#the colonialisms are the complicated i suppose

[rubberbandballqueen]

mother: did you know that mochi was invented in taiwan

sister: i'm pretty sure it was invented in japan

mother: no, it was definitely invented in taiwan. i remember making it when i was little.

me: mother, taiwan was colonized by japan. that was a colonialism.

mother: then it must have been invented in taiwan and since we were considered a part of japan at the time as one of their colonies, it must have been credited to them.

wikipedia: mochi was invented in sixth century japan or perhaps even earlier but it was definitely from japan

me: i am sorry mother. but sometimes there are consequences to being colonized.

[marzipanandminutiae]

"EUROPEANS ATE GROUND-UP EGYPTIAN MUMMIES!!!! ALL THE TIME!!!"

sounds much more dramatic than

"Europeans sometimes consumed ground-up Egyptian mummies, or fluid found inside the chest cavities of mummies, or a type of tree resin that became associated with mummies because it kind of looked like the bitumen used in the embalming process, or the dried and ground flesh of very specific European dead- most likely a bit of all of the above at various times in various places. but it's hard to say what the proportion of each was- and at least one early Middle Eastern physician, Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi from modern-day Iran, also advised the use of the Body Cavity Liquid variety hundreds of years before the first documented use of mummy by Europeans. so it was a medicinal thing in the areas from whence the mummies came, too. unsurprising seeing as a lot of cultures- including Europeans -have done Corpse Medicine with their own people for centuries. there was also been pushback against the medicinal use of mummies in Europe since at least the 16th century; it remains unclear how popular the notion was at any given time. so the answer to Is This A Good Symbol For The Effects of European Colonialism In Egypt remains a resounding 'ehhh...?'"

"because the whole idea is, is it not, that Europeans were literally consuming the dead bodies of a non-European people who would have had no reason to sell their dead without a European market. and that's kind of true! there was a market that created a demand! but they were also already putting the bodies to these uses closer to home before Europeans started, because this whole thing began with both Arab and European doctors misinterpreting other Arab doctors who were talking about the medicinal qualities of tree resin. so really it's not as simple a situation as we might like to believe."

"and Mummy Brown paint is like this whole other situation where it was supposed to be made from ground-up mummies but often wasn't because Cost-Cutting, and a lot of artists didn't really like it anyway, and others used it thinking the name only referred to the color, and one time Edward Burne-Jones attempted an Egyptian funeral for a tube of Mummy Brown paint because he was so horrified with the origins, so while that's a more straightforward as an Oh Shit Violent Colonialism situation, people merrily waltzing into shops and buying one tube of Dead Egyptian Person, please, my good man! wasn't quite as widespread as one might now think"

"for me, the more compelling image of Europe Fucking Egypt Over is that of a white archaeologist peering curiously into a pit where Egyptian people are working tirelessly to excavate a tomb, their names to be lost to history in favor of whatever rich white person they toiled for. even that image is not without complicating factors- I, imagining it, am a white woman who cannot ask those Egyptian men what they think and feel about all their role in all this -but to me it seems more reliable than the VERY complex and often misinterpreted history of the mummy trade, even as I understand it after like an hour of research"

"on the OTHER HAND, does it even matter if people in the Middle East were already doing mummy medicine, when Europeans increased demand? does it even matter if Europeans felt bad or at least grossed out about Mummy Brown paint or if it wasn't ~always~ real mummies? maybe it doesn't! maybe my instincts as a history worker to say It's More Complicated are clouding my judgment on the nature of colonialism! or maybe they aren't! or maybe different people will think I'm right or think I'm full of shit and that's just the nature of doing public history on The Tungles!"

"anyway I have COVID and should probably go to bed now"

"this article and the Wiki page for Mummia are very well-sourced"

[death---dealer]

That picture of blue eyes holding Cornelius but instead it his and his s/os kid. *melts from cuteness*

Gahdamn i am no better than a man. I'm supposed to be working on the customary series SH-

Blue Eyes had never thought it possible as he set his gaze on your breathing, sitting himself at the edge of the nest as he prepared to depart for a hunt with his Father, Cornelius, Ash and Rocket. Never imagined that you felt the same way that he did towards you, the year it took to even get you to look each other in the eye, followed by two more years of fruitless mating, something he bared through knowing it was a remarkable impossibility. But, upon rounding your third year together... He balled his hands into fists for a moment before he drifted his eyes downwards to the small ball of fluffed hair laying snugly against the animal pelt next to your head, tucked in so deeply and so warmly that Blue Eyes felt a bit jealous that he was about to throw himself into the cold of the morning, dawn right around the corner. Soft and shallow breathing. Blue Eyes was entranced by it for a moment and felt the tiniest of smiles split across his face at that. He turned to leave. Giving you one more glance, giving the small bundle one more glance, satisfied beyond comprehension.

--

'When will you bring... your child with us?' Ash signed to his friend, smiling rather smugly at him at the notion that Blue Eyes had succeeded in doing what he aimed to do. Breed you. Mate with you. Bear fruit with you. It left a pit of unturned pride in Blue Eyes' stomach as he made brief contact with his father's gaze, a huff leaving his nose as he shuffled his horse to the right.

'All they do is cry.' Cornelius groaned audibly, 'Keep family nest up at night.'

'Not able to hold head up like Ape young,' Blue Eyes explained as the five of them rounded the corner towards the embankment that lead towards the mouth of the Colony's border. He ignored his younger brother, full of nothing but complaints at his age. 'Very fragile.'

Caesar snorted at that to himself, though it was heard from the other Four Apes. He knew that to be abundantly true from his time with humans.

'Will take time.' The King of Apes signed at them, leading the pack with Rocket trailing behind with the bulk of the hunt.

Blue Eyes fell into a small silence at the thought that in only a few years, he'd be able to bring his own son, the one you had given him out of love and adoration despite the complications of the birth itself, to hunt with himself, Caesar, Cornelius... Family, he thought, looking over at Ash who was processing what was said, sliding back towards Rocket and nodded to himself. Yes. Family. Upon rounding near the Colony gate, Blue Eyes was able to see the back of your head and the knotted nature of cloth against your shoulder as you were shuffling young Apes around your feet to get them upwards towards Maurice for the afternoon lesson. He stared at you longingly, bringing his horse in a bit faster, trotting right passed Caesar and hurdled to a stop right next to you. You had heard the trotting in the distance, excitement hitting your chest at the fact that your mate was returning, safely, as you so often worried after his bear attack years ago. The sheen of the scars on his shoulder captivated your attention for a few seconds as you looked up at him with mildly-hungry eyes at the sight of him wearing his War Paint.

'Good hunt?' You signed with one hand, holding a small head against your chest with the other as you had strapped the baby to your chest in a very secure perch. You had no fur for them to hold on to, something that... Much like a Baby Chimp, your baby enjoyed doing.

Blue Eyes looked down at that action, dropping right off his horse and came to greet you without having to gaze down at you. Forehead pressed against yours swiftly as a greeting. Sinking into it, you let a small sigh leave your parted lips.

'Many elk.' He signed in return, bringing his hand upwards to place it against yours as you both cradled your small baby. 'Slept well, I hope. Timber up all night again.' Blue Eyes hesitated for a moment. 'Apology for leaving you all day.'

'No apologies, babies are always up all night.' You always gave him too much grace, Blue Eyes felt like he didn't deserve it at times. Your eyes fell to Caesar as he trotted in, giving you a not-so-stern glance. Five years ago had you thought about your father-in-law being the King of Apes would not have even crossed your mind. But, here you were. He was followed closely by his second son, then Ash and Rocket who went to greet their own family.

You looked down at the grasp that Blue Eyes had on your baby. So soft and gentle like he was afraid of hurting them. The cooed right against your skin in response to sensing their fathers touch, vibrating it gently as Blue Eyes brought his other hand up and cupped the back of your head to kiss foreheads once again.

'Want to hold?'

Blue Eyes did not speak or sign, only nodded as you were careful to untuck your baby from his warm homely nest against your chest, balling himself into a tight knit at the chill that hit him all of a sudden before he was incredibly wrapped into more warmth as Blue Eyes took him - all to gentle in his actions, into his arms, against his chest. Little fists found themselves balled into a thicket of fur. 'Gets bigger every day,' Holding his child in one arm, he used his free one to sign. 'Looks more like you as well.'

A blush hit your cheeks, "Well," You were speaking and leaned inwards to place a hand on your baby's head, twirling your fingers into the thick fur of his head, "I am their mother. I see more of you in him."

Blue Eyes looked down at them. Hazel eyes peered right back up at them, only now coming into their color rounding their 4th month of being here. He looked back towards you, a look of intent in his eyes that left your mouth flying open at the innate and undeniable implications.

'Just gave birth four months ago!' Blue Eyes only stared at you, leaning his head in suggestively, 'I am not getting pregnant again.'

Blue Eyes contemplated for a moment and offered, 'Practice?'

'Would Caesar and Cornelia feel comfortably watching Timber?'

"Can ask," Blue Eyes muttered quietly, finally giving you the taste of his voice that was all to rare, "Sure... They would... not mind watching... Grandchild."

[reddesires]

hey, would you be down to write some Koba head cannons for if he reunited with the woman who cared for him for a short time when both of them were little, kinda like Caesar and Will except Koba was taken from reader and that’s when he got put in the labs and abused and all that. But years later while he’s hunting with Caeser or Caesar welcomes reader into the colony since they needed help and Koba recognizes them since they kinda raised him and pretty much the only human he’s ever met who was kind for him

Platonic please, may you also include Koba later getting Jealous if Reader interacts with any other ape

I’m so sorry of this is like too much for a request this is literally one of my first time requesting things on peoples pages and I have no clue how to go about these things 😭😭

Koba x Human!Reader [Platonic Headcanons]

Fandom: Planet Of The Apes

Rating: No Warning.

A/N: Here you go lovely, I appreciate being the one to writing your first request. I hope you enjoy it ❤️

(Primatologists are people who study primates, including apes, in their natural habitats)

•You were a primatologist who helped rehabilitate Koba when he was small, his mother had passed away and was refused by the other bonobos since they had babies of their own.

•You had a bond with koba unlike any other, he clung to you like you were his mother despite there being others that looked after him too. After seeing his distress of being apart from you, you took sole responsibility of the small bonobo.

•He became the light in your eyes. You would coo at him in a gentle tone as his small hands tenderly touched your face in fascination. This small creature captured your heart, and his eyes were your favorite feature of his. The intelligence and unconditional love he held for you became your source of motivation.

•the devastation of being separated from him after there was a financial cutoff for your program was like a punch to the stomach. he wasn't yours but he was in all the ways that truly mattered, you became his surrogate mother and you knew that getting feelings involved would complicate things but he needed you and loved you and felt the same.

•"NO! Please! Don't take him, I'm begging you!" You pleaded and begged. You just knew that if they took him away, you may never see him again. All you wanted was for him live the life he was supposed to, amongst his own kind but in the end they took him from your arms as your pleas' mixed with koba's cries, his tiny hands reaching out for you and your own hand reached out in desperation "Koba!".

•You searched for him for many years, making connections and reaching out to sources, but it always led to a dead-end, but you couldn't give up. You felt immense guilt, and you still carried so much love for him that helped you hold onto hope that you'll be reunited with the bonobo that you raised.

•One of your sources gave you info that one of the last times they heard of the group of apes that came from your program was when they were sold to a corporation for testing purposes in a lab, the doom you felt catapulted into you with such force that you felt your heart break into a million tiny pieces. You had no way of knowing which corporation and the location and it's been so long that you knew the damage was done and there wasn't a damn thing you can do, the shame you carried was an overbearing force as you came to terms. You were working in the San Francisco zoo as the up until the simian virus ravaged the human population, leading you back to the bonobo you were looking for.

                                °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

•You had found refuge in the woods since other humans no longer welcomed others within their inner circles, you understood they were trying to protect themselves but you'd rather avoid the conflict entirely seeing as how scraped up you are already.

You knew of the apes within the confines of the forest but you'd rather your chances with them as you spent many years living amongst them during your primatologist years, but it was obvious their intelligence skyrocketed since then.

As you are gathering whatever resources within the area, berries being your top favorite and encapturing your attention as you're busy with your task, you start to hear slight rustling to the left of you.

You tilt your head only slightly, seeing two dark figures in your peripheral, you knew better than to react abruptly so you slowly straighten yourself out facing them your hands up in surrender to show you mean no harm. The two are cautious in their steps as they fully come out of the brush. It's a chimpanzee and Bonobo you observed.

The Bonobo has a defensive stance, a spear at ready and a snarl crossed on his muzzle and the chimp has a hardened scowl on his face and you feel a chill trail down your spine at his green stare but the primatologist in you tells you not to stare him in the eye.

"I mean no harm..just seeking safety.." You softly say, your throbbing leg shaking as you try to balance yourself upright.

"Koba." The chimp holds his palm up in front of the bonobo, the bonobo slowly lowering the spear, his stare hard and calculated as he sizes you up but nevertheless listens to the order given.

You feel your heart stop in your chest as the word hangs in the air, and you're practically breaking at the seams. He's not only a bonobo, but his name is Koba too.. it seems too much like a coincidence to not be him.

"Koba?" You say, signing his name the way you did back when you cared for the baby bonobo. You dropped your hand against your sternum, a circular motion you would reserve only towards the small Koba.

Time seems to hold still and resume after Koba drops on all fours slowly approaching you with an unreadable expression on his face as he stands in front of you, and you notice him extending his palm out.

You remember this motion. He did it as a small one often to you. He was expecting you to respond accordingly so you do. Your fingers slide across his palm.

It was you, after all. His mother.

                             °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Bonus ending:

You were welcomed by Caesar into the colony after the revelation of your connection to Koba, you were in disbelief of finally getting reunited with your little bonobo and though he was different than what you remember you can still see remnants of the old him.

You came forward to Caesar with your knowledge of rehabilitation to help the other apes in the colony and heal their ailments, he accepted your helping hand concluding that you were now a valuable member of the colony due to your extensive experience and abilities.

Koba was very protective of you and he was in a way jealous of your attention to the other apes, after years of being separated and missing your motherly guidance you were the only human that'll he'll ever hold a torch for.

A growl rumbled from his chest as he watched a male chimp get too close to you for his liking. "Koba, be nice to the others."

"Hmpf."

[divorceblogger]

hey love of my life, you've read dune right? can u explain the kwistaz haderach scheme like im 10 years old

I willll <3 people aren’t wrong when they say that the ‘kwisatz haderach’ is just a very, very special boy that a white guy was writing about in his silly sci-fi book before he decided to write more seriously about the dangers of imperialism and colonialism in the subsequent sequels. but really, the kwisatz haderach’s most narratively important role in the story is as the messiah-ruler figure of a despotic, genocidal empire; and he’s still a victim of the story he creates, a helpless product of his bloodline’s imperial ambitions and generations of political scheming.

where the definition of kwisatz haderach gets more complicated is when you start to pay more attention to the worldbuilding side of things apart from just looking at the role he plays in the larger story.

in the books, the bene gesserit essentially begin a breeding program to develop a biological product who’s supposed to have superhuman capabilities - capable of training in the bene gesserit way & developing the ability to peer into ‘male avenues’ which are beyond a bene gesserit’s ability - as well as ‘female avenues’ (which the bene gesserit are restricted to). the ‘female avenues’ referred to here are probably mostly in reference to the inherited biological memory of the past, and the reverend mothers (who inherit the memories of previous reverend mothers) probably possess the most heightened state of a bene gesserit’s powers. I suspect the male avenues refer to the ability to peer into the future although it’s never clarified - but to summarise, a kwisatz haderach is supposed to have mental powers that enable him to explore time, access the past and sort through different possible futures which can enable him to shape/choose what form it takes (dune messiah deals with the tragic consequences of losing your free will and expands more on the concept). spice and its various forms are the drugs which enable bene gesserit to train and develop these powers. the significance of the kwisatz haderach to the fremen is more complicated, although you probably already understood what was happening there - the bene gesserit plant ‘prophecies’ and superstitions through its branch of the missionaria protectiva to develop a mythology and faith that a trained bene gesserit - ideally the mother of the kwisatz haderach - can exploit to her advantage to protect the product of several centuries of breeding in case the necessity arises. and jessica and paul do actually exploit the fremen to their advantage in the books and the movies, if more explicitly in the latter.

the movie obviously simplifies this concept more to its benefit. the bene gesserit, with their own political agendas, vaguely describe the kwisatz haderach as someone capable of leading the universe into a better future, which sounds too good to be true for a reason. jessica tells paul that the bene gesserit tried to develop a mind capable of bridging space and time and those are words also used in the book - the movie just does away with most of the weird, inane gender stuff.

[rosenotactuallyquartz]

pearl’s character development & her relationship with rose

character development for a complex character is complicated & often nonlinear. pearl has incredible character development, but a lot of her issues are overlooked or misunderstood. as her relationship with rose gets misunderstood, her growth tends to get oversimplified by claims that it’s about “getting over her,” etc. i think that’s not the case & it’s much deeper than that.

early character development

pearl’s character development is seen as early as the now we’re only falling apart flashbacks. she doesn’t see her own growth, & neither does greg who’s the flashback storyteller of the 90s, as they had just met.

but you know who notices pearl’s growth the most? rose. who’s known her the longest, who absolutely loves growth.

“pearl is happy/vacant, will do whatever is asking... no opinion of her own that isn't basic logic. pearl fiercely opinionated by end. bold, ridiculous, shameless, frivolous.” — end of an era

the first time they visit earth, rose says things like, “i couldn’t have done this without you.” she frowns when pearl says, “i could imagine it, if you would like me to.” in contrast, during the rebellion, pearl says she’s imagining things on her own, including a life with rose. she confesses romantic feelings & attempts fusion, which is unheard of & considered “disgusting” on homeworld. rose reacts by saying, “please don’t ever stop!” with a flushed face. pearl + rose are drawn to each other’s happiest & most genuine selves from the start. they encourage one another to embrace who they truly are.

it takes emotional and physical strength, but pearl defies homeworld’s rules & norms. before the war, rose gives her a choice: fight with her or be safe. pearl chooses to rebel with her, protesting that she wants to fight—all while homeworld claims that pearls are not “made” or “built” for fighting. there’s also the argument in sworn to the sword. she stands her ground, when all her life, she couldn’t even have her own opinions—let alone argue.

rose refers to pearl as my pearl, a term used for superiors on homeworld. she looks to her for strength & comfort, clearly admiring her. meanwhile, pearl’s feelings are very protective. on homeworld, she could never have the mindset that she could keep someone safe, especially a gem who’s considered superior. pearls were made to feel weaker, after all.

as time goes on, both pearl & their relationship continue to grow, and that’s evident even in rose’s final years during a more difficult time.

how rose felt about herself

“when a gem is made, it's for a reason. they burst out of the ground already knowing what they're supposed to be, and then... that's what they are. forever.” — rose, greg the babysitter

“self-destruction is a huge theme throughout the show. the struggle of feeling that you shouldn't exist, and what that can do to a person. a lot of the themes of the show exist within rose.” — end of an era

of course rose sees pearl’s growth. she admires it. on a flip side, rose herself feels that she is incapable of growth. in greg the babysitter, rose shows signs of being very deep in thought, with eyes that are noticeably more sad. she says gems can’t grow, but she sees growth in everyone, including the gem she loves so deeply. in this scene, she’s truthfully being self destructive, expressing her belief that she can’t grow. there are many reasons for this, some being that white gave her a colony “only to prove she would fail,” believing pink could never change. with rose’s unbearable guilt & war trauma, she questions whether white diamond is right. as she says this, she hides her pain by generalizing about gems.

rose says this while she’s in front of the ocean, something that pearl is so closely associated with. she admires growth and she sees it happen right in front of her, but she doesn’t think she’s capable of it. this is one of the main reasons why she thinks others are better than her.

so, rose’s pain makes her hide, become withdrawn. she thinks the people she loves are better off without her, as they will live on and continue to grow. she believes she’s stuck because she can’t grow. in reality, she can. she has; managing her destructive powers & becoming a healer, helping many gems who were harmed by homeworld. her mindset really is because of her abusers, & a lot of the things she’s guilty about traces back to their actions. and she has hurt others, but she dwells on it & forgets about positive things she’s done because of her mindset that “she only makes things worse & that’s what she does.”

she’s stuck because she can’t forgive herself & she hasn’t healed from a lot of things. sugar says that how she feels about herself causes pain for those around her. in rose’s final years, pearl can’t quite see or understand just how much rose loves her and all the reasons why. she can’t wrap her head around it, she can’t imagine the possibility that rose thinks she can’t grow the way she has. pearl sees her trying to change & she’s loved everything about her since the beginning. it’s fascinating how similar their feelings are; having so much adoration for each other yet self esteem issues complicate things.

how pearl felt about herself

homeworld’s society devalued pearls, treating them as replaceable servants. this has led to self-worth issues & issues understanding that she is loved for who she is, not just for what she can do. pearl rarely reflects on her trauma because she prioritizes the needs of others. her love for rose, who was often in danger—from being abused to having her identity discovered if she poofs—exacerbated pearl’s tendency to be overly cautious, protective. after all, she is driven by the constant fight-or-flight response they both experienced in their early years & other times they feared they’d be “in trouble” for being themselves. along with anxiety, she is intelligent & likes being in control, leading to perfectionism.

even when pearl makes significant progress, becoming her own person, becoming bold instead of docile, becoming opinionated & standing her ground, forming meaningful relationships, fighting against the environment that traumatized her, finding things she’s passionate about, & defying homeworld’s rules & ideas of pearls, other issues take more time. her perfectionism, ongoing trauma, and focus on others make it hard for her to see her progress.

the setback

pearl’s self-worth & self esteem issues worsen following rose’s death. she feels lost without rose. they’ve never been apart & neither of them ever wanted to be apart. who am i now in this world without her?

“everything i ever did, i did for her. and now she’s gone! but i’m still here.” —pearl, rose’s scabbard

now, more than ever, she can’t see her strength. she had worked so hard to keep rose safe so that this absolute nightmare wouldn’t happen. her whole life was about protecting rose from death. the loss is following a situation throughout the late 90s that involved confusion & a lack of communication. she also can’t understand why rose chose to leave a life that she dreamed of having with pearl, so she questions rose’s love for her. lastly, she’s so clouded by the pain of her grief that everything feels dark and confusing.

losing rose (not loving rose) brings about lots of setbacks in pearl’s growth. it’s painful, traumatic.

present character development

there’s significant growth when pearl slowly opens up about everything. the people around her begin to really understand pearl, her trauma, & the relationship she had with rose. she opens up to people who aren’t as close to her and therefore cannot be biased; she opens up to people who knew her + rose very well.

while pearl reminds us of the importance of letting people in & opening up about everything, it’s important to note that a lot of her growth is done without help from anyone else. so, when she can see her growth, she can understand just how strong & independent she is. another significant change happens when she returns to homeworld. from the perspective of the person she wasn’t allowed to be, after living in a safer environment for thousands of years, she sees how horrific homeworld is. she realizes just how strong she is; having so much trauma, becoming someone, & building a life that’s so different after leaving.

loving (and missing) rose

pearl: sometimes, i wonder if she can see me through your eyes. what would she think of me now?

steven: well, i think you’re pretty great.

the title of the song after steven says this is i’m still here. rose has passed, but there’s little pieces of her that are still here. eventually, pearl does see herself through rose’s eyes.

in sworn to the sword, connie + steven help pearl realize that the biggest argument between her + rose actually demonstrated how much rose loved her. she sees rose’s side, and then in mr. greg, pearl revisits the end of her relationship with rose, and she finds closure. in now we’re only falling apart, she revisits the beginning of her relationship with rose. this is extra significant because two of her closest loved ones (one who has a personality that is very similar to rose’s & one who lived with her and rose) help her see everything more clearly. she sometimes focused so much on the relief of rose being safe that she overlooked the incredible things she did.

but when pearl becomes more confident, she recognizes her own strength, courage, & importance. when she opens up & processes things, she is given an outside perspective, helping pearl see her value & worth to both rose and the world. she understands how much rose loved her & what she meant to her—she sees herself through rose’s eyes! & through rose’s eyes, she sees it a second time: her strength, her courage, her importance.

it was possible for rose to see herself through pearl’s eyes, too. that part of the story is incredibly tragic. while their trauma is not (all) the same, both pearl + rose demonstrate the importance of opening up & as connie said, “being honest about how bad it feels so that you can move on.” they both dealt with self worth, & self esteem issues, personal wounds.

on the bright side, pearl is beginning to understand that rose loved her just as much as she loves rose. now, she can see her own worth & strength, things rose saw all along. she can finally understand how rose was feeling—rose’s life was difficult, but she felt so, so loved by someone she deeply admired and appreciated. if only she could understand that she deserved that love.

pearl’s growth isn’t about “getting over” rose. she’ll always love her, but loving rose doesn’t “stunt” her growth. it’s so much more complicated than that. her growth starts long before steven’s time & rose sees it, even though it takes time for pearl to recognize it as well.

pearl was always strong, but she grows significantly when she realizes it.

[blu-ish]

Do u think Sonic has nightmares of the SA2 ending? do u think the s2 of Prime fall reinforced this fear or gave him some closure? the anxiety of shadow falling and Sonic not being there to catch him lingers? maybe that's why Sonic is very touch affectionative towards Shadow

It fuels my angst loving heart lmao.

That scene single handedly DESTROYED me. Along with all the fics and fanart that came right after it when that ep of S2 came out hsjshshshs. The parallels are so fuggin tragic, especially from Sonic pov.

This was someone he had met in little under 48 hours, or however long the span of SA2 was lol. He's someone who challenged him, someone who, sure, wasn't entirely a mobian hedgehog--but one nonetheless, a super powered one at that. Who went from threating to destroy the world for hurting him beyond Sonic's comprehension to defending it till his final breath beside him.

Sonic's return to the ark without him will never NOT bring me to tears (yes I'm a big baby sue me lmao), he's still holding his inhibitor ring like its the most precious thing in the now saved world.

His goodbye to him; his closure--his understanding that, that was it. Shadow was gone. I don't remember the time from SA2 until Hero's but it was sure to be a long damn time, only for Shadow to just, be alive. MAN IT HURTS LIKE SH-- (I have a headcanon Sonic got to keep the inhibitor ring when Rouge gives it him later, and he wore it under his glove cuff all this time.) You cannot tell me Shadow didn't have a major impact on Sonic's life come onnnnn. I completely agree with the nightmares headcanon btw, like you take a hero with a savior complex and give them a situation where they FAILED to save someone they love and your in for an ANGST FIELD DAY.

Prime Sonic is a lil different from the Sonic's we've been introduced too in the past. (No this is NOT a complaint I love him sm, all Sonic's are amazing to me that is a fact.) He's probably the most physically affectionate one outta all of them. We see him describe his relationship with Shadow as "complicated" lmao, and for anyone new to the Sonic Series watching it, they're basically just introduced as rivals that are so fucking BAD at communicating. But you can tell he cares about his friends, and he really cares about Shadow.

This is evident in his PANIC ATTACK, when Shadow gets knocked out while trying to enter one of the gateways and ends up almost falling into the void. And this is right after they were just at each others necks, fighting for the tech.

There is NO POSSIBLE WAY it's not supposed to be a parallel to SA2, and if this Sonic also went through the "Shadow fucking dies and loses his memories TM" there is also ZERO WAY he didn't get flashbacks while reaching out to save the only piece of home he had, but Shadow's more than that. He grounds Sonic throughout Prime, he keeps him focused, he CARES about him too. Even if he has trouble showing it.

When it was Shadow's turn to save Sonic when he was fading away. Like, I WAS DECEASED, I WAS SOBBING--- ahem, I was carefully analyzing the moment where we got to see Shadow return the favor. Where he was mere MOMENTS away from losing him. He was in Sonic's place, back in space near the Space Colony Ark. Holding the most precious part of his home. His friend. (HIS BOYFR-- *gets shot*)

I like to think they both get more affectionate and open with each other, it just works so naturally well in Prime because of everything they've been through. And how the show, shows their friendship develop over time, even when Shadow gets benched for the majority of it hjhghj. He lets Sonic in, he makes the effort to hear him out, they LEARN TO COMMUNICATE.

Sonic wants to be near Shadow, Shadow in turn lets him, lets him be affectionate. Because they both really DO realize how much they care and need/want each other in their lives. They make me ill.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Disease Template

Because you are a sick bastard that wants to maim, injure and kill thousands or millions or even billions of people characters in your story.

I did a ton of research to create this list. And I'm probably the only one really interested in it. I created the three major classes: Parasites, viruses, and bacteria. I also considered genetic factors.

I looked up a lot of wikipedia pages on various diseases, looked up parasites of various types (the type that kill, maim and bother), looked up CDC pages, and also fictional diseases to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

Cholera, foot and mouth, Scarlet fever, Huntington's chorea, Huntington's, Foot and Mouth, etc. So Congenital and pandemic type—you have to strike off items of made up congenital/genetic diseases, but that shouldn't be too difficult. (N/A it)

Slight note here, but I am kinda sick (haha) of people using Zombie virus type of things to reinforce colonialism, Neoliberalism, and pro-oppression narratives. Haha, white person getting attacked by zombies because they are going to take over and that white person is a Southern US person doesn't quite read like you think it does considering that zombies were an allegory about becoming slaves. Looks like a slave uprising, in which case, the zombies should win over that white person's butt. The original Zombie Mythology was supposed to do the exact opposite. I would hope that people would honor and remember what the original mythology was about.

So when you do diseases, etc, think about *how* you are going to portray it and the people who have it carefully. I've done some of that work. Also, this isn't ND sort of things or creating a new ND. Creating a new ND, I think takes a lot more knowledge and thought since it doesn't affect everyone.

Should not have to be said, but please don't steal the template and then say "I came up with this idea". I genuinely took weeks of research to come up with this list. It's free, link it/reblog it if you like it.

Disease Name

Name Information Scientific Name:

Scientific Classification:

Name Meaning:

IPA Pronounce:

Common Names:

Common Name Meanings:

Subspecies:

Taxonomy Who Discovered it:

Date of Discovery:

Subsequent Famous Scientists:

Anatomy Pathogen Type: (Bacteria/Virus/Parasite) Body’s Biome:

Cell Target:

Symptoms:

Severe Version:

Severe Version Symptoms:

Subtypes:

Symptoms:

Complications:

Epidemiology Origin species:

Species Found In:

Geographical Origin:

Geographic Hotspots:

Transmission: (Water, air, food, rodents, fleas, mosquitoes, water droplets, etc) Infection Rate:

Incubation Time:

Carrier Rate:

Resistances: (heat, cold, drugs) Infected Population Number:

Inflicted Population Type: (Female, males, children, Elderly) Mutation Rate:

Death Rate:

Diagnosis and Treatments Diagnosis Methods:

Severe Version Diagnosis:

Medicines:

Folk Cures:

Vaccination:

Prevention Methods:

Mortality Rate:

Post Disease Syndrome:

Post Disease Symptoms:

Additional Notes:

Human Relationship Stigma Level:

Social Impacts: (Can they donate blood, etc) Visibility:

Public Awareness:

Misconceptions:

Economic Impact:

Famous Deaths:

Famous Art:

Mythology/Religion:

Literature:

History Major Outbreaks:

Pandemic Dates:

General:

Miscellaneous Background:

Notes:

[minamorsart]

Heyy , I love your fanfictions , so beautifully written especially the ones about Lotor and Allura , which brings me to my question , do you think that if Lotor survived , he would make his way to Allura to win back her heart 💖 (AWESOME ART BTW💯🤗🙌)

Firstly, hello!!! Thank you for taking the time to write me an ask, these always make my day! Secondly, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Not only for your kind words, but also taking the time to read my fanfictions and look at my art??! 😭😭 I'm so honored!!! 😖🙏💖

In regards to your question, short answer: YES ABSOLUTELY! I can't help it, it's the romantic in me 😆 And below the cut I'd like to get into the why!

Also lookit that height difference, so cute~~

One of the most compelling things about Lotor's character is how ambitious he is. Not only is it a desirable trait in a potential partner, especially from Allura's perspective ;) but it makes his behavior and choices that much more interesting to watch. Although it's hard to say exactly what his endgame was in the show, particularly when it comes to the Altean colonies (we're supposed to believe he was using them as batteries, but to what end??! something still don't add up), there are some things that can be explained, both from actual given information from the show and personal conjectures I've made for myself ^^

Let's start with him becoming emperor. I personally like to believe that he actively wanted the throne. His relationship with other Galra overall is unfortunately not good at all, which you can see in his interactions with other Galra such as Throk and Sendak. But once he is given the opportunity, Lotor puts everything into becoming emperor and making the Galra Empire his. His appearance at the Kral Zera comes as a shock to everyone, and his demanding and domineering regard towards them all is awesome to watch. Plus it's his right! He is the prince after all, so I just love the idea of him coming into his own, demonstrating his birthright and his capabilities, and taking what's rightfully his.

Also what a power move it was to finally make Lotor the emperor in this version of Voltron??! The only other iteration I've seen is DotU, so it is possible that in the other shows and comics he also became emperor, but it's just SO satisfying to watch in VLD this banished, pariah prince quickly become ruler of the most powerful empire in the universe! You love to see it.

After he becomes emperor he takes his title seriously and uses it to acquire one of the things he wants, which is gaining access to the Rift with Allura's help and providing unlimited quintessence for all of the Galra. I'm sure there is more that he wanted to do with it, but again, some things don't add up and we sadly don't have all of the information, so I'm afraid we can only guess from here! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But in the meantime he doesn't take his role as emperor lightly. In his big speech in season 6 he is harsh, demanding, and even threatening. And I am all about it!!!

Don't get me wrong, while I absolutely love kind, soft, and romantic Lotor, I also dearly love cold, devious, and even malicious Lotor as well. You see this a lot with complicated male characters in epic stories: Kylo Ren and Qimir from Star Wars, Paul Atreides from Dune, Michael Corleone from The Godfather, and Sauron from The Rings of Power! What exactly I find so compelling about these kinds of characters can be summed up perfectly in this quote from Dune:

"...the Duke is really two men. One of them I love very much. He's charming, witty, considerate... tender—everything a woman could desire. But the other man is... cold, callous, demanding, selfish—as harsh and cruel as a winter wind."

- Dune by Frank Herbert, page 104

Lotor's unwielding ambition I think at times can give him tunnel vision, as we can see at the start of season 6 when Lotor wanted Allura to stay and help him with getting quintessence (again, using his resources and title as emperor to pursue what he wants) before Allura reminded him of his duties to his people in the moment. So he can be reasoned with lol!

And so! The reason why I bring all of this up, why I love thinking about the many sides of Lotor and how differently he acts with certain people, the many masks he will wear depending on what he wants, is to invite you to consider how he views his relationship with Allura. His growing feelings for her I'd say are more internalized until the last two episodes of season 5, but until then I like to think that it was never in his plans to get close to her. He wanted to team up with Voltron, yes, but he never could have anticipated falling for the Altean princess ;) What started out as a reluctant alliance and a simple means to accomplish his own end soon blossomed into genuine respect and love.

I have my own ideas as to how I would want Lotor to survive and redeem himself, just as I am certain you and all of us Lotura fans have our own ideas! And they are 1000% valid!!! At its foundation, if Lotor was to live and prove that he can be trusted again, I absolutely believe that he would do everything he could to make things right with Allura. Again, he is ambitious! Once he's decided on something, he will not stop until he's succeeded. If one plan doesn't work he forms a new one. He never gives up. He definitely respects Allura's agency, so of course he would never push her into a relationship with him (looking at you Lance ¬_¬) but I do sincerely believe Lotor would persist in terms of proving to her and the others that he can be trusted as an ally again.

And now we get into Allura's opinion in all of this!! What would she think were Lotor to survive and come back into her life again? And well, I have a really long answer for that too lol! We already see in the series finale how she came to understand Lotor's perspective. We also could see in seasons 5 and 6 how much she really liked him and how head over heels she was for him. Like how adorable was that?? Our girl deserves to be that much in love ;_; After Sincline's return and Lotor appearing in Allura's room in season 8, it is clear that she was still torn up about him, and that she still had feelings for him.

This tweet sums up basically all of my favorite ships:

Of course in this context I mean this as a joke lol, but there's truth to it! Because at the end of the day, no one is going to understand Allura like Lotor understands her. Even Coran, who comes from the same planet and circumstances as she, would frequently express his doubts about her decisions. His heart is in the right place, and they have a very sweet father-daughter-type relationship and he just wants to protect her. But he just doesn't get her the way Lotor gets her. Nowadays when I think about the difference between how Coran treats Allura and how Lotor treats Allura, I think of this quote from The Acolyte showrunner:

“'Do you want to be a part of this thing that I'm a part of?' Most fathers do this with their sons and their daughters, but when fathers do it to daughters, it's tricky, in my opinion. When an equal, like The Stranger, like a partner, says, 'I've experienced something, and I think you would benefit from it. I have a similar history to you, and in adulthood, I would lay it at your feet as a possible tool kit for you to pick up and forge your life with, unlike something that's instilled in you the way that your father instilled a lot of your hopes and dreams in you.'”

- Lesyle Headland, interview with Collider

Though this quote is very specific to Osha's different relationships with Sol and Qimir, I think it applies to Allura, Coran, and Lotor too! Like all parents with their children, Coran has this idea in his head as to what is best for Allura. And I love the man with my whole heart, but it's clear that he would rather keep her safe than let her grow.

Lotor, on the other hand, wants to see Allura grow and thrive. He not only wants to see her reach her full potential, but he also sincerely views her as an equal. They also have so much more in common than they do with literally any other character in the show. He alone can see her power, her potential, her greatness. In turn, he wants to share with her his experiences, his ambitions, as well as his desires. And she is drawn to him in part because of them!

So I genuinely believe that, given enough time, they would both be able to reconcile, to heal the wounds left behind by their hurtful words and their parting, and resume their relationship which had only just begun. Because despite all of the pain they went through and all of the things they said to each other, some of which I'm sure they didn't mean in the moment, they still cared for each other. After all, Allura was the only one who didn't want to leave Lotor behind in the Rift! Between the two of them, the feelings were still there. They never left <3

As more time passes after the show's finale I find more and more things to appreciate about both of Lotor and Allura's characters. Your question has enabled me to dive deep into these new appreciations, so I sincerely thank you for that! They are my number #1 ship of all time, and I am always happy to go on suuuuper long tangents about them 😆 And if you disagree with anything I said, that's okay too! In the end I do hope you were able to get something out of it, and thank you once again for asking! Have a wonderful rest of your day!!! 💖💜

[psychotrenny]

Now I've received a few comments about the mass migration of Mizrahi Jews to Israel during the mid 20th century, specifically about Israel's lack of culpability towards it. And there's a few things I've said in response to this that I'd like to reiterate

For one, a number of commenters have attributed the time period of these migrations to the "30s and 40s" which I don't understand. Even Zionists usually consider the "Mizrahi Exodus" to date from the 50s onwards; a big part of how the process is portrayed by pro-Zionist sources is the framing as Israel as this land of opportunity and safety for Jews fleeing the violence and intolerance of the Arab world, something that couldn't exactly happen until Israel was actually established as a state in 1948.

Secondly as I've already stated multiple times the displacement, marginalisation and violent attack on Palestinians by Zionist European Settlers was already underway in Mandatory Palestine by the 1920s, as embodied by the existence of groups like Haganah and Irgun. So like even if we for whatever reason backdate the supposed mass exile of the Mizrahi to the "30s and 40s" it's still very easy to see the correlation between violence perpetrated by European settlers in the name of "Jewishness" and the development of conflict between previously peacefully co-existing communities of Jews and Gentiles in North Africa and West Asia.

And finally, the idea that the mass migration of Mizrahi Jews to Palestine was the result of intolerance from Muslim neighbors is essentially a Zionist distortion of a much more complicated situation. Soon after the establishment of Israel, the new government actively encouraged Jews from the surrounding region to migrate and worked with many of the surrounding governments (usually the European colonial governments that still controlled extensive tracts of the region) to facilitate this. Some Jews (such as those of Yemen or Morocco) were even essentially deported against their will by the wishes of the Israeli government. While there was an increase in inter-communal conflict between Jewish and Gentile populations in the region, this was both due to the general aftermath of Israeli's brutal establishment and in response to specific actions such as the Mossad terrorist attacks in Egypt in 1954 with some actions even being specifically undertaken in order to cause conflict (or even just the appearance of conflict) and induce migration such as Mossad's activities in Iraq through the 1950s. And while there was certainly a significant level of violence and maltreatment (both legal and extra-legal) directed towards Jewish people in various West Asian and North African countries in response to Israeli's invasion, the sheer degree that direct violence and persecution played in such migrations has also been greatly exaggerated by Zionists in order to justify their continued aggression against the people of Palestine and their Allies. The idea that you can draw any real equivalence between the population movements of the Mizrahi Aliyah and that of the Palestinian Nakba is a ghoulish distortion of history that only serves to justify Zionist atrocities both past and present. One was a more or less voluntary* migration that was only partially induced by fears (both hypothetical and actually realised) of conflict while the other was an incidence of direct and unambiguous ethnic cleansing. The factors that led to the Mizrahi migration has plenty of "pull" in addition to "push" and a great deal of said "push" was deliberately engineered by the Israeli government rather than being purely the result of some natural Islamic cruelty or antagonism

*while not an entirely fair thing to say, and its accuracy will vary a lot on a case by case basis, the Mizrahi migrants on the whole had a lot more freedom than the Palestinians in both the decision to leave and their choice of destination (as several of those linked articles mentioned, some Mizrahi migrated to Europe or the Americas rather than Israel)

[mostlykind]

the issue I have with the framing of Israeli “civilians” as these innocent bystanders is that it completely ignores their complicity in an illegal colonial settlement. they’re not innocent in the slightest. without them “Israel” itself would not exist and Palestinians would not be consistently, forcibly displaced from their homes. these supposed “innocent” civilians are literal illegal settlers who have stolen land and homes and claimed it as their own when it is not

[racefortheironthrone]

Why People Are Wrong About the Puritans of the English Civil War and New England

Oh well, if you all insist, I suppose I can write something.

(oh good, my subtle scheme is working...)

Introduction:

So the Puritans of the English Civil War is something I studied in graduate school and found endlessly fascinating in its rich cultural complexity, but it's also a subject that is popularly wildly misunderstood because it's caught in the jaws of a pair of distorted propagandistic images.

On the one hand, because the Puritans settled colonial New England, since the late 19th century they've been wrapped up with this nationalist narrative of American exceptionalism (that provides a handy excuse for schoolteachers to avoid talking about colonial Virginia and the centrality of slavery to the origins of the United States). If you went to public school in the United States, you're familiar with the old story: the United States was founded by a people fleeing religious persecution and seeking their freedom, who founded a society based on social contracts and the idea that in the New World they were building a city on a hill blah blah America is an exceptional and perfect country that's meant to be an example to the world, and in more conservative areas the whole idea that America was founded as an explicitly Christian country and society. Then on the other hand, you have (and this is the kind of thing that you see a lot of on Tumblr) what I call the Matt Damon-in-Good-Will-Hunting, "I just read Zinn's People's History of the United States in U.S History 101 and I'm home for my first Thanksgiving since I left for colleg and I'm going to share My Opinions with Uncle Burt" approach. In this version, everything in the above nationalist narrative is revealed as a hideous lie: the Puritans are the source of everything wrong with American society, a bunch of evangelical fanatics who came to New England because they wanted to build a theocracy where they could oppress all other religions and they're the reason that abortion-banning, homophobic and transphobic evangelical Christians are running the country, they were all dour killjoys who were all hopelessly sexually repressed freaks who hated women, and the Salem Witch Trials were a thing, right?

And if anyone spares a thought to examine the role that Puritans played in the English Civil War, it basically short-hands to Oliver Cromwell is history's greatest monster, and didn't they ban Christmas?

Here's the thing, though: as I hope I've gotten across in my posts about Jan Hus, John Knox, and John Calvin, the era of the Reformation and the Wars of Religion that convulsed the Early Modern period were a time of very big personalities who were complicated and not very easy for modern audiences to understand, because of the somewhat oblique way that Early Modern people interpreted and really believed in the cultural politics of religious symbolism. So what I want to do with this post is to bust a few myths and tease out some of the complications behind the actual history of the Puritans.

Did the Puritans Experience Religious Persecution?

Yes, but that wasn't the reason they came to New England, or at the very least the two periods were divided by some decades. To start at the beginning, Puritans were pretty much just straightforward Calvinists who wanted the Church of England to be a Calvinist Church. This was a fairly mainstream position within the Anglican Church, but the "hotter sort of Protestant" who started to organize into active groups during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I were particularly sensitive to religious symbolism they (like the Hussites) felt smacked of Catholicism and especially the idea of a hierarchy where clergy were a better class of person than the laity.

So for example, Puritans really first start to emerge during the Vestments Controversy in the reign of Edward VI where Bishop Hooper got very mad that Anglican priests were wearing the cope and surplice, which he thought were Catholic ritual garments that sought to enhance priestly status and that went against the simplicity of the early Christian Church. Likewise, during the run-up to the English Civil War, the Puritans were extremely sensitive to the installation of altar rails which separated the congregation from the altar - they considered this to be once again a veneration of the clergy, but also a symbolic affirmation of the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.

At the same time, they were not the only religious faction within the Anglican Church - and this is where the religious persecution thing kicks in, although it should be noted that this was a fairly brief but very emotionally intense period. Archbishop William Laud was a leading High Church Episcopalian who led a faction in the Church that would become known as Laudians, and he was just as intense about his religious views as the Puritans were about his. A favorite of Charles I and a first advocate of absolutist monarchy, Laud was appointed Archbishop of Canturbury in 1630 and acted quickly to impose religious uniformity of Laudian beliefs and practices - ultimately culminating in the disastrous decision to try imposing Episcopalianism on Scotland that set off the Bishop's Wars. The Puritans were a special target of Laud's wrath: in addition to ordering the clergy to do various things offensive to Puritans that he used as a shibboleth to root out clergy with Puritan sympathies and fire them from their positions in the Church, he established official religious censors who went after Puritan writers like William Prynne for seditious libel and tortured them for their criticisms of his actions, cropping their ears and branding them with the letters SL on their faces. Bringing together the powers of Church and State, Laud used the Court of Star Chamber (a royal criminal court with no system of due process) to go after anyone who he viewed as having Puritan sympathies, imposing sentences of judicial torture along the way.

It was here that the Puritans began to make their first connections to the growing democratic movement in England that was forming in opposition to Charles I, when John Liliburne the founder of the Levellers was targeted by Laud for importing religious texts that criticized Laudianism - Laud had him repeatedly flogged for challenging the constitutionality of the Star Chamber court, and "freeborn John" became a martyr-hero to the Puritans.

When the Long Parliament met in 1640, Puritans were elected in huge numbers, motivated as they were by a combination of resistance to the absolutist monarchism of Charles I and the religious policies of Archbishop Laud - who Parliament was able to impeach and imprison in the Tower of the London in 1641. This relatively brief period of official persecution that powerfully shaped the Puritan mindset was nevertheless disconnected from the phenomena of migration to New England - which had started a decade before Laud became Archbishop of Canterbury and continued decades after his impeachment.

The Puritans Just Wanted to Oppress Everyone Else's Religion:

This is the very short-hand Howard Zinn-esque critique we often see of the Puritan project in the discourse, and while there is a grain of truth to it - in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Congregational Church was the official state religion, no other church could be established without permission from the Congregational Church, all residents were required to pay taxes to support the Congregational Church, and only Puritans could vote. Moreover, there were several infamous incidents where the Puritan establishment put Anne Hutchinson on trial and banished her, expelled Roger Williams, and hanged Quakers.

Here's the thing, though: during the Early Modern period, every single side of every single religious conflict wanted to establish religious uniformity and oppress the heretics: the Catholics did it to the Protestants where they could mobilize the power of the Holy Roman Emperor against the Protestant Princes, the Protestants did it right back to the Catholics when Gustavus Adolphus' armies rolled through town, the Lutherans and the Catholics did it to the Calvinists, and everybody did it to the Anabaptists.

That New England was founded as a Calvinist colony is pretty unremarkable, in the final analysis. (By the by, both Hutchinson and Williams were devout if schismatic Puritans who were firmly of the belief that the Anglican Church was a false church.) What's more interesting is how quickly the whole religious project broke down and evolved into something completely different.

Essentially, New England became a bunch of little religious communes that were all tax-funded, which is even more the case because the Congregationalist Church was a "gathered church" where the full members of the Church (who were the only people allowed to vote on matters involving the church, and were the only ones who were allowed to be given baptism and Communion, which had all kinds of knock-on effects on important social practices like marriages and burials) and were made up of people who had experienced a conversion where they can gained an assurance of salvation that they were definitely of the Elect. You became a full member by publicly sharing your story of conversion (which had a certain cultural schema of steps that were supposed to be followed) and having the other full members accept it as genuine.

This is a system that works really well to bind together a bunch of people living in a commune in the wilderness into a tight-knit community, but it broke down almost immediately in the next generation, leading to a crisis called the Half-Way Covenant.

The problem was that the second generation of Puritans - all men and women who had been baptized and raised in the Congrgeationalist Church - weren't becoming converted. Either they never had the religious awakening that their parents had had, or their narratives weren't accepted as genuine by the first generation of commune members. This meant that they couldn't hold church office or vote, and more crucially it meant that they couldn't receive the sacrament or have their own children baptized.

This seemed to suggest that, within a generation, the Congregationalist Church would essentially define itself into non-existence and between the 1640s and 1650s leading ministers recommended that each congregation (which was supposed to decide on policy questions on a local basis, remember) adopt a policy whereby the children of baptized but unconverted members could be baptized as long as they did a ceremony where they affirmed the church covenant. This proved hugely controversial and ministers and laypeople alike started publishing pamphlets, and voting in opposing directions, and un-electing ministers who decided in the wrong direction, and ultimately it kind of broke the authority of the Congregationalist Church and led to its eventual dis-establishment.

The Puritans are the Reason America is So Evangelical:

This is another area where there's a grain of truth, but ultimately the real history is way more complicated.

Almost immediately from the founding of the colony, the Puritans begin to undergo mutation from their European counterparts - to begin with, while English Puritans were Calvinists and thus believed in a Presbyterian form of church government (indeed, a faction of Puritans during the English Civil War would attempt to impose a Presbyterian Church on England.), New England Puritans almost immediately adopted a congregationalist system where each town's faithful would sign a local religious constitution, elect their own ministers, and decide on local governance issues at town meetings.

Essentially, New England became a bunch of little religious communes that were all tax-funded, which is even more the case because the Congregationalist Church was a "gathered church" where the full members of the Church (who were the only people allowed to vote on matters involving the church, and were the only ones who were allowed to be given baptism and Communion, which had all kinds of knock-on effects on important social practices like marriages and burials) and were made up of people who had experienced a conversion where they can gained an assurance of salvation that they were definitely of the Elect. You became a full member by publicly sharing your story of conversion (which had a certain cultural schema of steps that were supposed to be followed) and having the other full members accept it as genuine.

This is a system that works really well to bind together a bunch of people living in a commune in the wilderness into a tight-knit community, but it broke down almost immediately in the next generation, leading to a crisis called the Half-Way Covenant.

The problem was that the second generation of Puritans - all men and women who had been baptized and raised in the Congrgeationalist Church - weren't becoming converted. Either they never had the religious awakening that their parents had had, or their narratives weren't accepted as genuine by the first generation of commune members. This meant that they couldn't hold church office or vote, and more crucially it meant that they couldn't receive the sacrament or have their own children baptized.

This seemed to suggest that, within a generation, the Congregationalist Church would essentially define itself into non-existence and between the 1640s and 1650s leading ministers recommended that each congregation (which was supposed to decide on policy questions on a local basis, remember) adopt a policy whereby the children of baptized but unconverted members could be baptized as long as they did a ceremony where they affirmed the church covenant. This proved hugely controversial and ministers and laypeople alike started publishing pamphlets, and voting in opposing directions, and un-electing ministers who decided in the wrong direction, and accusing one another of being witches. (More on that in a bit.)

And then the Great Awakening - which to be fair, was a major evangelical effort by the Puritan Congregationalist Church, so it's not like there's no link between evangelical - which was supposed to promote Congregational piety ended up dividing the Church and pretty soon the Congregationalist Church is dis-established and it's safe to be a Quaker or even a Catholic on the streets of Boston.

But here's the thing - if we look at which denominations in the United States can draw a direct line from themselves to the Congregationalist Church of the Puritans, it's the modern Congregationalists who are entirely mainstream Protestants whose churches are pretty solidly liberal in their politics, the United Church of Christ which is extremely cultural liberal, and it's the Unitarian Universalists who are practically issued DSA memberships. (I say this with love as a fellow comrade.)

By contrast, modern evangelical Christianity (although there's a complicated distinction between evangelical and fundamentalist that I don't have time to get into) in the United States is made up of an entirely different set of denominations - here, we're talking Baptists, Pentacostalists, Methodists, non-denominational churches, and sometimes Presbyterians.

The Puritans Were Dour Killjoys Who Hated Sex:

This one owes a lot to Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter.

The reality is actually the opposite - for their time, the Puritans were a bunch of weird hippies. At a time when most major religious institutions tended to emphasize the sinful nature of sex and Catholicism in particular tended to emphasize the moral superiority of virginity, the Puritans stressed that sexual pleasure was a gift from God, that married couples had an obligation to not just have children but to get each other off, and both men and women could be taken to court and fined for failing to fulfill their maritial obligations.

The Puritans also didn't have much of a problem with pre-marital sex. As long as there was an absolute agreement that you were going to get married if and when someone ended up pregnant, Puritan elders were perfectly happy to let young people be young people. Indeed, despite the objection of Jonathan Edwards and others there was an (oddly similar to modern Scandinavian customs) old New England custom of "bundling," whereby a young couple would be put into bed together by their parents with a sack or bundle tied between them as a putative modesty shield, but where everyone involved knew that the young couple would remove the bundle as soon as the lights were turned out.

One of my favorite little social circumlocutions is that there was a custom of pretending that a child clearly born out of wedlock was actually just born prematurely to a bride who was clearly nine months along, leading to a rash of surprisingly large and healthy premature births being recorded in the diary of Puritan midwife Martha Ballard. Historians have even applied statistical modeling to show that about 30-40% of births in colonial America were pre-mature.

But what about non-sexual dourness? Well, here we have to understand that, while they were concerned about public morality, the Puritans were simultaneously very strict when it came to matters of religion and otherwise normal people who liked having fun. So if you go down the long list of things that Puritans banned that has landed them with a reputation as a bunch of killjoys, they usually hide some sort of religious motivation.

So for example, let's take the Puritan iconoclastic tendency to smash stained glass windows, whitewash church walls, and smash church organs during the English Civil War - all of these things have to do with a rejection of Catholicism, and in the case of church organs a belief that the only kind of music that should be allowed in church is the congregation singing psalms as an expression of social equality. At the same time, Puritans enjoyed art in a secular context and often had portraits of themselves made and paintings hung on their walls, and they owned musical instruments in their homes.

What about the wearing nothing but black clothing? See, in our time wearing nothing but black is considered rather staid (or Goth), but in the Early Modern period the dyes that were needed to produce pure black cloth were incredibly expensive - so wearing all black was a sign of status and wealth, hence why the Hapsburgs started emphasizing wearing all-black in the same period. However, your ordinary Puritan couldn't afford an all-black attire and would have worn quite colorful (but much cheaper) browns and blues and greens.

What about booze and gambling and sports and the theater and other sinful pursuits? Well, the Puritans were mostly ok with booze - every New England village had its tavern - but they did regulate how much they could serve, again because they were worried that drunkenness would lead to blasphemy. Likewise, the Puritans were mostly ok with gambling, and they didn't mind people playing sports - except that they went absolutely beserk about drinking, gambling, and sports if they happened on the Sabbath because the Puritans really cared about the Sabbath and Charles I had a habit of poking them about that issue. They were against the theater because of its association with prostitution and cross-dressing, though, I can't deny that. On the other hand, the Puritans were also morally opposed to bloodsports like bear-baiting, cock-fighting, and bare-knuckle boxing because of the violence it did to God's creatures, which I guess makes them some of the first animal rights activsts?

They Banned Christmas:

Again, this comes down to a religious thing, not a hatred of presents and trees - keep in mind that the whole presents-and-trees paradigm of Christmas didn't really exist until the 19th century and Dickens' Christmas Carol, so what we're really talking about here is a conflict over religious holidays - so what people were complaining about was not going to church an extra day in the year. I don't get it, personally.

See, the thing is that Puritans were known for being extremely close Bible readers, and one of the things that you discover almost immediately if you even cursorily read the New Testament is that Christ was clearly not born on December 25th. Which meant that the whole December 25th thing was a false religious holiday, which is why they banned it.

The Puritans Were Democrats:

One thing that I don't think Puritans get enough credit for is that, at a time when pretty much the whole of European society was some form of monarchist, the Puritans were some of the few people out there who really committed themselves to democratic principles.

As I've already said, this process starts when John Liliburne, an activist and pamphleteer who promoted the concept of universal human rights (what he called "freeborn rights"), took up the anti-Laudian cause and it continued through the mobilization of large numbers of Puritans to campaign for election to the Long Parliament.

There, not only did the Puritans vote to revenge themselves on their old enemy William Laud, but they also took part in a gradual process of Parliamentary radicalization, starting with the impeachment of Strafford as the architect of arbitrary rule, the passage of the Triennal Acts, the re-statement that non-Parliamentary taxation was illegal, the Grand Remonstrance, and the Militia Ordinance.

Then over the course of the war, Puritans served with distinction in the Parliamentary army, especially and disproportionately in the New Model Army where they beat the living hell out of the aristocratic armies of Charles I, while defying both the expectations and active interference of the House of Lords.

At this point, I should mention that during this period the Puritans divided into two main factions - Presbyterians, who developed a close political and religious alliance with the Scottish Covenanters who had secured the Presbyterian Church in Scotland during the Bishops' Wars and who were quite interested in extending an established Presbyterian Church; and Independents, who advocated local congregationalism (sound familiar) and opposed the concept of established churches.

Finally, we have the coming together of the Independents of the New Model Army and the Leveller movement - during the war, John Liliburne had served with bravery and distinction at Edgehill and Marston Moore, and personally capturing Tickhill Castle without firing a shot. His fellow Leveller Thomas Rainsborough proved a decisive cavalry commander at Naseby, Leicester, the Western Campaign, and Langport, a gifted siege commander at Bridgwater, Bristol, Berkeley Castle, Oxford, and Worcester. Thus, when it came time to hold the Putney Debates, the Independent/Leveller bloc had both credibility within the New Model Army and the only political program out there. Their proposal:

redistricting of Parliament on the basis of equal population; i.e one man, one vote.

the election of a Parliament every two years.

freedom of conscience.

equality under the law.

In the context of the 17th century, this was dangerously radical stuff and it prompted Cromwell and Fairfax into paroxyms of fear that the propertied were in danger of being swamped by democratic enthusiasm - leading to the imprisonment of Lilburne and the other Leveller leaders and ultimately the violent suppression of the Leveller rank-and-file.

As for Cromwell, well - even the Quakers produced Richard Nixon.

[suzyandthefox]

Ladybug

I wrote this uninspired and it somehow became my longest vore fic ever

This was out of my comfort zone, I was inspired by @imafayliure 's post

Content warnings: Gore (not too much) ,animal death, Vore (duh), general angst and misunderstanding (they end on a good note), an insult in Spanish.

Soft,safe, quarter size(?) m/m vore, unwilling prey and not very sober pred.

Taglist: @pineappleparfaitie @opikarts (interact if you want to be added, Ask if you want to be removed)

Word count: 3,500

Lumen hated going outside, especially since he and his brother moved to this cabin, which was built next to a large pond.

It was humid, it was wet, it was full of pesky creatures that weren't edible -like mosquitoes-, and the constant noises of wildlife was driving him crazy.

Yes,there was fish to hunt, and other crustaceans, but he needed something that had blood in it.

Being a vampire borrower is a complicated state of life.

One night, he was dizzy with hunger, he had to find something to eat, something alive and pulsing and filled with blood…

His gray eyes fell on something small,round, and red. It hid in the tall grass that surrounded the pond, the bright red color would be a warning for predators to not come near.

Not for Lumen, it compelled him to get closer.

============

Bunyan curled around himself in fear as he tried to control his sobs, he shouldn't have come here at all,he shouldn't have!

Already being at the miniscule height of one inch tall was horrifying, even his wings and their bright red color didn't stop every creature out there from trying to eat him.

And there it was, another one of them, it was big and skinny and… human shaped? But also not a human?

Bunyan was filled with both curiosity and fear, he stood up in a defensive stance, flashing his red wings once again.

“Stay back! Or… or I will give you a bad time!!”

Instead, the being only got closer, its silhouette now illuminated under the moonlight.

It was slender,tall,draped in dark rags and wrapped it's face in old white cloths, and it reminded him of a… Raven.

It had caused him even more fear, this strange creature was a predator wearing the skin of a friend, it looked humanoid but it was far from that.

“Now now, little one, easy there, no need to be spicy.” Then it spoke, Bunyan shivered, its voice was rough and deep… 

And human? There was something nice about it, it sounded sincere even.

“F…Fine! But I remind you that I'm NOT edible!” Still in his defensive stance, Bunyan warned.

“Indeed you aren't, you're too spicy!” The being joked half heartedly, it sounded tired as well.

“Who are you? What are you?” Bunyan tilted his head as he lowered his guard, his wings stopped fluttering and returned to their place on his back.

“Lumen, you can call me Lumen…”

“And… Honestly I don't know, I used to be a borrower, but now I'm unsure.”

“But what about you? You're awfully way too small to be a borrower, what are you?”

Lumen walked closer to the tiny ladybug boy, almost wholly engulfing him in his shadow.

Even as they're both small beings in this big world, the sheer size difference between him and the boy was still shocking.

He could easily pick up the boy with both of his hands, just like how a human would pick up a cat, after all,the kid was the size of a newborn baby.

“I'm a borrower… at least I think I am, I never saw much outside my colony.”

“First time alone?” Lumen knelt on one knee to lessen the height difference between them.

“Yes actually, I'm supposed to look for a place to stay, so I can live on my own this winter.” The boy still maintained his distance between him and the larger, much more intimidating borrower.

“Live on your own_there’s no way you're an adult.” The vampire borrower murmured, a look of great concern drawn on his eyes, even as his face wasn't visible underneath the cloth.

Maybe it was just his fatherly instincts, but he was unable to perceive the ladybug kid as anything other than, well, a kid.

“I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Bunyan!” The boy gingerly extended his hand to handshake, now that he was partially sure that the man was a fellow borrower.

Bunyan, even his name is adorable.

Lumen was starting to believe he stumbled upon a character from a children's book and not a real person , let alone a full grown adult.

The beast crept up on him and kept whispering in his ears, he was getting hungrier by the moment and he was barely keeping himself in check.

He was starving,he was yearning for the taste of fresh,hot blood going down his throat, but the only living Infront of him was…

No,NO, he shook his head and tried to get rid of the idea, this is a friend,a friend.

“Are you okay?” Bunyan asked with confusion.

“I'm alright kid, just… Hungry.”

Bunyan instinctively took a step back, he still didn't like how the bigger borrower looked like a carnivorous animal.

Yes he hunts and eats aphids for a living, but it wasn't the same, the bigger borrower had sharp fangs, it was as if he eats people alive.

Before Bunyan could talk, a loud noise of something slimy and big hit the ground.

A dreaded noise echoed in the air around them.

Croak

A toad, it was a toad.

Instinctively, Lumen grabbed the tiny boy and picked him up, and bolted out of the scene to the tall grass again before the sudden attack of the tongue has touched them.

It was bigger and stouter than most toads both of them had seen.

For Lumen, he could fight that thing with his bare hands and win, the amphibian wouldn't be interested in him due to his big size after all.

But it was poor Bunyan who would be devoured as soon as that toad looks at him.

He whimpered at the thought of being eaten, shaking heavily, oh how glad he was that there was a bigger borrower right here that can protect him.

He found himself tugging at Lumen's shirt, his breaths bated and shallow, his small body wouldn't stop shaking.

Lumen noticed the thin sheen of a foul smelling liquid on the boy’s arms and legs, wetting his clothes.

His sense of smell wasn't working the way it should work due to him being unable to breathe, so it wasn't the smell that disturbed him.

Still he found it… weird, he preferred not to comment on the matter.

“It's a defense mechanism,I swear! O-our bodies secrete a liquid from our joints so that when a predator smells us, they will leave us alone.” The boy blushed and squirmed as he tried to explain.

Well , that makes it better, but the sensation wasn't the best

regardless.

He could still hear the croaks nearby, as if the toad was still determining where they are, and as he got more stressed, he wrapped his black coat around both himself and Bunyan, as if to hide the boy within him.

“You could do exactly that” his inner beast whispered to him, again he shook his head in refusal.

“Think about it, the boy is very small, and you, you're bigger, you're easily capable of hiding him… In you.”

“If anything has to eat the boy, it should be you.”

“Just for a while, just a few, harmless minutes, to satiate us both.”

But isn't he too… big? Lumen peeked once at the boy in his arms and his heart shattered into millions of pieces.

Big, frightful, wide eyes looked at him, practically begging him to protect the boy. He was so small, that the task was easier and harder at the same time.

Physically he can go with it, out of his comfort zone but he can go with it.

Emotionally however? He will never fully recover from it and neither will the boy.

He wanted to think about this again but the loud noise of the toad landing In front of them, and the beast coiling around his throat like a vile snake, he let go of all his humanity at that moment.

“I apologize so much for this, but it's for your own good,” was the last thing he said before he had let himself break loose.

Bunyan, at first, was very confused at Lumen's words.

But it was when the larger borrower opened his maw and a series of sharp, large fangs glinted underneath the moonlight that the boy’s heart dropped.

This isn't happening, this isn't happening, he surely hoped with every molecule of his body that what he thought was happening wasn't happening.

But it was when his head was stuck into the jaws, his antennas brushing with the back of the throat, that he knew that the nightmare was real.

For Lumen, perhaps it was the beast’s control, perhaps it was his hunger, or perhaps it was even an ability he knew nothing about,but he found the task of swallowing the smaller borrower whole frighteningly easy.

It was second nature even, his throat accommodated the size, then he found himself taking a hefty gulp, his body eagerly accepting of the large meal.

Still it was different, it was strange, it was something he hadn't done before, combined with the stressful atmosphere and the time they had, it was a quick but very messy process.

He was grateful that he wasn't breathing at that moment and that he didn't need to, he would’ve absolutely choked if he did.

It was strange how he was still able to gobble up the kid despite his current state not accepting anything besides blood, but then again, the boy did have blood in him, and something about that truly satiated the beast, it was still appealing to the vampire side of him.

A second swallow, and despite the squirms, the sobs, and the absolutely foul,bitter taste that filled his mouth he continued, pushing the tiny legs into his mouth with his hand.

Finally he got to a point where he no longer needed to shove the ladybug down, and he could let gravity do the rest of the work.

Bunyan's sobs and begs echoed through him and reached his ears, muffled by his undead flesh, but at that moment he couldn't hear them, the frenzy far too strong.

Rippling muscles and hungry organs hugged the boy and pulled him deeper into the belly of the beast, soon Bunyan, who already gave up all hope, would be welcomed by the stomach.

Lumen felt a distinct weight fill him and push against his clothes, he put his hand on the small lump that formed, and he pushed it into himself, as if trying to hide the boy deeper inside his guts.

And it was also a hug, a strange, awkward hug.

Something about this whole ordeal made the beast rumble in excitement, this was good, this was right, to have live, squirming prey inside his belly.

Even if he physically couldn't digest it, it was far better and far more satisfying than eating regular food, it was no different from having the greatest thanksgiving feast and eating until you can't eat anymore.

But unfortunately he couldn't enjoy this for too long, the human part in him was tearing itself apart from guilt, and there's another predator right there that looked completely pissed at the fact it's snack was stolen.

The weight in his stomach disoriented him, and while his frenzied state was an excellent hunter, he was still worried about harming the boy.

He stood up and stared into the toad's eyes, who squinted at him and narrowed its eyes as well.

“You wanted that snack, Aye?”

“Well he's mine now… Pinche Pendejo” He said as he put a possessive hand over his stomach.

As if the toad understood the insult, it launched its tongue at Lumen, determined to make the large borrower its snack.

But instead of hopping away,the vampire borrower took it as a chance, as soon as the slimy tongue pulled him close, he swiftly stuck his claws deep into the thick skin of the toad’s sides, and toppled it on its back, wrestling with it.

He pinned the creature to the ground, exposing it's soft underbelly, it was almost impossible to keep a good grip on the slimy creature, but all it took was one quick swipe from his claws to gore the toad and tear it's stomach open, finally killing it.

As soon as the deed was done, he felt the beast release him from his current state, satisfied with the violence it caused.

And the only thing left was the terrible, terrible guilt and regret, as he was able to hear the faint,weak sobs the poor boy made.

They were inaudible now, and Lumen was unsure if he was asleep or waiting for his death.

He was going to let him out of course, but he took a moment to… Understand what is exactly happening.

He was a cold,undead being, with no warmth of his own and no pulse.

But inside his stomach was a living person, with a fluttering pulse and warmth that radiated from him and seeped into Lumen's own bones and body.

He rubbed at his full stomach, feeling the dread that will come from having to explain his intentions to the poor thing.

He couldn't keep him for longer, even if he wanted to, and this whole thing has made him ask himself, was the act of swallowing Bunyan whole the right choice?

He thought, and realized that no, it wasn't.

It would have been easier if he just asked Bunyan to hide in the grass or behind a rock, and even if Bunyan got swallowed by the toad he could’ve gutted it just like he did now.

He realized that he was protecting Bunyan from himself, rather than the toad, the choice he made at that moment wasn't his own choice.

And so he decided to not let the torture go on any longer and let the ladybug boy out to the world again.

It was a tedious process, having to work his body in reverse,the muscles of his stomach kneading around his poor prisoner, and working him upwards, the small lump in his abdomen gradually shrunk as the weight inside it was lifted to his esophagus instead.

Then into his hands the boy was released, wet and covered in saliva and other fluids he had no idea what they were.

He didn't have a great understanding of anatomy, not even his own.

The look that the boy had on him was nothing short of seething hatred, and it was understandable, it was truly understandable.

“Are you alrig_”

“Why?” Bunyan's voice was quiet, tired, but it still burned.

The vampire stayed quiet, every single explanation and excuse he thought of… They were all selfish, none of them were actually in Bunyan's favor.

The wet ladybug boy looked next to him to see a mauled toad, its guts spilling on the ground.

“So it was true, you're really a monster pretending to be a borrower.” He quietly commented.

It was that moment where it finally sank in Lumen’s mind that Bunyan was an adult, a child wouldn't hate him that much, it would be afraid, but not vengeful.

He, again, tried to think of anything to say.

“I was trying to help,” was all he was able to get out.

“You're no better than that toad… But at least a toad is upfront about what it wants! Not attempting to be my friend, only to decide to eat me later!”

Bunyan had nothing but his words, he couldn't do anything, his weakness against the vampire that swallowed him whole with ease was a horrible thing, even right now, when the vampire has let him out, he wouldn't put him on the ground.

He tried to stay strong, but the nightmare that was being eaten alive broke his wavering courage, he didn't want to cry again.

“Bunyan… I'm sorry, I swear, I wasn't going to hurt you, you were going to be safe,” his name came out like a crude mockery of a friendship from the vampire’s mouth.

“Sure! Keeping me safe by eating me alive!”

“Please just… Stop, put me down.” The attempts at consolation were almost just as bad as the experience of being eaten.

And he was put down on the dewy grass, shivering slightly as the breeze hit him.

“I was going to tell the colony about you, they would've known how to deal with something like… you,” 

“But I don't want anyone I care about to go through what I went through, so consider yourself lucky.”

Lumen noticed the lack of usage of his name, it meant that whatever frail bond they created was severed forever.

Bunyan flapped his wings, and they didn't work, they were incapacitated by the saliva.

He sat down on the ground, barely holding back tears, and that's when something like a large blanket wrapped him, drying him up.

He looked upwards to find that the vampire, who had just eaten him alive, had wrapped him in his coat, but he was nowhere to be seen.

And so was the mauled toad.

=========

It's been a few minutes, Bunyan fell asleep and woke up several times.

A realization hit him, he missed being in that borrower’s stomach.

It was soft, so very soft, and it was gently hugging him through the whole fight. It wasn't the warmest, but that's good, he preferred the lukewarmness.

No! This isn't rational! He shouldn't be missing it! He was eaten alive!

But maybe the larger borrower was sincere about his intentions, and it's not like he was digested, he was just sleepy.

Hypothetically, if he knew it was safe, he would've asked to stay for the rest of the night, he was very tired,and scared.

He jolted as he felt a large hand on his shoulder.

“Better now?” It was the larger borrower’s voice.

“I thought you were gone?” He asked.

Lumen shook his head

“I thought you wanted some time by yourself, especially after… everything.”

“Thank you...I have come to terms with it.” It was very considerate on the other borrower’s part,he had to admit it, even if he very much still didn't come to terms with it.

“You never explained how it was safe for me to be there.”

“Right…”

There was a moment of silence, before Lumen began slowly and patiently explaining:

“Like I told you earlier, I was a borrower before.” He flinched as he remembered.

“But then I died.”

Died? 

“Some monster killed me, but it didn't just leave me to die, it fed me its foul blood and told me that I belong to it.”

“That… was two centuries ago.”

Centuries?! Bunyan was shocked, the longest anyone of his colony lived was three years, and he didn't even have his first birthday yet!

The concept was far too much to grasp for the boy, the fact that this borrower lived in the same time as his ancient ancestors was headache inducing.

“Anyway, since I am technically dead, that means I can “live” without breathing or eating, but I have to occasionally drink blood instead.”

“Like a mosquito?”

“Kinda, what I'm trying to get at is, my organs are vestigial, useless, you could take my brain away and I would still go on with my undeath.”

“By extension, my stomach is useless for its purpose, it can't digest anything, so I instead store the important things in it if I can.”

He put a hand on Bunyan's head and gently patted him.

“Today I learned that I can store the important people too.”

Bunyan's pale cheeks flushed a bright red, but he just tried to ignore it.

“I'm sorry for all the rude things I said earlier… You aren't a monster, you're just… different.”

“Don't be,I shouldn't have done it in the first place, you were rightfully angry at me, I know I would be pissed too if some big lug snatched me off the ground and gobbled me up without a good warning.”

They shared a dry laugh, and Bunyan tried to flap his wings again, they were drier now, thanks to the large coat he was huddling himself in.

“Look at you, swaddled in my coat like a baby, I almost want to eat you up again.” 

Bunyan didn't find it as funny, he furrowed his eyebrows.

He took a look at the undead borrower, without his coat, his skeletal frame was apparent,his shirt was hanging on his body rather than being on it, and for a moment he wondered how in the world did this skinny frame wholly contain him with ease.

“It was very scary, you know.”

“But it was also… nice, and now that I think about it, you did try to tell me it was alright.”

“So… Thank you again, for everything,” The boy smiled “I'm glad to meet you, Lumen.”

“I'm glad to meet you as well, I will be sure to visit during winter.”

With that, Bunyan handed the large , now wet coat to it's owner, and got up to stretch all four of his arms.

“Stay safe, Boy!” Lumen waved goodbye to Bunyan.

“You too!” The boy waved back.

Both went their separate ways, even as Lumen felt a desperate need to follow the kid until he was safe.

He had so much to tell his brother that night.

[rainandandy]

Traitor

Rain Carradine X Kay Harrison

Word Count: 996

Rain stood frozen in the doorway of the colony’s common area, her breath catching in her throat. The chatter of people around her faded to a distant hum, and the world narrowed to the two figures in the corner of the room—Kay and Bjorn.

She wasn’t sure what had drawn her there, why she had even walked through this door, but now, she wished she hadn’t. The sight of them together—Kay’s hand resting gently on Bjorn’s arm, his fingers brushing a strand of hair behind her ear—hit Rain like a gut punch.

And then it happened. Kay leaned in, and Bjorn did too. Their lips met in a soft, lingering kiss, and Rain felt something inside her shatter.

It had only been a month since she and Kay had broken up. A messy, heart-wrenching month of trying to move on, trying to forget how Kay’s laugh used to light up her world, how her touch had felt like home. But now, standing there, watching Kay kiss Bjorn, Rain realized she hadn’t moved on at all.

A sharp pain settled deep in her chest as she backed up, trying to leave before they saw her. But her movement must have caught Kay’s eye, because she pulled away from Bjorn, her eyes locking onto Rain’s across the room. There was a moment of silence between them, a flicker of recognition in Kay’s expression—regret, maybe. But Rain couldn’t handle it. Not now.

Rain turned on her heel, her heart racing as she pushed through the crowd, not caring where she was going. She just needed to get away, to escape the image burned into her mind of Kay’s lips on someone else’s.

As she reached the corridor outside, the cool air hit her face, but it didn’t do anything to calm the storm raging inside. She leaned against the wall, closing her eyes as tears pricked at the corners of them. Why did it still hurt so much? They weren’t together anymore. Kay had every right to move on, to be happy with someone else. But Rain wasn’t ready for that. She hadn’t expected it to happen so soon—hadn’t expected it to be him.

Bjorn. Kay’s brother Tyler had always been close to him, like they were cousins even though they weren’t related by blood. It made sense, Rain supposed. Bjorn had been around Kay’s family forever, always looking out for them. He had been Tyler’s best friend for as long as Rain could remember, practically part of the family. But Rain had never thought of him and Kay as this. Never imagined them together like that.

The sound of footsteps made her stiffen, and she quickly wiped her eyes, trying to pull herself together.

“Rain?” The voice that called her name was soft, hesitant. She didn’t need to look to know it was Kay.

Rain swallowed hard, keeping her back to her. “Don’t. I don’t… I don’t want to talk right now.”

Kay’s footsteps grew closer, and soon, Rain could feel her standing just behind her. The air between them felt heavy, thick with all the words they hadn’t said, all the things left unresolved when their relationship fell apart.

“I didn’t mean for you to see that,” Kay said quietly. Her voice was laced with guilt, and it made Rain’s heart twist painfully.

“Yeah, well… I did,” Rain muttered, biting her lip to keep it from trembling. She wanted to be strong, to be indifferent, but it was too hard. The wound was too fresh.

“I didn’t plan for this to happen,” Kay added, and Rain could hear the sincerity in her voice. “Bjorn and I… it’s complicated.”

Rain let out a bitter laugh, finally turning to face her. “Complicated? Kay, you were kissing him.”

Kay’s eyes dropped to the floor, her expression conflicted. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“Why him?” Rain blurted out, her voice cracking. “Why Bjorn? You know how close he is to Tyler. You know what this—”

“Rain, it’s not like that,” Kay interrupted, stepping forward. “Bjorn… he’s always been there. Especially since Tyler and I lost our parents. He was helping us through it, and I guess… I guess we just got closer.”

“Closer?” Rain’s voice was a whisper now, barely holding back the emotion threatening to spill over. “Closer how? Close enough that you can just forget what we had?”

Kay’s face softened, her eyes full of sadness as she looked at Rain. “I didn’t forget, Rain. I’ll never forget. But you and I… we couldn’t make it work. You know that.”

Rain shook her head, biting back the tears. “Maybe we could have, if you hadn’t given up so easily.”

Kay flinched, the words hitting harder than Rain intended. There was a silence between them, a chasm that felt impossible to bridge. Rain had always thought they’d find their way back to each other. That maybe, after some time apart, they’d fix things. But now, seeing Kay with Bjorn, that hope felt like it had been ripped away.

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Kay said softly, her voice filled with regret. “But we’ve been over for a while now.”

Rain clenched her jaw, fighting the wave of grief that was threatening to pull her under. She wasn’t ready to accept that. She didn’t know if she ever would be.

“Yeah,” Rain whispered, taking a shaky breath as she stepped back. “We’re over.”

Kay reached out like she wanted to comfort her, to touch her the way she used to, but Rain pulled away. She couldn’t handle it. Not now. Not with everything so raw.

“Take care, Kay,” Rain said, her voice barely audible as she turned and walked away, her heart heavy with the weight of everything left unsaid.

And as she disappeared into the corridors of the colony, Rain wondered if the ache in her chest would ever fade—or if she’d always feel the ghost of Kay’s love haunting her every step.

[haitianhistory]

On Haiti's 220th anniversary

Two hundred and twenty years ago, former slaves and free people of color accomplished the seemingly impossible: defeating one of the most formidable European armies of the day and establishing a new state where bondage, as it existed before 1791, would be forever abolished.

For those who have followed this blog since 2013, you know that I (admin A) have rarely allowed myself any sentimentality when discussing Haitian history. I have tried to present a nuanced portrait of Haiti’s past by addressing the weight of the many isms that have plagued its history (colonialism, racism, neoliberalism…) and by taking a critical look at the role of Haitian leaders throughout all these episodes.

Two hundred and twenty years after the unthinkable, Haiti finds itself without a president, grappling with what seems to be a permanent problem of armed gangs, little security, renewed multifaceted tensions with its Dominican neighbour, and on the brink of a new UN occupation through a Kenyan mission. The young woman who started this blog a decade ago would have said that there are little reasons for us as Haitians to celebrate—not because of a difficulty appreciating the great shoulders on which we stand, but because, at twenty-two years old, I didn’t believe in what I felt was useless romanticism binding us to a distorted past while also blinding us to the reality of the disastrous present.

Today, it’s not so much that I find much to rejoice in given the current state of affairs. It’s that I realize, what is the point of all this if there is no hope? Why this blog, why study the history of Haiti at all, why care about the country? For those of us with family there, why not temporarily send money in the hope of helping them relocate here, there, and anywhere except Haiti? Why not congratulate the complete erosion of Haitian sovereignty, as post-1986 Haiti, and especially Haiti of the last two decades, has shown so vividly the complete utter failure of its foreign-backed governing class?

I don’t know what hope is supposed to look like in this situation. Hope for what? Hope for a change under what conditions, under whose authority? On what would this hope be grounded? Perhaps, despite the best efforts of my twenty-two-year-old self, I am becoming as naive and sentimental as the people I silently criticized then...

Perhaps, however, I recognize that Haiti does matter. Even the most cynical among us would admit that there is something profoundly radical in breaking the bonds of slavery, in affirming that people of African descent could not be stripped of their humanity, that there is something poetic in saying “no” in the face of impressive odds. Newly independent Haiti did not live up to some of the promises of its complicated Revolution. The 1825 French imposition of an indemnity severely affected freshly formed Haiti (beyond the 19th century), but it does not excuse the incompetence of Haitian governments, then and now. Haiti could, may have, and I certainly hope, will change, will remember what 1804 ought to have meant.

Perhaps, especially for the people who currently live in Haiti, particularly the women of all ages who face the constant threats of sexual violence, Haiti has a responsibility to itself, to its unprecedented idealism, to all of us.

Given all these reasons, I find it necessary to maintain a guarded optimism, acknowledging that ideas hold significance and possess the potential to materialize into reality.

[the-badger-mole]

I haven't read the comic I only know about some aspects but someone said Zuko became a pro colony type of guy and physically hurt Katara? Is that true? I only know about Aang being pro segregation and that he had a toxic relationship with Katara and became a bad dad.

I didn't read the whole comic, but I know people who have. From what I understand, it's less that Zuko was procolonists and more that he understood that decolonization was going to be more complicated than "Fire Nation people, get your crap and leave". Specifically because of the mixed heritage families, but King Kuei was very firmly "Fire Nation people, get your crap and leave". As for the scene where he manhandles Katara, she was about to attack his guards for no real reason. Like, tensions were high, but not let's murder the Fire Nation soldiers high. Zuko grabbing her hands was the least violent way he could've stopped her. I don't know why she did that, aside from giving Bryke an excuse to make Zuko look like the bad guy? Apparently we're not supposed to empathize with him trying to find a solution to the colonies that recognizes nuance? But I pass it on to the brave souls who have read the comics in their entirety to fill in the rest of the details.