Chaos, upheaval, revelation.

A Paradise Lost James Kerwin 

Following World War II, Beirut became known as ‘the Pairs of the Middle East’ due to its French-Colonial architecture and vibrant culture, which drew tourists, intellectuals and investors to the Lebanese capital. However, this boom period ended in 1975 with the outbreak of civil war and since then the country has been further marked by various conflicts. After researching the country’s complex history, photographer James Kerwin embarked on a trip to Lebanon to document the derelict, yet beautiful buildings that have been left behind.

Doctor: [singing 'Come and Get Your Love' by Redbone to oneself]: Tka tka tooh, do do do do do do, de do do do do do beow beow beow beow beow beow buh nuh, bah dah buh buh buh buh, hey!

Someone else: Hey!

I really really appreciate that this person went off and I TRULY do think this is a conversation that needs to be had more and more.

I am not going to reiterate or repeat anything they said above, but I want to share my personal feeling on a subtler aspect of this issue.

People don’t want to talk about pregnancy as a potentially dangerous and lifethreatening condition because many of them believe it is necessary for a full and meaningful life. Unfortunately, many many of the people who  believe this are not also the people who would be carrying the baby.

Our social narratives are all largely amatonormative, and beneath that, bioessential. That is, they operate on a sort of supremacy of the body, as well as the nuclear family narrative. What this means is that most people are raised and pressured into believing that a) having a baby is a MUST for a meaningful life (hidden agenda: have someone to take care of you when you’re old bc amatonormative society isolates family units and ostracizes seniors) and b) it is the birthing of the child that gives this meaning- no other form of childcare is meaningful.

Now before I go on I am NOT JUDGING anyone’s life, desires or dreams, I am critiquing the social narratives that we are raised with.

Anyway that last bolded point is why there;s all the talk in the world about ‘starting a family’ via childbirth and an entire industry geared towards enhancing fertility when pregnancies are not forthcoming (and many  many people who stress themselves out trying to have a baby, feeling guilty or broken because the social and relationship pressures to fulfill this ideal) meanwhile adoption continues to be seen as a third- not second option. Present, living children are less important than the ideal of childbirth forced on people.

And I say ‘forced’ because it is an expectation. It is an ever-present social narrative. And it goes hand in hand with the fact that it is seen as taboo or shameful to talk about pregnancy as difficult, dangerous, and not necessarily all sunshine and smiles.

Mothers are shamed for feeling less than joyful about this very dangerous experience, and by that others are also shamed for feeling averse or apprehensive about pregnancy. It is an intentionally created false narrative that plays into the hands of patriarchy- because a grand amount of this pressure and related apathy (”oh it’s not a big deal, it’s just pregnancy!” says someone who isn’t carrying the baby..) continues to allow men to pressure women into having children (”THEIR” children– unlike, say, an adopted child) just so they can feel the pride of having sired a child (even though their contribution is oh so genetically and energetically small).

If we talked more honestly about pregnancy and childbirth, we might have to validate the concerns and lifestyles of uterus-bearing people who were expected to want to become pregnant. Men might have to just back down and shut up about wanting to create ‘kids of their own’ through someone else’s body. We as a people might have to think twice about acting as if pregnancy is inherently positive when this society is not actually capable of offering healthy supportive pregnancies to most pregnant people because a society that treats poor and black people this badly as well as one that isolates families into these tiny units isn’t capable of giving pregnant people the considerable care and support they need at such a precarious time.

Pregnancy is pregnancy– that’s it. Things do not inherently mean anything aside from the meaning we assign to them–therefore pregnancy and childbirth are not inherently positive nor is it necessary for a meaningful life.

When we do not speak openly and honestly about pregnancy, we are not letting people make informed choices about their bodies; this is not informed consent.

Bonus:

Links:

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/4H671VB55LY5?ref_=wl_share

Netflix Schedules ‘Zoids Wild’ Anime

Up until this new series kicked off back in 2018, the last we saw of…

Maps of D1 and D3 respectively.

Fairly consistent geography for both games, however something about these maps looks kinda familiar….. in fact if you were to flip the map upside down…

Recognize this yet? If not, then perhaps this hint will help:

Its Europe (bravo Taro)

This would mean that….

The Land of Seas = UK

The Land of Mountains = Poland + Eastern Europe

The Land of Forests = Italy & The Balkans

The Land of Sands = France & Germany

The Cathedral City = Spain

I think its also worth mentioning the timeline in which Drakengard’s events take place. The Cataclysm (Appearance of the Cathedral City, dragons and magic, and an earthquake destroying the surrounding area) takes place in the normal human calendar year of 856 A.D., marking the beginning of the divergence into the Drakengard timeline. This event takes place specifically in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain), so it would be logical to relate it to the Islamic conquest of the region. However that lasted from roughly 700-800, while a more compelling analogy would the viking invasions that started during the early 800s. This theory is also bolstered by the fact that many of Drakengard’s names for weapons and magic attacks come from Norse mythology (Hymir’s Finger).

The angelic language also looks similar to Nordic runes, offering some kind of co-relation between Norse mythology and magic/The Watchers.

While searching for events in 856 I came across the most probable source being the Damghan Earthquake. It took place across the Damghan province (North Iran) and with a magnitude of 8 it destroyed the many towns and killed 200,000 people, making it the 6th deadliest earthquake on record.

CHOOSE YOUR AU