#I never studied German officially

[evilphrog]

Überwald. Something from the back of my language classes is stirring, and…

Did he really make a land full of big forests that foreigners barely understand, and then name it Big Forest? And the whole thing hinges on a common English misunderstanding of what über actually means, with the proper translation (Over Forest) being a direct commentary on the internal politics of the place?

Godsfuckingdammit terry!

[girlactionfigure]

Me: I don’t deny your identity. I acknowledge Palestinians exist today.

Them: Jesus was a Palestinian, not a Jew!

Me: Well, no - he was a Jewish rabbi. He had a bris, kept Shabbat, kept kosher, & his “Last Supper” was a Passover Seder. Besides, nobody would be called “Palestinian” for ~1,900 years after #Jesus died.

Them: Jews are #Khazars with no history in Palestine!

Me: Well, no - millions of DNA samples have now scientifically proven that Ashkenazi Jews (like their Sephardi & Mizrahi brothers & sisters) originate from the Levant (Israel).

Ashkenazi Jews migrated to the Rhineland (western #Germany) between 800-900 CE. 

#Yiddish - the language spoken by #Ashkenazi Jews for a millennia - is a mixture of Jews’ original Hebrew & adopted #German.

Meanwhile, there is no evidence of any Khazar influence on Ashkenazi customs, language, or culture.

The #Khazar tale (claiming some or many Turkic Khazars converted to #Judaism), while interesting, is not supported by any archeological evidence, and can be considered nothing more than a story.

Besides, it’s unassailable that the Ashkenazim were living ~1,500 miles from the Khazars, which may as well have been on the moon in the Middle Ages.

Them: Palestinians are Canaanites, the original inhabitants of the Land!

Me: Well, no - there’s zero evidence the Palestinians are Canaanites. This theory followed other similarly false claims over the past several decades that the Palestinians descend from the Philistines (an ancient Aegean Greek “sea people”) and even the Jebusites - a people for whom there is no evidence outside of the Bible of their having ever existed (if they did, they have been gone for at least 3,000 years).

One thing is clear, all of these recent tall tales about Palestinians’ ancient roots in “Palestine” were created in an attempt to delegitimize the State of Israel & not as some academic attempt to find Palestinian roots.

The #Canaanites (who spoke a language similar to #Hebrew, not #Arabic) have been extinct for more than 3,000 years; and there are no #Canaanite influences in any modern Palestinian language, culture, cuisine, customs, or religion.

Furthermore, DNA studies now prove Canaanites are closest in descension to modern-day Armenians & Western Iranians - but, culturally, there has not been a “Canaanite” people in ~3,000 years.

Meanwhile, there is a practically infinite amount of archeological, biblical & non-biblical text, and architectural evidence proving beyond any doubt that Jews lived in the Land of Israel continuously for more than 3,200 years.

Arabs only started arriving in Eretz Israel in significant numbers during the Arab Imperial conquest out of the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula in the mid 7th century CE when the Land was still majority-occupied by ~350,000 Jews.

Arab conquerers #colonized the Land of Israel & subjugated the Jewish majority.

That’s right, the Arabs were the #colonizers - this is historical fact no matter how much that might make your head hurt.

Them: The Jews are foreigners who stole Palestinian land!

Me: Ok, now you’ve officially ticked me off by repeatedly denying MY identity - one that was OBVIOUS to everyone before the last ~55 years when KGB-inspired propaganda went into mass effect in an effort to delegitimize Israel.

Can’t say the same about your identity … even though I keep trying to offer to respect it!

The Arabs only ruled Eretz Israel after conquering it in the 7th century & until they were kicked out by the Seljuks ~400 years later. Never during that time, did they even attempt to establish an Arab or #Muslim state or capital anywhere in Eretz Israel (Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran, and while the city is holy to Sunni Muslims, it is not holy to Shia Muslims).

And during the time of Arab rule, there was obviously no state or country called “Palestine.”

Then, during the 400 years before the start of the British Mandate around 1920, the Land was a distant & severely neglected province of the Ottoman #Turkish Empire.

In fact, in the late 19th century, as Jews began moving back to their homeland in larger numbers, there were only ~200,000 people living there (mostly a sparse, nomadic population), and Jews were the majority in #Jerusalem.

Post-WWI, the League of Nations (the precursor to the UN) legally granted Britain a "sacred trust" called the Mandate for Palestine (a name given to the land by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 135 CE).

The Mandate for Palestine was the least controversial of the 15 post-WWI mandates because everyone KNEW Jews were from “Palestine.”

So the Mandate for Palestine, which included the legal requirement for Britain to aid in the establishment of a Jewish National Home, passed unanimously by the League of Nations.

Among other things, the unanimously passed & legally-binding Mandate recognized “the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.”

Besides, before the Jews started returning to the Land in large numbers in the late 19th century, it had become almost entirely war-torn ruins, arid desert & malarial swamps.

But the returning Jews were determined to rebuild their homeland; and the evidence is undeniable that Jewish labor & the Western technology they brought along helped to make the desert bloom again.

The result of a new booming economy in the midst of mostly rural, undeveloped land is no surprise; and hundreds of thousands of Arabs from neighboring lands immigrated to Mandate Palestine in the early to mid 20th century.

In fact, once Arabs began to rebel against the Jews (with pogroms & full-blown barbaric massacres on a particularly wide scale in 1920, 1921, 1929, and in 1936-1939), they made extremely clear to the British that they resented the name “Palestine,” which they claimed (incorrectly) was a modern Zionist invention.

For example, at the British Peel Commission in 1937 (looking into Arab riots from the year before), local Arab leader Audi Bey Abdul-Hadi testified that “[t]here is no such country [as Palestine]! Palestine is a term the Zionists invented!”

Again, during the 1946 Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry that was set-up to make recommendations for the territory, Arab-American historian Philip Hitti testified, “There is no such thing as Palestine in [Arab] history, absolutely not.”

The Arab position was not particularly surprising, as "Palestine” is not an Arab word (Arabic does not even have a letter “P” or a sound for “P,” which is why you often hear Arabs today pronounce it with a “B” as “Balastine”).

The Arabs in the Land at that time mostly identified with their local clan & otherwise considered themselves “Arabs” of “Southern Syria.”

In fact, just about anyone who was called a “Palestinian” pre-1948 was a #Jew.

This is why nobody made any attempt to create a “Palestinian state” during the 19 years between 1948 and 1967 in which #Egypt occupied #Gaza & #Jordan occupied the “#WestBank.”

The hard truth - even though I’m still acknowledging a #Palestinian people exists today - is that an Arab “Palestinian” identity was created for the first time in any signifiant way at the height of the Cold War in the mid-1960s & at the behest of the #Soviet#KGB, which wanted to expand its influence in the region, undermine the only democracy in the Middle East, and which had been repeatedly embarrassed by Israeli victories over invading Soviet-backed & Soviet-armed Arab states.

So the KGB wrote the ridiculous “Palestine Liberation Organization” (PLO) charter & molded Yasser Arafat at what was known as “KGB U” in #Moscow to use #terror & #propaganda to destabilize Israel.

Over the decades since then, many Arabs in the Land have come to self-identify as “Palestinians.”

Even among Palestinians today, however, many still identify with their clan over a separate “Palestinian” nationality (e.g., the clans do not intermarry & many are constantly engaged in some degree of violent conflict).

And the 2 million+ Arabs citizens of the State of Israel (who have equal protection under the law & more rights & privileges than they would have in any Arab and/or Muslim country on Earth) almost exclusively identify as either #Israeli-#Arabs or as simply #Israelis - not as #Palestinians.

Them: #Jews … I mean #Zionists … are bad, ok? Just ask the UN.

Me: Right. Just ask the #UN 

Captain Allen

@CptAllenHistory

[janayuga]

Inofficial-official continuation of my older pokevillains post.

I will yet again push my personal pokevillains agenda and spam u with my headcanons.

Also reminder that villains are different ages here- for example Ghetsis is around 30-40 here while Cyrus is 18-22.

Archie

- was a grunt for Team Rocket back in the day and worked under Giovanni’s leadership

- was very popular among his peers for his open and friendly nature

- secretly dated Maxie

- only initially joined Team Rocket for a quick buck and never agreed with their philosophy

- secretly released pokémon from time to time

Maxie

- was a low level researcher/scientist and also worked under Giovanni’s leadership

- had a deep hatred for Archer ( gay-gay violence)

- lived off of caffeine and instant noodles

- assigned Archie to his own projects so they can spend time together

Ghetsis

- was a history professor in Unova

- is of royal descent (not my own hc but german pokewiki claims this for some reason and i’m not gonna question it)

- being closeted af and having a severe lack of bitches makes him unbearable to be around

- always wears long clothing and gloves because of his several injuries inflicted by his (mistreated) Hydreigon

Giovanni

- since his mother is still the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni is living his life to the fullest

- this fucker is spoiled rotten and has an ego the size of mars, beware

- went on a 6-month vacation/visit to Alola and dated Nanu there

- he dont know much much a bag of milk costs sm

Cyrus

- he moved out from his parents place the second he had enough cash saved up

- goes to university and studies Computer Science/ or Physics and Mathematics

- aces all his classes so he has a lot of spare time to focus on his special interest in Sinnoh Legends

- only leaves his apartment for grocery shopping or mandatory classes

[bsof-maarav]

Editor’s Note: Sanne DeWitt is a microbiologist, geneticist, researcher, and author of a memoir: “I Was Born In An Old Age Home”. She has lived in Berkeley, California since 1957, where she moved for advanced studies in microbiology and genetics, and worked there until her retirement. The views expressed here are those of the author. View more opinion on CNN.CNN — 

In 1957, I moved to Berkeley, California: a bastion of American liberalism that squarely aligns with my progressive values, and a hub of American scholarship that nurtured my academic quest and professional growth. I came here for advanced studies in microbiology and genetics. Since then, I have lived, worked as a scientist and retired in this community.

Over the 65 years that I have called this beautiful area home, I have occasionally encountered antisemitism, but these one-off incidents never succeeded in destroying my spirit. When I was four years old, Nazis burst into my bedroom and sent me and my family to Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp. We were soon released and I was smuggled out of Germany by a Christian woman. After this harrowing experience, not much in the Bay Area could scare me.

But since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the hatred towards Jews that I have seen in Berkeley terrifies me more than anything I have experienced while living here. I am still reeling from being called a liar at a Berkeley City Council meeting, where I asked for a proclamation to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day and spoke about October 7. The Jews at that meeting were circled and called “Zionist pigs” by menacing protesters.

We are approaching the holiday of Passover, which commemorates the freedom of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and our formation as a free Jewish people in our own land. But this Passover is like no other in recent history, with scores of hostages still held in Gaza and Jews worldwide fearful for our future — including Jews in the US. We are facing the worst global antisemitism since the Holocaust and while it is not state-sanctioned as Nazism was, it is a threat going unchecked in California’s East Bay.

It is incredibly painful to see my neighbors vilify Jews, tear down posters of Jewish hostages in Gaza and not believe Jewish rape victims. In this hotbed, hatred and hostility have become normalized. Families have moved their children out of public schools. Jewish businesses have been vandalized and boycotted. And lies about Jews and Israel have gone unchecked and unchallenged in our public forums. Our local Jewish community is both horrified and petrified.

This onslaught of Jewish hatred cannot become the new normal. This epidemic must be treated as seriously as all other hatreds that our society is confronting, such as racism and homophobia. We need more education about Judaism and how the long, sordid history of antisemitism ties into other forms of hatred in our public schools.

We need colleges and universities to unequivocally denounce hate speech and actions directed at Jews. We need public officials to urge mutual respect, understanding and civil discourse during city council and town hall meetings.

I have seen where unchecked antisemitism can lead, when people will do nothing — or worse, join the mainstream, such as our German neighbors during Nazism. This Passover, I resolve with whatever time I have left in this world to fight for the safety of the Jewish people, in Berkeley and around the globe.

During Passover, we are commanded to tell the story of the exodus out of Egypt to our children. We believe in the lasting power of sharing this history with younger generations and reflecting on this hopeful new beginning. There is also lasting power in sharing my history as a Jewish refugee — and I invite my Berkeley neighbors to hear my story. Without understanding and acceptance, we are enslaved by our biases.

The hatred, violence and bigotry against the Jewish community cannot continue — for our shared future, we must confront it and root it out.

[gatheringbones]

[“The Nazis’ adoption of the US pseudoscience of eugenics has been well documented. They borrowed US race laws and also the US strategy of continental imperialism, ethnically cleansing the land in order to populate it with white settlers, what the Nazis called Lebensraum. Less well known is Nazi officials’ interest in US racially determined immigration laws and citizenship requirements.

Writing four years after the 1924 immigration act, Adolf Hitler, in the unpublished 1928 sequel to Mein Kampf, admiringly characterized the United States as “a race-state,” referring to the US racist immigration measures that began with Chinese exclusion in 1882 and expanded to other nationalities in 1924. Hitler wrote, “American immigration policies provide confirmation that the previous ‘melting pot’ approach presupposes humans of a certain similar racial basis,” and that approach “immediately fails as soon as fundamentally different types of humans are involved.”

When the Nazi lawyers began studying US race laws in depth in 1936, they were surprised that racial exclusion dated to the founding, one remarking that such was not common at the time. Yale law professor James Q. Whitman writes in his important book Hitler’s American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law, “The two new Nazi anti-Jewish measures that we remember today as the Nuremberg Laws . . . were the product of many months of Nazi discussion and debate that included regular, studious, and often admiring engagement with the race law of the United States.”

In a global history for German readers published in 1934, Nazi historian Albrecht Wirth hailed the founding of the United States: “The most important event in the history of the states of the Second Millennium . . . was the founding of the United States of America. The struggle of the Aryans for world domination received thereby its strongest prop.” Another Nazi-era book in 1936, the translated title of which was The Supremacy of the White Race, characterized the US founding as “the first fateful turning point” in the worldwide rise of white supremacy, informing readers that the United States had assumed “the leadership of the white peoples” after World War I, without which “a conscious unity of the white race would never have emerged.”]

roxanne dunbar-ortiz, from not a nation of immigrants: settler colonialism, white supremacy, and a history of erasure and exclusion, 2021

[operafantomet]

Hi there. Idk if this question has been asked before, but where do they find the fabric for the mandarin coat?

I'd say there are as many answers as there are versions of the costume. But some pointers:

Many of the early versions were made with partly antique embroidered textiles from the Qing dynasty. These were a popular collector's item in the 19th and 20th century, to the point where some of them were never intended for use in China, they were made as souvenirs. The original design by Maria Bjørnson suggests antique Chinese fabrics, with a hem showing the classic water-and-mountain motif, the collar being a cloud collar usually seen in women's attires, and the hat a decorated winter hat.

Even if all these costumes are made from scratch rather than bought, I thought it could be interesting to compare it to a similar authentic Chinese robe - without the collar - dated to the 1890s and sold by Augusta Auctions some years ago:

This robe has a badge - an insignia of rank and position of a Mandarin official in the Qing dynasty. These were used both on the chest and back, and the bird or otherwise animal told onlookers all they needed to know, if the person was a civil or military employee, and how high up in the system they were. The badge is not featured in Bjørnson's design, but it has showed up in a few costumes. Maybe most proninently in Michael Crawford's original West End costume, which Bjørnson would have supervised:

To my eye it looks like many of the elder costumes (up until c. 2005) used a lot of antique or vintage fabrics, but used on a new base. Details to look for is distinct gold couching, re-used badges, special dragon embroideres, antique collars and tabards, fringework etc. I am quite convinced some of these are antique or vintage details, like the China blue tabard with water and mountain motif used by John Owen-Jones in West End c. 2002:

The cuff and details on one of the original Australian robes, and continued to shine in the World Tour up until 2015 or so:

The tabard of the Swedish/Danish version, first made in 1989 and still in use in 2019 (maybe not too visible in the stage photo, but definitely when seen up close backstage!):

As a contrast, newer costumes tends to be brassier and bigger, with less embroidery and more appliquées and trims. It looks to me like they mostly rely on new fabrics and materials, maybe with some elements of elder embroidery. This collar made for Ben Lewis in West End is a good example:

And the recent German version, here seen on Mathias Edenborn in Hamburg. It's a costume I got to study up close and I couldn't spot any particular details that looked old:

And this Broadway robe with what looks like a very new firefly pattern brocade and embroidered gold trims appliquéed on:

So why this change? I guess it depends on what is available. Qing textiles has become more rare on the open market, and more expensive. Elder textiles are also more fragile, while new textiles will handle wear and tear, dry cleaning etc. better. Some of these costumes are used on stage up to eight times a week, after all.

Due to the fragility of elder textiles, they may have to cover the embroidery with fine mesh. This dulls down the effect and makes the costume heavier, so it's not always ideal. Better then to use new stuff. Here's an early 1990 West End one covered with mesh, to protect the embroidery:

A last aspect is of course that by using elder textiles you may put specific meaning-bearing motifs on which ideally shouldn't be there. The beautiful embroidered Indian fabric with elephants and swastikas - in India a symbol of the sun and good luck - which appeared in an unfortunate Danish Elissa skirt is a good example. Luckilly the costume crew knew what they were doing by including the five bats - for good luck - on this Broadway Mandarin robe:

If you plan on making your own costume, I would say: Create the base of a Chinese brocade (silk or synthetic) with predominantely black or dark blue base and polychrome pattern. As an inspiration, here's the robe, collar and tabard - fairly undecorated - in making for Scott Davies (top) and Ben Lewis (bottom) in West End, with photos generously shared by head-of-costume Ceris Donovan:

For the back: Go for a main motif, and build everything around that. And layer! Gems upon trims upon embroideries upon fabrics. The more structure, embroidery, couching and details the various materials has, the better. And then add some on top of that.

Note that it varies if a production do both the robe, cloud collar and tabard. Some production only do two of these, some do all three. But whatever the case, the costume with hat should create angles, texture and lines that makes him stand out from the previous scene, where he wore black and white and tight-fitting clothes.

In West End I think they source it in the many amazing fabric shops in Brixton and Soho, including Borovicks, as well as antique dealers. For Broadway I know a lot was bought in the fabric district in NYC. Other productions may be equipped with fabrics and trims from these, or they may source their own materials locally. I also noticed that the Chinese (left) and Japanese (right) productions tend to use more red and purple fabrics for their versions, which I would think was also locally sourced:

So yeah. As many answers as there are versions out there...

[apocrypals]

my understanding of the apocrypha were most were recognized as canon by the Roman Catholic Church and other Orthodox Churches but as I'm trying to find more information online I'm getting more confused about what's considered canon by who (mostly the Roman Catholic Church as that is what I was raised in) do you have resources that clearly explain and/or list which denominations recognize which apocrypha?

So there’s a distinction to be made between what we on the show call capital-A Apocrypha and lower case-a apocrypha.

The capital-A type is also known as the Deuterocanon, and it represents the various late-era books that are present in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures called the Septuagint, but which are *not* included in the authoritative Hebrew text of the Bible known as the Masoretic text. (NB: the Septuagint is many centuries older than the Masoretic text.)

When Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, he separated these texts and put them at the end as being worthy of study but not as authoritative as the other material. Later American English editions of the Bible would subsequently cut the Apocrypha/Deuterocanon altogether to save on printing costs. So if you grew up in a Protestant church and don’t know what Bel and the Dragon is, that’s why.

These books include Tobit, Judith, and 1 and 2 Maccabees, among about a dozen others. You will find these in pretty much any Catholic Bible.

In addition, the Eastern Orthodox Church accepts a small handful more, including 3 and 4 Maccabees, 1 and 2 Esdras, and a bonus Psalm. If you buy a copy of a study version of the NRSV such as a NOAB or the new SBL study Bible, you should find that it contains all of the Deuterocanon of both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Where things start to get broader is in some of the Oriental Orthodox churches, most notably the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which has over 80 books in its broader canon (numbers differ), including Jubilees and 1 Enoch.

Where the confusion comes, I think, is from the fact that the word apocrypha is also used to refer to works that were never part of any official canon despite their popularity and influence. Elements of these books have come into Catholic belief through tradition, however, even though they have never been official scripture. The Infancy Gospel of James is a major example of a book that has never been canon but which nevertheless has had an outsize influence on Catholic teaching.

Wikipedia has a chart that you may or may not find useful depicting which books are canon where

A short rule of thumb is this: the only Apocrypha considered canon by any church is Jewish in origin. There is no New Testament apocrypha held as canon by any major church

[didalexiabreakupwitholgayet]

So I’m English and I’ve never really studied Spanish at school or anything (I chose German instead)

But lemme tell u - it is such a pretty language to listen to, even if I have no idea what any of youse r saying

And Catalan?? Not a bloody clue what Barça is saying half the time but it’s SO PRETTY

haha, i'm biased but i agree and do think spanish and catalan have more lyrical qualities compared to english (sorry, no offence!)

however, i do highly encourage you to perhaps take a basic course in spanish, if you have the time. it's actually easy to pick up if you already know english once you understand some pronunciation and grammar rules. and there are lots of similarities! in fact, based on english, i bet you can understand these words in spanish 😉:

gol

fútbol

botas

copa

penalti

falta

and you end up gaining so much more of an appreciation for the culture too 😄

anyway, i'll leave you with one of my favourite press conferences in spanish with irene and alexia and the added bonus of alexia speaking in catalan (something that is taboo when you are representing spain as part of rfef in an official capacity 😌)

[after-hours-art]

Coffee Pot (pt.2)

Pt.1

Pairing: Kyoya Ootori x fem!reader

Genre: fluff

Warnings: swearing

As Kyoya promised you, he provided you with the peaceful space on the back of the music room number three and you, fulfilling your part of the deal, were helping him handle the finances of the Host Club. And you had to admit that for as much of rich lifestyle you have seen in Ouran High School, the amount of money Tamaki was spending on the club was sometimes making you read the number twice and run in through Kyoya as you couldn't believe in what you were seeing. The deal seemed to work for both of you.

For Kyoya you became his right hand, sometimes even some kind of his knight in shining armour when you could save the day with something as simple as putting the tissues on the documents so he won't damage them by putting cups of coffee on them, tired after serving in the club. Kyoya found you... surprisingly useful to himself, even if your grammar skills in German left a lot to pray for.

Kyoya found you many things, what was surprise for him as he never seemed interested particularly in anyone. But maybe it was the way you wrote down on the papers, that small neat handwriting of yours. Or the mugs of coffee and weird variations of tea you were bringing him if he seemed tired. Even the way you walked past him on the corridors, almost acting like you didn't know him, always made him think of you. He kept thinking of you to the point he invited you over to his mansion.

As the school year passed by, and as an official Host Club member, you were dragged by the boys to the hotel where Haruhi was working for the summer. You smiled apologeticly when you showed up with the boys at the door. You were asked (forced) to go with them since Tamaki believed that if Haruhi had an opinion of other female she'll be more likely to spend more time with them. That way you ended up in the one room with Kyoya, as he insisted "on behalf of Host Club's finances it's better if you'll stay with him", the one of the rooms with only one bed.

You sat on the bed with a laptop near you as you chuckled, thinking of how terrified your grandmother would be if they found out. She'd probably kill you and then Kyoya. You stared typing something in the finance document, each boy financed this trip on their own but you needed to prepare for next semester, which knowing Tamaki will require huge budget for Christmas and Halloween parties since Host Club wanted to add a bit of foreign traditions to their repertoire. As you opened your written notes that Kyoya demanded you to run, along with his laptop, you kept borrowing from him since your own broke down. Kyoya entered the room with two white cups in his hands.

- Für Sie - he said and placed your cup on your notebook.

- But not on the notebook. Do you want our budget notes to be soaked in coffee? - you scolded Kyoya as you pulled a tissue from your bag to protect the papers.

- It's not coffee. - he says blankly.

- No? - you pout, unknowingly melting his heart.

- Nein. Try to take your studies seriously for once. - Kyoya rolled his eyes.

- I'm trying! I'm not telling you to learn hard-ass language (author's note: Sorry, German speakers, German is incredibly hard)

- Because I already know it. - Kyoya sat next to you, completely ignoring the fact that you were still in your pj's. - How's the budgeting for the next semester going?

- We're screwed. Tamaki already asked me to include a huge Christmas and Halloween party since it was such success last year.

- Tch. Idiot. He's westernizing us too much.

- He'll be fine. It was successful, after all.

- You didn't have to wear weird anime cosplay. - Kyoya hissed at you.

- Oh, shut up. You looked great as Sebastian Michaelis from "Kuroshitsuji".

Ootori raised his eyebrows.

- So... I looked great to you?

- I... - you blushed and looked back at the numbers on your paper. Kyoya only chuckled.

- I'll take it as a compliment. Keep up the good work. And next semester will be successful. - he pats your shoulder and is about to leave the room when you call his name.

- Oi, Kyoya! What about my coffee?

- If you drink too much caffeine, it can cause health problems such as anxiety or insomnia. - he said in a serious tone. - I'd prefer our assistant manager not to have problems with sleeping or anxiety.

You opened your eyes wider. Did he just say that he cares about you and your health?

- What? You look like if I just said it all in German. - Kyoya scoffed and walked out of the room. Your eyes followed his person as you had to admit he looked good without his school uniform. More human, less machine-like. Almost handsome to you.

***

As the Moon raised on the dark sky, you drank another glass of the champagne that twins brought with them. You allowed yourself to let go for one night, and as you knew that Kyoya was about to do something for Tamaki, you had nothing else to do. The boys clapped as you finished your fourth glass. Weird taste of alcohol burned your throat, but you only laughed as it was one of almost non-existent situations when you could actually let go and have fun with people your age. You swinged around with Kaoru as door to the room opened with loud slam. Kyoya, surprisingly wearing only his elegant pants and no shirt, stood like frozen staring at the twins, Mori and Honey.

- What the fuck are you doing? She's... - he stopped as you looked in your direction. - I left you alone for 5 minutes as now you seem more drunk than sober and under the influence of something! - he said, the tone of his voice could unravel that he was pissed.

- In my defense, you left me unsupervised! - you tried to defeat the accusations.

- Like I care! - Kyoya grabbed your wrist and pulled you behind himself, out of the twins' room. He dragged you back to your shared room. He looked at you as he rolled his eyes as you smiled at him.

- Don't smile like an idiot! They could get you drunk! You could've been taken advantage of! - the light reflected in his dark eyes as he yelled at you. But despite all the yelling he cared. He cared a lot. Almost as much as Tamaki cared about Haruhi.

- Are you worried about me, Herr Kyoya? - you smiled and tilted your head to the side.

- N-no. Well, I care but only because you're a female left alone with four men!

- Those men are your friends, don't you trust them? - you asked, sitting the edge of the bed.

- I trust them, but... - Kyoya stopped and just stared at you.

- But?

- But... can't you simply appreciate it when someone cares about you?! You know what, just... just go sleep. - he left the room, slamming the door loudly behind him. You only fell on your back onto the soft bed. The behaviour of Kyoya was so surprising. You would've never expected him to act this way towards you, towards Haruhi, yes, but not towards you. You curled up on the bed and, put down with the amount of alcohol you've drank, you drifted off to sleep.

***

The next day, you were surprisingly woken up by comforting the smell of coffee. Coffee, which you couldn't get in the inn for the past two days. Small, metal coffee pot that could fit about two small cups of coffee was waiting for you at the nightstand along with a small pink sticky note, apparently taken from your own sticky note collection. Driven by the curiosity, you picked up the note. You frowned, trying to read.

"Ich hat was ich gemacht, weil ich hat das für dich gemacht, Meine Dame"

You sighted and yelled.

- Kyoya, you idiot! You darn know that I don't know German!

You couldn't see Ootori, who was leaning onto the door frame with a small smile on his face as he heard you yell. He knew it'll take you a few days to know what he had written. Especially now that he took your phone and you had no access to the dictionary.

[fainthedcherry]

When I was a child in 2013, visiting Nickelodeon's site and finding a treasure-trove of Spongebob, Winx and TMNT flash games was like magic to me. BUT MAN. The TMNT flash games are one of the best ever to me I've played in my life. (on an aesthetic stand-point! Turtle Tactics and Dark Horizons are so awesome man, legendary flash games to me.)

Since I am utterly autistic about 4 green alien turtles and their rat dad...Here we are again. With me posting OC cringe 2016 me would've killed myself over :V (cry about it 11 yo/ me, afraid of cringe culture back then, it's DEAD NOW)

Gonna sneak-post my redo of that ancient drawing I did of Alex 2 years ago, for the base-post : D

2 years ago, I used flashpoint to replay it for the first time in years and I remember crying of glee LOL (I still play Dark Horizons and turtle tactis to this day btw). I played Dark Horizons and Turtle Tactics and also TMNT: Throw Back (NO I DID NOT NAME THIS LIKE A MEME THIS IS ITS NAME. I STILL BURST INTO LAUGHTER LIKE A CHILD OVER THE NAME AGING POORLY DUE TO INTERNET LINGO)

Those 2 flash games are just so...Technically advanced?? For its time?? LIKE A FULLY FLEDGED 3D FLASH GAME WITH UNITY ENGINE BASIS? DAMN. And then Dark Horizons? CHEF'S KISS I LOVE THAT GAME SO MUCH. AESTHETICALLY AND THE COMBAT FEELS RLLY NICE TO ME IMO, AND JUST...Everything about THAT flash game, god TIMELESS CLASSIC I COULD YAP ON FOR HOURS ABOUT THIS NO JOKE.

I am enthralled by the designs and art of Dark Horizons, it's why I made this drawing. The game just..Speaks to me on so many levels. IT'S JUST SO PLEASING TO SEE ALL THE ARTWORK I EXTRACTED. As far to my knowledge- it never got released, so I might make a post of just a few favourites I liked from the game. :D

I just wonder if I can post those in the first place, it's after all, not my artwork, from a flash game, and TMNT, so yeah, legal IP and stuff. I unfortunately don't know who the artist if of the flash games, but if I can find that out via googling or digging for credits in the game or the files, I'll see if I can credit them, so that posting will be fairly accredited!!

OH YEAH RIGHT ALSO QUICK BANTER ABT ART SORRY I AM VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THOSE FLASH GAMES AS YOU CAN TELL,,,

I studied the in-game sprites for a good few hours back then, and did my best to replicate it to the best of my abilities!! I think Mushu maybe could've been done better looking back at it, but I think it was the best that I could do back then. :D Plus, I remember being really happy, excited and proud of this piece, as it reflected something, my childhood self always wanted: For Alex to like.."fake" being an official character LOL. I had sooo many dreams where Alex was hanging out with the turtles and Ninjago and throwing in Power Rangers for good measure, just...Everything I liked as a child, I somehow connected in my dreams via either "OH YEAH THE RAINBOW FAIRY!" or "OH YEAH SUDDENLY PORTAL AND MY MARY-SUES JUST BRAVE IT WHILST THE OFFICIAL CHARACTERS DRAMATICALLY TELL THEM NOT TO GO"

^I had vivid and....Creative dreams as a child to say the least, sometimes even Darth Vader and Eggman appeared as the bad guys, despite TMNT and Power Rangers and Ninjago w/ the snakes and lord Garmadon or however you spell him (I never checked + I'm German so ofc his name might be different in english)- I- do I have to go on about the dreams I FULLY remember I had, as a 6-9 yo/, until I told myself at 10 how embarassing my dreams are and stopped doing so? I DIGRESS. I..Need to be more professional in these, instead of such pure fandom trash oml, I feel bad for whoever actually has to read through my blatant autistic interests as a child and thinking "wtf is he on about" dfgklfdg

ANYWAY NEKST POST IS THE BASE. I SWEAR. SORRY I LOVE RAMBLING

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 17 December 1933, sexual contact between men was re-criminalised in the USSR, after it had been decriminalised in 1922 in the wake of the 1917 revolution (content note for physical and sexual violence). Authorities claimed that homosexuality was the result of bourgeois Western and German fascist influence, and the official Soviet newspaper Pravda published an article which ended with the slogan: “Destroy homosexuality and fascism will disappear!” From the beginning of 1934, gay men began to be arrested in large numbers in major Russian cities and sent to the gulags. One prisoner, Valery Klimov, wrote about the treatment gay detainees received: "there were about 10 occasions when gays were murdered before my eyes. One was beaten to death in a prison in Sverdlovsk. There were 100 men in our cell; three or four raped him every day and then chucked him under the bunks. It was bestial, a nightmare. Once 10 of them raped him and then jumped on his head. I nearly went mad there; my hair turned grey. That's how people lose their sanity; many never recover even after they leave.” While lesbianism was never prohibited, and some masculine lesbians were valued in the military, many lesbians did still suffer persecution such as termination of studies or jobs, bullying, threats to remove custody of their children or being committed to psychiatric facilities. This is a short account of the human impact the 1933 law had: https://libcom.org/history/gay-gulag Pictured: prisoners in a gulag https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2163605933824545/?type=3

[fantomette22]

And here’s a bloodborne crows headcanons drawing no one ask for!

Yeah I headcanons that some characters used to have some pet crows but it’s mostly a references for my fic verse too.

So I don’t have names for all the crows but I have a couple of ideas already. If you have ideas too pls share I’m listening.

Let’s begin with Cainhurst! 🛡️

📚🦉Ok Beltran from the cut content! Not sure he’s still alive during old hunters time but basically I imagined he was the (first?) crow master of Cainhurst.

🐦‍⬛⚔️Vledemyr my oc, my fav cainhurst knight! The current crow master. (Maria & Annalise’s cousin too) He was the one in charged of them before he become captain of the royal guard, he actually have lots of them (and they all love him a lot) but his very first crow is Corvus, the crow on his shoulder.

👑🕊️Ok so Annalise was offered an Albino crow, because she’s the princess and future Queen you see. *Check notes* hm Yuki is a possible name but idk either smt Japanese or slavic who mean snow or fit with cainhurst aesthetic idk.

👑🐦‍⬛ Ah Charles (oc based on the cainhurst portrait too, king consort when Annalise was Queen). So when he marry her and was crowned he was offered a baby leucistic crow (that’s why it’s brown, it’s a loose of melanine like albinism bur not complete the the eyes aren’t red or the skin pink for exemple), he was so confused about it like you can see XD probably except a hound or smt (in his dream he would have wish for a lion but there’s no lions at Cainhurst since like 60+ years or smt)

🐦‍⬛🌕🐦‍⬛Maria have 2-3 crows (the ones at the research hall you know 😢 minus the one with the guidance rune that belong to Ludwig like you can see) As for the names I was hesitating between Hugin & Munin (Odin’s crows) or Phobos & Deimos (Mars’moon) for the 2 crows siblings (well I hc Maria study astronomy so… heheh also her third one is the one German is holding x) yeah missing a leg I know. Ok also after Maria passed away the crows escape from the research hall and freak Gehrman out! They wanted to say to him hello or called his named and because crows can mimics sound and voices they took Maria’s voice 💀 he thought he was going crazy for a few mins before he found them… but really it annoyed more Laurence XD the crows really went to harass him (they know what’s up. Or didn’t take well he put them in cages or smt, or you know because of Maria. It got to the point Laurence almost wanted them dead 💀

Fortunately Gehrman managed to made them go with the very first official hunter of hunter, he passed to him the mercy blade as well.

🐥Ah Voron my boy! Aka future bloody crow🩸🐦‍⬛ (No I am not detailing the entire backstory here! And yes his name means raven/crow I KNOW!) also the red of the cap don’t appear much sorry… thanks the scan.

✨+Svetta another Cainhurst oc based the painting with her crow, Voron mom yes. Vledemyr is his dad.

👁️I managed to put Micolash & Edgar on the page XD

💣🔥 Ah this one well when we first got into the hunter nightmare there’s a hunter before a gate right? Behind there’s a crow and I noticed the crow attacked the beasts but the hunter and the bird never attacked each other (only the hunter or beast) that’s why I now headcanons that many old hunters had crows too like this one.

🗡️🌕Ludwig & his crow with the guidance rune. One day the old hunters found many dead crows in the forest, not a good sign… Ludwig managed to recover a baby crow an care for it (he was so panicked at first he asked Maria for help so many times XD)

🐦‍⬛Eileen and some crows & the very first official hunter of hunters! (Before her)

🐦‍⬛The friendly crow of hemwick on the top left :3 I hc it’s either the crow bloody crow had or one link with Eileen or either my own hunter.

As for the other names I had in mind : Hrafn, Karasu, Branagan (I think I’m keeping this one as the name of the first crow hunter too)

🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

Now, you’re gonna ask me why didn’t I just named one « Kuro » (black color in Japanese) well, I’m keeping it for the horses’ names of Cainhurst!!!!

[sillingers]

nick blankenburg on ‘the inside edge’ radio show 2.15.23

i listened to this live and tried to take as many notes for characterization and blanks tidbits as possible so here we go:

didn’t start working out until freshmen year of college officially

likes lower body workouts best

is looking for a new gym this summer and might work with z

has yet to see z in the gym bc of his injury but says he’s a ‘beast’ in the room

jody shelley complimented his ‘big’ thighs. nick said they’ve ‘been bigger’ but he had less rigorous offseason training this summer bc of his knee surgery. jody then told nick ‘sorry i didnt mean to be looking at you’ because nick ‘looked like he was about to run out of the room’ in their opinion, and nick joked that he was wearing shorts so they’re out there. this whole ordeal was a lot to take in.

he said ‘oh yeah’ about ten times in two minutes with varying degrees of breathiness/elongation. i can let you interpret that as you will.

loves hitting people. says he always played physical because he grew up with an older brother and that’s just always been his game, so he doesn’t foresee it changing.

but he is working on being more intentional and careful with where he places his body on plays, as well as his off ice routines, to stay healthy and not be injured

adamantly refuses to dial down his physicality

thinks his compete and physicality is one of the reasons he’s here, he’s always played that way and it’s just who he is as a player

says being a right handed d on the left side is a challenge and it’s pushing him to be better

is a good lesson/challenge for him

good to have on his resume that he can play either side wherever he’s needed

stressed several times that he just wants to do what’s best for the team and do whatever it takes to play for them and just help the team anyway he can, whether that’s playing a different side or a special team or whatnot

just genuinely happy to be here and wants to do everything and anything he can

did not catch every detail but he talked specifically about the challenges of being a right shot on the left side like when peeker is feeding him passes on the point or when they’re going to break up ice and he’s catching pucks on his strong or weak side differently than he’s used to

when he was out for 9 weeks he spent a lot of time watching his game tape and trying to improve his play, he watches ‘probably all the game tape i have’ 

tries to stay positive and not be too hard on himself when injured and he doesn’t think any of the injuries he’s had even back at umich were a result of him playing too physical (read: yappy chihuahua wants to be an ankle biter and refuses to stop. denies that being an ankle biter has ever gotten him in any trouble)

says sometimes he thinks his family and friends know his game better than he does because they always tune in and text him after his games

loves the traveling that comes with being an nhl player, thinks he’s really lucky to have this job because it’s an easy and fun job that not many people get

“if you told me maybe 6 or 7 years ago that i’d be here i’d have never believed you”

really likes meeting all the fans and seeing them at warmups

definitely misses yost especially after getting to go back with kj

actually misses his classes. he studied international studies which dealt with political and economic development, he had lots of case studies of nations where a political/economic structure was either a great success or big failure

had to take 6 semesters of a language as required for his major. lasted 2 days in spanish, then tried german but it was too hard. he settled on swahili, which he took for 4 semesters, and then quechua (a latin american language he thinks is from peru but honestly couldn’t tell you where it’s from); said these were with 3 other unnamed teammates

wants to go on a mission trip in africa and hopes he can use his swahili notes there. is willing to teach jody but ‘it might cost you something’ because the class was expensive

loves cbus bc it feels like a college town just like ann arbor

didn’t think he’d ever actually say he loves columbus ohio but here he is

also loves how close it is (3 hours) to home

he’s really blessed to be here and couldn’t be happier with how it all worked out and the chance he has thanks to the jackets

the city and the fans have welcomed him so nicely

lives downtown in an apartment which is close by ‘the other young guys’ , they all live nearby 

says they do a lot of group dinners and will watch golf or football or some sport on tv together

loves that they have such a big group of young guys and they have that connection with each other and he has the ability to hang out with all them

primarily does hang out with the younger guys. likes having people around his age bc it reminds him of college. another thing he likes ab cbus is its a young city thanks to all the college kids/recent grads

also loves the restaurants cbus has (he didn’t name any in particular but said they’re all great)

is going to dinner with some of the umich guys before their games against osu, is hoping naur lets them out of team dinner to see him and kj

jody asked if nick would pay and he said he’d take his card out but that he hopes kj takes his card out too so they can split the bill

they brought up the osu-umich outdoor game, which nick said is an awesome opportunity to play in and looks super fun

played an outdoor game vs. notre dame, actually played against peeke who was at nd at the time. umich won 

very humble and appreciative of the opportunity he has to play in the nhl and live out his dream and do something he loves every night

the 82 game schedule is definitely hard mentally but that the challenges have made him a better person (yes, he specified person, not hockey player)

jody said that this and his positive mindset are a great attitude to have and will ‘help him stay here for a long time’ 

i just think jody loves nick as much as the rest of us

sometimes still pinches himself to see if it’s real 

jody shelley is obsessed with nick blankenburg just like me fr 

i think this is it he actually talked a lot so it was hard to keep track of everything but this is definitely all the main things

[kndrules]

Similar to that previous ask you answered... What are some more of your headcanons for Hoagie? Yours are very unique and I'm very invested in them

OKAY LET'S SEE.... Yes and also all of my Headcanons are also @sector-v / @eltube 's Headcanons. We share a brain. We mind-meld.

I'm gonna start with their family stuff since that's what I did for Abby!

The most important thing is that hoagie is Jewish, on their mom's side. I have this headcanon that Lydia is a Holocaust survivor but as time passes I wonder if it makes more sense for it to be Lydia's parents who were survivors. Either way, there's a direct line there. hoagie is German on both sides of the family.

That being said, hoagie isn't very devout. They go through the motions of attending services, participating in high holidays (but don't ask if they've ever successfully fasted for Yom Kippur), and they had their Bar Mitzvah- but I don't think they care that much about it really. It's just habit.

The big question we all love to talk about is whether their dad died or their parents are just divorced. My answer is both. Their parents divorced because Betty is a lesbian, but she's still pretty much in the closet even now. Their dad died a few years after that. Both parents are from the Midwest, hence the accents.

On their mom's side, the only family they have is their immediate family. Meanwhile, their dad had a very large family, but there's a lot of tension between hoagies immediately family and the dad's family, cuz they don't like Betty very much. They're very judgemental and the cousins bully hoagie so hoagie resents them a lot.

My idea is that every other Christmas they go and spend it with the dad's family. Hoagie hates this. Ive had a comic idea for YEARS about it, but I've never gotten around to making it

Otherwise... Lemme think

Hoagie is a classic nerd while in middle school, but starts to realize she doesn't actually like those kids very much. She ends up spending more time with other trans women nerds, like Angeline, who plays videogames with hoagie once a week.

No surprise to anyone, she gets into a really good university right out of high school and studies aerospace engineering and applied physics. They ultimately get a PhD in physics. While they love aerospace engineering, pretty much any career path involving it is tied into the arms industry one way or another, so they don't pursue it in any official capacity. I mostly picture them becoming a University professor who also does laboratory research.

I alluded to this when I talked about Abby, but Hoagie and Abby grow very close during grad school, which is when they start dating. They get married and have two kids. Their daughter Naomi takes after Hoagie a lot and has a knack for engineering

Hoagie always remains very close to her mom and brother

Okay this feels like enough for now. I'm still very willing to answer more specific questions too

[swabian-princess]

It-Girl Check: Carina Zavline

Hey girlies,

todays topic is a German It-Girl named Carina Zavline. For those who are not familiar with her at all – she’s a German It-Girl, Model and influencer.

As you can see – she has almost 1 million followers on instagram and posts frequently about her vacations, model jobs and various beauty treatments. In fact, I first heard about lympathic drainage in one of her instagram stories and been a fan of this treatment ever since!

Her career started 2017 when she was a contestant in the German casting show Germany’s Next Topmodel.

While she got the best job (the Opel campagne) of the season and was handled as the shows favorite she had to leave the show right before the semifinal.

However, her career had just started. She landed a job as one of Guess ambassadors and did cooperations with many companies, mostly over her instagram profile.

But who is Carina and what makes her so succesful?

Carina is the daughter of a Russian father and an Ukrainian mother. She was born in Dortmund, Germany and grew up in Hamburg before she moved to Munich to study there. After she finished her studies in Germany she moved to Paris and went to university there. She also studied acting at the Strasberg institute in LA.

Carina is fluent in six languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Ukrainian and Russian.

Before she started her career as an influencer/model she was a succesful dancer and competed international.

In conclusion: she’s not only beautiful but also smart, well spoken and knows how to move her body.

These attributes helped her to land maybe the most important deal of her life: Kilian Hennessy.

Kilian Hennessy is a french billionaire and maybe you already guessed it – yes, his family business is the cognac brand Henessy.

He’s also the founder of the luxurious perfume brand Kilian.

There is not much about the two as a couple on the internet but they made it official relatively recently, in 2022, when he and Carina walked together over the red carpet at the Cannes film festivals.

What can we learn from Carina?

Well, one thing would be: make friends on your way up and keep them. Nourish your friendships and make sure you don’t betray your friends or throw them under the bus for a man because maybe, they introduce you to your future husband.

Carina frequently posts pictures with one of her girlfriends, Hofit Golan – an israeli model, producer and entrepreneur.

Hofit once was called Israels Paris Hilton and she seems to have the same lavish lifestyle as the American It-Girl.

Private jets, dinners in fancy restaurants and of course expensive clothes seem to be Carinas new normal.

Carinas personal style is very sexy but never too much. She’s often spotted wearing luxurious brands like LV, Hermès and Guess.

Her favorite accessoires seem to bee her Van Cleef & Arpels jewellry and her Hermès bags.

She always looks elegant, mix and matching different colors and materials. Look at her instagram for outfit inspirations!

Her makeup and hairstyles are rather simple. She’s sporting a basic nude face with winged eyeliner and wears her long hair down and with soft natural waves.

For nails, she mostly wears them short and with a soft pinkish color.

I do understand the hype about her and I really do think that she’s a great role model in terms of levelling up and hypergamy.

She shows that you should not only look good but also need to be intelligent in order to bag a high value man.

Beauty can open doors, yes – but if you’re dumb and can’t hold a basic conversation even the most beautiful face won’t help you.

Most of those high value men are smart and want a partner they can talk to, a partner who’s able to discuss literature, politics or even art.

Work on yourself, not only on your appearence but also on your inside. Be gentle, generous, friendly and curious. Just never stop learning.

Selene

[tennisarchives]

tagged by @drunkenromantic mwahh

9 people to know better!

LAST SONG: “ich schau tief in mich rein” by ute becker which is part of the official soundtrack of the german version of piglet’s big movie. because that’s a thing i casually listen to. yeah. it’s one of my fave childhood movies okay i like listening to the music before bed sometimes

FAVORITE COLOR: blue! specifically pastel blue in varying shades

CURRENTLY WATCHING: delicious in dungeon anime on netflix which is super funny btw and i love it. i read the whole manga already and i swear the story is cool af!

SWEET / SAVORY / SPICY: spicy all the way as usual <3

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single and (mostly) happy abt it!

CURRENT OBSESSION: this is gonna sound ridiculous but sometimes i read fics for media i’ve never actually seen and like. rn i’m in a deep rabbit hole of bbc merlin fics skdhdkdjks i’ve just always been into fantasy settings so yeahhh

LAST THING YOU SEARCHED: “deutsche unternehmen” bc i unfortunately need to study them oof

tagging (no pressure!) @sonego @advantage-sinner @jean--valswan @hubillusion @sinnergaard @yoellglia @kodachromatics @jcferrero @sabatinifortylove