#sincerely yours-an actual latin person

[nicosraf]

You liked a Tweet about saying how wanting to dismantle the Christofacist System is genocide. Xtianity is and always has been genocidal to people like me you bigot. You can hide behind your book being Queer but we know

I wasn't going to respond because I'm still not convinced you're being sincere, but I'll be sincere! I can't find the tweet I liked, but I remember it, I think. This is the last time I'm going to respond to you. But I do hope you read this.

On Twitter, someone shared that a Tiktok user supposedly dreamed that all the Christians were taken away in a Rapture and the world became a better place. Someone quoted that tweet saying that wishing an entire religion was gone was a fascist/genocidal position, which it is! Even if the religion is awful, it's genocidal to want a group of people dead, you know, for what they believe. It's just the definition of the word. Don't be afraid of it.

I'm really fascinated by your use of "people like me" and "we know." Why do you think I'm not like you? You don't know anything about me. I don't know anything about you. I could ask, but you could lie, so I won't. I know that you know yourself though. So, why aren't I like you? And who is we? You are you in community with?

Is that community stronger than the one you hold with me? If it is, why?

Do you think I'm a Christian? I've never said I am. I've never talked about my beliefs. And I won't because they're personal to me.

"Genocidal to people like me" - I keep coming back to this. You know, I really know genocide. I worked as a reporting fellow, and I met a journalist from Kashmir that wrote about the ethnic cleansing conflict. We had a good discussion making comparisons between the militarization occurring there and with the displaced people I was working with at the time along the Mexico-America border. I've seen genocide. I'm familiar with the de-humanization, the treatment like your people are dirty and need to be kept out and eradicated.

In Mexico, priests are murdered a lot. Sometimes it's really violent. Dismemberments and hangings and all that. It's really dangerous to be a priest in Mexico, but in some communities, they run the migrant homes, argue with paramilitaries. You ask, "Why are you doing this?" And they'll say it's their faith, it's why they became a priest. They believe in goodness.

I knew a priest who was threatened by organized crime. They told him to hand over the Cubans in his care. He said he wouldn't. And then he was "disappeared", and it's been 2 years now. We'll probably never find him. I can still see him really vividly in my head. His glasses, his hands clasped together.

At the same time, my poor Mexico has only adopted Christianity through genocide, right? I've written about that too. The Franciscans and the children of the noble Nahua-indigenous people who worked together to destroy the indigenous religion; they ran into the villages and stole the wooden figurines and burned them. And, you know, when Hernan Cortes introduced a statue of Mary to the indigenous people, it's said that they took her and put her beside a statue of an indigenous goddess. Cortes was so mad that he threw a violent tantrum.

Historically, Latin Americans have been seen as bad Christians. I've seen why. In my home town, there is a statue of the goddess of death. Her name is Santa Muerte. At the same time, most people who worship her will call themselves Christian. Christianity means different things to different people, religion usually does.

Christianity is not fascism, actually. I guess I'll die on that hill. Christianity isn't the white American evangelicals you might know calling for rapture and apocalypse. To me, it's been priests in migrant shelters, it's been Latin Americans clutching their rosaries because they spent days kidnapped and tortured. It's also been something that is deeply heretical – a death goddess – but still Christian because this person has decided it is.

It's also a horror to me. I was put in conversion therapy. I will never be a regular person because of what was done to me. I was put in a Christian school where I was harassed over my clothes by nuns, saw violent homophobic and transphobic attacks in front of me routinely. I will never be comfortable with my identity because of Christianity. I will spend the rest of my life suffering because of what was done to me, by people I trusted.

But I know genocide. I know what it looks like, I know what it is. And if you want 2.6 billion people dead, then I'll say that's a lot of innocent people dead. That's genocide. A lot of those in the third world, a lot of colonized people who've made Christianity their own.

I don't know how old you are. For your sake, I'll assume you're my age. In which case, I'm not going to say "touch grass." Instead, just, please, volunteer at a migrant shelter, volunteer at a soup kitchen, work to protect the rights of un-housed people, organize a strike. Speak with your neighbors and ask them if they ever want to hang out, how their jobs are going.

A book written by a trans gay Mexican poking fun at Christian lore and exploring his interest in angels is not.... worth saying all this. Again, I'm not going to reply if you send me anything like this again. But I hope your week goes well. I hope that you go to sleep cozy. And if you're afraid of how scary things are for queer/trans folk, then I'm with you. I really am. You know, I self-published to avoid the book getting banned by fascist-Christians, and when I first announced ABM, I was harassed by Christians; they told me they would burn my book.

I hope you can find some peace in between all the fear. I wish that for both of us.

#mine #ask #maybeee #delete later #maybe ill turn anon off but only maybe

[hannshines]

I love how they are giving Spanglish tutorials for writing and making a more realistic Miguel O'hara in fics.

And it's funny because they're right in saying that it's not just saying random words in Spanish, it's literally putting certain sentences and almost repeating the same thing but in English or more than repeating it is saying something else that reaffirms what you said in Spanish, if you want the other person to understand you well if they don't speak any Spanish at all.

But apart from that, the truth is that not much happens, obviously what will stand out the most in Spanish words and actually in anny kind of language are the expressions

If you are an English speaker but you moved to Mexico and now you speak Spanish almost all the time, the typical expressions that you used to say in the United States or wherever you come from will not go away so easily.

A good tip is to think in that way, if you were that character with a nationality or your parents are from another country and you speak that other language constantly, how would you speak? And what are the expressions you would still use un your language?

They handle that in the film in a decent way, because for example all the expressions that Miguel says in a sarcastic, desperate way and whispers to himself he says them in Spanish (giving you to understand that he is very familiar with the language in the sense of speaking it, so much so that he continues to use some phrases).

That unlike Miles who has a mother who speaks Spanish, he has spoken English all his life and although he is used to his mother's Puerto Rican Spanish (he understands her when she speaks some things) in reality he doesn't speak it, because he never had the need to speak spanish or to express himself with phrases in another language other than with his mother (if that were the case).

And considering Miles' mother, she speaks more fluent Splanglish and her accent is still quite thick, has anyone seen Sofia Vergara in Mother Family? She's literally Gloria

And here comes in also knowing the different expressions for the different Spanish speaking countries which would be almost the same as with American English and British English.

It is not the same to use expressions in Puerto Rican Spanish (which is what Miles' mother should use) to mexican expressions (which is what Miguel should use) to expressions in Spanish spain or other Spanish-speaking countries (which, as strange as it sounds, is what Miguel uses in the film and Miles uses in the short conversation he has with Miguel, calling him "tío")

And honestly it's not a complaint, because I adore Oscar Issac and maybe I understand a little bit about the accent and the words because my man is from Guatemala.

But again is not the same to say "automóvil" here in Mexico, the word means the same thing but here in Mexico we don't use that word much to refer to a car, we call it "carro".

There are words that do become common i'm diferente countries, but back to the expressions.

"Ay coño" is not a Mexican expression.

Yes in Latin America because is it used in other countries and in Spain, but here un México that word is used but almost nothing and not for the same, there are more expressions that are used in Mexico, that somehow I understand that it will not be used, I consider that the common Mexican expressions, the real ones, are very rude and vulgar, but that in some way characterizes us.

I was waiting for Miguel O'hara to say something stupid like "Me está llevando la chingada" (which means he's fed up with every situation and can't take it anymore) because it seemed that at some point the man couldn't take any more with a "mocoso" (brat).

Someone made a post with some expressions and words in Spanish, it is very good sincerely, I hope you see it, but if you want to enjoy a good movie in the dubbing is full of Mexicanisms, see Shrek in Latin American Spanish.

In the Hangover movie the dubbing uses expressions that would be used here in Mexico, if you want more rude expressions with the Spanish dubbing.

But remember that if you want to base it on a movie, all the dubbing should be Latin American which is the closest to Mexican expressions.

In fact that's a problem with Latin American dubbing, as it's mostly done here in Mexico they try to make it global for Latin America but they tend to put in a lot of Mexicanisms that are not understood in other countries but that kill us in mexico.

#miguel ohara #miguel x reader #spiderman #spanglish #mexicanismos #spiderman across the spiderverse #satsv #spiderman 2099 #fanfic #writting tips #idk i love mexican expresiion #mexico

[meraki-yao]

I have a sincere question and I don't want to create any drama and I want to make a premise because I want it to be clear where this comes from and I don't want to be misunderstood: I love Nicholas, I think he's an extraordinary actor, I've been following him even before rwrb so I'm very happy to see that finally after so many years he did it. But I discovered Taylor with this film and I fell in love with him too. My question is: do you think that constantly wanting to "belittle" Taylor is due to the fact that he can't be the "white boy" that the internet often fixates on periodically? I don't know if I can explain myself, I'm not suggesting that Nick is just a current obsession but perhaps Taylor is being penalized in some way by the "general public"? I remember an interview with Taylor from years ago where he also said that he lost roles because they were "too black" or "too white" for what they were looking for and latin actors are still very penalized in this. Do you think it might be affected for future films too? It's really just an exchange of opinions please no one sees this as something negative and I really know Taylor is much loved everywhere it's just a consideration due to the last drama in twitter

Thank you for your question and your clarification

Unfortunately, I would say I'm the wrong person to answer this question because while I'm very much aware of the existence of racism in Hollywood and in fandoms, I don't actually know how deep it runs, what is the "logic" behind the "justification", and how much that affects performers.

On top of that, this is kind of my first time being in a fandom instead of just hyperfixating on my own (ok well second time, but the first time was Word of Honor which is Chinese, and that's a whole other type of shit show but racism isn't involved in that)

So while I do think Taylor faces insults and career struggles that stem from latent racism, I don't really know the answer to the "white boy" question because I wasn't even aware this was a mentality that existed on the internet

My understanding and this is just MY opinion and speculation, is that before RWRB, Taylor was mostly cast based on his looks, which both contributed to him getting roles that are pretty but not really well written (please see here and here for more) and not getting roles due to him being Latino

Hopefully, with both RWRB's popularity and RWRB showing that Taylor's a great actor WHO DOES AMAZING (given the right director, script, and partner, although this point goes to all performers), people can start casting him more for his acting (and popularity) rather than his looks, so I would say while latent racism is unfortunately gonna be a thing his whole life (and that's society's fault) things may be getting better for him with RWRB

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #taylor zakhar perez #rwrb thoughts #anon ask #answered #also to clarify Taylor is still a fucking gorgeous human being #but just being cast based on looks is not really a good thing for actors #I'm guessing this is also part of the reason Alex is so dear to him #where him being Latino isn't a “hindrance” but straight up part of the character

[mswyrr]

I love this scene from Homicide: Life on the Street (from 2x04, "A Many Splendored Thing") and the surge in puritanical thought and purity policing language online keeps making me think about it.

BAYLISS: Tell me that you don't find all of this porno stuff, all this phone sex and S&M stuff, disgusting. PEMBLETON: Well, Bayliss, that's just the way of the world. It's been this way forever. When they dug through the ruins of Pompeii, they found, written on the walls: 'An vere fama susrrat grandia te medii tenta vorare viri.' It's a long, roundabout way of saying 'fellatio.' St. Ignatius High, New York City. Yeah, I had to do something to make Latin class interesting. BAYLISS: Granted, listen, perversion has existed since the beginning of time. Alright, we see it everywhere, but that doesn't mean that I am willing to accept that. PEMBLETON: Well, in any given ten square feet of this great country, there are people who think it's perverted for a person of your color and my color to sleep together. BAYLISS: No, Frank. I'm not talking about prejudice. What I'm talking about is kinky sexual acts. Dehumanizing acts between two human beings, alright. Sex is love. Period. This I believe. PEMBLETON: Oh, yeah right. So if a beautiful woman passes you on the street, you smile at her. Ooh, she smiles back. You're not thinking about marriage, you're thinking of her in a French maid's outfit. Bent over a straight back chair – BAYLISS: No, no, I don't. I don't think that way, Frank. PEMBLETON: Oh, well you're either a liar or you're a moron. If you're a liar, then fine. At least you've got a chance. But if you're a moron, then you're just a bore, y'know. I'm gonna have to take you out back and shoot you just to put you out of your misery. BAYLISS: Wait a minute. I don't think dirty so I can't understand the criminal mind. Is that it, huh? I mean….I…I…I don't want to kill someone, so I can't get into the killer's head, is that it Frank? I don't think about molesting some child so I don't how to investigate Adena Watson's murder, is that what you're saying? PEMBLETON: Then you really are a moron, aren't you!? BAYLISS: No, I'm not a moron, Frank! PEMBLETON: OK, let me tell you something. We're all guilty of something. Cruelty, or greed, or going 65 in a 55-mile-per-hour zone. But you know what? You want to think about yourself as the fair-haired choirboy, you go ahead. BAYLISS: Alright. OK, so, what're you saying, huh? PEMBLETON: I'm saying you got a darkness. You, Tim Bayliss, you got a darkness inside of you. You gotta know the uglier, darker sides of yourself. You gotta recognize them so they're not constantly sneaking up on you. You gotta love them 'cause they're part of you. Because along with your virtues, they make you who you are. Virtue isn't virtue until it slams up against vice. So consequently, your virtue's not real virtue, until it's been tested. Tempted.

Being terrified of one's own darkness/sins and eagerly seeking to live in denial about their existence is actually one of the ways that extremes of politics and religion capture people. (That and the disgust based morality Bayliss displays in this scene). That kind of obsessive purity is something I was raised with in fundamentalist Christianity. It doesn't lead to goodness; it leads to hypocrisy, lies, hiding and concealing and cultures of fear. It motivates people to actively prevent rather than support real goodness and sincerity and truth. It leads to people displacing and projecting their own darkness on others instead of having a healthy relationship with it.

#homicide: life on the street #quotes #my meta #purity culture #frank pembleton #one of my favorite characters of all time

[lighthouseborn]

Character Survey

basics.

name: Henry James (Swann) Turner (and I'm not sure he'd have much reason to give it this way but if you were to throw a 'Sparrow' in there he would not object)

nicname/s: I have yet to encounter any, actually. His name doesn't really lend to it? and I don't think anyone has chosen anything that isn't one of his given names, yet? If they have I forgot it I'm so sorry.

age: mid-twenties vibes these days, 23-25 thereabout

species: Human (...son of a psychopomp, which sometimes seems like a Something, but also not really? Blurry. Human and mundane and normal in all the ways you need to worry about.)

personal.

morality: lawful / chaotic / good / neutral / evil / true

religion: No formal adherence to any structures, and he's not much of a praying type either. He's got some superstitions and general beliefs, they just... don't necessarily steer him into thinking any of the things that exist are things he would give sway of his choices to.

sins: greed / gluttony / sloth / lust / pride / envy / wrath

virtues: chastity / charity / diligence / humility / kindness / patience / justice

known languages: English, Mandarin & Malay, Shipwreck's Pidgin, Latin (or some bastard form of it, at least), Greek, many many many partials via a mixture of exposure, study, and educated guesses based on the languages he has a firm grip on. Loves loves loves languages. Descendants verse has a sign language he's getting good at. Modern verses,,, I don't know if he knows any sign languages but he'd be excited to learn if he doesn't!

secrets:  

physical.

build: scrawny / bony / slender / fit /athletic / curvy / herculean / pudgy / average

height: 6'0" (1.83m)

scars / birthmarks: So many. Most tend to be covered, except the ones on his face and neck and hands. And the one on his face is fairly faint. I have not moved the scar chart to this blog yet (and I've been thinking of redoing it) but it is viewable [here.] [And also here for the D:BH verse, which is different, but it definitely needs updating.] I think there's also a Descendants verse one but I've lost it. It's around somewhere.

abilities / powers: Disarming puppy dog energy. (That's a joke it's not a real superpower or anything but it is true he's got a knack for being just. very earnest in a way that encourages people around him to put down their guard (or at least let him, specifically, through it.) This is not an intentional effort on his part. Like I mean sure he wants to be trustworthy but I mean he's not purposefully trying to trip or trick or manipulate people into liking him he just. Is how he is and it's very open, and it tends to endear people. (Or drive them crazy, or both s;ldkfjg;dlkfgj.))

restrictions: Hates feeling trapped or cornered into things and will bite and claw and kick about it; not a huge fan of enclosed spaces for this reason (it looks like claustrophobia sometimes and it's technically true he doesn't enjoy little bity tiny spaces, but it's less about them being small than it is about the enclosed/trapped feeling.) "How is this a restriction" it makes commitments something of a challenge and also literally being trapped or tied down, etc., can cause legitimate panic if he can't see a way out of it.

favorites. 

food: Curry! He's not especially picky about what kind, he's always interested in a curry. Also most fruit! But specifically a big fan of mango and lychee.

drink: Spiced tea. (Like, true teas blended with spices, not teas mostly made of spices, but that second thing is cool too.)

pizza topping: I sincerely doubt he's picky at all in any way about pizza.

color: He's got a lean for jewel tones and earth tones, especially blues and greens, a measure of gold, and the occasional red or burgundy. 

music genre: He's not crazy into music but generally prefers simple vibes, vocal pieces and acoustic guitar and memorable verses, stuff you can hum and carry around in your head.

book genre: Myth stuff for sure. I think even before he became obsessed with the Trident he was just into stories and legends as a kid, the kind of stuff that makes the world seem mysterious and magical, and he just. Never outgrew it. He's got a liiiiittle bit of a history lean, but more for sociology-esque things than like, foreign policy and infrastructure and war facts. The things that unite people, rather than push them apart.

movie genre: Modern Henry is a tv/movie hater sry (he gets bored with it really easily.) 

curse word: Despite what people say of sailors he really doesn't tend to swear very much? Typically only if he's very frustrated, which usually ends up aimed at an inanimate object, which usually means he's saying something along the lines of "this BLOODY (thing)" which is fairly mild all things considered. He's definitely dropped a few 'damn [it]'s and the occasional "for fucks sake". Arse is probably part of his lexicon but I feel stupid/wrong when I try to use it lmfao 

scents: Fresh outdoor air, especially coastal. Florals are nice! (Plumeria & hibiscus & orchids & irises) Brewing tea. Book smell is a good smell. He doesn't know this is what it is but cocoa butter.

fun stuff.

songs: [There's a a whole playlist for this] but big ones include: Wild I Am by Vocal Few , Eulogy by Charlie Allen , Seven by Sleeping at Last, Rubik's Cube by Athlete, Give It Up by Cody Fry, Here I Am by Brian Adams. [There's also actually a second playlist for this.] ...[And this one too.] ;dkjg;ldkfjg;kj (There's reasons for them to be on separate playsts it's just. very hard for me to articulate why.) [This is the angsty one] though that's pretty straightforward.

aesthetic: patches of sunlight and coastal winds and waist high grass waving in the wind and lanterns and lamplight and tropical flowers and the heights of a ship's rigging and adventure through uncharted places and books and sketches and maps and shells and walls papered with thoughts and trinkets and hammocks and humming and cliffsides and dancing and stories by the fire and port wine and rum and spiced tea and warm sturdy hugs and light linen shirts dried in the sun and flushed sunkissed skin and. more but my brain stopped working and this is already quite a list. you get it though you get the energy,,

sings in the shower: Hmmmm I feel it's unlikely but humming is possible?

likes puns: ..Neutral about them? (Hetty thinks they're funny though she likes to harass him with puns sometimes.)

#every family has a myth for the young to inherit ( dash game. ) #there's a light that never goes out ( hc. ) #yoink #i had a vague sense of deja vu the whole time but i know for a fact it wasn't on this blog so i did it anyway it was fun #also additional fun fact that's not even all of my potc related playlists :)

[olderthannetfic]

Hey Franzeska + blog readers! I’m a young queer person and I would really like some advice on something from older queer folks, of which I unfortunately don’t have access to IRL.

Some backstory: I’m 17, I’ve known I was gay for a super long time, but for some reason I have always despised the common lesbian symbolism. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t really tend to identify with femininity, or just because I’ve had bad experiences with people who use these symbols. For instance, the pink/lipstick without the lipstick/whatever flag and the sunset one both make me gag. I also dislike any mentions of Sapphic/Sappho because I hate when people impose modern views of sexuality onto historical figures so far removed from us that their conceptions of romantic and sexual relationships were much, much different from ours. (Also, I’ve read Sappho and she’s not even that great… I’ll take Virgil any day, but maybe that’s just because I can read it in the original Latin. Don’t know a lick of Greek)

Recently I found out that the labrys was one of the first lesbian symbols and it just *spoke* to me. I also like the symbolism behind the labrys flag (no pink, thank goodness, and I think the inverted black triangle is a great memorial to lesbians victims of the Nazi regime). I’ve never really found a queer symbol I feel this connected to— it’s a notable symbol in one of my favorite books (The King Must Die by Mary Renault), and it also performs a double function as a pagan symbol, which works out wonderfully for me as a pagan. While I’m definitely going to use it in my personal life, I’m in a bit of a dilemma concerning it.

I want a symbol that I can use in my every day life that can signal to other queer people that I’m a lesbian without slathering myself in pink and orange and those stupid double Venus symbols. However, I have noticed that, at least on tumblr, the labrys and labrys flag seem to overwhelmingly be associated with TERFs and RadFems, of which I don’t want to be associated with at all, as a genderqueer person who loves my 5,000 different pronoun sets and various other items of genderfuckery. So I guess my question is, as queer adults who are involved in queer communities and spaces— what are your personal associations with the labrys symbol? Is it the same now as it was ten years ago? Would using it as a signal actually be effective, or is it just obsolete to my generation due to age and TERF-y theft?

Sincerely,

A confuzzled Gen Z

--

It's not so much that the labrys is a TERF thing now as that all lesbian symbols get stolen by TERFs.

I personally think the labrys is cool and that you should steal it back from those assholes.

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

ok final cdth thoughts:

ronan: again it is so funny that stief truly seems to have seen people being like "um ronan's endgame in the raven cycle fucking sucked?" and like used those complaints as a prompt. that said if i had been expecting better i think i would have been disappointed that the clearly set up conflict in the beginning (can ronan be a real boy in the real world, does he even want to) sort of vanishes into the plot by halfway through the book. if i squint i can see what stief might want me to see which is that ronan chases after bryde because of his feelings of failure and his desire to distract himself but also to see himself as something than a loser trapped by his own mind. but i just think it would have been a better book if that thread had been threaded a little more strongly. we don't have to hammer it home but a couple moments tying into it - things like, maybe sometime after ronan rescues hennessey he thinks something about how maybe he can't live in cambridge but at least he saved the life of this other dreamer when no one could have - really could have gone a long way to making this feel like a plotty but still character-driven story, instead of something that started out as a character piece and then just devolves into Stuff Happening by the end, at least for our ostensible primary protagonist.

declan & matthew: awesome content no notes. sincerely i enjoyed all of their chapters and the developments therein. again it's so funny that in the raven cycle it really seems the text is not aware of the inherent creepiness of the lynch family's dream situation (the lynch family dreams situation?) and now she's like, i guess i should address the obvious existential crisis of it all. but i found it both entertaining and emotionally compelling up to the point where i forcibly reminded myself that there is such a high chance of something about this turning out stupid. but for now honestly i love declan lynch wandering around hating his dad and loving his brothers even the shithead one and being the most eldest daughter coded of all time and being pathologically repressed and gradually losing his own ability to not be an alive human person. and i love matthew being angry and having real feelings about not being a real person and wanting to stop pretending. and the reveal that niall maybe dreamed aurora based on a real woman is so like extra damning i'm pro that too.

jordan & hennessey: a cool idea with execution that was... fine. it's a neat concept to have two characters on opposite side of the dreamer/dreamt relationship to explore the, again, inherent fucked up reality-warping psychological nightmare of that. but their chapters were kinda boring for me except when jordan was interacting with declan, the hero and star of this book (we stan).. stief almost got there (there = saying something interesting) with hennessey (i refuse to figure out which way her name is spelled) as like, the doomed daugher of a destructive dead dreamer who was so broken by her mother's suicide that she started slowly killing herself of loneliness. but only almost! stief sometimes reminds me of how i say that the force awakens is a movie built for gifsets. like it's not enough to have a cool idea and sort of gesture towards it and then let people reading or watching do all the actual work of making something compelling of it. i love to fill in blanks and draw connections but the thing that makes it compelling has to be to SOME degree successfully executed in the text (it does not have to be major or take up a lot of space or even be explicit!) for you to have, like, done your job (wrote a book right).

adam parrish: continues to deserve to be written by literally anyone else on earth. i want his dumb college friends to sent to mars. but i did like how lived-in the pynch of it all felt, and also that they're HUGE DWEEBS who have a two-person catchphrase in latin. extremely cute if i compartmentalize Good Pynch Content Cumulatively from the rage stroke the raven king gave me.

bryde: i don't know what to say about this one because this is the plot thread that most obviously feels like it's in the danger zone re: being Incredibly Stupid. i will say i have no idea how the text wants me to feel about bryde and i can't tell if that's a reaction i would have coming in cold or if it's specifically that bryde seems to be doing a particular thing (offering ronan the path of the dreamer, not the person, which is tempting, and has benefits, but Goes Too Far) but knowing stief's history with the simple architecture of set-up/payoff i automatically distrust any reactions of mine that seem to point to where the story might be going because of how amazingly the story did not go any of those places the last time around.

farooq-lane/parsifal/moderators/zeds/visionaries: the less said the better. apparently after the last one came out she said on twitter that her first pitch for these books had them take place more years in the future and didn't include the apocalypse plot and seemed to kind of imply a lot of reshaping happened at the behest of her publisher. the failings of TRC are so evil and egregious i'm not willing to say that maybe she could be good if the demands of the publishing let her be, because like, there is still something wrong with a brain that came up with some of the stuff she came up with, even if it wasn't her first choice. but like i guess maybe i can say that perhaps she was forced to include a plotline that doesn't matter because obviously the endgame of these books is not going to be "the apocalypse" and absolutely if you took this shit out it would be like a 150% improvement instantly. it is INSAAAANE how boring these are. insane! bafflingly, hideously, heinously boring. someone at the company should have looked on goodreads where the boringness of the villain chapters is a frequent complaint and they receive very few compliments and realized that truly No One Asked For This let's keep the focus on things anyone might conceivably care about. especially since this book is so goddamn long

it's SO long like oh my god. it seems like the next two are shorter so that's something. also idk how i feel about the hard cliffhanger ending. i feel like one of the things TRC had going for it was that other than BLLB kinda each book was like actually its own book. (but BLLB still was sort of my favorite at the time? idk) i also feel like if i had jumped into the next one without rereading i would have been TOTALLY lost but i guess that's not inherently a flaw. how long it is, that's a problem tho.

it's still stupid that the reason ronan is so awesome at dreaming stuff is because a magical forest loves him for no reason at all. like that was stupid in TRC but it's still stupid and it annoys me. in general one reason i don't read a ton of fantasy is because the idea of magic by itself is not inherently cool or appealing to me (if there's going to be magic Just Because in something i would prefer the something to be, like, creepy and weird or whatever) and i feel like if it's gonna be interesting it has to be somehow connected to some kind of grounded emotional human thing. and one thing that makes me insane about these dumb books is that a power literally based in dreaming feels like it should be sooooooo easy to build that bridge & connect those dots! and there are aspects where this works like the night terrors as a manifestation of self-loathing or whatever. but somehow it just... never quite gels for me. ronan dreaming experiments back in BLLB was about the best it got, and i enjoyed it, but, again - the second we're back in his POV, i'm like, well this is stupid again. a fucking magic forest! who gives a shit!

overall it's 8000000 better than the raven king. i feel like i can't think about the other TRC books separate from how angry TRK made me to assess it compared to those. i feel like maybe it worked better as a book (the plotting in TRC was... i mean it was real bad. this one the plot was dumb and overly convoluted and it had a ton of shit i didn't care about but it was, like, there, and more or less kept moving along, so, points for that i guess) but it didn't have the atmosphere or charm that TRC built over time. but also when i read TRC for the first time i didn't already hate her so much for writing the worst book in my life so maybe i'd have been more into this one if i'd encountered it without a giant grudge already built. anyway. on to part two!

#the shmeamer shmilogy

[orlissa]

For the anonymous ask, my favorite fic of yours is Midnight Prayer. I'm not even that religious, so I don't know why I like it so much. Maybe it's because it's something that is rarely explored in darklina fics (at least the ones that I've read). Aleksander has had a long life and that means that he has beliefs and/or cultures that are older than most (as it's made most apparent with language or in this case religion). Not sure if it's canon or not, but it's my personal headcanon that Aleksander (and in extension Baghra) follow (or used to follow) a different religion and hold a different native language than the rest of the set of characters (I don't think the English or Ravkan, whatever you want to call it, is the same as it was, lets say, four centuries ago). I almost imagine their native language to be similar to latin, meaning that it's now a dead language. Sure, people can learn about it, but no one actually speaks it, except of course, for them. It could explain too why, despite everything his mother did or didn't do for him and vice-versa with Baghra, they still seek this companionship with each other. It could be (amongst other things as well) because they are the only remaining piece of that part of their identity. Who else knows about the Old Gods? Who else knows and speaks Old Ravkan (is that the name of the language? let's pretend it is, shall we)? Who else knows the words to the prayers and/or the rituals? Four centuries is a long time for language and for beliefs to change. It's quite possible that there is not a lot of documentations of it as well (I don't think the people/Grisha back then were preoccupied with writing a dictionary, for example. Their priority was survival, the rest was only secondary).

Anyways, I could go on, but you get the picture. Not sure if this made any sense, but yeah that one is my favorite of yours (it helps that the writing is so good too!)

Oh, and sorry for this mini essay lol got too carried away I guess lol

Never say sorry for something like this, never! I thank you sooo much for taking this much effort to write me such a lovely message.

Yes, the questions of language and religion are very interesting in this context.

When writing about Sasha's religion, I take a lot of inspiration from my country's history, and a bit from my personal experience (as a pagan living in a country ripe with right wing Christian propaganda). So... my country became Christian in exactly 1000. It was basically a political move, because all the peoples around us were already Christian, but still, it was an executive decisions--suddenly laws were made that every 10 village had to build a church and everybody had to attend mass every Sunday (except for the person who was minding the fire). The old, politehistic and shamanistic religion was completely eradicated. We literally have no written sources on it. We don't even know the names of the deities. (Which makes for an interesting paradox when you have hard-core patriot guys who are both into Christianity and old legends using pre-Christianity imagery, but I digress.) So in my fics, the Old Religion is something that was forcefully ended to make way for the Saint Worship, and it's just Aleksander and Baghra who remember.

I imagine Aleksander's faith to be casual, but sincere. He is not crazy devout, doesn't have a strict adherence to the rules, but finds solace in the practice. He doesn't have unshakable faith in the existence of the gods (after all, he has seen the Saints rise and fall, and knows there is nothing divine about them), but it still calms him to pray sometimes.

As for language... now that's interesting. I'm honestly baffled by the show's "Old Ravkan" stuff. Language changes, it evolves. Look at texts from hundreds of years ago. Shakespeare is a bit odd, but still pretty understandable, but something from the 11th-12th century? that's a challange. But you can still find familiar words and patterns. And yet, the show's "Old Ravkan" is basically a completely different language. What I can imagine is that pre-fold the territory was held by another people, who spoke "Old Ravkan", then the current guys came & conquered, establishing "New Ravkan" as the official language -- so "Old Ravkan" would be the dialect of an ethnic minority, not the archaic form of the current language. (Personal bit: my dad's family is Danubian Schwab, a German minority living in Hungary. They've been here for generations, and they they speak their own dialect of German--my grandma, my aunt, they're all still bilingual.)

As for Aleksander, I would think that his speech patterns evolved with the language (your speech patterns evolve all the time, you add words to your vocab, leave stuff behind), but what remains, and what he really needs to be careful about is prnounciation. Because the syntax and the vocab might have stayed relatively the same, but the Ravkan language now uses different sounds than hundreds of yours ago--diphtongs disappeared, short vowels turned into long ones, soft th's turned into hard d's... And he needs to sound polished and educated, so he really, really needs to pay attention to how he talks.

#ask #darklina #shadow and bone #fanfic

[michel-tanguy]

New Post has been published on Michel Tanguy

New Post has been published on http://micheltanguy.com/whats-it-just-like-having-a-latina-wife/

Whats It Just like having A Latina Wife

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[beingblackinamerica]

Microaggression-Dee

The Myth of the Latin Woman

Microaggression takes the form of many undercover wordings. Many people think they are trying to give a compliment but in reality, they are making people uncomfortable with their questions, quotes, or songs. They usually spread fast along with racism and stereotyping. Our specific goal in obtaining knowledge about microaggressions is to improve our understanding of what they are, how they propagate, and how to raise awareness of them in an effort to reduce racism. I have dealt with microaggression every day since I started wearing my natural hair. When I walk outside I always get stares, comments, and questions about my hair. “what are you mixed with?” “you got that good hair”, and “What do you use on your hair?” Thinking that someone has to be mixed to have pretty hair set black people back a couple of years because of those. The type of comments would come from our people. For as long as we knew it was good to have ”good” curls, known as type 2 or 3 hair. In reality, all types of hair are good hair, not just the loose type curls. Being asked every day about my hair messed with my identity and how I formed my personality. I began to think that my hair was the reason I am me; that my hair is everything to me. It was also a confidence boost, hearing everyone compliment me on my hair gave me my ego. As I grew up I started learning how to not be defined by your hair because you can psychologically change your mindset. It can change your mindset because you are going to be feeding into the microaggression that is already put on African Americans.  Black women frequently develop a complex and troubled connection with their hair early on. It might be demanding, but it can also be nourishing and empowering. Nothing is more awkward than being in a situation where no one else resembles you and being singled out because of someone's criticism about your hair. Usually, it's pointless and embarrassing. Comments like "Wow, all that weave, doesn't it get in the way?" are impolite, but compliments are sincere. Actually, these are microaggressions. Different factors influence how black women choose to style their hair. Regardless of what they are, such reasons shouldn't be brought into question or even mentioned in front of a large group of people.

[mammonswhore]

Quick reminder: latinos who have a white skin tone ARE latinos,being latine is more than just the color of our skin. It's about culture, language, traditions and many more than just our skin color

#latinx #so tired of ppl saying that if you are not dark skinned ur not latino/a/e #fr it upsets me #with that mentality then we would not have many national heroes #many of them had white/light skin tones #just admit it #ppl who say you are not latin if you are not dark skinned are mostly north american people #sincerely yours-an actual latin person #.val is spaming

[amjustagirl]

the stars are bright tonight 

pairing: yaku morisuke x f! reader  genre: romance, fluff  wc: 900 summary: you are unsurprised to catch your boyfriend monologuing to your cat. this time though, you hear your name. 

Yaku has a habit of talking to Kuroo-chan (the cat, not the former middle blocker) as if it can speak instead of simply meowing, but you suppose it’s borne out of the time difference between Moscow and Japan. You don’t pay this habit too much mind because it’s not as if he’s lonely, not when he has weekly scheduled calls with his family and the Nekoma crew - always a boisterous, joyful affair, with inside jokes and crowing and bursts of laughter that leaves him beaming even though he denies it when you comment gently that you’re glad he has them. 

“They’re a circus troupe”, he snorts, stuffing his mouth full of the dumplings he always craves from you. “Kuroo’s the ringleader of the lot, but if I don’t crack the whip, they’ll all get into deep shit.”

“You act more like their mom”, you giggle behind your hand. Just last week, Lev Haiba, supermodel extraordinaire, tumbled into your apartment begging for shelter because he’d arrived in Moscow for some high end fashion job, completed the assignment and promptly lost his wallet. Yaku had nagged and scolded him, but fussed over him nonetheless. 

You think it’s adorable. Yaku just shakes his head. “Hopeless, the lot of them”, he mumbles. 

He seems to slip into a caretaking role naturally as a result, even with his new team - nevermind the language barrier because Mori still fumbles with Russian. “It’s part of my job to watch their backs”, he says with a easy grin.

“Who watches the watchmen?”, you tease, the one thing you still remember from the one class you took on latin. 

“The stars, when it’s quiet at night”, he replies, eyes curving into crescents. “In other words, you.” 

Kuroo Tetsuro (now of the JVA, not your cat that’s developed a penchant for licking its ass) would shave his head to see his former libero act cheesy and romantic, but only you get the privilege of seeing him utterly soft and sincere. Well, you and Kuroo-chan (the cat, just to be clear) share that privilege to be clear, so you are unsurprised to return home to find him monologuing with Kuroo-chan. 

“Mm.” you overhear. “Too cheesy? Sounds like something Kuroo - the actual annoying smarmy Kuroo all the way in Tokyo - might say? Yeah, I think so too.” 

A pause. A half-meow. 

“Okay, right. Let me try again.” 

You hear your name fall from Mori’s lips. Curiosity piqued, you creep closer, press your ear to the door. 

“You’re it for me, y’know? I can’t imagine life without you - with your laughter and your chatter about your day, the apple pies and dumplings you make to welcome me home.”

Meow. 

“On the right track, huh?” Yaku chuckles. You have to stuff your fist in your mouth to stop yourself from screaming, from bursting through the door and ruining this magical moment. Fortunately Yaku continues on before you melt into a puddle on the floor. 

“There are seven billion people in this world under the same sky, living under the same stars,  but somehow, for some reason, I’ve been lucky enough to find my person out of billions and billions - it’s you. It’s always been you, It’s always going to be you. Because no matter where I am, no matter if I’m in Moscow or Tokyo, the minute you’re with me - when you put your hand in mine, look at me with that smile at yours, I’m home.”

You crack the door open. 

“Will you marry me?” 

Kuroo-chan notices you first, pads over to you to slink affectionately around your ankles. You don’t think you’ve ever seen Mori turn pink this quickly, his eyes widening as he finally sees you standing at the doorway. He remains frozen in place, one knee on the floor, velvet box still held aloft. 

You think it’s your turn to add to this impromptu monologue. 

“You’re it for me too, Mori”, you say softly, stepping slowly towards your boyfriend, the love of your life. “Seven billion people in the world - and I’ve found my person, my home. You’ve made me so so happy, you’ve made me believe in love again and -  I - with you,  I’m home -” 

Meow. 

Kuroo-chan sounds impatient at your longwindedness. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll get to it, give papa the answer he’s waiting for - ”

Yaku grasps your hand. You pull him up to you, take the opportunity to slide the ring onto your finger. 

“So just in case it wasn’t clear, that means I’m saying yes”, you add softly, before you find yourself upended onto your back by a sudden surge of movement from your boyfriend - now fiance, who throws himself at you, and you both land into a tangled, laughing heap on the bed. 

“You weren’t meant to overhear that”, he mumbles into the crook of your neck. “But I’m glad - gods I love you so, so much - ”

“I can’t believe you were practising how to propose to me with our cat”, you point out, laughing, and it’s impeccable timing because Kuroo-chan decides his parents are ignoring him in their joy and decides to plop himself right on the top of the two of you, forgetting he’s no longer a kitten, but quite the overweight fluffball.

“Kuroo! Gerroff me?!!”

Four thousand, six thousand and forty six miles away in Tokyo, Kuroo Tetsuro sneezes wetly into a tissue. A few minutes later, he sees a picture of Yaku, you and his feline namesake cuddled snugly, a glimmer on your finger. 

Of course, he thinks smugly to himself, already typing a message full of congratulations and smarm into the Nekoma groupchat that would make his former shortass teammate bluster and blush in equal parts. 

m.list.~ taglist.~ 

a/n: for laura @missalienqueen​ - i hope an outtake from my yaku fic who dares speak aloud these words - i loved him so much there, and i couldn’t pass up an opportunity to flesh out their happy ending a little more :) 

#haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x reader #hq x reader #yaku morisuke #yaku #nekoma #yaku x reader #yaku x you #yaku x y/n #haikyuu romance

[cuttoothed]

Getting this in just under the wire for day 1 of @jonmartinweek prompt “Comfy Jumpers”. I get so much joy from writing these two in s1 and thinking “lol you idiots are going to be in love some day.”

*

Martin knows that Jon doesn’t approve of the way he dresses.

It’s not exactly a surprise. Jon doesn’t approve of much about Martin: his report-writing, his Latin translations, even his very existence seems to irk Jon at times. Frankly, the feeling is mutual. Martin was perfectly happy working in the library, where his boss wasn’t an overbearing perfectionist arsehole, and if he’d been given a choice in the matter he’d still be shelving books and updating the filing systems, not getting glared at for his clothing choices. He’s well aware that Jon never wanted him in the Archives either, but they’re here now, so Mister Head Archivist is just going to have to live with it. They’re both going to have to.

Jon isn’t subtle about his displeasure; it’s difficult to miss his pointed scowls at Martin’s scuffed trainers and graphic-print t-shirts. And considering that Sasha wears jeans and t-shirts some days as well—though admittedly she tends to plain colors or muted prints, rather than retro video game characters—it’s pretty clear that it’s less about the clothes than it is the person wearing them.

Well, Jon can scowl all he wants, because everything Martin wears technically falls within the Institute’s dress code and there’s not a word Jon can say to him.

Martin has always run hot, so as winter closes in and other people are bundling up in heavy coats and jumpers, he throws hoodies over his t-shirts and zips them up only far enough that the bright graphic prints are still clearly visible to Jon’s critical eye.

Yeah, he thinks sometimes when he walks into Jon’s office, get an eyeful of Yoshi and see how you like it.

Jon, for his part, seems determined to outlast the winter in his usual dress shirt and tweed jacket combo. Martin knows that Jon isn’t particularly warm blooded—he’s seen the way the man huddles into his jacket like a tortoise in its shell until the central heating warms the basement up in the mornings—but he still refuses to add so much as an argyle sweater vest to his outfit in deference to the season.

The only concession Jon makes to the weather is a voluminous gray overcoat and a dark purple scarf, which he takes off the moment he gets into the office, regardless of how cold it is before the ancient heating system creaks to life.

And, well, it’s none of Martin’s business if his boss is too much of a pompous arse to dress appropriately for the weather. If he wants to freeze his backside off to maintain his academic dignity, far be it from Martin to intervene. Martin doesn’t feel sorry for him, when he sees Jon blowing on his fingers to warm them up, or briskly rubbing his arms while he waits for the kettle to boil and he thinks nobody else is around. Not in the slightest.

It’s below zero on the day in December when the central heating finally gives up the ghost. Even Martin can feel the chill in the Archives this morning, keeps his hoodie zipped up all the way even when he runs into Jon in the kitchenette. Jon looks miserably cold, his shoulders hunched and his movements stiff as he makes his tea.

“Morning, Jon,” Martin says cheerfully. “Bit nippy, isn’t it?”

“Just a bit,” says Jon sardonically. Somewhere overhead, there’s a metallic clanking as the heating system starts up.

“Finally,” Jon mutters, casting his eyes upward. The pipes creak and clank some more, and there’s an odd whirring sound that Martin’s fairly sure isn’t normal, and then a long, descending groan into silence.

“Oh,” says Martin. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“Bloody hell,” says Jon, and storms off to his office. A while later, he sends an email to inform them all that he’s spoken to Elias and the heating is out for the whole building, and that they should all feel free to work from home for the rest of the day if they choose. Sasha and Tim waste no time packing up, but Martin lingers, agonizing over which notes and references he should take with him. He’s never before had a job where working from home was an option, and he isn’t Tim or Sasha, isn’t someone Jon trusts and actually wanted to work with. Martin needs to make sure he gets it right.

At last he thinks he has everything he needs, but still Martin is hesitating, fiddling with the strap of his satchel. Maybe he should just check in with Jon before he leaves, make sure there isn’t anything else he needs to do. Make sure Jon knows I’m going to be working today, not just skiving off.

The door to Jon’s office is standing ajar; Martin taps on it, and pokes his head in without waiting for a response.

Jon looks up as he walks in, his expression startled. He is wearing a jumper. A chunky knit jumper in a warm maroon color, with a Christmas tree and several reindeer on the front. One of the reindeer has a red bobble for a nose. The jumper is oversized, the ends of the sleeves falling past Jon’s wrists.

It’s...incredibly cute, which is not a term that Martin ever expected to associate with his arsehole boss. Attractive, in a severe, unattainable way, sure, but not cute. Yet somehow, here they are.

“Ah, Martin,” Jon says, looking flustered. “I, uh, I thought you’d left with the others?”

“I was—I just wanted to check in with you first, make sure you didn’t need anything. You should head home too, it’s freezing in here.”

“I—I’m perfectly fine.” Jon plucks at the front of the jumper, looking embarrassed. “This is, ah, I bought this for the Institute Christmas party, but it’s surprisingly warm—and quite comfortable.”

“Oh, that’s, uh, that’s not part of your usual wardrobe then?” Martin hazards a chuckle, and to his relief, Jon huffs an amused breath. He raises a hand to adjust his glasses, but his sleeve gets in the way; he pushes both sleeves up to the elbows, and oh no, that’s even cuter.

“No, not—not usually,” he says. Martin frowns, suddenly remembering.

“You didn’t wear it at the party last week, though?”

“No, it’s—it was from the previous year, when I was in Research. It-it didn’t seem appropriate this year, being in a management role. Fortunately I still had it in a box, though I, uh, I didn’t really expect anyone to see me in it.”

Martin feels a sudden pang of something that might be sympathy. He understands how it feels, the desperate pressure to be professional, to be taken seriously, the constant second guessing of what you’re doing, whether you’re giving away something you shouldn’t. It’s hardly the same, of course: Jon’s not likely to be fired for wearing a silly jumper. But...Martin gets it.

“Actually,” he lies, “I, uh, I have to meet with Sophie up in the library later, so I’m around for the day. I was just going to go out and pick up some early lunch. Thought I’d see if you want anything?”

“Oh, ah, where are you going?” Jon asks tentatively, looking surprised at the offer.

“I was thinking of that cafe just around the corner—maybe get some soup and a sandwich?”

“That would be...very nice, actually. If you’re sure you don’t mind?”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I did,” says Martin, and takes the ten pound note Jon offers him.

“Thank you, Martin,” says Jon, and it’s the probably the most sincere thing Martin’s ever heard him say. He finds himself smiling without meaning to.

“Not a problem.”

It’s too early for lunch, really, but Martin knows Jon never eats breakfast and he missed it himself this morning. He gets two portions of steaming tomato and basil soup and toasted cheese sandwiches from the cafe, and when he gets back, Jon’s found a small space heater to plug in, so his office is marginally warmer than the rest of the Archives. They sit on opposite sides of Jon’s desk to eat, talking about the case that Martin’s working on. It’s the first time Martin’s actually had the chance to properly discuss a case, rather than stumbling through his report while Jon watches expectantly; Jon listens, and asks questions, and even offers some helpful suggestions for Martin’s follow up. It’s...oddly nice.

(Jon also continues to look unreasonably cute in his oversized Christmas jumper, but Martin carefully ignores that.)

The heating gets fixed by early afternoon, and the Archives warm up to the point where Martin can unzip his hoodie. When he drops off his finished case report to Jon’s office, Jon is back in his shirt and jacket, the maroon jumper packed away out of sight. He looks perfectly staid and professional once again. I saw you looking cute, though, Martin thinks, and then tries to pretend he didn’t; he is not going down that route.

Jon glances up when Martin comes in, taking in the “Marvin the Martian” t-shirt that’s now visible beneath his hoodie. Instead of a disapproving scowl, however, he gives a small, hesitant smile.

“Thank you, Martin,” he says as he takes the report, and something flutters warm in Martin’s chest.

Oh no, he thinks.

#the magnus archives #tma #jonmartinweek2021 #jonmartin #my fic

[lesserfandomappreciation]

Is that Supa Strikers show really that great? Would I like it even if I don’t like soccer/football? (I’m asking because I’ve never seen it. In fact, your posts are the only reason I know it exists at all.)

Okay. Okay, okay I was going to work on requests during this meeting but then I saw this and I have many feelings on this show so you're getting an essay. Buckle up son. Brief History

For those not in the know, Supa Strikas is a series from South Africa that started as a futbol-themed comic in I want to say the early 2000s. It quickly gained popularity throughout most of Africa and today is published in Latin-America, South America, Africa, some parts of Europe and Asia.

Almost every continent has this comic. You cannot tell me that isn't cool and also very telling of how many people like this series.

Seeing the comic get so popular so fast, a TV show followed up in 2009 by the same name and is still going to this day. This series has been along longer than most presidential terms.

The show had a similar story with only slight character changes, and while the entirety of the 2021 season is already out, there are signs that they may be more coming out in 2022 so. Fingers crossed!

What is it about?

The story centers around Shakes, a young futbol player who has recently joined the Supa Strikas, a team based in an unspecified African country. The comic follows the team winning the Super League during different seasons, going around the world to find out new techniques, deal with teams that cheat and overcome their own inner problems as well.

The series differs from the comics in that we don't see Shakes' journey to becoming a Supa Strika and we don't get the official names for the characters either, only their nicknames. Wikipedia has their official names listed I think, but if anyone whose read the comics wishes to tell me, by all means do so.

It's a pretty straight forward storyline, with some good story consistency (characters who appear in one episode do show up again and are given consistent writing). Very episodic.

Why should I watch the series?

The series is fun. Sincerely, un-apologetically fun.

The main characters get good screen time and we get to see some fun, decently written personalities that act off each other well. The Supa Strikas is a team of himbos but different varieties of himbos and I love them for it. You do get the feeling that this is a group of people that cares for each other, not a group of characters just shoved together because the series said so.

The side-characters are also great. Some of them are a little one-note but many of them are just as crazy, if not more fun, than the main characters of the show. There's an American dude named Ninja whose entire gimmick is that he's a reality star fame-seeking dude straight out of Las Vegas and I love him. He's one of the tamer character concepts.

Coach. That is all.

There's a vast array of diverse representation. While the Supa Strikas team is the only team is they only team of mixed nationalities (South African, Jamaican, Brazilian, Spanish, etc) every team is representing a different country. There's a Brazilian Team, a Mexican Team, a Saudi Arabian Team and many others.

In connection - the Supa Strikas have players from around the world. Dancing Rasta is Jamaican, the captain of the team, an incredibly competent leader and very down-to-earth. You do have players that are a little stereotypical (North Shaw is an Australian who loves extreme sports, shocker) but are written in ways that you find yourself not minding.

It's funny. There's a lot of good moments both in writing and in the animation. As someone who got to study animation, I can say without a shadow of doubt that the team behind the character animations had no fear in pushing what they can do and making the characters feel fun.

Some of the stereotypes used in the show are used well and are written in a fairly respectful way. El Matador, a Spanish player, fills the stereotype of being a self-absorbed Spaniard. but he's also written to care for friends and to be very competent in other areas. Plus, there are other Spanish characters like Riano that are nothing like that and have distinctly different personalities. As a Spaniard, I found this to be a good writing choice. These jokes are seen less as insults and more like friendly barbs between most countries and it doesn't detract from the show.

The technology. It's a running gag that the tech used to train the guys is progressively more outrageous.

No forced romance storylines! There's no character moment where boy meets girl and then we're stuck watching this inevitable couple find reasons to not be a couple. It's nice to not have the forced hetero-normative relationships we see in a lot of other shows.

To that end, fantastic healthy male friendships! There's no "no homo" moment and the characters all have very good chemistry. Again, you feel like they're actually friends. They all have different dynamics too, so the friendships don't feel uniform and stale.

Good emotional moments.

Bromances for the win! Genuinely shocked there's not more fandom for it considering the sheer quantity of POSSIBILITIES of bromances and potential ships to work with.

It's 100% fine if you don't know anything about futbol. The show shows literally what matters, not every single little throw-in, and most times there's some world-breaking nonsense going on that distracts from that. There's literally an episode where the opposing team changes gravity on the the field to try and beat the Supa Strikas, the rules barely matter. I promise you, you don't need to know what "Offsides" means in order to watch.

The commentators. I love them both.

The episodes are varied in stories. There's ones about training, ones about exploring a different country, others where the opponents cheat, etc. There's an episode which is almost a murder mystery and I love it.

All the episodes can be found free online on Youtube on the official channel for the show. I love this creative team so much.

There's a lot of good writing choices!

What might I not like about the show?

Some people like episodic shows, some don't. For those in the latter category this may drive them away from Supa Strikas.

There's like. 4 female characters. I can see why they did that, but I can also see why that is upsetting (speaking as a woman who is very tired of the Smurfette principle). The humor may not be for everyone. That's more based on personality, because I think there's something for everyone, but there are jokes that I recognize fall quite flat.

In connection to that, the stereotypes. Like I mentioned earlier, the show utilizes and breaks some stereotypes very well. There's a character (Spenza) who is written to be the chubby comic relief that is also 9/10 times the guy who saves LITERALLY EVERYONE from trouble and gets recognized for it, for example. However, the entire Japanese team is a karate-based team with a Coach named Ura Giri who wears Chinese clothes despite being Japanese. The German team is just a military branch and, while funny, might be offensive depending on which German you ask. It can be detracting from the show.

There's some bad writing choices that can be rough, but they are episode centric.

What should I do?

Watch the show. Give it 2-3 episodes and if it doesn't grab you, okay! You tried! If it does, welcome! it's literally for free on youtube, Seasons 1 through the last number I can't remember. I watch it when I'm working on something because it's fun and gets me to laugh, you might watch it with a bowl of popcorn. Just do your own thing!

If you do like it though, come back, hit me up with talks and questions about it. Besides multydoodles I haven't found a lot of people who really are into it so come! Join us! One of us!

Hope this mini-essay helped out and that the show works out for you!

#Supa strikas #supa strikas fans unite!