#how is poland so low where are people finding meaning in poland

[homunculus-argument]

A neat trick for avoiding arguments: Get better at guessing what people mean through multiple hypothesis elimination!

If you find yourself in arguments a lot, particularly the types where someone says something, you tell them that they're completely wrong, and it turns out that they were talking about something completely different than what you thought that they were saying, you unfortunately cannot force everyone else on the planet to speak more clearly. But what you can do is get better at guessing what they're triyng to say!

Every time someone says something that sounds completely wrong, try this: Come up with three different interpretations of what they might be trying to say (and only one of the three is your first guess), and then look back to the earlier conversation for clues of which interpretation might be the the most correct one. Let's try an example sentence:

"Bears aren't the main threat you should be worrying about when hiking in Poland. You are statistically more likely to get killed by a dog attack than by a bear."

Now, let's come up with three different interpretations:

This person is saying that bears are more safe to keep as pets than dogs. You are always safe in the presence of a wild bear.

This person is claiming that there are turbo dangerous killer dogs roaming in the woods in Poland and they can and will kill you.

The odds of getting killed by a random dog are low, but never zero. This person is pointing out that the odds of getting killed by a random bear are even lower than that.

And once you have three different interpretations available, look at what the rest of the conversation has been about this far. Were they talking about what animals are the safest to keep as pets? No, they were talking about potential dangers in the wilderness. So that eliminates interpretation #1. So that leaves us with options two and three. And while I, personally, would opt to assume that the speaker is not a complete moron, and automatically assume that the most likely interpretation is the one that isn't idiotic.

But the neat thing is, if you aren't sure, you can always ask them! If you can, try to word it politely. Like this: "Do you mean that there are killer dogs in the woods in Poland, or did you choose dog attacks as a random statistical comparison, in order to highlight how unlikely bear attacks truly are?" The answer might surprise you! And if they did, in fact, mean the idiotic thing you thought they said, you're now free to shred them to bits with no further hesitation! Just remember:

Always ask before you attack.

[lobinilo]

What are your favourite Jonah’s projects? ☺️🎬

~ plays TikTok Sound~

OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE THIS QUESTIOOOONNN

So since May 2023 (what happened there? I have no idea 😉) I've watched everything Jonah-related I could get my hands on (except for Little Women, but I'm definetly going to watch that later this year).

My top 3 Jonah projects OTHER than The Little Mermaid (because truth be told, I think it's pretty clear how obsessed I am with that movie and it's not really a fair comparison to some of the more indepent, even low budget projects Jonah has starred in) so far:

1. World on Fire (2019 - 2023)

created by: Peter Bowker directed by: Chanya Button, Thomas Napper, Adam Smith, Andy Wilson Jonah plays: Harry Chase

Big shocker, right? Given how much I already rambled about Harry and Kasia (my traumatised parents) and how upset I was when they cancelled it. I will always mourn this show for the huge potential it had.

World on Fire is a BBC-show following different people in Britain, Poland, Germany and France (with some American viewpoints as well) as they have to endure and navigate their life through World War II. Doesnt really sound like anything we haven't seen, right? However, World on Fire is worth checking out imo, since it differs a lot from the usual Hollywood-infused war epics, because rather than focusing on the politics or the big battles, the show looks more closely at the everyday person that actually had to live through this tragedy and how they deal with what's happening. That being said, obviously this is still a show about WW II, so there definitely IS depiction of violence, murder and torture, as well as bombings, gunfire etc., so please be careful if you find any of those things triggering. I personally found some episodes quite hard to get through.

I think it's interesting that Jonah's filmography is very heavy on projects set during or related to WW II (additionally to WoF you have The Song of Names, Ashes in the Snow and ofc coming up The Tattooist of Auschwitz). Theories on why that is are welcome!

Harry Chase (brilliantly brought to life by our favourite British simp) differs quite a bit from many of Jonah's other roles in that he`s not your heroic, clean-cut good guy (like Andrius, Lucas, Mo or Prince Eric). He's insecure and a little helpless, even cowardly at times. Harry starts out as a translator, but later joins the British Army and the SOE. He fucks up repeatedly, both in his role as lieutenant, as well as in his personal life. Even though most of the time he means well, his cowardice ends up hurting a lot of people and leads him to be in the middle of a love triangle. (Though to me it's not a triangle, but rather a straight line, Team Kasia all the way.)

Harry, though deeply troubled, is a very kind and soft soul. That doesn't really pair well with the acts of war, as well as british society in the 1940s in general, which leads to conflict with other characters and their idea of who he should be. Especially when he clashes with his mother Robina (portrayed by the absolute MAGNIFICENT Lesley Manville, shes giving Emily Gilmore in the best way possible), Jonahs acting is ON POINT. His performance is so nuanced: He's angry, he's desperate, he's sad, but also condescending, sarcastic and hostile towards her. The interesting thing about Harry is the journey he takes. To watch him try to better himself by dealing with past trauma and taking responsibility for present mistakes. The real standout for his character is episode 5 of season 1 where he finally steps up and takes charge. This is also when he starts earning the respect of his sergeant Stan (Blake Harrison) for the first time - they have a real bromance, both on and off the show, I LIVE for these two.

But - just like in real life - he doesn't have this one breakthrough moment and everything is smooth sailing from there. He fluctuates, just like a real person would. He still has the tendency to run away from his problems, but I think what he's seen in the war, what happened at home and (yes, I'm making this about my ship) his love for Kasia (Zofia Wichlacz) make him realise the type of man he wants to be and he would probably try to act accordingly IF WE GOT A THIRD SEASON, BBC! 😤😡🤬

2. Old Boys (2018)

directed by: Toby MacDonald Jonah plays: Henry "Winch" Winchester

If you can only watch one Jonah movie, I beg of you MAKE IT THIS ONE!

I`ve found next to nothing about Old Boys and that seriously has to change. (watched the entire movie again, getting my non-existing gif-making skills ready, just the night before I got this ask, talk about fate)

This movie is so underrated, it doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry. Make it make sense! How is nobody watching this cutie-patootie work of art? Its adorkable in the best sense of the word, it's heartwarming, a little silly and oh! so funny!

It's losely based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, set in an all-boys british boarding school in the 1980s. Given the source material, catfishing is definetly a thing here, keep that in mind if you might find that topic difficult.

Alex Lawther's character Amberson (cliché school nerd and victim of bullying) falls in love with the new french teachers daughter Agnes (Pauline Etienne) who in turn has a crush on First-Class-Himbo Winch (portrayed by a beautiful, dimple-faced, british actor). Because Agnes is very artistic and looking for someone that matches her vibe, Amberson helps Winch to try to impress her, because Winch himself is... well... a little dim 😅.

Winch is easily my favourite Jonah character to date (yes, including Prince Eric). I have seriously considered changing my tumblr-name to themightywinch because of him. I mean... he's corteous and punctual, after all 🤣😍.

While not the main character, he's definetly the highlight of the movie. Jonah is likeable, charming, the right kind of awkward in the right moments, has fantastic comedic timing and great chemistry with Alex Lawther.

Just look at that scene alone! IT`S. SO. CUTE!!! (cute-raging over here 😡) Watching this just makes you wish Jonah would star in more comedies, because he definetly has the skills for it! This is just a feel-good movie that leaves you smiling with a warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart. It has easily become one of my new comfort watches. Old Boys just never fails to make me laugh and I wish it would get more attention and recognition since it definetly deserves it! (like at least write a Wikipedia article about it) Btw, I bought this on Prime for 99ct, best money I ever spend!

3. The Last Photograph (2017)

(the trailer says 2019, but the movie was originally shown at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2017)

directed by: Danny Huston Jonah plays: Luke Hammond

Fair warning, this movie is gut-wrenching. I don't know if this qualifies as an actual trigger-warning, but this movie deals with the loss of a child/ death of a young person, as well as the real life tragedy of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombed in 1988 so proceed with caution.

Luke Hammond (Dimples McGee) is on said flight to visit his long-distance girlfriend Kate (Stacy Martin) in New York. Kate's and Luke's first meeting is a little awkward imo, I think it's meant to be like a meet-cute, especially with the whole "Bird"-thing, it just doesn't really work for me. But the rest of their love story is very endearing, they're just two young people experiencing love for the first time. Their time together is told through seemingly random, incoherent flashbacks and memories, just giving little glimpses of what their relationship was like and it's the cutest thing. Little intimate touches, hidden smiles, shared laughter... It's shot in a way as if you're watching them through rose-colored glasses, which is probably the point.

I love the way this movie uses different lighting and colour changes to depict a difference in the time line as well as the emotional state of the characters.

We only see Luke in flashbacks (guess why) and follow his dad Tom (Danny Huston) in present day (which in this case means 2003) as he is desperately trying to retrieve the last photograph (hence the titel) he possesses of his son after his bag was stolen. To see Tom slowly losing his grip as he grows more and more desperate to find the picture is truely heartbreaking. (It's a polaroid, so there are no copies, this is truely the last memory he has of Luke. God, I'm tearing up while writing this.)

Because Luke is basically just seen through the memory of his father who obviously holds him in high regard/ romanticizes the idea of his son, he is portrayed in a solely positive light, which usually wouldn't give much dimension to his character. Yet Jonah still manages to fill this role with life and witt and charisma, making you understand why Bird fell for him. He's sweet, romantic, a little bit shy, which works really well here, has the cutest laugh and clearly cares really deeply for his father. He's definetly portrayed as the "you simply have to love him" kinda guy, which is why his absence cuts so deep.

This is also in huge parts due to Danny Huston's performance. Honestly, the sweater-scenes (or jumper, if you're british 😉) almost broke me. And don't even get me started on his letter to Kate or Kate's letter to him... ugh. It's. So. SAD.

This is obviously not for everyday watch. However, even though The Last Photograph is heartbreaking, it doesn't necessarily leave you hopeless and depressed. This movie feels like a loving tribute to an actual person and therefore has a beauty in its melancholy. Throughout Tom's journey there is hope and forgiveness towards himself. There's a beautiful symmetry to the whole thing. The ending feels almost satisfying if you can say that in this context.

I also wanna give a shoutout to This Is The Night (2021). The movie itself isn't that great, it's a little all over the place and I think they tried to do a little too much all at once. But I looo~oooved Jonah in this, Christians character arc is by far the most interesting one and I wish the script gave their character justice in the way Jonah's and Naomi's acting did. (Also this is the HOTTEST he's ever looked which is a bit ironic).

This list is probably going to be outdated soon, since he has a lot coming out in the near future (I'm especially excited for Rich Flu).

Sorry, if this is too long and rambly and if it took too long for me to answer, I got a little carried away and suddenly had a lot of gifs to make 😅.

Thank you soooo much for the ask, @measuredmotion ❤️.

[thecyrulik]

15 Questions, 15 Mutuals

Tagged by @ceph-the-ghost-writer! Trying to get back to being more active here. One day I will write a chapter of one of my stories, I swear.

Let's start!

1. Are you named after anyone? Ostensibly not! My parents had a Talk TM before I was born and they both decided that I should not be named after anyone, to make my life my own etc. They found a name that hadn't appeared on either side of my family till that day. And then my aunt named her child the same name 🙃

2. When was the last time you cried? Sad Moment TM - it was my grandma's funeral last year (the exact anniversary is due in a couple of days), and before that, my other grandma's funeral a couple of years back. I'm not a big crier, though I sometimes wish I were. Lets feelings out.

3. Do you have kids? No, but I'm cool with having them one day, with the right person to raise them with. Love the fact that those funky creatures turn into actual taxpayers with careers one day.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? not really. In text - perhaps. With people I know well - yes. Generally no, I'm not that kind of a joker. In fact, I am a little dull IRL.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people? How they react to other people, I think. Their relations with coworkers, how they talk to customers, people above and below them in the company hierarchy etc. I love analyzing that too. I also adore trying to figure out where they're from based on their vocab/accent.

6. What’s your eye color? Greyish blue. The dullest colour there is, though one person (very dear to me) called it "like winter sky on a frosty morning". Not cool enough to be "steel eyes", not blue enough to be compared to aquatic formations. There's no such thing as ugly eye colour though, and mine isn't either.

7. Scary movies or happy endings? Def both. Scary with a happy ending. I'm not a fan of jump scares but I think characters have to fight (and sometimes suffer) for their happy ending sometimes.

8. Any special talents? Hah. what does "special" mean? I'm stubborn in all the wrong ways and it makes me end up in some odd situations. I am rarely lost and read maps very well, and if you give me a simple task that needs to be repeated 1000 times, I'll happily do it without getting bored. I will just imagine my blorbos suffering during that time, so any negative moodlets cannot affect me.

9. Where were you born? Poland! In a small town I've only ever been to twice in my life, including my birth! The local hospital used to have a wonderful maternity ward and all, so my parents went there every time they had a baby on the way.

10. What are your hobbies? I write and I read, I find out weird stuff on the internet. I like crafts like stitching and knitting, I make my own beer, cider and fruit liquers, and work in the garden a lot! Oh, and I love languages an awful lot.

11. Have you any pets? I have two cats that live with my parents now - one of them is an idiot and also quarter European wildcat - he has 2 braincells only. The other one is his domestic cat momma, a black demoness that loves staying in the shadows and attacking you when you step on her (she doesn't have a non-black hair on her body so you can imagine she is stepped on quite often).

12. What sports do you play/have played? Used to be into handball in high school. Right now I mostly swim, usually when I have to think about stuff. I can't listen to my music in the swimming pool so I'm forced to listen to y thoughts. Other than that, I juggle! And it's fun and satisfying and you can make your own juggling balls with balloons and sand/rice!

13. How tall are you? 164 cm. Not great, not terrible. I get +2 in sneaking though, and exploring basements, mines and medieval castles is generally safe for me, at least when it comes to bumping your head on low door frames.

14. Favorite subject in school? Foreign languages and biology. I also enjoyed maths a lot, but I had good teachers all the way. In uni - history of Greece, pharmaceutical botany, infectious diseases and ethics.

15. Dream job? Coming up with new blorbos to torment and put in Situations TM and talking about them. Since I have no discipline to be a full-time writer, my current job is a very nice second-best option.

Tagging @whumpsday @kim-poce @whump-cravings @andordean @hold-him-down @whumpy-writings! feel free to ignore any questions that feel too private for you, and swap them with a fun fact about one of your OC!

[batri-jopa]

a meme!

Thanks for tagging me @notasapleasure

1. Are you named after anyone?

Not after a real person. My mom said it was a name of a doll in some kind of fairy tale that she watched (or read?) and she just liked that name.

2. When was the last time you cried?

A week ago. Well, I guess I asked for it: after all those years I just should have known better than dwell on that kind of stuff from the past and in this part of my hormone cycle. (You know stuff like one of these few extremally rare moments in your life someone from your closest family said sth that made you feel like shit but thinking about it years after still never fails to make you feel like shit all over again?)

3. Do you have kids?

No. Surprisingly no. If asked ten years ago I would most surely say I'm going to. Not that I ever really desired it so much. More that not wanting was always considered as something that is worthy of condemnation. So it was just that "normal thing to do" with no deeper thinking involved nor required, you know?

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

It depends but sometimes it feels like the last thing that is left to defence my mental stability. And I'd rather be commenting an absurdish situation (especially in my job) than a person.

5. What sports do you play/have you played?

Table tennis my love!❤ Any other I ever tried playing is not even worth mentioning (I played field hockey two or three times and football once or twice and I remember really enjoying it. But unfortunately girls were let to play it extremally rarely, we were expected to play volleyball or basketball - none of which I ever liked😑)

6. What's the first thing you notice about other people?

I'm not sure what kind of situation I'm expected to consider... So in the place where I am just a random person in the crowd (railway station and such) I would probably first notice if anyone looked angry or impatient or irritated - to make sure I can avoid getting on their way (e.g. being a patient in a waiting room it's about sitting quietly with your head low and ignoring any possible evil comments about healthcare and politics). As for when I'm feeling safe or even going to meet someone new - I will pay attention to people's face expression and eyes, I also like to see someone smiling or doing or wearing something that make me think we have something in common. Also I notice their clothes sometimes if I liked the colour or the pattern (I can't help it, my brain is of visual artist😅 It doesn't mean I judge ppl by their look. Many times I find something ugly in objectively pretty person that I did not liked and in somebody I liked I'd always find some beautiful detail, regardless their look)

7. What's your eyes colour?

Yellow on the inside with blue ring on the outside. I like to think it makes them look a bit green from a distance.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

If only two options avaliable I'd rather choose happy ending. Life is scary enough😅

9. Any special talents?

Drawing I guess. I am able to project a picture from my brain to a flat paper with a piece of charcoal and it's like freaking magic. It never stopped to amaze me.

10. Where were you born?

In a town in north Poland.

11. What are your hobbies?

Drawing most of all. Also creating short stories on my head I then illustrate or longer stories I sometimes write down. Given more free time I also like to engage into pyrography, sewing stuffed toys or crocheting. From time to time I like to travel, most usually to one of Polish towns but traveling abroad I like too.

12. Do you have any pets?

Cat for the last 4 years. Before that I was having syrian hamsters for almost 20 years (16 hamsters).

13. How tall are you?

165 centimeters.

14. Favorite subject in school?

Mathemathics above everything else! Also liked Polish, biology and chemistry. Most hated was always sports, while geography, history and physics were dangerously close to "hate" line.

15. Dream job?

Dream as "daydream"? I sometimes fantasize if I was born again I'd like to be one of the graphics making animated movie, like those of a Pixar studio. Or a pastor officiating weddings of gay couples

Dream as what I wish or plan: creating art on request or design prints for t-shirt, cushions and children blankets, maybe designing playing cards too - just enough for me to be satisfied that I can do it and my client to have a personalized gift. At the same time working other job 2-3 days a week to earn just enough for a comfortable life.

Tag fifteen mutuals - that's the worst part, how do I get so much?😑 Okey, everybody, feel invited but not pressed: @figuringthengsout , @chrisoels , @morulezopelforever , @sharp-lines-in-charcoal , @parttimereptile , @greenbloodedskink , @krejong , @theflyingrhubarb , @sunlightismydestroyer-blog , @asteeee , @bylercultism , @princesspink48484 , @elephant-reincarnation , @angleshades , @sweetlullabyebye

[automatismoateo]

I find it hilarious that religious people accuse the LGBTQ community of anything and everything when in reality it's just projection. via /r/atheism

I find it hilarious that religious people accuse the LGBTQ community of anything and everything, when in reality, it's just projection. The most common arguments/hate speech against homosexuality I hear from religious people is that LGBTQ people are unnatural, indoctrinate children, spew "propaganda", and are pedophiles. LOL. Homosexuality has been documented in animals for centuries. There are records of humans having same sex relationships before religion became mainstream. You know what's not natural? A fucking skyfriend that controls the entire universe and only adheres to your specific set of controlling beliefs. You're telling me that someone created an entire fucking solar system in a matter of days? When it takes hundreds of thousands of years for a star just to progress to the low mass stage that our current sun is in now? Please. I often hear stories about how primary schools are allegedly painting rainbows and shoving pride into children's' faces. Not only are the vast majority of these reports false, its the opposite. Children in religious families spend their entire developmental years having beliefs espoused from their parents mouths, the only people they trust during that early stage of their lives. In nation states such as Iran, Poland, Algeria, Israel, India, and Indonesia, (why are most of the i countries so shitty?) people are taught in state schools that only their religion is correct, and that punishment will follow anyone who deviates from their faith. I mean in the United fucking States, supposed "land of the free", the pledge of allegiance is recited every morning where kids are forced to affirm that their country is "under god" Lets not forget the amount of hateful religion indoctrination that happens outside of the home or classroom. Everytime I go on Instagram and see a viral post, I guarantee you there will be some xhristian spamming bible verses or an islamic propagandist spewing homophobic dross. Hell, everytime I see a social media post relating to LGBTQ issues in the slightest, I see violent homophobic accounts brigading the post, and guess what? Most of them have a shitty religious text verse or icon in their bio/profile picture. Everyday you see athletes, celebrities, politicians, wearing a cross necklace or a hijab and thanking god or allah or krishna or whatever, yet one person holds hands with another person of the same sex and everyone goes batshit crazy, telling them to keep it in private. Now, the funniest part; the accusations of pedophilia. Religious people love to say that homosexuals are hypersexualizing kids with woke material or whatever bs buzzword they can come up with. Yet Catholic priests rape kids while their parishners defend them and Republicans pass prochild marriage laws. Islam is based off the teachings of a man who had sexual relations with a 9 year old. Religious Jews literally suck the foreskin of babies. Pretty sure theres a couple dogmas in other religions that encourage child marriage as well. Religious people in general have a weird obsession with children, probably so they can outbreed and outnumber atheists and agnostics. I could stretch this tangent out further, but it pisses me off when thinking about it, so I'll leave the rest for another day. Submitted June 18, 2024 at 05:34PM by GrowthJust83 (From Reddit https://ift.tt/tRA63eo)

[disaster-vampire]

i'm so sorry but i have no idea how to put in a "read more" on mobile. this is really long.

this rant was inspired by this post, i agree with most of it but it prompted a lot of thoughts that derailed the more i wrote, so buckle up. i wrote a whole ass post on hannibal and dante that you can find here, where i highlight how impressive it is that hannibal can give lectures on dante as a foreigner, just to get that out of the way. i add a few more thoughts on that specific topic here on the technicalities of how hannibal would even get to that point and why dante is so fitting for hannibal but let's go.

i also grew up bilingual with italian being my main language and sardinian regrettably being my second when it should have been my first. and i learned italian much faster than sardinian, even with both being my mother tongues, because i was taught italian in school and it's kind of "forbidden" to speak sardinian in formal environments as it's considered low-brow to speak it for historical reasons so i only really speak it with family and a few friends that know the language, as not everyone does. bear with me this is part of the meta.

so, all that said, growing up in lithuania and interacting with other lithuanian people, including his family and whatever staff they had in that big ass castle, plus schooling, he probably knew lithuanian better than italian in his childhood. that is not taking into consideration the soviets though. i went to read about it without falling in too deep into the rabbit hole and lithuania has been independent since the 90s, so even show hannibal, who is younger than book hannibal, would have only known soviet lithuania. i unfortunately know fuck all about how soviet russia treated its conquered countries and am not willing to dive into that right in this moment so i'm not gonna make assumptions, but as was said in the original post hannibal did end up in a soviet orphanage so he was likely taught russian there.

this would mean that hannibal grew up knowing russian very well, speaking lithuanian with family and friends outside of school and formal events, which means reduced lexicon, and only speaking italian with his mother, maybe his sister and father, and his other italian relatives who we know nothing of.

i like to think he also speaks esperanto as it was developed during the soviet occupation of poland to be spoken amongst the various countries that were also occupied by the soviets but that's more headcanon than anything.

idk how to feel about him and lithuanian considering what has been said in the original post and in its notes, because i'm a bit biased. i'm very proud of where i'm from and i speak sardinian to spite mussolini and hope he rolls in his grave every time a child learns a new sardinian word. considering mischa in the books was killed by soviet soldiers (correct me if i'm misremembering that, i haven't read all the books yet but i know the gist of his backstory) i like to think hannibal also speaks lithuanian both to spite them and to keep the memory of his sister alive. i'd say if anything he'd hate to speak russian since it was spoken by said soldiers and in the orphanage.

considering that what he does is re-enact what was done to him, he's not letting that memory go, despite how much he likes to say "nothing happened to me, i happened," he feeds other people human meat without them knowing just like he was fed his sister unknowingly.

and yes i do think he probably had it in him before as well, and i do think if nothing had happened to him he still would have turned out to be a criminal anyway, but what happened to him did shape what kind of criminal he became in his adulthood, and he even put (in the show) will through the same ordeal when he convinced him he ate his surrogate daughter and actually force fed him part of her as an effort to change him.

he's very self aware, and i think he knows both that he always had the potential and that what he chooses to do is linked to his trauma.

now, more on latin, dante, and italian. this is about to get unhinged because it's 3am and i have strong opinions on dante (namely: he thought he could dole out judgements on whether or not other people would or would not go to hell- which is a thing he made up btw, based on the greek myth of hades, and the vatican had to make it canonical because so many people read his books that it became a widespread belief- based on his personal opinion of their actions).

i have no idea if hannibal being a dante lecturer in florence of all places is something the show took from the books, and i'm also not sure where the hell hannibal studied dante, but i'll do my best here. i know about dante because boy do they drill dante into your brain in italian school from middle school onwards. i assure you every single living italian can quote the opening of the inferno to you. i don't think they teach dante that religiously in french schools but lemme know if i'm wrong.

so i'm assuming, again, that he went to high school in italy and likely went to a liceo classico, which as you can probably guess from the name, is where you study classic literature. classic as in roman and greek. so. they study latin and ancient greek, and they probably got dante coming out their eyeballs.

i believe the reason hannibal likes dante so much is that dante was an asshole who put all the people he knew irl and didn't like in hell in his self insert fanfiction where he meets god and various creatures from greek myth. and if any of y'all come at me defending dante and being pretentious asshats about calling the divina commedia a self insert fanfiction i will bite you because i hate his guts even if the inferno is a fun read. the dude couldn't write a transition scene to save his life, he just fainted every time he needed to change scene. the only credit i give him is that he wanted to bring academic discourse to the common folk. anyway. the way dante wrote the inferno is very reminiscent of hannibal's modus operandi. he tortures and consumes people that have committed a sin that specifically irritates him, thus making himself god (and yes dante did that too, he hated indecisive people and made a special circle in hell just for people who wouldn't pick a side, and as a non-binary bisexual, i love that for me).

lemme tell you about this real dude that dante put in hell that i believe inspired hannibal lecter as a character: count ugolino della gherardesca. now those of you who know the story know where i'm going with this. count ugolino is in hell because he changed political factions. yea. as i said. dante hates indecision. he's showed gnawing at the head of another politician he was associated with when he was alive, and i won't get into the political side at all because it's been 800 years and i do not care, though dante cared Very Much, in fact this circle of hell is the one reserved for the traitors of the country. the interesting part is that from the way that dante worded the passage about the count, people interpreted it a bit differently from what he may have actually meant. count ugolino died of starvation while imprisoned in a tower with his sons and grandsons. the way dante wrote it made it sound like they died before him and he, mad with hunger, ate them, and then died of starvation after that. thus the legend of the cannibal count was born. we actually have no idea or historical proof if he cannibalised them or not, but that's the story most people hear anyway. yes my family told me they would feed me to count ugolino if i misbehaved as a child.

we also get a quote about his sons offering up their flash for their father to consume after they died as he is the one that created it which i know some of my mutuals are gonna love.

btw did ya know count ugolino was a lord and vicar in sardinia? did ya know the first victims of the real mostro di firenze case were sardinian? did ya know the first suspects in the mostro di firenze case were sardinian? did ya know there were rumors during the case that a foreign doctor was buying the organs of the victims in the black market? did ya know that they consulted quantico in the mostro case? did ya know mason's man-eating pigs trained by sardinian people are a direct reference to sardinian faida culture that i don't think the average italian knows about? did ya know thomas harris was sitting at the mostro trials taking notes that later inspired red dragon?

moral of the story i think hannibal lived in sardinia at some point and he heard the story of count ugolino and then had casu marzu (cheese with worms, yea people eat that and it's considered a delicacy but it's illegal to sell it and hannibal would be down for that and my proof is the ortolans) and it made him a crazy bitch

[faerienextdoor]

general relationship hcs with (some) pastas

Fair warning, I'm using and hinting at mine and my friends’ writing for these creeps :) enjoy  also as soon as i figure out how to open an ask box, I’ll be accepting requests

Brian:

- oh where to start with this absolute himbo

- he melts around you. like he's your bitch, and you're his.

- he's the type of boyfriend that takes you out in the snow and shoves a handful down the back of your jacket, and laughs until you shove snow in his face

- it is snow war

- it ends with you cuddling him, wrapped in a blanket and content in front of the burning fire he got started just for you <3

- but he also has some weird... habits.

- drinks pickle juice.

- gets his hand stuck in the jar.

- looks at you like 🥺 until you sigh and help him. for the fifteenth time.

- he can cook some basic breakfast foods, and happily breaks out a cookbook to prepare you something as a surprise or to learn something with you!!

- baking with him would be a mess. he forgets flour goes everywhere and now you both look like you took a bath in cocaine

- but the cupcakes are mediocre at best. they aren't absolute garbage, so... cupcake points!

- he worries about how hoodie treats you. he doesn't remember anything when he regains control, but you've reassured him hoodie is just fine.

- and he is

(hoodie)

- hoodie is like a rottweiler or a doberman.

- protective. intimidating. energetic.

- but also a giant fucking baby.

- this large ass man lumbers over and drops to his knees. places his chin on your lap and stares at you from the fabric of his mask until you stop what you're doing and stroke his head awkwardly

- you could swear he does those happy grumbled a rottie does.

- hoodie is silent but shows he loves you just as much as brian does. He strokes your hair silently, even places a kiss to the crown of your head as you sink into his beefy arms.

- he smells nice too. surprisingly.

- but that raises the question: if hoodie showers, does he shower with that damn thing on?

- you won't get an answer if you were to ask.

- brian introduces you to his grandma julia. and she dotes on you.

- the immortal old lady remarks that you’re the best s/o brian has brought to her yet.

Tim:

- a lumberjack man with biceps like a fucking tree trunk

- how'd you land him? give me your secrets (/j)

- he's such a love bug. a tired stressed love bug.

- he finds /every/ excuse to have physical contact with you. it's like a little touch from you reassures him that you're real. you're like a dream to him.

- he's the best for cuddles. He holds you to his chest

- and you get special access to his moobs

- and he gently strokes your head, traces shapes into your back, etc. it's a special intimate moment each time.

- my man's is italian-american but can't cook to save his fucken life

- he always gets your favorite microwave meals though!! he never forgets.

- not feeling good? dw baby he's making it for you <33 shitty low tier bean and cheese burrito coming up

- slowly he learns the basics and surprises you with lunch or even dinner if you're lucky!!

- he loves you so much. and wants you to feel it and know it. all the time.

(masky)

- god where to start with this bitch

- he's not jeff levels of bad ofc, but he's silent and... weird. creepy, some may say. he doesn't mean to be.

- and he's a hard ass. far more strict than tim.

- he follows you around like a giant fucken puppy and will spook you by grabbing you abruptly and holding you tightly

- you can't escape him. he really utilizes his physical strength

- he loves lifting you up and just... holding you. or carrying you off.

- protective and overbearing.

- but tim keeps him under control.

(angst)

- he wouldn't want to lose you like he lost his last wife.

- you find pictures of a woman laying around and a small girl that bears a striking resemblance to her and tim.

- tim goes quiet and questioned but eventually caves and tells you about his family

- or what he used to have

- his wife died and his daughter disappeared.

- it broke him and you're all he has left now

- constantly needs your affection in return to his own

- pls love him

jeff:

- why the fuck would you date him

- he's the absolute worst in so many aspects. But he genuinely tries for you.

- even if his gifts are shitty, it's nice to know he thoughts of you, right? even if it's a half dead flower or a rib torn from a deer caraccas.

- but you get the butt end of his shithead antics. ranch bath, specifically. he smelt like spoiled milk for a week after and you had to cuddle that fucker.

- and don't get me started on mayo bath

- but he still loves finding himself in your arms. or finding you in his. he's demanding affection wise, and will yank you into him for some cuddles. whether you like it or not.

- he isn't one for a lot of pet names, but calls you curse words or "sweetheart" in polish.

- and you get to see the side of him that only shows when he breaks down.

(bit of angst)

- he misses his family and the life he used to have. he'll reminisce what it was like in poland with his mom and family with you, and you sometimes swear you can see his brown eyes gloss over at the memory of her.

- he never talks about his dad, you've noticed.

- don't ask.

- he brushes off heavy conversations with some dumb quip ("wanna see my renegade?")

- he sucks at cooking. god awful at it. but he really tries for you. manages a bowl of oat meal that's edible.

- but he overloads it with sugar and for some reason, salt.

- he's confused. he thinks that's normal (it isn't)

- his idea of a date is napping with you. or rather, forcing you into nap time.

- I mean it when I say this man is strong in a weird fucken way. latches onto you with that iron grip and you won't be able to leave for at least a few hours.

jane:

- ethereal wlw woman.

- could break you with her heels. or a flutter of what eyelashes she has.

- you're lucky to have her, and she's just as lucky to have you!

- she's sweet and charming. very smooth and takes good care of you.

- her love language is a mix of physical touch and acts of service.

- she'll cuddle you all night, and then make you breakfast in the morning.

- she loves showering with you when she's comfy enough around you! it's super intimate and she washes your hair.

- massages the soap into your hair, suds spilling down your neck and back as her fingers scrub circles into your scalp.

- it's heaven on earth. such a domestic life.

- it'll take a while for her to settle enough in the relationship for you to see her without her mask

- you make her feel so loved and wanted

- secure, even.

- she's protective but not controlling or overbearing. shes that type of girlfriend that's just a worrywart and relaxes as soon as you're curled up in her arms. you fit there perfectly, too. like you belong there.

- which you do. at least in her mind

- she has such a gentle touch and hold on you. like she's afraid you'll combust in her arms if she holds you too tightly.

- she loves stroking your hair and having you nap

- using her tiddies as a pillow 👌

(angst)

- she needs affirmation from you when it comes to her scars.

- she thinks that jeff ruined her. permanently marking her once spotless body.

- and she thinks you'll hate her or find her disgusting.

- that's why she freezes if/when you gently slip off her mask.

- she stares at you with those teary green eyes. then leans in and kisses you

- you make all of her worries disappear.

- she's also financially comfortable, but not really rich (on that topic: eat the rich)

- she spoils you every chance she gets. gifts, a nice dinner date, you name it

- she almost spoils you as much as she does her cat Emory

- little shit has the sparkliest fucken collar and acts like he's the shit

- he's your fur baby too now

Helen:

- oh my god this disaster of an art boi

- he's convinced he's the luckiest man in the world (and he might as well be!!)

- he obviously wouldn't have been the one to confess. but it was really obvious by how he painted and drew you constantly, that some feeling for you was lodged into his beating heart.

- he treats you like the finest china. with the most care a man can manage.

- he's the definition of clingy and affectionate from the very start.

- he curls around your sleeping form perfectly when y'all cuddle.

- his hand dances in your hair, soothing you into a dreamless sleep each night without fail.

- he has a magic touch and a gentle voice.

- and he cherishes you so fucken much. (like a simp /j)

- he shies away from kisses at first, but will hold your hand and melts if you hold his face in them!!!

- he's greek, and often speaks sweet things to you in it. he's so comfortable around you that he speaks in his native language to you. that's an accomplishment.

- he loves when you baby him. helen loves being cradled and loved.

- taking a nap with his head on your chest also hits different. he's so in love with you

(angst)

- he's afraid of losing you. who wouldn't be? you're amazing and you love /him/ of all people

- he thinks very negatively of himself. please scold him for self deprecating.

- he always worries he'll wake up and you'll be gone.

- so he holds you extra close at night. and follows you around when you leave for any reason. Trails behind you like a lost puppy in need of a gentle kiss.

- which, is what he essentially is

- and also: pls steal his sweater and wear it. he'll cry over how cute you are.

[realcydi]

Who’s Packhelp? Are They Worth Your Time and Money?

So, you have a great product that you know is going to wow your customers. But that's just half the story. How do you present your product to your customer? That’s not to say ‘How does it look in your ecommerce store?’, but rather how does your product present itself in the hands of your customer?

That’s where your packaging plays an important, and often overlooked role.

First impressions count and you only get one chance at a first impression, which is why packaging is so important.

In fact, your packaging is the first physical touch point that your brand has with its customer. And let’s face it, your goal is to build a brand based on a quality product that keeps people coming back to buy again – if you’re not, you shouldn’t be in ecommerce.

And it’s this reason that means your packaging needs to be the stage that presents your product to its new owner.

If a customer opens an item they’ve ordered online and it’s stuffed into a random plastic bag, that doesn’t look good, right? That’s not how you make a good first impression.

That’s why product packaging is important. But finding the right company to source said packaging can be tricky. You want a low cost per unit, but also flexibility in your design process. So, we’re going to take a look at Packhelp, Europe’s leading supplier of custom packaging for ecommerce brands.

Let's dive in!

Packaging: The Basics

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes.

Imagine how they feel when their package arrives. It’s easy to see how a beautifully wrapped item in robust and well-designed packaging increases a customer’s excitement when they receive their order.

Quality packaging takes your customer’s first impression from ‘yep, this is what I ordered’ to ‘I seriously got a lot more than I bargained for here’.

Packaging, in our view, has to be:

Original with your logo and branding

Inspirational in its design

Practical, easy to handle and send via courier or post

Reflect and represent your branding

Secure enough to protect products from damage

Your brand’s packaging should also:

Make customers feel they got more than they paid for

Help customer retention by creating a great first impression

Remind a customer why buying from you was the right decision

So now you know how packaging can help your brand in a handful of ways, here’s how Packhelp can connect you with any type of packaging you want.

Who's Packhelp?

Packhelp is a startup based in Warsaw, Poland. The company connects businesses of all shapes and sizes to custom package solutions for their products. Many of these brands are ecommerce brands like yours – dropshippers, hobby brands and boutique brands selling customised products.

Traditional industrial print houses don’t want to talk to you unless you’re ordering 50,000 units. Clearly that’s too much of an investment for an ecommerce brand like yours.

Packhelp connects small brands like yours to printing facilities that would otherwise be out of reach for small brands like yours.

The established startup also simplifies the complex parts of packaging that usually require specialists, such as:

Designing packaging that reflects your branding and USPs

Source branded products (e.g., boxes, carrier bags, labels, envelopes, tape, tubes, tissue paper and so on)

Printing quality materials in a variety of cost effective methods

Packhelp’s home page summarizes their USP succinctly: “Design & order custom packaging. Without a hassle.” Their target audience is pretty broad. The company describes their service as offering support to “local heroes with big hearts and growing champions with global ambitions.”

So, if that’s you, then read on…

Packhelp’s existing customer base is impressive – listing Google, H&M, Wrangler, Uber, TMobile, Allegro, and L’Oreal, just to name a few. But international corporations aren’t the only companies they cater to. The company regularly documents the small ecommerce brands they work with (full list here). Not to mention, they’ve already racked up a few awards since starting in 2015:

Debut of 2016, Ekomersy 2016

Best product/service supporting the logistics of an online store

Ekomersy 2016

eRising Star PayU Lab Award 2016

Robotics & Process Automation ABSL Startup Challenge 2016

Audience Award ABSL Startup Challenge 2016

In total, 14,263 brands all over Europe have used or use Packhelp, so that’s a pretty successful startup.

What does Packhelp do?

Packhelp has an extensive range of standard products you can customize using the company’s online box editor. You choose what you need, input quantities and sizes, upload your image(s) and text, and Packhelp does the rest. The products are made in Poland and shipped to customers all around the world. Being made in central Europe keeps not only delivery costs down, but also delivery distances.

You can create the branded packaging you need via the Packhelp website and an app – you don't need to employ an expensive designer or print specialist. This means that you’ve got total control over the design process, without the expenses of a professional.

Standard Packhelp products include:

Boxes: Eco-boxes, ecommerce delivery boxes, sleeve mailer box, double-sided mailer box, and plain delivery boxes

Poly Mailers: Lightweight poly mailer bags and biodegradable mailer bags

Carrier Bags: Paper bags made from recycled paper

Envelopes: Rigid cardboard envelopes

Printed tape:Branded tape, eco-friendly printed kraft tape

Paper Tubes: Round printed tubes, for example, for toiletries or perfume

Packing Papers: Customized tissue paper

Pricing

Packhelp’s minimum order size is 30 pieces, and you can score a 5% discount by signing up to their newsletter.

The company's range of products are aimed at three distinct camps:

New and Small Businesses

Growing Brands

Enterprises.

There are no price plans. Instead, prices get lower the more you order. That said, even smaller quantities aren't crazy expensive.

So let’s take a look at each.

New and Small Businesses

If you’re new to the world of packaging and don’t need tons of it, you can order as little as 30 pieces to be shipped to you free of charge in as little as 3 weeks.

Ordering is simple and not unlike any other ecommerce transaction.

Pick your product

Pick your quantity

Pick your size

Upload your design and then drag & drop on the 3D model of your box

Place your order.

type in how many of each thing you need, the size you require, and then upload the design you want printing on your packaging.

For an/eco white mailer box with black print (example here), 26.5 x 19.5 x 2.6cm for books, DVDs, and electronics, if you ordered 30, you’d pay €126.00.

Growing Brands

If you’re already expanding, or intend on snowballing your business, you can order from 300 to 100,000+ units with discounts available for wholesale orders.

For a flat eco/eco white mailer box with black print, 26.5 x 19.5 x 2.6cm for books, DVDs, and electronics, if you ordered 300, you’d pay €270.00.

Enterprise or Packhelp Pro

Packhelp Pro, the company’s enterprise service, is for large wholesale orders for businesses that need high volumes, or complex, highly-customized packaging. It doesn't matter whether you want to upgrade your existing packaging or develop something from scratch – Packhelp pro has limitless options..

To upgrade your existing packaging, the minimum order is 5,000 units, whereas if you're developing something new, it’s 10,000.

The Packhelp website explains how to generate a custom quote.

You need to provide info like:

The type of packaging you need

What you need it for

When you need it by

Quantities

Examples of any artwork and photography you may want to print.

Using these details, Packhelp gives you a customized quote for your bespoke packaging..

Packhelp Pros and Cons

The most notable advantages:

Competitive prices

An easy-to-use website

Access to eco-friendly packaging

Easy to obtain quotes

Free delivery within the EU

Fast turnaround times

Lots of happy clients

You can order sample packs before committing to a larger order

Unlike other companies, you can order small amounts

The main drawbacks:

The box editor doesn't work on mobile devices. But, you can access it via all significant internet browsers on your macOS, Windows, and some Linux operating systems.

The less you order, the more it costs per item (but unfortunately, that's industry standard)

Eco-Credentials

If having a small carbon footprint and using eco-friendly products is part of your brand’s business strategy, Packhelp has a few products that comply with your standards

There are case study examples of major brands using Packhelp’s sustainable packaging options such as H&M, Monday’s Child, and the UAU Project. Most of Packhelp’s cardboard products are both recycled and recyclable, while the water-based inks break down in landfill.

You can even order Bio PolyMailer bags made from Polylactic Acid (PLA), a plastic substitute made from fermented plant starch. As far as cardboard products are concerned, Packhelp says that: “every single cardboard product in our range is made from a minimum of 80% recycled cardboard.”

So, when you order custom packaging, rest assured, you'll get something that was once a “school book, cereal box, or a bank statement in another life.” Pretty cool to think that your cardboard box used to be little Johnny’s math book.

Some of the cardboard boxes, such as the Corrugated Eco Mailer Box, have a higher percentage of recycled material (90%), and are fully recyclable.

Customer Support and Consumer Reviews

Packhelp has a Help Center where you can type in specific questions, and hopefully, your required answer will appear. To us, this seems like a pretty decent resource should you have any problems. Typical Help Center questions concern minimum order sizes, order completion length, and repeat orders.

Topics in the Help Center are divided into categories including invoicing, troubleshooting, designing, offer and products, and box editor – which makes finding the solution to your query all the more easier.

There's also a chat box you can ping over questions and comments, and a member of their friendly customer support team will email you back a helpful response.

There’s also a section on how to make a complaint. That said, we found almost no grumbles online, and Packhelp (mostly) boasts glowing reviews on TrustPilot. Indeed there’s a link to them on the Packhelp homepage.

Reviewers love their customer service, fast delivery, the quality of their products, and the easy-to-use online editor tool. The few negative reviews we saw concerned shoddy print quality.

Wrapping Up

Good product packaging has to be part of your overall business and marketing strategy, and you should budget for it accordingly. It’s merely another way of standing out from the crowd. With the right tailored packaging, you’ll enhance your customer’s experience by showing you care that their products arrive safely and look beautiful.

We think that Packhelp makes it easy for you to enhance your brand and doesn't cost you the earth -win-win!

It’s certainly worth exploring their sample pack offer to see how it fares before committing your hard-earned cash. Best of all, if you’re a small business that’s been turned away by other companies because your order is too small, Packhelp is different.

Last but not least, there are helpful case study examples on their website. Not only do these outline how small and growing businesses used Packhelp, but they also show how they designed their own packaging to reflect their brand and grow their customer base. It’s a useful research tool for any ecommerce entrepreneur before you seal the deal on your own package design.

[wouldnt-it-be-hilarious-if-i]

Dobry wieczór!

Today's soundbyte says: Cześć! Jestem z Ameryki. Mój ojciec jest zambijski. Moja mama jest Niemką, Włoszką i rodowitą Amerykanką. Ja mieszany. Mowie po angielsku i uczę się mówić po polsku. Miło mi poznać! Do widzenia!

I'll be honest. I struggled with every single word in this video today. You can even hear it in my goodbye 😂 I hated every second of this simply because no syllable would come out right. It might be because I still have a sore throat from being a bit sick the last few days.

Since I've been feeling a bit better, I decided to get out of bed and do some extra studying for Polish today.

Here's what I did:

1. Duolingo, of course. I try to do this in the morning, but I slept in until well after noon today so I just did this as soon as I woke up.

2. Took notes from the Teach Yourself Polish book. I'm on unit 2 now, but I'm going to continue to work on memorizing everything from unit 1. I want to make sure I can recognize and say every word I was taught. Today, I learned how to go into detail about myself and share where I am from and what my nationality is.

In this book, they only share the Polish words for European countries (and Australia, Canada and the US) 😃 since apparently the Asian, South American and African continents didn't exist in 1994 when this book was published. I had to Google the word for Zambia.

Though I know my nationality is different from my ethnicity, I wanted to practice saying the different words anyway. I was hoping that when I was explaining that I am mixed, I didn't accidentally use some sort of informal slur. Unfortunately, I might have? It feels a bit like a slur.

Interestingly enough, I looked into the polish words for mixed and had a really good laugh when I realized the not only does the word for biracial mean, of course, biracial, it can also mean promiscous and crossbreed. So, um. Yeah. I'm not sure if that's what people actually say there, but I likely won't be referring to myself as a crossbreed on purpose if I ever get the chance to use Polish. I'd rather just say I am white and black. The other word I found is actually unfortunately even more of a slur.

There's a whole history behind it in the US, but it's also very much tied to Europe (I've met Europeans who get upset at the mere idea that a word they use could be racist, and claim I'm just pushing American issues onto them---as if the US isn't quite literally made up of European (and others, of course) descendants who passed this cultural lingo down through the generations and these culture issues faced the African diaspora today aren't absolutely faced around the world, including in Poland.)

The other word was mulatka, which means mulatto. I generally don't use this word, and neither do most Americans. But it is a word that was historically used to refer to mixed race children of African and European lineage. It is generally considered offensive, though some mixed race people have taken it back, such as American born rapper Latto (formerly known as Miss Mulatto). Fun fact: She grew up in the same town as I lived in during middle school around the same time as me, and had quite literally the same experiences as me 😃 She didn't go to my school, but hers was not far from mine.

Anyway, finding out this low-key offensive terminology to describe myself actually led me to an interesting article about black lives in Poland.

It was really eye opening for me, as I had no clue about this issue in Poland. I, unfortunately, wasn't surprised. Not because I think Poland is racist, but more so because I know that anti-blackness thrives everywhere on this earth. It's next to impossible to escape.

I also found this article because I read something similar to the above article when reading about police brutality and mistreatment toward black Germans a few months ago and was interested.

Interesting enough, my mother met a Polish woman and her husband at work today and had a conversation about Poland. Somehow the conversation got to be about race, and the Polish woman insisted that wasn't an issue in Poland at all. No one cares about that.

My mom told me that after they left, someone she works with who grew up in Poland and is a person of color said that woman was a liar. Racism is awful there.

Obviously I have no idea, as I am merely an American with a months worth of knowledge about Poland and it's culture. But I will say that I do know a few things about Europe, from personal experience as well as from friends, and this doesn't sound totally far from what might be true given what I've learned about Belgium (a friend got called the N word multiple times a day and that's the nicest thing she heard), France (follow a mixed race family who has shared her daughter's experience being told she couldn't play with a few little girls by the children bc she was an ugly monkey), England (Literally just look up any article about Meghan Markle and her son), Germany (Police bias, for one thing), Russia (A great example is their routine use of blackface in their performances despite international outcry), Romania (a few friends of mine were called the N word multiple times while a group of teenage boys laughed and pointed at them despite being asked to stop and then lied to the hostel owner about not knowing what the word meant), the list goes on.

Anyway, all of the articles I found made me viscerally upset. So, I tried to just save everything to read in pieces when I'm in a better mindset to take the level of racism I was seeing.

Here are a few of the articles I found

Blackface in elementary schools

Racism toward Black and Roma people in elementary schools

People of color fleeing Ukraine being attacked by Polish nationalists

The first one upset me most, but is something I know isn't central to just Poland. The Netherlands, if I remember correctly, also celebrates a holiday that includes Blackface (look up Black Pete), as well as Russia, who regularly engaged in blackface in their ballets at the Mariinksy theatre (which is state funded).

I've gotten into arguments about why blackface is offensive in the past, and definitely dogpiled on in YouTube comments for defending someone who pointed out the hurtful past of this practice.

People argued that it was an American problem, but spreading stereotypes is still spreading stereotypes and it is always harmful to those that are being stereotyped.

Anyway, I decided that I wanted to look into more cheerful things for now because that really, really disturbed me.

5. I researched the Polish National Ballet 🩰🦢🇵🇱!

The Polish National Ballet has a very interesting history, as written above. However, I was most interested in learning about the ballerinas and ballerinos associated with Poland. I learned about two ballet masters, Helena Cholewicka, who was considered a polish prima ballerina assoluta, which at the time was the most important title for any ballerina/o and she kept it for a little over a decade, and Aleksander Roman Turczynowicz, who was a ballet master and is the namesake of the Polish National Ballet School.

Here's what I learned about Helena Cholewicka:

🦢 She studied under the guidance of the Italian dancer Maria Taglioni (1804-1884), who at that time was the leader of European ballet stages.

🦢She was the first in the history of Polish ballet to receive the title of "prima ballerina assoluta"

🦢She was not considered a pretty dancer. She was considered frail with a slight build and and "unattractive exterior." Interestingly enough, Anna Pavlova was also considered an ugly dancer. Now, she is one of the most celebrated ballerinas in Russia. It's almost like the perfect ballet body is a social construct. Astounding.

Here's what I learned about Aleksander Roman Turczynowicz:

🦢 He was born on January 24, 1813 in Radom, Poland as Aleksander Roman. When he was nine, he was transferred to the Warsaw dance school at the then National Theater at Krasiński Square.

🦢 By age 20, he had already had such an illustrious career as a dancer, he was offered the position as a teacher at the Warsaw school to teach the youngest dancers.

🦢 During Russian partition and the long-term domination of Italian ballet masters in the Grand Theater, his many achievements in creation of romantic era ballets and productions were destroyed. Today, the memory of his work only exists in books. This is why the Polish National Ballet School is named after him, and why he is celebrated every year in his birthday at the school.

6. I learned about another Polish connection to the US: Little Poland in New York City 🏙️🇵🇱! You might think the above picture is from Poland, but nope! That, my friend, is in New York City.

Things I learned about Little Poland:

🇵🇱Little Poland is situated in Greenpoint, New York City, New York. This is in Northern Brooklyn (me!), just north of Williamsburg.

🇵🇱 It is home to the second largest concentration of Polish immigrants in the United States after Chicago. At the turn of the century, Polish immigrants began settling in the US. After the cold war, however, they came here in droves, only slowing down in about 2004 when Poland joined the EU. The majority of polish immigrants settled in Brooklyn (meeeee!!), New York. The rest settled in other places, like Chicago.

🇵🇱Polish is the 11th most spoken language in New York, and it's spoken by .73% of the population. However, in Little Poland, you can find signs in both Polish and English, as well as magazine stands and other things written in Polish. You can also hear lots of conversations spoken in Polish.

7. Learned about Polish American contributions to the United States and Other fun Polish American facts. (For example, Polish American heritage month is celebrated in October.)

Other than Marie Curie and Chopin (who didn't really contribute to the US that I know of, but did obviously contribute greatly to classical music), I found a lot of actors and actresses if Polish descent, like Jared Padalecki (kinda knew this one but still cool to confirm), Pat Benatar (had no idea she was of polish descent!), Nicholas Cage, JoJo (she has Polish, Irish and French ancestry), Zac Efron (Polish grandparents! He's also Jewish!), and Kat Graham from The Vampire Diaries! (she has Russian and Polish grandparents. Her maternal and paternal grandparents were both refugees, due to the Holocaust on the maternal side and from Liberia on her father's side)

I was thoroughly surprised by some of these people being of Polish descent, especially Zac Efron and Pat Benatar, who is actually from Greenpoint, New York.

That's it!

Goals for tomorrow:

🩰Make flashcards

🩰Do another worksheet excercise

🩰Find more Polish worksheet exercises

🩰Learn about Little Poland in Connecticut and Chicago.

🩰Get the ingredients to make a smaczny Polish meal.

Notes:

Learning about racism in Poland was thoroughly disheartening. Especially when I read a few Twitter comments about people's thoughts on the matter. I got really upset knowing some of these things, but I was unfortunately not surprised. It does make me appreciate Atlanta though, and reminds me that with all the issues America has with race problems, we are a lot farther ahead in tackling those problems and having important conversations about them, which I think we deserve to give ourselves a lot more credit for.

I loved learning about Little Poland, and found it cute that a little more of Poland is a part of me in some way, even if it is just a place in my namesake city. I love connecting with other cultures in very personal ways, and I think this is a nice way to connect with a culture that I deeply appreciate but isn't one of mine.

I unfortunately had trouble finding any full ballets put on by the Polish National Ballet, but I'll try looking again in the future since I didn't devote a lot of time to this.

Poland is such an interesting and pretty country that has its downsides just like my own country does. I love learning more about it's history outside of what I already knew due to my history major (English lit and history).

I want to read more about Polish national dress. I really want to get my own authentic drindl since my family is from Germany. The similarities between Polish national dress and German national dress(es) is very interesting, and it something I'd love to explore further.

Dobranoc!

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Only hope' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"Only hope"

Chapter Summary : Yirina is troubled to have to go back in Cuba and it's worst when Park can't come with her.....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3400

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Cuba.....the country that I never wanted to come back after all these times and by all the odds, the man who we are going to neutralize named Vargas has to be there in Havana. He could have been in South America, in Asia or even back in the USSR but why it has to be exactly Cuba ? It was certainly going to be bad for me to put my feets back on the Cuban soil but I have no choice but to go there with Garrett : Greta is keeping the prisoner we got from the Perseus hideout in control while Park need to rest for her arm.....it was just me & Garrett.

We both prepared our bags quickly and then, we were on our way to the Tempelhof Airport as our plane, according to Garrett was there for us. It was weird for me to say that Park wasn't there with us in the mission and it was like my first days when I woke up : feeling kind of lost, trying to find her back again and frankly, I was resisting the urge to go back to the safehouse and stay with here but I couldn't do that....there were no step back for me and I wouldn't do that to Garrett, leaving him alone like that.

The flight was going to last at least 13 hours for us to arrive in Havana and since we are leaving West-Berlin at 5 PM and thanks to the timezones, we will arrive at our destination only after midnight with just one stop at Lisbon like we did to go to the New Orleans almost 2 weeks ago. With Garrett, I talked a little during the first hours until we arrived at our first and only stop. As the plane was getting refueled, we were awaiting inside the plane.

"Yirina, can I....ask you something ?" Garrett called me out as I was looking outside through the porthole to see the maintenance crew, refuelling the plane.

"Yes." I said, looking back at him, he was just sit in front of me, I was almost scared by him.

"Why are you stressed to go to Cuba ?" He asked me and I was a little troubled to talk about it.

"I...I can't tell you, Garrett." I replied, almost losing my words in the process. "There's things I can't talk about." I added, redressing myself in my seat.

"Listen, I know but there's things that I know about you." He affirmed, making me look at him with narrowed. "Things that Park told me about."

"Really ?" I breathed

"I know what happened to you with the CIA." He said, sure of him as I was looking at him almost chilling from the inside. "She told me a lot about what she did....she's still feeling guilty about it, you know." I was speechless, looking pale to him as I realize that he was well aware of my real state since a long time.

"It is something I don't want to talk about, Garrett." I admitted, it's still hard for me to mention it and talking about it to someone other than Park....it's really hard. "Park, I'm not blaming her at all, it's just the CIA that I'm blaming for it."

"She talk very nicely about you, each day." He told me with an grin. "You got very lucky to find yourself with her." At this moment, the plane started to move again, meaning that we will have to face the longest part of the flight to get to Havana.

"Thanks...thank you." I put my arms on the armrest as the plane was taking off the airport, putting us up in the skies again.

"Since you came back, you made Park smile again for real." He confessed to me, making me grin a little from it. "You did really had an impact on her that even Greta wasn't able to have."

"About Greta, how is she seeing it ?" I asked as for now, Greta was getting aware that me & Park was an thing and she maybe talk with it to him.

"To say, she was a little disturbed but she's getting over it." He replied, looking away through his porthole. "I'm sure that she will fully understand your relation with Park." He looked back at me. "You know, when Park did her coming out to me, I was impressed by it."

"When did she do it ?" I questioned him.

"She did it in 1976 after an mission in Poland and of course, she wanted to keep it a secret because of the ban in the MI6." He answered, looking at me with an great look. "Only me, you & Greta knows about it."

"Well, some people in the CIA know too now." I whispered, rolling my eyes as he was making wide eyes. "Don't worry, there are good peoples....except the one who the CIA is trying to save."

"Shit, Adler knows about it ?" He spoke to himself before sniffing away as I nodded to him. "That guy is really an pain in the ass."

"I'm seconding that by a lot." I joked before I laughed about it before I breath again, wanting to change the subject. "Anyway, you didn't tell me about who was Vargas precisely."

"Oh yeah." He looked at the table that was between my seat and his seat where the file about Vargas was on, the Greenlight one stayed back at the safehouse in West-Berlin. He opened up the file to make me look at it as I didn't have time to check it. "Name's Sebastian Vargas."

"Former soldier of the Colombian National Army, I see." I said, looking at Vargas records.

"He left the army to join the M-19, considering that the government was corrupt and to fight the cartel." Garrett added those intels that was not in the records "He joined Perseus in 1982, serving as an saboteur before he put himself to work with Stone."

"Guess that the MI6 is looking for him ?" I presumed and he nodded.

"At the beginning of the year, he has taken 4 british tourists hostages in Colombia and before the MI6 could do an thing, he killed them." He clenched his fists, talking about that event I wasn't aware of. "Since, the M-19 itself rejected Vargas because they didn't want to have us on their backs and after that, he stayed in Cuba."

"And now, we are going to track him down..." I cut myself as I put the records file back on the table. "Do you know why he's still in Cuba ?"

"First is to hide from the MI6's sight." Garrett started, raising his left index finger. "Second is because he will tell us who's the person helping Perseus with soviet weapons." He raised his left thumb to me

"So, we try to take Vargas alive." I said and he nodded again.

"I'm sure that the MI6 will be pleased to have his head." He affirmed before looking outside. "We know exactly where he is in Havana and thanks to that, we'll be just in Havana for an day."

"Let's hope so." I admitted, crossing my arms to look outside too....I really want to just be in Cuba for one simple day.

"Now, it's better to have some sleep." Garrett suggested as he get comfy in his seat, closing his eyes to the outside as I wasn't sure to have a sleep in here.

I was trying to not get to sleep as I wasn't feeling so tired now but the events of today even small gave me in an second an envy to get myself some rest and maybe trying to have some peace for the moment. Garrett was very quick to sleep almost 2 minutes after he closed his eyes as me, I was trying to do the same as him and it took me 20 minutes to replicate the same thing from him : closing my eyes, looking at the outside...just needing some peace.....

I was working late at my desk in the CIA safehouse, trying to find something on the Operation Red Circus leaded by Vadim Rudnik, the intels that Belikov gave to us during our mission in the Lubyanka was helping me but since it was nearly 3 AM in the night, these intels wasn't helping too much. I didn't know why I didn't try to bang my head on my desk, looking at all these papers on my desk. I really wanted to do this but I was soo tired to do a thing but also because my nose was hurting me because of Adler's punch one hour ago

It was just me working in here, the other were all sleeping in their beds and my desk was the only light in the whole place to be on. Seriously, I was wondering why Adler wanted me to still work lately and why I had to agree to his stupid orders to stay awake, giving me the impression that I'm the one working with Park & Lazar in here and just Adler watching us like chess pieces he's moving.

Suddenly, I started to hear some footsteps coming from the dorm and I stopped myself to work, wanting to know who it was.

"Bell ?" It was Lazar himself, dressed back in his normal clothes...wearing his favorite 'Burger Town' shirt. "What are you doing here ?" He asked as he moved near my desk

"Working." I replied in a very low voice, sounding just tired as hell.

"You work at 3 AM ?" He raised an eyebrow, putting his hands on my desk. "Seriously, you're telling me you're working at 3 AM ?" I nodded to him slowly.

"Adler asked me to work and I don't know why but I agreed to it." I fully responded, getting some papers back in place with my hands. "Been working since 10 PM on it." I looked away to the coffee machine direction. "Coffee helped to stay up."

"You're putting your work before your health ?" He moved to get sit on Park's chair.

"No but....there's something that Adler has on me....like he's controlling me." I suggested, making Lazar raising an eyebrow "I have....some sort of things telling me that....Adler is dangerous with me."

"We all think of it but we can't tell it loudly, Bell !" He told me with an grin, tapping on my left shoulder "Anyway, you should really get some sleep." He proposed me.

"I don't know..." I put my eyes on the papers I just put back in place. "Why are you awake too ?" I asked him back.

"Oh, couldn't sleep and also because someone was maybe using the coffee machine." He scoffed, making me laugh a little after all these times, him doing it too. "Wanted to know who was the mysterious person who was maybe already preparing us breakfast."

"Guess you got your answer now." I said with a funny tone before looking at him who was looking, curious.

"How's things with Park ?" He questioned me, his left arm on the desk, the other on his legs

"Pretty good for the moment." I started, looking at her desk that was just next to mine. "She's happy with me and I'm happy with her....if we don't count Adler stupid mind." I pointed at my nose. "He punched me after I taunted him about his life, prick wanted me to stop my relation with Park."

"At least, you proved him that you can stand against him." He crossed him arms, leaning back on Park's seat. "I wish that sometimes, I can punch Adler in his teeth....just for once."

"Maybe you will have a chance someday." I claimed before he decided to go up from his seat.

"You're sure that you don't want to go to sleep ?" He asked and I shook my head.

"No, I will be fine." I replied before....suddenly, everything goes to black all around me, I wasn't passing out but everything around me except Lazar was disappearing and I stood up by shock, looking at my hands, trembling.

"Yirina ?" It was Lazar's voice and I looked at him, now wearing his combat suit....the same one from Cuba. "Yirina, promise me." He added, saying my real name.

"Laz' ?" It wasn't me as Bell anymore....something was very wrong in here, I wasn't in that memory anymore before I looked at Lazar with shock and stress in me.....

"Do it for me....take care of Park !"

I immediately woke up with an start inside the plane, sweating by a lot by the memory I just got back....focused on a talk I had with Lazar. I was so troubled, trembling because of it. Since we had to go to Cuba, it's maybe sure that I was going to freak out. When I woke up, Garrett was sleeping and it was 11:30 PM meaning that we will arrive in Havana in 30 minutes. I decided to go directly in the plane private bathroom to get some water on my face to calm myself down.

I looked myself in the mirror, thinking about Lazar....about what happened to Cuba, the disaster the CIA is calling an operation.....and also about me : How I'm still alive after what happened to me ? I looked at my head, at my scar, wondering about how Adler even if he's an monster wasn't able to see that he missed his shot against me on that cliff. Once I was finished after 10 minutes in the bathroom, I returned to my seat, awakening Garrett, alerting him of our soon-to-be arrival.

We arrived in Havana at exactly midnight in an MI6 clandestine runway near the city and soon that I got my feet on the ground that I was feeling weird in me....Cuba, here I was again ! I couldn't remember what happened 3 years ago when we first arrived in Cuba and honestly, I think it was better to think of something else instead of that. With Garrett, we took a car that was given to us and we were on our way to the temporary safehouse we will have : a small apartment in the Barrio Chino district of the city.

Honestly, even if I was no tired anymore and when we arrived in the apartment, I told directly Garrett that I needed more sleep before going to work and he understand, saying that we could only start work in the day. So, I immediatly go into the bed I first see and I was back to sleep again. I woke up later the next day, the May 6th at almost noon due to some Cuban traditional music from an radio in the apartment.

"How was the second round of sleeping ?" Garrett asked me as I stepped out from the bedroom, walking to the table where there were something to eat.

"Better than the first one." I replied, sitting down on a chair. This second round, like he said, wasn't so troubling for me and I didn't have anything that woke me up again. It was still strange to have sleep well in Cuba. "Anything new ?" I questioned him as he didn't go to sleep for the second time.

"I made some calls : we got to meet an 'concerned citizen' at the beginning of the night in a bar called 'Monserrate Bar'" He responded, looking outside the apartment at the streets as the table was just next to an window, I started eating something at the same time. "Since we know that Vargas is in an apartment located just at one street from the bar, it will be easy for us."

"So, it's just going to be us ?" He nodded to me

"The man that will help us will give some means to get to Vargas, don't worry. He's an long time friend of mine." He affirmed to me with an smile.

"You really had a lot of contacts like Park said." I scoffed, making him laugh

"Oh, I know a lot of people around the world." He said with an funny tone, looking at me with wide eyes. "Can say that I'm the friendly MI6 agent know by a lot."

"Helping us by an lot." I admitted before I looked at the satellite phone on the table. "Uhm...Park told me to call her, can I ?"

"Of course, just finish to eat and then, you can call her." He smiled at me, putting the phone just next to me.

I finished to eat my breakfast and then, once I was done, I took the phone and I decided to go back into my private room, sitting in the bed before I started to compose the number of Park's satellite phone slowly because I didn't want to make an mistake in it. I breathed as I composed the very last number before I put the phone near my right ear, awaiting for her to respond to me.

"Helen Park !" I heard her voice through the phone and it relieved me in the inside, pleased to hear her voice, she was very fast to respond.

"It's me." I told her in a low voice.

"Oh, Yiri !" She exclaimed, sounding happy too. "It's so good to hear your voice."

"Can say the same by an lot, Park." I said, looking throught the window of my room. "We arrived in Cuba hours ago but I fell asleep again, I'm sorry for the late."

"It's okay, you called me right ?" She affirmed to me, making me smile. "Which time is it in Havana ?"

"It's noon and it's very sunny." I replied, sounding good, changing from the rainy weather from Berlin time to time. "And you ?"

"Almost time to eat diner and in here...it's mixed between sunny and raining." She scoffed at the end, making me laugh. "So...uhm....how do you feel ?" She asked me, worried

"Well, it's strange to be back here." I responded, taking a sad tone in me. "I...I had an memory with Lazar and it's very troubling." I added, still sad.

"Can...can you explain it to me ?" She questioned me, hearing her getting redressed somewhere.

"It was during an night in the safehouse where he found me at my desk working late at 3 AM but then....something strange happened." I started, my voice almost cracking from telling it. "I was like in a black void with Lazar....talking to me with my real name and he asked me something."

"What did Lazar asked ?" She was sounding worried and curious.

"He asked me to take care of you." I replied in a low voice, moving to face the ceilling. "It's what he asked me to do and that's I want to do : taking care of you." I added, mixed between sadness and sure of my words. "Park, I want to stay with you, to be with you."

"I know, me too." She affirmed. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to come with you." Her voice was also cracking about it. "I know that you're in good hands with Garrett."

"Yes, I am." I breathed, looking at the closed door of my room. "Park, I will come back very soon to you."

"Yiri, you will, don't worry !" She admitted before I could hear her sniff. "I will never let you down, be sure of it."

"Thanks Park." I whispered, feeling a tear on my face that I cleaned with my free hand. "We will maybe come back for tomorrow....back to you."

"It's good to hear." She said with an better voice. "Everything will be fine, Yirina !"

"I know, I will do my best for you."

"Listen, I have to go eat and then have some rest for my arm and if you're fast enough, you can get back to me when I woke up next morning, you will be my surprise." She informed, meaning that it was the end of the call, I wanted to last more longer but work needs to be done and I prefer to let her rest.

"I will try my best, Park." I told her, redressing myself to get back on sitting on the bed's edge. "Love you 3000." I added.

"Love you 3000 too, Yiri. Come back quick." She exclaimed before the line went shut, leaving me just alone in my room.

I was so much happy to have hear her voice but sad because she wasn't there with me, probably in our bed in the safehouse at West-Berlin. Once the call was finished, I stayed on the bed, holding the phone in my hands, feeling some tears on my face while smiling with joice.....

I will take care of you for the rest of my life, Park !

[langblr-polish]

Comprehensible Input

So recently I had a look at the language learning community on YouTube. Admittedly it was kind of a bad idea and I'm glad I've managed to stay away from it until now, lol. Anyway, the big talk of the town seems to be comprehensible input this, comprehensible input that, and comprehensible input is the best method, studies show its better than this, that, and the other thing.

The funny thing is, there's hardly any talk of HOW to implement comprehensible input and information about how tends to be skewed toward those who are trying to break through the B1-B2 plateau.

So, from what I can gather, comprehensible input generally means you want to understand 98% (though some say as low as 95%) of the foreign language content you are consuming (reading, listening, watching).

Now the part that I find extremely hilarious is that for a language learner in the beginning stages, the best source of comprehensible input is obviously going to be a textbook (at least in my opinion). Which is funny because for all the polyglots talking about comprehensible input and how it's better than the standard methods of language learning (e.g. in a classroom using a textbook), it never seems to come up that you can't just start with native content -- that's not going to be comprehensible.

So let me give you an example for Polish specifically of how textbooks are comprehensible input. Let's say you just started learning Polish and you're using the Krok po Kroku books and website. You do the first couple of lessons and you can greet others and give basic information about yourself. In the textbooks there is dialog with audio (listening) and maybe some short paragraphs (reading). As the lesson introduces the vocabulary, it is being introduced at a comprehensible level. Mind you Krok po Kroku is only in Polish, but if you go to the website you can highlight a word with your mouse and the definition will pop up, or you can look up unknown words in a dictionary of your choice. Additionally, the Krok po Kroku series has Czytaj Krok po Kroku which is a series of books with short stories.

Now, this particular series of books becomes more story driven as you get further into the textbook and gain more vocabulary. So the series centers around a handful of characters who have arrived in Poland and are learning Polish. So at first you’re listening to and reading dialogs about them doing basic things, then as you get further in you get more story-based texts and dialogues where the characters go on a trip, or are at the store trying to figure out what the salesperson means, or getting a gift for a birthday party where the characters are bit more conversational or funny things are said or happen. And for some of the more abstract vocabulary, you might have a dialog or a paragraph where they say a new vocabulary word in the context of what’s going on, and then in the next line they more or less explain what the word means through the use of circumlocution (talking around the word). And then of course the actual short story books have actual short stories in them. So this is all pretty comprehensible and it’s at your level, similar to a graded reader, but at a considerably lower level than most graded readers start at with vocabulary that is specifically constrained to the topic of that lesson as well as vocabulary from previous lessons. Whereas, graded readers are at a designated level, but the vocabulary is not constrained to the that of your textbook of choice.

I don’t know. I guess I just find it funny how this little section of the language learning community is ready to do away with textbooks so easily, but to me it seems like they stumbled upon the buzz word “comprehensible input” at a time on their language learning journeys, where native content (shows, podcasts, YouTubers, etc.) was comprehensible to them. But to implement “comprehensible input” as the language learning method from day one, you need that textbook, unless you are learning a popular language that has many online resources for comprehensible, story-based input without the use of a textbook. For example, there seems to be channels for Spanish, French, and German that are geared toward the use of comprehensible, story-based input to teach the language only in the foreign language, with no or minimal English. And I feel like for people who are just starting to learn a language and are scouring the internet for the best way to do so, are likely a considerable portion of the viewership on these channels touting comprehensible input, but have no ideas where to start with comprehensible input. So I thought I’d give my two cents on the matter.

[sweetkale]

all evidence that points towards Magneto being Jewish before it was first explicitly established in 1991

!!None of this is my writing!! It’s a useful but outdated source that I merely revised to replace the G slur. It was written by Rivka Jacobs and the original can be found at http://www.alara.net/opeople/xbooks/magjew.html

The Magneto Is Jewish FAQ (revised 11/9/98)

Rivka Jacobs

(1) In Uncanny #113 (Classic X-Men #19), the added material has Magneto on Asteroid M, talking about the deaths of Magda, Anya, and he mentions Auschwitz for the first time. "I endured one death camp ... in Auschwitz ... I will not see another people fear what they do not understand and destroy what they fear." Uncanny #113 is from 1978. The additional scenes were included in 1988's Classic X-Men #19. So, we know Magnus was at Auschwitz, a death camp, not just a concentration camp. (Many fans [and writers] seem to get the two types of camps confused). There could have been a number of reasons he was at Auschwitz: he was a Polish political prisoner, a Russian prisoner of war, a member of the French underground, a homosexual from Germany, Roma, or, with a high probability, a Jew. (Out of 1.5 million victims of Auschwitz, between 1.1 and 1.2 million were Jews).

(2) In Uncanny #150 (one of my favorites) Magneto mentions, in a fight with Cyclops, "I know something of grief. Search throughout my homeland, you will find NONE who bear my name. Mine was a large family, and it was slaughtered ... without mercy, without remorse." So that eliminates German homosexual and French partisan, because the entire familes of such prisoners were not slaughtered throughout an entire "homeland." After Magneto thinks he has killed Kitty, he says: "I remember my own childhood ... the gas chambers at Auschwitz, the guards joking as they herded my family to their death. As our lives were nothing to them, so human lives became nothing to me." Storm is about to blast him for "killing" Kitty, and she says, "If you have a diety, butcher, pray to it!" Magneto answers, "As a boy, I believed. As a boy, I turned my back on god forever." So now we know that Magnus is not a political prisoner (German political prisoners were sent to camps on German soil, like Dachau, or Bergen-Belsen), he is not Polish, since whole Polish families were not herded to the gas chambers. The Poles were not the target of pre-meditated Nazi genocide. While the Russian people were the target of genocide, only Russian POWs were in Auschwitz, not whole families. So, we are now left with only two groups of people that Magnus could be from, the Roma and the Jews. Uncanny #150 is from Oct. 1981; already Magnus says something very interesting here. He says he "remembers" the gas chambers of Auschwitz, "remembers" his family being herded, he "remembers" the guards joking. Fact: no one remembers the gas chambers of Auschwitz except in two ways (or three if you believe the dead can speak to the living), either you were a Nazi SS guard or doctor or official, or you were a member of the Sonderkommando. The Sonderkommando, Jewish prisoners who were forced by the Nazis -- in all the death camps -- to do the dirty work of killing. It was Nazi official policy. The Jews, the lowest of the low to the Nazis, in Auschwitz hierarchy, followed by the Russians, and then the Roma, the Jews would be the ones to lead the victims to the gas chamber, to haul the bodies from the gas chambers to the ovens, to burn and bury the dead. The Jews would pull the teeth of the corpses, cut the hair, pile the bodies three at a time on the retorts of the ovens in just the right way. The Sonderkommando had a few kapos (overseers) who were German and Polish prisoners, criminals from civil prisons in Germany and Poland. During the summer of 1944, 19 Russian POWs from Mauthausen were sent to augment the Auschwitz Sonderkommando. Totally documented, on paper and by eye witness accounts. All other members of the Auschwitz Sonderkommando were Jews.

(3) In Uncanny #161, Sept. 1982, we have the story of Xavier's trip to Israel. There he meets Magnus for the first time. However, it should be noted that the entire story is a Charlie-dream, while he is with Lilandra. In Uncanny #161 we see for the first and last time Magnus' tattoo from Auschwitz. His number is #214782. Xavier says, "That tattoo, Magnus, were you ...?" Magnus answers, "Auschwitz. I grew up there." So now we know that Magneto was first in Auschwitz as a very young person, but we can't pinpoint the age yet. Also, his number is high for someone who was there from the beginning of the camp. The first Polish prisoners, like author Wieslaw Kielar, had very low numbers, like in the 200s. Sonderkommando survivor Filip Muller's number was in the 20,000s. He arrived in early 1942. Magnus' number is a standard number, however, without the A of the 1944 arrivals, or the Z of the Roma, or the other special classification symbols. Of course the penciller didn't know these details. So a standard Auschwitz number, which is too big, but it doesn't tell us anything.

4) Vision and the Scarlet Witch, Vol. 1, #4. Magneto has just found out Wanda and Pietro are his children. (This is from Feb. 1983). He is on the moon, in the Inhuman city of Attilan, telling VIsion about his youth. "I was born into a time and place ... Android ... where both man and mutant were persecuted for being ... different." Picture of the Auschwitz camp, guards tormenting emaciated prisoners, one of whom displays a very prominent and exaggerated Star of David on his clothing. Remember Jews and Roma were kept apart in the camp. In the next panel, however, Magneto sort-of goes into a fantasy. He says, "But unlike the other victims, I possessed the power to fight back." He imagines he's hurling Nazi tanks away with magnetic energy. What's this? In 1983, the reader doesn't know what to make of this. Keep in mind, he's meeting with Wanda, Pietro, Vision, and Crystal, and has held Luna for the first time. Is he exaggerating? Showing off for them?

(5) Now for the second most important comic proving Magneto is Jewish, Uncanny #199, Nov. 1985. Magneto with Lee Forrester and Kitty Pryde arrive at the National Holocaust Memorial in Washington, DC. (It's not really Lee, but Mystique, trying to capture Magneto). Magneto has been having an affair with Lee, he loves her. He brings her to the Holocaust Memorial? Why? Fun date, huh? Why, because he has no other family. These people are his family. Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. (The Roma have their own name for the genocide, and their own gatherings, with their own rituals and customs. Magneto has no reason to go to a Jewish gathering if he isn't Jewish). Lee/Mystique says: "Man's inhumanity to man ... how easily the race kills." Magneto answers: "Then, Lee, it was the Jews. My nightmare has ever been that tomorrow it will be Mutants." Why would he say that, why wouldn't he mention another ethnic group, if he weren't Jewish? Next, Magneto tells Kitty EXACTLY how to address the gathering in order to get information about dead or missing family members. How does Magneto know how to do this? Isn't it obvious that he's done this before? Why would he address a Jewish Holocaust gathering looking for information about his family if his family weren't Jewish? (And it is a Jewish gathering, besides the use of the word Holocaust, a speaker says in the background: "... the systematic institutionalized extermination of one people by another."). Kitty asks about her great-aunt Chava, who died at Auschwitz, and Magneto is recognized by two survivors, Ruth and David Shulman, two Jewish survivors. (Shul is another name for synagogue -- Shulman means man of the temple, or man of the synagogue). They remember Magneto as a youth in Auschwitz, and say he helped them survive. And witness him as having been there. (No implanted memories, please). They testify that he " ... Had been at that accursed place from the very start..."

Later, Mystique reveals herself, and arrests Magneto in front of all these people. Magneto says that he recognizes no authority. "My land ...all the countries of the world ... turned their back on me and mine when we were condemned to Hitler's death camps. Therefore, in return, I have sworn to deny them." So let's clear this up ... the Roma were not persecuted in Greece, the Greek Jewish community was decimated. A small number of Roma and Jews in Rumania were exiled to a new border country called "Transnistria" but the remainder of the Roma were left alone. Several hundred thousand of them. 350,000 Rumanian Jews were savagely murdered throughout the country. In Slovakia, the Roma were left alone, the Slovakian Jews were among the first sent to Auschwitz. After the Slovakian uprising was crushed in 1944, several hundred Roma who had courageously helped in the rebellion were murdered, along with the remainder of the Jews of Slovakia. Bulgaria did not persecute its Romani people. Bulgaria, although resisting deportations of its Jews, persecuted them locally. In the Netherlands, only the "wandering" Roma who were captured in camps and wagons were deported, about 500. The remaining who had bought homes or found shelter with neighbors, were left alone. The Netherlands is where Gabrielle Haller comes from -- in under two years 100,000 Dutch Jews were deported, most were killed. I could go on. There is no other people who were hunted everywhere the Nazis went or had influence but the Jews. There is no other people who had the gates of escape cut off after the war started, but the European Jews. Magneto's reasoning is based on this most extreme situation.

(6) Uncanny #211, Nov. 1986. The Mutant Massacre. Page 9 -- Betsy Braddock has just come in from discovering what happened to a wounded Morlock, who has just died. Magneto, Storm, and Wolverine are standing there in Xavier's infirmary. Betsy says, "... I saw a cadre of super-beings ... massacring every living thing in the Morlock tunnels." Magneto reacts immediately, out of pure emotion. "NO! The horrors of my childhood, born again...only this time, Mutants are the victims, instead of Jews." What else does this mean? He's talking about HIS childhood, he's making a parallel. If he weren't Jewish, he wouldn't have said Jews, he would have said Roma. The two groups of people are not interchangeable.

(7) New Mutants #49, March 1987. Magneto is dreaming. It is an entire page representation of the massacre of his family. Here we see for the first time, his family -- father, mother, sister -- as they were gunned down in front of open graves. The family members are dressed in middle class urban clothes. No peasant dress, no Roma clothing. (And it is not a cliche. Roma women always wore, at this time, their flowing skirts and distinctive scarves and clothing, similar to the Bosnian women of today). Being massacred with Magnus' family is a mixed group of people. Men in bowler hats and suits, one old woman in a long skirt. One man in a bowler hat has the side-locks of the devout Jew, but the other people could be anyone. Poles or Jews or Roma. It's Magnus and his family who are out of place. They are well-dressed, Magnus's sister in a proper school uniform with the prim collar. Every picture I've seen of the German Rom show: a people of color, having left India and Armenia five- to six-hundred years ago, the men wearing Fedoras (favorite style of hat) and normal suits and ties, and the women and girls always dressed in the long skirts and distinctive flowered scarves. The boys wear a mixture of urban short pants but scarf belts, some have socks, some don't. New Mutants #49, page 17, could show some Roma in the crowd, but Magnus' family members are definitely not Romani in this picture.

(8) X-Men Classics #12, back-up story, Aug. 1987. The actual scenes of Magneto's escape from Auschwitz. "And with World War II ending... the Third Reich defeated...it's guards wanted no witnesses left...to tell the tale of this horror..." Picture of an SS soldier about to shoot a fallen and stricken Madga. "He had been there from the start ..." Magnus has just slammed a wooden beam into the head of the SS soldier. "Grown to manhood within its electrified barbed wire fence. If he was to die, it would not be in this abattoir ... and not without a fight!" Magnus grabs a terrified Magda by the hand and drags her with him in his escape. (a) The war is almost over, it is winter, it is the winter of 1944-1945. The Roma were gone by 1945. All the Roma women were gone. Only 4 clerks, high-status friends of Nazi officials in Camp I, were left. The Romani camp was murdered in the gas chambers in August 1944. (b) This scene, by Claremont and Bolton, is completely accurate. It takes place on Jan. 20, 1945, two days after thecamp was evacuated and the Death marches began. Some 70 of the Sonderkommando were kept to help destroy the evidence of the death factory, before they were to be killed. Some 200 women from the woman's camp, Jews, were chosen to fill in the huge pits where bodies were burned. They had to haul ashes, break up human bones, all in the coldest part of winter. The SS soldiers sent back on Jan. 20th were sent to kill the women. That is exactly what you see in this comic book, because Claremont and Bolton took the time and cared enough, to do their research. Magneto was saving Magda becasue at that point, he wasn't the target, yet. If they were out by the burial pits to the northwest of the camp, that is a point close to the forest. It just makes sense.

(9) New Mutants #61, March 1988. On page 22, Magneto is alone, kneeling over the dead body of Doug Ramsey, thinking thoughts only the reader can see. This is one moment he would not misrepresent anything, to himself especially. He says, "An ill wind is coming ... they are registering mutants ... like they once registered my people in Poland ...! Who knows what horrors await us." Only the Jews were registered, and forced to wear armbands with the Star of David on them, in Poland (at the end of 1939). Efforts to murder the Polska Roma (the Polish Roma) began in 1942, but they weren't registered first. Young Magnus wouldn't have known about any of that in any case-- he was already at Auschwitz by 1942. He would only have known that "my people" the Jewish people in Poland, including the German Jews who had already been deported there in the first months of the War, were registered.

(10) Classic X-Men #19, March 1988, back-up story. Magneto is apparently working for the CIA hunting Nazis. He is about to be betrayed by them, and his lady love of that time, Isabelle, is about to be murdered. But as he is apprehending a Nazi war criminal he gets one of his massive headaches. "Pain," he thinks, "again indescribable." "Worse than the bite of the kapo's whip. The murder of parents and family, the death of a child ... the loss of a beloved wife!" So here we see that Magneto was the victim of kapos. He could not have been a kapo. He was too young anyway, as we've seen. He grew up in Auschwitz. Here he says the murder of parents, and family. The parents separate, gunned down. The remainder of his family, no doubt sent to the gas chambers later, while he was in the Sonderkommando. Remember what he said in UX #150, his entire family wiped out. So as a Jew in the Sonderkommando he not only watched his family die, he helped kill them. How can any other comic book character ever come close to Magneto for dramatic intensity, but only if he is a Jew.

(11) X-Factor Annual #4, 1989. Doom challenges Magneto to a duel of wills, with a helmet that pulls out unpleasant memories and torments the wearer. Who will crack first? Magneto takes his turn -- Doom describes what he sees, "...after the ignoble defeat of the Nazis in Germany, you and the woman Magda you rescued, fled the prison camp Auschwitz, in Poland."

"Auschwitz, where your family had perished --living skeletons -- and you had grown to manhood amid horrors most men could not conceive." First, Doom confirms that Magnus and Magda "fled" or escaped Auschwitz before liberation and after the Roma camp was murdered. Then he describes some of Magneto's family perishing, as living skeletons, at Auschwitz. They could either have been kept as prisoners, or brought in, starving, from ghettoes in Poland and gassed. They could have been either Roma or Jews. But then it's Doom's turn to wear the helmet. Doom's Romani heritage is discussed at great length. Doom is proud to be a Rom, he knows he is a Rom. Why would he not acknowledge that Magneto is also a Rom? Why did he say your family, implying your people, to Magneto? Not "our" people?

(12) And now the most important evidence, and just about my favorite X-Men comic, Uncanny #274, from March 1991. In the Savage Land, the entire comic is told from the point of view of Magneto. It is a first person narrative, he is talking directly to us, the readers. He is not exaggerating, he is not showing off. The writing is elegant and wonderful ... "My life's ambition has been to safeguard my fellow mutants," Magneto says. "Zaladane has no such compunction. And I hear the echo of Der Fuhrer's voice in the radio of memory, smell the awful stench of the sick and dying as the cattle cars brought the comdemned to Auschwitz. I wear red, the color of blood, in tribute to their lost lives. And the harder I try to cast it aside, to find a gentler path ... the more irresistibly I'm drawn back. I should have died myself with those I loved. Instead, I carted the bodies by the hundreds, by the thousands ... from the death house to the crematorium ... and the ashes to the burial ground. Asking now what I could not then ... why was I spared?!" So there it is. He describes his job at Auschwitz. That is it. This is no vague job description, this is what the Sonderkommando did. This is fundamental to the history of the Holocaust, to the history of Nazi Germany. Making the Jews the ones who had to do all the dirty work in the death camps.

Marvel cannot say they have their own version of Holocaust history. What kind of reasoning is that? Where do the editors and writers of Marvel get off making up their own history of the Holocaust? Where do they draw the line? Has any reader out there ever seen any major publisher or entertainment outfit, outside Neo-Nazi groups and the Militias or Far Right Splinter groups, who just took it upon themselves to change a Jew into a Romany and change Holocaust and Auschwitz history to make it fit? Magneto says it here, he was a member of the Sonderkommando. He was not a kapo. He was not a Russian POW. He was a Jew! On page 14 of UXM #274, Magneto is dreaming again. He again sees his family being gunned down. He again feels what it was like to be buried alive. Rogue wakes him up.

(13) Uncanny X-Men #275, April 1991, which concludes the Savage Land story from UXM #274, referred to above, also contains confirmation as to what happened to young Magnus. Magneto says, directly to the reader, in diary-like narration, as he uses the last strength of his emaciated body to push away his captors, "They think me beaten, finished. A mistake many have made in the past. As I found the strength, as a boy, to survive being machine-gunned and buried alive, and later the unimaginable horror of Auschwitz ... so do I find it in me, here and now, to break free."

(14) X-Men Vol. 2, No. 2, Nov. 1991. The beginning of the end for Magneto. But on page 24 he says to Moira MacTaggart, who has seemingly betrayed him, and enraged him, "Of course not. You worked for the betterment of the world and the race. I heard those same rationales as a boy, in the Auschwitz Death Camp. From Dr. Joseph Mengele himself!" Mengele's first victims were the Roma, he liked the Roma. He brought the children candy and extra food. And in August of 1944, after trying unsuccessfully to save the Romani Family Camp (also for his own experimental purposes) Mengele obeyed his orders and vigorously hunted down and helped exterminate all remaining Roma. He then dissected those of most interest to him, and sent body parts to Berlin. Then he turned his attention to the Jews of Auschwitz. Only his Jewish victims have survived. His Romani victims, those transfered out of the camp in the spring and summer of 1944, have rarely come forward. If Magneto is alive in Auschwitz after the start of 1945, and he personally heard Dr. Mengele, he is a Jew.

Magneto is a Jew especially since Mengele would have been one of his supervisors in the Sonderkommando.

(15) X-Men, Vol. 2, No. 3, Dec. 1991 -- Magneto to Xavier, "You speak to the best in humanity. I have endured the worst. You imagine the reality of the Holocaust, of the Nazi Death Camps. I grew up in one." Magneto says The Holocaust. This is the translation of SHOAH, and was first used after the war, and popularized by Eli Wiesel. It means the Jewish Holocaust. One can say the Romani genocide, and today sometimes you'll hear the Romani holocaust, or the Russian holocaust, or the holocaust perpetrated against the mentally ill and the handicapped. (Nazi pre-meditated genocide was really only carried to the fullest extreme against three groups, the first were the mentally ill and the handicapped, who were the first victims of genocide. The second and third groups were the Jews and the Roma). But the Holocaust is what Jewish people say when they refer to the calculated campaign of Nazi Germany to kill every Jew in the world. (They actually made lists of every country in the Western world, and all the Jewish populations. They made no such list for any other people). Nazi Germany succeeded in killing almost 6 million of their foremost victims, until the Third Reich was defeated.

(16) X-Factor #92, July, 1993. Havok and X-Factor are battling Cortez and the Acolytes, in this opening chapter of Fatal Attractions. Cortez is ranting about the "flatscans" and how mutants have to subjugate them. Havok says, "Out to destroy the "inferior" race ... in Magneto's name? Don't you know what an insult that is to the memory of the very man you claim to worship? Fifty years ago, Magnus barely survived a Holocaust that destroyed almost all of his people: all because some lunatic took it upon himself to decide who deserved to live ... and who didn't. Where's the sense in resurrecting that kind of evil ... in the name of one of its victims?!" Cortez answers, "You've seen this place Havok! You've seen the sentinels! You tell me ... where's the sense in letting the flatscans do to the mutants what Hitler did to the Jews? ..." Cortez has done research on Magneto, he says the Jews, as a parallel metaphor. Why say that, if Magneto isn't Jewish?

(17) Then comes the infamous Unlimited #2. This is a long and involved FAQ I've got going here, so I won't go into detail at the moment. But the bottom line is, everything that Gabrielle Haller says about Magneto's history is false. I don't want to go line by line over it now. Everything! Danzig was not annexed. It was a Free City, under League of Nations protection, that voted itself a Nazi government and welcomed the Nazi troops in like liberators. Gauleiter Forster, the extremely anti-Semitic Nazi leader of Danzig ordered all 10,000 Jews of Danzig to be kicked out of the city in 1939, not the Roma. The Jews. Auschwitz wasn't opened as a Polish political prisoner camp until the summer of 1940, not 1939. The Roma were sent to German municipal camps, in Germany and the Greater Reich, as early as 1933. But they were not sent to Auschwitz from Germany until 1943. The only people who were in a work camp in Auschwitz before it opened were 300 Jews from the town of Auschwitz who were forced to transform a collection of horse stables and army barracks into the Polish prisoner camp. "Genocide, extermination ..." of Poles? No. The Polish people suffered terribly, and were considered "sub-human" by the Nazis. Millions of Polish citizens were killed throughout the course of the war, as soldiers, as slave laborers, as underground fighters, as members of the intelligentsia. But this was Nazi suppression of a conquered country, not planned genocide. Roma, Yes. The homosexuals, no. Not genocide. Persecution and imprisonment. Treated terribly. But people weren't sent to the gas chambers just because they were homosexuals. And "intellectuals" ? (How could Nicieza have written this?) Intellectuals were targets of genocide? Well, I hardly think so, since Goebbels, and Albert Speer, and even Mengele were considered intellectuals.

No one was sent to the gas chambers, or was shot in an open grave, or was tortured and murdered JUST because they happened to be an intellectual. Thousands of Polish citizens who were members of the intelligentsia (the educated class, the vanguard or elite of the educated class), were murdered in the first months of the war. But there was no planned campaign to hunt down every intellectual in Europe and exterminate them. The mentally ill and handicapped, the Jews, and the Roma were the primary targets of Nazi genocide. The Russians came next. Everything Haller says about Magneto in Unlimited #2 contradicts most of Magneto's history as presented in 15 years worth of comics.

(18) Until recently, when, in Road to Onslaught, Marvel once again published that outrageous Gabrielle Haller speech about Magneto like they were proud of it (??) the next references in the Age of Apocalypse comics portrayed Magneto once again as Jewish. In X-Men Vol. 2, No. 40, where David Haller, Legion, pulls Magneto's memories out, you see young Magnus with the men, standing behind and below a high, barred window. This is an accurate portrayal of the quarters of the Sonderkommando at Auschwitz I. At Auschwitz I, only the Sonderkommando (other than prisoners awaiting execution) were kept in isolated basement cells, the windows of which were high, barred, and as seen from the outside, half-below ground level.

And why is Magneto in Israel anyway? How could he have come there? Well, why would a Romany go to Israel when at least 30,000 Roma lived in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s? And many more Rom formed a thriving community in Paris. Why not just go home to his own clan and tribe? Roma have a complex system of extended familes, clans, and tribes. Why go to Israel to "find himself" or find his "soul"? A German Jew had no place to go but somewhere else. A Polish Jew definitely had no place to go back to, since some Polish fanatics continued to murder returning Holocaust survivors well into the late 1940s. Any Jew can emigrate to Israel, under the Law of Return. All Magneto had to do was show them the tattoo on his arm. And he was home. (And in case some of you were wondering, as some of us have discussed, with the exception of the Muslim Bosnians, only the Jews of Europe practiced circumcision. It was a religious rite, not a medical procedure. Only Jewish men and boys were circumcised among the prisoners at Auschwitz. The Nazis already knew what Magneto was. He was chosen for the Sonderkommando, he was Jewish. He was not pretending to be a Jew. He wasn't misidentified as a Jew. He was a circumcised, young Jewish man). Furthermore, Magnus at this time had forged papers, that identified him as "Erik Magnus Lehnsherr." He could have immigrated to any country in the world, including the United States! If he were Roma, and didn't want to self-identify as such, why not go to America? Why go to the one country that represents enormous pain for modern Roma -- i.e., the Rom today deeply resent the focus on Israel, and the support Israel enjoys among nations of the Western world, while the Roma continue to be persecuted and ignored.

(19) In Astonishing X-Men #3, formerly Uncanny, from May 1995, we have the most clear reference to Magneto's being Jewish, written by Scott Lobdell. Magneto has just hit Bishop, and is helping him to his feet. He says, "Long before Xavier died ... before this point of divergence ... I stood by helplessly as millions of my people were led to slaughter in the name of 'genetic purity." Now the AOA is not a what-if story. It is a divergent timeline. Magneto says, before the timeline diverged. What other people were lead by the millions, led to the slaughter, in the name of genetic purity? Many people suffered and died in World War II. 250,000 to 500,000 Roma were murdered. Millions of Russians and Poles during the course of the invasions, and in political violence, and in acts of pure murder, were exterminated. But only the European Jews were "led to the slaughter" in the millions because of one man's racial beliefs. Only the Jews of Europe Persecutionand incarceration are not the same as genocide and extermination.

20) X-Men #72, cover date February 1998, published in mid-December 1997. This comic book makes a significant contribution to Magneto's history. Basically, the book reveals that the name *Erik Lehnsherr* which was revealed by Gabrielle Haller in Unlimited #2 to be Magneto's real name, is fake, and so Haller's assertion that Magneto is a *Sinte* Rom was based on false and forged identity papers.

The scenario begins with Gabrielle Haller, lying on her bed, working on a lap- top computer, writing the American Sen. Kelly, begging him to help find and secure the release of Charles Xavier. Sabra, the Israeli super-hero, a mutant and Mossad agent, suddenly appears floating in the air outside Haller's balcony doors. Haller has just pushed open the doors, saying, "You're too important to lose, Charles. I will see you ... FREE?" And Sabra says, "Sometimes, Ambassador Haller ... freedom, like the truth, is little more than an illusion. Don't you think?"

Sabra has come to Haller with information. She says to Gabrielle Haller: "I"m sure you recall shocking the world when you announced that you had UNDENIABLE proof ofMagneto's identity as Erik Lehnsherr. The undeniable has just been DENIED." Sabra then goes on to show Haller, and the readers, the file on a master forger named George Odekirk. In this file, apparently, is a computer analysis of the identity papers of Erik Lehnsherr, which shows that Odekirk forged those documents. Haller says, "He created Erik Lehnsherr? If this is true ... you must take me to him! He could be our only link to Magneto's true identity ... our last chance to stop him once and for all!"

But just as Sabra is flying Haller to the Transylvanian Alps, to meet with Odekirk, the scene switches to Odekirk, who is working on another forged passport, sitting in bed while his wife sleeps beside him. Suddenly, Odekirk looks up -- he has a visitor. It's Magneto, in full costume.

Magneto is floating in the air. He surrounds Odekirk's bed with his magnetic energy, and uses his power to keep Odekirk's wife unconscious. He says, "You failed me." Odekirk responds, "Please ... please, my wife ..." Magneto answers, "She will sleep the sleep of the innocent. She has done nothing ... but you ... YOU, my friend, have BETRAYED me." Odekirk protests his innocence, and then Magneto makes this remarkable speech: "Do you remember what you promised me the night I came to you, torn and filthy, nearly a quarter century ago? I was searching for my beloved MAGDA, determined not to lose her as I had lost so many others in the fire that engulfed all of Europe during my childhood. The authorities were in pursuit of me for the "crime" of avenging my daughter's murder. I was willing to deny who I was ... everything that my family died for ... so that I could find one woman ... so that I would not be caged AGAIN. The Erik Lehnsherr fabrication was a convenient means of ensuring that. You swore that the forged papers were FLAWLESS, that your skills were unsurpassed... but now, you have proven to be a liability. Your work has been called into queston by my enemies, and they will trace Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte BACK to you." Odekirk protests, "That is impossible! That forgery was impeccable! My work is ... " Magneto answers: "It was not ENOUGH! You gave birth to Erik Lehnsherr, Odekirk. And tonight, you have killed him. My secrets shall die with him. All that remains now ... is MAGNUS."

This scene says, subtly but clearly, that Magnus denied who he was, gave up everything his famly died for, to take the false identity of a Sinte Rom named Erik Lehnsherr. Since this entire FAQ has gone into great detail showing exactly how and why Magnus was born Jewish, it seems there is no doubt now, that Magneto's family and he himself, were Jews. Magnus would not say he denied *everything* his family died for, by taking a Romani identity, if his family were indeed Roma. As I pointed out above, only the Jews and Roms were targeted as entire peoples, and killed for no reason other than they were Jews and Roms. Magnus was either one, or the other. Since in XM #72, it is revealed that he is NOT a Rom, we must conclude he was born a Jew.

There are several continuity problems that arise from the revelations of XM #72. Several unanswered questions:

1) How much of Haller's speech (Unlimited #2) was based information contained in Odekirk's forgery, how much was based on what she personally knew, and how much did she "fabricate" herself? She makes a large number of mistakes, about nearly every aspect of Magneto's history and life. She also gets her Holocaust history and dates wrong. Did she perhaps add her own *facts* to what she found in those old identity papers? Was she perhaps trying to make the story coherent? As in, trying to make what she knew about Magnus and his history fit what she learned about *Erik Lehnsherr*? For example, where she says, on page 19 of Unlimited #2, "...Lehnsherr had taken to calling himself MAGNUS ... as if by choosing his MIDDLE name, he could bring some semblance of BALANCE and SIMPLICITY to his haunted life." This is Haller's supposition -- the reason he was calling himself MAGNUS in Israel. She knew him as Magnus back then, she had just found out, his full name was supposedly *Erik Lehnsherr.* Did she try to splice together the information?

2) While XM #72 makes it clear why Magnus cloaked himself in this false identity and ethnic background initially, what is not so understandable is why he continued to maintain that false identity after his search for Magda was over, and he immigrated to Israel. Did he use the forged *Erik Lehnsherr* passport to enter Israel? Why would he use a false identity and ethnic background to enter Israel, when he was a Jew?

3) Why would Magnus continue to use the Erik Lehnsherr identity during the Age of Apocalypse, especially since he publicly identified with being a Jew? (Astonishing X-Men #3, quoted above.)

4) Magnus worked for at least one intelligence agency, most likely the CIA (Classic X-Men #19). He then hunted dangerous mutants, for his own mysterious purposes, as shown in a brief cameo in Generation X #10 -- which was a memory belonging to Sean Cassidy, telepathically accessed by Emma Frost. During the time he was working for the CIA, his code-name was Magneto. In Classic X-Men #19, he is called only Magneto. In Generaton X #10, Interpol agent Sean Cassidy doesn't know who the man is who is helping him track down Arcady (the future Omega Red). Emma Frost, commenting from the present as a psionic guide to Cassidy's memories, calls the man *Erik Lehnsherr.* But the question is, after he left Israel, did Magnus use the false identity Erik Lehnsherr?

5) During the time that Magneto tried to follow Xavier's path, roughly from UXM #196 through UXM #253, and New Mutants issues #35 through #75, including UXM #188, NM #21, #23, #24, #26, #28, and #29, he referred to himself as Magnus, and others like Storm and Kitty Pryde called him Magnus. Even though he was disguised as Michael Xavier for the outside world, the X-Men and their associates all knew Magneto as Magnus. During this time, Magnus also identified strongly with his Jewish and Jewish Holocaust history. The question now is, what happened to the *Erik Lehnsherr the SInte* identity during this time?

6) Why, now, after so many years, did Magneto find it necessary to kill George Odekirk in order to protect his identity? We know why he took the false name and ethnic background to begin with. But we have no evidence that he continued to use *Erik Lehnhserr*, during each stage of his pre-Magneto career. After he became Magneto, after all the battles with the X-Men, after the events of Fatal Attractions, after the mind-wipe and the appearance of Joseph, after Onslaught, why would Magnus be so concerned with protecting his true identity? Was he trying to protect the memory of his family? Has he maintained contact with pre-Holocaust family grave sites, or places where he once lived? Is he worried that the very bones of his ancestors might be violated by those looking for his genetic material? Then there's Anya, his beloved daughter -- she was never Anya *Lehnsherr*. Her last name is now unknown -- is Magneto trying to protect something concerning her? George Odekirk wouldn't be the only witness to Magneto's true identity, either. What about those Carpathian villagers, who accepted Auschwitz escapees Magnus and Magda in 1945? Did anyone in Vinnitsa who knew Magnus' true last name survive his burst of electromagnetic radiation? What about Ruth and David Shulman, who knew him at Auschwitz, and recognized him, in UXM #199?

These, and other unanswered questions, remain.

By removing the *Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte* identity, fixing that particular retcon from Unlimited #2, and leaving the rest of Magneto's history intact, writer Joe Kelly and editor Bob Harras have not officially stated that Magneto was born Jewish, and was a Jewish survivor of Auschwitz. But, as was the case during the years Chris Claremont wrote the character, the references to Magneto's Jewish identity are there, subtle and at the same time, obvious.

[thots-n-prayers-2137]

OKAY TIME FOR THE MUSHROOMING AU LET’S GO AAAAAAAAA

I’ll warn everyone. Under the cut you’ll find a LOT of rambling about mushrooms. Not only the AU. Feel warned.

Also some spoilers for 2-2 I guess.

Okay so! First things first! In Poland, where I come from, people traditionally go to local forests to pick mushrooms (especially during autumn!). There are tons of species, too! Some popular edible ones include:

(Borowik szlachetny, Boletus edulis, photo by Staszek99 on Wikimedia)

(Podgrzybek zajączek, Xerocomus subtomentosus, photo by Basik07 on Wikimedia)

(Czubajka kania, Macrolepiota procera, photo by Chrumps on Wikimedia)

There are also tons of inedible and poisonous ones, like:

(Muchomor czerwony, Amanita muscaria, photo by Onderwijsgek on Wikimedia)

(Borowik szatański, Rubroboletus satanas, photo by Archenzo on Wikimedia)

(Mleczaj wełnianka, Lactarius torminosus, photo by Jerzy Opioła on Wikimedia)

There are four main rules of picking mushrooms in Poland -

1) Don’t pick mushrooms that you aren’t 100% sure that they are edible. There are a lot of similar edible and inedible fungi with lamella (I’ll explain that later) in Poland! That’s why it’s so important - it can be deadly to eat the wrong mushroom.

2) Mushrooms with tubes are generally safe to eat, except Rubroboletus satanas, but it tastes terrible anyway so you probably won’t eat it in an amount high enough to die. And let me note something. THIS RULE ONLY APPLIES TO POLAND, PLEASE CHECK YOUR LOCAL MUSHROOM SPECIES (AND LAWS) BECAUSE MUSHROOMS WITH TUBES ARE NOT ***INHERENTLY*** SAFE TO EAT, IT’S A LOCAL THING!!! But yeah, that’s how it works here. “But what are lamella and tubes?” Those are the hymenophores, baby! I can’t exactly remember what they are (something with reproduction, for sure), but it’s the bottom of the mushroom. That’s a lamella-type:

(Photo by Strobilomyces on Wikimedia)

And that’s a tubes-type:

(Photo by Jerzy Opioła on Wikimedia)

3) Always cut the mushrooms off by the bottom, rather than pull them out of the ground. This way they can regrow! The way fungi grow is really fascinating, but basically, the mushroom can regrow from that little part. Wow! Also, that means you have to bring a knife to mushroom-picking. A small one is enough.

4) Don’t destroy inedible mushrooms. They’re inedible to people, but not the animals! Plus, they’re an important part of the ecosystem, and are often really pretty. Just don’t.

Those rules are the very basics! Like, it’s things that children in grades 1-3 learn at school! More professional mushroom-pickers will probably know which mushrooms are in symbiose with what trees, where are the best spots, which mushrooms with lamella are safe and all the good stuff. I’m on the “don’t even look at mushrooms with lamella” side of things, haha.

Mushrooms are also traditionally put into baskets, while being collected:

(Photo by me!)

But I saw some people put theirs into buckets as well. This is not recommended, as plastic isn’t as breathable as wicker, however, it’s mostly people who sell mushrooms so they have to pick a lot of them. But there are even madlads with plastic bags... *shivers*

But that’s enough of an intro! Now the ACTUAL AU stuff!

(while my thoughts on mushrooms were really nicely packed, the thoughts on the AU will NOT)

okay so basically in all honesty i was mostly thinking about... kanna. i even tried to design her! i kinda left my drawings at home and theyre not even particularly well-drawn NOR do they, like, show what i *want* her to look like. some notes include:

id mostly use the color scheme from her canon outfit?

instead of the white uniform skirt, she gets a pair of magenta pants (it would be pretty impractical to wear a short skirt for mushroom-picking, and white isn’t an option because it’s easy to get that dirty in a forest)

a simple dark green jacket, with some lighter green/white accents here and there. 

im thorn between giving her brown boots and more sport-y shoes... aaaaa boots are more practical but i personally usually go in sporty shoes cuz my boots have a weird love-hate relationship with my pants so yknow

since most people pick mushrooms during fall, it would probably be cold so she gets a scarf. idk *what* scarf yet but she gets one dangit (on a sidenote, i decided that i dont really want shin to have a scarf. maybe ill explain a bit later)

also she gets this sort of. cloth thing. the word in polish is “chusta” and my dictionary translates it to scarf but my understanding of scarves and chusty is telling me - not every chusta is a scarf and vice versa. the sort of thing i mean is, like, a square bandana, but not exactly? or maybe it is a bandana???? example photos:

(from owasowa.pl store!)

(from avanti24.pl!)

and the specific chusta i want for kanna is. like, white with magenta flowers? colors cuz her canon color scheme and flowers cuz her death + flowers are pretty and a popular motif for that stuff

i personally usually wear my chusta tied under the chin rather than behind my neck but i can’t find any photos like that so just. imagine??? i guess???? also unlike the models i leave some of my hair at front cuz it looks cute

remember what i said about buckets? screw that she gets a blue bucket. like from her head but a bit bigger so she can fit more mushrooms in there

and here im thorn between making her super good at picking mushrooms OR under average for her age aaaaaaaaaa can you imagine my pain

like, the super good part could maybe come from like, the newfound love for kugie? like, maybe kugie’s family is just great at mushroompicking in general and bringing her to forests for walks&mushrooming could be a fun lil thing that they would be doing aaaaaa

but the under average part could be coming from her having a difficult childhood so she could only start learning that stuff at later age, yknow?

i was also thinking about shin a bit (he lives in my head with relatively low rent, of COURSE i was thinking about him, lil miss “shin on pfp”). i want him to be a VERY, like, basic-level guy, like, “no mushrooms with lamella” “doesnt know whats in symbiose with what” sort. kinda like me, huh since his canon outfit seems to be quite good for mushroompicking actually, my only changes would be that he closes his jacket now cuz its cold AND he gets no scarf rights. i. don’t know how to articulate why i think it’s a good idea. but its partially cuz it would be hillarious for him to be freezing but pretending he ISNT. also he gets a regular basket? like, the one I showed as an example is pretty thin and atypical, im thinking really more regular wicker. id say its a typical święconka basket but i’d need to explain what a święconka is so maybe not.

i was. trying to to think about joe and sara a bit? i only got that they both have light blue softshells but in slightly different shades? and they have currently both baskets but joe tried to use a plastic bag at some point. sara is okay with species (i KNOW i kinda dragged the “no mushrooms with lamella” rule, but it’s REALLY what most people are using. it’s simple and reliable, you’re just missing out some dubious mushrooms, really), but bad at noticing them, the exact opposite of joe.

thats. all the thoughts i have im sorry i dont include any other characters i just didnt think about them and i needed to get out what i already had, heres a handful graph of amount of thought i gave to every character, made in like 1 minute in MS Paint:

so yeah. aaaaa

[everydayanth]

American Beauty Standard: A Brief History and Modern Application

I learned this in an anthropology class and I don’t remember the resources, but I know one of them was Tocqueville talking about the American obsession with committees and associations as a way to accomplish tasks with people from tons of different cultures and backgrounds and no formal aristocratic class.

So, back in the day of colonial America all the way through like... probably modern day if we’re honest, wealthy families that came to America kept strong ties with relatives or positions in their home countries. When their sons came of age to marry, they would often find a wealthy upper-class woman from their home country or ethnic background to wed, which meant that wealth circulated the culture it was coming from. A wealthy English lad would go to London and find himself a lady to bring to the US, a wealthy Frenchman would stay with his family in Paris or wherever, the would tour the continent blah blah, and come home with an upstanding lady of the gentry.

UNLESS an American girl could catch their interests first. This was why American girls were taught independent skills (homemaking rather than the class skills of entertaining), why they were allowed to marry for love (lack of a gentry class and singular cultural/social rules to follow), and why, at the end of the day, beauty became the most valuable tool.

Because a poor American girl who was beautiful and useful could out compete the European class rules of etiquette to secure herself a wealthy husband. And if you start there and work your way forward, our obsessions with smart or pretty girls (but watch out for too-smart or too-pretty), our beauty pageants and cosmetics advertising, our taboos and traditions, our girl vs. girl competition, it all starts to make sense.

Because being beautiful, witty, and useful meant you could be noticed and loved or admired, and married to a wealthy man. Wealth meant comfort and comfort meant safety and safety meant security and security meant freedom. Isn’t that what we all want? Isn’t that what we still want? Aren’t we still just competing for independence, for respect and freedom? Same tools, in many ways the same world. Girls fighting over college admissions, internships, medical research funds, they aren’t any different from girls competing in beauty pageants or arts, it’s always about freedom and for some, beauty is a way to get there.

There are a lot of socially aware people on the internet and I just wanted to add this nugget of history to the conversation about beauty standards. We seem to be aware that being able to follow trends is a sign of wealth, we seem to easily discuss that beauty standards themselves are an impossible oppressive tool to control and manipulate, and we are perfectly blunt about the wealth of industries capitalizing off insecurities. I wanted to bring this history into the conversation as well. Because like it or not, competition and our ability to be “wives” has historically been part of “American” culture since colonization, and that includes an incredible amount of isolated puritan and protestant extremists coming to the “new world” because their countries called them out on some bullshit or maintained economically exclusive advantageous relationships with their leaders.

Anyway: American [white] female beauty standards begin with competition for wealthy husbands and the illusion of comfort and freedom they could provide (with plenty of truth to the illusion) and still exists today. American girls were taught to “make” a home as a resource for their husbands while their European counterparts (of the same [similar] class) were often taught to entertain and host within the home as an accessory to her husband’s success, as expected by their class and/or station (often equally oppressive). 

There are so many other interesting components to the conversation as well and I just figure that if we’re interested in having it at all, I might throw some other things out here: 

WARNING: Long geeking rant about individual body adaptions and why they are incredibly beautiful follows:

Like how male beauty also evolved, with Americans emphasizing the fitness of a laborer or farmer, becoming the independent middle class, while their middle class European counterparts were often more slight and “intelligent” (relative, as perceived by access to education) businessmen, lawyers, doctors, etc., as they retained the inherited gentry and the American self-made man became more desirable to American women who had no single cultural courtship ritual and so relied on love and picking out a reliable husband based on their own choosing (which leads to its own conversation on American victim-blaming in assaults on females, especially when combined with that puritan past). 

Which is then complicated further when looking at pockets of immigration where different adapted physical male bodies are living next to one another in America (the Dutch and Polish of W. Mich are a great example). They are separated by countries in Europe, so their different builds are suddenly compared in an entirely new environment that doesn’t necessarily fulfill their previous adaptions (MI isn’t as cold as Poland, so the shorter stature isn’t as useful, while the sexual selection of the tall Dutch male remains, it isn’t as differentiated from other larger Europeans (like lowland Germans and Scandinavians), and so isn’t as genetically insulated. 

Anyway, these are all focused on “white America,” other cultures and ethnicities will also have changing and adaptive standards for different reasons. There are also some we will share as a whole culture. We’re having smaller families so each child will want to be the most healthy available. Guess what big booties are a sign of? Healthy babies (the type of rich fat stored in the butt is used to help form baby brains and shit), so as a general correlation, humans tend to figure out that curves = healthy babies. As our family-size expectations get smaller with the lowering of infant mortality and rise of individual life expectancy/health/comfort of average citizen, and as we push the age of first conception, we want to make sure that one-shot kid is healthy af. 

Being black anywhere but the American South is hard, and even that’s muggy and wet as opposed to the drier conditions of the west coast of Africa many African Americans were adapted for when brought as slaves. Which means the likelihood of being vitamin D deficient is higher, without being too crass or negating to address social racism issues, I’ll round it out and say we’re all going to eventually have a Brazil effect, where people living in areas for a long while will adapt to them or “breed into” them and we all become a similar middle skintone. The SW US is going to be more “Mexican” because that’s the “proper” (ie most useful) adaptive skin tone to protect from the changing climate there, while those in a place like the Olympic Peninsula in WA are going to be a bit lighter as an adaption to the weather, but probably not as white as Europeans. 

What is natural for an area’s skintone is also based on diet. The Inuit and Sami live at a similar parallel but the Inuit are much darker skinned on average. Why? Well, they eat more fish and seafood with Omega3s and Vitamin D (therefore needing less of the Vitamin D to enter through skin from sunlight) and live often on open plains (therefore absorbing more sunlight when it is there), while the Sami eat more red meats from reindeer herds with less Vitamin D, and travel through fields/forests (therefore needing more Vitamin D to enter through skin which results in lighter skin). 

My favorite statistic I ever learned was that on average, an African’s skin can absorb NINE TIMES more sunlight than their European counterpart without getting burned. Nine times! For one hour in the hazy European sun, a black person would need to spend nine (+) to get proper Vitamin D amounts, while in Africa, a white person after ONE HOUR would begin to burn from too much uv. That’s so cool! Bodies are crazy awesome! 

That applies to hair texture as well, black hair is often coiled to protect the head (you know, cus we stand on two legs and it’s in the sun all the time). Two inches of coiled black hair can dispose of that 9x uv by holding onto water and a bunch of other crazy amazing processes, while two inches of white hair generally dries quickly and lies flat against the head to insulate and keep warm, not expel heat. 

Hair, eye, and skin color are all affected by melanin counts in the body (or melanocytes, which is where melanin is created, including collections of melanin at melanocytes which cause freckles and moles!), lots of melanin produced by the body makes someone darker skinned, but that doesn’t mean they need the coiled hair protection from the sun, which gives us so many varieties of follicle shape (which is what defines the curl tightness or looseness of a hair, with round holes producing straight hair and curved/slanted holes producing curls and coils like how you curl a Christmas ribbon with scissors, which means yes, you can have curly patches on your skull, your hair will change as you grow and based on your diet, hydration, products, etc.). 

Having little to no melanin makes someone “albino,” or extremely light (which affects eyesight as having little or no pigment in the iris doesn’t shield the retina from light, though some may simply have extremely low pigment with light blue eyes). There are in-between colors like red hair, hazel/green eyes, and highly-freckled skin that result from different concentrations of melanin in different parts of the body, and there are things like heterochromia (different color eyes) which result from different concentrations of melanin in the same body part, and other things like Vitiligo (what Michael Jackson had), where concentrations in melanin change overtime, in this case from the shutting down of melanocytes which then produce little or no pigment for the skin, causing patches of whiteness. 

There are so many ways for bodies to be different from one another and it’s incredible when you start to understand how unique our individual combinations are! Nose size is a direct correlation to air humidity, as are our sinuses. Face shape can often be the result of language, people from the American midwest accent will have rounder cheek apples from pulling their mouths wide and working different muscles than those with say, an RP British accent who pull their jaws down and cheeks in instead of wide on many vowels, resulting in more defined cheekbones. Jawlines are a symbol of genetic diet, if you have a less defined jaw, your ancestors were probably coastal people, more adapted to seafood proteins, which requires less chewing than those in higher altitude and mountain regions, which would require herds of red meat or poultry for protein, which is more chewing, plus the different textures plants must have to grow at different altitudes and climates. This is a loose correlation and there are plenty of other factors that combine to make different results, but they always fascinate me!

Why are African men often stereotypically faster than Europeans? Because their adapted environment is often flat savannah and adaptions for running long distances and fitting the climate generally involve being tall to expel more heat through the skin (while a cold-adapted person is generally more stout and short to keep more heat in with less skin surface area – there are always exceptions for other reasons, the Dutch are tall due to sexual preference of females, the African Baka people are shorter due to reasons still being discovered, most recently it is thought to due with denying puberty growth hormones because denying them retains immunity to certain dangers found in the environment or provides some advantages over niche environments). Part of being adapted tall and slim to dispel heat (Allen and Bergman’s laws for you curiosos) is that pelvises are more narrow, males even more than females, and narrow hips mean more straight femurs rather than the slight bow of wider/rounder hips, which means, if you go to physics, a faster turnover with no need for overcorrecting the bow, and less strain on joints. While a European body adapted to its environment would require different survival adaptations, the bow of the femur allows for less speed, but often more agility for moving through forests and up and down highland slopes and rocky craigs. Again, there are always exceptions, which is why you cannot identify race by a skeleton, though there are probabilities. 

Adaptions to altitude are their own category and they begin from birth and before. It’s so cool! Being born in high altitudes develops larger lungs for taking in more oxygen in the less oxygen-dense atmosphere, which can develop into barrel lung, where the chest is nice and round like a barrel to allow the lungs full expansion. That’s so cool! When I go to higher altitudes, my sea-level coastal body is just like... wheeze.  I also broke a bunch of ribs and they don’t expand easily due to complications, so it’s even harder for me to be at a higher altitude now, being adapted to it if I have to live there sounds ideal.

We seem to understand things like race are a result of biological adaptation to environments, but we don’t often carry on the conversation past that. What does adapting to climate change look like? What about colonization and immigration? What about pollution? What adaptions happened in the past, did we lose them when they were no longer necessary? How long does it take for people to become adapted to a new environment? Generations? Why do we socially present some things as more desirable than others? Why do we create beauty standards at all? How does a shared culture of diverse backgrounds even have a “standard?”

Everything comes down to predicting health and trying to live longer, to protect ourselves from danger. Whether that’s trying to be accepted by an outsider community or blending in with the “standard” at large, our understanding of beauty will continue to change as our social, political, economic, and climate/environment aspects of our shared culture change as well. For me, learning about why my body is the way it is was endlessly enlightening. Any doubts about my big nose (which was also broken, so bigger than my relatives’) are quelled by understanding that it helps humidify and avoid that horrible feeling I hate in dry air where it feels like my nose is going to start bleeding (I’ve only gotten it in saunas though). Moving around the country helped too, I understood a lot more about the purpose of those adaptions and saw how different localized beauty is marketed. 

In Southern California, along the coast, the ocean spray makes everyone’s hair a bit curly, the humidity is high and I loved it (Jake, not so much). But the sun got to me. I got so many new freckles and my skin was always a bit dry, I had to work extra hard to stay hydrated and moisturized (even though my Polish side tans really well and I don’t burn easily, I was always dehydrated). Then we moved up to Seattle and I loved it even more! My hair stayed curly (though I’ve since learned that shower water and products make the biggest difference), I got more freckles as my skin adapted to not needing so much melanin and my hair got a lot darker for a while, my eyes seemed to get lighter in San Diego, which was crazy (and kinda cool). Then we moved to the desert-desert, the straight Mojave, and my body did not love it. I smelled all the time (dry air, my sweat is made for humid, but not too humid lol, that’s why I think white people smell in Asia and it’s not just a stereotype), my hair got sun-bleached and I lost a lot of the curl, it wasn’t the worst, but I was only there for a few months. Then we came to New England and I started to notice the change in trends and how my own preferences had changed in beauty and fashion. Marginal peripheral influence will do a lot and I can’t imagine living in that with none of the “qualifying” standards. 

So basically, I’m writing this book of a post to say that if we step back and look at all the pieces, they have reasons, some of them shallow, others valid, but that they are changing and will always be changing and so is all of humanity. Your body is doing amazing things to protect you every single day, beyond digesting your food and feeding you dopamine. Every single thing about it has a purpose and a goal or a reason, except for maybe genetic mutations. I’m not going to go stand on a hill and say you’re missing an arm or your body hates you for a reason, my body built my stomach outside of me during fetal development and I promise that was just a fuck up, there was no reason (but my mom will tell you there was and it was God). 

Bodies are crazy cool, sometimes they mess up and make cancer and don’t notice and it gets too big and we need help. Sometimes they only have one red-haired gene and we get blonde and brunette men with confusing bright red beards (lol, Jake), sometimes we’re in the middle of an adaption and we get patchy beards while living in a society that values them (looking at you, boys from genetic lines of men adapting to humidity where beards kinda suck or cultures that don’t like them). Sometimes we have been moved to a place where our genes aren’t as advantageous or actually hurt us and we don’t know about it or have to work harder than others to stay healthy, and sometimes our native or natural diet isn’t available to us and we work really hard to stay healthy but our bodies just don’t respond because they can’t or won’t. 

For some people it feels overwhelming, or blasphemous, to talk about humanity as a whole, to look at ourselves as a single version of all the endless possible combinations of changes that can happen in a body, but I find it incredible! There is no one like you, but there are people who are similar, there are places where you’re perfect and there are cultural adaptions to help you when you’re not. Understanding the reason or purpose behind the body’s reasons for selection or change, combined with the lottery of your localized DNA options from your parents and potential genetic mutations during development and later in life, understanding that the body is always changing and adapting to what is best for you or catching up from past changes can explain so much of ourselves! 

I just think it’s really cool! 

I used to geek out about it a lot more and Jake would play a game where he would point at a face and ask me to guess their genetic heritage or combination of peoples/geographies. He still does it sometimes, I’m pretty good at it, but it’s more fun to be wrong and surprised, if I’m honest. Humans are just cool.

That being said, if there’s a thing about yourself you don’t like or don’t understand, that you feel doesn’t fit in to beauty standards and never will (for me, it was my nose and freckles, why so many freckles?), shoot me a message and I’ll do my best to tell you why it might be a thing so you can appreciate the incredible diversity of your own body as it adapts to your ancestors’ forced or willing migrations and changes to fit its new environments!

American beauty standards are complicated, but if there is one thing they always revolve around, it’s a humble confidence in your own value. I found that value in others, in seeing how intricate and unique humans are from each other, which lead to an appreciation of my own unique pieces. No industry standard or media pacification can take that or change it or judge it, because it’s your body doing its absolute best with the tools it has to protect you and make you the safest and most comfortable you can be in any place of the world. <3

[eveiswriting]

I have suffered with anxiety and depression since I was 11 years old and ever since then, I've noticed that some days are better than others in terms of how much I can cope. Some days I feel as though I can achieve anything. But a lot of the time (most of the time), I am busy doubting myself, worrying about other things and feeling generally drained from life itself. So I thought I'd give you some tips I use to help myself study despite suffering with anxiety and depression. I'd also like to add a little disclaimer that I am by no means saying this will cure your anxiety or depression nor make your life perfect. I know the seriousness of dealing with mental illness and my aim here is to share tips that I myself find useful.

1. Change up your routine

I notice I become really depressed when I repeat the same thing constantly and never change things up. By changing the method you study, you are challenging yourself in different ways but also making sure your brain is stimulated. So, one day you can try flashcards but another day you could watch a video and take notes or make a mindmap or make a PowerPoint and record yourself talking over it as if you are a teacher teaching that content to your class. There are numerous ways to change the way you learn.

2. Reward yourself

For some people, this may mean food or watching tv or even playing with your cat. Whatever makes you smile or feel better or slightly more relaxed, make sure to do it. You should not punish yourself for not doing 20 hours of work a day. Whether you have done 1 hour of work or 8 hours, you need time to breathe and relax away from the pressures of study.

3. Wear comfy clothes

If I visit a library or cafe, my anxiety is so high by being surrounded by people that I am already feeling out of my comfort zone. So, by wearing clothes you feel comfortable and confident in, you are more likely to adapt to the place you are in and be able to relax there. Also, studying is not much fun if you're feeling uncomfortable so choose wisely!

4. Listen to your favourite music

There is something strangely calming for me when I hear one of my favourite songs come on whilst I study or am in public, such as in a library trying to study. I get majorly anxious even if I go somewhere like a library or somewhere where other people study, so being able to listen to songs I love and that help calm me or just make me feel happy is a massive plus. If music with lyrics or music in general distracts you, I recommend either listening to white noise on youtube or asmr study live streams where they use rain sounds.

5. Adapt on down days

When you deal with mental illness, you will know there are some days when it is simply impossible to get your brain to work. You might look at your to-do list and feel a sense of dread knowing that you will never be able to get all of that done, especially if you are feeling particularly depressed or anxious on a certain day. I think the key thing that has helped me is to adapt and recognise that some days you feel like absolute crap and nothing is working. Instead of trying to force yourself to study for hours on end, try just doing something for 10 mins or 20 mins or perhaps at max 30 mins. You might think 10 mins is nothing but if you did that 3 times then you will have done 30 mins of work already. It doesn't matter how much you do, it's HOW you study. You could spend 10 hours being completely unproductive. Time does not always constitute productivity.

6. your study space

I am slightly a hypocrite with this once since I really need to make my study space and desk better for studying. With this point, I mean that you should add little decorations or things you know will make you happy around your study space. Some people might want to add fairy lights or postcards to the wall, whilst others may prefer to put a picture of their favourite singer or group. You can really be creative with this but also don't overcomplicate it since you need enough space on your desk or study area to actually be able to study and have your books out!

7. talk to others about your worries and feelings or write them down

The anxiety and the stress that school often gives us can be made worse when someone already struggles with anxiety and depression to begin with. I'm admittedly not one for talking about my feelings, I would probably say I have about 1 or 2 people close to me I could be honest with when I am feeling down, but that doesn't mean it is easy. If you are seriously struggling to the point you feel you can't take much more, please please talk to someone and do not bottle it up. Whether you call a helpline just so you can vent to someone, whether you talk to your best friend or an online friend or your brother, just please do it and don't let yourself fall into the habit of shutting everyone out. It is extremely hard to focus on studying if you are trying to fight against yourself and the negative emotions you are feeling every day on top of that.

links if you are in crisis:

a list of international suicide hotlines:

a crisis hotline (they work in the U.S., UK, Canada, South Africa, Ireland)

this is another website which gives the hotline numbers for the U.S, Canada, the UK & Republic of Ireland, Argentina, Spain, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy, Serbia, Mexico, Japan, Brazil & India

more hotlines for crisis & suicide prevention which ontop of the above also include Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan

These tips may be short and simple but for those struggling with mental illness, even these small changes can be hard at first. Please take your time and look after yourself. Your health should not suffer just so you can achieve an A* grade. Studying can even be fun, effective and interesting if done correctly. But if you overwork yourself or deny yourself a break, you're actually going to end up less productive.

So, my overall advice is: study smart and try to monitor how you are feeling and when things are getting too much. There may be times when you hit a very low point and maybe even question if you have the ability to carry on, but I promise you that you have that potential to achieve the things you want.

[learnenglishwithkatie]

How to improve your listening

1. The right level

Find listening that’s the right level for you. If it’s too difficult, you won’t learn anything from it and you will lose confidence and motivation. When I lived in Poland, I listened to the radio and it didn’t help me at all because I was a beginner and the radio was too hard. 2. Where to find online activities

Simpleenglishvideos.com is a great website which has videos at three different levels. Learningenglish.britishcouncil.org is also a good place to find listening activities and videos. Click on “skills” or “general” and then choose something for your level. There are also several British Council apps available. (If you search on YouTube for “elementary listening” or “intermediate listening”, for example, you will also find many videos, although some may be better than others.) 3. Easy listening

Duolingo is good for low levels. You can listen and read at the same time or you can try listening to the sentences before you read them. There is a website and an app but I think the website is better. 4. Intermediate listening

BBC Learning English has lots of excellent videos for lower intermediate and intermediate students. They have a website and a YouTube channel but I think the easiest way to find the right level is to use the BBC Learning English app and look at the A-Z of programmes. My favourite is the Lingohack series. The British Council website (see point 2) is also good, especially Word on the Street. 5. Upper Intermediate listening

For upper intermediate students, I recommend News Review on BBC Learning English. Also, look at the audio zone and video zone sections on the British Council website. 6. Advanced listening

If your English is advanced, you can watch or listen to anything you like! You don’t have to use materials made for students but you can use videos and audio for native speakers. The BBC news website has some videos and I also suggest listening to TED talks. 7. TV and films

Watch TV shows and films. If you watch Netflix or DVDs, you can usually watch with subtitles. At first, it’s OK to have subtitles in your own language. When you get better, you can change the subtitles to English. Eventually, you will be able to watch without using subtitles at all. Another suggestion is to watch something twice, first with and then without the subtitles. It might be boring to watch a whole film twice but you could watch your favourite ten minutes again. 8. Songs

Listen to songs. You can find music videos on YouTube. Some of them include the lyrics (words) or you can use Google to find the words. I also recommend lyricstraining.com or the app. This turns listening to songs into a game. 9. Active listening

Be active when you listen, not passive. Really try to understand what you’re listening to. Make a note of new words that you learn and what they mean. You could even try to make notes, depending on the type of listening. Tell somebody else what it was about or just tell yourself in your head! Before you listen, try to guess what you will hear. Think about what questions you would like to be answered. While you listen, see if your predictions were correct or if your questions are answered. 10. Conversation

Don’t forget that conversation is also 50% listening, or at least it should be! Try to find people to talk to and listen to. See the previous section for advice on how to find a speaking partner. 11. Read and listen

Read and listen at the same time. Watch a video with subtitles. Buy or borrow a graded reader with a CD. Use an app such as beelinguapp. A lot of the videos I’ve mentioned above have transcripts so you can read and listen. This is especially good for students who understand well when they read but find listening more difficult. Make sure you really listen though. It’s easy to stop listening and just read. 12. Keep it interesting

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, find something that you enjoy or find interesting and you will be much more motivated to listen and persevere.