#for the sake of brevity

[yves-and-scessernee]

I've been thinking about some things, and I wanted to clarify for some folks outside of the US:

When people in the United States talk about heritage, it's always with the implication of American nationality. Two friends in the US might chat casually about themselves and their families by saying "I'm Irish" and "I'm Polish." What they mean is "I'm Irish-American" and "I'm Polish-American" but, because the context of being in America is present, the "-American" part goes assumed.

That's why the "Where are you from?" / "Where were you born?" / "Where are your parents from?" questions exist. Between friends, those are casual ways to tell if someone is talking about X as a familial heritage or X as a nationality without saying outright "Hey, so are you a member of this American subculture or are you from another country?" It is absolutely rude to ask these questions without the context of friendship, but within a friendship people often share information about their heritage and nationality quite freely. Those two friends I mentioned above might go on to talk about how "My grandparents were born in Dublin and immigrated to the US, and my parents grew up together in Boston." "Oh, that's cool that they grew up together! My great-grandmother moved from Kraków as an infant with her family, but my dad met my mom through an exchange student program and she just finalized her dual citizenship."

Stripped of the context of "being in America", such statements can come off as presumptuous and deceptive. I understand that. Someone who has gotten used to chatting about their family while in America will likely default to keeping the "-American" part assumed on their behalf, which they shouldn't do. But an American saying "Oh! I'm Irish" to you when you know already that they are American is telling you this in the context of being American: what is actually being conveyed is "I'm Irish-American." To them, they're sharing what American subculture they belong to, rather than claiming participation in a different country.

And Irish-American culture in the US is alive and well! Irish-American cultural centers, museums dedicated to generations of Irish-American immigration, and festivals sharing what Irish-American families have brought to America are found all over the US. So it is with many other cultural communities. People care about the cultures they and their families brought over with them, and American subcultures are living entities unto themselves shaped by decades of history.

And of course some American families keep in touch with their parent cultures. As I write this, a friend is making arrangements with his family to spent next month with his grandparents in Mexico. My own parents just got back from visiting my sister in Ireland, where she's been studying veterinary sciences. Sometimes that's why Americans drop the hyphen in casual conversation: for my friend, where does Mexican culture end and the Mexican-American subculture within the greater American culture begin? A conversation with him actually got me thinking about this entire thing, because, for him, the distinction between being Mexican, having Mexican heritage, and being Mexican-American can be really blurry, particularly given the United States' history with Mexico.

Americans should stop assuming everyone knows the context of "having American nationality" when they talk about heritage. I agree. It can be easy to come onto the internet with the same assumptions you have in your everyday community, particularly if you're young. If you're American and you're reading this and you're just realizing that someone probably interpreted you as saying "I'm a member of this country" when what you meant was "I'm a member of this American subculture," I understand the embarrassment. This often isn't laid out clearly inside or outside the US.

But that's why I'm explaining it now. If what you mean is "I'm [Heritage]-American" and you're talking about your participation in an American subculture, you probably should start saying the whole phrase aloud. It's more polite to assume that someone doesn't know your nationality than that they do. It'll forestall misunderstandings and frustrations with friends and strangers alike.

[hiems-incaelo]

said to man who's currently in a homoerotic will-they-won't-they with a morally grey vampire dragon

[rainscenes]

Every day, you heal a little bit more. Then one morning, you wake up and losing her isn't the first thing you think about.

BOBBY NASH and EDDIE DIAZ for @wernerherzogs

[bigfatbreak]

Does Chloe tone down her direct bullying/harassment of Marinette after that day to just the dead mom jokes out of guilt, or is it more that Marinette now being homeschooled means Chloe just lost access? Also, does Lila try the whole lying/sabotaging thing on Marinette and just fail or does Marinette just not care?

Lila has no reason to sabotage Marinette because Marinette isn't threatening her little empire she wants to build. In fact, she really wants Marinette on her side BECAUSE she's not apart of the school, so she doesn't need to keep up an elaborate web of lies! She can just try to befriend a talented girl who makes AMAZING food and try to get freebies~

meanwhile, with Chloe, things got really complicated after the pool incident...

Tom was not in the mood to put up with this crap.

[starryluminary]

If Noco were a canon couple’s stereotypes: The Arch Villain and The Queen Bee Schemer

[charminglyantiquated]

✨birthday playlist!✨

it's october! if you're so inclined, please tell me one song you love - every year I make a playlist of all of them and it gets me through the winter. there's always something really special to me about knowing each song on there is important to someone else, and I've found some of my favorite artists through it. thank you thank you thank you!!

(like previous years, I'll make the playlist available on youtube and spotify when it's done!)

[inaconstantstateofchange]

neither a friendly reminder nor an unfriendly reminder but a secret third thing:

a heartfelt plea to all my fellow fans, but especially bg3 fans, and especially especially those who might be relatively new to fandom as a concept.

please treat your fellow fans as fellow fans.

i don't care how big of a blog they have, how incredible you think their writing is, their art is, their edits or their meta or what-have-you are. the moment you designate them as a "content creator" in your mind, the moment you place them higher than you in some horrible, made-up fandom hierarchy, you've lost. we've all lost.

the social contract of fandom is equality. it's community. we're all neighbors bringing dishes to each other's potlucks and sharing notes and encouraging each other.

i know it probably feels like venerating them is doing them a favor, is showing them how incredible they are to you, but it's not. it's putting them on a pedestal that precludes them from actually participating in the community that makes us thrive.

[sleeplesssmol]

Psychube Angst

Joseph was one of Mesmer's friends at SPDM. His body couldn't handle his arcane awakening and Dorothea needed to amputate his legs to save his life.

[offonaherosjourney]

Me: Hey, Tumblr, while checking the tab with your trending topics list I saw minis of several cool looking art pieces I want to observe and reblog as well as several interesting looking textposts I want to read and reblog. If I click in one those trending topics will I be able to find those posts I really, really, REALLY want to reblog?

Tumblr: Oh. LMAO. No. Nonononono. As if. No.

[pondslime]

an american werewolf in london x text posts (part 1/?)

[magniloquent-raven]

that's GROWTH babey

[sylaurin]

I have a rendezvous with Death

When Spring comes back with rustling shade and apple-blossoms fill the air

I have a rendezvous with Death

When Spring comes round again this year and the first meadow-flowers appear

God knows 'twere better to be deep pillowed in silk and scented down

Where Love throbs out in blissful sleep

Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath

Where hushed awakenings are dear…

But I've a rendezvous with Death

At midnight in some flaming town, when Spring trips north again this year

And I to my pledged word am true

I shall not fail that rendezvous.

-Alan Seeger (1888-1916)

[gh0stcav3]

thinking about rolan, kian, and rand growing up in a small southern town in the 60s. thinking about kian being probably obviously queer and the other two not being particularly liked by anyone