#not saying the ancestral environment was great for everyone

[lorec-x]

Parents have no instinct for giving their kids sex ed because in ye olde ancestral environment, kids would just have experimental sex with each other and there would be nothing the parents could really do about it

cant do two polls in one post so a school sex ed poll will be added as a reblog

[ashherahh]

confessions of a scorpio moon

TW: SA, SH, themes of abuse and assault, neglect. Read at your own discretion.

This post does contain themes which are not suited to every audience.

You might wonder why I would create something like this. I am a firm believer that we can see everything we need in our birth chart. We can see our challenges as well as how we can overcome them.

What drew me to astrology was this overwhelming feeling that I needed to understand what was going on and I needed to make changes. I started to do the charts of myself and my family members and I saw trends. I saw similar placements. I noticed patterns.

This post does contain parts of my story, but please don't take it personally. I'm in no way saying that you will have the same experience as me because we might share the same Moon sign. Not at all.

All experiences are different because all birth charts are different.

This is my experience.

THE ASPECTS

Moon trine Sun -5° A

Moon trine Jupiter 7° S

Moon trine Uranus -9° S

Moon square Neptune 4° A

Moon trine North Node -3° A

Moon trine MC 8° S

THE SCORPIO MOON & THE STORY

There is a great connection between my emotions, my identity, and my purpose; yet all of this seems to be outdone by my tumultuous inner world. I feel as though a fog has fallen over me, and I live life through a haze.

Escapism is my oldest and bestest friend. I have learnt their trade since I was old enough to talk. It seemed to be the only thing that could keep me safe, forming a cocoon around me while my entire world collapsed.

When you're a child, your entire world is your parents. Mine was my mother. Seeing her succumb to a mental illness in an environment that didn't want to understand it and swept it under the rug, was absolutely harrowing. She never accepted the help she received because she never saw it as help, but rather as everyone trying to surpress the truth she saw.

My relationship with my mother is an absolute mess. It seems as though my maternal inheritance is both her blessings and curses. I look at her and it's like looking in a mirror. Will I become as mad as her? How can you call someone you barely know mother?

I lived under the same roof as her for 20 years but it was like we were on two different planets. How funny it is to have the same face as someone who is basically a stranger.

Yet, we are two sides of the same coin. Some days, I feel my life is an extension of hers, one which I might never escape. Hers an extension of her mother.

The Scorpio Moon is an inherited Moon sign in a sense. At times it is a byproduct of a culmination of turmoil in the ancestral line. It comes to end the cycle or it begins it. Unfortunately, that is life, everything has a start.

My grandmother has the same Sun and Moon placements as myself, and her story started with abandonedment. She was a child born because of sexual assault. Her mother had given her up for adoption. She stayed in that adoption centre until one day while travelling by train across the country, she too became a victim of assault.

She became pregnant because of this and she was forced to marry this man.

Years went by and my grandmother finally tracked down her mother, but she wanted nothing to do with my grandmother. So the wound festers and grows and consumes.

She tried to take her own life by jumping in front of a train. There were attempts after that but none were successful.

Then I am born, years later, her son's youngest child. The son she adored but cursed, giving him the same name as his father and trying to use him as some sort of compensation. I'm born and I look just like my mother, the woman who took her precious son from her.

She hated me.

She hated me even more when my grandfather assaulted me as well.

There's that saying: "The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself."

Sometimes I think about how she would've felt. Other times, I am reminded by how cynical life can be, to throw our pain back in our face in so many different ways.

As a Scorpio Moon, betrayal and abandonedment are the first knives in your back and the first ones you hold.

The cycle begins and the only way out is to understand and purge. Sometimes understanding comes through the act of doing and the sickening feeling thereafter that you are no better than others and so a great awakening begins.

Abandonedment and neglect are major trends as well. The maternal figure can physically abandon you or emotionally abandon you. They are also the ones who introduce you to your first betrayal.

If not that, the maternal figure uses their child to live life through them. Creating a strong tie that is often difficult to break because of the control exerted over them. The decision to do this is usually made young by the maternal figure once they recognise the potential latent in the child.

If the child has siblings, those siblings are often overlooked and ignored by the parents. It builds jealousy and hatred from their siblings towards them, which pushes them closer to their parents who seems to "understand" them best.

The pedestal is made of glass, and if you look down, you'll see the abyss. So, you hold you head up high and keep smiling.

It is scary to think of a different life for these individuals. Who are they if not who their parents has always told them they are?

Intensity doesn't have a name until a Scorpio Moon is older. Then it either becomes a taboo word the individual wants nothing to do with or it becomes everything they have been looking for. To fear or be feared.

To me, I never saw it as intensity. That just was me. The upbringing I had made me draw away from being intense in front of others. I saw intensity as insanity.

I kept up a good façade. I studied hard, I did my best to always be kind and helpful. To never argue, to never shout, to never share my true feelings. I was a pushover in a sense, for years. I never stood up for myself. Yet, always, when I was alone and in secret I was drawn to the darker parts of myself.

I felt like I was starving, and some days I still do.

As exhausting as it may be, having a Scorpio Moon is about death and rebirth, and the constant act of it. You would think something has ended, but years later you find yourself staring in the face of it again. It always comes back, it has to.

Nothing is ever really over until the memory of it dies.

[indignantlemur]

Great to hear you are recovering well! Are there any bits of Andorian lore that you haven't been asked about but want to talk about? I love reading your posts about the characters and setting of Emigre and headcanons about Andorians.

Hello, jueru! Lovely to hear from you!

Oooh, that's a tough question - not because I don't know what to say, but because I just have to many bits of lore scattered about in my brain!

I think, this time, I'd like to talk about how Andorian conservation work!

Andoria is a brutal planet, equal parts deadly and delicate. The animal life on the planet is diverse and heavily adapted to survive in evolutionary niches. Not unlike most environments, really! The thing about Andoria, however, is that the planet is so inherently hostile that even the smallest changes can wipe out entire species who might otherwise thrive.

Moreover, Andoria's ecosystems are very delicately balanced, and if even one population rises too high or dips too low, it can damage the entire system profoundly. As such, Andorians are extremely careful with their conservation efforts.

Remarkably, and this might surprise a few people, Anlenthoris th'Kor is a leader in environmental protections around Laibok, and widely held up as an example for others.

You see, nothing can destroy an ecosystem like a veeg infestation. They are voracious predators, and not remotely picky about what they eat. Additionally, they are very fast, very strong, and alarmingly cunning hunters. They lay eggs by the thousands anywhere from three to five times a year, and while only a small percentage of those eggs will survive long enough to hatch (and an even smaller percentage of those juveniles will make it to adulthood) the laying mothers are ravenous and indiscriminate. A veeg infestation very quickly gets out of hand, and they have a fondness for laying their eggs on the wide tracts of ancestral holdings surrounding Laibok in particular.

(They don't, it just feels that way to the folks living in and around Laibok who have to deal with the veeg.)

When folks like Thoris go out and hunt veeg on a seasonal basis, they're not just trophy hunting. It's as much for the safety and security of the area as it is to preserve the ecosystem. Veeg can and will eat children along with everything else they come across, and there are few things Andorians love more than their kids.

But the veeg are only a problem when their populations get out of hand! They are, to everyone's chagrin, actually an important part of the ecosystem and eradicating them entirely can have devastating effects - much like how wolves are vital to a number of Terran ecosystems. There are plenty of other creatures whose numbers need to be carefully monitored, and there are dozens and dozens of breeding programs for endangered species as well.

It's sometimes difficult for other species to think of Andorians as being great wardens of natural resources, but they are. Andoria contains a wealth of life, from the smallest ice-borers to the greatest of herd animals and the darkest-dwelling of sea creatures - and each and every one of them rests on a knife's edge between thriving and extinction.

As such, Andorians are often some of the first to throw their support behind inventions or proposals that aid in the protection and conversation of the natural world.

[multifacetic]

afternoon, everyone! or morning, evening, depending on wherever you are on beyonce’s green earth. please call me anwar (not hadid, s/th, est), and i bring to you ansong’s favorite yuppie, nagano shunsuke, who is also not beating the unc allegations. under the cut is a surplus of biographical information and as always, feel free to like and i’ll contact you! 🤞

alrighttttyyy so some bg information: nagano shunsuke’s a fourth gen zainichi born korean from japan’s kansai region! meaning that the catalyst to rightfully blame was jp’s colonial occupation of the korean peninsula which drove his familial predecessors to migrate forcefully as laborers. i’d say that shun’s great grandparents on his father’s side were 1st gen migrants but they didn’t live long enough for him to know them growing up so��… in seo yeongju we trust (dearest halmeoni)

as a result of worker’s + economic exploitation and various social matters concerning the zainichi korean community in japan, shun basically grew up poor. lower class to lower middle (on a good year). it was very difficult to move up in one’s career due to ethnic discrimination and the work environment was often shitty and hazardous. so that paired with his father’s alcoholism (likely a physically + emotionally abusive father who cheated on his wife Btw) which stemmed from the fragility/stress/turmoil of his maintenance mechanic job including rearing a family with a woman he no longer loves because she’s not attractive to him after bearing his children is… uh.. Something.

and of course to make matters worse, after ww2, the japanese gov snatched jp citizenships from the zainichi community and made them foreigners/aliens to the country and later as stateless individuals (so anywhere from 1947-52) :-) imagine the stress shun’s fam had and Now they’ve been declared as 100000% displaced peoples. the naganos were outed after years of quietly assimilating with the japanese gov outing them alien registration statuses which made life even harder. so it’s safe to say that shun’s developmental growth lacked as he was often singled out, left behind, or neglected as a minority child growing up and slowly began to resent his own identity

seo yeongju, shun’s grandma dies and that shit hurt him so much ‘cause she was basically his mother and performed most of the emotional support if not childrearing because his actual mother is too occupied with trying to save her loveless marriage. yeongju is p important to him in that maternal aspect, but also she migrated from seosan, korean peninsula to shikoku as a young girl so again, more nagano family ancestral lore

but ofc things end up looking somewhat positive when shun gets into baseball mostly to avoid his abusive father at home lol being in the same room with that man sent him into a deep ballistic rage that no kid should be subjected but Anyways. pops saw potential with son so he began training with shun and their bond.. sort of.. got better and closer between father and son. wallahi not that playing fucking baseball is gonna answer the question of abuse but there’s that

shun ends up enrolling to osaka university on an athlete’s scholarship because otherwise his ass has no money to go to school, neither does his family and even now higher education for most zainichi koreans is basically almost unthought of???? so YEAHH shunsuke goes to school majoring in finance and economics but who gives a damn bc he’s trying to make it in the major league with drafts coming up. unfortunately tho bro gets a Really Bad elbow injury that he got 2 surgical operations for so… he’s cooked. he’s done for. just put the fries in the bag lil bro

haha jus’ kidding but yeah his dream is fucking cooked but it’s fine (not really) / shun ends up becoming his family’s 1st gen university graduate which is a big fucking deal because zainichi koreans were typically denied access to education. but even after graduation, shun had a hard time getting a job due to stigmatized discrimination, competitive job markets/outlets, etc.. and his official transcripts (lmao in case of hiring managers of companies decided to request them but they wouldn’t ask japanese applicants now would they?) were ass because he was greatly depressed working thru 3rd-4th yr of uni after the shitty injury. it seems that he just can’t win: works 7488548 crappy jobs and kept the restaurant dishwashing + hotel receptionist gig for a minute until…….. mizuho trust & bank gives him a call back for an interview!! and he gets an entry level investment banker job!! WE ALL CHEERED

life is looking a lot more positively: got a great paying job, the economy was flourishing in 80s japan, his (then) girlfriend and him are looking to move in together—it seems like nagano shunsuke is on top of the world fr. but allah’s timing is always strange and unrelenting as shunsuke unfortunately dies in a plane crash in fall of ‘88 with his gf on the way to yeosu for the week of chuseok. it was the first time traveling outside the country, let alone the first time visiting the homeland

so what’s next?

well 4 starters: he remembers absolutely nothing in regards to his past life. he’s your friendly bilingual financial advisor that lives on floor 8/unit 6. he lives a comfortable life of routine and prioritizes balance in his life. he’d look at you crazy if you told him his entire life story which is ^ above when he was alive. but surely…. something has got to be explained here. as in what’s going on and is he fr dead or like. not. u know

personality

i did mention that shun’s rather friendly! is always looking giving people and things a benefit of a doubt but once he’s been proven otherwise then yeah, there’s no going back. a bit of a yapper from time to time but it needs to be with the right person, otherwise why would he be yapping to someone who’s just gonna give him the lead paint stare….. also a lot more sensitive than he lets on (read: pisces moon) and is awfully in tune to his emotions + sensitivity but that’s none of your business. quick to get pissed off if something rubs him the wrong way too??? as in don’t underestimate his kindness and generosity among other things that’ll piss him off for reasons idk yet?? all crass and smart ass behavior, loves inoffensive banter, sometimes is too quick to say what’s on his mind before giving it a Good Thought (read: gemini sun, gemini mercury), u know the vibessss

connections

ok my bad for not thinking of relationship plots but i do have this wanted connection here in case if somebody’s looking to take up a 2nd/3rd chara. otherwise i love brainstorming!

[flickeringart]

Uranus in the houses

Descriptions could be relevant for houses with the cusp in Aquarius or houses that contain Aquarius

1st house: This house is related to self-image, persona and outwardly projected identity. It represents the point of entrance into the world, the point of birth and emergence from the undifferentiated source as a singular entity. Uranus here points to someone that is not very happy with the denseness of physicality. The person is restless and fidgety, running on high voltage. It’s almost as if there’s more energy to the person than is able to integrate into their being. The person could be impulsive and might give off a vibe of wanting to “level up”, get out of the old and jump on board with the new. Coming into life might’ve been particularly jarring for the individual in one way or another. Perhaps the birth was abrupt and unexpected, fast and overwhelming. Since the 1sthouse represents beginnings, this person might find himself or herself thrown into new contexts and situations rapidly without much time to lean into things slowly. There’s something within that can’t stand how things are and must uproot and move on but it’s questionable if there ever was any rootedness to begin with. The energy of the person runs high, but it’s unpredictable and unreliable. It can prove difficult for this person to follow conventional norms, not necessarily because the motivation is lacking but because there’s an inexplicable urge to switch things up and change gear. Changing gear is a good metaphor for Uranus in general because once you’ve changed you’re on a completely different level of experience. This kind of person is in their own lane, going at their own pace in their own way. While “in the mode” one can accomplish a lot of things by virtue of being in a certain mind frame but once the mind frame changes the behavior and patterns of action are conducive to something else. The person is predictable to an extent, but there’s no way of knowing how long that “mode” will last. One is showing up in life from a certain standpoint but that standpoint might alter and then there’s nothing anyone can do about it – conforming is not something that is easily done for this type of individual. No amount of pushing or coercing from others will get the person out of their state. It’s a little bit like trying to reach an airplane by stretching one’s arms up and shouting. Once the person has “switched” there’s little connection to the previous context. It can be exciting to be around these individuals because they have the ability to switch the way they present themselves to the world by getting into completely different states of being on the flip of a dime. Needless to say it can also be unnerving. They come off as charming, a bit distant, quirky, somewhat irrational but stubbornly determined, completely unique and original. They can come off as detached from reality and fixed in their own perspectives. They are distinctly more open and easy to be oneself with than most.

2nd house: This house is related to value, safety and control on a tangible level. It has to do with one’s talents and one’s ability to generate wealth, to acquire money and possessions. Uranus in this house can make a person experience unpredictability when it comes to their income. It might be difficult for this person to create stability because of the inexplicable urge to break out of limiting structures regardless of the safety they provide. The person might find themselves in circumstances where it’s impossible to find a foothold in the world; there might be constant ambivalence around how things are going to work out financially and materially. This is the type of person that could have a lot going for them one month and then suddenly everything is switched up and there’s no longer any desire to produce or put innate abilities to use. The person probably has great potential for living a life that is on the edge, waiting for sudden bursts of energy or insight to kick in in order to be able to have it all under control again. The annoying thing is, that one can’t predict when the impulse comes or when the light bulb goes off. There’s no way of knowing how things are going to work out over time because Uranus is an extremely erratic and disruptive planet. There’s a risk of not being the least bit practical with this placement, seeing as Uranus operates on a higher plane of thought progression rather than personal security and stability in the material realm. The risk is to be too ahead of oneself, acting on premature convictions and causing unnecessary unease because one can’t stand to keep doing the same thing. “Isn’t money an outdated concept already?” Uranus in the 2nd might be too progressive in their thought patterns and too concerned with the possibility of a better system of doing things in order to align with conventional structure. These types may be the first one’s to subscribe to new ways of earning a living, more exciting and evolved methods of putting one’s skills to use. Doing things the same way for years, working in the same place, saving money or playing it safe might not be in the cards for this person. In the extreme case, this person might get rid of all their personal possessions only because they felt bored and deemed them outdated and boring. There could be perpetual dissatisfaction with the material situation since Uranus is about potential more then manifested reality. Once everything imagined is actualized, it no longer holds any value in the person’s mind. Uranus certainly keeps the person in constant pursuit of the future, but the future never comes, as we all know. Visualizing the perfect meal or getting an idea for the perfect way to decorate the living room might be very satisfying but when seen in the “flesh” it all seems very unappealing. It’s difficult to satisfy Uranus in the 2nd, but it’s a positive thing in the sense that it keeps the person reaching for the ultimate physical translation of the perfect thought version. One could be prone to be unintentionally careless with material objects, causing breakage easily and wearing things out because of the unrealistic expectations on the physical objects somehow survive despite themselves and their frailty.

3rd house: This house relates to communication, interaction with the environment, siblings, neighbors, as well as learning and early education. It’s basically the house of everyone and everything that one relates to mentally on a daily basis. Uranus makes for quite a highly charged mental sphere being placed here. There’s potentially a lot of changes and disruptions of the way one is interacting from day to day – it’s difficult to fit in or mold oneself to the pace and jargon of one’s close circle. The person might have a lot of unusual or unconventional methods of relating and is prone to bewilder and stir people up. It might be difficult to make friends, or rather, keep them, because of the unreliable pattern of relating. However, there’s the promise of being very exciting and surprising. Because Uranus is so characteristic of creative freedom this type of person might be a bit of a loner. One needs to be or do whatever one wants even if it means disrupting the status quo. The mold that conventional education forces on individuals might not work well with this kind of person. There needs to be more freedom and openness for originality and rapid changes of pace. This is the kind of person that is rebellious without trying to be, unable to relate in a consistent manner. One lacks boundaries for how to be in and conceive of the environment, which makes for potentially genius ways of operating and thinking. Albert Einstein had this placement (according to astrotheme.com) and his observation and ability to step out of the boundaries of conditioned thinking led him to great discoveries. Learning is done through lightning speed in bursts of insight with this placement. Lightning strikes from above and an idea has hatched that other people have a hard time understanding. These people might prefer being observers of people and the environment rather than actively engaging. They might relate to things with a cold and seemingly uncaring energy. This is because the mind is very far up in the sky of potentials and ideas, far removed from the fixed and permanent reality of the earth plane. Other people might feel as if they’re being related to as concepts rather than physically manifested beings. The very thing that makes these people revolutionary thinkers (and creative odd balls) will perhaps get them into difficulties when trying to adapt and fit into the environment they find themselves in. Since the 3rd house is about communication, these people might dress contrary or despite of the norm, use body language that is a bit eye-catching, and appear in a way that’s considered to be shocking and provocative. It’s not necessarily that they’re trying to be different; it’s just that they have very open minds and doesn’t see the purpose of performing within limits. If an idea and concept appeals, it’s not any less valid than the preexisting set of unspoken rules of conformity. Blending in is too boring and dull, it doesn’t allow for free thinking and free living.

4th house: This house relates to roots, family, home and the ancestral past. It’s the place at the bottom of the chart, hidden from view, constituting relational foundation, our emotional base, our heritage and sense of deep belonging. When Uranus is here, home is potentially something distant, something that is more conceptual and abstract rather than concrete. The sense of belonging isn’t very stable. Although it can be captured every now and then it is very ambivalent. Usually one’s sense of home is anywhere and everywhere or perhaps so far removed from reality that it doesn’t seem to exist at all. The people of one’s family and family past are experienced as individuals, not as inextricable marks on one’s soul. In a sense, the universe is these people’s home, they might feel unusually connected to the people of the world and deriving their sense of containment from larger movements and units rather than the family of origin. They’re children of the universe first and foremost – perhaps very much inclined to find people they really feel connected to and make them their base rather than focusing too much on the blood relatives. These people might change residence often, feeling too restless to settle anywhere or with anyone for too long. It’s likely that the people of one’s family were never truly present even they were in close proximity physically during the formative years. The family is never “had” in the real world, but ever present in the realm of potential. It can make for a dissatisfaction to never be able to be in the same space or feel any real emotional closeness to one’s family. Unpredictability and disruption might’ve been characteristic of the familial sphere. On a more positive note there could’ve been a space of high openness and room for unconventional and highly original streaks. Independence might be deeply rooted in this type of person who might be trying to find a connection to a deeper identity through going against the grain. Again, being a “rebel” is not necessarily intentionally pursued; it’s just a consequence of needing to be whatever one feels to constitute the path forward. Conforming is not an option, it’s deeply important to ride the wave of one’s own convictions and insights no matter how risky or unsettling it might be. “Breaking the rules” is not done out of aggression per se, it’s done because being a game changer establishes a connection with one’s soul, the archetypal father and hero myth. The 4th house is where legacies are born and carried out. Uranus is the legacy of the sky god, the creator of the universe, the maker of the blueprint, which makes these people extremely invested in progression and tuned in to the winds of change. They might be keen to generate large movements toward a cause, more in love with the expectancy than the actual manifestation of the results.

5th house: This house relates to entertainment, leisure activities, uninhibited self-expression, creativity, play, romance and children. Basically, it’s the domain of anything that is done purely to have fun and enjoy life. When Uranus is active in this sphere, there’s detachment and innovative genius in approach to play. The person might have unusual ways of finding pleasure and enjoyment that is quite different from the norm. It’s also done with an urge to construct something of novelty, something fresh and exciting that hasn’t been experienced before. Playing around with the potential of doing something or exploring possibilities mentally might be a real thrill for these types. Ideas make these people excited, especially if it’s advanced and revolutionary and can be applied universally. These people are creative thinkers and have fun when catching some wind and can elevate above the ground for a while in their minds. When they can get to a place that feels elevated in terms of concept and ideas they are having the time of their lives. There’s an urge of wanting to express something profound and precious in the mental realm – to arrive at a conceptual point of perfection. Having children could be a very appealing idea, but one would do well to remember that the idea is more appealing than the actuality – especially when it comes to Uranus. The person might take an intellectual approach to having kids, insistent on doing things as properly as possible according to modern scientific discoveries – or simply according to one’s own “elevated” objective perspective. One aims to be progressive, not only with one’s children but also in romantic pursuits. These people might have a slightly odd style of courting their love interests, certainly well thought-through but a bit special in the sense that it has an unexpected element to it. There might be a feeling of not being seen in the present “here-and-now” by these people, being treated as a component in their mental narrative of the ultimate romantic situation. In any case, Uranus in the 5th certainly takes the experience of “having fun” to the next level in terms of planning and visualizing something unique and new. One might shock a few people in the process, some may like it and some may recoil from the strangeness of it all. It is possible to completely revolutionize entertainment with this placement, coming up with something that people haven’t experienced before, going a little overboard or testing the waters of what is acceptable. If it’s paired with enough finesse and good -will, one might be warmly received as someone who can be perform something that wouldn’t seem to belong on this plane of existence. That being said, it that which is foreign and unfamiliar is not always welcomed with open arms. It’s scary – and people might want to censor one’s self-expression.

6th house: This house relates to work, employment, the practical daily activities that needs to be performed in order to sustain health and well-being over time. This house is where one manages the technicalities and details of living in order to make the expression of life more pure, clean and organized. Uranus here can’t stand routine, which might cause the individual to be unable to stick to any routine or prior commitment. There’s a deep urge to break free from that which has become tedious and unexciting and one has no way of knowing when that famous restlessness is going to kick in. The person might go a long time doing the same things, keeping the same job or sticking to a set routine but it’s never because one does so consciously, it just happens to be the “mode” one is in for the time being. It could switch at any time and the individual might find it impossible to keep doing things the same way. One has to follow the spark of inspiration because it literally goes off like lightning and won’t be denied. This might not be comfortable for the conscious self that might be adamant about sticking to a set plan and operating out of reason. There’s not much to do than to trust and hope for the best with this placement. What one should do on a given day is not set in stone, even if one attempts to be very structured and conscious of what is being done. There’s a stronger push-and-pull force that dictates the daily activities. Some days there’s a lot of energy to put into projects and chores and work and some days are void of electric charge all together. Some days one is on fire and on others there’s no energy left at all. It’s wise to take advantage of the spurs when they come and work with the erratic pattern of energetic bursts because they might prove very useful. On a more negative note, the high productivity that can be generated by Uranus in this house might lead to burn out because of the high voltage of the planet. Exhaustion might be a high risk and all the related physical symptoms that come with it, since the 6th house rules physical (and mental) health. There might be temporary ills and pains that come and go – sickness might come from “out of the blue” and then disappear without apparent reason. The body might require very specific and unexpected nourishment and one might do well to yield to the impulses and insights received in the name of health. Keeping up unconventional dietary habits could be a thing, experimentation and change in the way one manages necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and exercising would be typical of this placement. Employment might also be irregular and unconventional in some way – working odd shifts and hours, having no set schedule, having undefined and unspecified tasks, not being able to go by anyone else’s guidance etc. Uranus in the 6th would have a hard time working “for” someone because of the strong emphasis on freedom and space, it can only be done if there’s complete integrity in the subordinate position, in which case one is really not subordinate at all. There’s no such thing as obligation, there’s only modes of being, which are set and carried out. These people could be very concerned with health and daily life as an experiment, like observers studying phenomena in order to get a grip of all the intricacies and details in order to change and explore potential. The boldness of experimentation can of course get out of hand and turn destructive, so one ought to be careful.

7th house: This house relates to other people, cooperation, union and commitment. Usually that which is in the 7th in the chart is projected onto other people and sought after through engagement with “that which is other”. It’s through looking to other people that the planet is discovered in one’s own life. When Uranus is here, innovation, change and genius is encountered through cooperation and deals, whether it’s marriage, business or any other social declaration of entanglement. Uranus is discovered through the consideration of other people and their perspectives. This type of person has a very liberal and open attitude to other people and is focused on progress and change as to make things better for the sake of social well-being and harmony. It’s no wonder that successful politicians have this placement such as Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Angela Merkel (as found on astrotheme.com). One is inclined to be open and insightful in relationships, detached, rational and impersonal. Emotional bonds could be difficult to form and stability in relationships could be hard to come by for these people. Somehow, other people might get up and leave for no reason and there’s no way of being sure that anyone will stay, especially not out of dependence. This kind of person is going to have to be in partnerships that allows for a lot of freedom of expression, to the point of there not being any ties that bind at all. Uranus has such force and charge that nothing is going to go according to convention. Everything is going to be a bit odd and erratic in relationships, for better or for worse. Saying “I love you” is never a guarantee for life-long commitment because the next day Uranus might’ve switched gears and the person has fallen out of love – not by choice of course, but because the feeling is gone and the mental frame is completely different suddenly. These people crave excitement and looks for it in others. They would find people who strictly lives inside the “box” of convention to be extremely boring and painfully narrow minded. If cooperation and engagement with others doesn’t bring some kind of fresh and new perspective, if it doesn’t feel exhilarating and revolutionary, one might not be able to stick around for too long. In the case of Uranus being projected on other people and not realized as part of oneself, one might be shook by other’s unpredictable and jerky behavior. One might see potential, genius and originality in others but fail to recognize it in oneself. The great ideas and insights that come from engaging with others might add a lot to the person’s life, but one might also feel sad that these qualities are absent outside of a social context. There’s no need for this of course, because Uranus will always have to be accessed through the house that it’s placed in. On a more negative note, people with this placement might scorn and reject others for being so “up in the clouds”, inconsiderate and individualistic. “Other people are so unpredictable and unreliable” might be the narrative, when in reality one is failing to recognize the same tendencies within oneself.

8th house: This house relates to the deep end of experience, death of all kinds and transformative yet traumatic experiences. It’s related to everything that is hidden, the most private, intimate and vulnerable dimensions of life, which includes shared finances and sex as byproducts of strong emotional attachment. Uranus here makes for potentially shocking discoveries of grim, taboo or soul-shattering realities about oneself or other people. Death of loved ones, random inheritances or unforeseen debt could surface from seemingly out of nowhere in the strangest of ways. However, one might be able to deal with it in an objective and detached manner without getting too drenched and sunk by the whole experience. A lot of things related to the most intimate sphere could change very quickly without a moments notice. The most personal and deep dimensions of life are never stable for this person - but the transformation is not that severe since there’s a simultaneous distance and objectivity in one’s way of relating to death and crises. Uranus here is a bit of a contra-intuitive placement because there’s coolness in the face of the most soul-shattering experiences. It’s as if this person is looking at everything but is never completely enmeshed in the emotions surrounding it all. Objectivity and rationality is sought in order to keep things light and up in the mental realm of clarity. The transformations this person goes through are quick and life altering, at the speed of light everything is turned upside down. There’s openness and fascination for everything occult and one might have quite an alarming universal perspective in personal and deep emotional matters. Death is related to primarily as a concept – and so is intimacy. Tying oneself to another can be done, but the risk of doing so is understood from a higher perspective. It’s easy to get into states of paranoia, fearing that important attachment will be broken because there’s a push for change from below the surface. When Uranus is in the 8th, socially/societally divergent behavior might lurk in the basement of the psyche and carefully kept out of sight from the conscious self and the rest of the world. Certain impulses and urges that don’t fit into a preconceived framework might be suppressed because of early conditioning and fear of losing something or someone. These people have the capacity to get a broad and clear view of the darkest facets of life and humanity with revolutionary insights into the depths of the psyche. There’s excitement in probing deeper and uncovering more and more through personal experience but also from looking into other people’s lives, what they invest in, support and might hide from view in order to stay in control and protect their interests. These people look for the unexpected and can therefore spot things that others don’t because they’re not blinded by the veil of convention.

9th house: This house relates to knowledge that is gained through experience and exploration. It’s the house of higher learning and the intuitive search for truth. It’s the house of exploring themes and patterns through life; in essence it’s the house of studying the archetypal realm. With Uranus here, there are bound to be life-altering discoveries and insights into the themes of life, how energies express themselves through the collective and what they ultimately mean in the context of life as a whole. There might be a strong push to discover the meaning behind things in order to change it and work with it to elevate humanity in the process – especially as it relates to the mental framework of people. One might be inclined to share one’s progressive perspective and insight in order to educate people and have them get more out of life that way. Belief systems and innate knowing can be thrown out the window with this placement and replaced in a heartbeat. Other people might be confused as to what one really thinks because it depends on what gear one is driving on at the moment but it could change at any time. There’s restlessness and a strong urge to look to the future for answers and reject the “old”. Openness to experience the strangest things could be characteristic of this placement – if one is in the right “mode” or mind frame to go along with it. Stubbornness and rigidity when it comes to certain opinions and insights could be typical, although it might change very quickly and won’t stick over time. Something the person is thoroughly convinced of today might seem foolish to them tomorrow. There would be strong push to go out of one’s way to discover things, no matter how impractical and inconvenient the pursuit. There’s electricity and charge to the person’s mental pursuits, to one’s observation and efforts to extract value out of experience. Although there’s force and intensity to the process of learning about life as a whole, there’s also a peculiar detachment to the whole thing as if one isn’t part of what one is learning about. In contrast to someone with say, Moon in the 9th, Uranus in the 9th doesn’t experience the overwhelm that it means to learn and experience existence because one is the “observer” not a living and breathing merged component of the experience. With this placement one might have an unusual outlook of life and a very rare and interesting life philosophy. In fact, one would not really subscribe to any one outlook and might identify solely as the observer because one has switched perspective so many times that one knows that none are ultimately real. This doesn’t make the person discouraged, it only confirms that life is complex and multi-dimensional and that truth is nowhere to be found within the hologram of existence.

10th house: This house relates to public image, career and our personal contribution to society. It’s represents worldly purpose and outward persona. When Uranus is here, the person has a certain protruding electricity and charge – there’s a lot of energy put towards moving forward into the future in revolutionary ways. The person could have a reputation for being unpredictable, eccentric and a bit irrational as a byproduct of only seeing potential and not taking note of the limitations. The person exist “outside of the box” and is somewhat of a stranger in society, presenting far-reaching ideas that might be difficult for the average person to digest. There’s probably great openness to all kinds of people and experiences, but the person is extremely jerky and fidgety, so it’s impossible to really know when there’s going to be resistance and when there’s going to be acceptance. More than any other placement, Uranus in the 10th is an indicator of someone to catch people’s attention because it’s so potent and forceful in an electric way – it’s so unsettling and unconventional that people can’t help but turn their heads. “I’m not like everyone else” is the kind of message these people convey, consciously or unconsciously. These are extremely flighty individuals – they can be miles away, seemingly living in their own fantasy world, except that they know that everyone else is doing the same thing and they’re just not aware of it. These people are likely pinned as the odd person that has a lot of energy and unusual opinions and modes of being. They can switch gears or “roles” frequently, unable to be bound by any standardized career path and pushed to carve their own lives, take risks and live on mental impulse. They probably have no idea what they’re doing most of the time, or at least it seems like it when taking the most contra intuitive paths and moving into unpaved territory in terms of vocation and worldly achievement. Some force of the unconscious is seemingly moving these people, pushing them and compelling them to take mental leaps. The curious thing is, that once the leap is made, there’s absolute certainty because one is not merely hoping to level up, one has switched gears and is now operating on a completely different level of existence that is just as real as the previous one. These people are really the pioneers and revolutionaries of society because they radiate a collective urge for change; they shake things up, perhaps even negatively in some people’s eyes. They are symbolizing the urge to break free from old shackles and to reinvent the ways of society. People might feel uncomfortable and put up a lot of resistance to this kind of energy, because it’s disruptive and destabilizing. These people might have “weirdo” painted all over their forehead, being misunderstood and taken for extreme creative individualists with no anchoring in the norm – or they might become the “hook” for collective unconscious forces as the leader of a collective movement. In the case of the latter, the individual becomes a public image for the winds of change for better or for worse. The career might be paved with unforeseen events sudden blessings and curses, as well as unpredictable turns of the road.

11th house: This house relates to collective movements, common goals, friends and shared interests, societal change and progression. Uranus is very much at home in this house, seeing as it is the planet of large-scale revolution and change. When Uranus is here, there’s a strong awareness of the differences and commonalities of human beings and a capacity to switch between groups of people and finding a common ground with all of them. This is the type of person to jump in between social groups – not belonging to any one group but open enough to partake in all of them. The humanitarian and liberal perspective is protruding and very strong – there’s no one more open and willing to find friendship with people from all walks of life than Uranus in the 11th. It’s likely that one views the self to not belong to any specific group or class of society, but to them all simultaneously. All people are part of the human family and this is profoundly clear to this person – religion, political opinion, ethnicity, sexuality or any other factor comes second to the fact that everyone depends on one another. This person might have great ideas about how humanity should organize itself in order to benefit everyone without the blood thirsty uncivilized game that is “survival of the fittest”. Of course, primitiveness is not innately bad, but the person with Uranus here aims to view things objectively and find new ways to make everyone live in a way that benefits the whole rather than merely themselves. That being said, this person could have some unconventional ideas and highly creative solutions to certain collective issues. One might be associated with various groups of people and have great insight into their way of viewing things, their needs and convictions, their character traits and innate disposition. More than anything, this person is an observer of humanity, a person of mental understanding of the inner workings of social systems and groupings. Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry all have Uranus in this house (according to astrotheme.com), which makes sense considering that they are people who are supposed to have a connection to the people – they are essentially symbolic “agents of the divine”, supposedly anchored in Christian values of brotherhood, love, compassion and respect. They are involved in various social projects and aim to improve that quality of people’s lives through their work and presence. Whether it’s successful or impactful can be up for debate but it’s certainly their intention. People with this placement will likely seek to offer guidance or insight to the masses in some way, whether it’s through expressing certain values or bringing an objective perspective to the situation that equalizes the charge within people. This type of person would be phenomenal at reminding everyone of the commonalities and shared quirks, reminding people of their basic humanity and all the problems and gifts that come with it. By being radically open and honest, other people are allowed to show their weaknesses and strengths as they are without feeling the need to fit into a box.

12th house: This house relates to the collective unconscious, undifferentiated reality and the absence of separate self. It is a house that is related to universal feeling, the truth of everything being one. This house is essentially the enemy of individuality and at the same time is the birthing place for it. The 12th is dual and paradoxical, the place where “reality” and dreams blend. With Uranus here, the person would feel as if collective forces govern his or her life to a large extent. Changes in the collective unconscious affect these people personally more than others, for better or for worse. They live in a perpetual atmosphere of Uranus, which means that mental impulses and insights flood them daily of the most new and jarring kind. The inner world is potentially absurd and strange and completely different from the mundane everyday life. In fact, these people might not find that there’s anything mundane about life because everything is a fascinating phenomena to them. There can be hidden feeling of not being of this world, of feeling things more objectively and from a standpoint of universal reality. These can be very creative individuals, able to channel some genius ideas through letting go of the defenses put up by the ego. This could potentially be done through sleep, drugs or any other method of releasing resistance. Since this house is related to hidden enemies, it might be that certain original ideas are detrimental to the separate self and to other people in one’s surroundings. Because the 12thhouse is the realm of no boundaries, doing the most destructive and weird things might come easier to these people. There’s a disruptive quality to these people that shines through their subtle aura – they’re not trying to act out of the norm but little twitches and pushes make them do things that they ultimately can’t control. In a sense, these people are sponges for collective energies and pushes for change. Adolf Hitler had this placement (according to astrotheme.com), which expressed itself extremely destructively. Uranus in the 12th reaches for the heavens and might end up in hell because ecstasy is only felt through complete disregard for the preservation of the individual even though one might argue that it is in the individual’s best interest. In a sense Uranus in the 12th is a push for societal structure and progression that comes the closest to ecstatic bliss and one might take the most insane actions to get there. On a more positive note, this placement can express itself as a positive force for changing group consciousness, and communicating a vision of a civilized and peaceful society based on humanitarian values, mutual respect and love. Whether the ideas are realistic and applicable might be another question, however, the dream of redemption can inspire people and instill hope in the darkest of times.

[nelfs]

EEEEE i just finished up the G5 movie and i LOVED IT! everything about it felt super well thought-out, perfectly executed, and it just put the biggest smile on my face. it was a great little well-rounded package of delightful ponyponypony. 10/10, got me hyped for the new gen. super long wall of stream-of-consciousness thoughts and favorite things about it behind the cut ^_^

-of course seeing the G4 mane 6 in the intro was a blast, and so sweet. LOVED the little foray into 2D they started with, it felt like a great way to transition not only into the new generation but the new animation style

-and speaking of the animation style, WOWEE did it look amazing. i kind of have an obsession with cgi musicals and this scratched that itch and then some. everything was a delight to look at-- I loved the fluffy fetlocks, the bright colors, the bigger snoots, the hoof shape, and the slighter longer bodies (which i read was to accommodate for the transition to 3D!). the environments knocked my socks off.

-the humor was super on point and it got a couple real chortles out of me. just a charming, well-intentioned, sweet movie-- I've always loved that MLP tends to keep away from jokes that are mean-spirited or cruel. the serious delivery of "the queen has been arrested for being a phony pony full of baloney" right to the shot of her posing gorgeously in the mugshot killed me

-the plot wrapped up soooo nicely! it really made me sad to see Sunny's ancestral home being destroyed and of course we finish off with a little speech about the real magic being the friends we made along the way. absolutely darling.

-SUNNY ALICORN!?!?? HUHWHUHHH?? if i hadn't been spoiled for that via twitter i would have been knocked absolutely off my rocker. the updated designs for the wings and horns are gorgeous too. just a real visual treat with all the glittery glimmery effects!!

-ok i looooooved the songs. I have been watching izzy's little Fit Right In song and seeing it in action was great. Pipp's song is great (and i really felt for her when she got exposed for the royal lie, her little hurt face, omg). i'm definitely gonna be humming sunny's little Be My Day song to myself while i powerwalk to the bus lol

-PONY DDR WAS SO AWESOME. Alphabittle was so awesome. i wanna be his friend and listen to him explain his collection of N64 emulators. also i think he and the pegasus queen should have a cute lil romance.

-Sprout was a weird villain, but funny too. the whole mommy's boy thing was uhhh. strange

hi!!! please don't say that!

-WHO IS BEST PONY? well, hard to say at this point. I'm fond of Izzy as i'm sure everyone is-- she reminds me of myself and she's just so darn tootin' cute. I also adore Hitch and his heart of gold though, though, and Pipp is so darling, and Zipp is so smart and reliable, and and and....

OH MAN!! ultimately, i just really had a blast watching this movie. i highly recommend it to anyone who likes ponyponypony. I'm curious to see how the show will look (hopefully good), and i am psyched to see all these horsies go on more adventures :')

[itsclydebitches]

So I'm curious what are some character designs you love? Not from RWBY, but just i general. I'm the same anon who got you to check out Berserk and I'd say essentially all of the designs are done damn well. Fit the character. Changes that makes sense for growth. Also make sense given the setting. Even women in armor that doesn't have those massive boob plates. Good designs impact so much subconsciously to have much we enjoy other aspects of a story.

Congratulations! You’ve unlocked my never-ending need to praise Yu Yu Hakusho! :D 

This long, picture-laden post needs two disclaimers going forward: 

I’m not an artist. In the sense that I’m not a visual artist who knows anything about what makes character design good from a technical/community approved standpoint. This is purely based on my own, personal reaction to a beloved series. 

Connected to that, I’m going into this under the assumption that people might really disagree with me (?). Based on the cartoons and anime that I see praised for character design, I don’t think YYH fits whatever list more knowledgeable viewers are pulling from. But I’m gonna lay out my thinking anyway! 

Major spoilers for Yu Yu Hakusho below. 

Alright let’s do this. 

First off, when people start talking character design they often reference how cool a character is. Which makes sense. You want a character to be visually engaging and distinct. Something that makes you go “Wow!” whenever you look at them. However, one of the things I love about the YYH cast is how normal they are. Because they’re supposed to be normal. The trope of the main character having a crazy hair color has become so prominent that we’ve got memes about it now and that works for a lot of stories. You know who is important because, despite the assumption that they’re average people not dying their hair, they stick out like a sore thumb among the rest of the cast. 

However, normalcy is a really important part of YYH. The entire point at the start is that Yusuke is not special. He’s not unique. He’s a delinquent kid who most assume isn’t going anywhere in life. When he dies this doesn’t unlock some Super Special Backstory - you were innately amazing all along! - he just gets caught up in the plot because of a paperwork issue. The afterlife doesn’t know what to do with an asshole kid who unexpectedly saved another kid’s life so they just kind of... shuffle him around until he’s given another chance to live. Then he gets to pay back that second chance by becoming a Spirit Detective. Yeah, Yusuke is talented when it comes to fighting and spirit energy, but at the start that’s rarely emphasized outside of “He’s the best street fighter among no-name street fighters so really, it’s not impressive once you take Yusuke out of his tiny world of school parking lots and the occasional alleyway.” The takeaway is that he’s a dime-a-dozen troubled teen who got involved in the spirit world due to an impulsive act and a bunch of bureaucracy. Indeed, it’s a HUGE moment of emotional growth for Yusuke to realize that people do love him despite his supposedly average, unremarkable, and otherwise negative personality. His normal-ness - and others’ expectation that he could someday make himself great if he learns to work at it - is crucial to where Yusuke starts out. Making him visually distinct in terms of Anime Protagonist Looks would undermine a lot of that. This isn’t supposed to be a Super Special Kid Destined For Greatness. He’s just... a kid. A normal kid. A kid who has to work and learn and grow if he wants to make something of himself. So he gets black hair, brown yes, and a green school uniform. He’s pretty damn average looking. 

Same with Kuwabara. Same with Keiko. Same with Atsuko. They’re just normal people going about their lives and I always appreciated that they looked the part. You can still easily tell them apart thanks to different hair colors, texture, jaw lines, and outfits, but none of them seem out of place in the average world they start out in. Which, as said, is crucial to a lot of YYH’s themes. The ones who look more visually distinct - Hiei and Botan - aren’t human. It makes sense that they wouldn’t obey these same average laws of the rest of the cast and they are our first taste of a world that, in terms of character design, will eventually get pretty wonderfully weird. They function as stepping stones. 

This eventually becomes a story about the demon world and those demons wouldn’t come across as particularly scary/other if you begin the story with equally strange looking humans. Or even just “I don’t see people who look like that walking down the street” humans. Alongside many themes, there’s a contrast at work here. Yusuke stepping out into a stadium full of demons who despise him because of his species hits home when he is so clearly distinct from them. Suddenly, his normal is abnormal. 

Once the ball gets rolling, Yusuke’s looks are constantly in contrast with both his environment and his inner self. He looks like a scary thug but then unexpectedly saves a life. He looks like an average human but is actually the strongest among a group of scary-looking demons. He looks like this badass spirit detective who everyone assumes with have an equally badass spirit beast but, uh... 

Oh my god that’s a precious baby. By the time our cast is family and everyone accepts that Yusuke looks scarier than he actually is or ever was - once the core group is made up of not just humans but demon loving humans who are equally soft - we turn it all on its head again and reveal that Yusuke has demon blood. For the first time he looks as strange and powerful as he is. Yusuke’s normality is done away with the second he’s fully accepted his place in these worlds, throwing everything back into chaos. 

Yusuke’s demon form becomes even more foreign looking  when he’s being controlled by his ancestral father. The above is a Yusuke who is still Yusuke and in many respects the design reflects that: natural hair color, human body, tattoos easily covered up with a shirt. When he’s gone full Mazoku though, something dangerous, the white, wilder hair and change to his expressions ensure we read him as something feral. For the first time in the series Yusuke is truly the dangerous creature he’s pretended to be since his principal was running after him at school. 

As a side-note about character costumes, we see this emphasis on normality in their outfits as well. Obviously a story like RWBY is limited by how much time/money they have for animation, but it nevertheless has an impact to see the group almost constantly in their battle gear. They’re never not the main characters of an action-fantasy show, not even while just out around town with no expectation of entering a fight.  

In contrast, Yusuke and Kuwabara are often animated in everyday clothing that remind us that they’re really just teens trying to live their lives outside of this crazy nonsense. Kuwabara wasn’t even formally hired for all this! The cast wears sweaters and jackets while out and about. More formal clothes for special occasions. Jeans and t-shirts when they’re unexpectedly caught up in a fight because, you know, they’re not ready for battle every second of every day. They’re drawn like normal folks because, outside of the ring, they are. 

(We’ve also got a lot of parallels between Yusuke and Kuwabara’s civilian clothing, visually reminding us that they’re far more alike than they might be willing to admit.)

Despite often changing outfits, the group maintains a basic color pallet that makes them recognizable, yet it’s also not so limited that they appear strange for sticking to one (1) color for the entire time we know them. Yusuke, like most people, is drawn to particular colors, mostly greens, yellows, and blues, so each time we see him he’s familiar while also being distinct from the last time he changed. 

Hiei, as someone who initially wants nothing to do with anyone else and relies on assassin-like speed to take out his enemies, is dressed almost entirely in black. Without that bit of white in his scarf/hair you’d lose him in the shadows... which is the point. 

When he opens up and actually becomes friends with the team, his color pallet starts opening up a great deal too.  

And we’re shown all the little changes he starts incorporating that speak to his growth: his Jagan eye, a bandaged arm hiding his Dragon of the Darkness Flame, the necklace connecting him to Yukina. 

I’ve blathered on about the outfits enough but as a quick final note: EVERYONE WEARS APPROPRIATE FIGHTING CLOTHES. 

No one (even the women to my recollection) wear heels. Everything is loose-fitted and looks easy to move in. They’ve got sensible belts, bandages if they need them, and... that’s it. No unnecessary bells and whistles that distract from what’s supposed to be the story’s real draw: good fights and good characterization. Even the more elaborately styled characters (usually) look like they chose their outfits practically first and for the aesthetic after. At no point do I recall watching this show and going, “WHY would you wear that to a fight??” 

Anyway, back to the designs. 

The exceptions to either side of these extremes - from human normal to demon monstrous - are Genkai and Kurama, both of whom straddle the line. Genkai is someone who has pushed her spirit and body far past the norm. She’s the first human we meet who truly goes beyond that normality, even if you don’t immediately realize it. Her pink hair (such a soft color in her old age it’s not at all distracting) is a slight hint that something isn’t quite right with her. She’s obviously human... but not a normal human. Not anymore. 

Those unnatural looks are emphasized in her youth when she was at the height of her power. 

Genkai as a young woman has vibrantly pink hair (a bright pastel like Botan’s), a softer face, and far more emotive eyes. She looks ethereal, which fits not just her own journey to power but Togoru’s as well. Her story is intimately tied up in what that power does to the human body/soul. So Toguro starts out like this 

a pretty normal looking guy who is on the far end of what the human body is naturally capable of. He’s buff as hell, but not so much that it looks unreasonable. I’ve seen body builders bigger than him. He’s the average (dehydrated...) MCU superhero. However, he ends up like this

In Togoru’s case his abnormality is explicitly presented as grotesque. Rather than giving him a cool looking characteristic that’s clearly supernatural (blue hair, an extra eye, curly horns, etc.), we’ve taken a human characteristic (muscles) and expanded them to an unnatural degree. He’s got some uncanny valley shit going on. 

Paralleling Genkai, we likewise see Kurama subtly standing out among his human allies. 

He’s a demon in a human’s body. By in-world logic his appearance should be just as normal as anyone else’s, but a bit of his true nature shines through. His hair is long in a style not popular in YYH’s Japan. His red is far less of a natural shade than Kuwabara’s. He carries himself with the air of someone who is ancient, because he is. His human design deliberately reflects his true demon form so when that’s finally revealed we still recognize him as Kurama. 

(Same sort of work with Hiei’s demon form.) 

When we look at the cast together we have an immediate, visual impression as to who is normal and who is not - and those assumptions are embedded into the story. Yusuke is someone you’d overlook in the crowd, but he’s the most powerful. Kurama is clearly other in some way, but he’s desperate to live an average, human life. Kuwabara is designed to look and move like the fool and a lot of his development (his and others’ in relation to him, really. Like Hiei) is built around respecting him despite those looks. Hiei is tiny but will kick your ass. Genkai is tinier and will kick your ass worse. 

Her size combined with her age - combined with her status as Yusuke’s teacher - is a continuous reminder not to judge power by looks alone. Don’t underestimate your opponent and get overconfident (a major flaw of Yusuke’s). Know that you still have a LOT to learn about the world. That woman you assume is just a rude grandma? She’s going to break your expectations over and over and over again. 

Speaking of size, that’s a major aspect of Koenma’s design as well. When Yusuke learns he’s meeting the head of the underworld he starts picturing a massive, demonic beast who (sensing a theme here) looks the part of a supernatural ruler. Seeing Koenma for the first time - an adorable toddler-like being - is an absolute shock. 

It’s a gag for the audience, but it’s not just a gag. Due to his looks Yusuke is unable to take Koenma seriously, despite knowing the power he holds. 

Which, even more-so than arrogance, is Yusuke’s greatest flaw throughout the series. He doesn’t take school seriously. His death seriously. Ruler of the underworld seriously. His teacher seriously, etc. Yusuke constantly acts like he doesn’t care, throwing basic respect and effort in the face of whatever authority figure is desperately trying to keep him from self-destructing. He’s on the receiving end of multiple speeches throughout the series (mostly from Genkai) that boil down to, “Care about something, dammit. Take this seriously!” and when he does it’s GREAT. It’s a moment of growth we’ve really built to in a hundred different ways, including how he reacts to others’ looks. Koenma’s design feeds directly into the primary flaw Yusuke is working to overcome. How will he go from a delinquent laughing in the face of the most powerful being to someone multiple worlds can put their trust in? Design assists with that. 

When Yusuke does respect Koenma (even if he still insults/teases him because that’s just an ingrained part of Yusuke’s personality) Koenma’s appearance can change. It’s no longer serving its original function, so he evolves into a very good looking young man (with references to Tuxedo Mask to emphasize those good looks) that just... happens to still carry a pacifier. 

A pacifier that is revealed as an incredibly powerful weapon that will help save the world. Again: don’t judge anyone or anything solely on their looks. They’re never precisely what you’d assume they are based on your first glance - with the exception of minor villains whose looks serve only to convey their villainy: 

For everyone else, looks are complex. Two of the most different looking characters (color-wise anyway) are actually siblings, their contrasts reflecting both differing cultures and the emotional distance between them. 

The scariest looking monsters are just paper-pushers. It’s the handsome humans you should watch out for.  

And this is our hero, a man charged with protecting three worlds. 

I could say SO MUCH MORE but this is already disgustingly long so basically YYH (I think) does a great job of: 

Crafting characters that are distinct but not different for the sake of different. They always feel like they belong to their individual worlds and adhere to whatever “normal” is by those standards. 

Tying character looks really closely to the show’s themes and individual growth. Which, frankly, is something I think all good character design should do. 

It’s not nearly as flashy as other anime... but YYH knows what it wants to accomplish and went about it beautifully. Catch me still weeping over this show fifty years from now. 

Peace ✌️

[vidurbharadwaj]

"Top 5 Sustainable Architects in the World"

In today's time, the environment is fighting with several issues humans have caused due to their irresponsibility and ignorance. But all thanks to Sustainable Architects who are doing hard work in protecting our planet.

and Green Buildings

Sustainable Architectures are those which we make with the help of renewable resources and recyclable materials. It reduces the total energy consumption and the amount of waste. The most significant role of sustainable architecture is that it reduces the hazardous impact of the building on the surrounding environment.

Sustainable Architectures never end with the completion of a building, but it goes on forever! When we mean forever, it tells us that a building's design should be in a way that it can prevent heat and cold, uses solar panels for the reduction of energy, consumes natural light, and has a tremendous eco-friendly environment.

In a Green Building, architects use resources that are healthy to surrounding, resulting in a good building atmosphere.

Why are they So Important?

These things are important so that we can save our planet Earth from various kinds of issues. As humans, we have used plenty of Earth's resources. That's why it's time to wake up and try to save our environment.

Sustainable Architects

To save our environment and make the buildings in an eco-friendly way, numerous architects have brought sustainability to their designs. In this article, we will list the "Top 5 Sustainable Architects In The World". They all have gigantic knowledge about the architectural industry and are experts in their own ways.

Without further ado, let's begin!

1.Vidur Bhardwaj

With his immense knowledge in the field of Sustainable Architecture, the director of "The 3C Company, Noida"- Mr. Vidur Bhardwaj, a consummate professional artist has made an example for others to follow. Graduated from the School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi, he has got numerous awards for himself and The 3C Company, Noida.

Mr. Vidur Bharadwaj, an architect par excellence, has produced unique Green Buildings like The Patni Campus, Noida, and Wipro Technologies in Gurugram that have been certified as Green Buildings by the USGBC, USA. His Real Estate Company, The 3c Company, Noida, has shaken hands with the very well-known Resort, the Four Seasons. Due to his vast knowledge and stupendous skills, Vidur Bhardwaj, an outstanding personality, is Advisor for the Hong Kong Development Group.

The director of The 3c company, Noida, not only believes in Green Buildings but also in Green Living!

No doubt that his project for Wipro Technologies was the biggest Eco-friendly Building in the World! In 2005, Vidur Bharadwaj, a phenomenal architect, received an award for the same. This great respect was given to him by none other than the Missile Man -Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, itself (then President of India). Besides a renowned sustainable architect, Vidur Bhardwaj is also a fantastic painter. We look for more futuristic projects by this superlative artist.

2. Ken Yeang

Mr. Ken Yeang is a sustainable architect coming from a small place in Malaysia, but this hasn't stopped him from achieving big things! He has been featured in the article 'One of the 50 People That Could Save the Planet' of the famous newspaper 'The Guardian.'

Some of the renowned Sustainable Architecture built by him includes Solaris Tower, Singapore, and Eco Tower, London. Mr. Ken Yean never competes with nature for getting the desired space, but he does his creativity in the limited place assigned to him. One of the most considerable contributions made by him is the Bioclimatic Skyscraper. Indeed, aspiring architects should learn from his marvelous works.

3. Renzo Piano

Born in a family with an ancestral history of astounding builders, Mr. Renzo Piano is a superb sustainable architect. He includes green and natural materials in his designed buildings, making them unique besides environment friendly. Renzo Piano has contributed a lot to nature with his aim of making Green and Sustainable Architectures.

The New York Times Building, New York, and the Shard, London are some of the Piano's notable achievements. An outstanding example of his architectural creativity is The California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco! This building, designed by Mr. Renzo Piano, uses natural lights in at least 90% of the total space, which is quite impressive. Renzo's Sustainable Architectures are a must-watch thing.

4.Glenn Murcutt

Without a second thought, Mr. Glenn Murcutt is definitely an extraordinary sustainable architect. For his Green Works, he has won innumerable awards, such as the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal. Mr. Murcutt got inspired by the traditional architects of his country, which led him to begin his career in architecture. This sustainable architect hailing from Australia has received his graduation degree from the University of South Wales Technical College.

Inspired by the woolshed's principle, he has built houses with proper heating and cooling systems that also have open floors for excellent air circulation. Mr.Glenn Murcutt's major sustainable works include Australian Islamic Centre, Newport, and Moss Vale Education Centre, Moss Vale. His creativity and unlimited talent inspire everyone to be responsible towards their surroundings.

5.William McDonough

Mr. William McDonough is America's top green architect. As he has received the most reputable award- The Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, there is no doubt that he is a talented sustainable architect.

Prominent architectures such as the Ford Rouge truck plant and Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College are the two noteworthy Green Structures designed by William McDonough.

Mr. William McDonough has also come up with Brad Pitt for the establishment of 'Make It Right Foundation. This foundation aims at building green and storm-resistant homes at a reasonable price. His extraordinary Green Works make us proud.

The Bottom Line:

As we have come to the end, there is only one thing to say that these Sustainable Architects have played an important factor in saving the environment with their world-class designs and wonderful construction ideas. From Mr. Vidur Bharadwaj, an ambitious green architect, to Mr. William McDonough, who is compassionate about his work, every sustainable architecture mentioned in the article is remarkable.

[burlveneer-music]

Aditya Prakash Ensemble - Diaspora Kid - Carnatic singer & protege of Ravi Shankar assembles a host of musicians for his vision of world fusion, including a great cover of Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage”

Known for his powerful and emotive voice, vocalist Aditya Prakash is one of the foremost young virtuosos of Carnatic music, the traditional classical style of South India. Growing up in his native Los Angeles, Aditya was rooted in South Indian arts and culture through his immigrant family, yet at school found himself in a distinct minority. He studied Carnatic voice with great dedication from childhood, but kept that passion apart from the public persona he had for his friends. Balancing two worlds in this way leads one to isolation, a feeling of being separate from both cultures. Yet it also drives the creative to find ways to bring these worlds together. The power of his ancestral culture and his formidable talent took the lead when, at just 15 years of age, Aditya was summoned and personally selected by the great Ravi Shankar to tour; soon such respected stages as Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl appeared on his resumé -- but more importantly they enhanced his confidence and his sense of self. Returning to high school, he picked up the lead role in a class production of Beauty and The Beast -- surprising everyone,including himself!-- and set out on a path toward reconciling the disparate influences in his life. Looking forward to college, he sought the advice of the master, who suggested Aditya commit himself completely to music. Rather than hit the road in a van (as so many do), Aditya chose to study ethnomusicology and music at UCLA, where he gained a broad understanding of western music and met the key players and friends who would help move his vision forward. Aditya was now certain of his Carnatic voice, and ready to explore its potential for groundbreaking synergy in a jazz context. Aditya Prakash Ensemble has released two explorative and powerful albums, and is now prepared to release Diaspora Kid, its title a reference to the artist's cross-cultural upbringing in Los Angeles. Prakash carefully selected 24 musicians -- from the LA jazz scene and fellow American-born maestros from Indian classical tradition -- to come together and make his vision a reality. The result is stunning - yes one can hear the influence on both sides, but like all true groundbreaking projects, we can identify with it on its own, as an entirely new and wonderful experience. In this way the music mirrors Aditya's experience and the experience of so many who are physically, but not spiritually, separated from their cultures. "Diaspora Kid in about finding my roots in my ever-changing environment, filled with a diverse array of inspirations. From rhythmic Carnatic grooves over a brass band (Greenwood), to an alternative rock Radiohead-inspired feel (Wave for an Ocean), to an aggressive Tigran Hamasyan-inspired modal jazz tune (The Warrior), to an Irish fiddle-inspired sound (Irish Song) to a hip hop rap vibe (Up in Flames), to a funky Indian folk feel (Ambiga), and finally the pure Carnatic (Roots – Ramakali) – this album is about moving through the melting pot of cultures I grew up with in Los Angeles through the lens of the Indian classical voice," says Prakash.

[purplesurveys]

736

Do you have a signifigant other at the moment? Do you love him/her? Yes, and yesssss. How many people do you live with? Are these people related to you? I live with four people and they are all immediate family. We also have a dog, because I don’t want to leave him out. Have you ever considered anyone or anything too personal for your liking? I’m not sure if I understood this correctly, but I do find the plot of Lady Bird too personal what with the tumultuous mother-daughter relationship so I can never see myself watching it. The Hours is also a very triggering film for me. Are you a confident person, or do you keep to yourself usually? I’m confident when I’m in a familiar situation, like if I have to explain journalism ethics to a casual reader or if I have to speak out against an issue within the org. I let other people take over if I’m in a new environment. Have you ever had to have surgery before? What was this for? Never.

Are you listening to any music right now? What song is it? Nah. Ever since quarantine started my sister has taken the unofficial role of playing music in the living room where we all usually hang out and I have a weird thing about keeping that thing hers and unchanging it. Like I don’t wanna break that routine, if it makes sense. I play my music late at night when everyone else has already gone upstairs. Where was the last place you vacationed to? Did you enjoy this time? I had a very quick trip – just a day trip to the beach, really – to Nasugbu with friends last August. It was a lot of fun but I probably spent more hours driving to and from Batangas than actually being at the beach because there were long stretches of traffic for both trips. But it was really fun; August isn’t a big travel month so we had the entire beach all to our four selves and we got to drink at the bar shortly before we were due to leave. When was the last time you ate pizza? Where from? Was it good? We had pizza from a local place called Angel’s Pizza delivered to our house a few weeks ago. It’s very good; I’ve had it before and it’s usually what our profs would treat us to if they wanted to get pizza for the class, so that’s what I suggested to my dad as a change cause we always get Pizza Hut. Is there anyone right now that you are simply/overly infatuated with? Yes, the above-mentioned significant other lol. What is your orientation? Gay? Straight? Metrosexual? Anything other? Last I heard metrosexual isn’t an orientation, but anyway most days I identify as demisexual. Sometimes I feel like throwing all labels out the window and just identifying as a formless blob. Is there anyone you know who is utterly repulsive? Who is this person? OMG yes one of my former social studies teachers. He played favoritism right from his very first year of teaching and was simply mean and a bully to students he did not like. Eventually students who had personal encounters with him exposed him in a Facebook group that existed for my school’s alumni and it turns out he had a liking for the chinita (Filipino-Chinese) girls from my school right from the start and hit on most of them while they were minors; he dated and married one of our alumni and got her pregnant, but eventually cheated on her, did not pay the hundreds of thousands of pesos he owed her for a very long time, and sometimes makes their kid hang out with his mistress. He’s a fucking pig and in an ideal world all the students he hated would get to form a line and punch him one by one. Are you related to any elected officials? What is their position? Yes we’ve always had family running the local office in our ancestral province. Do you have a certain standard you follow, when it comes to relationships? I don’t like being absolute about that now because I used to have what I thought were dealbreakers, but when the thing happened I didn’t feel like breaking up. I guess my biggest thing is that they should be intelligent. I wouldn’t want to be with someone who’s a bit on the slow side or holds very shallow or immature opinions. Who is your closest friend? Why are they so close to you? Gabie got my weirdness and I got hers at a time when we were looking for belongingness, so we became the best of friends despite all our differences. Angela and I simply clicked from day one. Who did you last hug? When did this hug take place? Where? I went over at my girlfriend’s place the weekend before they imposed the lockdown, which was on the firstish week of March. I hugged her before I drove off as I often do. Who was the last person to play with your hair? Are they cute? It was my dad, who was playing hair salon with me for a bit. Cute wouldn’t be my first word choice to describe him but he does do a bunch of stuff that can count as old-person cute hahaha like when he copies Tiktok dances or bonds with my dog. Who was the last person close to you, that died? Did you cry? I never got to bond with my grand-aunt Amet because she’s been living in Illinois even before I was born and only visited the Philippines a handful of times but she’s close in a sense that she’s a blood relative. I didn’t cry, but I was in shock that whole day. Is there anyone out there who can make you smile at any time? Angela. What is your favorite television show? Why do you watch this show? Ever, Breaking Bad. It was a fucking great series. If you're in school, do you like this school you attend? Or do you not? Yes, it’s been my dream school for the longest time. I had a number of relatives who studied there so there was already some pressure in the beginning for me to get in. Have you ever done anything really dangerous or illegal with friends? They all drank before we turned 18 (I waited until after, but I was with them for all sessions just drinking water lol). My friends and I also once took an Uber while we were all drunk, which counts for dangerous. What is your favorite word to say out loud? Did you just say that word? I don’t really have one. Or if I do, I just can’t remember it at the moment. Who is the one person out there who makes you feel very special? My girlfriend, durrrr. Also my dad when he buys me or treats me to stuff. Is there a certain person out there who gives you butterflies? ^ The first person. Do people call you a low-life sometimes/always? Why do they call you that? No. That’s a mean thing to say directly to anyone :/ Do you want to tell anyone anything right now? Who is this person? Not really. What is the fourteenth word of the song you're currently listening to? No songs playing. Are there any foods out there you just can’t refrain from eating every week? That’s a bit hard to do while in quarantine since I can’t exactly be picky with food now... but back when my routine was normal I would have Pancit Canton at least once a week. That or kwek-kwek, my favorite street food. Do you like Mexican food? What’s your favorite meal under that genre of food? I don’t know if I can hold an opinion on them since we mostly have Tex-Mex restaurants and I’ve never been to an authentic Mexican place. My favorite dish is fajita, if that counts.

Do you enjoy shopping? Who do you usually go shopping with anyways? My mom, because she typically pays for the clothes hahahaha and I trust her when it comes to who knows what looks good or flattering on me. When you see someone attractive, what's the first thing you look for? Their attitude and if they treat people nicely.

How many times a day do you brush your teeth? Do you find this healthy? Once or twice. Yeah, I think it’s enough. How old were you when you lost your virginity? Who'd you lose it to anyways? To my current girlfriend, when I was 18. Do you wash your own clothes? Or does someone else do that for you? No, my parents prefer to cover the laundry. Are you afraid of thunderstorms? What exactly makes you afraid of them? I would be scared if I was outside and there was a chance for me to get shocked, but if I’m indoors I generally find thunderstorms soothing. What color are the shutters on your house by the windows, if there are any? Mine are a dirty white. When was the last time you attended church? What is the name of this church? My mom makes us watch an online mass livestream every Sunday morning, and lately she’s been watching the livestreams from my grand-aunt’s American parish. I find it really fascinating that they don’t sing in their masses but it’s also a source of great joy for me because no singing means the mass only lasts 30 minutes HAHAHAHA compared to the hour-long masses we have over here, because we sing nearly the whole time. Do you enjoy talking smack to those annoying telemarketers? Is it funny? No, that sounds so obnoxious. Who was the last person you held hands with? Were they taller/shorter? My girlfriend; she’s slightly taller.

[fatehbaz]

Thank you so much for the sources on oceania!! Thank you for not only answering, but giving an introduction to the topic! Folklore is very important to me, especially when it contains astronomical or horicultural practices. I'm not too familiar with Oceania mythology, aside from a few Hawaiian tales, so I would definitely be interested to know more about that if you have the energy and resources for that!

One of my favorite stories about the sophistication of Oceanian environmental knowledge for the purposes of finding food -  a story which clearly demonstrates the intertwined nature of mythology, folklore, and accurate science and knowledge of the stars and the sea - is about WORMS. Pre-European Polynesian societies living in the colder, seasonal, and more climatically diverse temperate seas south of the Tropic of Capricorn would augment their lunar calendar with folkloric stories promoting the importance of what were called the “Palolo months” occurring between September and November. These months signify the “seasonal rising of reproductive segments of the annelid sea-worm of the Eunicidae family” in certain nearby ocean currents. The presence of the worms marked a precise and definitive shift from dry to wet season, and thus the advent of yam-growing season. So, the worms seemed to respond to lunar cycles, but the invertebrates also seemed to be aligned with unseen seasonal changes in the ocean which could reliably reflect upcoming seasonal climatic shift. By observing the worms’ behavior, island residents could accurately anticipate the most successful times for food crop cultivation. Though the Worm Event™ was mostly limited to Tonga and parts of far western Polynesia, the seasonal event was apparently so important locally that stories of the Palolo months were ingrained in ecological knowledge systems and folklore so intensely that the Palolo months were still acknowledged in different Polynesian communities thousands of kilometers away, and the stories were so culturally ingrained that they exist centuries later in distant Polynesian cultures. (Read more about the worms: Sean P. Cunningham, “A Story of Yams, Worms, and Change from Ancestral Polynesia,” 2012.) Below, I’ll try to share some of my favorite examples of Polynesian environmental knowledge related to mythology and astronomy.

Another of my favorite examples of the synthesis of folklore with sophisticated environmental knowledge comes from pre-European Tonga and Samoa. It seems that most laypeople were intimately familiar with lunar cycles. For some time, the Tongan lunar calendar apparently prescribed a different name to each night of a lunar month; the individual name for each of the 29 or so days corresponded to a different type of seafood that was active on that day and available for harvest. Thus, many laypeople would be aware that, hypothetically, certain molluscs might have been most active 10 days after a full moon on the eastern shore; barnacles, crabs, and seaweed presence are just some of the easily available foodstuffs that could be tracked via lunar cycles. By consciously making distinctions between individual days based on their associations with both stars and the moon, Polynesian knowledge could be accessible to laypeople outside of the more guarded astronomer-priest and navigator practices. For example, it was apparently common knowledge that the acronical rising of Pleiades around 16 November in the temperate South Pacific would mark the arrival of tuna season in Tuamotu, Gambier, Society Islands, and Rapa Nui; alternatively, the heliacal rise of Aldebaran in the tropics signified the beginning of the breadfruit growing season.

Anyway, aside from the role of oral tradition in encoding and transmitting knowledge of plants and soil and food cultivation, it’s my understanding that where Polynesian environmental knowledge truly shines is in its deep and amazing understanding of astronomy and the ocean. (No surprise.) I’ll try to share a few resources or tidbits on that. Obviously, the understanding of astronomy was the critical element in Polynesian’s famous voyaging and navigation skills; the art and science of “wayfinding” necessitates deep knowledge of both the sky and the sea in order to guide voyages, so astronomer-priests were/are highly revered for their maintenance of this astronomical knowledge.

People of Kiribati maintained some of the most sophisticated star maps, utilizing a so-called “sky dome” map scheme which functioned as a “nautical almanac. Apparently, the mythology of Kiribati was especially intertwined with wayfinding and voyaging; the concept of the sky, referred to in many other Polynesian societies as some kind of analogue of “heaven,” was known in Kiribati instead as um ni borau, “roof of voyaging.” And yes, lunar cycles obviously play a role in tides, meaning that knowledge of the moon can help island communities to harvest seafood from the shoreline, but lunar cycles are also relevant to the migrations or activity of marine life in the open ocean. Lunar cycles seem to also be even more important to communities living outside of the tropics, in the temperate parts of the South Pacific south of the Tropic of Capricorn, where seasonal climatic changes and the resulting availability of sea life for food harvest is more fleeting, and the timing of harvest was/is important not to miscalculate. So, apparently, the most widespread myth-motifs across Oceania seem to be those stories that involve the moon, sun, and sea. (Again, no surprise.)

Pre-European astronomical temple sites are common, across both Polynesia and Micronesia, and are often oriented so that the architecture is accurately aligned with certain star constellations to mark solstices, equinoxes, and more-subtle seasonal re-appearances of less-well-known stars that can be used to mark the arrival of migrating sea life in local seas. Some great temple sites include the Maori observatories Koro-riwha-te-ao and Koro-riwha-te-po, oriented to view solar halos at sunrise; surprisingly similar constructions, also observing the sunrise’s solar halos, also occur in Micronesia. The royal temple of Fa’anui on Bora Bora was historically maintained by “chiefs of the yellow girdle” who donned the golden tapa cloth, which took its golden color from Capella, the distinctive golden crown of the Auriga constellation. In some Polynesian societies, astronomer-priests were afforded much more prestige than “kings.”

So, I guess what I’m saying is that it’s my understanding that historians and scholars, both of Polynesian descent and of the Euro-American academy, are impressed with the fact that some historical pre-European myth-motifs and pieces of folklore are relatively similar, retaining the same names and stories and tropes, on far-flung islands on opposite edges of the South Pacific, despite the great distance between the islands, despite the lack of of consistent historical human exchange between these corners of the ocean, and despite the centuries-old dates of divergence between these communities. (For more on the “classic pattern” of Polynesian myth-motifs existing at such distant corners of the ocean, see: Anthony Alpers’ “Legends of the South Sea.”) In other words, stories like that of Maui lassoing the sun or fishing-up islands occur on islands thousands of kilometers apart, suggesting the oral transmission of folklore, even over centuries was detailed and a serious undertaking. Other environment-related myth-motifs that appear across Polynesia are stories of Hina (whomst you might consider to be a sort of lunar maiden figure) or stories of Tagaloa the Creator. Myths of Tagaloa appear in locations as distant from each other as Tonga, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Hawaii, and the isolated Chatham Islands hundreds of kilometers east of Aotearoa. Polynesian environmental knowledge is so precise and sophisticated; accurate environmental knowledge is a matter of life and death, especially if you’re voyaging, if you’re lost at sea in the vast Pacific, or if soil becomes depleted on a small island, threatening the entire island’s human community.

I’ll just reiterate for anyone that missed my previous rambling about this subject, but I’m in awe of Polynesian traditional environmental knowledge for some of its unique implications. (1) The remoteness of islands in the Pacific means that environmental knowledge must be especially accurate and reliable, because you cannot easily call for rescue or aid from nearby island communities; (2) the small scale, essentially closed ecological systems, and relatively delicate health and limited supply of soil on isolated islands can mean that soil is easily depleted and food crops must be meticulously cared for; and (3) all of this environmental knowledge was maintained through oral tradition and storytelling.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, into at least the late 20th century, even some laypeople and teenagers in Kiribati could identify and name over 770 stars; this is recounted in anthropologist Maud Makemson’s firsthand accounts of getting to know Kiribati communities in “The Morning Star Rises: An Account of Polynesian Astronomy.” Some island societies had designated priest-like navigator classes or groups, who tutored acolytes and committed their life to studying astronomy. Some fun tidbits about the accuracy and importance of astronomical environmental knowledge:

- David Lewis, historian specializing in Polynesian and Micronesian voyaging, interviewed 88-year-old islander Sione Fe’iloakitoo Kaho, who was the oldest living Tuita at the time; Kaho’s great-grandfather was a blind navigator living in the 19th century who was recorded as having reoriented a lost flotilla by simply putting his hand in the water for a few seconds and provided the correct direction and distance to Fiji, saving everyone on the boats. [Source: David Lewis. “Voyaging Stars: Aspects of Polynesian and Micronesian Astronomy.” (1974).]

- Pleiades is especially important in the smaller and more remote Micronesian islands and also in temperate climates south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Even the Ryuku Islands, currently administered by Japan, still host intact hilltop stellar observatories oriented towards the Pleiades.

- On Rapa Nui (Easter Island), the presence of circular tupa dwellings on Poike Peninsula seems to suggest the presence of the astronomer-priests (tohunga) and their acolytes; the entrances to the dwellings are aligned towards various rising constellations.

- In historic Hawaii, at one time, a strict adherence to a man-dominated kupa system of social behavior sometimes prevented women from formally taking a role in cultivation of the taro cop, which led some women to become experts on seaweed harvest instead; eventually, these women’s ability to accurately interpret lunar cycles and tidal ecology signs in pursuit of seaweed became so respected that seaweed itself was somewhat anthropomorphized as a spiritual entity in myths. [Source: Isabella Abbott, “Polynesian Uses of Seaweed.”]

- There are more recorded Polynesian legends which reference the sky than which reference terrestrial plants and animals.

- Some navigators can/could accurately direct voyages of 800 kilometers, or 3200 kilometers if aiming for an archipelago, as recounted in Lewis’ “Voyaging Stars” and Ben Finney’s “Myth, Experiment, and the Reinvention of Polynesian Voyaging.” (Finney’s article might be of interest; it explores the realistic feasibility of the extremely long voyages recounted in older Polynesian myths.)

- For more information on the social importance of astronomy to food and culture in Tonga and Samoa, see Daniel de Coppett’s and Andre Iteanu’s “Cosmos and Society in Oceania” (1995).

So, I’ve got a long-ish list of sources for further reading about the relationship between Polynesian mythology and astronomy/ocean knowledge, which I’ll  put in a separate post. (Oh, and since you also asked about botany and soil health, especially regarding how soil replenishment occurred on Polynesian islands: I actually dug up some old essays and more material on that subject, involving breadfruit and seasonal shifting of cultivation. I’ll share the info in a separate post, too.)

I have such respect for Polynesian environmental knowledge. Really, the elevated role and importance of both the sky and the sea in Polynesian cosmology and human-environment interactions is fascinating. The sky and the sea are both so complex.

[tanadrin]

Of the many worlds

"There are some--and forgive me if this question seems a bit silly, perhaps you get it from new species all the time--but there are some who worry that with this discovery, with first contact, we humans will struggle in the future - that in understanding ourselves to no longer be alone, we also understand ourselves to no longer be special. Do you find that's often the case when a world discovers it's actually part of a greater interstellar community?"

Ambassador Molkudai cocked his head, putting on an almost quizzical expression; though the interviewer had been warned repeatedly that trying to read human expressions into the alien face was a recipe for misunderstanding. The Ambassador was not unexpressive--his long, narrow face had a kind of elegance, ended in soft lips that moved according to a fixed set of expressions that no doubt were of great significance to those who knew him well, and his large, bright eyes, though they were entirely inhuman in their particulars, nonetheless seemed to impart an electric, curious gaze at everything around him. He sat, awkwardly large, on the soft armchair across from the interviewer, his heavily-muscled, many-limbed body mostly statue-still, except when he made some small gesture for emphasis, though these seemed always to come at strange times and for strange reasons. Resting in one ear was a little electronic device which, the interviewer had been told, was a kind of translator. t was to this he now seemed to be listening.

Molkudai made another quick, fluid gesture. "I am afraid I find the question difficult," he said. His English was slow and heavily accented. Despite the translator, the interviewer was told, the Ambassador had had to learn English like everyone else. What was the point of the thing, then? But for eight weeks of study since first contact, he was doing remarkably well.

"Why do you fear you are lesser, for not being alone?"

"I suppose lesser isn't the word I would use," the interviewer said. "Not diminished in our capacities, only in our... rarity? Our value?"

The ambassador paused to listen to his translator again.

"I am not certain I understand. The concepts are a little strange to me, I think."

"We can move on to another question, if you'd prefer?" They'd already had to do this a few times. There were some questions people insisted on asking questions that even the interviewer--who was a journalist and a TV presenter, not a scientist--could have told them would just be confusing and frustrating for everyone involved. Religion, Earth politics, perceptions of Earth culture. I mean, honestly, they had landed less than three months ago--they barely had enough time to form an opinion on the weather, even *without* the language barrier. "Another issue of vocabulary, perhaps."

"No. Not at all," Molkudai said. "I mean, the question is perfectly intelligible to me. It is an issue of... values."

The interviewer perked up a little at this. The ambassador and his colleagues had been surprisingly cagey on their own values and beliefs in all their interactions with the humans so far--perhaps some kind of Prime Directive thing?

"You are creatures of rarity, yes? Creatures of loneliness-in-the-world?"

"I'm afraid I have to admit that this time I don't understand, Ambassador."

The ambassador fiddled with his translator for a moment.

"Scarcity economics?"

The interviewer raised an eyebrow. He knew what the aliens thought of their economic system, anyway.

"No, that is not the term. Infernal device!" The ambassador plucked the translator from his ear and slipped it into a pocket. "Useful for some things. Not others. Forgive me. It is... a help-of-memory, for words I do not know. We use them also to translate the things that are beyond language. Habits of the body, of the expression, of gesture. And for simulating the minds of aliens."

"Are we so strange?" the interviewer said, smiling.

"Yes and no. And this is what I mean. You are not so strange to me, an arnovate of the motile stage. Not much stranger than are most of my alien colleagues. Your body, your language, your psychology is that of a savannah-runner, a family-clan-maker, a gatherer, a live-young-birther, conditioned to life around your yellow sun, in a place where the trees fail and give way to grasses. You are not so far removed from that past that that is where your mind yet rests, just as I am not so far removed from the foggy swamps and the glowing nights of my ancient past--and where my most ancient kindred would have died of heatstroke and dehydration in an afternoon in your ancestral environment, yours would have succumbed instantly to the crushing pressure of mine. Yet even across bodies developed for such different places, and minds developed for such bodies, and cultures developed for such minds, we may speak. How very fortunate."

"With some help from technology."

"Less than we might hope."

The interviewer laughed. "Quite so, quite so. But this goes back to my question, I suppose: you and the other ambassadors have said that life out there"--gesturing vaguely up at the ceiling--"is very diverse. A dizzying array of species and worlds and cultures, many at very different stages of development. Cooperating, or at least not constantly fighting. In our own stories, we've often fancied ourselves unique, in some ways. Perhaps superior, at least in the narrow things we particularly prize. I guess we've had only other Earth animals to compare ourselves to. But I'd lay odds we must be quite average compared to the rest of the universe."

"Rarity, scarcity. Value in rarity, that is what I mean. Savannah-hunters, still! Mindset of fear of winter, fear of starvation, fear of loss. Must a thing be rare to have value? Is a star less brilliant for being part of a shoal of jewels in the night sky? I think not."

"Forgive me, but that seems a rather anemic platitude."

"Perlin noise."

"What?"

"Apologies. My mouth races ahead. Bear with an explanation, please.

"There are mathematical ways of generating pseudorandom noise; one such quick and easy method is called in English 'Perlin noise,' I believe. To the human or arnovate eye, the underlying mathematical formula is invisible. It is unpredictable, for we are, in the grand scheme of the universe, quite mathematically stupid, though perhaps if we were cleverer it would seem no more random than a list of the natural numbers, who next value can be quite easily inferred. Yet for all the randomness of such noise, it is not diverse. The pattern-recognition capacities of our brains, though very different in how they operate, would both be quickly bored by an endless sea of Perlin noise. No two regions would be quite alike--but none would be dissimilar enough from the others to justify our interest.

"You fear, maybe, that because the universe is filled with life, there will be nothing in the end to distinguish a human much. That here, on this world, are other savannah-hunters who give birth to a small number of live young; here on another world, city-builders struggling with the consequences of rapid industrialization; here, on another, and throughout our region of the galaxy, others unlike you in some details but like you in enough generalities that Earth must necessarily be nothing more than a footnote in the history of civilization.

"I wish to emphasize to you how utterly and entirely mistaken you are. Your error cuts to my heart like a spear of grief, for in it I see, I think, some of the ancient loneliness and privation of your kind. Out of it, you are accustomed to giving value to rarity, to prizing gold as much for its uncommon occurrence as for its shine. Alas! your view of the universe is too watery, too thin."

"It's not just about rarity, is it?" said the interviewer. "It may be a human value, but I don't think it's a foolish one, to want to feel like your life has purpose. What, in a vast, crowded cosmos, can any individual human hope to contribute in the way of math or science or art that hasn't already been done a million times before?"

The ambassador laughed--well, did whatever his version of laughing was. "Not at all a strictly human feeling. Yet I am delighted to inform you, you are still in error! Hmm, how to say..." He seemed to think for a long moment.

"I am no physicist, but my physicist friends inform me that, though often elegant and beautiful, the laws governing nature contain great depth and sophistication. And as you observe, the universe is vast--possibly infinite. Let us for argument’s sake restrict ourselves to a finite universe. A bounded one, even if it is in practical terms bounded only by the horizon of our best telescopes and the swiftest beams of light.

"For all the diversity of the configuration of matter and energy within this vast but finite universe, the term 'infinity' might still reasonably apply. For between the Big Bang and the death of the last star, no human, no arnovate, no machine intelligence of the highest order, could compute the total interesting configurations of matter and energy within that volume; to say nothing of the uninteresting ones as well.

"And even attending to the iron laws of physics, the merciless laws of physics, the tyrannical cruelty which requires our ships to limp at relativistic fractions across the voids between the stars, life may arise in an astounding variety of conditions. To be sure, chemistry favors some configurations over others. Worlds that teem with life are confined to a narrow band around long-lived, stable stars. Worlds on which that life masters steel and fire and interplanetary travel must have conditions which favor metallurgy and orbital flight. All true, all true. Constraints toward a common middle, perhaps. Limits on diversity.

"But oh, how foolish we are to suppose that even in that island in an island in an island of possibility there is in any practical sense a limit!  Within those confines, the configuration space of environments, of biology, of evolutionary solutions to environmental problems, is still vast. Vast beyond reckoning! And of everything *else* that ensues--of minds which are built on these evolutionary substrates, of cultures and languages built on those minds--the scope of possibility blossoms outward yet again. Beyond exponential. Finite, maybe, in some austere and philosophical sense. Not in any practical one.

"You are thinking of the living worlds as banks of snow, yes? Fields of perlin noise. From far away, all the same. I shall tell you how we see the matter.

"Your sun was picked out as a candidate star for habitable exoplanets in the 102nd stellar survey from the star Daiamirra, and the presence of an oxygen-bearing world in the habitable zone confirmed two hundred and seven years later, when the first survey ships were able to get close enough to take careful readings. The instant this was confirmed--protocol at the time dictated at least five transits, though the scouts were overeager, and observed only three--a message was transmitted back to the Contact Institute to prepare a mission.

"When we received that message, every world around Daiamirra celebrated for seventy-four days. We declared the holiest of holidays, one that would be commemorated for all time. We sent word of our discovery to every inhabited star system within reach; even now, centuries since, I expect that that message is still winding its way from star to star, and I assure you, as certainly as I know that one and one is two, on every world that that message is received, the most solemn and the most joyous rituals are observed; the most abject thanks given to whatever gods are worshipped.

"And Earth is not unique in that respect. For each of the ten thousand living worlds, it has ever been the same. But even being one among ten thousand, it shall never be said Earth is not rare, or Earth is not beautiful. Its rarity and its beauty is utterly undiminished, though it is set against ten thousand planets equally rare and equally beautiful. And for each new world we find, our hearts are moved to joy and grief at once: joy, that we are so much less alone! Joy, that the universe contains such wonders in it! Grief, that they are so far away; that until our swift scouts and our alien gifts reach them, they shall believe themselves unknown, or forgotten.

"I know of no world even remotely like Earth. And I have studied thousands of worlds. I know of no world of brilliant blue skies where vast leviathans sing slow songs beneath the waves. I know of no world where the moon sometimes is framed by the sun as a burning ring, let alone where this event is so common that every tongue on the planet has a word for it. I know of no world of deep misty jungles where nonetheless ancient stone cities were raised, of no world where the silent can speak with their hands, of no world that burned two cities with nuclear fire then never used that terrible weapon again. I know of no world which, on visiting their satellite, left behind a message of peace, to whatever traveler might pass by in some distant day; I know of no world with your wars, and your sorrows, and your triumphs, for all these things are yours and yours alone, and I marvel, I revel, that I have lived to learn of them and see them.

"There is no world like yours. There is no people like yours. There is no world like Daiamir-Sho, with its towers that pierce the atmosphere; there is no world like Utashanna, whose forests are perpetually burning; there is no world like Farren, high above a deadly pulsar, whose people have never seen the sky; there is no world like Cairasten, all whose deserts are replaced by endless flowering meadows for one day every hundred years. And oh! You do not know of the lives of the saints of Irenost, the holiest martyrs in all the galaxy; you do not know of the joy of Ucaren, who redeemed a world from death; or of Palas, who bargained with the gods for the sake of all Creation, or of her sister, who crowned herself with the pains of hell to save her. You of course have your own tales and your own histories--but so does every world, and they are alike only in that they are as full of beauty and horror and triumph and ruin as yours.

"Earth is not a grain of sand on a beach. It is more like... a moment of time, within all the moments that make up a life. Nor do we, of the stars beyond, overlook its souls: for in microcosm, every soul is like a world. Like a world, a soul is vast, and full of things which are beautiful, and things profane.

"There is a ritual--once unique to the world of my home, but I have endeavored to commend it to others, and so I shall now commend it to you, and all who are listening. The ritual is thus: choose an arbitrary instant in time. Now, say, as my hand strikes the arm of this chair. In that moment, somewhere--on Earth, on Daiamir-Sho, on Utashanna or Cairasten, or somewhere yet unknown to us--a new soul has come into being. You do not know its name, its future, its family, or its condition. You know only that it exists. But that is holy. That is a thing of joy beyond all words. Hold that solemn and that joyful thought in your mind; carry it with you like a warm, comforting jewel. You may perform the inverse as well, of course, to mourn the dead whose names you do not know; to mourn the dead who will be forever forgotten. But you must remember, if you do, that they did live; and without all such lives, even the forgotten ones, we would not be here to seek one another out, to speak, to share our fates, to look up when the sun is hidden from view, and to observe the shining stars."

[nostalgebraist]

I’ve sometimes talked about how the level of distance I feel from my past self varies as a pretty consistent function of relative time.   That is, at any given time, things I remember thinking/saying/doing X years ago tend to feel familiar or alien in a way that depends predictably on X.

It’s weird to watch past selves recede along this trajectory.  Looking back was more comfortable back when this “alienness function” made my high school self (pre-2006) much more alien than my college-era self (2006-2010), since I actually changed relatively quickly between those two periods, and since that’s a socially ordinary place to place a chapter break in one’s life.  But these days, my college self has mostly receded back into the same mists that I’ve grown accustomed to placing my high school self in.  2010 was a long time ago.

And because the high-school-to-college transition happened so rapidly, and seemed so ripe for interpretation even at the time, it feels relatively easy to think of it as a well-defined thing that might be boiled down into a set of specific, articulable lessons and changes.  Indeed, interpretations like this came pre-made for me, handed down to me by the same self they described.  The distance I face now as I look back is more continuous, less tied to any identifiable start or end points, and it comes with fewer helpful annotations.

Nonetheless, I notice some patterns when I look back at it.  The really big one is that my self from 10-12 years ago was much more “apriorist.”

He was inclined to believe as a matter of course in things like a priori knowledge and universal human nature.  He thought that there was just a way life was, that everyone’s life was basically that way with some minor person-specific modifications added on top, and that anyone who claimed otherwise was lying or (more likely) not expressing themselves clearly.  He believed, in various ways, in a natural match between the human mind and the environment, which rendered “important” things ultimately comprehensible and tractable (although it might sometimes be very hard) and, likewise, implied that anything sufficiently bizarre and un-parseable must be “irrelevant,” a distraction from the single correct way of life for human beings.  He reacted warmly to things like the Poverty of the Stimulus argument, not so much (or only) for any empirical merits he saw in them, but because they felt like the sort of thing that just is deeply true.

In retrospect it seems jarring that he had this same reaction to, say, evolutionary psychology and mathematical Platonism.  If our mathematical faculties can ultimately be traced back to material trends in our ancestral environment, one might ask, how can we know that we grasp eternal trends in some kind of eternal Forms, rather than trends that merely obtained approximately in that environment?  As far as I can remember, my old self was less focused on the possible limits of our understanding than the apparent extent of it: to him, it was a miracle that he or anyone else could understanding anything with any reliability, and (I guess) this miracle could only be explained via some deep patterned correspondence between mind, material world, fundamental reality, all of it.

We could only get anywhere in life because we came with a detailed facsimile of Universal Truth printed on the inside of our skulls, and the most our parents or society could do was add a few footnotes or maybe cross out a passage or two.  All we could do was follow the inevitable logic written in there, which said to live “the good life” as described in the in-the-end consistent if sometimes distorted stories told by great literature, religion (all of ‘em, probably), cutting-edge science, my parents, my knee-jerk emotional reactions to stuff, etc., etc., etc., or . . . one could do anything else, which was to do something dumb, wrong, and ultimately empty.

I’m describing this kind of parodically, of course, and it’s a better description of my high school worldview (which has long been comfortably in the past) than of my college-and-soon-after worldview.  But the latter was still . . . like this, just very gradually less and less so over time, with no clear turning point, which is harder to accept and to get my head around.  I also wonder how many people are out there now, in similar positions to mine with knee-jerk attitudes similar to the ones I held.  (I can’t imagine this outlook thriving in mainstream online discourse these days.  In the period I’m talking about there wasn’t really such a thing as “mainstream online discourse,” and it was much more common to have strictly on-topic conversations about video games or whatever in which these philosophical gulfs might never have a chance to come up.)

[nefertittythegreat]

Stars and the Moon

Brandon finds himself a little out of place at a ball, and Stella finds herself in her element.

Brandon wanted to hurl, no really he honestly felt like he could puke at this very moment, but it had nothing to do with the fancy h'orderves that tasted like crap or the horrible taste of the champagne(It seemed no matter how hard Sky tried he would never get a taste for the stuff). However, it was the fact that he was currently here at this ball. He loved Stella and Sky, but if they dragged him into another ball where he clearly didn’t fit in, he might just die. Still, he was lucky this time, he wasn’t suffering alone. Bloom had to be here too, and Brandon wasn’t sure which one of them was winning the who is more uncomfortable contest. Brandon looked up and spotted her on the Young king’s arm. They were talking to a young socialite from Eraklyon that Sky had known since childhood. While good nature the young women was a little dim and a product of her environment. She just didn’t know how to talk to real people, and from the smile that quite didn’t reach Bloom’s eyes, she must have said something to offend the princess. Brandon watched as Sky laughed a little too hard to be real and said something that clearly looked like a farewell, and the magical dimensions new power couple turned around and started making faces their way back to the corner that Brandon had claimed. Brandon meet Bloom’s eyes and held he back a loud and very inappropriate snort. She looked clearly weary and obviously wanted to be down with this whole affair. Brandon figured that placed her in the lead.

“I take it your conversation with the lovely Lady Marianne didn’t go well?” Brandon said holding back a smile, as Bloom looked so angry that her flame-like hair might catch fire.

“I don’t know why I even bother with these things!” Bloom hissed at him with an angry whisper.  “She literally asked me if my adoptive parents kidnapped and brainwashed me! Then when I said no, she told me they must be one of those “good” peasants!” Bloom grabbed some Champagne from the passing waiter. “What does that even mean???” Brandon could no longer hold back his laughter and let out a good chuckle.

“Marianne means well, Bloom, Its just that not everyone born with a golden spoon in their mouths can just end up like Sky here with a good head on their shoulders.” Brandon joked.

“Yeah well, I was lucky to have a friend who would knock me upside the head whenever I started acting like a brat.” Sky said elbowing Brandon in the side softly. “I know its really hard to from being in Magix to this, but you're doing fine, much better than your first few balls and Galas. Not that you ever had any real problems at them.” Sky said.

“Yeah, I spilled wine on Queen Arianna of Isis my first or second ball so trust me when I say, Bloom, you're doing great,” Brandon said trying to comfort the redhead. Bloom sighed. It had been over a year since they restored Domino, and Bloom had just had about enough of all her princessly duties she had to do. She honestly yearned for those days in Gardenia where here parents getting her a new bike was the high light of her year. Still, she loved her birth parents, and this ball to commemorate a new relationship between Eraklyon, Solaria, and Domino meant they had to force their younger daughter to attend even though they had their heir and firstborn back.

“Yeah, my parents said hopefully this will be the only event I’ll have to attend in a few months if nothing changes,” Bloom said hopefully. She didn’t catch the small wince Sky made, and Brandon remembered The former King’s birthday was coming up in a week, which meant another ball, that all three of them would have to attend. Brandon bit back a groan knowing Sky would want to break it his Fiancee gently.

“Actually about that, Bloom,” Sky started, Brandon rolled his eyes. Oh, boy did he not wanna be here for this. Soon his attention found his way to a Solarian Lady talking to what looked to be a Dominion nobleman. She was young and Brandon thinks he’s been introduced to her once or twice. probably one of the many Solarian ladies Stella used to be friends with. The only one whose name he bothered to remember was Nova’s, the minor nobility whom like Sky never got a big head on her shoulder. She had graduated from Alphea the year after Stella and Bloom, but Brandon wasn’t sure if she secured an invite to this specific party. Just for a second, Brandon caught the Lady’s eyes as she leaned in to whisper something to the man. Brandon resisted the urge to spit and turned back to his now arguing friends.

“You should have told me about this sooner! I already made plans with a few of the Alphea girls to do a little combat training.” Bloom said folding her arms against her chest.

“Bloom, I’m sorry I forgot to mention it to you, but your even your parents are going. We’re engaged you have to be there. You’re the future queen of Eraklyon, these are the kinda things we just have to grin and bear.”

“Well, I’m not Queen yet, maybe we can say I got sick or something.” Bloom pleaded, but the king shook his head as Bloom kept coming up with half-baked excuses to get out of the King’s birthday ball. Brandon Quickly downed his glass of champagne trying not to gag as he does so, hoping this night would soon come to an end.

“You okay there, buddy?” Sky’s voice brought Brandon out of his thoughts. He looked up to find Bloom and Sky staring at him, giving him a look he could only describe as in quizzical. “Maybe slow down on the drinks there. This isn’t Eraklyon where I can just discreetly put you back in your room you know?” Brandon rolls his eyes at Sky’s words.  Not that Brandon ever has or ever will get drunk in the presence of Sky. Technically even right now he was doing his duty to the Royal Family being Sky’s personal bodyguard. A task he had been given at the tender age of 13, this was the reason he had been knighted upon Sky’s ascent to the throne. Brandon also knew that the little glass of champagne would do little more than making the hours appear to move a little faster. And while Sky easily forgot Brandon position, Brandon never did.

“I’m Fine.” Brandon breathed out heavily.

“Are you sure?” Bloom said taking a step forward towards him looking up at him intimately. Before he could stop himself or realize he was doing it, his eyes flickered over to the two nobility chatting about him a few feet away. Bloom as usually was quick to pick up on his mistake and frowned more than likely coming to the same conclusion. “Oh, Brandon.” She said placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Brandon sighed, not really wanting to talk about it. “It’s fine really. I’m used to it.” Before when he was just dating Stella the nobility had no problem with him. More than likely because Brandon was just one of many boyfriends his princess has had, but when they became engaged. The nobility grew harsh with him, Brandon has entered rooms only for the talking to stop and has been the subject of their mockery for a while now. truly he was used to it.

“That doesn’t make it right,” Bloom said. Brandon shrugged. He wasn’t sure right or wrong even mattered in this scenario.

“Uh oh, we’ve got two coming this way 9 O’clock.” Both he had Bloom turned to find the same couple walking towards them. Bloom started to frown, but Brandon shook his head. She had to learn to play this game better than that. He moved to take his place behind Sky slightly to his right and kept his head down. If he were lucky they wouldn’t speak to him.

“Good evening, King Sky- Princess Bloom.” The Man said with a slight bow that the lady followed with a curtsey.

“Lord Lysander, It is good to see you again,” Bloom said cordially, but only barely so.

“I wanted to introduce to you, Lady Satine of Solaria. Our Families were quite close before Domino fell. Now that we're back we were getting reacquainted.” He told her. Bloom nodded and tilted her head in acknowledgment.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness.” Lady Satine greeted.

“I'm Sure.” Bloom returned looking down into her glass. To his left, Sky coughed then sent him a confused look. While Bloom was being a little rude, it was not enough to cause incident but enough to tell the women she was not wanted Besides Bloom was the one of higher social status if she really wanted to be rude no one really could stop her. Lord Lysander seem to take notice of the princess foul mood towards them and motioned for them to leave.

“Well, I’m sure you and your Majesty are very busy, Your Highness. We’re going to greet your parents now if you don’t mind.” Sky nodded, but Bloom spoke before the couple could escape.

“I’m sorry, I must be mistaken because I don’t believe I heard either of you greet, Sir Brandon.” Brandon’s head flew up and turned toward the princess. What was she doing?

“Excuse me?” Lady Satine said clearly confused. Technically speaking you never greeted the working folk in balls, and he was working.

“Princess Stella was just telling me about how kind you were when she introduced you two, at their engagement party. It seemed odd to me that you greeted King Sky and me, but not Sir Brandon. You are aquatinted, are you not?”

The Lady’s face grew red with embarrassment. They were aquatinted, through a horrible technicality Bloom had caught the woman in a horrible social blunder.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Lord Lysander.” Bloom cut in before the woman could even stutter an answer. "I’m sure you remember Sir Brandon, He and Sky graduated from Red Fountain together, he’s one of the brave Specialists that helped me free Domino from the curse of the ancestral witches. He’s also engaged to Princess Stella of Solaria. We’ve been friends for what? Four Years?” before Brandon could stop him Sky corrected her.

“Five years, the Four of us all meet on the same day, remember ?” Sky corrected giving Bloom a confused look. He knew she knew that. Lord Lysander nodded.

“Well, then thanks are in order. I wouldn’t be standing here without you three,” Lord Lysander said clearly grateful.

“We were just doing our duty, Lord Lysander,” Brandon said quickly willing this moment to be over.

“Of course, Good day, King Sky, Princess Bloom, Sir Brandon,” Lysander said.

“You as well, Have a wonderful rest of the ball,” Bloom replied with a fake smile and a wave. Once they were out of earshot Sky turned to the two off them.

“You two wanna tell me what’s going on?” He asked with raised eyebrows.

Bloom put her hands on her hips, “They were obviously gossiping about Brandon earlier. Then they had the nerve to come over here and talk to us without even acknowledging him. Someone had to make sure they knew how rude they were being.” Bloom turned her head and lifted her nose in a haughty fashion. Clearly learned behavior from the girl’s best friend. With a shake of his head, Sky turned to Brandon.

“Did you hear what they said?” He asked. Brandon shook his head.

“No, not this time, but if I had to figure it out, it was probably about Stella and I’s engagement. While King Radius and Queen Luna adore me, the rest of the Solarian nobility don’t really want a lowly squire from a different realm to be married to their beloved princess.” Brandon said with a shrug. “Trust me when I say, I’m used to it. And Bloom thanks for standing up for me, but really I am working so technically she didn’t have to speak to me. I’m going to go get some air. I’ll see you guys later.” Brandon quickly walked off, not bothering to turn around as Bloom’s continuously quieting voice called out to him. She wasn’t following, Brandon figured he’d have to thank Sky for that later.

Unlike the ballroom in Eraklyon and Solaria, the Ballroom in Domino was on the first floor with its patio stretching out into the gardens. There were a few chairs and tables in place, but no one outside as the night was still young, Brandon knew that eventually, people would start to make their way out here. Though for now, Brandon was allowed a few moments of peace. Brandon sat down at a table and looked back through the opened doors into the sure enough his eyes quickly found Stella.

She was like the sun in a radiant burnt orange gown, that fit in all the right places. It seemed unlike him the people of the gala couldn’t get enough of her. She was in her element. Moving around people as if she were a fish in water. They were all amazed by her winning personality and her unmatched beauty. While every man believed the women that they loved was the most beautiful woman in the world Brandon knew without a doubt that Stella really was the most beautiful woman ever. She was his sun, and like the sun he basked and worshipped in her warmth and glow. Looking at her know, seeing her smiling talking to all these people. Hell, Even just seeing her in that dress was reward enough for coming here, and being reminded for the 100th time that he didn’t deserve her. If this was the price of Stella’s love he’d pay that 100 times over.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been watching Stella, but soon loud voices seemed to take his attention from the celestial being he called his Fiancée. He turned to find King Radius, and Queen Luna having words with each other, actually it was more like a full-blown argument. Poor Queen Miriam, Bloom’s mother, found herself in the middle of one of their tiffs. Brandon had been in the queen’s position once when he vacationed with the Solarian royal family last summer. It wasn’t fun, and honestly, Brandon spent most of the trip trying to distract Stella from their constant arguing. He wasn’t successful as she had left the beach house early to go back to Alphea, taking Brandon with her, and leaving her parents disappointed. Brandon didn’t watch the royals argue for longing knowing that in about a minute or two they would remember where they were and return to their respective ends of the room. Instead, Brandon looked around for Stella only to find that for once it was hard to find his sun. after scanning the room for a few seconds he eventually caught familiar blond hair leaving the ballroom. As quickly as he could Brandon got up and headed to the door to follow her, on the way out he caught Bloom’s eyes. Ever observant she must have caught Stella’s sneaky exit, and nodded for him to go after her. Brandon certainly didn’t need her permission but appreciated her letting him handle this by himself. He loved the girls, but he and the other guys agreed, getting one on one time with any of them, Stella being the worst, was difficult.

He went into the hallway to find it empty. Stella knew her way around the Palace here in Domino far better then he did. He almost wished that he had brought Sky or Bloom now, as he had no clue where she could have gone. He kept walking down the long corridor and soon the sound of piano music met his ears.

It wasn’t as much of a secret now, but  Stella was musically inclined. Before she was very hesitant to show her classical musical training, She wasn’t as talented as someone from Melody, and she never really had a passion for it. It was just something all princesses did. As Stella had put it, She might have been good at something if someone had ever let her focus on something other than her good looks. Brandon thought Stella was good at a lot of things, but no matter how many times he told her thought she always said she was nothing more than a pretty face. Brandon hoped that one day she would believe him.

As Brandon got closer to the room he heard the music come from he could hear a soft voice coming through.

“I met a man without a dollar to his name, who had no traits of any value but his smile

Brandon could hear the smile in her voice as she sang the line. He knew this song, Earth had multiple songs from live shows that Stella had fallen in love with while they fought the Wizards of the Black Circle on Earth. She enjoyed listening to them and going to them. Solaria had plenty of shows like that, and it reminded her of home. Brandon didn’t mind getting dragged to them, because Stella’s smile afterward was always so radiant.

I met a man who had no yearn or claim to fame Who was content to let life pass him for a while,

Brandon winced a little. No lie, this song hit a little close to home, and the ending happened far more often than the little fairy tale that happened to him and Stella. Honestly, Stella should have broken up with him during their first year after the revelation that he wasn’t Sky and instead just a poor squire. The poor son of the king’s favorite servant who lucked out and happened to be the same age as the king’s own son. An orphan boy with nowhere else to go once his father’s luck had run out. Brandon had been lucky, but only just so, and with Stella, he had hit the jackpot. He thanked any higher power listening every day for letting him met Stella and getting to do what he does every day.

And I was sure that all I ever wanted Was a life like the movie stars led?

That was true too, When They had started dating, and as much as Brandon doesn’t like thinking about it, Stella thought she was dating the very rich and prominent prince of Eraklyon. Brandon knew how much she raved about his so-called riches and the balls, and being with someone who was like her, but for some reason, she stayed with him when that all turned out to be not true. Helia had told him, that he kept Stella here on Earth, and in a way that was true. She did have a tendency to fly into the clouds, but anyone could have done that for her. It didn’t have to be him. When he had told Helia that the artist just shook his head and frowned. Clearly, Brandon wasn’t understanding what he wanted him too. Brandon often wondered if Sky would have really been the better choice for her, but looking at Sky and Bloom together Brandon knew better.

Then he kissed me right here and he said...”

Before Stella could even move onto the chorus Brandon came into the room singing it for her. He wasn’t the best singer in his group of friends or the second best, those spots were held, by Riven(whom Brandon suspected was also from Melody) and Helia who seemed to be apt in anything related to the arts, but Brandon could hold a tune easily, and he actually liked this song. It was funny but sad and he couldn’t let Stella finish this song on a sad note.

"I’ll give you the stars and the moon and a soul to guide you and the promise that I’ll never go.

Stella seemed surprised to see him but smiled after the initial shock. She had heard him sing before but he didn’t really make a habit out of it, she seemed to genuinely like it as she focused back on the piano intent to keep in accompaniment going. As he sang the song lower than intended.

I’ll give you hope to bring out all the life inside you, and the strength to help you grow.

I'll give you truth and a future that's twenty times better Than any Hollywood plot.

Brandon stepped forward taking Stella’s hand into his signing the last line without any music and looking her right in the eye.

And I hope you know, I’ll give you all I got.”

That wasn’t how the song actually went. At the end of the chorus the woman rejects the man with nothing, who offers her a fulfilled life and another man who offer an adventurous life for a man with wealth, fame, and power only to realize years later that she never got what she really wanted, the figurative stars and the moon that the two men without money offered her. They weren’t this song, no matter how much they should be.

“Party’s a little dull without its stunning star to liven things up.” Brandon Commented. “Won’t you please come back?”

Stella frowned but threw herself into Brandon’s arms. She didn’t cry, She would never cry with a face full of make-up, but instead, she laid her head on Brandon’s shoulder careful not to ruin her perfectly applied make-up.

[bipolarboii]

To the woman I love. . .

I only took the time to do this bc I care about you.

You SHOULD care when I share things with you. I haven’t been able to sleep much since things got somewhat heated between us (not that I get much sleep to begin with worrying about you😭). Anyway, I couldn't help but have the following thoughts about what happened & I hope you understand how I feel after.

I'm worried you don't understand what it actually takes to make me feel loved or validated so I may need to slow things down a bit before getting any closer to you than I clearly already am. You're aware of my short term goal/dream (and I love the fact you support me so much with that🥰) but I don't think you understand my ultimate goal/purpose in life. Generally speaking, there's at least 3 things I'm passionate about but every single one of those is supported by one core motivation I hope I don’t have to explain (but I will if you like💜).

All I've ever asked of any partner I choose is to simply encourage that drive/motivation to leave the world a better place than when I arrived by listening to the ways I feel I can achieve that best & evoke positive change. This means it would be nice if you took an interest in some things I choose to enjoy or entertain me as I hope to do the same for you. You don't have to pretend to like it but please still be respectful. We can share more than just the things we already have in common and I think that makes a relationship more exciting.

One thing I love that I thought was clear & brings me joy is comedy, especially when it provides constructive social commentary & a way to cope from my personal traumas similar to many others in the black community who often feel neglected/forgotten. I think comedy provides a great safe environment for more serious/tense conversations that otherwise would not have been had (the invisible black experience). But personally, I love comedy bc it gives me emotional security to know that I'm not alone in the bullshit I've had to deal with as a black man in America & suddenly it's not so bad. It gives me a reason to smile despite all the times I spent alone, crying, cutting myself & wishing I'd die bc I had no hope for the future. It gave me comfort when nobody wanted me around. I wasn't the kid that went to prom. That year, I went to the hospital after trying to overdose at the age of 16, which was also the first time police put my black ass in handcuffs (but it wouldn't be the last).

Nevertheless, comedy gave me the ability to entertain myself bc I've been forced to be alone during what should have been peak moments of socialization for a child to teen. I'm not everyone's friend. I'm a loner that most people either didn't see or purposely excluded from things bc I was different & I felt misunderstood. I didn't have a normal adolescence & for the longest time I didn't know how to talk to people bc of it (I feel like I've came a long way from that). Nobody taught me this & I'm sure no one taught Jonathan either for different but still valid reasons.

I felt neglected everywhere I went bc I've always been the minority & prejudged. I've been fighting by myself emotionally since I was 10 years old due to neglect & blind eyes of my peers. All I ever had consistently in NC was my parents & brother who didn't even really notice my pain themselves until after I tried to overdose. I've been saying the same things & crying out for help for well over 10 years. Now that I have "bipolar" symptoms developing/manifesting due to how I responded to all the traumatic shit I went through alone, I'm the problem? I'm the aggressive & crazy one after all America has taken from me as a black man. I'm the criminal? I don't even know my ancestral identity or family history(something you can empathize with) bc it was stolen from me.

I saw all this coming when I was 16 which was partially why I wanted to end it all then. What am I fighting for if I'm fighting alone? That's why I wanted to include YOU in my jouney but you don't seem to care like I thought you did.

I view love with you as another chance at life & an opportunity to redeem myself for past wrongs but also heal from past generational trauma placed onto me. Please don't make me fight alone bc I don't want to go back to darkness. Be my light Journee and give me the benefit of the doubt as the man you've chosen to love. I don't want to feel judged when I speak to you. I just want more of the respect, love & kindness you've shown me in past that sparked me wanting to be better in the first place!💜

Back to this though. After what I did at 16, I've been constantly under a microscope with every decision I make judged intensely & I hate it. Its why I want to escape so bad. Outside those who basically had me on suicide watch, I was largely invisible to the world I had to navigate bc black lives don't matter. That's all I felt in adolescence here and even as a child in los angeles. My black life didn't seem to matter to my white "friends" or black "friends” growing up. I was just an outcast & loner everywhere I went & people made bs assumptions about me that others just ran with. Some just give up & embrace the self-fulfilling prochecy & I can't say I entirely blame them.

Personally, I hate my past pains but I recognize how I can use that to evoke positive change for future generations. A lot of black men alive now had to raise themselves growing up bc they either didn't have a father in their life (often broken up by the penal system as a result of major events such as the war of drugs), were raised by a single mother (both my parents) or perhaps their father was solely a provider & did not have time to be emotionally present in their lives more which is still a from of neglect the child has to deal with. Idk where people expect a community of poor people from essentially segregated school systems in some cases to learn about empathy when they aren't even taught their own history. And who is anyone else to judge their ability to give empathy when they have not recieved any themselves?

I was lonely growing up but I feel like I can inspire people through what I can do in art, music & writing. These are the gifts I have to give to the world & laughter is one of the few things that gets me through the pain to create. If I couldn't laugh at my own pain, I'd be dead. So please love. I have so much love for you that I pray you 1) forgive me for leaving you lonely after 2019 and 2) give me the benefit of the doubt when I talk about serious/controversial matters bc I certainly will for you. As it currently stands, I trust you & I still love you. I'm willing to accept you, despite whatever differences we have, & still choose to love & accept you the way you are.

I hope to be someone who supports & enables you to be who you want to be and that's the best way I feel I can love you. I'll never try to change you or force you see things the way I see them but my hope is that naturally as I share parts of myself with you (interests, passions, fears, traumas, stupid opinions 😂, happy moments, etc.) you'll begin to naturally understand the things I care about & why. Then maybe you would care even if only slightly 🥰

I know I'm not perfect so I really wish you'd stop calling me angel😓 But I do aim to be a better man if you help & allow me to do so! I have a lot of healing I need to do before I feel I can be the right man for you. But that's the level of intimacy I crave!

All I aim to do when I speak is to provide information so that the best decision/response can always be made but that process is not always quick. Art has taught me patience & I think communication takes patience too. I ask that you have patience with me as my brain has been running on fumes for what feels like years at this point. Plus you know I'm in a hypomanic phase as you read this & can't sleep to save my life while my mind goes 100mph. I'm beyond burnt out but I need to get my mind right/focused again if I ever hope to get my thesis finished to graduate. Our dream together can't start if I'm stuck in school so this is my #1 priority in addition to this new job I just got over a week ago.

I'm somewhat scared (not completely bc I know God is with me) that I'm going to fail bc I don't have complete control over my emotions. I never want to fight alone again or go back to that dark place but that's what I feel coming when the world doesn't seem to care about black suffering. I've been through so much shit in my short life already that I've already forgotten whole chunks of my life & I'm only 26. I've dissociated a large portion of my youth away. Stolen my own youth just to escape the realities of being black.

The topic of what we argued about wasn't the issue at all. I usually don't even take sides in most matters anyway bc things are rarely that simple. I just ask that you respect me enough to not invalidate my opinions or what I choose to talk about & say it doesn't matter. That really triggered me to some things an ex said in the past treating my experience/trauma like an illusion. It matters, even if it doesn't matter to you. If you do truly want me to feel loved, validate me. Also I want to clarify that validation does NOT mean agreeing with me! I'm not asking you to agree with me. I just want you to understand my position & not judge me as "ick" for some behavior I ADMITTED was wrong & am NOT defending. Idk why you made that assumption.

But I have far too many goals & too much that needs to be done to let myself feel invalidated, belittled or disrespected in how I feel or choose to experience life (especially by someone I wish to be my partner someday). When I share things with you emotionally or through my interests, I'm investing my heart into you. The money that I give you I view as an investment for OUR future. You don't owe me anything except the love you promised to give me but I didn't feel it during that conversation even if it wasn't serious to you. I'm dedicated to loving you as you are but are you willing to do the same? Sometimes I fear you may love the idea of me you have in your head & not the real me I'm trying to explain/show you.

So I guess I wrote all this to say, the way you were speaking to me that night really hurt me. Communication is more than just your intentions. Just bc you didn't intend for something to sound disrespectful doesn't mean it wasn't percieved that way & it's unfair to tell someone how they should feel about something said or done to them.

It seemed to me like you didn't really value nor want my opinion. I'm somewhat confident you still didn't even look at my responses (bc you were so quick to judge/respond). I think you just wanted to share your stance & not hear mine or wait for a specific answer that you didn't get.

Domestic abuse, the plight of a black man & how a black man chooses to respond to his environment is something that can't be answered in a few short basic sentences. If that's what you were expecting, it's unfair. Those issues are complex topics that we usually don't know the full details of, especially for domestic violence. But I've been on a college campus for at least 5 years. You don't think I understand assault is wrong? You don't think I've seen abusive relationship after abusive relationship? I can assure you I have seen abusive relationships damn near 1st hand & it's never simple. But I digress.

I just feel your some of your responses to me that night were a bit reductive, red herrings, passive aggressive or just simply inaccurate a couple times. Jonathan did kick Dani out but not not his child. That's a false claim you ran with. But I'm telling you like this, if a women ever puts her hands on me, has already assaulted me in the past & even had charges pressed on her, I'm recording her too! Baby mama or not! I have to protect myself as a black man bc the legal system won't. I asked a question awhile back asking someone to explain to me how recording someone is a threat and no one gave me an answer. Also Dani has her own money. She says she had no where to go but I don't believe that. Hotels are still open at night & if it's my home, I don't have to tolerate disrespect or being assaulted. I get their in a relationship but he earned that money himself (w/o her). He's not obligated to give anything but some partners feel entitled to everything their partner owns like they aren’t financially independent themelves She doesn't need Jonathan.

Nobody cares that he was assaulted by Dani. Nobody cares he was sexually assaulted by a grown woman as a child. You see a "bad" person but I see a human being w/ past pain & traumas who had his innocence taken from him early on due to the fucked up cycle of poverty & generational trauma America never wants to address. I'm not justifying his behavior. There's no such thing as good or bad people, people just do good or bad things. The goal should be to encourage good behavior but how can you expect that from a community without listening to their voices repeatly telling you how history has affected us. What he had to do to survive is none of my business if I never went through it myself & I refuse to just run with any headline without looking into details.

As a black man, you have to defend yourself with the assumption nobody else will bc they will do everything to throw your name in the mud regardless if it's true or not. All you need is one mistake & you lose the benefit of the doubt forever.

So yeah, it hurt me bc now I worry someday you may forget who I am, listen to what someone else says about me instead of who I've proven myself to be to you, turn on me & attack me again for something you misunderstood.

I was NOT defending Dababy's behavior & if you listened carefully to Dave, he wasn't defending his behavior either, I just used it as an example of my point. It irks me that you misunderstood me in this regard. Patience & context are fundamental to understanding complex issues but you were quicker to judge, tell me why you think I'm wrong rather than to listen to what I was trying to say & spoke aggresively to me.

We're on the same side but I didn't get the chance to explain that between your harsh outbursts bc the answer is again, not short & sweet. It's far too complex to fit in a tweet. The cure to oppression & changing human behavior in society for the better starts with empathy, which cancel culture doesn't not promote the way it claims to.

Clearly some of Jonathan's behavior is wrong but there's definitely underlying factors that facilitated or at the very least laid the foundation enabling his behavior. It's written all throughout black history. Centuries & centuries of black degradation brought us to this point & why people like Dababy exist. I made a basic ass quote not to long ago that said, "Niggas wouldn't exist if black people were treated right" . It’s cheesy I know but it's true! And that's honestly how I feel about most tragedies involving black people. If not Jonathan, I'd be someone else bc that's what America did to black men overtime. If you understand that, I don't see how you can be so quick to judge. My suspicion is that it's personal & as someone that's been abused themselves & a victim of domestic disbutes, I understand.

But I also understand this:

As a black man that spent only 5 years in Charlotte, I can only imagine some of the shit he's had to go through but hasn't spoken about. Probably numb to a lot of shit after what he's been through, similar to me. It's hard to care about a world that doesn't seem to care about you or your people. Dude clearly has some PTSD trauma as many black people do (Not to mention the fact he lost his own brother to suicide in 2020). That's why my fight is for black mental health and changing the stigma behind it bc people like Kanye & probably Jonathan echo a major issue in the black community.

In the black community, therapy is seen as something only crazy or weak people do so black people don't seek out help when they need it & suffer bc of it. With all the shit black people deal with, you don't think there's trauma & abuse that goes on in our communities that gets swept under the rug silently? I was sexually abused. Dababy was sexually abused. Also as someone diagnosed bipolar, been through psychiatric hospitals and dealt with suicidal ideations since I was a preteen, I feel I have something valuable to give to my community (it's the least I can do now as a current suburban black).

This is how I look at the situation, even if I don't agree with his decisions or everything he says, I don't see value in silencing him when in some cases he chooses to say more that gets overlooked. Plus he has a right to live just like everyone else. It's hypocritical to think otherwise & one of the many reasons I hate being misunderstood so much. And even when someone is wrong, it doesn't make sense to want them to suffer or lose everything bc of it. I think that's the problem with self-righteous individuals fighting to cancel people rather than advocate for real social justice/change. Just put a band aid on shit & tell the niggers to behave.

Cancel culture is just going to create more problems down the line. Black people have been saying what's going to happen for a longgggg time now if we remain subjected to these same bs conditions. But blacks have to be the model minority & complacent with all the mistreatment and neglected we've endured since taken as involuntary immigrants.

The LGBTQ community has amazing passion but see their plight as separate from the plight of black people & only really support when it's convient for them (or AFTER the black person already dies). The movement aren't separate. There's intersectionality between the groups as it is all a HUMAN experience. Black people hear the LGBTQ community; it's just hard for us to care as much when it doesn't feel reciprocated. Remember a black man fought to give the LGBTQ community the right to marry among many other legal protections but America STILL has not even apologized to black people for slavery & all the subsequent damage it's done to the black community (i.e. police butality). On top of that, they want to erase our history & experiences -- ignore us the same way you ignored me or they ignored Jonathan's cry for help. You want me to listen to the plight of the LGBTQ community but why should I when black people have not been heard for centuries? I still consider myself an ally regardless bc I understand the world is bigger than me & my experienes. So who else's better to explain to another black man why homophobia & HIV/Aids ignorance is a problem than another aware black man? Cancel culture won't achieve the desired effect of changed behavior.

But back to the point: nobody wants to help the black man stay alive but wants to judge the black man for not having a bleeding heart for every other issue in the world. That's not fair & the biggest slap in the face to a race of people who can't even get a formal apology from their country for slavery. Japanese citizens even got an apology for the internment camps before us & we were at WAR with them. Black men are aware of how society feels about them but I can't expect you to have that same rage when there's certain things you don't know or will never experience. Black man raped to "buck breaking" practices by white masters. Black man hunted for running away. Black man jailed for vagrancy. Black man killed & no one cares. Black man commits suicide & no one cares. Everything you see today is a product of history whether you want to acknowledge it or not (not a justification, just reality.) But at what point does a black man fight back for himself & say his life does matter? At what point does a black man say, fuck whatever you thought about me, labels or the situation you put me in, imma still make it & be great regardless bc when I didn't have shit, you wouldn't have cared if I hung myself. America got what they wanted out of my people & now they don't want me here. That's what this is all about & why you SHOULD care.

But here's also why you should care bc it involves the man you claim to love. It's not about Dababy.

1. When I told an ex partner about my DWI charge w/o explaining the way they harassed me, she immediately started judging me, looked at me like a criminal & said I shouldn't have been doing what I was doing. In reality, I was just taking my medication as prescribed to actually try & treat my mental health.

2. My father has told me repeatedly growing up that if I ever went to jail, don't call him. So when I did get arrested on that bs charge in 2019, what do you think I did? Do you have any idea how much that hurts to know I can't rely on my own black father to protect/have my back in the South where I could get pulled & it not even be my fault? Or worse, shot or arrested for essentially nothing.

3. Sometime last year, an officer gave ME a drinking citation instead of the white girl I was with that actually shotgunned a beer on the beach. It was so bad other people on the beach came over to tell me how fucked up it was what they just saw. Later that same day, her and I got detained by more officers bc she started speeding & the car smelled like weed. When I told the officers the 1st time I was in cuffs was after I tried to kill myself at 16, the girl I was with said how much that hurt her to hear bc her younger sister did the same thing but they didn't put the little white girl in cuffs

Now, I can go on & on about many experiences in my life where people slandered or mischaracterized me bc of my race & what harm that's done to me but if you haven't lived it for yourself, how could you possibly understand why someone reacts the way they do? It sucks knowing nobody actually cares about you as a black child but you still wouldn't get it even if I talked about every barrier I faced due to something I could not control. Now imagine a black man. They reallyyy don't give af if we die so why should I take any chances? I'm gonna defend myself regardless of what people think of me. When you feel like you're fighting the world on your own, as many black men do, it's about survival, period.

I used to carry a knife with me up my sleeve in high school. I used to cut & hurt myself bc I felt invisible & alone. I just wanted to feel something that would distract my emotional pain. I really wanted to hurt the people that made me feel like shit but instead I turned that inward. I didn't want to be seen as a violent stereotype even to those who deserved it. I didn't want to give them the satisfaction. But no one cared I was crying. In fact I was laughed at on many occasions. No one cared blood was dripping from the black boy’s wrists. Not my white "friends", not my black "friends", not even my gay "friends". But you know what I was to them? A nigger who was acting white.  No one cared, period.

Now why should a black man care about anyone else after the way he's been and is continually treated in America? I am an ally but you have to admit it's unfair black people have to deal with the same poor circumstances that breed the ignorant behavior you hate in Dababy. I agree no one should be judged or treated differently based on their sexuality but can we pleaseeeee finally address the race issue in America since thats been the backbone of our country since birth, especially bc it affects the LGBTQ community as well.

I think it's hypocritical of those in society to judge black people's response to blatent neglect & abuse, especially considering LGBTQ people rarely even treated POC in their own community with the same respect as their white members historically speaking.

I just want LGBTQ people to care about black issues & trauma the same way they want us to care about their plight. My LGBTQ friends understand this & I love them. And they love me even when they don't understand what it means to be black or why we feel the way we do.

But from you:

It did not feel like love or empathy when I spoke with you & honestly makes me more guarded about sharing myself with you. I was hurt & I hope you understand why I felt this way. I still can envision a future with you & will fight to make it happen if you're willing to do the same. I just hope you can respect, accept & love me while I make OUR dreams come true.

I love you Journee and I hope you continue to love me as well💜🥰

Everything I've said up until this point is relevant to what I'm doing in my life and you'd know what my plans are if you just asked me instead of expressing how much you don't care about what I'm saying or why it doesn't matter. The more you don't care about me or the things I care about, the more I'd just rather be alone & work towards my goals myself.

I will close myself off to you the more this happens but like I said, my goal is to make BOTH our dreams come true bc that's what love is to me.

I know “Our Journee” is going to be legendary and I can't wait to share more of my life with you as you aid me in healing & growing.

[atakportal]

Pure Inside Out - Detox Bath: Safe and Gentle Everyday Body Detox

New Post has been published on https://click.atak.co/pure-inside-out-detox-bath-safe-and-gentle-everyday-body-detox/

Pure Inside Out - Detox Bath: Safe and Gentle Everyday Body Detox

Product Name: Pure Inside Out – Detox Bath: Safe and Gentle Everyday Body Detox

Click here to get Pure Inside Out – Detox Bath: Safe and Gentle Everyday Body Detox at discounted price while it’s still available…

All orders are protected by SSL encryption – the highest industry standard for online security from trusted vendors. Pure Inside Out – Detox Bath: Safe and Gentle Everyday Body Detox is backed with a 60 Day No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee. If within the first 60 days of receipt you are not satisfied with Wake Up Lean™, you can request a refund by sending an email to the address given inside the product and we will immediately refund your entire purchase price, with no questions asked.

Description:

You’ve probably heard of DETOXIFICATION before…

You realize there’s more than just dirt on your body. There are all kinds of heavy, unhealthy toxins from our environment that get inside of your body. Not only that, there are toxins in the foods you eat.

These toxins collectively form diseases and give you heart problems, digestive problems, and make you feel sluggish, fat and lazy… But let me ask you a question:

Did you know there’s a special detox bath (different type from your everyday bath) that can unclog your pores, bring those toxins from INSIDE of your body to the OUTSIDE and almost magically erase them from your body all together?

Maybe you’ve already heard of this “detox bath” and you’re curious to know if it’s real. Chances are you’ve already tried at least one detox method in your lifetime. Perhaps detox diets? pills? detox supplements? enema? fasting? juicing? colon cleansing?

What 99 out of 100 people don’t know about Detoxification

What most people don’t know is… detox is a proven method to eliminate unwanted and harmful waste from your body. Holistic medicine, has been supporting these facts for years.

“Detoxification is a normal body process of eliminating or neutralizing toxins through the colon, liver, kidneys, lungs, lymph glands, and skin.” Dr. Linda Page – author of Detoxification

Toxic overload is more of a concern in the 21st century then ever before. Toxins from our environment, food and lifestyle are believed to be the reason for many of today’s ailments and diseases: Cancer, fybromyalgia, heart, digestive and circulation problems have all been linked to toxic overload.

That’s the reason why body detoxification and cleansing are highly recommended by natural doctors for achieving and maintaining optimal health.

Millions of people are scared to death of toxins. And they think detoxification will give them a quick instant cure. Nothing could be further from the truth!

I promise if you’ll give me two minutes, you’ll learn the myths and secrets of detoxification… and how to use a “home” detox bath to eliminate toxic deposits and excess fat from your body.

Within a matter of weeks you can look younger, feel more alive, and trim weight off your body… without ever going on a diet.

Detoxification is a process that allows you to eliminate unwanted, harmful waste matter. By encouraging your body to efficiently flush out toxic deposits, you can boost your health and well being, strengthen your immune system and prevent disease.

Countless products are available on the market today promising instant detox. From liver, to kidneys, to bowel detox aids. A huge industry is thriving, capitalizing on our fear of toxins.

Efficient toxin elimination is an ongoing process, and even more so in the 21st century, when our bodies are constantly aggressed by omnipresent toxins. There is only ONE technique that supports your body’s detoxifying process on a daily basis.

It’s called the Detox Bath

It is the most simple and natural way to eliminate unwanted toxic deposits, as well as excess fat. It takes 10 minutes a day on average. It’s inherent to the human race’s behavior, and as natural as breast-feeding. Plus, you can easily integrate it into your daily routine.

Take 10 minutes to climb into your tub – after you’ve finished your shower, brushing your teeth. It requires no special effort on your part. All you need is water.

When you follow these methods on a consistent basis you can restore the crystal clear skin and radiant complexion that you thought you lost forever. Improve your body’s physical appearance — naturally tone your body from the inside out so you look trim, healthy and sexy… better than you do today.

Say GOODBYE to those drooping, craters of cellulite that may be plastered all over your thighs and buttocks!

Can you get these results simply by taking a bath?

ABSOLUTELY NOT! Not by taking the bath you’re accustomed to. And definitely not by using Epsom salt. Not by following the advice you’ve found in newspapers. You can only get these results with this proven detox bath method.

“Lina, having incredible results with the Detox Bath! So thankful to you for making it available. I downloaded the book a week ago, but was too sick (and, frankly, too skeptical!) to begin. It seemed overwhelming to me to think about sitting & doing ANYTHING for 10+ minutes, especially something that sounded too simple too be true.

However, I finally became so desperate 3 days ago, that I made myself try it. Using your recommendation, I began my first bath after taking a hot shower. I was only able to do 10 minutes before becoming too exhausted to continue. I crawled into bed convinced that the bath was about the silliest thing I have ever tried on my long and arduous road to “feeling better”. I awoke later to find it was morning!!! The clock read 6:30 a.m. I haven’t EVER slept through the night! I also noticed that I didn’t feel as depressed and overwhelmed. The next surprise occurred later.

I had not had a normal bowel movement in 3 weeks. I had been going back & forth between diarrhea & constipation. About 30 minutes after waking, I went to the bathroom and “delivered” several normal stools. That happened two more times during the day. Same thing happened the next day &

the next. I still feel pretty bad when I wake up in the morning, but after going to the bathroom, I feel better.”

Terry Hill Houston, Texas

Of course, if you’re body is already running healthy… if you’re already living fit, trim, focused, and energized on a day-to-day basis — you probably won’t NEED this detox bath. But…

… If you’d like to boost your health and well being and cleanse your body, this may be the detoxification method you’ve been looking for.

I did too. In fact, most of my clients didn’t believe a single word I said until they tried it themselves. So it’s completely natural to be skeptical at this point. But here’s what you need to know.

The Detox Bath uses NOTHING but water to help the body flush toxins and excess fat out.

This method is based on the teachings of Louis Kuhne and France Guillain. Kuhne is often referred to as the “Father of Detox.” Back in 1880s, he used this same method to effectively treat his cancer, and heal hundreds of other diseases. It is a tool that nature graciously provides us with to help us maintain our body and health in optimal condition.

We call it Detox Bath to highlight its swift and powerful detoxifying and cleansing action. But the Detox bath gives you 5 extremely important benefits.

It doesn’t matter how old you are or how “fit” you are… this age-old secret, is a perfect home remedy for anyone seeking to achieve and maintain optimal health, and naturally enjoy a lean, fit and toned body.

These are just some of the benefits you’ll get when you detox your body properly. No harsh detox methods will be used. There’s no purging, fasting, etc. Those methods won’t do you a bit of good.

The Detox Bath helps your body safely eliminate toxins and excess fat – through an internal thermal reaction. With just 10 minutes a day and water, you can achieve a trim, toned and healthy body, restful sleep, good mood, efficient digestion, great skin and higher energy levels.

“This sounded just too good and too simple to be true, but I thought why not give it a go? It’s completely risk free and costs nothing – I had absolutely nothing to lose! I have been using it for several months now, it is so easy to do and feels good immediately.

It has improved my skin tone, regularized bowel elimination, given me more energy and COMPLETELY eliminated the slight urinary stress incontinence many women can experience. I am astonished it is not already a part of everyone’s natural health care knowledge.”

Anna B- Yoga and bodywork therapist

Can you imagine a bodywork therapist praising the benefits of a simple bath? It just goes to prove that our method can work for almost anyone. You might be a person with a lot of cellulite that never goes away. Or you might be drowsy, constipated, irritable, restless, or frustrated with your skin quality.

The Detox Bath will drain all those nasty toxins from your body and give you a brand new life — because it’s the ONE and ONLY method that’s based on an ancestral technique.

Before I go on, let me explain…

How Our Detox Bath Purifies Your Body Better Than Anything You’ve Ever Seen

It is based on hydrotherapy — which uses water to boost circulation and stimulates the body’s natural healing potential to alleviate pain, increase mobility, relieve symptoms, and improve the overall functioning of the body.

Some Natural Doctors in France claim that body heat (generated by movement, digestion, stress, shock etc…) pushes deposited fat and toxins outside of the stomach and intestines to the periphery of the body, where they can no longer be eliminated.

The Detox Bath targets the groin area: One of the highest nerve-concentration areas in the body. This area also houses main arteries, and the technique greatly boosts blood circulation, elimination and digestion.

By refreshing the core area of the body (groin) during 10 minutes daily or more, your detox bath creates a vibration in the fascia (Interconnecting tissue covering all internal organs), which accelerates toxin and fat elimination. Hence its positive effect on mood, sleep and energy.

This is how we’re able to GUARANTEE you’ll get these amazing life-changing benefits. Now of course… you’re probably thinking “Yeah but, I don’t really trust alternative medicine that much… How do I know this isn’t a scam?”

Don’t worry… you wouldn’t be the first person to ask. Thousands of women (and men) ask the same question. But you’ll be happy to know that we’ve had our system reviewed by health professionals and health experts from around the world.

Victoria Abreo, the Alternative Medicine editor for Bella Online is one of those professionals. Here’s what she had to say when she reviewed our Detox Bath system.

“I recently read a wonderful e-book called Detox Bath a book I recommend- the book is about, enhancing your over all health and well being, using only water. Detox Bath is very helpful, informative and easy to follow. It brings to mind, what we sometimes forget, the amazing healing abilities of water and how it can help our body naturally”

Victoria Abreo Alternative Medicine Editor Bella Online.com

Now that you know how the Detox Bath works and why it works, you’ll understand how it can give you a wide variety of benefits that no other detox method could ever give you. This is the only…

For example, with the Detox Bath you’ll be able to:

But Can’t I Detox My Body Using Epsom Salt and Other Detox like “7 Day Detox Diet” Methods?

Absolutely. You just won’t get the same results. There are all kind of “miracle” detox plans that promise increased vitality, energy and stamina in a short period of 7 days. But you must understand harsh detoxification methods like FASTING (going 1, 2 and 3 weeks without certain foods) or harsh diets could be dangerous, especially when they are not medically supervised.

Epsom salts cause you to sweat. Other salts—all highly alkaline — used in baths include sea salt, baking soda, clay, and Dead Sea salts can be extremely harsh. The Detox Bath is different. This detox method uses only water and is a mild, gentle and safe daily detox method that anyone can use. Just listen to what Debbie has to say…

“I found your book quite interesting. I am on my third day and have had results in the very first day. I was feeling bloated and uncomfortable after a small meal so I thought it was a good time to start. I did the bath for 10 min. and my bloated feeling went right away.

The next day I could feel the toxins shifting in my body, I was pretty tired because of this, so I did another bath before work and it perked me right up…I realize the toxin effect, but I also know it’s working. I plan to use the bath daily and am very excited about it.”

Thanks Debbie. I have another client who used the Detox Bath to improve her qualify of life.

Brenda was going through a nerve-wrecking time at work. She was stressed, upset with her financial situation, and couldn’t do anything but work harder and longer hours — which resulted in a burnout. In short… she was practically literally killing herself just to survive!

When I explained that the Detox Bath could help her lower her toxicity, she tried and was amazed at the results. Like most of my clients, she had no idea that those high levels of toxicity were responsible for leaving her stuck in her own psychological prison. It’s no wonder she was stressed.

After trying the detox bath for just a few days, she solved her endurance problems, increased her energy level and got her life back to normal. Brenda isn’t the only one. There are thousands of other people who’ve used this system and still use it on a daily basis.

Detox Bath is a powerful e-book that reveals the detailed steps of using water and hydrotherapy to safely and naturally detox your body on a daily basis. It reveals the step-by-step proven method to improve digestion, eliminate cellulite, improve sleep and improve skin complexion in a matter of days.

I’ll show you exactly how to take your Detox Bath in a matter of minutes and begin getting results immediately. All you have to do is say…

The good news is, those professional water treatments can draw out impurities from your body. It’s worth ever penny. If you can afford it, it’s worth the money.

Plus you get all these bonuses mentioned below:

With this system and all these bonuses, there’s no way you could be dissatisfied. But in the event you don’t get results I’ve promised, I’ll give you your money back. Detox Bath is covered completely by a full…

100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

Try the method outlined in The Detox Bath for 8 weeks at my complete risk. See if you don’t sleep better at night, feel happier throughout the day, look and feel younger and have the non-stop energy of a 12 year old!

I guarantee the Detox Bath will help you feel like a lighter, smoother version of yourself — like a brand new person. These techniques are GUARANTEED to eliminate toxins and fat and help you achieve radiant, vibrant health physically, emotionally and mentally.

If you’re not completely 100% satisfied, for any reason (or no reason at all), simply contact us anytime within 60 days and we’ll give you a 100% refund. No questions asked. And you can still keep the e-book and all your special bonuses. All I’m asking you to do is try it. Then decide if it’s worth your time and money.

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE – please read this carefully!

I want you to try this because I can’t fully explain what it feels like to be a brand-new you. It’s something you have to experience for yourself. I’m willing to take 100% of the risk, so you have nothing to lose.

You wouldn’t be reading this webpage if you weren’t interested in a new way to detox. You take a shower or a bath everyday..

Isn’t that worth a try?

I think it is… Just remember, your health is not determined by outside factors. It’s determined by you.

Click here to start your 60 day risk-free trial. Your download will begin immediately, even if it’s 2 A.M. But you must order before midnight in order to get your special discount.

P.S. Here’s a few of the most recent testimonials I’ve received:

“My skin looks brighter and tighter and my hair healthier, moreover I feel more focused and my energy is at a constant high level. My waistline is now more defined and curvy. I can see the cellulite gradually disappearing and the fat melting away.”

And here’s another…

“ I felt like a veil had been lifted, the feeling of well being I experienced almost a week after starting the Detox Bath was overwhelming. Not only was the bath helping me to detoxify but it also made me feel happier, lighter and more positive.”

You can’t get these results by fasting or taking pills. You can only get them by using a safe, proven detox method.

I realize you have every right to be skeptical. That’s why I’m urging you to take 60 days to try it for yourself. If you don’t get any of the results I’ve promised, simply email me and I’ll pay you every penny of your money back.

“Key to Health” by Mahatma Gandhi – Exclusively in digital format.

Written in 1924 by one of the wisest and most enlightened men who ever lived, “Key to Health” highlights the natural health principles that Gandhi lived by. These principles are as valid today as they were when Gandhi wrote them. They reflect the author’s immense wisdom and his ethical outlook on life and health.

“The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran – eBook

Amongst Gibran best-known works, THE PROPHET is a book of 26 poetic essays, which has been translated into over 20 languages. As The Prophet is about to board a homebound ship, he is accosted and questioned by a group of people to whom he reveals the wisdom and mysteries of life.

“The Healing Power of Water” – Interview

A mind opening interview of Dr Batmanghelidj by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, revealing how dehydration is the underlying cause of most major diseases. The interview undeniably confirms the importance of water in maintaining optimal health and staying disease free. It’s a fascinating account of the relationship between dehydration and disease.

“The New Science Of Healing Or The Doctrine Of Unity Of Diseases” by Louis Kuhne – eBook

This book laid the foundation for what was later to become known as Naturopathy. Translated into 50 languages it became the inspiration for a whole generation of natural health practitioners. This is the origin of the Detox Bath, a method highly praised by Mahatma Gandhi who contributed in making it very popular in India.

“Lessons From The Miracle Doctors” by Jon Barron – eBook

Jon Barron is one of the world foremost authorities on alternative health. He has been involved in pioneering work in the study of nutrition and anti-ageing for the last 30 years. He is an advisory member of the Health Science institute and publishes several health newsletters and reports.

“Lessons from the Miracle Doctors” is the bible of alternative health. It is packed with timeless and relevant advice and step by step instructions on how to achieve optimum health and recover from illness.

“Lessons from the Miracle Doctors” has been hailed as nothing short of a miracle. It contains testimonials from previously severely ill people who regained their health and life back after reading it. It is the most comprehensive step by step guide to alternative health from “The greatest mind in alternative health today”.

Join Our Affiliate Program. Spread The Word on Detox Bath and Earn 50%.

Click here to get Pure Inside Out – Detox Bath: Safe and Gentle Everyday Body Detox at discounted price while it’s still available…

All orders are protected by SSL encryption – the highest industry standard for online security from trusted vendors. Pure Inside Out – Detox Bath: Safe and Gentle Everyday Body Detox is backed with a 60 Day No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee. If within the first 60 days of receipt you are not satisfied with Wake Up Lean™, you can request a refund by sending an email to the address given inside the product and we will immediately refund your entire purchase price, with no questions asked.