#Love in different cultures

[mdtaslimstuff]

What is Love? | Insights from The Dance of Life and Loss

An Excerpt from the BookIn a quiet, intimate setting, a group of friends gathered in my reading room to discuss one of humanity’s oldest and most profound questions: What is love? Surrounded by poets, philosophers, scholars, artists, and scientists, the conversation delved into the many layers of love, blending personal experiences and intellectual insights. The Nature of Love: Philosophical and…

[idolomantises]

I'm ngl i kinda wish people wouldn't look at a character I create, see that they're mean, and then immediately assume by default they're actually super tragic and a sad woobie. And I'm not even saying this to be like "people need to appreciate 2-dimensional villains!" because I don't agree with those people either.

It's like if a character is a jerk, it either needs to be justified with a sad backstory, or they need to be a saturday morning cartoon villain. it can't just be a part of their personality.

[viscanpikamine]

THEYRE DONE!! young jango got his brand new beskar'gam, ready to fight for his new buir

alt caption "hey guys look at this stray i found lol i'm gonna adopt him, he can shoot"

[zluty-spendlik]

Edmund: Its so strange to see another human in Narnia that isnt my sibling, but im glad youre here

Caspian: I can imagine

Edmund: I mean, finally theres someone who understands all of the human culture who I can talk to without bickering, but still, when I saw those two Telmarine guys I was like "JESUS CHRIST THERES MORE", haha, you know?

Caspian: ... yeah...yeah I get it, I understand everything... everything human- just a quick question uh... whats a jesus christ?

Edmund: s-

Edmund: sorry what

-

Peter: oi mate could you pass me a bo'lo'wa'er please

Caspian, crying: SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT HES SAYING

-

Lucy (on the dawn treader): Well thats quite a storm, its raining cats and dogs out there!

Caspian: ... I...Im pretty sure its raining water

-

Susan, struggling to string her bow: *quietly* fuck

Caspian: whats a 'fuck'?

Susan, whos bared witness to all of his confusion and had to explain everything for the past 72 hours: I dont have time for this

[senvurii]

preparing for the spring equinox festival ft cpuffy

[merilles]

Ladies of the Ring 💍✨

[opens-up-4-nobody]

:-P

[plomegranate]

i love palestinian and arab culture so much.

my grandma wearing thobes around the house and making us tamriyeh. my cousins wedding when we all wore thobes and keffiyehs and took photos downtown and we danced with someone playing the guitar on the street and this lady stopping us to tell us we all looked so beautiful. walking the graduation stage in a thobe. the girl who liked to guess arab peoples ethnicities telling me "you're wearing tatreez... do you want me to write 'palestinian' on your forehead?" the keffiyeh my brother keeps on the drivers seat of his car.

my dad sending me off to my last semester of college with 2 pomegranates and a jar of palestinian olive oil. my cousins wife coming up with new ways to make zaatar and cheese pastries. me and my grandma sitting on the floor and making waraq 3neb- my job was to separate the leaves so she could roll them easier. my mom sending me and my brother to school with eid cookies for my teachers and tasking us with delivering some to the neighbors. my aunt glaring at me and piling more food on my plate and then asking if i was still hungry (i wasnt). my mom always telling me to invite my friends and cousins over for dinner and asking me what they like to eat. my family getting my dad knafeh instead of cake for his birthday. the man who told me i made the "best fetteh in the western hemisphere".

the man in the shawarma shop who gave me my fries for free and baklava i didnt order because we spoke about being palestinian while he took my order. the person on tumblr who i bonded with because we are from the same palestinian city. the girl i met on campus who exclaimed "youre palestinian? me too!" because i was wearing my keffiyeh. the girl in my class that showed me the artwork about palestine her dad made and donated for fundraising. the couple in the grocery store who noticed my palestinian shirt and talked with me for 20 minutes and ended up being a family friend. the silly palestinian kids i tutored sighing in disappointment when i told them i was born in america because they were hoping that id have been born "somewhere cooler". my friends family who bought me dinner despite me being there by chance and having met me for the first time the day before.

the boys starting uncoordinated dabke lines in my high school's hallways. the songs about the longing and love for our land. the festivals and parties and gatherings where everything smells like shisha and oud. memories of waiting in the car for an hour as my parents talked at the doorway of their friends homes. my cousins and i showing up at each others homes with cake or fruit or games as if it was the first time we ever visited even though we always say "you dont have to".

kids stubbornly helping to clean and make tea after a meal while being told to go sit down because they are guests. the necklaces in the shape of our home countries. people hugging and laughing and acting as if theyve known each other for years because they come from the same city or know people with the same last name. the day i finally got to bully my friends into letting me pay the bill because i had a job and they were still students. my moms friend who calls us every time she's at the grocery store to see if we need something

palestinian people are so resilient and hardworking and charitable. they love their culture and their community and are so quick to share and welcome anyone in. everyday i am so thankful and proud to be part of such a warm and lovely culture

[starry-bi-sky]

mmmmmm read a disciple shen yuan/shizun luo binghe fanfic about two days ago where the first chapter was the Immortal Conference arc, and SQQ was the one who had to be pushed into the abyss (he was still the villain) except Luo Binghe was refusing and was like, lowkey losing his mind about SQQ being so close to the edge. SQQ ended up having to be the one to fall in himself because of the system's punishment system. The rest of the fic is leading up to that moment. But like, MMM i've been obsessively thinking about that first chapter for DAYS ever since.

now i've been in svsss for a grand total of *checks watch* a week. but god obsessed with that. I want to write/read a fic where disciple SQQ goes a little nuts down there. Like keep all of the things that make SQQ, SQQ, but just. Throw in a little bit more trauma in there. A little bit of a mental break. Let him go a little nuts as a treat. Just a tad unhinged. I wanna see him go, just a little, "god fuck it, i've tried so hard to change this shitty story's outcome and it feels like everything i've done has been for nothing. I'm going to die in this world no matter what I do, I've been doomed from the start, so might as well die the way I want to." and he just, breaks a little! Under all the stress.

He still retains the traits that makes shen yuan, shen yuan, like his overwhelming kindness. But he's just! yk. A little less patient. Paranoid. Jumpy. Colder. A little more aloof and closed off. A little more Shen Jiu. He's no asshole child abuser, but he was a Number One Hater in his past life and he's leaning into that old habit a little more now.

(On a totally coincidental not-at-all related note, there's not enough SJ-and-SY-are-the-same-people fics out there that i've found. This is totally unrelated...)

The Endless Abyss turns the mind into an over-sharpened blade, and SQQ is both fascinated and perhaps a little excited to explore a place that doesn't have a lot of info on it in the mortal realm, but still terrified out of his mind. And he's no Luo Binghe, he doesn't have the sheer brute strength and power to just bulldoze his way through, so he has to be a lot more sneaky and cunning if he wants to survive.

The fic itself role-swapped LBH and SQQ so that SQQ was the half-demon (which lowkey fucks) and LBH the human, but I'm equally-if-not-more obsessed with the idea that LBH remains the half-heavenly demon and SQQ the human. If only because I keep thinking about SQQ befriending some demons (particularly and specifically a group of succubi) and they grow very attached to this Human Cultivator so through magic plot stuff they create some kind of seal/illusion/talisman that makes SQQ appear as a demon because a human cultivator in the endless abyss may as well be the equivalent of putting a giant neon target on your back.

And iirc Shen Jiu was taught demonic cultivation by that one guy(?? i've only been here a week so im not caught up in ALL of the lore yet) so that could totally happen here.

(On the other end of the realms, poor Shizun Luo Binghe is just. losing his fucking mind over losing his most precious and beloved disciple. About .5 seconds from burning down the peaks himself. somebody sedate him.)

The Endless Abyss sucks and SQQ is having a really terrible time and can feel himself going lowkey mad, but also holy shit look at all this WORLD-BUILDING. look at all this flora and fauna, and oh if he had the equipment for it he'd be writing all of this down. ALL OF IT. He was kinda-sorta-already planning on never leaving the Abyss as some sort of fucked up self-exile and self-preservation thing, but now he might? actually just?? never leave if he can help it, like he lowkey likes it down here.

anyways the next time anyone ever sees SQQ again he's got hair so long its almost touching the ground and he's either in rags and half-feral or he's been completely dolled up by his adoptive succubi sisters and still about three seconds from biting anyone who tries to touch him. (he's also lowkey trying to book it back down to the abyss even if he has desperately missed all of his friends and shizun)

[witchofthesouls]

Bots going throught strong food confusion probably hear the kids strong opinions daily considering three of them different countries and stuff

Jack: I mean we can eat anything but the big question is Should you thought?

Miko: Sounds like someone with food allergies would say

Jack: You maybe can eat raw fish without consequences but i rathet not risk salmonella or listeriosis

Raf: *probably has abuelita cooking lots of good food*Food is food

Funnily enough, Jack fusses over that because of fast-food experience and horror stories by restaurants and hospitals. Plus, he picked up on some of June's wellness habits, especially since Jack tended to get sick all the time as a young child. He warned Miko that botulism cases in the US usually come from improperly stored home canned food or the gas station nacho cheese sauce.

Miko came from Japan, so she had several culture shocks to jump, especially with food. American dining portions are huge since they're a very big (pun intended) on leftovers. Taking food home to eat later is deeply ingrained. It's common for Americans to eat out, but Japan is the opposite. Another thing that annoyed her was the advertising, but now she jokes that the pictures are tastier than the true product. And the amount of meat! It astounded her how much fucking red meat Americans like to eat. She deeply misses having a konbini because the American equivalent isn't the same, especially since the safety standards are different.

Raf can only be trusted with boiling water and ready meals since the girls and women in the Esquivel family shoo him out. He's familiar with ground pits since barbacoa is on the menu with family gatherings. Raf has excellent swiping skills as his siblings and cousins have the strength to shove him. He teams up with his sister as she does distractions, and he snatches away the good stuff.

So yeah, along with the 'Can you eat that?' game, the Autobots play '20 Questions' on preparation, ingredient acquisition, and cooking.

Supermarkets and farms are a Twilight Zone to them. There's food with different names to differentiate sizes, parts, and colors. (Arcee had thought the kids were messing her with broccoli and cauliflower.) Earth's varied languages add more to the confusion. Humans can eat rocks, poisons, and mold. There are perishable and non-perishable foods. Food that eats other food. Food that improves soil composition. Food that plays niche ecological roles. Food that's only about status. And choices, so many choices. A ridiculous number of choices in an American supermarket. Oh, and humans have a passionate love affair with cabbages and nightshade. Or with just plants in general.

Arcee started it as a joke, but now all the Autobots ask the resident humans if they did their "cabbage runs" and "picked up their posions" (aka grocery shopping with a play on the English idiom: "pick your poison." Yes, they have been told the meaning. No, they don't care because it makes so much more sense to them, especially with the nightshade and spices consumption).

[bet-on-me-13]

Culture of the Ghost Zone

SO! This is less of a full on prompt, and more of an opportunity.

I've been in this Fandom for over a year now and over that time I've seen so many little bits or lore and headcanons about the Ghost Zones Culture, but I've never seen a single post put them all together.

So, here I'll try to write down as many as I can think of, and anyone else can add their own Headcanons, or add to whatever I or someone else writes!

...

So! My personal Headcanon is that when a Ghost Passes on, it's a thing to be celebrated.

Ghosts are Immortal Beings, holding onto a desire or unfinished business that tethers them to the Mortal Plane. They live, because they are Unfulfilled, unable to accomplish the task that would allow them to Pass on, and be at peace with themselves.

So when a Ghost manages to fulfill their Obsession, manages to Pass On to the After? It's something to CELEBRATE!

Like when a Viking would die, you don't just mourn their death, you celebrate their Life! A Ghosts Passing On is much the same. When one of them manages it, there are parties across the Zone of people who knew them, or people who didn't but still want to celebrate! It's a Joyous thing when someone you know was able to find peace!

...

Ghosts socialize through Battle.

Ghosts are Immortal, Superpowered, and Stuck together for Centuries. They are going to fight, and they are going to love the thrill of it!

From the freshest of Newborns to the Oldest of Ancients, All Ghosts love the thrill of Battle. It's one of their defining traits! They have Centuries of nothing to do and energy to burn, and they devote it to the art of Combat!

And it's not just Brawls! Some Ghosts prefer to battle with Swords alone, others with their Fists and no Powers, others with their Powers and no Fists, there are entire communities of Ghosts who have specific Rules, or Customs for Combat!

In one part of the Zone, it may be common to Tackle any Ghost you see and instantly start to fight them, but in another? That would be seen as Rude, you need to throw down your glove in front of them to request a Battle!

Or in another section of the Zone you may be forced to battle without Weapons whatsoever, in another it may be Without Powers whatsoever, or with ONLY Powers!

The Fight Culture stretches far and wide, no two parts of the Zone are exactly the Same

...

Art is highly Valued.

Of course not all Ghosts are entirely focused on Battle, and even the ones that are like to focus on something else from time to time. Some of those Ghosts were Artists when they were Alive.

And they continued to make Art in Death. But this Art is Special, with all the Time in the World, a Ghost can spend Decades or even Centuries on their Magnum Opus! It would be their Life's Work, something they dedicated their entire Afterlives to!

So of course, it is respected. Ghosts know better than to ruin or destroy another Ghosts work or Art. Be it a Statue, a Painting, a Song, or a Theater Production.

...

I think that's Good for now, what do you think? Anything to add to the points I written down? Any entirely new points to add?

Go ahead!

[somnas-writes]

Azriel and Eris cannot communicate express emotions for the life of them, but they do try very hard.

Eris communicates mostly through flirting, honeyed quips that would turn the average fae to putty— but azriel, spymaster who is trained to be stone cold, is absolutely unaffected. It’s that Pokémon meme; Eris uses flirt, It was Uneffective!

Azriel communicates through body language, he has six limbs after all so it’s easier. Flared wings that would signal to any Illyrian that he is excited, but Eris, a high fae who knows nothing about how illyrians use their wings, cannot understand it.

They have to meet in the uncomfortable middle ground of actually saying what they mean.

[sgt-tombstone]

Don’t know if anyone knows this but in the US Army*, Sergeant is sometimes shortened to something that sounds approximately like “Sar’ent” and I think the fic potential there is hilarious

Either the 141 visits a US Army base or a US Spec Ops team visits Credenhill; either way, they’re working in close proximity for several weeks. A couple of days in, Ghost noticed that Soap is on edge, not seriously or alarmingly so, just enough to poke at a bit, so he pokes.

“It’s these bloody fuckin’ Americans, LT,” Soap grunts. “They better start putting some fuckin’ respect on the G.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, Johnny?”

“Och, you haven’t noticed?” Soap says, holding open the door for them both to step outside. “They don’t pronounce sergeant right.”

“Oh, is that all,” Ghost says breezily. “Well, that’s good then, they fit right in; you don’t pronounce anything right.”

“Haud yer weesht,” Soap says, begrudging fondness softening the edge of the phrase. “Here, watch.”

There’s an American captain approaching and, as inferior officers, both Soap and Ghost salute him as he gets closer. The captain salutes them both with a polite “morning, lieutenant, sar’ent,” and then continues on. As soon as he’s past, though, Johnny turns to Ghost with a comically exasperated expression, one eyelid nearly twitching, and Ghost can’t help the bark of laughter that escapes him.

If he manufactures as many situations for the Americans to address Soap and Gaz just to watch them both lose their minds over the butchered pronunciation, that’s between him and God (and maybe Price, who definitely catches on and, Ghost notices with no small amount of glee, also actively participates)

*I’m not sure if the British Army shortens it too but for the sake of crack, I’m going to pretend like they don’t lmao

[da-shrimping-station]

thinking about the OM cast with an Asian MC who is strict about using honorifics no matter what

for us Asians, that shit's programmed and taught to us since day 1 and even if they're in Hell, i don't think an Asian MC will let that go so easily 😭 not to mention everyone is technically their elder so politeness in thrown in the mix too

the brothers would be so confused and weird about it cuz??? they have names, they're chill with MC calling them by name and not to mention they live under the same roof

why would they insist on being so formal and call them Sir???

Lucifer, Diavolo, and Barbatos would find it funny and a little bit endearing.

Diavolo is amused and is happy to hear him being addressed in another way other than 'your highness'

Barbatos thinks you shouldn't call him sir at all but is glad that you at least have manners.

Lucifer also thinks you shouldn't call him sir, but hey at least someone in the household outwardly respects him 😭

The rest of the brothers would be very shocked and would actively dissuade you from calling them sir. Asmo especially. Tho I can imagine Mammon and Leviathan being so flustered.

As for the angels, Simeon somewhat understands but gently reminds you to call him by his name. Luke tripped on nothing when he was called sir the first time.

The only one who would really get it is Solomon. But he would actively convince you to call him something more casual instead. Like big brother or whichever honorific for an older man that implies closeness. Call him uncle and he dies a little inside whenever he hears it. He is in utter disbelief.

Once they learn how it all works, it's a race on who gets to the most intimate/affectionate form of honorific first.

For Filipinos, it can go from Sir to Tito (uncle) or Kuya/Manong (big brother). And to take it a step further there's the never-ending terms for best friend (bes, beshie, beb, babs, tol, pare, mare, bff, lab, etc (i swear we come up w something new every year for it))

And then there's also the ultimate form of closeness: bestowing a nickname for them.

At this point, once Asian MC does away with the honorifics and sticks to the nicknames, you could say they're pretty damn close.

This is also the time when they better be afraid when MC calls them by their actual names. You're in biiiiig trouble. What color do you want your casket to be?

"Lulu, did you eat lunch today?"

"..."

"Lucifer, don't make me ask again."

"Shit."

Thank you for coming to my Tedtalk 🦐

[m4rs-ex3]

rayllum blueprint

[your-average-teenage-mess]

So... Are we gonna talk about how fandom has an "inexplicable contempt for the female, often black love interest that DARED to fall in love with one of the main characters when it SHOULD have been the audience surrogate" problem? Or are we gonna keep acting like the fact fandoms are a subset of queer culture makes them immune to bias? Because I keep SEEING those takes, so it does SOUND like we still need to talk about it