Meandering Muse

THE VAMPIRE LESTAT 03.06 | "Montreal"

1. social

2. narrative

and if none is provided to us we will make our own out of dirt and sticks

OP: Why couldn’t traditional Chinese Yinpiao银票/silver drafts be forged if they were merely slips of paper? (cr大明宝钞，渐越)

Traditional Chinese yinpiao/silver drafts were paper vouchers issued by private banks starting from the Song Dynasty(960–1279). People could exchange these slips for physical silver at bank branches across the country.

Silver drafts were made in multiple copies with matching serrated seal edges. One copy went to the customer and others stayed at the bank. All edges had to fit perfectly together to withdraw silver. The unique split edge marks were almost impossible to copy.

This mechanism is known as qifeng骑缝 (split-joint seal) in China. It first originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046–771 BC). The Rites of Zhou records that contracts were written on bamboo or wooden slips in duplicate. Notches and marks were carved in the middle before splitting the slips, with each party keeping one half. The two halves would be matched by their notches for verification.

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770–221 BC), this idea evolved into hufu虎符/tiger tally tokens. A military tally was split into two pieces with identical inscriptions carved along the split edge. Troops could only be deployed if the patterns and characters on both halves perfectly aligned, serving as a metal version of the split-joint anti-counterfeiting system.

The technology matured in the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Government documents and private contracts commonly used split-joint seals stamped across the dividing line. The Chinese character "hetong合同" (contract) was written across the middle before the paper was torn apart, so the complete characters would only appear when the two halves were put together. This split-coupon system was later adopted for Song Dynasty (960–1279) jiaozi paper money and yinpiao/silver drafts of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1912).

Official Song dynasty paper money (Jiaozi交子) was abolished in 1107. Private silver drafts issued by Qing-era piaohao票行 (ancient exchange banks) vanished completely in 1951, hit hard by modern banks and currency reforms. Nowadays silver drafts no longer circulate as currency. Their collectible value depends on their rarity and physical condition.

This is a century-long lie. You hung her portrait over our coffins in New Orleans. It's sick. You're sick.

We're unnatural beings! And this-- this is the half-human soul that you conveniently whip out whenever you want to win an argument!

What argument you got for fucking your mother? It's sickness. Maybe the source of all your sickness. But my god! Seek a professional!

Now, I can't tell you that you should, for example, leave a comment about your concern for the way Grok has been promoting white nationalist beliefs, but public comments in the regulatory process are a key step and they shape what comes next. If the regulatory agency doesn't fully consider the comments and form a reasonable response to the ones it disagrees with, that can form the basis for overturning a regulation in court.

so prim :)

bonus:

"is this person being annoying to you or are you just feeling annoyed?"

sometimes people do go out of their way to annoy you and that requires a different response! but a lot of the time we attribute maliciousness or ignorance to someone when we are simply feeling annoyed as a response to something that has nothing to do with us. maybe they're just enjoying something in a way we don't personally like, or maybe they're having a bad day, or maybe they have habits or personality quirks that rub us the wrong way-- and they aren't thinking about how it impacts us at all! and in many situations, they shouldn't have to! it's not a person's job to make sure they never do anything that could be perceived as annoying to anyone else.

and learning to tolerate feeling annoyed is crucial. de-escalating your own sensation of annoyance and refusing to treat it as harm/discomfort is an important step in getting along with other people and guarding your perception of your own acceptance and belonging. many people on tumblr express social anxiety-- and i gotta tell you, if you keep legitimizing your own annoyance all the time as a serious problem (instead of a small thing to vent to a friend about/get over/ignore), then you are also going to end up fearing that you are frequently annoying to other people! that which you see CONSTANTLY as a problem in other people you will increasingly worry about in yourself.