#Ye he's Italian and Mexican (Italian mother Mexican father)

[grimgummies]

YIPPEE MORTIS ANGST!!! :D

HELLO you want to see my poor son suffering,, Enduring the worst times of his life,, Dealing with everything he was put through on his own cuz he had literally NOBODY to go to

Because if so...

So do I lol

[kayhi808]

Perfect Match - 8

Billy calls out to me as I stomp down the stairs. "Y/N, wait!"

I turn on him & he has to stop short before plowing into me, "If that's the way you feel, that's valid, but I am nothing like your mother," jabbing my finger into his chest. "She may not have loved you," taking a deep breath to calm my voice. I look him in the eyes and I don't see the distrust anymore but the fear is still there, "but I do. Don't ever compare me to her."

He grabs me & pull me to him, "I'm sorry." I let him hug me, more for my sake than his. "I reacted poorly. Looking the way I do, 'I love you' is not something I hear a lot of. It brought my guard up. You're beautiful. My dark angel. You can do a lot better than a guy like me." Billy cradles my face, "I know you needed me. I didn't think you'd love me, too. No one has ever said they loved me before...and meant it like you do."

I pull him down to kiss me. Lightly running my fingertips over his scars. "No one is more perfect for me than you, Billy."

"Am I forgiven?" I nod & stay burrowed in his arms for a bit longer.

*****

Grandfather spared no expense on our engagement party. Security was on high alert. Every major family was represented. The Italians, Romanians, Russians, Japanese, Chinese, Mexicans....the list went on. Bill's whole persona changed. This is the elusive assassin that everyone wanted under contract with them, who will now run New York. Unemotional & controlled, his whole body language changed. I was witnessing the business side of Bill. A little bit of his arrogance and cockiness shows through, which proves my Billy is in there, somewhere.

Father still couldn't support our engagement, not even to show unity as a family. Grandfather made up for it in spades. It was a wave of introductions, turns out Bill was familiar with many people there. It was my mistake to think that things would go smoothly for us. In the beginning of the evening, security came in dragging a man and throwing him down in front of grandfather. Guests backed away & Billy shoves me behind him. My father waves over his security & they converse quietly, but my Grandfather interupts, "Speak up."

"Joe was caught attaching explosives to Mr. Russo's car."

I feel Bill tense and I see red! Bill is under the Family's protection and this happens? I will kill anyone who thinks to harm him.

"There's a hit order when he took her," nodding at me "and now he thinks to run New York. We weren't going to let that happen."

Grandfather speaks loud enough for the room to hear. "The hit was rescinded. Months ago."

"N..no! I was told these orders still stood! I'm sure he got instructions from higher up."

"You thought to kill my granddaughter and her fiance at my home?! Russo will be a part of this family!"

Bill's steely voice joins in the interrogation, "Who's your boss?"

"Gino Palmero."

Idiot doesn't even realize he ratted out his boss in front of everyone. I step out from behind Bill. "Gino here?" Gino hesitantly makes his way to the edge of the crowd. "Were you or were you not told that no one was to touch Russo?"

"Yes."

"Let me get this straight, you were told that the hit was revoked and you relayed that to your men. Him...Joe in particular, to forget about whatever plan he had started."

"I...i think I did." His eyes dart to my father. Gino is screwed. If he admits to not telling his men, he wasn't doing his job. And if he did tell them and knew about the plan, yet did nothing to stop it or alert the others...he's fucked.

"That's a fucking lie!!" In a panic, Joe tells us all about how they planned it together and if caught how they were to say they didn't know about the hit being withdrawn.

Bill looks down at me and hands me my gun before stalking over to retrieve Gino. I quickly look it over & release the safety. I try to take some calming breaths.

My father hisses, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

One command from grandfather, "Let them," and my dad is forced to back off.

Bill goes for Gino, throwing him down on the floor next to Joe.

"I'm disappointed. These men, not only risked our lives," looking over at Bill who returned to my side, "but also the lives of our family & friends who we invited into our home. That is a crime that cannot be forgiven." I feel Bill's hand at the small of my back, giving me courage & strength. "Joe, for planting the bomb & putting everyone in danger, I have no choice but to sentence you to death. Gino, for failing to end the attack & disobeying your boss' orders, you are sentenced to death." I feel breathless, but I spoke clearly & with conviction.

I block out the pleading and screams & fire 2 shots. Headshots, both. Their bodies fall, and the room falls silent. I feel no guilt. They were a threat to Billy & me. Grandfather usher's people out of the room while his men have the bodies removed. Billy stays behind with me.

Pensively, "Did you see their faces? The other guests?"

Bill takes the gun from my hand, engages the safety & puts it back in his holster. "You probably scared the shit out of many of them, but you also gained respect."

"Gino was one of my father's captains. He is not going to be pleased."

Bill pulls me into his arms, "You had to do it. It shows we will not stop at the person responsible. Anyone who plays a part will be punished." I rest my check against Bill, trying to calm my racing heart. He doesn't say a word, just holds me. After a while, "That was fucking hot, by the way. I'm so hard for you right now."

That makes me laugh & shakes me out of my dark thoughts. He plasters me up against his body & kisses me, his tongue seeking entrance. I lose myself in Billy.

*****

We wake to loud pounding on the door. "Who the fuck is that?!"

I pull a pillow up over my head, I may have overindulged in drinks last night to make up for the fiasco earlier in the evening. "Ugh. Make them go away."

Billy pulls on some sweats and heads downstairs. I follow him, slipping on one of his t-shirts. I get halfway down the stairs when I see Bill, gun in hand. I automatically crouch down. Running towards the door, he yells "Get upstairs! Stay up there!" He runs out.

I notice an opened box on the coffee table. I make my way to the living room and look inside. There's a bloody heart with a dagger stabbed through. I gasp. There's a note that's fallen on the ground. I'm careful not to touch it.

"Y/N, this is your only warning. Give up your claim to New York. Your men don't trust you. Back off or everyone you love will suffer."

@idaofinfinity @imagine-a-fictional-boyfriend @e-dubbc11

[xmakii]

—— look who’s joining the infinite tour! only EJIRI ‘MAKI’ TAMAKI, who is the MAIN DANCER OF INDIGO. i’ve heard whispers that the 26 year old is pretty WARM but lowkey SELF-INDULGENT. also, doesn’t he remind you of YUDAI KOGA (K)?

hello everyone! my name is ami and im very happy to be here and write with all of you. sorry i disappeared last time but school and life became bit too much for me and i lost track of things including my activity. but this time around im hoping to plot some fun ideas with everyone. maki is still very much a work in progress so THIS is just the start of his stats page. im going to be fleshing him out as i go but dont let that deter you from plotting with him please. if you like this then i will stop by your dms so that mayhaps we can plot? i even worked up a little plots page HERE if you would like to take a peek at it. okay now onto the good stuff!

tamaki was born in new york. some people have two parents, some one, some none. tamaki is lucky enough to say he has three. his parents split up before his mother knew she was pregnant but by the time he was on the way she was already falling hard for another woman. it mightve been awkward for them trying to find a good and stable dynamic amongst themselves but they found a way to make it work for maki and his older sister. (yes i stole this from friends shhh) 

his father was always in the picture, but Maki lived with his mothers and sister. it was such a fun and nurturing home that allowed him to stay well in tune with his emotions. there was never anything he was denied. and his curiosities weren’t met with distaste or disapproval- not even when his mothers caught him trying on their dresses and heels. he just wanted to feel and look as pretty as they did when they wore them. 

his interests were always encouraged. and while he was never good at basketball or soccer, he thrived in other categories such as taekwondo and playing the piano and guitar. but he also wanted to do everything his older sister did and so his mothers signed him up for ballet just like her. he had a knack for it and frankly he loved it most above all his other activities. 

his love for ballet exposed him to other dance styles as well. and while he felt like college was his best bet for a secure future- he was also one to always follow his heart and desires. he wanted to be on stage and dance and sing for others. he wanted to engage with a world of music and performing. 

with the support of his family and friends, tamaki flew solo to south korea to pursue his dream of becoming an idol. he knew it’d be tough going to a country where he didnt know the language or the culture, but he also knew he’d always regret not following his dreams if he didnt try now when he was still young enough. 

finding a company to take him was tough, but the real hard work began once training began. on top of training and practicing, he was also trying to learn a whole new language. and everyone around him was the competition, meaning help wasn’t often offered. everyone was looking out for themselves and he understood that. only meant he had to work that much harder. 

however, it wasnt all for naught. the day finally came when he was chosen for the newest boy group Indigo, and as their main dancer no less.

the little things

tamaki skipped a grade and graduated high school early. he was always such a little smarty pants. his favorite subject was math smh

he has quite the collection of medals in taewondo

apart from english and japanese he knows a few other languages. one of his mothers is mexican/italian and therefore taught him spanish and italian growing up. and one of his best friends was hard of hearing so he learned american sign language for them. and since trainee days hes become quite good at the korean language as well though he still gets some things confused sometimes.

small side note!! K has like no resources. ive tried making a few gifs but there really isnt much out there for him. so please bear with me while i try finding resources. if it becomes a problem not using gifs then i will be happy to switch fcs but for now i love K’s face and will like to try giving him a shot because he’s who i see working best for maki. thanks for understanding <3

[superdumbfan]

Well I know that 1986 Mario anime movie is not a movie anyone takes seriously nor does anyone actually think much about, hell I have not finished it yet cuz it's that wild. I did realize one thing, for the main characters being Italian there is a lot of references to I think Mexican culture don't call me on that though. ( I'm going to be honest I don't really know a lot about the different categorization of different Hispanic cultures. I'd actually really appreciate if someone could explain it a little bit to me I don't want to seem stupid.)

Either way, this is kind of making me want to head Canon both Luigi and Mario as Hispanic Italians. Something along the lines of their mother being Italian and their father being Hispanic, or vice versa.

And also while there is no evidence of it or even anything to prompt me to think this other than him almost never wanting to take his hat off, I also headcanon Luigi as a ginger. Now is it because I'm a ginger and I'm self projecting? That is a question we'll probably never have an answer to. Is it because I think Luigi will look absolutely adorable with bright red hair? Yes. Also as a kid, because of constant bullying over my hair color, whenever I saw Luigi like reluctant to take off his hat my little brain in my young skull was like that's because he's a redhead too he hates himself just as much as you hate yourself. But again I'm pretty sure that's just projection lol.

Tdlr, Mario and Luigi are Hispanic Italians and Luigi's a ginger. I know I'm miyamoto's second cousin removed 3rd from the left of the family tree.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

TOP 12 CINDERELLA PORTRAYALS

@superkingofpriderock​ @metropolitan-mutant-of-ark​ @lachica50​ @sunlit-music​ @princesssarisa​ @mademoiselle-princesse​ @amalthea9​ @captain-dad​ @astrangechoiceoffavourites​ @theancientvaleofsoulmaking​ @anne-white-star​ @littlewomenchannel​ @lieutenant-hel-odinsdottir​ @filmcityworld1​ 

Rodopis. Ye Xan. Cenerentola. Cendrillon. Aschenputtel.  Aschenbrödel. Zolushka. Cenicienta. Gata Borralheira. Cinderella. The heroine has several names around the world, but all of them experience the same tale: young ladies who are opressed and marginalized by father and stepfamily, but, thanks to their kindness and bravery, receive assistance to rise from the ashes more strong and beautifull, learning to love themselves and eventually finding the love of a prince that will make them happy. The tale is very old, its first writen version dating back to Ancient Egypt, and has been told, retold, writen and rewriten in several different versions, and has been adapted into a variety of media like cartoons, films, radio shows, and comics from around the Globe, wich possibilated anyone to choose their favorite versions. And today, i will share with my favorite portrayal of one of the most iconic fairy tale heroines of all time.

12º Daphne Zuniga in Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1995)

This animated fairy tale anthology series produced by HBO camed with the twist of transporting well known european versions of fairy tales to different cultures, like China, Cuba and the Caribbean. In this episode, they adapted Cinderella by setting the story in a Kingdom that had culture and population inspired by Mexico, making it one of the first portrayals of the character as a mexican, wich turns it a very significative work. Cinderella herself could show a bit more range of emotions, because in this portrayal she is at her most passive, her voice is always very sweet and low and she rarely her smile facial expression, but the character design and how she interacts with the colorfull and creative world and characters in the episode still makes it wort checking it out.

11º Aylin Tezel in Sechs auf einen Streich (2011)

Grimm’s Finest Fairy Tales (Sechs auf einen Streich in Germany and Holland) is a live action TV Movie anthology series from Germany made between 2008 and 2019. In 2011, they released their adaptation of Cinderella (Grimm’s Aschenputtel) staring german-turkish actress Aylin Tezel. Tezel brings a sense of playfullness to the role, as well as a sense of altruism in helping the servants in her Stepmother’s house and a wild free spirit that she fights to keep despite the opressive rulling of her Stepmother over her life. She is basically borrowing some elements of the humanity that other actresses before her brought to the role, while making this version of the character her own, wich is not easy feet, and deserves all the praises in the world.

10º Mitsuko Horie/Lara Cody in Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics (1989)

Another fairy tale anthology series, this time made as a japanese anime that, despite the title, didn’t necessarily limited itself to the tales written by the Grimm Brothers. But in the case of this Cinderella episode, the Grimm’s version is the one they choosed to adapt, excluding the gory element of the sisters cutting their feet. This encarnation of Cinderella is probably the one with the most highlighted innocence, wich could both bring people to love and help her, but also be turned against her by the villains. The moment where this is most explicit is when after returning from the ball, she casually comments with the birds about the tree that gaved her the ball gown to wear, without knowing that the Stepmother is listening, and later her Stepmother not only locks her in the attic, but calls a woodcutter to cut down the tree, leaving poor Cinderella to suffer in deep guilt. It’s not often that a Cinderella adaptation explores the character’s innocence having negative consequences for her, and that is what makes this portrayal of one the most refreshing.

09º Maria Kawamura in Cinderella Monogatari (1996)

The Story of Cinderella (Cinderella Monogatari) is an Italian-Japanese anime television series of 26 episodes, wich were later edited into a two part feature lenght movie. This Cinderella is the 16 year old daughter of a rich Duke who dreams of someday going to live in a castle, having her own horse and many friends. But those dreams start to become remote for her when her father has to make a long travel and her Stepmother and Stepsisters reveal their true faces: Cinderella is taken out of her room, turned into their servant, often receiving hard tasks in short spans of time, and several times is exposed to situations of danger and harm by her Stepmother, like when she is unfairly framed for stealing grapes from the royal vines. Her situation is one of the most vulnerable, and troughout the series we get nervous to see if she will keep being a hopefull teenager, or if the hardships will crush her spirit despite the support that she has from her friends.

08º Ilene Woods in Disney’s Cinderella (1950)

Going from a teenager who has just recently started to experience adversity, to a grown adult who has experienced adversity since childhood. Having lost both of her parents as a child, it becamed more easy for Lady Tremaine to lock Cinderella away from the world and educate her to be an apparently perfect servant who does every domestic shore well, fast and without any sign of complaints. But, when she is alone with her animal friends, is the moment that Cinderella voices her fealings of fear, longing, anger, sadness and tiredness, dreaming of someday becoming free. She also gives them food and handmade clothes, showing how thankfull she is for their friendship, and this inspires the animals, as well as the Fairy Godmother who sees everything, to want to help her. And in her night out at the ball, she shows a natural grace and sweetness that charms people like the Prince to instantly fall in love with her. Basically, an inspirational role model.

07º Gemma Craven in The Slipper and The Rose (1976)

An intersting bridge between Disney’s Cinderella and Cinderella Monogatari. Like Disney’s Cinderella, she is a grown adult orphaned of both parents. Like Cinderella Monogatari, since her father died when she is an adult, her entrapment into servitude is more recent, wich makes clear that she has difficulty with domestic shores and also gives her a more intense will to rebel, to the point that this is one of the few portrayals of Cinderella that says “I hate you” in her Stepmother’s face. And the rebeliousness is well mixed with a very romantic personality that specially shines after she falls in love with the Prince, who is also an idealistic rebel that matches perfectly well with our relatable heroine.

06º Drew Barrymore as Danielle de Barbarac in Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)

In american cinema during the 90s, it was growing in popularity the fantasy heroine who was a warrior rebel and an intelectual bookworm. Capitaling in this fenomenon, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, was made, eschewing the magical elements in favour of Pseudo-Historical Fiction retelling.

The story begins when The Brothers Grimm are invited to the home of a French noblewoman who tells them how much she enjoyed their story of Cinderella, but that they got some details wrong. She then proceeds to tell them this story: Danielle de Barbarac  is the beloved only child of the widowed Auguste de Barbarac and his late wife, Nicole de Lancret. When she is eight years old, he remarries the Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent (Anjelica Huston), and brings her home along with her two daughters, spoiled and cruel Marguerite and gentle but weak-willed Jacqueline. Shortly thereafter, he dies, leaving Danielle to the care of her stepmother, who already resents the love that he displays to his daughter (especially as he calls for her over his wife in his final moments), and the estate's three devoted servants - the housemaids, Paulette and Louise, and the retainer, Louise's husband Maurice. The movie skips ahead ten years, to when Danielle is eighteen. Their estate has fallen onto hard times and things keep "disappearing," to the anger of the Baroness. Danielle has, of course, become a virtual house slave to the family, but takes comfort in the familial love she shares with the servants and the kindness she receives from Jacqueline. One morning, she is gathering apples in the estate's orchard when she spies someone stealing the horse of her late father. Enraged, she chucks apples at him, ultimately causing him to fall. It turns out to be the Crown Prince of France, running away from a father who wants to marry him off. To buy her silence, he gives her a great amount of gold. Danielle and the Prince meet again when Danielle, disguised as a courtier and using her mother's name, goes to the castle to rescue Maurice, whom the Baroness had sold into slavery to pay off some of her debt. The Prince is intrigued by "Nicole's" beliefs and courage, and asks to meet her again. A courtship ensues, in which Danielle keeps trying to tell Henry that she is really not a countess and the Baroness gets increasingly suspicious of Danielle's odd appearances and disappearances. The King and Queen, desperate to marry their son off, are delighted that he has found a girl... but are keen to meet her, something Danielle wishes to avoid. Meanwhile, Leonardo da Vinci, who has been invited to court, befriends both Danielle and Henry and everything seems to be going along well, save for Danielle's growing anxiety about maintaining the masquerade.

Barrymore’s Danielle channels the idealism and dreaminess of the Cinderella character trough her love of books, specially Thomas Moore’s Utopia, and also expands the rebeliousness brought by her predecessours by being writen as skillfull in swordfight, making her able to save herself and the ones she loves in more than one ocasion, wich was a very new take. At least for american audiences in the 90s, anyway, but we will get there later...

05º Brandy Norwood in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997)

When i was kid i watched mainly three film versions of Cinderella: the 1950 Disney animated film, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, and this TV Movie production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical released by the Disney Channel. It was one the first examples of a diverse, colorblind period fairy tale production i remember seeing, and it was an important mark for me ever since.

As played by pop singer and actress Brandy Norwood, this encarnation of Cinderella is a courteous, gentle young woman who is nevertheless unafraid to speak her mind, ocasionally making snarky comments as a way to cope with her stepfamily’s abuse. But she is still shown to need some boosting in confidence by her Fairy Godmother, who teaches Cinderella to see the valour and beauty in herself, and never stoping asking for the impossible.

04º  Lesley Ann Warren in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1965)

Whereas Brandy Norwood’s Cinderella would more easily find a way to confront others who mistreated her and become a confident person, Lesley Ann Warren’s Cinderella was a more shy and frightened person, who had to take a more slow path into becoming confident and take her chance of happiness. Because of that, the viewer has the more intense feeling that when she goes to the ball in the beautifull magic gown, she is a more glamorous and happy person, different from the meek and sad lady who usually hides around the fireplace. This was Warren’s first starring role, and we must commend her for portraying two faces of the same character in her debut as a leading lady.

03º Jennifer Beals in Fairy Tale Theater (1985)

The most simple, straightforward adaptation of Charles Perrault’s Cinderella ever made, and the simplicity is its greatest strenght. That strenght is personified in Jennifer Beals’s performance as the title character. This Cinderella is the quintessential no nonsense girl next door, who even tough finding herself in a situation of unimpowerment, always refuses to accept the absurd injustice of her exploitation as a servant, speaking her mind clearly to her stepfamily. This make all the more satisfatory when she receives the visit of her Fairy Godmother, and is reward with the deserved rich and happy life that she was loosing hope of ever receiving.

02º Libuše Šafránková in Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973)

This czech film is one of the first cinematic portrayals of Cinderella as a wild, adventurous, free spirited trickster character, who with the help of three wish granting magic nuts, can go outside and woo her beloved Prince. She enjoys horse riding, trowing snow balls, and hunting, as well as wearing pretty dresses to dance at balls. A highlight is when she cleverly hides her face with a veil to avoid being recognized by her stepfamily, and teases the Prince with riddles about who she is. You can see that she oppened the door for portrayals like Barrymore’s and Tenzel’s.

And my number one is the version that opened the door for her and many others...

01º Leslie Caron in The Glass Slipper (1955)

In this ballet-movie, french-american ballerina and actress Leslie Caron portrays Ella, a girl who not only is abused by her stepfamily, but also ostracized by the people in her village due to constantly apearing covered in ashes and not being traditionally beautifull with her short hair and big teeth. Because of that, Ella grows into a lonely, awkward and agressive person, whose only refuge is the prophecy of a fortune teller who told that someday she would live in the beautifull Palace of the Duke, and the daydreams in wich she imagine herself as a gracious ballerina. One day, Ella meets two people: Mrs Toquet, an old lady who everyone calls crazy, and a young man who presents himself as son of the Palace’s Cook, but is secretly the Duke’s son, Prince Charles. Those two are the first people who treat Ella with kindness, and because of that, she slowly blooms into a more merry person, who learns to love herself and accept the love of others.

This adaptation is very influential, being one of the first where the heroine’s birth name is Ella (wich would be later used in Ella Enchanted and Disney’s Cinderella 2015), one of the first that makes the supernatural elements more subtle (paving the way for Ever After’s complet schewing of them), one of the first that portrays a more angry and rebellious Cinderella (paving the way for Three Wishes for Cinderella, The Slipper and The Rose, Fairy Tale Theater, Ever After and Aylin Tezel’s 2011 Cinderella) and one of the first to make her meet and fall in love with the Prince before the ball, without knowing his true identity (paving the way for Three Wishes for Cinderella, Ever After , Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella 1997 production and Aylin Tezel’s 2011 Cinderella). 

And because of how awkward and agressive Ella acts in her everyday life, her ballet daydreams and the transformation in the mysteryous “belle of the ball” feels more radical, like two different faces of the same coin, thanks to Leslie Caron’s full of range performance. For being the version that brought the raw humanity to Cinderella, influencing several portrayals ever since, is the reason that Leslie Caron is my number one favorite portrayal of Cinderella.

Honorable Mentions: Kim Crosby in Into the Woods (1987), The Triplets (1998).

[vanaglorio]

VANAGLORIA : A STUDY IN HUBRIS.

HECTOR SOLORZANO. full name, HECTOR ALEJANDRO VELASQUEZ SOLORZANO. 27 years old, born on december 28th, 2994 in mexico city. cis man and uses he / they / doesn’t really care about pronouns. sold his soul to his family’s global construction and real estate empire and works as a civil engineering project manager. 

SKELETON.  DYNAMICS.  PINTEREST.  HISTORY & MISC. BELOW.

trigger warning: suicide, drug overdose

IMPETUS.

the concept of making some kind of lasting, indelible mark on the world that wasn’t gilded, silver-spooned and handed to him on a platter. the glory of having his own name mean something, beyond inheritance and privilege and absurd extravagance. creating something with his mind and his own two hands — in and of itself, an impossible feat considering all he’s ever achieved has had his family’s insignia stamped on it. but an ambition he holds fast to like a cardinal point on a compass

plain old kendall roy style retribution and succession drama baby. hector’s never forgiven his father for destroying his brother and despite his father’s best attempts to shape him into the back-up heir, he’s going to fuck this company up before he ever gets to inherit it. 

hubris is his ultimate achilles heel and downfall. yes, irony thy name is hector. thinks he’s somehow smarter, faster, hungrier and more brilliant and than everyone around him. which is obviously not the case. this guy is playing so many games within games with enemies and allies alike, he couldn’t claw his way out of the matrix-style shit storm if he tried. 

HISTORY.

only child, the demon, angle and beloved favourite all in one. originally born as the younger son. the spare, not the heir.

hector’s father is the CEO of the largest civil and engineering construction company in the world. their headquarters is in mexico city but they have subsidiary offices in madrid, london, tokyo and los angeles. hector’s mother is the heiress of the velasquez real estate empire, her family holding company owning substantial parcels of land all across south america, north america and europe.

his older brother, teodoro, was born 7 years before him. the consummate perfect son and heir to the empire — until, of course, he wasn’t. escalating parental pressure, crushing academic expectations, the weight of the world upon his shoulders. teodoro was no atlas. hector was 14 when they found his brother overdosed in a penthouse in saint-tropez while on summer vacation.

the process of priming hector to become the next heir was so swift, so damning, as to be almost surgical. teo’s body was barely cold and laid to rest in the ground before their parents began to talk about hector’s ‘future’.

hector never forgave his parents for what happened to teo. they were to blame, of course they were — they stood by and watched as teo slowly killed himself, until there was nothing left but his body to go. he was dead long before he swallowed his own heart and jumped on a one-way first class flight to the french riviera. 

generally speaking, hector’s academic record was rather unexceptional until teo died and he had no choice but to perform in teo’s stead. and he did it, teeth gritted and eyes slitted murderous, the whole damn show pony circus show. the endless parade of meaningless extracurriculars: everything from debate club to swim team and lacrosse to mathematics decathlons. enough to fill a trophy room with lustrous medals, accolades, first place ribbons, and still not enough. hector could never live up to teo’s looming shadow, nor did he want to. it felt, somehow, like a betrayal, to prove he was better than his brother in any way. to validate his parent’s desire to mould him as the emergency replacement. 

the only subjects hector enjoyed with any genuine passion or fascination that wasn’t feigned were classics and history.

enrolled into verdamme as a staunch fuck you to his parents who had astronomical hopes he’d attend MIT or stanford or ETH and get an engineering degree. (he did end up getting one, postgrad.)

was julian’s so-called right-hand man throughout all the years at verdamme and is also one of the riot club member’s who knew julian the longest. loved julian as much as he hated him and thought he deserved to die. one of the leading proponents of the #kill caesar movement. somehow not the most suspicious potential suspect. 

the irritating bastard in class who barely tried but seemed to ace every single test. in reality he just has an exceptional short-term memory and mind for rote learning — in one ear, out the other, etc. very much the kid that seems to be napping for all of class and then pipes up to give the most bizarre, unexpectedly insightful comment in the middle of discussion.

fucks with people, their lives / hearts / hopes and dreams, as a way to feel something? inside? maybe?? notorious for being one of julian’s worst enablers but was also plenty responsible for his own schemes, manipulations and cruelties.

MISCELLANEOUS.

is currently engaged to the heiress of a spanish shipping company in the world’s longest running engagement. almost never wears his ring but mexican and spanish news outlets made quite a big deal out of it when it was first announced over a year ago.

speaks spanish, english, french and italian fluently. due to being your typical classics nerd, also fluent in latin and ancient greek. conversational in german and portugese.

general vibe is aloof, albeit quite disarming once he strikes up a conversation, laidback, chariasmtic, “chill”, able to talk to anyone about anything when he can actually be bothered to. also the guy with zero chill, secretly. we don’t talk about that.

endeavours to avoid personal drama at all costs that hasn’t been purposefully orchestrated for some kind of game but will enjoy the schadenfreude from the sidelines while placing bets on who’ll come out on top. it’s probably a gambling problem.

some kind of deep emotional trauma (re: parental neglect & then overnight obsession with him being the perfect replacement son for the dead brother) (re: aforementioned dead brother who is possibly the only person he’s ever loved) that prevents him from properly connecting to people on a deeper level beyond shallow, casual and purposeless sex

travelling is the one and only perk of his current job. he loves travelling, but in the niche struggling backpacker way that normal twenty-something years olds do, not the private jet lifestyle of a billionaire heir of a global conglomerate

collects obscure roman artefacts, specifically from the late roman republic, and has an antique knife collection. his favourite is a ceremonial gold dagger and sheath from the tomb of tutankhamun.

teo’s girlfriend left his dog, socrates, with him after the funeral, claiming she couldn’t bear to have the memory of him around her. he’s unironically hector’s best friend.

[palmett-hoes]

Do you have any fan casts or strong takes/feelings on the foxes’ appearances? Fandom tends to use the same Pinterest models, which feels wrong to me.

i do in fact! i've actually been meaning to make a post about how i choose to write all of the foxes' ethnicities anyway

but yes i absolutely agree that the typical pinterest model types u generally see on edits is not how i see any of them. nor is reece king or froy gutierrez or lucky blue smith one of my FCs for anyone

for a lot of them i don't necessarily have a single specific FC so much as i have like,, a general impression of features that i will see on various different people, who all may look wildly different from each other or who may not even look how i see the character as a whole but do have a specific feature i associate with them. mostly it boils down to the Energy i get tbh and that's just a Feeling i cant even explain

fun fact im a tiny bit face blind so that might account for some of why i'm so all-over about this

may as well go chronologically. some of them i definitely have more thoughts on than others

1. Dan

ethnicity: Afro Native (Sioux)

features: medium dark skin. buzzcut, killer fade. she often styles it in waves. she's very butch, wears a lot of basketball and cargo shorts, tank tops and flannels and jerseys, hiking boots. skinny but muscular, with a very rectangular body shape. defined jaw. probably like 5'4 or 5'5

FC/Energy: sometimes i get some dan energy out of janelle monae but more butch. lotta dan energy out of samira wiley. lashana lynch

2. Kevin

ethnicity: a lot of things tbd, but he's pretty multi-ethnic. i like the idea of kayleigh being half- or a quarter-japanese in addition to irish because it gives her more of a reason to go to japan for her undergrad. wymack is from d.c. which is a majority black city for its actual residents, but i also like the idea of him being Pasifika/Hawaiian. HOWEVER - and this is pretty important to my read of kevin's character - he's white passing, and has been mostly treated as a white guy who tans his whole life, like occasionally asked if he's italian maybe. learning that his father was a Distinctly Not White Man was a big shock to him.

kristin kreuk, lindsay price, phoebe cates, and marie digby are all half-asian actresses i base kayleigh on

i suppose i base his story partially on broadway actress carol channing, who revealed publically that she was a quarter black when she was like 80 years old. though maybe wentworth miller, a biracial actor who knows his father is black but also doesn't know him, is more accurate to kevin's story. then keanu reeves is a white passing actor with asian ancestry

also none of these people look anything like how i picture kevin lol. kevin is just like,, a guy. handsome ig. but kind of in a CW character kind of way

actually

kevin looks exactly like young jason momoa

3. Andrew

ethnicity: kayin/karen from myanmar

features: fat and muscular, very wide and heavy. this blog is basically all andrew body type refs. medium-olive skin, has a bit of a greyish tinge that makes him look a bit eerie or unhealthy. deep set, droopy eyes; looks so tired. flat face with a low-bridged nose. crooked teeth, especially his canines. natural hair black-ish but he bleaches it light blond. has the beginnings of martial artist punching callouses in his knuckles

FC/Energy: holy shit the characters i feel have Andrew Energy are all over the place. pedro pascal. babe ruth (yes fr). oddjob (harold sakata) from goldfinger. the jinn (mousa kraish) from american gods. gaear grimsrud (peter stormare) from fargo. takeshi kovacs (joel kinnaman) from altered carbon. and i wanna be clear, it's these characters specifically, and generally NOT the actors outside of that specific role. except pedro ❤️

4. Matt

ethnicity: cuban

appearance: matt has more of an Energy than specific features to me rn. that energy is Warm. he has that Warm bro jock dude energy. kind of a marvel hero build, hunky and muscular. very rectangular face. has this haircut:

5. Aaron

i get to cut myself some slack and not go AS in depth about aaron because he and andrew are identical twins

ethnicity: kayin/karen from myanmar

appearance: similar build to andrew, less confident and casual posture and body language. less apathetically murderous and more emotive expressions. better teeth bc his mom took him to the dentist. yes also bleaches his hair

celebrities: probably a lot like the difference between the characters and the actors. andrew is the characters and aaron is how the actors actually look. idk ive never looked at someone and thought 'hey! looks like aaron!'

6. Seth

ethnicity: have been going with half-vietnamese. considering looking into various south asian possibilities like pakistani

appearance: string bean build. that's all i have to offer

7. Allison

ethnicity: allison's very up in the air for me. she and seth are the two foxes i feel fine with being white, but im committing to having no white foxes sooo. i would say i generally see her as either half-middle eastern or chinese

appearance: plus sized and hourglass shaped. heart shaped face. taller, like 5'8 or 5'9. she has a pretty fraught history with her appearance and her parents payed for/pressured her into getting a nose job to have a 'prettier' nose. she also bleaches her hair blonde. she gets it done at a salon tho the twinyards do it in their bathroom

FC/Energy: elle king and nadia aboulhosn are my main inspos for her, esp body type but nadia esp in Vibes

8. Nicky

ethnicity: multi-ethnic. his mother is southern mexican Indigenous, possibly oaxacan. his father is mixed white/kayin

appearance: definitely takes after his mother while his father is white passing. dark brown skin, warm undertones. slightly stocky build. tall ovular head and thin aquiline nose. he's kind of just,, the opposite of the twins ig, so like their facial features look very different, which is a big part of why people don't make the connection between him and the twins alongside the difference in their skin tones, heights, and builds. nicky's build and features are very vertically-oriented, with a tall head, narrow-set eyes, thin nose with a high bridge, etc. the twins are horizontally-orienged, with broad, flat faces, wide-set eyes, wide noses with a low bridge, etc.

FC/Energy: yalitza aparicio, not a guy but one of the few Mexican Indigenous stars in the film industry and i really like her features for nicky. she's oaxacan

9. Renee

ethnicity: Black. african american

appearance: plus sized, circular/apple body shape. round face. dark skin. microlocs to a bit past her chin, bleached white and dyed at the ends. she and allison go to the salon together. femme but plain style, a lot of blouses and long skirts, practical shoes. knuckle callouses. about 5'6

FC/Energy: dominique fishback. tracie thoms, esp in RENT. gabourey sidibe. nicole byer, but not in Energy. brandy, for some reason, probably bc i think she has very serene Energy and is a little bit otherworldly. like if brandy played arwen or galadriel from lotr it would make perfect sense to me, and that's the Renee Energy™️

10. Neil

ethnicity: mixed. Black/Jewish on both sides. his father is polish ashkenazi and afro-brazilian. his mother is Black British and algerian jewish

appearance: very... sharp. like sharp all over. does that make sense? sharp features, sharp face shape, sharp angles to his body. he's got what i vaguely think of as a 'basketball build' not meaning tall but meaning very rangy and angular and lean. all limbs. seth has a similar build. lighter brown skin. he has waardenburg syndrome which is actually where he gets he gets his eye color, and his eyes are very large and widely spaced as well. freckles freckles freckles. freckles everywhere. 4a hair but at least during canon it's not very healthy and thus the curls aren't well-defined. he grows it out long enough to tie back and starts taking better care of it in post-canon. wonky, slightly crooked teeth, with a gap between the fronts

FC/Energy: now neil i actually have a ton for. mostly models which im a lil ashamed of bc i do try to draw more from athletes. alton mason is a main body type ref. mugsy bogues is good to see what i mean about the basketball build without the height. here're the boys: cykeem white, luka sabbat, désiré mia, Leo Hoyte-Egan, dylan hasselbaink, this beautiful stock photo model i've never been able to track down

i think about him every. goddamn. day.

in terms of like,, real ppl and not models: corbin bleu, especially during Jump In. figure skater elladj balde. rayan "ray ray" lopez from mindless behavior. A$AP Rocky a lil bit, maybe i just like his hairstyle idk

two more models i think are important: carissa pinkston and ralph souffrant

[hammurabicomplex-a2]

so the other day i wrote some  family history  details for pat and thought i’d post it here.   this is focusing on her mother’s side of the family,  mostly her brazilian roots.   is it self-indulgent?   yes.   do i regret it?   absolutely not.

pat’s brazilian ancestors,  the  brancato family,  were initially italian immigrants,   settling in the southeast of the country after leaving the commune of salerno during the 1890s.   integration of italian immigrants in brazil is said to have been quick and peaceful,  even in isolated rural communities,  and for the brancatos it was no different.   they blended in easily.   generations went on,  and the italian  “identity”  was lost within the huge mix of cultures in brazil over time.

fast forward to when pat’s grandfather,  antonio brancato,  briefly immigrates to mexico in his adult years.   the reasoning differs over verses,  as it happens during different times in history.   a couple years later,  luisa brancato ríos  is born from a brazilian father and a mexican mother.   but antonio didn’t care that much for her or his baby momma tbh.   he searched for any living relatives he might have outside of brazil,  and he eventually finds relatives from his italian family living in new york city.   he immigrates again,  leaving his daughter behind.   he stayed sort of in touch,  calling and visiting once in a lifetime,  but it obviously wasn’t nearly enough.

i could go on and on about luisa’s troubled past,  but a major event was how she got pregnant at 15 years of age.   her mom was pissed,  and sent her off to live with her dad in america.   but motherhood was just way too much for her to handle at that age,  and she leaves her baby with her half-sister and gets back to mexico.   her sister names the baby matteo and takes him in as if he were her own.

luisa remains estranged from her dad and his side of the family,  so much that she doesn’t even give pat their surname when she has her.   but when they gotta move to america after pat is assaulted,  luisa is forced to come to them for financial help.   she and pat live in ny for a couple of years,  where pat got to meet and get acquainted with her extended family.   out of all of them,  she gets along with her brother matteo the best;  they create a very nice bond together,  and she remains good friends with him into her adult years.

[rfjofficial]

Rafael Femenias Junior: Character Development (4/?)

BASIC INFORMATION.

Full name: Rafael Femenias Junior  Nickname: Raf, Junior Birthdate: August 7th, 1990  Age: 30  Zodiac: Leo  Gender: Cisgender Male Pronouns: He/Him Romantic orientation: Biromantic (Recent development) Sexual orientation: Bisexual (Recent development)  Nationality: English/Mexican (From his mother’s side)   Ethnicity: Spanish, Mexican, Puerto Rican  Ranking: Seraphim/Interim Horseman Affiliation: Famine

BACKGROUND.

Birthplace: London, England Hometown: London, England   Social Class: Upper   Educational achievements: BA in Economics and Management from Oxford (incidentally enough, Rafael managed to finish his degree by his own merit - even with barely passing grades) Father: Rafael Femenias Senior Mother: Alessandra Femenias Sibling(s): Alejandro Femenias (Deceased) Pets: His five-year-old dog, Alex   Previous relationships: If I listed each of Rafael’s romantic entanglements, I’d be here all night. Playboy extraordinaire has balanced many girlfriends throughout the years, as well as flings. Notable exes include his most serious girlfriend to date, Juno Warden (although University) and a romance with Kyung-Soon Arrests: Three arrests, dropped within five minutes of his father making a phone call. All for public indecency (of the ‘having sex in public areas’ variety)   Prison time: N/A

OCCUPATION & INCOME.

Current occupation: COO of Femenias Energy, Interim Horseman for Famine   Dream occupation: Does running away from responsibility count? Past job(s): Hah.   Spending habits: Terrible with his finances, it’s fortunate that he’s so obscenely rich it doesn’t matter  In debt?:  No

SKILLS & ABILITIES.

Physical strength: Average Speed: Above average Intelligence: Below Average (or so he thinks) Accuracy: Average Agility: Above Average Stamina: Average Teamwork: Surprisingly great team worker, provided that the project interests him Talents: A songbird - fantastic vocal range that he’s tuned over the years, charisma and extroversion  Shortcomings: Reckless, easily bored, and deeply insecure Languages spoken: English, Spanish, French, and Japanese Drive?: Yes  Jump-start a car?: No  Change a flat tyre?: No - he has people for that  Ride a bicycle?: Yes  Swim?: Yes  Play an instrument?: Yes - Rafael has a very impressive collection of vintage guitars, and has played for eighteen years now  Play chess?: Yes - Terrible player, though  Braid hair?: Yes, for both Jessica and Kitty (as well as his own when he tried the long hair vibe in his pre-teen years)  Tie a tie?: Yes   Pick a lock?: Yes - likely learned from Thomas so that he could break into his Papa’s tequila collection  Cook?: No 

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS.

Faceclaim: Diego Boneta   Eye colour: Hazel Eyes (Predominantly brown)   Hair colour: Light brown  Hair type: Curly  Glasses/contacts?: Reading glasses, used sporadically due to his vanity  Dominant hand: Right  Height: 5″8  Weight: 152 Pounds Build: Lean, with well-defined abs (one of the few things Rafael works hard at. You can blame his vanity for this one)   Exercise habits: Plays soccer once a week, works on his abdominal muscles and general weight lifting 2x a week. And also, of course, sexual activity of any kind to get his cardio in. Listen, Raf’s a very active guy, okay??? Skin tone: Olive skin Tattoos: N/A   Piercings: N/A  Marks/scars: A faint scar along his knee, from his early days as a Power  Clothing style: Fashion-forward and reeking of privilege. The kind of man that wears a white T-shirt underneath a twenty thousand pound, bespoke Italian suit  Jewellery: Currently wearing his father’s Horseman ring on his right pinky, gold chain with a cross around his neck, and one of his Swiss watches on his wrist Allergies: Peanuts Diet: Eats just about anything, but tries to keep it lean

PSYCHOLOGY.

MBTI type: The Turbulent Entrepreneur, ESTP-T   Enneagram type: Type 7 - The Enthusiast  Moral Alignment: Chaotic Good   Temperament: Emotional Element: Fire Emotional stability: Prone to recklessness and rash decision making, rooted in insecurity  Introvert or Extrovert?: Extrovert  Drug use: Everything under the sun, currently trying out sobriety  Alcohol use: Frequent, though some attempt at cutting back  Prone to violence?: Only when provoked, or when it seems like a good idea Prone to crying?: When the situation demands it, but he’s not above shedding a tear Believe in love at first sight?: Not necessarily, but Rafael does believe in energy and intuition. It’s allowed him to decide on people fairly quickly. Within 5 minutes of meeting Ikki, he was sure he’d be his best friend.

MANNERISMS.

Accent: English accent, with many Spanish inflections as his mother primarily spoke Spanish Hobbies: Music, sports, partying, and anything adrenaline-inducing. Rafael’s last adventure was an illegal car race in Tokyo last year  Habits: Sleeping in, feeding Ikki’s birds donuts without his knowledge, manwhoring  Nervous ticks: Refusal to make eye contact, drumming his fingers Drives/motivations: Protecting his family and, maybe, proving everyone wrong about his abilities  Fears: Everyone else proving him right about his inability to lead  Sense of humour?: Generally a good sense of humor, a little on the nose and crude Do they curse often?: Occasionally 

FAVOURITES.

Animal: Lions Beverage: Tequila (after his father) or scotch   Book: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald  Colour: Red   Food: Rafael enjoys a wide range of foods. He is partial to either a traditional Spanish or Japanese breakfast, though   Flower: Sunflowers (his mother’s favorite - he used to purchase the majority of them at Zach’s father’s flower shop) Gem: Diamonds Mode of transportation: Either his red Lamborghini, or black Ferrari  Scent: Anything minimalist and subtle  Sport: Soccer   Weather: Warm  Vacation destination: Mexico or Spain

ATTITUDES.

Greatest dream: Being at peace with whoever it is, he’s destined to be  Greatest fear: Running out of time to figure it out  Most at ease when: Surrounded by his loved ones   Least as ease when: Confined to tight spaces, and forced to take things seriously  Biggest achievement: Not an achievement, but if you ask him, it’s having the family he has, the way he has them  Biggest regret: Spending so long fearing his future; Every time he misses a weekly visit to his mother (he’s only really missed a handful in as many as 14 years, but he regrets it each time)

ADDITIONAL.

Here you can add any additional stats that we might have missed!

[fardell24b]

Mysteries of Lawndale - Esteem of the Investigator - Part 1

Mysteries of Lawndale 01: Esteem of the Investigator Part 1

Lawndale, MD

15 September 1997

A blue Lexus approached a suburban High School.

“Girls, I just want you to know your mother and I realize it's not easy moving to a whole new town -- especially for you, Daria, right?” Jake Morgendorffer asked.

 In the back, his daughter Daria, asked “Did we move?”

 “I'm just saying you don't make friends as easily as... uh, some people.”

 Daria looked at her younger sister. “Quinn, for instance?”

 “That's not what I meant... necessarily.” Jake turned the radio off. “The point is, the first day at a new school is bound to be difficult...”

 Daria smirked and took out a device from one of her pockets. She pressed a couple of the buttons and the radio turned back on, with the volume increased. “Speak up, Dad! Can't hear you!”

 “Uh, where was I?” Jake asked. He turned the radio off again. “Oh, yeah...”

  Stacy Rowe saw noticed a cute, athletic, teen, with long red hair emerge from a Lexus wearing a stylish athletic outfit. “Hi! You're cool. What's your name?”

 “Quinn Morgendorffer.”

 “Cool name,” Stacy’s ... fellow Fashion Club member (and President), Sandi Griffin, said.

 “Will you go out with me?” An instantly besmitten boy asked.

 “Not right away, I’m going to take a while to settle in. Find all the clubs that I’d be interested in,” Quinn said.

 Sandi took that as a cue. “Sandi Griffin, Fashion Club President. Your outfit is quite interesting.”

 “Thanks,” Quinn said. Her voice then showed her interest. “Fashion Club, did you say? I’m in!”

 “Cool!” Stacy said.

 “Not right away, there is paperwork to fill out,” Sandi said.

 “Can it be filled out in a day?” Quinn asked. “Best not to waste time.”

 “Of course,” Sandi said, taken aback.

 “Cool, see you later!” Quinn said as she continued towards the school.

Daria entered the school. Instantly she noticed many things that didn’t seem right. ‘Of course, Highland wasn’t ‘right’ either,’ she thought. Her trained investigator’s eye saw a great many security cameras along the length of the corridor she was entering. ‘There are at least eight. That’s overkill.’

Another thing was the prominence of the football team amongst the posters advertising the school’s clubs and sports teams. She touched a button in one of her pockets and slowly rotated as the camera hidden in one of her coat buttons took photos. ‘That’s a fifth of that film used,’ she thought when she was done. She then looked for the principal’s office where the new students were to report.

Daria and Quinn were not the only students to begin at Lawndale High that day. There were at least ten others. After signing them into the enrolment books as attending, Principal Angela Li lead them on a tour of the school.

“Gosh, Daria, do you have to take notes now?” Quinn asked as they exited the door from the main block to the playing field.

 “You know me, Quinn, insatiably curious,” Daria answered.

 Quinn sighed. She knew that Daria could find a mystery anywhere.

  Later they returned to the main administrative area of the school.

“As you can see, our Lawndale High students take great pride in their school. That's why you'll each be taking a small psychological exam to spot any little clouds on the horizon as you sail the student seas of Lawndale High,” Li said, saying the school’s name with reverence.

 “S.O.S., girl overboard,” Daria said.

 Quinn sighed.

  A quarter of an hour later, the Morgendorffers were in the school counsellor’s office.

 “Now, Quinn ... what do you see here?” Mrs. Margaret Manson said as she held up a picture.

 “It's a picture of two people talking.”

 “That's right. Can you make up a little story about what it is they're discussing?”

 “They are talking about their activities after school, and whether they could find time to be together during their busy afternoon,” Quinn began...

 Quinn finished five minutes later.

 “Very good, Quinn! Now, Dora, let's see if you can make up a story as vivid as your sister's.”

 “It's Daria.”

 “'I’m sorry... Daria. What do you see in the picture, Dara?”

 “Um... a herd of beautiful wild ponies running free across the plains.”

 “Uh, there aren't any ponies. It's two people.”

 “Last time I took one of these tests, they told me they were clouds. They said they could be whatever I wanted.”

 “That's a different test, dear. In this test, they're people, and you tell me what they're discussing.”

 “Oh ... I see, All right, then. It's a guy and a girl and they're discussing... why a herd of beautiful ponies that had been running free across the plains were now captured and held in a rodeo arena...” Daria smirked.

  After the Psychological exam (by a quack, Daria suspected), the Morgendorffer siblings went to their classes. Daria went to history.

 It was clearly American History. “Class, we have a new student joining us today. Please welcome Daria Morgendorffer. Daria, raise your hand, please.”

 “Well, Daria! As long as you have your hand raised...” Mr. Anthony DeMartino chuckled evilly. “Last week we began a unit on westward expansion. Perhaps you feel it's unfair to be asked a question on your first day of class.”

 “Excuse me?” Daria asked.

 “Daria, can you concisely and unemotionally sum up for us the doctrine of Manifest Destiny?”

 “Manifest Destiny was a slogan popular in the 1840s. It was used by people who claimed it was God's will for the U.S. to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean. These people did not include many Mexicans, nor Native Americans.”

 “Very good, Daria. Almost... suspiciously good. All right, class. Who can tell me which war Mainfest Destiny was used to justify?”

 Daria watched as a teen in a football uniform answered the question with the name of a war over a century later. She took down the notes.

 Football players unable to answer history questions properly.

 A moment later followed by

 Also applies to at least one cheerleader.

  “Either someone gives me the answer, or I give you all double homework and a quiz tomorrow. I want a volunteer with the answer. Now!”

 Daria raised her hand.

 “Daria, stop showing off!”

 ‘Of course.’

  The Morgendorffers were having dinner. “... so for now, I’m vice president of the Fashion Club, member of the Anime, Chess and French clubs and on the tennis and track teams and that’s it,” Quinn said. She lowered her voice. “They don’t have a sparring team, can you believe that?”

 “Sounds like well-thought out decisions, honey,” Jake said.

 “As long as you can join the pep squad and mathletics teams later – if you want. Never know how much we can handle till we try, though,” Helen Morgendorffer said.

 “What about you, Daria? How was your first day?” Jake asked.

 “There is no Mystery Club. Also, my history teacher hates me because I know all the answers, but there are some interesting idiots in my class.”

 “That’s great!”

 “Jake!”

 “I mean..”

 “Daria, your father's trying to tell you not to judge people until you know them. You're in a brand-new school in a brand-new town. You don't want it to be Highland all over again. As for the Mystery Club, perhaps you can make one?”

 “Perhaps,” Daria said.

 “Is that all?”

 “It boils down to trust.”

 “Exactly. It all boils down to trust. Show a little trust.” The phone rang and Helen answered it.

 “I hope that’s not the Italian or checkers clubs, badminton team or booster society again!” Quinn said.

 “Hello? ... Yes. ... Uh, yes, she's my daughter.  ... I see. Listen, will this require any parent-teacher conferences or anything, and if so, is this the sort of thing my assistant can handle? ... Okay, great. Bye!” She hung up. “You girls took a psychological test at school today?”

 “Yeah?” Quinn answered.

 “Daria, they want you to take a special class for a few weeks, then they'll test you again.”

 “Oh,” Quinn said.

 “It seems she has low self-esteem,” Helen said.

 “What?! That really stinks, Daria!” Jake said.

 “Easy, Jake. Focus. We tell you over and over again that you're wonderful and you just... don't... get it!” Helen said, she slammed her fists on the table. “What's wrong with you?!”

 “Don't worry. I don't have low self-esteem. It's a mistake,” Daria said.

 “I’ll say!” Jake said.

 “The school councillor is a quack. I have low esteem for people like her.”

 “Now, Daria, how did you get that impression?”

 Daria looked her mother in the eyes. “She kept mispronouncing my name.”

 As her daughter walked off, Helen began to think about it.

  Daria was out in the yard, taking notes when Quinn came out. “Starting your investigations already?” she asked.

 “Yes, you did notice the irregularities at the school?”

 “You mean all the cameras?”

 “Not just the cameras, the prominence of the football team in the in-school advertisements,” Daria said.

 Quinn thought for a moment. “You’re right.”

 “Lawndale may not be the ordinary suburb that Mom thought it was.”

[chiseler]

The Silva Screen

Howard Da Silva 

Am I the only one who constantly gets character actors Howard Da Silva and Henry Silva confused? 

Howard Da Silva was born in Cleveland in 1909 and was working as a steelworker when he decided to go to drama school. He first appeared on Broadway at age 20, and made a name for himself playing Jud in the original production of Oklahoma!.

Da Silva (born Silvablatt) was a burly, jowly man with a boxer’s face, thinning hair and an unmistakable voice, half-midwest, half Lower East Side. He made the move to Hollywood in the mid-thirties and, over the next decade and a half established himself as a familiar screen presence playing gruff but ultimately understanding characters. He was the tough but fatherly criminal mentor in They Drive By Night, and Nat, Ray Milland’s wise but increasingly frustrated bartender in The Lost Weekend. He played opposite Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake in The Blue Dahlia, Edward G. Robinson and John Garfield in The Sea Wolf, and portrayed Wilson in the 1949 adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

After actor and fink Robert Taylor, while testifying as a friendly witness before HUAC in 1947, described Da Silva as a troublemaker “who always has something to say at the wrong time,” Da Silva himself was called to testify about his supposed communist sympathies. When brought before the committee in 1951, Da Silva became the first of over three hundred writers, actors and directors to refuse to answer questions, citing the Fifth Amendment. He was promptly blacklisted and for much of the next decade vanished from movie and television screens, though he continued to work in theater.

When he reappeared in the early Sixties, older, balder, and jowlier, he found himself playing an array of historical figures from Ben Franklin to Franklin Roosevelt to Boss Tweed to, ironically, Nikita Kruschev in The Missiles of October and Louis B. Mayer in Mommy Dearest. He also appeared in the 1974 adaptation of The Great Gatsby, this time around playing Meyer Wolfsheim. He made his final screen appearance in 1984’s Garbo Talks, and died of cancer two years later.

Henry Silva

Henry Silva, meanwhile, was born in Brooklyn in 1928. Although often accused of being Puerto Rican, he insisted his mother was Spanish and his father Sicilian. His father walked out on the family when Henry was three months old, at which point he and his mother moved to Harlem.

Silva, who had decided early on to become an actor, dropped out of public school at age 13 and enrolled in acting classes, taking a dishwashing job in a local hotel restaurant to help support him and his mother. Fourteen years later, he’d finally worked his way up the ranks to become a waiter in that same hotel.

Then twenty-seven, Silva, having grown into a darkly handsome young man standing six-foot-two, decided to apply to the Actor’s Studio, and was accepted. He soon made his Broadway debut in in 1956 in A Hatful of Rain, with classmates Shelley Winters and Ben Gazzara. The play became such a hit it soon landed Silva in Hollywood, where he co-starred in the 1957 film adaptation.

His commanding stature and sharp, angular, swarthy good looks not only made Silva an easy choice for producers looking for a suave but sinister villain, they also allowed him to play everything from Mexicans to Russians to Italians to Middle Easterners to Asians to Native Americans with very little extra makeup. He was a chameleon without even trying.

In the Fifties and early Sixties he played a string of suave and sinister gangsters, killers and thieves on TV series like The Untouchables, Climax and The Outer Limits and in films ranging from Green Mansions to Ride a Crooked Trail. He became a regular Rat Pack satellite, appearing in Ocean’s 11, Sergeants 3, and making guest spots on The Joey Bishop Show, as well as playing one of the evil stepbrothers in Jerry Lewis’ Cinderfella. In what may have been his breakthrough role, he again co-starred with Sinatra in 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate as the double-crossing Korean guide who delivers Sinatra’s company into the hands of those dirty commies. 

He earned his first starring role the next year as the titular Mob assassin Johnny Cool (co-starring fellow Rat Pack alumni Joey Bishop and Sammy Davis Jr.), after which he accepted an invitation from an Italian producer and moved his family to Rome. Over the next decade he would become a star throughout Europe, appearing in dozens of Spaghetti Westerns, occasionally even playing the hero.

He returned to the States in the mid-Seventies to once again co-star with Sinatra in 1977’s Contract on Cherry Street. Following that, he would spend much of the Eighties playing cartoon villains in comic strip movies (Buck Rogers, Dick Tracy) and and endless string of cheap jingoistic action films (Megaforce, Code of Silence), as well as a few sub-lowbrow comedies (Cannonball Run II, Lust in the Dust). He was admittedly spectacular  in his brief turn as Brock, the would-be Great White hunter out to kill a monstrous alligator roaming the Chicago sewer system in Lewis Teague’s 1980 darkly comic monster movie Alligator.

After co-starring in Jim Jarmusch’s 1999 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and a quick cameo in the 2001 remake of Ocean’s 11, Silva retired from acting at age 73.

But back to where all this started—namely, am I the only one who gets Howard Da Silva and Henry Silva confused?

Yes, Howard Da Silva was some twenty years older than Henry Silva. And yes, Howard was born in Cleveland to Jewish parents while Henry was a Spanish-Italian kid from Brooklyn. And yes, Howard was a steel woorker while Henry washed dishes in a hotel restaurant. And yes, Henry was some four inches taller than Howard, and had thick black hair to boot. Yes, Henry tended to play suave and sinister villains while Howard tended to play gruff but lovable types. Yes, Henry played everything from Italians to Mexicans to Asians while Howard was as decidedly American as they come, and yes, Henry is still alive while Howard died in 1986. But if you’re going to say “Yes, you dunce, you’re the only one who gets them confused, because you’re stupid,” consider the following.

First, Henry Silva’s official biography is suspiciously inconsistent. Despite repeated claims about his heritage, a 1930 U.S. Census entry states that both of Silva’s parents were from Puerto Rico. But I guess being half Spanish and half Sicillian is much more Romantic than being just another Puerto Rican kid from Brooklyn. That same form also lists Henry’s given name as “Harry.” What’s more, after supposedly working at the same hotel for fourteen years, shouldn’t he have worked his way up to something more than waiter? You’d think he’d at least be night manager or something, right? And despite his claims he made his film debut only after the 1956 Broadway  premiere of A Hatful of Rain, his first screen appearance was actually in 1952’s Viva Zapata!.

Now, given we can clearly not trust a thing Henry Silva says, or has ever said, about himself, ask yourself the following questions:

Is it mere coincidence that Howard Da Silva and Henry Silva, as prolific as both were, never appeared onscreen together? Their careers overlapped for some thirty years! What are the odds of that? I mean, Sinatra co-starred with Groucho Marx, for godsakes! 

 And is it sheer coincidence that Henry Silva’s film debut in Viva Zapata! occurred at the precise moment Howard Da Silva had been blacklisted? Think about it—Howard vanishes and Henry steps in. Hmm, right? Plenty of other blacklisted artists worked under the radar by using pseudonyms. Maybe Howard, given his troublemaking reputation, decided to take the idea of thumbing his nose at HUAC a few steps further.  I mean, take a look at the two of them side by side. Give Howard some lifts, a little swarthy makeup and a black toupee and BOOM! He’s Henry Silva.

And what better way to throw off the scent than to play a completely opposite character type from the one you were known for? And how better to flip the bird, just for fun, than by playing a bunch of evil communists and revolutionaries?

After the blacklist ended, Howard was faced with a dilemma. He could work again, which was great, but what to do about Henry? Kill him off? Retire him? His career had just taken off and was going great guns in the early Sixties. Then it struck him—with Henry still around, he had two solid income streams flowing. Why give that up? Both Howard and his alter-ego Henry were character actors, after all, meaning they were rarely needed on set for more than a couple days on each picture. Easy as pie to do a Howard role one day, then a Henry role at the end of the week.

My god, it’s all so perfect! What an ingenious scheme! And what better way to throw everyone off the scent for good than to have Howard “die” in 1986? At that point, after all, Henry was awfully busy with those stupid action movies that paid so well, while Howard’s own jobs were becoming more sporadic and low-profile.

So there you have it, and remember you read it here first—Howard Da Silva and Henry Silva WERE THE SAME PERSON! I likely never would have figured it out for myself had Howard just put another minute’s worth of work into choosing a name for his alter ego back in 1952.

By Jim Knipfel

[stickykeys633]

Changing thing up a bit @capricornsicle, that other post was becoming unwieldy.

You think you’re on a crusade to expose fandom racism and bias in Teen Wolf, but in doing so, because TW is such a specific beast, you make assumptions and add unnecessary hyperbole to your arguments. 

You’ve assumed and ran with the idea that I’m white (many do, which is strange since my icon is a black woman) and you’ve treated me a certain way because of it. But then in the same breath you’ll say there’s inherent bias against Scott McCall, a character that many people saw as white played by an actor who is white passing. 

There’s also this underlying statement that any majority of people see Scott as Latinx and automatically make it a negative thing which again, isn’t true, specifically not in Teen Wolf. 

I’ve found the antis like to take black racism experiences and try to fit Scott into that category, but even a small thing like colorism makes it so it’s not equitable. 

that’s a general statement about fans and critics alike holding characters of color up to a higher standard than white characters. It’s not everyone, it’s certainly not an attack on anyone, but it happens a lot, across various fandoms. White characters are much more often forgiven for the things they do than characters of color who do the same things.

This doesn’t happen with the frequency you think and in the Teen Wolf fandom when it does happen it is rarely if ever in regards to Scott. Other, more evident characters of color yes.. And the wild examples that the antis present are never equitable. Even when presented with context, they often have to padd it and stretch it to make it seem like some infraction has been done. What it does is seek to absolve Scott of ANY wrong doing, when really there is fault laid at both parties. 

I’ll provide a couple of examples in the moment, but the bottom like is that Stiles/Derek/Peter stans acknowledge their faults and many times love them because of it. On the show Scott was never given the chance to acknowledge his faults, the show refused to admit that he needed to grow and be redeemed of anything. This was a misstep because he became unpalatable, not as a perfect icon, but as someone whose actions didn’t hold relevant consequences. 

The Donovan Incident

Now, I disagree with some key points, but overall I think this is the most important part:

They fought, like teenagers do, especially teenagers who have gone through that kind of trauma, and then, in 5x13, they’re talking outside a gas station, and they talk and get over it,

If everyone could agree that this happened, this would be a much better place. But antis will not chalk up the experience for the contrived nonsense it was and become so enraged when people blame Scott that they can’t let it be and suddenly we’re all racists. 

Which, using racism as a tool to sooth butthurt is not okay and we see it time and time again. They take every seedling and think, “how can I add racism to this so I get my way?” which is pathetic, but also sullies the impact of real racism on the show. 

During this time Tracey was murdered, Mason was non-existent, they killed Noah and Lucas sent Kira to the desert and left her there. But being mad at Scott for intentionally misunderstanding Stiles is what’s racist? This is why antis and SDP Stans constantly bump heads. Everyone has been in a friend group where some new interloper comes in and riles things up. Usually trying to steal someone’s man, but you know there are certain things you do when that happens and Scott made ALL the wrong moves. He knew Stiles didn’t trust Theo and openly disliked him, it should have been an immediate red flag when Theo started in with Stiles violently killing someone in cold blood. Additionally, I would have LOVED if the show made the connection to Scott still being traumatized by Nogi, but again, the show made it seem like Scott was JUST FINE! and again, a disservice was made to his character. 

The point is that a not insignificant number of fans label Scott as a constant bad friend, as someone who’s always a bad influence on Stiles, and that’s really not the case.

People who label him as a constant bad friend use this as ONE example of it. I actually questioned their friendship after Motel California. I remember there were a couple of beats that made it clear they weren’t sandbox buddies, and probably met in the community little league (was it little league or soccer that they met Theo? I forget?). There have been several instances of them not being as close as they claimed. 

If Stiles can be forgiven for throwing lacrosse balls at Scott (which really fucking hurt, speaking from experience) and keying some random loner kids’ car to get him beat up because Lydia kissed him

Just a side note, Stiles was havign his fun, yes, but Scott was completely complicit in these scenes and knew 100% what was going on. Stiles was helping Scott by testing his tolerance and helping him control his heartbeat and yes they did it in bonehead teenage boy ways, but there was nothing malicious or racially motivated about it. Talk about holding characters to different levels. You’ve all made the white characters irredeemable supremacists when nothing in the canon alludes to this. 

a few antis forgive Stiles but condemn Scott. And that’s because of racial bias that makes those particular antis hold Scott to much higher standards than his white friends, which is a nice way of saying it’s racism.

Which again, is wrong in that you have absolutely no way of quantifying this for every viewer. There’s no such thing as special Scott centric racism. If someone is racist, they’re going to show it against anyone not white on the show, and that’s simply a) not the case and b) impossible to determine from the asks of one anon and some misinterpreted fic. 

Liking Scott isn’t pro-POC, no, but it is tied to racial issues in Hollywood, popular media, and fandom. Scott being Latinx (despite the fact it never comes up, he’s played by a Latinx actor and is undoubtedly TV’s favorite “ambiguously brown”) makes him connected to racial issues.

But it doesn’t, because Teen Wolf was specifically created as a world without color so coding Scott as race-neutral meant that audiences had the choice to view him that way and many did. I mean, look at the show, he has two white Italian actors playing his parents, his last name is McCall and his mother’s maiden name was Delgado which could mean anything. Jeff had a habit of casting white women with Latinx last names they got from a gracious step-father, it’s not a leap to say this was true of Melissa. This is why I refuse to give the show any representation points. Diversity sure, they’re there, but they’re not well represented and again, this neither starts nor ends with Scott McCall. 

Liking Scott is something that a lot of viewers of color end up doing

Again, not entirely true. Liking Boyd? Yes. Deaton, Morrell, Kira? Yes. Scott? Sure... the response to Scott from Latinx fans was varied in interesting ways. Some went up hard for him and while I don’t acknowledge the show’s version of Scott, I write him as half Mexican in every fic. There are some who, like you, were so excited to see someone like themselves and that’s beautiful and awesome. There were also some that started excited but then were like “oh, he’s playing a white boy” which people like to forget was VERY much a thing. There was no reason to think Scott was white and in fact when Jeff received the Alma award, it was for casting Posey and not necessarily having a Latinx character. In the beginning of Teen Wolf he was actually asked if Scott was white (the phrase they used was “All American” which...), And there were still others who hated Scott instantly and thought he was wack and did NOT see themselves in him.

So even within the Latinx community alone there were several opinions. Now spread that out to hundreds of thousands and then millions of viewers. So when you say “Liking Scott is something a lot of VOC end up doing” you’re creating a value based judgement on the idea of liking YOUR version of Scott McCall. 

Which isn’t fair and isn’t correct. 

YOU ended up liking Scott because YOU appreciated the interpretation. No one can take that away from you. But when you cast this net of racism, you’re gonna end up with a lot of things that don’t fit the term and a lot of people mad that they’re caught in your web of racial bias. 

if it’s the burden of POC to fight for representation tooth and nail, then that’s the fight I’ll be fighting.

Part of it is that sometimes I worry that if I don’t post about them, if I don’t post gifs of them and talk about them and make them be part of the teen wolf tag on this site, no one else is going to.

We talked about this with your first post. Generally I’m sympathetic, but I do take issue with your methods. Yes, I’ve seen those gif tax posts and I love the concept, but... tax is something you pay in the exchange for something that you want. I don’t see POC characters as tax and I get it’s just a clever way to name what you’re doing, but I think it makes it so negative when celebrating the POC characters should be an enjoyable and inclusive thing. 

If you feel alone, it’s because you haven’t reached out to anyone. I know a lot of creators who make content for characters of color, The problem is that when you accuse people of focusing on white characters in a show FULL of white characters and cover them with a blanket of systemic bias, you’re alienating a lot of people who don’t want the drama. 

Someone just released some ao3 stats of POC characters in Sterek fics verses TW fics as a whole and Kira was sadly underrepresented, showing up in just under 45% of fics. My answer to that isn’t to scream at Stereks about how racist they are against Asians. Instead, I wanna have a Kira appreciation event, but until I can, I make sure to write Kira into my fics because I love her. I repost gifsets with her in them, I comment and seek out people who create for her and support them and if you approach some creators, the’re happy to be amenable. I’ve left comments on fics asking for a certain character and sometimes they rightfully say no, but sometimes it’s not a problem and the change is awesome. 

I feel like the bulk of antis have an idea in their mind and don’t give anyone else a freaking chance. And then, when anything negative is said about Scott, they go awf like SEE!!?!> RACISM!!!!!! when it’s honestly not the case. The anon doesn’t represent even the minority of the majority of stereks. Tumblr doesn’t, ao3 doesn’t, twitter doesn’t. That’s why it’s so much less stressful to find out ways to insert diversity and representation rather than browbeating others to do it out of shame.  

There’s this perceived bias that worms it’s way in that simply doesn’t exist at the levels you think it does. Because not only are you assuming that people dislike the characters of color because of their color, but also that they harbor negative feelings.

But, as we’ve learned from K-pop fans, it seems white people are much more willing to enjoy and put out East Asian representation than representation of people darker than them

Kira was undoubtedly brought in to bring a more Asian audience, but again, racism isn’t a pick and choose kind of thing. People who hated Kira and love Scott do not see Scott as Latinx. And Kira has more posts by a small margin mostly because she was there and she had a family and large ties to the plot. Not because kids loves k-pop (which wasn’t even that big during her run). 

And THIS:

Boyd is stereotyped as the big, buff Black guy who’s aggressive and athletic (but almost never seen as the brains of the group, despite his intelligence,xxx and comes from a poor background and answers to an assertive white man without question

Boyd was specifically not stereotypes as aggressive and athletic, and in all fanfic is usually the one who reasons and is most level headed. He came from a poor background, but so did Isaac, and he questioned Derek and Scott. This is what I mean, while I agree that it’s your interpretation, you can’t say it’s a universal interpretation and then judge others because of it. 

The only time I care is when people specifically dislike Scott because of perceived affronts to Stiles and/or Derek, and I say “perceived” because I refer specifically to ones those specific anons and antis take completely out of context, blow out of proportion, or just make up.

Lol, again, your perception, because I can give you several canon based reasons to be upset with Scott, but of course you’ll find a way, no matter how tangential to twist it, because he’s your fave and canon is a mess. This is the freaking point. Let people have their stories. It’s not hurting you if you also add in yours. 

I do not believe it is possible for a 16-year-old to consent to a romantic and/or sexual relationship with a 24/25-year-old, but this post isn’t about that

Please don’t believe that you’re the first person to try this argument because you’re not and also Derek was at most 23 when Stiles was 17 (and to make it more interesting he was 19 in the original unaired pilot, but they aged him up so Kate wouldn’t be full on statutory rape, good times!)

https://stickylovessterek.tumblr.com/post/151831687742/sterek-is-not-pedophilia

Now you might not like it, and that’s totally fine and valid. But age has no basis in their relationship. I’m more interested in power dynamics, which is why I didn’t like Aria/Fitz on PLL or Marrish (which I could have been on board for, but this show is trash). 

with perhaps me as Stiles, you as Scott, and the anon playing Theo during his villain phase circa season 5, trying to turn two people against each other over a larger ethics debate

Well, no, clearly I’m the Stiles since I’m right (i kid, I kid), but honestly, you’re the one putting the anon in this. I’ve been ignoring their hyperbole and we’ve been telling the antis to pick and choose and be discerning with their posts. That has nothing to do with me. If we’re Scott and Stiles then it’s one of us talking and the other not listening and doing theings they’re own way and the fact that both of us have different ideas as to which is which is really part of the fun. 

But it’s not racism. 

[missmudpie]

Name Ten Films That Have, For Whatever Reason, Stuck With You

@millennialfangirl tagged me, and this was harder than I thought and I might have gone over the ten.  Also, tumblr is being tumblr and not cooperating with gifs, so only the first film has one.  Here they are, in chronological order:

Casablanca, 1942

Look, Casablanca is the best film ever made.  Is it my favorite?  No, but it’s the best, much better than Citizen Kane, which is often heralded as the pinnacle of cinema but is about a rich old white guy who loves his sled.

Here’s looking at you, kid.  Of all the Gin joints.  Round up the usual suspects!  I’m shocked - shocked!- to find that gambling is going on in here (Your winnings, sir.). This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  As Time Goes By.  Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and a supporting cast to die for.  Renault throwing away the bottle of Vichy water.

I could go on, but here’s why Casablanca has stuck with me: It’s one of my Dad’s favorite movies, too.  When I think of Casablanca, I think of him.  One Christmas (I can’t remember if I was in high school or college), the old timey theater in town played Casablanca.  I got us tickets as his Christmas present.  It is one of my favorite movie-going experiences (more on that below).

Star Wars, 1977

When I was little, we used to go to my maternal grandparents’ house every Tuesday, and I would watch Star Wars.  I was probably waaaaay too young - there’s audio of me playing out Star Wars with my My Little Ponies and I was like, three.  On my college essay, I wrote about how Return of the Jedi was my first movie (true story, I was six months old and slept through the whole thing, because apparently taking your sleeping infant to the movies is something parents did in the ‘80s).

Star Wars is where I learned about the Hero’s Journey.  About princesses and rebellions and wizards and flying spaceships.  I devoured the Timothy Zahn books and Young Jedi Knights series.  And yes, I’m a little down on it all after Episode IX - but I still love it.  It has impacted me in so many ways.  I know my life would be the poorer for not having seen it.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981

If Princess Leia was the first damsel I saw who get herself out of distress, Marian Ravenwood was the one who solidified the idea that women were perfectly capable of getting into and out of trouble themselves, thank you very much.  Then there’s Harrison Ford in being Peak Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones - Intelligent, clever, brave-bordering-on-reckless.  Who wouldn’t want to go on far-flung adventures to find hidden treasure, and maybe punch some Nazis while you’re at it?

The Goonies, 1985

Speaking of far-flung adventures, how about going on one in your hometown?  Booby-traps, pirates, Italian gangsters, Sloth, hidden treasure - it’s every kid’s playtime fantasy come magically to life.  I still want to go down those tunnel slides and shoot out into a hidden lagoon.  They just don’t make movies like this any more - fun, family movies that don’t dumb down the action or characterization for kids, that’s a ride for both kids and parents alike.  This was the first movie I showed my kids during quarantine.

The Princess Bride, 1987

Inconceivable.  The Six Fingered Man.  Death cannot stop truly love.  Only mostly dead.  Have fun storming the castle!  Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya.  You killed my father.  Prepare to die.  ROUSes.

This is a perfect movie.  It is.  It is lightning in a bottle and it should never, ever be remade (those were just rumors, right?).  This is romance and humor and suspense and two of the best swordfights in cinematic history (fight me on this.  No, really, fight me.  I took fencing in college because of this movie), all wrapped up in the sweetest Happily Ever After.  I love it so much.

Jurassic Park, 1993

I’ve told this story before, but here it is again.  In the summer of 1993, I was 10 and my sisters were 8 and just turned 6, and we convinced our parents that we were for sure old enough to see Jurassic Park - a book my mother had read and thus knew what level of horror to expect.  It did not go well.  I ended up burying my head in my dad’s chest; my youngest sister was in my mom’s lap; and my middle sister, with no where left to go, ended up under the seat in front of her.

Now, it’s the movie we quote (Hold on to your butts).  When my youngest had jello recently, I told him to hold it up and look scared, then texted the picture around.  We all knew immediately what I meant.  The DVDs are given as gifts and then immediately stolen.  My youngest sister can recite the entire movie.  I can’t wait to scare my sons with it.

The Shawshank Redemption, 1994

I don’t remember this movie when it came out; I remember it was this movie I hadn’t really heard of at the Oscars, where it won none.  Not until I was much older did I realize what a travesty that was.  I first watched this on a pep band bus trip in college - not the time or place to truly appreciate it.  Months later, I rented it (remember renting movies?) and fell in love with it.

This is a beautiful movie about friendship and hope and finding light in the darkness.  It’s always on TV, and I will always stop and watch at least a few minutes of it.  The ending - the last half hour, really - is pure cinematic poetry, but noting beats Red’s monologue as he travels to find Andy on that Mexican beach.

That Thing You Do!, 1996

This movie is Capital-D-Delightful.  Just thinking about it makes me smile.  This is the movie that tipped me from Tom Hanks Fan to I Love Tom Hanks and Need Him to Be My Best Friend.  He WROTE and DIRECTED this gem of a movie.  The talent.  The song is legitimately catchy, the characters are Wonder-ful (see what I did there?), and it’s all in Day-Glo ‘60s color.  I love this movie and make no apologies.

Toy Story 2, 1999

Speaking of Tom Hanks, this is my favorite Toy Story.  Look, the first is a technological marvel, but Woody is an ass throughout most of the film.  The fourth is it’s own thing, and the third is really, really good and I ugly sob at the end, but it’s also got a lot going on there.  But the second - oh the second is beautiful in its simplicity.  In addition to all of Andy’s toys, we get Jesse and Bullseye and even Stinky Pete.  It’s an ode to friendship and love and the realization that life, for toys and people, eventually ends, and we have to appreciate every moment we have now.  It is my favorite Toy Story.

Finding Nemo, 2003

I don’t know if it’s my favorite Pixar film, though.  It depends on the day, but most of the time that distinction goes to Finding Nemo.  I first saw it when I was twenty, a decade before my first kid was born, but it has greatly influenced how I parent.  The conversation between Dory and Marlin in the whale, the idea that keeping anything from happening to your kid cuts both ways, the leap of faith, the mantra of “just keep swimming,” the notion that your kids don’t just want, but need to have independence - it’s all there, in Pixar’s stunning ocean animation.  I get choked up just thinking about it.  “Now go have an adventure!”

Honorable Mentions:

Forrest Gump, 1994

I loved this movie.  I love Tom Hanks in this movie.  I would watch it in snippets during college, while I ate dinner or lunch or just needed a quick study break.  But it’s been years since I last saw it, and I wonder if it still holds up.  It’s a Boomer movie made when the Boomers were - basically, just a little older than we old Millennials are now.  It’s American history in the last half of the twentieth century, but the big events - Vietnam, Civil Rights, even AIDS - are filtered through the lens of a straight white man who kinda wanders into history but doesn’t really get why the moments are historic.  I feel like it’s a film I appreciated at a certain time, but wouldn’t love as much now.

Avengers: Endgame, 2019

There just hasn’t been enough time for this movie to make the list.  Ask about it again in ten years.  Although, to be honest, I haven’t seen the whole thing since I saw it in theaters, and I fear it won’t live up.  It was the best movie-going experience I’ve ever had.  The crowd was so into it, and the last battle had everyone, me included, screaming at the screen.  Part of what makes Endgame so special to me is that, among the three big franchises that ended last year (Avengers, Star Wars, Game of Thrones), this one actually stuck the landing.  And yes, I could argue that Steve Rogers’ end doesn’t actual make any sense and deprives Peggy Carter of her agency - but in the emotional moment of the film, it worked.  That portal scene is the culmination of twenty-plus films, and I still can’t believe it works as well as it does.

Thanks again for this! I second tagging @lerayon for this.  I feel like I’m kinda cold-calling mutuals from our Arrow days, so no pressure.  But I’d love to hear what @machawicket @dust2dust34 @dettiot @theshipsfirstmate​ have on their lists.

[shuggahfoot96]

Latinx/Hispanic Celebs

Contrary to the fact that latinx and Hispanic are both used interchangeably, they are two completely different things. It’s 2019 and by now everyone should at least understand the differences between these two groups.

Hispanic: people who speak Spanish, also includes culture.

Latinx: refers to geographical origins. A person from or has descendants from a Latin country.

With that being said Hispanic & Latinx has more to do with ethnicity (ethnicity, NOT race! Yes, race and ethnicity are not one in the same. Where as race is a social construct created to group everyone in certain groups by skin color and phenotypes. i.e, thick lips, negroid noses and kinky hair are physicalities mostly seen in African Americans. Ethnicity is not necessarily visual. It’s based on culture, language, religion, mannerism, thoughts/beliefs, music, literature, and so on and so forth.)

ANYONE can identify as either of these terms regardless of race. Latinx/Hispanics can be Black, White, Asian, Indigenous, Indian... do not be fooled by the Latinx/Hispanics that you see on TV such as Sophia Vargas, Jennifer Lopez, George Lopez, Eve Longoria, Danny Trejo. Latinx/Hispanics are diverse and come in every color, race, size, culture... a cosmic race made of up every damn body. The blondest hair to the kinky ones. Hollywood does not show enough diversity when it comes down to our Latin friends.

Hispanics can be Latinos, Latinos can be Hispanic but not always.

(S/N: Brazilians are Latino since they are from or live in a Latin country, but they are not Hispanic unless they’re first language is Spanish. Brazilians generally speak Português. Brazil is one of the most diverse countries you’ll ever see! I’ve seen Chinese Brazilians, Italian Brazilians, Indigenous Brazilians, Afro Brazilians. Ugh it’s just a huge melting pot lol.)

Here are some celebs you probably didn’t know (or did actually know) who are Latinx/Hispanic:

Lupita Nyong’o - Kenyan-Mexican award winning actress (12 Years A Slave, Black Panther and Us) Born in Mexico City then raised in Kenya at the age of one.

Katrina “Trina” Taylor - rapper and television personality, notorious for her sexually charged and explicit raps. She is Afro-Dominican.

Hailey Baldwin-Bieber - Model and daughter of Stephen Baldwin, wife of Justin Bieber has a Brazilian mother.

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi - Our favorite and most memorable Jersey cast member is Chilean and was adopted and raised by Italian parents.

Harry Shum Jr - His parents were Chinese immigrants but he was subsequently born in Costa Rica. An actor, dancer, singer who starred in Crazy Rich Asians.

Bella Thorne - The red head actress and singer whose father was Cuban.

Tatyana Ali - Rose to fame for her portrayal as Ashley Banks from Fresh Prince staring along side Will Smith, is Afro-Panamanian.

Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi - Rapper, singer, producer and actor whose father was Afro-Mexican and his mother is African American.

John “Fabolous” Jackson - Rapper and songwriter is Afro-Dominican.

Sarunas Jackson - Actor known for Games People Play and just being so damn fine lol. He is Afro-Panamanian.

PSA: If I am wrong in any parts explaining the differences or any of the celebs please don’t be rude. Correct me. I do not mind being corrected ☺️😆

[loren-velazquez]

Is that LOREN ‘LV’ VELAZQUEZ? Wow, they do look a lot like PRISCILLA QUINTANA. I hear SHE is a NINETEEN year old FRESHMEN who are studying BUSINESS AND MARKETING at Luxor University. Word is they are a ARISTOCRAT student. You should watch out because they can be FAKE and IMPULSIVE, but on the bright side they can also be AMBITIOUS and SOCIABLE. Ultimately, you’ll get to see it all for yourself!

hello hello, this is my new college demon, loren. this intro got way out of hand, so there is a tl;dr at the bottom for those of you with short attention spans like myself! 

STATS

BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Loren May Velazquez

NICKNAME(S): LV or Ren

DATE OF BIRTH: March 28th, 2001

AGE: 19

ZODIAC SIGN: Aries

OCCUPATION: College Student

HOMETOWN: Brooklyn, NY (Cobble Hill)

CURRENT RESIDENCE: Luxor Academy

NATIONALITY: Dual American/Swiss Citizenship

ETHNICITY: Half-White, Half-Mexican

LANGUAGE(S): English, Spanish, French, Italian

GENDER & PRONOUNS: She/Her

RELIGION: Catholic but non-practicing 

POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Liberal Democrat

DISCLAIMER: Priscilla Quintana’s ethnicity has not been confirmed, though it is believed she is half-white, half-Mexican, and I casted FCs for her family (and drafted her backstory) accordingly. If she comes out and confirms her ethnicity, I will take it into consideration and make any appropriate edits.

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

FACE CLAIM: Priscilla Quintana

HEIGHT: 5'5"

EYE COLOUR: Green

HAIR COLOUR + STYLE: Dark brown, usually worn blown out 

TATTOO(S): TBD

PIERCING(S: TBD

GLASSES: TBD

PERSONALITY

MBTI TYPE: ESFP

POSITIVE TRAITS: Ambitious, Sociable

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Fake, Impulsive

GOALS/DESIRES:  Loren wants to be both of the Bush twins wrapped up in one. She wants Jenna’s gig as a news anchor, and Barbara’s political/philanthropic/activism endeavors, with a dash of, like, socialite/influencer thrown in.

FEARS: TBD

HOBBIES:  TBD

HABITS:  TBD

SMOKES?: uses a juul bc of course she does

DRINKS?: yes

DRUGS?: occasionally

FAMILY - to be added

LUXOR UNIVERSITY

Major: Business & Marketing

Minor: Politics

Extra-Curriculars: 

Debate Student Council Ballet (Soloist)

SOME FUN FACTS

only child which explains a lot of her ~ issues ~ 

her parents picked out the name loren for their kid regardless of gender, which is why she’s loren and not lauren or laurel or something similar/more traditionally feminine

loren’s father is a semi high-profile politician. he worked in local new york government for awhile and then when she was 13 (6 years ago) he became a senator for new york. his goal is to either become mayor of nyc or governor of new york, and hopefully make a presidential bid at some point

loren’s mother is part of the manesse family (loren’s cousin is zelda reese) and she lost part of her inheritence when she married her father, which doubled the pressure on loren, since it comes from her father’s political ambitions and her mother’s familial obligations 

her family is definitely upper middle class, though not extraordinarily wealthy, but loren is still a bit of a snob. she puts a lot of weight on people’s careers and standing and ambition. 

loren grew up in brooklyn and has spent her whole life in the city. she attended a private high school in nyc as well. 

she took a gap year to do philanthropic work (it looks so good on her resume!!!!) before enrolling at luxor university as a freshman, so she technically is a year older than your typical freshman

she is very much a fake human being. she will pull the regina george ‘oh my god i love that skirt’ and then turn around and ‘that is the fugliest skirt i’ve ever seen’. she acts to everyone’s face like she is the nicest sweetest person and then turns around and talks some  s h i t  if you are in her inner circle 

loren is very outgoing, extroverted, sociable, whatever word you want to use. she has a politician’s charisma from her father, and really can charm the pants off anyone if she wants to. 

she is a big partier, she drinks, occasionally uses drugs (weed/cocaine at most, she typically wouldn’t do things much harder than that)

because of who her father is, she loves to give fake names when she’s out partying and meets a stranger. she’ll invent a whole character rather than give any real details about herself

in fact she doesn’t really give too many details about herself even when she’s not playing a character. she is intensely private about her feelings/thoughts/emotions/anything personal. partially from her father’s career, partially from her being a fake bitch

once you’re one of her friends, she’s ride or die, yo

she is wildly impulsive. she literally can be talked into any stupid ass scheme or plot or idea if you suggest it to her in the right away, and will not pause for a single second to think any sort of aftermath through. 

loren is a ballerina and was fairly dedicated to it through high school, and even though she’s continuing in college, she never considered it more than a hobby as her parent’s expectations made it obvious that was not a viable career path

she idolizes the bush twins even though they’re republicans and her father hates george w. bush. she’ll literally go out buy every single book recommendation on jenna bush hager’s book club and her goal after college is to work with the global health corp (that barbara bush founded). 

she absolutely loves louis vuitton (because she is extremely vain and has loved that their logo is her initials since she was a little girl and she didn’t really understand WHY it was her initials) and she wears it as much as she can, hence the nickname her friends have given her of LV. 

CONNECTION IDEAS

CURRENT CONNECTION: PROXY DEALER - Loren uses but she is SUPER secretive about it. Her father is a politician, so obviously it would be a big deal if something came out about her drinking or doing drugs. This would be a student she trusted who essentially acted as a middle man between her and a dealer because she wouldn’t want to go to one herself

CURRENT CONNECTION: SHOCK VALUE - This could be romantic or platonic! Loren often has moments where she likes to shock her parents, so this would be someone she would bring around that she KNOWS they would disapprove of, just for the shock value and to get a little giggle to herself. TBD if your muse would be aware of this element to their relationship or not.

CURRENT CONNECTION: ARM CANDY - This could be romantic or platonic! This would be someone Loren would bring around her parents when she knows she needs to be on her best behavior/impress them for whatever reason. It most likely would be someone she doesn’t actually enjoy being around all that much, but she keeps that to herself to be able to use them for these situations. TBD if your muse would be aware of this element to their relationship or not. 

CURRENT CONNECTION: FWB/HOOK-UP -  Loren has two significant exes - her high school sweetheart and then the rebound. They both burned her badly, so she’s not about to start dating someone right away. Instead, she just does the casual FWB/hook-ups.

PAST CONNECTION: HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART - Loren had a high school sweetheart that she broke up with at the beginning of senior year. Most of this would be TBD depending on the muse that was filling the connection. 

TL;DR

loren is a high profile politician’s daughter, with a lot of familial pressure to succeed, which in turn makes her an expert at disappointing her parents. she grew up in brooklyn, went to high school for nyc, and took a gap year before enrolling at luxor university as a freshman. she still has a lot of ambition, even with her insanely impulsive wild child side, and personality wise, she’s a complete regina george. do NOT trust her. 

[theglassbell]

Being mixed is honestly an experience I find hard to talk about, but I’m feeling some type of way so I’m going to try and talk about it now. Sorry if this isn’t the content some of y’all want to see, but it is my blog (and also I have a #personal tag if y’all wanna blacklist)

My father is black and my mother is white.

When someone asks me which “side” I identify with more, my entire brain literally has a tug of war contest. (Btw don’t ask mixed kids this, it’s isn’t funny). On the one hand, I would say white. My father was an only child and he never saw his extended family often, ergo I never saw his extended family pretty much at all. The only family I saw often was on my mother’s side, all of whom were white. I also don’t see them often anymore, but that’s because my parents moved the family from New Jersey all the way to Georgia when I was young, not because I never knew them. In Georgia, I grew up in a small, conservative, not-very-diverse town. Every friend group I’ve ever had was all white except for me (there was one girl in one group who was Mexican but that’s it). I was more influenced culturally and socially by my mother. My dad is a very “manly man” and I used to be super girly, so that’s why most of my social upbringing was from my mother who was also into girly things. My mom even had to help me with my hair. She definitely did not do 100% on that front but I give her an A for effort. And before anyone asks, yes, we could have gone to my dad’s mother - my grandmother - for help, and we did once, but she wasn’t really helpful (and that’s a whole nother story lol) and I’m not very close with her anyway. I grew up one the blandest most boring chicken, frozen veggies, and instant rice dinners known to man. I still eat those now when I come home from college. My own cooking skills are solidly in the yt people column. So basically, culturally I feel like a white person. My answer to the question above might have been “white.”

However, everything is always more complicated than that. Everyone around me saw me as black. And there was definitely that undercurrent of “you’re not one of them, you’re a cool black person” but I was still clearly in the “black” category. I used to get looks from my friends when I mentioned that I had a crush on a white dude because they subconsciously expected me to date within my race. (I should mention that these friends - the ones I keep in contact with at least - have grown and expanded their beliefs and are no longer like this) And when I looked in the mirror, I saw black. I looked at my tan skin, and my bushy eyebrows, and my thick kinky-curly hair and I saw a black girl. (And honestly I used to have a lot of internal anti blackness and tried to make myself fit Eurocentric beauty standards by getting my hair treated and straightened, but at the end of the day I still considered myself black). I still look in the mirror and see a black girl, but now I’m finally comfortable with embracing that identity.

So I had this issue where i was seen as black by myself and others, but culturally I was raised very white.

It’s such a hard line to balance. Truthfully, I’m almost 50/50 down the middle when it comes to the genetics I got from my parents. My mom is super pale, my dad is pretty dark, and I’m like.. caramel. Or like, mocha? Idk I’ve never really been into using food to reference skin color. I have features from both of their faces and my hair has my fathers texture (hence the kinky curly) but my mother’s coloring (brown with some red occasionally thrown in for fun). I’m also 100% uniquely myself. But in a society where everything and everyone has a label, idk what to do with that.

Like I said before, my white friends see me as black. All white people I come into contact with see me as black. Yes, it’s sometimes the whole “oh but you’re not like other black people” that I know comes from the lightness of my skin, which I believe is a form of colorism?(I’m sorry if I did not use that term correctly) But, picking one or the other, to them I am black.

Black people tend to see me as white. This makes sense on the basis of my cultural upbringing, but not knowing AAVE well and the different social cues just makes it harder for me to connect with black folks and engage with the culture that’s in my blood.

In an attempt to feel connected to my dads side of the family and my blackness, I got into hoodoo and ancestral veneration.

It’s still really hard though. The only family members I could talk to about hoodoo and folk traditions and such would be my dad or my grandmother. Both of them are verryyy Christian (and like I said before, I don’t have a good relationship with my grams anyway, nor do I have a good relationship with Christianity. Hello, queer here!!). But honestly, that’s how I feel about magic traditions in general. I live on stolen land. My ancestors from one side of the family were kidnapped and forced to work said stolen land (though after the civil war ended I know of an ancestor who kicked ass and owned his own farm. He’s a real g). My ancestors from the other side of the family were either immigrants that came to America in hope of a better life or slave owners. Yikes.

I feel untethered from any culture, socially and spiritually. I thought about looking into italian and Irish witchcraft, since those are the strongest lineages on my white family’s side, but I got discouraged before I even started. I’ve never been to Ireland or Italy. I don’t know either language, I barely know of any meals from those countries. Who was I kidding? And then of course I don’t know any ancestry past the end of the civil war on my black side, because they were torn from their homeland. I still feel that urge to learn about hoodoo, which was specifically created in the americas, but it’s such an intimate practice with emphasis on the handing down of knowledge, and I don’t have anyone to do that for me. I want to connect to the local land, but then I think.. it’s not my homeland. It was the homeland of indigenous peoples and my country stole it from them. Would the land even be willing to work with me? Top this all off with having no “extra” senses to converse with any spirits (including my own ancestors) that could possibly teach me something. Add a sprinkle of depression and anxiety (and it’s genetic!! Yay!!) and you get me. An idiot sandwich.

I feel so deeply for witchcraft and hoodoo and for learning about them and practicing them, but I also feel like I have no right to. I mean, hell, the deities I worship are from lands and times I have no connection to. I love them so much, but sometimes I just wonder if I should worship deities from my own cultures. And then I remember that I don’t feel enough of a connection to any culture anyway, and... it’s a vicious cycle. I don’t know what to do with myself.

- signed, a depressed mixed witch + beginner rootworker who is so fucking lost