#dw heritage post to me

[dailymothanon]

Yaaayy bear boys at Fort Ross 🐻 ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ this was literally them I would know trust me. Alaska busy getting that winter rest in! Cali is just watching. Dw about it. I’m very proud of this tho :)

I don’t really have context for it, nor the forget me nots, I just think about that one art piece I did of Alaska and forget me nots sometimes. They’re very poetic and symbolic! A good pick for a flower. But yeah, I have been doing a lot of research on Alaska natives again, for this I’ve been observing physical characteristics, so his design will change into being more Yknow, like his people

Another thing I’ve been reading on towards Alaska natives (specifically more so in Sugpiaq culture) is gender traditions, because I find it to be interesting! I’m thinking on making a separate post about that tho 😌 anyways, happy Native American heritage month

#wttt #welcome to the table #welcome to the statehouse #ben brainard #wttt fan art #wttt fanart #wttt headcanons #wttsh #wttt alaska #wttsh fanart #wttt bear boys #wttt california #wttsh california #wttsh alaska

[l3viat8an]

Weird story ahead:

I'm Indian and my grandmother believes that snakeskin(shedded by a snake) in a house brings good fortune and kept some in a box in her old house up until she was robbed(she's fine dw)

And I recently saw a post about MC collecting the brothers’ demon scales/feathers/whatever and it being seen as a courting ritual for demons.

So, as a Levi simp, my MC is bold andhas the same heritage as me

Imagine Indian!MC asking Levi if they can have some skin or whatever and him just becoming a blushing mess while they fail to understand why he's blushing so much ehdnfjsjfna

Ahhwhwhw that would be so cuteee!!! And the way Levi would be so shocked-

Like he’s a blushing mess!!! His mind going absolutely wild because that means you think he can bring you good fortune!!!-

He’d pick a few of the best scales / best pieces of skin from previous sheds and give them to you!! Still a mess and stuttering out his words!

#awww this is so cute #levi <333 #obey me! #obey me levi x reader #mail! #ro rambles

[aromanticofficial]

Do I need to ask you to obtain my official garlic bread license?

it came free with your aspec label

also this is marginally related but your ask gave me a good chance to say it clearly (and this is not aimed at you specifically, asker, dw): I am in no way an authority or a member of an organization like AUREA, I am a member of the community who felt there needed to be a gimmick blog like the heritage post blogs. not to say you can't joke, but I'm anxious enough about getting misunderstood that I'd prefer that if you do, use tone indicators plz.

#aromantic #official aro post #official aromantic post #aro

[torchickentacos]

Is there anything you dislike about the pokemon anime?

OH BOY, ANON. Short answer: yes. Long answer, sort of no? Or, rather, nothing that I dislike outside of a petty, mildly annoyed sense OR nothing I care quite enough about to share my discourse take on. I don't have any genuine criticisms, because ultimately any I would have, I kind of signed up for by being a pokeani fan. Like, I know I'm not here for intricate plotlines or incredible character arcs. I'm mostly here for shitposting about the same four characters from 2007. I was the harley's ass blog for a while, after all. But for a more in-depth answer (mostly AG focused since I have to fact-check myself on it the least, though I'm sure I could bring stuff up for each gen)...

...Something that DOES bug me about pokeani is the concept of lost potential, or plots and ideas that lead nowhere. Like, in early early AG, May seems to be avoiding her dad and Petalburg city and then absolutely nothing is done with it. (Projection loss: character does not, in fact, have canon father issues for me to pay attention to instead of my own. Sad.) Another example? Drew being from a movie-only location, only for us to NOT SEE HIM IN THE ACTUAL MOVIE. SURE. But I've made like four posts about that by now, and I'll make another if someone asks me to. Another example??? Solidad as, like, an entire character. That deserves its own post. ily Solidad (Also Chloe- someone in the RBs, feel free to take that and go off about it!!!). Another? The People of the Water apparently being SUPER IMPORTANT TO MAY AND MAX'S HERITAGE, AND IT COMES WITH SOME DEEP INTERNAL CONNECTION TO MANAPHY/THE TEMPLE OF THE SEA but oops nope they only exist in that one movie, dw about it ever again. Brock's issues growing up with too much responsibility? You might get one or two mentions of it per generation but don't count on it actually being important to his character.

I would call this the GS Ball Problem, but at least we got some form of explanation for that one. Sigh. Good news is, here in optimist land, we can take all of this as fic/au opportunities and explore the foundation canon haphazardly laid!!! So, I wouldn't call this something I dislike about the anime per se as much as just something I don't GET, but hey, people take those gaps and do incredibly fun, interesting things with them, so I can't complain too much. Lapses in canon and a barebones foundation set the scene for fandom creativity and interpretation, which I honestly value more than anything canon would have thrown at us anyways.

And again, it's the pokemon anime. I KNOW I signed up for this, so I'm not writing a long post because I'm big mad about it, I'm writing a long post because I can't shut up and I like run-on sentences lmao.

EDIT and a reboot of pokemon chronicles would fix all of this, in this essay I will-

#pokemon #pokeani #taylor's tag #taylor talks #ask #asks #thank you anon!!!

[berryblu-soda]

Okay so it's five am and i was laying down trying to sleep when it occurred to me that if Arrio is a Magite on his mom's side, then Jessie must be too. and im kinda losing it over this realization. aksjsaksjakajakakak i really hope they acknowledge this in canon. like, so much.

sorry, normally i would have put a lot more effort into this message, but im kinda tired. now im going to sleep. night lol

bestie hiii! im manifesting in your haouse and knocking you out :D <3<3<3!!!

hdsfjhfsfdhfd yeah!!!! i mean by heritage theyre both magites!! AK has never said much abt Jessie as far as im concerned so we´re pretty much in the dark on if she´s gonna get anything in an old old concept, the whole magite powers thing worked like a "battery" and would be passed down if i remember correctly, so with Arrio being the eldest he would´ve taken the powers, and Jessie wouldnt get anything, not sure if that´s stilll canon tho

i think the other option would be they both have the potential, but it needs a trigger of some kind, with the spellbook acting as arrio´s trigger, idk idk also srsly dw!!!! you could send the most incomprehensible keymash post and i´d be just as happy to recieve it, youre good lmaoo <3<3<3<3

#jupiter men #jupiter-men #jupiter men webtoon #arrio mckay #bestest boy he deserves everything good <3<3<3<3 #ask #ann <3 #girl sorry i keep pulling out the most random facts from this story´s concept art phase #had a huge hyperfixation on it back in like 2016 and read through absolutely all the comments jdsfhbfdjhgdhj #also bonus fun fact; AK considered giving him a familiar at one point :D; hope she does do that bc the lil creature was sooo cute <3<3<3<3

[ask-la-squadra]

i remember reading about it on the discord server by jojo heritage posts, i don't really know that much to be fair... i'm so sorry i thought it's something people just knew i'm new i'm so sorry ;__;

naw dw lmao u got a good laugh out of me i had no idea

-mod

[mickey708]

Info about me!!

Basics:

Name: Mickey

Age: im in my teens n that all u gotta know.

Bday: July 8th (my zodiac is a cancer :] )

Heritage: i am hispanic (im a no sabo kid pls do not speak to me in spanish!!)

Gender: im genderfluid? (Still figuring it out)

Fav color: RED

Pronouns: any i dont really care

Sexuality: G A Y

Special interest: smg4

Fav hobbie: drawing but i kind suck at it lol

MARIO!!!

Interests!!

Smg4 (since 2019 so no im not a new fan)

Sonic

Fnaf

(Splatoon looks cool but i wouldnt call it an interest since i dont have it.)

Indie animation

Glitch

Murder drones

TADC

Spooky month

Animation

Wolves

Music (i listen to a lot of different artist i dont have a fav)

MEMES ARE AWSOME (except the cringy ones)

Facts bout me!!

Im the youngest out of my sibling

Ive been drawing for about 4 years.(and yet still my art hasnt rlly improved)

Im in AMERICA RAHHH 🦅🦅🦅

I used to write but stopped due to lack of motion (idk if i should again i ran out of creativity)

i dont JUST post smg4 art i also post animal art ive made as well as oc art.

I mainly draw cartoony animals (FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT CALL ME A FURRY)

Im not very frequent with my art or artstyle because im still learning on my own.

Just know that im drawing on my phone with my finger so im sorry if my art tends to look crappy im trying my absolute best.

Ive only been on Tumblr since november so please do not expect me to know everything about it. I dont exactly know what im doing. :)

Im mainly here to chill out and draw fandom stuff.

With all that aside hope this helped yall learn a bit bout me. Peace out!- Mickey

Ways u can interact with me!!

I do post on twitter/X!! If you wanna check me out just search doggybandit34 and you'll find me!

I also have discord so feel free to chat with me if you want. (I've been needing some online friends) Just ask me 4 my user and you shall receive! Just pls be dont act weird or shady toward me i will block you

Just as it says my ask box is always open and free! So feel free to ask or say anything you want! My ask box is usually always empty so dw bout me not seein it. ;)

If u know me irl no u don't...

#fyp #fypシ #mickey doodles #im gonna keep updating this btw #this is the only bio i can really make at the moment so bare with me here #yay its me!!

[discoheritageposts]

it's me the disco anon 😭 it was just a joke dw I should have specified that

rock on <3

in my defense I was very high and the idea of someone thinking this blog was about disco music was sad and funny 😭 this blog is about real disco now and all of the modern posts on it that I'm sure will count as heritage posts and also exist. I don't make the rules I just enforce them etc etc

#i love u <3

[sporadiclilbook]

Accidentally posted an unfinished one oops. But dw this one is finished. Sorry for the wait!

Yan!Claude snapping

You never thought you would survive the war. Fighting alongside your childhood friend for your homeland to defeat not only the Adrestian Empire but also the Agarthans. With the Professor help, Fódlan is now truly united. And you no longer need to worry so much for the safety of your homeland. Or at least that's what he tells you.

Claude.....kept you in this house for a very long time now. You still don't know where you are but you were sure you were still somewhere within the Alliance territory, hopefully. You wondered if your friends and allies alike think you were truly dead or still hope you were just missing. Have they forgotten you? Do they still mourn for you? You know some, if not all, of them did. But not Claude. He was behind this after all.

You still remembered it. After a gruesome fight with one of the 10 Elites, you felt like you couldn't stand still anymore and ultimately fainted. When you wake up, you found yourself in a bedroom. Not yours for sure. Claude was beside you, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw you were awake.

"I thought I was going to lose you. Please, don't scare me like that." You sat up on the bed, your head still a bit woozy. "Sorry for worrying you like that....where am I?" Claude went silent, he didn't want to answer. He knew the answer would not please you at all. Not only he faked your death but he also brought you to Almyra. He can't take it anymore. He almost lost the only person who was ever kind to him while growing up.

"Claude? Are you alright?"

He snapped from his thoughts when he heard your concern for him "Oh, me? Yeah I'm alright. It's just.......nevermind about that. Is your injuries getting better?" You nodded at his question even though he didn't answer. You've must made him quite worried. "Yeah I feel better. Where is everyone?" Hearing your question, he held your hands.

"Listen, (Y/N). I....I can't afford to lose you. And I almost did. You were the only one that has ever showed me kindndss and I trust you most. Even more than Teach. I want you to stay here. Safe and by my side."

"......What?" You were trying to process what Claude had said. "What's with the sudden dramatic speech Claude?" He looked at you with his verdant eyes. It held sorrow and regret. He regrets being so selfish to keep you to himself and yet he thinks he deserves it. He was tormented by those around him growing up, his heritage playing a big role in it. But not you. You never ridiculed him like his Almyran half-siblings or sneered at him like those Leicester nobles when both of you were young.

He doesn't really believe in the Goddess but.....

"I mean what I said (Y/N), I'm not letting you go. I want you by my side at the dawn of the new Fódlan and Almyra."

...by making you meet him, he think it's a way......

His tone was strict. He has made it very clear that he was adamant about making you stay. Even threatening, or making you think he will, to make your family suffer. He knew how much you cared for them. And by continuously make it seem like he's capable of getting rid of them, you were stuck in his trap.

.....for the Goddess to apologise to him.

#sporadicpage #sporadicinsania #yandere claude von riegan #yandere x reader #yandere fe3h #yandere fire emblem three houses #I AM ALIVE AND WELL #just felt burn out a bit

[dramarising-replacement]

Is it just me or is it real frustrating being a person of color online and feeling like you gotta disclose that information in order to post about your heritage?

One of my dragons is a minor deity who takes care of/is a manifestation of the forest my clan lives in (yup, like kami in Shintoism). I had fun researching haori patterns, getting design tips from my mom, and adding leafy elements of my own to personalize her attire. I'm proud of what I made! I'm also pretty nervous that someone's gonna see my lair and immediately assume I'm a foreigner who fetishizes Japanese culture.

At this point I feel like I *have* to have nationality flags in my profile as, idk, "proof" that I'm engaging with a culture that I'm part of? that I'm operating in good faith?

As the Chinese-inspired pathogen crow subspecies debacle showed us, ethnic groups are not monoliths and ppl can use their own culture in ways that other ppl from that same culture find uncomfortable. I welcome critique from Asian peers. What I dread is being accused of stealing from a culture that I'm actually part of.

It just sucks that primarily white ppl have made cultural appropriation so commonplace that, as a half-Japanese person, I'm apprehensive about digging into my own identity for character inspiration. And yeah, being half white adds an extra layer of gotta-tread-carefully to everything I create. I'm trying my best, I swear.

Also I am actively managing my tendency to thought-spiral, dw, if you think I'm overthinking this pls know that I agree. Venting helps. Thx for letting me get that off my chest.

#Flight Rising #Lore #Long post #submission

[sun-flowerstudies]

07/07/2020 hello loves! i’ve had this blog since 2016, but i took a very very long hiatus between 2017-2020 so i think it’s time i introduce myself to this wonderful community once again

a bit about me

- my name is dorothy (but you can call me dozza, dot, dee, i really do not mind) 

- i am currently a year 12 student (high school senior), graduating in three months (counting down the days!)

- i’m a capricorn and an enfj-t

hobbies, interests 

- i love to draw and paint! my favourite mediums are copic marker and watercolour, and i’m thinking about incorporating my art into this blog (my love for art also extends to nail art)  

- i also love languages! i’m currently learning mandarin (or well, trying to re-learn it) to connect a little more to my chinese heritage, n i also know a bit of japanese and learnt spanish on duolingo for all of three months 

- i’m a huge doctor who and sherlock geek, i love the shows despite the wacky CGI in some of the older seasons of dw

- i’m currently taking both chemistry and biology, and love science 

- also a kpop stan (so come talk to me about nct, svt, or skz) 

- i love love love to sing :’) i used to be in choirs and acapella groups until the studying took over (i miss it) 

this studyblr

- i restarted this studyblr to find some motivation (really feeling like a struggling senior at the moment), and make some friends! 

- i post my bujo, notes, sometimes my nails, and mayhaps my art (occasionally) 

- i will be tracking #sun-flowerstudying but everyone please bear with me,, i’m still getting the hang of things :’) 

- my askbox is open!!! <3 send me mail 

- also, i have a studygram,, @sunflowerstvdies

studyblrs i follow n love! (you should check them out) 

- last but not least, some of my studyblr mutuals, and my favourite blogs <3 @etudiaire @studylikeara @coffeeandpies @philology-studies @studylustre @gloomstudy @softlystudying

- also @ my lovely followers/mutuals! i haven’t gotten the chance to talk to many of you yet, but please please shoot me a message whenever, i’d love to be friends with you <3 

#dorothy speaks #she lives! #studyblr introduction #studyblr community #studyblr #studying #motivation #meet the human behind the blog :') #about me

[allehsu]

10 Day Performer/Artist Challenge (do people still do this?) Day 10: I’ve been challenged by my #vincentchin project partner @anthonyma (from last year) Im concluding my 10 day challenge with the two projects that truly mean the world to me #queens and the #untitled #featurefilm about my #greatgrandmother #zhangyouyi #張幼儀. I am going to tell you a story - #8yearsold was a big year for me - it was the year I wanted to do everything like my dad - play tennis, wear glasses, have braces (and I got it all). It was also the year I went to China for the first time with my whole Hsu family. I had no idea what was going on, but they were celebrating my family and family heritage. The following year, I had a dream that lasted weeks about #timetravel - a Mr DW (#dimwit) guided me and other kids on a journey to different times and places. I wrote it into a book in #3rdgrade @thepegasusschool @pegasusalumniunite. I grew up being one of a few #api #asianamericans, but I’m so grateful to my family for constantly reminding me of who I am and where I come from. In honor of #fathersday, I include one of my favorite photos of me and #papahsu @hsu7769. And I am also grateful to the friends, other family members, schools, organizations, communities, who I have made me into who I am today - a filmmaker, a storyteller, and someone who constantly thinks and feels through the past - through the journeys of people who faced hardships and struggles that was more extreme, but similar to what we all are fighting for today. I nominate the producers im currently working with on my family stories @rebeccaloush @philosophie @yiwenwang @drsicknesss If you’ve seen my Instagram posts, you’ll know that I’d much rather highlight others. But, last month was #apahm #asianpacificamericanheritagemonth and we should celebrate #api all year round, so I’ll take the opportunity to share my journey. // Thank you to @sffilm @womeninfilmla for supporting QUEENS, and to @cinequanonlab for believing in my writing on my Zhang Youyi 張幼儀 feature. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQYB2cnpFd0/?utm_medium=tumblr

#vincentchin #queens #untitled #featurefilm #greatgrandmother #zhangyouyi #張幼儀 #8yearsold #timetravel #dimwit #3rdgrade #api #asianamericans #fathersday #papahsu #apahm #asianpacificamericanheritagemonth

[sunshinetidings]

seeing this heritage post led my friend and i to have a whole bitch ass convo in our discord server that i will transcribe here because i refuse to believe that anderson fucks

involves: @woodenstringsandcrickets, @jazzforyourinnards, @tawhoreblews, @ha-youwish but pretty much only @woodenstringsandcrickets

keep in mind: we havent rewatched sherlock in a While

jamie: i love the sexually active part it’s so unnecessary

me: hes not sexually active and thats that on that he doesnt fuck he lied she lied too he didnt pay her money to fuck, he paid her money to lie and say they did she made bank off his virgin ass

jamie: he and donoven ||fucked||, aurora

me: nope! they lied nope! sherlock is dumb as shit hes fucking stupid okay i figured it out hold on i can explain the whole thing

jamie: in real life YES but in the show he has a massive fucking brain and is right all the time sherlock is the chad of science

me: they knew that sherlock would want to do some stupid show-off-y deduction so anderson paid donovan to agree to do some fake evidence shit to throw sherlock off his bitch ass rhythm huh

jamie: he is like written to be the smartest character do you really think hed be thrown off huh you really fucking think that

me: yknow how sherlock didnt pay full attention to all of his mary deductions? how he couldnt deduce anything from irene while she was butt-ass naked? there are flaws in his deduction and they took advantage of his bitchass that thinks people are always having affairs i think that while sherlock is pretty smart he is also a bitch ass motherfucker who is overconfident and convinces people hes right because of it even if he isnt

jamie: OKAY but both of those situations are weak to compare to this one

nikolai: you fucking nerds smh

me: sometimes his shits are so outlandish ppl just believe it bc he explained it but really it was convoluted and he isnt always convinced himself

jamie: irene- attraction, sex distracted him mary: he IGNORED the deductions but he still HAD them

me: uh oh ! irene too sexy no can deduce distracted! pozofasuhaksdcar

jamie: exactly this does not translate to donovan and anderson

tahoe: Idk who irene is but she’s probably too sexy for me

jamie: because those are are assholes who hes used to and likes to embarras

me: but consider this sherlock stupid want impress watson dumb man

jamie: fuck fuck you fucking got me fuck

me: he said: friend???? need him to like me. impress time

jamie: exactly

me: deduce…………

jamie: nonoono wait

me: that fucking ‘scratch near phone charge hole means drunkard?’ deduce………… need impress john

jamie: okay okay yeah that was to impress him but here me the fuck out

me: i here dw

jamie: then WHY were donovan and anderson embarrassed and didnt rebuttal

me: acting

jamie: also fuck

me: next question

jamie: THATS NOT SUPPORTED BY ANY EVIDENCE AURORA BASELESS

me: im smart my meat is huge and so is my iq

jamie: i know but consider youre wrong

me: > they knew that sherlock would want to do some stupid show-off-y deduction so anderson paid donovan to agree to do some fake evidence shit to throw sherlock off his bitch ass rhythm acting

jamie: okay but why would they do that

nikolai: [bush image]

jamie: what sparked them to do that

me: to bully sherlock

nikolai: [like he straight up just sent picutres of pres bush]

jamie: so they would be embarrassed?

me: they later revealed to watson the whole lie

apple: why

jamie: that was never a scene

me: so he would question sherlock’s ability

jamie: holy shit

me: it was all leading up to sherlock faking his death after they tricked him and he said that shit they reached out to him and they were like “dumbass we fooled you bitch” and he was like ‘hm. i can use this’ so when he started planning how he would fake his death, he asked them to tell john to sow the seed of doubt all for the build up when sherlock was like “its true im a fraud bye lol *jumps*”

jamie: youre just writing fanfic now

me: no thats it im done thats the whole theory THE TRUTH

jamie: you just plotted out a fanfic

me: anderson does not fuck and that whole bitch is my proof post s2 sherlock is a chad

jamie: fanfic tag- canon divergence: anderson doesnt fuck

#discord #sherlock #sherlock holmes #philip anderson #sally donovan #sherlock bbc #this is all bullshit enjoy #rory.txt #jambo #niko #tahoe #macc

[ladyhistorypod]

Episode 9: Monkey See, Monkey Do

Sources:

Helen Martini

Museum of the City of New York

IMDB

British Pathé (YouTube)

New York Heritage Digital Collections

Further Reading: My Zoo Family,  Cubs in the Tub, Mother to Tigers

Dian Fossey

Biography

BBC Earth

National Geographic: The Renegade Scientist Who Taught Us To Love Gorillas

Zoologist Dian Fossey: A Storied Life With Gorillas

Lady Science

DW: Made For Minds

Alana’s Surprise Lady

The Age

SF Gate

Kokoflix (YouTube)

PBS

Gorilla Foundation

New York Times

NPR

Washington Post

ABC News

National Geographic

National Geographic (YouTube)

60 Minutes Australia (YouTube)

Attributions:

birdsong, water splash, Zoos & Young Animals, Under Water

Click below for a full text transcript of this episode!

Haley: A brief warning about the following episode of Lady History: this episode contains sensitive topics such as murder, violence, and racism.

Archival Audio: Gorilla at Large! The most murderous, destructive beast man has ever seen! Gorilla at Large! In 3D and color by Technicolor!

Lexi: Alana, do you want to share your good news?

Alana: I do, I have very good news. So, in– I think it was episode five– we very subtly mentioned that GW had to let me into school so that Lexi and I could live together and um… Actually the same day that episode seven came out, we found out that GW let me into grad school.

Lexi: Woohoo!!

Haley: I feel like that's a universe telling you like “here is why” if it aired on the same day.

Alana: Yeah, definitely. I really think like. My dad was like “did you put– did you talk about your podcast on your application” and I was like yeah. I listened to– the suffragist episode? I listened like four times the day it came out. I was like this is so good. We're so good at this.

(Lexi laughing)

[INTRO MUSIC]

Alana: Hello and welcome to Lady History; the good, the bad, and the ugly ladies you missed in history class. I’ve run out of ways to say that we're on Zoom but Lexi what's the difference between monkeys and apes?

Lexi: Like. You want me to scientifically give you the difference?

Alana: Sure.

Lexi: Monkeys have tails.

Alana: Monkeys do have tails.

Lexi: There's a lot more but like monkeys do have tails. And that's the easy way to tell. So please, when you take your child to the zoo do not call the chimps or gorillas or orangutans or bonobos monkeys. As someone who previously worked in a zoo, and witnessed mothers and nannies telling their children “look at the monkey sweetie” to an intelligent ape, I… Nope. Mm. Okay.

Alana: That's why I picked that question for you. Also, Haley. Haley, what’s your favorite zoo?

Haley: I am a zoo connoisseur. I love zoos. Love me some animals but I'm going to have to go with my hometown, my first zoo ever was the Bronx Zoo. I have many memories, some scary, some pleasant, some very confusing but generally just like would ten out of ten live there.

Alana: And I'm Alana and my personality is fifty percent I love aquariums.

Haley: No.

Alana: Why are you shaking your head at me Haley?

Lexi: I also love aquariums.

Haley: Fish freak me out.

Lexi: Aquariums freak you out?

Haley: Fish and birds like, scare me on a personal level.

Lexi: Those are my favorite animals! I had a fish tank in my nursery as a baby. I think that's where my parents went wrong because I got a degree in museum studies and I just want to work with living collections that would be fantastic, so hit me up, any zoo in America. Actually, any zoo in the world. I am mobile. I am single. I do have a parrot so if your country does not allow parrots to come in from foreign countries please consider me off your list. But if I can bring a parrot into your country and you want me to work in a zoo or aquarium hit me up.

Haley: Cal Academy is right for you, that's where I– very close to where I currently live and they have like their live collection. I thought their penguins were fake. Like I did not realize because the way– Okay, the way the Cal Academy is set up is that when you walk in you’re greeted with this like giant forest– like what is called, atrium? Aviary is for the birds, right? So this is just like a whole encapsule of foliage and you can see some like butterflies go around and you can see the beginning of the aquarium, and the whole bottom floor is the aquarium and it's really really cool. You also have like an albino or white alligator. I forget what the guy's name is called, but it's like a white alligator that they have to– if he ever gets hurt and like he starts bleeding, since he’s white it's very noticeable they have to like hide him to not scare the children it’s a whole thing. Oh, the penguins. The penguins are in like their African, early human wing which are all taxidermy animals or like faux bones those like display of human origins like the Smithsonian and then one wall it's just penguins and then they started moving I truly just jumped out of my skin. This was like at a…  the first time I went was at like an adult night, 21 and older, you get a drink, you walk around the like, museum.

Alana: That’s sexy. I want to go to that.

Haley: I had like a beer in me and then the penguins started moving. People have like very mixed feelings on the Cal Academy but it's mostly people who like hate zoos, and like don’t understand that like some zoos are actually decent. Like it’s– we're not talking about GW Tiger King zoo, we’re talking about like–

Lexi: That's not a zoo. That's just not a zoo.

Alana: That’s not a zoo!

Haley: The amount of people who have fought me when I'm like “I love zoos” they're like “animals should be wild” and it's like “no. You do not put a hurt penguin back with its herd.” Like the elephant missing a tusk? Is not going to do well. Like GW Tiger King zoo? Not a zoo. That’s just–

Lexi: Science is important.

Alana: Science is important!

Lexi: The zoos on Tiger King, not science. When you go to a zoo, or are considering going to a zoo, look up what their contributions to scientific research and animal welfare are. If they are not AZA certified, do not go there. There was an incident recently in which the Pittsburgh Zoo, which used to be AZA certified, became un-AZA certified. It’s still an okay zoo but like in general look for AZA certifications. But the thing about AZA zoos is they follow a species survival plan, which means they don't decide when and where the animals go. There is a larger conglomerate that decides when animals need to be moved around. And so if one zoo needs a gorilla that will breed with another gorilla because that is what is best for gorillas all over the world, they will move the gorilla. They get a private plane and they take the gorilla with the keeper to meet its new keeper and that's where the gorilla moves because it's all about the science and the species preservation.

Alana: I really like the New England Aquarium and I'm not just saying that because I hope Erin Keif is listening. Um, even though I do hope she’s listening. Hi, Erin! We think you’re really cool!

Lexi: The aquarium in your homeland is beautiful.

Alana: It's so cool. I love the big old tube and then you like walk up around the tube. I think that's dope. I love that. That's like their main exhibit and I think it's so cool. I also saw like– I was in Boston maybe ten years ago; little more, little less, and there were like jellyfish! Right off the docks! Because we’re killing the turtles! That’s what I learned at the New England Aquarium!

Archival Audio: The llama family and cousins are all in the market for babysitters. While Mrs Helen Martini serves in that capacity for 3 little tiger kittens, born of parents themselves born and raised at the zoo, the triplets are concerned mainly with calories and vitamins and rather resent the working press. They're not up to scratch, yet, but they sure know the proper facial expressions. What a picture they make! (Tiger cub meowing sound)

Lexi: So, Haley, we were talking about your favorite zoo in the world. What was that zoo?

Haley: The Bronx Zoo.

Lexi: And do you know much about the history of the Bronx Zoo?

Haley: I probably used to, you're gonna have to fill me in on this one.

Lexi: Do you know who the first female zookeeper of the Bronx Zoo was? 

Haley: Your lady?

Lexi: Yes! Helen Martini!

Alana: Her name is Martini? 

Lexi: Yes, her name is Martini. So like, wonderful. We’re already off to a great start. But yes that is when talking about today so I thought it was very relevant that you mentioned how much you love the Bronx Zoo, that it's your home turf, because it was her home turf too. So a quick preface to our upcoming story, finding digital sources on Helen is extremely difficult. I had a really hard time with it. It appears very little has been published about her, particularly online and she doesn't even have a Wikipedia page, so for information about her life I had to use an IMDB page that exists for her, which I'm not sure if it's accurate and I'm not sure why it even exists, she was not a movie star. So take all this info on her early years with a tiny grain of salt. Once she actually starts being involved with the zoo that's when the information gets a little more accurate. Helen Martini was born on June 5, 1912 in Newfoundland, Canada. Her father, Matthew Delaney, was a merchant seaman and Helen was born with an eye problem that doctors told her parents would result in her eventually going blind. After father's death in 1925, her mother took her to New York to undergo eye operations. These operations helped protect her sight. Some attribute her caring personality to this turning point in her life. As an adult, Helen married a man named Fred. He worked as a jeweler and the couple lived in an apartment in the Bronx. Fred and Helen decided to have a baby, but unfortunately lost their child due to miscarriage. Helen was told by doctors that she would never be able to have a child. Helen turned her attention to caring for fur babies instead. She and Fred became diligent pet owners and avid animal lovers. The couple also lived close to the Bronx Zoo, and frequently visited the furry friends that lived there. One day, Helen saw an ad for an open position at the Bronx Zoo. At the time, American zoos only hired men as zookeepers. So Helen did what any sensible woman in mid-century America would do. She encouraged her husband to quit his job as a jeweler and apply to become a zookeeper. Fred had no formal training or experience in zoology, but he got the job. Fred became the keeper of the lion house, which was home to an array of big cat species. In 1942, a lioness had a cub and refused to care for it. Worried it would die, Fred decided he needed to enlist the help of the best animal mom he knew- his own wife Helen. Helen took in the cub and named him Macarthur, in honor of General Macarthur. Helen cared for the cub in her and Fred’s apartment, following the zoo’s protocols for care. At the age of 2 months, Macarthur was thriving and he returned to the zoo to live among other lions. Two years later, the zoo’s female tiger gave birth to three cubs. She abandoned all of them, refusing to nurse or care for them. Helen, who had successfully saved Macarthur, was again called upon to care for the baby big cats. She cared for the three cubs in her apartment, just like Macarthur, but the zoo had no set protocols for abandoned baby tigers. There was no guide for her to follow, as the Bronx Zoo had never successfully raised orphan baby tigers before. Helen, determined to succeed and help save the animals, used her own motherly instincts, her previous experience working with lions, and extensive research to develop a method for rearing the cubs. Much of her method was improvised, and used trial and error. Eventually, she developed the perfect diet to get the tigers fit; milk and water in the early days, then the addition of chopped meat as they grew. All three cubs became strong and were able to go back to the zoo. Helen had become a successful zookeeper, all without ever being paid or rewarded in any way. So the Bronx Zoo decided to do the unthinkable- hire a woman. Helen was officially hired as a zookeeper and became America's first woman to work as a professional zookeeper. Her role was to care for baby animals, and she established the Bronx Zoo's first nursery. She converted an old storage space into a place for orphaned and abandoned baby animals. Helen still cared for the youngest babies who needed round the clock care in her apartment, but the older couples are able to thrive in a space all their own. In 1945, Helen was a household name in the Bronx, known by many as a woman with tiger cubs in her apartment. Photographers from Look magazine visited her home, documenting the unique situation of her and her husband. Baby tigers rummaged through the fridge, sat in Helen's armchair, and even rummaged through the cameraman's bag. Helen did not stop at just lions and tigers. She knew other baby animals at the zoo would not be able to thrive if their mother stopped caring for them. Throughout her career, she also raised black leopards, marmosets, jaguars, gorillas, deer, antelopes, and even skunks. Her favorite of this was still, of course, the tigers. Before her retirement in 1960, she had raised 27 tigers in total. In 1951, newsreel video of Helen shows her caring for a baby gorilla named Mambo and refers to her as an “ardent disciple of Spock and Gessell” two child care experts of the era. In the video, Helen feeds baby Mambo from a bottle and sets him in his crib for a nap. You can watch this clip on YouTube and I will include the link on our Tumblr. In 1953, Helen and Fred published a book of photographs and stories which they called “My Family Zoo.” In this book, Helen mentions personal accounts of her favorite animals- Bagheera the leopard, Ugly the howler monkey, Zambezi the lion, Dolly the deer, and Dacca, her beloved tiger cub who went on to have cubs of her own, making Helen a tiger grandma. Unfortunately, this book is out of print and extremely rare. The cheapest copies seem to cost around $60 today. Helen has also inspired several modern children's books including “Cubs in the Tub” and “Mother to Tigers” which are both about her raising the three initial tiger cubs. Helen's work establishing a nursery at the Bronx Zoo was revolutionary in the world of zoology and zoo management. Through her efforts, dozens of vulnerable baby animals were saved and went on to live healthy lives as ambassadors for their species. Her observations of their behaviour and reflections on the issues of raising baby wild animals in captivity provided a foundation of understanding for future zookeepers. Helen, who brought motherly kindness and a caring nature to the zoo, is proof that sometimes a woman's touch is all an industry needs to progress. Also, I just wanna make a quick plea that if any of you are skilled Wikipedia editors, please help my girl Helen get on there and link it to the Bronx Zoo page so that people can find her because she is so cool and there are not many resources on her out there.

Alana: I have a question. Is Bagheera named after The Jungle Book Bagheera?

Lexi: I believe so, but it could just be a coincidence. But it sounds like it, probably.

Alana: It seems like it.

Lexi: Yeah.

Alana: I remember people were talking about the… it's like my mom's favorite song from Jungle Book, where King Louis, the orangutan king, is like singing with Mowgli and people are like “that's racist” and I'm like. I have bad news for you guys. About the Jungle Book. Bad news about Rudyard Kipling.

Lexi: Ruining their childhoods.

Alana: Yeah, for real. It’s like I… I… I have bad news, you know that guy, the guy who wrote The Jungle Book? He also wrote something called “The White Man's Burden” about how it's white people's job to civilize people of color. So maybe… beating a dead horse a little bit.

Archival Audio: In a land, in a forest grim and grand, where the chimpanzees and the cinnamon trees live a simple life with the simianese, a big gorilla he.

Haley: Born in 1932, she is known as the woman who gave her life to save the gorillas. Dian Fossey lead an incredible life and this story is definitely a roller coaster. Honestly guys this might have been the like hardest story for me to write because one, there's so much information about her out there, a lot of that information is conflicting. Based on the author's bias. It is also something that like. Like 1932 is not that far away it's less than a hundred years and it's not like she was– she… born and died between like before 1950. She's kinda more relevant. She knows Jane Goodall, we'll get into all of that. A lot of that information was hard to dissect. Let's– let's hope I did a good enough job for y’all. Please don't come out– come after me if I left something out. I could honestly go on for hours this could have been like a two parter for me. Alright. Let's start this history book at the beginning. Dr Dian Fossey was born and raised in San Francisco, California and she grew up in an environment surrounded by animals. So much so that she wanted to be a veterinarian, and fun fact she was an avid horseback rider so we got a horse gal for us here. Fast forward a little bit. Dian Fossey didn't really study veterinary, but she was still in the whole helping people, helping animals– because like humans are animals– and graduated with an occupational therapy degree. Moved to Louisville, Kentucky where she was the director of the Kosair Crippled Children’s Hospital as an occupational therapist or she was the head of that department. This was in 1955 hence the dumb name. I really hope that wasn't the name but it was in 1955. There she also was living on a farm so she couldn’t super get away from animals because she did own some, had the whole farm life. But it wasn't enough to fulfil her adventurous side, and as the years went on, she was kind of itching to do something more and going back to animals seemed like the obvious choice. So in September 1963, Dian went to Africa for the first time ever. This trip not only cost her her entire life savings, but also an entire bank loan had to be taken out just so she could like go to Africa and do some research. Well, this clearly paid off because while visiting Kenya, Tanzania, and other places, she met paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey and her husband archaeologist Louis Leakey. And this is a side note like snaps they introduced her as Mary Leakey and her husband and my jaw just dropped I was like yes I was going to do this anyway! It was also the relationship that she had with the Leakeys, that she met up with Jane Goodall. And the Leakeys at this point wanted to find ways to make sure other areas– because paleoanthropology is the study of like really really old things, fossils, before human life– they are the guys who did Lucy. Af- Afric– Africanus– what was it–

Alana: Australopithecus

Haley: Austro– Someone please say it.

Lexi: Australopithecus africanus, right?

Haley: There we go. Yes, that is Lucy. It was also this relationship with the Leakeys that she was able to meet Jane Goodall. And Jane Goodall was part of this whole Leakey corporation, society, relationship, business type thing, because the Leakeys as paleoanthropologists were really interested in studying primates and how they worked genetically, historically, all that stuff with our ancestors as Australopithecus Africanus etcetera etcetera etcetera. We can truly visit this for hours and hours and hours. However, we don't have the time. So Dian kind of got the gorilla side of it and she also met with native wildlife photographers who were working on a documentary about African gorillas, and it was there that Dian was like “yes, I love gorillas, I really want to continue this, this is where I was meant to be.” And back in the States Dian kept thinking about Africa, endangered gorillas, and how she can get more involved. She ended up accepting an offer which allowed her to live among the mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo and then Rwanda, because of like the civil war that was happening she had to move around, be safe. In Rwanda, she established the Karisoke Research Foundation in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park to be like the base camp for her research. She grew her name in the primatology field and was the leader on the physiological and behavioral side of mountain gorillas. So really looking at how they interact with each other, and what individualistic qualities they resemble, so not seeing them as purely these hungry animals that will rip you from limb to limb. How did they act with their children, how did they act with their others like the male versus female, how do they act with other species in the area, all that good stuff. And her work also extended to the protection of our furry comrades by shedding light on how poachers kill gorillas and the violence against them overall. This opened up for international recognition of her work and the work to protect specifically the plummeting numbers of gorillas. So by this time, a lot of people knew her name. During this time, as she was building her framework for her research foundation, doing research herself, she obtained a PhD from Cambridge and then was now Dr Dian and continued more research through Cornell University. However, here on Lady History we have to cover the bad or the ugly. And… So… Look at the show notes for more, but I'll just give you the gist of why her as a conservationist wasn't necessarily a great woman. Like the two didn't have to blend. You can be a great conservationist but a shitty human being. Because in the eyes of the local Rwandans, they were often offended by the way she treated them. This is really like, reading this back I feel– I am getting such– just nervousness I– these are not my words, these are hers. So she would kind of call like a group meeting and go down the list of things and she just turned to locals and be like “my Africans.” It's not great. Even if it's like a little bit racist, it’s still racist. There's also instances of people not being paid on time, but I couldn't find concrete evidence more on like the foundation and research headquarters as a whole, because like she obviously, while was the head, she's not the only person in charge of things, like that’s not how like, a budding foundation worked. Many people– this is like a heavily debated topic in the fields of like how much praise do we give her because she had… she was racist at times, and she was discriminatory. But she did make these huge contributions and the lives of like endangered gorillas. She did devote much of her life to protect the “gentle gorillas” as she would call them from the human and environmental hazards. Unfortunately, her life was cut short because on December 26, 1985, she was found hacked to death. And a lot of this was kind of like circumstantial because they have not found the guilty party and prosecuted them for murder, but they believe that she was murdered by poachers at her Rwandan forest camp. Yeah, Alana’s face is dropped. It took a turn.

Lexi: You’ve never seen Gorillas in the Mist?

Alana: No!

Haley: So I watched Gorillas in the Mist, and I get to that, it's in her legacy. But my mom like turned it off or somehow– I don't remember this ending. I didn't remember that she died. And I read it again and I was like racism… Murder!

Lexi: She did that classic mom thing where you turn off the bad part of the movie.

Haley: I really think that’s what happened.

Lexi: I didn’t know there was a second VHS tape to the Sound of Music for twenty years.

(Alana laughing)

Lexi: Because the Nazis! And I’m German, so I wasn’t allowed to know there were Nazis.

Alana: Oh, that’s such a big problem!

Haley: Yeah, yeah. As you all know I like to just add a little bit of the legacy, and her legacy is still living through the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, formerly named the Digit Fund, that's also linked in the show notes. Otherwise the book she wrote in 1983, Gorillas in the Mist, was turned into a movie, as Lexi said, which starred Sigourney Weaver in 1988. I don't know. I'm kind of stuck on this girl, on whether like, I think she's a great– she's definitely not a great human, personally, but like her contributions to science. But I just want to provide all information and be like… and let's respect that she did help the gorillas out, but probably did it in a way that we all cringe now.

(Archival music)

Alana: We've been talking about zookeepers, zoologists, primatologists, you know, that's the theme of the episode. But I feel like we're leaving a key demographic out of this discussion. So my lady for today is Koko the gorilla.

Haley: What?

Alana: Yeah.

Lexi: Fantastic.

Haley: I'm so on board for this.

Alana: Gorilla ladies are ladies.

Haley: I'm speechless

Alana: I’m so glad.

Haley: Bravo. This is fabulous, I’m excited.

Alana: Thank you. I'm also excited. So Koko was born on July 4, 1971 and her full name was Hanabi-ko which means fireworks child. And as I'm saying it I'm realizing that that's a Fourth of July reference… like, fireworks. I just got that. Isn’t that fun. And she was born at the San Francisco Zoo. She was a western lowland gorilla who– they have the best Latin name ever it's gorilla gorilla gorilla. And another woman, Dr Francine “Penny” Patterson, started working with her on sign language in 1972 when Koko was only a year old. And then Dr Patterson started the Gorilla Foundation in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1979. Koko learned a lot of sign language. She knew at least a thousand signs and probably understood about two thousand words because Dr Patterson would talk while she was signing. And that's about the vocab of a toddler. but also like what are non human animals but toddlers? Because I walk a dog, her name is Missy, I love her very much– if she won't leave the park with me, you do that thing that you do with three year olds– “okay bye Missy”– and you walk towards the gate. And what does she do, every single time, she comes running up to me. I say “bye Missy” then she comes. Really what are animals but toddlers. She had a companion named Michael who was rescued from the jungles of Africa and they were supposed to be a breeding pair because it seemed like Koko really wanted a family, in addition to western lowland gorillas being an endangered species. And that's that whole thing about gorillas getting on airplanes with the keepers and private jets, that we were talking about earlier. They didn't actually end up breeding they just became best friends. Like just best friends and they were playmates and it was very fun. He was also learning sign language and potentially learned how to tell the story of watching his mother get killed by poachers. Which… you can learn a little bit more about that I'll leave a link to that in the show notes. So Michael died of a heart condition that's very common in gorillas, and they brought in a second breeding partner whose name was Ndume... also learned sign language. Koko did get pregnant, but she had a miscarriage and couldn't get pregnant after that. So, similar to Lexi’s lady. So instead they got her kittens. Lexi is so happy about this. This is the best story ever. In 1984– 

Lexi: Kittens… I’m sorry.

Alana: I know!

Lexi: It’s just so cute!

Alana: I know! In 1984 she adopted a kitten named All Ball that she named, by signing, because she apparently loved rhyming words in sign language. And that inspired a book called “Koko's Kitten” and it's a little kids’ book and it's still in elementary schools all over. But then the cat got hit by a car and died, which is too bad. But for her forty fourth birthday, in 2015, they got her two more kittens and she named them Miss Gray and Miss Black because they were gray and black. Here's where the story gets maybe not as fun. In 2005 Koko kind of got Me Too’d? Three employees at the foundation, three other keepers claimed that Koko asked them to lift their shirts and show her their nipples, which Dr Patterson encouraged. They settled out of court, but like they were sued. That is kind of weird, but– and I was a little bit in disbelief– but also Robin Williams, who famously met her in 2001, talked about her doing that to him. It's just– it's jarring. So that's all very Tiger King, except Dr Patterson is actually like a scientist and has published real papers and isn't horrible. When Michael died, Koko actually expressed grief for him, the same thing when Robin Williams died. The Nat Geo article announcing her death, they had a quote from some guy who really had the audacity to talk shit about zoos while they were talking about how Koko died. And this person was like “yeah she did all these cool things for science but also she shouldn’t have been in a zoo.”And I was like oh my god… Let the people mourn an icon. But she is also– Koko herself has had a lasting legacy. She expanded how we think about animals and language. Like humans have to keep adding to the definition of language so that we can exclude how other species communicate. And some people think that she was only mirroring Dr Patterson or Dr Patterson and her associates were projecting, but Koko signed to herself and there's video in a 60 Minutes Australia segment where she's signing to herself. She has a hat, that is a flowered hat, it's a flower bucket hat. It's real cute, it's something baby Alana would absolutely have worn. And so she's signing “flower” and “hat” to herself. She would also invent signs. Like, she didn’t have a word for “ring” so when she saw Dr Patterson wearing a ring, she signed “finger bracelet” which is pretty much what a ring is. So I just think that Koko… it's a lot that we can learn about grief, and how animals express grief, and how we express grief, and how we can communicate with things. Because animals absolutely learn words. Like we teach dogs words. We teach them– you know– sit, stay, all that. So they know some human words. You can teach animals words in whatever language you speak. There's a dog who comes to the park who speaks Spanish. His name is also Coco! I don't think it's the same kind of Koko though, but. Yeah so that's the story of Koko. I'm so glad you guys liked my surprise.

Lexi: I love it. I'm a big nerd about the whole Koko situation because I am a big nerd about animals talking. Linguistic anthropology has always fascinated me, and I think it extends to animals, and a lot of anthropologists don't think it should extend to animals. But I read this book in high school, because I was reading all the books about birds I could possibly find because I had one, I have one still. And the book is called “Alex and Me” and–

Haley: I know that book.

Lexi: The person who is the scientist in that story was inspired by the Koko experiments to do something similar with a bird, and because birds don't have hands, it was vocal- completely vocal communication. And the bird learned to say phrases and even once asked an existential question. So… he asked “what color Alex” which is technically an existential question. And that's how he learned what the color gray was, because he was gray. So that's really interesting that animals do that stuff.

Haley: So my grandparents, I believe I've talked about this before, basically got a male and female cockatiel, started breeding them, and would often give them to their friends as like “hey you're really old, you live alone, here's a friend.” And I remember visiting one of their friends who had one of these birds and the bird would just start talking. And like she taught the bird how to speak, I– at least Spanish, because they're all Spanish speakers. And the bird I think was like a bilingual bird. Because I think he would respond to me and I'd speak English to it. And this bird would just like talk and be like “hello. How are you?” And I just remember as like a small child being like “this bird's talking to me. I thought this was just in movies.”

Lexi: There’s actually a lot of evidence that birds know their names too because parrots, specifically, their moms give each baby a name that's a sound, and while they don't sound like human names, each baby has a sound that is associated with them. So when we raise a parrot in captivity and we call it it's name, it learns it has a name which is–

Haley: Yes.

Lexi: Really, really cool.

Haley: We had them–

Alana: That is amazing.

Haley: –before cockatiels.

Lexi: You can find this podcast on Twitter and Instagram at LadyHistoryPod. Our show notes and a transcript of the show will be on ladyhistory pod dot tumblr dot com. If you like the show, leave us a review and tell your friends, and if you don't like the show, keep it to yourself.

Alana: Our logo is by Alexia Ibarra, you can find her on Instagram and Twitter at LexiBDraws. Our theme music is by me, GarageBand and Amelia Earhart. Lexi is doing the editing. You will not see us, and we will not see you, but you will hear us, next time, on Lady History.

[OUTRO MUSIC]

Haley: Next week on Lady History, it's the witching hour. We’ll be casting a spell on you and discussing some women of witchcraft, women of vampirism you name it, it's spooky season, and we're here to celebrate.

Alana: Dogs are liberal because they love people, cats are liberal because they're smart.

Lexi: Yes. Mhmm. All animals are liberals. 

Haley: I also believe dogs can't be evil.

#feminist history #womens history #feminism #history

[resnullius-bells]

I’m crossposting some of my (femslash-adjacent) DW posts from last weeks. This one is about some of my opinions on The Witcher.

-First, I'll say that I wish the Game of Thrones comparisons stopped, ESPECIALLY the Daenerys-Yennefer comparisons; I just don't see it. They’re both fantasy sagas. They both rely on one or two similar “period” markers and fantasy conventions. They’re not particularly alike. And I’m saying this as someone who still likes GOT, and who enjoyed this show quite a lot too.

-My absolute favorites are Yennefer and Tissaia. Together and separate. Yennefer’s anger feels so real and tangible, I admire the hell out of Tissaia (the moment where she said "we must risk not only our lives but our pride" my heart grew three sizes), and their relationship is fascinating from beginning to end. I love messed up mentorships and femslash, so I fully expected to like them, but damn. And I love the rest of the mages too, including the evil ones. They’re the most interesting part of the show; among other things, I like that they’re the exception to the show’s thesis of “powerful creatures are the marginalized ones”, which is a trope I feel ambivalent towards, if I’m honest (I do like that Yennefer’s elven heritage is the cause of her physical problems, instead of something that made her “inhumanly” beautiful).

-Here I returned to my “always the wrong ship” tradition: other than Yennaia, my favorite ship was Geralt/Renfri LMAO. What can I say, I loved Renfri in the pilot, and I like how affected by her Geralt is even decades later.

-Not that I dislike Geralt/Yennefer. I tend to think lead couples are “alright”, in various degrees, and rarely get to OTP/NOTP stages (or, probably more accurately: if I dislike the major ship I’m less likely to stick with a long show). But yeah, I liked them. They had good moments and their evolution as the story goes could be interesting.

-Another great character was queen Calanthe. She’s an absolute tyrant and I love her. My warrior queen, with practical armor and realistic blood splatters. I can’t decide if I’m more attracted to her or to Tissaia. Hmm.

-I liked Geralt himself more than I expected. He just has very hashtag relatable moments (like deciding his solution for insomnia would be asking a potentially dangerous djinn for a wish LOL).

-Jaskier might be one of the most annoying comic relief characters I’ve encountered in years. At least he’s not overused.

-Ciri is there. I can’t say I care much about her, at least not yet. Her storyline felt all over the place. I look forward to seeing her and Yennefer interact; I think I’ll like that.

-I follow a book reader on tumblr and I feel I’m spoiled for the biggest developments and plot twists in the saga LMAO. It doesn’t ruin anything for me, on the contrary. Now I’m actively rooting for the show to go on, if only to enjoy the drama xDD

#the witcher #yennaia #yennefer of vengerberg #tissaia de vries #geralt x renfri #calanthe of cintra #geralt of rivia #geralt x yennefer #tissaia x yennefer #renfri #original post #text post #resnullius speaks

[karanguni]

Posting Meme: What's your favorite weird fact about premodern Japan?

From yhlee – What's your favorite weird fact about premodern Japan? Oh boy. My immediate instinct is to ask, "What's pre-modern Japan?", but that's because any amount of academic training makes people want to draw hard lines. I'm going to go with the start of the Meiji era (1868) as the cutoff, because something something general consensus something something Westernisation something something.* * on one hand it is perverse to place the cutoff for "modern" at around the same time that Western influences started to take major hold. But on the other hand, Japan really did transition from feudal to more nation-state-y and - perhaps even more importantly - industrialised. There's all sorts of Things to be said about whether this rubric is dictated by... you get my point. I'm actually incredibly bad at remembering weird/specific facts, but one that has stuck with me was the Japanese global export of silver from just before and throughout the Tokugawa shogunate (1600 - 1868). I don't know if it's commonly know exactly how much silver Japan was pumping out into the global economy, but it was a lot. People might think of the Potosi mine in Bolivia, but Japan put out something like 30%+ of all silver in the world in the 1600s. Japan dumped silver onto the Portuguese, who then traded it to the Chinese. Going back to some historical sources I used back in school (!?!), Mexico and Peru – both experiencing silver booms themselves – output something like 1.3 million kilograms of silver from 1560-1640; that is estimated to be one seventh of the trade from Japan to China in the same period. That's a boggling number. Japan produced so much silver it tanked the price of the commodity and dried up their mines. The Iwami Ginzan mine (now a UNESCO world heritage site) is one of my favourite cool places because it produced such a bonkers amount of Japan's silver. rosefox and any other Watchmaker of Filigree Street fans, you might get a chuckle out of this – historically, daimyo fought like cats over the mine. The Mori (毛利) won it in 1564 and held onto it until the Tokugawa took over. Yes. That Mori. If you have access to JSTOR, you can read the scintillatingly titled The Production and Uses of Gold and Silver in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Japan by Kobata on the general topic. Give me something else to post about in 2020 here! comments Comment on DW: https://ift.tt/2tkl2Sa

#crossposted #dreamwidth