#and yes I know they live in the Netherlands and I live in America

[iwanttobepersephone]

Me: I hate this school. If I murder someone and have to flee American law enforcement will your family shelter me?

Idi: Dunno about them, but I also don't care, I'll shelter you. There's a couple of great hiding spots in a nearby forest

Me: Great, thanks

[forabeatofadrum]

Bagagedrager

Summary: Kurt is biking around the city, but to his annoyance, a tourist is obstructing his way. Luckily, this pesky interaction leads to something else.

Notes: Sometimes, an annoying moment takes place in your day and the best way to deal with it is to think "How can I blorbo-fy this?" and that has led to this fic.

Thank you @cerriddwenluna for helping me brainstorm!

Title is from Gers Pardoel's number Bagagedrager, which I actually don't even like that much, but it's iconic. A bagagedrager is the rack on the back of your bike that's used to store your bags, or people can use it as an uncomfortable backseat.

Enjoy.

AO3 | S&C

--

Spring maar achter op bij mij, achter op me fiets

En ik weet nog niet waar we naartoe gaan samen, maar dat boeit me ook helemaal niets.

--

Kurt loves cycling. It makes living in the Netherlands way more enjoyable than America. He would like to think he's assimilated enough to get the cycling rules. Sure, he's fucked up once by not extending his hand when he braked in order to turn left, and he almost created a chain collision, but that was weeks ago! He's gotten better!

And because he's gotten better, he now knows what's rude and what's not. And what is happening in front of him now, is rude.

There’s a man standing in the middle of Kurt’s path, and he’s holding up a phone to make a photo of a beautiful building.

Tourists.

Kurt cannot blame him. He remembers when he first moved to Groningen and he also spent a lot of time taking in the sights. But he can blame him for the fact that this asshole is obstructing his path. He waits for this man to finish taking his photo, but then to Kurt’s dismay, the man doesn’t move when he’s done and instead takes his sweet time to post it online, or whatever.

Seriously?

It's a narrow road, so it's not like Kurt can go past him, unless he decides to bike on the pavement.

Kurt rings the bell.

The man startles and looks at Kurt with wide eyes. Kurt gestures towards the path, and the man realises what he's doing.

"Sorry, sorry," he says, sounding apologetic, but he's still not moving from his spot.

"Sam, come on," they hear. And then another man appears to gracefully whisk away his friend from his spot on the road.

"Thanks," Kurt says, and turns towards his saviour.

And he almost falls of his bike.

This guy is very cute!

"Oh. Uh. Thanks," Kurt stutters out, "Again."

"No biggie. Sorry for my friend," the guy says.

"Dude. Damn, I was so caught up in this," the first guy says, "Let me make it up to you!"

"That's not-" Kurt starts. He'd rather just go on with his day.

"Please, let me!" he sounds maybe a bit too desperate.

"Sam-" the hot one cuts in.

"Trust me, bro, trust me," the first guy, Sam, says to his bro.

"Uh," is all that Kurt can muster.

"Okay?"

Sam takes out a note and a pen and quickly scribbles something down.

"Here. My number. I'll pay a coffee or whatever. Maybe a muffin."

"That's not need-"

Sam shoves the note in Kurt's hand.

"Send me a message."

"Are you... hitting on me?" Kurt asks to be sure. How else can he explain Sam's utter glee at asking Kurt out?

Sam laughs.

"No, I have a girlfriend."

"Okay?"

This is getting weirder and weirder.

"Sam, I think he just wants to continue his trip," the hot one says and he gives Kurt an apologetic look.

"Yes. I would like that," Kurt says with a pointed tone in his voice.

Sam apologises again, but then finally, he lets Kurt go on with his day. Kurt gives an awkward nod as a farewell and bikes on.

What just happened?

--

A couple of hours later, he texts Sam. He almost didn't plan to do it, but he's craving a coffee, and maybe a muffin, and if the offer stands, it stands. Kurt's not going to pass up free coffee. And Kurt wants to know if Sam is serious.

It seems so, because Sam is once again apologetic and asks Kurt to meet up at Toet, a café that specialises in desserts.

Kurt has nothing better to do, so he goes. He bikes towards Toet, because of course he does, this is the Netherlands, and waits for Sam inside.

But to Kurt's surprise, Sam isn't the one who arrives.

It's the hot one.

"Hi," he says.

"Uh. Hello?" Kurt says back.

"I hope you weren't too hopeful about seeing Sam, cause he sent me!"

"Hello," Kurt says again. Truly, this entire ordeal did not go as planned.

But he also doesn't mind. He only came here for the free coffee and muffin, so he has to admit that he's not too bothered about Sam not showing up.

"My name is Blaine," the hot guy introduces himself.

"Kurt," Kurt says back. He had sent his name to Sam in his message, but he doesn't know if Sam told Blaine. "So, uh, what exactly is going on here?"

Blaine turns a bit red.

Or maybe it is just the cosy lightning.

"Sam, uhm... Okay, I will be upfront. I think you're cute and Sam is setting us up."

Kurt's eyes widen.

"I mean, if you're- That's- If it makes you uncomfortable- Argh, sorry! Let me just buy you the coffee and muffin and I'll go," Blaine stutters out and turns around to see if he can order.

"Wait," Kurt leaps out of his seat and grabs Blaine's arm.

Blaine looks over his shoulder.

"I don't mind!" Kurt says quickly, "Truly. I'd rather have you here than Sam. No offense to him."

"None taken," Blaine says.

"Kurt lets go of Blaine, so that Blaine can finally, properly, take a seat."Kurt lets go of Blaine, so that Blaine can finally, properly, take a seat.

"I admit I think you're hot too," Kurt says. It is true, but he's also glad to have gotten the option to get to know Blaine.

Damn, was this all one big elaborate scheme from Sam?

"Sam is truly sorry, though," Blaine says, "He didn't think. He was too busy sending a nice photo to his girlfriend, that he didn't notice he was blocking your way."

Okay, still an honest mistake, with a nice consequence.

It would be a bit creepy if Sam knew him before today and deliberately looked up Kurt's route just to play wingman.

Blaine tells Kurt that he's been living in Groningen for as long as him, and that Sam's visiting him. Kurt also tells Blaine more about his life and how he ended up here.

It's nice. They're hitting it off.

They order two coffees and a piece of cake to share.

"Sam's buying," Blaine says gleefully, and Kurt is grateful for Sam's convoluted plan.

After two hours and another piece of cake, it's time for them to part. It was an unexpected, but succesful, first date.

"Can I get your number?" Kurt asks once they're outside. He'd rather have Blaine's number up front, instead of having Sam be a messenger.

"Sure, of course," Blaine looks happy.

"I'd like to see you again," Kurt adds.

"Same," Blaine says with a smile.

They quickly exchange numbers.

"See you," Blaine says with a wave.

"Yes. Definitely," Kurt says back.

He watches Blaine unlock a bike and then bike away. Kurt smiles. He also unlocks his bike to go home. During his way home, he passes the building that Sam was photographing.

"Thanks!" he yells towards the building, which leads to some confused bystanders, but Kurt doesn't care. He bikes on, happily humming a tune. He can't wait to text Blaine.

--

En spring maar achterop bij mij, dan gaan we samen weg,

En ik weet nog niet waar naar toe, maar dat maakt niet uit want ik weet wel de weg.

--

End notes: Shhhh don't think too much about why Kurt and Blaine are living in Groningen. I chose that city because I recently visited it for the first time and I liked it. Also, since I've only been to Groningen once, I have no clue where their initial meeting is taking place, or if a place like that even exists. I actually didn't go to Toet, although it was recommended to me. I preferred to go to the cat café, but Toet felt like a fitting place for them to have their first date.

Hope you enjoyed.

[keepthedelta]

i just saw someone say we need to talk about anti-australian attitudes in f1 and im so serious when i say i need f1 fans/drivers to dead this wrong passport conversation. british bias is one thing ( tho im still skeptical about it bc why won’t british sources be biased when the others are) but ppl are bordering on claiming the rest of these white europeans are experiencing racism. i’ve even seen max and fernando get credited for “ calling out colonizers” when the wrong passport conversation was going on like do not get me started on dutch colonial history ( cough cough south africa) and spains every thing. some fans legit think they need to advocate for these drivers which just ends up making drivers and their fans look out of touch ie ppl getting mad that piastri “ only” makes 6 mil. ✋🏾

i feel like someone just hit me across the face with a metal pipe what do you mean people are saying that there are anti-australian attitudes in sport and getting mad that oscar makes 6 million a year (even though with bonuses he actually makes way more)?

i. i honestly don't know what to say. white people are just desperate to be oppressed i guess. i'm not going to lie, i do find fernando's indignant "they punish me because i am spanish" to be funny, but only when we all understand that he is absolutely not oppressed or marginalised for that in any way and is in fact being delusional. the idea that fernando and max are calling out colonizers is actually ridiculous and i think people need to go back to school to learn what spain and the netherlands did to other parts of the world. like. why do they think so much of south america speaks spanish?

i will also say though, that i do think british bias exists and is worthy of complaint in f1 spaces. because yes other countries have their media, and that media is biased, but no other country has as much power and influence in f1 media as the british media do. it's not just about sky or other british networks, it's about the media personnel working for f1 directly, it's about the media personnel working for websites etc., it's about the default international coverage being british (and no acknowledgement being made of that within their broadcast), it's about the access that the british media have to the paddock and the teams and the drivers. i'd say that somewhere between 50% to 80% of the f1 media are british, which is a massive, massive amount of influence in comparison to any other nation, and they are not shy about using it to push certain narratives that were not necessarily true, and had a direct impact on real people's lives

[no-goodbyes-no-regrets]

I just saw a video on Insta of this woman who sent her 9/10 yr old son to the supermarket on his own with a list of things to get.

And she made this big deal out of it that she was trusting him to do so - and waited around the corner for him for about 5 minutes before "casually" walking past the store to see how he was doing.

The kid was fine, he got the stuff she asked him to get, everything was fine.

This woman was American and living in the Netherlands and in her caption she mentioned how this (sending your 10 year old kid to the store on their own) was NORMAL here *gasp* but not in the US.

American tumblr is that really not a normal thing to do or is this woman just over protective?

I'm curious

I know Africa and Asia includes a lot of countries - but tumblr only gives you so many options for polls. Just put in the notes where you're from if you feel like clarifying.

[straynoahide]

males costed dems the election, and that is not their fault

for whoever cares for outsider analysis, what costed Dems this elections was in fact the male vote, and nothing else.

we live in an age of identity politics. yes, people vote bc of economic and foreign policy reasons too, to curb inflation and end foreign wars they perceive to be useless... but ppl exist within peer groups and information spheres and these things are not always determinant. like, you can get a pro-union and anti-fossil fuels candidate elected under inflation. but that didn't happen.

what costed this election to Dems is political masculinism (and i mean this neutrally, as a political defense of men's issues, not as a pejorative or with any anti-feminist connotation), the reactive mirror of "woke politics". the only reason a coalition of minority male voters vote like white men and women is bc they're mobilized more as men to the right than as minorities to the left.

one of the main failures of the left is, in turn, thinking this is at all about reproductive rights. men in general are not mobilized to restrict abortion, that's an opportunistic baggage that conservatives put into the agenda. men are not mobilized to vote "against women", but to what they perceive is the only available vote for themselves, for their own presence and visibility.

males raised as men with male peers (generally cis straight, but not always) have voted right bc the left has become the empty identity politics of feminism and queer identities, and they're not just absolutely disconnected within progressivism, unheard and disenfranchised, but have been bombarded by years of "male=bad" and nothing else within all the social theories lingo of patriarchy, toxic masculinity, etc, most articulated very shallowly by people whose only drive is resentment and power grabs.

what can one expect from slogans like "the future is female", for gen z males to just go "ah ok"? it is not absurd that at least the response of half would be "that's not me! and i was just born two decades ago, so i actually want a future too!".

also, know why i know this? it's bc i'm male and european. most of my close intimate friends are women and queer people, but i do have a few straight male friends, and i talk to them and listen.

all electoral trends in europe pointed in this direction. and... this isn't nearly the end of it. diverse white nationalism, anti-islam homonationalism and feminationalism, have also been at play. most french LGBTIQ people and french jews already vote far-right to right-wing parties. same in the netherlands, etc, as in european politics the socialist parties have become the sole house of antizionist/islamist politics with no pro-jewish counter-balance.

the MAGA movement has a very dangerous pyromaniac in the front, who yes, is illiberal, but even the POTUS is just an office, and the constitution and army still protect the american republic.

i would be worried that Dems are losing all relatability and electoral competitiveness everywhere that isn't a blue city - many people live elsewhere, including people who need reproductive and LGBTIQ rights and protection from the right-of-MAGA America First menace, the actually self-declared antidemocratic and anti-American christian nationalism. doubling down on woke talking points and male-bashing is really going to do nothing, bc even with democracy intact, elections still have to be won by convincing the public, not shaming them or condescending to them or saying they aren't in the future.

[ayayumastan]

Diaboys (+Yui) Ideal Vacation destination •3•

•Yui grew up so sheltered, she barley saw anything in Japan X-X. So I think she should visit Mt. Fuji first, you know, get to know see the main attraction of her country. She definitely has dreams to travel the world tho.

•Shu does NOT travel. Too much effort. But if he did I think somewhere very secluded. I really like the Idea of him in Greenland, but it might bring back some traumatic memories… (the girls that get it, get it). So maybe and Icelandic Island, or somewhere in the Scottish highlands (can someone please draw Shu chilling with Nessie X-X).

•Reiji is fluid in German so I think he should visit the alps, but the Austrian ones. With all due respect I don’t think my man can handle north Germany X-X (as a German who’s das lives in north Germany, but grew up in the south. I know). I also have a headcanon, that Reiji is very good at skiing. Not sure if he can understand Austrian alp dialect (my grandmas from there so again. I know) but I believe in him

•Ayato would probably be somewhere warme. To do all the water sports and stuff. I really like the Idea of him in Mexico

•Kanato CAN’T go anywhere too warm or sunny. I think Switzerland, the mother of chocolate (let’s not talk about where chocolate is ACTUALLY from). Swiss chocolate just hits different

•Laito goes to Greece. It’s just right.

•Subaru is also not a travel man, but I like him in either the Netherlands or New Zealand. I can’t explain it just feels right

•Ruki would probably go somewhere in the Caucasus area, like turkey or Armenia (yes I know turkey isn’t actually Caucasus area, but I forgot the English word for it). Like I totally think he would explore the remains of Troy (if it really was troy) and go to archeological sights. I also like the idea of him in west Africa for the same reason.

•Yuma would go to a small village in Calabria (I hope that’s also what it’s called in English, but anyways it’s in south Italy). He would have his own little garden there and gets along great with the locals, despite not speaking a word of Italien.

•Kou has traveled the world, since yk he’s famous. So I think he’d go on a wellness retreat on a mountain in Nepal, or to live with yaks in Mongolia.

•Azusa would either go to the middle of the Saharan desert or to Siberia. No in between. I like him more in Siberia tho. Fun fact: my fathers from a little city in the very VERY west of Siberia, and I’d just think it’s cute if he went there :3 (I’ve literally never been there, even tho I’d really like to go. I just know my dad was born there)

•The Tsukinamis travel together. No other option. If it were up to Carla (which it mostly is) they take a tour around Europe. If it were up to Shin, they’d go somewhere tropical, and very much not Europe, like maybe Kongo or somewhere in South America.

•Kino goes to Korea. Again I can’t explain it, it just makes sense. I won’t specify which Korea… because he would just go to both

[inert-displacement]

GDP and GPD per capita isn't effective at measuring neither a country's nor its citizens standard of living, wealth, happiness, health or development rate. It is only a wage indicator of monetary traffic.

HDI is a slightly better indicator, but the US is also only on the 21st place regardless, behind Canada, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Denmark.

The US has the worlds strongest military. Yes, this is true. But would China or Russia be a better country if they had a stronger one?

If we look at the crime rates, the US is at 89 out of 147 countries, beaten by Morocco, Italy, Vietnam, Kazakhstan and Moldova.

The only thing the US is really the best at (if we don't count the military) is its economy, which is still ranked first globally. But I don't know how that's good for any citizen when their standard of living still isn't as good as it could be.

If you break down each states GDP per capita and cost of living you find this

1. District of Columbia: 0.339

2. Hawaii: 0.915

3. Massachusetts: 0.805

4. California: 0.744

5. New York: 0.715

6. Alaska: 0.825

7. Washington: 0.764

8. Oregon: 0.766

9. New Hampshire: 0.779

10. Maryland: 0.820

11. Connecticut: 0.651

12. Delaware: 0.711

13. Arizona: 0.699

14. Florida: 0.699

15. Colorado: 0.707

16. North Carolina: 0.712

17. South Carolina: 0.704

18. Illinois: 0.718

19. Wyoming: 0.722

20. Minnesota: 0.723

21. Louisiana: 0.726

22. Montana: 0.723

23. Ohio: 0.734

24. Pennsylvania: 0.756

25. Nebraska: 0.760

26. South Dakota: 0.745

27. Michigan: 0.744

28. New Mexico: 0.759

29. North Dakota: 0.757

30. Tennessee: 0.746

31. Georgia: 0.776

32. Indiana: 0.782

33. Iowa: 0.776

34. Arkansas: 0.781

35. Missouri: 0.793

36. Alabama: 0.800

37. Mississippi: 0.807

38. Oklahoma: 0.822

39. Kansas: 0.821

40. New Jersey: 0.825

41. West Virginia: 0.780

42. Utah: 0.740

43. Nevada: 0.697

44. Wisconsin: 0.586

45. Vermont: 0.600

46. Maine: 0.604

47. Rhode Island: 0.950

48. Texas: 0.841

49. Virginia: 1.050

50. Kentucky: 0.826

This shows the relative cost of living in each state compared to its GDP per capita.  Which would be on average how many people make more than it takes to live in that state

Country,Total Annual Cost of Living (Including Taxes) (USD)

Luxembourg,$58,800

Ireland,$63,840

Netherlands,$42,600

Denmark,$59,520

Austria,$42,600

Sweden,$50,868

Finland,$45,192

Germany,$39,228

Belgium,$40,980

France,$41,688

Italy,$38,160

Spain,$26,640

Portugal,$26,640

Greece,$26,640

Czech Republic,$23,400

Slovakia,$23,880

Estonia,$23,760

Slovenia,$25,920

Lithuania,$23,760

Latvia,$24,480

Poland,$24,840

Hungary,$23,760

Croatia,$25,200

Romania,$18,480

Bulgaria,$18,480

Cyprus,$26,400

Malta,$27,768

Country,GDP per capita (USD)

Luxembourg,137,000

Ireland,113,000

Netherlands,71,700

Denmark,71,870

Austria,63,870

Sweden,52,510

Finland,44,620

Germany,44,460

Belgium,41,490

France,37,340

Italy,36,760

Spain,36,290

Portugal,33,750

Greece,32,910

Czech Republic,29,080

Slovakia,28,880

Estonia,26,110

Slovenia,25,620

Lithuania,22,130

Latvia,19,460

Poland,19,250

Hungary,18,480

Croatia,16,710

Romania,15,330

Bulgaria,15,250

Cyprus,15,020

Malta,14,880

Latvia,14,430

Estonia,14,010

Lithuania,13,300

Slovakia,10,250

Bulgaria,7,900

Romania,6,900

Croatia,6,500

Slovenia,4,980

Estonia,4,940

In most countries in Europe have more people that can’t afford to live in their country. Making it harder for them to survive and also being the reason why many Europeans immigrate to America.

[squided]

Hey just some like FYI for anyone who is moving to/just starting to live in another country (especially if you're moving from the US or Canada) PLEASE make sure you look up laws regarding rent. I remember 8 years ago when I first moved to the Netherlands from America I got this 10 square meter studio (yes it was that small I later found out it used to be a utility closet they turned into a room) right in the center of the inner city for €500 per month and I thought it was such a good deal. I later found out that not only were they (and every other landlord) scamming every foreign student that comes to their step, they were almost doubling the allowed rent. By the time I found out I was already moving out and had missed the time period I was allowed to make a complaint. Please watch out if you're a foreigner in another country because the landlords know how much you pay back home and they'll make you think you're getting a great deal but you're getting scammed.

[sevinagreatergood]

Today is Keti Koti. 'Keti' means chains, and 'Koti' means broken/cut. Yes, you guessed it right. It is the day my country was freed from slavery. The video contains the national anthem of my country.

Ps: green part is translated for you readers

Couplet 1

God zij met ons Suriname,

God be with us Suriname,

Hij verheff'ons heerlijk land,

He exalts our glorious country,

Hoe wij hier ook samen kwamen,

However we came here together,

Aan zijn grond zijn wij verpand,

We are pledged to his land,

Werkend houden w'in gedachten,

Working we keep in mind,

Recht en waarheid maken vrij,

Justice and truth set you free,

Al wat goed is te betrachten,

All that is good to be done,

Dat geeft aan ons land waardij

That gives our country value

Couplet 2 (this is called sranan tongo)

Opo kondreman un' opo!

Compatriots get up

Sranangron e kari un,

Surinam ground calls you

Wans' ope tata komopo,

Where ever our ancestors came from,

Wi mu' seti kondre bun,

We must build our country good

Strey de f' strey,

Struggles have to be made,

Wi no sa frede,

We shall know no fear

Gado de wi fesiman,

God is our leader.

Eri libi te na dede,

During our whole lives until death

Wi sa feti gi Sranan

We will fight for Suriname.

----------------------------------------------

I lived 9 years in Suriname. Also, I kind of wrote it all out, but my whole text got deleted so I'll keep it short. My enthousiam for sharing my culture turned into rage at 11pm at night. I shall add more if I have calmed down later. I miss my country a lot.

Surinam is around 164.000 square kilometres which is around 63.000 square miles with around 600.000 people. It's 95% tropical woods. Suriname is a country in south America that's mostly jungle. The houses we have in our city like the white one in the picture and the church are based off of colonial foundings. Mostly the Dutch since our country majorly belonged to the Dutch.

We also have our own "language" called sranan tongo,translates to Surinam tongue. Our language isn't seen as a real language because it exists out of words that are Dutch, Portuguese, English and multiple African languages. It was used by slaves to avoid being caught talking about dangerous stuff by their oppressor.

I, myself was born in surinam and see myself as one, moved to the Netherlands in my youth too and am fully Indian. My family exists out of Hindi, Islamic folks, and christian people, whilst being atheist myself. I year to go back and see my family as well as visit places in nature I havent seen before. Recent I heard from my mom there is a turtle beach.

You bet, I am going. I miss nature. I want to have a house in nature. While a house out alone in the field, far from a city incites fear for others. To me it doesn't. I want to be in nature 24/7, at least when I am home. Not litterally in nature like camping but know I have a garden all around me with no neighbours and such.

My country had it good back then. Now it became one of the poorest countries in the world thanks to covid and uncertain times in the western world. My country more or less depends on the western world as well as other countries that belong to BRICS.

I love my Indian roots too. My family is the atheist kind of celebrating Christmas. We don't believe in the deities but we do celebrate the holidays, like Divali, Phaghwa, and Raksha Bandan. I wore saree during special occasions like a wedding. I want to learn Hindi now too.

I also love my dutch nationality. From the cycling culture, to the food, and also holidays. Such as king's/queen's day, and celebrating graduating high school (middelbare school in dutch) by hanging a pole out of the window or stick it into the wall by your window, with the dutch flag out, and your schoolbag at the end of it.

I love all 3 my nationalities, cultures, food, language, and I couldn't be more proud to celebrate keti koti with them. While the country does sound nice. Discrimination and racism exists there too. Especially between indian and creole people.

Keti Koti reminds me of the slavery from god knows when it started, to ours, and the ones still going on now. I however truly want to go back there and reconnect with my people, nature. I miss nature the most. I was always a nature child. Had about no friends, so I entertained myself a lot. I want a house in nature too. I'm not afraid of being alone in a farm field.

I had litterally cows in my backyard if not a pond full of caimans (we were rich back then lol). I miss my childhood, my memories, but with how Surinam now is, it won't be the same. I hope it will change soon though.

Celebrated keti koti, but from now on I'll celebrate it from home.

[vogelmeister]

1, 8 and 45 for the book ask game?

Hii Sylvia!!! sorry this took so long!!!

1. hmmm. out of the ones i have finished, which isn’t much (three books by memory), i loved what happens in amsterdam by rachael lynn soloman probably the most. wonder why. idk fam. i just feel like talking about it, because i read it in a week.

was the plot questionable ? yes. almost a little stupid actually. the odds of the inciting incident are probably very low and the fact he remembers her probably said a lot about their teenage love in america. i also had to note when reading that she went to the netherlands knowing the odds of him being there lol.

that all said it was actually a refreshing read because i could absolutely tell that the author herself had lived in amsterdam and those little details were present throughout. so knowing what i know about amsterdam, it was lovely not to think too hard about the setting. that said, when the sister of the love interest started talking about amsterdam the way merel rooijakkers would, i was considering flinging myself out of the contiki bus. its safe to say that that book was written by another nederland liefhebber.

8. oh you know this! it’s loveless by alice oseman! absolutely stunning, on the older end of YA and very wholesome. and not only is it very queer its also about theatre kids and whats better than that.

ik it has become The Aroace Read as of recent but y’know. when the representation is so few and far between, thats bound to happen. it is just one story though.

i also love love loved if you still recognise me by cynthia so. its about an asian british girl (hong kong roots, idk how to describe that tho) who is hopelessly in love with her american online friend. she hasn’t confessed yet, but she decides the summer before uni is the time to confess and sets out to win her over. however !!! when her old friend who moved to hong king comes back to oxford, everything gets a little more complicated as she works to repair her damaged friendship, and suddenly her love life gets a little more complicated.

its actually a book that is a lot more than ‘the crush on the online friend’ but i finished this book in my room in amsterdam and had to just kind of go ‘oh. okay!’ and then immediately message my friend.

45. Once again, probably loveless??? Idk man , I can just see it being such a cute poignant coming of age movie and it would be such a comfort movie for me. I was talking to my friend yesterday about loveless and she was like ‘its the most you book ever’ which it is. queer theatre kids for the win, and obviously ace representation.

[hewholivesinhisname]

Jail

Alright,

I don't want to go to jail but since we are

I've seen these cases in courts where you have guys saying things like "I'm a sovereign citizen". Then they get sent to the slammer. You shouldn't necessarily be sent to jail for non-violent crimes like that, but more importantly in America the constitution says we have freedom of speech and saying shit like that is common.

Very importantly of course, jail i 99% men and it shouldn't be. Rich men get a pass often, but also women. Basically to avoid jail all you have to do is be a white woman. For the trans movement I suppose this is a real boon because of course

Jail is very, very gay. There's a lot of rape. It's basically rape camps for men.

One of the reasons you kind of know that America is going downhill is that the feminists are arguing women have a raw deal with rape and all even though the men are being sent to rape camps in large numbers. I mean, some feminists are smart about this of course. They are arguing for prison abolition because of course its just slavery under a different name.

Step 1. Have politicians get up there and say shit like "tough on crime!", "tough on crime!", are you a criminal? well you don't think you are a criminal at all, so they get voted in.

Step 2. Start building more and more prisons, with harsher conditions.

Step 3. Make sure there are conditions wherein there is not full employment or anything close.

Step 4. Start criminalizing poverty and things desperate poor people do.

Step 5. Send all the "criminals" to jail.

Now, this wouldn't be happening of course if people had taken to heart the injunction in the Bible "share all things in common", especially you know, things like property and such. But people don't want to share their houses with poor men and such. these are "potential threats" so life sucks for a poor man. They don't want to hire you or put you up in a place to live.

Small states like Norway and the netherlands and such can pull this off, but its increasingly hard the more you have big families and big states.

America like every other large fascist state before it wants the men in the army, it wants to expand.

The best spot in the world of course is going to be at the top of such a large fascist state which is why these places like China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are run by single individuals. And of course since THEY are on top, they are pretty happy running them like slave states. The guys (and shapeshifting lizards) have an understanding at the top which is that

I mean, why wouldn't Trump want to take over the United States? why wouldn't he want to throw a bunch of people who didn't support him in jail? I've already got a strike against me.

But what's going to happen once I start, very non-violently, go around talking about how I'm god?

As God, trump is obligated to obey me. In the constitution it very pointedly says "one nation under God". As God everyoen is obligated to obey me really. I mean, you don't havvvvve to, but its kind of dumb to obey other people.

and of course in this age a lot of people are just going to church and thinking thats enough while they pray in closets to satan.

So you are god? So what? What have you done for me lately?

This is what the average person is thinking and they are also thinking they are supposed to be getting very rich, very famous and doing whatever they want. it's very nice to get rich and famous of course too, but you know, its kinda sorta hard. But there are lots and lots of police! lots and lots of landlords! lots and lots of dividend holders of various sorts! lots of people in government too wanting money for taxes! Who is going to do all that labor?

ah yes! it should be the poor men. it would be very, very politically risky to want the WOMEN to do any of this labor. they are the majority are they not? you need votes! you don't want to offend the people now and suggest that the majority of people should be diong the majority of the labor.

I mean, they do it anyway, but that's the way it is, right?

Jail is more like a token than anything else.

If the powers that be DON'T throw me in jail for being god I will not overthrow this country. However if they do, do it, I will overthrow it. it's long since due anyway of course. The country is in debt up to its ears paying for all these wars and such. Genocidal wars are expensive you know!

The average person does not believe I am god though and they do not think that I should be their king. They are not going up to me and doing what I say. Instead they are obeying their bosses who give them money and their bosses with the money are saying they own everything and demanding money for everything. And since there is all this demand.

My friend William Ho (Holy 8), he has gotten banned from many many places just for talking. many times talking about god. The police, rather than say, defend the laws in teh constitution which says talking about anything is legal are doing th eother thing where you have the right to shut up and obey the power structure.

So just like in ancient Judea and Rome it is very, very easy to get your sorry ass thrown into jail for something dumb, especially if you happen to have a pair of testicles between your legs. Freedom of speech very much fails if you say something nasty to the police which of course happens a lot. I'm not saying anything nasty to the police, but I have said a few things like "indigenous rights". Boy do they hate that! Because of course, if you support indigenous rights, than you aren't supporting American domination! not very patriotic.

I mean, I like America and all. its a great country, but I think all the indian tribes should become states. we would have about 500+ states instead of 50. I think its a good idea.

Really though, everyone should just be obeying me, right? I'm god.

I gotta make another email account for my capacity as God. I would say it should be on gmail, but that's been unreliable.

Sin is dominant in this age and its very much the case that its all about looking good. children are sent to MKUltra hell of course. children are hurt in all sorts of ways, but we don't talk about it now do we? we do talk about Israel of course.

The only commandments that pepole seem to obey are the ones about cutting up male children's genitalia which is the like, I would sya the one commandment you would think people would NOT obey, right?

I guess its a bit hard because the day begins in the night in the Jewish religion.

Anyway, being a poor dirty man and such, this is to say that I think there's a high chance that the authorities are going to throw me in jail rather than acknowledge me as God. God is a POWERFUL WIZARD right?

Ugh. Let me tell you a story. My friend Daniel, you know, the prophet. He was raised in teh oddfellows and they horribly abused him. Then whne he started showing powers they tortured them out of him. He is still loyal to America though! lord! that song, titanium is about him. I guess you have to be loyal to something, right? Anywya, the point is that if I had showed up as a powerful wizard the Jews and the Scp foundation and whoever else is in charge of the US government would attack me.

people are FAR more likely to attack you if you are god than obey you. That's because people don't believe in things like reincarnation and they aren't wise in this age. What would a wise woman look like? Maybe a girl who comes and fucks god? probably. If everyone gave me one dollar we note god would be a very rich man and I could build that life extension hospital with my own money.

As it were people are want to give all their money to greedy landlords. We should have public housing instead personally. These landlords man. As god the best I can do is I might say I own the land so you have to pay taxes to me. that might be what I can do, right?

Well, that doesn't happen. I'm being treated "equally" which is to say that I probably should be shaving my beard and identifying as a trans woman ors oemthing. However, trump is after these people. I dunno....

I should have had the good sense to become rich! that's what I should have done, how could I have just been a normal person? Or even a slightly smarter than average normal person? I got great SATS!

I am still the authentic and real god though! There is only one!

I created the infinity we are existing in! Do you not see all the holy books, all the churches nad all the religious people running around?

But every powerful person in the wrold doesn't really want a god around because a god implies that a person should be loyal and obedient to God....or at the very least useful! The guys at Map giving away free sleeping bags are useful to God right now!

You would think that people would want to hire me! imagine, getting to tell God what to do! they do not wnat to do that. God does not have the attitude that apparently they want in a person to hire. And since that is the case I very much have the qualities of the type of person they like to throw in jail.

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

070 of 2025

Are any of your friendships on a fine line?

I don't call them friendships anymore.

If I search your room, will I find birth control?

No. Two guys don't need birth control.

Do you expect any of your ex’s to call or text you?

Maybe Nielsje, but certainly not now.

Have you ever witnessed a birth?

Does my cat giving birth count? If so, then yes.

Where’s your favorite place to be when you feel depressed?

My hometown. And the beach ib my hometown, or the Raversijde beach.

Are you currently looking forward to tomorrow?

Kind of. We're going for groceries.

When was the last time you held someone’s hand?

Long time ago, I'm not into holding hands.

Have you ever faked sick?

No. I had no reason.

Do you wear hoodies to bed?

Nope, but does anyone actually do? It sounds uncomfortable.

Are you currently wearing jeans?

No. I'm at home.

Do you buy eggnog around the holidays?

No, I don't like it. Besides, it's not our tradition.

Have you gone to a coffee shop within the past week?

Lol no, I'm not in the Netherlands. (Cheers to those who understood the reference.) I was in Starbucks today.

Would you like to be able to read thoughts?

Nope. I don't want to know too much.

Are you often the last one to understand a joke?

No. Surprisingly not.

Your first black eye: Did you give it or get it?

I didn't.

Do you think baseball is a dying professional sport in America?

Why would I care about American sports as an European?

Does playing the guitar make a guy more attractive?

No. Intelligence does, though. Talent is just a bonus.

Have you ever slept in a tent, indoors or out?

Yeah, outdoors. I was a teenager and I wanted to try it.

What does your hair look like at the moment?

Messy.

Are you mad right now?

Not anymore. But today was the day of nothing going right.

Who did you spend your summer with last year?

My husband, we were in Poland.

Did you eat a cookie today?

Yeah, rice cookie. It's rijstevlaai, a cookie native to my country. You rather won't find it anywhere else.

Have you heard of wreck this journal?

Yes, I even own one copy. Never wrecked it, though XD

Do you know any one who lives in California?

I do, but only online. Never met her in person, but I like her so much.

Have you ever been told you were a good writer?

Nope, but I know I'm not, you really don't have to tell me XD

What do you put on your baked potatoes?

I don't like baked potatoes. I love puree and mashed potatoes, though. I put butter in.

Have you ever been on a farm?

Yes. My extended family owns a farm.

Last three texts on your phone are from?

Jesus, I hate these boring questions. Who cares about phone texts?

What are you listening to?

There's TV in the background, that Polish TV series about a priest again.

Are you one to take naps?

Yeah, unfortunately. My energy burns out way quicker than it used to before I was disabled.

Did you ever have braces?

No, I didn't.

Have you kissed anyone in the last five days?

Yeah, my husband. We always give each other little pecks for good morning and goodbye.

Are you afraid of flying?

Yeah. One of the reasons I've never been on a plane.

Do you have freckles?

A lot. Mostly on my face and shoulders.

Do you have plans for today?

I just came back home, it's almost 22.

Would you rather date someone five years older or five years younger than you?

No difference at my age. Both 30 and 40 is fine.

Why aren’t you texting the last person you kissed?

Who said I'm not?

If you had to live off one type of fruit, which would you pick?

Strawberries or sour cherries, I can't decide.

What were you doing at 7:45AM this morning?

I was 15 minutes into my shift at work.

What was the last thing you drank?

Hot chocolate from Starbucks.

Where did you get the shirt you’re wearing?

Nowhere lol, how do you even know what I'm wearing.

Do you plan on sleeping in tomorrow?

I don't make such plans, especially having strict medication schedule.

How often do you drink Monster?

Never. I don't fancy getting another stroke.

Are you easy to get along with?

Apparently, unless I'm in not the best mood.

Are you short?

If you call 5'11 short, then yes lol.

Can you ever get enough of mac ‘n’ cheese?

God I hate mac 'n cheese. The texture makes me gag.

Are you allergic to nuts or dairy products?

Yes, to nuts. Thankfully not deadly. I also have mild lactose intolerance, but I can't resist dairy. Guess who farts a lot.

Do you have trust issues?

Yes, unless I get to know you better. I have seen a lot.

Is there someone you want to let go of?

Not anymore.

Do you think age matters in relationships?

No, unless it's an adult and a minor. Love matters.

Has anyone ever called the cops on you?

Yeah. I dialled the wrong number as a kid lol, I was 12. It was a prank and someone took it way too seriously. The policemen were seriously surprised when they saw a kiddo XD

How old are you?

Gonna be 35 soon.

Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night?

No. I was asleep already when my husband came back from work, he finished his shift at midnight.

Do you go to church every Sunday?

No. I go whenever I feel the need, and not to holy masses.

Can you recall the last time you liked someone?

Eh. Romance is not for me. Besides, I love my husband.

Do you like your height?

Could be taller, but okay.

Is the last person of the opposite sex you texted single?

No, she's my mum and she's married to my dad.

Could you go a week without brushing your teeth?

Barely, only if I had no other choice. But it's quite disgusting.

What day is it?

Friday. Weekends is calling yay.

Are you usually awake at midnight?

Usually not.

Does it get really cold where you live?

Not really. Right now, it's 1°C. It rarely goes below zero and snows even more rarely.

When you get home from school / work do you change into your pjs right away?

No lol. I have a life besides work.

Have you ever been peer pressured to smoke pot?

No. Some of my friends do it, but no one forces anyone here.

Have you ever played the game Sims 3?

Not more than creating characters.

What is the temperature currently in the town you live in?

1°C.

Do you ever actually drink milk alone?

No, with friends lol. I love whole milk, though, and yeah I drink it.

If you don’t have one already, would you consider getting an iPhone?

I got an iPhone as a gift last year and holy shit, I can't get used to it. Thankfully I still have my old Samsung.

What year were you born in?

1990.

[anakinsafterlife]

I was thinking about this issue a lot recently. Not specifically House, but how you can't actually ever be sure with older people (or anyone, but it's more likely to be an older person in the global West) if they fall somewhere under the rainbow. For example, I was recently re-watching Dallas Buyers Club, which was based on the life of Ron Woodroof, an AIDS patient who sold unapproved, but relatively effective, medications to other patients, which allowed them to extend their lives for years longer than their doctors were predicting. The movie shows him as initially homophobic (while changing his mind later) and as having caught HIV from having a lot of unprotected sex with female prostitutes. It's definitely possible, especially if menstrual blood is present, viral load is high, or another STI is present, but it's still very low compared to the risk present in anal intercourse.

His Wikipedia article, however, says that while he lived an outwardly straight life, at least some of his contemporaries claim that he was bisexual. In fact, we'll never know what the truth was, because he didn't live long enough to see a time of greater tolerance, which might have permitted him to be more open about his sexuality, if in fact he was bisexual.

This is just one example. When I started getting back into the band Queen again, I made the mistake of reading Quora, and almost every day you see someone asking about whether Freddie Mercury was gay or bi. I think it's fairly clear that he was gay, but the debate rages on precisely because he lived in a time when being forthright about exactly how queer you were could destroy your career. Elton John came out as bisexual in the 70s and saw sufficient backlash that he went fully back into the closet in the 1980s. He married sound engineer Renate Blauel. They were married for four years, but Elton was still struggling with his sexuality. I remember reading somewhere that the marriage was never consummated, which I find difficult to believe, especially since his one of his motivations for marrying was apparently a desire to start a family, but I can certainly see sex being a problem. Now imagine if he had died at that time. Plane crash or overdose. Whatever. The point is that we would still not know the truth of his sexual identity, although EJ and gay are pretty much synonymous these days.

Even people much younger than these men struggle greatly with their sexuality, especially in relation to society and their families. Which brings us back to House. This is a show that debuted in 2004. The first country in the world to approve marriage equality is the Netherlands, just four years previously, in 2000. This was still very new and controversial, and homosexuality as an acceptable practice had a much more tenuous position in the minds of society than it does now.

I remember when Thirteen came out as bi on House, and my aunt stopped watching the show because she was so disgusted. In fact, I remember reading a biography of David Bowie around the same time, and another aunt disparaging it because she remembered that he was bisexual. This aunt today has no problem with bisexual or gay people, because most people take their cues on political issues from society, and society's take on LGBTQ issues has changed drastically in even the last twenty years. I am aware that there are areas in North America and Europe where the community is currently experiencing violent backlash, but that backlash is happening precisely because gay and bisexual relationships have been normalized.

Now think again about the time in which House was produced. It would have been impossible to have a hit primetime television show, which is precisely what House was, with a gay or bisexual lead, much less two. There is absolutely no way that it would have run for eight seasons if the showrunners had dared. Yes, the writers teased us, queer baited us, if you will, but only because they recognized the romantic potential of the relationship but could not give it to us forthrightly without sabotaging the entire production. House was one of the top earning shows on television at that time, so certainly no executive was going to approve that.

OK, so imagine now that House and Wilson are real people rather than television characters. Born in the sixties. Liberal and comfortable enough to make gay jokes and publically enjoy a very close friendship. But still old enough to be afraid. Not want to risk the public humiliation of upending their social standing. Of risking their few other close personal associations. Of having their fitness as medical professionals questioned, which would probably happen to Wilson, since he worked closely with children. Of questioning their own masculinity. Of risking the contempt of their parents (I know one guy around their age who is obviously gay but got married and had kids to please his mother, who also knows that he is gay but was unable to handle it). The likelihood of staying in the closet, of not taking the risk, even for the love of your life, is high. *Very* high.

Even today, in this supposed age of gay tolerance, there are people of all ages who remain deeply closeted for a variety of reasons. To please their families or avoid religious persecution or stalling their careers, and so many other reasons.

Viewed in this light, it's impossible to say who is gay or bi and who isn't, and even more impossible to say who would be out if conditions were more favorable. In fact, there would probably be far more people willing to question their supposed straightness and take a chance on loving the people that they are forced to view strictly as friends, due to cultural forces beyond their control.

I do think that House and Wilson were in love, canonically. I don't think they ever consumated it, or even admitted it to one another. In so many ways, their love story was a tragedy.

[elbiotipo]

I need to share what I had to witness in the Youtube comments section of a video about the pros and cons of living in the US and Europe, which had me thinking "I wonder what elbiotipo would think of this": there was an Argentinean saying that he moved to the US 10 years ago (he didn't state how old he is now), and claimed that he knows the "European way of life" due to growing up in Argentina (???), so he really made it look like he knows what he's talking about and can say which of those places are better to live, then saying he prefers the US. I think what made this even funnier is that another user replied to that guy, one that grew up in Netherlands and moved to Argentina, and added that Argentina is not like living in Europe at all and there's no such things as an European way of life since we're talking about a whole continent, unlike the US. Now I knew Argentina has this bad fame of being perceived as "European" but that's probably the first time I see one that genuinely believe they're the same. It reminded me of some of the gaúchos we have in Brazil but that guy was being a bit more extreme about it

There are a bunch of assholes (mostly upper class people in my experience) in Argentina who believe they are Proper Europeans unfortunately Cursed to be born in Latin America and they want to Escape From Latin America and go back to Europe, or if that fails, to a "proper country" like the US (I'm sure you've heard of these guys, if gaúchos in Brasil are any similar) That guy sounds particulary unbearable. Like I'm imagining him talking and I want to tell him to go shit himself.

And yes, there are many sections of Argentine society that are proud of their "Europeaness", after all, it was the Eurocentrism encouraged during the XIX-early XX centry administrations to "civilize the country". The truth is that Argentina does have a majority of inmigrant descended people, and this has been considered -especially by the Porteño elite- the core of the country, dismissing all the other people who make this country. This is the core issue with racism in Argentina; the belief that European inmigrants (we never tak about Asian, Middle Eastern ones...) built this nation, and the rest are just useless people, or even aren't there because all Argentines came from Italy and Spain (this is why you find people saying Black Argentines or Indigenous Argentines "don't exist", which you can see is patently untrue the moment you walk through any street). I'm not mincing words here, this is how racism expresses itself here.

In some cases, it has expressed itself as a rejection of the country itself, like "this country is shit, I wanna go back to my grand(grandgrand, usually)parents home in First World Europe". The funny thing is that comments like that Dutch person show the truth: for all their eurocentrism, they are still Latinos born and raised here and their idealization of Europe or the US makes no sense, because they have no idea how's life there; they BELIEVE they do because they're white and wealthy, but they don't. They're basically highly privileged assholes who want to shit higher than everybody else, and since money isn't enough, they start claiming cultural/racial kinship with a First World that doesn't care about them.

You can't escape from Latin America if you're not a Latin American first.

[forabeatofadrum]

Hello and a happy El WooWoo to everyone, but more importantly, a happy birthday to Simon Snow!!! 🥳🥳🥳 Thank you @blackberrysummerblog​ for the tag.

I have a long post, actually. I am surprised myself, and also, it is not about my thesis (🤯) for a change. But anyway, a few weeks ago, I wrote a post about the Glee podcast And That’s What You Really Missed and about how they discuss Asian racism in the show, and how it resonated with me. Good ole @thnxforknowingme​ reblogged it and it got some traction and I liked reading everyone’s tags. At the end of the post, I mentioned that I started writing a fic/character study to sort of “reclaim” the weird shit that Glee put its Asian characters through. It’s about Mike, Tina, Blaine, Wes and an original character.

Tina and the OC’s story is about being adopted into a white family, Mike’s about moving to America from China as a young child, Blaine’s about being biracial and Wes’s about being the child of immigrants. As my post also said, I haven’t touched that fic since 2018. I did share some snippets of it before, here on my blog. You can find them here and here. But for this post (😉) I am opening this document again to post this:

“You learn to live with it,” Mike always says, “You start to accept casual racism from your friends.” And it’s true, but it still stings every now and then.

Mike and Tina always joke about the ‘Asian’ ‘Other Asian’ thing, but why does Coach Sylvester have to group them together like that?

Why do people always assume Mike and Tina are secretly related? Puck’s jokes about that aren’t funny anymore.

Mike knows Tina doesn’t like it when people say that they’re both Chinese.

Tina isn’t a ‘Geisha’, and people aren’t even willing to listen to her when she tries to explain that she’s Korean, not Japanese- and yes, Geishas are Japanese.

Mike and Tina are pretty sure they can eat with a knife and fork and Rachel can stop putting chopsticks in her hair.

Not gonna lie, this is good. I don’t wanna come off as conceited, but I had a rough time picking out a snippet. There are so many moments in this document (promptly called “Tina”) that are still so relatable. Also, I gave Wes the username GavelMan92. I don’t know if I will ever finish it. I can see from the document that I am writing this as a couple of standalone chapters, not one big fic, so maybe I can post some finished parts, although there is still a chronological order somewhere.

What do you guys think? Even if you aren’t a Gleek (hewwo Snowbazzians!), would you read an uncompleted fic that consists of vignettes? Or would it be better to publish all chapters separately and then add them to one series in AO3? I have written a bullet point fic for my SJAEU with this idea in mind: so that I can add later chapters out of order in a series. Even though I haven’t added anything to the SJAEU series yet (oop), it is an easy possibility and I have also been thinking about posting my Sense8/Glee AU in this way.

Ah, choices, choices.

And now, the weather. It’s calm after the storm. Yes, there was a storm in the Netherlands: @quizasvivamos @blurglesmurfklaine @coffeegleek @esperantoauthor @otherworldsivelivedin @caramelcoffeeaddict @sillyunicorn @bazzybelle @dragoneggos @raenestee @tectonicduck @nightimedreamersworld @urban-sith @thnxforknowingme @captain-aralias @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @takitalks @justgleekout @cerriddwenluna @tea-brigade @ivelovedhimthroughworse @moodandmist @whogaveyoupermission @bookish-bogwitch @confused-bi-queer @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @ionlydrinkhotwater @1908jmd @wowbright @special-bc-ur-part-of-it @larkral​ @chen-chen-chen-again-chen​ @cutestkilla​ @nausikaaa​/@wellbelesbian​ @artsyunderstudy​ @martsonmars​ @facewithoutheart​ @shrekgogurt​ @boyinjeans​ @rockitmans​ @bitbybitwrites​ @whatevertheweather​

[yaqamole]

What is your personal opinion about the personality of Spain as it is now and before? Do you send it with someone? I want to know more about Latin American characters like Mexico (personality, its people, if he is a native American or not, what are his thoughts with colonization and how he lives his life today...headcanons) ❤️🙈 i'm sorry and thank you so much

I hope I am understanding this correctly but I am assuming this is about how I headcanon Antonio's personality now compared to the past and my HCs with my Mexico OC

So as for Antonio. I headcanon his personality to be a lot more mellowed out than it was before. He's not nearly as violent as he used to be. He's also not nearly as insecure in his masculinity as he was in the past (I HC Antonio to be trans and have huge masculinity issues). However, he is still an asshole in my opinion. Given that the country of Spain itself does not seem to find any shame in their acts of colonialism, the way that I write Spain is that he typically doesn't either.

Yes, he definitely regrets a lot, but he himself does genuinely believe that he did Latin America a favor. Pride and ego plague him. He is a man with hubris. Because of this, apologies do not exist in his vocabulary. You're better off just asking anyone else for an apology because it won't come from him.

It's a bit hypocritical of him honestly. Because he views the Age of Exploration as an unhappy time and it's a big part of why my interp of Antonio gets antsy when his hair starts to get long. He cannot stand his hair getting long anymore as it reminds him of times he prefers to forget. Despite this, he does not seem to think about that time being unpleasant to the others around him.

Antonio doesn't seem to see the irony in this. If it's pointed out, he denies it. Or he makes up plenty of excuses. Like I said, he's hypocritical. He refuses to see it too.

He's very much someone who is two-faced. And this has been a recent development as he used to be just very transparent with everyone regardless of the consequences. However, you're only likely to get what he genuinely thinks and believes if you're one of his close friends. And he has very few of those. Francois, Gilbert, Portugal, and Lorenzo are the only people who genuinely see every side of him. Belgium and Netherlands I headcanon see it too, but he does still put up walls with him.

Antonio thinks it's easier that way. He's a lot more reserved than he lets others know and puts up a smile when he's able to. Letting people in is dangerous and letting his thoughts out is too. So it's better to hide it all.

NOW, as for my Mexico.

There's a lot of headcanons there but I will share some of the basic stuff. You can ask me for more any time!

My Mexico is the same as my Tlacopan OC. Now I do want to clarify something. I used to have my Tlacopan, Tenochtitlan, and Tetzcoco as triplets. This is because those OCs are not originally Hetalia OCs they're for a video game I'm working on where they are triplets. However, this doesn't make sense in the context of Hetalia due to histories. So they are simply siblings in the context of Hetalia and NOT triplets. Someone sent me an ask about that a while ago and I wanted to clarify.

SO, the reason that it is my Tlacopan OC as Mexico versus Tenochtitlan is because Xochitl is considered the safest option to her government. Because Tematlalehua (Tenochtitlan) is disabled, they don't want her representing the government. And because Huitzilihuitl (Tetzcoco) is openly gay and refuses to Hispanicize more than necessary, they don't find him to be a good option either. Thus, Xochitl (Tlacopan) was made into the representative of Mexico.

She is Nahua. So she is Indigenous. She is very proud of this fact despite everything that has happened to her and the government's continued efforts to erase Indigenous presence in Mexico.

Colonization was very hard for her. It destroys her home and she was already an adult at the time of everything happening. So she was an adult watching her siblings suffer and their people suffer. For this, she absolutely despises Antonio and refuses to play nice with him more than she has to diplomatically. But even then, she's cold towards him and does not give him the time of day.

My Mexico also does not have a good relationship with Alfred(when he is white because I love black/Native Alfred and that would change their dynamic). Their history is way too complicated and extensive with lots of bullshit, subjugation, and screwing over from Alfred.

Xochitl is otherwise a very motherly figure or an older sister type. She practices folk Catholicism and her teotl is Coatlicue. She's very sweet, loves to cook for her loved ones, and is always an open ear when something is wrong. She has a house full of little ceramic chickens. Just very Señora energy.

Xochitl is very dear to me. I love her so much. There's a lot that I could talk about with her but I need something to start with because there's just so much. I'm more than happy to talk about her because she is my beloved.