#demarcation problems

[prokopetz]

The reason nobody can agree where the boundary between "visual novel" and "adventure game" lies is because the term "adventure game" originated in the American gaming industry and was later loaned into Japanese, while the term "visual novel" originated in the Japanese gaming industry and was later loaned into English, but the meanings shifted in both cases, so the American gaming industry uses "visual novel" to mean something different from what it means in Japan and the Japanese gaming industry uses "adventure game" to mean something different from what it means in America, and now we've got two terms with (at least) four separate definitions between them, but nerds on the Internet who don't understand how loan-words work keep trying to directly compare them without taking into account that there are multiple only partially compatible cultural idioms in play.

#gaming #video games #adventure games #visual novels #genres #taxonomy #demarcation problems #arrant pedantry

[hieronymus-botch]

I find it really weird that the consistent standard of the S&P departments across all 3 major kids TV networks since the 90s has been that you're allowed to depict places identical to traditional depictions of Hell, but you can't call them "Hell", but you can call the things that live in them "demons" (and also use the word "demon" for beings that don't live in a hell-like environment or have the traditional red skin and horns look, like Bill Cipher in Gravity Falls, or The Owl House where "demon" is just a generic term for magical creatures and has no actual correlation with evil, which feels more blasphemous than having traditional demons in a cartoon for kids), and you can have a demon that has all of the traditional traits associated with Satan specifically, but can't call him any of the traditional names for Satan. I wonder how they'd handle the term devil, because usually it's used with a "the" attached as a synonym for Satan specifically, and Satan is off limits, but it's also sometimes used with an "a" attached or in the plural as a synonym for demons, and demons are fair game. Would they refuse to let you use the term "devil" at all, even as a synonym for "demon", let you use the term "devil", but only if there were multiple characters referred to by that name (and presumably multiple would have to be introduced in the same episode, otherwise the show might be considered temporarily too blasphemous for kids TV in between the airdates of the episode where the first devil is introduced and the one where the second is introduced), or let you have a single character in your show that's referred to as "devil" as long as they're called "a devil" and not "the devil"?

#mythology #censorship #cartoons #demons #demarcation problems

[thisismyanimus]

it seemed that searching three words allows you to find all posts containing those three words

with two words, it seemed that both words have to be in tags, or else it doesn't work. maybe unless the post is popular

but what if i write a really long tag? the maximum limit is 139 characters per tag

i did this experiment in this post

i concluded that if your search contains common words, for example "what write really", it only retrieves certain posts where those words are in the text

for uncommon/nonexisting words in the text of your post such as "brasput yabet mituarb", you can find your post by searching just 1 word

for two words in any of the tags, it retrieves the post, even if the words are common. for example "eat above"

#Sesquipedalian floccinaucinihilipilification antidisestablishmentarianism circumlocution prevarication obsequious perspicacious fastidious #aberration aberrant abscond accoutrements adumbrate affectation agglutination alacrity alluvion amelioration amorphous antediluvian #antepenultimate apotheosis apposite approbation apropos arrant assiduous augury auriferous auspicious baleful bellicose beleaguer bellicosi #bilious benighted bevy bipolar bivouac boisterous bombastic braggadocio cacophony calligraphy capricious carafe cataclysm caustic chicanery #churlish circumlocution colloquy commensurate complaisant concomitant concupiscence confabulation connivance contumacious convivial copious #coterie craven cull decorous demagogue demarcation denouement depravity desuetude diaphanous diffident dirge discomfit discomposure #disconcert disingenuous disinter disinclination dissemble dissimulation dissonance dithering dolorous dross ebullience effrontery emollient #empyrean enervate enfranchisement engender ennui ensconce entrench equanimity equivocate erudite ethereal evanescent execrate exigent #exiguous exoneration expatiate expurgate extemporaneous extirpate fatuous feckless fecund felicitous fester filigree florid flout foible #forbearance forswear fount frippery fulminate garrulous germane glabrous glib glower gnarled gossamer grandiloquent gratuitous gregarious #guile gumption gush halcyon harangue harried hedonist hegemony heresay heterodox histrionic hoary homily hubris hyperbolic hypocrisy #incipient inculcate indigent ineffable ingrate ingratiate inimical inimitable invective inveterate inveteracy irascible irresolute jejune #jettison jocund jubilant judicious ken knell labyrinthine lachrymose laggard lamentation largess levity libation lissome lithe loathe #lugubrious macabre maladroit malcontent malediction malfeasance malleable mawkish meander mendacity métier milieu minatory mire misanthrope #mitigate mnemonic modicum mollify morass mote mundane myopia nadir nascent neologism neophyte nexus #story saw far sea draw left late run don't while press close night real life few north open seem together next white children begin got #walk example ease paper group always music those both mark often letter until mile river car feet care second book carry took science #eat room friend began idea fish mountain stop once base hear horse cut sure watch color face wood main enough plain girl usual young #ready above ever red list though feel talk bird soon body dog family direct pose leave song measure door product black short numeral #class wind question happen complete ship area half rock order fire south problem piece told knew pass since top whole king space heard #best hour better true during hundred five remember step early hold west ground interest reach fast verb sing listen six table travel

[mcmansionhell]

ode to a faux grecian urn

Howdy everyone,

Today's house, built in 2001, comes to you from, you guessed it, the Chicago suburbs. The house is a testimony to traditional craftsmanship and traditional values (having lots of money.) The cost of painting this house greige is approximately the GDP of Slovenia so the owners have decided to keep it period perfect (beige.) Anyway.

This 5 bedroom, 7.5 bathroom house clocks in at a completely reasonable 12,700 square feet. If you like hulking masses and all-tile interiors, it could be all yours for the reasonable price of $2.65 million.

The problem with having a house that is 12,700 square feet is that they have to go somewhere. At least 500 of them were devoted to this foyer. Despite the size, I consider this a rather cold and lackluster welcome. Cold feet anyone?

The theme of this house is, vaguely, "old stuff." Kind of like if Chuck E Cheese did the sets for Spartacus. Why the dining room is on a platform is a good question. The answer: the American mind desires clearly demarcated space, which, sadly, is verboten in our culture.

The other problem with a 12,700 square foot house is that even huge furniture looks tiny in it.

Entering cheat codes in "Kitchen Building Sim 2000" because I spent my entire $70,000 budget on the island.

Of course, a second sitting room (without television) is warranted. Personally, speaking, I'm team Prince.

I wonder why rich people do this. Surely they must know it's tacky right? That it's giving Liberace? (Ask your parents, kids.) That it's giving Art.com 75% off sale if you enter the code ROMANEMPIRE.

Something about the bathroom really just says "You know what, I give up. Who cares?" But this is not even the worst part of the bathroom...

Not gonna lie, this activates my flight or fight response.

If you remember Raggedy Ann you should probably schedule your first colonoscopy.

Anyways, that does it for the interior. Let's take a nice peek at what's out back.

I love mowing in a line. I love monomaniacal tasks that are lethal to gophers.

Alright, that does it for this edition of McMansion Hell. Back to the book mines for me. Bonus posts up on Patreon soon.

If you like this post and want more like it, support McMansion Hell on Patreon for as little as $1/month for access to great bonus content including a discord server, extra posts, and livestreams.

Not into recurring payments? Try the tip jar! Student loans just started back up!

#architecture #design #mcmansion #mcmansions #ugly houses #interior design #bad architecture #mcmansion hell #illinois #2000s

[omegaphilosophia]

Demarcating Science: Criteria for Distinguishing Science from Pseudoscience

The demarcation problem, which is the challenge of distinguishing science from pseudoscience or non-science, has been a topic of debate among philosophers of science for many years. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem, but several proposed criteria and approaches have been suggested over time. Here are some potential solutions and criteria for addressing the demarcation problem:

Falsifiability (Karl Popper): According to Karl Popper, a scientific theory should be considered scientific if it is falsifiable. This means that for a theory to be scientific, there must be a way to test it empirically, and in principle, it should be possible to find evidence that could potentially refute or falsify the theory. If a theory is not falsifiable, it falls outside the realm of science.

Empirical Evidence: Another criterion for demarcating science from pseudoscience is the reliance on empirical evidence. Scientific claims should be based on empirical observations, experimentation, and data. If a purported scientific theory lacks empirical support and relies primarily on anecdotal evidence or testimonials, it may be considered pseudoscientific.

Predictive Power: Scientific theories often have predictive power. They can make testable predictions about future observations or experiments. The ability of a theory to make accurate and successful predictions can be seen as a hallmark of scientific validity.

Methodological Rigor: Science typically adheres to well-established and rigorous methods of inquiry, including the scientific method. The presence of systematic and well-documented research methods, peer review processes, and a commitment to critical evaluation can help distinguish science from non-science.

Progressive Research Program (Imre Lakatos): Imre Lakatos proposed a demarcation criterion based on research programs. He argued that scientific research programs should be judged by their ability to generate novel research questions and solutions. A scientific program that continually generates new questions and adapts to new evidence is considered progressive.

Consensus and Peer Review: Consensus among scientists and peer review processes can be used as indicators of scientific validity. Scientific claims that have withstood scrutiny, debate, and rigorous evaluation by experts in the field are more likely to be considered scientific.

Naturalism: Some philosophers argue for naturalism as a criterion, suggesting that scientific theories should be rooted in natural causes and explanations. Any theories invoking supernatural or unobservable entities may be considered pseudoscientific.

Historical Precedent: Examining historical cases of scientific advancement and the criteria used by scientists in the past to distinguish science from pseudoscience can provide insights into demarcation.

It's important to note that these criteria are not always clear-cut, and there may be gray areas where it is challenging to make definitive judgments. Additionally, some philosophers argue that the demarcation problem may not have a single, universal solution and that it may vary depending on the context and the specific scientific discipline under consideration. As a result, the demarcation problem remains a subject of ongoing debate and discussion in the philosophy of science.

#philosophy #ontology #epistemology #metaphysics #knowledge #learning #education #chatgpt #Demarcation Problem #Karl Popper #Philosophy of Science #Scientific Method #Falsifiability #Empirical Evidence #Predictive Power #Methodological Rigor #Imre Lakatos #Peer Review #Naturalism in Science #Philosophy of Scientific Inquiry #Pseudoscience #Scientific Criteria #Progress in Science

[opencommunion]

one reason (white) queer people misuse the term homonationalism is that they see queerness (or whatever you want to call it) as naturally disaffiliated with the US empire. so they understand homonationalism as a divergence from a natural mutual antagonism between queerness and empire. they talk about homonationalism as if it's an exclusively "normie gay" project, and as if it's a divergence from, rather than a consequence of, the overall trajectory of western lgbtqia+ politics. ironically it’s that self-exceptionalization by the queer, on the basis of their queerness, that imbricates them in homonationalism. they produce themselves as a homonationalist subject, and reproduce homonationalism, every time they articulate their queerness as individualized freedom. and Puar actually anticipates all of this in her original theorization of homonationalism in Terrorist Assemblages, and that's why it really helps to go to the text instead of osmosing queer theory solely through tumblr posts (esp when tumblr is so white and the queer theorists are not): "Some may strenuously object to the suggestion that queer identities, like their 'less radical' counterparts, homosexual, gay, and lesbian identities, are also implicated in ascendant white American nationalist formations, preferring to see queerness as singularly transgressive of identity norms. This focus on transgression, however, is precisely the term by which queerness narrates its own sexual exceptionalism.

While we can point to the obvious problems with the emancipatory, missionary pulses of certain (U.S., western) feminisms and of gay and lesbian liberation, queerness has its own exceptionalist desires: exceptionalism is a founding impulse, indeed the very core of a queerness that claims itself as an anti-, trans-, or unidentity. The paradigm of gay liberation and emancipation has produced all sorts of troubling narratives: about the greater homophobia of immigrant communities and communities of color, about the stricter family values and mores in these communities, about a certain prerequisite migration from home, about coming-out teleologies. We have less understanding of queerness as a biopolitical project, one that both parallels and intersects with that of multiculturalism, the ascendancy of whiteness, and may collude with or collapse into liberationist paradigms. While liberal underpinnings serve to constantly recenter the normative gay or lesbian subject as exclusively liberatory, these same tendencies labor to insistently recenter the normative queer subject as an exclusively transgressive one. Queerness here is the modality through which 'freedom from norms' becomes a regulatory queer ideal that demarcates the ideal queer. ... I am thinking of queerness as exceptional in a way that is wedded to individualism and the rational, liberal humanist subject, what [Sara] Ahmed denotes as 'attachments' and what I would qualify as deep psychic registers of investment that we often cannot account for and are sometimes best seen by others rather than ourselves. 'Freedom from norms' resonates with liberal humanism’s authorization of the fully self-possessed speaking subject, untethered by hegemony or false consciousness, enabled by the life/stylization offerings of capitalism, rationally choosing modern individualism over the ensnaring bonds of family. In this problematic definition of queerness, individual agency is legible only as resistance to norms rather than complicity with them, thus equating resistance and agency.

... Queerness as automatically and inherently transgressive enacts specific forms of disciplining and control, erecting celebratory queer liberal subjects folded into life (queerness as subject) against the sexually pathological and deviant populations targeted for death (queerness as population). Within that orientation of regulatory transgression, queer operates as an alibi for complicity with all sorts of other identity norms, such as nation, race, class, and gender, unwittingly lured onto the ascent toward whiteness. ... To be excused from a critique of one’s own power manipulations is the appeal of white liberalism, the underpinnings of the ascendancy of whiteness, which is not a conservative, racist formation bent on extermination, but rather an insidious liberal one proffering an innocuous inclusion into life."

Jasbir K. Puar, Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times (2007)

#library #imperialism

[sygol]

freedom for palenstine, fuck israel, fuck the US, fuck NATO and the "west", i HATE nations. fuck facists. i love blacks jews mexicans arabs and all races of ppl, i believe in a future where the "purity of the white race" vanishes. faggots and trannys 4ever. we should not live in cultures where people are demarcated by sex and race, that shit does not make any sense, its important for me to know who will collect fish and who will fix my shoes, not if someone has a cock or if their skin color is different. i love homeless ppl, disabled ppl, fat ppl, and the mentally ill (especially the really crazy bitchez) christianity is the religion of colonizers, if u practice, you better keep that shit chill and not be all weird about morality and fate to others around you. "kink" is an entirely arbritrary distinction and children seeing sex or nudity is important for their understanding of the world and development, western family structures are terrible, it isolates children and perpetuates familial abuse, 18 yr olds are not magically "adults" and vica versa, our understanding of adolescence is arbritrarily dictated by the system we find ourselves in, in the US, children are used as "sinless vessels" to enact control. abortions are epic, fuck psychiatry, abolish prisons, no cops, no military, drugs should not be a legal issue, help and support should be accessible, housing for all, food for all. fuck ad campaigns, fuck intellectual property, fuck corporations, fuck nuclear power and electric cars, fuck car dependent infastructure, the only futuristic world we are moving towards with technological advancement is a world in flames. there is no coming "utopia" or "rapture", we must make the best of what we have now and address the suffering of the world. slavery and the strip mining and resource extraction of the world must stop, i don't need gizmos and 2 day shipping and clothes that fall apart and tv media and special coffee, i need love

you have a problem with this? leave, unfollow. i wont debate you, i don't care what you think, fuck off

#any anons or msgs disagreeing or asking me how i think the world needs to change to reflect this #blocked. i don't care and it's not my role to explain it to you

[furiarossa]

Piebaldism refers to the absence of mature melanin-forming cells (melanocytes) in certain areas of the skin and hair. It is a rare autosomal dominant disorder of melanocyte development.

Common characteristics include a congenital white forelock, scattered normal pigmented and hypopigmented macules and a triangular shaped depigmented patch on the forehead. There is nevertheless great variation in the degree and pattern of presentation, even within affected families.

Although "partial albinism" is a synonym for piebaldism,[3] it is a fundamentally different condition from true albinism. The vision problems associated with albinism are not usually present as eye pigmentation is normal. Piebaldism differs from albinism in that the affected cells maintain the ability to produce pigment but have that specific function turned off. In albinism the cells lack the ability to produce pigment altogether.

Hypopigmented patches of variable extension, irregular, bilateral, symmetrical or asymmetrical, well demarcated, can also be located along the midline on the chin, chest, abdomen and middle third of the limbs. Subsequently, you may see the appearance of hyperpigmented patches in the center or at the edges of the hypopigmented patches or, less commonly, on normal skin.

Piebald hypopigmentation usually does not affect hands, and since we always see Vlad covered from neck to feet (personally we tend to not consider much the informations that we get from the third season, everything is so silly...), can it be possible for him to have the hypopigmentated pattern on his body? Y'know, typical piebald pattern?

(Illustration from this document)

(A little unrelated curiosity, and I don't know why I find it amusing and interesting, but Aldo Moro, one of the most famous and important Italian prime ministers, was piebald and he's on the Italian wikipedia page for piebaldism)

#danny phantom #vlad masters #pondering stuff #the silly worldbuilding? #the silly headcanon? #piebaldism #vlad plasmius #he looks piebald even in ghost form

[fatehbaz]

Most books on the Bengal delta begin by describing it as “riverine,” [...] the land is the product of fluvial action [...]. [I]n thinking about Bengal, one tends to imagine the ricepaddy fields [...]. It was not so all the time; Bengal was never really a land of farming [...]. Traveling through Bengal in the eighteenth century, the French traveler Orme saw a highly sophisticated water-based economy - the blessing of rivers - irrigated [...] by the monsoon rains and annual flooding. [...] The rivers were not just channels of water; they carried a thriving trade, transporting people and goods from one part of the delta to another. Today, Bengal is generally seen as comprising lush green rice paddies [...]. Rivers are often presented as causing immense grief [through seasonal flooding] [...]. Clearly, there is a mismatch here. [...] How (and when) did Bengal’s social milieu transform from water-based to land-based? [...] Bengal’s essential character as a fluid landscape was changed during the colonial times through legal interventions that were aimed at stabilizing lands and waters, at creating permanent boundaries between them, and at privileging land over water, in a land of shifting river courses, inundated irrigation, and river-based life.

Such a separation of land and water was made possible not just by physical constructions but first and foremost by engineering a legal framework that gradually entered the popular vocabulary. [...] BADA, which stands for the Bengal Alluvion and Diluvion Act, [was] a law passed by the colonial British rulers in 1825, following the Permanent Settlement of 1793. [...] The environment of Bengal can be described as hybrid, where the demarcation between land and water is neither well-defined nor permanent. Nature here represents a borderless world, or at best one in which borders are not fixed lines on the ground demarcating a territory, but are negotiated spaces or zones. Such “[...] spaces” comprise “not [only] lines of separation but zones of interaction…transformation, transgression, and possibility” (Howitt 2001, 240).

---

Current boundaries of land and water are as much products of history as nature and the colonial rule of Bengal played a key role in changing the ideas and valuations of both. [...] The debate on what constituted productive and unproductive uses of land preceded the application of English property law not only to establish permanent zamindari (a common term for the system of landlordism) settlement of land tenure in India, but also to valorize land in what had essentially been a land-water hybrid environment. The colonial land revenue system, by seeing land as more productive (being able to yield revenue) and useful, began the long historical process of branding the rivers of Bengal as uncivil and in need of control. [...] The problem with deltaic land is its non-permanent nature, as silt is stored by rivers: rivers do not always flow along a certain route [...] The laws that the colonial British brought to Bengal, however, were founded upon the thinking of land as being fixed in place. [...]

---

Experiments to fine-tune the land-based economy began in 1760 when Bengal, and its ceded territories, came under the East India Company rule. [...] To entrench the system, the Permanent Settlement of 1793 created zamindars (or landlords) “in perpetuity” - meaning for good. The system was aimed at reducing the complexities of revenue collection due to erratically shifting lands and unpredictable harvests in a monsoon-dependent area [...]. Alarmed at the possibility of dismemberment of their estates, the zamindars decided to bind tenants to the same conditions to which they themselves were bound by the colonial government, and one of their actions was to create patni tenures or perpetual leases. [...]

It also meant that the right to collect rent from the tenants, often through the use of force, devolved to the lower layers, making the upper-layer zamindars more of a juridical rather than a real social entity in the eyes of the peasants. The patnidars, finding how much trouble this arrangement took off their own back, created dar-patnis or patnis of the second degree [...]. The dar-patnis created se-patnis or patnis of the third degree. The East India Company, therefore, had to legalize, through Regulation VIII of 1819, the creation of such formations, thus giving a de jure recognition post facto [...].

The regulation, although innocuous and simple, was of great historical potency: it became the key that unlocked the door to environmental and socio-economic changes of unparalleled magnitude. From a riverine community, within a hundred years, Bengal was transformed into a land-based community. [...]

---

The meaning of property also changed as a result of this law: the cultivators began to lose the right to occupy the land that they had enjoyed since ancient times because the colonial British had enumerated the characteristics of the zamindari property as an absolute right of proprietorship in the soil [...].

[T]he Company then began to contemplate the problematic issue of legalizing the fictional entities of chars [...]. The law that was created for this purpose -- and still rules the rights of ownership of charlands -- is the Bengal Alluvion and Diluvion Regulation Act (BADA) of 1825. [...] BADA was meant to establish a set of rules to guide the courts to determine the claims to land “gained by alluvion” or accretion, and the resurfaced land previously lost by diluvion or erosion. Even if one takes it for granted that chars are technically non-land in the sense that they exist within river banks, the difficulty remains that when a piece of land is lost to bank erosion, it may not arise in exactly the same location or arise at all within the foreseeable future. This means the owner has no certainty that they will get it back when it resurfaces or when another char rises nearby. [...] Thus, the key to establishing land rights in the court of law remained the payment of rent, even on diluviated land. [...] Such a rule will, however, not be applicable if a river suddenly changes its course and separates a considerable piece of land from one to join it with another farm, but without destroying the identity of the land so removed -- thus preventing legal recognition. New accretions in large navigable rivers would be the property of the state [...].

---

All text above by: Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt. “Commodified Land, Dangerous Water: Colonial Perceptions of Riverine Bengal.” In: “Asian Environments: Connections across Borders, Landscapes, and Times.” Edited by Ursula Munster, Shiho Satsuka, and Gunnel Cederlof. RCC Perspectives, no. 3, 17-22. 2014. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

#summary of how britain took over bengal #calcutta #sundarbans #abolition #ecology #imperial #colonial #mangroves

[pokemoncenter]

On bonding with Dragon-types as a non-specialist

(The following is a transcription of my Tuesday lecture at the Dragon Conference:)

Dragon-type Pokemon are one of the most vague and misunderstood types in existence. So far, rather than abilities, the Dragon-typing generally refers to physical characteristics, temperament, and predation, along with a weakness to cold, as though they are cold-blooded.

What this means is that Dragon-type Pokemon actually have very few traits in common with each other, and thus there is little that can be done to have a foolproof way of bonding with all of them without fail.

The most often-seen commonalities between Dragon-types is a sense of strong pride, a strong instinct for claiming and defending territory, and longevity that surpasses any other similar Pokemon.

The pride and longevity combine into a problem when unprepared Trainers attempt to capture and use a Dragon-type Pokemon. As a result, many cultures around the world have their own methods of trying to cultivate a bond with these Dragon-types as a village rather than as an individual- While a single Dragon will almost always outlive a single human, by having the Dragons instead bond with the institution of a village or a group of people, a proper bond can be created. Blackthorn City in Johto is a prime example, living in harmony with their Dratini-line Pokemon.

Pokemon who are bonded with a location or settlement in this way are often thought of as guardian Pokemon. They begin to view the people they have bonded to as their territory, and will fiercely defend it. This brings me to my primary points in instruction on bonding.

As a veterinarian, it is my duty to care for Pokemon, and earn their trust as quickly as possible so I may assess their health. Thus, it is vital to be able to assess a Pokemon's personality, individual characteristics, and the like, as quickly as possible. However, you can still supplement this with basic understanding of their species' needs.

A Dragon-type Pokemon in the wild will often have its own territory, and even kept by a Trainer, it will generally have an area that it will be able to call its own. The most important thing is that, for a Dragon-type Pokemon, you must never enter their territory without first gaining its trust. That is considered an act of aggression, and they will try to remove you. While it is possible to bond with a Pokemon in this way, as many of our specialists here will no doubt be thinking, the bond of battle is best attempted by Dragon specialists, and those who are willing to risk harm to their own body to bond in this way.

A clear demarcation of territory is necessary if you are attempting to bond with a dragon. I have here a Dreepy lent to me for purpose of this lecture, but I have not once met this Dreepy before today. As you can see, it is quite curious. However, there is this line on the ground- A mark of territory. A Dreepy is often nervous to venture outside of the territory protected by a Dragapult, for fear of predation or other threats.

As you can see, the way to handle it is simple- First, you approach. Any signs of threat or hostility would be a sign to back away, but the Dreepy seems all right with my presence. Then, I wait here near, but not at, the edge of its territory.

This communicates to the Dragon that I am not a threat. Dragons have immense pride and territorial instincts- Thus, the greatest way to approach is to simply not be a threat to either. By allowing the Dragon to set the pace of the encounter, you allow them to keep their pride. By not invading their territory, you do not trigger those instincts. Thus, a dragon will feel contentedly in control. By leaving the 'territory' you have denoted for the Dragon's use empty, it can also retreat there at any moment if it so desires.

Through this, the Dreepy has, as you see now, felt curious enough to come out and curl up in my arms here. It may leave again at its own will, or choose to stay here. But now it has bonded with me, at least a bit- I have earned enough of its trust that it will stay with me at least for a time.

The key to bonding with Pokemon of any type is to speak with them in their own language. To communicate to their instincts, in ways they can understand. Dragon-types are the most difficult to reach a mutual understanding in this way with, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. The most important thing is that a Dragon-type demands respect- For its boundaries, and for its own self.

Thank you all for your time.

#pkmn irl #pokeblogging #unreality #dragon con pkmn irl

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil creates task force to unblock indigenous land demarcations

The priority is to address pending areas in three states

In response to the primary indigenous demand, the Brazilian government has announced the creation of a task force aimed at expediting the approval of pending land demarcation processes, subject to presidential approval. The priority lies in addressing four specific areas.

The approvals were anticipated to have been signed by the president last week. However, the government suspended the decision due to issues surrounding non-indigenous occupation in certain areas of these lands.

The pending lands have a lengthy history of demarcation disputes. These include Morro dos Cavalos and Toldo Imbu in the state of Santa Catarina, Potiguara de Monte-Mor in Paraíba state, and Xukuru Kariri in Alagoas state.

"These are political problems that also need to be addressed," stated the Minister for Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara. "We cannot proceed with approvals while disregarding the non-indigenous occupation within this territory." The task force, under the coordination of the minister, will comprise representatives from various ministries, along with the national indigenous authority Funai.

Continue reading.

#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #environmental justice #indigenous rights #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

[vyvilha]

"Rusalki are souls of maidens who died an untimely and often unnatural death, or of those who died in the liminal period between betrothal and marriage. [...] Rusalki are women who did not (or could not, because they died tragically in maidenhood) successfully complete the most important ritual transition in their life and, therefore, they remained somewhere in between and never made it to the other side.”

"The central problem of this category of deceased is their lack of a proper funeral. Because of their unclean status, they were not worthy of a Christian funeral ceremony at the cemetery, because their burial in the consecrated ground might cause drought and famine."

"When their body was found, they were literally “set aside” and buried (or just thrown carelessly) on demarcated places, such as at crossroads, on the boundary strips between fields, alongside roads, in woods and forests (or on the boundaries of forest and field). Sometimes, they were thrown into swamps or rivers. In other words, they are always buried on places distant, marginal, boundary, or otherwise liminal."

From "Rusalki: Anthropology of time, death and sexuality in Slavic folklore" by Jiří Dynda

#slavic mythology #slavic folklore #ukrainian folklore #ukrainian art #rusalka #rusalki #rusalky #folk christianity #varka's art #ancestral veneration

[opencommunion]

"The main bulk of the land’s history, the last two thousand years, that constitute almost the whole documented history of the land is not taken as a significant piece of the land’s history; the main history of this time, according to the Zionist historiography, is located outside Palestine where Jews lived, who regarded, supposedly, Palestine as their homeland. Their history is summarized simply as their efforts to keep the link with the ‘mother land’, their hoping to return to it, and their striving to realize that hope.

According to this history, Jews outside Palestine had no more important business, for about two thousand years, than returning to the homeland, experiencing in the interim an interruption to their collective life. At the same time the land, in its turn, was brought to a sudden standstill, waiting to see the return of its real owners, with no authentic intervening experience of the local population, people, civilization or any character that might demonstrate that the land had any owner other than Jews. This history, which is called ‘mythistory’ due to its mythical foundations, pays no serious attention to the problems and challenges of this story, and represents it as historical fact."

Seyed Hadi Borhani, Textbooks on Israel-Palestine: The Politics of Education and Knowledge in the West (2023)

"From the outset, the Zionist movement shaped the collective memory of the Jewish nation, forging and constructing images of the past regarding the nation's origins and its development over time. Like every national metanar­rative, the Zionist one recreated certain segments of the past and is therefore inherently fragmented. It demarcated Jewish history on the basis of the connection with the land and developed a territorial consciousness. The past was divided into two main periods: the ancient past — referring to the exis­tence of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel before the destruction of the temple —and the period of exile, when the connection with the Land of Israel was severed. By constituting 'the exile' as one metacategory, the Zionist narrative obliterated the history of the separate Jewish communities and the different territories on which it unfolded. The period of sovereignty (in particular, the kingdoms of David and Solomon) was portrayed as a pos­itive time, evoking nostalgia, a time to be remembered and a time to return to. The exilic period was downgraded and defined as a lacuna, a dark interim space bereft of political sovereignty and therefore a time to be forgotten (i.e., an absence of historical memory). A void therefore loomed in the ages-long period between the ancient time and the resurgence of revivified national­ism. Nevertheless, this did not negate the Jewish people's continuous exis­tence and unity and its persistent yearning for Zion. On the contrary, the ex­istence of the void enabled a single historiographic narrative line to be stretched from the ancient to the modern era. Upon its establishment, the state of Israel expropriated the multiple exilic memories of its citizens and re­cast them as the national memory."

Yehouda Shenhav, The Arab Jews: A Postcolonial Reading of Nationalism, Religion, and Ethnicity (2006)

#palestine #history #zionism #library

[sygol]

i feel like i used to be around a lot of cat girls¹ but now its like a lot of dog girls², i wonder if that says something about like my taste in people³

1. it sounds weird to say "cat person" or "cat aligned being" etc but like i obviously dont believe in gender, theres just something succinct about a "cat girl" or a "dog boy" hell it can be a "dog girlboy" but theres no way to like include all of these alignments into one mentioning of the term, and well if i just started using terms like "puppy" then it would introduce the ambiguity of if im talking about people acting like animals or actual animals

2. allegedly the earliest known mention of the cat girl is from the edo period, where an influx of stories about mythological shapeshifting cat prostitutes found its way into culture, in my mind i feel like the link between cat girls and sex must have existed even before this, but who can say? also i know this foot note is on the part about the dog girls but because of the linear nature of reading in this format i cant talk about this note prior to the one (1) introducing the quandary of gender

3. i wonder if there is a shift in the zeitgeist, i feel like dog girls are a new trend, like we've definitely had wolf girls for a long time, but now we have a prominent domesticated version of it, this same distinction doesnt exist for "catgirls" though because cats cannot be domesticated, yet because of the popularity of cat girls in popculture there also exists an aesthetical cutif-ied version of catgirls that shift the meaning from the original form of embodiment, i dont really see a problem with this though, demarcations change, we should just make "panther girls" into a more significant thing to compensate in the opposite direction

#ns #t4

[ramenheim]

About prev reblogs: I have never seen TME used to complain about & demarcate cis men's behaviours.

Despite the term ostensibly lumping together *almost any gender configuration that isn't binarily trans woman*, the only times it's used recently is to complain about (trans) ppl that get lumped in with cis women (as intersex ppl trans or otherwise are *never* factored into this dichotomy anyways), including cis women themselves.

I have never once seen it used to delineate trans women from cis men, even as it gets used to delineate cis women's experiences from trans women's experiences. I have only seen /haphazard/ acknowledgement of non-binary experiences included in TMA, but only really as an afterthought or when it's framed as the precursor to 'fully realizing trans womanhood'. I've only seen intersex folks brought up if they elect to use the terms TME/TMA for themselves, with bizarro interrogations into 'how' they were raised/had their genitals 'corrected' only once they individually disagreed with the terminology or had a confounding opinion in a public discussion.

It is regularly used to delineate trans men from trans women; but its users almost uniformly deride any attempt by trans men to coin a term to describe their own unique combinatory transphobia that isn't TME; again despite TME literally just supposing to mean 'transmisogyny-exempt'.... so why would it be used to discuss trans men's *unique* experiences with hatred directed at the fact that they either "are/aren't (real) men" by anyone who wants them to suffer?

It's been *changed* into hastily recycled AGAB terminology bc of wider recognition of the flaws with /that/ but without the driving flaws of that **tool for analysis** ever being fully addressed; and therefore has gotten subsumed into the 'new euphemism' for the Innie vs Outie false dichotomy as its usage became more widespread.

I think it still is a useful discussion tool ONLY when it's viewed *as a tool* and not some inherent marker of identity. It is DEFINITELY just bigotry when used as a NOUN that has negative behaviours ascribed to it, esp in the context of complaining about trans men** as a whole homogenized group, instead of highlighting individual behaviours/belief systems for the harm they contribute to against TMA trans/nb ppl.

Young queers really need to stop swallowing the tradcath radfem juice of "Women Pure + Good & Men Bad + Evil" [**that tumblr feminism has always had a problem with] and acting like you aren't being a transphobic shitheel by adding the word Trans in front of it-- & This is ESPECIALLY a problem when non-trans "Allies" do this, as it sets up trans women for failure whenever they make a mistake/can be reframed as 'being a cause-traitor' since women are punished more harshly for any percieved failure of Righteousness, AND allows them further to enact their unbridled transphobia onto trans men (& enbys/genderqweirdos) and pass it off as 'being an ally to trans women'..... despite them just being extremely transphobic (+ misogynistic + homphobic + intersexist) & then hiding behind """"TMAs"""" as a negative PR meatshield.

TL;DR if you are using TME to mean (nc)AFAB in vent posts, just have the guts to fucking use that as the word & see how it reads then.

(**since transmasc & transfem do not imply either a 'starting' or 'finalized' gender state; they are personal adjectives in and of themselves. Please do not warp them into new innie vs outie binary divides).

[**see related: the raw ass treatment of 'AMAB enbys' on here and in similar online/irl "feminist" environments. (Which was one of the driving factors behind the original TMA/TME coinage & is where I still find useful inter-trans discussions utilizing it as a term; importantly I don't think the term should stop being used altogether!!)]

#(nc is the non-coercive perisex gendering to seperate it from the coercive gendering that intersex babies face) #(I don't think that's the term but it's what I'm trying to describe; I can edit if there is a better way to say that!) #also it's not above my notoce that most of the women using it in a shitty way came out of incel heavy spaces like. #if you KNOW you came from misogyny heavy spaces & you KNOW about the ideological pendulum effect-- #then you should take more time to step back and analyse WHY you think certain ppl are '''acceptable targets''' to lash out at #bc none of these bitter ass TME posts EVER complain abt behaviours or spaces associated with cis men #but DO complain abt spaces associated with 'women and women-lite' and have a specific spite towards ppl who celebrate queer men #it's not that cis men & their hobbies/subcultures are an OK target; but their noticable exclus from complaints is Informative in'n'of itsel #anyways if you see someone talking about their experiences with transmisogyny using it to talk about themselves-- that's not what this's abt #if you see someone noun-ing tme to complain about 'trans afabs' oppressing women then you've found a trans radfem & should act accordingly

[ariesmusingz]

૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა    ╱    THE OFFICE SENTENCE STARTERS ( created using s1 ep1 of the office. feel free to adjust to fit your muse. )

"how are things going at the library?"

"i couldn't close it"

"so you've come to the master for guidance?"

"is that what you're saying"

"you called me in here"

"let me show you how it's done"

"i'd like to speak to your office manager"

"i'm sorry, my mistake"

"she had a very low voice"

"probably a smoker"

"so this is my kingdom"

"if you think she's cute now you should have seen her a couple of years ago"

"any messages?"

"how many times have i told you that there's a special filing cabinet for things from corporate?"

"people say i'm the best boss"

"i'm boring myself just talking about this"

"he still loves that after seven years"

"was there anything you wanted to add to the agenda?""i'm sorry, what?"

"i didn't get an agenda"

"i faxed it over to you this morning"

"did we get a fax this morning?"

"why isn't it in my hand?"

"a company runs on efficiency of communication?"

"why didn't i get it?"

"you put it in the garbage can"

"that was a joke"

"that was actually my brother's"

"do you want to look at mine?"

"we haven't made any decisions yet"

"it's up to either you or him to convince me"

"this does mean there is going to be downsizing"

"it is a real bitch"

"i certainly wouldn't wish it or my men or women"

"how long do we have?"

"do you mind if i take it?"

"that's not appropriate"

"i don't know what you mean"

"i've been meaning to ask her one question"

"that's horrifying"

"do you think you can keep a lid on this for now?"

"don't want to worry people unnecessarily"

"it will not leave this office"

"guilty as charged"

"right here, my vibe"

"that's a guy thing"

"i don't think it would be the worst thing if they let me go"

"i don't think it's many girl's dream to be a receptionist"

"i like to do illustrations, mostly water colour"

"let me call you right back"

"i can't concentrate"

"it's not your desk"

"one word, two syllables: demarcation"

"safety violation"

"i could fall and pierce an organ"

"i have no problem with that"

"i even brought it up on my interview"

"i say bring it on"

"you still have messages for yesterday"

"relax, everything is under control"

"that's important, right"

"i should run to answer it"

"that would be a good salary for me, don't you think?"

"just be professional"

"i think i am a role model here"

"i think i garner other people's respect"

"please can we have a meeting in the conference room?"

"it's really beyond words"

"it's really incalculable"

"i know there's some kind of rumours out there"

"i should know first"

"can you just tell please?"

"just a whisper in my ear"

"i'm about to tell everybody"

"do you want me to tell them?"

"you don't know what it is"

"you can tell them with my permission"

"permission granted, go ahead"

"corporate has deemed it appropriate to enforce an ultimatum upon me"

"it's my first day so i really don't know"

"it could be out of your hands"

"it won't be out of my hands"

"can you promise that?"

"yeah it is a promise and frankly i'm a little insulted that you have to keep asking"

"she did say that it could be this branch"

"maybe you should stick to the ongoing confidentiality agreement of meetings"

"information is power"

"so you can't say for sure whether it's us or them?"

"you did not see me in there"

"i'm the head of this family and you ain't gonna be messing with my children"

"yeah, he's onto me"

"watch out for this guy!"

"nice to meet you"

"introduce yourself, be polite"

"that is his profit!"

"i've got some photos"

"judge is in session"

"he put my stuff in jello again"

"that's real professional, thanks"

"that is the third time and it wasn't funny the first time"

"people are taking advantage because it's so relaxed"

"you have to eat it out of there"

"you can be witness"

"can you reprimand him please?"

"how do you know it was me?"

"are you going to discipline him or not?"

"ooh discipline, kinky!"

"i'm sorry cause i've always been your biggest flan"

"you should have put him in custard-y"

"yes, the new guy! he scores"

"what i'm most concerned with is damage to company property"

"do you wanna go out at the end of the week for a drink?"

"when are we going out?"

"we've been engaged about three years"

"do you mind if i go out for a drink with these guys?"

"let's get out of here and go home"

"we are going out and it could be a good chance for you to see what people are like outside the office"

"just tell her i'll talk to her then"

"do i think I'll be invited to the wedding?"

"sometimes we play hard when we should be working hard"

"i am a friend first and a boss second. probably an entertainer third"

"you are going to be my accomplice"

"just follow my lead"

"can you come in here for a sec?"

"just have a seat"

"i was gonna call you in anyway"

"you have made my life so much easier in that i am going to have to let you go first"

"what am i supposed to have stolen?"

"what are those worth?"

"you steal a thousand post it notes then you've made a profit margin"

"are you serious?"

"i can't believe this"

#rp memes #roleplay memes #rph #rpt #rp sentence meme #rp sentence starters #rp sentence prompts #rp promts #content: mine #memes: mine