#transforming our society

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Swapping tips on how to be a bestie in the bath.

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #wei wuxian #dungeon meshi #marcille donato #It is going to take a long time for pd-mdzs to get to the bathtub scene. At least we can have another gay bathtub scene sooner. #I know everyone is hyping this up at the yuri episode but guys it does not even start nor stop at the bathtub scene. #Hey old danmeshi fans; you guys remember when the animated trailer came out in 2019 and we lost our minds? #Now we are on the cusp of getting a *second* animation of the farcille cuddle moment. It feels unreal. #I have missed drawing wwx so much by the way. This was so healing. #This week is for dungeon meshi and next week is for raffles. Wei Ying... I miss thee. #Marcille and wwx have more in common than just this but that's spoilers B*) #I'll be back Thursday with more Dungeon Meshi art. Wouldn't miss this one for the world. #DUNGEON MESHI SPOILERS: now that the anime has caught up to the scene…yeah this handshake was also about necromacy #and bringing back someone loved…wrong. It is also about being a prodigy who falls from grace #and they both opt to study something that is deemed ‘evil’ because society said it was. They believe their method can be used to help! #not to mention the toxic self-reliance qualities. And the dark outfit transformation moment. They should have brunch together.

[eorzeashan]

Eshan was once terrorized by a tasuba plague that resulted from the Empire mutating the lichen's strain to be more virulent and affect even young warriors, leading the color pink to become feared in the public psyche given that Great Flowering Warriors of the mutated tasuba almost always had flowing hair tainted pink--a sign that they had absorbed excess amounts of blood. During this time, certain Thyrsian territories were spared the plague for allying with the Empire, only to face harsher crackdowns by Eshan for refusing sanctuary to elite Eshan seeking refuge from their infected home planets. This worsened diplomatic relations between Eshan and Thyrsus, even resulting in a rebellion that was unfortunately oppressed. Both Eshan and Thyrsus came to seek greater aid from their feuding counterparts in the Republic and Empire, stoking the Cold War to greater heights never seen before in the Eshan territories.

#swtor #echani #this is based off how they say a sakura tree with great amounts of flowers and a strong pink #is one that has many bodies buried underneath #and the pink is the result of it having fed on blood #pink as a feminine and feared color is very interesting to me #given how benign it is in our regular society #also eight was sent as part of a plea bargain for republic aid so guess why he felt so much pressure :^) #BUT ALSO #as a pseudo-werewolf plague #imagine zakuul trying to weaponize it again to stop Eight #and he just transforms. with long flowing hair and cold murder in his eyes #but instead of mindlessly killing everything in sight he just gets so much colder. #cherry blossoms also produce cyanide so they are beautiful feminine and incredibly deadly #and poisonous. mostly poisonous. just like Eight.

[fandom-space-princess]

spent the morning tentatively constructing an essay in my head about the differences between Golden Age and New Wave science fiction and their conflicting approaches to the concepts of utopia and cultural perfection. and then realized that it's yet another thing I'm happier daydreaming about than actually writing. alas.

#old sci fi is a lifelong special interest for me and i am full of feelings about it #anyway the tldr of that essay would have been that the cold war transformed the broader cultural ideal in the west #of what a perfect future should look like and how it should serve the people living in it #there's this sense in a lot of the really popular scifi pre-WWI that the future is perfect bc as a species we've perfected ourselves #(*pre-WWII. 2. typo) #but coming into the 60s you notice that change dramatically #there's this odd background mixture of hope and dread. sort of a feeling that the species might be one foot in the grave already #but also a refusal to accept that. the way people dreamed about how they should live started to shift. you can watch it happen! #there's this feeling that our stewardship of the future must be possible-inevitable even-as imperfect people. imperfect societies. #that we can't achieve utopia but we can find a way to keep going anyway #i don't know. i'm emotional about it. it's a time capsule for an era of radically shifting desires on an international scale #you read stories from that time and you can feel people not wanting to give up. you can feel how badly they wanted tomorrow to include them #i think it's beautiful #fsp speaks

[mann-walter]

I know for a fact that a handful of reactionary Cybertronians would want to reinstall and/or even intensify the pre-war caste system. I know for a fact that some bots—not only older bots because, you know, there are just those youngsters that wish to return to the “old days” that they themselves definitely have never tasted—blame the war on the lower castes and their “barbarism”, “anarchism” or simply use the war as a display of the dangers of a free and egalitarian society, and spouting things like “Well, some bots are created for servitude, you know”.

I just know.

#I was drafting about what living in post-war Cybertron would be like #this long war that affected everyone and certainly changed Cybertronian culture and society as a whole #But then I was struck by this #I mean #our own history has taught us that there will be after every change people who wish to return to what was #headcanon #transformers aligned continuity #transformers prime #Autobots #Decepticon #transformers #Mann Walter

[unproduciblesmackdown]

a post because i saw one that annoyed me:

One of my goals in thinking about redefining the way we view relationships is to try to treat the people I date more like I treat my friends—try to be respectful and thoughtful and have boundaries and reasonable expectations—and to try to treat my friends more like my dates—to give them special attention, honor my commitments to them, be consistent, and invest deeply in our futures together. In the queer communities I'm in valuing friendship is a really big deal, often coming out of the fact that lots of us don't have family support, and build deep supportive structures with other queers. We are interested in resisting the heteronormative family structure in which people are expected to form a dyad, marry, have kids, and get all their needs met within that family structure. A lot of us see that as unhealthy, as a new technology of post-industrial late capitalism that is connected to alienating people from community and training them to think in terms of individuality, to value the smaller unit of the nuclear family rather than the extended family. Thus, questioning how the status and accompanying behavior norms are different for how we treat our friends versus our dates, and trying to bring those into balance, starts to support our work of creating chosen families and resisting the annihilation of community that capitalism seeks.

A lot of the things I'm writing here go to the basic notion of what we think loving other people is about. Is it about possessing them, finding security in them, having all our needs met by them, being able to treat them in any way and still having them stick around? I hope not. What I hope that love is—whether platonic, romantic, familial, or communal—is the sincere wish that another person have what they need to be whole and develop themselves to their best capacity for joy or whatever fulfillment they're seeking.

Monogamy has stopped making sense now that I see it as an implicit agreement with someone to only have certain kinds of relationships with everyone else in your life. This basically means drawing boundaries all over someone else's life...boundaries that don't make much sense to me anymore. Just because someone doesn't have sex with anyone else doesn't mean they aren't going to be attracted to anyone else. Just because they don't label a relationship with someone in a certain way doesn't mean they aren't going to feel love for that person. It seems silly and arbitrary to draw lines in terms of physical affection. Hugging is ok, but not kissing? Cuddling is ok, but not sex? It seems even more impossible to draw lines in terms of love and feelings. 

I had never been very good at drawing lines between the love I felt for my friends and the love I felt for people I was in romantic relationships with, even when I was inhabiting the universe where those lines were made to seem very important. I was perpetually "falling for" my friends in this way that could only ever end in reciprocation or heartbreak, because in that universe I was definitely not allowed to be "in love" with my friends, especially not if I happened to be interested in sleeping with them. But in this new alternate universe I don't need those lines, and it makes perfect, beautiful sense. I can just feel however I feel about people without worrying about the way our relationship is labeled. What really matters is defining that relationship for ourselves, not for other people. What that means is having conversations about what we want, and what we are willing to give.

I've learned that I need to be straight up about how much time I want to spend with someone. I need to be specific about it. I would rather talk about how often we want to see each other and what we want out of our relationship than use labels like "primary partner" or someone I see "casually". Just because I'm not spending a huge amount of time with someone doesn't mean they don't deserve honesty, communication, and clear expectations for our relationship. This goes for friendships as well, and I would like to have way more conversations with my friends about our relationships and expectations. If in this universe I have friends that I'm in love with and lovers that I'm friends with, then why does one relationship deserve more care and attention than another? Why should we have these conversations with people that we fuck, but not with those that we don't? The people in my life that I don't have sex with aren't less important to me, so I don't want to treat them that way.

I want to do this because I want to challenge the frameworks that I am expected to base my relationships on: gender, marriage, the nuclear family. Hetero-monogamy is part of a narrative that I want no place in: the creation of an atomized family unit, whose boundary delineates the space in which I am allowed to care for others, outside of which my relationships are dominated by fear and the logic of my own self-preservation. I want to create families that are based on intentionality, affinity, and support. I don't want a family based on a role that I was born into. I feel like the only way I can really break through my isolation is to build relationships on my own terms, with my own frameworks and beliefs.

I want to resist the commodification of my body by never considering myself the possessor of someone else's, and not needing my body to be given value only through its possession by others. I want to confront ideas of sexual objectification and ownership every time I feel them rise up within myself. Any moment that someone shares their body with me is precarious and fleeting, and that shared moment doesn't give me any say in what else that person wants to do with their body (unless it pertains to my own health and safety). I also don't want to make assumptions about what someone is willing to share today based on what they shared yesterday. I am never entitled to someone else's body.

Saying 'yes' in this context means so much more than agreeing to see each other 'steadily'. At its most severe, going steady gets tied up with the tacit promise of a supposedly long-term and exclusive relationship where Joe and Molly can navigate a blueprint, building happy coupledom. By not explicitly defining what Joe means by going steady, the relationship passively slides onto tracks bound for 'a happy life together'. This slide can happen because we are all well trained in making assumptions about what the structures of a relationship are. These implied structures constitute a hetero-romantic relationship ideal which in turn translates into a minimum level of commitment, sexual exclusivity, long-term investment, nuclear family building, and much more. The overarching ultimatum of living a relationship through undiscussed and rigid relationship conventions is that either the conventions are maintained (the expectations are consistently met, the blueprints are followed) or the relationship will end in, at the very least, a romantic separation—no more affectionate physical contact, no more intimate emotional support. If the relationship does not follow and match the blueprint, Joe and Molly are left with the choice of either getting things back on track or romantic separation. Those who do not want to choose between the happily ever after and a life of romantic solitude, those who cannot or do not want to play out the blueprint, are pushed to find and create other ways of doing relationships.

Often, when rejecting the going steady blueprint we slip a little and end up rejecting monogamy. Once monogamy is unqualifiably bad, it is a pretty quick step to figure out that polyamoury is good: having a sexually exclusive romantic relationship means conforming to an archaic patriarchal and power laden script so, having an anti-patriarchal, politically conscious, and critical relationship means you should have more than one sexual partner. To be clear, I am not trying to rescue or defend monogamy. I am arguing that a preoccupation with a monogamy/polyamoury binary prevents a more useful and more critical analysis of the ends of the political potential for romantic relationships. The locus of the potential for relationships is not a reductive tally of the number of sexual partners a person can juggle at one time. The number of people a person manages to sleep with does not say all that much, however, more revealing are the questions of how relationships are structured, how relationships are political, how individual relationships are affected by norms and the capacity individual relationships have to shape new norms. Reducing relationship politics to a monogamy vs polyamoury manicheanism means dismissing other harmful norms and assumptions that are affecting us as un- or less important.

i have enough love to go around. its not a commodity. i'll make you breakfast at 5pm on a sunday night and when you leave to go to work, i'll go out dancing and make out with someone i've been flirting with for weeks. and its not sneaky and behind your back. and its not taking anything away from how i am when i see you. i might not have a lot of time, but i have a lot of love for the people in my life and i'm willing to think hard about how i distribute my time. and i'm willing to say something when i need you to hold my hand, to have my back. and i trust that you'll do the same.

and if we ever get married, we'll know that it's for immigration purposes. and if we go through periods of time where neither of us are sleeping with anyone else, we'll know it's not because we possess each other. and when we hit rocky patches and it's fucking hard and we're taking turns falling apart, we'll know that at least we've communicated enough in the past to probably deal with it. probably. because even though i'll never promise to love you forever, we've gotten pretty far and i don't have any intention at the moment to stop loving you. and that time qualifier doesn't make it less meaningful. it means that this is a decision i'm making over and over again, every time we schedule a hang out, i'm doing it cause i want to see you. cause i want to be there.

I still think that having multiple sexual and/or romantic partners is do-able, and that I could be someone's "secondary" partner again, but I think this requires hard-core honesty about needs & expectations from the get-go, and really good communication. For example, I'd rather someone say "I like you, but can only see you once every two weeks, because that's how much I'm willing and able to give this relationship" than "I'd love to hang out more but I'm just really busy", which evades responsibility and isn't clear about expectations. Plus, everyone is busy, so you make time for people you prioritize and want to see.

I also think that people need to be very careful about how they treat their "secondary" partners, and any lover, friend, roommate or family for that matter: these are not people you can just call up whenever you're lonely (unless that's your arrangement), and ditch whenever life gets to be too much.

I think it's important to constantly re-educate ourselves on these issues: so we can learn to be better in all our relationships, so we can be honest, non-jealous, and caring partners and friends, and so we can avoid, as best we can, people getting hurt, feeling pushed aside, feeling secondary.

- excerpts from “this is about more than who we fuck (and who fucks us).” zine

#i.e. i see a post abt romance that of course is gonna be annoying to me? a dialogue... #sounded like an interpersonal problem of ''so when you're venting abt wanting a romantic relationship you just want listening rather than #any proffered solutions'' but spun into ''ugh i'm sick of society invalidating / deprioritizing desire for romance'' lmao is it doing that.. #Well I'm About To Be Sickening #and add op's choice to describe suggesting focus on nonromantic relationships as ''infantilizing'' like uh. perhaps dismissive; patronizing #quite a Particular Word Choice....so i'm like well what's enough of the opposite of what's going on here #that is: par for the course vague desire for romance with a perspective that's barely analytical & weirdly so? #i know the queer / relationship anarchist quotes are out there....then i find this zine like fun i'll peruse that. then i make this post. #and here we are today for our fun and enrichment #The General Wisdom of Aromantic People would've also counted. like clearly this doesn't touch directly much on aroaceness as is relevant #to me / my personal wavelength. but it's The Same Matter of autonomy. the autonomy to date someone / have sex? = the autonomy Not To. #anyways just transforming irritation into having some fun collecting quotes #long post ///

[vyapaarjagat]

Emerging Trends Shaping Our New Future Tactics That Can Help Your Business Grow

Emerging Trends Shaping Our New Future Tactics That Can Help Your Business Grow

We are currently going through one of the most important historical changes we have ever experienced. Emerging Trends shaping our new future old businesses will change and new businesses will emerge. Demand for essential services related to healthcare, energy and natural resources, water, and emergency services will continue, although business models for these industries may change. However,…

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#Digital Transformation #digital transformation trips #economic system due to Covid-19 #emerging trends #Emerging Trends Our New Future #emerging trends our new future for india #emerging trends our new future growth #emerging trends our new future health #HEALTHCARE #new businesses #new future business ideas #new future technology #our new future career #successful implementation to move businesses forward #virtual transformation #what is ideal for the groups and the society

[skelswritingcorner]

Posting this on my writing blog because fuck it

CONSIDER: A Transformers series (comic or animated show) where the humans they deal with most of the time are Gen Z, and they're all chaotic. Mostly because 80% of them are autistic and/or have ADHD. One of them has to be reminded not to leak government documents about the Cybertronians because that's a horrible idea. Only one of them has any semblance of normalcy, but that's questioned by everyone, both Autobot and Decepticon. There may be arson.

#transformers #also some of Gen Z including myself are in our 20s #and if the transformers have dealt with humans before it makes it all the funnier #I'm pretty sure Ratchet would question how any of them function in society

[reallytoosublime]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is dramatically transforming the world of entertainment, revolutionizing how content is created, distributed, personalized, and experienced. This technological advancement has impacted various facets of the entertainment industry, including film, television, music, gaming, and even live performances.

AI is changing the way movies are made, from script writing to special effects to post-production. With Advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques, AI can analyze vast amounts of data to generate new ideas, predicts audience reactions, and even create entire scenes from scratch.

The music industry is also being revolutionized by this powerful technology. AI-driven music composition tools can analyze existing music data to create original compositions in various styles and genres. These tools assist musicians in generating melodies, harmonies, and arrangements, acting as collaborative creative partners. AI can also simulate various instruments and generate realistic soundscapes.

Let's not forget about Digital Arts. With advanced image generation algorithms, AI can create stunning digital artwork in seconds. From surreal Landscapes to photorealistic portraits, AI is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the world of digital arts.

AI has revolutionized the gaming industry by enhancing game mechanics, graphics, and player interactions. Game characters can exhibit more lifelike behaviors and adapt to player decisions through AI-driven algorithms. Procedural content generation, empowered by AI, enables the creation of vast and dynamic in-game worlds.

AI-powered interactive experiences and VR content have become more immersive and engaging. AI algorithms can adjust virtual environments based on user interactions, creating a more personalized and realistic experience. Additionally, AI-driven chatbots and characters can provide dynamic and context-aware interactions in virtual worlds.

AI is an undeniable force reshaping the entertainment industry. Its applications span content creation, personalization, visual effects, music, gaming, interactive experiences, and much more. As AI technology continues to evolve, its influence on entertainment will likely deepen, resulting in new forms of creativity, engagement, and user experiences. However, the ethical considerations surrounding AI-generated content, data privacy, and the potential displacement of certain creative roles remain important topics to address as the industry continues to evolve.

#ai#artificialintelligence#limitlesstech#machinelearning#airevolution#thefutureofai#ainews#chatgpt#thepowerofai#whatisai#aientertainment#theworldofentertainment#vr

How AI is Transforming The World of Entertainment

#how ai is transforming the world of entertainment #unleashing the power of ai in the entertainment industry #artificial intelligence #LimitLess Tech 888 #ai #machine learning #how will ai change the world #ai revolution #the future of ai #entertainment reimagined with ai #how artificial intelligence is changing our society #ai news #the power of ai #what is ai #unleashing the power of ai #ai entertainment #tech trend #how ai is changing the entertainment industry #vr

[youtubemarketing1234]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is dramatically transforming the world of entertainment, revolutionizing how content is created, distributed, personalized, and experienced. This technological advancement has impacted various facets of the entertainment industry, including film, television, music, gaming, and even live performances.

AI is changing how movies are made, from script writing to special effects to post-production. With Advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques, AI can analyze vast amounts of data to generate new ideas, predict audience reactions, and even create scenes from scratch.

The music industry is also being revolutionized by this powerful technology. AI-driven music composition tools can analyze existing music data to create original compositions in various styles and genres. These tools assist musicians in generating melodies, harmonies, and arrangements, acting as collaborative creative partners. AI can also simulate various instruments and generate realistic soundscapes.

Let's not forget about Digital Arts. With advanced image generation algorithms, AI can create stunning digital artwork in seconds. From surreal Landscapes to photorealistic portraits, AI is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the world of digital arts.

AI is an undeniable force reshaping the entertainment industry. Its applications span content creation, personalization, visual effects, music, gaming, interactive experiences, and much more. As AI technology continues to evolve, its influence on entertainment will likely deepen, resulting in new forms of creativity, engagement, and user experiences. However, the ethical considerations surrounding AI-generated content, data privacy, and the potential displacement of certain creative roles remain important topics to address as the industry continues to evolve.

How AI is Transforming The World of Entertainment

#artificial intelligence #ai #LimitLess Tech 888 #unleashing the power of ai in the entertainment industry #how ai is transforming the world of entertainment #machine learning #how will ai change the world #ai revolution #the future of ai #entertainment reimagined with ai #how artificial intelligence is changing our society #ai news #chatgpt #the power of ai #what is ai #unleashing the power of ai #ai entertainment #tech trend #how ai is changing the entertainment industry #vr

[strongermonster]

i'm helping out at a creative writing workshop for uhhh i think 10-12s? 10-14s? idk. but that age range. and anyways

a) i forgot how fun this is

b) it's really hard not to like, re-write for them and stick to just "hey add descriptions here, change this grammar, really cool ideas!" bc i'm an adult and not trying to talk over/railroad these kids, but i'm just so excited for their ideas!!!

c) little boys write cool stuff like "what if we went to mars but it sucked so we left, but left behind all our technology and the technology rose up and created its own society and then went to war with us for abandoning them? what if transformers had 100x the war crimes? what if the earth blew up. what if we were the robots all along?"

d) little girls out here writing like "aunt melanie's skin was sloughing off the bones as her beloved dogs tore her apart, turning on her in blind animal instinct. the second she stopped providing food, she became food." and a lot of body horror and dark themes about group pacts and betrayals and ritualistic murder/sacrifices. like a lot

#jj stuff #*me wiping a tear* love these weird little girls

[palipunk]

Palestine Masterlist 

Introduction to Palestine: 

Decolonize Palestine:

Palestine 101

Rainbow washing 

Frequently asked questions 

Myths 

IMEU (Institute for Middle East Understanding):

Quick Facts - The Palestinian Nakba 

The Nakba and Palestinian Refugees 

The Gaza Strip

The Palestinian catastrophe (Al-Nakba)

Al-Nakba (documentary)

The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 (book)

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (book)

Nakba Day: What happened in Palestine in 1948? (Article)

The Nakba did not start or end in 1948 (Article)

Donations and charities: 

Al-Shabaka

Electronic Intifada 

Adalah Justice Project 

IMEU Fundraiser 

Medical Aid for Palestinians 

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund 

Addameer

Muslim Aid

Palestine Red Crescent

Gaza Mutual Aid Patreon

Books:

A New Critical Approach to the History of Palestine

The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge

Hidden Histories: Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean

The Balfour Declaration: Empire, the Mandate and Resistance in Palestine

Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

From Haven to Conquest: Readings in Zionism and the Palestine Problem until 1948

Captive Revolution - Palestinian Women's Anti-Colonial Struggle within the Israeli Prison System

Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History

Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics

Before Their Diaspora: A Photographic History of The Palestinians 1876-1948

The Battle for Justice in Palestine Paperback

Uncivil Rites: Palestine and the Limits of Academic Freedom

Palestine Rising: How I survived the 1948 Deir Yasin Massacre

The Transformation of Palestine: Essays on the Origin and Development of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

A Land Without a People: Israel, Transfer, and the Palestinians 1949-1996

The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood

A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples

Where Now for Palestine?: The Demise of the Two-State Solution

Terrorist Assemblages - Homonationalism in Queer Times

Militarization and Violence against Women in Conflict Zones in the Middle East

The one-state solution: A breakthrough for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock

The Persistence of the Palestinian Question: Essays on Zionism and the Palestinians

Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians

The False Prophets of Peace: Liberal Zionism and the Struggle for Palestine

Ten myths about Israel

Blaming the Victims: Spurious Scholarship and the Palestinian Question

Israel and its Palestinian Citizens - Ethnic Privileges in the Jewish State

Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy

Greater than the Sum of Our Parts: Feminism, Inter/Nationalism, and Palestine

Palestine Hijacked 

Palestinian Culture:

Mountain against the Sea: Essays on Palestinian Society and Culture

Palestinian Costume

Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution

Tatreez & Tea: Embroidery and Storytelling in the Palestinian Diaspora

Embroidering Identities: A Century of Palestinian Clothing (Oriental Institute Museum Publications)

The Palestinian Table (Authentic Palestinian Recipes)

Falastin: A Cookbook

Palestine on a Plate: Memories from My Mother's Kitchen

Palestinian Social Customs and Traditions

Palestinian Culture before the Nakba

Tatreez & Tea (Website)

The Traditional Clothing of Palestine

The Palestinian thobe: A creative expression of national identity

Embroidering Identities:A Century of Palestinian Clothing

Palestine Traditional Costumes

Palestine Family 

Palestinian Costume

Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, v5: Volume 5: Central and Southwest Asia

Tent Work in Palestine: A Record of Discovery and Adventure

Documentaries, Films, and Video Essays:

Jenin, Jenin

Born in Gaza

GAZA 

Wedding in Galilee 

Omar

5 Broken Cameras

OBAIDA

Indigeneity, Indigenous Liberation, and Settler Colonialism (not entirely about Palestine, but an important watch for indigenous struggles worldwide - including Palestine)

Edward Said - Reflections on Exile and Other Essays

Palestine Remix: 

AL NAKBA

Gaza Lives On

Gaza we are coming

Lost cities of Palestine 

Stories from the Intifada 

Last Shepherds of the Valley

Voices from Gaza

Muhammad Smiry

Najla Shawa

Nour Naim

Wael Al dahdouh

Motaz Azaiza

Ghassan Abu Sitta

Refaat Alareer (murdered by Israel - 12/7/2023. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un)

Plestia Alaqad

Bisan Owda

Ebrahem Ateef

Mohammed Zaanoun

Doaa Mohammad

Hind Khoudary

Palestinian Voices, Organizations, and News 

Boycott Divest and Sanction (BDS)

Defense for Children in Palestine

Palestine Legal 

Palestine Action

Palestine Action US

United Nations relief and works for Palestinian refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA)

National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)

Times of Gaza

Middle East Eye

Middle East Monitor

Mohammed El-Kurd

Muna El-Kurd 

Electronic Intifada 

Dr. Yara Hawari 

Mariam Barghouti

Omar Ghraieb

Steven Salaita

Noura Erakat

The Palestinian Museum N.G.

Palestine Museum US

Artists for Palestine UK 

Eye on Palestine 

#Palestine #free palestine #palestine masterlist #apartheid #settler colonialism #links #donation post #BDS #Middle East #Palestinian liberation #palestinian culture #long post #resources #dcip #gaza

[fromthedust]

. . . all the tentacles complete — but no, the front one is not right! Some surgery required. Out comes the hacksaw, but only to the wire armature so the arm can be shaped into the correct curves. Then like Dr. Frankenstein I fasten it back together with staples and recover with more resin putty.

And now is time to sand . . .

and sand and sand and sand until it is time for the little sucker cups . . . M2, M2.5, M3, M4, M5, M6, M8, M10, M12 white nylon washers

I pulled out my collection of plastic seals and off we went for days of cupping  —15 days spent modeling the contours of each of the 663 suction cups 

The Blessed Virgin had to be sanded very delicately to give it back some of its immaculateness.

The happiness of some is the dust of others.

Take advantage of this white octopus, it seems that it is very rare to come across one. Shortly after I did my little experiments with paintings — 

A few days to finish the color, but because it will have to go through a few coats of a special glossy glossy varnish, which makes the viscosity so good... mmm yum. Given the size of the room I could not apply it in one go. The drying takes between 24 and 48 hours, so it will probably take me a week to complete the application of this varnish-resin.

If your head is spinning too much, don't look at this indecent image.

Soasig Chamaillard (French, b.1977)

Notre dame du poulpe (Our Lady of the Octopus) - recovery statue with illegible signature, aluminum wire frame, plaster strip, polystyrene, resin (epoxy putty), plumbing seals (plastic washers), acrylic paint, resin varnish - 47 cm high x 70 cm wide - 12 kg - work-in-progress March 20 to May 31, 2015

“I grew up in a Christian Western society. My perspective on life has been a result of my environment and background. The playful interaction of society’s many icons, physical transformations, and the resulting improbable combinations, have culminated in my vision of a woman’s role and place in our society. This inner questioning of a woman’s role, has led me to use one of the most sacred icons in my work, namely, the Virgin Mary. Initially, I begin with damaged statues, either donated or discovered in garage sales, which I then restore and transform. I surely do not mean to shock those who believe but rather to move those who see.”  —  Soasig Chamaillard

http://www.soasig-chamaillard.com/sculpture-sainte-vierge

https://www.instagram.com/soasigchamaillard/

http://chamailleries.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/chamaillard.soasig

#art by others #other's artwork #sculpture #Soasig Chamaillard #Madonna #tentacles #W.I.P. #found object #epoxy putty

[calder]

Released in 2010, Obsidian Entertainment's Fallout: New Vegas actively concerns itself with the realities of gay existence, and is widely recognized as a noteworthy work of queer science fiction. New Vegas extensively examines social attitudes towards homosexuality among the game's major factions, and primarily conveys this lore through gay and bisexual characters describing their own experiences. It also allowed the player to mechanically set the Courier's sexual orientation. By taking both available perks, the player character can be bisexual. By choosing neither, the player can opt out of seeing flirtatious dialogue options.

Uniquely, Fallout: New Vegas explores homosexuality in the context of wasteland societies, and touches upon related issues. The core theme of New Vegas is that the desire to recreate the past is driven by irrational nostalgia, and any endeavor to manifest past glory is dangerous and doomed. The social issue of homophobia is used as a demonstrative example. The resurrection of corporate and military power structures presents new avenues for Old World problems such as institutional homophobia to reemerge. One of the many issues that divide the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion is the latter's open persecution of gay people. The NCR is described as tolerant and even accepting of same-sex relationships, though acceptance tends to fall off the further one moves away from the developed, urbanized core of New California. In recent years, the Republic's rapid economic transformation has led to an unforeseen erosion of the humanitarian ideals which it was founded to serve. In practice, to recreate America was to take on its shortcomings and its sins. As subsistence scavenging has dried up, the people of the NCR increasingly turn to wage labor, entrepreneurial venture, or military enlistment to keep their families fed. Meanwhile, their government enacts morally corrosive imperialism (narrative verbiage), their dominion expanding indefinitely as their infrastructure crumbles from within. This has led to a profit-based imperial monoculture which must conquer, consume, and coerce to perpetuate. As personal politics and service labor grow in importance, people find themselves more inclined to present as "normal" in the interest of financial stability and political expedience. A loading screen visualizes this culture of artificial social normalcy: the portrait of President Aradesh on the NCR 5$ bill neglects to depict his unibrow, earring, and facial scarification, overall portraying the once-chieftain so cleanly-cut as to be unrecognizable at first glance. He also appears to be wearing a collared shirt or suit as opposed to the robe he wore in Fallout.

In the Legion, Caesar has mandated that every legionnaire take a wife and produce children, citing high infant mortality rates and the constant need for soldiers, and going as far as instituting child quotas. He treats human beings as a resource to be exploited for war. Ostensibly in this aim homosexuality has been declared a capital offense punishable by death. Historically, routine demonstrations of violence towards women and gay people are a deliberate feature of fascist societies, the only logical cultural conclusion of a government devoted entirely to war and control. In Forlorn Hope letter 9, an NCR soldier wrote wrote the following to his boyfriend:

Dearest Andrew, Writing this seems pretty morbid, but tomorrow we march into the no man's land between our camp and Nelson, which is crawling with Legion. The Major insisted I write this damn "if you get this, I'm dead" letter so here it is. What a crock. I have the luck of the devil and your love on my side, so I'll be home soon. Keep the porch light on for me. We'll party in New Vegas when I get back. I love you. —Devin

Devin believed he would prevail over the Legion because his love would keep him safe. He was found dying or dead on the battlefield, the letter was found on his body. In a post-release patch, the injured soldiers were removed from the battlefield for performance reasons, and never re-implemented. Driven largely in reaction to the Legion's hyper-masculine posturing and misogyny, rumors persist across the Mojave that gay male relationships are not only common within the Legion, but condoned. These rumors are repeated commonly in NCR society. A closeted NCR Major mentions that the Legion is "a little more... forgiving" about close male "friendships," speaking in a hushed tone to avoid suspicion. At the same outpost, the player can encounter Cass, a bisexual civilian woman. She may flirt with a male Courier, who may imply they are gay, prompting her to imply gay men are more common in the Legion. Even as gay men fight and die in the name of love under his command, NCR General Oliver may remark to Courier Six at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam: "If you think after all that's happened, I'm going to grab my ankles and take it like the Legion..."

This writing pertains to institutionalized homophobia which manifests in practice though power structures and social interactions without being written into law. Simply put, in his derogatory remark, the general expresses to his army that military surrender is gay, much like their gay enemy. From the brevity and bluntness of this remark, it's clear that this sentiment is already well understood among his ranks. Logically, to project strength in the eyes of such a leader, one might also project homophobia by scrutinizing and harassing one's peers and subordinates. In this atmosphere, the expression of homophobia is not only normalized, but materially incentivized. For the ambitious, it becomes a tool, and a way of casting shame upon rivals. For the closeted, homophobia becomes a survival tactic, hoping to throw scrutiny off oneself. This is why Major Knight is immediately frightened when a male Courier flirts with him. He is so profoundly alienated that he romanticizes life as a gay man under the Legion. The Legion punish homosexuality with death, and yet Knight characterizes them as more "forgiving" than the NCR. Through these apparently disparate events, the audience can trace how a distorted perception of gay people emerges among insecure men in a military environment, and subsequently becomes ingrained in the corresponding civilian culture. At the 188 Trading Post, a lesbian from the Brotherhood of Steel named Veronica also wryly remarks that she believes legionaries have gay sex about as often as straight sex. She also notes that this only applies to men, as women have no rights whatsoever in Legion society. In this aside, she conveys a pre-existing frustration with lesbophobic social norms. Veronica also mentions that the people of her bunker would rather she remain on the surface. The Mojave Brotherhood of Steel has no official policy prohibiting homosexuality, but an implicit attitude among its dominant members that their limited numbers require everyone to have children to avoid extinction. Numerically, this may seem logical on the surface, given their reluctance to recruit outsiders. However, given their tiny population, this is an ineffective countermeasure, as they do not have nearly enough members to maintain genetic diversity for more than a few generations. This approach is not universally supported by all family units within the Brotherhood, but every individual is ultimately at the mercy of the elder. Veronica was in a lesbian relationship, but they were quietly separated by Elder Elijah, due to the dominant culture of enforcing heterosexual pairing among their population.

Caesar's law has not ended homosexuality within his domain. Despite the obvious risks, some legionaries have continued to pursue relationships behind closed doors, especially given their access to slaves. So long as members complete their societal obligations and fulfill the child quotas, they are able to pursue romance with other men in secret. Homosexual relationships in the faction are noted as being relatively equal compared to the average Legion husband and wife, in a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" sort of open secret policy. Gay legionaries must always make sure to keep their activities hidden. A centurion was once almost caught fraternizing with the teenage boy he had chosen to tend his tent. Despite previous "romantic" intentions, he quickly resolved to dispose of the slave to dispel suspicion. Had they been caught together, the centurion would have been charged with homosexuality and sentenced to death. This story is only known because the enslaved young man, Jimmy, managed to escape execution. Further illustrating the cruelty intrinsic to Legion governance, it's stated that homosexuality was the crime, and not the rape of a young slave; in fact, it seems Jimmy was forced to contribute to the child quota despite being a gay teenager, and the experience left him traumatized. He has resolved to never have sex with another woman, as the very notion triggers memories which fill him with disgust, and (in his own words) makes him feel like a slave all over again. The Strip is indifferent to gay people, viewing them as another opportunity to make caps. Both the Gomorrah and the Atomic Wrangler are interested in maximizing profits, and their prostitution services cater to clients regardless of their orientation. The openly gay Jimmy works at nearby Casa Madrid, but there is some tension among his peers due to his co-worker Maude's blatant homophobia. She supposes he's "okay, for one of those," and if propositioned by a female Courier, Maude will direct them to Sweetie for such "perverted" services. Pretty Sarah must regularly intervene to keep the peace among her staff.

The Followers of the Apocalypse, well-read punks who seek to embody healing through anarchistic values, are not concerned with gender. Most are openly and casually sexually active. Upon meeting Courier Six, Arcade Gannon offhandedly makes his gayness known, unprompted. The audience must face the fact that Arcade's apprehension of the Legion is far from abstract; under Legion law, he would be put to death. One possible ending gives further insight into Caesar's hypocrisy: should the player sell Arcade into slavery and leave Caesar alive, he will keep Arcade as a personal physician and philosophical advisor. They intellectually spar at length, and Caesar grows singularly fond of him. Accordingly, Arcade imitates the historic suicide of Cato the Younger by disemboweling himself. The Legion's remaining medics attempted to save his life, but none were Arcade's equal. Caesar understood his doctor's final gesture of contempt, and mourned him for months.

New Vegas ventures further into themes of healing from the trauma of sexual violence, from the perspective of a lesbian character. Corporal Betsy, an NCR sharpshooter, is a rape survivor, and suffers with PTSD from the incident. Her unprocessed trauma has manifested as a maladaptive tendency to aggressively and explicitly proposition the women she encounters, in an effort to reassert a sense of control. This defensive hypersexual impulse has negatively impacted her ability to connect with other women. A male superior officer notes that her behavior is inappropriate for anyone of her stature, but abstains from disciplining her out of sincere concern for her mental health. The Courier can help her begin to recognize these problems, and convince her to seek treatment from Doctor Usanagi at the New Vegas medical clinic, which proves helpful to her as she processes and heals from her trauma.

In Old World Blues, the Think Tank are five floating brains in jars who express themselves by waving robotic arms bearing screens depicting facial features. Before the War, they were federal scientists who committed crimes against humanity in the name of weapons development. Each is stuck in some sort of neuro-bionic feedback loop which prevents them from moving forward with their projects, mentally binding them to their central laboratory. Walking through their homes at Higgs Village, it's clear each was deeply neurotic before they were transformed into floating brains. Now without bodies, they attempt to maintain the illusion that they are exempt from sexuality as purely mental beings, but each displays obvious interest in the human form. They have codified this shaming with the term "formography." Most of the men are obsessively defensive over their complete disinterest in penises, which they talk about constantly. However, the shameless Dr. Dala shows overwhelming interest in observing and recording any and all human functions. Already androgynous in her pre-War life, Dala has taken to self-identifying as a "gender neutral entity" (though she is not known to use they/them pronouns). Regardless of the Courier's gender, they may coquettishly scratch themselves, clear their throat, and stretch in front of Dala until her biomed gel decoagulates. Dr. 8 also responds positively to graphic masturbation advice from Couriers of either gender. The X-8 research facility is ostensibly a massive immersive shrine to Doctor Borous's hatred of Richie "Ball-Lover" Marcus, a long-dead child who bullied Borous centuries ago. He also clings to his resentment of one Betsy Bright, who refused to attend a dance with him, supposedly so she could "go smoke with RICHIE MARCUS." Clearly arrested in development, Borous has literally built a temple to the fantasy of torturing his adolescent romantic rival and feeding him to dogs. His frozen, static characterization of the jock Richie Marcus as a "pinko-commie" who "likes balls" reflects the shallowness, pettiness, and overall misanthropy underlying his patriotic identity. It remains apparent throughout Old World Blues that the Think Tank are all chronically sexually repressed, which is inseparable from the values of the violent and judgmental pre-War culture which created them. With time and isolation, this ingrained repression has manifested as various intense and deranged psychosexual behaviors, including rage-fueled homophobia, voyeurism, and the obsessive performance of puritanical pretense.

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“Although I’ve been out for a very long time, I made a conscious effort to be out with relation to this project, as I wanted to be visible as a lesbian in the game industry. New Vegas itself is, I think, one of (if not the) best games out there in how we treat homosexuality – and all of that is very intentional.”

“If my work on FNV, if my being out has helped even one gay person, then I have succeeded.” — Tess “Obsidian’s Gay Cowgirl” Treadwell

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written (with help from other editors) for fallout.fandom.com/wiki/LGBT_representation_in_the_Fallout_series criticism welcome

#fnv

[saintvampe]

there are many things i wanna say abt seraphina, but i think of her body as The Grotesque, especially considering her womanhood and her race.

#literally and metaphorically: in the sense that her womanhood / her blackness makes her The Grotesque in our society #and literally in that when she does her Vampiric Transformation; she is literally a monstrous grotesque figure #im gna be reading a few articles on this topic itself ksndnksj im so excited #but once again thinking about meat - eating as a 'masculine' thing; of how she interts herself both in womanhood and lives outside of it #inserts**** #unruly women... the body politic...

[ramyacom]

#New Direction Skills Academy is a Unit of the New Directions Educational Society; The Skills Academy offers various employability focused an #Our work aims to transform communities through placement-linked skill development #livelihood creation #entrepreneurship and self-employment. Our Skills programs have improved standards of living not only for trainees but also their families a

[amishas-posts]

#New Direction Skills Academy is a Unit of the New Directions Educational Society; The Skills Academy offers various employability focused an #Our work aims to transform communities through placement-linked skill development #livelihood creation #entrepreneurship and self-employment. Our Skills programs have improved standards of living not only for trainees but also their families a