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originsofchocolatetomodernday · 7 months ago

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Blog 4: Cacao Production in the Colonies

The colonial era was thus a period of immense change for the production of Cacao in response to the developing taste for chocolate that solidified in Europe and subsequently instigated vast plantations throughout the Americas. Mainly situated within Venezuela, the Caribbean, and Central America, the plantations made up the different attempts to construct a colonial center of the economy. This came at a higher cost to humanity, nonetheless, as the practice relied entirely on the use of enslaved Africans and locally dislocated natives (Leissle 121). These brief histories of cacao production through the period demonstrate a complex version of world trade, shifting power relations, and cultural persistence.

Besides, labor-intensive plantations based on the enslaved labor of Africans fed an insatiable European demand for chocolate. In this case, workers were expected to cultivate cacao trees, harvest pods, ferment beans, and prepare them for export (Leissle 121). Markedly, the tropics were generally hot, and since much of this was heavy work, life on the plantations was exceptionally harsh. The enslaved laborers performed long hours, suffered from malnutrition, and brutal punishments with little likelihood of escape or the possibility of better conditions. Despite their significant work that allowed the continuity of the chocolate industry, these workers remained invisible in the texts depicting European success.

In addition, Indigenous communities faced many challenges during the colonial period. Many of them were forcefully evicted to give way for plantations, while some were enslaved to work in those very plantations. Nevertheless, local communities utilized their knowledge to cultivate Cacao and adapt to the new economic order. By suggesting some traditional ways of clearing lands and farming, they managed to negotiate jobs within the colonial structures that met European interests. Essentially, this would mean the ability to hold themselves up, retaining their culture intact despite changes brought upon them by colonialism.

Ecological implications from cacao farming were profound during the period: too often, diverse, rich forests were substituted with monocultural plantations that denigrated the soil quality, caused habitat loss, and reduced ecosystem health. Strikingly, unsustainable techniques foster short-term financial gain at the expense of the perpetual viability of the land. Any recognition or concern for conservation was a tradition of Mesoamerican farming by natives, which maintained ecological balance and was dismissed by colonial rule.

The symbolic meaning of Cacao continued after the exploitation and pressures developed within the colonial systems. Among both Indigenous and enslaved alike, Cacao remained steeped in a deep cultural and spiritual meaning-a vital link back to their forefathers. It remained sacred and a communitarian component, irrespective of the imperatives of the plantation economy or the commercialization of Cacao by colonial authorities (Leissle 121). The Cacao among these communities is frequently considered part of their identity, part of their lore, and it is a very tangible reminder of a linkage, both to land and to histories together.

In this respect, ritualistic usage and communal gatherings furthered the use of Cacao, entrenching its historical uses and bolstering its cultural significance. Indigenous peoples utilized Cacao in celebratory rites of passage in their spiritual traditions. In contrast, enslaved peoples used what little leeway they had to elaborate on specific ritualistic expressions of their form, making room for culture and resistance therein. These acts enabled them to declare their humanness and continue some aspects of community within systemic violence and relocation.

This continuity of culture underlines the fact that the meaning of Cacao was not strictly economic. It came to represent resistance and survival, forms through which the subalterns could maintain their culture and their identity. Cacao symbolized for them a significant continuity with their past against all odds presented by colonial exploitation.

The economic benefit that accrued from colonial cacao production lent much to building the economic power of European powers by fostering an emergent global chocolate market. This wealth, in turn, was distributed very unequally-for the more significant part, it was beneficial to plantation owners and their commercial classes in Europe, taken out of the most impoverished sectors, often based on the labor of Indigenous people and enslaved individuals who under labored such exploitative and brutal labor regimes. This sharp contrast reveals the leading mechanisms in the colonial economies, where only a few were given wealth and privileges, leaving the majority to face harsh realities. Hence, cacao production forms one of the most graphic examples of how inequalities were included in the structure of the colonial economic systems.

Cultivating Cacao in the colonies represents one of the most multi-layered stories ever to be told to a chocolate consumer, for it is a luxury good representing all trappings of the elevated and refined to the European consumer, but for those laborers at its cultivation, it was all toil and survival. The legacy of these colonial raisers resounds from then to today's debates on sustainability, equity, and morality in the modern chocolate industry.

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chocolateblogger · 7 months ago

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Blog 4: Cacao Production in the Colonies

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abibliophobiaa · 3 years ago

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reader getting hurt and Peter being super protective and worried, thank you so much !!

it is soft saturday again! thank you for your request 🤍. fem!reader. warning: non-con touching.

Music pumped through the crowded bar. Drinks clinking at stools situated around you. All your best friends gathered around to celebrate your last few weeks as an engaged woman.

You hadn’t wanted the typical bachelorette weekend—yet your best friends insisted it was practically a rite of passage.

Go big or go home, one said, or something to that effect.

The slight buzz burning in your system dimmed those earlier conversations, thoughts only now focused on dancing and enjoying the night with your friends, despite the fact you really wanted to be curled up on the couch with Peter…watching a rom-com or something in that vein.

But you continued to move, anyway. Body one with the music as your friends crowded around you. Their voices high over the music in the packed area.

You found yourself separating from the group to head to the bar. Reached into your pocket after ordering water. Smiled at the text message from Peter which read, Have fun! I love you.

Distracted as you typed out a quick reply, you jumped when reaching for your cup and felt your fingertips brush with a man seated at the bar beside you.

You hadn’t seen him before, and imagined his intentions right off the bat weren’t innocent. Not with the curl of his lips and the lascivious way his eyes rolled over your form.

“Hey, beautiful. Mind if I buy you a drink?” He drawled.

“No. Honestly I would prefer if you didn’t—”

“How about one of those pretty smiles then.”

Icy displeasure rolled down your spine. The way his words curled around you. Your stomach twisted within you, fingers nearly slipping around your glass.

“I should really get back to my friends. Thank you for…whatever this was.”

The rest of the night resumed as planned. Your friends moving around you, shouting the lyrics to ‘Dancing Queen’ as it pumped into the bar.

It was perfect. The whole evening perfect. You kept telling yourself that as you later made your way to the bathroom to fix up your appearance in the mirror. Your friends had taken to finally ordering some food, whereas you were honestly ready to head home for the night.

You rolled your ring on your finger. The solitaire diamond glinted up at you. It still shocked you to think in a short while you would be married to the love of your life. Something you’d dreamed about since you were a little girl…now a reality.

Smiling to yourself, with the image of Peter formed in your mind, you exited the bathroom and found the man from earlier standing there against the wall. His jean clad form had kicked one foot out, so you’d have to climb over it to head back toward your friends. His arms crossed against his chest as he moved to push himself apart from the surface. Your back collided with the wall, heart hammering wildly in your chest.

To anyone else, what with his face shrouding you from the eyes of onlookers, it might look like the two of you were caught in an intimate moment. Yet your mind screamed at you to run over and over again until it echoed noisily in your ears in tandem with your heavy breathing.

“I saw the way you were looking at me, baby. Why don’t we get out of here?”

You grunted as his fingers curled at one of your hips. Pinned you further against the wall. Could smell the alcohol on his breath. The hard stubble of his cheek. The firmness of his form against your own.

Two things happened then: one, you brought your knee up between his thighs. And two, your right hand swung out and punched him square in the cheek once his form jackknifed in front of you. His howling drew the attention of the bar to the hallway, his angered shouts racketing above the music.

“You bitch!”

Turning on the heel, you rushed down the hallway. Heard the gasped cries of your friends as they realized what had just occurred.

One of which pulled your hand into your own as you exited the premises of the building and said, “Holy hell, have you been training with Spider-Man or something?”

“Something like that.”

…

The apartment was quiet upon entering. The only sounds coming from the TV playing in your living room.

Wincing as you stretched your already purpling fist, you reached into the freezer as quietly as possible, so as to not draw the attention of your soon-to-be husband, and muffled your moan of pain as you pressed the ice pack to your skin.

“You’re home early,” Peter called from the other room. “Do you mind grabbing me a popsicle.”

You nearly gasped again as a sharp pain stabbed at your hand. Spread through you like a brand.

Gritted your teeth instead and muttered out, “Sure, babe.”

You reached in and plucked the frozen treat for him with your left hand, drawing his attention right away toward the ice resting against your knuckles as you shadowed the doorway.

“What happened?” He asked. Though it sounded sorrowful around the edges.

“Nothing. I fell.”

“I know when you’re lying.”

You frowned. “Pete, I’m okay. I don’t want to talk about it.”

You turned to leave the room just as a fluid-like webbing curled around your unharmed wrist. There was a quick tug and you were pulled into Peter’s lap. His arms coming to wrap around you as they enveloped you in an embrace.

You couldn’t help the first sob which spilled from you. And didn’t even fight the second one—only leaned against Peter’s face as he whispered sweet nothings against your ears, hands rubbing up and down your spine. Soft brushes of kisses into your temple. Your cheek. Your hair.

His attention shifted to your hand as you lifted it dejectedly before him. Earned a sharp gasp as he pulled the ice pack away and took in the mottled skin there. Bruises were already darkening around the bones. Each one a sibling to the one before it. A reminder of the smell of whiskey in your ears and stubble on your skin.

Not Peter. Peter was kind. Gentle. Loving. Careless. Giving. He would do anything and everything for the people he loved. These simple truths rested in your aching chest as he took your hand in his own and inspected it.

“It hurts,” you admitted weakly.

His finger brushed along the skin. You felt your head spin momentarily at the contact against battered flesh. Like chills spilling down your whole form.

“I know, pretty girl. Good news, though: I don’t think your hand is broken. Bad news…it’ll be a few weeks before they heal.”

Not broken. Good.

“Would it help if I said the other guy probably looks worse?” You laugh at the end of your statement in disbelief.

His eyes locked with yours. Those dark eyes growing soft around the edges. “What happened?”

You curled your left hand around his cheek. His face leaned into your palm. “That’s your favorite question today, huh?”

“I’m serious.”

And he is. The concerned furrow of his brow has you shifting in his lap to get more comfortable. Winced as Peter pressed the ice back into your knuckles.

“Just some handsy asshole at the bar tonight. He…sort of crowded me near the bathroom and pushed me into a wall. Asked if I wanted to leave with him.”

Peter’s eyes darkened. You could feel the form beneath you as it tensed. The way his own fists curled, as if he were ready to attack the man himself like he were standing in the room with the two of you that very moment. At the very least, was likely imagining it.

“So I did what you taught me.”

Peter had insisted he taught you some semblance of self defense in the years you had been dating. You understood a lot of his drive in doing so was due in part to watching his beloved Gwen fall to her death at a very young age.

Understood that there could be people who might one day find out his identity and potentially put you at risk. So he’d wanted you prepared.

Had taught you enough basic maneuvers to get out of various situations you might—but would hopefully never—find yourself in. This night with that man at the bar being one of them.

“I kneed him and then punched him right in the face. Just like you trained me.”

He moved to look at your hand once more. Trailed those spidery fingers along the parts of your fist which weren’t turning various shades of purple and black. Heard the sharp inhalation of his breath.

“Hey…hey, Pete, what’s going on?” You cooed, pressing your forehead into his cheek.

“You’re hurt. I wasn’t there and you’re hurt.”

“No, you weren’t. But you won’t always be with me every second of everyday—no matter how much I’m sure we’d both love that. And you prepared me for a situation like this. You’re a hero, Peter Parker, but you’ve taught me I can be my own hero too.”

His head lifted. Those eyes brimming with tears as he took you in. Knew, somewhere deep within yourself, he was reminding himself of the guilt he’d felt over Gwen. Thoughts of what he might have done differently; if anything would have changed the course of things.

You leaned across the space between you and kissed him. Tried to remind him you were very much real. Alive. Okay. Loved. Lifted his palm with your own and pressed it over the curve of your breast. Right over the beating of your heart.

“Look. I’m right here. I’m okay.”

He glanced down at where his flesh met your own. Face still wrought with fear and devastation. Guilt. You gave his hand another squeeze.

“Look at me, Peter Parker.” His eyes met yours. “I’m fine. I love you. We are okay.”

He kissed you once more. A slow, sweet aching brand against your flesh. His own reminder that you were here. Seated on his lap. Flesh and blood and breath in your lungs.

Safe with him…where you were always meant to be. His own safe haven from the outside world. A constant, as steady as the beat of his own heart. An assuredness like the rising of the sun each day.

His home.

…

A few weeks later, on your honeymoon, you woke to Peter playing with your hair. Your cheek had been pressed against his chest. Now healed right hand resting over his abdomen. You winced at the soreness of your muscles as you shifted beside him, leveling your gaze with his before pressing a kiss into his shoulder.

“What are you thinking?” You asked, smirking.

“What makes you think I’m thinking?”

“You have that look on your face. Plus your eyes get all distant. Like you’re here but also not.”

He chuckled. “Was thinking about our last training session.”

Peter had insisted upon more self defense. You allowed him that security in doing so, though every muscle in your body ached as of late. But it was a concession you felt worth making to ease his mind.

“Oh yeah? That was the one where—”

You were cut off at the end of your sentence by lips pressing against your own. The world tilted momentarily on its axis as Peter maneuvered you onto your back.

Fingers pushed the hem of your sleep shirt up as he peppered your skin with his mouth. Sighed as your fingers curled into his rumpled hair. Engagement ring and wedding band now glinting stark against those dark locks.

“You’re amused by this,” you laughed out at the love bite Peter graced upon your hip bone before lifting himself so his face hovered above your own.

“I’m just admiring the image of my wife defending herself.”

“I could show you a move or two.”

The roaming of his hands between the two of you stilled. The still unfamiliar chill of his wedding band settling over your thigh which had curled around his hip in his ministrations.

“Oh, is that so?”

“Mhmm. I have the best teacher, after all.”

He smirked, gaze darkening. “Care to give a demonstration for the class then?”

#peter parker x reader #luna’s loves #tasm!peter x reader #tasm!peter parker x reader #tasm!spiderman x reader #tasm!peter parker #tasm!peter imagine #tasm!peter parker x you #andrew garfield peter parker #tasm peter x reader #peter parker x you #peter parker fanfiction

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fandom-susceptible · 4 years ago

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So I recently remembered tumblr was a place I could post all my fandom bullshit/musings and not annoy my family with them so in the spirit of that

Things People Forget About Vulcans/Vulcan

Vulcan has no oceans, except of lava. It is a desert/volcano planet and the tectonic movement is determined by volcanoes, not water flow.

Vulcans have a secondary clear eyelid, and Spock was somehow unaware or pretended to be unaware of this fact for approximately thirty years of his service in Starfleet, before said eyelid saved his sight in TOS Season 2.

Vulcans aren't JUST touch telepaths; touch amplifies their telepathy, but (as shown with Tuvok in Voyager) they can communicate via telepathy similar to verbal speech without contact, and (as shown in TOS' "The Immunity Syndrome") can sense intense emotions from other Vulcans from star systems away, so they are probably empaths on a level with Betazoids.

In "Amok Time" it is revealed that Vulcans do still worship (at least nominally) a fire or volcano goddess

Also in "Amok Time" they establish that Vulcan culture is traditionally matriarchal

Spock is the equivalent of a prince on Vulcan, as his grandmother was the ruler of the planet, and his father was a strong political figure as well. This is never brought up again after "Amok Time" that I can recall.

Spock may be vegetarian (I can't recall if people just assumed that or if he said so himself, honestly) but that would be something that his human heritage enabled him to be. According to written lore that didn't make it into the show (I'll find my source one of these days), Vulcans, while somewhat omnivorous and capable of eating things other than meat, also have sharpened incisors due to the necessity of eating meat on a literal volcano planet where not much vegetation grows. They are somewhat obligatory carnivores, even if they are capable of using replicators for their meat now.

Vulcan parents encourage pets because it fosters a sense of responsibility. If Sarek is an indication, they also tend to turn a blind eye to pets helping young children with emotional stability. Whatever works as they learn control. (see Star Trek: The Animated Series, the one where Spock goes back in time to his own childhood)

Same as the previous one's source; Vulcans have a rite of passage as a child heads into adolescence, to prove they are ready to learn how to be an adult (heavily implied to at one point be a "ready to join the hunt/the nomadic clan's moving/etc. type thing) where they venture out into the wilderness and have to survive alone for a period of time until they find some sort of truth about themselves. Children are not told this part, but Sarek confides that parents usually follow from a distance to ensure their safety, at least in modern times, which almost got child!Spock killed when he ran away to perform his rite without telling them.

Vulcans do not sweat, according to written lore, although they can't help the human actors sweating onscreen. On Vulcan, water is far too precious a resource to waste this way. They also do not produce as much saliva as humans.

In light of the moisture-preserving situation, Vulcan genitalia is also constructed differently; you know that genital slit trope in fanfic? Apparently, this also started with Vulcans. They also self-lubricate, but this only occurs after they've been worked up enough to open.

Obligatory mention that "fuck or die" was Pon Farr, and people remember that part but they don't remember that in canon it's actually "fuck, fight, or die". They can also just pick a fight until somebody passes out and that's fine, which was the solution to Spock's when T'Pring decided not to marry him.

Vulcans still practice arranged marriage, technically speaking, but when the time of the marriage comes it's perfectly acceptable for ether of the parties involved to pick a fight or choose a champion to fight for them to avoid it.

Sarek and Amanda did not show up to what was supposed to be Spock's wedding, despite arranging it, although T'Pring brought a number of relatives, which leads me to believe neither of them actually thought he'd go through with it anyway.

This isn't strictly confirmed by canon, but I'm pretty sure when Pon Farr was introduced nobody actually said it was a men-only thing.

While the Vulcans of TOS originally pretended they did not have emotions at all to humans, it was later admitted that they actually do not only have but fully acknowledge their emotions. It's just that their emotions are so overwhelmingly powerful that, for a highly telepathic race, they began to become catastrophic. Surak began preaching control after a world war devastated something like 90% of Vulcan's population.

Addendum to that last point: You know how when a normal human bursts into room in a panic and screams "Fire!" or something similarly catastrophic, and the onslaught of movement and panic that ensues? Imagine that, but with the full force of everyone else's emotions assaulting you from every direction, feeding off of each other. It's no wonder they ended up so few.

Vulcans already had space travel before the time of Surak, and when some disapproved of his teachings, they left the planet entirely and settled the planets of Romulus and Remus. Interbreeding with the native Remans dulled their volatility, and despite their protest against Surak, they (later known as the Romulans) clearly do practice greater emotional control than many species. I'm not going to get into the ethical considerations of the Romulans and Remans in this post.

Spock established that mind melding is incredibly culturally significant on Vulcan. Doing so by force is absolutely out of the question by law; during their wars, Vulcans found out they could kill each other with thoughts alone in this way, which is why in modern times it's typically reserved for close family members (not that Trek writers would have you remember that, with how often Tuvok melds with random aliens. At least Spock didn't usually volunteer unless it was a survival situation.)

The "Vulcan neck pinch" was never REALLY explained, but Spock was able to produce the same result via telepathy through a wall, so personally I take this as confirmation that NO, we are not in fact expected to believe that every bipedal race in the galaxy has a knockout nerve in the neck, but that it's simply a limited form of the killing-mind-meld Vulcans can do. (and seriously fuck William Shatner for claiming Kirk can do it but McCoy somehow can't. Even if it was a nerve thing that doesn't make any sense.)

Sarek and Amanda are disgustingly sappy for a Vulcan couple, with Sarek constantly asking for physical/mental affection in public. Spock's awkwardness when they came aboard the ship was justified on several levels when the first thing his father does in front of the captain is ask Amanda to kiss him.

Holding hands is familial affection to Vulcans. The index and middle finger held out, pressed together, and touched to the other person, is the actual equivalent of a Vulcan kiss. (Spirk shippers, I love y'all, but calm the fuck down about the hand holding. Spones shippers, y'all got Spock figured out with all those random two fingered touches to McCoy's bare skin. There's no way Bones doesn't know what that means.)

Vulcans can go for two weeks without sleeping, but can also sleep for several days at a time. When healing, they can put themselves into a Tolkien-elf-esque trance in which they are well aware of what's going on around them, but all of their physical energy is devoted to healing, allowing them to recover from injuries that would otherwise be fatal.

Unsolicited skin to skin touch when you are not family members is highly frowned upon by Vulcan society (LOOKIN' AT YOU CHAPEL).

"T'hy'la" was meant to be open to interpretation, though Gene Roddenberry described as meaning "friend, brother, lover". Based on other quotes by him, the closest modern English equivalent to what he imagined is probably a queerplatonic bond. (ship what you ship, personally I am in tired parent!Spones land. The point is, Roddenberry WANTED you to ship what you ship!)

Most creatures on Vulcan have a seven-year breeding cycle.

Sybok was born in 2224 and Spock in 2230, only six years apart, so we can lay to rest the question of whether Vulcans have sex outside of Pon Farr. YES. THEY DO. Romulans at this point in time no longer experience that biological drive, so no, you cannot even blame it on Sybok's mom going through it.

Not to get into individual family histories, but Sybok's mom was a Romulan princess but Sarek somehow got custody and by the time Spock is grown up they're at war, so take from that what you will about Romulan/Vulcan political tensions.

Due to the greater gravity on Vulcan than on Earth, Vulcans are notably stronger and have greater endurance than humans. They also require less oxygen to breathe.

Vulcans are traditionally nomadic; there are not many old settlements on Vulcan, by their own historic standards. They also in TOS seem to construct out of stone and adobe rather than metal, which makes sense. They do have something against closable doors in family residences, it seems as of Star Trek: The Animated Series, where all door frames in Sarek and Amanda's home are empty except the ones to the outdoors. This may have something to do with a total lack of privacy ANYWAY due to how highly telepathic they are, combined with sheer practicality for air flow purposes in a desert shaped by volcanic activity.

No matter what Tuvok says, Vulcans DO consider insults logical, at least if you consider Star Trek: Enterprise canon now that it's been removed from the main timeline (which was honestly a good decision on the writers' part). This does make sense though, given that they interact with many different species, some of whom expect insults as part of communication (*cough*Klingons*cough*), and they do have their own volatile history. It makes sense there would be linguistic holdovers.

Vulcan marriages are traditionally held as a Pon Farr ceremony of marriage-or-challenge (the fuck, fight, or die trope from earlier), so the couple in question are not generally present for any celebration that may occur. They're uh, busy.

Vulcan emotions are so powerful that the mere overflow from an ill Sarek's mind was enough to put Captain Picard out of commission for the duration of his contact with that emotion.

Solkar, the Vulcan from First Contact, was so into Zefram Cochrane that their handshake (again, handholding alone is considered familial affection. A strong handshake would be a lot of telepathic feedback, especially from a species that doesn't know how to shield) induced a lifelong bond between the two and a draw towards humans an Cochrane's family in particular in Solkar's family line. Solkar was Sarek's grandfather. Not much is canon about Vulcan's method of choosing government officials, but nepotism/inhertance seems illogical and unlikely. However, if inheritance is a holdover from the pre-Surak age, it's possible that Solkar's daughter is the one ruling Vulcan during TOS.

This got way longer than I expected it to and the order is probably all jacked up, so I'll stop now. I take only constructive criticism, but while I am shit at remembering episode titles, I am reasonably confident that all of these are or were at one point official canon.

If anybody knows how to put a "read more" cut on a mobile post let me know and I will I just don't know how to do the thing. I find this length annoying too when I don't intend to read the whole thing.

#star trek #vulcans #vulcan lore #star trek lore #forgotten lore #star trek forgotten lore #spock #sarek #solkar #t'pring #pon farr #vulcan biology #vulcans are weird #long post

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kitcruz · 3 years ago

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03. THE JUNKYARD

tagging → kit // @camdenclaymore; mentions @perriecruz @nixon-peters @castillo-javier

location → south side, new year’s eve.

notes → he’s plastered your honor

This challenge couldn’t have come on a worse night, Kit’s head spinning and vision blurry from just how hard he’d been going prior to receiving that text. And okay, after he got it too, but to be fair, it’d taken him a little to even make out the words and figure out exactly what was happening. It wasn’t until he stumbled out of the van, body camera strapped to him, that the reality of the situation set in: he was tossed out of his fucking mind and now he had to make it through the junkyard, in one piece, or lose his chance to settle his debt.

He’d snuck around the junkyard before, it was a greaser rite of passage, so he basically had the home court advantage on this one. Plus, looking around at the competition, his odds didn’t seem so bad anymore. Some of these people he had beat drunk and blindfolded, possibly with his hands tied. The people he (hypothetically) needed to worry about most were the other greasers of course but even then it wasn’t like he was dealing with the cream of the crop here. Perrie was a joke, always had been, he just about forgot about Javier’s existence entirely, and the name Claymore meant nothing if not attached to Ace’s name. If this was the best Rosewood had to offer, things were clearly a hell lot worse off than he’d thought.

Kit moved with less caution than the others, the booze and whatever else he’d put in his system that evening providing him with a higher threshold for pain. If anything hit or scraped him along the way, he hadn’t noticed as he practically bounced through piles of debris, running the same route he did last time he had to make it through here alive. He’d been sixteen maybe, claiming he didn’t need to prove himself to anyone but at the same time, eager for the approval of the other greasers. Except it was never as simple as just gaining their approval, since if that were the case, he’d probably have obeyed orders more, fallen into line, generally caused less chaos. He’d wanted their respect but on his own terms. Guess that didn’t get him very far in the end.

Of course if he ran into anyone he couldn’t just keep his mouth shut, seeing if he’d ever learned to do that, he probably wouldn’t be here playing in the first place. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut when he ran into Cam, who, yeah, if the circumstances were different, wasn’t such a bad guy, but he came to win, not check in on old friendships, or could have been friendships. He’d only planned to antagonize him a little, push his buttons for a bit of fun, and then he’d brought Zara into it, and Nixon, which, how the fuck did he even know that-- actually, no, of course he knew, everyone knows fucking everything. If he’d just stayed off the grid he wouldn’t have to worry about people always in his business, but, no. Not the point.

He’d already said his piece but it was too late, each of them clearly in as much of a mood to fight as the other, Kit’s fist balled around the other greaser’s shirt. The rest happened in a blur and tangle of bodies, Kit spitting in Cam’s direction as they eventually parted ways. The metallic taste in his mouth told him he was bleeding, somewhere, but it tasted more like... vengeance. For what exactly he wasn’t sure, shit, if he didn’t even know if he used that word correctly, but his head pounded as he made a dash for the heart of the junkyard, adrenaline pumping.

He didn’t just want the money anymore-- he wanted glory. Violence. Chaos. All of it.

#chwpanic

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pastiche-comic · 5 years ago

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Career Opportunities

Indisclosednia is hiring! The country’s robust economy has weathered through the ups and downs of the world market (somehow). The steady growth coupled with the country’s relative isolation mean that job opportunities abound.

The country’s immigration offices practice preferential processing for select groups. These include the following:

Honourably discharged former military personnel from countries allied with Indisclosednia

Contract workers due for promotion

Refugees

Workers and investors from neighbouring countries

All immigrants, regardless of origin, are all eligible for citizenship after four years. Documented immigrants to Indisclosednia enjoy not only higher-than-average starting wages but also housing benefits and transportation subsidies. Their arrival to Indisclosednia is also subsidized by the government.

Room for Growth

The industries of Indisclosednia have a growing demand for skilled and unskilled labour. Understaffing is a major problem, exacerbated by its relative isolation. Employee retention is top priority for many large and small companies. Companies and labour unions alike have campaigned to streamline the documented immigration process to ensure that all essential job slots are filled.

The country’s top ten sectors with the most number of career opportunities are as follows:

Tourism and Hospitality

Mining

Food Processing

Oil

Small and Medium Private Enterprises (SMEs)

Construction

Agriculture

Entertainment

Financial Services

Technology

Passporting

Indisclosednia shares its prosperity with its neighbours. It has signed trade agreements with nearby nations that grant their passport holders the automatic privileges of permanent residents. People from these countries do not require the same documentation requirements as those from other countries.

This policy was drawn from a similar system employed within the European Economic Area. In fact, one of the countries that enjoys this privilege is France, albeit with extra stipulations favouring companies and citizens based in French Polynesia and New Caledonia.

Starting Young

To meet the demands of unskilled labour in the country, adolescent students are allowed to take part-time jobs. This is widely considered a rite of passage for most young residents. A few of the jobs open to teenagers include retail, translation, and social media management.

To prevent abuses, adolescent labour is heavily regulated. Adolescents are not allowed to work in hazardous situations. Industrial businesses that employ minors must not allow them to stray into hazardous areas without adult supervision. No business is allowed to employ teenagers full-time or in jobs outside those permitted by the labour code.

Only during summer break are students allowed to take more than one shift. Teenagers must receive permission from their school principal to work shifts that don’t conflict with their school schedules. They are not allowed to work if their grades are slipping.

All internships in Indisclosednia are paid. Adolescent interns must not be paid significantly lower than their young adult counterparts.

Housing Benefits

One of the key benefits of following the formal emigration and recruitment programs is the ability to seek housing benefits. Indisclosednia’s government works in concert with local developers to supply new arrivals with affordable housing to meet their basic needs. Documented immigration guarantees a residence upon arrival to the country.

Immigrants also have the option to receive a short-term housing stipend that allows them to select their own homes or apartments elsewhere.

Companies registered with the Indisclosednean government are obligated to provide decent lodging to contract workers for the duration of their stay in Indisclosednia.

Legal Immigration Policy

Although Indisclosednia does not follow the same punitive measures for undocumented migrant workers, it does encourage documented immigration to ensure the disbursement of benefits. Most immigration privileges are only available to those who have completed proper procedure. People with no or incomplete documents can still apply for legal immigration while within the country.

Make sure that the company you apply for is registered with the Indisclosednean government before accepting any offers. Companies not registered with the government often provide substandard housing and employment conditions. Report any suspicious company policies to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Chamber of Commerce, or the Labour Union Network.

#World Building June #WBJ #Jobs

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adhd-worlds · 6 years ago

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Anglo-Saxon Futhorc

The Anglo-Saxon Futhorc wasn’t commonly used to be written down but dates between the 5th (500′s) to the 11th century (1000′s), during the time of the Elder Futhark. It’s believed that the Anglo-Saxons created more runes for the different phonetics in Old English, resulting in 33 runes, while other places such as Iceland had condensed it into to 18 runes (Younger Futhark). Not much is known about Anglo-Saxon Runes as they weren’t commonly used so it’s hard to say how they were used for magic. However, the first 24 runes are borrowed from Elder Futhark so they can be used if you so wish.

Below are the list of runes and their meanings. If you find an issue with the information provided, please inbox me with the correction. Don’t reblog/comment with the correction, I won’t see it and therefore I won’t update it with the correction. Thank you.

ᚠ - Feoh - Cattle - f: Cattle. Material possessions. A time to share. Working hard to produce great wealth. Generosity and riches.

ᚢ - Ur - Aurochs u: Ox. Strength. Energy. Proving your abilities. Adventure and enterprise.

ᚦ - Th - Thorn - þ: Frost Giants. Thor’s protective power. Balancing dangerous opposites. Chaos. Harmful obsessions. Gain at a cost. Impending disruption alongside a balancing force. Discipline. Knowledge. Make careful and thoughtful decisions to look after your well-being.

ᚩ - Ós - Mouth/God - o: From Ansuz, the ancestral god, Odin. Communication. A revealing message or insight. The power of words and naming. Good news and tidings are received from a friend. Justice. Truth

ᚱ - Rad - Journey - r: Thor’s chariot. Travel. Change. A journey undertaken. An emotional and physical rite of passage.

ᚳ - Cen - Torch - c: Wisdom. Creativity. Fiery passion and romance. Carnal knowledge.

ᚷ - Gyfu - Gift - g: A very good omen. A new love. The reception of gifts. Marriage. Freedom.

ᚹ - Wynn - Joy - w: Happiness and fulfilment. Success at the end of a long journey.

ᚻ - Hæg - Hail - h: Hail. Loss. Destruction. A disruption to plans. Drastic change. Life lessons. An unavoidable but temporary setback

ᚾ - Nyd - Need - n: Need and responsibility. Pragmatism and practically. Poverty. Hardship. Events will progress at their own rate. Developments cannot be forced. Change will happen naturally.

ᛁ - Ice - i: Patience. Reflection. Freezing lake. Hibernation for the winter. Putting projects on hold. Resting.

ᛄ - Jara - Year - j: Yearly harvest. Effort with rewards. Predictable change. The cycle of life. Hard work through the season. Wealth and riches at the end.

ᛇ - Eoah - Yew Tree - ɨ: The tree of life defeating all else. Honesty and reliability. Trustworthiness. Driving force. Rising sap. Green energy.

ᛈ - Peorð - The Game - p: A secret. The fickleness of fate. Rebirth. Feminine mysteries and fertility. Magic. Best not to know the answer to your question. A danger sign. Act wisely and succeed.

ᛉ - Eolh - Elk Sedge - x: Protection. Support. A friend who will protect or assist.

ᛋ - Sigel - Sun - s: Health. Energy and competition. Growth. Success. Power. Rewards, luck and new life.

ᛏ - Tir - Creator - t: The creator. Strength. Warrior. Duty. Victory and courage. Strength and fortitude will overcome a difficult situation.

ᛒ - Beorc - Birch Tree - b: Fertility. New Beginnings. Birth. Spring and new life. A fresh start. A positive change.

ᛖ - Eoh - Horses - e: Travel and movement. Swiftness. Migration to new grounds. Power. Teamwork. An ideal partnership.

ᛗ - Mann - Man - m: Self, family, Relationships. Sharing problems with friends and family. Caring and helping through troubles. Kindness.

ᛚ - Lagu - Water - l: Emotions. Revelation. Counsel. Changing of moods. Romance and companionship. The fickleness of and unpredictability of nature.

ᛝ - Ing - Fertility - ŋ: New birth. Fruitfulness. Male fertility. Sex. Balance. Productivity. Positive change. The end of a barren period. The arrival of success and contentment.

ᛟ - Éðel - Home - œ: The home and family duties. Fairness. Inheritance. Legacy. Using power wisely. Help and be helped in return.

ᛞ - Dæg - day - d: New beginnings and positive changes. Awakenings and awareness. Happiness and success. Light and energy. The start of new projects. Looking forward.

The five runes are unique to the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Frisian systems.

ᚪ - Ác - Oak Tree - a: From Ansuz, the ancestral god Odin. Strength. Sturdiness. Intellectual. Deep roots. The great power of strong, continuous growth.

ᚫ - Æsc - Ash Tree - æ: From Ansuz, the ancestral god, Odin. Growing tall. Strength with flexibility. Aiming high. Growth of the soul. Feeding the spiritual nature. Poetry. Arts. Guardian of children. Protection. Healing.

ᚣ - Yr - Yew Bow - y: Mastery. Combination of all skill and knowledge. The tool of a knight. Arrow to target. Lost things found. Fruits of labour. Transformation . Turning point.

ᛡ - Ior - Eel - io: Eel. Serpent. An amphibious river fish that lives in water and eats on land. Dual nature. Living between two worlds. Duplicity. Hardships.

ᛠ - Ear - Earth - ea: Earth. Grave. Life and Death. The unavoidable end to all things. Decay. Leave the past behind. Time to look forward to the future.

The following four runes are not present in more southerly saxon realms in England or the Anglo-Frisian/continental variants of the rune row. They can loosely correspond with the four elements of Wicca and the four suits of the Tarot.

ᛢ - Cweorð - Fire-Twirl/Sword - kw: Flame. Destruction and transformation. Liberation of the spirit through fire. Ritual cleansing. The sacredness of the hearth and home. Phoenix rising from the ashes.

ᛤᛣ - Calc - Cup/Chalice - k: The natural ending or conclusion of a process. Death. Offerings. Honouring the gods. Femininity. Intuition. Spiritual insight. Magic

ᛥ - Stan - Stone - st: Stone. An obstruction. A blocked path. The link between the spiritual and the earthly. Breaking down walls. Obstructing and turning back opposition.

ᚸ - Gar - Spear (Odin’s Spear Gungnir) - ḡ: Odin’s spear, Gungnir. The centre point. Always hitting the target. Reliable success. Great power and skill. Mastery and balance. The hunt. Battle and victory

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basicsofislam · 6 years ago

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ISLAM 101: The Basic Concepts of Islam: Part 5

The Concept of Morality

The concept of morality in Islam centers around certain basic beliefs and principles. Among these are the followings: (1) God is the Creator and Source of all goodness, truth, and beauty. (2) Man is a responsible, dignified, and honorable agent of his Creator. (3) God has put everything in the heavens and the earth in the service of mankind. (4) By His Mercy and Wisdom, God does not expect the impossible from man or hold him accountable for anything beyond his power. Nor does God forbid man to enjoy the good things of life. (5) Moderation, practicality, and balance are the guarantees of high integrity and sound morality. (6) All things are permissible in principle except what is singled out as forbidden, which must be avoided. (7) Mans ultimate responsibility is to God and his highest goal is the pleasure of his Creator. The dimensions of morality in Islam are numerous, far-reaching and comprehensive. The Islamic morals deal with the relationship between man and God, man and his fellow men, man and the other elements and creatures of the universe, man and his innermost self. The Muslim has to guard his external behavior and his manifest deeds, his words and his thoughts, his feelings and intentions. In a general sense, his role is to champion what is right and fight what is wrong, seek what is true and abandon what is false, cherish what is beautiful and wholesome and avoid what is indecent. Truth and virtue are his goals. Humbleness and simplicity, courtesy and compassion, are his second nature. To him, arrogance and vanity, harshness and indifference, are distasteful, offensive and displeasing to God. More specifically, the Muslims relationship with God is one of love and obedience, complete trust and thoughtfulness, peace and appreciation, steadfastness and active service. This high – level morality will, undoubtedly, nourish and reinforce morality at the human level. For in his relationship with his fellow men, the Muslim must show kindness to the kin and concern for the neighbor, respect for the elderly and compassion for the young, care for the sick and support for the needy, sympathy for the grieved and cheer for the depressed, joy with the blessed and patience with the misguided, tolerance toward the ignorant and forgiveness of the helpless, disapproval of the wrong and rise above the trivial. Moreover, he must respect the legitimate rights of others as much he does his own. His mind must be occupied with constructive ideas and serious pursuits; his heart must beat with compassionate feelings and goodwill; his soul must radiate with peace and serenity; his counsel must be sincere and courteous. The Muslims moral obligation is to be a vivid example of honesty and perfection, fulfill his commitments and perform his tasks well, seek knowledge and virtue by all possible means, correct his mistakes and repent his sins, develop a good sense of social consciousness and nourish a feeling of human response, provide for his dependents generously without extravagance and meet their legitimate needs. Nature and the world are the field of exploration and the object of enjoyment for the Muslim. He must utilize their elements and ponder their marvels, read them as signs of Gods greatness and preserve their beauty, explore their wonders and discover their secrets. But whether he uses them for utility or for sheer enjoyment, he must avoid waste and excess. As a responsible agent of God and a conscientious trustee, he must always be mindful of others who share the world with him and who will succeed him in the future. The moral principles of Islam are sometimes stated as positive commitments which must be fulfilled and sometimes as negative prescriptions which must be avoided. Whether they are stated positively or negatively, they are designed to build in the human being a sound mind, a peaceful soul, a strong personality, and a healthy body. There is no doubt that these are necessary requirements of the general welfare and prosperity of mankind. And to help man to satisfy these requirements Islam has, among other things, laid down the following regulations: 1. To bear witness to the Oneness of God and the Messengership of Muhammad in a meaningful committal way; 2. To observe the daily prayers regularly; 3. To pay the religious tax known as alms or the poor-due (zakah); 4. To keep the fast of the Holy Month of Ramadan; 5. To make a pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca at least once in his lifetime. The moral and social implications of these regulations will be discussed later in detail. Besides these positive measures, there are others which may be called preventive and precautionary ones. To protect man from insanity and degeneration, from weakness and indulgence, from indecency and temptation, Islam has prohibited certain things pertaining to food, drinking, recreation, and sex. Among these are the following: 1. All kinds of intoxicating wines, liquors, and spirits (Quran, 2:219; 4:43; 5:93-94); 2. The meat and products of swine (pork, bacon, ham, lard), of wild animals that use claws or teeth to kill their victims (tigers, wolves, leopards, etc.), of all birds of prey (hawks, vultures, crows, etc.), of rodents, reptiles, worms and the like, of dead animals and birds that are not slaughtered properly (Quran, 2:172-173; 5:4-6); 3. All forms of gambling and vain sports (Quran, 2:219; 5:93-94); 4. All sexual relations out of wedlock and all manners of talking, walking, looking and dressing in public that may instigate temptation, arouse desire, stir suspicion, or indicate immodesty and indecency (Quran 23:5-7; 24:30-33; 70:29-31). This Act of Prohibition is introduced by God for the spiritual and mental well-being of man as well as for the moral and material benefit of humanity. It is not an arbitrary action or a self-imposed intrusion from God. On the contrary, it is a sign of Gods interest in the welfare of humanity and an indication of His good care for man. When God prohibits certain things, it is not because He wants to deprive man of anything good or useful. It is because He means to protect man and allow him to develop a good sense of discrimination, a refined taste for the better things in life, and continued interest in higher moral values. To achieve this, good care must be taken of man’s spirit and mind, soul and body, conscience and sentiments, health and wealth, physique and morale. Prohibition, therefore, is not deprivation but enrichment, not suppression but discipline; not a limitation but expansion. To show that all prohibitions are acts of mercy and wisdom, two Islamic principles are worth mentioning in this connection. First, extraordinary circumstances, emergencies, necessities, and exigencies allow the Muslim to do what is normally forbidden. As long as these circumstances exist and to the extent that he cannot help the situation, he is not to blame if he fails to observe the moral rules of God (see Quran, 2:173; 5:4). Secondly, God has inscribed for Himself the rule of mercy: any who do evil out of ignorance, but thereafter repent and amend their conduct, will be forgiven; surely God is Merciful and Oft-forgiving (Quran, 6:54). In a remarkable, typical passage, the Quran has laid down the grounds and philosophy of sound moral conduct. The passage may be rendered as follows: O Children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer; eat and drink, but waste not by excess, for God loves not the wasters. Say: Who has forbidden the beautiful gifts of God, which He has produced for His servants, and the things, clean and pure (which He has provided) for sustenance? Say: 'They are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on the Day of Judgement. thus do We explain the Signs in detail for those who understand, Say: The things that my Lord has indeed forbidden are: shameful deeds, whether open or secret, sins and trespasses against truth or reason; assigning of partners to God – and saying things about God of which you have no knowledge (Quran 7:31-33). The range of morality in Islam is so inclusive and integrative that it combines at once faith in God, religious rites, spiritual observances, social conduct, decision making, intellectual pursuits, habits of consumption, manners of speech, and all other aspects of human life. Because morality is such an integral part of Islam, the moral tone underlies all the passage of the Quran and the moral teachings are repeatedly stressed in various contexts throughout the Holy Book. This makes it difficult to devise any reasonably brief classification of these moral teachings according to their citations in the Quran. Every principle is mentioned many times in various contexts. It appears either as a single significant principle or as an element of a total system of morality, which itself is an element of a complete religious supersystem. In view of this, the following passages must be taken only as representative selections from the Quran, rendered and interpreted by human endeavors which, inevitably, fall short of the perfection of the original and complete version of the Book. Serve God, and join not any partners with Him; and do good; - to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, the needy ones, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (you meet), and what your right hands possess (captives, slaves, animals, birds, etc.): For God loves not the arrogant, the vainglorious; - (Nor) those who are niggardly or enjoin niggardliness on others, or hide the bounties which God has bestowed on them; for We have prepared for those who resist Faith a punishment that steeps them in contempt; (Nor) those who spend of their substance, (out of hypocrisy) just to be seen of men, but have no faith in God and the Last Day. If any take the Evil One for their intimate what a dreadful intimate he is! (4:36-38). Say (O Muhammad): Come, I will rehearse what God has (really) prohibited you from: join not anything as equal with Him; be good to your parents; kill not your children on a plea of want; for We provide sustenance for you and for them; And come not near to the orphans property, except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength; give measure and weight with full justice; no burden do We place on any soul, but that which it can bear; and whenever you speak, speak justly, even if a near relative is concerned; and fulfill the Covenant of God. Thus does He Command you that you may remember. Verily, this is My Way, leading straight; follow it; follow not (other) paths: They will scatter you about from His Right path. Thus does He command you, that you may be righteous (6:151-153). God commands justice, the doing of good, and kindness to kith and kin, and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that you may receive admonition. Fulfill the Covenant of God when you have entered into it, and break not your oaths after you have confirmed them; indeed you have made God your surety; for God knows all that you do . . . . Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure, and We will bestow on such (workers) their reward according to the best of their actions (16: 90-91, 97). Invite (all) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching, and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious; for your Lord knows best, who have strayed from His Path, and who are truly guided (16:125). Who is better in speech than one who calls (others) to God, works righteousness, and says: I am one of those who bow in Islam. Nor can Goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (Evil) with what is best. Then the one between whom and you there was hatred will become as it were your friend and intimate! (41:33-34). Whatever is given to you (here) is (only) a convenience of this Life. But that which is with God is better and more lasting. (It is) For those who believe and put their trust in their Lord; those who avoid the greater crimes and shameful deeds, and when they are angry even then forgive; those who hearken to their Lord, and establish regular prayer; who (conduct) their affairs by mutual consultation; who spend out of what We bestow on them for sustenance; and those who, when an oppressive wrong is inflicted on them, (are not cowed but) help and defend themselves. The recompense for an injury is an injury equal to it (in degree), but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from God, for God loves not those who do wrong. But indeed if any do help and defend themselves after a wrong (done) to them, against such (persons) there is no cause of blame. The blame is only against those who oppress men with wrongdoing and insolently transgress beyond bounds through the land, defying right and justice. For such (oppressors and transgressors) there will be a penalty grievous. But indeed if any show patience and forgive, that would truly be an exercise of courageous will and resolution in the conduct of affairs (42: 36-43). If any do wish for the transitory things (of this Life), We readily grant them such things as We will, to such persons as We will, but in the end, We have provided Hell for them where they will burn, disgraced and rejected. And those who do wish for the (things of) the Hereafter, and strive therefor with all due striving, and have Faith, - they are the ones whose striving is appreciable (by God.). Of the bounties of your Lord, We bestow freely on all these as well as those: the bounties of your Lord are not closed (to anyone). (17:18-20) Take not with God another object of worship: or you (man!) will sit in disgrace and destitution. Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him and that you be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor. And out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: My Lord! bestow on them Your mercy even as they cherished me in childhood. Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts. If you do deeds of righteousness, verily He is Most Forgiving to those who turn to Him again and again (in true penitence). After render to the kindred their due rights, as (also) to those in want, and to the wayfarer. But squander not (your wealth) in the manner of a spendthrift. Verily spendthrifts are brothers of the Evil Ones; and the Evil One is to his Lord ungrateful. And even if you have to turn away from them (the said people), in pursuit of the Mercy from your Lord which you do expect, yet speak to them words of easy kindness. Make not your hand tied (like a niggard) to your neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach (like an irresponsible squanderer, if you choose either way), you will become blameworthy and destitute (respectively). Verily your Lord does provide sustenance in abundance for whom He pleases, and He provides in a just measure; for He does know and regard all His servants. Kill not your children for fear of want. We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you, verily the killing of them is a great sin. Nor come near to adultery; for it is a shameful deed and an evil, opening the road (to other evils). Nor take life – which God has made sacred – except for just cause. And if anyone is slain wrongfully, We have given his heir authority (to demand equal punishment or to forgive). But let him not exceed bounds in the matter of taking a life; for he is helped (by the Law). Come not near to the orphan's property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength; and fulfill (every) engagement: for (every) engagement will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning). Give full measure when you measure and weigh with a balance that is straight. That is the most fitting and the most advantageous in the final determination. And pursue not that of which you have no knowledge (idle and useless curiosity); for every act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning). Nor walk on the earth with arrogance; for you cannot rend the earth asunder, nor reach the mountains in height. Of all such things, evil is hateful in the sight of your Lord. These are among the (precepts of) wisdom, which your Lord has revealed to you. Take note, with God, another object of worship, lest you should be thrown into Hell, blameworthy and rejected (17:22-39). We bestowed wisdom on Luqman: Show your gratitude to God. Anywho is grateful does so to the profit of his own soul. But if any is ungrateful, verily God is free of all needs, worthy of all praise ..And We have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents. In travail upon travail did his mother bear him, and in years twain was his weaning. (hear the command), show gratitude to Me and to your parents. To Me is your final Goal. But if they strive to make you join in worship with Me things of which you have no knowledge (or do any wrong), obey them not; yet bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration), and follow the way of those who turn to Me (in love). In the end, the return of you all is to Me, and I will tell you the truth (and meaning) of all that you did O, my Son! (said Luqman): Establish regular prayer, enjoin what is just (and right) and forbid what is wrong; and bear with patient constancy whatever betide you; for this is firmness (of purpose) in (the conduct of) affairs. And swell not your cheek (for pride) at men, nor walk in insolence through the earth; for God loves not any arrogant boaster. And be moderate in your pace, and lower your voice; for the harshest of sounds, without doubt, is the braying of the ass (31:12-19) O you who believe! Intoxicants and gambling . . . are an abomination, of Satans handiwork. Avoid such (abomination), so that you may prosper. Satans plan is only to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of God and from prayer. Will you not then abstain? (5:90-91). But seek, with that which God has bestowed on you, the Home of the Hereafter. Nor forget your portion in this world. But you do good, as God has been good to you, and seek not mischief in the land; for God Loves not the mischief makers (28:77). These selections can be supported by many others from the Quran and the Traditions of Muhammad. In themselves, they are sufficient to portray the fundamental morals of Islam. These Islamic morals are unique in their nature under all circumstances. They are introduced by God not simply to be admired occasionally but to be enforced and effective. They are meant to help the individual to develop his personality and cultivate his character in the most wholesome manner, to strengthen his bonds and consolidate his association with God, the Source of all Goodness. Never were the Islamic morals designed to intimidate the individual and make him passive or indifferent. One example will illustrate the point. If a Muslim is wronged or oppressed, he has the free choice either to resist and retaliate in an equal measure or to forgive and entrust God with the results of his deed. He knows that he is authorized to take either action, and he equally knows that it is better for him to forgive. So when he forgives, he does so with his own free choice for the love of God. Similarly, when he retaliates he is not violating the Law or acting unjustly; he is defending his rights, an attitude which is a sacred duty in itself, and is helping the rightful authorities to establish order and justice. If Islam were to demand absolute forgiveness as some other creeds do in theory, many undisciplined people would be tempted to do wrong and exceed all limits. Likewise, if Islam were to demand only retaliation, as some other creeds uthlessly teach, there would be no room for mercy and patience nor for spiritual reform and moral maturity, in which case many fine qualities of man would subside and many moral potentials may never be actualized. It is common knowledge that the people who are taught to forgive under all circumstances do not, and probably cannot, practice their teachings, because it is not the interest of humanity in the long run, nor is it in the interest of morality itself. Likewise, the people who are taught to practice stern retaliation have little or no respect for human virtues and care less for moral values as universal rules. But Islam, the Divine foster of human nature, has given the right answer to human problems. To those wrongdoers who are looking for a second chance, who may improve or benefit by granting them pardon, forgiveness is recommended and preferable. But against those who might misunderstand the motives of forgiveness or be tempted to pursue the wrong course, equal retaliation is authorized. Thus, the attitude of the Muslim, in either case, is sound and beneficial. When he forgives, he pleases God, retains the upper hand and contributes to the reformation of the delinquent. And when he retaliates, he defends the right, establishes order and justice, and helps to arrest evil. Now, which is sound morality? The attitude of the person who is a ruthless avenger indiscriminately? Or the attitude of a Muslim who makes room for mercy and forgiveness, and who allows for extraordinary circumstances? And who is normally sound? The person who forgives because he knows that he is not allowed to retaliate? Or a Muslim who forgives while he is fully aware that he can lawfully retaliate? Which is real forgiveness? The one resulting from external compulsion and prohibition not to act otherwise? Or the one resulting from freedom of choice and freedom of action? It is no wonder that the moral principles of Islam are sound, unique, and adaptive. They are the instructions of God, the Source of all goodness and morality.

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quicklyseverebird · 6 years ago

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Adoption arguements

I am posting the full history of this conversation to give context, and leaving off the name of the speaker because I don’t want this to be a hatchet job or have it look like I want this person hassled. Ultimately the position is what I want to address, not the person, who is undoubtedly sincere.But sincerity doesn’t mean right. This came about from a post discussing the value of adoption where this individual pointed out many adoptees have complaints. I choose to do this this way mostly because I don’t want to feel limited by the PM system, and because I have very strong feelings following this exchange.

Them:

If you can, check out the following links to see what I mean. https://twitter.com/DebbieGarratt/status/1188565960061378560?s=19 https://twitter.com/DebbieGarratt/status/1188585006311989248?s=19 https://twitter.com/DebbieGarratt/status/1188592298021404674?s=19 Also, their living status doesn't outweigh adoptees' complaints about their adoptions if they're almost 4x more likely to attempt suicide.

And this too: https://adoptionsurveysblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/14/results-in-adult-adoptee-perceptions-in-closed-adoption/

[for reference, the twitter posts says this]:

Me:

I'm a little bit confused as to what you are debating? That adoption carries hardship and some mental trauma? Sure. Life has that too. Would it be better if adoption took place within the family? Of course! I think anyone would agree with that so long as family isn't abusive or drug ridden. I HATE what that woman said in the twitter. What kind of monster do you have to be to say that to a child? Talk about causing mental trauma... And no, the fact that they are alive definately outweighs any other factor. Unless you're going to argue that a higher percentage of suicide means they are better off dead to begin with? If so, will you advocate for the death of transgender people who have suicide rates 20 x the national average? That's absurd. Adoption comes with hardship, absolutely. hardship increases chances of suicide, matter of fact. I would like to see those graphs plotted against a random selection of the population to see how they compare to norms. I didn't happen to see the 4x figure. but then I'm trying to get to bed now, lol. I'm just confused as to what your position is. Abortion is better than adoption?

Them:

No, I am a pro-lifer and so is Debbie and some of these adoptees. We just don't think that claiming another person's child as your own is a beneficial or necessary way to care for a child from a crisis pregnancy. It's because many pro-lifers believe that it is that many adoptees are turned off by the pro-life movement. Legal guardianship is a good way to take in a child who doesn't have any relatives who aren't willing or able to care for them, but adoption is not necessary and can and often does cause a lot of the trauma that's described in those links. As for what kind of monster would say that to an adoptee, it's the same kind of monster who will say to a homosexual, "that 'love is love' and 'born this way' lines are nothing more than propaganda and I was a fool to believe otherwise". This is what adoptees will say because they know this first-hand and they know that they're far from alone in this.

Me:

I just...I can't fathom ever saying that kind of thing to a child. Talk about destroying a child's confidence and self image and making them suicidal. I can't think of a single child that line could ever help. The lines to a homosexual are bad because they are wrong. Telling an adoptee they are special is not only kind, it is also true. After all, they ARE special. Each one is special to God, and each one is made special by the love of others for them. They WERE chosen, literally! To say to a child, "no, you were unwanted and not special, but that's ok, you're not less than anyone else..." I mean, that literally sends two opposite messages. I don't know if you are a Christian, but God himself says that we, as believers are adopted sons and daughters of God. The term is applied to us. And once again, if there is someone in the family that could take them in, that's great. We agree on that, certainly. And I believe the courts do as well. That's a form of adoption, in fact. But if they can't, then adoption outside the family would be the next step. Any family will have its issues, but I believe adoption is a net positive outcome situation. I don't...I just don't understand what you are fighting against.

Them:

You're misunderstanding what we're talking about. The grown adoptees are not saying to an adoptee that he/she isn't inherently special or chosen. They're saying to him/her that his/her parents didn't adopt him/her for those reasons, but because it was their last resort after trying to have children of their own. They're pointing out the selfish and covetous reasons for adopting a child that have little (if anything) to do with the child's best interests at heart. That's the reality with many adoptive parents and adoptees are sick of them trying to pretend otherwise. As for what we're fighting against, you're confusing taking in a child and caring for him/her to always mean adoption, but that's not the case. Adoption, as it is defined in the adoption community, is only one way of doing it. Another way to do it is with legal guardianship even if the child isn't related to the family. The difference between that and adoption is that adoption involves the extra step of the family severing the child's ties with his/her original family and claiming them as their own. That is the thing that adoptees and their allies find problematic and unnecessary and different from biblical adoption (which only involves adults being adopted for inheritance purposes) and that's what we're fighting against. Despite what adoptive parents and adoption agencies will tell you, blood ties are important because they make up a huge part of a person's origins and identity. It's one thing to choose or be chosen as part of a spiritual family, but it's another thing to completely severe ties with your original family to try to replace them with someone else. God wants us to honor our parents, including our biological parents, and that's really hard to do when our connections with them have been cut in all but DNA and our blood ties have been rendered insignificant.

Me:

Ok, you've given me a lot to think about and I believe I understand a little better what your position is, but before I reply, I need you to answer a couple questions to help me understand better how to do so. Were you adopted? Do you have children?

Them:

Neither, but I do know people in and outside my family who were teen/single moms and some people in real life who were adopted. And I used to have that pro-adoption mindset, until I saw some things that helped me understand what adoptees must feel about their parents rejecting/abandoning them. And not long after, I started doing research and reading a lot of testimonies from adoptees and bio moms (who are not always mutually exclusive, BTW) about the trauma that they've experienced from the relinquishment. There are whole blogs about it on Facebook and all over the Internet with a bunch of testimonies from writers, followers, and commenters. You can Google them and see what they have to say. And when you do, please just listen to them instead of trying to argue with them about adoption because they've already been through that and they're sick of it. There's also scientific research about it with biology and social science fields that you can also Google. Also, take note that just because some adoptee may seem happy with their adoptions doesn't mean that they actually are. They might actually be hiding their true feelings, in denial about it, or not having processed the trauma that they experienced at a young age. Many of the dissatisfied adoptees that I've heard from were once in that position.

Ok, deep breath.

First off, I think you are over-simplifying things enormously. And I think you fail to keep things in perspective. Are there bad parents, whether they adopt or not? Yes. Do some people adopt for the wrong reasons, or because they have no other option? Yes. Do some people have kids of their OWN for the wrong reasons? Yes. I think you are so focused on this one aspect of family life that you fail to remember that there are $****ty people everywhere. That parents can mess up, that kids can get hurt, no matter how they became a part of a family. Everything you say about adoptee kids above, can be said by natural children. You speak about how many websites there are from adopted kids talking about their hardships. Did you ever check to see how many websites there are about natural children talking about their families? Heck, that’s practically a rite of passage and a badge of honor these days for kids to complain about how much their families messed them up. If you wanted to make some kind of definitive statement about the value of adoption, you need to compare it to a baseline, which I don’t see that you have.

Now, I agree with you that separating kids from their families is a hardship. Would it be better for them to be “adopted” (by whatever form, or however you want to call it, becoming a part of a new set of guardians) within their extended family so they retain a sense of their roots? Certainly. However, that is not always possible, or even desirable for a multitude of factors. Would you force the family to keep a child they didn’t want for the hypothetical value you think it would gain in being part of such a family? I would hope not. I think you oversimplify the types of adoption there are too. Not everything is closed. I have friends who adopted a child through the foster system that regularly sees his biological grandparents, even though the parents didn’t want him. There is a whole spectrum of adoption formats, each having their own unique dynamics and struggles.

Now I also agree with you that adopted kids are likely to have some unique struggles of their own. Some hardships that natural children aren’t going to have. Some will be unique to their circumstances, such as feelings of abandonment and issues of self worth because of their birth mother giving them up. Some will be due to the genetics or condition of their birth. You talk about adopted kids having a suicide rate 4x higher than the norm. Assuming that’s true, there are other factors at work here that could contribute to this apart from them just being “adopted.” Many women who give up their babies have medical, genetic, mental or drug issues that lead to their not only giving up the child, but having it in the first place. How many adoptee kids are born with damage due to their mother’s drug or alcohol use? How many kids are given up because they themselves have medical issues their parents don’t want to deal with? My pastor adopted a daughter who has had lifelong struggles with medical issues almost certainly due to her mother’s lifestyle and who was surrendered for adoption in part because of those medical issues. These things are present in a higher concentration among adoptees than the general public, which itself would lead to a higher risk of mental illness and suicide. You are only looking at one factor, adoption, and making a simplistic correlation: If X is with Y than Y is caused by X, ignoring factors A, B, C and Z.

Once more I want to freely admit that people can adopt for the wrong reasons. Absolutely true. But, how many people have babies for equally wrong reasons? Which child has it better: the one who was adopted by a loving family because mom was a crack addict and got knocked up by her pimp, or a child conceived and kept by the biological mother so she could collect child support from the baby daddy? Chances are, over all, the adopted child has it better. While there is value in knowing where you come from, good or bad (think about the huge popularity of ancestry.com and similar sites, even if knowing your ancestors came from 20 different countries has no meaningful effect on your day to day life), it is not a magical panacea that cures all things. Often, that knowledge can be just as damaging, or moreso, than ignorance is. Substitute “child” for “adoptee” in your comments above and the result would be equally true. Not to mention you fail to consider the dynamic of “The Review.” When you’re looking to purchase an item online, you will check the reviews to see what people think. The problem here, is that, statistically, the only people who tend to comment are the ones who either had a GREAT experience with it and want to share, or the people who had a horrible experience and want to vent. The vast majority don’t bother and continue on with their lives. Only the vocal ones are seen and noted. Its why anecdotal evidence is meaningless. Now your statistical data has some value, but without a comparison to a control, it’s useless. Some 30% or so of them have considered suicide in the past. Ok, but what % of people in general consider suicide at some point in their life? I did myself, and I’m not an adoptee.

Now to get to the issue that has me fired up. That quote by Debbie and your claim that telling kids “the truth” that they aren’t special has some value. Now I understand that what you mean is, telling kids they weren’t adopted BECAUSE they were special. But saying that to a child, and telling them they were adopted because they weren’t wanted by their parents, and the adopted parents wanted them because they couldn’t have kids of their own is….is…

I want to be clear here. I am not using hyperbolic language. I am not trying to be dramatic. I am giving my diagnosis of such an approach, as a mother with a teen daughter.

This. Is. Evil.

And I don’t mean that in a nebulous, general sense. I mean, telling that to a child, any child, at any age, or even an adult, is doing the literal Devil’s work. This is beyond despicable, beyond selfish. This is wicked, horrible, evil and cruel.

Now you and Debbie couch it in terms of, “well it’s just the truth, give up the fairy tale.” No. You are missing the point entirely. Even if everything you said is technically true, and they were given up because their parents were horrible people, and they were adopted by horrible people, you’re still wrong. Someone is not made special because of who gave birth to them or who adopted them. They aren’t made special by their family. Every single woe you declare present in the life of an adopted child would be made worse by them hearing such a statement.

Now before you respond with indignation and outrage, saying “but what we really mean is…” I want you to think about how this would sound if said to a non-adopted child. Because in large part it can be. Everything Debbie said could be applied to many children:

“You aren’t chosen, you aren’t special. You were born even though your parents didn’t want you, couldn’t afford you, or were forced to.” You can even riff off of this same idea with, “You were just born because your parents forgot to wear a condom, or Mommy was trying to get Daddy to marry her, or they were drunk one night, etc, therefor you aren’t special.” Same exact energy.

If I said that to a child from the inner city, living with his single mother, you would be horrified. It doesn’t matter if I followed it up with a: “Oh by the way, you’re not less than anyone else, you aren’t here because of a sin and you deserve to be here.” The only thing you or that child is going to hear and remember is the first part, and it, quite frankly, refutes and negates anything said in the second half. Saying that to a child will scar them. Because, in fact, that child IS special, regardless of the circumstances of its birth. And it quite likely is wrong anyways, since it’s based on a host of simplistic assumptions.

Seriously now, you talk about the hardships adoptees face due to their circumstances and you honestly believe telling a child, or even an adult, who is already struggling with self worth and their identity, what Debbie says, is going to help them? Are you insane? If someone is struggling with depression, will telling them they aren’t special, but buck up anyways, is going to help? Will it help someone who is part of a population with 4X the suicide rate? Will it help anyone?

The answer is no. Because it is a lie framed as a “brutal/honest truth,” and to say it to anyone, especially a child, is literally evil. Even if it WERE true, as the Bible says, “speak the truth in love.” There is no love in that statement. Adoptees face many struggle, by your own arguments. You aren’t helping.

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nozomijoestar · 6 years ago

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1-10 for an oc of yr choice (since i don't know any of yrs (yet))

meme here

I’ll use my FFXIV OCs bc I’m finicky abt sharing anything on my manuscript OCs in public

Vaste/U’ralhana Odh:

1. What is/are your OC’s nickname(s) and how did it come about?

Her name situation is a little messy but theres a reason behind each one both canon and non-canon! The game by default gives the WoL many titles across the game to reflect your progress to NPCs like eikon-slayer, Azure Dragoon, khagan etc. all tied to feats or positions earned in the MSQ.

For non canon titles and nicknames I’ve given her Desert Dragon due to her origin of birth from a desert tribe and their guardian animal being Drakes (as well as the fact that she’s a Dragoon and DRGs are traditionally a class associated heavy with dragons), Nine Lives because of the Echo preventing her from true death which also fits with her being a cat race etc. For more personal nicknames one of her younger brothers calls her Rala after her Sun Seeker name being U’ralhana Odh, dearest is also the most common pet name Yugiri has for her, aside from having the privilege of calling her only by her first name for her Sun Seeker side

Her formal naming convention gives her three viable names,

U’ralhana Odh - name the Sun Seekers gave her when she was born to them, the U designates tribe affiliation, followed by her given name, the surname is her father’s first name indicating he sired her (official FFXIV Sun Seeker naming convention) together the name means Ralhana of the Drakes, daughter of Odh

Osha Tayuun - this is the name her mother gave her before she left to rejoin the Moon Keepers in The Black Shroud, she never learned it was hers until the day they finally met well into her adulthood as the WoL, because Moon Keepers are matriarchal unlike Sun Seekers, the last name is also her mother’s while the given name is a normal girls name (i also made it start with O and try to sound similar to her mother’s first name, Oghii)

Vaste Valescoere - she gave herself this name after once being taught a few ancient Garlean (irl Classical Roman Latin) words by a traveling scholar from what little outside contact the tribe saw, once she made the decision to leave to be an adventurer forever she was banished for forsaking tradition, thus she felt she died and needed a new name - this was the first name i gave her because when i first started playing FFXIV i didnt know the races had naming conventions so i just wanted something that sounded like a fantasy name ( i literally just looked two words up in my latin-english dictionary fddjfd)

2. What is the color of your OC’s eyes/hair/skin?

Blue hair with natural black highlights, green eyes, light skin but not pale- all generally Moon Keeper traits but when i was starting out i knew none of that and did what i wanted, her bizarre appearance once i decided she was from the U tribe influenced her being half Sun Seeker and Moon Keeper

3. How tall is your OC?

5′2 but only because i thought the CC slider meant 5′6 (cuz it lists height in inches and i didnt bother to check ujhghugj shes sometimes embarrassed by her height especially standing next to much taller people, shes still taller than Yugiri though so she enjoys the slight height advantage

4. What is a noticeable physical attribute of your OC?

Her hair, then her eyes

5. What does your OC normally wear? What would your OC wear on a special night?

She’s usually in her armor with her current spear glamoured to appear weaker than it actually is because the simple style reminds her of what she used as a teen before leaving home:

^^ necklace and earrings are different but the second necklace is more typical

im weak for the one arm/shoulder armored while the other isnt or not as much aesthetic

For more special/formal occasions w/o armor she likes wearing this:

6. What is one word you would use to describe your OC’s appearances?

Every time she shows up there’s something dramatic (but not always over the top) happening

7. Does your OC have any markings, such as a birthmark or a scar?

She has the usual pinkish red stripes on her cheeks all Sun Seeker women are born with, in addition to a scar across her nose bridge she got during her huntress rite of passage when a sundrake struck her face (this rite is also how she got the black marks under her eyes afterwards, originally i just liked how they looked and made a backstory for them because the game lists them as tribal tattoos in CC)

The scar i gave her in CC as a ref to Guts from Berserk cuz his is similar (she obtained hers very young like he did as well):

8. How does your OC talk/what does your OC’s voice sound like?

i chose the CC voice 2 option for female miqo’te (you can kinda hear what it sounds like here and here @2:10 since i cant find a video with just vc2 range) and im happy with it (to me it kinda sounds like Rie Tanaka? as far as i know the CC voice VAs have never been revealed so i cant say for certain, i know shes done voicing for FFXIV as Kan E Senna and Sadu and plays it as a huge fan tho) as far as how she talks all Miqo’te are said to have their own racial language unique to them that no other race can accurately pronounce or understand due to all the hissing, purring, and spitting of certain sounds (bc theyre cat ppl lol) so she’ll roll/purr her Rs, hiss her Hs etc.

On top of this system i imagine the U have their own dialect accent too which i hc sounds closer to Xhosa and Zulu mixed if a cat tried to speak it,so it gets complex! Her native accent however becomes slightly toned down the longer she spends away from the U as the WoL, but its still present and obvious enough

9. What does your OC’s bedroom look like? His/her living area?

the only description valid for this is an organized mess lmao

10. What does your OC keep in a special drawer?

anything small enough to fit given to her by people from her past or those she cares about that linger on her mind, shes somewhat sentimental sometimes

—-

Gan Arulaq

1. Lizard boi has no nicknames that stick outside of being called Bataar playfully by his parents esp his mother bc he liked playing pretend as a heroic figure when he was little (i was aware when i made him in CC that Xaela use Mongolian names and are based a lot on Mongol culture of the 14th century so he follows this convention)

His first name is Mongolian for Steel, his last name denotes his tribe following the game’s convention, simple

2. he is a tan/reddish brown color for skin with black hair and natural red highlights in a short swept back style (his eyes are also green bc i wanted to see what Vaste’s eye color would look like on a Xaela model, tdlr they glow!)

3. Gan is 7′1! the tallest of my characters period, he sees everything from up there and it creates some hilarious and awkward situations (poor guy and most doors, rip)

4. his eyes and his big curved horns

5. he loves wearing primarily clothes that expose a lot of his chest and skin in general because thats most natural to what he wore on the steppe valley back home (as well as being a little vain about his physical appearance and liking the feel of freedom in less clothes) however he can and will wear regular clothes, though in this case his fashion sense is terrible

6. when he appears you can associate him with change (succession is another word that comes to mind given his role to Vaste)

7. with the exception of minor scars from martial training and small accidents he’s the picture of normal for a Xaela

8. i actually cant remember what CC voice i gave him by number, but he does have a somewhat deep, rough voice fitting for a boisterous young man while also being capable of sentimentality and some wisdom, he has a handsome voice, he speaks bluntly but full of feeling and often truth

9. his room would be very organized and everything is neatly assigned to its place as well as being primarily spartan in layout/decoration, he’s used to practicality and function from his childhood on the steppe, lots of trinkets from nature, weapons and trophies of victory etc.

10. a ring given to him by his mother carved from sheep bone, it was her archery thumb ring

#Ria...your mind huhuhugu #final fantasy xiv: a realm reborn

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vroooom2 · 2 years ago

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The Buddhist Thai Kingdom: color symbolism

Yellow is the color of the King in Thailand.

When Thai people wear this color, they pay homage to their Buddhist sovereign.

Blue is the color of the Queen in Thailand.

When Thai people wear this color, they pay homage to their Buddhist sovereign.

Purple represents nobility and power in Thailand. It's worn on Saturday.

In Thailand, each day has a particular color that is attached to it.

Red (Sunday), yellow (Monday), pink (Tuesday), green (Wednesday), orange (Thursday), blue (Friday), and purple (Saturday).

Orange is the color of the Buddhist monks. Every Thai man has to be a monk three times in his life: shave his head and eyebrows, meditate, eat one meal a day in the morning with food donated by the population.

Thailand: sexual and gender identity

Thailand has no problem with trans people: Kathoys (the lady boys), men who have sex surgery and hormones treatment to become a woman.

They are socially accepted and have their own public toilets. It's the recognition of the existence of a third genre.

Thailand has no problem with homosexuality. In 2015, the problem for Thai heterosexual women was to find heterosexual men, therefore they became lesbians (as said by many Thai coworkers).

Thailand: prostitution perception

Thailand is also the country where every village has prostitutes. HIV/AIDS epidemic was not spread because of international sex tourism, but because prostitution is a local practice. For example, it's a rite of passage for new enrolled men in the Thai army to visit a brothel and have transactional sex. Prostitutes come from poor rural families, but they prefer to do this job than to work in factories.

The problem with Western male tourists is when they fall in love with Thai sex workers, who are clever enough to get what they want: gifts, money sent via Western Union, marriage. Western men think they save a Thai woman or man from the sex working system with their Disney prince brainwashing. The Thai woman or man who needs to improve her/his way of life, makes him believe that she/he's in love to improve her/his way of life, when she/he's actually not as she/he prefers Thai man type (for physical and cultural reasons).

I wouldn't have been able to provide this information, if I didn't have an Asian face. The Thai people trusted me to tell me their truth, because of my ethnic physical traits, and because I was genuinely interested by their point of view without being judgemental, unlike expats/half-Thai/Thai people, raised in middle/upper-middle class families, who despised them despite their charity/NGO/research work for HIV diagnosis/treatment access.

One striking example: when I invited two former Thai prostitutes who worked in Western-owned bars, for my farewell party in 2006. They were fun, nice, smart, strong, young women, and truly happy to be invited. My expat, British-Thai, and Thai coworkers were shocked to see them. They didn't speak to them at all, and made them leave earlier with their judgemental behaviors. I asked myself: why do they work in HIV/AIDS research? To feel better about themselves, and feel superior by working for an international program? To get rid of sexual practice they think is immoral? What a confusing but heuristic moment for an anthropologist, who had no idea that it would be a morally embarrassing situation for the guests.

To advance anthropological knowledge: naivety is a great research tool (should I write and publish a paper about it? To be quoted in the next Collège de France lecture, EHESS, Normale Sup, UCLA, and IAS seminar, like Émile Dujardin 😆)

Thailand: the Karma law

Later, I would understand that Karma law was the cause of the judgemental behaviors during my farewell party. Indeed, Karma is a strong social force in Thailand. It assigns an individual fate at birth. It divides the population in social strates. It rules the moral conduct in a vertical hierarchy: the luckiest (wealthy) must have compassion for the unfortunate (poor). The more compassion, the more chance to climb the social ladder in the next life. However compassion doesn't mean equality, there's a caste system, inherited from Indian cultural influence (Pāli language, and Buddhism, a branch of Hinduism), that is non official unlike in India, but still visible.

Exclusion and racism towards those who don't share the same fate, Karma, is very strong. However, because of the Karma law, compassion is required. It can take forms in professional endeavors: working in an HIV/AIDS research program, in hospitals, NGOs.

A striking example of exclusion and racism mixed with the moral duty of compassion, was towards the Burmese HIV positive women in Thai public hospitals. Instead of counseling prophylaxis treatment to prevent HIV transmission to their baby, in case they would become pregnant. They were offered free sterilization. A medical practice that was not counseled to Thai HIV positive women, because the healthcare workers knew how efficient the preventive treatment was, and the risk of HIV transmission was almost null.

This truth was revealed to me by Thai nurses, doctors, hospital directors because of my Korean ethnicity. They saw me as a respectful Asian woman, very well educated, who came from wealthy countries, hence a person with a good Karma.

My advisors thanked me for reporting this information, as they would have never been able to know the sterilization problem, because of their Western face.

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scripturehomosexuality · 7 years ago

Text

Editorial: On the 2016 STD Bump

In September 2017, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) released a startling report on STD rates in the United States. The agency said that in 2016, STD infections reached their highest levels in history. That year, more than 2 million people were infected with chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.

Below are some fast facts on this. Pay special attention to the last bullet point:

This is the third year in a row STD infections have increased. Compare that with data from a decade ago, when STD infections were at historic lows.

The increases were primarily among teens and young adults.

”Men who have sex with men” (MSM) constitute the majority of new infections. In cases where sexes of sex partners are known, 81 percent of new STD infections occurred among MSM, particularly with syphilis and gonorrhea.

Earlier this year, some were saying that America is heading into an STD epidemic. These figures seem to confirm that.

Furthermore, like increases in past years, this story especially concerns the “gay” community. Once again, they have the lion’s share of new cases. Their anal centric sex model also influences MSM who don’t identify as LGBT.

Many solutions are proposed for this. They include better education, more open discussion on STDs, more STD testing, and increased advocacy for condom use.

In making these proposals, medical authorities might not take historical context much into account. While implications of some developments might be acknowledged (like the rise of anonymous dating apps), other important ones might be left out.

Since I’ve been around long enough, I think I can make an analysis on this rise.

To me, our current situation has its roots in 2011.

That year, a study into sexual behaviors of LGBT-identified men revealed a surprising statistic. It showed that, contrary to popular belief, it showed that anal play was a minority practice. Instead, most preferred non penetrative practices. The study revealed that, for the first time in awhile, most “gay” men obviously did not view anal sex as true “gay” sex.

This evidently was a huge shock to the “gay” leadership. After all, for decades they were champions for the practice of anal sex. Yet, among their fellow “gay” men, most were shunning the practice, openly and unashamedly. The “gay” culture that depended on anal sex was visibly cracking, and was heading toward complete fracture.

In a normal community, its leadership would adjust themselves to what its people were actually doing. However, to the “gay” leadership, their community exists to spread a certain conceptualization of same-sex activity. This became evident in their response to the 2011 study.

In the wake of those findings, the leadership and media didn’t try accommodating the behaviors of their rank and file. They didn’t explore alternatives to anal play. They gave lip service to the idea that “gay” sex need not involve anal, but nothing more.

Instead, they doubled down on the messaging that only anal sex is true “gay” sex, and that “gay” men must have anal. Notice the glut of media output released between 2011 and now:

A 2014 Queerty article on the HBO show “Looking”, which explores the supposedly damaging problem of “anal shame”.

A 2013 Mambo Online article entitled “The Happy Bottom: Tips for Hotter, Safer Anal Sex”. A link is not provided because the article has since been taken down, after it was cited in this blog’s Leviticus commentary. Strangely enough, other 2013 articles from the site still exist.

A 2015 Huffington Post article entitled “Why do gay men have so little sex?” Within the article, and as indicated by the title, only anal sex counts as “sex” to this writer. As such, the writer isn’t focused on finding out the answer to that question, as much as giving tips for better anal sex.

A 2014 Queerty article entitled “Five Tips To Losing Your Anal Virginity With Aplomb”. The article contains this jaw dropping excerpt: “Bottoming is a rite of passage most gay men make at some point in their lives. (Unless, of course, they’re analphobic or one of those boring ‘total top’ types. In which case, they’re seriously missing out.)”

A 2017 LiveAbout Article entitled “Why Some Gay Men Aren’t Into Anal”. It treats avoidance of anal play as a strange aberration that only a minority practice. It also makes this very skeptical comment: “A lot of gay men seem to happily live their lives without any kind of anal intercourse.”

As you can see, the intent of these articles were quite clear. The “gay” leadership and media had no interest in accommodating the true desires of their fellow “gay” men. Instead, they were putting increasing pressure on them to conform to “gay” culture, and toe the party line.

It seems that their campaign was a complete success. After all, anal sex is an extremely effective way to spread syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and other STDs.

In other words, while the CDC findings are shocking, they’re not surprising. They merely show the end result of the “gay” leadership’s pro-anal campaign. All of those articles finally are bearing fruit.

So I say this to the “gay” leadership and media: Congratulations, you’ve managed to preserve the anal sex ethos, and in the process, you threw your fellow “gay” men under the bus.

Upon reading this, some may object by saying the following: “Even if the prevalence of anal sex has increased, can’t condoms solve the problem? If people wore condoms every time they did anal, there’d be no problem at all.”

The truth is, it really doesn’t matter whether condoms are used en masse or not. Condoms can tear, and because the anus is rougher than the vagina, condoms tear much more easily inside the anus. In other words, condoms give a false sense of security. Don’t be fooled.

Plus, because of that false sense of security, those “gay” men might do anal more than they would otherwise. This results in a nonsensical paradox: by using condoms, “gay” men feel free to increasingly do something that can make them tear. This in turn increases the risk of STD transmission. So in sum, mass condom use doesn’t decrease STD risk, but actually increases it.

In truth, the only way to avoid most STD risk is to avoid anal play altogether. The “gay” movement won’t admit it, because the whole “gay” culture pivots on anal sex. If anal play ceases to be popular, “gay” culture begins falling apart.

Yet, when so many people are getting hurt, is the culture more important than the people? This blog and other outlets say no, but the “gay” movement effectively says yes. As long as they answer that way, people will used as mere fodder to sustain the culture.

Thus, I’m willing to make this statement: if you want healthy advice on male-male sexual activity, don’t listen to the “gay” media or the “gay” leadership. They are woefully negligent in doing their due diligence, and have abundantly demonstrated that cultures are more important than people.

Instead, listen to those who don’t insist on doing anal, such as the g0y movement and the Man2Man Alliance. They have the intellectual integrity to explain how anal increases STD risk. They show that hierarchies of risk do exist, and that certain modes of male-male contact carry low STD risk. You’ll be much more able to avoid STDs by using their advice.

Please note that “low risk” is not the same as “no risk”. If you imitate the extreme promiscuity of the “gay” world, where a man might have several sex partners in one night, even low risk modes can help transmit STDs. That is why both movements discourage that kind of promiscuity. Remember then that sex exists for the sake of relationships, and not the other way around. If you conduct yourself with that viewpoint, your risk of STDs will further decrease, because you’ll be more judicious with who you get physical with.

Your education can’t end there. You’ll have to move away completely away from the “gay” conceptualization of sex, so that you can go down a healthier road.

Thus, I urge you to read further on this site, to explore another way to think about same-sex activity. I urge you to read “The ‘Straight’-’Gay’ Dichotomy: How It Works”, to fully understand how that system functions. I also urge any who read this to go to “For Straight People (though not exclusively)”, which will point to philosophies and forms of same-sex behavior that don’t hinge on demonstratively false concepts. Also read the page “History of the Concept of Homosexuality”, to see how this concept evolved into its modern day meaning. Don’t be afraid of talking about what you learn to others, because that’s the only way progress will be made.

You don’t have to listen to the “gay” movement for sex advice. Other sources do exist, and if you take advantage of them, you’ll be better off for it.

#gay #stds #gay culture #lgbt culture #editorial #lgbt #bisexuality #Bisexual #homosexuality #homosexual

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odogaronfang · 7 years ago

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Your shitposting is great my guy, that’s fun. Tell us some random non plot related bs about the BoTW au?

sorry for not getting to this sooner!! when i get asks like this i like to take a couple of days to gather my thoughts so i can give you a better answer!!

- out of the six of them, i think zelda is the most overall mature. i mean, sure, she’s still a kid like the rest of them, and she has her fun, but when it really comes down to it she’s the most responsible and the best at getting done what needs to get done. it comes as a bit of a surprise to people that don’t know them so well, because most of the time they look at serious boring old vio and think that he’s probably the tired and jaded supervisor but. not so.

- adding onto that last thing- people tend to assume that vio is the very dignified one. emotionally detached, won’t let silly little things like feelings and morality get in the way of a job that needs to be done, reserved and calm and all that superficial stereotype stuff. they half expect the trope of the sort of english-gentry type personality. and they could not be further from the truth. that’s how he is superficially, but, like, get close to him and spend some more time with him and you’ll see. he kind of swings between following his stereotype and being just as irritable and generally frustrated as blue and shadow get, and honestly it’s a roll of the dice as to what he is. also? he does curse a lot. he doesn’t always go around shouting fuck at everyone he sees, but if something’s really getting on his nerves for whatever reason, he can out-curse shadow. and usually it’s more under his breath, but that doesn’t mean he really makes much of an effort to hide it.

- vio and blue have a sort of legolas/gimli fighting dynamic going on when they get into the thick of it. “bet i can kill more of these bokoblins than you” “bet i can take down a moblin in less hits than you” “bet i’ll be the one to kill this talus” type stuff. honestly, if they had an encampment to clear and no one was feeling particularly up to the job, they’d just off-handedly mention the results of the last competition and that would almost guarantee another face-off between the two, and everyone else could just sit back and watch the two of them go at it. in these kinds of situations they both know they’re basically being used but neither of them care much. one of vio’s favorite things to do when this happens is to let blue think she’s racking up the points, and then the moment she’s about to strike the killing blow on something, he’ll take it out with an arrow. and he does it repeatedly.

- shadow is extremely lazy and will use his magic for the most mundane of things, once he gets comfortable using it around them. he won’t feel like getting off the couch to get the plate red’s offering him so he just magics it over. he doesn’t want to pack his things so he just uses magic to shove things in his bag. he doesn’t feel like climbing an eight foot hill so he floats himself up. and all the while everyone, and especially blue, is indignant. “if this magic is so important to your survival why are you wasting it lacing up your boots” “because what if i trip??? i could get HURT and i can’t risk it coming undone” (and then he probably gets swatted on the head with something)

- green is intimately familiar with gerudo religion and customs. in theory he’s a follower of hylia according to the hylians’ belief system, because it was mostly his dad who raised him and that was what his dad practiced, but he’s far more interested and in tune with the gerudo religion, despite spending a lot less time with his mom throughout his life. the breakdown of all that is here, but his favorite heroines are nailuk and imura, and even though technically he hasn’t been formally confirmed into their religion, he still follows it all as though he has. and it isn’t a closed religion, so technically he could go and request passage through the rites like any other devotee, but he’s an anxious child and always shies away from completing the devotional trials. of course, every time the subject comes up with his mother, she affectionately makes fun of him for it, and especially so once she learns of their quest- “oh, so you’re fine running around the continent trying to save the world, but one little molduga and you’re tucking tail?” (he does, eventually, gather up his courage and finally go through with it. he chooses nailuk as his patron heroine and gets a very nice devotional tattoo of a pink lotus on his arm. his mother is very proud of him, and they do make a special one-day exception to the No Men rule to celebrate his official integration into their religion.)

- unless my brain decides to take an unplanned detour through some weird plot point, you will never get to meet vio’s mother, even though she’s alive. this is because, to put it lightly, they are not fond of one another. it was already kind of rough on vio in his early years, because his dad, as a sheikah, lived in kakariko, and she, as a hylian, was forbidden from living there and so lived in tabantha. it led to a very odd and uncoordinated shared-custody situation, where he’d be living with his mother for a year and then out of the blue his dad would drop by and be like come on son we’re going on an adventure. and then he’d go live in kakariko for months with his dad. and it resulted in a confusing flip-flopping of cultures, and it also resulted in a lot of resentment on her part, towards his father. but because his father didn’t live with her (for a complicated number of reasons, one of which involving a pretty serious falling-out concerning the matter of vio’s mixed heritage) she was unable to express it towards who she actually really hated, and so ended up taking it out on vio most of the time, and it came to be that vio really just couldn’t wait for his dad to come back so he could go be in kakariko, which he liked infinitely better than tabantha. at some point she got REALLY nasty and bordered on actually dangerous, so vio finally put his tiny eight-year-old foot down and decided that he would take matters into his own hands, and hopped on his faithful and much beloved horse and just left. and one day he arrived in kakariko and went to his dad’s house and he just kinda walked in like hey old man how’s it been. after some mild concern and fear for his safety, they sat down and vio explained the situation and ended up living in kakariko from then on. after his dad died, he stayed for about another year and a half, because quite frankly he needed people to keep an eye on him, and after that he took to traveling, took up the trade of a merchant as a kind of excuse, and when he was about sixteen or so, used the money he’d saved to get himself a place in hateno, far far away from his mother but still close to the village he considered family. this one got kinda ramble-y but that’s the rundown on the situation, and anyone with any kind of sense won’t bring up the subject with him, because he’ll either get very withdrawn and avoidant or he will get very angry. you don’t want either of those things.

- it takes some time to get past the initial awkwardness of things, for a few reasons, and there will always be some bumps in the road, but out of everyone, shadow trusts vio the most with personal matters. some of it is because they share at least some heritage, and shadow knows that vio will understand his sheikah-bred tendencies a lot more than any of the others. but he also knows that vio will in no way be taking his shit- but he will constructively not take any of his shit. he thinks that red and green will be generally too lenient with whatever is going on with him, and blue will be far too harsh, and zelda lacks a few certain points of experience with his background that would otherwise make her fine to deal with. so if he actually decides to confide in someone or go to someone looking for advice or help, he will usually go to vio, because vio is certainly not going to excuse anything that he’s done wrong, and he will be very up-front about what he’s screwed up, but he’s also better at providing solutions or advice rather than just flat criticism and nothing else. and as much as shadow would like to be coddled and told that he is Perfect The Way He Is, he knows in his heart that that couldn’t be further from the truth, and he knows all too well that vio has no reservations when it comes to calling him out.

-this is a secret that shadow will take to the grave, but there were a few little parts of the yiga that shadow enjoyed and, at times, kind of misses a little bit. even though there were quite a few people in there that he held no love for, there were still others that were welcoming to him, and kind of took him under their wing, especially when he was just coming in as a young kid. he sometimes wishes he could see them again, just to see how things are, but he knows that if he ever does meet them again, it’ll probably be on opposite sides of the battle. and, even more secretly, he did kind of revel in the power that being in the yiga gave him. even as one of the lower-ranked members, he still had more power at his disposal than some of the highest of the high among the non-yiga. he liked knowing that the upper hand was always his and the situations were always his to control, and while some of that stemmed from being so thoroughly trapped under the thumb of his overseers, it was also, in some little dark part of his brain, just part of him as a person.

-blue’s favorite people in all of hyrule (aside from her village, of course) are the gorons. she just loves the atmosphere there. she describes it as an entire town full of bros, and even the most distant of them still share this sort of familial bond that she has yet to see matched among anyone else. the rough-and-tumble attitudes and general relaxed air and casually determined personalities just kinda resonate with her, and by the end of it she kind of ends up as an honorary goron. she also really likes their spice. so does zelda. their food becomes a little dangerous after trips to goron city.

-green’s dad actually used to be in the princess’s personal detail of guards. it was only for about two years, while they were in the process of searching for suitable champions, but it happened, and even through the calamity, he managed to preserve the uniform and the sword he was given. when green was little, he used to steal the clothes all the time and dress up in them and walk around acting like a guard. he’d stand in front of the door to the kitchen with his little wooden sparring sword in his hands and demand to know his dad’s name and business before he’d allow him to enter. and even though the hat was far too big for him, even when they went out to practice with their swords or tend their garden or go hunting, green would insist upon wearing it, and even though it fell in front of his eyes every ten seconds he refused to ever leave it at home. even still it’s an inside joke between them to ask name and business before letting the other go anywhere.

#botw au #my au #four swords #i really love these kids #i also like making sad backstories but its my au so i get to do that #theyre all dork idiots tho i love them so much #open inbox time

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