#born french lives usa

[graysbullshit]

a list of brazillian fun facts you might want to know for your qsmp fanfics! (or in general lol)

DATING IN BRAZIL (because I know at least 50% of yall are gonna be writting slash):

Phase 1 can be or texting/talking or ficando (infinitive: ficar), it depends on how shy you are;

Ficando means to be actively seeking a person out consistently with the intent of talking for a bit and then making out (it does not entail any level of loyalty);

Brazillians only consider it "making out" if you french kiss;

Kissing without tongue is considered weird and viewed negativelly;

A little peck on the lips is cute, but not really what we consider kissing;

There are two types of brazillians: the ones that will start dating after a week and the ones that take months to make up their minds;

If a brazillian is interested in you (even if you don't know each other) and you're in a party there is a very good chance they will walk up to you and ask if you want to make out/ask for your instagram handle (it depends on what kind of party it is tbh);

Also, most brazillians kiss and tell lmao;

It is not uncommon for outgoing brazillians to make out with random strangers, especially during carnival;

We are a sex positive country mostly;

We are very sensual, even if we have no romantic interest;

Mock-flirting or Joke-flirting is very common in friend groups;

People who make out/date with the person their friend likes are called Talarica or Talarico;

When you get cheated on you're called Corno;

People usually go on dates after ficar for a whille;

Usually, if you're going on dates with someone it is expected of you to be faithful or to end things (you can't go on dates with a guy while also going on dates with another guy, that's fucked up);

We call dating namorando, from the infinitive namorar which refers back to namorado (boyfriend) and namorada (girlfriend);

brazillians are typically very direct when they are interested in someone, which doesn't mean they will say "oh, i like you" right away, but they will flirt for sure;

in Brazil saying "I love you" isn't a big deal, most brazillians will say it pretty fast and not saying it back (if you're in a relationship) is considered VERY WEIRD;

brazillians have the tendency of being very jealous lmao;

GEOGRAPHY:

Brazil is a continental sized country, being the fifth biggest country in the entire world. It is bigger than the USA, if counting only directly conected land (ignoring Brazil's islands and Hawaii and Alaska);

Because of it's size, brazillian states have a great number of differences in language, culture, food, climate, and politics;

There is as much animosity between states as in the USA (the difference being: brazillians will always defend each other rather than gringos);

The brazillian streamers are all from the Center-West, South-East and South of Brazil (unfortunatly there is nobody to represent the North and North-east);

The south-east is the are of biggest economical impact, while the center-west is known for the capital of the country (Brasília) and the agriculture, while the south has a terrible reputation (they have livestock too, but mostly a bad reputation);

Brazil has two of the biggest cities in the world: the 5º biggest, São Paulo, and the 19º biggest, Rio de Janeiro;

Nobody fucking likes São Paulo (the city) except from the people that were born there or lived there their entire lives;

Brazil has a mostly warm climate, and most brazillians consider anything below 20ºc to be cold (vai sulista, fala que no sul é mais frio, fala);

Brazil's seasons are more often defined by the level of humity, rather than how hot/cold it is;

Brazil is a giant when it comes to agriculture and livestock. We have a lot of grains, and red meat. If you drink coffee and eat meat you have definetly tasted brazillian products without knowning, since we do a lot of exportation (especially to europe);

Brazil has natural diamonds, pre-sal (which can be used in the making of combustives), gold and other precious stones.

HISTORY:

Brazil was mostly colonized by the portuguese, but there was also a presence of the Spanish, French, Dutch and British. You can tell by the architecture;

Rio de Janeiro was the capital of the Portuguese Kingdom for a little while;

Brazil (much like Mexico) was once an Empire;

Brazil (as it's own coutry) has had only two Emperors;

the Brazillian Empire was a big deal despite ending fairly soon;

Brazil's Empire once eliminated about 90% of the male population of Paraguay during a war, which is def a war crime. We have repayed them for what happened, though;

Cities like Rio de Janeiro have a lot of Imperial architecture, but most of the colonial architecture can be found in states like Minas Gerais;

Brazil sent troups in WWII to Italy, the famous Smoking Snakes;

Brazil was forced into a dictatorship by the USA (surprising no one);

Brazil had a president that decided to develop highways instead of trains (i fucking hate him). It's the same guy that moved the capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília;

Brasília was build with the blood of poor people and it fucking sucks, but it has the shape of an airplane so everything is fine ig /s;

Brazil's first woman president and it's current president were both tortured during the dictatorship;

Brazil is a concervative country, despite everything;

Do not ask me about Brazil's politics, because it's so fucking insane lmao;

GENERAL CULTURE:

Brazillian culture exists on top of three axes: Portuguese, African, and Indigineous;

We take A LOT from Japonese culture (since we are the country with the biggest Japonese population outside of Japan). I've never met a brazillian who hasn't watched anime, even my grandma knows what Pokemon is /srs;

Some other important diasporas in Brazil: Lebanon (we have more lebanese than Lebanon itself lol), China, Germany, Italy, and many different African countries;

Most brazillians listen to funk and sertanejo, but other brazillian music you might be interested in: samba, BRrock, mpb, BRpop, Axé, and Pagode;

Some other famous brazillians you might not know, but you should: Silvio Santos, Celso Portiolli, Rodrigo Faro, Angélica, Eliana, Xuxa, Luciano Huck, Pyong Lee, Mauricio de Sousa, Ariano Suassuna, Clarice Lispector, Machado de Assis, Guilmarães Rosa, Fernando Pessoa, Vinicius de Moraes, Toquinho, Mateus Hwang, Tiago Leifert, Tadeu Schmidt, Boninho, Guilherme Briggs, Fernanda Montenegro, Rodrigo Santoro, Wagner Moura, Seu Jorge, etc;

Most brazillians only drink tea for medicinal reasons (like cammomile tea);

Most brazillians love coffee and hate iced coffee;

Most brazillians start drinking coffee at a very young age;

Drinking (alchool) age in Brazil is 18yo, but most brazillians start drinking around 15yo;

Most brazillians love meat and barbecue. Here is a picture of a brazillian brabecue:

Brazil, differently from other American coutries, didn't have potatoes/corn as it's basic food, we had a root called Mandioca. Although it is still very beloved in brazillian cusine, the base for brazillian meals is currently Rice;

In Brazil we usually don't eat a lot during breakfast, but have a big meal (with rice, veetables, meat, and beans) for lunch and dinner. And our dinner is usually around 20h-22h;

We don't use AM or PM;

We use the metric system and Celcius, and we very much deslike the imperial system and what's-his -face is an abhorrent scientific disgrace;

brazillians who suck up to gringos are called "Vira-latas", which can be translated to "mutts" or more directly "eat-trash";

brazillians have mutiple coffee breaks during the day, mostly in the afternoon;

brazillians brush their teeth at least 3 times a day (mostly after every big meal);

brazillians shower at least once a day, some going as far as to shower three times a day during summer;

brazillians do not use snapchat and they think it's obsolete (because it is);

brazillians will pirate anything that isn't made by other brazillians, and I mean ANYTHING. There is no shame in pirating in Brazil and we are very proud of being the country that pirates the most in the world! We will also buy counterfeit products knowing they are counterfeit;

brazillians rivalry with argentinians is REAL. And, although is mostly a football thing, it really translates to everything else (especially if it's online);

brazillians have a hierarchy when it comes down to rooting for stuff, and it goes like this: brazillians, sibling countries, latin americans, other african countries, other third world countries, japan, other asian countries, european countries, anglo-saxon americans, argentina (if it's football), germany, portugal;

#qsmp fanfic #qsmp fanfiction #qsmp #long post #for the love of god ignore all the mistakes #i genuinelly could not care less about the proper grammar of english #if you disagree with me than disagree in your house #genuinely sorry for the long post but i promised #also my biggest fear is americans writting about brazillians and getting some basic stuff wrong #not that they NEED to know stuff #but i WANT you to know stuff #because you will ENJOY stuff

[boltun-tkn]

age, heritage etc headcanons for each bnb boxer

some of them have a confirmed nationality BUT many of them seem to be immigrants, so i know what to do lmao

those that i only make a age headcanon of:

bronto sore: 42

mickey mcfist: 28

knuckles nadine: 26

maiagaru: 25

major flak: 35

tiny: 29

kid usa: 24

king khan: 30

old master: in his 70s

el luchador: 28

royal pain: 45

matador: 27

those i believe are immigrants AND getting a age headcanon:

dolcita (matadors ex): 24

headcanon provided by @beatleswings

Dolly is Argentinian with Spanish roots from her mom’s side who partly and visits Spain since she has some relatives who live there

holly vixen: 27 and born to norwegian parents 🇳🇴

ally gator: 23 born to australian parents 🇦🇺

pharaoh: 33 born to egyptian parents 🇪🇬 (pretty obvious i know)

odiva: 38, born to russian parents

(she learned italian for her job, also tends to introducing herself as adiva because in russian many people pronounce the O as a A when the O isnt stressed)

jackpot: 36, funfact in boxing fever its stated he is from ghana, that stands lmao

jumping janet: 22, born to monegasque parents 🇲🇨

(she is fluent in italian and french)

a little bonus:

nadine is kid usas cousin! ally is kids half sister, they all get along well

characters i dont know what to do with, they were in boxing fever but theyre just recolors of other characters

the hammer

wendy whacker

ice berg

violet violet

you can see them here

#black and bruised #more headcanon stuff #tagging for po peeps #punch out

[jollyinha]

50 (+3) Facts About My Rook Listener (aka Félix)!

Because I love him in a hiperfocus kind of way 😭💙 If you want to see how he looks like, go to my yuurivoice tag, and you will find all my listeners! Although I probably should make an updated version, he has gotten a 2.0 version ever since... Also, tagging @itsargyle since they suggested taking other YV fans! I'm... Too shy to tag anyone else tho lmao

Anyway, here goes my big infodump on my favorite sunshine boy:

1 - Hey, I'm Félix Torres... Or not, because that's my middle name, and my actual name is Victor. But I'm not that fond of Victor, so I go by Félix!

2 - Victor was my mom's grandpa's name, and Félix is a tribute to my dad, whose name was Feliciano.

3 - Thanks to the acute accent, the correct pronunciation of Félix would be "feh-liks", not "fee-liks". Oh, and the "c" in Victor is mute. It's Vitor. But sometimes even I forget that it isn't supposed to be spelled like the gringos do, haha!

4 - My mom is Brazilian and my dad was Colombian. I was born in Brazil (Aracaju in Sergipe, to be more specific), but have been living in the USA for most of my life now. I used to spend the holidays in Colombia as a kid, but haven't been there ever since dad passed away... I really should pay it a visit again soon, though. It's a real nice country.

5 - I speak native Portuguese, fluent English and intermediary Spanish. I've been studying ASL (as of right now I just know basic stuff like "hi", "how are you?", how to introduce myself... But hey, at least I know the whole alphabet off the top of my head!) and French too, but it has been hard to find some free time... And when I do have it, I always end up drawing, crafting, cooking... Duolingo's owl wants to eat my ass.

6 - Speaking of which, these are my favorite hobbies! Drawing and painting are main passions in life, though. I've been in love with art as far as I can remember. I was in a few-years-long hiatus when it came to painting, only came back to it recently, but have been drawing non-stop ever since I was a little boy!

7 - When it comes to crafting, I enjoy many aspects of it... I've been really into papercraft these days. Origami, paper dolls, collages... But I also really like jewelry making and fabric painting (even if I find it so damn hard, haha!). I just love personalizing things in general. Sometimes, I see a piece of furniture, have an idea and just have to put my personal touch.

8 - I also know how to sew, but I can't say that I'm a big fan. I've tried crochet once, per example, and almost fell asleep on the couch. It's just a bit boring to me... But I'll gladly sew back a button or fix a hole if you ask nicely!

9 - And, last but not least, I love cooking! Not as much as I love to eat, but anyway. I picked up cooking as a way to deal with my pyrophobia and to bond with my uncle (he owns a restaurant!), and really took a liking to it... And modesty aside, I'm damn good at it!

10 - Speaking of which... I'm a bit of a bottomless pit when it comes to food! I'll eat (mostly) anything, am willing to try (mostly) everything and am hungry 24/7. Please, feed me.

11 - My favorite food is kind of specific, but: I love Thanksgiving pies. And breakfast foods. But anything that's chicken or has corn is also very damn good.

12 - I don't really like fruits. Most of them feel either bland (apples taste like NOTHING!) or straight up gross. I hate, HATE peach. Mango, guaba and pineapple too. Disgusting. I'm team vegetables all the way. Lemon and watermelon are the only ones that get a pass.

13 - My favorite ice cream favorite is chocomint!

14 - When it comes to drinks... I like coffee, as long as it has milk and unholy amounts of sugar (hate bitter coffee, as contradictory as it is). And while I'm not too big on alcoholic drinks, I like champagne.

15 - I also like biking, but, much like studying ASL and French, I don't have enough free time nowadays to really get into it again... But I try to bike every weekend I can!

16 - As a kid, I was in singing classes! I really enjoyed it and was pretty decent at it, but nowadays I do it just for fun. Love singing and listening to music around the house while doing other things.

17 - I have eight tattoos on total: Flower sleeves on both arms (featuring a clock among the flowers on the left arm and a bird on the right), music player symbols on the left side of my chest, "keep going" on the right side, an anchor on my upper back, a sun and a crescent moon on my lower back, a sea monster's tentacles going through my right hip and a paper plane on my left ankle!

18 - I also have a bunch of moles. On my face, on my back and on my chest. I used to be embarrassed by them, but nowadays, not nearly as much.

19 - I have been dyeing my hair blonde ever since college. I'm actually a brunette! I like being a blondie, but I'm considering going back to my roots... My hair is screaming for help. [He goes back to being a brunette and lets his hair grow after the events of Escape]

20 - Oh yeah, speaking of college... I have a Law degree. And am working on this field. Ya-hoo... Unfortunately, I needed a more lucrative career to support my family. But my long-term life goal is to be able to quit and live from art! And I like to believe I'm almost there.

21 - I pierced my ears in college too! I usually only wear my lucky sun earrings, but if I'm feeling fancy, I can go with a larger one.

22 - I considered becoming an English major for a while, but didn't happen either.

23 - I have a weird love for plaid jackets (of any color, but especially blue ones) and grungy bracelets. If you wanna give me anything that's wearable, going with either of these is the safest bet! Can't ever have enough of these!

24 - My favorite animals are octopuses (I had an obsession with sea monsters as a kid and this love never really died) and peacocks (they're just awesome)!

25 - My lucky number is sixteen, because my birthday is on February 16th, and because if you put "Félix Victor" together, there's a sixteen in Roman numerals right in the middle: XVI!

26 - Also, I'm 30 as of 2024, and... It's terrifying, to be honest. Buuut I'll find comfort on the fact that I look like I'm 20, hehe.

27 - This one will be hard to explain, but... I really like the sun. From summer to sunflowers to sun imageries... I like the sun. And all because of my dad. It's a long history, but yeah.

28 - I have a younger sister, her name is Alice! She's in college right now, she's History major! And... She's my pride and joy.

29 - And I also have five younger cousins: Ariel, Rafael, Leon, Joyce and Mercedes! I love them all, they're like my siblings. [Joyce is actually my Sunflower listener!]

30 - I... Have a... Weird relationship with my mom. It has been getting worse these last few years... Ah, nevermind, I shouldn't have brought this up.

31 - I had three relationships in my life... Well, three and a half, if you count that high school fling, but I digress: My first boyfriend lasted, like, half a year of my freshman year in college. It was nice, we just realized quickly that neither of us were serious. And my second boyfriend... Ergh. Tristan. We began dating in my junior year, and had a pretty messy break-up right after my graduation...

32 - ...But, nearly a whole decade after that, he sent me a DM on Instagram asking me how I was, and I mistakenly thought he became a decent human being. Hell, he was the one who got me my current job. He works in the Marketing department and was kind enough to tell me that Legal was hiring. I thought that we could at least be friends again, but... He's still a pain in the ass, at the end of the day. And still wants me back. ERGH...

33 - ...But, actually, I should thank him for that. Ironically, by trying to get back with me, he got me my third and current boyfriend... And... I won't talk too much about our relationship, but... This is the happiest I've ever been with someone. I mean it.

34 - Ok, how do I say this? I... Have been told that I... Have a pretty high libido. Or, if you want to be meaner, I'm a horny bastard. I... Will not elaborate if that's true or not. [It Is Literally Canonical]

35 - But even if I WAS a horny bastard, I'm a romantic at heart, believe it or not! I like being swept off my feet! I like flowers! I like cheesy pick-up lines! I like cuddles, god, I really like cuddles... Anyway.

36 - I'm a petite lil' guy. I'm 1m69cm tall... Or 5'8ft.

37 - I have ADHD. I was diagnosed when I was 20. I've been taking meds to help with my lack of focus, and it really has been helping.

38 - I also have insomnia. It isn't as bad as it was a few years ago, but it still sucks.

39 - My favorite song of all time is "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" by Foster The People!

40 - My favorite movie of all time... It's a tie between Footloose and Burlesque.

41 - My favorite animated movie of all time is Ponyo!

42 - My MBTI is ENFP, my Enneagram is 2w3, and I'm an Aquarius!

43 - In my opinion, my biggest strengths as a person are that I'm pretty charming, I can get along with nearly any kind of person (given enough time), and that I'm notoriously hard to piss off. As long as you're not messing with my loved ones, it takes A LOT to make me actually angry.

44 - And my weaknesses... Well, I let people get away with stepping all over me pretty frequently... And I'm very restless. And I don't mean only physically, I mean like... Mentally. I feel like I'm a shark: If I stop moving, I'll die, y’know? Oh, I've been told that I can be pretty shameless and a bit nosy... And, welp. I... Can't really deny that.

45 - I hate the cold. I hate winter. I hate snow. Fuck you, northern hemisphere.

46 - I really like sitting on the floor, ever since I was a little boy. It just... Grounds me. No pun intended.

47 - My favorite color is blue, but yellow and orange are also lovely... And I've been getting real fond of red these days. Hehe (Can't believe that it took me this long to say my favorite color, we're on fact 47th...).

48 - I'm a dog person! I never got to have one, though...

49 - I, not-so-secretly, really like cute things. I may or may not have a big octopus plushie on my bed. And may or may not love Pompompurin and Gudetama.

50 - I'm overall pretty confident on my looks... Except for my smile and my laugh. My ex-boyfriend (Tristan) once said that my smile is wide enough to be scary, and my mom said that my laugh is too loud, and I've been restraining myself from truly smiling and laughing out loud in public ever since. But I tend to let go when near people I trust.

51 (bonus!) - I have a very sensitive neck... Now, if I see it as a good thing or a bad thing... Depends on what your intentions are... If you know what I mean.

52 (bonus!)² - I'm also pretty great at typing. My words per minute game is insane, modesty aside.

53 (bonus!)³ - I... Can be a little bit jealous when I'm dating someone. I was never a pain in the ass about it, I mostly just sulk in silence, but... Yeah. It's my toxic trait.

#yuurivoice #yuurivoice listener #yuurivoice auron #auron yuurivouce #yuurivoice rook #felix (rookie)

[mask131]

The culture clash between France and the USA can be so strong sometimes... But on such essential, dangerous, “hot topics” that it becomes sometimes very difficult.

Take the word “race” for example. The USA has a very neutral, desensitized, common use of the word “race”. The USA made race a widespread word, not just of racism or science, but also of pride and of every day talks. It doesn’t surprise anyone to have surveys asking you your race. It isn’t shocking anyone to hear about “racial tensions” or “racial conflicts” in the USA today. But if in France you start speaking of “race” you come off as massively racist, because race never lost its scientific meaning of “a different species”, nor its racist meaning of “another type of human being”. Which is why I am a bit uncomfortable using “race” in my posts, even though the word is now neutral in the US-English. In France we speak of things such as descent or ethnicity or communities - but not “race”. 

The USA’s very different approach to ethnicity, historical descent and nationalities compared to France was perfectly illustrated by a famous incident (that I keep reusing myself as an example over and over, but that’s because of how telling it is). [Note: While I thought the man involved in this story was purely American, I just discovered today he was born and raised in South Africa, so the example isn’t perfect - but it is telling]. After France won the 2018 World Cup (FIFA of course), Trevor Noah celebrated how “Africa won the World Cup”, since most of the French team was made of black men. Problem, the French footballers immediately took offense to that and answered back that no, they were French, thank you very much. You see, from the “American” point of view here (and I don’t know much about South Africa I admit, so I’ll leave it aside), it is normal to have this sort of “bi-nationality” or “bi-racial” recognition as “Afro-American”. For the Black community of the USA, it is a question of allying their Americaness with their African origins to be “whole”. So Black Americans tend to refer to themselves as “African” commonly and pretty proudly. But in France? Oh boy, no. In France, only massive racists call Black French people “African”. Well not exclusively but here’s the problem: African-originated immigrants (or even just Black people that happened to be born French) had to fight for a very long time to be recognized as “French citizens”, or as “French” short. In France it is still a logic implanted in the far-right and other racist movements that if you have non-French origins, you will never be French, and that black people do not “belong” in France but in Africa. It took a long time for people to stop considering Black French men and Black French women actually “French” before all, French before their skin color, and black doctors, black artists, black politicians had to fight to have their full Frenchness recognized (especially since most of them were born, lived and raised in France). 

So, Trevor Noah’s comment came of to the French sportsmen as massively racist and denying them French status, while Noah thought the French footballers were basically denying or rejecting the origins of their parents or grandparents... 

Another big culture clash that happens between the USA and France - and which results in the USA calling often French with all sorts of “phobe” adjectives - is religion. Oh boys and girls and other critters... Americans, with their melting-pot culture, their deeply Christian history (and their very weird take on Christianity as a whole), their multiculturalism and their acceptance, tolerance and embrace of all religions, have established a mindset and a model which makes it hard for them to grasp one of the basis modern France was built over: laicity. Laicity is one of the main principles and laws of France, one of the key ideas the modern Republic and nation was built over, and it is something we try to teach each children - and recently the absence or failure of laicity in our society is causing all sorts of debate and threats. But what is laicity you might ask?

Laicity, French-flavor, is simple. There is an acceptance and a tolerance of all sorts of all sorts of religion in France, a bit like how in the USA you can have any religion you want - BUT to ensure that this equality and acceptance of all religions exists, France makes sure that no religion is above another by all relegating them to the background and ensuring there is no religion of state. So what does it mean exactly? It mean you can have any religion you want and practice any cult you want, AS LONG as it stays a personal, private matter. You can cover your house in religious symbols, you can walk down the street in religious outfits, these are your personal choices and no law can prevent you from belonging to a religion or showing you belong to this religion. Except if it is a truly mad endangering sectarian cult, or if you’re a terrorist... and EXCEPT if you are in a public position or a representant of the state. France, by the principal of laicity, is not a state or nation that has a religion. It means all those that represent it, serve it and embody it should not have any religion. France is supposed to be religion-neutral. 

In details, it means that no minister, no member of the government, no president can actively enforce or promote any religion, and cannot wear any religious symbol or outfit. Same thing with the police, which is the servant of the state and the enforcers of its law - policemen are not supposed to carry religious symbols or profess publically their religion. And same thing with public schools, public libraries and other public institutions directly funded, overseen and organized by the state or the government. The principle of laicity is that all religions are the same because they are, in theory, belonging to personal choices and personal life. But religion is not supposed to be a “public” thing, and so if you enter the state/government, or are supposed to represent it as a bureaucrat or agent, you are meant to erase all of your personal choices, all of your personal preferences, to represent the religious neutrality of the state - a state supposed to protect, defend and respect all religions by not choosing one, not taking one above the other, and not taking any part among the religious conflicts. 

Now, this is in theory. Again, this is the principle France was built over. And for Americans, this principle can lead to a lot of misunderstandings. For example today in France we discuss, with the rise of Islam-oriented terrorist threats and Islam-fanaticism, in front of rises of anti-Christian, antisemitic and anti-French manifestations, there is a lot of debates about the problem of Muslim communitarism, extremism and “overlap”. It is has been attested, certified and confirmed that a lot of Muslim youth today live in much more isolated and fanatical Muslim communities or families than before, and that a good chunk of them answer proudly that they consider that the law of the Coran is above the law of France. And for us this is a problem, because the model of the French citizenship and of France as a whole is the reverse - the law and principles of France as a nation go first, religious laws go second because they are of the private domain. This is also why for example teachers in public school or police officers are forbidden and criticized for wearing signs of appartenance to the Muslim religion, like a hijab. This is not “islamophobia” or “Muslim-hate” as Americans like to say (though I do not deny there’s a lot of far-right groups that are islamophobes and use this in their rhetoric). But originally it is rather a defence of laicity. 

And here’s the thing with laicity: it applies to all religions. Islam is currently under the fire due to its active terrorist threats and communitarism, but the same laws and critics apply to Jewish or Christian people. For example, this is one of the reasons extreme-right groups are criticized, rejected or disqualified from politics, when they break the principle of laicity by trying to actively promote Christianity and reject or forbid any other religion.  Because this is against the and against the principles of the Republic. Of course, France will always have a bias for Christianity because France is a deeply Christian country that built itself over Christianity and still has a lot of Christian elements in its culture - but the thing is that what modern France is supposed to be is a nation that has Christianity as part of its culture, but not as part of its government, institutions or nation. It is a nuance that can be hard to understand - especially for Americans, because the USA have a quite crazy model, where their culture is a mixture of all sorts of diverse religions, and technically there’s a freedom of religion and all that, but their nation and government still is based on Christianity, with the President still taking an oath over the Bible. In fact this is something French people like to mock Americans about, when people of the USA criticize French for being somehow not progressive and open-minded enough in terms of religion, we like to throw them back that their president literaly takes an oath on the Christian Bible. 

Anyway - as I said, Christianity doesn’t get any favor compared to Islam by the principle of laicity. This is why public schools teach nothing about Christianity outside of historical facts, and maybe a “religion class” which is obliged to cover all religions, dead or alive, not just Christianity. This is also why today there is a true “loss” of Christian culture in France because a good chunk of French citizens and youth are non-religious and so have no clue what some concepts of Christianity are. It seems that Christianity gets “favored”, but that’s just because it is part of the old French culture, but in terms of laicity, it isn’t supposed and shouldn’t and most of the time doesn’t have favors. There are religious schools yes, Christian schools, and Jewish schools and Muslim schools - but they are “private schools”, surviving on their own fundings, and not public schools depending from and organized by the state.

 This is why for example as a French boy, I was deeply surprised and a bit shocked to see in British-influenced media policemen openly wearing things such as crosses or hijabs - because it cannot be done in France. One last fact about laicity: the fact Christianity doesn’t get any favor is especially prominent when you consider that laicity in France was created in the first place to cut off Christianity. Laicity is an inheritance of the French Revolution, whose purpose wasn’t just to destroy the monarchy to create a democracy, but specifically to destroy an absolutism of divine right. High members of the Christian Church and French nobility were the same, the monarch was the “first defender of Christianity”, we had taxes for both the state and the Church... and so the French Revolution created an absolutely non-religious democracy, removing all religious days like Christmas or Easter, renaming all towns and buildings that had a too-religious name, and making sure to kill, steal from and burn as many Christian monasteries, churches and members of the Church they could find. This was reinforced by a date every French kid learns at school: La séparation de l’Eglise et de l’Etat, The Separation of Church and the State, 1905, which was THE political decision still followed today by modern France to make all religions equal by removing all publicness from religions and making it a definitively private and secondary business - and again this decision was mostly taken against Christianity. 

#france #frenchness #french state #french history #cultural clash #culture clash #race #laicity #religion

[fumblingmusings]

Does it make sense to see Francis and Arthur as lovers historically? I mean only after WWII they got along and even then they saw it as necessary and still they have closer relationships with USA and Germany... teach me sempai

Oh gosh not sempai please really I am not a figure of authority in anything please 😭

I mean if you wanna make them a thing, I say you do you! You can find a way to make it work, there's too much crossover for them to not be important in each other's lives. For better for worse.

But huh! I guess... it depends how you want to define lovers? I mean, them having angsty nasty sex I can certainly see. Them being soft and tender and the (willing) emotional vulnerability? In the 1400s? Personally... I can't see it, or at least, not if you intend to keep it close to canon.

When they were small, i.e. pre Norman conquest, they were close for sure, but England didn't really matter to France's immediate neighbours and concerns (going through his own unification and the after effects of that split into East and West of Charlemagne's lands and, as well respected the Anglo-Saxons were for somehow being rich af and having a notable royal line... they're still across the water and isolated).

Once the Normans come, their relationship breaks and doesn't recover until the Tudors (sort of... it's really up and down in the 1500s), thereafter it continues undulating up and down until the end of the 17th century, then it's just down again until the 1830s. Then, it steadily rises until what it is today, with the occasional slippage.

At least, that is how I would map Anglo-French relations over a thousand years.

FrUK isn’t my favourite historical Hetalia pairing for either character - that goes to Toni and Francis (because there is your on and off again romantic rivals my god) and then Gabe and Arthur for anything pre 19th century. 19th yes FrUK wins (because what a turn around in relations from the start to the end of the century) and then yes, Ludwig and Francis and then Alfred and Arthur for 20th century. (Ludwig and Feli doing their slow burn nonsense in the background the entire time mind you). Francis' attention has always been more drawn to the continent. Not Arthur. Arthur is loathe to think of the mainland.

There's smatterings of DenEng and BelEng in there for Arthur and of course ScotFra on the other side but those are the main relationships. For me. Personally.

I think the two of them have long, long stints where their egos cannot stand the other, and Francis has very good reason to loathe Arthur, just as Arthur could see Francis as being the source of many of his own woes... 'Our dearest enemies' and all that. We've roughly fought 40 wars against each other. France won more than half of them quite comfortably.

I also think it's worth mentioning that France was a major power in Europe from like the 9th century. I wouldn't argue the same for England really until... oh God. I don't know. At least six hundred years later. France was always self sufficient in a way England wasn't. France had a larger population a better climate etc etc... England for a long time is a pain in France's arse, but he is not the most pressing concern for most of it. When England got to grips with banking by copying the Dutch, having a better political and legal system (thank you Napoleon for fixing that I suppose...) however, then things got more equal.

Arthur's greed is what gets Francis' attention, and not in like a good way. I think that is a fascinating dynamic, as is the fact that genuine affection can be born from them being such horrors to each other (and those unfortunate to be caught in their orbit).

On another note, I think England likes France more than they like us though. Personally speaking. I think Brits admire far the French more than vice versa. We're always going to be lesser than, to them. For one reason or another. We are too prone to cutting off our nose to spite our face, and they derive too much joy from the spectacle.

#q&a #hetalia #headcanon #op #hws england #hws france #fruk

[hungarianmudkip69]

People often ask me, "Where are you from?"

I tell them I'm from my hometown, in Illinois, in the USA.

But the real answer is a little more complicated.

I was born in this town. I've lived here my whole life. But my mother was born and raised in Hungary, an ocean away. I may have been born in America, but I bear a Hungarian name.

I never learned Hungarian. English is the only language I speak. And yet my accent is tinted by my mother's, my heritage shading my words with a language I do not understand. Where am I from, when I speak with the sounds of a language I never learned?

I lap up the bits of knowledge I find about Hungarian history, the bits of culture my mother shares. I feel a deep loss at the fact I do not speak the language; I make steps to learn. I have been to Hungary once, when I was nine years old; I long to visit again, to meet my aunts and cousins from so far away, to explore the place that helped shape me from afar. I feel a connection to this country I've barely been, more than to the country I've lived all my life.

I recently learned that by Hungarian law, because my mother is a Hungarian citizen, I am as well. I would simply need to file some paperwork and I would be officially verified as a citizen of the land of half my blood. Does being Hungarian mean I am from Hungary? Can I be from more than one place? Can I be from a place I've never lived?

America is often touted as a land of immigrants, a melting pot. People don't identify Americans by their surnames, as they might say someone has a German surname, or a French surname. Americans bear surnames from all over the world, regardless of where they were born. "Where are you from?" is not always a simple question. So many of us carry the history of so many places in our selves, in our voices, in our traditions.

But this is not what people want to hear when they ask me where I am from. They are saying, "I have identified you as Other. Tell me what kind of Other you are." They are saying "I do not know your name, I do not know your voice. You are not like me."

How do I know this?

Because when I say I am from my hometown - when I tell them I am from the place I was born, the place I have always lived - there is a second question.

"But where are you really from?"

#xenophobia #hungarian #hungarian-american #second generation immigrant #first generation immigrant #i googled what the definition of first vs second generation immigrant is #and apparently there are two definitions. i am first by one and second by the other. #this is so fucking stupid #also why the fuck do people not believe me when i say i am from the town i am in #why would i lie about that. #we have a shitton of immigrants and their families in this town too #bc a lot of foreign students go to the university in town and a lot of them settle down here #so. why #ugh.

[vcha-daily]

Meet VCHA

VCHA (비춰) is a pre-debut global girl group under JYP Entertainment. The group was created from A2K (America2Korea), the project survival show. The group consists of Lexi, Camila, Kendall, Savanna, KG, and Kaylee. They released a pre-debut single, ‘SeVit (NEW LIGHT)’ on September 22, 2023. They released a second pre-debut single, ‘Ready for the World‘ on December 1, 2023. VCHA will make their debut on January 26, 2024.

Name Explanation: VCHA means to illuminate, to give shine to fans around the world.

Learn more about the members under the cut!

Name: Lexus Vang (Lexi)

DOB: Nov. 22, 2005

Position: Leader

MBTI: ISFP

Zodiac: Sagittarius

Official Color: White 🤍

Representative Emoji: 🦖

About:

She was the 1st member to be revealed.

– Lexi is ethnically Hmong.

– She was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA.

– She lives in Cook County, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

– Lexi did ballet for 12 years.

– She can make a really good Hmong-style papaya salad.

– Her favorite number is 22.

– Her favorite seasons are fall and winter.

– She loves to draw and paint.

– She grew up listening to R&B, pop, KPop, etc.

– Lexi really looked up to Misty Copeland, a ballet dancer.

– She was in the K-pop cover group Prism Kru. She joined in 2019.

– According to the other members, Lexi is the funniest.

– Lexi is a skilled cook, occasionally triggering fire alarms.

Name: Kiera Grace (KG)

DOB: Jun. 17, 2007

Position: Not confirmed

MBTI: Unknown

Zodiac: Gemini

Official Color: Pink 🩷

Representative Emoji: 🦄

About:

She was the 2nd member to be revealed.

– KG was born in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

– She moved to Michigan, USA right after she was born and lived there until she was 13.

– KG moved to Los Angeles, California, USA in 2021.

– She is trained in musical theater.

– If she could open for anyone’s show, she would want to open for BLACKPINK.

– KG knows how to play the guitar, piano, and drums.

– Her favorite number is 12.

– Her favorite season is summer.

– Specialties: Singing & basketball.

– She enjoys playing football and basketball as well as skateboarding.

– Hobbies: Writing lyrics and playing the guitar.

– KG is not a natural blonde.

– Her role model is Taylor Swift.

– She started modeling at the age of 4 starting with Ford Models.

– Her original stage name was KG Crown (케이지 크라운) during her auditions.

Name: Camila Ribeaux Valdes

DOB: Aug. 10, 2005

Position: Not confirmed

MBTI: INFJ

Zodiac: Leo

Official Color: Green 💚

Representative Emoji: 🦌

About:

She was the 3rd member to be revealed.

– Camila is ethnically Cuban.

– She was born in Barcelona, Spain.

– Camila is from Quebec, Canada.

– She speaks Spanish, French, and English.

– Her favorite number is 8.

– Camila picked number 8 as it’s her grandma’s favorite number.

– Her favorite season is fall.

– Both of her parents are musicians.

– Specialties: Painting, drawing, acting, baking, & eating sour candies.

– She can impersonate Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, and Shakira while singing.

– Her role model is Shakira. Camila got inspired to get into music and start dancing & singing because of her.

– A hobby of hers is writing.

– She participated in La Voix Junior (The Voice Junior) 2016 and was in the top 3.

Name: Savanna Collins

DOB: Jul. 26, 2006

Position: Not confirmed

MBTI: ISFJ

Zodiac: Leo

Official Color: Orange 🧡

Representative Emoji: 🦦

About:

She was the 4th member to be revealed.

– Savanna was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.

– She is half Venezuelan from her mom’s side and Trinbagonian from her dad’s side.

– Her favorite number is 18.

– Her favorite season is summer.

– Savanna’s favorite color is Green.

– She learns dances super quick.

– She can do handstands for a long time.

– A hobby of hers is gaming.

– Savanna has a collection of over 15 hats.

– Her role model is Michael Jackson because her dad would play a lot of his music around the house.

– Savanna was training to be a professional gymnast for 7 years, but she had to quit due to injury.

– She describes herself as the “swaggy dance teacher” of the group.

– Savanna has stated that she discipline from gymnastics which will help her in the Korean music field.

– She has a twin brother named Alonso and an older sister named Brianna Lauren (born 2001-2002).

– According to Camila, she describes Savanna as the most chill person and has a stylish, intricate hairstyle.

Name: Kaylee Lee

DOB: Nov. 24, 2009

Position: Maknae

MBTI: ISTJ

Zodiac: Sagittarius

Official Color: Blue 💙

Representative Emoji: Unknown

About:

She was the 5th member to be revealed.

– She was born in Olympia, Washington, USA.

– Kaylee is fluent in both English and Korean.

– She is very adamant and has a plan for everything she does.

– Her favorite number is 24.

– Her favorite season is fall.

– She has a big collection of Harry Potter.

– Specialties: Eating, baking, talking, and writing.

– Her role models are TWICE, their song ‘TT‘ was one of the first songs she remembers listening to.

– Her mom was a muisc major.

– She enjoys writing and reading.

– Kaylee started training singing one week before the final audition and learned her performance three days beforehand.

– According to Savanna, Kayle is funny as she’s straightforward.

Name: Kendall Ebeling

DOB: Jun. 1, 2006

Position: Not confirmed

MBTI: ISTJ

Zodiac: Gemini

Official Color: Black 🖤

Representative Emoji: 🐰

About:

She was the 6th and last member to be revealed.

– She is from Fort Worth, Texas, USA.

– Kendall is ethnically half Vietnamese and half Caucasian (American).

– Kendall has an older sister named Aimee (born 2003-2004).

– She attended a K-pop immersion in Korea and even got to perform with fellow classmates.

– Kendall has stated that music is her life.

– She did ballet for 5 years, as well as jazz, theater, and lyrical.

– Her favorite number is 4.

– Her favorite season is winter.

– Specialties: School, art, gaming, shaking pupils, and closing one eye without moving the other.

– She grew up listening to choral and gospel music.

– Kendall attended McLean Middle School. She was a part of the choir and was soprano 1’s 4th chair. Kendall was also a part of the cross country team.

————————————————————————

*Please note that all information comes from VCHA’s group page on kprofiles.com

#vcha #jyp #jyp entertainment #jypartists #kpop #kpop gg #kpop icons

[historia-vitae-magistras]

Reading your characters profile, I realize you never mentioned their date of birth.  Can you tell me the year or time period that the characters (USA, Australia, Ireland,….)  be born?

So I kind of did that on purpose because its one of those things that people have their own very specific headcanons and versions and I don't feel that strongly about it because there's multiple ways to go about things and I've changed my mind about this couple of times but generally I go with the earliest reference to a culture emerging I can find. The idea of a nation rather than the hard founding dates because there are more to these things than just when a European stepped foot somewhere. And full disclaimer, when I don't have writing to use, I'm using archaeology and artistic expression as what that idea might have been. Also I think if I were to rewrite this now, but I don't want replace a lot of existing writing I would make them born much later but fuck it, here we go. Also I had so many links to put in this but I lost them so eh, there's one lmao fuck my entire life im so tired.

Britannia/Eirian — 1500-1000 BC. I'm kind of bullshitting because geography and history are hard to do when there's like 2 pieces of Roman propaganda that survive. The National Museum of Wales says the Celts arrived about 1000 BCE so that's when she found herself rooted in the British Isles. She might be older than that.

Ireland/Brighid — 600-400 BCE. again we're working with what's in a lot of ways prehistory here so the earliest example I could find of what archaeologists identified as a distinctly Irish take on broader artistic styles. Particularly in ironwork. There's a spearhead that was found in the River Inny that is of a style recognisable in medieval Ireland but carbon dated too before 500 BCE.

Scotland/Alasdair — 600-400 BCE. The archaeology suggests a a population increase and an artistic coalescing as temperatures warmed and some new prosperity allowed new pottery styles, increased use of horses came along and allowed the very earliest brochs or stone towers mostly found on the coastlines of Scotland seem to date to this era.

Wales/Rhys — 400-300 BCE. Literally based this off one of my favourite torcs found in Wales and that's as good as I've got send help.

England/Arthur — 50BCE-100 AD. Roman Britain get jiggy with it just wanted a couple of centuries between the baby bilge rate and his siblings.

America/Alfred — 1580s. The first reference I ever saw to America being associated with new opportunities and money making and protestant havens was 1585.

Canada/Matt - 1610s. The first reference to Canadians being different from European Frenchmen was in the 1610s so Matt popped out around then. The French unlike the British or Spanish were less attentive to the claims they made on Canada but then didn't settle for nearly a century.

Australia/Jack — 1790s. Australians as a concept was the late 1790s with some of the first references made by Gaelic speaking Irish prisoners.

Aotearoa/Zee — 1810s. She's a little harder because there's a lot of escaped prisoners, whalers and other random white people living with Māori before the Brits properly showed up but I'm just rolling with it.

#the ask box || probis pateo

[ofmastermind]

✧.  ARISTÓTELES PINEDA   was  blasting   HASTA LA RAIZ BY NATALIA LAFOURCADE   on  the  sidewalk  in  austin today .  according  to  other  atx  residents  , the   THIRTY-ONE   year  old   CHEF/RESTAURANTEUR  has been  given  a  reputation  of  being  IMPETUOS  ,  but also   GREGARIOUS .  

connections . spotify . pinterest . stats

GENERAL

name. aristóteles pineda

also known as. ari , chef pineda

day of birth & age. december 18th, 1992

zodiac sign. sagittarius ☼ scorpio ☾ aries ↑

gender identity. cis man (he/him)

sexuality. pansexual

occupation. chef & owner of 'food on films' restaurants , former musician and actor

hometown. oaxaca , mexico

current location. austin , texas

PERSONALITY

labels. the virtuoso, the loose canon, the dynamo, the phoenix

positive traits. alluring, charming, affable, dauntless, gregarious

negative traits. hot-headed, airy, cynical, impetus, flirty

languages spoken. spanish, english, portuguese ( fluently ) italian, french ( conversationally )

instruments played. guitar, piano, drums, bass, marimba, harp, accordion, armonica, guiro

hobbies. playing music, cooking, socializing, watching movies, wood-working

favorite color(s). green, orange, fuschia

favorite food(s). mexican cuisine in general

allergies. none

RELATIONSHIPS

parents. mercedes pineda ( seamstress ), rafael silva ( politician )

siblings. two older half siblings

partner. natalia miller ( deceased )

children. isabella pineda ( 9 years old )

pet(s). a belgian shepherd named luca

HISTORY ( tw: car accident, death mention, grief )

ari was born in oaxaca, mexico a product of a torrid love affair between mercedes, a local infamous seamstress ahead of her time and rafael, a brazilian-american politician who quickly ran from his responsibilities the minute mercedes told him she was pregnant and went to marry the child of a wealthy businessman. with two other children from a previous marriage, mercedes worked tirelessly to raise her now three children and make sure they lacked nothing while still being as involved in their lives as she could, giving them all the love and care a single parent of three could.

at age ten, after seeing his mother struggle to make end meets, ari decided to step in: he put his name on for a talent reality show in méxico and got selected to compete in a 2 months-long journey for a very lucrative contract with the country's biggest tv network. although he didn’t win, ari charmed the audience and the producers with his voice and personality, receiving a second place and deal for his own album. not even a year later, ari was promoting his album and a soap opera he would be a part of.

his career took off after that. soap operas, movies, awards, albums, tours… méxico and some other latin american countries couldn’t get enough of him, causing him to become the youngest solo number to sell out the biggest arena in mexico at the age of fifteen. It was traced in the stars, aristóteles would become a legend and he could, at last, pay his mother back some of what she had given to him and his siblings all their lives

turning sixteen and having all the fame and fortune his stardom had brought with him affected the young star. although he loved his country and his audience; the millions of kids, young people and elders who would sing along to the songs he had written, he needed a bigger challenge and thus, the entire family decided to move to the usa as he tried and make it in hollywood. soon enough his luck and talent proved to work on his favor and he began getting small roles in commercials and some roles in shows and independent movies, yet nothing felt full-filling anymore.

he decided to get his ged at age 18 and after taking a break from his career and try to have a normal college experience and turn his second favorite hobbie into a career. he applied to auguste escoffier school of culinary arts in austin texas and, to his surprise, was accepted. it was halfway into his first semester when he met natalie miller; a beautiful and vibrant local. it was love at first sight and like clockwork a year after meeting, he proposed. natalie said yes and just like that, the couple got married in a little ceremony the day after he graduated. everybody told them they were far too young to take such life-altering decision, warning them it could not work but they paid no attention to any of it; both of them knew they were meant to spend a lifetime together.

ari took a year off from acting or making any planning about what his future would be like to travel the world with his wife, learning about other cultures and enjoying life as newlyweds. they finished their year-long trip in new york city, right around ari's 22nd birthday where nat informed him she was 4 months pregnant and they would be having a baby girl. isabella was born 4 and a half months later, crying to the moon and instantly stealing her parents heart. the family spent a year of pure bliss, splitting their life between austin and california while the couple figured out their life with ari getting some roles for some movies and shows with moderate success ended up booking a role in a movie that ultimately became his magnus opus, launching his career and cementing his name in hollywood, earning him respect and fame, just in time for isabella's second birthday.

TW then, the world stopped. natalie went out one night to run some errands in california and she was involved in a big car crash and was pronounced dead on her way to the hospital. ari's whole life collapsed on itself, he had lost his partner and better half, his best friend and his child had lost her mother. it took him three months to be able to leave his bed, ultimately finding the strength to do so thanks to his family and his baby. however, he decided, he would give up acting and moved to austin, nat's hometown, in hopes of feeling closer to his late wife and giving isabella a stable home in the same land that saw her mother grow up.

he focused all his attention and love into raising his child, grateful to have been conscious as a teenage superstar to save his money instead of spending it away. when isabella started to become more independant and didn't need a guardian 24/7, the chef decided to get back into work, ultimately becoming a caterer for big end-events in town, something he still does to this day. in addition, he partnered up with an old friend back in california and the two opened a restaurant named 'food in films', a dinning experience where a movie is played while a menu adapted to the movie is served to patrons. it became an instant success, with the two partners opening a second installment in new york and planning a third in austin, ari and isabella's home.

#atxfm.intro #↪︎ 📂・filed under » 𝚊𝚛𝚒 ╱ about

[q-ueen-potato]

So...I was thinking about a modern au where the strawhats meet on the internet or something and decided to work on it.

I give them more "our world" name (except for Zoro because his name matches with his Nationality).

So here is the first 5 straw hats...

Luffy

Name:Luciano de la Cruz Medeiros

Born: Salvador, Bahia - Brazil

Lives:Niterói, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil.

Speaks: Portuguese, Tagalog and English(has a British accent because of Sabo)

Zoro

Name:Roronoa Zoro

Born: Kyoto -Japan

Lives: Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro -Brazil.

Speaks: Japanese, English and Portuguese.

Nami

Name: Néa Johansson

Born: Uppsala - Sweden

Lives: Chicago, Illinois - USA

Speaks: Swedish, German and English

Usopp

Name: Uhuru Mwangi Jr

Born: Nairobi- Kenya

Lives: Nairobi - Kenya

Speaks: English, Swahili and Spanish.

Sanji

Name: Simon Vallerand

Born: Paris - France

Lives: New Orleans, Louisiana- USA

Speaks: French, English, German and Italian

#one piece #one piece au #modern au #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #nami #usopp #sanji #vinsmoke sanji #modern strawhats #au idea #idea au

[firsttraintovictoriaville]

Personification parent of the international countries frequently mentioned or that have physically appeared in WTTT

I wanted to figure out who would be Louisiana and Florida’s paternal grandparent and decided it wouldn’t be fair to the other countries. While there have been more countries mentioned than the one listed here; these are the countries that have appeared (Canada and Italy), mentioned multiple times (Spain and England), or were a running gag/important plot point/otherwise significant for another reason (Mexico and France) 

I am a very strong proponent of each country having two government level personifications- one that handles national duties and one that handles international duties. 

P.S Various sources are linked so history fans go nuts! 

1) Canada - Prince Edward Island. Unable to link the main source which was the Founders’ Hall Exhibit in Charlottetown, PEI that I went to when I was vacationing there a few years ago. It was a fantastic museum that has sadly shut down.  But we always have the Canadian government to keep the personified parent dream alive 

2) Spain - Castile and Léon. This was interesting as, if Spain wasn’t mentioned to be Florida’s Dad (and Juan Ponce de Léon his step-dad) I would have gone with Andalusia due to the Constitution of Cádiz in which representatives from all over the Spanish Empire came together but Florida among others was already in existence when that happened. So I went with good old Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon forming a dynastic union and setting up the foundation for a unified Spain. Why Castile and Léon and not Aragon? Because Isabella was born first and the castle in which they lived in El Alcazar de Segovia is in Castile and Léon AND the rumored inspiration for Cinderella's castle in Walt Disney World. 

3) France - Île-de-France. Because love is stored in naming your child junior. I’m actually beefing with the entire country of France right now because the French loved to centralize and decentralize their country. Philippe II was the first king to call himself “King of the French” and by the time he was in power France had long had Paris as it’s capital even if it wasn’t necessarily the geographic France that we know of today and Philippe II even lived in Paris in his castle which is now the Louvre 

4) Mexico - Guanajuato. Guanajuato even rang church bells to celebrate Mexico’s birth. Also this has nothing to do with history and more to do with culture  but Guanajuato has a Kiss Alley where couples go to smooch to ensure 7 years of happiness and I’m- 🥺

5) England- Hampshire. Horrible Histories might have helped us remember William the Conqueror as the first English king (although he came from France) historians actually say Alfred the Great was the first one and the unifier of Anglo-Saxon England either way, Wessex was the birthplace of England Winchester was the capital of Wessex and that is way out of all the counties that make up what used to be Wessex, Hampshire is home to Winchester 

6) Italy- Piedmont.  This is also controversial as I am going with the unification of the Italian kingdom as the birthdate which makes Piedmont home to the first capital of Italy. Consequentially for all you IDC/Inter Italy shippers (me, it’s just me, I know but that’s OK) this means that the USA was already independent and was even able to recognize Italian independence’s credentials. IDC’s a cougar but like we been knew 

#also random fun fact: england is the only one that has not been played by someone and therefore have no actor and their pronouns to be based #or be able to infer their gender i.e Mexico being implied to be a man #welcome to the table #wttt #once again if anyone that lives or was raised in one of these countries has more accurate information please let me know!! #this will be a 'living' list like my characters of colors one and will be updated if more join #this was really fun please enjoy everyone 🥺👉👈

[a-crepusculo]

Meet My OC

—Dr. Nyla Imani Hassan

Basic Information

Full Name: Nyla Imani Hassan

Nickname(s): Lala, Ney, Nay

Place of Birth: Cairo, Egypt

Date of Birth: 14th November 1990

Hometown: Seattle, WA, USA

Ethnicity: Egyptian-Palestinian

Nationality: American

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Height: 5′6″

Languages: English, Arabic, and (a little bit of) French

Personality Traits: Adventurous, enthusiastic, ambitious, familial, outspoken, stubborn, (can be) demanding, hot-headed, reliable, passionate, cautious

Hobbies: Hiking, swimming, photography, playing video games

Face Claim: May Calamawy

Family

Father: Hassan Noor Ali

Mother: Aisha Zahrah Mustafa

Sibling(s): Zayn Samir Hassan (older brother; deceased), Aida Zafira Hassan (younger sister)

Education

Medical School: Harvard Medical School at Harvard University

Undergraduate: University of Washington, majored in Biochemistry

Career

Current Occupation: Doctor, Internal Medicine | Head of Diagnostics Team at Mass Kenmore, MA

Past Occupation: Doctor, Internal Medicine | Attending at Mayo Clinic, MN

Romantic Relationship

Love Interest: Tobias Carrick

Personal Background

Nyla was born in Egypt, but moved with her family to Miami when she was three years old. They stayed there for a year with a close relative, then her father decided to move to Seattle when they have saved enough money

For the first few years of living in the US, their family has struggled financially

Though, despite those struggles, her parents have always prioritized Nyla and her siblings’ education, making sure that they could continue to learn in school

As an immigrant, Nyla was often belittled and bullied by her classmates, especially during elementary school. She was not (yet) fluent in English, so she would often mix up certain words and sentences

Things started to look up when her father was able to open up his own automobile repair shop, which instantly became popular in the neighborhood

However, when she came home one evening, she found her older brother laying on the floor, struggling to breathe. They rushed him to the hospital, but the hospital could not admit him due to lack of insurance. Her family moved him to another hospital, in hopes of him getting admitted and treated first, yet they were also declined in that hospital. As they rush to move him again to another hospital, her brother has passed away.

That specific moment became one of many reasons Nyla decided to be a doctor

Random Facts

Nyla loves swimming, and she got into the regional synchronized swimming squad when she was six years old.

One of her favorite childhood memory is riding the Seattle Great Wheel with her family when they first arrived at Seattle

Her current comfort show is Bridgerton

She always has a book in her bag wherever she goes, just in case she has some free time to read up

She would always bring white roses to her brother’s grave whenever she visits him

She met Marchia in middle school, and slowly became close friends as time flew by. They lost contact when Nyla got her internship at Mayo Clinic, but rekindled her friendship shortly after learning that Marchia became the Head of Diagnostics at Edenbrook

Her high-school superlative was: “Most Ambitious”

She suffers from fear of heights, or commonly known as acrophobia

Once, she bumped into Julia Roberts at the supermarket, and after asking Nyla tons of medical advice, they exchanged phone numbers. She still has her number to this day

Have more questions about Nyla? Feel free to send ‘em to my inbox, or send me a DM!

Main Masterlist

#open heart #open heart choices #choices open heart #tobias carrick #dr. tobias carrick #open heart oc #meet my oc #Tobias x OC #Tobias Carrick x OC #playchoices #open heart fanfiction #oph fanfiction #my OC #Nyla Imani Hassan

[attheexactlyrighttimeandplace]

Thank you for your solidarity with Palestine, people like you give me faith in the world.

https://www.amnestyusa.org/with-whom-are-many-u-s-police-departments-training-with-a-chronic-human-rights-violator-israel/

Here’s an article about how US cops are trained in Israel. It really opened my eyes to the connection between the occupation of Palestine & the police repression on turtle island (usamerica).

I hope you’re having a wonderful day. 💜

Hi back anon, I feel the same sense of gratitude when I meet someone who supports Palestine and its resistance. :)

I live in France, a country where NGOs working to help Palestine have been threatened with dissolution, their members have been prosecuted for relaying the message of the BDS movement, although fortunately the European Court of Human Rights has ruled an end to this practice, and reminded the French government that a boycott is a legitimate and legal means of expressing a political opinion, and that the expression of a political opinion is a fundamental freedom.

And the attitude of the mainstream media is to deny the rights of the Palestinian people: from erasing the struggle for Palestine from the consciousness of European citizens by not reporting on the news about the daily murder of Palestinian children, to choosing to qualify the Palestinian armed resistance as terrorists, and including the entire Palestinian nation in this category.

The Western discourse on Palestine is so disgustingly pro-Zionist and pro-colonialism, I feel suffocated in this country. Meeting people on social media who think like me and can point out the facts, especially that Palestine is a human rights issue, that racists are trying to hide behind false and malicious accusations of anti-Semitism and of disrespect for the victims of the genocide of the Second World War - is my oxygen.

I am not quite alone: being Arab, Muslim, Algerian (a country that lived under the most brutal colonial regime, the one created by France for 130 years before winning after a long, bloody and hard struggle its independence ) means I have a whole community that supports the same ideas as me, but outside of our community it's very lonely.

So i'm very happy too to knew that you're around.💛

Thank you for the link!:) I remember reading some similar articles when there was an increase of police brutality in France against arabs and black people. Historians, sociologists and human rights activists pointed out that the current organization of the frenc police dates back to the colonial period and was massively shaped by people who used brutality to control indigenous people, which was obviously the case too in Palestine and in USA where POC and native american are the 1st victims of the brutality.

It is therefore not surprising that the Zionists now form the American police, it is a complete circle where both parties are driven by the same racist and murderous logic.

As Corbyn said in the tweet I posted, the Zionist regime was born out of the massacre and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people: the Nakba, which is still ongoing to this day. That is why in my opinion it cannot be fixed or saved, just like the police in the United States, both cannot be reformed but must be defunded (Zionist regime survives mainly because American financial support in the form of public subsidies), and ultimately destroyed.

Have a nice day too anon!💛

#politics #history #antiracism #anti colonialism #anti colonization #anti apartheid #anti ethnic cleansing #anti jewish supremacy #anti western imperialism #palestinian lives matter #palestine #middle east #indigenous people #from the river to the sea #palestine will be free

[jayarrarr]

15 Questions 15 Mutuals

I was tagged by @infamouslyroggylives, but I've stolen Ari's (@betterthannonfiction) formatting because it's infinitely better.

Are you named after anyone?

Absolutely not. In fact, I'm so not named after anyone that my parents originally wanted to name me Amy, but Carter was in the White House at the time, and his daughter's name is Amy, so they scrapped that name because they didn't want anyone to think I was named after her (they named my sister Amy 6 years later when most people had forgotten about President Carter).

2. When was the last time you cried?

It's been a few days, I think. I'm super emotional these weeks.

3. Do you have kids?

Nope. I do live with a 13-year-old though (part of the time, at least). That's enough for me.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Nope, never. Snark? Absolutely. Sarcasm is passive-aggressive and gross.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Whether they seem open or closed off.

6. What’s your eye color?

Blue.

7. Scary movie or happy ending?

When you say "happy ending," what are you talking about exactly? Coz that might change my answer.

8. Any special talents?

Any and all talents I have are of the generic variety.

9. Where were you born?

Asheville, North Carolina, USA

10. What are your hobbies?

Music, dancing, reading, coloring

11. Do you have any pets?

Embie's a wee part-Maine Coon cat, somewhere between 10 and 12 years old (she adopted me and I lost track).

Cat Cat's a new addition, just 2 and needy af. He's my baby. He came up to my patio screaming and hasn't stopped screaming since. He plays fetch. I've always wanted a cat who played fetch.

12. What sports do you play/have you played?

When I was a kid I did ballet, gymnastics, and cheer until I was about 12. Then I switched to soccer, swimming, and tennis. I am equally mediocre at all of those things.

13. How tall are you?

5'4 (about 162cm)

14. Favorite subject in school?

English and French.

15. Dream job?

Can my dream job be no job? I don't know, I'd kinda like to just live for a living as opposed to exchanging my time to someone else for currency. I'm a terrible capitalist lol. I still haven't given up the idea of starting a Tumblr commune of tiny houses.

______________________

I echo Ari—I don't know if I have 15 active mutuals who haven't already been tagged in this thing. If you wanna do it, consider yourself kissed.

#the tumblr made me do it #tumblr shenanigans #tagged #tbd

[striving-artist]

first of all, apologies: this may sound like needless bait and or agressiveness, it may not be my place, as a non usamerican, to comment on usa's politics, i can't hit enter on anon ask for some reason so this will be a block of text, and my english is of dubious quality when it comes to expressing my points. But as a non usa citizen, or even a non global north citizen, but honestly the bidencourse or whatever feels like its distracting... from the actual point? 1/?

Okay, first, Very Sorry it took me a while to answer. I wanted to wait and give this a proper response, and then real life got to be a Lot. Second, your english is better than my french, and your phrasing ends up saying things more clearly than native speakers because you’re trying to communicate, not say something with clever words. 

Actual answer now. It’s below the rest of your asks, which I copied all into this. I’m going to talk about Americans as ‘We’ in this. I know that there are exceptions, I hope I am an exception to it, but its easier to talk like this.

like, yeah, sure. american politics are horrifyingly influential on a global scale in such a manner no single country should be. yeah, sure, deciding whether your president did something bad, terrible even, whether your... ok i dont know the name of state guys in usa politics, so biden & folks, and whether you'll vote for or against him to continue supporting your political goals against their current actions is important, sure 2/?

but also, it really feels as a sorta... united states of america main character of the world moment? really bad at wording this, but it feels as though the vast majority of americans right now are using whats happening in palestine as... performance, sorta? political performance, or using palestine suffering as set dressing to their own issues. theres a really strong vibe of "see all these people suffering, *arent you, white american liberal* feeling guilty about your choices?" 3/?

its like... it really feels as though the whole things is abstract or like, superficial to most people posting about it right now. sure, theyre making a big show, or whatever, but instead of heres how you can actually help, heres what you can actually do about this, american posters are doing the equivalent of asking for a manager about a building thats on fire. theyre complaining more about their own politics than actually helping 5/?

and it circles back to how could my politician do this, or im not voting for him, and, sure, by all means, feel this way, act on it even, but like. grips their shoulder. Can you please not make it about yourselves. once in your lifes. can you please not think about people who are dying, who are being killed, who are being oppressed - in terms of set dressing for internal american politics? just this once? 7/?

this is going a little offtopic, but like, fuck yknow? i saw more people commemorating the death of kissinger than discussing on how to undo the shit he did, and most people commemorating were... americans. i celebrated too, because i was born raised and live in a country that got its dictatorship through american involvement, but it always ends up being how the world impacts america than the opposite, despite how ppl phrase it. sorry. idk. this ended up venty as hell. 8/8

As long as the USA continues to shove into the politics of other nations, especially in the global south, you have the right to comment on what is happening here. I’m happy to be a place for you to vent. You’re also right that the USA is acting like a Main Character. We have done that since Isolationism went out of style. Lots of American politicians on the right talk about ‘America First’ and staying out of other countries’ problems, but they just mean they don’t want to send aid money. Almost every American politician still wants to get involved when it suits their interest (oil, money, personal agenda, personal religion) 

Talking about Biden is an intentional distraction here. In part because our politics is a mess of blame shifting and personal attacks. In part because it’s election time, and anything a president running for re-election does is heavily scrutinized. But also, because most americans don’t know enough about global politics to actually talk about it. Instead, we make it about ourselves.

That gets amplified online, and especially on tumblr bc there’s a lot of americans on english websites. We are used to everything being about us. 

You’re right that our politics have a huge impact globally. That’s also true for Russia, China, and some key European countries. For the most part, the global south is considered unimportant. Not saying that’s a good thing, but it’s definitely true right now. The next american election could, genuinely, collapse the USA as we know it. I don’t mean the country will turn into anarchy and the purge overnight if Trump wins, but it would be very bad. I’ll ignore the problems we would have domestically for now and how those filter into the rest of the world. That’s an entire essay. They’re huge, but you asked about why we only see things through our own lens.

I kind of want to say that we just suck. That it’s ego, and nothing else. But, we’re actually taught to think this way. That won’t help your frustration, but it is the Why.

Americans get raised with an american perspective, obviously. We’re taught, pretty specifically, that we are a superpower who can change anything we want, and the rest of the world can’t stop us. Having veto power in the United Nations is a good example. We don’t see things that aren’t filtered through American media and reports unless we go out and look for them. Hell, we’re at a record high right now because 60% of americans have passports. We don’t go to other countries, when we do, we expect them to cater to us. We never see anything but the american side of things. 

And if America is the only one who can really have any impact, we see our elections as the Most Important Thing. It isn’t completely wrong. How our politicians think about other countries has a direct impact on the rest of the world. We supply a huge amount of money, weapons, and aid to countries. Right now, funding for aid to Ukraine and Gaza are really contentious in Congress. Congress has to pass the bills that let Biden send help. Our system is a mess, and we have people who are elected thanks to a few thousand, or a few hundred voters, that are going to be critical to get those bills passed. 

But that’s the bigger picture. That’s officials, and why, in a lot of ways, it DOES matter to the rest of the world how our politics change. I don’t like that, but so long as it’s true, then any american who cares about the rest of the planet needs to focus on effecting our government’s choices. 

As for individuals. You are very, very right about this. We treat global events as set dressing for our leaders. Like I said, it does matter, but the way we talk, especially online, is performance. 

Lots of americans WANT to help internationally. We feel helpless to do that. If you don’t have the money to donate to charities, it feels like all you can do is scream. Media and news in America doesn’t talk about the rest of the world, so we pour all of that anger onto our politicians, and expect them to fix it. We feel weak, we don’t know what to do, so we do the only thing we know. We don’t know the names of Knesset leaders. We don’t even know about UK politics unless it’s really dramatic, and they’re our closest ally and culture. 

To use your metaphor; we’re screaming at the manager because we think he has the keys, and we’re in the fire too. He doesn’t. We don’t know how to handle that. So we’re just screaming.

As for Kissinger, it ties into the above, I promise. A lot of the hate for him, and the celebrating that he died, is because we know what America has done is fucked up. He was a symbol of that. Lots of young americans hate what we did. Shit, lots of americans who were young back in the 70s hate what we did. Him dying felt like we’d gotten rid of some of the baggage tied to us (it doesn’t, we still interfere all over the world) It was a bit of good news when we are facing the fact that we can’t force other countries to obey us.  

I’ve talked before about how conflicted I am about this. I badly want America to step in Fix It. I want us to help the Rohingya. I want us to stop Putin in Ukraine. I want us to force a peace deal in Israel and somehow make things right. I want that so badly because I hate what’s happening. I also hate the idea of America continuing to act like we’re the main character. But. I hate that we could do more, and we aren’t. I think a lot of Americans feel that way. 

Americans who are watching the rest of the world feel weak right now. Younger Americans - who are more likely to be online talking, AND more likely to be watching the rest of the world - feel weak in every part of our lives. Money, politics, social stuff, corruption. We feel like we aren’t able to do anything. So we’re screaming at the manager because staying quiet hurts too much, and we don’t know how to change it. 

This is already long, and I don’t think it will make you or anyone else feel better. But I want to add this. 

Everyone pays attention to their immediate surroundings first. The people of Guyana are focused on Venezuela trying to annex them. The people of Sudan are thinking about how everything is falling apart for them. The problems in the US are pretty privileged. The danger for trans americans is bad right now. It’s not wrong to think about keeping yourself alive and safe first. You put on your own oxygen mask first. Everyone does. 

I don’t know if I missed something that you want me to talk about. I don’t know if this was helpful at all. Really, I just sympathize with you. It isn’t fair, it isn’t right, I want to shake americans by the shoulders, and I can’t. And I hate that. 

#us politics #principles - strife #this is 1300 words of answer #I don't know if it really answered anything #because the answer comes down to: #Americans can't imagine things except through how it impacts america #the rest is me saying that with more words

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (October 3)

St. Théodore Guérin SP was born Anne-Therese Guerin on 2 October 1798 at Etables, Brittany (France).

As she was growing up, the French government was virulently anti-clerical, closing down seminaries and churches, and arresting priests and religious.

Her cousin was a seminarian who lived in hiding in her parents’ devout Catholic home.

He instructed her thoroughly in the faith and she displayed an advanced knowledge of theology, even at a young age.

Anne-Thérèse entered the Sisters of Providence at 26 and devoted herself to religious education.

Her intellectual capacities were formidable, and she was even recognized by the French Academy for her acheivements.

In 1840, Mother Théodore Guérin was sent to Indiana, USA, to found a convent of the Sisters of Providence in the diocese of Vincennes.

There, she pioneered Catholic education, opened the first girls’ boarding school in Indiana, and fought against the anti-Catholicism prevalent in the day.

She was well known for her heroic witness to faith, her hope, and her love of God.

The fledgling years of the convent of Our Lady of the Woods were difficult, with the ever present danger of it being burned down by anti- Catholics.

The persecution also came from within the Church, from her own bishop who, on not being allowed to tamper with the order’s rule, excommunicated her.

The excommunication was eventually lifted by his successor.

In 1904, James Cardinal Gibbons said that she was “a woman of uncommon valour, one of those religious athletes whose life and teachings effect a spiritual fecundity that secures vast conquests to Christ and His holy Church.”

She died on 14 May 1856 after a period of sickness. Her feast day is celebrated on October 3.

She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 25 October 1998. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on 15 October 2006.

She is remembered as a woman devoted to prayer, an educator, caregiver, and leader.

#Saint of the Day #St. Théodore Guérin #Anne-Therese Guerin