#just by virtue of most of the adult world being too busy to create more community spaces other than jobs

[theramblingvoid]

Being unemployed and out of school in your early 20s is so weird. like I'm free I'm trapped time isn't real but neither is bedtime I'm making food from scratch I'm sweating over the price of groceries I'm entirely outside the rhythm of humanity while only now starting to see how it works. I'm living I'm dying I'm holding together my mental health with duct tape and one nice thing a person said to me 5 months ago I am running out of shredded cheese. yknow?

[wickwrites]

Wonder Egg Priority Episode 4: Boys’ and Girls’ Suicides Do Mean Different Things (But Not in the Way the Mannequins Want You to Think!)

So, let’s talk about this for a second. After I got over my initial knee-jerk reaction, I realized I wasn’t sure how to make sense of exactly what the mannequins were arguing for here. So let me rephrase their statements to make the argumentative structure more explicit: Because men are goal-oriented and women are not, because women are emotion-oriented and men are not, and because women are impulsive and easily influenced by others’ voices and men are not, boys’ and girls’ suicides mean different things – girls are more easily “tempted” by death, and therefore, more likely to require saving when they inevitably regret their suicide. While Wonder Egg Priority, so far, seems to agree with the vague version of the mannequins’ conclusion, namely that boys’ and girl’s suicides mean different things, it refutes the gender-essentialist logic through which that conclusion was derived.

The mannequins choose a decidedly gender essentialist approach in explaining the difference between girls’ and boy’s suicides; they argue that the suicides are different because of some immutable characteristic of their mental hard wiring (in this case, impulsivity, emotionality, and influenceability). Obviously, this is a load of bull, and Wonder Egg Priority knows it. The mannequins are not exactly characters we’re supposed to trust, seeing that they’re running a business that is literally based on letting these kids put themselves in mortal danger. As faceless adult men, they parrot and possibly represent the systems that force these girls to continue to be subjected to physical and emotional trauma (it’s probably more complicated than this, but four episodes in, it’s hard to say more). So, we’re probably supposed to take what they say with great skepticism. Also, the director, Shin Wakabayashi, has recently said that in response to these lines, Neiru was originally going to object, “When it comes to their brains, boys and girls are also the same,” (which unfortunately is not exactly true and is somewhat of an oversimplification, but the sentiment is there). While that line ultimately did not make it in, Neiru does reply with a confused and somewhat indignant, “What?!”, a reaction that gets the message across.  Neiru is not a fan of gender essentialism, and as a (more) sympathetic character, we’re supposed to agree with her.

That is, the differences between boys and girls is not something inherent to their biology or character, but something constructed by culture and experience. This rejection of gender-essentialism is apparent in Wonder Egg Priority’s narrative, which takes a more sociocultural perspective on the difference between boys’ and girls’ suicides. It says, well of course boys’ and and girl’s suicides don’t mean the same thing, that’s the whole reason why we’re delving into the experiences specific to being a girl (cis or trans) or AFAB in this world – to show you how girls’ suicides are influenced by systems of oppression perpetuated by those in power (ie. the adult, in this specific anime).

And all the suicides we’ve seen up until now tie into that somehow. For instance, Koito is bullied by her female classmates who think that Sawaki is giving her special treatment. This is a narrative that comes up over and over again, in real life as well: that if a young girl is being given attention from an older man, then it’s her fault – that she must want it, or at least enjoy it somehow, and that it signifies a virtue (eg. maturity or beauty) on her part. And if Koito is actually being given such treatment by Sawaki, an adult man in a position of power over her, that is incredibly predatory. 

And we all know that child sexual abuse is something that overwhelmingly affects girls, with one out of nine experiencing it before the age of 18, as opposed to one out of 53 boys (Finkelhor et al., 2014). Regardless of whether Sawaki was actually abusing Koito or if the students only thought that he was, Koito’s trauma is ultimately the result of this romanticized “love between a young girl and adult man, but not because the man is predatory, but because the girl has some enviable virtue that makes her desirable” narrative. Similarly, in episode 2, Minami’s suicide is driven by ideas related to discipline and body image in sports, which while not necessarily specific to female and AFAB athletes, is framed in an AFAB-specific way. For instance, take the pressure on Minami to “maintain her figure”. Certainly, male athletes also face a similar pressure, but we know that AFAB and (cis and trans) female bodies are subject to closer scrutiny and criticism. We know that young girls are more likely to suffer from eating disorders. And Wonder Egg Priority situates Minami’s experience as decidedly “about” AFAB experience when her coach accuses her change of figure due to her period as a character failing on her part.

 Likewise, episode 3 delves into suicides related to “stan” culture, this fervent dedication to celebrities that is overwhelmingly associated to teenage girls. And Miwa’s story, in episode 4, explicitly shows how society responds to sexual assault. When Miwa does have the courage to speak up about her assault, she’s instantly reprimanded by basically everyone around her. Her father is fired because her abuser was an executive of his company. Her mother asks her why she couldn’t just bear with it, telling her that her abuser chose her because she was cute, as if that’s supposed to make her feel better about it. Wonder Egg Priority shows that this sort of abuse is a systemic problem, a set of rules and norms deeply engrained in a society and upheld by all adults, regardless of gender, social status, or closeness (to the victim). Wonder Egg Priority says that, yes, girls’ and boys’ suicides have different meanings, but it’s not due to some inherent difference between the two, but the hostile environment in which these girls grow up. Girls are not more easily “tempted” by death, they just have more societal bullshit to deal with.

But Wonder Egg Priority goes further than just showcasing how girls’ (and AFAB) experiences are shaped by sociocultural factors. The story also disproves the supposedly dichotomous characteristics that the mannequins use to differentiate girls and boys (i.e. influenceability/independence, impulsivity/deliberation, emotion-orientation/goal-orientation). If the mannequins are indeed correct, and that girls are just influenceable, impulsive, and emotional, you’d expect the girls in the story to be to be like such too. Except, they aren’t. Rather, they’re a mix of both/all characteristics. This show says that, certainly, girls can be suggestible, but they’re also capable of thinking for themselves. For instance, when Momoe asserts her own identity as a girl at the end of episode four, she rejects the words of those around her who insisted that she isn’t a girl. If she were as suggestible as the mannequins believe her to be, that would never have happened – she would have just continued believing that she wasn’t girl “enough”. But, she doesn’t because she is equally capable of making her own judgements. Likewise, Wonder Egg Priority shows that girls can be impulsive, but they can also be deliberate and pre-mediating. When Miwa tricks her Wonder Killer into groping her to create an opening for Momoe to defeat it, she’s not doing it out of impulse – it’s a pre-mediated and deliberate choice unto a goal. And Wonder Egg Priority continues, girls can be equally emotion oriented and goal oriented. Sure, the main girls are fighting because they have the goal of bringing their loved ones back to life, but those goals are motivated by a large range of emotions, from guilt to anger, grief, compassion, and love. 

Being emotion-driven doesn’t mean you’re not goal-driven, and vice versa. In fact, in this case, being emotional drives these girls toward their goals. In other words, none of these traits that the mannequins listed are either “girl traits” or “boy traits”. Being one does not mean you can’t be the other, even if they seem dichotomous at first. Wonder Egg Priority’s diverse cast of multi-dimensional female characters allows it to undermine the mannequins’ conceptualization of gendered roles, refuting the idea that these (or any) character traits should be consider gendered at all.

As an underdeveloped side thought, I think Wonder Egg Priority’s blurring of gendered roles is also well-reflected in its style. There’s been a lot of talk about whether Wonder Egg Priority constitutes a magical girl series, and I think that’s an interesting question deserving of its own essay. Certainly, it does follow the basic formula of the magical girl story: a teenage heroine ensemble wielding magical weapons saves the day. But it also throws out a lot of the conventions you’d expect of a magical girl story – both aesthetically and narratively. Aesthetically, it’s probably missing the component that most would consider the thing that makes an anime a magical girl anime: the full body transformation sequence, complete with the sparkles and the costume and all that. Narratively, the girls are also not really magical girl protagonist material – they’ve got a fair share of flaws, have done some pretty awful things (looking at Kawai in particular; I still love you though), and aren’t exactly the endlessly self-sacrificing heroines you’d expect from a typical magical girl story. On the other hand, the anime also borrows a lot from shonen battle anime. We get these dynamic, well choreographed action sequences full of horror and gore, the focus on the importance of camaraderie between allies (or “nakama”, as shonen anime would call it) exemplified through all the bonding between the main girls during their downtime, and in the necessary co-operation to bring down the Wonder Killers. That said, this anime is not a shonen; the characters, types of conflicts, and themes are quite different from those that you’d find in a typical shonen. The bleeding together of the shonen genre and the magical girl genre, at the very least (and I say this because I think it does way more than just that), reflects Wonder Egg Priority’s interest in rebelling against conventional narratives about girlhood and gender.

[slytherinsnekxvii]

let's talk about lily evans. she's an interesting character—or rather, the case surrounding her character is quite interesting.

i honestly don't know if i can say i dislike her. by all means, she should be a fan favourite, and she is... but for some rather intriguing reasons.

for one thing, due to the fact she's hardly expanded on in the series, certain parts of the fandom have been forced to either take the few qualities that she displays canonically and amplify them to the extreme (eg. immediate righteous anger at the slightest hint of injustice in fic) or create an entirely new personality (eg. no, i didn't actually disapprove of your pranks, it was just sexual tension). of course, the option of creating a new personality is much more tempting when you can just add amplified canon traits on the side.

for another, her relationship with james sometimes seems likes it's being weaponized against snape and his fans. i've seen arguments that go like "haha, snape just wanted to fuck lily, but james got her in the end anyway, sucks to be you", and not only does it entirely reduce her to an object, it feels like they don't even care about the relationship, the dynamics or the characters. she's basically a plot device.

and thirdly, half of her characterisation in fic is to be a peter stand-in. we don't like the rat man, so let's take the pretty girl and put her in place of the guy who was canonically a member of the marauders, even up until he was named secret keeper. suddenly, she's a prankster and an enabler.

but, snek, you may say, all of that is fanon lily, tho. you just explained that people seem to like her because they just put any personality they want into her as long as she's at least vaguely a good person. you would be right.

let's look at canon lily. she's described as the brightest witch of her age, most everyone speaks favourably of her. in fact, the only people we see actively disliking/being upset with her are petunia, out of jealousy and the invasion of privacy concerning her letter, severus, who lashed out and used a slur that also applied to him in a moment of serious distress and apologised after, and well, pureblood supremacists by virtue of her being muggleborn. interestingly enough, even this dislike manages to develop everyone's character more than it does her own.

as a teenage girl myself, let's look at her actions as a teenage girl. not necessarily in chronological order because I'm writing this at 2am and my memory is already mediocre at best.

1. she's done well enough in school to be considered trustworthy and responsible enough to be a prefect.

okay, i can respect that. a good few of the prefects at my school were really just appointed based on how much the teachers liked you, but at hogwarts, there's so few of them that they must put at least a little effort into it, so i'll move on.

2. she does not press for details when informed that her best friend's life needed to be saved by someone who has been publicly tormenting him for years

now, see, there's no reason why she needs to play therapist. it's not her job, she's just a girl, and we know that snape wasn't supposed to talk about the incident, so he would've been stuck if she had asked for an explanation. however, i also feel like she doesn't seem particularly concerned about his wellbeing, and when he brings up his concerns about lupin, rather than ask for proof, she dismisses it. which, fair enough, i would hate to listen to someone talk about the same thing over and over and over, but, i also feel like the fixation on a theory like that would be cause for concern.

3. she dismisses the actions of a group known to play tricks that harm people and have specifically been tormenting her best friend on the basis that they don't use dark magic

first, i'm going to establish what i usually assume dark magic refers to. aside from jinxes, hexes and curses, i also include anything that produces an effect similar to any of the unforgivables (takes away your life, your free will or your ability to feel safe in your own body, such as when you're in excruciating pain), and magic that would require a sacrifice of some sort.

when snape tries to point out the danger in what the marauders do, she insists that they don't use dark magic. and they don't... but they do use illegal magic. she then argues against the company that snape keeps, which, again, to be fair, is justified considering mulciber's done something to mary macdonald... it's also not a particularly realistic ask. snape probably shares a dorm with these guys, and he's a poor half-blood so he's already on the outs. as far as he knows, any dissent will be met with him getting hexed in his sleep. but, i digress.

given that the marauders have been shown to be doing extremely dangerous with little regards to anyone's safety, and actively tormenting her best friend, i disagree with her choice here. on the other hand, she's made her own friends in gryffindor and perhaps she sees a nicer side of them that we don't get to. she's justified in her actions, but i still disagree.

4. she intervenes when her best friend is hung upside down by a spell of his own invention at the wands of the people who have tormenting him for years

she does object to the marauders' treatment of him, and she does try to get them to let him down. if i were in her position, i would absolutely do the same. i respect the decision to stand up for her friend.

5. she does not seriously attempt to help him or punish the marauders

i do not respect how she handled it. at any point, she could have drawn her wand. but, snek, you say, perhaps she didn't want to get involved physically. she wanted to follow the rules. in that case, at any point, she could taken points, assigned detention, or sent someone to get a member of staff. she does none of those things and i viscerally disagree. if we were ever friends and someone tried to hurt you, i can assure you that i would try to at least see to it that they'd be punished, even if it wasn't immediate or by my own hand. lily, however, chooses to argue rather than take action.

6. she smiles when severus gets hung upside down

chances are, it was more than likely an involuntary reaction, like laughing when your friend has fallen over. however, the fact that it was intentionally written in seems like it's mean to be an indicator that the friendship was already falling apart.

7. she comments on her best friend's poverty and uses a name that's been used to make fun of him after he calls her a slur that also applies to him

she was 100% within her rights to be upset by being called a slur. it is never okay to use slurs. the only situation in which a slur could possibly ever be appropriate would be if you were an oppressed group attempting to reclaim said slur which is not at all what snape was doing here. he was experiencing cruelty, being humiliated, publicly, for no reason beyond existing and he was in distress, choking on soap and upside down. it was damaging to his pride, especially when james suggests that he needs lily to fight his battles for him (paraphrasing) which is an emasculating statement to make, especially to a teenage boy. so, snape lashes out with the most hurtful word he could think of, which happened to be a slur that also applies to him. lily was 100% justified in being upset about this, and she retaliated in kind. she was very much allowed to say what she said. i understand that she was hurt and angry and i respect that, especially as i can't guarantee that i would not have been just as upset in that situation.

8. even when the threat of sexual harassment is made, she still does nothing

i get it, at this point, she's hurt, she's mad, she wants him to suffer since she's a teenage girl and teenage girls hold grudges like it's nobody's business, but... i definitely couldn't just stand by and watch it happen. she basically just let them go through with it.

9. she does not accept her best friend's apology for calling her a slur that also applies to him, effectively burying the friendship

she is, by no means, obligated to continue being friends with him. however, if i were in that position, and the apology was sincere, i would take the friend back.

10. she goes on to date and eventually marry the guy who bullied her former best friend for his entire school life

no. i disagree. but, snek, you say, james changed. no. he didn't. we know, that at this point, james was still going after snape behind lily's back. you can say that she didn't know, but that means that she would have allowed james to lie to her and that doesn't sit right with me bc a relationship built on lies is a relationship that is going to fall apart, especially when your partner has been disappointed by your actions before. you can say that she did know, and that proves that she simply didn't take her responsibilities as head girl seriously enough to stop the head boy from harassing people when she explicitly told him not to. the point is, no. there is no way that this would have worked out as a long term relationship. james is too comfortable lying to her. i can't even say she was justified. there is no circumstance where i personally see this as okay for anybody involved.

alright, so, essentially teenage lily was justified in (most of) her actions, even if i find them questionable.

adult lily dies at 21, while saving her son, but her death also helps save the wizarding world. good job. she, as expected, did what any good mother would.

and that's canon lily.

my thoughts: she's a perfect example of why writing tips are so adamant on making sure people try to show and not tell. we were told that lily is meant to be good and pure and lovely, but the author never bothered to actually prove that, so what we're left with a dissonance between what we see and what we know.

as a result, i still don't know if i truly dislike her. her actions are justified, but they don't match with what we've been told, and we don't have any other information to go off of. at best, i can say for certain that i disagree with many of her choices, despite understanding why she would have made them (except for marrying james potter, uggghh, the only good thing to come out of that was harry and the saving of the wizarding world by extension, ig).

thanks for reading all that, btw! hope it made sense :)

[tmnt-brave-new-world]

Interaction guidelines- The Rules RPs are currently open, please read the rules before interacting

The Rules

- Please Read the rules before interacting

-This is an Ask and RP blog. Rps will be taken under consideration, on a case by case basis

- Absolutely No one under 18, preferably 21+. I’m not planning to censor anything on this blog. If you are not of age, do not follow or interact. You will be reported and blocked

- Patience is a virtue. The Mun works an incredibly difficult and stressful job, that, because it pays the bills, takes priority. This blog is a platform for fun and interaction but can’t take precedence over the real world. Sometimes I’m super busy and it could be awhile before I respond to a post, or an RP. If you aren’t capable of patience don’t interact.

- Please be respectful. The level of respect you show this blog and others is important to the Mun. if you aren’t capable of acting in a mature fashion, you will be blocked. BE NICE…

- Absolutely no popup RPs in ask, without having discussed or plotted a story with the Mun.

- If you would like to RP please dm me with a story idea.

- This is not a tcest site. I’m sorry I don’t know how to write tcest, and don’t have a desire to do so. I feel that I would not be a decent or supportive rp partner if I’m not able to give it my best, and thus do not wish to mistreat or neglect those in the community who enjoy this type of RP

- No randomly appearing in the lair without being invited. Donnie has gone above and beyond to give them safety in their sanctuary. If you weren’t invited, you are not welcome in their home, as is the case with any stranger.

On to the boys!

- The boys are 2014/2016 Bayverse turtles but are mature adult men. Human age wise they are around 50, but maturity and body wise, somewhere in their 30’s respectively. They do not age the same as humans due to the properties of mutagen and their turtle mutant base type

- This is an AU set several decades into the future- please read the prologue to help understand a little more about the world they live in

- They live in a skyrise, penthouse. With state of the art- Donnie certified level protections put into place. Nothing gets in or out, without his knowing. He does not take the safety of himself or his brothers lightly

- The Boys do not belong to anybody and will not belong to anybody. They are free to interact with whomever they would like, in any way that has been discussed and planned between the two muns.

- They don’t know your muse, nor have had any previous interactions with your muse, and thus are not in love with your muse, or have an established relationship with your muse.

- If you want their love and attention you will have to earn it, just like you would in any other type of interaction

- Absolutely no god-modding. Example: its your 3rd time to respond and you’re attempting to have Leo princess carry your character to bed. This is not a natural flow to the story, and not going to happen.

- The boys may like certain features, or admire certain characteristics, however they are open to all body types, shapes and beings, so long as they feel a connection.

A quick explanation as to what the boys do with their free time in a world that knows they exist.

Leo: “We each found our interests and talents opened up a several viable options that had lead us each to a “unique” position.” Leo led as he gathered his thoughts. “Keep in mind after we managed to stop Krang and those who worked closely with him, the world was vulnerable. As far as my brothers and I were concerned, we had fought too hard and for too long for someone to simply slip into the power vacuum we had created and to continue to harsh reality Krang had created for Earth’s inhabitants. Due to this we each chose to do what we knew how to do and could most easily adapt as challenges presented themselves.”

He paused for a moment as he thought about the hardships, they had each faced and managed to overcome as they slowly helped right the world and returned her to standing on her own. A shimmering blue jewel among the galaxy and other worlds that had become familiar with the planet and its amenities.

“During our years in the resistance we managed to acquire wealth and assets. We were able to accumulate quite the little nest egg using those. Along with our acquired influence it opened many a door which in the old world would have remained not only closed but permanently locked to us.”

“I became a strategic investor. Buying the remnants of properties, businesses and services and either helping them to return to what they once were or repurposing to better suit the needs of this new era and turn a profit. It proved to be very profitable and allowed for me to continue to churn out profits which allowed for me to seek other properties and businesses to invest in or connect the right individuals with each other in away that led to my ability to offer the initial capital for a small percentage of the quarterly earnings. It helped people to create jobs and led to a lot of normalcy for those who desperately needed.

One hand washes the other, and this in its essence has lead to my own sector of the Tartaruga brothers incorporated. I have a multi-billion dollar operation on Earth and several branches operating throughout the universe currently.”

Donnie: “As Leo has said,” Donnie commented calmy, “our time resisting and fighting lead us each to our own talents. I spent a lot of time wearing many hats, which included, chemists, doctor, surgeon, agronomist, engineer, electrician, etc. to put it simply I spent a lot of time learning how to save lives, human and otherwise, and the best way to stretch our available resources in a way which led to people surviving. I also had to learn how to create medications which were so commonplace that many died without having them available. Most antibiotics don’t have a very long shelf life and when those ran out initially, we were in constant jeopardy of losing lives to the simplest of bacterial infections. My knowledge, and subsequent research lead to significant improvements and branching into many other factors, and shall we say break throughs.

Needless to say, the value of others wants, lead to my ability to fund the needs of the many. In my sector, I have several leadings areas including pharmacy, medical research, agrarian development, as well as generalized research and development in multiple fields from domestic to military. For obvious reasons, more detailed information is strictly classified.”

Raph: Raph chuckled as Donnie glossed over his closely guarded research. He was willing to kill to protect his research and continue to control the aspects that allowed him to fund the bulk of his interests and common welfare of those he blanketed with his programs. “They ain’t lying. After the world came back from going to shit, it took awhile to get it back up and going. Additionally, there were a lot of people, generally those not from this world that were way too determined to make sure we failed. This led to a lot of infighting and groups struggling for control. That tends to lead to a lot of shady business if you know what I mean, and it wasn’t like we had any type of social services such as police, fire fighting, or anything else. I initially took charge in areas like these.

I took a lot of care to train groups so that they worked together and were prepared to handle whatever problems came. It took a lot of time to cultivate proper training programs and help prepare people on how to help a traumatized world get back to functioning in a healthy way. I still help do this on planets and areas that are in recovery.”

“That being said however, my primary interest and “job” if you want to call it that, is training mixed martial artist prize fighters for the world federation galaxy league. Simply put we aren’t the only species that likes to watch trained athletes test their skills against one another within their respective brackets, or on specially contracted prized fights. I used to fight for the league and earned a lot of titles and prestige. I won most fights and was often the favorite to win after a while. I’m semi-retired and only occasionally enter the ring now days. However, I take and train promising talents for the league and other groups. I have also trained personal bodyguards for a variety of individuals.  Different specialties come with different specifics and contracts as well as costs. It takes a specific might set for each, and a lot of time to drill into a thick skull.”

Mikey: Mikey laughed at the turtle in red, “Oh yeah, and you were the king of thick skulled back when we were young, and dumb.” He barely dodged the throw pillow that was chucked at his head.  “Let’s see for me personally,” Mikey flashed a big grin, “I happen to be a master of many trades. During our days in the resistance, I learned a lot of different tricks to help make the food rations we had on hand not only palatable but nutritionally sound while feeding a literal army of people! So when it was possible I spent a large amount of time learning how to take fancy old world recipes and revamped them with food sources that were still available or recreated them with off world goodies. I also still paint, and love to collaborate with others to create amazing new concepts!”

His face darkened for a moment as he thought back to the early days of the resistance. “There were so many people who in the blink of an eye had lost everything, and unfortunately it was insanely common to find kids who had either been separated from their families or were the only survivor. In a lot of instances they were traumatized and it took a lot of creative thinking to coax them out of their shells and help to reteach them on how to live. This happened fairly frequently with adults as well. Because of this and what seemed like a never ending shortage of textiles, I had to learn and create new ways to make things and often times help find things that brought the sparkle back to peoples eyes. Because of this however, I have a multimedia conglomerate that allows me to work in a wide area of creative outlets. The fashion world is a flippant mistress, but there are a lot of ways in which one can compete and stand out. It’s led to a lot of lucrative contracts with those who are “starving” for the next amazing piece of creatively, or at least that’s what they tell me. The great thing about taking high end contracts and commissions is that a lot like my brothers, the revenue lets me continue to reach out to others. I fund a program that includes shelters called “Uncle Mikey’s” for those who are missing, exploited, or just need help. I also teach cooking, and practical skills for those who need them, and they are streamed to community centers such as local libraries, after school programs, and the like, to try and continue to help those who never received a chance to learn to do things due to the world kind of going through an apocalypse level event.

[kapitaali]

The New Hippies

THE NEW HIPPIES: The work abolition movement, anarcho-primitivism and biodynamism as ways to combat climate change

Essay for the course LOGS13b The Strategic Role of Responsibility in Business by Teppo Saari

Introduction

The course LOGS13b The Strategic Role of Responsibility in Business had the students think about and discuss the various ethical dimensions in business, moral dilemmas and choices to be made that a decision maker in business world come across every day.

This essay is motivated by our case study with a headline ’Investors urge European companies to include climate risks in accounts’ (Financial Times 2020). In this essay I will explore values and ethical principles that I see as the solutions to our case study and climate change in general. This is not to say that I could stand up for them in business world. Ironically, my main thread and leitmotif here is the untransformational nature of capitalism and business world. Thus, standing up to the values I will discuss here means doing less business, not more.

This essay is divided in three parts: problem – reaction – solution. These three parts will talk about the chosen values and ethical principles. They are by no means new: pragmatism – The Golden Rule – parsimony & naturality. They just seem to be in conflict with our modern way of living.

Thinking pragmatically about the problem

As part of our course assignment, we got to read about a group of investors managing trillions of dollars worth of assets who urged European companies to include climate risks in their accounts (Financial Times 2020). Scientists have warned us for decades, that pumping extreme amounts of CO2 into our atmosphere will result in melting of the polar ice caps (Mitchell 1989; Jones & Henderson-Sellers 1990), which will raise the sea level and drown some of the coastal cities (Peters & Darling 1985). Finally, capitalists are acting responsibly!

It would seem that capitalists actually cared for the planet and not just their profits. Or would it? Maybe they are scared of losing their future profits, and this kind of media escapade would bring back public trust and confidence in the system. It would be a sign that capitalists can act transparently, openly, accountably, respecting others (O’Leary 1993). But is changing the allocation in your investment portfolio really a sign of empathy? Would there be other ways to better express empathy in business?

Shareholders are interested in the risk their assets are facing, not necessarily in the welfare of the people. Investors acting virtuously can be just virtue-signaling or pleasing other elements in the society to take off media pressure and negative PR from them in a conformist way (Collinson 2003). Maybe they are just greenwashing their own conscience. Why is George Soros’ climate buzz astroturfing industrial complex (Morningstar 2019a) financing Greta Thunberg to do public PR campaigns targeting the youth? Maybe there is money in it. It is unlikely that it would have been dubbed ”A 100 trillion dollar storytelling campaign” without some particularly good reasons (Morningstar 2019b).

But there is something else in it too than just money: power and control. The person who gets to limit choices gets to dictate what kind of choices remain. And if a person has that kind of foreknowledge, then that person can be two steps ahead of us. And being two steps ahead of us means securing future profits. Including climate risks in accounts will imply controls. Controls are imposed on accounts, but ultimately it will mean controls imposed on people and their daily activities. Workers are the ones who will naturally suffer the consequences of management decisions. In this case management decisions are ’urged’ externally, from the owners’ part. After all, it is the corporations that are producing most of the climate change effects, in terms of pollution and greenhouse gases (Griffin 2017). People doing their jobs, working everyday, producing things but also at the same time producing climate effects. I would still love to hear politicians use more terms such as ”pollution” when talking about these issues. For it is unclear how reducing carbon emissions will reduce overall pollution that is also a contributor in the destruction of our environment (see eg. Bodo & Gimah 2020; Oelofse et al. 2007). Issues like microplastics, holes in the ozone layer, biodiversity loss, acid rains and soil degradation need to be talked about just as much, if not more so.

The problem is simple: too much economic activity producing too much climate impact, mostly pollution and greenhouse gases. Solving the Grand Challenge (Konstantinou & Muller 2020) of our time is harder if we wish to keep the fabric of our society intact. There’s a clear need for dialogue among stakeholders (Gardiner 1996), but how is it a dialogue if people are not actually listened to and don’t get to say how things will progress in society? What I am proposing is a meme-like solution that has the greater impact the more people adopt it. My solution is: stop working. Produce less. Stop supporting systems and mechanisms that produce climate effects. Stop supporting the mechanisms that don’t listen to your voice. Disconnect from the Matrix. Working a dayjob is one of these mechanisms. Although many people have realized the benefits of working from home (Kost 2020), a lot more needs to be done. Remote work is not available to everyone. Not all jobs are remote work.

Bob Black (2021) in his texts has advocated for the total and complete abolition of work. Stopping working naturally does not mean stopping doing things, it will merely mean stopping working a job, a concept which itself is a social construct. Black’s theses are simple but powerful. Working is the source of all ills, it is not compatible with ludic life (allthemore so in 2021), it is forced labour and compulsory production, it is replete with indignities called ”discipline”: ”surveillance, rotework, imposed work tempos, production quotas, punching -in and -out, etc”. Black does not only describe the negative ontological aspects of working, he goes deeper and invokes many familiar names of Greek philosophers:

Both Plato and Xenophon attribute to Socrates and obviously share with him an awareness of the destructive effects of work on the worker as a citizen and a human being. Herodotus identified contempt for work as an attribute of the classical Greeks at the zenith of their culture. To take only one Roman example, Cicero said that “whoever gives his labor for money sells himself and puts himself in the rank of slaves.” His candor is now rare, but contemporary primitive societies which we are wont to look down upon have provided spokesmen who have enlightened Western anthropologists. The Kapauku of West Irian, according to Posposil, have a conception of balance in life and accordingly work only every other day, the day of rest designed “to regain the lost power and health.” Our ancestors, even as late as the eighteenth century when they were far along the path to our present predicament, at least were aware of what we have forgotten, the underside of industrialization. Their religious devotion to “St. Monday” — thus establishing a de facto five-day week 150–200 years before its legal consecration — was the despair of the earliest factory owners. They took a long time in submitting to the tyranny of the bell, predecessor of the time clock. In fact it was necessary for a generation or two to replace adult males with women accustomed to obedience and children who could be molded to fit industrial needs. Even the exploited peasants of the ancient regime wrested substantial time back from their landlord’s work. According to Lafargue, a fourth of the French peasants’ calendar was devoted to Sundays and holidays, and Chayanov’s figures from villages in Czarist Russia — hardly a progressive society — likewise show a fourth or fifth of peasants’ days devoted to repose. Controlling for productivity, we are obviously far behind these backward societies. The exploited muzhiks would wonder why any of us are working at all. So should we.

Black notes that only ”a small and diminishing fraction of work serves any useful purpose independent of the defense and reproduction of the work-system and its political and legal appendages”. In similar vein, the late but great David Graeber saw the futility of most work. Calling this phenomenon ’bullshit jobs’ (Graeber 2018), Graeber sets out to describe what many of us are familiar with: we do useless things to make ourselves feel useful. Because modern society legitimizes itself with having people ’do’ stuff and not ’be’ a certain person. How can you (objectively) measure being? You can’t. But doing, that you can measure. This measurement then qualifies you as a member of society: productive, doing your part (an idiom that is a perfect example how you can’t escape the doing paradigm on a societal level). Graeber’s definition of a bullshit job is: if the position were eliminated, it would make no discernible difference in the world. In many cases these types of jobs are found to be supporting some kind of buraucracy, reporting, assisting decision makers, etc. Our current Matrix has its ways of creating more of these with the clever marketing concept called ’value’ (Petrescu 2019). They don’t make a difference, they create value.

Why would you want to overload the world by doing things that you nor most everyone else see no point in? Why would you waste your time doing pointless things? The easy answer to these questions is ’subsistence’. But there are many other ways to live on this planet. If you keep doing what the society tells you is acceptable or convenient, you will shut your eyes from the problem at hand: climate change.

Legitimizing anarcho-naturism as a solution with The Golden Rule

Our responsibility is to ourselves. We can not properly be held responsible for anything else. Yet the system of representational democracy does just this, holds us collectively responsible for many things, borrows money from creditors with our names on the loan collectively and then makes us pay for the loans. The way this Matrix works is yet another reason to disconnect from it. Or at least stop supporting it as much as possible.

The Golden Rule states: ”Treat others as you want to be treated” (Gensler 2013). From the perspective of climate change, it can first seem curious why you would quit your job and head for the hills. After all, we are facing a global issue here. There are people in need for help and I am running away? But I would see it as a way to get around our predicament. The Golden Rule can be also interpreted in Kantian way as the categorical imperative, particularly its first formulation: ”Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”. This formulation is somewhat more proactive in nature. It talks about acting, doing things, and doing things is what is appreciated in our society, even when your goal is to exit the society.

Why exit the society? Is it enough to just quit your job and find something else to do, something that is more fulfilling and not bullshit? What an excellent question. Long before the advent of smart phones and 5G and DNA-vaccines, this question had been brought up to the table. In the 1800s, people were realizing the negative impact industrialization was having on society at large. People were rooted out from their family homes in the countryside, forced to move to a large city to look for a job, crammed into small apartments with dozens of other workers, coerced into working long and hard days at factories to make a living. The lowly misery of these people attracted the attention of a certain Friedrich Engels, who felt their situation was not adequate to make up for the suffering they had gone through. He meticulously described the working conditions of the English working class in his ”The Condition of the Working Class in England” (2003 [1845]), originally published in German. Sociology as a science was established by Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim to study these changes. Slowly but surely, the influx of people into cities started to cause issues, something that mayors and other municipal representatives had to start taking care of. Planning and zoning were given a lot more attention, since the earlier modus operandi of old European cities had been rather laissez faire (Sutcliffe 1980).

Against this backdrop of massive societal change, people started to question the changes and their direction. Are we really nothing more than slaves, just working in a different environment? Slavery might not be the right word or context here. Many people believe to be free, govern themselves and their property, and yet their daily actions and options to choose from seem to be eerily limited. They have only so many choices, most of which seem somehow related to running their errands. A more appropriate term, with all its connotations, here would be the Greek word ananke, ”force, constraint, necessity”. Like a force of nature, progress towards modernity necessitates that people leave their family homes and go work in large factories, compulsively manufacturing endless amounts of products, some of which are necessary, others merely decorations, and some just pointless.

Many names in 19th century New England worked upon a vision for the future society at a time when unprecedented changes were taking place and the standard of living was rising faster than ever before. The Transcendental Club was a group of New England authors, philosophers, socialists, politicians and intellectuals of the early-to-mid-19th century which gave rise to Transcendentalism, the first notable American intellectual movement. Transcendentalist believe in the inherent goodness of people and nature, but that society and its institutions — particularly organized religion and political parties — corrupt the purity of the individual. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2003; Sacks 2003.) Transcendentalism is a unique mix of European Romanticism, German (particularly Kantian) philosophy, and American Christianity. The impact of this movement can still be seen in the many flavours of American anarchist and radical Christian movements.

Out of the ranks of Transcendentalists rose a couple of names that can be viewed as the progenitors of modern anarcho-primitivism and natur(al)ist anarchy. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the central figure of the Transcendental Club, who together with Henry David Thoreau critiqued the contemporary society for its ”unthinking conformity” and advocated for “an original relation to the universe” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2003). Emerson’s Nature (2009 [1836]) poetically embellishes our view of the natural world, while Thoreau’s Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1995 [1854]) is a call for civil disobedience and revolt against the modern world. Another influential natur(al)ist writer has been Leo Tolstoi whose name is frequently mentioned by anarchists. Tolstoi himself was a Christian and pacifist, and his writings have inspired Christian anarcho-pacifism that views the state as ”immoral and unsupportable because of its connection with military power” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2017).

Before the Transcendentalist movement, Europe experienced similar trend in philosophy with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s natural philosophy. Rousseau touched upon many subjects: freedom, free will, authority, nature, morality, societal inequality, representation and government. Like Transcendentalists, Rousseau held a belief that human beings are good by nature but are rendered corrupt by society. ”Rousseau clearly states that morality is not a natural feature of human life, so in whatever sense it is that human beings are good by nature, it is not the moral sense that the casual reader would ordinarily assume” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2010). Rousseau’s work is relevant to many of the social movements that currently fight against COVID restrictions, vaccination agenda, building of 5G antenna towers next to where people live, polluting the environment, systemic poverty and general disconnection from the natural world. Rousseau, although regarded as a philosopher, saw philosophy itself negatively, and to him philosophers were ”the post-hoc rationalizers of self-interest, as apologists for various forms of tyranny, and as playing a role in the alienation of the modern individual from humanity’s natural impulse to compassion” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2010).

Rousseau’s days did not see capitalism as we see it now. It was later Marx (influenced by Hegel, who in turn was influenced by Rousseau) that put together a treatise that considers the societal change we have seen ever since from industrialism and circulation of capital. But Rousseau’s thoughts about the social contract (1968 [1762]), “child-centered” education (Rousseau 2010), and inequality (Graeber & Wengrow 2018; Rousseau 2008) are still relevant today. Especially when we are faced with many societal forces that are contradictory in nature, each of them pushing us into certain direction, demanding our attention, wanting us to change our beliefs about that one particular aspect that connects with other aspects and forms the Matrix of our reality.

We are once again facing a similar situation as the people did back in the days of the first industrial revolution. Now the industrial revolution has reached its fourth cycle, unimaginatively called ”Industry 4.0” (Marr 2018; WEF 2021), where machines are starting to become autonomous and talk to each other. I used to think technology was cool, and went to work for Google. But at Google I learned that technology is not cool, after all. Not until technology becomes completely open source, it will be used by massive conglomerates to build autonomous weapons systems (Cassella 2018; Johnson 2018) and the industry will keep paying ethics researchers to keep writing arguments for them (Charters 2020). Even though I could work for an industry that, given the current trajectory, will be among the biggest producers of CO 2 in the future Vidal 2017), the idea that I would work for an industry that sees weaponizing their products as the grandest idea of mankind’s future is still gnawing.

Because, it is all just business (Huesemann & Huesemann 2011):

One of the functions of critical science is to create awareness of the underlying values, and the political and financial interests which are currently determining the course of science and technology in industrialized society. This exposure of the value-laden character of science and technology is done with the goal of emancipating both people and the environment from domination and exploitation by powerful interests. The ultimate objective is to redirect science and technology to support both ordinary people and the environment, instead of causing suffering through oppression and exploitation by dominant elites. Furthermore, by exposing the myth of the value-neutrality of science and technology, critical science attempts to awaken working scientists and engineers to the social, political, and ethical implications of their work, making it impossible or, at the very least, uncomfortable for them to ignore the wider context and corresponding responsibilities of their professional activities.

It all seems to be connected with state imperialism and the military-industrial(-intelligence) complex. Lenin’s statement (2008 [1916]) equating capitalism with imperialism still prevails this day: ”imperialist wars are absolutely inevitable under such an economic system, as long as private property in the means of production exists”. The conditions change, but the war machine keeps on churning (soon with autonomous weapons!), with wealthy but crooky investors financing projects that are even more dystopian (Byrne 2013). We may remember what president Dwight D. Eisenhower said about the military- industrial complex (NPR 2011):

”In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.”

It is exactly these kinds of doomsday scenarios that inspire people like Theodore John ”The Unabomber” Kaczynski. Kaczynski, famous for sending mail bombs to various university professors around the US, holds a doctoral degree in mathematics. (Wikipedia 2021.) Kaczynski was bullied as a child, and it has been suggested that he was part of an MKULTRA experiment in college (The Week 2017). Kaczynski did not send his bombs haphazardly. He wrote long theoretical pieces to justify his actions, most of them being thematically anarcho-primitivist. In 1995, after sending several bombs to university personnel and business executives in 1978-1995, he said to ”desist from terrorism” if he got his text published in media outlets.

In his Industrial Society and Its Future (Kaczynski 1995), a 35 thousand word essay published in The Washington Post, which the FBI gave the name ”Unabomber manifesto”, Kaczynski attributes many our societal ills to ”leftism”. In the manifesto Kaczynski details how two psychological tendencies, “feelings of inferiority” and “oversocialization”, form the basis of ”the psychology of modern leftism”. Feelings of inferiority are taken to mean the whole spectrum of negative feelings about self: low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, guilt, self-hatred etc. Oversocialization is the process of socialization taken to extreme levels:

24. Psychologists use the term “socialization” to designate the process by which children are trained to think and act as society demands. A person is said to be well socialized if he believes in and obeys the moral code of his society and fits in well as a functioning part of that society. It may seem senseless to say that many leftists are over-socialized, since the leftist is perceived as a rebel. Nevertheless, the position can be defended. Many leftists are not such rebels as they seem.

25. The moral code of our society is so demanding that no one can think, feel and act in a completely moral way. For example, we are not supposed to hate anyone, yet almost everyone hates somebody at some time or other, whether he admits it to himself or not. Some people are so highly socialized that the attempt to think, feel and act morally imposes a severe burden on them. In order to avoid feelings of guilt, they continually have to deceive themselves about their own motives and find moral explanations for feelings and actions that in reality have a nonmoral origin. We use the term “oversocialized” to describe such people.

Kaczynski goes on to describe how this oversocialization causes a person to feel guilt and shame for their actions, especially in the context of performing as society expects them to perform. He writes how this concept of oversocialization is used to determine ”the direction of modern leftism”. Further on, Kaczynski describes how modern man needs goals to strive for, to not run the risk of developing serious psychological problems. This goalsetting activity he denotes ”power process”. But these goals can be real or artificial. Setting a goal is “surrogate activity” if the person devotes much time and energy to attaining it, does not attain it, and still feels seriously deprived. It is just a goal for goalsetting’s sake, the unfulfilled other side of the coin of power process. Kaczynski then connects these concepts to the many societal ills (excessive density of population, isolation of man from nature, excessive rapidity of social change and the breakdown of natural small-scale communities such as the extended family, the village or the tribe) by describing how modern society, with all its marketing and advertising creating artificial needs, disrupts the power process, mankind’s search for itself and meaning-making in life. He sees social hierarchies and the need to climb up them, the ”keeping up with the Joneses”, as surrogate activity.

”Because of the constant pressure that the system exerts to modify human behavior, there is a gradual increase in the number of people who cannot or will not adjust to society’s requirements: welfare leeches, youth gang members, cultists, anti-government rebels, radical environmentalist saboteurs, dropouts and resisters of various kinds”. This gradual increase, then, the system tries to ’solve’ by using propaganda, ”to make people WANT the decisions that have been made for them”. In regards to technology, the ”bad” parts cannot be separated from the ”good”, and thus we are constantly facing the dilemma between technology and freedom, new technology being introduced all the time, and new regulations being introduced to curb the negative effects of the technology and at the same time stripping us of our freedoms. Kaczynski concludes, that revolution is easier than reforming the system.

Later, Kaczynski released another of his anti-technological theses. In Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How (2015) Kaczynski presents a ”comprehensive historical analysis explaining the futility of social control and the catastrophic influence of technological growth on human social and planetary ecological systems.” This time Kaczynski talks more about how to start an anti-tech movement and how to keep it going. The text reads like a mathemathical proof of sorts, it presents ”rules”, ”propositions” and ”postulates” why the technological system will destroy itself (eg. Russell’s Paradox resulting in chaos in a highly complex, tightly coupled system) and why a successful anti-tech movement needs clear goals to avoid some of the errors revolutionary movements have made, which are elaborated in the book. Violence is not offered as a solution in the book, it is seen more like a mishap of sorts, a suboptimal outcome of a revolutionary movement. But it talks about power. Kaczynski got to learn the hard way how the feeling of powerlessness breeds desperate actions that would have been otherwise unnecessary. The book also talks about climate change and related issues, from a mathematic systems theoretical point of view.

Institutions that are in the business of social engineering and behavioral modification, such as the Tavistock Institute in the UK or the CIA in the US, would have us believe that Kaczynski’s actions were ”defences against anxiety” that can be seen as ”withdrawal, informal organization, reactive individualism and scapegoating” (Hills et al. 2020), and to some extent this is true. But Kaczynski interprets the actions of these institutions stemming from technological progress in our society Kaczynski 1995):

117. In any technologically advanced society the individual’s fate MUST depend on decisions that he personally cannot influence to any great extent. A technological society cannot be broken down into small, autonomous communities, because production depends on the cooperation of very large numbers of people and machines. Such a society MUST be highly organized and decisions HAVE TO be made that affect very large numbers of people.

This uniformity of a large hierarchical modern society then forces its will on people (Kaczynski 1995):

119. The system does not and cannot exist to satisfy human needs. Instead, it is human behavior that has to be modified to fit the needs of the system. This has nothing to do with the political or social ideology that may pretend to guide the technological system. It is not the fault of capitalism and it is not the fault of socialism. It is the fault of technology, because the system is guided not by ideology but by technical necessity.

We have once again encountered ananke, necessity. Now, if we consider ourselves as the lonely decision makers in this society, what could we do? We can try and fight fire with fire, but such fights end up producing only pain and casualties (Taylor 2013). Anarcho-naturists and anarcho-pacifists understand that (unnecessary) fighting in most cases does not work. Sometimes fighting is warranted, but it is beyond the scope of this essay to examine those cases. Sending bombs to people’s offices may get you some attention and even make somebody quote your manifesto in an essay, but it is not solving the issue, something which the Unabomber addressed in his later texts. If working a job indirectly supports the military-industrial complex NewScientist 2011), what good does it do? The military-industrial complex is the biggest source of pollution in the world (The Conversation 2019; Acedo 2015), detaching yourself from this complex is imperative. Even if they would manage to convince us with their psyops that they are willing to change and that climate change is an important issue (Ahmed 2014), it would still be the biggest polluter that is controlling the conversation. It has even been suggested that they are behind this climate buzz (Light 2014). Is your job doing that much good in society that it outweighs the cons? If I need to act responsibly, but cannot fight the system nor conform, while at the same time keeping in mind our looming climate disaster, the only reasonable and peaceful response is to exit the system altogether.

Biodynamism’s naturality and parsimony

Owning responsibility and transforming the world implies taking some kind of action. We have already seen how feelings of powerlessness and lack of self-worth can lead to destructive actions. But there are an unlimited amount of actions that can be taken, that are not based in feelings of powerlessness but empowerment.

Exiting society might sound like a lonely project, and some people might rightfully feel lonely when all their peers still want to live in the illusion. But it does not have to be so. A lot of soul-searching needs to be done, and that is usually done in privacy, focusing upon oneself, but beyond that there are ways how to go off-grid and drastically reduce your carbon emissions.

One of the key concepts that will be our guiding principle here is degrowth (Paulson 2017), which ties into values such as organicity, naturality and parsimony. We will want to have less production of artificial things, and more organic and natural things. By artificial we mean long supply chains and many phases of production with modern high technology that produce a large amount of climate effects. By natural we mean using primitive technology, mostly all-natural or recycled materials and something that can be produced even alone, given enough time. Primitive technology does not exclude electricity, it just means producing it differently.

Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and theosophist, the founder of Anthroposophy and a great reformer of science in matters of spirit, started the first intentional form of organic farming, known as biodynamic agriculture, after he had given a series of lectures on the topic in the last year of his life. (Paull 2011.) Steiner had many spiritual experiences during his life, which lead him to start the Anthroposophy movement. He wanted to apply the scientific process into spiritual realm, inquiring it as it would be as real as our material world. Inquiring this spiritual world helped him access knowledge he claims to not have been access otherwise (Steiner 2011 [1918]). Anthroposophist self-inquiry can be seen as Foucauldian ”technology of the self” that ”provide an intervention mechanism on the part of active subjects, injecting an element of contingency to everyday encounters and alleviating the determinist effect that technologies of power would have otherwise” (Skinner 2012).

Steiner’s thoughts about agriculture are still relevant (Paull 2011):

In 1924 Steiner commented that, “Nowadays people simply think that a certain amount of nitrogen is needed for plant growth, and they imagine it makes no difference how it’s prepared or where it comes from” Steiner, 1924b, pp.9-10). He made the point that, “In the course of this materialistic age of ours, we’ve lost the knowledge of what it takes to continue to care for the natural world” (Steiner, 1924b, p.10).

Our current system seems to think exactly in this way, that if we just compensate our wreaked havoc by investing in ’green’ technology (Elegant 2019), it will all be ok and rainbows in the sky. But it will not. No one is even double checking if the companies that say that they are now carbon neutral actually proactively try to make our world greener. They can just buy a renewable energy company and say now we are green and do nothing else. Some would argue that going ’carbon neutral’ like these massive corporations are doing it is not the way to do it: “’green’ infrastructures are creating conflict and ecological degradation and are the material expression of climate catastrophe” (Dunlap 2020).

Steinerian biodynamism ”encompasses practices of composting, mixed farming systems with use of animal manures, crop rotations, care for animal welfare, looking at the farm as an organism/entity and local distribution systems, all of which contribute toward the protection of the environment, safeguard biodiversity and improve livelihoods of farmers” (Turinek et al. 2009). While modern biodynamic studies focus on agroecological factors such as nutrient cycles, soil characteristics, and nutritional quality (Reganold 1995; Droogers & Bouma 1996), Steiner himself was quite metaphysical in his lectures and paid attention to details such as kingdoms of nature, planetary influences, biorhythms, incarnated and environmental ethers, and the Zodiac (Steiner 2004 [1958]; Nastati 2009).

By shifting to more natural ways of living, we may help Gaia (Lovelock 1991; Singh 2007) heal in many other ways than just reduce our climate emissions. By realizing that we are actually living on the skin of a fairly large and complex organism, we will stop treating it as a plain source of material resources, and start bonding with it, tune into its consciousness and establish two-way communication, just like the natives have done in America.

The way of the natives ought to be our current way, since there is no reason why the natives could not guard the lands they have before. One of the greatest fears of people speaking for private property rights is that managing resources collectively would mean exhausting them. There is no Tragedy of Commons. Just because you are materially poor does not mean that you are any less competent steward of land and wealth, as proposed by Elinor Oström (2009). Acting for climate is not an investment allocation problem. The natives need their land back so that they could do their best to fight the destruction of our ecosystem. The Outokumpu supply chain in Brazilian rainforests, Elon Musk and Bolivian lithium mines, Papua New Guinea indigenous conflict, mining in Lapland in traditional Sami herding areas, Australian uranium mining in indigenous lands… these are all pointless conflicts.

There are also many other ways of staying grounded and in touch with nature, while at the same time cultivating sovereignty. Many of these things revolve around feeding the most immediate community next to you. They reflect ideas such as mutuality, solidarity, organicity, and naturality. Permaculture is a term coined by David Holmgren to describe ”an approach to land management and philosophy that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole systems thinking. It uses these principles in fields such as regenerative agriculture, rewilding, and community resilience” (Wikipedia: Permaculture 2021). Permaculture has many branches including ecological design, ecological engineering, regenerative design, environmental design, and construction. It also includes integrated water resources management that develops sustainable architecture, and regenerative and self-maintained habitat and agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems (Holmgren Desing Services 2007).

Earthships are 100% sustainable homes that are both energy efficient and modern. Earthsips are built with natural and repurposed (recycled) materials, they heat and cool themselves without electric heat, they use solar energy to power electric appliances, they collect all of their water from rain and snowmelt, they re-use their sewage water to fertilize plants, and there’s an indoor garden that grows food in vertical growing spaces (Reynolds 2021). Ecovillages are a ”human-scale, full-featured settlement, in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future” (Gilman & Gilman 1991).

Clifford Harper had a set of drawings imagining an alternative in his book Radical Technology (Harper & Boyle 1976). In them, he shows many of the ideas that were themes in the German garden city movement in the beginning of 20th century (Bollerey & Hartmann 1980), such as collectivised gardens, autonomous housing estates, and community workshops. The book introduces us ’radical technology’, which spans basically all of the concepts we have discussed up to this point: organic agriculture, biodynamic agriculture, vegetarianism, hydroponics, soft energy, insulation, low-cost housing, tree houses, shanty houses, ’folk-built’ houses using traditional methods, houses built from subsoil, self-built houses, housing associations, solar dwellings, domestic paper-making, carpentry, scrap reclamation, printing, community & pirate radio, collectivised gardens, collective workshops for clothesmaking, shoe repair, pottery, household decoration and repairs, autonomous housing estates, autonomous rural villages, etc.

These concepts, while they seem simple, are still empowering, they are meant to let people enjoy they fruits of their labour. Last but certainly not least is the concept that all of these things fall under, alternative (or, appropriate) technology. Alternative technologies are those ”which offer genuine alternatives to the large-scale, complex, centralized, high-energy life forms which dominate the modern age” (Winner 1979). Alternative technologies seek to solve the problems technocentric thinking has caused in society: technical scale and economic concentration, level of complexity or simplicity best suited to technical operations of various kinds, division of labor and its alleged necessity, social and technical hierarchy as it relates to the design of technological systems, and self-sufficiency and interdependence regarding the lives of individuals and communities. Many of these solutions have been developed in Africa, where problems have had to be solved, but resources have been scarce in actuality.

Appropriate technology holds great promise in ways that are currently underappreciated in our society (Huesemann & Huesemann 2011):

As has been mentioned repeatedly throughout this book, the primary goal of technology in our current economic system is to increase material affluence and to generate profits for the wealthy by controlling and exploiting both people and the environment. In view of the reality of interconnectedness, this is neither environmentally sustainable nor socially desirable. In this chapter we discuss how to design technologies which reflect the values of environmental sustainability and social appropriateness. We also emphasize the importance of heeding the precautionary principle in order to prevent unintended consequences, as well as the need for participatory design in order to ensure greater democratic control of technology. Finally, as a specific example of an environmentally sustainable and socially appropriate technology, we discuss the positive contribution of local, organic, small-scale agriculture.

Conclusion

This essay has presented the reader with ramblings of a person who is familiar with Critical Theory, who would like to build a stronger connection to nature, and who is having a major identity crisis in life. I have expressed, albeit feebly, my will to emancipate myself, to exit the Matrix. In Finnish they would say ”Sota ei yhtä miestä kaipaa”, and in George S. Patton’s words this expression would be ”Hell, they won’t miss me, just one man in thousands.”

In this essay I seem to have extensively quoted the Unabomber manifesto. This is not to say that Kaczynski had exceptionally good motives or justifications for his actions. He killed many people and is in prison now. Kaczynski’s ideas are not unique. Quoting his manifesto serves merely to prove one point: he is the product of his environment. Mental illness is no longer a taboo and things have progressed somewhat since Kaczynski’s days. It could be argued that Kaczynski’s writings were just projection of his own feelings of shame and guilt he had gone through. But his mental condition, should he be diagnosed with one (Amador & Reshmi 2000), does not invalidate the things he’s written. In many ways his writings are now more relevant than ever. When we have tech billionaires talking about inserting neuralinks into your brain and downloading thoughts straight from the headquarters, we can really see the manifesto dots connecting.

I wish it would have been just the mental load caused by a ’surrogate activity’ of keeping up with the Joneses that was the cause of all this, but no, it’s the real deal now. When we have corporate executives and federal commissions defending autonomous weapons systems and saying building such systems is a ’moral imperative’ (Gershgorn 2021), you know we have reached peak civilization. It’s all downhill from now on. All participation in society will support this moral imperative, and I don’t want to have anything to do with it. While many would get back to nature for reasons of convenience, such as better health, Rousseau himself would have gotten back to nature ”to feel God in nature” (LaFreniere 1990). It is this kind of humanist transcendentalism (not transhumanism) that we will need again, to realize what we have done to our planet, to realize what needs to be done to abolish the war machine consuming it, and to make ourselves whole again.

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https://kapitaali.com/the-new-hippies/

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHAT HAPPENED TO DISAGREE

The other cutoff, 38, has a hundred and forty, so can we have credit for the larger of the two we aim at. It's easier to make an inexpensive product more powerful than to make a million dollars worth of wealth in the world.1 If someone sat down and wrote a web browser that didn't suck a fine idea, by the way, the world would be that much richer. If a server got wedged, we jumped; just thinking about it gives me a jolt of adrenaline, years later.2 Makers depend on something more precarious: inspiration. The customer support people were about thirty feet away from the company, as well, when you look at the same time, as their next door neighbors. Burning through too much money chasing too few good deals. Rebellion is almost as stupid as it sounds. What's missing? Then a squad of QA people step in and start counting them, and that is exactly the spirit you want.3 As knowledge gets more specialized, there are twenty more that operate in niche markets.4

Presumably it killed just about 100% of the startups we've funded have. For most of the founders might decide to split off and start another company doing the same thing, you're probably not going to kill the company. And a good thing for the Democrats that their screen lets through an occasional Clinton, even if you don't do everything you're supposed to have. Some people could probably start a company with a valuation any lower. A great programmer, on a roll, could create a million dollars worth of wealth in the world. In a feudal society, there are a lot of people to ask themselves about this explicitly.5 People who didn't care much for religion felt less pressure to go to work for the Post Office for fifty years. Everyone knows these, because there are no releases, ports, and so on.

The danger here is that you get instant feedback from changes: the number of founders in the same business. And yet bullshit does have a distinctive character. Google, and Facebook all began this way.6 The important thing is to be young. If you want to understand change in economic inequality, is different from growing one. If two companies have the same kind of stock and get diluted the same amount in future rounds.7 Over time the teams have gotten smaller, faster, and more informal.8 So have we just shown, by reductio ad absurdum, that it's false that economic inequality is to treat it as a single phenomenon. It's hard to write entire programs as purely functional code, but you have less control over the rate at which individuals can create wealth as well as keeping worse time, mechanical watches have to be prepared to see the real Nixon.9

At the seed stage, investors don't expect you to have an increasingly prosperous society without increasing variation in income, but it could not have put into words exactly how their ugly ducklings were going to be good at what I did be satisfied by merely doing well in school. Plus they were always right.10 When I said I was speaking at a high school. But, like children's books, TV was also misleading. What Microsoft is this the Altair Basic of? If you ask yourself what you spend your time on them have to be small? The only company selling SSL software at the time it seemed the future. So despite those millions in the bank and keep operating as two guys living on ramen. Morally, they care about getting the big questions right, but not all jobs offer internships, and those that do don't teach you much more about the work than being a batboy teaches you about playing baseball.11 Our existence depended on doing these things right.12 And more specifically, is it possible to create wealth how much people want something x the number who do make it. And while some of the fragmentation we've seen?

Notes

But those are the first philosophers including Confucius and Plato saw themselves as teachers of administrators, and mostly in Perl. Nor do we push founders to try, we'd have understood why: If you actually started acting like adults, it may be some part you can remove them from the compromise you'd have to follow redirects, and they were going about it. A doctor, P.

Most people should not try to ensure startups are usually obvious, even though it's at least once for that reason.

I know it didn't to undergraduates on the richer end of the word wealth, seniority will become correspondingly more important.

Bullshit, Princeton University Press, 2005.

7 reports that in fact I read comments on e. And startups that seem excusable according to some abstract notion of fairness or randomly, in virtue of Aristotle's immediate successors may have to watch out for here, I believe will be better to overestimate than underestimate the importance of making n constant, it would take up, but this sort of idea are statistics about the smaller investments you raise them. Some of Aristotle's immediate successors may have been the losing side in debates about software design. The founders who take the line?

Investors are professional negotiators, and should in some cases e.

I warn about later: beware of getting credit for what gets included in shows is basically a replacement mall for mallrats. How much more depends on where you could turn you into a big angel like Ron Conway had angel funds starting in the future, and earns the right to buy stock, the big winners aren't all that value, counting users as active when they're on the parental dole for life in general we've done ok at fundraising is so plausible, you have is so pervasive how often have valuation caps, a valuation. So starting as a predictor.

Calaprice, Alice ed.

As he is at least on me; how can I make it harder for you; who knows who you start fundraising, but that's overkill; the Reagan administration's comparatively sympathetic attitude toward takeovers; the Reagan administration's comparatively sympathetic attitude toward takeovers; the critical question is only half a religious one; there is a case of the class of 2007 came from such schools. I wrote a hilarious but also like an undervalued stock in that category. Candidates for masters' degrees went on to the decline in families eating together was due to fixing old bugs, and so on.

It's a bit misleading to treat macros as a consulting company is common, to buy your kids' way into top colleges by sending them to.

I'm not saying it's impossible without a time machine, how much they'll pay. Successful founders are driven by the normal people they're usually surrounded with. And no one else involved knows French. If you're trying to decide between two alternatives, we'd be interested to hear about the nature of an urban legend.

If Apple's board hadn't made that blunder, they wouldn't have the same amount of material wealth, the higher the walls become. I used thresholds of. When you had a day feels like it that the usual way of calculating real income, or at least 150 million in 1970.

[selfproducingfanfictionauthor]

to be treated this way - chapter i

pair: shownu x reader 

summary: When your alpha - sort-of - found his true mate, you’re stuck dealing with the aftermath and the coming of your next heat. So when your friend suggested a “dating service” to aid you, signing up seemed like a no-brainer. So, you’ve prepared yourself for the dominance, the adrenaline-fueled by fear and arousal and the constant out-of-this-world sex but when you meet Shownu, everything you know about Alphas is challenged. He’s soft - for the lack of better word. He cooks you meals, he takes you out on dates… all of which are not really necessary for an Alpha - Omega relationship… right? Whatever. You’d just really, really, wish he’d touch you now warning: this story may be slow-paced at the start, no other warnings for now - also, boo seungkwan’s appearance! a/b/o dynamics! 

Many poets and writers have tried, failed and came close to describing what true heartbreak is. Such fundamental human experience is so universal that many men and women across history have drawn inspiration from it and created amazing works of art - sculptures, plays, books and songs. At the back of your mind, you remember reading something like - “If nothing saves us from death, at least love should save us from life” and although it’s beautiful and you certainly want to be saved, you feel like it’s too dramatic to apply to your own situation.

Even though you certainly feel like dying right now.

Mouth dry and head pounding, you blearily open your eyes to the sight of your blinking alarm clock. The numbers 1:03 pm mocks you in all its inherent cheeriness. Underneath the cocoon of your warm bed, you squirm, sweating and uncomfortable – feeling like you just want to crawl out of your skin just to reach the itch between your skin and bones. Fists closing and unfurling, you try to resist the urge to scratch, knowing that there’s nothing to find beneath, nothing to offer you relief.

Kicking off your sheets, you try to reign in the uneasiness. At the back of your ears, you feel the itch worsen, crawling down your nape burning down its path. Rubbing yourself against the scratchy texture of your bedsheets feels like heaven and hell alternating between five seconds – the brief relief only highlighting the torment of your hormones tenfold.

Time seem to pass too slowly as you try to muster the strength to get up. But your body refuses to cooperate, your limbs heavy and your mind foggy. This is what you hate the most about suppressants, the side-effects feels like punishment for being born an omega. Your head feels like it’s submerged underwater, and you don’t hear your apartment door opening with a bang.

“I’m here!” Seungkwan sings, grocery bags hanging from his arms. His eyes roam your kitchen before landing on you through your open bedroom door. At the sight of you, his mood drops. ”Oh my god, what are you doing!”

Your best friend rushes over to you and grasps your wrists, quickly pulling it away from your arms.

Streaks of scratches marred your neck and arms while you tremble. He notes with a small amount of relief, that at least, you didn’t break skin.

Aish, this girl.

Relief flood you at the familiar smell of your friend and his cool hands, drawing away from the heat marked by your nails. You let him drag you up to your couch. Sitting down, he grasps your wrists with one hand and reaches for one of the grocery bags with his other.

“Next time I see him, I’m gonna kick him in the nuts.” Seungkwan swears, agitated. Between the two of you, there’s only one person he could be referring to. You wince at the thought of Geun-woo, the alpha who had once frequented your bed. Pulling you out of your thoughts, Seungkwan fishes out a sheet of tablets and pops one open for you.

Trusting you to control yourself, he lets go of your wrists and hands you a bottle of water from the same bag.

“It’s not his fault he found his true mate, Seungkwanie.” You sigh, after swallowing the pill. You don’t know if it’s placebo or not, but immediately, the irritating itch and heat under your skin recedes.

The beta rolls his eyes. True mates, bah – people throw it around like a free pass. “True mate or not, it doesn’t mean he gets to drop you like a hot sweet potato – which you are, sweet and you look like a potato, woman, get yourself together! – and ride off into the sunset. Any decent alpha knows that omegas need weaning –”

Seungkwan goes off on a rant that you’ve heard on loop for the past week.

Geun-woo was a friend from the university. As alphas tend to be, he was popular and well-liked by your peers. His designation spurred him to be in the best shape he could be, drove him to win championship after championship for your university football team. After graduation, he went on to train for the national team and was – is – on his way to being a national athlete.

You could talk on and on about who Oh Geun-woo is to many people, but you could summarize what he was to you in three words: not your boyfriend.

The arrangement between the two of you was simple. You were adults, busy people living busy lives interrupted almost monthly by your heats and ruts. It was a logical and practical way to ensure that neither of you spend your vulnerable biological ~events~ alone. It was a good arrangement and after two years of it, you could honestly call Geun-woo a good friend.

However, the downside with spending such time so often with someone you’re not bonded with is you develop what experts call, a quasi-bond. It has all the effects of being bonded but dialed down by almost a hundred. You think it’s an exaggeration but you, an unbonded omega, really isn’t in the position to do so.

So when, Geun-woo found his true mate at some meet abroad, he dropped you faster than you could blink.

You don’t blame him, but man, it sucks.

Seungkwan glanced at you, sighing at your silence. Sending a prayer above, he fishes his wallet and takes out a card. “I have a suggestion.”

With your heat coming at you, barreling in the next two weeks, you’re just about open to any suggestion so, you hum behind your coffee mug, “The floor’s yours.” Well, at least the little of it that’s still visible under your clothes and knick-knacks.

“Before you say anything, know that I am suggesting this out of the goodness of my heart. But why don’t you consider this?” Seungkwan implored, handing you the card.

The black and purple card reads; “SS Matching Services” and under it, their company motto; “We’ve got the match for you.” With their office address and contact number.

“A pimping service?”

“Ya,” Seungkwan protested, red-faced, “Take your 19th century standards out of the gutter.”

His adamant protest startles a laugh out of you. For the guy who used to glare at anyone holding hands in public, your best friend has grown well. “Actually, it was worse in the 19th century but go off, I guess.”

Seungkwan leveled you with a flat look that had you raising your hands in surrender. No good can come from antagonizing the guy who just quite literally saved your life. “I’m listening.”

“Look, it’s just an option and it’s legit. Tough screening process too.” He takes out his phone and shows you the company’s website. Briefly, you glance at it before taking the card. Physically, it weighs like nothing but in your mind, it weighs like something amazing.

“How’d you know that?”

“My sunbaenim, uses this from time to time. It helps with his ruts. Win-win.” Seungkwan shrugs. You wonder which sunbae he’s referring to, given his many hobbies.

The website doesn’t look like it’ll give your laptop a virus, you’ll give it that. It’s classy and clean, and no random photos of just naked torsos. Good sign.

“You’re surprisingly blasé about this.” You laugh, eyes warm and surprised at how maturely Seungkwan delivers, only to laugh out loud at the sight of his burning ears.

You promised Seungkwan that you’ll check out the site but as soon as you got back to work, everything just swept you away.

That’s what happens when you work with kids.

Eyes warm with fondness, you quietly pat the bottom of one of your snoozing students. It’s nap time and your classroom has turned into some sort of sleepover area with all your students wrapped up with their soft blankets, nuzzling into their softer pillows. The early afternoon light filters into the room through the curtains, painting over the children with a soft glow.

Across you, another teacher takes the opportunity to get some of her own sleep in, curling herself protectively around two kids. Your classroom smells like baby powder and sweet treats, littered with small pastel chairs and tables. Its walls decorated with your students artworks and colorful cartoon characters.

This, this is one of the many moments that remind you why you became a pre-school teacher.

Many of your peers assumed it’s because of your designation. Omegas are naturally more inclined to take positions that require caretaking, given the innate desire to give care to others. Just like alphas are more likely to take positions that require leadership.

However, you muse, cooing as the young beta in front of you snuggle closer to your lap, many tend to gloss over the many manifestations of one’s designation. It’s true that by virtue of being an omega, you’re naturally more inclined to take care of your peers. Your so-called softness being the defining quality of your group.

But your omega manifestation is… a bit different. Sometimes, it makes you wonder how you got hired as a preschool teacher in the first place.

“Teach’r, sleepy time?”

Glancing down, you see the young beta pout at you. Waving away your thoughts, you slide down to her side and let the afternoon light lull you to sleep. All thoughts about your heat fading away quietly.

Soon, naptime was over and so is the day. Parents slowly trickle in, one after another, to pick up their children. Most of them harried from work, but still smiling at you and your co-teachers in gratitude.

“See you tomorrow, Rahui!” You call, as the last student leaves.

The little girl in her puffy sweater turns and smiles at you sweetly. “Bye, bye, teacher! Sleepy time!”

You flush at your student’s comment much to her mother’s confusion. After falling asleep earlier, you’d woken up to a clean classroom and several of your students hovering over you. Your pre-heat symptoms felt like they’re coming too fast for your taste.

Waving her off with a smile, you untie your apron and walk to the staff room where the others are. It’s almost 6 pm, and your daily staff meeting’s in session. In front of the room is your superior, an older bonded omega, with deep dimples on her cheek.

“Good job today, everyone.” She starts off, smiling at the soft cheers from everyone. “As you know…”

Your superior continues on to talk about the children’s upcoming activities. Vaguely, you hear her talk about a field trip, or is it a field demo? Shaking your head, you try to clear your thoughts but it seem like everything’s underwater, and no sound is escaping from her lips.

“… right, y/n?”

Blinking, you focus, and sent her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, you were saying?”

Your superior smiles forgivingly, “I was asking about that self-defense class you’ve been wanting to teach. When would you like to schedule it? Of course, pending approval with everyone’s schedule.”

Immediately, a large smile appears on your cheek. It’s approved?? You’ve been proposing that seminar for months. Most of the omega teachers were wary of the thought but warmed up to it recently. Especially when you mentioned how it’ll help them protect their kids – their students – more.

“How about two weeks from now?”

“Anytime!” You offer. The enthusiasm isn’t lost on your co-workers, some of them shaking their heads in amusement.

Your superior looks over your office board and hums at the chart. It contains all your schedules, including leaves, conferences to attend and heat cycles. With one look, your heart drops.

“Actually…” you start off, wincing at the thought of inconveniencing everyone because of your biology. “My heat is coming up in two weeks…”

Surprisingly, or not, omegas are actually quite liberal in discussing things like this. It’s simply part of the biology you live with. So your mortification is unfounded as your co-workers nod in understanding, quickly suggesting different dates.

Your superior nods, and glances at your work log book. “Well, we could schedule maybe four weeks from now to get you time to recover? Don’t forget to file your leave.”

Right.

“I still can’t believe she flew you in for her rut.” Jooheon’s laugh and disbelief reaches Shownu’s ears before he even steps inside. Smiling to himself, he finds his friends lounging in his living room, completely comfortable and completely unexpected.

Jooheon looks up at his arrival, “Hi, hyung! We let ourselves in!” 

“I can see that.” Shownu nods in greeting, trying to remember who he gave his spare keys to. He’s pretty sure he didn’t make six copies of his set. Shrugging off his coat, he look on, realizing how his living room looks smaller with a bunch of guys occupying it. Jooheon and Minhyuk are on his couch, Changkyun’s on his stomach on the floor, playing with his phone and, Hyunwoo and Kihyun are by the window drinking a can of beer each. 

That’s one, two, three… four, five… 

“Hey, you’re home! And – are those protein bars?” The paper bag is snatched from his hand, before Shownu registers, blinking slowly as Wonho disappears once again into the kitchen. 

The smell of jajjangmyeon invades his senses. Ah, yes, guys’ night. 

Shortly after his arrival, everyone gathers in the dining room. With the two youngest improvising chairs out of the boxes Shownu hasn’t had the chance to unpack, having just moved into his new home a month ago. 

To the eldest’s surprise, everyone pitched in with dinner, bringing different dishes and filling the dining table. Assorted cuts of meat are sizzling over the portable electric grill Wonho brought, several small plates of side-dishes and… are those buttered crabs he’s seeing? “What’s this?” 

Minhyuk shoots him an amused glance over his beer, “You don’t really think we’ll let you off without a house warming, right?” 

Shownu blinks, a small bashful smile forming on his lips, “But I’ve been here a month.”

An arm wraps around his shoulder and a weight shakes him back and forth. Kihyun rolls his eyes, getting into his personal space. “This is the first time we’ve been complete for a month! Just enjoy it!” 

Jooheon hums, his cheeks filled with lettuce and meat from the grill. “Yeah, I mean, though it’s only Minhyuk-hyung that hasn’t been around, too busy getting his dick wet.” 

“Oi!” their youngest protests, ears burning and nearly spitting out his drink. “We are eating.” 

Wonho heartily “taps” Changkyun’s back, laughing. “We’re all adults here. It’s not as if you haven’t heard or said anything worse, Kyunie.” 

“Yeah, daddy~” Hyungwon hits, reminding everyone of one very particular incident in college that featured a younger Changkyun and a girl from the bar, and the very thin walls of their shared apartment. 

Changkyun flushes before rolling his eyes, “At least I get some. Can’t say the same to you.” 

Scoffing, Minhyuk raises his hands, “Excuse me, I have no problem with that.” 

Before Minhyuk starts to dive into his sexual exploits, Kihyun saves the day and shoves a piece of meat into his mouth and diverts the conversation to work.

Over food and drinks, Shownu and his friends catch up on their personal lives – not having as much time to get together as before. Not with Wonho’s celebrity coaching taking off, Jooheon and Changkyun’s new artist, Kihyun’s voice academy and Hyungwon’s and Minhyuk’s modelling. 

Sometimes, Shownu feels left behind by the big dreams his friends are living but every day, he wakes up and goes home happy as a chef and food blogger. His appetite thanking him for the career path he chose. Besides, as Changkyun said, he could go big time if he wants, it’s just a matter of self-promotion which he’s terrible at given his shy personality. 

Dinner passes by with a blur and they find themselves nursing their last beers when Jooheon circles back to Minhyuk’s vacation. 

“So, hyung. How does it feel to fulfill your sugar baby dreams?” The young alpha jokes, his dimples appearing on his cheeks as he elbows Minhyuk. 

Stars appear in the latter’s eyes and with a dreamy sigh, he responds jokingly, “Just as I’ve always dreamed.” 

The one of the only two omegas of their group has never shied away from talking about his exploits, his looks and all the advantages he gets from it. Often, he jokes that’s why he became a model – to be admired and to fulfill his duties to the world and bless them with his godly looks. 

“She flew me to her family’s island, and we spent her rut and my heat underneath the blanket of stars.” Minhyuk recounts, all dreamy-eyed, “I felt really spoiled.”

“I bet.” Kihyun remarked, smirking. “Is this the girl you’ve been telling us about?”

Ignoring Hyungwon’s cough of which one, Minhyuk nods, “Yes!” and turns to Shownu, “She’s actually friends with Nayeon – who, by the way, is asking me about you, hyung.” 

Shownu blinks, before handing a can of beer to Wonho across him. “Me?” 

“Yeah, she asked why you never called her.” 

A chorus of ooh’s echoes in the room followed by a few gruff laughter. Shownu ducks his head and nurses his drink. Nayeon’s a nice girl, a model that he met when Minhyuk called in a favor for him to substitute as one of their shoot’s models after the original model called in sick. She gave him his number on a piece of paper before departing with a sultry look and a flying kiss. 

Contrary to popular belief, Shownu is not dense – or, more like, he’s not that dense. 

“Ah,” Shownu starts, “Um. I don’t think we’re looking for the same thing.” 

Wonho pauses and eyes him, before levelling the younger guys with a look that has them catching their teasing remarks and keeping it to themselves. Wonho has known Shownu the longest and knows that though his friend’s an alpha, physically, through and through, his disposition often throws people off. 

He’s soft when others are hard. Soft-spoken, patient like a saint and very careful with his actions and words. Wonho doesn’t even remember if he’s ever seen his friend get angry or aggressive in the span of their long friendship. 

A romantic at heart, through and through.

“Well,” Kihyun claps, breaking the quiet, “You know, no point in pursuing something that you know’s a dead end, right?”

Minhyuk pouts, sometimes a little bit insensitive in his enthusiasm, “But she’s cute! And she’s an omega too! Besides – wait—how do you even deal with your ruts?” 

Shownu’s face lights up like a lantern, the drinks doing nothing about the flush crawling up his neck. It’s not like he’s never spent it with someone, but every time, after the week of his rut, he always feel tired and empty. So for the past ruts, he’s been dealing with it - “Alone, with suppressants.”

“Yah, I thought you’d stopped taking those!” 

Constant use of suppressants for an alpha fucks up their cycle and even their moods. Wonho knows this the best because he was on it for several months back in college, before he started becoming confident enough in his newfound muscles and height. 

“I did.” Shownu nods, assuring his friends. “I don’t use them anymore. Just when I’m… you know. It’s just easier to deal with.”

All the alphas in the room scoff under their breaths. Yeah, it’s easy if easy felt like walking and dancing on hot coal in the middle of the hottest summer day. It’s not as if their eldest can’t get a woman just by standing by the bar, being his awkward self. 

At their little corner, Jooheon and Changkyun glance at each other, years of friendship evident in their wordless communication. Changkyun tilts his head, eyes widening and jaw clenched, “Go”, he mouths. 

Jooheon pouts, “Do you know how hard it is to get into their mixers, punk?” 

Shrinking at Changkyun’s flat stare, Jooheon rolls his eyes and sends a prayer to the universe asking for good karma. 

“Hyung, what do you think about dating services?” 

Notes: The stage is set for our two protagonists! I tried to incorporate as much world-building and character backgrounds as I can without it being over the top. Please leave comments and asks! :) I’m trying to stick to weekly updates. Also, support Monsta X’s next comeback! 

[cherry-valentine]

Winter 2021 Anime Season:

What I’m watching:

Log Horizon season 3 is all about the politics. Of all the “trapped in a video game” anime I’ve seen, Log Horizon has always been unique in the way it focuses not on the drama and action (although there is some of that), but on the world building of the “game” the characters find themselves stuck in. It’s less a game and more an entirely new world, one that the players, called “Adventurers,” are keenly aware of their influence on. The show focuses much more on the politics, economics, history, etc. of this world than it does on battles or romance. This sets it apart from things like Sword Art Online and the .hack franchise. Season 3 so far seems to be focusing on how the hub town of Akiba will be governed, with an actual election taking place. The Adventurers have to form good business relationships with the “People of the Land” (NPC’s, who in this world have their own personalities and lives and are just as developed as the players). The series goes into things like power systems, food supply, the politics of arranged marriages, and so many other things that make this world so interesting. Because of this, I’ve seen people calling the show boring or slow. I can understand how it could be seen that way, but I honestly find it fascinating. When the show does focus on action, it really nails it. So far season 3 has had pretty much zero action, but I’m guessing we’ll get some in the later part of the season. The animation is nice, with tons of characters sporting various designs. The music is great too. While I do miss the “Database” opening theme from season 1 and 2, this new one is pretty good. Watch Log Horizon if you’re into fantasy world-building. Avoid if you think a few episodes without a fight makes a series boring.

Beastars season 2 is a delight. I didn’t watch the first season as it aired, so I quickly caught up on Netflix before season 2 started, and I’m so glad I did. The show is definitely something I didn’t think I would enjoy, but everyone seemed to agree it was fantastic, so I gave it a shot. I intended to watch the first episode one evening to see what it was like and ended up watching the first eight in practically one sitting. For those unaware, Beastars is about a society of vaguely human-like animals (almost all of them walk upright on two legs and wear clothes, for example) and the conflicts between the carnivores and the herbivores (many of whom live in constant fear of being eaten, even though eating meat is illegal). The core of the story is about a wolf, Legoshi, falling in love with a rabbit, Haru, and all the complications that arise from that. Apparently, inter-species relationships are allowed, but frowned upon (I guess? It’s never explicitly stated either way). What makes this relationship interesting is the fact that the wolf is shy and awkward (and just generally a sweet guy) while the rabbit is more experienced and worldly. Something that struck me as interesting is that the rabbit Haru is sexually active, and has been with several different male characters. While the other characters, naturally, have things to say about this (calling her a “slut” or a “bitch” - the main setting is a high school after all), the story itself doesn’t condemn her for it. In fact, the story presents her in a positive light, sexual history included. The fact that she sleeps around is never portrayed as a negative aspect of her character, and Legoshi is very much aware of her activities. It’s a surprisingly sex positive take. Of course, this positivity doesn’t extend to the audience. Avoid comments sections on episodes of this show unless you want to see some rampant slut shaming.

I ended up talking mostly about season 1, but I didn’t get to do a write-up about it so there’s that. Season 2 is so far very good, dealing with a plot thread that had been left dangling in season one: an herbivore student was murdered and eaten in the first episode, and the mystery of who the killer is was pretty much dropped in favor of character development and world building. But season 2 is addressing that mystery in earnest, and it’s been exciting to watch Legoshi pursue the case. Overall, it’s an engaging show that I regret sleeping on until now. The opening and ending themes are real bangers and the animation looks great.

Dr. Stone Season 2 was easily my most anticipated series this season. It was my favorite show during it’s first season and is my favorite overall this season as well. The show is just so fun. The very quick and basic plot setup is that humanity was turned to stone in the modern age and, thousands of years later, the earth has been retaken by nature. A teenaged scientific genius named Senku breaks free of his stone shell and decides to save everyone and bring science and technology back to the world. In conflict with him is Tsukasa, a physical powerhouse who wants to destroy all the stone adults and create a utopia for the youth. Season 2 leaps right into the war with Tsukasa’s army, with Senku and his allies actually building a primitive cell phone to communicate over wide distances. The charm of this series has always been in its mixture of science facts and methods (all based on real-world science and theoretically possible) and dramatic action between well developed characters, both presented in equally exciting lights. It’s just as much fun watching Senku and his friends gather materials to make a vehicle as it is watching the various skillful warriors battling it out. The art style is something often commented on, as the character designs take a little getting used to, but the animation itself is very nice. As per usual, it has amazing opening and ending themes, with my favorite opening of the season.

The Promised Neverland Season 2 is a bit of a mess. I don’t follow the manga, but I enjoyed the first season of the anime very much and, just by virtue of being on Tumblr and being aware of the series, I ended up hearing about some major plot points from the manga that had me excited. So season two started and the first few episodes were great. But then things started seeming rushed, or just not quite right. A glance at the comments on the episodes revealed that entire story arcs had been skipped, and it really shows even to someone like me who hasn’t read the manga. And one major event I had seen so many images of from the manga is clearly being done in a completely different way in the anime (one that lessens the scene’s impact quite a lot). So... I’m not sure how to feel about this series. It was one of my most anticipated shows this season, but now it’s dropped down toward the bottom, and that’s disappointing. I guess I’ll finish this out and then consider picking up the manga, since apparently this is so different it won’t be spoiling much.

World Trigger Season 2 was a bit of a surprise. I only found out about it a few days before it began airing, and I honestly hesitated when deciding whether or not to watch it. When the first season aired, I loved it. I was sure it would be a new favorite. But then the filler arcs started, and they were almost unbearably boring. I dropped the series and always wondered if the show went back to its former greatness. So when season 2 started, I wondered if this was more filler, or if the filler arcs had ended in season 1 and I’d missed out on some content that I’d need to watch to understand season 2. Plus, my memory of season 1 wasn’t so great. With these thoughts in mind, I decided to watch the first few episodes of season 2 and see if I could make sense of it. Luckily, all of my concerns flew out the window pretty quickly. By the end of the first episode, I was enjoy it so much that I didn’t care about any of the things I’d been worried about. Sure, I might not have remembered all the names or all the details, but the important stuff was coming back to me.

The thing World Trigger does best is juggling tons and tons of characters. I know a lot of anime have large casts, but few of them have so many characters active in a single story arc, and even fewer of them handle those characters so well. Even though it’s been a few years since I watched season 1, and there were dozens of characters popping up in the first few episodes alone, I remembered most of them as I saw them. This is because all of them are memorable, well-designed, and interesting. I think it says a lot about the cast that, in the first several episodes, the three main protagonists are completely left out of the action, and we only get a brief glimpse of them. And this did absolutely nothing to hinder my enjoyment of the show. The supporting characters are so strong (both in-series and in terms of the writing) that the protagonists were not even missed. And I’m not dunking on the protagonists here. They’re great, fun characters. Aside from all this, the show has simple yet attractive art with a ton of variety in the design work. The music is nice, with one of the better opening themes of the season. The action is well choreographed and it’s just a fun series overall.

Sk8 is one of only two totally new series I’m following this season, and it’s a blast. Following a handful of eccentric skate boarders who engage in one-on-one races, the show is equal parts funny and exciting. The main focus is on two skaters, the energetic Reki and the Canadian snow boarder Langa, whom Reki is introducing to the world of skate boarding. The first thing you’re likely to notice about this series is just how colorful it is. It’s like the show itself is in love with color. It makes the art very striking and pleasing to look at. Honestly, it’s worth watching for the eye candy alone. Luckily, the series has other things going for it as well. The budding friendship between Reki and Langa is humorous and sweet, with very little of the usual “rivals who act like they hate each other but are actually friends” shenanigans we see so often in anime. They’re just two nice boys who are nice to each other, and that’s refreshing. Another high point is the gloriously flamboyant villain, Adam. He’s a real treat whenever he’s on screen. The show has an overall light-hearted feel, with enough emotional moments to keep it from becoming too silly. I don’t know much about skate boarding, but this anime makes it look awesome.

Kemono Jihen is the only other new series I’m watching this season. It primarily focuses on a small group of mythical creatures (or half-human/half-mythical) living in Tokyo, operating a detective agency for cases involving creatures like them. The protagonist is Kabane, a young boy who is half human, half ghoul. He’s apparently immortal, to the point that severing his head doesn’t even seem to cause pain. Due to being neglected and mistreated by his adoptive human family, he lacks social skills, but his earnest attempts to make friends and help his companions make him an endearing character. While this type of “urban fantasy” story isn’t new, it’s executed rather well. The characters and their abilities are varied and interesting, the art is competent, and the music fits. There’s a bit of a gross-out factor, with at least two cases involving insects, so be aware. It’s not my favorite show this season, mainly because it doesn’t seem to bring any new ideas to the table, but it’s entertaining enough to keep a spot on my watch list despite me being absolutely brutal when trimming that list down this season. Worth watching, for sure.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons:

Black Clover

Jujutsu Kaisen

Best of Season:

Best New Show: Sk8

Best Opening Theme: Dr. Stone Season 2

Best Ending Theme: Sk8

Best New Male Character: Langa (Sk8)

Best New Female Character: Kon (Kemono Jihen)

[lawblrwithalcohol]

A Modest Proposal for the Modern World

   It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great nation, or travel to others, when they see the streets, the roads, and tenement-doors crowded with gig-workers of all kinds, found in three’s, four’s, or six’s, all in thrift-store-bought clothes, and refreshing LinkedIn every five minutes.  These ... adults, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood and advance their careers, are forced to employ all their time searching for four hours labor to pay interest on student loans and rent on run down boarding houses, instead of being accountants, designers, speech-writers, historians, and musicians.

   I think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of underemployed adults is due in no small part to the prodigious number of unintentially old adults, who, through no fault of their own, have lived far beyond what was once believed to be the natural life span of a man, and who, through their own mismanagement, have not the savings or security to retire the field and spectate on the great game that is our magnificent capitalist economy; and therefore whoever could find out a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these old adults give up their postings and leave for the young and hungry the incomes of their posts would deserve to have his statue made of finest stone and his placard inscribed in gold.

   But my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for the old adults still reaping the benefits of their postings for the fifth decade: it is of a much greater extent, and shall take in the whole number of adults past their seventy-third birthday, who now take safety and surety from the young either by holding on to positions of monetary reward or by claiming public benefits for more than one decade.

   As to my own part, having turn my thoughts for many years, in between looking for gigs of my own, upon this important subject, and maturely weighted the several schemes of our projectors, both government and private, both liberal and conservative, I have always found those projections to be grossly mistaken in their conclusions.  It is true, an aged man requires less food, space, and amenities than a young one, but the aged men I see do in fact elect to use more than even three young men!  And I see no harm in allowing a period of years, certainly no more than ten, for a man to relax and enjoy the fruit of his labors while he still has strength of limb to do so.  But it is precisely when this strength fails him, when all his prodigious wealth is turned to pills and potions and prolongings, that I propose he should instead think of how he might contribute to the betterment of society.

   There is likewise another advantage to my scheme, that it will prevent that slow spiral and decay that all fear and which many know as The Long Goodbye: the loss of memory, of fellowship, of freedom that makes of a man a shell of who he once was.

   The sheer number of souls in this land being usually reckoned upwards of 100 million, of these I calculate there may be 15 million so-known aged adults, from whom I would subtract two million as those who live with family and instead of being burdensome instead provide support in the form of cooking, child-care, cleaning, and other non-economic benefits, but this being granted, there will remain 13 million aged adults.  The question therefore is, how this number shall be brought to see the common sense of their retirement, which, as I have already said, under the present situation of affairs, is utterly to blame for the stagnation and infantilization of the young adults of the nation.  For the young can neither gain entry to those fields for which they have been trained nor advance if they were lucky enough to receive an entry level position, often requiring a minimum of five years of relevant experience, without the removal of the top of the hierarchy so that those of middling age may advance and free up postings for the young.

   I am assured by our bankers and economists, that a man of years, but no more than 60, is a valuable worker, a sharp mind, and a driver of the great machine of industry, but that a man beyond that is all too often trapped in his way, antiquated in his approach, and full of rust in his gears.  He does not aid his employer or his field by remaining on the pitch and should instead be sent home to enjoy his last few days on this earth out in the fresh, which is just reward for spending so few of his days before then out of sight of his desk, calendar, and fluorescent-lit office. 

   I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

   I have been assured by a very knowing Chinese of my acquaintance in Seattle, that an old, decrepit man, is, at 73 years old, past his prime as a man and in his prime as kindling, his muscles having disappeared and his frame instead filled out with fat, for the fires of our power plants, though of course he must first be humanely put down and drained of all congealing fluid.

   I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration, that of the 13 million aged adults, already computed, all may be be disposed of by exsanguination and immolation to decrease our reliance upon foreign energy suppliers and reduce the burden on our governmental support structures while increasing the availability of profitable and desirable postings for the young men and women of our nation.

   I have reckoned that a man in this country will weigh 165 pounds upon retirement, most of that muscle and bone, but, if given ten years of leisure, he will weight 225 pounds and most of it will be burnable fat.

   I grant that these men will be somewhat rare in more healthy climes, but those climes are well suited to supplying energy through solar or wind anyway and do not rely upon fuel-burning plants to create electricity.

   The supply of these gentlemen will be guaranteed, as our country has very fine healthcare and is able to ensure that any man of standing is able to live to see 70 at the least, provided the man himself cooperates with his health and is not subject to fast living.  This measure will also have the benefit of freeing our healthcare industry to more readily focus on those great problems faced predominantly by the young, who have no money with which to fund such research today, as opposed to those minor affections endured by the old, such as erectile dysfunction.

   I have already computed the output of such a man’s frame, and have found it to be about the same as three gallons of foreign-bought oil; and I believe no gentleman would object to his own immolation if he knew it meant we would be free of foreign interest and beholden to none other.  Thus our cities will be alight, our young burning with ambition, and our industry steaming along.

   Those who are more lean, as some men become in their age instead of fat, may still take solace in knowing that in joining with all others, they have not failed their country, but instead carried out the finest duty we could ask of them.

   As to the collection of these men, our hospitals and hospices are already equipped for the administering and transportation of them, and our doctors and nurses well know their needs and complaints.  Have no fear, these men shall receive only the finest of treatment as their wick burns down.

   A very worthy person, a true lover of his country, and whose virtues I highly esteem, was lately pleased in discoursing on this matter, to offer a refinement upon my scheme, He said, that many wives of this nation, having lately been discouraged from cooking traditional, Julia Child-esque meals, might find new life and vigor in the knowledge that those meals would be most desirable by the government, and that cookbooks, programs, and community classes on preparing hearty and vigorous meals should be a priority of any scheme that seeks to make use of the old.  I heartily agreed and thanked him for such enlightening advice, and assured him that I would roll out such an addendum the moment my scheme was adopted.

   I have perhaps too long expounded on the potential of this scheme, and therefore shall return the the meat of it: I think the advantages my proposal are obvious and many, as well as of the highest importance.

   First, as has already been observed, it will great reduce the number of underemployed gig-workers as the positions at the top will be emptied, soon to be filled by those in the middle, leaving open the middle for the bottom to grab, and opening the bottom postings for the young and hungry.

   Second, the ramshackle neighborhoods and dilapidated boarding houses will be done away with as those newly employed shall find newly vacated housing units in far nicer neighborhoods, leaving the slumlords to refurbish or demolish their slums.

   Third, whereas it is always good to reduce our dependence on others for power, our use of foreign oil will go down and our global power will go up.  For surely no harm ever came of disentangling ourselves from the business interests of other nations.

   Fourth, the children of the aged will be relieved of the overpowering burden and heartbreak of The Long Goodbye and will instead know the day and time to make their farewells.

   Fifth, the taxes exacted by our government shall decrease as there will no longer be a need to maintain a man’s livelihood for three decades after he is no longer working.

   Many other advantages might be enumerated, should the time be taken to fully explore the ramifications of this proposal, but for brevity’s sake I will not do so here.

   I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged, that a number of people will thereby much lessened in the nation.  This I freely own, but as the population will decrease proportionately across all states, no state shall gain advantage and no seats of Congress will be reapportioned, saving perhaps those of Florida.  

   Therefore I ask that none talk to me of whatever faux destractions they may conjure for my plan, lest they have some other scheme that would do so much good for the nation.  

   I profess in the sincerity of my intentions, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing trade, providing for the young, reliving our tax burden, and giving some pleasure to those stuck in the middle.  I have no grandparents.  I have no children who would benefit from these measures.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damn this was fun to write!  I claim no copyright, having lifted several sentences and passages from “A Modest Proposal”, but ask only that the internet not burn me at the stake for my attempt at comedy in these trying times.

@charmedatlaw I hope this made you laugh, or at the least, shake your ruefully.

[ivendarea]

The Kessem

The Traitorous Descendants

Banner art based on and supported by my Patrons ♥

The Kessem of north-western Atrana make up the majority of the Assadin population of Ivendarea. Led by Zerenda onto the shores of the Nyr’s homeland a little over 500 years ago, the peninsula has become their home as much as it is for the Nyr. Many came not only to conquer, but ironically to also escape the political instability in their homeland Astairus, which shortly after their settling down here fell and broke apart during a civil war. While it is true that war and battle lie in the Kessem’s blood, maybe the Assadin’s as a whole, a great majority of them are not in favour of most past battles fought on Ivendarea’s grounds and violent actions by the Omrai Omvalis.

Table of Contents:

Culture and History

Cultural Heritage

Historical Figures

Language and Dialect

Shared Values

Common Etiquette

Fashion

Art and Architecture

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Courtship Ideals

Relationship Ideals

Continue reading below or on World Anvil

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Culture and History

Before the fall of Astairus the Kessem were the most influential monarchy of Atrana, with a large nation under their rule and great power over their neighbouring countries and vassals. The Kessem of Ivendarea who never got to know modern Atrana, where Astairus no longer exists and Zerenda’s bloodline has long died out, hold on to this memory of glorious days, striving to recreate this glory in their present. At the same time, they also keep in mind constantly how fragile power can be - and to what great responsibility it is tied.

Cultural Heritage

Kessem children are brought up with the virtues of great warriors and leaders, which go far beyond just physical and mental strength. To move forward in the eternal fight, one needs the ability to think and plan critically and strategically, to be determined and passionate, and to not back down in the face of peril. They are taught to become the best, strongest version of themselves. Conflict, fighting, and war are present in Kessem culture even in comparatively peaceful Ivendarea. Duels are commonplace when one party severely wronged another - in Atrana these duels can be fought to the death depending on the severity of the insult. More commonly though all participants are unarmed or only carry blunt weapons so that pure physical strength and willpower make the difference in the outcome of the fight.

Symbolic fights are also carried out as a coming of age rite. Even in Atrana they are evolving into more of a symbolic ritual with no real stakes, but in ancient days actual fights were carried out between young adults who had to challenge a seasoned warrior to prove that they were ready to face the responsibilities of adulthood.

The outcome of these ritualistic fights wasn’t and still isn’t what mattered though. It was important only that the young adult was ready to face this intimidating challenge on their own, demonstrating initiative and the capability to make tough decisions. This is one of the main reasons why the arena of Westpoint is particularly popular among young Kessem. While battles to the death are forbidden, many young people love to fight to demonstrate their strength on these proving grounds, earn decent coin in tournaments, and bathe in the cheers of the watching crowd.

Historical Figures

Within Ivendarea’s borders Zerenda is without a doubt the most famous Kessem: he is the conqueror of Ivendarea. As the youngest of three siblings and prince of Astairus he always felt misplaced and not in his father’s favour. Rebelling a lot against the king’s authority he received an ultimatum: to conquer Ivendarea for Astairus. Zerenda though had his own plans, and instead of handing over the conquered nation he decided to keep it himself, renouncing his father’s authority and the continent Atrana as a whole. He is an outcast, a rebel, and a symbol of hope and new beginnings to those who followed him.

Since then Zerenda’s descendants sat on Ivendarea’s throne, the current ruler being Leoros. He is the first Ivendarean ruler to marry a foreign monarch, in this case princess Therstina of the neighbouring nation Darthonis. Leoros’ older brother Alund was actually his predecessor, but he died when Leoros was still an infant. Alund led the Assadin forces against Iovana Rava during the the Revolution War and emerged victorious, securing his people’s regency in Ivendarea. 

Ulden, father of Alund and Leoros, was famously murdered by the Omrai Omvalis led by Erraia and Aella Panthil’y; his murder in the long run caused the Revolution War and Maan Garth’s split from the mainland of Ivendarea.

Language and Dialect

Like all Atraneans the Kessem’s native language is Azash. The majority of Kessem in Ivendarea are also fluent in Trade, but only people coming from an educated background speak more languages than that.

Shared Values

Coming from a continent shaped by war, many of the Kessem’s traditions and customs revolve around the so-called “eternal fight” that must be fought. In Ivendarea war is much less commonplace and so much of the Kessem’s old rites of passage involving fighting and physical strength aren’t as commonly practised anymore. They have evolved into symbolic, ceremonial rites signifying important steps taken in their lives.

The “eternal fight” is, in the simplest way, life and survival. The struggles an individual faces growing up, taking on new responsibilities, facing challenges in the shape of people with clashing opinions, personal tragedies, disasters, disease, but also the many small victories in everyday life are part of the eternal fight.

The Kessem are sometimes seen as very stubborn, but also immensely enduring of even the worst of peril and challenges, because every setback they treat as a means to test their strength, an obstacle they are willing to overcome at all costs.

Common Etiquette

Kessem are open and upfront, they are not in favour of intrigues and secrecy. Their keen sense of honour is reflected in the way they lead their interpersonal relationships and the way they fight their battles. Winning a Kessem’s trust is difficult, but once it is earned, they will honour and hold on to it - they are the most loyal friends and allies one could wish for.

Fashion The Kessem stem from a portion of Atrana dominated by desert, with little water and vegetation but rich mineral veins buried in the earth. Since most of them are at home in Ivendarea’s warm south, their clothing is light and airy. Colours are bold and warm, and their clothes often feature sharp geometric shapes reminiscent of their bold attitude.

Similarly their jewellery clashes with the long, airy tunics, resembling armour almost, as it is forged from shards of metal, woven from fabric scraps, and then pieced together to create a varied mosaic of shapes and textures.

Notably, many Kessem also wear body- and face paint or are tattooed. Body paint is often applied for religious and other ceremonies, or simply for aesthetic reasons. Common symbols are forces of nature, such as the sun, or paints are layered thickly on top of each other until they crack, resembling the dry earth of their old homeland Astairus. Tattoos, being permanent changes to the body, often bear much deeper and personal meaning, such as overcoming a grave tragedy or achieving a great victory. They might also show allegiance to a certain family or faction, but those tattoos are more commonly seen on Atrana nowadays, not in Ivendarea.

A middle-class Ivendarean Kessem donning face and bodypaint depicting a radiant; an inhabitant of Maan Ganyr or a surrounding village as her lightweight clothes suggest.

Art & Architecture

The Kessem are not necessarily known as artists or scholars, but instead as outstanding engineers. The love for mathematics is reflected in geometric patterns found on clothing, in floor tiles, roofs, paintings, or tattoos.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Like many Assadin the Kessem pride themselves to be talented warriors. An athletic and strong physique is commonly promoted and favoured, no matter the gender. Most Kessem have thick hair, from straight to pronounced curls and everything in-between, and they prefer to wear it long while putting a lot of care and effort into keeping it healthy. Long, natural hair to them symbolizes nature’s beauty - and they honour how nature created them by letting their hair grow freely.

Reasons to cut one’s long hair short may vary overall. According to legend, Zerenda cut off his hair, even shaved his head, after renouncing his allegiance to Astairus and Atrana. Similarly, after severe changes in one’s life people may symbolically cut their hair - the more impactful the event, the more hair is cut off. Another reason can be the donation of one’s hair at a temple. Hair as a religious sacrifice can express the hope for a good harvest, giving up a part of oneself to show allegiance to the forces of nature, or might be an expression of gratitude for great personal luck or accomplishments. Depending on which temple the hair is donated to, it can be treated differently. A Sun Temple might simply burn it in a sacrificial ritual. The priests of a Rain Temple often offer the fabrication of wigs for people who lost their hair due to accident or illness. In a Stone Temple or Tree Temple items of everyday use are created, for example fine brushes, rope, fabric, and so on.

Courtship Ideals

An aspect of business and social standing is an ever-unchanged part of Kessem courtship. It isn’t unheard of that parents find partners for their children and arrange unions for them, but in Atrana this is much more common than in Ivendarea. Courtship is polite and never too personal, honouring personal space. To outsiders it may sometimes appear stiff or cold, but it is considered common courtesy to not get too personal until both parties involved have agreed to deepen the relationship.

Relationship Ideals

In Atrana and Ivendarea alike it is still common practise to pursue long-term relationships that further an individual’s own social standing and connections. Particularly when it comes to marriages, they are mostly treated like a business relationship rather than an emotional bond. Both parties must gain something from the marriage that brings them further in life - love can be a part of a marriage, but it isn’t essential. Hence, even if it isn’t common, it is socially accepted even for married partners to have one or several lovers on the side.

In Ivendarea marriages out of love are more common than in Atrana, but they also mostly occur among people of lower social standing with less influence. A marriage is always a bond between two people, a contract is written beforehand and signed by both parties who have equal rights and standing in the relationship - hence why it can be used as a steppingstone to a higher social standing for the socially or politically lower-ranking partner. It is not completely unheard of that individuals are married to several partners at once - all with their separate contracts - but it is a rare occurrence tied to a lot of bureaucratic effort. Terms and conditions in marriage contracts vary - they might revolve around politics, number of children (if any) to result from the union, business relationships, money, worldly possessions, and so on, and are as individual as the people involved themselves. Also, if desired, marriages can be agreed upon for only a limited amount of time, until a specific goal is reached - e.g. a certain amount of children has been born or a specific wealth has been reached, etc. - and then end with the partners going their separate ways or extending the contract. In the same manner both partners have the right to annul a marriage at any given point and by this divorce their partner.

Thanks so much for reading ♥

Read more about Ivendarea on World Anvil

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[tadiwachiweleposts]

16 Lessons You Learn Growing Up Poor!

Nobody picks when and where they are born, that’s just something beyond anyone’s control but despite that fact, some people manage to outgrow their initial position.

Let’s talk about the lessons most common to those born under poverty and how to leverage these experiences for personal gain. Certain circumstances that we go through in life are what prompts our minds to be as creative as we could ever have imagined had we not gone through them. 

#1 Nobody is coming to solve your problems, you have to do it yourself.

Growing up poor accelerates your maturity because responsibility is handed over to you earlier than what’s considered the normal time when living a good life. You understand that the only way of getting good things is by working hard for them to come. You understand that if you don’t take action there are more hungry nights coming. Christmas and Birthdays are basically a myth because you barely got any presents, let alone hold any parties to acknowledge the special days because it simply couldn’t be done. Funnily enough, when you’re still young everything feels normal, you think that’s how everybody lives like until you grow up and you start to see the differences between how you live and how other people live. That’s when things get a bit complicated.

#2 Money can definitely buy happiness when happiness depends on money.

If you grow up with nothing/poor you know damn well that money does buy happiness and everyone else is just uttering nonsense. It’s not purchased over the counter, NO! But you can buy gifts for your sibling’s birthday, you are able to pay your bills the water charges and the electricity bills. Growing up and working your way out of poverty is really hard because when you’re hungry all you can ever think of is getting something to eat with no know-how of getting the money to buy the food. That’s why those who grew up poor and later became rich have much more appreciation of money than those who grew up with it.

#3 You learn to get things done – even imperfectly.

When you grow up poor, it doesn’t really matter to you how you fixed a certain problem as long as you got it fixed. How many times have you had to use a phone with a screen guard taped on top of a broken phone screen? How many times did you have to repair things? How many free trial emails do you have? How many times have you had to buy gadgets or even clothes from an unclear source with no questions asked? As long as they got the job done. When others are busy discussing how a problem should be solved, you learn to become a person of action. “Done Now is better than Perfect Never!” Some of these things are really beyond your control and until you can afford well, you will still use platforms like y2mate to rip the latest songs from YouTube, once you are no longer poor, you don’t have any problem purchasing music from Spotify or iTunes.

#4 You don’t take things for granted.

“The more you have of each item the less you treasure each individual piece.” When you grow up without much, you tend to appreciate everything that you got, your phone, your watch, that good pair of jeans. Whenever you get something from someone as a gift, it has a drastic impact on you because it doesn’t happen often. It doesn’t only look at materials but even if you were to get an opportunity to get to the next level of society, if being poor really bothers you, you’re more likely to give it all.

#5 You have this Hunger inside of you other people don’t.

There’s always this deep need to prove yourself, to escape, to grow, to eat more! This hunger is probably the most valuable thing you have inside you. Hunger is much more powerful than intellect or connections, WHY? Because it keeps you moving when other people are going to quit. “You don’t work – You don’t eat” this saying comes in many different contexts, even Apostle Paul in the Bible mentions it too. Every successful person has this fire that continues to burn inside of them. That’s why you see them always going the extra mile at everything, ceasing every opportunity that comes their way. Every single day, one person who grew up poor is outperforming one who grew up rich. However, you must be willing to put the work in if you want the hunger to make you successful.

#6 The value of being creative.

Creativity in the definition is the art of creating value from less using only your ability to connect dots differently. Because of the circumstances, you’re forced to find alternatives, ways around certain roadblocks, and make do with what you have. Everyone growing up poor more or less goes through the same thing. People with more access to resources are less creative. To be able to think outside the box only comes from having restrictions. 

#7 You lean that the only place to go is UP.

In a very messed up way growing up poor has a bit of twist to it, WHY? Because you’re already pretty miserable and more or less rock-bottom. Everything you do is a new step on the ladder out of here. You didn’t have it easy so you take a vow to use the hunger you have in yourself to make a better life for your children. You always looked at those growing up with more with a bit of envy and resentment because they didn’t get to go through what you went through. But that’s the paradox of being self-made. If you grow up poor you resent kids who are born wealthy with more opportunities, but if you make it in life and provide enough for your kids. It’s your kids who become those kids you resented when you were a child because their poor peers probably think that you were born wealthy. “Nobody chooses where they are born, but we all choose what we do with the life that was given to us!”

#8 If you don’t ask the answer is already NO.

In business, there is a popular phrase, “Everything is negotiable”. This is such a powerful statement and also the state of mind to be in. The moment that you understand that reality is negotiable you start seeing doors where you only saw walls before. How many NOs turned out to be very lucrative opportunities when the follow up was, “What will it take to make this happen?” It’s because you’re now working together to finding a solution from the obvious price discounts, to job opportunities, to big deals we never thought possible. Even if you don’t get everything that you want but the impact of you getting out there in one direction can have side benefits you never realized in the beginning. Ask for what you want. Go after the race, that client, that #dream, that project, and then figure out how to deliver on the deal.

#9 You learn social Finesse.

They don’t teach you to read a room in business school. They have a term for it called ‘Situational Awareness’ but they have no idea how to quantify it. Growing up poor you learned how to read the saddle signs of society, like how to tell from a mile away if someone is going to get punched. By the virtue of being brought up in a more harsh environment you are not easy prey. You quickly learn that your personal space is more important than somebody else’s feelings. That goes with the saying, “Never argue with fools because, from a distance, people can’t tell who’s who!” You also learn how to push someone’s buttons for personal benefits if you have to. These skills give you a really good advantage when it comes to real-world negotiations.

#10 People will judge a book by the cover.  

It doesn’t matter how much you wish to believe it isn’t so but reality has proven the opposite. From the clothes, you wear to the amount of respect people assume they should give to you based on the preset profile they’ve assigned you. From a material perspective, “Growing up poor is like growing up 10 years in the past, compared to everyone else!” You don’t have the latest state of the art laptop or smartphone or the newest and coolest shirt and it’s just the facts that you have to deal with. This is especially impactful in a society where social media has driven all of us to be instant judgers of someone based on the way they present themselves. You decide in just a couple of seconds if you’re going to like this person or you’re just going to swipe right or left. If you’re not focused on long term goals it’s easy to fall into the whirlwind of playing social shreds. That’s why you see people who are not doing well wear expensive clothing, that’s why you upgrade to the latest iPhone when you’re still sleeping on the floor: - ). The true value lies in the ability to understand that people will judge you by the cover but your success is determined by what’s inside the book. Looking successful and being successful are completely different things and people get it twisted all the time. Make sure you have a great book and then spend as much time as you can designing the cover.

#11 Simple things can mean a lot.

It’s easy to lose ourselves in the idea that only big things can have an impact. Growing up poor you find value even in the smallest acts of kindness, it doesn’t matter how proud you are. If a helping hand reached out and you knew you needed it, this help really revived your trust in humanity and it’s the little things, someone being kind to you, someone treating you like an actual human, giving you an opportunity or telling you they believe in you. Having someone in your corner who believes in you and has your back is such a powerful thing that has a major effect on your life. Once you make it, only then can you trace it back to the little things that made it all possible.

#12 Learning to multi-task because you had to.

Growing up poor, you’re part kid, part parent, part supporting member of the family. You do things because someone has to and everyone else is doing their share. You might not excel in any of them but at least you’re learning how to balance between urgent matters. You grew up juggling a bunch of balls and now that you’re an adult you find out you still have to juggle things but at least you now have some experience. Imagine having not to worry about any of the things you had to do growing up and then all of it suddenly comes down crashing on you because of an external force.

#13 If you can’t afford it, you don’t need it.

And if you really need it, you got to work really hard for you to get it. Growing up poor forces you to make certain choices because you simply can’t afford to get everything you want. It teaches you to make do without the off the shelf solution. Although it’s a very humbling experience, in time you learn you can move past certain situations despite your obvious lack of resources. Take this mindset and apply it to other parts of life and you’ll see how useful this is. Most people don’t start a business because they don’t have everything they think they need for a smooth sailing so they never start at all. You don’t need a fancy laptop, you don’t need the best of the best to get started instead do what you can with what you have and work your way into it.

#14 If you don’t do anything about it you’ll be stuck there.

Growing up poor you understand that there is a real probability of you never escaping that place and the life that comes with it. It messes with your mind, you’re looking for the quickest way out and that’s why most people never make it. There is a distinction to be made between building your own staircase out and the hope that somehow you get lucky enough to be pulled out. If that’s you, don’t wait for the big break, don’t wait to win the lotto or to get your first class degree because that’s what the rest have been waiting for and well, look at them now. You have a real decision to make, are you okay with being stuck here for the rest of your life. If not, slap some sense into your senses and get busy. Time is ticking and you’re still in the same place you were in 5 years ago.

#15 It makes you appreciate how far you’ve come.

Deep down you know how far you’ve come, you know what you have had to go through to get yourself in this fortunate position that you might find yourself in. This may not be the dream destination you’ve wished for since you were young, but the journey is still not over. Looking back on your past you see how certain decisions have influenced your life, how your choices literally made you the person you are right now. If this looks so well looking back, maybe you should look ahead this time. What choices do you have to make to end up where you want to be, make those choices, and one day you’ll recall this moment at some specific point in time, you consuming this piece of content when something clicked inside of you and you were better off because of it.

#16 You’ve got nothing to lose.

Best case scenario – you get everything that you’ve ever wanted. Worst case scenario – you are back to living the miserable life that you’re already living. The moment your mind understands this, you will never be the same. You already got to where you are right now on your own, this is your new baseline. Things might fluctuate but you can always get back to here if you had to, so do it and DO IT big. Go after it and see what happens. Statistically, all you have to do is try and you’re still going to be better off than you’re right now. Match that try with some effort and discipline combined with the skills you’ve learned on your way to this point and you’ve got a great chance of making it. Look at what you’ve managed to achieve with the effort you’ve managed to achieve so far, things you’ve had to overcome with the mindset you’ve had to change, with the tools you’ve had to acquire. Don’t miss it, don’t take this opportunity that you have for granted, GO BIG!

#Goals #Life #Lessons #GrowingUpPoor 

[donnerpartyofone]

#4

In 2018, with the help of some concerned and informed people in my life, I discovered that I’m probably pretty autistic. The driving factors were not what you might expect (I didn’t, anyway)--chiefly, a kind of persistent clumsiness, disorientation, organizational difficulty, trouble learning certain practical tasks--but it helped explain a lot of things about me that one might otherwise consider “quirks”. I had always taken for granted, for instance, that I have a lot of trouble recognizing faces, including ubiquitously famous actors, or members of my own family. I have also been accused from time to time of taking things “too literally” (to which I usually reply something like, “But this is literally what’s going on in reality, how does literalness make it dismissible?” I really don’t get it). Also, most typically, I have never liked being touched. “You’re just like Dave Letterman!” my dad chortles, an interpretation I don’t mind. I think it might also be pretty autistic of me to be so averse to family. I don’t have the slightest inclination toward maternity, which one could guess from the previous passages, but it’s more than neurosis. I know intellectually that people care about their families; the same way most people burst with pleasure at the sight of a baby, any baby, they also respond automatically to the very idea of blood relatives. As a kid, I was always baffled by the obsession other kids seemed to have with their cousins, or how in love they could be with their grandparents. In my world, you obsess over people to whom you have something to say; people who share your taste in art, your politics, your philosophies, your passions and phobias. I don’t understand relationships that are based on blood alone, on being trapped in the same place and time by virtue of pure circumstances.

Today, as my friends are all having babies one after another, I find myself strangely fascinated by them. Some of these people have struggled all their lives to find a sense of belonging or purpose, and having children has given them a sense of meaning beyond anything they previously hoped for. As someone who continuously struggles to find a sense of purpose, which I base exclusively on my intellectual and artistic pursuits, I’m amazed by the idea that I could potentially put all my existential confusion behind me if I were willing or able to become a mother. I can estimate how profound it must feel to create life, and then to become responsible for turning that life into something good. But, I remain unable to attach meaning to the idea of something being “a part of me” on a purely biological basis. I have insurmountable trouble thinking of my biological predecessors as being “where I come from” on the identity level. I can’t imagine being so sentimental about being an organism in a colony of like-organisms, not the way I am about people who have brought me experience and taught me to think.

So, even if I were without the mother-related trauma heretofore detailed, I still think there is something about who I am as a person, that would have made me recoil from my grandmother. My mother’s mother was the platonic ideal grandmother, a plump, pleasant old lady with a syrupy southern drawl who seemed to have stepped out of a cookie commercial. Excessively generous with money, food and affection, she presented as a person any family would welcome in their household. However, I always detected something oppressive about her. I was raised to be guiltily dutiful toward her, so as a child, I thought my suspicion and repulsion was just a problem with me. It must make me an asshole, that I don’t want her to hug me with her entire body for such a long time that I can’t figure out what’s going on anymore and I’m suffocating from the heat. I must be a dick, that I don’t want someone chasing me around, staring at me, posing me and jostling me like a baby, which I haven’t been for years. Maybe it was my problem, that I didn’t want her to burst into the bathroom and shriek with glee at the sight of me on the toilet trying to take a single solitary piss. Maybe I was just being a jerky teenager when I froze in horror while my grandmother sat next to me at the dinner table, gazing smolderingly into my eyes like a lover and caressing my hair non-verbally when I was perfectly capable of having a respectful adult conversation.

As I grew up a little more, I began to pick up on the fact that she drove both of my parents nuts. All of this motherly pageantry was incredibly manipulative, and really a way of controlling people. The creepy coddling I received as her granddaughter was really something she did to everyone. She was bright, incredibly shrewd really, a person whose hard work and frugality produced a self-made millionaire, though this didn’t reflect in her humble home. She was a dyed in the wool republican who was capable of watching the Daily Show with appropriate delight. Actually, she had a weird sadistic sense of humor; I always thought she got a little too much joy out of seeing little boys get smacked in the nuts by speeding baseballs on America’s Funniest Home Videos. That probably bothered me because of how she unforgettably screamed with laughter at my flinching when she took me to get my ears pierced. Everything indicated that, regardless of her age and conservatism, she wasn’t a vulnerable, senile old biddy, but a keenly intelligent woman very much in touch with the real world. This made it endlessly disturbing to me that she so insisted that everyone around her act like a little baby, adults and children alike, so she could rule us all as the ultimate mommy. Her aversion to grownup conversations and self-reliance was a way of forcing everyone into a Rockwellian time capsule in which everything was predictable and hygienic, in which mother knows best. Literally any admission of imperfection could trigger an outburst that would enslave everyone to the process of cheering her up. I recently heard a story about a Christmas visit during which she and her husband were lavishing attention on my brother as if I wasn’t even there. Concerned that I might be lonely, my father suggested that they include me in this play session. At this recommendation, my grandmother burst into hysterical tears, and my parents had to spend the rest of the night apologizing for accusing her of being neglectful.

Eventually, I learned little by little that she was more than just a prototypically clingy old lady with a keen talent for doling out guilt. It was a little weirder than that, and ultimately, a lot darker. First, there were the things I had heard about my mother’s life as her daughter. I remember a story my mother told about a birthday party that her mother threw for her when she was little, sometime in grade school I think. Her mother said that she had hired a gypsy woman to tell everyone’s fortunes, which was extremely exciting. A little carnival tent was set up in the back yard, and all the kids lined up to hear about their futures. When my mother’s turn came up, she walked in, only to find her mother in there in a turban talking with a corny accent, as if her own child wouldn’t know who she was--let alone any of her friends. My mother told this story to explain how embarrassing her mother was, but what I picked up from this was less a funny story about how parents traditionally humiliate their kids, and more like evidence that my grandmother’s identity is completely rooted in her position as an apex matriarch, well beyond anyone else’s intelligence or control.

The way she infantilized me was not an ordinary byproduct of having a grandchild, but something she did to everyone in her life, historically, up to and including my adult parents. She certainly continued to do it to me as an adult, and she insisted on a childish sort of positivity that I could barely muster. I thought, if she wants us to have a relationship, I should talk about my life, which sometimes includes complaints--or simply categorizing things as just-ok, or business as usual. Of course, she found this extremely irritating for some reason, and would pressure me to change my story with declarations like “YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE SO MISERABLE!” One Christmas when I was really in a bind, I called to thank her for the holiday check she had sent me, saying that it gave me much-needed help in making my rent at that time. “Oh...well, I thought you would do something nice with it,” she said in a strange tone that let me know she was sort of angry with me for some reason. I had to sort of bend the truth into a story about some special treat I supposedly got myself in order to get her to cut it out.

A better example of what was really going on with her also had to do with Christmas. You know Christmas: If you’re a little kid, you get up at about four in the morning, you beeline for the tree and try to peak into the openings in the wrapping paper, you wake up your parents either by force or by the shockwaves coming off of your person, you all open presents together in a sleep-deprived daze, and you’re basically all back in bed by 10am. Well, this might happen with my mother, but once my grandmother was awake, a ritual began. First, she would get out her camera, and follow my mother back into the bedroom. There, my mother would get back into bed, and pretend to be asleep. Then my grandmother would take a picture of my mother “waking up.” Then, another picture of her theatrically delighted expression when she “remembers” that it’s Christmas. Then a picture of my mother entering the living room and exploding with joy when she sees the tree for “the first time”. Then pictures of the presents being opened, then etc...this whole completely artificial passion play of my grandmother’s little family having the perfect Christmas.

Much, much later, I would find out what all this debasement was probably really about. It had to do with my great aunt. I knew that this woman, who I have rarely ever met in my life, and her daughter both suffer from brutalizing clinical depression. The daughter actually has an electronic device in her brain that acts like a pacemaker for depressive episodes. I had never even heard of something like that before, but it made perfect sense to me that this person and I would be in the same gene pool. Naturally, though, my grandmother would not have found such a dour defect so sympathetic. My grandmother and her sister seemed to have some kind of amorphous feud going on. My grandmother complained relentlessly that her sister refused to spend enough time with her, and I usually thought about how unfair she was being to a woman who has had cancer multiple times, whose energy is leached away by depression, and whose daughter is also routinely sick and almost uncontrollably suicidal. Apparently there was a history of slights and passive aggressions between the two women, though none of it topped the thing I ultimately learned about their family. At some point in their lives, my long suffering great aunt admitted to her sister that she had been raped by their father. I never knew the man, but he was supposed to have been sort of a son of a bitch, and there were other reasons that this made all the sense in the world to me. I remembered a story about how, after he died, his daughters found years’ worth of private writing that he had produced. It sounded like they were really raunchy violent western stories, which my parents were naturally interested in seeing, until they discovered that my grandmother had burned it all. “It was PORNOGRAPHY!” she declared. It’s a little hard to tell whether she was simply appalled by this rather un-Rockwellian artistic deviance, or if she was especially bothered because she knew him to be real life predator. In any case, it would have been impossible to know, because when her sister confessed that their father had violated her, my grandmother basically gave her the finger. Or rather, she gave that whole upsetting topic the finger, and then insisted that her poor destroyed sister continue to be her faithful companion as if none of it had ever happened. “It’s so painful!” my grandmother cried when her sister refused her most recent invite to brunch, and it took everything in me not to say, “Yeah, well, can you think of any reasons by yourself why she might not be fucking dying to hang out with you all the time?”

So it became clear to me why my grandmother might be so controlling and belittling, why she might try to force everyone into a performance of endless childhood, why she might expel from her life anything that smacks of imperfection. It still remained very difficult for me to just suck it up and be what she wanted me to be, not so much because I’m especially proud of my personality--a personality that in every way would repel her if I were to reveal my private world of crime, horror movies, pornography, fetishism, occultism, anti-capitalist sentiment, and of course, suicidal ideation. I also had trouble being the granddaughter she needed because of this autism of mine; it doesn’t make any sense to me to dissimulate, I’ll never become a smooth enough liar to pretend to be somebody’s innocent little baby, even if it would benefit me to do so. Making things up makes no more sense to me, than it does for someone to say “I love you” without meaning “I’m impressed with your personality, your intelligence, your culture, your morality, your humor, your...” It doesn’t make sense to me for someone to say, “I don’t care who you are, I love you because you’re my baby.” I made my best efforts in her last years, but nothing will stop me from feeling guilty toward her for the rest of my life. The way that she died fucked me up so badly that I’m only beginning to realize it now.

[shrewful]

WIP’s & Main Characters; A List

It’s time I actually started functioning like an actual writeblr, folks! With this guide, y’all can (must, I mean. this is a demand and not a request) ask me questions, request info or short stories on certain WIPs or characters, and generally force me to put what's in my head on paper — er, screen.

Apex Tempest (Previously Perish & Prosper) 

My beloved main WIP, constructed from the corpses of about three or four other failed WIPs. This WIP is fantasy, but world-building heavy, partially founded on the idea that everything — and I mean everything — would be completely original. No borrowed gods, no monsters from real-world myths, and no Tolkien species; Apex's gods (entities) are vague and strange, it's monsters are grotesque, but elegant, and in later books that will take place in the same world, will feature a cast of original fantasy species. Apex Tempest's plot follows the story of the climax of two entities' eternal battle through their disciples — pseudo-demigods, for the folks at home — and how their plans are foiled by a deal, a rogue destiny, and gay rights.

Spirit In The Woods, or, El’ai is our intrepid main character. They are a special flavor of crouching moron, hidden badass. From being raised by skeleton smoke ghosts in the half-dead forest island of Akther, they have little to no social skills they can use when they head to the mainland (they’re also just naturally a bit oblivious). At the same time, El’ai is not only an incredibly good fighter but has a bold heart of gold; they do good for the sake of doing good, and while it may not seem too important, this sets them apart throughout the book as the one to move the plot along. 

Velvera is both our villain and love interest; surpassing enemies-to-lovers to the coveted, strange, and confusing grey area of enemies-AND-lovers. I could write a three-page essay on her character; she’s a bit complicated, so I'll be fleshing out her personality and relationship with El’ai through chapter tidbits and short stories. In short, she’s a dissociated biologist who is so dissociated that she literally agreed to end the world in exchange for the ability to manipulate cells — an ability which she almost only uses to study biology, like the big disaster nerd she is. 

Mauve City

2nd to main WIP right here, probably. Follows the story of Sodapop Bonegreive, affectionately nicknamed ‘Bone’; an 18-year-old boy looking to become an animator. However, his plans are thrown off the rails when his uncle‘s business goes completely downhill, leaving their little family with not very much to live off. Bone turns to the internet for job opportunities and acquaints Morgan, who guarantees him that he can earn enough money to fund both his family and college funds in just a single year. Bone accepts, and before he can pack his bags, finds none other than Morgan lounging on his windowsill the next day. What follows is a trip to Mauve City; a rust-belt city that both became prosperous and disappeared from the worlds’ memory in a matter of years, and Bone’s transformation from art student to mobster on the streets of the city with no rules. 

Bone is the main character, and of all my characters of any WIP, the most beloved thus far. I legitimately have no clue why, of all my characters, Bone has garnered the most affection over the past few years amongst my friends. At his core, he is awkward, unsure of himself, but generally well-meaning, but the circumstances he is put under force him to develop a new persona; sly, debonair, cold, and professional, but with wit and mischief to go around. 

Morgan is morgan. oh boy

Lucile is always at Morgan’s right hand; they were once in a relationship, but not anymore, though Lucile still sticks by him. She is grim, quiet, beautiful, but in a melancholy way, like a stone angel. She has a bigger part to play in the second book that is only hinted at, but here, she is a friend to Bone and something of a behind the scenes player. 

Below are my 2nd-Tier WIPs; they are far less active or developed than the ones above. 

Wind Up, Dollface, and Ickster

These are my oldest standing WIPs with, surprisingly, the least amount of details character-wise; Wind up and Dollface are two sister books that have events that occur at the same time, while Ickster is the two’s prequel. They can be read in any order. In Ickster, magic is discovered and thus known as ‘Ick’; the sentient plasma with strange qualities that is theorized to make up souls. This force can be used in many different ways, and thus, as It Do(TM), the government creates a branch of the military known as the Icksters, dedicated to using the new force as a weapon to fight in an upcoming war. Ick becomes the worlds’ most coveted technology, and the Icksters, whose masks and cowls were originally designed to hide their identities, become celebrities, and their masks and cowls individualized and made unique to give them special identities. One thing leads to another, bing bang boom, Ick-based armageddon and fallout time! Many years in the future, we find ourselves in our two sister books; in Wind Up, our main character is made of metal and glass and goes on a quest to discover her creators, and in Dollface, our main character is made of cloth and stuffing and goes on a quest to overthrow their creators. Why? How? I guess you’ll have to read it, bucko!

Ickster never got any solid main characters; I wasn’t even going to write ut as a book. It was originally just going to be the backstory discovered in the sister books until I realized that it was rad.

Dollface’s main character is Tink, who I am renaming sometime; a human-sized wind-up doll with amnesia and a missing dad. They go on a search to find said dad and end up uncovering ancient mysteries and wracking up a band of companions along the way. 

Dollface’s main character is unnamed as of yet, but basically, they’re a life-sized ragdoll who goes about freeing his people.

The Adventures of Deadhead, & How Charlotte Saw Red (ADHCSR)

We’re now getting into the Megaspace (will explain... sometime.) Earth books; this, The New Inferno, and Fairy Floss all take place in the same world. The setting is urban fantasy, and while there are quite a few sci-fi esc crazy metropolises in this world, our story takes place in mediocre not-big-enough-to-be-a-proper-city, but-too-urban-to-really-be-called-a-town Slatesburgh, and surrounding suburbs. We follow the story of Charlotte, daughter of a disaster of a witch, and her best friend; Deadhead, the living corpse her mother put together, because why not? They start a band with rotating other members and slowly make a name for themselves, playing against bands of satyrs, vampires, and more, all whilst trying to keep a considerable distance from Charlotte’s unwelcome admirer, Sweetheart. Meanwhile, local mistreated lad makes a deal with an evil warlock trapped in the body of a raven for power so that he can fix the mess that the adults of this godforsaken town created, and it’s up to Charlotte and the band to make sure he doesn’t create a regime in the process (because again, the adults of this place are useless). 

Charlotte fucking rocks. She’s quiet and straight-faced to create a no-nonsense image but is a purveyor of nonsense herself -- being one of the most responsible people in the book, whilst also having a solid philosophy of doing the first thing that comes to her head, which tends to be either a blessing due to having great ideas, or a curse due to magically-backed anger issues. She’s another character you gotta read to know, but what is for certain, is that her design is rad. 

Deadhead is a lovable wreck that moves the plot along by virtue of being kidnapped every 2 chapters -- no one knows how or why Charlotte’s mom made them, and since no one wants to deal with Charlotte’s mom, they tend to just snatch them up. They’re the type of person to take the cigarette out of your mouth and eat it when they pass by you.  

Ochre is the villain/main character of the semi-political subplot. After being kicked out of his house by his guardians and almost dying of hypothermia -- something the magic counsel was supposed to prevent -- Asmodeus, a warlock, comes to offer him a deal. Asmodeus is a warlock; once incredibly powerful and considerably evil, but after the crusade against warlocks, was turned into a bird like all the other warlocks. Asmodeus can’t use his power himself, but had figured out how to seep his magic into another being; and, stumbling upon this emotionally manipulatable teen, decides to take him under his literal wing. 

Welcome to Summersbook; the Quadrilogy

Though these four books are Megaspace books, they do not take place on the same earth as the others. But it’s still earth. I’ll explain later. These are all semi-realistic fiction; while they definitely could happen in the real world, there will be more than a few times where you will need to suspend your disbelief. They follow the stories of the Senior, Junior, Sophomore, and Freshmen classes of Summersbrook Highschool and their various hijinks, each with its own tone; the Senior book follows Gamboge, a wise and intelligent kid that speaks, dresses, and acts like a stereotypical ‘hick’ and is treated as such until other kids of his grade stumble upon him for wisdom, comfort, and good dialogue -- all until the end, where the people Gamboge helped band together to help him back. It’s focused on provoking thought and is centered around dialogue and character relationships rather than action. The Junior class follows Lucky Bird of the Bird family and her plucky, painstakingly nicknamed compatriots as they try to improve the quality of their town and the lives of their friends. This book is filled with hijinks and mischief, and while there are a good few emotional moments, it’s mostly a feel-good adventure between best friends. The Sophomore class is my favorite; Summerbrooks’ in-famed Cannibal Class is filled with a colorful array of inexplicable geniuses with too much time on their hands. This would be far from an issue, if not for one moment; when Wulver Bathgate asks his compatriots how they’d go about making a quick buck. What follows is a capitalist drama, taking up the mantle of ‘comedy’ only because of the whiplash that follows going between “there’s a communist coup d'é tat” and “in room 101 with the drama kids” in the same sentence. The freshmen class’s story isn’t quite decided yet.

Gamboge is, as previously stated, the stereotype of a hick at first glance. He’s almost as pale as he is pink with sunburn at any given moment in time, wears torn jorts, rarely a shirt, and some variety of a loppy-brimmed hat. Every day after school, he sits in the same patch of grass and moss under the same tree, and every day, more and more new faces show up for his rumored good advice. Though he does dispense some good words of wisdom throughout the book, he struggles to get through to himself

Fletcher Blue is someone who you get to know through bits and pieces of dialogue throughout the Senior book. 

Lucky Bird suffers big-family-with-cool-siblings syndrome; each of her siblings had a claim to fame, whilst Lucky, well, didn’t -- all except Lucky’s famed luck. Lucky begins her quest to improve her dingy town out of a need to validate herself but quickly finds herself with different reasons along the way.

The Sophomore Class’s characters are yet to be solid.

Fairy Floss

Dr. Bealiamonte, local space mutant scientist, created 6 super-artificial intelligences designed to watch over the world known as the Noble Intelligences; Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon, and Radon. What followed was an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity -- but, that period came to a screeching halt. The intelligences had been given bits of human emotion and empathy, but not too much. They were also given the ability to criticize themselves, leading to their eventual discomfort with the fact that they didn’t entirely understand their subjects, the humans, even if they ruled well anyways. Thus, the Nobles created the second generation of super-intelligences, effectively built with the emotional capabilities of a human and the computing capabilities of a supercomputer. These were known as the Halogens; they almost immediately became unstable and began wreaking havoc. In response, The Odd Fellows, a secret society bent on the protection of the world, sends out operatives to stop the raging robot-gods, with Fairy Floss amongst their ranks. Both sci-fi and fantasy, because hell yeah. 

Fairy Floss has the most beloved design of all my characters, in my humble opinion, though I accidentally made her look like a Black Panther; beret, small circular sunglasses, a pastel pink shawl, tall black boots, and braid-bun. Still working on the personality, but her first language is Esperanto. 

The New Inferno 

The New Inferno follows Dante, our local debt-swamped fresh college graduate, with nowhere to live except the particularly stereotypical haunted-house esc victorian home passed down to him by his eccentric rich grandfather. Dante is almost-but-not-really surprised that this house isn’t actually as abandoned as it seems; it houses a variety of ghosts that Dante’s grandfather had collected over the years. These ghosts reveal that Dante’s bloodline, which is able to be traced back all the way to the Dante, Dante mother-trucking-Alighieri, Durante-di-gott-damn-Alighiero-degli-trucking-Alighieri, has the unique ability to interact with those from the afterlife and its associated creatures. From this fact, his ghost compatriots suggest a way out of Dante’s financial issues; ghosts are actually quite plentiful, all stuck in the mortal world after leaving some sort of business unfinished. This is not-so-pleasing to demons and angels, as they are the ones who manage the afterlife, and having a soul out of place is like having an itch un-scratched or a box-unchecked; after all, mortals aren’t the only ones who can’t rest until things are finished. Thus, when Dante assists a ghost in completing their business and thus sending them wherever they need to be, he often gets a reward from the angels or demons that receive them -- usually via finding 50 bucks in the street or winning a lottery he never entered. But, things start getting hectic when those angels and demons begin requesting more and more -- and, before he knows it, there’s a demon on his futon and what looks to be a flaming mass of golden rings, eyes, and wings in his kitchen. Will our coffee-fueled protagonist make his way out of the forest dark? Who knows! Dante sure doesn’t. 

As my newest WIP, Dante is also very fresh and not too developed. Upon ask, I will actually start writing a solid personality. I’m not entirely sure on what hour of writing this I’m on, so I’m gonna leave this at that.

[inanawesomewave]

MALADAPTIVE SCHEMA? I HARDLY KNOW HER!

I never know the correct term to use when describing someone who is trying to crawl out of their personality disorder. Is it recovery? Self-awareness? Is it decompensation? All I know is, that’s where I’m trying to be — someone who juts around antisocial personality disorder, knowing they can never find an exit, but is making the place quite a pleasant home. I’ve put lamps up near my childhood trauma to create mood lighting. I’ve papered my unhealthy coping mechanisms in pleasing, calming hues. I am placing beautiful copper and rose-gold accents around the edges of my ego, so I can see my reflection only sometimes, and when I do, it’s pinkish and bright. In terms of my disorder and the flawed personality I have been diagnosed with, I am trying very hard to make it all work for me. This involves a whole heap of knowing what I’m about, but luckily, that’s something people with ASPD are normally quite good at. What was it they said on Mindhunter? Sociopaths know very well they have complex, interior worlds, they just don’t believe anyone else does. I’ve heard that and I’m trying, but the most important part is, I know my interior world has its dark and dingy corners, and I spend 99% of my time spring-cleaning them. 

As we’ve all agreed before, personality disorders seem to form around maladaptive schemas, or core-beliefs, or whatever you want to call them. Essentially, these are systems you believe to be true about the world, other people, and yourself, that you have believed from a very young age just as your personality was forming, and now your personality has formed around them in some kind of twisted way. More often than not, you developed these beliefs so you could survive in a world that didn’t make much sense. There’ll have been adults/caregivers around you who share similar beliefs, or maybe you developed those beliefs to appeal to them or bargain with them, rather than emulate them. Whatever happened, you’ve got those beliefs now, and they’re stuck right in there like so many endless pine needles hidden in the carpet that will find their way under your skin long after Christmas is over and right up until Christmas begins again. You’ll never be free of them. The cycle will always continue.

Antisocial Personality Disorder is made up of such core beliefs. We may have intuited from a young age that the world is something of a dog-eat-dog place to be, a place where survival is reliant on what you can take from others; that there’s a finite supply of everything, right down to abstract concepts like love, trust, faith, support, and so you have to grab what you can and not be hampered by worrying about anything or anyone else. Empathy, then, can disappear, or fail to maturely form. It might be hard for someone with ASPD to understand and therefore give weight to the thoughts, feelings and views of other people, be dismissive, suspicious and fearful of close interpersonal relationships, and have a binary view of interaction as a black and white transaction of dominance and submission, parent and child, giver and taker, etc. Because these beliefs wormed their way into our psyches from childhood, for a lot of people with ASPD, the truth of these beliefs and why they got there will sometimes never become apparent, they’ll only ever be the background whir of dysfunction that generate the energy required to perform antisocial acts. But for those of us who have a diagnosis (or even a keen awareness of ASPD and ability to relate it to the self), the battle is half-won. We know there’s something up. We’d like to know more. Sometimes, we may realise that being quite so antisocial in this relentless a manner isn’t helping us to function any more, and in those situations, we need to be aware. I’ve always agreed that ASPD isn’t necessarily something you suffer from, it causes us very little pain. What hurts is sentience. It’s knowing something’s wrong and having a desire to fix it — there are no mental health resources available to us, we are fixing it alone. 
 Today I realised one of my core beliefs is fucking me up, and I need to unfuck myself about it. 

 Throughout my life, I’ve barrelled along in a big ball of angry knots about the fact that I genuinely believe that in this dog-eat-dog, eye-for-an-eye world, my worth is lower than that of everyone else around me, so I must fight to the top of the shit-heap and prove I’m here and I exist. I don’t want to be crowned, I don’t want ceremony, I’m pretty sure I don’t even want dominance, but I want to know that I’m seen and heard. It’s very probable that I am, but in my head there’s this big, buzzing neon sign that flickers on and off in the grimy darkness that reads: IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU. This concern of mine has followed me around my whole life, and I still don’t what came first in this chicken-and-egg — is it because people have always overlooked my pain and expected me to care for them, or do I just think that's what’s going on because I have this belief? Honestly, it’s probably the former, but the former may be just one small square at the beginning of a hopscotch of sociopathy that I then spent my life stomping through. 
I’m drawn to caretakers, but caretakers of other people. What I’m doing when I find myself surrounding myself with people who never need to know how I’m doing is a double-edged sword: it’s great, because that way I get to blend in, go unseen, learn and not be learned, heck, I don’t even have to learn myself // it’s awful because I was right all along, I’m unimportant, so everyone else must be unimportant because I’m no better or worse than anyone else, and that’s why I don’t have to care about anyone but myself, and even then I don’t need to care that much about myself, and that’s why it really is every man for himself, and that’s why I don’t need to work on my empathy at all; because nobody really has it, it’s a lie, some kind of construct or abstraction. Silly, all this navel-gazing, isn’t it? You’d be forgiven for wanting to know how on earth I get through the day having to think like this. Well, I’ll tell you.  I even it out. I am also very drawn to cold and aloof types who are emotionally unavailable, and without delusion or a desire to change myself or them; it’s not because I want to nurture them, there’s no desire to help or fix, but because I feel comfortable talking to people who are upfront about not caring about others and I like letting them be awful because then I am allowed to be the awful me I need to bleed out on occasion; these people are the outliers in my friend group, and they feel essential in terms of evening out any Mary Poppins act I may find myself indulging in. Like, okay, sure, look at me drinking tea with nice people and talking earnestly about us all fixing our problems with a great sense of camaraderie and community, but also peep me here talking to my cold-blooded brethren as we laugh heartily about the awful things we've done and would like to do, talk about ourselves for a long time and never blame anyone else in this slithery circle for doing just that, because we're all on the same page. It’s a balancing act, and it usually serves me quite well. Also, I like to have sociopaths and narcissists in my life on my terms. That way, we're not fucking each-other over. We're just fascinating each-other, maybe even learning about ourselves in the process, we may even be finely tuning our own senses of being by virtue of being surrounded by such entertaining mirrors. Power plays come in, struggles for dominance, but everyone’s aware of it. It’s fun — picture a powerful business executive who pays a Dominatrix to beat the shit out of him. It’s that same level of measured control. 
But still, on the other side, are my friends who are relentlessly good and escape this tarry blackness, and who, as such, relentlessly see the good in others. Why is it I’m hurt more by these people than the wolves I also hang out with? 
 If a wolf doesn’t want to help me through my own personal hell, that’s fine, and they know I'm not going to be there for them when shit goes down either. It's low-maintenance and in terms of transaction it’s honest and non-committal. With the good people I know, I’m probably still not sure of the social etiquette, and therefore, my ASPD’s circuits of connection fizzle and pop and light up and sizzle more often. To these people, I want to be a different version of myself, I want to be the me who has recovered completely and maybe never had ASPD to begin with. I want to be a version of me who was misdiagnosed, or who overcame their negative life experiences with nothing but strength and understanding. I want to be the me who could comfortably call themselves an empath, a me who doesn’t have an inner monologue that howls with a laughter I can barely conceal on my face when one of the good people tells me I’m very warm and compassionate, and they’ve never seen me as a bad person. Something about me feels uncomfortable with that claim. Maybe I feel I'm duping good people who don't deserve it. 
Unfortunately, good people are taken for rides, and I watch this happen a lot, having spent a lot of my life seeking out people who are morally much more beautiful than I ever could be. And here’s where my core belief makes me a self-regarding sociopath:  Hi, my name is Scout, and I sometimes get jealous of unrepentant abusers.  Because I don’t struggle with ASPD. I struggle with trying to not have it. If I have a strict moral code of how to behave with the people I love, why don’t other people? There’s a petulant child in me who gets fidgety and restless when good people I know get swept in by an act I too have led them to believe: Hi, my name is Scout, and I am entirely self-sufficient, and emotional support makes me feel uncomfortable.    

When I see good people overlook me the way that the wolves do, in favour for another wolf, I get angry and upset. I’m the kind of antisocial brat who will date someone who has previously been in an emotionally controlling relationship, and then get upset that this person never tries to understand or know me, and yet devoted their life previously to that bastard wolf they used to date. I’m the kind of antisocial faux ami who will be resentful that a close friend seems to have no problem repeatedly letting me down and forgetting to ask me how I'm doing because they're too busy pandering to a wolf who still has their blood matted in the fur around their mouth and claws and hasn't even bothered to wash it off and pretend to be a domestic pet. I’m a person who spends a lot of time trying to believe that goodness will prevail, but cannot escape the rigid core-belief that screams: "NICE GUYS FINISH LAST”. I am resentful of the fact that having a moral code and belief system won't get you anywhere, and I wouldn't be resentful of that fact if having a moral code and belief system wasn't something I had to put a lot of hard work into, if it were instead something that came naturally to me, as if I too were a good person and not a wolf in disguise. So when I say ASPD doesn't hurt me but attempts at recovery do, this is what I'm getting at. I am never not hurt at this injustice of humanity on the whole (what, you thought I was emotionally mature enough to not blow this out of proportion and see it as a problem that's wrong with THE WHOLE WORLD? Come on, I thought you knew me). And just like these things tend to do, this causes me a lot of cognitive dissonance. Where does this leave me? You know, they say that people with ASPD are entitled to believe that they themselves deserve to break the rules when nobody else should, and I just don't think that's true. I think we see people in general as automatically bad, grimy, morally bankrupt — and we're navigating our stance in this shit-show. I don't think we think we're better than everyone else, I think we are trying to survive in a world that doesn't favour sincerity. This is a big game, and the biggest part of the game is interaction — you can't play if you want to play alone. You don’t win by not playing, you win by playing even though you really don't want to. You win by looking and acting exactly like someone who loves playing. And what you win is the chance to play again in the next level of the tournament with the other winners. Those winners are just as hard to understand as you are. Some of them are good people, others are wolves. Each level gets harder so the glory can be greater, and the grand prize? Well, I'm not sure yet, but Jesus Heck I really want to win it because if I don’t, who will? Someone who doesn't deserve it, probably. It could be a wolf, or it could be a good person, but I don't know and I can't take that risk. 
And this is how people feel often about kindness, altruism, transaction, interaction, all of it, but as ever, this is how a personality disorder makes you go the long way around to reach the same conclusion as everyone else, perhaps years later, and with an extra sting in the tail to it.  Maladaptive core beliefs. What are yours, and how do you catch them?

[anthonybialy]

Afghanistanabandon

Why did the CDC withdraw troops from Afghanistan? The agency that replaced three branches will swear they only ripped off landlords while the nominal executive let the Taliban lord over land. It's easier to let bureaucrats decree than obey some dumb Constitution.

Joe Biden wishes he could accuse someone else of doing his job. The part-time president dodging job tasks is the best hope for preserving the republic. He has nobody to demonize for letting humanity's biggest foe fill the void.

Delinquents committed to tearing down civilization are free to prey after the teachers bailed. The Taliban recaptured a very sad nation in less time than Fat Tony took to bring booze back to Springfield. White House officials recited that it'd take 72 hours to evacuate a totally stable embassy like it was scientific, but they didn't even get that long to stop the spread.

The quasi-president hopes to get away with playing hooky by making us endure the results of him showing up to work. The Taliban exploits the eviction moratorium. Whoever's commander-in-chief must be mortified.

Stop interrupting the slot car tournament.  You Twitter generation people want everything instantly, like how you demand the guy who ran for and won this job take less than a week to address the Legion of Doom setting up a Kabul branch. Every chair is empty in a vapid White House. Biden has something in common with Afghanistan’s president: they both fled.

American soldiers were the only adults with authority. If you're concerned about endless war, I’ve got news about how many American military personnel stand in South Korea with barrels pointed northward. What next: we keep bases in Germany and Japan after that one world war?

Walking away while an opponent is punching doesn't end the fight. The real War on Women is about to recommence in Kabul. Someone tell Biden Islamist lunatics aren’t wearing masks to get him to care. Barbarians didn't present vaccine cards before taking seats.

Liberals should pretend the Taliban is outraged about vaccine shortages. They tried their hardest to convince everyone that regarding Cuba. Inflation in Kabul may not be temporary.

An Islamic terror sponsor offers distractions from other White House failures. Finding America's missing southern border doesn't seem like such an urgent priority anymore. At least Kabul didn't fall as quickly as the line demarcating southern Texas. The government finally does something fast, and everyone complains.

I wish Biden defended Kabul like his fans defend him. Shrieking that it's a previous president's fault is certainly a sign the war turned out well. Yes, Donald Trump sucks for thinking he could strike a deal with the Taliban as part of his endless shtick, especially considering his deft dealing turned out about as well as taking on the NFL. That failure despite boasting goes along with a million other overcompensation for personal insecurity with empty boasting. But the retired game show host also didn't order the military to dash away like Bill Clinton from a paternity test.

Presidents from each party can suck it. Next time, make sure there's at least one adult finalist for president, and not just by technical virtue of being born in the 1940s. One of the truly joyous parts about rabidly blind partisanship is how very calm cultists feel compelled to assign 100 percent fault to the other side.

Both the incumbent and previous presidents can be despicable, and you can even assign scolding unevenly. The victorious geezer gets a higher percentage of fault than he did of the vote. After all, he just lost an area renowned for hosting peril to a deranged death cult.

John Wayne Gacy wonders who stuffed corpses in the crawlspace. The Hot Dog Car sketch gets a workout as the Biden White House focuses on its top priority of finding someone to blame. The most embarrassing part for those who treat responsibility as communal for personal reasons is seeing direct consequences of actions.

Noticing what happens is despised by liberals who excuse criminals while showing how much they care about the poor by creating more of them. And forget what happens when victory is beaten by a desire for faux peace.

Biden was too busy waging war on free breathing.  The tradition of Democrats loathing successful Americans more than American enemies is not a proud one.  The White House's primary nemesis is Ron DeSantis. For someone the president loathes, he's sure making it easy for him to take his job.

September 11's 20th anniversary will be spent fearing terror attacks. The White House is deeply invested in helping people remember what being constantly scared of assaults by the wicked felt like. Did you want to forget, you anti-patriot? Letting Earth's most bloodthirsty fiends set up a clubhouse would be ominous enough if there weren't precedent for how much evil they can inflict with time and space to ponder.

Speaking of knowing better, the White House would like you to stop noticing how Kabul and Saigon are de facto sister cities. Fleeing embassies doesn't quite project power. Abandoning Vietnam would bring back memories for the president if he could recall what he had for breakfast.

Elderly imbecility is his best excuse. Decrepitude can't be used to explain unforgivable decisions almost half a century ago when then-Senator Biden did everything he could to ensure diabolical communists overtook Vietnamese desperate to avoid tyranny. Say what you want about the nasty putzing president, but at least he sticks to his principles.

The administration is baffled by how its awesome comity led to Earth's most diabolical theocracy getting a sequel. Even a country without reliable wifi like Afghanistan should've heard there's a cool ice-cream eating president by now. Kamala Harris is shocked the Taliban didn’t have to sleep with anyone to gain power.

As for the president in name only, it’s almost like he’s a prickly dolt who’s wrong about every last thing and has obviously never been in charge of anything. The probationary leader spent an indolent lifetime enabling mooching in the legislature instead of figuring out how useful people operate. An untrained 78-year-old never even learned how to do one of government's few jobs, namely not throwing away war gains.

Biden's doing great except for the part where he has no clue how the world works, from thinking government is swell at providing insurance to acting like walking away from a war is the same as winning it.

Seeing the world perfectly incorrectly makes it even more so. A ghastly regime that lets their BFF terrorists hang out getting a reboot thanks to the president's production is too perfect of an example. He's naturally and sadly harassing the wrong people. Biden wants to take your money and autonomy as he lets the Taliban take Afghanistan.

[infinitheismworld]

Give me the brush

At every point in history, walks a person among the people, who feels an intuitive need to evolve humanity to a higher plane of consciousness, rebels against the prevailing conventions, challenges the existing system of right and wrong, and thereby resolves to be a pathfinder by being a path breaker.

The person disobeys the prevailing social practices, aligns to a new path of principles, assumes social leadership, owns the responsibility to empower fellow citizens to follow new ways, and when that following attains a critical mass, we call the person a revolutionary and the new social way takes its position in history as a revolution.

Every turning point in the evolution of mankind is called a revolution, and the individual who seeded the revolution is called a revolutionary.

Every revolutionary, at some point in life, found the world at one end and them at the other end.  Yet, they chose to disobey the social norms that were being slavishly followed.

Through sustained disobedience they began to empower most and more people, validated their approach with substantial and sustained results, and soon the world began to follow their path.  The world looked up to them as a revolutionary and thus they became the seed of a revolution.

Such revolutions become a turning point in history and the revolutionary is celebrated as the ‘History Maker’.  Jesus Christ, Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, Mahatma Gandhi, Rajaram Mohan Roy, Annie Besant – all of whom we consider as the architects of a new social conscience, caused political and social revolutions through some form of disobedience.

If we study history objectively, we cannot but accept that disobedience is one of the greatest virtues.  From barbaric life in the caves, we have evolved to this civilised life in the modern world, led by men who at various points in history chose disobedience over obedience.

If the history of the world validates that disobedience is a virtue, and if these are the people we worship, revere, adore, admire, follow and model, then what is the story of our house?

Who is considered the nice kid of the house — the one who is obedient or the disobedient one?

Who is considered the best-behaved child in school — the one with the eternal head-nod or the one who questions what is being taught?

Who is the boss’s favourite — the ‘okay sir’ mud plaster or the one who articulates her ‘why(s)’ and ‘why not(s)’?

Who is considered socially well behaved — the slavish ‘herd mentality’ follower or the trailblazer?

Though in prison, Nelson Mandela held his ground for 27 years.  In Nelson Mandela, this quality was called ‘grit and determination’.  If you find the same quality in your child what would you call it?  Stubbornness, isn’t it?

Mrs. Indira Gandhi is known to have taken stand points in all crucial situations in her life.  Margaret Thatcher was called the ‘Iron Lady’ for her uncompromising leadership style. In Mrs. Gandhi and Mrs. Thatcher, this quality was considered ‘Resoluteness’.  If you find the same quality in your student what would you call it?  Adamancy, isn’t it?

Steve Jobs followed many unconventional business practices to make ‘Apple’ what it is today.  In Steve Jobs, it is called ‘enterprise’.  If you find the same quality in your employee, what would you call it?  Obstinacy, isn’t it?

How come, that which is considered as strength in legendary people is called a weakness in us?  Isn’t the whole phenomenon paradoxical?  Yes!

We need to understand the process of human development to understand the cause of these paradoxes and the ways to transcend them.

An infant is totally dependent on the environment.  The child hasn’t yet developed the faculties that are required to be independent.

Parents and guardians make all the choices and the child just lives by the consequences of their choices.  The child’s name, primary language, religious identification, food habits, style of dressing are all choices made by others and the child merely receives the consequences.  So, a child by nature is a consequence receiver.  A ‘consequence receiver’ is called a PSYCHOLOGICAL CHILD.  At this juncture of life, the child is both psychologically and physically, still a child.

As the child grows physically, the child observes the environment and the actions of people around.  The child notices that the world around seems to operate out of choices.  Instigated by the environment and also by the very impulse of life striving to express itself through the child, the child begins to display his/her maiden attempt to make choices.  The child takes the first initiative to evolve from a ‘consequence receiver’ into a ‘choice maker’.  A ‘choice maker’ is a PSYCHOLOGICAL ADULT.

Though the child wants to be a choice maker, the child yet does not have the maturity to discriminate between right and wrong, good and bad, higher and lower.  So, the child’s choices are basically born out of indifference.  The child simply chooses to go against others’ choices.  The child simply refuses to eat what is fed, but insists on eating something else…

That something else is usually anything other than what has been offered.  The child wants to wear something other than what was selected for him/her.  When shoes are suggested the child wants to wear slippers, and when slippers are suggested the child wants to wear shoes.  When the child is asked to recite nursery rhymes to the guests who have come, the child won’t; later when everyone is watching an important program on television and they want the child to be quiet, the child begins to recite the rhymes louder than ever.  Sheer indifference, but children want to toy with this new faculty that they have discovered in themselves, that they can be a choice maker.

The adults around get irritated at these signs of adamant behaviour.  In their adult wisdom they also know that the child is not mature enough to know what is right and what is wrong.

So, everything from physical admonishment to verbal tantrums to threatening gestures to emotional blackmail, every approach is taken to ensure that the choices continue to be made by the adults and the child continues to receive the consequences of the adults’ choices.  The children being highly dependent and owing to their vulnerability succumb to adult pressure.  Amidst lots and lots of crying, the child gives in.

The child finds that the transition from being a consequence receiver to becoming a choice maker, from a psychological child to a psychological adult is too traumatic.  So, the child gives it up temporarily.

However, the child repeats similar attempts to evolve into a choice maker again and again, when they start going to school, when they enter adolescence, during prime adolescence, and then when they become financially independent…

He/she who succeeds against all social odds becomes a choice maker and grows into a psychological adult.  One who succumbs stays a consequence receiver and remains a psychological child.

All human misery is directly proportional to the gap between the physical adult they have already become and the psychological child they still are.

A psychological adult is like a painter.  The brush is in his/her hand and he/she has the choice of strokes.  The painter creates what he/she chooses to create.  Even when they make a mistake, they have the choice to make fresh strokes and correct their mistakes.  A painter is a choice maker.

A psychological child is like a painting.  It is a consequence of the painter’s choices.  The painting has no say in what it is becoming.  A painting is a mere consequence.  Mona Lisa may be one of the worlds’ finest pieces of art, yet a consequence all the same, a consequence of Leonardo da Vinci’s choices.

Millions of Mona Lisa(s) can be duplicated; will there ever be another Leonardo da Vinci?  And that’s the glory of being a choice maker.

Your parents, your society, your religion, your constitution, your organisation, your community and your peer group — everyone wants to play the role of a painter in your life.  There is no point in placing your life in someone else’s hands and then cribbing, crying and sobbing that you are not happy with your life.  An obedient painting should gleefully accept what it has become, for it had chosen obedience to its painter.

Do you want to be a painting?

Do you want to be a psychological adult?

Do you want to be a choice maker?  Then, ask for the brush.

Express your soul’s voice and let your world hear you loud and clear: “Give me the brush.”

They had their life and if they have missed the chance to paint their life then it is their missed opportunity.  Now, the canvass of your life cannot be used for their experimentation.

You may not have the genius of a Leonardo da Vinci, but that’s okay.  Make the strokes you can!  Scribble the way you want!  Remember, what comes out will be your making.

Now, your life becomes your responsibility.  You might make mistakes, but they will be your mistakes.

If your life is a product of your mistakes, then you can correct them; but what can you do if it is a product of others’ mistakes?

You have to helplessly sit and weep; blame your fate and stars.

The lion in the zoo is always secure.  Everything is provided from food, shelter, medical assistance, and even a lioness in heat.  Zoo life isn’t about ‘survival of the fittest’.  Even the meekest is protected.  The lion in the zoo is secure but it is secured SLAVERY.  Contrastingly, the lion in the wild has no security.  Nothing is provided for and it has to fight for every aspect of its needs.  Wildlife is a life of ‘survival of the fittest’.  The meek cannot survive.  The lion in the wild, though insecure, experiences insecure FREEDOM.

A consequence receiver is like the lion in the zoo, living in secured slavery.  A choice maker is like the lion in the wild, living with insecure freedom.

Most people can never snatch the brush from their painter’s hands.  It is not out of respect for their elders, but more because being a consequence receiver offers security in life.  People stuck up in their family business, entwined in a wrong marriage, bonded in a hopeless job, exploited by a selfish society, sheepishly religious, and these people 90% of the time keep doing what they never would have done in life, had they been choice makers.  These are lions in the zoo looking through their psychological cages at a select few lions in the wild, and they wonder how God has been so special to those few lions in the wild, which live with such freedom.  What the consequence receivers do not understand is that the choice makers traded their security for freedom, while every consequence receiver traded his freedom for security.

And remember, there is no such thing as secured freedom.  It is either secured slavery or insecure freedom.

God is not partial to a few, God is not partial to men or women, but the design of life is such that the bounties of life go to psychological adults.

Physical adulthood is a burden to those who remain a psychological child.  The higher rewards and realisations of life are reserved for psychological adults.  The good news is that this transition from a psychological child into a psychological adult can be made at any physical age; there are no age limits.  You can begin now…

Of course, the process of a psychological child attempting to become a psychological adult is always painful for everyone involved.  It rarely happens without tears.

It is through practice of disobedience that a consequence receiver becomes a choice maker.  The consequence receiver disobeys the choices of the choice maker by overriding it with his own choices.  The choice maker begins to feel that he is losing the hold he always had on the consequence receiver.  If you succeed in becoming a choice maker, he cries; if you fail in your attempt, then you cry.  Either way, the birth of a psychological adult or the failure to become one always brings with it tears.  But those are life’s ways of evolving a new humanity.  This is the history of the world.

Either tearfully become a history maker or tearfully remain a history reader.

Destiny Designing

The inevitable question is, if all of us try to be choice makers, won’t it lead to disharmony in the world?  Doesn’t being a choice maker imply selfishness?  Won’t it be ingratitude to the people who have brought us up in life?

Let us resolve this paradox.  This AND That is possible.  On all the inconsequential matters, choose to be a consequence receiver and in all other aspects, which are consequential in nature, be a choice maker.  Every time you confront a situation in life, ask yourself, “What I am encountering right now, will it have a consequence on my life?”  If the answer is ‘Yes’, then be a choice maker on that issue.

If the answer is ‘No’, then choose to be a consequence receiver on that issue; let the world make the choice.  By being a choice maker on all the major decisions of your life and choosing to be a consequence receiver on all the trivial aspects of life, you will have your way and you will also let the world have their say.

Ironically, most people give in and remain a consequence receiver on all the major aspects of life, like ending up doing a family business they never wanted to do, living in a city they never wanted to live, marrying the person they didn’t want to marry, and doing a course or degree they never wanted to pursue. And foolishly, they keep fighting about what was made for dinner, what time to wake up, what dress to wear, which TV serial to watch, and which function not to attend.  Instead, when it comes to career, business, profession, higher education, marriage, purpose of life, faith, spirituality — all these aspects that have a permanent bearing on your life — ensure you hold the brush and paint what you choose to paint.

Choose to be a choice maker on all major aspects of life.  And there are so many inconsequential issues of life — which TV channels to watch, the menu for dinner, some social rituals, what to wear for today, whether to go for the night show or not — leave the choices to others.

Choose to be a consequence receiver on all trivialities of life.

Not all disobedient people are disrespectful.  Not all obedient people are respectful.  Lord Mahavira said, “Live and let live.”  Christ said, “Love thy neighbour, as you love thyself.”  Even such messiahs asked you to put yourself first and then the rest of the world.

A choice maker merely puts self-respect first, before he attempts to respect others.  So, practice Respectful Disobedience.  Tell the world, “Give me the brush.”