#compared to the major denomination

[kuroshirosb]

Sinnoh’s religion is mildly important to the story at least character motivation wise I just need to develop them more

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/746553097204203521/the-fandom-hates-women-response-to-lack-of-ff

The "fandom hates women" part of it comes from the fact that fandom as an entity just doesn't watch the kind of media that draws femslash, even if it ticks all of the boxes of things those very same people say they like. There are so many times I've watched a show that I've seen mega-popular Tumblr posts wishing existed, and then the fandom is so, so small comparatively and often in general. There have been superheroes, vampire/supernatural shows, fantasy shows, movies, books, the list goes on, that feel like they were generated out of Tumblr's desires for ideal fandom media, and everyone knows they're never going to attract anywhere near the same attention for fandom and fanworks because the common denominator just tends to be that if there isn't a full ensemble of attractive men to ship either with each other or with the women, fandom's not interested.

So it's not about prioritizing women in that sense, it's about people witnessing hypocrisy over and over again the second a show doesn't have a mostly-male ensemble. The people who are in these fandoms are frustrated that good faith attempts to get people interested are met with every excuse in the book that all eventually boils down to "I don't like watching stuff with women in it as much as I like watching stuff with men in it." And if that's how people feel about it... sometimes the conclusions are going to turn into the more uncharitable take of "fandom hates women."

--

Maybe, but whenever I see a "fandom hates women" reblog of my stuff, one or two reblogs further down the chain I get an overt TERF. I just had to go block several people today, in fact.

The first person to reblog with a comment like that is usually subtle, but their friends and friends of friends are not. The rhetoric that very quickly starts is the fandom equivalent of that "All the butches are becoming trans men! We're losing lesbians!" stuff.

Here's the thing: I've been in ten billion fandoms that were so awesome and fit fandom's supposed tastes to a T and yet no amount of promoting them could get anyone to try the canon. This goes for canons that are all men or all white men or all majority ethnicity men or whatever else.

The default state of media is to not engender a big fic fandom.

I agree that the rare outliers mostly follow certain patterns, but we extrapolate too far when we say that a lack of those patterns is why a fandom is small.

A fandom is small because that's the near-universal default.

--

Yes, a small slice of fandom consists of guilt-ridden queer fujoshi who say they want more f/f but don't make much of a move to make that happen. I tend to run into that a lot because of my own tastes and having friends who share those tastes.

Far more of fandom is people talking generally about how representation matters without saying they would personally join these fandoms if they existed.

Neither group is large enough to be the real reason some woman-heavy canon fails to take off to HP levels.

The real reason is not hypocrisy but the fact that most things don't take off like that. Most things without massive, massive audiences especially don't take off like that. And the very few things that do are flukes and don't actually predict that another similar thing will take off in the future.

--

Go to AO3's tag search. Search for all canonical fandom tags. Sort by uses and descending order.

Right now, I get 64,390 tags.

The first page, 50 tags, goes from HP with 497,845 works to the Thor movies with 59,266 works. By page 6, we're below 10 thousand works.

By the end of page 10, we're down to Labyrinth with 3,906.

Somewhere in the top 500 AO3 fandom tags (many of which are just franchise metatags for each other), we go all the way from megafandoms to medium size and down to relatively modest ones.

That's not a lot of room for a big f/f-heavy fandom given the trends in mainstream media and that mainstream media is where most really big fandoms come from.

--

I also notice that you're conflating a lack of desire to watch something that's primarily about women with a lack of desire to watch something that includes women.

There are tons of fans who want something more like The Mummy with a leading man and leading woman they love.

Granted, that's not me and that's not a lot of my fujoshi/slasher audience, but it's extraordinarily common. I know plenty of people who don't like canons that are only dudes, but since they also don't like canons that are only ladies and they don't ship f/f, this gets spun into "fandom hates women".

--

Let me be clear:

Conflating "lesbians" and "women" is a radfem position.

[tamamita]

asking out of genuine ignorance and curiosity, would it really be so easy to forgo the hajj? (unsure if that's the grammatically correct way to refer to it). Learning about Islam in school, the hajj was one of the few things brought up about it, which led me to believe it's a much more central part of the faith, compared to Jewish people and going to Jerusalem.

Hajj is one of the major pillars of most denominations of Islam, and it is expected that one would partake in the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. However, there is an issue... 1st, the cost for the pilgrimage is expensive; no working class Muslim can afford this. 2nd, the money is collected by the Hajj government, which is overseen by the Saudis. The money can easily be exploited, turning Halal money into Haraam money. In such a case, it's easy to forego Hajj, because it is far more virtuous and noble to save your money in the name of God than to have it exploited by tyrants.

Nevertheless, if you're a Muslim, save your money and make your Ziyarat and pilgrimage to Najaf & Karbala instead. After all, the Ahlul Bayt (a) never paid for their Hajj pilgrimages.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Coleman Hughes

As with every society on Earth, there is racism in Israel. But the truth is that if you’re looking for the closest analogue to the racist propaganda experienced by blacks in European-offshoot societies, you will find it not on the Israeli side but on the Palestinian side. Consider the ghoulish, antisemitic TV programs that indoctrinate Palestinian children. There is no Israeli equivalent. 

There is yet another inconvenient fact for those who want to reduce the Israeli-Arab conflict to a competition between European settlers and people of color: the majority of Israeli Jews are not European. They are Mizrahi Jews—hailing from the Middle East and North Africa. What’s more, it is not the European Jews but the Mizrahi Jews—who are difficult to visually distinguish from Palestinians—that form most of the voting base of the right-wing parties that Israel’s critics consider to be the truly racist ones. 

When ideologues co-opt the African American freedom struggle and compare it to the Palestinian national movement, they do black Americans a grave disservice. Black Americans (aside from a fringe) did not seek to dominate and destroy white society, as Martin Luther King Jr. emphasized frequently in his speeches. African Americans pursued equality before the law and better economic circumstances. In black history, you can find the occasional Nat Turner, the slave who led a rebellion and advocated killing all whites. But compared to the leaders of the struggle—giants like Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King—radicals like Turner amount to a footnote in the black American struggle for equality. 

Even early Malcolm X, the most prominent mouthpiece for black radicalism, was not interested in a violent takeover whereby blacks would run all of America and render whites second-class citizens. When he expressed black nationalism as more than a metaphor, he made clear that he was interested in a partitioning of black and white states inside America or a black ethnostate somewhere outside of America entirely.

Palestinian leaders, by contrast, seek dominion over all the land existing between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Some, like Hamas, have even more radical ambitions: a global Islamic caliphate. Palestinian leaders have rejected every partition offer they have ever received: the Peel Commission in 1937, the UN partition of 1947, the offers made at Camp David as well as the Clinton Parameters in 2000, and Olmert’s proposal in 2008. In the Palestinian national movement, the common denominator has been the rejection of a Jewish state of any size and scope, as well as the unyielding demand for nothing less than a Palestinian Arab state to subsume Israel: “from the river to the sea,” as the chant goes. 

[csolarstorm]

The Eternal Flower Files: Sacred Geometry

Eternal Flower Floette is the mysterious, special Floette that AZ inherited from his late mother. It wields a strange, ancient red flower that holds terrifying power:

"Terrifying energy is concealed within its ominous flower, but Floette still swings it about innocently." (UltraMoon)

So. What is the Eternal Flower?

We associate flowers with the cycle of life in general - they bloom, they wilt, and then the plant grows again. When it comes to the symbolism around Eternal Flower, we see this theme of "life, death, and rebirth" over and over, likely referring to Floette's resurrection.

Flowers are a prominent symbol in Sacred Geometry. In some New Age beliefs, the ancient Flower of Life pattern symbolizes life, death, and rebirth, as well as the interconnected universe. The pattern maps onto the Eternal Flower pretty well.

Eternal Flower model from The Models Resource.

Certainly Eternal Flower Floette is powerful and significant in the lore, but this connection might suggest that the Eternal Flower itself has broader powers than just destroying things.

Many flower symbols are drawn with overlapping circles, which represent a continuous, eternal cycle. When writing about the Flower of Life, people often compare the progression of each phase of the pattern to cell division. What Pokemon do we know that represents cells?

Source: Flower of Life Construction, image by Tomruen

Another major flower symbol is the triquetra, an ancient trinity symbol that comes from three overlapping circles. (Shown in the third phase of the Flower of Life diagram.) The Eternal Flower is made up of three triquetrae, really emphasizing the number three:

In many Christian denominations, the triquetra symbolizes the Holy Trinity. In Celtic tradition, the triquetra, or the trinity knot, can, again symbolize the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. There is also a stylized triquetra on either side of AZ's Ultimate Weapon:

My approximation of the Ultimate Weapon symbol.

This is yet another connection between the Eternal Flower and the Ultimate Weapon - besides the fact that it blooms into a giant version of the Eternal Flower. Did AZ use the power of the Eternal Flower to build the Ultimate Weapon?

The Flower of Life pattern also seems to point to a strong relationship between Eternal Flower Floette and Zygarde. It's actually an effective symbol for Zygarde, considering how people compare the phases of the Flower of Life to cell division. Also, each individual bloom in the of the Flower of Life pattern is hexagonal.

Zygarde pic from Bulbapedia.

Every inch of Zygarde is a hexagon. Imagine, each of them as a continuing Flower of Life pattern the same way a palace wall is covered with it.

If Xerneas and Yveltal symbolize life and death, then Zygarde fittingly represents rebirth, as a collection of cells that can take a number of forms. This also fits the title "Z-A" which many fans have taken to mean "the end, and a new beginning". That begs the question: what is beginning? What is being reborn?

...

Check out my theory that Zygarde used to be the Tree of Life, as well as my other posts about Pokemon Legends: Z-A here:

Xerneas and Yveltal are Fungi: Let Me Explain

Poll: What Does the Λ in Legends Z-A Symbolize?

Pokemon Legends Z-A: What Is the Λ?

Aaah, it's an A! Is the A in Z-A the Tree of Life?

How much longer am I going to have to wait for a freakin' Unova remake?!

[marzipanandminutiae]

have you seen that annoying try guys video about corsets. why’re they tightlacing like it’s average wear?

Yeah, and it's just a lot of nonsense. Like all of those videos.

Why do they tightlace? Because that's what people want to see. Not everyone; a lot of people are genuinely interested in learning. But unfortunately, a loud minority wants to believe the easiest, least complicated, most sensational version of the past. And that loud minority votes with engagement. You CAN get clicks for saying the corsets were basically the bras of their day, and women's relationship with them was similarly complicated and individual, but they were not unilateral torture devices- look at the success of costube in recent years -but that takes effort. Why bother, when you can just play to the lowest denominator of historical clothing knowledge?

(On some level, I do understand where the impulse comes from- the eras where pairs of bodies/stays/corsets were commonplace were also times of intense systemic misogyny, so "women were forced into torturous undergarments" seems par for the course. And the pressure on women to look and dress a certain way is obviously wrapped up in misogyny, then and now, even though women were not suffocating themselves into 15" waists like pop history insists. It's a myth that makes sense given its context; that's how it's survived.)

(That and the fact that the women who wrote the most about corsets were the ones who hated them. Likely a minority compared to the vast numbers of women then alive in corset-intensive cultures, but their strong feelings compelled them to speak out in ways that the probable majority never did. Who sits down and writes "Dear diary, another uneventful day wearing an ultra-commonplace support garment that I'm fairly neutral about?")

(But if you absolutely loathe wearing something- due to sensory issues, perceived hassle of dressing, feeling like your needs aren't met or are impeded by the garment, etc. -and social pressure says You Must...yeah, you're going to have some Thoughts on that subject.)

[alliluyevas]

one thing that really intrigued me about this book i read for class was a discussion of how pay for ministers/priests/pastors has progressively gone down over the course of the 20th century when you adjust for inflation/in terms of how it relates to the average salary and particularly the average salary for professionals with advanced degrees (which those whose went to seminary or divinity school would be, though ofc not all religious leaders attend graduate school as part of ordination depending on the denomination). and there was a lot of discussion about how the ministry has gone from being seen as a peer of doctors and lawyers in status if not in pay during a time period where very few people attended to college to really getting left behind socioeconomically for the vast majority of ministers compared to their educational peers and their position being seen more as a higher calling than as a career that needs to be compensated so the person can support themselves and potentially their children.

and it definitely made me think of the numerous other "helping" professions that are sort of treated similarly in public discourse and often in pay and the interesting thing is that while I can definitely see parallels to professions like social work or teaching, those careers are very heavily female and i think that is a huge factor in how they're treated/compensated, while the ministry is still overwhelmingly male (even as mainline protestant congregations have ordained women for decades). obviously there's another element wrt religious ministry in terms of christian theology's condemnation of wealth which doesn't directly influence for instance teacher compensation in the same way but much to think about and i do think there are some interesting parallels there because ministry is the only "helping profession" i can think of that is overwhelmingly male.

[nerdygaymormon]

This Tumblr Ask is mostly an excuse to interact with another human. I hope you don’t mind.

Would you say Mormonism has a better history of changing entrenched stances than other religions?

Of the religions which don’t currently perform same sex marriages, which do you think will start in the next 100 years?

Who would you guess is going to be the central orbit in your afterlife: you or your husband?

Over the past 20 years, Salt Lake City Utah has had some of the best numbers regarding changes in racial diversity and home prices in the nation. A generation ago this relationship (then known as “White Flight”) was a major and very sad problem many municipalities faced. Is Mormonism in Florida making lives better for Black people?

These are interesting questions.

—————————

Would you say Mormonism has a better history of changing entrenched stances than other religions?

Mormonism believes in on-going revelation, and its top leader is considered to be a prophet and we also have apostles. In other words, the structure is one which suggests change is an ongoing feature of this church. Compared to where the LDS Church was in 1830 or even 1960, much has changed.

Despite this, it seems to me to be slower than others when it comes to reconsidering "entrenched stances." It didn't allow full participation by Black members until 1978. Every few years it seems to take another small step or two towards equality for women, but the slow pace of change makes it feel like it's falling further behind much of Christendom.

I think the reason for this church being slow to progress forward is that it raises questions about the role of the prophet and apostles. If the past leaders were wrong about race or the inclusion of women, what might the current leaders be wrong about? Undermining the authority & teachings of past leaders calls into question the authority & teachings of the current leaders. Can I disregard what they're saying on LGBTQ+ topics because I believe there'll be further revelation and change, even if the current leaders say that the current teachings won't change, just like the past leaders said there wouldn't be change?

The current workaround is that doctrine doesn't change, but policies do. While I know many consider the LDS Church's teachings on gender and marriage to be doctrine, they have changed many times and therefore I think of them as policies.

—————————

Of the religions which don’t currently perform same sex marriages, which do you think will start in the next 100 years?

One of the ways churches create an identity for themselves is by what they stand for. They also can define themselves by what they are against. Unfortunately, for hundreds of years Christianity has adopted being anti-gay/anti-queer as part of the definition of what it means to be Christian. Changing this identity is difficult.

There are Christian denominations wrestling with accepting same-sex marriages. Changing their stance has roiled their denominations. While many are thrilled, some traditionalists are alarmed & dismayed and whole congregations vote to leave that particular denomination.

I think this study showing the changing acceptance of gay marriage by religions in the United States is fascinating. I think it predicts most religions in the United States will ultimately accept queer people and same-sex marriages.

This chart shows that the Latter-day Saints moved the most in the past 8 years, from 27% to 50%. This is very much related to LGBTQ+ members coming out, especially teenagers and those in their 20's. Also, we have had a wave of adults who came out & left their mixed-orientation marriages. It's been a big, messy process, but now it seems most everyone knows or is related to a Mormon/ex-Mormon who is out as LGBTQ+. Which underlines that when people actually know queer folks and hear our stories, it changes hearts.

—————————

Who would you guess is going to be the central orbit in your afterlife: you or your husband?

Gosh, I don't know how to answer this. I'm not sure what this means to be the "central orbit" of my afterlife.

Considering I'm single and don't have a husband, I will have to say that it won't be my husband. Although, if I'm lucky, maybe one day my marriage status will change

—————————

Over the past 20 years, Salt Lake City Utah has had some of the best numbers regarding changes in racial diversity and home prices in the nation. A generation ago this relationship (then known as “White Flight”) was a major and very sad problem many municipalities faced. Is Mormonism in Florida making lives better for Black people?

It's interesting you speak of Salt Lake City as racially diverse. When I visit, I notice the lack of such diversity. I suppose compared to where it was, it is becoming more diverse, but so is the United States.

Utah is the 34th most racially and ethnically diverse state in the nation, putting it in the bottom half of states. Forty percent of the state’s growth since 2010 has come from racial and ethnic minority populations, who are expected to account for one in three Utahns by 2060. In contrast, it is projected by 2040 that the United States is expected to have no race or ethnic demographic which is more than 50% of the population, making us a majority minority nation.

So yes, Salt Lake City and Utah are becoming more diverse, but still lags far behind the United States as a whole.

As for your question whether Mormonism in Florida is making lives better for Black people, I don't think so. I also wouldn't say we're making life worse.

I know we have talked about being more welcoming of Black people and have had some committees in my local area to discuss what changes we can make in our congregations or what contribution we can make to the Black community in the area. I'm not aware of any sustained efforts to make changes or to partner with local organizations.

Our congregations in Florida may look more diverse than the average congregation in Utah, but typically they're not as diverse as the neighborhoods where we are located. We have much room for improvement in making a space where all feel welcome and that this is their spiritual home.

[2goldensnitches]

https://www.kiis.com.ua/?lang=eng&cat=reports&id=1334&page=1#:~:text=As%20can%20be%20seen%2C%20the,sympathize%20with%20both%20sides%20equally

As can be seen, the vast majority of Ukrainians - 69% - sympathize with Israel. Only 1% sympathize with Palestine. At the same time, 18% of respondents answered that they sympathize with both sides equally.

🇺🇦 🇮🇱

Making out sloppy style

I know you’ve already sent this ask to other people but i’ll humour you: this marks a monumental shift in israeli opinion, actually. Netanyahu has been kissing putin’s ass for years and pointedly ignored the significant pro-ukrainian segment of israeli society because autocrats like to stick together (until they inevitably turn on one another). The fact that an israeli ambassador made a public statement promising aid to ukraine instead of covertly tracking iranian assets through syria and lebanon as it used to do means there’s now a large sector of the government that has broken from netanyahu’s line and is acting in direct opposition to russian interests

The key factor here is russia, of course. If not to broadcast their displeasure with bibi, then it’s because the israelis have been finally pushed to publicly acknowledge that russia is the common denominator in regional destabilisation and it funds terrorists of all stripes as a state—hamas has also openly declared favour with russia and hamas representatives have been invited in a diplomatic capacity to moscow several times.

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-hamas-war-palestinians-news/card/hamas-representatives-visit-moscow-KdGiKy8PGGyopTKyeF7F

Hopefully something good will come of this soon. Ukraine desperately needs an iron dome system

[amadholes-lostre]

Countries - North America

I currently working on denominations in Califinity, mainly the two biggest ones. However, I hit a snail due to just trying to think up names for it. Like, GRR Martin said he doesn't bother with it for Westeros' names like The North and King Landing, but I am obsessed with namings. If the name doesn't have meaning, or doesn't looks right, I gonna fucking throw myself off a bridge.

Anyways, right now I focusing on North America states because there are a lot more countries than ours today. And I including Central America and the Caribbeans, because it's still part of North America. I will also talk about UNAC, which is a supernational union similar to today EU (EU was already federalized in bhna contemporary) and superseded NAFTA.

United States of Fredoia

I already talked about Fredoia briefly on my last post, only that it superseded the USA. Fredoia inherited the majority of USA lands (there were time they didn't, thanks to Neo-Confedercy). They did lose many lands due to many Native tribes declaring independence (I will elaborate that later).

Like USA before, Fredoia kept it capital city where Washington, DC was, and like Washington state, its name is change (maybe Unionpolis, very original lol). It incorporated Arlington Country and Alexandra City, giving DC a total land area of 270 km². It population should be around 3 million. It administration level will be called a metropolis-state level: it status is equal along with other states (they are represented at congress), but it functions more as a city.

New York City is also a metropolis-state, incorporating counties and cities in its surroundings, including Hudson Country, NJ(yep, Jersey City included). However, it lost being the biggest in the US (being now 18 mil), Metropolis of Los Angeles is bigger, far bigger (24 mil). Also, they rebuilt Penn Station, now called Empire State Central Station.

Also, voting systems and constituents' representation are different. It is a proportional representation by parties, meaning Fredoia has a multi-party system. The head of state and head of government is separated, and its government structure is a parliamentary republic like Germany.

Thanks due to quirks, immigration, civil wars, geographical barriers, and the fact that this takes place hundreds of years later, Western and Eastern Fredoia have very different cultures compared to today. How people differentiate West and East is by geographic barriers like how we do so with Mississippi River. The Rocky Mountains Range helped differentiate the two regions.

For one, Latines are now the majority in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and other Western states (maybe not Oregon nor Washington). There are already articles that projected this will happen. What is unique due to the mixture of Latine and Anglo culture, especially the language, created a new ethnicity called Californians (Kalifornán written as gender neutral). They even developed a unique language called Kalifornán in its native language (Kalidán if you read my other post for Dune). It's a mixture of Spanish and English, mainly that Spanish superceded English phonetics and any words that were originally French. However, many English words still remain, words like ín (and), islán (island), lán (land), ríf (river), and such. Also, some letters change due to pronunciations, like Spanish J is now Hr (Juan will spell Hruan), Spanish and English Ch, along with English J is now Ç. The C that pronunced similar to the word city is now S (reason why Frinsica has an S now). I gonna write a post for this.

One key factor for Californians' ethnicity is that the majority are Califinitans. The majority of Fredoia Califinitans are located beyond the Rocky Mountains, with exceptional of Upland South-

-due to The Great Blooming and the Neo War. Almost all of those in Upland are what I called Deitist: believing that Califia is someway a deity.

There is also a new ethnicity/race called Biras (Birace?Biase?). They are the English version of Mestizos. I was thinking that since interracial is more acceptable, and therefore more biracial children, that will be far more biracial in the future. I will think they will be the majority (maybe 1/3?), though they will likely have different groups depending on their background. Sasha Waybright is likely a Biras, however, this will depend on if her one or both her parents are from the Eastern. She probably will view herself as a Mestiza since she will be a Kalifornana.

I also want to create a different post that focuses only on the State of California.

Native American States

After the Second Civil War, many Native American tribes declared independence. How many, I don't know, and to be honest, I don't think it is more than 10. Right now, I gonna create ones from the US since I more familiar with it. There likely are independent First Nation states in Canada, and there definitely is a Mayan state in the Yucatán Peninsula (and maybe whatever the Zapatistas are controlling now).

Kingdom of Hawaii

This was already a no-brainer as there is already a sovereign movement by Native Hawaiians. Honestly, it is rather they would have a monarchy or republic is the question.

This part is going a bit controversial, but once the USA government kinda just collapsed, there was a lot of chaos in the islands. There was a massive exodus, many who were non-native, who went back to the states. However, there was also an expulsion of other non-native, even those were not white, by Native Hawaiians; there were conflicts between two groups who wanted to either remain in the union or become independent, which led into this. Hawaiia also has a right of return for diaspora Hawaiian like many other countries do.

The capital is still Honolulu. They are a member of UNAC. When Amphibia was transported at the Pacific, Hawaii claimed some islands in its southern water that were uninhibited. There are political tension between the and the Kingdom of Newtopia due to this, and also the fucking megafaunas they traveled to the islands.

Navajo-Hopi Nation

Again, a no-brainer, however, the thing that was a bit shockingto me was that there is another tribe reservation inside Navajo. I was wondering why there was a hole in Navajo until I look at a proper map and saw Hopi in it lol

(Other reservations in the East likely will be incorporated simply because Navajo-Hopi ask them "hey you wanna join us?")

Honestly, it likely they had the most peaceful transition: it isolated thanks to being in a desert (and behind the Rocky Mountains), there is not that many non-native in it to begin with, there are other issue happening for the USA government to worry about, and the most hilarious reason, is that they never publicly declared independence. They decided to ignore DC and acted like an independent country for either half to nearly a century.

I don't know if Navajo-Hopi should be a binational state or not. Binations don't usually last that long, and there are other non Navajo-Hopis that live in the nation. The capital city is Jeddito, an actual place in Navajo that is inside Hopi. Population in the nation should be around 10-15 mil. NH is part of UNEC.

Republic of Lakotah

Likely the biggest Native country if Alaska isn't independent. It is actually based on a proposal state for Lakota.

It capital and largest city is Omaha (will go by a different name). The city is right on the tip, and it is the most important city as it is connected with the Mississippi River.

Even though Lakotah is meant for Lakota, there are other Native tribes who emigrated to it. There is likely ethnic tension between Lakota and the other non-Lakotas, but I don't think it won't be as awful as other places.

Of all the native states, Lakotah was the most violent; the country situated in five Republican states. The likely reason how they managed to gain independence is due other tribes from the surrounding coming over to help (similar to Bleeding Kansas). And anti-quirks were not as pivotal or heated compared to Whites (especially Republicans), so while Whites were fighting among themselves about quirks, quirks and non-quirks Native were teaming up.

There is a unique architecture in Lakotah, buildings which are called Tipi. Tipi are small, arcological buildings that are meant to house either 2,000 to 10,000 people. They primarily house people without hurting the environment. They are small, 1/4 to the size of a square kilometer. What is unique is that it is a commune, allowing people to share and control resources via democratically. It's the only place on Earth where they have true communism. How Tipi interspersed the lands is unique because I got the idea from Not Just Bike on his video of Switzerland. Lakotah is a sprawling country, where half the population lived in 5 major cities, and the other half lived in Tipi in said city's region or somewhere else. Instead of having sprawling suburban like the USA and Canada, Lakotah is sprawled by Tipi.

Lakotah land area is 200,00 km², with a population of 55 mil., and Omaha population is 10 mil.

It is also a member of UNAC

Country around Oklahoma

I know for a fact that tribes in Oklahoma declared independence too, the only issue is I don't know a name for it. There are multiple ethnicities in Oklahoma, and there likely need to have a lingua franca.

I still gonna call it Oklahoma. Oklahoma City is the capital, with a population of around 1-2 mil. The country itself is 15-20 mil. Oklahoma is a member in UNAC.

Maya Republic

Mayas initiated their country during the Dark Age/Vigilant Era, like the four other countries I mentioned. And when i said Maya, I mean Indigenous Mayas , not Mestizos who don't identify as such. The Maya Republic controls Chiapas, Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, and Northern Guatemala.

I don't know where the capital city will be. Either Mérida in Yucantán, Jovel, or Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Population is likely at 30 million. Maya is a member in UNAC.

The majority of Mayas are likely Califinitans, though I don't know if they will be deitists or nondeitists.

UNAC

UNAC, or United North America Confederacy, is what I said before: a supernational union similar to EU. And I mean similar in many ways.

Border between UNAC members are open, there is a singular currency (called Uneso), no visa required for nationals when working in different countries, UNAC Nationals allowed to vote and stand in office in local government, no restrictions in trading, etc. There is not much standard when it comes to infrastructure. However, they do have major projects for UNAC to feel more connected. Almost all railways in mainland North America are electrified (25kv/50hz), all have standard gauge, have uniformed signals, and are connected. It's theoretically possible to take an hsr (450 kph) line or two from New York City to Panama City. But a more preferrable opition is a Maglev (750 kph) line, which goes directly to either city.

The capital city is at Rio Grande mouth, called Rio Grande City. It picked for a symbolic reason: Rio Grande separated Latin and Anglo culture, the treatment of Mexican, and proxy Latines, by the former USA, and picking the capital on the mouth bonds the two cultures together.

The city population is around 20-25 million. Some interesting things i think up is that there is a lot of bodies of water in Rio Grande City, like what it is today-

-so the city kinda looks like Venice. There are artificial islands similar to I-Island off the coast, though they are much smaller, likely at average of 10-50 km². There is a pro-hero academy meant for UNAC national students. There is also a Triwizard-like tournament for Pro-heros academies, and it is always hailed in the city.

I think the UNAC government is similar to the EU along with Switzerland. It has two legislative, one voted by population, another by it state government. There is also a commission committee that handed making laws, but I too lazy to look it up. UNAC Senate, the one elected by population, has a degressive proportionality when giving each state senator. Let's be honest, Fredoia will fucking out vote every countries due to having the highest population. Mexico comes in second by population, with maybe a population of either 250-300 mil, but even then, adding all the other countries, they still won't outnumbered Fredoia, even if Fredoia did lost many states before. So, small countries (maybe less of 10 mil?) automatically have 5 senators, and the Senate will apportioned senators accordingly. Likely Fredoia only filled 1/3 of the Senate. The executive branch is a council of each countries head of state and government, like the EU.

Amphibia and the Boiling Isles

Amphibia can't be a member due to it government and representation. Even though Amphibians could elect local leaders, non-Newts can't vote for the supreme legislative body, and the kingdom is a semi-constitution monarchy. Like, UNAC is okay with Hawaii being a monarchy (if Hawaiians choose it) as it government is very much a constitution monarchy. The monarch has restricted power, similar to the British monarch. Andrias has far more privileges that will make UNAC very uncomfortable. There is some trade right between the two, and the Amphibians do have an easier time getting a visa (this I imagine how Hop Pop and two kids manage to enter California).

For BI, it is complicated. BI is situated in the middle of the Atlantic, and therefore does not feel connected to North America. Actually, there's likely tension between UNAC and BI (and likely other countries, especially EU and West Africa countries). Many of the islands block shipping lanes, so conflicts between BI and other countries are likely to happen. Doesn't help they are also do magic and far more non-humanoid like.

Not only that, but BIS are very isolationist. Rarely do they connect with the outside world. Even when Belos becomes emperor, it didn't really change its isolational policy other than scaring other countries because now they are united and far more powerful.

There's nothing else much to talk about. In the EU, they have a similar international pro-hero academy for EU national students to learn together -this is the premise for snk/bnha fic, where 104th class are a pro-hero class (Eren was a non-quirk until his father gifted him one, and not only Ymir (freckles) is from a famous and loving pro-hero parents, but she also in an arranged marriage with Historia, her childhood best friend).

Anyways, that's it.

[aces-and-angels]

bearing more agnes and jina asks because once again, I love them:

what got them both into law? Do they have certain thoughts about the academia?

what's their favourite part about the park & davis hq? the offices, the proximity to coffee shops etc, y'know like their own little office space?

do they consider themselves as a mentor? If yes, what do they aspire to do/teach? if not, what do they consider themselves as to their employees, outside of the whole coworker/boss/etc denomination?

i too love and adore them- so i must give these wonderful questions wonderful answers. here's round two of an exclusive interview with agnes and jina🖤

---

what got them both into law?

a: law was not my end goal by any means. my original plan was to end up working in a lab doing research and whatnot. j: sounds dreadful. a (snorts): says the woman who barely passed chemistry. j (deadpanned): i was a poli-sci major for a reason. a: wasn't your father an electrical engineer? j: aptitude isn't genetic. a (smirking): clearly. j: just get back to your story, yeah? a: fine. well, i was- how do you say- 'radicalized' during college. couldn't pry that megaphone out of my hands no matter how hard you tried. even if ji over here had a problem with it. j: the issue wasn't you having a megaphone. it was where you were pointing it at that was the problem. your protests had zero direction. a: good thing i met you then, huh? j (rolls eyes fondly): met is putting it lightly. you, my friend, were impossible to ignore. a: one conversation with ji was all it took for me to march over to my advisor's office and switch to pre-law. j: i don't think i said all that much to you. a: are you kidding? the whole 'i'm but a speck compared to the injustices others have experienced. i want to be a part of the solution.' that's what you consider as not much? j (suppressing a grin): hm. a: she won't bring this up, so i will. ji was also captain of her debate team in high school.

do they have certain thoughts about academia?

j: there's a lot of politics surrounding it. on paper, we did everything right. but legacy is a powerful thing in academia as well as the legal profession as a whole. where you go to school, who you know- all of that matters. a: it's a never ending cycle of elitism that systematically keeps these organizations- j: white. a: exactly. right now, we're an anomaly. that's why we fund the scholarships we do. there are so many brilliant minds who just need to be given a chance to truly thrive.

what's their favorite part about the park & davis hq?

a and j simultaneously: mr. mercado. a: i adore that man. he owned one of the food carts that was stationed near our old office building. best veggie tacos i've ever had. j: our entire staff loved him so much that we decided to bring him along with us when we moved our hq to manhattan. now he's one of the main cooks at our commissary. a: i'm also a big fan of our in-office garden walls. j (chuckling): of course you are. you designed them. a: what, i can't be proud?

do they consider themselves as mentors?

j: i'm not sure if mentor is the right word to describe our role a: i'd like to take on mentees, but it's not feasible with our current schedule. j: what we do is pair our newer associates with more senior members of the firm based on our annual evaluations. the goal is for both parties to enhance their abilities. a: the system has its growing pains. some pairs get along better than others. j: that reminds me- mendoza's newest mentee- what was his name again? a (scans through spreadsheet): zahir. j: ah, yes. he seems to be having a hard time acclimating. should we reassign him? donna's last mentee recently transferred. a: give it time, ji. i still think those two will be good for each other.

[spacelazarwolf]

I am not Jewish but from what I understand, Israel as referred to in Judaism is not meant by the Israel as it exists as the settler-colonial state in the Middle East **funded by Evangelical Christians to support their religious-political goals**. The US military is almost overwhelmingly Christian/Catholic, culturally, but nobody is going up to the Catholics asking their extensive political support status of the US military the second someone finds out they’re Catholic. Most of the time, it’s “oh what’s communion like”. Granted they might get asked about the Pope and Altar boys but Christianity is a cultural majority. Catholics are gonna be fine, if offended, if you bring up the Papacy’s history. There’s not gonna be a storm of cathedral violence if ONE Catholic looks at you disdainfully if you ask about the Vatican’s politics. Similarly, there are so many different denominations of Xianity but the second Judaism gets brought up, everyone’s a white ashkenazi whose parents fund Hollywood and Broadway and are thereby obligated to privilege enough to be subjected to Israel/IDF interrogations.

I don’t know enough about Judaism to know the differences between Reform, Orthodox, or Conservative Judaism and I don’t know if that’s like just Ashkenazim or if all different minhags/minhagim(?) fall under those differences, but notice nobody asks a pastor from a southern Baptist church how he feels about the actions of a northern Presbyterian preacher or compares the pope to Trump.

Y’all are intentionally misreading Avishai so you can soapbox about the actions of the IDF to Jewish people BECAUSE they’re Jewish. Y’all don’t even do this to Zionist *Christians*. This isn’t about the IDF, not really, this is about you needing to be ethically better than Jewish people on an inherent level, your need to place their humanity on a conditional pedestal related to a political state. It’s not about the criticism of Israel as a state, Avi is literally just saying that by asking Jewish people about Israel, you’re entering this conversation with the intention of deciding if they’re Human enough for you. Which is not the same thing as asking if they’re supporting the IDF. You’re aiming the gun and it’s the click before you pull the trigger.

anon, you get a standing ovation.

[demonslayedher]

What kind of place was Douma's temple? Were there cults in the time Kimetsu is set in (or maybe before, since Douma is way older by the time of the series) or is it supposed to be some sort or evil Buddhist Temple? Where did he even get the money to run the place in the first place?

Hello and welcome to Eternal Paradise! A cult which borrows a lot of symbolism from Buddhism, but is indeed a cult, one of many, many, many that have thrived throughout Japanese history--and in modern day, too! Or rather, "Japanese new religions" as they are more technically called, at least the once that term came into being since religious freedom was technically granted in the Meiji period (cults existed before that though). Besides the wide variety of small cults you can find here (or that try to find you, as I've found to be the annoying case), some of the bigger ones are very widespread and influential. I've gone into more detail about what we know from canon of Douma's cult and its history here and described how it is a bit different from regularly Buddhism here.

If you ask different sects of Buddhists throughout Japanese history if there were evil Buddhist temples, many of them would immediately point to any sect that wasn't their own. It's comparable to theological in-fighting between different Christian denominations in Europe (over similar questions, too!), and if anyone ever says "Buddhism is such a peaceful religion," I cannot help but snicker, because burning down your rivals' temples isn't all that peaceful. Even if we set aside the sohei (warrior monks), many sects of Buddhism started with monks who had strong personalities and theological disagreements with the sects that came before them. After they died, their followers went on to keep up the fights. Those major Buddhism sects had lots and lots of followers. Cults like Douma's, however, stayed limited to smaller groups.

That said, Buddhism in general played such a role in the every Edo period person's awareness of religion that it's unsurprising a cult like Douma's would borrow heavily from it when his parents started it. It's very common that they'll borrow imagery and ideas that look distinctly like Buddhism, Shinto, and Christianity, but often they are personality cults centered around a founder/religious figure, as is the case in many cults around the world.

And, like many cults around the world, it tends to prey on people's insecurities. It's very common that cults manipulate members into giving their finances to the cult, or at least to the founder, so my guess is that this was what happened in Eternal Paradise too.

[korolife]

Blog No.000 24年4月5日

『KoroLife』 : (I wish for) A Colorful Life

in hindsight I probably should've started with this introduction but ah well

Hello! I go by Aki Shourikawa, also known as TheAwesomeAki-kun from DeviantArt. Ever since dA "died" in 2019, I felt like I lost a place where creativity and the fun aspects of making art was celebrated and utilized. With the character-limiting, trend-chasing, confusing censorshipping, popularity-prioritizing algorithms and systems most social media sites use, I lost an outlet for expressing my scattered thoughts and experiences throughout my art journey.

Even though talking to the void for not having a following was normal to me even from my dA days, it felt especially lonely the past few years trying to move everything and start anew to cold, uncaring websites who valued clicks more than integrity or ingenuity. So much so that I just felt like I shouldn't even try doing anything apart from quietly feeling inadequate and too incompetent for anyone else outside my own head.

Outside of being a creator, I can hardly find artists I'd like to follow as a viewer in these sites now compared to before; when all the recommended recommendations tend to be the hundred-thousand-eyeball-popular artists that usually ➀cater to a younger demographic for profit, or just ➁follow along with whatever is currently trending and mirror what other artists already made. Not that there's anything bad about understanding your market and making profit off of it! It's just... art, to me, has always been an escape from ridiculous societal standings, hierarchies, or denomination prejudices present in day-to-day lifeーEveryone is capable of drawing or making art, and that's something I've always liked about it. But even if bad apples with bad takes are probably just a minority to an otherwise wholesome majority of artists out there... the idea of transforming the creation of art into a pure competitive market, or even some kind of 'content' generator somehow leaves a bad taste in my mouth, personally.

I want to see more of artists who create their own art as a showcase of how they perceive the world in their unique sense and style, just because! But those types (especially ones without a following) seem to keep getting shadowbanned, stunted, and pushed away by unquenchable zombie algorithms that push and normalize this trend.

There's a lot of laughably bad things to say about DeviantArt's online reputation, but I found that a lot of like-minded lurkers were easier to find back then + genuinely interact with beyond one-word compliments and befriend over a common interest (art!) regardless of following size, skill level, or what have you...compared to how it is these days where it's a ridiculous..."looking for art moots, but I will be picky❤"-kinda world. It was probably because it was focused as an art website and not just a really broad scope of 'social media' site where everything non-art also goes down the hatch...that was the case for old dA, at least.

Now, enter Tumblr!ーa site that I've been extremely familiar with even before I started uploading my stuff online, even though I haven't used it myself mostly because of DRAMAtical Murder memes ngl- and while I understand it still contains most of the flaws I've listed of other social media websites... it's meant to be a blogging site! With multiple blogs for multiple different things! That'll work great for me!... with my category-varied 2.4k submissions on old dA...I think!!

So instead of moping around for halcyon days as I did the past 4 years or so now, through Tumblr's platform... I wanted to get back to being productive again and document an aspect of my life that I wish to be filled with different colors and flavors. Through this nonsensical ramblingy, longass tangent about not liking other social media sites in comparison to old dAーalreadyーI'm doing it now!!

I want to learn all sorts of things when it comes to drawing, so I want to share all the failed experiments, confusing experiences, and silly things that generally makes me a little happy when I'm drawing. Even though I'll probably still be talking to the void...I think even the void will appreciate having more than 280 characters to use without sounding like an incoherent, shattered fortune cookie prophecy.

And if somehow, somewhere, someone finds and reads through them.... I hope they can give some form of motivation, inspiration, entertainment, or a cautionary tale for your own artistic endeavors, maybe? like, underestimating your deadlines and procrastinating at the last day, then panic upon the realization that you should've started like a wholeass year ago to finish the task at hand, then proceed with praying to a god (of your choice) and cramming until the very last minute til you nearly break your hands! Me and my 7-, 11-, 14-, 19- and 23-year-old selves do not recommend this at all! Tune in next week for more wild experiences that will summon forth bombasticeth side-eyes!!-

See you around, and for now, I hope you have a nice day ahead! 'v')/

・・・ALL LINKS・・・

・Art Gallery・Commission Info・Ko-fi shop・

Main blog・Art blog・Non-chatterbox drawing process (KoroLite)

[khlur]

'colonial christianity' bffr what the fuck are you on? like i said, stop trying to play saviour here.

dalit and bahujan people in india faced and continue to face systemic oppression at the hands of upper caste communities. when europeans came to mercifully civilize us all, they brought with them money.

many tribal and oppressed caste people--not unlike great grandfathers and grandmothers of my own family--saw colonizer money and benefits as a means of escape from material oppression (if i was at risk of being beaten up and lynched for daring to even enter the brahmin area of a village, i would take that money and education to give myself a more dignified life). in exchange they had to accept christianity.

if you're not from any part of south asia, you probably don't get AT ALL how pervasive the caste system is, how much of indian society is structured on it. do you understand the sheer amount of both structural and direct violence required to maintain caste hierarchies? even today? when most people in the world think of caste in india as something trivial and bygone?

as the second largest religious minority in this country, we form around a whopping 3% of the entire population. there's no denying that we started out by inheriting racist white colonial theology. however, we are not just passive receivers. dalit liberation theology and tribal theology have been growing movements within many denominations.

to this day, tribal christians in north and central india face the brunt of anti christian violence at the hands of upper caste hindus. this violence is undeniably caste based, shrouded in a good dose of hatred against religious minorities. entire towns torched, churches burned, people quartered and butchered, people burnt alive, people living in fear with their internet access cut off and mobile network turned off during major christian festivals.

this is of course just a snapshot.

my personal beliefs? doesn't matter. even if i dedicate my life to openly criticising everything wrong with christianity (and i am well aware of a lot that is wrong. i have a lot to say about it too) it won't matter. with the rise of hindu nationalism (many compare what's happening in india to a piece of history from the mid 20th century involving germany and a certain charismatic leader), religious minorities take even more heat than we did before, muslims in india unequivocally facing the worst of it all.

you tell me if i'm playing saviour or if i'm attempting to extend solidarity with a shared understanding of what it's like to be in a religious minority.

[chilewithcarnage]

i should clarify that the friend once told me i was going to hell because i didnt believe in the specific christian denomination they believed in. im glad they arent so caught up in it anymore but yeesh the things they had problems with me doing is nothing compared to their blog now

sounds like some major projection went on from their half. glad to see that they're getting somewhat normal and that you're a good distance from them.