*sigh*

I'm seeing variations of this meme around again, so to today's (un)lucky 10000:

the "inside you there are two wolves" meme is racist. full stop. it was invented by a Christian pastor in the late 70s and attributed to the Cherokee nation, despite being completely made up. every native american / indigenous page I've ever followed denounces it as made up and racist, using their imagery to sound mystical and wise while ignoring the people themselves.

please consider using another format. try to use your guilt productively: I'm not calling you out, this is aimed at educating. You can't erase not knowing in the past, but you can elect to 1) not reblog these in the future, 2) delete any that are easy to delete, 3) help to spread education by following native people's accounts and news so that you hear this from them, not me.

That one post about great domestic policy and HORRIFIC foreign policy just does not stop being true

Domestic Policy Win: The American Museum of Natural History in NYC is closing down two entire exhibits of Native American belongings in order to comply with a federal order that requires museums to obtain the consent of indigenous nations in order to display artifacts of native origin. The linked ProPublica article specifies that the exhibits in question are the Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains Halls. To quote:

The new federal regulations, which went into effect this month, prohibit the display of items subject to NAGPRA without tribal consent and ban all research done without tribal consent. In addition, the regulations closed a loophole that had allowed museums such as the American Museum of Natural History to keep ancestral remains and burial items by claiming that they are “culturally unidentifiable” — meaning in their view they could not be connected to present-day Indigenous communities based on available evidence — and therefore could not readily be returned to tribes.

Foreign Policy Fail: The United States, the UK, and several other nations, in response to claims that several members of UNRWA were involved in the Oct. 7th attacks, have cut funding to the relief agency in question. The Al Jazeera article profiles the Palestinian response, and also specifies that this funding was pulled after the UNRWA launched an investigation in response to Israel's allegations that 12 members of the relief agency were involved.

Australia, Canada, Italy and the United States said they would halt funding to the agency, while European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the 27-member bloc would “assess further steps and draw lessons based on the result of the full and comprehensive investigation”. Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom then also joined the list of countries pausing financial aid to the UN agency, whose facilities where displaced Palestinians sought shelter have been repeatedly attacked in Israeli air raids. Ireland and Norway, however, expressed continued support for UNRWA, saying the agency does crucial work to help Palestinians displaced and in desperate need of assistance in Gaza. - Al Jazeera

"One million displaced people are currently taking refuge in and around UNRWA buildings. They are the ones who will suffer as a result of this decision," said Mr Gunness, adding: "The curtailing of UNRWA services will also destabilise the region at a time when Western governments are trying to contain a regional conflagration." [...] The US, Germany and the EU are among some of UNRWA's biggest donors. - BBC

Unfortunately, the WSJ article is paywalled, so I can't access the full thing for a quote.

Anyway. Call your reps. I'm not even talking to just the Americans this time, call your fucking reps. If they aren't donating to UNRWA, then make them do something. Is the organization possibly a security risk, and the concerns legitimate? Maybe! But you cannot cut the funding that is keeping 2.3mill people alive on an already shoestring budget and not immediately put a backup security net in place.

Until then, pick a charity with a good rating, donate and signal boost it, and politely harass your politicians.

Politely as in "don't shout at or cuss out the staffers that man the phone lines," because they are not your reps, but also because your number is going to get blocked and then you won't be able to pressure them in the future. Do be firm, though.

I'm personally picking the PCRF this time, since one of the three remaining hospitals in south Gaza has been evacuated and shut down, and the evacuees reportedly include women who just got C-sections, which means the evacuees also include newborns, and medical care is in high demand. They're also currently focused on providing clean drinking water to the people of Palestine. That said, so is food, and shelter, and winter clothing. Pick a need, find a charity, and toss them some money.

TW: Call out post, drama

// Damn we were going to keep it quiet and respectful until this point. because like always. Spork, aka Shiloh can't take accountability and Never does anything wrong despite the fact that this is the what? 6th group of people enmass to cut contact with them? Spork we were being quiet about it for YOUR sake. Cause you're a bad person and we wanted to be done with you. But fine. We'll do it your way. We blocked you because you're a toxic person who threatens to harm yourself when we don't comply to you. Not because of a fake wedding rp event. Content and stories under the cut. Long post trigger warning

And because he named dropped us, potentially to potentially insight violence on us. We'll return the favor. We were willing to just soft block and call it a day but then you do this? We knew you were a karen but come on spork. This is low even for you. For those of you that don't know, Spork aka:

patchiesdoodles, decipheringmadness, cxpescxwlsandcrxmes, ifyouwouldloveme, thegreeksknewthescore, fxllen-cne, thxpatriarch, unforgivendivine, AND the-blackened-dove.

Likes to block evade, exhibit controlling tendencies towards their rp partners, leverage marginalization's to groups that he doesn't belong to to white knight and get his way, tone police, sexually harass people mainly on voice call, guilt trip, bully those that speak out against him, use his partners to harass people who block him, vague posts, gives ultimatums, and threaten self harm when he doesn't get his way.

Lets get this out of the way, My experience with spork

I met spork in the muntain june 2023. And it was one of the most grating experience of my life. At every chance they got they spoke over people, talked openly about their sexual trauma when no one has consented to hearing it. And tone policed me, a cambodian/afro indigenous person from baltimore, for using language that was "Offensive to black people." Only to then lay off after yelling at me for a few minutes. When he found out I was black. (Screen shot of me talking to the mod of the muntain afterwards)

I was off put, and upset. That someone who is this complexion

is tone policing me, AN AFRO INDIGENOUS PERSON WHEN I MAKE NO ATTEMPTS TO HIDE IT. IM BLACK.

But seeing as we're a vastly neuro divergent community. I forgave and forgot because it wasn't worth the fight. it didn't stop them from constantly bringing up sexual or traumatic topics. But at the very least. They were upset at me for using AAVE and saying the N word. A SLUR I CAN USE.

But then later down the line. I talked to the muntain mod about introducing my partners to the rp community and to help the transition go smoothly.

I EVEN WENT INTO VOICE CALL AND BEGGED THEM, SPORK SPECIFICALLY. TO BE ON THEIR BEST BEHAVIOUR.

My girlfriend joined on the 30th and my boyfriend joined on the first.

During the first call on the 30th. Spork dominated the conversation and flirted with my girlfriend infront of me upon finding out we were polyamourus. But for the most part was respectful.

On the voice call on the second. They were racist and immflamatory to my boyfriend. Tao. A native mexican man. Spork claims to be indigenous themself but I have no proof of this. But as we all know, Abrahamic religions have decimated the indigenous populations and caused Alot of harm.

On voice call. Spork brings up their LITERAL JESUS CHRIST muse. And talks about their religious trauma. Tao, also talks about his in the form of a joke. "Oh Jesus sure liked to wash feet huh?" A TRUE FACT. NOT THAT BAD. WE ALL HAVE MADE FUN OF IT.

Here comes white knight Spork, yelling at my partner to not make fun of jewish traditions. Its insensitive and blastephemous. Only to then dominate the conversation to talk about their trans jesus muse who openly talks about being abused by god

(Recap of the voice call i had with the mod)

So spork, a white passing person AT BEST, told my darker complexion NATIVE MEXICAN BOYFRIEND. That he shouldn't make jokes about judaism? When spork is a white satanist? And all abrahamic religions not just Catholicism has caused damage to our populations? You didn't even let him say more then that one joke, you didn't even give him 10 seconds to say is name before dominating the conversation again

Sweetie. 1.) Anyone can criticize and make fun of the bible, the torah, or the Quran. 2.) SAYING JESUS WASHED FEET. WHICH IS TRUE. IS NOT AS INFLAMMATORY. As making a gay trans jesus blog AS A ROLEPLAY CHARACTER. To talk about how god abused him.

And these are just my personal experiences with spork.

WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THEIR FRIEND POLITELY ASKED TO STOP SHIPPING BUT STILL BE FRIENDS?

HMMM. THATS WEIRD. THATS A PRETTY POLITE WAY TO GO ABOUT HAVING A CONVERSATION. BECAUSE CONSENT TAKES TWO PARTIES. WHAT WAS YOUR RESPONSE TO ONE PARTY NOT CONSENTING SO YOU DONT GET YOUR WAY?

OH YEAH.

YOU VAGUE POST ON THE DASH, GUILT TRIP PEOPLE FOR STILL ASSOCIATED WITH VOID (gin-n-chthonic) and get upset when you saw them on your dash because you keep block evading them to see if they were talking about you. YOURE MENTAL HEALTH WAS MESSED UP BECAUSE YOUR FRIEND HAD A POLITE CONVERSATION WITH YOU? ABOUT NOT REAL CHARACTERS? AND YOUR RESPONSE WAS A PUBLIC CALL OUT POST. And then you go around to people like slurk.

Who've you've been codependently abusing for a long time. And try to guilt trip them into blocking void.

Because thats a sound response. AS WELL AS BITCH AND MOAN ABOUT IT IN CALL FOR DAYS. THIS ISN'T EVEN INCLUDING THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE A HABIT OF GETTING YOUR FRIENDS AND PARTNERS TO ATTACK AND OSTRICIZE PEOPLE FOR YOU. Remember when jessica was sick with covid. But you wanted an answer so bad. That you sent your boyfriend after her? CAUSE WE DO.

And how you admitted in voice call that you would type from Boogies account to send people things, speak for him. OR ADMITTED THAT ROLEPLAYING IS A SPIRITUAL THING FOR YOU. How these characters are extension of yourself and if they feel pain or rejected you do? So every time someones muse doesn't want to interact with them. YOU A REAL HUMAN BEING FEEL THE PAIN?

cause we do.

SO LETS RECAP. TLDR;

you give ultimatums

guilt trip

block evade

were openly racist to a mexican indigenous man

hit on my girlfriend infront of me

can't read a room socially

send mobs after people

talk about traumatic shit without peoples consent

overly sexual even when we say we're uncomfortable

fly off the handle and go on public tirades when we try to talk to you, then get surprised when no one wants to talk to you and just quietly exits your life

use your loved ones accounts to talk to people who go nc with you

only white knight and virtue signal when its convenient to you

want to control everyones character and insert your muse into everything but when they don't comply you guilt trip, bitch, give ultimatums, or post publicly about not being loved

you weaponize your marginalization as a trans man but are clearly white passing and command alot of social power from your social media presence

sexually harass people around you

and you tone police the people of color around you when we speak up

WE DIDN'T BLOCK YOU OVER A FAKE RP EVENT. WITH FAKE PEOPLE THAT YOU INSIST ARE REAL. WE REFUSE TO BE AROUND YOU BECAUSE YOU REFUSE TO GET HELP FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH. WE BEGGED YOU TO. AND YOU GUILT TRIP PEOPLE WITH THREATS OF OSTRICHCIZATION AND SELF HARM.

YOU'RE A BAD PERSON SPORK.

Idk if you know who Noah Schnapp is but I feel so sad for him. He seems like a sweet kid and The internet has been sending him death threats and trying to get him fired because he’s pro Israel/anti Hamas. Noah is gay and Jewish the two groups Hamas hates the most of course he’s not gonna support them

Hi Nonnie!

I do know who Noah is. I think he seems like a nice guy, I was really happy for him when he was able to come out as gay, and get such a positive reaction, first from his family, then from the public.

He visited Israel back in July, almost 3 months before Oct 7, and already he was getting attacked simply for that. I think it's SICK in the worst way possible, that Jewish people are getting harassed for even simply visiting their ancestral land, and it's the kind of racism we wouldn't see turned on ANY other marginalized group in the US. Kids of Mexican descent don't get attacked simply for visiting Mexico, African Americans don't get vilified for visting Africa, no matter what people think of these countries. It's anti-Jewish racism to do this to Jews, and it should be loudly called out and condemned. Noah was brave to post about this visit, he was brave to explicitly say he had never felt as alive as he did visiting his ancestral land, and getting to know fellow young Jews here, but he shouldn't have to be.

By now, however, as the attacks on him intensified since Hamas' massacre, and Noah's continued support for Israel, of native Jewish rights in our land, and calling out Hamas for being the vile organization they are (you're right, it is vile to Jews AND to gay people. In fact, it's an organization that should be vile to ANYONE who claims to care about human rights), he's deleted most of his posts from his visit here on his IG, only one remains, and he removed the caption for that one, which is that one that IIRC said he's never felt more alive. Now there's no caption, and it's still apparently taking a lot out of him to simply keep it up on his account.

He did try to backtrack, IDK to what a degree he might have been pressured to. He's certainly not the first Jewish celeb I've seen having to do that, and later admitting they were motivated by fear and harssment. The "kind" anti-Israel crowd is definitely implying Noah is only doing it due to Stranger Things' new season which is about to be released. I'm afraid whatever the reason, he's about to find out that if the antisemites can't tokenize you to use you against other Jews, then you're forever a "bad Jew," and nothing you say will ever change that. On the way, I guess he'll disappoint many Jewish followers, who looked up to him when he was one of the few celebs, even more so one of a handful of young celebs, to stand by Israel. The anti-Israel crowd claims to be persecuted, silenced and bullied, but as far as I can tell, especially with young people like him, they're the ones doing the persecuting, silencing and bullying. I'm really saddened that he felt he had to backtrack his support of Israel, to a great degree because it tells me just how severe the attack and pressure on him must be, and I just don't want any Jew to suffer.

But this actually brings me to another, maybe more important point: just because celebrities have a bigger stage than the rest of us, it doesn't mean they know more about politics than others. If Noah, as a Jew, could safely speak about his experiences as a young Jewish man, I think that would be fantastic, just like I think it's great whenever a queer celeb comes out of their own accord and shares some of their experiences. It's a really sad thing to realize that in 2024, it's safer to talk about being gay, and to speak up for gay rights, than to be Jewish and speak against antisemitism, or about Jewish experiences, or for Jewish rights. But beyond sharing personal experiences, celebrities don't understand a conflict as complex as the Israeli-Arab one, and with as much history as this one has, more than the average Tiktoker. Neither one is an authority, and neither one should be who people go to for their political views. The fact that people look at Tiktokers as any kind of authority, or have expectations from celebs regarding political views and bully them for the "wrong" ones (based on what Tiktokers said) is a part of what has gone horribly wrong with modern society.

The internet was supposed to help us fight misinformation through the availability of facts. Instead, we see repeatedly how what is true falls prey to what is viral.

Sending big hugs, and I hope you're doing good! xoxox

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

Goth-Pod Ep 2: Dick Grayson

Welcome Back to Goth-Pod with Juda Boone!

(Despite the technical difficulties and change of format, we continue on! Gothamites are stubborn in that way.)

[goth-pod is a fictional in-universe podcast based on the DC comics universe. Juda Boone is an original fictional character, not based on any real person or known comic book character. The mentioned true crime podcast, "Gotham City's Best" is not a real podcast, that I know of.]

Transcript under the cut

Hello everyone and welcome back to Goth-Pod, your Gotham Based podcast! I am your favorite queer-as-in-strange host Juda Boone.

Today we are discussing a hot topic in our city. And I’d like for it to be known that a lesser host would make a “Emphasis on HOT” joke here. 

I come bearing bad news, everyone. We have lost one of our beloved Gotham citizens to the big city in the sky. 

Wait-no, sorry that was a total typo of my script. We lost a beloved citizen to the small city up the river. Don't know how those got mixed up. For those of you in the know, you probably have guessed that I am talking about Dick Grayson-Wayne’s recent move to our other sister city, Bludhaven. 

Dick Grayson is one of those names that any Gothamite paying attention will recognize. But for our non-native listeners, here's a quick run down.

Dick Grayson-Wayne is the adoptive son of Bruce Wayne. And if you don’t know who Bruce Wayne is, I’m sorry I can't help you. I don't- I don’t even know how you found this podcast if that’s the case. 

Now, I hear the word “nepotism” thrown around a lot when talking about Wayne’s Ward. But let us not forget that Grayson is a trained aerialist performer. He’s been doing insane stunts since he was a kid. Grayson was a talented, hard working kid who grew up into a talented adult. Though he does seem to be following Wayne footsteps in being something of a pretty playboy. And you know what? Good for him. 

If you’re curious about how Grayson came to the care of Bruce Wayne, feel free to check out my colleagues and close friends at Gotham City’s Best: A True Crime Podcast.

No matter where Grayson came from, or where he is going now, he is a beloved son of Gotham and we will definitely miss him. 

Grayson is not a Gotham-native, but Gotham has claimed him all the same. Tragedy, perseverance and finding your own family follow nobody the way it follows a true child of Gotham. 

All I have to say is: Good luck Bludhaven. You got a Wayne coming your way.

Thanks for joining! I’m Juda, you’re listening to Goth-Pod. Until next time, stay safe, Gotham.

I invite everybody who took the other users side in that situation to find me a single situation where I was fatphobic and or went out of my way to be cruel or malicious to another user. After these crickets end, I'd like to invite the OP to prove that my reblog asking what their post means caused them hundreds of harassing messages in mere minutes, like they claimed. I will wait.

They posted one single message they got, from a person who wasn't a follower of mine and who responded to them after another user reblogged their post, which was confirmed by that other user. Before they closed their replies and closed themselves in an echochamber of people agreeing with them, I checked the notes a final time and though they did get criticism, as did I (and you all do know I listen to you and hear you and am always, ALWAYS open to conversation), those hundreds of messages of hate were nowhere to be seen.

Do you know why I know for sure they're lying about getting soooooooo much hate because of me? First of all, I've never cultivated a bullying culture on my blog. My followers can attest to that. I never supported users brigading for me. I don't have a cult following either way, but you can say I even discourage brigading. I always ask my followers not to fight others on my behalf. Not that it's necessary, because no one can say I get into drama often. Since making this blog, I can count maybe 5 situations that would be considered 'situations' to begin with. I don't have fans. I have bloggers that enjoy the content I post.

But secondly and more conclusively easily proven with numbers, I simply don't have that reach, nor do I have that many followers who are both active and fatphobic. I don't support fatphobia. I spoke out against fatphobia on this site. I've experienced it myself and I know how hurtful it is. My activity for this blog is abysmal due to me all but abandoning OTID in throes of my mental health battles. My posts get maybe 300 notes in total, over a 1000 if they're a hit reblog but that's it.

Hundreds of hate messages in minutes? Very unlikely. I'm not ashamed to admit OTID isn't what it used to be and that's completely on me and it's completely fine. My struggles stopped me from giving you the best possible OTID experience that you could've gotten and I feel very sorry for that, but I can be realistic and admit that this blog is just not that active anymore, and that's okay. All things die out with time. Lying on me wont change the facts that you're lying.

I also invite the people who say I should've known better and that my intent was unclear in asking the question, to explain about what I should have known better and to prove I was somehow malicious. Why would I be malicious? Why would I attack OP in the way they claim I did? When do I ever do that? How does that even make sense? You can still go through the notes and see that after I asked them for an explanation, nobody attacked them. You can also see that the OP went out of their way to attack me, while they explained calmly to another user what they meant.

What makes us different? Neither one of us understood. I can't read tones online, neither can that other user. I also am not a native speaker, so I sometimes get things wrong, hence why I asked. Why do they deserve kindness and I am accused of ill-intent for asking the same thing? Their replies and notes were off. I couldn't see the replies. This isn't Twitter. If you close those things off, other users don't see them and can't know you've made them. Why would anyone post things publicly but not expect a public response from anyone else?

I'd understand if I was attacking OP and they reacted like this, but I wasn't. My response wasn't malicious. I asked the source to explain, because I didn't understand. How is that malicious? To the people who say they see their point, please explain, because I do not see it and I really want to know. How is me genuinely asking what something that I don't understand means malicious? Even after publicly saying that I actually agree with a lot of things they said on their blog about fatphobia and so on. Supporting the cause? Understanding their points? Agreeing? I'm malicious?

I would also like to invite the people who claim I asked them in a known and rude/malicious meme format kind of way to prove that I did that. I did not know of this meme you speak of, but after checking for it online and finding the "well-known meme format" that was mentioned (which wasn't that well-known since I've never heard of it), my wording was not the same. It wasn't even close. So this argument, how can you claim it to be true?

And lastly, can anyone sincerely tell me how does it make sense for me to suddenly have a complete personality change, decide to reblog something to troll a user I don't even know just to be cruel to them, suddenly be malicious and fatphobic and be a completely different person that you all have known me to be for the past six years? If that was really who I am, wouldn't have the masked slipped way sooner? Why would I pretend to be not a complete POS all this time to have "What does this mean?" hill to die on? This is silly.

I wasn't being fatphobic. I wasn't mocking OP. I wasn't attacking OP. I wasn't being 'snarky'. I simply asked them what something they said meant, because I didn't understand what they meant. My brain wasn't computing. I didn't get their wording. I stumbled upon their post on the explore page, and wasn't seeking them out to antagonize them or anything else they might have claimed. I don't like hurting people. I don't go out of my way to hurt people. If I do hurt somebody I want to do everything in my power to correct it.

My followers weren't harassing them after that question. The OP didn't receive hundreds of hate messages after that question. OP is lying and it's easily to prove that they are. I don't know why they're lying and I'm not willing to get into that because I can't even assume, but one thing is clear - OP had a disproportionate reaction to a question that shouldn't have warranted such a reply. They doubled down and continued claiming victimhood in a situation where they haven't been victimized.

I genuinely feel sorry for them. I believe they've been victimized before. I know this sounds patronizing, but I really do feel sorry for them. I just don't appreciate that they've decided to do a victim cosplay over this and tried to villainize me for asking this question:

Ending this with my final thoughts: fatphobia is real and hurts people. I don't support fatphobia. I don't stand for it. I've met a lot of fatphobes in my life and all of them were deeply hurtful and insecure people who took out their insecurities on others. Here on OTID we don't vibe with shaming people for their weight nor for how they look. Fat people are people. Skinny people are people. We're all the same on the inside, bones and organs. What matters is how we treat others. I want to spend my days treating others with kindness and receiving kindness back. I like putting smiles on people's faces, not hurting others. I do get it wrong sometimes, and I acknowledge that, but I always try to correct myself, learn and be a better person. I admit when I'm wrong.

If this is my hill to die on, then so be it. But I promise you that I did not reblog OP's post and asked that question to make fun of them or invite harassment to them. I can't believe I even have to repeat this so many times, but I was asking because I didn't understand. I stand behind everything I've said. If your claim to fame is trying to fight me, you highly overestimate how many active followers I have and the kind of community you'll find here. If you want to cancel me for being fatphobic, I'm sorry to say but the only person I've ever been cruel to and who I've bodyshamed was my own self.

Speaking of the Senshi/Shitennou pairs. I was kind of curious why those stones in particular, right. Kunzite and zoisite are so unusual that I think only gemstone aficionados know them, and even though jadeite and nephrite are somewhat more commonly known names IIRC it still made people mess up the mineral names back in the day.

Well, uh, so, it was alleged that Takeuchi-sensei chose them to match the character and personalities of the senshi they're partnered with, so... Excuse me while I go overthink this and have a meltdown in suffering.

In the first place, supposedly the "inner senshi" are officially meant to be called "guardians"/"guardian deities" (守護 or 守護神). Haven't seen the raws, so I can't confirm, but that's what the JP media says. The term "Shitennou", as many are already aware of, are originally a term used to refer to a set of 4 Buddhist guardian deities.

If true then it just feels like they're all intended to be perfectly matching sets from the start, and it just never made it into the story.

I read that Sailor Moon was originally meant to just end with the Dark Kingdom plot, so maybe sensei intended to have a Romeo and Juliet sad ending where everyone just dies in the end?

These are all based on Japanese gemology guides (same as what I used to research for the Shitennou knight titles), since I imagine it's more likely to be the one Takeuchi-sensei had access to. These may differ from international ones.

(Warning: Long post)

In the manga sensei specified that the zoisite is the blue one, that's also known as "tanzanite". The blue variety of zoisite, among other things, means "calm and intelligence".

The connection to Ami/Mercury's character is very straightforward and obvious.

In terms of romance, a zoisite also means "subdued expressions of love". It really makes me think of how gentle this pair looks in the splash art sensei drew.

Kunzite means "premonition of a lover". It's specifically oh dang when I saw this because Minako was "special" among the senshi in the way that her character vibes are based on "love" (because Venus, goddess of love), rather than the original elemental name attached to the planet. It fits enough to make you pause and wonder if this it truly a coincidence.

The planet venus originally has the element of "gold/metal". The gold is reflected in her design somewhat, but her senshi identity is more related to "love". The other girls' names matches their planets' element names. E.g Jupiter = mokusei = wood, Ki(no) = wood/tree. Mercury = suisei = water, Mizu(no) = water.

Also Venus's relationship with Kunzite ended up being the one who got the most hints actually shown in the manga, so... I do wonder.

The two jades are less overly specific like this, especially Nephrite, but well.

Jadeite is the native jade from Japan, and has been long used to make magatama since ancient times. As such it's always seen as a deeply spiritual stone, that can protect against and/or ward off evil. A perfect match for Rei, who is a miko. One wonders if sensei chose the stone because of Rei being a miko, or if she made Rei a miko after choosing this name for the one matched with her.

Edit: Japanese Wiki claims Rei being a miko was based on Takeuchi-sensei's personal experience as a part time miko. So then Jadeite had to have been named/chosen to fit her, if this theory is true.

Not to mention that Akuryou Taisan, the evil-banishing spell, is something that she uses quite often.

Nephrite is the most confusing one here, because I'm not really able to find the connection. That's why I initially had strong doubts about the rumour/claim about the gemstone names' connection to the senshi.

In the gemology guide that I referenced, its meaning is "charm of maturity". I suppose Mako has always felt like she's older than the other girls, because her hobbies (cooking and home decor) feels really motherly.

Other than that and the stone being a deep green colour similar to Jupiter's senshi outfit I'm not entirely sure. (in the manga, sensei says nephrites are "always deep green" even though IRL that's not the case)

----

Just my additional comments after reading everything that I did:

In terms of colour, I like to think Jadeite is a red jade. Not just to match Rei, but in the manga Jadeite's stone is always coloured the darkest (it's almost all-black). Of all the various jades, red is one of the darker-toned ones.

The shading can be arbitrary, especially if sensei was just tracing from reference photos. Dark green jadeite also exist, so for all I know this is intended to be green too.

But if I use the logic that the stones are matched with the girls' character, I think red just fits the best. In gemstone language the red jade means "tenacity" and "willpower". Green jades tends to be associated with things like harmony, prosperity, luck, and so on. It doesn't feel very Rei-like.

Also, the nephrite jade being a "soft jade", it's associated with very cuddly meanings such as "warm" or "gentle", which makes me laugh even more than the "wisdom" one.

Unless, again, these words are more attached to the matching girls' character, rather than the guy in question, because yes I think Mako is definitely very warm and gentle and fluffy and very huggable.

Although other-coloured zoisite varieties were said to have different meaning, it looks like blue is the predominant zoisite colour in Japan. A lot of Japanese gem sites tend to automatically just say "it's blue" while describing zoisite, even though there's obviously other colours out there.

Sensei did specify it's "blue zoisite, a.k.a tanzanite" in the manga, so I think she's aware of the other colours having different meanings attached. Some articles also had mentioned Takeuchi-sensei's family runs a jewellery store?

I wonder if this is why Crystal went with the gemstone's healing properties for Zoi's title though, because the gemstone words overlaps too much with Mercury in a very in-the-face way. The other meanings are Hope, Mystery, Pride, and Noble, and maybe those don't make very good title names? Like, the only viable one is probably Hope, though I feel like it would be even more confusing if Crystal said Zoi is the "Knight of Hope" or whatever.

Another thing about Kunzite is that its meaning also include "pure and everlasting love", but the website caveated this that this is a saintly kind of love (for the gem's association with Holy Mother Mary). So it's not necessarily something to get overly excited about in terms of SenShi headcanoning, but, well, it's there.

"Shitennou" in Japanese pop culture is generally used to just mean "4 very important people", so it didn't have to actually mean anything. Like, a few samurai in history had their "shitennou", who are just the best 4 generals serving under them. Most famous being the Tokugawa shitennou, but other samurai lords actually have their own so-called shitennou. It's just that if the senshi are officially named "Guardians", then this changes the context.

"if she doesn't want to associate with the community that's fine... but she doesn't get to speak for a community you reject."

then the first person you should tell this to is LO, because for years this woman has actively rejected consider herself as part of the community or even reaching out to anyone in that community. why do you think there aren't really any Natives who have ever come out to speak in defense of LO? none that wasn't an "anon" impossible to verify, that is. there are actual Native people who have seen what she does with that "heritage" and calle it out. 2. "she should have informed community leaders and walk away".

this... this is just the most terminally online take ever. did you send this again, LO? i think you did, because this is just another variant of "if i did anything that bad, then call the cops". let's put it this way: 1. why anyone would think to talk with community leaders of a community you aren't part of about some z-list tier youtube critic with a brownfacing rantsona? and 2. honest question, what exactly do you want those community leaders to do about a z-liest tier youtube critic with a brownfacing rantsona that they have never met or have any knowledge of or has enough of a big influence? do you all think LO is the first, the second or even the third person to claim to be Cherokee in the internet? do you all seriously think they're going to go out of their way to do something for each time that happens? actual Native people, especially the ones responsible for holding their communities together, have better things to do than caring about any of this. i'm not surprised that LO doesn't know or care about any of that because she has never cared before, so why start now. gygas later is going to agree with me, so what exactly is even your point here, "anon" or LO, since LO apparently shares that point of view? 3. "her pulling her i am very badass bitch" i have trouble remembering. maybe some of the people reading this can help me. who was the person who was advicing kids to grab the heaviest object they could find and cave in the skulls of their bullies? who was the person who said she wanted to grab rowling and christie goldstein golden to beat them to death with a rock in a video? who was the person who said she send a "stalker" to the hospital and got a concussion a result, but never got any medical attention for it? who was the one who said she stabbed a MAGA guy in the streets and later published pictures of her pristine, blood free, like it had never been touched before, knife in tumblr? who was the one who openly said that she hoped the skull of her ex Lizzy would cave in? what sister was that was bragging for years about punching the other fifteen times in the gut to leave them crying in the floor? who was the one who made up a story about giving out free tampons to the girls in her highschool... because for some reason they thought that made them cool rather than extremely creepy? i know that wasn't Courtney. but i can't remember who it was. i'm sure it will come to me eventually. 4. "other trans women." what trans women? you? okay, that is one. she apologized for misgendering you and saying transphobic things when she first knew about you. you're free to never forgive her for that, of course, but she never repeated that ever again and she has tried to respect your gender and pronouns just like the rest of us. but you're also her sister, one of her abusers and the one who is currently also erasing the abuse that had nothing to do with you, so i think that's good enough of a reason for her to talk about you, trans woman or not. there's also P. the trans woman that you spend years lying about and making gross insinuations about her and her child before anyone ever find out what their relationship was actually like, so the only reason you actually had to say any of it was because she responded to your lies and talked about you. that same trans woman you also doxxed her irl workplace when you heard a unconfirmed rumour from anons that she had showed Courtney's nudes to people. that same trans woman that Courtney has been speaking out as been sexually harassing her since the moment they met practically and currently is trying to paint Courtney as abusive. i'm going to go ahead and assume that you don't really care about her. you were the one revealing her real life information, not Courtney. you were the one saying "ominous" about a trans woman you didn't really know when you found out that she was a parent.

as if trans woman don't have enough false accusations of being a danger to kids. you never had a single good thing to say about P, so let's take her out of the way. which other trans women is he targeting, LO? where are they, LO? if they're such helpless victims of the evil Courtney, wouldn't you want them to get all the support that they can get? so why you're hiding them? are you really going to enable the evil Courtney to keep harming all those innocent trans women who "never did a damn thing wrong" in their entire lives? according to you, who can blame a six year old for not speaking out about your abuse, then that makes you just as bad as Courtney. just like you stayed quiet when you let an actual predator prey on your underaged audience and we begged you for days to do something about it. 5. "partake in white supremacist rethoric." white supremacist do not care about the heritage of Native people, LO. they think their culture is inferior and should be erased, replaced by their superior cultures. they think any signifier of their culture, like their language, their land and their traditions, are garbage to be disposed of. that's your opinion about them, LO. that's what you have said and acted as for years. now, i'm not calling you a white supremacist. i'm calling you a racist white person. that's a difference. 6. i forgot to mark this, but "it was difficult for me because i was both grieving and being introduced to a bunch of new people who i am always nervous about" i know i already used this meme but...

i think you had a slip there, LO. you keep blaming your parents for why you couldn't form any kind of relationship to those people. that excuse could fly when you're a kid that lives under their roof and has limited range of action. not when you're a fully grown woman living on your own... well... "on your own" is a bit of a stretch, considering you very much still count with daddy's money to keep you afloat when your poorly through out videos flop. but you don't live with them. you could have contacted those people on your own, nobody was stopping you. nothing but your own racist notion that being claimed by the Nation somehow meant being forced to live in a "ghetto" reservation the rest of your life. and yet you didn't. Courtney has kept in contact with your aunt. the aunt who is dissapointed in you and wants nothing to do with you. funny how you completely glossed over that, huh?

7. "i have a lot more reason to hate people in the family." you alone decided that he was lying about being raped by your older brother and told to "get over it" by your parents, LO. you alone decided that because that's an easier narrative that both discredit Courtney talking about the abuse you inflicted on him, but also keep the good relationship you want with the transphobic brother who wished you died in order to prey on his children. especially that 6 year old niece. i bet she being that young brings you memories of when Courtney was that same age, doesn't it?

8. "i barely know my grandparents or my aunt or uncles specifically because i was kept away from them so my parent's abuse wasn't discovered." so what is your excuse now? as a 30 year old woman, what is your excuse to not even message your aunt, the only claimed by a Nation relative you have left alive? or you're going to made up they left you another "family heirloom" just after they die, like you did for your grandpa? Courtney has kept in contact with them, despite not wanting anything to do with the rest of the family. it's really that easy. you could always reach out, you have been able to since daddy got you a new house just so you could stop living under his roof. it's okay, LO. you don't pretend to care about a community of people you obviously don't. just say that your "reclaiming heritage" is your burning sage in your room and buying dreamcatchers. that you have no intention of ever being part of their culture. just say already that you think their culture is trash and it's only good as a flee market to pick and chose the part you like. it's what you already imply with the way you act, might as well stop being a coward and be open about it.

9. "my niece and nephew." the more you keep remarking how much you had to endure in order to be close to those children, the more disturbed i get. is it really worth it, LO? having a 6 year old little girl to trust you is really worth forgiving the father who beat you until you were 15, the brother who is transphobic to you to this day and the mother who saw it all and let it happen? is your "love" for little girls that great? i'd say that Courtney really did a number on you, but that would imply that Courtney actually did anything for you to obsess over him even now. you just keep searching for a replacement, just like in your writing, you keep holding to that thought that one day, someway, somehow, you'll finally have that incest lesbian relationship you think Disney gave you in Frozen. don't think i forgot how you also sometimes ship aunts/uncles with their nieces. 10. "she'll get hurt doing it." now, who is the one pretending to be a badass? 11. "i was a pretty disturbed teenager all those years ago." and you have taken absolutely zero accountability or responsability for none of that for decades at this point. you keep blaming your teenage years in writing stockholm (when you aren't lying that other people edited to make you look worse), but you were an adult already when writing about rainbow fantasizing with 14 year old Courtneys, i mean characters. when you do try to talk about being a teenage, you try so desperately to try to make you seem like an untouchable badass that was so cool, knew better than everyone and went unappreciated for so long. a part of me understand that when you were actually an outcast with no friends, that kind of narrative can be comforting, even if nobody actually believes on them. i imagine it must feel great to pretend you always knew everything, including homework, was abuse, because admit that once you were an innocent kid who couldn't understand what was happening is scary. it's scary to admit that someone took advantage of you being so small and then don't have any idea of what to do about it. it's admit that you were vulnerable, helpless and completely powerless. nobody blames you for that. unlike you blaming 6 year old Courtney about not speaking for the abuse you went through, and that he didn't really know about, we do understand that kids should never be responsible for stopping the abuse that awful adults decided to inflict on them.

but you did had a choice to not hurt other people. no amount of abuse you ever went through would make it okay that you kept going to until you were physically unabled to. Courtney has come to terms with what he did because of his trauma and openly admits it. you can't even do that, and not happy with that alone, erase the abuse that had nothing to do with you. because Courtney hates the family for no reason, right? there's no reason for why she'd decide to go no contact for years? there's no reason for why she wouldn't go to your grandpa's funeral? his rapist and enablers being there couldn't ever be a reason.

10. ngl, the way you just keep harping on the runaway boyfriend of Courtney as the main reason why Courtney is supposedly bitter with his life is so weird... couldn't be that you were that jelous of that boyfriend, LO? because they took your "baby sister" away from you? or maybe because, unlike you, that boyfriend did had consent to touch him without him being knocked out? because Courtney was actually happy with him? because it was thanks to him that Courtney was able to lose contact with all of you? Courtney's version of the story is that she's just grateful to being able to get out of that house and i believe him. but it does feel to me like that boyfriend only accelerated what was going to happen anyway. Courtney was always going to cut ties with all of you. he was never going to forgive you for hurting him the way you did. you were never going to find understanding or being told that it was okay, you're not a bad person for molesting and trying to coerce your sibling into commiting incest for almost a decade. even if that boyfriend never existed, you were never going to unlock her door again. but you don't realize that, so you keep building this narrative that decision destroyed the rest of her life and now, as a 30 year old person, Courtney can't stand it. just so you feel better thinking that somehow she'd be better if she just stayed with that family. Courtney took the very first chance he had to abandon you, he was glad to do so. the saddest part is that you still refuse to understand you were part of the reason why that happened. you drove your sibling away, LO. not that boyfriend. 12. gygas literally said it there: Courtney has been in contact with your aunt. you don't. this "internet drama" is you stealing from their culture and claiming an identity that has nothing to do with you. you never even attempted to reach out to those people and you admit it alone here.

Can't let you know he's a puppet | P2

*Scaramouche x reader*

Summary: Scaramouche/Wanderer is injured seriously after a mission but refuses to let you help him because the last thing he wants is to let you find out he's heartless puppet.

Note: This happened after Sumeru archon quest, so no one remember "Scaramouche" as a villain who tried to rule over Sumeru anymore. But I still use the name Scaramouche because it feels more familiar for me. And I'm not a English native speaker so I'm really sorry (in advance) for any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Part 1 | Part 2 (end)

You are overreacting

Clenching your fist, the sudden spurt of unnamed emotion rises in you while you stand still in front of the shutting door. You weren't even given a chance to respond or explain yourself. The words that he threw at you, the troubled expression on his face that you saw right before the door was shut replay in your mind like a record.

You are overreacting

What if I really am overreacting? Gods know how desperately you want to excuse your behaviors by saying it's because you were worried about him. But deeply, you know that you have crossed the line. 

You claim to be his friend and as you can remember, Scaramouche has never once corrected you when you referred to yourself as "his friend" or "his companion". He is never the nicest or sweetest person, in fact, people are more likely to consider him rude and mean because of his cruel words. However, it's never something that bothers you. Scaramouche might say mean things and be stubborn but you know that is just his way to word it because, despite all the impolite things he had said to you, he protects you, listens to you, and goes along with whatever you want.

Maybe this is why you started to think that if you keep on pleading with him a bit longer he will definitely give in and let you take care of him. The moment Scaramouche looked at you in annoyance, you knew you fucked up this time.

When you are lost in your thoughts, Scaramouche, on the other side of the door, wonders why you haven't left yet. It would be a lie if he said he didn't feel happy seeing you concerned about him. It would be a worse lie if he said he felt just fine after shutting the door right in your face. It must be so much better if you just leave already. 

That's a lie obviously. He wants you to stay even when he told you to leave. 

He hears the sound of footsteps, smaller and smaller then fade away. Scaramouche assumes you run out of patience for him. 

Well, nothing new, he really screwed up here. He wishes he could just admit to you that he is a puppet.

After a while when he finished treating his wound, he hesitantly opens the door just to see no one. He sighs defeatedly. 

"Fuck you Scara!" 

Your loud yet pleasant voice successfully catches him off guard. You use all your muscle strength to push him back into his hostel then pin him down to the floor. You intertwine your fingers with his, and stare directly into him, leaving Scaramouche speechless.

He intends to say something but looking at your face, he stops himself.

Your eyes are now leaking acid rain.

"Sorry" You say quietly.

"After you knocked me out onto the floor?" He didn't mean anything rude this time, he said it in a rather impressive tone. You look hot, Scaramouche thinks. 

"Yes, this is the only way I can think of. I'm sorry for forcing you to do what you don't want to. I don't want to excuse my unthoughtful and careless behaviors but I swear I mean no harm!!! And by the way, I bought some food and medicine in case you need them." The more you speak the louder you cry. Scaramouche can tell you're trying your best to muffle your hiccups. He doesn't dare to look away from your watery eyes while feeling your hot tears fall on his cold, lifeless puppet skin.

Do you notice how abnormally cold he is? He questions as he tightens your hands. Because of surreal moments like this, he gets more uncertain about how to tell you the truth about his identity. 

Right now, Scaramouche feels a sense of panic, he doesn't know what to do or say. He has never comforted anyone, he wasn't as well taught to say sweet and kind things to people. 

"Okay okay, it's okay. I get it so stop, your tears will make my clothes dirty." It doesn't work, you still cry uncontrollably. 

Scaramouche hesitates for a moment.

"It's not your fault." he says, avoiding your gaze.

 "I should not have said those things." He trails off in embarrassment and guilt, a catch in his throat. 

"Sorry" he mouths. 

His eyes meet yours. Scaramouche quickly turns his head away.

"Scara" You softly whisper.

"W-what?" He responds

"You're blushing" 

"What?! A-are you blind? What a pity that now your stupid head becomes delusional" 

"You're still blushing Scara"

"Fuck you y/n" He says out of frustration.

"The Starless World" review

Novel from 1978, by Gordon Eklund. It begins with Kirk reading "War and Peace" in bed, when he gets a call from Spock: they've found a lone shuttlecraft, with a man inside who claims to be Jesus Christ. Okay, you got me hooked! I found this novel quite enjoyable and it kept my interest at all times. It's also well-written, and offers a rare glimpse in the characters' private lives from time to time. My main complaint is that the ending was way too rushed, as if the author realized he had a limit of pages and had to solve everything quick, with a literal deus ex machina.

Some spoilers under the cut:

Well, it turns out the man inside the shuttlecraft is not Jesus Christ, but Thomas Clayton. A previous roommate of Kirk in the Academy, whom he had to report for cheating at exams. The man feels quite a lot of resentment for Kirk, but he has also turned completely mad since his disappearance many years ago. He claims to be actually dead, and be the envoy of a god, Ay-nab. He's put inside an isolation cell, but escapes after knocking McCoy out (this doesn't stop McCoy from doing what he does best, even with a bandaged head: mill around the bridge to annoy Spock).

The Enterprise is suddenly attracted by an inescapable force, and sucked into a Dyson sphere. This is a massive hollow sphere with a star at its center. Inside, it's like those snow globes, where there's a little world in the middle of the glass ball. Something like that but in giant scale. Upon beaming down with Sulu and Uhura, Kirk finds out the world, called Lyra, is a literal paradise. They also come into contact with the natives of the only village that seems to exist there. The natives insist that the star inside the sphere is their god, Ay-nab, something that Kirk can't believe at first.

It soon becomes apparent that something's rotten in Lyra, though. The natives talk about the Strangers, people that their god claims for himself, to feed on them. They're more active at night, like zombies. Also, the constant vigilance of the star, only interrupted by the brief eclipses caused by the inner world's moons, starts feeling truly as a "God is watching you" situation. A Klingon ship has been trapped inside Lyra too. And the Klingons seem all too friendly with Kirk, and too eager to escape that place. The reason: Lyra is travelling straight into a black hole.

That's as far as the plot goes, which I don't feel the need to spoil any further. It's not particularly original, but it's entertaining. Many things are similar to the TOS episode "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky". I have to give props to the "lady of the day" in this novel, Ola. She's quite likable, brave and useful, and gets to save Kirk (and everyone else) in the end. Ever since Kirk rescued her from a beast, she insists that Kirk is her husband (though he says they're just good friends). She's described as pretty, and Kirk's rejection is probably due to the fact she's written more as a little girl than an adult. Ah! By the way, she's also literally a white-furred chimpanzee, like all the other natives of Lyra.

One thing I liked in this book are those little scenes with the crew, where nothing relevant to the plot is happening, but that flesh them out as persons. Sulu teaches magic tricks with cards to Ola, yet another weird hobby he got into lately. Kirk, McCoy and Uhura are bored in the bridge and start an increasingly absurd debate about the meaning of the phrase "a needle in a haystack" (you know, that kind of conversations that pop out among coworkers when you're tired and bored and becoming a bit unhinged). McCoy tries to tell Spock a riddle, but Spock interrupts him all the time to point out all the inconsistencies in his tale. And it's so obvious he's actually messing with him. Actually, Spock is kind of funny in this book. He's in full logical mode, but with this underlying sarcasm that lets you know he's quite a bitch deep inside. There's also a surprising amount of backstory for Uhura. We learn a lot about her childhood in Senegal and her father (who she gets to meet! well, kind of...). I think that TOS writers in this era had a greater leeway to invent details for the characters, with less constraints from established canon. Unfortunately, the rushed ending doesn't explore the aftermath of Uhura's plot in the novel.

Spirk Meter: 2/10*. Very, very little. But there's one point where Kirk informs Spock that he's going to meet the Klingons alone, and Spock becomes suddenly quite emotional about the danger (as happened in "Devil in the Dark", when Kirk's alone with the horta). In fact, Kirk is disturbed by the emotional display, and says he didn't know about the depth of Spock's feelings on the issue.

Apart from this, Spock leans on McCoy to smell his breath and check if he's drunk. Which, for a Vulcan, suggests an awful lot of familiarity. They're a bit clingy with each other while on the planet, as well.

Also, there's a comedic bit, where Kirk wakes up in sickbay after going through hell, and finds Scotty's face, hovering over him, "the most gorgeous sight he had ever witnessed in his life".

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

@highlighteretcigarettes okay so just posting tags separately because that post was getting long and this is now a whole side topic BUT!!! Re: witch-washing.

Bullet points just to organize my thoughts:

Wrt to the marketing of it all, this is something I noticed first in bookstores as someone who used to constantly hang out in the religion sections as a tween. It used to be that in chain bookstores "New Age" was either right next to general religion (aka mostly Christianity and then small spots for everything else), OR one aisle over. Nowadays I've noticed chains like B&N put MUCH more distance between the two areas - like one of my local ones has them in wholly different floors. And it's now "Spirituality" I think? A lot of the category labels seem to no longer say neo-pagan/pagan or even new age, it's just "spirituality" and "astrology."

Actually I think this is very intentional. I think I've seen this in indie bookstores too, but B&N is a definite for this: they shelve next to diet, health, and cookbooks now. Not religion. Keep in mind I grew up in a red state in a heavily Christian area, and back then, new age was still in the same general area as the rest of religion at the local Borders or Walden's or B&N. Now, it's holistic health, diet, exercise, cookbooks, and spirituality.

It doesn't escape me that this is entirely "things we can market as lifestyles that someone can buy into." These publishers clearly broke into the capitalist market and have thrived there. I suspect that for the booksellers and publishers, the distancing from the rest of religion (a "status quo") is intentional. It's like what hot topic is to goth subculture.

Although like you said, I don't think this is limited to chain stores even. I've seen plenty of small new age/spirituality/pagan shops irl, and can't recall a single one that didn't also sell tons of cheap mass produced trinkets, often hyping up their hand crafted quality or the exoticness of the item obtained. Cheap mass produced junk is probably in every religion of course, but yeah, there IS a bigger sense of "buying things" in some religions more than others. Christian evangelicals do this with precious moments figurines and their wall o'crosses decor. Pagans have their own versions of that kind of spiritual consumerism. I do often walk away with the sense that if there was a market population to support it, it would be just as capitalistic and hallmark-y. Lots of shit on Etsy is mass produced and repackaged too.

Idk if it's also free elsewhere off the top of my head, but there's an article you could read free on jstor if you sign up - search "plastic shamanism" and man oh man. 10/10 article about cultural appropriation and mass marketing of indigenous religions to non-natives.

(You probably relate to this sentiment): I am Begging EVERYONE, pagan or not, crystal bitch or otherwise: STOP BUYING LAPIS LAZULI!!!! STOP. WHO EXACTLY DO YOU THINK IS EARNING MONEY FROM MINING IN AFGHANISTAN? PRAY TELL?? Stop buying this one expensive blue rock for your energy aura or whatever.

(Also this one): Also as the child of a parent who grew up in a mining company town, and whose grandfather was a chemist for the company, (and who loved me a shiny rock long before crystal everything): stop buying overpriced rocks constantly. At least CONSIDER how they obtained these particular rocks before you buy them willy nilly. Don't buy 30 million crystals and geodes and whatever else mined and polished and all of that, and then claim to love the environment without any sense of irony. The best and coolest rocks are the ones you find and pick yourself anyways, everyone knows that.

I think this is true of any religious objects but like, the best ones are either personally crafted OR made by small artisans and it just sucks that a lot of small businesses try to pass off their goods as things they actually personally designed (even for factory production) or made, when they didn't do either. I personally have taken a lot of time purchasing/obtaining my permanent basic Judaica for a variety of reasons, my feelings about consumption and things (and Jewish thoughts on craftsmanship and beautiful things), being part of that. I think a lot of people have that struggle, where religious objects so often are kinda...produced like they're just future garbage - again, in any religion.

Hello!

I hope, this message finds you in good health and a pleasant day will follow after it. I guess, I just wanted to say thank you?

I opened your blog thanks to your works (absolutely stunning, by the way; I especially like the way you work with light and how the poses and facial expressions of the characters are fused into a soft mood, an atmosphere of great delicacy, almost elusive magic), but I was struck by what a pleasant, amazing and wonderful person you are besides that.

Of course, I can't claim to know you. But know, that sometimes these glimpses of your personality and worldview in your posts feel as good as a cup of the best coffee in the city you are passing through, like the most affectionate cat in white socks, which you will never see again, but who let you pet him, and like a fantastic song performed by a street musician that disappears the next morning. Something so brief, but beautiful. And at such moments, I believe, you remember, that you love people and love life. So, thank you.

Can only wish for you to stay true to yourself, always find pleasure in creativity and have the opportunity to love and be loved. If sometimes the first one seems difficult – go and find that coffee, that cat, that musician, I know that the beauty in the world will respond to your beauty. If the latter seems impossible, remember that there are probably dozens more people like me – a little bit charmed by you.

I apologize in advance for possible mistakes, I'm not a native speaker.

Goodbye!

Not gonna lie, I don't really want to answer this because I want this in my inbox for ever, so I can look at it anytime I want to, but that's selfish, I need to tell you, Anon, that if you spread this kind of love, this kind of positivity, I need to get back to you, even if I don't know who you are.

Honestly, I don't really know how to answer this message. Anon, this was probably one of the most wholesome, heart felt things I've ever been told. This is just so, so beautiful, and I'm struggling with the fact that I might not have a mental lexicon that I can use to express how this has made me feel. My presence has never been compared to a stray cat allowing you to pet them, or your favorite song perfectly performed for you just once in your life.

You nailed one thing about this, and this is the feeling I constantly attempt to address in people. That's what I want to be, ephemeral joy, someone that made something that made you smile today. I have never told this, like, publicly, but as silly as it may sound, a few years back I used to join to random chats and just talked to people, because I know what it feels to not being able to talk openly to anyone. So I became that anon, that faceles, nameless entity that helped them spill out whatever was stuck in their chests. When they started asking for my socials, I just knew it was time to jump to another random person. Didn't want to be found, didn't want to run into that person anymore because my job was done. Fleeting nice encounter, nothing more.

Your message has just struck me in the best way. Thank you so, so much for your great words and your loving feelings and wishes. Just by the way you write I can see that you're a beautiful soul that know how to find joy and I love that for you, because you too know how to give back that joy you find. That's a talent, and that's beautiful, and that's what keeps my faith alight.

There's good in the world, there's good in people, and this message is proof of that. I will remember that someone thinks of me as the best coffee in town, and as an affectionate stray kitten, as a favourite song, whenever I feel like I am worth nothing. I will remember this.

I will remember you, even if I don't know you.

Thank you so much, I hope you have the best life.

PS: I'm not a native English speaker either, but your message was flawless.

Because I get a lot of ungrateful and cowardish anons regarding Gabriel Guevara. I will say it once and for all. He is NO convicted criminal and I find it absolutely disgusting how you people jump on news, condem a person without even looking into it further. You guys are not above the law!!

I hate using Wikipedia as a source and I strongly recommend reading spanish sources. I am no spanish native speaker but luckily my close friend is. But i know that many of you will not take this extra mile to use a translator or anything when you can't even do 2 clicks to wikipedia.

The case for which he has been arrested in venice was from years back when he was 13. He was accused of the crime by a cousin "who got angry at him". We don't know the details but his mother, who is btw very famous in spain and france, had a slip of tongue and said something about a family-money-drama, I will not go into that because we don't know the family issues for sure and it's none of our business.

What I'm saying, Gabriel Guevara was proven innocent in front of the Spanish Courts back then. And in September 2023, the Italian courts claimed the warrant null and void. The fact that the warrant was still around was an error from the french side.

Amazon looked into the case themselves and decided that Gabriel Guevara is in fact innocent and they even finished filming the last 2 culpa movies a couple days/weeks ago. Do you think they would hire a s*xual offender after you all did the loudest uproar in history?

This is the last time I will say something about this matter. I will continue making gifs of him because you know what? Even Netflix hired him for a show and it will drop these year and I will gif it. Because I don't think I stand above the law of two countries.

From now on, I will block everyone on sight who is clearly too lazy or too full of themselves to educate themselves. You anons clearly only have one goal and that is to drag a content creator down. And you know what? That's sad, YOU are sad and I don't even want you to use my content.

Under read more is a screenshot:

I've honestly been contemplating this post for a long time, both because I've been editing as I've been fleshing him out/characterizing him... and I've just been anxious to. But, well, it's about time I grab this by the horns and put it out there.

Charon headcanons. Let's get at it.

All of these opinions are my own, and I in no way claim them as 'canon'. This is merely my personal rendition/interpretation of the character.

▶ BACKSTORY/FAMILY.

He turned ghoul in his mid-thirties, before the Great War.

His homeland is Ukraine; growing up, he was Khorkov Nikitovich, son of renowned violinist Beletrovia and a father he never knew the identity of. He and his mother immigrated to the United States, promised safety in exchange for his enlistment in the military's super-soldier prototype program.

Much of his initial knowledge of American culture and language is thanks to his stepfather, Russell. Charon still has faint recollections of homeland traditions, but the many years on US soil has dampened them significantly.

Buried deep is his native language; he can't speak anywhere near fluently anymore, but some ekes out here and there (i.e. his pet name for Gail, pchelka), and often times not purposefully.

Like his mother, Charon plays violin. He's not done so for centuries, but it's muscle memory; when he and Gail find the Soil Stradivarius, he plays it with a practiced ease, as if he'd never stopped.

As a teenager (before the program started in earnest), he got a pair of angel wings tattooed to honor his mother, who he viewed as his guardian spirit; aptly enough, even through age and ghoulification, the ink remains, faded and patchy as it is.

▶ ... AND EVERYTHING ELSE.

Without realizing, he sometimes hums The Beatles while he's performing an intuitive task such as cleaning his weaponry. (See his dialogue in which he references 'Happiness is a Warm Gun': "If that is what you wish, then it is what I shall do. I must say, that I find happiness in a warm gun.")

He tends to be rather emotional--quick to temper, prone to holding grudges, but by the same token, is passionate and loyal to a damn fault.

Though he's often dry and flat as he was trained to be, he has a tendency to let slip some snarky shit once in a while. Maybe a joke or two, as a treat (which usually ends up on the darker side of humor).

The massive patches of missing skin and exposed muscle cause him to run a lot colder than most--a big reason he hardly takes off his tops unless absolutely necessary and tends to wear jackets.

His low intelligence score of three does not mean he's unintelligent. Sure, he has nowhere near many others' level of book smarts, but he's plenty wise in other facets: military stratagem, weaponry, survival tactics/skills, etc.

He's grown to accept the whole 'big dumb lapdog bodyguard' visage that many see him as because it keeps people the hell away from him. However, he absolutely detests being treated as one, and he isn't afraid to express that (i.e. his dialogue lines "I'm nobody's errand boy." / "I've saved your sorry ass enough.").

It's very interesting that anti-Zionists claim to be "anti-colonial" given the arguments I routinely see them use against Jews. For years, I've seen them use full scale blood quantum arguments, for one. Most recently, now that we're fully in "Jesus was a Palestinian" season again, I saw a famous economist claim that "Jesus is genetically closer to Palestinians, (particularly Christians) than to Israelis (0 connection to most groups)," which is false to begin with.

Personally, I'm very sensitive to this kind of argument because I'm a ger. These people go after Jews like us very hard because to them we have the wrong DNA and thus undermine Jewish indigeneity, peoplehood, and history. Even if they concede the genetic evidence of born Jews' ancestral origins, they still point at gerim and any of our descendants as the "fake Jews" who don't belong… anywhere, actually. We don't belong in Israel because we're "foreign interlopers," and we don't belong outside of Israel because we had the gall to become Jews.

It's one type of antisemitism I can't seem to numb myself toward.

Hi Nonnie! Thank you for the ask, and my apologies about how long it's taking me to reply these days. Real life is not currently kind... :(

Okay, I had to roll my eyes so hard at that propaganda lie about Jesus. (found the economist in question, love it when someone who is living as a colonizer on stolen Native American land, has the audacity to goysplain a Jewish man to Jews, who support Jewish native rights. There really is no end to how much Jews just don't count to such people, is there?)

And it really is remarkable how many things he could get wrong in just that one part of his tweet...

Jesus was not a Palestinian, he was a Jew.

If you traveled back in time, and wanted to ask him about being Palestinian, you wouldn't be able to speak to Jesus in Arabic, which is the language of the Palestinians as Arabs, you would have to speak to him in either Hebrew or Aramaic (which is so close to ancient Hebrew, that I can speak some Aramaic simply by virtue of being a native Hebrew speaker) for him to understand you. Because he was a Jew.

If you did speak to Jesus in Hebrew or Aramaic, and asked him about being Palestinian, he wouldn't know what you're talking about, because the Romans would only rename the land Provincia Syria Palaestina in 136 AD, over 100 years after his death. Calling Jesus Palestinian is like saying that Chief Powhatan (probably best known as Pocahontas' father) was a Virginian, just because he was born and lived on territory that would later become Virginia. It's anachronistic, blatantly untrue, and totally imposing colonialist inventions on native people.

To the best of my knowledge NO ONE has dug up Jesus' DNA to compare it to ANY group. This is how you can tell that when he gets to that part, this guy is just blatantly making propaganda up.

Israelis are not one group, but Israeli Jews do test close to other Middle Eastern groups, and closest to other Jewish groups from around the world.

I guess, why settle for one bit of bullshit, when you can go for five?

I find it so interesting that you used the term "blood quantum." For non-Americans, who may not know it, here's a short introduction:

A person's Blood Quantum is the fraction of their ancestors, out of their total ancestors, who are documented as full-blood Native Americans. The blood quantum policy was first implemented by the federal government within tribes to limit native citizenship. However, since 1934, tribes were granted the authority/ability to create their own enrollment qualifications.

I find it interesting, because I keep thinking Jews and First Nations have so much in common, as native peoples. I remember coming across at least two different stories of people being adopted into Native American tribes. Obviously, each first nation has its own rules about it, before and after the colonization of America, but the point is... there is room for someone to become a member of the tribe, not based on blood. Most of the time, membership of the tribe IS based on ancestry, but it isn't limited to that. Some people come and live with the tribe, adopt its customs and way of life, emerge themselves in the values and heritage, embrace its spiritual beliefs, become a member of this community, and then they are adopted in. It's the same with Jews. Most of us are born Jewish, some of us choose to live this lifestyle, embrace the customs, beliefs and culture, go to synagogue, get to know the community, and eventually adopt and are adopted by it. That's the thing. Converting to Judaism isn't just changing your belief system. It's joining a tribe, and changing one's identity through this process of mutual adoption. Converts to Judaism don't take away ANYTHING from the native rights of Jews. On the contrary, this process of conversion is so different to when someone moves from one religion to another (think of how much simpler baptism is, to the long journey of converting to Judaism), precisely because Judaism isn't just a religion, unlike Christianity and Islam. It is an entire, intricate identity that combines multiple aspects, as all ancient, native identities do.

And in this context, think of Americans who are mostly of European descent, and have nothing to do with Native American culture, or way of life, but they can point to having an "exotic" great great great grandfather, who was a Native American chief. From what I've gathered, they would not be considered members of the tribe by most Native American nations. But the person who lives with the tribe, and shares its ways and its fate? That person is recognized as such by the tribe members.

Jews are the same. We are not native just because our ancestors are from Israel. We are also native, because we are the people who have preserved that Israelite identity. We have carried its torch, and passed it on along the generations, and we have shared our light with those, who chose to stand with us, to share our ways, our fate, and the consequences of the horrible hatred aimed at us.

I love you, my fellow tribe member. Thank you for sharing the light, and the burden, together! *sending so much love* xoxox

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

I feel like I'm going to be extremely alone in this but saying it anyway bcuz this is one big fat vent rlly. im gonna put everything under a cut bcuz im insecure abt this (talking about race/ethnicity and like a big touch of our ramcoa at the end)

I hate the fact our ethnic identity is such a huge mystery because of my non-extended family just. being dismissive about it (EVEN W/ OUR WHITE SIDE!!!) and probably straight up hiding it from me and I hate the fact some people will scream at you for honestly questioning about reconnecting with a culture you may or may not have been disconnected from.

I label myself as a mixed native + white person because that's what I know and am comfortable with after finally fucking comprehending "hey the fact my mom said we're algonkin (yes. no tribe. she just said a region and idk if I should bother talking to her crazy ass to figure out more) and my dad said we're arapaho means we're native". if I am a native person (one thats reconnecting, mind you, I have the experience of growing up white) to ignore that part of myself would be disingenuous and perpetuate the whole "breeding the indian out" of mixed kids.

but in all honesty my ethnic insecurity and or anxiety has gotten so bad because of a traumatizing experience w/ old "friends" screaming at us bcuz we dared call ourselves biracial because I GENUINELY DON'T KNOW my full story and I just want to be able to label myself as like. aracial at this point. but I can't because family and heritage and identity are topics close to me and something I consider so so important. which is why I want to know the full story. which is why I cling onto the smallest most meaningless things just for any sense of validation in my identity because if I'm wrong, who am I? will more people be mad at me because I was wrong? i'm only rlly that scared of being wrong abt my ethnic identity because while yeah claiming an identity and then learning it wasn't true has to be crushing for anyone on some degree, I don't want people mad at me and calling me racist and a racefaker when I find out hey this wasn't me actually

it isn't unlikely that this whole race/ethnicity stuff is related to our ramcoa too both w/ how it looks like fucking everything is hidden and (maybe a stretch to me. programs are a fuck) how I'm reacting to it. which is partially why I brought this up bcuz idk if anyone else has gone thru this sort of thing. i don't know I hate this I just want to be secure in our collective bodily identity. i hate the fact I see other ppl growing up with culture and security in their ethnic identity and families and I grew up with. fucking nothing. I got isolation from our extended family and the (viciously southern Italian) culture they had and a home that felt devoid of life and color and love bcuz my dad was too busy renting me out to disgusting men when I was still a toddler for some extra cash during the recession and my mom was being fucking complacent in my trafficking bcuz she was getting drug money im mad im so mad I just want the truth im so fucking sick of the uncertainty