This was Jin, her Jin. She was safe. Then he asked, "Are we still fighting?" In a soft and condescending tone, and she wanted to kick him in the shins hard and stamp on his toes for good measure. Of course they were still fighting. They would be fighting until the end of time. How did he have the gall to ask?

"What is my Sin?" "Lust." "Outside of it, I demand respect and civility. Within its domain, I demand submission. I rule the realm of pleasure, and those who wish to enter it must submit to my will and commands." Natalya's eyes glowed. "Do you want to submit to me, darling?"

So how does one get those magical powers that allow you to transport yourself to fictional words and feel everything very realistically? Asking for myself.

(bernie sanders voice) i am once again complaining about survivalist culture and shows like "Alone"

i know this is lightly offtopic, but this reminds me sooo much of the thoughts i always have when i watch these shows. it's like a microcosm of capitalist/imperialist co-option of indigenous ideals and practice while simultaneously devaluing indigenous ideals and practices. the survivalists are clearly informed by indigenous wisdom, with some of them fully appropriating indigenous teaching, but many are too limited by the framework of their own individualism to really practice the type of reciprocity and mutuality Kimmerer talks about

i see often people talk about indigenous wisdom in these environments, things they learned about "living off the land", even attempting to be grateful; yet they will inevitably do something that goes against the practice (and usually, ends up in their loss)

there's also a bit of sad irony in the fact of a show like "Alone" specifically. indigenous culture thrives on the idea of community, connection, caring for each other, everyone providing what they can for the greater good. yet Alone strips all of that away, and these survivalists are expected to survive with nobody, no connection, no assistance - and this individualism results in doing things that would be unheard of had they had a community (or at least a partner, damn) to survive alongside

killing animals that provide really no sustenance out of desperation, or killing huge animals that require intense amounts of work for storing/drying because it's way too much for one person, hoarding forageables even when it's counterintuitive, it's all a symptom of the scarcity mindset Kimmerer is trying to combat here

not only that, but the achievement is in who is able to do this the best. who is able to prove that they need nobody but themselves? all for a cash prize to top it all off 🫠 it's a one-for-one, super niche example of the extractive nature of capitalism & colonialism while appropriating indigenous land & wisdom

"A hunter had brought home a sizeable kill, far too much to be eaten by his family. The researcher asked how he would dry and store the excess. Smoking and drying technologies were well-known, storing was possible. The hunter was puzzled by the question. Store the meat? Why would he do that? Instead, he sent out an invention to a feast, and soon the neighboring families were gathering around his fire, until every last morsel was consumed. This seemed like maladaptive behavior to the anthropologist, who asked again, given the uncertainty of meat in the forest, why didn't the hunter store the meat for himself, which is what the economic system of his home culture would predict. 'Store my meat? I store my meat in the belly of my brother,' replied the hunter."

”When the mother nurses her child, the boundary of the individual self becomes permeable and the common good is the only one that matters…The currency of this economy is the flow of gratitude, the flow of love, literally in support of life. By analogy, can the sustenance from the breast of Mother Earth be understood as a maternal gift economy?”

Say it with me...individualism will be the death of society! It is not normal to be self-serving. It is not normal to constantly put the needs of others aside to meet your own. On the other hand, it is not normal to kill yourself to be everything for everyone. Balance is important, and part of that balance is giving back to each other and the world without expecting anything in return. Yes it's tacky to say you expect something in return, but how do you really feel about doing acts of service with absolutely zero recognition?