😈 source SG

There are several NGO-funded ships currently operating in the central Mediterranean Sea with the specific intent of saving migrants from what has been for years one of the deadliest migration routes in the world. Here is partial list:

Geo Barents (Médecins Sans Frontières)

Ocean Viking (SOS Méditerranée)

Aurora, Sea Watch 3 and Sea Watch 5 (Sea Watch)

Life Support (Emergency)

Open Arms and other ships (Open Arms)

Another important resource for migrants in distress at sea is the hotline AlarmPhone.

Since 2016 these rescue missions have become more and more onerous to fund as EU countries have progressively strengthened the Frontex program while at the same time criminalizing NGO-led search and rescue operations. (Italy has been at the forefront of this trend, and a shipwreck on the coast of Calabria in late February this year only managed to strengthen the resolve of the current government to make it even more complex for NGOs to try and rescue migrants.) So while it definitely won't solve the root issue, donating to these NGOs still has a tangible effect.

I clicked on that wikipedia link you posted for H. fleischmanni and was surprised to see that the section talking about the frog’s natural predators was titled “enemies” instead of “predators.” The word “enemies,” at least to me, seems strange in this context because it seems to anthropomorphize the frogs, which as far as I’m aware is something zoologists try to avoid doing with animals. Is there a scientific reason for “enemies” to be used here, as opposed to “predators”?

Regrettably, a huge number of problems of this kind have been built into Wikipedia by the Wikipedia Education Foundation-supported courses. Students carry out an 'assignment' that involves a dramatic expansion to a given wikipedia page based on any literature they can find. That revised page is then subjected to 'peer review' by their classmates. But because they are unfamiliar with (1) the literature, (2) the contents of other wikipedia pages, and (3) how wikipedia actually works, the resulting pages are often full of misinformation, redundancies, and weird formulations.

You have accurately identified one such idiosyncrasy. 'Enemies' was a very common formulation for 'predators' in the 1800s and early 1900s, but we have largely left it behind, for precisely the reason you say, and hence it sounds jarring to our ears. In this case it is a minor problem (you should have seen how the Paroedura masobe page looked before I cleaned it up), but irksome nonetheless.

Gáttir allar áður gangi fram um skoðast skyli, um skyggnast skyli, því að óvíst er að vita hvar óvinir sitja á fleti fyrir.

At every door-way, ere one enters, one should spy round, one should pry round for uncertain is the witting that there be no foeman sitting, within, before one on the floor

constantly thinking abt how in Undertale the consequences for violence are immediate and lasting while in Deltarune you have to actively work to make violence "stick". like not that there's no neutral vs pacifist differences but the plot absolutely continues on as if nothing happened while Undertale a single death changes the entire ending and structure. the way a broken snowgrave run immediately reroutes everything back onto the rails. the quick dismissals and movings on. it just feels like the entire world is trying to avoid thinking about violence or assigning consequences unless forced to do so

[After the episode A Broken Foot]

Leo: I owed my girl buddies a solid! Isn’t that a redeeming quality? Helping friends with stuff?

April: NOT in TURF WARS that lead to TERRITORIAL GENOCIDE!!!

Leo: Eh, you win some, you lose a few thousand.

the hero: Do you ever want to talk about your emotions, voice of the cold?

the cold: no.

the broken: i do!

the hero: i know, the broken.

the broken: I’m sad.

the hero: I know, the broken

エンジェルブルー ナカムラくん 120cm デニム スカート

re: your vox mindbreak au, it's such a fascinating scenario with so many avenues of interest.

does vox definitively become one of alastor's thralls. you know, just like nifty is even though we're not sure her soul is alastor.

what sort of conflicts of interests would occur if he's still — if not commercially then emotionally, to them — part of the vees?

would alastor drag him to the hotel, making him a reluctant staff member, even though it fails to capture his interest? what surprising dynamics would crop up?

and if it occurs during/post-canon, and the hotel ensemble knew who vox used to be, would this irrevocably change his relationship with the cast who do not know alastor's cruelty? does vox have dysphoria when he remembers his head isn't a CRT, and then forgets, and then remembers, and then forgets, and then—? please reply asap im going insane.

Oh gosh, thank you. It's really flattering when people show interest in my weird little ideas.

does vox definitively become one of alastor's thralls

Not definitely. I have two avenues for this AU: One where the mindbreak happens in the 1960s, when Alastor and Vox have their first big fight, and one where it happens in the modern day, when Vox is part of the Vees. In the 60s route, he's one of Al's thralls; in the modern route, Alastor vanishes (possibly for seven years) immediately after breaking him and Val and Velvette are left to deal with the aftermath.

what sort of conflicts of interests would occur if he's still part of the vees?

Oh God, the subconscious yearning. Vox can't remember why he cares so much about these two random overlords, but he demonstrably does. He wouldn't feel so drawn to them and their products if they weren't important in some way. If Alastor ever ordered him to hurt them, he'd probably refuse (or at least try to talk his way out of it), which never happens anymore.

would alastor drag him to the hotel, making him a reluctant staff member, even though it fails to capture his interest? what surprising dynamics would crop up?

Of course! He's basically Alastor's loyal pet now– no reason not to bring him along! The hotel is novel enough that he's not particularly bored (always some wacky nonsense happening there!), even if the whole redemption thing is a bit out of his depth and doesn't feel possible.

Vox scares the absolute crap out of Husk. Knowing Niffty wasn't just a one-off and that Alastor is willing to do this to someone he considered a friend just because he didn't like his attitude is terrifying. Vox would also end up pretty close with Niffty, not because of their shared situation (neither of them are really aware of that), but because her 1950s sensibilities are comforting and familiar to him– she always makes sense to him in a way the rest of the world just doesn't. She also wouldn't even be remotely bothered by the constant out-of-nowhere topic changes or the short-term memory loss, so that's a plus.

and if it occurs during/post-canon, and the hotel ensemble knew who vox used to be, would this irrevocably change his relationship with the cast who do not know alastor's cruelty?

Oh yeah. I think seeing Alastor do something this extreme and unnecessary would be the final straw for Charlie. She's not even comfortable with killing genocidal freaks like Adam; no matter what Vox did, she wouldn't be okay with this. Plus, actually seeing him do this would make it click for everyone that maybe Niffty's not just some funny little creature, which would feel incredibly violating in retrospect given how much they've all come to care about her. Charlie would kick Alastor out of the hotel, which he'd be thrilled about, although he might end up back on their doorstep due to the constraints of his contract.

does vox have dysphoria when he remembers his head isn't a CRT, and then forgets, and then remembers, and then forgets, and then—?

Imo, in both routes he'd probably go back to the original 1950s set that he manifested with. It's just something he feels compelled to do– it's what Alastor would want him to do, after all. He'd probably need help making the change, but Alastor would do so happily / Velvette would do so reluctantly if that's what'll make him feel comfortable. I have a mental image where, when he first wakes up after The Incident, the first sign that something's wrong is that his display is fully black and white, despite the fact he's still using the modern flatscreen. But yeah, I imagine there'd be a lot of loops of "something is wrong– nevermind!– something is wrong– nevermind!" about various things, whether it's his body, the situation, or the presence/absence of certain people.

my weakness makes me stronger. (x)

Hum Hallelujah // Alone Together MV // St. Mary’s Church, Thornton-in-Craven, c. 2013 following a burglary [x] // Fake Out

🐝  *  ―  𝑷𝑳𝑶𝑻𝑺 𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑷𝑰𝑹𝑬𝑫 𝑩𝒀 𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑵𝑬𝒀 𝑴𝑶𝑽𝑰𝑬𝑺 𝑷𝑻 𝑰.  (  these are made to work in either a platonic or romantic context, whatever works best for you. feel free to expand on them.  )

THE LION KING ― [ muse a ] and [ muse b ] are childhood best friends. they used to spend almost every day together until [ muse a ] had to leave town and has never come back since. one day, [ muse b ] comes looking for [ muse a ] because of some trouble at home. although it took some time, [ muse b ] finally finds [ muse a ], but [ muse a ] doesn't want to come back. [ muse a ] explains to [ muse b ] what happened all those years ago that made them leave their home; and that this is the reason why they can never come back. [ muse b ] is surprised by that, but still determined to get [ muse a ] to come with them because now that they finally have them back in their life, they don't want them to be gone again.

THE LITTLE MERMAID ― [ muse a ] and [ muse b ] metaphorically are from different worlds. [ muse a ] has been fascinated by [ muse b ]'s world and their differences for a long time, while [ muse b ] has no idea [ muse a ] even exists. this changes when [ muse b ] gets into a life-threatening situation and [ muse a ] who happens to be there at the time saves them. however, [ muse a ] leaves before [ muse b ] can see them, and although [ muse b ] has no recollection of that moment, they wish to find who has saved their life. meanwhile, [ muse a ] is unable to forget about [ muse b ] which leads to them going back to [ muse b ]'s world, hoping to overcome their many differences and get [ muse b ] to like them in the short amount of time [ muse a ] has before they have to go back to their world.

ALADDIN ― [ muse a ] is a rich person from a wealthy and influential family, while [ muse b ] is a poor person who has had to take care of themself since they were a child. randomly, [ muse a ] and [ muse b ] paths cross and they find an immediate connection between them. but since they are from such different backgrounds, they can't be together. this results in [ muse b ] pretending to be somebody else, someone worthy of being around [ muse a ]. surprisingly, they are able to fool everyone with this scheme ... everyone except [ muse a ].

CINDERELLA ― [ muse a ] hasn't always had it easy living with their last remaining relatives who treated them like dirt. but everything changes one evening when they sneak out to a masquerade party hosted by [ muse b ]. they start talking and have a generally good time, but when [ muse a ] notices their time is over, they have to leave [ muse b ] without another word, and without ever telling them who they are. in their haste, [ muse a ] leaves behind one item that will eventually help [ muse b ] to find them. so [ muse b ], determined to figure out who [ muse a ] is, goes off in search of them until finally the item [ muse a ] has lost brings the two of them back together.

i will be totally honest with y’all i can’t see Hobie (ATSV) in a romantic relationship ever. like, i can’t see him seeing anybody ever as “the one” or even having multiple partners or anything. I can barely see him having friends outside of the ones he already has. I can somewhat see the “are we dating or are we not dating” thing being something he gets involved in, but not really. i think a lot of people either don’t know or just forget that he’s probably homeless and that his world is shit rn and that stuff he needs isn’t easy to come by 😭😭 and a lot of homeless people just don’t have time/energy for shit like romantic relationships and the stuff he’s doing canonically because they’re so focused on trying to survive. That’s why when I make posts about him casually flirting or whatever it’s never serious, it never goes anywhere, because honestly! Between music shows, trying to find your next meal, fighting the power, trying to find a shelter for the night, helping other homeless people and others in need as both a civilian and Spider-Man, dealing with dimensional threats, trying to find a place to get clean, i just don’t think Hobie has time to even consider it. Sure, maybe there are facilities in the HQ to make it easier, but after that stunt, i think he’d avoid using them as much as possible. do you see what i mean??

Ed, Edd n Eddy "Be smart. Stay in touch!" Flash eCard from the English version of the Cartoon Network Latin America website.

(Note: This eCard has no sound!)

[After Broken Foot and Leo stops being apart of Karai’s Foot Clan]

Karai: It’s like I don’t even know who you are!

Leo: Yeah, you do! You asked me to change anyway…