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pencil-peach · 4 months

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G Witch Onscreen Text: Episode 21

Welcome to part 22 of my attempt to transcribe and discuss all the onscreen text in G Witch, as well as discuss and analyze the series episode by episode. We've come to Episode 21: What We Can Do Now

<< To relive The End of Hope, click here to return to Episode 20 Or, you can return to the Masterpost

We'll figure it out together.

In the opening, we see Guston make a call, asking for something to be moved to the Benerit Group head office front. We learn later that this "something" is the Gundam Calibarn, which was confiscated by the Space Assembly League during the Vanadis Incident. (We'll discuss Calibarn in a bit, when it's being mentioned later.)

The first establishing shot we get of Asticassia's campus in this episode (Left) is the same as the establishing shot we got of it in Episode 1 (Right), that being a panning shot moving up right along its curve. Seeing the comparison side by side really puts into perspective the sheer magnitude of Norea's rampage.

This brief conversation between Suletta and Secelia before the OP is really sweet. At first glance, it's a bit difficult to parse what exactly about Suletta has changed. It's not a major change of her character that's occurred. She's always been kind, and Season 1 Suletta most certainly would have also done her best to help with the recovery. But the change comes in WHY she's doing it. When Secelia asks, her response is simply, "Because I can move around." Beforehand, she lived her whole life by her mother's motto: "If you run, you gain one. Move forward, gain two."

And she repeats that motto over and over, applying it to as many situations as possible. But when Secelia asks her now, she doesn't say it. She says something else. A motto that she's come up with for herself. Not one given to her.

This screen pops up when Kenanji is presenting the info on Thorn to Rajan. There's no new information here, it's the same information Prospera pulls up before she destroys the Lfrith Models.

The Pilot is listed as UNKNOWN, however, meaning that Prospera and Godoy managed to discover that information while Dominicus and Cathedra could not. (Although, maybe they couldn't find anything about the Pilot because they uh, eviscerated her into nothing. Looks at Kenanji.)

TEXT: All Front News Network DELLING REMBRAN'S DAUGHTER, MIORINE REMBRAN, IS THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE BENERIT GROUP - MIORINE REMBRAN quickly suppressed two insurrections on Earth and in space.

It seems Miorine is now President of the Benerit Group. Elan was right, putting down the protestors on Earth won over the Spacian votes of the Benerit Group, securing her the election.

Since the election results have been declared, we could, with some confidence, place Episode 21 as being at least 10 days after episode 19-20, as the Earthian Negotiator tells Miorine that they'll "suspend all protests activities for 10 days...until the results of [her] election are clear." (I'll make a timeline of the show at some point lol)

Delling Rembran's rise to power was sparked by an indiscriminate slaughter of Earthians for the sake of his ideals. The Benerit Group was built upon and perpetuates itself through a cycle of sin and violence. Where Miorine went wrong was believing she could set the group in a new direction from within that cycle.

During the conversation with the Earthian Negotiators, she asks if they would trust her if she became the group's president. When asked if that's her intention, she responds, "I understand now that it's what I really need." But in accepting that what she needs is the Benerit Group's power, even if it's for altruistic means, she has no choice but to inherit the horrific violence by which the group attained and maintains that power.

Episode 19 is, in a way, a reflection of the Prologue.

Prior to the event that solidified their rise to power, both Rembrans were in attendance of a meeting determining the direction of the future. Both Rembrans' claims are dismissed by the attendants, but both persist in intervening, firmly believing that their ideals are for the betterment of humanity.

Miorine (About removing Earthians from space): "That's a demand I flatly reject...I don't claim to understand how enraged you Earthians feel...but even so, I seek dialogue." Delling: "So that humanity can remain in peace, we must wield the hammer of witches."

But whereas Delling sought a violent solution to achieve his ambition, Miorine is dedicated to a nonviolent solution. Delling is going down a dark path, whereas Miorine's plan for the future is a brighter one. (Notice the coloring of the two meeting rooms. The MS Dev Council's meeting room is dark blue, where as the Earthian Negotiation room is a light yellow. The colors are an inversion of the other.)

Despite Miorine trying to correct her father's mistakes though, both scenarios end the same way:

With the deaths of innocent people. With Vanadis, Delling began a cycle. A cycle of violence and death. And from that cycle he built the Benerit Group. And even after he himself has been removed, that cycle continues to spin. Miorine tried to inherit the cycle and correct it, believing that what needed to be changed was the direction it spun in, but it's not something you can fix. It is immutable. Delling's actions led directly to Prospera's desire for vengeance, which led to the incident at Quinharbor. It will continue to spin until it is broken.

Shaddiq and Miorine both had the right ideals, and they both tried to reach them in their own ways.

Shaddiq correctly understood that the system itself was unjust, and that it needed to be broken, but he tried to break it by making use of the same violence that instituted it in the first place.

Miorine also understood that the system was unjust, but believed that it simply needed to be set in a new direction, and tried to attain power within the system to change it from the inside.

Shaddiq chose violent methods, Miorine chose nonviolent methods, but both attempts simply led to more violence.

Some other minor things about their conversation is that there are some allusions to their last major conversation in Episode 9. Miorine calls him a fool in both conversations, and says the same thing both times, that being "ばかね" (Bakane) Both scenes also have a shot focusing on Miorine's eyes, looking downward.

During the scene where Suletta and Chuchu are handing out tomatoes, they're handing them out to their respective bullies. Suletta gives some to the girls who picked on her in Episode 1 (With the exception of the blonde girl, who's parents unenrolled her from the school shortly after the Rumble Ring attack)

And Chuchu gives some to the two girls who coated her and Suletta's mobile suits with the masking spray in Episode 4.

Suletta being full of love aside, I like how the Earth House students aren't very hostile when talking about Miorine. They still consider her a friend. Do you think Suletta wasn't eating any of the tomatoes she'd harvested after Miorine left.

When Guston approaches Suletta, he holds up his ID Badge: TEXT: SPACE ASSEMBLY LEAGUE INVESTIGATION DIVISION GUSTON PARCHE ID number: 0329-047-E-033

There's a couple of paragraphs underneath it but unfortunately it's so small as to be illegible.

TEXT (Right) THE SPACE ASSEMBLY LEAGUE HAS DECIDED TO FORCIBLY INTERVENE AGAINST THE BENERIT GROUP. AT THE SAME TIME, IT IS PARTNERING WITH THE PEIL COMPANY. THIS IS BEING SEEN AS AN ATTEMPT TO MINIMIZE THE DISRUPTION CAUSED BY ITS INTERVENTION.

Moving back to Miorine and the Benerit Gang, we see they're watching a livestream of the Space Assembly League, in which the Peil Company has jumped ship and sided with the League, calling for the forced intervention of the Group.

What's most interesting about their testimony is that they mention Quiet Zero by name. (Left) The Peil Witches have a habit of knowing more than they should,

such as in Episode 7 where it's revealed they know about the Schwarzette (Left), and in Episode 12 where they email 5lan detailed information about the Plant Quetta attack mere minutes after it ended, even mentioning the Dawn of Fold by name. (Right)

In Episode 5, Godoy tells Prospera, "Peil Technologies is making its move," to which Prospera responds, "It's sooner than we expected." The Peil Witches are professional moles, to the point that even Prospera was keeping an active eye on them specifically in order to work around their schemes.

It's easy to assume that Peil might have found out about Quiet Zero after the GUND-ARM merger with Shin-Sei, but I think it's just as likely that they've known about it for far longer than that, but didn't view it as any sort of tangible threat so they didn't act on it.

I've actually seen a lot of people be confused as to why Suletta suddenly knows everything about her and Eri's past and Prospera's plan, so just to clarify, it happened during her and Eri's conversation at the end of Episode 18, specifically when Eri blasts her with Permet. (During the sequence a series of images from the Prologue flash before the final memory plays, representing Eri showing her everything.)

That means that Suletta had known about everything during the entire period of time between Episode 19-21, but just didn't tell anybody about it. Which, yknow, makes sense, it's a bit of a difficult thing to just bring up randomly.

Here we get our first official introduction to Calibarn. We learn here that it was confiscated during the Vanadis Incident by the Space Assembly League, who'd seemingly been keeping it hidden away since then.

So, I don't think Guston literally means they confiscated it DURING the actual event at Vanadis, as the League weren't personally involved in the attack. It was Delling and a small platoon of Dominicus (which was operating under the MS Dev Council at the time) acting alone. And, more importantly, Folkvangr was bombed immediately after the massacre ended. If Calibarn was there, it would have been destroyed.

Calibarn's HG Gunpla Kit sheds some light in this regard thanks to its description in the manual:

"The Vanadis Institute developed countless prototype units in addition to Lfrith before the establishment of GUND FORMAT technology. Of these units, the Calibarn took the most strikingly different direction from that of Lfrith. Unlike the Lfrith, which could be operated with minimal impact on the human body within a certain permet score, Calibarn prioritized mobile suit performance to seek the utmost limits of GUND-ARM capabilities and adopted extreme measures that did not guarantee the pilot's life protection at all. After losing to Lfrith in the development competition, it is said that all records of the Calibarn were destroyed, and it was made off limits and sealed away. Although it aimed to become the mainstream of GUND-ARMs, the Calibarn could very well have been considered the most cursed of all Gundams from the public sentiments."

So, after it was decided to pursue the Lfrith model for Gundam development, the Calibarn's development documentation was destroyed and it was sealed off somewhere, presumably some Ochs Earth development site, and shortly after Vanadis, when the company was being forcibly dissolved and investigated, the Space Assembly League uncovered the Calibarn and confiscated it for themselves, without telling the outside world what it had found.

You might ask why Vanadis just sealed it off instead of destroying it, but remember, in Episode 7, Miorine estimates that disposing of the Pharact and the Development Team that made it would incur a loss of 120 billion. Mobile Suits (especially Gundams) are expensive to produce and expensive to destroy. It was probably just financially easier to hide it somewhere and pretend it didn't exist.

It's also probably why the League sat on it too. Without the development documents, they couldn't really reproduce it, and even if they could, the Calibarn is basically a giant human meat grinder. It's essentially inoperable by any normal person, and wasn't truly designed to be operated in the first place.

Anyway, just some interesting Calibarn things.

As Suletta resolves to pilot the Calibarn, she says "Even if I don't gain anything, I have to do what I can."

When she says this, she picks up a bright red tomato (Left). This is a followup to her and Miorine's argument back in Episode 16, in which Suletta is being reflected in an unripe, rotting tomato, symbolizing her lack of a personal identity outside of her Mother's influence. (Right)

Now, she's matured as an individual, and become fully actualized, living for her own sake and the sake of those she cares about.

A look at the League Ship's System UI When Quiet Zero is detected, the alert message reads: ALERT Unregistered PMET codes detected

Quiet Zero's introduction is truly harrowing. An entire FLEET was melted through like paper. There is no world where this thing is anything other than a apocalyptic superweapon. Eat your heart out Delling Rembran.

Anyway, the song that plays during this scene is "Quiet Zero" from the OST.

youtube

Another big personal favorite of mine, give it a listen!

Between Chuchu, Miorine, and Petra, Suletta just has a habit of befriending (and marrying) Meangirls. Good for her honestly. But it's really sweet just how protective Chuchu has become over Suletta. I like to imagine they spent a lot of time together in Season 2.

Common 5lan W.

It's easy to get annoyed at Lauda here, (which is because he is being annoying,) but if you think about it you can understand his rationale, as flawed as it is. Before, he blamed Suletta for everything in his life going wrong, but after Guel came back and defeated her, things...didn't go back to normal like he thought they would. Guel hasn't told him about what happened to him on Earth, he didn't tell him what happened to their Father, he hasn't even been telling him about what the hell is going on in his life in general, anymore. So from his perspective he just abandoned him.

After nearly losing Petra too, he can only rationalize it by blaming the common denominator: Miorine. He's wrong, and not seeing the bigger picture, but he CAN'T see the bigger picture because his Brother isn't telling him anything about it. He's confused and angry and lashing out. Normal little brother behavior. But I think if we can forgive Prospera's triple digit body count we can forgive Lauda for being kind of annoying.

And with that, the pieces are finally moving into place. The end is near.

>> Click here to go to Episode 22 Or go to the Masterpost.

#g witch #gundam the witch from mercury

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nemaliwrites · 5 months

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Why "Bridge to the Turnabout" is a Shakespearean Tragedy - Part 1

I finally decided to put some of my thoughts into words, so here is part one of the BttT essay! It's getting kind of long, so it'll be split up into ~11 or 12 parts - the full thing will be posted on ao3 when it's done, for convenience.

To start, let’s discuss what exactly makes up a Shakespearean tragedy. While the specifics differ from play to play, it’s acknowledged that there are nine elements that are common to Shakespeare’s tragedies; these are derived from the major components of Tragedy as described in Aristotle’s “Poetics”.

“A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language; in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.” — Aristotle

The nine elements we’ll be discussing in further depth are:

Tragic hero

A struggle between good and evil

Hamartia

Tragic waste

External/Internal conflict

Catharsis

Supernatural elements

Lack of poetic justice

Comic relief

By going through these one at a time, we’ll break down exactly what this element refers to, what it looks like in the context of a play, and common examples from Shakespeare’s tragedies — as well as the equivalent role in “Bridge to the Turnabout”, which will henceforth be referred to as BttT. This will be followed by a closer look at some direct character comparisons between Shakespeare's tragedies and BttT, where we'll examine character parallels, thematic resonances, and narrative structure.

First, we have the role of a tragic hero. While this hero may be either male or female, the most important thing is that they must suffer — either by reason of fate, of their own character flaws, or both. This hero usually holds a high status in society, such as that of royalty; this is to ensure that they are an important person, both in the context of the story and the world. Others look up to them and rely on them, which leads us into the most important element of a tragic hero: they die. The price for their suffering can only be paid with their death, and because they’re so important, their death leads to turmoil.

A popular example of the tragic hero in Shakespeare’s tragedies is Hamlet. He suffers from the burden placed upon him by his father, who asks Hamlet to avenge him. But by doing so, he is led to his own death at the hands of Laertes, and allows the army of Fortinbras to enter Denmark and take control of the kingdom.

BttT has a tragic hero as well, in Misty Fey. Misty’s life has plenty of suffering, brought on by combination of both fate and her own character flaws. Fate played a hand in her having more spiritual power than her older sister Morgan, which subsequently led to her taking on the title of Master of Kurain Village. This was what fostered the beginning of Morgan’s hatred for Misty and was the spark that set off their years-long one-sided feud. The beginning of Misty’s fall from grace is marked by the DL-6 incident, where she helped the police department by channeling Gregory Edgeworth’s spirit. Her name and details were leaked to the press by Redd White, which ruined the reputation of the entire Fey clan.

It’s arguable whether this falls in the fate or character flaw camp, as there were forces at play in the DL-6 incident that Misty wasn’t privy to — particularly, Robert Hammond convincing Yanni Yogi to plead insane which resulted in all charges against him being dropped. However, according to Mia, Misty considered what happened in the DL-6 incident to be her own fault.

“‘I have tarnished the Fey name.’ Leaving only these words, my mother vanished.” - Mia Fey

In terms of the tragic hero, this can be considered Misty’s first “death” — further evidenced by her going into hiding and changing her name. For all intents and purposes, Misty Fey has died, and because of the role that she held, both in the family and the Fey clan, she leaves behind utter turmoil. Mia removes herself from the running as Master and sets off to the city in search of her mother, leaving Maya behind as the sole obstacle between Morgan and her desire for the title of Master.

And now our tragic hero shifts over to Elise Deauxnim. Now, we shift from her suffering being borne of fate to being primarily due to her own character flaws. Because of her own shame, she refuses to reach out to either one of her daughters for seventeen years — not even after Mia was murdered. When she hears about Morgan’s attempt to have Maya murdered at Hazakura Temple, Elise comes out of hiding with the intention of protecting her daughter. But still, she keeps her identity a secret, to the point that we as the audience don’t even know who she is until after her death.

Misty’s decisions, and the pain they inflicted on her children — even directly leading to Mia’s death — are not fully redeemed. However, she does pay for the suffering she’s caused both herself and others with her life. And this can be considered Misty’s second and final death. Her death leads to turmoil, and sets off the events of the entire BttT case — solidifying her role as the tragic hero of the case.

#ace attorney #ace attorney meta #bridge to the turnabout #misty fey #morgan fey #aa3 spoilers #shakespeare #aa3 #trials and tribulations #shakespearean tragedy #bttt essay #damn i did NOT think this would be this long #also i'm definitely realizing how much i like writing meta so expect more stuff like this in the future #for ace attorney and other fandoms hehe #next part will be on the struggle between good and evil!

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eretzyisrael · 7 months

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LIEL LEIBOVITZ

I am writing this on Saturday, as news outlets report hundreds of Israeli dead, and dozens, if not hundreds, of soldiers and civilians kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and taken into Gaza.

It is never a good idea to write anything as events are still rapidly unfolding, especially as neither I nor anyone else can answer the only question that ultimately matters—namely, “what happens now?” But we can answer another, much more rudimentary and no less urgent question: Who’s at fault?

There will be plenty of time to pore over how a cataclysmic disaster of this magnitude could happen, and who—from Bibi down to the IDF chief of staff, head of intelligence, et al.—failed to protect the lives of Israelis. A lot of it will have to do with people who should have known better—including former prime ministers and former and current high-level security officials—abandoning the core commitment of defending Israel and instead entertaining themselves by cosplaying some game of Demokratia, complete with donning handmaid outfits and ululating about fascism. Hysterics about your political opponents being the enemies of democracy may be fun in Kalorama; in Sderot and Ofakim, and even in Tel Aviv, there’s a price to pay for abandoning the real world and indulging in fetish play.

But the bigger mistake on the part of the Israelis is that over the past few years they have gotten the power equation that governs their lives backward: Instead of understanding themselves to be citizens of a strong but beleaguered country whose first responsibility is to protect itself, they luxuriated in the fantasy that the United States was and always would be their protector—when in fact the ruling party in America has decided that Israel is a liability.

Watch this video. That’s a Hamas drone taking down an Israeli Merkava tank. A drone operated by an organization sponsored and trained by Iran applying both Iranian tactics and, most likely, Iranian hardware to attack Israel. This happened weeks after America sent Iran $6 billion, and one week after we learned that the American government had over the past years ceded whole parts of its own intelligence units to Iranian spies.

The stage for this attack was not set in or by Israel. It was set by the United States.

For the better part of the past decade, the United States has pursued a foreign policy designed to strengthen Iran and enable it to form a strong sphere of influence in the region. This is the idea behind what Tony Badran and Michael Doran called “the realignment,” a vision of a new world order in which America partners with Iran in order to “find a more stable balance of power that would make [the Middle East] less dependent on direct U.S. interference or protection.” Those words aren’t Badran and Doran’s; they’re Robert Malley’s, Barack Obama’s lead negotiator on the Iran deal who, as Semafor reported this week, helped to infiltrate an Iranian agent of influence into some of the most sensitive positions in the U.S. government—first at the State Department and now the Pentagon, where she has been serving as chief of staff for the assistant secretary of defense for special operations. Biden himself, in an op-ed in The Washington Post, spoke of “an integrated Middle East,” using the phrase no less than three times to make clear that his administration was intent on pursuing his predecessor’s commitment to seeing Iran not as a U.S. foe but as our collaborator.

And the Biden administration wasn’t just talking the talk. It was also walking the walk, from unfreezing billions in assets to make it easier for Tehran to support its proxy Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon to sending huge cash infusions used primarily to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of unvetted “security personnel.” And while the previous administration halted all aid to the Palestinians—directly because of the “pay for slay” policies that support the families of those who slaughter Israelis—the Biden administration was quick to reverse the decision.

Lots of people argued that this was simply clear-minded realpolitik after decades of disastrous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bullshit. Here’s how you know this policy was, and is, motivated not by what’s best for America but by what would kneecap the Jewish state: Because it extended to inside Israel’s borders.

The publication on July 16, 2023, of an article by Jacob Siegel and Liel Leibovitz calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel opened a fresh debate over a topic dominated by outdated assumptions and emotional entreaties. To deepen the conversation, Tablet invited a group that includes a retired IDF general, U.S. senators and members of Congress, former Middle East diplomats, and writers from various political persuasions to offer their thoughts on the issue. Their articles, and more from Tablet's archive, are collected here.

In addition to creating the external circumstances for terror, the Biden administration did everything in its power to derail Israel’s democratically elected government and prevent it from being able to see an attack like today’s coming. That the Israelis let themselves fall for this was stupidity of criminal order. But the invisible hand here was America’s. Biden himself took to CNN to call Netanyahu’s government “the most extreme” he’s ever seen, and lost no opportunity to lecture his Israeli counterpart about democratic values. The former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, took the unprecedented step of intervening in the country’s domestic affairs, announcing ominously that he “think[s] most Israelis want the United States to be in their business.” And if words weren’t enough, the administration also sent American dollars to support the anti-Netanyahu NGOs organizing the protests that brought Israel to a halt for months. Netanyahu was famously denied an invite to the White House; his key opponent, opposition leader Benny Gantz, had no such problem.

One idea floating around my inbox this afternoon is that part of Israel’s complete military collapse today was caused by a massive Iranian cyber attack that hacked its systems and prevented it from seeing what ought to have been obvious. That this could not only be true but related to the U.S. having recently given a team of Iranian agents high-level access to U.S. intelligence, which could very well have included information about Israeli systems, is not nearly as far-fetched a scenario as many would like it to be. And to the extent that we ever find out the truth about any of this, it will be because of Elon Musk, without whom we’d only have access to state-approved propaganda.

It doesn’t matter what words Biden says today. When you champion Iran; when you send it and its proxies money; when you reward Palestinian violence; when you go out of your way to portray Bibi as a dangerous fascist; when you finance and champion his opponents, contributing to further instability and unrest; when you hand over U.S. intelligence keys to Iranian agents; when you have your spokespeople declare it “disinformation” for people to connect obvious dots; when you do all of this, you know what is going to happen. You mean for it to happen.

Here today, then, is the challenge for Israel’s leadership: Can you accept that this is what’s happening? Can you imagine a future for the Jewish state decoupled from America? Because you must.

For at least a decade now, we’ve been told that part of what makes Israel so mighty and so safe is its superior technology, developed in partnership with America. Who, went this line of argument, needs to worry about missiles when we have Iron Dome and F-35 stealth fighter planes as part of a $3 billion military aid package? Who cares about guns and grenades when we’ve developed high-level cybersecurity systems that can strike at will? The war of the future, we’ve been promised, will be waged on computer terminals, in cyberspace—not in dusty border towns.

And then came a gaggle of Gazans with Kevlar vests and pickup trucks and small arms that brought Israel to its knees. “Startup nation” has been ravaged by reality. It is clear that the dream Israel’s elites have entertained for the past decade—to become part of the global set of people who make all the money and all the decisions and have all the right opinions and fashionable friends—has soured into a nightmare.

And now it’s time to wake up. Stop prattling about the “cycle of violence,” about faults on both sides, about “the occupation,” about Bibi’s cabinet appointments, or any other distraction.

Reroot yourself in what you should never have forgotten—which is that we have enemies not because of what we did or didn’t do here or there, or on this day or that one, or because our hasbara isn’t good enough or because it is too good, or any other pointless argument. It is because we have vicious enemies, and they hate us. Instead of trying pathetically to curry favor with American overlords by scrubbing Judaism from your streets, pray to HaShem to fulfill the promise made to Isaiah and deliver vengeance. Reject, with great force and wrath, the death cult that has gripped so much of American political, public, and intellectual life and that sees virtue in propping up benighted regimes in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We don’t need an integrated Middle East, because we don’t wish to integrate with the murderous mullahs and their packs of wild animals. We have our own interests, and if we’re smart—and if we wish to survive—we’ll never forget it again.

#stab in the back #united states #joe biden #israel #iran

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 8 months

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Synchrotron studies change the composition of the Earth’s core

In work published in Science Advances, a team of researchers have determined a new pressure scale, which is critical for understanding the Earth’s composition. Using x-rays from a uniquely powerful spectrometer at RIKEN’s SPring-8 Center they avoided some of the large approximations of previous work, discovering that the previous scale overestimated pressure by more than 20% at 230 gigapascals (2.3 million atmospheres) - a pressure reached in Earth’s core. This is similar to someone running a marathon that they thought was 42 kilometers, but finding they had only really run 34 kilometers. While 20% might seem like a modest correction, it has big implications.

An accurate pressure scale is critical for understanding the composition of the Earth. In particular, the core composition is hotly debated as it is important both for understanding our planet at present, and for understanding the evolution of the solar system in the distant past. While it is generally accepted that the core is mostly iron, evidence from tracking the propagation of seismic waves from earthquakes suggests the core also contains lighter material. When the new scale was used to interpret the seismological model, the team found that the amount of light material in the inner core is about double what was previously expected, and indeed the total mass of light material in the entire core is probably five times, or more, that of the Earth’s crust – the layer that we live on.

In the new work, the team, led by Alfred Q.R. Baron of the RIKEN SPring-8 Center, and Daijo Ikuta and Eiji Ohtani of Tohoku University, used Inelastic X-ray Scattering (IXS) to measure the sound velocity of a rhenium sample under pressure. A tiny rhenium sample (<0.000000001 grams = 1 nanogram) was put under extreme pressure by crushing it between two diamond crystals in a Diamond Anvil Cell (DAC). The cell was placed in the large IXS spectrometer at BL43LXU (figure 2) and small (~1 ppm) shifts in the energy of the x-rays scattered from the rhenium were carefully measured, allowing the researchers to determine the sound velocity of the rhenium. They determined both compressional/longitudinal and shear/transverse sound velocities, and the density of the rhenium. That allowed the researchers to determine the pressure that the rhenium was subjected to.

The new study provides a direct relationship between rhenium density and pressure. Baron says, “The density of rhenium at high pressure is straightforward and fast to measure, and there are many facilities worldwide where such measurements can be made. However, measuring the sound velocity is much more difficult, and, at these pressures, is probably only practically possible using RIKEN’s spectrometer at BL43LXU of SPring-8.” The team has done the heavy lifting so that other scientists can now use a much easier-to-measure density to determine pressure.

As Ikuta, Ohtani, and Baron say: “When we used our new scale to interpret the behavior of metallic iron under high pressure and compared it with the seismic model of the Earth, we found that the light material hidden in the inner core is probably about double what was previously expected. Similar changes, perhaps even larger in magnitude, may be expected in considering the structure of other planets. Our work also suggests reassessment of the pressure dependence of nearly all material properties that have been measured at pressures similar or larger than that of the Earth’s core.”

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #astrophysics

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edutainer2022 · 1 month

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More asks if you wish!!

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on

This one rather amuses me, for Scott of course: 31. If the had a tumblr what would it look like?

42. 3 comfort items

@astranite Thank you so much! I actually did 2 (a canon/headcanon hill I'll die on) and several others, I think (which all fall under headcanon)for Scott a while back, and I'm THRILLED to revist it.

CW: we're talking about Scott, so there are LOTS of heavy themes and topics mentioned, angst and death. My mind often goes dark places with him. Tread with caution.

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on.

I'll do several, because I can.

Scott has a suicidal ideation/death wish. As in, he genuinely thinks he needs to die in sacrifice- the way Dad did. He doesn't actively seek it, but has sort of internalized that as an inevitable fate, because that's the least he can do against the magnitude of Dad's sacrifice.

He blames himself for Dad's death (canon text).

Scott excelled in academia. A prom king, President of the class, sports team captain and a valedictorian both in high school and college.

Scott is 29-ish (under 30) by the end of Season 3. I WILL die on that hill. Symbolically, that means Dad's disappearance spearheaded him into "legal, albeit too young" adulthood, and Dad's recovery ("saving father from the abyss") heralded transition into "full manhood".

Scott will loose a son some time down the line - IR equipment gone wrong, a rescue, combat etc. (narrative symmetry is a ruthless thing). Sorry. I mulled it over every which way. A lost significant other is a gestalt already closed by Dad Tracy. And in a timeline that is not an incandescent wish-fulfillment HEA, it would unfortunately fall to Scott to experience what his father happily dodged - a son so adamant to follow in his Hero's footsteps, and a father so encouraging and approving of that - he'll pay the ultimate price.

Scott is not close to Grandma (mainly because Scott was close to Mom, aka the woman who took over as #1 in Jeff's life, later Scott is a living, breathing reminder that Jeff is gone, and is a mirror and foil to Jeff's shortcomings).

Scott can play the piano (Mom totally taught him first, having big hopes for those long, long fingers), but he never applied himself to practice the skill, like Virgil did. They can play duet on a very rare, precious occasion, when the mood is right.

Scott is more than a decent dancer - cowboy line and square dancing, but also waltz and tango. It was a Mom thing, originally, the prep for a middle school Formal or something. He later practiced with John, who was too shy to take dance classes. While we are at it - my hard headcanon is that, for all that he's Dad's replica and seeks Dad's approval like air, Scott was close to Mom, her White Knight, and takes after her a lot in mannerisms and character (it's maybe more obvious to the adults in their lives, as the boys' memories of Mom are hazy with every passing year).

Some time far off down the line, Scott will run for World President and win. Maybe it's gonna be one of his tried and true "keeping busy with X is the only thing that keeps me from going crazy" tactics. There's literally no heavier duty than the weight of the whole world.

13. Dumbest thing they’ve ever done.

Got engaged or eloped, even, back in Flight School, to a fellow cadet. His trusted second in an air group and a wingman. Of course they usually got suggestions to "get a room" after flight exercises. At some point they did. Both stupidly young, of course. Scott asked Dad for Mom's engagement ring and withstood Dad's stern questioning stare with a defiant stance that "when you know - you know". Dad had little to object to that, but had his reservations. For one, it was against regulations - Scott was CAG (captain of air group), ergo, within direct chain of command. For two - Jeff already had plans of the Tracy Island and IR well underway. Scott was completely game and ready to join Dad, he believed in IR and Dad's dreams since day 1, since TV-21. Of course, in his idealistic mind the Love of His Life was to join them - an exceptional pilot she'd be a great asset to IR team, they worked seamlessly together. It'd be great! Bereznik recon was to be among Scott's last assignments. Only the fiancée didn't exactly subscribe to idyllic dreams of "getting kittens off trees under Daddy's watchful eye" - she thought they were to share a life of service, career soldiers and fighters, test pilots, command material. She thought Scott was betraying that shared dream in favor of indulging Dad yanking his leash. Mom's ring was returned. The breakup was so earthshattering that it may or may not have made Scott loose focus for a second, while flying over hostile territory. It only took a second... The brothers never knew of that whole relationship and situation, only Dad. And maybe Kyrano. I have a whole fic idea about the ring being first taken off Scott, together with dogtags, in interrogation, then retrieved.

16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves.

These are things and thoughts Scott hates himself for territory - so, certainly, they would come across as jarring (and vastly untrue) to anyone, who actually knows Scott. I'll do several, because why limit ourselves in ways Scotty's mind would torment him.

Scott has taken a life or lives. Not just by proxy, as in people they couldn't save (Dad being first in line in his mind). And not just in combat/self defense. I think Scott has eased someone's suffering at some point and provided assisted suicide (a fellow POW in Bereznik, a rescuee). It's a whole different pit of hell that haunts him. I'd say Scott also has a DNR and maybe, that one time after a dark day and one too many helpings of scotch he asked either Virgil or John to do the same for him - to mercy kill. Virgil is horrified (Scott's DNR gets ignored on multiple occasions not for nothing), but John promises he'd do it. They all pretend that conversation never happened later.

On very, very bad days that happen more often after SOS, Scott kinda wishes they never found Dad's signal. Dad's signal means not only did he fail to save him, but he failed to search hard enough afterwards and settled into just living on. Scott is also not fooling himself- Dad's signal may mean there's no Dad alive anymore on the other side after eight years in outer space - which means loosing Dad all over again and watching the brothers and Grandma loose Dad all over again. Unthinkable. Unbearable. His fault.

Dad's return is not all unicorns and soothing rainbows. Well, it is - for everyone else. His brothers got Dad back, Grandma got her son back, Lee, Casey, Lord Hugh, Brains and Kyrano got their friend back, Tracy Industries got their CEO back, IR got the Commander back, the world got Jeff Tracy back. Which is all to exemplify how much Scott has been a placeholder in everyone's eyes. The brothers and Kayo can talk Dad's ear off a mile a minute about their pursuits and accomplishments, but Scott hasn't got much to show for it. He's only ever been doing... this "being Jeff Tracy" thing for the past eight years, trying to keep his head above water. He missed Dad to the point of wanting to die - but Dad is not back, advising him how to run the show and being there for him, he's back to pick up where he left off. Alan and Kayo are even trained enough to fly One now. Why would anyone need Scott anymore? (This DOES NOT lead to any good places or conclusions. Scott's undercurrent fear is to see disappointment and disapproval in Dad's eyes, once the euphoria settles down and he starts to delve into reports how Scott handled things).

Berezniki guards drilled into him that by the time they're done - noone would want what's left of Scott, broken and damaged beyond repair, and Scott is unsure he still doesn't believe them.

Scott doesn't actively want kids of his own. He loves his brothers beyond anything and Alan is his son in all ways that count. But he can't in good conscience pursue to bring a life into the world and then let it suffer the loss, like he did - Scott doesn't exactly envision a happily ever after timeframe for himself, where he gets to grow old and be there for the kid(s). Nor does he envision a timeframe where he's loved and seen by someone to want to eventually stick around and raise a family. (Let's not forget these are dark, secret assumptions, and Scott is, obviously, way off the mark in them).

#methinks i have astronomy #thunderbirds are go #scott tracy #scott tracy needs a hug #thunderbirds headcanon #thunderask

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starplusfourletters · 1 year

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Oh no not me thinking about Ahsoka and Luke again and how they both construct images of Anakin Skywalker that probably never really existed and then spend so, so much time trying to live up to and into those images and how Luke has no information while Ahsoka has too much and which of those is more dangerous and how so much more of Anakin’s time is given to Ahsoka over Luke yet how vastly Luke overshadows Ahsoka in Anakin’s arc and how Ahsoka’s ability to draw a line between Anakin and Vader is the one narrative luxury Luke isn’t afforded and how every beat in Ahsoka’s coming-of-age serves to reinforce her loyalty to Anakin at the expense of everyone and everything else while every beat in Luke’s coming-of-age challenges that loyalty and how their devotion ends up manifesting in equal magnitude but opposite directions with “I won’t leave you” implying loyalty to what Anakin used to be while “there is good in you” suggests faith in what Vader could become hrrrrrrrrrgggghhhh

#anyway happy new year #Ahsoka Tano #luke skywalker #Anakin #darth vader #ahsoka and anakin #luke and anakin #ahsoka and luke

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wartakes · 9 months

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Geopolitics: The Reason Why Your Tummy Hurts (OLD ESSAY)

This essay was originally posted on September 27th, 2022.

This is one of those essays where I see a string of posts or a line of behavior emerging on the internet and I feel compelled to push back on it. In this case, its how people don't understand the situation some countries and groups find themselves trapped in when they have to turn to less than desirable partners for help (especially if the US and the West aren't willing to step up).

(Full essay below the cut).

I feel like every time I rejoin you all with one of these essays I have to go “boy, a lot of history sure happened in the last month” and this time it’s no exception. I’m going to spare you the line-item state of the world summary, however, and I’m gonna try and get straight to the point in this piece because I really think the main point of this month’s essay is an important one that I want to really want to cram into people’s brains and make it stick there.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a number of repercussions there will be more as it continues on. One that I’ve noticed online in particular – though exclusively – is the treatment of war and struggle as being almost like some kind of team sport. This in itself is not new by any means, but I believe that the monumental nature and scale of the Russian invasion and the manner in which it caught so many off guard has amplified this tendency. The result is that you get a number of people boiling down armed conflict and the geopolitics surrounding it into essentially “yay my team and anyone that supports it and boo the other team and anyone that supports it.”

Now before you take that the wrong way, this is by no means an attempt on my part to “both sides” the Ukraine conflict. I have maintained since 2014 that Russia is an aggressor trying to impose its imperialistic will on Ukraine and that belief has only been reinforced by the events of the past seven months as Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has slogged on. The point I’m trying to make is, by taking a “sportsball” (God help me) approach to wars like the one in Ukraine and everything else that becomes connected to it, those with that mindset begin to dumb down, disregard, or downright ignore nuance to the point that it starts to become actually harmful as it spreads to events that are removed by several orders of magnitude. It’s also worth noting that this attitude is something that’s not exclusive to any particular political ideology and that I’ve noticed it coming from all comers interacting with the War in Ukraine and other conflicts.

Said harmful effects became obvious in the past few weeks as new events unfolded outside of the scope of the War in Ukraine, but with the shadow of that conflict hanging over it and the “go team” simplified mindset having a direct impact on how it has been (incorrectly) perceived by many who have become more focused on international relations following the start of the Russian invasion. My goals for this essay are to A.) try and explain how all of this (i.e. geopolitics) is – unfortunately – more complicated than it looks and that can’t be helped; but I also want to B.) try and explain how you can wrap your head around what sometimes feels like conflicting and contradictory stances on geopolitics in a world increasingly filled with more and more crises and conflicts. At the end of the day, if you follow a consistent moral compass when it comes to armed aggression and your sense of internationalism and solidarity, you’ll find that navigating this crazy world isn’t as hard as a lot of people would lead you to believe (often to their own self-interested or sinister ends). So, without further ado, let’s get right into things.

The Tangled Web of Geopolitics

Life is inherently complicated. We, as human beings, have a natural desire to try and simplify it in order to make it both easier to understand and to manage – even if sometimes there are aspects of life that are difficult (if not impossible) to simplify. Geopolitics takes that to an extreme. Geopolitics are complicated, messy, sometimes contradictory, and always frustrating. So, it’s no mistake that the casual observer (and sometimes even the more experienced practitioner) will try and boil geopolitics down to simple, black and white terms, in order to try and make sense of it. While this desire to make geopolitics into a simple binary is understandable, it almost always ends up going too far and leads to flawed and often hurtful approaches to the rest of the world.

An excellent example of this are the latest clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan – occurring very much in the shadow of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine. If you’ve read my essays before or followed me on Twitter (or follow Joe Kassabian on Twitter), you’re probably no stranger to the long-time struggle between Armenia and Azerbaijan – particularly over the contested majority-Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh or Artsakh. However, recently Azerbaijan broadened the conflict with a large-scale series of strikes against Armenia proper, attacking across their internationally recognized border with only the flimsiest of pretenses. While at the time of writing this essay things have calmed down some, the situation remains tense – with some countries advising their citizens to now evacuate certain parts of Armenia due to fears of further Azeri invasion.

Now, whatever you think about the Artsakh issue (my stance is that it is Armenian but that’s a completely different essay), we should all be able to agree that countries should not attack one another’s internationally recognized territory proper – especially not without actual provocation or under false pretenses (which Azerbaijan’s pretenses almost certainly are). Yet, I’ve seen quite a lot of sentiment on social media that somehow Armenia has done something to “deserve” this attack or that its somehow their “just desserts” and that they deserve no sympathy or assistance.

The very flawed and twisted justification for this attitude is that Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance led (and dominated) by Russia, formed following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. Since Armenia is therefore a military treaty ally of Russia, a number of supporters of Ukraine (which I also support against unjustified Russian military aggression and imperialism) seem to believe that Armenia deserves whatever it gets as its attacked by Azerbaijan. There’s also a rather rosy attitude towards Azerbaijan by Ukrainians and Ukraine boosters, as Azerbaijan has politically supported Ukraine since the Russian invasion, sent humanitarian aid, and also has expressed a willingness to step up its oil and gas exports to Europe in order to counteract potential energy warfare by Russia this winter as the War in Ukraine drags on.

There are many problems with this logic (or lack thereof). For one, it fails to interrogate the actual relationship between Armenia and Russia beyond its more surface levels, refusing to ask why Armenia is even in an alliance with Russia to begin with. Armenia is small (both population and territory wise), landlocked country that is flanked by two states (Azerbaijan and Turkey) with much larger populations and resources – one of which has already attempted to wipe out its people before, with the other essentially now daring the world to stop them from doing it again. Armenia lacks the energy resources of Azerbaijan, which has facilitated strong relationships with countries eager to buy those resources – in addition to its strong partnership with Turkey over shared Turkic culture. From the moment it gained independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Armenia needed a security guarantor if it was to avoid another genocide. Russia was the closest and most able and willing to act compared to other states, essentially falling into the role of Armenia’s security guarantor by default and then proceeding to hold a trapped Armenia hostage in the ensuing economic, political, and security relationship.

Essentially, Russia has remained Armenia’s primary security partner all these years basically out of both inertia and a failure by the United States and other countries in the West to do anything to change the situation – even after Armenia’s peaceful democratic revolution in 2018. Russia has also increasingly failed in its role as a security guarantor for Armenia. Russia and the CSTO’s failure to act decisively in the face of the most recent Azeri aggression (this time against Armenia’s internationally recognized territory) has sparked widespread anger and frustration with Russia by Armenians. Some Armenians have even called for Armenia to leave the CSTO and the situation has led to outreach by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives – Nancy Pelosi – as the CSTO appears to fragment while Russia’s war in Ukraine falters. While Armenia has been Russia’s ally on paper, it is not and has never been a universally happy and loving relationship and is one that Armenia took out of necessity and lack of options to survive.

Those making overly simplified comments about the Armenia-Azerbaijan situation also seem to ignore that, however cozy Azerbaijan has been with the West or supportive (notionally) of Ukraine, it has retained close political and economic ties with Russia – which in the typical Russian fashion has been trying to play both sides of a frozen conflict (one that is increasingly warming up). Azerbaijan isn’t acting on any profound political or moral grounds, it is simply trying to play all sides in support of its national interests – among which are removing the Armenian state and Armenian people off the face of the Earth (if you don’t believe me, take a look at what 99.9% of Azeri accounts on Twitter have to say about Armenia). Azerbaijan is taking advantage of the war in Ukraine in order to distract from what it wants to accomplish in Armenia, and unfortunately its propaganda war has been far too effective for my tastes thus far (though this time around more people seem to be taking a stand against its more naked aggression and I hope this trend continues – especially if it attacks Armenia further).

Aside from personal interest, I wanted to bring up Armenia and Azerbaijan in particular because this conflict serves as such a solid and recent illustrative example of what I’m trying to communicate. That none of these events happens in a vacuum or without a complex web of sometimes contradictory connections. This isn’t new, either. It’s always been the case, even in situations that have been historically characterized as being almost entirely binary in nature.

Let’s take the Cold War, as another example. We think about the Cold War almost exclusively as a geopolitical struggle between East and West, Communism and Anti-Communism, with two monolithic blocs led by almighty superpowers acting in perfect lockstep with one another. It makes for good propaganda, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Both East and West had many fissures and countries within both blocs often acted against one another out of self-interest or opposing principles and ideology – both via proxy and sometimes directly. In the East, the most famous example of this is probably the Sino-Soviet split, which led to the Soviet Union and China engaging in direct border clashes in 1969 and becoming enemies for the next two decades. Another prominent example is the Suez Crisis, where both Britain and France – in league with Israel – attempted one last great imperialist adventure to retake the recently nationalized Suez Canal from Egypt and potentially even remove the charismatic anti-imperialist President Gamal Abdel Nasser from power (against the express wishes and without the direct knowledge of their allied superpower, the United States).

The Cold War, despite our binary view of the competition, was riddled with cases like those just mentioned where supposed allies and partners crossed one another (if you really want to make your head hurt, take a look at the Wikipedia article for the Nigerian Civil War and then take a look at who was supporting both sides). Despite our innate desire to boil down geopolitics to a simple black and white, good versus evil struggle, that is almost never the case. The reality, as we’ve seen in the examples I’ve brought up, is far more convoluted than we’d like it to be.

How to Hold Two Opinions at the Same Time – A Primer

By now I’ve driven into your heads that geopolitics are not straightforward or black and white. Yeah, good, ok. So now what are you actually supposed to do with this information as you go about your lives? I’m glad you asked.

The point I’m trying to make by smashing you over the head with the proverbial mallet here, is that I want people to understand that sometimes states and their peoples are going to have to make decisions in order to survive that may not necessarily sit well with you ideologically, politically, or otherwise. To be clear, I’m not talking about excusing horrific acts of mass wanton violence like genocide or ethnic cleansing or other war crimes and crimes against humanity. Those are unacceptable no matter who is committing them or what reason they ostensibly have. I’m talking about actions like forging economic ties with, buying arms or seeking military support from, and generally associating with countries, groups, organizations, and so on that you may not be a fan of (for perfectly justified reasons in many cases).

Obviously, there’s no one-sized fits all approach to evaluating these actions and figuring out how you should feel about them or respond to them. There is no one universal “line” that once crossed a country or a people should suddenly no longer be worthy of support in its struggles against outside aggression (nor do I really think there should be a universal line except for specific cases like those acts I mentioned in the previous paragraph). But we have to understand when we see countries doing things that make you want to – for lack of a better term, God help me for saying this – “cancel” them, we also have to put said actions in their proper context (something I’m big on in international relations and security studies in general). We have to understand that, while in some cases countries may be performing certain acts purely out of self-interest and preserving or furthering their national power, in many cases countries and groups are doing them for one main reason: survival. Often, they just have no other options to turn to.

This is a frustrating thing to deal with because it means we have to take positions that, while they are not essentially contradictory, they feel so or appear so. I support Ukraine’s fight against the unjustified invasion and aggression by Russia, while also supporting Armenia’s similar fight against aggression by Azerbaijan and Turkey. What this means is I end up supporting countries that – if you connect the dots – appear to be aligned against one another. Ukraine being aligned with the West and Azerbaijan against Russia, while Armenia is (on paper) allied with Russia against Turkey and Azerbaijan (which I will again remind you both have very close relationships with Russia still despite all this), makes you think that therefore you should also be opposed to Armenia as well as Russia and that you should support Azerbaijan for supporting Ukraine. It all comes back to our innate human desire to make all this simple and cut and dry, black and white.

These types of positions may seem contradictory, but really when you get to the heart of the matter they are not. Said heart of that matter is we should always be opposed to unprovoked and unjustified armed aggression by one state or party against another, full stop. At the end of the day, Russia invaded Ukraine in a war of imperialistic aggression that was entirely a choice on their part (one they are paying for dearly now), that they were led to following their own mistakes they made via their heavy-handed response to the Euromaidan Revolution of 2013-2014. Likewise, while in past struggles with Azerbaijan, Armenia has certainly undertaken acts that were horrific and uncalled for and should be acknowledged as such, that in no way justifies the ongoing aggression that Azerbaijan continues has shown against Armenia and Armenians now for decades. As I shared earlier, Azerbaijan continues to engage in ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide in Artsakh – a historically Armenian majority region – and now seems set on taking those acts to Armenia proper with its most recent attacks on internationally recognized Armenian territory. In both Ukraine’s case and Armenia’s case, even though their relationships tie them to their enemies, it is still ethically, morally, and ideologically correct to support both of them in their struggles as they are both still fighting fundamentally the same struggle despite the geopolitical bullshit that encumbers them as they fight to survive.

As leftists – and just as people – we should take a fundamental stand against armed aggression in all cases, while also supporting those who are victims of aggression in their right to self-defense. This was one of the earliest points I made in writing my essays and one I endeavor to return to often, discussing how being anti-war does not mean that you can’t or shouldn’t defend yourself against armed aggression with force in kind. Being anti-war just means that you don’t start none – that doesn’t mean there won’t be none, if someone else decides to attack you (put another way: “fuck around and find out.”) Once again, this is not a contradictory stance to take. In fact, it is the only acceptable stance to take if you are to stay true to leftist internationalist principles of solidarity and resistance against fascism and imperialism worldwide. We cannot pick and choose the struggles we support based purely on the most superficial of aesthetics or we are betraying the principles we claim to uphold and take to heart. This doesn’t mean that we have to rush to a state’s aid directly in the case of every single war – especially in a case where you have one shitty regime attacking another shitty regime. However, we should still on principle be opposed to armed aggression in the interest of stopping the suffering of innocents caught in the crossfire, and we should then be prepared to assist like minded peoples and governments that share the values we hold as democratic socialists when they request our help and assistance.

I’ve seen plenty of cases of this on the Left, which is one of the main reasons I started writing these essays to begin with. It is most commonly observed in the tankie tendency to support authoritarian leftist regimes regardless of their many failings and crimes, as well as in the more general campist tendency to support any regime – regardless of ideology – that stands in opposition to the United States and the West simply because of said fact and nothing else. The fact is, for us on the Left, it is no less complicated, and we are not immune to geopolitics. As Democratic Confederalists in Rojava attempt to preserve their revolution, they’ve been compelled to balance between the United States and the West on one side and Russia and the Ba’athist Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad on the other in order to defend themselves against aggression by Turkey and its proxy forces in Syria. They do so because they are doing what they need to in order for both their people and their revolution to survive, while remembering the hard learned lesson of what happens when you depend on one guarantor of your security only to be betrayed time and time again by multiple parties and left to defend yourself with little resources on hand. This is the world we live in, and it involves striking a balance between our ideological beliefs and the cold hard facts of reality. Its never easy, and ideally always a temporary act, but still one that always seems to drag on longer than anyone wants it to and can gnaw at the soul and the conscience along the way if you truly hold your beliefs dear.

Stop and Think

In a better world (not necessarily a perfect one, but a better one), this would all actually be simpler. Perhaps then we actually would have an international united front of ideologically like-minded countries and peoples assisting one another in defending against the arrayed forces of authoritarianism, fascism, imperialism, and a like; enabling its members to not have to make deals with the devil in order to survive and ensure they have a future. In a better world, the struggle of actual good versus evil – though still maybe not as clear cut as we’d all like it to be – would at least be more defined and less fuzzy and easier to get a handle on for the average person who doesn’t have an advanced degree in international relations.

But, as I’ve spent the past multiple paragraphs explaining, that is not the case. I hope someday we can get closer to that kind of world, but as with everything else I aspire to in these essays, it’s going to take many years and a great deal of blood, sweat, and tears to achieve. In the meantime, in the interest of those who engaged in ongoing battles for survival, there are certain things we are going to have to tolerate and make allowances for.

Does this mean that we should not care at all about taking strong moral positions? That since black and white issues are so rare that everything should be treated as “gray” and that ethics and morality, and ideological positions don’t matter? That we should all become ultra-realists that Kissinger would applaud? Of course not. The main overarching point I’m trying to make (and have made on other related issues in these essays before) is that all of this is far more complicated than you think. That’s not an excuse to not care, it should be an excuse to care more and an impetus for you to want to figure out how you feel and have to think about events more deeply and your own reactions to and interactions with them more deeply. It means you have to engage your brain when you see a new Tweet on world events and not immediately decide the entirety of your position right then and there in 280 characters based on whatever thoughts are floating in your head at the time. I know this is a tall order at a time when a new historical event is occurring every five minutes, but it really is essential if we are to have fewer in the future.

Ok, I’m fading fast here due to having stuffed myself with this sausage stew I made earlier, so I’m afraid I have no eloquent conclusion here other than “think” and “don’t be a fucking jackass.” Oh, and try to take a moment to breathe now and then in between major historical events or you will go insane – guaranteed. That’s all I got for now. Until next time, stay safe and look after yourselves and your loved ones, and I’ll be back with another lecture next month.

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dumbcoffeebee · 1 year

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drops hcs and runs

Diluc-

Ice burn scars on chest & forearms from the fight when Kae got his vision

Lots of scars. Lots. Blades, bludgeoning dmg, various elements from the Fatui hunt or otherwise

Slight permanent tinge of blue/purple at fingertips from being unacclimated to the Snezhnayan weather the first few months of the Fatui hunt (no pyro vision during that time)

More red to his hair, bit of an orange tinge to the ends (make it look more like fire, basically)

By extension he gets grey hairs every once in a while and nobody really comments on them bc yk its Diluc mans is stressed all the time but he dyes them out/plucks them every time he notices them bc it reminds him of his dad when he started using his delusion too much & it makes him sad :(

Thick eyelashes— not super long but really thick

Freckles!! Lots of them!! Resident pretty boy fr

Calloused hands from claymore

Fire burn scars from not knowing how to infuse weapon w/ fire at first

Hawk talon scars on forearm

TAN. TAN. GIVE THIS MAN A TAN. I BEG.

Has the second of Kae’s earrings hanging next to his vision on his belt (sobbing)

Bro used to have sharp teeth but he grinds tf outta them so he should wear a grind plate thing but he doesn’t bc he’s stubborn

Every time he goes like a madlad, which is all the time but yk, he just,, forgets to shave & so it’s not uncommon to see him with like a family of six worth’s of luggage under his eyes & red stubble (little bit of grey in there?)

Oh my god this man’s eye bags. It’s so hot but oh my god the dark circles too?? Holy shit

Used to wear black pencil liner on his waterline (jk he still does esp when he’s doin the whole darknight hero thing OH MY GOD HE TAKES THE MASK OFF AND HE.. OH MY GOD DRAW THAT DRAW THAT NOW JESUS SHIT)

As much as he runs himself ragged he actually has really high personal maintenance esp hygiene-wise like bfr he’s the no.1 most sought after bachelor in Mondstadt for a reason (and it’s not just bc of his money) & that’s also just bc he was raised by Crepus who I feel like believed that no matter who you were or where you came from, everyone is deserving of respect regardless of anything & first impressions are highly important for people like them (direct descendants of the Ragnvindr clan)

So then Diluc has like an eight step skincare routine that he speedruns & I feel like he takes care of his nails really well for some reason??

Circular reddish scarring on left hand from repeated delusion use, both in Snezhnaya & out of it— it looks like a matrix-style computer virus but in his veins

Kaeya

Lets start w/ the obvious. He says there's nothing wrong with his right eye but I beg to differ there’s a long vertical scar in the middle of his eyelid from Diluc’s weapon grazing it in their fight.

As a result its not that sensitive since it was years ago, almost a decade from my math

One eye is blue like we see yes but i hc that the other is like yellow with the star pupil bc mm khaenriah

Once again freckles

Long ass fingers

Ice burn scars on chest from receiving vision & the shield it created, blasting Diluc away from being able to go in for the strike to his chest he was planning.

Constantly cold. Not really appearance but just general temp he’s always cold

Blisters/callouses on fingertips- partly from the ice, partly from training so vigorously with Diluc in swordsmanship.

Very small star tattoo from Khaenriah on inner left forearm like- the crook of it

Dark blue hair like it’s sapphire dark Albedo describes it as flowing jewels with a streak of starlight through it (the lighter streak in his bangs)

Much darker complexion than is shown in game like i hc that he’s half Khaenriahn (well, all Khaenriahn but yk) and half Sumerian on his mother’s side

Lots of scars like his brother. Not to Diluc’s magnitude, but still a lot nonetheless.

Lots of little scars from different elements w/ close calls from abyss mages, ruin guards, etc.

Yet another thing he picked up from Diluc as a child, has a really good hair care routine

Consistently dry skin & eyes from the ice n shit

Muscle spasms & slight numbness in hands from the cold

His smile is the same as it was when he was a kid— when it’s real, that is

Little bit of a tooth gap in his front middle teeth

There’s a theory bopping around that the Alberich clan messed with Kae’s eye, being able to see through it & considering the symbolism with Khaenriah and eyes it makes a lot of sense, as well as his turning his back on his clan and nation in favor of Mondstadt would make the eyepatch much more of a useful thing beyond appearances, refusing to let whatever higher Abyssal powers get intel on Mondstadt by his doing.

Traveler Lumine-

Constantly getting new scars & bruises (she has a knack for worrying Paimon)

Lets her hair grow out- it reminds her of Aether. (she ends up cutting it short again save for her bangs in an episode, and she says it’s better for fighting that way anyway.)

Lightning scars from anti-raiden shogun training (she still slightly distrusts Yae Miko for that), as well as getting struck down constantly in Inazuma- they’re all over her spine, shoulder blades, neck, hands, legs, everything. She jumps every time lightning cracks in a storm, whipping around as if to lunge at the next thing that moves

Various elemental-caused scarring from mastering different elements- that’s why she prefers Anemo, it does the least long-term damage to her body and it’s easiest for her to control because she’s had it the longest

Oh my god her hands are filled with callouses, they’re so rough yet her touch is so soft girlie is pretty <33

Her hair is consistently knotty and dirty- what can I say, the girl doesn’t get to thoroughly shower much, especially before getting the teapot

Literally every item of clothing she owns is stained. Noelle is her saviour every time she comes back to Mondstadt for insisting on getting the stains out and patching her clothes up for her/redoing Lumi’s shoddy patch jobs— sewing was always Aether’s thing.

This isn’t new for me but she and Aether have matching earrings— his is still black in the Abyss but he never takes it out, the only time he tried he got a gut punch of regret and feeling like he was viscerally betraying some unspoken binding law, and Lumi has never even tried taking it out, always cherishing how it connects her to her brother no matter where he is, changing colors with each nation closer she gets to finding him and bringing him home to her.

May the Seven help the monster that rips it out as she’s fighting. You think you’ve seen Lumine seething with unbridled rage until you saw what happened to every monster in a 700 m radius of her that night. It makes her grinding teeth and piercing stares that could kill look like child’s play in comparison. Tears rivered down her cheeks and sobs wracked her body as she staggered towards the nearest teleport waypoint, seeking out the one statue she finds the most comfort in. Under the tree of Windrise, she places the earring back into the slit where it once hung as Barbatos’s statue seals her wounds and encloses her earring back into place, housing her safely for the night high in the tree, the wind god watching over his warrior.

She handles her injuries well, both physical and mental. It’s only in the teapot, secluded in her room with Paimon and a German shepard from Mondstadt as her only comfort, that she lets her cries rock her to sleep.

Although a nuisance while swimming, she’s always thankful for the white and grey armor she had gotten custom-made after her initiation as honorary knight at the start of her travels.

Every region she’s traveled through, she’s made sure to acquire a signature accessory, displaying them on her dresser in the teapot and wearing them when she misses those in other nations.

Makes it a habit that every first new flower she picks up gets pressed in her adventure journal. Her favorite has always been the windwheel asters.

Lumine is always the one to protect Paimon, so the first time her floating companion throws herself in between her and the enemy, she makes a vow to herself to never let harm come to the best travel guide in all of Teyvat, even if it costs her everything.

Lumi is often off put by quiet things, preferring to let every noise filter through her. As a result, she ends up seeming very aloof and reserved, but she’s really just studying everything she can get her eyes on. She often forgets to even speak, despite being active in conversations with others mentally, and the link between her and Paimon forged after their many travels has allowed for Paimon to be able to speak up for Lumine in most situations, with well-enough accuracy. Paimon uses this to great degree when she can sense Lumine becoming overwhelmed and nonverbal, subbing in for her, as well as for phrases and words Lumine had not yet learnt in the common language of Teyvat at the start of her adventures. While the language barrier is much less of a problem now, Paimon still often speaks up for Lumine when the ladder starts feeling overwhelmed and anxious, something she greatly appreciates.

When Lumine finds it difficult to sleep, she often ends up taking walks around wherever she’s staying, most often the teapot or whatever hotel she can find. She finds the moon and stars calming, knowing every time she lays eyes on Celestia that she and Aether will one day return to those gates and conquer the one who had separated them 500 years ago. She finds comfort in knowing she and her brother can and will be reunited.

Despite “The Traveler” being a well-known enigma across Teyvat, most end up not being able to recognize her on the streets until she eventually ends up saving their country. She wonders what it would be like to be able to live in anonymity for eternity, not having to put everything on the line in trade for simple recognition?

Despite the familiarity of her armor and dress, she often wonders what the fashion of different nations would be like to wear. That is, until she sees the price tag, resolving to save her Mora for better equipment instead.

God I have so many brain melt heartache traveler ideas

Lumine is always gentle with animals out of compassion, but it never occurs to people why she is so ruthlessly efficient with what she dismantles or kills— ever since the incident with Dain in the Chasm, she has vowed to make whatever suffering of Abyss creatures brief, viewing her extermination of camps as early releases from the curse of the Abyss. She couldn’t handle thinking about it any other way. She couldn’t let herself view them as anything more than things to be put out of their misery after learning the truth of their existence.

#genshin #genshin hcs #genshin impact #kaeya #kaeya genshin impact #kaeya headcanons #diluc #diluc genshin impact #diluc headcanons #traveler #genshin traveler #genshin impact traveler #lumine #lumine genshin impact #traveler lumine #rambles #beelikesgenshin #Bee stfu #long post

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k-dokja · 2 years

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SOFT THORNS — “hell is watching something that was your everything, slip away” | following the four pieces of "i don't want you to fall in love with someone else"

Summary: Collection of writing based on lines taken from Bridgett Devoue’s Soft Thorns.

It's not easy in the aftermath.

He likes to pretend it's fine because nothing else is there for him to clutch on. Yet, he sees it in your eyes when he walks up to you in the morning. You acknowledge him with a quiet nod and match his pace during your walk to school. There is a wall there built by his own hands. Each brick is a fragment of his lies and the cement is his admittance of the truth.

The wall stays for your comfort because he knows love is a troubling thing and when you need time, he will provide it. All Daniel can hope is for it to one day to fall down, even if it's only one brick at a time. It's a strange thing, for his love to lie bare in front of your eyes and all he gets in return is silence.

But he smiles for you anyway, and hopes one day, you will smile back at him in return.

For a few days afterwards, you continue to put on a feign of normalcy in front of others, but when the two of you are alone, it is naked to his eyes — you're trying to think but it's not easy to keep your thoughts coherent with your close proximity. He stays patient because he promised he would and puts on a mask with you.

"Something wrong between you two?"

Zack, strangely, is the one to notice it. He pulls Daniel aside on the fourth day when you're distracted by the cafeteria selection. Your friends keep you occupied enough when he glances back to check, but he wears on an awkward smile for Zack anyway. It's only prudent. "What do you mean?"

"You're acting weird," Zack frowns, "like," he gestures in your general direction, "the two of you, there's this vibe, it's weird."

"It's nothing," Daniel says, "we had some differences, that's all, we talked it out and she needs time to process it."

The frown on Zack's face says he's unconvinced, but if Danie's unwillingness to speak says anything, it manages to make Zack drop the topic. "Fine," he says, "just... forget about it."

Zack leaves as abruptly as he arrived. Yet, that conversation alone has given him more insight than anything else. He's probably worried about the truth you revealed to the original Daniel. The crush you omitted from this version of him when you agreed to go out. It is something which has given him as much joy as heartache.

He puts on a smile anyway when you meet his eyes upon Zack's return to the group. It confuses you, but you do not press when he comes back either. He knows not whether it's a blessing or a curse, but he finds that his mind scrambles, too.

There's wrong on both sides, he can see that. His wrong is bigger than yours, but it stings to think that he has meant to be a rebound, even if it was him you like anyway. In the end, the magnitude can't be compared when he looks at the two sides of the story.

He wishes for there to be a time machine to go back in time and do everything correctly, but staying stuck in the past does him no good. What he can do is make do with his lot in life, now.

At least, he can try.

"Do you..." He asks, after school, the day before the weekend, when everyone's packing up, "do you want to go somewhere on the way home?"

You look at him with mild apathy. He's overthinking it. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

Daniel shrugs, "Anywhere, really, I just want to be with you," belatedly, he adds, "if that's okay with you?"

"Well, there's a new tea place my friends have been recommending to me," you say while strapping on your backpack, "might be worth checking out."

"Okay, let's head there then," he feels a little relief to see your reception, almost enough for him to reach out for your hand. Yet, he manages to stop his own action once more. He'd not do anything foolish now, treading on thin ice and fearing the plunge into cold water.

But the fear is unfounded. It is you who reach out for his hand on your own, your fingers thread easily. "What are you standing around for? Let's go." You pull him alone with you, ignorant to the envious eyes of other girls in class. And in facing his fear of winter, he finds warmth in your hands.

This time, his smile is genuine.

In the beginning, his hold on your hand remains loose, giving you a way out should you wish to have it. However, after he sees that you're not letting go, he squeezes your hand in his own. He would cherish this feeling forever if he can. There are few greater goods in life that can be comparable to holding you.

Eventually, the two of you set into a rhythm, the held hands swinging back and forth between you both. It's a little habit that you've grown to develop since the two of you begin to date. He finds it endearing, never an occasion to tell you that, however.

"I thought about it," it is you who break the comfortable silence between the two of you, "it makes sense the more I thought about it."

"Hm?"

"The two of you never appear together even if you have mutual friends, you even have the same name and the same mannerism while living in the same place," you say, "although, no one would have made the connection that you have two bodies... it makes sense in hindsight, once I thought about it."

It flusters him a bit to hear you bringing this up after a week of silence. All of the preparation he has made for this conversation suddenly vanishes, he's once again left fumbling. "Y-Yeah? I mean... I'm still me, it's just the way people treat me that's different, I guess."

You nod, once. "Yeah, I get it. You're still you, that's why it's the same yet it's different. I can't say I have wrapped my head around it entirely but... I think I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt, at least."

"Really?" He exclaims with a bit too much excitement, but he can't help it, not when he has spent the week living in suspense. "I... I can't thank you enough, truly. I know it's a lot to take in but, I don't mind no matter how long it takes, because..."

He was going to say something honest and stupid. But he has grown well at catching himself, but not well enough because if the warmth on his face says anything, then it's that the embarrassment is prominent. "Uh, because you're worth all the wait, evidently."

Desperately and perhaps futilely, he ignores the little smirk you make. He glances away and finds it a horrible idea when he realizes how it exposes his blushing cheek to you.

"Yeah, evidently," you mimic him with clear mockery at his feeble attempt at covering his track, "so... we're good, right?"

He lets out a relieved sigh, "Yeah, of course, we're good. There's no reason why we wouldn't be. I mean it does hurt to hear why you agreed to go out with me but... at the same time, it gave me the chance to be transparent with you. So I'd say we're even on that count."

"Huh, yeah," you say with a little bit of recognition, "guess we turned out well on that front, turned out my bad decision was convenient for us both after all."

"Agreeing to go out with me is a bad decision?" He gapes. While he tries to play it off with feigned humour, his heart squeezes.

You only shrug in return, "While I liked somebody else? Yeah, it was. It wasn't fair to you and I know that. So, I'm sorry for that, but I'm glad I decided to come clean."

"Yeah, well," he fumbles again, "I guess it all turns out well in the end, the person you like is still me, after all, and you like me for my personality even, so I'd call this a win-win."

"You're awfully optimistic about this," you drawl.

He huffs a little, "I have to be, this is hard on me, too."

"Oh, so now that you're out of hot water, you're cheeky all of a sudden," you laugh in exasperation and he finds it easy to smile, too, "c'mere, I'll stop your head from getting too big—seriously, where did you find all of this audacity?"

You use the hold you have on his hand to drag him down and pull on his cheek. He could've easily avoided you, but to him at that moment, any attention from you is good attention. Even if it ends with him having swollen cheek. "A-Ack, mercy!"

He's released after a pinch that barely stings. It might have been his thick skin that saves him or maybe you never pulled that strongly, to begin with. However, what matters, in the end, is that you pat on the area of attack and grin up at him. Whatever pain he suffered no longer matters. "There, know the next time you hide anything from me, there'll be hell to pay, so don't get cocky."

"There won't be the next time," he murmurs and finds the light in your eyes distractingly beautiful they are aimed at him, "I can promise you that."

"Hm, there better not be," you turn your nose up but all he notices is how that makes your cheek readily accessible, "now, let's—"

He leans down quickly. A peck on your cheek that he has been hoping to give this entire time. He might be playing with fire, kissing you this soon after a fight, but he has wanted to do that forever and now that the opportunity is here, he'd be a fool to miss it.

Immediately afterwards, he slips his hand away from you and breaks into a sprint. You take only a second to recover but it's enough for him to get a headstart. "Yah, Daniel Park! Come back here!"

If he wanted, he'd have easily managed to escape you, but he keeps his pace slow enough to give you the illusion of catching up. A grin breaks out on his lips, even if he should be fearing for his life.

Somehow, he has the feeling that it can only look up from here on.

#daniel park #daniel park x reader #lookism #lookism x reader #fics

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gubbles-owo · 5 months

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the oc ask meme,,, urchin, mantis,,

13 & 19 for both,,,, please,,

13. How do they deal with pain (physical or emotional)? Oh Mantis can take one hell of a beating, physically. She may stand at a breathtakingly steep... 152cm tall (on her toes), but true to her real life animal counterpart (the mantis shrimp!), she packs one hell of a punch. Doesn't bruise easily. The real hard hits will still get through to her though. Tries to act all tough but you can clearly see through the act. "Yeah, I'm fine!! ow fuck shit ouch Never felt better!! >:D" Emotional pain... similar response. Seems fairly resilient, but she's not very good at hiding it when something's wrong. Either she'll deny it, or downplay its effects, only admitting with a strong enough confrontation, or an emotional pain too great to bear. Takes a lot to break her. Urchin on the other hand... ho boy. So physical pain. Fun fact, Urchin is ✨ chronically ill! ✨ Just imagine like, hundreds of thousands of little spines all over your body that you can retract at will. Now imagine you don't have much direct control over them, and instead seem to be a more reactionary response of the automatic nervous system-- at least to the best of your knowledge. Now imagine all those little spines are ever so slightly misaligned with where they're supposed to come out! Congratulations, u experience chronic debilitating pain!! So yeah, given the magnitude and agonizing breadth to which their illness pans out, Urchin has some incredible fuckin' pain tolerance. Winces, deals with it in the ways they've learned how to over the years, though it ultimately results in them not getting around much. Mostly solitude, sedentary. Not out of choice, of course. They're afraid of getting too close to anyone else, physically or emotionally, and accidentally harming them with their own stupid sickly spines. Additional pain-- that is, from outside the body-- tends to throw them off kilter, upset the ANS, and resultingly make the internal pain worse. Fun! As for emotional pain... ouhhf... let's just say Urchin has a lot of baggage, and lots of alone time to ruminate on it all :3c 19. How do they connect with the people around them? Love language, how they offer comfort, etc.

Mantis (similarly to Cuttle) loves meeting new folks, but is probably not quiiite as charismatic. Her love language is typically intense/loud, but it can take more subtle forms as well. For example, Shrimps loves challenging those she loves, both in friendly competition and in their own assumptions, in the interest of spurring some sort of growth or new perspective. She will (lightly (for a mantis shrimp)) punch ur shoulder and u will like it. Contrast that with the little things... like, okay, let's not mince words here: Mantis can be absolutely oblivious. Many things tend to sail clean over her head. No thoughts, head empty. However! She will notice little things about you. Your shuffles and posture adjustments. The way you fidget with certain objects. The one or two particular photos or memorabilia tacked to your bedroom wall. Small things that often draw your attention or otherwise indicate where your mind might be at. And often she'll make lil gestures that demonstrate such fine observations. Like "Hey Urchin, I notice you kinda nervously tap your keyboard when you're at your desk, so here's a matching keycap that i affixed to a lil box, so you have something to keep in your pocket when you're elsewhere!" I wonder how she got so selectively observan- autism its definitely the autism On the other hand, Urchin... has an extremely difficult time figuring out just how to connect with those around them. Can I hide in my room? No, we're out of the apartment. Can I run off to some other room where I can close a door, or get some space to myself? No, s-so I really have to stand here around these other people? ...shit. Um. How do interact. Is my presence bothering them. What if I say something rude or insensitive. What if they bring up something upsetting or triggering. How do I get out of here. Fuck. It's no secret that Urchin does not hold themselves in very high regard, so how is it that someone else could love them? They must be manipulating someone in order for them to express such feelings... right? Throughout their life, their presence has ranged from passive lack-of-existence to "burden". They do not know how to properly express love. They do not know how to give comfort. They don't know how to interact with anyone without believing they are causing harm in some way. So how the hell do they communicate with another person when they're slapped in the same room together? Simple: avoidance, social awkwardness, and constant self-doubt. Hope this helps!! :3c

#oc #urchin #mantis #uhh cuttleverse? augh no that sounds absurd #obligatory railgun mention play my game ig #gotta make another oc gaem...#gub #ask

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