#Cultural Viewpoints

[petitspoussinsbrooklyn]

Fostering cultural awareness from an early age can have a lasting impact on children’s understanding of the world. At a preschool in Brooklyn, New York, children are introduced to diverse cultures, languages, and traditions, allowing them to develop respect and appreciation for the world’s richness and variety.

[blackkatdraws2]

[ORV] Happy (late) Father's Day to Han Myungoh. Spread the word for Men's Mental Health Awareness Month



[aro-culture-is]

Aro culture is I do not know how to state this plainly but

aromantic person is to amatonormativity and atheist is to religion? Like I've seen atheists question religion a lot and they seem unusually well read compared to their religious counterparts and despite knowing more about it, they also have a whole lot of questions most religious people dare not to ask or think about at all. And then there's aros! Between allos and aros, the aros are likely the ones who have read about amatonormativity and I do not think allos even know about the word at all, neither do they question (and probably challenge) it as much as we aros typically do.

Yes I am also atheist! Another A to the list of As that I am.

I'm gonna be totally real, I am leery of takes like that about "religion" because 90+% of the time in atheist spaces I've seen or heard of, it's like... only actually talking about Christianity with a smattering of other religions as viewed by a christo-centric cultural lens.

I think any time someone starts making broad claims about any group being "unusually well read" it's time to take a step back and consider your sampling bias and clustering bias. You likely specifically seek out people who are well read, and end up with sampling bias. Additionally, that sort of community often references within itself, and especially if you follow a group, you see the cluster around that group, which inflates the perceived impression.

Please note, i'm not saying you are like... 100% wronger than any person alive. I'm just saying that's not easily studied by experts, and it's actually quite hard to say anything about these types of metrics without bias.

The point you are making though, I think, may be better expressed by talking about people who leave a common belief system or never belonged to a common belief system in their life. In general, people who intentionally or unintentionally fail to comply with a commonly held opinion could be more likely to spend more time thinking about the nuances of it and related subjects. I think that is a point I could concede is generally true.

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Summary: “So,” she drawls, almost too casually around the lemon lollipop in her mouth as they’re sitting by the fire. “Is it true that you wrote Fix Your Heart while you were recovering from a breakup?” Without even thinking, Kim Dokja slips into his Work Mode to answer her. He angles himself to face her, twisting his body to draw attention to the lines of his slim waist and the jut of his hip, and flashes her his Idol Smile #3. “I’m loyal to my fans, first and foremost,” he says, crinkling his eyes warmly in the way that his fans are crazy about. “I haven’t had the time to dabble with romance with how busy my career has been, but I’m glad that my lyrics resonated enough that they felt right despite that.” Han Sooyoung gapes at him. The lollipop slips right out of her open mouth and clatters onto the dirt. Kim Dokja is a man who has rather clear priorities after his favorite novel comes to life—unfortunately for his companions, informing them about his former idol career is not one of them.

Author: @virotutis-blog1 

Submitter: @anotheraverageotaku

[drowning-in-webnovel-chapters]

Just a pattern I've noticed

[factsilike]

One of the things I very much hate about modern AUs in MDZS is how the fic writers Americanise everything about the characters until the only thing Asian about them is their name.

[castlebyersafterdark]

I want to know what the GA ... really think about the ship at this point? Do they still like the ship and thinks it’s cute because of nostalgia without thinking any deeper? Do they even know what a Byler is? And if so, do they think it’s ridiculous?

I can weigh in on this a little because sometimes I still chat to my friends and fam about the show. Their main response is confusion because they don't understand why I would still be thinking about stranger things years later 😆 😆 I would say that fandom constitutes people who would consider themselves 'fans.' It's a self-proclaimed community. i was always super passionate about ST, but i wasn't part of a dedicated community and I still don't find identity as an official 'Stranger Things Fan' - I just like chatting about it!

so.... friend no.1 thought mike and will would be super cute together as a concept, but hadn't noticed anything beyond will loving mike. no specific attachment to mike and el.

friend no.2 didnt especially think the show was too special. loves the horror metaphor aspect though. overall thinks its a bit tame and gimmicky, prefers weird dark surreal stuff. eleven just "reminds me of matilda" lmaoooooo

my sister!! - recently watched s4, had been putting it off because she thought there were already too many seasons of "eleven just screaming at monsters" lol. LOVED s4 when she finally watched it. ADORES will ("he loves mike right? so cute and heartbreaking") and asked me to send memes of vecna drinking starbucks to offset her fear of him. she is in her thirties.

my mom!!! - took her time with weekly episodes so she could ponder and we would discuss over coffee. usually nervous to put her opinion forward ("you know so much more about film than i do"). felt silly that she didnt see will loved mike on first watch of s4 - said "Its so obvious" on rewatch. on mileven fight in 4.03: "sometimes people grow apart, especially kids". but she believed mike's monologue, agreed it was cheesy but didn't have an explanation. was more interested in how dustin was going to cope going forward (he's always been her big fav. she thinks eddie's uncle will be dustin's replacement father figure cos dustin doesn't have a dad).

verdict:

the difference between GA and fans is how people interact with the pairing, not whether they like it or not.

anon wondered if GA would think bylers are 'ridiculous'. I'd guess that all my friends and fam would think that the concept of shipping itself is ridiculous (or rather, unusual and unnecessary). they wouldn't think mike x will as a romantic relationship is ridiculous, because none of them are homophobic and they love a good love story. my mom still gets wistful about mr rochester and jane eyre if you mention it lol. but they wouldnt allow a fictional romance to negatively influence their lives if it didn't work out how they wanted.

i think this is the key. not that they wouldnt let fiction influence them at all, because art and stories are one of the wonders of life and CAN change lives. but my mom especially is very grounded, and if something didn't work out, she would not let it affect her real life happiness.

Now, Stranger Things can be subtle in it's subtextual themes, but as a follow-able story, it's hardly avant-garde cinema. I truly believe that any idiot can see that mike's monologue was crass - the difference is, the GA have no reason or motivation to figure out WHY.

Writing this post reminded me of watching that sucky s3 finale mileven kiss for the first time and feeling so disappointed. I said 'WHat the fuck was that?!?!?!??!?!!!!1111111" very loudly. But what could I do? So I said 'at least there's always s1 to rewatch' and I moved on.

For the GA, it's the same with Mike's cheesy-ass monologue!!!

And honestly, who can blame them? A show is designed to be watched, and i think its fair enough to sit back and expect the show to explain itself without me having to bend over backwards trying to figure out whether there's a good reason mike was a dick, or why the mileven kiss was so gosh darn lame. This isn't a subtextual aspect of the show, its a major narrative beat. It shouldn't be incomprehensible, but it also shouldn't be figure-out-able because the story is not finished. Even now, I'm well invested, but i don't think it's my job to explain to milevens (or anyone) why mike's monologue sucks. i didn't write it like that, the writers did. it's not for bylers to explain. it's for the writers to explain, in s5.

But milevens can't shout at the writers, can they? And bylers are easy targets because they deign to engage in discourse for free (not free emotionally though). But why? Why be an actual evangelist, converting people to byler? Isn't that the show's job? And why does it even matter to people that some others out there don't seem to understand the characters properly?

Personally I think that if s5 tells byler beautifully, most GA will love it for what it is. Stories are the best ways to change people's hearts and minds about their prejudices. Telling someone ""YOURE HOMOPHOBIC!!!"" isnt going to stop them being homophobic, but telling a beautiful story between characters they care about CAN change people's prejudices. This is the power and purpose of storytelling. But it's the duffers job to deliver it, not ours.

I honestly think there's a disheartening lack of faith in the byler community that the writers could bring home a gorgeous story of queer awakening. Comparing them to other writers who have queerbaited in the past is unfair because they share no correlation other than the fact that they're both TV shows. That's not enough reason to think that Stranger Things will repeat the mistakes of other showrunners. And if it's an issue of self-preservation, then I think we all have a lot to learn from the GA, actually. By all means thrill and revel in the stories that add joy to your life, but do not let the disappointing outcomes ruin you. That's a life-changing skill if you can acquire it.

Oh my goshhhhhh you laid it all outttttt for us! Living for this write-up!!! Thank you for the incredible insight and anecdotes and thoughts!! Letting it sit as a thorough read - THANK YOU LOVE FOR SHARING WITH US ❤️❤️❤️

[blueorchid-95]

How many years have your Summoners been in Askr, yall? I’d say about nine for mine, keeping in track with the books, with the Forging Bonds and Paralogues and stuff sprinkled in between.

[an-ruraiocht]

me: i can be normal about victoria goddard I enjoyed the greenwing & dart books a regular amount this whole extended universe isn't catnip for my brain personally (lying)

[cunninghamchrissie]

why are ppl getting mad at incest in a fictional roman empire universe

are you guys new to earth or smth

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Summary: "So," she drawls, almost too casually around the lemon lollipop in her mouth as they're sitting by the fire. "Is it true that you wrote Fix Your Heart while you were recovering from a breakup?” Without even thinking, Kim Dokja slips into his Work Mode to answer her. He angles himself to face her, twisting his body to draw attention to the lines of his slim waist and the jut of his hip, and flashes her his Idol Smile #3. “I’m loyal to my fans, first and foremost,” he says, crinkling his eyes warmly in the way that his fans are crazy about. “I haven’t had the time to dabble with romance with how busy my career has been, but I’m glad that my lyrics resonated enough that they felt right despite that.” Han Sooyoung gapes at him. The lollipop slips right out of her open mouth and clatters onto the dirt. Kim Dokja is a man who has rather clear priorities after his favorite novel comes to life—unfortunately for his companions, informing them about his former idol career is not one of them.

Author: @virotutis-blog1

Note from submitter: part of a series, but it's the only work so far!

[harminder]

🇮🇹 A view of Altare della Patria 🏛️

[kob131]

So I just took a look at the quote tweets from Pocket Pair's Japanese announcement.

... Holy shit.

So for some background, the general reaction to the lawsuit announcement is pretty spilit but the most vocal people are decrying Nintendo for suing an indie dev like Pocket Pair. Pretty simple reason why, people don't like it when a big corporation starts wielding the law against smaller devs.

...Well, that's a misnomer. Western people don't like that. Or rather, that's their perception of what's going on and thus they have a negative reaction towards Nintendo.

On the Japanese side? The story's completely reversed. People are shitting on Pocket Pair and saying that Nintendo is in the right to do so. Now a lot of people are probably thinking that this is corporate shilling and yes, it is on some level. (Much like how the defense of Palworld is in part shilling for Pocket Pair). And yeah, just like people thinking Nintendo is suing over designs, people are saying Palworld is getting their comeuppence from stealing from Nintendo.

But the majority opinion to their statement (which is translated as follows)-

Today, Nintendo Co., Ltd. and The Pokémon Company announced that they had filed a lawsuit against us for patent infringement. At this time, we have not received the complaint and have not been able to confirm the other party's claims or the details of the patent rights that have been allegedly infringed. As a result, there are no plans to suspend or change the operation and provision of Palworld. Once we receive the complaint, we will take the necessary action. We are a small indie game development company based in Tokyo. Our goal has always been to create fun games. This goal will not change in the future, and we will continue to develop games to bring joy to many gamers. It is unfortunate that this lawsuit may force us to devote more of our time to issues other than game development, but we will do our best to work for our fans and to ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from expressing their free ideas. We apologize for any concern and inconvenience caused to our players and related parties, but we hope that you will continue to enjoy Palworld and support us in the future.

-ranges from:

"Don't drag the indie industry into your shit"

to

"You caused this, you were arrogant: now own it"

to memes mocking them for bringing up the indie bit with a handful defending Pocket pair/attacking Nintendo

If you haven't noticed it- this is almost the exact OPPOSITE reaction in the english speaking world.

It's really shocking to see such a stark contrast on a situation where everyone seemingly has the same info. A friend of mine thinks this is due to a difference in focus between the two groups. The English side sees Palworld as competition for Pokemon to force innovation while the Japanese side sees Palworld as creatively bankrupt.

I think it goes deeper than that, down to the core of the two cultures.

Let's be real, most of the people defending Palworld in the English side are likely Americans. And Americans are, by our nature, disdainful of authority and see more moral legitimacy in the underdog. It fits with our own founding story with teh Revolutionary War and the Founders against the corrupt and powerful Britan, leading us to be a highly individualist culture with such a disdain for big entities.

On the other hand, Japan is a culture defined heavily by respect for authority and the morality being with the leaders. They, to the best of my knowledge, value social cohesion and unity above the individual. The reason why so many main characters coming from Japan feel like bland self-insert MCs is actually because they're made to appeal to people who want to mesh well with others and interact without conflict (a sharp contrast to Americans who value heroes CLASHING with others).

By our very cultures, we view the same situation in opposing ways because our cultures, due to growing from such massively different circumstances, are effectively polar opposites. To us, it's the big bad corporation bulling the noble underdog. To them (as much as I can assume), it's the slimy thief getting caught by the big noble man and getting his just desserts. Yet we still react the same way- with chaotic scrambling to justify our viewpoints while widely refusing nuance and paitence.

This is just simply fascinating to me. It's always so intriguing to see how America's and Japan's opposing values clash with each other, showing human beings react the same way but saying different words.

[ride351-surf-trips-portugal]

This is one of our favorite viewpoints over Lisbon downtown! Join us https://ride351.com/culture-experiences-portugal/

[darkfictionjude]

yes he tried but he knew that lazlo was uncomfortable with being pressured to be a family so he didn't force it. It's not like he was rude but it's more a roommates situation where you say hi, a quick smile and that's that.

That makes sense, but I guess I'm confused why Antonio sees them as siblings and considers it “immoral and sinful�� for them to date if Luce and Lazlo are distant, don't spend time together, and don't have much of a relationship (even a friendship)? It seems like there's a clear separation between Lazlo and the family.

Are feelings and beliefs always rational? Do parents not see what they want to see? They are human and fallible after all

And you have to remember Antonio is a deeply religious man as well as family in the mafia is much more strict. If a man has two kids he considers his own how does he not view them as siblings? To him Lazlo is as a son to him as Luce is his child, he hopes they’ll one day become closer, that Lazlo will not be so closed off anymore

In his eyes they are siblings who don’t get along

[sorrellegiance]

my friend's group grad shoot is starting late so now I'm just on a bench watching a pick-up cricket game right at a pedestrian intersection and man. this seems a little irresponsible but also i wanna try :00