“Israel killed 12 civilians and 2 children so they’re bad”
”What about the 94 civilians killed in Hezbollah’s shellings?”
”…Didn’t happen and Israel is still bad.”
Kentuckian here! Just wondering how everyone views it 100 years later!
Before 10/7 (7/10? forgive my Americanism) if you went online and searched up something about Israel or Palestine, you‘d find a mix of people loving Israel or Palestine, but they’d never have it in their profiles or bios and they would certainly not make daily posts about it. How did Israel’s PR fail so spectacularly that a good chunk of the western world now views it as an ethnostate (that has a fith of its population as Muslim)
My favorite is by far The War Room. I watch his stuff the moment I’m free because he explains stuff in a way that makes sense for a beginner such as myself. I also enjoy The Red Hawk.
I don’t really “hate” any of the eu5 creators, but I get why y'all don’t like Ludi. Comes off as kinda arrogant.
NASCA’s YouTube homepage: https://m.youtube.com/@NASCAR?ra=m
Per Wikipedia:
"The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold War confrontation.^([5]) After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.^([2])^([6])
The movement originated in the aftermath of the Korean War, as an effort by some countries to counterbalance the rapid bi-polarization of the world during the Cold War, whereby two major powers formed blocs and embarked on a policy to pull the rest of the world into their orbits. One of these was the pro-Soviet socialist bloc whose best known alliance was the Warsaw Pact, and the other the pro-American capitalist group of countries, many of which belonged to NATO. In 1961, drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference of 1955, the Non-Aligned Movement was formally established in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, through an initiative led by Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah, and Indonesian president Sukarno.^([7])^([8])^([9])
Constructive feedback is welcome!
I’d like to thank u/ISB00 for motivating me to finally finish this.
Guess who’s back, back again?
I’m not sorry.
All credit goes to our Lord and Savior, u/SpacePaladin15, for bringing us tNoP and letting us create our fanfics
Takes place in the universe of A Human‘s Slave. Though this can be read as a standalone story, consider reading that after you finish with this.
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Memory Transcription Subject: Vynem, Venlil Slave
Date [standardized human time]: February 1, 2157
Being a slave messes with you sometimes.
I’d know it; I’ve been one ever since I was born in an Arxur farm. I remember seeing those guards toying with some of the older Venlil, making them compete for scraps of meat. I remember seeing those guards toying with us children, too. Competitions for who can kill the most in a certain amount of time. Thank God I’ve been sent to greener pastures.
”Greener“ is not how Lynek, my fellow slave, would describe it. She spent the first years of her life on Venlil Prime, what is supposedly our home planet, before being captured by the human-Arxur forces during its siege and fall. Luckily for her, she was taken by the humans and not by the Arxur. I can only pray for the Venlil that fell into the Arxur’s hands.
…Not that they suffered a lot more.
But… I suppose I was lucky the humans bought me from the Arxur. The daily; sometimes trivial tasks and occasional beatings are better than being an Arxur’s lunch. I think Lynek and I got double lucky: some Venlil were assigned to do much harder work, such as working in mines or other hard labor.
It does make me wonder whether or not Venlil or other prey creatures are sapient. Can an entire sapient species really be enslaved? I’m not really sure. But seeing reminders of my species‘ plight everyday convinces me we aren’t. Higher thinking? Sure. Highest thinking? I can’t answer that.
Are prey meant to be servants to a predator’s needs? It seems likely. Almost everyone on the farm carried that belief, the evidence we see here on Earth supports that belief, and from the brief time we’ve spent off-world… the universe supports that belief.
”Vynem,” Lynek said, “animals don’t build great structures. Animals don’t communicate like we do. Animals eat people. The Arxur and humans are animals, prey are people.” The most idiotic part about her worldview is that she thinks our masters aren’t people and that we are. Animals can’t enslave people. Animals might be able to manipulate animals, but we’re clearly not manipulated. The humans and Arxur are blunt as can be that they rule us. So if I think of us as people, I have to think of the humans and Arxur as people. And I’m sure they are.
”Animals can’t enslave people.” I retorted.
”Vynem-“
Click!
Lynek and I instantly stopped the argument and faced towards the door. That click can mean many people are coming through the door with varying levels of intent. Usually bad. Sometimes medium. Never great.
The door opened and revealed Mr. Murphy standing behind it. Seems like we’ll have to rank it as “bad.” Lynek and I shared a quick glance before focusing our eyes on him and awaiting orders.
”Vynem. Lynek.” Mr. Murphy started. “Alex needs help with something and I have government business to attend to. Help him with whatever he or the rest of my family needs. He’s in his room.”
”Y-yes, sir!” Lynek jitterishly said.
”Of course, sir.” I said.
”Great.“ Mr. Murphy said as he left.
Well… there is worse he could’ve asked. It probably won’t be anything too demanding, at least! Not likely to be any sort of torture, so… there’s that! But Lynek…
“You need to stop stuttering any time a human asks something from us. You get used to the teeth eventually.” I picked at her.
”Because you’re used to Arxur fangs! You used to stutter too, Vynem. You only stopped at the beginning of this year!”
”And it makes me better than you. As usual.”
”Vynem…“ her tail assumed the annoyed position, “let’s head on to Alex’s room. The rod isn’t fun to get hit with.”
”Now that I can agree with. Lead the way.”
The familiar blue-gray walls of the hallway led us past the master bedroom, past Sophia’s room, past the cat bed, (because whoever arranged the house is cruel) and finally to the entrance of Alex’s room. I knocked on the door and Alex opened it.
Alex’s room was… chaotic, to put it nicely. Posters of his favorite racing athletes, a map of the world, complete with the areas of Sovlin‘s Scourge. (I may be one for dark stuff, but even I don’t understand why you'd remind yourself of the greatest tragedy your species has ever faced. It’s like me hanging up a map of old Venlil Prime in the pen… which Lynek has actually tried to create.) He also has no care for organizing anything, (something I can respect) so half of his room is full of junk he hasn’t touched in five years. The other half of his room contained his bed and his desk, which he uses to study (officially) and uses to play video games (unofficially).
Also, that damn cat was in there, making both the hairs of Lynek and me stand up.
“Hello, Alex, Mr. Murphy said you needed help with something...?” I asked.
His face scrunched a little bit before straightening out. “Ah, yeah… the weird variant of English you speak sounds unnatural. Anywho, yeah. Come right in.”
Learning English was a necessity for any Venlil living on Earth. No human was about to buy their slave a translator, and no human was going to take it easy any on a prey alien that messed something up. Learning English was naturally easier for me than Lynek by virtue that I never really had a language to begin with. All I had to do was listen to the auctioneers speak and infer from there. My English was bare at first but it improved as I got exposed to more words.
Lynek struggled, though. Apparently, Venlang has radically different structure. Different sounds, different ways of writing, different grammar order… not the easiest alien language to learn. She persevered, though, thanks to the help of the best teacher money couldn’t buy and somehow begging Mrs. Murphy for a copy of “A Slave’s Guide to English: Venlang Edition,“ which I find more outrageous than straight up admitting we’re enslaved.
”O-of course, sir.” Lynek said as we both moved into his room, sitting on his beanbag chair. “What do you need?”
“Well… my teacher assigned us a school project on the Federation’s downfall and how it changed the galaxy,” Alex began, half spitting, “how it affected the aliens, the people on Earth… all of that stuff. Basically how it changed society.”
”Where do we come in? I’ve never heard of any human taking interest in how we were affected by the Federation’s downfall, and I don't think we’re skilled enough to write your thing for you…” I began before realizing, “wait... do you want to interview us?”
”Well, my teacher is someone who believes you shouldn’t be in the situation you’re in now. Kinda dumb; pretty sure she emigrated from Norway, though, so not surprised. One of the few countries that has banned-… ah, my bad, I was rambling. Er, yes, I’d like to interview you both.“
”Wh-why?” Lynek asked as I rolled my tail.
”Probably getting a higher grade if I interview two aliens vs everyone else who‘s gonna interview a human or look at Federation broadcasts pre-fall or something.“
”Well… my life was probably impacted positively by it,” I began, making Lynek raise her tail in surprise and widen her eyes, “Lynek, don’t give me that. Alex, are you recording or writing this down?”
”Uh… yes, I’m ready. How has this been good for you?” Alex bewilderedly asked.
”I mean, I was born in an Arxur farm. Do they tell you about what goes on there?”
”…Yes.”
“Well, as I’m sure you know I’d believe, the Arxur suck. A lot. In their custody, they toy with you, starve you, er… breed you, and eat you. Since I was only eleven when I got removed, I thankfully didn’t have to experience either of the latter two, but I was starved and played with. Again, sucks. Most Venlil don’t make it past 20 years, I’m sure.
But when I was bought by some of your guys, I… became significantly freer. Now, don’t get me wrong, having a collar around your neck still sucks, but not as much as having a collar around your neck, getting played with, and eaten. Here? I’m allowed to make friendships. I’m allowed to explore a house whenever you guys are home. I’m allowed to sleep in a semi-comfortable bed and decorate my room. I’m allowed to eat nourishing food. The Arxur would never allow any of that. I hate the Arxur, and I… tolerate getting bossed around by you, else I get sent back.”
”Mhm. I’d take it you prefer being among your kin in the wild, though…?”
”Yes, but I basically already live with a wild Venlil-“
”Vynem… I s-swear, one of t-these days-“ Lynek interrupted.
”Yes, yes, I know. Wild is derogatory. Anyway. I’d love to be on Venlil Prime, heck, sounds like I would love to be in Norway, too. But right now? My life could be a lot worse.”
“Never knew they could speak so well…” Alex mumbled under his breath. I chose to pretend I didn’t hear it. I already cut it close with what I said in that interview. “Well, Lynek, your turn. Anything to say?”
“W-well… my l-life is definitely w-worse off. Before, on V-venlil Prime… I had a f-family. A l-loving mother and f-father and brother… y-you t-took th-that a-away during your invasion and-” Lynek was starting to tear up. I can’t help but feel bad for her… but at the same time, I don’t know how to feel either. I never knew my family. For all I know, they became Arxur lunch after I was born… does it make me a bad person I’m more worried about myself than her? “ate th-them… I-I… y-yeah…” Lynek was full-on sobbing now. I wrapped my tail around hers… “m-my world ended th-then… n-now I just exist t-to preserve V-venlil culture… s-so… definitely w-worse.” She sobbed.
“Damn…” was all Alex said. His face turned red and his eyes started to look glossy. “Well… thanks, Venlil, and… sorry for making you relive that, um… you can go back to your pen. I suppose I should go with you since it needs to be locked...
“Thanks…” I said. That ever-helpful cat must’ve recognized the somber mood, too, as it gave us a wide berth as Alex led us back to our pen. The lock gave its signature click! as we entered and sat on our bed. ”Lynek... are you… alright?” I asked with concern.
Lynek flicked her tail and said, “Vynek… I… I’m fine just… I’m taking a nap. Goodnight…” and then proceeded to lay down.
”Sweet dreams, Lynek I… hope you feel better.”
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Well… that was depressing to write.
Thanks for reading!
Hello everyone! I’ve been redditing for a year now and I still don’t understand one thing:
On r/AskHistorians, not all comments appear. For example, here is a thread where allegedly 42 comments were made, but in reality there are only 22 comments. Why is this?
Pretty much the title. How would ancient humans live with constant burns?
So, Yesterday, I open my device to see a clash between Palestinians and Israeli settlers who were hiking without an escort. Today, I see articles on how the PA will “End the Israeli colony,” and then I see something from Ben Gvir vowing revenge for the settlers and calling to demolish some of those villages nearby. Is Gaza 2.0 about to happen? Or is it just another Tuesday?
