#also especially if they're from eastern europe

[sosepurkki]

new interest: obscure vintage cartoons

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 4

Part 4 - Furigana and double meanings

I discussed in Part 2 how Japanese is comprised of three different alphabets: hiragana and katakana (together referred to as "kana") which represent pronunciation, and kanji which represent meaning. With there being over 2,000 kanji in common use, as well as various ways to pronounce any one kanji character depending on the word it's in, children learn kanji gradually throughout their school years. So manga and books aimed at a younger audience will typically have kanji "translations." These are comprised of small kana called furigana which are printed to the right of the kanji to show how to pronounce it. In the below panel for example, the one word that has a kanji is the 嬉 in 嬉しい. The furigana shows that 嬉 is pronounced うれ ("ure") to make the adjective "ureshii" (happy).

Sometimes manga authors will use furigana+kanji in creative ways to convey different meanings to words that specifically suit their story/characters. This alternate way of translating kanji is called 当て字 (ateji). One way of using ateji is to help introduce fictional terminology. In SxF for example, Ostania and Westalis are made-up words, but Endo assigns them their own kanji: 東国 for Ostania and 西国 for Westalis. The second kanji for both of them is 国 which means "country," and the first kanji for Ostania is 東 which means "east" while 西 for Westalis means "west." However, to differentiate them from the actual words these kanji represent ("toukoku" and "saikoku," which mean "eastern country" and "western country" respectively), Endo writes out their pronunciations in katakana next to the kanji. You can see this in the panels below.

Even though they're not real words, by assigning them kanji that represent what they are – "east country" and "west country" – even without any context, Japanese readers get more information about these terms than English readers do thanks to the use of kanji and furigana.

Another way manga authors can use ateji to suit their needs is by telling readers to pronounce otherwise normal Japanese words in the "language" they want. For example, the word used for "codename" in SxF is 暗号名, which is a real word that is pronounced "angoumei." However, when we look at the furigana that Endo assigns to it, he specifically tells us to pronounce it like the English word "codename" (コードネーム).

Since SxF is a series that takes place in a fictional version of Europe, Endo must have found it more fitting to use English for specific keywords like this.

While the above examples are fairly common throughout all manga, especially those that have a lot of fictional terminology, Endo also gets creative with using ateji to form double meanings that lend insight into the characters' thoughts/feelings. And we get one of the best examples of this in the very first chapter:

This is the scene where Twilight's saying that he became a spy to create a world where children don't have to cry. The word for children, 子ども, should be pronounced "kodomo," however, the furigana is telling us to pronounce it as じぶん (jibun), which means "self." By creating this double meaning of Twilight saying he'll make a world where children and/or he himself doesn't have to cry, points out in a subtle yet poignant way just how much Twilight's trauma as a child shaped his determination to make sure other children don't have to suffer the same fate. It's a brilliant way of showing a deeper side of the character that he wouldn't outwardly show.

A similar example occurs in chapter 49 during the cruise arc, in the scene where Yor is guarding the room at night, thinking about how she was dragging her feet during the Barnaby fight. Her last thought during that scene is wondering what she's fighting for, however, even though the word used is いばら姫 (ibarahime), which means "Thorn Princess," the furigana tells us to pronounce it as わたし, which is the "I"/"me" pronoun that Yor uses.

The ambiguity of reading the word as "I" or as "Thorn Princess" emphasizes how she's struggling with her Thorn Princess identity at that time. It can almost have a different meaning when reading it one way or the other. For example, reading it as わたしは何のため ("For what reason am I [doing this]…) or as いばら姫は何のため ("For what reason is Thorn Princess [doing this]…) gives the impression that she's trying to distance herself from "Thorn Princess"…that she's unconsciously seeing herself and "Thorn Princess" as different people.

Another example that's not as deep but still interesting is from chapter 87, where Sylvia visits Fiona in the hospital and tells her not to push herself so hard, even for his sake, with "his" referring to Twilight. The kanji used is 黄昏 (tasogare) which means "Twilight," but the furigana translation is あいつ (aitsu) which means "that guy/that person."

This is a clever way to use kanji/furigana to indicate that Sylvia is indeed aware of Fiona's feelings for Twilight by having her not refer to him by name, but also informing the reader that she definitely knows who she's talking about.

I also find it interesting that all three of these examples are spoken from a character we're viewing from behind. I think it's just a coincidence, but still interesting 😅

I'll wrap up with one more example from chapter 58, where Loid notes that his understanding of Bond is lacking, just like Anya. Once again, the word for children, 子ども (kodomo) is used (Loid likes making double meanings with that word, doesn't he?) but the furigana translates it to アーニャ(Anya).

I interpret this as him saying he needs to understand children better, but he specifically means Anya (even though he doesn't want to admit his particular yearning to understand her).

If you're wondering how the anime handles these ateji, it seems to vary. In the anime version of the chapter 1 example, Loid says the correct kanji translation "kodomo," but in the chapter 49 example, Yor says the furigana translation "watashi."

The anime seems to use the reading that would make the most sense if spoken out loud by the character.

I haven't read enough manga in Japanese to say that this use of furigana+kanji to create double meanings is a common thing, but even if it is, I'm sure Endo has his own unique style of doing it. I know there's more examples in SxF that I missed, and unfortunately I don't have the time to look through every chapter to find them. But if you happen to come across any others, feel free to let me know 😃 I may amend this post or create another one if more interesting examples pop up.

<- Return to Part 3

[max1461]

One of the most frustrating things is making a post that you think is right, and also important, but which unintentionally conveys something that you think is subtly wrong. Especially when the post gets popular. You want to keep it circulating, you want your point to keep spreading. But you worry that you're spreading something bad along with it, a misconception that your readers might not even know they're absorbing.

That post I made about the Meiji restoration a while ago was one of these. I ended up making in unrebloggable, mostly because I was just getting tired of that discourse. I think it was a good post and I stand by it. I criticized the Meiji government for an ideology that saw "Westernizing" and "industrializing/modernizing/becoming competitive with the Great Powers" as necessarily part-and-parcel, and I criticized contemporary political leaders who think the same thing. And I think that's a fair criticism in both cases.

But I did have a major concern about that post, which is that it I think it played into this idea that the Meiji restoration was some absolute break in Japanese history, where Japan stopped being... idk, "authentically Japanese" and started being "a Westernized country". Which is almost exactly the type of narrative I'm trying to critique! Like, no! Disregarding even the general dubiousness of those categories: there was serious continuity between pre-Meiji and post-Meiji Japan, this wasn't an early-Soviet-Union-level reshaping of society.

Maybe I shouldn't say that, I don't know enough about the early Soviet Union. But you get my point. I worry that my post made it sound as if the Meiji government were ripping up shrine gates and shit left and right, shredding kimonos and foisting Western suits upon people, and banishing nay-sayers to the gulag. No! That would not really be an accurate description of what happened.

So I worried about giving the wrong impression. I think I've posted about this already.

But my whole point, really, the point I was trying to make with that post and the point I am perennially trying to make, is that the modern world is not inherently "Western". Not in principle or in actual fact. Modernity was made across the whole globe. That sounds like a sort of trite statement, a meaningless inversion of the typical Western chauvinist narrative, but it isn't! The more you learn about early modern history the more clear this really becomes.

Japan was an early industrializer. Not among the very first wave, but ultimately still early. This means it was not only "on par", in terms of access to material wealth and technology, with many nations in Europe, but that its industrialization also meaningfully predated that of much of Europe, especially Eastern Europe. The core element of industrial society—the industrial factory—is a technology. A technology invented in Britain, which just like any technology spread first to nearby regions and later to far off regions. Of course in the increasingly interconnected modern world, sometimes technologies make big geographical jumps, as industrialism made to Japan in the nineteenth century.

And of course I'm oversimplifying the history here, but my point is that this is all ordinary. There's a narrative which sees the whole process of the spread of industrialism as almost mystically exceptional. A divine enlightenment was given to the West, which from then on separated the West and the Westernized in their very essence from the rest, the unenlightened masses, the savages. The White Man's Burden. But, aside from being a perennial justification for colonialism, this view is intellectually immature. It's a just-so story.

Like all inventions, the industrial factory and the technologies which emerged around it have a geographical place of origin. But like all inventions, they spread—both inside and outside the West—and people in the places to which they spread immediately started iterating on them and adapting them to local conditions and contributing to the larger sum-of-effects we call the modern world. Modernity was made all over the globe. Japanese modernity is not a mere Western importation, layered on top of indigenous pre-modernity. It was made right there in Japan, by Japanese people, in Japanese institutions, and so on and so forth. It drew from ideas developed elsewhere (as cultures always have! As Japan did with China just centuries before!), developed in France and Germany and Britain, and it contributed ideas which were then taken up in France and Germany and Britain.

And these kind of effects are easy to see with Japan, because it was an early industrializer, but once you pay attention you see them everywhere. The making of the modern world not as a unilateral imposition of the West upon the rest, but as a mutual engagement of many societies across the globe making something new together—sometimes cooperatively, usually competitively, and very often at the expense of the most marginal. But, still, together, as an aggregate process.

Our world was made everywhere. I do think it sounds completely trite, especially because I'm rather tired and don't have the wherewithal to source more specific examples. But I really do think this because meaningfully clear when you engage with the history.

[warsofasoiaf]

Russia has demonstrated that they can inevitably attrite ukraine. defeating Russia would require a radical expansion of ukrainian offensive capabilities far above the threshold that Putin will seek nuclear escalation. unless biden is prepared to end the world (over ukraine and not Chinese Taipei or Israel as he is willing to), how do propose "beating" CSTO .

This is cute. Russian cope always has this distinct flavor of "we're a great power and we can't be beaten," despite the fact that Russia has experienced numerous failures and has largely been exposed as an incompetent military power.

Frankly speaking, CSTO doesn't really need to be beaten. Given that Kazakhstan has dismissed CSTO troops and Armenia largely sees no hope for CSTO, the world has largely seen Russian security commitments as worthless - they are incapable of fulfilling said agreements given that Russia has largely bled out its force in Ukraine. It's a zombie organization, shuffling on in a semblance of life as opposed to an actual living organization. I predict it largely collapses as Russia loses the ability to influence the near-abroad and Central Asia seeks other partners that can actually fulfill obligations to ally nations.

I don't think Russia has demonstrated the ability to attrit Ukraine. In fact, given the numerical superiority, any competent military would have succeeded their battlefield objectives relatively easily, even if they lost the peace and occupation to come after. Avdiivka was supposed to fall - Russia kept saying it was, and it hasn't. As I've mentioned before, Russia is an incapable force conventionally and has been for a long time. Economically, they're weak and coring out their economy to sustain their fool's crusade. Militarily, they're sluggish, uncreative, and reduced to begging Iran and North Korea for aid to conquer a country with a fraction of the size and manpower, had no navy to speak of and the faintest wisp of an air force. In a conventional conflict, Russia has no advantages against a NATO country other than perhaps the zeal to throw themselves on the enemy's spears - an emotion that only comes from the realization that you live in Russia.

Fact of the matter is, revitalizing the defense industrial base and actually producing HIMARS and other quality armaments would be more than enough to destroy Russia, and wouldn't even reach the Russian nuclear escalation as defined in Russian doctrine. Hell, if we actually had courage in our foreign policy establishment, Russia would have been defeated and sued for peace already as the aid shipments quadrupled. That would be better off for the whole world, including Russia. Especially for the minority populations Russia keeps sending off to die so the elites in St. Petersburg and Moscow don't have to feel the consequences of their actions.

I don't fear nuclear escalation because Russia isn't willing to end the world because the elites like having their vast wealth and the wide array of perks that it offers access to. They wouldn't do it just because they can't have Ukraine. Honestly, Russia should count its lucky stars that they have a nuclear deterrent, otherwise China would have invaded it already to seize resources from the Central Siberian Basin. Alas for the rest of us, Russia was free in the 1990's to launch damn fool wars in Central Asia and Eastern Europe to reassert its own imperialist glories, rather than being brought to heel. Alas, now it can continue to pretend it's anything other than a decrepit excuse for a country run by a wannabe tsar with a Napoleon complex crying over the fact that his country lost the Cold War and no one fears or respects the Russian bear. Boo-hoo. In the words of your fearless leader after the Beslan school siege where you simply mowed down your own people because you couldn't handle a single hostage operation: "You've shown yourselves to be weak, and the weak get beaten."

Also, as a pro-tip: the verb attrite means to wear down by use (as in to wear down a tool through using it for hours on end). You want the verb attrit, which means to use sustained offensive pressure to weaken an opponent. You might want to brush up on your English; this goes double against someone who not only takes great pleasure in laughing at Russian trolls but someone who actually studies the terminology of military science.

Cry more, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[hussyknee]

Please note that who gets to be "white" is contextual to the center of ethnic power in each region.

Dark-skinned people of Asian, African and Indigenous descent will never be white in any part of the world and will always be vulnerable to white skinned people of European descent. (Excepting the times Japanese and some East Asian peoples with an adequate lack of melanin have been granted conditional whiteness.)

However, Slavs, white Jews, white Latinos, white Roma (white skinned and associated with European origins) are fully white in places where they hold ethnosupremacy and achieve/are granted conditional whiteness of varying levels and privileges in the US, Canada, South Africa and other white settler colonies, and some parts of Europe (Jewish South African settlers had no idea what side of the apartheid fence they would fall until the white Afrikaners made clear they were accepted).

Whiteness in the Western world is also entirely in the purview of the imperial core's narrative. In the Western lens, Eastern Europeans eternally hover between the fact of being white-skinned Europeans and being Orientalised due to their histories as colonies of Russia and Ottoman empire and their shared heritage with Asia Minor. Even the narratives of the Holocaust erase the genocide of Soviet Jewry. (That's right, in Soviet Russia the Holocaust had nothing to do with Jews, which is why Putin keeps accusing Zelensky of being a Nazi). The US and Western Europe's manufacturing of consent for NATO's military alliance with Ukraine at the outbreak of its war with Russia involved efforts to elevate them to full whiteness that were routinely hilarious because demystifying and de-exoticising them (is that a word?) revealed the extent to which they had been Othered, paternalised and exotified (lots of "omg they're humans just like us even though they live in a shitty second world country" stories especially from the UK, ntm journalists parachuting in and seemingly being surprised they had McDonald's and internet access. You could not make this stuff up). You can contrast this directly with how much of a shit they don't give about Armenians because they're Russian allies, even though Armenians are literally white in the US. It's why I have to roll my eyes at the "they care about Ukrainians because they're white" discourse. That's entirely backwards— Ukrainians are white because NATO is invested in them. Otherwise they'd just be another former Soviet Republic up to their usual "savage shenanigans" like the rest of the Eastern Bloc.

You'd think you couldn't pull this same trick with non-Europeans, except that Apartheid South Africa deemed Japanese "honorary whites" (much like Nazi Germany proclaimed them honorary Aryans), and then, hilariously, the rest of the East Asians because they were so pissed off about it. White Australia otoh kept them stubbornly out.

Otoh, Islam is fully and irrevocably racialized (associated with the Middle East even though like...nevermind), which is why Bosniaks and Turks will never be given even conditional whiteness, European or not.

Whatever the geo-political hemisphere, under the global influence of white supremacy, the capacity for the casual public to empathize with a person recedes with the rise of melanin in their appearance. This is why abolitionists used white passing Black Americans to drum up support for their cause among Europeans, why more people will always empathize with white Eastern Europeans, why anti-blackness is its own creature and Black people are so universally dehumanized that even people that care about atrocities in the Middle East pay scant attention to the horrors in Africa where the West and Israel are equally implicated. In the landscapes of our imaginations, the Western cultural hegemony has created the image of dark bodies into a faceless, uncontainable, seething hoarde born to suffer and die; lives stripped bare of names, personalities, agency, intelligence, homelands and dreams.

(Please note this blog is anti-genocide no matter the colour of their skin, by which I mean that what's happening in Ukraine is also one, and no amount of Zionists with their flag in their bios makes it any more acceptable for them to be colonized and slaughtered than it is for any of the several Black and brown people being subjected to the same right now. Human rights are not predicated on good behaviour, or else we'd all be dead.)

[youuuimeanmee]

I read your post on Arnold & Aleister Crowley along with Covenia being the SxF equivalent of Romania. I looked up some Romanian folklore & found something called the Solomonari/Solomonars which are dragon-riding wizards said to control the weather. Not only that, but they're also stated to be red-headed. Aside from Handler, Anya is the only one we've seen with red (or in this case pink) hair.

Plus the name Covenia sounds pretty similar to "Coven" which is a group of witches & one of the names that people in Anya's past called her was a witch. Could Arnold be under the belief that Anya is a Solomonar (or in training) not just for her Classical Language skills but also for her hair color?

👀 👀 👀 👀 👀

While I do think this is certainly a very interesting finding, I'm currently debating whether I should expand my "Covenia=irlRomania" theory or not. (maybe i shouldnt, cus im not a romanian)

Maybe because I just stumbled on florida.florian on Youtube — in which, he debunks plenty of Romanian misrepresentation in the media — that I realized, maybe this whole "Gypsies/Witchcraft's History in Romani" might be a sensitive topic afterall? Or not? Especially when we also know that Endo is using IRL cold war references for the cold war that happen in Spy x Family; combine the two topics together, and... yeah, it doesn't sit well with me.

I mean, The Solomonar idea itself is very interesting; I like how Anya being a solomonar would allign nicely with her red hair, her hair cones, and her classical language skill. (I know Anya's design is based off Endo's previous oneshot, but it's a story revolving around the age of witch hunt, so I guess it's not surprising he'd be knowledgable about witches?). I'm also very surprised with the word "Coven" (I've been wondering about it). But implying that Anya's heritage is the reason why she was taken to the facility to see if the folklore has scientific explanation to it so they can utilize it for cold war? It's not unheard of IRL, but it still doesn't sit right with me. Or maybe it's just me jumping into ideas where I shouldn't.

Any Romanian users out here? Maybe @liddlecreachur ? South-eastern Europe people? Heck, Historians? I'm not a Romani, so I'd love to hear your input on this :")

Great findings though, @monsoonceroom !

*Edit: Guys check out the additions from @liddlecreachur here and @monsoonceroom here! Super interesting stuffs about the lore!

[menalez]

What is your definition of racism, and do you think white people can be victims of racism?

I live in western / northern Europe, and a lot of Slavic people who live here, especially Polish people, say that it's racist to say that white people can't be victims of racism because they say that they are victims of racism from western / northern Europeans, and that what they face from western / northern Europeans is just as bad, if not worse, as what people of color face.

I'm a little hesitant to agree, only because some of the most horrific racism I've witnessed against people of color has come from Eastern Europeans (the very ones who say they're victims of racism just as much as people of color). I feel like it's not my place to say as a white western European though, so I wanted to know what people of color such as yourself think about the matter?

i define racism as: “racism is the process by which systems and policies, actions and attitudes create inequitable opportunities and outcomes for people based on race.”

no i do not think white people can be victims of racism. i do think they can be victims of xenophobia, ethnic discrimination, and colourism… but no, not racism. bc it’s not their race (ie being white) that is underlying the discrimination they face. some face discrimination for looking like they’re not white, some face it bc of classist or xenophobic ideas around their ethnic group. some face discrimination bc of their ethnicity despite not being immigrants and being light skinned etc.

yes, eastern europeans do face discrimination in western europe. but “just as bad, if not worse, as what people of colour face” ?? no. i would agree with the argument that they have some overlapping experiences with us, but they absolutely do not face the same or even worse. and yeah it has also been my experience that some of the most overtly racist & often white supremacist people have been eastern europeans,,, so the ones who try to argue they’re actually deemed poc or actually face the same as poc are aggravating to me bc they have no problem utilising white supremacy & racism when it benefits them. a lot of the hatred i’ve seen towards eastern europeans could be summarised with the terms classism & xenophobia ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ southern europeans also like to argue they’re poc and face racism sometimes too, and i disagree there as well.

[zorkaya-moved]

HONKAI STAR RAIL VERSE REWRITES & SUMMARY:

The original Zarina Sokolova from HI3 Universe, Previous Era. 50,000+ years old, the initial leader of Eastern Europe (was there for the creation of Rus', Russia, etc.) She was once the strategist and the overlooker of the MANTIS program. She was there when Kevin joined, known as the genius in strategy, but she wasn't allowed to take the MANTIS surgery due to her importance at that time as the surgery was dangerous. Then she was the victim of Honkai, turned into a Herrscher of Ice, but instead was able to retain some of her humanity that helped her stay 'sane. She pleaded to be used as experiment fodder to destroy the rest of Herrschers. She was experimented on, which helped her regain her humanity but also changed her wholly, making her a combination of a variety of genetic changes beneath the human appearance.

After Elysian Realm, she rushed into it as it was collapsing, but due to the importance of ER to Aeon of Origin (the original Elysia), she was transported to another planet/world after given the blessing of Origin. She became an Apostle of Origin then as she was granted the clearance of her mind and assistance in keeping herself stable.

For a couple of months, she was traveling across different planets until she made enough connections to make a bigger scene in terms of her powers. Initially, a mercenary and a connection to different groups, she caught the attention of Diamond of the IPC who hired her as a bodyguard... Naturally, it was a lie and more of the hostage situation. Zarina personally went along with it and allowed Diamond to 'use' her while she studied the galaxy/cosmos and the IPC itself. She was seen by Diamonds sides by many Stonehearts who have been with Diamond for more than 7 or so years. She "worked" for Diamond for a couple of years (3 to be precise) which allowed her to know Diamond, to know other certain Stonehearts, and also to learn far more about the galaxy. She had also been an appointed bodyguard of several Stonehearts upon Diamond's [orders] (in reality, upon Zarina's choice as she and Diamond had an agreement).

Due to her position as the Apostle of Origin, she and Diamond remain on 'friendlier' terms, especially after Diamond has successfully [killed] Zarina off. One to erase her for the knowledge she possessed, two so Zarina could prove a point about being an Emanator of Origin and what it entails. Because of that, they remain on those 'friendlier' terms.

After working with Diamond, Zarina has made a lot of connections in several places across the galaxy. Several Galaxy Rangers know her, a lot of Masked Fools have witnessed her own [hedonism], she's also worked as a merchant, and has been seen across many worlds in different roles from tour guide to traveler to mercenary to storyteller to an artist. Her most famous job and connection remains to now being one of the owners of the Interstellar Casino. How did she achieve that? It remains unknown. (In reality, it was the payment for the first blood spilled by diamond) Zarina herself says it's how she operated

What stays the same is her [hidden] connection to the Stellaron Hunters. As they are followers of Finality/Terminus, she - as the Emanator of Origin - proved that Aeon of Origin wants just the same what Terminus: to save the worlds from Destruction. She operated several missions to ensure the script's going the right way alone instead of traveling with the known Stellaron Hunters. All of this is due to different strings needed to be pulled to achieve needed results. No one knows Zarina is associated with the Stellaron Hunters. She is not a part of them, but she is supporting their cause in terms of leading the world towards the 'correct' ending.

Zarina meets the Astral Express when they are on Belobog as always, but instead of the main crew meeting her in Belobog, they meet her after they're done with helping the crisis with Cocolia, seeing her already inside the train as she was speaking with Himeko and Welt... Welt knowing her from the Earth as once the operative from World Serpent, the terrorist organization that was led by Kevin Kaslana, the one who was hailed a hero in the Previous Era.

[sailorspica]

giving reijean complete birth charts

i make fun of yams for making frankly the majority of the 104th and the warrior unit aries and leo suns, including Jean and Reiner (would just say "fire signs," but he doesn't seem to gravitate toward sagittarius birthdays). but just because this cast is lousy with the same sun sign doesn't mean they're identical to their comrades! the differences (and friction of similarity) come from everyone's rising sign, which contextualizes the sun for the individual.

table of contents

methodology

their charts without birth times

the charts

🪐 methodology

this project requires three bold executive decisions: (1) birth times, (2) birth years as proxy for 832-35, and (3) birth location as proxy for liberio and paradis.

birth times, to give us their rising signs. this makes up the majority of this post. besides the above reason, sun + ascendant also tells us if the person was born in the day or night since the ascendant is the sign on the eastern horizon at time of birth. someone born at/around sunrise has the same sun and rising sign, for example.

851 in AoT = 1853 in our world. what about every other planet? astrology is not like MBTI; we don't plug in values willy nilly (my killjoy pet peeve? ppl hc'ing moon signs that are physically, astronomically impossible; moon phases and thus moon signs describe sun-moon aspects). i have to pick a real-world ephemeris range in order to limit my freedom of choice to just rising signs. to advance my own indulgent new historicist reading, i'm looking at ephemerides from the 1830s to fill in the rest of these charts, matching the survey corps repo'ing the marleyan scouting ship to the arrival of the perry expedition in the ryukyu islands.

kinda crazy decision here, but liberio = macau, the walls = osaka. the world of AoT is ours upside-down, sure, but the opposite latitude of madagascar is like, saudi arabia, which i don't think this matches because of climate, and iseyama pretty clearly conceives of paradis with more than two northern hemisphere seasons (the leaves on the tree on the hill). these city choices betray my own research interests, but the antagonism between paradis and marley across a narrow sea feels more like japan vs like all of east asia (including russia) throughout history, but especially the late 19th and early 20th centuries. physically, paradis' northeastern position next to marley (longitude) matters a lot. it's why the birth charts of ppl from northern europe are so weird if you use quadrant house systems.

right away, the 1830s give us the outer/generational planets, where Reiner's 2-3 years seniority does make difference for uranus, the fastest-moving outer: they share pluto in aries and neptune in capricorn, but Reiner's uranus is in aquarius and Jean's is in pisces. i don't rly use these unless they make close contact w inner planets though

specific to reijean / what is fanon at this point

Jean's birth year is pretty unambiguous to me with him and Eren as foils: 835, or 1837.

i assume the cadet corps disbands and assembles each spring. winter happens between the reclamation of wall maria and the SC reaching the sea, which puts the events of seasons 1-2 and s3p1 around april or may, and the return to shiganshina arc in august or september. meaning, Jean and Eren just turned 15.

if Reiner is 17 when the 104th disbanded, he's actually two years and four months older than Jean and Eren; for most of the year (august through march), he seems three years older!! that means he spends his 18th birthday w fellow bday boy Zeke, plus Pieck on aug. 4 :) granted they probably spent that time planning to kill the whole SC, but i like to think Bertie threw them a party :)

birth time / rising sign considerations

do they have a day or night vibe? deadass. briefly, each light "leads" a sect of planets that are strengthened if their leader is in charge. sun = jupiter and saturn and moon = venus and mars; mercury has no allegiance, can go either way (because of mythology; mercury/hermes has to traverse every realm as a messenger). this mitigates "bad" placements or sabotages "good" ones.

also vibe-based: each of the seven classical planets (inner sailor senshi + saturn) traditionally rules two signs, while the moon rules cancer and the sun rules leo. this is often used phrenologically (for racism), but seeing as these men are lines and iseyama speaks about designing them, i think it is okay.

where is person A's sun in person B's chart? and vice versa, and same applies for rising signs and their rulers. for relationships, astrologers sometimes use this to indicate where/how/when partners meet each other.

✨ without birth times

reiner (1834/08/01)

first glance

from midnight to midnight, the moon is always in gemini; last quarter moon (waning).

both benefics (nice planets that "bring good fortune") are undignified, or in signs that do not serve them; the signs are enemy territory. could you say that's a grand metaphor for RBA on paradis, or liberio on marley? perhaps. for Reiner, jupiter is in gemini (detrimented, and conjoined with mars) and venus is in virgo (fallen). both of these are mercury-ruled signs; aka that flighty little bitch of a planet with questionable loyalties. hmmmmm!!!

but saturn is pretty happy (exalted) in libra.

rising sign impulses

right away, he's one of the most diurnal 🌞 men i've ever seen. yams said in some guidebook that he drew him to look like someone "destined for great things," or something to that effect... and probably like, mere months later, he published chapter 97. so yams is a sicko who loves irony. Reiner is a golden, heroic figure until he isn't, like fuckin HELOS i guess, or apollo...

day birth limits our range to leo through capricorn, with some wiggle room in the first few degrees of aquarius; his chart ruler can be literally any option but the moon

because of his unfortunate benefics and the burden of identity, my favorites are: taurus, libra, sag, or leo rising, so he's ruled by either venus, jupiter, or the sun.

houses that feel reiner

6th house: physical labor, the body in service to someone else's interests

8th house: death, enemies (lol), inheritance (i mean come On); wealth gained through other's deaths—take it as eating the previous Armored, or his survivor's guilt re: Marcel and Bertie...

9th house: long-distance travel, leaving home, higher education

12th house: my favorite house, i am biased, but it's a house of like, sickness, loss, isolation, "self-undoing"; shit Jean has no tolerance for. suicidal blockhead behavior.

jean (1837/04/07)

first glance

the moon is always in taurus; crescent moon (waxing).

he has an aries stellium (a cluster of planets all in the same sign), which Eren doesn't—he's actually more aries than Eren, who is "secretly" very piscean. Jean's sun (exalted), mercury, venus (detriment), and pluto are all here.

for Jean, the sun is conjoined pluto within 2 degrees (makes us twinsies; i have a sun-pluto square).

he has a fixed sign t-square: taurus moon, leo mars, and aquarius neptune.

impulses

he could go either way, day or night, but my dumb ass wants them to complement each other for no damn reason

for a night chart 🌚, he can be anywhere from scorpio to aries; his ascendant ruler can be mars, jupiter, or saturn.

yams said he drew him to "look" deceitful; in the anime subs armin says Jean and eren both have "villainous" eyes, which makes me favor cap or aquarius rising.

houses that feel jean

2nd house: creature comforts, valuing security

4th house: home, both his dream of having a home in the interior and the formative significance of seeing trost attacked

6th and 8th houses for similar reasons to Reiner. re: 8th house, i think about Connie's "who'da thunk we'd be the new Levi Squad!" thnx Annie!!

11th house: humanitarianism?? like, a good sense of the big picture, very much values life

💕 synastry without birth times so far

Jean's venus is opposite Reiner's saturn: rich and dramatic, arguably negative, but i think it can be good for them because of their different conditions in each chart. Jean's venus hates being in aries, and looks across the way to libra, where it wants to be, where Reiner's saturn is. it's like Reiner can pull out Jean's ooey gooey feelings that are usually obscured by aries, or come out as just carnal aggression. saturn can be patient with all of that, and i think Reiner finds it cute. venus in aries is very fwb/didn't-know-we-were-dating; saturn in libra is more quiet and reliable, to a point—he will get so frustrated!

they both have jupiter-mars conjunctions that are sextile to one another; they're hot separately and together???? i seriously led with japanese history for picking their fake birth years, i didn't know the sky would say they are hot and have great sex. more than that, a sextile is actually... pretty chill and comfortable? they just click, it's more about being in sync, physically (mars) and philosophically (jupiter).

Jean's jupiter-mars conjunction is conjunct Reiner's sun: more cute shit, they just get each other, also Jean's mars just finds leos hot af, so you can apply to this to Jean + all the warrior leos... actually jupiter and mars are quite slow so like, most of the 104th has this, which may be why they trust Reiner so much

the charts!

i'll only talk about their rising signs and the planets that rule them because otherwise we're here all day:

💛 reiner: ~10:00 ☉, 832/08/01 in liberio, marley

Libra rising ⚖️, Leo sun 🦁, Gemini moon 👯

chart ruler is: Venus ♀ in Virgo/12th house

i like Venus because it feels softer and smaller than jupiter 🥺 e.g., between the two benefics, Venus is a "personal" planet and Jupiter is "social." Jupiter has to be too many things; everyone expects everything from it, the warrior candidates and younger members of the 104th look up to Reiner, he's "Marley's shield," karina burdens him with "uniting their family" (her marleyan citizenship); but he actually isn't all that and isn't suited to it... and I think only people who really really know him, e.g. have strong bullshit meters, know that. imo gabi is getting there early on, since she tells him she can tell he's lying about something, and she and jean are both later decan aries suns...!

i clearly like giving Reiner cottagecore dreams, a small and warm life; as a boy he wanted a nuclear family, and even in the dregs of his mental health, he clung on for the warrior kids. his actual ambitions are just caring and maybe, even more ambitiously, being cared for, and I think that is true to him, not just his Marcel persona.

the 12th house is miserable!! love it there. my more nuanced explanation is it's kind of floating above it all, seeing the relativity of everything, which can feel like disillusionment or liberation or both: Paradis seriously upset his understanding of the world.

Venus doesn't like Virgo/Virgo doesn't care for Venus because there is something quite detached, sterile about Virgo. Virgo is, for Reiner, years of propaganda, habit, "warrior" versus "soldier," all watchwords and reminders at catastrophic odds with his feelings of warmth and acceptance in the 104th—those syrupy, hard-to-name Venus matters that Virgo cannot tolerate.

in Reiner's chart, Taurus, Venus' other domain, is his 8th house: another "dark" house, death and inheritance, guilt, enemies. it also.... is where Jean's moon is.

his Venus squares his Moon, which is a pretty double edged sword. there's something very needy and insecure about these two soft planets making a harsh angle, which, imo, leads Reiner to deeply unhealthy choices to win affection, approval, security—from his parents, from the nation of Marley, from Bertolt and Annie after Marcel's death, etc.

🪐 jean: ~02:00 ☽, 835/04/07 in trost, paradis

Capricorn rising 🐐, Aries sun 🐏, Taurus moon 🐂; this zodiac doesn't have any horses but his big three is all hoofed

chart ruler: Saturn ♄ in Scorpio/11th house

this seems very leader-ly to me; the 11th house is about community, the good of the whole, a humanitarian concern. also very Levi, imo.

Saturn is the diurnal malefic, so its good qualities are delayed or dampened by being in a night chart; Trost activates him.

Jean's growth from a "selfish bastard who only thinks of himself" is, astrologically, a broadening of what community/11th house matters mean to him. first, it is just himself: getting into the MPs at all costs, Saturn confused in a night chart. but then in trost, in the field, he leads for the first time: being selfish for the sake of people who trust him, using the deaths of others for his and his squad's survival. we see this again in the 57th expedition: he clearly sees his, Reiner, and Armin's role as giving up their own lives for the success of the Survey Corps. and his scope of concern gets bigger and bigger: the future of "humanity" in the walls in the uprising arc, and finally all of humanity.

also in the uprising arc, especially in the manga, I see his hesitation to kill as an 11th house morality, sure, part of humanity's charter, but I also deeply DEEPLY love the slow burn trust between Levi and his new squad: Jean kind of deputizes himself between springles and scary Levi himself. this also reminds me of Jean yapping at Armin about mutinying Erwin during the 57th expedition. it's pragmatism man!!! the will and trust of the collective is a better vote of confidence than chain of command

Saturn and Scorpio are pretty neutral to each other, but Scorpio itself is a wonderfully intense, more mature version of Mars; sorry, but it's manga Rei Hino versus 90s anime Rei Hino, with strong environmental and personal intuition. I've been a Jearmin shipper sometimes, and this is where those two boys are simpatico, imo.

Saturn opposes Jean's Aries stellium, but more exactly his Sun-Pluto conjunction. I'll just quote the astrologer Sue Tompkins here: "The Sun-Saturn type is usually a serious person, tending to take themselves very seriously and to take all that happens around them rather personally." bb

the other Saturn-ruled house in Jean's chart is Aquarius/2nd: that's that fine whiskey in the interior, baby

💞 synastry with birth times

Saturn conjoins Reiner's ascendant: even though he's ruled by a pretty miserable Venus, his 1st house is somewhat lifted by Saturn, a morning star/the daytime malefic made nicer by the sun; e.g., he sees Jean's positive Saturninan qualities before anyone else.

Reiner's moon and Jupiter-Mars conjunction are in his 9th house: the happiest parts of his life happen abroad. also, jupiter rules sag and pisces, respectively his 3rd (siblings, everyday routines) and 6th houses (embodiment, physical work and health): "playing soldier," as annie says, or playing marcel, in porco's judgment.

Jean's Jupiter-Mars conjunction is in his 8th house: enemies to lovers hell yah! see my earlier note about Jean and Leos generally (JeanPikku).

Aries (where most of Jean's chart happens) is Reiner's 7th house, aka the spouse house. Again, Jean's April DOB sets him apart from every other damn Aries in this world/their age group, meaning Annie and Eren. the other mars sign is scorpio, reiner's 2nd house; i try to say it my fic Husbandry, but RBA have their material needs met, see Paradis as a real paradise compared to Liberio'a urban lack.

Capricorn (Jean's 1H) is Reiner's 4H: home.

Jean's 7H is Cancer, ruled by the moon; his moon in Taurus trines that sexy Jupiter-Mars conjunction, e.g. looks directly into Leo.

a jeankasa note

Aquarius and Leo are opposite each other, so a lot of Jean's angles to Reiner's Leo-ness are mirrored/also apply to his feelings toward Mikasa; he really has a type, and it's fixed Suns (...armin?? porco??), the opposition that makes his t-square. but the funnier thing is Mikasa and Reiner are kind of natural enemies, mostly bc of mercury oppositions, which would probably be true with any arbitrary birth years bc mercury is rarely far from the sun. just cannot picture those two having a conversation one on one ever, their only significant interaction is mikasa throwing him onto eren

why tf did i do this

i think for my 57th expedition AU they're gonna bicker about using constellations for navigation. that's it

this was long as fuck mostly bc i felt i had to explain interpretation methods but i am happy to do more characters!! if i do anyone next it's probably them jaeger boys, zeke is sag or pisces rising to me (derogatory/affectionate)

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

might be a bit of a boring question but how do you feel about the Mazda b series? and if you have nothing to say about that one then I'd love to hear your thoughts on the tacoma

So thoughtful of you to give me a backup question, but worry not! If I've got nothing to say about a car, I will find it, goddamnit, if it'll take me two months! Which it very nearly did. Sorry. Anyhow! In reverse order of generations:

1. 5th

it would take state-backed effort to get me to care for -hell, care about- this last one, which did not excel in looks nor performance nor, from what I can tell, reliability nor comfort. It feels like it would be a very complex thought experiment to come up with the buyer this would be the best choice for, even in its time. (However, while the enthusiasts' metric of evaluation is competition, the owners' metric is their own expectations, so it is certain and valid and good that millions of owners were chuffed about their purchase and I love that for them and do not whatsoever seek to rain on their parade.)

2. 4th

Neat! Even beyond the spectacular decals, I just love Japanese pickups of this era (the ones yankees call "small pickups" and we call "pickups" because we don't have those useless fuck-off-gargantuan shit yankees love to pretend has any use). So much so that I want two of them. Neither are this (they're the Toyota Hilux and the Nissan D21), but objectively they're all about the same and my preferences are purely based on aesthetic minutiae.

3. 3rd

First I see of it! The front is kind of unfortunate, but it reminds me of the Yugo so it's on my good side. The rear taillights also have a kind of Soviet quality to them, I'm sure there's some -az car with rear lights just like those.

4. 2nd

HELL FUCKING YEAH *checks pronouns* SISTER! I love this thing. Especially the REPU, where PU stands for Pick Up and RE stands for...

Yep :D, this was the time when Mazda was shoving rotaries left and right into applications they were comically unsuited for absolutely no discernible reason, and we're all glad that they did, because Lord knows no one else had the lack of sense to do it.

Yes the ROTARY POWER* on the back of it is factory! *BITCHES

5. 1st

Yeah, this is at the edge of car period that excites me. Not that I think it looks bad or is bad or anything, it just starts to feel too... historic for me to connect to? I guess a Mazda pickup from the early '60s is just not for me.

It seems I guessed wrong.

This Ghibli-esque little thing is the 1959 Mazda K360, being a kei truck with the then maximum of 360cc of engine. It was a popular taxi (taxi!) in Myanmar...

...where it kept being produced until the early '70s, when it got replaced by the other other truck Mazda was making by the early '60s, the B360.

Wow I really was wrong there huh.

These were probably a sort of "Eastern Europe getting Fiat's scraps" kind of deal, since while these were manufactured in Myanmar from '72 to the mid-90s (mid-90s!), by 1972 Japan had already long been getting the B360's replacement i.e. the Mazda Porter, which OOOO0000°°°°°ººººº⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰ my GOOOOOODDDD

OMGOMGOMG THIS IS THE CUTEST THING IN THE WORLD

I don't even want to own one of these, I want to cuddle it. I want to protect it.

OMG THIS ONE HAS TINY LITTLE HAYASHIS WITH TINY LITTLE LETTERING ON ITS TINY LITTLE TIRES

*faints* *a feeble, wiggly speech bubble appears from below the table* Tacoma's good btw. Best of segment by miles.

Links in blue are posts of mine about the topic in question: if you liked this post, you might like those - or the blog’s Discord server, linked in the pinned post!

[amadholes-lostre]

Wednesday in BNHA

You know what? Why the hell not? It's not like I could hate my life more than before.

So, the Wednesday Netflix series existed in this bizarre universe called a crossover. However, I gonna expand and change some kf the lore because I kinda hate it. Also, this is a Wenclair fic, of course.

History

Not much, just that Ostrace, mytholog/magical beings (I not calling them outcast, so stupid of a name) lived in hiding Harry Potter-style until the First Quirk generation happened. Since Non-Quirks -the majority - either, at the best, barely tolerated them, it created an unusual alliance. They formed either community or enclave to protect themselves from non-Quirks. Many were killed during the Exposure.

However, after the Great Awakening, Quirks-Ostrace relationships are kind of stagnated. Ostrace are more accepted west of the Rocky Mountains due to their alliance, but east is dependable. In half of Eastern Europe, many outright despises them, especially against Vampire (will explain that later).

They do have good relations with the Boiling Isles, and some are accepted into isles.

Ostrace... ethnicities? Race? Species?

There are many different types of Ostrace, but they could be categorized in 5 major category: Therians (shape-shifters), Sanguinarians (feeds on blood/aether), Otherkins (mixture of human and animal), Mage-kinds (Humans with innate magic), and Miscraces (difficult to categorized). Every Ostrace is innate to magic. Ostrace made up 1% of non Witch-Kinds, Demon-Kinds, Amphibians, and whatever is going on in Mewni world population, which is 128 million. Also, Ostraces are not different species but are the same ones (for in-types). For instance, Lycan and Kitsune are the same species but just different ethnicities.

Ostrace cannot genetically inherited quirks. However, it is possible for non-quirks and quirks to wield magic, though difficult, especially those who have quirks (oof, Luz). Many, if not all, Ostraces believe in local deities and stuff, like Kitsunes believing the 9-tail Fox and Lycans believing Selene. The reason is that universal religions usually focus only on humans (excluding Mage-kind). It doesn't help that many, especially Christianity and Islam, kinda committed mass ethnic cleansing and stuff.

Therians or Furs

Derive from therianthropy, it means that people have the ability to shift into animal, usually referred to their inner-beast. Though they're widespread, they shifted into specific animals depending on regions. Lycans, for instance, are founded in Europe, and they can shift into wolves. They can only shift in their full form if it's between waxing and waning gibbous. Or they are wearing a special amulet that it allows them to shift one. However, shifting with this method drains a lot of energy, especially in the waning phases. They could shift into a furry-like form daily (lol). Young Lycans have difficulty controlling their wolf form during their adolescence.

Another Therian ethnicity is Kitsune, or Fox-shifters, in East Asia. Their shifting is more malleable than Lycans; they could shift into an actual fox size daily or could shift into a horse-size fox between waxing and waning gibbous. They can also keep some fox trait in their human form !usuallyears and tails). Kistune hates humans, especially men, due to many atrocities committed by them. There are a handful of Kistune colonies, the highest population - almost 25k - live in the independent State of Hokkaido. They have the longest lifespan among Therians (a millennium), how many tails indicate how old they are (maximum is nie), and they're a mono-sex race (meaning they have gay sex to reproduce, lol).

Hydes like Tyler will be categorized here, though they're viewed more like curses than Therians.

Sanguinarians or Fangs

Sanguinarians are being who need to feed on blood and/or aether from another being in order to live. Some ethnicities are vampire ( the most famous, can turn into bats, also called European lesser vampire, and more common), Nosferatu (can turn into a horse-size flightless bat, called European greater vampire, and are rarer), Penanggal (lived across East and Southeast Asia, have bat-wings, could detach their head and enlarge it, also, too, have lesser and greater kinds), etc.

What makes a vampire a lessers and greaters is based on how they feed. If they drink only blood, they will be a lesser, if aether (for a long period) than greater. Lessers are weaker than greaters, have shorter lifespans (500 comparative to 1000+ years), have fewer thralls (1-3 to 100s), and greaters can either turn humans into their kind or can reproduce (lesser are sterile). However, lessers could survive in sunlight, though weakened (greater will combust intofire). Lessers could willingly be misanthrope, greaters have psychopathic traits, including apathetic towards humans (and likely other races) and only viewing them as food, or at least inferior.

The reason why vampires are despised in Eastern Europe is that after Quirks started forming, Russia started another conquest into the region. The Manse of Dracula, who secretly ruled Transylvania (Grand Duchy of Transylvania), allied with Russia in exchange for POW, or any Eastern Euro civilians, as blood supplies (think Promised Neverland). Because of that, many Eastern Euro hated them, excepted Transylvanians, because they were except from it and protected from the war (they still expected to pay taxes though a liter of blood per month).

Yoko Tanaka (lesser) is a member of Manse of Dracula, and she is related to Carmilla (greater).

Otherkins or Scales/Stoners

Otherkins are a bit of a board term but mainly means their body are a mixture of human animal, and unlike Therians, it's their true form. They could still form a full human form, either self-casting or using an amulet like Therians. Like Therians and Sanguinarians, they have different ethnicities that many non-ostrace thought they were different speicies. However, unlike them, Otherkins has a like raco-ethnic thing (?). Like, technically they're the same speicies, but like there are groups that are not considered in the same race. Like Sirens (living in warmer) and Mer-forks (colder climate and are fatter) will considered the same race but just different ethnicities. But some with similar characteristics are considered different speices, like Grogan, are considered the same race with Lamia, Nāga, and the likes ( they, like Kitsune, are mono-sex race). There are other Otherkins like Centaur, Satyr, Harpy/Sirin/Kinnara (mono-sex), etc.

Like Therians, some have difficulty with their power in their adolescence, like Ajax and Grogans, who have to wear slouchy hat in order not to turn themselves or other into stone. It is with age and practice that they don't need to wear it.

For interspecies childrearing, they don't have hybrids. Instead, the infant will inherited one of the parents race, but will get either of their characteristics. For instance, if Yoko and Divina where to have children one day, they will either be a vampire or siren, but they will get both parents' physical traits, being biracial

(G-d, I hope this doesn't sound like scientific racism, fucking shit.)

Mage-Kinds

Mage, spellcastor, whatever you want to call it, they are humans who have, for generations, practice magic or some form of it. I will kinda base their society on HP, though not as much. They don't really form large, complex governmental structures until after their reveal. They form enclaves that help concealed magic away from non-quirk and create schooling for becoming mages, which then start accepting other Ostrace. Mage-Kinds do discrimination against other Ostraces (Nevermore was meant to school non-humans because Mage-kind academies never accepted their enrollments).

There are some Mage-kind that practice magic differently and formed more isolated society like Witch clans. Witch Clans practice witchcraft and are all women. They existed for many centuries but became more isolated during the Witch Hunt, rarely interacting with other non-Witch Ostraces, even after magic was exposed to non-Quirks (they use magic in order to have children). Eugene Ottinger-Xul, for instance, along with his mothers, was formerly in a Witch Clan until he identified as a boy (he's trans). Since men are forbidden, the Matriarch demanded the mothers to stop his transition, and when they refused, they were banished. (It's not because he's trans, but due he being a boy now. Many clans have accepted transwomen into their, it only that Eugene now identified himself as a boy is the problem.)

Miscrace

Miscraces (miscellany races) are a group of races that are unrelated and cannot be categorized, are too unique to form into one, or other reason.

Some Miscrace are Yeti, kappa/dai-kappa (mono-sex), Bake-danuki, Dragon-kin (both lesser and greater), Ymir-barn (sometimes called Jotnar, believed to be extinct), Troll (nice people, many are against eating sapients), etc.

Magic

I basing the magic system from my own original universe, one of which is called Erden (Earth in Anglisċ; the Norman never invaded England, and Doggerland is visible. Also, Doggerland is the Riverland version of Erden). Mainly, magic is more scientific, that there is an energy called Aether that binds the Five Fundamental Forces of Nature, and therefore, connected every particle in the universe. That means every living species, including bacterias, fungus, plants, animals, and sapients, including humans, has it. The only reason non-mage/non-quirks humans didn't discover it before because either they don't have the right equipment (needing it either infused with aetheric energy or aetheric tech) or because they mistake it for something else (it is radioactive).

(You will die of acute radiation poison from being near them if you're not a Witch-Kind, Deomon-Kind, or Ostrace).

There are different applications of magic, like focusing magic (chi ) more inward, which could increase strength and use hand motion with symbols to cast spells (like Naruto). But that is too difficult, physically intense, and takes too long. There are magic systems that are more scientific, like wizardry and alchemy (just chemistry with aetheric applications).

For wizardry, it is the most common school of magic due to 1. Quite easy to learn, master, and has far more versatility to aplicated. And 2. Colonialism. Wizards use ambient magic to cast spells, channeling it through their body to cast it, using a wand (or a staff if you need to blow up a building) as a conductor. If casting too long or using an over-excessive amount of magic, it could, in best case, only cause nerve damage, or worst case, bring burnt up like a bonfire. Witch-kinds mock them for using a "baby wand," wizards mock them for getting asthma if they used magic for too long.

Wizardry constructed a language and writing script for their spells. Languages, they realize, are just programming people to recognize objects and abstracts with symbols and sounds. If I ask you what-

🍎 -this is almost every answer will be Apple. But other people will also answer rither manzana, apfel, tuffah, tapuach, ringo, elma, quả táo, which all mean apple but in different languages.

So, wizards use their conlang to "program" themselves by focusing on a specific word (usually pronouncing it) and conducting aether to cast a spell. Because of this, it could take hours, maybe weeks to learn and cast spells. Also, using this conlang for conversation is forbidden; it is possible to accidentally cast a spell.

The conlang is based on Latin, and it uses a runic (like Germanic rune) syllabary (like Japanese) writing system in order to engrave it onto stones for warding. One such spell is Lusi -light, and it's spoken in two syllabaries, lu-si.

Sorcery isn't a different way of casting magic but continues a field in an advanced form of schooling, like post-grads and master's degrees.

There are different fields of wizardry, including but not limiting to: biourgy (studying and applications of magic in life), geourgy (study and application of geology), aethology (physic, but aether is involved), technurgy/magitek (engineering with magic, instance crafting a magitek wand with room-temperature superconductor as the core length with coils, the tip is the emitter which the aether casted through. The handle has memory chips that stored runic spells, which the caster recalled through a neuro-link), and thaumaturgy (medicine involving magic).

Dark magic and light magic do not truly exist to the extent, it's mainly involve ideology, how magic should be used, and what is considered to be good or not. it could be malleable. Some said that thaumaturgy is considered light magic while necromancy is dark magic. However, necromancy involves biourgy, especially thaumaturgy, which is considered light magic.

Resurrection (which is considered necromancy) is possible, either through magic or science. Though it require conditions (how high their aether levels are, how long were they dead, is the body still intact, were they cremated, how radioactive is the body).

Also, if Star wishes to destroy magic, it will cause the universe to implode (oof). Magic is aether, and aether is the binding agent of the five fundamental forces of nature. Without it, it will cause matter to break away, weakening gravitational force. Stars will stop fusing, and all the elements will be gone. Living beings will be dead instantly, though, so that's good.

There is a type of magic called Fael magic. Some spells like the killing curse-like spell (which is just highly intense and focus gamma-ray. Like, not only does it kill the victim, but it severed the soul from the body violently. So not only can't they be rez, but their body is corrupted, and their soul cannot be seance. Some believe their soul is actually destroyed, too), a necromancy spell that required a corpse to be killed by a KC, a torture-like curse that doesn't torture the body but the soul. The reason why is called Fael magic, other than how cruel the spells are, is due to how it affects the castors. This is because they're self-inducing gamma-ray into themselves every time they cast a fael spell. Yes, Fael magic cause radiation poisoning. Not even the Addams will even tolerate this kind of magic (not self-inducing gamma-ray part. They think it healthy, being good for the soul and all).

Manse of Addams

They are still weird even by Ostrace stranded, and while anybody still trying to adjust living in a hero/magical/alien(?)/demon world and saying, "I hate living in interesting times!", an Addams will only say,"Ah! What an amazing time we are living in!"

Like how they are in canon, they are far more acceptable to all people, no matter their species, quirk-status, or who they love. While interspecies are barely tolerated in a lot of places, even if they are very humanoid, the Addams will happily welcome them into the family. While Tsuyu faces discrimination and shit for having a frog mother, Wednesday will happily and proudly say, "Ah, yes, my uncle is courting a lovely Weftoad (male toad)." They also have almost every type of species in their blood: Mewmans, Witch-Kinds, Demon-Kinds, Lycans, Penanggals, Kitsunes, Amphibians, Vampire, etc. The things they don't have, if not rarely, are quirks, and that only because their magical side keep impeding it (though they could marry or adopt in the family).

There is also a Witch clan in the family like the Frump. Though they don't accept men in their ranks, they do keep in contact with them, and some have married men (like Morticia), which is very unusual with Witches.

Wednesday, whose full name is Wednesday Friday Frump-Guzman From Manse of Addams, is also a Kalifornana (Gomez is one), though she isn't a Califinitan.

Uh, what else is there. Enid is transfem in this one. Ironically, even though she born in California, she isn't a Kalifornana since the city she was born and raise in, Redien, isn't considered part of what's called Kalifornan Border (an ethnicity border). So, this cause Enid to have somewhat of an identity crisis, along with her not wolfing out. While Nevermore Academy (twice as big and larger student body) is meant for Ostrace and magi, they do now have a pro-hero program so their could be more Ostrace heros. Gonna find a reason why Wednesday will join the hero program.

Almost finished a post meant for only California

[izabesworld]

Hi! So I'm but sure if you've answered this before, I've just found your blog but find it interesting, especially since I'm trying to write stuff for Peaky blinders. I was wondering if you could tell me your take on the use of the word "gypsy" when writing. Because I know it is very controversial and a lot of people say not to use it because it's offensive. And I was just wondering if you could explain why, because I grew up in the US and am not really familiar with the culture and it wasn't really anything I grew up hearing about. So I was just wondering if your could maybe explain why people consider it a slur because I'm really am not sure. I don't want to me rude or anything it's just something I'm genuinely curious about. Because I've seen some people say they think it's offensive and some props say they think it's rude. I was also wondering your take on possibly using it in a Peaky blinders fic, because I think in the shot the Shelby's have use it a few times to describe themselves or when just they're being referenced or because I've heard it was used more in that time. And yeah. I know that was kinda ramblly and I'm not sure if it makes sense but I was just curious on your take about it. You totally don't have to answer though!!! Thanks for reading this!

Hey! I have answered this before, but I'm more than happy to answer it again so thank you so much for this question.

History lesson first:

The word "gypsy" has a few origins in relation to Rroma, so I'll go through the ones I know and work through them.

The first one I'm aware of is the idea Rroma individuals come from Egypt. Many were unsure of our origin but knew we had "strong" features and darker skin. These traits are due to us originating in South India. So the first meaning of the word I know us gypsies from Egypt, which is factually incorrect.

Another reason I'm aware of is the breakdown of the words - to gyp means to steal (or in some definitions to gamble). Throughout history, Rroma as a group were deprived of recourses. Many of us were involved in slavery in Eastern Europe for 400 years, and others were sold in the Atlantic Slave Trade to the Americas (leading to the group Afro-Romani).

If you deprive a group of people of the basic necessities to live, they're going to bargain to get them, maybe even steal. During these times in history, we were known for stealing food and fabrics from richer members of society. Therefore, gaining us the name "gypsies"

It's also important to factor in other ethnic groups that also use the name "gypsy" when in referral to themselves:

1-We have Irish Travellers, to start, who are not Rroma. Irish Travellers are from Ireland and are a whole other ethnic minority. People often confuse Irish Travellers with Rroma due to their similar nomadic lifestyle. Irish Travellers allow themselves to be called gypsies as it was a self-given title centuries ago, inspired by the Rroma definition of gypsy.

2-We also have English Travellers, who are often confused with Romanichal. In England, people are often confused with the difference between English Travellers and Romanichal - and so was I (in full admittance) when I began educating myself on the different types of travellers.

While there are marriages and cultural similarities between English Travellers and Romanichal, they're not at all genetically or historically linked. English Travellers come from Cromwellian times. The English Travellers also have their own views on the word gypsy, and doesn't have any historical nor offensive connections to them.

3-British Romany "Gypsies". British Romany Travellers are a very specific type of Rroma. British Romany Travellers have been in England since 1515 when Rroma began migrating to Europe after their migration from India. They're the descendants of Romany migrants who emigrated from India - therefore, the meaning of the word gypsy to them is in relation to the British's (is that a word?) idea of them coming from Egypt.

4-The Romanichal (Romanichal Travellers) are a Romani subgroup in England and other English-speaking countries. These are not English Travellers as they are descendants of the Rroma who once lived in India. Most Romanichal speak Angloromani - which is a mixed language that blends together both Romani vocabulary and English syntax.

There are around 400,000 Romanichal worldwide, 200,000 living in the United Kingdom, 164,000 living in the United States and the rest living in South Africa, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

5-Kale (Welsh Roma). The Kale are a group of Romani people in Wales and are often descendants of Abram Wood who was the first Rom to live in Wales in the 18th century. There are around 700-1,000 Kale members of society and speak their own version of Welsh Romani.

6-Romani (also spelt Romany or Rromani depending on where you come from). Romai people live in predominantly Europe and there are around 2-12million worldwide (shocking 10million confusion I know). The language you speak as a Romani person depends on where you live, where your ancestors lived etc as there are hundreds of Romani dialects.

NOW TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION!

The short answer to your question, which I probably should've put at the start and not the end, is please do not use the word gypsy when relating to travellers as for all "gypsy" groups there is a more specific name used in regard to them.

The word gypsy (also seen as gipsy) is rather ambiguous in dialect use as it doesn't specifically shown who you are in referral to. While some communities such as Irish and English travellers deem the word okay to use, the vast majority of the Rroma community do not.

The word gypsy in reference to the Romani community has connotations of illegality and is known as a racial slur. In 1971, the world Romani Congress unanimously voted to reject the use of the word gypsy due to the stereotypes associated.

The word gypsy was used against the Romani community during significant human parts of history - the Holocaust, the Romani slave trade and the Atlantic slave trade.

HOWEVER

It's also important to keep in regard the use of the word, are you using it to write an 1800s piece? Is your story or piece of text historically accurate, and to use the phrase "Romani People" would be historically inaccurate as that isn't what we were called then.

Are you writing a piece that highlights the issues behind the word, where you aren't calling Romani people it, but instead highlighting the wrong in it.

Are you taking from a place in the early 1900s where Romani people called themselves Romani gypsies because that was the official documentation name given to us.

In summary:

Please don't go about calling Romani people gypsies unless in a historically accurate context.

I spent 20 minutes typing on this post, so thank you so much! I may have to open a window and I'm sweating like a dog in heat and need a break. You definitely gave me a lot of talking points (lol oops), but thank you for that also. All in all, I hope your answer is somewhere in this mess. 💗 May you have a blessed day!

Izzy 💓

[growling]

For all the (mostly american) mutuals that were curious about the realm of Poland and its strange and unusual inhabitants:

Polish soldiers/armed forces etc salute with two fingers instead of the whole hand. Apparently some cub scouts also do that??

Mushroom picking season is like REALLY big here. Like. It's big. Poles love mushroom picking. When I was a young boy my mother, aunt and grandparents would drop me off into the wilderness to pick boletes for 4 hours straight then get lost and have to navigate back into the car via utilizing the earth's magnetic field to determine our position which took like 1 more hour and then once we got back I had to physically recover from that shit for like an entire week. We got like at least 4 huge baskets mushrooms after that that lasted for at least a few months if they're preserved well however I do not like mushrooms so I never even ate them. Except for cultivated mushrooms these are fine the soup bangs actually

I thought this was normal in most countries but turns out it's just us and a few others in eastern/middle Europe: most movies in Poland use voice-over translation/lektor filmowy instead of dubbing/subtitles. Multiple va dubbing is reserved mostly for children's movies and those real popular but mostly younger audience marvel type movies or something, while the subtitle type of translation is pretty rare and I honestly never even seen it on tv.

A FUCKTON of roadside/wayside shrines just being there, especially in smaller towns. Sometimes theres also a single shrine in the middle of nowhere in some woods with no civilization in sight and you just don't question it

those fuckibg white storks

We still got blasphemy laws ("offending religious feelings"/"obraza uczuć religijnych") by the way. Yes you can actually get arrested and fined and get sentenced to months of restriction of freedom for being mean to jesus

Not removing your shoes upon entering someone's place is considered rude. I feel physical pain whenever someone doesn't do that. Take them off kurwa jebana jego mać stop staining my beautiful surfaces I am going to kill you

Unlike the horror stories I've been hearing about the USA in Poland you're allowed to be rude to customers at your job🥰🥰 You can just not smile if you want🥰🥰🥰🥰 its so funny seeing tourists get so confused and offended over that and half the time we're not even being mean just. Literally servicing you with a neutral facial expression and minimal required effort sfdysrsfjewdggs

Yeah uhh related to above point kind of, there still seems to be a few remnants of a culture of distrust. 30-40 years ago neighbors snitched on each other for subversion and people sometimes just disappeared (PRL times). Fun fact during PRL my dipshit mega absent dead paternal grandfather used to beat people on the street with sticks as a job or perhaps a recreational activity in order to get goodboy points from the police. or the secret police. No idea all we know is that he didn't do that for free. Growling family lore drop

National eating donuts/pączki day. National water fight day

As far as I know, USAmericans (and honestly other english-speaking countries too?) really like to regard people they know only a little as a "friend" like I noticed its really really easy to get called a friend in there. Poles on the other hand are very scared of the word "friend" they really avoid saying it nearly all the time you won't hear a pole just say that. Most people are not our friends. That title is special sacred and reserved for only the worthy ones who you actually genuinely know and trust for a minimum of 10 years. In order to be considered someone's friend in Poland you have to max out all their meters complete all of their quests and defeat their father at the end. Most poles only have like 2-3 true "friends" lmao we really don't throw around that term lightly

Carpet hanger jumpscare

The "polish cow song" people love to meme not knowing the language/lyrics is actually about drug addiction lmao. Sorry. Lol

We also got raccoon dogs here👍👍👍

[asena-queenslayer]

genshin guys as figure skaters (& more) at the rink part 1:

characters: aether, albedo, alhaitham, ayato (& ayaka), baizhu, bennett, chongyun, cyno, dain, diluc, heizou, itto

disclaimer: all headcanons inspired by my own experiences as a former figure skater! honestly this started as just a "genshin tall guys as figure skaters" hc but then I added xiao and it just snowballed from there. there will be headcanons for the girls if there's interest!!

part 2:

-------------------------------------------------------

aether:

dain's student. late starter but seems to have a knack for skating. moving up pretty fast. just started nilou's ballet classes. actually pretty good at spins & quite flexible too.

albedo:

former competitive figure skater but mostly coaches now. does both Learn to Skate & private coaching. v patient & understanding. great with encouraging the more shy & hesitant kids.

alhaitham:

skating judge. only around for competitions & testing. hella intimidating. leaves v terse comments on tests. somehow, they're not as blunt as he looks. probably went to Worlds in his time.

ayato & ayaka:

extremely good pair skaters. everyone is in awe & lowkey fear of them whenever they're on the ice bc they're so focused & extremely fast. ayaka is super sweet off ice tho & besties with nilou. ayato has all the beginner skaters hanging over the boards wishing he was their partner instead.

baizhu:

medic. often gone on sick leave but always around for competitions. always has a cardigan on bc the building is hella cold, even in the lobby outside the rink. v kind but hopes no one will get injured so that there would be no need for him.

bennett:

in Learn to Skate. honestly probably shouldn't be on the ice but is trying his best. kaeya especially looks out for him. always encouraging the little kids & keeps a positive attitude.

chongyun:

just graduated to the freestyle ice!! unfortunately everyone there is extremely fast and scary. hugs the wall for dear life every time one (or two, in the case of our pair skaters) speeds by. actually started skating bc of his aunt shenhe, who used to figure skate. also takes nilou's classes.

cyno:

one of the guys working at the rink stores. usually the hockey store but occasionally the figure skating one as well. sharpens skates. will yell his bad dad jokes at people from across the lobby just to embarrass them (or maybe himself). also the guy jokingly twirling around & copying the ballet class outside their open door while they're practicing. actually surprisingly good at it.

dain:

serious af coach from Scandinavia or Russia or somewhere in Eastern Europe (no one knows). coached multiple Olympians in the past but has no current ones. scary af. only the really intense parents (the ones living vicariously through their kid) attempt to recruit as their child's coach. best of luck to them, since he only invites his students.

diluc:

arrives later & leaves earlier than kaeya (they drive separately). doesn't skate as often as his brother but has impeccable technique nevertheless. v consistent jumps. puts his waterbottle on whichever side of the boards that kaeya's isn't on. kaeya will move his own waterbottle over just to mess with him. iconic move is a beautiful spread eagle.

heizou:

that one guy from another rink who randomly shows up whenever his rink is closed for maintenance. still knows everyone despite not being a regular. super fun programs & does a lot of showcases.

itto:

hockey player. duh. did you think this guy figure skates. the little kids love him tho. probably the guy they call in for birthday parties.

[frodho-slaggins]

I am also thinking about how de writes racism and colonial mindsets in relation to the mercenaries cus i think theres a lot of rlly interesting stuff there. The tribunal is pretty far into the game, so you've spent hours and hours absorbing revochalian culture and getting a sense of how ppl conceptualize themselves and others. Revochal is majority white but its also got a fair amount of nonwhite ppl whos revochalian roots stretch back a while as well as white and nonwhite immigrant communities. Revochal is also pretty racist and xenophobic and you get that both from living in the world and absorbing the ambient racism (for example, the fictional anti-black slur "kipt" is tossed around with great frequency and casualness to the point that some ppl don't even seem to register that they're using an insult) and also because while you play a white character, ur attached at the hip to an asian man and so you observe the constant deluge of racism thrown kim's way particularly.

But anyways, you have a pretty solid sense of race politics in revochal and then you meet those mercenaries and its more of that same hostility towards minority populations, tho even more virulently anti-black than is typical. But a thing that's sort of interesting is that the mercenaries seem to consider all Revochalians to be racialized subjects because of their position as being residents of a country the Moralintern is occupying and that Krenel is deployed in. The mercenaries use really racialized terms to refer to all Revochalians regardless of race. They're "loinclothes", natives of a country that they are visiting violence upon. Their language and actions equate the residents of Martinaise with the Semanese ppl they were comissioned to violate and kill.

That's not to say race is totally irrelevant to the mercs's perspective. I think it's no accident that they target Liz and Theo in particular when they're shooting at people. Liz is especially telling, she is a totally non-violent figure who is actively attempting to deescalate and i think they try to shoot her in part because she is black and because they are inclined to and highly conditioned to kill black victims. They were never gonna listen to her because they were raring for a fight and because she's the resident of a place they consider a backwater slum sure, but also because she is black.

Idk i dont have a point exactly. Just....something about how Krenel's mercenaries are conditioned to consider all populations they interact with as fundamentally and ethnically inferior, regardless of phenotype or whether theyre occidental or whatever. They're white supremacists but with a definition of whiteness that fundamentally excludes white ppl who are "3rd world" even if it still differentiates between white and non-white "loinclothes." Also also something about how this reflects a real world tendency amongst non-eastern europeans to present eastern-europeans in a racializing manner, as historically western european nations have used eastern europe's relative proximity to asia as a means to frame eastern europeans as not white and subsequently frame them as inferior. Or a modern tendency amongst wealthy nations to consider some nations as ethnically inferior regardless of actual racial makeup because of idk poverty or "cultural difference" or something. But also despite that, race is still a major factor in how these countries are percieved (i was thinking about this a lot cus i played de while the american news media was covering ukraine and saying shit like "this isnt palestine, normal people live here how can there be a war" etc etc)

Also something about the motivating racism evident in on-the-ground troops for colonial operations like blackwater (or if you wanna be honest, the legitimate american military as well) is also sort of nihilistic because while it furthers white supremacy it has no allegiance to whiteness, just hostility to non-whiteness and its true allegiance is always capital.

[regulusrules]

Hey 😅 idk if ur an expert but since you mentioned studying orientalism & stereotypical depictions of foreign places in western media, do you have any specific resources or advice for creatives who want to break the cycle of harm? Obvs "do research" but I guess asking you is part of that, ahaha

Heya love. This is INDEED breaking the cycle and doing research, so thank you for popping up here to ask!

For resources on what to read/watch in order to break free from the eurocentric grip, I wrote a long ass post here dividing references to videos, documentaries, books, and literary works. If you're done with these and looking for more, definitely DM at any time! I would be more than happy to provide additional references, since it's been my field of study for so long :D

As for advice, well, I'll tell you this:

DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK!

Literally the common problem that I always find between western and eastern discourse is being misunderstood. The language barrier causes shit, believe me, especially in the historical context of how this whole east/west thing had happened. Orientalism stems from the fact that the west propagated an image of the east without actually seeing where they come from or what they're trying to say. The east is misunderstood because the interpretations of the west of them is what stuck instead of their actual thoughts and beliefs.

So, if you have a Muslim-Arab friend, don't be afraid to ask them why they pray five times or why women choose to wear hijab. If you have a Christian-Arab friend, don't be too quick to dismiss the fact that they exist (typical western stereotype that Christianity is ours only) ((even though Jesus was from Bethlehem, Palestine lool)). If you have a Jew-Arab friend, ask them what they think about the situation in Palestine, and you will be shocked by how genuinely supportive they are of Palestinians. And if you have any Arab friend who identifies with any other religion/doesn't at all, p l e a s e be willing to ask and listen.

Every person in this world is so unique. And trust me, you won't find two middle eastern countries similar, let alone the typical propagated western message that "all Arabs are the same." I kid you not, cities from cities there also differ, just like in states if one day you go to texas and the other day drop at hawaii. The beautiful uniqueness of eastern cultures has to be experienced first-hand to be conveyed.

So whenever you're looking for an answer, ask. Ask and never be afraid of not being answered, because people actually want to be heard. I've learnt sooo much more from engaging with people than from my theoretical studies, so if you have the opportunity, go book a plane to the pyramids you've always wanted to see and actually experience the wonder of communicating with the people there and learning their cultures. These countries are safe, safer than I have personally ever felt in Europe, because they are so people-oriented and warm. Videos won't tell you that. You gotta see it for yourself, love, and you gotta talk about your experience and convey their actual beliefs to those around you in a similar position.

Ask, and you will always be answered. And in the process, you will have the time of your life. Believe me.