For those curious, I have a witchcraft/paganism blog @agentwitchorico, an art/moodboard blog @agentartorico, and a multimuse rp blog @thedxckpond
Remembering the time my old nb roommate who went to an LGBT law conference and was heaping the absolute biggest bitchfit texting me cause “some cis guy” was talking about trans people and trans men in particular and my roommate refused to listen to what this guy said cause “why should I listen to him” and I said “are you sure he’s cis?” And then towards the end of the presentation he said something that indicated to the crowd he was a trans man and then suddenly my roommate started to consider what had been shared.
Absolute loser behavior, but not completely unique. We’ve all gotta stop saying only x people can talk about x issues for us to listen. Too many people in the in group will have dogshit takes no one wants to challenge because “well, they are x identity.” Likewise, plenty of people on the out group actually know what they’re talking about and have something to contribute to the conversation.
Especially when it comes to sexuality and gender, you relying on someone outing themselves or you clocking them to decide whether their words have merit is shitty, because you won’t always know if they ARE the group “allowed” to talk about it. And even beyond that, I knew a fuckload about transness before I realized I was trans, it helped me REALIZE I was trans. “Listen to x voices” got sooooo warped in the discourse.
Summing up what a lot of people have said in the notes:
No one else has a better understanding of your lived experiences than you do. Likewise,
No single person of a marginalized group is the spokesperson of said group. People can be wrong about the group. They can hold bigoted views about their own group. People can be true to their own experience in a way that contradicts someone else’s valid and true experience.
And people in the out group CAN know what they are talking about, even sometimes more than someone who is part of the marginalized group, when the marginalized person is ill-informed (or bigoted) about the collective. A cis person who has done extensive gender studies would be a more trustworthy source for trans information than Blaire White.
Judge the content of the conversation, compare this analysis to the perspectives of other people, and form a conclusion that is based on merit rather than simply identity of the speaker. Identity only makes you an expert on your own life, work and effort makes you knowledgeable about a community.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said Thursday that he wants to bring an end to a user-led protest that has made large parts of the influential website inaccessible this week. Huffman said in an interview that he plans to institute rules changes that would allow Reddit users to vote out moderators who have overseen the protest, comparing them to a “landed gentry.”
Deep in the article, there’s this nugget:
“I would like subreddits to be able to be businesses if they choose,” he said, adding that’s “another conversation, but I think that’s the next frontier of Reddit.”
When people say “fuck u/spez,” this is Spez. I do not have the sort of imagination that can readily convert the way Reddit communities currently work to “businesses.”
This sounds like making Tumblr the new PDF
With the power of cryptocurrency, you too can invest in r/overwatchfeet
my dad took some ancestry tests and eventually found out who his father was (and that he has 5+ siblings who are also finding all of this out) and honestly it's been pretty bizarre and emotional so far, naturally
but one of the biggest changes for me is no longer having to give the whole spiel of "oh i know i'm racially ambiguos but hey there's a whole story behind it because this that and here's my father's backstory"
like no i... i just have a grandpa from Nigeria now
...that's way less mysterious >:(
worst update ever it just hit me that my long lost family members now know my name and that i am an artist with a small online presence and thus almost certainly know by now that i (on occasion) draw gay people having sex
Here he ascends 🙏
Special thanks to Tinytuba42 for trusting me with bringing this glorious vision to life 💕
SISTER IMPERATOR APPRECIATION POST
FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT THIS WOMAN IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING AND I WANT HER TO BE VERY STERN WITH ME AT ALL MOMENTS
SHE IS A REGAL LADY AND DESERVES MORE ATTENTION
(The actresses name is Maralyn Facey, or as I like to call her, my future wife)
HANG ON CAN'T FORGET ABOUT THIS ONE
A recent poll about root beer reminded me that most other countries don’t have sassafras trees, the main flavoring agent in most root beers (some use sarsaparilla, which is more common outside the US, but I honestly don’t know how those compare to sassafras).
It also makes me wonder how many places have birch beer, a soda flavored from birch bark, which in my opinion tastes minty and sweet, almost like wintergreen soda.
But mainly it reminded me of this video by Alexis Nikole on TikTok:
DO NOT LET SOCIAL MEDIA TURN YOU INTO AN AMERICAN
As an American: Seriously, please don’t
ok well i don't
"Americanization" is a real phenomenon, and how non-Americans should be cautious of it is taught in different countries at school. It's taught in Greece and people from other countries told me their elementary or middle school teachers (using the American grades, to make it make sense to the majority on the site) talked to them about it.
It's common sense here, except for USians, so I'll analyze it a bit more for the dominant demographic here. In a globalized setting, the most dominant culture affects the others and sets the trends. The way our language works, how we think, our levels of politeness and intimacy, and our levels of respect. (flash news, they are going down 😂)
I don't want to imply that there is nothing good in the US. There are plenty of positives in the country. It's just that for the rest of the cultures online it's a constant daily fight to not forget our roots, with the degree US media and brands have permeated our lives. In Greece at least we watch more US American media than Greek media nowadays, and many of our shows are rip-offs of USian ones, with little adaptation to Greek reality and culture.
And to demonstrate the amount of this exposure, a 22-year-old Greek asked me the other day "if something happens we call 911, right?" This might have literally cost them their life, in a dangerous situation! Because all the movies and songs they consumed (not an unusual thing for the Greek youth) were what they knew. And I found a similar comment in this comment thread.
Lots of Americans in the notes failing to understand this post. It's not about not liking the US. It's not about you feeling ashamed or guilty for being American. It's not about you.
It's about American media drowning out native language media all over the world, and workplaces requiring the English language in your repertoire more and more. It's about proper translations and foreign language dubbing of films disappearing because "everyone speaks/should speak English anyway." All of this is leading to the deterioration of native speaker groups of languages worldwide.
In my country, Dutch language courses can't find enough people who want to study the language, while English language courses are overflowing with people who want to study the language. There is even widespread distaste for the Dutch language for being crude or sounding rough or what have you. That's our native language!!! That is our culture in its purest form!!! That is knowledge we inherit from our parents as they did from theirs!!! That is how we learned fairytales and folk stories and myths!!! That is the language that shapes our communication and our way of thinking!!! To hate your native language is to hate yourself at the deepest level.
And yet it's so normalised. Droves of foreigners living in the Netherlands will never learn a word of Dutch, because "everyone speaks English anyway." We are the world's leaders in non-native understanding of English, but it comes at a cost. A grave cost we will continue to pay.
If you're looking to support your non-American friends in any way that is not performatively shouting "I hate being an American" into the void, first of all, unlearn that hatred of yourself and your culture. You are of no help self-flagellating, and there is a difference between holding your country accountable for its issues, and denying yourself your culture because your country is doing and has done bad things.
(I am not going to get into arguments about whether or not US American culture exists. It does, and if you think differently you are welcome to change your mind.)
Secondly, learn about other countries. Learn a bit of Chinese. Take an interest in the Italian political system. Ask your friends about their countries' folklore. Watch documentaries about art from Nigeria. Absorb information that is not fed to you by American media.
And thirdly, quit expecting your non-American friends to communicate in a way that appeals to you. The French and Dutch will always seem rude to you because our way of communicating is far more direct than the way you communicate. People from other cultures may seem vague to you because their way of communicating is far more indirect, and you're not used to that either. Quit being frustrated when you don't get what we mean exactly. Quit assuming we mean the absolute worst thing you could imagine just because you didn't get what we meant the first time. Ask us to explain if you need us to, and learn to accept that we are different from you.
We are already adapting to your culture 100% of the time we are online. It's your responsibility to adapt to us, too. At least do your friends the courtesy of learning about and adapting to them.
This is a big problem in other English speaking countries. I live in the UK, in England no less, and there was a point in my childhood where my brain would bring up 911 as the emergency number. And on top of having our culture's stomped on we have people making fun of the way we do things and justifying it as "well you deserve it because you're English" like the backwater underfunded poverty stricken areas people mock have ever had any power. There's an Americanisation of food, and culture, an import of social justice issues as the American understanding of things is superimposed over our own history by kids who mean well but have learned all their vocabulary from Americans. We share many things but these issues are not the same and treating them as the same can be detrimental to the change people want to bring. (For example our most diverse prime minister's have all been Conservative, and the last one to bring up God while in office was "left wing" Labour. Even the colours of left and right political parties are different here.) Poverty is experienced differently. Class is experienced differently. Race is experienced differently. Racism is experienced differently.
And half the time if you even talk about it you have god damn 19 year olds hopping up and down screaming like toddlers because you're not doing it right for their needs.
If people are jumping to the idea they should call 911 rather than whatever it is in their country, That's A Problem and people should say so.
--An American
We actually have it set up in Australia so that if you forget it's 000 here and dial 911 instead, it will still connect you to the emergency centre. That's how much of a problem if was.
I've had to put actual effort into making sure my child, who lives in the UK, learns to speak its own language and not what Americans speak. Its mad I had to put limits on American media consumption. I never had to do that with ANY other countries media. Not even the dominance of RP in English media did as much damage as American media did. As if its not hard enough trying to keep regional dialects alive. Theres kids growing up with American accents ffs! (And yes you could criticise the parents and screen time but this aint happening with other accents. I think that's important to recognise)
And I am forever having to remind people what country they live in whenever politics come up. Its not uncommon for people to *only* know American politics and not even realise it. They have just learned thats "the way things are". And the same with law! Trying to tell their own solicitors to do things the "proper" (american) way! Brits walking around talking about their constitutional rights! First amendment! Its fucking ridiculous! People thinking "oh I know my rights" and woops now you're arrested because you can't actually talk to the police like that and your silence can actually be used against you.
I've seen multiple British poc be torn apart online for discussing their lived experiences, and even other British poc back up that harassment because they've been taught to think about things the American way, so the American racists attacking British poc must be right! Trying to discuss any non-american race politics (for the benefit of the fucking opressed) is always inevitably derailed because how dare we not fit the whole worlds experiences into the tiny boxes americans can relate too. Which in turn just destroys people's ability to educate and give people the vocabulary they need, which then deprives people of the understanding and connection they need to process and deal with their oppression.
Thankfully things have changed in the past few years but there was a time it was almost impossible to find (free) educational resources for BSL because well, why learn that when you can learn ASL?
Even when trying to engage with other languages and cultures, its ruined by American culture. My kid abandoned its language studies for years because it just could not deal with the demand of having to not only learn a new language but also learn American to use apps like duolingo. How discouraging for a young child to be told over and over that they are wrong for using the correct, very common but not American word.
And it just permeates everything. I lost my native dialect to classism and fought so hard to get it back. And yet I have to keep diluting it online so I can just talk about things else everything I post will be derailed by americans cooing over the silly little brit using weird words instead of like. Enaging with what I say in a meaningful way. Or I'll get threatened with doxxing by some bratty teenagers because I used a BRITISH colloquialism that coincidentally occurred in an American dialect and they just can't get their heads round the fact america doesn't own everything.
And yeah the 911 thing is a fucking problem. I've encountered near zero little kids these days who will remember 999 first no matter how much the adults around them try to help them.
miguel and miniguel
This is my current source of happiness I love people translating the Miguel & Miniguel joke in their language 😭
lovecraftiandelight
multilinguel
Sorry gomens is going to come out when both ofmd and wwdits are also airing??? Unusable website incoming
Happy Pride month! 💛💜💛
Today’s intersex flag is brought to you by The Hex Project 🌟
Oh yes, that's right. You can only choose ONE 😈 but feel free to explain yourself in the tags
“In contrast, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
Galatians 5:22 & 23
The Grammy-award winning song “Cirice,” released in 2015 by hard rock group GHOST, is a spiritual sequel song to 1991 country hit “The Thunder Rolls” by Garth Brooks. In this essay I will
No one asked but I will elaborate.
“The Thunder Rolls” (which you can listen to here- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tdsJI8Wc2D4) is about an unnamed female character realising her significant other is cheating on her. She waits up late for him, hoping it’s just the bad weather keeping him from coming home, but deep down she knows the truth. For her it’s verified when he arrives and she runs out into the driving rain and wind to embrace him, only to catch the scent of perfume on him. The song ends with “Deep in her heart, the thunder rolls.”
There is a similar refrain in GHOST’s “Cirice” (which you can listen to here- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Ao4t_fe0I). “I can feel the thunder that’s breaking in your heart.” The unnamed singer of “Cirice” knows the unnamed female character of “The Thunder Rolls” is hurting.
Earlier, in “The Thunder Rolls,” we are given a brief note on the house in which the unnamed female character is waiting for her significant other- “Every light is burnin'” in the house. At the end of the song, we’re told the storm, both real and metaphorical are raging out of control. It is not unreasonable to assume that, with all the lights on, and with a storm outside, the power would go out. With that reasoning, we can flow right into the first two lines of “Cirice”- “I feel your presence amongst us, you cannot hide in the darkness.” Next, again in “Cirice,” we hear the singer assuring the listener, the female character, that (your) soul is not tainted, even though you’ve been told so.” We can assume that a fight has broken out in this darkened house, and perhaps the unnamed male character is making accusations as to the character of the unnamed female character, trying to blame her for his transgressions. The singer of “Cirice” can hear and feel her pain.
The next line of “Cirice” is “A candle casting a faint glow, you and eye see eye to eye.” The unnamed female character, not wanting to engage in this fight, has left to find light. She finds light, in a candle, as well as the unnamed singer of “Cirice.” Knowing what we know of GHOST and their proclivity towards singing the praises of the Devil, we can surmise, perhaps, that this is the Devil Himself meeting the unnamed female character, and offering her a means to conclude the relationship with her cheating significant other.
The Devil says “Now there is nothing between us. From now our merge is eternal.” We can assume that this is a business transaction, that the unnamed female character is giving up something (her soul? Her faded flannel nightgown? Her heart, broken by the infidelity of her significant other? It is unclear) in exchange for power. The Devil continues- “Can’t you see that you’re lost? Can’t you see that you’re lost without me?” She’s been hurting a long time, and He knows this. He can help her.
From that point on in “Cirice,” aside from one more assurance that “you’re lost without me,” we hear only the refrain- “I can feel the thunder that’s breaking in your heart, I can see through the scars inside you.” The storm rages on. Revenge is hers.
In conclusion, “Cirice” is a continuation of “The Thunder Rolls” and tells us the unnamed female character sells her soul to the Devil to take revenge on her cheating significant other. Thank you for your time.
Rebloging myself because I need to someday make this into a proper essay…
@thebandghostofficial is this fanart?