#it's literally in the food pyramid for survival

[cordeliawhohung]

anyway a big jokingly fuck you to @loveyhoneydovey for making this meme

[star-anise]

Speaking of potatoes and fantasy worldbuilding and the impact that they have on a culture: You discussed how potatoes free a society from a lot of things that grain imposed. Including how potatoes are pretty much ready to cook/eat right from being grown. That had me wondering about potatoes in various worldbuilding projects which leads me to this: Is it as easy to turn a potato into a food item that will keep, potentially for months or years, as one can with wheat (see: Hardtack/etc, for an extreme example). Or is that actually an advantage of wheat over potatoes? Because your post kind of makes it sound like once a society gets potatoes, why would any peasant choose to keep growing wheat? Or is that the point, they really *wouldn't* choose to keep growing wheat?

I think modern society's uses of the two are pretty good illustrations. We like wheat, and we also like potatoes! Bread, but also french fries! Beer, but also vodka!

So it's not always an either/or choice: Homesteads that grow for their own tables tend to have their fingers in a lot of different pies, like livestock, dairy, poultry, field crops, fruit trees, and vegetable crops. This is partly an insurance policy: If one crop doesn't make it, maybe another will. Maybe it rains so hard your potatoes all rot in the ground, but your wheat finds a way to survive—or the storm is so violent your wheat is all flattened in the field, but your potatoes were perfectly fine.

But there's also the part where we humans tend to like variety in our diets, which is partly physiological (we need a lot of different vitamins and minerals, and which ones we need can shift with the circumstances) and partly psychological (because we can get really tired of having to eat the same damn thing over and over and over. Yes, samefood crew, we exist, but we're also statistically rare.)

But if you had to choose: If you intend to eat what you grow and you've got limited land and equipment, potatoes are the hands-down winner. It's really easy to plant a pound of potatoes and get five pounds back at the end of the season. Depending on storage conditions, you can keep them for several months.

However, if you want to earn your living by selling your crop for cash, it's a little more complicated. Potatoes, though lovely, are also demanding; they are prey to literally dozens of problems that range from "potato is being eaten by an insect" to "potato is being eaten by a fungus" to "potato did not get enough water" to "potato got too much water." Even when your potatoes are technically edible, they might end up harder to store, harder to turn into food, or just plain ugly, which makes people less likely to buy them.

Also, and maybe this is just my personal perception from trying to pick three acres of potatoes by hand when I was 13, harvesting potatoes is a pain in the ass. They grow down in the dirt, so to get them out again, you have to physically dig them up and shake them apart from chunks of earth. I've never harvested grain by hand so maybe I'm just ignorant, but to me that's a lot of bending, kneeling, crouching, and scrabbling through the dirt. Like, harvesting 1 potato plant? Delightful search for buried treasure. 10? Wipe sweat off your brow and feel very satisfied with yourself. But the year I was 13 we harvested at least 100 potato plants. It was the year we studied the Russian Revolution in school and I felt the peasants had a definite point.

(And then they weren't good enough to be sold as food crops. They stayed in our garage, a giant pyramid touching the roof, for half the winter. We ate potatoes every single day until my brothers campaigned for an end to it. My parents donated 10,000 lbs of potatoes to the local food bank and my dad bought a potato picker at an estate auction the following year.)

Wheat does not make a great home-consumption crop these days, since it takes a lot of work to process into flour. In the last decade I've seen some affordable home flour mills, and if you have a combine harvester that's actually doable, but when I was a kid, the nearest flour mill to us was 1000km away. Without a combine, you still need to thresh and winnow the grain. It's a whole thing.

On the other hand, if you have the tools and facilities to process it, wheat is generally simpler to grow, easier to transport and sell, and the straw it leaves behind* is a useful byproduct. And while I do love eating potatoes, and you can technically make cake and bread out of them, I, like much of the rest of the world, prefer to eat things made with wheat flour, and am also fond of other grain products like rolled oats, rye bread, and multigrain bagels.

(*Sidenote: Straw and hay are different things. Straw is the stalk of grain like wheat or barley. It has minimal nutritional value and is used for bedding and insulation. Hay is a nutritious blend of cut grasses and plants that are fed to farm animals instead of, or in addition to, access to pasture they can graze in. In case that's useful.)

In British history there IS a whole huge thing with the Agricultural Revolution where land use transferred from smaller peasant farmers growing food for themselves, to larger farmers growing cash crops to feed a mostly-urbanized population, which was part landlords kicking people off their land so it could be used differently, and part peasants seeing factory jobs in the city as a welcome escape from the backbreaking labour of farming. While I think the landlords shortchanged their former tenants, and the urban factory owners were horrible to their workers, I think we also need to remember that the peasants who said "Fuck this hoe, I'm off to town" had a very valid point.

[battleangel]

What About Killing Fields?

Michael Jackson literally screamed the title to this blog post in, Earth Song.

Please, go watch the video if youve never seen it before:

Why was Michael screaming the lyrics, literally screaming them, about killing fields trying to get through to us?

Trying to get through to our empathy?

Trying to make us give a fucking damn?

50k Palestinian civilians have been murdered in the genocide caused by Israel, funded by and weapons provided by the US & Boeing, since last October.

There is a pending famine caused purposely by the genocide that if it is not stopped by a PERMANENT ceasefire agreement will result in millions of deaths, including children.

They could unblock the bridge from Egypt to Rafah today.

They dont want to.

You do know who they is.

They could deliver emergency flotillas to feed all of the starving Palestinians today.

Are you claiming that the US has 4.3 billion dollars a year to fund Israels genocide but doesnt have money to deliver food to a few million starving Palestinians at risk of being murdered by a forced famine?

So, why dont they?

Instead, we have flour massacres (look it up), where starving Palestinians promised aid are literally gunned down by the IDF terrorists for attempting to obtain food that was promised to them.

It has happened again and again.

Palestinian starving civilians promised food and then murdered and gunned down in cold blood the moment they try to obtain literally life-saving food.

Netanyahu is purposely starving them and not allowing food and aid in.

Netanyahu is literally blocking the flotilla, the bridge from Egypt into Palestine and the emergency aid trucks all filled with food just sitting as millions of Palestinians, including children, are forced to literally eat cattle feed to survive.

Its not like dog food.

It is absolutely inedible for humans yet there are videos on social media of children choking down cattle feed.

What about killing fields?

But all Americans care about at a mass level are their 4th of July plans.

Why the fuck would you ever want to “celebrate” the “birth” of a nation that is white supremacist, colonialist, racist, misogynist, fascistic, built off of police brutality, slavery of Africans with no restitution or reparations free slave labor with no wages ever paid to anyone that built this nation, Christofascist, zionist, Greco-Roman, Eurocentric, ancient Egypt denying, Kemet denying, melanin denying, appropriating from Black people our music that we created - country (look it up), jazz, blues, rhythm & blues, rock (not Elvis - look it up), ofcourse hip hop & rap, reggae, soca, etc — our culture, our cornrows, our braids, our dreads, our hair, our Kanekalon, our Senegalese twists everything just becomes a fashion statement for the Kardashians — misappropriation of our culture and constantly stealing from us then lying about it and erasing us from the history — Disney stole designs from a black creator designer & cartoonist who was never credited (look it up) — why do you think there are so many examples of this?

Africa — Kemet which is ancient Egypt — is the birthplace of humanity.

Ancient Egyptians developed roads, highways, infrastructure, irrigation, aqueduct systems, modern medicine (look it up), modern surgery techniques, modern embalming techniques, astrology, math, art, history, astronomy, philosophy all before the Greeks & Romans & “Enlightenment” yet look who gets credited for inventing these things.

Jesus is a bastardized Horus from Kemet from ancient Egypt, it is a 1:1 bastardization and shit retelling, everything from dying and rising again the third day.

Look it up.

They removed all the wisdom, esotericism, knowledge of the self, mysticism, magick and replaced it with fear, dogma, control, a fake white guy with a beard, a Santa Claus in the skies sitting on a fake ass throne judging you for hooking up on Tinder last Saturday.

Yet you question nothing.

They say they dont know how the pyramids were built and that “even today” we do not have the technology the ancient Egyptians had and that the stones of the pyramid were built so close together that you cannot even slide a debit card through them.

Yet you question nothing.

You dont question why the capstone is missing on top of the pyramid or why it is on the back of the US $1 bill, the default global currency, with an eye above it.

Still you question nothing.

Look up the Eye of Ra.

Go read the lyrics of Earth Song while listening to MJ then come back:

79% of plastic that has ever been made still sits in landfills or the natural environment.

It takes 400 years for plastic to break down in a landfill.

Did you process that?

Every sanitary pad, every pantyliner, every plastic tampon applicator, every plastic utensil, every Red Solo cup, every Dixie cup, every plastic plate, every plastic water bottle, every Ziploc bag, every plastic cap to your toothpaste tube, every plastic potato chip bag, every plastic wrapper, every plastic medicine bottle, every single plastic K-cup for your daily morning coffee.

Every time you use a washing machine to wash your laundry, it causes microplastics that are released and end up in oceans.

Single use plastic is absolutely ubiquitous.

There have been 9.1 billion tons of plastic produced since throwaway culture was introduced in the 1950s and disposable plastic was introduced for the first time.

Plastic is actually extremely durable, they just didnt want it to be.

You do know who they is.

Why the 50s?

Because WWII had just ended and they needed something to mass produce now that they no longer needed to mass produce for the war.

So, single use plastic was introduced and marketed to the masses as convenient, time saving, modern and more hygienic.

Just how retirement was marketed as “golden years” — still pathetically parroted today — by a marketer.

Look it up. Also in the 1950s.

Prior to this marketing campaign, retirement was dreaded as a period of decline in health.

The marketing campaign shifted this to the golden years of your life.

It was a marketing campaign built to push retirement living and communities and it not only worked but the pathetic idea of working your entire life to “finally be able to do what you want for ten years max” is somehow still around today.

Brainwashing, grooming, conditioning, indoctrination centers.

Seductive marketing, hypnotic messaging, brainwashing techniques in advertising.

Psyops.

Same with homeownership being the “American Dream”.

Look it up.

It was started as a marketing campaign at the beginning of the 1900s by a president of a real estate company.

The marketing campaign proved so successful that starting with FDR’s New Deal, the United States government started pushing and promoting home ownership as quintessential to the American Dream.

Today, 94% of Americans believe that owning a home is a quintessential part of the American dream.

Brainwashed. Indoctrinated. Conditioned. Groomed.

Its actually taking on hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, signing your life away for 20 to 30 years when you have no control over the housing market or economy.

Have you all already forgotten about Lehman Brothers, subprime mortgages and the housing collapse PURPOSELY CAUSED in 2008 by lenders providing loans to borrowers whom they knew would be unable to pay the loans back thus causing a housing market collapse and allowing the same lenders to buy back these subprime loans and pocket billions while the housing market and economy crashed and millions lost their homes and jobs?

Were you alive in 2008?

If not, look it up.

So, its a losing proposition, owning a home.

A HELOC is taking on more debt even if you borrow against the equity in your home in the form of a loan, you will have to pay the loan back with interest.

No thanks.

Even if you are clever and invest in upgrading your home, rent it out, make money off of it as a rental property or invest in it and flip it and profit it off of it or if you pay the loan off over 20 or 30 years, do upgrades to the home, then sell it for a significant profit, so what?

How the fuck is that a “dream”?

You just made money, who the fuck cares?

That doesnt explain the promotion of home ownership as a quintessential part of the American dream.

WHAT American dream???????

Meritocracy???????????

Most of the wealth in America is owned by white people as they concentrate the wealth then pass it on to their future generations and bloodline through estate planning and wills that transfers real estate and assets from wealthy parents to their children.

Wash rinse repeat.

How the fuck is that a meritocracy?????

Blacks are 13% of the population yet we make up over 80% of the prison population.

Meritocracy???????????

Poverty in America is overwhelmingly endured by Black and brown minorities.

Most of the youth in foster care are Black and brown.

Foster care youth end up houseless and imprisoned at an enormously higher rate.

What leads to being placed in foster care other than racist policies and being Black and brown?

Substance use by parents and parents becoming houseless.

What overwhelmingly causes substance use and houselessness?

Poverty.

Yet we still have never addressed poverty in America.

How hard would it be to take the Earned Income Tax Credit that right now goes to parents with children that own a home, take that money and repurpose it to a Universal Basic Income (UBI) that provides each American adult 18 and over with a $1k a month?

They have done studies that have shown that even $500 a month — and if we have $4 billion to send to Israel every year to kill innocent Palestinian civilians dont tell me we dont have $500 a month for every adult in the US — significantly improved the lives of families in poverty — they stopped skipping meals, they stopped undereating, starving, eating sugar sandwiches and dry cereal for dinner, they stopped avoiding getting needed urgent medical care, they stopped smoking to suppress their appetite (this is well documented, look it up), they stopped drinking as self medication, they stopped eating cheap shitty fast food and frozen meals — and surprise, surprise their quality of life went way up.

For $500 fucking dollars.

And surprise, surprise, they dont want that.

And you do know who they is.

Every year, the world produces nearly 400 million tons of plastic, a 19,000% increase from 1950.

The amount is forecast to double by 2050 and 90% is never recycled.

Over half of the plastics produced are used only once, for things like packaging, utensils and straws.

This is why the fight long termism and they dont want you googling Claudia Karina 2024.

They dont want you thinking 100, 250 and 500 years from now.

Everything is the now, everything is the moment, everything disposable, everything ephemeral, everything throwaway.

Almost 30,000 coffee pods go to landfill each month and take 500 years to decompose.

All that for a fucking cup of coffee?

Be so serious.

The fast fashion industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.

It’s a form of throwaway culture called fast fashion, which produces 92 million tons of waste annually on a global scale.

All to save a few bucks on a shittily designed outfit on Shein by workers that are underpaid working 12 to 16 plus hour shifts and if they make more than a few mistakes per MONTH, they have their pay docked.

But who cares as long as your fit is cute and cheap, right?

Humans have evolved to live on this planet – life on other planets, while technically possible, is undesirable, unhealthy and constrained.

Which ofcourse is Lord Elon & Lord Bezos’ plan — destroy Earth for Amazon Prime 1 Day Sales & Teslas EVs.

Then on to the next planet after they hump, pump and dump Earth.

Do I really have to tell you that only rich wypipo — who caused the destruction of Earth — will be along for the ride to Mars or wherever the fuck planet these sociopaths are planning to colonize next?

The poor, impoverished, disabled, and especially elderly and ofcourse Black & brown people will be left behind except for those who manage to make a deal with the devil, sell the souls and board the Galaxy Express to the next destination of destruction.

Stop driving your car.

Burning fossil fuels is one of the biggest drivers and contributors of climate change.

Need to drive to get to work?

Look into remote options, freelance and/or start your own business online at home.

Ride a bike or a scooter, walk, take a bus or public transportation.

Or just dont go out.

You dont have to shop, socialize, eat, “hang out”, go to the movies.

Do your hair yourself or shave it bald like I do every 3 to 6 months.

I only paid for the razor, after that it is free99 for me to shave my own head:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRES93oT/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRESVh9T/

If youre a woman or femme and afraid of the reactions, watch my above TikToks.

Question why they are reacting.

Question why you care.

Youve been programmed.

Do it anyway.

If you want color, use chalk dyes as they are temporary and wash out after one use and do not have harmful chemicals dyes and toxins as most salon & store bought vegan dyes do.

Or just slap on a shitty cheap wig if you want some color and variety. I bought a $20 wig two years ago that I wear if I want a colorful lewk.

Thats not wasteful.

Thats not buying a new wig every month or every 3 months. Or going to the salon every month or every 3 months. Or buying hair dyes or getting my hair colored every 3 months.

Deprogram yourself.

Cargill produces 11 billion pounds of beef a year.

11 billion. Every year.

Play Earth Song by Michael again.

Cargill made $170 billion last year.

Nothing is ever enough.

The essence of capitalism.

Nothing is ever enough under capitalism.

They are willing to light the world on fire and watch it burn as long as they can continue to grow faster, bigger, stronger, more acquisitions, more money, more wealth, more employees, bigger share prices, higher on the fortune 500, number one meat processor, made triple what Tyson Foods made, made $60 billion more than second closest competitor.

You do know who they is.

There is no price they arent willing to pay to be number one in a capitalist market, no corner they wont cut, no practice they wont stoop to, no low they wont lower themselves to, no lie they wont tell, no animal they wont mistreat/torture/drug/feed with hormones/breed & impregnate endlessly/crowd in overcrowded pens & stalls/terrify/decapitate while alive due to stun guns not working/decapitate up to six times before it works as it is a machine that is an imperfect process and the cow is alive for each attempt/feed dead cows to living cows to save money on feed/not allow them room to walk or move much less provide them with pastures open air sky sun water land.

What about yesterday?

What about disease?

There is no price they arent willing to pay to be number one in a capitalist market, no corner they wont cut, no practice they wont stoop to, no low they wont lower themselves to, no lie they wont tell, no animal they wont mistreat/torture/drug/feed with hormones/breed & impregnate endlessly/crowd in overcrowded pens & stalls/terrify/decapitate while alive due to stun guns not working/decapitate up to six times before it works as it is a machine that is an imperfect process and the cow is alive for each attempt/feed dead cows to living cows to save money on feed/not allow them room to walk or move much less provide them with pastures open air sky sun water land.

No low is too low when there are profits to be made & shareholders to satisfy.

Trump snorted Adderall during the filming of The Apprentice. Theres actual documentation of this.

Watch the video of Trump with pupils f u l l y dilated and fucking blown like a full out fucking meth head slurring the words, “I love everybody”, and tell me hes not snorting Adderall, doing meth and potentially coke.

After WWII, between 1945 and 1949, 20 million refrigerators, 21.4 million cars, and 5.5 million stoves were purchased by American households.

World War II had just ended, families had more disposable income on their hands, and more spending power.

Marketing. Programming. Shiny. New. Ironmen. Fitter. Iron lungs.

There was a huge push from the oil industry to get plastic single-use items adopted widely. For Mobil Chemical (now ExxonMobile), it was all about the plastic bags. During the 1960s they had been patenting all the plastic bag ideas they could. By 1977 they were producing their own brand of plastic bags.

Exxon Mobil created a Plastic Grocery Sack Council in 1985 to get customers to use plastic sacks widely.

Same with retirement being the “golden years” and purchasing a house “being the American dream”.

94% of adult Americans say they identify home ownership as a quintessential part of the American dream.

So, who created the concept since it is so ubiquitous in American society & culture?

The first president of the US League of Local Building & Loan Associations in the 1890s.

Pure propaganda.

Its literally a hundred fucking years of propaganda.

What about the “golden years” of retirement?

Instead of dreaded years of decline, Del Webb revolutionized retirement in America to be something people desired and longed for.

Through the magic of marketing, retirement no longer only meant the end of work. Del Web cleverly sold retirement as the beginning of a new and even better life.

Ten fucking years of retirement is a “life”?

Youve been programmed.

Del Web was simply marketing his retirement communities and rebranded what Americans thought of retirement as.

Look up “Sun City” communities.

Thats why youre slaving your life away at a job you either dont like, hate, or apathetic about, indifferent to, which is literally designed to overwork you, overwhelm you, shut you down, attack your psyche, attack your aura, energy vampires draining your energy, exhausting you, constant pointless masturbatory meetings, constant slacks, IMs, emails, notis.

Constant demands to break you as a person.

Its mindbreaking.

The 9 to 5.

Look up why cubicles were “invented” in the 1960s.

Wake up.

Freelance. Start your own business. Create social media content.

Do what you want now, not when youre 65.

What happens if you die at 64?

The entire idea people predicate their lives on — that they should study hard get good grades graduate; get a good job work hard save for retirement; ten years max before they die “enjoy their golden years” aka retirement.

Wake up.

Per Google:

• Extreme heat waves can cause mood swingsand other psychological effects that can impact mental health:

• Mood changes: Heat waves can cause irritability, anxiety, depression, and impulsivity.

• Cognitive issues: Heat waves can cause trouble concentrating, memory problems, and slowed reaction times.

• Sleep disruption: Heat waves can make it difficult to sleep, which can contribute to mood fluctuations and worsen mental health conditions.

Its an added benefit for them on top of the record profits that cause the climate change that cause the extreme weather, heat waves & poor air quality.

Its not just bad for the environment.

They are aware of the effects as these studies have been around for years.

They want people disordered, addicted, depressed, anxious, overworked, mind body imbalance, severed from nature, obsessed, stressed, never self actualizing, never ascending.

Watch the Earth Song video by MJ:

Understand why he is literally screaming.

Screaming to get through to us.

Do we give a damn?

Really listen at 2:58.

Hes trying to get through to our collective empathy.

Screaming!

Almost 30 years later after this song and video was released, all of these questions can be posed to us today.

Every issue has gotten worse, not better.

Do we give a damn?

Look at the destruction all around MJ in the video.

Look at the destruction weve caused.

Ecological destruction.

Look at the trees surrounding MJ as he screams for empathy, screams for justice, screams for mother Earth, screams for our humanity.

Do we give a damn?

Are we so cruel, so indifferent, so apathetic, so numb to our own beautiful planets destruction?

Who cares, right? We’ll just go destroy another.

And another. And another…

There’ll always be another Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Trump, J.D. Rockefeller, Ford.

There will always be another leviathan and titan of industry.

Always be more strongmen and ironmen.

Why do you think that is?

Who are the Reptilians?

Who are the inhabitants that live INSIDE the middle of the earth controlling our politics and elections.

Even you are aware that our elections arent actually free or they wouldnt allow them.

Thats why theres never a change.

Trump and Biden again?

The inhabitants of the middle of the planet control the Reptilians — world political leaders and industry titans and leviathans and military leaders.

They ensure that humanitys consciousness never ascends on a mass level and that there is no mass ascension which would lead to a planetary ascension which would remove the grid that the inhabitants of the earth placed there to suppress our mass consciousness and awakening, to keep our third eyes closed and to keep us and our planet from self actualizing from the current third dimension to the tenth dimension.

Do you know who “they” is?

Watch Futurama and actually understand that what is presented to you as “jokes” are the dark entities controlling the dark empaths that currently rule our world.

The Bidens, Trumps, Netanyahus, Blinkens, Jamie Dimons, Elon Musks, Jeff Bezoses, Roger Goodells, Vince McMahons, Tim Cooks, Bill Gates.

All white men — have you ever wondered why that is?

Even Obama descends from the same UK royal bloodline that all US Presidents have descended from.

Look it up.

They’re Reptilian.

The tens of thousands of animal species that WE humans have made go extinct.

1 species — human — is not more worthy than even ONE animal species.

Yet we have made over 75 PERCENT of animal species go extinct with our enviornmentally destructive and capitalist driven practices.

Yet people have the AUDACITY to call ME a terrorist?

Im an "ecoterrorist" because I am for the VOLUNTARY extinction of the human race?

Then what are they when they are okay with the extinction of tens of thousands of animal species by ONE disgustingly destructive species — HUMAN — to the extent that over 75 PERCENT of all animal species that have ever existed on Earth are now extinct because of US, humanity!

THEY are the terrorists, NOT me!

I want the Earth saved and humanity extinct.

They want what Elon & Bezos wants — the destruction of Earth and then humans, just like the Borg, just move to the next planet and fucking destroy it and I dont want that.

There has been no reversal of these consumerist, capitalist, overconsumption, maximalist, climate change causing contributing & accelerating, ecologically destructive, environmentally harmful, rainforest destroying, landfill filling business practices.

THEY are financially rewarded so the practices continue and the Earth continues to die!

Resources continue to be overextracted.

The global south continues to be exploited by the capitalist west as they do not have labor laws, union protections or environmental regulations so cheap stuff is made there, their resources are overextracted, they are overworked and underpaid, they are not given protective gear, they die, they get poisoned, they get sick, women and children working and dying in cobalt mines for iPhones!

Women and children working and dying in cobalt mines in Congo for iPhones!

Women and children working and dying in diamond mines in Senegal for engagement rings!

Humanity in the capitalist west continues to overconsume, be materialistic, wasteful, overspend, to impress others, for clout, to flex, for status, for prestige, for privilege, to “treat themselves”, to “spoil themselves”, to numb themselves, to feed their addictions, to feed their disordered behaviors, to fill their emptiness, to give themselves a sense of identity, in an endless quest for meaning, to overcompensate, because they are depressed, stressed, pressed, obsesed, anxious, bored, listless, lethargic, lack empathy, addicted to shopping, retail therapy, numbing their emotions, adrenaline rush of a new purchase getting something on sale discount rack BOGO FOMO new shoes new dress new makeup new pocketbook for that hit of adrenaline for that instant pick me up.

Instant mood changer, instant happiness, instant smile, instant distraction, instant swipe of the credit card, instant swipe of Apple Pay, instant swipe of your phone, instant rush, instant adrenaline, instant high, instant hit, instant junkie.

Addicted to excess, consumption, consumerism, materialism, shopping, malls, outlets, discounts, sales, department stores, fast fashion, Zaful, Romwe, Fashion Nova, Shein, Forever 21, H&M, Macys, Bloomingdales, Express, Old Navy, Aeropostale, Abercrombie.

Addicted addicts.

Never a thought to the resources used to produce the item being purchased.

Never a thought to the fuel being wasted to deliver the item being purchased to the shopping mall or store or outlet or straight to your home via Amazon Prime.

Never a thought to the climate change impact, carbon footprint contribution, fossil fuels burned, impact to the ozone layer, air quality deteriorating, heat waves worsening, natural disasters increasing.

The earth dying.

Killing fields, Forever 21, forever in a landfill.

Never a thought.

The bible which is bastardized kemet and is used as a tool of control claims that Adam & Eve have “dominion” over the animals and earth and that fake shit has been used to justify everything: throwaway culture & single use plastics on the 50s, fast food in the 50s, fast fashion in the 2000s.

Wear an outfit once, throw it away.

Use plastic utensils once, throw them away.

Use your iPhone once, oh theres a pink one now and this blonde golfer and this couple are telling me to buy it through Tmobile or Verizon, time to trade in my perfectly working current iPhone for a new one because its pink.

I mean, because it has 8 cameras on the back and not 7.

I mean, because it has FaceTime.

I mean, because I want to react “Haha” to my friends texts and I dont want to be left out.

Killing fields.

Electronic waste from discarded iPhones end up in Southeast Asia poisoning local communities, water supply and air quality but it is kept from the American public.

Congo killing mines killing women and children for the cobalt that powers the batteries in iPhones, electric vehicles, Apple watches & TVs are kept from the public.

Genocides & killing fields.

iPhone 15s.

Cruises are allowed to dump their waste directly into the ocean.

Cruisin USA.

Via foe.org:

If you guessed a large portion of it ends up in the oceans, you’d be correct. Sadly, U.S. laws do not do enough to protect our bodies of water. It allows cruise ships to dump waste into the ocean as long as the ships are more than three and a half miles offshore. That means that dirty water from sinks and showers and laundry facilities are discharged into the water. It means that waste from toilets is discharged into the water. And it also means that food waste is also dumped into the ocean. 

What about killing fields?

[khensaptah]

Heyo! New to kemetic paganism, and a little less new to witchcraft. But what would be your advice for newbies building praxis? I know this is probably a SUPER common question, I'm just kind of in the absorption-of-knowledge phase and was curious. Thanks!

Always feel free to ask "common" or newbie questions! We are all new to this once, and every Kemetic has a different take on what praxis should look like, and those takes will change with time. My practice as a Kemetic Humanist is a mixture of historically informed devotional work, personal mysticism, and Seen world work to promote ma'at and fight isfet.

In that vein, the three things that I suggest to new Kemetics:

Read. A lot.

Develop a gratitude practice.

Volunteer.

Reading

Even if your practice isn't reconstructionist focused, there is so much out there to learn about Kemeticism! Blogs and social media and old forum posts are everywhere; books aimed at folks with lay person interest in Egyptology are easier to come by in bookshops; and articles and more heavy reading are accessible through both physical and online libraries.

Reading is a conversation with the author. If it's your book (or an ebook!) highlight things! Leave notes! If something really speaks to you, post a quote on your blog (or other place you like to hold onto tidbits, like a journal). This is especially important for online resources, which can disappear at any time. Write reviews if that's your jam! Once you start feeling more comfortable with your basic knowledge, read things by people who you disagree with, or whose sources are only so-so. You'll be surprised what you can learn from them. I am currently learning a lot while arguing with a book on the Pyramid Texts!

You can also learn a lot by reading from adjacent practices (religions from the Levant, the Mediterranean, and from other African nations all influenced ancient Egypt; likewise ancient Egypt influences modern Coptic and Islamic practices in Egypt; ) or even vastly different religions (every time I learn something about Shinto, I feel like I learn more about Kemeticism).

Gratitude

Now, this might seem a little out there, but one of the best things I ever did for my practice was steal this neat trick from @tybarbary. Make a list of ten things you're grateful for every day (or at least, every time you have a bad day). Sometimes, this really sucks. Some days are terrible. Things can be repetitive (I cannot say how many times the ten things have been a list of every pet or lover in my life). BUT.

Listing those things is great for your mental health. Mental wellness is ma'at; it's so important to do what you can to maintain balance inside your heart. These things also become a list of offerings. In times where you might not have much to give, you will have your gratitude to offer the Netjeru, and this too will feed them.

The second thing this does is help build a daily practice. If you're checking in once a day to celebrate your victories in life, it becomes easier to add more steps. Habits build off each other. If you already have a habit of making a gratitude list, it's easier to light a candle or incense before hand. It becomes easier to work in heka or more formalized rituals as part of that.

Volunteering

The core of this religion is ma'at: the balance of the world; all that is right and true. Kemeticism is not apolitical: it is about trying to bring the Seen world back to that moment of harmony that existed in Zep Tepi, and doing that over and over again.

Pick a cause. There's millions of them, but pick just one. Get as small and local as you can. And see what you can do to help. It doesn't have to be a lot! We are all trying to survive under capitalism and facism, and we all have unique circumstances that compound the situation. But try and do something small to help your cause once a month (more if you can).

My personal favorite causes to look for, because literally every neighborhood has them are food or housing justice organizations (this doesn't have to be a formal organization, it can be as simple as a micropantry or a facebook group for folks who need a safe space to crash for a night) or mutual aid organizations (mutual aid isn't always financial. Sometimes folks need help with tasks of daily living, or to borrow an item, or someone who understands how [your niche interest or skill here] works).

Bring the light of the gods into your world. This too is an offering!

Hope some of this will be helpful for you! Thanks again for the question!

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

Previous chapters

Chapter 10 - Hatter

The Hatter. 

He was a strange character. Eccentric, arrogant, extreme. To begin with, the way he never took off his sunglasses, like an undercover movie star, made him absolutely ridiculous in your eyes. He must have thought he was the "Sun King" because the way he kept talking with big gestures and threatening words was a clear indication of how he was used to having a horde of minions at his command.

He may have been someone important in the real world before, but this was the Borderland. And in the Borderland, there were no labels, no class pyramids. Money was useless, fame and beauty were worthless. 

It had been precisely twelve days since the eight of clubs, and with Niragi, you spent your days mostly trying to find food. This was no small task, and hunting was definitely not your forte. Still, persistence paid off, and eventually you found a way to trap those famous rabbits that wandered the city at random. 

After a few days, a big discussion had once again taken place between you two. You had determined that the only way to learn more about this crazy country was to play games. There was always a sharp-tongued player to bring you new information, while outside of the threat of an arena, no one was willing to reveal anything. 

One evening, while walking near the harbor, you came face to face with a group of players. Three women and a man who had literally liquefied in front of you. They were so frightened of running into other gamers that they took off running, abandoning their camp as fast as they could. Good for you, you got to taste their dinner and drink their water. It wasn't very nice of you, but it was their loss. They didn't seem to want to come back so soon anyway. 

Another time, it was two men you passed near Koto's movie theater, and their menacing looks and the sight of their weapons held at their fingertips made you turn back. There was no point in confronting them when they didn't look at all convenient. 

So, the only way you could get answers was to wait at the exit of a game arena and question the surviving players. You still had days left on your visa and there was no point in going into a game unnecessarily. 

At the exit of a two of diamonds, you had stopped a woman in her thirties who was clutching her bloody left hand, which was missing a finger. "Hey, you," Niragi had called in front of the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, "tell me what you know about this country." 

The woman looked at him incredulously as she caught her breath. Other surviving players passed behind, exclaiming and celebrating their victory. The woman leaned against the wall outside the museum, ready to hurl a well-placed insult. But you approached her gently before she could say anything, shooting an exasperated look at Niragi. "My name is [Y/N], I'm a doctor," you explained gently, hoping that this would help her relax. "I can probably fix your hand, if you let me look."

Suspicious, the woman looked at you from head to toe, and after a few seconds, when she considered that you did not represent any danger for her, she nodded. You had kept your backpack, the one where you had made a small stock of medicines and bandages that you now always kept with you. 

The lady's hand was shaking and while you were looking in the bottom of your bag for some sanitizer and bandages, Niragi was standing at a distance, staring at you. It was better if he left you to it, he had a lot of qualities under his nasty shell but social and sociable were clearly not his forte.

"That's a dirty wound," you commented to get her attention on you so that she would forget about the way Niragi was looking at her with unimpressed eyes. "What was the game?" 

"The hangman," she asserted breathlessly, already apprehensive of the pain you were about to inflict on her. "And you had to provide the hanged man with a body part of yours for every wrong answer." 

Oh, that was nasty. Really nasty. It must have been a mess. Curious that it was only a twofer after all. She didn't seem to want to say anything more and you understood her. Reliving the horror when you had just escaped it seemed like a whole new ordeal in itself. 

"Careful, it's gonna sting," you warned before pouring the disinfectant over the bloody hole between her thumb and middle finger. The woman hissed in pain, gripping her wrist tightly. A nasty insult flew through the air and after that, you prepared the sewing thread as well as the needle you had found in a sewing kit from one of the apartments you had been squatting in. 

"Why are you helping me?" She asked to keep her mind occupied and not think about the pain that would ensue when you'd pierce her skin with that needle. 

Niragi was looking at you intensely and you didn't need to meet his eyes to know what he was thinking. He was probably wondering why you were so intent on wasting your resources and medicine on a stranger, and you could have gotten information out of him otherwise. "I think the real world is already way too shitty for us not to help each other in this one, don't you think?"

It was a logical progression though. Helping her and expecting something in return. Information. It was a very respectable exchange according to you.

"My name is Seolhyun and I'm Korean. I've been here for thirty-two days, I've played six games, and I still don't know who the fuck is that put us here. I have no idea how we got here, no idea why we got here. All I know is that we have to play games to survive." She recited these words breathlessly as you finally broke through her skin. In the end, it didn't seem to hurt as much as she thought it would, as she barely moved at the pain. 

Niragi sighed behind you. It was true that it was disappointing to know that this woman would not bring you more information and that the gaping hole of mystery of this world remained unanswerable. " Fucking hell..." he swore as he threw his head back, defeated at the words. 

It was true that it was quite disappointing to know that this woman couldn't give you any more answers. It was as if, finally, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to unravel the secrets of this world, and that you were all destined, whoever you were, to play these games without question. 

"You don't know... if there's any way out of here?" you asked carefully, as you finished stitching up the lady. You still had to do a bandage as you cut the thread, and she watched you do it carefully. 

"You look like a good person to me," she began softly, still ignoring the way Niragi sneered at her words, "so I'll tell you something. There's someone here who thinks he's figured out the mystery of this world. But... he's not really a good person. He is a dangerous man who calls himself The Hatter. He thinks that if we put all the cards together, we can get out of here." 

That was a good explanation. You had come up with the same one. It was a logical enough interpretation to come up with at the moment. And it seemed like a long, long time. You had only one card, and the second card, the eight of clubs, had been stolen from you callously by Chishiya and An. How do you get fifty-two cards together when everyone else is chasing them too? 

"Has anyone ever succeeded? To get out I mean..." you asked as you placed the bandages on her hand, which soaked up blood directly, draping the cotton in a dark red. 

"Not that I know of, it's just a myth after all." She affirmed and clasped her hand against her chest again as soon as you were done with her. She met Niragi's eyes, who this time, was waiting for her next words with impatience. His face was closed, eyebrows furrowed as he stood motionless in front of her, arms crossed against his chest. "You could look him up and ask him yourself, he's hiding out in a hotel he's renamed The Beach. But... Here's my advice for helping me... If I were you, I'd do anything to avoid him. Him and his minions."

"What makes him so dangerous, then?" Niragi asked firmly, unimpressed by her warnings. 

She looked at him intensely, and after a few seconds, she continued, "He is looking for players to collect the cards for him, under threat of execution if they do not submit to his orders." She sighed and you exchanged a look with Niragi, "He is creating a dictatorship in that Beach of his, and the only solution to not dying because of him is to run away from him at all costs." 

"And how do you know that, anyway?" Niragi accused suddenly.

"Those are the rumors... If you want to get out of here quickly, you should gather those cards on your own," she muttered as she finally stood up. She stretched her injured arm and patted her upper thighs to dust them off. With a smile, she began to walk a few steps toward the exit but stopped short at Niragi. She stared at him silently, judgment clear in her eyes. She turned back to you, and spoke again, "Thanks for your help. And beware of players with numbered bracelets around their wrists. They are the Hatter's minions." 

The woman left and Niragi's incredulous look mirrored yours. If it was possible, she hadn't so much brought answers as even more questions. It was quite strange, and despite her warnings, the curiosity that hovered around Hatter would perhaps drive you to seek him out and find the answers for yourself. 

Which leads us, ultimately, to this very moment. It was actually just a coincidence, but the woman's warnings had been of great help to you. 

He was shirtless, wearing shorts and a long red and black Japanese vest. He had medium-length hair that fell over his shoulders and sunglasses on his nose despite the dark evening and the stars shining high in the sky. 

It took only an hour and a few minutes after meeting this young woman, to run into the man who called himself The Hatter. It was not in your plans to run into him, let alone fall into his net. Even if the warnings of the player had not worried you more than that (you had bet on the small possibilities of running into him in the vastness of Tokyo to escape him), it was much more prudent to be wary of every word he said. 

"Look, Aguni, two little lost sheep," he laughed with a cold chuckle as he got out of the car, slamming the door violently. 

You really had to go over all those mathematical calculations, because running into someone who was warning you about somebody else, and running into that somebody very precisely an hour later, was a coincidence you found suspicious. And the headlights of the car speeding toward you as you walked down to the harbor had caught you off guard. Amazed to see a car running, the metal carcass had stopped at your level before you could hide from it. 

Strangely enough, even before the two men showed up, you had a crazy hunch about the identity of these two thugs. Or at least one of them. He had this arrogance painted on his face that couldn't fool you. Niragi had stepped in front of you, protecting you from any threat that came your way. 

The man named Aguni was tall and strong, wearing a tank top that showed off his muscles. He had a shaved head, a mustache and a goatee that vaguely reminded you of the military stereotype. Anyway, his face was closed, his jaw tense and his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the hood of the car he hadn't turned off after he left the wheel. 

He said nothing and the other shirtless man walked around the car to greet you with two open arms and a smile on his face. "I don't believe we've met," he'd said and you'd taken a step back, more than a little wary at the sight of these strangers. It wasn't trivial to run into other players in the city, but the intentions of some were so questionable that it was best to stay in your lane and avoid unnecessary trouble. 

"Who the fuck are you, and what do you want?" Niragi had threatened in a low, authoritative voice, offering his best dark look he had in stock. 

There was a gun around the tank top man's belt and a bracelet around his wrist, and the Hatter stepped forward a little more, as if to block your eyes as they analyzed his friend's figure. "My name is Takeru Danma, but you can call me Hatter." 

Niragi chuckled at the name. A small chuckle that slowly evolved into a mocking laugh and you watched him from the corner of your eye, somehow worried that he might offend the man in front of you. "You're the Hatter?" He chuckled some more before turning his head to meet your gaze. He had that little mischievous look in his eyes that you found absolutely no place for in this situation. "I was expecting some kind of big shot and a freak hat on his head."

"You know me?" the man asked curiously, almost surprised. 

"You have a reputation," you informed before Niragi could, as if expecting him to say something tangential again.

This time it was the Hatter who smiled, and behind him the stone man did not move, did not smile, did not speak. "A good reputation, I hope," he tried to joke as if to lighten the mood. But it was futile. The woman's warnings remained in a corner of your head, far too prepared by the soft words or threats he might throw at you to rally you to his cause. 

"Not really," Niragi chuckled as if it gave him pleasure to contradict the shirtless man, as if depriving him of such an illusion somehow gave him personal satisfaction.

"I take it you've heard of my Beach, then?" 

"Your dictatorship?" Niragi asked innocently, as if the weight of his words didn't have the power to put you in danger. "Yeah, we heard of it." 

The Hatter's smile faded for only a second, insisting with his deep black eyes on both of your figures to determine what attitude to approach after a confession like that, and finally, he clapped his hands and exclaimed again, "Aguni!" He turned around and the man behind him looked at him with a bored expression, finally dropping his insistent gaze from your face. "Remind me why the Beach was created." 

Taking a breath, Aguni recited in a detached tone, as if every word he spoke pissed him off, "To gather as many players as possible and help each other gather the cards so we can all get the hell out of here."

"There, that's it," the Hatter nodded as if he wasn't sure why he had created his... company, or whatever it was. He walked a few steps to the right, then back, walked left, and back again. He was thinking, as if he was finally calculating his every word. Was he trying to win you over?

"Rumors say you get people to play games to collect cards for you," you pointed dangerously, cutting him off in his reflection. 

He stopped short and stared at you for a few seconds before licking his bottom lip. Then he scratched the back of his head, exchanged a look with Aguni, and finally said, "You don't strike me as people who believe rumors." 

Mmh. He was answering your accusation with another accusation, and that was smart, from your point of view. It didn't create affirmation or negation.

"I have the vague impression that you've been here long enough to know that the players of this world have to play to supply our visas, am I right?" He was right, indeed. But that didn't really mean much. It was as easy to steal other people's cards as it was to force them to play deadly games under threat of irreversible repercussions. 

The master of this game was no match for the Hatter, who made his own rules in this crazy world.

"I have something to offer you," he finally began again, and Aguni straightened up behind him, offering a menacing look as a sign of his authority. "You join my Beach, play the games of this world, and bring back the cards you win..." 

He knew he had piqued your interest, he knew you were waiting for the next part, to know what he was going to offer you in return. He knew he was onto something and that his proposal was enticing enough to make anyone flinch. It was only the beginning of his experiment, only the beginning of his creation, but he had faith in his values and expectations. He believed in it, and with that alone, the Hatter knew he could rally anyone to his cause. 

"...and in turn, I offer you food, shelter, electricity, and most importantly, working showers. Hot ones, I might add." That last word could have been enough to make you groan on the spot. Your skin instantly tingled at the thought of a hot shower. It had been so long since you'd had one that you'd forgotten how it felt. 

You longed for something carefully prepared, something warm and good that had nothing to do with canned food or rabbits caught on the run. 

It was a tempting proposition. It was. 

"How can you have electricity in that Beach of yours, when the whole city is  out?" Niragi spat accusingly, and he was right to be suspicious. It was important not to forget the woman's warnings earlier. 

"There's a power generator," he explained simply. It was still suspicious to you, why would this world go to such lengths to strip you of electricity, if it was to leave generators lying around the city? 

The Hatter watched you intently, as if he had played his own cards and was waiting for your next move. He offered a smile as Niragi turned a second time to meet your gaze. 

You had never mastered the skill of reading each other's minds, but the years spent together were a great help in deciphering what was hidden in each other's eyes. 

Niragi's eyes were round, eyebrows raised as if to say, ‘What do you think?’

You only had to tilt your head slightly to the side and bite your lower lip, the intense look in your eyes to retort something that would have looked like: 'He can't be trusted!'. 

Niragi smiled. He had something on his mind. His decision was made. 

"And tell me, Hatter, in your beautiful Beach dictatorship there -" 

"It's not a dictatorship." Hatter cut Niragi off, who glared at him. 

Niragi rocked back and forth on his other foot, brushing away a lock of hair that fell in front of his eyes. He scoffed at the boldness that the other man showed him, fearlessly cutting him off. It was strange for him, because this person, the Hatter, seemed as unimpressed by him as by his threatening airs. 

Everywhere he went, Niragi was used to seeing glances down, footsteps rushing by, and sometimes even seeing figures change sidewalks at the sight of him. He had this bad boy aura about him, like someone so unfriendly that it was better to avoid him at all costs. Without even opening his mouth to express in a deep and authoritative voice two or three insults often well placed, he had the attitude of a man with whom one did not want to have problems.

But the Hatter, or maybe it was only because of the bodyguard behind him who was looking at Niragi with a contemptuous look, did not seem to be afraid in the least. On the contrary, it finally seemed to suit him. As if you were exactly what he was missing. 

"Forcing people to do what you want, I call that a dictatorship." You commented in a firm tone and the Hatter turned his attention back to you. 

"Ooh, that one bites!" He exclaimed with a big smile as he clapped his hands excitedly. He took a step towards you, but was stopped short by an arm that blocked his path, Niragi's figure more imposing than his own. 

Their faces a few centimeters apart, Niragi muttered something under his breath that was too imperceptible for you to hear. Behind them, Aguni straightened up and pulled the Hatter towards him, his gaze as black as the sky as he threatened Niragi with his imposing gaze. 

"Aguni, my friend, remind me of the rules of the Beach, please," the Hatter resumed and the summoned man's shoulders relaxed once he felt that Niragi was not a threat. 

"Rule number one, you must always wear a bathing suit," Aguni recited in a still detached, completely bored tone. Every word that came out of his mouth seemed to hurt him to the core of his being. 

Niragi sneered and you raised your eyebrows. "You're kidding." 

"This rule is only imposed on non-executive players, it's to... avoid carrying illegal weapons, I'd say," the Hatter explained and you wondered what the reason for this rule could have been. Had someone wanted to rebel, carry a gun and point it at him? 

"Rule number two," Aguni continued, ignoring the little exchange that had just occurred, "You are free to live your life exactly as you wish." 

"There, that... that's a good rule," the Hatter commented, taking his little steps left and right again. "That doesn't sound like a dictatorship, does it?" 

Aguni was still staring at the two of you, as if he was only waiting for one thing, and that was to get the hell out of here. A simple "No," came out of his mouth before he finally uncrossed his arms to shove his hands into the pockets of his shorts. 

"Who are the execs?" You asked curiously, and you needed a lot more before you knew if you wanted to join his cause or not. You had to take the opportunity to get away scot-free if it came up, or accept such an enticing opportunity if it did. 

"They're players like you and me, who have proven their loyalty and brought high-level cards back to the Beach," he explained simply, and that damn smile that stuck to his face was starting to irritate you. 

You could see past his fake politeness, past the appearances and this show he was putting on. 

"Do you have any cards, by the way?" Hatter asked curiously, alternating his gaze between Niragi and you.

The trust was so far out of reach that you couldn't conceive of giving him the only card you had in your possession. After all, taking on a card hunter wasn't in your plans at all. 

"What about you?" You retorted quickly, as if in the end, it was he who had to prove to you that he was worthy of this world. As if, it wasn't you who had to prove yourself, but it was him and his misplaced ideology that had to show that you could believe in him and what he said. 

Hatter chuckled as his eyes locked on yours, and calling over his shoulder, he grumbled happily, "You hear that, Aguni? The lady asks if we have any cards!" 

He chuckled at his own words, but the man behind him only bulged his chest, not a shadow of a smile on his face. You wondered then if this man had known joy in his life, even for a single second. 

"Of course we have," the Hatter continued after a minute, "we're starting to have a nice little collection, by the way." 

Once again, Niragi turned to capture your gaze and this time, it was you who spoke up. "Very well. We have a question though, before we join your amazing sect," The Hatter winced at the word but said nothing. "Your bracelets, there, what are they for?" 

You pointed to the bracelet around his wrist that brilliantly asserted the number one, under the light of the moon. Aguni, behind him, was wearing the number two. 

The Hatter exchanged a look with him, and scratching the back of his head again, he cleared his throat before explaining, "This is the hierarchy of the Beach. I wholeheartedly believe that if we put all the cards together, we can escape this world all together and return to our own. If only one person is allowed to go though... then the bracelets determine the order of departure. I created the Beach, so I am number one, it goes without saying." 

"And if we joined you, what number would we be?" You asked and Niragi listened intently, still glaring. 

The Hatter looked uncomfortable now, as if he had prepared his speech but not the questions he might have been asked. He hesitated for a moment, before answering that "It will depend on what you bring to the Beach. Either you're one of the reckless players who are obsessed with playing as many games as possible to bring back those cards, or you're one of the people who can help us outside the games. Mechanics, cooks, doctors, that sort of thing..." 

It took a lot of effort not to meet Niragi's gaze again and perhaps silently admit that one of you would be of great help to their group. You had to keep your identity a secret until you knew more about The Beach and the other people in it. 

But for the moment, with your status as a doctor, it was almost sure that it would bring you an undeniable importance there. Niragi, on the other hand, would be willing to play games to bring himself the importance he deserved. 

"You wouldn't be a doctor, by any chance? It would seem that there is not one in this world..." You found the Hatter to be a man of many words. He had his mouth running on its own schedule, not caring how briskly he strung together each word he spoke. As if the whole alphabet was not concrete enough to form the words he wanted to transcribe orally. 

He was a strange character. Yes. Arrogant, eccentric. It all blended awfully well with this gloomy world that reeked of danger and menace.

You largely ignored the Hatter's words, and as Aguni moved away from the vehicle to make room, you walked to the door. Opening the back of the battered blue BMW, you gave an inviting look to Niragi, who hurriedly sat down in the back of the car beside you. The Hatter clapped his hands, excited at the idea of having rallied two new recruits to his cause. 

"That's wonderful, Aguni, I'm sure the four of us will get along just fine!" And Aguni rolled his eyes as he resumed his seat behind the wheel. Sitting on the passenger side, the Hatter put his feet up on the dashboard, as carefree as he was indifferent. 

The engine purred loudly and Aguni accelerated towards his destination, the Beach. 

You were curious to see what it looked like, and who you would have to deal with, once there. You had to brave your courage and even with all the boldness in the world, you still had to be wary. For now, a new adventure was about to begin, and discreetly, Niragi's fingers slipped between yours to press a reassuring pressure. 

When you looked at him, his head was turned, eyes peering through the open window as the wind blew through his hair. He gave a second squeeze around your hand and as quickly as it had come, he withdrew his fingers and ruffled his hair as it fell into his neck. He pulled his bun tighter, and it was so hard to ignore the way his neck shone in the moonlight. Like he was inviting you to plant one, two, three, a thousand kisses there. 

But the Hatter's insistent gaze in the rearview mirror burned your skin, and looking away - finally - through your own window, you tried to carefully memorize the address of that Beach.   

The Seaside Paradise Hotel was large enough to accommodate two hundred people. It was an old luxury hotel, with a pool and tennis court, that had a great reputation in the real world. At the entrance, the name of the hotel had been scratched out with red spray paint, replacing the name The Beach. 

From outside, it was easy to hear the thundering sound of bass music hitting the floor with every vibration. Shouts of joy and excitement could be heard, and as Aguni parked the car at the entrance, the Hatter stepped out of the car, a smile still on his lips. "It's a party here every day," he clarified to your incredulous look, curious as to where that sound was coming from. "Every moment we spend not playing is another moment of survival to enjoy life." 

He was now entering the hotel and the entrance was adorned with a huge red carpet, and trinkets that carefully decorated the room. He walked through the room, and the people you passed were all wearing bathing suits, not embarrassed to show their skin so easily. They greeted the Hatter with a nod, offering their best smile to their leader. Then he headed for the exit and once you passed the glass doors that opened to the outside, an apocalyptic scene was revealed before your eyes.

Dozens of naked or almost naked bodies were dancing together on the tempo of a frantic music, the alcohol was flowing and the smoke that escaped from some groups suspected the state in which they had to be. "And how better to enjoy life than to submit to the debaucheries and sins that the original world forbade us?"

There were definitely a lot of players, much more than you would have imagined. Each one of them was getting carried away by the sound of the raging music, some were mouthing at each other, some were exchanging glasses of alcohol and some were even passed out on the cushions by the pool. 

Niragi stopped beside you and the petty look in his eyes made your jaw tense. He was playing with the piercing of his tongue, amused by the debauchery that appeared before his eyes. You knew that look, you knew he was enjoying the show. It wasn't so much the bare legs of these girls moving their butts and breasts vulgarly that attracted him, but rather this space of chaos that opened the door to delinquency and crime.

"Welcome to The Beach," the Hatter enthused, his arms open to what he called a paradise.

The sound of the bass made your heart tremble with how loud the music was. It was strange that you hadn't heard that racket before, you were sure it was echoing throughout the entire city. Niragi watched with amusement as two men who had drunk too much started to get into a fight as one of them threw the first punch. He laughed, pointing at the one who fell to the ground at the power of the blow.

You weren't sure how to feel about it all. It was both completely crazy and absolutely amazing. On the one hand, you supported the idea that people could finally let go of their lives and barriers, that they could enjoy who they were without the social pressure of real life. On the other hand, it could mean the end of the world. Without faith and law, everything became dangerous. Every person you met, every action of anyone could cause an inevitable tsunami.

"I see you found The Beach," a voice came from behind you through the music, and you didn't have to turn around to recognize who it belonged to. Unconsciously, you closed your eyes for a second as the voice began again, "Or did The Beach find you?" 

The last few days had been so tumultuous, considering the hunt for food and the quest for information to try to understand this world, that you had forgotten (or ultimately didn't care) that this meeting with the Hatter was not your first encounter with people from The Beach.

"Chishiya," you opened your eyes and offered as sincere a smile as you could as the blond approached. You could feel Niragi's stature tense up at the very sight of the other man, but he said nothing to let it be known. "What a... pleasure to see you here."

A pleasure, far from it. But if it was necessary to play dumb so as not to start off on the wrong foot, then so be it. Hatter called out to himself, looking between the three of you as he tried to figure out what was going on. "Oh, you two know each other already?" 

"We've met, yes." Chishiya agreed, offering a smile to the Hatter who looked at him excitedly. You weren't sure how to react to him, you weren't sure yet if he was one of the bad guys or the good guys. Knowing each other in the real world didn't mean that much here. He had always had this mysterious air about him, and he enjoyed seeing the confusion on the faces of the people he talked to. It was a pet peeve of his, and with his amused look crossing yours, you wondered how he ended up here, too. 

"By the way," Niragi stepped in front of him, taking advantage of the way he towered over the blond with his height. He was trying to be imposing and intimidating in front of the other who didn't flinch under the threat. Chishiya looked at him curiously, and Niragi resumed, "you stole my card." 

"Stole it?" Chishiya wondered, his eyes round. 

"The eight of clubs, that was my card," Niragi growled, his jaw tense. 

You could have rolled your eyes at this little testosterone war that was slowly taking place between the two of them. There was a rivalry that was starting to take hold that had no place here. You knew that Chishiya had the nonchalant attitude that could easily get on anyone's nerves, but you thought that Niragi would be smarter than that. Apparently, he was falling for it too easily. 

"I think what you mean by that is that it was your card as much as mine. It was a team win, haven't you forgotten?" Chishiya retorted and God forbid he was right, because if Niragi didn't restrain himself, he would be able to throw his fists in his face. Niragi had little patience and arrogance was something that irritated him to no end. It was quite ironic, for someone as arrogant as himself.

Yes, if your only hope of getting out of this hellish world was to partner with the Hatter, then giving him your cards was the only way out. Chishiya had probably already given it to him, and the seven of diamonds that was still in the back pocket of your jeans seemed to burn your skin through the fabric. 

Even though what he was saying made sense, Niragi still considered it theft. He didn't like the way Chishiya looked at him with that condescending look on his face, as if he considered everyone around him as mere pawns in a world that only deserved his own survival.

"I guess not," Niragi mumbled after a few seconds, still holding his gaze in Chishiya's irises, which didn't flinch either. 

You weren't talking about stealing, but you thought it was much fairer to provide a card for each surviving player, than one card for all. This would avoid situations like this that would inevitably cause arguments about who owns the cards. But here, as Chishiya so aptly put it, it didn't matter. All the cards were going to the Hatter anyway. 

"Excuse me," you snuck between their two bodies in an attempt to pull them apart. You knew that it would take Niragi only three times as much to jump on Chishiya, it was as if he was just waiting for the other to weaken so he could get a good punch in the face. Both of them took a step back when your shoulders hit their torsos, and stopping right in front of the Hatter, you held out your card. "This is a seven of diamonds. Our other cards were stolen six days ago, so... we're starting over."

It was much smarter to lie than to admit that you had only played two games so far. You had to showcase your survival skills if you hoped to move up in this hierarchy. The Hatter didn't know anything about you yet, but for now, he would just have to take your word for it.  

"I hope you won't hold it against us, and that you'll give us a chance to prove our loyalty to you." You were far from agreeing with everything the Hatter had put in place, it was all what you would call dictatorship, no matter what he might say. 

"Ah, my dear friend, don't worry about the cards," he put an arm around your shoulders, as a slightly too invasive friend would do, and pulled you a little further away. Immediately, Niragi on your heels and his eyes piercing the Hatter's skull with his invisible laser beams coming out of his eyes for touching you as you walked down the stairs to the pool, leaving Chishiya where he stood. "We'll see about that tomorrow. For now, I want you to enjoy your evening in your new life as a resident of The Beach!"

He let go of your shoulders to slump down on a banquette near the pool, and immediately, two babes came to settle down beside him, planting languorous kisses in his neck. He was greeted by a cocktail glass containing a bluish liquid which he hastened to drink of only one sip. He slapped the buttocks of one of the girls, and the other lit a cigarette to put it in his mouth. 

If that wasn't a dictatorship, you wondered what was. Niragi, at your side, was laughing playfully, as if he thought that this place wasn't so bad after all. You couldn't conceive the idea that all these players were stupid enough to forget what world you were in, while Niragi probably supported the idea that forgetting was probably the only way to relax and let go of death's grip on you all.

"My room is on the top floor terrace. The execs have the rooms on the fourth floor, the rest belong to the players. I'll let you find the one that suits you best." The Hatter added between two kisses with the girl on his right, and you understood that was the end of the discussion. There was nothing more to add, nothing more to understand, nothing more to explain. 

Niragi pulled you by the wrist, and led you through the small crowd of players towards the interior of the hotel. You passed Chishiya who had stayed in the same place, giving you a curious look before heading to a place you didn't know. Back in the lobby, a few players were bickering as they made their way outside, something about the game they had probably just played earlier. 

You were surprised to see that the elevators were working as a girl in a bathing suit came out. She was wearing nothing but her blue floral bikini, her body naked. A lollipop was nestled in her mouth, which she sucked absent-mindedly as she played with the dreads in her hair. She walked past you, without giving you a single glance, and walked away to a door behind the reception. Niragi entered the elevator, still dragging you by the wrist. 

He stopped in front of the buttons on the shaft, thinking for a second before pressing number four. "The fourth floor is for executives only, baby." 

Niragi smiled. Yes, he knew that. He didn't need you to remind him. "We didn't come here to be underlings, princess. From now on, we're execs, you and me." Okay, that was a pretty radical decision. Still, the Hatter and his minions had to agree as well. If a hierarchy had been set up, it was surely to avoid coups like these. 

This did not surprise you from Niragi. After all, he had put behind him all those days when he followed orders like a common animal, and you knew that he would never again agree to submit to the ways of the shepherd.

The ding of the elevator rang out and the doors opened onto a long hallway. The light from one of the sconces flickered on the right, all the doors were closed, and Niragi stepped forward. It seemed that each occupied room was marked in a different way. 

To the right, the first door had a large X painted on the wood. Opposite, there was a poster of a naked girl hanging. Then there were three rooms with nothing at all, then there was another door with bullet holes that had pierced the wood. Next to it was a blank door, with nothing to differentiate it from the others except for the dozen or so dead empty beer bottles that littered the floor. 

A small pink bow hung on the door opposite, and next to it, several empty rooms again. As you made your way through the floor, you had this funny feeling that you couldn't ignore. It was something like a foreboding. Good or bad, it was still hard to tell. But something was waiting for you, you could feel it. 

You were trying to open a door, finally, when you were interrupted, your hand around the handle, "Hey, you there, what are you doing here? This floor is for executives only," a man rumbled from across the hall, and as he stepped through the dim light of the sconces, you could make out a gun in his hands, pointed at you. 

Despite everything that had happened in this world so far, this was the first time you had a gun pointed at you. It wasn't as scary as you thought it would be, or maybe it was just the fault of this country that seemed to have redefined all your fears and beliefs. 

The man was small, he had a bandage around his neck and he was holding a machine gun in his fingers that looked much heavier than he was. His voice was shaking, his fingers were shaking and even his hair seemed to be shaking. He had on a bathing suit that fell well over his hips, and a dirty t-shirt that stuck to his skin. 

Niragi slowly stepped forward, not afraid of the tip of the device sticking to his own torso. "That's a nice toy you have there," he muttered and the man stammered under his breath. You wondered who the idiot was who had appointed him executive. Or was he just providing security for the floor? To prevent people like Niragi or you from trespassing in a forbidden place like this one. "Can I borrow it?" 

"Ba-back off!" The man said, and he looked more like a teenager than a young adult with his frail body and pretty angelic face.

Niragi seemed to be amused, he had a small smile on his face that didn't bode well for you. "Come on what, I just want to hold it for a bit..."

"Stop it, I said back off!" The man shouted, taking a step back. He seemed much more impressed with Niragi whereas he was the one holding the weapon. "Go back to your rooms, immediately or... or I'll shoot!" 

Niragi laughed and if you were smarter than that, you would hold him back by dragging him further away, so you could go back downstairs. But you knew that Niragi would not forgive you if you did. You knew not to hold him back at times like this, as if holding him back or preventing him from doing what he wanted to do in front of someone would make him feel inferior. You couldn't do anything, you couldn't call him out, bring him to his senses. It was futile and unnecessary. 

"Please..." Niragi stepped forward and the man stepped back. You could only stand in your corner, your hand still on the handle as Niragi's menacing aura continued to intimidate the man. With one blow, Niragi's right hook slammed into the man's nose and he took several steps back. He didn't have time to point his weapon at Niragi again, who grabbed it and smashed it against his forehead. The man fell to the ground, and Niragi grabbed the machine gun and pointed it at his victim. 

"Please..." he echoed, his voice even more shaky, if that were possible. "I... I'll do anything you want, I won't tell anyone you were here, I -" 

Trrratata! 

But Niragi had pulled the trigger. The deafening sound of the machine gun echoed through the hallway, and the noise chilled your blood. You couldn't conceive the idea that Niragi had just pulled the trigger when in fact, the young man's lifeless body laid against the floor, the scarlet blood from his abdominal wounds running down the carpet. "What the fuck, Niragi, what have you done?" 

You couldn't take your eyes off the inert body that sat before you, and as Niragi stepped up beside you, taking your face in his hands, he whispered, "Look at me, princess, here, look at me!" His hands were icy despite the warmth within his walls, and finally taking your gaze off the dead man, you found Niragi's intense gaze looking for some reassurance to transfer into your eyes, "We will not be slaves to the Hatter, do you hear me? I'm going to do everything I can to get you and me out of here, and that means we're going to have to make sacrifices, you understand?" 

If you thought about it, you would remember that you had also sacrificed a man's life in the game of eight of clubs, but everything was different in the arena. In a game, you had to make choices and decisions to ensure your survival. But here, right now, it was a completely gratuitous act that was anything but necessary. 

"You fucking killed him, what were you thinking?" You were beginning to feel your heart racing, your throat dry as Niragi's hands applied light pressure to your cheeks to draw your attention to him. 

This was far from your first body, you had seen so many deaths in the hospital that you had found the strength to detach yourself from the feeling it could give you when you saw this. But here you had witnessed a cold-blooded murder, something that was undeserved, you didn't understand. "To fear or to be feared, which do you prefer?" It was neither an explanation nor an excuse. "I'll chomp all over them, right here, okay?"

You knew what he was thinking. If you were just a little more twisted than that, you would understand Niragi's way of thinking. That holding a gun established fear and respect, and that with it in his hands, no one would dare say anything to him, or do anything he didn't like. He was taking strength by force, and he was in a good position to know what it felt like, and how to do it. 

It wasn't a bad strategy, but you wished he had chosen another. 

Yes, the Borderland had no laws or rules. There was no punishment for murder here. There was no one to take justice where it should be applied. Here, there was only the law of the strongest, and the strongest today was Niragi, who carried his new machine gun with a proud look. He was going to take care of his weapon, he was going to pamper it and caress it as it deserved. Because with this, nothing and nobody could touch you. 

He knew that with this, he could ensure that you would always be safe. He would take great pleasure in keeping away anyone who might want to harm you. It was a protection, more than a real weapon. You had to see it that way. It wasn't so much the idea of killing that excited Niragi, no, don't get him wrong. 

It was the idea that here he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. 

He would never say anything, never let on that you might get hurt in one of these fucking games. Or by one of those assholes who didn't like how you talked to them. Because he knew that all it would take to hurt him was to hurt you. 

No, he had to set his law here, no matter what the Hatter said. A new era had to start, the one of Niragi Suguru. 

And you, in all this, would always be safe. Always safe.

//////////////////////////////

Oooh lalalalala, I am SO sorry for the delay! My son had the flu all week, so he didn't go to daycare, and with work, I just didn't have time to write anything!

Anyway, we are in the thick of it! So, forget what I said about writing the story in one go, I'll have to make little time jumps otherwise it'll be endless

I've got a few more chapters to write that you're going to love, so I hope my little Niragi stans are still there, and that you still like what I'm making!

I hope to take less time for the next chapter, look forward to it, please!

Nageoire

[temporarypenintraining]

alright ninbitches it's time for Pen Rants About Serpentine Oppression. Leetssssssss talk about how fucked up the treatment of this entire people group is, starting way back at the beginning. So it's not entirely clear where the serpentine originated from. According to their own lore they were created by the FSM but my personal headcanon is actually that they originated in the realm of Chima with all the other anthro animals and were brought over by the FSM. This is not relevant, though. What's relevant is that, as far as we can tell, Serpentine/Human relations have pretty much always sucked. They've had fragile peace and unstable borders and for some reason just generally disliked eachother. There's like, thousands of years that we don't see so maybe there were times that they were chill but since Wu and Garmadon are really our only sources, it's hard to say. And Wu and Garmadon do NOT paint a great picture. I love the Spinjitzu Bros but the amount of just... casual racist comments are like, REALLY disturbing, actually. Saying stuff like "Last one there's a slimy snake!" Like this shit is INGRAINED in Ninjago's culture. Wu had like one bad experience with a Serpentine as a kid and suddenly his entire mindset it "Never Trust a Snake". What the actual fuck. One of the scenes that has always stuck with me is the scene in Child's Play where they're chasing the generals out of the museum, and Jay yells "Hey! They're trying to steal the golden sarcophagus!" Like... Ah, yes. THEY'RE trying to steal it. The golden sarcophagus. Which clearly contains the mummified corpse of an ancient Serpentine. And was most likely taken from a Serpentine pyramid and put in this human museum. Honestly this is relevant in the real world too, cuz how fucked up is it that we took these remains that clearly were not meant to be displayed, and made them an exhibit (and also ate them but that's a different story entirely)?? These are Serpentine trying to reclaim a member of their own and Jay, who has been raised with nothing but fear and hatred for their entire species, is accusing THEM of stealing. Then of course there is the matter of that fsm-awful book, Jack the Rabbit. Whether it was originally written as anti-Serpentine propaganda is irrelevant, because that is how it's being used in a modern context. I really wish I was just exaggerating or being dramatic, I really really do. But I can never see the scene where Wu reads it to Lloyd as a cute uncle/nephew moment ever again because this man is teaching a young boy to fear and hate an entire people group. There's so many little moments that just build up into the most disturbing thing about this entire show. The Ninja practically mugging Skales outside his own home, suspicious of his grocery bag. People chanting "Hey! Hey! What do we say? We want snakes to slither away!" to a fucking mariachi tune. Humans running and screaming in terror when Garma-condrai and Skylor-condrai show up, simply because they LOOK like Serpentine. Referring to the war as the Serpentine War in the first place, or, even worse, calling the battle with Chen's army a Second Serpentine War, despite literally only ONE real Anacondrai being involved at all, and WORKING WITH THE HEROES. Constant mistreatment, constant fear-mongering, erasure of history to the point where Kai didn't even believe they existed, despite his own parents being the ones to lock them in tombs, only about 40 years prior. And the TOMBS. Oh fsm those damn tombs. We see from Wu's story about Aspheera that magical entombment was a Serpentine practice at some point, but again, that was MAGICAL entombment. It was a process that kept the prisoner alive for as long as they needed to be, without need of food or water. Is it humane? Maybe not. But what's far less humane in my opinion is the use of targeted torture devices (referred to as "Sacred" Flutes, for fsm's sake) to force Serpentine into tombs with no way of surviving. The Anacondrai resorted to cannibalism, and I will never let anyone forget that.

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

Sheer Entitlement

Look. I've been called "Boomer", "Coomer" and every other stupid freaking word in the book. However, I'm no boomer, and frankly speaking I think the term "Coomer" is stupid as hell. But I need to discuss this and I know it will not be well received by some people.

Todays generations are royally entitled. And when it comes to Gen Z and Gen A I kind of don't blame them. Because while yes it's f*cked, the reason is because of Gen Y and Gen X. Though not fully.

What we are living through right now is the normalization of Communist ideology. Or rather, the propaganda that leads TO Communism. Which is, "The government should be in charge of everything, and give us everything because EVERYTHING literally is a human right". Except it's not. Your rights stop the moment it requires another persons labor to bring about. What do I mean by this? Scarcity is still a real world issue. And the only reason we have the stores of food we have is due to the labor of SEVERAL different sectors of industry.

The transportation industry. The machining industry. The farming industry, and so on. How do those industries thrive? Due to every other industry that makes it worth their time to do what they do. The local residents that make the water treatment systems work. The people to work on the grid. The people that make the petrol that makes all of that stuff work in general. Our countries require work and industry to survive. If no one works these jobs, there is nothing left. And lest people be FORCED to work these jobs, which under socialism and communism they WOULD be, everything we know and everything we have would crumble.

Frankly speaking, I can't blame the modern generations. We've allowed ourselves to be infiltrated by Commies and Socialists. What's more, it's often people who are well off, like Hasan Piker and his ilk. They complain about "Capitalism" while misrepresenting what it actually is. Every single time, blaming Capitalism for the problems not caused by the system in place, but my the government instead. Which fun fact if the government is the one causing the issue, why EXACTLY do you want more government control when THEY are the ones causing the issues? Then again, I already know why. Many of you assholes have expressed why. And the conversation goes as such:

"We want to turn the system on it's head"

"You realize you view the system as pyramid right? If you turn it on it's head said pyramid will shatter and crumble into a pile "Resembling" a pyramid"

"God your stupid. That's the point. We don't care about the bottom of the system. And people like you that try to view us in good faith are great for us. Of course we want the system to collapse by flipping it on its head. WE want to be on the top. F*ck everyone else."

^Those are the people you support. A system that want to look like this:

This is they system they want. The only grip they have is that not only are they not the ones at the very top, they also don't want mobility for others. They are selfish, greedy, and you prop them up believing "It's for the greater good". And "Oh well it's great to make EVERY THING a "Human Right". Healthcare is not a human right. Food is not a human right. Housing is not a human right. Because all of those things require the labor of others. If you are so pissed off about not having food, grow your own. Buy seeds at Walmart or Lowes. Get in home plants or just get pots to plant stuff in. Put it in the window or hang it outside.

And I've said this before but most people sadly become disillusioned by their friends and family or by social media. Often actually by social media more than not. Basically, a "Victim" of our own success. The better we make things the less effort has to be put into having a decent life. We live vastly better than even Royalty from decades ago. We have indoor plumbing and toilets. We have large refrigerators and freezers. We have strawberries year round. And other foods that would otherwise only exist seasonally. Our great grandparents probably worked 12-16 hr days. Between working on a farm or ranch. Potentially having a day job. Coming home to make repairs without fancy ass tools. Without Amazon. Having to wait for professionals to come out and fix something that could take days or longer. Maybe weeks.

We have it SO GREAT and honestly that might not be a good thing at all. People don't have to try anymore. You can literally make money now a days selling pictures of your f*cking feet. There are people that play games online and attempt to entertain people that make a KILLING. Things are so f*cking easy now. Does that mean it's easy for everyone? No. Does that mean that things are not difficult in their own way? No. But to pretend that the people that preceded us had it easier? They really didn't.

Which leads me to now. I honestly can't stand what we are seeing from people today. Everything is "oppressor" this and "Oppressed" that. It's "woe is me things are so hard". Yeah kindly tell that to some of your parents that worked 2 jobs just so you could turn in to an entitled socialist. And that's what most of the people today are. Even if they don't know it. "Every thing should be free". No. Everything should not be free. People deserve to see the fruits of their own labor. Not to be pressured into giving up what they have for other people who don't WANT to work.

Which leads me to my last point. Stop demanding stuff of free. Start teaching your kids the meaning of work. And it's worth. But more than that, start taking them off social media, and teach them the things you know. Teach them how to cook. Teach them how to clean, teach them how to build things. Teach them how to file taxes. Teach them the things they need to know to be prepared for life in the future. And also. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, educate your kids on why government interference in the market on BELHALF of multinational corporations is NOT capitalism. It's Corporatism. And when you just fork more and more power to the government you get the picture I posted above.

We need to start sanding down entitled behavior. People need to learn the value of work. They need to realize that. More over, they need to not replace religion in their lives with cult like belief in failed political ideologies. So many of us really have no idea how good we have it. And some of us that do want to see our country crumble because, "We've had it too good for too long". Yeah, I'm actually mostly fine with that. Because if let things crumble, how many people die in that process? Too many. How many people die if we BOW to climate alarmism? Too many. How many people die if we adopt Communism or Socialism? Too many.

And lastly. Teach your kids common sense. And teach them to stop chasing clout. Why? Look at what's going on now. Look at the "Rage" supporting that Palestinian people. Meanwhile the Uighur Muslims are being raped daily, sterilized, beaten, forced into reeducation, and forced to do labor for things coming out of China. NOT! A! F*CKING! PEEP from these same people. Because it's about hate (for a certain group of people) and it's about clout. If nothing else? Teach your kids to be consistent and teach them critical thinking. We really need to offset the current issues we are having today. BADLY. Anyways. I'm done ranting about this. It's already too long.

[darrowsrising]

Hello! I hope i’m not bothering you, I wanted to ask something about the conquering era and you literally are a RR encyclopaedia: as we are getting bits and references to silenius &co, i was wandering where was exactly the moral high ground back then. idr if this was expressly stated in the books, but it’s clear golds hold the story of the conquering in a way which is almost myth-like, so i was confused, because on one hand the light bringer thing and the rebellion against the occupation of the american empire looks fair, but again on the other hand it’s the word of a fascist society still. maybe good intentions ruined by desire of power? was ever stated in the books, for example, darrow’s opinion? hope this makes sense ahahah

Hello,

I love answering asks - most of my interesting takes come from them - so you never bother me with them. Thank you for your ask.

Thank you also for your compliment, but the true enciclopaedias are @violethowler and @hyena-frog

I use mostly my memory, while they actually keep detailed quotes. And they are more interested in the Conquering Era than I am. I am a Reaper Era kind of girl - Ave Messor.

I think we should keep a timeline in Reaper years too - in the 34th year of our Lord and Saviour, The Reaper of Mars, The Morning Star, Bringer of Light, Breaker of Chains...; - 100 years Before Reaper; etc.

I will tell you my take on it, not sure of the accuracy of events, but this is what I understood, giving that the eradication of homo sapiens started as a result of the Conquering.

Earth became too authoritative and destructive for humanity to be able to live on - climate change/scarce resources/overpopulation/ecosystems wiped out due to war. They created the Colors to adapt to harsh environments and literally survive after Earth has been pushed to its last breath (a World War III and other stuff). The purpose was to fast track terraforming on nearby planets, so that humanity would not end. They engaged in eugenics and other fucked up stuff. But the Colors were not above homo sapiens. They were the pet projects, bred to ensure humanity's survival.

But what Earth thought would be their salvation, quickly became their enemy and subsequent death. Earth learnt from their mistakes too late. They obviously tried to destroy the Colors and stop humanity from becoming forced into classes, but it was too late. Earth lost control on their pet projects, they wouldn't provide for their masters, they wanted to be the masters.

Luna was the first to be terraformed and it quickly became the main place of power, although we still understand in the present timeline that Luna cannot be protected or fed without Earth. Luna, mainly if not totally populated and controlled by Colors, bit the hand that fed her. The Golds led the conquering, led the war Colors through battles, led the other Colors to rebuild humanity into a neat and tidy society.

Earth allied against the common enemy, but it was obviously too late. Obviously, authoritative regimes bred the environment - Earth was stiffling progress (very capitalist phrasing, but that is actually a reasoning they used a lot in the books to explain the Conquering) by witholding resources to bend them to their will and acted as masters, not as fellow human beings. Hard to mine and feed the Storm Gods on Mars, Venus and Mercury when Earth is your only source of food and water. At least that is how I interpreted.

This bring me to my point - the reason why Golds insist Colors are above homo sapiens is the very Conquering. That is what started the entire bias for the 'original' human race, even a Red is considered above homo sapiens. It is okay to learn from them, respect that humanity had them at some point in the natural evolution, but always know that they are dead for a reason and never coming back. There is a reasob why Golds are the peak of the pyramid - they were at one point one step below and they refused to ever be like so again.

Earth wanted to exterminate their 'failures' and save 'true humanity'. They came close, but failed and perished for it. They found out too late that...facism is bad. Idk how exactly to express it. They simply had to get pushed against the wall to see what they have done, the consequences of their own actions. They sort of grew a moral backbone for a bit, but too little too late and not enough.

However, every camp has its disidents - Akari au Raa had fundamental differences with Silenius au Lune. Silenius' vision became more proeminent and followed, so Akari's vision was vilified - which has consequences today in the Core-Rim tensions. I understand that Lady Victory had a hand in it, according to rumours, the more obvious one being reflected in the cultural differences of Rim Golds and Core Golds.

And obviously, the pyramid system ended up eating itself up. So no one was really ever in the right. It is a vicious cycle, but even when you look at it from a flat point of view - Earth oppressed the Colors, then the Colors pushed back, won and opressed one another. If Earth had won, maybe they would have learnt their lesson once and for all, maybe change for the better, look for peace and harmony with nature etc. Maybe they kept doing it. But the Golds won, so we'll never know. Slavery was on the table for them anyway - they were never going to change that fundamental thing, regardless of views. And now we have Reaper, so it's getting way better.

Silenius has a razor called Lightbringer, he was the initiator of the Conquering, the charismatic leader that brought together and inspired people to fight with him. He was a very apt politician as well because it is easier to conquer than to mantain a reign - Virginia herself follows his teachings, as they are universal truths, regardless of regime. I believe he was also called as his razor is, because he brought light/inspired hope in uncertain times. Lysander says he brought order to chaos, I think it is interpretable.

However, the point still remains, moral highground between homo sapiens and homo aureate? I think both sides are bad. I honestly do not think the Golds fell upon Earth for nothing, or just because Earth was bitchy. There was obvious cruelty and vileness at play. But also, what the Color system wanted from humanity is equally cruel and vile.

Again, maybe Earth would have finally stopped and reassed and reorganize into something kinder, which still matters, as far as the story, or at least some characters, are concerned. I understand that from the hatred towards the Conquerors lowColors seem to have and their belief that slavery wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Golds. I don't necessarily agree for various reasons, but I understand why it happens. I think anyone would dream of something like that in their position, maybe even be frustrated that it does not exist.

I don't think Pierce is trying to give anyone the moral highground, to be honest. He's using them as lore/history tools for his worldbuilding. It also affects some of his characters, especially the new POVs. It's obviously harsher towards the fascist conquerors and their actions - especially the sterillization of the homo sapiens population, but it also does not exactly victimizes the Earth, he uses it as a causionary tale that the Golds should have listened to, but didn't - the more they tried not to be like the Old Earth, they ended up in the same place, maybe even worse.

He's just trying to explain why things are the way they are, which I think he's doing a good job of.

Af least this is what I believe, given the information that I have. I might be wrong on some stances though (if anyone has more details, please spill and correct me 😄 it's not Darrow related)

Speaking of Darrow, I remember Virginia in GS, recounting the events of the Conquering, important Gold history to Darrow, while he sounded almost digusted, instead of proud. That was one of the first instances when I think she was...suspicious of him, maybe he hated the Gold Houses. But we never truly get his feelings on the matter, although he obviously would not side with the slavers. If someone knows lore, please add to this.

Thank you very much for your ask,

Howl on 🐺💖

[mz-elysium]

vtm: wormwood ; clan bingos of povs

[link to blank bingos]

Monroe

Ashley

Hawthorne

Charlie

Jack

Lex

Masika (new!)

rest of the bingos and commentary under cut bc uh this got kinda long lmao

Monroe

ofc Monroe got a bingo. God Complex might be strong, but definitely Saviour Complex. Does wayy too much shit. Also, had a weird bit where he genuinely had quite a bit of respect for LaCroix as an enemy...before he was killed. Shame. Also, had a lot in common, as disgraced childer of unsuccessful military backgrounds.

Hard no’s: *claps hands*, Loyalty > Approval (Monroe not-so-secretly craves being admired), Owns a Crown (but he DOES own a sword...), Undisputed (uh yeh, very in dispute)

Ashley

b-b-bingo. Maybe a bonus bingo, since he does eat food in text sometimes, but I never gave their char sheets merits. 

Hard Yes: Red Lipstick (any colour, dark or sparkly preferred), Never Makes Art (comically useless at it), Siren, Narcissm, Would Sparkle, Anne Rice (literally Spike and Lestat)

Hard No: Humanity 8 (cackles in Humanity 4, which is him on an upswing), Rotten at the Core (...maybe, but he does have some redeeming factors)

Hawthorne

Unsurprised that she got no bingo, and was denied by Leather Jacket! ahh loser. Atypical Brujahs don’t get bingos. Urban Ventrue ghouls don’t make good Brujahs, who figured.

Hard No: Leather Jacket, Motorcycle, Good Music Ended in the 90s (um, actually the 80s, but she would listen to almost anything), Respects Smiling Jack, Brawl 5 (not anymore), Bros Before Sects/Obvious Anarch (fuck the Anarchs)

Charlie

Bingo, and not even a free-space one. Probably the hardest one to fill out, though. Charlie’s Cobweb radar is decent and she can sorta make sense of it sometimes or use it to harvest info, but never that useful.

Also, her Great Ideas are mostly unrelated to her Malkavianisms and mostly due to just being a wiseass and smart guy.

Hard Yes: Paranioa, PREMONITION, “Did anyone else hear that?”, Don’t “ugh, a Malkavian” me!

Secretly, she likes that Bedlam calls her a fish. She knows its true. She just grew legs one night and crawled out onto the shores, but she has a natural habitat somewhere that she can’t go back to. Not that anyone wants to hear stuff like that.

Jack

Jack’s earliest drafts were Brujah and that might still show a bit. He’s not as rough and tumble wilderness dude. More City Gangrel. He has the leather jacket and wants a motorcycle.

But he is a dirt boy animist and part-time rock sorcerer in love with his shapechanges, so maybe he’s Gangrel enough.

Hard No: No Driving License, Becketts (Jack never knew Beckett enough, but he would probably be put off by his obnoxious snide British-isms), Smells Funny (he bathes!), Survival 5

Hard Yes: DONT pet me (sore spot, as a Gangrel), Wants a House in the Woods (kinda has that...), Hell yeah NATURE

Lex

Ahhh, a better Brujah gets better shapes and multi-bingos AND doesn’t need the free-space. Such a Brujah. Very Brujah. Too poor for a new leather jacket and probably burned their old one 8yrs ago.

Hell No: Surprisingly High Humanity (middling, at best), Quotes Philosopher (you kidding me, they can barely quote themself), Motorcycle (lives in SOMA)

Hell Yes: Everything is Political (risks them friendships), Fuck off (just...everyone), Band T-shirt, Good Music Ended in the 90s, Starts Combat, Obvious Anarch (see above)

Masika

New POV. A very Tremerey Tremere, apparently. Very excite about her.

Hell Yes: Smartass (more of a deadpan), Getting Lost (new girl!), Secret Reads (probably, but more of a Discworld and Dark Tower girlie), Absolutely Terrified of Fireball (zero combat exp), SUSPICIOUS (fellow Tremere are always up to something, but not her!), Misses the Pyramid (Tremere loyalist)

Hell No: Oops, Forgot to Ward (never forgets, never oops), Secretly Wants a Gargoyle (a WARCRIME? a breaking of the sacred montmartre pact??? never!), Guilty of Most Things (has never done anything wrong in her entire life)

[aeondeug]

I am uncertain on how I feel about the save system in Fear and Hunger. I've seen that many just use a mod that gives unlimited books of enlightenment or who edit their save files but something about that seems very unsatisfying to me. What is the point then?

I like limited save systems in horror games. I think they're not utilized nearly as often as they perhaps could be. But they're a very love it or hate it thing and there's a fine line between something that adds to the stress in a positive way and something that just makes the game unfun to play.

Fear and Hunger's is...interesting. The coin flip mechanic in general is kind of a bitch. It's the rng of an rpg given a physical form. Instead of the game simply rolling the dice on whether I get hit by an instant kill attack like in most games in the genre, I have to be the one to roll the dice. And I get to see the literal cast and watch in painstaking agony to see what the result is. In battle this is lovely. Especially since many of these can be avoided outright so long as you know when to block.

But with beds it's different. With beds I can't defend at the right time to avoid it. The only thing I can do to mitigate the issue is to use a lucky coin and those are a rare commodity. And even that doesn't guarantee success. I've burned a coin on a failed save attempt and while the thing that attacked me was something I could deal with it still sucked. A lot.

This has changed how I view save points. In rpgs I tend to be very blasé about save points. Why would I give a shit unless it's a NES era dungeon crawler? In 99% of games that still use save points over universal saves it doesn't really matter. Survival is never much of an issue. In survival horror meanwhile save points are generally my favorite fucking thing in the world. They are small areas of respite. I see one and lose my goddamned mind because oh thank fuck I'm safe now. I can save my progress. Now if I die it's ok.

So I don't really think about saving in most survival horror games, with the sole exception being games like Resident Evil 1 where saving is performed with a consumable item. Even then I generally have a decent sense of how much I can push things. I save much more conservatively and I am tense about that, but the tension is bearable. And I generally feel confident enough in my ability to survive early PS1 era survival horror because I am well experienced in the art of running past shit.

Meanwhile in Fear and Hunger I saw a bed the first time and was so happy. Then I laid down and failed a coin toss and got killed by some Pyramid Head looking bitch (this was in the demo, I seemed to need to talk to the statue to avoid the Crow Mauler). This was shocking. And then it happened again. Most of my early deaths in the demo were to this fucking bed.

After getting out of the demo and into the real game I was very excited about the first bed because oh I know how that works. But then I realized something. This is barely anywhere. I have effectively wasted a free save by just rushing it while having made no real progress beyond picking up some food. And then I saw the other beds and felt no joy upon looking at them because I knew they weren't safe. They could be safe but there is heavy emphasis on that could.

I'm still thinking about the beds though. I tuck them away in my memory to a greater degree than I do the random boxes I pass. I have a mental map of where my beds are. Some beds I have lit the sconces near them. This is because I have deemed those beds to be potential strongholds. But for the most part I am just marking them down because I don't want to risk things.

But then that brings up the issue. I eventually got hold of a purified talisman when I knew where the door to the Hexen was and also I had access to an Ancient Book, which I had yet to try out using but figured would be rad as hell given that it warns me before using it. And I was very excited about these things but also it hit me that I could just...Not win the coin flip and die. And then I might not find those things when I load my last save back up. I wanted to save before I popped the book and definitely while I had access to the Hexen but I didn't want to risk the beds. Because what if I die?

But what if I just keep going and then I die anyway? Saving has now become a matter of how much I feel like risking.

Except I then shortly after found a book of enlightenment. Which I had heard what it did but forgot about but popped anyway because I wasn't warned about shit and given a coin flip so I just figured it'd be fine. And then I was presented with the save screen and remembered what this thing is.

And so I now have another complication in my save issue. I can risk it for the biscuit but now the biscuit isn't just how long I feel like going before I lose my shit. Now the biscuit is literally there is a free save option available I just need to be lucky enough to find it. The lucky coins, though still risk filled, offer a similar sort of temptation to keep going.

So there's just a lot of things that are going into encouraging me to keep playing without saving. The coin flips, the fact that lucky coins and books of enlightenment can be found, the fact that the lucky coins have uses other than making saves a bit safer to do... Which is all very neat. One of the things I like a lot about games is how they train you and I find survival horror has some of the coolest forms of conditioning. And this is definitely a very cool form of it. As it has trained me to view the thing I would normally deem safe as dangerous. As something I don't want to try when I've made significant progress, but which I know I have to do if I want to realistically keep that progress.

But this is also incredibly fucking frustrating. I have spent the past few hours of play trying to get past the mines and one of the bumps in the road I come across is the fucking save system. I prepare and get a lucky drop and go oh sick. Then I try and save only to fail the flip and die. Also while wasting a coin but I mean I was dead anyway but like it's extra insult to injury.

At the same time I can't really see myself editing in unlimited books of enlightenment. That would remove something I view as very crucial to the experience. So it's a weird case of there is a system I kind of hate but also which I can't remove because I would like the game less if I did. Which is just incredibly fascinating.

[dopepoisonivyoncrack]

We wouldn't exist without plants in more than 1 way, aside from an evolutionary stand-point. We wouldn't survive without plants that do so much for us every.fuckin.day and its taken for granted. From the air we breathe, to food, drinks, cleaning and cosmetic products, medicines, furniture and other objects and supplies, clothes, dyes, rubber, art, being base material or ingredient in more things than I can count, ornamentals that bring to life any landscape or room, improving our mental and emotional state, all the ecosystem services that literally keep our world together and without which we would literally all suffer and die (and we do suffer and many die when these services are affected by harming and destroying plants). This is not even an exhaustive list. And people can't even meet the bare minimum of consideration that these are alive beings and treat them with care.

They are alive, they move, they see, they feel, they communicate, they recognize and care for their kin, they learn, they can transmit the knowledge to the next generation (although I bet the new generations get more isolated and vulnerable not having old plants around them anymore) they hurt, they get sick, they get wounds that can get infected.

Yet people complain about being bothered by them. Treat them like annoyances, disposable objects. Mass deforestation without a single fuck given about the consequences. Daily cutting and mutilation of trees and vegetation in the most grotesque, incompetent, inconsiderate and, I can't stress this enough, unnecessary ways (for urban projects, laziness to not have leaves to clean up and what not). Its damaging, no matter what excuse they bring, its counterproductive.

Yes, some, species can grow new branches if cut. No, not all species can do that. I've seen fir and thuja horribly mutilated with their top cut. It will stay like that forever, hollow half-pyramid like. And it always comes at a cost, sometimes at the cost of its health and even life. The cut branch doesn't regenerate, it remains cut, it just gives branches in other parts... if some leaves or mix buds remain. The fresh cut is registered by the plant, they know its been cut. They can even alert nearby plants that someone is cutting, and they might be next. It is a stress factor for them. It leaves them vulnerable to microbial and fungus infections, parasites, to environmental factors like drought and extreme weather. Usually the factors act simultaneously. The regeneration requires them to consume their reserves that got accumulated throughout the previous year(s). If the frequency at which the tree is harmed exceeds its capacity to restore its supplies and feed itself, it dies. All the energy that was supposed to go on growing, blooming, making fruits, is now redirected to regeneration and healing and battling infections. (Think of a human getting a bad open wound, a limb cut off)

There is a time and precise way, sometimes species-specific, to cut OLD or UNHEALTHY branches, or to direct the way of the crown growth like some bonsai owners do. It's done with care and consideration and at least some basic knowledge for godsake. It can't be done any time, cutting like a blindfolded fool with a chainsaw.

I've seen in my town the audacity of calling the all-year round of trees topping (cutting whole branches or the whole crown) for urban regeneration. Some were cut down even in bloom, leaves and flowers and all. Cut in very unsightly way too, to the point the town looks desolating and depressing. In summer there is no shadow, or breeze, just suffocating heated concrete. Planting a few frail trees that might not even survive cannot make up for the damage. Cannot replace tall, old trees with big crowns and experience and strength build in decades. Did you know that what counts for the benefits offered by trees (air purification, oxygen,protection from heat, dust and pollution etc) is the leaf surface?! Less branches, less leaves, less services. And it severely diminishes the plant's capacity to restore the reserves it consumes for regeneration and all its functions. Also, asphalting every m2, or covering it with plastic and rocks means rain can't get in the ground. Not only it leads to flooded streets and houses, the trees and nearby vegetation can't get enough water. A few cm around the tree trunk doesn't allow enough water to sustain it.

They cut and harm trees and other plants every fuckin day, in more ways than I can count, and when trees get sick and fall at the first little storm, they get hysteric and cut even more.

We don't have forest curtains anymore so in the winter the snow and ice gets on the road, the wind feels stronger, more accidents happen. In summer, the heat is unbearable and the crops are not protected. When its not straight land, it leads more often to landslides.

Also plants in summer must be watered either early morning or late evening, when it cools down, not when the sun and heat is high, it just fucking steams them dead.

Honestly, I could go on all night. I've been going on for years along other scientists in conferences and more professional settings. For what? when most people can't find it in them to be the least bit considerate. To come on mf blr and see people joking at the sight of trees being cut in the most stupid, dangerous, illegal ways, and getting more worried about some lines, assumed to be power lines, that were not cut (there was only the risk of being cut) while the trees were massacred as a fact. My only worry about the lines was that if electric and cut, might start a fire, that, again, would burn the vegetation. Yes the people at the end of the cable MIGHT suffer some non-life-threatening inconveniences. The trees however were already suffering and no one care. God forbid I make a tag that I CARE and retreat for a few days so I wouldn't have to stand any more crap on a website I come for fun. Also people not liking plants, both irl and now online. Idc what motive for actively disliking or hating plants, its wrong. I hate you. I don't trust you. I wish all people that hate plants a very die.

[hereticallyeverafter]

I've caught wind, as many have, of the Emrata Scandal and everyone's upsetti, saying it's fatphobic and a throwback to Heroin Chic.

If you're triggered by discussions about weight, ed's, dieting, and you read past the line break, that's on you. I'm just sharing my limited, personal experience, not trying to have a whole UN-level debate lol

I grew up during the whole Heroin Chic era, and everyone who talks about it treats it like it was grilled-out frosted-tips Satanic Panic, and maybe for some, it was. I'm not here to talk over or discount anyone else's experience, but mine was totally different. My parents were both healthy- my dad traditionally so, CICO, gym, etc. Mom tried to keep up but usually fell for the fad diets that didn't really go anywhere, and I kinda fell in the middle- I was a chubby, bullied quiet kid.

My parents never made me feel bad or ugly or pressured me to eat a certain way or anything, and sure, I wished I could be skinny like the girls at school and on magazines, but I also saw what it took to get there vis-à-vis my parents' individual and comparative examples. I never once thought "I should starve myself!" or "I bet Vitamin C fills up on cotton balls!" I looked at Tyra Banks and Kate Spade and knew they'd probably hit the gym and ate chicken cutlets with brocolli, like, duh. And I knew I wasn't skinny because I was lazy and liked chips.

Maybe I'm just built different or other Millys' parents never actually had a conversation with their kids or led by example or whatever, but even when we were being taught the Food Guide Pyramid and the Tongue Map at school, they still touched on nutrition adequately enough that hearing (at least) other people my age talk about it like it had been an Apocalyptic-level hellscape is just mystifying to me.

I'm genuinely not trying to shit on anyone here, I know I'm in the minority in my experience, and I was a socially isolated kid anyway, so I'm kind of a Spiders Georg out here. But Em's photo just doesn't bother me. No one can make you feel any type of way, that comes from within you. No one can make you restrict calories and run in circles all night- that was a conclusion you reached and acted on on your own. I know mental illness shaves away at some of the personal accountability, but like, when girls I went to school with would claim to be anorexic from skipping lunch for a week or not eating for 36 hours before caving, it just makes me roll my eyes.

I feel like someone's gonna see this and go on some "you fatphobic asshole!" rant, and I'm not trying to get into that, I'm literally only talking about my personal experience in this tiny frame of time; it'd literally just a statement yall, not a conversation, so if you want it to be a conversation, do so amongst yourselves. Some of us survived HC unscathed, that's it, and that's all Em's post reminded me of.

[whorofasia2]

South Asian Women (Do not abandon the importance of educations such as STEM)

It is my current opinion that one thing South Asian women do best is a focus on education (especially STEM education) which stems from South Asian culture.

Our ancestors and migrants had to work hard and keep their head down even in the midst of discrimination for what we have now. Look at China and how much progress it has made (Can few say that all Asians can do is copy the west when there are things like Genshin Impact, 5G and AMD/Ryzen (Leave the India (South Asian) and Oriental Asian split aside). Although the textile and agriculture industry comes a lot in part from India.

This imo (In my opinion) was not born out of PTSD (Pointless tiresome spiritual drama) and constant arguing back and forth with your parents, wrecking shit when angry and spending money when angry. (Cool down, put some headphones on to avoid conversation but do not do things that you regret in the long run)

Due to the laws of the universe not changing a STEM education can never be taken from you even though there might be an over-supply (Disagree with me if you want). In contrast, the whims of culture and art can change here and there from time to time and in reality imo (in my opinion) most people only need to get involved superficially.

A STEM education cannot be taken from you so it is good for you very often. Yes, sometimes you feel the pressure to do more education to fit in with others but it can be worth it. You do not need to have an art degree to create dam art (Porn, normal art or photography or some other shit) (Degenerate or otherwise).

In this regard do not waste money when you are young which can be done by watching let's plays instead of videogames (Remember video games can be very expensive) and by watching let's plays you keep in touch with the plot of video games without the stuff like getting XP and grinding.

Similarly, some people may want to go to music festivals when young and may have parents on the authoritative side and wish (WHY CAN I NOT DO STUFF THE OTHER PEOPLE DO) but when you get your own money (visiting one or two) may be okay and after a while you do not feel like you are missing out on anything.

Remember that unless your parents take you there you literally have to pack food, check petrol and fill up petrol, drive by yourself on the motorway and then come back (hoping that there is no congestion, wait or traffic) and other stuff. Earning money is another thing since many white folks (I am not anti-white and white people are beautiful as well although I think that white privilege exists) and non-immigrant kids work early but that is because they have to.

Many Asians (IMO – In my opinion) take the gamble and work and tell their children to sometimes not work so that their children can maximize their time spent studying. I am not sure about this because I do not encompass the entirety of South Asian culture, viewpoints or perspectives although this may not mean that studying is all that you do because in many cases this pays off and being a part of a forum or culture may only take a few minutes a day.

How effing fking long does it take to make a tik-tok video mate; at the very least you are putting yourself out of your comfort zone. I have even heard of people role-playing to improve their pretend communication and mask-play (leave that for another time). Maybe not go overboard one a day is enough since occupation and money is a limiter for many creative types.

Music and art helps with cognitive dissonance and stuff but there is always a sense of longing in human existence and you can keep going with infinite art sometimes and not plug it up but it does sometimes improve self-confidence even when you do it once.

There is no one transcendent pyramid point, but one of the reasons for this is that human beings are like a paradox machine. We make rational proposals about how to survive in our at times irrational existence in our world that is comfortable compared to ancient times. (Challenge me on this if you want.)

Remember money is important (Mii) and the great game of culture is always ongoing.

A lot of people want to be pop stars or rappers but sometimes it is best to make a song randomly on YouTube (even if it's sht and get it over and done with.) A lot of people do this and then this kind of stuff loses it's appeal after a while (Look up the term wonderlust). At the end of the day a crisis is a terrible thing to waste and even the shit art increases Asian or South Asian visibility.

 If you wanna make art even if you make like a brown south asian stick figure in 1 minute and post it on a site then that is increasing visibility. My example is degenerate as pornography ruins lives IMO (In My Opinion) (although I won’t judge you for it) but visibility is still often visibility. If you want to play it safe you could take pictures of anything (a flower or hindu statue (I do not know if this is often allowed) and put it up as a royalty and copyright free image online) that some activist or incidental creative could use in the future while you sleep.  Who know’s when.

If you really feel that strong about an issue maybe donate back home to India, or an Asian company or something. Though it may be good to check whether it is grassroots or artificial.

Please feel free to challenge me or comment.

[nietzchewasright]

[ Finnish philosophy at RPG Maker]

„...never has a religion, directly or indirectly, either as dogma or as allegory, contained a truth. For all religions grew out of dread or necessity, and came into existence through an error of the reason.“

— © «Human, all too human», Friedriech Nietzche.

As you know, The Radist — owner of ORT — has sunk deep into the Fear & Hunger community because of the rather specific and unusual experience from both games, and the second part, Termina, is replete with memorable characters, plot twists and a style that recalls a vicious mix of Shadows Over Innsmouth, Resident Evil IV and Pathologic. Overall, the head sawing simulator was a hit.

But at the same time, like any good work of art, «Fear & Hunger» also has some philosophical part, which seems that only people from Eastern and Northern Europe could carry through and reveal in themselves — and a little bit from each of these parts of the world is in Finland.

And this philosophy lies in the name of the game — Fear and Hunger. Or rather — in what does the name stand for: the actual God of Fear and Hunger, who within the universe of the game is born at the very bottom of the world, in the deepest pit where no man has set foot, and at the darkest time of humanity - in the Dark Ages, when humanity is slowly decaying from the whims of royal snobs who want to live in luxury, often making literal sacrifices in the name of it.

It would seem that what good can a deity with a name like that do? And... No, in the second part we suddenly find ourselves in an alternate-fictional 1940s, when mankind is really made some reasonable progress in engineering and technology.

And there it tells us that it was only thanks to this deity that humanity's progress took place, which stimulated it to grow and evolve according to the principle of natural selection — overpower and survive for fear of falling into existential terror or physical exhaustion and starvation. And if you are really afraid of something, you avoid it with all your might. In this F&H world, a certain deity, who, frankly, is in some ways a trivial personification of natural natural processes, prompted such a leap. As in reality, so are most of the deities described by mankind.

And it's true: in our New Dark Ages, things are pretty bad, if you think about it, but they're still bearable. The Radist usually calls it the in-between state: we don't seem to be starving, we have food, we can live and even satisfy the higher needs of Maslow's pyramid, but that is where the joys end; although, of course, one can get lost in video games or hobbies of some kind. But there is anxiety, as well as the realization that the world is going wrong, with a growing conflagration spreading throughout the world and touching us personally in one way or another.

And it is in these times that many ask the question: «Yes, it's possible to live, but is it necessary?»

And this can be seen in the suicide statistics among the residents of those CIS countries, for example, and gradually it is taking over more decent countries as well. And drug and alcohol use are also some kind of indicator — a well-to-do and contented person will not drown his thoughts in chemicals.

It is rather ironic that works with such themes and philosophical messages are becoming more and more popular nowadays. O tempora, o mores!

And toward the end.

Speaking of Gods, which abound in this fictional universe. The moral of the games is literally that man needs to be free from the influence of any deities; in Friedrich's books, one such deity is literally the state.

Something tells me that the next titanic philosophical work on stoicism and overcoming will be written in Finland.

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

lmao I used to have a binge eating disorder and ate like 7k calories a day. Crazily enough when I started eating a normal amount of food for my gender/height/activity level I lost weight and my sleep apnea went away, I can now walk up the stairs in my house without excruciating pain, and I have 500x the energy that I used to and my brain fog is 99% gone. But I'm sure being 190lbs overweight and eating until I felt like I was going to vomit was totally healthy and my pain was just a manifestation of my internalized fatphobia or w/e lmao

People must have somehow magically evolved to be morbidly obese in only a few decades, it can't possibly have anything to do with insane portion sizes, mass production and availability of unhealthy food, a food pyramid sponsored by companies wanting to sell you their trash and food now being full of sugar, corn syrup, artificial colors and other garbage. We're also so magical that being fat is totally fine for us unlike the thousands of other animal species in existance.

Keto and intermittent fasting literally saved my life. I was able to go down from 10 DIFFERENT MEDICATIONS to only needing 4 of them. I've literally talked to hundreds of people with the exact same story.

“I traded my BAD eating disorder for a GOOD eating disorder” is not the flex you think it is anon.

By your own admission your issue was having an eating disorder, not being fat, if you think every fat person also has an eating disorder you are projecting your own trauma and insecurities onto other people because you apparently think your experiences are universal. Most fat people do not eat until they puke actually.

The reason obesity is dangerous for a lot of animals is because, get this, animal physiology and adaptations vary greatly between species. Do you think you have the same needs as a flea? Bears, seals, whales, hippos, boars, and several other species have to carry a lot of fat to survive. Humans are bipedal and have fat stores that build up away from organs and joints. This keeps a lot of the strain off the back and prevents many of the issues you will see in quadrupeds and birds from emerging.

Ease and rate of storing fat in humans is largely due to genetics. People who were born by a starving mother naturally hold fat more easily because this is an adaptation to prevent starvation in famines. Increased fat stores is also hereditary so people who had ancestors that were starving will carry weight more often than those whose ancestors had an easy access of food for several generations. Because this was something humans adapted to over the course of millennia as nomadic groups who had to deal with inconsistent food availability due to different climates, flooding cycles, droughts, etc, humans did in fact evolve to have a fluid metabolism and hold stores of fat just fine. If you think fat people are a new invention, I have insane news for you about noble and royal families in Europe for hundreds of years. Being fat was a status symbol to show off how much money you had and that you had no need to toil in fields. This is documented very well.

Keto and [starving yourself] is not healthy. If your entire argument is that being some arbitrary level of “overweight” is unhealthy, you should consider not promoting a diet that causes you to have calcium absorption complications, chronic arterial diseases, kidney stones, and other serious issues long term. Anorexia is not a health trick either, once again, that is an eating disorder.

[marvel-m-lee]

Can you write where reader is tickling Steven Grant and he says Marc to take the body , and when he takes he tickle reader little brutally

Minecraft Revenge

Words: 2666

Fandom: Marvel (MoonKnight)

Summary: Y/n finds out Stevens ticklish, and Marc gets revenge...

Warnings: tickle fic, I tried to be as respectful for those who have D.I.D so if there's anything disrespectful please hmu and correct me.

A/N: DONEEEEEE fucking hell I love Steven so much 😭💀 OMG ITS FRIDAY YAY- SHIT I gotta get ready fir school Cya!

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And here you were, chasing Steven down the corridors of the compound. It was hilarious for everyone else to watch as you ran after him, he screaming and squealing while you were just inching up to him in speed.

You and Steven had been playing playing game on your PlayStation 5, Minecraft to be exact. The two of you had made a survival world and were making bases, he had gone out and found himself a pyramid to build his base while you decided to make one on the sea close by.

"Do you have any glass or sand I can use?" You asked him, looking 9ver to his screen. (You decided to play on your PC and let him play on PlayStation)

"Huh? Uh, no I don't think so-" Steven replied, looking into his inventory. You were a little confused though as there was literally a stack in his hotbar-

"What about in your hotbar?"

"Oh shit- yeah-" Steven, though being smart, was also sometimes an idiot. The two of you met between bases and exchanged some materials before running back home.

The two of you played for a while until you got up to go grab some snacks. You both logged out, you could be gone a few seconds but with this place you never know. Once you left your game for 5 minutes before Thor somehow ended up breaking your controller. You didnt even know he'd come back-

You both walked down the corridors to the kitchen talking about random things in minecraft. The two of you were making a plan about finding some diamonds and going mining together, living in the desert was cool but mining- not so much.

"Yeah, I've got some iron so I can make us some armour and weapons and shit" you offered, walking into the kitchen.

"Oh sweet! Okay, I'll go and find some trees for wood and beds. I'll also write down our bases coordinates"

The two of you entered and walked over to the cupboards, still chatting away.

You grabbed some water and coke while he grabbed some fruit from the fridge along with some other crap from the cupboards like chocolate and biscuits. The two of you continued to talk and joking around, when you got back to your bedroom Steven jumped on the bed and put the food on the bed, you put the drinks on the desk.

Everything was normal for about a minute, laughing and joking around. That's when you went to go grab a grape, but instead accidently poked Steven in the side causing him to yelp and jump off the bed.

For a moment the two of you looked at each other, blinking a little. You kept eye contact while this time actually grabbing a grape and popping it into your mouth.

"Steven..."

"What? Yeah? No- nothing- We should play minecraft-" He laughed nervously, thiugh he was hugging his sides subconsciously, even with a little blush on his face.

You couldn't help but smirk at him, "I never knew that..."

"Knew what? There ain't nothing to know- wehe are- i- let's play minecraft"

You decided to play a new game with him though as he could no longer keep eye contact, shuffling around nervously.

"Steven I thought we were close!"

"What?- what no, yeah we are close! You're like not even a meter away from me!-" with that he decided to take a step backwards, probably to get out of arms reach.

"See, now we're a meter apart, this is a good distance"

"Really?" You smirked. Steven smiled nervously.

"Yeah-"

You took a step firward, watching as his blush grew and step backwards again.

"Steven why do you keep moving away! I just want a hug!" You whined, obviously lying and putting out your arms, giving out grabby hands to him, only making him hug himself a little tighter.

"N-noho- no I think- this is good. See, hugging ourselves!"

You stepped forward again, him stepping back.

"Steven~" you taunted. Everything in Steven's body to him to run, especially the mirror which had Marc, smirking at him teasing him with wiggling fingers telling him to run.

"Shut up Marc! Y/n-" He couldn't help the wobbly smile on his face as he tried to protest but in a split second you'd jumped onto his sides and began to tickle him, though the man squealed like a little girl and ran like you'd never seen him run before.

"noho! Y/n!"

"Steven!~ I'm right behind you!" You yelled out.

And that's where you were now, dashing down the corridors, chasing Steven once you found out he was ticklish.

Honestly, it was Steven. You were surprised you hadn't found out sooner actually. Plus you were in a mischievous mood which minecraft just couldn't fulfill... but this could.

The two of you ran down corridors, around corners, even pumping into a couple people on the way.

"Steven! Better watch out! They're on your tail!" Someone cheered from behind, assuming it was Steven as if it was Jake or Marc, you'd be the one running. Steven yelped, turning around to see how much further behind you were.

"PISS OFF Y/N!" Steven and you made eye contact, obvious joy behind his eyes and laughter in his voice, then suddenly he slammed into the couch and tumbled forward, quickly getting trapped as you jumped on top of him, seizing the opportunity.

You trapped him between your thighs as he pathetically tried to fight, obviously not trying at all. (The two of you had sparred before, you knew he was stronger than that). He giggled and tried to push your leg so you'd fall, yet failing miserably when he looked up to see you wiggling your fingers at him, getting closer and closer with a big grin on your face.

Steven tried to shrink into himself and the sofa but failed miserably, already bursting into a thousand childish giggles in milliseconds.

"Wow Stevie, never realised you were so ticklish?! I haven't even touched you yet!" You laughed, hovering above his belly and wiggling your fingers. He was trying to cover him mouth now, embarrassed as the muffled giggles continued to fall out of his mouth.

"Yhy/nhn! WahahiT" before he even finished you dug your hands into his stomach, wiggling away and seeing how his voice went up about ten stories and burst into uncontrollable laughter, trying to cover his mouth.

"Aw, Steven! Don't hide your laughter" you laughed along with him, moving to squeezing his sides as if he was dough. This let out more muffled laughter as he began to scrunch his face up, shaking his head.

"You're laughter is amazing let me hear it!" You begged, beginning beginning trail up his ribcage making his laughter go very VERY high pitch, now merely squealing and kicking out if anything.

"What's that? Oh okay, I've got a new mission Steven, did you hear it? Probably not- but it's to get you to laugh out loud, aren't we lucky?" You teased, now lightly tickling his ribcage making him giggle up a storm, hands over his mouth and staring at you in horror and excitement, shaking his head with a smile too big to hide behind his hands.

You began to tickle his ribs properly again, making him squeal and shake his head, then quickly swapping to squeezing his sides, catching him off guard a little as he yelled out a laugh, but that wasn't it for you.

You continued your assault, but then decided to take this to another level, "Steven~ is everything alright? You seem a little distracted?" You asked, poking his sides now, one poke here, one poke there, each one catching him off guard and leaving him giggling.

"This is boring, I'm gonna play some music" you exhaled, pretending like you gave up, seeing the disappointed face where his hands let go of his mouth a little. Luckily, this was all you needed.

Quickly you were squeezing his sides again, but this time his instincts kicked in, grabbing your hands which somehow felt even more ticklish, and burst out into Steven-y laughter.

"WaHAiIt! WAiAiT! Noho FAhahIR! Y/n!" He screamed, shaking his head and trying to fight you off. Something made this all feel so much worse somehow for him, now distracted by his own laughter, going into more giggles when you tickled his tummy lightly.

Then you had a brilliant idea, Steven was on the edge but seemed to be having the time of his life, his laughter was loud but you knew there was one last thing to do to make him break.

"Steven~" you continued to squeeze his side while lifting up his shirt a little, the man's eyes went wide and he began to beg for you to stop, still laughing and smiling though.

"NoHO- nOhO y/N I cAhAAnT tAkhahake tHaHaT! StAhaAp iT" He was still laughing and only gently pushing you so you knew it was actually okay, but when you smirked at him and blew down- all he'll broke loose.

Steven pushed at your head when the second one came, screaming in ticklish agony, then kicked out at the third, begging with laughter, then the forth, fith... Steven called out for help and them suddenly began to call out a familiar name.

"MAHARC! MAHARC TAKE THE BODY TAHEHEAKE IT TAKE IT!" He then squealed your name before drowning in his own loud boyish laughter.

After a moment though his grip loosened and his body jumped a but, and somehow in a matter of seconds you were thrown onto the other couch, you burst out laughing,looking over to see as you assumed Marc, laying back heaving, their body obviously exhausted.

He looked dover to see your smug face and glared at you, calming down. After a moment though, his glare turned into a smirk. He got up and grinned at you, who was laying back on the couch watching him upside down.

"My turn"

Your eyes went wide as laughter already bubbled up in your chest. As much as you loved tickles, Marc and Jake were brutal. Damn well bloody brutal.

You tried to jump up and run away but you were quickly thrown backwards and underneath Marc in the same way you were over Steven. You giggled nervously, somewhat covering yourself from him.

"Oh how the tables have turned" Marc said with a grin, taunting you.

"Ihim sorry- please- we can go play minecraft and make you a base-"

"No no no, you need to be taught a lesson. Steven and you exhausted us so I'm getting recenge thanks" Marc tried to look serious but ultimately failed, holding his own mischievous grin on his face as he gently tickled around your neck to get you going.

"Whahait! Waiait!" You scrunched up, and began to giggle a little and that was all he needed. He then moved down to your sides unexpectedly and began squeezing them rapidly, making you jump out of your skin and burst into surprised laughter.

You begged a little but ultimately you knew this would be your demise. You never thought about death from tickles but holy shit Marc always made you question it.

He then moved yo to your ribs, scratching and zapping between your ribs, now getting full on screams out of you why you tried to push on his chest, laughing. You shook your head as he tazered your sides and ribs, the man was a whole lot worse and somehow got EVEN WORSE by teasing you.

Marc had tickled you before, along with Jake, you were surprised you'd never thought of doing I back until today, but with this, they also knew you weren't able to say the t word, and so, pain was born.

"Tickle tickle tickle y/n~" He teased, pinching and poking at your belly, then turning it into a spidering motion "does that tickle?" You didn't reply, your face getting a little redder buy overly trying to ignore him.

"You are so ticklish, almost as bad as Steven" He teased, then pulled up your arms and locked them in one hand on the couch.

"MAhArc wAit WAIT"

"Oh can't you handle a couple tickles?"

"MaRc iM sohorry!"

"Yeah? Me too kid" Suddenly there was a hand in your pit, scratching away as you threw your head back in bubbly laughter. You tried to fight back but it was considerably hard- once he got you fully begging he decided to do the wonderful finishing move you had done on Steven.

He leaned down and pulled up your shirt a little, squeezing your sides gently, teasing you a little before the grand finally.

"MahArC! MaHAHrC I'm sorry! I'm sohorry, don't!"

"You shouldn't be apologising to me" He grinned, then blew down on your tummy, this time really succeeding in making you throw your head back and squeal in laughter, kicking out behind him. You knew you were going to get revenge, but them thoughts disappeared when he blew down for a second time, then a third, then a forth...

"YOHOHOURE GOING TOHOHO KILL MEHEHEHE- MAHAHARRRCCCC!" You squealed as he blew a fith. You had no thoughts in your mind and just squealed and laughed, realising what it must have been like for Steven, though you still didn't feel that bad.

"Stevens waiting for an apology" He shrugged grinning and looking into a window with his reflection.

He then blew down another time, you gave up counting pretty quickly.

"STEHEHEVEN IM SORRY SOOHOHORRYSOHOHORRYSOHORHRHRRY!!!" Your words slured in laughter and you shook your head, dying on the inside.

Marc seemed to be listening to something, most likely Steven as he looked into the window (but he didn't give you any mercy, still tickling your sides as you weakly fought him off).

"Okay, fine, one last one for revenge though" He laughed, blowing down on your belly for one last time, though obviously letting this be the strongest and worst while still tickling your sides.

The noise you made wasn't human, and as soon as he let up even a little bit you threw yourself and him off the couch and onto the floor, he burst our laughing, much unlike him, but quickly quit and checked up on you. You were wrapping yourself in a hug and giggling, trying to stop whatever ghostly tickles were left on your skin.

"You alright y/n?"

"Fuhuck yohou"

"Round two?" He grinned, smirking at you. You jumped up though, apologizing desperately.

Marc laughed and patted you on the shoulder, then put his hands in his pockets. "Steven's laughing his ass off by the way" Marc's grin grew a little, knowing Steven he'd probably just yelled at him to shut up. You looked over to the reflection, obviously not seeing him but even so flipping him off with a playful smirk.

Marc laughed behind you and then began talking about something. You turned back around and asked if he wanted to play minecraft with you as Steven had already played and Marc seemed to care little. Turns out he didn't know how to play minecraft or what it even was?!?!

"Steven!? You hearing this! Mate doesn't even know minecraft- Marc you're so old" you teased, pretending to be annoying- which you were. In a nice kinda way.

Marc rolled his eyes and the two of you walked back to your room where you set him an account on your PlayStation and taught him controls, you assumed Steven was also trying to explain by how confused Marc was and kept yelling at him to shut up while fighting a Zombie.

You laughed and soon enough he'd learnt the controls and it SOMEHOW didn't take long till Marc had a better base than either you or Steven?! And then were pretty cool TwT

Later on you and Steven played again and the both of you were whining about Marc almost beating the game before you. It was a sad day for you both.