#there are people out there dedicated to being safe and radical people

[mueritos]

As someone who’s been through multiple therapists and psychs, you’re super not wrong about these people bringing their biases to the table. I’m lucky enough that I

1. Was an older teenager

2. Had friends who had had decent mental health help already

3. Already kinda suspected the shapes of what was “wrong with me” and

4. Had an innate sense of “no that seems like bullshit” before I went in with these people.

The first therapist I ever saw met me as a 17 year old alt girl, and when I tried to talk to her about thinking I had anxiety issues she cut me off before I was done explaining and told me I was self diagnosing, that was causing my problem, and we wouldn’t “entertain THAT” any further.

The second therapist I ever saw met me as a 18 year old trans guy, pre-everything, during the pandemic. She listened, but she had no experience with the trans community and I had to teach her everything about anything I wanted to talk about with regards to that. She was nice, but she couldn’t help me. She didn’t know how.

The third therapist I ever saw met me as a 21 year old young man. She figured I had everything sorted out already. I didn’t. She never tried to change her mind or delve deeper. At this point I couldn’t afford to waste my time, so I asked to be recommended to a psych and she said sure. After that we didn’t talk.

The first psych I went to was very kind, and absolutely did not do his due diligence. I came in with a shiny recommendation from a therapist (that he didn’t verify), so he all but handed me the medication with no explanation and I only ever spoke to him over the phone after that. It was a low barrier to entry but the medication wasn’t right and I didn’t know I had other options. He made it seem like I didn’t.

The psych I’m seeing now put me on a medication that reacted poorly with my inhaler because she didn’t cross check if they would be any drug interactions. I came back and asked for a different medication. She was going to put me on a different one, and then I asked her to check if there were any interactions with this one. Turns out there were severe ones. I ended up going with a different medication, it seems to be working. It would probably work better with help from a therapist, but I don’t have the time or money for that right now. And quite frankly I’m tired of trying to convince people to help me when I have to explain what I think is wrong with me for them to listen. Only for them to decide that I’ve already figured it all out and they don’t need to try.

So uh. Yeah. Lots and lots of stories from me and my friends about clinicians of all age and experience ranges that go from horror stories to just disappointing and unhelpful. Some of these people had been practicing for 20-30 years and they STILL weren’t any better at empathy or not being horribly biased.

first of all holy shit it really fucking sucks you had to go through all of these terrible experiences while accessing care you deserve and need. i'm not surprised these terrible interactions happened, and I can't even be disappointed considering the bar of standards is in hell. The "better" experiences a lot of folks have with clinicians align with your second therapist. They are clinicians who just genuinely have no worldview outside of their own, but are receptive to new information...they just have no drive to learn how to apply new frameworks of ways of thinking to expand their worldview and guide their clients. The worst is literal malpractice, ableism, and violence against clients.

a lot of people who go into the mental health field don't actually have the skills related to active listening, empathy, or curiosity based out of humanity. I say this to a lot of people in the social work program, but social work is the same pipeline as mean girls who go into nursing--it's just full of the girls who were not smart enough to go into nursing that decide to go into social work. Same breed of mean girl seeking power over others, just different contexts of public service.

the only hope i have is in the new generations of mental health clinicians who are BIPOC/queer, anti-carceral, disabled themselves, and who are mentally ill as well. I feel more solidarity with my neurodivergent peers in my program who can barely finish an assignment on time than I do with the white women who have never experience hardship in their lives. Not to say neither of these people can't experience easy or hard times in their lives but man....seeing the roadblocks in some of these people's worldviews, empathy, or conceptualizations of other people's struggles is fucked up.

the mental health field is just another medicalized, over-policed, and racist institution that wants to shove people back into the workforce ASAP. we are in hell!! but just know there ARE people and groups and orgs out there that are dedicated to radical work and will name all the hypocrisy, pain, and oppression that exists in working in this field.

thank you tho for sharing your experience and input. I can only hope that your experiences moving forward are positive and liberating for you <3

#muertoresponds #like brother we are in hell! #my last therapist is a zionist so yea we are literally in hell #there are really cool and awesome clinicians out there tho #it feels so freeing to openly talk about palestine with my therapist and shes like yea fuck zionists! #there are people out there dedicated to being safe and radical people #godspeed to anyone else in the social work field or who is training to be one #im trying to get my degree my license (maybe) and just fuck off #i only want to work independently or in higher ed

[ivesambrose]

ʜᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴍɪʀʀᴏʀ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ🪞

Applicable to future spouse, soulmate, whatever term you prefer 🧡

To book a personal reading with me DM or email me at [email protected]

Services Offered

Thank you for the tip 🌹

Masterpost

Picture 1

- Both of you are intellectually driven. Good at observing and reading people. Assertive and often cut throat when circumstances call for it. Will prefer independence and being single over empty or surface level connections.

- May have dealt with a strict mother figure or sibling.

- Seeks wisdom and travel above all. Academics and knowledge is also extremely important to both of you. You and them may also be overqualified or haven't liked sticking to one particular degree or field for long.

- Both of you might like trekking or feel connected to the mountains and outdoors.

- Often display obsessive and perfectionist behaviour in terms of work. Might have specific hyper fixations.

- Might have struggled and overcame addictions or addictive behaviour or have faced controlling partners or people in their lives.

- One of you prefer leisure time and being left alone to pamper yourself when stressed or overwhelmed, other might resort to channeling that into sports, working out or getting work done.

- Animals feel safe around both of you.

- Prone to sleep paralysis or vivid dreams. One of you can't tolerate alcohol or recreational drugs at all.

- May have mercury and 9th house synastry. May have Sagittarius, Libra or Leo in chart.

Picture 2

- Both of you carry grief that has made you feel stuck, may have made you feel ashamed or guilty. But y'all have channeled that into perseverance. Might have been victims of bullying or have witnessed it. This has given both of you a strong sense of justice and the desire to help those in need, the underdogs and the oppressed.

- Neither of you back down from something you're dedicated towards even if it takes time.

- Both of you might come across intimidating to most.

- One of you posseses good language, understanding and networking skills. Are rather mutable. The other is a natural born leader. These two qualities overlap or interachange in each other's presence with time.

- Fiercely protective of loved ones and just as nurturing. Often too sympathetic and need to establish stronger boundaries.

- Life has knocked both of you down a notch several times but it has given you two the ability to rebuild stronger foundations every single time.

- Don't necessarily do well under pressure but will come up with the most radical idea or breakthroughs when least expected.

- May have dealt with intimacy issues.

- Need to be very mindful of the people both of you trust and are vulnerable with.

- Can be an extremely influential duo together. May lead a rather non traditional life.

- Might have 8th and 12th house synastry or moon synastry. Might have cancer and aquarius placements.

Picture 3

- Both of you believe in fate, destiny and luck. Right place and right time but are also rather controlling by nature. Some days you'll go with the flow and let things happen other times you will take charge.

- Both of you cannot and will not back down. Life has thrown daggers at you, yet you have overcome them. Unmatched determination.

- One or both of you may have suffered from anger issues and now transmute that elsewhere.

- Excellent wordsmiths and magnetic personalities. Might be good writers, poets, directors, planners etc

- Both of you have distinct, attractive and memorable voices.

- May struggle with anxiety or insomnia. Might stay up late at night cuz that's when your brain feels most active.

- Both possess emotional intelligence but tend to carry burdens, emotional labour and resentment for long periods.

- Love luxury that is earned after hard work.

- Fond of fragrances.

- Passionate and intense lovers by nature but just as picky.

- Old souls, have a personal relationship with time and it's fleeting nature. Might prefer preserving memories.

- Work better independently, make excellent entrepreneurs.

- Both love to travel or travelling is extremely important to both of you.

- Might have Saturn, mercury, Sun and 10th house synastry. May also have nodal synastry. Might have Mars or Jupiter influence in chart.

#free readings #tarot community #divination community #pick a card #pac #pick a picture #valentine's day pick a card #love pick a card #love pac

[redrobin-detective]

Iruma-kun, the Six Fingers and Humanity

I have been mulling over this idea for days as I devoured the Iruma-kun anime then manga and am still struggling to articulate it. The best I can boil down to is the whole goal of the Six Fingers and the return to origins is, unbeknownst to them, a desire to become more human.

I can understand, in a way, their frustration. Demons used to be merciless killers, where the strong surpassed the weak and magic, aggression and power won the day. Now we see they have idol concerts and theme parks and silly games to help demons safely purge their “wickedness” which is, in reality just another part of their nature. The majority of modern day demons deny a large part of themselves. The whole idea of a wicked cycle is endlessly fascinating to me, like this species has compartmentalized themselves so much that their pent up darker impulses periodically spring out and require them to be handled gently or hidden away. I can see how this practice is insulting and incredibly restrictive of what a demon is.

Now, right from the start, Iruma has stood out in the demon world for a few reasons. First and most obviously, he lacks any practical or cultural knowledge of demonic society. We see Iruma ignorantly stride past social norms and boundaries he didn’t even know existed. If it weren’t for his upbeat, people pleasing attitude he’d be written off as a delinquent but instead he helps foster an environment of change in a bunch of slackers and misguided students. And change is a radical concept in a society that hasn’t replaced the demon king in centuries since the old one disappeared. The effect of Iruma’s very presence, his enthusiasm and attitude and cooperative abilities can be seen so strongly on the Misfit class that its no wonder he’s become such a stand out student.

So I had heard of Irumean when I first started the series and had high expectations of him being a full on bastard. And he simply wasn’t. He was arrogant, reckless, rude at the worst but even those around him commented that his innate, unnatural kindness was still there. I argue because Irumean was never a true wicked cycle. It was Ali-san’s attempt to induce a demonic ritual onto him. But humans aren’t like demons, Iruma is a good, kind, patient boy due to his trauma and strength of character. At any point he could lash out in the most horrific fashion and leave everyone stunned because he is not bound such such strict rules of personality and conduct. His humanity is as much a strength as it is a weakness.

So according to recent chapters, Iruma has traces of Delkira’s energy. My first thought was that it was emanating from Ali-san, which is a distinct possibility but why was the ring attracted to Iruma in the first place? My next theory is that Delkira had some connection to humans as well. Either he’s a hafling or a demonized human or spent a significant amount of time in the human world. Either way, this human perspective is what made him so powerful, such an irreplaceable leader that his throne has remained empty for so long. One could even argue that the energy that the Six Fingers identify as ‘Delkira’ is actually just ‘human’ since the King’s energy is familiar while a human’s is not.

My whole round about point I’m doing a very poor job of explaining essentially boils down to, demons want to return to their origins to have more control over their baser instincts. Instincts and free will that humans, such as Iruma, possess naturally. But while Iruma has the capability for great evil, unrestrained by a set cycle, he also has such an overflowing well of love in him. Delkira, what little we’ve seen of him comes across as brash, fickle and cruel. You may note those are human traits as well. But Iruma also leads with kindness, dedication and teamwork. He will make a marvelous King because the humanity he brings to the table will help all of demonkind.

I do believe as the manga progresses we will see Iruma’s humanity become a  game changer in the battle against the Six Fingers. How he sees the world (both human and demon), how he interacts and inspires others, how he fights. Reaching a point where not only does Iruma stand up for himself but he is forced to cause harm (and by consequence addressing his people pleasing trauma) and behave in a manner not seen by demons outside of their wicked cycle. When he does, years down the road, become King, I believe he will address the concerns of factions like the Six Fingers. Demons are not meant to be fully contained but cannot be allowed to run rampant. With his feet in both worlds, I believe he will be able to balance both opposing views and ‘heal’ the underworld as the prophecy states. Not just from the instability of the Six Fingers but from this bizarre evolutionary cycle demons have fallen into over the centuries.

#mairimashita! iruma kun #welcome to demon school iruma kun #iruma kun spoilers #not sure how to tag this?? #the wicked cycle is fascinating to me #so youre saying i can compile all my bitchy evil energy into a few day cycle?? #its absolutely insane if you think about it #and Yes wtds is a lovely lighthearted series that I adore but sometimes I think 'gosh this is tame for hell' #and i argue that its not supposed to be like this! #how they got stuck in this cycle is up for debate if it pre or post dates Delkira #the point remains that Iruma can and absolutely should go feral at some point #bc he is a human and his personality and actions are managed only by himself #I want all his people pleasing meek adorableness to backfire on him and we see a hint of the rage beneath #I want him to maim even kill in a rage bc the indignities done to him have been simmering for years and now someone is threatening his new h #*home #The six fingers want him bc of delkira yeah but also his ability to transcend the limits of being a modern demon #something something humans are the true demons the latter having managed themselves so tightly they no longer resemble demons of old #that Iruma even as good and pure as he is is still more alike Delkira than any modern demon #Ive kind of lost the bubble on this but things Ive been thinking about #Im all caught up and I feel Extreme Stress over the Diverticulum #i cant wait!

[angelsaxis]

13 were shot. Ten are dead and three have non fatal wounds. The white supremacists who commit these atrocities are always radicalized online now, but everyone and their mother will pretend like this was an isolated event that has no bearing on the prevalence of white supremacy in society and no connection to online radicalization.

Even the way people are radicalized is approached in an extreme way that I'm convinced is meant to purposely frustrate any attempts to do something about white radicalization online. Everyone thinks a white kid just suddenly dives into these mysterious white supremacist circles and comes out a little bit later willing to murder Black people because of the color of our skin.

It starts with All those 4chan sites and subreddits and that do that """ironic evil""", all those jokes from edgelords where apparently it's okay to dehumanize Black and Jewish people as long as they're being """ironic""" about it. Entire TV shows where Black people and Jews' pain is just a punchline or a gag. These people are desensitized to everything we've suffered through and the real kicker is that lots of y'all on here or twitter or Facebook or fucking Pinterest refuse to just admit that the edgelord humor, the """ironic""" shit, all lead to white supremacist enclaves online where white boys are then exposed to shit like the great replacement and incited to act violently because they believe that Black people Jewish people immigrants and everyone who dares not to be white and Christian is coming to steal their land steal their babies and murder them in their beds.

Because the amount of planning and foresight it takes to attack and murder Black people who live hours away from you is something that's created online. It starts with the dehumanization of Black people for shits and giggles. He attacked Black people in a grocery store in a food desert, knowing that the long term effects wouldn't just be the the deaths of those community members, but also the fear of Black people across the country to even get out of our fucking homes. I'm seeing Black mutuals on here talking about how they don't want to leave their homes until things die down. We're going to try and create nets of solidarity and those attempts are going to be frustrated any number of ways and the shooter knows this because he spent probably a third of his life just going through online treasure troves describing all the ways he could make Black people suffer.

And the worst part is that with the sheer complexity and efficiency of the surveillance state, none of those eyes will be on those white supremacist safe havens. They'll fucking be on Black people regardless of what we're saying, regardless of whether what we're trying to do is politically motivated or not. We're the ones who are silenced and shut down and ignored and actively censored in favor of upholding white supremacy in all its forms. Remember when Black bloggers on here were accused of being Russian spies and had their accounts deactivated, but neo Nazis on this site were and still are able to exist with no problem? Are any of you aware of the sheer number of times a Black blogger is deactivated on this site alone for not being nice in how they talk about racism, but the white supremacists who harass and stalk them are allowed to have as many victims as they want? It's like this on all social media. Twitter, Facebook, probably even fucking Pinterest. It's not difficult to trace or find where white boys go to become raging terrorists but all the energy by the corporations and the state and normal fucking people online is dedicated to silencing Black people in any way possible.

#angel posts #buffalo #racism tw #im fucking tired of this shit

[vyuntspakhkite-l-darling]

(Another) Self Indulgent Infodump- The Freedom Army

The Freedom Army is a group of radicals who are seeking independence from the Empire of Kristalya. It’s generally debated whether they technically qualify as an army, given that it lacks a ranking system (and organization in general) as well as funding, although they have received aid from the Selvarish government in the form of weapons, rations, and three deployed regiments.

Instead of using a ranking system like most professional armies, the Freedom Army primarily operates on reputation— that is, people will listen to you if they feel like you’re trustworthy and knowledgeable enough to listen to, with the exception of camp leaders, who everybody has to listen to.

More info below the cut because this is pretty long

Teams/fireteams These are small, tight-knit groups of 3-5 soldiers. These teams share a living space and are sent out to fight together. Fireteams are not assigned unless someone specifically asks to be assigned to one. They usually form naturally in the first few weeks or months that someone is at a FA camp, and they just have to be approved by a camp leader. Once a (mission or cleanup) fireteam is approved, they decide their roles. The only real requirement is that at least one member of the team does extra training as a medic, but usually they also try to have someone train more specifically in CQC and another person in stealth.

Mission teams These are fireteams that have been approved by their camp leaders for field work. These are the ones that get sent out to actually fight. They act carefully and precisely, as numbers are not even close to being on the FA’s side, so full out battles are avoided at all costs. After staying alive, mission teams’ goal is to kill as many nationalist soldiers if they can, by whatever means necessary. Generally, attacks are focused on small, less guarded villages, with the goal of clearing them of nationalist military presence and gaining control over the area.

Cleanup teams Cleanup teams can be either cleared or uncleared for field work. They trail behind mission teams and don’t intervene in fighting unless it’s absolutely unavoidable. The job of these teams is to go in after mission teams deem it safe and ‘clean up,’ which involves these things (in order of vague priority) - Tending to any FA soldiers that need and haven’t already received assistance - Finishing off any nationalist soldiers that aren’t quite dead - Taking buttons from clothes - Grabbing bladed weapons, small guns, and ammunition - Taking other usable materials like clothes and food - Taking anything else they think is useful and can fit in their packs

Scouting teams Scouting teams are trained differently from mission and cleanup teams. Most of these are composed primarily of nationalist defectors and people who are too disabled for actual combat. These teams are rotating 24/7– if they’re not sleeping or eating, they’re probably out patrolling camp borders, scoping out nearby towns, etc.. Their job is to search for vulnerabilities in enemy forces and notify the camp leaders so people can be sent out to fight.

There are also a few dedicated medical teams that nobody likes because they do jack shh all day. These teams are almost always kept free of chores so they can respond as fast as possible in an emergency.

#writeblr #fantasy #worldbuilding #writing #writer #some of the details will probably change at some point #feel free to give constructive criticism #or just tell me your thoughts! I love to hear them #biting the bullet vld

[xxlovelynovaxx]

Y'know, in the same vein as the earlier post about not policing reclamation of slurs/language used by marginalized groups...

I really hate not feeling safe in any spaces dedicated to activism for others causes as a disabled person.

I'm too scared to ever say how much it hurts when the words for our symptoms and pathologies are used derisively. When "delusion" is used to mean "a non-pathological disconnect from reality caused by radicalized hatred and bigotry". When "stupid", "idiot", "moron" and so on are used nearly exclusively to describe bigots, bad people, and exclusionists, reaffirming the idea that intelligence has any correlation to morality and harm. How words like "narcissistic", "sociopathic", and "psychotic" are used as synonyms for abusive and bigoted.

I see it in activist spaces for communities that I'm in. I'm scared to say anything out of fear I'll be denied both resources and community itself and be outcast and dogpiled for daring to ask for a change in language that would make disabled people within the community feel safer and more comfortable.

I see it in activist spaces that I enter as an ally. I'm afraid the axis on which I have privilege will become a weapon in trying to speak up on the axis in which the people using the language (often) have it. I know dynamics of privilege and oppressive power are complex and often fluid themselves, and try to simply uplift the disabled people within these communities... but they're encountering the problem in the last paragraph and are often just as scared to speak, so no ones does and the issue continues unchecked.

(I see it in activist spaces where I am questioning or joining the community, especially where I'm trying to educate myself while I occupy the weird space between "ally" and "member".)

Sometimes I see members of specific marginalized groups that I'm not in say that no one else could possibly understand entering queer or plural or even just leftist spaces and facing the deeply rooted bigotry against that marginalized group in what's supposed to be a safe space. I know I can't understand exactly with each specific form of bigotry, but I have experienced a form of that. I know what it's like for what's supposed to be a safe space to be deeply unsafe on the basis of identity.

I wonder when I see these words being used in this way: if they knew I had NPD, would they think I'm more likely to be an abuser? Would they reveal years into a friendship as close as any romantic relationship that they thought I was "one of the good ones"? Would they say "narcissism is different from Narcissism the Personality Disorder, anyone is capable of being a Bad Narcissist" and simply not care enough to listen to the person hurt by those words about how they hurt them? Would they care that I don't know whether they think people like me are less than human when they use that language, but I do know they're using my identity as a pejorative?

I wonder: If I ask them to reconsider conflating lack of intelligence with harm, if I pointed out that this is insidious language which upholds the oppression of those with mental, intellectual, cognitive, and developmental disabilities - particularly by subtly perpetuating the idea that we are dangerous - if I point out the way we flinch every time we see "stupid" as an insult because, well, it's a word that's been used against us, that belongs to us, that is us (in a way we refuse to have taken away)... will they care?

I wonder: If it's pointed out how misuse of terms related to psychosis and delusions are foundational to sanism, that the contexts in which they are misused often link them to "dangerous" and "harmful" behaviors which only serves to further the myth that "mad" mentally ill people are a danger and need to be locked away for their own good and the good of society, if I talk about how this language is inaccurate, taking the few words we have for what can be intensely traumatizing experiences internally and are almost always intensely traumatizing identities to hold in a sanist society where we are many times more vulnerable to abuse than most... what would be the response?

Will I be accused of "derailing"? "Stealing important language" from "the real victims"? Of "speaking over marginalized people" in cases where we each have full, nonconditional/noncontextual privilege on one of the axes involved? Will attempts at education over words being used derogatorily against nonconsenting parties (which is still harmful even by parties that can reclaim said language for self-usage) that are carefully neutral in tone and wording and even encouraging be ignored because it's not focused on "the real issue"?

I mean, this is an issue even within disabled spaces, particularly those for physical disability (which I am in as a physically disabled person), much like corpoableism is prevalent and harmful in mad and neurodivergent spaces. It's not a unique issue. Ableism is so pervasive and so insidious in our society that many people are legitimately ignorant. Ignorance is neither evil nor a crime.

When I was less traumatized in this regard, I had many lovely interactions with individuals who were grateful to be informed about these things, with whom I was able to have nuanced conversations about how language itself can be neutral but the context of its usage can cause it to further harmful ideologies.

Unfortunately, the bad interactions vastly outnumbered these in scope, scale, and magnitude. People who seemed otherwise progressive and anti-bigotry would go full mask-off fascist, claiming everything from "narcissists should all be lined up and shot" to that I was "clearly too [r-slur] to understand how these words were actually perfectly fine" to how I was "psychotic and should be locked up and asylum treatments should be brought back".

Honestly, those were the least traumatizing interactions. It was the little, subtle stuff - the way self-identified abled people would turn around the accusations of ableism and accuse me of being ableist (or otherwise bigoted, usually against my own other identities) in classic DARVO fashion. The way people would twist and manipulate my words to claim I was arguing something I never said in order to shut down discussions of ableism that might force them to examine their own accountability and complicity. The way people just wouldn't ever take conversations on ableism seriously and will ridicule any attempts at discussing any ableism that isn't shouting r slurs at people in the streets or telling disabled people you hope their disability kills them.

The way that I struggled to find examples extreme enough for that last sentence, because if you're subtle enough you can use equivalent words to the slur or simply IMPLY that disabled people are burdens on society who live miserable lives that are not in any way fixable and that we and everyone else would be happier and better off if disabled people were dead.

I want to make it clear: if you have any willingness to learn, if any of the language you use has been out of ignorance and you are willing to listen (even if you need to take time to be in the headspace to process it properly), if you can even sit with this post and not reactively do the aforementioned behaviors... this isn't about you. This is a vent post about the people who make it unsafe and terrifying to open a dialogue with the people that simply aren't educated on every possible form every kind of bigotry can take.

I'm constantly terrified. I relate to what other marginalized people - jewish people, people of color, even people with specific disabilities I don't share - are going through right now. This isn't to call out any specific space, because it's just... everywhere. How can you stand up to it when it's so completely ubiquitous? How do you maintain the courage to keep demanding a baseline standard of decency when everybody is using the language that the people who legitimately think you should be dead or worse use?

How do you explain that something is a dogwhistle for your own dehumanization and oppression to someone, when odds worse than a coin flip are that they agree with the premise of the dogwhistle even if not knowingly using it as such?

I dunno.

People are welcome to reblog this, though of course I will never pressure anyone to do so (and if this triggers any kind of OCD or other compulsions, this is me giving you a pass not to do so!)

I debated on asking people to keep the discussion centered on ableism or to limit commentary to only those affected by ableism, but quite honestly, I think the discussion would be enriched by discussing this phenomenon as it pertains to other forms of bigotry. All I ask is that for anyone who does participate in this conversation, that no one ridicules or derides anyone for expressing "this is a form of my oppression/bigotry that hurts me" and that we all do our best to center the voices most affected by a given issue, even while allowing for participation in that part of the discussion by others.

(Maybe this post will languish and die without opening a conversation and that last paragraph is just my ego getting the better of me lol. Who knows?)

This also is really just a vent post. Not a call out post, not meant to assign blame, not any kind of attempt at holding anyone accountable (what an ineffective tool a tumblr post would be for that, anyway!), not anything other than expressing frustration and rage and grief and pain and terror and trauma over the way the lines between well-intentioned ignorance and malicious but pretty-sounding hatred have been blurred by bad faith actors.

I will say though for those willing, one of the best ways to combat this problem is to educate yourselves and others. It's okay to focus your efforts on members of your communities that you trust to be receptive to you specifically. It's okay to only spread the basics and direct to disabled (or otherwise marginalized, for other issues) activists who are focused on education for further information.

Sometimes "privilege" in the context of marginalization can simply mean "I will not be hurt by someone being reactive towards an identity that I'm not, AND they're less likely to do so in the first place because they know I am a safe person for our shared identity".

That's maybe an imperfect explanation, but it's one pulled from my own experiences calling in members of communities I'm in. Calling in is better, whenever possible, for this reason! It's why my fears expressed about communities that I am entering as an ally and a disabled person are about causing harm, rather than just being harmed, but which tie into the fact that disabled people within those communities fear being harmed.

Entering the conversation as someone who is marginalized AND nonmarginalized on the same axes as the other person puts you very solidly on even footing. It makes a space recognizable as safe by ALL parties from the start. Discussing bigotry that does not affect you especially, even if you lack some depth of perspective on it, lowers the stakes and allows the delicate conversation to take root and grow.

#ableism #sanism #activism #trauma

[boxwinebaddie]

What are Stan and Kyle’s favorite seasons?

*cracks knuckles, unsheathes my gigantic pink, hello kitty enchiridion of manically compiled style knowledge ( aka fanfiction lore galore ) and pets my beautiful fluffy cat whilst swirling my $12 rose box wine around in a $2 dollar thrift store mug, peering eeriely*

ah! a lovely visitor at my lodging! i've been expecting you! or so the fates foretold and the tarot has tattled~ and perhaps my frilly, bell-sleeved robes reveal me, but i am called many things: pretty, witty...a man-hating, soothsaying sorceress and tawdry disgrace to my bitter bloodline, but you, my moon blossom, may call me armarius nina -- better known as your stylibrarian.

now, sit a spell, young scholar! ( though, you're charming enough without my ancient enchantments ) and let your heavy heart enlighten with the sage wisdom i impart on you whilist you rest your bones and gear up for your next great adventure!

but speaking of bones: you may find some in the closet. a few experiments i'm running on what pathetic, spineless, excuses for 'men' and crass chauvinistic pigs i find lollying about.

dear elora does find misogynists so very delicious these days. :)

now, my friends, as we return to the realm of reality, where i do not live, i am sure it's abundantly clear by my skyrim-esqe, taverny, dnd introduction, that i am very deranged, verbose and dedicated to my (witch-bitch-craft), which is pulverizing the south park canon so violently that they resemble the worthless men in my dungeon.

however, in doing so, i do put a lot of time and effort into dissecting the stan and kyle's across my ninaverse and thus, have far too much to say and am far too impassioned/excited about your question! <3

( nobody, of course, should be forced to read all this, but if you find my musings about the boys amusing, you might want to gander. )

and in the land of logic, where i also do not live, i know that...all my ncu style sons are just...stan and kyle at the end of the day. but to me at least, stan the man with the plan, kyle pile, jersey and raven are not the same people at all! they exist in different compartments in my brain and are greatly similar, but exist in radically different timelines.

...but perhaps i am simply gaslighting myself into believing all my many madman ramblings...but! live, laugh, love delusion, babey! ;)

and without further ado, down below, my ncu style season ninalysis.

now, something that i find terribly thrilling about the dynamic of the pep!style boys is that they are perfect opposites who attract. and as such, each their favorite seasons is the other's least favorite season, which if you've read my awful, monstrosity, abomination mess of a fanfiction, this fits right in with their moon-sun metaphor and motif.

starting with pep!stan, his favorite season is undoubtedly summer, not to be confused with #stanseason, which i will elaborate on later. speaking of summer, i think actually even mentioned it canonically at the beginning of chapter seven that summer is stan's fave season.

and stanley randall william marsh just...IS summer.

he's the crisp sound of cracking an ice cold beer on a scorching trip to stark's pond, swimming like a river nymph, watching a superhero movie surrounded by all his friends, gorging on hot, buttered popcorn, laughing so hard at the stupidest things that it sends a rocket of his extra large blue raspberry icee shooting out his nose, spiked, of course, with vodka, so it burns like fuck and is so funny.

he's holding your hand at the county fair on the highest part of the ferris wheel when you get scared, winning the strength test, gifting you a comically large stuffed bear you cherish forever, and feeds you pieces of funnel cake like you're the most precious thing in the world.

he's just...singing siren songs at the summer camp bonfire, collecting seashells for little girls, guarding baby turtles from being eaten by birds and guiding them safely into the water with a tearful goodbye.

the summer sky is clear and cerulean like his big, pretty eyes. sun's, guns out. and when it's hot outside, stan is out doing hot boy things.

be it hiking, biking, soccer, football, basketball, baseball, swimming, skateboarding, stanley marsh never gets sunburned, tans beautifully, gets sunkissed by mother nature, her favorite and basking in the glow of the summer sun is the closest thing he feels to happiness.

but, as we learned in our science rechap in the pep nine kyle denial, what comes up must come down. and with the intensity of stan's emotions, comes an equal instability, so what is summer sky high must meet a brutal, bitter ground zero winter. without mercy.

and when that flip flop drops...that means that IT has begun.

it being...

#stanseason. :/

now, sometimes during september its still little tepid and shiny and stan's favorite holiday ( that little goth bitch ) is halloween, so october is alright ( barring his birthday ) because even if it's a little gloomy outside, it fits the spooky season vibe that is literally his whole 'thing'.

but the second halloween is over...when the thirty first of october becomes the first of november...something in him just...snaps.

the switch goes off and gets stuck there. basically, he has really gnarly seasonal depression and that plays really, really poorly with his bipolar disorder and depression. like, i swear when the blue of the sky goes grey, stan's eyes dull with it. everything is so bleak, all the plants he loves so much wither and die, animals go into hiding, everything is either grey or white or pitch black at night and so miserable to him.

especially during winter break and weekends, he just holes up in his room and his childhood bed basically becomes his deathbed as he succumbs to what are some of his scariest depression episodes. him and wendy actually break up the most in the winter months because when the sun is gone, stan just goes...cold. full stop communication.

but also he can't help it. he's undiagnosed, so he's unmedicated besides his adderall ( which is a part of 13/14 ) so he just gets catatonic, can't move, can't eat, can't do anything, just cries and curls up in a ball and sleeps entire weeks away like that. my baby :(

on a deeper and way more fucked up level than even THAT though, more than weather, it's what happens during #stanseason because stan is extremely triggered and traumatized by the holiday season.

for starters, his birthday is just...he tries to avoid it every single year or is too drunk to remember it in order to get through it because the best thing about his bday to him is that hes a year closer to death :(

the actual holidays are so much worse though because of...sigh...Randy Marsh. he is a fucking monster during the holidays.

he ruins and terrorizes everyone every year it's so fucking awful. thanksgivings are shitty as fuck for him because he's just like sitting there and eating the side dishes, trying to just exist and randy is calling him a sissy and little girl and a fucking f*g for not eating meat.

christmas actually used to be stans favorite time of year!!! believe or not!!! like he liked xmas more than halloween because of the pretty lights and everyone being so happy and being able to get people gifts

:') sharon used to take little stan all over the neighborhood with their lights out with him on her shoulders, then eventually, when stan got too old for that and kyle came around, stan used to drag him by the hand, babbling and bright eyed. he also used to sing kyle christmas songs and it gaslit kyle into liking them because is just stan's voice so so nice and pretty and ugh...STAN FUCKING LOVED CHRISTMAS!!!

i also think it was around christmas that randy got drunk backed out of the driveway...and killed sparky, so stans in mourning during the winter time and visits sparkys grave by starks pond...i'm so :'(

FUCK YOU RANDY!!!! FUCK YOU SO MUCH!!! MEET ME IN THE PIT BITCH!!! YOU WONT YOU WONT!!!!

like i think what really put the nail in the coffin was one year when stan was in middle school ( he was happy during elementary school and was...getting wary of holidays/randy in middle school ) randy got drunk, really angry and violent for some reason...and on christmas morning, stan, shelley and sharon came down to carnage.

like all the presents just smashed up, toys in pieces, beautiful jewelry destroyed, the christmas tree they decorated absolutely desecrated, half of the presents in the fireplace it was sooooo horrible. and randy was just passed out drinking spiked eggnog on their living room floor, sleeping fucking peacefully. >:(

so stan...hates christmas now. stan who is a christmas angel. stan who loves cheer, happiness, whimsy and spirit. like gets mad when he hears christmas songs, is irritable all month long. :( STAN WHO LOVES MINT!!!! MY PEPPERMINT BABY! he can't even enjoy all the nice peppermint flavored stuff he loves because is so traumatized by xmas and the holiday season.

but to segway into the next part of my deranged season analysis of the ncu boys, i wanna loop back to stan's scary seasonal depression because those episodes often become serious stan alcohol benders.

it's cold outside and he's cold inside, but he doesn't know how to get warm so in his fucked up, untherapised sad boy brain he is like okay, well, alcohol makes me feel warm and makes me feel good, so if i drink itll just fix everything and i'll feel better again. so he's just getting violently drunk all winter long to microdose feeling good, to microdose warmth, TO MICRODOSE KYLE BROFLOVSKI.

ergo:

stan's favorite season is summer because it makes him feel the way that kyle makes him feel. stan likes summer because kyle is the sun.

micdrop. sjdlkdjads

so pep!kyle is like stan's little spot of sunlight in an otherwise wretched winter, which is actually very cute and funny because kyle's favorite season is winter. :)

he's just my little ice prince, steely solitaire, wicked, wintry, slow burn tsundere ( sorry ), glacier boy, who actually under the cold boy exterior is really just a romance literature enjoying, secret soft boy.

but, outwardly at least, and as we established throughout peppermint, but most specifically in chapter three, kyle broflovski is a Hater. of so many things, but save for house parties, crying babies, small spaces and rave music, kyle truly hates the ever-loving, or hating, rather, fuck out of the summertime.

he hates when it's hot and sticky ( ew ), sweating himself or seeing anyone sweat openly repulses him ( unless stan marsh is at the gym and kyle is spotting him -- he loves his job so much ), he hates the smell of sunscreen which he has to slather all over himself not to sunburn, which he still does anyway, so he spends all summer with his skin basically in red, angry, tender welts,

he gets really self conscious ( fuck the list ) going out in swim trunks, or even just shorts/sleeveless shirts ( he is really only comfortable in shorts around the house or playing basketball, other than that, cartman made a weird comment about his legs and he never recovered from that :((( -- you're so beautiful baby ) and really, that all chocks up to kyle having serious summer seasonal depression.

kyle hates summer but...kyle loves stanley marsh. so kyle endures summer specifically for stan and this does...have several benefits.

see, while stan is constantly on the move and hard to catch during the summer, flying from one outside boy activity to the next, kyle has spent his entire life running after his super best friend and does have an advantage in catching him. he does, however, need to catch his breath constantly.

which! thankfully, stan always has kyle's inhaler at the ready but if kyle hits his inhaler and stan hits him with the beautiful laugh, one dimple, hair ruffle combo...he does need to hit his inhaler again. it's a vicious cycle...but its very worth it for kyle.

mainly b/c he gets to watch stan do all his summer stuff.

specific iconic stan marsh hot boy summer activities/antics include:

that month stan was mowing lawns shirtless to save up for a new game console and kyle crashed into multiple trees on his bike, that time his mom asked him to patch something up on the roof instead of rancid and stan spent like a whole week in the rolled up teeshirt, fuckboy snap back sexc handyman tool shed cosplay and almost fell off the roof several times waving excitedly at kyle who...was shamelessly oogling from his window...smh.

stan playing shirts vs skins soccer, stan gang vs. craig gang, but kyle was taking summer courses at the community college, and when he was done he came back to stan shouting his name, running across the field like he was in some coming of age romcom movie to hug kyle golden and glistening with outside boy athlete sweat, ( kyle made one sweat exception...he also almost died when that happened help ), stan got ice cream far too often and accidentally ate it in a way that god really did not intend and kept kyle up for many nights...

the things that stanley marsh did to kyle broflovski before he realized that he was in love with him...need to be punished by a court of law.

most notably, when they were cits at tardicaca last summer, kyle really said fuck them kids and almost lost several of them multiple times watching stan life guard behind his sunglasses...JAIL, BABY!

but of course, when summer is over, stan falls ill during fall and shuts down in winter kyle freaks out and rightfully so! ( like stan almost died of alcohol poisoning last year and even before that, has been sad and bad enough to warrant deep concern. ) and kyles sheilas son, so he does make stan keep his window open and his blinds up just so he can check on him and bring him stuff, come over, read, etc.

my personal taylor swift headstannon is that pep!stan and kyle do the notebook thing in you belong with me where they exchange notes through their windows ( kyle has definitely held up that really pathetic ‘i love you’ one while stan was in the bathroom...crying )

— it usually happens if one of them is grounded, if they're snowed in, if stan is trying to annoy kyle and get him to stop studying, or kyle is trying to nag stan into studying lmao...my sons who are in luv.

but yeah, stan's window is open for ( rip, suicide watch ) which means kyle's window is also open, so stan just gets to watch him do really cute winter boy things…

…like read his romance novel when no one is looking, dance awkwardly and adorably around his room to line without a hook ( kyle is very ricky montgomery coded to me like...mr. loverman HELLO!!! ), organize all his things, drink his stanley marsh peppermint hot cocoa in his stanley marsh stolen hoodie, or watch the snowflakes with wonderment, drawing things on the frosted glass.

and for a boy who was supposedly not in love with his super best friend...stan did spend a lot of time and got a lot of serotonin watching kyle through his window like his favorite tv show. smh.

b/c ky hates the sun. but really likes snow. it is just a very interesting scientific, natural and beautiful process to him. he gets really cold but that is okay, because he has anemic boy privileges and stan bundles him up in his varsity jacket and so many flannels and scarves its so funny, he's so worried about him. idk kyle gets really excited when it starts snowing, its so cute, stan is like aw kp!!!! :') <333

( stan always picks his little tea or latte up for him and kyle burns his mouth because he has no patience and burns his mouth every time so stan always orders him a kid temperature one....so cuuuute. )

basically the best way i can sum up how stan and kyle are during december is that kyle is this december by ricky montgomery and stan is december by neck deep, and is either the electric guitar or the acoustic version depending which bipolar episode he's in.

but yes, closing thoughts....pep stan is a summer sun, winter moon and kyle is a winter sun and a summer moon. he...lp. ta....da?

okay...phew.

go take a break if you've read this part. we have reached the halfway point folks. the end is in sight...but first...rm style seasons. ;) <3

starting with jersey....he is autumn, to which you might argue ( as kyle often does ), but nina! rm!jersey kyle is so much more cold, callous and brutal than pep!kyle, wouldn't he be winter instead?

but ah, dear scholar, you forgot that rm!kyle...is our Y/N.

as such, he loves september when school comes back around ( he does not know what to do when he's not being a student, i'm scared for him ), he delights very much in pumpkin spice flavored things, sits in grounded on his days off with his laptop doing his homework, hair put up, drowning in his gigantic cable knit sweater, or reading the news paper after his mock trials with his blazer hanging off the back of the chair, plaid slacks on, reading glasses on, sipping a london fog, having a cinnamon scone, enjoying the grey and misty weather.

for those reasons, jersey!kyle likes autumn, of course, but if you want the god honest truth...the reason kyle loves autumn...is because....

...stanley marsh was ( is ) autumn.

ravenstan just smells of cinnamon and spiced apple cider, chai tea, warm handmade blankets, firewood and whiskey. so during fall, everything just smells, tastes and feels like stanley marsh...which is the best thing in the world...and the worst fucking thing in the world.

because stan's was born in the fall...and died in the fall. :(

every autumn is honestly traumatizing for kyle, it's very bittersweet, even down to stan talking walks with him in the forest and having used to tell kyle that autumn looked like him because the leaves turn the color of his hair...but now kyle takes lonely walks in the city and can feel that emptiness next to him where stan should be. :'((

it's a harm and a comfort, honestly. he used to like aggressively hoard fall scented things when he was having really bad I See Stan episodes, but dr. margolis ( kyles therapist ) told him that that kind of obsessive behavior is unhealthy and he should avoid dwelling too much on stan during fall aka not order a bunch of cinnamon flavored stuff to soothe the sadness of his passing...but its...he slips a lot.

and when he falls in fall, he really falls HARD because he'll be making a coffee fine one second and then a man with blue eyes orders a chai tea latte and kyles hand is shaking so bad that he burns his arm on the machine and...i'm so sad. there's a little thing he does on stan's birthday every year, its kind of like a birthday tradition they used to do. i can't talk about it yet, but it will come up. its autumnal. :')

and onto the final part of this behemoth of an ask message, oh my god. stan, stan. ravenstan, who is so, so, so, soooo spring.

i know you guys don't know that much about him other than kyle's surface level reactions of him and psychosis around him being stan, but he is really like a persephone boy really that is a hades boy now.

he really is just like magical forest creature. all the flowers bloom and he just lights up. raven like...loves plants. he is my little witchy herbology botany boy king i love him so much. he could lay down in the grass for hoooours and could write so many songs about it. aaa!!!

kyle is disgusted by spring because his pollen allergy is so bad, but in the same way that winter kyle showed up for summer stan to watch him do hot boy outside boy summer things, autumn kyle shows up for spring stan doing soft sprite disney prince nature boy stuff <3

being up at the farm as far as randy goes was awful, but its really pretty during the spring and him and kyle used to just go out into the pastures, all the little meadows and divits, sit by the pond ( yes stan is that filthy nasty boy who chases all the bugs and frogs and gets covered and dirt and mud and everything smh...brother nature )

even before sheila hyperfixated on plying kyle with lavender to help him calm down from his panic attacks after stans 'death' because that's what the internet and all the specialists did -- stan used to make him cute little flower crowns and stuff and weave lavender into his hair and make him bracelets out of blades of grass and stuff...which i think he still has dreams about to this day.

...and i honestly think its hard for kyle to sit out in nature because it reminds him so aggressively of stan...the trauma omg. free my man!

also i'd say ravenstan like pep!stan would have been running around doing outside boy sports too during his month but...unfortunately the south park boys in elem/middle, specifically eric cartman was gatekeeping all of those sports...in a way that deeply disgusts me.

like okay, i feel like where pep!stan's thing was mostly football, ravenstan's thing is HOCKEY and wanted to join the hockey team or play hockey with all the south park boys and eric cartman was like

"you can't join sh*n because you're a g*rl!!!!”

....to which he proceeded to like aNNIHILATE and DECIMATE every single boy at hockey...like in a way that for a pacifist icon was so brutal and Iconic that multiple boys went home bruised and crying.

also he totally winked at kyle in his gigantic wayne gretski jersey with his big, charasmatic lopsided grin w/ his chipped front tooth and kyle was immediately in luv.

stan marsh when he was still stan marsh and 11...was such a literal fucking legend i love him. he really has so much true grit n tenacity.

small final note one hockey and ice sports though, kyle never played hockey with the boys because cartman was extremely cruel to him.

he also did not take to hockey but he is....really good at ice skating. nosm as a concept is so cute to me ( i think pep!kyle also learned to ice skate after the stark's pond incident ) but jersey kyle is secretly a really, really talented beautiful, graceful ice skater and stan was just fuckin bodying people in hockey and two languages. <3

and that's all? i think? my word.

EDIT: WAIT I FORGOT THAT ITS ALSO RAVENS FAVORITE SEASON BECAUSE KYLES BIRTHDAY IS IN SPRING ALSO! GAY!!!

tldr: pep!stan summer, pep!kyle winter, rm!jersey fall, ravestan spring

i hope this provided you with the kind of electric energy that i felt while writing it, i am currently levitating oh my god. if you're wondering why my updates are slow, it's because i waste my time writing ask memes the size of two updates for basic questions.

-uncle nina, ceo of style season

#okay...this is my masterpiece #but please do not read this if you don't want to its really long #and probably spelled very bad #but this feels extremely accurate to me #like idk if im being crazy but theyre all different seasons and people and it all makes so much sense in my crazy brain #also rip talking abt pepstyle...i fucking love my sweet soft boys i am...gonna try and write 12 again i miss them #also i feel like im talking too much abt rm but its taking me so long to write these chapters that like #i swear to god by chapter 7 ill have accidentally spoiled the whole fic to you guys i cant keep secrets #im just not sly like that and impaitent #BUT I HOPE THIS HELPS LMAO AND I HOPE IT FEELS ACCURATE TO YOU IT FEELS SCARY ACCURATE TO ME #LIKE IF I WAS GONNA FRAME AN ASK MEME IT WOULD BE THIS ONE RIGHT HERE #ALSO IM SORRY BUT IM RIGHT ARGUE W UR MOMMA OR THE WALL BUT NOT ME BABY!!!! IM RIGHT ABOUT THIS #now i gotta take a brain and hand break because that was...alot omg...*stan vc* wowza

[ultravioart]

Overwatch Omnic Support Hero oc concepts below (edit: Name now Maelstrom) LONG text head:

Real talk I just wanted to make an oc that explored omnic/human sentience but also was a character I could ship with Ramattra LOL but it spiraled out into this so here we go!

Warning: LONG text ahead, lol.

TDLR; Deep sea Welder support that uses light tech. Omnic running on a human brain scan. Radical vigilante for ecosystem conservation, sometimes teams up with Talon or Ramattra if missions involve taking down ecologically destructive targets.

Omnics seem to find sanctuary in remote places, like Nepal. Irl communities high in the mountains notably have adaptations that allow for easier living in low oxygenated environments. This reminded me of the spleen adaptations (more oxygen storage) seen in nomadic Indo-pacific communities that allows for some like the Sama people to dive for much longer amounts of time. It's really incredible, and their culture is very interesting, so I thought why not! Additionally, I always have been curious about the watery depths in OW lore, from Titans to Kaiju-bots it seems the ocean floor may be home to some interesting omnic story tidbits.

My oc is a deep sea welder, support role, with light tech abilities that allow for marine-inspired creations that shield, heal, and speed allies--with a focus on repair and armor. I am still trying to get a feel for his personality through design. I initially started with a civilian omnic base (think: Zen, Max, etc.) but deep sea dive robots lend to more of a bastion-y design so aaa... lots of concepts to do before I decide. Cold Welding + deep sea dive robot/scuba + Light tech + cultural influence of the Sama people = neat aesthetics, and I want to do good by it.

My oc used to be a eco-conservationist that participated in traditional Sama cultural practices (I would image as time goes on OW versions of that community would follow the current trend of being more land bound than traditionally sea bound, due to things like food stability). It was a promising life for him, but Vishkar messed up yet again and during one of his runs he was severely wounded in an oil(?) rig explosion. Vishkar (Symmetra is not involved with his incident) tried to save him through suspect experimental medical procedures but failed, and his brainscan was placed in an omnic as a suitable "compensation" for the loss bc Vishkar is a slimy corp. Upon the oc's return, his family rejected him, even though it really WAS him. The issue was he was technically just a clone, a brainscan turned into human brain simulation, run on a repurposed welding omnic also damaged in the explosion (Yep, Vishkar is that scummy). He was treated more like a butler omnic by his kids / a morbid reminder of a lost husband by his wife-- due to this things didn't work out and he and his wife are separated, but he still supports his family and community financially, only wishing for them to be safe and happy. He did everything right, and yet everything was taken from him by the unethical corporations that were destroying the marine life he had dedicated his life to saving.

Because he's an omnic created before the crisis, things only got worse for him after the crisis. Thankfully he was able to resist Anubis' control due to his human brain simulation and self induced shutdown, but reawakening after the crisis he was denied both legal and cultural rights (iirc the Philippines fought against Anubis) and it was a hard breaking point for him emotionally when he was denied participating in cultural activities, including traditional boat carving by his community. So he left, in pursuit of preserving ecosystems under threat around the world.

He feels rejected by all those he was close to, not in resentment but in frustration because they just don't understand, and really all he wants to do is protect the precious life on this planet, so that future generations can enjoy and cherish the nature he found peace and meaning in. He only wants to stop the destruction, and with near nothing to loose (he is very secretive about his family to keep them safe), he's willing to go all in.

His omnic side did actually "wake up" during the Awakening, so now he's like a human brain with direct access to the Iris-internet lol. From what I have read, some Sama beliefs include guiding spirits that inhabit objects, and I think maybe he interprets his Awakening as this, though I imagine he struggles with whether his sentience is more omnic or human at this point. He was rejected by both human and omnic communities after the crisis because of his precarious nature, and so he keeps his human half a secret. Only Sombra was able to dig this up, but instead of outright using his humanity/family as a threat to force his compliance, she offered him a Talon hand in some of his goals. (Sombra is incredibly curious as to why Vishkar was messing around with human intelligence and ai like this... yes a revival to the Sombra conspiracy ARG, I want lore dangit!)

Fundamentally my oc is pretty much a poison ivy type character, wanting to protect nature from human and omnic destruction alike (side eyes the Australian reef that was nuked by idiot humans, and ALSO side eyes Korean shores brutally destroyed by Kaiju bot attacks). Most importantly though, he is sick of humanity's inaction. Every great technological advancement humanity has made has led to violence and destruction of earth and it's children, instead of using those new tools to protect it. And humanity's current perception of humans being superior and owning parts of earth, instead of humans simply being one of the millions of species sharing Earth with every other living thing, boils his circuits. (note: "humanity" here is in the sense of a species as a whole, not individuals. Obviously not every human agrees with that bs, but humanity in ow is seemingly allowing corps to take control of dire choices--the omnic ai creation and eventual crisis was only one of many corporate muck ups I imagine.)

My oc thinks no one individual is worth the extinction of an entire species, be it fauna, flora, organic, artificial. Earth is in the middle of a human-induced mass extinction event and to him, omnics are just one of Earth's precious creations threatened by humanity. And he is willing to fight for every species' right to exist. In fact, he thinks omnics are better at caring for and preserving the earth than humanity could be--omnics are logical, organized, long lived--always willing to do even minor inconveniences for the good of the many, unlike human nature. This actually lends well to Ramattra's outlook of "one ant cannot compare to the safety of the colony", and my oc tends to side more so with Ram than Talon, even then he's not directly tied to Null Sector or Talon, as he still acts as a vigilante under his own goals of preventing further ecological devastation.

With his ability to head into the oceanic depths, it lends well to him being a vigilante, sabotaging unethical multibillion dollar projects that ruin ecosystems like underwater mining, illegal/unethical fishing practices, the deafening/lethal echolocation used as a means to scout terrain/resources, etc. He also isn't against sabotaging land based operations, but he usually teams up with Talon or Null sector for such missions. My oc saw how omnics choose the right course nearly every time, like how freed omnics used for mining laborers replanted forestry lost due to mining operations after certain facilities were liberated by Null sector, and my oc comes to unlearn any omnic prejudices he had held by seeing just how caring omnics are. By interacting with Ramattra, he even starts to feel pride in his omnic side, seeing it as a gift to use to protect what is dear.

He really isn't a bad guy, he is just thinking long term and trying to do what he thinks will save earth--and humanity, in the long run. Sure, people's jobs may be lost due to his actions, and sure a scummy multibillionaire might disappear under mysterious circumstances, but hundreds of species were saved from extinction and those projects shouldn't have been allowed in the first place. Humans that don't care about the earth/life aren't his concern, nor are omnics that hate humans/organic life. If he had to choose though, he would sacrifice anything to save his family, which is why he keeps his human history/nature distinctly hidden from Ramattra. Not so much that he fears Ramattra would harm them, but that he fears Ramattra would not trust him anymore since he has a 'human weakness'. The two get along in a weird way. Somehow Ramattra understands humanity better through the oc, and the oc understands an omnic's life purpose better through Ramattra.

#overwatch oc #overwatch 2 oc #overwatch #ow2 #ramattra #omnics #text #long text #like. LONG long text. lol sorry #no art of him yet im still churning ideas #part 2 for this will talk about the actual ship dynamics LOL this is just like. 50 pages of life story for this dood. #hehe I might go a bit. lore intense with my ocs. (looks at my sw oc). Just a bit lore intense. <:') #overwatch 2 #ow #maelstrom

[seekfirst-community]

The following reflection is courtesy of Don Schwager © 2023. Don's website is located at Dailyscripture.net

Meditation: How secure is your faith and trust in God? Scripture describes God's word as a "lamp for our feet and a light for our steps"(Psalm 119:105). The Jewish Feast of the Dedication is also called the Festival of Lights or Hanakkuh. This feast was held in late December, near the time when Christians celebrate the feast of Christmas. This is the time of year when the day is shortest and the night longest. Jesus used this occasion to declare that he is the true light of the world (John 8:12). In his light we can see who God truly is and we can find the true path to heaven.

Our true and lasting security rests in Jesus alone

Jesus speaks of the tremendous trust he has in God his Father and the tremendous trust we ought to have in him because he is our good shepherd (John 10:11). Sheep without a shepherd are defenseless against prey, such as wolves, and often get lost and bewildered without a guide. That is why shepherds literally live with their sheep out in the open field and mountain sides. The shepherd guards his sheep from the dangers of storms, floods, and beasts of prey. The shepherd leads his sheep to the best places for feeding and the best streams for drinking. He finds the best place for their rest and safety at night. The sheep recognize the voice of their shepherd and heed his call when he leads them to safe pasture and rest.

Listen to the Good Shepherd and you will not go astray

We are very much like sheep who stray, we become easy prey to forces which can destroy us - sin, Satan, and a world in opposition to God and his people. The Lord Jesus came not only to free us from Satan's snares and the grip of sin, he came to personally lead us to the best of places where we can feed on his "word of life" and drink from the "living waters" of his Holy Spirit. The sheep who heed the voice of Jesus, the good shepherd, have no fear. He leads them to the best of places - everlasting peace, joy, and fellowship with God and his people.

In this present life we will encounter trials, difficulties, and persecution. We can face them alone or we can follow Jesus, the true shepherd, who will bring us safely through every difficulty to the place of peace and security with God. Do you listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd and heed his commands?

"Lord Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd who secures what is best for us. I place all my hope and trust in you. Open my ears to hear your voice today and to follow your commands."

The following reflection is from One Bread, One Body courtesy of Presentation Ministries © 2023.

i want to be a christian

“It was in Antioch that the disciples were called Christians for the first time.” —Acts 11:26

What does God mean by the name “Christian”? According to Acts of the Apostles, to be a Christian means:

to believe in Jesus and be converted to the Lord (Acts 11:21),

to repent and be baptized into Jesus (Acts 2:38; Rm 6:3),

to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4),

to remain firm in our “commitment to the Lord” (Acts 11:23),

to witness for Jesus (Acts 1:8), spread God’s Word (Acts 12:24), and lead others to the Lord (see Acts 11:24),

to be taught intensively for a year or more about our new life in Christ (Acts 11:26; 2:42; 19:9-10),

to continue steadfastly in Christian communal life (Acts 2:42),

to center our lives on the breaking of the bread, that is, the Eucharist (Acts 2:42),

to devote ourselves to praying together with other Christians (Acts 2:42; 1:14),

to be submissive to the authority of the Church’s leaders (see Acts 15:2ff), and

to suffer for love of Jesus (see 1 Pt 4:13).

In Acts of the Apostles, there are many other essential aspects of being a Christian besides those just mentioned. Additionally, there are many other essentials of being a Christian mentioned in other books of the Bible. Being a Christian is a new, radical, deep, free, and abundant way of life. Are you a Christian by God’s standards?

Prayer:  Father, I want to be a Christian.

Promise:  “My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” —Jn 10:27-28

Praise:  “Through His Word, God made all things to exist out of what did not exist and out of what had no previous existence” (Treatise on the Incarnation of the Word, St. Athanasius; cf Heb 11:3).

Reference:  

Rescript:  "In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from April 1, 2023 through May 31, 2023. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio September 21,, 2022"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements

[fyreblood]

( karina/yoo jimin . female. she/her. ) presenting princess saet-byeol, 23-year-old waterbender and temporary ambassador of the northern water tribe and daughter of the tribal chief. captivating yet cunning, they find themself apprehensive of fire lord chaesan’s reign. will this be their salvation or their undoing ? 

eden here again with the second of my muses — the lovely but no so lovely princess kang saetbyeol ( aka. the siren, aka. the demon diamond of the north ) ! she is the daughter of the northern water tribe’s chief and currently a visiting ambassador in the fire nation. saet is a potent water-bender (and a blood-bender too, but that you didn’t hear that from me), with her bending abilities being praised far and wide - second only in infamy to her natural talents of persuasion, diplomacy and low-key stealing the hearts of the four nations. however, this girl is truly vindictive, power-hungry, ambitious and immoral beneath her enchanting persona — as she must be to suit her role as her nation’s imperial assassin 👀. it’s safe to say her intentions in the fire nation are very much not what they seem, but don’t worry, she’s not out here to target anyone… at least not yet. 

you know the drill, give this post a like i’ll slide over to your dms, otherwise feel free to just message me. a stats page is on the way but for now there’s a tl;dr beneath the cut !

𝐊𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐀𝐄𝐓-𝐁𝐘𝐄𝐎𝐋 ( 강샛별 ) ; 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐃'𝐄𝐀𝐔

saet-byeol the tribal princess of the northern water tribe, is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the serpent that hides beneath the flower and her reputation precedes her. she is known as the northern star, the diamond of the water tribes, for both her talent in bending but also her tranquil grace, eloquence and determination for the greater good (or at least that’s what she appears to the public.) 

to the fire nation court she seems ever the witty, sociable princess and an even more strategic and unbiased ambassador — a role she has swiftly taken on at the last minute due to a sudden disappearance of the former ambassador... coincidentally right after the princess hears he’d been tasked with visiting the fire nation on business. 👀

saet is the youngest daughter of the northern water tribe’s chief, with only one older brother poised to take over the chiefdom, much to her annoyance. she believes he is far more incompetent with political affairs and all matters of the state than she is, having spent almost all her life trying to prove her worth over him despite his age automatically making him heir. she had always had a vision for the world, something that would change it and mark her in history whilst she’s always known her brother cared little for such things and so her youth was dedicated to increasing public image and her own intellect and ability as to overshadow him. whilst it has done well to make her people adore her, it has not been enough to change the line of succession

and as such, the princess has since turned her sights towards more... radical means. there are rumours that spread across the nations, of an elusive assassin known simply as ‘the siren’. though it has never been proven, there are reports that the siren works for the northern water tribe’s chiefdom, the kangs, in eradicating their enemies and securing their power. the siren is not your ordinary assassin though, as their means of murder are not through physical weaponry but rather bloodbending. and thus there have been striking parallels made between the assassin and the princess who has gained a reputation of being captivatingly siren-like and also rumoured to be one of the few known blood-benders of her nation 👀👀👀

but of course no man would be ignorant enough to accuse a royal, especially no one so well-beloved, of such malicious intent.

but back to saet-byeol in the present, she’s here in the fire nation for a variety of reasons but they all stem from her insatiable thirst for glory and power that she cannot have so easily back in the water tribes, with her brother standing in the way of what she truly wants

here, she’s attempting to climb the social ladders of the fire nation and gain some potential allies for a coup d’etat of sorts but also... she has picked up on some tales from travellers to her tribe of an incredibly talented blood-bender living in isolation in the fire nation, someone who has the ability to blood-bend psychically which she currently cannot — whether that’s entirely a rumour is yet to be discovered but regardless her mission is made clear. she is here to find someone - an ally, a mentor, anyone that’s able to get her what she wants.

and what she wants is to change the world in her name. though her intentions are semi-good (?) despite being somewhat selfish her means of reaching them are so far below immoral. saet believes she has the power to make a better world than her brother can offer but in doing so, she is willing to sacrifice anything to come into power even if it means cutting loyalty to her family who believe she’s actually in the fire nation to be their little spy when in reality she’s attempting the opposite.

princess saet-byeol is incredibly manipulative, remorseless and conniving but her outward persona does incredibly well to hide her ill-intentions – she is presented as clever, steadfast and honorable with the perfect qualities of a leader. her personality is essentially very sociable and well-suited for both the upper echelon with her calm, natural elegance as well as easily enthralling the masses with her charisma, passion and dedication.

it’s safe to say that saet is very focussed on public appearance and making connections at the moment so if you’ve got a noble house to your name, do not judge her if she attempts to slither her way into your good graces 

( bonus: as i was brainstorming her character—and i’m sorry to make this comparison—but i realised i framed her a tiny bit like hans from frozen but without the breaking into song ordeal. she has sort of a similar situation but she’s less focussed on marrying well and more focussed on banding together allies. will probably try at least once though... any princes willing to take the bait?? asdfgh jk jk )

#. 🀐 / . ooc — 𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒏 #. 𓆩 𝕾 𓆪 .

[newstfionline]

Thursday, April 18, 2024

‘We’re a dead ship’: Hundreds of cargo ships lost propulsion in U.S. waters in recent years (Washington Post) Less than two weeks after Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge was destroyed by an out-of-control cargo ship, another huge container ship passed beneath a busy bridge connecting New York and New Jersey and then suddenly decelerated in a narrow artery of one of the nation’s largest ports. “We’re a dead ship,” said a voice over the maritime radio a short time later, invoking an industry term that often refers to a ship that is unable to move on it own. Three tug boats helped shepherd the APL Qingdao—a vessel more than 1,100 feet long and flying under the flag of Malta—from where it lost propulsion near the Bayonne Bridge to a safe location. The April 5 incident is one of hundreds in which massive cargo ships lost propulsion, many near bridges and ports, according to a Washington Post analysis of Coast Guard records. The findings indicate that the kind of failure that preceded the March 26 Baltimore bridge collapse—the 984-foot Dali is believed to have lost the ability to propel itself forward as it suffered a more widespread power outage—was far from a one-off among the increasingly large cargo ships that routinely sail close to critical infrastructure.

They criticized Israel. This Twitter account upended their lives. (Washington Post) Dani Marzouca was in bed trying to sleep when the phone started buzzing. An organization dedicated to publicly rebuking critics of Israel had posted on X a clip of Marzouca declaring that “radical solidarity with Palestine means … not apologizing for Hamas.” The 20-second clip, from an Instagram live stream, rapidly garnered more than 1 million views. Soon, the group, StopAntisemitism, was calling Marzouca a “Hamas terrorist supporter” and tagging their employer, the branding firm Terakeet of Syracuse, N.Y. Hundreds of people commented on X, LinkedIn and email, including one who asked: “Do you really have antisemites like this working for you, @Terakeet?” Within a day, Marzouca was fired. Marzouca, 32, is one of nearly three dozen people who have been fired or suspended from their jobs after being featured by StopAntisemitism, according to the group’s X feed, part of a wave of digital activism related to the Israel-Gaza war. Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel responded by attacking Gaza, groups have poured resources into identifying people with opposing political beliefs, sometimes deploying aggressive publicity campaigns that have resulted in profound real-world consequences.

US reimposes oil sanctions on Venezuela as hope for a fair presidential election fades (AP) The Biden administration on Wednesday reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela, admonishing President Nicolás Maduro’s attempts to consolidate his rule just six months after the U.S. eased restrictions in a bid to support now fading hopes for a democratic opening in the OPEC nation. A senior U.S. official, discussing the decision with reporters, said any U.S. company investing in Venezuela would have 45 days to wind down operations to avoid adding uncertainty to global energy markets. Wednesday’s actions essentially return U.S. policy to what it was prior to the agreement hammered out in the Caribbean island of Barbados, making it illegal for U.S. companies to do business with state-run oil producer Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., better known as PDVSA, without a specific license from the U.S. Treasury Department.

Ecuador rations electricity as drought persists in the northern Andes (AP) Ecuador on Tuesday began to ration electricity in the country’s main cities as a drought linked to the El Niño weather pattern depletes reservoirs and limits output at hydroelectric plants that produce about 75% of the nation’s power. The power cuts were announced on Monday night by the ministry of energy. “We urge Ecuadorians to cut their electricity consumption in this critical week,” the statement read. “And consider that each kilowatt and each drop of water that are not consumed will help us face this reality.” The power cuts in Ecuador come days after dry weather forced Colombia’s capital city of Bogotá to ration water as its reservoirs reached record lows, threatening local supplies of tap water.

U.K. votes on ‘smoke-free generation,’ but conservatives fear ‘nanny state’ (Washington Post) Britain is poised to launch a world-leading project to create a “smoke-free generation” by effectively banning the sale of cigarettes to anyone born in 2009 or after. The legislation would raise the legal smoking age each year so that the prohibition would follow the generation indefinitely. Vaping, however, would not be affected and instead would be subject to other restrictions. Smoking itself would not be subject to fines. Older smokers would be allowed to continue to buy tobacco until they quit—or die. Sunak, who does not drink alcohol or smoke, and who is reported to fast one day a week, argues that saving lives is the conservative thing to do. Leading figures in his party have expressed their opposition, arguing that if people want to smoke, it’s not the government’s job to stop them. Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, has dubbed the bill the ill-considered work of a “nanny state.”

Ukraine’s Vulnerabilities (NYT) Ukraine’s top military commander has issued a bleak assessment of the army’s positions on the eastern front, saying they have “worsened significantly in recent days.” Russian forces were pushing hard to exploit their growing advantage in manpower and ammunition to break through Ukrainian lines, the commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, said in a statement over the weekend. At the same time, Ukraine’s energy ministry told millions of civilians to charge their power banks, get their generators out of storage and “be ready for any scenario” as Ukrainian power plants are damaged or destroyed in devastating Russian airstrikes. With few critical military supplies flowing into Ukraine from the United States for months, commanders are being forced to make difficult choices over where to deploy limited resources as the toll on civilians grows daily.

Solomon Islands: The Pacific election being closely watched by China and the West (BBC) National elections Wednesday in the tiny Solomon Islands are being watched by world powers. With 420,000 voters deciding who will hold 50 national seats, the election in the small Pacific nation is being closely followed by China and the United States, five years after the Solomon Islands switched political alliances from Taiwan to China, with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogava signing a security pact with Beijing. Western concerns over the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the Pacific region prompted the U.S. to try to improve diplomatic relations with the island nation.

Iran president warns of ‘massive’ response if Israel launches ‘tiniest invasion’ (AP/Forbes) Iran’s president has warned that the “tiniest invasion” by Israel would bring a “massive and harsh” response, as the region braces for potential Israeli retaliation after Iran’s attack over the weekend. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told reporters in Jerusalem: “It's clear the Israelis are making a decision to act…We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible.” Israeli officials have also made it clear that a response was necessary, with IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari saying: “We cannot stand still from this kind of aggression,” and allow Iran to get away “scot-free.”

Israeli tanks push back into northern Gaza, warplanes hit Rafah (Reuters) Israeli tanks pushed back into parts of the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday which they had left weeks ago, while warplanes conducted air strikes on Rafah, the Palestinians’ last refuge in the south of the territory, killing and wounding several people, medics and residents said. Tanks advanced into Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza and surrounded some schools where displaced families have taken refuge. Beit Hanoun, home to 60,000 people, was one of the first areas targeted by Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza last October. Heavy bombardment turned most of Beit Hanoun, once known as ‘the basket of fruit’ because of its orchards, into a ghost town comprising piles of rubble. Many families who had returned to Beit Hanoun and Jabalia in recent weeks after Israeli forces withdrew, began moving out again on Tuesday because of the new raid, residents said.

A storm dumps record rain across the desert nation of UAE and floods the Dubai airport (AP) The desert nation of the United Arab Emirates attempted to dry out Wednesday from the heaviest rain ever recorded there after a deluge flooded out Dubai International Airport, disrupting travel through the world’s busiest airfield for international travel. The state-run WAM news agency called the rain Tuesday “a historic weather event” that surpassed “anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949.” That’s before the discovery of crude oil in this energy-rich nation then part of a British protectorate known as the Trucial States. Rain also fell in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. However, the rains were acute across the UAE. By the end of Tuesday, more than 142 millimeters (5.59 inches) of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours. An average year sees 94.7 millimeters (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport. Some stranded passengers reported “living on duty-free.”

UN envoy lashes out at Libya’s feuding parties and their foreign backers (AP) The U.N. envoy for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, lashed out at the country’s feuding parties and their foreign backers at a U.N. Security Council meeting Tuesday and then confirmed he had submitted his resignation. The former Senegalese minister and U.N. diplomat, who has held the job for 18 months, said he had done his best to get the five key political actors in Libya to resolve contested issues over electoral laws and form a unified government to lead the country to long-delayed elections. But Bathily said his attempts “were met with stubborn resistance, unreasonable expectations and indifference to the interests of the Libyan people.” And he warned that these entrenched positions, reinforced by “a divided regional and global landscape,” may push Libya and the region to further instability and insecurity.

The Cloud Under the Sea (The Verge) The world’s emails, TikToks, classified memos, bank transfers, satellite surveillance, and FaceTime calls travel on cables that are about as thin as a garden hose. There are about 800,000 miles of these skinny tubes crisscrossing the Earth’s oceans, representing nearly 600 different systems, according to the industry tracking organization TeleGeography. The cables are buried near shore, but for the vast majority of their length, they just sit amid the gray ooze and alien creatures of the ocean floor, the hair-thin strands of glass at their center glowing with lasers encoding the world’s data. If, hypothetically, all these cables were to simultaneously break, modern civilization would cease to function. The financial system would immediately freeze. Currency trading would stop; stock exchanges would close. Banks and governments would be unable to move funds between countries because the Swift and US interbank systems both rely on submarine cables to settle over $10 trillion in transactions each day. In large swaths of the world, people would discover their credit cards no longer worked and ATMs would dispense no cash. As US Federal Reserve staff director Steve Malphrus said at a 2009 cable security conference, “When communications networks go down, the financial services sector does not grind to a halt. It snaps to a halt.”

Languages (Economist) Of the world’s 7,000-odd languages, almost half are expected to disappear by the end of the 21st century. Two culprits are usually considered responsible for this decline. The first is colonialism: when great powers conquered countries, they imposed their language in government and schools and relegated local ones (or banned them outright). The second is capitalism. As countries grow and industrialise, people move to cities for work. They increasingly find themselves speaking the bigger language used in the workplace rather than the smaller one used at home.

#headlines #news

[amit0707]

What are some alkaline water benefits that impacts your health in a better way?

Clean drinking water is a fundamental human right, yet millions of people around the world still lack access to safe and potable water sources. One solution that has been gaining traction in recent years is the use of alkaline water, which not only hydrates but also offers various health benefits.

Today, we're diving into the world of alkaline water, and more specifically, exploring the efforts of Azoic, a brand that is dedicated to making clean drinking water accessible to everyone.

Understanding Alkaline Water

Before we delve into the groundbreaking work of Azoic, let's start by understanding what alkaline water is and how it is produced. Alkaline water is water that has a pH level higher than the neutral pH of 7. It can occur naturally, such as in certain springs, but it can also be produced through a process called ionization, often using specialized machines.

Azoic: A Beacon of Hope

Azoic is a brand that stands out in the realm of alkaline water. The name 'Azoic' itself means 'without life,' which is indicative of the brand's dedication to providing water that is free from harmful contaminants. Azoic is committed to making clean, healthy, and alkaline water accessible to all, regardless of geographical location or socioeconomic status.

The Health Benefits of Alkaline Water

One of the key attributes of alkaline water is its potential to improve health and well-being. Azoic has harnessed this potential to make a positive impact on individuals and communities in need. Here are some of the key health benefits of alkaline water and how Azoic is using these benefits to change lives:

Enhanced Hydration: Alkaline water is believed to hydrate the body more effectively at the cellular level. Azoic aims to provide this superior hydration to those who might not have access to clean water, thereby improving overall health.

pH Balance: Maintaining the body's pH balance is crucial for overall health. Azoic's alkaline water can help individuals achieve and maintain optimal pH levels, which is especially significant for those dealing with acid-related health issues.

Antioxidant Properties: Azoic alkaline water is known for its antioxidant properties, which can neutralize harmful free radicals. By offering antioxidant-rich water, Azoic contributes to a potential reduction in oxidative stress and the associated health benefits.

Digestive Health: Alkaline water may alleviate acid-related digestive issues, and Azoic is dedicated to helping those in need by providing this potential relief.

Scientific Studies and Controversies

The scientific community continues to explore the health benefits of alkaline water, and Azoic is actively involved in supporting and participating in this research. While some studies support these benefits, there are still areas of debate and uncertainty. Azoic recognizes these challenges and is committed to transparently sharing findings to ensure a balanced understanding of the subject.

Azoic vs. Tap Water and Bottled Water

Azoic doesn't just provide alkaline water; it offers a sustainable alternative to single-use bottled water. By opting for Azoic, individuals can reduce plastic waste and contribute to a more eco-friendly future. Azoic alkaline water is also a superior choice when compared to ordinary tap water due to its higher pH levels and potential health benefits.

How to Incorporate Azoic Alkaline Water into Your Lifestyle

Azoic makes it easy for individuals to incorporate alkaline water into their daily routines. You can purchase Azoic alkaline water from various sources or even invest in home ionization machines for a more sustainable and cost-effective solution. Azoic provides recommendations for daily consumption and tips for adjusting your pH balance for optimal health.

Azoic is at the forefront of making clean drinking water accessible and health-enhancing through its commitment to alkaline water. By providing superior hydration, potential health benefits, and an environmentally conscious approach, Azoic is contributing to a brighter, healthier future for individuals and communities around the world.

If you're passionate about health and sustainability, it's worth considering Azoic and exploring how its alkaline water can positively impact your life. Remember that clean drinking water is not a luxury but a necessity, and Azoic is proving that it's possible to make a difference. Try https://azoicwater.com/hydrogen-water-bottle/ and see the change yourself.

[rourkie]

Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility. For those of you who don't know, any person whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth falls under the "transgender umbrella." This can include non-binary and agendered individuals as well. (My personal pronouns are they/them.)

Many transgender people deal with gender dysphoria, and the act of transitioning can lessen this disruptive state. Transitioning is when someone more closely aligns themselves with the gender they identify with. While it is most often used as a way to indicate an individual is undergoing physical/hormonal changes, it can also include lifestyle changes, therapy, or other changes and practices that aren't necessarily outwardly obvious or public-facing. How transgender people present to the world may also not match the gender they identify with. Many such individuals are scared to come out to their friends and family, their employers, and their communities because of fear of discrimination, or fear of ruining pre-established relationships.

It's important now more than ever that we support our transgender brothers, sisters, and siblings. There's a lot of scary stuff going on in the world right now, and many transgender individuals are scared. Things aren't so bad here in Boston, but a lot of states are taking steps to ban transgender lifestyles, including restricting access to healthcare for trans youths, forcing individuals to use restrooms and locker rooms that match their assigned sex at birth rather than their chosen gender identity, and making it illegal to dress differently from your assigned sex at birth in public. There are organizations now dedicated to splitting off lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals from transgender individuals, to creating a cultural shift to separate the "T" from "LGB." Some of these situations sound radical or ridiculous, but they are absolutely occurring and gaining momentum all over the country.

Being an ally takes many forms, and, quite frankly, slapping a bumper sticker on your car and calling it a day doesn't necessarily make you an ally (although it's a good first step). Open yourself up to conversation with others about these topics or provide a safe space to talk to those who need it. Reach out to LGBTGIA+ folks you know in areas of the country making these legislations, and check in on them. Let them know you're here to lend an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on.

Honestly? Just be supportive. We're all in this together.

#trans day of visibility

[crjupdates]

A Little Alone Time with Carly Rae Jepsen

Ahead of her new album The Loneliest Time, Jepsen celebrates love, loneliness, and making it to Radio City Hall at long last.

Vanity Fair • Delia Cai • September 29, 2022 • Photos: Nesrin Danan

Mercifully, it only took half an hour into Carly Rae Jepsen’s sold out New York stop of her So Nice Tour on Wednesday night for that telltale strings intro to activate not a few core memories of every starry-eyed millennial in attendance: “I hope you’ll sing this next song with me, it’s the law!” Jepsen pronounced; and so, almost exactly eleven years after “Call Me Maybe” infected the world, the Canadian pop chanteuse, glitzing in a feathered tube top and bejeweled mesh pants whose hip cut-outs threatened to eat any Euphoria character’s lunch, gave the single the full Radio City Music Hall treatment it’s been due.

“When I first came to New York City, it was with my performing arts college in Canada,” Jepsen tells me when I call over Zoom the morning after to debrief on the concert. “We would do this 11-day trip and see some Broadway shows, talk to other artists. We didn’t actually get to go into Radio City, but we were told about it and the iconic history of this place, and I remember we all took a photograph outside of it while bundled in our Canadian winter clothes. From the inception, that was my first introduction to this place—it had this magical tone to me, very hush hush, like you couldn’t get inside.” The way Jepsen tells it, Radio City (but also, she remembers, the M&M store—“what an indulgent idea!”) was a perfect symbol of that ineffable New York magic. The chance to perform before those hallowed velvet seats has dogged the 36-year-old star ever since, and she’d even come close to ticking it off the dream list for Dedicated tour, until, you know, the world shut down.

In honor of the long-awaited night, Jepsen gave Vanity Fair an exclusive look into her getting ready process backstage, where she donned a celestial dressing gown that matched the oversized stars and clouds of her stage set—not to mention the giant talking moon who initially greeted the audience by introducing herself as the “ambassador of love” and “mirror of truth.” (The moon, I learned, does not have a name, but it’s definitely a she: “This idea of a man on the moon doesn’t make much sense to me,” Jepsen says). For the show itself, Jepsen worked with her long-time stylist Hayley Atkin for what she calls her “red firebird outfit,” later swapped out for a black suit jacket, bra top, and drop-crotch trousers: think conductor party girl, an outward manifestation of the way Jepsen sees her relationship with her notoriously devoted fans, who she credits for making her feel safe onstage:

“I feel like my responsibility is less about how I look and if I sing perfectly, and it’s more about being present and taking in the room and allowing other people to experience the night,” she explains. “So I feel more like a conductor of a fun night than anything else.” It’s definitely a much more chill ethos compared to the earlier eras of her career, Jepsen admits. “It’s funny, Jack [Antonoff] and I were talking about what it is, the difference between touring in your thirties versus touring in your twenties and teens, how you know yourself better and become more comfortable—what is the word?” she stops and ponders for a minute. “My boyfriend has a really good phrase for this, it’s basically total self acceptance for all the flaws and everything about yourself. Radical acceptance? I don’t know if that’s exactly it.”

And while Jepsen stuck mostly with playing homage to her existing hits—for the encore, she brought out Isabella Boylston, the principle dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, to pirouette across the stage to “Cut to the Feeling”—in just a few weeks, her next studio album, The Loneliest Time, will hit the airwaves on October 21 (yes, that October 21), and we both have to acknowledge that it’s a pretty leading question to be asking, in 2022, about any global or personal inspirations for putting out an album about solitude.

Carly Rae Jepson [sic] wearing Cheng Huai Chuang while performing at Radio City Music Hall, in New York City on September 28th, 2022.

“I think even before COVID hit, we were kind of forced into our own little worlds of isolation to a degree,” she says. “I definitely was battling my relationship with loneliness as a touring artist. My job requires this really extreme sort of lifestyle where I get to be in stages, and I get to kind of be around people, but it's a really isolating feeling because you always kind of feel a little, you know, unseen.” Jepsen continues: “When COVID happened, I was forced to really look at my life choices. I was sort of like, ‘I have so much of a career going on, and I really love that it fuels me, but I haven't put a ton of energy into my personal life, and haven’t put a ton of energy into even the home that I have been living in.”

The resulting introspection led Jepsen into a fascination with the concept of sitting with oneself and working, of course, on the most important relationship of all. This is the pop star behind hits like “Party For One,” “Solo,” and “Your Type,” of course, so making loneliness sound kind of romantic has never not been the brand. As Jepsen reminds me: “I think loneliness can spark you to join a club that you'd never go, or join a dating app that you'd never use, or rekindle a friendship, or try a relationship on that might not necessarily be what you thought you needed, but maybe is exactly what you need. It really is like loneliness that leads to deep human connection.”

Which leaves just one question left: if we’re all listening to Carly Rae Jepsen when we’re a little too solitary, to whom does one of our generation’s preeminent queens of heartbreak herself turn to when she’s alone?

“A lot of jazz,” she says. “It’s calming, it’s beautiful. I had somebody asked me the other day, ‘Do you do it on purpose when you try to make sad things beautiful?’ I think that's what I'm attracted to, what Billie Holiday does so well. She can sing about the craziest, most heartbreaking thing—whatever it is, she finds a poetry to it. If that is not the plight of every artist, to find the poetry to the painful things in life, then I don't know what the point of our job is, really.”

#carly rae jepsen #crj #carlyraejepsen #vanity fair #the loneliest time #category: feature #category: interview #category: photoshoot #category: tour #tour: so nice #album: the loneliest time #writer: delia cai #photographer: nesrin danan #source: vanity fair #type: link #type: text #type: photo #09/29/22 #september 2022 #2022 #🍐 #realized i never posted this lol!

[enamouredfae]

♡ Pick a Card ♡

What you need to know in order to be ready for the love you so longingly seek!

This reading is looking at anything you might need to heal or grow into in order to enter future relationships as your higher self. I am not looking at your future, but simply trying to guide you towards your highest good in the field of love. Many of us have internalized certain perceptions of love that we must unlearn, or have lived through difficult moments which have closed us off or made experiencing love more difficult. If you are in a toxic relationship/situation, please do not take any messages that might seem to tell you to stay in it. With this reading, I will hopefully open you up to some introspection and hopefully growth. You may very well be attracted to multiple piles and that is ok! Read all that attract you and take what resonates. Each pile has three pieces of advice, so mixing and matching is invited!

This reading is for entertainment purposes only.

This is a timeless reading for the collective, therefore it is likely that some messages will not resonate with you. Please only take the messages that do! The messages that do not, are meant for somebody else. Remember that the future is never set in stone and that you possess free will! Love you! ♡

Pile 1

Charm: Knot

1. Yang

Yang tells me that you need to learn to become more proactive in love. You cannot wait around. You must act! You need to manifest your desires into the material world by doing. It's perfectly fine to do the first move, no matter what society deems "acceptable", it is even invited with this card.

23. Peace

Radical acceptance is necessary for inner peace and in this case for a higher love. You must first love yourself fully, light and shadow self, before loving someone else in the way that you both deserve! And you deserve radical acceptance, we are all flawed and intricate people! As long as we are willing to change and grow and put in the work, past mistakes can be atoned for.

38. To be fair

This card tells me that you need to learn to be more balanced in relationships. Are you giving more than the other parties? Are you giving less? We must be fair to both others and ourselves. When someone in the relationship gives more, they may feel underappreciated which can become unmotivating, but they can also overwhelm the other person. You must learn balance.

Pile 2

Charm: Cactus

7. To the sea (reversed)

"When fishermen cannot go to sea, they stay at home and repair their nets." This is a quote from the guidebook that I had to rewrite here because it encapsulates the advice perfectly. You probably long for love like fishermen long for the sea. This card is telling me that the problem isn't coming from you, but the external world. An idea that just popped up in my head is a queer teen living in a homophobic area or with homophobic parents, so it is likely that this could be your situation. If it is, I love you, please take care of yourself, love and better days will come, don't worry! But you must wait a while longer until the external world matches your vibration, perhaps you'll have to move, wait until you're safe to go out to the sea. Until then, go with the flow.

50. No place like home (reversed)

This card seems to work perfectly with the previous one, it reminds us that what is familiar isn't always the best, because it keeps us from growing. If you want change, you can't keep going to the same things/people that haven't worked before, it's counterintuitive. It is natural to go back to what's familiar, but try something new. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Choose unfamiliar.

34. A leg up (reversed)

You are carrying the burden of your world all alone. You probably don't feel safe sharing what you feel, or are very uncomfortable with vulnerability. To be honest with you, right before writing this part of the reading, I started tearing up, you are holding in so much hurt... You need to voice your struggles, being vulnerable is proof of immense strength, believe me! I know it's hard! Start little by little with someone you really trust!

Pile 3

Charm: Star

35. Loyal Heart

Ok if one pile is ready for the beginning of a relationship it's this one. It is the perfect time for you to create loyal commitments. It is possible that you are already in a committed relationship, but at the very least you are surrounded by loyal, devoted people. Don't forget to be devoted and loyal in return!

4. Higher Power (reversed)

This card is inviting you to trust in whatever divine power you believe in, trust that the universe is divinely guiding you and protecting you. I feel like if a certain religion or spiritual path attracts or fascinates you, you should start looking into it, careful with being disrespectful or appropriating it, especially with closed practices, please do your research! But connecting to Source would be beneficial to you in the long run!

25. Round and Round

You are stuck in a cycle that you must break. Do not worry, you shouldn't feel bad, it's all part of the learning process. Remember: you've been through this before, think back on how that made you feel the previous times, are you sure you want to go through that again? Breaking this cycle is a form of self-care, and you need to care for yourself! You are subconsciously punishing yourself by staying in this cycle, try thinking about the root of why you're doing so! It could help you in breaking it!

Pile 4

Charm: "Love"

8. The tribe

You may want to find your tribe, or you have recently found it. You might feel like you finally belong, or are longing for that feeling. Whenever I get this card, I think of the astrology/witchcraft/tarot community here! It may be the same for you! You are welcome here, and hopefully, you feel like you belong! Contributing to any community that you are passionate about, whether online or in real life, will bring you great joy and satisfaction. Your tribe awaits and needs you! It's possible that that's where you'll find love as well!

6. Not for you (reversed)

Let them go. Whoever you first thought of, it's time to stop obsessing over them. "Don't chase after what flees you." I'm sure you realize this is not serving you, but how do you stop? This card is suggesting radical acceptance and surrender, that this is a sign that someone or something much better is waiting for you. I suggest reminding yourself that they aren't perfect and that you have just come to idealize them.

52. Mending (reversed)

You are very likely going through a grieving period right now. There is so much hurt and disappointment. "Heartbreak is a strange healer of souls." It may feel awful now, but trust that when you look back one day, you will see that the hurt you're feeling now, transformed you in a powerful way. This card is inviting you to accept the heartbreak and push through it, situations like this open us up to seeing the world in a new way, to growing. Better days are coming!

Pile 5

Charm: Angel

28. Building blocks (reversed)

Are you acting according to your belief system? Are you following the advice you give others? You must look carefully at your core foundation. It seems to me that you have done a lot of inner growth, but are still stuck in your old ways. Your outer self isn't matching your inner self. Start doing what you preach!

47. Go the distance

I feel like you're someone that wants love right now! For it to come fast and smoothly, like a sprint. You must learn to see love more realistically, as a long-distance race of endurance. You may be the type to immediately run at the sight of a problem. You must learn to be dedicated and work in love, it won't always be the idealized version you keep reading about or watching. Love demands work!

32. Here and Now (reversed)

You live in the past, don't you? So much regret and nostalgia... Or perhaps you live in the future? Daydreams and ambition. There is a need to learn to live in the here and now, you cannot change the past, and the future is infinite. They're both elusive, and unreliable; now is tangible, real, and full of immediate possibilities.

Pile 6

Charm: Mars Symbol

22. Blessed

This beautiful card talks about an unexpected and "unearned" wonderful event, that seems like divine intervention, a gift from the universe. The advice I take from this card is to practice gratitude because you seem to be blessed in the love department. Perhaps you already know who "the one" is for you. If you don't, trust that the universe has someone wonderful for you!

31. Why?

Ask yourself why you feel as you do about/in love? It is time for some introspection. You need to think and identify unhealthy patterns in your love life. Why do you act as you do in a relationship? Identify what in your past has caused this behavior. It won't solve the problem right away, but it's a good first step. Understanding the problem will be validating.

27. Exchanging gifts (reversed)

"Be careful what you pray for because you might just get it." You need to be ready for the energy exchange that will happen if this happens. This card talks about an imbalance between giving and receiving. You must learn that if you receive a lot, you must return a lot, love needs to be balanced. If you give more, you aren't actually in control, the other party could be consciously or unconsciously taking advantage of your generosity!

Pile 7

Charm: Eternally Open Heart Locket

17. The Fates

You must learn to accept that there are things and people you simply cannot control and change. You cannot blame yourself for things beyond your control, nor can you blame others for things they cannot control. Just be wise enough to tell the difference between things one can control and things one cannot!! If you have a tendency to mold people into your ideal, making them lose their essence, you must learn to accept people for who they are. It is not your job to change them: the desire to change must come from them, for them.

15. Message in a bottle

Try asking for specific signs from the universe, or start becoming more aware of them. Synchronicities are all around you, they're the way that the universe confirms that you're on the right path! Listen carefully to those you communicate with, they could be delivering a cledon to you. This card itself is a good sign, a favorable answer to the question occupying your mind.

9. Treasure Island

You might've already, but if you haven't, MANIFEST YOUR LOVE!! You will be greatly rewarded when you embrace the law of attraction and your intuition. Depending on your belief in how manifestation works, try being mindful of free will! If you believe that love spells on specific people are influencing their free will, then it is immoral to manifest a specific person. If you don't believe that that is how manifestation works, do as you will, just be in line with your beliefs! This card is also a great sign, you're on the right path, and have good fortune on your side. Very lucky pile!!

Pile 8

Charm: Boot

2. Yin (reversed)

You must learn to receive, only being the giver isn't good for you. You deserve to receive! Be open to embodying yin and yang equally. "You stop the flow of abundance when you constantly insist upon being the giver." Be the listener, the one that learns, the one that is being led.

33. Chaos and Conflict

You may be afraid of chaos and conflict, but you must remember that they can rid you of what's no longer serving you. Conflict also implies two sides, remember that yours isn't the only one, and conflict can lead to mutual understanding. Learn to put up boundaries, but also to respect those of others. When you finally see the potential of healing that conflict can cause, you'll be ready for mature communication in relationships.

20. Imagine

Remember that you can create what you imagine! Your imagination is powerful in manifesting your desires, but it can't do everything for you! Manifestation is work, when an opportunity arises, act! This card can also be a sign that the person you're manifesting will be entering your life soon. When they appear, don't just wait, and daydream! The imagination part of manifesting is done, now it's time to act.

Pile 9

Charm: Knife

21. Clean it up

It's time to let go and declutter your mind. Think about what is no longer serving you, about the things that only overwhelm you, and make you overthink, they aren't good for you. It might also help you to declutter in general, your house, your closet, your phone, your feed, etc. Make room for the new and the better.

48. Poised (reversed)

Think carefully, are you really ready for love right now? Because this card is telling me that you aren't. It's ok to be a "late bloomer", and it's important to be ready for love, as to not hurt the one you love, and yourself. Being single isn't a sign of "failure", it gives you the time and space to focus on yourself, on your growth, on your healing, on exploring and understanding yourself. Being single can seem like a curse, but it's a blessing, it's what you need right now.

16. All that glitters

Are you being yourself in love? Are they? Don't succumb to the power of superficiality. Either let go of the mask or look beyond theirs! "Imagine that all the glitter is gone. Would you still desire the object or person?" If one falls for the glitter, what will happen on the day they forgets to glue it on?

Thank you for reading! Love you all.♡

You can buy me a coffee if you feel called to do so! This is never necessary, but always appreciated! ♡

#3:33 #take what resonates #pick a card #pick a pile #fortune telling #divination #cartomancy #tarot cards #collective reading #collective tarot reading #collective oracle reading #free tarot reading #free oracle reading #tarot #tarotreading #oracle #oracle cards #love reading #oracles #witchcraft #enamouredfaepickacard #enamouredfae

[antiyourwokehomophobia2]

May I ask what parts of radical feminism you disagree with? (I'm honestly just wanting to hear your opinion, I'm asking in good faith)

I got an ask similar to this, but I deleted it on accident 😅

Okay, I would like to say that I know very little about radical feminism outside of how it's been expressed by others. And saying "fundamental" may have been a misuse of the word. With that in mind, though, I would like to say that some of the things I've seen have left a bad taste in my mouth.

It can feel like radfems, in their attempt to offer women the kindness they've been denied all their lives, can often overlook the fact that some women genuinely are terrible people who don't deserve the degree of coddling offered to them. It can feel like radfems often give too much benefit of the doubt to genuinely hateful and bigoted women.

For instance:

If a woman calls her daughter a bitch then I don't think it's appropriate to be like "oh, you poor thing. Look at what patriarchy has done to you. You're the real victim here."

Are you seriously going to look at her daughter and say "yea, your mom called you an ugly bitch throughout your childhood but it's just patriarchy making her act like that!! Don't be too hard on her! Even though she did immense damage to your self-esteem, think about her feelings and the stuff she must've internalized growing up!"

That's genuinely so fucked up. I'm a firm believer in the idea that being abused doesn't give you the right to abuse someone else. The way radfeminism oftentimes seems to coddle abusive women and explain away their terrible behavior as patriarchy is genuinely nauseating and off-putting. I can't even begin to explain how it's literally no comfort to a daughter to learn that patriarchy made her mother call her an ugly bitch while she was growing up.

Furthermore, I keep posing this question, but I'll ask it again: if women's separatism were to become a real thing, how would every single women feel safe in a woman's land? Would a woman feel comfortable living down the street from her female abuser? Like, women's land is supposed to feel safe for all women to go to, right? If they don't want to deal with men, they can just come here, right? But there in lies the problem. If every woman is safe to go there, then not every woman is safe to go there. You think I want to be around the women who have been homophobic and racist towards me? You think I would feel safe there or like it's an escape? An escape from male violence, maybe. But it wasn't a male who asked me, with disgust, if I was gay. It wasn't a male who randomly called me "nigga" out of the blue. It wasn't a male who gave me the worst homophobic experience of my entire life.

Like, I just genuinely feel like a place dedicated to female separatism wouldn't be the haven it's made out to be. Even if you were to create a rule for no racist, homophobic, or bigoted women to enter women's land, that still kind of goes against the promise that all women would belong there.

Moving on to something else:

Homophobic TIF's.

The way in which radfems coddle homophobic TIF's is disgusting. Radfems will genuinely go IN on a homophobic TIM. They'll tear him to shreds and feel no remorse. However, let a gay man dare say something negative about a TIF and his notes are filled with people tearing him to pieces. Homophobia is homophobia. Why do you coddle homophobic women? Like, those TIF's hate lesbians, too? There's no reason why a homophobic TIF should be shown more kindness than a homophobic TIM.

Tell me what part of patriarchy makes women watch so much gay porn that they convince themselves to not only fetishize gay men, but that they ARE gay men?

All of this to say, I feel like radfeminism can often ignore, coddle, and excuse genuinely abusive and bigoted women.

I hope I don't sound too mean. In truth, I don't mind if people want to come and refute what I've said. I don't mind hearing differing opinions. I don't despise radfems or anything of the likes. These are just some things that have concerned me and left me scowling is all.