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fdelopera · 6 months

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Exposing an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory from TikTok

If I see one more Jew-hating idiot with TikTok brainrot saying shit like, "the Palestinians are descended from the ancient Philistines from the Bible lolol"...

You Jew-haters are exhaustingly stupid. And in this post, I'm going to show you why.

As I said in my post yesterday, there are some really bad actors (both in the conspiracy sense, and in the literal "drama" sense) on TikTok who are trying to erase Jewish history by spreading conspiracy theories that somehow Philistines and Palestinians are "the same".

These idiots are doing this so they can claim that "Jesus was a Palestinian/Philistine."

It gives me a headache even to write something as stupid as that.

No, ya dumb-dumbs. Jesus was not a Philistine. Jesus was a Judaean Jew. He was from Bethlehem. In Judaea.

You know, Judaea. The place where the Jews are from.

It is actually really offensive to a lot of Christians to claim that "Jesus was a Philistine" like this. If you've never read the Bible (and I'm guessing none of these TikTokers have), calling someone a "Philistine" is an insult. In common use, it means an uncultured or crass person.

In Hebrew, the word for Philistine is "Peleshet (Plishtim, plural)". It is related to the Hebrew word, "Polesh". Polesh in Hebrew means "invader".

So by calling Jesus a Philistine, you're calling him an uncultured invader.

And I am here, as a Jew, telling you to stop insulting Jesus like this!

Now, saying "Jesus was the same as modern day Palestinians" is also unhistorical.

The region was called Judaea when Jesus was alive. So he was a Judaean Jew.

It would be just as unhistorical to say, "Jesus was a modern-day Israeli".

So, why are antisemites spouting this bullshit?

Unfortunately, these Jew-haters think they're "protecting" the Arab Palestinians by spreading conspiracy theories and lies about Jewish history.

They think they're making a "case" for Arab Palestinian indigeneity in Judea by telling these lies.

Because Arabs aren't indigenous to Judea.

And let me tell you, Tumblrinies who went to the Tumblr school of world history are even trying to rewrite Arab history! Some of them have even tried to tell me, "but Canaanites were Arabs lolol!"

Do you want me to show you a map?? No, dumb-dumbs. Canaanites were NOT Arabs. Canaanites are the ancestors of the Jewish People. Not the ancestors of Arabs.

Arabs come from the Arabian Peninsula.

OMG do you guys not even study geography anymore??

These Jew-hating idiots are literally willing to try to rewrite the history of the Arabian Peninsula just so they can fuck with Jewish people. You antisemites are absolutely unhinged!!

Okay, deep breath.

Here's the other thing. Our educational system is broken. And people don't study history (clearly).

Because if they did study history, they would realize that attaching Jesus to the Philistines doesn't confer ANY indigeneity to the Palestinian people.

(G-d, you conspiracy theory idiots are so dumb!!)

Because, you see, the Philistines were GREEK!!

They weren't indigenous to the Levant AT ALL!!

So in claiming that the Palestinians are the "same as" the Philistines, you have actually WEAKENED the case for Palestinian indigeneity!

And none of this matters!

YES, the Jewish people ARE indigenous to Judea.

And NO the Palestinian Arabs are NOT.

BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER.

IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT ARABS ARE NOT INDIGENOUS TO JUDEA.

BECAUSE THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE DESERVE HUMAN RIGHTS AND SELF-DETERMINATION NO MATTER WHAT!!!

Do you see what spreading conspiracy theories and lies about Jewish history does? All it does is make you look like FOOLS, and it HURTS the Palestinian people!!!

And YES, these conspiracy theories mainly hurt Jews. But I know y'all don't give a single SHIT about Jews. You've proven to us just how antisemitic you are.

So PLEASE for the LOVE OF G-D, STOP spreading these fucking LIES, BECAUSE THEY HURT PALESTINIANS TOO!!

Okay. Deep breath. Some history.

The Philistines were ancient Bronze Age Mycenaeans, aka they were Greeks. The Torah is consistent with this. It records them as being from Crete, which during the Late Bronze Age was under Mycenaean control. They also had some genetic admixture from Southern Italy. We know this both from DNA evidence from their skeletons, and also from their pottery, which looks similar to Mycenaean Bronze Age pottery.

And regardless, Israel and Jerusalem are both in the archeological record, and in Egyptian records, LONG BEFORE the Greek Philistine people appeared in Egyptian records. The ancestors of the Jewish people were there long before the Philistines arrived.

And you would know all this if you STUDY JEWISH HISTORY! Here's my Jewish history masterpost. I recommend that everyone read it.

The Philistines were invaders in Canaan, and they clashed often with the native Canaanites, which are the people that Jewish people are descended from. Jews ARE Canaanites. Read my post here on Jewish origins.

The cultural memory of these clashes is recorded in the story of David and Goliath in the Bible. The Israelite David felled the much larger Philistine Goliath with a slingshot, and then chopped off Goliath's head with his own iron sword.

The Greek Philistines were a small people group living in Judea. The last of the Philistines in Judea were slaughtered in 604 BCE by the army of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II when he besieged Jerusalem. This is the same siege that resulted in the Babylonian Exile of the Jewish people. Nebuchadnezzar dragged many of the Judeans (the Jewish population) as captives to Babylon (modern day Iraq). Then in 586 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the First Jewish Temple and dragged many more of the Jews into captivity in Babylon.

In 539 BCE, the Persian King Cyrus the Great defeated the Babylonians in battle, and in 538 BCE, the Persians allowed the Jews to return to Judea. The Jews came back to Jerusalem to build the Second Temple on the site where the First Temple had stood, which they completed in 515 BCE. But when the Jews returned, they found that the Greek Philistine community had been decimated by the Babylonians.

So, where did the Philistines come from?

As I stated above, the name "Philistine" is a Greek version of the Hebrew word Peleshet, and the Peleshet were likely the same as the Mycenaean Greek Peleset tribe known to Egypt. The Greek Peleset tribe were part of a people group that are today called the "Sea Peoples."

At the end of the Bronze Age (aka the Late Bronze Age Collapse), the known world was going through a period of terrible drought, famine, and earthquakes. Various people groups from areas that are now part of Italy and Greece, including the Greek Peleset tribe, formed a rough confederation and went around to various cities, sacking and plundering the cities for resources. In 1175 BCE, the Sea Peoples invaded Egypt, and King Ramesses III defeated them in battle. He commemorated their defeat on a wall of his mortuary temple at Medinet Habu.

So why is Palestine called Palestine, a name that does derive from the name Philistine?

To find out, you have to fast forward from around 604 BCE (when the Babylonians wiped out the last of the Greek Philistine people) to around 135 CE to get to the next time that the name of the "Philistines" becomes important.

That's a span of around 740 YEARS!

At that point, the Second Temple in Jerusalem had already been destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The Romans were doing ethnic cleansing on the Jews in Judaea, after the Jews tried to get Jerusalem back from Roman control in the Bar Kochba revolt (132 - 135 CE).

After the Roman Empire defeated the Jews in Judaea and squashed the Bar Kochba Revolt in 135 CE, the Romans RENAMED the region Syria-Palaestina. It was a vain attempt to remove the Jewish presence in the region. The Romans literally tried to wipe the Jews "off the map."

Guess what, motherfuckers! It didn't work. Jews came back to the region not long after.

The Romans named the region after the GREEK Peleshet/Philistines (who, again, by then were LONG GONE).

So the name "Syria-Palaestina" is basically the Romans trying to erase Jewish identity. Which again, DIDN'T WORK.

WE JEWS ARE STILL HERE.

So tl;dr "Palestine" is NOT the same as the Greek Philistines/Peleshet.

The Romans just went through the Hebrew Bible and looked for a name they could call the region that would be painful to the Jewish people. So they named the region after one of the Jewish people's Biblical rivals.

Philistia was also a name that was in use in the Greek world because, again, the Philistines were ancient Greeks.

But there's no actual connection between the region called "Syria-Palaestina" and the Greek people group called the Philistines.

This is why (let's say it all together kids) you need to LEARN JEWISH HISTORY!

And here's the worst part of this conspiracy theory.

Again, I know why Jew-haters tell this lie. And by now, so do you.

Jew-haters say this shit in a completely misguided attempt to "protect" the Palestinian people.

But, let's say it all together, the Palestinian people don't need to be backed by LIES in order to defend their human rights and their right to self-determination!

The Palestinian people DESERVE PROTECTION. THEY DESERVE TO HAVE FULL HUMAN RIGHTS.

THIS IS NOT A ZERO-SUM GAME, with one "winner" and one "loser."

YOU DON'T NEED TO TELL LIES ABOUT JEWISH HISTORY TO DEFEND THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE.

Jews and Palestinians are not "pawns" for you Jew-haters to use in your pretend game of war. You're acting like you're in some sort of video game fantasy.

JEWS AND PALESTINIANS ARE NOT YOUR PLAYTHINGS!

If you tell lies about Jewish history in a stupid attempt to "defend" the Palestinian people, you're not helping them at all. You're just being an antisemitic bigot steeped in Jew-hatred.

And taken to its extreme, the real conclusion of your antisemitic LIE is actually a really weird, unhinged blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad!!

So if you ACTUALLY want to HELP the Palestinian people, and not just be a Jew-hating bigot, I would recommend that you put your money where your mouth is.

Stop telling easily disprovable LIES about Jewish history, and start donating to organizations and charities that are helping Palestinians. The organizations that I recommend are:

ANERA

Palestine Children's Relief Fund

Doctors Without Borders

Standing Together

#jumblr #judaism #jewish history #jewish #jewblr #stop spreading conspiracy theories and lies about Jews and start donating to help the Palestinian people #NOTE: I report and block antisemites. If any antisemites comment on this post you will be reported and blocked. You have been warned.

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fairuzfan · 6 months

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You talking about the hunger games in relation to palestine reminded me of an absolutely deranged thinkpiece I stumbled upon a couple years back, so I went looking for it. It's by 'the jewish (zionist) chronicle', and they are talking about the movie, and if the premise of it is mocking isr*el. It's funny that they can see the resemblance between the capitol and their illegitimate country, while still seeing no fault in themselves. And when I say funny, I mean 100% expected. I'm attaching a link if you're interested at all, but be warned it's worded in the typical anti-arab way.

https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/is-the-hunger-games-inadvertently-mocking-israel-p3w00co6

Ok this article is absolutely ridiculous LMAO. Literally proves my point about how Palestine and the Districts are the same.

What's really funny is that for years I've been trying to figure out Suzanne Collins' (the writer) political opinions because The Hunger Games is just so obviously a metaphor to me for Palestine but I've found like less than nothing about her. She said she got the idea from watching the Iraq War with bits of reality television interspersed so I think I can kinda tell where her politics lie a bit (although at this point, I don't think I can make assumptions).

In all honesty, I haven't watched the movies lol because the casting and set design really messed up how I imagined the story while reading. Plus I heard that the movie does exactly what the books mock (making a spectacle of war for consumption) so that automatically turned me off. I wanted to see this new movie though because I wanted to see the songs come to life but now I'm like completely uninterested since the director (Francis Lawrence) signed the no hostage letter (click) that Amy Schumer wrote. If you're willing to align your name with Amy Schumer at this point with how incredibly racist she is, I have no interest in any content you want to make.

Back to the article, I would say it's actually more "anti-Palestinian" than "anti-arab" because it homogenizes all of Palestine otherwise, but yes this is like. An incredibly racist article lol. Here's an excerpt that I thought was actually super funny.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY WOULDN'T SHOW A MOVIE WHERE MEN AND WOMEN KISS. Legit one of the funniest assertions I've seen in a while. Remember guys, Palestinians CANNOT handle romance, it will explode their brains.

Also it's really funny how they're like "yeah the bow and arrow reminds me of the slingshots Palestinians use but remember, KHAMAS, like Katniss' resistance, has rockets!!!!! Israelis hide in fear in bomb shelters!!! KHAMAS only has tunnels for attacking! Nevermind the use of the tunnels for countering relentless siege on the people of Gaza! We, the people in the Capitol that I see myself in, are the victims!"

Also look at how they end the article:

"Man, Snow really reminds me of Israel. Won't examine that at all, even though I know it's important to. Anyways I feel so bad :( It ruined my evening."

And to that I say: Suck it, bro! Get Palestiniated!

I really underestimated how wild this would be. Here's the article if anyone wants to read it:

#palestine #hunger games #ok im tagging this as palestine because this is like explictly tied with palestine #anyways hunger games is for the palestinians!!!!

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hero-israel · 7 months

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I was relating it to something so know. YOU do not want to risk living in a majority Arab or Muslim country because of past actions, you point to these actions as proof that you need to have a form of control over them. So you are okay with their murder. You are okay with the fact that you moved yourselves onto their land and kicked them out. You are okay with the fact that you basically have them behind a militarized wall. Going through all that does not mean you are incapable of doing the same. Or that just because you have not done the exact same or the same amount of time that your actions are not bad. I am ethnically Jewish (not practicing) tho it’s not significant enough in my life for me to claim it as a cultural identity on my father’s side and my step father is Jewish but he’s now anti-religion (He’s on Israel’s side). My cultural upbringing… well I’m a poc and I spent years going to Holocaust memorials, I learned Jewish customs, our family friends were Jewish, and I read Jewish stories/watched the films. Media consumption? All the media I’ve consumed said that Palestinians where the problem because they refused to accept Israel and that Muslims where all terrorists (I grew up post 911). At no point did I ever say I was okay with the massacre of Jewish people or that it was understandable. I feel fine being critical of what you tell me because I know you aren’t saying the whole truth. You are still playing the role of the perfect victim. Everything has been done to you and you have done nothing back.

just because you have not done the exact same or the same amount of time that your actions are not bad

The amount of history that this sentence attempts to wave away.... No. No, that simply won't do.

I showed you dozens of examples of centuries of torture, oppression, and massacres of Jews in Arab / Muslim societies, culminating in the complete and recent destruction of 3,000-year-old Jewish civilization in all MENA countries, and you just breeze by them with no real consideration at all. You have repeatedly mentioned slave revolts because the slaves had good reason to defend themselves. Does the need for self-defense vanish when it's Jewish self-defense? Why can you tolerate violence in slave uprisings, but not in Jews trying to prevent their extermination? Cut us, maybe we don't bleed.

Your final comment of "Everything was done to you, you have done nothing back" likewise disregards the lopsided history and unequal stakes of oppression and loss. There are exactly zero countries where Arabs or Muslims have been reduced to nothing and their histories ended by Jews. Israel has a 20% Arab minority, in most MENA countries you can't even find 20 Jews. Israel is the only regional country that has any diversity, pluralism, and tolerance, instead of an unnatural Nebraska-cornfield ethnic monoculture. How much structural racism, how much systematic violence and hate, does a country need to have for it to EVEN BE POSSIBLE to physically wipe out a minority? With all of America's fucked-up racial problems, do you think they could physically push out the African-Americans or Latinos today if they wanted to? Yet you look at the Middle East and, one after another, the Jews are gone, the Jews are gone, the Jews are gone. You say you are not okay with Jewish massacres, well, I'm glad to hear that, but you don't seem to appreciate that those were the actual stakes. If your enemy says their goal is your extinction, and you survive, then yeah, maybe you do put up a wall and they have to stay on their side of it. Boo and furthermore hoo.

As for "being okay with murder" - forget slave revolts, I'm certainly fine with abolishing slavery altogether and I suspect you are too. That required killing over 600,000 people in 4 years. The combined all-sides grand total death count of the Zionist / Arab conflict is about 120,000 in 140 years. Are you "okay" with the American Civil War taking place, even though Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and all the other imperfect, morally compromised things Confederate LARPers complain about?

Overall I detect a strongly binary way of thinking, that Jewish people / institutions can only be seen as worth physical protection if they are perfect, if they have never harmed anyone, even if the options the world presents to us are Jewish people / institutions as they are or their continued, repeated disappearance. You were never promised better Jews or a better Israel, and you may not shift the goalposts on how we resist those who would repeat our genocide. I am fully comfortable in saying we are morally superior to our enemies. The fact that we still have living enemies proves that.

#israel #palestine #jumblr

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apollos-olives · 5 months

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Why do you wanna victimize yourself this bad there's nothing wrong with saying angry arab and that person definitely meant it as a good thing... They're arab..

my fucking god.

first of all i'm not "victimizing" myself. i am upset because that person, no matter what their background is, used a racist stereotype on my post that i am not comfortable with at all. it was wrong to say. you probably don't understand this bc ur not arab, but there is a difference between using a stereotype in our homeland vs using a stereotype in the diaspora. that person who called me an "angry arab" was a jordanian who lives in jordan. they are not part of the diaspora, and therefore do not understand how using the "angry arab" stereotype affects arabs in the disapora like me. arabs in the diaspora are faced with different forms of racism and stereotypes, and are constantly trying to get away from them because while a stereotype back home is just a joke that no one will take seriously, a stereotype in the diaspora is dangerous and people who are not arab can and WILL hatecrime you because of those stereotypes. i've been hatecrimed for my entire life in the diaspora, and i am CONSTANTLY trying to get away from stereotypes like the "angry arab" one because it not only reduces my trauma down to "lol they're just an angry arab" but it also demonizes me in the eyes on non-arabs and causes people to become afraid of arabs because of their subconscious or just outright racism. the "angry arab" stereotype is dangerous and i've been trying SO fucking hard to get away with it. plus the person who wrote that "angry arab" comment wrote it on my fucking vent post, where i was expressing my pain and trauma from when israeli soldiers held a gun to my face when i was 4 years old. i had every damn right to be upset, because that shit STILL causes me intense traumatic flashback episodes to this day and i genuinely lose sleep and my parts of my sanity because of the flashbacks have from that awful and terrifying moment. i had every right to be upset that someone was like "the angry arab rage is coming through my screen lol" on a post where i was talking about my trauma. the angry arab stereotype hurts so many people and reducing me at that moment to an "angry arab" when i have been hatecrimed all my life because of that fucking stereotype was not okay at ALL and anon i genuinely hope you choke on every meal you have for the rest of your life for telling me that i'm "victimizing myself"

there is absolutely something wrong using the "angry arab" stereotype and it genuinely harms people. even if the person used it to mean a good thing, it still wasn't right to say at ALL. in any case, i've talked it out with that person who said that and we are okay with each other now. they apologized and KNEW they were wrong for saying it. saying something in good faith doesn't mean it's not offensive. they apologized perfectly well and explained that they were jordanian and didn't realize that it was offensive for them to say. it was easily resolved and it's none of your fucking business either. i'm not fucking "victimizing" myself when i AM a victim of this racism, even if the racism comes from an arab directly. anon i hope you're really fucking proud of yourself you fucking cunt.

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fortyfive-forty · 2 months

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i've been ruminating a lot on it because i think i'm bad at putting my thoughts into words but i need y'all to understand that while there are absolutely a lot of Not Good Things about the finals being held in saudi arabia for three years...the way people seem to treat is as morally black and white is shortsighted and unhelpful.

realistically the players traveling there will be protected. it may be uncomfortable, it's certainly not ideal, but they will travel there for a few weeks, play their tennis, then leave. there are a lot of women, a lot of queer people who actually live in saudi arabia who cannot just leave, who are actually subjected to laws and social climates...and to me it just seems very disrespectful to that actual lived experience, for everybody to sort of turn their noses up and get on their high horses. of course, if the players wish to opt out, that is their choice, but that is their choice to make. that's their judgement. not ours.

and then, what about a tournament like miami? florida is literally experiencing one of the worst active regressions that i've seen in the us (granted i'm young). things like critical race theory and lgbtq+ ed are being removed from curriculums, rights for trans youth, trans healthcare, etc. are going backwards. abortion rights? gun violence? and yes i know that the laws and climate in saudi arabia are different gravy, i understand that, but my point is, no one would ever DREAM of arguing against hosting a tournament in miami despite all of these issues. and we can extend this to a lot of other tournaments! i mean, all the outrage about fifa hosting a world cup in qatar, but we don't have any of these sentiments about doha? i've seen other people bring up that the finals were hosted in singapore when gay marriage was still illegal there. we've already talked about italy's fascist prime minister. and i could go on and on and on about the war crimes of countries like the us or the uk - is the us not participating actively in genocide right now? where is the standard? if you argue against hosting the finals in saudi arabia for the reason of human rights, to me it seems you have to uphold that standard for the location you do land on. and i can guarantee, you will not find a single country in the world with clean hands.

i want to be clear i am not arguing that hosting the finals in saudi arabia is a good thing, especially for three years, especially because it's definitely going there because of money, and not for any of the "good" reasons i think some people want us to believe about "improving the region" (which is very weirdly white savior-esque anyway). i don't really have an official "conclusion" to this discussion.

what i am arguing is that i think a lot of the protests against saudi arabiahosting the finals are more an example of implicit anti-arab bias and islamophobia, rather than genuine discussion. key word implicit: i don't think most people are purposefully trying to be anti-arab/islamophobic. or at least, i'd like to believe nobody is. but i also think, particularly in the west, there is already so much of this xenophobic sentiment ingrained. and this is why i think it's really really REALLY important to check ourselves when we talk about it instead of just jumping straight to the human rights conversation without a second thought.

i'll say it plainly: i don't think the finals should be held in saudi arabia. but for me, it has more to do with sportswashing, with the dangers of the way money is thrown around in sports, and because i think it's more evidence that the wta doesn't care about player welfare but rather about making a profit (what else is new). human rights are absolutely a concern of mine, but how is it fair to hold saudi arabia to a standard that we don't seem to care about for literally anybody else?

literally look at the us's ugly ugly history, past and present, and tell me why we deserve to host a tennis tournament.

#long post #idk. this is not even all my thoughts #this is long and confusing and convoluted and i'm sorry #but i need y'all to understand it's not as easy as just saying 'oh we can't host it there'#'oh the players should boycott'#it's more complicated than that #and again i'm not really arguing one way or another #i do have my own opinion but i'm not positing that as The Right Choice #i'm definitely open to a lot more discussion on it #because i know i don't have the full perspective either #but i'm tired of seeing takes talking about how 'evil' it is to host the finals there #the way that it's happened and my suspected reasons for it (money)? yeah that's fucked up!#but just the fact that it will be hosted there...hold your horses. slow your roll #saudi arabia is like. a real country with people who actually live there and experience their own regime #god forbid they get to watch some tennis #and again. i just don't think you can ever really talk about these kinds of things and not bring up #the way countries like the us ALWAYS go unchecked #also like. gay marriage wasn't legal federally in the us until 2015. so. were do we go from here

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boyakishantriage · 10 months

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Humans *bickering bickering*

Alien: what's. Going. On??

Human: good question, if I had to guess. Something about fashion.

Alien: fashion?

Human1: no, I say pink and green...

Human: ... I mean, they're arguing with fancy names, colours, photos. I generally-

Alien: no. How. Why would you argue about clothing?

Humans: *freezes and starts shouting at alien*

Human: hey, what's so bad about... *Thinks* Arabic fabric?

Human4: OH DON'T GET ME STARTED-

Alien: how-

Human: generally speaking, skimming fashion blogs for key discourse points-

Alien: no. How. How do you keep doing that?

Human: do what?

Alien: Every situation, problem. You're always so-

Human: calm.

Alien: Yeah. And you know-

Human: exactly what to say?

Alien: and-

Human: it's frustrating that I somehow keep finishing sentences so simply and easily?

Alien: ... Yes.

Human: dunno, I just. Plan a lot, scaffold and have a finger in every industry. I don't bother with the changing styles, but there's always something that stays consistent in those spheres.

Alien: ... Like what?

Human: Engineering nerds, constantly arguing over hypothetical problems and best ways to fix em. Same with philosophy, IT, film and a lot of creative or functional fields. More qualitative industries it's comparisons, things and ways to make thing appear feel etc.

Alien but how do you-

Human: I don't. I just scribble notes with eight layers versus the standard 3-5 layered notes.

Alien: How do-

Human: good question. I don't remember, just. Planned until i hit a wall, then worked around it, under it and through it.

Alien: but how-

Human: I told you, we lost a lot of information. We've learnt and figured out a lot with what we have, but we've lost so much that it drives a lot of people insane.

Alien: ...

Human: but, we just. Move on, write down what we know so we don't lose more and just. Go with it I guess, but I'm special. One of a kind as far as anyone or I can tell, and yeah. I make mistakes, yeah I get scared and yeah. I'll probably get into shit for being what I am-

Alien: but that doesn't answer any of the questions.

Human: Well, I don't have an answer for you.

Alien: but. How. You're so ready and yet you don't-

Human: *shrugs* Again, we lost so much. People, memories, techniques, history. we don't now what we don't, but if we fixated on that we'd never get anywhere. Worry about something that's important but lost, or worry about something that's less important. But here *baps the alien's chest*

Alien: ... But-

Human: no more buts, think about it later. For now, you've got your job and I've got mine.

Alien: ...

I still don't understand this species, words I've frustrated by my predecessors, but. It's difficult. Humans are so diverse, complex and hard to really understand. But they are also so, simple. So, paradoxical in how two opposing nature's can work together as seperate and as one. And the human's theories, friends. Network. All of it, it just. Doesn't make sense, yet it works. And we have evidence it's not just about being a human, but not a mindset or something you learn. While I have not changed much from this, the questions this raises which nobody seems to be able to answer. From the invasion to today, the final report and attached files. Nothing makes sense.

Human: that's. Kind of the point.

Alien: ... Who is this?

Human: hacked your device, this is a program that creates a window for me to type into lol.

Alien: What. How-

Human: human nature is complicated, messy and is more a catch all term to describe a kind of mindset. Nobody actually knows how, when or what it is. But it's like hope.

Hope is a lie, we all know it, deep down. But it's about trying, to be better and try even when it's hopeless. Pointless even, it doesn't make sense because when we asked why should we,we just responded

Well, why not?

#humans are space orcs #tag #Triage #Aura #lore shit #E

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deathisararemercy · 1 year

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In Perpetuum et Unum Diem

Death x Reader

You knew for certain that Death knew every language. You, on the other hand, were far from multilingual (or whatever you would call someone who knew literally every language ever). So it came as a surprise to Death when this occurred.

A/N: Loosely inspired by this post by @sunnypop02 (Puss x multilingual!reader), except it's Death x reader who knows languages thought to be "dead" (ie. Latin). I highly recommend reading their fic/post; it's so freaking cute and sweet.

This is my first time writing "x reader" content, and I'm still trying to figure out how to write Death, so please forgive me. This is a little short and I'm still trying to figure out the format I'm going to go with, but I hope it's not too bad. Translations are at the bottom. Let me know if you catch any typos!

You knew for certain that Death knew every language. There was never a barrier between him and any soul he needed to collect (though usually his presence alone spoke more than any words could). You, on the other hand, were far from multilingual (or whatever you would call someone who knew literally every language ever). Death liked to tease you a bit for this, calling you pet names in various languages.

Elskede. Danish. “Beloved.” يا قمر (ya amar). Arabic. “My moon.” Nhà tôi. Vietnamese. “My home.” Mi vida. Spanish. “My life.”

He was sure to translate them for you, making sure that you were comfortable with them and nodding enthusiastically when you were. As far as he was aware, you only knew one language. So it came as a surprise to Death when this occurred.

=x=x=

“Faex.”

“Swear jar.”

The wolf’s ears perked up, while you continued reading your book. It took him a minute to realize what exactly had just happened. He plopped down next to you on the loveseat, cocking his head to the side, perplexed. You looked up, feeling his eyes on you. His gaze was intent.

You set aside the book and readjust yourself so that you’re kneeling on the cushion. You turned towards him, giving him a long and thoughtful stare. “Boop.” You tapped the tip of Death's snout, but he remained motionless, brows knit together. Now it was your turn to worry.

“Uh, oh. Is something wrong?”

“You understood what I said," he said, mystified.

“Yes? What, don’t have anything to put in the swear jar right now? Just because you swear in another language doesn’t mean it doesn’t count.” Teasingly, you wagged a finger at him. ��That’s cheating!”

Death laughed a little, and the distance between you decreased. He took your hand and held it to your lips. “Shh. Don’t tell.” You could hear his tail thumping on the seat as he continued, dropping your hand with red eyes burning with excitement, “But wait, wait, wait. If I say this: Amo te. Es pulcherrimum in omnia terra.” He paused, waiting to see your reaction and thrilled to see your flushed cheeks. “Do you understand me?”

“I- I do. And I love you too.”

He was beaming now. “And the ‘pulcherrimum in omnia terra’ part. Do you believe it?”

“Maybe,” you joked, expecting him to laugh it off.

Instead, he drew closer, so close you could kiss him if you leaned a little closer. It would be a lie to say you weren’t tempted to. “You should believe it,” he said tenderly. “You’re the most beautiful in the land.”

And then, he threw his head back, laughing and staring up at the ceiling. “But I can’t believe you know Latin of all languages. Don’t get me wrong, mi vida,” the wolf added hastily, “It really is a great language. I just never thought I’d meet a mortal who knew it again, or at least has some interest in it.”

You shrug. “It’s nothing really. I like reading old stories. I don’t get to speak it much since it’s kind of, you know, dead.”

Scowling, Death took your hands in his. His paws were always cold, but he held your hands with firmness and surety. “It may not be spoken by natives anymore, but it’s not extinct because you still know it. You are one of few keeping a language alive and that’s incredible. Most people wouldn’t care for a dead language. You wouldn’t believe all of the words I know that no one else can ever understand anymore.”

“Couldn’t you teach people, Muerte?”

He shook his head solemnly. “Death is a great teacher, just not of languages. But I’m curious now, apricum,” he grinned. “There was this one old saying and I want to know your thoughts on it. Amantes sunt amentes. You ever heard of it?”

“I think I’ve heard of it before.”

“Well, what do you think? Suntne amantes amentes?”

You gave it some thought and shook your head. “Minime. I think people who are in love may be blind or see their partner in a way that’s different from who they actually are…but I wouldn’t call them ‘lunatics’ or ‘fools’. Isn’t it a really beautiful thing for us to be able to love someone so deeply?”

Death chuckled a bit before falling silent. For a moment, your muscles tightened, and your heart skipped a few beats. Did I say something wrong?

But before you could hastily make out an apology, he planted a kiss on your forehead. “Es pulcherrimum, candidius quam stellam.”

And you manage to catch him by surprise, quickly kissing him back. “Et te amo. In perpetuum et unum diem.”

=x=x=

Death loves having someone to speak this language to. Even if you need to take a little time to process and translate what it is he says, you actually understands it! The souls who would’ve been able to speak or understand it have long since passed, and Death mourns the loss of languages and cultures over time. He's been around since the very beginning, after all.

He encourages you to practice speaking the language for fun. Though he still likes using a variety of pet names for you, he now adds more from dead languages. It's so much fun, saying things he’ll know you understand that no one else will (though now he knows he can’t swear in a dead language anymore unless he wants to put money in the swear jar).

Translations:

Faex: shit

Amo te. Es pulcherrimum in omnia terra.: I love you. You are the most beautiful in the whole land.

Apricum: sunny (I would use lux solaris for ‘sunshine’ or literally ‘light of the sun’ but this is cuter.)

Amantes sunt amentes: Lovers are lunatics (fools).

Suntne amantes amentes?: Are lovers lunatics?

Minime: No.

Es pulcherrimum, candidius quam stellas.: You are the most beautiful, brighter than the stars.

Et te amo. In perpetuum et unum diem.: And I love you. Forever and one day.

#puss in boots #the last wish #puss in boots the last wish #puss in boots death #death x reader #.writing #x reaader

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redbullcateringfiction · 9 months

Text

Chapter 6 -

Cantata

Arabella is the executive assistant for Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff. 10 years into her career, it looks like the tide is changing, and she's beginning to question her relationship with him. Is it something more, or nothing but an idea lingering in her head?

F/M, Fluff, Boss/Employee Relationship, Romance, Pining, Love, Slow Burn

Sixth chapter below the cut or click here for AO3

Click here for the previous chapter on Tumblr, and click here for a list of all chapters

(Total: 26637 words thus far)

Apologies for the long wait. Life happens, as I'm sure people know.

~redbullcateringfiction

I looked at myself in the mirror. The flight sleeping had taken its toll on me and I certainly looked more tired than I felt. I quickly threw on a light concealer. Just enough to make myself look less tired, but not enough to be wearing an obvious amount of makeup. I pulled my hair up, and then pulled it down, evaluating the two options, when suddenly there was a knock on the door. I opened it just a crack, and there stood Toto.

“Toto, cell phones exist,” I sighed, swinging the door open fully.

“I’m old school. If I can walk a short distance and get an in person conversation, I will,” Toto answered.

“Meh. Fine, what is it?”

“Where did you want to go for dinner so I can set up a reservation?” Toto asked.

“Oh…well there’s some amazing Arabic restaurants here. It’s rarely a food I can enjoy, so I would love it today,” I smiled.

“Excellent. I think there’s one on the pool deck.”

“On the pool deck. In this weather?” I asked.

“How do you mean? It looks a bit dim out, but nothing more than that.”

“Dust storm is coming,” I explained. “Here, come on in.”

“Oh, alright,” He nodded as I opened the door.

“Take a look out the window,” I explained, walking towards the window with him. The floor to ceiling windows provided a perfect opportunity for me to explain.

“There’s no wall of dust on the horizon. Not yet. But those aren’t normal thunder clouds. The sky isn’t dim because the cloud is blocking the sky, and that cloud isn’t brown because the sun is setting. That particular cloud is filled with dust,” I explained. Out on the horizon, you could see the towering, mountainous thundercloud. It was filled with desert sand, and I could only imagine the havoc it was leaving behind it. Here though, it was normal. For Arabs, the desert conditions are the only way life functions.

“Interesting. Will it clear out by tomorrow?” Toto asked.

“No chance. It won’t clear out until at least tomorrow night,” I explained.

“Bad for the track. Bad for the cars. Worse for testing,” Toto sighed learning back.

“Don’t worry. I scheduled a meeting with Aero for tonight.”

“Then we better get dinner now and not later,” Toto said, smiling and turning around. I chuckled.

“I guess that’s the only thing we can do until the meeting.”

“Well, then, there’s another Arabic restaurant on the 5th floor,” I answered.

“Indoors?” Toto asked, walking towards the door. He chuckled at his own joke.

“No, no. It's completely outdoors. In fact, it's actually in the dust storm,” I smiled back.

“So sarcastic,” He mocked, holding the door for me as we walked towards the elevator.

“A celebrity, Arabella?” My aunt asked, as my sister, Farah, took a bite of her hummus. She dipped a cucumber in it with a smirk on her face. She knew very well where this was going.

“I’m not really a celebrity. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we’re better off than most bands but we’re not Def Leppard or anything,” Cathal explained, smiling. I shot him a look. His huge blue eyes looked at me and got giant. I could tell he was desperately searching his brain for what he had done wrong.

“Well if our cousins knew who you were without me even having to say ‘music,’ I’d say you’re a celebrity,” My aunt smiled. The room was quiet. Practically silent, in fact. I watched as my Farah’s husband, Mehdi, brought in another bowl of hummus. My sister had practically devoured the first bowl of hummus. It had been her number one pregnancy craving. At least, that’s what I found out half an hour ago.

“Auntie…he’s just humble I guess,” I smiled.

“I wouldn’t go that far. I’ve definitely got some cockiness,” Cathal chuckled. I shot him another glance. I knew something dumb was about to come out of his mouth. This time the eyes were small and just as searching. He brushed his blonde hair out of his face. It desperately needed to be cut, but he swore it looked good.

“Vanity is a sin,” My aunt answered. “That’s why you should be Muslim.” I watched as Farah nearly spit out her food with laughter. I watched as the reasoning slapped Cathal in the face. He grinned through gritted teeth as my aunt left the room, making her excellent impression.

“I’m…I’m gonna run to the bathroom,” Cathal told me, quickly running off. My sister looked at me, and then at her husband before they both burst out in laughter.

“You’ve got some nerve bringing a little white boy who makes music about so many things a strict Muslim aunt hates to Marrakech,” Mehdi snarked.

“Oh, be nice. White boys have always been her type. Since France, at least,” Farah laughed.

“Alright, alright. I get it,” I sighed, putting my head in my hands.

Nour took a seat next to me. My brother.

“You know, the whole boarding school thing isn’t very funny,” Nour said, dipping his carrot into the hummus. “Just because you were the only one to not get shipped off, Farah, doesn’t mean you’re better than us. You’re just the golden child.”

“For a reason,” Farah shrugged. There are 4 of us. Nour is the oldest, 12 years older than me. Then, he’s followed by my brother Chadi, who’s 7 years older than me. Then finally, my sister Farah, only 3 years older than me. And then, there’s me. The youngest. I had barely had a chance to know Chadi and Nour. Nour was already at boarding school by the time I was born. Chadi wouldn’t go till I was 5, but had disappeared all the same one day. Honestly, none of us even really knew where Chadi was or what he was doing. All we knew was that he wasn't dead because Nour would sometimes send pictures of Chadi he had found online or through their mutual friends. The only reason we knew where Nour was, is because he makes a point to show up at holidays completely randomly, with no rhyme or reason. Every time though, he made a point to defend me against Farah and her antics. Too bad there was no tie between us. We hadn’t even met till I was 18. He had apparently been coming home already for 2 years at that point after he graduated from University. But I hadn’t been there.

Farah stood up and left the room, taking her husband and the hummus with her.

“That one’s a raging bitch,” Nour sighed. I watched as he cracked a beer under the table and poured it into an opaque cup. “Do you want one?”

“God, fuck, yes,” I said handing him the cup under the table.

“I’ll do you one better,” He said. I watched as he took out a bottle of vodka and poured a good amount into the cup.

“That’s way more than a shot,” I whispered.

“It’s what you need,” Nour answered. He handed it back to me and I took it right back. He took the cup back and poured the beer into it. As soon as he managed to put the bottles back into his bag, Auntie walked by again.

“That better not be alcohol, Nour. It’s haram,” She ordered him.

“It's not, Auntie. It’s Barbican,” he smiled.

“Good, good,” She nodded as she left the room.

“Cathal seems nice, Bella,” Nour smiled. I cringed at the shortening of my name. However, he barely knew me despite being my brother. I had to forgive him.

“He is. He’s honestly a sweetheart,” I smiled.

“I didn’t say all that. He’s nice,” Nour warned. I narrowed my eyes.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I personally really like storms, Bella. I like the thunder rolling in. I like the rain pouring down. I like the way the sky grows gray and watching the cars quickly turn on their fastest wipers. I really like storms. I find them nice. Nevertheless, I know that they’re chaotic. I get the sense you also find chaos nice,” Nour explained, taking a sip out of his cup.

“I don’t,” I answered. “I like structure.”

“Really? Or do you like managing chaos?” He asked. Cathal quickly rounded the corner.

“Hi, did I miss anything?” He asked, pulling out his chair.

“Nothing serious,” Nour smiled at him.

I looked at Toto, watching as his eyes scanned the menu. “I don’t eat Arabic food frequently,” He struggled. I couldn’t help but chuckle slightly.

“I’d recommend the chicken machboos. It’s the national dish of Bahrain,” I smiled.

He looked up at me, his eyes finally parting from the menu for the first time since he had gotten it. “Is that what you’re eating?” He asked. I nodded. He took a deep breath and set the menu down. “Then sure, sure.”

We sat there awkwardly for just a moment. While yes, we had developed a friendship over our years of working together, it could never quite outweigh our working relationship. It made it slightly difficult to actually communicate at times like this. That is to say, moments where our working relationship was the reason why we were together, but the event itself was much more casual than one might assume.

“How was the flight for you?” Toto asked.

“Sleepy,” I answered. He smiled.

“I know. You fell asleep so soon after take off. You always get cold so soon before me that I figured if I knew it was cold, you would be shivering when you woke up,” He explained. Quite a few car rides with Toto had featured me pulling on my sweater as he reached to roll down the window. He would always apologize profusely, but seeing him sitting there with sweat pouring down his brow, I would always tell him it was fine to roll the window down. He would hesitate, but I would tell him I was perfectly warm with my sweater.

“So, that’s why you got me a blanket?” I asked.

“I was surprised Bono hadn’t already,” He shrugged.

“I thought it had been him when I woke up,” I answered. While Toto and I generally had very different interpretations of temperature, Bono and I were one in the same. “Was he not cold?”

“No, not really. He hadn’t noticed it,” Toto answered. “But he had on many more layers than you.”

“The same as you?”

“Yes…Is this an interrogation about a decision to get a blanket for my assistant?” Toto asked, raising his eyebrow.

“It’s conversation,” I answered, mocking his earlier shrug.

“No, no. You’re questioning me. You can’t sass your way out of this one, Arabella,” He leaned in.

“I absolutely can, and I will,” I laughed. “I was just curious. Bono is usually cold, and you’re usually warm. It just struck me as strange that Bono didn’t think it was cold. I’m not saying you can’t get me a blanket as I’m knocked out. I’m just saying it’s weird Bono didn’t think it was cold easily an hour before you.”

“Well he was right next to the window. Maybe the sun was keeping him warm,” Toto shrugged.

“Were you not?” I answered.

“Arabella…” He warned. “People can be cold and warm at different times.”

“Alright, alright. Dropping the curiosity.”

He leaned back as I, myself, backed off. I could see the smirk on his face.

“No, no. Now you think you won,” I argued.

“It’s not an argument, Arabella. No winners, no losers,” He laughed.

“Then why the smirk?” I responded.

“Nothing. I smirk.”

“For no reason?”

“Sometimes.”

“Liar.”

He was saved by the bill as the waiter wandered over, bringing with him a tray of vegetables and hummus. We ordered our same dishes and he walked away. I kept my head down, looking at the vegetables I was trying to pick. Just barely within my sight, I could see Toto looking at me still smirking. I could pick my head up and catch him in the act or I could drop it. I’m quite pushy…but I dropped it.

“Besides bullying me, what are you planning to do during testing tomorrow?” Toto asked.

“I’m going to be in the garage with you. Too many people running around, and too much business to handle to be anywhere else,” I answered.

“Ah right. You have your phone off mute so the engineers can harass you into passing around the messages they could easily speak over the headset?” He asked.

“Absolutely not. They’re all on notice. During race weekends, they can only text me if for some reason they can’t find someone, but only if they’ve checked absolutely everywhere. If they haven’t, call them over the headset and see if they respond. Otherwise, fine, I’ll take a look. They’ve probably got themselves on the wrong radio channel.”

“Good, good. I’m surprised they haven’t gotten around to asking you to help with the pit yet, all they ask for,” Toto answered. He brushed his hair around with his hand, trying to get an idea of what it looked like with just his hand. I went into my purse and took out a makeup mirror, and passed it to him.

“There wouldn’t be any time even if they wanted me to. Half the time I’m running around replacing headsets, alerting people of strategy changes that they have yet to notice, and delivering small things I usually carry for myself and you to random people. I’ve lost so many hair ties over the years,” I sighed. “That won’t change. The only thing that will change is the other half of what I usually do. Find people because they don’t want to clog up the headset. But that’s why there’s other radio channels.”

“Perhaps this is my fault,” Toto began, messing with his fingers. “Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about work?”

“Honestly, it’s the only thing going on in my life,” I shrugged. “Not much else for me.”

“Certainly I’m devoted to work, but I also keep a healthy personal life,” Toto stared at me. His eyebrow raised, implying that no actual question was needed.

“I have no children and my family is irritating. I keep to myself. Don’t worry. I enjoy life,” I explained.

“You don’t need children or family to have a personal life. Friendships exist, and they’re quite fulfilling.”

“I know. I just don’t make friends very easily.”

I wish I had just been lying to end the conversation faster, but it was true. I have Bono. I apparently have a lawyer who I didn’t have a very good date with. But I don’t have much else outside of that. Even if I wanted to be generous and call Toto a friend, I would still only have 3. And none of them are women. Don’t get wrong, men and women can be friends. Any other perspective on that is silly. Nonetheless, there is something special about friendship with women. Over the years, I had tastes of it. Just brief fleeting exchanges with drunk girls in bathrooms, or coworkers like Marie who I shared some details with. Never anything longer term or more than amicable. Friendship between women, I had noticed, was so intimate.

I could easily recall my mother’s friends showing up in the evenings on the weekends. Sipping wine while discussing things about their relationships. I learned things about my parents’ relationship that I never would’ve known by pretending to sleep on the floor. My mother would go on, and on, and on about every little thing from the books she read to the bills she paid. Her friends would listen attentively, taking a genuine interest, and then go on about their own similar stories. I would lay there on the floor, and at some point, genuinely fall asleep to their stories.

I had yet to maintain a friendship like that. My relationships with women have often been shallow, and frequently, that was my fault. Most of my friendships have been shallow, actually. I will ignore the request to hang out, or them asking me to lunch. I would rather read a book and never discuss it, keeping the details to myself.

“I doubt that. You’re friendly.”

“Am I?” I raised an eyebrow.

“When you want to be,” He smiled. I laughed at the comment.

“No, no. You’re right though. It’s more the keeping of friends that I struggle with,” I explained. He nodded.

“It's not easy,” He shrugged. I looked at his hands as he again fixed his hair, like a nervous tick. Again, I found myself lingering for too long on his appearance. His dark hair, his darker eyes, his angled smile, and…everything. I felt myself getting hot and quickly looked down at my own hands. How have I gotten here? In this situation? I couldn’t help it, but I also couldn’t ignore it. It’s one thing to know someone’s attractive, and it’s another thing to be attracted. I am attracted to my boss, but thank God I’m smart enough to not act on it. There’s some lines that can’t be crossed, and this is one of them.

“Hot in here?” Toto asked.

“Huh?” I nearly fainted. I wiped my forehead.

“You’re quite red. Here.” He poured a glass of water out of the pitcher for me and I quickly emptied it. I wasn’t red from attraction, I was red from embarrassment. I wasn’t hot from the crush, but from the anxiety of being found out.

“Yes, it’s a little hot,” I groaned.

“And I’m cold. People can be cold and warm at different times. Strange, isn’t it?” He smirked.

“Oh my God,” I sighed, pouring another glass of water for myself. “Did you really just do that?”

“I did, yes. You can’t win every time, Arabella.”

It didn’t happen frequently, but sometimes, Toto would win our minor arguments or discussions. They were always silly conversations, but nevertheless, I didn’t like to lose even the silliest of conversations. So, whenever he managed to just barely one up me enough to collect his own win, it always felt like I had just gone all in and Toto played a royal flush.

“You’re funny,” Toto smirked while staring into my eyes. “I can see those gears turning.”

“No gears. Empty,” I said, tapping my head.

“Empty? Never,” He shook his head. He wasn’t wrong, unfortunately. It is a bit like a hamster on a wheel here.

“If only it were sometimes,” I complained.

“Anxious?” Toto stared at me.

“Always,” I tried to giggle it away. He didn’t seem to receive it well. Damn Austrians and Germans. They joke when they want to and look at you like you’re crazy when you do. I had a desire to explain but I simply shut my mouth and waited for the awkwardness to fizzle out. It didn’t though.

“No, no. Explain,” He waited. “Well, actually, you don’t have to. Just, if there’s anything I can do, explain what it is.”

There is nothing he can do. Nonetheless, I get the sensation that if I say that he won’t believe me. And then if I explain, he’ll feel like he forced it out of me. I don’t mind explaining right now. It feels like finally the somewhat appropriate moment to do so. But nevertheless, I don’t want to. I fiddled with my hands for a moment before opening my mouth.

“I have agoraphobia. I cope with it pretty well, mainly by having this job so I am rarely in a place for too long. If I’m in a place for too long, it starts to feel too similar to home and I have to get out,” I explained. “I just deal with it. No big deal.”

“That seems like a big deal. It literally affects every aspect of your life,” He raised his eyebrow.

“No, it really isn’t. It’s a background thought. The anxiety is too. It’s not something that is destroying my life. I just find it a bit difficult to settle down once I get going.”

“Ah,” He replied. “Does it bother you?”

“No, not really. Like I said, I’ve learned to cope. I’ve learned my methods, and I’m happy with them.”

“Then that’s all that matters,” He affirmed. “You’re happy, then I’m happy for you.”

I watched as the food got brought. It smelled of saffron and immediately gave me a comforting wash of emotions.

“Wait a moment,” Toto interrupted my moment. “Surprise parties. Do you hate those?”

I raised my eyebrow until I realized he was concerned about the agoraphobia and surprise parties.

“No, I quite like them actually. A well planned party is enjoyable no matter how it’s presented. So long as the room isn’t filled to the brim with people, that is,” I laughed. It quickly turned into a chortle. I couldn’t help but find his concern…cute? Adorable? Funny. It was funny. “Wait a moment-”

“No further questions.”

“A surprise party?”

“No further questions, Arabella,” He demanded. “Eat your food. Smells good. Eat it.”

“The audacity of you to think I’ll do as I’m told,” I smirked. Too far, Arabella. Too far. Was that flirty? I was trying to be snarky, but the line is thin. I watched as Toto raised his eyebrows, and then as they settled back down on his face. I felt my heart beat out of my chest as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Trust me, I do not think that,” He answered, leaning in towards me. I watched as he poured more water into my glass. “I know it, in fact.”

“Know what…exactly?”

“Up to you to figure out,” He taunted, taking the first bite of his food. The tension implored me to take the first bite of mine as well. The first bite was delicious but tainted by the sensation of confusion and worry taking me over. All these years of being an adult had just gone out the window. Suddenly, like a middle schooler, I sat trying to analyze his tone and his words. As if I had never learned English and was translating from a dictionary. No, stop. You’re thinking too much, Arabella. I could practically hear Jeffrey in my head laughing at the way I could no longer tell the difference between tension and tension.

“It’s good,” I coughed, pointing at the food, and trying to cut the tension.

“Mmhmm,” He mumbled, pulling the metaphorical rope tighter. I stared back down at my food, and continued to pick at it as I waited for him to jump in. It was his prerogative. He didn’t, like he was relishing the feeling.

“Alright, Toto,” I began. He shot his head up, and made eye contact with me. He might be enjoying the tension, but I am not. I will do what I know how to do best. “The meeting with Aero, it better be at 8pm considering that at 6pm you have a meeting with Lewis’s team and at 7pm you have a meeting with Bottas’s team. These are just about scheduling so they may run short, but I’ll be there to ensure you don’t commit anything silly. Regardless, I hope you didn’t double book yourself. Lewis’s team can be flexible but no later than 7. Then we would have to reschedule with Bottas’s team. And you know they can be much less flexible.”

He stared at me for a second, almost in disbelief. ‘Yes, Toto. Your refusal to end the tension means that you must now discuss work. Yes I have just done that to you,’ I thought.

“I scheduled it for 8:30 since Aero is running around till then. No worries,” He answered.

“Great, I’ll add it to the book. Do you think we can squeeze a strategy meeting between 8 and 8:30? Some of the other engineers can stay through the Aero meeting in case there’s lingering concerns,” I explained.

“Do we need another strategy meeting?” Toto questioned.

“Always,” I answered.

“Fine.”

“Good, let me send out an email,” I smiled, taking out my phone. I quickly typed up to the email, after doing a quick check to make sure that time was free for every team.

“Now that my schedule’s handled-” He began.

“No, oh no. Never is, is it? A few more things,” I blurted, as I began to go over everything for the upcoming weekend.

“Oh, a Mercedes team member?” The man behind me spoke. I turned around. He looked vaguely familiar.

“Yeah, yeah,” I answered, grabbing the coffee as it came ready. It was my own, as I’m certainly no coffee runner. I went to add cream, but paused deciding if I needed, or even wanted it. I had gotten into the habit of drinking it black, but sometimes I desperately wanted something sweet and would find myself adding spoonful after spoonful of sugar. Cream certainly meant I would be adding sugar.

“Engineer?” He asked, waiting for his own coffee to finish brewing. This little room behind the paddock was actually a space for the media, but with a coffee maker and pastries floating around, of course we had all wandered our way into here. It wasn’t particularly nice, but the desire for coffee typically overwhelmed any interest in design.

“Oh. Uh. No,” I shook my head. I closed the lid deciding against the cream.

“Then what?”

“Background things,” I shrugged. “Sorry, nothing really interesting about it.”

“Doubt it. You work for my favorite team,” He laughed.

“Sorry, no really. I don’t do anything interesting,” I smiled. “But uh…if you hang around here a little longer, you’re sure to run into someone interesting.”

“No, no! I think I have. Background things? Like what?” He asked. I sighed, before finally looking him up and down. No pass, no uniform. Did he even work here? How did he get past the gate to this area?

“Sorry to ask. Are you a fan? You shouldn’t be back here,” I explained. I felt a hand come across my shoulder. I turned and saw one of our engineers, Percy.

“Celebrity,” He whispered, before going to pick out a pastry. So, regardless I had to entertain him or risk him calling me or the entire team out in the media for being ‘rude’? Great.

“No, no. I don’t work here. They let me through, though,” The vaguely-familiar-celebrity answered.

“Oh…alright. Well, there goes an engineer. If you want to chat with them,” I gestured towards Percy.

“I can read all about that later. I’m curious about the background stuff now. Sorry, let me introduce myself,” He said, stepping towards me. He reached out his hand. “Cathal. Uh…Lynch.”

“Oh, nice to meet you, Cathal,” I shook his hand. Off the top of my head, his name wasn’t familiar. Matching the name to the face didn’t help at all. I genuinely had no clue who this man was. As many celebrities as I run into back here, I usually recognize them. Him, though? No clue.

“I can see the gears turning in your head. I’m uh…a singer. For a band. Not a big one though. I’m here with the band we’ve been opening for.”

“Oh? What band is that?”

“Blur. They’re performing after the race tonight. Congrats on the win by the way. Lewis’s 3rd right?” He asked.

“Yes, yes. We’re thrilled. It’s uh…it’s nice to have someone on the records.”

“Sitting pretty next to Senna is not something many can claim,” Cathal nodded.

“Precisely.”

“Well, do tell me more about this background work you do. I’m very curious,” He said, finally grabbing his coffee.

“I’m a personal assistant. Really. Just background work, I swear,” I nodded. Maybe he would drop it?

“For a driver? That’s awesome!” He cheered. “Flying around with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg then?” I suppose I’m not getting out of this then.

“Well yes, but I’m not the driver’s personal assistant. I’m Toto Wolff’s,” I explained.

“That’s even cooler. So you’re really right on the front lines then. You tell the driver’s what to do and keep them in line, huh?” Cathal asked. “No, wait, you must tell Toto what to do then.”

“No, no. No telling anybody what to do. I’m just an assistant. I help to manage the absurdity. Nothing more really.”

“You should get on that then. I bet it’d be awfully fun to tell that German bastard what to do,” Cathal laughed. “Oh, sorry. That’s your boss. I’m sure he’s a real nice bastard.”

“He is,” I laughed back. He’s quite funny isn’t he? And a little cute, I’m tempted to say. The blonde hair, the absolutely gorgeous and huge blue eyes, and a bit boyish in his face. Maybe I don’t really mind him having stopped me. At least he’s attractive. Afterall, I’m 24 and single. Perhaps…no…no way. He’s a celebrity and I’m really nobody.

But as the conversation continued I started ot get the sensation that maybe he wasn’t just interested in my job. Maybe he was interested in me. The way he smiled. The way he leaned in. Eventually, as he watched as I brushed my hair behind my ears and commented on how pretty it was, I felt settled in my feelings. As he put his number in my phone, I felt a little cheerier than I could rationalize. He’s probably just looking for a one night stand for tonight after his show. Nothing more.

Tag list: @daddyslittlevillain, @littleheaven

#f1 2023 #f1 fandom #toto wolff #f1 fanfic #f1 fic #fanfic #formula 1 rpf #oc of color #toto wolff fanfic #toto wolff fanfiction #toto wolff x oc #toto wolff fluff

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thedoubteriswise · 25 days

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I respect your opinions a lot and I don't mean to argue feel free to ignore this but threatening to withhold your vote to influence government policy is THE basis of democracy. take that away and what leverage do the people have? your vote is between you and yourself. most people making noises about not voting Biden will probably end up voting for him anyway but it's important to at least be able to express dissent and say. here's my line I will not cross. there's an implication in that post that anyone who's threatening to withdraw their vote is privileged and won't suffer any negative consequences from a trump administration that is simply untrue, as many Arab Americans are people of color. loudly shushing and calling out voices on the left who express their disgust with current gvt policy by pointing out that the alternative is worse ultimately in the long run gives a pass to the left to also get worse as long as they don't get on trumps level

Idk. I probably will vote for him. but guilt tripping people who are uncomfortable with genocide ain't it

much like everyone who's not an absolute ghoul, I'm also pretty damn uncomfortable with genocide, so I'm not "guilt tripping" anyone for feeling the same way. I get that I'm being flippant in the tags this ask is about, but that's a very weird and uncharitable interpretation of what I said.

my actual point is that if donald trump becomes president again, it will not improve what's happening in palestine, and in fact will almost certainly worsen it to a significant degree. I say this with full awareness of the despicable misery palestinians are already being subjected to. there's no benefit whatsoever to letting this guy win. even just the idea that allowing republicans to win elections will somehow force democrats to the left in the future is based on like... nothing? it's not what happens; I don't know why people keep imagining that's a thing that regularly occurs in real life.

beyond that, I take issue with the point that this doesn't matter because most of the people saying this stuff will end up voting for biden anyway. I remember how this kind of conversation affected the outcome of the 2016 election. maybe a lot of them will vote for biden, but the thought process expressed in that tweet being constantly put forward in public discourse has a considerable effect on the behavior of the electorate as a whole, and we have very recent evidence of that. it's impossible for me to pretend that this type of shit is harmless. I'm not "shushing" people for saying that US foreign policy on this is disgusting (it is disgusting, it always has been, and saying so is right, which is why I'm doing it too). I'm telling them to stop encouraging people not to vote, because doing so has observable negative impacts.

and to be clear, it's truly not that I don't understand why people feel the way they do about voting for a candidate who's doing bad things - I do get it, I don't think the feelings themselves are wrong or unjustified, and I sympathize. but republicans won't care that they only won because the left was too demoralized to show up, or because the left thought they were taking a principled stance by withholding their votes. they'll fuck things up either way. the negative feelings you have about being stuck voting for shitty democrats are valid, but those feelings, whether motivated by simple empathy or by deeply painful personal experience, don't alter what republicans actually do when they hold public office.

you are an autonomous human being, I'm just some admittedly fallible guy with a tumblr account, and I can't force you to do what I think you should do. but I couldn't possibly disagree more that "threatening to withhold your vote to influence government policy is THE basis of democracy." I think actually weighing in on the available options whenever you have an opportunity is the basis of democracy, and withholding your vote isn't doing that. I think disapproving silence and apathetic silence look exactly the same to an outside observer. I think whoever told you that walking away from the table and letting your opponents make all the decisions is some kind of power move was either malicious or not very bright.

and, respectfully, I am completely certain that you are wrong when you say your vote is between you and yourself. the worldwide material consequences of letting republicans be in charge are worse than the material consequences of letting democrats be in charge, and we have oodles of evidence of this reality available to us. knowingly making a decision that increases the chance of the more dangerous candidate gaining power when it's pretty easy to do the opposite is not a rational or morally defensible choice, even if the less dangerous candidate is still a bastard. even if the intentions that lead someone to that choice are understandable and decent. people are entitled to form their own opinions and act accordingly, but they're not entitled to me praising or ignoring actions that are materially damaging.

which is a very long way of saying that after months of putting up with seeing this nonsense, mostly in polite silence, I think I'm allowed a single, tiny, factually justified wobbly in the tags of a tumblr post containing a screenshot of a dogshit stupid tweet.

#I'm sorry if this comes off as aggressive. I hate having these conversations on tumblr which is why I don't normally do it.#I don't know who you are. you seem nice enough. maybe this is even a mutual. if so we're chill I still like you etc etc #but bro. we can't keep fucking doing this

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itstokkii · 7 days

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Hey, I just want to talk to you about a few things in regard to Turkfra's post. I think you should really be more careful about what/who you're insinuating is racist especially because there really was nothing racist about that post or the way she's shipping them. TurkFra is very obviously an enjoyer of France being GNC and even a Transwoman(no matter the ship and just enjoys that characterization clearly), and insinuating that she's only doing that to ship France with Turkey (which isn't even part of MENA so I'm not sure why you're referring to him as if he is?) can sound a tad transphobic if not racist in itself imo. I mean, she wasn't hypermasculinizing him at all. She was just saying that she finds him hot and never mentioned ethnicity. TurkFra also has had "Minors DNI" on her blog for a while(think she still does?), and it is clearly a more adult-oriented space, so I'm not really sure why you were on her blog to begin with… I know you don't mean any harm with this but I think you should take a few seconds before jumping to conclusions about other people like this.

"Turkey (which isnt even a part of MENA so idk why youre referring to him as if he is)"

ALRIGHT PACK IT UP LADS TURKIYE HAS RETURNED TO TURAN MASHALLAH 🐺🐺

"Why would you look at her stuff she says Minors dni"

hmm ok interesting. so then tell me why she wouldn't tag appropriately since I could clearly see those posts on the turkey tag. But I guess because she said the magic word open sesa- i mean minors dni her racism is excusable! checkmate liberal 😎😎

"She wasn't hypermasculinating him at all" dang OK then so I guess this was a fever dream?

dw babe I know enough abt my people being seen as hypermasculine mongols/arabs and about my place being a ~mysterious Agrabah place~ to the Russians to Spot the Orientalism ! no lecturing from anon required ❤️

my whole point being that it's bad to have a feminine france (whether france is a feminine man or a transwoman), alongside a hyper masculinized turkey, brown man(where turkey is explicitly being fetishized for his masculinity and dominance), not to have a feminine france. anyways super white to dodge people calling you out for being weird about brown men dominating subby femme white men only to instead accuse them of being transphobic

bonus fraturk moodboard if you stick to the end ❤️

#hetalia #tokki answers #아 귀여운 씹새끼 머하는거아 #aph turkey #hws turkey #sadik adnan #imagine being like “hey that is orientalist” and having people accuse you of being transphobic and racist as a rssult lol #you fetishize turkey and you like it!! that is....*drumroll* RACIST !#wow i couldnt imagine seeing people as aesthetics is racist!!!

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swan2swan · 4 months

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You are every bit as bad as the Comicsgaters who hate Moon Girl (and the rest of Marvel's stuff) because of """forced diversity.""" If you hate nearly all Jews, hate the symbols and, yes, colors associated with our community for millennia, that is not caused by Israel, it is caused by your moral defectiveness and bigotry.

Well, this is an interesting comment to wake up to.

Tell me something:

How often do you see the Prussian Cross in media?

We're not even jumping into the heavy-hitters right now. We're sticking with the particular variant of the Prussian Cross. Black cross. White outline.

Outside of historical stuff and bikers...how often do you see this?

If the answer is "Barely anywhere at all, especially in Children's Media", you'd be correct. Because after the early 1900s, it kind of took on a MAJOR negative meaning.

Obviously, there's plenty of other cross variations to use, so this wasn't exactly a DEATH KNELL for Christian Imagery. Just because people don't want to be associated with the Kaiser's Germany or their biggest crowd that was super-popular in Europe during the 30s and 40s doesn't mean they can't use a DIFFERENT design of cross. But obviously, using that particular brand became something of a cultural taboo

And, again...this isn't even the heavy-hitters.

But now consider: if a bunch of constituents go to John Fetterman's house to protest his support for Israel's genocide, and his only response is to wave a huge Israeli flag...blue and white with the Star of David...what is the message he's sending there? What is the association going to become?

Now, begin to multiply that. Not by hundreds of times directly, but by little moments. People with the Israeli flag on Twitter, putting up arguments about how all Palestinians are terrorists, and how DARE you not sympathize with Israel after the events of October 7th!

Actually, here, you know what? Let's just DEMONSTRATE.

...oh, I was looking for less-silly examples, but sometimes, you get the PERFECT ONE that is making EXACTLY your point:

Here it is. Right here. I dunno how serious the OP is, but yeah, people are actively turning the Star of David into an "I Stand With Israel" symbol, while Israel is committing ALL OF THE CRIMES, and digging a hole deeper and deeper. The longer this goes, the worse it gets, the more entangled they become...do you see why I'm upset now? Do you understand yet?

Especially because...you know who's really having a great time with this? The antisemites. They get to watch a military force do a genocide against those brown Arabs all the way over in a desert while everyone gets MAD, and all they have to do is keep encouraging the fight! Make that Star of David an EVIL symbol! In a few years, guess what you get to do? You get to start SHAMING people for wearing the Star! Heck, you can do that right now! But you don't have to, because plenty of other people are doing that for you.

So we return to my original point:

The fact that while watching a children's cartoon, for s *split second*, I saw something that I immediately associated as a red flag, because it was on my computer screen. And where do I generally see blue and white stars on my computer screen these days? News stories. Propaganda. The guys in your mentions who jump in to accuse you of antisemitism because you say something like "Genocide is bad".

Let's leave with this:

#I've talked about this before too #one of the important reasons for separatiion of church and state is so that the state can't guilt you into associating them with the church #because a state claiming to represent your religion can violate it at any time #and even if it's NOT happening right now #it could happen in ten years or thirty #people die and get replaced by new people #and sometimes the new people are evil people #again: this was a split second #antisemitism

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pompadourpink · 2 years

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Bonjour! I just saw the ask of the lost 17 year old and I cant help but feel like Im in a similar position. I'm 28 years old and I feel like I shouldve figured out what I want to do in life. I feel like I wasted my 20s on simply going with the flow and "ill figure it out later" mentality. I've also recently been fired from a job I should love but after three months I found so boring. I stayed there for a year just to get some exeprience. Now that Im unemployed again I get rejected over and over again and feel so useless. Even for jobs Im excited about the passion fizzles, and I dont even know what I want to do. Or what I'm even good at anymore.

Hello dear,

Dr Write too much, PhD, is back in the office, woohoo!

One, you're not supposed to have an epiphany one night and find out what your calling is. You don't have one. You're not a machine. You're a brain in a meat suit and you came without instructions, which means you don't have a function. Capitalism put us in this position. Existing is enough, and work is a human invention - food and shelter originally didn't have a price tag. We tend to think of the Ancient Greeks as the most advanced, wisest civilisation there's ever been. Do you think they wondered about what their manager is going to say if they dodged their phone call at 9pm on Friday or lost sleep over getting ghosted on Tinder? No, they had a lot of wine, a lot of bread, a lot of sex, and walked around in beautiful gardens with their companions. And they didn't feel bad about it. Why would they?

Two, you can reinvent yourself as many times as you want. Storytime!

When I went to Rome for my birthday back in 2018, I bumped into a Colosseo guide named Tahar who was around my boomer father's age and so happy to make a friend he started telling me about his life over breakfast, how he had studied physics, loved the stars, never had a family so he travelled a lot, had been in Rome for about a month, and gotten the job by hanging out around the Colosseo and having little talks with other guides in French, English, Arabic and broken Italian until their boss decided to hire him just because he was friendly. He even confessed that at night, he would go and have a drink in fancy bars to try and find tourists to sell tours to at a higher price so he could pocket the difference.

At the time, I was nearly 26, ten days away from leaving a terrible minimum-wage job, had lived in the same area of the country my whole life and the same city for 8 years, had a recently broken heart and was still recovering from a severe case of mononucleosis that is still to this day the worst pain I've ever felt.

I didn't stay in touch with Tahar because he got flirty and started insinuating that it wasn't too late for him to settle down and have a kid or two while holding my hands and that was not going to happen. However, I still think about him once in a while, when I catch myself being paralysed by fear of the unknown.

My guy had nothing, no house, furniture, wife, kids, local friends, parents, savings, was paid to ramble about history and make jokes in the sunshine, lived paycheck to paycheck; and he was happy, tanned, eating fruit and drinking wine with a huge smile on his face nella bella Roma, kilometres away from thinking of himself as a failure. He was doing exactly what he wanted, and where, and when, and with whom, and while he clearly wasn't a role model, he is the one person I have ever met who lived life on his own terms and is 100% going to die without regrets.

Three, take a step back. I talked about it recently but it is vital that we calm down and stop chasing numbers and short-lived adrenaline. Go spend a day outside, at the beach, in the countryside, the mountains - it doesn't matter, just away from home, and lay down, relax, and listen to what the world has to say to you. We all love to think that happiness is our number one priority, but it is rarely the case - I hinted about it in the 17-year-old post: if you think of your perfect day and compare it to your current circumstances, those two lists would be very different. We keep talking to people who make us miserable, eating stuff that gives us tumtum aches, wearing shoes that hurt our feet, and wonder why we are upset and can't sleep well.

And I'm guilty of that too. I have always had that mental image of the seaside, a walk on the beach, the sun, a dog, lavender ice cream, a man and a couple of kids running around, and then home, a movie, a blanket, the fire. I don't have any of that. I live in a very grey city, alone with my geriatric cat, working all day long, not knowing where to go, changing my mind constantly, thinking maybe I should just stay here and keep saving money for a house, drowning in my routines like a little hamster on a wheel. I love my life, but I'm not satisfied yet, because like you, my 20s were spent differently, and now I'm trying to catch up a little.

The truth is that I'll never be where my former classmates who took a different path are, but they will also never be where I am. They have more regrets than me. They look at my life, my freedom, my absence of morning alarm, my joy, my projects, my head full of dreams, and they envy me. I am *that girl* who spent an hour this morning looking up how to move to Barcelona as an entrepreneur within the Schengen space. You are her too, people just won't tell you.

So what do you do now? You find a part-time job you're not going to hate and won't have to take home at night so you can pay bills, you look for your joy until you find it, you explore your interests, figure out your goals, maybe see if you have a (current or potential future) skill you could use to start a side-business, alone or with another person, whether it's baking or tailoring, that you could do routinely without hating yourself after a while, and spend your free time doing exactly what you want. If it fails, the end of the road is very far away and you can always try again.

It won't be a waste of time. That's not how time works.

Love,

Mum

#ask #malks

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