#i.e. the NATION. the imagined home

[theskyexists]

I never understand the insistence of some to come to the Chinese state's rescue. They're imperialist bastards, as much as the U.S. state - more ambitiously now, I'd wager. Both populations are indoctrinated and racist. So ? The European non-federation is full of states throwing their weight around and committing atrocities, still grasping at imperialist goals. The population is indoctrinated and very racist! I wish people would stop thinking in nations. Delete the nationalism in brain. The populations are not exceptional, not very different from ours - us. Wish people would think in terms of states. States are powerful, and jealously guard their own power and existence through untold violence against other states, and external and internal populations - depending on their narrative.

[fursasaida]

This article is from 2022, but it came up in the context of Palestine:

Here are some striking passages, relevant to all colonial aftermaths but certainly also to the forms we see Zionist reaction taking at the moment:

Over the decade I lived in South Africa, I became fascinated by this white minority [i.e. the whole white population post-apartheid as a minority in the country], particularly its members who considered themselves progressive. They reminded me of my liberal peers in America, who had an apparently self-assured enthusiasm about the coming of a so-called majority-minority nation. As with white South Africans who had celebrated the end of apartheid, their enthusiasm often belied, just beneath the surface, a striking degree of fear, bewilderment, disillusionment, and dread.

[...]

Yet these progressives’ response to the end of apartheid was ambivalent. Contemplating South Africa after apartheid, an Economist correspondent observed that “the lives of many whites exude sadness.” The phenomenon perplexed him. In so many ways, white life remained more or less untouched, or had even improved. Despite apartheid’s horrors—and the regime’s violence against those who worked to dismantle it—the ANC encouraged an attitude of forgiveness. It left statues of Afrikaner heroes standing and helped institute the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which granted amnesty to some perpetrators of apartheid-era political crimes.

But as time wore on, even wealthy white South Africans began to radiate a degree of fear and frustration that did not match any simple economic analysis of their situation. A startling number of formerly anti-apartheid white people began to voice bitter criticisms of post-apartheid society. An Afrikaner poet who did prison time under apartheid for aiding the Black-liberation cause wrote an essay denouncing the new Black-led country as “a sewer of betrayed expectations and thievery, fear and unbridled greed.”

What accounted for this disillusionment? Many white South Africans told me that Black forgiveness felt like a slap on the face. By not acting toward you as you acted toward us, we’re showing you up, white South Africans seemed to hear. You’ll owe us a debt of gratitude forever.

The article goes on to discuss:

"Mau Mau anxiety," or the fear among whites of violent repercussions, and how this shows up in reported vs confirmed crime stats - possibly to the point of false memories of home invasion

A sense of irrelevance and alienation among this white population, leading to another anxiety: "do we still belong here?"

The sublimation of this anxiety into self-identification as a marginalized minority group, featuring such incredible statements as "I wanted to fight for Afrikaners, but I came to think of myself as a ‘liberal internationalist,’ not a white racist...I found such inspiration from the struggles of the Catalonians and the Basques. Even Tibet" and "[Martin Luther] King [Jr.] also fought for a people without much political representation … That’s why I consider him one of my most important forebears and heroes,” from a self-declared liberal environmentalist who also thinks Afrikaaners should take back government control because they are "naturally good" at governance

Some discussion of the dynamics underlying these reactions, particularly the fact that "admitting past sins seem[ed] to become harder even as they receded into history," and US parallels

And finally, in closing:

The Afrikaner journalist Rian Malan, who opposed apartheid, has written that, by most measures, its aftermath went better than almost any white person could have imagined. But, as with most white progressives, his experience of post-1994 South Africa has been complicated. [...]

He just couldn’t forgive Black people for forgiving him. Paradoxically, being left undisturbed served as an ever-present reminder of his guilt, of how wrongly he had treated his maid and other Black people under apartheid. “The Bible was right about a thing or two,” he wrote. “It is infinitely worse to receive than to give, especially if … the gift is mercy.”

[vioredynamite]

I'm going to ask people to stop spreading the idea that all black people disappeared from Argentina because "we killed them all". Is Argentina racist? Of course it is. But leaving aside the African and Afro-descendant population of recent migrations (20th century), the problem with the Afro-descendant population in Argentina is that it's still incredibly invisibilized, especially the one with roots going back to colonial times.

1) Any Argentine will have heard of the "crisol de razas", ("melting pot"), the metaphor linked to the supposed "homogeneous" integration of the entire foreign population that arrived in the country during the era of the great waves of immigration (1890-1920). This concept, in addition to establishing a false equivalence between "nationality" and "race", always left out the Afro-descendant and indigenous population, not because they didn't exist but because there was a need to create the myth of a "white Argentina".

2) There are other sources of invisibilization:

a) At the end of the 18th century, the Spanish monarchy approved a Real cédula called "gracias al sacar" which established "monetary compensation" (a payment, so to speak) so that freed black people could acquire the status of "white" and thus access some of the privileges and benefits that this position entailed (it's important to note that in colonial times, at least here, "white", "black" or "indian" were legal categories rather than racial).

b) During most of the 20th century, the DNI (Documento Nacional de Identidad, "National Identity Card") included a description of the physical traits of individuals, one of which was skin color. One such color was "trigueño", a category difficult to describe accurately because it was used very broadly to describe people who were "brown" or "morenos", neither black nor white. As Miriam Gomes (activist and literature professor) mentions (in Spanish), many black people were pigeonholed in this category (in Spanish, see min. 21:40), which contributed to their invisibilization. Imagine that this category was so broad that even my own paternal grandmother, who has Mapuche (but not black) ancestry, was also labeled as "trigueña".

3) According to the 2022 Census, the population that recognizes itself as Afro-descendant or has black or African ancestors totals 302,936 people in the national territory. This population group constitutes 0.7% of the total number of people living in private homes, while in the 2010 Census it represented 0.4%. [[I must remember that we should take into account the possibility that for whatever reason there are people who don't know or don't identify themselves as Afro-descendants even though they are]]. The third graph of the linked document shows that most of the Afro-descendant population in Argentina is located in those provinces/jurisdictions that concentrated the black population (either enslaved or free) during the colonial period (i.e. Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Santa Fe and the Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires). Unfortunately, this graph doesn't provide information on the migratory origin of this population, but according to the data I risk establishing a certain continuity with the colonial period.

4) I will strongly urge you to follow Afro-Argentine activists and people who write about their history to get any doubts you may have out of your mind: I recommend Miriam Gomes, Sandra Chagas, Piba afroqom (@ pibaafroqom on Instagram), Mesa Afro Córdoba (@ mesaafrocordoba on instagram), Malungo Libros (@ malungo_libros), GEALA (Grupo de Estudios Afrolatinoamericanos), Comisión 8N (@ comision8n), and Asociación Misibamba (@ misibamba).

[saviorellie]

wrestler!abby headcannons.

pairing : abby anderson x reader

pov : second person , fem terms for reader

warning(s) : just fluff !!! college au obviii

notes : abbyyyyyy my baby :,)))) i’ve been obsessed with her for so long but recently she’s taken over my every waking thought!!!!!! it hurts my soul that there aren’t more wrestler!abby things on tumblr so i will b your dealer

ooohhsdhsksdh wrestler abby

wrestler!abby goes to your school on a full ride scholarship (super smart)(national championship wrestler)

as much as she enjoys wrestling she’s truly just the sweetest person ever

like on the mat she look soooo scary but as soon as soon as the match is over she’s smiling and shaking hands and giggling

she could never ever try boxing cuz she as violent as wrestling is, she is terrified of boxing because it’s so violent

she would never ever use her size for anything other than good outside of a match

in high school so many people were scared of her cuz she’s tall and strong and shy :((((( so in college she made it her goal to be more outgoing

the first time she hurt someone during a match she cried so hard she almost threw up

literally almost quit wrestling because she felt sooo bad

wrestler!abby’s main way of flirting is picking you up and throwing you over her shoulder

she likes that it makes you laugh (and she likes showing off)

wrestler!abby lovesssss it when you go to the gym with her

even if you’re just sitting there watching, she loves having you there

abby would never admit it, but seeing you at her matches really gets her going

she likes to think you’re her little good luck charm

wrestler!abby’s muscles are always sore so when you run her a bath or rub her shoulders ohhgdhshds

she could cry tears of happiness

most of the time she is super super hyperaware of how much stronger she is than the normal person

but she sometimes forgets how tall and strong she is around people she really trusts (i.e. you)

if it’s just you guys around, personal space does not exist unfortunately

one time, she truly forgot how strong she is and slapped your arm really hard (playfully)(on accident) and you cried (for like two seconds)

she felt terrible i think the words “i’m so sorry” left her mouth at least 25 times

she didn’t touch you for like an hour she was so scared of hurting you again :(((((( poor baby :(((((((

she really is just a giant teddy bear though :(((((

she lovesss standing next to you or holding your hand because she’s so much taller than you and her hand is so much bigger

(biggest size kink ever)(what who said that ??!!!!)

she would never say this out loud but she loves being babied sometimes!!!!!!

*her exes would expect her to be this super strong, super tough person all the time and it really sucked :((((

she loves to be little spoon and to be held and to be called “baby”

wrestler!abby loves the idea of you being her cute little housewife

as much as she loves to be babied she is a provider to her core!!!!

she sees those tiktoks that are like “day in the life as a stay at home girlfriend” and she’s like….. yeah

speaking of being a provider ! wrestler!abby’s love language is 1000% gift giving

just imagine her coming home with the most random shit just because it reminded her of you

i’m tearing up just thinking about it

she never ever lets you do anything by yourself when you’re at home

if she sees you struggling AT ALL !!! she is by your side in 2 seconds

she has like a 6th sense . if you’re struggling with anything she’s like……. something’s wrong

wrestler!abby is sooooofdjkjdhfs overprotective

holding your hand at parties and if you’re going out or putting her hand in your back pocket

every time someone approaches you at a party or at a club, she is staring them downnnn

checking their vibes and what not

now as much as she hates being super violent, more than once has she gotten into as… altercation with a creepy guy at a party

what can i say ! she’s gotta protect her girl !

[celticcrossanon]

This is totally my opinion on Harry, Invictus and the Commonwealth. I think Harry’s greatest loss was the loss of their roles of President and VP of the Commonwealth Trust. If they lose Invictus a great deal of their “Plans” i.e. the Plans others have for using them. All of this is connected as I think Harry’s handlers have their ultimate goal of getting Harry back into a role with the Commonwealth which would allow a great deal of movement and economic and military activities within those countries populations, by his handlers, as Harry would be the face to put out any complaints by those who are fighting the multi national corporations and Tech companies that are trying to make inroads into those countries,  to get access to their resources, like oil, their land for development.  They have to have a face that is innocuous and who appears to be aligned with the Commonwealth countries. That face, the face of Invictus, gives them Carte Blanche to get into the country, to sell it as a Goodwill operation for Veterans etc. Without Invictus they lose that free pass to go right to the top of the countries hierarchy of ministers, presidents, meet a former prince routine of his and then integrate his own “connections” to the country with the blessing of the leaders as they trust Harry.  You know the Harry that keeps talking about “Africa, my true home, the place I am most comfortable” blah, blah. The desire of Invictus to get rid of Harry has proven to be very difficult as there are powerful corporations who want him there and it has nothing to do with athletes. With Harry as the face, and the beard for what is going on, he distracts from the real activities and puts out that she is 43% Nigerian (I am your sister, your mother, your wife blah, blah!). Don’t be fooled. This is all a charade, a scam…not by Harry, he is too stupid. Follow the money…this is all a distraction from issues like all the violence over there, i.e., African Parks. However, there is no question in my mind that H&M would do anything for money…greed is the touchstone here…and we already know that Harry would sell out his family for money. Can you imagine what he would do to an entity like the Commonwealth, that he does not care about at all?  Keep your eyes on these two, they are more dangerous than they look, because stupid people are very dangerous, because they will do anything for money.

*

Hi Nonny,

Thank you for sharing your opinion with us. :)

A few points that I want to comment on:

The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust is a local, UK based charity that is supposed to support young people aged 18-35 across the Commonwealth, focusing on social entrepreneurs who have founded organisations to address problems in their communities. So far it has funded projects in the following countries:

 3 in the UK, 5 in Uganda, 3 in Kenya, 3 in Cameroon, 2 in Malawi, 2 in South Africa, 2 in Rwanda, 2 in Tanzania, 2 in Nigeria, 1 in Ghana, 1 in Barbados, 1 in Guyana, 1 in St Lucia, 1 in Trinidad and Tobago, 1 in the Maldives, 1 in India, and 1 in Pakistan. 

That is 32 projects across 17 countries (out of 56 Commonwealth Nations). This is a small charity. It does not have an international reputation and I doubt that most people outside the UK would know about it.

Harry’s job as President was to be president of a UK based charity. It had nothing to do with the organisation of the Commonwealth if Nations.

With respect to the Commonwealth of Nations, any prominent position within the organisation is either filled by a Head of State or voted on by all Heads of State. If Harry wants one of those positions, for which he is woefully unqualified, he would have to do a deal with enough of the 56 Heads of State to be voted into the position. I can’t see that happening, myself, especially as many of them want the position to go to another country’s Head of State after King Charles. 

In addition, the Head of the Commonwealth has no power in any nation that makes up the Commonwealth. They can not be the face of anything except the Commonwealth as an organisation because they have no power in any of the individual countries (except for what is granted to them as Head of State of one or more of those countries).

Invictus is another matter, as Harry does have role as its patron that could include going to different countries to raise awareness/funds etc. Using that role for other motives makes sense.

[fatehbaz]

Growing up at the turn of the 20th century, for many American children, also meant learning to view the world through the lens of “home geography.” [...] [T]hey inevitably responded to the transnational whims of an empire that had stretched its dominion across the globe [with US forays into Panama, Cuba, Hawai'i, the Philippines, and elsewhere]. [...] [T]hey recorded far more aggressive views of “home” in terms of what/where/whom it included and what/where/whom it excluded, both within and beyond the immediate borders of the United States. Thanks to “home geography” as an imperial pedagogic tool, white, well-to-do, literate American children not only lived in the safety of homes (housing their immediate families, but also, symbolically, the nation), but many of them also learned how to identify and imagine “homes” on the map of the world. [...] On the one hand [...] “home” became ever more closely associated with whiteness, literacy, hygiene, heteronormativity [...]. This turned school geography into a site where exclusionary, exceptionalist views of the world took root in childhood. [...] [C]hildren could also imagine what other homes and non-homes looked like, could fantasize about who lived in a home [...].

Consequently, the cognitive maps children developed, to which we have access through the scant archival records they left behind (i.e., geographical puzzles they designed and printed in juvenile periodicals), show great degrees of nativism and racism. As relatively marginal scraps in a multitude of records that I understand as scripts of empire, children’s cognitive maps further mixed nativism and the logic of colonization with playful, appropriative scalar confusion, and an intimate, often unquestioned sense of belonging to the global expanse of an empire [...].

---

Dissected maps - that is, maps mounted on cardboard or wood and then cut into smaller pieces that children were to put back together - are a generative example of the ways imperial pedagogy (and the violence it promoted [...]) found its place outside formal education, in children’s lives outside the classroom. [...] In return, playing with dissected maps was designed to keep children [...] informed about the world the United States was keen on entering and colonizing; it invited children to assume a unique, complex role. Children would [...] vacillate between seeing themselves as cartographers in charge of the chaos of the various pieces and as reinscriptive cartographers who strove to restore the whole map out of its pieces. [...] After all, [...] well before having been adopted as playthings in the United States, dissected maps had been designed to entertain and teach the children of King George III about the global spatial affairs of the British Empire. [...]

---

Given the frequency with which juvenile periodicals of the time printed child-made geographical puzzles, children’s involvement in composing scripts of empire confirms that what motivated them to design geographical puzzles involved more than mere showing off of the basics of geographic literacy. [...] And this is best registered in the letters children wrote to Harper’s Young People and St. Nicholas, but also to other juvenile periodicals of the time (such as the long-livedYouth’s Companion). In these letters, we encounter American children writing about the towns and cities they come from and about their travels or studies abroad. [...] [I]t was their assumption that “(un)charted,” non-American spaces (both inside and outside the national borders) sought legibility as potential homes, as well as entry and inclusion in the American household, and that, if they did not do so, they were bound to recede into ruin/“savagery,” meaning that it would become the colonizers’ responsibility/burden to “restore” them [...].

---

Sánchez-Eppler does something particularly generative for childhood studies: [...] “Raising Empires like Children” centers the study of US Empire on childhood as an inherently political project. She convincingly argues that empires learn from and owe to childhood in their attempts at survival and growth over generations. [...] [I]t is critical to study these records to find out how empires (what I characterize as “multigenerational power constellations”) survived by making accessible pedagogical scripts that children of the white and wealthy could learn from and appropriate as times changed. [...] [T]he study of childhood as a highly politicized [...] category of dependence in the 19th century opens doors to [...] engagements with the ways childhood as an allegedly innocent, ambivalent project of growing up corroborated, was shaped by, and gave shape to the empire as an inescapably violent, racialized project.

---

All text above are the words Mashid Mayar. As transcribed in an interview conducted and published by M. Buna. “Children’s Maps of the American Empire: A Conversation with Mashid Mayar.” LA Review of Books. 11 July 2022. At: lareviewofbooks dot org/article/childrens-maps-of-the-american-empire-a-conversation-with-mahshid-mayar/ [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism.]

[thatgirlwbraids]

hi sophiee today I got my results from this national exam and I had SUPER low expectations but I reminded myself to make a heaven within me & that there’s no one or nothing to change but self and that what I do within myself is controlled and that SELF WILL ALWAYS BE EXPRESSED and you change self through feeling i just closed my eyes and knew that the feeling is what I have ti change leave this outer world alone and look within at SELF fulfill urself EVERYTIME you think of ur desire so I did that and scored 92% ISNT THAT CRAZY i had sm anxiety but on the bus ride home I kept reminding myself and fulfilling myself and AHHHHH i’m so proud of myself because I DID NOT STUDY my entire family is shocked and proud of me and my relatives are speechless thank you for introducing me to edward art he really opened up my mind <3 im still in disbelief tho 😭 ily sophie and take care precious

woww thats an amazing success story anon i’m so proud of you & wow those are such pointers to the law omg .

“ a change in feeling is a change in destiny “ ~ neville goddard .

this makes me so happy because wow ♡

reminders from anon :

no one or nothing to change but SELF

you can control what is done within you ( i.e , be whoever you desire to be in your imagination )

feeling is the secret

make heaven within your imagination

SELF WILL ALWAYS BE EXPRESSED

look within yourself change your feeling .

reminders from me

go within and find ur feelings , once you find ur feeling change it to CHANGE SELF and SELF will be expressed .

you are the problem and the solution .

you can choose to be in bondage or be free within urself

your goal should be to fulfill ur inner man EACH time you find urself in a state of lack within urself or anytime u care about the 3D

don’t let ur outer world dictate ur inner world .

the mistake is that the inner man thinks he is the outer man of senses and proves a false identity .

ur dwelling state manifests so for example u enter the state of lack 10 times a day but at each time u get back into the state of the wish fulfilled with your desired method ( could be simple as intention ) and fulfill ur inner man so let’s say u get back 11 times out of 10 times being in a state of lack that’s ur dwelling state and it expresses .

but ur focus should be on changing ur feeling or SELF . think of neville’s army story .

I feel like this can be SO HELPFUL to look back on when u feel like u overconsumed .

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Det sted man er fra er alltid pent, det er fedrelandsfølelsen i det små, hjemmefølelsen.*

- Knut Hamsun

*The place you're from is always beautiful, it's the sense of country in a small way, the feeling of home.

Most of us have heard of Lapland, but we’re not supposed to call it that anymore. The correct term these days is Sápmi - i.e. the land inhabited by the Lapps (or, rather, the Sami - as they very much prefer to be known). And, fair enough: they’ve got every right to assert their own identity, especially after centuries of domination by their southern neighbours.

Some of those neighbours are now keen to make amends for past injustices. For instance, the Swedish government made a point of using its presidency of the EU Council of Ministers to celebrate Sami National Day.

I can only imagine that it was worded with the best intentions, but if you read any of the Scandinavian press and media, it’s clear that it hasn’t gone down well with everyone. The problematic claim is that the Sami are “the EU’s only indigenous people” (my italics).

For a start, what is meant here by ‘indigenous’? According to most dictionaries, it’s the property of being original to, or characteristic of, a particular part of the world. In which case, there are all sorts of European peoples who could claim to be indigenous to Europe. For instance, the geneticist Razib Khan points out that the ancestors of today’s majority-Swedish population have been in Scandinavia for at least as long as the ancestors of today’s Sami.

The Norwegians and Swedes originated from the Norse people. The Norse people in turn originated from the Proto-Germanic peoples who migrated to the area of northern Germany, Denmark, southern Scandinavia. The Proto-Germanic peoples in turn originated from the Proto-Indo-European people whose homeland lies in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, the area around Ukraine and southern Russia.

Likewise, the Sami are not quite indigenous to the area either. The Sami originated from the Proto-Uralic people, whose homeland was around the Ural mountains (and was therefore close to the Proto-Indo-Europeans and resulted in interactions between their protolanguages, resulting in lexical borrowings). The Proto-Uralic peoples, just like the Proto-Indo-Europeans, slowly expanded and migrated, but in their case they expanded to the northwest and the northeast (with the notable exception of the Hungarians who ended up in Hungary). The Proto-Samic people, a subgroup of the Proto-Uralic peoples that gave rise to the modern Sami, were said to have displaced or merged with a much earlier indigenous Paleo-European group that was already in northern Scandinavia. This is evidenced by substrate words present in the Sami languages that derive neither from Proto-Uralic nor from Proto-Indo-European.

In any case, if Europeans are going to have a competition as to who was in Europe first, then it might be won by those with the most Neanderthal ancestry - because, as genomic testing has revealed, millions of us carry Neanderthal genes.

But perhaps the Swedish government is using indigenous to mean something more specific. According to Merriam-Webster the word relates to “the earliest known inhabitants of a place and especially of a place that was colonised by a now-dominant group”. This extra element of oppression by outsiders sharpens up the definition. However, while it applies to the Sami people and their history, it doesn’t do so uniquely. There are many ethnic groups in Europe that have been around for ages and which have been maltreated by foreign overlords. Just ask the Welsh, for instance, or the Basques.

It could be argued that the Sami are in a special category because of where they live (i.e. the most northerly reaches of Europe) and how they lived there (e.g. by reindeer herding). To have maintained a traditional culture for so long into the modern era surely sets them apart. But, again, this is debatable. While there’s no doubting the distinctiveness of the Sami, other Europeans can also lay claim to ancient traditions that have survived against the odds. To take a topical example, the Ukrainians are literally sacrificing their lives for a distinctive culture, language and history that Putin wants to erase.

Progressives ought to think twice before making an issue about who is and isn’t indigenous in Europe. While the label might play into the victim/oppressor narratives of the woke Left, it can also be exploited by the far-Right.

At a time when populism is a constant threat, telling people that they’re not indigenous to a place where they and their ancestors have lived for “time immemorial” is less than helpful. I’m sure that the Swedish government meant well, but it’s pulling on a dangerous thread.  

When language is allowed to become dissociated from meaning or the map from the territory, then fractional strife and chaos awaits. Orwell understood it perfectly from his observations of Stalinists: control language and you control expression; control expression, you control dialogue, and eventually the political narrative.

[nanowrimo]

NaNoWriMo and the Meaning of Sunshine

Did you know that National Novel Writing Month is a 501(c)3 nonprofit? Today, NaNoWriMo Executive Director Grant Faulkner explores the guiding metaphor for how he thinks of NaNoWriMo—and how we’ve been approaching fundraising. (For more, see Community Fundraising Means Showing Up for Each Other.)

NaNoWriMo is an ecosystem.

No, NaNoWriMo is part of an ecosystem—it’s a community within an ecosystem, like a grove of apple trees in a wider ecosystem that also includes butterflies and bees (let’s say they are the writers, pollinating the world with stories), forest sprites (because ecosystems hold magical possibilities), flora and fauna, and a running brook.

The organisms that live in our ecosystem go beyond writers and forest sprites, though, and include schools, readers, teachers, libraries, book stores, and other writing organizations—all interconnected because we develop our stories, our voices, our discipline, our joy, our purpose, and our imagination with others, not just alone.

A single tree, no matter how large and mighty, can not sustain itself without the tiniest microbes of life teeming in the soil around its roots.

The ecosystem flourishes when all of its elements are working together—when organizations like NaNoWriMo can nourish writers and teachers and schools, and everyone grows creatively, lifting each other up, cheering each other on.

But to flourish, the ecosystem needs something else: it needs sun and water, and the sun and the water take the form of donations. This is why we ask for donations. Without the sun and water of others’ support, the ecosystem becomes stressed—as if there has been a drought or deforestation (or a “destorystation,” God forbid). 

The Symbiosis of Stories

Some people view ecosystems and the species within them through the lens of competition—i.e., only the strongest survive. But the definition of a healthy ecosystem is one that’s symbiotic—where relationships are formed and resources are exchanged and growth happens in harmony. 

We are all called upon to contribute to this ecosystem, whether it’s by donating or volunteering or simply spreading the word. A healthy and diverse ecosystem is one that provides abundance to those who live in it—food, shelter, recreation, and natural beauty.

"Nature is not a place to visit, it is home,” said the poet Gary Snyder.

Just like our stories are our home. Our stories provide shelter. Our stories give sustenance. Our stories help us breathe. Our stories connect us to others. And our stories help us see the forest sprites that would otherwise be invisible.

Our contributions to this story-powered ecosystem are meaningfully rooted in the support of our donor community. Year to year, we’ve had anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 of our writers join us with a small dollar donation. Thanks to this support, we’re proud to be a largely community-funded organization with more than 35% annual revenue coming from individual donors. 

We’re deeply grateful that so many shine your light on NaNoWriMo each year. As we head into our busiest season, we hope you think of how you can contribute to the NaNoWriMo community and the ecosystem it’s part of. We want to provide the apples on our trees to everyone so they can taste the sweetness of their creativity.

Grant Faulkner believes in NaNoWriMo because stories tell us who we are and shape the world we live in. He has been a writer since his earliest memory, and he’s proud to be the author of Pep Talks for Writers and Brave the Page. He struggles with rough drafts (hence his love—no, his need—for NaNoWriMo), but luxuriates in revision. His dog Buster serves as his lap dog/lap desk and has traveled with him for thousands and thousands of words.

Top photo by Dan Freeman on Unsplash  

[zukkaart]

Okay LISTEN

I don’t jump on the divorced Zukka bandwagon- not because it’s stupid or invalid but because it makes sense and I hate it because I want them to be domestic and happy until they’re grey and old okay???????

That being said

“Bleach” from 5sos5 gave me a thought-

So we know that cutting your hair is generally seen as a formal act of losing a part of yourself or your nation. Seen very clearly here- Iroh and Zuko cut their hair off when they realize they no longer have a home to return to.

A little more indirectly when zuko shaves everything except his top knot after being banished as a sign of his exile and dishonor but still tied to the fire nation.

And even a little MORE indirectly when we see Azula cut her own hair- not out of solemn realization or dishonor but because she is LITERALLY losing pieces of herself to her madness

All this to say

(Sorry I went on a bit of a tangent there)

And IF Sokka and Zuko DID break up or get a divorce it would be seen as improper for the fire lord to cut his hair over something so “trivial”

After all Ozai didn’t alter his when Ursa left

SO I think Zuko would probably try everything possible to alter his hair without actually cutting it. I.e. braiding, hiding under hoods, etc.

I think he would even go as far as to bleach his hair- especially if they really did get divorced because even though there was no love lost- their lifestyles of being leaders of separate nations just couldn’t cope. He’d start a little at first- just a few strands on the underneath where no one could see done by himself late at night.

Little by little he realizes “cleansing” little pieces of him makes him feel the slightest bit better because the man in the mirror is starting to look less and less like the man who Sokka loved, who loved Sokka…

Obviously he couldn’t bleach all of his hair but imagine Sokka comes to the Fire Nation as his Ambassador and Chief status requires to find Zuko with one stark strip of white cutting through the right side of his hair, he looks closer and finds the smaller- subtler ones in the under layers, some obviously more well done than the others, some faded with time.

Imagine Zuko finally turning to lock eyes with him- but before he can get a word out to explain Sokka reaches up and brushes the light strip that leads into his topknot.

“What’s this?” He asks, dangerously closer than most Ambassadors should be to their hosts.

“An experiment” Zuko says quickly, unsure why he chose those words in particular, but Sokka is a scientist right? He’ll understand.

“Oh,” The playful smile drops from the darker boys features, although Zuko is unsure why.

“Does it bother you?” The words came out more defensively than Zuko meant. Why should he care now anyway?

“Not at all it’s just…” nothing. Everything.

All the words Sokka left unsaid somehow came down to this one white strip of hair, as white as Yues. The truth was that he had hoped Zuko would tell him that he had no idea where it came from, letting Sokka come to the logical conclusion that it was in fact Yue who had blessed him, and he could take it as a sign that he and Zuko were meant to be together. That they could make it work this time if they really tried. Spirits knew that stuff right?

It doesn’t matter now. The hair was fake. For whatever reason Zuko had done it on purpose. It unsettled Sokka in a way he didn’t expect.

“Sorry” He snapped out of his own thoughts. “It just looks so different from the pictures I have, it looks good though.” Sokka offered a timid smile.

Zuko stiffened imperceptibly at that but still responded in kind. “Thank you, I should go. I have others to greet before dinner.” His voice did not waiver but his mind raced. He still has pictures of me? Of us? And he looks at them? Zuko hadn’t been able to do that for months.

“Of course” And when Sokka turned to leave Zuko noticed something. A thin strip of leather braided in to the underside of Sokkas wolf tail, dyed such a deep shade of red that it almost blended in to his hair, but Zuko noticed, because Zuko always noticed.

It was the same strip of leather that Zuko had used to tie his topknot with on his first visit to the South Pole. Deeper in color than his usual choice because he didn’t want to stick out too much, but Sokka had protested anyway, gently pulling it out of his hair and replacing it with one of brilliant blue, a color as deep as the ocean but somehow still as alluring as a familiar set of eyes. At the time, he would have gladly drowned in both.

That was 15 years ago now, when Zuko hadn’t even been brave enough to hold his hand.

Sokka had kept it. All this time. And now he was even wearing it - subtle as it may be. And Sokka was just the same, just the same, same blue eyes, same genuine smile, same gentle brush of fingers against his hair, the exact same Sokka. His Sokka.

Zukos hair was back to its natural color by morning.

[gatekeeper-watchman]

Xenophobia

Xenophobia is a strong antipathy or aversion to strangers or foreigners.

As I recall, it was in Alexis De Tocqueville’s book Democracy in America, published in 1838, in which (to paraphrase) I read that in the beginning there were three civilizations in America. There was the ruling class, the white Caucasians from Europe, the Native Americans whom they murdered, and the Blacks whom they enslaved. Our murder of Native Americans is a subject for another venue for another time.  Slavery has been an institution of man since time immemorial and continues through today—we read about it in the book of Genesis re Joseph in Egypt, thousands of years ago and, here too, another subject for another time; but the chronic mistreatment of our black population throughout our nation’s history is indisputable. It is an abomination and inexcusable. The very culture of the black people in our country today is the direct result of our neglect and mistreatment over the years, i.e. lack of education, poverty, social morals, etc. We brought this upon ourselves. I do not argue otherwise. I must, also, point out that we have with full knowledge, forethought, and conscious intent, through our elected representatives over the years, molded our nation’s demography as one of multi-ethnicity, exacerbating the cultural and political differences we are experiencing today.

As we have addressed our racial problems over the years, however, to the extent we have addressed them, we have done so from the myopic perspective of what the white man must do, i.e. changes in white treatment toward blacks—changes in white behavior. Without any doubt, some, if not many, white attitudes toward blacks must change! Black lives do matter! However, so also do white lives matter. All lives matter. There are those black attitudes toward whites that must change as well. Attitudes must change by all of us toward Latinos, Asians, Middle Easterners, Indians—all peoples of the world. There is no place in our society or our world for xenophobia of any kind in any way, shape, or form—all lives matter! Whether you believe in God or not, the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself is imperative if we are to have any peace on earth ever. For that matter, if we are to continue to exist at all.

This is not a matter of opinion. We have no real choice. We must make peace with one another in this country. We must make peace with one another in the world. Hate has been a major motivator of people throughout history. We have graduated from weapons of rocks to spears, swords, knives, guns, and on and on to those we have today. Now we have the nuclear bomb. Just over the past one hundred years alone, all other countries notwithstanding, our nation has been involved in one war after another. As to when or where the first nuclear bomb will fall can only be left to the imagination. War is no longer a viable option. On the one hand, nations all over the world are “in debt up to their ears”. Conventional war is unaffordable. On the other, nuclear war is self-destructive. We must make peace with one another, domestically and internationally—black, white, brown, yellow, olive. There is no longer room in our world for xenophobia. We must learn to live with each other at home and abroad. We can choose to live or we will die. From: Steven P. Miller @ParkermillerQ,  gatekeeperwatchman.org Tuesday, June 18, 2024, Jacksonville, Florida., USA. Founder and Administrator of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups: Https://gatekeeperwatchman.org/post/751889961062744064/daily-devotionals-for-may-30-2024-proverbs-gods? X/Twitter ... @ParkermillerQ   #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO FACEBOOK/META GROUP: Founder and Creator… Steven P. Miller/ Gatekeeper-Watchman International Group Https://www.facebook.com/groups/Sparkermiller.JAX.FL.USA Timeline: https://www.facebook.com/gatekeeperwatchnan TAGS:  #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO, #IAM, #Sparkermiller, #Eldermiller1981

[lotus-tower]

could you please explain the "give my regards to sensei in hell" quote re: shouyou? (sorry i read gintama a while ago so i forgot the details but i love your analyses)

sure! they're among my favourite scenes. i'm not sure exactly which part you want to know about but here's the gist:

in the courtesan of a nation arc, gintoki faces off against oboro, and right when he's about to impale him on a rooftop he says "say hello to sensei for me." then at the very end of the arc, takasugi who at this point has only appeared briefly a couple times as an unhinged antagonist sneaks into the jail where the shogun's uncle is held, and says the very same line right before killing him. we don't know a thing about his relationship to gintoki or zura at this point other than "they used to be comrades." the shogun's uncle is a primary antagonist of this arc, but he's Just Some Old Guy and relies on oboro to do the actual fighting. so it's a very sexy and unexpected moment where gintoki and takasugi say the same line regarding their sensei, who is also shrouded in mystery at this point.

what that sorachi quote is getting at is that it's strange that gintoki and takasugi would say this to scumbags that they loathe before killing them, i.e. implying that their beloved sensei is in hell. shouyou is very much the saintly dead mentor shounen trope, but he's not actually a saint, is what sorachi is saying. because he was human

what i was saying about the scene being funny is that oboro is, in fact, in daily contact with their sensei (utsuro). because he swore to make his own life suck forever. but no one knew this at the time, not even the viewers. so he couldn't be vindicated. he got impaled on that roof, revived, and then had to take his ass home to sensei. but i'm sure he did not actually pass on gintoki's hello. so he had to hold that in too. can you imagine how full his constipated insides are

[just-a-re-blog]

ALRIGHT THAT’S IT—I’VE REACHED MY LIMIT! MY PATIENCE HAS RUN OUT!!

I’m sharing my Haikyuu!! Pokémon!AU because I’ve been seeing everyone else’s and now mine demands to break free of the confines of Google Docs!

To start, I’m just gonna post my thoughts on the Karasuno kids, but I have. A Lot Of Other Ideas.

As a universe note, I have done my best to reconcile the passage of time in the PokéAni world, the passage of time for us irl viewers who grew up watching it, and the canon passage of time in Haikyuu!! Why the hell would I do all of that?

✨Because my particular brand of autism demands that I establish those kinds of rules!✨

I also have a ton of quirky calculations I’ve done to figure out how many Pokémon it makes sense for everyone to have and how the evolution rates work because, again, my particular brand of autism demands that I establish those kinds of rules! But I’ll post those at a much later date.

The important info for now is that I’ve included the year everyone starts their journey, their home region (listed first and noted again with their starter/partner), plus other regions they’ve been to. My little imagining ultimately takes place with everyone congregated in Kalos in 2009, so Kalos is included for everyone.

Teams are in dex order within the order of the regions they were caught. So a Johto kid who goes to Hoenn has all their Johto catches listed in dex order before they have all of their Hoenn catches listed in dex order. (This is not a super important detail, but it is one that I would want to know in order to understand why an Applin is listed before a Roggenrola.) Also worth noting that some evolutions are listed earlier or later than their national dex number if an evolutionary stage was first introduced in a different regional dex (i.e., the retroactive addition of a baby Pokémon stage).

Last notation notes:

* — Evolved with Trainer through one previous stage

** — Evolved with Trainer through two previous stages

Without further ado!

Daichi (2006, Kanto, Unova, Kalos)

Trainer: Kanto: Charizard**

Type Preferences: Ground

Team: Charizard**, Raticate*, Fearow*, Sandslash*, Growlithe, Poliwrath**, Victreebel**, Onix, Rhyhorn, Pinsir, Tauros, Hoppip, Cherrim, Palpitoad, Sandile, Crustle*, Diggersby, Litleo

Daichi got a late start as a Trainer because of family matters and the care of his younger siblings, but he has more than made up for it with his disciplined approach; when the third-year guys challenged the Indigo League, he made it the farthest, and his Charmeleon partner was the last standing member of his team, despite the fact that it had not yet reached its final evolution

Suga (2004, Hoenn, Kanto, Unova, Kalos)

Trainer: Hoenn: Swampert**

Type Preferences: None

Team: Swampert**, Dustox**, Ludicolo**, Pelipper*, Skitty, Roserade*, Swalot*, Torkoal, Cacnea, Milotic*, Kecleon, Snorunt, Butterfree**, Gengar**, Exeggutor*, Tauros, Whimsicott, Foongus, Goomy, Carbink

Loves, and I mean LOVES, to catch the first Pokémon in an evolutionary line so that he can try to raise it through every stage—especially if it’s a split line; this is why, despite being the first of the third-years to set out, he doesn’t have that many Pokémon to show he had a head start; feels like someone who prefers to rotate his walking buddies so they don’t spend all their time in Pokéballs if he can help it

Asahi (2005, Johto, Kanto, Unova, Kalos)

Trainer: Johto: Audino, Meganium

Type Preferences: Normal Types

Team: Audino, Meganium, Ampharos*, Ambipom*, Sunflora, Quagsire*, Forretress*, Granbull*, Ursaring*, Piloswine*, Phanpy, Beedrill, Gloom*, Marowak*, Tauros (20), Happiny, Patrat, Minccino, Deerling, Bouffalant, Furfrou, Phantump

Despite being from Johto, his unofficial starting partner is actually an Audino that his older sister caught for him in her own travels; Asahi was really anxious about possibly breaking rules by having a “non-official Starter,” so his sister basically demanded Audino back, made him go get a regular-degular Starter, and then forced him to take Audino back, like “Congrats, now you’ve got two”; one of Asahi’s most notable moments in his journey thus far was when he and his friends went to the Safari Zone where Asahi ended up catching 22 Tauros, giving two to his friends, and getting his picture hung next to one of World Coronation Series Monarch Ash Ketchum in The Safari Zone offices (Ash caught 30 in The Safari Zone when he passed through)

Noya (2005, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos)

Trainer: Johto: Jolteon*

Type Preferences: Electric

Team: Jolteon*, Scyther, Gliscor*, Qwilfish, Skarmory, Electabuzz*, Magmar*, Nosepass, Electrike, Plusle, Minun, Dusclops*, Porygon, Luxio*, Bronzor*, Karrablast, Joltik, Galvantula, Binacle, Dedenne

Has a partner Jolteon that his grandfather raised as an Eevee alongside Yuu and then gave to him (yes, Noya does his hair Like That so that they can match); was inspired by Ash Ketchum to try and be the youngest guy to ever traverse the routes of every region—so he is speed-running the Pokémon world and having a great time with it

Tanaka (2006, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos)

Trainer: Hoenn: Honchkrow* (influenced by @devilcakebunny)

Type Preferences: Fighting

Team: Honchkrow*, Dodrio*, Houndoom*, Mightyena*, Ralts, Vigoroth*, Hariyama*, Carvanha, Relicanth, Mankey*, Cubone, Tyrogue, Snover, Kingler*, Scrafty*, Spritzee

His partner is a Murkrow that used to be part of Saeko’s crew, but he met Ryuu, and they became instant antagonists and also inseparable; please, he 158% has a Scrafty; met the Second Year Squad when Noya came through Hoenn and insisted that Ryuu join him on his trek to the Sinnoh Region; wants to take over Dewford Town’s Fighting-Type Gym one day

Ennoshita (2005, Sinnoh, Kalos)

Breeder: Sinnoh: Prinplup*

Type Preferences: None

Team: Prinplup*, Rapidash*, Hypno*, Dragonair*, Espeon*, Gallade*, Numel, Staraptor**, Glameow, Lucario*, Gible, Lumineon*, Flabébé

Ennoshita has had his heart set on breeding for his whole life—caretaking comes naturally to him, and he loves the challenge of puzzling out the best ways to care for Pokémon as members of their type, species, and as individuals; he’s very strict with the care of his Pokémon, and as such, he prefers to keep a comparatively small roster so he can give them each adequate attention and affection; a few of his Pokémon are definitely rescues; battling is harder for him, but he’s spent enough time with his Pokémon that he can communicate with them VERY effectively, which makes him a more dangerous opponent than people expect

Kinoshita (2005, Sinnoh, Kalos)

Coordinator: Sinnoh: Monferno*

Type Preferences: None

Team: Monferno*, Arbok*, Pikachu, Electrode*, Lickitung, Illumise, Bibarel*, Pachirisu, Shellos (West), Buneary, Chatot, Hippopotas, Skrelp, Bergmite

All of the Karasuno boys love their Pokémon dearly, but I think Kinoshita would have some of the highest friendship ratings out of anyone; this is just a fun assortment of little guys, most of whom you might not immediately picture as contest material, but Kinoshita sees a lot of potential in each of them; he’s gotten a lot of care tips from Ennoshita to help his team be their best, and while he has yet to become anything close to a Top Coordinator, he and his team do VERY well in the Performance Stage and have been steadily improving in the Battle Stage

Narita (2005, Sinnoh, Kalos)

Trainer: Sinnoh: Grotle*

Type Preferences: None

Team: Grotle*, Venomoth, Weavile*, Volbeat, Grumpig, Seviper, Absol, Floatzel, Bastiodon*, Shellos (East), Drifblim*, Mismagius, Clauncher

I cannot think of Narita without remembering that Furudate said, “This kid’s into some weird stuff,” so I literally just gave him a balance of totally normal dudes and funky little guys that feel underrepresented to me (vs., like, MatsuHana, who have, like, exclusively funky little guys)

Kageyama (2007, Galar, Kalos)

Trainer: Galar: Corvisquire*

Type Preferences: Dragon

Team: Corvisquire*, Vulpix, Slowking (Galarian)**, Weezing (Galarian), Zigzagoon (Galarian), Nuzleaf, Gabite*, Sawk, Deino, Drampa, Applin, Runerigus, Snom, Arctovish, Duraludon, Roggenrola, Tynamo, Swirlix, Noibat

@soyochii said Kageyama has Kazuyo’s Corviknight, and they were right, except that I’ve put a bit of a spin on it; picture, if you will, Kazuyo, his Corviknight, and two Corviknight eggs Kazuyo procures a little before Tobio is about to start on his Pokémon journey; Miwa, who was then competing in Kalos as a Performer, gets one, and Tobio gets the other so that the grandkids will always feel connected to home; Tobio hatches his and then takes Rookidee with him, and they train HARD together, though Rookidee is slow to evolve because—like trainer, like partner—he’s got some inner roadblocks to work through; they grieve together when, only a year into Tobio’s journey, they lose both Kazuyo and his Corviknight; just as Tobio is to Shoyo, so too Kags’ Corvisquire is instantly and adamantly frenemies with Shoyo’s Fletchinder, and it reaches its final evolution first just to stick it to them

Hinata (2006, Alola, Kalos)

Trainer: Alola: Fletchinder* (credit to @kimbapisnotsushi’s excellent takes)

Type Preferences: None

Team: Fletchinder*, Vulpix (Alolan), Geodude (Alolan), Marowak (Alolan), Blitzle, Pancham, Klefki, Crabrawler, Jangmo-o, Tangela, Scatterbug, Skiddo, Helioptile

So I did this because I feel like it’s exceptionally funny if Shoyo doesn’t realize that the Alolan variations of Pokémon are Alolan variations and totally thinks ALL Vulpix are Ice Types and ALL Digletts have hair and ALL Geodudes are half-Electric; additionally, the fact that Hinata grew up on the Island Trial system means that traditional Pokémon battles are not his forte, but he excels at creative problem-solving, which makes him a formidable foe on the battlefield; while there is a lot of merit to the idea that Hinata likes to specialize in a certain type like Fire or Flying, I just think about Hinata next to Ash, and I feel like their pure love of all Pokémon would unite them so deeply; Ash is in fact Shoyo’s Little Giant in this AU; Kageyama, King of Strategy, Appalled by Hinata’s Lack-Thereof, stuck around ‘cuz he really likes Shoyo’s Jangmo-o

Tsukishima (2006, Unova, Kalos)

Trainer: Unova: Servine*

Type Preferences: Rock & Poison

Team: Servine*, Nidorina*, Weepinbell*, Starmie*, Lunatone, Solrock, Croagunk, Purrloin, Pansear, Woobat, Maractus, Dwebble, Archen, Swanna*, Klank, Deino, Oddish, Bagon, Roselia

Kei aspired to be an Ace Trainer like his brother for years and years, but when he found out that Akiteru had been lying about beating the Icirrus and Opelucid gyms to earn Ace class status, his love and excitement about Pokemon was replaced by apathy; surprisingly, deep down, he’s a real Gotta-Catch-‘Em-All kid, but he keeps that desire a secret; does desperately want to study Unowns; courtesy of @volleybuoys, this kid DESPISES the Galar fossil system

Yamaguchi (2006, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos)

Trainer: Sinnoh: Grotle*

Type Preferences: Bug & Flying

Team: Grotle*, Wobuffet, Surskit, Burmy (Trash Cloak), Sudowoodo*, Delibird, Woobat, Swadloon*, Whirlipede*, Emolga, Pawniard, Ponyta, Heracross, Swablu, Skorupi

Tadashi started his journey in Sinnoh, selecting Turtwig as his new partner, and while Tadashi and Turtwig became fast friends, they struggled when it came to catching new Pokémon and battling; Tadashi quickly became the subject of teasing due to his small roster of Pokémon that lacked highly effective movesets; desperate to prove himself to all those who suspected he was not tough enough to be a trainer—including himself—Tadashi decided that he and his team would travel to Unova; a near-disastrous encounter outside Striaton City led to a fateful meeting with Tsukki, who saved him from a strong and aggressive Watchog (because I think it’s so funny that along that route, there’s level 5 Patrat in BW and level 60 Watchog in BW2); after studying alongside Tsukki at the Trainers’ School, the two took turns defeating the Striaton Gym and decided to continue traveling together to defeat the Nacrene Gym and so on and so forth

Kiyoko (2004, Unova, Kalos)

Trainer: Unova: Samurott**

Type Preferences: Ghost & Psychic

Team: Samurott**, Slowking**, Goldeen, Ariados, Shuckle, Kirlia*, Sableye, Mawile, Tropius, Chimecho, Sigilyph, Gothitelle, Duosion, Frillish, Litwick, Mandibuzz, Drowzee, Axew

Everyone in Kiyoko’s hometown assumed she would be a Breeder or a Coordinator or even move to Kalos to be a Performer because “Oh, you’re so beautiful! I’m sure you’ll do great bringing out the beauty of your Pokémon!” but she got sick of that real quick and said “How about I show you the fierceness of our battle strategies instead?”; so she trains primarily Psychic-types because they either look really weird or their beauty belies their awesome power; came SO, so close to beating the Elite Four in Unova

Yachi (2006, Alola, Kalos)

Trainer: Alola: Popplio

Type Preferences: Psychic & Fairy

Team: Popplio, Exeggutor (Alolan), Ledyba, Spinda, Snorunt, Mime Jr., Sigilyph, Garbodor*, Frillish, Elgyem, Flabébé, Doublade, Spritzee, Pumpkaboo (Average)

I’M GIVING YACHI THE ONLY LEGENDARY INTERACTION OF THE GANG BECAUSE SHE DESERVES IT; so she’s interacted with Cosmog because I want that to be true <3; courtesy of the Island Trial system, Yachi is another kid who excels at creative problem-solving but flounders a bit with battling, so she has a touch of imposter syndrome when it comes to calling herself a Trainer; but while she tends to forget all she knows if she is challenged to battle, she has a great mind for understanding the ins and outs of battle, so she’s coaching Shoyo to help him reach his goals of mastery; she’s evaluating her goals along the way, too, trying to figure out if being a Trainer is the right way for her to find herself

[fightaers]

what has sakura been up to post 4th war. again, these are all my personal headcanons and details are subject to change with each respective rp partner(s) i am interacting with !

# — due the villages aspiring for a more diplomatic connection, sakura hops from village to village to assist in tending to the wounded — or what’s left of them. she organises a nation-wide standardisation on how to deal, clean, assess, and manage hospitals and/or clinics all around. it takes her a while, i can imagine she’s gone from eight months to a year ( on and off ) before she fully returns and resides back in konoha.

#— i know canon fast-forwards a lot of stuff, but i imagine the preparation for kakashi's inauguration as the sixth wasn’t as quick. so during the few months of stabilisation wherein the leaf is still under the fifth, sakura is diagnosed with “battle fatigue” ( another name for PTSD because they didn’t have a proper name for it during this time ) by tsunade, and was prescribed medication.

# — in my interpretation, she’s clinically depressed. she changes her medication ( at this point, she self-medicates since she notices the medicine prescribed by tsunade wasn’t working ) after reading some research on it — there isn’t much, she has to go through archives — about a year in, by concocting the pills herself. she did enlist some help, mostly botanist experts, pharmacists, possibly a form of psychologist or therapist (which were rare, and i can imagine coming from another village) and trusted a colleague leading or assisting on the research about her progress. this way, she avoids overdosing. no, she doesn’t tell her friends about the diagnosis nor the medication. her parents are aware of this, however.

# — some of the symptoms she would've shown: a feeling of restlessness, excessive guilt, experiences extreme fatigue ( that she mistakens simply because she does not sleep well ) which can cause her to sleep at random hours. she also becomes unresponsive and experiences lack of interest in normal and/or everyday routine i.e. when ino asks her to hang out and she just seems mentally absent. for a while before her diagnosis, sakura never cleans her bedroom. she doesn't think much of it since she isn't there a lot anyhow except to sleep, and she doesn't care to. it'll take her a while to really look back and understand that that's not laziness.

# — this is just a light-hearted headcanon but, sakura’s mental health improves around her family so, so much. she loves going to her grandfather’s ancestral home near the woods and just spend time with her brother, his family, and her parents. sometimes her civilian extended family joins. she actually doesn’t like them asking nosily about her “shinobi life”, but other than that, she loves the gossips and when they all gather in the kitchen to prepare meals.

# — after the war too, while working shift-by-shift to stabilise the wounded, she attends private funerals ( besides from the mass funeral ) of any family she is invited to. yes, this includes the yamanaka and the nara ( although that was more because she wanted, than invited ). she always finds the time ever since — unless she’s in surgery, or was really needed, then she visits the family after. from that alone, sakura keeps a black dress and/or kimono in her office at all time.

tl;dr — sakura organised a nation-wide standardisation of cleaning and assessing wounds among several villages, an effort which lasted from eight months to a full year. shortly before kakashi's inauguration as the sixth, sakura was diagnosed with battle fatigue, and was given medication. because the medication didn't improve her condition, she sought out to research and concoct a set of pills herself. mostly though, you can find her working in the hospital, or getting ready to embark in her research into battle fatigue, battle trauma, and post-battle rehabilitation.

[oreganosbaby]

to be fair it's not only logan who has a problem with roman's submissive sexuality and personality. just look at the trad wife discourse, every leftist is outraged at their existence and persistence in playing that role. people genuinely can't stand that mode of being

Tradwives are fundamentally different from Roman because tradwives are useful as bodies, as mothers and in a middle class context, as domestic labour. Logan wouldn't hate a tradwife if she was assertive enough toward her children and others who are beaneath her in the hierarchy but, submissive to those above her i.e., her husband. It's about usefulness and contributing to something bigger than herself. Of course, he'd hate like, a lot of other "traditionally" feminine things like the emotionality and all that but, that's not totally necessary to being a tradwife and the aesthetic of mythologised traditionalism plays a major role in this conception of femininity. It's easy to still say that a woman is "traditionally feminine" when she's dressed in a way that is socially recognised as such despite engaging in arguably "non-traditionally feminjne" things like being an online personality, or participating in politics. In the fascist context, tradwives are useful for the literal livelihood of the nation and this fixation on reproduction is central to Logan's disdain for Roman because Roman is unable to reproduce without being a sperm donor or something (still a failure). Moreover, Roman doesn't want to reproduce because he's too nihilistic to see that as a good thing. Tradwifes need to have a sense of vitality and optimisim because she has to he willing to participate in building a future which is something Roman doesn't give a shit about at all. In this sense, she is active and within Logan's schema, a bit masculine which is a good thing and would contrast Roman's total passiveness.

To put it bluntly, Roman is kind of stuck as an adolescent girl and this makes him particularly disgusting to Logan because girlishness is just anarchic femininity. Roman isn't tradwife material. Not only can he not reproduce but because he can't even like, control his fucking libido, can't be assertive and competently act on Logan's behalf and he has no desire to serve others. Roman is closer to the sort of woman who dabbles in tradwife shit because of her disillusionment with modern liberal notions of success in relation to liberal feminism but, cannot commit because she's too nihilistic. For the same reason, she also cannot imagine a better alternative than being dependent on men or a singular man. It's a desire to return to the simplicty of an imagined childhood, to rid yourself of responsibility and obligation.

To me, liberals and "leftists" have differing issues with tradwives. Liberals tend to take issue with the tradwives uselessness as it pertains to capitalism i.e., by being a housewife, she's not maximising her ability to generate profit and doesn't see herself as an individual in competition with every single other person. The way this is rhetorically framed is more as an argument about the "progress" of women and their "power" in society e.g., being like CEOs or whatever. It's about how everybody should be dedicated to capital and therefore, be competitive with each other. It's a careerist thing and if Logan would hold disdain for tradwives, it would be in this way. The left's ire with tradwives isn't really in their submissiveness but, it's in their perpetuation and participation in a largely fascistic gender essentialist ideology that they attempt to impose on others. As I've said before, there's nothing really bad about being a housewife or househusband, a stay-at-home parent. It's more in the way someone relates to this role and sees it within society. It's a bit of a luxury to be one too as this is only available to people who have a spouse with a certain level of financial stability but, many self-identifying tradwives or those in favour of this concept tend to disregard this material reality and continue to uphold this as the ideal.

[quasarlasar]

GALAXY MERGER - PART 1

In my imagination, galaxy mergers are basically star wars. Not Star Wars, but literal wars between stars. Galaxies are like star nations, and sometimes a bigger galaxy tries to forcibly assimilate a smaller galaxy. They insist on calling it "annexation" though, not galactic cannibalism like astronomers do...cannibalism is such a dirty word.

This particular comic is about a galaxy merger between Stella's home galaxy Antiocheka and a neighboring galaxy in the galaxy cluster, Oglinant. Antiocheka is basically a galaxy that will eventually become the giant elliptical galaxy at the center of its galaxy cluster. This comic is set roughly 10 billion years ago, and even back then, it had already lost a lot of the cold gas necessary to form stars (it is the yellower galaxy in the first panel). This is why the Antiochekan government launches wars of acquisition against bluer galaxies that still have this cold gas. Though of course it's never called that. Like our own civilization, the galaxy always tries to cloak its self-interested behavior in benevolent terms.

I was trying to combine two hypotheses for elliptical galaxies' formation here. Some papers say that the precursors to ellipticals are similar to these galaxies called "red nuggets" which are bulge-dominated. However, other research indicates the ellipticals quenched (i.e. stopped forming new stars) while they were still disks. So Antiocheka has both prominent disk and bulge components. It sort of resembles Centaurus A. And like Centaurus A, Antiocheka is known for a powerful radio-loud AGN...but that comes in the next parts of this comic!

In other news, I recently became a postdoctoral student. I've branched out a bit and started studying neutron stars too, so there might be more comics about them in the future.