Reminder This Pride Month That Disabled People In The US On SSI And SSDI Do Not Have The Same Marriage

Chapter 2

Family Ties, Family Dies

If the smog painted the night sky any darker, Aseria would believe it was night. Her dirty blonde hair nearly dyed black by the smoke that drifted through the alleyways she snuck through them. It was a horrible night to be a citizen of any part of Whiusil. The villages had been torn to shreds during a war between the people and the neighboring powerhouse of Betrothal a year before.

While it seemed so simple to just let others live in peace, peace is not an option once others have better technology.

The people of Whiusil began fixing their wounds and ailments with a metallic substance, Sweoyae, shortened to Swey in the face of enforcement.

Sweoyae took the villages by storm, even people that didn’t need the metal used it to enhance their bodies in ways that were meant to be used for good. People began to create machines that could move and talk, but not have the same for of intelligence of a human.

All around, swey was helping the people of the nation. The men could build the villages, hunt or fish for longer periods of time and the women could stay in the fields to plant longer.Doctors could work longer on the things that typical amounts of swey couldn’t fix without being tired, and the children didn’t worry about broken bones as much as they typically would. In the lines of villages, everyone knows everyone, meaning that everyone shares the work regardless of their status.

As previously assumed, Betrothal caught wind of the neighboring technology and wanted to buy it all from the villages. Why would a line of villages need such materials if they have no one to protect themselves from? Why use it for little things like hunting when one could use it for strength?

Whiusil, barely takes a third of Betrothal’s size, meaning if Betrothal wanted something, they could take it by force, which is exactly how things happened on the night of October 12th.

Betrothal came in with a force unlike anyone had ever seen. Statues broken, people murdered in the streets, flags and buildings set on fire with no remorse.

Once the dust settled and the losses were cut, was no trace of sweoyae taken from Whiusil. It became increasingly obvious as the people of Whiusil began to fight back that the attack was never about sweoyae. The attack on Whiusil was all for the sake of showing off the immense power, threat that Betrothal holds and money that Betrothal could burn to show the steps they could take for power.

“What a night to be alive, huh dear?”

A calm, yet chipper voice says from beside her.

Without much thought, she swung her fist so hard the wooden post behind the alleged attacker dented slightly. A quick kick is swiped under her feet, giving her no time to dodge. As she reaches for the small dagger holstered above her ankle, the voice rings out again.

“It’s me! It’s me!”

A blur of black and white shoots in front of her like lightning, a loud thump hitting the floor a few feet away and the next thing Aseria knows, she is on her knees with one hand caught at the wrist behind her back.

“This is your lieutenant speaking! Stand down!”

With a cringe from the sudden realization, and a wince from the pain, Aseria’s head drops slowly.

“I’m sorry, it’s just instinct! Isn’t that what you taught me? Swing first, questions later!”

The lieutenant chuckles and shakes her head, the rest of her white curls falling out of her helmet. Lieutenant Reyna Muerzo, a terrifying leader that stands at six foot three, was nothing short of sneaky. For her size, she knew how to get around quickly and quietly.

“That I did. I know that is just how you were taught, but you know we’re not in those times anymore. The war ended last May, child.”

Letting a stressed sigh, Aseria sat back up to look up at the woman in front of her. Wordlessly, they both stand to overlook the burning city before them. Another product of a revolution that simply refused to end. The silence between the duo felt deafening, there was nothing to say, nothing to do anymore, nowhere to call home that wasn’t in cinders to return to.

Sifting a hand through her pocket, Reyna found three stray cigarettes and offered one to the dirty blonde beside her. As Aseria declined, she took a match to strike on the side of her boot to light the cancerous stick in her hand.

“I know you lost a lot, we all did. But you have to be willing to let go of the soldier you were, and accept the woman you are. You shouldn’t have had to grow up that fast. This should not have been your battle to fight.”

“That was the only time I felt useful, mom.”

Reyna’s eyes widened. She hadn’t heard that title from her daughter in over a year. Once the war for freedom started, she was nothing more to the country than a feared lieutenant. She regained her composure just as quickly as she was thrown off.

“Then find another way to be useful.”

“I don’t think I can find one so easily.”

“Then let us make one, my child. Where do we start? Rebuild the city?”

Looking up to see the expression on her mother’s face, Aseria sees nothing but a smile adorning her wrinkled features. It shouldn't be a shock for such a strong woman to be such a strong mother, but Aseria was still taken back by the gentleness in her mother’s words after watching her take countless lives for the sake of their freedom.

The silence feels tense for a moment, but Reyna moves to her motorcycle that was discarded at the beginning of their conversation. As she puts her helmet on the ground, she looks over her shoulder gently.

“I do not blame you for throwing your sword the way you did;”

Reyna starts to lift the machine, a gentle whirring noise coming from it, as if it was arguing with her. She fiddles with the kickstand as Aseria takes a sharp breath, unsure of where their conversation was going. She knew from the start she was nothing more than a combat medic, she was told from the very first battle between Betrothal and Whiusil to only save the people with mechanical enhancements on their bodies. She couldn’t help but wonder if her mother was angry at her for running away from her position as a medic.

“I know you were scared. I did the same thing when I was handed my first sword. I just wish they would have kept their promise.”

A sigh of relief left Aseria as she realized her mother was more worried than upset with her, but when she looked at her mother again, she could tell something was wrong. The way Reyna leaned against the motorcycle told her everything she needed to know.

She was tense, nervous like she told a secret she wasn't supposed to tell. Lost in her own thoughts, the lieutenant begins to mutter to herself, ways things could’ve shifted in their favor, things she could’ve done differently to avoid her only child going to war at the age of twenty, losing part of her own arm and more. It wasn’t until a hand was on her shoulder that she was drawn out of her thoughts quickly.

“..Mom? What promise?”

A deep sigh settles in her chest as she nods, more to herself than the confused woman in front of her. Taking her hand carefully, Reyna begins leading her daughter to the ruins of the city in front of them.

“I think it’s time I tell you a little more about the man your father was, more importantly, who everyone thought your father was.”

Aseria turns to point out the motorcycle her mother was just leaning on behind them.

“What about your bike?”

“He will follow.”

Without hesitation, the vehicle lights up and roars to life as if it was leaning on the stand in the first place. Aseria's eyes widened but set quickly, silently cursing herself for forgetting that sweoyae was also used in machines, not just humans.

“Maude, come. We are going home.”

Hey y’all I’ve been looking through the Goncharov (1973) posts, and it seems like most people aren’t aware of the master document, which has all the lore, behind the scenes, and plot breakdown. It’s collaborative, so we can all make sure we get the most accurate depiction of everyone’s favorite movie :)

Google Docs

Goncharov (1973)

About Welcome! I am compiling information about the absolutely real film Goncharov (1973) for the ease of those who don’t have access to the

search WITHIN your local trash and you WILL find a friend and boy 

FUSEHOUND NATION!!!!!!!

BONUS:

@fusedhound (aka boyf) whomst I met bc of fusehound

IF GOD HATES GAYS WHY DO WE KEEP WINNING!!!!

     welcome in a new month ♡

set goals for self development

plan brunch & dinner dates with friends

read 5-10 books

indulge yourself more in your hobbies. do what you love unapologetically.

have more rest days without guilt

reflect on last month. what can you do differently that’ll help your overall state of being? physically, mentally & spiritually

stay off social media

do the butterfly hug method for bilateral stimulation. tell yourself all the things you wish you were/are told. ♡

make slight adjustments to your morning and night routine. keep it interesting.

schedule routine appointments (health, pamper)

get on top of deadlines.

say affirmations every morning & night

be more kind to yourself

stay firm on your boundaries, make adjustments as needed.

stand up and show up for yourself.

walk with your head held up high and shoulders back. don’t cower.

prepare for any upcoming events

learn a new skill

try a new recipe

journal often

explore new places. meet new people and make friends.

keep your thoughts in check. what you focus on grows.

daily walks

meditate, stretch.

declutter your environment (digital, physical space, social circle)

be safe.

hi everyone!

my name is yeliza, i’m ukrainian, living in kyiv. funny story but currently we have a 150k+ army of russians all over the ukrainian borders, as well as an ongoing shelling from uncontrolled territories that has been averaging more than 1000 strikes daily. more fun facts - we are currently in a state of emergency, and it’s of high probability that russians will start a major invasion pretty damn soon. kyiv will be one of the first to be hit :)

i wanted to use this as an opportunity to spread the information about the whole situation, but also ask you to help me disperse it further: you can get the main points about the russo-ukrainian war and current escalation here. also PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO OUR ARMY - the link is here. any amount would be helpful - even some of your pocket money. we are in the dire need for the global support, truly.

much love and appreciation for your help!

if you have any question regarding the situation, i’ll be glad to answer as long as i’ll be able to! stay safe!

UPD. The National Bank of Ukraine has also opened a donation account for Ukrainian army, the number of the special account: UA843000010000000047330992708 . Proof here. PLEASE DONATE

Social Issues that Help with Understanding Buddy Daddies

Here are some political, social, and cultural aspects of Japanese culture that I think is important to keep in mind when watching Buddy Daddies. Please note: this is a super long post, with lots of pictures. 

1. Human Trafficking - Slave Labor

In Episode One, we learn that Miri’s birth father was involved in labor based human trafficking involving Southeast Asian individuals. This is currently a very big issue in Japan, since Southeast Asian immigrants (among others) are viewed as a cheap labor option and usually experience slave labor like conditions.

From The United States Department of State website:

Men, women, and children from Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin America, and Africa travel to Japan for employment or fraudulent marriage and are subjected to sex trafficking. Traffickers use fraudulent marriages between foreign women and Japanese men to facilitate the entry of women into Japan for sex trafficking in bars, clubs, brothels, and massage parlors. Traffickers keep victims in forced labor or commercial sex using debt-based coercion, threats of violence or deportation, blackmail, confiscation of passports and other documents, and other psychologically coercive methods.

2. Drugs in Japan

When I was living and working as an ALT in Japan, two ALTs (in a different district, but within the same company of my own), got caught with drugs. It was a big deal and ended up in the newspapers. The company I worked for had to do a lot of PR work with the elementary and junior high schools that they had contracts with, to ensure that the contracts would remain. As for me and the other ALTs? We had to sit through like five separate meetings within like two months about drugs and drug laws in Japan. 

The barebones takeaway is that, in Japan, weed is viewed as being on the same level as hardcore drugs. Charges can be steep and strict. Even just knowing that someone has drugs, and you don’t say anything to law enforcement about it, can get you in trouble. There is a grey area with drugs, which is stuff like bath salts and the like. Since the selling of things like that cannot be prohibited, so they are easily accessible to the public. 

Japan still has a very “90′s D.A.R.E.” approach to drugs. It’s catchphrase is 「ダメ。ゼッタイ。」or “No! Never.”

(Image from a Web Magazine called Nagasaki Press.)

When celebrities are caught with (what’s usually) weed, it can basically be the end of their careers, since recreational drug use of any kind (excluding alcohol, of course), is still negatively looked down upon in Japanese society. This is why it is still heavily left in the hands of the yakuza and drug kingpins, etc. Though there has been a recent increase in protests and ideology surrounding the idea of legalizing weed. Still, not much acceptance for recreational use is likely to come yet. However…

There may soon be some revision to the laws, which will allow for medical use:

Legislation changes scheduled for 2023

In 2021, the MHLW established an expert committee to review the Cannabis Control Act, and it is expected revisions will be proposed in a bill to be submitted in 2023. This will most likely allow for the use of medical cannabis. 2022/12/02

From: Euromonitor

So, something to keep in mind when Kazuki talks about a drug kingpin here is that this drug kingpin is likely not just dealing with super, hardcore drugs, but also softer ones too, like weed.

3. Child Protection Squad

There is this misconception in Japan that really young kids, like Miri’s age, can just roam free all around Japan and no one will find it odd. In Episode 1, we do see Miri roaming around the city without anyone really taking notice, but she also wasn’t in an area where there would be people that are trained to take notice.

In the above image she is at a park, which is likely close to a school somewhere. The man that approaches her here has a band around his jacket sleeve that says こども見守り隊 (kodomo mimamori-tai), which gets translated to “Child Protection Squad.” Basically, these are like crossing guards, in a way, because they do play a similar role to that, but they also do more than that as well:

(Image from the Japanese website: Nice Senior).

This people basically ensure that kids stay on the right paths on their way to school. Most of the time, when elementary school children head off to school, they will go in groups (with the 5th or 6th graders being the leaders) and there will often be older people outside their houses on their way in, keeping an eye on the children to make sure they get to school okay. 

And that’s talking about elementary school aged kids. For ones that are around Miri’s age, usually the parents (mostly mothers) will bring them by bike:

Or they will get picked up by a bus:

This one looks pretty boring in comparison to some others you might see though, like these:

(Image from the Hiyoshidai School Website)

Sometimes the daycare workers will also take them on little excursions outside using big strollers for the kids to travel around in:

(The image is obviously from a stock photo site called fotostock, but yeah, I’ve seen these before when I lived in Japan).

But a little toddler just sitting on her own at a mostly empty park with just a guy sitting at a park bench nearby watching her? That would raise attention and an eyebrow from someone who is essentially a crossing guard and whose job is to ensure the safety of kids as they travel to and from school. 

The rest is under a Read More.

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