#like different languages or cultural differences between areas so I wanna change that

[velvetcake96]

Working on a lil Oscar redesign

Big ears even bigger heart/imagination. Love the little farmer boy! >.<

#rwby #rwby art #rwby fanart #rwby headcanon #(?? maybe??) #rwby redesign #rwby rewrite #rwby oscar pine #rwby oscar #oscar pine #he’s just a funky lad #gosh dang it velvet #I just kinda crawled out of nowhere #freshman year of college is kicking my ASS #He’s cute and his design gives off more of his personality/the culture in this #Rwby never seems to have much culture #like different languages or cultural differences between areas so I wanna change that #like… Native American culture because I’m a Creek/Cherokee native

[magnoliamyrrh]

its also one of those things that makes me sadder for the way humanity has been and is. i know it might sound childish or oversimplified like yea obvs there's more to The Horrors than this, but humans wanting to think were all soooo separate and sooo different and weve got nothing to do w each other is part of so much justification for ethnic and national and tribal conflict since forever. its a way for us to dehumanize each other so that we wont feel empathy and sympathy and care anymore and be willing to do horrible shit to each other.... and the things we do have in common - even if we have them in common from complicated histories, we turn against each other. ie fuck u turk the greeks invented baklava not u fuck u greek the turks invented bakalava fuck u actually it was afghanistan actually fuck u it was iran and you're all doing it wrong anyway >:( ie. ancient cultural appropriation discourse lmao. and its such a pity :( like man. cant we rather look at the things we have in common and let them bring us together and try to appreciate the differences? cant we please learn from each other? cant we please act like this is a cooking meeting where everyone brings from their own knowledge and we put it all together and see what we can do? cant we all admit how fucked and complicated history is, how almost noone has clean hands? but cant we try to wash each others hands maybe, wash them together and cook something nice?.... like :( common now. all the endless tribalism since damn near forever, but the vast majority of the world is mixed if u go back far enough (or not even that far) with the exception of some more isolated ppl, which are still mixed at some point and came from somewhere. the world has never been as divided as segmented as ppl wanna say it is

like bro. isnt it cool how you can see motifs on folk clothes and tools spread across vast areas of the world which clearly have the same origin? isnt it cool that after groups separate, thousands of years later you can still tell theres dances, songs, cultural personalities, bits of religion which clearly originated in the same place? isnt it beautiful how i swear to god, you can still see the way pre-migration african traditions have somehow remained, though changed? how the languages we speak so often trace back to common ancient roots? how really, every language we all speak originates wayy back from what was likely a small number of languages before we started spreading, aint that crazy? how every last one of our cultures is interconnected at some point?. like common, we all came from the same place. like we all came from the same people once upon a time, and there werent that many of us. i dont care if it was a long time ago, in a historical context it actually wasnt that long ago, and u can still see it if u look close enough, and even if we say humans dont have ancestral memory, which i personally think we do like all animals, at least symbolically, it matters. there was a time when there were less divisors between us on this earth.... and i rly do think the quran says it beautifully, we created you from a single pair of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other. take it metaphorically or literally or a combination, but we did all come from the same ppl and now we are many, and how nice it would be if we saw the beauty in that instead of... what we actually do

[fleabaqs]

TIPS FOR WRITING LATINOS FOR DUMMIES! 

because y’all can’t seem to get anything right.

under the cut you will find a lot of useful (maybe) information when writing latino characters. please consider leaving a like/reblog if you find this useful.

                                                      FIRST OF:

yes, karen, we will call you gringo. that’s not on the table, that’s not a discussion. all latinos use the word gringo, and if you say it’s a racist slur ONE MORE TIME, i swear you will regret it, filha da puta.

                                                                   SECOND:

NOT ALL LATINOS SPEAK SPANISH!! i know, crazy, right??? brazilians speaks PORTUGUESE, yes PORTUGUESE!!! bitch

yes, portuguese and spanish are really similar, but don’t write the “even though i speak only spanish/portuguese i can understand spanish/portuguese” depending on the country/state you’re born, you CAN’T. so just avoid that. 

if you’re character/fc was born in united states, they probably won’t be considered latino in latin america. PERIOD. that’s not up for discussion either. 

if your character/fc was born in latin america, he ISN’T going to be considered a person of colour if they have white skin. take for example the family from one day at a time. in usa they can be talking about racism and everything, but in latin america you only suffer racism if you have clearly black/asian descent. plus: if you’re white and you decided to shit rules into racism in latin america (at least in brazil) you’ll probably get beaten up. not a joke. and as a white latina, i support that.

WHY are you all so lazy? If you wanna write ANY character, from ANY country that is not yours = YOU SEARCH INFO ABOUT THAT COUNTRY!! i swear your hand is not going to fall of! im taking as example my country, if you wanna write a brazilian, search about the states! a cearense and a gaúcho are TOTALLY different!!! a carioca and paulista are totally different even tho rio de janeiro and são paulo are so close. DECIDE the country, the area, the state and city of your character!

moving on from geography: other types of stereotypes!! NOT ALL LATINA MOMS ARE CRAZY AND CONSERVATIVES! some are pretty chill! really… there are moms who won’t go crazy about anything. so don’t be afraid to write a mom that is okay with their child going out at night, being LGBT or being pro choice. okay???

okay, but why aren’t you using the word “latine”? most latino community are against this word. shocking, right? everyone has their reasons why they don’t like it, my case is because my family is really poor/my grandparents didn’t go to school and everything and as much as they would respect and understand non binary people, they would not be able to use it. not even my mom, who is a teacher, is able to use it. she respects their existence, but they gotta respect other people existence too. my family is one of the lucky ones, there are people in worse conditions. when using the word latine, UNDERSTAND the background of the character! 

ASIANS LATINOS EXISTS!! my god, this is a hard one. i never see asian latino representation in unitedstaten midia. like, what’s that about? they don’t have to choose between their ethnicities!! now shut up, karen

we DON’T call unitedstatens americans, or united states america! i don’t know what happened in their education system, but they really gotta understand america is a fucking continent with more than 30 countries. you’re not special, desgraçados parasitas do caralho

if i see one more latino drug dealer and latina sex symbol, IM GONNA KILL A GRINGO!! that’s not all we are!

we will get offended if you say we are from a country we are not, after we already said our country. i know it’s hard for you to memorize more than five countries, but i gonna be cheering for you!

most latinos hate, or at least dislike, our colonizers. in brazil, we make jokes about portuguese people all the time and we will ask for the gold they stole from us at any given opportunity. so when writing a latino character, know who colonized their country.

latinos are clean. i know this may sound a little off for non latinos, but our sense of personal hygiene is really important. again, this variates from country to country, but in brazil we are thought that we should brush our teeths after every meal (at least 4 times a day), and that we should shower EVERY day. no, no, don’t come with that unitedstaten shit about showering only when you exercise, or that during summer going to the pool is showering BECAUSE IT’S NOT, THAT’S FUCKING DISGUSTING HIJA DE PUTA. if your character has access to clear water and personal hygiene products, he will do this kind of things.

just... read abou that country you wanna write. here goes some ideias: *country* traditional food, *country* sports, *country* music (in this one, learn how to say the language of the country in the language of the country. example: don’t search “portuguese songs”, search instead for músicas brasilieiras. don’t search for “mexican songs” search for canciones mexicanas.), *country* books/writers, *language of the country* basic phrases! ]

latin america is part of three americas! america is devided in three. north america = mexico, and the other two; central america = cuba, costa rica, etc; south america = brazil, chile, etc. DON’T go to my ask to say “oH mExIcO iS nOt NoRtH aMeRiCa” because i swear i’ll track you down and shove a atlas down your throat!

latin america is not just tropical vibes, dumb bitch!! we have snow too! this is fucking brazil.  and this is argENTINA! 

just remember these facts when writing brazilians: brazil is the second country with the biggest japanese community, second country out of germany with more germans, and get this!! brazil has more lebaneses than lebanon.

latino accent when is speaking english is not just lydia from odaat. it changes. 

english is second or third or fourth (and so it goes) language for latinos. keep in mind that mistakes are made. and most latinos (myself included) love their accent!! we want you to listen to our voice and ask where we’re from, and that gets to: 

WE ARE COCKY! yes, we are very cocky about our culture, get over it! 

most latinos cried/got really happy when parasite won the oscar. now you ask me, why are you writing this on a guide on how to write fucking latinos??? well, my dudes, latinos are tired of imperialism. just that. don’t write a character that worships usa culture (can we call hamburguers and coke culture, my ladies? I DONT THINK SO), even if they moved to usa. “it’s also important to remember that the american dream is sold to all of us, since forever.”

i guess this is it??? just, talk to a latino and ask “is this correct?” when in doubt. we are indeed very energetic and we talk loud and a lot, but we don’t bite. writing us is difficult, you’ll probably get something wrong. but if we see that you did basic research, we will get really happy about it. bye, gringos!

edit 001: this link and this link are great! use them.

edit 002: any fc can be latino! ANY FC CAN BE LATINO! fun fact: the brazilian passport is one of the most expensive ones, because anyone can pass as brazilian. anyone can be latino! wong yukhei? big brazilian energy! madison beer? can be latina. ester expósito? latina. kim taeyeon? I HEAR THE LATINA DRUMS!! idk, kj apa? can be latino too! 

not all latinos are good dancers and not all latin dances are salsa. check “#latinodancecheck” on tiktok, if you have one. 

there are differences between spanish speaking surnames and brazilian ones. first of: the number of surnames changes with the country. second: spanish speaking countries surnames end in “ez”, while brazilian surnames end in “es”. examples: rodriguez, rodrigues; lópez, lopes; hernandez, fernandes; martinez, martins. but sometimes, we exchange surnames. you can find a brazilian with the surname “gonzalez” instead of gonçalves, if their family comes from a spanish speaking country.

this ask sent by the lovely anon! 

this other ask sent another sweet anon!

this.

#rph #rp guide #writing help #i don't know what to tag #rph br #this was supposed to be a rant #and ended up being a sort of guide ?? idk

[earths-roots-grow-up]

Headcanons on Russia’s and Prussia’s relationship with France.

Russia:

I think that in the XVIII century a large chunk of Europe had a crush on France. French culture was widespread among European courts and the language was being used to communicate in a similar manner English is used today. Frenchness was just very IN at that time.

Those countries included Russia. At that time Peter the Great was westernizing his country, and injecting French-ness into Russian lives was a part of this process - Versailles and the French court impressed Peter immensely when he went to visit France and when he came back home, he began emulating many things he observed in the western country. Language, customs, widespread mirrors everywhere, architecture, gardens. You name it.

High-born Russians would talk to each other in French and give themselves French names. Lets note that French wasn’t the only foreign language that was widespread in Russia, so were others, like German and Latin [mostly used by the academia.

“(...) of  all  the  languages  which  began  to  have  currency  in  eighteenth-century Russia, it was French that acquired the greatest social, cultural, and political significance,even if it was not always so widely spoken as German“.

The two next generations of Russians grew up within this Francophile culture and viewed it as something natural, from their perspective it was no longer an exotic fashion, just the way thing always were. Therefore, this was something more than just a fleeting fascination that lasted as long as Peter ruled - and had lingering influence on Russian culture.

“The most important stimulus for the development of French-speaking in Russia, though, was the use of French as a court language from around the middle of the reign of Peter’s daughter Elizabeth (1741–61), who had learnt it in childhood from a French lady at her father’s court.“

And so it went on from there: “At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Russian nobility still preferred French to Russian for everyday use, and were familiar with French authors such as Jean de la Fontaine, George Sand (etc.). The influence of France was equally strong in the area of social and political ideas. Catherine II's interest in the writings of the (french) philosophers of the Enlightenment (...) contributed to the spread of their ideas in Russia during the eighteenth century.” and “ During the nineteenth century, travel in France was considered a form of cultural and intellectual apprenticeship. “.

(source) So the interest in French ideas and culture was strong in the second half of the XVIII century and in the XIX century.

So in other words, Russia had a crush on France - it was a total puppy love mostly based on superficial things, like aesthetic, nice smells and pretty, elegant European opulence but most of all: France was the ideal of what Russia was trying to become, the epicenter of European-ness, the “civilization” and Ivan was in the middle of this lowkey cultural revolution in which he was trying to re-invent himself as a modern, “European” country. So I think this crush was very much one of those "I wanna BE YOU" types of crushes, he was head over heels for what France represented - that’s why this hit so hard.

There was some more personal stuff there too, like France's eloquence, his literature and philosophy. Enter a lot of perfumed love letters! Even when the crush slowly withered away Russia still felt - and feels - strong admiration for France and honestly enjoys his culture a lot.

France himself enjoyed the crush but wasn't really that interested in  reciprocating - as mentioned above, large chunk of Europe was also crushing on him due to his culture just being in fashion, so it's not like Russia himself was standing out. But they did become friends and still have good personal relations with each other. They have a lot of passions in common, such as ballet, art, music, opera, Romanticism etc, so they still enjoy talking about this stuff together. It’s not a Deep friendship where they trust each other, don’t be fooled, they don’t trust one another at all! But they do like hanging out.

I also HC that the way both French and German were important in XVIII century Russia (as cited above: French with greater cultural significance and German more widespread) is representative of him catching feelings for both France and Prussia at this time, tho one of those wasn't just a crush.

Prussia:

My non-canon-approved hot take here is that I don't think him and France were ever friends. The exact opposite of that even.

It's true that Frederick the Great also had this hard-on for the French, and in effect Prussia speaks and writes excellent French. But after Frederick William II took over the throne, he took back all those Francophile preferences and began promoting German literature and language instead - something the educated classes of Prussia were thankful for. So because Russia shared his ruler's fascination with France his interest outlasted Peter the Great and became a more prevalent part of Russian culture for a long time, while Prussia never shared Fredrick’s fascination and therefore it got overturned as soon as the new king sat on the throne.

And that makes sense, bc in general Germans and French weren't very friendly with each other during their history. German- French enmity, also called the hereditary enmity, is an idea introduced in the XIX century, and it states that those two forces are natural enemies due to their inherently different goals and incompatible interests. Due tho this they keep bumping against each other throughout the ages. You can see echos of this sentiment it in the Napoleonic Wars, Franco-Prussian War, WW1, the Treaty of Versailles, WW2 etc. France was also the country that stood in the strongest opposition to the German Empire being created, so a big issue for Prussia.

It’s important to mention that this German-French enmity was often used as a  propaganda tool for wars and simplified the complex relations between those two groups. Of course it did, even Austrian/Prussian relations weren’t ALWAYS bad, even tho they were called ‘the biggest enemies’ by historians.

It is believed that the enmity ended after WW2 and no longer is a thing. To me that is a pretty great example of Germany taking over the reign and replacing Prussia. Prussian/France relations were bad, but German/France relations are pretty darn good. And it makes sense, because Prussia had different goals than Germany has, and they are very different individuals. I see France and Germany as friends due to their shared work in UE, tho I’m not sure if they would be something more than just work friends.

Anyway, this is Hetalia and not a historical-political deep dive - to me what counts in Hedcanon context is the general feel throughout history: were they generally allies or enemies? Were their interests clashing with one another or were they compatible, most of the time at least? The whole idea behind this “inherited” enmity is that French and German interests were incompatible, so it had to end with a conflict. And they did, many times over. I feel like the importance of the Napoleonic wars especially is often undervalued here - it was a HUGE conflict that would have a lasting impact on their relations, way bigger than the Wars for Austrian Succession, which are often cited as proof of their friendship. But they were an outlier in general Prussian/French relations.

That’s why I think Prussia and France are not, nor ever were friends, they view each other as enemies and dislike each other. Tho during the reign of Old Fritz their relationship was warmer and more amicable than during other periods, considering they actually had similar goals and fought together for a change - mostly because that was convenient for then, not due to some preexisting friendship. But I do like the idea that during this time they had some kind of difficult comradery going for a brief while and there was this fleeting “maybe in another reality we could be friends” vibe.

Due to the bad history, Prussia's dislikes of France can be seen in many small things that irritate him, like he just detests Francis' need to show opulence, his over-the-top rococo aesthetic and cuture-esque fashion sense, hight emotionality drives him bonkers and even the pastel flowery color palettes he often wears irk him. And don’t even get his started on the Revolutions! He’ll talk your ear off.

Tl’Dr: So Prussia and France don't like each other and are generally bitchy and passive-aggressive with one another. Russia and France are friendly and good acquaintances, while not exactly close. Russia just likes him - he still admires a lot of things about French culture, enjoys the language, cuisine, architecture, fashion etc, and used to have a crush on him.

Rusprus take:

Prussia in a confident, self-assured person, but when it comes to France, he can be surprisingly self-conscious. He still remembers that crush Russia used to have on him and WHY he had it -  because of many characteristics that France possesses, but Prussia doesn't. Like being romantic and sentimental, sensitive, emotionaly open, appreciative of beauty, artsy etc. Sometimes Russia finds that cute and endearing, bc it makes him feel wanted, but sometimes it's just... ridiculous.

APH Prussia: What do you wanna watch tonight, Vanka?

APH Russia: Hm... maybe that movie, Marie Antoinette?

APH Prussia: Ugh OF COURSE you wanna ogle HIM!

APH Russia: W... what.

APH Prussia: France! You wanna ogle that cheese-smelling frog-eater!

APH Russia: What... no! Gilya, Gilyushka, Gilynechka! That's absurd, I just want to watch a pretty period drama!

APH Prussia: Don’t you “Gilynechka“ me! And as if that's not enough...

APH Prussia: She was AUSTRIAN

APH Russia: Omg. Kill me now. When you have almost 1000 years of history together then even picking a Netflix show can be a minefield!

Anyway, they end up watching the movie but Prussia roasts everything in frame :D

#aph prussia #aph russia #aph france #hetalia #hws france #hws prussia #hws russia #ruspru #axis powers hetalia #hetalia world series #hetalia headcanons #historical hetalia #ivan braginsky #francis bonnefoy #gilbert beilschmidt #rusprus #rusfra #I feel like those HCs are getting longer and more ranty #and probably more boring #sorry for that! #I honestly dont know why it just gets out of hand #still hope at least one person enjoys them #if so its work it! :) #queque

[crowsent]

a fuckton of things i want in da4

a few words censored bc tumblr will swallow this in the void if i dont. long ass fuck list ahead

a romanceable dwarf

more romanceable elves/qunari

more elf/qunari/dwarf companions

consistent writing for once

more nb representation

good hair. please just give me good hair options. give me long hair. give me luxurious flowing locks. give me braids. give me good fucking hair options

let me shittalk the chantry

dalish elf npcs that impact the plot in unique ways

dalish elf companions that are proud of being dalish

if it is set in tevinter maybe uh. maybe address the issue of systemic oppression (and slavery) of elves???????

a return of the friendship/rivalry system in da2 but improved. maybe instead of a friendship rivalry sliding scale its friendship/rivalry/animosity sliding scale. bc rivalry is more like. two people pushing each other to be better than they were before. friendly competition. hes an idiot but hes my idiot kind of deal. animosity would be just regular disapproval. i liked the crisis cutscenes in dai so high animosity would be the same as low approval and might make the companion leave still, but theres more variety with high approval. high approval “friendship” would be the “were best friends and we share many opinions and agree on almost everything” while high approval “rivalry” being “we disagree on almost everything but goddamn it youre my friend and ill follow you into the fade if i have to” so you can have a high approval with someone instead of being a kissass

actions and choices having consequences again

multiple endings again (epilogue slideshows dont count)

dialogue wheels with descriptions that match what you actually say

characters from rivain, antiva, anderfels, etc

gifts. bring back the gifts. i want to give my companions gifts

maybe. maybe a focus of non-andrastian religion for once?

let me shittalk the chantry

i know its a stretch, but maybe. diverse skin colours. please?

nd characters that are written respectfully and treated w dignity

please bring back the talent wheel from dao and da2

more bi romance options

more wlw romance options

more mlm romance options

ace romance options

nb romance options

background romances

let me shittalk the chantry

far fetched but maybe a polycule?

i lowkey LOVED the fast-paced feel of da2s combat so maybe bring that back in some form? maybe improved to mesh with the tactics of dai to give players absolute freedom of playstyle whether they want to be like me and rush into every encounter or play more strategically

companions with unique companion abilities

would be nice to explore cities

would be nice if the open world were a little smaller so it doesnt feel empty all the gd time

more mage spells. mages felt like just another class of fighter to me in dai. they dont really have any awe-inducing wow factor like in dao or even da2. if the narrative wants me to believe that mages are powerful and dangerous and that it takes multiple templars to hunt down an apostate, maybe show that? give me strong mages

remove the jump ability. its pointless

a narrative that addresses the oppression that the chantry and templars perpetuated please

bring back the attributes

make the choices in dai matter. mages governing themselves? i wanna see that

let me shittalk the chantry

please bring back the healing magic for fucks sakes

multi-class system between rogues and warriors?

multiple specialisations that feel like specialisations and not just skill tree+

player-only skill trees

hardening

companion quests that affect their abilities and further dialogue

actual morally grey choices instead of this stupid mage freedom vs templar oppression narrative that is in no way morally grey but is presented as such and thus leaves the conflicts and narratives set up by dao and da2 to be fucking meaningless

bring back the tactics

would be nice to have an origins-esque prologue again. maybe one that would determine future events in game just to give your character better narrative cohesion with the plot

an approval/disapproval system but for companions with other companions. bringing certain companions together may bring them closer or make them pissed off with each other which affects banter maybe quests maybe combat

give me a fucking mabari bioware. give me back my fucking mabari

day/night cycle

a nightmare mode where you have to finish the main quest on a time limit. it is absurd that dai expects me to believe that i have all this time to do wartable missions that can take literal real life DAYS to finish and still thwart corypheus’ plans in time. bullshit

that said. no more wartable missions. waiting for a countdown to finish isnt very fun

let me shittalk the chantry

kal-sharok. ive been hearing about it since dao let me fucking see kal-sharok

dwarven politics

politics in general. my fav dao quest was the succession crisis plotline in orzammar/the landsmeet and wewh in dai

npcs i can talk to. even with generic dialogue like in dao. makes the world more alive

using the environment to your advantage. far fetched but i would love to be able to pull down boulders if were in the mountains or freeze water to get to places as a mage

home base customisation but the customisation choices you make actually. mean something. and do something. or at the very least give more companion dialogue/banter/approval change

laconic and ergonomic codexes. like. sorted by what kind of codex it is, etc etc but then you just get a brief summary of the codex and the option to read more about it so i dont spend eternity scrolling through cards looking for a specific codex entry. cool aesthetic dont get me wrong but real irritating to deal with. also. maybe. the pc making comments about the codex if you do read more about it? like a dalish elf saying “they got it all wrong” when reading a codex about dalish elves written by a human??? that would a) give character to the pc b) incentivise people to actually read the codex to see what was so wrong about it c) summarise the codex for people who want to learn the lore but dont want to spent the entire game reading text

maybe have the merchants in your home base close to crafting stations so you dont have to take a fucking hike if you miscounted the amount of elfroot you need?

let me shittalk the chantry

avvar companion maybe??? interesting lore right there

bring back stat requirements for weapons and remove the class restriction for most shit. obviously a dagger would be better for a rogue than a longsword and a mage would do better with a staff than a sword and shield but its not about efficiency. its about the roleplay. its about the options. give me the option to make a mage with wildly inappropriate stat distribution

bring back sustained mode abilities

traps. bring back traps. bring back the option to stealth into an area, trap the fuck out of it, and go from there

have the three available classes in kind of a rock paper scissors scenario. warriors do real well against rogues who do real well against mages who do real well against warriors. so you can plan your party depending on who/what youll face AND how much their approval will change during the quest you take them on

let me shittalk the chantry

actually resolve the plot points introduced in dai

a more threatening villain. the inquisitor thwarted every attempt made by corypheus in dai. he was not threatening at all

queer characters. background, companions, etc. queer characters

mounts were meh in dai. maybe. make them faster? or less cumbersome? or have your companions on mounts too so theres still banter?

i liked the armour tinting. let me have armour tinting from the beginning

i would really like mages to move and attack at the same time bc lowkey standing in one spot is uhhhhhhh kinda boring

let me check companions friendship/rivalry levels

would be nice if the narrative acknowledged that elves suffered greatly at the hands of the chantry and stopped victim-blaming them

more taverns. specifically like tapsters in dao where theres a dwarf just reciting something in a language i cant understand and if you look its a ballad/poet about dwarven culture and that was a real nice touch let me have that

dalish elf clan. dalish elf clan that does not get murdered please and thank you

meaningful quests. more cinematic dialogue

make found gear / quest reward gear more valuable than crafted gear

game modifiers like in dai were real nice. i want more

let me shittalk the chantry

quests that can be resolved in multiple ways. like connors fate in dao. and for those ways to impact further quests

companions with varying moral alignments

companions that are mutually exclusive (like alistair and loghain) but are both good companions so itd really make you think

a pc that IS NOT a “chosen one” vanilla da2 is my fav dragon age game for one reason and one reason only and that is because hawke is just some random refugee who escaped lothering. no chosen one magic at all. just an ordinary person who is a real good fighter. and that appealed to me more than this “you are the only one who can do it” narrative

let me meet more elvhen gods

if the setting is in tevinter, GIVE ME FUCKING ARCHITECTURE. give me the high spires, the archways, the buttresses, give me statues lining city gates and magic infused into the buildings. tevinter is a land ruled by MAGES give me magical architecture. give me floating buildings. give me fire floating as orbs above the streets like lamps. GIVE ME ARCHITECTURE

SHALE

let me shittalk the chantry

PIERCINGS GIVE ME FUCKING PIERCINGS BIOWARE

more main quests, longer main quests

if it is set in tevinter maybe. maybe address the fact that tevinter has been at war with the qunari for a while? on and off war is still war. and maybe give us the option to influence the outcome of that war?

more voice options. instead of just american voice or british voice, do the thing in dao again where there are multiple voices of different tones to further cement the pcs personality

more armour designs

biased but uh. can. can taliesen jaffe va a character?

i already said qunari companions but specifically saarebas companions

blood magic

FINISHING MOVE ANIMATIONS

please do not let it be as long as inquisition. inquisition was a SLOG in later playthroughs

body sliders. what if i want a tall but lanky qunari? what if i want a buff as shit elf? body sliders

more eye options

let me call out companions

btw bioware. if you really wanted cullen to be a good guy. maybe handle his fucking redemption arc a little better instead of retconning all the terrible and creepy shit hes done in the past k thx

can female walk/run animations not have. so much swaying hips? no one moves like that

personality dialogue that affects future dialogue like in da2 but meshed with the wider range of emotions introduced by dai

keep the race/s*x lock on romance candidates like in dai. keep the fact that some characters can only be romanced by certain races or s*xes

nb and genderqueer options for the pc

cutscenes of companions interacting

ngl i lowkey liked the random encounters of dao so maybe bring that back

my fav quest in dao is the landsmeet / orzammar succession crisis questline but you know whats my second favourite? the rescue mission if the warden gets captured and you have to play as your party members. give me that again

more creepy/dark shit. dai was too lighthearted for me esp after da2 and dao

let me shittalk the chantry

broodmothers. in hd.

red lyrium broodmothers. in hd

companions with different backgrounds. different faiths. different statuses. different families. etc

maybe make the pcs appearance make an impact on the story? like how bull says he likes redheads, but even if you are a redhead, he says nothing about it????? maybe keep track of which slider the player picks so that can affect the story?

i love my inquisitors but maybe. dont. bring the inquisitor in as anything more than an advisor/npc in this game? let me fall in love with a new pc???

if theres gonna be a homebase like skyhold where youre not in armor. maybe give us better clothing?

a kind of gear skin mechanic similar to ac:odyssey where you can change how the gear looks but keep the stats. so you can equip that higher level armour and keep the look and aesthetic of your old armour and you unlock the skins/looks of the armours you discover/make so you can be both powerful AND aesthetic

i enjoyed the nobility/underworld/arcane/etc knowledge in dai unlocking more dialogue options so maybe keep/expand on that but make it more accessible by side missions or companions or something that isnt the abysmal perk system in dai

let me shittalk the chantry

customisable walking animations. does the pc walk straightbacked? slouched? with a swagger? please

since there will undoubtedly be an obligatory fade sequence, maybe have an option for nightmare demons that ARENT spiders. thank you

slap on subtitles and conlang some languages. i want to hear elvish. i want to hear tevene. give me the languages

more dragons. esp if they look vastly different

more bard songs

i am completely biased here, but i would like to hear laura bailey as a va for a character. preferably a voice option for the pc

hey maybe have the true ending actually included in the base game and not in a dlc (tresppasser cough cough)

better val royeaux

please remove the had to do it to em idle animation tis distracting

on that note, more idle animations. maybe some unique to companions?

very trivial but. unique stair climbing/descending animation

bring back talking to companions on the road. maybe with some dialogue that can only be said on the road???

if banter is interrupted, make like rdr2 and pick up where the banter left off

more vallaslin designs please?

if theres another formal scene like dai maybe. give us. decent clothing. or better yet, decen clothing OPTIONS. i wanna decide how i look in a ball full of haughty orlesians

mage vs templar conflict resolved and addressed please. it is NOT resolved in dai. what we got was sequel bait and a slideshow. resolve it please

let me shittalk the chantry

a pro-mage anti-circle circle mage companion like anders

religious person who doesnt victim-blame elves in the codex or in game or anywhere please

characters more like leliana who question the chantry and acknowledge its corruption and greed

unapologetically sapphic companion

idc if its tevinter i dont want to fucking see queer people being disrespected

a true tal-vashoth companion, one who escaped from the qun

have quest decisions affect whether or not a companion will turn hostile to you or not

if IF solas will be redeemed, please do the redemption arc right

more horn options for qunari

an apostate mage who doesnt use me for their personal agenda whilst hiding something from me (morrigan, anders, solas) thanks

i really dig the whole “leader of an army” thing dai was trying to go for. but you didnt actually. lead. anything. would be nice to have that option. command soldiers. send them places that affect further quests. would even use the wartable for its intended purpose. planning wars. battles. like. you get sent word that there are bandits harassing villagers. you can set up an ambush with your soldiers or confront them headon, and theres a new mini-location on the map like the manor you meet vivienne in where you can go deal with the bandits and depending on your choices, there are actually soldiers with you in a field, or traps in a narrow pass, or even in a city. id rather the wartable shit dont return but if they have to, at least this way youre not just waiting real life time for a bunch of text to appear

i am real fucking excited for the possibility that da4 companions can just fucking die on you. good shit. give me that angst

missions that certain companions would refuse to go with you to. you know. so you actually have to use other members of your party instead of the same 3 (three) people all the goddamn time

disabled characters (i want a character who suffers from the same chronic bad leg disease as i do is that too much to ask)

kinda touched on by the da2 combat point but let me do close combat damage with the staff

no multiplayer. and if there is a multiplayer, dont tie it with achievements

let me fucking explore weisshaupt

(i dont think solas will be the endgame villain of da and i dont think da4 will be the last da game but still) again. for emphasis. resolve the plot points dai brought up

full-body scars and tattoo options

companions and npcs changing their opinions about things over time. eg: a pro-circle mage wanting instead for circles to be abolished after a specific side mission or a main quest decision etc

keep the multiple companion quests. and maybe change what kinds of companion quests are available further down depending on choices made in previous companion quests

please for fucks sake give us more characters of colour

let me shittalk the chantry

#dragon age #dragon age 4 #da4 #long post #its 3 am and i am once again putting on my clown wig bc bioware will fucking disappoint me again

[niche-bitch]

"But people use singular they all the time. You have too." I'm glad people can use this argument in favor of they/them pronouns for a person, but how bout this? "I literally do not care" as an argument.

You say we are disrupting/distorting/tainting your precious textbook perfect language? Fuck you! You literally add verbs like "googling" to your vocabulary. You may use "is" where you should use "are" on the regular just for the meme. You may shorten verbs by a letter cause you're talking like a cowboy or it's convenient/the way they talk in your area. Language is made for the convenience of people! We are not made for fitting into the molds of language. If the people evolve out of their language's boundaries, then language should change for us!!

And honey, this ain't just a logic based wish, this has happened. Because language is fluid and changing, just like society does. It has changed to embrace technology, changed to embrace advancing science and art. It has literally changed to be more convenient. Can't it change for the people?? Yes it has. You're just saying it can't change for us.

And I'm not saying this just cause of English, I'm also and primarily saying this cause of other languages, one's that don't have a plural pronoun that isn't already gendered. I'm sick and tired of hearing "they wanna destroy good grammar" or "they wanna change the rules to their whims". No you pretentious asshole, we want to change it to our NEEDS.

Languages evolve from others, and from those surge variants and a variant in itself can change through time. There's a difference between the Spanish used in "Don Quixote" and the Spanish used by Miguel de Unamuno in "San Manuel Bueno, Martyr". A word in a language can change just because people think it's better to say it another way.

So like, stop using correct speech or writing as an excuse for your transphobia or transphobic habits/views. Stop using it in your damn awful transphobic jokes. Realize you are a shitty person who can't curb their habits a bit to make another person comfortable or someone who'd rather make another person uncomfortable with themselves to stick with their discriminatory ideals instead of saying "Sorry I'm actually cultured/educated".

Just shove your stupidity down your throat and shut up about your archaic/stick-up-your-ass rigid point of view.

#transphobia #transphobes #trans rights #trans #im sorry if some parts are badly written in any way its two in the morning #lgbtq #pride

[fatehbaz]

where can i read more about the devegetation of north africa? (reliable sources that you prefer)

Hey hi.

So just wanna be very clear that this is not really my “area of expertise.” (More focused on North American environmental history; most reading on North Africa limited to megafauna distribution range.) More like a fun side-interest that I revisit from time to time. And these resources are mostly just about the Sahel, specifically. Including the environmental history of the Holocene (past 10,000 years in the Sahel), and also the dynamic and drastic ecological change that took place between 1895-1960, during colonial and post-independence land management schemes. But some of the resources here also deal with the geography of the Sahara. (There is also an interesting history of the Sahara during the Holocene, when the desert was full of lakes and river courses. Up until the 1970s, there were still isolated populations of hippo and crocodile in remote Sahara lakes and oases.)

I’ll recommend some of the older “classics.” As usual, I’d try to recommend writing from local people who are explicitly willing to share their ecological knowledge. But a lot of my recommendations are unfortunately from academics. And I’m sorry for that.

Assuming you’re referencing this:

When searching online for environmental histories or local environmental knowledge case studies of the Sahel, I see a lot of stuff sponsored by NGOs, the UN, and US academia, which will emphasize “rediscovery” or “utility” of “using” traditional knowledge for “combating climate change,” and many mentions of the “green wall” proposals. I’ll also see “white savior complex” kind of stuff, which talks about “crises” and “civil wars” as if they’re “endemic” to the Sahel. But (just my opinion), I don’t like those resources. They engage in cultural appropriation (”acquiring” local Indigenous knowledge), superficial posturing (Euro-American academics using cute language about “local knowledge” without holistically contextualizing the devegetation), weird culturally-insensitive elitist chauvinism (continuously talking about “religious conflicts” and “civil wars” in North Africa and the “urgency” to use “agriculture” to establish stable economics and therefore “law and order”), and reductionism (talking about importance of halting southward desertification and expansion of the Sahara, without acknowledging role of World Bank, IMF, etc. in continuing to use lending/debt to hold West Africa hostage.) Part of my skepticism of these sources is because I’ve met and/or worked with agricultural specialists from institutions in the Sahel and environmental historians who had worked for many years in the region. (They’ve shared some really cool anecdotal stories about the sophistication of dryland gardening in the Sahel, and how local horticulturalists would laugh at the Euro-American corporate agricultural agents and USDA staff sent in with their special “space-age chemically-coated super-moisture-retaining” seed supplies after independence.)

Fair warning: Most of my recommendations are a little old, from the 1970s and 1980s. Two of the main drawbacks of these “outdated” sources: since their publication, scholars have since greatly expanded lit/research about both imperialism and traditional ecological knowledge. (West Africa had only been “independent” for a short period of time, and the hidden machinations of neocolonial institutions weren’t as clearly visible as they are to us, today, I’d imagine. And some academics, writing about the Sahel in the 1980s, weren’t as willingly to openly call-out major institutions.) But I think they provide a brief background for Sahel’s ecology and agroforestry/horticulture.

So both of these are available free, online, through the New Zealand Digital Library. (Don’t wanna link them here, but you can find them online pretty easily.)

Firstly, from 1983/1984, there is this summary of desertification, traditional environmental knowledge, traditional land use systems, and agroforestry in the Sahel: National Research Council. 1983. Agroforestry in the West African Sahel. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Something that was always exciting for me ...

Despite how dry and hot the Sahel is, fruit trees and gardens are actually very fertile and productive, for many reasons, mostly related to sophistication of local ecological knowledge of nutrient-replenishing relationships between different plants. An excerpt:

“Today, a number of agro-silvicultural systems appear to be practiced in the Sahel. Gardens are found within settlements where water is available, usually with a tree component that provides shade and shelter and, often, edible fruits or leaves. The same holds true for intensively managed, irrigated, and fertilized gardens near urban centers. Both subsistence home gardens and cash-generating market gardens are highly productive. Fruit and pod-bearing trees, shade trees, and hedges or living fences are the "forestry" components, sometimes supplemented by decorative woody plants. Mangoes, citrus trees, guavas, Zizyphus mauritiana (Indian jujube), cashews, palms, Ficus spp., and wild custard-apples are prominent kinds of fruit trees. Shade is often provided by Azadirachta indica or similar species, while fencing is provided by thorny species of Acacia and Prosopis, and by Commiphora africana, Euphorbia balsamifera, flowery shrubs such as Caesalpinia pulcherrima (paradise-flower), and other species.

Close to the settlements is a ring of suburban gardens, often irrigated, in which cassava, yams, maize, millet, sorghum, rice, groundnuts, and various vegetables are grown, for subsistence as well as sale, depending on the ecozone.”

---

Then this sounds more like what you might be looking for? Basically, a history of environmental knowledge and the ecological trends of the past 10,000 years in the Sahel.

National Research Council. 1983. Environmental Change in the West African Sahel. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Though this report from 1983 is now kinda outdated, and has some iffy elitist and vaguely-chauvinist language at times, but it is still accessible, generally easy to read, concise, and  it goes out of its way to say that 1970s drought and current environmental crises in the Sahel cannot be understood without addressing the early Holocene ecology of the Sahara/Sahel.

So the report emphasizes the importance of context, by addressing the drying of river courses and lakes in the Sahara of the Late Pleistocene, the early domestication of crops, the emergence of cattle and goat over-grazing, the importance of gum arabic and acacia trees in maintaining moisture in gardens, early trans-Sahara caravan travel, medievel geographical knowledge of the Sahara, etc.

“Because climatic change and variability are regular features of the Sahel, the native plant and animal communities of the region are generally well adapted to the range of climatic variation existing in the region. [...] Many efforts in "development" or modernization have also contributed to their plight. [...] In order to provide a better understanding of the role of human activity in modifying Sahelian ecosystems, this chapter briefly explores nine agents of anthropogenic change: bush fires, transSaharan trade, site preferences for settlements, gum arabic trade, agricultural expansion, proliferation of cattle, introduction of advanced firearms, development of modern transportation networks, and urbanization. These agents illustrate the breadth and diversity of the human impact on the region.”

----

Then there is this: Jeffrey A. Gritzner. The West African Sahel - Human Agency and Environmental Change. 1989.

And I also recommend the work of Jeffrey A. Gritzner. He’s American, but respectful and knows what he’s talking about. Gritzner works with dryland ecology; human ecology, especially relationships with plants/vegetation; environmental change during the Holocene (past 10 to 12,000 years); and traditional environmental knowledge. And he’s especially knowledgeable about the Sahel, North Africa, and Persia/the Middle East, where he worked with region-specific horticulture in the 1970s in Chad, Senegal, etc. during the peak of the drought, and had personal observations of post-independence neocolonial mismanagement and continued corporate monoculture from World Bank, IMF, etc. His writing contrasts local/traditional gardening/plant knowledge with imported corporate/neocolonial agriculture.

---

Beginning in about the 1990s, it seems to me that Euro-American geography/anthropology departments were much more willing to use words like “empire” and “neocolonialism” and more willing to call-out corporate bodies and institutions, so there are many better articles from after that period.

Keita, J. D. 1981. Plantations in the Sahel. Unasylva 33(134):25-29.

Winterbottom, R. T. 1980. Reforestration in the Sahel: Problems and strategies--An analysis of the problem of deforestation, and a review of the results of forestry projects in Upper Volta. Paper presented at the African Studies Association Annual Meeting, October 15-18, 1980, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Glantz, M. H., ed. 1976. The Politics of Natural Disasters: The Case of the Sahel Drought. Praeger, New York, New York, USA.

National Academy of Sciences. 1979. An Assessment of Agro-Forestry Potential Within the Environmental Framework of Mauritania. Staff Summary Report, Board on Science and Technology for International Development, Washington, D.C., USA.

Huzayyin, S. 1956. Changes in climate, vegetation, and human adjustment in the Saharo-Arabian belt with special reference to Africa. Pp. 304-323 in Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth, William L. Thomas, Jr., ed. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Vermeer, D. E. 1981. Collision of climate, cattle, and culture in Mauritania during the 1970s. Geographical Review 71(3):281-297.

Smith, A. B. 1980. Domesticated cattle in the Sahara and their introduction into West Africa. Pp. 489-501 in The Sahara and the Nile, M. A. J. Williams and H. Faure, eds. A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Again, these resources are mostly just about the Sahel.

Then, since the early 1990s, for better or more specific case studies of local-scale environmental knowledge, I think it might be easier or more fruitful to search based on subregion or specific plants. My perception is that, though much of the woodland and savanna ecology might be similar across the region, the Sahel is still spatially/geographically vast, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. And so, there are so many different diverse communities of people, with long histories situated in place, and there are diverse local variations in approach to horticulture. So, if you’re more interested in traditional ecological knowledge and local food cultivation, it might be easier to pick a specific subregion of the Sahel, or to pick a favorite staple food, and then to search those keywords via a university library website, g00gle scholar, etc.

(About the distribution range and local extinction, in the Sahel, Sahara, and Mediterranean coast, of lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, rhino, desert hippos, the “sacred crocodile,” etc. More my cup of tea. I’ve got some maps and articles, I’ll try to put them into a list of resources, too.)

[softtransbf]

Ninth Inning

Greg Serrano x Male Reader

Reader referred to as “handsome”, no other physical descriptions

1,466 Words

Rating: T for alcohol, kissing, implied sex

~~~~~~

You walked into Home Base with a sigh, pushing past a half dozen kids in baseball uniforms as you made your way to the bar. You certainly didn't want to be here, but it was the only place in town that got the right sports channel. Fucking hell, LA can't even get sports bars right. This isn't even LA, though. Fucking suburb. One more night, that's all. Then I'm on a flight back home.

You took a seat at the bar and noticed that you'd missed the first inning. Fuck LA traffic. You were too focused on catching up to notice the bartender make his way over to you. 

"What can I get you?" he asked, his voice deep and smooth in a way that gave you little gay butterflies.

"Oh, um, can I get a-" you finally looked at him, and your mind went blank. He was beautiful, in a very cynical sort of way. You'd seen his type before, guys with a chip on their shoulder who run on sarcasm and self-deprecation and get away with it, because they're hot. Which is to say, exactly your type. "An Old Fashioned, please?"

"You got it. You from around here? I haven't seen you in here before," he asked while making your drink.

"Nope. Just here for a work thing. It's my last night in town, actually, and I figured I'll need a drink or two if I'm gonna watch the Giants game this deep in Dodger territory." He handed you the drink, and you raised it to him, a silent toast of thanks. It was perfect, far better than you were honestly expecting.

"Openly admitting to being a Giants fan down here is a ballsy move. You from the Bay Area?" there was a wistfulness in his voice you recognized- you had it, too, when you were stuck in your tiny home town.

"I'd wager that I'm pretty safe from rivalry-related trouble here, given how many children are around. And yeah, I was born and raised in a tiny town just outside San Francisco. It's not very different from West Covina, actually, just 40 thousand people smaller and on the beach."

He chuckled. "So, not like West Covina at all."

"I dunno. A small suburb is a small suburb is a small suburb. The culture's the same, wherever it is. Everyone knows everyone, and it's easy to end up feeling stuck. Sorry, I'm sure you have no interest in my philosophical thoughts on suburbia. I'll shut up and stop holding you here." You rubbed the back of your neck with your hand and smiled apologetically. He returned the smile, and you prayed your blush wasn't as strong as it felt.

"No no, I totally get what you're saying. Enjoy your drink and the game. Maybe we'll talk more philosophy between innings." He winked before turning and walking away, and you fought back a literal giggle as you turned your attention to the game. You'd missed another half-inning. Oops.

~

True to his word, which you reminded yourself was just good customer service, he came back around a few times, and you chatted a bit more about baseball and suburbia. After the 6th, with the Giants down by 4, you ordered another Old Fashioned. 

"Not to overstep, but are you sure? You're already looking pretty toasted, and I don't want to have to take your keys."

"Oh no need to worry there. I took a Lyft here, because I knew that there was a chance I'd be watching the Giants lose in Dodger territory, and that's something that requires significant intoxication. The only thing worse than LA in general, including its 'burbs, is LA sports fans, especially baseball. Polo shirt over there", you gestured to a guy on the other side of the bar, "made me as a Giants fan a couple innings ago. I've been getting smug face every out since. Drunk me doesn't care enough to do anything about it. Sober me would have called him out already and listed off half a dozen statistics that back up the Giants being the more successful franchise. Really, I'm doing everyone a favor by drinking my anxiety away." You gave him your best innocent look, and he laughed.

"Okay, I hear you. One Old Fashioned coming right up, then, for the greater good." 

He handed it to you, and you toasted again. "To the greater good". You took a sip. "Seriously, you make a fantastic Old Fashioned. Total honesty, walking in here earlier, I wasn't expecting a drink this great." You paused before mumbling "or a bartender this hot".

"I'm glad you like the drinks, but, uh, what was that last part?" Fuck. "I'm so sorry. It's absolutely no excuse, of course, but as you've pointed out, I am quite tipsy. And you are, objectively, a very attractive man. I shouldn't have said anything at all, though. It was beyond inappropriate, and I am so, so sorry."

"It's alright, man. I wasn't offended, but I appreciate and accept your apology. Enjoy your drink and the rest of the game, yeah?" He leaned in a bit, and your breath caught in your throat. "I'll die denying that I said this, but tonight, I'm a Giants fan." He winked again and walked back to the kitchen.

You blinked a few times, trying to parse the flurry of thoughts in your head. They wouldn't solidify into anything coherent, though, so you took his advice and just watched the game.

It went one extra inning, but the Giants took home the win. You didn't see the bartender (you kicked yourself for not asking for his name or giving him yours) since putting your foot in your mouth, so you just shot Polo Shirt a smug look, left cash on the counter for your drinks and a 100% tip, and left the bar to wait for your Lyft.

"Wait, wait!" You heard his voice right as you reached the sidewalk. You turned around to see him running after you, holding the cash you left. "This is way more money than the price of your drinks."

"I know. But the drinks were fantastic, the conversation was great, and I wanted to apologize a bit more for objectifying you. Plus, they won, and I'm superstitious enough to think that someone who grew up in an LA suburb rooting for them helped." You smiled softly.

"Wait, how do you know I grew up here?"

"The look in your eyes and the tone in your voice when you asked if I'm from the Bay Area. I had the same tone and look for a very, very long time, back in my own little suburb. Anyway, my ride's about to get here. Please, keep all of the change. You deserve it. It was a pleasure meeting you, although that's a bit weird to say when I never got your name."

"Greg. My name is Greg. And, uh, I really didn't mind being objectified by you. You're… god, handsome as hell and smart and funny. And you're only here for one more night, so now is kind of my only chance. My shift just ended, do you wanna, I dunno, grab a drink somewhere else?" He talked with his hands a lot, which you found endlessly adorable.

"I- holy shit. Um. I really didn't think I stood a chance in hell with you, even if you were into men. We could go drink somewhere else, or we could go back to my hotel room and order room service? Like you said, it's my last night here. Just one night. No strings, no hesitations, no regrets." His body language changed as you spoke, from anxiety to pure desire, and as soon as you were done, in a blink of an eye, he was kissing you. Cliche as it was, the kiss felt like it tilted your universe off its axis. 

You broke the kiss with a slight gasp to tell him your name, but stayed in his arms. You couldn’t believe how beautiful his deep brown eyes were.

"Nice to meet you, Y/N. Wanna cancel your Lyft and tell me which hotel you're staying at?" 

You did just that, spurred in no small part by the breathlessness in his voice.

~

He insisted on driving you to the airport the next morning, saying that cabbies and Lyft drivers don't know what they're doing. You disagreed, but honestly the previous night was so much fun, both in bed and out, that you weren't quite willing to say goodbye until you had to. 

He gave you one last searing kiss before you walked into the airport, and as you boarded the plane, you figured that maybe LA wasn't so bad after all, and you were gonna miss that shitty little suburb.

#greg serrano #greg x male reader #greg x reader #greg serrano x male reader #greg serrano x reader #crazy ex girlfriend #otp: no more settling

[zd772]

Expert Interview with Professor Piero Garofalo

The following contains edited excerpts from an hour-long interview conducted with Professor Piero Garofalo from the UNH Italian Studies department. Professor Garofalo is a professor of Italian Studies and the coordinator of the Italian Studies program. He has recently taught linguistics and film studies for the Italian department. When he came to UNH there was no Italian program so he was essentially hired to introduce Italian to UNH. He developed many of the Italian courses that UNH offers, started the department’s study abroad program, and worked with others to get the Italian minor and major developed. His research experience, which can be explored in more detail here, includes explorations of culture and cultural production within certain periods, fascism’s relation to this, and internal exile in fascism, to name a few areas of interest. For my interview, we discussed fascism, populism, and media.

Disclaimer: The content is edited for length and clarity, but the meanings behind the answers are not altered. The full transcription can be accessed here for more information. The format shares highlights of quotes or responses on specific topics which demonstrate my understandings as well as Professor Garofalo’s expertise.

---

Interviewer: Zoe Dawson (ZD), senior Communication student at UNH

Interviewee: Piero Garofalo (PG), professor and program coordinator for Italian Studies Department at UNH

---

On the topic of fascism in relation to our course (p. 2):

ZD: So I’ve looked into your research on the COLA website and I saw that you had some research focus on fascism (PG: Mhm) so first I thought I would share a few of the things that I’ve learned in this class so maybe we can have a conversation about that or hear about your research... So, in a reading by Federico Finchelstein from my class, we read that “Fascism was founded in Italy in 1919 but the politics it represented appeared simultaneously across the world.” (PG: *nods head*) And then, also he talked about Mussolini’s version of [fascism] being that “the creature was bigger than the creator,” which I thought was interesting. And so those two points, I thought, were significant in relation to Italy.

PG: Yeah. So, I think Federico Fincehlsltein is, I think he’s Argentinean (ZD: *nods head*). I’ve read several of his studies and he does a really good job of taking concepts like fascism, in particular, fascism and populism, and globalizing them beyond the usual suspects. So instead of just looking at fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, he’ll look at Latin America and different movements to kind of give a broader perspective.

I definitely agree about what he said about fascism in Italy in the sense of, the term itself obviously comes from Italian. Preceding Mussolini there was a movement in Sicily called The Fasci Siciliani. Fascia really is just a bundle. It’s a bundle of rods or sticks. So, that movement was really a workers’ union, almost like a unionized attempt to form a union against these large landowners and that movement was suppressed. The government intervened and they were striking and twenty-two of them, twenty-two of the strikers, were killed. And that’s a very different type of movement than what Mussolini was doing (ZD: Mhm), even though the origin of the term is the same. Yeah, so we have this movement in Italy that begins in 1919 and takes on the name of fascism, and that term kind of ends up being, you know, good PR (ZD: *laughs*) and has a lot of success internationally and becomes sort of the default term, kind of becomes overused today right? We talk about ‘fascist, anti-fascist’ without contextualizing the terms.

And yeah, I think it also, the second part that you mentioned, I think it definitely did grow much beyond what he was trying to do or thought of. And so, when we talk about fascism, even within that historical context, we need to be careful about what we mean because Italian fascism is different from Spanish fascism from the 1930s, from German Nazism, and so on and so forth, but even though they share many commonalities and a similar sort of source within each of those societies.

On the connections between fascism and populism (pp. 6-9):

ZD: … I have a few questions related to what I’m about to say, but also in our class we’ve learned about the idea of modern populism as being a post-fascist idea, and also being like a reformation of fascism in post-war contexts so what are your thoughts in relation to Italy since fascism was so prominent?

PG: Yeah I understand the definition, but I don’t know that I necessarily agree with that definition because there are many movements that I would describe as populist which I would not describe as fascist (ZD: *nods head*). If populism is also sort of this mass reaction to the elite, we hear that rhetoric a lot. We talk about Trumpism as a form of populism, you hear that rhetoric against the liberal elites and that sort of thing. You know, there was the Occupy Wall Street movement, which was the 99% against the 1%. You could even think about Black Lives Matter movement, as a grassroots movement or people reacting against the elite, the people in power, the people who’ve created a system that doesn’t allow them to flourish.

In Italy, we have two movements, in your blog you talk about them both. We have the League, the Northern Leagues which now have expanded beyond just being the Northern Leagues, that are a populist movement that I would align to some degree more closely with that idea of fascism, of neofascism. But then we have the 5 Star Movement which describes itself as a movement whose major tenets are the environment, sustainability, access to democracy- everyone’s supposed to have a vote and have access to a vote and participate in the vote, you’re not supposed to be excluded, which many of its programs we would associate more with the political left…

So, a direct line between neofascism, or fascism, and populism I don’t necessarily see. Lots of different movements which have certain characteristics that might fall into these different categories. And it’s become such a broad term that it’s begun to also lose its significance. The word itself as you know, the Latin word populus or in Italian popoli, it’s the people and having that word have a negative meaning. I don’t think it co-opted that way either, I like to think that when people are reacting to an injustice that they see that involves fundamental changes in society, that can still be a positive and not fall under the same rubric as Hilter and Mussolini.

ZD: … That made sense. In our class, I think in the same Finchelstein reading, he talks about how the word ‘fascist’ and the word ‘populist’, they’re both sometimes used interchangeably and also used to describe something as evil or bad even when that really isn’t the case with historical definitions, so what you said made sense with that.

Then also relating to fascism, what do you think the remnants of fascism look like in Italy? I know you mentioned the League, which is far-right.

PG: There is a party that’s more in tune with fascism than the League even. Its new name is Brothers of Italy, FDI- Fratelli d'Italia, and that’s like Le Pen’s party in France. So that’s sort of a far-right party that really does see itself as the heir of fascism. Its earlier iteration, Mussolini’s granddaughter, Alessandra Mussolini, was a part of it. After World War II, the fascist party was nonexistent, but this party formed called MSI- Movimento Sociali Italiano, Italian Socialist Movement which was really a fascist party, although the die-hards stuck with that it was always a very tiny party.

The other big difference, of course, between Italy and the United States is that Italy has many political parties and it’s easier than here to find a party that conforms more closely with your ideas. Here you kind of have a choice between two parties, and you might agree with everything your party says, but chances are there are divisions. Some things you agree with, some things less. There the parties are much more splintered, there’s an issue that they don’t agree on, they kind of split and go on in different directions.

So this party then became Alleanza Nazionale, or AN- National Alliance, and in that iteration in the 1990s it kind of rehabilitated its image as being professional, not talking about fascism the way it was spoken about in the past but trying just to appear like a legitimate party. They didn’t use a lot of rhetoric, it wasn’t populist in that sense, it wasn’t trying to appeal to people’s emotions and whatnot. It was trying to just rehabilitate fascism in a way that made it seem innocuous and the latest iteration of that party because different moments or scandals or events have led to the elimination of Italian parties… So the latest iteration is this one, Fratelli d'Italia, Brothers of Italy, which is the real right-wing party. The League, the Northern Leagues now there are various Leagues so we just call it the Leagues, shares many commonalities with right-wing parties. In particular its very strong stance against immigration and its xenophobia toward immigrants. In other aspects, it’s anti-European but it’s anti-Italian as well. These parties go back to origins of the modern Italian state where they never see that they’re Italian, that they’re from Venice or Milan. They see their local identity which is what survived for thousands of years. They never managed to bring the puzzle of Italy together to form a unified country.

So, they’re very much rooted in the local; in the local traditions, in the local ideas, the local language, and that’s why they’re anti-immigration. They’re anti-anyone who isn’t them. They’re anti-Southern Italian. They’re anti-everything it seems. They wanna secede, they want total autonomy. That’s why they’re anti-European because European identity kind of erases or limits your national identity… And that’s what we see in Italy, in particular, is that populism frequently takes on that League form of local identity. You have a League in Sicily, it’s the same thing, ‘We wanna be independent.’ So it takes on these kinds of xenophobic and philo-fascist attitudes in many activities. It also sees the central government as the enemy because it conquered Sicily literally. So in Italy populism, with the exception of the 5 Star which is this very different kind of movement, the populist movements tend to be very focused on the local identity and reasserting a local identity that the Italian nation has tried to wash over, eliminate, white-wash for the past 150 years since unification.

ZD: Yeah, I think that’s interesting what you were talking about with the regional specificity kind of. I watched a documentary and one of the politicians was harping on ‘Italians First’ but based on what you said it sounds more like specific to their region, their people first. (PG: Yeah.)

On how populism has affected the political climate in Italy (pp. 9-10):

ZD: … how would you say populism has affected Italy’s overall political climate?

PG: Well it’s definitely created more chaos. The Italian political system was intentionally designed to be weak. After fascism, the Constitution is intentionally designed to not let political parties accomplish very much unless there’s a lot of support for what they’re doing. The moment that there’s opposition to what they’re doing they get kicked out of power. So it always seems like Italian governments don’t last very long, but that’s built into this system…

The populist parties have made that more difficult because there’s less room to compromise. They have very strong stances on big issues that used to be, despite differences, pretty much agreed on… So you’ve lost room to really coalesce, to form a coalition with other parties with enough common ground where you can really accomplish stuff. That’s always been a challenge but not really a big one because we see historically these same parties really ended up forming the next government only with a slight change and then they got the legislation that they wanted to do until they hit the next crisis. There was a lot of predictability. You weren’t worried that the country was gonna go in a completely different political or economic or social direction. Now it’s a lot harder to predict, there’s a lot less certainty and it’s not clear who the opposition is either. The center-left parties are also reforming themselves and fractured and also have less coherent identities so it makes things much more messy and tricky now.

ZD: Yeah that makes sense and I’ve definitely seen that. And it seems really relevant to right now also. I researched a little about Giuseppe Conte’s coalition and that really led to him having to resign.

PG: Yeah, and it was one of the center-left parties that withdrew. They had like 1% of the vote, but that 1% was all they needed, and all of the sudden he didn’t have a majority and he was out. And it was a gamble because they could’ve gone to elections or Salvini could’ve come into power or something and now we have this technocratic government and we’ll see if it lasts until the elections next year.

On the populist presence in the media (pp. 12-13):

ZD: … one of the people I focused a lot on was Matteo Salvini and his use of Facebook and Facebook live to kind of “expose” people like I’ve seen him shouting at immigrant families and things like that. And it’s very blunt and in your face (PG: *nods head* Right) which is effective for his followers which I think is interesting. So if you follow any Italian media and government, how would you say the populist presence is?

PG: I think it’s expressed the most through social media. In Italy, the media for many years was dominated by the RAI, sort of the BBC of Italy. So you had these sort of government-owned and so anything they talked about they’d have to present all the different parties’ sides, everyone had to have equal time on television running for office, this sort of thing. That changed in the 1980s when Silvio Berlusconi came into power, so it’s part of the Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher movement, this neoconservatism of the 1980s… In the last decade especially, social media has become the center ground for promoting your ideas, promoting your campaigns, and being media savvy is extremely important for, especially populist politicians, but modern politicians in general.

One of the things about Donald Trump was this constant use of Twitter, right? Always keeping himself in the news. Obama was considered incredibly media savvy, but he didn’t do things the way that Donald Trump does and Joe Biden is not media savvy in that same way at all. But as you pointed out with Salvini, they’ll do lots of events which they’ll stream live through Facebook. They keep issues in your face. If it’s print media or the 6 o’clock news, it dies after a day or two or three, but they don’t let it die. They keep it in your face, in your feed constantly. So they’re very active on Twitter and other platforms, though certainly, Facebook is the most dominant one. They use it to connect to people and to keep them enraged in a sense, you know? To keep you emotionally invested so that you’re out there voting, promoting that point of view, and you’re keeping them on everyone’s mind. PR is half the battle, so if it’s always out there they must be important, they must have something to say.

ZD: Yeah I was gonna ask how the forms of media play into social and cultural grievances, but that really seems like the answer (PG: Yeah). That it’s so in your face that you can’t really avoid it. I was gonna ask also what populism’s role is in inflating that, but that also seems to be kind of the answer.

PG: Yeah I think that it doesn’t matter what the issue is. Whether it’s a boat capsizing in the Mediterranean or a boat being stopped, or some sort of government scandal- I can’t think of a good one that’s happened recently, but anything is an excuse for outrage that allows them to step forward and say, ‘Look at what they’re doing, we need to stop this’ even if they’re doing the same thing…

---

Thank you again to Professor Piero Garofalo for taking the time to be interviewed and giving very insightful answers!

---

Finchelstein, F. (2017). From Fascism to Populism in History. Oakland, California: University of California Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvpb3vkk

[mxrcayong]

the avatar series: 01.13

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chapter twelve

~ flashback to 24 hours before ~

Roddie was practically imprisoned in the mayoral home. Guards were deployed all over the mansion, basically preventing her from even thinking about sneaking out past curfew, which was put at 7pm. Before, she wasn’t even done with her transit from school at 7pm. She was banned from leaving any time before 9am or after 7pm without ‘proper supervision’, making her essentially trapped in the same home as the father she despised.

It’s not like she has despised him all her life. In fact, he was an amazing father growing up. He was the one who taught her about how bending was ingrained and imperative in their culture, who taught her about the history of bending. Consequently, when he became mayor and eight years ago and his opinion rapidly changed, Roddie could practically recognized the man she called her father. Her confusion quickly changed to anger. Yes, before he was mayor – there was a mayor before who implemented the anti-pro-bending laws, but growing up; he always enthused to Roddie how much he would like to take her to one. Once he got the position of power, it seemed like he completely changed and became worse than the person before him. And when he started acting on his position of power, Roddie didn’t hesitate in separating herself from her father.

Consequently, for the last few days since the attack on the abandoned warehouse, Roddie has barely left her room. Her hopeless plans of avoiding her father initially consisted of her napping throughout the day and then working throughout the night, essentially giving her a completely different time zone from her father. However, her father was a politician. He’s practically always working. Not only that, but the staff in the home would always wake her up for meals – her mother insisting on hosting family dinners.

Being a politicians’ daughter made all eyes on them, especially now when the current news focuses on the politics of their society. Often, Roddie would use her attention to call out the government – which did nothing to repair her relationship with her father – however, this is the first time she’s been forcibly banned and censored by her parents and the staff.

Roddie cannot complain about this attention, especially if it meant that their family meals would almost always be interrupted by calls from other government officials or the press. Fortunately, this means her time with her father was interrupted.

Tonight’s dinner felt like the ordinary; a tense silence, the awkward clinking of utensils, the small conversation between her parents, and the resounding noise of chewing that took over any silence. Underneath the table, Roddie had her phone out – using her utensils with one hand and her other hand was texting her friends.

to: (glopo nerds + roddie): I actually hate this so much

to: (glopo nerds + roddie): kill me now pls

from jeyes (glopo nerds + roddie): can you just say you need to study?? we do still have an exam in a month

from lele (glopo nerds + roddie: I see why you call him a nerd now.

to (glopo nerds + roddie): excuse you you’re included

from lele (glopo nerds + roddie): I would offer to come over but I’m in a similar situation lol

One benefit from living in the mayoral estate rather than her dorms? She’s literally a street away from Chenle. Normally, she’s an elevator ride and multiple hallways away. Chenle was quite literally her neighboring home. It was why she saw him as a brother – for the last eight years, they lived next to each other.

to (glopo nerds + roddie): group call in 30??? Imma try to eat fast and get the hell outta here

from nana (glopo nerds + roddie): sorry too social for you guys 💁♀️  

from jeyes (glopo nerds + roddie) even for me??? 🥺

to glopo nerds + roddie: we literally have no other friends, shut up

from nana (glopo nerds + roddie): why you gotta expose me like that 😡  I s2g ik what parents mean when they say raising children ain’t worth it

Rolling her eyes at her friends, Roddie chewed her food faster but struggled due to the texture. She was debating asking one of the chefs to put the food aside for her to eat later, but she knew her mother would only make her finish eating now. Roddie was hungry – but her hunger couldn’t even motivate her to stay around her father longer. The anticipation to leave didn’t last long as a phone call soon brought her father away from dinner and to the other room.

Usually, he closes the doors – wanting the meetings to be private, especially if Roddie was there. She was known for calling out the government, and if she knew any of their secrets? He was certain they would be all over the news the next day.

But this time, he left the door open.

“Zhong, Amon,” His voice was faint and muffled by the door, but Roddie basically did everything she can to focus on what he was saying. “Don’t you think this is going too fast?” Robotic yelling could be heard from the phone. “Wait, what do you mean a reporter has been asking you questions?” Could he mean Tari’s so-called ‘best friend’? Roddie thought. “Why does this have to speed up-“He was interrupted…and he started walking away from the door. But, Roddie couldn’t deny the panic rising in his voice. In her eighteen years of life, Roddie has never heard her father’s voice rise in octave and spill quickly.

Her eyes widened, and this didn’t go unnoticed by her mother. “Aye, anak,” When her mother speaks in her family tribe’s native language, Roddie knows she’s about to get in trouble. “You know this is serious times. Please do not escalate things. You do not know what is going on.” Roddie remained silent, rolling her eyes. She didn’t want to be like her mother – standing idly by, being submissive to her father just because of the traditional roles she was raised to live by.

Practically stuffing her face – Roddie stopped caring about the possibility of choking. “IM DAHN.” Roddie screamed, her mouth still full of food. Ignoring her mother’s critique on her manners, she sprinted up to her room on the second floor.

As soon as she got into her room, she let her back land on the back of her door. Sliding down to a squatting position, she started texting one of her best friends.

To lele: hey hey emergency, can we meet?? Your dad isn’t there right???

From lele: he just left, why? Whatsup?

To lele: was it after a call?

From lele: ye how’d you know?

To lele: I overheard the calls…do you wanna be the Watson to my holmes?

To lele: the bess to my Nancy?

To lele: the hastings to my Poirot?

From lele: I’m in ONLY if you stop comparing us to famous detectives

From lele: the teachers in class heard you once and I think they genuinely thought my name was watson for a month

From lele: also im not always the sidekick smh 🤬 I s2g can I be appreciated more pls

From lele: whats up?

“Are you sure it’s safe to invite them?” Chenle asked Roddie as the two waited in the foyer for their bending friends. “They’re benders… they’re more at risk than us.”

Roddie rolled her eyes, “It’s nothing. Honestly, Jeno barely bends unless in a designated area. We know him, he’s a damp towel when it comes to bending.” Chenle laughed at the joke shared between them that Jeno is nowhere at all funny. The laugh, hopefully, covered up his fears he had for the safety of his friends. “Plus, Jaemin is my partner-in-crime, the Robin to my Batman, the-“ Roddie was about to continue listing characters, but the look on Chenle face practically threatening to leave right now stopped her. “I can’t do activist shit without him.”  

“How are you expecting us to leave your house by the way?” The younger boy furrowed his brows, “I was allowed because I’m legit a minute away. My guards saw me enter your house. But how do we get out of here?” The older girl and mastermind behind the plan pulled out her best puppy dog eyes, making Chenle’s eyes practically roll to the back of his head. “What is it?” He practically growled.

Roddie started swaying, trying to act cuter. “Do you remember the old mannequins I had when I was into fashion for like a month?” Chenle nodded. “Can you help me look in the basement for them? We can say we’re sleeping over.”

“Where will our legs be?” Chenle almost yelled but hushed it to a whisper as guards started walking past them. “Your mannequins are legless.”

“Pillows?” Roddie said, more as a question.

“You didn’t think this out properly, did you?” Roddie ignored his question. “Do you even know where they have gone?”

Her eyes went wide momentarily, before she pulled put her phone. “I may or may not have taken photos of some documents I’ve seen laying around, maybe the address of the factory is in one of them.”

“Factory?” Chenle clarified. “Do you mean the factory on Bumi Boulevard?” Roddie’s eyes widened. How did he know classified information? “Listen, because you have a bad relationship with your father doesn’t mean I have one with mine!”

After thirty minutes of rummaging through the basement for the old mannequins and some wigs that could even remotely match their hair color and some of her father’s old college shirts to put on the mannequins. Scattering the four mannequins around the room in a somewhat cohesive manner, they had two mannequins lying down on a beanbag and two on the bed – both lying down facing the opposite direction. Roddie couldn’t help but be more thankful that Jaemin had dyed his hair bright blue or else they may not have been able to find a wig.

Screaming out her room saying they’re ‘going to be studying and then ‘having a sleepover’, Roddie blasted music in the room and the three took off. Roddie knew all the secret exits, and although the house is more guarded than usual, the four are all wearing black and due to the darkness of the night, can easily be concealed. Additionally, the guarded element of her life comes from her designated guard checking in on her every hour.

Another thing Roddie couldn’t be happier for? Jeno having a driver’s license. Bumi Boulevard, although is connected to the train station, Chenle mentioned how its in more of the outskirts of the city. “You do realize I’m not some valet.” Jeno teased, climbing into the driver’s seat with Jaemin in the shotgun.

The car lifted off the ground. “Every time you invite me to go out at night, it’s either a sleepover or when you need a ride.”

“Don’t take it personally, Jeno.” Jaemin commented from beside him. “It’s just because you don’t like parties and the only time Roddie goes out at night, other than with us, is to party.”

“That’s a noble reason!” Roddie tried to convince him, “I’m respecting your preferences.”

“Whatever.” Jeno was teasing of course. As much as they say he isn’t funny, he’s quite funny and Roddie cannot deny it. “Okay, so let’s go over a game plan. We can’t just waltz in.”

“We can’t?” Roddie asked, genuinely confused. She’s pretty much used to getting access to most government buildings, unless her father has told the police to ban her from entering. That usually happened once she breaks in. She didn’t even know about the factory yet, so it’s practically impossible that she’s been banned.

“Jaemin, I can’t give her the look or else my eyes will be off the road.” Jeno groaned. “Can you glare at her with disappointment for a minute? Maybe for even twenty? Never have I heard a more stupid statement in my life.” Jeno teased. Roddie slapped the head rest of Jeno’s seat in offense. None of them expected Jaemin to actually give Roddie a disappointed look for five minutes as Chenle started brainstorming ideas.

Jaemin interrupted Chenle’s idea of ‘dressing up like barbeque delivery guys’ with even more disappointment than Jeno implied him giving. “You guys are literally their children. Does anyone-“ Jaemin let out a soft ‘ah’ when he saw Jeno with a backpack, “Just say that you have something in your bag you have to give to your dad.”

“Okay, well it’s probably best to me.” Chenle noted. “Everyone knows how much Roddie hates her dad.”

“What if they go through the bags?” Roddie asked, remembering the security checks in the government building. “Jeno, did you pack anything that can somewhat resemble a gift?”

“I think?” Jeno questioned himself, voice full of uncertainty. “I mean, at this point, because of school and stuff, I just carry the bag out of habit. I haven’t actually touched it or opened it and saw everything inside for like…a month?”

Roddie cringed in disgust. “Okay, well, as long as there are no condoms in there or snotty tissues, I can imagine it being okay.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t okay. “Sorry to ask, but what exactly of these are you giving to your dad?” The security guard asked. Somehow, they managed to convince them that Chenle needed to bring his friends inside to reduce his anxiety about being in a government facility. Honestly, Chenle was glad this person was someone he hasn’t seen before – or else they would know Chenle basically lives in the city hall when he wasn’t with friends.

He was faced with the contents of Jeno’s bag; some lint, a beaten up water bottle, protein powder, a ‘5 free coffees’ card that expired a month ago with only three coffees being used (Jaemin scowled so hard at Jeno for not letting Jaemin use it at the sight of it), and a laptop in a casing that definitely didn’t belong to a government official.

“Oh, he left his…personal laptop at home.” Chenle lied, scratching the back of his head. “He messaged me saying he needed it…I couldn’t find his laptop case though, so I put it in…mine.” The laptop case in question? A plain white one, which had some unfortunate drawings of penises on it with sharpie (Chenle can take credit for the first penis on there- having drawn it when Jeno fell asleep during a lecture).

The security guard nodded, obviously somewhat skeptical. They sighed. “Okay, well, he’s in the meeting room with Amon so just leave it in his office. I think they’re having a private talk.” They noted, “All the guards were told to leave that floor.”

Chenle quickly nodded. The four of them nod politely and thanked them, before running to the closest map they could see inside the factory. The factory seemed to be completely made out of metal and with more levels underground than over it. Thousands of rooms surrounded the edges, but something about the factory felt like an auditorium. The floors above the very bottom floor seemed to act like balconies looking down at the center. She could see what happens on the bottom floor, which she would say is approximately 17 floors below her on ground level, from her position next to the map on the pillar. “Okay, so my dad and your dad are in the office with…Amen?”

“Amon.” Jaemin and Roddie said in-sync, remembering his name from all the news reports he’s been on.

“Right, Amon…” Chenle trailed off, before trying to understand the language on the map. It wasn’t something he’s seen before. In fact, they weren’t even words. They were numbers in some sort of sequence that doesn’t quite make sense to him, despite practically being an expert in math. “Uh…I don’t get it.”

Roddie decided to look around. Chenle and Jeno were the best at numbers. Her and Jaemin? Not so much. He once said 20 – 10 = 0 during a quickfire round of trivia. So her best bet is to observe while Jeno and Chenle analyse the plaque of the map on the pillar.

“Do you think we can find a lab coat or one of the uniforms?” Roddie asked, breaking away the trance of her friends on the plaque. “So we can get into more rooms easily.”

Jaemin snapped, grinning widely as he looked at his partner-in-crime. “Okay, I bet we can find a broom closet somewhere.” And that’s what Jaemin did. With no regards to walking into a private meeting or caught, he started trying to open any door he could see that seemed unlocked.

Behind the first door was a female bathroom, the second door was a weird test-tubey room, the third was something Roddie couldn’t even describe. It felt like some perverse and illegal version of the ‘Price is Right’ with the prices becoming more and more obscure.

Until finally, they got to a room resembling a locker room. And luckily for them, saw a cabinet labelled ‘extra uniforms’. “Thank fucking Roku.”

It felt like they were in the metal labyrinth for hours. Their hearts were consistently racing, worried about getting caught. Roddie and Chenle eventually had to disguise themselves – many guards offering to escort them to the office, to which they would always say ‘I’m heading to the bathroom’. They couldn’t feel luckier there were only so many workers here that they haven’t come across the same one twice, or else they would look like they’re having quite serious bladder problems.

They had no sense of time. The only thing that reminded them of the time was the clocks on the walls, notifying them it was now one in the morning. They got here around 10. That means they spent three hours trying to locate their parent’s secret office.

But normally, they’d be done with their meetings by now, right? Roddie thought back to all the times her father’s meeting went over time…it’s usually when something didn’t go to plan or it’s something with more risks than they thought. Shit, Roddie started biting her lip so hard – it bled at first contact with the tip of her tooth. We’re really in trouble. But she started praying they just went home by now. I hope.

It felt like a miracle the moment they got into a room that resembled an office. It required some failed attempts at lockpicking from Roddie and Jaemin, before expertful lock-picking from Jeno, who refuses to tell anyone how he learnt it. “Maybe Jeno is cooler than you guys.” Chenle teased, sneaking in behind them into the office. But the cocky words that left his mouth were the last of the same tone.

He was full of awe. This was Roddie’s dad’s office. Around the room had photos of Roddie as a child and family photos. While he was frozen in place, everyone else went searching around the room. It wasn’t long before they opened every drawer, every file (Chenle used his hacking skills to good use to open every computer file), every potential secret entrance handle – everything was turned upside down and sideways.

Everything they saw broke their hearts. Chenle’s and Roddie’s due to the destruction of their nation and Chenle’s disillusionment of his father, but Jeno’s and Jaemin’s because they could no longer feel safe.

But one folder revealed a lot. The folder title was ‘BENDING RALLY 001 – THE INITIAL STAGE’. Dozens and dozens of files and blueprints describing an event happening in a few days fell out as soon as they opened it.

“What is this?” Chenle said, almost as if he wasn’t there himself. He wasn’t like Roddie where he believed the worst in his family, particularly his father – but the documents proved otherwise.

Plans and blueprints of technology that would remove one’s ability to bend. Plans to temporarily disable their bending in order to ‘make a safer world’. But the blueprints show a sprinkler with an ‘anti-bending’ chemical in it, bracelets that look like Apple Watches with a band comparable to a single side of a handcuff. Both were made to suspend people’s bending – although there was minimal information on the blueprints if this will be permanently or temporarily suspended. A plan was made to have a registration event, mandatory for benders to come at a certain time and pick up the tool that’ll be oppressing them. There was another note saying they have to have a backroom for Amon ‘to do his magic’. What magic?

There were thousands of lists on the desks. From names of every citizen to the city to the lists of confirmed benders forced to register their bending ability due to their profession, the duo noticed that all lists focus on potential or confirmed benders living in Sooman. But one list caught Roddie’s attention.

On the top, the list showed how the official filtered and created this list. The categories were the birth year and which tribe their family has come from, according to their social identity information.

The list contained ten people and a message on top ‘to investigate these ten immediately’ and ‘nullify their risk’. Roddie couldn’t even imagine how they will be ‘nullified’.

There was one name that shouted at her, as if the black text suddenly became bold and red and underlined a million times. There was no way, Roddie thought – trying to recall her every interaction with them. It can’t be …but they don’t know that, they might kill them. She took out her phone and texted someone who could get to the bottom of this. Only once her information is confirmed will she tell them. She didn’t want to panic them.

But even as she left, the visual of ‘Tari Kotala’ dead center in the list of identities haunted her like a devil on her shoulder.

request anything for future parts / penny for your thoughts here

#nct-writers #nct imagines #nct dream imagines #NCT Dream Scenarios #nct avatar au #nct avatars #nct #nct dream #chenle imagines #jaemin imagines #jeno imagines #johnny imagines #nct smut #nct dream angst #nct dream smut #nct 127 imagines #doyoung imagines #jisung imagines #yuta imagines #nct angst

[timetoresurface]

POLYGLOT (5) / JJK

The prefix poly- comes from Greek and means "many" or "multi-." The last part of the word comes from the Greek term glōtta, meaning "language" or "tongue."  = a person who knows and is able to use several languages.

Word: I’m no writer and English ain’t my mother tongue, but I’ll try my very best to make this as great as I possibly can. I’ll try to be your polyglot and put my weird romantic dreams into words. Pairing: reader x Jungkook Genre: romance Warnings: none

Word count: 2218 words

Summary: Your academic background consists of a wide range of languages. You only studied Korean with a linguistic point of view in mind, as Hangul is a perfect phonetic language. Learning a new culture and their music always excited you so when an opportunity arrises to be a translator in Korea you didn’t even hesitate for a second. No, you immediately booked your one way ticket without even being certain that you had the job.

PART (1) / PART (2) / PART (3) / PART (4) / / PART (6)

“Y/N this is going to be your first time so please don’t try to freak out.” Hyun Shik told me in the car on our way to the airport. We were going to a more private kind of airport but reporters and photographers were still going to be there. 

“I don’t go with the boys so I don’t think they will give me attention.”

“This could be true but it has been a while since they have been outside. These people are thirsty and want everything they can get even if it means a picture of you with a made up story.”

“You are supposed to be calming me down.”

“I’m also supposed to teach you our ways but you keep doing you. Please try to walk by my side and I will protect you.” 

“That really helped Hyun Shik. Thank you for keeping an eye on me.” You rested your head on his shoulder and your mind was brought back to your strange conversation with Jungkook yesterday. Maybe you should try to keep your distance from Hyun Shik as Jungkook thought there was something blossoming between the two of you. Which there really wasn’t. The only thing blossoming was the not in your stomach. You had signed your contract with Big Hit and there was no going back for the next year. You had to get used to these kind of strict rules and strange interactions. It almost felt like you were an animal locked in a cage for everyone to admire from afar. 

“Ok, let’s go. The boys have passed so this is a perfect moment to sneak in before anyone really notices us.” He got out of the car and almost grabbed your arm so you would go faster. His long legs were power walking toward the entrance of the airport and it felt like your first day when you had to run to keep up with him. This time it was different as he had your arm in his hand almost dragging you forward which resulted in you almost falling a couple of times.

You rounded the corner and Hyun Shik gave your tickets to the stewardess waiting for us. Her cheeks were still blushing and you had a feeling one of the boys did this on purpose. They know they’re good-looking and sometimes they like to play. Finally reaching your destination, the very fancy waiting area where everyone was already gathered, you tried to loosen the grip on your arm. You and Hyun Shik were the last to arrive so naturally all eyes landed on the two of you.

“You can let go of my arm now. Mission complete. You have brought me to our final destination.” He quickly let go of your arm. Your eyes scanned the crowd and immediately found the eyes of the young Jungkook. His hair was wild and he was drowning in his oversized clothing, but he still looked cute, like boyfriend material. STOP that thinking though. You politely smiled and awkwardly sat down next to some people you still hadn’t properly met.

“Hi! Can I sit with you?” It didn’t take him more than a minute to find the courage to go and talk to you. Everyone noticed the easiness of Jungkook walking over to you. He felt comfortable with you and he didn’t mind the curious looks from his bandmates. They weren’t used of him being so close with a girl so soon.

“Oh Jungkook! Yes, please sit down.” You greeted him with a shy smile. He immediately sat down next to you and went searching through his backpack for something.

“You probably didn’t have had any breakfast yet. I noticed there wasn’t a lot of breakfast food at your place yesterday. Please take this.” He offered you a breakfast bar with blueberry flavor. You stomach started making its characteristic whale noises and Jungkook started to laugh.

“Oh, yes. My stomach just said thank you in his language.” You both started laughing and you felt like everyone had his eyes on the both of you. Watching with inquiring eyes and a look on their face you didn’t understand. You opened the package and started to shove the food in your mouth. Jungkook opened another bar and started to eat too. 

You both sat in a comfortable silence chewing on the food Jungkook had brought with him for the two of you. It made you feel like you were the chosen one. You were the one he chose to help and take care of. You tried to steal a glance of him eating but he was already staring at you and in this morning hour and your ‘i just got out of bed look’ you didn’t feel confident enough to lock your eyes with his. 

“I brought some-“ you started.

“Do you wanna-“ he started and you both laughed due to the awkwardness.

“Please go on.” You motioned for him to go first.

“No please you were first. What did you want to say?” His smile was enough encouragement for you to go first. You also didn’t want to have this awkward conversation for another five minutes of you two not wanting to start. Something in you said he wasn’t going to give up easily. In the short time you had known him, you noticed he definitely liked to win even if winning meant for you to start talking first.

“I just wanted to say I brought some English books with me for us to study. I also looked up some apps that could help you because you can not always carry a book with you.” You said. You also took out a paper out of your pocket and gave it to him. He carefully looked at your handwriting.

“When did you do this?” He asked you quietly.

“Oh last night after you left. I couldn’t sleep so I started to create a little English plan for you. I’m experienced in studying languages you know, I love doing it and I love helping other people.” You confessed. You made it seem like it only took half an hour but if you were being honest, you had spend a couple of hours trying to figure out a fitting schedule for someone as busy as him. You did have their schedule so you knew the days he had some more free time for extra activities.

“You did this for me?” He looked so surprised and the only thing going through your head was how cute he looked. He looked as happy as a kid in a candy store.

“You said you wanted to help Namjoon so I wanted to help you.” He was still carefully looking at the little schedule you had made. Maybe you should have used another color than pink but the color is just so happy and motivating you hoped it would stimulate him. “What did you want to say by the way?” You asked him curiously.

“I wanted to ask you if you would sit next to me on the plane so we could set up an English plan. But you already beat me to it, it seems.” He carefully studied your features while inviting you to sit next to him.

“I would love to sit next to you Jungkook. I only made the plan based of your band schedule, maybe there are some things you want to change due to personal reasons.” You were both smiling at each other you hand’t noticed everyone was already boarding the plane.

“Will you two also board the plane, please? We need Jungkook as he is a member of BTS and we definitely need Y/N when we land in the US.” Hyun Shik interrupted whatever what was happening between you and Jungkook. You both grabbed your things and walked toward the plane. The stewardess at the entrance of the plane happily greeted the both of you and offered you both a menu. She also walked us over to the only two remaining seats. 

“You can sit by the window.” He said immediately taking the other side close to the aisle. 

“Thank you!” Was the only thing you muttered before you went to your seat. This wasn’t a normal plane by the way. It was a large plane with only a VIP section or so it seemed. Everyone got a large chair with enough leg space for a giraffe. The chair could also be transformed into a bed and there were even sliding panels to have some privacy, if needed. 

Your eyes scanned every corner of the plane and you couldn’t help your mouth from falling open. There were several buttons at the side of your chair for every possible assistance you needed. TV, movie channel, sleeping button, … 

“The first time we boarded a plane like this we couldn’t believe our eyes. We didn’t dare to touch anything and the first few times I didn’t even dare to push back my chair to sit more comfortable.” He confessed after he let you acclimatize for a while.

“I feel like I am going to be the opposite. I want to push every button to see what happens. Maybe there is one that catapults me out of my seat like in a James Bond car or something.” You laughed at him with the biggest smile on your face.

“That seems like a very unnecessary button.” He couldn’t help but laugh along with you and it was the most beautiful sound you had ever heard. He was so comfortable around you he didn’t care if his laugh was a bit too loud. The stewardess interrupted with telling us to buckle up and look at the safety instructions. You both glanced over to each other from time to time while the staff of the plane tried its best to teach you the basic safety rules. 

The flight was really comfortable and the staff made you feel like you were a foreign princess. They brought you fresh tea when they noticed your cup was empty. They also handed you an extra blanket after one to them noticed you were getting cold. Jungkook and you had been making a new English schedule for him to follow. In a couple of months he would be able to help Namjoon during interviews. If he sticked with the plan of course. 

Somewhere along the flight you had fallen asleep and were carefully woken up by a sleepy Jungkook. You noticed he was only wearing his T-shirt which was enough for you to wake up immediately. 

“I’m sorry to wake you Y/N but apparently we have already landed. I also slept through it all.” He whispered and his tiny sleepy eyes he could barely keep open. You sat back up and tried to find all your belongings. That was when you noticed a grey sweater wrapped over your shoulders. It smelled great and was incredibly warm and you didn’t want it to leave you. 

“Thank you for keeping me warm.” You said while handing back Jungkook his sweater.

“You can keep it you know.” He tried to say but you quickly interrupted him.

“I think it will better if you wear it out. If one person is smart enough to connect the dots you will never hear the end of it.” You explained while trying to give him back his sweater. He smiled sadly but still took his sweater and put it back on.

Leaving the airport was kind of the same here in New York as entering the airport in Seoul. First the boys went through the first layer of photographers and reporters. They posed with tiny eyes and puffy faces. You stayed behind with Hyun Shik and only when BTS drove off in big black cars he took your arm again and dragged you to the one remaining car. 

“What is going on with you and Jungkook.” Hyun Shik immediately asked you while closing the door of the car.

“What do you mean?” You asked him innocently but apparently he could look through your act.

“Please don’t start to like any of the members. This can only lead to heartbreak and you getting fired.”

“I don’t like Jungkook in a romantic way. I like him in a friendly way, the way I like you too Hyun Shik.” You tried to explain to him. The look he gave you made you believe he believed you. Hell, you even started to believe yourself. 

“I’ve got to admit, it is nice seeing Jungkook so comfortable around someone new. I was just worried, that’s all.” He tried to explain himself and his feelings and it was really adorable.

“Thank you for worrying about me and taking care of me when I can’t seem to take care of myself. I’m really grateful for getting this job and also for you being my rock through this new experience.” You smiled politely back at him and the seemed to relax. The car ride was spend going through the schedule and where you most definitely needed to be. The styling people also took some clothes with them for you to wear to more formal events so you wouldn’t stand out to much. 

“Clothes for me?” You asked in disbelief. It was like a dream come through. “That is so cool.”

#bts #bts x reader #jungkook #Jungkook x reader #Jungkook x you #jeon jungguk #jungguk x reader #jeon jungkook #bangtan #Bangtan imagine #Bangtan scenario #fanfic #fan fiction #bts fanfic #bts fan fiction #Jungkook fanfic #fluff #romance

[bookenders]

11/11/11 Tag Game: Round... uh... 5, 6, & 7?

I got tagged by a bunch of people ( @quilloftheclouds is this how your 77 question one felt??) so here are a bunch of answers! I think this is the most I’ve ever talked about myself in my life. 

Good gracious, you’re all so nice and have such good questions.

Tagged by: @surroundedbypearls, @waterfallwritings, @bigmoodword, @sundaynightnovels

Rules: answer 11 questions, tag 11 people, give them 11 new questions!

[I’ve done this enough to be able to break the tag rules. Fight me.]

44 questions and answers below the cut!

But I’ll be nice and put my questions right here:

What would you do for a Klondike bar?

When do you title your WIPs? It is the first thing you do? The last? Does it come to you during drafting?

How many inside jokes do you put in your WIP(s)?

Your WIP’s antagonist is now The Riddler. How do your OCs handle that?

Do you use sticky notes?

Laptop or desktop?

Your OC is a wrestler. What’s their hype music?

Do you own any craft books/books on writing?

What’s your favorite book cover?

How many unread books do you have sitting around right now? Which are you most excited to maybe get to eventually some time?

How committed are you to your outline(s)?

Bilbo Taggins: Literally anyone, but also @francestroublr, @sahados-shadow, @a-story-im-writing, @bethkerring, @citruschickadee, @bos-ingit

If I’ve tagged you before, you can totally ignore this. In fact, I encourage you to.

From @surroundedbypearls:

What’s your favourite genre to write in and why? Literary fiction! It’s what I learned in university and the one that fits my themes best. Sci-fi is hard, I’m just getting into writing fantasy stuff, I can’t do thrillers, romance is hard for me, and historical is too much work.

Do you think you have a style/voice that you use more often in your writing? When did you develop that style? If you’ve read one of my stories, you know exactly how my writing voice sounds. It doesn’t change too much. I write like I talk, but if I had a lot more gravitas and charisma. Honestly, I’ve always had that kind of style, but it really developed in high school. It’s been getting stronger since then. It’s one of the things I always got comments about from my teachers and fellow workshop writers. “Your voice is so strong!” Yep. It’s mah thang.

Do you play video games? What’s your favourite? YES I DO. It’s hard to pick faves, but I’ve played Dragon Age: Origins too many times. 

If you were going to do a WIP crossover, which OCs would be most interesting together? (If you’ve only got one WIP crossover with something else) A crossover between H2H and AOPC? Interesting. I think Mel and Keema would get along the best, Oz would have some fightin’ words for Elder Sanga, and Gemma and Teva would be a force to be reckoned with, my god. Two stubborn nerds who believe totally different things but are also very determined to be very good at what they want to do and love their communities to a fault? Fear them.

Do you prefer to plan WIPs in a document or through handwritten notes? I used to do it by hand but I couldn’t read it because my handwriting is terrible and I kept losing papers. I do it in docs now. Much easier to organize and incredibly legible.

Do you multiple languages exist in your WIP? If so how do you address that in the story? H2H is set in the “real world,” so yep. It hasn’t been addressed too much yet, but I have a way for tackling languages. I’ve written multilingual-ish stories before. I never write phonetically and use hella context clues so the reader knows the gist of what was said if another character doesn’t translate.

What’s your favourite animated film that’s not Disney or Pixar? AN AMERICAN TAIL. All of them. It’s on Netflix go watch it and marvel at the way a kids movie talks about Jewish immigration, poverty, and cultural oppression via mice. As a young Jewish child, this movie was my jam. It’s very dark, though.

Do your real-life surroundings influence your WIP’s settings? Nope! One time I tried to write a story set in the same area where I lived and I couldn’t do it. Too weird. Sometimes I’ll write in an item I see near me, or like, a painting or poster on the wall if I need some set decoration, but that’s about it.

Which OCs would be most likely to break the fourth wall? Oz. Lookin’ at the camera like he’s in The Office.

How do you work out your OCs’ personalities? Hm. I look at the story I’m trying to write and make a protagonist that would have the most interesting experience in that narrative. For H2H, I wanted someone who would be loyal as heck to the people they loved while still being experimental enough to try new things and get into shenanigans. The story called for someone like that, and there she was. Mel came about my thinking of someone who would compliment other characters in the story while still being their own person. If that makes sense. I think of dynamics and interactions with the story world in relation to the theme(s). Most of the time they just happen, though.

Do you prefer worldbuilding or character building? Character building! As much as I like making stories about places, making characters is more fun for me, and more interesting. You should see all the DnD character sheets I have. 

From @waterfallwritings:

1. How do you come up with ideas for your WIPs?

At random. Seriously. It’s like my brain has to be running something in the background to function normally, and usually that something is whatever story I happen to be working on. Or I’ll look at a thing and go “huh.” My brain also likes to twist normal things to be a little bit different.

2. How do you get past gaps in the plot?

No idea, man. It’s like throwing spaghetti at a wall. I like to work backwards. If this is what I want to happen, what needs to happen before that to ensure that it occurs? I look at all the elements currently in the story and see if one can be manipulated to fill in the hole.

3. What motivates you to keep writing?

If I don’t, my brain gets all constipated and angry until I write something down. Like, seriously, I get grumpy and frustrated like I’m hangry or something. Aside from physical need, I love writing. I love word puzzles and feelings puzzles and figuring them out. Sometimes I think of how my stories could help someone, or make them feel something that they enjoy. 

4. Do you do any other kind of creative writing?

Oh, man, I’ve done it all. Screenwriting, playwriting, poetry, video game-ish writing, interactive storytelling, short stories, flash fiction, proposals, essays, DnD campaigns, monologues... You name it, I’ve probably tried it. I tend to stick to prose and poetry these days.

5. Do you have any other creative hobbies besides writing?

I’ve gotten into graphic design a little bit. I kind of wanna learn how to knit again. I’m not really very crafty. 

6. What do you do when you’re stuck on a scene and don’t know how to get it out / write it?

Write a different scene, stare at the screen in frustration until I give up and go to sleep, meditate for a few minutes, go do something else to get my mind off of it, clean, work on a different project.

7. How do you decide how to end your WIP?

I mean, see the next question for part of my answer. How did I decide to end H2H? My friend, that’s a big ‘ole spoiler. But I decided to end it at a place where everything, and everyone, comes together.

8. When in the process of writing do you decide how its going to end? Or do you kind of just wait til you get there?

Right at the beginning. If I don’t know where it’ll end, I have a hard time writing the arc. I work backwards: start with the idea, then think of where I want it to end up, then work back to the beginning until I know where its going, then start writing.

9. Why did you decide to join writeblr?

My reasons are pretty personal, but the least personal is that I needed some accountability and motivation. And I missed being in a good writing community.

10. What’s your favourite food?

Pasta! I’m eating spaghetti right now.

11. If you had to kill off a character in your WIP, who would it be and why?

Oz would be the most tragic. Treena would be the most logical. 

From @bigmoodword:

1. using one sentence summaries, can you tell me about your wips?

Nerdy potion woman meets cute odd stranger who helps her solve magic mysteries in their quirky small town.

2. what inspired them?

I saw a zine accepting submissions for magic stories, then an open call for queer shifter stories, and thought “what if wholesome magical lesbians?”

3. which of your ocs do you most identify with?

Gemma!

4. if you’ve ever cried while reading, which book cued the waterworks?

THE SONG OF ACHILLES.  My God, my soul was weeping. Honestly, it still is. Doesn’t matter that I knew the story from the Iliad. Madeline Miller is a feelings wizard.

5. how do you conduct research for your wips and what’s the most interesting thing you’ve discovered in said research?

On an as-needed basis. I used to do way too much research to avoid actually writing the damn thing, so now I only do it when I actually run into a problem that can be solved by Google.

6. thus far, which scene has been the most difficult to write?

The ones that aren’t hugely emotional. Which is... unfortunate.

7. which of your ocs do you like the least?

Rude. On a personal level, Jill. I love her, but I would not be friends with her. We wouldn’t mesh at all.

8. which pov and tense do you prefer to write in?

Third person limited present tense! To the bane of everyone who’s ever edited my work.

9. do you write poetry?

I do! Not often, though.

10. who is your writing role model?

My freakin’ writing professor from college. He is crazy disciplined.

11. if you could give your younger writer self some advice, what would it be?

Hey, you know those people who say your writing is too dark? Yeah, they suck and they’re wrong. They just want kids to live up to their expectations and write happy sunshiny stories about unicorns and dinosaurs having ice cream. And you’re not depressed because you wrote that one sad poem one time and someone asked if you were depressed. What you have is called feelings and they’re very useful for a writer, nay, a human, to have.

From @sundaynightnovels:

Who is your biggest role model? Okay, so I got crap all the time in grade school for never having a role model, and I still don’t have one. The teachers were concerned about me. But my reasoning was, “why should I want to live someone else’s life?” Yeah. They didn’t really know what to do with that...

What are your OCs favorite foods? Sort of answered here!

Which OC is most afraid of the dark? Oz and Mary!

What made you want to start a writing blog/participate in the writeblr community? Answered above!

Did you sleep with a stuffed animal as a kid? Do you still? I did, indeed. I don’t anymore, but I have two that I shuffle around my room when they get in the way. One is a highland cow I got in Scotland (he has a plaid hat), the other is a blue whale I got at the Museum of Natural History in NY.

Do you like donuts? I love donuts. Especially jelly filled ones. Mmm.

Do/would your OCs like donuts? All of my OCs like donuts. I don’t think Mel has ever had a modern one, though.

What is your least favorite food? Cauliflower? I’m the household taste-tester, so there’s been a lot of stuff I don’t like.  ( @sundaynightnovels I hate sparkling water, too, you’re not alone!)

What is your ideal writing environment? Comfy seating, a chair with no arms (stupid elbows), alone, plenty of chosen beverage within reach, headphones.

Favorite line from your WIP? So far, it’s this one!

Favorite quote from a book? Oh, man. There are so many. From recent memory, here are a few: “’Give it time,’ she replies. ‘It won’t be a story forever.’“  and “Everyone has heard stories of women like us, and now we will make more of them.” (both from The Ladies Guide to Petticoats and Piracy) “When he smiled, the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkled like a leaf held to flame.” and “I lean forward and our lips land clumsily on each other. They are like the fat bodies of bees, soft and round and giddy with pollen.” (I could write a goddamn essay about the imagery in this scene.) (It is quite possibly my favorite description of a kiss ever. And the metaphor extends through the rest of the scene so artfully ugh.) (both from The Song of Achilles) “The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head.” (from The Things They Carried)

#11/11/11 tag #about me #tag game #writer tag #oh my god so many questions #fun stuff below the cut #forgive my terrible jokes I am tired #writeblr #how I write #I guess #rec #book rec

[sleepy--mp3]

okja (2017)

it may be two years too late but i recently (a few minutes ago) watched the film Okja.  for those who are unsure of the plot, okja follows the path of a young girl who raised okja, a pig bred for a competition.  when the pig is taken away for the competition, Mija, the girl, goes after her.  she meets a rebel group of animal lovers and they attempt to take the pig back.

im about to spoil the film so if you haven’t seen it and wanna, bye!

okay.  spoilers below.  it’s been two years though so unless you’re me, you should be aware of the plot.  they’re not major spoilers though.

firstly, my initial thoughts.  i loved it.  the cinematography was fantastic, striking visuals and contrast of light and dark when approaching different parts of the film were perfect and beautiful, the emotions they evoked from me when watching it was unforgettable.  when the shot of all the manufactured pigs panned out to show thousands of them, i had chills everywhere.

the fact that it was a korean-american film in terms of actors, language and setting--and done so WELL, director Bong Joon-ho impressed me to no ends, is important in so many ways.  the representation it brings, as well as the importance of steven yeun (the walking dead, voltron: legendary defender, mayhem) in the role of the korean-american character ‘k’.  i am not a korean speaker, so i did limited research on his portrayal of k in the film, and according to an interview, he played k as a character that was dancing in between the roles of korean and american, and spoke slightly broken korean on purpose.  read this article for a well articulated version of what im trying to say: https://slate.com/culture/2017/06/there-s-a-translation-joke-for-korean-americans-in-the-subtitles-of-okja.html

the acting was fantastic.  Seo-Hyeon Ahn, mija, was phenomenal.  i was truly and completely invested because of her.  incredible.  the entire cast floored me.  everyone was so perfect in their roles i couldn’t believe what a dream cast it was.  tilda swinton and jake gyllenhaal astounded me, they were absolutely unforgettable as the ‘antagonists’, and i even felt disgustingly sympathetic for them, especially jake when dr. johnny has the breakdown in the factory.

carrying on, the characters were amazingly written.  the movie okja was portrayed so that there was no black and white, right and wrong--every character was in the grey area, it portrayed everyone in a harsh light.  the ‘good’ characters did bad things and it was a refreshing take on protag vs antag.  the main characters were so likeable and i loved their chemistry and interactions.  paul dano (jay) and steven yeun (k) thrived in their scenes together (k is a primary example of the “good character does bad thing” style i just mentioned when he mistranslates.  jay is also a bit iffy in terms of his morals in some scenes.  in fact, the whole alf is).  i lowkey shipped them together throughout the film, especially in the post credit scene.  other main characters included red, played by lily collins, blond, played by daniel henshall, and silver, played by devon bostick (aka jasper from the 100).

blond and silver, i would like to point out, are portrayed as boyfriends in the film.  lgbt characters.  they did not kiss on screen, nor did they in any way verbally state that they were in a homosexual relationship.  they were dating though.  through body language (holding each other, burying faces in necks/shoulders, sacrificing themselves for the other, etc) it was explicitly shown.  the fact that lgbt characters were shown in Okja without anybody mentioning or playing a large amount of attention to was amazing.  it showed that lgbt characters don’t have to be a ‘big deal’ or that they are in a film just to be an lgbt character.  they were animal lovers part of the alf who played crucial roles in the film, who just happened to be dating.  it was fine.  wonderful.

finally, okja the film was NOT an anti-meat statement.  i can see how it could be interpreted as such but it was NOT AN ANTI-MEAT FILM.  mija is shown explicitly eating meat, she collects fish in the stream for dinner and her grandfather makes her chicken stew.  this film was promoting ETHICAL PRODUCTION.  the conditions of which the bred bigs were put through were an attempt to show the horrors of manufactured creatures such as okja.  though they are not real creatures and this is a fictional setting, it is a representation of real meat manufacturing and production.  okja is chosen as the Biggest, Best, most Beautiful pig, and she has been raised by just roaming the country, fed and raised naturally.  this is a representation of natural, ethical means of meat production.  it showed corporate greed, activism and ETHICAL PRODUCTION.

tldr; OKJA IS AN INCREDIBLE FILM WITH PHENOMENAL ACTING AND AN AMAZING MESSAGE THAT STAYS WITH YOU LONG AFTER WATCHING.  PLEASE GO WATCH IT.  IT IS WORTH THE TIME I PROMISE YOU.

also: i have absolutely no experience nor professional critiquing in terms of film studies or the history of meat production.  or ethnicity representation or anything that i have spoken about.  take my opinions with a grain of salt.  i am literally fifteen years old.

if you made it this far, thanks for reading!  i hope this film changes/changed you as much as it did me. 

#okja #bong joon-ho #film #netflix

[heartshaaker]

[seungmin] i was hoping i could get lost in your paradise

pairing: seungmin/[y/n] (imagine)

genre: fluff, modern, student!seungmin

prompt: you knew your class trip to japan would be memorable, especially during one afternoon with seungmin in the city.

note: this is what happens when i’m soft at 2am. also, in this story, seungmin’s an american high school student fyi. this is my first imagine ever, so i hope you enjoy it. ((also your texts are italicized i’m too lazy to deal w formatting))

“ugh, I wish I was more motivated to practice Duolingo,” you muttered, squinting at the subtitles on the tv screen. you were trying to change the tv channels, a japanese-to-english translation app open on your phone in one hand and the small, flat tv remote in the other.

you were chosen as one of 30 students to travel to japan as a school-sponsored trip. it was a thrilling time; not only were you eager to experience a different culture, but you would be joined by several of your closest friends. the application was tedious, but you knew as soon as you saw the gorgeous country from the plane that everything was worth it.

it was a warm april afternoon in kyoto; the golden sunlight peeled through the sheer curtains of your room and scattered across your bed. the sun was about to set after a long day of activities, which includes a trip - that had a very early start - to the Golden Temple.

the supervisors announced it was free time and established your boundaries, but you headed straight to your room for a nap and some snacks you had picked up in the hotel lobby.

you awoke to an empty room and quick text from your best friend (and roommate) telling you about their whereabouts.

just as you think you’ve found the difference between the sports channels and the tv dramas, your translation was disrupted from a text, and reading the name makde your heart flip.

Minnie: hey, what’s up?

“Minnie” was what seungmin wrote as a contact for himself. seungmin was a very good friend, maybe one of the best. the two of you shared many mutual friends, classes, and interests so the two of you naturally gravitated together.

but seungmin often occupied your thoughts; his passion for music and photography, his semi-fluency in sarcasm, his oddly doting nature, not to mention the cute smiles he offered you occasionally - one could classify it as a crush. but you were just friends, at least that’s the vibe you got him.

(that is if you ignore the multiple occurrences of the pair of you getting abandoned by the same group of friends and resulted in getting dinner of some sort together.)

you didn’t bother to hide your smile as you put down the slender remote and wrote a reply:                                                          

                  ⇒ trying to figure out this tv. you?

Minnie: ⇒ hiding from jisung, so nothing new

                  ⇒ and why are you hiding from jisung?

Minnie: ⇒ he’ll try dragging me down to the buffet

                  ⇒ but the buffet is amazing !!

Minnie: ⇒ yeah but you get tired of it after going down 5 times in 2 days

                  ⇒ you complain too much :P                   ⇒ tell jisung my room # and i’ll join him lol

Minnie: ⇒ tell him yourself

you just chuckled. seungmin and jisung were an interesting combination; they looked like opposites, but they were more similar than one would think. not to mention seungmin is the reason jisung hasn’t killed himself trying to do something silly.

Minnie: ⇒ have you eaten yet?

                     ⇒ nope, just some chips

Minnie: ⇒ you can’t live off chips forever ⇒ wanna go look for something to eat?

your heartbeat sped up at the offer, your smile widening as you typed out a message:

                    ⇒  sure, meet you downstairs in 10?

Minnie: ⇒ sounds good

                   ⇒ it’s a date lol

while you felt a pang of regret at your last text, it was overshadowed by your excitement as you nearly fell off your bed trying to grab your shoes.

                                                   ✾✾✾

seungmin has helped you with your homework on numerous occasions. you shared inside jokes. the two of you had sat next to each other in several classes, hell, you sat next to each other on the bus ride today.

so why were you so nervous?

you tapped the railing of the elevator as you rode down, fumbling with the belt loop of your jeans. you had gotten dinner dozens of times with seungmin - tonight was nothing special. (minus the fact that the two of you would be roaming around the streets in one of the busiest cities halfway across the world.)

as the elevator reached the lobby and the doors slid open, seungmin was easily identifiable by the patches on his green bomber jacket. he was pressed against the front desk, drumming his fingers along the marble of the desk.

as you made your way over to him, he smiled at your presence. “[y/n], glad you’re here. i asked some of the employees for their suggestions of the best local delicacies,” he exclaimed, reaching into his jean pocket and pulling out multiple colourful flyers. “there’s a couple.”

you chuckled at the boy’s eagerness. “let’s go and see what we like. don’t forget about street food,” you replied as the two of you left the hotel lobby. the air was warm and exciting outside, buzzing with adventure.  “lead the way,” you said, giving a bow for comedic effect.

but rather than looking for food, the two of you got distracted by the bustling street lights. the pair of you cheered on talented street performers, took pictures of some of the pretty scenery amongst the crowds - including him taking what felt like hundreds of you -, and tried your hands at a few claw machines in store lobbies (you were able to win seungmin an eevee).

you wandered all over the city, but felt no fear with seungmin by your side, guiding you into another bright moment. all evening it felt like the two of you against the world, full of hand-holding (“to navigate through the crowds” he explained in low-populated areas) and laughter. eventually, it was getting darker by the time you told seungmin you were hungry.

he hung his head in embarrassment, “sorry, [y/n]. that’s what we were supposed to be doing all along,” you patted his arm in consolation. “hey, there’s still time before we have to head back.”  

as seungmin shifted through his flyers, you smelt something amazing nearby. as you glanced around to locate the smell, you noticed a street full of food vendors across the road. without hesitation, you grabbed seungmin’s hand and pulled him towards the vendors. your nose led you to a stand where a woman was stirring noodles mixed with various vegetables.

as you fumbled to pull out your phone and open the translator app, seungmin lightly took your arm and pulled you behind his body. then, to your complete shock, he started talking in japanese. you were lost in translation, only picking up a few basic phrases, but seungmin was chirpy and spoke with a smile.

“it’s yakisoba, does that sound okay?” he asked, whipping around to receive your approval. you suddenly felt flustered by the simple question. seungmin was gazing at you with wide, patient eyes, and you - wait a minute, he just asked you a question. you gave him a shy nod. If he replied with a grin and turned around to confirm your order, leaving you frozen in confusion.

“since when could you speak fluent japanese?” you interrogated seungmin on your walk home. you two were pushing the brink of curfew as you rounded the corner of a building; it was dark and the roads weren’t at all familiar, so you held onto the sleeve of seungmin's jacket and hoped he knew where he was going.

“since i was like, 10. and it’s only conversational,” he corrected you, prompting you to pout at his response. “well, are you secretly adept in any other languages, besides japanese and korean?” seungmin hummed aloud in thought before chuckling. “i don’t think so.”

“i just wish you told me sooner, it could’ve saved me a very awkward conversation.”

“why, what happened?”

“i was trying to ask for some candy, but they thought i was asking for rain. one of the ladies said in english that they can’t control the weather.”

                                                       ✾✾✾

you and seungmin made it back in time for the final headcount for the day. even though it was the curfew, no one made a rush to their original rooms. this - and the fact that your friend still wasn’t in your room - allowed you to invite seungmin in to eat dinner with you.

you tried your best to suppress a giggle as he dove onto your bed, happily sighing in between the soft pillows. “hey, if you won’t eat this, i will,” you teased, handing him a styrofoam container of yakisoba. from the first bite, you fell in love with the dish, ignoring all manners as you dug into the food. “this is easily the best thing i’ve ever eaten.”

“this is really good, but you’re also just picky.”

“i like to call it a sophisticated palate.”

“sure. like that time you ate like 1/4 of your meal one time at that new chicken place?”

“....chicken shouldn’t be mixed with fruit.”

seungmin burst out laughing at your weak rebuttal. your heart skipped a beat at his laughter, like brightness filling up your darkened room. slowly but surely, the mood had settled down; you were finishing your meals, it was growing late and the only prevalent sound was the laugh track from the lowered tv.

“i had a lot of fun today,” seungmin stated, breaking the silence and standing up to remove your garbage. “good - that eevee wasn’t easy to win,” you teased, your eyes following his dark figure as he crossed the room to the garbage. “yeah, yeah. but i meant with you. i always have a good time with you, [y/n].” seungmin admitted as he returned.

you smiled fondly at his words, not even attempting to mask your joy. seungmin enjoyed being with you; even if the weather was bad or they were caught in a strange conflict, you can’t recall ever finding regret in his eyes.

and he stood at the edge of the bed, staring at you with a complicated focus. “what?” you asked softly, as he leaned over the bed and pressed his hands gently into the mattress. “you have something on your mouth,” he mumbled.

before you could respond, seungmin swiftly crawled onto your bed and sweetly kissed your lips. it was soft but steady, like he knew what he was doing (well of course, he’s seungmin)...almost eagerly. you responded timidly, afraid like he would break away if you replied to his actions. but he didn’t. if anything, he got closer.

after a few moments, you pulled away to speak, but your heart was pounding so hard you couldn’t collect your thoughts. “are you -” seungmin began but your mouth was thinking further ahead than your brain. “i like you. i’ve liked you for so long now, and i’ve been waiting for that for so long, so i really hope you meant that.” you blurted.

seungmin chuckled at your rambling and sat back on his feet, taking your hand in his. they were warm. just like seungmin, always warm and comforting, allowing some of your panic to melt away.

“i like you too, a lot. so much, it’s crazy [y/n]. my heart was beating so hard today, i was afraid it might burst.” seungmin replied, beaming at you. his thumb was smoothing the back of your hand, the gesture making you feel giddy inside. “you’re too cute,” you murmured, focusing your gaze at your clasping hands. “not as cute as you. god, come here,” he exclaimed with a mischievous grin, leaning into kiss you again.

#and the two of you smooched until he fell asleep on your chest #ami writes #ami imagines #seungmin #seungmin imagine #stray kids #sk-writersnet

[caterinaprimrose]

Metamorphosis (Pt. 1)

(Wanna read pt2?)

Outside of a Legal Documentation shop in the heart of Boralus, Caterina Primrose stood in front of the towering frame of Cazneaux Reigns. He’d just opened his construction company not forty eight hours prior. Having come to congratulate her dear friend and even shed some of her own news, the young beauty spoke up at him with rivaling strength. 

 "Do you remember just this past weekend I took a trip to the mainland to judge a talent show? Well, I also sat down in a court room with his grace, Magistrate Theodore Bennas and Lady Falconeye. She has signed over the deeds to her barony.” The actress just drops into the air, no grand build up or suspense dangled in front of his nose. It was just out there, said, existing, waiting to be reacted to. Actress turned into a Baroness. A noblewoman. 

His bushy blond brows perk up, creating many rolls across his forehead. "Oh-ho shit! She just up and gave you her whole barony? Has she gone mad?" He pauses for a moment, squinting, "Have you gone mad? Controlling however much land  she has with all of those titles and new employees and citizens to watch over..." he shakes his head with a low chuckle.

 She watched him like a hawk, eyes flicking all over his face as he spoke. It was as foreign to her as it was to him. It was unbelievable, truly. Caterina Primrose had been born impoverished on the very streets they walk. She fought tooth and nail for everything she’d had. She sold herself, cheated, lied, manipulated, she ruined lives to be secure and spoiled - and suddenly this land, this title was given to her. Gifted.

This changes things. 

A lot. 

“Madness or no, it’s mine, the papers have been signed. She wishes to focus on her family and business, she has no time to look after her late husband’s land. I plan to hold an election of town officials. A  council of sorts to actively run the barony when I am not present. I've a lot of work to do on the area, however. It's called Southport, it is settled on the river split between Westfall and Stranglethorn. You know, right along the Gold Cape of the Eastern Kingdoms. The river leads directly into Stormwind Harbor. It's something I'll be able to industrialize quite well." She pauses, inhaling slowly through her nose, her chest rises. The air was cold as blue eyes wander lucidly off him and into the thoughts of responsibilities gained with that flick of her signature. "I'll have a big estate built into the mountains all to myself, for a time. That is until I proclaim a husband and children, whom will safely live in its halls and never know hunger nor want." 

 "Sounds like it. Do you have any plans or  thought into how you'd like it to look like? I don't mean to make it seem as if you -must- hire me, but that would -certainly- be an impressive creation to add onto my company's bare resume."

Caterina's smile grows at his inquiry, and how could it not? "Mister Reigns, as much as I would love to see you in present in my barony, even just shortly, it wouldn't be the financially wisest decision. Hudson would do it for free. I have to see the place, first, but I know that I want marble floors. I want a big window over looking my city. I want...Mm.." She hums softly. "I want a theatre. I want it somewhere in Southport City, I plan to enrich them with art and culture. It's already a wealthier barony. We've got cattle ranches and mining to the west and fertile farming grounds as well as logging to the east." She let her hands lift, gesturing one side to the other. And the large river in the center for trade. Then two small villages on  either side of the river - Seastone Bay, and Rich Port." 

“But you're -truly- trusting a -shipping- company, over experienced architects and Kul'tiran engineers and construction workers? You'll truly choose -free- labor over -paid-  labor? I'm certain it sounds -fantastic-! A -steal-. But, as the famous saying goes, you get what you pay for. And you are no fool. Surely you're expecting to get the quality as high as the price the -shipping- company is offering."

 “Come now, Mister Hudson wouldn't see the work done poorly. Especially if he wishes to take my hand." Her smile faded at the mention of that, eyes losing some light and brow twitching slightly. "Besides, Mister Hudson is an -investor-. It isn't the men -shipping- whom construct. He has professionals whom do the work for him. And isn't it just the same, Mister Reigns? You're an arms dealer hiring construction workers. I see little difference." 

Cazneaux squints some at her first comment with a short-lived chuckle. He eventually shakes his head at her final comment. "-That-, my love, is where you're mistaken. I've lived on this planet for thirty seven years. I've done things that would put me on the chopping block before I hit double digits. I've seen monsters that live in the Great Sea that would make the Titans shiver. I've done jobs you'd -laugh- if you saw me do. I've been an arms dealer for -one- year of my life. The other thirty six I've been many things. So no, I'm not an 'arms dealer hiring construction workers', I'm an experienced opportunistic man who turns small jobs into big jobs, and started out eating scum off the side of the street to eating gourmet meals every night. I sell weapons that level camps to villages, and I now have the ability to erect creations that would -laugh- in the face of such destructive tools. You see, when I put my money into a business, I put my -all- into that business. Arms dealing, I sell to the Alliance and neutral forces. I sell to third parties. I sell to various agencies and companies down to nobility and commoners. This has my -name- on it, and I intend to make sure my name holds weight. -This- is a shipping company hiring some people to create buildings. Meanwhile -I- am putting my name and professionals to work. Ultimately, it -is- your barony, and I will respect your choices with no tainted blood. But I hope you see my point.”

 The actress inhales softly, chest rising. "Cazneaux, you know I respect and admire all that you do but I'm a high maintenance woman. I spare no expense, I spend much more than I have. And do you know where I get most of that coin from?" She perks a brow, "And how do you think that I'm suppose to convince him to spend thousands of gold for your company's services when he has the resources to get these things at a much lower rate through his own architectural means? It simply doesn't make sense. -I- surely don't have that kind of coin. That's King's money."

The man shakes his head some as she finishes speaking. "We haven't spoken officially on -any- of my pricing. But as I said. Your choice. May his little team grant you all of your wishes, even if he -is- intending on taking it for himself in the end."

 She purses her lips, plucking the insult he threw and tasting it bitter upon her tongue. "Well they are -my- lands and I plan for him to know that. He will not sway me into handing it over to him. And I want that thought -rectified- in everyone's minds. They'll know that they're mine legally and his by association." She seemed to be winding up, tight. Her body language had shifted, a tone of bubbling anger turning her red.

Cazneaux's head lifts some as she speaks. His perceptive gaze catching the non-verbal communication her body was telling him, whether or not she wished to convey it. "And his by association, do you mean you've some sort of contract that states whatever is yours, he'll have some sort of influence over?" "No - we're signing a prenuptial agreement." She brings her fingers up to either side of her head, fingers pushing back at blond strands. "What's his is his and what's mine is mine and while, yes, he'd technically be a Baron - by law, they’re -my-  lands. If he and I divorced he'd get no part of it what so ever. I have final say."

"So, if you gain nothing, why marry him?" He chuckles lightly, putting his hands up to mock surrender, "Not tryin' to shit on the man. I don't know him personally. But he never striked me as the down to earth, romantic type."

She just looks at him for a long moment, her tongue slipping over her teeth slow. "Because I enjoy this life far too much." 

 "And so that's it? You're going to allow him to dominate your life, plant his seed within you, and you birth his child out of fear? Didn't you -just- mention being able to keep your property if you divorced him? Now you're speaking as if that's not even an option. So, what is it, Caterina Primrose? Are you afraid of Braxton Hudson, or are you -not-? Are you going to continue to compare yourself to him, or are you going to focus on yourself and bolster your -own- wealth through your hard work  and absolutely -brilliant- people skills and word-smithing? The charm and charisma you have is capable of winning people over that that man would -never- be able to. You are powerful. Incredibly so. Yet you speak as if you're but a mere -ant- in  comparison to him, and I think that's bullshit. Simply because he has businesses under his employ, does not mean that he is more powerful than you. If having the ability to make someone disappear or be killed is what makes someone powerful, then  there are -far- more powerful men in this city than he. If it is coin, then there are -far- more powerful men and women in this city than he. If it is reputation, then you are still -incredibly- powerful in comparison to him." The man shakes his head some with a light chuckle, "I suppose the stereotype of artists being their harshest critics is true."

pt 2

@mister-reigns

@braxtonhudson

@moriayamina

#to be continued #pt 2 coming #Wyrmrest Accord #roleplays #alliance #Caterina Primrose #cazneaux reigns #mister-reigns #kul tiras #hudson shipping company

[berightback-baibin]

Be Right Back/Bai Bin | EPISODE 2 | Yegada / The Arrival

Be Right Back/Bai Bin A podcast on the culture of being from, and going back and forth to the Caribbean. Written and Narrated by Eva Croes and Gyonne Goedhoop.

Transcribed by Rivianca Sanchez

INTRO

Hi! Welcome to Bai Bin/ Be Right Back Podcast! I’m Gyonne… And I’m Eva

G & E: and we know each other from way back when we were in our early threes, up to the thirteens and now in our almost thirties.

G: We both have been living in the Netherlands for almost ten years and we both have been missing the conversation of what it means to be Caribbean in the Netherlands. We too deserve representation within the community we live in and we have a responsibility to also give space for those who have this need to feel represented. These conversations are a good start at that, but certainly not the last step. For us, it’s the Bai Bin culture that struck a chord. As Caribbean migrants we have a strong legacy of coming and going, making a home everywhere. Seeking familiarity within the community we constantly place ourselves in. But still, we find ourselves coming back to our roots, to our 

home, and realize that coming from the Caribbean is a meaning that is an ongoing process. We tried to find the closest translation to Bai Bin and we agreed that Be Right Back was the best choice. In this podcast we go on a journey with different guests to find out what this means for them while also looking at the different experiences within migrating back and forth from this area.

E: It’s a podcast on the culture of being from, and going back and forth to the Caribbean. Both Gyonne and I are from Aruba, both our experiences are with coming and going, Back and Forth and it has given us the privilege to not only have a home in Aruba but also being able to build a home in The Netherlands. However our experiences with the whole situation is very complex and so we find it important and essential to learn from our other Caribbean islands what their experience was.

>>WIRI SOUND<<

G: So hi everyone! Thank you for listening to the second episode already of Be Right Back/ Bai Bin podcast. Like we already mentioned in the intro, I am Gyonne.

E: And I am Eva.

G: Today we are talking with our guests Ernestine Comvalius & Lysanne Charles on our second episode: The Arrival/ E Yegada.

E: Within this episode we focus on the mental, emotional and physical changes that internally already started to take place the moment that the decision was made concerning the next step in our future. Following that, during this episode we will also be covering our first experiences in our first year or two here in the Netherlands. What were the first shocks that we encountered? How did we navigate through the Dutch community while knowing that we actually formed part of the community that is less embraced? Where did we eventually feel welcome but merely tolerated? And how did our guests experience this when they first arrived in the Netherlands?  We came to the Netherlands with an aim, to study or to work or any other factor. Progressing a year or two into this journey, how did this unfold? What were the easy or difficult things we experienced?

G: I’ll start a little bit on that, there are so many things to be mentioned, but we only have about an hour for this conversation. So I guess you could see it as a starter. For me, it was fairly intense. I moved from home when I had a fairly uncertain and difficult situation I was leaving behind. There were a lot of guilty feelings accompanied with the moving away from the place I called home to pursue a sort of life goal. To study, to do something that I loved, but that meant leaving behind people that I loved as well. Like we mentioned in the first episode, it was a whole ‘grooming’ process for us as students to go to the Netherlands from Aruba, nonetheless it was still a move to the Netherlands to pursue a goal. I remember finding it pretty intense to immediately jump into the world of academia at the Erasmus University, where I studied history.  During my studies I only had one non-white teacher all of the 4 years I studied there, Zihni Özdil, I think many people know him from the news or NRC. Majority of the students in my classes, we are talking about hundreds of students, were also 90% white. The culture shock and gap of what I knew from back home and from only a month before, because I arrived in August 2011 and I went to school in the fall September 2011, was huge. Not even speaking on the fact that I had to physically get used to the new country and I remembered also getting very sick because of that as a person from the Caribbean that had a very fast and big vitamin D deficiency. Something a lot of people from the Caribbean don’t know about but suffer from. So there was a big culture gap, a big gap in feeling of home and it made it very hard to keep up with my studies, but I pulled through and one or two of my professors went a little bit easier on me with deadlines, that was a game changer for me. E: I think it comes to say that there is a certain way that things are painted for us when we are back home and how the reality of it actually comes as a big white canvas, if you wanna call it that. You feel so unrelated to everything that at the moment is being presented to you. Internally you do feel nervous, anxious, scared and quite unprepared. Leaving the place you grew up, leaving family (my mother specifically) but knowing at the same time that I was going to pursue what I have wanted for a long time… the feelings are so intertwined at that moment that it gives a very specific stomach ache but also adrenaline at the same time. You are in a new place, new soil so there is a lot to see and explore, you do keep that in the back of your head. It’s a new place, I can find my way and eventually I can call it - between brackets - “mine”. So there is a lot playing of course at the same time when you move, in this case from Aruba to the Netherlands. When you start school, in my case when I started the dance academy, 90% of the people there were white, caucasian or European and I had a lot of teachers. If I can say I had around 20 teachers in my four years and I would say 2 of them were non-white, one African and one Surinamese. And even arriving there you would think that the community of ABC dancers there would be more open and welcoming, but even some of them would sometimes be very distinctive and that was a pity because you would think you can find some kind of an ally but in that moment it’s kind of you and yourself, to be honest. My way of getting around school was mainly speak English and write my papers and essays in English and my teachers accepted it totally okay, but when you graduate you get this presentation of how you did your trajectory at school and I was mocked for speaking English the whole time so that kind of says enough… Come winter time and the seasonal depression hits, but you can’t seem to understand why and connecting that to what Gyonne said about the whole vitamin D deficiency that you have and it really influences everything that happens around you at that very moment. Of course you are very much seen as the problem student sometimes and that is of course not your intention, but you do find your people eventually and luckily that kept me going for sure.

>>PLANE SOUND<<

VOICE OVER: Eva

I would like to give my insight on how the academic dance life looks like when you’ve never had any professional classes prior and what gap this creates between recreational and professionalism in dance. While there are many educators doing important work on keeping the art of dance alive, when I went to study abroad there were not enough opportunities for aspiring artists to develop further back on Aruba as established professional artists. In other words, when you finish your recreational dance education, you do not grow further on this level in Aruba unless you move abroad. Those who wanted to receive professional academic education usually moved to the Netherlands or to the USA to professionalize at the dance academies or dance companies of their chosen career path. In my case, I studied in the Netherlands and so did many of my dance educators at the time. When I moved to the Netherlands in 2013, at the time there was no professional dance institute in Aruba and there still isn’t to this day for economic and social reasons just to name a few. There forms a gap between recreational and professional dance and the result of this is very visible when you start studying. In my point of view, ideally a pre-professional guidance is necessary, because the difficulty and the level that is required to be accepted and to hold your place within the academic dance world is beyond. And this is beside the fact that you have also moved abroad, you are experiencing cultural shocks, your body is getting used to weather that is not meant for your body to be in in the first place, communicating and finding your place as a Caribbean dancer and as a Caribbean immigrant living in the Netherlands. The Caribbean dance community amongst the Dutch dance academies was and is still very small and sometimes very exclusive, to say the least. We must also remember that the factor of competition within the dance world in general has always been and still is very much present when we speak of group formations and favoritism. Professionals do not always reach out to help newcomers who are very new to the academic and eventually also the professional dance world. There are also many who do follow the European aesthetics of dance and it influences the formation of your dance language very much. I experienced a huge disconnection and unfortunately this also has an effect on the representation factor for Caribbean dancers, but also black dancers in general and eventually this also affects the factor of having the accessibility to have a better dance education if you come from the Caribbean, and then in my case specifically the ABC islands.

G: So many things I want to react on what you just said Eva, but I think a lot has to do with what we said in the first episode, that we move into these new kind of systems or these new ways of how value is created in society or what is deemed valuable, like speaking the Dutch language, even though we had that on the island but now it’s not very different level. What you said about actually talking English, I’m recalling now that I wasn’t even allowed to talk English or write my papers in English. Looking back now, that's pretty weird seeing as the Erasmus University really puts itself out there as a very international university, so that’s something I’m thinking about now that you said this. I was always very anxious to write in Dutch, I feel Aruban but I was raised Surinamese in that sense and my parents talked Dutch at home and they always hammered on speaking Dutch very well and they would always correct me as a way to prepare me for the future knowing that I would go to the Netherlands. It always felt to me like I was suppressing the five different languages that wanted to come out that I could speak as well, because that is reality for Caribbean people in general, that is reality for a lot of people, not only Caribbean people who speak different languages and are multicultural. Language is a way we express ourselves. So yeah, thanks for that thought prompt. Did you wanna react, Eva? [pause] So moving on a little bit more with our guests, we will be talking a bit about these notions, but also specific questions that you will hear further down the road in this podcast. Also kind of like a disclaimer or at least a thought of consciousness is that we want to mention that these conversations are coming from a critical point of view and that we are also very aware that these conversations -like all of the podcast episodes- are also being executed within institutional contexts, so our partners and stuff. And we are very aware of the role institutions can play in forming narratives that we, as much as possible, as hosts and with our guests we like to break open those walls and talk about what is important to us. So it’s not a definite conversation, but an open conversation where we share our thoughts and experiences, where we find similarities and differences to also learn from that.

>>PLANE SOUND<<

VOICE OVER: Eva

One of the first shocks I received arriving in the Netherlands is how developed the Dutch language is and how relatively narrow my Dutch vocabulary was back in 2013. My way of survival was to speak what I could in Dutch and what I couldn’t comprehend in Dutch, I spoke in English. But I realized it wasn’t because I didn’t know what to say, it was because I spoke 4 languages; English, Spanish, Papiamento & Dutch, and my brain and my tongue weren’t always on the same page. So, I code-switched… a lot and I proudly still do to this day. English was my go-to language when I truly wanted to express myself in the correct manner and because of the American culture you grow up with on Aruba through television and reading a lot of English books for example, my English vocabulary was richer than my Dutch even though I understood everything I read for my studies which was 98% written in academic Dutch. What I didn’t understand, I would look up, because I knew that my school’s core was built on being transcultural. One of the first requests I had made when I started studying was if I could write my essays and my papers in English. Luckily, my request was approved and one of the requirements was that all of my work had to be then written in proper and academic English as well. This was no problem for me and I had always received good grades and I would even sometimes write certain assignments in Dutch, because eventually I was also questioned why I didn’t speak Dutch. When I tried, I couldn’t always find my way out and would sometimes be laughed at. But I scored pretty good grades in Dutch as well. In Gyonne’s case for example, the pressure to speak and write in academic Dutch weighed heavily. A school that markets itself for being international, there were high standards set for speaking Dutch and thus there was no room for speaking English and even less for writing English. These standards were more or less already set before moving to the Netherlands as Gyonne explains in the first episode where she talks about grooming. This is one of the many educational situations Caribbean students face when coming to study here in the Netherlands.

Today I can say my Dutch is much better than 8 years ago and I recognize code-switching as something rich and powerful and when I find myself doing it, I do not apologize to the one who I am talking to anymore. I code-switched my way through college…. And succeeded.

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E: Even though we have some struggles in the different consciousness we need to embody and eventually develop being in different spaces, countries and cultures. These proximities tend to teach us to be resilient as well, maybe a little bit too much than is healthy for us, but either way we also enjoy the certain privileges that we can find in equality. So with this we would like to start with that first question, Lysanne and Ernestine, and I give the word to Gyonne.

G: Before one of you answers, please introduce yourself: who are you? What are you doing? Whatever else you would like to share with us, obviously.

Lysanne: Sure! Good day! Thanks for having me, my name is Lysanne Shaw. Born and raised in Saba. Also studying on Curacao, lived on Sint Maarten a large chunk of my life, studied in the United States (North Carolina) and went back to Sint Maarten and Saba to work a bit and then moved to the Netherlands to do a Masters degree, came back, been in the region doing all sorts of stuff. Activism around LGBT rights, women’s rights, Black emancipation, youth empowerment, also working, I worked at the Department of Sport, Social Development and Constitutional Affairs. Last year, I actually left my job of three years where I was the director of a small NGO in Saba that helps people find jobs who have a distance in the labour market. And I went on an art sabbatical, which was supposed to sort of rejuvenate me and for the most part it has, but COVID also got in the way of that a little bit, but also two things came out of that. Just recently I campaigned for BIJ1 from the Caribbean and that was an experience in and of itself, I’m super proud to be part of that party and platform. In addition to that, I do what I really really love, which is writing. I write children’s books, I write poetry, I have a book of poetry out and I just finished editing my grandmother’s second memoir, so I’m very very happy with that. It’s gonna be published very soon. That’s me in a nutshell, super busy and aunt to a very precocious niece - I have to say that - Tiana.

G: Thank you! Great! Thank you for sharing, we’ll be getting more into your thoughts obviously when we go to the questions. Ernestine - maybe you want to introduce yourself as well, talk a bit about what you do, who you are and then go to the questions.

Ernestine: I’m Ernestine Comvalius, I'll keep it short. Where shall I begin? Uhm… I’m born in Surinam and when I was a child I came to the Netherlands. I lived here for like five years and went to grammar school, elementary school, but then I also went to New York, that’s where I finished senior high and in ‘72 I came back to the Netherlands. I studied social sciences but also performing arts. I have worked for I think 22 years in the arts sector, I will tell you more about that later. I also write poetry, so it was nice to hear that you also write poetry. Yes, very important. I publish essays and actually I'm retired, I almost forgot to tell you that, but that is also very important. Since January last year, I've retired, but I’m busy so I don’t know what retiring means. I have been an activist, especially in the 70s, came back and I’ll tell you more about it later. It was an important time for Surinam, became independent and thousands of people came here. I guess you know the story, but that was very important for me and many others - to fight racism, etcetera. So, that’s my story.

G: Thank you, Ernestine! Thank you, Lysanne! I wanted to add a little bit before we go on to the questions. To me, Ernestine, even before I met you, I think, like last year, we talked for the first time at Bijlmer Park. I always had this image of you as like the auntie, [Ernestine laughs] like you remind me of my aunts back home, that was really nice to have that feeling of home and to kind of pinpoint to that bit. Thank you for your work in many many ways. So, the first question and we will begin with Lysanne for the answering first and then we go on to Ernestine. So I’m gonna read the question now.

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G: Despite our colonial past, what are the privileges that we can and do receive once one decides to move to the Netherlands? You can think of things like the paspoort privileges, language privilege as well cultures maybe, things in our culture that we already know. How is that in Saba, Lysanne? What are the privileges you see that you have being Saban in the Netherlands or being able to go back and forth in that?

L: Yeah, well I would definitely say that it would start with the fact that you can get funding and that you pay less to go to school, so that’s also one of the reasons why in fact I had completed my undergrad in the US and it was quite costly, even though I chose to go to a more affordable university. Making that decision to go to the Netherlands was strictly financial, like I could pay less and also owe less, I think that's one of the privileges. Then of course the paspoort is also a privilege, you have the ability to go without getting a visa and all of these kinds of things. In my case, I thought it was super interesting because I went to the international school and literally they were giving me a hard time. They were like “No, you are an international student.” and I was like “How am I an international student when I have a Dutch passport?” so we had to have all of these conversations around that, but indeed in the end because of the Dutch passport I could have the privilege of less finances. But in the end that also worked against me in terms of funding, because what I got from DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs) was a lot less than a lot of my colleagues got, also in terms of grants and scholarships, I was like “What!?” When one of my colleagues told me how much money he was getting, I was like “Wow! This is crazy, you know”. I would say that’s the main privilege that I can see and also I think I had some idea of what the Netherlands was like, because I had heard about it my whole life and knew that eventually I would go there for school. It was a wish of my family so I think I was a little prepared in that sense. Also I had a lot of cousins there, aunts, uncles, so I had a network to go to, but in the end it was still quite shocking once I touched ground in Schiphol and got to The Hague and had to navigate this space. I think I was still prepared but unprepared...

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VOICE OVER: Gyonne

The relationship Caribbean people have with the language of the historical colonizer is a very complex one. This is the language (like Dutch, Spanish, English, French) that was institutionalized as the only way of creating value in day to day life, including access in day to day life. Historically seen for example, lighter skinned people (often called Mulatto’s) could make their way up to a middle class, not by only the color of their skin, but by speaking the language of the former colonizer very well, “better integrated” so to speak. Through education for example letting people in (former) colonies learn about the colonizer’s land: names of rivers, companies, names of kings and queens, even European seasons that were never a part of the Caribbean landscape. This is active erasure of the indigenous, creole or hybrid cultures of the land itself. This could also be seen in the beginning and middle of the twentieth century when for example in Aruba with the Lago and Shell in Curacao through industrialization and so-called modernization, the same old colonial behaviours were seen. This time people who had family legacies of being enslaved got paid for their work and got housing, but the exploitation was still a very big factor.

L: [fade in] ...that I was Dutch but not Dutch. I think I’ll leave it there, because I can’t really think of other privileges that I had coming from Saba, because in terms of language, it was completely different. In terms of culture it was completely different.

G: Yes, thank you. I hear you when you say that you were prepared but unprepared. We kind of touched upon that in the first episode, which you can hear on Spotify, by the way and Apple Podcast [laughs] Thank you Lysanne. Ernestine, maybe you want to get into this...

Er:  Maybe I should talk about two episodes, because I came as a child, so from the perspective of a child, and I came as a student. Let’s begin with my privileges as a child. I think that the fact that I was born in the family I was born in was a privilege, because I lived with my grandparents and my grandfather. Though his mother was born right after slavery was abolished and she had to work on the market, he was able to learn and to achieve a certain position in education in Surinam. He became what you now would call a director of the school, so when I was young there was no poverty. I had the education in which I went to a school, Dutch school, the vrije school, so I learned Dutch. I read many books about the Netherlands, I knew more about the Netherlands then, than I knew about my own country. I knew everything about the snow, but I didn’t know what it was like until I came here.That’s the story from my youth. I must say that I was also anxious, I was happy to come to the Netherlands, because my mother lived here and I wanted to see my mother. I didn't mind leaving the country in the beginning.

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Er: [chuckles] And they prepared me, it was a very strange thing, but I had to say goodbye to everybody in the neighbourhood, because you know everyone was your aunt or uncle, etcetera. And they would make food for me and tell me “This is Dutch food”. They would make potatoes and all kinds of stuff. They were preparing me to go to this, you know,  “promise land”. So, well that’s my privilege.

VOICE OVER: Gyonne

El Dorado’. Many of us have heard about this so-called 'Finding El Dorado', though many of us do not know what it means or the different types of ways it’s used. 'Finding El Dorado' is a common expression when we read texts rooted in different colonial times. The dominant narrative about what this is or what it was at the beginning is that the Spanish conquistadores or colonizers used “El Dorado” or “finding El Dorado” to describe this legend of a mythical tribal chief of an indigenous people of Colombia who would bathe in a golden river. But El Dorado is not just this myth but it’s also seen in used metaphorical systematic sense that is obviously colonially rooted. Like Ernestine uses it in the podcast, people often describe it as finding this better place or going to a better place, which is very obvious in a colonial context where colonizers went to other countries, pillaged and took what wasn’t theirs to make things better for themselves. It’s also referred to as this imaginary promised land or a place where all the answers or a better life lies.

Er: The second part is that after high school I decided to come and study in the Netherlands. I could stay in New York, but I chose the Netherlands. Well, you could say it’s a privilege that my family already lived here so I could come, there was no problem for me to come here and to get a student loan, things like that. I also worked here, it was easy to get a job. Those are the positive privileges.

G: Thank you, Ernestine. I had one question: at the time that you got to the Netherlands, how was that in Surinam? Did you have a Dutch passport? Was that easy to do?

Er: Yes! We all had Dutch passports actually, yes.

G: Okay...

Er: So it’s only after 1975 that you had to make a choice and within five years you were either Dutch or Surinamese, and you had to be here (The Netherlands) to become a Dutch citizen. That’s when the problems started, because the big families, part of them lived here and part of them there, and they couldn’t reunite. Those are the things that made me an activist.

G: Thank you for that context, because it makes me realize how much things like passports can on the one hand be a privilege, obviously, but on the other hand be a barrier and it creates these streams of migration, forcefully, in this sense specifically. So that is something to touch upon more in the voice overs later when we edit the podcast, because that is very important and something that makes me think of my own Surinamese family where part of them has a Dutch passport, like my dad, and a part of them that lives in Surinam up until this day don’t have that and they have to get a visa to go anywhere. So we can’t go on joint vacations, which is a privilege to have, but we can’t have joint vacations all the time, because they need a way longer time to get visas. So thank you and I think we can go to the second question. Eva, you were gonna do that one.

E: Yes. I also just wanna quickly touch upon what has been said. When I heard Lysanne’s story about how she came about to the Netherlands and the reasons behind it, it sounded so much like our story, Gyonne. There were so many points that I could relate to, where I thought “woah”. Definitely that feeling of “you’re not alone in this” and it’s funny that even though it’s an island, that’s not our sister-sister island, you know, that’s up there, the system is not too different. So it’s very interesting to hear about that and the same goes for Ernestine. In a way, when you said you had to leave the country, but you didn’t have to leave your family, indeed that does play a factor with us as well, because we leave the country and the family all at the same time and ti does make a difference when you are in a new place where you want to eventually live and you have your family close by. So, thank you both for the beautiful contexts. Which brings me to the second question. When we talk about the privileges that we can and do receive, what is the other side of that? What is the other side of privilege at that moment? You can think of, for example, internal and external negotiations with your identity, eventually you are encountered with finding your place within the community here in the Netherlands or having a double consciousness that you have to constantly think like “Oh, this is very much something that I have bringing in from where I’m coming from or know this is something I’m developing, of course. Then you have to constantly place yourself in a world where there is no real representation of where you come from, so what is the other side of privilege? Lysanne, would like to start with you, if we may.

L: I think one of the things about coming to the Netherlands that was very obvious for me was the language, but also the expectation that came around language. So the minute anyone knew I had a Dutch passport or was Dutch, they’d be like “you should be speaking Dutch”, like, almost as if they had no idea that there are actual entities within the kingdom that looked different, that are just completely different. I was also an older person when I went to the Netherlands, I was 27, so I think that chafed at me a lot and I know also from others that I heard from, people from Sint Maarten and Saba, it also bothers them but for me it really really chafed at me because I felt there was no awareness on the part of people in the Netherlands sometimes. Like, listen, there are other people that have a Dutch passport whose existence, language, and culture are also completely valid. One of the first things that was tough for me and trying to navigate that within an international structure at the UvA but that was actually still quite Dutch. So even when I would go to an international school to talk about certain things, they would expect me to speak in Dutch and I would be like “No, well, I’m gonna speak in English”, “But you have a Dutch passport!” and you know all of these conversations. So that was one and I will say one of the things when I went to the Netherlands, I felt free because on the one hand as an LGBT person...

VOICE OVER: Gyonne

The power of language reclamation can be used as a way to push back against daily forms of oppression. There are many forms of oppression still apparent up until this day. Marginalization of people occurs in different ways. After the official historical colonization period, a wave of neocolonialism started around the beginning of the twentieth century and many former colonizing countries like the Netherlands, the UK, the French, but also the USA kept using the former colonies for exploitative reasons, still using their land, labour and natural resources for their own gain. Within the research of Egbert Martina and Miguel Peres dos Santos called Geographies of Freedom, which is part of a bigger project, they present a visual documentary on the geographical, architectural, and judicial ideas on what this so-called freedom actually means and how they pertain to physical spaces. Freedom for the people who fit into the norm obviously doesn’t mean freedom for everyone.

[SEGMENT OF THE MOVIE ‘GEOGRAPHIES OF FREEDOM’]

Deze mensen wonen niet meer in de oude slaven hutten, er worden steeds meer geregelijke woningen voor hen gebouwd, die doelmatig en gezellig zijn ingericht. De huisvrouwen hebben geleerd smakelijke en voedzame maaltijden te bereiden en de moderne keukeninrichting voor aangenaam te werk. Na de maaltijd gaan de kinderen terug naar school, een van de vele moderne onderwijsinstellingen die in de stad en op het land zijn geopend. Ambachts vollende en nijverheidsonderwijs volgen de technici waarnaar grote vraag is in deze kort voor de  industrie ontstonde gebieden. Ontspeurd de jeugd wordt hier zoals elders door werk en heropvoeding teruggebracht tot de geordende maatschappij.

VOICE OVER: Eva

In this episode you will hear our guest Lysanne Charles speak of the word ‘allochtoon’ and we would like to explain what this word means and how it is used within the Dutch community.

The word ‘allochtoon’ is a Dutch word with its literal meaning “emerging from another soil” – meaning ‘you were not born on Dutch soil’ – meaning ‘you do not belong here’. The word ‘allochtoon’ is the opposite of ‘autochtoon’ which literally means “emerging from this soil” – meaning ‘you were born on Dutch soil’ – meaning ‘you are accepted and respected amongst the Dutch community’. In the Netherlands, the term ‘allochtoon’ is widely used to refer to immigrants and their descendants. It is a racist term that was introduced amongst politicians in 1970’s and was used for people who segregated in another culture, a person who does not speak proper Dutch, a person who came to the Netherlands as a guest worker or a descendant of a guest worker, people with non-white skin color and a person of no Dutch ethnicity. The word is meant to create separation between people, between communities and to directly say who is really Dutch and who is in theory and in practice accepted amongst the Dutch. Even us, being from Aruba with a Dutch nationality and having a Dutch passport, we are still referred to as ‘allochtonen’ to this very day. Our guest Lysanne Charles goes more into her own experience with this term.

L: I had space to kinda get to know myself in a way that I didn’t necessarily at home, but then on the other side I did not feel seen as a Black person or maybe seen in a way that was not right. I remember one of the things that was shocking to me when I got here was that they were still using this word ‘allochtoon’. The first time somebody used that word to me and I was like “what is this about?”. When I actually did the research and whatnot, for me I was mind blown that this is the way that a country that I belong to could view people on the other side of the sea. But I was also very rebellious, because I went to this store - I lived in Amsterdam almost in the centre - I went to an anarchy store right up the road from me where they had all these shirts saying ‘allochtoon’ and whatnot. And I remember I bought one and I wore it everywhere and people would get annoyed with me, but I was like “No, because I felt like since it’s gonna be this way, then let’s just be unrepentantly this way”. So those kinds of things to me were like the downside or the flipside of the privilege, so “Yes, you could go there, but just because you could go there, doesn’t mean you are welcome there”.

VOICE OVER: Gyonne

Oppressed people and communities often reclaim actions or words that were once used to oppress them as a form of reclaiming agency. Like Lysanne said, using the word ‘allochtoon’ and putting that on a shirt was a form of this linguistic reclamation. This language reappropriation in this specific case is used to empower the person who takes that word back for themselves and obviously using language reappropriation carries a risk of misunderstanding and confusion. Particularly in the case of loaded terms or words still commonly used in the meaning manner, but it’s always important to realize: are you using words from a privileged position of power or not?

E: Very interesting. Interesting [chuckles] Especially when you bring up the point that you bought a shirt that says ‘allochtoon’ and how it seems to be very normalized within the language here and pinpointed so quickly. We’re gonna come back to this, but I would like to hear Ernestine’s answer to this question.

Er: Okay, I will talk first about the first time I came to the Netherlands. The time frame is important: it was 1964 and the Netherlands was quite different from what it is now. I lived in Rotterdam, you know what Rotterdam is like, at the time there were no Black children in school. I remember that in high school there was a Brown young man and I think he was Indonesian but that’s one of them, so it was difficult actually, because I had to answer so many stupid questions. So you know all these stories, but I experienced them: the touching of my hair, but also the teachers. I can remember this teacher was the head of the school and still he asked me “How come you speak in Dutch so well?”, so they didn’t know anything about our history and I had read everything about the Netherlands [laughs] It was strange for me that even as a girl of nine or ten years old, that they didn't know that much. I also remember the history teacher because I wanted to make a presentation about Suriname… [fade out]

VOICE OVER: Gyonne

Sranang or Sranantongo is the way that is deemed respectful to call the lingua franca of Suriname. In 17th century colonial times white settler colonists like the Dutch, Portuguese or German called it Taki Taki, which is a degrading manner to call a language. This language was pinpointed specific to the Black enslaved population, thus making it inferior on the hierarchy of languages, even though Surinamese Sranang or Sranangtongo is a creole language mixed with the dominant languages of the colonizers. And at that point it was also widely spoken by white and mixed people, mostly in the 'city' rural areas like in Paramaribo. It sounds the most like the Saramaccan language, which is one of the languages of the Maroon societies in the Guianas.

Er: [fade in] ...is Taki Taki that you are speaking. And another aspect which is also important, my mother was still married to a Dutch man, so I actually came partly from a Dutch family and I wasn’t happy with that, because all of a sudden I had different rules. All kinds of rules about what you can eat, what you can’t eat, what time you have to eat, what time you don’t eat [laughs] I wasn’t used to that, that’s not the way my grandmother raised me and if I was hungry I could eat anyway. If I wanted to eat warm food in the morning, it was possible but no, everything was structured. You ate bread, at eleven o’clock I think they drank coffee, at three o’clock there was tea… I hated that. So that’s why at a very early age I started to go to the library and I started to read about who I am and about my history. So at a young age I had read of course the book of Uncle Tom, also about the Underground Railroad. I had to, because nobody understood where I was from, they were either very frankly, which means they didn’t treat me as equal.. or oh yeah! I almost forgot. I had to fight. I had to fight with my fists to earn respect, but I was strong. I came from Suriname, sometimes I had to fight there too and I wasn’t afraid. I was a little bit big for my age, so I was strong. And actually I liked the boys more but because I was athletic, I liked to play with them. So I wasn’t.. Yeah… I’m trying to say that I hated the racist things that these children said, but I was able to fight with them because I was strong. That’s what I wanted to say and after a year I think I earned respect, because it wasn’t nice to have to fight all the time. But the ugly things they would say I didn’t accept any of it. I don’t know why I was like that but [laughs] you couldn’t even make a joke about my color or my hair or you would get beaten. So after a year I had enough friends so I could relax a little bit and start being just a child in the Netherlands.

E: And even then it’s funny, because Ernestine is telling it from a very different time period, still there are some things that up to today are still very much the same. The representation is not quite there yet. Some questions that you are gonna keep getting asked. You constantly have to defend yourself more, explain yourself more and constantly have to ask for even more respect. So I already find it so strange that even then still things were not as equal as you would expect it to be and still today we still have that inequality so strongly. Gyonne, if you want to add anything, please do.

G: Yeah, I… [huffs] I have so many things to touch upon, but we don’t have a lot of time left in that sense. I had to think about a few things in the fact that we’re actually talking about things like violence, anti-Blackness, the amount of racism that I felt, that I have a privilege now that I have paramounts of people - like with the BLM protests - that show up and talk about people who suffer under this system and that if I think about the stories of my aunts or like Ernestine in that specific time frame, is that you were left more alone to deal with that violence. And the violence is also not only outside or with White people, but I also had to think about the fact that often times, what was also touched upon, is when, specifically in Surinamese contexts - I can only speak from that - is when you have White Dutch family, the dynamic changes in the family because those hierarchical power structures are put into the family. Consciously and unconsciously, something that I have been struggling with as well, growing up and living in the Netherlands, is how to deal with someone I call family but I don’t have that family bond in the same way I have it with my Surinamese or Surinamese-Aruban family. I really had to think about that and the fact that it seeps into everything, like the way you have to constantly negotiate, “okay, who can I be in this space? Who can I be with this person in my family?”. With my uncle, with my aunt, my cousin, even my cousins in the Netherlands, they grew up here and they have a very different way of looking at the world. They have more privileged in a lot of senses, class-wise as well, so all of those different dynamics I really had to think about that when I was hearing both of you talk and that I would add like one of the privileges for me personally and our generation, if I can also say that for you Eva, especially hearing Ernestine talk, is that we still deal with violences but in a very different way than people from her generation had to deal with or people from my aunts generation and uncles and my dad and my mom from thoughts that were coming up.

>>WIND CHIME SOUND<<

G: We have like a third question, but we can maybe open up more freely and go into a bit more the political activist side or policy side, if you have examples of policies of back then or now, the question is what is truly the landscape - culturally, socially, economically -  of having these privileges of coming to the Netherlands but also needing to deal with these dynamics that we just talked about? The two sides of that coin: of having privileges but also that constant negotiation. Lysanne, you wanna start? You’re a politician, you see things, you’ve done many things. How do you see that in how you navigate and do those things in the past years that you’ve been active?

L: Well, one of the first things that I think I had to come to grips with was actually the negation of my experiences. Like, I felt like in the Netherlands in particular and sometimes speaking with European Dutch people that was often the case. I would say like “Listen, this is how I’m experiencing this thing” and sometimes not even for me, but just other people that I’d heard run into issues with the systems and structures and people would be like “No, the Netherlands has no racism! In the Netherlands there is no violence against people coming from the Antilles”. You know, so sometimes you were made to feel like these things were happening in your head and sometimes even within our own circles we would have internalized so much of what was being said, that we would then police each other's behaviour. Like, “why are y’all so loud” and all of these kinds of things, where actually they weren’t being loud, they were just being kids, kids on the train and those I felt like those were troubling to me and even within the last year on the camping trip. We often tried to speak about colonialism and hierarchies, just like you say, the hierarchies within the kingdom and how we don’t like to call a thing a thing, even on the island sometimes, and even as islanders we go like “No, there is no colonialism still, there is no neocolonialism, and this is just something were you guys are happy to play victim”. One of the things that I keep saying is that “No, I am not a victim of history, but I am an heir to it” and as long as we don’t name what I am an heir to, there is no way for us to address it as a collective. I can do as much as I wanna do as an individual, but if we don’t move as a collective, we are not gonna get very far. So that’s why indeed, like … you know, for me I think I remember seeing that picture on the Dam with the 8000-10000 people and like literally getting goosebumps, because I had remembered protests around Zwarte Piet before that where very few people would turn up. And I was like where are all these people, even when the ministers from Sint Maarten, Curaçao and Aruba went to the Netherlands and I made this hashtag like #unequalkingdom, tried to get people mobilized to go and support them. Very few people showed up, so when this protest happened at the Dam, I said “okay, it’s the changing of the guard and something is gonna shake the fabric of this society that we are moving in”. Yeah, I think for me those are my experiences around that and there is a lot more I can say about politics, but what the most important thing I can say right now is that I feel like the next generation, this generation and the next generations are gonna build on the work that was done from previous generations, who did what they could to actually move things further in a much different way.

G: Thank you! I wanted to ask maybe you have, like the first two years that you were in the Netherlands, Lysanne, do you have any recollections of a memory or something of one or two memories that you have of that transition of arriving here, maybe at school or were you already involved in politics?

L: I was already involved in politics actually from quite young. I was a teenager involved with the Democratic Party in Sint Maarten doing a lot of things around women’s rights quite early on and feminism, but one of the things that I will say is like a bittersweet memory for me was when I went to the Netherlands I felt very isolated because of the language. So as long as I wasn’t with my cousins or the international students, I didn’t really feel a connection with the European Dutch people, because oftentimes they wouldn’t speak English or if I was trying to speak Dutch they would act funny. I remember being in the tram from The Hague going to Centraal and I happened to sit next to this very very old Dutch lady and she started to speak to me in Dutch and I remember being reluctant, but then she started probing and then we started to talk. It actually is about a 20-30 minute ride from de Uithof to Centraal and we arrived at Centraal and I had had a whole conversation in Dutch with this lady and for me I think something shifted a little bit in my willingness to engage. Because I felt like all the time I was trying to engage even in situations where I felt like should have been helped and respected as an individual, sometimes at school, the housing office, at DUO, oftentimes I would get this pushback immediately whereas to me this lady was welcoming in a way that I hadn’t experienced that in the Netherlands. That’s why I go back to say that even though we have this privilege through passport and through this colonial connection of going there doesn’t mean that we are always welcome. And then I hear my mom’s story about how she was welcomed to the Netherlands and how the nuns treated them well and I felt that wasn’t the kind of welcome I received at all.

G: Thank you, Lysanne. Ernestine, would you like to answer this question for you?

>>PLANE SOUND<<

Er: Okay, I will start with how I was formed before I came to the Netherlands in ‘72. Well in those three years that I lived in New York, I went to the rallies and meetings from the Black Panthers in Columbia University and the Young Lords were there also. Of course, my family wouldn’t know that we would go there, but we went. [laughs] We organized the Black student union and I had an English subject, African-American literature, because ‘72 that was right after the Civil Rights Movement. So some high schools, especially this one in New Rochelle, Rochester county, was experimenting with the first time in history they had a Black director. Those things have influenced me and have shaped me. Then I came to the Netherlands to become a student. I became a part of a progressive movement of mostly Surinamese people but at that time we were always together also with the people from the islands. We all knew each other and together we would have our discussions, so in that sense… I also had family who was part of that movement, in that sense that was very important, it helped me and I didn’t become a lonely student. I started to support other students also who came to the Netherlands from Suriname. Of course it was the time of Marxism and Leninism, so we would study all this. During that time what happened was that thousands of Surinamese came to the Netherlands and then we noticed that the media was very negative about these people with a Dutch nationality. So we would see these headlines about “They are thieves”, “ They all have knives”, really! They had these demonstrations against these people and the government would have discussions about how they could stop this movement. We decided to become a political, not a parliamentary political, but a political organization, now you would say we became activists. We would organize demonstrations, anti-racism campaigns, what did we do? We all organized protests every time they would, for example, want to deport people from Suriname, there were actions. The people had to live in pensions, you know, very bad housing. We would go there to support them and to make sure they know their rights. So yeah, those were the first years. Those were very important years and I hope what we did was an inspiration for the activists right now. You wanted to say something, Lysanne.

L: Yes, I wanted to say something piggybacking off of something you said, actually, you know, the media got to be so negative. With my mom’s experience and my aunt’s they didn’t understand my experience being in the Netherlands, because for them it had actually been quite welcoming. They were in the countryside and were this small little group, so I think the people in the Netherlands still looked at them like a small exotic group, but as the numbers grew, the tone changed. So the Netherlands that I went to was not one that they could necessarily imagine living in or lived in, so for me that was sort of like a double whammy, because I’d be in the Netherlands sort of struggling to find my way and then coming back to talk to people about it and they didn’t understand either what I had been through and the pressure that I was under in the Netherlands. So that’s why I say that I also feel like the generation of Ernestine, they did so much and started many things, and I feel like our generation and the generations afterwards cannot forget that and feel like this is just something that is just happening now. It’s building on actually the energies of people who have really worked to make the Netherlands different.

Er: Thank you. What you said about this generation gap, I recognize that also because many members of my family studied in the Netherlands etc. but many went to America. They lived there and their ideas were that this is a socialist country. [laughs] So I recognize that.

G: Thank you both, we are almost at the time and we still have a little bit of the second segment. I told y’all that it would feel like we just got started but no worries about that. Hopefully this is the beginning of long conversations about this and so many things to touch upon. I’m very excited to see how we can incorporate this in the voiceovers, especially the ones that touch a little bit on what Ernestine said before about going to this promised land. And it made me think about my thesis that I was writing on travel writing by fairly young White males who went to Suriname because of state affairs and they would write long travel things about how it was in Suriname. And then hearing again about what Ernestine said and it was like an El Dorado for the Dutch back then and it still feels like this now, because we keep perpetuating that thought process, even Eva and I as students, and Lysanne maybe you as well. You get groomed as we said in the first episode to go to the promised land, so to speak. Ernestine said about the structure of when to eat and what to eat when, it’s actually mind boggling, because when she was talking about that I remember flashback about reading those travel logs and the guy was literally saying: at eight or seven we do this, at eleven we do this and then we take a nap, then at one we do this and it’s like almost the same! And I’m like that’s in 1801 or something and we’re still reliving those structures, just in a very different way and maybe the bodies that were once oppressed fully, and now have certain privileges, are still being oppressed, but kind of recreating those scenarios because of the system we live in. So it’s good to be very aware of what we do and why we do it and at the same time how we tire ourselves out oftentimes by doing good and being activists and standing up for ourselves and our community. Seeing, like with Ernestine, how in her generation, how the fight was not individual but in a day to day life it was very more individual than it maybe is right now in my generation and Eva’s generation, maybe even Lysanne’s.

>>WIND CHIME SOUND<<

VOICE OVER: Eva

Welcome to the second segment called “Treasures we keep”. Where we talk with our guests on the things they bring to the table related to home. Be it a picture, sound, song, poem, aka treasure.

E: Basically this segment where we ask our guests, in this case Ernestine and Lysanne, to bring an object of any shape or form, that is at all in any way related to where they come from or something folkloric, something historical, something that really is a special object to them. I’m very curious to know what the both of you have brought today. I don’t know if Ernestine wants to go first.

Er: Yes, I have been thinking because I have so many choices. I have a poem I have written in English, but then you said it’s about home. Well for me, I was young as a mother and then I didn’t have many family members near me so I had to teach my child myself certain things that I have learned when I was young. So the song, a Surinamese song, is also important that these children learn these songs. So actually my choice is for this very small Surinamese song that I also sing for my grandchildren. First a little about what they say, in English. It’s about “How can you think I’m not beautiful? Because two flowers created me: one of the flowers is called rosebud and that’s my mother, and the other flower, my father, is called firmness. So how can you say that I’m not beautiful?” Shall I sing it?

Er:     [singing in Sranan]

Fa yu kan tak mi no moi 3x

Na tu bromki meki mi

Rozenknop na mi mama

Stanfaste na mi papa

Fa yu kan tak mi no moi

Na tu bromki meki mi

That’s my contribution. [laughs]

E: Thank you very much, Ernestine. That was very touching... I think it’s good for the audience to know that everyone is tearing up behind their microphones right now. [chuckles] Thank you very much and it’s funny, because you actually take me back to a time I’m so not familiar with and I think that’s so special about a beautiful song like that. Gyonne, I’m looking at you and I think for you this was also very touching.

G: This is actually a song that my aunt used to sing to me at family gatherings when I was younger, so that really makes me emotional. Because I kind of underestimate, as conscious as I was as a child, but I underestimate the power of what listening to that right now, in the state that I am in, everything I’m going through right now in my life. How that brings me back to a certain comfort. So I want to thank you for sharing that and opening up that vulnerable space, so yes, thank you.

E: Of course, we are very curious to hear Lysanne and what she has brought today to the segment of “Treasure we keep”.

L: So I actually brought my grandmother’s second book. This is the author's copy, the first one. It has some mistakes that I have to go over, but actually in this book my grandmother gave me something that actually belonged to my grandfather. It’s a poem and I’m a poet, but I never knew that my grandfather wrote poetry, so I'm getting emotional because what I saw was, wow! Because actually my grandfather was one of the reasons why I went to the Netherlands. From the time I was a child, my grandfather would always say, “You’re going to be a doctor or nurse”, there was no choice. Him and my father, it was always instilled in me. And I knew my grandpa was serious, studious, didn't say very much, I never saw somebody creative per se in him, so when my grandma gave me this poem, I said, “No, I have to put it in this book” and it’s called “From the top of Saba”.

L:     From the top of Saba's mountain

To the surf of her sea

There is where my heart

Always wanted to be

Slipping and falling through the fog

Swimming and paddling with my log

There was pleasure to be found

All year round

But now I'm old and feel so cold

To climb afraid as not to fall

And to swim the waves are so tall

From the top of Saba's mountain

There is where I first saw a fountain

But as it passed south on the sea

My comrade shouted it's a whale to me (you see)

Osmar R. Simmons

E: It’s beautiful, because it sounds like it’s, I mean, of course it's a poem that was given to your grandmother by your grandfather, but it sounds like it's kind of an ode to, you know, the coming generations and the ones who have come and gone already. So beautiful and thank you for sharing. I’m actually looking at the time and I really wish that we could really go further into this conversation. It really has felt like you both have taken us to a time that for us we could never comprehend, of course, but this is just a glimpse and a glance of how you both experienced things here in the Netherlands and how continue to experience things even from a distance and how much it does influence us and who we are and who we are becoming. Everything that is actually set in the past for us and continues to be set for us today. As we also continue to have these conversations that are so necessary and I am very grateful we can have this conversation with the both of you, because I really do feel like I needed to be taken to a time to understand certain things better so that i can understand where I'm at as well within the community and within my own people and what my possible purpose could be. And I look over at my co-host Gyonne because we are doing this together, of course, this is the first of the many many collective conversations that we will be having upon, not only the move but the arrival here to the Netherlands as well.

G: Yeah, like Eva said and like I said at the beginning this conversation actually just got started, for everyone listening at home, you know, feel free to think about it and share your thoughts with us on instagram or anywhere else or email us. I think what one thing that this episode or this conversation already taught me is that it was a reminder of the legacies before us and that one we are not alone, even though we often feel alone, because of the different factors we spoke of even though we are privileged people in many ways, some more than others, we don't often feel connected to each other. And we know the things that are happening now, especially through social media or word of mouth, but this connectedness that I'm feeling right now, with all four of us, is something that I haven't felt in a long time and I’m very happy. It's a reminder again, that it's even possible digitally, because we are talking in a vulnerable way and in a truthful way and I think a thank you is in place for sharing today and I want to thank everyone listening in and everyone that is gonna tune in at a later time. Yeah, thank you for listening today and we would like to see you or have you with us for the next episode that we will record.

>> WIND CHIME SOUND<<

E: Thank you Mami, Wendy, Stephanie, Janelle, Varsha, Meghan, Gianny, Gyonne, Dyonna, Maaike, Tibisay, Shari, Ila, Lysanne and Ernestine. Danki, danki, danki.

G: I wanna thank Mama, Rivi, Steph, y’all always keep me going. I want to thank my co-host Eva for going on this ride with me. I also want to thank Miguel and Egbert Martina for sharing the Geographies of Freedom documentary that they made as an inspiration and an ongoing reminder that there is still a lot of work to be done. I want to thank everyone for listening. I want to thank all of the supporters and the new supporters alike. I want to thank the people back home, in different places that I call home. I want to thank my supporters here in the Netherlands as well, people who have believed in me silently and actively, thank you. Also a big thank you to our team: Caribbean Ties, Museon and Mondriaan Fund.

Er:     [singing in Sranan]

Fa yu kan tak mi no moi 3x

Na tu bromki meki mi

Rozenknop na mi mama

Stanfaste na mi papa

Fa yu kan tak mi no moi

Na tu bromki meki mi

G: Thank you for tuning in and we’ll be right back around with the next episode soon!

>>WIND CHIME AND WIRI SOUND<<

#aruba #Bonaire #Curacao #caribbean #podcast transcript transcription