#it's all never straightforward

[paris-geller-was-straightwashed]

A Ramble about St. Patrick's Day, Irish identity/diaspora & colonization

Dia duit! Cal is ainm dom. Labhraim Bearla ach táim ag foghlaim Gaeilge. Sláinte!

hope that was legible (and that I didn't just embarrass myself in front of fluent Irish speakers..). it being st. patrick's day, I was having some thoughts, and I've been trying to figure out what I want to say.

after once thinking st.pat's was nothing more then a throwaway holiday for drinking, now, after delving into my family genealogy and therefore into irish history/identity, I'm one of the people who I'm sure are pissed that a holiday meant to celebrate irish identity has been dwindled into nothing but stockphotos of leprechauns and drinking till you black out.

one could argue about how heavy drinking has been weaponized as an anti-irish sentiment for years, but I digress. instead, I would encourage anyone listening to learn a bit more about irish history beyond the stereotypes, and especially if you have irish roots yourself! irish immigrants carried this holiday and their irishness across waters, but overtime, for some that identity and cultural tie has been thinned.

identity is huge in a person's life, and for me, I've always been curious as to where I come from. I've been thinking a lot lately, about how there's this unspoken gap within the diaspora of north american white people (this really interesting post sparked it) when it comes to cultural identity. the majority of us would state first that we are canadian/american, but for some, unless you are indigenous, you have no other ties. I've always wanted to feel that - to know where my roots are, to know that my ancestors once had a language they taught their children, a shared dish, a way of dance. something that belongs to you. it's key to know where you come from, and some people on that that post were saying they come from nowhere - that is not true! my friend, you come from somewhere! your ancestors had traditions and dishes and loving terms of endearment in their own tongue, that they passed down for generations and maybe hoped, it would reach you. you have roots, friend; ancient ties came before you, and they're ready to be picked back up if you wish.

my irish roots come from my father's father's grandmother. she carried the name phelan - o’faolain, which loosely means wolf. the name carries all the way back to the ancient names of ireland, to the decies, before the normans arrived. before we even dated the year with four digits. once from the waterford area, later many moved up to kilkenny - the very place my irish ancestors lived before they immigrated in the 1800's. anyone who's looked into irish history, knows it's both beautiful and tortured. there's a lot of suffering from colonization and other tragedies that's still felt today, but there's more to learn then that. after always assuming I was bad at languages, I'm now four months into irish lessons and am learning lots! and as of last week, have ordered my own bodhram, or irish drum, with hope I can learn to play it (it's got this sick ass celtic dragon on it too). I can play it, knowing people with my cultural ties have long enjoyed tapping their toes to it's jigs, and I can (clunkily) speak the tongue, knowing it carried my ancestors for eons.

this is a great time, to reignite roots if you wish. and a great time, to know that the irish are more then the horror handed to them or the lucky charms mascot in a pot of gold.

HOWEVER,

I would feel it wrong without noting what learning about irish history has given me - and that's a deeper understanding of colonization. it would be a disservice, to celebrate my ancestors and the people who survived it, while an active genocide is going on in gaza right now.

while the minute details sometimes may be different, what I can see now, is that regardless, colonization is the same anywhere you look. the people in gaza are starving now just as the irish did over a hundred years ago - by their oppressors danging the aid they need out of reach. entire family lines have been wiped out in gaza, and right now, remnants of bones of whole irish families taken by starvation lay deep in the ground. reports of gazans left to eat nothing but animal feed, the same starvation that drove irish families to scavenge for seaweed by the shore. this isn't even to mention the troubles and irish fighters gunned down by (british) forces similar to palestinians being gunned for daring to fight for their independence; or northern ireland, irish land stolen by the british just as palestine was stolen by israel. while not wanting to center western views, there's a reason you see irish flags at palestinian protests. the leftovers of colonization don't magically disappear and a people simply don't forget.

and let me say right now - my ancestors and their people didn't survive those horrors just to allow it to happen to another. I and many others in the diaspora are here bc by chance, our ancestors survived; gazans should not be having to put their lives at the same gambling table. 31,000 deaths as last checked, and many families are already lost - this needs to stop now.

you can donate to the PCRF (aid for children) and UNRWA, who've been delivering aid on the ground. there's also e-sims you can buy to help gazans connect to their loved ones and get help. and if you're truly broke and/or simply cannot, there's daily clicks to generate aid.

Happy St. Paddy's and Phalaistín saor in aisce!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Teehee! (Spritesheets your Wangxian)

[atalana]

so the good place is widely lauded on this site for its takes on morality and capitalism, which i totally agree with

but i think it should get more recognition for the line "all humans are aware of death. so we're all a little bit sad all the time. that's just the deal. we don't get offered any better ones. and if you try and ignore your sadness, it just ends up leaking out of you anyway. i've been there, and everybody's been there. so don't fight it. in the words of a very wise bed bath and beyond employee i once knew - go ahead and cry all you want. but you're gonna have to pay for that toilet plunger."

[buddiebitch]

genuinely confused why so many people are saying things like “i’m tired of the will they won’t they i wish they would just tell us if it’s gonna happen or not” (kinda defeats the purpose of will they won’t they?) or from the bummy stans “i wish they would shut down buddie fans once and for all” (both real posts i saw)

just wondering how y’all think watching a show is supposed to work? they aren’t going to come out and say either way until it happens in the show, don’t know why you would think it should go any other way.

they aren’t going to do an interview about episode 7 just to say “yeah tommy’s here for now but don’t worry he’ll be gone and we’ll get buddie going” like that’s not how it works, interviews in the middle of a season are purposefully vague and sometimes intentionally misleading, that’s kinda the point. this isn’t the type of show they want you to be able to predict, of course they’ll mislead us on purpose when they get the chance.

it’s very unlikely that any interview will reveal where the show is taking this, and no interviews yet have said strictly one way or the other so i’m not sure why people are acting like they have

[bitchthefuck1]

People who hate Shiv or think she was wrong for what she did in the finale are so unserious to me. "How could she screw over Kendall and stop them from keeping the company???" oh you mean the guy who promised they'd run it together and then immediately double crossed her? And then spent the rest of the season trying to cut Roman out of the company too?? How could she betray that guy??? real mystery.

[six-of-cringe]

Tumblr blog six-of-cringe take iceberg

[earlgodwin]

juan borgia's sickly era is so scrumptious to watch!! he's tormented, he cries and sweats a lot, he's being betrayed and gaslit, he's terrified and paranoid all the time, he's losing himself under the weight of the role he was given, he's getting clingier and his voice is becoming softer, he suffers from years of pain and loneliness. i love my deeply insecure misunderstood pathetic babygirl <3

[dollyboned]

killugon are both REALLY autistic and this isn't even something i suppose anymore, that's just true

[kareenvorbarra]

doomed to always be the only nahuseresh fan in the chat

[good-beans]

You talked a little while ago about why you don't think Shidou would make a good father to Amane (agreed) and proposed the idea of Mahiru adopting Amane. That's cute but I want to tell you about my post-MILGRAM headcanon:

Amane joins the Kajiyamas

Not Fuuta specifically adopting her, but like him taking her back to his family's house. I'm sure they'd have a spare room

I think people don't think about Fuuta's homelife much, or if they do they take Fuuta's one interrogation question where he calls his dad an old fogey and assume its like, abusive

And don't get me wrong, I don't think the Kajiyama household are perfect. Fuuta' beautician sister surely hasn't helped when it comes to Fuuta's body image issues and I'm betting they're all a bunch of tsunderes too embarrassed to say they love each other

But in a series where most of the abused characters are still convinced their abuser loved them/acted out of love. Seeing a guy not be afraid to call his dad a loser is almost a green flag

I think it'd be good for Amane to not necessarily be adopted as the lone child to a single parent but get to be introduced to a very different style of family unit from her own One where its normal to express different opinions or disagreements or even have arguments and not have it be the end of the world

Amane already has a snarky side to her, I bet it'd flourish in a brash household like the Kajiyama's (or at least how I imagine them to be)

OOHHH wait I love that so much! >:O

I agree -- I never interpreted Fuuta's family as abusive or harmful, just not super close and struggling a bit after his mother left. (And yeah, all as openly emotional as him😭) They seem stable and very capable to taking in a extra, very well-behaved child. Assuming Fuuta is the way he is because of them, that atmosphere of being very honest and forward would work well for her. They say things as they are, little by little pointing out the harmful parts of her worldview. Like you said, none of them make excuses about harmful behavior stemming from love, so she'd get a really healthy dose of truth in that area. She never feels coddled or treated like a baby. They care for her while treating her very maturely.

I absolutely love how well she and Fuuta get along, with that snarky side to her that you mentioned. It would allow her to fit in well in the new household, getting the sense of belonging she'll lose after leaving the cult. Also, seeing how Fuuta and his sister let things slip and aren't perfect sons/daughters, she'll be able to relax about earning a parent's love through perfect behavior. She'll probably stay exactly the same, but her stress about it will fade <3

I doubt Fuuta's father can ever replace the hole she'll have from her own father, but the addition of an older sister will be huge. Amane will never get the feeling her mother is being replaced, but the woman will still fill the gap of the older, same-gender role model she needs. Her beautician job may throw Amane at first (being an indulgence in vanity), but it isn't as in-your-face as other careers. I think she could definitely ease Amane into accepting it, and over time, accepting her own personal "indulgence."

Plus, her moving in would also be really good for Fuuta! I think he'd recognize there's a ton of fun things she missed out on, and that heroic side of him outweighs the part that cringes: he gripes and groans about going to "kid places," but he's always the one to announce "I can't believe you've never been to __, we're going right now!!" This allows him to touch grass leave the house and experience his own life to the fullest. He's able to channel his desire to help society into a healthier outlet. Also, seeing her studying habits and plans for the future might even inspire him to do the same. (might.) He becomes the stereotypical good big brother, though of course he denies it viciously...

I have recently been going insane over their friendship so I'm completely taken with this idea OUGH thank you for telling me ;-----;

[essektheylyss]

I put on the Empire Sibling Mighty Vibes for the first time in a while in honor of the first day of class and can we please have more Mighty Vibes. I'm begging. I love them so much.

[meirimerens]

I would love to listen to your podcast (if you wanna have one) about anything, but something about languages intrigues me. Please, tell me more : )

had to think for a second about what this was about I'm guessing it's my Nopony In This Country Is Pronouncing Przewalski Correctly and now listen..... I have no more to tell you because the like. Concept of languages and within that phonology (the study of the patterns of sounds in a language and across languages) is so wide you wouldn't have enough of a life to say everything about it. Unless you got one thing in mind. But I'm Flattered. Idk if I'd be much of a podcast guy I love visual stimuli. shan't lie I've had for months the idea to do a. Franco-Cantabrian Archeological iceberg... with shit like....... Fontainebleau "water breaking" carving... the Réseau Clastres Only Know Depiction Of [Animal]..... stuff of the sort. but oh well. FLATTERED.... maybe one day. Podcast ideas anyone.

[waywardsalt]

anyways. my very first attempt at malenia

[fooltofancy]

brief untethered post re: in from the cold 'cause i'm thinking abt autonomy again and about how ilya separates from himself under extreme duress already - serious problem after the banquet in arr and throughout hw, but culminating in sb specifically re: why and how he's so capable of real extreme acts of violence without really... settling to acknowledge them until much, much later. like he knows, but that knowledge hasn't ever settled physically in his body so if/when he feels that trauma he tends to feel it kind of all at once. anyway, forced very literally to come to terms with All That because zenos, the embodiment of all he's refusing to acknowledge inside of himself, understands him in a way he's never understood himself is so, so much.

and there's no real relief in succeeding, right, because that wasn't really the point, and he's just like. stuck in his body, this thing that begets nothing but violence and blood and hurt, and he's kinda just got to. live with that, lmao. despite everything it's still you ass moment.

so he goes home, because instead of actually dealing with all that all he can think about is fray, and ishgard, and the baffling black heart of him all wrapped up the first place he felt all the blood was worth something.

and it was worth something at all because of aymeric. like, he struggles to admit it but every time he ends up back there, almost always so far out of his way it'needing someone else who sees past all of the blood he's spilled to remind him of what else his body is for.

[thistledropkick]

"During the deciding match for the Super Juniors, there was nothing inside my head but

"I want to beat this guy"

And now that I think about it, for the rest of the matches too, match after match, all I thought was "I want to beat this guy"

All of that added up to today's result

Of course, I was lucky too, but I couldn't have gotten here through luck alone

I'm glad I was able to stay grounded in my approach

Thank you very much

I was finally able to win the Super Junior

And then tomorrow, a match

And after that's over, another match,

and then again,

on and on, forever.

Well,

Pro wrestling is still really fun."

Reading this, I couldn't help but think again of that same excerpt from that interview with Suzuki that I posted yesterday.

If you have enough faith in the future, you can build a mountain out of individual grains of sand. If you can do that, you can become a strong person.

...tomorrow, a match, and after that's over, another match, and then again, on and on, forever.

[queer-geordie-nerd]

If any society as a whole really cared about uplifting and supporting rape survivors as much as we like to pretend we do, or even half as much as we like to make excuses for abusers and rapists, perhaps women wouldn't feel the need to keep the abhorrent crimes perpetrated against them to themselves for years for fear of being re-traumatised by the legal system and the court of public opinion.