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writebecauseyoucannotbreathe · 3 years

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Ultimate Ship Meme: Azulaang

Rate the Ship -

How long will they last? - Until I say so. I can see them being together after death as spirits.

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - Ooooh boy. Azula struggles to understand friendship. I think she'd fall in love fast and hard but take the longest to realize. Aang wouldn't let himself get attached at first because Azula is unapologetic and one of the things I like about Azulaang is how it would push Aang to deals with the nitty gritty gray, not in a The Fire Nation was right all along way but in how even Kyoshi and Roku's conflict resolution let to disagreements. I think it would take Aang longer to fall in but once they reach a semblance of common ground he'd be well aware he's falling in love and would enjoy the ride.

How was their first kiss? - Let's see my fanfics. In Blue it was awkward. In Weightless it was sweet. In Smut it was horny and hate filled. In canon I think their first kiss would be very passionate and then they snap back to reality and Aang would evade while Azula denies so they wouldn't talk about it but they'd for sure be thinking about the kiss.

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Technically Azula. As soon as Aang hears about a Fire Nation wedding, either his friends or he learns about Ozai and Ursa's wedding, his mind would be set on a wedding. He wouldn't say anything but he'd squirrel away relevant wedding information like he'd hear a song and go "I want that instrument to play at my wedding." But Azula would have her life planned out by other people and there'd be a set date where Ozai now Zuko are supposed to comb through suitor requests (it was probably Ursa's role. If she's there she'd talk to Azula directly instead of Lo and Li. I don't think Lo and Li are high enough rank to determine the suitor but I think it would be customary/expected for their input to be asked). Azula would tell Aang something along the lines of "I should be wed." and he'd agree and then Azula will spend an abnormally long time wondering if he married her because he liked her or because it's his duty until she asks him while he's discussing potential baby room colors pre wedding.

Who is the best man/men? - Sokka and Toph. Azula was going to pick Momo but he made a better flower girl. Yes she did this to annoy Zuko (and because Toph didnt want to wear the bridesmaid outfit) it's okay though Fire Lord Zuko was the guest of honor.

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - Katara, Suki, Mai, Ty Lee. Mai pretends she hates the outfit but she's secretly pleased.

Who did the most planning? - Aang did the most thinking but Azula did the most planning.

Who stressed the most? - Externally Aang. Internally Azula.

How fancy was the ceremony? -

Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

100% Azula's fault. Aang has no clue what Fire Nation weddings are supposed to be like.

Aang: Wow I can't believe all weddings in your Nation are this big.

Azula: They're not. It's because I'm Royalty and you're the Avatar.

Though I hc that Aang wants to get married in all the different Nations and Azula secretly wants to experience a small wedding so they get married 3 more times with one of them being a very small Air Nation wedding.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - Hmmm I'm not sure. On one hand, Ozai redemption. On the other hand, Ozai death.

Sex:

Who is on top? - Aang. Azula thinks she wants to be on top but she'd rather be pampered and Aang is more comfortable communicating and attending to needs. Aang has no strong preference either way and they do switch but this is their usual dynamic.

Who is the one to instigate things? - Azula but she denies it.

How healthy is their sex life? -

Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

I think it's up to the reader's preference but I can see them being very private (Azula) and naturally talented (Aang) to the point where they assume every couple has sex daily. Hc that Aang and Suki talk about sex freely (ex: When I do __ should I __ or do girls prefer ___? I can never tell with Azula. Why do guys do ___ after ____ ? I've tried asking Sokka but he doesn't give me a straight answer.) Much to the fear of Sokka and Azula.

How kinky are they? -

Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

Again up to the reader. They both like learning new things and are prodigies so I think they'd end up reading about things to try in bed (Azula) and would try things out to see what they like (Aang) until they learn what they and each other generally like/dislike.

How long do they normally last? -

Does the Avatar State remove your refractory period? >;3c

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - No. Aang likes overstimulating.

How rough are they in bed? -

Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

Neither can dirty talk. Azula is rougher. Aang likes to take it slow. She sets the pace in the beginning but he decides when it ends.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? -

No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Azula refuses to cuddle in public but in return they cuddle all night.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - hc them having twin boys at first with one firebender and one airbender because poetry. But Azula really wants a girl so they have a third child she is an airbender with Aang's charm and knack for getting in trouble and Azula's ruthlessness. Amon kidnaps her and instead of easily escaping (Aang's genes) she instead viciously mocks him the way only a preteen can (Azula's genes.) It's traumatic enough for Amon even before the parents show up. Then Aang wants another one and Azula wants another firebender so they do the do and surprise triplets! (maybe it has to do with ejaculatimg in the Avatar State lol) So 6 in total and lets say its 3 boys 3 girls with 3 airbenders 3 firebenders.

How many children will they adopt? - None. Azula is wary of motherhood and I know people like to hc Aang as adopting and while I can see him acting as a father figure to several kids I think he'd greatly prefer biological kids especially airbenders. It's a flaw that was barely touched upon and def not handled well in Legend of Korra.

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Servants or Aang. After a kid or two Azula would be comfortable enough to change the diapers but it would still be mostly Aang.

Who is the stricter parent? - Depends on the kid. Aang is more lenient with airbenders and Azula with firebenders or girls. I can see Azula being strict with training & studies but not with sharing whereas Aang would have less rules but they'd be more heavily enforced (ex: no airgliding without supervision until you've mastered the safety course)

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Azula. She's pretty lenient with the term dangerous esp. when it comes to firebending as long as basic safety measures are applied (ex: you can pracrice lightning as long as it's not pointed towards yourself aka dont be Zuzu) but Aang is of the mindset "How are you gonna learn airbending without dangerous stunts?" And after the first few incidents she started stepping in.

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - Azula but Aang cooks them.

Who is the more loved parent? - Appa

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? Azula. When Aang attends the teachers shower him and his kids with compliments ("You're doing so well teaching your kids the values of the Air Nomads. It must be so hard being The Last Airbender"). They do the same with Azula but unlike Aang she sees through it and manages to get an accurate assessment of how their kids are doing.

Who cried the most at graduation? - Aang was more happy than sad. Azula cried before and after.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - Aang. He is a notorious lawbreaker. Azula would bail the kids and she could do so quicker than Aang in a few cases because of her connections but she'd be mad so their kids would rather call Aang or break themselves out.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Tied. Aang at first but then Azula wants to learn and after Aang teaches her since she has less experience she finds more enjoyment in cooking.

Who is the most picky in their food choice? -

Technically Aang since he's a vegetarian. Azula hasn't tried as many foods and she's used to not making a fuss at the family dinner table to the point of which Aang notices.

Who does the grocery shopping? - Both. Aang has a better eye for vegetables/fruits and Azula is better with prices (it's not about the cost it's about the value).

How often do they bake desserts? - Aang bakes them when he can/weekly. They're fruit based so if Azula doesn't want dessert he gives it to Momo or flings it at a target.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - Gee I wonder. Aang eats salad Azula eats meat.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Aang but Azula tends to figures it out. Azula is more likely to plan a dinner but she wouldn't make it a surprise.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Aang but Azula is a close second. It would be a tie if it wasn't for the bathhouse.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? - Accidentally? Aang. On purpose? Azula.

Who cleans the room? - Servants or Aang.

Chores:

Who is really against chores? - Azula hates cleaning up but she's neater.

Who cleans up after the pets? - Aang.

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Aang.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Azula.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Aang.

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Azula. In the Fire Nation Palace Aang has taken to chatting with Azula in the Royal Spa while he feeds her (and mostly himself) cherries.

Misc:

Who takes the dog Appa out for a walk? - Aang

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - Never. Once they like the room they like the room. If its an event they'll go to a different location for it or leave the Air Temple as is.

What are their goals for the relationship? -

To stay together.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? -

Aang slept for a hundred years so I'll give it to him.

Who plays the most pranks? - Tie. They've both pulled elaborate pranks as kids.

#azulaang #atla #avatar the last airbender #aang x azula #ship meme #long

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all-things-are-nothing-to-me · 5 years

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Really Though, Not All "Black" People Give a Fuck About "White" Dreads

“And these rhymes ain’t tight, they’re terrorish

And that girl’s not white, she’s anarchist

And we float like kites to get turbulence

Born with our throats slit

Self stitched

raised to aim over it

Soldier with no king

War with the war on me

I am more than this world lets me be"

- P.O.S “Weird Friends (We Don’t Even Live Here)"

Note: In this essay I use quotations around all idenitity categories and ideologies (for example “black” people or “white supremacy”) for the purpose of calling into question their assumed legitimacy as universal truths rather than fictitious constructs that benefit social control.

1. N.W.A (Nihilists With Attitudes)

Despite being biracial, my skin tone is socially recognized as “black” (or dark brown compared to some). Some of the music I listen to is found in, and stereotypically associated with, “black culture”. The combination of words I learned to use, inspired by my environmental upbringing, are stereotypically associated with living in “the hood”. Racialized tension and state violence follows me everywhere I go. When I walk into a store, my baggy black sweat pants and pullover black hoodie leads people to assume the worst; I have a criminal past with the potential to cause trouble. But check this out, I’m not “black”. This society assigned me this “black” identity at birth and with social pressure expects me to embrace it. But I refuse. The very concept of race has no biological or genetic validation. It is nothing more than a social construct used as a tool of oppression. The complexity of my individuality can not be represented by “black” identity nor “cultural blackness”. Identities are fixed, generalized representations of people and dictated by social norms, expectations and stereotypes. They are standardized by capitalism and industrial civilization and assumed to be universal and beyond questioning. When I walk into a store I get the stares, all based on the shared concern that I just might steal some shit. But to be honest, they’re probably right. I just might. Because the social placement of my assigned identity is located near the bottom which means my access to resources is limited. So illegalism is how I create access to resources without vote-begging for equality. Under capitalism, equality can not exist. And I gotta' survive, so I’m gonna' do what I gotta do. And that doesn’t mean pushin’ poison and enabling intoxication culture. The dope game is a trap set up by the state, so I just gotta' be more creative and determined.

The socially constructed groups (“black", “man") that society identifies me as are ones assigned to me at birth by a system that benefits from my identity categorization- a system I reject all together. This is the same system that constructs “black” as inferior to “white", “female” as inferior to “male”, “animal" as inferior to “human". I will not deny the very real experiences of sexism and racism that people face, nor the reality of institutionalized racism and sexism that wages poverty and war on those of us racialized and/or gendered as “inferior”. “White supremacy”, “male supremacy”, and this capitalist society as a whole needs to be destroyed. And I refuse to embrace any of its identity mechanisms of division as personal forms of resistance.

Instead, I embrace criminality against the laws of identity, as well as the agents of identity reinforcement responsible for normalizing the rigid boundaries of identity. I reject the liberal narrative that I, as a “black man”, deserve rights in this country equal to the “white man”. “Black man” doesn’t represent me, and I refuse to assimilate into those roles. I want to see them destroyed, as well as the logic that creates them. My existence embodies the negation of social assimilation and of the prison of identity-based representation, recognizing individuality without measure as the sincerest form of anarchy. “Black man” identity ain't got shit on me.

2. Keep Your “White” Dreads. Keep Fuckin’ Shit Up.

I don’t care about your culturally inspired dreads. And I don’t care about “white” people's dreads neither. I got better shit to do than chasin’ people around with a pair of scissors tryin' to give them a free haircut. And skin tone doesn’t necessitate conformity to any particular culture, let alone culture at all. As a matter of fact, fuck culture. I never had a say in being assigned this “black” culture that I am assumed to be represented by. Is knowing my African roots gonna save me from attacks by armed, “white supremacist” militias? Or the state? And it seems that children are often coerced into cultures at birth by people who assume they know what’s best for them. That, in and of itself, constitutes a form of hierarchical authority that can also burn in a fire with socially coerced identity and assigned roles.

Like race and gender, culture is also a social construct only maintained by those willing to validate it with their own subservience to it. And some folks are never permitted to know anything outside their culture - except maybe all the problems with other cultures. This sense of nationalism seems immune to critique from leftists and most anarchists. “White supremacy” and nationalism are widely called out and confronted but since when did “black supremacy” and nationalism become acceptable? Don’t get me wrong, “black supremacy” and “black power” are not backed up by the state, and came as a legitimate response to white power and supremacy.

But reproducing more identity-based supremacy is counter-productive and reformist..“Black power” limits itself to identity-based empowerment without confronting the foundation of assigned identity to begin with. And don’t act like “black nationalist” tendencies don’t exist within some anarchist circles. I'm side eyein' y’all wack-ass identity politicians who power play “white” anarchists with guilt. Y’all got them policing others- promoting the liberal, rights-based narrative of all “black” people as victims.

I ain't tryin' to waste time reforming shit. I ain't tryin' to embrace the establishment’s prescribed identity and then demand rights for it. I demand nothing from this system- I wanna' destroy everything that gives it validation, including the identity assigned to maintain its class binary. “Black nationalism” is not a solution to eliminating racism. It reinforces racism as a cultural and institutionalized system by validating the “white” and “black” racial and class binary. And if we tryin' to all get free, why embrace the same identities that were constructed to divide and stratify us? And how we gonna' take back and determine our lives if we still stuck in the shackles of internalized victimhood?

Those who maintain cultures on a traditional basis are in positions of power which constitutes a hierarchy between those who embrace that particular culture and those who refuse. I not only refuse “American culture” and all its social constructs and values, but all cultures that govern the mind. Cultures discourage freethinking and limitless exploration of one’s individual potential in life. Rather than allowing individuals to interact with the world and develop an opinion based on their own independent experiences, a preconceived narrative of life is imposed and justified as “truth” by those in positions of manipulative power. To exist, cultures rely on the subjugation of a group of people homogenized based on socially constructed roles and characteristics. I not only find cultures and their desire for control and domination personally undesirable, but I have learned that their power drops anchor in the mind of the subservient. Those who either don’t have the courage or accessible inspiration to think for themselves, or who actively promote culture and nationalism always turn to manipulation tactics like shaming and guilting others who refuse to assimilate. These cultural-based nationalist type groups do not reflect a universal truth or reality, nor do they represent all the people they claim to.

So hey “white” reader, “white dreads” are not culturally appropriating. No culture holds a monopoly on a hairstyle. Culture is a state of mind that can only manifest materially with rigid boundaries of essentialism which are protected by the laws of identity and those who enforce them. Are your dreads out of bounds with the laws of identity? Did the identity police come and charge you with disrespecting the laws of essentialism? Did you reject their self-appointed authority? Then you might be a criminal worth knowing. In the context of capitalism, if you tryin' to sell dreaded hair as a fashion commodity, that’s not culturally appropriating. But you still might get your windows smashed for being a fucking capitalist. Capitalism aside, if your dreadlocks are smelly, dried-sweat strands of tangled and/or matted hair, rock that shit. My dreads are too. Fuck conventional beauty standards, capitalism, and those who defend both.

3. Another Word for “White Ally” is Still “Coward”.

I don’t care if you identify as/call yourself a community-approved “white ally”. But I will assume that: 1. You are incapable of thinking for yourself. 2. You are a coward. 3. You will hesitate under fire when I ask you to hand me a molotov cocktail- fearful that you will be doing “the community” a disservice. Assuming you will be beside me in the streets or somewhere where tensions are high, I don’t want you to stand behind me and ask me what you should do. I don’t want to be your leader. Leadership- isn't that the hierarchical complex we are fighting against in the first place?

As my friend, will we hang out and have discussions freely or will you spend your time hesitating and stumbling over your words trying to keep your PC terminology in check for fear of offending me? If you say something fucked up, am I incapable of being considerate of the world you live in and calmly asking you to think about what you said? Will you police my other “white” friends with your expertise on anti-racism, in hopes of gaining my applause and approval? Will you police the boundaries of identity and reduce me to a mere “marginalized voice” incapable of taking space against white supremacy? If so, then you suffer from “white guilt” and are more of a conformist with some personal work of your own to do. I don’t want what liberal social justice warriors and some wack-ass anarchists call “allies”. I want accomplices. I am fine on my own, but I would enjoy the lawless company of those with ideas and strategies that aren't always my own, and with experiences and histories that differ from mine. Do you refuse societal submission and instead embrace life as daily attack on capitalist society and everything in between? Cool. I do too. Despite socially constructed categories and assigned identities, this is our bond. This is our affinity.

4. Gettin’ With the (Anti)-Program.

There is no use in making demands. It is pointless asking those in positions of power to stop their quest for control and domination. I can’t ask liberal POC organizations, academics, and social justice warriors to stop pretending they represent me and my interests. I don’t have time to spend hours explaining to them that not all people they identify as “black” can be “saved” by the church of social justice. Some people just want money and the power to dominate others just as any “white” bank owner or corporate executive. I can’t plead with them to stop invisibilizing my existence as an individual acting out of bounds with their political programs. I can’t vote beg leftists and anarcho-leftists into realizing their plan to “organize the masses” ultimately discourages a vitality of anarchy- individuality. I can’t change or reform their system that they operate within and attempt to dominate the political terrain with. I am anti-political in that all programs derived from politics are doomed to fail because they all have one thing in common- representation. None of these people represent me, my personality, nor the anarchistic actions of my individuality. I am anti-political in that my actions of revolt do not constitute a politicized occupation separate from my daily life. Anarchy is not my activist hobby. My individual existence is a nihilistic, transformative expropriation of a life that was never intended to be my own in the first place.

So if you are “white” and are reading this, you have already defied the police in your head who tells you to never read anything critical of “black” liberalism, identity in general, and allyship or culture. Just like when you walked away after being scolded about your dreads from a “black” activist, and under your breath mumbled “go fuck yourself." Or in the streets when they called you an “outside agitator” for trying to smash a bank window- and then you did it anyways. You do you. The liberals, anarcho-liberals included, will continue to attempt to police everyone with politically correct terminology that changes every year. They will continue to guilt you for having “white” skin. They will guilt you when you stand up and act out against the authority of their studies and academic jargon. They will continue to threaten you with call out statements, ostracizing, and maybe even physical violence as long as you refuse to psychologically submit to their program. To the “black” reader, nobody can represent the totality of your individualism because despite their assumptions of you, your intellect and experiences are not fixed into place. Your existence can not be confined to a mere social position on a ladder. Do you feel the shackles on your imagination while operating within the confinement of your assigned identity? Can your identity as a “black” person ever truly liberate you or does it secure you in place with an internalized sense of victimhood that comes with that racialized assignment? Do you feel coerced to surrender yourself to “black liberation” in fear of feeling alone and isolated? That fear is legit. And that fear is what keeps one submissive. This essay was written in hopes of inspiring the criminal in you. If you recognize the prisons that “community leaders” place our imaginations in, perhaps you will escape from the liberal confines of sign holding, endless meetings, chanting, and marching for “justice”.

Fear is their weapon for “organizing the masses” and discouraging individual determination. But that’s OK. I don’t need their masses or programs to know when and how to attack. Do you? And do all the other “black” people who feel they have to join these liberal or radical identity- based groups and organizations to remain loyal to “blackness” as a cultural identity? The shared experience of being “black” under capitalism is only limited to identity. Just 'cus people share the same institutionalized form(s) of oppression don’t automatically mean they share the same visions and objectives on how to destroy it. These are important differences that shouldn’t be flattened. While these groups continue their mind-numbing attempts to create a new system of race essentialism within the shell of the old, some of us are having fun destroying all the systems. My anarchy is an existential expansion of individuality beyond the limitations of racial (and gendered) social constructs. When they say “black and brown” unity against racism and fascism, some of us have been sayin’ every body against racism and fascism, as well as the fixed identities that makes them functional. Where chaos blooms with emancipation and the limitless potential that follows, individuality becomes a weapon of war against control and categorical confinement. While they scold you “white” people and chant “Cut Your Dreads!”, I am saying really though, not all “black” people give a fuck about “white” dreads. Stay ungovernable. See you in the streets when the night is lit by fire.

#anarchism #identity politics #pc #anti civ #cultural appropriation #dread locks #race nihilism #nihilism #whiteness

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kiss-my-freckle · 4 years

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Raymond Reddington dialogues.

The real Raymond Reddington is dead.

1x22 - Red: The way Sam told the story was that one night - an old friend showed up at his door, scared. The friend told Sam he was leaving town, that he was in danger, and that he needed someone to care for a little girl - that her father had died that night in a fire. So Sam took the little girl in, and he raised her as his own - always sheltering her from the truth about her biological father. Liz: And that’s why you killed him. Red: I killed Sam because he was in pain and he wanted to die, and because I had to protect you from the truth. Liz: What truth? The only memory I have of my real father is from the night of the fire. I remember him pulling me out of the flames, saving me. Red: Yes. And knowing his identity would put you in grave danger. Liz: Why? Because he’s a fugitive on the “Most Wanted” list? Red: I loved Sam, Lizzy. Taking his life was of all the difficult things that I’ve done, that may - may be the most. But I did it to keep you from learning the name of your real father, to protect you. And you must understand - having done that, I’m certainly not going to tell you who he was now.

1x22 -

Liz: Tom told me something right before he died. Red: What was that? Liz: “Your father’s alive.” Red: Lizzy, look at me. I’m telling you, with no uncertainty, your father is dead. He died in that fire.

2x22 -

Liz: I remember. I remember everything. Red: Remember what? Liz: The night of the fire. I know what happened, and I understand why you didn’t want me to find out. When I pulled the trigger - when I shot Connolly, I - it came back to me. It was like I was there. I could hear them arguing. He was hurting her. And I know why my father died that night. I shot him. That’s why you blocked my memory - not to protect yourself. To protect me. Red: Yeah.

3x14 -

Red: Your parents loved each other very much. The Cold War was hard - too hard for your father. When the Soviet Union was collapsing, he took you from her. She gave up everything to follow him, to follow you. Liz: The night of the fire - that’s what they were arguing about? Red: Your mother, despite what he’d done, she wanted him back. She wanted them to be a family. As much as it pains me to say it, he was probably the only man she ever really loved. Liz: And I shot him. Red: It was an accident. Liz: Tell me. I need to know. Red: Your mother was never the same after that. The man she loved killed by the child she adored - it was just too much. Two months later, she went to Cape May and left her clothes on the beach, walked into the ocean and was never seen again. Liz: So that night, I killed both my parents. Red: You were a child. There should never have been a gun for you to grab.

4x8 -

Liz: You know, I really believed he was my father. Red: You had every reason to. Liz: Except for one. You. You told me my father died when I was a little girl. I just - I guess I didn’t want to believe it. I really wanted my dad here to see her grow up. Red: He would’ve wanted that too.

4x17 -

Katarina: There was a fire. Too many people. There was shouting and fighting. And Masha -

4x19 -

Liz: I understand suppressing memories, helping someone to mute out a traumatic experience, but manipulating them? Red: The memory of an accident, a tragedy, a fire in which a 4-year-old girl killed her father. Liz: This man, is he the one who erased my memory of that night? Red: That’s how Kaplan knows him.

Red: She’s using him to pull at threads to continue to unravel my life. He sidelined Ressler. He’s trying to do the same to you. Liz: You did it once. Red: Yes. When you were a child, to protect you from the memory of killing your father. I hired Krilov once. Never again.

Liz: I know now that those bones in that bag are Raymond Reddington’s - the real Raymond Reddington. My father.

Red: Agent Ressler, was I a good intelligence officer? Ressler: Raymond Reddington was one of the best. Red: Sorry? Raymond Reddington was? Ressler: Yes.

6x19 -

Katarina: We did the right thing, right? Ilya: What thing? Katarina: Pulling him from the fire, trying to save his life? I can’t stop thinking about those firefighters, what might have happened if we’d left him there - if they found him, maybe they could’ve gotten him help, saved Raymond’s life. Ilya: He would’ve burned to death. We did everything we could, and we got him out. Katarina: And yet, he died.

Ilya: Reddington’s dead. Katarina: You and I know that, but the Cabal think he’s on the run, a liability. They’ll discredit him to undermine his proof of their existence. Ilya: Okay, so, you destroy the reputation of a dead man. Katarina: He had a wife and a daughter. She’s nearly the same age as Masha. Jennifer’s her name. They’ll be told that he was a criminal and a traitor -

Katarina: It’s clever. But it’s absurd. Ilya: No one knows that Reddington’s dead.

Katarina: It was easy to get those funds wired in, but Raymond would have to show up in person to access that money. And since he died in my arms, he won’t be able to.

Ilya: What if Raymond Reddington were alive and able to walk into those banks? Of course, we couldn’t pull it off alone. We’d need help.

7x9 -

Young Ilya: No one knows. ⋘⋙ Impossible. [Typewriter slams out loudly: “R” “e” “d”] Young Ilya: A fugitive and traitor to his country. Voice of Young Ilya: [Echoing softly] Reddington’s dead. Reddington’s -

Our Raymond Reddington is an imposter.

1x1 -

Red: Everything about me is a lie.

1x9 -

Red: We become who we are. We can’t judge a book by its cover. But you can by its first few chapters. And, most certainly by its last.

1x10 -

Red: What is the question, Lizzy? Liz: Are you my father? Red: ... No.

2x4 -

Naomi: I’ll tell you this, though. He’s not who you think he is.

3x19 -

Katarina: You’ve been here before. Red: Once, a long time ago. I was a very different person then.

4x22 -

Liz: Why didn’t you just tell me who you were? Why keep it a secret? Come into my life, give up everything, go broke trying to protect me, and not tell me you’re my father? Red: Broke is such a harsh word. I prefer illiquid. Liz: What was so awful that you withheld the answer to a question I’ve been wondering my entire life? -- Dembe: You didn’t deny it? Red: I didn’t. Dembe: And she thinks that’s Kate secret? Red: Yes. Dembe: So she doesn’t know about the suitcase? Red: Not yet. Red: It is gone. Dembe: Raymond, I’m not sure Elizabeth will ever be ready to learn about what you did to Katarina. Red: We gotta find that goddamn suitcase.

5x14 -

Liz: You’ve been to therapy? Red: God, yes. Therapy helped me become - an entirely different person.

5x19 -

Garvey: Everything you believed for the last 30 years has been a lie. You’ve spent a lifetime hiding for no reason.

5x20 -

Red: In 1990, the KGB and the CIA had almost nothing in common except the mutual determination to hunt down one individual. Being a fugitive from American law enforcement is a lot easier than being a fugitive from the two most powerful nations on Earth.

5x22 -

Liz: I know that this man is an imposter. Why he came into my life, why he took your life, why he spent the last 30 years pretending to be Raymond Reddington. I’m gonna figure all that out, and then I’m going to destroy him.

6x1 -

Mrs. Koehler: Why are you doing this? Red: As I said, Hans was a friend of mine. I wouldn’t be the person I am if it weren’t for him.

Liz: This isn’t the complete list, is it? Red: No, it’s not. One file has been deleted. Liz: Yours. Red: I prefer to keep my nips and tucks to myself. Forgive an old man his vanity.

6x2 -

Red: Good for you, Archie. I’m a great fan of reinvention. Liz: Of keeping your true self hidden. Red: Or of becoming your true self, even if you have to take on a new identity to achieve it.

6x8 -

Sandoval: French lady. Fancy French name. Margor - Red: Marguerite. Marguerite what? Sandoval: Rennerd? Renard. Red: What else did you find out? Sandoval: If I solve your problem, how do I know you’re gonna solve mine? Red: Because based on what you’ve already told me, I’m deeper in your debt than you could ever be in mine. - Red: Elizabeth knows. She knows I was once someone else. She doesn’t know who, but she is looking for someone who can tell her. Marguerite Renard. We need to get to Renard before she does. Dembe: How does she learn about Renard? Red: I don’t know. And we don’t have time to find out because after I tell you how to locate Renard, I’m also gonna tell Elizabeth. Dembe: Why would you do that? Red: Because she’s looking for her sister, Jennifer, who was kidnapped and possibly taken to a place where Renard is located. Telling Elizabeth may be the only way to save Jennifer’s life. - Red: Did she say anything before you got there? To Jennifer? Dembe: Yes. That Katarina arranged the procedure. Nothing more. Red: That’s more than enough. You know what needs to be done. Dembe: There are alternatives. Red: There were before, not now. Not when she mentioned Katarina. Now Elizabeth will stop at nothing. Wherever we put Renard, she’ll be found, and she’ll talk. I’d do it myself if I could, but I can’t, and it must be done.

6x9 -

Red: Someone identified me to the caller. We both know who and why. Dembe: You have no proof it was Elizabeth. Red: No. And I hope I’m wrong, but she’s hunting for my past. And putting me here makes it more likely she’ll find it.

6x9 -

Red: Mr. Sima asked you if I was a traitor. You hesitated with your answer. Why? Ressler: What difference does it make? Red: Is it because you’re uncertain? Or aware of mitigating circumstances that have given you a different opinion of me? About who I am today as opposed to who I once was? Ressler: I don’t think you want me to answer that.

Red: As a result, the Cabal remained in the shadows, Rostova disappeared, and Raymond Reddington became a completely different person. A man who has done many brutal, scary, illegal things. But not a single one - ever - that was treasonous.

6x18 -

Red: One day I’m captured, the next, you’re looking for someone who knows I was once someone else? I knew that wasn’t a coincidence, but I let my hopes convince me that you’d never betray me like that. Liz: If I had - Red: That neither of you would. Liz: If I’d known what was gonna happen - Red: That they’d put me on trial, sentence me to death? Liz: Yes. Red: That surprised you? Liz: No! The only thing I knew is - you aren’t who you say you are. Red: And you think you deserve to know the truth. Liz: I do. Red: That you’re entitled to that? Liz: Yes! Red: That entitlement justified risking my life? Liz: I thought it justified anything, yes!

7x4 -

Cooper: How do you even know about Hutton? The real Reddington was there. He was part of an oversight panel and testified about it later. But you’re not him. How do you know anything about it if you weren’t there? Red: I know because - I know. Because whoever I once was, I am now and will continue to be Raymond Reddington.

Cooper: How do you do it? Wake up each morning, content to live a lie? How do you put on a face for the world? Red: I don’t live a lie. I may once have had another identity, but that identity no longer exists. I am exactly who I am. And I can assure you, I’m a far more interesting Raymond Reddington than Raymond Reddington ever was. Cooper: And what about Ilya Koslov? Red: I’ve always believed who you are should define you, not who you were.

Red: Did you tell Panabaker the truth about me? Cooper: I did. I told her your true identity. Who you are, not who you were. I told her you’re Raymond Reddington.

7x9 -

Young Ilya: I don’t think you’re entirely grasping what I’m suggesting. Young Katarina: What are you suggesting? Young Ilya: Becoming Reddington. Purposefully stepping into into the shoes of a man -

Ilya: - into the shoes of a man destined to be condemned as a traitor. Woman: But how?

Young Katarina: That would be impossible. Young Ilya: What if it’s not?

Ilya: We devised a plan to steal the money used to frame Reddington and disappear. Woman: But the plan, it didn’t work. Ilya: Not like we thought. Woman: No. Help me to remember. The plan. Who did it involve? Ilya: It was myself - Katarina - Dr. Koehler. Woman: And the person under the knife - the man who walked into the banks and impersonated Reddington - tell me what you remember about him. Skovic: He’s guarding the memory. Even in this state, he knows there is a secret he should not reveal. Woman: Who was impersonating him, Ilya? Skovic: Stop! I need to bring him out. Woman: No! Not yet. Skovic: No. His blood pressure’s through the roof! I need to push Lidocaine. Woman: Then stop! Let him rest. But we are not bringing him out.

Young Dom: Listen to me. Your ruse with Reddington didn’t work. All it managed to do was anger the people who want her dead.

Young Ilya: I should tell him. Young Dom: We’re not telling him anything. Young Ilya: Oh. I know how you feel, but Reddington deserves to know what we’ve done.

Skovic: Why? Why does Reddington deserve to know anything? Ilya: Because he’s a part of this. Woman: You’re protecting him. Ilya: I made a promise. Woman: But you cared about me. Ilya: Yes, and I do, but I c - Woman: I had everything taken from me that night. I can’t show my face, use my name - Ilya: I’m so sorry. Woman: - I’ve been hunted like an animal! Skovic: We need to stop. Woman: And Reddington? Whoever he is, he’s still out there! The benefactor to all of this. Why?! Skovic: Stop! Woman: You’re protecting him, but people are trying to kill me. They’re hunting me! Answer me! Why?! Skovic: We need to stop! Get back! We need to keep his airway clear. Woman: I only want the truth. Skovic: You won’t get it if he’s dead.

7x10 -

Liz: If Reddington isn’t Koslov, then who is he? Woman: That’s just one of the mysteries I intend to pull from Ilya’s head.

#Rederina #dialogues

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nycfloodbasementtips-blog · 6 years

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Small Town In Western Washington Desires To move Away From Flooding To Increased Ground

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manlyman06 · 6 years

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Katara and Toph or how to make strong women

I talk here about stRong in the term of good writing no just strong about badass skills even if this have a important part in their developement.

Let describes each of this character:

You will find the entire article in the great blog: http://femalefortitude.blogspot.com I advise you to go take a look ;)

Katara : She should have been the heroine of the serie in my opinion, she is a young girl who despites her young age take many responsability, she take care of her family and organize the most part of the journey with their group, she is very interesting beacause despites having cleary amother role, she have goals she have doubts and defaults, she thinks about her and have a strong wil.

Her dreams it’s to becoming a Master in water bending, by make her dream comes true she doesn’t hesitate to steal a trarining parchement, that can be view as a bad thing but it is very coherent due to the situation that she see Ang becoming more and more powerful with the water bending, and i don’t think it’s jealousy i think is ambitious, but the moment in the serie where we see that is real deveolop character and not just a female support for the hero is in the Northern Water Tribe episode.

Having worked with Aang to develop her ability, Katara seeks a master to train her. Unfortunately, the best instructor available, Master Pakku, refuses her entry to his program. In the Northern Water Tribe, he tells her, female benders learn how to heal while their male counterparts learn how to do everything else. Katara rejects this model, saying, “I don’t want to heal, I want to fight!”

She soon gets her chance; Pakku dismisses her as a “little girl,” and Katara challenges him to a duel if he’s “man enough” to take her on There are in this scene a very important moment in my opinion where Ang says to her “ do not do it for me as if in every serie the female support doing thing only because of a male character, and she replies i’m not doing this for you i’m doing rhis to teach him a lesson Aware of her own inferior bending technique and the reality of her inevitable defeat, Katara nevertheless chooses to face Pakku and forces him to fight her

IInn “The Runaway episode,” Sokka reveals that he relies on Katara’s strength and responsible nature. He describes the role Katara has played in his life since their mother’s death: “I’m not sure I can remember what my mother looked like. It really seems like my whole life Katara’s been the one looking out for me.

Her important personal quest is getting revenge on the Fire Nation soldier who killed her mother. Both Sokka and Aang try to dissuade her, telling her that she should forgive the soldier and move on, but Katara says that that would be impossible. When Zuko tells her to save her strength, she tells him that she has plenty: “I’m not the helpless little girl I was when they came.” Implicit in this statement and in Katara’s recollection that her mother sacrificed herself to protect her is Katara’s feeling of guilt. She has immense power now, but she couldn’t protect her mother when it counted. She had to rely on her mother’s strength so that she could one day increase her own. For Katara, a child who not only suspects, but knows that her mother exchanged her life for her own, it would be impossible not to think of her death as Katara’s fault. Tracking down and punishing the man who physically did the deed might allow Katara to feel less responsible.

This doesn’t mean that Katara is above doing terrible things in her quest for revenge and redemption, which becomes evident when Katara bloodbends the man she suspects is Kya’s killer. When it proves to be the wrong man, she appears disheartened, but not particularly remorseful. The weapon that once horrified her is now just another in her arsenal. Still, when she finds the killer, she uses only normal waterbending, which suggests that some of that initial reticence has been restored. She still resists becoming Hama’s successor.

When it comes time to make a decision, Katara decides not to kill the former soldier. She explains the situation to Aang: “I wanted to do it. I wanted to take out all my anger at him, but I couldn’t. I don’t know if it’s because I’m too weak to do it, or if it’s because I’m strong enough not to.” Aang tells her that she did the right thing, and that forgiveness is the first step toward healing. Katara replies, “But I didn’t forgive him. I’ll never forgive him.” She does, however, forgive Zuko. This is a significant point in Katara’s characterization. Whole episodes are devoted to Aang learning how to let things go, and we know that he has had to overcome the loss of his people in order to become a better Avatar. We appreciate his thoughts about forgiveness because we know that he knows what he’s talking about. But Aang and Katara are very different people, and her inability to forgive is just as important to her character as his unwillingness to take revenge. After watching three seasons of A:TLA, the viewer knows that she holds grudges, that she has immense stores of rage, and that the loss of her mother has informed much of her personality. To take violent revenge would be to become Hama, but to forgive Kya’s killer would be to stop being Katara.

Source : http://femalefortitude.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-last-waterbender.html

Toph : Is my favorite in the entire show she is funny, endearing, stubborn or determined ^^, I find in her all the i love about my girlfriend ^^

Toph’s introductory episode is an explicit rebuttal to the typical portrayal of people with disabilities. The first time we meet her, she is defending her title at a WWE-style earthbending competition as the Blind Bandit. Aang, Katara, and Sokka are initially skeptical; surely a tiny twelve-year-old blind girl couldn’t beat a bunch of full-grown men. However, she can and does, and she is only defeated when Aang unfairly uses airbending in his challenge for the title.

Later in the episode, after she and Aang have been kidnapped, Toph’s father reveals that his primary reason for keeping her close is her blindness. When Sokka and Katara ask for her help to save Aang, her father states, “My daughter is blind. She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile. She cannot help you.” Toph, confronted with her father’s low opinion of her ability, says simply, “Yes, I can.” Sokka and Katara offer to help her, but she declines. Then she takes on all seven adult earthbenders at once and she wipes the floor with them.

Toph’s father is presented as controlling and irrational, and the show condemns his point of view. He is wrong for controlling her and for viewing her in terms of what she can’t do instead of who she is. By condemning him, the show rejects the usual approach to the mainstream portrayal of disability. It strengthens this message by having Toph defend her actions with very little reference to her blindness, instead framing the conversation as a matter of agency versus control. She doesn’t explain that she has devised a method of sight that involves reading vibrations in the earth, thereby “overcoming” her disability. Rather, she points out that she’s good at fighting, that she loves it, and that she deserves to exist and be accepted as she is. Ultimately, she joins Team Avatar because they can give her that acceptance.

The shift in Toph’s loyalty from her biological family to her found family forms the bulk of her character arc, and it is best exemplified in the development of her relationship with Katara. In “The Chase,” nurturing team mom Katara comes into conflict with the recently liberated Toph. Toph refuses to help the others set up camp, claiming that she can pull her own weight. The tension increases over the course of the episode, in which Team Avatar endures a sleepless night spent fleeing from Azula’s relentless pursuit, eventually causing Toph to leave the group. She runs into Zuko’s uncle, Iroh, to whom she confesses, “People see me and think I’m weak. They wanna take care of me, but I can take care of myself, by myself.” Iroh tells her that there is nothing wrong with getting help from the people who love you, and she decides to rejoin the team.

Katara tries to re-define their friendship as a relationship between equals by offering to pull a scam with Toph. In this way, she can show Toph that she’s fun while hopefully removing the baggage of projected parental failure from their relationship. At the end of the episode, Toph tells Katara that she was right and asks Katara to help her write a letter to her parents, thereby relieving her of her role as maternal figure as Toph seeks to re-open communication with her actual mother.

The exchange that follows is remarkable. Katara tries to tell Toph that the girls had no idea what they were talking about, but Toph assures her that “It’s okay. One of the good things about being blind is that I don’t have to waste my time worrying about appearances. I don’t care what I look like. I’m not looking for anyone’s approval. I know who I am.” Still, she’s crying as she says it. Katara notices and tailors her response to reinforce Toph’s value as a person, even as she also addresses the unspoken question: “That’s what I really admire about you, Toph. You’re so strong and confident and self-assured, and I know it doesn’t matter, but you’re really pretty.” This response earns Katara the (should-be) coveted Beifong shoulder punch of affection.

This is particularly interesting in light of Toph’s complicated relationship with gender performance. Whereas Katara fights to be allowed access to traditionally male spaces, Toph’s domination in Earth Rumble V and VI proves that she’s already there. As far as we know, she spent all of her time at home with her parents and servants, with regular visits from her earthbending teacher, Master Yu. It’s no surprise that a sheltered, disempowered kid would want to emulate the competitive earthbenders’ overt displays of strength and forge a place for herself among them. Joining their ranks, however, necessarily requires her to immerse herself in their hyper-masculine subculture, based on violence and trash talking. Toph happily becomes a master of both.

ne of the incontrovertible truths of the A:TLAworld is that it is impossible to bend metal. Xin Fu says as much when he tells Toph, “You might think you’re the greatest earthbender in the world, but even you can’t bend metal.” For a time, even Toph believes this. As all of her ploys to get out of the box prove unfruitful, however, she looks to the metal itself. Overlaid on the scene is the voice-over of a guru, telling Aang that all of the elements are connected. Even metal, he says, is just “a part of earth that has been purified and refined.” Without the benefit of hearing this voice-over, Toph nevertheless finds the impurities in the metal box and physically pries it apart. When her captors come back to investigate, she imprisons them in the box, exclaiming as she leaves, “I am the greatest earthbender in the world! Don’t you two dunderheads ever forget it.” In this scene, we see the essence of Toph. She finds herself in a seemingly impossible situation, so she does the impossible to get out of it. She has been locked in a cage -- a metal box, the prison of her parents’ house, the jail of their controlling affection, or the dark dungeon that others assume she is confined to due to her blindness -- and she forges her way to freedom. Ultimately, Toph Beifong is a character who finds empowerment in disempowerment, turning perceived weaknesses into real strengths.

All the analysis belong to femalefortitude.blogspot.com

Source :http://femalefortitude.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-greatest-earthbender-in-world.html

#katara #toph beifong #feminism

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notesinthearchives-blog · 7 years

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Cousin Wire’s Broadcasts: Notes on the Daleks

Note: This was originally broadcast on [censored], and has been rebroadcast several times since. Like all of Cousin Wire's pirate "information" broadcasts, it combines alarmingly accurate information mixed with wild speculation and outright heresy. It has been searched and scanned for linguistic and memetic weapons, and has been determined as safe to read in this format.

For all that people focus on the Evil Renegade's final act during the War, they miss out something rather big.

The Daleks survived, didn't they?

Sure, being reduced to a lone soldier in a private museum in the US, an emperor with a god complex, an imprisoned army, and a cult/spec ops team makes it something of a pyrrhic victory. All the same: they won, and we need to talk about the implications of this.

The Time Lords/Great Houses are, as I've already stated, an end point of history. Once upon a time, the historians of whiggish political leanings would argue that history was a series of steps to becoming just like them. That the end point of history was becoming (depending on the nationality of the historian) British or American culturally (though of course sharing the historians precise ideological perspective). After all, American/Britain was clearly the best nation, so history came to a full .

[static]

Except their not anymore. They've been dethroned. Whether it was due to the Daleks or to another, more mysterious Enemy is irrelevant. Outside of an odd Renegade or two, the Daleks are the only thing that the War left standing. Well, at least until the Evil Renegade managed to save at least one version of Gallifrey, but until them, the Daleks were the only civilisation the War left standing. Doesn't that make them the closest thing to the Time Lords?

[static and the might be the faint sound of distant weapons discharge]

I mean, you can kind of see why the Daleks really felt they had to fight the Time Lords. The Daleks are kind of a historical end point themselves, albeit for Skaro alone instead of the whole of the Spiral Politic. But that mere fact that the Time Lords made themselves into the endpoint of all space-time, well that kind of undermines the Dalek's claim of being an all perfect end point doesn't it? And there is nothing worse than telling someone who thinks their an endpoint that they really aren't.

I mean, going back to the Victorian era and telling some fine English gentleman that by the 21st century the British Empire will be a few islands running guns and dodgy loans in between begging for scraps from the tables of the Americans and the Chinese, well that might be funny to you (or at least me) but that fine English gentleman will be very fucking put out.

So yeah, the Daleks just had to pick a fight with the Time Lords. On a existential level, or even a biological level given how meshed up those two are for the mutated little bastards, they basically didn't have a choice in the matter.

[static, we can clearly hear the sound of weapons fire]

So what does it mean that a bunch of xenophobic mutants are now the endpoint of other spiral politic? Well, for me, not much. For the Daleks though, things get interesting. Have you ever read China Mieville? His literary analysis stuff I mean. Just me? Well, he divides horror into the hauntological and the weird depending on whether it it from the inside (repressed, buried, haunting) or from the outside (alien, eldritch, outside context).

For a Dalek, for all they hate the outside, the real source of horror comes from within. In becoming the endpoint for all of the spiral politic, all history now moves in their direction, I mean first there's Professor Martez's experiments and let's be honest, the fact that at the end of the universe humanity ends up becoming completely genocidal whilst encasing themselves in floating metal speaks for itself.

But that's the point: for the Dalek to be an endpoint, there has to be things coming before the Dalek doesn't there? A bunch of Kaled experiments or uplifted biological matter had to come before the genocidal tin can model. And if there's anything that can get under an endpoint's skin as much as discovering that they aren't an endpoint, it is discovering that the people before them weren't some trial run for their lifestyle.

So imagine your a Dalek, perfect in every way. Except your not. In your biodata you carry the taint of something non Dalek that came before you. With that, we have repression, we have self hate, we have all that repressed self hate being channeled into things (you think the emperor got his god complex out of no where?).

[there is an explosion, a grating metal voice howls above the chaos, then static]

Now, what if your everyone else? Well, I want to say fortunately for you, the Dalek's hold on the universe isn't all that strong. Where the Time Lords fought them with weapons made of history, you should be able to do it with, oh I don't know... Some sacrificial lamb or Wolf, empowered by staring into the heart of a timeship. Or something like that.

Well, that's what I want to say. Thing is, being weaker actually makes them attempt to put a strangle hold on space-time even more. You didn't used to get fixed points in time back in the old days. The old Time Lords didn't feel that they needed them. They felt secure. The Daleks don't. They're weak, their position unstable, so of course they try to beat space-time into something static. Into something that's less changeable and more a series of static images one following another. Into something that is less reality as you'd understand it, and more a fiction for the lords of time to indulge in, it's future as fixed as the ending of a book.

Of course, space-time changes, excuse me, used to change for a reason. Anything that can't change dies, but for space-time it's even worse. Well, it's worse for you. I'm kind of above that sort of thing now.

Wait, where was I?

Ah, yes. Space-time, obviously, can't die. But, unable to adapt, it can decay. Constantly threatened with collapse, but never permitted. You know bit like those pathetic little space empires you humans decided to build, all boring as fuck gung-ho space marine bullshit, all revolutions that just change the people you say "yes sir" to. (Well, at least until some Good Samaritan blew the Earth up, but that's another story). Now imagine all that bloody pointless history... Forced on all space-time. Forever.

Almost makes the Time Lords tolerable.

You know, almost.

[static, shifting briefly into metallic battle cries- EXTERMINATE, EXTERMINATE, EXTERM- before shifting back to static]

Of course, this also explains why the Time Lords decided to blow up time and cause and effect and become creatures of pure consciousness and in general bring about the end of time in a more fatal way for the rest of the universe. Now, I can't claim to be an expert on being a god being in charge of all time, much more used to being a Satan figure myself, but isn't all that a little excessive? I mean, why not just escape the War? The Daleks could, so why couldn't the Time Lords.

But that's the point. The spiral politic after the War is tainted, fixed, channeled. This wasn't the Time Lord's cosmos anymore, and so they decided it would be best to demolish it.

It's not your cosmos either mind. If things remain the way they are, I expect you'll all make good Daleks.

It doesn't have to be though. If you don't like what time has given you, then spite it. Overthrow it. Usurp it. Shatter every fixed point in time you can find, just because you can. Or if nothing else, put on a skull mask and refuse to follow the history you have been given, refuse to die, refuse to be ignored.

The alternative, well, I'll let you see for yourself.

[static, steadily being drowned out by screams and weapons fire. An explosion. Then a metallic, grating voice: EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE]

#faction paradox #fanfiction #fan fic #doctor who #daleks #faction propaganda #analysis #head canon #faction paradox fan fiction

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wrath-and-regret-blog · 7 years

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VERY LONG CHARACTER SURVEY.

RULES. repost; do not reblog! tag 10! good luck!

TAGGED BY: tagged by @luck-crowned who requested Velkyn and/or Kaladin, and my dumb ass went for both XD

TAGGING: I haven’t got anyone to tag yet RIP

(( 1. Velkyn ))

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Velkyn Kilana

NICKNAME/S: ‘Vel’ (previously only used by his foster father, but then the nickname was adopted and used by the leader of the Assassin’s Guild, causing the rest of the guild to quickly follow suit. Now it can be used by just about anyone who decides that those extra three letters are just too much.)

AGE: 45 (In human years, but looks closer to mid-20s physically. Pretty young, by elven standards.)

BIRTHDAY: Sometime in Winter (Earth month equivalent: Mid-January)

ETHNIC GROUP: Drow Elf

NATIONALITY: Underdark (in D&D verse), Rivaini (in Dragon Age verse)

LANGUAGE/S: Common, Undercommon, Thieves’ Cant, Elvish (In both D&D and DA verses)

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual AF, buddy pal, and a total disaster.

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Same as above, but with like twice as big of a disaster on the horizon. He doesn’t know how to express his emotions in any healthy fashion and would most likely struggle forever with just admitting he cared about someone.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Currently single in all verses

CLASS: Basically lower than dirt in most circles. Pretty high up in the assassin’s guild though, so there’s that.

HOMETOWN / AREA: The city inside Mount Wryoz in the Underdark.

CURRENT HOME: He no longer has anywhere that he thinks of as home, spending his current life wandering and taking contracts where he can find them. At the moment though, he is attempting to bring down a cult and rescue his foster father, despite the rift he’s wedged between them.

PROFESSION: He is a skilled assassin, in both ability and mindset, showing no mercy towards his targets or enemies and making sure that the killing strike does it’s job without any room for doubt. There are times when it actually gives him a sense of enjoyment to have such control over life and death, since he has such little control of his own.

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: A bright halo of soft white curls, worn long and tied back into a tail with bangs that commonly fall into his face. Though often matted with blood and gore, it can be washed and brushed to near perfection with the right amount of care.

EYES: Pale pink in color with a blood red burst in the center. Giving off a bright glow in the dark, his eyes are sharp and focused and burn like fire when turned towards the source of his anger. His eyes are large and expressive, almond shaped and angled, bordered by long pale eyelashes.

NOSE: Slender, with a sharp, slightly upturned tip, A large scar stretches horizontally across the bridge, from one cheek to the other. He has a habit of scrunching it when he thinks.

FACE: An oval-shaped face with delicated elven features. Or, at least, they would be delicate, if he didn’t make such vicious expressions.

LIPS: Full, slightly marked by splits and bite marks, as he tends to chew at his bottom lip when he’s stressed. Often curled in a snarl or twisted in a deep frown. Perhaps his smile might be beautiful, but he doesn’t give a damn.

COMPLEXION: A deep dark brown, nearly true black, creating a striking contrast between his skin and his icy locks of hair.

BLEMISHES: Scarred from head to toe, thanks to his years or struggling and painful lessons. Most notably, the scar across his nose, a slice taken out of his right ear, near it’s pointed tip, and a scar on his left shoulder from where he was stabbed just below his collarbone. That particular wound was recieved on his first assassination contract, but his recklessness doesnt seem to have lessened.

TATTOOS: No tattoos, but there is the brand of his guild on the heel of his left foot.

HEIGHT: 5′1″. He is...so small.

WEIGHT: 105 lbs. Just about anyone could lift him, so long as he wasn’t resisting.

BUILD: Slender, acrobatic, with wiry whipchord muscle throughout his body. His arms and shoulders are especially strong, despite his small frame. Though he is athletic, he isn’t especially bulky. He could even be seen as graceful at times, though it is a brutal, powerful grace.

ALLERGIES: None

USUAL HAIRSTYLE: Long and usually tied back in a tail with a blue chord. it is only down while he sleeps or occassionally weaved into a braid if he has the time.

USUAL EXPRESSION: More often than not, Vel’s expression is grim, only shifting when he’s feeling particularly sarcastic or when he’s hit by some intensely strong emotion. Lips set in a firm line, eyes narrowed and focused, brows furrowed, staring down a brick wall would be easier.

USUAL CLOTHING: Dark colors, loose fits, things that are easy to move in, easy to fight in and don’t draw too much attention. He wears a few pieces of leather armor alongside his clothing and his gauntlets are a constant piece of equipment. Wickedly spiked at the knuckles and often bloodstained, his gauntlets are his weapons of choice, lending his punches a deadly touch.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR/S: Helplessness, weakness, the trust of others (and failing them), having his heart broken, getting close to people, heights

ASPIRATION/S: For the most part, Velkyn has always aspired to be strong. Unbreakable, even. He wants to carve a place for himself in the world than no one and nothing can touch. A place that no one can take from him. Though he’d never admit, he just wants somewhere or something to call home.

POSITIVE TRAITS: Dedicated, determined, strong-willed, protective (though he won’t admit it.), clever, justice-oriented.

NEGATIVE TRAITS: A liar, especially to himself and especially about feelings. Violent, quick-tempered, hostile, extreme aversion to unwarrented touching, sarcastic, cynical, emotionally unstable, merciless

MBTI: ISTP

ENNEAGRAM: Type 5 - The Investigator (With some tones of Type 8 in there but mostly Type 5)

ZODIAC: Capricorn

TAROT: 10 of Swords, The Tower (some pretty negative cards tbh)

TEMPERAMENT: Melancholic

SOUL TYPE/S: Hunter and Leader are nearly tied.

ANIMAL: Tested as a Badger, which was pretty accurate by the description, but I’ve always assosciated him with a wolf or an especially cranky house cat.

VICE/S: Wrath, above all else, he is wrath. He’s brimming with rage and pain and vengeance. His temper could burn a hole through any adversary. As for physical vices, he’s a bit of a gambler, but not really to excess.

FAITH: Atheistic. He never really developed an interest in any form of faith or religion. I anything matters the least to him, it’s that.

GHOSTS?: Yes. Very much so.

AFTERLIFE?: Not particularly. He finds the idea that people expect there to be a place for them to live after they’re done living a bit...entitled?

REINCARNATION?: He’s considered it, but it’s not really a strong belief of his.

ALIENS?: None of that concerns him much. He’s not in the habit of believing in anything intangible. It just doesn’t matter to him, since it doesn’t effect him.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: complete lawlessness and disregard for authority. Anarchy is best, as far he’s concerned. The only reason he’d pay attention to politics is if he was hired to kill a political figure.

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE: He has been dirt poor for the majority of his life until he started taking on contracts. Money is nice to have, but he knows how to survive without it. Budgeting is something his foster father taught him to do well, but, if left without money, he has other ways to get what he needs.

SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION: Despite his cutthroat ruthlessness, he despises descrimination and opression, fully believing that no person should own another. Chains are meant to be broken, as are those who would use them. In his lower class position, he has faced things like abuse, distrust and the threat of slavery all his life. He isn’t able to just stand by and watch those things happen to others.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Very low in terms of academics. Has only a basic understanding of math and cannot read very well at all. His foster father only taught him as much as he could. His practical education has been quite extensive, however, as has his criminal education.

FAMILY.

FATHER: (Biological) Evard’rian, a Drow blacksmith, cruel, domineering, controlling. (Adoptive) Kilan, a Drow assassin, intelligent, witty, a master of stern-but-affectionate parenting. Never thought he would have children, but couldn’t bring himself to leave Vel to die as a child.

MOTHER: Maevaria, a Drow midwife, killed in a murder-suicide by Velkyn’s biological father. volitile emotions, but extremely loyal and protective of her son. To the extent where she steps in between Velkyn and the killing blow delivered by his father.

EXTENDED FAMILY: To his knowledge, no blood relations that he’s ever met, though I suppose the whole of the Assassin’s Guild qualifies.

SIGNIFICANT OTHER(S): Currently none.

NAME MEANING/S: Unknown. ‘Vel’ is apparently a Hindu name, meaning the divine javelin spear associated with War God Karthikeya. “Kyn’ is a Vietnamese name, meaning ‘the golden one’.

HISTORICAL CONNECTION: There really isn’t much. His gauntlets have a short but bloody history and he himself has quite the reputation in...certain circles.

FAVORITES.

BOOK: He doesn’t really have any. He’s never read a full book on his own and no one has ever read him one.

MOVIE: He’s the sort to like horror movies and psychological thrillers, though, outside those genre confines, his favorites would be things like V for Vendetta, Sin City, Seven, Blade Runner, etc.

DEITY: He got Hades on the test. Accurate

MONTH: No specific preference, just not anywhere from June through August, the weather is way too hot for him.

SEASON: Winter, as his body retains heat too easily. Summer heat is too much for him and he’s miserable all throughout it.

PLACE: He hasn’t really got one.

WEATHER: Storms. Rain, wind, thunder, lightning, all of it is thrilling for him and the feeling of rain on his skin is one of his favorites.

SOUND: His favorite sound is likely the wind throught the trees or the crackling of fire or the distant roll of thunder. Natural sounds that aren’t grating or too distracting.

SCENT/S: Even though he can’t read, he’s always liked the smell of ink on parchment. Also the smell of the ocean.

TASTE/S: He enjoys strong spices and salty foods. He likes some alcohols, particularly ale and rum. Tastes that hit hard and have a bit of kick to them are his preference. He doesn’t like most sweets but he does enjoy chocolate at times. He also enjoys the taste of rare meat.

FEEL/S: coarse fabrics as well as soft fabrics. cold glass or smooth-cut gems. The edge of a blade, good quality leather, gthe feeling of fingers or a brush through his hair. The feeling of raindrops on his skin.

ANIMAL/S: He likes most animals, particularly felines. He’s most definitely a cat-person, but horses are also some of his favorite creatures. Both animals are very intelligent and good company for him.

NUMBER: He doesn’t like numbers. Math is his least favorite thing.

COLOR: Dark colors, such as wine reds, black, deep blues, etc. as well as earthy colors like reddish-browns and greens and burnt oranges. He also likes seafoam green, though he is unsure why it appeals to him.

EXTRA.

TALENTS: He’s excellent at hand-to-hand combat, and ‘interrogation’. He’s delightfully efficient at killing people, if that counts? And making poisons. And singing, strangely enough. He has a very good voice.

BAD AT: Reading, math, keeping in control of his emotions, using ranged weapons of any kind (very nearsighted and doesn’t have/know he needs glasses), FEELING THINGS????? ADMITING FEELING????, Expressing any tenderness at all.

TURN-ONS: Trust, competence, a certain degree of cynicism, understanding, the willingness to see him as a person and not a weapon, honesty, experience, a healthy disregard for the law.

TURN-OFFS: Being looked down upon, being treated like he’s less than someone else, blind idealism, ‘white-knight syndrome’, disrespect of his abilities/being percieved as weak, sugar coating things.

HOBBIES: Taking walks, exploring, occassional gambling, BEING COMPLETELY RECKLESS, DESTROYING THE ESTABLISHMENT, getting into street/bar fights, stargazing

TROPES: Professional Killer, Combat Parkour, Close-Range Combatant, Hair-Trigger Temper, Insult of Endearment, Anti-hero, Hitman With A Heart, Street Smart, Rebellious Spirit

AESTHETIC TAGS: ;Aesthetic ( VELKYN ) Real simple tbh

I will be making a seperate post for Kaladin’s since this is hella long!

#;Muse ( VELKYN )#long post #thanks Jay!! :D

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solsarin · 3 years

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what percent of the world’s water is in the pacific ocean

Hello to the solsarin site. Welcome in this post, we’re going to find out” what percent of the world’s water is in the pacific ocean.”

How much water is in the ocean?

It’s hard to imagine, but about 97 percent of the Earth’s water can be found in our ocean. Of the tiny percentage that’s not in the ocean, about two percent is frozen up in glaciers and ice caps. Less than one percent of all the water on Earth is fresh. A tiny fraction of water exists as water vapor in our atmosphere.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there are over 332,519,000 cubic miles of water on the planet. A cubic mile is the volume of a cube measuring one mile on each side. Of this vast volume of water, NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center estimates that 321,003,271 cubic miles is in the ocean.

That’s enough water to fill about 352,670,000,000,000,000,000 gallon-sized milk containers!

OCEAN GEOGRAPHY

There are 328,000,000 cubic miles of seawater on earth, covering approximately 71 percent of earth’s surface.

By volume, the ocean makes up 99 percent of the planet’s living space- the largest space in our universe known to be inhabited by living organisms.

About 97 percent of all water on earth is in our oceans, 2 percent is frozen in our ice caps and glaciers, less than 0.3 percent is carried in the atmosphere in the form of clouds, rain, and snow. All of our inland seas, lakes and channels combined add up to only 0.02 percent of earth’s water.

The Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost twice the size of the United States.

Earth’s ocean is made up of more than 20 seas and four oceans: Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Pacific, the oldest and the largest.

The ocean accounts for 0.022 percent of the total weight of earth, weighing an estimated 1,450,000,000,000,000,000 short tons (1 short ton = 2,000lbs).

The average worldwide ocean depth is about 12,460 feet (3,798 meters), with the deepest point of 36,198 feet (11,033 meters) which is located in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean; the tallest mountain, Mount Everest, measures 29,022 feet (8,846 meters). If Mount Everest were to be placed into the Mariana Trench it would be covered with sea water more than a mile (1.5 km ) deep.

Although Mount Everest is often called the tallest mountain on Earth, Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii, is actually taller. Only 13,796 feet of Mauna Kea stands above sea level, yet it is 33,465 feet tall if measured from the ocean floor to its summit

A slow cascade of water beneath the Denmark Strait sinks 2.2 miles; more than 3.5 times farther than Venezuela’s Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall on land.

Earth’s largest continuous mountain chain is the Mid-Ocean Ridge, stretching for 40,000 miles, rising above the surface of the water in a few places, such as Iceland. It is four times longer than the Andes, Rocky Mountains, and Himalayas combined.

Ninety percent of all volcanic activity occurs in the oceans. In 1993, scientists located the largest known concentration of active volcanoes on the sea floor in the South Pacific. This area, the size of New York State, hosts 1,133 volcanic cones and seamounts. Two or three could erupt at any moment.

The highest tides in the world are at the Bay of Fundy, which separates New Brunswick from Nova Scotia. At some times of the year the difference between high and low tide is 53 feet 6 inches, the equivalent of a five-story building.

Canada has the longest coastline of any country, at 56,453 miles or around 15 percent of the world’s 372,384 miles of coastlines.

In 1958, the United States Coast Guard icebreaker East Wind measured the world’s tallest known iceberg off western Greenland. At 550 feet it was only 5 feet 6 inches shorter than the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.

The volume of the Earth’s moon is the same as the volume of the Pacific Ocean.

THE WEATHER MAKER

The ocean determines climate and plays a critical role in Earth’s habitability. Most of the solar energy that reaches the Earth is stored in the ocean and helps power oceanic and atmospheric circulation. In this manner, the ocean plays an important role in influencing the weather and climatic patterns of the Earth.

Two hundred million years of recorded geologic and biologic history of the Earth are found in the ocean’s floor. By studying ocean sediments, scientists can learn about ancient climate, how it changed, and how better to predict our own climate.

The top 10 feet of the ocean hold the same amount of thermal energy as exists in the entire atmosphere.

El NiZo, a periodic shift of warm waters from the western to eastern Pacific Ocean, has dramatic effects on climate worldwide. In 1997-1998, the most severe El NiZo of the century created droughts, crop failures, fires, torrential rains, floods, landslides–total damages were estimated at more than $90 billion (United Nations)

Undersea earthquakes and other disturbances cause tsunamis, or great waves. The largest recorded tsunami measured 210 feet above sea level when it reached Siberia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in 1737.

Water, Water, Everywhere

Water is practically everywhere on Earth. Moreover, it is the only known substance that can naturally exist as a gas, a liquid, and solid within the relatively small range of air temperatures and pressures found at the Earth’s surface.

📷what percent of the world’s water is in the pacific ocean

THE WEATHER MAKER

The top 10 feet of the ocean hold the same amount of thermal energy as exists in the entire atmosphere.

Undersea earthquakes and other disturbances cause tsunamis, or great waves. The largest recorded tsunami measured 210 feet above sea level when it reached Siberia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in 1737.

📷what percent of the world’s water is in the pacific ocean

OUR USE OF THE OCEAN

Substances from marine plants and animals are used in scores of products, including medicine, ice cream, toothpaste, fertilizers, gasoline, cosmetics, and livestock feed. Examine the foods in your own kitchen and you may find the terms “alginate” and “carrageenan” on the labels. Carrageenans are compounds extracted from red algae that are used to stabilize and jell foods and pharmaceuticals. Brown algae contain alginates that make foods thicker and creamier and add to shelf life. They are used to prevent ice crystals from forming in ice cream. Alginates and carrageenans are often used in puddings, milkshakes, and ice cream. The commonly used color additive beta-carotene often comes from green algae as well as many vegetables, including carrots. Many people don’t realize that kelp is harvested like wheat; a substance called algin is extracted and is used in lipstick, toothpaste and ice cream. You might be wearing kelp right now, since it is used in the dyes that color our clothes. Oils from the orange roughy, Hoplostethus atlanticus, a deep-sea fish from New Zealand, are used in making shampoo. The remains of diatoms, algae with hard shells, are used in making pet litter, cosmetics, pool filters and tooth polish. The ocean holds immense quantities of protein. The total annual commercial harvest from the seas exceeds 85 million metric tons. Fish is the biggest source of wild or domestic protein in the world. Since the architecture and chemistry of coral are very close to human bone, coral has been used to replace bone grafts in helping human bones to heal quickly and cleanly. Horseshoe crabs have existed in essentially the same form for the past 135 million years. Their blood provides a valuable test for the toxins that cause septic shock, which previously led to half of all hospital-acquired infections and one-fifth of all hospital deaths. Over 90 percent of trade among countries is carried by ships. The ocean is a source of mineral deposits, including oil and gas. About half the communications between nations are via underwater cables. Many nations’ battles have been fought on or under the water. Knowing oceanography can enhance the conditions for trade, communications, and defense.

📷what percent of the world’s water is in the pacific ocean

Ocean

The ocean is a huge body of saltwater that covers about 71 percent of the Earth’s surface. The planet has one global ocean, though oceanographers and the nations of the world have divided it into distinct geographic regions: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic oceans. In recent years, some oceanographers have determined that the seas around Antarctica deserve their own designation: the Southern Ocean.

Ocean Waves

📷The sardine run in Moalboal is a unique experience that brings tourists from around the world. Travelers can snorkel or scuba dive with giant a school of fish just off the shore.

Though the oceans cover more than 70 percent of Earth, only 20 percent is visible to us. So we are usually only able to see the water at the surface, not most of it, the other 80 percent, below.

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth’s oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.

At 165,250,000 square kilometers (63,800,000 square miles) in the area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—covers about 46% of Earth’s water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, making it larger than all of Earth’s land area combined (148,000,000 square kilometers).[1] The centers of both the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean. Ocean circulation (caused by the Coriolis effect) subdivides it[citation needed] into two largely independent volumes of water, which meet at the equator: the North(ern) Pacific Ocean and South(ern) Pacific Ocean. The Galápagos and Gilbert Islands, while straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within the South Pacific.[2]

Its mean depth is 4,000 meters (13,000 feet).[3] Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, located in the western north Pacific, is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,928 meters (35,853 feet).[4] The Pacific also contains the deepest point in the Southern Hemisphere, the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench, at 10,823 meters (35,509 feet).[5] The third deepest point on Earth, the Sirena Deep, is also located in the Mariana Trench.

The western Pacific has many major marginal seas, including the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Philippine Sea, the Coral Sea, and the Tasman Sea.

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itsyourturnblog · 4 years

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Photo by Corentin Marzin on Unsplash

We arrive on this small blue planet very late. This massive interconnected ecosystem took over 4.5 billion years to build and we arrived to the party a mere 200,000 years ago.

Our ancestors are about 2 million years old. In the beginning there was some monkey/being hungry enough, reckless enough, determined enough to climb out of a tree and seek another tree. There is a problem. In order to get there, he or she had to saunter in an empty space, exposing themself to great risk. He or she had to manoeuvre in a way their bones did not yet support. They had to find a time and a place or maybe an impulse and make a run for it to get to that far away tree that would offer more protection, more food, or more something.

I doubt that first monkey/being made it but others who had seen the courage or the idea or the excitement or the something dared to make a try. And one more monkey/being decided to venture into danger and eventually someone made it and eventually there were more.

In the beginning our hip sockets faced sideways — good for climbing trees but bad for navigating long periods of empty space. Over time Homo Sapiens developed different structures that favoured a straight line. Our hip sockets faced forward, favouring upright forward moment — Bad for climbing but awesome for navigating long periods of empty space.

It is the change of this hip socket that defines our species.

When we were first Homo Sapiens out on the Savannahs in East Africa no one would have guessed that we would one day be first on the global food chain. We were not the strongest. We could not run the fastest and we were not terrific at hiding. We are unlikely kings and queens of any jungle, turf or terrain and no one would have bet on our survival. In fact there is evidence that we almost did not make it, with as few as 10,000 of us, some suggesting less than 100, eating kills after all the other species had their fill, surviving on the marrow in the bones and the little that was left after every species had had their fill.

We all came from East Africa and within 70000 years we populated the entire world. It’s incredible to think about. At one point we ate last and in fear — and then, in an evolutionary second, we find the confidence to walk and populate the entire planet. How did we do this?

Yuval Harari in his book Homo Sapiens makes a case, that our ability to band together in large groups enabled us to thrive. Previously, we traveled in small kin tribes of no more than 70. Larger groups of Homo Sapiens came together and built communities that were safer, able to kill and eat better food sources, as well as fend off threat and danger.

In order to create a group that was bigger than the people that you were biologically linked with, you had to have something bigger connecting you. You needed more than kinship and biology to build communities that would trust each other and take big risks.

You had to have the ability to create a larger story that would enact a large group to band together to do something dangerous something brave something unexpected — To kill, to plan, and to make difficult choices. Our ability to work together and our ability to believe a story connected us to others and helped our species evolve.

Everything in evolution is about conservation. What do we really need? What’s important? Social systems take up a lot of space in our brain and they require a lot of energy. That means we need to find more stuff to eat and that can mean putting our lives in danger. The prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that helps us get along, think about others, imagine something, look at past and future, this is the part of the brain that evolved. It grew because our survival depended on it. We needed the capacity to work with large groups, to persuade, to remember, to build connections and trust, and most importantly, to tell a story and believe that story.

We survived by telling stories.

We survived by creating lies.

Lies that would inspire you to take the risk of working together for one cause, for one goal, or for the spirit of fire or the spirit of the great bear, or God.

Lies that would enable you to sacrifice yourself for the greater good — for the story — for the big tribe.

Our stories save us and our stories kill us.

Brett Weinstein, an evolutionary sociologist coined the term “metaphorical truth” as a truth that is wrong, but if you behave as if it is correct you come out ahead. Believing a metaphorical truth advances a species. They are systems of belief that save the people until modernity evolves, and then metaphorical truths run their course and get replaced by new stories. Every story advances civilization and is meant to precede the story before it in increments.

We don’t do well, when we are in the transition of a new metaphorical truth.

A nation is a story.

Money is a story.

Throwing a virgin into the volcano to appease the angry gods is a story.

Religion is a story.

We don’t do well, when we are in the transition of a new metaphorical truth. Right now we are in one of those moments. Thomas Kuhn might call this a paradigm shift. Yuval Harari would describe this as a function of our evolving species that allowed us to adapt and work together to sacrifice and make choices that serve the greater good over the one or some.

How did Homo Sapiens survive? We survived by telling a collective lie. Over and over and over again, evolving, moving, shifting and over time moving us forward.

How will Homo Sapiens continue to survive? By doing the same thing, except now, today, in 2020, the collective ‘metaphorical truth,’ the one we are familiar with, that gives us an illusion of certainty, familiarity and safety, it has to die. It has to die and we have to go back into the savannah, into empty space, vulnerable, hungry, lonely, crazy or inspired. It is our turn to be that monkey, that one who steps forward to tell a different story, a different lie.

Who will volunteer, in 2020, to be that brave monkey?

Becoming a Brave Monkey: a brief story of homo sapien survival was originally published in It's Your Turn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

by Emi Garzitto via It's Your Turn - Medium #itsyourturn #altMBA #SethGodin #quotes #inspiration #stories #change #transformation #writers #writing #self #shipping #personaldevelopment #growth #education #marketing #entrepreneurship #leadership #personaldev #wellness #medium #blogging #quoteoftheday #inspirationoftheday

#ItsYourTurn #It's Your Turn #IYT #altMBA #Seth Godin #Inspiration #Stories #Change #Transformation #Blog #Medi

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biofunmy · 5 years

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A Nazi Version of DDT Was Forgotten. Could It Help Fight Malaria?

What if, after the Allies won World War II, world health officials had employed a Nazi version of DDT against mosquitoes that transmit malaria? Could that persistent disease, which still infects more than 200 million people a year and kills 400,000 of them, have been wiped off the planet?

That is one of the musings of chemists at New York University who came across an insecticide that had been developed by German scientists during World War II in the course of conducting abstract research on another topic.

It became a historical science mystery.

“Two years ago, we never thought we’d be doing this,” said Michael D. Ward, an N.Y.U. chemistry professor.

In postwar Allied intelligence reports examined by Dr. Ward and his colleagues, German scientists claimed their insecticide, now called DFDT, was more effective than DDT. Allied officials dismissed those assertions as fanciful, especially given the deplorable behavior of Hoechst, the German chemical manufacturer that developed the insecticide, during the war. The company had forced residents of countries occupied by Germany to work in its factories, and it tested drugs on concentration camp prisoners.

The insecticide was forgotten for decades.

Now, work by Dr. Ward and his colleagues, reported this month in an article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, appears to corroborate the German claims. The forgotten compound killed mosquitoes in as little as one-fourth the time as DDT.

DDT, initially regarded as a magical miracle chemical, was sprayed profusely after World War II until environmental concerns arose in the 1960s. Although many nations banned it in the 1970s, some use still continues. In 2006, the World Health Organization endorsed the use of DDT as part of efforts to control malaria, primarily for the spraying of indoor walls. That involves much smaller amounts than what was used by farmers in the past.

Conceivably the more lethal DFDT could be used in even smaller, possibly safer doses. A new option could allow public health officials to rotate insecticides and thwart the resistance to DDT in many mosquitoes today.

“It’s exciting and desperately needed,” said Duane J. Gubler, an emeritus professor in the emerging infectious diseases program at Duke University and the National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School. He was not involved in the study.

But will anyone today risk the time and money needed to determine whether DFDT could be a safe and effective tool against malaria as well as other mosquito-borne diseases like Zika, dengue and yellow fever?

“Donors, governments, they just don’t want the backlash, even if it’s not wholly justified,” said Bart Kahr, Dr. Ward’s colleague at N.Y.U. and an author of the paper.

The effectiveness of DDT, an abbreviation for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, as an insecticide was first discovered in 1939 by Paul Hermann Müller, a Swiss chemist. His company, J.R. Geigy, in Basel, patented the compound.

DDT is what is known as a contact insecticide. “The insects have to walk on the crystals in order to die,” Dr. Kahr said.

After DDT is absorbed through an insect’s feet, it binds to nerve cells, causing them to become stuck in the “on” position, firing continuously. The compound does not have that effect in mammals.

The United States and other Allies licensed DDT from Geigy and manufactured as much as they could to control malaria and typhus during World War II. After the war, DDT was widely used by farmers, and over the years, two million tons of the insecticide were sprayed.

An aggressive effort by World Health Organization to eradicate malaria in 1955 succeeded in some parts of the world, but many mosquitoes subsequently developed resistance — the survivors were more likely to possess a genetic trait that protected them from the poison, which they passed to their many offspring. The disease roared back.

“We knocked them down, and then after a while they fly away,” Dr. Gubler said.

A turning point leading to the decline of DDT was the publication in 1962 of “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson. The book was a harbinger of the environmental movement, documenting the ecological devastation caused by indiscriminate use of insecticides. DDT molecules endure for decades and accumulate in animals higher up the food chain.

The U.S. banned DDT in 1972, and many other nations followed.

Dr. Kahr and Dr. Ward think the outcome might have been different if the substance developed by the Nazi-era scientists had been used instead.

The N.Y.U. chemists started the research with no interest in insecticides whatsoever.

They were studying materials that crystallize in a twisted helical pattern. One of the ways to identify such molecules is to scan the internet for images of crystals made by hobbyists. DDT, they found, exhibited the characteristic pinwheel gradients of a helical crystal when illuminated with polarized light.

Jingxiang Yang, a postdoctoral researcher at N.Y.U., started growing DDT crystals and found not only the expected crystals but also more jumbled, chaotic patterns.

“There was some organized and some crazy,” Dr. Kahr said. “We didn’t expect the other stuff, and that other stuff turned out to be a different arrangement of molecules in the crystal. That form wasn’t known to science.”

That led to the next set of experiments. “Since we have two forms,” Dr. Kahr said, “it was natural to ask, which of these forms was the historical killer of insects?”

It turned out that the chaotic form of DDT is deadlier.

As they were going through early scientific data on DDT, the N.Y.U. chemists found mentions of DFDT.

The compound, difluoro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane is the same molecule as DDT, except with fluorine atoms replacing two of the chlorines.

The Germans developed DFDT at least in part to avoid paying the licensing fees for DDT to the Swiss. It is also possible that the chemical ingredients for DFDT, although considerably more expensive at the time than those for DDT, may have been more readily available in wartime Germany.

Allied military officials noted the German use of DFDT but concluded that claims of superiority to DDT “are not clearly supported by their meager and inadequate tests against houseflies.”

As DDT use burgeoned, DFDT was forgotten, even after Paul Hermann Müller, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1948 for his work with DDT, praised DFDT, noting that it killed mosquitoes more quickly.

In the N.Y.U. experiments, DFDT killed off half of the mosquitoes subjected to it in about half an hour, compared to a couple of hours for DDT.

Dr. Kahr wonders: If DFDT had displaced DDT, would the 1955 push have succeeded in bringing malaria under control before resistance set in? “What if this compound wasn’t forgotten,” he said. “What would the world be like? Science doesn’t go as linearly as the general public thinks it does.”

Contemporary experts in insecticide use are skeptical of DFDT’s prospects as a solution to malaria, pointing to similarities in its chemical structures to DDT’s.

“I suspect that the mode of action of DFDT is probably identical to DDT in this respect,” said Jeffrey R. Bloomquist, a professor of insecticide toxicology and resistance at the University of Florida,.“So there would be cross resistance to it in the field, even though it has not been in use.”

Helen Jamet, deputy director of vector control for the malaria team at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, also said that a DDT-like insecticide may not be up to the task. “It would not be helpful to put a molecule out there to which there is already widespread resistance in the field,” she said.

Rather, the bigger hope is to find new chemicals that kill mosquitoes through different biological mechanisms. Dr. Jamet said that several are in development and could be ready for use in two to three years.

Dr. Ward responded that sometimes, as researchers developing drugs have found, the change of a single atom can dramatically change the chemical behavior of a molecule.

The N.Y.U. scientists are planning to collaborate with Ke Dong, an entomologist at Michigan State University, to test DFDT on DDT-resistant mosquitoes. “We will see,” she said.

If DFDT can kill those, it potentially could be an important new tool — insecticide resistance can be minimized by periodically switching to a different insecticide. And the amounts needed for battling malaria are small.

“What the environmentalists don’t say and realize is that if it’s used for public health and not agriculture, there’s very little environmental impact,” Dr. Gubler said.

But the study’s authors agree that more research would be required to prove that hypothesis.

“We’re not in a position to say this should be used now,” Dr. Kahr said. “We don’t know the real environmental impact and the toxicology and effect on ecosystems, and all of that stuff would have to be studied by other scientists that aren’t really us.”

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limejuicer1862 · 5 years

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Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

John Huey’s

student work of the 60’s-70’s was influenced by teachers in Vermont such as John Irving at Windham College and William Meredith at Bread Loaf. After many years he returned to writing poetry in 2011. He has had poems presented in ‘Poetry Quarterly’ and in the ‘Temptation’ anthology published in London by Lost Tower Publications. Work has also appeared in ‘Leannan Magazine’, ‘Sein und Werden’, at ‘In Between Hangovers’, ‘Bourgeon’, ‘The Lost River Review’, ‘Red Wolf Journal’, ‘Perfume River Poetry Review’, ‘What Rough Beast’, ‘Poydras Review’, ‘Flatbush Review’ and ‘Memoir Mixtapes’. In 2018 he appeared in two further Anthologies, ‘Unbelief’, published by Local Gems Press, and ‘Addiction/Recovery Anthology’, published by Madness Muse Press. His full-length book, ‘The Moscow Poetry File’, was published by Finishing Line Press in November 2017. Full information and Amazon links can be found at www.john-huey.com .

The Interview

When and why did you start writing poetry?

I started writing poetry in late 1964 or there about as a very young American High School student in Suburban Washington, DC, who had, quite fortunately, received some great guidance form an inspired teacher and his wife who pointed me in the direction of Ginsburg and Ferlinghetti who, though not available in the school library or formal course of study, I did find in a local chain bookstore and devoured immediately. Whitman, of course, was more readily available, and he was also an early major influence. Bob Dylan also had a great deal to do with this awakening in another realm and history has shown that I was right in picking him out as a primary and early source of inspiration.

As a kid who “didn’t quit fit” I noticed, that despite a stable home and family environment in 1950’s – early 1960’s “White Bread America”, that something was “off” and missing in that long gone world and I started to wonder why.

As I had already noticed poets who had come before questioning their place in society I felt that writing something on my own might help with my own questions. To both my delight and relief it did and sorting things out on the page through poetry quickly became a regular, then daily, habit of mind.

So would you say it was the inspired teacher and his wife who introduced you to poetry?

It was in the air. The teachers lit the flame but I would have picked it up within a year of that one way or the other. There was only one other real poet kid in my High School and I met him in 1965 and he was into all the beats that you could find in our environment there. Right place, right time.

How aware are and were you of the dominating presence of older poets traditional and contemporary?

Context is everything, a bit later, in college, I came under the influence of visionaries such as Hart Crane who, for a while, totally dominated my writing as the beats and Bob Dylan had done a bit earlier on. The British kicked in with Blake (psychedelic visions thereof) and a college professor friend introduced me to Donne and the other 17th Century influences like Herbert. The Earl of Rochester fascinated me for other reasons but somehow I did manage to stand my own ground with, for better or worse, my own voice though the 19th century romantics such as Keats had their way with me as did Coleridge (more drug influences included there)..

This is a difficult question of course and there are dozens of important influences on me such as Edward Thomas, Dylan Thomas, Yeats, Auden, Plath and later, lesser known voices such as Weldon Keys who played a major role. While still alive, Berryman was looming at the time as was Lowell in their obsessions and brilliant downward spirals.

Every worthwhile poet is, to some degree, responsive to the sum-total of his or her influences but stands up for their own vision in the end.

What is your daily writing routine?

It varies greatly and I wish I had the discipline of some my great old poet friends like Gary Lemons (‘Snake’ series of books that are a must read) who can write every morning.

Much of what I like best takes place past midnight and is written, not without irony, on this handheld device with rough cuts emailed to myself to work on later.

For major projects like my recently completed 60’s-early 70’s book I have have a full vision and a deadline in mind and write to that.

I was stuck on the final section of this book, called ‘The Sunset Fires’, and exiled myself for a week to Putney, VT where a large chunk of the book takes place to “workshop” the final ten poems in a week. That tactic worked in that case but most of the time I write late at night only when so moved and revise in the mornings on the big screen.

What motivates you to write?

Another variable open ended question!

Initially, as a young person, it was a quest for identity combined with a desire to communicate in a unique and visionary way. All high mountaintops and idealization mixed with the ever present emotional upheaval of the young.

By the late 70’s I had burned through this vein and when some personally acquired bad habits, along with an unwise marriage, really kicked in I had an all purpose reason to stop and that’s exactly what I did.

The “bad habits” continued into the 80’s where, after leaving the idealizations surrounding a yet to be fully kindled academic career behind, I somehow figured out how to make money in a totally unrelated career that eventually took me to every corner of the earth.

After taking my last drink in early 1987 I embarked on a second marriage and a family and was just too crazy busy to think of anything else. At least that’s what I told myself at the time when I saw my friends still writing oand publishing.

By 2004 the second marriage was effectively over and an opportunity presented itself to take my then thriving consulting business to Russia where I became a distributor of security screening equipment.

In early 2006 I met, in Moscow, the woman who is my current wife and the intensity and excitement of our life in Russia together became something that literally few people in the West could believe much less understand.

After the inevitable end of my Russian businessi in 2009 we came back to the US where I knew, in my bones, that the Russia “adventure” needed to be chronicled somehow. Though I didn’t fully extract myself from that place until 2013 in 2011 I began writing what became ‘The Moscow Poetry File’ which was my attempt to somehow transfer some of that undefinable and amazing experience into verse. I think I at least partially succeeded on that score.

After the Moscow book I completed two further collections that are still seeking publishers while being fortunate enough to appear in three anthologies as well as numerous magazines both on line and in print.

These books proved to be “event driven” as well and I find that the observable world provides more than enough incentive and stimulus to be both the subject and motivator for poetry.

I’m looking for the essence of both the times and the situations that unfold at this later stage of life and time itself, at age 70, gives me more than enough motivation to “get it down” while and where I can.

5.1. What does “event-driven” and “observable world” mean to you?

In addition to how I address this indirectly in my introduction to ‘The Sunset Fires’ (PDF attached) I am, at root, a determined lifelong atheist and dialectical materialist who only believes what is perceived by the senses in the observable universe. What moves people is both internal and external but all of human history and motivation can be explained by physical/chemical/biological properties as they interact with human populations over time. My favorite Englishman, by many a mile, is Charles Darwin, and I view the world through the lenses developed by Darwin and his fellow geniuses’ of Science and Nature.

But “where is the mystery” you might say? To me there is more than enough “mystery” to go around…. For example, “Where the hell did Trump come from and why is he the embodiment of pure human evil?”, “Why do some people recover from alcoholism and addiction and others die horribly and alone? “, “Why do some find love and lifelong happiness while others, just as capable, end up bereft?”, “Why does randomness determine so many final outcomes in life and are there any external reasons for these effects?”…The list goes on and on, is endless, and would provide countless subjects for Poetry over countless lifetimes.

What is your work ethic?

My “work ethic” goes back to the days of my late mother who, along with many other old time, Protestant American verities, instilled in us the proposition that “when you start something you finish it” which, these days, leads to very few incomplete fragments in the work I attempt now.

The exception to this is when I’m outside my wheelhouse as when I try to write fiction where an idea for a long incomplete novel has been kicking around in fragments for nearly a decade.

Poems however, when started, are always completed as are books.

I wasted enough time when I was on my “hiatus” from writing between 1978 and 2011 to waste any time now.

How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

All of the writers who influenced me in my youth still resonate of course but there are several who are still a never ending presence.

Ginsburg, despite the overdone hippie trappings and embellishments, still remains central in his revolution of style and strength of spirit that propelled him forward as the indisputably essential beat poet. His shadow is long and his diction and unrelenting cadence still occupy the background in everything I write.

As a lifelong resident of Washington, DC the ghost of Walt Whitman, in his Civil War years, has been present in the city and in my writing as a beacon of goodness in the midst of the death and dismemberment of the hospitals he visited daily during those times. A visionary artist can live a visionary life and while I have never been able to achieve such goodness that great, generous spirit shows me the way to a better way always despite the small chance of fully achieving anything approaching that.

Hart Crane was another gay man who suffered terribly when alive without Whitman’s vast resources of compassion and self love.

Through the alcoholic suffering Crane always showed great courage as a writer and his transcendent lyrical beauty is something I have always reached for but have never, of course, been able to fully grasp.

The writers I most admire are better than I can ever hope to be and triumph over history and adversity to get to the palace of the “gods” with the only form of immortality available to us. The transmission of exactly where they wanted to be over time and the truth of the message, sometimes at the peril of the messenger, is all that any poet, as he or she ages, could aspire to.

There are many others other than these three of course but it is these voices I hear most clearly down to these days.

Whom of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

There are people I really respect writing now like John Robinson and Charles Wright but most of what I see in the major journals passes me right by. I’m either too old to “get it” or not “tuned in” to most of what’s out there these days. I guess you will never find me in the audience at a “poetry slam”… Enough said on that. Dylan said, when I was young, “Don’t criticize what you can’t understand.” I really should leave it there before I start a riot or burn someone else’s house down.

My good friends who I know personally and who I have watched develop are a whole other matter and I get a world of good from the work of Gregory Luce who I have known for over 20 years and Gary Lemons who I have known for 50. These poets really encouraged and nurtured me when I returned to writing and their ability to hang in there for the “long haul” is really inspiring as are their books.

A great regret was the premature death, in 2006, of my wonderful friend from my college days in Vermont, and fine poet, Gregory Jerozal. He was never properly published in book form during his life and I’m on a mission, with his wife’s permission, to try to pull a proper book together from his many existing journal publications and old manuscripts I have. I’m being remiss for not completing this project and I hope I’m done before life is finished with me. He was a really fine poet and I miss him greatly. He would be a shining light if alive today.

8.1. Why do you admire these writers?

9. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

I don’t think that you “become” a writer at all. It’s something you are. When I was 15 I was a writer and have no recollection of how that happened. It’s just something I had to do after having read some things that moved me. Artists in that sense are born, not made. at least that’s the way I look at it. The idea of writers “schools” has always amused me though I was, myself, greatly encouraged by my undergraduate creative writing teacher, John Irving, who, in terms of poetry, was more of a friend, coach and cheerleader than teacher. Likewise, when I went to Bread Loaf the one on one sessions I had with the fine poet William Meredith were also more of the same coaching and encouragement I had experienced with John. Those fine writers didn’t teach me, they inspired.

I was a writer even in those many years that I wasn’t involved at all and I know that because of the fact that things I have written since my “return” in 2011 have a tenor and a voice that I know was in gestation while I was dormant.

Back in the 90’s one of my friends I met in Secular AA was the late Washington DC cultural luminary and black arts movement poet Gaston Neal. I spent a great deal of time with him the year before his death in 1999 and he looked at me one day and told me “You are a poet, always have been and always will be and I know you will write again.” 12 years later I did.

Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

In addition to trying to get two further volumes of poetry published and continuing to write individual poems to send around to the journals I have had, as I mentioned earlier in response to one of the questions, a long delayed novel in the works that may prove too daunting to complete any time in the near term. The project in question takes place in a timeline from the late 60’s to the early 90’s and involves hippie thieves based in Vermont, the scene around a long defunct artists bar on Lower Broadway in Manhattan called St Adrian’s, a Washington Post journalist and some unique and disturbing circumstances involving parties known and now departed as well as a purely fictional cast of characters who propel the narrative forward despite their early and premature demise.

I’m not at all happy defining my own limitations but I may have met them here. I’m spending a week with an old poet friend in Vermont this coming May to get close to some primary sources with a person who was there

“When” who may be able to help me in moving this difficult (for me) manuscript off the proverbial dime at last. We shall see.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: John Huey Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me.

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cristinajourdanqp · 6 years

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Are Your Children Sleep-Deprived?

It’s about that time: the start of the school year. Bleary-eyed kids everywhere are dragged from bed, thrown into clothing, handed an energy bar and glass of juice, and shuttled off to spend hours sitting at a desk. They come home, do hours of homework, squeeze in some screen time, squeeze some vaguely edible goo into their mouths, update their Facebook status, post a few Instagram pics, and climb into bed by 10 PM sharp, Snapchatting their way to the land of Nod. Then it starts all over again.

I’m exaggerating, a bit. Things aren’t this bad—childhood Facebook usage is actually down! But too many children aren’t getting enough sleep.

How Much Sleep Do Kids Need?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that:

Infants 4 months to 12 months should sleep 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 1 to 2 years of age should sleep 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 3 to 5 years of age should sleep 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

How Are Kids Doing?

According to a 2004 study of American kids’ sleep habits commissioned by the National Sleep Foundation:

Infants get 12.7 hours—low end of normal.

1 to 3 year olds get 11.7 hours—low end of normal.

Preschoolers get 10.4 hours—low end of normal.

Elementary school kids get 9.5 hours—low end of normal.

That was 2004, before smartphones, tablets, and the meteoric rise of digital technology. Seeing as how the presence of technology in the homes and bedrooms of our children can reduce the amount of sleep they get, I’d wager that sleep has only gotten worse. It has.

But just because kids are getting less sleep on average doesn’t mean your kids are. The average of the population doesn’t say anything about the individual. It’s just an indication that the problem is widespread—and that it’s something you should honestly assess to make sure you’re not contributing to the trend.

What you can do short of tracking their sleep with an Oura ring is to watch for the obvious symptoms of inadequate sleep.

They shouldn’t be yawning all the time, or blatantly drowsy and exhausted.

They should be alert, engaged. Not every kid will bounce off the walls or be a constant blur of energy, of course.

They shouldn’t have trouble getting up in the morning.

They shouldn’t fall asleep immediately.

They should be prone to meltdowns over nonsense.

Parents know when their kids haven’t had enough sleep. Deep down, they know.

Just How Important Is Sleep?

We adults know. If we don’t get enough sleep, we get horrible brain fog. We have trouble forming complete sentences. We feel confused and anxious for no apparent reason. We forsake the gods of our ancestors to prostrate ourselves before coffee. In fact, the most serious consequences and symptoms of sleep deprivation are all mental and psychological.

During sleep, we clear out old memories to make room for new ones. Without sleep, we forget what we’ve just learned. We arguably don’t learn without sleep. The memories simply don’t take.

During sleep, we prune errant connections between neurons. Without sleep, we can’t prune the brain plaque that can eventually lead to Alzheimer’s and dementia.

If sleep deprivation interferes with an adult’s brain function to such a degree, what does sleep deprivation do to a brain that’s still developing?

It can cause profound neuronal loss. When a kid is sleep deprived for long enough, their brains actually shrink.

It promotes aberrant connectivity patterns in the fronto-limbic, a region of the brain involved in emotion regulation (tantrums, anyone?).

It impairs performance in the classroom.

Because that’s the most important part of childhood. Heck, it’s why human childhood takes so long—we need time to develop that impressive brain. A baby giraffe might pour out of his mother and instantly clamber to his feet, able to walk. He’s clumsy, but he can walk.

As humans, our brains are almost everything. They’re our most powerful tools. They allow us to manipulate language, numbers, reality itself. Without our brains, we’re rather unimpressive relative to other animals. Our strength, agility, explosiveness, and speed can’t compare. Your average black bear could outrun Usain Bolt, outfight Conor McGregor, and outswim Michael Phelps. We need our brains. As a parent, it’s important that you do everything you can to encourage and enable your kid’s brain development, or at least remove the barriers that impede it. Bad sleep is the biggest impediment there is.

Sleep doesn’t just affect brain development and function. There are metabolic effects, too. Just as poor sleep can increase insulin resistance and lead to obesity in adults, poor sleep can make your kids insulin resistant and overweight.

What Can You Do? Limit Their Blue Light Exposure At Night

This could take the form of candles and warm lighting. This could mean no TV or screens at night. This could mean buying a pair of child-size blue blocking shades. Or maybe it’s all three at once. Whatever you do, make sure your kids aren’t bathing in blue light toward the end of the day—it can throw off your circadian rhythm and make getting to sleep at a reasonable time harder.

Candle lighting could be a great way to expose your kids to safe fire behavior, by the way. Letting them light the candles will get them involved, get them enthusiastic about the new practice, and teach them how to handle themselves around fire. Win, win, win.

Increase Their Blue Light Exposure During the Day

The flip-side of blue light avoidance at night is the fact that our bodies expect it during the day, and that getting a lot of natural light (which includes significant portions of blue) in the morning and afternoon also establishes a healthy circadian rhythm. In fact, daytime light exposure increases their resistance to blue light at night.

With recess taking a huge hit these days, kids are spending fewer and fewer hours outside immersed in natural light. That should change.

Give Your Kids a Diet High In Carotenoids

Certain carotenoids don’t convert to retinol, instead making their way to the eye to protect against blue light absorption. They are astaxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

Salmon, shrimp, and krill oil for astaxanthin. Wild salmon astaxanthin is more bioavailable than farmed, but farmed is still pretty good.

For lutein and zeaxanthin, you’ll want to incorporate leafy greens and orange egg yolks. Kale, spinach, collards, chard, and mustard greens are among the best sources, while darker yolks are also great sources. Eat both; I suspect yolks might be easier to incorporate into a picky kid’s diet than kale.

Give Your Kids Plenty of Opportunities To Move, Play, Exercise, and Be Engaged With the World

Although the research is mixed on this topic, with some studies finding that the most active kids actually sleep a little less than the most sedentary kids, I’m going with a parent’s intuition. Whenever my kids were particularly active, they had no trouble getting to bed at a reasonable time. It wasn’t just physical, either. If we had a party at the house and the kids spent all day interacting with friends and other children, they were very easy to put to bed.

Have a Bedtime Routine

The routine itself doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you have one and stick to it. That alone has been shown to reduce problematic sleep behavior in babies and toddlers, improve night waking, help children fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer, and—not insignificantly—reduce maternal stress.

Be Consistent

The human body is made of biological clocks. Everything you do, from eating and exercising to sleeping, works better when you have a schedule. That way, your cellular clocks know what to expect and can assemble the physiological mise en place rather than rush around in panic mode because you’re completely unpredictable.

Set a bedtime and stick to it. Studies show that kids with parents who establish bedtimes and actually enforce them get more sleep. Furthermore, irregular sleep habits make it harder to establish a healthy circadian rhythm.

Exceed the Minimum

Common isn’t normal. Many things are common, like cooking with seed oils and watching five hours of TV every day. But they aren’t normal—they aren’t congruent with our biology. Kids deserve the opportunity to sleep as much as they can. If they’ll go an hour more than what the experts say they need, so be it. They probably need it.

Let Sleep Ensue Naturally

If you’re doing everything right (proper light exposure, good sleep hygiene, good diet, plenty of activity during the day, a routine), your kid will probably get sleepy at about the right time. The beauty of establishing a consistent bedtime and bedtime routine is that it will train your kid to naturally get sleepy at the around the same time each day. What you establish becomes the “right time.”

What you should avoid are struggles over sleep.

Naps Count

Naps count toward a child’s daily sleep requirement, so let them happen. Just be cautious about timing. In my experience, under-2s can take a nap whenever without ruining their bedtime; after age 2, nap timing becomes very crucial.

If you were paying attention, you probably noticed that most of the content in today’s post applies equally well to adults. By all means, take these tips and apply it to your life, too. But definitely make sure your kids are getting enough sleep. It could quite literally help determine their trajectory through life and realize their potential. Good sleep is foundational.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Do your kids (or you) get enough sleep? What methods, tips, and tricks have worked for you and your family?

References:

Hale L, Guan S. Screen time and sleep among school-aged children and adolescents: a systematic literature review. Sleep Med Rev. 2015;21:50-8.

Jan JE, Reiter RJ, Bax MC, Ribary U, Freeman RD, Wasdell MB. Long-term sleep disturbances in children: a cause of neuronal loss. Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2010;14(5):380-90.

Robinson JL, Erath SA, Kana RK, El-sheikh M. Neurophysiological differences in the adolescent brain following a single night of restricted sleep – A 7T fMRI study. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2018;31:1-10.

Beebe DW, Field J, Milller MM, Miller LE, Leblond E. Impact of Multi-Night Experimentally Induced Short Sleep on Adolescent Performance in a Simulated Classroom. Sleep. 2017;40(2)

Schalch W, Cohn W, Barker FM, et al. Xanthophyll accumulation in the human retina during supplementation with lutein or zeaxanthin – the LUXEA (LUtein Xanthophyll Eye Accumulation) study. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2007;458(2):128-35.

Pesonen AK, Sjöstén NM, Matthews KA, et al. Temporal associations between daytime physical activity and sleep in children. PLoS ONE. 2011;6(8):e22958.

Mindell, J. A., Telofski, L. S., Wiegand, B., & Kurtz, E. S. (2009). A Nightly Bedtime Routine: Impact on Sleep in Young Children and Maternal Mood. Sleep, 32(5), 599–606.

Phillips AJK, Clerx WM, O’brien CS, et al. Irregular sleep/wake patterns are associated with poorer academic performance and delayed circadian and sleep/wake timing. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):3216.

0 notes

milenasanchezmk · 6 years

Text

Are Your Children Sleep-Deprived?

I’m exaggerating, a bit. Things aren’t this bad—childhood Facebook usage is actually down! But too many children aren’t getting enough sleep.

How Much Sleep Do Kids Need?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that:

Infants 4 months to 12 months should sleep 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 1 to 2 years of age should sleep 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 3 to 5 years of age should sleep 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

How Are Kids Doing?

According to a 2004 study of American kids’ sleep habits commissioned by the National Sleep Foundation:

Infants get 12.7 hours—low end of normal.

1 to 3 year olds get 11.7 hours—low end of normal.

Preschoolers get 10.4 hours—low end of normal.

Elementary school kids get 9.5 hours—low end of normal.

What you can do short of tracking their sleep with an Oura ring is to watch for the obvious symptoms of inadequate sleep.

They shouldn’t be yawning all the time, or blatantly drowsy and exhausted.

They should be alert, engaged. Not every kid will bounce off the walls or be a constant blur of energy, of course.

They shouldn’t have trouble getting up in the morning.

They shouldn’t fall asleep immediately.

They should be prone to meltdowns over nonsense.

Parents know when their kids haven’t had enough sleep. Deep down, they know.

Just How Important Is Sleep?

During sleep, we clear out old memories to make room for new ones. Without sleep, we forget what we’ve just learned. We arguably don’t learn without sleep. The memories simply don’t take.

During sleep, we prune errant connections between neurons. Without sleep, we can’t prune the brain plaque that can eventually lead to Alzheimer’s and dementia.

If sleep deprivation interferes with an adult’s brain function to such a degree, what does sleep deprivation do to a brain that’s still developing?

It can cause profound neuronal loss. When a kid is sleep deprived for long enough, their brains actually shrink.

It promotes aberrant connectivity patterns in the fronto-limbic, a region of the brain involved in emotion regulation (tantrums, anyone?).

It impairs performance in the classroom.

What Can You Do? Limit Their Blue Light Exposure At Night

Increase Their Blue Light Exposure During the Day

With recess taking a huge hit these days, kids are spending fewer and fewer hours outside immersed in natural light. That should change.

Give Your Kids a Diet High In Carotenoids

Certain carotenoids don’t convert to retinol, instead making their way to the eye to protect against blue light absorption. They are astaxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

Salmon, shrimp, and krill oil for astaxanthin. Wild salmon astaxanthin is more bioavailable than farmed, but farmed is still pretty good.

Give Your Kids Plenty of Opportunities To Move, Play, Exercise, and Be Engaged With the World

Have a Bedtime Routine

Be Consistent

Exceed the Minimum

Let Sleep Ensue Naturally

What you should avoid are struggles over sleep.

Naps Count

Thanks for reading, everyone! Do your kids (or you) get enough sleep? What methods, tips, and tricks have worked for you and your family?

References:

Hale L, Guan S. Screen time and sleep among school-aged children and adolescents: a systematic literature review. Sleep Med Rev. 2015;21:50-8.

Jan JE, Reiter RJ, Bax MC, Ribary U, Freeman RD, Wasdell MB. Long-term sleep disturbances in children: a cause of neuronal loss. Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2010;14(5):380-90.

Robinson JL, Erath SA, Kana RK, El-sheikh M. Neurophysiological differences in the adolescent brain following a single night of restricted sleep – A 7T fMRI study. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2018;31:1-10.

Beebe DW, Field J, Milller MM, Miller LE, Leblond E. Impact of Multi-Night Experimentally Induced Short Sleep on Adolescent Performance in a Simulated Classroom. Sleep. 2017;40(2)

Pesonen AK, Sjöstén NM, Matthews KA, et al. Temporal associations between daytime physical activity and sleep in children. PLoS ONE. 2011;6(8):e22958.

Mindell, J. A., Telofski, L. S., Wiegand, B., & Kurtz, E. S. (2009). A Nightly Bedtime Routine: Impact on Sleep in Young Children and Maternal Mood. Sleep, 32(5), 599–606.

Phillips AJK, Clerx WM, O’brien CS, et al. Irregular sleep/wake patterns are associated with poorer academic performance and delayed circadian and sleep/wake timing. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):3216.

0 notes

watsonrodriquezie · 6 years

Text

Are Your Children Sleep-Deprived?

I’m exaggerating, a bit. Things aren’t this bad—childhood Facebook usage is actually down! But too many children aren’t getting enough sleep.

How Much Sleep Do Kids Need?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that:

Infants 4 months to 12 months should sleep 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 1 to 2 years of age should sleep 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 3 to 5 years of age should sleep 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

How Are Kids Doing?

According to a 2004 study of American kids’ sleep habits commissioned by the National Sleep Foundation:

Infants get 12.7 hours—low end of normal.

1 to 3 year olds get 11.7 hours—low end of normal.

Preschoolers get 10.4 hours—low end of normal.

Elementary school kids get 9.5 hours—low end of normal.

What you can do short of tracking their sleep with an Oura ring is to watch for the obvious symptoms of inadequate sleep.

They shouldn’t be yawning all the time, or blatantly drowsy and exhausted.

They should be alert, engaged. Not every kid will bounce off the walls or be a constant blur of energy, of course.

They shouldn’t have trouble getting up in the morning.

They shouldn’t fall asleep immediately.

They should be prone to meltdowns over nonsense.

Parents know when their kids haven’t had enough sleep. Deep down, they know.

Just How Important Is Sleep?

During sleep, we clear out old memories to make room for new ones. Without sleep, we forget what we’ve just learned. We arguably don’t learn without sleep. The memories simply don’t take.

During sleep, we prune errant connections between neurons. Without sleep, we can’t prune the brain plaque that can eventually lead to Alzheimer’s and dementia.

If sleep deprivation interferes with an adult’s brain function to such a degree, what does sleep deprivation do to a brain that’s still developing?

It can cause profound neuronal loss. When a kid is sleep deprived for long enough, their brains actually shrink.

It promotes aberrant connectivity patterns in the fronto-limbic, a region of the brain involved in emotion regulation (tantrums, anyone?).

It impairs performance in the classroom.

What Can You Do? Limit Their Blue Light Exposure At Night

Increase Their Blue Light Exposure During the Day

With recess taking a huge hit these days, kids are spending fewer and fewer hours outside immersed in natural light. That should change.

Give Your Kids a Diet High In Carotenoids

Certain carotenoids don’t convert to retinol, instead making their way to the eye to protect against blue light absorption. They are astaxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

Salmon, shrimp, and krill oil for astaxanthin. Wild salmon astaxanthin is more bioavailable than farmed, but farmed is still pretty good.

Give Your Kids Plenty of Opportunities To Move, Play, Exercise, and Be Engaged With the World

Have a Bedtime Routine

Be Consistent

Exceed the Minimum

Let Sleep Ensue Naturally

What you should avoid are struggles over sleep.

Naps Count

Thanks for reading, everyone! Do your kids (or you) get enough sleep? What methods, tips, and tricks have worked for you and your family?

References:

Hale L, Guan S. Screen time and sleep among school-aged children and adolescents: a systematic literature review. Sleep Med Rev. 2015;21:50-8.

Jan JE, Reiter RJ, Bax MC, Ribary U, Freeman RD, Wasdell MB. Long-term sleep disturbances in children: a cause of neuronal loss. Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2010;14(5):380-90.

Robinson JL, Erath SA, Kana RK, El-sheikh M. Neurophysiological differences in the adolescent brain following a single night of restricted sleep – A 7T fMRI study. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2018;31:1-10.

Beebe DW, Field J, Milller MM, Miller LE, Leblond E. Impact of Multi-Night Experimentally Induced Short Sleep on Adolescent Performance in a Simulated Classroom. Sleep. 2017;40(2)

Pesonen AK, Sjöstén NM, Matthews KA, et al. Temporal associations between daytime physical activity and sleep in children. PLoS ONE. 2011;6(8):e22958.

Mindell, J. A., Telofski, L. S., Wiegand, B., & Kurtz, E. S. (2009). A Nightly Bedtime Routine: Impact on Sleep in Young Children and Maternal Mood. Sleep, 32(5), 599–606.

Phillips AJK, Clerx WM, O’brien CS, et al. Irregular sleep/wake patterns are associated with poorer academic performance and delayed circadian and sleep/wake timing. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):3216.

0 notes

fishermariawo · 6 years

Text

Are Your Children Sleep-Deprived?

I’m exaggerating, a bit. Things aren’t this bad—childhood Facebook usage is actually down! But too many children aren’t getting enough sleep.

How Much Sleep Do Kids Need?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that:

Infants 4 months to 12 months should sleep 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 1 to 2 years of age should sleep 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 3 to 5 years of age should sleep 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours (including naps) on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

Teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

How Are Kids Doing?

According to a 2004 study of American kids’ sleep habits commissioned by the National Sleep Foundation:

Infants get 12.7 hours—low end of normal.

1 to 3 year olds get 11.7 hours—low end of normal.

Preschoolers get 10.4 hours—low end of normal.

Elementary school kids get 9.5 hours—low end of normal.

What you can do short of tracking their sleep with an Oura ring is to watch for the obvious symptoms of inadequate sleep.

They shouldn’t be yawning all the time, or blatantly drowsy and exhausted.

They should be alert, engaged. Not every kid will bounce off the walls or be a constant blur of energy, of course.

They shouldn’t have trouble getting up in the morning.

They shouldn’t fall asleep immediately.

They should be prone to meltdowns over nonsense.

Parents know when their kids haven’t had enough sleep. Deep down, they know.

Just How Important Is Sleep?

During sleep, we clear out old memories to make room for new ones. Without sleep, we forget what we’ve just learned. We arguably don’t learn without sleep. The memories simply don’t take.

During sleep, we prune errant connections between neurons. Without sleep, we can’t prune the brain plaque that can eventually lead to Alzheimer’s and dementia.

If sleep deprivation interferes with an adult’s brain function to such a degree, what does sleep deprivation do to a brain that’s still developing?

It can cause profound neuronal loss. When a kid is sleep deprived for long enough, their brains actually shrink.

It promotes aberrant connectivity patterns in the fronto-limbic, a region of the brain involved in emotion regulation (tantrums, anyone?).

It impairs performance in the classroom.

What Can You Do? Limit Their Blue Light Exposure At Night

Increase Their Blue Light Exposure During the Day

With recess taking a huge hit these days, kids are spending fewer and fewer hours outside immersed in natural light. That should change.

Give Your Kids a Diet High In Carotenoids

Certain carotenoids don’t convert to retinol, instead making their way to the eye to protect against blue light absorption. They are astaxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

Salmon, shrimp, and krill oil for astaxanthin. Wild salmon astaxanthin is more bioavailable than farmed, but farmed is still pretty good.

Give Your Kids Plenty of Opportunities To Move, Play, Exercise, and Be Engaged With the World

Have a Bedtime Routine

Be Consistent

Exceed the Minimum

Let Sleep Ensue Naturally

What you should avoid are struggles over sleep.

Naps Count

Thanks for reading, everyone! Do your kids (or you) get enough sleep? What methods, tips, and tricks have worked for you and your family?

References:

Hale L, Guan S. Screen time and sleep among school-aged children and adolescents: a systematic literature review. Sleep Med Rev. 2015;21:50-8.

Jan JE, Reiter RJ, Bax MC, Ribary U, Freeman RD, Wasdell MB. Long-term sleep disturbances in children: a cause of neuronal loss. Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2010;14(5):380-90.

Robinson JL, Erath SA, Kana RK, El-sheikh M. Neurophysiological differences in the adolescent brain following a single night of restricted sleep – A 7T fMRI study. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2018;31:1-10.

Beebe DW, Field J, Milller MM, Miller LE, Leblond E. Impact of Multi-Night Experimentally Induced Short Sleep on Adolescent Performance in a Simulated Classroom. Sleep. 2017;40(2)

Pesonen AK, Sjöstén NM, Matthews KA, et al. Temporal associations between daytime physical activity and sleep in children. PLoS ONE. 2011;6(8):e22958.

Mindell, J. A., Telofski, L. S., Wiegand, B., & Kurtz, E. S. (2009). A Nightly Bedtime Routine: Impact on Sleep in Young Children and Maternal Mood. Sleep, 32(5), 599–606.

Phillips AJK, Clerx WM, O’brien CS, et al. Irregular sleep/wake patterns are associated with poorer academic performance and delayed circadian and sleep/wake timing. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):3216.

0 notes