Your Ancient History, Written In Wax

-

Danny knew he should have put better security around the Sarcophagus of Eternal Sleep. It wasn’t even Vlad who opened it this time! The fruitloop was too busy doing his actual mayor duties because for some godforsaken reason, the man got re-elected.

No, it wasn’t Vlad. And it wasn’t Fright Knight, either. Nor the Observants. Who opened the Sarcophagus, then? Danny didn’t have time to find out as Pariah Dark promptly tore open a hole in reality and started hunting Danny down.

The battle was longer this time. He didn’t have the Ecto-Skeleton, as that was the first thing Pariah had destroyed. The halfa had grown a lot over the past few years, and learned some new tricks, but apparently sleeping in a magic ghost box meant that Pariah had absorbed a lot of power. The bigger ghost acted like a one-man army!

Amity Park was caught in the middle of the battle, but the residents made sure it went no further than that. Vlad and the Fentons made a barrier around the town to keep the destruction from leaking. Sam, Tucker, and Dani did crowd control while Danny faced the king head-on.

Their battle shook the Zone and pulled them wildly between the mortal plane and the afterlife. Sometimes, residents noticed a blow from Pariah transported them to the age of the dinosaurs, and Phantom’s Wail brought them to an unknown future. Then they were in a desert. Then a blazing forest. Then underwater. It went on like that, but no one dared step foot outside of Amity. They couldn’t risk being left behind.

It took ages to beat him, but eventually, Danny stood above the old ghost king, encasing his symbols of power in ice so they couldn’t be used again. He refused to claim the title for himself. Tired as he was, Danny handed the objects off to Clockwork for safe keeping and started repairing the damage Pariah had done to the town. The tear he’d made was too big to fix, for now, so no one bothered. They just welcomed their new ghostly neighbors with open arms and worked together to restore Amity Park.

Finally, the day came to bring down the barrier. People were gathered around the giant device the Fentons had built to sustain it. Danny had brought Clockwork to Amity, to double check that they had returned to the right time and dimension.

Clockwork assured everyone that they were in the right spot, and only a small amount of time had passed, so the Fentons gave the signal to drop the shield.

Very quickly did they discover that something was wrong. The air smelled different. The noise of the nearby city, Elmerton, was louder and more chaotic. Something was there that wasn’t before, and it put everyone on edge.

Clockwork smiled, made a remark about the town fitting in better than before, and disappearing before Danny could catch him.

Frantic, Danny had a few of his ghost buds stay behind to protect the town while he investigated.

He flew far and wide, steadily growing horrified at the changes the world had undergone. Heroes, villains, rampant crime and alien invasions. The Earth was unrecognizable. There were people moving around the stars like it was second nature and others raising dead gods like the apocalypse was coming. Magic and ectoplasm was everywhere, rather than following the ley lines like they were supposed to.

Danny returned to Amity.

The fight with Pariah had taken them through space and time. Somewhere along the way, they had changed the course of history so badly that this now felt like an alien world.

How was he supposed to fix this?

-

In the Watchtower, The Flash was wrapping up monitor duty while Impulse buzzed around him, a little more jittery than usual. The boy was talking a mile a minute, when alarms started blaring an alarming green. Flash had never seen this alarm before, and its crackling whine was grating on his ears.

Flash returned to the monitor, frantically clicking around to find the issue, but nothing was popping up. No major disasters, no invasions, no declarations of war. Nothing! What was causing the alarm?

Impulse swore and zipped to a window, pressing his face against it and staring down at Earth. “Fuck! It’s today isn’t it? I forgot!”

“What’s today?” Flash asked. He shot off a text to Batman, asking if it was an error. The big Bat said it wasn’t, and that he would be there soon.

“The arrival of Amity Park. I learned about this in school; the alarm always gives me headaches.”

Flash turned to his grandson, getting his attention. “Bart,” he stressed. “What are you talking about?”

Impulse barely glanced over his shoulder. Now that Flash was facing him, he could see a strong glow coming from Earth. “The first villain, first anti-villain, and the first hero,” he said anxiously. “They all protect the town of the original metas. They’re all here.”

“Here? Now??”

“Yeah? They weren’t before, but they are now. The first hero said there was time stuff involved, which was what inspired me to start practicing time travel in the first place.”

“I’m not following.”

“It’s okay. We should probably go welcome them before they tear apart Illinois, though. The history I remember says that some of them freaked and destroyed a chunk of the Midwest during a fight with each other.”

“WHAT?”

my hobby is going to historical museums dressed like the time period because yaknow, goth, and when people assume I work there and ask me questions finding that I can answer them in detail despite not working there

Hi, i just discovered your tumblr. For you, what is mental illness, then? What is depression? What is anxiety? What is autism? I want to understand your mind and your opinion, but I don't know where to start, so I'm going to send this question.

i would define 'mental illness' broadly as any cluster of behaviours, beliefs, or thought patterns that is described and pathologised by the medical authorities a person is subject to. within this very broad category we can make a first distinction:

people for whom the pathologised behaviours and thought patterns cause them genuine distress

people for whom they do not

this distinction speaks to several different purposes and outcomes of the medicalisation of human psychology, ranging from 'an attempt to ameliorate human suffering' to 'an attempt to enforce prescribed forms of social order and normality'. furthermore, the first category above should be further interrogated with attention to whether a person's distress arises from intrinsic experiential aspects or from attempting to survive in a social environment hostile to their needs.

i don't define 'mental illness' on the basis of biomarkers, neurobiology, or genetics, and neither does clinical psychiatry, despite roughly two centuries now of sinking time and money into trying to find such biological confirmations of socially and politically defined 'types'.

different diagnoses have different histories, social functions, and medical discourses attached. for example, of the three you listed, autism is the one most likely to be presented with 'neurodivergency', rather than disease, as the explanatory paradigm, though this is far from a universal approach amongst clinicians. autism is also the most likely of the three to be 'treated' through elaborate and abusive methods of trying to instill and enforce 'normal behaviour'; depression and anxiety are typically medicalised in a different way that emphasises an aberrant disruption to otherwise 'normal' functioning, even in chronic presentations, with different accompanying pharmaceutical and psychotherapeutic treatments. other diagnostic labels may function entirely differently: for example, consider the function of the relatively historically recent split between autism and schizophrenia, or the extent to which the historical concept of hysteria informs many personality disorder diagnoses.

ultimately a 'mental illness' is a constructed category: there is no essence of depression, no depression virus, and no universal biological marker to discover that unites all depressives or people diagnosed as such. this emphatically does not mean that the suffering described is not real or debilitating. it means that our particular ways of categorising, taxonomising, and pathologising it are socially and historically contingent, and any analysis of them that ignores their social and political functions and origins is incomplete and inaccurate.

At the risk of overstepping, I have something to say.

Logically speaking, you're not going to get the average Jewish person to agree to the mass expulsion of Israelis from Palestine. Even antizionist Jewish people would balk at that. Mass expulsion isn't exactly a peaceful, painless process. People will die, and people will become poverty-stricken and left at the mercy of whatever country they're dumped in (ask Palestinian refugees). No one would want that for their people no matter how abhorrently they've behaved.

Plus I don't think any major Palestinian organisation has called for such a move, even Hamas, who are proponents of a two-state solution.

Let's say that Israel collapses and Palestinians manage to expel every Israeli to Europe. There are currently numerous far-right antisemitic parties gaining ground who might end up in power in the coming years. I don't think leaving millions of Jewish people at their mercy is justice.

Revenge is not justice. An eye for an eye, settling every score will ensure that the violence will never end, especially with the mass expulsion of a population of over seven million people. Palestinians won't automatically live stable lives (because Israelis haven't been able to live stable lives while trying to completely ethnically cleanse Palestinians, and they have the material support of the West).

And Palestinians deserve stability and justice. War crime tribunals, breaking apart the IDF, dismantling settlements, freedom of movement, allowing Palestinian refugees to return, restoring citizenship to stateless Palestinians, etc., all of these things will give Palestinians justice. Mass expulsion would not, so let's not use that as a litmus test to see which antizionist Jewish people are truly pro-Palestine.

I also think we shouldn't try to deny Jewish people's connection to Palestine (I'm guilty of this too, so this isn't me being sanctimonious). While many Jewish people remained in the Levant, many were exiled and endured centuries of persecution in Europe, and to a lesser extent Asia and Africa. They have historical, genetic, and identity-based ties to Palestine. Acknowledging this won't change that Israel is occupying Palestine or diminish Palestinians' claim to the land and their long history, and it doesn't make the Palestinian cause any less legitimate to do so. The Israeli project is still settler colonialism.

hey, so im Palestinian and a strong activist for my people's liberation. i wanted to ask for some info/advice on avoiding antisemitism in my activism for Palestine. im on anon bc i don't want to be called a racefaker for caring about Jewish ppl. i know antisemitism is on the rise right now (and generally over the past few years) and i want to make sure i'm not unintentionally contributing to it.

Hey there! I wanted to start by genuinely thanking you for asking this question. Partially because I don't actually get any well-intentioned or helpful questions in my inbox anymore, but also because I understand the amount of bravery it takes to reach out with a question like that at a time like this.

Next, I want to apologize to all my followers who hate long posts. Judaism is a very complicated ethnoreligious group, antisemitism is a very complicated form of bigotry, and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is arguably the most complicated international issue that has ever existed. I'm going to try to go through everything as succinctly as possible below the cut-- I am also going to ask other Jews to contribute to and make edits to this list as needed.

And finally-- I'm writing this as though I were speaking to someone with very little knowledge of the subject. I understand that as a Palestinian, you probably know a lot about what's going on here. But I want to make sure that I'm covering bases for anybody else who might need to use this post. So if you're like, Yeah, Obviously I Knew That. Please remember that a fuckton of people on tumblr are engaging in Israeli criticism without obviously knowing that.

There are two primary forms of antisemitism in anti-Zionist spaces-- antisemitic conspiracy theory, and criticism of Israel that no other country receives. The first kind is the easiest kind to pick out, and it makes a nice bulleted list, so we'll start there.

Dual Loyalty. A global stereotype that has skyrocketed since the establishment of Israel, but it's been around for a lot longer than that. Simply put, it's the idea that Jews are more loyal to Israel (or some global secret kabal) than we are to the countries we currently reside in. With I/P, it manifests as the idea that All Jews are directly responsible for Israel or the idea that All Jews secretly support Israel. If you see a Jew who isn't directly engaging in I/P topics, don't ask them what their stance is. Plenty of us have never even been to Israel, and it's fucked up to assume that we're all experts in geopolitics.

The Holocaust was a Fabrication or a Lesson. The idea that Jews made up the Shoah has been around since the Shoah was still happening, and it's always been ridiculous. Today, you'll see three primary lines about this. Either it's that Jews made up the Shoah as an excuse to establish Israel, that the Jews deserved the Shoah because of what's happening in Israel today, or that the Jews "should have learned their lesson from the Holocaust" because now Jews are "the new Nazis". Frankly, I wish goyim would stop treating the deaths of millions of Jews like a TV show. Palestinian deaths are genuinely horrible, but this isn't some kind of "narrative parallel" to the Shoah.

The Kazars Theory, or All Jews are White. This is the DNA test nonsense. The idea is that Israel (or Jews at large) are only pretending to be indigenous to the Levant and that secretly Jews as a whole are actually indigenous to Eastern Europe. It's a lie, started by a German professor of Russian history in the early 1800s. Meanwhile, the vast majority of genetic, historical, and archaeological evidence points to Jewish origins in the Israeli/Palestinian region. There have been literal hundreds of genetic studies on this. Most of them suggest that Jews, even "white" Ashkenazim, are nearly genetically identical to Palestinians.

World Domination. The idea that Jews control the world began with the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in 1903. If you're encountering criticism of Israel that suggests that world governments, particularly European or American ones, are being controlled by Jews, you've got yourself antisemitism. White supremacists like to use the term "Zionist Occupied Government" or "ZOG" as shorthand for this conspiracy. The next two points are born out of this same ideology.

Controlling the Media. The idea that Jews are in charge of Hollywood and/or major news organizations around the world. Regarding I/P, I've seen a bunch of people say something like "Western media outlets won't cover this! (Because you know who controls them!)" only to look online and see... Western media outlets covering it. See also: "My source is tiktok! I don't trust the news!" While it's obviously a fair criticism to say that some Western news outlets certainly have a pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian bias, it's certainly not every single one of them. Reuters and the AP are once again my go-to's here.

Controlling the Financial World. I haven't actually seen this come up regarding I/P, but considering how things have been going, it's only a matter of time. We don't control the banks. We don't control the stock market. We're not in charge of American aid being sent to Israel. HaShem knows that if we controlled all the money, I'd certainly be living larger than I am now...

Those Bloodthirsty Jews. This one arguably started with Blood Libel in the 1100s, when Christians started accusing us of stealing and eating their babies. Straight up, I have met Christians who still believe this in 2023. You see this a lot with I/P-- the Al Ahli Hospital is the biggest example. More than a month later, most reliable intelligence organizations agree that a misfired Hamas rocket landed in a parking lot, killing about 100 people. But a ton of people are still saying that Those Bloodthirsty Jews intentionally bombed the hospital dead on, killing 470 people. I want to be clear-- Israel is killing a lot of civilians. But if you see a bandwagon of people focusing on the one group of deaths that Israel probably actually didn't cause? Consider why.

Causing wars, revolutions, and calamities. Hamas has straight-up got this one in their founding charter. No, the Jews are not responsible for any major global conflicts, revolutions, or counter-revolutions that don't directly involve Israel. We didn't do WWII. We didn't do the October Revolution. See above-- we're not secretly plotting massacres on Shabbat. A lot of people are saying that Netanyahu and Likud let Hamas in to justify the invasion of Gaza... I'd be shocked if that was the case. All evidence points to a classic intelligence failure. We're not orchestrating bloodbaths.

Section 2: Criticisms only levelled at Israel

It's important to recognise that Israeli civilians are no more collectively responsible for the actions of the Likud coalition than Palestinians are collectively responsible for the actions of Hamas. No Palestinian deserves to be stripped of their rights to self-determination in their ancestral lands because of the October 7th attack. Likewise, no Chinese person deserves to be displaced from China because of the CCP's human rights violations in Tibet, Uyghur and Hong Kong. No Russian person deserves to be ethnically cleansed from Russia because of the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. But plenty of people do believe that Jews should be stripped of their rights to self-determination in historically Jewish indigenous lands because of the actions of the Israeli government.

After October 7th, I've seen people argue that Israeli babies deserved to be kidnapped because of their national origin. I've seen people argue that Israeli women deserved to be sexually abused because of their nation of origin. I've seen people argue that the seven million Jews living in their ancestral homeland deserve death or displacement because of their nation of origin. Justifying or allowing brutal harm against people because of their national origin is hateful.

I want to make this part very clear-- I do not have an issue with calling out Israeli war crimes or crimes against humanity. But I do have an issue with treating Jewish civilians differently than civilians of other nations responsible for similar horrors. Amplifying bias against a particular group because of that group's nation of origin is called bigotry. Taking a stand against Israeli settlements in the West Bank is anti-Zionism. Collectivizing the label of "white colonialism", and forcing that label upon refugees forced to move to Israel, or Mizrahim with uninterrupted 8,000-year histories in Israel, is antisemitism.

Part 3: Moving Forward

So where do we go from here? If advocating for the destruction of Israel is advocating for the elimination of Jewish self-determination in our ancestral lands, but advocating in favour of the Israeli government is advocating for the elimination of Palestinian self-determination in your ancestral lands, then we must find some middle ground. A solution that allows seven million Jews and five-and-a-half-million Arabs to share the same holy land, without fear of persecution, displacement, or death. For me, this means a few things.

First of all, the recognition that most Israelis disagree with Netanyahu's approach to Palestine, and most Palestinians disagree with Hamas's approach to Israel. And that brings up a question-- why are Likud and Hamas in charge of Israel and Gaza respectively if most people disagree with them? Without getting into the complicated intricacies of the Knesset and the PNA on an already very long post (and without explaining your own government to you), the simple answer is international funds.

Israeli crimes against Palestinians are bankrolled by American Evangelical Christians, who believe that when Palestine is gone, all the Jews will go to Israel, and Jesus will come back to kill the world's infidels. They actually fucking believe that. Meanwhile, Hamas is bankrolled by Iran, which believes that the more often Jews and Sunni Muslims kill each other, the easier it will be for Iranian Shiite Jihad to take over the world. They actually fucking believe that.

So what steps can we take during our advocacy? Not for the destruction of Israel nor the destruction of Palestine, but for America and Iran to get their noses out of our damn business. I genuinely believe that a defunded Likud and a defunded Hamas will allow Israelis and Palestinians to work together for a peaceful two-state or joint-rule solution. Something that will keep my Palestinian friends from feeling like they can't safely travel from Jaffa to Tel Aviv. Something that will allow my Jewish family to visit and pray at the Cenotaphs of Isaac and Rebecca and the Temple Mount. Something that will let Israeli children from Kibbutz Nirim and Palestinian children from Khan Yunis play on the same playgrounds together, instead of sheltering from missile fire.

Frankly, we nearly had that when the Supreme Muslim Council and the Assembly of Representatives began collaborating against the British Mandate instead of against each other. Clearly, it's possible, we just need to stop being pitted against each other by foreign powers.

Developing Characters in Different Genres:

1. Understand the genre conventions: Familiarize yourself with the key characteristics and expectations of the genre you're working with. Each genre has its own tropes, themes, and narrative styles. Knowing these conventions will help you develop characters that fit within the genre while also providing opportunities for unique twists and originality.

2. Establish the world-building elements: In genres like fantasy, science fiction, or historical fiction, the setting plays a crucial role in shaping the characters. Develop the rules, limitations, and unique features of the world in which your characters exist. Consider how these elements influence their abilities, traits, and conflicts. Ensure that the characters are grounded in the genre's world-building, but also explore the human aspects that make them relatable.

3. Align character traits with genre elements: Integrate genre-specific traits, powers, or abilities into your characters' development. For example, in fantasy, characters may possess magical abilities or belong to distinct races with specific characteristics. In science fiction, characters might have advanced technology or genetic enhancements. Ensure that these genre-specific traits are relevant to the plot and contribute to the character's growth or conflicts.

4. Balance uniqueness and relatability: While genre-specific traits are important, it's crucial to balance them with relatable human qualities. Even in fantastical or futuristic settings, readers want characters they can empathize with. Give your characters relatable emotions, desires, flaws, and personal struggles. This balance between genre elements and relatable human characteristics will make your characters more engaging and memorable.

5. Create multidimensional characters: Regardless of the genre, multidimensional characters are essential for reader engagement. Provide your characters with a range of strengths, weaknesses, fears, and aspirations. Avoid one-dimensional heroes or villains. Characters with complex motivations and internal conflicts are more compelling, regardless of the genre they inhabit.

6. Consider the impact of genre on character arcs: The genre can influence the character's journey and growth. In mystery or thriller genres, for example, the protagonist may undergo a transformation as they uncover secrets or solve a puzzle. In fantasy, characters may embark on quests that test their bravery and lead to self-discovery. Tailor the character's arc to the genre, ensuring that it aligns with the story's themes and pacing.

7. Use genre-specific conflicts and challenges: Explore conflicts and challenges that are inherent to the genre. In mystery, characters may face life-or-death situations or navigate intricate plots. In historical fiction, characters might grapple with social or political upheaval. These genre-specific conflicts add depth and tension to the characters' journeys while immersing readers in the story's world.

8. Give characters agency: Regardless of the genre, characters should have agency and drive the plot forward. They should actively make choices and take actions that influence the course of events. Avoid making characters passive recipients of the plot or relying solely on external forces to drive their development. Active and motivated characters make for engaging reads across all genres.

9. Pay attention to dialogue and language: Language and dialogue can be shaped by the genre. In fantasy or historical fiction, characters may speak in a more formal or archaic manner. In science fiction, characters might use technical jargon or futuristic slang. Ensure that the language used by your characters is consistent with the genre while remaining accessible and understandable to readers.

10. Embrace genre-bending and subverting expectations: Don't be afraid to challenge genre conventions and subvert expectations. Introduce unexpected elements, twists, or characterizations that defy the norms of the genre. This can add freshness and originality to your characters and story, making them stand out from the crowd.

what's a dna (asteroid 55555) persona? what can a dna persona chart show you?

hypothetically, your dna chart can tell you more about the genetic predisposition of your health, what genetic diseases and mutations you are at risk for, your ancestry, and your genetic traits.

mini disclaimer: genetic/ethnicity/ancestry can be a delicate subject for a lot of people - this is is topical post about what the planets and houses could mean. i am not a doctor or geneticist - this chart can not be used to diagnose health issues/problems or anything else with 100% accuracy.

sun

your genetic identity, your projected vitality, genetic predispositions you should pay attention to, genetic prominence, genetic connects to royal/famous/infamous individuals, and/or how your genetics are different from your ancestors / what makes you an individual (not a clone - or perhaps different from a twin)

moon

what you inherited from your mother, your family's heritage, how your ancestors have adapt/evolved to make you who you are today, neanderthal ancestry ratios, hereditary menstrual issues, genetic fertility factors, and/or the brca / pcos / uterine fibroids gene

mercury

genetic mental health conditions, neurological conditions/diseases, taste/smell/hearing, how you can change your genetic "fate," what genetics can be forgot, aptitude to speak the languages of your ancestors, and/or how your daily routine affects your genetics (nature versus nurture)

venus

genetic attraction / who you attract to create viable offspring that is meant to survive, your genetic beauty, your ability to preform self love (aka your ability to cope with hereditary depression and anxiety), genetic hair type, genetic femininity (xx, x0, xxx, etc), genetics you share with a majority of your family, values and festivities with have due to heritage, genetics diabetes, genetic cheerfulness versus depression, and/or pcos gene

mar

genetic confidence in public speaking, competitiveness that makes your genes superior to past generations, genetic athleticism / muscle composition, genetic masculinity (xy, xxy, etc), genetic dominance, and/or prone to violence (neanderthal influence)

jupiter

where you are lucky in the genetic lottery, where you have an abundance of genetic information, where are successful in breaking genetic trends, your opportunity to beat the genetic odds, your knowledge of your genetic makeup, genetic blessings, where you can afford to be optimistic about your health, and/or genetic predisposition to macular degeneration

saturn

what you should work hard to be your genetic makeup, genetic health challenges, what you inherited from your father, genetics fears/anxieties, how long you can live if you are healthy, your genetic limitations, ancestry, genetic deficiencies, and/or the effort you make to beat your genetics

uranus

genetics of social anxiety, sudden changes historical genetics - where you are the first in your family diagnosed with a genetic mutation/disorder, what makes you genetically unique, and/or shocking/unexpected ancestry/origin

neptune

genetic alcoholism/escapism, hidden genetic knowledge or ancestry, delusions surrounding your heritage, disappearance of heritage, and/or the fascination you have with your ancestry and genetic

pluto

genetic transformation, the power in your genes, genetic sex, destructive genes, you genetic projected death, regenerative genes, your obsession with your genetics and heritage, and/or your genetic evolution

1h

genetic identity/self, outward physical traits / appearance, physical body, physical genetic build, genetic individuality, and/or passion for genetics

2h

genetic wealth, effort you put in to beat your genetics, genetic material, values surrounding your heritage, genetic stability, giving/receiving your heritage, and resources surrounding your genetics

3h

how your genetics are communicated, genetic mental health issues and disabilities, your opinions about your heritage, how you can consciously fight your genetics, genetic relationship with your siblings, interest in your heritage and genetics, and/or information you have on your ancestry and genetics

4h

genetic/familial origins and roots, your parents genetics, how you were treated in childhood based on your genetics, heredity traits, traditions you upload because of your heritage, and/or genetic femininity

5h

your children's genetics, creative methods of celebrating your heritage, who you are attracted to based on genetics/ethnicity, vacations you take to reconnect with your heritage/ethnicity, hobbies/festivities/traditions that are related to your ethnicity, and/or genetic fertility (pcos, fibroids, etc)

6h

how your daily routine is affecting your genetics or rather triggering your genetics, your genetic health, how fitness/hygiene/medication/diet can benefit for life expectancy because of genetic factors, the self improvement you do to fight genetic pre-destiny, how consistency aids/harms your health, how you help others to better understand their origin, and/or genetic analytics

7h

your significant others' ethnicity/heritage, genetic attraction, genetic attractiveness, contracts with genetic storage banks (for instance mine is in a 23&me storage data bank), how others treat you based on your genetics, and/or genetics share with those in your family

8h

dna mutations, projected longevity based on your genetic makeup, changes you should make to live longer, how much time invest into getting to know more about your genetics and heritage, what you inherited from your ancestors genetically, genetic reproductive rates, assets of your ethnicity, secrets about your ethnicity, the spiritual transformation that occurs when you learn more about your heritage/roots, and/or trauma related to race/ethnicity/heritage

9h

beliefs/religion/ideologies associated with your roots, what can learn about your heritage/ethnicity, languages associated with your roots, where your ancestors immigrated or where they emigrated from, genetic ethics, and/or what you can learn about your ancestors

10h

your genetic legacy/offspring, what the world believes your origins are, how you can beat genetics, long-term health goals you may have, what you inherit from your father, and/or genetic experts in your life

11h

what you gain from having knowledge of your ancestors, genetics you share with a half sibling, what makes you genetically unique, how technology can help you learn more about your genetic background, social awareness you have others ethnicities/culture/heritages, and/or how your genes manifest

12h

how you can heal using your genetic information, the hidden features of your genetic code, your projected age, how well you sleep based on your genetics, mental health issues you have a predisposition to, genetic fears you have in place so that you can survive, what you don't know about your genetics, and/or how you should restrict yourself to promote longevity/vitality

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grips your shoulders really tight. we all understand that Germa 66 embraces Fascist gender roles right. We all get that yeah? And it's important because it was one of the earliest things established about Germa & its royal family?

And yes, the issue with Sanji's chivalry is that some acts of chivalry are historically rooted in the assumption of male superiority.

But One Piece goes out of its way to show that Sanji isn't refusing to fight women because he thinks he has an unfair advantage. He respects the power of his female crewmates and allies.

Which seems nonsensical until we learn that Sanji's attachment to chivalry, and particularly refusing to hit women, is rooted in his love for Zeff.

To Sanji, refusing to hit women isn't a reinforcement of male superiority. It's a symbol of his bond with Zeff-- of Zeff's willingness to take responsibility for Sanji where Judge chose to neglect and abuse him for things beyond Sanji's control.

From a Doylist perspective, this can sound a little contrived on paper. But it makes perfect emotional sense to me. I've gone into a lot of detail here, but fundamentally Sanji is just unquestioningly emotionally attached to an outdated cultural ritual because of something his adoptive dad said that meant a lot to him. That's really not so complicated!

NOW. BACK TO THE FASCISM.

What we DON'T see as directly stated as "men speak with their fists," is the complimentary implication that Germa 66 also enforces fascist gender norms upon women, to some extent.

Sure, Reiju has a raid suit like her brothers and apparently goes into battle with them. But the subservient gender dynamic is still present in Reiju's genetically engineered inability to disobey her Father's orders.

Her designated number being 0 also signals inferiority to her brothers. Despite being firstborn and having many of the same supernatural abilities as her brothers, she is not a male heir and therefore doesn't count.

Sanji's mother's near-complete lack of control over her children being genetically altered, as well as her lack of control over how they were raised, further implies a STEEP and distinctly fascist-adherent gender inequality in Germa 66.

All this to say, Sanji's resulting crossed wires and strong opinions about gender are hilarious when you really understand them.

He feels strongly about placing women on a pedestal because the people who abused him considered women lesser beings, because the women in his early life did not abuse him, and because his adoptive dad said something meaningful to him right after reguegitating some unquestioned gender role stuff.

He feels strongly about being gruff and combative towards men because he was emasculated by his male abusers for being unable to fight, and because he was adopted by a ruffian chef who put on a gruff, combative front while communicating love through acts of service.

Maybe the superficial harshness was familiar enough for Zeff's kindness to feel more believable. Maybe putting on the same harsh act made it less nerve-wracking for Sanji to do the kind things he spent so long being punished for.

I don't remember where I originally planned to go with this post. I like Sanji. His relationship to gender is a fucking hilarious mess, which I can relate to. Hi Sanji. Throws him into the ocean

main characters for your mermaid thing?

>:) thank you (deranged cackling)

arguably some of the characters I've included here are not main main characters but they mean a lot to me and they have important roles in the story ok

I will include a character grid for everyone this is the format of the character grid:

'eyes' just means vibe, jewellery is the main component of their.. jewellery because everyone here has their own unique magic jewellery (part of the magic system/worldbuilding) except Calen who has a crown only because he's king.

Teagan is my lonely human skrunckly goober losing her grip on reality<3 15 years ago her older brother got dragged from a cliff into the sea by a big scary sea monster lizard, her parents blamed mermaids and have been going out monster hunting in their boat for weeks at a time. she went with them until she was old enough to stay at home and now she's going slightly insane from lack of human contact and thinks the wind and sea are old lovers/friends/rivals. she lives in a weird amalgamation of cornwall/north devon/mid-west wales and she's the most ridiculous author insert you've ever seen. she's very nice, sort of a peacemaker figure, she loves rock climbing and the sea and her hair is perpetually crusty with salt/sand. arguably the second main character and the secondary pov character.

Anemone is the shy princess who was the first picrew I made and she has been the main character and number one pov character ever since. she has the biggest character arc and she is SO precious to me. she's not very magically powerful and is horrifically insecure about it which is not helped by the fact that when she attended magic tutoring (because she’s a princess and her family has historically been very magically powerful) her best (only) friend was the most powerful witch for generations. then Ane left really abruptly and they didn't speak or see each other for close to 2 years. precious baby Ane has spent the last 2 years rotting in her room combing her hair and staring out of the window and the story starts when her brother the king forces her to leave and go on quests to help the people because she's the most useless parasitic royal ever and this is when she decides she needs her best friend's help with quests and thus the story starts. she is very shy and very much a pushover at the beginning but her arc is becoming a confident(ish) strong selfless leader <33 she is also so sapphic she rivals the og poet

Selma is that super powerful best friend!! she is arguably the most important character in terms of how she influences the people around her. she is also simultaneously a big weirdo and very cool!! she made her own magic jewellery and teaches at the magic tutoring system. her special interest is the ancient mega-powerful witch so she's obsessed with the magic jewellery/books the witch made and with the witch's descendant. she is very passionate and resilient (sometimes to her detriment) and defeats (almost) all her enemies with the sheer power of her lesbianism and homoerotic girlbestfriendships. she was very hard to name and only got her name when 'Selma' came to me in a dream (I had a different dream beforehand where the name Olympia came to me but I don't like that as much)

Iolanthe is the last living descendant of said ancient witch and Anemone’s thematic foil. this is because she has similarly mediocre magic when she should be very powerful. unfortunately she is in denial about this and still believes she has yet to earn her magic (magic in this world is both inherent from genetics/chance and earnt based on strength/resilience. Ane is very privileged and emotionally weak so she doesn't have strong magic, Selma is much more emotionally resilient so she does have strong magic etc etc). this means Io spends all her time in her workshop paid for by her richass family trying to make the perfect piece of magical jewellery which she can form a conduit bond with (you can magically bond with a piece of jewellery which will massively amplify your power if you earn it, usually done by making it (like Selma, who Io is very jealous of and inspired to make jewellery by), finding it or buying it with money you worked for). then near the end of part one the questing gang (Ane, Teagan, Selma, Mel, Enith and to an extent Isther) show her the jewellery they've collected which was all made by her ancient witch ancestor. she becomes convinced that she needs these specific pieces of jewellery to become powerful, but obviously they're bound to various members of the questing gang. everything spirals from there. she seems really dull and a bit entitled but on the inside she's making such leaps to conclusions that she is my secret favourite

Melyde is a street singer who, at the start of the story, earnt a conduit bond with a necklace made by the ancient witch (someone threw it at her when she was performing). previously she had no magic (quite rare to have NONE most people just have very weak) but after forming the bond she became about the second most powerful witch after Selma. unfortunately she had precisely zero control over it and accidentally lured half the city to watch her perform and give her money, so Selma and the gang (just Ane and Enith at that point) had to step in and get her to join the gang so Selma could teach her magic properly. you can tell Mel and Selma are in love because their colour schemes make up the lesbian flag. melyde's whole shtick is being very brave and stubborn and while she may be the most pointless character of the gang she means a lot to me

Enith (with a VOICED TH) is the gang's navigator and the first person Selma and Ane recruited to join them. she is from the deep ocean and has an unfashionable haircut because she's making a statement! and I love her. she spent her childhood mapping out the cave system behind her house and when she was older she moved to the capital city to run a tour guide and map making shop because she didn't want to work in her parents' glass making business. she's also got no magic of her own. she's very kind and friendly until her parents are killed at the end of part one (spoilers) after which she becomes angry impatient and withdrawn. I got her name by misspelling enid as enidd, which my brain read as enith because of welsh phonetics. love her!!

Isther (isster) has I think the most duality out of the characters. she fluctuates between poor little traumatised baby and lying vengeful murderous little shit. the gang found her when they accidentally got into the huge sealed-off cave where all the sea monsters were imprisoned after the big attacks 15 years ago and for some reason she was imprisoned there too?? how odd. they freed her and she joined the group. she's actually the witch who controls the sea monsters though she doesn't know that until the end of part 1 and she wasn't born murderous.. unfortunately still a liar and she does end up being (one of) the actual villains even if she was manipulated into it a bit. she could've been ok. she could've been ok!! Ane could've fixed her honestly there's something a little jackieshauna about them (pink and green, homoerotic friendship ended by violent betrayal)

Calen is Anemone’s older brother and the king. he's not a main character but I feel obligated to mention him. he has Issues about his mother. probably the closest to morally grey out of all the non-villain characters because he ends up using child soldiers because he can't beat an angsty 17 year old and her 5-6 uncreative sea monsters

that's them!! thank you for asking about my goobers

Bros, the ideas that circulate in canon and fanon around eastslavic siblings really seem strange to me.

It is strange to expect a japanese man to be well versed in the intricacies of eastern european history of the early and high Middle Ages, but to expect this from an english-speaking fandom (mostly northamerican, let's face it) is also, it seems to me, pointless.

Let me explain. "Kievan Rus" is an artificial construct adopted from russian imperial/soviet historians. Moreover, it’s not just a matter of the name, as, you know, the late Rhomean Republic is called the “Byzantine Empire”, it’s just that there was LITERALLY no such state as “Kievan Rus”. In the space approximately from the Baltic and White to the Black Seas, there were numerous proto-urban and urban settlements of slavic, finno-ugric and baltic (as well as other) tribes, which entered into alliances with each other, sometimes quite strong, but still remained isolated. Of course, it would be disingenuous to say that since the beginning of time the urban educated population did not develop some kind of common identity… for some time.

But if we talk about actually existing cultural regions, determined by geography and economics, then, in fact, it is worth highlighting Northern (Novgorod) Rus' and Southern (Kievan Rus' itself), in a very simplified scheme. One of them was tied to the countries around the Baltic Sea, like the scandinavians, the baltic tribes and northgerman cities, as well as the slavs of modern East Germany. The other constantly encountered nomads, “Byzantine Empire" and, to a lesser extent, the western and southern Slavs (and magyars!). They were never able to truly become a unified state.

Of course, this is a simplification, because in addition to the Rurikids in the North, who subjugated the South and over time moved there (while the south over time began to separate itself, in particular, into the Novgorod Republic), there was a separate center in Polotsk and some others, but it approximately reflects the essence and, if I were asked about personifications, then I would make two separate MAIN personifications for Rus', Novgorod in the North (male) and Kiev in the South (female), which would be the parents of the future Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

But if you asked me in even more detail, then Belarus should stand a little aside. You know, in fact, historically it is more archaic and “stagnant” than Ukraine in the south and Russia in the northeast. Did you know that lithuanians called belarusians an ethnonym derived from the name goths lol? Plus, genetically and partly culturally, belarusians, like some poles, are closer to the baltic peoples, and not to the rest of the slavs. Taking into account the independent center of statehood in Polotsk, independent of the Rurikids, I would say that Belarus DEFINITELY must be older than Russia (which in the strict sense could only have been born as the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality/North-Eastern Rus' with more ancient names, let’s not clutter the text ) and POSSIBLY older than Ukraine. Perhaps she is an adopted child.

Of course, in reality we have many problems in studying the region for objective reasons, such as a lack of written sources, but… I still love Eastern Europe, these are my roots, after all. And it's really interesting.

Early in Spider-Man 2099, Miguel’s claws were a huge liability and inconvenience. He only figured out how to retract them at will, because they did it instinctively when he touched his own skin. He, like. Couldn’t shake hands for a while. Destroyed his sheets. Accidentally punctured his ex’s historically-accurate 1980′s waterbed. Accidentally killed several people :(

Plus, and this is an art issue that they really should have paid more attention to especially later on, the claws are how Miguel wall-crawls. There is no atomic-force-cling-voodoo here, he just digs his talons into bricks and concrete etc and hangs on. God forbid Miggy try to do a cool pose on drywall; there should be holes everywhere.

They hand-wave his anatomical changes most of the time, but imagine if they didn’t: His fingerprints are messed up from the grooves the claws fold into. The tips of his fingers are thickened just enough that gloves aren’t comfortable. If he doesn’t do enough wall-crawling one week, the claws get thick and long and he has to sharpen them like a cat. He can’t go to the dentist because a doctor would surely notice that his fangs are 1. not implants and 2. have fucking venom channels in them. He has tapetum lucidum, but not the type that vertebrates normally get. Optometrists hate him. Speaking of biometric verification, why TF does he have the same retinal scan pattern?

There should be ENTIRE SUBPLOTS revolving around Miggy explaining away the genetic modifications he got from the experimental genetic modification project that he was in charge of, to people who also worked on the project.

ASTRO 101 - THE HOUSES (PART I)

FIRST HOUSE - I AM

(The First House is ruled by Aries and Mars.)

The first moment you open your eyes to the world, first breath, first sight, first intention and first experience

General appearance, form and shape, physical body, general health, vitality and energy, action

Character, identity, self image, personality, mask, self interest, how others perceive you, self expression, independence, behavior, name, attitude, fame

How you see the world, how the world sees you

Spirit, life, ego, soul body

First impressions, beginnings

Head, face, eyes, blood, brain, muscular system

The moment of birth and people around you, place of birth and atmosphere, birth experiences, mother’s health and experiences during childbirth

SECOND HOUSE - I HAVE

(The Second House is ruled by Taurus and Venus.)

Material and non-material resources, attitude toward possessions,

How you make money or meet obligations, self worth

Personal finances, money matters, sense of value, stocks and share, trade, jewelry, documents, cash money, valuables, wealth, possessions, trade, material possessions, luxuries, banking activities, loans, economic situation, wares, rank, guarantee, financial security, artworks

Talents, comfort zone, security, self esteem, valuables, sense of values, resourcefulness, nutrition

Face, neck, throat, vocal cords, thyroid, metabolic system, voice and vocal talents

Economy, sovereign debt, colonies, fees, trade, banks, internal debts, artistic approaches of a country

THIRD HOUSE - I THINK

(The Third House is ruled by Gemini and Mercury.)

Conscious mind, memory, mental confusion, communication, intellect, mentation, thinking

Skillfulness, study, ability, writing, speaking, researching, learning, reading, perceiving, adaptability, ability to learn foreign languages

Depthless thoughts and informations, smattering

Elementary and primary education, puberty

Siblings, brothers, sisters, cousins, close relatives and neighbors

Short trips, tour, daily travel, neighborhood, public transports, vehicles, motorbike, cars, train, bus, boats, urban roads

TV, radio, telephone, computer, mails, messages, text, communication network and channels, short correspondence on social media, weather forecast

Shoulders, collar bone, arms, hands, fingers, lungs, nerves, the nervous system

Bookstore, library, school, post office, educational institution, streets, telephone kiosk

FOURTH HOUSE - I FEEL

(The Fourth House is ruled by Cancer and Moon.)

The place where we live with the family, home atmosphere, home life, house, mother, family, lineage, family matters, ancestry, custom, femininity

Subconscious, things we hide about ourselves, emotional problems, early childhood, depression, personal commitment, the deepest and the darkest point of the chart

Old age, the end of the life, diseases, grave

Land, realty, genetic heritage, underground sources

Chest, breaths, stomach, uterus, diaphragm, upper alimentary system

Agricultural enterprise, historical values, mining site, real estate, refuge facilities, farmers, cemeteries

FIFTH HOUSE - I WILL

(The Fifth House is ruled by Leo and Sun.)

Actions and activities we do for ourselves, things we like to do, hobbies, how do we spend our free time, creativity, activities we enjoy, pleasure, self expression, risk taking, leisure time, artistic talents,

Love, romance, dating, courtship, love affairs, the way we flirt

Children, birthing and creation, the character of our children

Acting, drama, dance, music, sports, artists, celebrities, stage

Games, cards, puzzles, fun, amusement, games of chance, gambling, speculative investment

Chest, upper back, heart, spine, cardiac system

Hotels, entertainment centers, casino, beauty shops, coiffeur, resort, amusement park, cinema, theatre, sports center, park, art exhibition

SIXTH HOUSE - I ANALYZE

(The Sixth House is ruled by Virgo and Mercury.)

What we do to survive, daily work, everyday routine, details, skills

Work routines, where we specialize our skills, workers, competition, employment, workmates

House of sickness, exhaustion, disease, allergies, health, physical body, physical condition

Issues that tire us and weaken us, drugs and addictions

Pets and animals

Abdomen, intestines, lower liver, alimentary canal, spleen, digestive nerves

Hospitals, health care providers, employees, service sector, trade unions, state employees, restaurants, food and beverage services, enemies, soldiers, police, military, army, security guard, navy, animal clinic

A Point of Clarification (More Linguistics, CW: Slurs)

Another Dracula Daily related post. In the novel Dracula, the count has minions who are a racist caricature of people of the Rromani ethnicity. Stoker uses a variety of terms in the text, and as a person of Romanian ethnicity, I would like to clear up some possible places of confusion. The most commonly known word in the English speaking world that Stoker uses for Rromani people is Gypsy. This is an English word ultimately descended from the word Egyptian, based on a misunderstanding by medieval European Christians that the itinerant Rroma were nomadic Egyptians, based on an interpretation of the Bible that the ancient Egyptians were scattered by God. This is incorrect, and most historical, linguistic, cultural, and genetic evidence suggests that the Rroma originated in northern India, which might have been obvious if medieval Europeans talked to any of them, or knew anything about India. Most Rroma today consider Gypsy to be a slur, although some do not - this is (ironically) similar to the attitude about the word Indian by indigenous peoples of the Americas. Among social justice activists, both words are regarded as slurs and faux pas, and at the bare minimum both are inaccurate. So, if you are still using that word in 2022, and you are not a Rromani person, knock it off. Stoker, however, also uses the word Romany in his text, which is just his spelling for Rromani, because by the 19th century it was known in English that “Romany” was the endonym (the word a people use for themselves) as opposed to the exonym (the word a people use for others). If you’re a descendant of settlers and live in North America and you find yourself often confused by the “changing” names of Indigenous groups, its usually because -- as is the case here -- the exonym for that group was a slur, and got adopted into English simply because settlers encountered that group’s enemies before encountering the group itself. The word “Rrom” means “man” in the Rromani language. “Rromni” means woman, “Rroma” is plural. “Rromani” is a female adjective, “Rromano” is a male adjective. Now, where we can really get into some misunderstandings in the context of Dracula is with the term Romanian, which Stoker often spells Roumanian. Rromani =/= Romanian. Romanians are people from the country Romania, of which Transylvania is a part, as well as Wallachia and part of Moldavia and Bukovina. Stoker’s Castle Dracula is located in Romania. Galatz is in Romania, and is called Galați in Romanian. The words Romania, Romanian, etc. have nothing to do with the words Rroma, Rromani, etc. The name of the country of Romania comes from a belief on the part of the Romanian people that they are historically descended from a province of the Roman Empire once called Dacia. The greatest piece of this evidence is that Romanian is a Romance language, which is to say a language descended from the language of the Romans, Latin. Despite being surrounded by nations speaking Slavic tongues, Romanian is closer to Italian than it is to Ukrainian, despite cross-pollination over the years. The reason I use a double-r (representing a trilled r) in my spelling of Rroma for the nomadic ethnic group is for disambiguation purposes, because in the Romanian language the word for Romanian people is Români. The double-r spelling is also used within Romania for this reason. Historically Romania has always had a relatively high population of Rroma, and historically speaking they have I think it is fair to say almost never been treated well. Today Rroma are the second largest ethnic minority in Romania behind Hungarians, but despite the similar names the Români have never treated Rromani people very well. From the time of their arrival in the region in the 1370s until the emancipations of the 1840s and 50s, Rromani people were enslaved within the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, and made serfs in Transylvania. In the 1940s there were genocidal programs carried out against them, and under the Communist regime there were attempts made to force Rroma to live in government built housing and abandon their traditional culture. Since the fall of the Communist government Rroma are extremely discriminated against in Romania, and it is mainstream there to be racist against them. Which brings us to Szgany, which can be a confusing word in Dracula until you know that the Romanian language didn’t have standardized orthography until 1881. Basically the only place you’ll see the word Szgany today is in Dracula or in modern gothic horror fiction copying Dracula without thinking and treating “Szgany” as just the word for Dracula’s servants or something. In the novel, Stoker uses it as if it referred to a specific group of Rromani people, ones native to the area around Castle Dracula, in the Călimani Mountains. However, Szgany is really just a phonetic transliteration of the Romanian word Țigani, which is just the Romanian word for “Gypsy”. The letter Ț in Romanian indicates a kind of “tz” sound, like in the word “pizza”. It is also found in Vlad Drăculea’s epithet -- Țepeș means “the Impaler”, and is pronounced like “Tze-pesh”. So Țigani sounds like Szgany, and is also similar to the word for “Gypsies” in many other languages: Zingari in Italian, Çingene in Turkish, Cigány in Hungarian, Tsingánoi in Greek, etc. These are all still slurs, and descend from the word Atsínganos from the Greek speaking Eastern Roman Empire, which means “untouchable.” Țigani is still a commonly used word in Romania, partially due to the racism and partially due to the desire on the part of Români to avoid association with Rromani. There is a feeling in Romanian that the word Rromani gives Romanians abroad a “bad name” due to racism against Rromani people in many parts of the world. This is all, of course, absolutely terrible. So, to summarize: Gypsy = at best inaccurate, at worst a slur Romany = 19th century English for Rromani, often spelt today as Romani, a common acceptable name for a diverse group of nomadic peoples ultimately descended from northern India Roumanian = Romanian, a person from Romania Szgany = Stoker’s attempt at spelling Țigani, a Romanian language slur for Rromani people.      

My Twilight Sparkle human and pony redesign/AU!

For her pony redesign, I wanted to focus on making her more “magical/ethereal” looking. I incorporated that into her design because in my AU, large amounts of magic/power can drastically change a ponies appearance! Of course, the severity depends on the pony’s personality, their attachment to their old life (before they were an Alicorn), and the amount of magic/power they acquire. Also, in my AU all Unicorns have curved horns, and the length is a spectrum! In most cases, the longer the horn the more powerful a ponies magic is! Obviously there are some exceptions due to genetics playing a role in the length as well (including mutations/disorders). Another trait specific to Unicorns is their tail! Like with their horns, there can be many exceptions! For example, if a filly has one Unicorn parent and one Earth Pony parent, they could have either tail, or even a mixture of both! I also decided to give Twilight some jewelry, as most royals historically have lots of gems/gold/etc. Her vision deteriorated over the years due to several reasons; 1-Reading for very long periods of time (4-10h) 2-Reading in the dark often 3-Holding books very close to her eyes. That’s why I gave her glasses! Although she probably won’t ever see perfectly again, the glasses help her a ton. As for her cutie mark, I thought making it more “magic-y” could be fun!

Her human design is very similar, except for the fact that she’s a human and not a pony of course! She has vitiligo in place of her swirly magic markings and glasses, and I incorporated her cutie mark by giving her a little star necklace! In this AU, she’s very interested in space, hence the spacey vest. She also loves skirts with built in shorts, stating that “They’re comfy and efficient!”. She says the same about her shoes! She’s always had some sensory issues, so she only has one pair of socks. Don’t worry though, she has a ton of the exact same pair! She’s very hygienic, but not a germaphobe. Speaking of germs, she loves biology (almost as much as space)! I kept her hair streaks and gave her a messenger bag! It holds all her study materials, and she takes it with her everywhere.

!!DISCLAIMER!!

Quick disclaimer, all of this is from my AU and I’m not trying to imply that it’s canon at all! It’s only for entertainment purposes, and everyone has the right to their own opinions/views on things. Also, please don’t steal/repost my art! If you wanna make fanart/use this as inspiration that’s fine! Just please credit me, and don’t use inspiration as an excuse to straight up copy my art. That being said, if you *do* make fanart/an art piece inspired by this, PLEASE tag me!!! I really wanna see how everyone interprets this!

🔆JUNE REC LIST

AU-MODERN SETTING:  🌺 Coming Home by Charlesdk (@transcowboy on tumblr)  (Winter Soldier!Bucky x Farmer!Steve) 42K Words  (very fluffy, perfect fic) 

“Steve, you don't know a damn thing about that guy. The fact that you're even considering keeping him in your house is crazy.”

“I don't care.” Steve glanced over at the stranger, his face softening when he saw him sinking back into the couch cushions and gripping his backpack so tightly.

“Sam, the guy looks like no one's been nice to him for years. How am I supposed to be okay with just sending him off somewhere?” Sam sighed heavily and looked heavenward. “I swear to God, if I come by tomorrow and find you dead in your bed, I'm gonna find a way to bring you back to life just to kill you again.”

OR – in which former army captain, current farmer Steve Rogers finds a bruised and battered and dirty stranger who remembers nothing and doesn't speak in his barn. He takes him in, despite his friends' advice not to, and helps him recover. It's not easy. Especially not when, along the way, feelings get involved.

❄ Winter’s Children by Neery (Post-WS Kid Fic)  66.8K Words (words fail to describe how amazing this fic is READ IT)

When their attempts to recreate the super soldier serum failed, Hydra started trying to breed Captain America clones from his genetic samples.

Unfortunately, the serum's effects aren't passed down genetically, so instead of an army of tiny Captain Americas, they get a bunch of tow-headed, asthmatic, allergic, immuno-compromised little Steves. And then the Winter Soldier stumbles across Hydra's failed experiment...

🏰 Your Heart is a Castle by teenytabris  (Modern!Bucky x Cap!Ghost!Steve) 68.8K Words (THERE IS A HAPPY ENDING)

Becca and Bucky have spent the last few years living in England as they finish up degrees in Anthropology/Archaeology and Historical Engineering respectively. Neither were able to find paying jobs in their chosen fields, and the end of their lease is looming close. London is expensive, and they begin to worry about where they could possibly live.

Then, an unknown Great Uncle dies suddenly, and names Bucky (by way of legal loophole) heir to the castle he lived in. In Germany. And sure, it’s run down, they have barely any furniture, and it’s tucked away remotely in the mountains between Germany and the Czech Republic, but hey? Free house?

Bucky supposes the brush with death that made him able to see the ghosts of Captain America, Agent Carter and the Howling Commandos is just the price he has to pay for it.

🔥 knew we’d be alright by burning_brighter (@burning-brighter on tumblr) (Firefighter!Bucky x Cap!Steve) 82.8K Words (sooo much angst but happy ending)

In 2012, Steve is a man out of time, trying to battle his demons and build a life in a new century when he meets Bucky, an FDNY Lieutenant helping with cleanup and rescue after the Battle of New York.

In 2014, Bucky is a fire Captain, trying to get his life back on track after a rough break up with his super soldier boyfriend.

Going back and forth between past and present, see how they fall in love, how their relationship falls apart and how it inevitably falls back into place.

🌊 lane lines by sparkagrace ( @sparkagrace on tumblr)  (Olympic Swimmer!Steve x Olympic Swimmer!Bucky) 132.5K Words (MUST READ! THIS IS NOT A QUESTION! YOU MUST READ THIS ONE)

Steve Rogers has spent his entire life swimming and now is poised to take the Wakanda 2024 Olympics by storm. The only thing he’s missing is a friendly rival to help get him there. Enter Bucky Barnes, who doesn’t seem to take the sport quite as seriously despite his raw and enviable talent.

Steve hates him. Bucky doesn’t care. That makes Steve hate him more.

💌 And they all lead back to you by pandafish ( @myexplosion​ on tumblr) 1.8K Words (so fluffy, perfect read, and the poem hit me in the heart strings)

Bucky was dancing with Alpine.

It was a slow dance, because she was a sleepy kitten by now, but the radio was playing an old song that reminded Bucky of times past and he didn’t have Steve here to dance with him. He'd be home from his mission tomorrow, but it felt like forever.

Bucky had just tucked the kitten into bed and was preparing for a night without Steve, when he noticed a letter on their doormat.

Is Latino not an ethnicity????

It isn't (and it isn't a race either). Latinidad is a political identity with some sociological, cultural and historical background. What it does not have -and I cannot stress this enough- is shared genetics/common ancestry which is how I see it most referred.

Here's the definition of ethnicity from Wikipedia:

And to use roughly the same source, here's the Wikipedia disaggregation of Latin America today (which ofc I have issues with lol I'm not missing the irony of telling you "Latin America is sooo diverse" while using the "Asian" category, but I need to make do:

See what I'm getting at?

Let's continue, you can say "well I didn't mean genetics, I meant everything else"

Okay language:

Latin America includes hundreds of native languages like Quechua, Mayan, Guaraní (oficial language of Paraguay!), Aymará or Nahuatl, and always has! Without counting the beautifully mixed and improved Spanish, Portuguese (which I called Brasilero for years as a kid lol) and French, or even later additions like Welsh, Japanese, Chinese or Arabic from immigrant clusters that still speak it or are currently arriving into the continent.

So language isn't it either.

I don't even need to get into traditions c'mon look at Carnaval in Brasil, día de los muertos in Ecuador, an 9 de julio in Argentina and tell me those are all the same. Look at empanadas, tacos, humitas, pizza brasilera, tequeños, asado, sudados, etc

Religion? Argentina alone has the second biggest Islamic and Jewish populations in America after the US. Sure Christianity is paramount given the invasion and imposition by Catholic monarchies by the Spanish and Portuguese, but to say it's the only religion is to spit in the face of again, hundreds of native people's whose religions have been systematically erased since 1492. It is also quite reductive to only take institutionalised religions as valid forms of worship, or to ignore the fact that most Catholicism here would give European orthodox Catholics a stroke.

Now, history and social treatment, here's where the good stuff is.

Independencias:

These all look super different but these are processes and most of them took place in the first 3 decades of the 1800s so they're not that far off. These were carried out with an idea of hermandad. They used to be virreynatos under the same rule, we (patriotas) were all getting independence from the same monarch power (realistas). There was a lot of collaboration between administrations and armies. This was a decision from the leaders of the time, to seek strength in numbers.

The fact that we had to gain independence is a point of contact as well. At that time "patria" was understood as the desire to be independent, there were no neat lines to separate the territories. At this point in history you'll find lots of key people like San Martín, Juana Azurduy and Bolivar talking about "pueblos americanos" as a way to claim independence from imperialist/colonial European rule. (Brasil had a different history with the Portuguese court moving there)

The term Latin America or Latinoamérica came by a little later, the earliest it's been found used is 1856 by a politician from Chile, as you can see, the context it is used in is purely political.

Historically, the term when used by Americans is heavily tied to a way to gather strength in solidarity for independence and rejection of foreign imperialist aspirations, from the United States, France, Spain, etc etc.

I think latinidad is in a way a self fulfilled prophecy, we were invaded and as such "unified" where before were hundreds of different peoples. We took that very same unification and made it ours, in part because the rest of the world insists on putting us all in the same bag (included with things like the School of the Americas in the 1960s-1980s where all of Latinamerica was deemed safer for the US to be ruled by genocidal military governments than democracies that smelled just a little communist. Spoiler! it wasn't safer for us who had to actually live under them)

I reject the idea of latinidad as an ethnicity because it stems from the idea of "la raza latina" which is very very racist ("latinos" were the white Europeans from Romance language countries aka Spain, Portugal, France and Italy, there was a clear hierarchy there usual to the era that still affects our social and economic framework). It's reductive and it pretends to obscure and muddle a very clear and deliberate political choice that is to identify as latinoamerican.

This also applies to the latin people who emigrate to the US and their descendants, both the ones fixing the lawns and the ones emigrating without need of a visa to work a stable 9-5. Even if it seems only the first ones get the name.

So what's latinidad? It's whatever we say it is, hope this helps ✌️