So. We saw your post and read the wiki article explaining your census and we found it super interesting! We checked out some of your other stuff and saw a whole lot of similarities to how our system functions, despite the fact that we're a lot smaller, at 30-40 members. So basically, we were wondering if you have any advice or tips for how to figure out complicated system structures and inner world things, as well as setting up internal government structures and systems etc., because we've really been struggling with that.
-Mina, Ambassador of Paluimbel
PS Hawthorn wanted me to let you know they really liked the idea of creating an in-system conlang! We've made a conlang of our own, though it's not super practical for in-system use, and we're planning on going into linguistics!
No problem!
First of all, we'd like to say that the original purpose of our conlangs (we have three now) was to add detail to our works of fiction and help bring them to life. It just turns out that our works of fiction were both about our inworld and have worked to shape it. Most of us do not speak any of our conlangs. Our inworld communication is primarily non-verbal telepathy, with a lot of English to back it up. But some of us have been learning Inmararräo and using it to name things, at least.
We've had several different ways of learning about what's going on behind the scenes, and then influencing it. Some active and some passive. And we recommend using all of the methods that you find that you have at your disposal. Some may work better for you than others, and you may even have modes of communication and senses that we don't!
So, it turns out that a lot of what we've done to structure our inworld, shape its politics, and learn what it's like, is very, very similar to Tulpamancy (which we have never studied and are only learning about via a couple people we follow here). We've spent most of our life actively daydreaming and letting ourselves follow all of our streams of consciousness while doing so. And when we write, we put ourselves into the same frame of mind as when we daydream.
It turns out that this daydreaming frame of mind is really good for communicating both ways between the conscious and subconscious, even though we're not fully aware of just who is communicating with whom. We tend to get blendy, more focused on our visions than on who is who, and very cooperative.
So, like, when we want to shape our inworld government to work better, we will sit down and write about how we want it to be, and then hope that helps us reshape it.
Sometimes, however, we will sit down alone somewhere and have a conscious council meeting with everyone who is coconscious. And during those meetings, we'll call upon certain members who we know are good at what we need, and assign them inworld tasks, like, "Deliver this message to all the groups you can find."
This is how we did our censuses, as you've no doubt read.
When we're holding a council meeting, it's a different state than daydreaming. It's not focused on visualizing a situation, but on sensing and listening to each other. It kind of feels the same as daydreaming as opposed to paying attention to the outworld, but it's different. Daydreaming, to us, is focusing on what "I" am visualizing, feeling, creating, and doing, while a council meeting is focusing on what we are sensing from our brain itself, and where our thoughts are coming from.
When it comes to feedback from the subconscious, and learning about what our inworld is actually like and seeing if we've been successful at shaping it, we are hampered compared to some systems.
Some systems can enter a kind of daydream-like state where they consciously enter their inworld and explore it and interact with each other. We can't do that yet, though we've come very close a couple times. We tend to experience something like it when we're having fever dreams, or are sleep deprived.
Instead, we've come to learn that our nightly dreams are, while also morality plays and internal RPGs or kink scenes, set in our inworld. We can learn about our inworld by paying attention to our dreams and journaling about them.
Also, looking back at all the fiction we've written, since it was done in a stream of consciousness state, is usually a good indicator of what our inworld is like (and it's backed up by our dreaming).
Finally, we do get some different and fun communications from our subconscious members sometimes while awake.
Sometimes we get flashes of visions, intrusive thoughts, impulses, and the like that communicate tiny fragments of what's going on under the surface.
When someone gets something really complex to communicate to the front, they have a couple of methods they can use.
They can either take full control of our mouth and vocal cords and just say something, which is kind of freaky and weird feeling and a little embarrassing when we're around other people.
Or, they can take control of the small muscle movements of our head and face. This feels really similar to when you do that thing where you stand in a doorway and press your arms against the frame for a while, pushing outward with them, and then step our of the frame and relax. Your arms will naturally start to rise up on their own. It feels like that, but with the urge to nod, shake your head, or let your mouth form silent words.
And we can hold conversations with someone who is doing that. Sometimes they are very coherent, sometimes it ends up being gibberish. So we assume that different members have different skills at it.
If someone gets really frustrated that we're not paying attention to such attempts at communication, they'll give us Non-Epileptic Seizures until we stop and ask them what's up. This hasn't happened in a long time, so we think we're doing a pretty good job of listening to everyone.
Finally, also taking advantage of small muscle movements, we've used a pendulum to communicate with inworlders, to ask them yes and no questions and clear up misunderstandings. It's basically a game of 20 questions about whatever topic you feel is important. This has limited success, because sometimes the unconscious motives of the front runners will override what the pendulum does, instead of the will of someone inworld, and it's hard to tell the difference.
So, anyway, our system government is centered around our conscious mind. It seems to be the place we go to and communicate with in order to put things on record, both by writing things down and by committing them to long term memory.
We know that the conscious mind is constructed and controlled by the subconscious mind, and that the subconscious mind in human beings is far, far more powerful and aware of things. So, we assume that our co-conscious system members are supported by a larger group of subconscious members who are feeding us sensory inputs and impulses from the rest of the system. We assume that we can think of these subconscious members as government staff workers and other kinds of agents. And the way that people come and go from our conscious mind and the way we get communiques from our subconscious, this does seem to be the case.
The layer of governance below that is not something we are very consciously aware of. We can't just directly look at it. Instead, we get a sense of it from our dreams, and it seems to be very different from region to region. And we sense regions primarily via dream realms and individuals. Like, we have had dreams of taking tours of various parts of our inworld. And also, when someone comes forward to talk about their inworld constituents, their attitude and way that they talk about them tells us how they manage things there.
In return, we take time to tell everyone what kinds of local government structures we prefer to see in our system. Being of a sort of anarchist bent, we keep reminding each other that we prefer adaptive fluidity, eschew dictatorship, and strive to protect everyone's rights to autonomy and consent in all things.
And currently, we're trying to write stories that take place in a mirror of our inworld where people on the margins of society are struggling to have their voices heard in hopes that any marginalized people in our system will take control of those characters and air their actual grievances so that we can hear them and address them.
4 notes
·
View notes
One thing I've learned as I've progressed in my archival studies is that there is evidence for everything. There are records for everything.
The things Palestinians have been documenting—even Israelis themselves documenting both within their "civilian" population and their governmental records—portray a concentrated effort to erase every trace of the Palestinian people. This (October of 2023) is no different—there are probably internal documents specifying how to communicate to the press while explicitly dehumanizing the Palestinians. Internal documents that detail best mutilation practices to inflict of the people of Gaza to break their will to live.
For supporters of Israel: nothing you see is uncalculated. Recognize that. Palestinians have grown up for 75+ years KNOWING that propaganda is so easily disseminated. Palestinians who received no formal education (which is not to say such a thing is necessary—this just speaks to the innate knowledge of the Palestinian people) understand the way in which the machine of imperialism works in an intimate and personal manner. So I'd like to invite you to consider: who is proclaiming support and for whom? What would they gain? Why is the United States, a well documented imperial core of the modern war, so vehemently supportive of Israel? Why would they do such a thing given their extensive history of "US first" within their policy decisions?
Why would the British government—the source of many colonial struggles—wish to support a regime with already one of the strongest, most powerful armies in the world? Why does the Israeli government need aid when they claim to be so well off compared to their Arab neighbors?
Propaganda is something so embedded in the everyday life of Europeans and USAmericans that they (primarily white individuals) often do not think to examine the core logic of the way their government works. To reiterate: nothing is accidental and everything is calculated. There ARE records for these events and tactics—they just won't release them yet.
It is imperative that you understand the political implications of how this will affect the United States and why they have a vested interest in such matters, considering their historic distance from other atrocities unless personal involvement occurred.
4K notes
·
View notes
Our Strengths
"What do we do now? Tucker asked. His voice cracking with stress and worry as he stared at the scene before him not able to look away as his best friend and his family were being dragged out of their home.
Danny cuffed in anti-ghost cuffs and knocked the heck out with a ecto-gun pointed at his skull by one of the GIW agents, they eventually tossed Danny into their van that was parked right outside the Fenton Works. Jazz was pleading, begging them to let her brother go, even though she too was cuffed and not caring that another gun was at her back. Maddie was hissing like angry feral mama cat at the two agents, ignoring the other two that were holding her shoulders to keep her from squirming around and saying "you dare touch a single hair on my babies I will rip-" before she too was lead away to the GIW van. The last to come out was Jack and he looked haunted and stressed, and despite being a huge guy he was trying to make himself look small. He too was sent into the van, and one of the last things Tucker could see before the doors close was Jack kneeling down next to Danny and going to cradle him but being stopped by the GIW agent in the van.
Sam chewed on her lip, her eyes wide and wild as she tried to think of... well anything to save her friend and his family from this.
To think Vlad would be so petty after Danny finally told his parents about being Phantom and them accepting and loving him regardless and even apologizing for trying to hurt him that he would go and tattle to the GIW about Phantom.
Danny hadn't even told them about Vlad being a halfa either. Not even a bit. All Danny told them was that Vlad made him super uncomfortable. About how the guy seemed obsessed with his mom but seemed to be shifting his obsession to him.
And for once Jack listened, especially after Maddie finally told him the times the man flirted with her and had even tried getting her to leave Jack. With only Danny. No mention of Jazz, only Danny.
After that Jack turned papa bear mode.
Say what you will about Jack Fenton but his love for his family outweighs any kind of friendship.
So yeah Vlad finding himself being 'cut out' of the Fenton's lives, realizing the only times he could even get close to Maddie and Danny was because Jack was always welcoming to him, and finding out Jack point blank said he no longer wanted him around his family, he raged and decided to get back at Danny was to go tell the GIW about him being Phantom.
No doubt the creep was going to show up later, 'save' them and start making demands or indebt them to him.
And now here they were. The Fenton's, after being told about Phantom, were being unjustified hauled away by the GIW while all of Amity watches from the streets and despite the protest from, mostly teens, Amity Parkers no one could do anything with both weapons pointed at them or the 'law' decree.
Closing her eyes, Sam took a breath. When she opened them back up she finally looked away as the van and the rest of the GIW began to leave, her hands clutched so tight that her knuckles were turning a deadly white. When she finally released her grip she felt something in her hand.
Confused, Sam opened her hand and gasped as she recognized a familiarish green sticky note and words written in purple ink. She's never read any of the sticky notes CW would send Danny but she has seen them appear out of no where.
She read the note, ignoring Tuckers questioning, and once done she snapped her head to look at him. It was so fast that Tucker jumped for a second. Her eyes were alight with a new found kindle of hope, determination, and a plan.
"Sam? What is it?" Tucker finally asked once more, he had a feeling whatever she had in mind was going to be insane but if it sent by CW and meant to save his best friend he'd do it.
"We play into our strengths and get some help." She said as she brought the sticky note up for him to see.
"Help? From who?" Tucker asked as he took the note and instantly noticed the drawn symbols on the bottom. When he snapped his head back up to look at Sam his mouth fell open and he said in shock, awe, and disbelief "No. No way. Them? But I thought-"
"Gonna stop you right there Tucker. Remember what Dani told us last month? About that new under the radar teen hero group?" Sam cut in.
"OOoooh. Them.... Yeah I can totally get behind asking them over asking the adults." Tucker responded, his mind coming up with a plan as the sticky note words played into his head 'Use your strengths'
"Good we have no time to loose. I'll contact Dani to find out where we can find their base, you get ready to hack and find what you can so I can use it to help... persuade them into helping us."
-x-x-
Young Justice was having a normal, well as normal as a bunch of super-powered and very well trained teens could have day.
Or at least it was until their comms and entire system were hacked by an unknown hacker, a goth girl appearing on their main sceen and her saying this
"Hey, Young Justice right? Look I'll be blunt about this. We need help, our best friend and his family got taken by some shady government jerks that wanna experiment on him and we need to save them. It's a long story. However, we do not like the JL too much and don't trust them, we have our reasons, so to make sure you don't go crying to them, we're taking your systems hostage and blackmailing you with things our hacker found out." Her eyes narrowed at them, her face in a scowl and it left no room for negotiations at all, she was determined to get things her way "So that's the deal. Help us save our best friend and his family while not letting the JL know, and we let go of your systems and forget about what we found out."
524 notes
·
View notes
I've managed to curate my small misogyny-free space both online and in real life, and now I'm no longer used to misogyny, it's no longer normal to me. So when I accidentally glimpse it, I'm not desensitized to it, I'm always shocked and unbelieving.
If I notice a m*n talking about a woman like she's 'just some ***' I'm immediately aware that this is in fact a demonic creature who needs to be burned. If I see anyone using a slur against women or pretending women are at fault for any of the world's issues, the hair on my neck stands up at the unbelievable amount of hatred.
Anyone implying that women should be in any way controlled, punished, forced to do anything against their will or dedicate their lives to anyone but themselves, is preposterous and villainous to me, I'm at loss that someone could even think that way about a half of the human population who are creators and administrators of life.
I know I am in a bubble, but it feels different knowing deeply in your heart that all of this is not normal, that casual or normalized hatred against women is absolutely insane, that it's sharp and painful and dehumanizing at every turn. It's insane to realize that women just have to live like this, believing all of that is normal, that I once lived like this, wondering what was wrong with me and why I couldn't just be what everyone was expecting me to.
I think still, if I can make a small space without this hate present in it, without anyone or anything implying we should be anything but free, anything but full complete human beings with absolute control over our lives, then we can strengthen and grow these spaces, and get more women in, have more women experience what life is like when hatred is removed. There is hope for women.
509 notes
·
View notes
i know that folks from the west are not easily giving into support for palestine because “well israeli civilians dont deserve to die, stop being a dick by cheering for this”
and listen. we understand that very well. we cannot cheer for innocent people losing their lives. but we wouldnt BE here today if this were something that could have been sorted out over a negotiation
netanyahu just last week, w a disgusting ass smug face made it clear at the UN GA that he was redrawing the map of the middle east. he was literally there with a board and a marker pen, shamelessly redrawing a map of israel over palestine. people fucking clapped. there is video footage, goo look at it.
and that’s just what the west is seeing. what the west has been conveniently ignoring, or worse, supporting, is the apartheid in palestine for the past 100 years. what is happening in israel today, theyve been doing exactly that and Worse for a century in palestine.
any both sides argument misses the fucking point because it ignores a whole history of how theyve fucked over the palestinian people. not just outright killing their people but also stealing land and resources and redirecting them to the israeli cause.
but the west doesn’t actually give a fuck about arab countries or its people, in fact actively funds genocide. so eat your shitass opinion about not celebrating the one time palestinians have managed to look like a threat.
as hopeful as we are, we know israel is too powerful and has the west as its ally. but this is what palestinian journalist had to say about it “they have decided to fight and die on their feet, rather than just die on their knees”
another journalist reporting from gaza said “well the people in gaza are used to airstrikes of this kind so they have a standard protocol on how to evacuate and know when to give up, and go down together as a family”
let the enormity of those statements sink in, and then maybe you can fucking talk about both sides.
956 notes
·
View notes