#for all the current problems in MENA

[olderthannetfic]

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/749680765765337088/a-food-but-in-this-context-it-doesnt-really#notes

Ohhh, it's good to have a term for this. Out of curiosity, what would you say is the line between like.... not whitewashing a character, reflecting their culture, not just Writing Them Like a White Person.... vs. giving into these kinds of stereotypes?

I'm in a fandom with a prominent MENA character who is one of the more popular characters in fanfic, and this character largely isn't defined around "his culture" in the canon. A lot of people see this as a problem to correct. I think sometimes that they could do some thinking for why a non-white character needs to be "close to their culture" and they don't similarly do this for white characters who come from specific countries, but I get that some of this is coming from people from that background who want to see themselves represented better in media and are tired of their culture being erased. To me the difference between what I've seen in fic from those people reflecting their real-world experiences (or also, non-MENA people who are more informed) is that there's an awareness of how modern culture is not the same as traditional culture, and how most real people do some picking and choosing of what practices they embrace and which they are could do without. The stuff where you can tell it's an ignorant person trying to be "progressive" but just being Orientalist is when they feel like they have to check off every single box for what it is to be "Middle Eastern" to them, and all those boxes just so happen to coincide with media stereotypes. I was wondering if you thought that was the line too or if you also had some other ideas about how to avoid the "space tamales" thing.

--

The biggest help is just to write a three-dimensional character with internal motivations that make sense. A decent amount of stereotypical tripe is the result of weak writing skills. But yes, thinking there's one specific standard for a group and needing them to be very different and marked is a lot of the issue.

The space!tamales problem shows up heavily when people do things like conflate completely different cultures (Latin America has more than just Mexico in it) and when they completely ignore canon to graft on what they think of as "authentic" (many canons set in space are not actually set in the future of our earth, and the ones that are are often set many centuries in the future when cultures will have changed).

The equivalent would be the Old Guard fandom thinking that people from the Crusades era are going to strongly identify with the modern cultures from their places of origin. I mean, they might... if they've been living there lately... But that's certainly not the only possible interpretation, and they're absolutely not going to be equivalent to a current 30-something from there.

[2lemon4lyfe]

💢 PLEASE DON'T SKIP 💢

Hi , I am Nesma From Gaza ,I apologize for what I am going to ask. I am with a heavy heart and  exhausted. I want you to help me spread our story and the link to our campaign. I have tried a lot, but I am not  getting support, and unfortunately the situation has become difficult after my father and brother were injured, and my father’s health condition has become devastated. I want you to help me spread our story.

Please, my father needs treatment. He is slowly dying before our eyes

https://gofund.me/5ab6d135

You are my only hope of survival

My campaign has been previously verified

@\sayruq @\nabulsi @\el-shab-hussein

I do not know whether I will survive or die in this war, but know that your help for me will contribute to saving my family from death.

Nesma, thank you so much for reaching out!

Everyone, Nesma was on the verge of graduating from university while living with her 12 members family in Gaza City when the bombardment and occupation began. They once lived in a spacious house in a nice neighborhood peacefully with their cat and bird, but now are now a family of mostly children sheltering in a tent in Rafah with no water, food, electricity or healthcare. They had to flee their on foot while being hunted by Israeli soldiers while her brother and father were severly injured. Her father suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems (all of which require regular intense treatment) and her brother has been disabled from walking. If that is not enough, her father was arrested in Khan Yunis where he was tortured, starvedm and abused to the point that he can no longer move. She has also lost one of her brothers, and desperately wants to save the lives of her other siblings and parents. They have nothing and live in abject misery, and as /@buttercuparry mentioned in a post, they are threatened not just by famine, a lack of healthcare and medicine, bombings, shellings, israeli soldiers and the ever incrasing heat, but also poisonous SNAKES. Their fundraiser is stalling at $65,273 of $80,000 goal, so please donate, follow her tumblr, click on the links below to learn more and share to everyone you can! They ask only for your most basic humanity in these apocalyptic conditions so they may restart their lives together without more loss in their family.

Follow her at @nesmamomen, donate, and boost her posts!!!!

Video of their house being shelled from Al-Jazeera

[amoebagore]

hello, i’ve been asked by @nesmamomen to share the story of them and their family living in gaza :)

the people in nesma’s family are: moenn (55), hanaa (45), dina (25), nour (ONLY 6), omar (ONLY 5), nesma (23), shahad (19), farah (17), muhammad (15), ahmed (15), abdullah (13), taleen (11), and lastly they have a cat and a bird.

nesma is a distinguished student in her final year at the faculty of information technology at the islamic university of gaza. now, imagine yourself, you’re in your final year of university. you’re excited about graduating, thinking about your future and planning to get your dream job. but then, your dreams get shattered because there is a mass bombing in your area. all the houses are destroyed, you have to live in a tent with diseases spreading and bugs lying around. no clean drinking water, or food, or anything.

horrible, right? well, that is the life that nesma and her family is dealing with. and plus, her sister, shahad, was celebrating her accomplishment of getting a great grade in her first year at the faculty of pharmacy at al-azhar university. shahad was going to work in the medical field, she could’ve done something great in her future. but now, because of israel’s genocide on the palestinian peoples, their dreams are now crushed. and also, farah was going to go to medical school. But now she can’t, because the schools are bombed by israel.

nesma’s father, moenn, suffers from chronic diseases such as: diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems. these are problems that need to be handled immediately, but again, because of the genocide and mass bombing. there is no more medicine to help moenn. and nesma’s younger brother can’t walk from a disabling injury.

moenn was injured in the bombing and was arrested in khan yunis. which subjected to torture, abuse, and starvation. which lead to his health deteriorating and a complete collapse where he had the inability to move. the medicine has ran out for him, he needs medicine to survive. and they’re expensive too, which nesma’s family has a lack of money and can’t get it.

but, there is still hope, even with everything i’ve described. there is a gofundme for nesma’s family, they have raised $107,082 USD and their goal is $150,000. PLEASE DONATE AND SHARE THIS AND NESMA’S POSTS!! her account is mentioned in the first sentence of this post! <3

[beardedmrbean]

hey quick question look up jewish expulsions and massacres in all the countries immediately bordering Israel. Look up how many Jew live in Yemen. I support Palestinian freedom, safety, and their right to live - I currently support a two state solution because none of the people advocating for a one-state solution have convinced me that it would be best for any of the people involved. But I think pretty much everyone in the Knesset rn should be hanged for crimes against humanity. But you CANNOT pretend that if someone waved a magic wand and the IDF vanished along with other tools of oppression, that there isn't a problem with Hamas and their "kill all jews" charter (which they changed to look prettier only recently) along with other factions who would want to kill Jews either for revenge or for more power or just because of antisemitism.

I'm going to specify - I don't think there is any inherent Palestinian bloodlust or whatever crock of shit a lot of Zionists peddle. I think that Israeli control of the region clearly models what happens when you have one ethnic group in power over another - I think the human evil we see from Israelis committing atrocities against Palestinians is exactly what we would see if the situation reversed. I don't buy that Palestinians are uniquely savage OR uniquely peaceful. "They just want a land in which to live in peace, and they're willing to fight for it but once they have it there would be no reason for violence" perfectly describes Jews fleeing the Holocaust to try to settle Palestine, and we can see where that logic ends. The myth of a perfectly peaceful pre-Israel Palestine is also not actually the prettiest picture.

I will also clarify that I don't think that 2 ethnic groups can't coexist in one nation as a general rule. I just think that in a region shaped by violence for so long, and such extreme violence right up to now, it is much harder to do so. I think its human nature that when things are so violent, most people aren't going to spend energy making sure they're not being prejudicial, both because energy can be better spent either on survival or joy with your own community, and also because it often feels like your prejudice is keeping you safe, or is proven every time One Of Them attacks One Of You. There are plenty of ways they can try to bridge the gaps, but I don't think that "dissolve Israel immediately and completely" accomplishes any of that

Ya, they're gone from pretty much every MENA nation there is or at least at a handful of their previous population, forced expulsions will do that to your population.

As for the palestenian population, to some degree I think they were ok to stay in Israel as it formed they'd just need to accept Israeli citizenship, there's some issues like the Sheikh Jarrah thing from a few years back that kicked off a short war, Muslim family got evicted from a home they'd been squatting in since before the formation of the country of Israel, people that owned the property had the receipt and deed from when the Ottomans still existed.

Folks still called that stealing their home. I imagine a whole bunch of that happened early on, someone's family had purchased a home of some sort with plans to move there but politics and eventually a war got in the way of that and such.

I would love to see the palestenian types free from the various terror groups that keep starting wars and stealing all the resources meant to aid the standard every day person.

As for the multicultural thing, there's 2 million arabs living in Israel who owing to the fact that they're arabs never need to sign up for military service, where as most every single Jewish citizen does and generally speaking they get along well enough and are even friends.

And to address the ethnic issue

These guys mostly just have 'being Jewish' in common with each other, if they can go and fit in there should be easy enough for anyone that isn't of a mind to start trouble.

If the arabs that identify as palestenian want to stay balkanized that's fine, just stop trying to kill the people that want to live in peace.

(still love the story of the Kaifeng Jews, wild stuff and makes for a good read)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

What do you think it will take for the gendie/trans movement to die?

Lawsuits.

And losses.

Some organizations are not really on board with this ideology, but are playing along either because there's a loud minority of moralizing activist ideologues - mostly woke, straight white churchladies who style themselves as "queer" or "nonbinary", or at least, "allies" - within them who are sucking up all the oxygen, or because they feel they're obliged to by the market. And particularly, they don't want to be conspicuously non-compliant. They just want the beast to eat someone else. For reference, see the Twitter accounts which post Pride banners and icons in western countries, but not in Middle East/North Africa (MENA) countries. They just need sufficient reason - legal or financial - to start ignoring the ideologues and get back on-mission.

Others are fully on board, from the top down. And unfortunately, this category tends to include medical institutions. These organizations need a good legal or financial bat taken to them. Which will hopefully then trigger a spill of their management layer. And with more and more whistleblowers, and more and more lawsuits, such as those by Chloe Cole, Layla Jane and others coming down the pipeline, and increased scrutiny due to the widening gap between European and North American approaches, something will eventually give. Insurers, risk assessors, shareholders, regulators and others with a vested interest in the longevity and viability of the organization will be forced to intercede. Especially as it becomes undeniable that the Europeans are deferring to evidence, while the North Americans have succumbed to ideology. At some point, the US in particular, will need to undergo the same process as the UK, Finland and other countries in conducting an inquiry and review into what's going on and the scientific evidence that supports it... or not.

The really big problem is that these ideologues are notorious liars. Consider what happened when the Tavistock was announced to close, with the interim Cass report describing the GIDS service as "not safe or viable as a long-term option for the care of young people with gender related distress." The ideologues spun this into "they're closing it down so they can open many more! Nothing wrong with it except capacity!" Countries like Finland and Sweden have stopped prescription of puberty blockers and hormones, which was spun into "they didn't ban affirmation" (i.e. blockers and hormones). They conveniently leave out the part where they can only be used in strictly controlled clinical trials, because the current evidence is astonishingly weak. It's like saying "ebola is safe" because certain high-security labs have access to it for research and testing. It's the same kind of pathological dishonesty you get from Xians trying to make their demon god into the "good" guy because free will, salvation, you send yourself to hell, etc, etc.

There are also people so over-invested that actually acknowledging the boiling pot they found themselves in would be too psychologically damaging. Imagine being a Jack Turban, who has made his name lying for virtue, being confronted with the people whose lives were directly impacted by the misrepresentations he'd spun. Or being Michelle Forcier and figuring out you'd spent your life sterilizing children for no reason. How do you ever come back from something like that? The psychological architecture of religiosity tends to have mechanisms to protect the believer from the psychological damage of this kind of atrocity: denial, rationalization, etc. We see that in the traditionally religious. It's not even possible to get a Xian to acknowledge the logical and moral problems with religious concepts such as hell, sin or salvation. They're psychologically incapable. Even if Ray Comfort realized he'd made a mistake about evolution, he'd never be able to publicly admit it, and would still go on with his schtick. Because backing out of such a major commitment would be inconceivable.

I wish I could say that people will have a "come to Jesus" moment (so to speak), an epiphany and come to their senses. But that won't happen. It won't be a moral or scientific revelation, it will ultimately be the pragmatism of the bottom line.

People can believe that they have a mismatched gender thetan living in their body, or that they are "cakegender" or whatever. But they don't get to force the entirety of society to play along, any more than a Xian gets to force everyone else to pray, or a Muslim gets to force everyone to observe Ramadan. We need to start reassembling the secular walls the genderists have been breaching.

[mchiti]

just out of curiosity is there any muslim player in serie a who posted about palestine? what's the reaction in italy?

Hi, Cheddira did and so far absolutely no issue either with his current club (frosinone) and napoli (who he is on loan from). Despite all issues in italy with the pro-isra*l government (but who isn’t, right) I think football clubs don’t really care about being as hypocritical as france or germany, but of course I’ll be the first to speak up it they ever do something like this because reality always hits differently. Also I just want to specify that I don’t care about pitting leagues against each other as this is a collective problem all western football is involved in. Plus, I’d love to mention that while players in muslim countries’ leagues are not facing any consequences, support to isr*el sadly come from some mena countries as well, so this is all much more complicated.

[fangaminghell]

Alsooooo I've been thinking of changing Raya's emoji. When i first created her, I wanted her theme to be stars- the same with Leo. But as time goes on it became very obvious that she as the moon to Leo's sun, making her emoji weird. But her main color is orange, and that doesn't scream moon to be, buuuut who cares? Blair has the grey-blue thing down anyway, I don't see xem having a different color. So does Lilith ( baby blue). The other problem I have is that I've been using Suraya's current emoji for. So long now. Years, i believe. So to suddenly change it would be weird in comparison to Lupe and Mena, who I haven't posted much about. I dunno. I'll think about it.

Oh and if you're wondering about Blair- xyr the vast void that holds them all.

Leo- Sun

Suraya - Moon

Blair - Void

Lilith - (dead) Star

:)

[crionic-dubs]

A frequently recurring theme when discussing the history of Palestine, is the question of “who was there first?”. The implication being, whoever was there first deserves ownership of the land. I have lost count of how many times I have encountered the argument that “The Jewish people have been in Palestine before the Muslims/Arabs,” or a variation thereof. This has always struck me as an interesting example of how people learn just enough history to support their world view, separating it completely from any historical context or the larger picture of the region.

[...]

The argument is simple to follow: Palestinians today are mostly Arabs. The Arabs came to the Levant with the Muslim conquest of the region. Therefore, Arabs -and as an extension Palestinians- have only been in Palestine and the Levant since the seventh century AD.

[...]

The second problem with this is that there is a misunderstanding of the process that is the Arabization of the Middle East and North Africa. Once again, we must view the Islamization of newly conquered lands and their Arabization as two distinct phenomena. The Islamization process began instantly, albeit slowly. Persia, for example took over 2 centuries to become a majority Muslim province. The Levant, much longer. The Arabization of conquered provinces though, began later than their Islamization. The beginning of this process can be traced back to the Marwanid dynasty of the Ummayad Caliphate. Until that point, each province was ruled mostly with its own language, laws and currency. The process of the Arabization of the state united all these under Arabic speaking officials, and made it law that the language of state and of commerce would become Arabic. Thus, it became advantageous to assimilate into this identity, as many government positions and trade deals were offered only to Muslim Arabs.

So although the vast majority of the population of these lands were not ethnically Arab, they came to identify as such over a millennium. Arab stopped being a purely ethnic identity, and morphed into a mainly cultural and linguistic one. In contrast to European colonialism of the new world, where the native population was mostly eradicated to make place for the invaders, the process in MENA is one of the conquered peoples mixing with and coming to identify as their conquerors without being physically removed, if not as Arabs, then as Muslims. Following from this, the Palestinian Arabs of today did not suddenly appear from the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century to settle in Palestine, but are the same indigenous peoples living there who changed how they identified over time. This includes the descendants of every group that has ever called Palestine their home.

[...]

We must separate the political nationalist identity of people from their personhood as human beings, as nationalism is a relatively modern concept, especially in the Middle East. Naturally, no region is a closed container. Trade, immigration, invasion and intermarriage all played a role in creating the current buildup of Palestinian society. There were many additions to the people of the land over the millennia. However, the fact remains that there was never a process where Arab or Muslim conquerors completely replaced the native population living there, only added to them.

[...]

So, what does this all mean for Palestine? Absolutely nothing. Although the argument has many ahistorical assumptions and claims, it is not these which form its greatest weakness. The whole argument is a trap. The basic implication of this line of argumentation is as follows: If the Jewish people were in Palestine before the Arabs, then the land belongs to them. Therefore, the creation of Israel would be justified.

From my experience, whenever this argument is used, the automatic response of Palestinians is to say that their ancestors were there first. These ancestors being the Canaanites. The idea that Palestinians are the descendants of only one particular group in a region with mass migrations and dozens of different empires and peoples is not only ahistorical, but this line of thought indirectly legitimizes the original argument they are fighting against. This is because it implies that the only reason Israel’s creation is unjustified is because their Palestinian ancestors were there first. It implies that the problem with the argument lies in the details, not that the argument as a whole is absolute nonsense and shouldn’t even be entertained.

The ethnic cleansing, massacres and colonialism needed to establish Israel can never be justified, regardless of who was there first. It’s a moot point. Even if we follow the argument that Palestinians have only been there for 1300 years, does this suddenly legitimize the expulsion of hundreds of thousands? Of course not. There is no possible scenario where it is excusable to ethnically cleanse a people and colonize their lands. Human rights apply to people universally, regardless of whether they have lived in an area for a year or ten thousand years.

If we reject the “we were there first” argument, and not treat it as a legitimizing factor for Israel’s creation, then we can focus on the real history, without any ideological agendas. We could trace how our pasts intersected throughout the centuries. After all, there is indeed Jewish history in Palestine. This history forms a part of the Palestinian past and heritage, just like every other group, kingdom or empire that settled there does. We must stop viewing Palestinian and Jewish histories as competing, mutually exclusive entities, because for most of history they have not been.

These positions can be maintained while simultaneously rejecting Zionism and its colonialism. After all, this ideologically driven impulse to imagine our ancestors as some closed, well defined, unchanging homogenous group having exclusive ownership over lands corresponding to modern day borders has nothing to do with the actual history of the area, and everything to do with modern notions of ethnic nationalism and colonialism.

I do think it's interesting how when we're talking about Jewish indigneity, we're completely excluding the fact that Palestinians have always been indigenous to the region and share common ancestry with Jewish people, especially Sephardic Jews. After all, many Christian and Jewish people did convert to either Christianity or Islam, and we have plenty of historical records attesting to the fact that all of these communities have intermingled with each other. In fact, Palestinian Christians are one of the oldest Christian communities, dating back to the first century, whereas the Palestinian Samaritans had a consistent presence in Palestine since 500 B.C.

[lavenite]

okay the characters i really really want dolls of would be from ‘time and again’ cause thats what im mostly focusing on PLUS its modern so i wont have to make too many clothes except for like karina but shes a dirty little crustie so ill have fun with that ANYWAY MAIN PROBELM ! actually under the cut let me rant

okay so the main characters ARE :

KARINA ROMERO : white / scary bright blue eyes / long black hair but Might be dyed…shes an ooglepunk so her fashion sense is easy BUT i could also go like rabbittail abigail type of way…

MATTHIAS O’RILEY : basically adam from priscilla queen of the desert / twink but def muscular < hes a stripper lol that shits hard WORK / keeps hair super short but not quite buzzed / kinda blends into the crowd a bit

MIMI : YAYYAYYAY MIMI !!!!!!! sorry i love her a lot shes so fun. / shortest of the group / fat / black / also a stripper ! probably the most fun fashion wise and loves constantly changing her hair and doing braids and adding beads and just its great / is def one to go with the trends tho

JACK ALVEREZ : im so sorry jack i dont have a clearly defined um idea ? hes mexican. his weight fluxuates a lot as he gets older and through diff periods of his life. has a mullet at some point. maybe he dresses like a nondescript 90s white rock musician SORRY hes kind of boring but we support him ❤️

anyway thats not even getting into lulu or julia or isiah or god forbid any of their parents or fucking matthias’ FOUR BROTHERS ! tho alan is really the only important one currently OR IRENE ! OR KARINAS LITTLE UNNAMED CRUSTIE HOOKUP / TRAVELLING PARTNER …. or lulus son. and im sure theres more characters im not thinking of or havent added yet basically massive cast and i like to say its pretty diverse which pretty much only like. barbie at this current point fits what im looking for but also for older characters like lulu or isiah or i mena fuck like the whole cast is mid twenties but they also timetravel to their teen selves so ummmm yea idk

anyway i have to find dolls for them but ANNOTHER PROBLEM !!!!!! i hate hate hate male barbie dolls. ken i am killing you with my mind. i have to reconcile with the fact that matthias is very obviously a ken stereotype and he himself would put himself as ken to oh god would karina be barbie? thats horrific i mean hes gay and karinas a dyke but yhey kind of have this weird love triangle thing with mimi (who hates karina with all her heart (they literally never interact shes just like that)) also they arwnt even friends. matthias doesnt really like karina….um anyway lost the plot TRAIN BACK TO THE STATION !!!

i need dolls for them but theyre so specific. i might have to order specific barbies online that i think would look like them….anyway ill stop ranting nowwwww i just love my characters ❤️

[spadesurvey]

List of Best Market Research Companies in Singapore

Table of Content: 1.Market Research in Singapore 2.Why should you do Market Research? 3. Top 5 Market Research Companies in Singapore 4.How Spade Survey Help 5.Conclusion

Market research should be the primary objective whether you’re seeking to improve your current firm or launch a new executioner product or service. Your business strategy may fail if you do not conduct market research. If you want to make wise judgments, you’ll need intelligent information that can lead to actual, actionable results. Market research informs you about external aspects (market, customers, rules and regulations, competitors, trends, etc.) so that you may incorporate them into your internal decisions. Not all market research companies are the same. In this blog post, we’ll look at Best Market Research Companies in Singapore and what sets them apart from the competition.

Market Research in Singapore

Singapore is a global centre for commerce, banking, and transportation. It is the most “technology-ready” nation (WEF), the top International-meetings city (UIA), the city with the “best investment potential” (BERI), the third-most competitive country, the third-largest foreign exchange market, the third-largest financial centre, the third-largest oil refining and trading centre, and the second-busiest container port.

Spade Survey is one of Singapore’s leading market research firms  We are a quantitative and qualitative market research Fieldwork Company that is committed to providing high-quality data collection and market research services.

We collaborate with clients on full-service market research projects, assisting them in getting closer to customers in these countries and developing goods, services, and marketing strategies that work. We can also collaborate with organisations as a fieldwork partner, offering respondents from all throughout Asia.

Why should you do Market Research?

The most crucial aspect of beginning a new business is dedicating some time to getting to know and understand your clients.  To be able to:

Solve your clients’ concerns; you must first understand your target market.

Determine which marketing messages to offer to them;

Determine how to best advertise to them; and

Determine whether your customers are willing to spend money on your products or services.

List of Best Market Research Companies in Singapore

Market Research Company #1: Black box Research Pte Ltd

Black box Research Pte Ltd is a Singapore grounded company offering Asia a wide expertise in market research. Black box provides clients with decision making solutions, offering consumer, business, and community-wide perspectives on contemporary problems and challenges.

Services: Advertising , Public Relations, Brand Research, Consumer Research, New Product Research ,Product / Sensory Testing, Analytical Services, Data Mining and Analysis, Statistical Analysis

Foundation Year: 2001

Company Size: 11-50

Address: 29 Media Circle, Alice@Mediapolis, #08-05 138565 Singapore                                

Website: www.blackbox.com.sg

Market Research Company #2. Spade Survey

Spade Survey is a division of Spade Research, which was founded in 2011. Since then, we have helped large and small businesses make informed decisions through market research.We specialize in collecting primary and secondary research data. Our commitment and experience in the US, Europe, Asia, and MENA markets enable us to provide comprehensive solutions for qualitative and quantitative data-collecting requirements. Services: Online Research, Sample, Survey, Research Support, Quantitative Research Services, Qualitative Research Services, Social Research, Survey Programming, Online Research, Focus Groups, B2BResearch Services, Consumer Research Services (B2C) in India

Foundation Year: 2011

Company size: 11-50 employees

Address: #1108, Tower J, Ace City Noida Extension, Sector 1, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201306

Website: www.spadesurvey.com

Market Research Company #3: Insight Asia Research Group Pte. Ltd.Singapore

The Insight Asia is a Asia Market Research Specialist .Their aim is to be of maximum value to clients’ businesses and provide optimum all-encompassing research solutions. Since 2007, they have expanded our footprint to include offices in Vietnam and the Philippines .Now headquartered in Singapore, and enjoying over 21 years of successful business

Services: qualitative and quantitative research. These include ethnography, product placement, sensory analytics, social listening, advanced analytics, observation, mystery shopping, usability testing, eye tracking, online forums, digital diaries and video blogging.

Foundation Year: 2004

Company size: 20 employees

Address: 60 Paya Lebar Road, #11-28 Paya Lebar Square, Singapore 409051

Website: www.insightasia.com

Market Research Company # 4: Joshua Research Consultants Pte. Ltd, Singapore

Joshua Research Consultants is an award-winning and rapidly expanding organization that provides market research services and data collecting in Asia Pacific, the world’s fastest-growing area.Their quality market research and excellent service record are widely recognized by leading market research companies in the region. They are honored to be the “Preferred Agency” by many MNCs and local companies.

Services: Data collection services, Methodology, Market coverage, Quality management, Research affiliates

Foundation Year: 2004

Company Size:11-50 employees

Address: Joshua Research Consultants Pte Ltd, Singapore , 1 Commonwealth Lane #08-30 One Commonwealth , Singapore 149544

Website:www.joshuaresearch.com

Market Research Company #5. TNB Global Survey Pte Ltd, Singapore

TNB globally provide cost effective Online & Offline market research data collection services. They provide one-stop-shop offering to global clients through Panel/Online & F2F-CAPI/CAWI data collection service. Their vast international set up has helped companies to gain global presence & their footprints across continents.

Services: Qualitative and Quantitative Research, Audience  Measurement, Panel Management, Projects Management, Tracking and Analysis, Mystery Shopping, Statistical Analysis Information Technology, Banking & Finance, Healthcare &  Pharmaceuticals, Real Estate, Transportation & Logistics, Utilities, FMC, Manufacturing &  Retail, Travel, Tourism & Hospitality, Public Services, Solutions

Foundation Year: 2018

Company Size:11-50 Employees

Address: 11 Collyer Quay, #06-03 The Arcade, Singapore 049317

Website: www. tnbsurvey.com                           

Market Research Company #6. TGM Research, Singapore

TGM Research specializes in mobile market research and online panels. They help globally for making quality decisions. TGM Research, specialize in multi-country online research with their experience and big network of panels support them to deliver high-quality surveys almost anywhere. As one of a big market research company they provide reliable data collection solutions and various services.

Their teams are placed in 17 countries which help them to take and efficiently manage multinational online market research projects and deliver the best results. They give a global consumer experience. Services: survey creation, online data collection, data processing, automated qualitative sentiment coding, scripting and data quality standards.

Foundation Year: 2017

Company Size:50-100 employees

Address: A68 Circular Road #02-01, 049422, Singapore

Website: www. tgmresearch.com

How Spade Survey Help: Best Market Research Companies in Singapore

Spade Survey is a well-known and well-established Market Research Organisation in Singapore that is continually updating itself with the latest trends and methodologies in the market. Our staffs consist of professional and efficient experts who are well-versed in market research in Singapore.

In the market, we have a competitive price plan with higher service quality. These variables serve as our Unique Differentiating Factor among Singapore research firms. Our team has worked on over 50 business-to-business research studies, covering every research genre, business difficulty, and industry vertical.

We provide our clients with market research, feasibility studies, consumer behavior analytics, business plan development, business expansion, and business consulting. Our team provides actionable market insights that aid in the implementation of profitable business strategies.

Conclusion:

Choosing the right market research firm in Singapore for your needs is critical because each agency has different experiences — whether in terms of service offerings or specialties.

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[zorilleerrant]

Discussions of race and racism are difficult because the systemic pressure is against talking about it. Because of this, words can be taken out of context or used in confusing ways.

The word antiblack means racist against black people, and can be used to refer to a specific incident of racism against an individual black person (whether targeted or not), or any act that specifically targets black people. That's not all it means, and even when it does mean that it doesn't imply that other people don't experience the same type of racism, just that, in that particular instance, either the target or the victim was black.

It also refers to two interrelated phenomena that obviously include black people, but importantly are not limited to black people. The first is examples of racism that usually or disproportionately target or impact black people, even when they often target or impact other people of color. When other people are targeted or impacted by racism like that, it's still antiblack in the systemic sense, although it may make more or less sense to use it while referring to the specific instance that involves no black people. The use of the word to describe the system is not intended to erase or diminish the way this impacts nonblack people.

The second is that racism specifically targeted against black people is a driving force of historical racism within the USA, and therefore many structures are built with the historical assumption they should primarily target black people, and with continuing disproportionate impacts on black people. (This is true to different degrees in different places, but Triangle Trade Slavery is a major part of the development of US racism.) This does not mean other people do not experience racism, or make any claims as to the type, duration, or harmful impacts of the racism other people experience. It also does not specify that nonblack people don't experience antiblackness, but rather that most racism or the most common racism that everyone in the US experiences is driven by historical antiblackness.

In the same way that orientalism can target and impact nonasians, and islamophobia can target and impact people who are neither Muslim nor MENA, etc. the word antiblackness should be taken in conjunction with understandings of the systemic structures rather that specific reference to a demographic. Yes, the word can be used in ways that implicitly or explicitly exclude other nonwhite people, or in ways that erase marginalizations that aren't based on race, but it's still an important academic and informational term generally. It shouldn't be taken to mean anything exclusionary just by its usage, and even cases where it may not fit as well as other terms it shouldn't be assumed to be malicious.

Race as a marginalized identity works differently than other marginalized identities do, and white people, no matter how marginalized, still access white privilege and benefit from systems that center and uplift whiteness and white people. So it's important to have terms that specifically talk about racism and the systems that surround it, instead of trying to use 'bigotry' as a catchall term, which only works some of the time, and is often not nuanced enough to describe the actual problem in question. Speaking about racism or centering racism in discussions of bigotry is not harmful to other marginalized people and should not be taken as an accusation or as disbelief about their experiences. While there is overlap, it's not always the most beneficial to talk about the overlap.

The types of racism that target or impact people based on racial categories are not only different, but are frequently legally encoded or otherwise socially enforced explicitly, rather than just through tradition. Even when the outcomes are the same, talking about the history and development of racist structures is often important to understanding the current situation, or understanding how to ameliorate current problems. In other cases, the history may be the same, but later social factors may mean different groups are disproportionately targeted or harmed. The ways in which individuals express racism also differs from group to group. Therefore, it's important to have words that refer to different strains of racism, instead of relying on the single word racism to capture all of that nuance by itself. It's not always the most productive to talk about racism as a whole, and that doesn't automatically mean that races that aren't being centered or discussed are immune to the issues in question. Most people are not using the specific words that way. People are using specific terms to discuss things that need to be specific. They also use it to specify their personal experiences.

So when people talk about a specific kind of racism - whether it's about black people, asians, natives, or any specific race - instead of questioning whether or how it impacts people of other races, try to think about it within the context of what the speakers are talking about. They may be speaking only about their own experiences, in which case examples from people of other races may add to the conversation. They may be speaking about systemic structures, in which case either the causes or the symptoms are specific, and it's important to address those instead. They may be speaking within the context of history, and it's important to understand that history. It's important to talk about racism, and it's important to be able to discuss the nuances of racism.

[crapmagak]

Engage Drip Marketing: Timerra and Solm

Whelp, it’s-a-time for the last major box art character to appear (not counting Sombron), Timerra, as well as an intro to Solm itself. Seems we’re rounding out the countries first before further intros, which I’m down for.

So, Solm… 

Solm is a country in southeast Elyos, ruled by the freedom-loving queen Sfoglia as a neutral nation.

Solm by far has been one of the nations I’ve been the most interested in. Mostly just because of how little we saw of it until a couple weeks ago. Here, though, it seems to play double duty as our token neutral mid act shake up country, and our token desert country. And considering all the vibes every royal but Lumera has been putting down, and how neutral countries usually operate in Fire Emblem… If queen Sfoglia isn’t gonna be an antagonist at some point, some noble probably will be. Speaking of which, from Fogato’s website bios, it’s also revealed the royal line of Solm is matrilineal, which is neat. 

Sadly, though, I am kind of worried about something when it comes to Solm. Earlier this year, the country of Sumeru came in Genshin Impact, and swiftly grew infamous for its colorism issues. With the italian food name gimmick of this country, we currently know six Solmnian characters; Timerra, Fogato, Bonet, Pandoro, Seadall, and Merrin. And, well… four of them are the ambiguous maybe white, maybe east asian skin tone of anime. Like, I’m a white American dude, I’m not the best person to articulate the problems here. Still, they are kind of eyebrow raising. Hopefully this isn’t the case, but I’m ready to be disappointed again.

And without further adieu… Timerra herself. Fire in artwork…

Timerra is the first princess of the Kingdom of Solm, and Fogato's sister. Perhaps because she was raised in the freedom-loving Solm, she has an innocent and positive personality.

Then portrait…

While Timerra has been educated to become the next queen, she has been allowed to roam freely, so she can get along with just about anyone.

Then cutscene…

Timerra loves having everyone sit around bonfires. She loves singing, and it seems sometimes she comes up with songs on the spot...

Timerra: "Hmm, there we go! Time to happily wait for this meat to grill! Ahem... Now then, First Princess of Solm, Timerra, is going to sing!"

So, quite a bit going on with her. The design is cute, and the colors work really well together, even if the balls are rather silly. Still, her outfit itself is kind of an orientalist stereotype. Not as fetishistically horny as it could be, but not great either. Like, with the specific portions of skin shown off, the clothes around her waist and legs, and the ornaments on her wrists and ankles, they all bring to mind a stereotypical belly dancer, and that’s not even her class as it turns out. Sadly, these depictions are par for the course in fantasy media depicting any country inspired by MENA regions. I don’t even think she should be in something from a historically accurate documentary, or show no skin at all. Timerra is clearly a free spirit girl who employs an acrobatic fighting style, so her design should communicate that. Just… maybe not something evocative of a fictitious outfit made up by Europeans to fetishize women from a region of the world they were colonizing. This is a problem that's so much bigger than one game though, so I’ll try not to harp on it too much, and just leave it at disappointed but not surprised.

As for the character herself, Timerra seems alright. Your typical cute genki girl, here to round out the cast of generically nice avatar Alear, generically nice prince Alfred, cool and stoic prince Diamante, and cool and sexy princess Ivy. It’d be cool if Timerra’s freedom and roaming around gave her a more ground perspective compared to the other royals. Sadly I won’t hold my breath. This is Fire Emblem, after all, the little people don’t really matter in this franchise.

Also, I’m curious if she actually is gonna break out into song near the end of that cutscene. Vocal themes have become a huge part of nintendo games all over, and every mainline FE game since Fates has had one. Perhaps Timerra may end up singing the opening and or ending theme for the game.

And now for the crit clip…

Timerra's starting class is Sentinel. Elegantly wielding a lance, they use quick movements to make enemies' heads spin.

Curiously, her class name is Vigilante in japanese, but was changed to sentinel as seen in english trailers. Not sure why. Maybe it’s like a translation thing, like how the devs for Metroid thought bounty hunter just meant “cool guy who goes on adventures”? Don’t really know enough about the language to know for sure, though.

There are some rather interesting details to look over. The map itself seems to be the castle of Solm itself, overrun with Elusian soldiers. And that's not even the strangest part. We can see on the mini map that Timerra is alone in the middle of the map, while the rest of the army is away at the bottom. I’d ask if this is the chapter Timerra is recruited, but she’s currently level 19, a mere level away from promoting. Perhaps for story reasons she’s been separating.

I’m also curious because we haven’t seen Timerra with any characters that could be her retainers, same as Ivy. It’d be odd if these characters didn’t have them while the other royals clearly do. Perhaps we’ll see them later.

[bellaellathemillionth]

EPISODE 1 OF ME FLIPPING OUT OVER HOW EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN PJO/HOO SHIP W O R K S

LIKKKKKKKKE COME ON. EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ONE WORKS ITS SO UNFAIR WHY CANT REAL LIFE DATIING BE LIKE THAT LIKE SERIOUSLY EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ONE WORKS AND LIKE AT THSI POINT I HAVE JUST GIVEN UP ON CHOOSING BETWEEN SHIPS AND EVERYTHING LIKE FORGET IT I SHIP AND LOVE AND LOVE I MENA LOOOOVE EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE LIKE ALL OF THEM ARE SO CUTE AND THE VERY VERY VAST MAJORITY OF SHIPS MAKE SO MUCH SENSE LIKE ALL OF THEM JUST LIKE WORK ITS LIKE THAT TIME IN GREYS WHERE SOMEONE SAID THAT THEY WERE ALL RELATED BY SEX AND LIKE UM HELLO TRUE THAT HERE TOO LMFAO EVEN WHEN YOU DONT CONSIDER THE WHOLE GREEK INCEST. ANYWAYS

N E WAYZ CONTINUING ON TO THE POINT

MY CURRENT PREDICKIACNMENT IS CHOOSING A MAIN LOVESQUARE AND YES YES IM SURE THERES A THOUSAND MORE LOVESQUAEWA IN THIS UNIVERSE THAT ARE EQUALLY AS GOOD BUT IM TOO LAZY TO RESEARCH SO SHUT YOUR TRAP (AAAAIISIIGGGNT! LIE DETECTED! I AM TOO LAZY TO CARE LMFAO ANYWAYS BYE) SO RIGHT NOW IM STUCK BETWEEN PIPER ANNABETH PERCY AND JASON AND PIPER REYNA JASON (SIDENOTE; KEEP IN MIND I SHIP ALL OF THE SHIPS LMFAO) BECAUSE ON ONE HAND THE FIRST SQUARE HAS TWO COUPLE WHO LMFAO ALL DO A FUCKIN YK SWITCHAROO WHICH I FIND AMAZING CUTE AND INSANELY HILARIOUS (cant tell if its hilarious or if im delirious lol) BUT THEN ON THE EQUALY AMAZING OTHER HAND THERES LEO JASON PIPER REYNA WHICH I AM WAY TOO TIRED TO EXPLAIN RIGHT NOW ALSO IM BORED SO YEAH WOW SUCH HARD PROBLEMS WOO! (im going insane guyz lol) HA SIKE I JSUT WROTE THE TAGS BUT NOW I WANNA CONTINE ON SO LIKE LEO JASON PIPER REYNA IS BASICALLY FUCKING JASONS EX BEING IN LOVE WITH HIS GF AND HIM BEING IN LOVE WITH HIS GFS BEST FRIEND AND THEN PIPER BEING IN LOVE W HIS EX AND HIS BEST FRIEND LMFAOSO I LOVE THIS OK bye

LOVE YOU

OH ON SECOND THOUGHT, WHY NOT JUST HAVE A LOVE OCTOGON?

[lowkeyclueless5137]

Intermission 2-3

:D

Intermission! The time where we cannonically wreck mementos, have some shenanigans and try to live the normal student life.

So let's see what we will have on the list today, since Intermissions always lead to new palaces in the end. :3

What we will cover:

-Public reaction

-Some childhood friends bonding

-Babysitting Cheeka

-Widening our group of aquitances

-messing around with Mementos

-The fantastic adventures of Cheeka the detective!

Simple points :3

Now onto the well deserved break :3

Of course, the public didn't take well the whole confession thing. While this was took in as the first official sign of the Phanthom thieves returning from the public, at least it was now known that the changes of hearts were back on track.

But it was such an old time that most tried to be reasonable. Like that was a 1 time thing. It was forgotten for the most part. The police doesn't even have the files anymore. It was useless to evoke the past so the public took it with a grain of salt.

After all... Weren't the og Phanthom thieves now older? No matter how you put it, it would be very hard in any instance.

That was the public's take on things. Now about our group.

Rook was the first one who came with the news about the school board holding a few meetings regarding the problem of a new principal. So for now, Kosei high was free of the school terror, much like Shujin was free of the bullying problem.

But all the news about the change of heart were immediately brushed off in just a few days. If you asked about it, most people would just say they don't remember or even hear about it. Why?

There was a more interesting news report, regarding a very important party in between some wealthy heads of economical tycoons. It was by no surprise that Haru had to attend with Akira. It was said that today, on the

But they had no school from 3rd to 5th of May, but the 6th was a Sunday, so 4 days of what Ace declared as 'freedom'. But also with the 3rd being occupied by the party and the 4th overtaking with the news about the Extravagant party and apparently the arrival of the Asim bilionare and her heir.

So what to do on the 5th and 6th? Riddle and Ortho were still on babysitting duty, so their options were pretty limited. Thankfully, everyone was pretty much sorting their things out.

Floyd was spending more time with Mikan. He didn't say too much, but apparently Mikan's parents wanted her to move schools, but to do that, they also moved cities. It was drastic, but no one decided to question it. Currently Floyd tries to help his friend with the whole moving process, while also contemplating how to maintain a friendship at distance.

Vil took his loss of persona summoning as a way to contemplate a bit about himself. He did get a few acting offers, but he wasn't that sure if he should pursue it so early, when he is still unsure.

Rook wants to hunt for beauty, so he goes after his gut. Riddle isn't really sure about what exactly is Rook looking for, but he just leaves the man to be. He gives them the most Intel about any rumor or news even before they start to spread around.

Deuce was the unfortunate soul who had Makoto put him to study, as he was not keeping well the pace with math. Yeah, his mom can accept not perfect grades, but she cannot let her son be left behind with the study material.

Ace tho, was trying to get some money. He did play it off as him just wanting to buy some things for himself, but Riddle knew better. He didn't disclose anything, playing it off as just Ace being Ace.

And Jade was just roaming around. He did drop by Leblanc, especially since Futaba did say that on the 5th of June, since it was sure as hell Haru and Akira couldn't take the twins to a party solely meant for business and the riches being richy mfs, they had to be babysitted by 'auntie Futaba'.

And Idia was absolutely not ok with it. While Ortho doesn't really remember about it since he was just a small child then, Idia was older, so he remembered the menaces that those 2 were. :3c

But Futaba told him that 'unless you have plans for the night, you can't escape it. Idia does ask if Riddle would be down for sharing the attic, but the redhead is absolutely not sharing it.

The reason: Idia might find their money shoe box. Ortho said that Idia can't find out until May is over.

Idia does wail about it. And sure his attempts at getting out of it were tracked down when Vil messaged the gc on why was Idia saying that he needs to sleep at him on the 5th june to avoid a 'disastrous wold ending event'.

But on the 6th, Idia busted in happily at Leblanc in the morning. Leona was also there with Cheeka for babysitting duty, but surprisingly Idia didn't care as he had to slam the news to his mom.

He got a sleepover on the 5th june!

At that Ortho spit his water out in surprise and Futaba had to arrange her glasses properly bc she sure didn't believe that. Riddle was unfazed as Cheeka was asking him about the crossword he was doing in the newspaper.

Only when Idia leaves, saying that apparently he will meet up with Vil, Cheeka asks if by chance, Idia is going to see his girlfriend. Ortho swats it off, saying that Vil is just Idia's friend.

But Vil comes a few minutes after Idia leaves, saying that he was in the aera and dropped by for a coffee. Leona already leaved so it was time for cheeka to be hyper, saying that it's a mistery of where Idia went, since it was clear that he lied about it.

Futaba sure was growing suspicious about what Idia might be up to. Ortho also voiced his worry that Idia always managed somehow to get in trouble.

Cheeka tho, seemed to be very excited about it, insisting to investigate and play detective.

Riddle was the one who stepped down his foot and says that they can't go and spy on Idia, but Ortho already was egging on Cheeka, Futaba wanted to see where this went and Vil also wanted to see for how long did Idia use him as an excuse to cover up something else.

So cue the investigation team! With newspaper that they cut some holes through! Riddle still doesn't appreciate that they didn't spare the crosswords. :'3

They get immediately busted by Trey, but he is chill with it, leaving them to be, although he would say that it was very funny to see them hide behind buildings as if they were running from police or smth. Even Futaba was doing it.

But where was Idia going? Well, at first he was dropping by a flower shop, looking at the flowers and texting smth on his phone, before apparently he pointed at a few flowers, asking about them. It was a bit wierd to see Idia making an effort to maintain the discussion, but in the end, he seemed to have gotten what he wanted as the seller gave him a few packs and off he was.

Idia's next stop was, wierdly, the park. And at this point, Trey also followed and was curious what was going on.

~~~~~~~~

Hiding behind a tree, Riddle felt awkward. This was by no means mementos or even a palace. There were big chances people will spot him and consider him wierd, but with cheeka clearly hyped about being a detective and the others encouraging this endeavors, Riddle might as well just use his first opening to vanish from there and go at Leblanc.

Idia tho, leaned over the railing to the lake, waiting as he looked around, eyes lazily darting around as chirps of birds were heard around. After a few minutes, he exhaled and grabbed his phone, pressing on it a bit before putting it to his ear with a smile.

Ortho yelped as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Picking it up, the younger Kitagawa gulped as he saw who the caller was. "You are in trouble... I can't help you out, kiddo..." Futaba whispered. With a trembling hand, Ortho answered the call. "hello, big brother..." He awkwardly said at the phone. "Hello, Ortho! I just called you to see how you are doing with that very important favour I asked of you... You remember it, right?" Idia said with a wierdly calm tone. "Favor? Yeah! Yeah... I didn't forget! Why do you ask?" Ortho awkwardly responded, although he was clearly lying.

"Because I never asked anything out of you~"

Beep!

Freezing in place, the group looked slowly behind them at the unamused Idia. "You really thought you can trick me?" He asked with a cocky smile, puffing. "Very funny... Really... But you'll need more than that to get me..." He mused, before his smile wiped off.

"Mom... You still need to tend to the counter... Now I... Will go to the real destination I wanted to go... Bye..." The boy turned onto his heel and dissappeared among the crowds.

"He's good..." Cheeka whined. "Alright... Enough detective investigation... It's lunch time..." Trey nudged the group. "Oh yeah... Hey... Since you are Riddle's buddy... Why don't you come to LeBlanc with us? We have curry..." Futaba offered.

~~~~~~~~

Trey was polite, trying not to be a bother, but already it was made the decision. On their way in, they also saw Che'nya, who automatically was added to the lunch group.

As they were chatting, Trey did note that Leblanc had a great coffee. He apparently was a big fan of coffee. Futaba points out that out of the whole family, Ortho is the only one who can't stand coffee. Idia is a coffee addict, much like his mother. Ortho points out that his dad will literally drink anything without complain, including paint water.

Che'nya was alright with coffee, but Riddle was another one who couldn't really stand it, so he drank tea with Cheeka and Ortho.

But the topic shifted over to school. Trey said that he studies at a school outside Shibuya, so that's why his parent's bakery was so close to the Shibuya's border. He was also classmates with Che'nya. Riddle said that he was studying at Shujin, with Ortho.

And that's when the door opened and at Leblanc, a tall boy entered. He didn't look from around, due to his darker skin complexity, but he politely asked for a cup of coffee, even saluting Trey.

Trey mentioned that this is his kouhai, Jack. He is a track and field star at their school, but he is also wanted by other sports clubs due to his athletic abilities. Jack was a bit awkward, but nonetheless he was a nice guy.

Ortho tho, does check on the gc about their next target. So far, they would go to mementos at evening, when no one would question some teens meeting up, also when Cheeka would be taken home by Leona. And their mementos adventures were successful as they would get rotten desires a few per day. Rook and Vil took the positions of main informants, as they would keep tabs on the Phan site and also hear the rumors going around.

A tad bit later, Leona also comes to pick Cheeka up, asking if by chance, on the 5th of June they could babysit cheeka the whole night. Riddle wanted to protest, but at the sound of double the payment, Ortho immediately accepted.

Once everyone had to leave and the closing time came, Ortho and Riddle were desemned along Yusuke to clean around. Riddle did ask why Ortho accepted, even if by the end of the month, they would win the bet anyway. Ortho pointed out that it doesn't hurt to have some extra money in case of anything.

Yusuke does find it amusing how the 2 got in the babysitting gig just for a bet. Riddle does point out that Idia will never find about their secret piggy bank with the money for the bet. Yusuke did praise that they had patience to put aside money, even for petty reasons.

Riddle does ask how Yusuke is doing, as they didn't hear much from him. Yusuke responds by saying that one of his pupils participated in a painting contest and he wanted to give his imput and guidance in such a moment. Sure, the pupil didn't win first place, only just a mention, but Yusuke said that if they were content with their work, then it's the equivalent of first place anyway.

Unfortunately, Ortho didn't really have the call for painting, nor did Idia. Idia was more like Futaba, but Ortho did inherit the artistic side... Just on the music side of the art. Riddle wanted to say Ortho also inherited being a drama queen, but he decided against it.

Yusuke did mention how currently he was searching for some inspiration for his next work, but until that comes, he will assist more than usual his pupils and look around the city and maybe the metaverse as well. Ortho told Riddle that once, he caught his father hanging upside down, looking at chonky's back. The birb really didn't give a damn about it, but Yusuke got his inspiration for a beautiful painting, so Ortho never questioned this inspiration thing.

Riddle admitted that he didn't really try to draw more than what it was required of him. Maybe mathematical drawings, but not artistic ones. He does know how to play the cello tho as his grandmother on his father's side knew how to play it. But she was living in Kyoto, so visiting her would most likely be during the holidays.

The next day, back to school, baby!

Words spread fast around the Kosei high incident, Shujin students being on edge as this sounds like what happened to Neige.

At lunch, our usual group did decide to eat together, since it was their new usual, talking about different mundane things. Ace and Deuce bickered over some trivial thing, Ortho shared some gossip he heard around the first years and Jade just enjoyed his time eating whatever mushroom dish he had.

But Vil also brought up the very important party on the 5th. As his father is a quite important figure in the acting industry, Vil got a hold of a scoop regarding the guests of the party.

Apparently, the fearsome Draconia clan will attend.

Ace jokingly asked if they were some sort of yakuza, but Ortho filled in the blank: the Draconias were a long line of royalty from Europe, having a small, yet thriving, country. It is said that currently they have both wealth, influence and power. It is very little known about the heir to thee throne, but the only available thing was that it was just a sole heir, the current queen's grandson.

Riddle did say that his queen had a meeting with queen Draconia for diplomatic matters. At this, Deuce dumbly asks if Riddle wasn't from Japan.

Big palmface moment. :/

Riddle bring up the fact his father is Japanese... He actually lived all of his life in England. Ortho did bring up that he didn't sound like a foreigner at all. Riddle just changes the topic back to the list of guests.

Vil initially brought it up because it was said that the heir to the throne will be present as well and that every guest had a +1 with them. Ace bluntly said that they shouldn't mingle in some foreign fancy ass's love life. Jade did note that initially, only his mom was invited, but her +1 was  Ren, who clearly was more than prepared to see if his charm was still maxed out.

But for their near future plans, Riddle had in mind a proper hangout with Trey and Che'nya. Ortho did whine that how come he is ditching on him their babysitting business. Riddle returns it by saying that Ortho ditched it on him on the 2nd just to go out with some classmates.

And again, some time passed. It came to the 10th of May when Riddle had to do an errand for Futaba. Ortho was left with Cheeka to babysit or more like watch TV in the attic.

Riddle had a small list of things to buy. Futaba gave him the money plus a bonus to treat himself with something. Ortho always said that this was the thing that usually would motivate them to actually do the errands. Those extra yen meant to be used how they wanted.

So Riddle had to go through the list. One thing was left: an extra pack of gummy worms. And just his luck: on the shelf from the shop, only one pack was left.

But once he grabbed it, Riddle realised that someone else also grabbed it. It was a short lavender haired boy with big blue eyes. Riddle did tug a bit on the bag, saying that he needs it, but the boy responded in some broken ass Japanese that he didn't understand and please use English.

And so, Riddle repeated himself, in English, the other saying that he has some fancy ass accent. It was clear that the boy had a very southern accent and boy Riddle wasn't ready for this headache. Still he insisted to get the bag of gummies, to which the other also wanted the bag, since it was on his list as well.

Their fight gets broken by Azul, who steps in and nags the boy(also in English), named Epel, that he should let the other have the pack. Riddle does reassure that it's no problem, before he recognised Azul and points out that he is Floyd and Jade's buddy.

Azul just swats it off and apologises for Epel, saying that currently he came from America and has a hard time getting used to things around, including the language.

And even if Riddle won in the end, he also picked up Epel addressing to Azul as 'brother' as the 2 left and the shorter was whining about something. And that made Riddle to raise a brow, since the twins clearly didn't mention anything about Azul having a brother.

Later that same day. The group meet up to deal with some mementos requests. Floyd ofc had Morgana with him since they needed the Monabus. :3

But once they did enter the metaverse, they heard a confused Humm and a mention about how the underground station didn't do this before.

Turning around, the group meet a tall guy with Raven hair that looked very confused around. He was surprisingly calm as he asked when will the train he wanted to get in will come or if by chance, they saw a loud guy with mint green hair. Dude wasn't even fazed at the group of people in wierd costumes and the cat-creature.

Siren said that they needed to move, but then again, they couldn't have this guy know their identities. Who knew where he could rat them or blackmail.

So abducting the guy it is!

More like just asking for him to get in the van... And he immediately agreed. Like dude?! Pls? How did you survive the city?!

But nonetheless, they kept the guy with Mona while dealing with shadows. There were the roaming ones on the road, then some of their targets, which were weaker. The whole operation was going smoothly, even with the wierd guy who was more bothered about the architecture of the place.

But then, Siren picked up a huge distortion signal. Like it was almost becoming a palace. And even if they had the list cleared out, it would be better to prevent the palace from forming and having to deal with it later.

So they reached a quite smartly dressed man. One who seemed to look down on them since he saw them. And their wierd guest seemed to recognise him, more than that, he seemed enraged with the mere presence of the man.

Unfortunately, this shadow was tougher than the others. It was after all, very close to developing a palace on its own. Ofc it would be stronger. :v

And the misterious boy looked like he had enough of it.

~~~~(Tw for blood)~~~~

Taking a deep breath, the boy was composing himself. He couldn't allow to slip, to leave that pristine appearance. The man before him did wrongs, so many wrongs, but nonetheless he should be judged with a calm mind.

Are you going to ignore the blood that spilled onto his hands?

Like a bullet, the boy felt an immense headache. Gasping for air, he felt like he was suffocating. Mona saw that, backing away slowly as the creature knew what was going to happen.

It is unfair... How this man wasn't punished for his deeds. He killed any chance of your dear 'father' ever seeing the light of justice... Are you simply going to watch how everything that was built by you, be destroyed just for some greedy man's desires?

"He will pay..." The boy breathed, feeling something over his face. It was light, but it was glued over his face, the need to get it off taking over his rational mind.

The shadow in question noticed him. "And there you were... The little prick that insisted I didn't do my case right... What? You thought that just because I didn't say the entire truth, your dear 'father' wouldn't be where he is now? Grow some sense, kid! This isn't a fairytale... This is the real world... And the real world is ruled by money..." The man boasted.

I am thou... Thou art I... Silence will never be the answer to those who seek to hurt for their gain... Embrace me... Embrace the blade of justice... And never let go of it...

"Indeed... This isn't a fairytale..." The boy laughed like a maniac as with one hand he ripped off the mask off his face, blood spilling over his face as the golden eyes returned to their piercing green. "BECAUSE-" He yelled as the blue fire exploded under his feet, crackling as it rose up and swirled, throwing the shadow to the ground.

"I, Malleus Draconia, will never forgive those who have wronged me or my close ones..." he declared, pointing his long sword toward the shadow as behind him, a dragon like creature made out of vines and thorns roared, spitting an abundence of green flames in the air, illuminating the whole place with a wicked light.

"kneel before me and beg for forgiveness... Or taste my blade of justice..."

~~~~~~~~

Well... Talk about dramatic... :')

Yeah... Malleus wasn't having it. Like at all. Man was ready to murder right then and there. Thankfully his low stamina kicked in right before he could kill the shadow for good and cause a mental shutdown irl.

So with that shadow handled, they could only jump in the Monabus and go back to the real world. :3

Malleus was silent the whole ride. He made it clear that he wanted to be addressed as just Malleus for now. The others gave him a short rundown of everything and why he was in this wierd attire with a wierd mask along with what was that thing he just fought. For the rest of the ride, Malleus only listened and let everything to sink in.

Once back in the real world tho, Malleus simply said that he needs to process things. He promised he will not disclose anything to anyone for now and with that, he left once the loud boy he was looking for was heard around.

Now all of the thieves group had a big dread. Riddle, for instance, could bearly catch any sleep. He was simply too worried about what Malleus might do.

But that's when he gets a notification on his phone. Since he didn't have sleep, he went to check on it.

And it was from his father!

Sure, unlike his mom who demanded a long report phonecall every day, his father said that he was very occupied at the hospital, but still he did message Riddle from time to time. It was either to ask how he was doing or to show him what shenanigans happened during his shift. It was appreciated that he opted for messages as it was understandable he was very busy.

And this time, his father first apologized for the late hour he sent the message, before sending another message, saying that he got a free day on the day of the fireworks festival. Riddle ofc responded saying that it was great. His dad didn't even bring up the late hour of the response, him immediately asking if he had any plans for that day, Riddle replying that he didn't.

For the end of the convo, his dad sent a photo of his hedgehog, saying that he says goodnight to Riddle as well.

Sunday tho, Malleus comes at Leblanc! And thankfully alone. He introduced himself to Futaba as Marcus and that he had some matters to discuss with his 'friend', Riddle.

Behind the counter, Ortho and Riddle exchanged very worried glances, but nonetheless, Riddle had to step out like and deal with it like a man. Since Malleus requested for some privacy, the 2 had to take it to the attic. Ortho had to keep on Cheeka tho.

In the attic, Malleus apologised for his rash acting in mementos. He didn't really have any excuse for his rage. He explained that the man was a prosecutor, one who framed his father figure, which was just a university teacher at that time. He got fired because of it and demoted to a high school teacher. He did say that he was homeschooled, so he had no idea when Riddle would finish his studies. This is why he opted to talk on the first Sunday.

Riddle did ask why he wanted to talk. Malleus responds that mementos wasn't his first time in the metaverse. A few months ago, he happened to stumble upon a very wierd place. He currently suspects that it is a palace. And he wants to investigate it as there was something concerning him in there.

Riddle responded that he needs to consult with his team members. It was a group decision.

In reality, Riddle really didn't know what to respond to it.

So the team gathers up in the afternoon, after Cheeka leaves with Leona. Malleus was also there and re-explained his request: help him uncover the truth behind the palace he srumbled upon months ago. He did answer Vil's question about why was he using another name in public: his grandmother wanted to protect his identity and safety as the sole heir to the throne of his country. His grandma was good friends with the prime minister and so he had another ID under a fake name.

And the team agrees to help the prince.

So on Monday, after classes, all of them gather up at the location Malleus gave them: in front of the court house from this district. Before entering, they had to choose a codename for Malleus. Deuce brought up the fact that his mask resembled a dragon with horns, just like in European children stories. For that, Malleus suggests Draco and the others just roll with it. Using his own phone, Malleus accessed the metaverse and to his history, there was 1 palace in question.

And so, they found themselves back in the metaverse, in a lavish flower garden. The flowers were all colorful and their smell was calming, alluring even. But it wasn't about the garden now.

Draco presented to them a gigantic cathedral made out of dark grey stone with golden roofs and tall towers. The architecture could be compared to the infamous Notre Dame judging from the arcades and the intricate stained glass windows, the front one which depicted an angel that was spreading greenish petals as a blessing for the people. The tallest of the towers having a far more intricate decoration, with stained glass windows at the top, very opace to hide the insides of the tower.

Now without further ado, they had to step inside and see what this 'holy' place had in store for them.

And this is how we start the arc of the 3rd Palace!

And Malleus is now in the party! He's a bit confused, but he got the spirit! :D

Now we will explore this absolute train wreck. :3c

What do you think will happen? Since our rooster is:

Rose

Flame

Heart

Spade

Siren

Knight

Draco

Mona

Fox

Noir

Joker

It's a bit funny to me that the persona users for the 1st palace(13) was actually a bigger number than the current available party members(11). :3c

And if you know me... You know how I work with these numbers. >:3c

Until next time! Buh bye! :D

[eretzyisrael]

The link between the anti-Rushdie fatwa and Islamist Sayid Qutb

14 February 1989 was the fateful date when Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran pronounced a fatwa, or  death sentence,  on Salman Rushdie, author of the supposedly blasphemous work, The Satanic Verses. Rushdie lies critically injured in hospital following an attempt on his life 33 years later. ‘Blasphemy against Islam’ has  long been a favourite pretext for persecuting Jews in the Arab world, dissident Muslims and western satirists. But with its doctrinaire adherence to, and aggressive advocacy for, sharia law,  the forces of political Islam have declared lethal war on freedom of expression in the West. Sephardi Ideas Monthly points to the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Sayid Qutb:  From Egypt it is a little-known fact that Qutb’s ideology has travelled to Iran, where four of his books have been translated into Persian. (With thanks: Edna)

Salman Rushdie, sentenced to death by the Ayatollahs

Sephardi Ideas Monthly traces the little-known but very consequential line of influence that transcends the traditional Sunni-Shi’a divide and connects Sayyid Qutb to the Islamic Republic of Iran (IR). Qutb met with and encouraged Iranian revolutionaries and his writings played an important role in the Iranian Islamist revolution.

The current Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, translated four of Qutb’s books into Persian! One scholar summed up the issue concisely: “The influence of Sayyid Quṭb on the Islamist movement and the revolutionaries of Iran is still not acknowledged sufficiently and remains largely unknown in the West.” (See: “Sayyid Quṭb in Iran: Translating the Islamist Ideologue in the Islamic Republic.” Yusuf Ünal, Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2 (November 2016), pp. 35-50).

Qutb’s connection to Shi’ite activists dates back to the early 50s, when Iranian cleric Navvab Safavi, leader of the Iranian “Fedayeen of Islam,” visited him in Egypt. Safavi was impressed by Qutb, took his ideology back to Iran, and promoted the vision of an Islamic state among Iranian revolutionaries. Translations of Quṭb’s works soon followed. In many cases, the Persian-language translators were also activists who went on to play important roles in the Iranian revolution, the most prominent being Safavi’s student, Khamenei. Among the books that Khamenei translated was, The Future of This Religion, a work in which Quṭb:

…argues for the political supremacy of Islam, which will lead to the future submission of all humanity to Islamic ideology, and calls upon all Muslims to fight against the imperialist powers.

In order to honor Qutb’s thought and influence, in 1985 the Iranian regime’s postal service issued a stamp showing Qutb behind bars during his 1966 trial in Egypt. That trial ended in Qutb’s hanging.

It’s true that, in recent years, Qutb’s writings have inspired revolutionary Sunni jihadi groups that mercilessly target Shi’a. The difficulty in reconciling Qutb’s influence on both the Iranian revolution and anti-Shi’ite jihadis was examined at a February, 2015, conference held in Iran dedicated to “Re-reading and Re-viewing the Views of Sayyid Quṭb” (See Unal, p. 36). The willingness to re-engage with Qutb’s writings in such a charged geo-political context testifies to the depth of their impact in the IR. In addition, it’s important not to overstate the problem: other Sunni Islamist groups influenced by Qutb are more than happy to maintain positive relations with the Iranian regime, the most obvious example being Hamas.

Why isn’t the Qutb-Iran connection more well-known among Western observers of the MENA region? Perhaps the answer is connected to a related question: How is it that there isn’t a single English-language biography of Khamenei? Sometimes written off as “the chief apparatchik backed by the Iranian deep state” Khamenei has ruled Iran for thirty-three years. That’s a long time in a very unstable region. It’s reasonable to wonder if Khamenei is more competent than often perceived, and if his political acumen is connected to Qutb’s influence. Either way, if we wish to prepare for an extended conflict with the forces of Political Islam, it would be prudent to wonder how much of the revolutionary energy that animates portions of the Iranian regime is still being generated by its encounter with Qutb.

Read article in full

[olderthannetfic]

Ah, I do see your points, anon. I'm not going to post all your asks publicly because if you really feel that unsafe, it's probably best not to have a bigass chunk of your text for people to analyze and try to guess your identity from. I think one of the best points you made is about how close to home it hits when the non-fave is not only your fave but is similar to you in some way like demographic. You're not wrong for having those emotions. I do wonder if they make it hard to see how some other people feel similarly embattled on other axes.

TBH, I think one of the big problems here is that the large aggregate patterns you're talking about are racist, but most individual fics and fans are not really the problem. It's hard to know how to talk about this or who to tell to "fix" it when we're looking at free, hobbyist art.

A lot of people's tastes are certainly formed by shitty society, but once they're formed, they don't change fast if at all. Asking someone to rewrite their libido is a big ask, yet tumblr does it all the time as though it's as simple as snapping your fingers.

This leaves me with the sense that a lot of tumblr is... like... the political lesbians of porn fic or something: desire is not real, only choosing based on logic and politics. Or maybe people are so asexual that they just don't understand the lizard brain's "YES!" at some porn things and complete indifference to others?

I don't think it's great if great swaths of people feel like bottom!Nicky is super hot and top!Nicky fundamentally isn't, but I also don't think they can necessarily just turn it off like flipping a switch.

(If someone reading this doesn't like their current tastes and wants to attempt to alter them, I do think it's possible. What you should do is line up a large slate of media that prominently features characters of the ethnicity or whatever that you don't find hot/interesting. These should be leads whose emotional development drives the plot and is supposed to be central to the audience's enjoyment of the media. Watch/read/etc. this media all the time. All. The. Time. Try out many pieces because you won't like every character or every show, and we're looking for genuine enjoyment, not the fandom equivalent of a pity fuck. Spend enough time on this, and your unconscious sense of who's hot and interesting will eventually shift somewhat. This is a project you should expect to take a few years.)

But I digress.

The one tweet thing is a very toxic pattern. If TOG fandom is doing that, guys, please try to be more conscious of holding the actors of color to a higher standard (or the women or whomever). I know this often comes from a place of paying more attention to our own and wanting to set a good standard, but the effect is that minorities can't fuck up ever while white dudes get infinite passes.

Okay, on to the fic thing... Gotta say, my instant reaction to that description is "Ooh!"--as it would be for the same scenario with the characters reversed. (Ships who start out trying to kill each other are my favorite! x1000 if they're resurrecting style immortals and they literally do.) I can see how it would feel like slamming into a brick wall if you aren't kinky in just the right way and you didn't know it was coming though.

Part of why I react so strongly to a lot of discourse that runs along these lines is that I am a naturally extremely kinky person. It's not so much about what I do (which as a deeply lazy person in a long distance relationship is essentially nothing), but it's absolutely how I'm wired.

And I can tell you that my quotidian experience in fandom is sharing something I don't even realize is a big deal only to have someone I like, respect, and trust react in horror and tell me that it's triggering and awful and should not be allowed in fandom spaces because it makes "people" unsafe. It's such an instant, kneejerk reaction they don't even realize I was sharing it because it spoke to the very core of me. Lesson learned, friend. Lesson learned.

That sounds a bit off topic, I know, but bear with me: The point of that anecdote is that it's pretty common for me to get people trying to raise my awareness of things I have already thought deeply about while denying my essential humanity and not even realizing. As a kinky person who likes to make my fave the top (and generally a conflicted sadist), this constant request to explain and justify is exhausting.

I doubt most of the top!Joe fans have this precise problem simply because people who make their fave the top are much less common in fandom than people who make their fave the bottom, but I see a similar pattern with fans who are just fundamentally wired for rape fantasies (one of the most common fantasies that exists) vs. fans who just don't get rape fantasies at all. Or substitute your BDSM/kinky/messed up fantasy trope of choice. Covertly radical feminist attitudes towards kink and power are on the rise in fandom, and as a naturally kinky person, boy do I notice it!

I know that it feels like crucial activism to share these insights about why the ratio of top!Joe is hurtful, and the pain you feel is real. But it's also the case that it's a big ask to want people to listen. (Not me. Obviously, I routinely choose to engage with discourse. I mean overall.) The reason for that is that you're only seeing a fraction of what they do or who they are, and you don't know how many previous people they've listened to how many previous times. It's a very different situation from someone whose job is making some major TV series or movie or something. That person does, in my opinion, owe you some amount of listening.

Now, I'm not saying no top Joe fan was ever a jerk. I'll bet they were. There's a tendency to be rude and to publicly air your schadenfreude when you feel like everyone has been yelling at you. What I am saying is that a lot of the problem here boils down to conflicting needs, and that means there isn't a good solution. It's a situation where people are genuinely hurt, but I don't necessarily agree that other people have harmed them.

I like that you did an actual count of the explicit fics, btw. It's good to look at the real numbers. I see too little of that in these situations. My off the cuff reaction is that 2/3 to 1/3 is not a bad ratio at all compared to many fandoms, but yeah, it definitely shows a strong trend, and that can be painful. (I have a fandom where I think there's maybe like 1 bottom so-and-so fic in the entire zine era fandom. One. It's pretty extreme.)

I guess my thinking here overall is: What is the practical solution? What are we hoping to gain? What is reasonable to ask of people?

And it can't be "Well, if they would just listen..." That's just a sneaky way of saying "If you haven't done it my way, it's because you haven't listened to me yet."

So the question I would ask of people is this:

What does a non-racist fic where Joe tops look like?

What does a non-racist sex pollen, dubcon, or even noncon fic where Joe tops look like?

And if you say the latter is impossible... well... sadists exist everywhere in the world. So do doms. So do people who prefer to top in a purely physical sense. People with rape fantasies where they're the rapist exist (people who are not actually rapists, I mean). None of this is restricted to any one group. We can't categorically say fic like that about Joe is coming from a place of racism without denying the fundamental humanity of kinky MENA people who'd want to make Joe like themselves or like their ideal partner. (Yes, I agree this won't be the majority of fic writers writing top!Joe, but this is a place to start for figuring out what the better version would look like.)

IDK, maybe you're that kinkster yourself, but your asks gave me the vibe that you don't really get the drive towards those darker kinds of fics and what might be motivating it besides stereotypes and shittiness.

If we can answer these kinds of questions, we can better critique the way people write what they write without telling them all of their taste is bad and they should just stop writing. Even if we think the latter is true, it isn't going to get us anywhere. Figuring out how to make Joe more multidimensional in the fic they already want to write or finding very specific wording that should be avoided might actually work.

Beyond that, the actions I think are productive would be running prompt fests, exchanges, or other events for bottom!Joe or for top!Joe where he's the main character and the fics are required to be from his POV. Themed collections and recs lists are great. (I've seen a bit of this going around in TOG fandom in the past, and that's an excellent approach! Keep it up!) Positive actions tend to work better here. Make more of what you want. Promote what you want to see.

I don't mean this in some fluffy magical thinking way: you aren't going to change that ratio radically just by the power of positivity. But I've seen this kind of thing play out in many, many fandoms, and going after the people who write what you don't like, even in a well-intentioned effort to educate and even in a polite, kind way doesn't do much. A few people feel guilty. A few feel defensive. A lot ignore you. The overall fic doesn't change. It's not a good use of your limited time and energy.

I'm off to look up that fic to see what I think of it in practice, but I'm going to post this before tumblr manages to eat it.