#like not only is it shameful to BE Indigenous

[umbralwaves]

I'd love some (more) literature about "Latinidad."

For starters, most mestizaje still aspire to whiteness. Most hold racist views of other "races." Most believe their nebulous heritage/the places their ancestors settled give them a claim to Indigeneity and no amount of explanation will make them quit that.

My boss is a white cishet mormon man who was a literal missionary, who exclusively hires "Latinos" for our South of the Border work ethic. He has fired three Latinas in the past 6 months, including one he callously knew was only permitted to work for his company. "I don't know if she's even still in the U.S." Everyone still clamors to please him.

My mestizo manager is (aspirationally) married to a white woman. He believes in white feminism. Black and Brown men and wolves threaten his pretty blonde wife. He is delighted to know I support universal basic income because he voted for Andrew Yang!

My other (white-passing) coworker is autistic, so it's perfectly cool he particularly hates "the Chinese" for "eating dogs" (his favorite refrain) and that the Confederacy Had a Point. No, he doesn't think slavery was cool, but Black people are So Sensitive. His best friend is white and he would toe that line from here until forever.

The rest are women of the mestizaje caste who believe themselves unusually talented and lucky. There are many reasons they are not wrong. Some are wrong. They refuse to greet me and think their work superior and far more important than mine, even if it gets them paid. They believe it is "feminist" that they refuse to work, and collectively, they don't get punished the in ways of me and the youngest.

There is not a unified "Latino" identity, and most are happy to throw you and everyone you love to the genocidaires if it meant a fragment of favor. Latinos born in the U.S., in particular, feel superior to anyone who has to crawl their way to a better life. They'll spit at you as you struggle up the ladder and laugh when you hold them to their "values."

[bijoumikhawal]

"leftists don't fall for/into right wing hate campaigns for other groups as much as they do for antisemitism" is a really funny way of broadcasting which groups you pay attention to. Anyway we all do remember V*ush and his sycophants constantly claiming "land back is a call for ethnostates" and baiting WOC to intentionally misrepresent their politics on race up to and including claiming they want white genocide, right.

Acting like somehow people on the left are often progressive about every other thing but are antisemites is absurd. It happens, but its not common. An antisemite is often also a racist, a xenophobe, religiously intolerant overall, etc. There are plenty of racist, xenophobic, shithead leftists. Anyone who's actually a leftist would know there's constant tumbling online with shithead leftists and they never have just one shithead opinion.

[theeternalseptember]

someone tell me why our mother sent us a casting call specifically for a woman for a true crime show.

[trans-axolotl]

ID: [A poster created by Sean Saifa Wall and Micah Bazant of a Black parent holding their child. They are dressed in white and almost seem to be glowing, in front of a backdrop of multicolored waves that look like DNA strands. Colorful text reads "Protect Intersex Youth."]

"A Framework for Intersex Justice

Intersex justice is medical justice. Intersex surgeries hurt everyone.

These medical violations bring immediate harm to the child who is subjected to them.

Parents who consent to medically unnecessary surgeries participate in a culture of shame, silence and stigma, perpetuated by doctors, that allows these surgeries to continue. Parents are often left to fend for themselves as they navigate shame and guilt. The issue of parents consenting to these surgeries is especially complex when societies believe that children don’t have individual rights and that parents are always acting in their best interest.

Medical practitioners such as pediatricians, obstetricians, urologists, social workers, and endocrinologists all play a role in upholding an institution that continues to harm children with intersex variations. The practitioners, in turn, are protected by hospitals and state laws that grant them immunity.

This is why intersex justice is important.

Although the framework is evolving, the following is a definition of intersex justice co-created with Dr. Mel Michelle Lewis (they>she), an Associate Professor of Gender/Sexuality in Studio and Humanistic Studies at Maryland Institute College of Art: Intersex justice is a decolonizing framework that affirms the labor of intersex people of color fighting for change across social justice movements. By definition, intersex justice affirms bodily integrity and bodily autonomy as the practice of liberation. Intersex justice is intrinsically tied to justice movements that center race, ability, gender identity & expression, migrant status, and access to sexual & reproductive healthcare. Intersex justice articulates a commitment to these movements as central to its intersectional analysis and praxis. Intersex justice acknowledges the trauma caused by medically unnecessary and nonconsensual cosmetic genital surgeries and addresses the culture of shame, silence and stigma surrounding intersex variations that perpetuate further harm.

The marginalization of intersex people is rooted in colonization and white supremacy. Colonization created a taxonomy of human bodies that privileged typical white male and female bodies, prescribing a gender binary that would ultimately harm atypical black and indigenous bodies. As part of a liberation movement, intersex activists challenge not only the medical establishment, which is often the initial site of harm, but also governments, institutions, legal structures, and sociocultural norms that exclude intersex people. Intersex people should be allowed complete and uninhibited access to obtaining identity documents, exercising their birth and adoption rights, receiving unbiased healthcare, and securing education and employment opportunities that are free from harm and harassment. This framework serves a radical vision where intersex children are protected and survivors of genital cutting are cared for and respected. We owe that to intersex people and we owe that to ourselves.

The implementation of an intersex justice framework should include the following components: 1. Informed consent 2. Reparations 3. Legal protections 4. Accountability 5. Language 6. Children's rights 7. Patient-centered healthcare."

-Intersex Justice Project, founded by Sean Saifa Wall, Lynnell Stephani Long, and Pidgeon Pagonis.

[jewishbarbies]

i think Leftists have always wanted an excuse to be bigoted, its like they were itching for a "reason" to be open about their hatred. When Trump got elected he made being openly bigoted popular, and now these worthless slimeballs can be just like the Right and get away with it. All the while maintaining how they're sooooo different and pulling as many excuses as they can straight from their asses.

they’ve always been bigoted, the only thing keeping them somewhat in check is the social pressure they’ve placed on themselves and others to always appear 100% morally pure. they know what they do to people who don’t meet the standard. there’s been no actual work done in leftist circles, the hierarchy and racism is still there just functioning differently so that they feel better about themselves. bc now it’s “we can’t be bigoted toward poc BUT we can be bigoted toward anyone we don’t like. as a treat.” instead of just not being bigoted at all. the social change imo happened too quickly with too much force and shame to actually allow for people in these spaces to do the work necessary to unpack all that. it’s all about making themselves feel better for the guilt they got when first finding out about slavery, genocide of indigenous americans, etc. as quickly and easily as possible, and not about making the world a better place.

[bumblebeeappletree]

Every once in a while I’ll see some posts about everyone should become vegan in order to help the environment. And that… sounds kinda rude. I’m sure they don’t mean to come off that way but like, humans are omnivores. Yes there are people who won’t have any animal products be it meat or otherwise either due to personal beliefs or because their body physically cannot handle it, and that’s okay! You don’t have to change your diet to include those products if you don’t want to or you physically can’t.

But there’s indigenous communities that hunt and farm animals sustainably and have been doing so for generations. And these animals are a primary source of food for them. Look to the bison of North America. The settlers nearly caused an extinction as a part of a genocide. Because once the Bison were gone it caused an even sharper decline of the indigenous population. Now thankfully Bison did not go extinct and are actively being shared with other groups across America.

Now if we look outside of indigenous communities we have people who are doing sustainable farming as well as hunting. We have hunting seasons for a reason, mostly because we killed a lot of the predators. As any hunter and they will tell you how bad the deer population can get. (Also America has this whole thing about bird feathers and bird hunting, like it was bad until they laid down some laws. People went absolutely nuts on having feathers be a part of fashion like holy cow.)

We’re slowly getting better with having gardens and vertical farms within cities, and there’s some laws on being able to have a chicken or two at your house or what-have-you in the city for some eggs. (Or maybe some quails since they’re smaller than chickens it’s something that you’d might have to check in your area.) Maybe you would be able to raise some honey bees or rent them out because each honey tastes different from different plants. But ultimately when it comes to meat or cheese? Go to your local farmers. Go to farmers markets, meet with the people there, become friends, go actively check out their farm. See how the animal lives are and if the farmer is willing, talk to them about sustainable agriculture. See what they can change if they’re willing. Support indigenous communities and buy their food and products, especially if you’re close enough that the food won’t spoil on its way to you. (Like imagine living in Texas and you want whale meat from Alaska and you buy it from an indigenous community. I would imagine that would be pretty hard to get.)

Either way everything dies in the end. Do we shame scavengers for eating corpses they found before it could rot and spread disease? Do we shame the animals that hunt other animals to survive? Yes factory farming should no longer exist. So let’s give the animals the best life we can give them. If there’s babies born that the farmer doesn’t want, give them away to someone who wants them as a pet. Or someone who wants to raise them for something else. Not everyone can raise animals for their meat. I know I can’t I would get to emotionally attached. I’d only be able to raise them for their eggs and milk.

Yeah this was pretty much thrown together, and I just wanted to say my thoughts and throw them into the void. If you have some examples of sustainable farming/agriculture, please share them because while I got some stuff I posted from YouTube, I’m still interested to see what stuff I might’ve missed!

[isaidyoulookshitty]

idk it is so upsetting to me that veilguard is the first dragon age game i won't be replaying. when i was 15 i played origins so many times (almost a dozen) it is one of the only games i have ever 100% finished. da2 was the same! and while i didn't make it through as many playthroughs of inquisition i put hundreds of hours into it and made an effort to get to the bottom of everything the game threw at me. until veilguard, i had bought every available dragon age dlc for all games, tried to play almost every route given in the story choices, and spent hours reading through codex entries to soak up as much lore as i could.

veilguard has rendered all of that completely null.

it feels almost spiteful at this point that this new frakenspliced bioware cared so little to honor the bones and meat of the first three games. 15 years i have spent loving and cherishing (and criticizing) this franchise and now i feel like a fucking idiot for it. my grey warden? canonically awol and never addressed again. hawke? irrelevant and, for some players, potentially stuck in the fade forever. inquisitor? stripped of any complexity or depth i had given her in favor of the most syrupy, out of character fairytale true love's kiss ending with a man that shattered her worldview and broke her heart. how do you take 10 years to craft an ending this dissatisfying and thoughtless?

and the world i spent a decade and a half fighting for, shaping with player choices, and calling home? gone. "overwhelmed by the blight." literally scorched earth for the next game to build on with whatever the writers pull out of their ass to make players forget all about the original dragon age. it's tragic! disrespectful to longtime fans at best, at worst it feels intentional and like i am being made the butt of a joke told by writers who in the promotional material sound like they could not even be assed to play the games they're attempting to draw from. veilguard is just a product to be sold, not a story worthy of The Dragon Age Setting.

and i haven't even touched on all my gripes with the game's writing, the sanitization of any canon conflict that could be uncomfortable or difficult to address, the stale and cutesy therapyspeak and lessons in basic morality that are baked into every in-game interaction (most of which are shallow and all the same anyways) compared to the dialogue trees from the other 3 games. it is so frustrating to see that the devs chose to cave to a decade of vitriolic fandom politics in favor of addressing the kettle they wrote themselves into.

instead of hand-waving racism toward elves, the panic over qunari, the isolation of the dwarves, the corruption of the chantry, the abuse in the circles of magi, and slavery in tevinter, we should have been given the chance to confront all of it. to put a real end to it. we will never get to do that now. in fact, in their failure to follow through, bioware has only succeeded in exacerbating all of these issues. they have made the elves, which they have openly ADMITTED were "inspired" by Jewish and indigenous peoples, their mouthpiece for white guilt and shame passed down from one's ancestors (while also gutting elves' religion, culture, history, social differences, etc. i could go on). they PERPETUATE the same stereotypes of barbarity, violence, and warmongering imposed on the qunari by the rest of thedas by continuing to make them an opposing enemy force with the exception being a couple of friends they have neatly packaged for us. the unsatisfying conclusion to the mage-templar schism in inquisition is inconsequential. who the player chose to HEAD THE SOUTHERN CHANTRY as divine is deliberately made irrelevant. the dwarves are still isolated and ignorant of their origins save for harding (assuming she doesn't end up killed) and a single closed-off group. and the slaves in tevinter (again, mostly elves)? conveniently kept out of sight and conversation when we finally get to minrathous. everything that happened to fenris to make him the character he is, arguably the most impactful and sympathetic out of all the da2 companions, is not even addressed, much less tackled. all of it is swept under the rug.

i wanted dragon age: dreadwolf. i wanted a solid conclusion to a story almost 20 years in the making. a dragon age reboot might even have been a great idea somewhere down the line, but this was not the game to do it with. it was supposed to be a sequel and they couldn't even get that right. did i enjoy parts of it? of course! i finished it! but i won't be doing it again. the game clearly intends you to, considering a significant portion is locked away by decisions players are forced to make pretty early on, but i can't make myself do it. it makes me way too sad.

i could go on about how i, a queer and nonbinary adult fan, thought their handling of gender and LGBTQIA+ identities was heavy-handed, infantilizing, and felt so out of place within the setting it makes easy fodder for the "woke=broke" crowd that wouldn't have been receptive to queer rep anyway, but that would need to be another post in itself. not to mention the romance! unfortunate that i chose to romance lucanis not knowing his is now notorious for a lack of content, meaningful dialogue, pacing, and actual development. i won't even get to see the other romances in comparison because, as i have said, i will not be replaying.

[sepublic]

The core to Belos’ character is that he’s everything wrong with the United States of America. Why else is he a Puritan, a group of racist settlers who helped found the U.S. and contributed to the genocide of the Native Americans? Why else does he dress up like a Founding Father when not in papal robes, with a ponytail resembling a powdered wig?

Luz thinking he’s a great explorer, only to find out Philip is just an entitled asshole who takes credit from others to make himself look better, is a play on people IRL finding out that people like Christopher Columbus and Thomas Edison were assholes who stood on the shoulders of others. It’s a play on white mediocrity and how white guys do the bare minimum and expect to be praised.

Belos is a bigot whose entire motive and goals are based on genocide-level bigotry, and he refuses to unlearn any beliefs; Being a historical Puritan he is 100% racist and misogynistic and unlike Caleb, didn’t take the chance to grow out of it. He wants to believe he’s born special and better than everyone else, and that’s why he buys into white supremacy. The modern cop is the descendant of the witch hunter.

There is an explicit connection between the colonial genocide of Native Americans and Belos’ genocide of witches and demons, down to imposing a Christian misunderstanding of the local religion. He feels entitled to their magic but does none of the work to understand, nor does he cultivate a sustainable relationship with the land the way indigenous people do, hence consuming palismen.

He coined the term Savage Ages, with Savage having racist connotations. His fantasy is the Monster Hunter, the idea that it’s okay to dehumanize anything and even anyone that’s different to kill them. He believes in the Evil Races trope which is of course inherently racist. Belos treats Luz like his White Man’s Burden, a brown child who needs a White Savior to civilize (just as the U.S. kidnapped Native American children to assimilate), and then tries to kill Luz when she doesn’t go along instead of just. Leaving Luz alone or dragging her into the human realm with him anyway.

Belos makes exceptions to his religion when convenient, allowing himself to use magic but then demonizing those who do, just as homophobic Christians and Republicans do. Think of all the anti-gay politicians who are caught being gay; They’re not repressed victims, just hypocrites who think they’re entitled to special treatment. Philip didn’t rat on Caleb for hanging out with a witch for the reasons Pro-Lifers let loved ones have abortions; Caleb was important to him, and he’s not one of the witches Philip planned to murder. And even then he still killed Caleb for ‘crossing a line’!

The Puritans and other groups informed the Alt-Right in the U.S., as well as Evangelicals who rage about how something as innocuous as Pokemon is a Satanic influence (Yes this happened; The Conformatorium doesn’t seem so unrealistic after all, and remember that Dana’s father gave her a copy of Pokémon Red before he died that she latched onto). But like the Televangelist, Belos indulges in material wealth and glory via the glamour of Catholicism, because he’s not even consistent to Puritan values either.

He’s Trump, he’s Elon Musk, he’s Ron DeSantis. He’s the incel/mass shooter who fell down the pipeline, who feels cheated out of the promises of a white supremacist society and takes it out on minorities but not other white guys, because he thinks the system’s idea is fine it just isn’t working as it should, at least he’s better than those guys. He calls others NPCs because he wants to believe he’s born special and better and chosen.

Belos’ reaction to Caleb being with Evelyn was undeniably motivated by racial disgust at his brother for committing miscegenation and making Philip related to a savage in the process, it’s why he never brings it up because of the scandalous shame of it all. Belos hates those witches more than he ever loved Caleb, Caleb was never his priority or he’d have changed his mind; It had far less to do with ‘codependency’ and far more to do with white supremacy, perhaps Philip wouldn’t have minded Caleb settling with a human white woman. The issue being not Caleb leaving him but who Caleb left him for.

Belos thinks taming a wilderness and murdering its natives makes him a tough man because he’s insecure. He has a sniveling victim complex that can’t comprehend why minorities would dislike him, except that they’re mean. Belos epitomizes the U.S.’s racial and colonial violence, its white supremacy, and its global police narrative that decides the existence of another, independent world is an inherent threat to his own.

The conflict between Philip and Caleb was over racism, and so it’s black and white because racism is always wrong. Making it ‘nuanced’ would take away from the fact that the motives for real life racism are inherently nonsensical and insincere; Caleb wasn’t selfish for living with another culture on its terms, instead of staying in the racism village (The Gravesfield statues corroborate Philip being an adult when he arrived in the Demon Realm, according to the memory portraits; Caleb waited until Philip was an adult before leaving). Philip was not a weird kid, he was adhering to his social norms with games about how anyone different or actually weird should die, and he wanted to do this, he’s a Conformatorium prude like all the rest and let his fear of Evelyn justify and evolve into violence.

Even if he was weird, Belos isn’t telling other people they should fit in for their sake, he’s telling them they should just die (Unlike himself, because he’s ‘special’); It’s what he admits to the Collector in the finale about not bothering teaching them anything, just wiping them out. Belos uses magic only to kill magic and discards it out of disgust when he’s about to leave, but makes an exception for the life of the non-human he’s become.

And the choice for the villain to be a genuine Puritan makes sense, because this is a show about weirdoes, so who’s designating them as such and why? Luz has a conflict with the IRL system since the first scene and Belos symbolizes the system, his Puritan ideology marked the foundation for it and the U.S. Belos killing Caleb is just the cherry on top of his actual motives and what his character was always about, that’s why his death scene isn’t him lamenting about Caleb or how lonely he is, it’s him being racist and demanding special treatment for his race. A racist white man feels no guilt for the witches and demons he murdered, just his white brother and clones; He still keeps killing them too btw.

Deeming someone a lost cause and killing them instead of working to rehabilitate is un-Christian, because Belos is not secretly bound by his religion, he picks and chooses. His guilt is not Catholic, he is the Protestant belief in his own superiority. Belos isn’t just a Nazi, he’s an American racist, he’s the KKK; He’s a condemnation of American Values and Exceptionalism, and lowkey I think that’s part of the reason why Family-Friendly Disney canned TOH, because Belos is a condemnation of a major consumer base. Disney being more progressive than other companies means jackshit because it’s performative and the bar is in hell.

[bonefall]

what poison/s were used in riverstar's heir at moth's celebration and when bright and flowerstar ate together? suggestion (if you hadn't decided yet): Monkshood/Aconite/Wolfsbane (Aconitum napellus) its a VERY poisonous plant native to the uk and europe, lethal with both ingestion and body contact and has historical use in killing and murder. symptoms appear quickly and death often comes in only a few hours; its a shame it wasn't used in canon lmao

Oh symptoms don't just appear quickly-- Aconite's name is said to be ancient Greek for "Without Dust." That refers to how aconite kills SO quickly that you will not even kick up dust in your death struggle. Death coming in a few hours is from the minimum deadly dosage, any good assassin worth their salt would use more (and take care to mask its bitter taste, it's not a subtle flavor like cyanide is.)

Forget "deathberries." Yew is nothing next to aconite.

Yew's deadly compound, taxine, acts by stopping your heart. Yawn. Aconite targets your heart, liver, kidneys, AND brain all at the same time. It's so potent that handling young roots will make your hands go numb. Only 2 miligrams of the deadly compound, aconitine, is a fatal dose in a human being; a single grain of rice weighs 20 miligrams.

Anon, my friend, you undersold aconite. It's not just a very poisonous plant in Europe, aconitine is top 5 deadliest poisons period. Members of the aconite family are widespread through the northern hemisphere-- indigenous Alaskan people have used it to hunt whales for tens of thousands of years. Its toxic properties break down within 24 hours, leaving the meat completely safe to eat.

So naturally, suggestion accepted. This is going to be SICK.

Especially since no one will be able to tell what happened. It looks like every major poison because it is. You might assume it was some kind of toxic cocktail from the symptoms. Convulsions, rapid heartrate, vomiting, numbness. It looks like yew, nightshade, and bryony all at once.

It'll be very easy for Bright Whisker to survive this and shake off suspicion simply by poisoning herself with a small amount of something else. If I go with Maple Whisker being a sibling instead of a cousin, I could have her simply join their meal a little late and realize that her mouth feels numb, just as everyone else enters convulsions, so she spits it out.

(Autism win! Avoided a poisoning because texture bad! Maybe she was waiting for the food to cool down too lmao)

And LASTLY... Aconite is Wolf's Bane. I think this is a really cool place to see the earliest incarnation of the Wolf Motif that will later show up in Bluestar's family. It tickles my brain a bit to think of Flowerstar somehow having the "hood" shape of the flower, and then she loses her first life in her gambit to poison the wolf among sheep.

I also had a stroke of inspiration and had an idea for one of the BB!DOTC cats, too. Dappled Pelt gets massively neglected in canon, imo, and I could set up the wolf thing even earlier. African Wild Dog time (painted wolf.)

[witchofthesouls]

You're the first person I've come across who opened the for to these kinds of conversations, so might I propose that liquid energon is considered only for military, medical, or neonatal purposes on the colonies.

As you and many, many others have theorized, before the Quintassons and before the Thirteen began to die off, Cyberton most likely had an incredible complex biosphere that would make even our most diverse and most extreme seem bland. There would've been several generations who would've learned how to cultivate and forage and hunt on the surface and in the highest caverns and tunnels.

So assuming the Titans who became colonies took "pieces" of Cyberton when they left, they likely ended up preserving whole swathes of nature without actually intending to. Modern day Velocitrons and Camiens would thrive off "leave no footstep" culture as they hunt and move.

How horrific would the state of Cybertronians be to the colony denizens? Mechs who claim civility and order yet seem to lack any and all ability to actually feed themselves. What they will eat, they waste massive quantities, and they seem to be deeply suspicious of someone taking or sabotaging what little they can keep.

I think this could go a lotta ways.

Ohhh, I love worldbuilding like this. It just makes more sense to really delve into the differences between Cybertron and the Lost Colonies, besides "they got girls and no war lol."

Each of the Titan cities has a unique culture and cast, so it's a shame that it all got dropped or it didn't really tie neatly as it could had, so-

I'm going to make it make sense, even if I need to get the blender on canon lore to make a soup!

I did talk about some cultural differences and clashes between the Lost Colonies either through posts ('Caminus' and 'Titans' tags) or in the tags, and I had talked about how liquid Energon may have been playing a role of starvation rations. (Ehhh in TFP since they seem to be on a pure liquid diet, but it can be included in IDW/MTMTE).

But yeah, I can definitely see liquid Energon being used for medical, military, and neonatal usage. It would be interesting to explore differences and similarities in processing, storage, supplements, approach in distribution, and any associated folklore about it (i.e., Eukarians' farm-to-table fuel as it suits their beast-modes versus Velocitron and its pride over solar-derived Energon allowing them to delve into racing and research versus Caminus' recycling culture to mimick the Forge).

Funnily enough, the ones that develop the "Leave No Footsteps" as a whole would be the Eukarians as Chela left the planet's indigenous fauna relatively intact for beast-modes to be truly free. The tribes of Eukaris seem to mimic very early forms of civilizations along with hunter-gatherers. They're not ashamed to utilize the full scope of their alt-enhanced perception. Similar to how they adapted to their new home, the indigenous fauna adapted as well. Frightenly well to other Cybertronian perspectives; the Eukarians as a whole would be more familiar with different kinds of relationships with plants and animals, both the wild creatures and domesticated stocks. It would be interesting if the tribes managed to develop unique agricultural/livestock methods from each other (i.e., Fur Walkers are focused on ranching and semi-nodamic for their stocks versus Wave Walkers' aquaculture and mutual relationships with aquatic hunters or consumers to hunt and forage). Personally, I think the Eukarians would be the closest to understanding Earth's chaotic biomes and fauna. (Most definitely tensions with Cybertron via its Functionist society that Chela took his people to escape and the policies of organophobia, terra-forming, and stigma/discrimination against beast-modes and the nature.)

Velocitron came from scientists searching for fuel alternatives. Like, what if they tapped into the powerful solar rays that plagued the half the planet? In some ways, then modern Velocitron is a victim of its own success as the strong fuel basically led to too much excess energy and hyperfocus to point of ignoring all else, combined with their search for more fuel efficiency and race against the scorching suns, it's no surprise why racing became so dominant to the point Navitas was severely neglected. A meritocracy drenched heavy elitism as they're a highly educated group with a deep disdain for any frames deemed "too slow" or "too clunky."" They managed to figure out their own fuel issues. How the hell Cybertron with all of its resources to throw into their civil war couldn't? (On a side note, it would be absolutely hilarious and in-character if they snubbed Optimus and Megatron since they're not racers and weren't formally educated by Velocitron standards.)

Camiens, unlike many of the other Cybertronians, would actually forge mutual and positive ties with their organic neighbors via mercenary, exploration, and trade as Caminus deeply values social ties and community to the point that Cybertronians not raised in their city-state can be uncomfortable on how 'open' Camiens intermingle with one another as field byplay is a very used communication method. Caminus is situated in a planetary system that has immense raw resources but lacks the infrastructure that would have enticed the Galactic Alliance to add the space, and many are wary of the Quintesson's empire as they typically strip everything from planets via legal contracts or economic force. The work provided by offworlders allows the city-state to supplement their diet. They're a passionate and creative people, and it's seen on their takes on stretching out food as they blend whatever available to consume. So Depression meals, rural cooking, and recipes that channels 'End of Month' Food Challenge. (Most definitely have tensions with Cybertron as Camiens are appalled how distant and cold each mecha carries themselves in a strange self-imposed isolation as well as the sheer waste of fuel that happens, organophobia, and Functionist teachings as Camiens typically collect multiple skills and careers since everyone works.)

[blooming-grove]

Hey. Its been bothering me a bit but id like to point out that Queetzalcoatl of aztec mythology is a mesoamerican deity which I'm very glad people have learned.

However I've seen people incorrectly state that mesoamerica is in south america. It is not. Mexico is not in South America. It's in North America. Pre Columbian Mesoamerica spans from lower Mexico to Central America. Central america is NOT in South America. It's above it, hence the _central_ part. The _meso_ in meso america ALSO means middle.

I realized that this was not common knowledge so I'm only making the post not to shame but to inform. Latin america is beautiful and rich with history and I'd love for everyone to get to know this beautiful land full of different cultures and encourage you to do so!! Quetzalcoatl is but ONE of the aztec pantheon deities and the aztecs (nahuatl) are but ONE of the many indigenous groups of latam.

Was debating on posting at all since, you know the idea of making a non fr post irks me but it honesty bothered me quiet a bit.

*EDIT* I MEANT NOT TO SHAME 😭😭😭 IM SO SORRY

[mueritos]

a big brain dump about autism, life, being indigenous, and whatever else is going on

so the past few months I made it a personal journey to understand my autism more (and maybe a possible ptsd diagnosis but whatever whatever whatever). and that's what i'm calling it--the autism--because no other thing makes sense for me, and while i'm parsing through childhood memories and experiences, it's definitely...a bittersweet conclusion? bitter because in a lot of ways, i dont relate to the stereotypical autistic experience because every autistic person who has clocked me was usually a White Queer. It's probably why it's taken so long to get to this point of concluding Autism is what it is. I grew up in an immigrant family as a girl, and for that reason I was expected to not be disabled and to be a completely normal and high achieving Mexican catholic girl who went to college and became a doctor or whatever. Now i'm a fag of a man doing none of those things haha.

My older brother was supposed to be assessed for ASD in his youth, and like most immigrant dads, mine decided that nothing was wrong with him and the rest is history. Except my older brother is a man riddled with childhood trauma, shame, and so much autism. Absolutely uncharted rates of autism, and while he gets some sort of pity from my parents for him ("it's all out fault" "he never got the help he needed" "cut him some slack he doesnt understand"), I can never let my own parents know about how much I struggle. Hell, I can barely show it to my own friends because even they don't understand the extent of my autistic struggles. it's actually caused continuous miscommunications, people mad at me, me mad at myself, meltdowns, shutdowns, and a lot of crying. And shame. (a peer recently even demeaned my habit of keeping to myself, despite the fact that I had actually been trying to put myself out there more)

so i'm at a point in my life where I've accepted that I can only take responsibility over how I communicate, and I take ownership over that. Accepting this responsibility allows me to keep myself safe, as I've essentially lived over 2 decades of my life feeling like I was responsible for not just my communication, but everyone else's, including all of the judgements, missed cues, failures, miscommunications, and whatever else came from it. It's definitely double empathy. Last time I truly took on everyone's communication, it nearly killed me (cue over a year of suicidality). But, in a lot of ways it's very freeing. I'm sort of detaching myself from this neurotypical/White need to socially interact with others on their terms. In other ways, it's restricting. I uh. Don't really talk to a lot of people nowadays, and there used to be days where I wouldn't say a single word out loud. But because I don't talk to as many people, I'm able to put energy into the quality of my connections and not just the quantity. Which unfortunately a lot of people take personally. They dont like you admitting that you only see them as an acquittance, or as a classmate, or something like a friend but not quite there. I find comfort knowing how people feel about me, even if its that they actually dont feel close to me. Great! Now I know! Knowing makes me feel safe! But I'm finding that people actually really fucking hate when you admit that to them, the how you actually slot them in ur brain in terms of social levels. I can understand why, but I also don't get it.

Another thing that's helped is I've changed how I do eye contact. I used to make eye contact with professors or classmates while I spoke up in class because I thought that was important. Now I've found I can actually focus more on what I'm trying to say when I don't make eye contact. My god how freeing that has been. I don't have the same anxiety as I used to before, nor do I experience all of the involuntary blushing as I did for many years of my life. It didn't matter how confident or how prepared I felt, I would just blush furiously and I fucking hate it. Now my blushing is almost nonexistent, and I say what I mean with the flat ass tone that I love speaking in because it makes me feel safe. Sure, I miss the real-time non-verbal reactions to my words in class, but it's an okay trade-off for feeling more safe in myself and more confident in the classroom.

another thing is my internship. I work with majority neurodivergent students, and many of my clients have autism, adhd, or both, and are sometimes BIPOC, trans, or children of immigrants. Man, I've been having a blast. Sure, I'm learning how to be a therapist and best practices, but screw everyone in my life who has called me "cold" "emotionless" or "heartless". I have connected with so many people on such a human level, and I have sat there and helped them hold their pain in that tiny gay office for 45 minutes every week, and even though it's only 45 minutes, i'm showing them that they're allowed to ask for help holding that pain. I have had challenging sessions, difficult conversations, and times where I wasn't sure I would know what to say. But at it's core, I know that I'm capable of connecting with the person in front of me because my autism brain is automatically in tune with the person in front of me. It is so wonderful, and overwhelming, and so confusing all at once. When people start crying in front of me, I feel tears well up in my eyes, even if I'm not actually sad with them. It shows me that I'm capable of this empathy that so many people over my life have questioned, which they questioned all because I processed things slowly, or made quick decisions, or because I was honest about how I felt.

on to being mixed indigenous. Phew. I've been trying to build more connections with other Native folk, and I have a couple who I can thankfully call friends and who have never disrespected my detribalized experience. but recently I was interviewed a few times for a fellow indigenous researcher's dissertation, and I did not expect to be chosen on account that I am detribalized. But it had been a lovely experience and I finished my final interview today. It really left me with a lot of emotions that are hard to put into words. Mourning would be one of them, as I likely won't ever know what my tribal affiliation is. Never knowing who my people were, what language they spoke, the land they lived on...I can't describe just how much it destroys me. It feels like literal death, because that's what it is. A disgusting colonial death. And it's why I abhor that of all my identities, being autistic and being mixed indigenous has been met with the most vitriol online. like i guess people can only handle the trans fag mexican dude when hes not autistic and mixed indigenous, because now I am far too ambigious for anyone else's good. though i do know better than to listen to what random people online have to say about me and my path toward reconnection/neurodivergency.

beside's that, i'm trying to find neurodivergent spaces that feel safe, and I'm trying to find ways to keep myself safe. stimming, carrying stuffed animals around, using fidget toys, engaging in my interests, listening to the same songs, eating the same foods. I've had coffee with bagel and chive+onion cream cheese for over a year now. I've listening to almost only Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains for nearly a year now. I rewatch the same youtube videos over and over again. I wear the same few outfits. I wear the same shoes everyday. I walk the same way to and from campus everyday. I try to be in nature as much as I can, and really see it. I imagine nature where it isn't, and I get emotional thinking about the life that used to be on it. I wish so badly that I was a cat, a horse, a bunny, a deer, all so I could experience life through their eyes. i'm putting trust into people, into the universe, and into myself. safety is hard to come by, but im doing my best to accept the risks of life, trying to be flexible, and learn how to sustain myself for the good of the world. I deserve to be here too.

that's about it. besides that, i'm moving to philly once i'm done with grad school ^-^

[whoishotteranimepolls]

Fantasy Anime Recommendations

I love all kinds of fantasy, whether it be high fantasy, low fantasy, dark fantasy, or urban fantasy. So here are my recommendations for that genre.

Disclaimer: More will be added to this list as I slowly work through my to-be-watched list

Black Clover

4 seasons and a Canon movie ongoing

My favorite underrated Battle Shonen series is about an orphan boy who dreams of being the wizard King. However, there is a slight problem since he was born without the ability to use magic. This is for you if you like the classic battle Shonen. It takes that classic formula and executes it to perfection. Plus, the show has some of the best-written supporting cast and female characters in Shonen.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles:

2 seasons ongoing

Satirical parody of Harry Potter. Except it's a kid without magic who has to somehow survive at the universe equivalent of Hogwarts without anyone finding out he can't use magic

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

1 season ongoing

It's a beautiful story and one of the best shows I've ever watched. However, it is not for everyone. Some people cannot handle the slow pacing because sometimes it is just as much of a slice of Life as it is an action-adventure story.

Wistoria: Wand and Sword

1 season is ongoing

A kid without magic wants to be a great magician, but to gain that title, he picks up a sword to prove you don't need magic to become the greatest. Unfortunately, he still has to go to magic school. Black Clover mixed with Mashle is just as good as both.

Black Butler

4 seasons, a two-part special, and a Canon movie ongoing.

A young boy and his demon butler solve mysteries in Victorian England. I recommend researching what Canon and non-canon or OVA are before you start. Otherwise, you will be confused.

Dungeon Meshi

One season ongoing

There's a reason this took over Tumblr for months and is still trending

The Case Study of Vanitas

A human doctor for vampires and his vampire companion in Paris. This one was an emotional roller coaster. The fate of season 3 is unknown and it is a shame

Trese

It's a supernatural detective show set in the Philippines, and it's a shame it only got one season

Not anime, but still adult animation

Castlevania

Completed, but there is an ongoing spin-off series

Based on the Japanese game, Netflix did a fantastic job adapting it. I never played the games and I loved it. I rewatched it with someone who played the games, and they loved all the Easter eggs

The sequel Castlevania Nocturne is not as good as the original. Hopefully, they fix that with the second season. The trailer did look amazing

The Legend of Vox Machina

3 seasons ongoing

You like classic high fantasy. This is for you. It's based on the D&D live stream show Critical Role. A friend of mine jokingly calls it Middle Earth. If they were allowed to say fuck it's very adult and very gory. However, it is amazing and one of my favorite animated shows.

Blood of Zeus

2 seasons ongoing

If you like Greek mythology, this one's for you. The story of one of Zeus's bastards and the consequences of Hera finding out about them. It's a story that feels like it could be straight out of Greek mythology and they do a fantastic job

Maya and The Three

One season it's a Netflix exclusive

Think of it as a love story of Mesoamerican culture in animated form. It's probably the most out of my recommendations because it is 3D animation. But God I love this show. It's about an Aztec princess who has to fight the gods in order to save her Kingdom along with her companions, who are members of the Inca, the Maya, and the indigenous Caribbean culture. Again, it's a love story of the indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica made by actual Latinos. I love this show so much, and it is underrated.

[twoelectrichearts]

Noah Schnapp is literally beyond evil. Like, spawn of satan level of evil. He only deserves to suffer for the rest of his existence. How dare he have empathy for innocent civilians in Israel and Palestine. First of all, there’s no such thing as innocent Israeli civilians. Second of all, you can't have empathy for both. Especially if he is a Zionist. All the Jewish people who identify as Zionists are evil. Israel has absolutely no right to exist and Jewish people have no right to exist in Israel. So many Jewish people who are Zionists claim that’s what Zionism means to them but they’re wrong. Zionism is pure evil. You can’t be Zionist and want peace and self determination for Palestinians. I’m not Jewish but I definitely know better than the Jewish Zionists who claim that. They’re all evil lying monsters. They want every Palestinian wiped off the face of the Earth. Hamas would never want such a thing. It’s not like they had a charter that said that about Jewish people. Even if they did, they supposedly recently changed it to Zionists instead so it’s all good now. Hamas is totally accepting of Jewish people now and would welcome them with open arms as long as they aren’t Zionist. Noah, if you’re a Zionist, don’t be anymore. You can change your evil ways. Hamas changed. Yeah, they may have killed civilians and taken hundreds hostage, they may have said October 7th was just the beginning and that it was going to happen over and over again, but they’re no longer antisemitic. They’re just anti Zionist so they’re good people now. You can change and be good too. You’re so young. There’s still hope for you. Stop lying and telling us how you want peace and self determination for Palestinians. We all know that’s not true. It can only be true if you aren’t Zionist.

You liking something like this makes absolutely no sense if you’re Zionist. I bet you don’t even agree with it and just liked it by accident or something. It’s crazy how I even managed to come across this months ago considering nobody talked about it or brought it to light. You liking that sketch of people in the LGBTQ+ community simping over Hamas got so much attention and caused so much outrage though. Funny how the internet works. Anyways, as a bisexual, I was so offended by that video. Hamas are well known LGBTQ+ allies. How could you like that video as someone who’s gay? It’s probably because you’re lying about being gay too. Shame on you.

Last thing I’m gonna say is fuck Israel and fuck Israelis. That country and all the people living there are evil. They’re all colonizers and occupiers. It needs to cease to exist and all the people currently living there need to go back to where they originally came from. All of them came from Europe, right? That’s what I’ve been hearing. They all need to return to Europe. Gosh, why’d they ever leave there in the first place? I know Jewish people say otherwise but they’re wrong. They’re either lying or in denial. They’re not indigenous to Israel. They’re indigenous to Europe. Us non Jewish people really need to educate them more about their own history, religion, ethnicity, etc. We need to teach them what antisemitism actually is. A lot of them don’t seem to understand what it is. We do that to every other minority group that we aren’t apart of, right?

[witch128chick]

under the "Labyrinth Runners" rewatch post i suggested to analyse Amity's name and Willow's role in the friend group and got requested to do it. so, this is what i'm doing now!

first, let's start with Amity's name. i didn't make the connection until i read about it somewhere, that her name means friendship. it's a shame tbh, bc i learnt French at some point and the word "friendship" means l'amitié (f) in French. however, the name's origin is Latin.

Amity; meaning: friendship, harmony.

now that we cleared this, let's talk about Willow's name. surprisingly enough, her name means "willow tree", originated from Old English. one of the websites describe the trees as elegant and having the ability to grow and prosper despite unfavourable conditions.

i can't help but bring up smth i learnt at uni. i think one of the most famous willow trees is Salix alba 'Tristis', commonly called Golden Weeping Willow or White Willow. (but that might just be me. the tree is indigenous in my country.) the word "tristis" means sorrowful, mournful. this will only be a side note, just an idea i had, but i wanted to include it, for further angst potentials.

so the meaning of the names is cleared. now let me write a little summary about Willow and Amity's friendship.

the two started off as friends pretty early. Willow was everyone's first friend in the Hexsquad, but her first friend was Amity. i'd link that to the meaning of her name. then, the two were forced apart, and Willow became a sad part of Amity's life, someone she missed, someone she mourned losing as a best friend. here comes the side note i mentioned in point 4. the two then found each other again, when Luz (Spanish name, meaning light) shone her light on them and the sorrow vanished. at least partly, since the hurt they both felt was still present.

Amity was forced to be friends with kids she didn't like, her true self fading over the years after losing Willow. she made mistakes in this new situation where she most likely felt alone and most importantly; didn't have her best friend by her side. to someone who's name means friendship and who's a genuinely kind and sweet person, this was enough reason to become cold and watch as the harmony within fell apart. without her best friend Amity couldn't be herself with anyone, therefore she had to suppress all her traits that didn't fit in the friend group she was forced into.

Willow cruelly lost her best friend. she was alone, until she met Gus. another thing from uni: big, majestic trees are perfect to stand in the middle of a bigger garden as solitaire trees. and willows are big, majestic trees. so as another side note, i'd say she was alone like those solitaire trees. (tho the White Willow i mentioned earlier is most commonly planted on watersides.)

as my last point, i'd like to talk a little about point 3. especially about the part where i mentioned that willow trees have the ability to grow and prosper despite unfavourable conditions. Willow was definitely in an unfavourable condition, before becoming friends with Gus and even after that, bc of the bullying and the fact that her former best friend was one of her bullies. but she grew. even more, after Luz - the light or the sun, if you will - shone on her. Willow became the strongest she's ever been.

both Willow and Amity needed Luz to become who they were meant to be. actually, Luz had that effect on everyone. literally. my point is that Willow and Amity's friendship is an important lesson about staying true to yourself, losing yourself bc of control and cold circumstances, unhealthy coping mechanisms, second chances to people who deserve it and healing not being linear.

i think that's all i wanted to say. i had these thoughts in my head for quite a while so i'm glad i finally sat down and wrote this :D it was fun! it got me engaged even tho i thought i'd lose interest after 5 minutes. but i finished it in one sitting! anyway, i can totally see myself do more of these kind of posts and i'm open for requests too!

hope you liked my little rambling about Amity and Willow! <3

sources: The Bump, Wikipedia, North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox

[humanrightsupdates]

UK Foreign Secretary Has Opportunity to End Ongoing Colonial Crimes

David Lammy, a descendant of enslaved people, has taken office as United Kingdom Foreign Secretary and said he wants to rebuild the UK’s relations with the Global South.

He has an immediate opportunity to meaningfully address the legacies of UK imperial atrocities, starting with an ongoing colonial crime that he could end immediately – the UK’s forced displacement of the Chagossian people.

The Chagos islands, in the Indian Ocean, were governed under UK colonial rule from the island of Mauritius. The Chagossians, an Indigenous people, are the descendants of enslaved people and contract workers.

Over 50 years ago, when nearly all of Britain’s colonies in Africa were achieving independence, the UK and US governments conspired in secret for the UK to hold onto Chagos and to expel its entire population so the US could build a military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia.

As records show, the expulsion of the Chagossians was based on lies and racism, leaving them in extreme poverty. To this day, the UK government refuses to allow the Chagossians to return to their homeland. This forced displacement, racial persecution, and prevention of their return amount to crimes against humanity under international law. Human Rights Watch argued in February 2023 that individuals should be put on trial for the expulsion of Chagossians and that the UK should pay full and unconditional reparations to generations affected by its forcible displacement.

The new UK Government has inherited these ongoing colonial crimes, but could end them tomorrow. UK governments have repeatedly acknowledged for the last 20 years that the treatment of the Chagossians was “shameful and wrong”, but the same successive British Governments have continued to prevent their return.

Tony Blair’s government used the monarchy to issue an ‘Order-in-Council’, bypassing parliament to prevent the Chagossians from returning.

The UK has treated Chagos – now its only remaining colony in Africa – as a law-free zone, claiming international human rights law and international criminal law do not apply there. The racism is clear: the UK applies human rights law in other overseas territories like the Falklands and on Cyprus, where the inhabitants are of European origin and live freely close to military bases.