surrounding cliffs are mostly tuff, which is easy to tunnel into. The Japanese created and used tunnels to hide boats and other ordinance, as well as personnel and the area was so heavily defended that the allies never tried to retake it until the end of the war.

We had an included morning excursion to several places that spoke to this history. The first was to the Kokopo War Museum, which is a collection mostly of old Japanese guns, tanks, torpedoes, etc., all slowly decaying out in the open. Of more interest to me was a traditional building that housed some native cultural items, such as large masks used in the Baining Fire Dance (which we were scheduled to see this evening). These are immense masks that are actually worn in front of the dancer rather than over the head. I will have more about all of this in the second post for today.

From there we went to the Bita Paka War Cemetery, which is a beautiful and sobering place. It is managed by an Australian commission and contains the graves of many Australians who fought here or were prisoners of war nearby, as well as a section of Indian troops who fought alongside. There is a row of markers to help folks find the graves, although due to the nature of the war, of the 1,120 Commonwealth graves, 500 are unidentified. The cemetery also contains the remains of some from WWI, who were moved here from elsewhere on the island. The plantings here are exquisite and everything is beautifully maintained and well guarded. There is a parklike area outside the official cemetery where the locals like to hang out, but the cemetery itself is off-limits for them.

We headed back and made a stop at one of the Japanese tunnels, which are now a tourist attraction. The one we stopped at had an old barge still in place, and vendors outside selling sarongs and clothing. We didn't have much time there, as were already quite behind schedule heading back to the ship. One of the reasons was that although the main roads are mostly paved, they haven't been maintained and are full of major potholes. Our little van driver was extremely skillful in avoiding them, but we had to weave all over the road and go slowly.

In addition, there were numerous areas where the streams had washed away the pavement and we drove on ash-covered muddy stretches with even more potholes and washboarding. But the slower speed allowed us to look around - many of the signs for little stores, etc. were sponsored by Pepsi, especially around Rabaul, but by Kokopo the majority were sponsored by Coke. Also every little stand offered "Top up hia" (sound it out - - a lot of the signs are in pidgin) for your cellphone. Surprisingly, we had service through T-Mobile throughout the island.

Public transportation here is the little trucks with covers we have seen in other places - everyone seems to know which one to get on and where it will go, and since it was Saturday, there were lots of people going to markets, etc. But there were also stands all along the road selling fresh fruit, fish, as well as beer, snacks, and soft drinks. It was all quite lively, and everyone waved and yelled hello to us as we drove by.

We got back in time for a late lunch, a chance to rest up a bit, and get ready for our evening outing to the Fire Dance. This is performed by only one group up in the hills from here and is a highlight of this area. To be continued in Part 2...