#I’m not very good at writing in gringo

[captianprices40thson]

Just read you're other story, it was awesome. Can you write one with male reader being married to graves and ale and rudy flirting with m/n, but every time m/n is like I'm married but never tells hes married to graves. And one day they are making out on the couch and ale and rudy walk in and are like " NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHY HIM OF ALL PEOPLE. " and " THAT SHOULD BE ME. "

Do you have a man? I don’t see a ring on your finger

Word count: 2.3k

Requested: Yes

Warnings: Graves (jk) None really. A lot of fluff, Los Vaqueros and Graves have beef, Alejandro complains about white people (as he should), 

Notes: Wrote the vast majority of this in class while listening to IT GIRL. You know this is gonna be good. And yes, if you've submitted a request the last three days after I posted my last fic, I’ve started to work on it. Gotten a lot more than I’ve expected so I’m trying my best lol. And Anon, if you want me to rewrite this or make something different, please just ask me to, I really don't mind. I'm not too proud of this one, but I hope I've satisfied you.

(Takes place before the Graves betrayal. Reader is not part of the 141, Shadows or Los Vaqueros, but a secret fourth thing.)

“Come on, Guapo. You’re bluffing.” Alejandro smirked, crossing his arms as he spoke. You chuckled, leaning back against the truck that Rudy was loading up. This wasn’t the first time he had accused you of lying about your relationship status. If you had a dollar for each time, you’d have enough to have another wedding.

“I’m telling you, Alejandro. I’m a married man. How many more times do I have to tell you?” You confirmed for the millionth time, a stupid grin on your face. Truth be told, you didn’t half mind their flirting, it made you feel better about yourself knowing that you still got it. The fact that they refused to believe that you were married, it was sort of funny.

“I don’t see a ring.” Rudy added in after he loaded the final bag onto the truck, a know-it-all look on his face as he walked up to you too. You rolled your eyes, refusing to move from your position because you thought you looked too cool not to. “No one wears rings during active duty, Rodolfo. You see Soap and Ghost wearing theirs?” You spoke back, pushing yourself off your spot on the car for two reasons. Them being, you thought it would be cooler and Rudy was moving to open the door your foot was suffocating.

“No, Ghost wears his ring around his neck. Also I’m pretty sure Soap lost his.” Alejandro commented, making eye contact with you. It wasn’t for long because you immediately closed your eyes as you scoffed.

“Well, that’s Soap for you. I guess I just prefer to not wear mine.” You reasoned, looking over to Rudy, to Alejandro and then over to a whistle that just sounded American. That always made you smile, seeing Graves whistle his Shadows like they were dogs.

“Oh great, it’s the gringo.” Alejandro hissed, causing you to turn your head and shake it a bit.

“Hey.” You scolded him like he was a child and had just said he hated something, which was kind of true. Los Vaqueros had a sort of special hatred for Graves, perhaps it was because he was the most American man you’d ever meet, perhaps it was because he was just kind of an asshole. You’ve been trying to get them to get along, but so far it would only work on Rudy. He was the kinder of the two, it was clear.

“Alejandro. We talked about this.” Rudy chimed in, causing Alejandro to hold out his arms in disbelief. He dropped them to his sides and pointed over to Graves.

“Is it my fault he’s so white? I’m literally being blinded every time I look over at him!” He protested, causing you to chuckle a little. Rudy didn’t let himself smile, although he was internally.

“I know. It is very painful to look at him.” Rudy nodded, placing a hand on Alejandro’s shoulder and shaking his head like he was sympathising with Alejandro after he had been shot or something, not like he was complaining about white people. A valid complaint in most people’s eyes.

“I don’t even say it to any of the 141.” The taller man whisper-shouted, searching for sympathy from you. You smiled, shaking your head as you walked over to him and placed a hand on his other shoulder so you were now one big line.

“Oh yes, you’re very strong, Ale.” You patronised him, talking down to him like he was a toddler. Before he had time to punch you, Graves walked over. Sorry, not walking, strided like the sassy man he is.

“Alright gentlemen. Let’s get this show on the road. You coming with me, Y/N?” Graves smiled, looking over to you. Both Alejandro and Rudy looked over to you, knowing that you always travelled with Graves when you went to go do something. Not belonging to any of their groups, you preferred to travel with your husband.

“Ye-”

“Actually, Y/N will be travelling with us for this mission, Graves. He’s been with you every other time.” Alejandro butted in, placing his arm in front of you like you were going to run off to the man at any minute if he didn’t step in.

“You can’t just decide where he does and doesn’t go, compadre.” Graves tried to argue, but you gave him a look to say it was fine. He nodded, making a little symbol with his hands to tell you that you were to make it up to him later. You had created a lot of those symbols, knowing that it would be hard to communicate all your incredibly affectionate thoughts for one another.

Graves walked away and the three of you turned to the car. Rudy tossed the keys around in his hands, indicating you were to sit in the back because of course Alejandro always had to take shotgun if Rudy was driving.

“Who used this truck last?” Alejandro asked as he opened the passenger’s seat door, sitting down while you buckled in and Rudy turned the keys.

“Uh, It was you last, right Y/N?” Rudy asked, turning back to you. You gave them a thumbs up, your mind replaying why exactly you had used the truck last time. Makeout sessions were not easy to go on base, and the trucks had tinted windows.

“Wait what the…who the fuck did you have in here? W-Why is the seat back like that?” Rudy asked as leant back in the seat only to realise just how far back it was positioned. The taller man held the lever that would pull the seat back up for Rudy and before you could deny anything, Alejandro had something to ask..

“AND WHY DOES THIS CAR SMELL LIKE JAPANESE CHERRY BLOSSOM? WHO THE FUCK DID YOU HAVE IN HERE?” He yelled, causing Rudy to laugh to himself at seeing your guilty face.

“THAT'S JUST HOW I LIKE TO DRIVE!” You lied, trying to come up with an excuse for why the truck was like this. You were sure they didn’t believe you, but they didn’t say anything about it for a moment.

“Sureee, we believe you, love.” Rudy smiled, starting up the car and beginning to lead the rest of the group to the relocation point. You looked over at your hand in the backseat, wondering why you had chosen not to wear your wedding ring. Sure, it was impractical as hell to have on the field, but you could easily attach it to something else, like a necklace. 

“What’re you thinking about, carino? Tryna make up a personality for your fake husband?” Alejandro asked, looking back at you from his chair. You frowned, like a full on cartoon downturned face.

“He isn’t fake, forehead. And what I’m thinking of is none of your business.”

“Oh I get it. It was sexual. You were totally thinking about Rudy and I.” “Don’t drag me into this Ale.”

“You helped me dig this hole, Rudy. You’re coming in with me.”

“Why do you make everything about sex?”

“Why do you not?”

“I’m a human that respects everyone around me, Alejandro. You don't…” You decided to tune them out, it was just the same bickering every time that somehow got you roped up in it. You’d heard it all before. They’d argue about something or other and eventually they’d make up when you forced them to, which made them want to flirt with you even more. You didn’t mind the flirting…it just got a bit tiring sometimes.

________

“Hey baby.” Graves smiled as you entered the small section of the base that was dedicated to the shadows while they stayed for the time being. You smiled, walking up to him and embracing the American man in your tired arms, just wanting to hold him.

“Hey Graves.” You mumbled into his shoulder, your voice being muffled by the fabric of his shirt. It was one of your favourites, a dark blue that suited him well. Graves reached a hand up, holding the back of your head and slowly swaying from side to side.

“How were your little cowboy friends? Better drivers than me?” Graves asked, making you groan, remembering how they were flirting with you all trip. The American chuckled at your response, continuing to hold you close.

“They just can’t seem to understand that I’m married. They think it’s impossible…I don’t know whether or not it’s a compliment and at this point, I don’t care.” You groaned, lifting your head up to meet his eyes. His smile, no matter how much of an asshole he was being, was always kind to you.

“Aww, baby.” Graves frowned, holding your face in his hands. You smiled and placed both your hands on his waist, both of you leaning forward to kiss. The two of you had missed the touch that you never seemed to get, this was a rare time.

You both went down to the couch, Graves on top of you as you made out. He moved one of his hands to hold you from the back and you put another in his hair, holding the platinum blonde locks as your passion rose to the surface.

“What the fuck?!” The accented yell caused you and Graves to pull apart and look where it came from. A very very shocked Alejandro and Rudy stood in the doorway, both caught off guard by the situation.

“W-What are you two doing here?” You asked as Graves pushed himself off of you so you could speak to the two men. They never visited this part of the base on purpose, avoiding Graves and his shadows like the plague.

“What are you doing here?” Alejandro retorted, pointing to the two of you with a confused look on his face.

“I’d say its pretty obvious what my husband is doing here.” Graves butted in, pointing to you with his thumb, causing both Alejandro and Rudy’s jaws to drop. You almost let out a laugh, instead choosing to hide your reaction and just look at them blankly.

“W-What did you say?” Rudy questioned Graves, looking over at him and then back to you. It was like he couldn’t believe that someone as sweet and kind as you…was married to Phillip Graves.

“Y/N is my husband. He wasn’t lying about being married, y’know?” Graves smiled a stupid shit eating grin at the two men’s reactions. They both looked over at him, then back to you seemingly in unison. You could only lift up your hands a bit and give a ‘sorry smile’ to them. 

“B-But if not us…why him?” “COME ON, Y/N. YOU CAN DO SO MUCH BETTER!” Alejandro added in, more fond of shouting than Rudy would ever be. You made eye contact with Graves while they yelled, trying to figure out why he was the one you were romantically interested in,

“D-Do you just have a thing for Americans?”

“Is he lying to you about how good of a person he is?”

“What type of car does he drive?” 'HE'S THE WORST, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

“Fuckin white people, taking everything anyone else wants.”  "WHY HIM OF ALL PEOPLE?"

While the two Mexican men started rambling and guessing why you would be with Graves and not them, you and Graves decided to share another kiss while they argued, effectively shutting them both up.

“You two,” You started as now you finally had their attention. “We’re with each other because we love each other…simple.” You smiled, watching them take in the fact that you actually might just love Graves.

There was a silence while they processed that, a deafening silence and if anyone came past the room, they’d assume there was no life in there. It stayed for a minute before Alejandro spoke up.

“This isn’t over, white boy.” He vaguely threatened, making ‘watching you’ hand gestures and walking out of the room backwards, maintaining eye contact with Graves the whole time. 

“What he said.” Rudy added on, quickly walking after him, just keeping his head forward. When Alejandro bumped into the wall while trying to exit, Rudy grabbed his shoulder and they both muttered something to one another, Alejandro rubbing his head as he left.

“Were they high? What was that?” Graves asked, completely confused on what just went down. You didn’t know whether to defend them or not, because to be honest, you thought they were as well.

“I have no clue…” You whispered, turning back to Graves and laying back down on the couch in the position you were in before. The blonde saw this and smiled, laying down back on top of you, not kissing you, just laying there.

“We can deal with them later.” He whispered, closing his eyes and just laying there with you. You smiled, placing your hand in his hair and mentally preparing yourself for whatever the dynamic duo were going to try next. You had no idea what it was going to be, but you just hoped they wouldn’t resort to trying to kill Graves. But, there was no saying what those men would stoop to to win your affection.

#Alejandro Vargas #rodolfo parra #Alejandro Vargas x reader #Rudy x reader #Rodolfo parra x reader #alejandro x rodolfo #Rudy #Rudy cod #Alejandro cod #fanfiction #cod x reader #Male reader #Call of duty x male reader #Graves x male reader #Phillip Graves #Phillip Graves x reader #fiction #call of duty #cod #Fluff

[captain-mj]

Bun mentioned somewhere that you were the one who wrote the Nunez and Valeria thing? I was wondering if you could write something else for them? Maybe when she’s supposed to kill him, she spares him instead having a… better idea for what he could be used for (doesn’t have to be ABO)

Anon I need you to understand this is my favorite Valeria ship and I’m going to kiss you on the lips for giving me an excuse to write them

Also, the consent be DUBIOUS in this just a warning.

Valeria held the gun against his head and went to pull the trigger. She really did. But her fingers didn’t cooperate.

Nunez had the same eyes most men did. Nothing special about them. But they were looking at her with a layer of fear and… admiration. He was about to die and he still had the spark in his eyes.

“Take the gringo while I dispose of him.” Valeria ordered, motioning towards Soap. She stared at Nunez and he started to look nervous.

"Ma'am, I promise. I did my best." Nunez blinked up at her, all innocent.

Valeria scoffed. "Don't grovel." She got out her knife and Nunez tensed up before she sliced through the bindings. "I have a way you can make your failure up to me."

It took a lot longer than expected. Valeria had to deal with quite a bit before she finally, finally got to enjoy her prize.

Nunez wore her collar well. It had her name on it and included her phone number, even a little "Return to Valeria if found" message on the back. She had not truly degraded him, though it was tempting. But she never wanted to push him too hard. He wasn't one of her toys that she'd replace if broken. Nunez was a prized possession.

So she gave him a little more leeway that she would anyone else, even though he rarely took it. The entire time she was imprisoned, he simply waited for her, making sure everyone stayed loyal. He was a vicious man when ever Valeria was disrespected.

Valeria rewarded him greatly for it.

Nunez finally got to see her again since the night she almost killed him and then collared him. He kissed her hands desperately, gazing up at her like she was the very moon itself.

"I missed you so much, my love."

"I know. Such a good boy."

Nunez melted at her praise. "Had to make it up to you. Had to."

Valeria smiled. "Mira nomas que obediente mi perrito."

Nunez nodded desperately, sliding to his knees. "Sí, sí señora, es usted tan hermosa. Yo haría cualquier cosa por usted, por favor." His mouth opened slightly, eyes already going hazy. So ready to beg.

"We should have a few hours. I want you to undress."

He jumped up and started to undress, watching her. He really was such a good boy.

Valeria watched him, careful not to give anything away. His desperation was half of the fun. Nunez watched her and looked down at himself, trying his best to pose and look attractive to her.

"Lay down."

Immediately, he jumped to do it. He laid down and looked... shy.

Valeria undid her pants and kicked them to the side. When she noticed his begging expression, she rolled her eyes and took off her shirt as well. She threw her leg over his hips so she could straddle him properly.

Nunez gently moved his hands to rest on her hips. "Oh, mi amor. hermosa, hermosa." He groaned as she gently pressed against him.

Valeria gently her fingers over his lips, watching his mouth open and his tongue dart off to try to get more. His tongue gently ran between her finger before they slid into his mouth. He sucked happily, twirling his tongue around as she slowly sank down on him. His whole display had gotten her wet and it was almost too easy to take him all the way down.

He whimpered a little when she stopped. She raked her nails down his chest, watching him groan and try to stay still. If he moved too much, he worried she'd pull away and leave him like this. All he wanted was to touch her more. Whatever she'd allow him.

Eventually, she did grab one of his hands and gently moved it to one of her breasts, letting him feel. He whined and continued to touch carefully. She moved quickly, mostly just grinding or trying to chase her own pleasure. His free hand moved down and found her clit. He followed her rhythm and she felt herself to start to tense up. Her body clenched around him harder and harder as she got closer and it made him whimper.

"Por favor, Por favor quiero venir. Por favor déjeme venir. Por favor por favor por favor por favor." He groaned as he tried to keep from finishing, not yet having her permission. She grinded down on him as she finished, feeling his desperation to start to peak. Nunez whimpered and started to kiss her hand as he rubbed her clit faster.

Valeria grabbed the collar she kept around his neck and tightened it until it choked him. "Finish."

Nunez's eyes rolled back as he finally relaxed. He shook and whined as he came hard, hips rolling insistently. Valeria watched and felt very pleased with herself.

"My good boy."

"Yours."

#call of duty #call of duty modern warfare #cod mw2 #cod #valeria garza #nunez x valeria #valeria mw2

[auspicious-manner]

riff x short!latina!reader who has a very heavy accent and is extremely shy. riff and her are secretly dating and he teases her a lot and it's all cute and fluff? ty, love ur writing!

i’ve missed writing for riff 🥲

female reader x riff

warnings: none

Confidential Couple

•

“good afternoon, riff.” Y/N said in her thick puerto rican accent, meeting up with him in a secluded alleyway.

riff looked up from lighting his cigarette. “hey Y/N, how’s my lady feeling today?”

“good. and you?”

“my day has gotten a whole hell of a lot better now that you’re here.” riff replied.

riff and Y/N both knew how bizarre of a partnership their relationship was. gringos weren’t supposed to like puerto ricans, and vice versa. especially when riff is the leader of the jets, infamously known for being overprotective of their territory.

Y/N and riff met completely on accident. one day, riff stumbled across a group of puerto rican men beating up on a girl who he believed to be white at first. when he scared the men away and saw that the girl was, in fact, not white, he felt the need to help her anyway. normally, in any other circumstance, he wouldn’t have helped. but she seemed different than all the girls he’d been betrayed by in the past. she carried herself differently, and riff took note of that right away.

riff tried not to become friends with Y/N. and Y/N tried not to become friends with riff. she was extremely shy, and she didn’t want to let her walls down for riff. when Y/N mentioned to him that it was a regular occurrence for the group of older men to beat her up, riff couldn’t help but feel remorse for her. that was a weird feeling for him, as he had never truly experienced it before, especially with a puerto rican girl. given her inherited introverted nature, riff wanted to keep the men that hurt Y/N at bay for as long as possible.

riff tried his hardest to avoid Y/N because he knew if any of the jets saw him anywhere near a puerto rican, he’d practically be exiled. however, something about her kept drawing him back. maybe it was because he desperately craved an escape from living his life as a gang leader. whatever it may be, as more and more time passed, the more often he found himself with Y/N. eventually, a casual friendship developed into a secret romance.

riff opened his arm to give Y/N a hug. given her small stature, she rested her head just below his shoulder in the hug, and riff reached down to reciprocate it.

“what would you like to do today?” Y/N asked, pulling away.

“not like we can go many places, right?” riff replied, taking a puff from his cigarette.

Y/N loved her relationship with riff, despite hating how secretive it had to be. she completely understood why he needed to keep it a secret, it was just a downside to falling in love with a gang leader.

she shrugged in response, looking down.

“you’re extra quiet today, what’s wrong?” riff asked bluntly, stepping closer to her.

“i’m always quiet, riff.”

he laughed and ruffled her hair playfully. “i know that, i just thought you seemed even more quiet than usual, that’s all.”

Y/N shrugged. “i know, i just wish we could do more together. i wish we didn’t have to hide.”

riff sighed, rubbing her shoulders with his hands. “i know girly girl, but it’s safer for the both of us if we keep it a secret. my boys find out, i’m dead. your people find out, you’re dead. the more secretive we are, the better.”

Y/N looked down, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “we can still have fun today.”

after more discussing, the couple decided on playing card games, eating snacks, and resting for the whole day at riff’s place.

riff’s hang out spot was an abandoned train car in the junkyard. he had set up a small table and a bed for him to rest on. for him, it was home. Y/N liked the simplicity of his “house”. she wasn’t into everything lavish and grand.

Y/N couldn’t decide if riff let her win at cards over and over again, or if she was actually really good at them. but, she also figured riff would actually play every so often so she would lose, and riff could tease her about being bad at cards. regardless of the outcome, she enjoyed this valuable time with him.

after a few hours into one of their last games, riff sat up in his spot, holding up a finger that silenced Y/N.

“riff, what-”

“shhh!” he interrupted, listening. Y/N sunk back in her chair a bit.

then, she heard it too. it was the sound of footsteps growing closer and closer to riff’s train car.

“shit,” riff started, standing up. “you gotta hide.”

“hide, seriously?” she whispered back.

“yes, i mean it. these people will not approve of you, and i don’t want them to hurt you, now hide!”

Y/N scrambled to find a sufficient spot to hide in riff’s small abode. suddenly, she realized there was just enough space under his bed for her to hide.

“go, go!” riff said, helping her under the bed. when she disappeared, he sat quietly at his table when a knock sounded on the metal outside his home. Y/N held her breath, trying to keep anxious tears from spilling out of her eyes.

“who is it?” riff asked monotonously.

“a-rab and tiger.”

riff lit a cigarette and took a quick puff. “come in.”

they stepped into his train car and looked around. “who were you talking to in here, riff?” a-rab asked.

riff kept the cigarette he was smoking resting on his lips. “no one.”

“so you were talking to yourself?” tiger asked, not believing riff for a second.

“yes.” riff said coldly, with a sharp “s”.

a-rab squinted at him, before smiling playfully. “you hidin’ a girl here, riff?”

“no.”

“then how ‘bout we have a look around?” asked tiger.

“not like you can even look around much, this is a small place.” riff replied.

meanwhile, Y/N watched the feet from outside the bed walk past multiple times, and it took all of her energy to not make a noise. she was frightened of riff’s friends.

she watched as a pair of shoes stopped in front of the bed, and before she knew it, a pair of eyes that weren’t riff’s caught sight of Y/N. she snapped her own eyes shut, hoping that if she didn’t see him, he wouldn’t see her.

“oh tiger, i think i found something.”

“a lady?” tiger asked, bending down to take a look.

“yep, riff’s hiding a lady.”

“and for good reason too,” riff started harshly. “there’s a reason she had to hide when she heard you two. she doesn’t want anything to do with you.”

“we just want to meet the lucky gal.” tiger said.

“no means no, tiger. now leave.” riff said with a very stern tone.

tiger and a-rab exchanged looks, before going on either side of the makeshift bed and lifting it to the side before riff could stop them.

tiger and a-rab gawked at the sight before them. “woah.” they both saw that Y/N was puerto rican, and not white like they had expected. she had light tear marks on her face.

Y/N looked up to the men and saw their confused, angry, and hurt faces before backing herself as close to the wall as possible.

“you assholes!” riff yelled, storming over to the two jets.

“riff, what the hell is this?” tiger asked.

“how could you do this to the jets? how could you betray us like this?” a-rab continued. “she’s puerto rican!”

“you guys didn’t have to see this. i kept this a secret for a reason. you guys stormed in here and did your own thing, and now we’re all angry. you two need to leave. as your leader, that is an order.” riff yelled, stepping closer to the boys.

Y/N watched the scene unfold in front of her in horror. tiger turned to her, and began to speak. “what have you done to riff?” he started. “he used to be like us. what kind of puerto rican witch shit did you do to make him like you?”

Y/N froze, trying to find words. she stuttered as more slow tears fell out of her eyes. she hated that she was so shy.

“look, she can’t even speak when spoken to, lousy pig!” a-rab yelled.

“hey!” riff yelled again, pushing the boys towards the opening of his train car. “the only person that gets to say anything about Y/N, positive or negative, is me, you hear? now scram before i take a chain to your head.”

he pushed them again and they ran out, not looking back. riff watched as they ran far away.

riff whipped his head around and saw Y/N crying on the floor. he walked over to her, sat down next to her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. she leaned her head in and rested her head on his chest, and riff kissed the top of her head.

“i’m sorry, Y/N. i’m so, so sorry.” riff said quietly, gently rubbing her arm.

Y/N lifted her head up and looked at riff. he turned his head so his eyes met hers. “i was scared, that’s all. i guess this crying is a little over dramatic, isn’t it?” she said, laughing a bit.

riff wiped her tears away. “yeah, it is.” he teased.

Y/N giggled, and riff laughed back. “i’m kidding, you handled it just fine. i’m happy they didn’t do anything to you.”

the two sat comfortably together until Y/N fully calmed down. when she did, they stood up, and riff looked down on her. he held her hands in his own for a moment, and then he let go of one and placed it on the side of her face, tilting her head up so she looked at him.

“you know, i always forget how short you are.” riff whispered.

Y/N rolled her eyes. “riff, ni siquiera vayas allí. don’t even go there.”

#mike faist #mike faist imagine #mike faist riff #mike faist x reader #riff x reader #mike faist fanfiction #west side story #wss riff #riff imagine #riff fanfic #riff lorton

[itwasthisorthemilitary]

March 12, 2024

One month since I left Boston. That’s NUTS. Simultaneously feels like three days and 3 years ago. 26 months left (can’t even begin to consider how weird that is). Writing this while licking a jar of peanut butter like my life depends on it. I considered using my machete to chop the jar in half so i could lick it better.

ANYWAYS.

Today was silly. I love my Spanish class, our teacher really thinks we’re all insane. We asked him if he’s ever seen that old Disney movie “How to Eat Fried Worms” but he thought this was like an educational film and not a children’s movie.

After lunch we went to San Sebastián where the rest of our cohort is living! (Los Mortales is way better in my opinion) but I miss the SASers and love getting to see them. We had a big group meeting about Worms 🪱 In my opinion it was pretty boring/i feel like i already knew most of it? There was a very cute dog tho so that made it worth it.

Lots of things coming up!

-Language progress interview on Friday (I’m stressed)

-Trainees are hosting a community meeting on Friday (we are not prepared at all. Gonna be a shit show)

-Tech week next week! All of the CECers are headed to Chiriqui for a week of in the field learning like how to make soap from used cooking oil. So so excited to see Chiriqui because it’s like 10 hours from here and is much higher in elevation so it might be COLD.

Yesterday when i was in the river for a lil dip i was wearing my tevas and thought I’d just walk down the river a bit because it was only like calf deep. It was so pretty and really felt like i was in the middle of a jungle (i was). So im just exploring, having a good time, when Carlo SCREAMS at me. #rude. Until i realized that he was screaming “CAIMANS”. So apparently the area where we swim is safe, but the area that i had walked directly into about a football field away, is not safe. And some locals had flagged him down when they saw how far i had went. So i hastily returned. Never actually saw a caiman but the locals were like “this dumb gringo”.

Here are some great photos of a sloth, a very cute puppy, my bestie Liv, and too many of us packed into a van.

[bennettdavisblog]

Over the Ocean and Through the traffic, to Grandma’s Pagoda We Go!

Our internal clocks are so out of whack, not knowing if it’s night or day, Saturday or Monday (recall we lost Sunday), taking a nap just wasn’t going to happen.  The concierges recommended many things to see and do.  Though they pushed that we go to the Genocide Museum (nothing says Welcome to Cambodia like a stop at the Genocide Museum followed up with a quick jaunt over to the killing fields), we opted for a short walk to a pagoda close to our hotel. Called Wat Phnom, or Temple Hill, it is where Phnom Penh got its beginning.  The legend is that an old lady (Daun or Grandma) discovered some Buddhas inside a log there and decided that a hill with a pagoda should be on top of it and from that the city was born. Yeah, not sure I believe that one.  However, there is a hill and there is a temple built on top and we set out to see it.  This is when culture shock takes over and you realize that you actually are on the other side of the world.  It’s one thing to be at the Raffles being pampered and quite another to be walking around Phnom Penh getting an unfiltered view of the city, its people, and its way of life.  It ain’t like home.  Speaking of home, we had to pass the US Embassy to get to Grandma’s pagoda.  The building takes up an entire city square and a big one at that.  You are not allowed to take pictures of it, and I can only imagine why the US needs an embassy of that size in such a small country.  Actually, I can imagine, and I suspect it has something to do with proximity to the “C” country to the north.  Odd, but I digress.  

Back to Grandma’s pagoda…The pagoda is in a traffic circle and to get there you take your life in your hands hoping that you won’t get run over by the same modes of transportation we dodged in Pho’s van.  In Pho’s van, we had protection. Crossing the street you’re on your own.  It’s Grandma’s death trap.  Thanks, Grandma.  The best way to cross is to become part of the weaving and bobbing of the traffic flow.  Trust me, you learn that quickly.  Staying committed, hesitate and you’re dead, miraculously we make it to the other side.  Not a wonder all these people are there praying in the pagoda.  They’re thanking Buddha for allowing them to live after crossing the street.   Supremely jet lagged and not knowing what the heck we’re viewing, we looked a little like this guy perplexed at how his new toy works.  

At this time, we don’t have a clue about Hindu or Buddhist mythology (as of this writing we are near experts), so I took this photo of Lisa (people we just got off a 20 hour journey and she looks pretty good) in front of a seven headed Naga, the sea serpent that protects Vishnu in Hindu and in Buddhism, Buddha told Naga how to become a human in its next life.  Or something like that.  

We went about halfway around the circle and finally came across the stairway to Grandma’s pagoda.

We climbed the steps and the second thing we came across was this party going on with a barbecue, incense, and lots of people. 

Clueless about what we just saw, we climb some more steps and finally make it to the temple.  You have to take your shoes off to go in and I wonder if I’ll ever see my $150 sneakers again.  I will.  The temple is beautiful and full of gifts and money for whom I don’t really know.  The monks maybe?  Buddha? No idea. 

We walk around the temple, assume we are now blessed, exit, go back down the stairs, and catch a tuk-tuk to go find a French owned wine bar I read about called Bouchon.  We get dropped off, went in and had two glasses of wine and some delicious clams. The bill was just under $16.00.  I’m going to like Cambodia!! By the way, the currency is US dollars making life very easy for us gringos.

Back to the hotel for a quick rest and shower.  We decide to dine at the hotel since we were so tired.  The waitress asks if we want inside or outside and since it’s a gorgeous night, we say outside.  Still or sparkling water?  Sparkling.  Here’s how they serve it.

Not being terribly hungry, we ate a few appetizers, fine, nothing special, and were headed for the room.  HOWEVER, we passed The Elephant Bar and since Jackie Kennedy went there, we had to go, too.  Nightcap!  The Elephant Bar is as classy a bar as there is.  You feel the history of the place when you go in.  Imagine all the dignitaries, movie stars,  and prominent businesspeople who have stopped in (and still do) for a world changing conversation over a Mekong Gin dry martini. 

At this point, I’d like to say we’ve had a second wind, but no way.  Lisa has Jackie’s Femme Fatale and I have a house Negroni, which for some reason is a big deal in Cambodia.

Barely able to keep our eyes open, it’s now officially time for bed. We drag ourselves to the room and fall fast asleep.  It’s only 8:30pm PP time and Sunday is still nowhere to be found.

[spectaculardistractions]

To José Rubia Barcia Mexico City, 3 August 1948 Dear Barcia, Many thanks for your speed and economy with the literary registration on my behalf. I think it’s a good idea to show Illegible, Son of a Flute to Macgowan, but not the copy you have. I’m going to enclose a more legible copy of Illegible, Son of a Flute with this letter. Do you think I should write a few lines to him as well? I’m not happy with the end of the scénario; that is, everything that happens after they find the statue of liberty buried in the desert. Larrea doesn’t like it either. But we’re not going to make any more changes until there is some real hope of filming it. It would also need enriching with a lot more good gags, some of which I have already. Of course, if a producer can be found, you and I would be working together again. Mr Cullman of New York was keen to make it, but he pulled out at the last minute. I also sent it to Iris Barry, who is very enthusiastic, but can’t help for lack of cash. No one else has read it. I shall anxiously await Kenneth’s critique and your final opinion. Everything’s going from bad to worse down here. Last week I was supposed to start preparing a film for Dancigers called El último mono, by Arniches, but then they devalued the peso and his silent partner, a gringo called Mr Porter, now wants to see what happens before freeing up any dollars. And I think economic disaster is what will happen. Prices are soaring uncontrollably, and the crisis is really beginning to look alarming. I’m even beginning to think I might get out of Mexico. But where to? Venezuela perhaps. Only yesterday I sent a note to Rómulo Gallegos about setting up a documentary film production company in Venezuela on behalf of an intimate friend of his (Galician, no less). All the arrangements will be with Rómulo directly. If that falls through (and let’s hope it does because what on earth would I do in Caracas? It’s a tropical Valladolid!), I shall have to seriously consider going back to Hollywood. Macgowan’s university might be a temporary solution. I could ask him to find me a one-year contract to teach something spurious, The advance guard movements and the motion pictures. Of course, knowing my terrible luck, I’m sure I wouldn’t get that either. Could you look very discreetly, into this possibility for me? Could you try to find out for now if Falkenberg is still there in the editing department. I recommended him to Kenneth and I think he hired him. If Falkenberg is there, I’d write to him to check the waters before writing to Kenneth. Long may you keep your professorship. This is not the time to dream of empires. A secluded life in Hollywood, even if it were only $100 a week guaranteed, looks like an ascetic ideal to me in this repugnant world. Very many hugs for Evita (when is she going to take over at Sears?), and many more for you. L.B.

Jo Evans & Breixo Viejo, Luis Buñuel: A Life in Letters

#jo evans #breixo viejo #luis bunuel: a life in letters #luis bunuel #jose rubia barcia #kenneth macgowan

[sophiemass]

The thought of Percabeth having a baby voice and speaking with each other with it, when they are alone, stuck in my head.

Like, imagine Percy babysitting Estelle and using that type of voice with her, and later starting to use it with Annabeth too, and Annabeth being completely cringed about it the first time but growing fond of it after quite some time and, without she noticing, started to speak like that. It is a super corny and I love it.

#fanfic #rick riordan #pjo #percy jackson #Annabeth Chase #gods of olympus #pjo headcanon #headcanon #Percabeth #riordanverse #corny headcanon #as in cheeeeeeesyyyyyyyy #I’m not very good at writing in gringo #but it stuck in my head since a couple of months ago #and i love it

[hrroruja]

Human!Michael Myers AU

Description;Where he never killed Judith that night,he grows up and is a regular working man

Pt.1 

！ ᵎ Tw;Self-harm implied,Trauma & mental illness mentions and etc ᵎ  ！

Michael Myers(1978)

➛ *Unwhites Michael*HE IS MEXICAN!!!(Cause I'm Mexican-American and said so!)

➛ Came from a pretty decent house with conservative strict parents, and semi-boring childhood!

➛ He’s one very very beautiful/breathe taking!but comes off as a fresá bitch he kinda is but really he’s a extremely selective mute and anxious low key emotional boy also has a sense of humor!!!mostly it’s dark,dry and offensive(lol)

➛ GRINGO looking mexican(like me)he can actually speak,write in Spanish but can’t really understand it.

➛ Despite being like THAT he’s actually very expressive with his face(Based off Tony Moran’s acting in the Waltons)

➛ Only has one friend he’s know since six ever since that night where he was taken in the ward for six years due to almost hitting a nerve around his wrist due to a “accident "as his parents said but it was due to hearing the ‘voices’to hurt himself,that he was unlovable and he’s just a monster.His parents couldn't handle the truth and did a cover up thus kinda ruining the relationship between his parents thus he keeps distance from them and wanting nothing with them,he attaches,clings and depends on said friend after that incident on a lot stuff he just likes they seem to be”there for him”tho they never offer reassurance on the friendship and forces the “friendship”for years even their no good for him like never trying to make time and effort for him,not supporting him,using him for money and treats him as a second option he becomes devastated he has to cut them out only thanks to Judith and Laurie for making him realize it He ends up not making”friends”anymore cause of that now everyone is just a stranger,has no desire to get close and shuts himself off a lot to avoid what happened in the past.

➛ A lot of mental illnesses that goes undiagnosed from childhood up to teenhood due to his parents being unformed and not educated on the topic.He does get it treated, goes to therapy but stops?then goes back.He forgets to take his meds a lot.

➛ Goes to school doing the the basics and blah.

➛ You think he was a cool smart hot jock getting all the ladies and men,partying and having wild adventures?but nah he’s actually the ‘Cool’ loner everyone knows but doesn't really know,class fears him for no reason he does do questionable stuff when no one is watching mostly minds his business but gets caught in the mist of a lot dramas and Laurie had to vouch for him.

➛ Has been in a school fight,a other fight with a cop and a OTHER one when he was in the Smith’s ward.

➛ Took AP classes,advaned courses and was winning in a lot competitions.

➛ His first was with a man but it was just a one night stand so it meant nothing yet he felt so used and got him messed up.

➛ He’s questioning his sexuality,has no lables with it and a he/they/it.

➛ Has a hard time forming any friendships at all,being close and having something meaningful with anyone.IT does get to him more than he lets on and it’s partially due to his mental illnesses still keeps trying despite it.

➛ He is so bad with managing money please help him other than that he actually makes A LOT tho.

➛ Has shit luck.

➛ When he’s down,he’s walks at night and watches the moon,stars and space deeply thinking about life.

➛ Baby boy is a romantic at heart(Remember he’s a Libra)just not a hopeless one but more of a classic old romantic.

➛ He originally was gonna model which he did try!a lot!but never got called back on the contract instead they saw Judith in one of her photoshoots of her promoting one of his side projects and now she has a modeling career which was supposed to be his and everyone knows him through her which doesn’t totally irk him.

➛ Despite him being envious of Judith he’s way closer to her than Laurie he kinda treats Laurie like a stranger more than a sister(Michael you lil shit).

➛ The reason why is cause Laurie was actually adopted right after he went to Smith’s ward for those six years that night.She was kinda a replacer for his parents thus he’s he really doesn’t talk to them and is distant with her.

➛ In his middle of one his beloved college courses,he gets a call from his parents that Laurie is no longer gonna be with them.He’s sweating,pacing the room and his breathing is heavily uneven and demands a explanation from them they say her real parents have abandoned her at a young age due to financial issues and them losing their house and they didn’t want her be a orphan so they dropped her off on a strange yet occupied house(The Myer’s house)not knowing they saw Laurie’s parents just leave a baby at the front porch years have passed they ended up finding her through being acquainted the Myers from the past Haddonfield’s Halloween party.

➛ Her real parents go to The Myer’s house that night,discussing all events that lead up until now not even thanking the Myers for taking such good care of their daughter for all those missing years.She packs her bags barely even saying goodbye and not even looking at Micahel cause she knows she will crumble in front of him which thinking he doesn’t deserve it at all for those cold stares,distance and treating her like stranger rather than a sister through the years

➛ Just when it got bad it goes worse he loses his baby adopted sister he didn’t even bother with being close to her all those years.He has a whole episode,wailing and breaking stuff.Judith is the only one to comfort and reminding him that’ll he can make up lost time with her in the future but he doesn’t think so and she reminds him how he once watched over her due to a nightmare he didn’t sleep until she did

➛ He goes through a lot!breakdowns,identity crisis and suffering from middle child syndrome

➛ He ends up dropping out of college then goes back then drops out AGAIN then finally comes again(Libra man moment)

➛ Finally finds that it’s music he wants to do,he joins the Haddonfield’s Harv Orchestra and plays Cello!(This is based off when I was in orchestra i played Violin and the poster that was there was”when words fail,music speaks”and it seems to resonates with him)

➛ On the down and side job,he does ballet he looks so *cheft kiss*elegant doing it then he did a stage act as a joke once,he outdid himself with that performance but there’s rumor going on a film crew with a very familiar old man saw how impressive his acting skills were that they want him on set for a scary movie(John Carpenter!?)he denies!?!he still is unsure if he wants to be seen on screen entirely(boy has a inferior complexity and self esteem issues)yet he already is by the orchestra and the ballet community?(Someone come get his messy indecisive self up)

➛ Man has many talents but sticks to only ONE career like ?but has been thinking of switching careers

➛ Has a hard time talking about”So Michael you got a significant other yet?”tbh all that has happened he is lonely but covers it up with being occupied with his musical career but he deeply longs and craves for friendship once more than a relationship!

➛ If He were to be in a relationship,that’s almost impossible with him.You don’t earn or deserve anything from him!that’s what he thinks at first(I mean he had a meh childhood,older sister stole his original career giving him a inferior complex,his childhood friend never saw him as a friend then got self esteem issues,lost his little adopted sister and went through a lot and nobody has been able to tear those ancient walls down or touch his heart!y/o is special)you gotta pull until love spills out from him!(cause once you do he’s just awkward,nervous and unsure about if you really love him or not but he will see in the end you do and it’ll be 50/50 but deep down wants you sticking with him till the very end please don’t leave him cause he’ll lose it tbfh)(treat him right 🔪)

NSFW

➛ He’s a damn bratty switch! but when he bottoms it’s from the top still

(I might add more.But watch me re-do and upload this again lol...)

#Hrror's writing #Halloween #Halloween 1978 #normal au #Slashers #slasher x reader #slasher fanfiction #slasher fandom #slasher headcanons #Tony Moran #Michael Myers #og michael myers #young michael myers #michael myers x reader #michael myers x y/n #michael myers x you #michael myers fluff #michael myers smut #michael myers angst #michael myers headcanons

[littlenymphie]

hey uh quick psa for gringos when writing latinx characters.

WE DO NOT JUST SWITCH FROM SPANISH TO ENGLISH IN THE SAME SENTENCE.

IF WE ARE TALKING TO ENGLISH SPEAKERS WHO ONLY SPEAK ENGLISH, WE WILL ONLY SPEAK ENGLISH. you wanna add a nickname or a name of endearment? sure! but don’t go.

“you’re living in una mansion arruinada?”

TRANSLATION: “you’re living in a ruined mansion?”

like no one speaks like that. to english speakers.

they’ll literally sound like dickheads and im rolling my eyes

IF WE ARE TALKING TO SPANISH SPEAKERS WHO ONLY SPEAK SPANISH, WE WILL ONLY SPEAK SPANISH. if your character is struggling with spanish and their dominant language is english, they will forgot words or say anglicisms, which is when you turn an english word into a spanish word because a) you forgot the spanish word, b) the spanish word is very similar to the english word and your brain confused them, or c) you’re thinking in english and translating as you speak. it’s more of a combination of all three. anglicisms are often incorrect because you’re just making up a word for something that already has word. aaand the native spanish speaker will correct the anglicism.

“ayyy! me gustaría vivir en una farma!” “…es granja…”

TRANSLATION: “awww! i’d love to live in a farm.” “…it’s (correct translation for farm)…”

see? the english speaker was thinking of farm and just said “farma” but it’s actually “granja” the correct word. this is like the only one i could think of rn but i say a lot of anglicisms bc i’m very americanized (we love living in a colony, aka puerto rico) and there are better examples with like two words being so awfully close but one is wrong bc it’s an anglicism.

IF WE ARE SPEAKING TO SPANISH AND ENGLISH SPEAKERS, THATS WHEN WE SPEAK “SPANGLISH”. that’s the ONLY time we’ll switch in the same sentence. but it’s not to sound cool or exotic, it’s more because we’re lazy and can’t be bothered, especially since the person we’re talking to will understand. HOWEVER, this is like still rare because we will just speak in the language that we are more dominant in, and so will the person who we’re talking to. so it’s more accurate to think of person A talking in spanish while B is responding in english. and if one person is a strict latin parent, they’ll shun on spanglish and will correct the other.

“did you get the eggs i asked for?” “no, no los consegimos. ya se acabaron.” IS MORE ACCURATE THAN “did you get the huevos that i asked for?” “no, we didn’t find them. ya se acabaron”. BUT BOTH DO HAPPEN BETWEEN BILINGUAL PEOPLE.

TRANSLATION: “did you get the eggs that i asked for?” “no we didn’t find them. they were all out.”

yeup. anyways. so that’s my quick psa to writers if they have a latinx character. as a latina, it ALWAYS irks me to see latinx characters code switch in the same sentence while talking to non-spanish speakers like it’s so frustrating. the point of talking is to communicate so why the fuck are you babbling in spanish to people who don’T KNOW THE— *breathes in* *breathes out* okay im good. fucking signal boost this bc it’s too goddamn common.

#writer community #writing resources #writing help #latinx characters #bilingual characters #writing tips #writing advice #writeblr #writer help #writer advice #writer resources #writer tips #writer things #writer thoughts #꧑ᥡ ρ᥆᥉t᥉ ( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡)⊃─˚๐*˟♡

[interact-if]

Day 5 of the interviews! let’s give it up for Ligia! :chinhands:

Ligia, author of Love the Guard, Be the King

Latino Heritage Month Featured Author

Mathias' heart has been bleeding since his father, the former King, decided to punish you for his mistakes. As the youngest child of a lesser bourgeois, you were raised in the castle, between the King’s cruelty, the Queen’s friendship, and  Mathias’s kindness (or supposed kindness?).

Now, more than twenty Carnivals since your arrival, the King is dead and the Queen’s sickness  worsens each day. As the azure taint spreads in the kingdom and the Opalean Wars come to an end, it’s Mathias’s time to sit on the throne.

Will the docile Prince become a kind King, a violent Monarch, or a ruthless Tyrant? Will you have any say in it? And how much will your relationship change?

Love the Guard, Be the King Demo | Author’s Kofi | Read more [here]

Tags: historical, romance

(INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT)

Q1: So, tell us a little bit about the projects you’re working on!

With pleasure! Right now, I’m working on three main projects. My personal Visual Novel project, “Love the Guard, Be the King,” a second Visual Novel I’ve been secretly working on with a good friend for the past 10 months or so, and I also have an ongoing book series about hot, quirky supervillains—but I’ll focus only on the first two cause that’s what we’re here for, right? Hahaha.

LtGBtK is a really intimist experience, focused more on the MC’s and RO’s character arcs and how we can change depending on our experiences and how we feel about them. The entire plot happens in only four days, but it takes into account almost 30 years of history—basically Mathias’s (the only RO) entire life!

“Crystal Library” has mystery, romance, magic, 6 ROs, and a ton of memorable scenes already. I’m working on the graphics and the programming for this one, while Coco Nichole (@dreamybard), one of my favorite writers ever, is the brilliant mind behind the plot and all of CL’s characters! I can’t wait to share this one with you all. Romance is optional in both. :)

Q2: What excites you most about using interactive fiction? What are some of the biggest challenges?

What I LOVE and FEAR about all types of interactive fiction is how it invites players to, on a much deeper level, be part of the narrative. When reading books, we all work hard to translate beautiful sentences and scenes into images in your head. We interact with it, yes, but when playing IFs, we also explore the narrative in a different way; we have so much more agency over what happens! We sometimes have different paths to choose from, beautiful illustrations to unlock, or character traits that change depending on our choices… it’s amazing, and, IMO, it’s a very unique way to experience narratives.

But it’s also very complex, very demanding, and it can easily get out of hand if you give the players too many options/branches to follow, mainly when working with small teams or, in my case for LtGBtK, alone. *takes a deep breath* I just hope I’m doing a good job. .-.

Q3: What has been something in your project you’ve had to do a weird amount of research for?

Besides programming lol basically everything. For LtGBtK, I’m trying to create this weird fantasy with a modern-medieval society (?), so I’m constantly researching medieval customs, traditions, tools, and weirdly specific stuff like socks. Did people wear socks in the medieval era? What were their playing cards made of? When was ice cream invented? How did they shave? How did kids become knights? What were their perfumes made of? And soaps? What did they eat? How different was their wine? And what kind of materials or slang or fabrics can I use, and what can I change without completely breaking immersion?

 And then I shove all that into a pot and adapt it to a world where Mathias can literally put the world on fire with a wave of his hands. ♥

Q4: Which of your characters is most like you? How?

I think I’m a mix of them all, but mainly Mandra and Rafa (one of my main characters in my supervillain books). They have wildly different personalities and stories, but those two have clear views of the kind of person they want to be, they’re not afraid of their soft sides, and they are ready to work hard to become good at what they love. Rafa has a specially strong connection to her brother, like my siblings and I, and Mand is often locked in an eternal state of wanting to be alone and wanting to be surrounded by family/loved ones, so I guess we meet there too!

Q5: Does your heritage influence your characters as you create them? (How? Why or why not?)

Yes! There are the very basic ways, like habits, names, food, family dynamics, settings (mainly in my books, which are all very Brazilian), and Holidays. And then there’s a more personal way that I’m not entirely sure I can explain because I lived in Brazil for 28 years, and I’m not sure I can put that into words. The classics of our literature are different, Art, architecture, and music developed differently, my country was violently colonized and still faces the results of that violence (including but not limited to structural racism, classism, misogyny etc), I learned some Capoeira in my physical education class at school, we call non-Brazilians “gringos,” and so on. This is my normal, and this is what my characters would see as normal too, because I don’t know any different.

At the very core, all my characters are influenced by my country’s history, by our relationship with other countries, and by the values my parents taught me, passed down to them by my Indigeous-Spanish-Portuguese-German foremothers/fathers. :P

The main, more palpable way my heritage influences my characters, though, is through humor and theme. I think Brazilians have a very specific, sharp, and often very smart kind of humor that, IMO, stems from the type of history our country has, and the way we look at life, sometimes translating pain into humor. As for themes, I usually write about what makes me angry... and there’s a lot in Brazil’s history and modern society that causes me that. :)

But all I know for sure is that I want to show the world Brazilians are much more than samba and soccer.

 Q6: What is something you love to see in interactive fiction?

Other people! In the same way I add my history and worldview to my creations, I always approach stories thinking that there’s a whole, well, history behind them. And I love that! Also, I adore choices that feel impactful + good friendships and family relationships + soft romances with mutual respect. ♥

Q7: Any advice to give?

Hmm. Be proud and celebrate who you are and where you’re from. Learning and understanding the world inside us is a life-long process, so it’s always a victory to discover new pieces of ourselves. :) Also, if you can, talk to people that come from different cultures than yours to expand your worldview, don’t be afraid to be soft (the world needs more kindness), and please study personal finance. Seriously. XD

#if: events #latino heritage month #latino authors #cyoa #choose your own adventure #choose your story #interactive fiction

[spanishskulduggery]

Hi! I'm very curious about something regarding the Spanish language. I'm currently studying A2 Spanish but I had this question and my teacher did not seem too willing to discuss it. Here it goes:

I know that Spanish has, something my Spanish teacher says, linguistic gender. I was wondering how do the people who don't align themselves with the gender binary (masculine and feminine) speak/write in it? I have read this article about Spanish speaking people from US adding "x" Or "@" and people from Argentina using "e" to make the words gender neutral.

Thank you so much for responding, whenever you get to it. Also love your blog. ❤

Short answer, in general speaking terms people are tending towards the -e now because the other two are very hard to actually speak, and because Spanish-speakers feel the -e is more authentic

What you're most likely to see in Spanish is masculine plural as the default, or in written things you might see todos y todas or like un/una alumno/a "a student", or like se busca empleado/a "employees wanted" / "looking for an employee"

If it's something official or academic you typically include both [todas y todas] or you go masculine plural [todos] unless it's specifically feminine plural

-

Related, linguistic gender applies to all things, not just people. Why is la mesa "table" feminine, but el libro "book" masculine? Just linguistic gender. I can tell you that most loanwords (that aren't people) in Spanish are masculine, and that there are certain words that come from Greek are masculine, and that -ista words are unisex most of the time... And I can tell you there are some words like testigo or modelo that are unisex and don't change for gender. Aside from that, speaking about nouns and grammatical gender... those particular things are harder to parse for regular people, but if you go into the field of linguistics you can explore that more deeply. Some of it is source language (i.e. "it came from Latin this way") or things like that. And in general when talking about nouns it's unimportant and not considered sexist, that's just how it is.

There is such a thing where it gets a little too far the other way and people will say "history? what about herstory" which is a nice thought but the etymology has nothing to do with gender there

When it comes to people - and when it comes to gendered attitudes - that's where it gets more confusing and more complicated.

I believe there was an experiment where people had French and Spanish speakers [I believe it was Spanish] try to identify how a "fork" would sound. French people gave it a more feminine voice because "fork" is feminine in French, while Spanish speakers gave it a more masculine voice because it's masculine in Spanish.

Whether we like it or not, certain gendered things do influence our thoughts and feelings and reactions. A similar thing in English exists where the old joke was something like "There was a car accident; a boy is rushed to the ER and the surgeon but the father was killed. When they got to the ER the doctor said 'I can't operate on him, he's my son!'" and it's like "well who could the doctor be?" ...and the doctor is his mother. We associate "doctor" as masculine and "nurse" as feminine.

There's a gender bias in our language thought patterns, even though the language changes. And that does exist in Spanish too, to different extents.

There are certain cultural and gendered stereotypes or connotations attached to certain words, many tend to be more despective or pejorative when it's women.

For example - and I know this has changed in many places or it isn't as prevalent - el jinete "horseman/rider", while the female form is la amazona "horsewoman/rider". Because la jinete or la jineta was sometimes "promiscuous woman".

There were also debates about things like la presidente vs. la presidenta or what the female version of juez should be, whether it should be la juez or la jueza

Most languages with gendered language have varying degrees of this, and all languages I'm aware of have gendered stereotypes related to professions or cultural attitudes in some way, and not just for women, and not all in the same way with some of them being very culturally based

-

The longer answer involves a bit of history, and I'll be honest, some of it is contested or considered a little controversial in Spanish-speaking countries particularly in the conservative parts (which honestly should come as no surprise)

The first symbol that I know of that came about was the X

First piece of contested history: As far as I know, it was the trans/queer and drag communities in Latin America who started the trend of X. When there were signs or bulletins that had the gendered endings - specifically masculine plural as the default plural - people would write a big X through the O. This was a way of being inclusive and also a very smash the patriarchy move.

Some people attribute this to women's rights activists which may also be true, but a good portion of the things I read from people say it was the trans/queer/drag communities in Latin America doing this.

I've also read it originated in Brazil with Portuguese; still Latin America, but not a Spanish-speaking country.

Where it's most contested is that some people will say that this trend started in the Hispanic communities of the United States. And - not without reason - people are upset that this is perceived as a very gringo movement.

That's why Latinx is considered a very American-Hispanic experience

-

The arroba (@) is relatively new. I remember seeing it in the 2000s. I don't know if it existed earlier for gender inclusivity.

People used it because it looks like a combination of O and A, so it was meant to be cut down on saying things like todos y todas or niños y niñas in informal written speech

I remember quite a few (informal) emails starting like hola tod@s or muy buenas a tod@s or things like that

I think of it more as convenience especially in the information age where you never knew who you were talking to and it's easier than including both words, especially when masculine plural might be clumsy or insensitive

Still, it's practically impossible to use the @ in spoken Spanish, so it's better for writing casually. You also likely won't be allowed to use the @ in anything academic, but in chatrooms, blogs, or forums it's an option

-

I love the E ending. And the gender neutral form in singular is elle... so it's él "he", ella "she", and elle "they (singular)"

The -e ending is I think became more common within the past 10 years though it might have existed longer than that. These sorts of changes tend to come from the queer or trans communities and tend to be more insular before becoming more of an outside thing that then the general population finds out about

It came about because there are some adjectives in Spanish that end in -e that are unisex. It's not an A, it's not an O, but it's something grammatically neutral for Spanish

It's not as awkward as X, and E exists very firmly in Spanish so it's not perceived as some outside (typically gringo) influence

The good news is, it's pretty widespread on the internet. Not so much in person (yet), but especially in Spain and Argentina at least from what I've seen, particularly in the queer communities and online culture.

The only issues with it are that for non-native speakers, you have to get used to any spelling changes. Like amigo and amiga, but to use the E ending you have to add a U... so it's amigue.

That's because there are certain words where you have to do spelling changes to preserve the sound; gue has a hard G sound like -go does [like guerra]... but ge has the equivalent of an English H sound [gelatina for example]. Another one is cómico/a "funny" which would go to cómique. Again, because co has a hard C/K sound, while ce is a soft sound more like an S or in some contexts TH/Z sound; like centro is a soft sound, while cola is a hard sound

Unless you make it to the preterite forms where you come across like pagué, alcancé, practiqué with those types of endings... or subjunctive forms, pague, alcance, practique ... Basically you'd have to be exposed to those spelling rules or you'd be really confused if you were a total beginner.

It all makes sense when you speak it, but spelling might be harder before you learn those rules

The other drawback is that the E endings are sometimes not applicable. Like in damas y caballeros "ladies and gentlemen" there's not really a gender neutral variation on that, it's all binary there. And while la caballero "female knight" does exist, you'd never see a male variation on dama; the closest I've ever seen is calling a guy a damisela en apuros "damsel in distress" in some contexts where the man needs rescuing, and it's feminine una/la damisela, and it's very tongue-in-cheek

There are also some contexts like jefe vs jefa where I guess you would say jefe for "boss" if you were going the neutral route, but it's a bit weird because it's also the masculine option.

I can't speak for how people might feel about those if they're non-binary or agender because every so often you kind of get forced into the binary whether you like it or not

I totally support the E, I just recognize there are some limitations there and it's quirks of the Spanish language itself

Important Note: Just to reiterate, E endings are the ones most Spanish-speakers prefer because it's easiest to speak and doesn't have the American connotation that X does in some circles

-

Where it gets very "Facebook comment section" is that you'll see many Latin Americans traditionalists and conservatives claim that "this is just the gringos colonizing our language" and "grammatical gender doesn't matter in Spanish". They'll say that the "gender movement" is an American feminist movement and that it's a gringo thing and doesn't reflect actual Latin Americans or Spanish-speakers

Which on the one hand, yes, English does have a lot of undue influence on other languages because of colonization, and American influence and meddling in Latin American politics is a big important issue

But as far as I'm aware of the X (and especially the E) were created by Latin Americans

The other issue I personally have is that any time this conversation comes up, someone will say something like somos latinOs and claim that masculine plural is gender neutral

To that I say, first of all, "masculine plural" is inherently gendered. Additionally, there is a gender neutral in Spanish but it's lo or ello and it's only used with "it" so it sounds very unfriendly to use on an actual person... and in plural it looks like masculine plural and everything applies like masculine plural

Second, the reason masculine plural is default is because of machismo. It's more important that we don't possibly misgender a man, so it has to be masculine plural. It's changed in some places, but growing up when I was learning Spanish, if it was 99 women and 1 man you still had to put masculine plural

I'm not opposed to there being a default, and I understand why it's easier to use masculine plural, but some people get very upset at the idea of inclusive language

...

In general, my biggest issues with these comments come when people act like non-binary/queer/trans people don't exist in Spanish-speaking countries, like English invented them somehow. So it's nice to see linguistic self-determination and seeing native speakers using the E endings.

[morganaspendragonss]

holly's august extravaganza day 26: slowly becoming lovers

for sonia (@pragmaticoptimist34)! i have to confess something - i got so caught up in writing this that i actually forgot to include either of the other two prompts you sent me 🙈 i hope you like it anyway!

second confession - it was supposed to be longer and then it kind of got away from me so i had to draw a line somewhere oops

thanks to @ravens-words, @cosmiicmalex, @halsteadmarchs and liz (sorry, i don't know your tumblr!) for enabling me and to @noxsoulmate for beta'ing!

ao3 | 2.9k | falling in love, fluff, tiny, tiny hint of hurt/comfort, soft tarlos, set between s1 and s2

Things don’t get fixed overnight. They agree to give them a shot, but that doesn’t change the fact that TK is still reeling from his break-up and overdose, nor that Carlos is still hesitant and afraid of pushing too hard at once.

But, slowly, they get to know each other. And, slowly, they start to fall in love.

i. food preferences

“You have to be joking.”

“It tastes like soap, Carlos!”

Carlos groans and drops his head into his hands, shaking his head at this latest revelation from his boyfriend. His boyfriend, who has just made his life—or at least his cooking—a hell of a lot more complicated. “My mamá would have a fit if she could hear you now.”

He almost regrets the words as TK’s eyes alight with interest; he’s been dancing around the topic of his parents for a while now, but it’s not like he can deny what he said. His mom would be having a fit, or possibly attempting to kill TK with a wooden spoon, if she found out that Carlos’s boyfriend was not only a gringo, but one who hates coriander.

“I swear, you won’t even taste it when it’s mixed into the food,” he tries, because coriander is a staple of his cooking, and he can’t even fathom not using it.

But TK just levels him with a firm look. “Yes, I will, Carlos. I’ll always taste it.”

Carlos rolls his eyes at his boyfriend’s theatrics, but sighs, relenting. “Fine. I suppose I can—” He doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, as TK throws his arms around him and plants a noisy kiss on his cheek.

“Thanks, babe,” he says, grinning cheekily.

“Yeah, yeah,” Carlos grumbles, but he can’t help but smile.

There’s very little, he’s finding, that he wouldn’t do for TK.

ii. nicknames

It slips out by accident one day.

“TK,” Carlos groans, followed by a gasp as TK moves just right, sending sparks of pleasure down his spine. “TK, Ty—”

TK instantly freezes on top of him and Carlos’s eyes open, concern rising in him as he takes in the pensive look on his boyfriend’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

“I…” TK shakes his head and forces a smile. “It’s nothing. I’m good, I promise.” He ducks down to kiss Carlos again, but the mood is all wrong, and Carlos gently pushes him back, raising an eyebrow. TK holds out a moment longer, then sighs and rolls away, staring up at the ceiling. “It’s stupid.”

Carlos tuts, reaching over to brush a hand through TK’s hair. “Bet you $20 it’s not.”

“Hope you have $20 then, Reyes,” TK says wryly. He looks over at Carlos and sighs again, biting his lip. “It’s just… You called me Ty.”

“Oh.” Carlos’s eyes widen and he props himself up on an elbow. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking; it won’t happen again—”

TK presses a finger against his lips, cutting him off abruptly. He smiles softly, then removes his finger and caresses Carlos’s cheek. “It’s okay,” he says. “More than okay, actually. I… I’ve always hated my name, but, I don’t know, I guess it sounded right? Like, when you said it? I think I’d kill anyone else who tried, but I really liked it coming from you.”

“Are you sure? You’re not just saying that because—”

Carlos is again cut off, this time by TK’s lips on his. TK moves so that he’s straddling Carlos again, hands pressed against his chest. “I’m sure,” he whispers, a grin playing at his mouth. “Now, weren’t we in the middle of something?”

iii. religion

Christmas sneaks up on him that year. Between helping the city recovering from the solar storm, work in general, the pandemic, and building his relationship with TK, Carlos has completely lost track of the months, until it’s a week before the date and he has nothing planned.

Really, it’s never been a big deal for him; he and his family used to attend mass and make an event out of it when he was a kid, but now he’s an adult, he’s often working, and he hasn’t been to church regularly since he was a teenager. But this year is different. This year, he’ll be spending it with TK, their first Christmas together, and he wants to make it special.

But he’s left it too late—nothing he orders online will arrive in time, the shops are becoming a nightmare, and he honestly has no clue where to even start. So Carlos resigns himself to another quiet Christmas, frustration and disappointment welling in him at the thought of telling his boyfriend.

“I’m sorry,” he blurts out one night over dinner, the thought having been gnawing at him for days.

TK raises a brow. “For?”

“Christmas,” Carlos sighs, looking down into his stew. “It’s our first one together and I had all these plans, and then I just sort of… I didn’t forget! But things have been so crazy, and—”

He’s cut off when TK lays a hand on his. When Carlos looks up at him, TK seems to be fighting back laughter, which is confusing at best and potentially mildly insulting at worst.

“Babe,” TK says, grinning, “it’s okay. You might not believe me, but I forgot too. Christmas wasn’t really a thing growing up—my mom’s Jewish, so I used to celebrate Hanukkah on the years I stayed with her, and Dad was working more often than not. I don’t care, I promise.”

Carlos blinks. “You’re Jewish?” Surely he would know if… But they’ve never discussed religion before, and Carlos had kind of assumed TK had the same ideals as him about the church. In hindsight that was stupid and presumptuous, and Carlos can’t quite believe he’d do something like that. An apology is on the tip of his tongue, but TK just shrugs, going back to his stew.

“Half,” he says. “I don’t really practice anymore but I still keep the beliefs with me, if that makes sense?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it does.”

TK smiles at him, and Carlos suddenly realises that this holiday season will be special after all, even if they don’t celebrate anything. Because he’s with TK, which is the most special thing in the world.

iv. how they sleep

Carlos has been sleeping alone for a long time. He’s had a couple of short-term boyfriends and the odd hook-up here and there, but he’s never had someone else in his bed regularly—certainly not regularly enough to get used to it.

TK was hesitant at first to stay over, but once he started to be more comfortable, it was almost a given that they’d be sleeping together whenever their shifts allowed.

And it had been an adjustment.

TK had warned him he tended to move around and be clingy in his sleep, but Carlos hadn’t quite understood what that meant, until now. He is, essentially, trapped under TK, his arms pinned to his sides and one leg thrown over his hip. TK’s head is pillowed on Carlos’s shoulder and his breath is fanning in soft puffs over his skin.

The only way he can move is if he wakes TK up, and there’s no way Carlos is going to do that. His boyfriend looks so peaceful, and Carlos is more than happy to be clung onto like a koala to a branch if it keeps that expression on his face.

In fact, he thinks he can get used to this very easily.

v. pda

In private, their days are filled with gentle touches and stolen kisses. Carlos will be cooking breakfast and TK will slip his arms around him, kissing the back of his neck. TK will be doing one chore or another and Carlos will brush a hand over his back or gently nudge him as he walks past.

But in public, it’s a whole other story.

It’s almost reflexive, the way TK reaches for Carlos’s hand as they’re walking down the street. It’s something they do all the time at home, and even with their friends, but this time, Carlos immediately tenses, seemingly automatically pulling his hand away.

“You okay?” he asks, frowning.

Carlos takes a deep breath, then obviously plasters on a smile, retaking TK’s hand—and TK can feel the tension in the gesture. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not.” TK gently lets go of Carlos and smiles reassuringly up at him. “It’s okay if you’re not comfortable with touching in public.”

“I’m sorry, I just—”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. This is all on me; I should have asked.”

“But—”

“But, nothing.” He carefully bumps their soldiers together. “You’re entitled to your boundaries, I’m just sorry for overstepping. Tell me next time, please?”

Carlos hesitates, but nods, a gentle press of their arms a silent acknowledgment of agreement and understanding.

vi. scars

Carlos, TK has noticed, likes to pay extra attention to his bullet scar. Whether it’s pressing a gentle kiss over it when they’re in bed, or brushing it with his fingers when wrapping an arm around him, it happens too often for TK to believe it’s anything but intentional.

He doesn’t understand it at first.

Then he discovers Carlos’s own scars.

“What’s this?” he asks, tracing over the thick raised scarring on Carlos’s side. It stretches along the curve of his waist and round his back, and TK has no idea how he hasn’t noticed it before.

Carlos cranes his neck, letting out a hum when he sees what TK’s looking at. His head flops back down on the pillow and he closes his eyes, absently stroking up and down TK’s sides.

“It was...three years ago, maybe?” he says. “I got stabbed on a call. They told me it was pretty touch-and-go for a while, but they fixed me up and I was back at work in a month.”

His eyes are still closed, body completely relaxed, but TK can’t take his eyes off the scar. He reaches up to his own scar, and he gets it.

Carlos’s eyes crack open. “TK?”

“I’m good,” TK murmurs. He breaks his gaze from Carlos’s abdomen and smiles at him. “We both are.”

And if, after that day, Carlos notices him paying more attention to that scar, he doesn’t say anything.

vii. penguin or panda

“You’re out of your mind!”

In Carlos’s defence, a zoo date had seemed like a good idea. He knows TK loves animals, and he himself grew up around them, so in theory, a trip to Austin Zoo should have been the perfect time to get to know each other better while enjoying the day.

Turns out, TK has some very strong opinions on animals, and is willing to budge for absolutely no-one.

“I can’t believe you think penguins are cuter than pandas! I mean, look at them, Carlos!” He gestures emphatically to the panda enclosure, where one is napping on a log. It’s pretty cute, Carlos has to admit, but…

He shrugs. “But remember when the penguins were all huddling together?”

TK makes a noise of outrage, and Carlos has to laugh, then some more at the wounded pout he gets for it. “Is this really a thing for you?” he asks. “Like, is this going to be the dealbreaker for us?”

TK folds his arms and levels him with a stern look. “That depends,” he says. “Meerkats or koalas?”

And, just because he knows it will rile TK up more, Carlos grins and answers, “Meerkats.”

(They don’t break-up over it, but Carlos isn’t so sure that TK will be forgiving him any time soon.)

viii. special interests

“Say you could go back to a moment in history, but only once,” TK says, out of the blue, breaking the comfortable silence of the front room. Carlos stops carding his fingers through TK’s hair and looks down at him, curious. “Where would you go?”

Carlos opens his mouth, but TK doesn’t give him a second to answer. “Is it cliché if I said I’d go to Stonewall? I mean, I’d really like to see dinosaurs in the flesh, or—oh! I was, like, obsessed with pirates as a kid; I thought they were the coolest things ever, and I pretty much idolised Anne Bonny. But I’m pretty sure I’d die immediately if I went to either of those places, so…”

He trails off, a blush rising on his cheeks. “Sorry, I’m boring you.”

“No!” Carlos rushes to say. “No, you’re not. I love history, I just… What makes you ask?”

“It’s something we got into at the station earlier. Mateo brought it up first, I think?”

Carlos hums, pursing his lips in thought. “I guess…” He sighs and shakes his head. “It’s too hard. There’s so many places I’d want to go and people I’d want to meet.”

“But if you had to pick?” TK pushes, sitting upright and looking at Carlos with interest.

“I really want to meet Eleanor of Aquitaine, but if I could only go to one place…” He hesitates and thinks it over some more, but then his eyes catch on the masks hanging along the stairway, and he’s sure. “Tenochtitlan, but before Cortés arrived. It was a whole society, and I just think it would be so cool to see it up close and to know what it was like first-hand. I mean, I’ve read a lot of books, but we don’t have much from the Mexica people, a lot is from the conquerors, and—”

Carlos stops and huffs a laugh. “Now I’m the one boring you,” he says, but TK shakes his head, eyes bright.

“Tell me more.”

ix. coffee order

TK accepts the coffee without even thinking about it, even taking a sip before he realises he never told Carlos what his order was. He curses himself but resolves to drink it anyway; TK isn’t too much of a coffee snob, and he’s certainly not going to reject anything his boyfriend brings him.

He takes a second sip, and he’s so caught up in making a mental note to tell Carlos next time that it takes a minute for the taste to register. And…

It’s his order.

He looks sharply up at Carlos, who is smiling into his own coffee—therefore dispelling any notion of this being an insanely good guess. “How did you know?” he asks, bewildered.

The tips of Carlos’s ears turn pink, but the smile doesn’t leave his face as he looks up at TK. “Our first real date,” he says. “You mentioned that this was your go-to order.”

And TK can’t do anything but stare, because their first date was weeks ago, and Carlos still remembered, and it’s just…

He thinks—no, he knows—he’s falling in love.

x. fears

“Weirdest fears, go.”

TK has to laugh at the perplexed look Carlos sends him at the question, the straw of his boba hanging out of his mouth. Now that they’ve figured a sort of rhythm out between them, they decided to try the boba place again—there have been no emergencies or disasters so far, so TK is counting it as a win.

“Come on,” he continues. “Last time we were here, you said we barely knew each other—which was true—so now we’re going to fix it.”

Carlos’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “By telling each other our weirdest fears?”

“Exactly!” TK grins. “I’ll go first if you’re too chicken. Mine is slicing my hands open or cutting some fingers off with ice skates.”

“What?” Carlos breathes, disbelief all over his face. “I’ve never been ice skating but I’m pretty sure your hands aren’t supposed to go anywhere near the blades.”

“I didn’t say it was rational.” TK sips his boba, raising an eyebrow at Carlos. “Your turn.”

Carlos swallows, suddenly very interested in the table. “I, uh. When I was a kid, my Tía Lucy had a snake get into her pipes. She only discovered it when she went to the toilet one morning and it was just...sitting there in the bowl. I was terrified for years that the same would happen to us, and it’s kind of become a reflex to check.”

“Oh my god.” TK can’t help but burst out laughing, even though he feels bad for it as Carlos covers his face with his hands. “I’m sorry, I know it’s a real thing for you, I just…”

But Carlos’s shoulders are shaking too and, bizarrely, TK really does feel closer to him now.

It’s a good feeling.

xi. long-term commitments

Carlos is surprised when TK is the one to bring it up first.

“Do you ever think about the future?” he asks one day, head in Carlos’s lap, staring up at the ceiling.

Carlos pauses the show he’s technically supposed to be watching and quirks an eyebrow at his boyfriend. “Sure,” he says. “What about the future exactly?”

TK hesitates, and his voice comes out a lot quieter when he next speaks. “Like…” He sighs, a small flush rising on his cheeks. “The future. Our future. Us. Maybe...marriage, or…”

He trails off, practically whispering by the end of it. His gaze has shifted from the ceiling to the frozen TV screen and he’s chewing on his bottom lip, body stiff with tension. “Sorry,” he mutters. “Forget about it.”

But Carlos is learning to read TK, and he knows he was looking for reassurance. “I mean, yeah,” he says. “I think about it. Do you?”

TK stares up at him, wonder in his eyes. “After New York, I thought… But yeah. Yeah, I do.”

They share a smile as they lock eyes, and Carlos knows that they’re on the same page here. That, distant though they may be, both of them can hear wedding bells in their future.

#911 lone star #911 lone star fic #tarlos #tarlos fic #tk strand #carlos reyes #911ls #lone star #fanfiction #my fanfiction #writing #my writing #holly's august extravaganza #pragmaticoptimist34

[thejudgingtrash]

Annabeth is a good person,but not a nice or pleasant one,IMO.

YES.

That’s it. That’s the post. Pack it up everybody, we just cracked the case and cleared up one of the most compelling fights in the PJO fandom since forever. Good job everybody, clap it out and there’s the door! Don’t forget ordering the drinks at Starbucks, Mitch! They’re on me!

Okay, but on a more serious note: YES. YES EXACTLY.

And before some of you roll your eyes or grab your pitchforks – put your biases aside and hear me out for once. I like Annabeth. She’s my in my top three characters only second to Percy himself. I love Percabeth. It’s my favorite ship in the entire series and to be frank, the only ship that I care about PJO wise. Hell, I spend my time creating my own headcanons or writing my own fanfics with Percabeth being the star in them.

But that is not to say that I’m unable to see how certain things have developed over the years or where they stand now in regard to Annabeth. I’m not here to ignore things that have been said and/or done due to or in the name of Annabeth and I’m not here to vilify anyone that doesn’t like her. And I’m here to admit that I’m guilty of some of the things that may be addressed in this meta essay that you will read in just a second. However, I try my best to assure you, that I’m for once able to recognize my own bias.

Warning: a monster essay lies right upon you.

This should count as a paper of its own.

Back to the statement on top: I would go out even further to reframe your claim, anon:

Annabeth Chase is a good character but not a nice or pleasant person.

Annabeth is a wonderful character but she isn’t a nice one. Or at least not nice to everyone. She is (construction wise if I dare say) the best character out of the series. She has her positive traits (she’s caring, she’s emotional, she’s encouraged and volunteers, she fights for what she believes in, she forgives (even if doing so begrudgingly)) but she also has her negative traits (she’s stubborn, she’s brash, changing her mind takes forever, she is prejudiced, she baits others). That balances things out. She is branded as the intelligent kid but does irrational things (like I’ve just said a) she’s a kid and b) she’s not a robot). She should probably know better, but we all make mistakes and hopefully grow and learn from them. The clouds in the sky do blur and cover our visions sometimes.

Annabeth had clashes with other characters or was about to have fights due to her stubbornness or jealousy (Rachel, Reyna, etc.) and has of course her problems with the mortal world and her family but she also found new friends, some things cleared up throughout the narration and she was/is quite popular in Camp Half-Blood.

The thing is: she doesn’t have to be nice or pleasant (as a character). Or at least not all the time. Her character is humanized. That is what or who she is. Human. She does stand out as a character, not just because she’s the (future) love interest. She feels like someone you could meet in real life and either adore from the top to the bottom or declare as your biggest enemy. And that’s totally okay if you lean either way – liking or disliking her. Or even feeling indifferent about her. Also great!

To say that she has been the best character that Riordan has crafted is easy to say, because she has been sculpted after Riordan’s wife. He had a model he could rub some of real-life events or traits on. That’s not the problem. The problem truly doesn’t lie on Riordan’s side for the most part for once.

The problem is inherently on the fandom’s side. What the fandom does, how it acts and how it treats Annabeth as a character is the problem. The problems vary but it’s mostly the mischaracterization of Annabeth, starting fights and fan/ship wars, internalized misogyny (in some cases) and how some of the Annabeth stans lash out (ha, got firsthand experience in that field among many of my friends and mutuals!). There is a reason why many people are wary of people that have Annabeth or Percabeth related URLs.

The fact that we see Annabeth mostly through Percy’s lens and (until the Heroes of Olympus saga hits) we never really see her in chill everyday situations is essentially Riordan leaving the back door of the house open, ready for all of you asshats to rob his mansion in Boston. Because a frame on a character means that we don’t get to see the character in its entirety (unlike we do with Percy in PJO for the most part). That means a bunch of stuff is left open for interpretation which is the reason why Annabeth gets so many polarized headcanon and opinions tossed around. I think that is one of the true appeals of Annabeth. You can add on stuff and it necessarily doesn’t have to contradict itself.

We have people calling her abusive due to a (n admittedly stupid and unnecessary) judo flip and we have people that act like she’s never done anything wrong. People sorta use this excuse to form and shape Annabeth however they want and distort her characterization.

People in the fandom act like Annabeth is some weird prized possession. We perceive Annabeth mostly through the eyes of others (Percy, Apollo, etc.) and when we had some sort of insight in her ways (MOA, HOH) it felt… weird? Somewhat? Like Riordan left two bullet points of her characterization and told the ghostwriter: aight, fuck it up, gringo, see you on Tuesday and greet Fred the next time you see him for me. 

There have been many posts lately (by Tharini, Simi, Sawasawako, Jewishpercy and Annie I believe?) that HOO Percabeth felt weird. That they felt weirdly constructed, that there was no conflict, no growth. It felt stagnating, like we’re turning back. We had five books prior where we had Annabeth and Percy slowly shifting from disliking to liking and crushing each other. True development. And when we finally got the cake it felt… dissatisfying. Like the cheap box stuff and not the delicious exquisite taste that we were promised.

I said it previously in my Percabeth ship roast, but let me repeat myself: many Percabeth related things are straight up fanon. Some of it is very old fanon so that’s been unable to distinguish unless you’ve read the books recently and subtract nearly 99,9% of things you see on Tumblr (and occasionally the other shitty parts of the fandom like Reddit, IG, Twitter. Although they mostly steal and recycle tumblr stuff oh well. But back to the topic).

The way people treat Annabeth is so strange. She’s either an innocent fluffy smush baby that’s never harmed a fly and all that she wants for Christmas is being Percy’s lapdog or she’s the devil incarnate, broke into your house, killed your parents Batman style, kicked your puppy and didn’t flush the toilet on the way out. I think this is what mostly makes people hate her or the ship Percabeth. And both extremes are wrong and right at the same time? She is multifaceted so both stereotypes are true and untrue and sorta cancel each other out in the same way.

The true reason why people dislike Annabeth is because the stans are doing the most. (The haters as well, don’t get me wrong, but oh boy. Piss of a stan and you’ll know what I mean). That isn’t inherently new. Are you guys old enough to remember the ship wars that have happened cross platform? Perachel vs. Percabeth? Oh boy, oh boy. I saw some kids on tumblr a few months ago trying to infiltrate both tags and start shit (and also fail). The fact that Rachel still gets used as the bitchy (ex) girlfriend in fanfics? It’s 2020 guys. I know this apocalyptic year is far from perfect and over but I think we can let this trope die, right? Right? I thought we’ve established that Rachel is a pretty chill charcter by now… right?

If you posted your stuff on FFN back in 2010-2013 and it wasn’t the typical cutesy Percabeth story (Goode High, the gods read TLT, punk/prep Percabeth, college AU, etc.) people would’ve come for your fucking throat. Not because the story or the narration was shit. But because the pairing wasn’t Annabeth and Percy (in the sense that Annabeth had to be paired with Percy. I mean Percy gets shipped with everyone and their mother but for Annabeth it was strictly Percy. As annoying as this whole Connabeth thing is – the people behind it actually had a point. She never had a different love interest unless it’s a Percy centered story and he goes off dating Athena, Artemis and Zoe at the same time for some odd reason. Yeah, FFN Percy ships are something). Or it wasn’t the action filled canon compliant story or it wasn’t an AU that was popular.

People were really stubborn, snobbish and wanted their stuff in the four five boxes that were the most popular ones and that’s it. People have been bullied off the site in many fandoms, so it’s not a PJO-only thing but it’s still sad that it happened. (Off-note: most of these FFN tropes are still alive and well and thriving on AO3. Don’t be so snobbish and pretend that every piece you’d find there is a holy grail. There’s a lot of trash you have to waddle through. Same with Wattpad, Tumblr or anywhere else where fanfics get posted. Also had this discussion with Annabeth stans. Sigh).

And Tumblr back then? Forget it, wasn’t much better.

That view has sorta changed (at least for people that have been in the fandom for several years or have managed to find a way to navigate through it) but some of the negative sentiment from back in the day has survived. Be it by new fans coming in or from old fans that never let their stance die. The aggression feels differently and somewhat not. (I don’t know if the anon function had been abused that much back in the day. I was an observer not a participant in the fandom).

Crack a joke at Annabeth’s expense (Kal’s famous “Annabeth is a Republican” post or Dee Dee’s and many others “Annabeth has the education of a second grader, chill with the college plans, girlie” stance) and you have people insulting you, making callout posts, unfollowing and blocking you (based on only that? Okay, honey), making aggressive counter-posts, etc. in a minute. If you respond with “It’s a joke, it’s not real” you have a 50/50 chance of either getting blown off or embarrassing them so that they apologize for once.

This isn’t just about jokes. You can make a headcanon that’s not the cozy cute convenient mainstream saga and people would react the same way. Or art piece (no, not including the whole Tannabeth Blackchase shtick done by Viria and others) or fanfics.

People project so much onto the unfinished canvas that is Annabeth Chase that any form of negative sentiment as little as someone not liking her to straight up criticism, regardless of how tiny it may be, seems like an affront. Like an invitation to a fight. Like an insult to them, their character, everything they believe in. Let me state something:

You are NOT Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase IS NOT you. Annabeth Chase is NOT real. Her feeling cannot be hurt. Someone criticizing, disliking, joking about her or even insulting her will not bother her. Someone making a statement about her is not an insult to YOU.

Let me repeat that:

Annabeth Chase isn’t real. Annabeth Chase isn’t you.

So think a little before you act? I get it when you’re a kid and new to fandoms or haven’t been up with fan cultures in the past and are back in the scene. But if you’re in your late teens or even older as an adult and you’re unable to understand that you aren’t what you like – you aren’t the extension of a fictional character – I feel incredibly sorry for you. Because that’s just incredibly sad. Someone disliking something you like isn’t an attack of your character. It shows you that you are you and the other person is a human just like you. That they just have different taste. Disliking something you like isn’t a crime, you know? But me feeling sorry for the way some of y’all act won’t mean that that’s even remotely okay. Especially if you’re no longer in the intended audience for PJO age wise and should know better.

This isn’t a “white stans” only thing. I’ve seen and witnessed firsthand how people of color, mainly women of color, act the same or not even worse when it comes to her character. People have projected their problems and real-life occurring events into her character (I’m sure that she isn’t the only character nor that this is the only fandom where this is happening) and in some cases like I’ve said cannot separate their own personality from the fictional world. Fights with woc happened because of Annabeth fucking Chase. So many things have happened in the fandom the past few months, mostly due to people being forced staying at home because of the quarantine but I’d say it’s 10% on quarantine and 90% on people for acting up like this.

So here’s a little story: There was the act of Riordan blowing the fandom up because of his own stupidity and being unable to apologize for his mischaracterization and lack of research (the whole Piper fiasco) back in June (?) and admits the upset fandom, people on Twitter, Tumblr and Discord legit thought that none of that mattered and that the outcry was destroying Annabeth Chase’s birthday. That’s right. People thought that Annabeth Chase’s non-existing birthday because she’s a fictional character had a higher priority than the rupture and prevalent racism in the fandom. Okay. This isn’t a great look, Annabeth stans. And this of course pissed a lot of people off. I made a post about it and someone not only berated three other people on said post but no, we had a mighty argument which had disrupted many friendships in our circle which haven’t recovered until this very day. We both had our parts in it and no one is innocent. But the cause of this still remains Annabeth Chase or how people prioritize her non-existing well-being. Anyway. I’m getting agitated just thinking about it.

Let’s go back to the characterization thing with Annabeth. Let me remind you:

Annabeth Chase is an asshole. There I’ve said it in a post ages ago (too lazy to look it up, sorry) and I’ll say it again. And that’s not me insulting her. That’s me actually loving that about her. Annabeth is one of the very few unapologetic female characters that really showed all young readers across the world that you can be a girl, a badass, smart, strong, standing up for yourself and what you believe in. You don’t have to be nice. You don’t have to hide your feelings. You don’t need a man in all cases but it’s also okay to accept help and defeat.

A large reason why I think she’s an incredibly important character in children’s literature/YA because many other novels (mostly (sadly)) have the “Oh, I’m a white skinny dark-haired girl that likes unconventional things like READING. I’m not like the other girls, that take care of themselves and pamper themselves by enjoying shopping and wearing make-up. No, I’d rather be one of the boys but a sweet cute little boy and not the jock fuck that drank vodka shots out of a filthy shoe once. Despite me calling myself hideous every man in a 10-kilometer radius falls in love with me and tells me I’m oh so sexy and by the way I’m only 16 years old” shit going on for no goddamn reason.

Yes, I do blame Twilight for this mostly in recent years, but this trope isn’t by any means knew. Pretty sure that you could even use classics as Pride and Prejudice and dissect them in the same manner (Bold statement: Lizzy Bennet is the OG Bella Swan. There. Go fight somewhere in the corner, people). The new wave of YA focuses on girls belittling themselves and only starting to believe in themselves because someone else (mostly the male love interest) tells them they’re worth it. And these books hit the mainstream because they’re incredibly bland and picture perfect white.

With Annabeth it’s different. She shows up for the job and is done with it. (Brie Larson would probably be the perfect in real life version of her. You either like or dislike her. Or you really don’t care). That is what is so refreshing about her. Her unapologetic nature. Can it be off-putting? Yes. Is it annoying? Yes! Hell, every time I read The Lightning Thief, I want to rip her goddamn head off. And it’s just so well written. Her shift from mistrusting Percy but secretly still believing in him to her opening up. Wow, Riordan did something right there.

Annabeth Chase isn’t a young character. She has existed along with PJO for 15 years. She’s on her way to the second decade. I’m pretty sure that with the success of Percy Jackson (and Harry Potter) many lives have been warped and shaped.

But when I say the problem lies mostly in the fandom, it doesn’t mean that Riordan’s completely innocent. The only problem that I have with Annabeth lies not truly with her but the fact that Riordan is only able to produce three variations of female characters:

The sweetheart (Hazel, Silena, Calypso, Hestia)

The strong feminist (Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Artemis)

The bitch (Drew, nearly every female goddess in the goddamn Riordanverse next to every female monster)

And these female characters only know three endings:

End up married with a mortgage, three kids, two dogs and a cat somewhere in Connecticut by the age of twelve

Get dumped into the hunt

Chill on Mount Olympus and only come down to be a nuisance and/or give a cryptic message before going back and doing a godly rave party or something

We know Annabeth as the badass strong female first (or the bitchy character we’re supposed to actually like. Choose your approach), the blueprint so to speak, so some of the other characters feel almost pale in comparison and almost not needed? Doesn’t mean that other characters can’t behave similarly, but it feels kind of redundant especially if their character arcs end in a rather anticlimactic way (Thalia, Reyna). The new additions are the much needed woc as the main story with PJO was inherently white (anyway stan black!Percy and Grover, folks). So it’s not to bash on the new characters, it’s more Riordan’s fault more than anything.

Since Riordan only knows three female character arcs it feels like he tried to copy the formula several ways with different nuances. Some more or less successful. This is where fandom actually comes in handy and helps create more distinguished and fleshed out characters in form of headcanons or fanfiction.

But even in these cases people still make it about Annabeth when it’s time for characters of colors to shine. Remember that whole spiel and discussion that broke out when people (Kal, diver-up, Caitlyn, Bee, reynaisalesbian, etc.) joked about or criticized that Annabeth thinks that she’s having it harder because she’s a blonde? In front of Hazel and Piper? If she would’ve been a real person that’s an invitation for getting decked. And then all hell broke loose because Annabeth stans couldn’t accept the fact that in the real world and/or in fictional worlds the woc/coc have it harder? That the white woman wasn’t the victim that needed the coddling? Yeah, that was mad pathetic.

I hope you people get my point?

Well fuck. I wrote so many things and have the feeling I’ve said nothing. Anyway, I hope I made sense. This is way too long.

TLDR: Chill about Annabeth please. She’s an important character but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to like her, regardless of being a character in the books or a reader/fan of PJO in real life. She isn’t nice or a sweetheart all the time. She also isn’t the monstrous asshole that some try to make out of her.

Peace out.

#Mel answers #pjo #percy jackson #Annabeth chase #percy jackson and the olympians #Percabeth #pjo Meta #Heroes of olympus #hoo #trials of apollo #toa #hazel levesque #piper mclean #reyna avila ramirez arellano #rachel elizabeth dare #pjo fandom #coc #rick riordan #riordanverse

[danniburgh]

Hey! I was just wondering if your requests were open, if you were able to write smut about y/n who works for the narcos and Javier arrests her and she tries to flirt her way out of it but they end up having really rough sex w/ lots of dirty talk ! 🤤🤤

hello anon!!! not really open requests bc no one cares about me lmao, and im always able to write smut ;) but i got this and said to my self “sabes que? fuck it” i was outlining my new dave york fic but i need a break anyway so let’s goooooo heres a drabble i guess, hope you like it :) (also i would like a please and thanks lmao politeness never killed anyone)

so, warnings: smut lol, car sex, derogatory words, handcuffs!, javi being fucking frustrated, slight slapping

Your feet were killing you already, what the fuck were you thinking? getting into a job like the one you got into? you were a low grade messenger; you didn’t even know El Patrón, why were they chasing you? You tried to lose them, but the taller one was really fast, the streets were dark already and the streetlights didn’t allow you to really hide, were you the only one they were after?

You wanted to shout at them that you didn’t know shit, to let you go, that you weren’t armed, but before that a big body tackled you down and made you hit the floor like a bag of flour, you felt a sting on your knee and your face hit the hot pavement.

“¡Mierda!” you screamed, the body over you belonged to a blond man “gringo de mierda” you mumbled as he tugged your arms behind you and handcuffed you. 

“Shut up,” he hissed, grabbing your arms and lifting you from the floor like you were a feather, a dark-haired man walked towards the both of you and looked at you.

“Get her in the car,” you frowned and narrowed your eyes at him, he let himself look at you up and down and licked his lower lip as the blond man dragged you to a truck and shoved you inside on the backseat.

The car was dark and hot, you were sweating from the chase and the heat inside the truck wasn’t helping, it was killing you. The dark-haired man walked towards it and got inside on the driver’s seat. He pulled something out of his pocket and showed you his badge.

“Javier Peña, soy de la DEA, ¿cómo te llamas?” (I’m DEA, what’s your name?) you just looked at him and bit your lower lip, considering what to say to him or even if whatever you told him would help your situation.

You told him your name and he repeated it with a nod.

“¿Qué hacías ahí?” (what were you doing there?) you shrugged and he sighed “fucking shit,” he mumbled, and you smirked, knowing he was getting exasperated.

“Are you gonna take me somewhere?” you asked, he glanced at you and rolled his eyes “I know nothing,”

“Why were you there?” he asked again, a little louder this time, his deep timbre making you flinch and clench your thighs at the same time. Shit. He was hot, and it didn’t help the fact that you liked to be manhandled. You bit your lip and sighed.

“I was doing nothing,” 

“Bullshit, I know who you work for, now, are you answer my questions?” he asked, frustrated.

“I could, but I rather do something else,” you cooed and bit your lip again, Javier smirked and shook his head, he got out of the car and you rolled your eyes, before you could think of another strategy he opened the door of the back and got inside next to you. Even in the darkness and silence of the car and the street you could see he was very fucking handsome, and for some reason, looking at him all sweaty and frustrated was making you horny.

“Don’t play with me,” he growled, the sentence sinking in your lower belly “answer me” 

“No,” you raised an eyebrow and he sighed again, he reached for your shirt and brought you closer to him, you could feel his breath on your face and his heat lingering on your body. You lost your grip and ordered yourself to be bold enough to do something, so as his face was inches away from you, you threw yourself to him and stole a kiss.

The action startled Javier at first and he lifted his hands on the air, then he got angry that you were trying to get away by fucking and then he got horny, because he had a pretty woman licking and kissing his lips and he was no one to deny himself of the pleasure. So he cupped your face and continued the kiss, you moaned when he did, you wanted to straddle his lap but before you could he broke the kiss and moved you to kneel on the seat.

“You wanna get out of this?” he asked, you nodded trying to balance yourself as you still had your wrists tied behind your back “you fucking slut, turn around,” he ordered with a smirk, you did as he told you and heard a growl when he noticed you were still handcuffed. He grabbed your wrists and pushed your head down so you were on your knees with your face pressed against the warm leather of the backseat and your ass on the air, you moved your ass a bit and he slapped it lightly.

Behind you you heard a belt being unbuckled, something being unwrapped and then you felt his warm, large hands roaming around you to unbutton your pants, he tugged them down harshly leaving you bare in front of him, you separated your knees enough for him to see you.

“Look at you, so fucking drenched already,” he accommodated himself as he could in the limited space you had inside the car and dragged his cock through your slit, you whimpered at the hard feeling and he pushed the head inside you “so fucking tight,” you tried to push yourself back to get him deeper inside you “oh, shit, aren’t you hungry for my cock,” he gripped your hips to stop you and he pulled out.

“Mierda,” you hissed.

“Do you want my cock?” he asked and you nodded “I’ll give you my cock if you’re a good little slut and tell me everything you know,” he pushed his throbbing head inside again and you nodded again “you’re gonna be a good whore and tell me everything?” 

“Yes, yes just fuck me already,” he didin’t have to be asked twice, he pushed himself hard into you and bottomed up instantly, making you moan loudly.

“Start talking or I’ll stop,” he grunted, setting a hard fast pace and pounding into you hard, “fuck you’re so tight,” you tried your best to gather your words to start telling him everything you did for the cartel but his cock was so big and so good that it was hard “are you cockdumb already?” he slapped your ass again and you whimpered, “speak,” he angled his hips and thrusted into you faster.

“Ah, Javier, mierda,” he leaned in to nibble at your shoulder and one of his hands grabbed your wrists again for leverage.

“Fucking speak you dirty little slut,” you nodded and he gripped you faster, never breaking the pace as he hit your cervix and made your cunt clench around him “I wanna hear everything you have to say and I promise I’ll let you cum, you wanna cum on my cock?” you nodded again and opened your mouth to speak, for every fact you gave him he gave you a deep long thrust, when you finished talking he slid his hand to your clit and started rubbing fast circles “you did a great job, I can’t believe how good this cunt is,” you moaned and clenched around him “who would’ve thought narco pussy would be so fucking good, I’m gonna let you cum, now,” he bit your shoulder and that pushed you over the edge, you clenched around him and milked his orgasm out of him, his seed guarded by the condom he was wearing as his fingers helped you ride your high.

“Gracias,” you mumbled as his hands left your body and he released your handcuff grip.

“Get out of here, and I better don’t see you around those second class narcos anymore, y’hear?” you pulled up your jeans and nodded, as he was pulling up his zipper you smiled at him, kissed him on the cheek and got out of the car.

#javier peña #Javier Pena #javier peña x reader #javier peña drabble #narcos #narcos netflix #narcos drabble #Pedro Pascal #Jose Pedro Balmaceda Pascal #ask request #pedro pascal characters

[fizzychocolatemilk]

La Belleza que Atrae... (The Beauty that Attracts...) (Seroroki Tropetember Drabble)

Seroroki tropetember drabble is here finally! This took more research than my usual fics because I wanted to make sure my Spanish was as correct and natural as possible. But here’s my drabble for day 14:  Monstrous (Human/Monster Romance) / Cultural Differences / Language Barrier. AO3 link here.

Shouto met Hanta on an unassuming day in his first week of being stationed at the Tucson, AZ location of Todoroki Corp. Shouto had honestly just been happy to get away from his father for a while, but to do that and meet the most interesting person he’d ever met?! It was a gift that Shouto wasn’t going to take for granted.

Before he actually met Hanta, he had bumped into him a few times first. On his second day there, he had been walking out of a coffee shop that he had never tried before when a man on a bike veered around him shouting, “Cuidado, Gringo!” Shouto stared after the harried man for a moment, thinking about the sleekness of the man’s dark hair and his tan skin, before continuing with his day.

In theory, Shouto knew that the man had been speaking Spanish—that didn’t mean he knew what the man said. Shouto’s father had been more interested in languages that would help Shouto with their international business; Japanese, Mandarin, and English were the languages that his father considered important. But now Shouto was starting to think about learning Spanish.

Shouto saw the same man when he was waiting to pick up a pizza the next afternoon. That time the man was on the phone, talking and laughing with whoever was on the other end of the line. “Jaja, sí! Estoy esperando ahora. Estaré allí pronto. Sí, sí...Adiós.”

The man put his phone back in his pants pocket, then looked up and accidentally locked eyes with Shouto. Shouto maintained his usual blank stare while giving a small placetory smile even though he was beginning to become enamored with the spanish-speaking man, but the other man smiled at Shouto—before furrowing his brows as their staring contest continued past the point of socially acceptable. Shouto was about to work up the courage to go and talk with the man when the employee at the counter called for “Sero!”

Shouto watched as the man went up to the counter and picked up and paid for around 5 boxes of pizza. It felt like he was in a trance as he watched the man’s biceps, exposed by his tropical-patterned, orange muscle tank, flex as he carried the pizzas out the door. He needed to talk to that man—language barrier be damned.

.

.

.

Shouto wasn’t thinking about the handsome man when he saved the little girl.

He had seen her wander into the street and moved without thinking. He heard someone shout, “Mija!” in the background as he tackled the white-blonde girl away from the traffic that was speeding towards her, then the world blurred out and went black.

.

.

.

“Señor...Señor Gringo...SEÑOR!”

Shouto groaned as he sat up...only to headbut the man hovering over him.

“Ay, cabrón!” The man shouted and clutched his head.

Shouto flushed slightly at being so close to the man, but managed to mumble out a semi-audible, if not slightly monotone, apology. The man stared at him, so Shouto asked, “Ummm...do you speak English? If so, I’d like your number. I’ve seen you around a few times and you seem very...interesting.”

The man wrinkled his nose at Shouto before responding, “Ee-m not...bery good ah-t inglés. Yo comprendo inglés aunque. Quieres mi teléfono...You...waant my...noombear?”

Shouto’s eyes sparkled when the man spoke to him (even though his expression remained mostly deadpan), and he nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, you are very beautiful...and I said this but I’ve seen you around several times and you just intrigued me every time I saw you for some reason. I’d like a chance to get to know you better.”

The man gave a soft smile and opened his mouth to respond before the little girl gave a slight tug to his sleeve, “Tío Hanta...tú y este hombre van a ser papá y papi?”

Shouto didn’t know what the girl said, but the man, Hanta, blushed hard and embarrassedly hissed, “Eri-chan, no!” Hanta hugged the girl to his side before turning back to Shouto, “Ehhhhh...tienes un bolígrafo...Doo you hahve ah pe-en?” Shouto reached into his bag and handed the man a pen. “Gracias,” the man nodded before pulling up Shouto’s arm and writing a series of digits on his inner forearm.

Shouto stared at the numbers for a moment before looking up at Hanta. The man grinned and pulled up his hand and used his thumb and pinky finger to make the “call me” sign as he walked away with the girl. Shouto needed to start learning Spanish.

That’s it! Thank you so much for reading and being patient for this one. Translations are under the cut.

Translations

Cuidado, Gringo! ~ Move it, Gringo! / Watch it, Gringo! (Gringo is a derogative term in the US for a white person and/or a white American—Sero didn't know that Todoroki is Asian...so he uses this term)

Jaja, sí! Estoy esperando ahora. Estaré allí pronto. Sí, sí...Adiós. ~ Haha, yeah! I'm waiting now. I'll be there soon. Yeah, yeah...bye.

Mija ~ darling / sweetheart (a common pet name, from what I see it's usually used by adults on children, but I'm pretty sure it can also be used for significant others...it can also be used as "mijo" if talking to a male)

Señor...Señor Gringo...SEÑOR! ~ Señor is sir or mister

Ay, cabrón! ~ Oh shit! / Oh fuck!

Ee-m not...bery good ah-t inglés. Yo comprendo inglés aunque. Quieres mi teléfono...You...waant my...noombear? ~ I'm not...very good at English. I understand English though. You want my number...You...want my...number? ("teléfono" literally translates to "telephone" or "phone"...but it is also slang for "phone number"...like how you say "number" instead of "phone number" in English)

Tío Hanta...tú y este hombre van a ser papá y papi? ~ Uncle Hanta...are you and this man going to be like papa and daddy?

Ehhhhh...tienes un bolígrafo...Doo you hahve ah pe-en? ~ Uhhhhh...do you have a pen...do you have a pen? (I know Sero repeats phrases, but usually when I'm speaking Spanish it helps me to say the phrase a couple of times or to say the phrase in English before I say it in Spanish...so I tried to incorporate that into the writing)

Gracias ~ Thanks / Thank you

#fizzy's fics #tropetember #language barrier #spanish #use of spanish slang and swears #eri is bakudeku's kid #that isn't mentioned in the fic #but that's who she means when she says papa y papi #seroroki #todosero #implied bakudeku #eri #sero hanta #todoroki shouto

[i-did]

A guide for proper terminology for Nicky Hemmick:

Written by me, a Mexican-American.

Latin American: someone from Latin America, this includes Mexico but not Spain. Latin America is multi ethnic, and not just Spanish speaking, the non Spanish speaking countries of Latin America are Brazil, Belize, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, and the Falkland Islands.

Latino: decent from Latin America, similar to saying Latin American, but can include people born in America of Latin American decent. People don't really say "Latin American American," they say Latino American. (Latina = woman, and Latine = neutral but not commonly used, often typed Latin@s online for shorthand to include both). Latin American countries are very diverse, some are dominantly black/Afro-Latino.

Afro-Latino: Afro-Latin Americans are dominantly from African decent, some Latin American countries are majorly black/Afro-Latino. when used outside of Latin America it can mean someone who’s mixed black and Latino. 

Latinx: "gender neutral" term for Latino, but probably made by white people because .... Spanish words don't end in x, and x isn't pronounced that way in Spanish, for example the name Xitlali (sometimes spelled Zitlali and other variations, but pronounced like an S). Honestly say Latino/Latinos or Latin@s, and in online queer spaces Latine/Latines.

Chicano: Latin American decent but born in America.

Hispanic: related to Spain, colonized by Spain, so this includes Spain but not Brazil, which is a Latin American country.

Mexican: a person from Mexico living in America, for example Nicky's mom, but often also casually used to mean Mexican Americans (or Latino/Chicanos in general).

Mexican American: Latin American decent born into America. Unlike chicano, it is associated more with the idea of assimilation into white America, but not always.

Mexicano: what Mexicans call themselves in Mexico (feminine is Mexicana).

TexMex: people who were living in Mexico, and then America bought/stole the land and said "this is also America now, you can leave or stay" and they stayed. They became Americans, Texas Mexican American culture is different than for example SoCal Mexican American culture because of this, (but still more in common with each other than not).

Anglo: someone who is non Latino, usually in reference to someone who lives in the America's that were colonized by British people and English is the standard spoken language, ex/ North Americans and Canadians who aren't Latino. Usually in reference to white people but not always. If someone is Asian American and constantly purposefully mispronounces my name, instead of being like "🙄white people" I can be like "🙄 Anglos" (or I could say gringo, which is not as nice of a term for anglo). I honestly don’t know if I can call a spaniard anglo, but I assume not, since they're not Anglo-Saxon, which is where the term comes from.

despite what the media represents, not all Latino���s are Mexican! although the two terms are often used interchangeably when they’re really not. there are 32 other countries besides Mexico in Latin America.

Mexican is technically a nationality, but because of colonialism it’s not that simple. Race dynamics work differently in different countries. Most Mexicanos are not connected with their mixed indigenous ancestors, while some still are, like the Maya. It is something that has been taken from us and has evolved into its own thing. Some Mexicanos are lighter than others, sometimes by being more related to the Spanish than the indigenous. Mexico has a huge problem with colorism and class divide as well as overall racial tension.

Mexico is also not only "white/more Spanish" "more brown" and "fully indigenous, culturally and ethnically", there are afro-latinos (like mentioned before), and also Asian latinos, specifically a large amount of Chinese immigrants from when China became communist, middle eastern latinos, etc. Latin America has immigrants too! 

I have a friend who is fully Korean but grew up in Guatemala, I have another friend from Brazil who is 100% of polish and Ashkenazi decent, her grandparents having escaped to Brazil during WWII, but she and her parents grew up and spent their whole lives in Brazil, they are Latin Americans. 

List of things Nicky's mom Maria is:

Mexican, Mexicana, Latina, Latin American, 'Hispanic' but like.... outdated term and usually when people use this they just mean Latin@.

List of things Nicky is:

Mexican-American, Latino, "Mexican" in the broad sense of the word.

Describing Nicky or his mother as "looking hispanic" doesn't really make sense because he takes after his mother who is described as very dark and therefore less Spanish decent and more indigenous decent, she's from a Spanish speaking country so... its not technically wrong, but Nicky is from and English speaking one and doesn't speak Spanish, so it doesn't really make sense.

He isn't Chicano and neither is she, she wasn't born in America and Nicky doesn't identify as Chicano or in general much with his mothers culture beyond visible features. He is never mentioned to make Mexican food, listen to Latin American music, or other aspects of Latino culture in general. He chose to go to Germany instead of Spain or Latin America, and he talked Aaron out of taking Spanish in exchange for German so Nicky could help him with his homework, (meaning he doesn't know Spanish, which many Mexican Americans don't know).

saying Nicky “looked Mexican” or “looked brown” isn’t a bad thing, Neil in the books says he’s two shades too dark to be considered tan, so... stop tip-toeing around it and call him brown instead of tan. It’s not a bad thing to be brown, and It’s not a bad thing to be Mexican. maybe I’m just from somewhere with a lot of Mexican-Americans, but when I look at people I can tell they’re not Anglos, or I think to myself “oh another Mexican” or at least “brown person” vs when I see a white person I think “white person.” I’m not face blind, I know that different races exist and look different and can see such trends in real people in the same way that when I look at a little girl I go “oh a little girl” not “what sex is this weird hairless animal, what is this alien”.

these concepts are a lot more complicated in practice, I get told often I don’t “look Mexican” but so does one of my cousins who’s afro latino and plays professional basketball in Mexico. Gender is fake but the majority of people we see are still falling into two categories on sight, it’s how we’re socially trained. 

I'm also not an encyclopedia, if you think I made a mistake let me know and I'll check it out. A lot of this was just off the top of my head and words I just learned from.... existing, I didn't exactly look them all up in the dictionary.

Also if you’re writing Nicky, don’t be afraid to get a sensitivity reader, @sensitivityreaders is a good resource for this, and so is @writingwithcolor

#nicky hemmick #aftg #all for the game #the foxhole court #tfc