#latin american or european spanish is fine I am learning latin american but i will take either

[littlefoxwithbighat]

Hola, gente maravillosos en mi cellular. :] Estoy tratando de mejorar mi español. ¿Alguien puede derirme algún buen youtubers para ver? (Preferiblemente con subtítulos en inglés, porque todavía solo tengo nivel a1 🫣 (pero casi a2)). Me gustan los vídeos con guiones, los vídeos de juegos tranquilos y los sketches cómicos. ¡Ahora es tu oportunidad de promocionar a tu creador favorito! ¡Mucho gracias! <3

[heavensenthearty]

Starting to realize why people claim Fire Lady Katara is racist, however their reason is flawed. They think that if Katara is Fire Lady, she has to renounce her Water Tribe heritage entirely, force to live in the Fire Nation only and never see her birth home again, and her kids will never learn of their Water Tribe heritage. Which...why would an Ambassidor do that and what makes people think Zuko would put that on her? And also, half that shit happened in canon after she married Aang, their kids are ignorant of a lot of their heritage and she was forced to stay in one place.

Am I crazy to see this?

I can guarantee you you're not crazy, A! 😉

Now, about the reason why people would think all of that... I don't know. Maybe it is their obsession with race and blood purity. Maybe it is xenophobia. Maybe it is that they have that much disdain for multicultural families 🤷🏽‍♀️

Nevertheless, whatever their reason is, it is very, very, very blinded to the realities of multicultural families.

Like mine! ☺️

My great-grandmother — the mother of my grandmother — came to Venezuela as a Spanish immigrant (yes, for anyone out there, Spanish) and she had children with a wealthy man here, my great-grandfather. Many years later, she became a gardener and agriculturist, and my mom told me she taught her, my aunts and uncles how to care and grow all plants native from her hometown back in Spain.

So much for immigrants forgetting their roots, huh? 🙄

That was my great-grandmother. My very grandfather — the husband of my grandmother — was born in Trinidad and Tobago, but his mother died giving birth to him, so my great-great-grandfather took custody of him and raised him... in Holland.

Yeah, my veeeeeeeeeeery white, veeeeeeeeeeery European great-great-grandfather had a daughter with a Trinidadian woman. She inherited a very dark skin-color, so did my grandfather.

Anyway, when my grandfather grew up, he studied abroad in many countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, before settling in Venezuela with my grandmother. He learned a language for every country he was in, 7 languages in total.

Seriously, people. Multicultural families, and their children, and the children of their children do just fine with the mix of races and countries.

Everyone in my family is perfectly aware of our European and Latin American heritage, we even remember our ancestors last names from before they had to change them for entering this country.

The only way that kind of dynamic could become a racist interpretation is if one of those heritages would be deliberately hidden or one took dominance over the other which is not what Zutara shippers — for the most part — do with the Fire Lady Katara trope, antis just jump to make conclusions of their own because they have no idea how these family dynamics work and they are not interested in learning because when people like me try to tell them, they tell us to shut up.

Sure, someone could write the trope in a harmful way, but antis can rest assured that those people have more in common with them than what they have with the rest of the Zutara fandom because they don't know, listen, or understand people from multiracial lineages.

It shows in the way they assume adult!Kataang was written just fine despite Bumi and Kya knowing little to nothing about Air Nomad culture. According to them, it is fine because it bored Bumi and Kya.

Dude, how fascinating do you think it is for me to learn about 1900 Holland?! I'll tell you: not much, but at least my parents take the bother to be honest with me!

Not to mention that argument completely ignores Bumi and Kya's feelings as well, since they very clearly resented Tenzin because Aang had only taken the bother to take him under his wing.

They think the way Katara was put in her marriage with Aang was okay because she stayed in the Southern Water Tribe "where she belongs", according to them. The impact and recognition she could have had on a world scale be damned!

Oh, and I hate to break it to them, but apparently The Southern Water Tribe wasn't anyone's priority for a loooooooooong time as these girls — whoever they are and however the heck do they fit in OG canon — stated:

They are supposedly Katara's childhood friends from the Southern Water Tribe. This comes from The Rift trilogy and they are furious at Katara for staying away from their Tribe way after the war ended in favor of helping her peace-loving boyfriend to end conflict all over the world.

Oh, I mean, I should make more emphasis as they did: all over the world but the Southern Water Tribe.

Now, leaving to the side whatever issues I may have with their characters' conceptions, they are there to call out (and tell the audience) Katara's abandonment of her home tribe due to her focus on Aang's own work. And, listen, nobody is blaming Aang for this, it is his work and maybe he just can't put the Southern Water Tribe as a priority right now — not all political decisions can be done based on personal feelings. But we are seeing whatever issues there could be with Zuko and Katara's fanon relationship already took place in Aang and Katara's canon relationship.

Perhaps we should be grateful for it, now fanon shippers know exactly what not to do when writing romances.

[nicecarito]

Something I wanted to say since I started being in this fandom....

The most people who ever tried to -cancel- me and talked behind my back without face me directly, the 90% have been Americans... And I say it, cuz it's like super wtf how latin americans, europeans or Asiatics fans treat me so nicely and these fellas are like if they wear a Monk attire from the Inquisition.

(not all Americans of course, I have very good friends and wonderful followers who are from America , such sweeties, so I will not generalist as everyone, let's just focus on the meanies, unfortunately , the meanies that I had to deal with are from there )

(I actually know which artists were the ones who dared to say bad stuff about me without even daring to face and know me as a person... I will only give you this ...🙃 Have a wonderful day!)

The worst thing they ever said is that I draw CP Like, when in my fucking life. I have two kids at home! I have raised them, I was a mother figure to them, I am a kids teacher too and I love my kids so much so YOU making such rumor hurts me a lot ... Not all the world is America, so we don't see some stuff like u do.

How they can assume that shit of someone when I had to give my life to two boys. Really these guys taking to serious the freaking fiction it's a pain in the ass... Then... That I pro-incest. NO, MOTHERFUCKERS, u really have a big imagination! Please give me some cuz Sometimes I have a lack of imagination and I can't draw anything!!

That I draw Mug and Cup well I do have a story about it... Forgive cuz my NATIVE LANGUAGE IT'S SPANISH

When the very first trailer of Cuphead came out (the black and white one) and WHEN MY ENGLISH WASN'T STILL GOOD and nobody knows they were siblings at least not me I said, oh two cute cups, I will ship them :$

Like, it's not like I could find more information, I couldn't read it anyway and the spanish information about the game was alway "Two BEST FRIENDS TRYING TO GET THEIR SOULS BACK" so well,Sorry for that I guess??

Then time passed and then the game came out and well tadaaaah they are siblings

And I waS Like "SHIT! WHY ALL THE SUDDEN?! well, I don't think it's a big deal, I still have my headcanons where they aren't siblings at all and I always drew them As adults (THEY ARE KIDULTS BY THE WAY),well not big deal after all .....THEY ARE TWO CUISINE UTENSILS AND NOT HUMANS AND NOT REAL PEOPLE SO..."

But UUUUF NOOOH how dare uuu ,Carito, you are the worst person of the world , let's try to cancel u so you will learn to not draw two utensils kissing cuz they come from the same ceramic oven :)))

If you are gonna give me the excuse that fiction alterate reality or something of that style.... Well, in that case I will try to cancel EVERYONE WHO DRAW ASSASSINATION, MAFIOUS STUFF, CHILD VIOLENCE, DRUGS, AND ALL THE BAD STUFF OF THE MOTHER FUCKER WORLD, and cuz I unfortunately been witness of all of it ... I saw two murders in my life that was about drug dealing, narcos and I sadly saw child abuse to the point of super strong violence.... in my family there’s stories of violations between familiars, so sad.

-But one thing isn't that bad than the other >:U- (a real excuse that I got)

.... ARE YOU SERIOUS?! don't try to put a parameter to height if something is less bad or viceversa, THAT is stupid and hypocrite. Things are bad and POINT. BUT

I'm not going to cancel someone who decide to get into that MATURE THEMES to tell a story!

Because if you are mature enough to make a big difference between reality and fiction then you will enjoy the story, you will understand the concept of the story, why the artist decided to choose these themes for their story, etc...

That's why Something called MATURE ADVERTISEMENT exist.... It's a part of text were the artist tell you that they will talk about themes that might trigger you so...

If you choose to watch it, well it's your decision BUT DON'T TRY TO COMPLAIN IF THE ARTIST WARNED YOU AT VERY FIRST. People Sometimes doesn't read if there's not a damn colorful image there! People just pay attention to certain stuff if looks cute.

I think that trying to eliminate these kind of themes to make everything more -pink and healthy- it is unhealthy.... These themes exist in the end, storytelling exist for a reason.

If you have a boundary, it's super fine. I do have my boundaries too and I do avoid things that doesn't make me feel happy at all but that doesn't give me the power of destroy a person cuz -their content doesn't make me happy-. You aren't a hero... You are just a bully.

and if you are gonna -try- then at least come to say it in my face!! Always behind the stage cuz they always been to coward to come to me and talk! COWARDS!. YOU ARE COWARDS!

THEY SAID LIES ABOUT ME, AND some of them destroyed some friendships that I had or make people try to avoid me to -take care of their reputation cuz if I talk to Carito that will make -friends- think the worst of me-

Well, if your friends push you to not talk to someone cuz very silly stuff, what kind of friends you have :/ are we at elementary school or something?

But to be honest they weren't really my friends cuz they doesn't really cared about my feelings enough so whatever. But yeah..... Angery but they never were able to cancel me for real.....

cuz not for being sassy or shit, But I think I showed who really I am and I believe people likes me. I don't need to pretend shit or stop drawing or change my stories at all. I do what I want and cuz obviously I'm not hurting no one, then people get closer to me.

I like them too and I will continue drawing cuz that's my fucking career, motherfuckers. I draw to pay my debts so, don't tease.

I hope them to show that interest of cancel stuff in real life for people who really need it! The world is outside the screen, and we are REALLY full of bad people outside so... I think you should turn off your computer for once... pinchis morros mensos

And if you ever felt trigerred cuz I ever say hola to you just cuz someone told you a -rumor- about me .. well, you are really manipulable. You should give yourself the opportunity to speak to someone and know them first instead of -take care of your reputation- that's bullshit , it's hypocrite and maybe it was the best cuz I don't need people to give me false smiles and turns around to say shit.

If I EVER did something unforgivable well... Let me see it ._. I can't say sorry if I don't know what the hell are you talking about

I had this inside my heart that really hurted me for so long , sorry for the vent and I'm truly thankful that you follow me cuz you like my art and me as a person.

I'm truly grateful of all my friends too! Thank you for being there for me

[lyriumsings]

hi, this may sound stupid and I swear i’m not trying to start discourse or anything, but i’m a little confused and I genuely don’t understand. About M being poc (and before anything, I swear I don’t have a problem with that) I saw Sera saying that they are greek and have mediterranean/olive skin, does that make you non-white? I’m mediterranean myself and yes a lot of people here have mediterranean skin or are very tanned, but I always thought that we were white, being european and caucasian and all? It’s just that everyone I know here considers themselves white (unless they have differente heritage) and this is the first time I’ve seen people saying that, so I don’t know if it is related to M having darker skin (in which case, totally fine) or if mediterranean people should be considered non-white if they have darker skin tones, or if depends on the country (maybe greek people have darker skin tones than idk, italian or spanish people? in which case i guess it would make more sense?) I hope this doesn’t come of as rude or anything, i’m just really confused since i read that

Hi! It’s not stupid at all and you should never feel stupid for asking. While I’m here let me just say I’ll never attack anyone for having questions or wanting me to explain my thought process or view point. I can’t promise to always be the most eloquent but I will try to make sense. But yes it mostly has to do with how dark M’s skin is, here is the post where the author color picks his skin from their own art and it’s about as dark as me (a mixed race black person who is visually very much brown).

Now, I have never claimed to be an expert in cultures or race or anything like that but based off my own experiences and based off of how dark M’s skin is I consider them a person of color. This is why I don’t even really like the term “olive” skinned because it’s very ambiguous and does actually have a wide range of what is consider “olive”. The best analogy I can think of to help me explain is like latine people; some are brown, some are white, some are mixed with African heritage but all are latine and this is probably due to my being raised in American but I am always aware of people around me that look like me, I would consider M among those people because of his skin tone. Because he would be treated differently based off that skin tone where I live. We don’t know M’s exact heritage outside of Greek maybe he’s mixed with more or maybe he’s just that dark. Either way he’s a darker skinned man canonically based off the authors own art/words and that has to be treated with care when you criticize. I understand not seeing yourself as a person of color depending on where you live especially when you live in places that are so ambiguous racially (if that makes sense).

And I’m not trying to like “push American views or labels” onto anyone or anything. At the end of the day M has brown skin. And when you throw certain criticisms at them they fit certain stereotypes that are hurtful to brown people. Both whether M is a man or a woman like calling them predatory, sexually aggressive, etc these are things darker skinned people get called all the time for all kinds of reasons across several cultures. The thing all the cultures have in common? They usually have a lot of darker skinned people.

Anyway, I hope that made sense and helped explain why it can be problematic to talk certain ways about certain characters. I’m not saying M can never be criticized they’re not perfect and I have no problem with valid constructive criticize/character analysis. But “Mason is aggressive ” or “Mason looks like he’d call me a slur” aren’t that in my book. (The clear emphasis on enthusiastic consent and servicing his partner are a whole other post tbh it’s ridiculous to even have to say at this point) These are just a couple of the most popular “criticisms” people throw around that I don’t see A get as much in my experience. Which is funny to me seeing as A is actually more “physically violent” in all the things that they break when they’re upset and the voice raising (this is something I notice cuz I’ve grown up around angry people who break things when they’re upset so much so sometimes that I am one myself) and that’s fine! It’s a character flaw, characters have flaws. People aren’t perfect 100% if the time if they were there would be no room to grow. I love A as a character but with my own past experiences sometimes those actions make me uncomfortable but that doesn’t automatically make A toxic and abusive because he shares a trait that someone who hurt me had. In a real life circumstance, I would personally have to have a serious talk about it to be in a relationship with someone like A.

Anyway, this is post is getting really long and I hope that it makes more sense than I feel it does. And these are just my thoughts and opinions based on my own experiences and what I know. I’m always open to learning if I got something wrong so long as it’s ya know actually constructive. Thank you for the ask!

[the-villain-vanessa-cortez]

Dr. Flug x Reader: The Club

I don’t really speak Spanish but I’m leaning. Those who don’t know I have southern Native American/ northern Mexican ancestry (along with Eastern European and Asian so I’m literally a mix of everything). But anyways I’m not sure where exactly the show is supposed to take place, I kinda just assume maybe a big city like San Francisco or LA makes sense to me. But sense I know that it is a Latin American show primarily, I headcanon most of the main characters are some sort of Latin. Plus I actually prefer watching it in Spanish. Idk feels more authentic? Also like I said it’s kinda helping me learn Spanish since I can understand it but I’m working on creating sentences. This is a reader insert but you’ll be basically filling in as my character Vanessa. Obviously I haven’t said yet but I am a musical theater major/performer and so I love to do fics surrounding musicals and what not. I’ve been listening to in the heights (fun fact I used to live in NY) and the Latin themes got me inspired. If I could literally find people to do performances with me with characters or something that would be amazing.

SONG: The club

MUSICAL: In the Heights

I don’t write genders now because I realize that anyone should be able to enjoy but I do write for more feminine characters if not asked for specifics. I am actually non-binary myself but I do present feminine (although most times I just exist idk but if I’m getting dressed up I’ll mostly look feminine)

I’m going to include most of the Spanish that is in the song. It’s nothing really big. It kinda just feels inauthentic to not include it. Maybe you can learn some things too.

Wepa= Hey!

Y cada día = and every day

Sí = yes

No mames = no way!

—————————————————————

The city was bursting with excitement as “Latin dance night” was approaching at sundown. Villains and their friends could gather for a night of fun and dancing. The idea was that just because you’re evil doesn’t mean that you have to be lonely. There were other thematic nights but this one was specifically for those south of the hemisphere. The temperature was steadily climbing in the past few weeks and everyone was itching to get out and enjoy the cool night air. Being located in Southern California meant that there were bound to be a lot of people at the party. “Latin Night” happened every other weekend and (y/n) found herself frequenting a lot. There they could dance and have fun with other villains. There was a wide range of people and some not-so-people that would show up just for the sheer fun. (Y/n) felt pride rise in their chest upon the sight of so many beings in one place celebrating their heritage.

(Y/n) managed to convince one awkward doctor to come with her for the night. On top of that, they were even able to convince him to show his regular face after telling him about all the different kinds of villains that would be at the place. He usually didn’t like going anywhere without his protective bag on his head, but (y/n) told him that there was nothing to fear. Dr. Flug examined himself in the mirror feeling shy. He wore dark blue jeans, a flannel over a blue t-shirt, his normal sneakers, and his medium length dark brown curly hair tied at the base of the back of his head. Strands of curls framed his face and he tried to smooth them down. Flug met his dark brown eyes in the mirror and sighed. He felt ridiculous and thought about what (y/n) would say once she saw him. He began tracing one of his scars on his face with a shaky hand. It was true that (y/n) was giving him more and more confidence to go out without covering his face like he normally did, but he feared this would be too much. Although, knowing that there were going to be worse looking people and even some not-really-people at the event made him feel a lot better. He’d seen some really ugly villains in his time and figured that it wouldn’t be that bad.

“Slys! We don’t have all night” there was a knock at his door and he turned around shyly.

‘I guess this is it’ he thought as he answered a quick, “come in.” The door swung open revealing a beautiful (y/n) who was wearing an equally beautiful red knee-length dress and black heels. Their (h/c) hair was done up and they wore a seducing smile. They looked like they could kill a man based solely on good looks alone. Flug felt his entire face burn up in red, almost matching (y/n)’s dress.

“Hey not bad Dr. Slys” (y/n) gave a slight punch on his shoulder and stepped closer to embrace him. This didn’t help his nerves or red face situation.

“T-thanks” he choked out and pat his friend on the shoulder. True they were only friend for now, but that didn’t stop the feeling he had for them take root and blossom in the pit of his heart, no matter how many times he tried to kill it.

“Come on let’s go!! We will have fun I promise you. Whenever you want to leave, just tell me and I’ll take you home.” (Y/n) gave him a reassuring smile and he nodded as they began walking out of the mansion, hand in hand.

“Hey!! (Y/n)!!! The whole club shouted as (y/n) and Dr.Flug stepped in the vicinity.

Flug grasped onto (y/n) even tighter and tried to seem cool. He was, in fact, the very opposite of cool.

“Hey this is kinda nice. I really like what they’ve got going with the lights. So this is the place where you spend your weekends? And did I mention you look really great tonight? Because you do-“

(Y/n) cut him off and patted his chest, “Slys, for me just relax.”

“Relax? Què relax? I’m relaxed!” Flug tried to brush it off.

“Wepa!! (Y/n)!!” Another group of people called out as Flug and (y/n) made their way more into the club. Flug felt a little jealous at all the attention (y/n) was getting and he could tell they were eating it up. He began speaking again, “so I guess you’ve been here before? As you know I don’t go out much in fact I’ve been so busy with work. Y cada día it’s a brand new thing my boss wants. Not to mention I’m not really good at dancing, but maybe you and me could sometime hang out some more..?”

(Y/n) turned back to him and smiled cheerily. They could tell that he was extremely nervous and that’s why he was rambling so much.

“Let’s go get a drink.” They grabbed their friend’s hand and led him to the bar. There they met one of (y/n)’s friends that Flug recognized as Jason. Jason was once a hero like (y/n) who also turned to the dark side. Then he also worked as a ‘villain for hire’ where (y/n) and him became close friends.

“Is that?? Doctor Flug Slys??” Jason slapped the thinner man’s back and pulled him in closer.

“Uh, yeah” flug tried to hide his face in embarrassment. He hadn’t really let Jason see what he looked like under his bag and he could feel the heat rise with in him and his chest tightened.

“Aw man. What you need is a good drink.” Jason slapped Flug on the chest and turned to a grisly looking man on the other side of the bar that separated the workers from the patrons.

“Bartender! I would like four shots of tequila-“

“Oh I don’t drink..” Flug looked away and Jason smiled with his arm still around the doctor.

“Make that five then!” Jason winked and turned back to his friend, “so what brings you to Latin night at club ‘Wicked Merlin’?”

Flug continued looking at the ground and doesn’t realize (y/n) had slipped away a little bit ago.

“Well. (Y/n) decided it would be good for me to go out. And now I’m starting to regret that decision really.” He looks to his side and sees that (y/n) is not next to him anymore.

“Speaking of which, where did they go?” Flug began to get worried. Jason laughed as the five shots came their way.

“Who knows. I’m sure she’s just dancing, knowing her. But anyways you should drink it’ll take away your nerves. If you want to have fun you need to drink.” With that Jason downed his two shots and handed the remaining three to Flug. Flug stared at him for a second before deciding to knock one back and preparing for the sting.

“Alright there you go! As long as you drink, I’ll buy” Jason gave a great big smile. For being a villain, he had a good heart.

“No no you don’t have to do that” Flug said after taking the second shot. He could feel his face flush from the alcohol enter his bloodstream.

“Nonsense! I just copped a bag from my last gig so I got cash to blow. Besides, how many times do you get to go out and have fun? Also, knowing you, you’ll be a cheap date” Jason laughed and Flug found himself unable to say no.

“Fine but this is all I’m having.” He swallowed the last shot and Jason tugged his arm.

“Hey is that (y/n)?” Jason pointed across the room at their red figure talking to someone Flug didn’t recognize.

“Who are they talking to?” Flug tried to inquire.

“Some dude… I don’t know man, I think they're trying to make you jealous.” Both Jason and Flug we’re starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. Flug crosses his arms and puffed.

“Jealous, I’m not jealous. I can take all these men, whatever.”

In just that second, the unknown man grabs their hand and pulls them to the dance floor. The two began to dance to the Latin music blaring overhead. It doesn’t take long before the entire dance floor is cleared out until it’s just (y/n) and the unknown man dancing in the center. The music speeds up slightly and the dancing continues. Even though Flug is beyond jealous he can’t help but feeling impressed at how great his friend is at dancing. They never would have seemed like the type who could completely tear it up on the dance floor. For a little bit, Flug felt joy grow within him and he studied their moves intently.

“(Y/n)!! Let me get the next one!!” Other people began to call out wanting to dance with the new star of the show. The way they were sweating and flexing their body on the dance floor made Flug want to join in even more. On top of that the alcohol was really starting to kick in and gave him an extra boost of confidence. He liked to dance secretly in his lab when he knew he was alone. He was Latin after all! He never would admit it, but music was in his soul and he enjoyed the twists and turns music would make in his mind as he listened.

Everybody clapped and cheered as (y/n) and the unknown stranger finished dancing. They caught Flug’s eyes and offered a warm smile and ran over to join him.

“I had no idea that you could dance like that” Flug started sheepishly. Suddenly it felt like all his confidence was gone.

“Well when you have enough practice, you get pretty good. Wanna dance?”

“Oh no I don’t dance.” Flug grabbed his shoulder.

“So you can be a doctor but not learn how to dance?” (Y/n) jeered and elbowed him.

“Sí” Flug stared blankly. He was lying but he didn’t want (y/n) to know.

As everyone was coupled up, (y/n) grabbed his hands anyways and pulled him into them.

“Nope. Don’t believe you. You got perfect dancing hips.” (Y/n) placed their hands on his shoulders and he tentatively slid his clammy hands on their waist.

“Here like this. You go back first then go forward” (y/n) swiveled their hips forward making Flug take a step back. His face grew red again as he realized how close he was to (y/n). They slowly got into the rhythm and continued going back and forth.

“Okay now I’m going to go around you and you’ll stay in place but turn to face me. This is called ‘the rejection.’” Flug gulped in response and nodded. He knew what they were trying to tell him and he followed suit. (Y/n) crossed begins him and he spun to face them. It wasn’t that hard, but appeared to be more complicated than it really was. They continued taking turns doing this and everyone started to notice.

“Oh god they’re starting to watch us.” Flug started to get worried.

“Then let’s give them a show!” (Y/n) smiled devilishly at him and pulled him into her chest once again. Their body was flushed with his and he felt tingles go up his spine. He never felt so alive and scared at the same time. They made their way across the floor and (y/n) really began to take off. To everyone’s surprise Flug was able to keep up with them and (y/n) took notice.

“I knew you could dance lier!!” They smiled as they continued salsaing across the floor. Flug grabbed them by the waist and threw them up so that their legs would wrap around his torso. They stopped for a second to pose with the music and then he grabbed them again so they could continue spinning. The whole crowd was going wild and Flug could feel his stamina start to drain. He spun (y/n) into him and flipped her over his arm and brought his face close to their’s as the music came to an exciting end. The club went wild again as another song began to play. (Y/n) began to laugh and gave Flug a kiss on the cheek. Just then Jason appeared clapping and singing to the music.

“No Mames!! Holy hell you two were fantastic!! Who knew!! Did you two rehearse that because wow” Jason was extremely wasted by this point.

“Some people are just that good.” (Y/n) winked at Flug who just shrugged his shoulders.

“Alright. I’m going to go grab a drink. I’m way too parched.” (Y/n) said before patting their friends on the shoulders and walking over to the bar.

Once (y/n) was out of sight, Jason punched Flug on the arm in a more or less friendly way.

“Some date you got there” he said and kept winking at Flug.

Flug was rubbing the now sore spot on his arm and looked irritated. “Yeah I know.” He stated plainly.

“Well have you told them yet? You know, how you feel?”

“What??” Flug was growing impatient.

“Come on it’s obvious. You like them. We all know in the villain community.”

Before Flug could answer there was some buzzing noises and a flash of light before a complete and utter blackout.

—————————————————————

Those who know the musical knows what happens next. But I’m also not going completely by the musical.

[anexperimentallife]

To clarify... (for those who missed earlier posts)

I’m not just moving because of Drumpf, but also because a) living in the US on what I get for disability is rather difficult, so I need to find a place where my dollars will go further, b) I miss experiencing other cultures, and feel like living outside one’s country of origin gives one greater perspective and insight on the human condition in general, and c) as a F&SF writer (you’ve never heard of me--I’ve only sold a handful of stories so far), broadening my personal experiences gives me more grist for the mill, as the saying goes--and stressing less about finances will probably help my writing, as well; right now it’s rather hard to focus.

Why now? With Maria and me breaking up, the best time financially for me to do this will probably be around the end of this summer, unless I get some unexpected windfall.

This impending move is why I’ve been asking my followers who live (or HAVE lived) outside the US for their thoughts. So feel free to message me or send me an ask!

General thoughts (and a lot of this is to get my own thoughts in order):

I’ve been looking for a good mix of affordability, infrastructure, friendliness, ease of visa attainment/renewal, ease of assimilating, and “OMG WHAT A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE” factor. I’ve been getting most of my cost of living information from sources like numbeo.com, and my visa requirement information from official government sites, and tourism and visa services sites. And then of course I’ve been browsing expat forums for other people’s impressions.

So far my top choices are:

The Philippines--This is one of the least expensive places I’ve researched, and I’ve been fascinated with the Philippines for years--plus, although of course I’ll learn Filipino, English is one of the official languages, which will make it easier for me to start assimilating into the local scene.

The main downside is that I’d have to constantly be renewing a tourist visa--although that can eventually be renewed for a year or two at a time, if I understand correctly. So I'd have to make periodic visa runs (as in leave the country for a day and come back to get a new visa), but those would get less frequent over time. One other downside is that no matter how well I learn Filipino or integrate with the local culture, I will never, ever, ever pass for a local, but that’s the case with just about anywhere except North America, Europe, or Northern Asia. Another downside is that not all of my medications are available there, but it looks like there are some adequate substitutes.

The cheapest option for me to get permanent residency would be to either deposit and leave at least 10,000 dollars in an approved Filipino bank, or invest at least that much in a condo with a total cost of $50,000 or more. (Maybe if I found a rent to own place I could qualify after a few years.)

Panama--The easiest place in the world for Americans to get a long-term visa and qualify for residency. Basically, all I have to do is show up at the airport with my passport, proof I can support myself, and a ticket to leave the country before my six months was up, then lather, rinse, repeat. Qualifying for residency isn’t much harder, so for a little more paperwork and expense, I wouldn’t have to worry about border runs ever. They also have a great pensionado programs that would give me discounts on lots of stuff. Like most of Latin America, I’d want to learn Spanish, which is fine with me--I only speak two languages, and honestly, I’ve lost most of my German from living in the US since the late 80s. All my meds are available, and many I’d normally need a prescription for are available over the counter.

Mexico--I could DRIVE to Mexico city, and just make a visa run twice a year, since they give Americans a 180 day stay for the asking. Not a bad deal, plus I have a mutual who lives in Mexico City who has also lived in Panama and Costa Rica, and has been VERY helpful answering my questions.

Costa Rica--IF the parrot sanctuary goes through, this is a pretty likely destination. I would have to do some additional paperwork if I want to avoid frequent visa runs, but I think being affiliated with the sanctuary might remove that hassle. I’d have a built in place to stay, and my friends (who run a parrot sanctuary here, but are partnering with Parrot Rescue of Costa Rica to open a new one in N Costa Rica) have indicated that it’d be fine for me to bring my dogs.

Other places I’ve looked at or am still researching--

Western/Northern Europe: First off, although I loved living in Europe when I was stationed in Germany, cost of living in most of Western Europe isn’t that much less than in the US, and the visa situation would be tricky. I simply wouldn’t qualify financially for any long-term visa, so I’d have to constantly country-hop, and that comes with additional stresses, both personal and financial. The only way that could work out at all would be if I had friends in several European countries willing to let me rent a cheap room for 30-90 days at a time. (And by cheap I mean cheaper than most airbnb rates--with having to move country every 30-90 days, I’d have to constantly be making sure I had enough set aside for travel expenses).

Eastern Europe: Romania and a couple of other Eastern European countries look like possibilities, but I need to do more reasearch.

The bulk of the Anglosphere--as in Canada, Australia, NZ, and so on: Same concerns as above. Cost of living isn’t much lower than the US, and long term visas are hard to qualify for unless you can make a significant cash investment.

Latin America: A lot of good possibilities, but there are various issues with a lot of countries as far as long-term visas are concerned, and some places would still be hard to live in given my budget constraints. (Although three Latin American countries have already made my shortlist.)

East and Southeast Asia: For decades, I’ve dreamed of living in, or at least visiting, SE Asia. Partly because this area and the Asian subcontinent are the birthplace of various martial arts I’ve studied, and partly because the cultures are in so many ways about as far from Euro-American culture as one can get, and different perspectives are good. Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam are places I’ve considered, but visas are getting trickier in some of those. (Note that there’s also a SE Asian country on my shortlist.)

[marywoodartdept]

Faculty Guest BloggerS: Dr. Christ Irwin & Dr. Ashley Hartman

Dr. Irwin & Dr. Hartman: In November 2019, we had the great opportunity to visit Buenos Aires, Argentina to present our work at the Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum at the Museo de la Inmigracion MUNTREF.  The Inclusive Museum conference offers opportunities for conversation among international scholars and curators about interdisciplinary work, emphasizing inclusive and interactive practices in the museum.

We organized a session at the conference to explore how we might collaborate to draw on each other’s research.  Our session was a focused discussion titled Exploring Cultural Identity Through the Artwork of Colonial Latin American Artists.  While it is more typical at academic conferences for scholars to organize sessions composed of a handful of speakers who each present 20-minute papers that are united by some theme, we opted for a focused discussion so that we could each briefly present our research, and then pose questions to the audience in order to generate productive conversations about our ideas.

We are both expanding on the themes relevant to each of their dissertation research emphases, and since Marywood’s Art Department offers the opportunity for such interdisciplinary connections, they have been exploring ways in which art history and art therapy can work together intellectually, conceptually, and in practice. We had discussed possible collaborations since beginning to work together in Fall 2018, but found an opportunity to attend a conference together when this event came up. Below is a brief summary of our work, from each of our points of view.

Dr. Irwin:

“My research focuses on three Italian artists who traveled to Lima, Peru in the sixteenth century as part of the Spanish mission to convert the indigenous populations to Christianity.  Their Christian-themed paintings served to teach religious narrative and ideals.  The paintings also introduced the European Renaissance style of art.  I am interested in considering these paintings as tools used not only to teach Christianity, but also weapons used in the campaign to destroy indigenous belief and culture. These Italian paintings are dramatically different in style and conception from the traditions of local art that had persisted for centuries in the Andes prior to Spanish conquest.  The European art represents one way of seeing the world and making art, while Andean art represents a very different way of seeing.”

Dr. Hartman:

“This opportunity allowed the stimulation and discussion of a continuation of my work in exploring the interdisciplinary nature of museum-based art therapy. It allowed us to emphasize the importance of identity development, particularly how art therapists can use different processes in the museum to promote self-expression and dialogue about convoluted sociopolitical issues as well as offer the facilitation of exploration of cultural identity through engaging with artworks and museum objects in the gallery, and subsequently creating personal artwork and reflecting on such themes.”

We plan to continue approaching ways to collaborate through pedagogical practice as well as conceptually and theoretically.

While our primary reason for visiting Argentina was to present at this conference, we did take some time to tour Buenos Aires, including visits to the Latin American Art Museum (MALBA) and the Fine Arts Museum (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes).  We also enjoyed the local cuisine (a lot of it!), including Argentinian barbecue, Cafe con Leche, empanadas, and arepas, to name just a few of our indulgences.  Buenos Aires is a large, cosmopolitan, international city—we both commented that at times we felt we were in Paris, and at other times, Brooklyn!

Learn more about Dr Irwin

Learn more about Dr Hartman

This month's faculty guest blog post features 2 faculty, Dr Irwin & Dr Hartman in "The Inclusive Museum Conference" Faculty Guest BloggerS: Dr. Christ Irwin & Dr. Ashley Hartman Dr. Irwin & Dr. Hartman: In November 2019, we had the great opportunity to visit Buenos Aires, Argentina to present our work at the Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum at the Museo de la Inmigracion MUNTREF.