#fair trade bananas

[hannahhook7744]

Known Descendants Stuff (Part 2);

Known Auradon Tv Show(s):

Toddlers Without Tiaras.

Auradon’s Classiest Home Videos.

Big Bling Theory.

Auradon’s Ninja Warriors.

Palaces and Coronations.

Trading Carpets. 

Stranger thingamabobs.

My Fair Lady.

Chipped.

The Prince Is Right.

Aurora The Explorer.

The Young And The Crownless.

Little Dwarves, Big Giants.

The Great Auradon Bake Off.

Get Down With The Ballgown.

Real Princesses Of Charmingsville.

How I Met Your Fairy Godmother.

Auradon's Friendly Forcast (News).

Auradon News Network (ANN).

Known Auradon Tv Channel(s):

AAC.

Auradon News Network (ANN).

ABS.

NAC.

WDA.

Good Deeds.

Fairy Planet.

Courtesy Central.

Kindness.

Bipidity. 

Magic Network.

National Enchantment.

Princess Broadcasting. 

Known Isle Tv Channel(s):

Evil Isle.

Known Isle Tv Show(s):

Judge Frollo.

Wharf Watch.

Cruella de Vil’s Coat Club.

Skin Deep With Mother Gothel.

Known Businesses:

Knuckle Punch.

The Market Place.

Pedro’s Meals For Eels.

Brews and Stews.

Hook's Clock and Curiousity shop.

Known Punishment(s):

The Stocks. 

Known Thing(s):

Human-Animal Translator Earpiece. 

Stocks. 

Centipedes in a bag.

Worms for sail.

Hair dye.

Murky Maggie's Soap Suds for the Anti-Socialite.

Known Food(s):

Snake Eggs.

Seaweed Smoothie.

Stale Muffins.

Moldy Jelly Donuts. 

Crepes.

Canned Cream Spinach.

Tongue Tinglers.

Banana Cream Pie.

Eel Tails.

Curdled Cream.

Rotten Apples.

Crab Apples.

Gruel.

Crusty oatmeal.

Gaston's 'Large as A Barge' recipe.

Known Class(es):

Accelerated Piracy.

Understanding Goblin Speech.

Chartering And Navigation. 

Coin And Jewel Calculus.

Advanced Wickedness.

Under The Sea: Science Below The Surface.

History Of The Isle.

Known Social Media:

Auratube (YouTube).

Auradon Buzz (Twitter?).

AuradonPrepFeed.

Other:

Student lounge, auditorium, and fitness center (info from descendants mobile game).

Fashion Flash (written by Lonnie for the school newspaper).

Auradon Prep Times.

Isle Gas Station (possibly).

Some form of Disney channel/Disney XD (possibly).

Part 1.

[monsterhugger]

ash, arthur, and yut lung, or “I hate you because you’re just like me but someone loves you”

cw: canon-typical sexual abuse (including CSA) and violence

I feel like a lot of Arthur’s hatred of ash stems from jealousy over Ash’s relationship with papa dino, and given he has every reason to know the nature of that relationship that makes it so much more fucked up than just being jealous that he can’t be the king of new york

Arthur knows exactly what golzine did to ash. when he captures Eiji to hand him over to golzine, he tells Eiji he’s going to be used in the same way ash was. and yet he’s jealous of ash. he’s jealous because ash was groomed and he wasn’t. he’s jealous because ash is being given the whole world at the cost of his dignity, of his autonomy. and he knows that. he tells ash “I know you never wanted it that way.” but he still wishes he could trade places with ash.

it’s never specified whether Arthur was one of golzine’s boys but I honestly believe he was. partly because the blond hair and blue eyes mean he fits golzine’s profile of a “valuable product” and partly because I honestly think it makes him more sympathetic and more of an interesting character. yes ash was victimized like him but ash was such a beloved victim. ash got tailored clothes and steak dinners. he was an object, but he was a *special* object, and to a boy who’s been broken down until he can only see himself as an object that seems leagues better.

Arthur and ash both got pulled off the streets and given power. they were both nothing before papa dino. arthur hated ash because he was the favorite, and because he was given so much more despite resenting that gift.

yut lung, I think, is already much more sympathetic than Arthur, in large part because he’s jealous of the love from someone who treats ash well and not the love from his abuser. he’s also just… very clearly a severely abused child lashing out and I think that makes him sympathetic, even to people like Blanca and Sing who know he’s up to no good and are actively trying to stop him by the end.

yut lung’s brothers not only killed his mother, but made him watch as they brutalized her when he was only six. his brothers continue to abuse him physically and emotionally, and may have even been molesting him based on hua lung's comments towards him and his reaction to being given to golzine as a “gift”. and obviously that in and of itself is disgusting and dehumanizing and abusive, that his own family would sell him like that… almost like how ash’s father encouraged ash to continue allowing his coach to abuse him in exchange for payment.

i almost want to say yut lung is ash if ash let his anger consume him, but that would imply ash DOESN’T let his anger consume him? like it seems different to watch yut lung murder his entire family as opposed to ash murdering the people involved in the banana fish conspiracy, but they’re both killing corrupt businessmen and politicians. they’re both killing the people who made their childhoods a living hell.

except ash is LOVED. no matter how many people ash kills, no matter how much blood is on his hands, no matter how disgusting his past is, eiji loves him. and yut lung hates them both for it because no one loves him. because he, and people like him, are supposed to be unlovable. if no one loves him, no one should love ash either, because he and ash are the same.

I think Arthur hates ash because he thinks he deserves the love ash gets. I think yut lung hates ash because he thinks he and ash don’t deserve love, and it’s not fair that ash can be loved if he can’t.

[paperstorm]

Random question: What do you think Tarlos's coffee preferences are?

ooooooo interesting. I feel like TK has more of a sweet tooth but I can't even say why I think that? Maybe because I really don't have one so the fact that he loves bubble tea and I find it usually way way too sugary is making me think he must like sweet things. (see also: the toffee cookies he makes with his mom, and the peanut butter and banana smoothies, which sound so nasty to me 😂) So maybe he would be more the type to like caramel macchiatos and pumpkin spiced lattes and drinks with syrup and whipped cream. Fancy coffee drinks as a lil treat. And Carlos ... tbh I can kind of see two very opposite things. I can see him being the kind of practical and utilitarian who goes for instant coffee because it's fast and buying whichever brand is one sale that week. But I can also see him being a super snob about good quality coffee beans, only fair trade, only whole bean, only ones sourced from a specific region of Colombia, and righteously aghast at people who sully the taste with cream and sugar (which is also a little bit me 🙈)

[phoenixcatch7]

You got me thinking about this all day. I'm on mobile so forgive autocorrect

Padok stared at the kid in front of him. The kid stared intently back.

"You can... just take them. They're free," Padok repeats.

"That's not fair! I don't want to be in your debt! We'll trade."

"Ok. What do you have in mind?"

The kid, who had curly hair and a green tunic over a brown undershirt shrugged and started sorting through his bag. He pulled out many things including a little doll of himself which he immediately put back in, a raft that he swiftly threw over his shoulder before it expanded and knocked a few of his companions to the ground, and a large bottle that was obviously supposed to be a terrarium complete with sticks and a brightly colored beetle, before finally pulling out a stick with a few leaves and flower blossoms on it. The kid smiled proudly and set it on the table, declaring it a "symbol of life and prosperity grown in the blessed gardens of the Great Mothers."

Padok had no fucking idea what that was supposed to mean but he nodded and set the stick on the shelf, getting a bunch of bananas to hand to the kid, who accepted. This usually is a red flag that you're dealing with yiga, but Padok had his doubts.

The curly haired kid thanked him and wandered away. Padok slyly watched him take a banana and chomp off the top, peel and all. Curly made a disgusted face but chewed and swallowed while several jaws dropped in the group he'd come with, along with one chiding "Hy-Rule!"

Scarf attempted to stop Curly, but Blue Hat stepped in with a grin, shake of a coin bag and a gesture where the quad colored tunic kid was watching in fascination. Wolf pelt tried the peel and actually nodded like it was alright. Scarf threw up his hands and turned to their leader, a man with full plate armor - how rich are these people?- who had been teaching the caped boy with a replica of Link's sword how to peel and eat a banana properly. Lobster shirt was watching them and took the banana peel, rubbing the inside consideringly. When Armor turned to address Curly, Lobster shirt carefully dropped the peel on the ground and went to bother his elders.

"But it is edible?" Curly asked loudly, shaking the peel for emphasis.

"I mean yes, but just because it won't give you food poisoning doesn't mean you should eat it!" Armor argued, rubbing his eyes.

Lobster shirt pointed out Lola, Padok's dog, to wolf pet, who ran to greet her and slipped on the dropped peel landing flat on his ass.

"It doesn't matter how it tastes!" Curly was meanwhile arguing. "Everything that can even give nutrients is a gift you shouldn't waste! What if after here we get stranded something we can't scavenge or hunt in? You'll be wishing you had extra peels to eat!"

Armor opened his mouth, visibly sighed, and gave up. Curly took another triumphant bite of the peel and cringed. Blue hat exchanged money with Quad Color. Scarf's face was buried in his hands.

Padok's pretty sure these guys aren't yiga.

I'm cackling oh I love this.

The increasingly doubtful stable master, hyrules canon bag of goodies with the raft and doll, the shout of dismay from the group but twilight testing it with... I can't tell if he used his human or dog taste buds, even my black hole of a goat dog won't eat banana peel XD. I think twilight just. Is like that.

But wind discovering the banana slip on his very first banana.... Tricking twilight with a dog to pet (mood), the way the guy thought time was rich af or at least descended from people who were, with his plate mail, hyrule ACTIVELY defending his terrible taste but hating the banana peel XD. The general air of chaos. Oh I love this!!!

Yeah sure despite the bananas they manage to pass the test anyway. First people to do so, but now he's got a great story to tell the next people coming in lmao.

[doesnotloveyou]

Tri-Vault Musings/Headcanons

Analyzing the conspiracies, experiments, and a possible plot-hole in how the vaults are portrayed in the Fallout show.

Major spoilers below cut!

Vault 31 manages (or rather supplies the managers of) the experiment taking place in Vault 32. Vault 33 is the breeding stock and control group that keeps 32 populated and the experiment ongoing. Since the proposed theory is that time is the ultimate weapon, this experiment was designed to last and last. Therefore, they need a constant stock of compliant subjects (we see what happens when the subjects are not "compliant"). And who is more compliant than content members of a meritocracy? Trained from birth to do as they're told because it's morally correct to obey, they will happily comply with whatever is expected of them in 32 (this is paralleled by the local chapter of the BoS who are taught it is spiritually correct to obey, morals notwithstanding).

The events that take place in 33 are suspiciously staged and seem, in part, to be an inside job. Hank was unaware of 32's compromised state, otherwise he would have been wary of allowing them into 33, let alone marrying his prized pupil to one of them. But Betty...she may have known. She is older than him, was Overseer before him, and curiously has no lineage to speak of. She was either strictly management, or already traded her children into 32 decades ago.

Based on her motives and that she is the first to say how awful it is that the prisoners died, we know Stephanie poisoned them on Betty's orders. This implies Stephanie helped Betty clean up Vault 32 along with any other plants from 31 that we are currently unaware of. It took a big effort to clean all of that in the limited time they had before Norman spilled the beans.

I'm curious why the morbidly grinning Overseer of 32, whose death at least Hank is aware of and who he would've known pre-war, is a) tied down, b) his door propped open, and c) three empty bottles of glue are on his desk. Fair to assume he locked himself in there when his residents rebelled, and fair also to assume he tried to warn his cohorts in 33 (unless failure is too much for a "manager" to admit even in those circumstances). The residents jammed the door open anyhow and tied him to his chair, but did they force feed him glue? Was he high on the glue? Did they glue him to the seat? Typical Fallout environmental storytelling, very open-ended.

Since the propaganda playing on the TV in 32 is about the exact phenomenon Robert House brings up, overpopulation leading to a violent culling, was that the experiment? Did House inspire the very experiment that would take place there? Would a meritocracy still eat itself even if managed properly?

The first corpse we see in 32 is the most likely cannibalized remains of an adult in the nursery. This may symbolize that overpopulation was indeed their downfall, and imply that the children were killed first. Previous to this we see the tossed classroom, also symbolic of trouble for the children. The corpse in the nursery seems to have died where they sat, either from their lost limb or a shot to the head. We see multiple suicides as well as homicides, proving that some residents intentionally removed themselves either from the chaos or to reduce the drain on resources.

Regardless, many corpses are strewn outside the seal to Vault 31. How they died is not clear, but if there was overpopulation and cannibalism it is safe to assume the food supply was gone and some simply starved to death.

The messages they left behind are easily the scrawlings of people who "went bananas" as Chet puts it, but who was meant to read them? Who else would read these messages but residents from Vault 33 and 31? The messages make it clear that the residents of 32 were onto their purpose as breeders for the managerial race, and whatever happened it's possible this is why the children might have been killed first, as a flipped bird to management for trying to create a superior race of *checks notes* managers.

The experiment in 32 failed. Even compliant subjects when deprived of resources and threatened with overpopulation turned on themselves. But they were not all so delirious as to question the authority that deprived them. It's even possible the chain reaction started when someone like Norman asked "Why are all leaders from 31?" They raided the Overseer's office, killed him, read his computer, learned what 31 is for, and spent their dying moments attempting to break into 31 and kill every manager in there.

Had they tried to contact 33 and warn them, it would have done no good because a manager would have intercepted and killed that message.

This, if it happened, would have to have been Betty. She is unfazed by what exists in 32. When messages to 32 requesting a breeder were answered, she should've been suspicious. We have to conclude that if she did know, she hid it from Hank.

Why breed with 32 anyway? Shouldn't all outside genetics be from 31? Wouldn't breeding the offspring of one manager with another manager be more efficient? If 32 was simply a copy of 33 and meant to also provide breeding stock for 31 to "outlive" the "competition," then WHAT happened other than Robert House being the smartest jackass of all time, as usual?

[(FNV spoilers for noobs) Tbf, House took the idea of outliving the competition to heart and did that himself. The show confirms he was in the know and implies Vault 21 was his project.]

POSSIBLE PLOT-HOLE:

If Moldaver could open the exterior door and get into 32, why not also get into 33 or directly access 31? If 32 was somehow easy because it was compromised, how long did she have to wait for 33 to contact 32? Utilizing raiders instead of her own ppl was smart, but raiders are notoriously unruly. How did she keep them in line long enough to infiltrate 33? (raiders do have some superstitious boundaries so them not disturbing the evidence in 32 feels accurate)

And why did some residents of 32 not flee to the surface? If it was simple enough to get in, shouldn't it have been simple to get out? We know they didn't because otherwise the exterior door would be recorded as having been opened from the inside as well.

ALSO, if 32 had a record of the exterior door being opened by "Rose" why didn't 33? Again, was this information only Betty was privy to? Or was only the manager in 32 allowed to monitor the exterior door and pass it on if needed? Are the vaults really allowed to access the exterior door without alerting each other (Vault-Tec is riddled with design flaws so this is probably a "yes")?

[rustedpipe]

things that happened on degrassi but i make them about riverdale

they had cheryl say cuckoo bananas one time, zig novak was heraldo, and also vanessa morgan was mike dallas's baby mama so like clearly there's existing connections here. and just like riverdale and degrassi writers-- i love putting characters into situations. so. without further ado..... things that happen on degrassi (tng & next class) that should've happened on riverdale.

betty pelts dodgeballs at jughead during gym class after he is vague about going on a date or not

dolly zoom on archie's face as fred says "your mom is gay"

betty and gay kevin have a fight while filming a fake commercial for unisex cologne for class

^ this with gay kevin

reggie does elaborate business deals with locker trading so that veronica can have the best one

archie sending veronica flowers with a card that says ”you rock! xoxo archie”

jughead choking and needing the heimlich but refusing to let gay kevin give him the heimlich because it would mean gay kevin has to touch him.

betty getting into an actual violent physical fight with blood with a random girl at school

^ okay go watch this video right now you only need to watch like the first minute exactly. the rest is completely optional. i have several scenarios in mind here:

- idea one is gay kevin having issues with fangs for the billionth time and so when in doubt kiss archie? - idea two is something jarchie related either betty or veronica is the dylan here . - IDEA THREE IS DYLAN=JUGHEAD GAY MARCO=ARCHIE. SO WHEN IN DOUBT KISS REGGIE?! - but also. the very first episode of riverdale is veronica so when in doubt you kiss betty. okay like realistically the scene is not like that but i think they shouldve let betty say "so when in doubt you kiss betty." for me personally. she would not fucking say that but i want her to

veronica and jughead go to the college admissions fair while extremely high.

RAS plays a similar role to kevin smith and gives advice to cheryl about being gay

kangs toxic poker game. what more can i say

veronica: as you and jughead’s closest friends- jughead: oh actually i don’t really like you. veronica: SHH!

natasha bedingfield performs at prom. archie gets to dance his heart out and cry a little to unwritten. and pocket full of sunshine woah oh

toni gets so much into vampire books that she makes out with cheryl and thinks about vampires too hard and bites her on the neck (this would be a great reference to vanessa morgan's time on another canadian teen show my babysitter's a vampire and also i think we should let toni be a little crazy for fun)

lgbt mixer at la bonne nuit. nothing crazy happens on the degrassi episode but i just wish it had happened on riverdale. like maybe veronica and kevin sing same love or born this way. (again that did not happen on degrassi just using the fact they did an lgbt mixer at the teen speakeasy as a jumping off point.)

when jughead gets hired by tabitha at pops, he immediately burns down the restaurant. they then go to a casino in niagra falls and get vegas-style married

cheryl adopts a pig (that later destroys her house) instead of coping with being alone

reggie attends a meeting about homophobia brought on by locker room bullying and someone explains the definition of internalized homophobia and he says out loud "im a homophobe" and starts crying

jughead poisons bret with stuff that makes you throw up. this involves cups being switched and a reference to roman history (but in the riverdale version betty supports and enables it)

jughead writes a story about a girl getting stalked who has a protective boyfriend trying to stop it but he makes the ending be that the boyfriend realizes he can never protect her from the stalker so he kills her. and betty is like dude um what that is insane. and hes genuinely like what it's just a story. later jughead ends up still not being able to figure out an ending and burns the script on stage while having a breakdown

they have to build rube goldberg machines for class. it doesnt matter who i just want this to be something

fp and alice wedding where bughead break up and get back together like five times about it

core four smokes weed during 2x14 The Hills Have Eyes (degrassi had an episode where teens were unsupervised in a cabin. Just Like.)

gay kevin does a gay musical production of romeo and juliet.

some film guy that jughead adores comes and does a guest lecture and so in order to impress the guy he smokes weed with chic and makes a terrible insane short film to show said film guy

timeskip jughead does mdma at an artsy party where people are very high and painting with their bodies on the walls and floors. in order to avoid his problems.

gay kevin wears a beret at least once

^ bughead texts

veronica sings triangle tra la le la by patsy cline while in the midst of one of her 'reggie or archie' moments

betty gets really into axe throwing with lesbians (the pretty poisons) in the woods

unfortunately i cannot find a video uploaded of gay tristan performing it but. gay kevin voice riverdale you make drama look! so! good!

veronica trying to tank her father's mayoral campaign by being gay with betty and outing hiram as a homophobe

reggie: for the last time i'm not gay. or homophobic. just missing my best bro....

jughead won't shut up in class so cheryl cuts off some of her hair and then asks jughead to hold the scissors for a sec. and then she raises her hand and tells the teacher jughead cut her hair

beronica has a heartfelt moment about admitting feelings for each other and in the middle of it reggie walks up to them with saddest look on his face and says "am i hotter than archie? be honest. actually don't." and then walks away

veronica comes out to avoid political backlash and the word gets around to hermione who tries to comfort her by saying "no one's gonna believe you're gay. it happens to all powerful women. even hillary"

cheryl and veronica have a fake trial in class over twitter beef

cheryl auditions for a boy part in a play directed by gay kevin. gay kevin initially says no, but cheryl points out that it should be about relating to the pain of the character, not gender. gay kevin agrees and says that he is going to play the part himself because no one understands what he's going through better than him, right?

i'm constructing a reality where fangs is dating gay kevin when he is in the infamous bus crash but instead of dying he goes into a coma. and gay kevin is loyally by his bedside until he snaps like three months in and hooks up with moose. the night he does that, fangs wakes up from said coma.

veronica, speaking to reggie: even though we're a toxic couple, i really miss you and i want our break to be over.

betty has a terrible reaction to weed and someone finds her sadly eating slices of bread from a bag saying “i thought the bread would make me less high but it isnt working”

and finally, and crucially, they should've done a shark in the water style promo for at least one of the seasons. thanks for tuning in.

[acti-veg]

i genuinely feel like it’s impossible to be an ethical person without sacrificing pretty much everything which gives me any joy

i went vegan, but now i just keep seeing how i fall short in so many other ways. it seems like everything i previously enjoyed has to be boycotted. everything is problematic in some way.

I don't feel like 'ethical' is a thing anyone actually just achieves and becomes 'an ethical person' one day by being nice enough and boycotting enough companies; it's something we have to strive for. I agree with Aristotle that virtue is a skill, it's not something you just are, it's something you have to constantly practice and that won't always be easy. That is made all the more difficult by capitalism.

Whatever you want to buy that will give you joy that you know is harmful, consider whether there is a more ethical version. Can you buy it second hand? Is there a more ethical company selling the same thing? Can you replace it with something else? You can't deny yourself every pleasure, but if something that brings you joy is inherently harmful you can choose to examine whether or not you actually need it to feel happy, and if you really do, how you can mitigate at least some of that harm. It's about choosing your battles.

I can't not eat any vegetables or grains without a severe health impact for example, and I can't afford to buy everything locally and I can't grow it all myself, so I buy it from the supermarket, knowing that much of it will have been farmed in environmentally destructive ways using unfair labour practices. People who aren't even trying will bring that up as a reason why veganism isn't ethical, but it's a lot better than consuming that unethical produce alongside animal products, which require even more of that exact produce.

I can't be completely cruelty free but I can relatively easily boycott animal products, and I can pay for the extra 15% on coffee, chocolate and bananas to buy Fair Trade. There is just about no smartphone or computer that does what I need it to do that is also ethical, but I can buy them refurbished instead of new. I can boycott particularly harmful companies, while knowing that what I replace their products with won't be ethically perfect either - just better. None of these are hugely commendable acts or difficult sacrifices, but it all helps.

Being vegan does not make you a good person, it's just one stance on one particular issue, which is the exploitation of animals. I oppose exploiting animals and refusing to purchase products which engage in that exploitation is accessible to me, and so I do it. It's that simple. Plenty of my other purchases aren't ethical and neither will yours be, because a lifestyle free from any and all harm is not possible under capitalism.

So long as you're doing your best that's really all anyone can expect. We're going to pass through this world just once, so we should enjoy it while trying to leave our small corner of it a little better off than it was before we got there. Being kind to one another and living a good life may not always be easy, but its also not some great burden that robs you of any joy. It is the entire point of living.

[hauntinggviolet]

Just wanna let anyone (that doesnt already) know, that these are the exacts i have up for sale/trade <3 prices depend on where you buy, but these are the starting prices for mercari (preferred)! I need these gone asap due to space.

FOR SALE

Trapeze slip (Storm - XS) | $70

Lost In the Forest sweater (Faded rose - L) | $110

Spending time pullover (White - L) | $70

Crafty cuff thermal (Mocha - XS-S) | $80

Crafty cuff thermal (White - M, Pink - S) | $50

Trade

I love h81 Flannel (Red, Blue, Green stripes - M) | Looking for an S

Zoe Benson exacts

Sparkle and fade UO Distressed sweater (Gray - M) | $55

SOLD

Banana republic stripe cardigan (Gray - S) | $60

Gypsy rose cardigan (Dyed Brown - XS-S) | $170

I try to keep my prices as fair as i can without losing too much profit. please understand this is the only way I can make money atm, so, while i do take offers, depending on the rarity and item, i can only do so much. <3

[kinfriday]

Savagery

It’s hard to know how to feel as I’ve been going through the history of the Viking age peoples.  

On one hand they were profoundly inclusive, traveling the world, inviting other cultures to trade, and even including some of them. People with Persian DNA have been found in graves, along with rings with Allah inscribed upon them.  

What’s more we have written firsthand accounts, some of the only surviving, of Viking funerary rites from traders, and many historians now believe that the ancient Silk Road had its western terminus in Scandanavia. 

While gender roles seemed to have been strictly enforced, women still had the ability to own property, or serve as warriors. There even seems to be evidence, though it would be easy to read too much into it, that the Vikings were comfortable with a type of non-human identity in some.  

In a vacuum all of this sounds amazing. Here we have a warrior culture, that also traded and welcomed others and had at least some degree of respect for women as they ventured across the world.  

Truly, they must be a model of 9th century progressive values and ideals.  

Not so fast...  

While, to a degree welcoming, worldly, and inclusive, our spiritual ancestors were also, at the very same time, terrible people. A bulk of the slave trading in Europe came from the Viking World. Rape, and the murder of children was an acceptable war tactic, and virtually anything could be done to a person one owned, even up to murder, with little to no consequence.  

Human sacrifice to the Gods was common and means of justice were shockingly brutal.  

None of this existed in a vacuum. The Christian kingdoms of this era were at least as bad, and in some ways worse, as were the Romans. You aren’t going to find a human society that is without its horrors, and if you read the legends, even the Gods do reprehensible things.  

As I’ve grown in my knowledge of the legends, I find it interesting that, from my perspective, Ragnarök was a preventable tragedy. Loki’s three monstrous children are bound, but the why is at best hazy, and with Fenrir it’s an outrage.  

The Gods feared the great wolf, but nothing that survives ever indicates he was a threat. Perhaps we should trust the wisdom of Woden here, perhaps he had some foresight, but all we have from the legends is fear, and it is his binding that sets up the great cascade of events that culminate in the death of the Gods themselves.  

I wonder if one of the reasons Loki went after Baldr, was a result of Woden binding Loki’s son unjustly.  

One might be surprised to see such sentiment from me, but the Gods call me to be honest, and the one thing they never claim to be in all the legends is perfect, nor do they claim to be unchangeable.  

As said, they even face death, which is an ultimate form of change, perhaps the most necessary kind.  

I say this because I realize I am not so different from the ancestors. While many might see my actions as progressive, or even virtuous as a vegan, as someone that strives to go fair trade with her clothing, chocolate and bananas etc. Striving isn’t good enough, is it?  

I’m writing this on a computer that was built with conflict minerals, it’s unavoidable. Most likely some ten year old child working his fingers to the bone mined the cobalt for my fancy electronics.  

Migrants denied any pathway to legal or easy immigration into this country are exploited to grow my food. Some of my clothing was most likely made in sweatshops.  

We like to think that we’ve come far as a society, and we have. We now keep our slave labor, our exploitation of others firmly out of sight while we pat ourselves on the back for wearing hemp and shopping at Whole Foods, judging those that came before us with a type of virtuous horror.  

And it’s not fair to them, and it won’t be fair to us when, five or ten generations down, they look at us as brutal savages either.  

I don’t think anything can make many of the actions of our ancestors right, or understandable, but I think to honor them properly we must look at them with honesty and as lessons of what not to do, how not to be, as much as how to be.  

I see this with the Gods too, and the chronicling of their savagery and past mistakes recorded in the mythology. Woden is not the same God that he was a thousand years ago, he has grown and changed. I am deeply convinced of this. What’s more, the culture that interpreted, or misinterpreted his actions is now gone, and we’re left with our, in some ways, more progressive time where we can forge new relationships with these High Ones.  

Nothing is static, nothing will ever be perfect, but in every era, every time, there were at least a handful, some known, some unknown, that bucked the trend, that sought to be better than the world they were raised in and went beyond what they were given.  

There were people who freed their slaves, fought for justice, or never kept another human being because it just felt wrong. There were noble warriors who never harmed a child or violated a woman in a village.  

They may have been few, they may have done their good deeds under a cloak of eternal anonymity, but we have the same choice.  

I can’t stop it all, but I can stop some. I can’t keep myself from benefiting 100% in the privileged position I exist in, but I can use that privilege to shout from the rooftops and intervene for those that have none.  

We are our deeds, in totality. Much is made of being a warrior in many modern heathen paths. Well, I feel my war is within, and against every systemic cruelty that exists in the world.  

It may be my Jörmungandr, it may be the end of me, but as long as I’m working to do better, and be better, than I feel I am honoring the Ancestors and the Gods.  

[delivish]

first lines in 2024

i've been a little quiet on here because i've actually been plugging away with writing, but i was tagged by the super-nice and super talented @betaot4 (seriously, go read their works, they are so. good) and thought it would be fun! here's two excerpts, one from my butters/scott fic, the other from a secret project 👀 the malkinstotch fic was technically started dec 27th, but idc idc, it counts, lol

Malkinstotch Fic:

After the break was physical education. Scott dressed in his shirt and gym shorts and skipped energetically out to the field.  He’d always liked P.E. Most of the kids he went to school with thought physical education was just a gimme class — and, to be fair, they were right — but Scott welcomed the opportunity to get out and exercise, even if he got tired pretty easily and was almost always picked last for everything. His mother hated that he was still taking P.E., even though, according to her, he had a serious medical condition and should have been excused. Scott didn’t see what the big deal was. His mother worried about him getting hurt, and maybe that was fair; any injuries he got always took him twice as long to heal on account of his being diabetic.  But then again, his mother had spent his entire life worrying about him getting hurt, often and loudly, much to the chagrin of his childhood Pediatricians. If wiping his ass had the potential to hurt him, Scott was halfway convinced his mother would be doing it for him. He loved her, but her concern for him sometimes felt like a watery grave slowly being filled one cup at a time. Not enough to kill you outright, but you’d eventually drown in it all the same.  It was raining out, so they were inside today. Scott could see Butters standing on the other side of the basketball court. Butters turned his head to one side as Scott looked, presumably to catch Clyde Donovan’s latest lame joke, and laughed. Scott watched Butters’ eyes go soft at the corners, big and bluey-green, watched the magical way they seemed to shift more green than blue and vice versa whenever the light hit them just right; whenever Butters laughed it was like Scott was pressing into an old bruise, the way it hurt and felt kind've good all at once. Butters was like a controversial flavor of pie — banana cream, maybe — in that not everyone liked him, but it was okay because he was still sweet.

Secret Project:

His Narcotics Anonymous group met every Friday evening at 8 PM in the gymnasium of the local high school.  Butters didn’t get off work until seven-thirty, though, and the veterinary clinic where he was employed as a tech was forty-five minutes across town. With traffic, he was almost always fifteen or twenty minutes late, on top of being tired, stressed out, and covered in animal hair — or worse. Bebe had told him over and over again that it was okay. She knew he was working, and she didn’t care how late he showed up as long as he kept showing up. Her reassurances, gentle as they were, had fallen on deaf ears. Butters’ stomach twisted itself into knots every time he walked in here, bile slicking the back of his throat, anxiety slithering under his skin like some parasitic worm that existed only to amplify all his bad thoughts. If it hadn’t been for his therapist, Butters probably would have stopped going to these stupid meetings a long time ago. But Stan, in an uncharacteristic display of offering an actual fucking opinion, seemed to think it would do him some good to see that other people had struggled with this, that he wasn’t as alone as he’d always felt.  Butters chuckled miserably as he parked the older model white pickup he’d traded in his Mini-Cooper for when he moved back into town. His old car had been cute when he lived in Los Angeles, but he was in the boonies now, as rural as he could possibly get without becoming an actual hermit. Maybe these meetings would do him some good, but god, all he could think was how much his mother would have hated the thought of him coming here, how she would have berated him for being such a weak, useless, fairy-fucking moron who couldn't keep his shit together.  Which, of course, was part of the problem. 

I am tagging @thegloriousninjaturtle and @stennyandbaddecisions!! Totally optional, ofc!! 💕

[iveneverdoneanythingwrong]

So I have the day off today, and I marked the entirety of it down to watch Red, White, and Royal Blue. This was a good decision as I've had to pause three times and I'm 3 min and 40 seconds into the movie. I just get so

and I have to stop and calm down. So I'm blogging when I have to pause.

Such a fanfic set up - Enemies to Lovers, royalty AU, slow burn, 400k.

I'm at the after-wedding party and the cake is SO BIG I KNOW WHATS COMING I CAAAAAN'T

IT'S LOOMING LIKE ITS READY TO ATTACK

ALEX IS DRUNK ALEX STOP ALEX YOU ARE AT A WORK FUNCTION AAAAALEEEEEEXXXXX

OH NO OH NOOO DRUNK!ALEX HAS SPOTTED HIS NEMESIS HARRY IN FRONT OF THE FERAL CAKE

The cake has chosen a victim. To be fair, Alex attacked it first, so I can't blame the cake…

This is the funniest face, I don't know why but I can't stop laughing at Alex's reaction to icing. You'd think it was cum

THE CAKE HAS ATTAAAAAACKED . Alex FAFOd. RIP Alex.

I love how this whole thing is basically Alex's fault, but the crown prince blames Henry. Family tension, yay!

I also love how Alex is called on the carpet in the oval office and it's ALL WOMEN IN THERE. He's cracking jokes, and they're talking trade negotiations and polling numbers around him.

Zahra is my favorite person ever. GET HIM!

Ok, Alex, sweetheart, honey, you are FIXATED on Henry being 6'2''…. do you have a, shall we say, issue? "Making it was one of the most depressing moments of my career - and I once saw Mitch McConnell eating a banana." Thank you for your service, ma'am.

Smile, boys. I SAID SMILE.

"Alex has very strong opinions. And he shares them. Loudly." 🤣 He's just American, Henry. 🤣🤣🤣 This is our Get-Along-Press Conference.

OK, so my friend who is also watching says her first unbelievable moment was the wedding gown without sleeves. I don't know enough about fashion or royalty to argue, but MY first unbelievable moment is shots fired at a hospital and they're NOT in the US? DOUBT.

Active shooter and Henry is more focused on how Alex smells and why Alex doesn't like him. "Makes sense." "What do you mean by THAT?" "It means you have good taste, Alex."

Oh wow, Henry is showing some emotional intelligence here.

Nevermind, I take it back. Henry! Don't be a douche! Ok, I take it back take it back. Thanks for being vulnerable, Henry.

Fireworks. OK, that makes more sense.

I also love Alex's bodyguard.

"Kill me and I won't have to go." Hey writers, this is more relatable than making him talk about how expensive the cake is. Same, Henry, same.

My god, Alex's eyelashes are insane. Why. Why does he need those? To flirt with men?? Oh wait, yeah, I guess he does.

Oh my god, they actually POINTED OUT HIS EYELASHES. This movie was made for me. Is that guy flirting? Back off, man!

Henry is an amazing texter. I love the way they fit social media into the movie format.

Can I have another two or three hours of them just hanging out and snarking at each other please? kthx.

Alex's NYE party - is this the first time Henry has been underdressed for an event? *gasp* the mutual "oh no he's hot" moment.

aaaand already Henry has been bit by the little green monster. Pugsley. That was fast.

EEEEEE the kiss. Alex is like, I'm not touching I'm not touching I'mnottouchingIswear.

"The first fifty rows of a Gaga concert." 🤣🤣🤣 The women in the movie are On Fire.

"He grabbed my hair in a way that made me understand the difference between rugby and football" WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?????

"He can't ignore me all night. Can he?" Oh honey....

LUNCH BREAK - I started this at 8:30 am, it is now 11:30. I am 37:45 into this movie. 🤣

Why is Miguel coming off as skeezy to me? I want him to go awa-ALEX, your literal prince has ariiiiived.

Henry, sweetheart, you are not fooling anyone.

Damn Alex, *fans self* So... this was the "fade to black" of a sex scene. I mean, I wasn't expecting this movie to be subtle, but c'mon!

Henry: I just don't want you to fall in love with me. Me: How's that clown makeup feel?

Well now I gotta know. How many/which famous men have you shagged. Henry? Henry, COME BACK HERE!

"I'm so not playing this cool right now." Don't worry Alex, you guys are dork4dork.

I KNEW MIGUEL WAS A SCUMBAG

Ugh, Dickbag alert! Ah, jealolus dickbag alert!

Alex!! You've broken Zahra!! Zahra my loooooveee!! Put these boys in their place! That ENTIRE scene was AMAZING. This movie was worth it just for that.

HAHAHAHAH they didn't even get through the whole gag set up "I'm definitely not doing karao-*singing karaoke*

It's taking me forever to get through the floating dock/Alex confession scene. The whole "rope attached to my chest" is real Jane Eyre vibes. Henry, you need to say something. Communication is key, my dude. Or drown yourself, that's valid.

Oh you are NOT just sneaking out. No. I forbid it. Ugh, men.

"What happened in Texas?" "I ended things with Alex" NO YOU FUCKING WELL DIDN'T, YOU DICK.

Of course there's thunder for the big romantic confrontation scene. It has to be raining! For reasons!

oh, that is some grade-A projection there, Henry.

Mr never had a key has a key....

Damn, Alex, you have game.

"When they write the history of my life I want it to include you" Damn, Henry, you have game, too.

Ok, the most unrealistic thing in this movie - these motherfuckers don't move in their sleep??! The covers are always immaculate when they wake up. FAKE. FALSE. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN.

DOUCHE DOUCHE DOUCHE DOUCHE DOUCHE DOUCHE

Zahra is so done. Go ahead, Zahra, smack him with a pillow again, I know you want to. You've earned it! "mooning over the prince like a cow in labor" 🤣🤣🤣 Marry me, Zahra!!

Stephen Fry playing a homophobe?? He really stretched his acting chops for that. "Take the American with you." Thanks gramps.

Do you think anyone noticed??

Final tally: It took me 5 hours to watch this, not including the hour lunch break.

[gamingcreatures]

“That was great! I know it’s not a fair trade, but here’s some 🍌 bananas.”

[wearethewinx]

MAGIC DIMENSION CUISINE for @je-ne-sais-p1s

take 4 of this fucking post jfkds;jakfld;sa. NOTE 1: planets are big and trade is everywhere. this really just represents the most traditional food in the specific regions where the winx grew up. NOTE 2: for brevity's sake i will encourage you, the reader, to assume that when i say, like, 'bananas,' what i MEAN is 'native fruits that are contextually similar to earth bananas.' cool? cool. let's go

SOLARIA: Snakes, scorpions, lizards, oh my! The hot, dry climate means plant matter is at a premium. Small reptiles and large insects make up the caloric bulk, along with a fair amount of milk. Cacti and palms provide the only substantial fruit, which, when fermented with honey, creates Solaria's most famous beverage. Flatbread is another staple, especially when combined with UNBELIEVABLY HOT PEPPERS. Most Solarian food is either sickeningly sweet or painfully spicy by non-Solarian standards.

ANDROS: Fish, obviously. Regular fish, shellfish, lots of shrimp, octopus, some saltwater snails. Lots of grilled/kebab'd* food, and acid marinating like ceviche. Fruits are mostly small and hardy, like figs, dates, olives, and thick-skinned grapes, and herbs/leafy spices are the main source of flavor enhancement. The warmest parts of Andros produce sugarcane, but the overall climate is too mild for much capsaicin and too wet for solid salt deposits, so the flavor profiles are mainly sweet and savory with a bit of acid.

LINPHEA: Large, soft-bodied fruits first and bugs second, baby. Papaya, mangoes, bananas, aaaall that good stuff, mostly eaten raw, and also a few leaves and edible flowers. Huge beetles and wild chickens are plentiful in Linphea's jungles, and large freshwater eels are rarer but highly prized. There's a wealth of rich spices like cinnamon, cacao, and vanilla, and peppers, so Linphean food is full of strong flavors and heat, but only mild sweetness.

ZENITH: MEAT. Zenith is so cold that the only significant vegetation on most of the planet is algae, which is eaten both as a paste and smoke dried as a papery film. Other than that it's a very whale-meat-heavy diet, with roe and crab for some variety. Their extremely advanced technology means Zenith has state-of-the-art hydroponics across the whole planet though, and there's obviously interplanetary trade, so they make heavy use of those to branch out. Zenethi bitches love bread and sour candy.

MELODY: The famous floating islands necessitate heavy reliance on fowl. Melody has several domesticated bird species, and more than a hundred ways to prepare eggs. The very dry earth means most of the plants are tough and unappetizing, but roots like potatoes, carrots, ginseng, etc are staples, and fungi are both plentiful and popular. Between the salmonella and the Textures, very, very little is eaten raw, almost everything being either cooked or fermented. Melodic cuisine has a very earthy/umami flavor profile in general.

DOMINO: You'd think this would be the spicy planet, but no! Lots of grains, gourds, melons, and berries, and yes, of course they had an equivalent to pumpkin pie. Roses and their cousins (plums, peaches, apples) were favorites, with whole, candied roses being an upperclass delicacy. Meat is considered optional except for special events, largely as a product of the ceremonial significance of hunting, and just like all the best declining empires, Domic nobility were EXTREMELY adventurous with food. They made some crazy cheeses.

MAGIX: Known for its pastry! Magix' fully synthetic geography and climate make it the ideal home for several delicate grains and fruits like pawpaws, so if you want baked goods or unique pastas, there is simply no better planet. They have a booming 'designer fruit' industry (rivaled only by Zenith's) and are constantly debuting new hybrids. On an artificial planet with no native animals, meat requires animal agriculture, and starting a population of animals is just harder than bringing a bag of seeds, so Magix really doesn't prioritize meat. However, as a massive trade hub, basically everything you can think of is readily available.

*i do not know how to conjugate the word 'kebab'

Thanks so much for this question!! It was really fun to answer, despite all the rewrites lol

[cyphyree]

Giorno 2, 3, 9,and 15

Hell yeah, the lil guy himself!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I love how the narrator states that Giorno's heart became a righteous one, but whatever that means is incredibly subjective. Sure, I like to think that he tries his best to do good, but we hardly get to really see what his goals really are. Can we trust that he actually wants to ban the drug trade aimed at vulnerable people, or did he say so because he's deduced that he could manipulate Bucciaratti that way? That's something I've seen being debated a lot, especially since the manga didn't have that anime scene where The Gangster is specifically against drug trading with children (therefore implying that Giorno adopted the same belief). He also just has no qualms about killing an enemy before he's met them properly (like Sale), because hey this is the mafia, they're going to kill you if you don't kill them first. Even in the enemy rush that's Stardust Crusaders, most enemies just have to get bonked hard enough to take a nap.

But listen, maybe it's because I'm biased or whatever, but even from a more objective lens, Giorno seems to care deeply even if he can't show it. I keep thinking specifically about the part where he talks to Bucciaratti in the car to Rome, and how distraught he seems. You can argue that his pride was hurt because GE failed and he was about to lose a strong ally, and I mean maybe that's part of it. But it's during the solitary and quiet moments that we see Giorno as himself a little bit more, and coincidentally those are my favourite canon moments of him.

He also just let cats walk all over him at the docks and doesn't bother to do anything about it. So there's that.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

We could've gotten a cool 1 v 1 battle between pre-GER Giorno and Daivolo, BUT WE DIDN'T and I'm so sad about it. His dad got to destroy half of Cairo with Jotaro, this just isn't fair. I want to see what a life-bringer vs time-skip fight looks like. Maybe Giorno's doing that to distract Diavolo while everyone else was chasing after Chariot Requiem, you know?

What if Diavolo thinks he can stand-rush Giorno's vine shield during the time skip, but when time resumed he gets pummeled via attack reflection.

What if Giorno distracted Diavolo with a giant tree growing, which Diavolo dodges via time skip, only to get skunk-sprayed in the face.

What if he slips on a banana that turns into a gun.

We were robbed of self-proclaimed time lord mafia boss getting decked by a 15-year-old flower boy in the most looney tune ways possible.

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

Eh......... I feel like that's more up to him. I'd probably be nervous because I don't like to bother people in general, but I think we'd mostly likely keep to ourselves most of the time anyway. Maybe share infodumps sometimes, I don't know.

It might just be a security concern if I keep bumping into enemy stand users and gang members though.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

I don't have one, to be honest. I like the symbolic duality that he and Fugo has, but I've never felt super strongly about Giorno being attracted to anyone romantically.

I do think he has very deep bonds with his friends though. I just like the idea of him trying to maintain relationships with what's left of the team. It would be hard because of power imbalances, the journey's aftermath, and the consequences of Giorno's actions. Maybe he grows up never being close to anyone, platonically or otherwise. But there's still the possibility that, after years of ostracization and neglect, maybe he'll finally have a family.

[cherrylng]

The reality of Oxfam's involvement with Coldplay [CROSSBEAT (August 2006)]

In the UK, where philanthropy is very popular, celebrities and individuals often choose one (or more) of a number of organisations and campaigns to support and work with as part of their life's work. Coldplay's commitment to the UK-based development NGO Oxfam's 'Make Trade Fair' campaign is widely known.

The ‘unfair trade’ that prevails in the world is a long-standing problem between the so-called ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries. Historically, it has the same roots as the unfair colonial trade once practised by Western countries. Western countries buy raw materials at low prices from developing countries (without teaching them the technology) and export them, while selling goods mass-produced in their own countries to developing countries. Even now, developed countries are forcing developing countries to open their markets, putting pressure on the livelihoods of local farmers and workers. In the 1990s, when people became aware of the problems of unfair trade, it began to become a problem that footballs made by young children in Pakistan and other Asian countries, who were not allowed to go to school and were forced to work for cheap wages, were traded at high prices in the UK. In addition, in the banana industry, where five major corporations control more than 80% of the world market, the struggles of Latin American farmers, who are forced to ship at unfairly low prices, attracted attention and support movements in the late 1990s. As a result, when the first ‘fair trade bananas’ were imported into the UK in 2000, it was widely reported.

In 2002, Oxfam launched an international campaign to bring together the sporadic campaign to correct unfair trade and to call on governments and the WTO to change trade rules and shift policies. In 2002, Chris and his staff visited the Dominican Republic and Haiti in Central America to see first-hand the plight of the local people and the production of coffee beans, which had seen a decline in wholesale prices in recent years. In 2003, they visited Mexico, where they performed as a band at a concert in support of maize farmers fighting against cheap imports from the USA. In 2005, Chris toured Ghana (see photo) and was shocked to learn that cheap agricultural imports from the West were destroying local agriculture and contributing to poverty. Incidentally, Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa beans in the world, yet it cannot make chocolate. Even if they did, they could not export it because of high tariffs imposed by developed countries.

What is needed is not for rich countries to seek more wealth, but for them to share it with less rich countries. "When I was a child in the 80s, if you saw on TV the miserable situation of farmers, the only solution was to ‘donate money’. But here I see other solutions. I mean, everyone can participate by speaking up. The more I study, the more I think that poverty is also caused by trade imbalances. What I feel is particularly serious is that we are ruining the industries of developing countries by exporting products that are surplus in developed countries at unbeatable prices. It's crazy. It should be easy to stop." (Chris).

Chris has made the movement known by wearing campaign slogan T-shirts in public, including at shows, and by contributing a column to newspapers. "As long as we're providing music with heart, we can talk openly about things we feel are important in the media in developed countries. We can also promote Fair Trade and play our part in putting pressure on governments in the developed world to expand our activities and bring about trade inequalities." -Sumi Imai

[eyeslikewatercoolers]

greetings!in the midst of your illustrator au,i was wondering, where does mirage fall in it?what role does she play/what sort of art does she make?kandi,or course.does she sell it?what's her most impressive cuff?i saw this really cool cuff one time that was bright neon rainbow with entire fucking ball pit balls shoved it &i feel like she'd like that.does she paint,if so what kind of paint?hope youre having a great day/night

Hiiii!!

I think I mentioned it in an ask or something, but Mirage makes kandi!! She started off with simple bracelets to trade, but eventually learned how to create more complex cuffs.

She sells at conventions and Pride events. She gives her friends new Kandi every time they are at a convention together. I think her most impressive piece is a long arm cuff that had a banana design interwoven (I hope that’s the term) she made for Nymphia.

I think she would crochet a bit too. She sells at craft fairs in the winter months when other events are slowing down. Her crochet pieces sell better at those events