#1st gen immigrant parent

[nectarinesinthesun444]

My dad barely has friends now. His best friend is his brother who is in Greece.

No one in our Greek family apart from my dad immigrated too.

I hear about people I know talking about seeing their family for the weekend and I don’t get that more than once or twice a year.

This screenshot means a lot

I think about this a lot

[craneum]

is my mum basically a terrible person? Yes. Have I been raised to be her companion because my brother and father dislike her too much to be the support she needs living in a country with no family and a completely different culture? Yes. Does this make me as bad a person as her because I am meant to be like her and am genuinely similar to her in many ways? Inconclusive, will report back.

[areafiftydun]

okay but who does found family better than 911?? WHO?!

[lie-lacdreams]

Some headcanons in Thermo & Turmoil so far (for Curly and the reader)

Because I just inserted hella headcanons into the plot and feel an urge to explain all of them and then some more lol

(Before I begin I would like to start off by mentioning that I'm a bit clueless when it comes to using Tumblr so please forgive me let me be incompetent and ignorant in peace)

In this story, reader is in her mid to late twenties, like 26-28 years old. Curly is in his early to mid thirties (33-35), which means he joined Pony Express likely fresh out of college or trade school

Reader is a chemical engineering graduate student, specializing in green synthesis and catalysis. What this all means is that she has a particular interest in sustainability and organic chemistry

The way her morals and ethics left her body after getting accepted to work at Pony Express, a shady company with not the best green practices (she was desperate to find a job, okay?)

one last related thing - the timeline of when things happen in the game vs. in this story aren't very well-aligned. I'm going off of my own timeline for plot reasons

Okay, now on to more fun and general headcanons I have for Curly ~

I subscribe to the common belief that Curly is a big romantic. How could he not be??? He tried to seek out relationships throughout his twenties but remained unsuccessful to find someone who would stay with him through the crazy structure of his occupation. Imagine being in a relationship with someone who you couldn't see or communicate with for months to a year at a time. I absolutely get it

It all makes sense because he's absolutely married to his work. He's kind of come to terms that he can't have a long-term romantic relationship and a career as a freighter ship captain. Those two things simply don't go together well

At this age, Curly has reached the peak of his career - and when he comes back from another successful trip, he has quite a bit of monetary compensation waiting for him in his paycheck

Single and childless, he's financially comfortable - he has his savings but he also will pay the bill for his friends and family 8/10 times (would he fight for the bill? Of course not, he gave his card to the waiter halfway through the meal to pay)

He doesn't feel bitter about his lifestyle. He chose it, after all. Sure, he sometimes wishes that he had stability on Earth and a family of his own to go back to, but he loves living vicariously through his friends and that to him is enough for now. Every wedding, baby shower, friend's child's birthday party - if he's off the clock, he will absolutely be there and having the time of his life

Speaking of children, he would love to have some of his own someday, but as a single man who spends most of his time in a big metal box suspended in zero gravity, he doesn't know how to interact with them and is kind of awkward

He's very open minded to different cultures and new experiences.

Curly has been to a few Indian weddings where his friends would drag him out to the dance floor and make him learn Bhangra. He's jumping along like the rest of them, moving his arms animatedly to the beat of the music

like okay this white boy can dance! The crowd is so entertained

he's not a picky eater and would eat nearly anything. When he visited Thailand, the locals tricked him into trying balut (fertilized duck egg) and when he didn't react and mentioned that he didn't mind the texture that much, it left them confused and a little pleased

he sleeps warm and can't tolerate humid weather. Going to Thailand nearly ended him

He's so community-minded. This is why I could envision him with so many 1st/2nd gen immigrant friends. Man just gets it

This is also why the Chinese restaurant near where he lives loves him. The owner loves to use him as a role model for his son

You know that one family friend growing up that was stacked with accolades that your parents would compare you to? (or maybe that's just my own experience...) That is Curly for this poor little boy.

He's actually such a people pleaser, but hides it so well under being such a confident authority figure, so it just comes off as helpful and supportive instead

He loves when people go to him for advice. He may or may not have the experience to give the advice, but regardless he will try his best to come up with a solution

[allthecanadianpolitics]

agree with the previous anon about Chinese immigrants' support for conservative politics not being unusual. i also want to note that besides fiscal reasons, many Chinese people are also very socially conservative, esp 1st gen. Slightly better for 2nd gen if they grew up here, but honestly it's still not good lol - I remember a conversation with a 40 y/o 2nd generation guy who was very strongly against marijuana legalisation back in 2019, and there's plenty of younger (20s-30s) 1st gen people who are still pretty socially conservative. even thinking about bringing up lgbtq things to my parents gives me goosebumps (Source: am chinese and queer, early 20s 1st gen)

~~~~

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

aita for hating europeans in front of a european

very silly low stakes. i am a (white) 1st gen american (so I have non american (non european) parents). my sister currently lives in England, and was visiting me in NYC. both of us are in our 20s.

we were at a cafe and talking about her living overseas, since she only moved over a bit over a year ago, and im planning to emigrate soon (probably not to europe, if that matters). we were jokingly griping about europeans and the conversation turned to racism in europe- more specifically how a lot of europeans will insist they're not racist, unlike us nasty racist americans, and then spew the most vile shit about the romani/syrians/etc because "tHatS diFfeReNT". we were pretty obviously joking and laughing among ourselves, I guess relatively loudly but definitely not that loud compared to the overall noise level of the cafe.

anyways the guy sitting next to us at the table we were at (one of those long counter things with high chairs against the wall, if that makes sense) apparently heard our conversation and didn't like it. he was french, and (from what I could tell) white and in his 50s-60s? he was standing up to leave the cafe and as he did so he interrupted us and told us that we were demonstrating why everyone else thinks Americans are so stupid, and how we shouldn't apply american standards to europe, and that things in europe really are different, etc etc. i told him he was an asshole for interrupting us (to reiterate, im a NYer, so by nyc standards i wasn't THAT rude lmao) and ignored him and he told us we were being hateful and how hard he had to work as an immigrant coming here from France and we were the real racists for grouping all of europe together. etc etc.

anyways my sister and i laughed it off, i will not apologize for ragging on euros lmao even if i am an asshole for that.

however. i am wondering if we were TAs for making those jokes in a public place? so: aita?

What are these acronyms?

[codename-adler]

YOUR TROJAN TEAM?!?!?! flabbergasted. sooooo many lil guys u got there!!!

mayhaps some info on #21, Levi Romanov? love the name, very intriguing <3 or any of your choice, really, whichever you feel like sharing the most!!

oh boy. oh god. Levi's such a big file. u really know how to pick 'em Roo 😂 prepare to be sick of me...... (also ty sm for being chatty n enabling <3) //official unofficial USC Trojans OCs list here//

21: Levi Romanov (22) USC Trojans Backliner

[ face subject to change]

aight let's bullet point this:

born in USA (Alaska); child of immigrants (Belarusian father (born Alaska, parents 1st gen immigrant), Dutch mother (1st gen immigrant))

5'6½" (the half inch is important)(to Levi)(not the Trojans tho)(esp. not Jeremy)

BA: Communication (USC Annenberg)

goes Pro after college

bffs: Nikita & Angie

brother-from-another-mother w/ Nikita Bailey (their mothers are bff, grew up together in Alaska); Nikita is his bff/older brother figure/idol so he joins him in playing Exy (v popular in Alaska) and follows him to USC when he graduates HS

now for the love & tragedy chaos...................

both he and Nikita have a steady relationship with their longtime girlfriends, so much so that Levi talks to Nikita about proposing to his gf after graduation

one day though the 4 of them get into a car/boating accident that kills Levi's girlfriend and seriously injures Nikita's; Levi and Nikita are somehow miraculously the least damaged

it's a rough fucking patch for Levi (and Nikita, but that's a story for another day!)

enter Angie Pullman, Trojans recruit (ask!!! me!!!)

both men are immediately drawn to her, and inevitably it ends up in a big fight that creates a (temporary) rift between Levi and Nikita

luckily it ends up being an Adam/Gansey/Blue/Ronan situation (do you see where i'm going with this?)

because the thing is, there's this guy, Anderson [subject to change] Atwell

the assistant coach

ohohoho yes

Anderson’s really been there for Levi after the accident, bc he's been much more of a confidant to Levi than any of the team's therapists, probably because he's not a therapist; and then the shit with Angie and Nikita really isolates Levi, and slowly Anderson can't help but wanting to help Levi as much as he can, more than assistant coaches probably normally feel...

so Levi's not as straight as he thought, not in love with Angie like that like he thought, much more in love with Nikita than he always thought, and definitely, definitely super hard in love with his assistant coach (you see the Adam/Blue/Gansey/Ronan pattern?) (except there is nothing whatsoever between Nikita and Anderson. in fact Nikita probably hates him a little bit actually. fr fr.)

also before anyone sends me anon hate about my own OCs, the Levi-Anderson age gap is 22-30, so calm downnnn

so yeah Levi & Anderson, once they're all in and go all out, are disgustingly happy; but the hurdles are many and exhausting (i have another ask incoming for Coach Rhemann, which will coincidentally explain really well said obstacles)

i would say, apart from Jean Moreau himself obv and Adèle Moreau, Levi is the most tragic Trojan :(

especially because he used to be such a goofy ass mf, and so hyped about Exy on and off the court, before the accident, and nowadays he's much more a shell of himself, doesn't care much about Exy outside the court, always plays his very best but his heart's not into it, feels disconnected from his team and teammates, etc.

Anderson's the one to lead him back to his love for the sport <3

Jeremy did try very hard as his captain to reignite the flame inside Levi, of course, but let's say he had a little less incentive than with the Frenchman... if ya know what i mean... but Levi's just glad even his captain never gave up on him

birthday's June 1st //lmao beginning of pride month and i didn't even do that on purpose//

originally Levi was named Reuben Muller and he was German-American? but i decided to split the character in 2 and thus Levi & Nikita were born!

his bestfriend, apart from Nikita who has known since birth almost, is Jack Driver; they hit it off instantly the first time they practice together on the court (it also helps that Jack is both a moron and a wise man. very in touch with his feelings. it just depends if his brain cells are activated or taking a nap…)

once the drama settles down Angie also becomes one of his close friends

he’s an only child [pitiful]

did i mention his ADHD? oh he has big big big ADHD… he often forgets his meds, and he’s prone to lash out (mostly at himself) or zone out, but Exy really helps a lot with both his bottomless restless energy and his self-worth <3

on the meds thing: that was such a battle. for everyone involved. Levi, the doctors, his gf, his parents, Nikita... it was just barely starting to go well when the accident happened, and well. the step from ADHD to depression is already so small, Levi had no chance. but he's climbing up the hill again now :)

so Levi's kind of the dark version of Jeremy, or like a past younger iteration of Jeremy before he got to be the Captain Sunshine we know and love (and that's partly why Jeremy has trouble connecting w him, befriend him, even look at him sometimes); he doesn't talk much anymore, except to fight and curse, but then he turns around and drops by with a pan of brownies for the new girl because he saw her eating one all alone and sad in the athletes' hall, you know? he's very hard to pin down, even more so now that the constants in his life have been taken away or flipped :/ but he's a precious dude, trust me!

[mariacallous]

Like look i appreciate all these folks' sudden interest in blocking apartheid states and the erasure of people whose only crime is existing in a hostile state but it DID catch me by surprise as a 1st gen immigrant (OF COLOR for ppl playing that game smh) like do we not remember the literal CAGES FULL OF CHILDREN???? that the biden admin spent 2 yrs trying to reunite w their parents?????? Trump's insane concentration camp promises??? I dont trust these ppl for a second I have skin on the line and my family's i do not appreciate hearing these embarrassing anons come in and reveal THEIR endless axis of privelege. If trump wins THEY will get to feel bad and righteous i and MY family will ALSO face insecurity and threats to our existence, and frankly I don't trust these leftists to have an attention span long enough to think about me bc they have never shown up for our own immigrants and dreamers as long as i've been active in the scene

What gets me is the righteousness and guilt that so many people seem to have and which they are attempting to exorcise through whatever the fuck has been happening.

[robobarbie]

You don't have to answer if it's too spoilery, but will any of the AAI characters ever talk about feelings of displacement/alienation that can come from having to grow up or live in two different cultures/countries or just from constantly moving around? As somebody who's a 1st-American Gen of Vietnamese immigrant parents, I can relate to the pasts of Felix, Jerri, and Sungho in a way. 🤔

we have sensitivity readers that are helping us to keep that in mind as we write (i think at this moment it is mentioned a bit in a couple routes), but it's not really gonna be the core focus of any route -- mostly because i dont think I have the necessary experience to make that a core focus!

[tsukana]

i still cannot BELIEVE that was a real thing you said to me in our first vc ever

every time i see you in my notifs i feel like i got a good grade in Blog I Like A Lot

oh my god????? that is so sweet???? ToT also WILD to comprehend that im a blog that ppl like a lot....i just say words and soemtimes they make sense...this is so sweet i genuinely rly needed this i think

[mothersrevenge]

Both my parents are artists in their own right. My father a photographer and videographer and my mother a painter and florist. I always reflect on how they never were able to claim those titles. They were two 1st gen immigrants adjusting to a life in Canada in the 60s and 70s. I wish they had the freedom to potentially pursue an artistic career if that’s what they wanted to do. I don’t think they understood how that was even a possibility.

[moonchild-in-blue]

Hey there! A bit late but i'm here for the ask game! (*´v｀*) I'd like to ask 1, 11, 23, 63, 78 and 88 but i know it's a lot so no pressure, please feel free to ignore any of them if you don't feel like answering it! 🫂💖

Hi!!! Not late, never late! I will put this under the cut because ~lenght~. These are all very good questions, thank you Lev 💙🪲

(What’s your biggest insecurity? Do you like who you are around people? Do you believe in an afterlife? Do you ever get paranoid? What’s one thing you don’t feel comfortable doing around your friends? What kinds of things confuse you?)

1 - What’s your biggest insecurity?

My body, which is such a sad answer, but it's true. I'm working on it. My voice - some people do not take me seriously because I have a "girly voice", especially when stressed, even though it's really not that high pitched. I had to force my Big Girl Sexy Deeper Voice out at my previous job just to get my points across. Again, sad.

Also my inability of expressing my feelings out loud. I write it a lot, but I can't genuinely remember the last time I said the words "I love you" with my own voice.

I know why I am the way I am, and I wish it didn't get to me, but this will be my cross to bear until the end of my days. I think I try to be as loudly affectionate as possible here, because I'm hoping it will make it easier for me irl.

11 - Do you like who you are around people?

Depends on the people, really. I like the way I am around my friends, even if there are parts of me I supress. I wish I was better around my sister - she deserves more than I am, and it frustrates me that I sometimes act like our parents towards her. It kills me inside.

I don't know how to answer in relation to my parents. On one hand, it's very relieving to be amongst people who understand certain parts of me without me having to justify or explain (something about being a 1st gen immigrant child lol). On the other, being at home puts me back to my 16yo mindset, when I was really angry and sad and struggling, and I hate it.

With strangers, it really depends. I am too anxious to notice haha. I just really like to be alone, I suppose. It's easier that way, at least.

23 - Do you believe in an afterlife?

Yes! I am very much Christian, so I do believe in heaven/hell, and the concept of an afterlife.

I don't really talk about it much here, because I know there are so many of you who have been failed and mistreated in the name of religion (which was not how any of this was supposed to happen, and it really breaks my heart) and prefer to steer away, which I 100% understand. Also, some people get extremely weird around Christians, and assume a number of things without even talking to them, so I spare myself the unpleasantness. I hope this makes some sense!

63 - Do you ever get paranoid?

Baby, anxiety is my middle name. I get paranoid about things you could never imagine. 😎 But yeah.

Every time I hear my door bell ringing, or knocking, I always think it's the police coming to get me, even thought the most illegal thing I've done is download music?? And my family is... normal. No suspicious activity or anything, so I really don't understand why. Make it make sense.

78 - What’s one thing you don’t feel comfortable doing around your friends?

There isn't much I'm not comfortable with tbh. My friends have seen me at my worse, and we know almost everything about each other. We've been friends for a very long time.

Maybe just being affectionate? I have a really hard time with that, but it gets easier around them. And they know how unhinged I am about my blorbos, so I don't really need to censor myself haha. I do a little code-switching. I speak a bit differently around my family, and with them I tend to use a more generalised/commonly accepted language, rather then my parent's countries expressions.

88 - What kinds of things confuse you?

LIFE IN GENERAL. How do you make decisons? How do you know you're in the right path?

Math. Cars. Sports. It's all Simlish to me lmao.

[sp00kypumpkaboo]

I saw a clip of a latina interviewer telling Jenna Ortega that she’s “Latina enough” and I relate to that so much and wish people would tell me that too… like I’m Mexican and Nicaragüense. My mom was born in Nicaragua and brought to the US as a 3 year old. My dad’s parents are from Mexico and came to the US for a better life. My dad’s dad, my abuelito, has told me several times about how he was deported a few times back to Mexico, but managed to come back every time and how he’d hide too. My mom’s mom, my Abuelita, told me back when Tr*mp won the 2016 election about how she traveled with my mom and my aunt as babies and my great grandmother, my Mimi, in the storage of a Greyhound bus for several days to get to the US.

I’m light skin, I’m not as tan or brown, both of my parents have lighter skin color. I grew up in a town full of white people. These white kids throughout elementary and middle school automatically assumed that I’m “an illegal immigrant who was born in Mexico and brought to the US as a baby, and Spanish must have been my first language” and questioned me on how I was able to speak English so well. My high school and the town it’s in is majority Latino. But all these Latino kids refused to believe me when I told them that I was also Latina. All because I’m not as brown/dark as them, because I was born in California and not Mexico, because my first language was English and not Spanish, because I’m a 3rd generation Latina here and not a 1st gen. It took me so long, till the end of high school for me to finally love and be proud of me being Latina and proud of my family, culture and heritage. No one taught me Spanish when I was little, idk why or if I’ll ever get a reason; I learned all my Spanish in the four years of high school. I wanted to be able to communicate with my abuelitos and family. Long story short, I really appreciated that clip of Jenna Ortega and wish someone would tell me that too…

[galaxy98]

So Here's The Thing About Elemental

If you're somebody who's watched a lot of movies than me, you would probably look at this and tell me that there are more stories out there--animated or otherwise--that do a better job at portraying certain aspects. Specifically the immigrant experience.

And the truth is, you'd be right.

Elemental doesn't try to set a new gold standard nor do I think it's meant to do that. Heck, some could look at Pixar's backlog and argue that Turning Red does it the best--which definitely isn't a knockback make no mistake. (Not only that but Flee is also on my watchlist).

HOWEVER

It's the small things in Elemental that make it speak to me.

Having a 1st gen immigrant parent and being mixed myself, it's hard not to look at Wade and Ember and see yourself in both of them.

On the outside I live comfortably, yet I struggle internally. Job wise I feel directionless, but I still take pride in my work. I'm a people person, but I can have a hard time communicating with others. I'm opened about my feelings, yet I tend to keep them inside so often.

That's the thing about art.

It doesn't really matter what it is as long as it speaks to you on a personal level.

If you're on the fence, I would say check it out and see what you think. You may never know what you might expect.

Other Minor Stuff:

-I would highly recommend listening to Thomas Newman's movie score in isolation.

-I also enjoyed the short, Carl's Date. It left me feeling bittersweet since this was Ed Asner's last ever voice recording before he passed away.

-Like many others had said, the marketing for this movie did not do it any favors. Instead of focusing all their attention on the romance, they primarily did all their advertising on Clod, a character who only showed up for a total of 3 scenes. Can't even say he's a supporting character either because he doesn't stick around with the duo. Even Gale at least had some sort of importance by helping them out.

-This movie is also gaining a big following in Korea. You should definitely check out the Elemental hashtag on Twitter to see what I mean.

[beach-funerals]

there's something so foreign about entering my 20s this year, i know its literally not that bad & i am still seen as a teenager well into early mid 20s but i feel as though my entire family wants to act like i'm 30 but also 12 at the same time. i have a job, i go to school full time. i never sneak out or even go out past 7pm but god forbid i want to go out with my friends at 3pm for coffee.

im not sure if this is an immigrant parent thing (im 1st gen mexican-american) & its so frustrating because my parents because they still see me the same as when i was 13. i am not that girl anymore... i feel like i've redeemed myself enough to gain their trust & i still never feel like it's there.

i am afraid that i will never have the courage to move out and i'm afraid to speak up for myself in certain situations & its partly because of how my parents treat me to this day like i can never truly be independent with them. when i make a financial decision, like if i buy lunch, buy art supplies or even if i get a coffee they question why, and lecture me about spending!!! i can manage my finances, i have discipline. thank you!

[runthepockets]

There's a scene in Ramy where Deena is complaining because her parents don't let her go anywhere without permission (she's the only daughter in a 1st gen immigrant household so the culture tends to be stacked against her pretty regularly) and Ramy is like "just tell them you're gonna do the thing and don't wait around for an answer. I do it all the time." And Deena goes "you're so entitled" and Ramy goes "you can be, too."

That's kinda how I feel about shit sometimes. Like, yeah, I have it a lot easier than a lot of people, and I'm sympathetic to that, but I also just grab life by the balls and don't think much harder about anything else and it seems like some people are too scared to even do that, with everything from drinking in public to not letting myself get bullied by my bosses or other dudes in the Hardcore scene or guilt tripped by anyone for doing shit I actually wanna do instead of grinding my teeth and pretending to have fun doing something I don't care about and being someone I'm not.

Sure, consequences suck, I've definitely gotten my share of licks for being the Scary Angry Black Guy With Opinions, but we're all adults here and I would rather people hate me for being myself than love me for being something I'm not. You can kinda do whatever you want, you just have to have a backbone about it.