Anna

Queen Esther was a young Jewish woman hiding her identity inside an empire that wanted her people gone. And when the moment came where she could either protect herself or risk everything for her people, she chose her people. She fasted for three days, walked into the king's throne room uninvited (which could have gotten her killed), and changed the entire course of Jewish history.

Purim is really a story about how the people who seem all-powerful aren't always as secure as they look, and how one person's courage at the right moment can unravel an entire evil plot. Esther was probably was terrified, but she moved anyway because she understood that she was exactly where she needed to be for exactly this reason.

I love Mordechai's words to her, "Who knows whether you came to your position for just such a time as this?" Every generation has its "such a time as this" moment and somehow we're still here, every single time.

חג פורים שמח 👑

There is no universe in which Azula was winning that fight with Zuko (or Katara, for that matter).

Azula spent so much of Book 2 being built up as this deadly terrifying force against whom the heroes are badly outmatched that it can be difficult to catch exactly how quickly Zuko is advancing.

Back up a bit to Book One. For the fearsome exiled crown prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko's not that impressive a firebender. He's not bad by any stretch, and he's able to lay the untrained Sokka and Katara flat pretty easily. Then he gets in the ring with Aang, who is an airbending master, and the difference between a regular bender and a master becomes apparent when Aang literally puts his ass to bed:

People have attributed this to the fact that no one's fought an airbender in 100 years, but I think it's also worth noting that Aang (a 12 year old from a pacifist nation) has probably never fought anyone before. Like, ever. And yet the second Aang thinks "okay, I'll attack back", the fight's over.

Zuko's got the same genetic predisposition for firebending talent that Azula does, yet it never seems to manifest because of his mental blocks. At the beginning of the series, he's already so beat down that all he really has is conviction, pride, and anger, so even with training from Iroh (the firebending master, thank you very much), he struggles. Yet throughout Book 2, when he has no time to train because he's on the run, he actually seems to advance faster. The fact that his bending is literally tied to his character arc (as his morals become tangled and he has to fight off aforementioned mental blocks) is pretty brilliant. Like, by the time of the Crossroads of Destiny, Zuko getting his ass handed to him by Aang is a pretty consistent feature of the show--he just can't match wits with him.

Hell, at the beginning of the series, he and Iroh (again: the actual firebending master) launch a combined power surface-to-air attack...which Aang casually swats away into a nearby ice wall. Come the Crossroads of Destiny, however, and Zuko by himself launches this bigass fireball that blows through Aang's defenses.

Zuko advances so quickly that it's scary. That prodigious talent is in him even if it doesn't come through as cleanly as with Azula. Who, by the way, was busy about to get flattened by Katara some few dozen feet away, until Zuko took over and then effectively stalemated her himself.

All of this in retrospect makes it abundantly clear why Zuko's firebending seemed to skyrocket so much when he learned true firebending from the Sun Warriors: it was really the only thing left. He's hard a hard road learning how to fight waterbenders, earthbenders, and airbenders, and even if unconsciously, he's applying the philosophy Iroh taught him about augmenting his bending style with aspects of other styles (see also, the waterbending-like fire whips he uses in the above gif). Once he actually understands fire and how it works, he's got it mastered. Hence why any gap between him and Azula effectively disappears as soon as their next fight--before her friends have betrayed her and her stability goes out the window. There's no real sense of urgency to their fight at the Boiling Rock prison. True, Sokka's presence with the sword helps, but Zuko doesn't look remotely worried and he counters Azula's every attack perfectly.

All her life, Azula only ever learned fire. She was taught by the best people the fire nation can employ, so she knows all the cool tricks, but she's still poisoned by the corrupted firebending practiced in the modern ATLA timeline. Unlike Zuko, who managed to get the basics if nothing else from Iroh (fire comes from the breath, and can be used to survive as much as to kill), Azula has always used fire as a weapon and a means to hurt others. She has no true knowledge of the craft, meaning she's got the same weaknesses as Zhao, she's just better disciplined to the point she can make up for it.

Zuko's victory was a given considering Azula's complete loss of control by the time of Sozin's comet, but even had she been in a perfect mental state, she'd have lost, because in many ways Zuko is simply the better firebender.

he said that he didn't want to sound discouraging or like i can't do it, but that it's best to be realistic with myself about my options in life. and that was so comforting. i wouldn't have minded at all if he really did mean it like "i agree; you can't do it;" the thing many abled people don't understand is that there's a lot of liberation that comes from letting go of the expectation that we disabled people can do everything an abled person can.

it saves us a lot of mental and physical pain, lost sleep, obsessing, self-neglect, injuries, getting acute illnesses more easily, chronic/episodic conditions flaring up more/worse than before, the pain of always masking how hard it is. working 10+ times harder than everyone else just to achieve the same result. and sometimes, if we can manage to hide how much we're struggling, the downside of that is that no one is aware that we are, so they think we have the ability to try even harder so we can achieve even more. so they push us past our limits before either of us realize what's going on.

The British should put a time limit on the Monarchy.

Not like declaring a republic tomorrow, but deciding on a date in the future that ends the British Monarchy.

And there's a perfect date for it coming up!

October 14th, 2066.

A thousand years since the Battle of Hastings. A thousand years of this one specific bloodline ruling England.

Call time on the Monarchy after exactly one thousand years. Nice, and neat.

Even better: Charles isn't living 44 years. He'll be gone in about twenty. Now William? He's what, 40? Yeah, he can live another 44 years. His great grandmother was over a hundred, his granny was 96, William can make it to 84 barring accident or assassination.

So on October 14th 2066, William the Last steps down a thousand years after William the First won the crown.

Nice, neat, and fair. William gets the crown he's been waiting forty years for already, but ten-year-old George grows up without expectation of it.

AKA "Danny Fenton is living the Wayne family as an emergency foster. He's trying to be lowkey and Totally Normal, cue the misunderstandings and shenanigans." DPxDC prompt idea loosely inspired by this post by dcxdpdrabbles

The first time is, unfortunately, the most embarrassing. Danny's only lived with the Waynes for maybe four months but he's gotten comfortable enough to establish a routine. Danny waits until they go to bed around 10pm and then facetimes Tucker and Sam to practice his Phantom powers. It's a Thursday night and Sam's at a gala with her parents, so it's just Tucker and Danny - they're trying to figure out if Danny could grow an extra limb while in human form.

Danny's got Tucker on his laptop on the bed, shirt off and trying to focus on growing an extra arm. It's difficult and he's groaning about not being able to do it, Tucker encouraging him from the speakers.

And then there's a knock on his door. And then it opens, right as an arm sprouts from Danny's side (thankfully the side facing away from the door). He briefly hears Tim's concerned voice ask, "Danny? Are you-" while Tucker's still talking, but Danny is already shrieking in surprise. He's throwing a pillow at the door, slamming his laptop closed, scrambling under the covers, meanwhile Tim is apologizing profusely behind the closed door.

The next morning, Danny's third arm is gone and a sick sense of dread replaces it. (This is it. He's going to be kicked out, he's going to be turned in, experimented and dissected-) Tim hesitantly approaches him after Mr. Wayne and Damian finished breakfast.

"Uh, I-um. Just wanted to say that... it's okay, y'know? If you're... I mean, I'm bi and Bruce is really supportive. So, you don't need to hide your... friend. From us. If-" Tim stumbles, face flushed and looking anywhere but at Danny. And it dawns on him that Tim thinks he and Tucker were doing something else last night. He's so relieved that Tim didn't see his mild body horror episode that he just dumbly nods and thanks him. (The family don't treat him differently after that, exactly, but they share cheesy looks whenever Danny mentions Tucker in passing.)

The second and third time actually happen because Mr. Pennyworth is catching Danny as he's leaving the manor. It's a Saturday night and Danny is going to the movies with Danielle (and crimefighting after. Dani wanted to go soup some scary clown and Danny is super down). Mr. Pennyworth embodies the quintessential Disappointed Father as he asked, "Master Danny, I presume you discussed your late night escapade with Master Bruce?"

Danny's "uh, yeah" is super convincing but somehow Mr. Pennyworth doesn't fall for it. The British gentleman gently chides, "Young man, I have lived through several generations of children sneaking out of the manor to attend parties, tussle, and meet their paramours. These old man's eyes do occasionally still see."

Danny sheepishly apologizes and spends the next 10 minutes trying to convince Mr. Pennyworth that he really is just going to the movies with Dani, then the next 20 after that refusing the suddenly ecstatic older gentlemen's offers of snacks, rides, and a spare room for Danny's "cousin". He smiles shakily when Mr. Pennyworth gives an approving nod and says, very good, sir. It's good to see a boy enjoy such normal hobbies.

(Danny doesn't feel too bad since it doesn't sound like anybody figured out what he and Dani did. Apparently, the Wayne family groan about somebody named Jason when they find out the killer clown was hospitalized.) The second time went similarly, albeit it was Sam who wanted to visit Dr. Pamela Isley's home to discuss some kind of eco-friendly business. Danny was too busy talking with Dr. Isley's wife, Dr. Harleen Quinzel, to pay attention.

Danny keeps trying to Act Normal. Hides his exhaustion, his late night practice with Sam and Tucker (who he's still pretending to be in a relationship, much to Sam's glee), and his crimefighting. He doesn't go out as Phantom - he's changed his MO, his suit, and keeps mostly invisible. He patrols areas that are really, really bad, like Crime Alley, that he knows the bats tend to avoid. He's earned the (unfortunately, very astute) moniker as Gotham's new meta vigilante, Casper.

So far, he's had to make excuses to the Wayne family for his recent bout of exhaustion such as: low iron (which Mr. Pennyworth immediately force fed him about 8 pounds of spinach with every meal), insomnia (Tim sympathized with and gave him what might actually be an illegal dose of melatonin gummies), and as a last ditch effort... he's apparently doing drugs. Mr. Wayne pulled him aside and gave him an extremely uncomfortable DARE lecture that resulted in Danny practically melting through the floor.

It's fine. Danny's making it work, doing his best, and his foster family is thankfully super oblivious.

The IWW is a union for all workers!

As long as you are a worker — not an employer — you can join the IWW. Members of other unions (except officers), students, retirees, the unemployed, the self-employed, those in informal professions, and those unable to work may also join. To us, you are all workers. There is a difference in interests at work between employees and employers. Even if someone doesn’t own the business, if they have real hiring and firing power over other workers then they count as an employer to us. By restricting our membership to only workers we make it easier to act in solidarity with other people at your job and improve your working conditions. If you are a worker then you belong in the IWW with us!

Wanted to spotlight these tags! American and American-dominated organizations can definitely have this problem, but the IWW is genuinely international!

Most current branches are admittedly based in the USA or in Europe, but new branches can be formed anywhere as long as you have at least 10 people. If there isn't one in your country yet, you may be able to help start one. You can also join as an at-large member, meaning you're not affiliated with a specific individual branch but can still participate in things like online trainings.

Consider this a sequel to this morning’s post talking about that SOS from that woman.

To kidnap people, starve them, beat them, torture them and even rape the whole taking their personal belongings? HOW does someone NOT being here “legally” justify that EVIL treatment?? Because guess what fuck sticks? NO ONE but Native Americans are here legally.

But thankfully a group called Haven Watch is formed to help these victims. You can donate if you can but if you can’t just spread the word!

My mom and her teacher friends have a similar group here in New York and me and my friends have a similar kind of group going on.

Weirdly, history has a pretty clear answer for this!

Anyone can experiment with any dog fur for spinning. Go for it! It's fun! I do!

But unless you are Coast Salish, no, reviving sqʷəmey̓ (Salish Wool Dog) is not something anyone can do. sqʷəmey̓ were, and through their memory still are, a massively important part of Coast Salish cultures. Those dogs were taken and destroyed as a breed and way of life through deliberate and violent colonial practices. Colonial systems and decisions do not get a say in when, how, or if sqʷəmey̓ are revived.

To the best of current knowledge, the gene does not exist in modern dog populations, and sqʷəmey̓ was not closely related to any modern dog breed or mix, not even populations on the same coast today.

I would invite anyone who wishes the breed could be revived to also take a moment to consider what made sqʷəmey̓ sqʷəmey̓. The modern understanding of dog breeds is extremely recent and does not mesh well with traditional husbandry practices in most parts of the world. Do sqʷəmey̓ genes make the breed? Is it the husbandry practices? Is it the deep and close relationship with their people? Is it sqʷəmey̓ if it has the genes but it isn't in Coast Salish hands? Is it sqʷəmey̓ if it doesn't have the genes but fulfills the same role in Coast Salish hands? Is a non-Coast Salish reader even the right person to answer these questions?

sqʷəmey̓ feature in the origin histories multiple Coast Salish peoples. sqʷəmey̓ are the only species we know of in the region that recieved similar burial care and practices as humans. If you want to know more about Coast Salish people, their dogs, and their history, here are some places you can start:

Lin, A; Hammond-Kaarremmaa, L; et al, 'The History of Coast Salish "woolly dogs" Revealed by Ancient Genomics and Indigenous Knowledge

The Teachings of Mutton: a Coast Salish Woolly Dog - Liz Hammond-Kaarremmaa, Alison Ariss, Andrea Fritz, Chepximiya Siyam Chief Dr. Janice George, Danielle Morsette, Debra Qwasen Sparrow, Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun, Jared Qwustenuxun Williams, Kerrie Charnley, Michael Pavel, saꬷamitća Susan Pavel, Senaqwila Wyss, Snumithia’ Violet Elliott, Tuwuxwul’t-hw Tyrone Elliott, Xweliqwiya Rena Point Bolton