#partially because our barriers aren't high enough for that

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1110 - Initial Thoughts

FINALLY

The five have landed, and TCB had the audacity to not translate until late Friday, making us wait so long, but we're finally here, so let's not waste any more time.

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release too

Our cover story is a Yamato story, he's off to travel Wano just as Oden did, which he tells Momonosuke in this cover. Given the name, I'd expect that he may cross paths with Onimaru since it'll involve an Inari shrine

How ominous a title to have with 'Planetfall' too

The buster call watches on as it notices the similar effects to Saturn's arrival, Bluegrass seems particularly disturbed

The giants sense it too, with Bonney and Franky left to worry about the others

Vegapunk's broadcast involved showing off 'Vega-Coffee', which essentially is something that turns water into coffee

That ad break lasted 3 minutes, so there's still 7 minutes left

Marejois meanwhile is empty though, only the summoning circle appears

But Vegapunk is starting anyway, with the threat that the broadcast could be intercepted it's better to hasten

And finally we got the Gorosei fruits and it all seems to be Zoans, mainly Yokai

Saturn of course is the Gyuki, as we suspected from the design

Marcus Mars is an Itsumade, the 'Eerie bird'. According to research "Saw-like beak" and "talons as sharp as swords"

Topman Warcury is a Houki, not much info on it but that it's a Four Tusked Boar from China

Arguably the most badass design is Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, the Bakotsu. The skeletal horse is a vengeful spirit seeking revenge for being burned to death

And finally Shepherd Ju Peter, the only non-Yokai is a Sandworm. Because Oda definitely watched Dune recently

As Luffy stands down the Five Elder Planets, Sanji rushes off with Vegapunk's corpse ready to warn Nami and the others

V. Nusjuro is first to make a move, turning into a Centaur-like hybrid form as he lays waste to the Mark III pacifista surrounding the island

He was so quick that no Marine saw it either, only catching a faint image of a horse

Not even damaged, partially frozen, their 'neural circuitry' was frozen so he may've cut into their souls

I wonder if this could be a level Brook can attain

Mars is also on the move, but he's going up high

Sanji contacts Nami, telling them to get out now, soon enough Mars charges into the barrier

Luffy continues to dodge on the back foot against Saturn with Ju Peter and Warcury on the outskirts, but he notices that Ju Peter is burrowing

Usopp contacts Sanji, they're ready to leave but Zoro and Jinbe aren't here

The Sunny is safe and sound, but despite Brook's calmness he's getting his shins kicked by Lilith, who reminds him that the Sunny's only safe because of Usopp's bamboo shoots

Jinbe makes his way to Zoro, being within eyeshot

Zoro meanwhile finds himself slightly disarmed by Lucci, who taunts Zoro over his curiosity over the new sources of strong Haki

As Jinbe notes that they're still fighting, Sanji makes an off-comment, calling him a burden

Zoro has been ACTIVATED

Catching the sword that was disarmed, Zoro uses Santoryu against Lucci's leopard spots for the quick KO

The Chapter Notes point out that he references Hahava, the coldest hell of Buddhism

Plot demanded Zoro finish late, so finally Zoro has finished

Luffy meanwhile has been caught lacking, as the Sandworm comes for a bite

Dorry and Brogy have arrived though, much like they did in Little Garden (well one of them) they cut the gullet before Luffy can be swallowed

Luffy is glad to see some old friends, but now the numbers are a little more even

Well the Gorosei are definitely not weaklings

Terrifying creatures all in their own rights, they definitely set themselves up as powerful foes. Makes you wonder though what Imu could be if this is the base line huh?

There seems to be a bit more lines to draw this time around; with V. Nusjuro circling the island down below he may find himself crossing the Giants' ships, meaning Franky, Bonney, Atlas and maybe Sanji, Oimo and Kashii will likely have to confront him. Up above we have Mars looking to break through to the Labophase, which he likely will, leading to the crew having to find an opening there; Nami, Usopp, Zoro, Chopper, Robin, Jinbe and Brook plus Lilith is a greater numbers advantage, but Mars may also use the Seraphim if he's wily, does not look good for the CP agents, York and Kaku though, hope the first and latter got out safe.

Which leaves Luffy and the giants facing down Saturn, Ju Peter (I doubt he's dead) and Warcury. I could sadly see the captains not making it out, or holding off 3 so to get Luffy out. Let's not forget that Kizaru can always pull himself back into it (I hope Sentomaru also escaped). Plus there's still the matter of Vegapunk's broadcast itself.

It's not gonna be clean or pretty, but thinks are gonna get chaotic in the best and the worst way.

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

"But just"/"Why don't you just?" is not always the magic solve you think it is, boomers

Feeling a little disheartened today by the way that my mum point-blank refuses to acknowledge structural barriers. And I do think it is at least partially a generational thing.

The thing about the deck being stacked against you that has the most impact, and that certain folk of a certain age seem unable to put together is that...

You reach a point in your life, or in your career, or in your day to day financial situation where not only is there no magical solution, there are also no good options.

And it's the kind of situation where it's not the case where there are no good options because you, the individual, made mistakes or burned bridges or wasted your starting out nest egg or your initial savings so you have only yourself to blame - or even where if you just reduced your basic outgoings down several levels you'd be able to build a nest egg (back) up in order to give yourself more options again... There just aren't any good options from the jump.

Recent solves my mum has put to me as if I'm not an adult, in my 30s, living independently in another country from her with over 10 years' working experience, include:

Why don't you just get a higher paying job?

Why don't you get a pension?

Why don't you buy a house?

Why don't you move further away from your work (and your established community and the amenities you rely on) so you can buy a house?

The undertone implication is a) that we haven't already considered all the options before us, done the calculations and concluded that (unfortunately, as if it worked out it would be helpful) it isn't viable right now, and b) that by not doing these things you are somehow deliberately crafting your own misery and setting yourself up for more hardship, instead of the reality that we are making the best of what's available to us within the system that is how our generation are asked to live and exist.

I don't 'just get a higher paying job' because the structural barriers are my lack of education and my lack of social connections among the higher strata of the demographic that, by their wealth-funded access to as many qualifications as they would like to pay for, and by being able to buy the time to complete them, holds a monopoly on hiring. That's something that's come from making education something available to the highest bidder, rather than grant-funded and obtainable by anyone with the capacity to qualify for the course.

I don't have a pension (right now) because I can't afford one. The minimum contribution that I can make by law to a pension is 10% of my income a month, and I can't afford to lose an extra 10% of my income when I'm already paying around that out of my salary to a student loan with compound interest that was sold to me as a loan that wouldn't have compound interest added. I'm also paying 50%+ of my income per month on housing alone, and more on bills. Where am I supposed to find more? And of course, if my salary goes up, so too does the amount I'm meant to pay back the student loan.

I don't buy a house because I can't afford one, despite saving for a deposit for several years. Unfortunately, Liz Truss crashed the economy last year and as a result, the banks don't offer mortgages as high as they used to, and require larger deposits for properties. As such the amount that I have saved up might have been enough to put down a healthy deposit two years ago, but now, isn't. And I can't save any more because of the aforementioned draws on my income above.

And if I was to move further afield to buy a house, what's the benefit to me? I'd have to spend more money on my commute, I'd probably have to live in a much less safe area, and it's going to be cold comfort to me that I own a property if I end up getting assaulted or stabbed on my way home at night.

Trust me, I would love to live in an era where I didn't have to overthink these basics. Where the fact that I have a college degree and multiple years of specialised work experience across multiple sectors including private business and government would actually count for something and afford me a solid and stable standard of living.

But it doesn't any more. And this is my life, and the lives of many of us nowadays. And we can't just sit and mope about it, we have to accept it, and adapt, and do the best we can to keep going until something gets a little easier for us, until the luck of the draw rolls our way or until someone with the power and ability through government or big business to effect a real change takes that shot and acts to make things just that bit less bleak for us.

Until then, a little empathy wouldn't hurt instead of a lecture.

[sayitaliano]

what’s the culture around disabilities and mental illnesses or disorders like in Italy? Like, socially is it acceptable or is it still taboo to talk about?

Let's say that the intentions are there, especially for physical disabilities, but we tend to hinder ourselves when it comes to put them into practice. The many architectural barriers we find around (eg. the lack in some train stations/public offices/sidewalks of working elevators and ramps) are a symbol to this, as the fact that many tend to not think about others' possible problems that much, unless you make them notice or it touches them in first person (not sure this is just our problem though).

Anyway... we lack the knowledge and understanding about mental issues, and often those suffering them are stigmatized or made neglecting their needs (it was/is uncommon, sadly, to hear people telling to someone suffering from depression, for example, to just get up and move on, cause "it's nothing/it will pass" or anything similar, as if it was laziness. We lack the knowledge that makes you go "Oh wait, maybe there's an hidden/mental/emotional important reason for this behaviour in that person, and it'd be good and right to help them find it out").

I think this partially originates from the fact that what were commonly called "manicomi" (or ospedali psichiatrici = psychiatric hospitals) in which people with different degrees of mental problems were cured or interned, were actually publicy/commonly seen as places for only crazy and dangerous people. In fact, especially many elders, cannot see (=don't really know there's) a difference between a psychiatrist, a psychologist or a therapist: generally if you need any of them, you are crazy (and even possibly dangerous) or you just have a not well-working mind and "it's scary". Again, this is because we lack the correct knowledge about mental issues and what they are about and how many different shades of them there are. And our Sanitary System doesn't help very much in this either (despite I think they were discussing a bonus for mental health not long ago? But it was just a random news, I have personally heard anything new on that).

Many schools and workplaces as well, do not even consider offering a psychological support for students and workers. You need to pay for it yourself (many renounce cause of the costs too ofc). Workers that give signs of huge distress are left at home (as far as I know, I might be wrong on this), not sure if all the companies or company's doctors may send you to a psychologist or something (again I'm not well aware of how things are now). As for schools... actually in my high school there was a small box in which to leave a letter for a psychologist but it didn't last much. I think either cause students feared being seen and judged while leaving their letter (so they rarely did that) or because it mostly felt like writing to Santa in wait for an help that we all doubted it could actually arrive (note: I'm old, so it probably was only one of the first tries ever). On the other hand, teachers and professors, even kindergarten ones that should help parents in discovering possible problems in kids, aren't formed well enough when it comes to deal with students' mental problems of every type. They have to rely on their empathy, but at times even those who may realize something tend to pretend they don't because they may fear overreactions (even abuse or more dangerous ones) from students: again something they're not prepared to deal with. One of my friends does service in a school (before/after). She followed a course on mental health but still she often messages me about not being really sure on how to deal with certain guys (and I'd say ofc, as everyone acts and reacts differently according on many different variables and those courses are not enough imo to prepare people for any type of situations... they just give you general rules, but general doesn't work for personal).

So in conclusion, there are basically no funds and even less preparation (and a little doctors/professional figures). I don't think it's taboo to talk about it, but it's just that... it's not a real problem, unless it's evident in the eyes of everyone, unless the person does somethinig "crazy" compared to society's norms (when it's indeed society the one making you develop problems in first place and stigmatizing you and isolating you -so yeah, many don't talk about it in fear of being judged as crazy and isolated maybe... so yeah in this sense it's a taboo especially for some people/in some areas, true-). And people that have mental issues are hardly helped, also cause doctors as well often do not have the correct support to do their job properly. After the pandemic I have notice people starting to talk about mental health much more often even on TV, trying to bring more awarness also about the different professional figures; I also noticed a bit more opennes in its regard, but it's again what I mentioned before: we're good or trying in theory, but when it comes to practice...

I'm leaving you a couple of articles. The first one (2020) is not for free, except for a couple of lines. The second (2019) is for free, and I think you can get the most of it despite the level of knowledge you have of Italian language (just ask if you want me to translate something)

[fencesandfrogs]

i feel like the moon knight fandom has looped around to being a little too strong with the "separate people" thing which is why i've used the very specific phrasing of "not the same person."

i'm not really sure how to explain this very well. like if what i'm saying here doesn't make sense please send me an ask with what's confusing because that often helps me clarify my explanations of things, but there's...dissociated parts of one mind, right? you have individuality. i can still remember some of this, okay? i can remember the "switch" i would flip in my brain when i left my house in the morning to go to school.

(not a literal switch; not a "decision." that's just how my baby brain framed it.)

the person i was at school was not the same person i was at home. we are not the same person now. but we are not separate people.

[fqirycollective]

Pseudo-Trauma: What is it and our experiences

What is pseudo-trauma?

Psuedo-trauma is just like it sounds! It's trauma that didn't happen to the body, but happened to an alter in their memories (not innerworld). This includes introjects and brain-made alters (non-introjects) alike. A better known term for this, in the introject sense, is source trauma. However, I'm using the term "pseudo-trauma" because not only introjects can have that kind of memory. Sometimes pseudomemories can be described as "the before," meaning before the system memories.

Why do alters have pseudo-traumas?

It differs alter to alter and system to system. If it's a brain-made alter, they may have pseudomemories and therefore pseudo-trauma to help them hold trauma memories without forcing them to hold the memories of the body. In our experience (which is very likely to differ from others), it's because our brain could remember the emotional impact, but wasn't old enough to form actual memories. So instead, it gave them to alters in their before. For introjects, it can be the same as brain-made alters, or it can be because that trauma happened in source to them. Reminder: Trauma that happens in source is very valid and still a reason to be traumatized outside of source. Source trauma is real trauma. Pseudo-trauma can also be traumatic events your brain might think have happened to an alter for them to be the way they are.

Our experience

As I said before, it differs alter to alter. We have both introjects and brain-made alters who have pseudo-trauma. Because of this, I'll be putting both experiences with proper trigger warnings. Please regard them and continue reading with caution if it may trigger you but you aren't sure. If it will trigger you, I sincerely ask that you skip to the last paragraph/slide where we do a non-triggering overview. This is for your safety! /g

Introject: Zahra

tw// murder, attemptive murder, manipulation mentions, missing persons, religion mentions, stigma against pwBPD/pwOLD and psychotics, mentions divorce

My source is Zahra Gaines from "I Know You Remember." In my source, I was childhood best friends with Ruthie Hayden. Our system as a collective headcanons Ruthie with BPD, with me as her FP. In source as kids, we were writing something together and another girl took it. Ruthie grabbed it and they pulled until it was ripped. Ruthie, angry something we created together was ripped, murdered the girl in front of me and manipulated me into covering for her. That really changed me. Ruthie moved away after her parents divorced. I moved in with my overly religious grandparents but it was too much and I moved back with my parents. However, Ruthie then murdered her mother so she could move back. When I heard that news, I told my grandparents and they helped me pretend to be missing. Ruthie found me, though. Then I manipulated her into a cofession of the murders, so she tried to murder me. She plead insanity. At the end of our source, it shows her skipping her meds and her psychosis, which demonized psychosis but I can't choose my source. It very much affects me still, even though our body hasn't gone through that.

Brain-Made Alter: Ovin

tw// torture, demons, forced abuse, murder, mentions manipulation

Ovin is a half demon alter in our system. Within his pseudomemories, he has memories of his life as a demon. He was forced to hurt people and eventually kill them because of his demonic status. He also was forced to watch people be tortured. While alone his memories don't seem like anything more than just memories, things our brain came up with, it's also at least partially something we believed happened to us. Sasha, a protector who we have very high amnesia barriers with, protects against and helps with trauma about torture and manipulation. We think there is some kind of connection for this, but we can't prove to ourselves anything actually happened without visual flashbacks. When we think this happened, we believe our brain was too young to be able to form a visual memory of it but the emotional part stuck, if that makes sense.

So basically, my source severely impacts me because of the trauma that source me went through. Pseudo-trauma impacts Ovin differently, as he holds those memories of himself being traumatized but he's super carefree with it. So as I said before, it depends from alter to alter and system to system.

[uwmadarchives]

Sophia Abrams and "Black Artists at the UW-Madison"

On Monday, April 19th at 4:30 pm, please join the UW Archives Student Historians as they reflect on their research projects this year: "Black Artists at the UW-Madison" & “A Closer Look at UW-Madison’s Campus-Wide Diversity Initiatives.” Visit go.wisc.edu/archives for more information. Before the event, our social media assistant, Adrian, caught up with the historians to see how their research is going. Interviews were edited for clarity.

Sophia Abrams

I spent a large part of the first semester brainstorming topic ideas. I was taking an Afro-Am art history course, and I ended up reading articles by Black artists and professors who went to UW. I felt like it was something I could work with. By November, I had decided to research Black Artists at the UW-Madison.

Then the fun part was finding the artists. I looked on Instagram and in student newspapers. I did an alumni request with the university because you can request majors and years broken down by race, ethnicity, or interest. I built a list of 15 to 30 artists who I wanted to interview. So far, I've interviewed 15 people for the project. I did most of the interviews in January. I don't recommend trying to do 10 Oral History interviews in the span of two weeks!

I think it's important to see art as a form of communication, but it also reflects the time you're living in and I saw so many parallels across time. I interviewed someone who graduated in 1972 and current students as well. There are a lot of parallel themes like Black artists or anyone who isn’t white, cis, hetero, kind of feels like their work has to be representative or serve a purpose to uplift their group. I think it's really telling that pretty much the same themes are being said by students nowadays that were said almost 50 years ago. You would hope that students feel a little more comfortable or that there's been progress, but there’s still tension.

I'm primarily focusing on the artists’ time at UW and the art that they made there if they are able to remember enough about it. One artist who I interviewed, Jerry Butler from 1972, was talking about how he wanted to create art that reflected the Black Power movement, which was prominent at the time. So he painted Angela Davis and other leaders, and just him painting those figures was not received well by his peers and professors. He said he had to accommodate their needs and kind of compromise his own artistic desires and mold to the university.

I think that artists now talk about having a lot more agency in terms of what they create. But I think in terms of the theme I talked about before of feeling like, do I need to create a work that is inherently Black? That's still a big theme. I think it's a lot about exploring identity, understanding your place, and understanding your relationship to UW. Art often reflects your own experience, so you're going to pull from how your peers treat you and whatnot.

Also, there aren't many Black art faculty at UW. Now there are two professors who are Black men, and there was one Black woman professor, Gelsey Verna, but she passed away unexpectedly in 2008. And there was Professor Freida High, who coined the term Afrofemcentrism.. She created it and helped establish the canon for Black women artists to be recognized. I'm actually interviewing her soon. It's going to be exciting to hear what it means to be the first one doing that work.

A lot of people have been supportive of the project because within art history, there's just really not much gathered about Black artists in Wisconsin. And that's partially because historically speaking, Black art wasn't considered an art form. It was seen as more utilitarian or whatnot. Honestly, the biggest barrier to the project has been technology. I had an interview last week, and it didn't record. I had one interview where the person's connection was glitchy, so I think there are six separate recordings of the Zoom. But that stuff happens.

If I continue to do this project for another year, that will give me a lot more room to flesh out a thesis. My goal for this year is to create a website and a podcast. Each episode will include the highlights from each artist’s interview. If people want the full interview, they will be archived and easily accessible, but I just want to give people five to seven minutes of the most insightful parts. If I have more time, I would also like to interview more artists to fill in the gaps from 1969 to now. And I would love to have an exhibition with all of their art. But with COVID and whatnot, it's hard.

I'm someone who always likes hearing about why someone's drawn to something or what steps have led them to where they are today. I think it's cool to see how UW served as a launching pad for some people. Just seeing what people have done post-UW as well as how UW was fundamental in terms of who they are, like maybe there was a professor who profoundly impacted their outlook, or maybe there was a residency that they did one summer.

Multiple artists have said, “I'm so glad you're doing this because I always like to tell people my story.” So I'm glad that I can be a positive project for them during the pandemic. Building this community of people through the project has been really cool. And as I'm doing this project, I keep thinking, wow, there's just so much that can be uncovered here. It makes me curious, and it speaks volumes in terms of the need for this project. I'm someone who loves art history and whatnot, so I feel like this topic is so fun and cool to learn about.

If anyone reading this knows a Black artist from UW who hasn't been contacted, feel free to email me (sdabrams@wisc.edu). I hope my project inspires more students, especially students of color, to seek out the arts, be it through their major or just taking a class.