#but i am asian american and i grew up knowing so many japanese people. it just. pissed me off. yeah

[girlcored]

idk i was watching the new defunctland about disney animatronics and i realized i'd never seen the hall of presidents. which then i watched and it made me pissed about FDR again. most of the presidents in that show get their COMPLETELY fair criticism but no one ever wants to talk about japanese internment. the white washing of his presidency gets done too easily around here just because of the new deal and the allies winning the war...girl the atomic bombs

[weird-dere-writes]

Good morning! I love you💖

I am humbly requesting more Ichidere lore please. 🙏🏾

Where do you guys live?

Do you have any pets?

Who cooks more?

Who cleans more?

Do you guys want babiessss?

I need to know MORE.

Good morrow, Sunflower :3 🫶🏾💛💛💛

I would love to talk about more Ichidere lore with u uwu <3.

Where do you guys live?

We live in a nice house in Japan with a gate in the front. It's a large one story abode with a pretty garden. It is quite licherally this house, but i hate the front of that house so we're gonna pretend the outside looks like the one below.

also below are a few photos from angles not included in the link :3

Do you have any pets?

To be honest I never really thought about this one before 👀. But i think it would be nice to have at least one owo. And y'know what our pet would be??? A HEDGEHOG. Specifically an African Pygmy Hedgehog (the ones people have as pets!). THEY ARE MY FAVORITE LITTLE GUYS EVER!! 🥺🦔

(if i could have one as a pet irl i SO would, but it is not allowed in my state RIP).

Look at these little GUYS!!!! LOOK AT HIM STANCE :((((( <3

AND IF I GOT AN ALBINO HEDGIE AND NAMED HIM KATSUKI???? FUSSY LITTLE DUDE WHO HISSES A LOT??? (Their hisses are literally just aggressive sniffing btw lmao they are SOOOOOO cute)

LOOK AT HIM EEP 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺. And hedgie snores are so fuckin adorable 😭

Who cooks more?

I'd say we come pretty close to cooking the same amount! But I think I cook just sliiiiightly more. Also I do some baking, which he doesn't tend to do owo.

But I like the idea of us spending time in the kitchen together <3

Like maybe sometimes he'll help me bake or we both experiment when making a meal together.

I also also looooove the idea of him teaching me how to make more Japanese or Asian foods! Since, coming from America, I of course grew up making more western foods and Americanized Asian foods.

AUGH imagining his first time trying so many of the foods I love. Like Black soul foods I grew up eating 🥺. And he just loves them so much. So when the seasons are right we work together to go hunting for the needed ingredients which aren't as easy to come by in Japan 🥺🥺🥺.

Also idk about his spice tolerance but uuuuhhh... If it ain't too great we're gonna have to get them numbers up 👀👀👀👀👀 LMAO little by little uwu

Who cleans more?

We both clean, but I feel like I take care of the smaller things and let Ichigo take care of the bigger things if that makes sense?

Like I keep our kitchen pretty clean. There are never dishes in the sink on my watch. And I'm always wiping down the counters n table after someone eats. I also wipe down our sinks and mirrors in the bathroom with each use. Vacuum rooms in the house every once in a while.

I know how to clean the showers and toilets, but I tend to procrastinate on it bc its so much WORK, so Ichi usually takes care of it. Sweeping and mopping the whole house is something we do together, but because it's also so big a task I typically kinda avoid doing it for long periods. So Ichigo usually has to initiate it.

We both take care of the garbage, but most times I am gathering everything inside that needs to be taken out then Ichi is the one to bring it outside (bc i am a somewhat a germaphobe hELP).

As far as laundry, Ichi washes his clothes more often and I wash the bedsheets more often. A bitch will procrastinate the hell out of washing and putting away her own clothes AUGH. So Ichi makes it an activity we do together so it isn't as painful enourhnuiohbneiokr.

Do you guys want babiessss?

Yes indeed we do want babies <333333

Since most of this talk has been surrounding the proposal, they have not come yet BUT in the ichidere selfshipping multiverse, over the years I've been building it, he and I have come to have 5 kids in total :3

You can learn a little more belowwwwww uwu + mention of the kiddies (amongst other ichidere nuggets) + baby names! + Ichigo as a dad (amongst other nuggets about him)

Thank you for stopping by to learn more uwu. Your hunger for my self ship is so so encouraging for sharing my self indulgence <33333.

Kith 😘💋💋💋💋

[uc1wa]

Ok, so, it's the middle of the night and I have some thoughts about the beauty of accents that I need to share, this is probably be ranty and unnecessarily long so bear with me (or don't it's your blog, right!)

I'm Canadian but i listen to this band from Japan and I have for 17ish years, the lead singer sometimes sings in English and I love his accent. Most of the time he sings clearly and I can understand what he is saying even if he pronounced something incorrectly and sometimes I can't because it's a metal band and I probably wouldn't fully understand without reading the lyrics even if he didn't have an accent.

So, while listening to them tonight it got me thinking about accents, like jjk happens in Japan so obviously they would speak Japanese, I watch in English because I don't know Japanese, but I was wondering what Geto, gojo, and the rest of them actually speaking English would sound like. Obviously they wouldn't sound like the English VAs.

Accents tell you so much about a person that most people don't even realize. More than just where they are from. Accents come from languages having different sounds and different cadence in speaking. For example, there is no "L" or "th" sound in most Asian languages. So those are difficult sounds to make when learning english. Like, the singer in the band I listen to sings a line in English "gasp for breath" but it sounds like "gasp for bress." If you pay attention to where your tongue is in your mouth when you make a "th" sound compared to a "ss" sound it's not very different but if you didn't grow up moving your tongue that way or haven't specifically been told where to put your tongue you're not going to make the sound like a native speaker. Same with the "L" sound coming out as an "R" sound, very minor differences in tongue position. And to be fair even if you know where to put your tongue and have a minimal accent, if you speak too quickly you'll naturally go back to moving your tongue the way your muscles are used to and your accent will come back. On the flip side Swedish uses almost the exact same set of sounds as English so while learning either language is still a difficult task, pronunciation isn't and when most Swedish people speak English they have very minor accents. (I'm one of your hockey anons and my team has had a LOT of Swedish players over the years so I looked into why they didn't sound like Swedish people you see in movies, it's because Swedish people don't actually talk like that at all 😂) So the language(s) you grew up speaking affect the way your muscles move.

Language also affects the way you perceive the world. For example, the Inuit have between 40 and 70 words for snow! Imagine knowing the difference between that many types of snow! Like I said, I'm Canadian and I can only think of snow with adjectives in front of it (packy snow, frozen snow, fluffy snow) but it's still all the word snow. But it goes deeper than that. There is a stereotype that Asian people are amazing at math so "they," I don't remember who at the moment, ( the moment being 1:38 am) did I study on it, and they found that students in Eastern Asia consistently could remember more numbers when given a list of numbers than north American students could. But Asian students in North America were a mixed bag. They realized the Asian students in North America whose numbers were comparable to the east Asian scores weren't native English speakers, their first language was an East Asian language. Whereas the Asian students whose first language was English had numbers comparable to the rest of the English speakers. Most east Asian languages have a very simple way of counting, like Japanese, from my minimal understanding, the number 84 would be spoken as eight ten four, whereas in English each set of ten has it's own name which causes a longer processing time in your mind. (84 in french is 4 20 4, you have to do math just to count! I assume that would make french speakers even slower at math than English speakers, insert that video of the new York cabby going off about french numbers) also the individual numbers tend to be a single short syllable and that also quickens processing time. This allows east Asian native speakers to remember more numbers than native English speakers. Being Asian doesn't make you better at math, being a native Asian language speaker does. It's not race, it's language.

If you think about it the laws of the universe are defined by physics, and what is physics but math in motion. So, your language literally affects the wiring in your brain and your perception of the world around you.

You can hear the way a brain is wired from the way someone's tongue moves, how cool is that? AND, it can change depending on where you grew up, even with the same language! I tongue from Scotland will move differently than a tongue in Oklahoma! And you can hear it and I love it! I love accents so much. 😩😩😩

Back to jjk, would Geto put in the effort to minimize his accent? I don't think so, honestly I don't think cult leader Geto would even attempt learning English since Jujutsu is mostly in Japan, why would he want to talk to monkeys? (Also, Naoya? Not learning English either, too proud of his family line and honestly not willing to be bad at something, like everyone is at the beginning) Gojo on the other hand, I think he would learn English (to annoy more people) and know lots of words but not necessarily speak clearly, he's the best at everything right? Why wouldn't he be the best at English? So he puts no effort into minimizing his accent, doesn't think he needs to, spoiler he does, haha. I think Yuuji might learn for fun or to understand Jennifer Lawrence interviews, I think he'd have a decent accent but speak clearly.

Anyways, do you have thoughts on this? This being accents in jjk (or any anime) Or am I deliriously tired and not making sense.

finally answering this now that i can give this the attention it deserves. beforehand note, this is such a coincidence bc i took an anthropological linguistic class last sem! also HELLO ONE OF MY HOCKEY ANONS!! MISSED U!

in terms of jjk! most (besides kyoto ppl) are from northern jp, miyagi i think!! i'm from the osaka-hyogo area so there is definitely a different dialect in comparison to miyagi! i do speak more similar to that of kyoto ofc since it is closer. but, just like any city, there are sayings that are foreign in one and the ssame in another.

Most east Asian languages have a very simple way of counting, like Japanese, from my minimal understanding, the number 84 would be spoken as eight ten four, whereas in English each set of ten has it's own name which causes a longer processing time in your mind.

this part was crazy^^ to me. honestly, as somebody who speaks japanese, i never thought of this on my own though it makes perfect sense. saying this as a data science major who grew up being trilingual HAHA

gojo... i honestly think he' grow up speaking english. coming from the most notorious clan in all of jujutsu, i feel like it would just come natural to him and his clan to speak both jp and english. yuuji w the jlaw interviews made me LOL btw.

so, something funny ab naoya (specifically naoya cuz he;s fucking crazy ofc) is he speaks the kansai dialect (this is what i speak as well so ab to clown myself in the process. yk how in english there is like a "valley girl" way of speaking? kansai is the jp version of that. so naoya the all and powerful speaks japanese like a socal valley girl would speak english.

anyways, i loved reading this! language and anthropology in general is so interesting to me. its so cool learned about different people and what makes them... them!! another silly to imagine, when i was little i would sometimes accidentally use an accent from one of my languages when speakig another. imagine a 5 year old xi speaking spanish in a japanese accent lol

[ladyhoneydarlinglove]

FRANKY – hamburgers, french fries, and food that complements cola 

This one is pretty straightforward and I think it fits Franky well, so instead of trying to twist it I’m just going to establish what I think Franky’s ideal kind of burger would be: a double patty smash burger with processed cheese singles (i.e. American cheese) and special sauce, like the kind you’d find in a diner or a greasy spoon (honestly I think Franky would love diner food in general).

I also think that it absolutely kills Sanji to have to stock processed cheese singles in his kitchen because he hates them passionately for not being real cheese, but they’re what Franky likes and he will very, very grudgingly admit that they melt better than any real cheese when it comes to burgers.

As for the cola part, I know Oda probably meant Coke, but I like to think that Franky’s preferred cola is actually root beer, and that everyone else on the crew thinks Franky is absolutely insane for liking something that tastes like ‘medicinal licorice’ except for Robin, who thinks it’s ’surprisingly good’

(Side note to any Americans confused about the root beer hate: it’s because the rest of the world thinks root beer is vile and they do not understand why we like it. They think we might as well be drinking cough syrup.)

If Franky lived in the real world, his favorite fast food burgers would hands down be In-n-Out.

BROOK – curry

This is another one that seems really vague but is actually quite specific if you know anything about Japanese cuisine. Curry in Japan refers to a dish made from what is known as curry roux, which are basically blocks of curry spiced bouillon. It’s kind of like a twice bastardized form of Indian curry, because curry roux gets its spice profile from English curry powder, which was the English’s attempt to recreate Indian garam masala. It’s actually very good in its own right, but it’s a pretty far cry from what I think most people (or at least most Westerners) think of when they think of curry, which is Indian curries.

That said, I’m going to take this one and run with it a little because like Chopper, I think Brook’s physiology would play a role. It’s been established in canon that technically Brook doesn’t really need to eat; he’ll drink milk to fix his bones, but he survived just fine adrift on his ship for 50 years without food. Which begs the question, what is Brook looking for when he does indulge in food? My personal answer to this is that Brook wants flavors taken to their absolute limit because I think his body would have a harder time smelling and tasting food on account of being a skeleton, so if he’s going to eat, he wants something that can cut through the deficiencies of death.

In that regard, curry is actually a really good answer, but Japanese curry is probably among the most mild varieties out there, so I’m going to expand a little and say Brook’s favorites types of curry would be Indian madras and vindaloo curries (both of which are notoriously spicy) as well as Thai red curry (also spicy, usually made with coconut milk). There are also many other types of southeast Asian curries (Burmese, Indonesian, Malay) that I’m sure would also fit this profile and I’ve heard Sri Lankan curry is actually some of the spiciest in the world; I’m just not as familiar with those cuisines as I am with (admittedly Westernized) Indian and Thai (which I grew up eating).

The most important thing for Brook in a curry besides flavor would be aroma; he needs it to be strong enough that he can actually smell the spices/flavorings used, because otherwise it's just not going to have a very strong taste. I actually think Sanji wouldn't mind making up batches of curry paste up just so Brook could smell them, and he probably has a backstock of them in the fridge because of that.

JINBE – mozuku seaweed in vinegar and fruit

This is one is like, weirdly hyper specific in the way none of the other choices on this list are except for maybe Nami’s mikans, so in order to play more I’m gonna scootch it a little to the left and say Jinbe loves all kinds of seaweed and seaweed dishes.

Given that he’s a fishman and could go out and find his own seaweed, I like to think Jinbe’s love of seaweed is similar to that of people who go out and forage wild mushrooms; half the fun is in the find.

Seaweed salad is a given here, but also dried seaweed chips, seaweed seasoning (known in Japan as furikake), seaweed soup, seaweed pesto, seaweed butter, pickled seaweed; there’s a lot you can do with seaweed guys, the list goes on and on.

I also think Sanji would adore having Jinbe bring him freshly foraged seaweed, and he would have an absolute blast in coming up with new seaweed recipes to test the limits of his culinary innovations. It would get to the point where other crew members would have to start requesting ‘no seaweed’ nights.

As for fruit, well. Jinbe is supposed to be Indian, so his favorite fruit is obviously mango. Obviously.

ANYWAY i'm sure that was way more information that you were looking for, but what can i say! i like one piece and i love food and i have opinions and i will seize any opportunity to share them.

hello ! i just read your fic “the bright green taste of soap” it was such a fun read and i really loved how much thought was put into the descriptions for food , do you have any ideas about the other strawhats’ favorite food or maybe the kind of food their home islands had :0?

oh man, i cannot thank you enough for sending this question in, because i have SO MANY IDEAS about the Straw Hats favorite foods.

I'm using what's been officially listed in the SBS content here as a starting point because I think it's more fun to play with than just choosing my own, but as you'll see there's a lot of variation and interpretation that goes on in my head. I'm also gonna have to split this ask into multiple parts because of the character limit, so bear with me!

LUFFY – all kinds of meat

‘Meat’ is such a broad term that it could apply to almost anything, so I’m taking further context from the fact that most often when we see Luffy eating meat, he’s chowing down on one of those comically large ‘meat on a bone’ dealies. To me this means Luffy loves the taste of meat in and of itself, so he’d be more partial to preparations that showcase that full meaty flavor: think things like standing rib roasts, butter basted steaks, whole legs of lamb, etc.

We also know he likes big pieces of meat, so in my opinion his favorite would be meat prepared in an earth oven, a common technique world over used for cooking whole animals. Large pits dug into the ground and filled with smoldering coals/wood that are then covered, allowing the meat to cook low and slow.

Notable examples include Hawaiian kalua, which often involves roasting a whole pig, and Mexican barbacoa, which can be used to roast whole sheep, goats, and even cows. I also think he’d really enjoy Central Texas style barbeque brisket, which is known for being minimally seasoned (salt and pepper only), instead getting its flavor from being slow smoked over post oak. I also think he’d be very into Filipino lechon.

ZORO – white rice, sea beast meat, food that complements sake

I’m gonna ignore the ‘food that complements sake’ and just focus on the other two because ngl chat, I don’t think Zoro really cares if what he’s eating pairs well with his sake.

Sea beast meat I find interesting because it’s more specific than Luffy’s just plain ol’ meat. With sea beasts being ocean dwelling creatures I imagine their meat is generally more reminiscent of fish, which leads me to think that if given the choice between animal meat and seafood, Zoro would choose seafood.

Specifically I think he’d be a fan of things with full flavor and a firmer texture; think swordfish, bluefin tuna, mahimahi, Pacific salmon, chilean sea bass (which is where the idea for the ceviche request in The Bright Green Taste of Soap came from!), etc. I also think he’d love raw oysters and would eat them in the dozens.

As for the rice: knowing that Zoro is originally from a village founded by immigrants from Wano, I think Zoro grew up eating a lot of the short grain rice known in the US as sushi rice. I think rice is a comfort food to him, and I also imagine he has that Asian thing where no matter what he’s eating, he has to have a little rice with it or his mind won’t comprehend it as a full meal.

It seems like most of the fandom has already pegged his favorite iteration of rice to be onigiri, which honestly? Hard to argue with, onigiri are delicious. His favorite fillings would be salmon and tarako (salted cod roe); he also enjoys yaki onigiri (grilled onigiri). I think he would hate tuna mayo flavor because he thinks mayonnaise is an affront to the gods he doesn’t believe in.

I think he’d enjoy other kinds of plain rice too, such as jasmine and basmati (both of which are long grain rices known for having more floral, aromatic notes), and Thai-style sticky rice, which holds together so well you can eat it with your hands.

And I think he’d like rice derived foods like rice noodles, rice paper wrappers, chueng fun (steamed rice noodle rolls), mochi, dango, etc. Probably the closest he’s ever come to liking a dessert is mochi filled with shiroan (white bean paste).

(Side note: I've always thought the fact that Zoro's least favorite food being chocolate because it's too sweet was weird because chocolate rather famously has a very wide sweetness spectrum, so I like to think Zoro doesn't know that dark chocolate is a thing until Sanji introduces it to him, at which point he becomes enamored of it. He's one of those freaks that likes the 85%+ dark varieties.)

And finally (Zoro has more headcanons because I’ve got fic in the works that deal with a lot of this lol), I think Zoro would absolutely hate arborio rice, i.e. the kind of rice used to make risotto. I think he would find the texture (which is famously creamy) completely incongruous with what he thinks of as rice in his head and he’d be like, physically unable to eat it. Like it would make him gag and very possibly throw up. So Sanji makes risotto whenever he’s mad at Zoro.

NAMI – mikans and other kinds of fruit

(First a quick note: the official English translations have mikans listed as tangerines, which is incorrect; they’re actually satsuma mandarins, which are even better than tangerines. I refuse to put up with this blatant citrus erasure!)

Honestly this one is deeply hilarious to me because can you imagine how crushed Sanji must have been when he realized his darling Nami-swan’s favorite food was one that required absolutely no preparation from him? 10/10 for comedy gold Oda, love it. 

That said, I think Nami would enjoy any food that could use fresh mikan segments or fresh mikan juice, like a mikan salad or a regular greens salad with a mikan vinaigrette, or for something sweet, mikan juice popsicles. 

I could also see Sanji getting really into juicing as he strives to create new refreshments for the crew and making a lot of mikan juice drinks or cocktails.

[tayegi]

A note on Asian privilege

As some of you know, I live in a small, predominantly white suburban town. Last week, I went to the grocery store and stood in line waiting to check out behind this old white couple. I noticed the nice conversation the cashier was having with the couple, and figured that we might have a similar exchange. So I went up to the cashier when it was my turn with a friendly greeting, but the moment she laid eyes on me, her expression completely changed. She immediately dove for her hand sanitizer and smeared it all over before she would even touch my groceries, and didn’t respond to my greeting. And even as she bagged my groceries, she refused to make eye contact, and kept a healthy distance between us, even with the glass divider already in place. And that’s when I realized that she wasn’t just being rude-- she was terrified of me. That even though I was born and raised in the US and have not stepped foot in Wuhan China, she was scared that I might carry a deadly virus and get her sick. 

I have experienced many condescending and outright racist insults in my life, both subtle (e.g., “But where are you really from?”) and overt (e.g., “Go back to your country” and other racist slurs), but never have I ever experienced anyone reacting to me with fear before. And when I told this story to my family, they were equally as shocked. “Why would she be scared?” “But you’re so small and harmless!” I remember feeling strangely embarrassed by the encounter-- like I was the one to blame for the cashier’s fear of me. That I should apologize for the deadly coronavirus just on account of me being Asian. 

And that’s when I realized that this is exactly what Black Americans have experienced everyday for hundreds of years. 

That feeling of being seen as dangerous. Of others being afraid of you. It is gut-wrenching. And it is mind-blowing that no one in my family has experienced this until 2020 with COVID-19. This fear of Asians will pass, as COVID-19 either passes or becomes integrated into our daily lives. But the association of Blacks as dangerous criminals still continues, and will continue unless we do something about it. 

I am so beyond privileged that I can walk into a store without fear of being followed by a cashier or accused of robbery. That I can call police for help without fear of being shot or arrested instead. 

Asian Americans are called the “model minority” and some even wear this title as a badge of honor. It is not a compliment and should not be viewed as such. It’s a manipulative way to turn minority groups against each other. “Look at how much Asians have achieved. Why can’t black/Latino people be more like them?” Why? Because Asians already come from a place of immense privilege. 

We love to pat ourselves on the back and think of ourselves as hard-working underdogs who overcame the barriers of language and racism to succeed. I won’t deny that there are hardships that immigrants and other Asians face. No one is saying that you didn’t suffer!! But your sufferings are in no way comparable to what Black Americans face on a daily basis. And that’s because most Asians come from highly educated or wealthy backgrounds. Think of all the international students you know-- what’s the stereotype about them? That they’re filthy rich, huh? And why’s that? Because it’s true. Asians currently have the highest SES and are the most educated of all ethnic groups in the United States. The only Asians who are allowed to immigrate to the U.S. are usually the richest or most educated. And there aren’t negative stereotypes about dangerousness or criminal behavior around us. 

My dad was a poor grad student, and I grew up in relative poverty as a kid. I remember watching him struggle to make ends meet. But even then, we were highly privileged. Both my parents already had their bachelor’s degrees before immigrating. Do you know how rare that is? Both of them had decades of education and support that set them up for success in the United States. Sure, there was the language barrier, but they were offered free ESL classes from the university. And if all else failed, they could easily just go back to their homeland and find work there. And once my dad graduated with his graduate degree, he was instantly able to find high paying jobs that instantly launched us up to the middle class. Yes, I was poor growing up. Yes, my parents struggled. But they were highly educated, coming from privileged families, and could teach me and pass down those skills. 

The number one predictor of your future SES and income is your parents’ income. 

Let that sink in. 

It’s not hard work. It’s not intelligence. It’s what privilege you were born with that determines your success. Now imagine if you had to start all the way back with slavery. Where you were just an object and had no rights or money. The “American Dream” is just a lie rich people tell to keep poor people in their place. “If you work hard, you can achieve success.” And then they try to use Bill Gates or Zuckerberg as examples of this “American Dream.” Bullshit. Sure, Gates & Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to pursue their dreams, but they were privileged enough to get into Harvard in the first place. And I can guarantee you that I would have never gotten into my PhD program-- wouldn’t have even dreamt of applying, if not for my family of academics. 

Asian Americans need to shake off the title of “model minority” and stand with Black Americans. We might be seen as particularly well-behaved dogs, but we’re still dogs in the system. We’ve seen how fast the American public has turned on us during the COVID pandemic. I doubt there’d be even a fraction of this xenophobia and violent hatred if the virus came from Europe. Don’t forget that Japanese Americans were imprisoned in internment camps during WWII. Not even Germans, who started the war, but the foreign-looking ones. And don’t forget that the Chinese weren’t even considered human and weren’t allowed to be U.S. citizens until less than 80 years ago. The system is no friend of ours. No matter how they try to flatter us with all this “model minority” bullshit. We are not special and we will never be seen as equals by Whites. 

Standing in solidarity with Black Lives Matter is standing for equality. It means that we will not put up with white supremacy and systemic injustices anymore. The system is broken, and I am sick and tired of seeing other Asian Americans do everything in their power to try to be perfect, unoffending citizens and appease white people in power. We have to fight for justice and equality. Not just because the tides can turn at any time and put us at harm, but simply because it is the right thing to do. And we, as a community, are in a unique position of privilege in order to make change. 

Black Lives Matter. And check your goddamn privilege. 

[aliceyabusamesoneball]

litle bit vent

i genuinely do not know what race i am like?? im chinese but also im cuban and also im white?? i guess?? BUT LIKE when people ask me what ethnicity i am i dont know what to tell them.. i jjst say chinese cuban american but like i dont feel like i look like any of those

like chinese people think i look chinese, cuban people think i look cuban, and white people think i look white, and technicallyyeah im all of those things but like what do i actually look like then?? like what do i identify as

on like those forms that are like indicate yuor race and there isnt a mixed option i never know what to put normally i just put asian because im more chinese than anything else (if you want to get into percentages im half chinese a quarter cuban and a quarter white) (but im not sure how much those count)

sometimes i feel like i should jjst identify as white because having to say those percentages feels so ridiculois sometimes like if i have to prove im a certain race should i even identify as it?? but at the same time just calling myself white feels like im erasing parts of myself i feel like those cultures are important to me esepcially chinese culture

but also i feel like really really whitewashed because i cant speak any dialect of chinese and i cant speak spanish either, my dad is half cuban/half white but he didnt really grow up in cuban culture so i never got to either,, my mom is from china and is fully chinese so she did teach me some culture stuff but i feel like im jsut. not chinese enough. does that even make sense.. like i dont look chinese i cant speak chinese i grew up in the usa and i’ve never even been to china

when i told that girl who asked if i was japanese that i was chinese she started talking to me excitedly in mandarin and i jjst felt so awful having to tell her that i cant speak it because she seemed so happy to find someone else who was also chinese and i told her i was half chinese and she said “so youre half american?” and i. ITS NOT HER FAULT NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST AND IM NOT MAD AT HER but it jjst made me feel so bad inside i dont know anything about chinese culture really and i cant even speak chinese. i dont even look chinese so what even makes me chinese i feel like i’m just a dumb american who doesn’t knww anytthing pretending to be a chinese person i know i’m chinese ethnically but i dont feel like it

and also the fact that i know absolutely nothing about cubans or cuban culture or anyhtuohng makes me feel so bad my dad doesnt really either so its not his fault for not teaching me bbut ohgod i wish i knew about it so bad there isnt much about cuban culture that i can find and its not like my dad knows much either and i dont really know many cuban people and i cant speak spanish and i dont evne feel cuban at all in the slightest like i at least know a little bit about chinese stuff but id ont know shit about cuban culture

i feel like a white person masquerading as different cultures and even though i know im not i still feel like it and i feel like maybe other people see me that way because i dotn know that much about my cultruel and i jjst uhsdfijjn

it just feels really lonely because i don’t really have anyone in my life that can relate to my experience because its a pretty unique mix of cultures?? ive never met anyone else who was chinese and cuban and i guessits cool but it feels incredibly lonely knowing ill probably never have anyone to relate to,, like ive never felt  truly represented in any type of media or anythinkg like ive seen more representation of nonwhite people in general and thats genuinely great!! but ive never seen anything that can relate to me as ap erson even though when i was a kid id watch things with chinese people in it and sometimes could relate i dont know if ill ever be able to really connect with a character like me SORRY THATS KIND OF A STUPID THING TO WANT OUT OF ALL OF THIS IMPORTANT STUFF BUTSTILL

sorryif this doesnt make sense  i jjst have a lot o f feelings ☹️

[ahhhsami]

ATLA/TLOK Culture to an Adoptee

As someone who is adopted and from an Asian country (China), I cannot express how truly important ATLA and TLOK were to me. I know that there is flack when it comes to how people have interpreted the "whiteness" of the series (in regard to the setting/environment not POC) and how two white males are the creators, but in all honesty, that is why I connect to it more than any other form of media.

I guess it would be good to start with my background and the things that I have gone through growing up. I was adopted from China when I was a 1 year old by a white middle class couple. They already had one daughter, also adopted, but also white. Growing up I was immersed in white American culture. My parents tried to help me learn about my Chinese culture, but I shunned it when I was younger. I grew up in Maine, one of the most predominantly white states in all of the US (fights for number 1 with Vermont and New Hampshire every year). This didn't lead to me wanting to embrace my Chinese culture. I grew up knowing of the stereotypes of Asian people and often times to protect myself I beat people to the punches, I joked and said I was good at sports because I was a ninja, that I was good at math because I was Asian, that I was in shape because I was Asian, that I was book-smart because I was Asian, etc. I always beat people to the punchline of racial jokes by saying them myself. On top of this, I was subject to racial slurs and other harmful stereotypes, jokes, and discrimination, but I never told this to anyone. I shouldered the burden and powered on. I didn't want to be the pushover, weak Asian girl. I didn't want to burden my parents, who already were dealing with outbursts from my older sister. And I didn't realize how detrimental this had been until I really self-reflected later on.

On top of often shunning my Asian culture, I fully embraced the culture that I was surrounded by. I praised Eurocentric beauty, practices, media, sports, entertainment, etc. I often joked and said that I was a banana, yellow on the outside, but white on the inside. And for so long I believed that. For so long that was me.

And then ATLA came along. For the first time I got to see Asian culture on a major television network. I got to see people that looked like me. Places that my parents had tried to teach me about. Culture that I had turned away from. And my friends also talked about it. We watched it together, we talked about it, we loved it. As a child, I obviously knew nothing about the creators, didn't even understand the full picture or how mature the main points of the show were, but I still loved it and even now as an adult, I still do.

TLOK came next and the target audience was me once again. It was for the fans that were now in college, people who had been children when ATLA aired. It was more mature and had completely different pacing and writing. And it had a female POC as the lead. So once again the Avatar universe gave me something that I didn't know I needed. Once again I was becoming empowered through a show that was created by white males.

And finally we get to the point that I had brought up at the beginning. The fact that Bryke are two white males, was what I personally needed. I never felt like I fit in. I felt alone. I was never enough Chinese, enough Asian, enough American, enough Woman (I'm queer btw). But the Avatar universe showed me that that was okay. It wasn't "enough" of any of that either, but it worked. It was never enough because it was created by two white males, but it was again, exactly what I needed to see to truly realize that being me is okay.

The Avatar Universe embraces multiple cultures, from Chinese, Inuit, Japanese, American, and so many more. And for so long I felt that I didn't fit because I didn't just embrace my American side and Chinese side, but also Japanese culture, Korean culture, African American culture, and so much more. I felt like I was mess of pieces of different cultures, but in reality I was a mosaic that was being worked on and am still being worked on. And that's what the Avatar Universe represents to me.

ATLA/TLOK was something beloved by many and still is. And I can say that I love myself and people love me, which I definitely could not have said when I was younger.

[blunixfurtle]

I didn't want to get involved in the current issues in the fandom. The atmosphere felt so aggressive and as if I would get attacked if I said the wrong thing. I just wanted to enjoy being around fellow zutara shippers and talk about the two characters I loved. But this all had to turn into Twitter 2.0 and it's so hostile. But I realized that as an East Asian girl, I can and am allowed to say something for this issue.

I was born in Japan but grew up in a South Pacific country, the local population were mostly Pacific Islanders. This is a rare case I guess where even though I was the minority there, the majority were also POC.

Since I could remember, me and my community there have been shown micro and blatant racism. From seeing a bunch of adults pulling their eye corners at us when we were just casually driving by, to having a birthday party of one of the kids in my community get attacked by drunk locals who were passing by and I guess got offended of our existence? it got so bad that they hid me and the other kids in the basement and locked us in there because they were afraid they'd hurt us too. That hour in there being able to hear screaming and human bodies hitting against the walls and floor, I'll never forget. The police didn't respond immediately, I guess because it's us. When it was over, I had to see many of the adults in my community, including my dad, that day go to the hospital, bloodied and beaten.

I've had more individual experiences as well, like not being given awards and scholarships I earned, because I was asian, but what I'm trying to say is that I grew up in a place where my race was met with hostility, and hate.

The situation got a little better though when the country got ahold of anime and asian dramas. My aggressors now enjoyed media that primarily had Asians in it. So now instead of seeing me and my community, and feeling hostile, they now associated us to those shows they watched, which was positive to them in context.

We got less and less racist encounters and some people even started learning and saying japanese greeting phrases they learnt to us when they met us somewhere. My classmates back then would finally ask me about my home country, curious about Japan. For a few years now even, my dad would always be given a budget and begged to bring one of his signature japanese dishes to office parties. He would always return home with an empty platter and look very happy he was able to share our food with others.

Some people might call this fetishizing my people and culture, but me and my community saw this as breaking the ignorance they have of our people and cultural appreciation. Because they were exposed to media they enjoyed that had Asians. They began seeing us more as fellow humans who just happened to be from different countries.

My brothers had a lot of girls and guys liking them, but that was even before the asian media hit the country. Girls and guys liked them because of their personalities and how nice they were, and yeah according to them they were also handsome. These guys and girls however only felt more free to show their attraction to my brothers, after the media came and made it more okay for people to show positive reactions to my community. Not once though did they mention that they liked them because they were asian. And back when it was still the ignorant times against Asians there, one could even argue they liked them 'despite' being asian.

What I'm getting at is, the whole discourse going around about fetishizing east Asians, feels like a very American discourse to me. I don't know about east Asians from actual east Asia, but as an East Asian that lived in non america, as long as Zuko's east Asian features were not blatantly being the things mentioned that people found attractive, then I do not see it as fetishizing.

I've had my fair share of being fetishized myself. From people saying they want to have my eye shape to look more 'kawaii', to guys full on telling me they wanted to carry me around because I was petite and short like anime girls. This is when I think it's fetishizing asians. But when my boyfriend, who isn't japanese, tells me I'm hot in general, that's not fetishizing.

So far, those shirtless Zuko posts don't mention any east Asian features once. The character happens to be east Asian but the intent and the wording behind shirtless Zuko posts were not mentioning or fetishizing his east Asian-ness. Because a lot of people have abs. And so far, those that I've seen participating in shirtless Zuko, have also other posts that find other, non east Asians hot.

I sympathize with fellow east Asians that find those posts disturbing, uncomfortable and don't want to see them. Your feelings are very valid. But, the discourse around this has blown out of proportion, and so hostile that even I, a fellow east Asian, do not feel comfortable to disagree with the other east Asians talking about this, else I be labeled something I'm not. Or invalidated and ignored. Because living in the islands, I've had enough of that.

I'm all for having WoC voices heard, but when one side is making this discourse feel so hostile and 'twitter cancel culture like' it actually makes other WoC who disagree with their side, feel afraid and unable to voice out themselves.

[bedlamsbard]

What was Frigga's backstory? What was she like before she met Odin/had kids?

okay, I haven't really had to quantify Frigga's backstory yet so I mostly have not come up with it! so this is just some rambling about things as I think of them or as they've come up for writing/worldbuilding.

I know that in the comics Freyja is Vanir and as a result a lot of fic writers make Frigga a Vanir princess. I really, really did not want to make Frigga Vanir, because the only for-sure Vanir characters we have seen in the films are Asian/have Asian actors, and our view of Vanaheim itself is essentially space Asia. I did not want to make a white woman a space Asian princess, you know? And for the record -- which I know you know but not everyone does -- I am mixed race Japanese and Scandinavian-American, so it means a lot to me that the MCU chose to make the Vanir (a group of Scandinavian gods) Asian-inspired and that Hogun's actor is Japanese. I love Frigga; whatever the comics did, when the MCU chose which characters were Vanir and when they designed Vanaheim, they went Asian. I'm not making Frigga Vanir.

okay well now that that disclaimer is out of the way (I just feel really strongly about it -- and this is my issue! I don't care what anyone else does!)

canonically we know that Frigga was "raised by witches" -- for Morning I went with the patronym "Freyrdottir" because that's what the comics use and I had to have one for the TVA. [insert Wiki article about the mythological Freyr and Freyja here, we're talking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not Norse mythology and religion] I have her as the goddess of prophecy and clairvoyance (which the mythological Frigg was associated with). There are various reasons I went for "clairvoyance" over "marriage and motherhood" but tbh since I went with "all Asgardians are freakishly magical and as gods have powers associated with their divine attributes" it's easier and less weird if Frigga's particular attributes are something like clairvoyance and prophecy.

I don't have a strong sense of what she was like prior to her marriage or her upbringing -- I'm doing a thing with the volur in Morning that I don't want to talk about too much out of context, but Frigga would have been mostly raised with them (and my volur were NOT all Aesir but instead are drawn from across the Nine Realms; as an aside, Loki's birth-mother Farbauti is also a volva) and was (still is) a volva. Aesir nobility, for certain; probably a distant cousin of Odin's? haven't decided if theirs was an arranged marriage or a love-match. the Asgard and the Nine Realms that she grew up and came of age in were very, very different from the current Asgard and Nine Realms. (and would be near-unrecognizable to Thor and Loki as a result.)

she and Odin were married while Bor was still alive, and both participated in the Asgard-Svartalfheim war, as did a very young Hela. and yes, I made the choice to have Hela as Frigga's daughter rather than as a stepdaughter (as IW implies), because...complicated family relationships are fun to write. (and honestly, on some level it was easiest for Morning rather than throwing in "actually Hela has a different mother." plus I'm very contrary and if I see too many other people doing it I'll do the opposite.)

she was the patroness of witches and magic on Midgard and throughout the Nine for most of her life and used to spend a lot of time on Midgard with mortal magicians. Asgard went pretty insular after the whole Hela thing, and a lot of her offworld patronage sort of went to name-only rather than active participation.

[photonflight]

Hello, I read and loved your last post. I know this is not what it was about but you mentioned it later on briefly that there is a difference between BIPOC groups of the same basic descent. When is it appropriate to distinguis between?

When is it okay to talk about different varieties of cultures?

When it comes to Representation.

Will try to make this as SPECIFIC and detailed as possible with examples.

In cases where unity among an entire ethnic group is promoted, it may be counterproductive to insist on dividing or differentiating between a group. Similarly when one is referring to a culture, the place of origin and its entire diaspora fall under that culture. (For example when Indian and African culture is discussed usually, the diaspora is not separated as they are also considered Indian and African or descended from them, so they are also part of the culture.

The diaspora here meaning people who are descended from these groups, mixed with these ethnicities or grew up in the cultures outside of the country of origin.)

example: Ordinarily, people of Asian descent or of the Asian diaspora all refer to themselves as Asian, and this can be done without distinguishing the region of Asia or the country or culture, because it’s a broad term to describe people of or descended from people of Asia. It is also used by people who know they are of Asian descent but are not exactly sure what part of Asia their ancestry lies. This does not mean they’re not Asian. Some people are just not able to trace the exact origin of their family beyond the broad term, and it would be unfair to tell them they aren’t Asian or aren’t Asian enough because of this. The same could be said for European people and those descended of them. There are different countries with different cultures and there is a European diaspora as well but they can also all choose to identify broadly as European, because they are.

When speaking of Representation, however it is important to note differences to avoid interchanging and erasing some cultures in favor of others, because when it comes to representation SPECIFICALLY, every cultural group does not represent each other.

Even if you belong to one variety of culture in a broader ethnicity, for example what is acceptable for Indo-Caribbean people may be unacceptable or offensive to Indians from India. This is not to deny the cultural similarities between them, but acknowledge the cultural differences make them all independent of each other and worthy of note. Not to divide them, but to compare them.

For example, when talking about Latin America on a whole any examples may be used, but when a role calls for representation for an Argentinian person, a Costa Rican person would not be ideal because while they’re both Latin American, they are not the same, two different countries and cultures

Another example is the diaspora of African people globally. The movement of Pan-Africanism calls for unity among all Black people around the world, and in a case like that, it may not always be appropriate to differentiate or separate each person.

However, when it comes to representation, and the role calls for a Caribbean Person, it cannot be accurately filled by an American or European or Asian person who does not have Caribbean roots, but it can be filled by an American or European or Asian person who does unless the role explicitly states the character is strictly from the Caribbean with no other influence.

It is not gatekeeping or saying they aren’t “Caribbean enough” to say that someone without Caribbean roots cannot represent Caribbean people, or to say that someone who isn’t Caribbean, and isn’t of Caribbean descent whatsoever is not Caribbean, because they’re not.

I don’t know why people fight and argue this point. If you’re not you’re not, and it doesn’t make you better or worse than anyone who IS. It just means you may not be right for a role.

Similarly, if a role calls for a Trinidadian actor, casting a Trinidadian-American is appropriate unless the role specified the character is born and raised in Trinidad, but casting a Jamaican-American or Jamaican person is absolutely a problem because they’re different cultures and doing so promotes the interchanging of unrelated cultures that leads to stereotypes, ideas, preconceptions, perceptions of attitudes and beliefs from one culture being imposed on people of a completely different culture who have nothing to do with it. As a Trinidadian person, I’ve had so many non Caribbean people say “yeah mon” to me although in Trinidad that’s not our slang.

Doing this is what leads to cultural misinterpretation and misrepresentation.

African American and Afro-Caribbean people are of different cultures, countries and speak a different language entirely. By using an African American person (who does not have Caribbean roots) to represent an Afro-Caribbean person, it results in erasure of Caribbean culture because while they are both diaspora culture African groups and cultures, they are very different and cannot be interchanged or substitute each other. And vice versa.

In Disney’s The Little Mermaid as revealed in an interview with Samuel E. Wright, Sebastian was intended to have a Trinidadian accent, but as the actor couldn’t do it, they told him to just do a Jamaican accent because they felt there was no difference, when in fact Trinidad and Jamaica don’t even speak the same language. (According to Communication Studies Syllabus by the Caribbean Examinations Council for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination)

This would also be true if a character is meant to be from an African country, and assuming they were also meant to be Black, were played by an African American person (without ancestry from that specific country) or an Afro-Caribbean person (without ancestry from that country). There would be erasure of accent, culture, and even mannerisms as what may be normal in America or the Caribbean may not be acceptable in that African country, something I learned in my university History course AND Linguistics (Phonetics & Phonology) course

Similarly, refusal of people to acknowledge the differences between the cultures of the Caribbean islands is why SO MANY NON CARIBBEAN PEOPLE think that all Caribbean people are Jamaican or have Jamaican accents when all the islands in fact speak a different variety of Creole altogether. The refusal to let Caribbean people fill Caribbean roles also adds to this, because people who don’t know any better tend to give every Caribbean character a Jamaican accent, examples below:

(See Ajay Chase, Haitian with a Jamaican accent/ and George, Guyanese with a Jamaican accent/ Sebastian the Crab, Trinidadian coded with a Jamaican Accent)

Again, this distinction is drawn for the purpose of accurate representation because this is an appropriate context. However, if the matter at hand was regional integration then similarities would be examined over differences; so this is just to remind you that there’s an appropriate time and place to do this. Don’t go throwing this at people randomly, you asked me about a specific time to do this and I am answering.

Another reason why it’s important to research a specific culture when creating a character is because you can say you are creating, for example, an Indian character, but There are separate cultural groups in India as well and customs vary throughout. If you treat them as generic, you may add elements that are offensive. This is because what may be acceptable in one Indian culture may be a taboo in another one, and so cross-breeding these cultures may cause problems when people from the actual cultures encounter your character.

Even AFRICA isn’t one country with one culture, the different tribes possess different cultures, and therefore when creating African-coded characters it is better to focus on a specific tribe instead of combining random “African” (which is again not a country) elements. Every African culture is different although the people are all African. If you are referencing African culture it’s best to focus on a specific country THEN focus on a tribe from that country, instead of copying and pasting elements cut and dry from every tribe and mashing them together; some tribes don’t have a friendly history with each other and it may be offensive to just combine their elements.

Similarly, when the recent hate crimes against Asian Americans are being spoken about, it is important to make the distinction that the most recent victims are East Asians, because Asian is only a broad category that does not make a distinction between Asians based on region. People that look East Asian as opposed to those who look like they’re from another part of Asia might be more at risk for a COVID-19 motivated hate crime, because people do see a difference. (Although these racist people believe that anyone that appears East Asian is Chinese because they can’t tell the difference, they can differentiate between someone who appears to be South Asian and someone who appears to have features that are more East Asian; putting that specific group at risk.)

Just like if a role just calls for an “Asian” character anyone from any Asian country can be used, but if it calls specifically for East Asian, it would be misrepresentation to put an Indian person in that role if they aren’t mixed at all, and if it calls for someone who is 100% East Asian, then in theory it would be misrepresentation to place someone who is mixed or from another region of Asia to fill that role, but anyone from any East Asian country may be cast.

If the role is narrowed from East Asian to Japanese, then a distinction must be made between East Asian actors. A Chinese or Korean person in the role instead would be misrepresentation, because the role calls for a Japanese person, even though they all fall under the general term East Asian, which falls under the general term of Asian

It isn’t gatekeeping, it is what is required under the topic of accurate representation. By saying that differentiating between different BIPOC cultures is unnecessary because “they’re all BIPOC”, it gives room for people to misrepresent them and interchange them.

Representation is where we have to make these distinctions; but remember there is a time and a place to do so.

It’s not gatekeeping to say that if you are DEFINITELY* not part of a culture then it’s inaccurate to say that you represent it.

In fact, BIPOC can erase each other too. Pro-Black African American YouTubers constantly raise the issue of Light Skinned Black Americans and even mixed Americans being cast in roles meant for unambiguous, non mixed Dark-Skinned Black Americans. They believe it takes roles from them and perpetuates colorism because according to them, lighter skinned women and mixed women have different features and are treated differently in America than dark-skinned women, so they feel that they cannot be represented by them as they can’t relate to them; which leads to them feeling like they are being erased by members of their own group. (see video by I Am Eloho on YouTube: “Jorja Smith REMIX PROVES Bi-racial women erase DSBW” (Dark Skinned Black Women).

*Definitely here means if you are not a part of a group or it’s diaspora whatsoever. Does not apply to people who are of the diaspora because they are considered part of the group under normal non-specific circumstances

[watchtheworldargue]

egg magazine, april 1990. interview with Michael Hutchence

transcription below :)

Michael Hutchence on Lower Broadway

By Hal Rubenstein \ Photography by Steven Meisel

Globe-hopping is hell on a wardrobe and hard on the feet. Sometimes you have to get out of the limo to spend your money.

Michael Hutchence rarely comes to New York without luggage monogrammed INXS or Max Q, so one would think that on a visit without portfolio, the last thing he'd want to do is add on more baggage. But given a free day, a book of tickets, and our offer to go anywhere to do anything, Hutchence got into the limo with an agenda we could hardly call a new sensation. What kept us from sulking was that he hadn't left the devil outside.

Michael: You think we can load this car up with Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons, and Armani by 6?

Hal: Driver, step on it. Down to Grand and make a left.

[The car turns onto Union Square West.]

Isn't there a club on the corner here?

The Underground.

That's the one that keeps surviving regardless of how many people get shot there. How many are they up to?

No one's quite sure.

Where are we now? I don't recognise this.

This strip of lower Broadway didn't exist last time you were here. Now it's like a mall-less town's Main Street.

And Tower Records is City Hall. Not bad. It's wild to see this much activity because people around the world now talk about New York in terms of decay, how New York is such a rude place, and we keep telling them, No, New Yorkers are quite friendly, we like it there. New Yorkers are just very honest. They don't have time to bullshit. I like New York because people are linked to each other. L.A. Is fun, but segregated. Here there is a metro, and a different philosophy of getting around so there's rich upon poor upon rich. The only thing I don't remember is how many homeless are asleep on Park Avenue and everywhere else. Or is it my imagination?

No, it's real. How come you choose to live in Hong Kong instead of Australia?

For about three years, I thought it didn't matter where I lived. But I kept passing through it again. I grew up there, from when I was four until twelve. My dad still lives there. It has great energy, like New York. And it's ten hours closer to the world than Australia is. If you travel a lot, it adds up.

[We enter the Yohji Yamamoto store.]

So austere. Do they go wild if you hand back anything wrinkled? Those clothes over there are good acid-house colors. Has acid house caught on here?

Not like in England.

That's 'cause New York has bad radio. Are these dogs always here? They must sleep in the shoes. Ooh, look at these here. Not very me, but very Star Trek. $500 for a T-shirt. I see. I'll buy six. No, twelve. Now, here is something very stagy. Ultraflouncy. I like that, but the general consensus might kill my career.

Is what you wear onstage the same as you wear off?

I sort of smush them all together. My favorite piece of clothing is a leather jacket I had made for me that says “Hutch” in chain mail on the back.

Did Michael Schmidt make it for you?

Yeah – how'd you know? He's great. He sort of looks like a beautiful snake. He loves all the Hollywood stuff, but he's so sincere when he talks about it. Almost makes me like it. Is there somewhere funkier we can go, like Yankel's House of Pile? I saw that on the way down.

If you want old clothes, we should go to Cheap Jack's.

[We head back up to Broadway and 13th Street. Several young ladies on the corner stare at Hutchence as he enters Cheap Jack's.]

Do you enjoy recognition?

Depends on where I am.

Like when you're out on your own. Shopping, for instance.

Shopping, yeah, 'cause I get discounts. And there is a definite bonus to recognition when I'm onstage.

It makes the night go faster. But I'm not an institution yet. Sometimes I think about how hard it must be for someone like Bob Hope to go for a stroll. I don't really get hassled. I can stand in the middle of a street in London, or even New York, and usually nothing happens. I don't think I have that distinctive of a face. I got recognized in Tangier once, going by in a taxi, very fast … from a distance … in a fog … during monsoon season. Just kidding. It's odd how once you are conscious of being watched, you stop being so self-conscious because you realize there's nothing you can do about it. Of course, nobody in Hong Kong gives a shit who I am.

Aren't people there freaking about the city's eventual realignment with China?

Thousands are leaving a year, but they're the ones who can afford to leave, to give Australia half a million to let them in, though a lot more are going to Vancouver or New Zealand instead because they've heard, and it's fairly true, about Australia's racism.

It's actually more like unconscious racism. There's a naivete to it that you might call charming if it wasn't so sick. See, most foreigners don't realize – because we refuse to believe it ourselves – that Australia is southern Asia. Australia is linked to England in everyone's minds.

Yet most Australians don't have the faintest idea why the Japanese tried to invade us during the Second World War, and can't understand why they might not have wanted any foreigners on the biggest island in the Asian paradise. If we had lost, my home would be covered in rice paddies by now. Australia would have been Japan's Great Plains, their grain barrel.

I've never met one Australian who knows that. We have it so easy in Australia. It's very easy to live there. Tougher than it was before, but that's because five years ago it was ridiculous. I used to live in a three-story, five-bedroom house. It cost me $20 a week.

Did you make that much playing music?

Nah, but so what, we were all on the dole. Everyone went on it. That's one of the reasons you have so many bands in Australia. It's cheap to live and collect, so all the bands go on it. You wouldn't even have to go pick up your employment check; they'd mail it to you or transfer it to your account. Ready cash. I guess because there is such an anti-authoritarian vibe in Australia that people are quite happy to accept government checks. “Aw, screw 'em” - that's the attitude. Lots of people accept four and five checks or even have jobs. It's very lax. That's why we're stuck with the tall-poppy syndrome.

Translation?

Don't be successful, don't rise above your mates, or you'll get chopped. It's weird. It's the don't-leave-the-pub way of life. I think people in America are generally happy for someone's good fortune; they know how to let themselves go. In Australia, they go, “Good, mate,” and don't ask a single question. There are no celebrations for a job well done. I'm still shocked at how Americans cheer you on when they like you. I know you don't fancy it anymore, but I like phrases like “dress for success.”

And that's why you're shopping here?

I love hideous ties. Girls love 'em. Dunno why. Its like red socks. Are the playing Richard Hell? I haven't heard this song in 20 years. God, you must hear better music in clothing stores than you do anywhere else in New York. All these baseball jackets are so cheap. You know what they pay for these in Australia? I should buy the whole lot, take them back. I'd never have to tour again. I could get 150 to 200 bucks just for the ratty ones. I think this is the first clothing store I've been in that wasn't playing videos.

Are videos big in Australia?

We've actually been involved in music video a whole lot longer than in America. Because we are so far away, the only way we've had to understand all this music flying around the world is through video. Since the '50s, even when it was only 10 minutes a week, Aussie tv has been showing music videos.

And we don't censor the way you guys do. The “Way of the World” single is a very serious song, but MTV is quite shy of the video, you should note – I say this diplomatically. They censor here for all the wrong reasons. Like it's okay to stare at Cher's crotch for four minutes, but it's hard to say something truthful about the state of the world.

Could it be because with a group that's become as wildly successful as INXS has, it's inevitable that favorable reaction always turns?

I don't think INXS has reached that point yet. Give us four more years. We've only recently become hip in England. At the beginning, they hated our guts.

Why?

'Cause we are Australians writing pop music, why else? They don't make much in England, apart from nice jumpers and Jaguars, and one of the few things they can claim some turf on is pop music. So, they're not happy when someone else does it. It's a standard trait of island people; they're very territorial.

But you guys are island people too.

Yeah, but we got a bigger island. Now, if we can just get rid of some competition from the expatriate colonies.

Isn't it enough already with this rivalry between Australia and England? L.A. And New York have settled their feud.

England still treats Australia like we're descendants of convicts. Well, I guess we are, aren't we? We're trying to get rid of them, but unfortunately, they're coming back with money and buying up half the country. Don't you resent the Japanese buying Rockefeller Center?

I resent the Rockefellers more.

[Having tried on everything and bought nothing, Hutchence decides against old clothes. We head down to If boutique.]

Armand Basi. Nice stuff. That Claude Montana is fabulous, but God, this stuff is expensive. We don't know anyone here for a discount, do we? My father used to design clothes for a shop in Hong Kong called Dynasty. Glitzy evening wear for too much money. One year, when we did our first tour, we bough ta lot of Sprouse, real colorful stuff, and we spent a fortune, especially when you consider it's disposable fashion. All it had to do was last a month. All the buttons fell off, it shrunk, seams opened up. We would have been more upset, but it made us homesick for the mother country. Disposable fashion is very English. The nice thing about it when it comes from there, however, is that even though the stuff falls apart, it's cheap.

Ah, I like this. Very sexy, very smart. Basi, right? I found the best underwear. I think it's called Nikos. Someone gave it to me last night. Well, that's a plug. No names, please. These pants might go with the Basi shirt. [Like Navy pants, they have over a dozen buttons instead of a fly.] Not good clubwear. Certainly not quick enough to please me.

Your choice of underwear would have to be very discreet.

And always clean. Maybe these pants come with a catheter. Should I ask the shopgirl? [He raises his arm to call her and, wincing, puts it down.]

Just realized a colostomy bag wouldn't hurt?

No. I think I have a cracked rib, from too much fun the other night at Inflation, this super club in Melbourne. Melbourne has some of the best clubs in the world. Great people. Amazing clubs. Sydney has nothing. Boring as hell. Nice place if you're a surfer. Really pretty, like L.A. But very corrupt, Sydney. Everyone is always paying everyone off. That's why you can't afford to do a club there. It's like, in order to get a club license, all the other nightclub owners have to agree to your having a license. And four people control the voting on that. Melbourne now has a club called Razor that is so exciting. It used to an automobile club, especially popular during the '50s, where people used to talk about their cars, you know, with photos of Mini-Minors making hairpin turns around corners. Like a racing club, I guess, except for slower cars. Razor gets the best people.

[He picks up a pair of huge, get-lost-in-the-rain-forest-and-survive black shoes and delights.]

Many people have shoe fetishes. I guess it's around the world actually, not just with Imelda. I think people are probably just jealous of her because they secretly wanted so many pair. But these are big, like size big. Are Americans getting larger feet, or do they just want more room? I always notice shoes when I'm here.

There's almost like a $100 tax on shoes in Australia. Like a pair that will cost you $50 here will cost you almost $200 in Australia. A pair of Levi's cost $100. I never buy furniture in Australia, either, and I have an obsession with furniture the way Americans love shoes. It's a shame I don't have an obsession with homes, too, since I have no place to put all the furniture. I have it stored all over the world.

Let me get the Basi shirt, and then I want to buy records. I would get them later, but I just remembered I have a friend coming in tonight for only one night. He and his father are trying to get down to Nicaragua. They're helping Ortega keep the Contras back. Good luck. What's so weird about their going is that these guys are publishing magnates in England. Entrepreneurs. They should be serious Thatcherites, but they just hate Thatcher. Real lefties.

If everyone is so vocal of their dislike of her, how come she's so strong?

The British love her because they love to be miserable; they love to complain. Thatcher's become irrepressible. She's finally showing signs of faltering, except she's winning by default, because no one wants to put Kinnock in, either. It's like your Dan Quayle. What an alternative.

Are Australians political?

It's compulsory to vote, if you want to call that political. Frankly, nobody particularly gives a fuck. That doesn't mean Australians are not aware people. I think they know more about what's going on in the rest of the world than the average American, but that's because they have to compensate for being in the middle of nowhere. They're more concerned about international politics, about the environment. Every time the Americans come into Sydney harbor with their nuclear ships and submarines, there's always 5,000 people telling them to fuck off.

But the hell with domestic politics?

Do you know anything about our system? It's built on a bickering sort of war. The front page is always about politicos throwing shit at each other, spending more time insulting each other than governing.

Mind you, they are really very good at it. It's a fine Australian tradition of political insult. Listening to parliament is hilarious - “Shut up, you bastard!” - and that's our prime minister, Bob Hawke. He's in the Guinness Book of World Records for having drunk a yard of beer in record time. He is actually a brilliant leader, a Rhodes scholar at Oxford, and he has done a bloody good job, considering the apathy he's up against. What he should be real pleased about its restoring pride in being Australian, particularly after all that nonsense when the governor general dismissed Prime Minister Whitlam in 1975.

How was that possible without the consent of the Australian parliament?

We're still a colony. I think a lot of us were cynical after that. They felt like puppets. Probably had something to do with the CIA. The good old CIA. I'm in their files, I found out. That they should waste their time on me. I'm listed as subversive, for my lyrics to “Guns in the Sky” and because I once threw condoms out to the audience in Northern Australia.

How is that subversive?

The more north you get in Australia, the more it is like the South in America. The man who ran Queensland, one of the biggest states in Australia, was this guy, Joh Peterson, who was in power for over 20 years. Peterson was this sort of South African leftover who arrived in Australia, and he made things illegal, like sex education, abortion, condoms to minors – you couldn't have the vending machines in clubs. [You can now.] Well, I slandered him, and so I got taken to court, where he was thrown out of office from the corruption uncovered during the proceedings.

Did that make you a hero down there?

Say what, mate? This is Australia, remember. Our heroes are bushrangers, outlaws, and sporting stars. If you're an athlete, you can get away with anything.

[Hutchence purchases the Basi shirts, and then we head to Tower Records at the corner. A street person approaches us.]

is this the official mugging committee?

Street person: “Ooh, ooh, here they come in their limo, straight from Saks Fifth Avenue. Board of directors, how you doing, moneys, you big-time decision makers. Uh-oh, who's you? You must be a rock man. Stand aside for the rock man.”

They always pick on me.

“I want to give you something, man. Some humility. But there's only enough for one.”

I don't care for some, but humility is something we can spread around.

“Hey man, this is for seriously. You will love this humility. No side effects, no speed. Say yes, and I can be back in an hour.”

[We go through the revolving door and right to the rock section; within three minutes, Max Q is playing on the system.]

That's good, somebody knows it's out.

[Hutchence buys albums by Ciccone Youth, Camper Van Beethoven, Soul II Soul, Grace Jones, Shakespear's Sister, Jesus and Mary Chain, and Suicidal Tendencies. As he is paying for them, he spots a postcard stand that features a picture of him.]

Holy shit. When did they take this thing? What a bizarre likeness. I hardly know this guy. This is not an approved photo. [He gets the attention of a young lady behind the counter.] Excuse me, please, this is not an approved photo. It's a pirate. Do you know where you get these from?

Salesgirl: “No idea.”

Can you find out?

“Why, do you want to buy a lot of them?”

See, I told you no one recognizes me.

[We walk outside and the street person comes up to him again.]

Street person: “I know who you are.”

Who am I?

“You are someone who's gonna give me a lot of money.”

How much you want?

“Just give me one of those bills, thank you. Now I'm officially your biggest fan. Just tell me what you want to buy.”

I must be dressed for success.

[mochibuni]

There is a discussion going around twitter, primarily from Japanese Americans, and the discomfort around white people (and other non Japanese) branding themselves with Japanese words and culture. This was mostly aimed at the vtuber boom and “kawaii” branding, but it did get me thinking about my own internet handle and whether or not I’m culturally appropriating or fetishizing Japan as a non-Japanese person.

I had a long discussion with Dan about if I’m appropriating Japanese culture in my branding and online identity. I like to think I’m not, but I’m always open to that kind of criticism because it is important to constantly do better.

But it did get me thinking about being Korean and adopted in America. I didn’t realize how important representation was until adulthood because I was so used to just not seeing any East Asians and those closest to me decided I wasn’t an Other because of my adoption. So I identified as white for a very long time, and I still do ethnically because I grew up in a white middle class household and I don’t want to forget that I am privileged and what that means.

But I am racially Korean and that’s something I will never get away from. That is always going to be assumed of me first, so I accept that I am also Korean despite having no real connection to that culture. Or more accurately, what I accept is being East Asian as a whole because that’s how I’m pegged by others. Not an individual culture, but a monolith, which is a discussion for another day. But what I do understand is that for many of us East Asian Americans, Japan has been in the past the only East Asian culture accessible to us outside of our families on a mass scale. And for us adoptees, it really was the only East Asian culture available to us to identify with.

I don’t know how to end this as I don’t actually know what to do, or if I need to do anything. But just some thoughts on being adopted is hard and weird sometimes.

[boomerang109]

ALSO JSDNFJH ZUKO IN WWDA WITH SHOULDER/EAR LENGTH HAIR (LIKE SUKI) WOULD LOOK JUST LIKE EURYDICE AND I DONT KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THAT

ZUKO AS EURYDICE AFGHAJFGHAFDJ I LOVE IT

honestly that’s like who he parallels in the relationship too? and sokka is orpheus? 👀

anyway, buckle down for the hair rant you didn’t ask for. i have Thoughts and i have for a while but they haven’t been communicated well through the actual fic because they’re like slow burn ideas but also i have no fucking patience and i feel like my foreshadowing is really tiny details and i’m worried that it’s just coming off as Uneducated so i’m gonna explain it

so before i tackle hair, one scene y’all might remember is when sokka goes home with zuko for the first time and he notices that zuko doesn’t take his shoes off. and he thinks to himself how stereotypically japanese-americans do take their shoes off in-doors. that line was very intentional (and it was not in any way a reflection of sokka)

another thing y’all might have noticed that when sokka met ozai he’s described as having short hair. and you might’ve gone “wtf boom, he clearly has long hair in canon” and that would’ve been a valid response. but i promise, i had a reason

so what do these two seemingly small details have in common? they’re both ways that ozai has americanized. because, in my modern au, i said hmm how can i show that ozai is a piece of trash? by making him as westernized as possible. (ozai and iroh moved to america when they were kids, iroh also embraced many american customs but ozai fully amercanized with very few exceptions)

and this will create another difference between living with ozai and living with iroh. ozai’s home obviously has all the issues of being an abusive home, but it also lacks any connection to japanese culture. so, when zuko eventually moves in with iroh, he’s actually going to speak japanese at home for the first time since childhood and partake in cultural activities that will connect him to his culture, because iroh (unlike ozai) has not abandoned the culture that iroh and ozai grew up in. (also, as i’m very upfront about, i am unfortunately white. which means 2 things. (1) i am trying my best but i do have to do more research and if anyone wants to provide me sources or is asian-american and open to questions, i would be really grateful. and (2) i’m including this aspect of the story because it was very important to me that i wasn’t just another white person going “haha high school au! let’s white-wash it!” but it’s not going to be the main focus cause i’m not the right person to tell a story centered-around being an asian-american and also because it’s a fanfic which means i get to write what i want and what i want to write is father (figure)-son relationships, friends-to-lovers, etc.)

so, you’re reading this, and you’re going okay. that was a lot of words. but you haven’t said anything about zuko’s hair which is what you said you were gonna talk about. for once, reader, i haven’t forgotten what my point is, and in fact, i am getting there

with american culture expecting men to have short hair (and often viewing men who don’t as feminine), you know ozai wouldn’t let zuko grow his hair very long. he doesn’t want his son looking like a girl. especially with zuko’s height, ozai is sure not to let it get too long. once, when they were little, one of ozai’s employees called zuko azula (as ursa had let him grow his hair down to his chin). zuko got an inpromptu haircut from an angry father that night (and a calmer trim the next morning from his mother) and his hair has never gotten much past his ears since

but once zuko is out of the hellhole that he currently calls home, he’s going to grow his hair out to be suki length and then ponytail length and maybe even longer. we’ll see. i personally think he looks best with the scruffy hair, but i don’t think he cares what i think--i think he wants to express a bit of femininity with some long hair (and if his real reason for preferring long hair is sokka braiding it? that’s between him and sokka)

i hope you enjoyed this rant about hair and culture that you didn’t ask for. i doubt many people read this whole thing cause it was looong. maybe let me know what you thought if you did read? 

[citylightsbooks]

Listening as an act of love: Marie Mutsuki Mockett in conversation

This is an excerpt of a free event for our virtual events series, City Lights LIVE. This event features Marie Mutsuki Mockett in conversation with Garnette Cadogan discussing her new book American Harvest: God, Country, and Farming in the Heartland, published by Graywolf Press. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by our events coordinator Peter Maravelis. You can listen to the entire event on our podcast. You can watch it in full as well on our YouTube channel.

*****

Marie Mutsuki Mockett: You don't see me talking about love or the importance of love very much. Maybe I would have a larger Instagram account if I constantly put up memes about love. I should probably do that.

I consider [American Harvest] to be an investigation of something that I didn't understand and that I thought was important. So I asked questions and wanted to try to answer those questions by talking to people who were very different than I am. To sit with them and find out what their genuine experience in the world is, and then see if I could answer some of the questions that I have.

I did not tell myself, "This is a book about love," or "You must employ love." I also didn't spend a lot of time saying to myself, "This is a book that's going to require you to be brave." I just really was trying to focus on the questions that I had and on my curiosity. I was trying to pinpoint, when I'm in a church, when I'm in a farm, when I'm around a situation that I don't understand, what's actually happening. And that was really what I was trying to do and how I was trying to direct my attention.

Garnette Cadogan: But love comes up a lot in the book. And for you, a lot of it has to do with listening. In many ways, this book is a game of active listening, and listening--as you've shown time and again--is fundamentally an act of love.

You decided to go and follow wheat farmers and move along in their regimens and cycles and rituals, and not only the rituals of labor, but rituals of worship, rituals of companionship, and issues of community. When did you begin to understand what is the real task of listening? Because in the book, time and again, you remind us that there are so many places in which there is this huge gap, or this huge chasm, in our effort to understand each other.

Marie Mutsuki Mockett: Well, that is where love comes in. Because that is the only reason why you would spend time listening to people or talking to people. What would be the motivation for trying to be open to others? Why should you be open to others? We don't have to be. So why should one be?

And you're right that things do get reduced down to this question of love. I had always heard that Christianity was the religion of love. And that love was one of the things that was unique about Christ's message. I didn't really grow up with any one religion. Also, my mother was from Japan, so I also grew up always hearing about how for a long time, the word love didn't really exist in Japanese. There really is no way to say “I love you.” Linguists still debate whether or not you can say "I love you" in Japanese and there are ways in which people say it, but it doesn't have the same history, and it doesn't have the same loaded meaning that it does in Western English.

So I was aware from a really early age, because I heard my parents and other people talk about this, that this question of love was very much a part of Western culture and that it originated from Christianity. And I really wondered what does that mean? And if it means anything, is there anything to it? And if there is, what is it? And there's a scene in the book where I talk about my feeling of disappointment that no one had ever purchased me anything from Tiffany, the jewelry store, because if you live in New York City, you're constantly surrounded by Tiffany ads. When you get engaged, you can get a Tiffany box. And then on your birthday, you can get a Tiffany box. And then in the advertisements, the graying husband gives the wife another Tiffany box to appreciate her for all the years that she's been a wife and on and on. I know that that has nothing to do with love. I know that that that's like some advertiser who's taken this notion of love and then turned it into some sort of message with a bunch of images, and it's supposed to make me feel like I want my Tiffany ring (which I've never gotten). That's not love. But is there anything there? And that was definitely something that I wanted to investigate.

I think I started to notice a pattern where I was going to all of these churches in the United States, and I'm not a church going person. And the joke that I tell is that I decided to write American Harvest partly because I wasn't going to have to speak Japanese. I could speak English, which is the language with which I'm most comfortable. But I ended up going to all these churches, and I couldn't understand what anybody was saying. I would leave the church and Eric, who is the lead character, would say, "What do you think?" And I would say, "I have no idea what just happened." And so it took time for me to tune in to what the pastors were saying, and what I came to understand is that there were these Christian churches that emphasized fear, and churches that didn't emphasize fear. And then I started to meet people who believe that God wants them to be afraid and people who are motivated by fear or whose allegiance to the church comes from a place of fear, in contrast to those who said, "You're not supposed to be afraid. That's not the point." That was a huge shift in my ability to understand where I was, who I was talking to, and the kinds of people that I was talking to, and why the history of Christianity mattered in this country.

Garnette Cadogan: So you started this book, because you said, "Oh, I only need one language." And then you ended up going to language training.

Marie Mutsuki Mockett: I needed so many different languages! I mean, even this question of land ownership that we're talking about: I feel like that's a whole other language. There are places in the world and moments in history where people didn't own land. It didn't occur to them that they had to own the land themselves. So what's happening when we think we have to? Like with timeshares. I'm really serious. What need is that fulfilling? And you don't need to have a timeshare in Hawaii, where you visit like one week out of the entire year, right? So what need is that fulfilling?

Garnette Cadogan: Rest? Recreation? I’m wondering . . . has the process of living, researching, and writing this book changed you in any way? And if so, how?

Marie Mutsuki Mockett: I mean, absolutely, but it's so hard to talk about. I think that I have a much better and deeper understanding of the history of our country, and a much greater understanding of the role that race plays in our country. A deeper understanding of the tension between rural and urban, and also of our interdependence, which is something I sort of knew, but didn't completely know. And why just kicking out a bunch of states or getting rid of a bunch of people isn't actually an answer to the tension that we've faced. And it's because there's this great interdependence between people. So understanding all of that and realizing how intractable the problem is, oddly, has made me feel calmer about it. Because I realize it isn't as simple as if I just do "X" everything will be fine. I think, when you feel like, "If I just master the steps, if I can just learn this incantation, then everything will be fine," I think when you live that way, it's very frustrating. And I realized the problems are deeper than that. And some of the problems the United States is facing are problems that exist all around the world. I mean the urban rural problems: it's a piece of modernization. It doesn't just affect our country, it affects many countries.

Garnette Cadogan: You know, we've been speaking about land, God, country, Christianity, urbanity, and in this book, a lot of it is packed in through this absolutely wonderful man, Eric, and his family. Part of what makes it compelling and illuminating is we get a chance to understand so much through this wonderful, generous, and beautiful man, Eric. For those who haven't read it yet, tell us about Eric, and why Eric was so crucial to understanding in so much of what you understood, and also some of the changes that you went through.

Marie Mutsuki Mockett: He's a Christian from Pennsylvania. He’s a white man who’s never been to college, but has a genuine intellectual curiosity, although not immediately apparent in a way that would register to us. Because we're at an event that's hosted by bookstore. So when we think of intellectual curiosity, probably the first thing that any of us would do would be to reach for a book, right? That's not what he would do. He wouldn't reach for a book, he would find someone to talk to. He's a person who is very much about the lived experience. But he was very open to asking questions and trying to understand other people's experiences and how the world works, and he was very concerned.

He was the person who told me in early 2016 that he thought that Trump would probably win, when none of us thought that this was possible. And he said this is because we don't understand each other at all. And he's a very open-hearted, very generous person. And you see him change over the course of the book.

He called me the other day. He said, "I've been hearing a lot about violence against Asian Americans." He's met a couple of my friends. He wanted to know, "Are they all right?" And then he said, "I just want you to know that we talk about racial justice all the time in church," because of course, that's the way that he processes life's difficult questions: through church. And I was kind of moved by that, because one of the points that American Harvest makes is that these difficult questions don't get talked about in church. And he said, "I just want you to know this is something that we talk about." So you see him really develop and change as a result of his exposure to me and to seeing how I move through space versus how he moves through space. And it's a big leap of imagination for people to understand that other people have other experiences that are legitimate and real. It seems to be one of the most difficult things for people to understand, but he really made a great effort to do that. And I think that’s kind of extraordinary.

***

Purchase American Harvest from City Lights Bookstore.

[wishonastarx3]

I saw this coming... I’m so fucking tired of this.

I don’t care who reads this, if you actually know me in real life then you probably know that this is how I feel from my instagram story. I apologize in advance of the language in this post. These are my emotions and thoughts. (And yes I am aware that within the AAPI community there are it's issues, but that's not the point of this post)

I’m SO SICK AND TIRED of this shit. What happened on Tuesday WAS NOT OKAY. EIGHT PEOPLE ARE DEAD and SIX of them were ASIAN WOMEN. Click the hyperlink if you live under a rock or if you just don’t watch the news. I don’t know how you people live. 

The Asian and Asian American community in this country has been saying for the PAST YEAR that we are NOT OKAY and that we NEED HELP. Donald FUCKING Trump REPEATEDLY kept saying pre pandemic, “CHINA! CHINA! THEY’RE STEALING OUR JOBS!!! CHINA IS EVIL!!!” and of course his base bought into that. BUT when the freaking pandemic started it was “THE KUNG FLU” or the “CHINA VIRUS”. So now, let’s make the target on our backs EVEN BIGGER NOW!!! (I still don’t understand HOW there were Asians who voted for him... but that’s beside this point of this) 

This past year has had over 3800 reports of Asian American HATE CRIMES against us. These fucking cowards are going after our ELDERLY COMMUNITY like the BABY BITCHES that they are. WHY?! JUST FUCKING WHY?! What does this do for you? It makes me SO ANGRY to see these videos of the elderly community being ATTACKED and KILLED. I watched on video of a toisan lao (old Chinese Woman) in SF who was being attacked and she fought back against her attacker (AS SHE FUCKING SHOULD. HE ENDED UP IN A STRETCHER). But that really... that one really struck a cord with me as that’s the dialect my family speaks and it made me think “fuck. That could have been my grandmother. That could have been my grandfather.” Going after the community that doesn’t speak english, LITERALLY POWERLESS and that is old like a bunch of COWARDS. I, as a 5′9 Asian American woman from New York City has dealt with my far share of harassment... but the fucking elderly? Really? 

This pandemic has just gave them an EXCUSE to attack us. As if we weren’t already being harassed and marginalized before!!! But of course, one will say “but how can that be? Asians are the model! You guys are the best minority group out there. Everyone loves you!” HAR HAR MOTHER FUCKER

So lets set up some points

The Model Minority Myth - the “idea” that Asians are the smarter minorities who end up becoming the doctors and lawyers who are good at math, science and end up going to Harvard. I’m sorry... what? This is pathetic. AND A FUCKING MYTH  I’ve dealt with these AWFUL cliches and stereotypes. Are they good stereotypes? Sure...? BUT do you understand:

What that does to the individual? What about the Asians who do not want tot be doctors? What about the Asians who then have to deal with the mental illness that goddamn society created for us? (I’m not even going to go into the lack of Asians in entertainment business. That’s a whole separate headache.)

WHY ARE WE IGNORING THAT IT’S ONLY A SMALL GROUP OF ASIANS THAT END UP DOING THAT?! Are we going to IGNORE the Asians who don’t go to Ivy Leagues? Or the ones that are living below the poverty line? 

This literally created the Racial Triangulation between the minorities! White people have put Asians on a pedestal in comparison to the other minorities and YES other minorities HATE us for that reason.By saying that we are the “Model Minority” it LITERALLY creates this thought that we better than the “other minorities” but yet we still ain’t white. So we aren’t a part of the majority therefore putting us in no mans land. 

THE NEGATIVE stereotypes - OH and TRUST ME there are A LOT. These are just the ones at the top of my head. 

The FETISHIZATION  of Asian Women - this shit ain’t new. This is literally what the term “yellow fever” means when referring to MEN who only like Asian women. The fetishization of asian women LITERALLY GOES BACK TO 1890s when the short story “Madame Butterfly” was written when a WHITE MAN was in Japan and fell in love with an Asian girl (WHO WAS 15 BTW). There are literal journal entries of European and American men who were in Asian at the time who said LITERALLY SAY HOW EXOTIC Asian Women are, that apparently our vaginas just “feel different”. I’m sorry... WHAT?! I HATE nothing more than when I have dealt with men saying some bullshit about how “exotic” I am. Also lets not forget how American society has de-masculinate the Asian Man. Saying that have small dicks and that they are skinny and scrawny, therefore aren’t men. So you like only half of us? 

Our Food - WE DO NOT EAT DOG. I grew up being told “YOU EAT DOG! YOU’RE CHINESE!”... fuck you. And now, Asian food is seen as “amazing” I’m happy you like our soup dumplings and bao. But you were the same fucking people who told me I ate dog. So you love our food but not the people? Okay. I see you. Oh and I didn’t forget about the people who have gagged at Asian food. 

Mocking how we look and our language - Am I the only Asian American who had people pulling their eyes and saying CHING CHONG at them? Please, get hit by a bus. And isn’t ironic how now “fox eyes” are a make up trend? funny isn’t it? 

People telling us to “GO BACK TO CHINA!” “GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM” 

I’m sorry. Who educated you? Asians have been in this country since the 1850S. WE BUILT THE DAMN RAILROADS. SOME OF US WERE KIDNAPPED HERE TO BUILD THAT SHIT. (Another note is how ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY IS NOT TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS. This needs to be addressed and changed.) 

Also for MYSELF - my GREAT GRANDFATHER BUILT THE DAMN RAILROAD and SERVED IN THE ARMY in WWI. My Great Uncles were in the Air force in WWII and my GRANDFATHER served in the KOREAN WAR where he was shot in the ear and received a Purple Heart. I FUCKING DARE YOU to tell me to go back to my country. MY FAMILY HAS DONE MORE FOR THIS COUNTRY THAN HALF OF THESE RACIST MOTHER FUCKERS. 

Hate crimes in America have been happening since the 1880s. Yellow Peril goes back to the 1880s when Asian were literally depicted as these murderous group invading from Asia. And of course, they depict us with slanted eyes and with long braided pony tails. THIS SHIT AIN’T NEW. There has also literally been LAWS banning Chinese from coming to America. i.e THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT oh and lets not forget Japanese Interment during the 1930s. THIS SHIT AIN’T NEW. ALSO let’s not forget the Vincent Chin Murder in the 1980s when a Chinese American was BEAT TO DEATH because his attackers thought he was Japanese and they were blaming the Japanese for taking their jobs. 

As I sit here, feeling not as angry as at the beginning, if history has taught me anything, fear and anger has been the drive for these crimes. In the 1880s we were thought to be evil and that we were going to take away all of the jobs (but low and behold, some of us were KIDNAPPED here). During WWII it was right after Pearl Harbor after Japan bombed it. Vincent Chin, his attackers were angry at the Japanese. Current day, Donald Fucking Trump decided to put the target on our communities back with both jobs being sent to China and with the Coronavirus being our fault. 

What happened on Tuesday with the Atlanta police officer saying that the 21 year old was “having a bad day” WAS BULL SHIT. I didn’t know killing 8 people was a RATIONALE  RESPONSE. Okay then. Call it what it is, A HATE CRIME. This man was saying he had a “sex addiction” and that he wanted to get rid of the temptation and he associated ASIAN WOMEN and the ASIAN SPA to be that temptation. AND WHY IS THAT?!?!?!? THE FETISHIZATION OF ASIAN WOMEN. 

And before I get off of my soap box, THE MEDIA WAS PRETTY FUCKING LATE TO JOINING THIS, AND CALL IT WHAT IT IS, A HATE CRIME. SO MANY of the crimes against the Asian elderly go unreported or are not deemed hate crimes WHEN THEY ARE. SO MANY of them do not know English or enough English and can not report what was said to them. And what sucks too, my dad even said it, I think your grandparents would just take it because they would see this as “I immigrated here, I have to take this shit”. WELL THAT TRAIN STOPS HERE. WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED. WE WILL NOT SHY AWAY. WE ARE TAKING OUR SPACE THAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS. I fucking PROMISE you that if you try to do so, you will have hell to deal with. 

I’m not going to get into the subject of the people who are SILENT during this but were ALL OVER social media for their BLM support. I’m just going to leave it at we are asking for your help and to amplify this. Please. 

To my non Asian friends who have reached out to me, I do appreciate it. I really do. But please rather than telling me you are here for me if I want to talk, I BEG of you, please read and learn about the history as well as the Asian/Asian American experience in America. It’s really not as rainbows and butterflies people have been thinking. Hate against Asian and Asian Americans started before 2020. 

To my Asian brothers, sisters, aunties and uncles PLEASE stay safe.

[mbti-notes]

I'm Chinese diaspora and your typing of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon really impressed me. I had also though YSL was an introvert but I'm convinced by your reasoning. It led me to rethink what I thought of extroversion in Chinese culture. My question is, how did you understand the effect that Chinese society has on an individual's function expression? I sometimes like to type characters from Japanese anime and I'm wondering if I've made the same typing error there too

I enjoy watching foreign language films for the window that they provide into different cultures. One of the benefits of having friends from different cultural backgrounds is that they are usually willing to help me get more insight into the films, so I must give credit where credit is due. Through them, I’m aware that the popular foreign films here in the west are not necessarily representative of the cultures they’re from, rather, they are perhaps more likely to appeal to western perceptions of those cultures. A great example is the movie CTHD. My general impression is that westerners liked the movie a lot more than the Chinese. It seemed nothing special to them, just another martial arts film among many.

I am by no means any sort of “cultural expert”, though I’d refer to myself as culturally sensitive due to having been exposed to many cultures throughout life. I grew up in a very cosmopolitan place, so I naturally watch out for cultural differences and make a point to investigate them whenever appropriate. I know some general facts from taking courses in cross-cultural psychology, race relations, eastern philosophy, history, and world religions. I used to work as a teacher with adults from a variety of backgrounds. I have to keep up with geopolitics as part of my job. I’ve traveled a lot. One of the reasons I emphasize the difference between cognition and behavior all the time is because I have had enough experience with people to see the influence and impact of cultural forces.

One interesting way to learn about culture is through noting cultural tensions. Even within a culture, there are subcultures that are constantly wrestling with each other. Culture clash is basically the experience of most first and second generation immigrants. You don’t have to talk to them for very long to hear their inner conflicts. For example, you mention Chinese diaspora, so maybe you are familiar with the idea that Chinese-Americans are stereotyped as the “model minority” and often ignored because of it. Historically, the Chinese have had hundreds of years of practice with bringing out people’s sense of duty and obligation to each other, for better and for worse (deeply ingrained Confucian traditions). However, this “positive” stereotype of being conscientious and dutiful only serves to hide the true extent of their struggles. Doing well financially is very important in Chinese culture, but this should not be used as the measure of mental health and well-being. Many Chinese-Americans really struggle with integrating into American culture and what it means for their familial/filial duties. They often struggle in silence with physical and mental health problems because asking for help for yourself (and “wasting money” on it) seems frowned upon. It’s striking to hear someone say that their own well-being is unimportant or less important than their loved ones’.

East Asian cultures (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese) share certain broad commonalities due to their strong historical connections, one of them being less emphasis on the individual, and, thus, less public freedom to express oneself as an individual (be it expression of will, thoughts, ideas, opinions, beliefs, or feelings). According to some scholars, the repressive nature of Japanese culture is actually what allows the anime and porn industries to thrive (i.e. subversive exploration/expression of self through fantasy or deviancy). In theory, if you are discouraged from honoring or expressing your feelings, it will be difficult to develop a healthy F function. In theory, if you are actively/forcefully discouraged from thinking outside what is considered mainstream, it will be difficult to develop a healthy N function. I see evidence of this all the time from the problems that East Asian readers bring to my inbox.