#tuvaluan

[majestativa]

Sometimes every conversation is like juggling with knives.

Sometimes an answer is best kept in breath.

— Selina Tusitala Marsh, Dark Sparring: Poems, (2014)

[nationcats]

NationCats - No Change

[randomationality]

its my turn

TUVALUAN MIKU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you can tell where i got lazy (it's like almost 11:30pm and im tired💀) but i haven't seen any Pasifika mikus on my fy yet so heres a Tuvaluan one!!!!!

[ed-recoverry]

Shoutout to all Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Native Hawaiian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Samoan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Tokelauan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Tuvaluan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Tahiti LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Tongan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Guamanian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Chamorro LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Mariana Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Carolinian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Palauan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Yapese LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Chuukese LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Pohnpeian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Kosraean LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Marshallese LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Fijian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Papua New Guinean LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Solomon Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Māori LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Rapa Nui LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to Uvean and Futunan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Cook Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Kiribati LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all West Papuans LGBTQ+ folks.

Take pride in it all. Your culture, your identity, it’s all so beautiful. Celebrate where you are from and who you are. It makes you you, and that is something to be proud of.

Post for Asians, post for Middle Easterners, post for Oceanic folks, post for Hispanics , post for Africans, post for Native Americans, post for Caribbeans

[omgthatdress]

[ask-a-bot]

okay I know I'm here thrice - I'm really annoying I'm sorry - but I got another nother something

If y'all were humans, this is what I think your ethnicities would be:

Megatron you'd be Polynesian-Scottish (like the Polynesian is Samoan and Tuvaluan yeah)

Starscream you'd be a Filipino (Tagalog-speaking Filipino) also a bit British. I don't know, you just seem like a Brit, I'm sorry.

Optimus, I know this would be the most out of place thing ever, but you'd be Japanese. Yeah. ifykyk right

And Bee, you'd be african-american

thanks for listening to my crappery, I will now return to creating more of my terrible art

Don't apologise! What you said is interesting and it made me think.

Cybertron does have very distinct cultures, determined by "class" and the place of origin. There is something Scottish about Tarn (which I find funny because "tarn" is a Scottish word).

That's an interesting point, Megatron. I don't know enough about Earth cultures to compare them with the cultures of Cybertron, but I know you're always pretty happy and comfortable in Scotland and Northern England, when we go.

Yorkshire. You mean Yorkshire. I am particularly fond of that North Eastern coastline and the moors. When the weather is pleasant, Scotland and Yorkshire are both... the feeling... it feels like home to me. However, the Cybertronian shops, cafés and such are growing in number now – I can always hide from the weather if necessary.

Seems strange. Peacetime is really changing everything for the better, in ways I could never have imagined.

Yes... I like being able to fly wherever I want without getting threatened or shot at. Being instantly recognisable used to be much more dangerous. Now, I just get asked for autographs! I like it!

You would.

I like it too! It's nice to have humans beep and wave when I go by.

I like being invited to sit and talk with humans after a long journey. That's nice. Don't you like it, Megatron? You're frowning.

That has not happened to me. When I show myself, humans run away or... decide they have an important appointment somewhere else.

Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure things will improve in time.

[bluizu]

Favorite country? What are three facts about favorite country?

AJEJWJD

ASHSHAS OMG OMG okay um sorry. um. autism moment.

my favorite country is tuvalu!

fact 1: tuvalu, despite Valu meaning Four in Tuvaluan, is an island nation consisting of nine islands. Tuvalu is most likely the first nation to completely sink due to climate change, with the international community doing little to nothing. if you want to help, go to Tuvalu.tv, and the website will help you from there.

fact 2: there are ca. 13 000 people living in tuvalu, with ca. half of which living on the Funafuti atoll. most of them are English speakers, with tuvalu being a part of the former British colony of the ellice Islands (although that's kinda like calling the US the former 13 colonies), but the main language is Tuvaluan, also known as just Tuvalu.

fact 3: Tuvalu is the country with the least tourists in the world, based on 2021 data. this is likely due to how difficult it is to get there, with it being a country in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of New Zealand and Hawaii. The only planes that go to their singular airport (said airport doubles as a football field) come from Fiji, which is YET ANOTHER island nation!

Bonus fact, because i think this is the funniest shit ever. Basically, after colonization, Tuvalu was kind of low on money, but they still wanted to join the UN. but, with the rise of the internet happening at the time, every country was getting assigned a domain (.se for sweden, .fi for finland, etc). what did Tuvalu get? .tv. so, when different companies (e.g twitch) wanted .tv for their streaming services they have to pay Tuvalu. they used this money to get into the UN. it was honestly dumb luck that they got this domain, but im really happy they did.

edit: sorry, it consists of NINE islands! it's been fixed.

thank you so much for the ask! Tōfa!

[enchanted-lightning-aes]

A Gratifying Visit

A/N: just a tale for pride month staring hwan and tegan! where-in they're working in the same place (a theatre) and an office is involved. kinda off-screen yet a regular thing between them.^^ 📜 🎮 🌈 🎮 📜 🌈 Word Count: 786 T.W/C.W: romance, i guess

***

After taking a sip of Mocha coffee, she sets the cup on her desk's surface. Leaning back on her chair and cracking her knuckles.

It'd been a slow day at work, thus far. She had some stage-hands approaching her and asking for assistance in setting up the stage. They're putting up a rehearsal for a show later in the week. A period play from the looks of it.

Fancy costumes, faux accents, and props resembling objects from the 16th century. Hwan hasn't heard much, she's only had peeks. She'd watch if she had tickets and eagerness to go. Except she doesn't.

She pulls up a tab on her browser just as a knock reverberates, causing her to raise her head.

"Enter," Hwan says, removing her headphones.

Who is standing outside? Is it someone who accidentally reset a password? Or someone seeking for some technical guidance?

The door opens and someone stumbles in, flailing her arms then regains balance.

"Hwan, hi," Tegan murmurs with a wave.

"Hey." She waves back, her stomach flipping without her permission.

All morning, she’d been looking forward to Tegan’s random visits. She’d been doing it since Hwan’s second week of her job.

"I'm sorry for barging in," Tegan blurts out. "I wanted to… check in! To see if you've had lunch! And you did, obviously. I… yeah."

When Tegan scratches at her elbow, her breath goes in and out of heavy bursts. She shoves some tendrils of hair from her face, though, it doesn't do much for her hair fixed in a bun.

Asking what's wrong might be erring on the side of freaking her out more. And asking how's she feeling is a probably careless move since it's obvious.

"What's up?" she settles on asking instead, furrowing her brows.

"Oh, I… don't worry about it!" Tegan flaps a hand around, her voice unsteady at her chuckle. "Just… just the usual stuff. The screenplay that I'm supposed to… yup."

She's heard of what her idea's about: it involves fairies, satire ala Jane Austen, and a land inspired by various cultures.

The process must be taking a toll on her.

Hwan's watched behind-the-scenes videos of her favorite games, aware they aren't easy to work on. It takes effort, energy, and time for creative projects. Script-writing isn't any different.

And Tegan must be seeking for… something. She can't tell what exactly. Perhaps, a pep talk? If so, she isn't quite skilled. Although… a form of distraction could do the trick.

"Hey, have you heard of a new restaurant at Main Street?"

"Huh? Oh, uh… which? I don't think I have."

"It's owned by Teniku Itiniua, a Tuvaluan chef that's a popular food blogger."

"That's cool."

"I've been following her updates online and the cuisine looks good. I've had some Pacific Islander type of foods back in Japan. Maybe you can try it out when you visit."

Hwan shrugs, watching Tegan's shoulders sag and her face going partially slack. She gulps and chews on her lower lip. Her eyes dart across her workspace before going down.

"The other day you’re playing a game in your tablet, which has a game-play involving cards. Have you unlocked more? You’ve mentioned you wanted some specific cards."

"Ah, my Hearthstone collection.” Hwan flicks a glance at her tablet screen and Tegan nods. "I’ve managed to get some epic cards. I’d been checking through a plethora of card packs and got them."

Tegan taps her cheek. "Wow, that's gotta be tons of fun. With the amount of upgrades you can use."

"Yeah, it's definitely fun," Hwan replies, sliding a finger on a card. "I’ve combining different things to see what I get. Yesterday, I managed to get sixteen cards."

"Sixteen?" An inquisitive intensity filters Tegan's voice. She raises her brows slowly. "That's pretty… it's pretty awesome. Any progresses on other games?"

"I finished some levels in Angry Birds." She taps on her tablet screen, sliding to her list of apps. "However, there’d been some that— "

A beep goes off and Tegan yelps, looking down on her satchel. She gets her phone out, pressing its switch button.

Tegan sighs, shoving it onto her jacket's pocket. "Crap, my break's over. I guess I gotta go back to work."

"Yeah," Hwan replies, her pulse rate dropping.

"Although, thank you for the company," she says, bestowing a small smile. "It took my mind off some stuff, so…"

"No problem." She nods, her breath hitching in her chest. She clears her throat and tries grinning. "See ya around?"

Tegan chuckles, shuffling out to the hallway. "Yes, I'll see you around too."

Despite any initial disappointment, Hwan basks in a warmth rushing within her adrenaline.

Maybe she can visit her when she gets a break.

***

[linguisticdiscovery]

Tossing phonemes overboard

Every time the ancient Polynesians hopped in a boat and sailed to a new set of islands they tossed another phoneme overboard:

Map showing the dispersal of the Austronesian languages, of which the Polynesian languages are a part. The family starts in Taiwan and spreads westward to Madagascar and eastward to the Polynesian islands.

Arranged roughly in order of dispersion from Proto-Polynesian:

Gorontalo: 20 consonants, 5 vowels

Sam: 17 consonants, 5 vowels

Siar-Lak: 15 consonants, 7 vowels

Longgu: 18 consonants, 5 vowels

Toqabaqita: 17 consonants, 5 vowels

Vurës: 15 consonants, 9 vowels

South Efate / Nafsan: 15 consonants, 5 vowels

Tuvaluan: 11 consonants, 5 vowels

Samoan: 10 consonants, 5 vowels

Tokelauan: 10 consonants, 5 vowels

Tahitian: 9 consonants, 5 vowels

Rapa Nui: 10 consonants, 5 vowels

(Yes these data are incredibly cherry-picked. Nonetheless, there is a known correlation between the eastward spread of the Austronesian and Polynesian languages and their decreased phoneme inventories. Whether this is just a coincidence or a matter of broader demographic influences on language is still a matter of debate among linguists.)

[majestativa]

She is learning.

A new language gathers in the astropelago of words strung round her throat she charts them through her core belly to shoulder arms to wrists.

— Selina Tusitala Marsh, Dark Sparring: Poems, (2014)

[oncewild]

I missed this when it happened, but with COP28 going on, I've seen more coverage of the pact Tuvalu and Australia made to ensure Tuvaluans have a place to migrate if/when the impacts of climate change make their islands uninhabitable. Two of their atolls are already uninhabitable, and two more are mostly underwater.

climate related migration requires international laws and public policies and funding, but it also can't continue to be the only real solution offered by the imperial core. sovereignty is on the line. the preservation of cultures and languages. & it is not lost on me how these deals come with the expansion of military presence in the Pacific.

despite deals like this one with Australia or the migration with dignity policy of Kiribati, people throughout the Pacific want to remain in their homes. during a survey of 1,362 Marshallese across 24 atolls, 99% said they rejected migration as a climate adaptation strategy.

the Marshall Islands recently presented their comprehensive adaptation plan, which was based on this survey, and laid forth a systemic adaptation process. one of the biggest things I noted was the identified need of a change in land ownership systems (which is currently matrilineal and means there's very little public lands).

But these small island states can't adapt their way out of climate impacts. the imperial core needs to do more than fund cute solar projects. it is not the place of the imperial core to decide how these nations adapt, but it is their responsibility to enact the policies and actions that prevent the continued increase in temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions.

more detail about the plan in this article by Jake Bittle

[yen-sids-tournament]

Moana (2016) v The Jungle Book (1967)

Moana: The songs here ended up using a combination of four languages: English, Samoan, Tokelauan, and Tuvaluan. Opetaia Foa'i and Lin Manuel Miranda worked on the lyrics and music of the songs. Mark Mancina put his masterful experience towards the score.

The Jungle Book: When compiling these beats, they looked to a lot of the unused pieces of previous hits, like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Terry Gilkyson did hit it out of the park for Baloo and the team went modern with a Beatles inspired band of vultures.

[randomationality]

that one mlp no swearing poster but this pre-war AU i made outta nowhere (rambling on and on bout it after cut)

Orion Pax is a scientist and part-time librarian in Iacon. Even though he has a high-ranking job in Cybertron, he doesn't enjoy it that much. He's always overworked, tired, and what makes things so much better for him is he doesn't have any actual friends. So he doesn't know how to enjoy himself, or actually really talk with people (His social skills suck!!). In his free time - which he barely gets - he likes to write stories, fiction or not. That was the only way he could escape from reality. Until one day on a rare break, he met D-16.

D-16 is a construction mech who is now currently working on new buildings in next to Iacon's library (it's MASSIVE) with the other D-Unit bots (Each construction group is keyed with a letter before their unit number to tell which group they came from obviously). He's a lively, humorous and optimistic bot, with great medical skills. If it wasn't for his alt mode and the council, he could become the medic he wanted to be and help those who can't help themselves. D-16 also likes to give nicknames to everything so he can call it something shorter because he thinks the word has 'too many syllables'. That's how he came up with Orion's nickname, 'Paxton'.

After hanging out more, the two young bots came to have a strong brotherly bond. In the span of two weeks.

Fun facts and crap, yay!!!

D-16 actually enjoys comics. He likes to look at the climatic fighting scenes of gladiators, which is how he learns some fighting skills from. He learns the other half from his D-Unit group who play fight between breaks.

Orion is actually roughly the same height as Dee. Just one centimeter shorter. He's also four months older than him.

Before Dee met Orion, Terminus was his only close friend at the time. He's the only one he would call family.

{Humanformers my opinion PLEASE DONT ATTACK ME} They're both Scottish, Dee is a Polynesian being Tuvaluan and Samoan, and Paxton's a wasian being American and Japanese (He doesn't even know he's Japanese💀)

[nixielinghui]

Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human? Pointless, really.

Is that NIXIE LINGHUI? A SOPHOMORE originally from FUNAFUTI, TUVALU, they decided to come to Ogden College to study ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING on a FINANCIAL SCHOLARSHIP. They’re THE OPHELIA on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.

Do the stars gaze back? Now that's a question.

STATISTICS;

BASIC INFORMATION;

full name: nixie linghui. nickname(s): nix. age: twenty-one. date of birth: september 30th, 2001. zodiac: libra. hometown: funafuti, tuvalu. current location: ogden, new hampshire. ethnicity: caucasian & chinese. nationality: polynesian. gender: demigirl. pronouns: she/they. orientation: panromantic & pansexual. religion: wicca. occupation: student & employee at c.ling. language(s) spoken: english, chinese, hawaiian, māori, tuvaluan, semi-fluent vietnamese.

FAMILY;

father: david linghui. marine engineer. born january 18th, 1965. mother: carley linghui. marine biologist. born november 21st, 1968. sibling(s): n/a. children: n/a. pet(s): n/a.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE;

face claim: havana rose liu. hair color: honey brown.  eye color: grey to green. height: 5'2''. weight: 110 lbs. tattoos: n/a. piercings: lobes on either side (multiple).

PERSONALITY;

character trope: the ophelia. additional tropes: the aquaphile, the barefoot loon, the barefoot sage, the beach bum, the dreamer, the effervescent, the halcyon, the manic pixie dream girl, the malingerer, the mysterious waif, the paracosmist, the peach, the traveler. character inspirations: argyle (stranger things), bea (mayday), delirium of the endless (the sandman), dolores madrigal (encanto), lottie matthews (yellowjackets), luna lovegood (harry potter), molly gunn (uptown girls), mr. magorium (mr. magorium's wonder emporium), sarah sanderson (hocus pocus), thomas jerome newton (the man who fell to earth), valerie (valerie and her week of wonders). positive traits: affectionate, extroverted, understanding. negative traits: carefree, indecisive, codependent. skills: forging relationships, mediation, amateur tea sommelier. smokes: no. drinks: yes. drugs: yes, natural substances only.

SCHOOLING;

attending; ogden college. major: enviormental engineering. minor: marine biology. sports: swimming & diving. extracurriculars: renewable energy and sustainability society, rock climbing team.

BACKGROUND;

TW: n/a. ● Nixie's parents met unexpectedly on a ship that her mother was traveling on and her father was working on. It was love at first sight and within four months they were married and Nixie's birth followed an additional seven months later. ● Due to her parents work, they never truly had a set home. Instead, she spent her childhood traveling on ships or boats and visiting exotic and beautiful locations, staying in everything from hostels to hotels and rented out rooms. ● Their education came mostly in the form of homeschooling and lessons taught both by their mother and the various women who helped raise and shape them throughout their childhood, most of their knowledge (and the things that piqued their interest) not coming from the things found in a textbook or classroom. ● It was throughout their travels that they became increasingly aware of the impact of global warming, particularly on the places that they loved to much, and in hopes to make a more impactful change going forward, they enrolled in Ogden. ● They definitely do care about their education and being able to help, but being as wild as they are, Nixie struggles with actually attending classes and staying on top of their assignments, something she too often has to be reminded about.

BIOGRAPHY;

TW: n/a. It had to have been fate that allowed their paths to cross, no coincidence that the ship she wasn’t have meant to have been on broke down while in his zone, that she’d wandered out of her room and into directly into him. It was love at first sight, two people destined for each other, a romance that others might try to simplify but the Linghui’s refuse to view it so plainly. It took a mere four months before they were tying the knot, a wedding some called shotgun soon after the fact, but the child growing inside of Carley was unbeknownst to them at the time, a welcome surprise when that beautiful baby arrived seven months later. To say that Nixie's upbringing was unorthodox would still be managing to down play it. She may have been born in Funafuti but it was never home, pulled to the seas before she was even a year old. In fact, home wasn't a word that they identified in the traditional sense — home was people, it was a feeling, no set place that ever been able to hold them. Nixie spent their time drifting; beaches and islands, boats and ships, oceans and villages that so few people got to experience. There was a plethora of time spent under the watchful eye of local women, incredible elders from varying backgrounds who’d lived and seen so much more than her, who shared their wisdom and stories and helped shape her. Of course, home schooling was mandatory, even with no singular home it was important she learn — and although they passed, it was no easy task, mind drifting and focus elsewhere, always feeling they could experience and learn more from the world around them than any book. While the past two decades have allowed them to experience beautiful and exotic places, they've also forced them to be witness to the suffering of the world — particularly of small islands, populations that have lived there for centuries and are often putting the least strain on the environment, remaining most affected by it. It’s why she’s journeyed to Ogden, the stillest she’s ever been and for the longest extent of time, leaving her skin itching for change. Nixie wants to learn and help the places and people that have come to be so important to her, but don’t be surprised if you find her arriving to class late or not at all, wandering the hiking trails while the skies are dark or laying on the water for so long people begin to worry she’s merely a body.

EXPAND ON HOW THEY EMBODY THEIR SKELETON TROPE;

For perhaps anyone who's appreciated an iteration of Hamlet, the visual is clear — long, disheveled hair and bare feet, clad in a dress and often pictured amidst flowers and water. It's not just the visual of her that takes people's mind to that place, however. They display the same childlike naivety, as if entirely unaware of the harsh realities of the word, a mind that it seems has taken a step away from the real world while at the same instant, holds gently onto secrets that no one else may ever may be privy to the knowledge of. At times it's unclear if Nixie is plagued by an invisible illness or merely not of this world, questions that her unwillingness to answer acts to make her all the more bewitching.

RELATIONSHIP TO GREER;

Their first encounter was unexpected and the ones that followed were even more so. Nixie was an almost impossible person to pin down, floating around with her parents like a piece of drift wood lost to the sea. It was thanks to the beautiful locations that their work took them that she was privy to many experiences most her age were not so lucky to enjoy. The couple may not have been able to afford the luxury of the vacation homes and resorts that the Morrison family could, but the ocean and it's mainland were things trickier to lay claim upon. The same beach at the same time, together and yet somehow worlds apart — though to an outside eye, it seemed the pair were either unaware or unaffected by that reality.

LINKS;

AESTHETIC | FASHION | INTERACTIONS | MUSINGS | PINTEREST | VISUALS

[kp777]

By Anastasia Riehl

The Guardian Opinions

June 28, 2023

Rising sea levels already pose an existential threat to the populations of Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and other low-lying Pacific atolls. In these places, however, it is not just homes, crops and community cohesiveness that are at risk: it is Tuvaluan, Kiribati and Marshallese – the languages native to these islands.

Read more.