#this was sent in on the 11th of May

[spoopy-nevermore-dump]

Hey pssst hey. Have you ever considered: Montada?

I hate it, and it nearly killed my hyperfixation

But I understand my opinion on this may affect others, and many may be hurting from this episode soooooooooo

Art requests open

[isingonly4myangel]

Happy 11th of May to the four people still in this fandom! Annual story publication because this is year 8, and I can't possibly give up before 10. Enjoy!

[vitiateoriginator]

I think I'm gonna have to start seeking medical coverage elsewhere

[marauderswithpalestineproject]

How it works: Writers, artists and video editors of the Marauders fandom will create non-profit drabbles, sketches and edits in return for donations to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Once proof of donation is sent, your prompt will then be assigned to a writer/artist/editor to fulfill at random. The fics will be posted to the Ao3 collection Marauders With Palestine Project, while the sketches and edits will be posted to the creator’s own accounts.

Schedule:

Writer/artist volunteer sign up: March 11th - March 31st

Donation proof and prompt submissions: April 1st - April 22nd

Prompt assignment: April 23rd - April 31st

Writing and drawing: May 1st - july 1st

Answered prompts and posting will happen starting June 1st

For more information, see below:

General Rules:

Each contributor can donate more than once, but they’ll only be allowed to submit a maximum of three prompts, no matter their donation size.

Proof of donation is required for the prompts to be accepted and added to the list. 5 USD is the required minimum for SFW prompts, and 8 USD for NSFW prompts.

NSFW prompts can only be submitted by 18+ contributors and will be assigned to 18+ volunteers only.

Prompts need to be worded clearly to avoid confusion, and they can’t include more than four Marauders era characters. Contributors can specify if they prefer a fic or a drawing, but the final product will depend on availability and may change. Prompts will be assigned randomly.

The prompts may not contain: religious material, gore, explicit violence, incest, or non-con. Dead dove prompts are not allowed and hateful or politically inclined prompts will be automatically deleted. 

*This project is entirely non-profit and all money contributed by those who submit prompts is sent directly to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

For volunteers: Everyone is welcome! 

For writers: fics are advised to be a minimum of 1.5k words and you must have an Ao3 account to post them to the Marauders For Palestine Project collection. The works must be completely independent from any other works, and while they can be multichapter fics, they have to be published all in one go.

For artists; your contribution may be a drawing or doodle. Sketches are welcome, but there’s no need for background.

For video editors: your video may be longer than 15 seconds.

[lilacstro]

part of fortune and what can be actually fated in your life

hey! I KNOWWW someone will think or say, hey? wait- isnt that vortex? indeed it is, but I am sharing this post from an observation series pointer I made, so you can say this is an observational post/my own theory kinda post lol. This post is again not taken from any book or source and is my own observation. If this does not make sense for you or you don't agree, it's okay, you can skip :)

I had 3 asks for this one so here we go!! I will try to keep it short and simple because I see I rant quite a lot in my posts T T. Part of fortune in:

support me on ko-fi :)

1st house/Aries: I have not really seen a chart with a part of fortune in the 1st, but this specifically makes me think your soul chose your body for completing a purpose in this life time. Some fated connection with your body, the way you look. A spiritual connection/mission that can involve a series of fated events to bring you closer to your personal missions and goals.

2nd house/Taurus: Fate with the money you have, money you receive or how you keep your money. Fate transforms your old belief systems for good. Fate with the things you speak or do at times, the way you make friends or other relationships.

3rd house/Gemini: Fate with the things you come across, maybe someday you come across a book and it changes your life, maybe a social media post and changes your life. Fate with siblings, maybe they connect you to you destiny or you connect them to theirs. Fate encounters you at mundane places you go to, maybe your neighborhood park or the grocery store. Some fate with the place you grew up in

4th house/Cancer: Fate in the family you are born into. Fated connection with the mother, might connect your mother to her higher purpose and destiny. Might impart fate to mother.

5th house/Leo: Fate in children. Your children might be sent to you for a higher purpose. Fate in things you enjoy and your creative pursuits, maybe they turn into something more profitable someday, maybe they are trying to connect you to something important

6th house/Virgo: Fate in Service. You maybe sent to people to help them, a godsend in some cases. Things change overnight, some small conversation changes everything at once. Finding out small things that lead to bigger ones, and another and another. You enter the lives of people when they need your light/guidance

7th house/Libra: Fate in close partnerships and people you encounter. Fate in people you make friends with, interact with. Vibes of small conversation with a stranger at a store leads to someone very important in your life. You can learn a lot from people your close circle.

8th house/Scorpio: Fate in protection and redirection. Fate in change. Whatever you struggle to leave behind or hold on tight to or actually decide not to let go off, may actually be taken away, yet, you will see how it was for your absolute best and higher purpose. Fate with inheritance or gains from other people.

9th house/Sagittarius: Having fated destinations to go to, fate involvement in what higher studies you do, where you go for your higher studies and how it plays out. Encountering fate in regards to getting wisdom, your prayers are answered sooner or later. Right place, right time.

10th house/Capricorn: A Fated occupational destination and position, might end up doing completely different from what you once imagined, fate in the people you meet who help you professionally or lead you to your true calling. May impart fortune to father. Fate brings you to dispensing karma to other people.

11th house/Aquarius: Meeting Fated people, FRIENDS, finding people to help you in need ALWAYS. Encountering fated connections that later help you in life somehow even if they are lost. Being able to have connections/meet influential/powerful people somehow, unexpectedly.

12th house/Pisces: Encountering fate in regards to esoteric wisdom, spirituality and spiritual self. Fate in regards to encountering unexpected, distant things. Maybe the thoughts and dreams you had that seemed unachievable will come true. Maybe your fate takes you to people who you never thought you would get close with or places you thought you would never go to. Fate with things and connections that probably were incomplete in the past life.

support me on ko-fi :)

paid readings are open btw:)

thank you so much for the read<33 i love you all

[whilomm]

EAS SYSTEM TEST FAQ:

"huh what"

theres a test of the emergency alert system (EAS) for the united states on wednesday oct 4th 2023, 2:20 pm est (with a second test planned on the 11th if this ones canceled). its the system they use for amber alerts, weather alerts (like tornados/floods/hurricanes), stuff like that. will be sent to TVs, radios, phones, even if alerts are muted as far as i know

"what why"

bc they gotta test emergency systems sometimes. this happens on occasion.

"what is the government planning this is suspicious"

no its not its just. a standard test. they happen. we just havent had this specific type of phone one for a few years, they dont gotta test it as often as like. physical tornado sirens.

"okay but like are they trying to instill terror this reminds me of the terrorism threat leve-"

if they were doing that they wouldnt have been warning people of the upcoming test several months in advance

"why havent i seen it anywhere except for tumblr"

bc u havent like. paid attention to news stuff.

"okay well how do i verify this how do i know this isnt a hoax????"

....search for the news articles pictured above and read them.

"okay but WHY this is ANNOYING why is it in the MIDDLE OF SCHOOL/WORK"

bc systems gotta be tested on occasion to make sure they aint broken when you actually need them, and probs the time with the least risk of waking ppl up and making ppl even more angry

"i completely understand the purpose and i dont think its a government conspiracy but i still dislike it bc loud sounds/secret phone/epilepsy/whatever other reasons ive seen ppl site"

yeah 100% fair, thats why i and others are trying to warn so that ppl arent caught off guard (even if my warning was missing info like the time bc im dumb), i set a couple of notifs to pop up beforehand so i dont forget and get surprised, do what u gotta do to keep urself chill. shut off your phone, wrap it in blankets, be in another room from all ur tech while the test is happening, wear earplugs, etc. hope you're good!

"that thing about phones still going off when turned back on..."

oh yeah idk if thats true or nah. but eh, better safe than sorry, assume ur phone may or may not still be loud when u turn it back on, and plan for it if needed. idk where ppl are getting this tho and havent seen it verified myself. just be careful if this applies to you. maybe shove it into a blanket before turning it back on.

"is it gonna activate my covid vaccine mind control nanotech"

idk man probably not

"YAAAAAY EXTREMELY LOUD SOUND WEDNESDAY!!!!"

omgg yayyy!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰

[blueiscoool]

1,100-Year-Old Viking Sword Found in UK River

A corroded sword pulled from an English river by a magnet fisher is a Viking weapon dating to between A.D. 850 and 975, experts have confirmed.

Trevor Penny was searching for lost and discarded objects in the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire in November 2023 when he made the discovery. The magnet fisher had been down on his luck that day and only pulled scaffolding poles from the water, he said in a message on Facebook. When Penny lugged out the sword, he didn't immediately recognize what it was.

"I was on the side of the bridge and shouted to a friend on the other side of the bridge, 'What is this?'" Penny, who is a member of the Thame Magnet Fishing Facebook group, recalled in the message. "He came running over shouting, 'It looks like a sword!'"

Penny immediately uploaded images of the sword to Google to try to identify it. "Whatever photo angle I tried was coming up with Viking sword," Penny said. The magnet fisher then contacted the Oxfordshire county liaison officer responsible for recording archaeological finds made by the public, and took the sword to be examined by experts.

The sword, only provisionally dated until now, has been authenticated as Viking and estimated to date as far back as 1,200 years ago.

The weapon dates to a period when the Vikings, who were originally pagans from Scandinavia, traveled to the British Isles to plunder, conquer and trade with the ruling Saxons. The Vikings set foot on British soil in the eighth century, having raided a monastery on Lindisfarne, an island off Britain's northeast coast, in 793. Similar raids in Britain occurred for several centuries and escalated after 835, when larger Viking fleets started arriving and fighting royal armies. British kings gradually reconquered territory seized by the Vikings throughout the 10th century and unified what was a patchwork of kingdoms into a new realm called Englalond.

Viking incursions and periods of rule continued until the 11th century, but the Viking Age ended following the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, with the defeat of the king of Norway, Harald III Sigurdsson, by the Saxons.

The newly discovered Viking sword is in the care of Oxford museum services and may eventually be put on display, the Oxford Mail reported.

"The officer said it was archaeologically rare to find whole swords and treasure of historical importance still intact," Penny told the regional newspaper last week. "There was a little dispute with the landowner and the rivers trust who don't permit magnet fishing. The latter sent a legal document saying they wouldn't take action on the condition that the sword was passed to a museum, which I had done."

By Sascha Pare.

[punksocks]

Placements For Romantic Archetypes Pt.1: Accidental Playboy (18+ Only)

*Adults only! Minors dni

*just based on my experiences, only takes what resonates

Someone whose usually monogamous that has dated/hooked up with a lot of their friends and stays friends with their exes. They just have a lot of attachments and a lot of love to give ! This may be a phase for most of them (if they’re developed) and they tend to settle down with one person whenever they find their twin flame.

***

-Cancer Venus: just a lot of affection for the people they hang out with, if you’re in their circle they can feel a lot for you and depending on their other placements this can turn into hooking up with their friends. They also don’t really let go of relationships, this placement is most likely to stay friends with their exes as well imo. They also tend to do anything to make their friends/significant others happy which is very sweet …but can lead to some awkwardness on occasion. (Like I knew someone that had a ex turned friend and she would like show him her lewds before she sent them to guys she was asking out and he was like yeah we’re just friends! He stopped that in a relationship, but then she said that they would’ve ended up together when she broke up with someone she was seeing and he was like oblivious and just said haha no, that was only the tip of the iceberg, I was like dude get a boundary.)

-Venus in 11th: A tendency to only get intimately involved with people after they’ve become good friends anyway. Also a tendency to hold onto all their friendships if they can. Can create a like web of attachments, of friends and old flames.

-Cancer Mars & Earth/Air Moon: Needing to be emotionally drawn to someone in order to find them s*xy and hookup… but also this like detachment underneath that. Like a deep amount of emotional investment and fixation but also like being pretty emotionally removed behind it all. So a tendency to pursue like friendships with objects of desire but not too much behind that (not that there’s anything wrong with that, it can just quickly turn into a string of affairs)

-Virgo Mars: This placement usually acts in their relationships through acts of service to express their commitment and affection. Due to Virgo being mutable, I’ve found that they’ll often have a more flexible approach to how they handle their relationships. Like I’ve just seen a lot of Virgo mars natives that would perform acts of service for current and ex partners because of how helpful they want to be to everyone. (Not necessarily a bad thing but a little messy if you’re in a relationship and doing favors for your exes). Lots of checking up in on people and trying to help manage them that can turn into them hooking up in order to be “helpful” (especially after they’re emotionally involved)

-Sagittarius Venus/Mars: just a placement with a lot of abundance, so they tend to date around and explore with many options. Depends on the other placements with how they handle this, (I find fire signs to be more up front about it, but they catch feelings like water signs) but they tend to want to move through relationships on as best of terms as they can.

-Libra Sun: kind of a stereotype due to Libra’s indecisive nature and how because they’re viewed as typically being attractive and charming, due to Venus they tend to draw people into them. I also believe that Libras don’t like to be on anyone’s sh*t list, so like they may hookup and date around and try to do a lot of work on the back end to make sure their past relationships still view them in a positive way… and sometimes they may reopen that door to see if they can reconnect to an old flame. (When they find their other half they won’t really do this anymore, but they charm everyone into thinking they’re the one so it can be hard to tell when they really feel this way imo, the moon sign would help with this)

-Leo Sun: This may not be true for every Leo out there, but they usually have a phase of really basking in all of the attention they pull in. (Leo in the big 6 tends to show someone who goes through a period of being ignored or not receiving enough attention before they become a sort of magnet for other people’s attention) That tends to set up Leos for a period when they’re indulging in that attention in all their relationships. Like they’re getting a bit of ego validation by how much all their friends are into them and they go with it and sort of ignore any emotional consequences until they can’t.

-Neptune hard aspects (esp square/opposition) to Moon/Mars: they tend to have a deep fantasy life that affects how they move in the world. They build up their fantasies of the people they’re into being their perfect hook up and they can get “confused” about their feelings about someone. Like they get closer to a friend and hook up and may entertain the idea of dating and a future together but they just don’t actually feel that way about them. Or they break up with someone and still see them in a certain way so they work to please them to some degree in entertaining the idea of getting together again. It’s like future faking but lowkey the native is doing this the most to themselves and trying to figure out what they actually want long term. Sometimes they only understand what they want after an option has been cut off from them.

-Mars hard aspects (esp square/opposition) to Moon: their heart and their d*ck want different things. No but for real though if they have insane s*xual chemistry with someone they’re probably overwhelmed and overthinking it. If they have a deep emotional connection with someone, they may be torn because they lack chemistry with the person. It’s a lot of internal strife of like wanting people to fit together with the perfect traits in the perfect way but the native has to actually figure out what that means for them before they’re able to settle down.

-How do you know if you’re the one? I hate to be blunt about this, but you connection with this guy will take top priority over the others. But dear god you will have to communicate so much to like work through this. You’ll probably have to be a bit patient as you guys get past all of this messiness. The good thing is, that if he’s a good guy he’ll make you feel like you’re in a rom com in a good way, like you’re really loved and cared for, despite all of this. If he’s underdeveloped? Don’t do it girl, he’ll never know what he wants and he’ll stress you tf out (i mean do whatever you want, you’ve just got to figure out if it’s worth the headache and possible heartbreak for you).

(I hope you all liked this! If you did I have a few more types I have in mind to post about ;0)

[makelemonade]

Good afternoon, Lemonade. I read your Tsaritsa fic and would like to make a request for Childe. The Tsaritsa plays intervention after hearing rumors about Childe cheating on Fem!Reader with Lumine.

The Tsaritsa is the archon of love, so when she notices and feels that the love lives of her Harbingers aren’t going too well, she has to interfere- pt2

Childe; hurt/comfort, female reader, harbingers are all friends. I wrote that it was assumed he was cheating but didn’t actually I suck at writing cheating idk @ruttteerr pt1

Childe

You understood that your boyfriend’s job was difficult- 11th may have been the lowest but that didn’t make the work or missions any less than the others have it.

And because compared to the other Harbinhers, he’s one of the only few who actually goes out on missions and leaves for days to weeks to months.

At first it was…annoying- he was always gone for days, and if he was actually here he’d be off working on a bunch of papers or training new fatuus.

But he tries to be with you, both mentally and physically. If he’s away, he’ll write a letter for you everyday, telling you about how it was and he hopes you’ll send one at the end of the week. If he’s working at home, he’ll ask you to sit on his lap as he works or stay in the room with him so when he gets tired and frustrated he can hold.

If he’s working in the castle- he’s bringing you to the castle. You get the picture.

So when he tells you he has a mission in Liyue that’ll take a few weeks, you’re emptying out your mailbox so that all of his letters can fit.

Yet only one comes.

The letter tells you that the first day of his mission has already gone hectic as he had to save a girl from the millileth- he learned her name was lumine and she was the same traveller who saved mondstadt from the dragon.

Now you’re not jealous. Sure at the start of the relationship you easily got jealous of girls that would stare at Childe and flirt with him but after many years of being with him and not once did he cheat, you trusted him.

It was just so insanely weird that suddenly all the letters stopped. None came for 2 weeks and you were feeling nervous- did something happen to him? Was he hurt?!?!

Your thoughts worsened when one day, a subordinate showed up to your home, carriage ourside and explaining a Harbinger has called for you.

Did he die?!?!? You ask him so many questions but he apologizes and says he knows nothing and you’re forced to head to the carriage, on the way to the castle.

Once inside, you found Signora- a friend and a harbinger. She was pacing around, and her eyes lit up when she saw you.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, your breath quickening at her state. “Is Childe okay?”

“Who cares about him!” She scoffed, walking up to you. “Has he sent you anything lately? I just got back from Liyue.”

“No- and shouldn’t he be here with you?!”

“He asked for a few extra days to stay there.” She dragged a hand down her face, seemingly very annoyed.

You were about to ask why- what’s so important that he’s taking extra time on this mission but Signora was already back?! Until it clicked in your head, and slowly as the puzzle pieces went together, the pieces of your heart started to break.

“He met lumine…” you breathed out, remembering his final letter before they stopped.

She frowned. “Everyday I was there they were always together. And now he’s taking a few days extra?! Y/N, they are hanging out one hundred percent. Honestly, I think he might’ve…”

You put a hand up to stop her, feeling tears well in your eyes. No- this couldn’t be! He would never!

“What’s she like?” You asked, somewhat trying to make this whole situation worse for yourself.

“She fights a lot- as much as Childe, honestly.”

A girl who loves to fight, just like he does.

“Looks?”

“Ugly.”

Gorgeous actually, she just didn’t wanna say it.

“This can’t be happening,” You sniffed, trying not to let any tears fall.

Down the hall, just around the corridor was Pierro, listening in on everything and deciding he must tell the queen of love herself.

~~

“WHAT?!?!?” She screamed, echoing around the throne room and sending shivers down everyone’s spine. Her face was full of fury, and Pierro was honestly a bit scared. “CHILDE? CHEATING? ON Y/N?”

She practically growled, pacing back and forth around the room. “This is…atrocious! Nauseating! Abhorrent! And it’s the same traveller that tried to stop Signora, am I not correct?! Does he have no shame?!”

Pierro just blinked, not knowing what to say but he honestly couldn’t even get a word in with how much she was ranting.

“I want a room put for her this instant! She will stay in the castle as a loved guest until Childe comes. Speaking of! WHO IS HE WITH?!”

Pierro took a step back. “Zhongli- Morax’s human form.”

“I’m gonna visit that dragon in my dreams and he better relay every single goddamn word I say to Childe and Childe BETTER be here in 3 days!”

“Can i take my leave now?” He honestly didn’t care.

“Wait! Tell the others that the moment chikde steps FOOT in this castle he is to report straight to the hall and all of you will give him an intervention! No- actually! Tell him to come here and I WILL.”

“Ok.” He shrugged and she sighed, taking a seat back onto her throne and waving her hand away, letting Pierro take his leave.

~~

Childe was absolutely scared shitless when he arrived back in Snezhnaya because what the hell did Zhongli mean when he said he went to sleep and the Tsaritsa visited him in his slumber screaming at him to tell Childe to come back to Snezhnaya immediately?!?!???

The moment the palace doors closed behind him, the walls started to shake and ice fell from the ceilings.

“AJAX!”

The Tsaritsa’s scream echoed around every ahll of the castle and dread filled him in an instant. He looked to the side of the hall to see Dottore, who looked absolutely scared shitless and Capitano who went rigid.

“You’re in some deep shit comrade.” Dottore snorted and Childe genuinely had no idea what he was talking about

And he still had no idea as he stood in the throne room, watching the Tsaritsa yap and yell at him but he couldn’t even understand a word he was saying.

Because all she would say was “cheater” over and over again and say she was so humiliated and disappointed and he had no idea what to say.

“Do you have anything to say?!”

“Yeah- what thé hell are you talking about?!”

“You cheated on Y/N!”

He stared at her, absolutely dumbfounded for a few seconds before he broke out into a fit of laughter. “What?! Oh my, your majesty I never took you as one to be such a jokester!”

Now she was confused. “Huh? I’m not! You cheated on Y/N with Lumine! Of all people you could’ve done it with- HER? OUR ENEMY?”

He realized she was serious and now he was once again, insanely confused. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You cheated on Y/N with lumine!”

His jaw dropped. What? No, he would never ever EVER cheat on his pookie bear and he MEANT that because you’re the love of his life! “I would never cheat on her!”

She was about to yell at him, but then she felt it- she felt the amount of love he had for her now that he was back, and it was too strong- too strong to remain after cheating on someone.

She basked in the feeling for a while, and felt herself calm down. “You…didn’t?”

He just shook his head, scoffing. “Where did this even come from?!?”

She didn’t answer, instead laughing and yelling “YES!” Out of joy and she ran up to hug him and he was just so confused still.

“Oh, forget everything I just said about you, Tartaglia! It was a rumour, and we all believed it!”

“All- SO Y/N THINKS SO TOO?!”

Her heart drops when she realizes.

~~

You were hesitant to let Childe into the room the Harbingers so graciously offered you, but he just sounded so desperate that you couldn’t help yourself.

His heart broke at the sight of you- eyes red, nose runny and your shirt drenched in your own tears. He took your hands, realizing just how cold they were and sat down beside you on the bed.

He put one hand on your cheek to wipe away a falling tear and you tried to ignore how cold his hand was.

“I…I’m sorry. I made a promise to you years ago- a promise that I would never leave your side, and I still intend on keeping that promise, but I should’ve tried harder on my mission. I wanted to write to you everyday, but it got so hectic…Morax decided to pull a “fake-my-death” last minute and since, the whole plan was in shambles and the traveller was trying to help…in the end I ended up beating her ass, which I hope makes you feel better-“

It did.

“And so much more happened; I got betrayed by a friend and I never thought I’d be hurt by this but god even Signora betrayed me! They lied to me throughout the mission and the reason I took extra days was because Morax- Zhongli, now, wanted to explain to me just why the plan was changed and I was just gonna spend those few days with him. I should’ve wrote to you- any spare few minutes I had I should’ve spent at least writing out a few words to you, but I didn’t, and I’m sorry.”

More tears flew out of your eyes, and even he was crying too. You wrapped your arms around him, nuzzling your head into the crook between his neck and shoulder.

“You’re not obligated to have to always write to me.”

He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer. “I know. But I want to.”

He’ll take you both to your shared home but now, he just wanted to keep you in his arms to make up for the last 3 weeks.

[thankyouforthememoriesworld]

Updated Version 2.

They were both overlapped in Minnesota for the North Tartan Summer Jam-June 2016. They had a lot of basketball overlap in June/July 2016 but again, separate age groups, with Azzi playing in a higher age group than Paige.

USA U16 Trials in May 2017 when they met.

Won Gold together with U16 on June 11, 2017.

Flew to Minnesota together where Azzi probably spent the summer doing her camping and State Fair in August 2017. Before this though: they participated in the North Tartan Summer Jam-June 2017 but different groups. I think that first birthday post from Azzi is probably from this tournament. Also, they may have also had an EYBL tournament in Indianapolis in July 2017. This is also when those crush snapchats were most likely sent because the song itself was released July 7, 2017.

Generally, they always have a lot of overlap in the summer because of AAU

Their visit to Maryland, Notre Dame and UConn in Fall 2017. Offered scholarships by UConn at that time.

Azzi and Paige were together at the beginning of Feb, training. Azzi's high school is WCAC Champs at the end of Feb 2018 and Azzi was also player of the year as a Freshman.

Late March 2018, both participated in the 2018 USA Basketball 3x3 U18 National Championship. Paige’s team got first, and Azzi’s got second. Paige’s team went on to rep in the youth Olympics.

April 2, 2018 Paige and her Hopkins teammates watched the UConn Notre Dame 2018 Championship game. Paige apparently watched this match up twice by April 2019 and Azzi watched the 12/3/17 game against ND in Hartford. Maybe overlap?

Paige and Azzi played in the Nike Boo Williams Invitational for their separate AAU teams in Virginia on April 20-22, 2018. Azzi's team (Fairfax Stars 17s EYBL) won platinum undefeated in their division where she stood out as one of the best players at 15 years old. Paige's team (North Tartan 15s EYBL) won platinum undefeated in her division. Geno was apparently at this tournament from what I read.

Paige was in DC to play in the Capitol Classic on April 28, 2018. You can watch the entire game if you want.

Reunited in Colorado May 2018 for USA trials.

The 11th annual North Tartan Summer Jam in Hopkins Minnesota was held June 15-17, 2018, where both Paige and Azzi's AAU teams played against each other. Paige’s team beat Azzi’s team 79-63 but both ended with a 3-1 record with Paige's team getting second place. Azzi watched Paige's final game.

Basically, together all of July because training was July 4-20, with a pre-tournament invitational in Latvia. Afterwards, won Gold with U17 on July 29, 2018.

Azzi attends her first Curry Camp in August 6-7 2018. She blows up after the three point contest. At this point I also assume Minnesota cabin trip and state fair was spent together. Azzi was recognized while on a cruise with Bueckers family after the contest (Date unknown but assuming summer). Azzi also helped with Paige's charity clinic at the end of August in Montana.

Azzi and her family were also in Minnesota for a family wedding in September 2018.

11/2/18 Visit to UConn together. Azzi’s sweet 16 on 11/11/18. We know Paige was there.

March 2019 Azzi is presented Gatorade National Player of the Year for Basketball. Azzi's team is 2nd in the nation.

Paige wins state championship on March 16, 2019. Azzi is there supporting (she's in that day after vlog episode of Paige's teammate wearing her St. Patty's day necklace and referred to as National POY which she just got beforehand).

Both of them flew to Montana and I'm guessing that's when the Yellowstone trip happened. Probably Spring Break.

Buckets with Bueckers camp in Montana - March 25, 2019. Azzi was there.

April 1, 2019, Paige commits to UConn (signs letter of intent in November 2019). I think this is also the day Azzi got her puppy Stewie.

April 4-6, 2019 Azzi’s high school team makes the Geico Nationals final but loses. Not sure if Paige was there.

April 13, 2019 Azzi tears hear ACL/MCL at USA 3x3 championship. Surgery on May 29, 2019 in Indianapolis. Paige was with her before surgery (video proof from Azzi herself).  

April 26-28, 2019 AAU together (Azzi not playing).

June 2019 – Paige participates in Summer Jam 2019 with Metro Stars.

July/August 2019 – After Azzi attends the ESPYS and SC30 Select Camp for both of them, Minnesota tradition (they have tiktoks from that time at the cabin and started their joint account that summer). I also think this is when that one Overtime video was filmed with the competition.

10/10-16/19 – Paige is in Doha Qatar for USA Basketball 3x3 tournament. Then she went to First Night at UConn and I think visited Azzi before she went to LA for ESPNW. Azzi visited UConn the week before First Night supposedly.

Dec 16, 2019: First HUDL recruiting video. End of December 2019, Azzi was presumably training with Mamba family in NYC.

Reunited in January 2020 in DMV. Azzi’s first games back from ACL were around this time and Paige was there (they filmed tiktoks together and there are videos of her in the stands). During her visit, Paige's second HUDL recruiting video for Azzi was published.

Azzi’s high school team wins state championships in early March 2020. Azzi travels to Minnesota in mid-March 2020 for Paige’s final but Covid shutdown occurs.

Paige stays with the Fudds from the end of April until June 2020 where she goes back for her graduation in early June and I think possibly packing up her stuff because I know her family was relocating to DMV at this time. She rejoins the Fudds in late June and stays with them and travels with them for Azzi’s GTS team up until end of July. Paige also gets her Gatorade award presented to her at the Fudd’s house on July 24, 2020.

Azzi is in Minnesota with her GTS in August of 2020 and Paige starts UConn.

Azzi visits Paige on her birthday and I believe tells her she’s committing to UConn in October 2020.

Azzi's Togethxr video of her day in the life with the facetime call was filmed November 5, 2020 (pop quiz had a date).

Azzi commits to UConn in November 11, 2020 and turns 18.

Paige's UConn season starts with her first games being cancelled because everyone is in a 14 day quarantine when one person tests positive. This was the reality of that time - they had to contact tracing and couldn't risk getting Covid during the season. They didn't have anymore cancelled games after the end of January but it certainly was an issue early on. UConn had nearly 75% of their courses online or hybrid for entire Fall 2020. Out of state students enrolled in online courses didn't live on campus. This was the reality of Paige's first year. Most likely not as social as people think and really just FTing Azzi at 1 AM apparently.

Azzi attends UConn-Tennessee game on January 21, 2021 to cheer on Paige.

Azzi attends UConn Final Four on April 2, 2021 and also attends the final (while being on FT with Paige).  

Paige has ankle surgery afterwards and hanging out a lot with the Fudds as she rehabs during April and May 2021.

Azzi has USA U19 Trials in May 2021. Then graduation and prom for high school at the end of May (Paige was present during this time). Then summer session at UConn. Paige has her ESPY award speech in July 2021.

Azzi wins gold with team USA before landing back in Mn in mid August 2021 and reunited with Paige and heading to UConn.

My God, you did it 👑. Here's Pazzi's updated timeline for the people.

[nayatarot777]

who’s sending you evil-eye?

   • pile one •

hi pile one 👋🏾 welcome to your reading!

this is someone who you either cleansed out of your life, or someone who you feel like you need to cleanse yourself from every time you see them/have to be around them. your energy could feel very drained, heavy, and just murky after interacting with them. for some of you, this person is evil-eyeing you because you cleansed them out of your life. this person could be a water sign too. i’m seeing that this person is quite an emotional person. perhaps someone who cries a lot. this person is evil-eyeing some type of awakening that you’re currently going through. an awakening that this person can tell is a new beginning for you. you could’ve planted a lot of seeds in your life within the past few months to a year, and these seeds are finally blooming in a very beautiful way. you may have cleansed them out of your life because of that fact that you knew that they’d get in the way of this to begin with. i’m also seeing that this person could be born in the summer, or they could also be a leo or have leo in their chart. they’re evil-eyeing your happy period that you’re going through right now. or a happy period that they perceive you to have. and that’s simply because this person is going through a very low and sad period of life while they feel like you’re able to enjoy the opposite.

this is definitely someone who is no longer in your life. they feel like, while you’re experiencing a lot of new things that are being birthed for you, they’re going through a major death moment. they feel like everything is just dying around them. like death has come and knocked on their door to take away everything that has reached it’s expiration date in their life. i’m seeing that they could definitely be going through an awakening of their own, but they’re in the stage of an ego death that they’re really suffering in. they’re not making this any easier on themselves by evil-eyeing you though 😂. and a lot of things and people are being cleared out of their life in a way that’s really emotionally affecting them. they’re literally sending you evil-eye simply because you’re not suffering like they are. they’re evil-eyeing your wisdom for some reason. i’m hearing that they feel like you’re more well-equipped to deal with life (especially life moments much like their current one) way better than them. i’m also seeing that whatever knowledge that they felt like they knew about you was wrong. and their ego death is showing them that. but they’re resisting admitting this to themselves. the level of resistance that they have is even showing in how long it takes the cards for this person to come out. they can’t bear to acknowledge this, so they’re evil-eyeing you as if it’s your fault that they were wrong about you. they’re literally mad that you’re not who they believed you to be. that their judgement of you was wrong.

this is someone who wanted to punish you for their wrong judgement of you, but now they’re feeling punished by life itself. sue to whatever major endings they’re experiencing. i’m also seeing that this person could’ve been extremely verbally abusive to you and they tried to attack you through words - perhaps that was the ‘punishment’ that they sent your way. i’m hearing that they’re being punished so heavily because they found joy in doing this to you. capricorn/saturnian energy is coming out here. you could be a saturn-ruled sign (capricorn or aquarius) or just have an abundance of placements in that sign or in the 10th/11th houses. if that applies, then just know that saturn is always on your side when it comes to delivering karma to those who deserve it in your life.

this is someone who is content with chaos. content with causing chaos too. but now that they’re experiencing chaos that they’re not the cause of - nor in control of - they’re having to stay calm in this sea of turbulence. i’m seeing heavy scorpio energy here. this chaos came out of nowhere for them. much like the emotional chaos that they tried to cause for you. now they don’t know what to do. they’re being forced to be brave throughout this period. they’re having to climb a huge mountain just to get out of this chaotic situation that they’re in. completely by themselves. this person could’ve portrayed a persona of a timid and harmless person while being a wolf in sheep’s clothing. now they’re actually timid as fuck because they don’t know how they’re going to get through whatever karma is putting them through. this person is definitely a fake person who you cut out of your life. they wear a mask. a costume. just to get close to people to cause turbulence for them. now they’re dealing with someone who’s exactly like them. and they can’t handle it. this person is bringing them all sorts of drama, messing with their mind and their perception to the point of putting this evil-eyeing person in pure emotional chaos. serves them right 🪐

find the extended reading soul tribe tier: extended: how can you spiritually protect yourself from this evil-eye? here on patreon OR you can purchase your extended individually here on kofi!

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• pile two •

hi pile two 👋🏾 welcome to your reading!

for some reason, Highland water could be significant to identifying this person? 😂 i feel like this is someone who’s not brave enough to say something to you. but they want to say something that they’re trying to gain the courage to say. they’re not happy about something. this is someone who’s healing from heartache. they’ve experienced something that has really affected their heart space. now, i’m not sure whether or not this heartache is something that they experienced with someone else or with you, but they’re deeply sad at this current moment. this person also doesn’t heal from heartbreak healthily nor thoroughly. they’re the type of person to put a bandaid over pain and think that it’s sufficient enough to deal with it. they’re someone who tries to mend their heart in circumstances of emotional pain, but in all the wrong ways. this is someone who’s very defensive currently. or, if not currently, they wanted you to back off from them in the past. this is someone who pushes people away when they’re going through a deeply sad and emotional time. this person could also be a witch too. they could practice voodoo in particular for some of you. if not, then i feel like they’re evil-eyeing you because of whatever deep pain they’re in - whether this pain has anything to do with you or not.

this person’s evil-eye is quite intense, so i’d strongly advise you to spiritually protect yourself from them in whatever way you feel comfortable. this is also someone who is quite an intense person. perhaps intense with their emotions. their emotional range could be quite erratic or dramatic to some of you. there’s also a message about how this person usually has quite a timid energy, but something about their energy is intensifying. i can’t make out what this is exactly, but hopefully the rest of the cards explain this. damn. the next card out was the shadow card. this is someone who’s shadow is intensifying because of the fact that they refuse to properly heal. what they might want to speak to you about is whatever heartbreak they’re experiencing, but they don’t have the courage to because they’re the one who pushed you out of their life and told you to basically leave them alone. but their shadow is definitely intensifying and they don’t have the courage to do any type of shadow work. to take a good, hard look at the ugly parts of their psyche or their personality. this person’s shadow is intensifying because of a heartbreak because of a masculine/a man. if you’re the masculine/man then they’re allowing whatever heartbreak they experienced with you to add onto their shadow. if you’re not, then this masculine is someone else. probably an ex that they had a nasty, explosive break up with. for some of you in particular, they saw you as a threat to their relationship with this masculine who is now an ex, so that’s the reason why they found a reason to push you away from them. now that this masculine turned out to be just another person who hurt them, they’re now wanting to come back and say something to you but they don’t feel like they can. because they vilified you and saw you as the problem due to their possessiveness over their ex-person. when the whole time, the person who was a threat to them was actually the person who they chose over you. ain’t that some shit? 🙃

whoever’s evil-eyeing you is someone who finds themselves in intense connections with other people - or they try to force this. they try to attach to people intensely, which gives me the energy of someone who has an anxious attachment style. someone who is just really codependent and overly attached with other people. this isn’t just limited to romantic relationships either - this could definitely be with friends too. this person could be into divination, but i feel like they use divination to feed their shadow. to feed their need for codependency or to feed their fears. whatever it is that they’re feeding with divination practices, it’s not healthy. this person’s method of feeling stable is to rely on masculines/men. this is someone who can’t feel secure in themselves. they can only feel secure with a boyfriend or a man/masculine that they’re entertaining for the time being. now that this reading is coming to a close, i’m realising that this person is evil-eyeing you either because they got defensive with you and you won’t allow them back into your life (or they don’t have the courage to attempt to come back), or because they saw you as the problem or the threat but they were wrong. in some weird way, they’re still finding a way to blame you for what happened between them and this masculine - as if any of it is your fault somehow. wild ✨

find the extended reading soul tribe tier: extended: how can you spiritually protect yourself from this evil-eye? here on patreon OR you can purchase your extended individually here on kofi!

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• pile three •

hi pile three 👋🏾 welcome to your reading!

the person sending you evil eye is someone with a very distorted view. this distortion is either towards you or just life in general. they don’t see things clearly at all. this person could have addictions to substances which causes this deluded state of mind. there’s the energy of overindulge in something that shifts their perspective of the world and people around them. this is someone who’s experiencing intense karma for something - or multiple things - that they’re guilty of. this person may have experienced a lot of luck that protected them from this. this luck could simply being related to not being caught or called out for something. but that luck has ran out. “what goes around, comes around”. that’s what i’m hearing. they’re experiencing whatever they caused you and/or others to experience. this person may have been responsible for cutting your luck or abundance too. but there are spirits that are pissed as fuck at this person. The Three Fates are present here (you can google the greek mythology behind them). they’re cutting out something that this person felt like they were fated for. because they don’t deserve it. and i feel like it’s something related to abundance/finances. for some of you, this person is a very messy person - literally speaking. their home could always be a mess or really dirty. for others of you, this person is a disgustingly grimy person. there’s a lot of dirt that they have that they’ve tried to hide. but with The Three Fates coming through, they’re being forced to clean up their act. whether that’s related to searching for atonement or cleaning up their addiction/dependency to some type of substance that they rely on.

the mythology of The Three Fates also includes the energy of death (the death of an individual that i like to interpret as the death of one’s ego). The Fates are the daughters of the Goddess Nyx (the Goddess of Night and Darkness). The Fates are putting this person into a dark night of the soul. and i’m saying this due to the awakening card coming out next to the shadow card. this person is being forced to awaken to their shadow now that they can’t distract themselves with whatever they usually overindulge in. they’re having to look at themselves in the mirror and recognise the darkness (and i’m hearing “evil”) within them. they’re evil-eyeing you because you’re protecting yourself from them. and your self-protection is a mirror that further reflects to them how dark they actually are. they could distract themselves with drugs, alcohol, and any other distractions before - but not anymore. they’re evil-eyeing you because they literally can’t get to you. they can’t distract themselves by projecting their negative feelings about themselves onto you anymore. you could’ve even done protection spells against this person, and they’re working extremely well.

the “angel of night” has literally come out 😂. Nyx is putting this person THROUGH it. and this energy of darkness is also the energy of protection that’s cloaked over you. this person has a lot of secrets that i feel have come to the surface. if you were the one to expose these secrets, then that’s another reason why they’re sending evil-eye. they’re scapegoating you and blaming you for their secrets being exposed instead of blaming themselves for causing themselves to have such dark secrets in the first place. they’re evil-eyeing your knowledge about them. knowledge that they perhaps didn’t even realise that you had. and this knowledge is ripping through them. it’s almost like they’re left winded now that people know about these things. this is probably the reason for the collapse of their ego. for their dark night of the soul that’s long overdue. you served up some type of knowledge about this person on a platter, and they did not like this at all. they’re under a lot of pressure now. and this is their karma because this is just as much - if not, more - pressure that they put onto you. they feel like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders, and they’re having to navigate this in a depth of suppressed emotions about themselves and their shadow self.

find the extended reading on my soul tribe tier: extended: how can you spiritually protect yourself from this evil-eye? here on patreon OR you can purchase your extended individually here on kofi!

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[greyskyflowers]

I continue to look for an AU fic where Ichigo dies and no one can find him anywhere in soul society for years. To the point that they start to think maybe he just went into the reincarnation cycle already.

Eventually the Rukongai has some type of issue and a few of the shinigami are sent out to follow up on it. While responding to it they happen upon a small, nervous child.

One of the younger and newer shinigami tries to get some information out of her or what she may have seen, they wouldn't have hurt her, but they move too quick and she jerks back. They don't even have time to apologize before a boy is standing in front of her and scowling.

He's so small. All protective fury and barely contained fear tucked into too thin limbs and dusty, bruised skin. His hair is bright, even under all the dirt.

His little chin wobbles but he still holds it up to look them in the eyes, and there are tears welling up but he blinks them away. His legs don't shake the whole time though.

There's no memory or recognition in his eyes when he looks at those who knew him.

Because everyone would spoil the hell out of him, I need the Visored and Kisuke spoiling the hell out of him.

This time he can grow up slower and with more love and support than he knows what to do with.

This time when he learns to raise a blade it won't be because he has too. Maybe this time he decides to use his hands for healing or focus on strategy.

And any blood shed will be under their watchful eyes, in training or the small accidents children always get into, instead of life or death battles.

Ichigo is always going to be a protector at his core and he'll always be the first one in and the last one out.

They can make sure he's not alone though, that the burden isn't solely on him and that he's not just a power piece in everyone's plans.

This time the protector gets to be protected.

And maybe some day they'll tell him that the hero in the stories they tell him are actually him.

*******

Ichigo asking to hold hands with Kensei and okay, how is Kensei suppose to say no to those big eyes? He can't. Ichigo holding up his hand and wiggling his fingers until Kensei takes it. Shūhei letting Ichigo cling to his leg and sit with him while doing paperwork, and Mashiro carriing him on her back and zooming around.

The 11th division making off with him and everyone's low key concerned at first because it's the 11th but they shouldn't have worried. They all spar with Ichigo and it's easy to see how happy he is when they carefully knock him over and then help him up before going over how to better his stance or block a hit. They howl and yell in support when he gets a hit in and he proudly shows off the hard earned scrapes and bruises.

Renji carrying him around on his shoulder and grinning at small fingers that tangle in his hair and pull a little too hard when excited. Rukia spending hours drawing with him and they stick their art up everywhere they can get away with it. They put up multiple in Byakuya's office and he doesn't acknowledge anyone who dares asks about taking them down.

Yoruichi napping with Ichigo and purring when he uses her a pillow or even letting him wrap his arms around her like a stuffed animal. She's known to smack out a paw at anyone who tries waking him up or moving him.

Kisuke and Ichigo staring at each other for 10 minutes when they first meet again, before Ichigo seems to find whatever he was looking for and gives a shy smile. Kisuke is absolutely gone, surprisedrelievedhappysohappy and protectprotectprotect burning in his chest.

Shunsui and Ichigo sitting together and enjoying nice afternoons. Both have little ceramic cups, Ichigo's has little berries painted on it that he had proudly done himself. No one mentions it was because of Lisa's wrath when she saw Shunsui giving Ichigo a sake cup of water. Now it's clearly marked and usually contains a bright, clearly not sake, colored juice.

Hiyori teasing him like a big sister and smacking him with her sandal when he does something reckless. They play pranks on Kisuke and Shinji frequently.

Kūkaku and Ganju occasionally stealing Ichigo and smothering him with the affection they were never able to give him before. They tell him about their clan without mentioning or hinting at the relation. Ichigo listening in excitement and saying he wished he had a family like that, not knowing why that makes them both look so happy but also so sad.

Shinji being one of Ichigo's favorites because he speaks to Ichigo like an adult. He tells him the truth when he asks questions and always helps him get back on his feet when he's been knocked off them. He lets Ichigo play with his hair and he always scares away any monsters that might be hiding behind shady corners and under dark steps. Sometimes he watches Ichigo with a weird look on his face, something between the way Kūkaku looks at him and Kisuke looks at him. Almost guilty... sorrowful. Grief is so heavy. When Ichigo asks about it, Shinji doesn't give an answer. It's one of the only times he feels like Shinji is hiding something from him.

[matan4il]

To the Nonnie who asked me about the Druze and Bedouins in Israel, here's a recounting of the history of these two communities here.

The Druze in Israel

The Druze are members of an ethno-religion that split from Shiite-Isma'ili Islam in the 11th century in Egypt. For a while, people could join the Druze faith, but then that period was over, and since then, you can't convert to become a Druze. In order to maintain their ethno-religious group, they're not supposed to marry non-Druze. Most of the Druze originate and live in Syria, with small numbers in southern Lebanon and in northern Israel.

Most of the Druze who came to live in Israel, did so in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Ma'an Druze rulers of Lebanon rebelled against the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, and occupied northern Israel. Along the years, the Druze repeatedly attacked and stole from Israel's Jews. In the northern city of Safed, for example (one of the four holy Jewish cities, considered holy for ALWAYS having had Jewish presence, no matter what happened to Jews in Israel), notable Druze attacks against Jews happened in 1567, 1604, 1628, 1656 and 1838.

When did this change, and the relationship between the Jewish and Druze residents of the Land of Israel become better? Well, in 1936-1939, as Muslim Arabs in Israel (inspired by their antisemitic leader Haj Amin al-Husseini) attacked the Jews and the British in what came to be known as "The Arab Revolt," they also attacked the Druze, who intended to remain neutral in the fight between the Arabs and Jews. There were some Druze who did join Arab forces attacking Jews. Probably the most prominent Arab militia the Druze joined was the one led by Yussuf Abu Durra. This man used the opportunity of the revolt to attack Arab and Druze villages, and the latter target made his Druze fighters abandon him, and even start fighting against his militia.

These Arab attacks on the Druze pushed both them and the Jews to forge an actual alliance. Here's the example of the Druze village of Isfiya. It's built on the ruins of an ancient Jewish village, and the name Isfiya is a mispronunciation of the village's original Hebrew name, Husifa. How do we know this original name? Archeological digs in there revealed an ancient Jewish synagogue, with this mosaic, which includes the Hebrew words "Shalom al Yisrael" (peace upon Israel), as well as the name "Husifa":

During The Arab Revolt, the village's leaders turned to the adjacent kibbutz Yagur. A Jewish underground movement called Hagana (Hebrew for 'defense,' because it was established 1920 to defend Israel's Jews from Arab attacks) had a group of fighters there, to defend the kibbutz. The Druze asked for the help of the Jews in defending their village from Arab attacks, and the Jews of Yagur agreed. They started collaborating, among other things the Druze provided the Jews with intel, and the Jews provided the Druze with weapons and ammunition. Isfiya's village council ended up incorporating the Jewish synagogue's mosaic into their emblem (this pic is from their Facebook page):

By the end of the revolt in 1939, most of the Druze were on the Jewish side, even if they weren't actively fighting. This opened the path for the same alliance to play a significant role in Israel's War of Independence from Nov 1947 to Jul 1949. There was one Druze unit that fought under Fawzi al-Qawuqji, an Arab commander from Lebanon, who led a militia in Israel during The Arab Revolt, collaborated with the Nazis during WWII, and then led the Arab Liberation Army during Israel's War of Independence War. BTW, this was the antisemitic emblem of the ALA:

Fawzi al-Qawuqji sent his Druze unit to attack the Jews at the Ramat Yochanan battle, on Apr 16, 1948 (meaning, this is during the first stage of the war, when most Arab armies had not yet invaded the Land of Israel. That starts in May 1948). The Druze were defeated, and after that, all of the Druze in Israel were on the Jewish side.

So the answer to what forged the alliance between the Jewish and Druze residents of Israel, is a combination of the Muslim Arabs' violence at the time, and the fact that Jews were no longer a defenseless minority, but got to defend themselves by fighting back. NEVER underestimate the importance of the right to self defense, and the truth is that the only place in the world where Jewish people have this right as Jews is the State of Israel.

When the State of Israel was established, there were 14,500 Druze living here. Today, they number about 150,000 and make up roughly 1.5% of the Israeli population. Back in 1949, Druze service in the Israeli army was strictly voluntary. At the request of Druze leaders in Israel, this was changed in 1956, but the service is mandatory for just the men (while for Israeli Jews, it's mandatory for both men and woman, and for Arabs and Bedouins, it's still voluntary). They're recognized as the most loyal and contributing non-Jewish minority in Israel, and many Druze have reached some of the highest positions of power here.

The Bedouins in Israel

The Bedouins are nomadic tribes, originally native to Arabia (and in fact, while non-nomadic Arabs refer to them as Bedouins, from the Arabic word for 'desert,' they refer to themselves as Arabs, sometimes even as the "real Arabs"). Over the centuries, their routes have continuously expanded, taking them from the deserts of Arabia, through Israel, Jordan and Syria, to northern Africa. A part of what they would often do for a living is connected with herding and commerce, another part is attacking local communities along their wandering routes for loot. Most Bedouins had converted to Islam, and the Islamic conquests coming out of Arabia in the 7th century, taking over the rest of the Middle East, have helped in that expansion of their wandering routes.

In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire (the Turks) wanted the Bedouins to be more settled, so they would be easier to govern. At the same time, the Ottomans wanted to artificially increase the Muslim population in Israel. So under them, in addition to European converts to Islam (mostly Bosnians and Albanians) settling in Israel, the Ottomans also forced many Bedouins to abandon their nomadic lifestyle and settle in Israel, mostly in the south, in the Negev desert. Some Bedouins completely settled, while some opted for a semi-nomadic life (meaning they still move from where they're staying at least twice a year, but it's not constant wandering, and they move between designated spots, over a relatively small distance).

The exact number of Bedouins in Israel before the establishment of the state is unknown due to the semi-nomadic lifestyle some of them still went by, but estimates are around 110,000 people. During the Independence War, most of the Negev Bedouins fled to Gaza (which came to be occupied by Egypt until 1967). After the state was founded, some returned to Israel. The state established seven villages and a city for them, the only Bedouin city in the world, Rahat (and the biggest Arab city in Israel). Today, the Bedouins in Israel number over 300,000 people in the Negev, about 110,000 people in towns and villages in northern Israel, and over 32,000 living in other cities across the country. They are about 3.5% of Israel's population.

The Bedouins have a more complex relationship with the State of Israel, due to several issues. The state has been seeking solutions for these problems, with varying degrees of success.

One issue is land ownership. You'd think it wouldn't be, with many still being semi-nomadic, but a part of the problem is that more than once, they will simply decide that if they've wandered to a certain spot enough times, it's theirs. In certain cases, these spots are in military zones, which means they're endangering themselves and soldiers by settling there even part time, and the state repeatedly has to evacuate them from those places, including for their own safety. More than once, anti-Israelis will talk about Israel destroying an ancient Palestinian village, and in reality it's a recent Bedouin settlement, where there's no proper infrastructure for them, including for their kids (no water lines, no electricity), and it's in the middle of a dangerous fire zone.

Another issue is polygamy, which is customary among Bedouins, but legally forbidden in the State of Israel. So again, it creates friction between men who want to marry multiple wives, and the authorities.

One more thing is that the traditionally nomadic lifestyle of the Bedouins means they've never really had a history of belonging to specific states, and feeling it's a part of their identity. So they don't feel too obligated to the state and its rule. One example is that they run their own courts. The Ottomans tried to dismantle those, and force the Bedouins to adhere to a Sharia court that they opened in 1906, but when the British took over Israel in 1917 they dismantled it, and allowed the Bedouins to have their courts, out of a colonialist perception that they're too savage to be able to accept western laws. So the Bedouins to this day have issues accepting the authority of the state's courts.

Having said all this, there are also Bedouins who are very loyal to Israel, feeling like the state has drastically improved their life in comparison with how they were treated before (under the British, and before them the Ottomans), or that they have better living conditions than they would have had without the state. Here's one Israeli Bedouin woman, Sophia Khalifa Shramko, speaking about how Israel has bettered their lives:

Also, while most of the Negev Bedouins fled during Israel's War of Independence, there were a few Bedouins from the northern part that fought for the state, and to this day, the northern Bedouins are known as the more loyal faction from among Israeli Bedouins. The state built several permanent settlements for the northern Bedouins, and today they live across 24 communities.

As I mentioned, army service is voluntary for the Bedouins. Over time, it went from a very small number who did serve in Israel's War of Independence, through a big decline in the 1980's, but then since 2002 there's been a small, but steady rise in the number of Bedouins choosing to enlist. In 2003, the first Bedouin woman insisted on serving (she had to fight many in her own society who objected to this, mostly for religious reasons), she succeeded, and opened the path for other Bedouin women to serve as well. There's no official or expert explanation offered for this, but you want my guess? In 2001, Hamas started firing rockets at Israel, and the most targeted are was the Negev, so as Palestinian terrorists made it clear they have no qualms about killing Bedouins simply for being citizens of the Jewish state, my guess is more Bedouins who didn't identify with the state protecting them from Hamas, started to. I think following the Oct 7 massacre, in which at least 19 Bedouins were murdered by Hamas, at least 6 were kidnapped, and dozens are still considered missing, the Bedouins' identification with Israel is at an all time high. We've seen collaborations of Jews helping Bedouins, and Bedouins helping Jews, reaching an unprecedented peak.

Before the Oct 7 attack, the overall number of Bedouins serving was still rather low. In 2021, it was a total of 1,500 people. All the same, Israel has built a special commemoration site for the Bedouin soldiers, including several monuments. Here's one (you can see the Arabic writing at the top if you click the pic):

Israel as the Jewish nation state

The State of Israel is the Jewish nation state. That's not different to other nation states. But I want to emphasize, being a Jewish state, doesn't mean it's a Jew only state. It never was, it was never meant to be, it never will be.

Yes, on the national level, it has Jewish characteristics. The official language is Hebrew, the state calendar follows the Hebrew one, it has Jewish symbols in the flag and state emblem. And Israel also has a law of return for Jews, so they would never have to fear persecution elsewhere ever again. It allowed the saving of Jews from Syria when the civil war started there in 2011, or more recently the war in Ukraine, it allowed Israel to support Jews fleeing rising antisemitism in places like France in the last few decades, and it allows Jews one place where they don't have to constantly adjust themselves to the dominant non-Jewish culture, where they don't have to live by a Christian or Muslim or Buddhist calendar, where they can speak, and consume culture, and create it in their own native language, where they don't have to consider whether they can find a synagogue or kosher food before they move to a certain town, where they get to walk down the same paths their ancestors did thousands of years ago, where they will never be told that Jewish boys wearing a kippah to school is prohibited, and so on.

Every single one of these elements can be found in at least one other country out there, and very much so in nation states. Britain is quite clearly a Christian country when the head of the state is also the head of the church, so is the US when Christmas is a national holiday, but Yom Kippur isn't. Germany is the nation state of the Germans, its language is German (not Turkish, as much as there is a big Turkish community there), the Bundestag, the German parliament building, has a writing dedicating it to "Dem Deutsche Volk" (the German people), and it has a law of return for people of German descent, returning from eastern European countries. In this sense, nothing about Israel as the Jewish nation state is out of the ordinary.

Israel can and should do everything in its power to make life here good for the non-Jewish communities. By law, they have the same civil rights as the Jews. At the same time, these communities actually have less obligations when it comes to army service. Are things perfect? No, and Israel should continue to work on it, always. Just like every country should continuously strive to be better for its minorities. But if the Jewish character of the State of Israel troubles you, ask yourself why are the Jews the only ones not allowed to have a nation state of their own? One place upon the earth, where they're not the minority, in case being a minority elsewhere is something that's become too difficult or too dangerous? Or if they simply want to go back to their roots, to their people and to their ancestral land?

Am Yisrael Chai!

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[lisbeth-kk]

May Prompts (23) Apology

The Luckiest Girl in the World (chapter23)

Summary: Rosie shares a surprise with her parents and uncle. All of them have different thoughts about this unexpected development, and silent negotiations are carried out.

Twenty-Three Years Old

I knew that Papa not fully understood my reason for studying international politics and data, but to his credit he didn’t for one second try to convince me to give it another thought and opt for something science related instead. Dad was just relieved that I’d finally had found a path to walk, after several failed attempts. Uncle Myc, well he tried to hide how utterly pleased he was with my choice, but by now I knew him well enough to read the signs. Truth be told, said signs weren’t that subtle.

“Bien choisi ma chérie,” he beamed at me, while Papa scowled at him.

“Merci oncle,” I retorted. “I can’t wait to start this and go to Paris.”

The three-year BA degree was taught by The University of London Institute in Paris. We would be taught in English, but if we had an A level in French, we could also take French courses. I’d learned French in school for years, and uncle Myc and I often conversed in French when uncle Greg wasn’t around.

I think it’s needless to say that my security and comfort in France was well taken care of. Papa and uncle Myc had a conversation using their eyes only when I spilled the beans. Dad knew exactly what was going on and went to make tea while negotiations were carried out. Once the brothers were satisfied, uncle Myc took out his phone and sent several texts or emails. By now, I knew it’ll be futile to pester any of them of what was going on. I was just relieved that no one had tried to talk me out of it, making me feel uncertain or guilty for leaving the country; actually, moving out of my childhood home.

My reasons for choosing this subject were multifaceted. I’d always enjoyed learning facts, obscure and otherwise, about different countries and cultures. Having had a relatively unorthodox upbringing, containing all sorts of people, played a big part too. The cherry on top was that the school was abroad. Nana’s tales of her experiences overseas and how educating it is to have lived some time in another country and society, had always seemed enticing to me.

***

The university was situated close to the Invalides and the Seine, while my lodgings were in the Charonne area in the 11th arrondissement on a cosy cobble street, with a nearby metro station. My landlady, Marguerite Vachon was one of uncle Myc’s acquaintances, from where, I still have no idea. 

Marguerite preferred that I used her given name instead of the formal, Madame Vachon.

“Je ne suis pas ancient,” was her favourite line and reminded me quite a lot of Nana.

“I am not ancient, dear,” was a statement Nana had used every so often.

Marguerite was a petite and elegant woman. Her hair was cut in a bob, coloured black with a few red stripes. I never saw her without lipstick or makeup. She always wore bespoke dresses and high heeled shoes. I deduced that she was far more than a landlady. When I left for school in the morning, I could hear her sing or talk on the phone, and when I returned, she always opened her door and inquired about my day.

“She’s clearly spying for Mycroft,” Papa’s voice told me.

And there was something about her, which I couldn’t put my finger on. Something mysterious, secret, perhaps even dangerous. 

***

It seemed like Marguerite had my schedule memorised. Not that I’d given her the information, but when she slipped, I got my suspicions confirmed. To be fair, it wasn’t slipping per se. She couldn’t have known that class was dismissed early that day.

Luckily, I spotted her and was able to hide behind a wall before she saw me. I’d almost missed her, because she wasn’t wearing her normal dress and high heels, but red trousers, a white and blue-striped jumper, and white trainers. Instead of one of her posh handbags, she had a dark blue canvas bag diagonally draped over her chest.

Papa had taught me a few tricks when it came to the fine art of following people without being discovered. I’ve never had much use of them obviously, but now I saw an opportunity. How I would explain this and apologise if I was caught, never crossed my mind.

I was sceptical when Marguerite walked to the metro station, but I was able to get into the same carriage as her, and it seemed that she had no idea she was being followed. She got off three stops later and walked in the direction of the big Père-Lachaise cemetery.

A fitting location for obscure and shady affairs.

Marguerite knew where she was going, walking briskly but not hurried. I had walked the premises several times before and knew where she was headed when I saw the grand tomb of Sir Richard Wallace, the British baronet who contributed millions to the Parisian poor during the Siege of Paris in the early 1870s.

This reeked of another posh Brit I knew.

When Marguerite had placed a folder by the tomb and another woman picked it up five minutes later, I had a hard time keeping myself composed. The woman picking up the folder was the French equivalent of Anthea.

I sent uncle Myc a text when both women were out of sight.

Thanks for keeping track on me, but this thing is like being part of a French noir film. You can tell Papa I think you’re both growing sentimental, and I demand an apology!

Also available on AO3

@calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @keirgreeneyes @raina-at @helloliriels

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[reneesghostinthelivingroom]

hi! would you do more of pretty little secret? like maybe when we first interact with regina and how that goes down and janis being protective and whatnot? that story was so good

Pretty Little Secret || Part 2

|| Janis Imi'ike x fem!reader

|| Warnings: Regina being Regina, swearing, implied homophobia, Regina bullying Janis & reader

|| Summary: reader runs into Regina George, Regina makes fun of Janis & reader. Janis tries picking a fight with Regina but reader & Damien pull her away before things can escalate.

Requests open!

Started: May 2nd

Finished: May 11th

Go read part 1!

~~~

At least... you had thought you'd do fine here.

Your first day went well. Your second day? Not so much. You had unfortunately encountered Regina George. She was so much worse than Janis' warnings, how that was even possible you weren't sure. You had thought Janis was just over exaggerating when she had compared her to a worse Heather Chandler.

God, you wished Regina George came with a flashing warning something or some shit so you wouldn't accidentally run into her like you had. Maybe a bell. Someone put a bell on this bitch.

You literally ran into the one person Janis told you to stay away from. Girl, you had one job now come on.

Let's take it back a few steps.

You were in your third period class, watching the clock as the seconds ticked by. You had no idea what the teacher was even going on about anymore but you didn't care; you were just waiting for the moment where you could be back in Janis' arms.

The moment the bell rang, you gathered your things and hurried out the door and towards the cafeteria. You had been speed walking, music playing in your ears. You hadn't noticed the blonde and her plastic crew walking ahead of you.

Your pace picked up, wanting to be with Janis already. Not even a few seconds later did you collide into Regina George, both of you falling to the ground with you landing on top of her.

She screamed and pushed you off, giving you an intense glare that sent shivers down your spine.

You scrambled to your feet and tried offering your hand to help her up, but she slapped it away with enough force to sting.

You pulled your hand back and gave it a gentle rub to soothe the sting.

"I was only trying to help-" She cuts you off, raising her hand.

"Shut. Up. Don't you think you've already caused enough damage? God, you're so pathetic." She said through gritted teeth as she stood and brushed herself off. Her two... friends (you guessed, though you weren't sure that was the right word to describe them from what Janis has told you) came and checked on her but she pushed past them and marched up to you.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Regina snapped, you took a step back and gulped," Well?"

"Just um... a nobody?" You thought maybe that answer would satisfy her, Regina rolled her eyes at you and was about to say more when you were both interrupted.

"She's over there!" You heard Damien shout from somewhere behind you, but you didn't turn around.

"Y/N!" Janis' voice quickly followed, soon enough she was standing next to you. Her hand gripping yours as she pulled you back from Regina and closer to her. "Leave her alone, George."

Regina's eyes narrowed at you and Janis, wondering why the hell she was being so protective over you. Then it clicked when she saw the blush on your cheeks, she smirked and folded her arms across her chest.

"What? Gonna set me on fire for talking to your girlfriend?" Regina stared Janis down, but Janis didn't back away. If anything she stepped closer.

"Maybe I should. Finally shut you up."

This was going to get ugly and fast. You knew you had to act now, you looked at Damien for help and luckily he seemed to understand.

The two of you each grabbed one of Janis's arms and pulled her back.

Janis was pissed off. She didn't want to be pulled away, her eyes glared daggers at Regina as she kicked her feet in protest. Trying to get out of yours and Damien's grasp. You were glad you had asked him for help, because God Janis was putting up a fight. "Let me go!"

"Quick, someone get a fire extinguisher." Regina said with a laugh as she watched the scene unfold before her.

"Girl, calm down." Damien focused on Janis, keeping his hold on her arm as he glanced at you and you nodded. The two of you pulled Janis away from Regina and out of the hall. You weren't about to risk being there for longer than you needed to. Luckily, Regina let you take Janis away without saying much else. At least... not to your face.

You yourself were pissed off at Regina for everything she had said to your girlfriend. But you held back, knowing that getting expelled on your second day wouldn't look all that great on you.

Once the three of you were outside, you and Damien carefully let go of Janis. Keeping your guards up in case she took off or something and you had to grab her again. Thankfully, that didn't happen but you could see she was still pissed as fuck.

"Why did you pull me away?! She deserved a good beat down!" Janis shouted.

"Truth. But we both know she would have twisted the story around and made you the villain." Damien replied, hands on his hips as he kept an eye on Janis. You nodded in agreement.

"And I wasn't about to let my girlfriend get expelled when I just got here. I can't survive this shit without you." You added on, Janis rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay! Fine." You could tell she wasn't overly happy so you worked your brain for an idea.

You smiled, Janis raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What's that look for?" She asked.

Damien glanced at you.

"We ditch the rest of the day and go hangout at one of those rage rooms where you can break a bunch of shit." You explained your idea, Janis' eyes lit up with excitement.

You smiled a little more, glad that that seemed to cheer her up.

"Tits! Let's go!" Janis grabbed your hand and pulled you along, you laughed as you followed her. Damien walking beside the two of you.

You always found it hilarious how she used tits to replace 'that's great'.

The three of you would then spend the rest of the day at the rage room, Janis and Damien were the ones mainly breaking shit. You had broken a bit, but you wanted to make sure Janis was the main focus of this. She clearly needed this more than you.

[bambinambi]

Run, Mrigashira, Run!

I've just finished watching Baby Reindeer, and it made me reflect on my own experience as a mrigashira native, the obsessive behaviour we are subjected to, but also the obsessive behaviour we exhibit as a mrigashira native (with jyeshta sun and lilith in the 11th house), I've dealt a great deal with obsessive bullying.

Now, you might be wondering what that is. Basically, ever since I was young, I became incredibly good at hiding my true emotional reactions to situations going on around me. So, when I began to be bullied, I started reacting in that manner. Often, I look back at the absolutely absurd experiences I've had with my bullies in the past example; staring at me the entire time during class/lectures/in our dining hall, and any other public spaces we happened to inhabit at the same time, talking loudly about me and friends (me specifically) in classes and lectures to, I guess, goad a reaction from me. I even remember how these girls would go to my residence neighbour's room (in university) and talk about me and my friends for HOURS. I thought I could have been imagining it until I had an unrelated friend come over so we could do some work together, and she commented on it, making me realise that it was in fact happening, but also being incredibly disturbed by the fact that these girls were evidently obsessed.

I often wondered in what manner I should have reacted to these situations; Should I have given them the attention they so desperately wanted, or was any ounce of attention ever going to be enough? Should I have cussed them out, reported them to an authority figure, or would it have goaded them on? What had made people who have originally been my friends all of a sudden switch to being my bullies seemingly overnight, with no warning (I should also mention that I have lilith in the 11th house).I remember making the mistake of befriending a loner in our dining hall. He ended up wanting to date me, I told him I was not interested, and he proceeded to inundate me with messages, begging to give him a chance. He even cornered me one day while I was going to the dining hall, alone, in the dark. He wouldn't let me go until I agreed to give him a chance. This was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when I had decided to travel back to my university town to have a change in scenery and had none of my friends be there with me.

And when I finally decided enough was enough, with people acting this way towards me relatively unpunished (unless you count social ruin) and relatively unscathed, and I would finally take a stand, I realised how flawed the system was; how slow it was, how the victim was the one forced to gather enough "relevant" evidence, both which could inadvertently cause more harm as they would have to continue to endure the potential harassment and abuse from their assailant, and sometimes how in the end, these efforts may cause more harm than good. I remember that after the members of the harassment centre had spoken to the guy, and I had received a no contact order, I had not been told that I was the one that had to communicate that this student was not to interact with me, in any manner, to me to hall warden, warden and sub warden. I think it's ridiculous, as all the harassment centre had to do, was CC these individuals into the email they had sent me, stating that I had been granted the no contact order. Instead, I was subjected to torment by the man harassing for an additional couple of days until I finally got told that I had to put the no contact order into action.

Basically, why I'm mentioning all of this, is because a lot of the time, people believe that mrigashira natives woefully bring on this behaviour from other people. The truth is, regardless of what we do, we often attract the most obsessive people unintentionally. Even when I was my most shy and introverted self, I attracted a best friend, who would obsessively send me letters, professing her love multiple times a day although I never really reciprocated. She would tell people off for trying to speak to me. I remember that it took a year for many people in our grade to actually have a conversation, and they sighted this girl's aggression towards them as a reason. And mind you, I had just arrived at the school, but she had practically forced me into a relationship with her, and scared away any other potential friends except the people in our friend group, and even they knew to keep their distance from me.

I realise that many of my friendships, in fact, had serious red flags, behaviours I didn't recognise as alarming at the time, such as friends "teasing" me (when really they were attacking every little thing about myself), friends who would constantly compliment me (admiration and envy are two sides of the same coin) and friends who evidently had attachment issues like the example I gave before. I'm sure there are many other examples I could give, but these are the most important ones.After each and every experience, I found myself obsessively dissecting every interaction, their behaviour, and my reaction to it. Trying to understand their psychology, trying to understand my own. One thing I recognise now is how my obsessiveness towards the situation may have been as a result of my deep insecurities in my "inadequacies" and "flaws". I was such an insecure individual, that I couldn't fathom why anyone would be so obsessively preoccupied by my every move, but most especially every flaw, and how their constant criticism of me, made me more aware and ashamed of who I was, that they thought their behaviour justified in the face of my flawed existence.

I became obsessed with trying to figure out what I need to do and who I need to be to prevent this behaviour from happening again. I would also obsess over these individuals' actions from a place of anger, cursing them for treating me in the manner that they had. I would think about them from the moment I woke up, to the moment I went to be, both when I was still having to deal with them, but also afterwards, sometimes years afterwards, going over the situations in my head, over and over. Being angry with myself for how I reacted to their actions.

Obsession can easily be experienced by both assailant and victim. For me, this obsessiveness also comes from a place of wishing my past was spotless, unmarred by traumatic experiences, but also my own faults and mistakes. I expressed that same obsessiveness about my future; how can I ensure I never get hurt again, that I can identify these individuals early, and distance myself while I still can.

The truth of the matter is these people will always exist in the world, and much of what I know now about how to deal with people, such as the ones I dealt with in my past, is as a result of everything I went through in my past (I often used to wonder why I wouldn't heed my parent's warnings, and go onto do as I pleased, but really, I think I am type of person who has to discover and make sense of things myself.)

I no longer want to scrub my past away. I see how vital it was for me to have gone through what I went through to better understand not only myself but also other people. To learn where I too, need work, so that when these kinds of people come around, they will not completely consume me as the others that came before them.

I realised that by ignoring those people, I may have inadvertently been causing harm to them and bringing out the obsessive behaviour, agitating wounds that already existed inside them. I always thought they had been unjust towards me, but I may have, in turn, been unjust towards them.

By trying to feign indifference, I may have triggered them to act out in a manner, they may not have even been conscious of at the time, or may have thought appropriate to the insult they had thought I had been inflicting on them, because how dare I ignore them? Move on with my life as if they never existed. In hindsight, it was hurtful and may have evoked anger, even drudged up prior feelings of anger unrelated to myself. Being ignored and treated in a manner of indifference is hurtful.

While I don't take on complete blame for their behaviour whatsoever, I know recognise how cruel and upsetting my behaviour had been. We had been friends, we had exchanged secrets and peered into each other, maybe deeper than other people had the pleasure of doing. And while their behaviour had been deplorable, I had unintentionally kicked someone that was evidently already on their knees.

One cannot control how another acts towards them, but they can control how they react. I also don't believe it was my responsibility to reach out or endure the bullying by virtue of understanding where it may have been coming from. Ultimately, I learnt a great deal about people and how certain behaviour can bring out different sides of them, especially evidently wounded by like bullies and highly narcissistic people.

But at the time, like the doe, I decided that running away was the best call. But sometimes, in life, you are called to deal head-on with unfortunate situations. I was being forced to learn, not to bend to my nature and run away, but run headfirst into any situation placed before me. I also was being called on to be vulnerable, if not with others, at least with myself. How my anger towards the situation was in fact deep hurt, had my ego allowed me to understand that, how my anger had showed me what I need to know about myself, and my own feelings towards myself. Bullies are good at reading people and knowing exactly which buttons to push in order to get a reaction from someone. I learnt that radical self-acceptance would make me an unsatisfactory punching bag.

Maybe the lesson to take away from Mrigashira is to not run away, but rather face life as it comes, to not obsess over the past, but rather to learn from it, and move on, to make peace with the fact that there may be no way of avoiding these unfortunate situations, and that your initial reactions to them may be equally as unsatisfactory or unsuccessful in dealing with it, but that you ought to move forward regardless, not in a sprint, but a leisurely pace.You can't accurately survey your surroundings while moving. To slow down and take a breather. Maybe then you'll that the thing you perceive as "danger" is often no more than a shadow, or a being equally as fearful as you.

But how you know when you run away from everything indiscriminately. You will not always get caught if you slow down, mrigashira.I think many of us mrigashira natives suffer from anxiety, a fear that if we do not equip ourselves with an arsenal of mental fortitude and an escape plan, what comes next may be our undoing. But we've come this far, in the face of everything we've been through. I think we can give ourselves a little more credit for the strength and resilience we evidently have to make it through anything.

I know a lot of people may not like this post, or feel like I may be victim-blaming myself by identifying my own mistakes in past situations, but I think it is incredibly relevant in the mrigashira experience to learn from life experiences, as to how best to navigate future ones, and that includes recognising how you may be unintentionally contributing, more than one thinks, to certain experiences in your life, because they are new, uncharted territory, or lessons we hadn't completely mastered the first time.

- 20 May 2024