#i mean yeah lots of mexican americans there for sure but like

[mochinomnoms]

How do you think explaining Christmas would go down with the boys? I'm specifically looking at Krampus, cause the holiday is all about joy and hope and lights and and giving, and then there's just this half goat demon man that will stuff you in a sack and torture you for Your Sins.

The story of Krampus is actually really metal tbh. There was this evil butcher that killed, chopped, and salted these three kids that were hanging outside his shop, and then St. Nicholas came along and uses the Power Of God to commit actual fucking necromancy to bring the kids back to life. God then cursed this butcher to follow around St. Nich as a punisher that comes around every December 5. The French call him "the whipping father" it's fucking insane actually.

Some of the holiday is also a little weird when you put it into perspective, like: oh yeah, there's this red guy that you write letters to and then he breaks into your house and you leave an offering of milk and cookies for him in exchange for candy and gifts :D! He also has flying reindeer with very cute names btw! But we're not going to talk about that actually cause now we have to decorate this whole ass pine tree that I brought into ramshackle :D it's gonna be great! :D

Bro imagine giving them advent calendars! Those little ones with the small toys or chocolates- give one to Riddle he needs one. Lots of sugar intake to catch up on

🦩

To be real, I was raised very Catholic (ew) and traditionally Mexican so my Christmas stuff is very different from what you see on TV and like in Hallmark movies.

So like, we celebrated it as a religious holiday, so the Santa stuff is kinnda foreign to me, I only heard about it from school. We still got presents and stuff, but I remember doing Posadas, which is children reenacting the Mary and Joseph seeking shelter by going to houses and singing and asking for shelter. At the end we go to one of the parents' houses or to the church and have a little party! We also didn't really decorate like I've seen in American homes, we had like a cute tree usually, but mostly decorated the altars to La Virgen and the Nativity scene.

The biggest difference I've found is that we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve instead; we had Nochebuena, so we'd go to midnight mass, have dinner, and at midnight we open presents. Technically, kids didn't get presents because of Santa or anything like that, we got it cause kids get gifts like how the three kings gave baby Jesus presents. Though that also is a different winter holiday in January or February, not sure. When I got older my family started getting more Americanized, and my brothers got the whole Santa deal, but we still did a lot of the church stuff.

Considering that there is no mention of any sort of religious institution in Twisted Wonderland, I imagine my explanation of Christmas would be very foreign. Though Noble Bell College basically being Notre Dame in the Masquerade event and Rollo practically inventing Catholic guilt in a world without Catholics has some implications? I actually don't think there is any mention of any deities that the cast or world in general worship, though perhaps it's implied with Hades? He's not referred to as God of the Underworld though, he's King so maybe??

This got off-topic, but I like to think any explanation of traditions from back home is fascinating to the boys! And there's a lot of winter holidays besides Christmas and Las Posadas, I mean Hanukkah is big and Yule is reemerging as people learn more about where traditions from Christmas comes from.

If you're like me and have a religious aspect to your winter holidays, I think they're curious about it and asking all sorts of questions! If you had the more traditional American Christmas, then they're super curious about the whole Santa deal! Like, they thought you said your world didn't have magic, so what's with this magically man in a red suit and white beard?

(Also, I don't know what advent calendars are, they have candy I'm guessing? If it's a calendar, then I'm safe to assume it's like a count-down to Christmas day?)

[theninth09]

So I have been in the whole Thiam things quite a while how and there is specific tag that got me wondering and it is the Jewish Theo Raeken tag the reason bcs where does this coming? Is this just a tag that an author like just created and ppl thinks “oh hey! This is really interesting!” And decide so write more about? Or this there any specific theories behind it????

hi yeah, that theo is Jewish is a headcanon. im pretty sure that its theoceanismyinkwell (they're under the same username on tumblr too!) who came up with that since most of the fics under that tag are by them! i dont know much about this headcanon, but theoceanismyinkwell is actually Jewish themselves, so if you have more questions about that, maybe try sending them an ask instead :)

in canon we dont really get to know much about theo's religion or ethnicity. theo just gets read as a white guy, which, well, he is. cody christian, his actor, is actually indigenous (his mother is penobscot) but teen wolf in general likes to cast actors that are racially ambiguous. froy gutierrez, nolan's actor, is of caxcan (indigenous to mexico) and mexican descent. victoria molores, hayden's actress, is of mexican descent as well. kelsey chow, tracy's actress, is chinese (im ignoring her claiming she's native american bc that's a whole controversy and im white european myself so its Definitely not my place to comment on that.)

my point is, all the characters ive listed can get read as white if you really want to. they're just racially ambiguous enough that you can ignore any non-white features they may have. and with the way teen wolf likes to be racist in general (the way they treat literally all of their Black characters, the way they treat kira and the incredibly poor way they handle their inspirations of asian and native american mythology) this feels... interesting to me. its definitely a choice they made.

sorry, i got of track. the racism in teen wolf makes me incredibly angry. canonically, theo mentions once that he's an atheist in s6ep9 when the sheriff threatens to shoot him "until god won't even recognize him" to which theo says "im an atheist. fire at will." if hes just always been an atheist or if his time underground possibly made him stop believing in higher beings- who knows. i think its a very fun tidbit of information about him since his name, theodore, means "gift of god." how ironic. (heres a post where i briefly talk about that btw)

anyway. that theo is Jewish is just a hc, and not an actual theory as far as i am aware! its definitely fun though. since we dont really know a lot about theo, especially his childhood and his life post-canon, i think giving him these kinds of hcs is so cool. adding aspects to his character to further explore him.

[specialagentartemis]

love your addition to that post about misinformation earlier this month, genuinely, but your summary of the situation re: the medicinal ingestion of human corpse matter in europe is kind of misleading. among other things, i don't know anyone who would call the 17th century "medieval." paracelsus didn't even die until the 1540s. periodization is complicated and mostly bullshit when people look for hard lines between "eras" of human history, but using terms that conjure an idea of a time literal centuries removed from the things we're talking about obfuscates the proximity and connections between things like corpse medicine, anatomical theaters, criminalization/execution, and the development of the modern western medical system. sorry for the long rant in your ask box, i just have a master's degree in Literally This.

to be clear, i am not at all arguing that the mummy being used medicinally was always or even often made of Egyptian mummies. i just wanted to be annoying about time periods. though by the early 1600s physicians like oswald croll were outwardly recommending fresh (executed) european bodies as the source of mummy, so i do kind of take issue with the assertion that people always thought they were buying something different. anyway, as a parting gift thanking you for making it this far in my longwinded asks, did you know moss grown on a human skull was also a source of medicine? called muscus ex cranio humano or usnea humana.)

Ohh huh. Thank you for messaging me; this is a lot more context than I had when I made my post.

I’m an American archaeologist (that is, I work in the Americas), so my areas of specialty are the US Southwest/Mexican Northwest ca. 800-1400 CE, and New England (or okay mostly Massachusetts and some New Hampshire) 1700s-1800s. I also have a solid grounding in the Bronze Age Aegean. But what that means is that early modern Europe is not my forte at all, and I did what I caution about doing and relied primarily on Wikipedia and a tumblr user I find reliable for that information. There were some quick to find sources that supported an 11th-12th century origin for the eating of ancient Egyptian mummies as medicine, which is what I meant by Medieval. I also kind of thoughtlessly took “mummy” to mean “ancient Egyptian mummified human remains” when of course ancient Egypt did not hold a monopoly on corpses or even mummies. I wasn’t intending to speak about the ingestion of human corpse matter as a whole, just Egyptian mummies. But both of these made the result end up misleading and not fully true, and I’m sorry about that.

There’s a specific cultural image of Victorian Britons opening sarcophagi and eating mummies that they looted from thousand-year-old Egyptian tombs, and it becomes a thrilling/disgusting synecdoche for British imperialism in Africa. That’s the part that’s a myth (though 19th century Egyptomania was real and the mummy unwrappings and some mummy-paint were also real.)

However, I was not well informed about the scope of European corpse medicine throughout history, and was honestly shocked to learn just how widespread and recent it was! And for sure you’re right, the 1500s-1600s when European corpse medicine was at its peak is hardly medieval. They mostly weren’t eating ancient Egyptians by that point (though they seem to have been at least a little, because in the late 1500s bodies were still being smuggled as contraband out of Egypt and into Europe), but yeah Europeans sure as hell were eating corpses as medicine. (Those links are not a fact check @ you, it’s @ anyone who reads this and wants to read more.) That seems like it ought to count for “they didn’t teach me this in school!”

It’s good to hear from the people who have researched this stuff; it sounds fascinating. Thank you for sharing, and I’m sorry I was misleading.

And re: Usnea skull moss: that’s WILD. I would not want to stick that up my nose.

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #61

Brain Curds are lightly edited flash fiction - practically first drafts - posted daily and sometimes written with the express intention of being terrible… but, you know, in an endearing way. Please enjoy.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is The Frank Program,” he said with a wobble in his voice. “Welcome back to the show. In case you’re listening to the audio version of our podcast, you should know that I’m currently receiving a back massage. The masseuse is doing that choppy thing.” He exhaled slowly, still modulated by the rhythmic massage.

Daryl, like a mouse, spoke. “I think they prefer to be called massage therapists.”

“Ah, hell, Daryl, don’t ruin this for me with your woke bullshit. Anyway, our guest today is none other than esteemed political commentator, Howie West. Mr. West, welcome to the program. And of course, welcome to all your many fans.”

“Thank you for having me, Frank.”

“Tell me, what do you make of all this ‘woke’ stuff?”

“Well, actually, a lot of what we call ‘woke’ is a very deliberate attempt by the extreme left to control how you think. If they can control how we think, they can control what we think, and in extreme circumstances, why we think.”

“That’s fascinatin’.”

“If they can do that, well, it’s not much of a stretch to who we think as well. That’s how they accumulate more power.”

Daryl raised his hand. “Can they control where we think?”

“They absolutely can, but I didn't think it was worth mentioning.”

“It’s called ‘school,’ son. And it’s rotting your brain.” Frank rolled over to his side and the towel fell off.

Daryl shielded his eyes.

“Ah, shoot, we’ll have to blur that part out. Daryl, quit yer hysterics! Ain’t nothing you haven’t seen before!” Frank adjusted his microphone as the massage therapist replaced his towel. “So, thinkin’ and such - where is it taking America as a nation?”

“America is in big, big trouble, Frank. Big. People are afraid to speak their minds because they know the far-left communist corporate media will silence them…”

Daryl raised his hand again.

“SHUT UP, DARYL!”

“... Americans are afraid of even voting for the candidate they really want, for fear of social rejection by their peers. That is why Republicans keep losing the popular vote. It’s lucky that the electoral college evens things out, but the radical left is trying to dismantle that as well.”

“How can we be sure that Americans only vote for the candidates they really want?”

“The brightest minds in the country are working to figure that out as we speak, but I can tell you for sure that it’d be easier if we had as few people voting as possible.”

Frank got a cramp in his leg. “Ow! Ow! Charlie horse! Charlie horse!” The massage therapist squeezed the knot and he relaxed with a sigh. “I’m listening.”

“Did you know, Frank, that when this country was founded, only wealthy white landowners were allowed to vote for president? And only government employees were required to pay income tax? This is the America I want to live in.”

“I really like that last part. Taxes are killing me. Can’t afford nothin’ these days with all the inflation.”

The massage therapist started massaging his feet.

“Oh… oh yeah, that’s the spot. Now, hold on just a second, Howie, that reminds me a question I was meanin’ to ask.”

“What’s that?”

“So, you’re a Jew, right? Always wearin’ that little hat?”

“Yarmulke.”

“Bless your soul. Anyhow, my question: are Jews white?”

“Uh…” West rubbed the back of his neck. “It depends.”

“I just mean scientifically, that’s all. None of that social-whatever stuff the woke mob is on about, just science.”

“If you’re wondering whether I’d be allowed to vote, I’m sure I would. I own three houses.”

“No, no, just genetically. DNA-type genetical.”

Howie gulped. “I’m not black! Look at me, it’s obvious.”

“Mexicans aren’t black either, are they?”

“Yeah… you know, uh, that’s a good point.” He looked at his wrist, but not the one with a watch on it. “I really have to be going, actually, so I’ll see you around, Frank.” He got up and ran out the door, slamming it behind him.

Frank growled. “Goddamn it, Daryl, you scared him off with yer stupid questions!”

Daryl retreated into himself. “Sorry, Pop.”

“It is what it is, I guess. I’ll just enjoy the rest of my massage. For now, y’all, I’m Frank, this has been The Frank Program, and thank you for letting me be Frank with you.”

[icarus-suraki]

for the weird asks: 4, 29, 46

Weird asks! Ask me things!

4 which cryptid being do you believe in? I'm pretty skeptical about cryptids in general. I'm very much in the "I want to believe" camp. I like thinking about them, theorizing about them, reading about them, watching low-quality filmed-on-a-potato videos of them, all of that. The Fresno Nightcrawlers have a special place in my heart. But it's always in the back of my mind that there's a logical explanation for whatever someone has seen or claims to have seen, though sometimes the logical explanations are equally weird. It might really have been ball lighting.

All that said, I'd like to believe in Bigfoot. There are so many stories from Native and First Nations communities about beings that sound an awful lot like popular culture's Bigfoot. And given that white people (like me) have a terrible track record of actually listening to Native people when they've explained things (the moai of Easter Island did walk to their places; Squirrel really did teach people about maple sap; the landscape of Australia really was different long ago and people really did preserve that memory) maybe there's something to the really old Bigfoot or Sasquatch stories. I know the stories have gotten all mixed up with European wildman stories and American folklore. Maybe the oldest Bigfoot story is a recollection of an extinct bear, but there's something in there.

Also extraterrestrials. Not that I think they've come to Earth or anything but, to borrow from Carl Sagan, otherwise it seems like an awful waste of space.

29 how do you like your shower water? Hot. Very hot. Extremely hot. Scalding. Boiling. Could make good tea in a cup of it. Just a few degrees below the temperature of lava.

But I like the air outside the shower to be cool (or even cold) because I don't want to overheat the minute I get out of the shower. So I'll open the windows in winter or turn the AC down in summer. Maybe that's weird, but it's also how I like to sleep: cozy under blankets but breathing cold air.

But yeah, mmmmm, hot water~

46 favorite holiday film? YOU WANT ME TO SAY THE CROW, DON'T YOU? Well, that's certainly a favorite holiday film. Gotta watch that on October 30th since that's when the main events in the film happen. But this low budget New Zealand-made Christmas movie called Nearly No Christmas that I saw as a small child is also very near and dear to my heart (any whoever gave it two stars, please turn on your location; I just want to talk). It's kind of about…the problems of capitalism and the benefits of cooperation? Also overthrowing monarchies.

And I love the MST3k episode Santa Claus, which is a slightly bizarre Mexican-made kids' movie dubbed into English. (I like Santa Claus Conquers the Martians too, of course, but Lupita's aggressive cuteness, Merlin's inexplicable presence, the wind-up reindeer, and all the international kids making toys are just too odd. Love it.)

Also Home Alone (the original and still the best) is always fun, even if it is a white suburban revenge story. It's a great movie, don't @ me, but it's still a white suburban revenge story. It's a bit like Hot Fuzz in that all of it's good but the payoff at the end is great.

Never been a huge fan of Nightmare Before Christmas. People have assumed that about me before, which I get, but I'm just not a fan? I'll sing along with "This Is Halloween" and have a good time with it but, eh.

There are a number of movies that I associate with holidays that aren't strictly related to said holiday. I mean, I have a litany of horror and gothic movies that I love for Halloween--like The Crow, sure, but also Crimson Peak, The VVitch, Dario Argento's giallo masterpieces, Ghostbusters (1 and 2 but more 1 than 2; or is that set at Halloween? I can't remember), Dracula (1992), Interview with the Vampire (1994), The Craft, Hereditary, A Tale of Two Sisters (which I can't find anywhere anymore, pieeeen), The Exorcist, Hellraiser (my beloved), weird shit like Beyond the Black Rainbow, non-supernatural horror (or "thriller") like The House That Jack Built or I Saw the Devil, German Expressionism but mostly just The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, Asian Extreme/J-horror like Oldboy or Suicide Club or World of Kanako… I'm down to watch The Blood on Satan's Claw and The Wicker Man (1973) even though those two are set in spring. Don't care, didn't ask, bring me a snack. (I legitimately have a subscription to Shudder, which is an all-horror, all-giallo streaming service and it's pretty good so I can glut myself there. It's not all gold but what streaming service is? But they're the ones who helped fund Skinamarink, so they do know what they're about.)

Honestly, a lot of what's in the top three tiers of this iceberg is or could be a Halloween Favorite (and maybe a couple in the fourth tier if I'm feeling more like a sicko).

You know I tried to watch that Hallmark Christmas Prince or A Princess for Christmas or whatever it was when it was being talked about a bit and I found it so tedious and so uninteresting that I never got more than a half hour into it (if that).

[simpingcowboy]

100 FOLLOWER MILESTONE!!!

Firstly, I just wanted to thank any and everyone who has supported me <3 I wasn't sure what exactly to do for a 100 follower milestone (plus like ~15 more of you who got here within the last 4 day. You're part of this too, hi.) So I thought I'd just say a bit about myself and how I got involved with the Pedro fandom as I think it's a bit funny :)

Hello! For starters you can call me Am or A :) I go by She/They/He pronouns absolutely any of those are fine to use. I'm 21 years old and live in Chicago, IL in the US though I'm originally from Seattle! I'm Zapotec Mexican and American Lakota and just a littleee Polish (my love for perogies has to count for something right??)

Abit of what I do IRL! I work as a barista at [redacted mega green coffee corporation]! Though I do some side gigs with my poetry and painting. I'm also very into furbies!!! I have lots of them. My DS is my bestie. I unironically play the silly bands game (don't judge me). I'm also very involved in my local drag scene! Yes, I am that type of ✨gay✨ I love surrounding myself with queer creatives here and IRL!

Let's talk about how I ended up in the Pedro fandom. So it actually starts...with my ex 😅 who had a MASSIVE crush on Mr. Pascal. We'll just refer to him as X. Truthfully, I didn't care much for most newer Star Wars stuff as it was primarily a nostalgia thing for me, but eventually X convinced me to watch ✨The Mandalorian✨ with him. Now he didn't actually TELL ME that we were watching it so he could see if I also thought Pedro Pascal was hot or not...X would just continually ask me what I thought. To which I mostly just responded "Uhh I mean I like his character yeah??" And give him my character analysis of Mando lol. It wasn't until we see Mando's face in the SECOND SEASON that I realized X had a huge crush on Pedro that I then used to relentlessly tease him about.

My simping didn't really start until I saw Pedro in Narcos! Maybe it's just that I could actually see Pedro in this but uhhh yeah that did it in for me lol. Fun fact, I did try to get X to do a couples costume as Agent Murphy (him) and Agent Peña (me) that he violently shot down :( it would have been PERFECT!!! Anyways that's where I fell into the Pedro Pit. And I haven't come out yet.

I lurked on here for awhile, before finally publishing my first fic on Christmas of 2021! I had gotten COVID the week before and needed something to fill my time so I wrote The Gift Exchange. Since then I've continued posting my writing on here :)

It's been fun for me! And give me a good opportunity to practice my prose. Everyone has been so kind to me! I look forward to getting to know y'all more and to have fun writing even more!!! Thank you for reading and supporting me <3

[ladyloveandjustice]

Doing this for last year

How many books did you read this year? 36 novels, 78 manga and graphic novels. I'll skip talk

Did you reread anything? What?I've been rereading (actually listening with audiobooks) the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. Last year I reread Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, Carpe Jugulum, Mort, Soul Music and Hogfather. I also reread (listened) American Gods.

What were your top five books of the year? Our Wives Under the Sea, In the Dream House, Otherside Picnic Volume 8: Accomplices No More, Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emporer and Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality. You can see more in-depth looks at my favorite in this post here.

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year? I'm interested in checking out more of Julia Armfield and Carmen Maria Machado. And Chuck Tingle, but I already knew about him lmao. (Manga and GN wise, Uta Iskaki, Tatsuki Fujimoto, Mark Russell and Mokumokuren. See my full list of new favorite manga here!)

What genre did you read the most of? Besides manga, according to storygraph, fantasy (actually LGBT comes in second but I don't really consider that a genre).

What was your average Goodreads rating? 4.3. I do tend to be overly generous with my ratings because I'm an author and I know how hard it is, plus I like to err on the side of kindess, but yeah, probably essentially accurate! Might be closer to a 4.

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to? Oh, a lot. Godkiller, Delilah Green Doesn't Care and The Spirit Bares it's Teeth stand out.

Did you meet any of your reading goals? I always set the low goal of 25 books, so yeah. On Storygraph I surpassed 100 counting manga.

Did you get into any new genres? No? I read a surprising amount of horror last year though.

Favorite new release? Camp Damascus or Night's Edge. If you count "released in English" It's definitely Otherside Picnic Vol 8.

Favorite book that been out for a while? In the Dream House and Our Wives Under the Sea

Any books that disappointed you? I found Mexican Gothic too slow paced and had to DNF it. The Old Woman with the Knife was such a cool idea but the writing was dull, so another DNF. For ones I did finish, Piranesi also didn't hit the way I wanted. I really struggled though She is a Haunting, which sucks because I actually bought that one on a whim.

Least favorite books? Oh boy, though I technically didn't read the whole thing, it was definitely Medusa's Sisters. As I said on here "I have to say, "Athena cursed Medusa and her sisters because she's a mean lesbian who's afraid of Zeus's homophobia, so she punishes her gf for being raped by making it so she turns in men to stone, classic manhating lesbian move" sure is a way to add extra layers of ick to Ovid's version of the Medusa myth, and i didn't know it was even possible to make that worse!' I also skimmed the end to see if it got worse or had any satisfying conclusion, and yeah it sure did get even worse, it included a character sleeping with her sister's rapist and hashtagtotalgirlboss telling him to go away as her big empowering moment, while also mentioning he gave her a baby which gave meaning to her life. All of the characters were awful but not in a fun way, and probably the funniest moment was when a character acted like it was SO shocking to see an older man getting sexual favors from a pretty young man in a brothel..IN ANCIENT GREECE.

whoops took too long answering this, invalid now.

books that won awards? I have no idea.

What is the most over-hyped book you read this year? Probably Piranesi? Based on how people were talking about it I expected a lot...I kept waiting for a cool twist that never came.

Did any books surprise you with how good they were? I mean I expected In the Dream House and Our Wives Under the Sea to be good, but they blew me away, and I wasn't sure I'd enjoy a middle-grade book but I loved Zachary Ying.

How many books did you buy? 16. Minus all the Pratchett audiobooks, it's 8. (you don't want to know the answer for manga)

Did you use your library? Yes, a ton.

Most anticipated release? I don't really anticipate releases all that much, I mostly hear about books after they've released.

Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama? Well, I follow withcindy on youtube so I watched a lot through her. I also saw the Cait Corrain thing going down on twitter. God help me if I ever participate in book drama, though.

Longest book? American Gods for sure.

What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book? Guesswork here, since I don't want to check them all, but probably Magirevo 3 since it was so repetitive I could skim most of it. Qualia the Purple was likely the second fastest at 5 days.

Did you DNF anything? Yeah, 11 books according to Storygraph. Last year I struggled through a few books so this year i decided to drop books as soon as they were boring to me or I realized I wasn't feeling it/in the mood. I'll probably return to some! Medusa's Sisters was the only one I dropped because I was angry.

Reading goal for this year? The usual 25 books.

end-of-year book ask

How many books did you read this year?

Did you reread anything? What?

What were your top five books of the year?

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

What genre did you read the most of?

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate?

Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

Did you get into any new genres?

What was your favorite new release of the year?

What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

Any books that disappointed you?

What were your least favorite books of the year?

What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

How many books did you buy?

Did you use your library?

What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

What’s the longest book you read?

What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?

Did you DNF anything? Why?

What reading goals do you have for next year?

[antoniovargas]

curious on your thoughts on the phrase “spicy white” then 👀 I think that’s the (kinda dumb but I get that it’s used mostly ironically) phrase that spain/portugal/romano/veneziano fall under

as a so-called "spicy white" myself i'm not gonna lie i think its fucking stupid. and honestly at this point in our post-post-ironic clown world saying something 'ironically' has basically the same merit as saying it in earnest.

i know people like being silly on here, but i don't think it's a necessary or helpful designation. in fact i actually believe it's harmful and only contributes to further polarization when mediterranean europeans are distinguished or categorized as somehow less 'white'. you know who does this? the kkk. the kkk does this. and even some especially dense neo-nazi boneheads who couldn't point out these nations on a map.

obviously it's important to be proud of your unique ethnic heritage. obviously there can be (emphasis on can be, since this isn't always the case) stark contrasts in the cultures or appearances of northern vs. southern europeans, but this magical line doesn't exist as much as americans believe it does; and this extreme distinction is both a modern phenomenon and useless for a number of reasons.

european people benefit from white privilege universally; regardless of whether their last name is smith or sánchez, regardless of whether they're tanned all year round or pale as a ghost. of course, there are individual nuances to this privilege, but that's largely irrelevant.

as you might be aware, italians have not always been treated well or taken seriously in the anglosphere. i'd argue we're still marginalized in ways and heavily stereotyped. this doesn't mean we're not white, it's moreso based in anti-catholic sentiment and a culture of distaste for anything deemed too 'ethnic', too 'smelly', too loud, too foreign. (plus, side note, most italians are not as dark-skinned as americans think)

as far as iberians, in addition to discrimination similar to that faced by italians outside italy, i find they're often misrepresented as non-white due to linguistic/cultural proximity to people of color; e.g. spain to mexicans - the majority of whom are mixed indegenous mesoamerican and spanish - or portugal to brazilians, who tend to be very multiracial after centuries of brutal colonialism and slave trading.

'you speak spanish? but you're white! oh you're spanish? so you're not white?? you are?? yeah so how is spanish your first language?'

this circular (and obviously false) logic is something i see ameritards use a lot, equating spain to mexico or vice versa because durr mexicans speak spanish; but anyone with remote knowledge of world history should be able to distinguish a colonizer from their colony.

also just another thought, if italians and iberians fall under such a categorization so would the french, the greeks, any balkan or slavic people, pretty much anyone who isn't a full blown white anglo-saxon protestant (english, scottish, german, dutch, etc.) (and yeah not everyone who is pale/blonde is a WASP either) and we definitely don't go around calling russians ~spicy~ so again my point stands.

ik the term isn't literal either but just pointing out too like, food from these regions are overwhelmingly not spicy so define spicy lmao. im not sure how it originated, but in conclusion i diagnose "spicy white" to be facticious and homosexual (read: fake and ghey)

[myromanempireee]

The Outsiders historical aspects rant

As a history buff myself, you know what this fandom doesn’t talk about enough?

The fact that this is THE SIXTIES.

This fandom just ignores the racial discrimination, religious discrimination, sexual discrimination, even gender-based discrimination that is EXTREMELY prominent in Tulsa Oklahoma specifically.

Like we’re really glossing over the fact that Tulsa ESPECIALLY was very hyper religious, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, etc. back then.

Like… I personally headcannon some characters to be mixed white + SMTH else, (For example I always head cannoned Johnny as Italian and indigenous Mexican/Central American) plus some as queer

But you all gloss over the implications of it all

Like what do you mean you wrote a Fanfiction of Curly + Pony (A ship I personally love myself) and just…Had them openly be gay? That doesn’t make sense.

And they don’t even depict how they wouldn’t tell anyone. Not even their siblings or close friends because they wouldn’t know who to trust and probably wouldn’t say it aloud in general anyways. And them getting together would be HIGHLY complicated, because for one, Curly Shepard is CURLY FUCKING SHEPARD, but even without him being part of the ship, there’d be a lot of internalized homophobia, denial of feelings, obvious fear of even looking at the other wrongly, etc.

If they ever did somehow suck it up and get together it wouldn’t be some like…Big confession. It’d be some accidental kiss when they’re either drunk or in the moment and then they realize and it’s kind of an “Oh shit” moment. When they realize the other is okay with it it’d kind of be like…They don’t talk about it, and hide it even from themselves, but it just keeps happening because they know it’s welcome.

The relationship probably would be far from healthy either because of the social stigmas and internalized homophobia and just so many different influences.

And don’t get me started on some other things…

I read a fic a long time ago where not only was Purly the main ship, but Curly himself was fully black. And they were open about it.

In Tulsa.

In the sixties.

Not only was it a gay relationship but it was an interracial relationship, and they glossed over the historical inaccuracies completely?

Im pretty sure it’s taken down now because I can’t find it but it still HAUNTS ME.

Like, I get it, you don’t want the homophobia aspect but like…You call the fic canon compliant and not an AU, yet you take this fic that’s fiction, sure, but set in a REAL timeline with REAL historical influences that’s supposed to be set realistically in the 60s, specifically in TULSA. with nothing added or taken away, and you just…Remove all the historical influences? Make it make sense.

Im not saying you need to have them hurling slurs at one another, and I get you may not be comfortable with those topics for many reasons but like… If you can’t tackle those things maybe…Don’t put yourself in a position where you’d be expected to?

Even if it’s something as slight as Purly being entirely secret and them having a hard time getting together and accepting their sexuality

It tackles it tactfully without them having to truly touch on homophobia, adds a lot of nuance to their characters, storylines, relationship, etc. and just all in all it adds a lot to the story while keeping it accurate

But yeah, that’s my little rant. I tried to keep it short and sweet but this has been bugging me

Also I hate when people headcannon the main cast as certain things as if that wouldn’t have DRASTICALLY impacted the events in the book

Even if saying like “Oh the Curtis brothers are Black/Asian/Hispanic”…Like, that changes everything? But you don’t want it to? But you want it to still classify as entirely complying with the canon universe?

I don’t mind the headcanon itself but you’ve gotta admit that things would have been DRASTICALLY different for the household and even the gang if they were really black

Hell, the gang probably wouldn’t be a thing unless the rest were suddenly POC too, which creates another domino effect because let’s be real here Dally would’ve died pre-canon and if he didn’t that’s a whole other thing

Plus Soda + Sandy or Steve + Evie wouldn’t have happened which would remove certain storylines

Then Cherry and Pony wouldn’t have talked

Though that would’ve added more layers to Bob going after them

It just creates a lot of domino effects people either don’t consider or don’t want to tackle

I get Fanfiction bends the source material slightly but i dunno, this is still a pet peeve of mine

[wrestlingisfake]

Supercard of Honor preview

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston - Castagonli is the defending ROH men's world champion. Kingston has had it in for him since...well, look, Eddie has it in for everybody, one way or another. So I could look up their whole history in CHIKARA or whatever but that isn't going to make it make more sense. They really hate each other, ladies and gentlemen.

Kingston dramatically "quit" AEW earlier this month to get away from all the snakes and liars. Then he showed up at the ROH tapings (okay technically him showing up was taped before he quit) to bitch about how Claudio is a snake and a liar or whatever. Listen, Eddie is hella cool but his decisions don't make a lot of sense to me. "I do me, partna"--yeah, you sure do, my guy.

Conveniently, Castagnoli has quietly turned heel to support Jon Moxley's heel turn in AEW, so he can actually be the asshole Kingston makes him out to be. Unfortunately, the storyline amounts to Claudio attacking Eddie for blaming everyone but himself for his problems, which...actually yeah, he's right. The story isn't great. I mean, it's better than Edge vs. The Judgment Day, but that's a low bar to clear.

In spite of everything I'm rooting for Eddie, and he did a great go-home promo on March 30. But I just can't convince myself he's going to beat Castagnoli right now, at the peak of the Blackpool Combat Club's heel run. Something tells me this match won't settle anything, and we'll be seeing it again before long...

El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander - Vikingo is defending the AAA mega championship. From 2016 to 2021, Ring of Honor was part of a tight alliance with CMLL, which made it impractical for ROH to work with other Mexican promotions, or really any Mexican wrestlers that had heat with CMLL. So even hearing "Triple A" on an ROH show is weird enough, let alone seeing a AAA title match.

AEW/ROH fans will mainly know Vikingo from the big dream match with Kenny Omega on March 22. It's been notoriously difficult to get dates on him in the US, which has added to the allure of seeing him on an American broadcast. For example, AEW wanted Vikingo for the big ladder match on March 1, but they couldn't get him. Instead they brought in Komander from KAOZ, who proceeded to put himself on the map for people who don't watch lucha libre. People who do follow lucha went nuts the second this match was announced, so expect a lot of hype for this. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman may both pass out just from calling the action.

In a funny twist that probably won't get mentioned on this show, these two already had a AAA title bout yesterday, at Wrestlecon's Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow. It was a three-way with Taurus, and I haven't watched it yet but I bet Taurus took the pin. That's the kind of wacky situations you get during Wrestlemania weekend.

I believe AAA and KAOZ have a working relationship, so it wouldn't be totally implausible to see a title change here. But AAA knows they've got a golden goose with Vikingo, and I don't think they're going to let Tony Khan job him out twice in one month.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia - Garcia was penciled in to face Will Ospreay here, but Ospreay is on the shelf and it looks like Tana has been sent in to fulfill his commitments. Garcia is probably still stinging from his big loss to Adam Cole on March 29, followed by a weird angle where Jericho helped him to the back and seemed protective but also weirdly bothered about something. I don't know if this match will play into that or not. Either way, Garcia has something to prove.

I suppose Garcia has a slightly better chance of beating Tanahashi than I thought Mike Bailey had last night. If Garcia was a New Japan regular in line for a push, he might score a huge upset win in a situation like this. But New Japan is more careful about who they send to do a job in an interpromotional match against a midcarder. If the plan was for Garcia to beat a New Japan veteran, they probably would've sent Tomohiro Ishii or Satoshi Kojima. Like Bailey, Garcia will have to make do with Tanahashi making him look good in defeat.

Wheeler YUTA vs. Katsuyori Shibata - Yuta's ROH pure title is at stake, which means "pure rules" are in effect. The rules are designed to discourage outside interference, closed-fist punches to the face, and going to the ropes to escape a hold. The championship can change hands on a disqualification or count-out. In the event of a 60-minute draw, the decision will be awarded by a panel of judges.

Shibata is the head trainer for New Japan's LA Dojo, but more importantly he was a key NJPW guy until he suffered subdural hematoma during a 2017 match. He shockingly returned to action in 2021 for an exhibition match, but after a second exhibition in 2022 New Japan evidently grew wary of letting him compete. He later faced Orange Cassidy in AEW and Tom Lawlor at an Antonio Inoki tribute show. I still get scared when I see him wrestle.

In terms of star power, Yuta really has no business beating Shibata, particularly for a "just very good at grappling" belt. But you can't have Shibata win the title without a plan for him to return and defend it, which is probably not going to be easy. So I have to assume this match is going to be about Shibata passing the torch, which is a little awkward since Yuta recently turned heel and he's being a huge prick about stuff like that.

Reach For The Sky ladder match - This is a five-way tag team ladder match, with the ROH tag team championship at stake. Jay & Mark Briscoe won the title in December, but Jay was killed in a car accident back in January, so Mark announced this as sort of a Jay Briscoe memorial match. Both tag belts will be suspended above the ring, and ladders will be placed around ringside for the competitors to use. Whoever is first to climb up and retrieve either belt will win the championship for his team.

The announced participants are: the Lucha Bros. (Penta El 0 Miedo & Rey Fenix), Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin), the Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett), Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher), and Rush & Dralistico. The Kingdom and Top Flight have been feuding for a while, so for all we know this may be their blowoff match.

Anyone could win this, really. If this was for the AEW tag belts, I'd lean towards putting them on the hottest team under contract, and that'd be the Lucha Bros. But for all we know the plan is for the ROH tag champs to be a lesser team that primarily works ROH tapings, which favors the Kingdom or Top Flight. It could work to put the belts on Aussie Open or Rush/Dralistico, but it's harder to see what the plan would be. Guess I'll just have to sit back and take in the chaos.

Samoa Joe vs. Mark Briscoe - Briscoe is challenging Joe for the ROH television title. They've played up the idea that Mark has always wanted this championship, but has never held it. Normally I'd say he's a huge underdog against Joe. But Mark isn't going back to tag team wrestling after the death of his brother, and he'll never have as much fan support as he does right now. Also, Joe never made a lot of sense as the TV champion; now that they've got a weekly ROH show, I think he should move up to chasing the world title. So Tony Khan has a zillion reasons to just give us the feel-good moment and give Mark the title.

Athena vs. Yuka Sakazaki - Athena, the ROH women's world champion, called out Sakazaki for this title match. Athena's heel run has been great but I've kinda lost the plot with her complaining that all the other women are "porcelain" or whatever. Sakazaki would probably work as champion but I honestly forgot she was even still with the AEW, so I don't know if that kind of commitment is feasible. Athena should probably retain.

Brian Cage & Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona vs. AR Fox & Blake Christian & Metalik - Cage and the Gates of Agony are defending the ROH trios championship. Fox's team has been little more than jobbers in AEW/ROH thus far, so I wouldn't normally give them much of a chance here. But Cage's contract reportedly expired, and he's supposed to be on a handshake deal to finish up at this show. So unless something really wild happens, I think we'll see a title change. Just as well, I think Kaun and Liona work better as a duo anyway.

[indaysinaya]

Chapter 11- History Lesson

AMILYN

I look expectantly at Mary, eagerly waiting for her explanation. I figured if I’m gonna live a life here at Pinag-adlawan, I might as well learn all I can about life here. It could give me an advantage, or make my life easier. And who knows? Maybe there’s a pop quiz on the first day. I don’t wanna be the only one who doesn’t know the correct answers.

“Hmmm, hain magsugod?” Mary mutters under her breath.

“Uhh…,” I start, unable to tone down my curiosity any further.

“Yeah?” Mary asks.

“What language is that? The one you’re using, I mean. I assumed it was Spanish, cause your name sounds very Spanish. But now that I listen to it more, it sounds a bit different. Are you, like, Mexican? Or Portuguese?”

“Oh, no no no. I’m a full blooded Filipina. I’m a native of the Mandaya tribe that belongs to the far side of Mindanao. The language is called Mandaya, or Kinamayo, depends on who you ask,” she replies matter-of-factly.

“But…your name sounds…I don’t know. Not Filipino, I guess?” I object, genuinely curious.

“Well, the Philippines was colonized by the Spanish for three hundred and thirty three years, hence the influence in name and language. But we’re very much a people of our own, so you better not make the big mistake of mistaking us for Spanish. It’s a bit of a sore topic for us, you know.”

“Ah, I guess I get it,” I reply, though not quite sure I understand why this would be a sore topic. “But…if you’re Filipino, how come you can understand me? And you speak fluent English at that.”

“Well that’s because I went to a regular school before coming here. Here in the Philippines a great deal of importance is given to English. It’s kind of a second language. You know, we were occupied by the Americans when Spain sold the country to them for a few measly bucks. So we were trained to speak in English,” Mary replies.

“Sold? You mean the country was sold?” I ask in disbelief.

“What, you need a course on Philippine history as well? Yes, sold. But the Spanish didn’t wanna lose face so they staged a mock battle and all that stuff. We were under American regime for a few years while we were supposedly being trained for self-governance. That part is still under debate though. Some would argue that America never intended to let us go independent. Something about being a state or stuff like that.”

“Wow, that sounds intense.”

“Hmm yeah. Spanish colonization, American occupation, Japanese invasion, then there was a brief British rule. You can say we’ve been through a lot.”

“But… how about the bagani?”

“What about the bagani?”

“I mean, surely the bagani could have helped in keeping the country safe, right? They’re powerful and all. If they wanted, they could have prevented all that stuff from happening.”

“Ah, I told you that’s a sore topic. Yeah, some believe we should have done our part in keeping the country safe. But bagani aren’t supposed to interfere in the war of men. We can’t direct humankind’s history, so we aren’t supposed to be involved in stuff like that. Some say letting the country get invaded was sacrilege to the first land, but according to the law, we belong to all nations, not just the Philippines, so we aren’t supposed to take sides,” Mary explains.

“Sounds complicated,” I comment, scratching my chin.

“Sure is. Anyway, we’re getting way out of topic. Amilyn, allow me to explain how the world and Pinag-adlawan came to be.”

“Right. Yeah, please go ahead,” I reply, making myself comfortable and ready for the impending lecture.

“So, in the beginning, there was nothing, right. There were three gods who roamed the nothingness. They were Bathala. Ulilang Kaluluwa, and Galang Kaluluwa. At first, Bathala and Ulilang Kaluluwa met and had this huge argument over who would rule over the universe. They fought and in the end, Bathala came our victorious and thus became god of all creations. His enemy’s ashes landed on the earth. Many years later, Bathala met Galang Kaluluwa, and the two hit it off right away and became super bestest buddies. Unfortunately, Galang Kaluluwa dies of a disease even Bathala could not cure. Before his death, he requested to be buried where Ulilang Kaluluwa fell. Where the two were buried, a tree grew. The leaves reminded Bathala of Galang Kaluluwa’s wings, and the trunk of Ulilang Kaluluwa. That tree was the first coconut tree, the first tree in creation, the tree of life. Later on, Bathala created the first man and woman from bamboo shoots that he planted as a sign of peace with Aman Sinaya, another goddess. Oh, and before I forget, Bathala had another fight with Aman Sinaya and threw boulders from mountaintops which resulted to the archipelago that we live in now. So fast forward a few years later, humanity is thriving, some new gods and goddesses are born, and the country that was first occupied in this world was called the kingdom of Maharlika. So everyone lived in peace until the beings of evil came. Now, there are several theories of where they come from. Some say they are from the void from which the first gods emerged from, others say they are failed deities, while some say they are humans who were corrupted by greed. But for whatever reason, they wrecked havoc in the land. Now, the kingdom had no means of fighting back. Why would they, they literally had no enemies before that. They were being decimated, turned into mobile lunch packs, stuff like that. So the gods and goddesses intervened. They chose youths who were sixteen moons old and fed them the water of the first coconut tree. This gave the youth the ability to fight back. And thus the war between good and evil began. In the fight, the island of Maharlika sank to the bottom of the ocean, but the inhabitants more or less won the fight. So now they dwell in the bottom of the sea, a kingdom separate from mankind. Meanwhile, the forces of chaos continued to propagate and multiply, wrecking havoc here and there. The gods and goddesses continued to assign mortals of sixteen moons to fight them, training them in the underwater kingdom and sending them to the surface to fight. Which later became, you know, a bother. Who likes a swim before a fight? The ancestors didn’t, that’s what I know. So they trained a massive army of pinili, and with the help of the gods, they returned portion of Maharlika to the surface, if only to bring the soldiers closer to the fight. By this time, the world has already forgotten about them and has already lost all traces of magic. In order to not shock the rest of the world, the lost kingdom decided to live in hiding, right here, in Pinag-adlawan. Some people came to occupy the surface through land bridges, and viola, Philippines was born. So they live up there, have their own history, and we live down here, continuing to train and stop evil from wrecking havoc. And that, Amilyn, is how Pinag-adlawan came to be,” Mary finishes with a grand gesture.

I try to absorb all that she said. An ancient kingdom risen from the depths of the ocean, power dwellers living in hiding. That sounds like…

“Sounds kinda like Atlantis, with all this ancient kingdom talk,” I openly comment.

Mary slow claps.

“Man, you are good. Yup, that’s where the Atlantis thing came from. Several non traditional historians made that connection some time ago you know, before they were stopped by Pinag-adlawan from propagating their ideas more. Kamoteng kahoy?” she asks, offering me the white tube of something she’s dipping in a sauce of some kind.

“Uhh… that smells fishy. What is that?” I ask, pointing at the gray sauce.

“Ginamos. Small fish fermented in salt. Good partner for any kind of rootcrop,” Mary replies, dipping her Kamoteng kahoy in the ginamos again. “Wanna try?”

“Urgh, maybe later.”

“So what do you think? Understood the topic?”

“Aside from the plenty-syllables of names, yeah, I think so. Ancient kingdom, fighting evil, stuff like that,” I reply, still trying to wrap my hand around the idea.

“Hmm, you’re good. Don’t take too long adjusting. You’ll do well here. Don’t worry about the names, you’ll have plenty of time memorizing the entire pantheon plus a few hundred beings. Peachy, right? You looking forward to it?”

“I guess so?”

“Good. You finished? We’d better go and head for the baths. You don’t wanna take a bath in a crowd, do you?”

Not sure what she means, I decide that I do not, in fact, want to take a bath in a crowd. We both get up, pick up our trash, and head out.

[itsadragonaesthetic]

Self-portrait (Diego on my mind), 1943. I feel like Frida Kahlo's self-portraits are the only pieces of her art I ever see, no doubt because she looks... Mexican, I guess. That's how it's always felt as an American, anyway. She's easily recognizable and when Americans see her, they are immediately reminded of her communist beliefs and lifelong struggles with her health. I think self-portraits are her most boring pieces, to be honest, even though she is better than pretty much any artist I've seen do self-portraits. But yeah, this is probably my favorite self-portrait she did.

Congress of the peoples of peace, 1952. She painted this a little closer to her death, and the style resembles much of her art at the time. It has a lot of political meaning that I don't feel like getting into. The image just really caught my attention when I first saw it. I was really absorbed by the image before I ever noticed the words. It's just a nice piece that puts together her common themes of nature, political beliefs, and her change in art style when her health was deteriorating.

Sun and life, 1947. A lot of her paintings felt abstract or psychedelic in nature. I'm sure others would agree and think of her more "immediately understandable" pieces, but I like ones that just stand on their own as well. Striking images, even without context.

The circle, 1949. A piece that no doubt expresses her turbulent relationship with her body. Once again, this was done closer to the year of her death.

The love embrace of the Universe, the Earth, 1949. I love pretty much any nature-themed painting that isn't filled with apples and peaches and cherry blossoms and red foxes chasing European rabbits. This painting is innately a painting about Mexican natural beauty and the wonders of nature. This painting almost says to me "The love between Frida and Diego is only possible through the love of the Universe".

Still life, 1942. She did lots of still-life paintings as well, and this one just happens to be my favorite. It feels genuinely gritty and artistic, and not just a bunch of fruits and vegetables sitting on a table. I also just love that the fungus thing looks like a bunch of little hands! Why aren't mushrooms ever featured in still-lifes?

-

So yeah I feel like Frida Kahlo is a pretty unrepresented famous painter. Not that she "isn't popular enough" it's just that people hardly talk about anything except her self-portraits or how weird her art is. I wasn't even able to find half of her artwork on the internet, despite having seen it in person or in artbooks. I also deliberately wanted to show images that I hardly ever see. I love Moses and The Little Deer, but those are pretty popular. I couldn't even find her Drawing of Eyes or her Emotions Series which genuinely made me cry when I first saw it. Maybe everyone feels this way about their favorite famous painter, but I'm shocked at how little of her art anyone has actually seen despite her being so popular, even as a person who is a day's drive from her museum in Mexico.

So anyway does anyone want to see my favorite Frida Kahlo paintings?

[vaspider]

Yo, quick question that might actually not be so quick upon further consideration.

So jews are both an ethnic and a religious group, right? Does that apply to converts? Are converts ethnically jewish? I would assume yes from what I know about judaism. It would seem like that's not even a question, but it also seems like a concept that many people would be radically opposed to because it kind of fundamentally attacks the way general society views ethnicity, so it feels like something that would be brought up more frequently?

So...

The only answer I really have to this is to say that it's against halacha to distinguish in any way between a convert/adoptee and someone who grew up within the Jewish community. That fact doesn't play nicely with modern American ideas of "ethnicity", so it's not really possible to answer that question in a way that is simple and satisfactory.

Like, did I stop being white when I dunked in the mikveh? Of course not. That's ridiculous. Am I "ethnically Jewish"? I ... am... exactly as ethnically Jewish as any other Jew, because I'm Jewish, and therefore whatever ethnicity I have is a Jewish ethnicity. (And, again, it's against halacha to try to make distinctions. We're all exactly as Jewish as the next Jew.)

Jews are Ethiopian, Japanese, Desi, Mexican, English... we come from everywhere, and everything we bring to Am Ysrael is Jewish.

I think possibly the best comparison I can make here is probably a trans one. A lot (but not all) of trans people were always their actual gender, and always knew it, they were just mistaken for another gender beforehand. Coming out for me felt a lot like the process of conversion, both in that I had to learn a lot to make the changes I wanted to make for myself, I joined a community, but also I was journeying towards a version of myself who had always existed and just needed to be born the rest of the way.

To distinguish between a trans man and a cis man in a similar way is something we know to be shitty... the questions are very similar, you know? "But are you a biological man/ethnic Jew?"

Well, a trans man is a man, and the biology he has is therefore a man's biology, and therefore, he's a biological man. I'm a Jew, therefore the ethnicity I have is a Jewish one, and therefore I'm no more or less ethnically Jewish than any other Jew.

Usually what people mean when they ask about someone being ethnically Jewish is "are you Ashkenazi genetically, or maybe Sephardic as a backup." And that just... does not understand at all what Jewishness is, or how wildly diverse a group we are, or how becoming Jewish/affirming your extant Jewishness works, or that converts have Jewish souls and stood gathered with all other Jewish souls at Sinai when Torah/the Ten Commandments were given.

Honestly, at the point where you're saying "yeah my soul takes a jaunt to Mt. Sinai when I sleep to hang out with the other Jewish souls and it was there when Moses brought the tablets down," questions of modern American ethnicity seem a little silly, you know?

So... like. I'm white. I didn't stop being white. I'm also Jewish. Those things aren't half and half or part time one and part time the other or religiously one and ethnically the other. I'm 100% both things. I'm 100% white and 100% Jewish at the same time.

And it turns out my great-grandmother was born in a town that at the time was 90% Jewish, and I'm not sure what happened there but I have my theories. That's just sort of a historical curiosity, though.

Anyway, I hope that makes sense. I had a minor procedure done on my knee (I'm fine) and I'm doped up for recovery.

[thedailybullshit]

RDR2 Incorrect Quotes pt. 17

Dutch, giving one of his speeches: Are you an AmeriCAN, or an AmeriCANNOT?!?!

Josiah: Dutch, I’m English.

Molly: I’m Irish.

Javier: Mexican.

Strauss: Austrian.

Sean: Also Irish.

Dutch: How dumb do Hosea and Arthur think we are?

John: Sometimes they leave me pictures of food instead of a shopping list.

Dutch: So what’s your type?

Hosea: Ambitious, dark haired, dumb, good sense of humor.

Dutch: That sounds kind of like me. Too bad I’m not a woman.

Hosea: . . . Did I mention dumb?

Dutch: Yeah.

Hosea: Okay, just making sure.

Hosea: What a long day. I need a drink. Something to take the edge off.

Arthur, a sad boi w/ dark humor: Arsenic.

Hosea:

Hosea: Arthur, do we need to talk?

John: You’ve been giving Charles a lot of attention lately.

Arthur: He was injured in a robbery.

John: I was injured in that robbery too.

Arthur: Then go to a doctor.

Dutch: This is bothering me.

Hosea: Well, you ARE digging up a corpse.

Dutch: No, not that. That’s, uh, pretty par for the course, actually.

Arthur: I kidnapped your pet snake and won’t give it back ‘til you give me all your money.

Stranger: I . . . don’t have a pet snake.

Arthur: Oh. Well in that case, I broke into your house and removed a snake.

Stranger: Thanks, mister.

Arthur: . . . You’re welcome.

*Honor goes up by 1 point*

Young Dutch: I have high standards.

Young Hosea: *robs him*

Young Dutch: Oh shit, he’s meeting all of my standards.

Arthur: *patting his chest* I’ll keep all my emotions right here

Arthur: and then one day, I’ll die.

John: What’s going on?

Arthur: Dutch thinks “homophobic” means “scared of gay people”.

Dutch: *standing in the middle of the Saint Denis streets w/ Hosea* If I don’t have one million dollars in my funds box in an HOUR I swear I will KISS THIS MAN on the MOUTH in front of your children!

[from-a-reckless-writer]

RE: the tags about being tempted to post a half finished fic and guess the ending, well you are a reckless writer for a reason

this is long overdue, so here have a fic.

It has come to the point that nothing fazes her anymore.

A kidnapping? Been there, done that. It means calling Sam Arias to intimidate the board of members into temporary submission.

An explosion at the office? Just a typical Tuesday. It means relocating to the 23rd floor and sharing the desk with two other interns for 2 months tops.

An assassination attempt? It means bracing herself for at least 3 deliveries of donuts and coffee for the two following weeks that Kara Danvers would be protectively hovering over L-Corp, until her boss snaps and shoos her away back to CatCo.

She’s seen it all, endured it all and she sure as hell is prepared for it all. She’s got three different ironclad statements ready to publish for whatever PR disaster will most likely turn up that week. She’s got contacts from the FBI, DEO, CatCo, Daily Planet, Gotham Gazette-- hell she even has Lillian’s personal cell (just in case the Luthor matriarch ever tries anything y’know? ) and yes, even the number of that 'Mexican place at 5th and Spring, you know the one Kara likes, Jess?'

She’s got two pairs of heels, a raincoat and four sets of outfits neatly folded in a duffel bag, at the back of the office, reserved for any emergency that requires a change of clothes.

The point is, she is an independent Asian-American woman who has worked her ass off for the better part of the decade and has long learned to take no shit from anybody.

Not even stupid superpowered Kryptonians.

See, it takes a lot to be her. It takes unlimited patience to put up with a woman like Lena Luthor, not because she’s a terrible person. Oh no, no, the complete opposite, actually. She is so overwhelmingly kind to a fault, and she doesn’t want nor let anybody see it. It’s infuriating to see sometimes. Okay, fine, she sides with the Krytonian on that one matter. But oh, ho, ho, not today. Today, she’s mad.

She’s livid, actually and it’s all Supergirl’s fault. (and Lena Luthor's too.)

Jess has had her fair share of ‘I-Should-Not-Have-Been-Here’ moments, like that one time she forgot to knock and stumbled unto Lex mid-yell with Lena whose eyes were shimmering but was still keeping a rigid posture.

Or that one time when she thought her boss had long left the office, only to be greeted with quiet sobs and an empty bottle of scotch rolling on the floor. Or that time she happened upon Lena, skirt and sleeves on fire with fumes rising from a green solution.

Apparently, her staff from the lab refused to let her in after three days of their CEO holding herself in isolation with the experiment. Lena had gotten the great idea of smuggling the chemicals to her office instead. Luthors are nothing but determined. Jess still remembers the adrenaline rush of holding a fire extinguisher—as if she were the chosen 5th grader for a school fire drill—and shoving her boss out of the way.

Like she said, nothing fazes her anymore she’s seen it all, except maybe, this one. Yep, definitely this one. This one just made a hot ball of fury unfurl at her very core. This one might just take the cake.

Jess was just going about her day, returned from a hearty lunch and feeling reinvigorated from that dose of sunlight and fresh air. It was a quiet day today, she noticed, which should’ve been a foretelling.

Nothing really is ever quiet. Well, when it comes to L-Corp, at least.

She’s been sitting on her desk for about a good fifteen minutes and finished with screening a few papers from their new contractors, when it occurs to her that the latest blueprints from R&D are still on her desk instead of already being reviewed by her boss.

She grabs the drawing tube and quickly makes for her boss’s private office. They’ve spent enough time with each other that Jess could just come and go as she pleases, instead of having to knock each time. Saves both of their time, that way.

Although, usually, she buzzes through the intercom first to double check, but it was 1:20 P.M and she knows Lena doesn’t have anything scheduled after lunch. So, she pushes the door, confidently strolls in and promptly stops in her tracks.

Jess stops breathing for a moment, blinks once, twice, stares at the scene before her.

Lena Luthor sat atop her work desk; blouse open, eyes closed, cheeks flushed, neck currently being ravaged by Supergirl with legs wrapped around the waist.

She probably should’ve just turned and left while they haven’t seen her yet. That would’ve been the smart decision, right? Yes. Yes, it was so very clearly The Right Decision.

Of course, she doubts she could look Lena in the eye for the next few weeks after that, but at least she wouldn’t know that Jess walked in on them during an er- make-out session? Office tryst? Oh God, she shudders internally. It sounds even worse.

Incident? Yep. Yeah. She’s sticking with incident. Indecent incident sounds more apt really.

She should’ve left. Would have left, if her eyes didn’t just land on the desk—well, more like Miss Luthor’s as- backside—and felt the stirrings of rage make itself known. Because there, underneath Lena’s ass (Backside!! Jess, that’s your boss!) is the squished—probably crumpled—pages of a contract.

A contract they’ve spent 5 months securing!!

Jess decides to do what everyone else would have done in a situation such as this; she clears her throat. Loudly.

Classic move.

Supergirl’s head immediately shoots up and Lena’s eyes snap open.

“Jess!” Supergirl squeaks and she sees the exact moment the realization hits Lena. Her eyes widening at her girlfriend’s exclamation, whips her head to the side, spots Jess, hands scrambling to a panic to close all the buttons of her blouse.

She hears Lena hiss, “Fuck, shit. Oh my God. Shit. How did she even- You have superhearing!!!” as she pushes Supergirl—who lets herself be pushed, stunned by the intrusion, face redder than a tomato.

Lena gets off the desk, fixes herself all the while to futile results. Her hair is tugged down from her usual ponytail, her neck and chest is marked, her lips swollen.

Supergirl's hands twitch at the sides and Jess sees her gulp as blue eyes frantically dart to Lena and her, and then Lena, and then back to her.

Lena finally turns around after those few awkward beats.

"Jess," she begins, clearly trying hard to put on her business bitch persona, but come on, there's a hickey under her jaw for fuck's sake.

"It's not what you-"

Jess doesn’t let her finish, she stomps her way across the office and forcefully puts the drawing tube on the desk. It makes a hollow thump.

“Jess I-”

“Supergirl, do you know how long it takes to finalize a business proposal, pitch it to the board, persuade the board and finally have a contract drawn?”

Supergirl gulps again. Lena’s eyes are wild next to her, she doesn’t like not knowing what the next best move is, Jess knows this all too well.

“Uhhh- no?”

Jesus Christ, you’d think after years of shadowing Cat Grant, she'd had at least learned a thing or two. Then again, if somebody is full on glaring at her after getting caught red-handed, Jess doubts she could answer coherently too.

“That’s right,” Jess says, “You don’t.”

“Jess,” Lena repeats pointedly. She knows that tone. It’s a warning.

“Ms. Luthor.”

A period not a question mark. It’s a challenge.

"I've spent all my evenings working late on that, do you know how many dates I've had to cancel? Just so I can secure a meeting with Qatar and simultaneously sync it with Beijing's time? My boyfriend hasn't seen me in two weeks!” Jess bursts out.

“Two weeks, Supergirl!” She gets close enough to jab a finger to the Girl of Steel’s chest. A feat she will gladly tell all her coworkers later when she’s calmed down enough.

“Not to mention, the 10 other people who worked their ass off trying to make sure that Miss Luthor's presentation is airtight, bulletproof and waterproof!” Lena has the decency to look a little guilty at this point, nothing big though, just a slight tug at her lips, but it was enough for Jess.

“IT TOOK ME 3 FUCKING MINUTES TO PRINT THAT GODDAMN CONTRACT WHICH MIGHT NOT SOUND LONG—” Jess raises a finger in emphasis, “BUT BELIEVE ME WORKING IN L-CORP? A 3 MINUTE DIFFERENCE CAN MEAN AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT OR PSYCHOPATH PRESS!”

Supegirl of all people should already know this! For fuck’s sake!

Jess’s chest is heaving. She takes a deep breath, kneads her knuckles to her eyelids, “So, please if you're gonna have sex in the office, please, pleaseeeee clear the desk first. And at least, lock the door.”

She stares them both down, till Lena gives her a solemn nod; cheeks and ears still red. Supergirl squeaks out an, “U-understood, Ma’am.”

“Good. Glad we’ve come to an agreement.” Jess gives them one final nod before finally fulfilling what she came in here to do, “Miss Luthor,” She turns to Lena, “here are the R&D blueprints. Good day, to you Supergirl. I'll be going now. "

When she finally goes home, tells her boyfriend, and wonders aloud if she’ll still have a job the next morning, he tells her she’s such a badass.

And well, Jess can’t disagree with that.

*****

"Did I just- Did I just get yelled at by your secretary?? D-did she just chew us out?"

"She did, and she deserves a raise."

[hetalia-club]

I just have to defend my people for a hot second...

Do you guys ever see like someone from a different country say something about your country and you have to physically fight off the urge to get into a pointless argument on the internet? As an American it’s something that happens for me almost daily. People watch our movies and see the news and think they know exactly what we are all like and what it is like to live here. It is so annoying to see just people constantly just say wrong things about where you live an no one cares to be corrected. Like we don’t go telling people from Norway what it’s like to live in Norway and because we don’t do that people just say. “Americans don’t know anything about anywhere except America.” It’s like yeah we do know but we just don’t run around talking about places we don’t live? Like i don’t know enough about France to generalize France and I don’t want to. It’s just so not funny and so aggravating. Like if you are confused on American life style just ask someone. Don’t just go on a message board/ YouTube or tiktok and say something like. “Did you know ALL American bread is sweet like cake and they have never had real bread. And also their cheese is not even considered cheese.” Then everyone in the comments saying “ So true, I went there once 3 years ago and an American asked my mom who is from Italy if she was Mexican they are all so dumb.” then everyone just agrees. Like none of this happened. none of it is true... Our bread is fine. Some cheaper sandwich bread has a little bit of sugar but it is poor quality. Our cheese is normal. Those are Kraft singles and they are actually a Canadian product we import into the USA. It’s not even ours and we get the blame for it (But also shits good idc if it’s not legally cheese it’s fire) This is just xenophobia. Just because our government is the Super Power of the world doesn't mean the people who live here have any control over that. Think about it do you sitting at home reading this have any control over what your leaders do? No, you don’t they give you the illusion of control but they are going to do whatever they want to do in the end. I’m not saying people have to ‘love America’ because who does? But please recognize the people who live here are not all the same person. Every country has idiots every country has smart people. Most Americans (depending on the area) are very kind and helpful to people from foreign countries are are pretty excited to meet someone from a new place. Another diss I see is when an American will say something like I'm 24% Irish. And then people from there get mad and don’t understand why we do that. Gee maybe because we are trying to relate to you? We are stating curiosity about the heritage we share. 

And no I’m not trying to play the victim. I am just trying to combat xenophobia. Never have I heard an American say something like ‘I hate everyone from England’ and I live in a bright red state. We hate each other. We will say ‘fuck California or fuck Ohio’ We don’t sit around worrying about what someone in their own country is getting up to. We don’t go “can you believe people in Germany do XYZ?” We don’t act surprised not because are disinterested but because we didn’t expect you to be exactly like America. America is made up almost entirely of immigrants. Sure we might not know what Bulgaria is like or something but that’s because we don’t live anywhere close to it. Does everyone in Europe know everything about Africa and each country? No you don’t. We are on an island with a few other countries and we like to keep to ourselves. Sure our government does a lot of foreign relations stuff but we like to not involve ourselves with world affairs. The Unites states is so big that we have a hard enough time keeping up with what all the states are doing which are essentially different countries with different laws. I don’t understand this casual xenophobia it is mind boggling to me. For anywhere. Just because someone is from England doesn't mean they have bad teeth, just because someone is Finnish doesn't mean they are constantly drunk and just because I am America dosen’t mean I am overweight and unhealthy. Look I know I am a Hetalia blog but I feel like we at least as a unit understand what a stereotype is and how it hurts the people who live there when it goes too far. Sure jokes are okay and fun to an extent. But when it becomes hate filled and just cruel is when it is no longer a joke and when it turns into xenophobia. 

Also it’s not that we don’t care about the rest of the world. The average American is very interested in the world. It is very expensive for us to travel over seas. I’m going to Iceland and I'm planning 2 years in advance. It’s going to be 2,000 just for a ticket, nothing else. Never mind the house I'll rent, the food and the car plus everything else that I’ll be buying. It’s a dream of mine to travel the world but your average American does not have very much disposable income. And it is very expensive for us to fly abroad. I have been to Canada, Mexico and the Dominican Republic but these are all in North America. Most Americans act so excited to be in that country because it is a once in a life time opportunity even if you have been to Italy every year for 12 years it is probably the only time that American family will ever be there and possibly Europe. They probably saved for years just to go. America and Americans have a lot of problems but so do the rest of you.

I have a friend from Spain who I met when she was a foreign exchange student and she said America was nothing how she thought it would be. She actually thought that she would see guns everywhere and she would have to wear a bullet proof vest to school and that it was basically the wild west. She though everyone was going to be really stupid and ask dumb questions. She thought everyone was going to be rude. Guess what? She went back to Spain for 2 years and then moved to America. She said the people were nicer and it was easier to make friends. She now lives a few cities over and is married to an American guy who is actually from Denmark. They love it here. Don’t judge an entire country from bad news outlets, that is propaganda. Please if any of you have a bad outlook towards America for any reason please ask me or another American before you chastise the entire country for it.