#we used to be a civilized society

[buttfrovski]

whoever's out here designing south park merch needs to step it the fuck up and get ur head in the game

#it's all so... mid.. #south park #'vintage' 90's merch you will always be famous #we used to be a civilized society

[noknowshame]

god 2.2 is such a good flint episode. getting flirted with by thomas via quotes about partnership then cutting immediately to him alone in a corner staring at silver. using his legitimate heart-wrenching remorse about gates as a tool in his scheme to get back the captaincy. Hennessy's response to the bar fight clearly establishing he's had an ongoing history of getting way too attached to people. the "good luck with... whatever this is" (amused). the "if you're trying to impress me, it isn't working" (oh no. affectionate). orchestrating a scenario that ends with him sinking an entire ship and loosing several of his own men, the total death-count probably in the higher dozens, just so he could get back in charge in as little time as possible. the "so what do they fear?" (loudly implied "me"). being so sexily competent that everyone does what he says even though they wanted to kill him two days ago. the way it's presented that he learned the ~power of optimism~ <3 :) from thomas and is now using that optimism to Commit Great Violence (very funny). and of course, most importantly, flint's brand new kickass coat

#no. 2... love it when characters use their sincere emotions as a clever ploy embedded in some other scheme. the classic jimmy mcgill #theres so much more i missed. #failing to get dufresne to talk to him about books #'you have to raise your colors at just the right time to get them to lower theirs' #the bar fight getting started in the first place because of classism #being ridiculed for ever believing he could belong in civilized society #episode of all time #<- what i will also be saying for the forseeable future about each next episode after this #but this one is good because its episode X and we all... we all know that X mar– #black sails

[home-fire]

an archeological hymn to Hestia

Before foundations were laid below you or roof raised above you, you were;

Before stones were marked out to hold you, or chimney and fireplace covered you, you were;

Before the shelter of walls embraced you, center of the home as yet unbuilt, you were;

Within the unwitting spark of tinder, the fragile ember, within the first primordial fire, you were;

The telltale sign of human presence-- that which made man into mankind, noble Hestia, you were;

The light that lit our way, the warmth that preserved us, tool and weapon and giver of food, you were;

The ritual heart, the circle center, the primal stage of ancient tales, you were;

Tender, keeper, bonder of bonds, bringer of shelter, guider and guardian of the human race,

From our infancy, great Hestia, you were-- ever have been, ever will be-- and ever shall you be deserving of praise.

#basically it's believed that the domestication of fire is what made the development of modern humans possible #from providing more nutritious meals to creating a social center around which kinship developed and culture was created and transmitted #even before settled societies and buildings and civilization fire and the proto-hearth were central to human life and existence #and I cannot help but think about this whenever I think of hestia #she's been with us before we even WERE us and helped to literally MAKE us what we are #...just ponder that awhile #hestia #hestia devotion #hellenic polytheism #hellenic pagan #hellenic deities #hellenic devotion #hymn #hellenismos #hestia 🔥

[spotsupstuff]

here's a neat vid, go watch it if you haven't yet

there's Some things that i don't completely agree with personally, like attributing the Third sin to Materialism rather than Connection (i'd argue that the Ancients had no big issue with being materialistic, considering their golden attires and such- and that going with Connection overall better addresses both the core of Materialism and relationships overall) and then attributing the word Dynasty specifically to asian cultures but that's more history/word definition beef more than anything djgklsjlcgjkd

oh how i'd love to have a debate with this guy about Ancients...

#spot says stuff #rw #history fact: a dynasty was present big time around the years 800-1000 (iirc) on a large territory in eu which included slovakia #at the core of it per its definition a dynasty is just ''the same family ruled over the lands throughout multiple generations'' tho so its- #-not special or anything. with that definition in mind you can see how dynasties were also european things with all the kings and stuff #its just more often used for asian countries cuz they held out longer with the family stuff probably. or all the damn royal family drama- #-that happened there........ my Gods i know only a few chinese stories but Shit man there was a lot djgklsjgld #i wonder if identifying family members in the Ancient society happened through colors... like Sparrows n her siblings are colored from- #-dark blue (Dad's og clrs before turning grey) to turquoise (Inkling) and through this color coordination are the dynasties named #that's some fun thoughts #this video is prompting some neat thoughts.. ego is the culmination of the sins in short is one of them for example #did this guy actually come into contact with shkika or smth. the 'civilization before the ones we recognize as ancients' stuff at the end- #-sounds very familiar. -makes it to the end- Ah. The RW Discord. i wonder where that thought originated n who parroted it from who #☝ personally making the conscious effort to not seep myself into the fandom Too much since i like thinking about this stuff so i dont want- #-any fan-based answers/speculations. just wanna vibe with it uninfluenced n see where that takes me. also the rw discord feels dangerous

[zorciarkrildrush]

It bears repeating that where there's Islamophobia there will invariably also be antisemitism, either disguised as only hating the wrong type of Jew or bare-faced. Where there's antisemitism, there will invariably also be Islamophobia, bare-faced or disguised as only hating the wrong type of Muslim. If you assist a movement that harbors one or the other, the end result will be both. Terry Pratchett, via Granny Weatherwax, made it a point to tell us that it starts with treating people as things.

#selfpost #I need to do a re-read of discworld because the amount of kindness in that series is astounding #hope and love for humanity is what will save us #how was that man so hilarious and so fucking razor sharp with politics and racism and war and gender and fucking #the role of police in society and during civil unrest in particular #forever a role model #antisemitism #islamophobia #I was reminded today of that bellend Geert in the Netherlands #support Israel all you want I know you fucking hate us #you just like dead arabs more #we are all things to you either way

[thejurassicparty]

"They took everything from us, and then they called me a monster?... This ends when I grant them my forgiveness, not the other way around."

This particular quote - honestly, this whole scene - has the nauseating force of a sucker punch directly to the gut

#honestly I could write an entire essay about Black Sails and its use of monster imaginary #Black Sails forcing the viewers to acknowledge society and 'civilization' as the true villains of the series is so intriguing #the show flips the typical historic narrative surrounding pirates on its head and makes us ask 'are pirates truly monsters or are they men? #we as viewers have preconceived ideas about pirates that the series makes a point to address #ideas can squirm and crawl into our brains they can snarl and heave and become twisted disgusting things #ideas grow more terrifying and monstrous as time progresses #they shift into nightmarish beasts of our own making #things that we recoil from and that we fear #we created this monster in our heads so it must be true #right? #are pirates monsters? or have we twisted them into beasts to suit our own narrative? #an 'other' for society to lay its blame upon so it can resolve itself of its own sins #OUR sins #society needs its 'monsters' to function #but the so-called monsters in Black Sails aren't just villains #they're martyrs #men we've demonized and cast aside #so why not become the monsters that society fears? #Captain Flint is a monster of their own making #but society will never ever shoulder that blame #you reap what you sow #and all that jazz #Flint being good or bad isn't the point and honestly I'd argue that his moral character as little to do with his identity as a monster #he's a scapegoat he's a man he's a martyr he's a lover he's a god he's vicious he loves to the point of his own destruction he's a monster #he's all of those things and none of the above #I'm gonna stop now lol #Black Sails is fascinating and it makes me what to chew on glass :) #Black Sails #I'm just ranting and raving at this point #so just ignore me

[shirkers2018dirsanditan]

The pressing issue was land. In the post-Civil War years, Black-freedom advocates such as Edward P. McCabe proposed flooding Indian Territory with Black towns, establishing the demographic foothold for a future Black-majority state. As the chronicler A. G. Stacey wrote at the time, “There is a secret political society in existence . . . which is based upon the principles of Negro advancement, mentally and morally, and the future control of Oklahoma whenever it shall become a state.” The creators of such plans were blind to the concerns of Indians and did not hesitate to align Black and white settlers against them. Frederick Douglass assured a crowd in 1869, “The negro is more like the white man than the Indian, in his tastes and tendencies, and disposition to accept civilization.” Where the Indian “rejects our civilization,” he went on, “it is not so with the negro. He loves you and remains with you, under all circumstances, in slavery and in freedom.”

Gayle is not wrong to name Claude Cox and Alexander Posey as anti-Black racists. The more interesting question, however, is how their racism was shaped by concerns for their people, their polities, and their dwindling land. At the Sequoyah Constitutional Convention of 1905, several tribes sought to establish an Indian state from Indian Territory, bringing a petition to Congress that was swiftly rejected. The secretary to that convention was Posey, a complicated, sometimes contradictory thinker who was devoted to the politics and the aspirations of his tribe. To see his racism clearly is to see a desperate collision between the ambitions of Black and Native peoples.

....

When it comes to belonging, two cultural problems intertwine. Black Creek claims to Creek identity—at least in Gayle’s account—tend to be genealogical, full of blood essentialisms, and sometimes disengaged from the ongoing vitality of Muscogee culture. Figures such as Jake Simmons, Jr., for instance, seem to care most about leveraging Black success out of Native citizenship, leasing and selling Creek land to corporations. At the same time, the historically rooted culture of Muscogee anti-Black racism is not merely abhorrent but unsustainable, offering no path to the future for anyone involved. When it comes to citizenship, two political problems intertwine. Native sovereignty, in the American context, rests upon the legal authority of treaties. So, too, do Black rights to Native membership. The various arguments about Native identity bounce between cultural ties and political claims, all exuding moral authority but none fully authoritative. In this sense, one of Gayle’s maxims proves compelling: Black Creek stories, rich with both the subtleties and the crudenesses of America’s racial history, force us all to contemplate new forms of reckoning.

#this article is crazyyyy good #it provides a great perspective on slavery in the civilized tribes; ongoing conflicts over tribal membership; and is not overly simplistic #the more that we talk about slavery in the civilized tribes and discrimination against freedmen in these tribes the more the issues gets #shoehorned into the afropessimist perspective #even when people attribute the conflict to white supremacy #and yes. although beneath white supremacy is capitalism and forced scarcity #not to mention nationalism and nation state politics #but my point is always. always. that history never actually fits into the narratives we create to understand it #just like the present doesn't #its hard to avoid essentializing issues because you want to have a moral center and you want to comprehend something #especially through the lens of current politics and social organizations #and our historical foundation literally has taught us to look at american society as divided into a hierarchy #that roughly goes white/east and south asian/everybody else/brown latinos/natives/black people with natives and black people sometimes #reversed #and then we operate with the idea that someone is always on the bottom and someone is always on the top #and that oppression is the product of individuals all together choosing to hurt others for their own gain #or that certain elites use various oppressed people like marionettes to do their bidding #white elite rich elite whatever #and that oppression is a sliding scale based on how much you are oppressed but also how you are used to or on your own will oppress others #but there is not a single group in america that has not contributed to the oppression of another #not to say of what we do to people in the third world #none of our hands our clean and we are not ‘innocent’ #but the vast majority of us are oppressed and suffering in one way or another #and any liberation will be by for and with all of us #yeah

[backlogbooks]

on a personal level, no, reading “problematic” media wont like, change your moral compass

but i do feel like maybe! we could discuss uhhhh the history of racist fiction in america and the way it’s added to the overall self mythology of america and the way white people think about and interact with Black people to this day

rather than making 500 “haha people who think fiction affects reality are so stupid” posts

#i am getting so tired of ‘oh you think fiction affects reality?? i guess you kill people if you ever read about a murderer #no bitch i just have studied american history #i’ve studied gone with the wind and fucking birth of a nation #and yes there were other areas where those narrative of the civil war were being pushed (textbooks & confederate statues & etc.) #BUT LIKE. THERE ARE OTHER AREAS WHERE WHITE SUPREMACY IS BEING ADVANCED RIGHT NOW. AND ALSO FUCKING ALWAYS. #it drives me crazy because i feel like at first ‘problematic’ was used to refer to like #racist or homophobic or sexist depictions #and now it’s been reduced to ‘oh poor baby doesnt know not to murder people unless the author says it’s bad’ like bro shut up #even aside from the historical examples #think about all the cop shows that have completely altered most people’s idea of the police away from what the actual job is #making them into action heroes (and demonizing the internal review people like. what) #increasing the perception of danger and decreasing the respect for ‘going by the book’ aka obeying rhe fucking law and respecting people’s #constitutional rights #i know i should know better than to hope for nuance on this app #but i swear the next self righteous ‘people who think fiction affects reality are so stupid’ post is getting blocked #it’s not about your personal media consumption it’s about the stories we as a society tell ourselves and each other repeatedly! #and even if you personally aren’t susceptible to those messages you should be aware of when you’re supporting them #mary emma talks

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

I see that usage of the term "toxic masculinity" has waned in the last 3 years. Thanks God it's finally dying. People just aim that word at anything that isn't some super soft a$$ crap.

#overused terms #txt #i hope misogyny and patriarchy are next in the list of “words that are used so damn much they lost their meaning” #it might have been about pointing hypermasculine/macho/ultra-masculine behavior that people back then used to refer to as precisely that #in the beginning but then it became about shaming normal masculinity #because you know men are the oppressor class so everything they do is wrong #the same goes for white people heterosexuals cisgenders able-bodied people “neurotypicals” #they are all part of the oppressor category. f*ck nuance and having basic intelligence. just buy into retarded sh*t #like honestly. people simply used to refer to these kinds of men as a$$holes/jerks #if we go by how it was INITIALLY used. not how it is used now #that behavior had never been accepted by civilized society at large and still isn't #like rap was heavily criticized back then because of the “toxic masculinity” it radiated. people called it “hypermasculine”. this was #going on in the '90s. now we can get into how it was racially motivated but it proves how people have never accepted jerk behavior or the #perception of it. y'all think society accepts that crap when christianity and chivalry actually came about to combat that #cuz the society it resided in was really barbaric and needed it to be channeled for GOOD. they needed virtue and heart and care #it's the opposite of “toxic masculinity”. i mean christianity is still a “patriarchal” (in the actual traditional sense: role of fathers) #but it's the most benevolent that has ever existed and ever will. no society has ever been perfect and christian have still dealt with tons #and tons of issues but christianity is still the most benevolent and fair religion on the whole planet. it's not even up for debate #**culture #rule**

[unusualshrimp]

hey sorry i can't come to work today im thinking about the various implications of zombie horror and the way it affects people

#saw the post the other day about horror movies reflecting the greatest fears of society at the current time #..... it was so ouuugh #anyway zombie movies. fear of infection and pandemic type situations obviously #but also. a running thread in all Zombie Media ™ since forever has been like. someone you love got bitten and now u have to kill them etc #i think that's really interesting because it also ties into another thing about zombies: fear of being changed‚ involuntary #does the zombie know what it used to be? is the hunger filling an otherwise blank mind? #or is it just strong enough to override everything else? #what would that feel like though. both possibilities are unsettling because in case 1 you Die by most definitions #and something else looks like you and pilots your body around #actually that is very similar to imposter horror innit. ''guy in the team who got bitten but doesn't tell anyone until its too late'' #and in case 2.... ooooihhhhhhh that's so much worse <3 you're alive you just can't do anything about it. just hungry #and now onto the third fear associated with zombie horror (and my favourite): the fear of being hunted‚ on a wide scale #think abt it. it's unclear whether humans actually count as apex predators. but population-wise we don't actually have A Specific Animal #- that hunts us #and that's not because we are fast or have sharp teeth or are adapted hunters. that's just because we're great at living in a society #and zombies are A Predator on a significant scale and we are NOT prepared for it #beecaaauusee--- [dramatic crescendo] they will exploit the *very* thing that made us so invincible in the first place!! 💞 #one of the first signs of civilization is healed bones. cured sickness. #a human seeing another human looking sick/injured and immediately rushing to help. is a big part of why we've made it this far #zombies have our faces!!! they know how to walk and unlock doors and climb the stairs to our buildings #AND. AND. they're people you think you know. back again to the killing a loved one thing #that's so BRILLIANT as a tactic because the societal tactics that make people group together will now make them reluctant to kill zombies #WHICH IS WHY most media tries to dehumanize zombies in some way to make it easier. ohhhh they grunt and can't talk. they're slow. #they don't feel anything. they are not the person they look like. they're not even people. the alternative is much much worse #and i need it explored. what if they can run. what if they beg and plead that they're still the same person. what if they scream. #what if they say ''sorry i love you so much im sorry'' at the end. etc

[trandoshan]

Hey! That's not a trandoshan! It's a Zabrak! A Dathomiri Zabrak!

What do you have to say for yourself, young whatever-you-are (i do not know your gender, sorry)!

you know what? i never actually noticed that incongruity LOL

maul is my big sw blorbo... and trandoshans im fond of due to the trandoshan gambler in cut content from kotor. i think it so neat that he worships a goddess of hunting, the scorekeeper, by particating in card game tournaments

so i suppose thats what i have to say in my defense: i love many a star war thing :p

#riv to all the girlboss bogwitches we lost to the clone wars #and of course to their enslaved brothers #dathomiris did cool shit with force magyks but by god the rest of that society could use a civil rights movement #and one more: riv to the trandoshan ezra saw fall into a forge and immediately made some dismissive quip about him #that was nuts

[lovevalley45]

'abominations' is another. more yikes in retrospect episode in some ways. but unf i do have to say i like the costumes

#alli says shit #AESTHETICALLY SPEAKING THEY'RE NICE #I'M PULLING THE BLACK CARD U CAN'T COME AFTER ME FOR THIS #that does remind me unf even tho i live in CA the local historical society tried to do a 'civil war days' thing #and i was just there yelling like. WE WERE IN THE WEST #(cali def was not free from problematic laws concerning slavery there was the fugitive law despite us being a free state) #but like. and why would they do this

[thisismenow3]

Protect yourself and keep pushing

Just give this a listen

#Actual MLK #Actual Malcolm X #Actual civil rights history #Not knowing the truth is how the slightest direct action gets painted as aggression #It’s also how direct action that has any shade of violence or threat of violence or force or inconvenience even gets painted as #“Not what MLK would’ve done” #We have to make our society better #The same systems and people who want to make us less democratic don’t want us to fund public schools #fight climate change #etc #Youtube

[no-passaran]

Spain lied about not selling weapons to Israel.

Even after October 7th, Spain has sold more than 1 million € of weapons to Israel. Norway and Finland make it possible.

In January, Spain made headlines word-wide when the government's Minister of Exteriors, José Manuel Albares (PSOE), claimed in Congress and later again in a radio interview that Spain had stopped selling weapons to Israel ever since October 7th. Israel's intensification of violence in Gaza following October 7th meant that, on top of decades of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, between October 7th and January 23rd Israel had already killed 28,000 people and forced 2 million out of their home. In this context, many people were demanding their governments stop arming and funding the genocide of the Palestinian people, and here on Tumblr and other social media sites like Twitter I think we all saw the many posts praising the Spanish government for this.

Well, it turns out it was a lie.

According to Albares, "Since October 7th there are no more weapons exportations [from Spain] to Israel". But in November alone, Spain exported weapons to Israel for 987,000€, as was published on the Spanish Government's official website dedicated to exterior commerce (Comex). A researcher from Centre Delàs (an independent centre for peace studies) found it and published it, and it has also been verified by newspapers such as elDiario.es.

This 987,000€ worth of weapons in November was not the only ammunition that Spain has sent to Israel in 2023. In 2023, Spain exported a total of 1.48 million € in war material to Israel.

All of the weapons sent in November come from the factory of Nammo Palencia (Castilla y León), a corporation that is 50% property of the Government of Norway and 50% owned by a public Finnish business. However, even if the owners are foreigners, the ammunition was sent from Spain and thus it had to be authorized by the an organism of the Spanish Government named Junta Interministerial de Defensa y Doble Uso, whose deliberations on whether a weapons exportation is accepted or denied are kept secret. The only cases where they have denied exporting weapons to Israel have been when they thought that Israel would re-sell these weapons to the Philippines.

Spain has had a close relation with Israel for years. As published by the Spanish Government, Spain has sold 20 million € of weapons to Israel between 2012 and 2022. Spain also buys weapons and military software from Israel (for example, the Spanish Intelligence Service has been using the Israeli software Pegasus to illegally spy on Catalan activists, journalists, politicians and civil society members and their relatives to attack the Catalan independence movement), and Spain has continued buying from Israel and allocating defense contracts to Israel even after the October 7th attacks. It is very difficult to track the concessions of public contracts such as buying weapons, but some contracts have been known. For example, on November 24th 2023, Spain bought 287.5 million € of missiles from Israel. This is not unusual: between 2011 and 2021, it is publicly known that Spain bought war material from Israel for at least 268 million €, but experts say that the real number could be two or three times as much.

Spain has also continued allocating concessions to Israel. For example, on December 15th 2023 Spain allocated a contract worth over 576 million € to Israel for a rocket launcher programme. On November 22nd, Spain allocated another another Israeli company to provide missiles for 237 million € at the same time as the Spanish army bought Israeli inhibitors for 1.4 million €. The very next day, November 23rd, Spain signed another military allocation to Israel for 82,600€. The following week, Spain signed yet another allocation with a different Israeli military corporation for 3.7 million €.

Spain also allows Israeli weapon manufacturing companies to produce weapons through their branches located in Spain. This way, Israeli weapons make their way to markets with which Israel doesn't have diplomatic ties but Spain does, like Saudi Arabia. And since Spain is a member of NATO, Israeli weapons produced in Spain are approved according to NATO standards and access it easily. In the same way, these Israeli weapons manufacturers also access European Union defense funds through their branches in Spain. (source).

As I said, I saw a lot of positive posts around when Albares said Spain was going to embargo, but I haven't seen any post about how they didn't do it. I also (personally) haven't seen anything on international media, and barely anything on Spanish media, which is already busy with the PSOE covid material corruption scandal. So I share this in the hope of helping put pressure on Spain to cut all ties with Israel immediately.

SHAME ON EVERYONE WHO GIVES ISRAEL THE MATERIAL AND MONEY THAT WILL BE USED TO MASSACRE THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE. SHAME ON SPAIN, NORWAY, AND FINLAND.

#i've been meaning to post this for a few days but never manmaged to finish writing since i don't have internet at work and i barely have #time to do anything else than sleep eat and prepare work stuff when i'm home #so I'm late but this is still relevant #palestine #gaza #israel #free palestine #spain #norway #finland #españa #end genocide #bds #boycott divest sanction #free gaza #peace #anti military #💬

[criptochecca]

"Israel is not just a State, it's a project. It's a settler colonial project. And I do think that we are witnessing the beginning of the end of this project. Because it rests on three pillars.

One is material, of course [...] when you use and index that looks at sustainability of state according to their material capability, Israel is doing well. [...] It does well mainly because of the United States. So this is a condition that can change.

The second pillar is the social coherence of the settler society. We know this coherence is nonexistent anymore. There is a bit of an optical illusion because of the Hamas operation of the 7th of October that created a sense of unity. But it's not going to cover up the fragmentation of the society that we have seen until the 7th of October. It seems that social coherence that is based on hatred of the Arabs and the Palestinians and doesn't have anything else in common, is not very sustainable.

And more importantly than anything else, of course, there is the legitimacy pillar. And Israel enjoys the legitimacy of western governments or governments in the global north. And therefore, there is a sense that it can still be sustainable because of the support of the elites. But it has lost the support of the civil societies.

And this is why probably it's the only state in the world that lobbies for its existence. Not for its policies, not for its better economic performance, but for its very moral justification. And it's losing that battle.

As an historian I can tell you that when projects like settler colonialism are reaching their last phase, unfortunately, this can be quite a long period. It doesn't happen in one day or two days. And the problem is, of course, that they become more brutal and ruthless in that last phase."

Ilan Pappè, excerpt of an interview with Al Jazeera

[flickering-nightfall]

Playing with some ideas mostly regarding gender/reproduction in RW, and slugcat colonies.

Full transcript under the cut!

Creatures in Rain World are typically simultaneous hermaphrodites but require partners to reproduce, with either individual capable of being a genetic donor or carrier. Alongside what we are familiar with, this has lead to interesting reproductive strategies such as rotating donor/carrier roles, or dual/simultaneous genetic swaps.

Rotating donor/carrier roles - A K-selection reproductive strategy. One partner carries the first child, the other partner carries the next child, and so forth. Allows each partner to recover from the demands of childbearing.

Rain Deer aren't quite monogamous, but they tend to choose the same breeding partner whenever mating season rolls around. They serve as a donor one season, then bear and raise a child the next. Calves are raised away from the rain and worm grass, in places that have less food but more safety. Calf wool is softer, not yet gunked up by the dirty rainfall. Their legs are sturdier as children, allowing them to run for cover while the parent wards off threats.

Dual/simultaneous genetic swap - An r-selection reproductive strategy. Parents fulfill the donor and carrier role for each other. The more children you make, the more likely some are to survive!

Multiple batflies lay thousands of eggs in a single "blue fruit." Several eggs congeal and become nutrient paste for the surviving eggs (and for hungry slugcats). Like some plant seeds, batfly eggs that are consumed before pupating can survive passing through the digestive system. Ew.

Ancients also fell under this umbrella. Their genders (and the genders of iterators by extension, who have no sex anyways) could have been determined by a variety of other factors, such as societal role, donor/carrier preference, or simply different categorizations of personal expression.

It's difficult to say how well their common pronouns would translate to ours, but it seems they can translate to an extent, given what Moon and Pebbles use canonically.

Slugcats, like real slugs, can have children with a partner or self-fertilize. Unlike real slugs, they are often known to adopt.

In the case of self-fertilization: children who are born from one parent may display a large amount of genetic diversity despite the circumstances. Maybe slugcats have some sort of... genetic reservoir independent of their own genetic code?

Slugcats live 20-30 years on average... if they manage to reach adulthood. Their mortality rate is sadly rather high, especially in pups. If they were to develop as a civilization, it's likely their lifespan would increase dramatically.

Slugcats in a colony are more likely to have more children, and to successfully rear those children to adulthood, than those who wander alone or in small groups. The safety and stability of a colony cannot be understated.

Colonies either have a set, cycling migration path, or wander continuously. Survivor and Monk's tree home was a nesting site that their colony frequents about once a year. So it's likely that they'll see their family again!

...also, the strength of large colonies are why scavengers are likely to become the dominant species. In the time of Saint's era, continuous migration has become more of a risk, and it has become more difficult to support large populations. Slugcat populations have shrunk back to the more forgiving equatorial zones.

Saint's tongue is pretty unusual and probably unique to them, or to a small population that they hail from. Fur (of varying thickness) is much more common.

Meanwhile, scavengers are bulkier and covered in thicker insulating fur. They:

have seemingly massive populations

have a burgeoning society (the existence of merchants, tolls, bartering, elites and leaders)

are adept at communicating (non-verbally)

manipulate their environment

can build structures (scavenger-made structures were a scrapped idea from Saint's campaign)

can create complex weapons and tools

may have agriculture behind the scenes (unsure if scout parties prioritize exploration or hunting)

I would wager on scavengers developing more quickly than slugcats, but it would be nice if there was a future where both could co-exist.

#oops! impromptu rendering practice! #rotating donor/carrier roles could also be an r-selection strat #but i feel like it'd be more common as a k-selection strat #rain world #worldbuilding #headcanons #flickerdoodles #art #um #ask to tag? #that goes for all of my posts #rw spoilers #dp spoilers #saint spoilers #long post