#do they still exist or is the country that occupies that land in the present day meant to represent them? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

youaretheunicorn · 7 months

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(useful links at the bottom)

just to be completely clear about this, i support a free palestine and see israel as what it is: an apartheid state that has been colonizing and oppressing the palestinian people, who were and alway will be the rightful owners of the land.

there is no use in saying "israel just shouldn't have existed in the first place" because that has happened and we're in the aftermath. wasting time on "but" and "if" is counterproductive and adds nothing to the very real very present problem. which is genocide.

israel is actively committing genocide, among all kind of war crimes and crimes against humanity. they just bombed a hospital. they bombed people trying to flee (after telling gaza to evacuate, mind you), they cut energy, water, internet.

this isn't just "war", it's not something that happened in response to an attack. it's been decades in the making, palestinians have been suffering under a rigid apartheid and oppressive state for decades.

let's also be clear about one thing: hamas is NOT palestine. saying that is an extremely dangerous generalization who has already gotten thousands of people dead. as of now, 1900 Palestinians have been killed, while 1200 Israelis were killed in the original attack by hamas. this is NOT "a response", it's not "consequences". it's genocide. it's deliberate. they finally had the perfect reason to full force attack palestine and make it look like they (the Palestinians) are the perpetrators while Israelis are the victims.

all the videos, pictures, etc you will see (or have already seen, mostly on twitter), are a perfect example of propaganda. that video going around of "hamas recording themselves as they dig out water pipes to make cannons", that's propaganda. the "hamas putting kids in cages", that's propaganda (and also false, it's been proven it was actually the idf putting palestinian children in cages, i believe in '82).

let's be smart, who the hell records their war crimes in 4k and shares them proudly? oh, wait. the president of Israel has been doing that for the last couple days. he's been posting the aftermath (and the during) of the bombing in gaza, not to mention how he literally compared palestinians to "human animals".

this is by-the-book dehumanization and the west has been enabling it.

let's also be clear that a pro palestine stance does not equal antisemitism, and people who say that (official persons as well) are once again manipulating the public. to believe in freedom and independence of a state is not antisemitism. and to oppress and occupy a state is not "freedom".

hamas is not palestine.

supporting palestine isn't inherently antisemitic.

we could also talk about how many european countries feel somehow empowered to support israel, given their stance in the past about the jewish population. let's not take that for granted. as an italian, i can confidently say my country is "completing a chore" and does not care about the jewish people in the least. antisemitic attacks happen almost daily and the government has done nothing to address that. the political party in power right now (FDI, fratelli d'Italia - brothers/siblings of italy) is still proudly showing the "fiamma" (flame) in their symbols, which was part of the older "version" of their party (you guessed it right, it was the fascist party). the leader of the country is a raging fascist. she does not care about jewish people. this country does not care about jewish people. but it feels entitled to support and it feels easy, now, seeing as israel is the one committing all the atrocities. italy loves its genocides.

like many other countries in europe and all over the world: take a look at what countries have in the past couple years derailed into right wing politics and check again which countries are in support of israel at the moment.

the genocide the palestinians are facing is one the west is actively supporting and enabling. speaking up, out, marching, sharing trustworthy news, these are few of the things we can do. so do it.

edit: added links to relief funds in support of the people of palestine.

PCRF: palestinian children relief fund

MAP: medical aid for palestinians

#palestine #israel #free palestine #palestine israel conflict

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mastcrmarksman · 1 month

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616 / main verse + divergence.

Finally writing my 616 verse up. Most 616 centric comics up from Clint's original appearance in the 60s up until the 2016 era of comics are canon and then from 2016 onwards, we start going heavily canon divergent from Civil War 2 and after. Instances of my 616 verse are specific and separate between rp partners, each post, and ships but some things remain always canon.

-> CW2 is handled very different and leans more into Government/Corrupt Politicians versus Superheroes. Clint does kill Bruce Banner, he does go on trial, and his reasoning is a lot more personal to himself and his long friendship with Bruce Banner; no one but Bruce and him truly know why he did it.

-> Occupy Avengers is vastly divergent, but the team of Red Wolf, Clint Barton, Nighthawk, Tilda, and Wheels going around solving problems does happen.

-> We ignore Secret Empire's existence and other marvel events from 2016 to Devil's Reign.

-> Kate's West Coast Avengers does happen and is mostly the same.

-> Carnage event with Clint, Cap, Spiderman, Logan, and Thing does happen.

-> Hawkeye: Freefall is canon and mostly untouched in changes made

-> Thunderbolts 2022 is largely changed that should it even count as happening? Clint is not leader of this TBs, but he is on the team

-> The jury is out on Black Widow & Hawkeye (2024), but signs point to non-canon or heavily divergent.

-> The rest of this post is detailing the this blog canon-divergent events from 2016 comics to 2022 comics.

Following the events of his acquittal for the killing of Bruce, Clint Barton goes on a long trip across the country. He travels from state to state, bar hopping, and trying to solve every day problems of average citizens. He ends with small team of lost souls along the way. His roadside hero days end when Kate Bishop calls for his help in setting up her own West Coast Avengers. Eventually, the call comes in for him to help Captain America with a crisis which lands him back in New York, which he had been staying away from.

This goes poorly as the city has changed, such as Wilson Fisk is now mayor. New York and what has happened to Superheroes is a big trigger for him, and it leads to excessive drinking and vigilantism. The pardoning of a known crime boss he had just busted leads to Clint starting guerilla warfare, while masked as Ronin himself, against the Hood. After his defeat of the Hood, Clint flees New York ago and goes on another soul searching journey, now a pariah amongst many of his friends.

The next time that Clint returns to New York, is after an accident and crisis of life he had while on the road. Things have hopefully cooled down, moved on from his Ronin stunts and Clint's trying to fix his life, cut back on drinking, go sober (he's barely managing three months), and make a real change with himself. Make amends with his friends, with the Avengers, and find his place back in superhero society. Luke Cage is now mayor and offers him a way to do superheroics by the book as being part of the reclaimed NYC Thunderbolts, in hopes to repair New York's relationship with superheroes.

After a relapse early on with his new Thunderbolts team and a very heavy phone call with Bobbi, Clint attempts going sober fully again and this time with help. Present day Clint is struggling still with everything, trying to get back on good diet and workout routine, manage sobriety and self care, as well as battle with the internal war of his feelings about being on a super team and pondering if street level vigilantism may be his path in life now, and making amends with his friends and the avengers.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

-> To keep with his sobriety, Clint has the help of his friends, and one of who he calls his sponsor, @danversiism

-> Lucky is with him most of the team instead of Lucky being with Kate; the dog has been trained by him after all to be a disability aid (hearing dog), given Lucky tends to let him know when someone at the door as well as helps him feel secure in his home (dog will alert to intruders if he is sleeping) or comes with him on when he goes out in the world without his hearing aids in

-> Clint has three therapists in total since trying to put his life back together, manage his depression and adhd, cope with his trauma, and stick to sobriety. The first one was Lynette, who eventually he had move on from, a second one who shall not be named because he was not a good fit, and this third, most recent one is Johanna.

#[ ABOUT ] I guess I just need something or someone to believe in or maybe I just need someone who believes in me #[ STUDY ] Clint Barton and Alcoholism #[ VERSE; 616 ] All he ever needed was to trust his own wings #[ ABOUT ] Verse bios tag #finally i wrote this up. i am proud of what i have been developing with my writing clint barton over the last 10 years.

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late-adajimer · 3 months

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Adajima fic (romance companion to "Lost in the arms of destiny") - part 2

The day after is awkward, starting with Ryotaro almost attacking his husband, because he had changed into his god form to sleep, which was far more intimidating, and unknown to the human. Ryotaro also doesn't know how to act (and process everything that has happened), and magatsu-Izanagi feels smug as a cat when he watches the human's skin, all the bruises and marks he has etched on his wife to claim him. In the morning, Magatsu-Izanagi presents to Ryotaro the two kitsune that will be his guides and maids while he's adapting, and will help him with more mundane tasks as well.

After he was given leave to clean himself and dressed in more understated silks (though still far too luxurious for his taste) meant for married women, Magatsu-Izanagi guided him through the castle, pointing out places of interest, the logistics of what he would be responsible for. Most of it was similar enough to what he had done on Inaba for him to not feel too overwhelmed, though that changed when magatsu-Izanagi showed him his personal study, and where the god stored all the petitions he received for the punishment of mortals and humans especially.

"I don't think you need a wife to deal with this, you need a whole harem, and enough time without new complaints to be able to make a dent into your archives," Ryotaro said, observing how more scrolls simply popped into existence, multiplying easily, and how the room seemed to grow to accommodate it.

"I told you I disliked humanity, do you now understand why? Every minor or major God sends their grudges to me, wanting humans to suffer for their transgressions. The only way I would have been able to clear this would be if I was able to bend reality and time, but those are not within my purview. Even if I worked every day and night here and at the start I did, I would never be able to dispatch everything." his husband's voice was low, a thread of irritation becoming apparent in his posture.

Ryotaro asked if anything there could be thrown away, considering some humans would have surely died, and it didn't make sense to keep requests he couldn't really fulfill, and learned most of servants had given up trying to classify the scrolls, because they couldn't keep it tidied, and no matter how they much they tried, there was always more.

Ryotaro had the idea to ask for a moratorium from Izanagi — if Magatsu-Izanagi was free to not work during the first period of their marriage, it made sense to ask the other God for a break from the scrolls too, so they could try and make a difference.

"Well, it's better than nothing. I will ask my brother later today. Will you coordinate efforts? It is only right for you to do so, wife, considering the idea is yours" his husband (and how strange that is) says, and Ryotaro has to agree.

The project goes slowly, and Ryotaro in the mean time learns more about the types of Yokai his husband has as subjects, their habits, names and positions in their lands, and how to act as the 'lady' of their country.

Sometimes, at night, his heart constricts at the idea he left Nanako alone — even if he knows the villagers would do their best to care for her in his stead, it should have been his duty, and his pleasure, and how much time he lost with her, because of his grief...

And he can't change anything.

His 'husband' is less than enthusiastic about letting him go anywhere outside their lands, and Ryotaro can understand some of it —they are barely married, it would reflect badly on him if they parted so soon, but he is human, not a Godly being, and the days passing mean something to him, knowing he has left so much behind.

The only thing he can't really complain is his husband's talents at bed play, nor his attentions — it had been a long time since he was touched so much, or had received pleasure constantly, learned so much about his body and what it could do — more than once, he thought it was the God's way of occupying his time, when he wasn't ordering about an army of servants in his husband's workroom or trying to learn the intricacies of behavior in a Godly court.

It takes the equivalent of three months, and an almost literal army of workers to clear the room of every outdated and worthless scroll.

In the meantime, he has survived four assassination attempts, saw his husband destroy one of the assassins, body, mind and soul while in his God form, and had to become used to it, because Magatsu-Izanagi refused to sleep in his human form after the second attempt.

It would be easier, if he didn't know exactly how powerful magatsu-Izanagi was, nor felt the malice directed at the spirit tasked with the assassination. He hadn't been able to sleep during the night, because of the God curled around him, clawed fingers he had seen cut through matter and energy as if paper around his waist, the echoing tortured scream of pain ringing in his ears still.

The only consolation he had was that if Magatsu-Izanagi wanted him dead, he would already be.

#adajima #fic #Lost in the arms companion fic

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luvrluffy · 10 months

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I’m currently creating an AU for One Piece, and it’s a superhero AU! I just so badly wanted to info-dump about the world I’m creating for it, so I’m going to do it with some poorly drawn maps, etc. I apologize in advance

Okay, so, instead of Reverse Mountain in One Piece, I basically replaced it with a large piece of land that I refer to as a country in this AU. And the country itself resembles Reverse Mountain, as seen below (excuse how poorly done it’s drawn, it was made in haste). It is called Grandline.

This Superhero AU takes inspiration from the DSMP fandom for their superhero/powered AUs! When I was in the fandom, I absolutely adored those AUs, and always imagined what it would be like if we had something similar but with One Piece.

Now, I’ll do some explaining of the map and it’s meaning real quickly (warning, everything is subject to change, as this AU is fresh and still being created).

The circle in the middle is the World Government’s place, and it’s labeled as “MJ” standing for Mariejois. I haven’t created much for them, just yet, so I’ll explore that later. Although I’m likely going to keep Celestial Dragons.

Surrounding the circle are four triangles, and each triangle represents the four seasons, as to give reasons to why some cities have such dramatically different living conditions. This brings me to my next point, the islands in canon. So, within the Grandline, we both visit and hear of several islands, so I decided in this AU I would have them as cities, with their climate varying on the piece of land they occupy. For Example, Drum, would be located on the Winter Island. Or, Alabasta, which would be found on the Summer Island.

On these four triangles is a rectangle with “NB” printed, and this stands for Navy Base. These are the four bases that connect to the World Government, and help fortify it, coincidentally, it also forms the World Government’s symbol. The Navy Bases are where the “Heroes” are located, typically, though you will find the odd straggler throughout the country.

Separating these large pieces of land, are four rivers, referred to by the directions, and each leads into their respective sea. Outside of Grandline, the seas still exist, and the islands that exist within them are still their own countries—for example, Dawn Island, would still be a country in the East Blue.

As the Grandline exists as a country, there is also the New World. But this one is more difficult to enter, as it exists as the ”underground” of the Grandline. Underneath Grandline is a mix of tunnels that span under large amounts of water and earth, inside, it is bustling with life. Enormous cave systems reveal alive cities, full of criminals and not necessarily legal groups. The New World is run by the Emperors, who at this point in time, are, Whitebeard, Kaido, Big Mom, and Shanks. You’ll find that most caves (New World Islands = Caves) are protected by the Emperors.

To enter the New World, you have to travel through a set of tunnels, that you can only access on the Summer part of Grandline, which will lead you to Sabaody. The first cave you will enter, and the only one with the most Heroes present. Instead of the giant trees in canon, this Sabaody is filled with large, thick vines, that enter the earth and breach the surface, covering the upper land, and making the city above it, also called Sabaody, overrun with monstrous vines—it is often referred to as “Snake City” because of the vines likeness to the creatures. Because of the vines, that span through all of the cave systems, infesting them like a weed, air is carried and transmitted easily (this, obviously makes no sense, but I was too lazy to even attempt to make this remotely scientifically accurate).

Another thing, in this AU, pirates from canon have become several different things, depending on the actual character. Some may be vigilantes, assassins, villains, etc. But all Marines have become Heroes, or something similar.

The warlords were vigilantes/villains turned Heroes, in this AU.

The Revolutionary Army also exists in this! They’re more or less similar to what they are in canon, except they have a larger hand meddling within the “New World”.

There is a lot to hash out about the AU, but it’s still fairly new! I still need to figure out how the Strawhats would work in this, and their backstories, etc. I know some things for sure, like how their canon skills would translate to here, and what wouldn’t—for example, I know for sure Nami’s navigation skills would be perfect to include as a way of travelling the never ending, mix of tunnels, in the New World. Other things, however, need some more fixing. I’ll probably continue adding to this, with the AU tag, until eventually this becomes coherent enough for a fic. Anyway, sorry for the long post, this AU is making me crazy over the possibilities!!

* I hope the ALT Text is done correctly, I did my best. Let me know if there are any issues.

#one piece #monkey d luffy #fanfic #ao3 #Grey’s OP Superhero Au #op nami #world building #superhero au #did somebody say #‘time for unnecessary info-dump about an AU nobody asked for’#because I heard u #for the record this would be monkey d Luffy centred #straw hat crew #thinking #what if I made this found family vibes #maybe threw in some zolu in there #zolu #I could fit so much into this au #imagine Sanji’s backstory in this au with Germa 66 AHHH

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 2 years

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“Gary Wassaykeesic, a Land Defender from the Mishkeegogamang First Nation north of Thunder Bay has lived in Toronto for decades and is an Indigenous leader. He was arrested on January 30, 2022 for allegedly taking part in a solidarity action with Wet’suwet’en on November 21, 2021 in Toronto. He was required to report last week to an isolated CP Rail police detachment in Scarborough. Beyond these disturbing facts is the story of a cultural group still being criminalized and harassed on their own land, but also the story of a diverse community determined to unite in support and resistance.

Criminalizing Indigenous sovereignty and solidarity

Coastal GasLink (CGL) is currently constructing a pipeline through Wet’suwet’en Territory without any consent, and the Hereditary Chiefs have sent an eviction notice to CGL. As they explained, “Coastal Gaslink has violated the Wet’suwet’en law of trespass, and has bulldozed through our territories, destroyed our archaeological sites, and occupied our land with industrial man-camps. Private security firms and RCMP have continually interfered with the constitutionally protected rights of Wet’suwet’en people to access our lands for hunting, trapping, and ceremony.” But instead of respecting Indigenous law, the RCMP enforced colonial law: on November 18 and 19, the RCMP raided Wet’suwet’en Territory using assault rifles, attack dogs, and even chain saws. They violently arrested over 30 people, including Land Defenders, supporters, legal observers, and journalists.

In response to the arrests in Wet’suwet’en, Land Defenders in Toronto went to the railroad on November 21. For two hours people blocked a train, sending a message of solidarity to those who’d been arrested. Though police were present at the blockade, at no point on that day did they express any concerns. They did not declare it an unlawful assembly and made no arrests. But a week later they began targeting organizers. The Toronto Police showed up at the home of Indigenous Land Defender, Vanessa Gray, and told her she had to turn herself in for attending that event. A week after that, they ticketed Miguel Avila-Velarde with a fine of over $600.

Police also began following Gary Wassaykeesic from November until the end of January. On January 30 they arrested him with those bogus charges that too many Black and Indigenous people find themselves charged with: “trespass and mischief”, the exact charges that colonial usurpers of this land have been guilty of themselves from the beginning. The police, and the mining companies, railroad companies, construction, and oil companies, etc. all tresspass on Indigenous land, then turn around and deliver harsh punishment against Indigenous people. Our government ignores treaties and human rights, including the right to thrive. It is so cruel and unjust to be routinely traumatized and criminalized like this repeatedly in your own homeland.

Gary spoke with me last week about the illogical charge of trespassing for an Indigenous person. Where else would he be? Where else should he be standing? This has always been the homeland of his people; and yet he has never felt any need to routinely arrest any of us for trespassing. We spoke about how governments have it all backwards since they are not the rightful authorities of this land. They have set themselves up as the legal and God-given authority, as if this entire country is their sole property when it never was. They’ve set up a network of violence to try to uphold this lie, doing everything to portray Indigenous people as if they are enemies for merely existing. This is wrong, and so is dragging out already nightmarish generational trauma into long-lasting, re-traumatizing, and unwarranted arrests.

Re-traumatizing arrest and legal support

Gary was strategically subjected to this lengthy drawn-out process of police harassment and intimidation tactics. Who gets arrested two months after an alleged criminal activity at an event where police voiced no problems in the first place? As Gary explained, “The Toronto Police stalked me, waited, and then arrested me, traumatizing me in the process. This has become the strategy of the Toronto Police. How many more others are they going to do this to?”

The timing of the arrest was also designed to increase harm and trauma: police arrested Gary after he led a vigil for the 93 children found in those unmarked graves at Williams’ Lake Residential School. They disrespected this community leader by callously arresting him right after this emotional memorial service, as he was mourning the tragic loss and discovery of mass-murdered children from his beloved community. Police heartlessness was a tactic as they watched, waited, and closed in on him shortly after the service ended, waiting until after he was separated from this gathering of fellow mourners. They timed it carefully, waiting until he took a streetcar home so they could storm onto the vehicle and violently pull him off in handcuffs. He was alone, but in front of strangers. Maybe some of the streetcar passengers could see the truth behind who was the real aggressor.

Then a month later police told Gary to report to an obscure, isolated location to get processed, hoping he’d have no real or supportive friends who would come to his aid. Gary had cooperatively provided his address to the police, but later noticed that his file stated he had “no fixed address”. What prompted their failure to make note of Gary’s actual address, and write those three words instead? They willfully replaced the facts with a mainstream stereotype (and this is falsifying police records, isn’t it?). The police wanted Gary to be deemed homeless by not recording his home address that he provided to them. Their omission added to their narrative to assume a mainstream stereotypical story about him having no friends who would care about him. Also, by characterizing him as homeless, they actually reveal the harsh truth of their intentions which indict themselves; if Gary and others of his community are experiencing homelessness, then this is entirely the fault of the colonial state which has literally stolen their homeland!

With all the harassment and legal persecution, Gary told me he’s so thankful for the group of friends and allies who showed up last week to accompany him in this continuing trauma. At least 10 of us waited for him outside, and one entered the building with Gary. When the officer demanded of her, “Why are you here?” Gary’s friend said, “I’m here to support him,” and added that she is a member of an international human rights organization. Upon hearing this, the officer decided to tone down his very intimidating attitude and lower his voice. Gary gave thanks for these caring communities willing to turn up for him, some people even risking incarceration themselves, no matter how cold and icy, no matter how early in the morning. He spoke with all his friends that day, old ones and new ones, some of whom he only just met that morning, many of whom will likely turn up to support him at his next painful court date.”

- Loretta Fisher, “Stop the police persecution of Land Defenders.” Spring Magazine. March 21, 2022.

#land defender #toronto #solidarity action #wet’suwet’en #coastal gaslink #rule of law #settler colonialism in canada #violence of settler colonialism #first nations #indigenous people #indigenous rights #treaty rights #loss of treaty rights #law and order in canada #thunder bay #northwestern ontario #mishkeegogamang first nation #police repression #political prisoners

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spiralingintotheocverse · 4 months

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worldbuilding temp. By Patricia C. Wrede

exploring gaia & homeworld

Basics

Are the laws of nature and physics actually different in this world, or are they the same as in real life? How does magic fit in? How do magical beasts fit in?

theyre the same, magic evolved on another planet and was integrated into gaia native life. it's a result of them projecting influence onto physics.

Is this generally an earth-like world? Is it an “alternate Earth”?

basically all of the geography is the same, though they are significantly earlier in the ice age recession and sea levels are slightly lower than our earth.

Are there different human races, whether or not there are non-humans like elves or dwarves? How does the cultural and ethnic diversity of this world compare to the real world?

yep, same as in real life. races are much more defined and not limited to continental. East asian, west asian, indo-australian, north african, south african, north europe, southern europe, north america, south america.

theres less countries, but areas still differ in their architecture, fashion, trends, dialect, laws (some circumstances), etc. more so than eudaimonia descendants, as human populations are more isolated from eachother.

How long have there been people on this world? Did they evolve, or did they migrate from somewhere/when else?

humans evolved over 200,000 years ago. eudaimonia crash landed around the same time. diavolo were born a few centuries later, followed by chattels. they birthed mages, harpies, and mer. a subset of mages evolved into (southern first) elves, and vampires.

How many people are there in this country? How does this compare with world population? What is considered a small town/large town/city in terms of number of people?

there are only a few billion. a very small town would be around a hundred people. an average small town would be around a thousand.

Where does magic power come from: the gods, the “mana” of the world (as in Larry Niven’s “Warlock” stories), the personal willpower or life force of the magician, somewhere else? Is magic an exhaustible resource? If a magician must feed his spells with his own willpower, life-force, or sanity, what long-term effects will this have on the health and/or stability of the magician? Do different races/species have different sources for their magic, or does everybody use the same one?

mana, which is an extention of their lifeforce. magic can be embedded into objects to be used by others. it can be exhaustable, using too much is akin to running 20 miles without stopping.

they dont use it from a different source but they do have different levels of mana, which doesnt indicate their lifeforce. theyre just unable to tap into mana as much as diavolo or mages.

Alternate Earth

Are there non-human inhabitants of this planet (elves, dwarves, aliens)? If so, how numerous? How openly present? What areas do they occupy (examples: dwarves in mountains or caves, elves in forests, etc.)?

apoeudaimonia are descendants of humans and eudaimonia. every subspecies could technically count; diavolo, mer, harpies, mages, elves, vampires, chattels

they make the majority of the humanoid population. mages, mer, diavolo and chattels being the most abundant.

geography is explained in other posts.

How similar are the history and culture of the alternate earth to real history and culture? Why is it so similar/different?

significantly different while still maintaining a lot of the same elements. most religions do not exist and are replaced by this almost mythological worship of the crashed eudaimonia and homeworld. society is a lot less conservative in that laws, trends, fashion, etc. is all very fluid because of how many different species there are and how long each species lives. it isnt uncommon to see diavolo wearing clothes that were trendy 7000 years ago.

elves and mers were strongly based off of pacific islanders like maori and native american tribes, particularly olemcs and mayans. they focus more on a natural way of life and rely on the forest, water respectively.

small cultures are mostly allowed to thrive and do their own thing, but humans during the war did engage in some purging.

Is there a specific historical point where this world split off from ours (e.g., Napoleon won at Waterloo)? If so, what was it? How long ago was it? How much has changed and will continue to change as a result? Is the split in history a result of the presence of magic, or is the change the thing that made workable magic a possibility?

immediately after humans evolved. humans went through a very rapid transition from stone age to bronze age, paleo to neo. the advancement was because of magic but also because of eudaimonia just having this knowledge prior and passing it on.

If magic is known to exist, which historical events have changed and which are the same? How have organized religions reacted? Governments? Ordinary people? What laws and/or professions are different? What effect will the general and specific differences have on the social questions below?

eudaimonia and subspecies are less primal the humans and are less prone to violence, despite being predatory species. this has lead to many wars being avoided and lots of laws being enacted to ensure equality.

humans entered the americas and australia much sooner than in our history.

Not Earth at All

How does this world differ physically from earth? Is it the same size (same density, same gravity), same ratio of land/water, same atmosphere, etc.? Does it have more than one sun or moon? Rings? Are there spectacular constellations/comets, etc. visible at night or by day?

homeworld is larger than earth but less dense and a lower gravity for its size. despite this, it has five moons. two large moons with three smaller satellites around them. it also possesses a substantial ring system tilted to 40°, and a larger ring system that extends ⅓ the way to the next nearest planet.

it's ecosystem is hotter than earth, with a small glacier at the southern pole and snow in high altitude mountains.

one of its moons is a ice/water planet. four are terrestrial. natural life existed on two planets, a third only harboring bacteria. each moon is used as a hub of resource transportation.

Are there non-human inhabitants of this planet (elves, dwarves, aliens)? If so, how numerous? How openly present? What areas do they occupy?

eudaimonia is the only sentient humanoid species in its solar system. they are fairly numerous. Some minorly sentient species reside on the water moon, similar to octopi on earth.

How are the continents laid out? If there is more than one moon/sun, how does this affect winds, tides, and weather generally?

the continents are conjoined by the time the eudaimonia crash subjects leave, resembling a Pangea on the front of the planet. On the planet's backside, there's a smaller string of volcanic islands. the tide is different in the north and south oceans, affected by the larger moons.

How much land is there, and how much of it is habitable?

the world is mostly water, and ¾ of land is habitable or was made to be habitable.

Is the axial tilt and orbit the same — i.e., does the world have the same seasons and same length of year as Earth?

tilted slightly but need to review

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cyarskj1899 · 6 months

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Hamas is playing all of you, lmaoo.. he's using his own people as human shields has be cause war all over the place. But That’s yall friend tho

I think so many folk say something like "It's too complicated" when talking - or not talking -about the middle east/war between Israel & Hamas is because in this country we're socialized to see our issues in black and white, literally. The truth here is far more complicated.

Black people long ago became the 2nd largest minority but you'd never know it because all social advancements, battles, laws, school books, and elections are presented as binary - Black vs. white.

Of course there's a historical uniqueness to being Black in America in that we are the only formerly enslaved people of all the other non-white folk. The only ones needing emancipation, & who are descendants of Africans & white enslavers. Caribbean folk, too, of course.

And our education, pop culture, laws, law enforcement, and all of it are always informed by that history, first, middle, and last. And all other non-white folk bear the secondary consideration in such an unfair way it causes fighting between all the groups.

We know of the devastation of the original peoples on this land, the genocide, the ongoing destruction of lands & broken treaties We know the southwest & all the way to California was Mexico. Those inhabitants were suddenly foreigners on land they've occupied for generations

We know Chinese citizens helped build infrastructure that is still used today. We know construction, farming, & other industries populated by non-white folk contribute to us being able to maintain a standard of living that wouldn't exist with their incredible contributions.

But no matter the complicated facts for hundreds of years, America boils everything to Black vs white. So many are left out because americans crave simplicity over the effort to understand nuance and complexity. We want good to be a white hat & bad to be a black hat.

We want the allies vs. the axis. Avengers vs. Thanos. Everyone vs the Yankees. It is a reason the bros hate women directed movies that explore emotion, grey areas, resolution without the biggest gun (though women movies certain do those well/better, too).

We want a wealthy dummy speaking dumb soundbites over an experienced woman with long thoughtful answers. We want a wealthy dummy who spoke in malapropisms vs an Intelligent Black man/woman who speaks in detail, in nuance, and who can laugh at themselves.

We end up with a population quick to join others struggles because they refuse to join *this nation's struggles. The rapid widespread support for Ukraine is the other side of the coin to the rapid pro-palestine support. Americans refusing to join this nation's struggles.

We have it great, we're number 1, america is the best nation ever, etc." Americans will retort with ferver. We tell ourselves that to absolve ourselves. And to convince ourselves to see past the nuance and embrace the simplicity.

Americans will tell you the entire history of the british monarchy, every shakespeare reference to kings, the history of Ireland and north Ireland, facts about Mr. Darcy, and how their ancestors came on the mayflower, or were half Cherokee, or why plantation weddings are ok.

But ask them about Black history, Mexican American history, the histories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Black farmers, indigenous treaties, or detailed history of American slavery that includes the wealth our folk created.

Ask americans about the mass slaughters, mass rapes, baby killing, breeding, daily violence that done by american slave owners and you'll be quickly shut down, your books banned, your jobs in jeopardy. You never see slave owners listed as "most prolific killers" but they were.

Look at the range of Black folk colors. How did we get these shades of black and brown? We didn't come to these shores my color. And we didn't voluntarily give our our deep beautiful Blackness. It, like our lives, was stolen.

We can speak on the middle east just like we can speak on Ukraine. Or Congo. Sudan. We can say, as I have said since the day Netanyahu tried to derail president Obama w/a misguided speech to congress at the best of racist republicans-that fool needs to go. Hamas needs to go.

Netanyahu needs to go. Hamas needs to go. Palestine needs a state. Israel needs to be safe and as our 80+ year ally, we need to continue to support them, as we do all our allies, like Ukraine, England, Japan, S. Korea, etc. That's not complicated.

America is complicated and we've somehow managed to exist with longstanding racial, ethnic, religious, and ideological differences and disagreements. We understand it because as much as we like to be happy fools, we have to face ourselves daily. It's not Black and white. End.

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yumichikah · 2 years

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Yumichika would discover a gift placed somewhere he might easily discover it. It seemed a bouquet of simple flowers from a distance, but upon approach would no doubt recognize them to be origami. An assortment, with roses, lilies, and some other variants creating a gorgeous bouquet.

Many would be buds as if the flowers hadn't quite bloomed yet. Should he close the distance - a touch, or even a close breath would trigger the effects of these flowers. The fullbringer's powers birthing a breathtaking display as fragments of light shimmered and danced. Each flower left closed, unfurling slowly to reveal small bags of tea that had been freshly dried for brewing. All from the land that Jezebel owned out in the country.

From others, however, the flowers would unravel to become butterflies. Their wings illuminated gently in colors akin to the flowers they once were, taking off to dance around the bouquet. Dancing as if truly happy in their momentary existence.

Light shards began to fade, and so too would the glow of the butterflies as each flap of their wings crumbled, releasing soft bursts of light. Alike gentle fireworks just bright enough of a flash to illuminate his visage and the bouquet they were happening around.

Once all was finished, he would be left with the remaining flowers - still colorful and vibrant as they were originally, and the tea she had gifted along with them.

Finding the gift had taken some time, but when those purple eyes landed on the bouquet, a look of confusion took over them rather quickly. Someone had obviously been in the Eleventh’s archives, which were famously one of the few spots that never had much traffic if you excluded the feathered male. He himself visited the place often enough to have a small working station set up in the corner with some of his personal belongings neatly placed on top of the desk – it was almost like his own private office. Usually anyone below the rank of a lieutenant didn’t have a dedicated office space, but their division was an exception. Where most squads had their captains occupying a certain room during the work hours while they took care of any documents needed, here it got used for afternoon naps by Zaraki more often than not. Whenever he was out though, it was the perfect opportunity for Yumichika to take over the huge hardwood desk and actually do most of the organizing and paperwork related jobs.

Stepping closer to the shelf that housed folders upon folders and his gaze still fixed on the colorful flowers sitting in an empty space next to them, the raven haired man found himself quite happy about the fact that the captain was in today. Otherwise the quite out of place looking, yet very beautiful item wouldn’t have been found so quickly by him. For a moment, there was hesitation in his steps though, as the whole idea of this being a prank or a trap crossed his mind. Then again, it took someone trusted enough to know just where that personalized work space was located and how much the said workspace’s owner loved flowers. It couldn’t be anything too alarming for sure.

The closer he managed to get, the easier it was to recognize just what the bouquet was made of. Just as his brain made the connection of the origami’s and a certain substitute shinigami, those soft fingertips reached out to pick up the flowers, activating the whole mechanism behind them. Slightly startled, but not backing away, the beauty stood still in awe and enjoyed the show presented by the mysterious object. It definitely wasn’t a regular bunch of plants at all.

As the spectacle of light and color slowly died down, Yumichika slowly lifted the gift to his arms, inspecting it more closely and discovering something folded within the paper. Tea. A quick flash of memory took him to a moment in the past where he had been the one making some warm drinks for him to share with that dark-haired, rude woman. Did she intentionally drop by to leave this present here? Did she out of all people remember his birthday? How very curious.

“Guess I’m inviting her for tea again…” was the silent, muttered words released to the room’s still air. Effortlessly a small sneaky smile crept up the peacock’s lips as he turned to make his way back to his small desk.

What a pleasant surprise had this been.

#soulxfragments #asks #birthday birdy!#//This took me a while oops #//But thank you for the ask~

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urmomsstuntdouble · 3 years

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also you know something i think is interesting about the nations is that they had no way of knowing it would be them who made it to the present day. of course, when you’re making a piece of historical fiction you have all the foresight in the world so you know which countries to include and how to portray them and all that, but like. take it back 500 years. think about all the nations that no longer exist. and i dont just mean the ancients, i mean shit like. holy roman empire is the best example i can think of, but you know how, like, i have this friend who would be ukrainian by today’s borders, and the kingdom their family is actually from no longer exists. i think a lot of the nations must feel a lot of survivor’s guilt because of stuff like that

#idk if that puts it super well but yeah #of course i dont think todays borders define who the nations are #but after a while i imagine it a smaller nation who got absorbed into someone else's borders would fade away or die #im thinking about modena but also i think a lot of the trading kingdoms around the indian ocean pre-euro contact are good examples #do they still exist or is the country that occupies that land in the present day meant to represent them?#ksjfhsd sorry the concept of nationhood in hetalia is so fucking fascinating #its candy to me #hetalia #hws #hws lore ?#ceros posting

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aro-is-gay-af · 3 years

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Slavic Names in Twilight | Meta

This post is going to be long, so if you don’t have time, I advise you to come back here later (or not come back at all, up to you).

Honestly, I have no words for Smeyer anymore. I, probably like most of us, read the books while being an adolescent. When I was 12 I didn’t see a lot of things that happened to be in the books and were: a) misogynistic b) sexist c) abusive d) racist and that the story itself was bound to Mormons (sick!).

If you want to read about it a little bit more I strongly recommend this post by @stregoni-benefici and @carlislesscarf

This post isn’t going to be about how Smeyer treated The Quileute Tribe, indigenous people, people of color or women. This post is going to be about how lazy Smeyer exactly was while creating this story and how her prejudices influenced and created false image of yet another culture.

Why am I making such a fuss because of this? A few days ago I was reading something about Garrett on Twilight Wiki page. By sheer luck, I clicked on Kate’s character and, what I saw there, outraged me to the point where I needed a little while to calm myself.

I was 12 when I first read the books. I never bought official twilight guide, I only used Twilight Wiki to keep myself up to date. I clicked on Kate’s character and saw that she hails from Slovakia. Forgive my utter confusion, when I remembered other sisters’ names. Tanya and Irina. Also, Kate was created by Sasha, who also created Vasilli (an immortal child), which is why she was executed in the first place.

While the story is charming, WHY THE FUCK DO THEY HAVE SUCH NAMES?!

To understand my rage, I need to elucidate the matter a little bit for all of you. This will be the historical part.

According to Twilight Wiki, Sasha was changed before 1000 AD. Then, she created Tanya, and not very long after, Kate and Irina. And now. What were the historical odds while it happened?

Before 1000 AD, Slovakia wasn’t Slovakia but Great Moravia. Great Moravia lasted about a century - the time span here is approximately circa 820 AD to 906 AD. When Great Moravia no longer existed, territory was taken by Hungarians (Magyar tribes also referred to as Hungarian clans) and the development of future Kingdom of Hungary began. Then, around 1000-1001, King Stephan was crowned as the first King of Hungary. Some elements from the former Great Moravia were acquired by The Kingdom of Hungary.

King Stephen managed to establish eight counties within his kingdom. Around 1015 some territories of today-Slovakia were acquired by Boleslav I of Poland (later king of Poland), however, King Stephen managed to recapture the territories in 1018. Wikipedia isn’t consistent here - while on History of Slovakia we have these information, the History of Poland during the Piast dynasty says:

From 1003 to 1004, Bolesław intervened militarily in Czech dynastic conflicts. After his forces were removed from Bohemia in 1018, Bolesław retained Moravia.

and:

[translation here is mine as the site is in Polish] Between 1003 and 1025/1031 the lands of today's Slovakia were part of the Kingdom of Poland after being conquered by Bolesław Chrobry. The Polish-Hungarian Chronicle described that "The Polish borders stretched as far as the banks of the Danube, to the town of Ostříhomia, then to the town of Eger, and further to the river called Ciepla [Topl'a] as far as the town of Salis, and there the borders between Hungarians, Ruthenians and Poles ended".

Than, probably around 1031 AD the territories were acquired back. King Stephen died and his kingdom fell into internal conflicts. Soon, in 1042 AD emperor Henry III mingled to acquire some lands for himself (he was the Holy Roman Emperor). Anyway, then came 1048 AD and that’s what happened:

In 1048, King Andrew I of Hungary conceded one-third of his kingdom (Tercia pars regni) in appanage to his brother, Duke Béla. [...] During the following 60 years, the Tercia pars regni were governed separately by members of the Árpád dynasty. [...] The dukes accepted the kings' supremacy, but some of them (Béla, Géza and Álmos) rebelled against the king in order to acquire the crown and allied themselves with the rulers of the neighbouring countries (e.g., the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia).

The history of the Tercia pars regni ended in 1107, when King Coloman of Hungary occupied its territories taking advantage of the pilgrimage of Duke Álmos (his brother) to the Holy Land. Although, Duke Álmos, when returned to the kingdom, tried to reoccupy his former duchy with the military assistance of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, but he failed and was obliged to accept the status quo.

Source for the two quotes above.

You may ask, why on Earth did I just present to you part of history of Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. Because I want you to understand how completely ridiculous and simultaneously offending are the names of characters that Smeyer gave within this coven.

History shows us that, even though, these times weren’t exactly peaceful, there wasn’t an ongoing war. We have Hungarian tribes and the part, when some territories were acquired by a Polish king. What I mean by that, is that probably names around 1000 AD varied as to where your family lived, what was your social status, and probably were influenced by newly adopted Christianity. It is more likely that people on this lands were named with names of Hungarian origin than Russian. And I still think the majority of names were of Slavic origin, only with some local variations going on.

Now, a little bit of common knowledge. People who descend from Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary are best buddies for life, even if they never saw each other. We have mutual respect for these countries and for ourselves, as our history brought us together multiple times (bad times and good ones). Russia IS NOT a part of this “mutual respect pact”. Mostly due to events that happened during both World Wars (i.e. Katyń Massacre), as well as other ones (Partitions of Poland, Eastern Bloc - communism).

Most of the names used by Smeyer are of Russian (or Greek, or Hebrew) origin. Not Slavic origin. And while Russia is also the part of Slavic languages, there’s a significant distinction between West Slavic Languages (Slovakian, Czech, Polish language), East Slavic Languages (Belarusian, Russian, Ukainian) and South Slavic Languages (i.e. Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian).

It makes difference to the point that if I go to Slovakia or Czech Republic I'm able to communicate with people in my native language (Polish) while they can answer me in their native language. Not everything is going to be the same but you're able to maintain a conversation mostly about every topic that you'd like to discuss. It isn't impossible to do so with Russian or Ukrainian but it's much harder and there are more differences, and sometimes you aren’t able to communicate this way. The same goes with i.e. Croatian or Bulgarian.

Don’t get me wrong, dear friends from Russia (if anyone from Russia will ever read this). I’m pissed off because even though Smeyer created not one, but four characters with SLOVAKIAN origin, she didn't use at least one name which fully originated in that territories (and probably was used) around 1000 AD. She went for Russian names because, sure, let's do that, there's no big difference anyway and it’s easier. To add to that, Smeyer used Russian names which are widely used NOWADAYS, not ones which were probably popular (or just used) thousand years ago.

Now, quick briefing on very popular names from that time (c. 1000 AD) in Slovakia and Czech Republic.

Here’s the full article on Slavic names.

While some of these names are used today, some of them aren’t at all or are used in a different, more evolved form.

Now, to the names of our characters. The most explainable and justified name here is Kate’s name. In Twilight Wiki we can find that her actual name was Katrina and that her preferable name now is Kate. Let’s see the origins of the name Kate.

Full article here.

While we can read that variations of that name in Czech are: “ Katka, Kateřina, Kačka, Káťa, Kačenka, Káča, Kačí, Kačena” and in Slovakian “Katka, Katarína” still the origins aren’t Slavic.

Next, Irina.

As Wikipedia says:

Irina is a feminine given name of Ancient Greek origin, commonly borne by followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is derived from Eirene (Ancient Greek: Εἰρήνη), an ancient Greek goddess, personification of peace.

Diminutive forms in Slavic languages include Ira, Irinka, Irinushka, Irisha, Irka, Irochka, Irinochka.

Here, we also don’t have Slavic origin. While it’s better than with Kate’s name because origins here seem to hugely blend, the proper origin of Irina’s name is Ancient Greek. I will never believe that a peasant girl from around 1000 AD was named Irina.

Here’s the full article.

Next, Vasilli.

Wikipedia doesn’t say much, except it’s a RUSSIAN NAME with Greek origin.

Full article here.

Now, finally, we’ve two names left. First, Sasha.

Finally, first one, which has Slavic origin. And while this name has many variations in many languages, I don’t believe that anyone in Slovakia prior to 1000 AD would name their child Sasha. This name gained popularity in 1970s, and I believe that it would be used rather as diminutive of a name in 1000 AD than a name itself.

Full article here.

Last, but not least, Tanya.

Here, also, it isn’t a full name. Full name is Tatiana, and Tanya, especially in Slavic it is used as a nickname implying intimacy with the person OR used for baby talk.

Full article here.

What’s my point here? Even though two of these five names are partially Slavic in origin, they sound like Russian names. Not Eastern Slavic in one fucking bit. Sure, Smeyer could do a simplification and say that, yeah, girls acquired other names as centuries passed. Agreed, even strongly.

BUT

Smeyer never said anything like this. Also, I’m under the impression that this names were meant to sound Russian. And, people, don’t get me wrong, I really hold nothing against Russians, but because of doing such thing Smeyer has perpetuated certain patterns and beliefs that have become firmly established in US culture and West culture in general by now.

No wonder why some people never distinguish between Russia, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic or Ukraine, or other countries from Easter Bloc. How can they, where in majority of mass media they’re taught that IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME THING. Why should they bother?

I have many friends among Slovakian people. Slovakia is like a second home to me. I also have a few friends from Czech Republic. And before, I’ve never been bothered by this name thing because I was a child. Today I couldn’t be silent about it.

It’s sad that another culture and fantastic history was just blended in with Russia because why not. I don’t understand why in Western movies or books all people from former Eastern Bloc need to be Russian.

I am Polish and to me it’s just extremely sad. We (and I think I can count in here Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, but also Croatia or Serbia) have fantastic culture and very long, eventful history. People from these countries are welcoming and share great hospitality.

I don’t know why Smeyer did something like this, but I suppose it’s just a thing she does to everyone. Rip away their culture and pretend she didn’t do it.

I am grateful that this fandom is a lot wiser than the creator of the books. This is what I said in the beginning of this post. Smeyer could’ve gone to library and read a little about the history and the names. I mean, If she didn’t found it on the Internet, because it was 2006, I believe, so she could research it. If there was nothing on the Internet, I’m sure a library would do.

She did a poor research or didn’t do it at all. And that’s what happened. Was it worth it? I don’t think so.

***

Everyone, please, comment, but be kind to each other (and to me xd). I wrote what I felt. As I’ve told you already, I’m Polish and I really felt that I should write this meta/disclaimer from a point of view of a person who lives in Slavic-origined country and has many Slavic-origined friends.

I still feel triggered because of this. Reblog this so others could see and say what they think.

#twilight meta #slavic culture #polish culture #history #cultural and historical references in twilight #smeyer being an ignorant discourse #smeyer nonsense #this woman is bound to white supermacy #Slavic names #Polish & Slovakian historical background #twilight revival #the twilight saga #smeyer cannot use library properly #neither can she use internet #slovakian culture #why the fuck should you confuse Slovakian people with Russian people?#Hungary mentioned #twilight #twilight saga

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drosera-nepenthes · 3 years

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A Royal Recluse: Princess Clotilde

Just at the time when, in consequence of the weakness and folly of the republican government, certain French Monarchists are looking to Prince Victor Napoleon Bonaparte as the possible savior of their country, the Prince, whose marriage to Princess Clementina of Belgium recently brought him before the public, was watching by the deathbed of his mother, Princess Clotilde of Savoy, who breathed her last on June 25. The story of this royal lady is a pathetic one and, apart from the interest that is attached to her as the mother of the imperial candidate to the French throne, her personal character was one of rare beauty.

She was the daughter of Victor Emmanuel II, first King of Italy, and of Adelaide, Archduchess of Austria, and was born at Turin on March 2, 1843. Her mother died in 1855, leaving five young children, of whom Clotilde was the eldest, the others being Humbert, the future King of Italy ; Amadeo, Duke of Aosta ; Maria Pia, the queen dowager of Portugal, and a son who died in childhood. The Queen of Sardinia (Victor Emmanuel had not at that time laid violent hands on the independent states of Italy) was an exemplary wife and mother, and her orphan daughters were carefully educated by the attendants whom she had placed about them.

Never was a princess more ruthlessly sacrificed to political interests than the eldest princess of Savoy. When a mere child of sixteen, Clotilde was chosen to cement the alliance between France and Sardinia, and was promised in marriage to Prince Napoleon Jerome, nephew of Napoleon I and first cousin Napoleon III, the reigning sovereign. Princess Clotilde was connected with the Bourbons, her very name was French and was given to her in memory of the French Princess Marie Clotilde, sister of Louis XVI, who married a King of Sardinia ; but allied as she was by close ties of blood to the Bourbons, she had nothing in common with the Bonapartes who occupied their place, and a more ill-assorted couple never existed than the middle-aged, violent, cynical and free-thinking Prince Napoleon and the daughter of the most ancient royal house in Europe, who traditions and surroundings were strictly conservative and religious. Their marriage took place at Turin on January 30, 1859. The bride was sixteen and the bridegroom thirty-seven. He had a handsome presence and was intelligent and well informed and well informed, but neither his private life nor his freely expressed opinions on public matters made him estimable or lovable. His attitude with regard to his cousin, the Emperor, was one of constant opposition, and it was reported that his anti-religious views led him to take part in the banquets organized by a group of free thinkers on Good Friday. Under the Second Empire the French Government was officially Catholic, and Prince Napoleon's hostile and aggressive attitude was pronounced ill-bred, if not worse. Throughout France he was distinctly unpopular.

The young bride, married to this unsympathetic nephew of the great Napoleon, probably had few illusions as to the sum of happiness that awaited her in her new home. There are still some old men living who remember her when she took possession of the Palais Royal, Prince Napoleon's Paris house.: a slight, pale girl, with fluffy, fair hair and bright eyes, not pretty but singularly attractive. Her high breeding stood her in good stead in the somewhat parvenu atmosphere of the Court of the Tuileries, she had a royal dignity all her own, and her simplicity of heart was combined with much quiet firmness. From the first she ordered her life according to the principles in which she had been educated. An early riser, even at the Palais Royal, she gave much time to prayer and to works of mercy, but her piety, says M. Emile Ollivier, a former minister of Napoleon II, “never made her tiresome or intolerant. She believed that the most useful sermon was the practice of the virtues that are taught by faith.” Her husband, although so widely apart from her, acknowledged her goodness. “Clotilde is a saint,” he sometimes said ; “if there were many like her, I believe I myself should end by becoming devout.”

When the disastrous war of 1870 brought terror and shame upon France, the Princess was in Paris. During that fatal month of August every day came news of a fresh defeat, and the revolution that was to break out on the 4th of September was already distinctly perceptible; the infuriated and terrified people made the imperial government responsible for the reverses that so keenly wounded their patriotic pride.

Princess Clotilde was alone at the Palais Royal ; her husband was with the army, her three children she sent to Switzerland, where Prince Napoleon had an estate; but she steadily refused to leave Paris while the Empress Eugénie remained at the Tuileries. There was not much personal sympathy between the two; it was Princess Clotilde's feeling of loyalty that chained her to the post danger as long as there was a semblance of imperial government in Paris.

In vain her husband wrote imperious messages bidding her join her children at Prangins; in vain her father sent the Marquis Spinela to Paris to escort her ; the Princess so yielding in everyday life, was unbending in her decision to remain at the palace as long as the lonely woman at the Tuileries was the nominal ruler of France ; she had shared the splendors of the Empire, and it went against her noble spirit to desert the Empress.

The letter this young woman, a stranger in a strange land, wrote to her father on August 25, 1870, has been quoted by the French papers. It is a right royal letter worthy of the daughter of kings:

“I am a French woman,” she says. “I cannot desert my country. When I married although so young, I knew what I was doing and if I did it, it was because I wished to do so. The interest of my husband, of my children and of my country require that I should remain here. The honor of my name, your honor, my dear father, and that of my country also demand it. Nothing will make me fail in what I believe to be my duty to the end... You know that the house of Savoy and fear have never gone together, and you would not wish that they should meet in my person.”

At last, when the Empress was driven from her palace by the mob, the Princess considered that she was free to follow, but how different was the departure of the two women!

The brilliant and beautiful sovereign, closely disguised, was only able to leave Paris owing to the assistance of her American dentist, Dr. Evans; her young cousin made her exit as a princess. In an open carriage, accompanied by her lady in waiting, she drove to the railway station in broad daylight. The excited people, awed by her courage and dignity, saluted her as she passed out of their sight, a truly royal and saintly figure.

Princess Clotilde lived for some years at Prangins, near Geneva, where she devoted herself to the education of her three children; then, when her husband was allowed to return to France, the difficulties of her married life were such that by mutual consent she retired to the Castle of Moncalieri, near Turin, with her young daughter. Here, in the home of her childhood, she spent nearly forty years. They were years of peace, largely marked by sorrow. Four times only did she emerge from her retreat, once in January 1878, when she heard that her father lay dangerously ill in Rome. She had suffered cruelly from the spoliation of the Holy See by the house of Savoy, and the remembrance of her father's part in the matter prompted her to fly to his bedside. On the way she heard that he was dead, and she sadly returned to Moncalieri. In 1891, she again started for Rome, this time to visit her husband, who lay dying at the Hotel de Russie. Those who saw the Princess during those solemn days can never forget her sweetness, earnestness and gentle patience. What passed between her and Prince Napoleon none can tell, but Cardinal Mermillod a frequent visitor to the sick room, professed himself satisfied, after two private interviews, that the dying man was fully conscious. The Princess, whose married life, it is well known, had been a via crucis, remained near him to the end, praying incessantly for the soul that probably owes its salvation to her intercession. Again in 1903 and in 1904, she left Moncalieri to visit her sister-in-law, Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, whose deathbed she attended.

Her life, as it neared the end became more and more that of a recluse. Her sons lived their own lives in Brussels and in Russia; her daughter, having married a Prince of Savoy, was near to her, and their visits, occasionally brought an element of joy into the silent castle. Last autumn, Prince Victor Napoleon's marriage to the Princess Clémentine of Belgium gladdened his mother's heart. It was celebrated at Moncalieri, and to those who attended the ceremony the most striking figure present was the slight, gray-haired lady, plainly dressed in black, whose eyes had the far-away look of those who are nearing the eternal shore. Even in the days of her youth Princess Clotilde's spirituality struck M. Emile Ollivier. It gave her, he says a singular insight into all questions that touch on right and wrong; she possessed the gifts of the true mystics, “who judge human affairs with a clearness and rectitude born of detachment.” Her chief link with the outer world during the long, silent years of old age was her love for the poor, to whom she gave royally, with a loving kindness that made her gifts more precious. Their grief was great when they heard of her death, and their prayers will follow her remains to the royal mausoleum of La Superga, near Turin, where the daughter of the Sardinian Kings sleeps with her ancestors.

America. United States, America Press, 1911.

#princess clotilde of savoy #italian royal family #bonaparte #napoleon jerome bonaparte #biography #french royal family #house of bourbon

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joezworld · 3 years

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What is the status of vehicle rights in places like China or Russia, with rather patchy (at best) human rights records? What was it like in the USSR, Nazi Germany, or the Empire of Japan? And did Mussolini ever get his locomotives to run completely on time?

Strangely enough, it was a lot better in those countries for at least a while.

To start, check out this post that goes into a little detail.

So, this post is going to not mention the United States or Canada - I’ve done posts on them before.

Interestingly, three of the greatest proponents of locomotive rights in Europe came from people with some of the worst human rights records in modern history: Hitler, Stalin, and King Leopold II.

Belgium has a long history of locomotive rights, stretching back to within 20 years of the introduction of the railway in the country. During the first days of the reign of Leopold II, the king declared that locomotives and other railway equipment were to be considered “on the same level as any Belgian citizen”. Official government histories say that this was because of the king’s desire not allow slavery to happen on Belgian soil, but the existence of the very inappropriately named Congo Free State puts this answer in a very bad light. The generally accepted unofficial answer is much, much funnier - Leopold II was born after the first railways were laid in the country, and as the future king, he was kept well appraised of any new technologies in the country. He also had many, many, many, mistresses. In case you can’t tell where this is going, it is entirely likely that several of his more private extramarital affairs were with locomotives owned by the Belgian state rail company. Locomotives were at the time viewed as little more than beasts of burden, and while Leopold was more than willing to commit heinous atrocities upon the Africans, he was not about to stand here in his own country and get called an enjoyer of bestiality - so he made locomotives people in order to get ahead of his critics should an affair be made public. This had the interesting side effect of making Belgium one of the more progressive countries in Europe as far as locomotive rights went, and Belgian locomotives were very dedicated citizens often serving in civil and military leadership positions around the country. During the first world war, Belgian locomotives actively resisted the Germans for the entirety of the invasion, and a not-insignificant percentage of German locomotives brought in to manage the chaos were brought over to the Belgian side by promises of citizenship.

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This did not go unnoticed by other, much worse European leaders such as Adolf Hitler, who understood the value of a functioning rail network as far as war logistics went, and made significant strides in offering French/Dutch/Polish/Russian/Norwegian/Italian/Etc. engines Nazi citizenship if they served the Reich. Unfortunately for Hitler, Nazis are terrible people who lead out fear, and many of the locomotives who did sign up for this did so because they wanted to Not Die, not because they supported the cause. As a result, large portions of the Reichsbahn rolling stock fleet just ran away or defected as soon as the Allies started getting near, causing serious supply issues that hastened the downfall of the German war effort.

Also, because I know someone is going to ask about it, yes, those trains still ran. Please don’t ask me to elaborate beyond what’s here.

Because locomotives would see what was going on and objected, the Reichsbahn very quickly began staffing those trains with engines that were True Believers, or (even worse) Jewish engines. (Those usually made one way trips, and it’s just as bad as you might think.)

Following the war, many locomotives who had been cleared of any collaboration charges still possessed their Nazi-Era citizenship, and tried to get them turned into citizenship of their home countries. Most places said no (except Belgium) and were promptly glared at by the American service-engines who were rebuilding their countries from the ground up, and then agreed.

The impact on European Locomotive Rights by the Americans cannot be understated. Most European governments were totally prepared to resume the status quo if it wasn’t for the Americans rolling around with their US Citizen status on full display. This is also another reason why England is such a laggard in Locomotive Rights - the country was not as heavily destroyed as continental Europe, and was able to rebuild itself without US "interference".

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Stalin also was a firm believer in Locomotive Rights, for many of the same reasons as Hitler was - locomotives have the ability to bring your country to a halt, so you’d better have them on your side. He’d made attempts to make locomotives citizens before the war, but the Soviet efforts really came into their own during the 1950s - Stalin’s purges had removed a lot of humans from existence, and most locomotives at that point had been built by the USSR in the USSR, and therefore had no concept of ‘Disloyalty to The State", so they were natural fits for many roles within the Soviet government. At one point in 1982, the USSR’s Ministry of Transport was staffed only by vehicles, with no humans present whatsoever. The total integration of vehicles into the USSR reached its zenith in the late 70s, when new buildings were required to have elevators capable of lifting locomotives and other extremely heavy vehicles to at least the third floor - this requirement has remained even to this day, and most eastern European residential structures have the structural strength of a nuclear bomb shelter as a result.

It should be pointed out that while the USSR might have treated locomotives well, it was still an authoritarian dystopia, and nothing here is an endorsement for the country or its actions/politics.

Following the dissolution of the USSR, the hypercapitalist state of the former Eastern Bloc meant that anything and everything was up for sale, including people and machines. One enterprising locomotive used his newfound wealth to create a formidable trade union/gang that covers most of the former USSR to this day. This organization is the primary driver of locomotive rights laws in the former Soviet Bloc, but it should be noted that a lot of the pushback against locomotive rights comes from politicians trying to shut them down specifically.

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Japan is... weird. Locomotives have been fully adopted into their society for generations, and there was no loss or gain of rights during the Second World War, as they were already in place. Let me explain why:

Due to Japan's Shinto influence, locomotives were considered to be basically human from their inception on the island - the first law specifically related to locomotives in the world was an edict issued by the Emperor in regards to the three locomotives imported by English and European engineers for use on the upcoming Shimbashi-Yokohama railway - they were to be given the same rights as those locomotives built domestically. Since then, most Japanese laws have included locomotives by default, often making no mention of them unless specifically including them because of physical differences. [For example, locomotives are not required to partake in mandatory military service, as their service to the railways is often more valuable, especially during peacetime.] However, while locomotives in the West were free to work as they pleased, even off of the rail network, Japanese trains do so in remarkably smaller numbers, with over 98% of locomotives remaining in railway service until their retirement. Those that do not do so typically enter railway-related fields like locomotive construction, upper management in railway companies, or working in the Japanese Ministry of Transport.

In this sense, locomotives in Japan can be considered to be less free than their western colleagues, as the nation culture of "work until you die" meant that no attempt was made to allow trains to enter human society, forcing them to essentially be segregated from humans when not directly pulling trains, as land is too scarce to use for western-style 'locomotive cities' except in extremely rural areas and Nagasaki*.

*Following the atomic bombing of the city in 1945, Nagasaki was rebuilt by the American occupying forces - many of whom were USRA locomotives. The city’s bombed-out industrial areas were already layered with train tracks, making it easy to create a locomotive sized living area. Hiroshima, which suffered damage to its human-oriented urban core, was not rebuilt with trains in mind.

As such, locomotives are considered full Japanese citizens, but most Japanese humans have never interacted with them. Exceptions do exist, mostly in rural towns and villages, where a locomotive is usually considered to be the town's 'honored elder', as most locomotives on small branches have lived in the area for many decades, making them the oldest member of the town in many cases. This has lead to many culture clashes in larger cities, where residents may be apathetic to the desires their locomotive neighbors, much to the dismay and shock of a 'country bumpkin' who lives nearby.

Of particular issue to locomotive freedoms are multiple units. Since the 1960s, Japanese railways have put more focus into EMUs/DMUs rather than standard locomotive hauled trains. This has caused even more segregation amongst Japan's rail population, as permanently coupled multiple units cannot access the few existing locomotive/human developments, as they were designed for standalone locomotives. Urban sprawl and high land prices have made enlarging these developments is impossible. To date, the only MU focused 'loco-city' (other than one-track sheds in rural farming communities) is in the Fukushima Daiichi exclusion area. However, as the line accessing it is in the traditional Japanese 3'6" gauge, the community remains inaccessible to the 4'8.5" gauge Shinkansen trains, many of whom are almost totally isolated from anyone else - despite living in Japan's largest cities - as a result of their loading gauge restrictions.

Similar social isolation occurs to ships and aircraft, but as they are able to receive emotional support from friends and relatives across the planet, they do not suffer from this isolation nearly as much.

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At no point in Italian history has anyone been able to make the right decision in regards to locomotive rights. This is not to say that Locomotive rights (and vehicular rights in general) don’t exist in Italy - they do, rather thoroughly - but rather, the Italians have never once done so intentionally, instead implementing locomotive rights by having multiple laws, written on multiple occasions over multiple decades, that are so badly written that a train could and likely was driven through the loopholes that exist in them!

#ask response #long #locomotive rights headcanon #sentient vehicle headcanon #sentient trains #sentient vehicles #italy #japan #ussr #ww2 #belgium

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blaydiud · 3 years

Text

[ 𝖑𝖔𝖌 ] - 07. 𝖕𝖑𝖆𝖌𝖚𝖊.

Although it still ran rampant, oftentimes it seemed like the plague had reached a more manageable point- at least within what Faerghus considered manageable. The country had always struggled with diseases and outbreaks- its bustling capital, Fhirdiad, was nothing more than a dirty nest of rats and illness with raw filth in its streets before Cornelia was admitted as the new court mage and began aiding King Lambert in improving the city’s sanitary problems. Yet this one felt different than the ailments that disturbed the north country of Fódlan, it felt like a product of magic rather than nature’s punishment for living in filth. One much similar to the country’s last documented plague that killed its queen.

Needless to say, the air was one of pure grief and fear. Entire families wiped, widows and orphans raising in numbers, homeless searching for shelter after theirs were destroyed, the injured and elderly on the brink of death from the shortage of available healers.

It was “manageable”, but the prince couldn’t help but feel like he failed spectacularly at his own job. Helping and aiding his people, ensuring their safety and wellbeing- no matter what he did, nothing worked. He didn’t want to kill those infected in hopes that there may be a way to save them, yet he didn’t want to leave the healthy and innocent to perish. All in all, he felt like he disappointed much more than just his friends or family- rather, he disappointed his country. He wouldn’t be surprised if his own friends and allies began to turn their backs on him after witnessing such poor performance as a ruler-to-be. Such failure from a prince and house leader.

He wanted to be left alone for a bit. It wasn’t the best action, he was well aware- being alone with nothing but his own thoughts was an invitation to unwelcome ideas and voices, but at the same time he felt too ashamed to face others. Icy eyes that usually scouted the area from above were now directed to the found, instead. The blue cape that often blazed brightly under the sunlight was droopy and hidden in the shadows, close to the walls. The confident and mildly fast pace of his boots were now quiet and slow.

The blond hair that was compared to the sun’s mighty rays was obscured by clouds, his posture akin to a withering flower.

Fate had it out for him however, when one of the monastery’s messengers approached. Someone came to visit.

At first Dimitri frowned in confusion, after all who would want to visit him like that? Perhaps Rodrigue, to check in on him? Margrave Gautier? But the plague hadn’t reached the north. Count Galatea? Maybe to report losses and request aid. Maybe Cornelia, to give a detailed report of the disease and discuss what could be done to avoid this type of thing from happening in the future. Of course, all diplomatic matters- although usually directed to the Regent King rather than to him.

What he wasn’t expecting however, was to be sitting inside his room, a tray with boiling hot chamomile tea on the wooden table, two cups, right in front of his uncle- who eyed the room with an arched brow.

He hadn’t seen any signs in the monastery that would suggest the arrival of his uncle. No trumpets, no kingdom soldiers roaming the area, not even the flying units that always accompanied the royal carriages. It was quiet and simple, almost as if his uncle himself didn’t want it to be known that he was here. Maybe that was done on purpose- Rufus was unpredictable as ever. Sometimes he wanted to be received with parties and glamour, other times he’d much rather sneak around the halls like a weasel. He ever chose to meet Dimitri in the prince’s own quarters, rather than reserve a proper meeting room.

“Not bad. Nice non-existent decoration, by the way. Heheh.” A joke that didn’t land, received with silence. Dimitri’s gaze never really met his uncle’s eyes, instead focusing on his cravat, his beard, the teacups or his own hands sitting atop his lap, fiddling nervously with the hem of his jacket.

Dimitri wasn’t sure what to expect from this- it was the first time Rufus had visited him in the monastery ever since the prince left Faerghus for his studies. Did the man come here to scold him? Lecture him? Just hang out? It was hard to tell. Shouldn’t Rufus be at Fhirdiad, acting on his duties and helping to make sure the city was still safe? The prince’s memories went to the response letter Rufus sent after the Church’s complaints about Dimitri’s behaviour in the ball- and the Regent King actively supported his nephew. But now, looking at the older man’s face, Dimitri wasn’t so sure if he came here to support and comfort him...or to yell at him for his incompetence. Or both, or neither.

Another moment of silence, nothing but their quiet breaths and idle noise from outside the room to fill up the void. Old blues lines the details on the room’s stone and wood walls, before stopping at the sight of Dimitri’s form.

“So? How are you holding up?” Rufus tried to strike conversation again, still not touching the steaming cup of tea, nor the sweet buns on a nearby plate. They were all brought from the Kingdom, all things done exactly the way Dimitri would like. The chamomile tea from the palace’s storehouse- the same kind that Lambert would drink in his afternoons, the buns prepared by the royal bakery- with marshmallow fillings, chewy and soft. Their smell was familiar enough for the prince’s own poor nose to catch on their scents, the smell of nostalgia dulled but present.

The intention behind these was still gray to the prince, however.. He reached out for his teacup, gauntlets long discarded, sitting atop his bed. “I feel well.”

The regent’s expression was neutral, unconvinced. With slow blinks, one would think he’s much older than his early fifties. His long blond mane was clearly messier than usual, some white hairs poking out. The blue of his eyes was lined by dark circles, his posture looked both at ease and crumbling down. Stress, perhaps. Exhaustion, unhappiness. Things that seemed alien for the king that would throw feasts and extravagant parties nearly every month- at least from others’ point of view. The Rufus people saw occupying the throne, the Rufus people used to suspect had a hand in the late king’s murder, the Rufus called sleazy and useless.

Dimitri’s silly, rebel uncle and his only family. Two completely different people.

“I…” The prince started again, unsure. “...I feel like I did a poor job.”

“Poor job at what?” The older man’s brows furrowed slightly, confused. “Got bad grades?”

“No, my grades are fine.” At least for now, they looked good enough. “I performed poorly in aiding the people in the Kingdom. So much was happening, there was so much to be done and I could not-”

“You’re not a mage, boy. Not a healer, either.” And you’re not king yet. “There was nothing for you to do there.” Rufus’ words were quick and sharp, spoken seemingly without a care.

As if they didn’t hurt at all, a simple fact. Dimitri deflated, visibly. Noticing that his words were perhaps too harsh, Rufus scratched his bearded cheek, suddenly uncomfortable. “You- train to be a knight, don’t you? So. Unless you walked out there to kill those diseased people, then there wasn’t anything you could do. Maybe stand there and grant the people comfort, but just that.” The more the regent king tried to do damage control, the more salt was added to the prince’s wounds.

Rufus frowned, huffing. Uncle was always horrible at this, Dimitri thought. After a pause that seemed infinite, the older man tried to speak once more.

“What I mean is that-...ugh, sorry boy but there’s no other way to put it. I’d much rather have you doing nothing and being healthy than you running around the diseased and ending up like one too.” Typical of the older Blaiddyd. Dance around the issue in hopes of sugarcoating or changing the subject, only to drop a bucket of cold water- of truth, unceremoniously like that. Dimitri, unamused, finally met Rufus’ own.

“You want me to just stand aside and watch them fall one by one? You want me to watch them die and do nothing about it? What kind of ruler does that to his people?” Icy eyes grew a flame of their own.

“That’s not it at all- listen to my words, Dimitri. It is dangerous out there, even now. As much as I hate this damned building it’ll be better for literally everyone if you stay here.” Both voices were quickly rising in volume- once a quiet and controlled argument, now a potential shouting match.

The prince’s hands were flat against the table, as if he were close to abruptly standing up- to prove a point. Or to just leave the room and be by himself, even though he knew well that Rufus would follow. “I will not sit on my hands and watch the people of Faerghus sink in a sea of torment! Even if I cannot perform healing spells, I wish to at the very least be there for them! So that they know they have someone to rely on!”

“You’ll die out there if you do that! Leave that task to me-”

“-You’re doing nothing about it! Nothing!”

Although slightly taken aback by the shout, it was unclear if the prince’s words hurt Rufus. “Dimitri, think. I’m not telling you to sit and eat imported steak from Almyra next to a dying villager, what I’m saying is that there’s no use for you to roam around in a situation that’s unsafe and that you cannot directly interfere in! Lances and swords can only do so much, you know that better than me!” Rufus’ voice wasn’t a shout of anger, but rather a steady- and loud, command. He was defining an ultimatum for Dimitri to back down and obey. “It’s unfortunate that you had no means or ways to have a say in what happened but there’s no use in moping about it all day.”

The prince seemed to be stuck between curling in on himself and glaring back at his uncle with defiance.

Rufus glared back with a similar fire in his eyes. “Don’t make that face at me.” The regent leaned in the chair, sighing. He finally reached for the tea- still warm, but not as much as before. Dimitri was still silent, immobile in the opposing chair. His emotions were a swirl of anger, grief, outrage and sadness- he felt justified in his points, yet felt that his outburst was horribly childish. Also unfit for a prince, as well as for someone his age.

Old, greyed azures roamed the room once more before focusing on one of the lances leaning against the wall. The lance Dimitri took with him when he left for Garreg Mach, a steel so smooth and clear that the lance was almost white in color with a charming blue decorating its hilt and the middle of its blade.

His vision wasn’t great as it used to be, but he could make out stains around its blade. Blood was a stubborn little thing, sometimes. The hilt was straight and seemed intact, save for subtle indents from what could only be Dimitri’s hands grasping it. Rufus had always supported having the prince learn how to fight, but he couldn’t help but get a grim feeling from seeing the weapon. From knowing that Dimitri was training to kill. It was all expected, but never easy to swallow.

“Fhirdiad was a little nightmare. No disease, but the people were scared. Panicking.” The regent started casually, slightly tired. He took a sip of the tea, then finally grabbed one of the buns and took a bite.

“Did you do something about it, at least? Did you talk to them?” With words sharper than a knife, Dimitri reached out for his own teacup but stopped midway. Depending on Rufus’ answer, the cup could shatter in his hold- which would be quite unfortunate.

“Me? Dimitri, they hate me. If I stepped out of that balcony to say a ‘good morning’ Goddess knows what they’d throw at me in rage.” The older man stated with similar, ominous indifference. It filled the prince with a dull anger, but not enough to justify another fit.

Always avoiding anything that could prove to be inconvenient to you, uncle. The prince wanted to find it disgusting, outrageous, but his heart didn’t allow it. This was family.

Dimitri decided to fully reach for his cup, despite unfavorable feelings brewing in his chest. “I could have gone to Fhirdiad and offered moral support to its citizens, in that case. The lack of my presence is unforgivable. I will be perceived as unreliable-”

Rufus’ hand came down on the chair’s wooden handle, not hard enough to shatter it but enough for the furniture to audibly creak. “The roads to Fhirdiad were crawling with the diseased! Our pegasus and wyvern knights were tasked with transporting medical equipment and food, and the mages skilled enough to cast a Warp spell were too busy trying to find a cure! Even that pink haired witch was too busy! There was no safe way for you to return, Dimitri!” The regent’s gaze was piercing, making full contact with Dimitri’s icy blues- which still burned in defiance, but the flame was weak. “Can’t you see that as much as the people need their ruler, no level headed person in Faerghus wants another royal funeral? You doing nothing and staying alive- nobody will hold this against you, dammit! Nobody here wants you dead!”

Rufus ran his hands through his hair, an ashy golden mane naturally messy that went past his shoulders. “Me included. So stop having those stupid ideas already.” The outburst from before was reduced to a meek, shaky mumble. With his face obscured from view, it was hard to make out his gaze- if it was one of anger, of exhaustion, or one of tears.

It tore a shuddered breath out of the prince. “...my apologies.” If this answer was genuine or performative, it was unclear. “But I...have to disagree with you.”

The regent simply shook his head and leaned back on the chair again, frowning at how one of the wooden handles was now slightly crooked from his fit. It seemed like another moment of silence, except Rufus knew that any time now Dimitri would say something. From the trembling of his lips and how his gaze zipped around aimlessly. Working up the courage to speak, rehearsing words in his brain.

It came out with an audible sob and a wobbly voice that the regent was most definitely not expecting.

“I just don’t want to be like this…” Helpless, useless. “To stand there...with nothing to do- while people-” Die around me. “I-”

“I don’t want it again.” The sentence was slightly mangled. “To have no control on the- the situation and-”

“Dimitri.”

“People keep dying around me and I can’t do anything about it!”

“Dimitri-”

“I’m ne- ever enough to make it stop! It's unfair! Unfair that I get to breathe all day doing nothing and they-”

“Silence!” The prince yielded, but his sorrow blazed on.

“...Sometimes it happens. And there’s nothing you can do about it. Call it fate or the Goddess throwing a fit or whatever, but there’s...there are things we can’t stop.” At first unsure, Rufus reached for the prince’s forearm, rubbing it gently.

“Being royalty, having a crest- none of these things matter sometimes. You’re just a person. And some things are just out of your power for...being a person like any other. Doesn’t make you weak, but...well, it happens. You’re helpless as I am.”

Dimitri replied with silence.

“And if any of your friends give you crap for it, then guess what? They’re not friends.” Rufus still didn’t know who Dimitri was friends with- except from the ones he’d spot on the palace sometimes. The youngest boy from Duke Fraldarius, the one from Margrave Gautier, and one of Count Galatea’s little girls. They seemed like good kids, at least. “And if that happens then- whatever! I’m here! It’s not much but I’m here!”

What could only be interpreted as a meek chuckle was all Dimitri reacted with. A funny thing for Rufus to say, considering how sometimes he didn’t bother to read his letters and never came to visit. He was too tired to confront the man about it however- so he let it pass. Rufus would probably forget about it later, anyway.

“Also can you- ugh, wait.” The regent produced a handkerchief and handed it out. “I know it’s rough and you’re sad but wipe your face? It’s three quarters water at this point. Gross as hell.” The Blaiddyds never looked pretty while crying. Always a red-faced wet mess, yet the redness and the tears made the blue of their eyes jump out exponentially.

“Language, uncle.” Dimitri grabbed the offered handkerchief- it held the emblem of Itha, not of the Royal banner- and pressed it against his face. He didn’t care, blew his nose on it despite an audible sound of disgust from the regent and handed it back.

“...you can keep it.” Rufus’ grimace was enough to finally make the prince laugh softly. A real laugh.

Dimitri sighed, feeling a headache coming in- one of exhaustion, the typical ones after a cry. Instead of looking down, however, he stared at the now cold cup of tea and the mostly untouched buns. “I just do not wish for my people, allies and friends to perceive me as… weak and unreliable. That is all.” I don’t want to be abandoned again.

The older man chuckled. “It’s funny to hear you speaking all fancy after all of that.” Dimitri simply huffed.

“Prince or not, you’re still a kid. Kids aren’t perfect, I bet that princess from Adrestia also has her slip ups as well as the little guy from Leicester you threw hands with. If people cast you aside for a mistake out of your power, then they’re the ones in the wrong for putting on impossible expectations.” Dimitri noddled idly, although he didn’t seem to be fully on board. Stubborn little thing, just like his dad, Rufus thought.

“...I wish to support Faerghus still, however. Even if I could not do much when the disease was out of control...now that everything has reached a more stable point, I would like to help the people in every way I can.”

“And that’s alright. Just don’t skip school and be a good boy.”

“Uncle.”

“What? You can’t be in two places at the same time, Mitya.” That baby nickname was enough to calm the prince down slightly. It was only ever used by his family nowadays- as his friends have all but stopped calling him anything other than Your Highness. It felt a bit embarrassing at times, as if Rufus were babying him, but it also brought comfort.

“I- okay, I yield!” The prince crossed his arms, huffing out. “You are impossible, truly. Quite frustrating, at times.”

“Yadda yadda.” Rufus smirked, sipping on the now cold tea. ”Sheesh, this thing tastes like leaf water when it’s cold. Bad leaf water.”

“That is more or less what tea is composed of.” Dimitri grabbed one of the sweet buns, taking a bit and munching with visible glee once he noticed that the pastries were bakes to fit his preferences.

“Finally, dammit! I thought you wouldn’t eat any of these! Well, you could at least spare one to give to a pretty girl you like.” Rufus winked and grabbed another pastry, powdered sugar lining his golden beard.

Dimitri made noises of disapproval, but preferred to just continue eating. Although his heart was still heavy with uncertainty and disappointment in himself, he felt that at least at that very moment, he could afford to occupy himself with something- or someone else. Other than death and suffering, other than despair.

He’d brace himself for a difficult path, now. One of painful recovery and unfortunate difficulties.

#[ ah this takes me back… ] (drabbles)#[[ yo this got LONG ]]#[[ but now that the month's ending have a lil drabble for dimitri @ the plague in faerghus ]]#[[ and uncle hours? uncle hours ]]

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spinnovations · 3 years

Text

Week 2 - Colonialism Research

‘cottagecore moodboard’ by user raspberrymornings on tumblr

The Problem with Cottagecore

The ‘cottagecore aesthetic’ is described by Wikipedia as being an ‘internet fashion aesthetic’, as well as a Gen Z subculture, that celebrates an idealised rural life, simple living, and traditional skills and crafts such as baking, cooking, pottery and sewing. Its soft, sunny images of jam jars, lambs and white picket fences are peaceful and comforting - the prospect of swapping the rapid pace and grey smog of a capitalist hellscape for peaceful country living is an enticing one.

I definitely have an appreciation for this aesthetic - I’ve never felt closer to some kind of god than I do when I bake a cake from scratch, I coo over videos of farm animals on the internet, and I want nothing more than to roam about the idyllic, fantasy-like farm retreat built for the queen in Sophia Coppola’s 2006 film ‘Marie Antoinette’. I know that a large reason I chose Nairn Street Cottage as my site to focus was because of my affinity for the aesthetic - I knew it would mean I could easily incorporate my favourite mediums of collage and needlework, and that I’d enjoy researching it because of my passion for history.

However, I want to ensure that I am not blindly romanticising the home and lifestyle of the Wallis family settlers, and ignoring the darker political history at play.

A desire to lead a wholesome existence and be more in-tune with nature is not inherently bad - however an uncritical appreciation of the cottagecore aesthetic can lead to a romanticisation of settler colonialism - because the practice of establishing rural dwellings is largely connected to the legacy of homesteading and farming on stolen Indigenous land (Ollivain). This aesthetic that promotes a life of self-sufficiency in rejection of the city carries with it the colonial assumption that land is “up for grabs”, as well as the danger of encroaching on indigenous country when Traditional Owners are not consulted (Ollivain).

“Fighting for Indigenous liberation and being conscious of whose land we are on is something we should all strive to do and we must be open to criticism; lest we allow our escapist fantasies divert us from the important work of transforming reality” (Ollivain).

Colonialism in New Zealand

- Māori originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of waka voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. By the time the first Europeans arrived, Māori had settled the land, every corner of which came within the interest and influence of a tribal (iwi) or sub-tribal (hapū) grouping (A History).

- After Abel Tasman became the first European explorer to reach New Zealand, it would be another 127 years before the next recorded encounter between European and Māori - British explorers arrived first, with French not far behind (A History).

- Over the next 60 years contact grew, with majority of interactions between Māori and Europeans passing without incident - but when things did turn violent, much was made about the killings of Europeans, with little mention about the considerable loss of Māori life that did occur (A History).

- Whalers and sealers made regular visits to the colony, and by the 1830′s the British government had decided to “curb the lawlessness” of the land and establish a colony (Alves). In 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by more than five hundred chiefs. The Treaty is a highly contentious document that still carries a lot of weight in present-day politics - briefly, both the English and Maori versions stipulated different things: the former mandated that the Crown would have full control over New Zealand’s territories, while the latter indicated that Maori would have full sovereignty over their tribal lands (Alves). These deviations led to a series of conflicts and forceful land grabs by the British (Alves).

- The Wallis family arrived in New Zealand in 1857. Seventeen years earlier, in 1840, was when the first settler ship - the Aurora - arrived in Petone (European). The town was named for the Duke of Wellington, winner of the 1815 battle of Waterloo, and was part of the New Zealand Company’s systematic model of colonisation (European). By the end of the year, 1200 settlers had arrived in Wellington (European).

- In 1859, Governor Thomas Gore Brown’s purchased a disputed block of land at Waitara, which set the government on a collision course with the Kīngitanga movement. The government interpreted the Kīngitanga response as a challenge to the Crown's authority - Governor Gore Browne succeeded in bringing 3500 Imperial troops from the Australian colonies to quash this perceived challenge, and within four years a total of 9,000 British troops had arrived in New Zealand, assisted by more than 4,000 colonial and kūpapa (pro-government Māori) fighters as the government sought a decisive victory over the "rebel" Māori. The use of a punitive land confiscation policy from 1865, depriving "rebel" Māori of the means of living, fuelled further Māori anger and resentment, fanning the flames of conflict in Taranaki (1863–1866) and on the east coast (1865–1866).

- In the period between the first European landings and the First World War, New Zealand was transformed from an exclusively Māori world into one in which Pākehā dominated numerically, politically, socially and economically (A History).

Effects of Colonisation on Māori

- A major decline in life expectancy - from about 30 years before European contact to 25 for men and 23 for women in 1891 (Pool).

- A major population decline - from around 100,000 in 1769 to 42,000 at its lowest point in 1896 (Pool).

- Impact of introduced diseases - this was the major reason for the population decrease, and had devastating results. The decline began accelerating after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, as settlers began arriving in greater numbers (Pool).

- A loss of land - The influx of settlers led to a demand for land, and from the 1840s Māori were under great pressure to sell their ancestral territories (Pool). Loss of Māori land – through confiscation following the 1860s wars, Crown purchase and the Native Land Court – led to the displacement of large numbers of Māori (Pool). Deprived of their land, tribes were in many instances reduced to poverty, with no option but to live in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions (Pool). Losing land, they also lost access to traditional food sources (Pool). Lack of resources, overcrowding and poor diet helped disease to take hold and spread (Pool).

Nairn Street Land

- The land around Pukeahu was occupied by ngakinga (gardens) for the Te Akatarewa pā. This was a major pā for the Ngāi Tara iwi, so they developed numerous garden sites, including on Pukeahu. Ngā Kumikumi clearing was an old cultivation area in the bush around what is now lower Nairn Street. Nearby, around Central Park, was the Te Āti Awa kāinga (village) known as Moe-i-te-rā or Moe-rā (Pukeahu).

- There are few, if any, known wāhi tapu (places of spiritual significance to Māori) directly on Pukeahu. However, because of its height and proximity to Te Akatarewa pā, it is likely that burials were conducted somewhere on the site (Pukeahu).

- Te Aro pā was established around the 1820s, and covered about 2 hectares in the 1840s. It was divided in two, with Ngāti Ruanui people living in the eastern end and Taranaki people at the western end. As Wellington grew, British colonists called for the pā to be sold. The residents resisted, but the settlers forced the issue and by 1870 it had been subdivided and sold. In 2005, archaeologists uncovered the remains of three huts ( Norman).

- On a map of the courses of Wellington streams from 1940 - 1949, an un-named stream is marked running from the vicinity of Nairn Street via Cuba Street to Te Aro (Wellington Streams). The Te Aro Pa site at the mouth of this stream is marked (Wellington Streams).

I can’t seem to find any information online regarding the stream that would have run across the Nairn Street Cottage section - I will look into this further, as I’d like to know its name if I could, and its significance if it had any. In the Māori at Pukeahu article, it mentions a swamp in the vicinity, which was a mahinga kai (food-gathering area), where eels and other fish from the swamp streams were gathered - it could well have been one of those streams. In Māori culture, many tribes directly or indirectly consider water as the source or foundation of all life - in this case, the stream would have been important for sustaining life and providing nourishment.

Bibliography:

Alves, Thalita. “The Story of Colonisation in New Zealand.” Culture Trip, 28 June 2018, theculturetrip.com/pacific/new-zealand/articles/the-story-of-colonisation-in-new-zealand/.

“A History of New Zealand 1769-1914.” NZ History, nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/history-of-new-zealand-1769-1914.

“Courses of the Wellington Streams.” National Library , natlib.govt.nz/records/22612149.

“European Settlers Arrive in Wellington.” NZ History, nzhistory.govt.nz/wellington-anniversary-day.

“Māori at Pukeahu.” Māori at Pukeahu, mch.govt.nz/pukeahu/park/pukeahu-history-4.

Norman, Edmund. “Te Aro Pā.” Te Ara , Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga, 20 Oct. 2015, teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/13194/te-aro-pa.

Ollivain, Claire. “Cottagecore, Colonialism and the Far-Right.” Honi Soit, 8 Sept. 2020, honisoit.com/2020/09/cottagecore-colonialism-and-the-far-right/.

Pool, Ian. “Effects of Colonisation on Māori.” Te Ara Encyclopedia , Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga, 2 Feb. 2018, teara.govt.nz/en/death-rates-and-life-expectancy/page-4.

#Week 2 #Research

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worldofsufis · 3 years

Text

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞

The painful events that are occurring in Palestine right now will eventually come to an end just as previous iterations of these events have also come to an end. But as we pay attention to the details of the issues taking place, we must not forget the root cause, because it was the cause for all the problems of the past and it will remain so into the future.

The root of everything that is happening in Palestine now is that radical groups professing the ideology of Zionism aggressed upon a land in which Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Samaritans were living in peace. They perpetrated massacres and evicted much of those populations, after which they announced the creation of a new state in 1948, the leaders of which were from those groups. The world community recognised this new state at the time, and in 1967 it expanded its territorial occupation to encroach further into Palestinian land. Today, the world community is a mere spectator to this occupation despite officially recognising it as illegitimate. The fact that we are now in the third millennium and there still exists a state in the world that is incessant in committing the crime of occupation without a care for the Declaration of Human Rights and UN Conventions, and without receiving a real reaction from the UN and the so-called civilised world that may deter the occupier from its occupation, is evidence enough of the spectator status of the world community.

The occupiers are persecuting the people of Palestine and hampering their capacity to have a livelihood. Over 80% of the people of East Jerusalem live in a state of poverty and destitution that has been imposed on them. They are denied the basic rights of freedom to worship and living a dignified life. Their homes and farms are usurped from them. Their general rights are denied to them. Those Palestinians who hold the occupier’s nationality are treated with discrimination. The Gaza Strip is sealed off. Gaza is the most densely populated place on earth with a population density of approximately 5000 people per square kilometre. It has been under a blockade for 15 years and has a 60% unemployment rate. Settlements have and continue to be built in the West Bank for the benefit of usurpers with no connection to the land and who have been imported in from around the world on the basis of their religion and ethnicity. Women and children are killed and houses are razed to the ground. Extremist rabbis justify the killing of Palestinian women and children yet there is no criminalisation of their terrorist rhetoric. Palestinian refugees are denied the possibility of ever returning.

The occupier has been complicit in desecrating the sacred symbols of two billion Muslims. In 1969, Al-Aqsa was burnt. Affronts to its sanctity continue until today and are too numerous to list.

All of this occurs under the sight and support of the self-proclaimed “civilised” world and “advanced” countries; the same countries who peddle the slogan of “human” rights and use it to look down upon us every so often by delivering lectures to our countries about respecting “human” rights!

There are many other issues that result from the simple fact of the occupation’s existence:

• The impulsive and aggressive actions of the heads of the occupying state towards the Palestinians, as and when their political life requires it;

• the bias of many of the world’s most powerful states towards the occupation and the submissiveness of others to powerful lobbies that are supportive of the occupation;

• the exploitation by some of these states of the events that occur as a result of the occupation for their own power play;

• the attempts by some of the states in the Arab region to use the resistance as a tool for their own political and expansionist ambitions;

• the deviation of some of the Palestinian factions from a correct path of resistance and them dragging internal political conflicts, regional struggles, and international politics into the issue and thereby clouding the real essence of the Palestinian cause.

All of these issues are merely outcomes of the fact of occupation and the acceptability of its continued existence. Without occupation, these issues would not exist.

We may also add that the existence of disorganised Palestinian factions, some classified as “terrorist”, are merely a symptom among the many symptoms of the occupation. In the event of there being a real, independent, capable, and stable state, non-state actors could have no recourse to leadership. The experience of countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan (among others) testify to this, for in the face of many destabilising attempts of organisations and movements, aided by monetary, media, and even weapons’ support, as well as the attempts of regional and global states to apply pressure to them politically, economically, and under the pretext of human rights, these states have managed to maintain their stability.

If we continue to deal only with the outcomes of the occupation while neglecting the root and essence of the issue then we simply return back to the same problems that repeat themselves. In the end, it is Palestinian lives that pay the price.

Some people and groups exploit the plight of the Palestinian people and use it to support their own agenda of bringing down governments in the Arab region through inciting and provoking the masses against the state in the name of supporting Al-Aqsa. This not only betrays the Palestinian cause but deals a fatal blow to the dwindling attachment and empathy our people feel towards the issue, weakens the capacity that regional states have in standing in solidarity with Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and confounds the role these states play in dealing with the greater crises that have been occurring in recent years. At the end of this all, it is the Palestinian who will pay the price with his blood, shelter, and ability.

In closing: Allah’s promise is true, whether much time passes or little. A day will come in which Al-Aqsa and the blessed land of Palestine will be liberated. The question, however, is how each one of us fulfils our present duty: first, by maintaining steadfastness on obedience to Allah, repenting from sin, standing at His door, increasing in our realisation of certainty, and then by taking the means. These include:

• Developing our countries, healing their fractures, lifting them from being in a state of want and helplessness, and fulfilling the communal obligation of making them self-sufficient in terms of their farming, industry, education, economics, defence, and innovation. We all must work towards these ends from the place that Allah has placed us in.

• Strengthening our children’s connection to their identity, language, faith, nationality, and culture, and acquainting them with the issue of Al-Aqsa and planting the seeds of love, connection, and support for its cause in their hearts.

• Working earnestly to disseminate the truth about the root cause of the Palestinian issue, in all languages and all media platforms, and to document this truth as much as we can, for this is something that is within the realm of our capacity and it is the duty of our time.

• Donating financially to help our brothers and sisters in Palestine for those who are able to do so, making sure they use non-partisan and reputable charities and organisations such as the UNWRA.

• Travelling to Al-Aqsa and increasing the awareness of people to do so. Such visitations should be “guided” - that is, visitors should arrange their tours with Palestinian groups and companies, enter Palestine through Jordan, use Palestinian owned transport, stay in Palestinian owned hotels, eat in Palestinian owned restaurants, and shop in Palestinian owned shops. If masses did this regularly, a year would not pass except the grounds of Al-Aqsa would be bustling with visitors from all over the world just as the two holy sanctuaries of Makka and Madina are. The occupier will have little room to intrude on Al-Aqsa and all factions of the occupation will see for themselves that aggression against the sanctity of Al-Aqsa is an affront to two billion Muslims and not just the Palestinians.

And before all of this and after it: we plead to Allah in prayer, having certainty in our hearts that prayer has an effect, and knowing that prayer is what we depend on to change our state of affairs.

“Those whose faith only increased when people said, ‘Fear your enemy: they have amassed a great army against you,’ and who replied, ‘Allah is enough for us: He is the best protector (HasbunAllah wa ni’ma-l Wakil).” (Al-Imran: 173)

Allah is enough for us: He is the best protector.

Allah is enough for us: He is the best protector,

May Allah protect Masjid Al-Aqsa, extend support to the guardians who are stationed on its blessed grounds, relieve the Palestinian people of their plight, and awaken the umma from being heedless of the duty it bears to give it assistance and aid, Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyum.

— Habib Ali Al-Jifri

#savesheikhjarrah

#Gaza_Under_Attack

#PalestineUnderAttack

#humanity

#AlAqsa

#SaveGaza

#savepalestine

#FreePalestine

#Alquds

#الاقصى

#GazaUnderAttack

#Palestine

#Gaza

#PalestinianLivesMatter

#palestinian #palestine #gaza #gazaunderattack #gaza under attack #freegaza #freepalestine #free gaza #al aqsa #المسجد الأقصى

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