#france v canada

[glimmerofawesome]

Vanessa Gilles scores in the 90+12' minute to give Canada a 2-1 win over France.

[unhetalia]

Based on this post. FACE and their skill and interest in the various arts.

VISUAL ARTS:

Arthur's skillset is in sketching and painting people exclusively. He's incredibly skilled, and some his discovered artworks (under Anon) are the subject of a lot of discussion in the art world. There's a gorgeous sketch of Alfred in a gallery that people have been obsessed with for a hundred years, titled by art critics as Beloved, because people (rightfully) believed Anon must have been in love with the subject.

Francis is an all-rounder in this area. Painting, drawing, ceramics and sculpture. Draws and/or paints beautiful men and women he meets throughout history. As a gag gift, every year, he chooses a random Nation and gifts them a giant nude painting of another Nation they've had a crush on.

Alfred prefers architecture and sketches the lead to inventions or building things. He is, however, amazing at capturing landscapes. TERRIBLE at drawing people. He's also a very skilled photographer.

Matthew has no interest in the arts, but does love it when Alfred gifts him little watercolours of the Canadian wilderness.

LITERARY ARTS:

Francis loves discussing literature, but doesn't dabble as much in writing.

Arthur is the writer, and has published a lot of critically acclaimed works under a pseudonym. Mysteries, romances, fantasies - even poetry and a play or two. Ironically has been referred to as the modern day Shakespeare.

Alfred writes mostly research papers BUT does a great short story or general non fiction. He's also a great humourist in a very David Sedaris style sense wherein he's good at observing and writing about how people act without judging them - for example, he will recount a story about someone stripping in a New York subway and write something along the lines of "If I had decided to strip on the subway, I would have decided to do in June as opposed to December, just so I could give me family jewels the best chance to shine. His looked incredibly shy in the winter cold."

Matthew - once again doesn't have any interest, unless you count having a sharp tongue as a type of literature.

PERFORMING ARTS:

Francis loves theatre and has acted a fair bit. He's also second only to Austria on the violin. Plays several other instruments, and taught both Canada and America how to play piano. Good at any dance you do at a ball.

Arthur goes to a lot of performances but doesn't partake (a big fat lie - he was in band and played lead guitar and wrote the lyrics. He also did backing vocals - he's decent.) Like France, good at any dance you do at a ball.

Alfred is so good at piano that Austria himself once gave him a standing ovation. He also plays the guitar and has a beautiful voice, though is weirdly stage shy. He loves going to the ballet and orchestras and musicals, and goes a lot with Francis. He loves swing dancing but can't dance anything else (refuses to learn to spite England, who started teaching America just as their relationship was souring).

Canada is an AMAZING dancer. It started as a way to prove that unlike his brother, he was NOT a troublesome student, and grew as he soaked up the attention and praise from England, but it also became something he truly loved. Was also taught piano at a young age but didnt really care for it. Good singer, but will only do it drunk or in the shower.

[neiptune]

imagine boycotting the goddamn nagasaki memorial because japan doesn't want war criminals from a genocidal state at the ceremony lol

[uniqueeval]

Women's Rugby Union

Coverage of the WXV 1 match between Canada and France. Source link

[liver-f4ilure]

American Gun Laws & School Shootings (an essay)

WARNING! This essay is very old and is NOT at all my best work. Thank you and enjoy!

Gun laws in America have been one of the most controversial ideas in American history. The right to bear arms is engraved in the American Constitution as the second amendment in which the writer, James Madison back in 1791 concludes “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to bear arms shall not be infringed.” The original meaning has been speculated since some believe it was intended to be used for unprofessional citizens to defend against the British. However, the main controversy is if it meant individual rights to bear arms or only militia. In 2008 the DC v. Heller case concluded that in the state of Washington the amendment protected individual gun rights however the state can take away those rights if deemed dangerous by court. Americas history of school gun violence dates far back but the first major shooting to make headlines was back in April of 1999, when on April 20th of that year in Littleton Colorado teens Eric Harris (18) and Dylan Klebold (17) shot and killed 13 people at Columbine High School before killing themselves by gunshot in the school’s library. The pair had planned at least a year in advance making bombs and recording the days leading up to the shooting which is now coined the name ‘The Basement Tapes’. The guns were obtained from an illegal gun show where the two got their friend Robyn Anderson who was legally allowed to own. The shooting has sparked hundreds of shootings

since not all being schools. The aftermath also triggered the Youth Crime Gun Act of 1999 which prevents people to hold gun shows without informing the secretary of state at least 30 days in advance of location, time and duration as well as submitting all the vendors names and verifying their identities. The law also prohibits those dealers from dealing to those without license and keeping the firearms they sell from reaching the hands of minors or those unlicensed and lastly the law illegalizes the making of explosives like pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails.

The shooting was the first major school shooting the country had seen at the time.

  While it may be mental health in some cases, American gun laws should be stricter and more limited due to the fact of the childhood gun mortality rate in America and the estimated 338,000+ students who have experienced gun violence in schools since Columbine.

Data shows countries with much stricter gun laws including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and the UK have had 5 total school shootings, while America alone has 288 (2009-2018) America has already had 18 this year (2024) as of April 18th. America has seen an uprise with school shootings after the pandemic, in 2021 there were 73, in 2022 there were 79 and in 2023 there were 82 school shootings. In the past three years there have been a total of 234 school shootings. Many believe the number one cause of childhood mortality in America (0-19) is cancer or abortion. But this simply isn't true, in America the leading cause of child death is gun violence. In 2021 2,590 children lost their life to guns. While in Canada the leading cause is accidental injury. The NRA states gun laws don’t work and brings up strict cities have high crime rates. I personally find it interesting they ignore the gun aspect of it. The issue doesn’t lie within what the city or state does for real change its up to the federal government. The NRA says Chicago has strict gun laws but has high crimes, that doesn't have to do with guns. Take California, one of the strictest states with guns compared to Texas the state with some of the least strict laws. Californias gun mortality rate is 8.5 per 100,000 while Texas's’ is 14.2 per 100,000. In Texas’s’ history with gun laws after the Luby's shooting the state made it legal for open carry. In 2012 after the sandy Hook elementary shooting which killed 20 kids ages 6-7 in Connecticut, Texas made it legal for school staff to bear arms and after a church shooting the state made it legal to carry firearms in places of worship (mosques, churches etc.) All these laws passed that took restrictions off guns made the trend of mass gun violence to increase. States ran by democratic leaders were found more likely to pass laws in the state that restricts guns were found more effective at keeping mass shooting changes insignificant. However, the state with the highest gun violence is Mississippi. Comparing capita to the most restrictive state, California, the state that the NRA claims is the most violent, Illinois and the state with the highest gun violence, Mississippi. Out of the three California has the lowest with 9.0, Illinois with 16.1 and Mississippi with the highest of 33.9 per capita.  Comparing evidence, we can see that the common denominator is that stricter laws bring down gun deaths and will limit petty crimes and situations from becoming deadly when guns are involved. And you’d think the federal government would act on this and add restrictions to limit types of rifles, but they haven’t. The closest they’ve gotten was the red flag program bill passed after the Robb school

shooting in 2021 which left 21 children and staff dead due to the police waiting 77 minutes after arriving, armed with vests and shields, to do anything. In response president Joe Biden passed the bill to end gun background check loopholes instead of talking about the issue of the polices incapability.

Studies show 57% of students in America are scared to go to school due to the rise of school shootings. Over the years about 45% of schools have installed metal detectors and other security measurements. These detectors are more common in high minority schools; however students of minorities are more scared of the chance of school shootings. In arguments of school security being the solution, some often bring up giving teachers guns however many teachers state they would never want to put their students in those situations or have to take a life. 78% of republicans agree with this while only 24% of democrats agree. 81% democrats say that banning assault-style weapons would be effective and 35% republicans agree too, overall majority, including teachers, agree that arming teachers wouldn’t help. Some parents have bought bulletproof backpacks and inserts to keep their child safe, the backpacks cost as much as an AR-15. Leading to the next point that ‘good guys with guns stop bad guys with guns’ isn’t accurate, in fact in schools where security is armed during shootings they can’t stop the shooter. Personally, as a Canadian where gun laws are strict, I have never seen an armed security guard in a school or have seen metal detectors in my school. Now we have all been 6 years old and I, personally at that age I liked to feel safe at school.

The most common argument about Americas gun laws is the second amendment. It’s by far the most political amendment, as mentioned earlier the suspected original intent was against the British. The amendment says it shall not be infringed. However, over time the federal and state government have passed laws that limit guns however have not infringed the right to own.  So, who’s to say that they can’t limit more high capacity magazines, in sports of hunting who needs a gun that can shoot 60 bullets in a single minute?

Media like games, music and movies have all been blamed for school shootings. This is a common misconception. The most common motives for school shootings are bullying, which can be seen with the Thuston school shooting, and columbine copycats (AKA. Columbiners) which can be seen with the Weis market shooting. Although mental health is also common it doesn’t directly lead to shootings, mental health gives a person the mindset and guns give them the ability.

In conclusion guns should be stricter to reduce childhood death. A child deserves to feel safe in school and not fear becoming a victim to the myriads of kids shot and killed per year in America. I believe all these facts and statistics, like children being scared about their safety and the 388,000 kids who have heard gunshots at school, Americas answer is stricter gun laws. At what cost, how many children who haven’t reached 10 will have to die before America realizes the right to live till 19 is more important than the weapon used to take the right away?

[noihavenosanitythanksforasking]

"man are americans not tought any geography???"

nope. the only geography i ever got was when i did 3 months of home school in 3rd grade which i failed miserably. if u want to really know geography u can sign up for a course in college i assume?

you do get geography in history class technically but it really just looks like

so theres us and then theres canada and then down there is mexico and south america and then over there is lots of stuff but that one is russia and thats china and then over here yk theres lots of stuff here but thats europe and somewhere in there is france england and germany and thats really all that matters anyways. oh and then theres africa and down there is Antarctica and its cold there

but yk theres not much time to do geography bc we are v busy with learning the same thing over and over just with increasing levels of detail

1st grade: and then columbus sailed across the ocean!!! bc hes super brave and cool!!! and he found america!!! wow!! and then he became friends with everyone and they all lived happy ever after!! happy thanksgiving!! we are the best happiest country ever and all other counties wanna be us bc we are all happy and free

12th grade: so columbus raped and pillaged and heres his diary graphically depicting how he was a terrible person and in fact our country is based on terrible things and its all a lie and a bunch of the founding fathers were atheists and tbh we ARE the bad guys and everyone hates it here. other history? um i mean there was ww1 and ww2 i think fhats about it lmaooo

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Food For Fraught http://Newsday.com/matt

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 31, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Apr 01, 2025

On April 1, 1861, Secretary of State William Henry Seward wrote an astonishing letter to President Abraham Lincoln. Less than a month after Lincoln had taken office, Seward had little faith in the apparently uneducated president from the raw West and was angry that the Cabinet had overruled him to provision South Carolina’s Fort Sumter rather than evacuating it. Seward was convinced that he, rather than Lincoln, should lead the administration.

Seward complained that Lincoln had not yet established “a policy either domestic or foreign” and said he had figured out the solution to the nation’s political crisis, in which seven states—South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas—had seceded from the Union in the weeks after Lincoln was elected president but before he took office. “[W]e must,” Seward wrote, “Change the question before the Public from one upon Slavery, or about Slavery for a question upon Union or Disunion.”

The way to do that, he wrote, was to rally Americans around the flag. To do so, he told Lincoln, “I would demand explanations from Spain and France, categorically, at once. I would seek explanations from Great Britain and Russia, and send agents into Canada, Mexico and Central America, to rouse a vigorous continental spirit of independence on this continent against European intervention. And if satisfactory explanations are not received from Spain and France, Would convene Congress and declare war against them.”

Modestly, Seward concluded: “Either the President must do it himself…or Devolve it upon some member of his Cabinet…. It is not in my especial province. But I neither seek to evade nor assume responsibility.”

In other words, Seward proposed taking charge of the U.S. government from the elected president, and then bringing Americans together by starting a war with Spain, France, Great Britain, or Russia—who was on the other side really didn’t matter. A crisis could be created with any of them. The point was to quell dissent at home by turning Americans against another country.

Lincoln spoke directly to Seward about his letter and then dropped the matter, leaving the secretary of state’s preposterous suggestion on the floor like the lead balloon it was. The two went on to forge a strong relationship, with Lincoln as the head of the administration and without starting a war with another country.

But Seward’s missive demonstrated a historical truism: when one country invades another, it usually reflects the problems of the invader’s domestic politics, no matter what the justification for the invasion is.

Although President Donald Trump never mentioned taking over Greenland—or Canada, or Panama, or Mexico—during the 2024 campaign, he has made such takeovers a key objective of his administration. On March 6, Trump addressed “the incredible people of Greenland” during a joint session of Congress, telling them that the U.S. needs Greenland “for national security and even international security…. And I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it.” On March 29, Trump told Kristen Welker of NBC News: “We’ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100%.” He said that there’s a “good possibility that we could do it without military force” but that “I don’t take anything off the table.”

On Friday, Vice President J.D. Vance led a delegation to Greenland, an island of about 56,000 people that is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. As founding members of both the United Nations in 1945 and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949, Denmark and the United States are allies of long standing. Immediately after World War II, the American military maintained 17 bases and installations in Greenland, with thousands of soldiers, but now it maintains only the Pituffik Space Base on Greenland’s northwest coast with about 200 soldiers. It was there that Vance landed with his wife, as well as disgraced national security advisor Mike Waltz, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) on Friday after Greenlanders and Danes opposed a more extended itinerary.

Vance told Denmark it had “underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen dismissed Vance’s assertion, saying that Denmark is “a good and strong ally.” Danish foreign minister Løkke Rasmussen noted that a 1951 agreement between the U.S. and Denmark “offers ample opportunity for the United States to have a much stronger military presence in Greenland. If that is what you wish, then let us discuss it.”

Greenland sits between the United States, Europe, and Russia on the Arctic Circle, where melting ice is making the seas more navigable. Climate change also offers access to Greenland’s rare earth minerals that are of strategic importance for modern economies, as well as oil and gas reserves.

The Trump regime wants those resources, but perhaps even more to the point, the U.S. invading another country—any other country, but particularly an ally—demolishes a key founding principle of the post–World War II order: that countries will respect each other’s borders and sovereignty. In seizing Greenland from Denmark, the U.S. would justify Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian territory.

That the United States is even talking about this is bonkers. Leaders from Greenland and Denmark have said the island is not for sale. National security scholar Tom Nichols posted: “The President of the United States just implied he would use force against an ally in an unprovoked war of aggression and conquest—and the entire world is so used to ignoring him like a crazy grandpa in the attic that it’s not the biggest story on the planet.”

A Fox News poll conducted from March 14 to March 17 showed that only 26% of Americans like the idea of taking over Greenland.

Americans also aren’t keen about the regime sweeping up legal U.S. residents in its deportation programs. A CBS News/YouGov survey from March 27–28 showed that 71% of Americans thought it was “not acceptable” for immigration authorities to mistakenly detain legal U.S. residents as part of the regime’s larger deportation program, while only 29% thought it would be acceptable.

And yet, today Nick Miroff of The Atlantic reported that Trump administration attorneys admitted in a court filing that officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement had seized and deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia by accident. Abrego Garcia fled gang threats in El Salvador when he was 16, and came to the U.S. He has no criminal record, works full time as a union sheet metal apprentice, is married to an American citizen, and is the father of a disabled U.S. citizen. He had been granted legal protected status from return to El Salvador after a judge found he was likely to be targeted by gangs if he was sent back.

The U.S. government did not charge Abrego Garcia with a crime but deported him to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) because of an administrative error. “This was an oversight,” the government told the court. But, because he is no longer in U.S. custody, the government said it is beyond the reach of U.S. courts to get him back.

Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told Miroff he had never seen a case where the government ignored protective legal status and deported someone. “They claim that the court is powerless to order any relief,’’ he told Miroff. “If that’s true, the immigration laws are meaningless—all of them—because the government can deport whoever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want, and no court can do anything about it once it’s done.”

Tomorrow, voters will have a chance to weigh in on the government when elections take place in two Florida districts to fill seats vacated by the resignations of Mike Waltz, now national security advisor, and Matt Gaetz. Wisconsin, too, will hold an election, for a ten-year term on the state supreme court. That position will likely determine whether Wisconsin’s congressional maps remain gerrymandered in favor of Republicans, permitting them to pick up more seats than they have earned. Such skewing has made it possible for Republicans to retain control of the House of Representatives, and candidate Susan Crawford is likely to vote in favor of fair maps to replace the gerrymandered ones.

While it is supposed to be a nonpartisan election, President Trump has thrown his weight behind candidate Brad Schimel. Billionaire Elon Musk has thrown his checkbook, putting almost $20 million behind Schimel. On Sunday Musk traveled to Wisconsin, where he said the election could determine “the future of America and Western Civilization,” warning that a court with Crawford on it would redraw the gerrymandered districts and “add seats for Democrats.”

On Sunday, Musk gave away two checks for $1 million each to individuals who attended his rally for Schimel and signed a petition against “activist judges”. Musk got around the Wisconsin law against exchanging an item of value to get someone to vote or not to vote by claiming the checks were for “spokesperson agreements.” But the video recorded by one of the recipients linked her vote to Musk’s check, saying, “I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, vote, and now I have a million dollars.”

The other check for a million dollars went to the chair of the Wisconsin College Republicans, who has worked for Republican campaigns.

“Let me talk for a minute or two about my opponent, Elon Musk,” Crawford told supporters on Monday. She announced her candidacy for the race before Trump was elected, and according to Scott Bauer of the Associated Press, she said she never imagined she would be fighting against “the richest man in the world.”

Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler said he thought “people do not want to see Elon Musk buying election after election after election. If it works here, he’s going to do it all over the country.”

Meanwhile Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) has been speaking on the floor of the Senate since 7:00 tonight because, he said, “I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.” “These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[vanessalocke]

Canadian Flag

Yesterday when I was talking to my friend, she mentioned that on the Canadian flag, the red represents the red cross of England, and the white represents the French royal.

I wanted to take a closer look so I searched about this and this is what I found:

According to the wiki about Canada flag, it was King George V of Britain who chose red and white as the colors of the Canadian flag. Red comes from the Saint George's Cross (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿) and white represents the French royal. This happened in 1921.

The thing that shocked me the most in this story is that the person who put the white color of France on the Canadian flag was the KING OF ENGLAND!

At first, my friend told me that the Canadian flag was British red and French white. I thought the Canadians made it up because I saw that they were usually quite proud of their French roots. When I looked into it more, I found out that the red and white colors were actually made up by the British king! I was like 😱😱😱

I MEAN, the fact that the British king chose white to represent France for Canada, a long, long time after the fall of the French monarchy, is still something that blows my mind!!!

Like, the only reason why Britain stopped declaring monarchy to France in 1802 or later was because the French monarchy collapsed (monarchies cannot declare monarchy to a republic). So when Britain incorporated the colors of the French monarchy into the Canadian flag in 1921, it was clear that England was still obsessed with the "marriage" with France AFTER 119 YEARS LATER 🙂

This means that Arthur demanded to marry a continental noble for nearly 500 years and after losing hope of marrying him, he still missed him (and missed his unrecognized marriage with him) by putting his crush's colors on his child's flag over 100 years later, every time he looked at his child he remembered him 😃 are you kidding me. This white color probably represents not only the French monarchy but also the desire for a "wedding" (that will never happen). It feels like for hundreds of years, England has never stopped thinking of France as his spouse. As long as the Canadian flag has not changed its color, and the US state of Maryland has not changed its name, the evidence of England's feelings for France will still be there.

I discussed with my friend and learned a few more facts: King George V of England, the one who put white on the Canadian flag, was a king who was very loved by France. France even has a street named after him because he was the one who wanted to send British troops to support France in WWI and was also the one who campaigned for the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France.

[fanficfish]

explaining characters in hetalia badly: family member archtype edition

an incomplete list for funsies

just imagine they're all at a big family reunion lol

Germany: The closeted cousin who still hasn't figured it out.

Prussia: The cool older cousin who's jacked up on the remnants of the energy drinks he chugged during finals week trying to study for his med school exams. Probably specialized in kids medicine, but he's too jittery to confirm.

Italy V: The cousin who's a cousin because someone married someone a couple months ago and has no idea about all the ettiquette rules ye and what not to discuss in front of Great Aunt Sarah.

China: Great Aunt Sarah

Italy R: The cousin who's just hit his highschool years, and has decided MHA and Valorant is his whole personality.

England: The one manning the grill.

France: The one actually manning the grill.

America: The guy who's young enough to be your older brother but old enough that he's a dad. Don't worry, he's cool- he won't make you babysit, but he's gonna show up with those kids in biker jackets and they'll do a fun dance to entertain everyone halfway through dinner.

Russia: The uncle that apparently is a war vet. Definitely saw things he shouldn't have seen and you don't leave your kids with him. Tells the wildest stories over dinner though.

Canada: The cousin who you forget exists because he's actually normal. Actuality has probably spiked something.

Japan: The one hiding in a room playing video games. He might share if you ask nicely.

Lithuania: Someone's spouse. Not sure whose, but he made a nice caserole.

Sweden: That one distant relative who you almost forgot to invite.

Finland: The guy who showed up and you're not sure where he came from, but he's kinda fun so no one questions it.

Norway: The one who was forced to tag along with the rest of the family.

Iceland: The one who pretends he doesn't want to be there but he'd show up even if he wasn't invited because the food is kinda good.

Denmark: The one bringing the alcohol and manning the bar you didn't kow you had.

Latvia: The one trying to sneak underage drinks.

Estonia: The one pretending to be a normal person with his "honor student" and "full ride scholarship next year" but is secretly helping Latvia sneak a drink.

Spain: The uncle who's been married ten times.

Switzerland: The one who only showed up because he was begged to. Either ends up in the corner watching the game or in the middle of the table retelling some grand tale.

Liechtenstein: The one bringing all the delicious deserts and a fruit tray and forced Switzerland to socialize.

Austria: The one insisting on putting on the radio the moment the "go ahead" for the food is said. Might have even called up everyone to remind them to bring their instruments.

Hungary: The one who gets everyone dancing the moment Austria whips out the fiddle tunes.

Seychelles: The one who innocently suggested a board game after the dance-off winds down.

Hong Kong: The cousin who sticks around long enough to say hello to the aunts and uncles and grandparents and get some food before hiding in the room with Japan.

Belarus: The cousin who's a movie-cutter highschool "popular girl" and spends the whole time on her phone texting her boyfriend.

Ukraine: The aunt that break up the board game fights and bans it from future events.

Luxenberg: You don't know what he does for a living, but he brings cool stuff for everyone.

Netherlands: The globetrotting uncle who you're pretty sure knows everyone and everything.

Belgium: The cool aunt who's single and living life.

Phillipines and Thailand: The fresh-out-of-collegers cousin who keeps taking photos of everything.

Malaysia: The fresh-out-of-colleger cousin also taking photos but only aesthetic ones.

Taiwan: The aunt that starts making smoothies unprompted.

Monaco: The cousin who brings a book to read in the corenr.

Cameron: The uncle you don't want to get into an argument about sports with. Switzerland does not head this warning.

Greece: The uncle who drove all day and night to get here with a full car, and is now knocked out on the couch.

Turkey: The funny wine grandpa.

Cyprus: The college dropout who now works at a seven-eleven.

Egypt: The cousin who's studying history and is pretty average except you have photographic evidence that he sat next to a pond and talked to ducks for half an hour and was very serious about it.

[feliville]

I've been trying to learn the world flags so I can identify them (for funsies) and I'm going by continent, starting with America because I am here 🇸🇻 💙

(Putting this under a readmore because longish post about thing that's probably not v interesting so I dont wanna be too annoying BUT. I wanna talk abt it a little anywayz sooo)

It's been SOOO fun, it's really exciting to see a random flag somewhere and to know whose flag it is : -D I passed by a travel agency poster thing with a bunch of South American and Caribbean flags and ahcdbjncd it feels so nice to know things

(only thing is that I've been pronouncing every country name in spanish, which would be correct for most of South America but like. not All of it, I'm sorry Suriname I didnt know the E is silent.. also 4 the Caribbean islands srry 4 pronouncing it Hamáica and Ay-tee(Haití) sobS)

I've been ignoring the USA and Canada flags completely, so a funny side effect of tht is I've been grouping up flags in categories where those 2 would fit, but I only notice a while after hbjnHBN

I was thinking "Out of the America flags, I can only think of 2 that are a vertical tricolor flag with white on the middle and red in one (or 2) of the sides.. Mexico 🇲🇽 and Per�� 🇵🇪 😁" .. I forgor canada exists

And I was thinking "Oh there's SO many flags with the france colors here, there's Costa Rica 🇨🇷, Panamá 🇵🇦, República Dominicana 🇩🇴, Chile 🇨🇱, Cuba 🇨🇺, Puerto Rico 🇵🇷, Paraguay 🇵🇾, and Belice 🇧🇿 technically 😁, so many stars too" .. I forgor abt USA

Thinking also of the few flags that are a tricolor flag with white on the middle and blue on the sides,, El Salvador 🇸🇻 mi amor mi cielo mi vida she's in there with Guatemala 🇬🇹, Honduras 🇭🇳, Nicaragua 🇳🇮 and Argentina 🇦🇷

I'm excited to learn the rest of the flags of the other continents and see which ones I like the most, atm my favorites are El Salvador 🇸🇻(which will never change because I'm VERY biased) Bahamas 🇧🇸 and Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹, they look SO nice.. I'm excited to get to Africa, Botswana's flag 🇧🇼 looks super nice too.

(Hope the emojis aren't annoying, I included them so you don't have to google them)

Anytime I start even Thinking about flags, I inevitably spend at least an hour looking at them and I open a Million wikipedia and googleimages tabs about it.. I think it's been like 2 hours since I started typing this because I kept getting distracted with that.

I love any chance I get to talk about flags : -]

[enlitment]

N°2 for the book asks

Thanks for the ask kind anon and sorry for taking forever to answer! (this one was not easy!)

Top 5 books of all time?

In no particular order:

1. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Set in an interesting historical period (Canada in the 1800s) + partially based on real events + focuses on women's issues + from a female perspective + includes complex, morally grey characters + unreliable narrator trope + criminal (sub)plot + weird historical psychoanalysis & psychiatry + some really great writing. Need I say more?

(Also the show is actually really good as well, if you don't feel like reading the book!)

2. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I mean, it's a classic for a reason. Gay yearning. Corruption. Murder. Beautiful descriptive prose. But hey, this is Tumblr, so I feel like I'm preaching to the choir here.

(Still need to get my hands on the uncensored version at some point!)

3. The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy

I've reread this one more times than I can count. Duffy draws on the classics (mostly Greek mythology, but also fairy tale characters and even Faust) but reimagines them through a more contemporary, as well as female perspective. That could go wrong really easily, but this book in fact does a stellar job in my opinion.

Just read Eurydice, my favourite (I don't think I've ever felt quite as represented by a poem before). Or Medusa. Or Pygmalion's Bride.

Or, you know, and poem that is not Mrs. Tiresias - I like to pretend that one is not there.

4. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Very much my teenage obsession. It's a gripping read written from the point of view of a teenage criminal that speaks in a strange mix of English and Russian that is at first barely coherent. It's raw, it's brutal, but it also asks some very interesting questions about the nature of morality and free will in a way that does not feel forced.

Oh, and the movie's great as well. Possibly the best soundtrack of all time. So good and so problematic that it's been banned in the UK until the 2000s.

5. The Great Cat Massacre (and Other Episodes in French Cultural History) by Robert Darnton

A collection of essays focusing on the microhistory of 18th century France? It's a real mystery why I like it so much, huh.

It's actually a bit insane how much I owe to this book. It arguably helped to spark my Rousseau and Diderot (and, in general, enlightenment era) obsession. I also sneakily reapplied Darnton's argument to justify my thesis (it's totally necessary to study 18th-century mental health approaches, give me all the funds now, please! /s).

Darnton is not only a hilarious author, but you also get a sense that he truly cares about the people he writes about. If you get your hands on it, I recommend reading chapter 4 (includes police description of the key enlightenment figures, like V, Rousseau, and Diderot!) or chapter 6 (the Rousseau stan culture analysis).

Maybe skip the titular chapter, especially if you are fond of cats. I'm afraid the name is, in this case, quite literal.

[unhetalia]

I wanted to do those posts about how we imagine each characters' features, then realised there were so many characters I wanted to do them for! Decided to start it off with the NA sibs.

America:

Baby faced. Soft, delicate features and slightly rounded cheeks, which makes his pouting very effective. Long eyelashes, big eyes. America The Beautiful is real and he is a menace. Physically 19-20, but his IDs claim he's older.

He's 182cm/5'11.

His hair is a light golden blonde, and skin has a natural medium tan. His eyes most closely match A17 blue. Because of his skin, I imagine America is often considered mixed race by humans.

Despite America's constant preoccupation with his weight, he isn't overweight. He doesn't have abs, and his stomach is soft - but it's flat. Most of his physical activity comes from being energetic and curious - he does a lot of hiking with Canada and Mexico, and he bikes everywhere because he secretly can't drive, so while he's physically fit, it doesn't translate to a superhero body, to his endless disappointment. Though he has incredibly strong legs on top of his insurmountable strength.

America l o v e s colours. He tends to buy all of his clothing second-hand, so his fashion can mostly be described as 'eclectic'. He is not known for being fashionable among the other Nations.

Canada:

He and America don't actually look very alike, and Canada thinks its more proximity that has people mistaking him for his brother all the time. Canada doesn't have America's baby face, and stopped getting what he wanted through pouting long ago. He has a sharp jawline and can be described as strikingly handsome, when people bother to look. He has the same long lashes and big eyes as his brother and are physically the same age.

He's two inches taller than his brother (6'1), but he slouches so much that they look the same height. He has a few suits for world meetings, but all off the rack. France despairs, but knows better than to buy him anything.

His hair and skin have a cooler undertone - his hair is lighter than America's and his skin is pale. His eyes most closely match A60, and looks purple in certain lights in the same way Elizabeth Taylor's did, but it is actually blue. He also doesn't actually need glasses, and wears them only because his brother had refused to wear his own unless he also had them, years and years ago. He's too used to it now, and it has sentimental value.

Canada is an avid hockey player, hiker and all around fitness buff, and his body secretly reflects that, underneath all the layers. He's broader in the shoulders and waist than America, and more muscular, to his brother's endless, ENDLESS bitterness. He's also very disciplined with his eating, and follows an athlete's diet. He REALLY cares about Hockey, guys.

HOCKEY JERSEYS. LAYERS. LOUNGEWEAR. He has the wardrobe of a typical sportsmad lad. Waterproof steel-toed boots, something he and Australia both extol the virtues of. He likes whites, greys, browns and lights blues.

[raphoupix]

Antoine Griezmann - France v. Canada - Friendly game

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S02E10 - The French Connection

The episode from which I found out that there are some islands close to Canada that belong to France somehow. And apparently now there's also a crime show set in those islands?

From Wikipedia: Saint-Pierre is a Canadian police procedural television series, slated to premiere in the 2024–25 season on CBC Television. The series stars Alan Hawco as Donny "Fitz" Fitzpatrick, a police officer with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary; after one of his investigations gets uncomfortably close to the corruption of a powerful local politician, he is exiled to the French territory of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, where he partners with local police officer Geneviève "Arch" Archambault (Joséphine Jobert) to to solve local crimes.

Now, wait a second. That's about half the plot of this Hudson and Rex episode!

Anyway, on to the episode.

A girl carrying baguettes on a bicycle???

"I hope he's not some pretentious Godard-quoting chain smoker." Just once, look around before you speak.

I got you now, mister Black Coffee. That's more milk than what I put in my latte.

We've already established some of the most popular stereotypes for French and Canadian people. Valerie is already snobbish and Charlie has already apologized once.

While on duty?

Oh my god his face when the dude spits out the gin in the spit bucket lmao

I like many kinds of drinks but I admit that gin leaves me uninterested. I don't know what it is about it.

Well, hello there, Aaron Ashmore, twin brother of Shawn Ashmore. For anyone who doesn't know, this not the guy who's on The Rookie, but he is the guy who was on Killjoys, with Mayko Nguyen.

People keep handing Valerie drinks and Charlie keeps saying "we're on duty". Just give up.

Why does he look so happy to be digging through trash???

Claire just said that there's no law against lying to the police. What?

Valerie, when you doubt Charlie, it's funny. When you doubt Sarah and Rex, you sound like a twat.

Well, don't sound so proud about it.

"You're more comfortable with dogs than people". Probably, but that's because people are often twats.

Charlie's face is pure comedy in this episode. So funny.

Sarah gets to go undercover AND drink gin. Well, if we call that drinking.

She says "you guys" but only looks at Charlie. You're not even subtle.

Charlie: Oh, hell to the no. This is a trap.

Valerie is not wrong here. That's gross, not to mention unsanitary. He'd put so much milk in it that it must have gone bad by now. And judging by his reaction when he takes a sip, it probably has. Never drink coffee with dairy that's been left out for more than two hours, folks.

I only wish I could capture the following scene with Sarah and Jesse competing on who's going to deliver the new evidence that they have found out. But I think Sarah's "I'll fucking murder that twink" face is very telling.

Now, cognac, I like. Although, according to google, the most expensive cognac is Henri IV, not V. I'm sure they've written that intentionally. The real cognac is worth up to 2 million dollars, by the way. People are crazy.

Charlie does not understand any of this and to be honest, neither am I. Any bottle of wine that costs more than 20 Euros is a scam. Any clear alcohol like whiskey, gin, rum, vodka, that costs more than 50 Euros is also a scam.

"No CCTV cameras anywhere. You might say that it's the perfect place for murder". I don't remember a lot of cases outdoors that were solved by watching CCTV cameras either way. Which makes sense. I mean, how many CCTV cameras does a city like St. John's need?

This is such a funny episode, really.

We must do this at least once in any Rex adaptation. I bet it's in the contracts lol

Joe: *counts* One [Valerie], two [Charlie], *skips Jesse* three of you [Rex] are going on a trip. lol poor Jesse.

*tries to speak French and gets guns pointed at him* Come on, it wasn't that bad, was it? (Yes, I'd have put that line in there if I could.)

That's why he'll move soon!

The chase scene was good too.

Ugh, Valerie has her finger on the trigger. No.

Joe: "Can anyone explain to me why I was asked to comp a 300 dollar cognac bill?" Justice isn't cheap, Superintendent. Although for that many bottles... I mean, I can't find cognac that cheap here.

We had whiskey glasses in S1, what the hell happened?

Well, I enjoyed that. I didn't remember it was such a funny episode. And I maxed out the image limit again.

[mad-prophet-of-the-airwaves]

My top 20 new-to-me movies of 2024

1. An Elephant Sitting Still  (2018, Hu Bo, China)

2. Straight Time (1978, Ulu Grosbard, USA)

3. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023, Martin Scorsese, USA)

4. Sátántangó (1994, Béla Tarr, Hungary)

5. Bad Boy Bubby (1993 Rolf de Heer, Australia)

6. First Reformed (2017, Paul Schrader, USA)

7. Jane B. par Agnès V. (1988, Agnès Varda, France)

8. The Dirties (2013, Matt Johnson, Canada)

9. The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood (1986, Andy Jones/Michael Jones, Canada)

10. The Miracle Worker (1962, Arthur Penn, USA)

11. The Great Escape (1963, John Sturges, USA)

12. Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2002, Wang Bing, China)

13. Fear of a Black Hat (1993, Rusty Cundieff, USA)

14. Cemetery Man (1994, Michele Soavi, Italy)

15. Wolfwalkers (2020, Tomm Moore/Ross Stewart, Ireland)

16. Calvary (2014, John Michael McDonagh, Ireland)

17. Not a Pretty Picture (1976, Martha Coolidge, USA)

18. Real Life (1979, Albert Brooks, USA)

19. The Tenant (1976, Roman Polanski, France)

20. Red Rocket (2021, Sean Baker, USA)

[mellifluouaamor]

⍣ | HETALIA

A

AERICAN EMPIRE

AMERICA

AUSTRALIA

B

BELGIUM

C

CANADA

CHINA

D

DENMARK

E

EGYPT

ENGLAND

he tries and fails to kabe-don you (scenario; gn!reader)

F

FINLAND

FRANCE

G

GERMANY

GREECE

H

HONG KONG

I

ICELAND

INDONESIA

IRELAND

ITALY ROMANO

ITALY VENEZIANO

J

JAPAN

K

KOREA

L

LADONIA

LATVIA

LUXEMBOURG

M

MALAYSIA

MOLOSSIA

N

NETHERLANDS

NIKO NIKO JR

NORTHERN IRELAND

NORWAY

O

OSAKA

P

PHILIPPINES

PORTUGAL

PRUSSIA

R

RUSSIA

S

SCOTLAND

SEALAND

SEBORGA

SINGAPORE

SLOVAKIA

SLOWJAMASTAN

SPAIN

STOMARIA

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

T

TURKEY

V

VIETNAM

W

WALES

ㅤ

⍣ | ANOTHER COLOUR

IMPORTANT NOTE: I will not be following the accepted fan interpretations of the 2ps. The idea of them being utterly inhumane is just not my cup of tea. To me, the 2ps are the 1ps who responded differently to the pivotal events in their history and went down the "what if" paths.

ITALY VENEZIANO (LUCIANO VARGAS)

ITALY ROMANO (FLAVIO VARGAS)

GERMANY (SIEGFRIED BEILSCHMIDT)

PRUSSIA (SIEGMUND BEILSCHMIDT)

JAPAN (HONDA KURO)

AMERICA (ALLEN F. JONES)

CANADA (JAMES MATHIEU WILLIAMS)

ENGLAND (MORDRED KIRKLAND)

FRANCE (JACQUES BONNEFOY)

RUSSIA (VIKTOR BRAGINSKY)

CHINA (WANG ZAO)

ㅤ

⍣ | NYOTALIA

BELARUS (NIKOLAI ARLOVSKY)

BELGIUM (LIAM JANSSENS)

HUNGARY (DANIEL HÉDERVÁRY)

LIECHTENSTEIN (HR. NOAH STEIN)

TAIWAN (LIN YUN-SHEN)

UKRAINE (DMITRI CHERNENKO)

VIETNAM (NGUYEN VAN TRUC)

WY (CHESTER IRWIN)

ㅤ

⍣ | SERIES

moon embraces the sun (italy & romano; fem!reader; transmigration isekai)

( gangsta au ) one day, when you are cleaning the italian brothers' house, you suddenly remember your past life. this is the world of the manga hetalia, except it's a dystopian pangea where instead of countries, there are districts ruled by mobsters. as you try to grasp your new reality, you find that the memories of your current life have become fragmented, leaving you no choice but to seek ways to remember. to make matters worse, the representatives of the other districts are beginning to catch onto the fact that you're different, and it'll only be a matter of time before the big 5 hears of you.

querencia (various; fem!reader; one-shot collection; isekai)

it has been a little over a decade since you left the hetalia fandom to focus on your life. one day, youtube recommends an old hetalia song that you used to obsess over, and after listening to it, you decide to step back into the fandom to reminisce about your hetalian era. however, you didn't expect to literally return to hetalia when two strange yet familiar men kidnap you from your world and bring you to theirs.