#the brits and europeans know what I mean. the Americans… not so much

[eemoo1o-animoo]

Black Butler, but it’s just Sebastian and Ciel living in a caravan when undercover on a mission from the queen, and Sebastian is having constant fights with the water barrel.

[dailymanners]

Bear with me because I am about to rant about something not blog related that's been grating on me ever since this blog gained more traction

USAmericans being Americancentric vs. Europeans every single time someone says something they don't like or don't agree with or is just coming from a place of different experiences than them assuming you MUST be a USAmerican coming from a place of Americancentrism: fight

For context, I do not live in the U.S., and do not base my posts off of experiences in the U.S., and as much as I find it annoying that sometimes USAmericans reply to my posts with assumptions that their experiences are universal, for example USAmericans replying to my post about closing the lid before you flush with "but public toilets don't have lids!" when they do in my country, I find it equally annoying if not even more annoying with how much Europeans assume that every time I post something they disagree with or is a different experience than them that I must be USAmerican and coming from a place of Americancentrism

For example when I made a post saying "use excuse me if you have to get into someone else's personal space" I had a bunch of British people replying to it something along the lines of "Are you Americans so uncivilized that you're not taught basic manners like this? Good thing us civilized Brits know to use excuse me!" when, again, I do not live in the U.S., the post was based on experiences I had here in my country and again, not in the U.S.

Or when I made a post just saying "don't be rude to people who got you a present you don't like" because I've had experiences here in my country of people sneering at and tossing aside presents they didn't live or even yelling at or scolding the gift giver just because it wasn't a color that they like, I did not say that you have to pretend to like it, just don't be rude and sneer at them or yell at the gift giver, but I still had a bunch of Germans replying something like "well you Americans may think you have to pretend to like gifts you don't actually like but us Germans believe in being honest!" (even though that's not even what I was saying) when again, I am not in the U.S., I have never said that I am in the U.S., this was based on experiences in my country which is not the U.S., but Europeans had to go and assume everyone who says something they don't fully like or agree with must be USAmerican.

And I know it's not just me, I've seen a lot of posts from people here on Tumblr in South American or Asia saying that Europeans are always assuming they're USAmerican and coming from a place of Americancentrism when they talk about their experiences in South American or Asia.

I saw a quote one time that was something like "USAmericans believe the entire world is the U.S. while Europeans believe the entire world is Europe + the U.S."

but the thing is that I DO live in Europe, my country is a small northern European country, but of course my experiences are going to be different than someone who is British or German or Swedish, but it's like people from those countries so often assume their experiences are universal to everyone in their country + the rest of Europe, so if a British person experiences being taught to use excuse me that MUST be universal to Europe, and that apparently nobody outside of Europe and the U.S. is on Tumblr, so if I experience being shoved by people who don't use excuse me (in my tiny northern European country) that MUST mean I live in the U.S. and MUST be USAmerican since their British experiences MUST be universal to everyone else on this website who isn't USAmerican

[zot3-flopped]

hi eastern european here. i remember reading some time ago article about eras' european leg and they interviewed some polish swifties, who themselves were surprised that tickets are selling well, because swiftie polish community is so small they feel like it's only bunch of them.

they of course failed to consider the fact that swift hasn't played in that part of europe before, so that among sold tickets there is gonna be huge chunk of people from poland and countries near it, who are not swifties, but are interested simply because it's her first appearance there, you know in a very something new, circus came to town, gimmicky way. an event good for local celebs and influencers to go and take bunch of video, photos etc to post as a content.

what also plays into ticket sales is the fact that a lot of swifties travel to many eras concerts and from western european and american perspective poland is cheap. krakow is literally one of favourite locations for brits to have bachelor parties and act like assholes in public, pissing to fountains and such. also that original price of ticket $498 is hilarious when you know that polish minimum pay after taxes is about $818. most of swift's fans are zoomers, so unless parents are giving them money, i don't really see a lot of poor students going on such gig for just one artist, way better to attend some music festival with a lot of musicians.

there is also always this overestimation on how american artists will do in europe, because music business on european countires favours heavily their own artists, while american stars are exactly that gimmicky thing that shows up only once in a while, so why even bother too much with them. but americans just don't get that and try over and over to win non-english native europe not knowing why it isn't working.

but it's funny to read that prices in poland went down do much, because it means that those initial reports about sales going well were just pr bullshit.

Thanks for sharing this.

[ly0nstea]

i actually am irish 😹 irish isnt a race and therefore cannot face actual racial oppression at least not since nearing a century ago; and even then i wouldnt have considered it racism, just prejudice. irish people have always been white even if deemed lesser than due to heritage. it isnt american to say white people cannot face racism

Congrats you know nothing about your own history heres a quick google search for you seeing as you cant do it yourself

Irish people werent always considered white, A) because whiteness is only a few hundred years old and B) because its factually untrue, irish people werent white till the ~60s. Also "its not racism just prejudice" is a weird hill to die on minimising your own historical marginalisation? Bootlicking behaviour. Why don't you go lick Charles' boot while your at it if you want to do so much British Apologeia.

what is the prejudice based on? If not race and ethnicity?

"Not since nearly a century ago" lmao alright what about the famine? The penal laws? The 700 years of british oppression before your arbitrary cut off point?

You seem to be under the false assumption that race is a real thing that exists when its not, no one has "always been white" because whiteness didn't always exist. The spartans and gauls and no notion of whiteness, who is part of what race changes based on location and time. Is turkey asian or european? Is russia asian or european? Is someone who's half white considered white enough to get the priveleges of whiteness? What about 25% or 75%? At what point does their whiteness disappear? Are the Spanish white? All geographical notions should tell you yes but they aren't pale at all a lot of spaniards don't look very white, not as white as a german or brit. Is there degrees of whiteness? Can one person be more white than another? 0 of these questions have a consistent answer, ask 100 people youll get 100 different responses because its not a real things that actually exists, that goes for all classification of anything, what diffrentiates species of ants? Its arbitrary. Whats the difference between a language and a dialect? Politics and borders. They only exist because we say it exists and to a degree ant species and language vs. Dialect distinctions are useful to us. Is whiteness useful? Just because youre white now doesnt mean youll be white forever, Irish people, like Jews and Roma and Travellers are conditionally white. We're white now, at this very moment, but the moment it become disadvantageous for us to be white you'll lose all the privelege you're trying to cling to.

What do you have in common with a white person in Germany, or America, or France? Nothing more than melanin levels. What do you have in common with a non-white Irish person? A common home, an interest in making that home better. Ask yourself which one of those matters more to you we'll see how steadfast you are in wanting to be white so badly.

[orionsangel86]

Okay so I have a bit of a random question that you might or might not know the answer to. For context, I’m gonna be doing a working holiday in Ireland because it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity due to having to be currently enrolled in college or at least within the first year post graduation. Well I’ve been told by multiple people, who have no relationship with each other, that it’s much better for me to say that I’m from Texas than say I’m an American. While both are true, they’ve told me that people have been much more friendly towards them when they say that they’re from Texas and just leave it at that. Do you by any chance know why that is? I’ve tried to look it up, but all I’ve found was the impression y’all get from us are basically guns, big, and BBQ. To me those don’t seem like things that correlate, which has made me more confused.

All good if you don’t know or if it’s not even something you’ve personally experienced or heard of people experiencing. I’m just curious more than anything

Hey! Well I'm a Brit, London based, very English, so I can't speak for the Irish at all (and wouldn't dare even if I thought we might share an opinion on the matter!) but I've never heard of this.

Honestly though? Its just my opinion but I would have thought it would be the other way around? If the people telling you that are from Texas, I'd say thats a bit biased as I know Texans are known for being very proudly, well, Texan.

Most people I know from this side of the pond, whether British or European, aren't gonna judge individual Americans just on the fact that they are American. Unless you are a walking stereotype and rather obnoxious about it I wouldn't be too concerned. We are aware that America is a huuuuge place with a LOT of different types of people living there.

But Texas does have a reputation. The Texas stereotype is more ingrained that the general American imo. Loud, large, right leaning, guns, cowboys, etc...

Texas is one of the more recognisable states to most people over here along with New York and California (and Florida although I think most Brits (again, I cant speak for the Irish) just associate Florida with beaches and Disney World). So whilst I doubt your friends assumptions that people here are friendlier to Texans, its likely coming from a place of recognition. The reaction upon meeting a Texan might be "oooh Texas! Cowboys!" And the Texan in question would view that recognition as extra friendly when its really just "i am aware of you" whereas if you said you were from say Missouri you'll be met with a blank face.

A Californian might feel the same reaction applies to them, that by saying theyre from California, they are likely to get a stronger reaction than saying they are just from America simply because the European person is more aware of California and can make assumptions based on their general knowledge of California.

So thats my best guess. If you want people to associate you with cowboys, horses, guns, bbqs, etc, then by all means proudly state you are from Texas - you just might need to elaborate to then fight a general stereotype.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying everyone will stereotype you, but these are generalisations. I'm actually from Essex, and I often don't admit to that because Essex in the UK has a very strong stereotype which was only further encouraged by that ghastly reality TV show about it. If I say I'm from London, people aren't gonna make too many assumptions. Saying I'm from Essex I immediately get the smirk and the knowing look and the "oh youre an Essex girl are you?" And I HATE it. But some women from Essex might get a kick out of that I suppose.

So what I'm actually saying here is it all depends on how you want to be viewed. Its not about friendliness. People arent friendlier to Texans than other states. Its about whether or not you wanna be associated with peoples general stereotypes of Texas and whether you view those associations as positive or negative.

[wheredidthepeepeego-mp3]

western europeans stop getting fucking defensive.

"but your hIsToRy is just killing native americans!!!" and that's not important? Are you assuming all of america is just white people? Where do you think native people went? They're still here- victims of the very system you mock so heartlessly. some of the people living within US borders that Europeans loveeee to be EXTREMELY classist about live on fucking reservations so don't pretend to be such an ally. And american history DOES include marginalized groups- are ignoring the rich art and culture of black people in the us? inventions like the banjo are mocked in other countries and even up north for being "white trash music" but they were invented by black people. yes, they've culturally been distanced from that but my point still stands- make fun of the way white people profit off of other cultures, not the ACTUAL CULTURES THEMSELVES YOU THINK YOU'RE PROTECTING. europeans make fun of american adaptations of chinese, italian, or mexican food when these resturaunts were oftentimes commandeered by immigrants so shut yalls fucking yaps about american culture being all "colonialism" when the majority of american culture is held up by black folks. Yes, it's ABSOLUTELY a problem that white people profit off of black culture- but stop making jokes about things like soul food because you think you're punching up at colonizers but you're punching down at colonizees. just because you know the FACTS about american history doesn't mean you know the cultural context.

"but you don't learn about OURR history. waah waah waah little baby colonizers feel bad for being left out." bbg you live in france- one of the HIGHEST rated countries of quality of living. don't get me wrong- the us also mostly outperforms quality of living standards too according to oecd but not to that level. MANY people in the us live in extreme poverty and live on the streets in either extremely cold or searing hot weather without proper clothing- they can be raped, trafficked, or otherwise taken advantage of with no feasible place to go espicially in the south if they are queer and can't stay at a church or christian shelter. You see them walk the streets every day, down almost every road depending on where you live. obviously poverty is not a us specific thing and other countries have it MUCH worse but still. i agree that the world's politics are centered around the us which is obviously horrible and i'm very anti-nationalism but the reason why us politics are prevalent outside of the us is because it's a fucking HUGE country. you live in a country the size of my state- that isn't an insult, in fact, i'm very glad for you that you live in a damn nice place. But the reason americans are "dumb" is because a lot of us are taught fascism in school and aren't given the research skills to FIND accurate information about other countries. saw someone in these notes saying not to "throw stones in glass houses-" but isn't it just as hypocritical to judge americans for being colonizers when almost EVERY WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRY has had war crimes as severe or worse than the us? Brits, don't blame me, a single (one, 1) american for not singlehandedly solving US colonialism when you haven't solved the Indian economy, hmm??? The moment you accuse americans of being hypocrites just for living there, you make an enemy out of us. You have NO empathy for native people/latinos/black americans because you label all of us as poor uneducated fools.

And whose fault is it that we're poor and uneducated? What are you gonna do, tell us to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps out of the VERY SYSTEM you make fun of us for being in? Folks that are actual victims of colonization are of course always welcome imo to make appropriate fun of americans but when fucking Swedish people or whatever make insensitive jokes about fat children dying in shootings being okay because they're "colonizers" they are being GIANT hypocrites. Have some fucking empathy to literal children being murdered- is that too damn much to ask? If you've never had to live in a food desert, or hear gunshots at night,

sorry about the length and incoherence of my rant :3 ask me if something is unclear because im on my period, caffeinated, stayed up all night, and hit my head really hard against my table yesterday and am semiverbal in the first place so im not at my best RN when it comes to communicating.

[merci-bitch]

How about Rose the Hat

“My, aren’t you something?”

Ask and you shall receive. Haven’t written for Rose in quite a while, I’m reading the book now and she’s completely different than the movie. More manipulative, aggressive, possessive, confident. Quite fun. not sure this is what you wanted 🤠, I got carried away eh.

Warning (s): swearing, blood, knife throwing, manipulation, humiliation, sadness :(

“Oh, did I wake you sleepyhead?”

You’d woken by the sound of a door slamming shut. An unfamiliar smell surrounded you and the the climate you were in where anything but your bedroom.

You turned your head and saw a woman brewing tea. Standing by the kettle. You had never seen her before. You tried not to stare as she stood by the table, but you couldn’t help it. She was mysteriously extraordinary. The woman was tall, her hair was long, brown and filled with a bunch of different things, a slim but not too thin body, high cheekbones, slightly tripped eyes but extremely sexy. There was something unhealthy about the way she looked. She didn’t look a day over 30. She turned around and you saw her full. She was the most beautiful woman you’d ever seen.

“It’s been a while since someone’s been so starstruck to see me.”

The woman chuckled as she sipped her tea, walking over to the bed and sitting down in front of you.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Rose. Rose the Hat as my very good friends would say.”

You kept looking at her. Noticing small freckles across her face.

“Where am I?”

Rose took another sip of her tea. Time going slow as she took her time answering your question. Then, she looked you straight in the eyes, making your blood run cold. There was something in those eyes. Danger, curiosity, lust and something more. Your father would call it the “psychopath stare”.

“Long away from home, dear one. Perhaps Mississippi.”

Kidnapped. You’d been kidnapped by some oddly sexy psychopath.

“I wouldn’t say kidnapped. You are not a kid Y/N.”

“How do you know my name? How-why am I here?! You crazy psychopath!”

“Those acting classes didn’t really pay off, I see.”

“Oh, bloody hell.”

“Ah, a Brit in America?”

“I live in England. Thank you very much.”

“How come such a pretty face is here in the states?”

“None of your business woman.”

“I want the truth. We only speak the truth from now on.”

“I was here to visit a friend.”

“There we go. Now, you’re a big steam head, so be nice and I won’t kill you.”

You scoffed, getting off the bed. Walking further out in the earth-cruiser.

“Oh, right. Cause that’s bloody comforting.”

“Do as you’re told and it’ll be. Now, come sit.”

Rose said as she patted the spot you sat in seconds ago. An expression of serious planted on her face. Her smile gone, eyes dark and the muscles in her face tightened. You slowly sat down. A little further away from her, pulling your knees up to your chest. Wrapping your arms around your legs.

“No fear. We eat fear.”

What was this place and who were these people? Cannibals?

“Not quite.”

Mind readers. Great.

Rose chuckled. “My, aren’t you something?”

You didn’t answer. You just moved further away from her, until you were pressed up against the window. Rose grabbed your hand, gently pulling you back towards her. Gently and gently was debatable.

“Children love you, correct?”

“What? Yes-I mean it depends on the circumstances. Why?”

“I’m gonna offer you a deal. A deal I haven’t offered anyone in almost 40 years.”

“You’re older than 40?”

“Yes dear. Much older.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“That’s the point Y/N. Eat well, stay young, live long.”

“Wait, you got a little hint of an accent.”

“No I don’t.”

“Yes you do! You aren’t American either.”

“Then where am I from?”

“Hm. You got quite the accent once it’s really showing. I’d say European, but English. Ireland.”

Rose didn’t answer. Her rube life was behind her. Far behind her. That pathetic life was gone and she wasn’t Rose O’Hara anymore. She was stronger, better and more sure of why she wanted.

“Irish Rose eh?”

If Rose hadn’t the need of you, she would have snapped your neck. Eaten you. Turned your insides out. Let you hang from a tree like a pig for slaughter.

Her hand was wrapped around your throat, pushing you against the window. Nails digging into the skin of your throat. She was unbelievable strong.

“Listen here you little shit. You do what I say and we’ll all come out happy and satisfied, alright?”

You nodded your head, tears stinging behind your eyes. That psychopath smile returned to Rose’s lips. “Good girl.”

-

You were sitting on a park bench. Holding a stuffed animal. A bunny to be specific. Fumbling with it in your hands. It reminded you of one you had as a kid. The light brown fur, the pretty pink dress. A build-a-bear.

It had been months. A few dreadful months. Filled with horror and death and things you didn’t wanna confirm you’d done. You did something horrible to keep yourself alive. What a selfish thing to do.

The True Knot, as they called themselves. You were a part of them now. Having been turned. Your old life gone. Y/N L/N wasn’t your name anymore. Kiddy Y/N was. Something Barry had come up with. Something Rose found awfully amusing. Your job was to lead the children to their deaths. They liked you, every child you’d meet liked you. You never understood why, always thought it was part of your charm.

Here you were. Sitting on a park bench in April. With a stuffed bunny in your hand. Waiting for the little girl named Amy to come. From the information you’d gotten from Crow, she was steamy alright. Perhaps she could fill 2-3 canisters. They were hungry. You were too but you would never admit it. Eating children’s fear still not sitting right with you.

“Are you alright?”

You looked up and saw a woman. A tall, blond haired woman. Perhaps a little shorter than Rose.

“Yeah, I’m quite alright miss.”

She sat down next to you, a look of worry on her face. Her fingers touched your cheek.

“You’re awfully pale and a little cold. Have you eaten?”

Talk about coincidence.

“No, not really. It’s alright.”

“Of course it isn’t!”

Ah, a fellow Brit.

“Really. Miss, you shouldn’t worry.”

The woman let out a sigh. Eyes dropping to the stuffed bunny in your hands.

“You have a child here?”

“Oh, not really.”

The woman looked oddly at you.

“Hope you’re not here to steal one then.”

The woman laughed. She had a wonderful laugh, a pretty smile. Bright blue eyes.

“Wouldn’t that be a story to tell.”

You could feel eyes on you. Not just the kind lady’s eyes. Rose’s eyes. She probably wasn’t happy. Telling you to get on with it. You’d probably get a handful when you got back.

“Are you sure you’re alright? You look so lost.”

You chuckled. “Aren’t we all a little lost?”

She smiled softly at you, grabbing one of your hands. Giving it a soft squeeze.

“You got a kid here?”

“Oh, yes. That little girl over the swings. The pink dress.”

The woman leaned in and pointed over towards the swings.

Fuck.

Amy.

“She’s such an angel. So bright.”

“I’m sure she is.”

The woman then held out her hand. “I’m Hannah.”

“Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you Y/N.”

“Likewise.”

Hannah smiled at you. Smiling even wider as the little girl that was her daughter came running towards you.

“There’s my baby!” Hannah said as she picked up the girl and put her on her lap.

“Be a good girl and say hello to Y/N.”

“Hi.”

“Hello there. Nice to meet you.”

Amy smiled and hide her face in her mother’s chest. Hannah smiled at her daughter and kissed her head, giving her a tight squeeze.

“What’s your name little one?”

“Amy.”

“Well, Amy. How would you like a new friend?”

Amy’s eyes went wide and her smile even wider.

You held up the stuffed bunny and held it out to her. She grabbed it slowly.

“She’s yours now. Take good care of her for me?”

Amy nodded her head and held the stuffed bunny close to her.

“Pinky promise?”

Amy held out her pinky and locked it with yours. Your eyes locked with Hannah’s. A pure look of softness in her features. Something completely different from Rose.

Rose was like the wicked witch of the west with a twist of beauty. Just as wicked. Just as wanting, greedy and dangerous. Hannah was, well. Kind. Soft and everything but wicked. Someone you wished you’d meet a long time ago. She was older than you. Maybe early 40’s. A kind heart, a single mother who loved her little girl more then anything in the world. A heart that would hurt to break.

-

“She’s a fucking joke.”

“I told you! So ducking pathetic.”

“Both of you shut up.”

Rose had had enough. You were taking far to long. You had one job. Take the fucking child, not bond with it. You weren’t that useless. You brought them food when they weren’t able by leasing the children right into their little trap. If the kid was a big steam head, Rose would even reward you. She definitely wouldn’t now. Doesn’t matter how big of a steam head the girl might be.

Crow whistled at her, asking her to come over to where he was standing. Where he’d been watching you for the past hours. Rose stepped over and looked to where he was pointing. You little bitch.

-

“Oh, my. I do apologize. I don’t know where my head went.” Hannah said, looking away as a blush crept up her chest.

Amy was back over at the playground. You’d continued to talk to Hannah, she was sitting closer this time. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, she’d kissed you. It was a soft kiss. Different from Rose’s bruising kisses. Both addicting.

You knew you’d get a shit tone of hits when you went back, but right now? You wanted to enjoy a life you could have lived. Even if just for a few more seconds.

You grabbed Hannah’s hand, making her look at you. Her eyes searching for your answer. You slowly leaned in and gave her a kiss of your own. Both your eyes closing in unison. Her hand tightening in yours. A soft sound escaping her throat. Oh, how you wished you could just live a normal life. A life you wasn’t doomed to live.

You pulled away and started to get up. Hannah grabbed your hand and stood up with you. She leaned in, brushing the hair away from your ear, whispering in your ear.

“I saw you come here. How you looked at my daughter before. I’ve seen those people a few feet away. Don’t break my heart.”

The tone she used sent shivers down your spine.

Hannah grabbed your hand, pulling you with her.

“Hannah I-“

“You’re coming home with me.”

“I can’t.”

“Says who?”

“Hannah-“

“Whoever those people are, that are watching. Leave them be Y/N. They clearly aren’t good for you. Look at you. You look dreadful.”

“Thanks.”

Hannah’s expression softened. Pulling you into a hug.

“You deserve someone good for you. A real family. Not people who drag you down. Who doesn’t let you eat. For gods sake look at you! Thin as a stick.”

“Not true.”

“Almost then.”

“It’s a bit more difficult then that. I can’t just join you.”

“Why not? You didn’t hesitate to.”

You sighed. Looking down at the ground. What would happen if you didn’t “eat”? Would you die?

Eat well, stay young, live long.

Could you survive on just human food? Was it worth a try?

“If you want to get a new chance at life. With me. I’d be happy to offer one, if I could. Meet me tonight at the local coffee shop. If you decide not to show up, then that’s that. But if you do. We’ll move somewhere where they can’t find us. Somewhere where I can get to know you.”

“Hannah.”

“Yes dear?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Cause I find you oddly interesting and you’re very good with my girl. She likes you more than she’s liked anyone else of my former partners.”

Hannah’s fingers touched your cheek again and stroked it. She walked away without another word. Walking away while holding her girl’s hand.

-

“I want to kill you.”

“Then do it.”

“It’ll only give you a satisfaction of dying quicker than I intend you to.”

“Then what’s the point.”

“You’re such a little bitch.”

You were right about the handful. Rose had gone crazy. So crazy she’d thrown a knife at you, it hitting your shoulder.

“Who’s that blond bitch you were all over hm?”

“The mother of the child you wanted me to steal.”

“Oh, cheer up grinch. It’s only Christmas once a year.”

You’d pulled out the knife, trying not to cry at the pain. You’d cleaned the wound, only to get another wipe from the knife on your arm.

“Stop throwing the bloody knife!”

“Or what? You’d cry? Cry out for that blond lady? ‘Oh please, blond lady come help me!’ Tell me. What’s her name?”

You didn’t answer her.

“What’s her name Y/N?”

She was pushing you and she knew that you knew that she’d get the answer out of you no matter what you did.

“I’m not telling you.”

“Why? So you can run of with her and that pathetic little child? Play happy family with a stranger you just meet?” Rose laughed in your face and threw the knife again. This time she missed you. You knew she did it on purpose.

“You’re so pathetic it’s hilarious.”

“You kept me.”

“Because we could use you.”

“You cared for me.”

Rose didn’t answer.

“I don’t care what what you’re gonna say next. This was a mistake and if I cou-“

“Well you can’t. Seems like you’re stuck here with me forever. Now be a good girl, go meet that lady and get her fucking child.”

-

You went. A heavy feeling in your chest. You didn’t want to do this. Why had Hannah been so enchanting? She was a stranger you just meet. Someone you didn’t know anything about? She was just the mother to the kid you were supposed to steal.

When Hannah saw you, her eyes lit up. She got up from her chair and wrapped her arms around you. Holding you tight against her.

“Don’t take my child.”

[swearyshera]

As an Indian and British North American Canadian, I have a right to double roast you lot:

- You colonized India and North America, yet you call the indigenous people here Indians. Are you lot unable to differentiate between your colonial possessions? Do you just call all of your colonies India or something? (Is the Indian Empire real?)

- Secondary comment (this one goes out to all the European colonial powers), what is it with you people and slapping the name ‘India’ in places you don’t know? Caribbean? The West Indies. Vietnam? Indochina. How does this make any sense? What does “Indian” even mean then?

- Back to you Brits. Does your food really have to be that bland? I know this was said before, but c’mon. Deviled eggs are the best you got? The Indian military makes British food better than you Brits.

- What is with your language? It’s a mishmash of German, Greek, Gaelic, Breton, a giant heap of Fr*nch (oh my so much Fr*nch), and a bunch of other colonial possessions you picked up. Even the Dutch do this better than you.

- You call yourself the “United Kingdom”, and just identify yourself like that. That’s just setting yourself up for failure. Once you finally get rid of your monarchy, what are you going to call yourself? The “United Krepublic”? “Great Britain and Northern Ireland?” Either way, you’re going to have to change a whole lot of abbreviations, which is justified because the only UK I accept is UKraine.

- Birmingham.

I am far from an expert on early colonial-era anywhere, but I think all these places were called 'India' because we thought they were India. And, because of feelings of superiority, we decided that we were right - even when we were proved wrong.

Our language is a horrible bastard child of people we invaded and people who invaded us. It's amazing and awful.

I do like a lot of our national cuisine, even if it is bland (certainly by the standards of most of the world). I may rip the piss out of it, but give me a full Sunday roast and all is forgiven.

And isn't Bretagne a region of France rather than a town?

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

So an Aussie school implemented critical race theory in a school and I’m watching the first episode so far the white students hate themselves because they are automatically bad because white. Because that’s how you solve racism identifying people by race and making them evil?

There was also a lot of mocking I think of white students “what does it mean to be white?” And they don’t know so the presenter is laughing. Because there’s no nuance because white is one homogenous culture no nuance what so ever. Greek is identical to Irish to Russian to German to Ukrainian.

That's what it does. I've seen it described as a universal solvent. Thinking about everybody around you in terms of race and in terms of neo-Marxian oppressor/oppressed class dynamics is the surest way to disintegrate human connections, stir up resentment and divide.

I'm surprised that this was done at an Australian school. Partly because Australia's ethnic demographics are much different than the USA, where this theology originated. Indeed, much of the early development of the Australian settlements appears to have been done on the back of white people transported there in chains, as convicts often found guilty of petty crimes. Australia has a significant Asian population, and their black population tends to be either their indigenous people, or recent immigrants from African nations. So the presuppositions and of the theology don’t really line up.

Ironically, the implementation of CRT is a demonstration of American missionaries colonizing their theology into other countries.

Here's the thing about culture, though.

Culture is experienced, it's something you participate in. It's what surrounds you. It's not a property of a person's biology. In America, black and white people who were born and grew up there will have more in common culturally than they will have differences. They're black and white Americans. Their culture is American. They know how tipping works, how the football leagues work, how the rivalry between different cultural factions works: east vs west music, which Chris team you're on, Ford vs Chevrolet, etc.

Through my job, there's a white guy I work with online who is from and in South Africa. He even did compulsory national service. He is more "African" (although Africa is an entire continent of many countries) than Oprah Winfrey. He's culturally South African, ethnically Afrikaner, with ancestry to the Netherlands Dutch.

For that matter, Yasmine Mohammed, whose mother is Egyptian, from Egypt, is more culturally "African" than Oprah Winfrey. Yasmine is first-generation Canadian, born to an immigrant from an African nation. Oprah Winfrey is not.

Black Americans, by the way, typically have about 15-20% European ancestry, along with a smaller mixture of Native American and other genetic lines.

This is why "cultural appropriation" is so demented. Often the people scolding others are themselves as removed from the culture as the person they're scolding, and are simply using their skin color to manipulate others.

Culture is not in your DNA or your skin tone. Ethnicity is your family's history or lineage of culture, which in Europe can be as diverse as Irish, Swedish, Spanish, Polish, Croatian and Italian. Ancestry is your genetic heritage. These are all different things.

Anyone who thinks the Irish and the Polish, the Spanish and the Swedish, the British and the Croats, are interchangeable is as stupid as they are ignorant.

Here is a mega-post showing the diversity of traditional European cultures, from Albania to Wales.

https://www.tumbex.com/rachel-angelina.tumblr/post/638380173057818624

"White culture" is therefore an incoherent term. Take a black American, a black Kenyan and even a black Brit and put them in a room together to discuss their culture - traditions, society, values, social expectations and norms, etc. Hell, put a black American and a black Canadian in the same room. Any shared and contrasting aspects of their culture will parallel those of a white American and a white Canadian.

Ideologues like this want to fixate on the white and black, not on the American, or the Australian, the Kenyan, South African, etc.

The presenter is deliberately misusing words to confuse the kids. Because the presenter is a racist. They see the non-white people as a different culture than the white people. e.g. seeing a fourth generation Australian student with Chinese ancestry as being "Chinese" and not "Australian"; that is being outsiders to the local culture. The presenter is looking at such a kid and believes to their core “you are not Australian, your eyes and your skin mean you can never be Australian.” And seeing the white students as having "no culture" means they're actually making "white" the default, without regard for their diverse cultural lineage, as you mentioned.

The presenter is a full-blown white supremacist. And I mean that in the Strom Thurmond sense, not the nonsensical world of milk and hiking being "white supremacy."

The implementation of Critical Race Theory - i.e Critical Race Praxis and Critical Race Pedagogy - and other Woke doctrines reliably and inevitably heralds increased division and racism (and sexism, hetero/homo-angst, etc), not less, because everybody spends all their time fixating on race, gender, sexuality, etc, and not on getting anything done. There is a long history of destruction in its wake, from Evergreen State College to Knitting Instagram.

Because it’s not about solving problems any more than Xianity is about instilling morality. It’s about authoritarianism and securing belief in a specific ideology and worldview. At any cost.

[fshoulders]

The wild difference between cultural context for ’cunt’ between North American and UK English* has got to be so weird for non-native speakers. Like, I’ve been bothered by how and how much some European people on here use the word and I’ve wondered…do they know how it comes across to the other hemisphere’s anglophones, or did they just pick it up from the Brits and think it’s normal?

So just to make this less figurative (and less fun: love the bloodline-transcending war expression) for anyone really confused. (NB: I am a native English speaker from the west coast of the United States, and I have an English degree or two, but I’m not a linguist.) There are two general ways that the word ‘cunt’ comes across in mainstream US English:

First way: Non-figurative! This is in fact the less inflammatory version! It’s just understood as completely filthy. The literal old Middle-English word for ‘vulva’ can in fact be used to refer to those genitals in America, and will be understood! It’s just only going to be in self-consciously very-R-rated movies, HBO shows (looking at you, Deadwood my love), and porn. People using it to refer to their own body parts in public are often going for shock value, whether their intention is political/feminist, or just raunchy.

The word is, or was until recently, uncommon enough in public life and even lists of ‘swears’ transmitted among kids that a fairly sheltered and prim teen might learn it for the first time from Chaucer. The denotative meaning of the word, for those who haven’t read The Canterbury Tales, is completely clear from context. There are often even pictures! The modern connotation of incredible crassness would not be clear to that bookish teen, however, until she was watching a movie with her parents, her older sister, and her older sister’s smart, handsome, talented friend who looks like Gilbert Blythe in the CBC Anne of Green Gables. And then, Gilbert having failed to hear a punchline in the movie that involved the word ‘vagina’ and asking what was said, that little bookish teen might find the word ‘cunt’ less embarrassing to say out loud than ‘vagina’, and in fact pride herself on her erudition. Hypothetically. (It’s not hypothetical, it’s one of my most embarrassing teenage moments!) For all I know, all the kids these days have HBO in the home and the word is on all the playground ‘swears’ lists. But this was the state of play growing up in the 80s-90s.

Second way: Figurative! Here’s where the wars start, and I hope I don’t start another one with the Brits (I have not recently commissioned 6 super-frigates with strong hulls.) Content note: the second paragraph after this one (I’ll color it red) contains evocations of violence against women.

Using the word ‘cunt’ as a synecdoche for ‘woman’ is where we get into trouble. Rhetorically, it’s dismissing and throwing the rest of the person — personality, thoughts, abilities, will to consent or not — away in favor of only the one part, and has historically carried strong overtones that this particular person has no use or value outside of a completely fungible use as a sexual object. I don’t know how well I can convey this to anybody who’s used to the word being applied to a person of any gender in a casual way, but it’s…grim.

To me, a really off-limits slur is one that has historically been intertwined with violence. The radioactive slurs are the ones that have been used by the people beating and killing. And in the U.S., at least, for women, that word is ‘cunt’. In my own life, when I’ve been threatened with corrective violence, that word has been used. It is used by men brutalizing women. It is a one-syllable evocation of a lifelong series of messages about the disposability of women, with a bass line of our ‘weakness’ and inability to protect ourselves against lethal violence. There are shadings of meanings here for non-women with these genitals — again, corrective violence and reductionism — and a whole other potential set for trans women and one for cis men who ‘fail’ at being men. I just wrote a post the other day about misogyny and Ancient Rome which is relevant.

So yes, in the U.S., calling a cis man this word is basically using the Deep Misogynies to denigrate them as badly as possible: “fighting words”, for sure. (And if they don’t jump to violence or threat back, then see the part above where the word implies female ‘weakness’.) Calling a woman this word is an implicit threat of violence. I can’t speak for enbies, but I think whether it’s the first or the second is going to be situational, but either way deeply threatening. It sounds like Canada is similar in this way! So…that’s why Americans and Canadians may seem strangely reactive to these words. That’s the cultural backdrop. I wish it wasn’t!

*I’m just calling it “UK English” here because the Aussies are in the reblogs making it clear Australia is not monolithic on the connotations of this word.

im not confused about australia being a fantasy land im confused about how australians say cunt different from regular people??? as far as i can tell we say it the same as usamericans

I'm Canadian but here if you call someone a cunt it is a declaration of war that will transcend bloodlines

[qqueenofhades]

Keeping my fingers crossed for that Black Widow meta

Aha, okay. As usual, I am ludicrously easy to enable, so let's take a crack at this. The ask obviously contains SPOILERS for the Black Widow film (and is also tagged "black widow spoilers" if you're planning to filter), and discussion/reference to other films/properties in the MCU, though I don't feel like any of those are still a secret.

Anyway, as I said in my earlier post, I can't believe I am actually still trying to critically analyse a Marvel production in the year of our Lord 2021, but then, I feel like we all have a complicated relationship with it. Likewise, the feeling of "oh wow NOW you're giving Natasha a solo movie after you killed her off in a cheap and fairly sexist way in Endgame?" If this film had come out ten or even five years ago, it would have been major, but holding it off until now seems to have left most of us justifiably unimpressed. Plus, as I am absolutely not the first person to point out, it renders Natasha's sacrifice in Endgame "because I don't have a family" even more narratively incoherent. I realize that this film was written after that one by totally different people, there's no point in expecting the MCU to make consistent canonical sense throughout its eighty billion different films/series, we were all stuck with a mess after the Whedonified Age of Ultron Nat, and so forth, but still. Natasha explicitly SAYS that she has two families (her wacky Russian found family of spies and the Avengers) and her decision to leap off the cliff in Endgame to save Clint and his retconned perfect white heterosexual nuclear family.... Hmmmm. To which I say to you, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I do bite my thumb at Male Writers, sir.

Likewise, while I am wildly attracted to Florence Pugh as Yelena and deeply desire to be wrapped between her thighs, the movie felt more like her story than Nat's. Yelena drove most of the plot and the action, while Nat was just kind of along for the ride. As a solo piece, we really didn't learn that much about Natasha aside from the opening scene (which felt like it was straight out of The Americans and probably worked the best of the whole film for the reason) with her childhood in America. But even the infamous "what happened in Budapest" backstory with her and Clint was quickly info-dumped rather than shown, and they could have taken more narrative risks or included more flashbacks or otherwise given us more NATASHA, y'know??? Instead of cramming the film into the small space between Civil War and Infinity War and making it even weirder that Nat seemingly has no memory or reference to these events when she returns to the team at that time. Why not show her looking for Yelena or her actual defection to the Avengers or anything else we might want from a film that purportedly exists entirely to provide backstory for a now-dead character? It felt like even in the film universe, the main quest was being repeated -- she tried to kill Baddie McSoviet once before and it didn't work out, so she has to do it again, something something. Okay.

As for that, good ol' Marvel and its American Superiority TM. The only actual Eastern European actress in this film about Eastern Europeans was Antonia/Taskmaster, played by the Ukrainian Olga Kurylenko (and I was very interested in her?? If she's supposed to be a narrative foil and a ghost of Nat's past and mark of her former sins, etc., why not develop her as an actual character?) Everyone else were Brits and Americans hamming it up with even more chew-the-scenery fake Russian accents than Elizabeth Olsen's "Sokovian" accent as Scarlet Witch. If it's established that they all have perfect American accents at the start of the movie, why is Nat the only American-accented character in the modern day if she had presumably the exact same childhood as Yelena? I know it's another way to set her apart, but that and Baddie McSoviet (the Russians are finding a way to steal free will from people's brains! Zomgz!!! Is this 2021 or 1981?) were straight out of the Cold War in terms of its not-so-veiled American Supremacy Message. Likewise, making modern!Natasha a former KGB agent never really made sense, since she says in Winter Soldier that she was born in 1984, and we see her in this film as an 11-year-old in 1995. But the USSR collapsed in 1991, when she was seven, and the Red Room appears to be an entirely unrelated flying....lab....thingy run by a generic evil Russian (Ray Winstone, likewise Hamming Up Accent). So like. What is she, guys?? Make up your minds!!!

Likewise, Baddie McSoviet/Dreykov as a villain obviously plays into the hoary old Hollywood "All Bad People Are Recognizable As Being Terrible Sexists and Also Probably Russians" trope, but aside from that, he doesn't make sense. He has this entire army of basically unstoppable Widows and he has just been.... waiting around and causing random explosions? Or was just waiting for Nat and company to return so he could Put His Evil Plan Into Motion? Are we really supposed to believe that this guy has just been sitting up in his flying saucer and essentially never doing anything this whole time? He had about a million chances to launch this take-over-the-world plan long before Natasha ever got there. Plus, I.... am.... not sure what to think (aside from /deep sigh/ MARVEL) about the fact that all the Widows we see dying/getting killed on screen are women of color. (Then the Black surgeon who was about to remove Yelena's brain in the Red Room and the only other Black guy being Natasha's errand boy, which just... in context... YIKES.) I think the fact that there are random Black background Widows are supposed to mean that they're inclusive and badass or something? Scarlett Johansson also has her own issues with White Feminism and all the other things we've critiqued her for before, so after TFATWS and the Flag Smashers, Marvel clearly has found its subtly racist sweet spot. As usual?

The end of the film also just basically turns into the standard Marvel empty-spectacle/cool-looking fights/people flying through the air thing, and I wanted a lot more focus on the wacky found-family Russian-spy hijinks (I did love them, for reasons) and character dynamics, rather than all of them separately fighting baddies in different places. I did obviously have feelings about Natasha putting the parachute on Yelena to save her life. But why were we then denied Nat/Gamora parallels/relationships/any character development or interaction at all in Infinity War/Endgame? Both of them are trained assassins adopted into a non-biological family that they have a complicated relationship with, but end up forging a strong bond with their sister (Yelena/Nebula) nonetheless. Of course, that would have required Endgame to put more effort into its female characters than what it did, which was one (1) Epic CGI Charge Scene at the very end, and literally nothing else. Not that I am still salty about this or anything.

Anyway. The movie was genuinely fun in places. The wacky Russian found family of spies was definitely the best part, even if it made Endgame even more nonsensical as a result. But I wanted this movie to be a lot better than it was overall, though I probably would have liked it more if it had actually come out in a timely fashion and wasn't only released after they killed her off. It just feels like there were so many possible threads of potential that could have been done with Natasha if they were actually interested in experimenting and exploring the character and not just coming up with new baddies and ways to go boom, and it unfortunately missed the mark with that.

[stillbandofbrothersthirsty]

As Far As Friends Go

Chapter 16 (Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11; Chapter 12; Chapter 13; Chapter 14; Chapter 15)

Nixon - July - September 1944 All thought left Nixon’s mind as he stared down into Emily’s red-rimmed gray eyes. He wanted to say more, but the words were stuck in his throat. Who the hell was he to tell her anything? He was married. He was a bad husband, a selfish lover, a drunk - he had no business giving her advice.

“Just trust me,” he whispered. Emily’s frown deepened as she searched his face. But Nixon would reveal nothing. The only thing he was certain about in that moment was that he didn’t want to see Emily get hurt; not by Harry, not by him, not by anyone. “Emily, I’m sorry I accused you of not taking your job seriously. You are one of the best people on my staff.”

“Really?” Emily’s voice was meek. 
“If not the best. You’re invaluable. I’m sorry that I haven’t given you the acknowledgment you deserve. I’m sorry you don’t get the respect you deserve.” Emily swallowed. Nixon’s heart broke into a thousand pieces when her chin quivered. “I’m sorry I got so emotional,” she said in a hushed voice. “Don’t apologize.” Nixon wanted to move forward to touch her, to hold her, but something in him wouldn’t allow it. She probably didn’t want that from him anyway. His words could only heal so much in a night. 
“Please,” something caught in Nixon’s throat, “please just don’t say anything to Harry. I don’t want to see you get heartbroken.” Emily bit her lip. It took all of his patience to remain quiet as he waited for her to respond. She roamed his face with her eyes. It was as if she was looking right through him, right into the very core of him. Nixon’s stomach jumped at her shameless gaze. “Fine,” she finally said. Fine, he would have to accept that. Inside, he begged her to say more. He begged her to stay standing there so he could just look at her a moment longer. But she turned to the street, the city’s shadows rippling off the folds of her dress, the angle of her jaw and curve of her eyelashes. She stretched a hand into the night sky and a black cab appeared, its golden headlights flashing. Emily turned back to look at him before stepping through the open car door, “see you in Aldbourne, Nix.” 
Nixon only managed to raise a hand goodbye and then she was gone, slipping off into the night. Nixon kicked himself. Why did he make the same mistake over and over again? He always went too far. He was mean. Why? Why did he lose his cool around her? Day after day he had officers, soldiers, and Tommy’s saying stupid shit to him and he still managed to hold his tongue. But the simplest conversation with Emily would spiral out of his control. Nixon returned to Aldbourne in the morning. He was relieved to be back. He needed a purpose and he enjoyed the work that occupied him. Green replacements were showing up every day to take the place of men Nixon had worked alongside for two years. All of the new faces suddenly made the quaint refuge of Aldbourne feel foreign. The new soldiers hadn’t had half the training the Toccoa men had, nor the rigor that Easy Company experienced under Sobel. Winters and the other officers had their work cut out for them getting the replacements up to standard. Nixon had other things to worry about. The 101st was on standby; jumps were scheduled and canceled as Patton’s army infiltrated the continent. The men were restless. Having faced the reality of war in Normandy, the men were living carpe diem. They went out drinking, fighting, and playing every chance they got. John Martin and Bill Guarnere even got themselves some tattoos. In the evenings, Nixon found himself in his lover’s bed, and during the days he was watching Emily. As far as Nixon knew, Emily hadn’t said anything to Harry regarding her feelings. But Nixon didn’t miss the forlorn looks she gave him. Nixon grit his teeth each time he saw her mooning over Harry’s turned back. That night in London Nixon realized that he cared deeply for Emily in a way that could never be realized. He was married. He was a rogue. She deserved so much more than being a mistress- stop. He had to stop himself there. He couldn’t afford to even entertain the idea. Let her pine for Harry. It was only a crush, a crush and nothing more. It wasn’t hurting anyone; at least no one but him. The reality was, Emily was young. She was beautiful and clever. One day she would meet someone and it would be more than just a crush. Their fight in London had sobered Nixon up. Not literally, but it made him check his own behavior. He didn’t want to fight with her again. He never wanted to make her cry again. If all they could be was friends and colleagues, he wanted to be the best friend and colleague she had. Once they returned to the continent their time together would be even more limited. Nixon was determined to make the most of it. That summer in Aldbourne they worked together more symbiotically than ever before. Nixon’s conscious patience combined with Emily’s keen intuition made their workdays go smoothly. This was beneficial for the American intelligence’s reputation in front of the Brits. The next drop onto the continent would take place in Holland. Operation Market Garden was the brainchild of British intelligence. Nixon didn’t want to sound like a snob so he wouldn’t admit that he was wary of their plan. But orders were orders so Nixon surrendered control. Though Operation Market garden was the strategic genius of the British, Nixon and his staff did a lot of the grunt work. Emily helped to identify drop zones and coordinated routes for the paratroopers to meet up with the British armory. It was a lot of work in a region Emily had never seen, nor would likely ever see. The plan was to drop into Holland near Eindhoven. This meant another troopship for Emily and overground travel through the seized territory. If everything went as it should, Emily would link up with Battalion headquarters just across the border in Germany. That was if everything was executed as the allies hoped. Summer wound down and the first chills of winter came with the falling leaves of September. Back in their old digs, Nixon sipped on a whiskey-laced cup of coffee. “Why are you being so nice to me lately?” Emily was working at her desk, using a ruler to draw a grid on a black and white map. “What do you mean? I’m always nice.” Emily lifted her pen from the map she was looking at to give him a look. “What? You want me to be mean?”



“No, of course not,” she turned back to her paper, “but it’s weird.”



“Why is it weird?”



“I’m just not used to you like this.” “Like what?” “You have two versions.” Emily said, “smart Nix and grumpy Nix.” “Nice to hear you think I’m smart,” Nixon perched on the edge of his desk to watch her work. “Smart as in smart-ass,” she elaborated. “Well, that’s not very nice.” “I’m not the one being accused of being nice.” “Accused? You make nice sound like such a bad thing.” Emily giggled, “I do not! I’m just saying you’re out of character.” “Maybe war has changed me.” “I’m so glad you’re never dramatic.” Nixon raised his eyebrows over a sip of coffee, “If I’m dramatic it’s from spending time with you.” Emily stuck her tongue out at him. Nixon was about to retort when Lt. Colonel Strayer appeared in in the doorway, “Captain Nixon,” “Right,” Nixon sat his coffee down on his desk and followed Strayer out the door. Nixon shared a jeep with Strayer as far as the hanger outside Aldbourne. Winters stood in front of the Easy Company men assembled beneath a large map of Holland. Nixon took his place on Winters’ left and the lieutenants and sergeants fell in by rank behind him. Nixon noticed Emily’s handiwork on the stenciled letters above the hand-colored map. “This is called Operation Market Garden,” Winters presented, “in terms of Airborne Divisions involved, we’re dropping deep into occupied Holland.” Nixon scanned the faces of the men assembled before them. Without knowing the individuals, he could tell who had been in Normandy and who hadn’t; it was the difference of acceptance and anxiety. All of their serious faces hung on Winters’ every word, soaking up every detail of what was to come. As Winters finished his presentation some of the veteran’s expressions changed to ones of confusion. Nixon stepped forward, “the entire European advance has been put on hold to allocate resources for this operation. It’s Montgomery’s personal plan and we’ll be under British command.” Once Nixon finished the men filed out to prepare to jump the next day. “Old men and children?” Winters said over Nixon's shoulder.

Nixon looked over at his friend, “that’s what they’re telling us.” “And how reliable do you think the intelligence is?” Winters asked as they walked out of the hanger. Nixon rolled his jaw, “what can I say? It’s coming from the top.”

“It’s hard to believe this will end the war.”

“All we can do is hope for the best. Home by Christmas,” Nixon said. “Home by Christmas,” Winters repeated as if it were a mantra. That night Nixon couldn’t sleep though he needed to. They would be leaving for the airfield at first light. After an hour or so of staring at his ceiling, Nixon pulled on his boots, grabbed his flask, and walked downstairs. He didn’t know what he was seeking but he had to get out of his room. Nixon took a sip from his flask as he stepped into the hall. It seemed to stretch on forever in the darkness. He didn’t bother to screw the cap on his flask. He made his way down the carpeted steps drinking along the way. Nixon didn’t know where he was going as he wandered through the winding halls of the manor. It wasn’t until he was in front of her door that he realized he had walked to Emily’s room. He raised his hand to knock when the door swung open. “Oh!” Emily yelped in surprise then quickly pressed a hand over her mouth, “Lew, you startled me.”

“Uh, sorry,” Nixon said. Emily’s expression quickly morphed into concern, “is everything okay?” Nixon smoothed his hair down, realizing it was probably mussed from laying in bed. “oh yeah, I just was walking by and noticed your light on. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” “Oh,” Emily smiled suspiciously, “okay, well I’m going downstairs for some tea, you want to come?” Nixon hesitated, considering her offer, “uhh, no, that’s okay. Thanks.” “Okay, you sure?” Emily’s eyes flicked down at the flask in his hand. Nixon tightened his grip on it suddenly self conscious. “Yeah, gonna head to bed.” “Okay, well hey, if I don’t see you before,” she paused, not wanting to verbalize the goodbye. “I’ll see you over there,” Nixon nodded confidently at her. Unexpectedly, she reached out and took his empty hand. Nixon looked down at her grip and back up into her sweet face. She squeezed his hand, “I’ll see you over there, Lew.” It took all of his willpower to turn away from her. He walked slowly back down the dark hallway listening to her light steps fall away down the steps behind him.

[friendoftheelves]

People, what is somethings you wish writers knew about your culture, I'll start (I'm English):

If you say British-English I will riot. It's standard English, American English is just the most commonly spoken version of English, being the dominant culture

Nobody cares about sports at Secondary school, I didn't realise my school had sports teams until like year 11 when I saw them leaving and it was just a casual observation

Also Primary school = reception to year 6 or ages 4 to 11, Secondary school = years 7 to 11 or ages 11 to 16, Sixth Form (attached to a secondary school) and college (independent from a secondary school but otherwise same thing) = 16 to 18. Primary school to Secondary school is compulsory, after that you have to attend some form of further education whether that be an apprenticeship or sixth form/college is up to you. It is common to have a compulsory uniform for secondary school and less common for both primary school and sixth form/college. Primary school and sixth form/college uniforms are noteworthy whereas a lack of compulsory uniform in secondary school is noteworthy

American culture is the dominant one, we have watched and read a lot of American media

If you're poor, you live in a council flat and probably have free school meals, "trailer trash" isn't really a thing because trailers just aren't a common occurrence, the only group I can think of that commonly lives in "trailers" is 'gypsy' who are their own community and live in motorhomes. Discrimination against them is common but not in your face, which I will explain in a bit because that is its own point

People care a lot about both rugby and football and if you call it soccer and act all superior about you will make a lot of people mad because British football officially came first and a lot of languages call it something that sounds very close to football in their language and American football is closer to rugby in how it looks to us so it is a very sore point

Also, in case you haven't gathered, Britain is subtly anti-American we had an empire and we are bitter we lost it so seeing America get to where we were is something Britain does not react well to

British culture is all about pretending everything so normal and subduing, ignoring and otherwise refusing to acknowledge what strays from that "normal" so unless we are forced to openly acknowledge it we will not and then we will passive aggressively snipe at it. American culture is all about being in your face, British culture is all about pretending we don't see what's wrong. We refuse to acknowledge we even had an empire

Class is a big deal. The elites in our culture have historically been their own one and this is still seen today. Class divide is what defines us. We have things like the house of commons and the house of lords. Rather than the rich ending up in positions of power due to society falling to prevent their privilege, British culture and actively encourages elite power. There is still discrimination but because of the importance of class divide and the British refusal to acknowledge our own faults, it presents differently. Race is seen as it's own class below working class and there is discrimination between the white classes. The working class are seen as beneath the rich and the rich are seen as 'upperclass tw**s'. The middle class are then seen as traitors and having abandoned the working class because the elite government has purposefully drafted policies to ensure that happens

Also,all of the above applies to English culture. There are three countries in Great Britain and 4 countries in the UK. England, Wales, Scotland and North Ireland and the divide between these countries is clear. Scotland actively hates England, Wales passive aggressively hates us and Ireland is a mess we created (I would suggest waiting for someone who is Irish to explain that because I don't know enough about it and it is an incredibly complicated topic which plays a significant role in politics)

Also we dislike the French, Britain and France are rivals because we have been fighting on and off for centuries but the French are still seen as equals. We dislike them but we will fight alongside them if if comes to it

Also accents are important, because of the class divide, if you have a working class accent you are being discriminated against, if you have a posh accent you will be hated but people will respect your 'authority', no matter how much they hate

Oxbridge is elitist but there are so many other great Unis across the UK

To American media specifically, stop romanticising British culture, I have never seen the academia aesthetic you are portraying and it irritates, we are not just the rich upper class, look at our history people you portray and because of the class divide it hurts to see that as our only representation

Also London is its own thing, Britain does not recognise London as representative of Britain and London does not like everywhere that is London, it is the most diverse and the biggest city in the entirety of England by a large margin, it does not feel like the rest of Britain

On that point, there are many, many other cities and other towns outside of London, please acknowledge them (having never been to a lot of cities I can't explain them to you)

London does have divides within it such as the divide between North and South of the river, the South does not want to be part of London and the North refuses to acknowledge it. The Northern edge of London is also up for debate, for me it is the edge of Zone 3 (on a tube map) and the other side of the North circular by car but for others it might be further in or out so be aware of that. There is also divide between the post codes for example Wood Green and Tottenham, both have the same council (Haringey) but there is a clear divide between them only further emphasises by Haringey having two MPs one for Tottenham (David Lammey) and one for Wood Green and Hornsey. Both Wood Green and Tottenham have bad reps but the Wood Green half of Haringey starts drifting into middle class at its edges with Hornsey being solidly middle class so be aware of the variation in boroughs

And, London has no centre. It is a city that grew with its country and absorbed the surrounding towns. So if you say the centre of London people will assume you mean a specific part in zone 1 but will not know which part you are talking about and will assume you are talking in a generalisation. If they are traveling with you though, they will expect further clarification, don't say the centre and expect me to know where

Also, there is no space between houses in England, they are mostly semi-detached. I once watched an episode of escape to the country where someone tried to find a detached house and just struggled massively. You either have to pay loads of money or be in the middle of nowhere before your house is fully detached and it will still be only the same distance away from another house as the average American house is. We have one of the highest populations in Europe but a small land mass

Going on from that, Britain is definitely European and has a lot of shared culture whilst still obviously being it's own thing (like every single other country) but Britain acts like and will get mad at the suggestion that they are European like any other European country because 'we are entirely seperate and on an island and how can we not have become our own thing' the actual variation is because Rome (contrary to what the school system will teach you) had very little impact on Britain so we aren't as similar to the other Latin speaking countries as is expected, the main reason we are still similar is because of the impact of Norman conquest. Also everyone underestimated the effect of Scandinavian and Germanic culture on Britain because we act like all they did was pillage when in fact they settled down and where embraced by Briton (unlike Rome which did actually pillage and subjugate Britain without being widely accepted) so that's why there is variation. We are very European but not in the way people expect so Britain refuses to acknowledge it

Honestly British culture is a lesson in tolerance versus acceptance. But there is still active discrimination as people of colour and the LGBTQ+ can attest

Also Christianity is baked into Britain to the point that even atheists follow Christian customs without questioning it but significantly less extreme than France which just stops on Sundays (but is acknowledged as a Christian country so you know) and 'pagan' - so, in this case, Celtic, anglosaxon and Norse - culture has effected us being carried down in fairy tales and witchcraft

Some of this will be upsetting to many people as it should be because British culture hurts, it discriminates without acknowledging it and I want people to know that. I want people to see that when they write about it because the alternative is writing about Britain as if it has faults and that would be so much worse. So writers, please bear all of this in mind when talking about Britain, even and especially, the ugly parts

This has been a white, middle class, Londoners, perspective on Britain and no I will not call myself English because the divide between England and London means that being a Londoner rather than just English matters in this context

I would recommend listening to the perspective of Brits from other groups, such as England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, working class, upper class, Brit of colour, non-passing queer folk, Muslim, Hindu, Indian (the largest immigrant group is actually Indian and that's just immigrated in their lifetime rather than born British and Indian), Jewish (especially Jewish I can talk about that on another post but let's just say the Jewish have never been accepted but always been part of Europe) and so on, to get a more comprehensive view of Britain

[philosophicalparadox]

Ok but honestly I disagree (well for the first one. The second one is just…well it speaks for itself.)

Why? Because British English is WAY more dynamic and it translates better than American English

Yes, you heard me. Using various dialects and phrases that exist in British English actually conveys a more accurate translation of Japanese in particular, because one of the biggest cultural differences between the US and England specifically is the concept of Directness

In the US, for the most part, (this is true of Australia too) if you mean to say something, you say it. Straight out. It’s right there.

But England went through an odd period of cultural change during the Victorian period, infamously introducing a very indirect way of communicating (which doesn’t actually play nice with the English language, which didn’t evolve with indirect speech in mind, is why some of those things seem so long winded) that has kept its shadow lurking around in even modern English English.

Why is this important? Because Japanese is very fundamentally a language and culture that is very Indirect. If you want to say something in Japanese, there’s a million and one ways not to say that thing but still imply it. Everything in Japanese is implied. Nouns, pronouns. Subject. Object. Verbs sometimes. You can drop nearly any part of a Japanese sentence and the message will still be more or less conveyed, because it’s all based on the assumption that whoever you’re talking to already knows what you’re talking about.

English fundamentally doesn’t work this way, but damn if the Victorian high society didn’t try. And even to this day there are many more ways to say a thing without saying a thing in European English, because the English broadly have a culture of politeness, much like Japan. So when a thing needs to be said and not said — a very very common occurrence in Japanese — English English actually offers you more phrases and vocabulary to accurately convey what’s being said (and not-said)

MOST the time this doesn’t matter one way or another. But that depends on the genre. Lord knows the English version of the Bakemonogatari series would of benefited immensely from being translated by a Brit using the colorful array of poetic word-play they’ve used for centuries to better and more accurately portray the similar type of features in that novel series. (Though nothing beats reading it in Japanese truly)

Similarly there is something to be said for how a character speaks being a fundamental part of their character, all the more so in Japan where how you speak is determined by your class, age and sex. A lot of that is very hard to translate into modern English regardless, but it translates better in some cases using British English.

Also Japan is very…divisive about its own ethnic minorities. And class. Classism is quite alive and well there thank you. And one of the things that can automatically lower the social status of a person is whether they speak a different dialect, or have an accent in Japanese. England once had similar issues and there are SO MANY dialects of English that could be used to help better demonstrate this feature when it matters. Some anime and manga did in fact try that. Yu Yu Hakusho got some interesting flak from American fans when the anime was released here by using an English, American Bronx, Irish and Australian accent VA for different characters that were supposed to be speaking a different dialect of Japanese each. I still personally consider this very clever if done maybe not as well as it could have. As an example.

And I get that 90% of English VA are Americans so they gotta pick and choose, BUT we are talking manga too here. The ability to use a broader and more suitably vague language to accurately translate when it matters, I think is wildly underutilised.

As for when is does matter — a good many confusingly translated Slice of Life, Romance, (uuuuuugh) Shoujou (especially shoujo good lord), sometimes Shonen moments, and more complex politically-flavored Seinen would benefit most from being able to actually describe the saying-what-we-are-not-saying thing.

[headedoutleft]

Books I Read in 2021

After reading very few books in 2020, I finally went to the library this fall and got signed up for the Libby app and it was a game changer for me. The tiny local library mostly has mass market authors, and though I have to admit Nora Roberts is a perfectly competent writer, I like a few more options than that!

The first half of the year was mostly psychology books about trauma, so we’ll skip those.

Roughly in the order I read them:

Educated - Tara Westover

Binge read it in two days because I had to know what happened next. It felt relatable to me personally as a homeschooled kid whose first experience of institutional education was college, all the bureaucracy you don’t know how to navigate, the struggle to make connections with others. My experience was not as extreme as hers, but I felt empathy and admiration for her resilience. The wildest part of the book was the messy online family feud I stumbled into afterward, where family members have taken sides and are attacking each other via online reviews and a garbage response book written by her abuse enabling mother. This is why I would only publish a memoir posthumously.

Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse

One of my favorites of the year! Phenomenal worldbuilding, the most engrossing I’ve encountered since I read the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemison. It’s about power, politics, and what happens if old gods are summoned back into a civilization that tried to deny them. I did make an error in starting the series before it is finished (should have already learned my lesson from the Kingkiller chronicles, 11 years and counting I’ve been waiting on the final book). But I will not mind re-reading it to remember all the details because the characters were well-developed, the world is fascinating to me, and the writing is entertaining and well-paced. The world is built from a Native American perspective that is refreshing compared to the endless volumes of England/European inspired fantasy stories out there. Very excited to see where the story goes!

Version Control - Dexter Palmer

A time travel story about relationships and paradoxes, of course. The things we don’t say in relationships. The inconvenient truths we ignore. The ways we construct meaning. It has kind of a magical ending which I didn’t totally love, and it’s a slow burn, but I did enjoy it. I thought the characters were well developed and enjoyed watching them change throughout the story. The description of hopelessness and apathy the main character feels after graduating from college and finding nothing meaningful waiting on the other side felt incredibly real to me and made me grateful I survived my twenties. It made me feel more empathetic to that twenty something me fucking it all up while I tried to figure things out. This book also fundamentally changed the way I think about dating sites, which I have never used and probably never will.

No One is Talking About This - Patricia Lockwood

So, I added this book to my hold list on Libby purely because of Tumblr quote posts having no idea what it was about or who Patricia was. And then I read the book and it broke my heart a little. Only THEN did I realized it was written by Miette the cat’s human parent and I don’t remember a single mention of Miette. A story about being terminally online and then having to deal with all of the beauty and tragedy of real life. Loved it.

The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett

The concept was good, and there were some solid moments (the relationship between one of the daughter characters and their partner was sweet), but overall not my favorite read of the year. This is a story essentially about identity and race, the ways the characters are compelled by society to sacrifice that identity to “succeed”, and the price they and those around them pay for it. It felt like a lot of build up and not much pay off in terms of character development, sadly. I did like the way familial relationships were explored, just wanted more of that. I would have forgotten I read it if I hadn’t added it to my Goodreads.

The Murderbot Diaries #1-4 - Martha Wells

Blew through these one after another in about a week and holy hell I love Murderbot! They are one of my favorite protagonists of all time - Sarcastic, witty, and absolutely ruthless when anyone comes near their humans. Everything about these books is fun and I will ultimately buy the series because I know I’ll reread it. I didn’t make it through the 5th installment, the first full length novel in the series, because it was available over the holidays and I got terribly ill and couldn’t renew it due to other folks waiting, but I’m excited to finish it once it comes around again and then move on to the 6th novella. Murderbot forever!

Honorable mention to A Desolation Called Peace which is sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me to reread A Memory Called Empire so I can remember what the heck is going on, it’s up first this year!

[gjorsum-freyjasdatter]

I am sick of being told I’m doing it wrong.

Fuck you. Fuck you with something hard and sandpapery.

I worship Loki. Yeah I worship that guy.

I’m sick of American idiots telling me - a native European who has lived in the UK all my life and has lived in the North East where the Vikings primarily landed and settled so I’m familiar with the energy of the Gods - that I am doing it wrong.

How about you take a look in the mirror, mate? How about you get some fucking perspective and don’t tell someone who is minding their own fucking business that they are working with an imposter. Do you realise how harmful that is? Do you realise how damaging that is to their beliefs when they’re already fragile from years of not connecting with it?

Loki is by no means an imposter. He is necessary chaos that we all need. He’s the breeze on a summer day that ruffles your hair, he is the howling winter wind that pushes frost and ice over your car. He is not some monster and he is not only worshipped by “hipsters” and people “trying to be edgy”. I’ve never once in my life been called edgy, and I don’t plan on starting now. 

I don’t worship him because of Tom Hiddleston. I’ve never even seen any of the Marvel films. All I know is the myths that I’ve read and what I’ve read online and from people’s experiences with him.

I have no issue with people working with whatever deities they want to. Brits can worship Kemetic gods, Americans can worship Greek, Chinese can worship Celtic and never set foot on the land of the Gods they worship. I don’t care. The Gods are energy and energy is everywhere in everything. Loki could be in Los Angeles just as much as Sobek is in Newcastle-upon-Tyne! Heck, worship a yoghurt pot if you want. It’s none of my business, as long as it makes you happy. But don’t EVER tell someone that they’re doing it wrong. Spirituality isn’t a one size fits all deal. You don’t know how stable that person is. You don’t know if they’re experiencing self doubt. Encourage love and kindness in all things. Never think you know better than someone just because you have a degree in certified bullshit, but no life experience.

*withdraws soap box*

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.