#it's a shame germany doesn't have nearly as much

[yaxinqs]

very sad i'll be leaving my family tomorrow but once i'm back i can do a haul of all the star/celestial themed accessories i got LMAO

#liya's corner #it's a shame germany doesn't have nearly as much #i had to hold back so much too omg #i don't think there will ever be a time where i go to china and DON'T feel a tiny bit bad over not getting some stuff i liked

[rubin-therubix-loverofblorbos]

Hi, thanks for answering my ask, If it's not too hard can you tell me your race head canons for all the Mercs?

You're the best.

Engie: BLACK. He is not white. no. no don't look at the game. or the comics. or anything else related to engineer tf2. you cannot see that man at night. he's too much of a southern-black-mother-haver to be white. who cares about his dad, his MOM was BLACK. Polite, mildly violent when he needs to be, intelligent? His momma not white you can't change me.

Soldier: Native/Black. Mother Inuit and father African, OG last name Domoraud, got shortened to Doe through Immigration; OG first name was Amaqjuaq, but his parents had to choose a name on the spot. He has many identity issues, don't ask. Never takes off his helmet 'cause he doesn't like his monolids.Very touchy about the subject of race because where he lived was probably nearly as bad as Texas in terms of racism, feels he needs to devote every waking second to America or else he doesn't belong there. Yeah. He needs a bit of help. Has a weird accent but he hides it pretty well. Wow I rambled there...

Spy: Black/asian. Wow I really just dipped Tf2 into charcoal, didn't I? Didn't realize how many of them I Poc-ified until I put it down on paper. His mom was an asian woman, very stern, but she had a soft spot for her gender-weird kid. Dad was a black man, sweetheart, but he wasn't good at caring for people. Mother was a ballet star and taught him, he fucking mastered it. Broke his hip and disabled himself for life, but mastered it. Somehow he dramatizes it even more that it already was, and what actually happened was already halfway out a soap opera.

Sniper: Native. Māroi biological and Aboriginal Aussie Adoptive. He's Native on top of Native. Family spoke Antakarinya at home and he taught himself Māroi. Like Soldier, he has identity issues because languages and cultures get jumbled up in his head sometimes. Hates getting told he can't participate in Aboriginal activities because he isn't actually related to his parents. "BITCH? I WAS RAISED DOING THIS SHIT?" Is very passionate about his culture, especially his Antakarinya, because that is a language two breaths from death.

Scout: Black/white. LIGHTSKIN. CHEERIO-LOOKIN' MOTHERFUCKER. LITTLE E-FUCK-FEMBOY ASS. Soon as he pull out that fried chicken he's in a chick's panties. No explanation because you don't need one.

Pyro: Black. Heavy Nigerian accent, even when their speech isn't muffled people can barely understand them at times. Doesn't have the best english pronunciation, but their voice is jacked up anyways, so it doesn't matter. Fluent in American and British ASL despite this. Big person, bigger heart. 6'7'' 265 LB person with a voice deep enough to hit the Earth's core skipping around in Kidcore Aesthetic™️ and putting stickers on everything.

Demo: Black. we all know buddy. Although I feel like the Scottish are so on a different plane of being that they should be their own race. Black/Scottish. Very smart and has multiple degrees in chemistry and he drinks so much his blood has turned into pure alcohol. Scottish behavior. He wears kilts often, but sadly wears pants under his most times because they're. yknow. on a battle ground. But I think it's a shame. Can you tell I am getting tired.

Medic: I don't fuckin know. German. His race is Germany. The whole country. You ask him his race because his skin is very swarthy so you can't tell whether he's a really tan white guy or a weirdly light black guy. He's a pacific islander/white mix, but he actually barely knows. He'll remember his mother was Polynesian and go Oh. I forgor [Insert skull emoji and a facebook minion meme about mortality}.

Heavy: Black/white mix. He got his mother's beauty marks and his dad's bulkiness. Weird genes, very light but he has very pronounced black facial features. Big nose, big lips, high cheekbones. He gets asked if he's albino more than you would think. People actually don't expect him to have such a heavy Siberian accent because you expect white Vodka twink or white vodka dad that sneezes real fucking hard to have that much of a accent, not the guy that looks like he came out of a Nella Larsen book.

OH MY FUCK I'M DONE.

#rubin report #team fortress 2 #tf2

[aconflagrationofmyown]

Not you reposting the Sarge and lil Mama hcs cause goodness gracious God Almighty do I now have thots in my sinner's noggin.

so we gotta know that just cause this man's gotten hitched? Doesn't mean every woman who looks into his sleepy eyes and at his pouty lips stops proclaiming he's the Lord's gift to women. He's just now wrapped in shiny paper that their daddies approve of

and Elaine coming to Germany, distracting Elvis from hosting his parties, making him uninterested in anything except fuckin another baby into his pretty little wife? It makes the women that giggled and fluttered their lashes at pretty Elvis Presley downright mean to one Mrs. Elaine Presley. It was easy to ignore the ring on the man's finger, but when faced with her sweet temperment, tiny waist dressed to the nines? When faced with the ring on her finger? Oh, they've got a target.

Elvis? Elvis doesn't notice, because half the time he's doing maneuvers and the other half he's sweatin out a drug addiction like a whore in church. So when he's coming down the stairs into the little soiree that his wife is hosting and hears "Oh, there's some dust on this sill! It must be difficult keeping up with the housework when you've got children underfoot," and "My, your husband commented on my figure once--such a shame that you're losing yours to that new babe," and further titters, he's bout ready to brawl, even his mama did raise him right.

and then he hears Elaine, gentle and sweet as a honey-soaked knife: "Oh, my husband, he missed me so much, Doris. Sometimes he distracts me, you know, and I take my wifely duties very seriously. My Elvis has promised me a whole baseball team, and he's taken that very seriously, too. Graceland, our home back in Memphis--so beautiful, really Susan, you should see it--is so big we certainly have enough rooms for it. I always wanted a large family, and so has my husband. Do you think we should hire staff, like we do at Graceland? This house isn't nearly as sprawling, but if I'm in the family way I get ever so tired sometimes. I must have missed that sill. We do have a wonderful garden back home, too, oh but I'm so sorry I'm rambling, ain't I?"

Elvis is... Elvis has to sit down on the stairs for a minute because the blood rushes from one head to the other. Where did this little straight razor totin woman come from? His wife is normally so sweet he tastes cotton candy when she's about. He has to adjust himself in the slacks you pressed into perfection so lovingly, nearly weepy with this sudden desire he as to see.

And he goes down the stairs, cock a bar down his pantleg, to find his wife in all her glory: perfect pin curls, gentle smile, hands wrapped delicately around a tea cup like she hasn't just verbally slapped both the women across from her with such viciousness he thinks he'll find someone else. No, it's you: because this is one of the things he missed, being gone on tour and then off to Germany. This is the you in your feminine circle, and he comes round the settee to sit with his wife in a trance, looking at you like he's seen the face of God in your smile. Because that's his wife, lordy.

Oh lawd you get it, you’ve totally hit on what will be the challenge for most of her life but particularly her early marriage. And the notion that her cordial verbal incineration makes him downright weepy for her?! Oh my gosh I cannot, yes yes yes but it’s just too hot 🤯

#love notes #prompts

[elfinblaze]

Eurovision 23: my thoughts

Thoughts on this year's Eurovision so far (pre-final):

Getting up at 5am for Eurovision isn't nearly as bad as watching the football (soccer) at 2am.

I don't like the Netherlands or Romania's songs, but the artists do not deserve the crap they get on social media.

According to rumour, Romania's artist, Theodor Andrei, has had no support from his delegation, so he's been doing everything on his own. I wasn't expecting much from his live performance, but he made it work okay, and at least he can sing, so props to him for that. I hope he doesn't get trashed for this, and instead gains experience and more opportunities to grow in future.

Only Poland deserves hate. Whoever is behind the music clearly covered up how much Blanka misses her notes by drowning her out with the backing vocals. I'm so sorry, Polish people, you deserve better than this.

Iceland should have got through instead of Poland. Sigh.

I'm actually liking the hosts this year: Alesha Dixon, Julia Sanina, and Hannah Waddingham. Nothing too cringy to watch, Julia is all elegance, and Hannah just emanates charisma. Well done, Ukraine and UK.

Sad about Malta not qualifying for the finals. That performance was so fun.

I love how warm and friendly Lord of the Lost (Germany) are coming across. Metal band, sure, but they just seem like sweet guys.

Also Germany's song is just kickarse this year. This is good quality metal music while still being accessible to a broader audience.

Denmark's song isn't bad on its own. Unfortunately Reiley's falsetto just isn't strong enough live, which is a shame. I always want to see performers do well live. My family will be sad to see him go.

I don't like pop ballads in general, so I can't comment on any of those.

I've talked about my favourites before, and not much has really changed, except Belgium growing on me and Gustaph seems adorable. Still loving Cyprus, Germany, Australia, Finland, Austria, and France. So I won't re-hash those any further.

Cyprus, I'm not surprised qualified, since he has Australia behind him. I mean, he can also sing, so that helps.

On that note, I know Danny from Australia has been doing interviews in German (since he spent the first 11 years of his life there), so we're trying to charm our way into that vote too.

Most artists used the stage, and then Australia blew the damn thing up! What a way to end the semi-final.

This is such a great year I actually bought the CD. There are only a handful of songs I would skip.

It's going to be a hell of a final. So many great songs and performances.

[Edit: Now I'm home, I can fix my spelling.]

#regi blogs #eurovision

[odysseywritings]

Interviewing the Sorceress

@flashfictionfridayofficial

She caught my eye with her colorful purple clothes, half her hair jet black and half white, and a collection of gold trinkets that had no obvious origin, such as a cyclops and a three headed alien. For privacy, her real name and location have been omitted, yet her van had an elaborate painting of a wizard surrounded by trees. She appears to be born in the 50s yet her energy is youthful and loose.

My dad fought in the Second World War, and he never shook that off, so I grew up a military brat. I went across the states but also Germany. And everywhere I went, I saw premonitions coming from anything at any time. I didn't think about them a lot until they came true. It started off small with what food would be in school or what buildings I'd see. You couldn't say this stuff out loud or you'd be labeled insane so I kept it inside like a good little patriot.

Then bombs showed up nearly every week, us being the "Duck and Cover" generation, and I had this growing anxiety that the world would end. It made me cold and violent toward anything and anyone, small or big. Why bother being good if the world would turn to fire and rubble before I could drive or get my first kiss?

My teenage years had me running away a lot, meeting outcasts, smoking, bussing with rock stars, joining protests, all that. I dabbled in tarot and psychedelics, but what I saw was different, more real. By the 70s, I'd go through these invisible doors that would open up.

When did you realize you were entering these doors?

They would be around corners: alleys, woods, interiors. I didn't feel anything change on my body, but I felt I was in a transient state. Like a caterpillar turning into mush in a chrysalis. Suddenly, I was no longer in my world. It was like being in an alien planet in those hokey B-movies. (laughs)

People looked the same, but the fashion was radical, people were teleporting in these phone booth things, and robots were much more life-like. And before I knew it, I'd flip back to the world of tie dye and an energy crisis.

Some people claim to be abducted by aliens. Do you think you experienced a similar fate?

Oh, goodness, no. I didn't see any little green or gray men. I always felt like I stayed on Earth. The free love movement and sexual revolution made the culture shock easier to absorb, but it was overwhelming at first. As the 80s went on, and progress was slowing down, I felt a longing to go back. I was so tired of people being cruel and dumb, getting obsessed with yuppie greed, settling down in unhappy marriages and jobs. Things were becoming hazy and I wondered if there was any optimism.

It took a few years before another door opened and I couldn't wait! Everything was even more futuristic. There was no smog, no poverty, no real divisions. People had magic, or some kind of advanced technology, where they could just create things out of thin air!

I spent so much time in that future, I left my old one for... I think, 8 years. In that time, I could feel the universe and grab all the atoms. They could be weaved and crafted like a sewing kit for any problem. Viruses, fuel shortages, broken bones, hunger, all gone. I didn't worry about survival like I used to, and I studied and traveled with all the time in the world. I even trained to be an astronaut!

I could see so much of the galaxy and beyond. Even in space, the most terrifying and lonely place, I felt secure knowing I was closer to knowing life in its entirety.

What made you decide to return here?

I didn't want to learn everything while I was still healthy. What else would I do besides get bored to death? I'm over 70 but I haven't felt this young before. All the regrets, shame, anger, confusion, and pessimism in my youth are so distant that they belong to someone who doesn't exist anymore.

What matters is that I keep doing new things, making the impossible happen, and delivering the truth to others. I know I seem like a crazy old lady, but you can find doors to enter if you turn your head around the corner, and discover a new way to live life when everything seems to drag you down.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview.

My pleasure, dear!

#writeblr #creative writing #interview fiction #fantasy #sci fi #mywriting #njm

[deep-hearts-core]

1998

This should be an interesting one. Since 1999 was the first year without the orchestra and the language rule, 1998 is going to look and sound VERY different from the contests I'm used to.

Croatia Classic costume change and classic Balkan ballad. Danijela has very good control over her voice, but the staging (specifically her hand movements, but also that one long shot) was sort of awkward. She looked and felt out of place on that stage, especially in the black outfit. Melody also seemed... not simple, but overly familiar? To me it felt like it was composed out of bits of other songs that I know and can't remember and that put me off a little bit. But not in a formulaic way. I dunno.

Greece Forgettable but not unenjoyable rock song. I don't like her voice nearly as much though.

France Loving the chill vibes here and Marie is fun to watch. I really liked the verses in this. Good stage presentation - although, I don't know if she was sick or just has a naturally raspy voice but something seemed slightly off about her singing.

Spain This man is like... if a classic rom-com protagonist with a boombox was sopping wet pathetic and also John Green. Not a bad song. I like the sentiment I suppose. There's this extremely 1990s thing going on with the synths that I'm not crazy about.

Switzerland Twee ending is twee but otherwise I really like this song. I fuck with the violin and Gunvor sounds good and she looks good in that dress (in the long shots. In the closer shots I keep getting distracted because it looks like she just wore a bra onstage). However. Those backup dancers needed to chill. Specifically there's this shoulder shrug thing they do right at the beginning that just does not fit the vibes and it BOTHERED me.

Slovakia Good to know that the terrible VFX overlays have been around for 25+ years. Thanks Slovakia, hated that. It's a beautiful language and the song was pretty enough, if not all that engaging, so it's a shame that parts of it were too low for Kristina. She had to whisper the first two notes of this one repeating phrase which sounded just a little creepy.

Poland This had a really strong opening and honestly I do like this song a lot but the lead singer just isn't bringing it vocally. She's not bad. I just don't think that head voice as a register really works here. It makes the song seem low-energy and her tone quality seem just the littlest bit shrill.

Israel I think this win was deserved. I don't really like the nasally tq that Dana has, but she's a good performer. Like a lot of other high ranking songs from this era, I don't think I've ever heard this song in full before, but the verses hold up to the chorus and everything feels consistent with the greater idea of the song. Good use of the background lights. And, also, shoutouts to the backing singers. They sounded good and the sound mixing for them was done really well... which, in Eurovision, is not always easy...

Germany "German Austin Powers runs into the audience, caresses several men, climbs onto the side stage" is something that I should hate, but I kind of love it. Like fuck this guy but also fuck, this guy! The whole thing with the cowbells was also very funny. Love a good Stefan Raab song.

Malta Chiara is such a good singer. Like she just sounds good and satisfying everywhere in the song no matter the volume, emotion, or register. WHICH IS WHY IT'S A DAMN SHAME THAT THIS SONG BORES ME TO TEARS. If you have a good singer (and good staging), give her a good song and maybe an actually attractive dress, cmon Malta I know you can do it she looked so good in 2005.

Hungary It just doesn't do it for me. IDK.

Slovenia This one too. It really didn't capture my attention. Although better than Hungary, I think.

Ireland Not bad. Clearly following on from Katrina and the Waves. I wasn't expecting her to have such a deep voice, but she sounds pretty good! Lol at the completely abandoned keyboard just sitting on the stage though.

Portugal I love the instrumentation here. The song is cute but the vocals and the way it draws back during the sung portions is less fun than the bits where it's just the bagpipes and the guitar.

Romania Malina doesn't come into herself here until that high note. It's an OK song but she's too quiet for it and the staging is too simple.

UK This is fun, I'm into it. Not my favorite by any means and not particularly a standout but it's good.

Cyprus I really enjoy how anthemic that chorus is. The backup singers were also used really well, in a way that made them sound like a full choir rather than five people.

Netherlands Queen Edsilia! Sounds good looks good feels good. No notes.

Sweden I'm not sold on it. She sounds ok I guess, but isn't she a country singer? I feel like maybe I would have been more into it if they'd sent her in a genre she did more? Iunno.

Belgium She's so cute and the whole package just comes together. Not usually my sort of song, but after the run of mostly boring songs I'm so refreshed by how much I enjoy this.

Finland I will be honest, I don't fully know what's going on here and I don't know how I feel about it.

Norway Cute. I like the vibes on this guy, how the camerawork incorporates the live orchestra, and the color scheme.

Estonia For some reason was not expecting this to be a piano ballad, but it's good.

Turkey Looks nice sounds nice. At this point my attention has started to wane quite a bit so unless it's super good or super bad I don't have much to say.

FYROM Wasn't expecting to like it, I don't hate it! Not the worst debut they could have had.

My top 25 1)France 2)Netherlands 3)Belgium 4)Germany 5)Switzerland 6)Ireland 7)Spain 8)Norway 9)Israel 10)Cyprus 11)Portugal 12)Estonia 13)Poland 14)Malta 15)Croatia 16)FYROM 17)Turkey 18)UK 19)Sweden 20)Slovakia 21)Slovenia 22)Romania 23)Greece 24)Hungary 25)Finland

Miscellaneous Thoughts that first interval act is such a colonial project. i think all the people angsting about how uk-heavy this year's hosting was should go back and watch eurovision 1998. "ok, we're going to explain the tiebreak rules" *proceeds to have the most competitive voting sequence of any eurovision i've ever watched*. i don't think they have explained the tiebreak rules on air since then, maybe not even when voting systems changed and the tiebreak rules also changed. it's giving the abba video they showed right before sweden swept the juries in 2023. a bit confused by the 2 separate voting graphics used, where one is a map and the other is the scoreboard with the winning country's flag waving. similar designs were also used in '99 and i was curious about it then too. my suspicion is that the map graphic is displayed while they reorganize the scoreboard to show standing order instead of running order but i'm not 1000% certain about that. good to know that greece and cyprus really have been exchanging douze since the dawn of time, especially considering that the crowd anticipated both of those douzes lmao nah, but like. this was such a strong year and it was so quintessentially chaotic and eurovision. the predictable douzes, the close voting, no one being able to find dana for like five minutes after the announcement. terry wogan was actually integrated into the hosting well, which graham norton was... not. i love it. this is one i'd love to watch again or recommend to people who haven't seen older contests before.

#esc reviews

[moveslikeanape]

yeah that's totally fine, i'll follow you back now as well! i hope you don't mind that i post about a lot of things other than disney movies haha. though my url happens to be the name of a character from twisted wonderland, a disney game that i like a lot. when you mentioned hunchback of notre dame being one of your favorite disney movies, i thought about how twisted wonderland actually has references to HoND in it--but sadly, nothing tarzan related. i found out about what mark henn said from this link if you'd like to read it, there's some additional info in here as well and it's all a bit sad to hear, but really interesting: https://www.cartoonbrew.com/studios/retired-disney-legend-mark-henn-work-had-been-more-meaningful-236985.html

i agree that disney songs definitely shouldn't be written with the intention that people will hear them before seeing the movie! i know some people do like to listen to the soundtracks of new disney movies before they see them, but i've actually always tried my best not to do that or hear any of the songs ahead of time because i prefer being surprised by them. so when i saw wish, all i'd heard was the snippet of "this wish" that was played in the trailers, and during the scene where at all costs played i was honestly so confused about the context of it that it was a little distracting. disney music should immerse you in the story and tell you something about the characters, not distract you because the situation the song is being used for doesn't seem to make sense...

oh yeah, i've heard that about the atlantis book! there's a blog on wordpress i found recently who did really detailed reviews of the different disney art books and they mentioned all of that about the atlantis one. i agree it's a huge shame, that movie seems to have such a fascinating world and i'd love to be able to learn more about it. another thing that disappoints me is there being no book for the emperor's new groove at all, though on the bright side at least the documentary for that movie is available online.

oh no, that must be so frustrating to keep missing out on getting to see the tarzan broadway show! i hope you get a chance to see it someday, and that you enjoy it when you do. i'll definitely have to find the time one of these days to at least listen to the cast recording myself. it's so interesting that it's popular in germany but not here... i wonder why that could be. i love that jane gets her own song, though. she's my favorite character from the movie (though of course i also love tarzan himself!) and i always thought it would be nice to have just a bit more insight into what she's thinking and feeling.

i remember reading that with rafiki, the director wanted to gender-swap him as well as give nala more focus because she thought the movie didn't have a strong enough leading female role. so i really do wonder why they'd change terk back into a guy, because something i always liked about the movie is the variety of different female characters in the movie between her, jane, and kala! and terk is really cool and unique for how she ended up breaking gender roles, but then you lose that element in the broadway show. if you do find anything about why they made that change i'd love to know.

No worries, mine is kind of a mix of Disney and cats, with random other stuff I like thrown in. Thanks for following back!

Ooo, I'd heard of Twisted Wonderland, but never really looked into it. Will have to check it out!

Just read that article, and wow, that is so sad! I can't imagine how hard it must've been to see things go downhill like that, a having his ideas taken like that?! Poor guy.

I think Disney needs to slow down a moment and and look into their own history to see what they're supposed to be about. Thinking about how they try to put out so much so fast, and how they seem more invested in their acquired properties than original ideas. How important quality was to Walt, to the point that he nearly bankrupted the company on several occasions just for the sake of quality. Now it's all about the money… making money for the shareholders is far more important to them that making something they can actually be proud of.

That sounds like a really interesting blog! I think they kind of fell away from art books (and other merch in general) as the movies began "under performing". Such a shame because the early 2000s had such incredible and daring movies, and they basically got swept under the carpet.

Thank you! Someday I'll get to see it. If you get the chance to listen to the cast recording, please let me know what you think! I was talking to a friend in Germany, and she said the country just seems to like Tarzan in general, so maybe it's just a love of the character in any form that made it work there. I'm with you on Jane. I would have been so sad if she didn't get one. She actually has a song to herself, the duet with Tarzan, and a duet with Porter!

Kerchak also got his own song (as well as a duet with Kala). They really expanded Kerchak's character and I absolutely love them for that. While you understand his motives in the movie, they dig deeper in the musical, and make him a more rounded and sympathetic character.

That makes sense about Rafiki and expanding Nala (especially given lions are actually matriarchal). I'll have to dig out my Tarzan Broadway book and see if it says anything about Terk. I'm guessing because they took away Tantor and they figure people would be more able to accept Tarzan having a male friend.

#strangers like me

[kitzkah]

Memories / notes;

Personal;

I would've been born around 1910-1920s. I had my parents and a younger sister. I didn't have much contact with my other family I think. I remember really caring for my sister. I specifically remember my father being a slightly more important man. Maybe within the military or politics, I don't know.

I grew up a bit outside of the city, I have blurry memories of living in the countryside, especially as a child. We must've moved to a city at some point, because those memories are eventually replaced with large cities and streets.

I was teased for being fairly small at least in my younger teenage years.

I think I did sports, however I don't remember which? It was not soccer/football, not boxing or anything else that's pure muscle strength.

- A female with brown hair

- a man with blond hair, taller than me for sure. I really liked him, enough to feel shame. I think we fell apart when I joined the army.

I really liked dogs. I remember patching one up once, his paw was hurting. I wasn't a medic nor a vet, I had no clue what I was doing, so I just wrapped his paw in some fabric.

Military;

Joined the military around 18 years old? I technically enlisted willingly though I remember mainly doing so because I figured I needed to and should.

Army/Heer, Wehrmacht

I could've sworn I was some kind of gunner, or whatever it would be called. I handled firearms mainly? I remember the weight of some.

I have very vague memories of at least seeing the outside or maybe inside of a camp??, I don't know which one though I believe it was IN germany. I don't remember if I maybe worked there (or was wanting to/training to/etc) for a small period of time or if I simply passed by enough for it to be engraved in my memory. Most likely the latter...?

Could be that my dad worked there and that's how I remember. Who knows.

I struggled to sleep, I developed a lot of stress and paranoia.

Then and now;

I remember believing just about everything I was told, especially from my father or my superiors, because I was taught to listen and respect them. And I ended up with some really gross views, I genuinely did think some people were simply better than others and in a very harsh way. I thought what my country was doing was right, and it was for the best. I believed a lot of what people said.

I don't anymore, I'm a lot more critical. I've learned to take information and do my own research, etc. however I do still struggle with sometimes simply just going along with what's the norm, at least publically, because I'm still really nervous about how people would react or treat me if I act or think differently. I'm working on it, though. I absolutely do not tolerate anything bigoted, anything that would be considered racist, homophobic, sexist, etc etc. So me following what's popular is a little more...innocent now. I don't let it go too far I think.

I still "struggle" with homosexuality (I use the word struggle loosely), though in this life, I've accepted myself a lot more. I no longer feel as much shame or fear, though I'm sure a lot of that is because of the time and place I'm currently in. I no longer need to hide that because I am no longer in risk of losing my life.

I still struggle a bit with my confidence.

I'm a lot less athletic now, less strong and less coordinated. I know that can be learned, though, but it doesn't feel as natural anymore.

I still love nature.

I'm able to feel a nostalgic love towards music I don't think I ever allowed myself to indulge in nearly as much before.

#spirituality #ww2 germany #ww2 #past life #past lives #reincarnation

[alejandramdcblog]

DRAWING- 3 VIDEOS NOTES

1. Walk in My Shoes: Nike’s Sweatshops (A Culture Jamming Documentary) | Bonettwork

Nike manufacturers encouraged low wages and inhumane conditions at its factories in Indonesia.

Nike's factory workers live day by day ecause they can't afford much in their low wages.

Two researchers went and lived for months and lost 25 pounds of how much work and how bad they teach Nike workers.

2.India's shameful child labour mining for beauty industry sparkle

A six year old is working with his family mining to get crystalline rock that are used for pearlescent paint for luxury cars.

This part where they mine is not protected and is illegal.

They are exploited everyday.

Five children die in the mine every month.

The adults are greater.

The supervisor say that they ask for a license but the government doesn't give them and that children don't work on mine (lying).

3.The Dark Side Of Chocolate 2010 Full Documentary

The Dark Side of Chocolate is a 2010 documentary film about the exploitation and slave trading of African children to harvest chocolate, still occurring nearly ten years after the cocoa industry pledged to end it. Cocoa plantations in Ghana and the Ivory Coast provide 80% of the world with chocolate, according to CorpWatch. Chocolate producers around the world have been pressured to "verify that their chocolate is not the product of child labor or slavery. In 2000, BBC aired Slavery: A Global Investigation which brought the issue of child labor in the coca industry to light. In 2001, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association and its members signed a document that prohibited child trafficking and labor in the cocoa industry after 2008. Despite this effort, numerous children are still forced to work on cocoa plantations in Africa. In 2009, Mars and Cadbury joined the Rainforest Alliance to fight against child labor. By 2020, these major chocolate manufacturers hope to completely eradicate child labor on any plantations from which they purchase their cocoa.

The Dark Side of Chocolate was produced by Danish journalist Miki Mistrati who investigated the use of child labor and trafficked children in chocolate production. It is filmed by U. Roberto Romano.The filming started in Germany, where Mistrati asked vendors where their chocolate comes from. They then flew to Mali, where many of the children are from.

In 2001, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association formed an action plan entitled the Harkin-Engel Protocol that would aim to end the worse forms of child trafficking and slave labor. [9] However, child trafficking still continued in countries in West Africa. Authorities and companies denied it happened. Due to this conflicting outlook, the filmmakers went undercover to discover the truth. The film starts with its two filmmakers investigating independently by journeying to the western coast of Africa to the country of Mali, the country where children were rumored to be smuggled from and then transported to the Ivory Coast.