#but its also not the same as being actually latin american

[starrynightsoversunflowers]

Goodreads recommended books for hispanic heritage months is so funny because it's really easy to tell when a book was written by a latin american and when one was written by a usamerican with latin american heritage.

Like. The children of immigrants always seem to use words and names in spanish mixed with english to make it known that they are latines. Like the hacienda, hello mi amor or whatever. The books whole appeal are about them being hispanic

Meanwhile latin american authors get translated and they give no hint of any heritage in the title until you read their name. Because for them the experience of being latin american is not the main part of the plot, but the background

No shade. It's just interesting how there's this whole market that uses the "exotism" of being latin american in the us that romanticizes an idea that is often very different from the reality

[cinnabutcringy]

[ just a small cw; i'm gonna be talking abt racist stereotypes, not very in depth but still ]

i said this on twitter but i'll say it here too: reverse1999 is NOT a perfect game and i think people should stop acting like it's "the exception" because of the devs doing the bare minimum when it comes to some of the representation.

like, it's okay to like these characters. hell, if you're part of the groups that they represent (indians, for example) then i'm not gonna tell you that you can't like them or find them decent representation. i also understand the feeling of "i take what i can get" when it comes to representation in media of marginalized groups.

but at the same time, i think it's important to acknowledge that there is genuinely criticisms to be had of this game and its way of handling non-east asian poc.

for one, there's only about 4 characters that have dark skin (i would not personally consider joe to be one of them but i'm counting him just bc i forgot to in my twt thread and also to just cover my bases.) kaalaa baunaa and kanjira do not have dark skin. has no one considered why this is???? at all???

and on the topic of kanjira, she also is a character full of orientalist stereotypes. i like kanjira, i think she's a sweet kid, but aside from that, she's written to be a thief, con artist and is illiterate and homeless. i'm not saying that that's not a reality for some kids, but the fact that she was deliberately written this way is kind of a red flag.

there's also some smaller things that people have pointed out like most of the representation in this game of those cultures being things like the characters naming off foods, or just saying small phrases (i.e. centurion talking about burritos and enchiladas, and leilani saying "aloha!") and not actually having many cultural references nor speaking a lot in their language

don't even get me STARTED on the lack of african or african american representation in this fuckin game.

again. i don't want to say that no one can like these characters. i don't want to say that people cannot relate to these characters, or that people can't think they're good representation. that's not my call especially not if you're part of the groups of ppl they're representing (i.e. latin americans, hawaiians, indians, etc.) but i think it is important to realize that like

well, for one, no group is a monolith. there are probably ppl who feel this way but either don't get heard or are too scared to say so.

and two, even if you're not a part of these groups, you can still recognize the flaws in something and acknowledge that, most likely, it's part of a bigger problem in society--colorism, orientalism, whatever. it's in many gacha games and will continue to be, and r1999 is not an exception that should be justified or ignored because "it's better than genshin impact"

[prontaentrega]

@fluctuating-fixations It's mostly about some specific word choices that don't really change the plot or the whole direction of the story so it's not like, an entirely different book, but they alter the whole tone of it and makes it worse to me. The first thing i noticed I didn't like about it was when Valentín first mentions Marta and he says "my girl" i immediately went he would not fucking say that!!!!!

In the original Spanish the word he uses for Marta is "compañera" which translates to partner or comrade (F). It's not the most common word to talk about your girlfriend in spanish so it's a deliberate choice on his part. What was the need to change it? to make it sound more natural? to make him sound less political?

In that same page he goes on to talk about his guerrilla comrades and he actually uses the word compañeros for them. The masculine/neutral form of the word he uses for Marta

But the one that really annoyed me is this one

Because in this part the word he uses in Spanish is, again, compañera. And idk about you but i think it has a completely different meaning if you say "if she's my woman, it's because she's in the struggle too" or if you say "if she's my comrade/partner, it's because she's in the struggle too." And besides he would never call anyone "his woman" it's just completely contrary to his whole character... this and a bunch of other small stuff like it mischaracterizes Valentín as more of a macho figure than he really is. And this is an issue i have with literally every adaptation and translation of this book tbh everyone's always so fixed on making this college educated communist latino more violent and sexist and angry. I wonder why

This one's minor but it also bothers me, when talking about the panther woman movie there's a character that in Spanish is "the architect colleague" but in English she's "the assistant" ????? what reason was for that other than misogyny

Maybe this is a non-issue and I'm nitpicking but with the book's narrative being exclusively a dialogue between two people, word choice is fundamental because this is the only way we have of knowing these characters. And especially on a book where gender expression and gender roles are such a main theme this is not like, getting mad because they switched coffe for tea on a sentence. Which I'm also mad about btw. They completely ditch any mention of the characters drinking mate and switch it for tea. Once again I'm asking what was the point? to make it all less exotic? to make it easier to understand to English speakers? having to look up what a mate is or just guess it from context isn't gonna kill anybody, but the translation is so afraid of alienating its gringo audience that it discards cultural context and reduces its only two characters to shallower versions of themselves. And I'd say the cultural context is pretty relevant because this is a book about two political prisoners under a dictatorship that was written and published when Puig's own country was under a neoliberal dictatorship. It's not Vonnegut's cat's cradle with a made up dictator in a made up country, this was actually the situation in Argentina in 1976.

And obviously someone who only speaks english won't notice any of this. What makes me sad about this is that none of the problems i have with it have to do with impossible cultural clashes, it would be extremely simple to fix all of that. It's a tragedy that the only english translation of a latin american book about gender and propaganda was made in 1976. But still I'd rather someone read the book even with the bad translation than not read it at all

[screechingsandwichhologram]

l'manburg language headcanons

okay so i havent sat down and actually created a language for lmanburg but I hc that they have their own language & here are hcs for that language. its a mashup of all the languages that the members speak. i know that a language couldn't really develop in the timeframe so I'm speeding up the development because i want to.

Slang / Phrases

first, it exists withing minecraft, so internet/minecraft lingo and phrases are commonplace (ie: pots, spawn, etc)

l'manburg was born out of conflict, so many phrases and slang are often violent.

because many prolific figures (c!tommy with prime, c!wilbur with being phil's son, c!eret with the herobrine stuff, c!dream with the XD stuff) are heavily religous / associated with religion, religious phrases are also very common.

there are different words for non-canon death, a canon death, and the last canonical death (the one that kills kills you)

Actual Language

l'manburg's language is a mix of british english, french, dutch, spanish, german, latin, and ancient greek. because it is such a new language, some words are the exact same as the English (given that english is the common language) words.

all military/war words have absolutely no english ties (as to provide secrecy). most are a mix of french, latin, and ancient greek (latin and ancient greek comes from c!tommy & c!wilbur, because they were taught by c!techno)

words pertaining nationality, home, or base are a mix of french (l'-), german (-manburg), and dutch (man). Most are french.

words pertaining to money or commerce are dutch & english inspired.

words pertaining to farming are inspired by ancient greek (c!techno again)

words pertaining to government/high authority are often a mix of latin, french, and english (c!wilbur is fucking obsessed with french & latin)

anything related to food is inspired by german and ancient greek.

Context / Timeline

quackity's arrival made spanish inspired words/phrases more abundant.

schlatt made american phrases and spellings very common.

the manburg administration attempted to phase out the language, but was unsuccessful.

new lmanburg caused many more phrases based on death, nature, rot, and renewal.

new lmanburg put a lot of emphasis on philosophical, poetic, descriptive, and physiological words.

words regarding cops, police, and laws are closely tied with negative words such as evil, thief, and traitor.

manburg replaced many religious words and phrases with more neutral alternatives.

the first words created in the new language were military moves and tools.

new lmanburg's descriptive words were often enderian words translated into the latin alphabet (as c!ranboo, the minute man, was the one who used and created them)

lmanburg was often underdeveloped in governmental words pertaining to the running of a country.

okay thats all i have for rn but i might add on to this when i think of it. also if u have any questions/requests please ask i love answering questions /gen

[elbiotipo]

Was watching some playthroughs of Manor Lords and it's so adictive to just WATCH playthroughs it's cutting on my productivity, I can't imagine how it will be to play it yet. Anyways.

Thinking about "cozy" farming sims and the like. Manor Lords isn't aimed at that kind of stuff at least not explictly, you ARE a feudal lord (you can even walk in first person as one) and those people ARE your serfs. I guess there will be some people who interpret it as that, and let's be honest, the game is so pretty and intuitive, it's just so relaxing to see the forests change seasons, the houses being built, the flowers swaying on the wind. Working like a serf all day, not so much. No doubt peasants in the Middle Ages and all over the world had their moments of rest and respite and joy, but it was (and still is) a hardworking, exploited existence like we are not usually used to.

I think Manor Lords really GETS what a subsistence farming economy was like, at least at the very beginning. and this is really important in my opinion because it was the lifestyle of no less than 90% of the world's population until very recently. And it wasn't like in Stardew Valley where one farmer had a variety of crops all growing in the same tiny farm. In Manor Lords you usually build a small hamlet or village, every home with its own little backyard plot with vegetables, chickens, but it is actual fields what truly feeds and clothes people. The distribution and managing of these fields, and how big they are, is something that changes from society to society, but it's not like there is a single household that is able to feed itself and is able to do everything that a human needs to eat, to get clothed, to be warm in winter and more. They need to have big open fields (or pastures) to do that, where the community puts most of its time and effort maintaining.

So when you think about subsistence farming, you shouldn't think about it as peasants (wherever in the world where they are, as they still exist, why do you think we Latin Americans talk so much about the campesino struggle) owning one small plot of land and feeding their household with it. You should think of them as communities where the main and sometimes only activity is farming, and they do not farm to sell it to a market (though campesino communities can and do produce excess they can sell) but to sustain themselves and their family. They do not especialize in a single crop or industry, nor they have the time or ability to. They plant whatever helps them feed and clothe their family, that is, subsist.

In Manor Lords, you can also "cheat" a bit and get goods by trade, or survive by gathering berries (EXCESSIVELY OP) or hunting. The first was impossible in very remote areas, and the second was impossible in high-density areas. Which means that you can't sustain a community by just gathering berries or having home gardens. Vegetables and fruit CAN and do supplement the diet of people and they make life infinitely more enjoyable (some places like tropical and subtropical America are very blessed in that respect and their crops are very diverse), and indeed most people have those, but it isn't enough to feed you every day. You have to farm to it. And it's a way of life tied to the land and the seasons. You gotta have enough food and firewood before winter (Manor Lords is tied to the European temperate seasons of course, but every region in the world has its own), you gotta prepare the fields, mill the grain and bake the bread, it's all work, work, work, neverending work. There is a reason why some have said agriculture is kind of a "trap" to humanity, it allows you to feed yourself and your family at the cost of being tied to your land forever, and this didn't change until very recently. And again, while of course it's also a life that has its moments of rest (harvest festivals! and all those church days in Europe, but again, every region has its own traditions), it's still work, work, and work more.

I think this is an interesting contrast with other "cozy farming sims" of which are there are a ton, with a single character being able to produce the whole spectrum of human food and a bit more. Manor Lords to me is very interesting because by having its resource and city building in such a small scale as individual families, it captures in a rather realistic (if not completely so) way how subsistence agriculture is, which is the way virtually most of our ancestors (no matter where you are from) lived. To me that's way more interesting than the combat system.

(yes, I've said I didn't play it yet, but I've watched and analyzed so much of it I might as well have 120 hours logged on it)

[vidavalor]

I think Crowley might do something that might make Aziraphale's heart explode in season 3.

*sets out the cookies and iced tea* Lawd, I sure hope so @rougeside4. 💕 Especially since...

Explode: From the Latin explodere, where it was originally a theatrical term dating back to the very vocal and demonstrative audiences of ancient Rome and Athens.

It referred to the action of driving an actor off stage by making noise as feedback for their performance-- specifically, either to clap as a positive reaction (the 'plodere' part of the word coming from 'plaudite' and 'plaudere', referring to applause) or, if unsatisfied with the performance, to hiss like a snake until the actor retreated. Greco-Roman audiences did boo as well but hissing was apparently more of a thing at the time and is the action involved in the definition.

The reason why we say that a theatrical performance that did not do well bombed is as a blend of the ancient, theatrical definition of explode and its modern concept of being related to a dramatic and possibly violent-in-intensity detonation. The original definition of explode, though, is to clap or to hiss an actor offstage in response to their performance.

While applause meant a good performance and hissing like a snake implied that the actor's abilities were less than stellar, actual snakes-- and serpent-y supernatural humanoid beings-- are also known to hiss when blissssed out. Ergo, all potential exploding options in a hidden language/cant vocabulary of the Ineffable Husbands-y variety-- words and hissing alike-- have positive connotations.

Explode eventually mixed with the French explosion-- surprisingly, originally a whole, separate word and one that has remained consistent in spelling, both into its use in English and all the way through to today. This evolution resulted in explode and an explosion in our modern world coming to mean the same thing:

to go off, with a force and a loud and/or sudden noise.

In American English, by sometime in the 1800s, an explosion also came to mean a wealth of sudden activity (as in, to explode in popularity), which evolved from the core meaning of the word today:

to burst, or to come apart, with destructive force.

Probably: From probable, derived from the Latin probablis, which meant: that which is pleasing, agreeable, true, worthy of approval.

Modern meaning: credible, based on a history of known evidence.

You might have also heard this exact same type of etymologically-based, destructive sexual metaphor before in the song below that I had on while typing this up 😉

[isleofdarkness]

The Isle- Languages and Accents

In the United States of America, the main language is English and the main accent is American. However, that poorly represents the actual linguistics of the country. Different areas have different main secondary languages and accents, such as Southern California's main secondary language being Latin Spanish and the main accent is actually California English, which is an entirely different thing from the general American accent.

Like the United States, the Isle has different secondary languages and accents depending on the area, referred to as districts. While the entire Isle can be summarized by "The main language is English and the main accent is a Toronto accent," but that does little to actually represent the Isle. To look at languages and accents on the Isle, one needs to look at each district and which cultures and groups have settled there because it's so much more diverse than English with a Toronto accent. And English with a Toronto accent is far too brief an explanation for even those two general details.

The English spoken on the Isle is a mix of American and British English. As "pop" and "soda" mean the same thing and are used interchangeably in America, differences such as "pants" and "trousers" are used with few genuinely caring about the difference between the two words. Isle English even has its own words, most commonly insults, that make it its own unique version of English.

The Isle accent sounds closest to a Toronto (Tarahno) accent, but with a slight stress on vowels and little energy put into consonants. The Isle accent also includes a distinct drawl, something that makes it sound constantly sarcastic. This accent is almost universal on the Isle. It may be lighter in some people for any number of reasons, but one would be hard-pressed to find someone on the Isle without even the slightest Isle accent.

Each district on the Isle has its own unique set of secondary languages and accents commonly encountered. Some districts, like Far Shore and the Barricade, even have smaller districts within them where the languages and accents are completely different. The districts on the Isle are as follows- Far Shore (Harriet's territory,) Villain's Claim (mostly Mal's territory, but Diego owns what's closest to his territory,) Barricade (Diego's territory,) Thieve's District (Cassim's territory,) Shadowland (Facilier's territory,) Kraken Coast (Uma's territory,) Falcon Ridge (Shan Yu's territory,) the Darklands (Mordred's territory,) the Underland district (part of Harriet's territory,) and the Wicked Wilds (unclaimed, no one fucks with the Wilds.)

As previously stated, Far Shore has two sub-districts, which I'll be referring to as Inland and Coast. Inland is where civilians from Eurasian countries (unless said civilian is POC or are part of some ethnic or religious minority, because they need more protection from Frollo's cult) usually settle. Coast is where people from Celtic countries (mainly Ireland, but you'll find a decent population from all six) settle. Languages in this district are Breton, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh, with a bit of Cornish and Manx

Inland, however, you'll find a mix from pretty much every country. The population is mostly European- minorities on the Isle need more protection than Harriet can provide- but you'll still find languages and accents from Asia, India, Africa, and the Americas. Different cultural groups in this area tens to group together, creating almost sub-districts. Some languages, like French or Russian, have enough speakers to have their own sub-district, but others, such as Budukh, will share a sub-district with multiple other language groups that aren't well-represented in Harriet's district. There are thousands of languages represented in this district from all over the world.

-

Barricade, Diego's district, is where you'll find a lot of South American languages and accents. This district has a second main language, Latin American Spanish. You'll also find a few Indigenous groups here, though most of them take shelter in Uma's territory. This district also used to have a large Romani population, which still impacts languages and accents in certain areas, but Frollo found out and it was decided, for everyone's safety, that they would direct Romani arrivals to Facilier's territory.

The languages you'll find here are mostly Portuguese, Spanish, and some Creole. You'll find accents from all over South America.

-

Shadow District is Facilier's territory. This is where most dark-skin people need to live, because Frollo is a racist fool. In this district you'll find a lot of African, Indian, Asian, Middle Eastern, diaspora, and Papa New Guinea languages. There's a lot of variety here, because a lot of people in this district have decided to work towards preserving languages lost to colonization or even just the sands of time. The most common languages spoken here are Zulu, Xhosa, Hindi, AAVE, and Balkan Romani, and accents are an extremely mixed bag.

-

Thieve's District is Cassim's territory, and it's a haven for religious minorities. The population here is mostly either Muslim or Jewish, but you can find dozens, if not hundreds, of religious groups here. The most common languages are Arabic, Yiddish, and Jewish diaspora languages, but you'll find languages from everywhere on Earth. Accents tend to be Arabic variations or Yiddish.

-

Kraken Coast is Uma's district, home to Indigenous cultures from Oceania, the Americas, and Australia. This area used to be part of Facilier's territory, before he ceded it to Uma, and the people here share the hobby of preserving languages. The language and accent statistics for the area reflect this, with numbers too close to definitively call a most common language, other than Isle English.

-

Falcon Ridge is Shan Yu's territory, and this is where you'll find a lot of Asian cultures. There's a lot of Mongolian, but also sizeable populations who speak Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Tibetan, and other Sino-Tibetan languages and accents.

-

Villain's Keep, Mal's territory, has a lot of Spain Spanish, British English, German, France French, etc. The largest linguist group here is French, and that's also a common accent in the area.

-

The Badlands, a territory caught in a war between Madam Mim and Mordred, has a lot of Welsh, but not naturally. People in this area had to learn Welsh to understand Madam Mim's soldiers in order to survive the constant turmoil of the region. Most of the population here was American, so American accents and American English are extremely common. You'll also find some Latin. And, if you look, even some Enochian.

-

As for the Forbidden Land, that's Maleficent's territory, No one lives there, are least not above ground, and no one visits. As far as the Isle is concerned, the only language there is the singing of the night frogs.

Little do they know exactly what hides beneath the surface

[germiyahu]

And if you really want me to examine why people in the global south also have such an animosity to Jewish sovereignty in their historic homeland, and seem to give Palestinian Resistance a carte blanche... well I'm definitely not as qualified but fine! I have some theories!

A lot of the Global South are Westerners, kind of. This is especially true for Latin America, and they hate to see it, but a huge proportion of those societies is descended from European settlers, their cultures are heavily influenced by Western cultures. A lot of these countries, especially Latin America (and South Africa too interesting) have also had their own substantial Jewish populations. So if it looks like kind of like a Western society, and it treats its own Jews like a Western society... need I go on?

A lot of the Global South, actually most of it, including the countries that fall in category one, was occupied violently by the West. This created another avenue to transfer Western values onto subjugated populations. And no, don't shake your head at me. You can't claim the GS's homophobia was forced on it by the West and then act like the same wouldn't apply to antisemitism? A lot of the Global South never had significant Jewish populations, that much is true. The concept of antisemitism might feel frivolous and remote to them; why is that our problem? See my own anon. All the same, they were colonized by Jew Haters. At the same time they'd lack exposure to say, Holocaust education, and also have exposure to say, the idea that Jews are overrepresented in global finance.

Even in areas where Western influence was never high historically, even when there are not significant Jewish populations, we live in a modern globalized world where Western culture is a commodity and that commodity makes people money. And people in the Global South consume it. Their conception of the average Jew is probably either an Israeli soldier in some news story about Palestinians being harassed, or a white(ish) American who seems the epitome of privilege to them. They use social media, they see what Americans and Europeans say about Jews. It's very easy to conform to whatever opinions are the loudest and most prevalent.

So a lot of Global South Denizens probably are used to persecuting Jews, expelling or killing Jews, and also dealing with colonial masters who were constantly telling them how Jews cannot be trusted. And for a lot of them, if Jews were present, they were there helping the occupying power, as many Jews were imperial citizens and were present in colonies in various occupations. The Imperial Powers would not have passed up the opportunity to pass the buck to Jews where it was convenient. I see a lot of Algerians excuse their cleansing of Jews as "The Jews were made the middle man by the French colonizers, and they reveled in turning their backs on their Algerian brothers." This excuses violent ethnic cleansing in their minds. Why? Because Western propaganda primed the gun they were already loading.

In essence: I'm not surprised that the Global South is "crying out" for Palestine. All they know about Jews they learned from the West, or they have their own history of violently oppressing Jews. Should any of us be surprised? If you picked anyone in their camp and pitted them against a Jewish state, anywhere in the world, they would still see Jews as a foreign arm of Western Imperial Power, sent by the Man to keep them down. Or the Jews would themselves be the Man I guess. Except then the Jewish claim to indigeneity would not only be more tenuous, it would be ludicrous and false on the face of it.

It's the same reason a lot of people of color in the West identify with Palestinians and the Palestinian struggle. I don't say they do so in error. But I wholeheartedly believe they and a lot of people in the GS are projecting their own societal trauma onto Israel. Obviously Israel is very much doing bad things, so this isn't coming from nothing. But if the vitriolic reactions to Israel and the blind support for literal fascists seem extreme, maybe that's why. They don't care to see the difference between an Israel and a Great Britain or a France. And I'm not saying they have to, but when Jews themselves are also a historically oppressed and nearly wiped out persecuted people, it can come across as fairly gauche to say there's no difference between Israel and Germany, to say that Jews just flat out don't belong in their historic homeland.

There you go, there's my unqualified opinion. Are you happy now?

[aristotels]

re EE being in the periphery. i’m pretty sure there were articles about how germany uses EE countries in EU for cheap labor. like sure, they’re privileged compared to most say african states, but it’s not like WE countries give that privilege for free or out of good heart, when in reality it’s geographic control + cheap labor + brain drain. combined with the fact that EU doesn’t allow for state control of markets, it means that those EE countries that had state enterprises are now in disadvantage. like i think EE countries have more in common with latin american countries than western europe , idk.

yeah, and not only articles you can find in english, but there are actual studies and articles; they are however in croatian so i dont know how much help would that be (the emmigration issue here is huge, its mainly to germany/ireland) (we have so many SONGS about moving to germany and ireland too). heres wikipedia on it, i guess you can use google translate and it also lists something quite shocking: many cities and villages in croatia and bosnia have more people living in germany than in their respective native towns.

as for lived experience, when i visited germany, you could literally walk around the city and find our people there, mostly in low-skill jobs. i once said "u pičku materinu" and a totally random guy in the street was like "ooooo pa evo i naših". "arbajt" and "bauštela" are such common phrases here that they have become memes, and dalmatians from zagora literally wear mercedes signs around their necks. recently there was an article saying how, despite euro, people from imotski STILL mourn over the deutsch marke, because they used to go work there, and then would come home and just live for an entire month off one bill. they STILL convert euros to marke.

EE is a neo-colony to the WE. whenever i talk about this, while i do use EE as a term because its more understood than SEE (southern-eastern europe), my experiences are yugoslavian, and there are big differences between eastern bloc and exyu countries. it isnt the same, economically nor politically, since yugoslavia was a part of the third world movement, thus primarily working with african and latam countries in its past (also reason why we have the lowest skin-based-racism in europe)(different than nationality racism, thats what we excel at).

a lot of croats (esp dalmatians) mainly moved to latam countries during ww2 as opposed to the usa (the current chilean and argentinian presidents are croatian dalmatians)(sorry guys we are kinda ruining yalls countries)

it was very surprising to me when i started following global-south-commies on here, they always have very positive opinions of yugoslav countries. i find it very endearing how all my political yugoslav posts end up being hits among them.

politics unrelated, croats tend to love latam countries because of football, messi was literally the coolest person in the entire world while i was a kid. there are lots of similarities in mentality.

[venomouschocolate]

Why Do They Talk Like That: a stream of consciousness

Fantasy linguistics are so hard like where do you draw the line... I mean none of my characters are referencing major theistic religions or using real life loanwords or expletives but then there's quote-unquote fun stuff like "sadism" or "lunatic" or "sinister". i.e the Marquis de Sade does not exist in this world, but the concept of pleasure from cruelty does... Latin is not a language there, but I, personally, am writing in English, which has much of its etymology rooted in Latin (as well as pretty much every other language ever), even if there is no hate for left-handed people or indeed the left in this world, so "sinister" is inexplicable in itself now (odd how the left has historically been demonised and that it's also the socialist side of the political spectrum. not that odd really. thank you robert walpole?). The same with "lunatic": the moon is literally worshipped in some areas of my world, but it's still a term characters use, despite the moon having positive connotations.

Where Do You Draw The Line... I can't write in a conlang because a) I am not masochistic but b) I want my work to actually be read. You can imply different languages with accents and word choice and compound words, but ultimately I am writing in the same language for all (despite being bilingual, go me!) and ultimately that language is one that exists only in our world and not in the one that I've created.

While we're here, let's talk about swearing (cursing if you're american?) in fantasy settings. I don't mean "oh my god/s", that's arguably blasphemy and certainly not explicit; I don't mean "bloody" (not really explicit either) because frankly that does tend to fit a fantasy vibe with the type of characters likely to use it (considering the real world stereotypes and thus the archetypes an author will write using it). I mean expletives like "fuck", "bitch", "shit": STOP USING THEM. you absolute buffoons.

Recently I read a fantasy novel which included a whole magic system and several countries with absolute monarchies, etc, and they kept using expletives and it just did not work, and it never does. A step back: I believe that using expletives when writing in a real world setting (provided it's period-believable, of course) can work, and often (not always, not even mostly) works - I do it myself. However, believable expletives and exclamations and intensifiers can and sometimes do make or break worldbuilding, at least for me. The worldbuilding in the novel was fine, good even! But every time the (twenty-eight-year-old) mc used "fucking" or "bitch", I was immediately yanked out of the story and into reality. It was like reading a period piece (say, in the 19th-early 20th century) and seeing "bitch" in the expletive (slur) sense. I don't care whether it would be used: I don't BELIEVE that it would be.

Suspension of disbelief is everything, which (as a theatre kid...) is, I suspect, why musical films don't work: we're primed for a more true-to-life piece, whereas in a theatre, we're prepared to cast a lot more aside. We KNOW they're actors, we know bursting into song is unrealistic, but it's the stage! We believe it anyway. Seeing a fantasy character, particularly one that was meant to be a minor royal, consistently THINK in expletives (and not just exclaim them!) felt to me like watching Mean Girls The Musical The Movie. I did not believe the magic (which was a major plot point so it kind of sucked). I did not believe that the characters saying "bitch" and "fuck" would say those words, especially since those characters were almost exclusively limited to the middle-aged queen, an almost thirty-year-old established to be groomed into mild-mannered obedience, the former queen's guard and a (bastard) prince. I did not believe that the characters whose thoughts I was reading would think them, and thus I did not believe in the story.

If you're going to create a prose-based world intended to be separate from our own in terms of religion/history/sociopolitical structure/magic/etc, you NEED to think about the linguistics. I'm not saying think HARD or be super mega creative: in my sky-worship country, a common exclamation is "stars-be", short for "stars-be-dimmed", ditto "skies-be" and "skies-be-felled". My sun-based little sillies go "be-set" as in "sun-be-set"; the only country in a technological revolution (also the only country with guns): "I'm not wired that way"; "he's gearing for a fight"; "I was shooting for you". Furthermore, when explaining their culture in other languages, they struggle for words, because, for example, a train is a monolingual concept (one falters when about to describe someone as a "train wreck" and just goes "sorry"). It's not clever, it's not particularly original, but, in my opinion, it makes the language, and by extension the world, more believable.

While I'm mid-rant: there's a marked difference between characters of different class and upbringing. My more religious, self-righteous queen of skycountry says "my stars": she rules the country, she is a little crazy insane, she feels that she owns the sky, too. A less-educated character uses slang like "lunar", "feared", "heartfulness" where his posh boy counterpart says "insane", "afraid" and "empathy". And yes, I am totally neurodivergent, and I think about details, and I also study the development of the English language and want to continue to do so at university, so of course I am more drawn to it, but at the end of the day if you're writing prose then the words are really bloody important.

TLDR: worldbuilding is hard; do your high fantasy (or even low fantasy) characters NEED to say "fuck"?

[partyshrimp]

i’m incredibly pleased with that melody nosurname video. i’m a gringo from the united states myself, and it was nice to find somebody else like me genuinely adoring the series whilst understanding the cultural impact it had at the time and continues to have in chile and other parts of latin america. melody managed to mostly be in the same shoes i am and also detailed its history and her thoughts in a way i don’t have the patience or resources (as in.. good editing and a microphone, lol). i thank her immensely for that, and i’m sure it’s at the very least interesting for the vast majority of you to see this perspective and the true adoration poured into it, despite some very obvious differences.

having been into this show for around two years now, most fans i’ve met have been genuinely surprised that somebody like me could actually know about this series. my reply to this is just a simple “well, anything can happen”, but this video has made it all the more probable. now maybe one day, it won’t be as big of a surprise, as long as the new crowds treat it the way it deserves (i know the horrors of american fanbases… trust me). despite many reasonably being surprised, however, every fan i have connected with has been very kind, and i thank everyone i’ve ever connected with over this show for that.

i really don’t think anyone will take the time to read this, but just know how grateful i am to have found this series over all. i don’t want to turn this into something sappy (even if i probably hit that mark ages ago), but it’s genuinely become one of my favorite shows and most prominent interests. it never fails to provide me with at least a bit of happiness when i’m upset, and i hope this development only attracts positive attention from those willing to dive deeper as i did.

that’s all, have a good day :)

[stoat-party]

My Joshua Graham take (alternate title: stop beingng mean to him!!!!!!)

Now I’m not a Joshua-did-nothing-wrong girlie (I mean, if you can’t recognize his flaws then you get his bad ending, so there’s that), but I gotta defend my boy for a minute. I’m gonna try to tie things back to the facts of the game, but there will obviously be Themes and Context that I can’t even begin to get into, and your mileage may vary.

Mitigating factors

We’ve gotta keep in mind that this guy is in severe and continuous chronic pain. Now, that doesn’t make you a bad person — one of the most loving and giving people I know is disabled with chronic pain, and of course everyone starts dealing with some form of it as they get older. But it can definitely affect how people relate to the world, and the preoccupation of being in constant pain means it takes more effort to act the same as they used to, (assuming they were a good person even then). I’m just saying that I would be a little more prone to anger if I had to tear off and replace my skin every morning.

Also, he and Daniel are both in grief — the Wiki places the sacking of New Canaan in 2281, and while it could have been earlier than that based on the minimal evidence we have, that’s still an extremely fresh wound. Joshua implies he either has or had family in New Canaan. With their numbers reduced to about thirty, he’s undoubtedly lost multiple people, in a violent and traumatizing way, while also dealing with the guilt of having (indirectly) caused it. He’s not acting totally rationally here.

Claim: He spent thirty years acting as a warlord and committing total cultural annihilation in service of a maniac

Hey, granted. That did happen. He doesn’t offer much of an explanation for it, except that he first did it to survive and then kept making compromises until he’d completely lost his sense of morality. And explanations aren’t excuses, we know this, but they do make redemption arcs more palatable. Personally, I don’t understand being against redemption arcs in fiction. They’re my favorite thing.

It’s important to note that the narrative does punish him for his actions — the guy he committed all the atrocities for betrayed him, he has the aforementioned chronic pain and disability now, and then the war machine he created to destroy cultures destroyed his own. So if you’re the type to think redemption needs to include suffering/death, there you go.

Claim: He is racist

The most literal form of this claim can’t be accurate, because everyone in Honest Hearts is GECK-coded as Caucasian (except the caravan company). The tribals actually have races created specifically for them (to account for their tattoo styles), but they're still white. They weren’t all supposed to be white, but that’s how it turned out in the game due to extremely limited production time. The Sorrows are descended from American schoolchildren, the Dead Horses are descended from Germans and Native Americans, and the White Legs are descended from Shoshone, Latin-Americans, and Americans (they’re also the palest of the three, not that it really matters).

Claim: Stereotype of the “white man’s burden”

This is a bit more Doylist than Watsonian, but it wasn’t intentional. Daniel was supposed to be Asian, but again because of short production time he ended up white. I interpret him as biracial.

Claim: He’s culturally elitist

He does believe his religion is the best one, though IMO everyone should feel that way. But he doesn’t think of himself as above the tribals — he considers himself a tribal, and shows distaste for “civilized” places. Daniel is actually worse about this one.

Claim: He’s Mormon

Well, yeah. I take issue with this being considered a punishable offense on its own — unless it’s combined with anti-blackness or child marriage or something, it’s just a religion, and there’s no evidence of the Future Mormons practicing anything like that.

Claim: He’s a missionary

As above, judging based on this without any specific evidence of wrongdoing is a little bit ignorant. Most modern missionaries are basically aid workers with a religious motive, and they make an effort to culturally assimilate with the host community, if it wasn’t their country to begin with. (Are there horror stories, sure. Like I said, Themes and Context.) Based on Joshua’s (and Daniel’s) responses when you openly mock their faith, there’s no coercion going on.

Claim: He’s committing cultural imperialism against the Dead Horses

He did do this as Legate. He visited Dead Horse Point to prime them to join the Legion, teaching them warfare and allowing them to basically worship him. Follows-Chalk says he saved their tribe from extinction, but obviously he did that intending to wipe them out. However, Burned Guy Josh came back to prevent them from joining the Legion, and his track record since then shows a pretty high regard for their culture.

In Follows-Chalk’s quest, Joshua is concerned about influencing them more than he should. Follows-Chalk says he’s the tribe’s leader, but Joshua actually explicitly denies it, the implication being that he’s a little uncomfy with being more than a military advisor. He even says that there are better role models than him.

Claim: He wants to commit genocide

There’s one big misconception I want to correct: The White Legs don’t live in Zion, they live by the Great Salt Lake. The group we meet are a war party. At worst, they had a support staff of non-combatants.

They were trying to commit genocide against the other three factions. You can be on Daniel’s side in the big debate, but the Sorrows absolutely had a right to defend their homeland from people tasked with killing then all, whether or not it was a good idea in practice. (The Dead Horses are also visitors; they originate from Dead Horse Point.)

He does hate them, hence the racism accusations, but according to Ulysses, they really are violent raiders (he and Joshua both call them mongrels, actually). Again, they kinda burnt Joshua’s family to death. His prejudice comes from their collective actions and their affiliation with the Legion, not their race or lack of technology or anything like that. He calls Salty an animal, but he also says that he relates to him from his days in the Legion. His brutal tactics were wrong and that’s the point, but he didn’t want to commit genocide.

Claim: He’s a hypocrite/He uses religion to justify doing bad stuff

Yeh! That’s the idea, and getting him to admit he’s wrong about it is one of my favorite scenes in the game. It’s especially poignant if you’re religious, because you’ve undoubtedly seen others commit this sin and maybe struggle with it yourself. Admitting the motives you’re hiding from yourself, accepting responsibility for your actions, and forgoing revenge on someone who’s seriously hurt you are all really potent character moments, in the game and in real life.

Claim: He extorts the Courier by trapping them in the valley until they do a bunch of dangerous quests for him, then makes them pay for medical care and weapon repairs due to said dangerous quests, and oh whoopsy doo there’s no way of making money in the valley except collecting stuff and selling it to the general store, but MAMMA MIA GUESS WHO RUNS THE GENERAL STORE??

Okay, I’ve never actually heard anyone say this, but it’s true. It’s all true.

[blueiscoool]

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The Pantheon: The Ancient Building Still Being Used After 2,000-Years

When visitors walk into the Pantheon in Rome and encounter its colossal dome, they may experience the same theatricality as its guests nearly 2,000 years ago.

"Anyone who steps inside the Pantheon immediately feels the crushing weight of human history, but also the incredible lightness of human creativity," said John Ochsendorf, professor of architecture at MIT and former director of the American Academy in Rome.

"You come into this grand space and you look up and you see the sky or a passing cloud. And you think: 'How could they have done this nearly two millennia ago?'"

The Pantheon is the oldest building in the world that's still in use today. Since the 7th century, it has been a Roman Catholic church.

Built around 125 A.D. by the Roman emperor Publius Aelius Hadrianus, it was actually the third iteration of the structure. The first Pantheon caught fire around 80 A.D. and was rebuilt shortly after, but it was struck by lightning and burned down again around 110 A.D. The buildings' ill fate led to rumors that the Pantheon was cursed.

The facade of the completed structure riffed on ancient Greek motifs, with a portico entrance featuring a pediment -- a triangular top -- and two rows of Corinthian columns. The interior was sweeping and airy, capped by a dome that to this day -- is still the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world.

What was it used for?

Pantheon means "all gods," and though it's commonly thought the structure was a site of worship dedicated to Roman deities, its original purpose is actually unknown.

With scant mentions of it in Ancient texts, historians have been left somewhat in the dark. Though it could be a temple, Roman buildings were typically multi-purpose structures, said Lynne Lancaster, an architectural historian and humanities educator. "And so what actually went on in the Pantheon is hard to say."

Legends say it's the very site where Rome's founder, Romulus, ascended to heaven. Others believe the Pantheon was where the Roman emperor could communicate with the gods. Whatever the case, like many Roman architectural feats, the imposing structure was a show of might, an "important symbol of imperial power," said Luca Mercuri, the Pantheon's current director.

Indeed, Roman architecture of the time embodied wealth, strength and dignity. Centuries later, Neoclassical architects would reference the Pantheon's portico and dome combination to imbue their buildings with those same values, from the US Capitol in Washington, DC., to the Somerset House in London.

How was it built?

The Pantheon was an architectural marvel of the Roman Empire.

The oculus -- Latin for "eye" -- stretches 30 feet across, opening the structure to the heavens. The sun beams through the oculus, and when it storms, the rain comes down like a waterfall into the interior.

Legends say it's the very site where Rome's founder, Romulus, ascended to heaven. Others believe the Pantheon was where the Roman emperor could communicate with the gods. Whatever the case, like many Roman architectural feats, the imposing structure was a show of might, an "important symbol of imperial power," said Luca Mercuri, the Pantheon's current director.

Indeed, Roman architecture of the time embodied wealth, strength and dignity. Centuries later, Neoclassical architects would reference the Pantheon's portico and dome combination to imbue their buildings with those same values, from the US Capitol in Washington, DC., to the Somerset House in London.

How was it built?

The Pantheon was an architectural marvel of the Roman Empire.

The oculus -- Latin for "eye" -- stretches 30 feet across, opening the structure to the heavens. The sun beams through the oculus, and when it storms, the rain comes down like a waterfall into the interior.

"The oculus at the center seemed to tempt fate and leave (the Pantheon) open to the sky," said Ochsendorf. "But it also showed a mastery of geometry and construction -- that they could build domes on that scale and leave an oculus open at the center, in a way (that was) almost showing off."

One trick to make a large dome stable was to use progressively lighter stone in the concrete mix as it reached the top. Heavy brick could be used at the base, with spongy, light volcanic rock around the oculus.

Though the Pantheon has revealed some of its design secrets, Lancaster said she still finds magic in the details. As the day progresses, the sun flickers around the dome's interior, casting light over its sunken grid like a giant sundial.

"It's one of the few places in the world (where) you can actually watch the Earth turn."

By Jacqui Palumbo.

[nexility-sims]

what's something you'd like to see more of on royal simblr?

the timing of this was brilliant, actually, because i had been thinking for several days that i would like to make some sort of entirely uncalled for, roughly edited psa post about What I Think Royal Simblr Needs To Prioritize More :^) anyway, you also touched on this in your own answer, so it’s an echo of that too :^) it's very long, but i had a lot to say about the topic i've chosen. i should also preface by saying that it's not meant as a blanket negative statement or even an objective prescription; it's just based on my own observation and anecdotal experience.

in short, royal simblr needs more cultural diversity !

there are two big reasons why i feel this way: one, the entire premise is suspect because it so easily verges into uncritically reproducing and whitewashing an awful institution; and two, cultural diversity is actually more engaging and interesting than a community that feels monocultural (esp when said culture is a hegemonic colonial product whose dominance is based on plunder, oppression, and destruction of both entire peoples and the planet itself).

personally, i want to be part of a community where folks are 1) actively curious about the wider world and its cultures and 2) comfortable incorporating their own cultures in their stories. it’s true that the bias is perhaps partly because many royalty references in the real world may not have great english sources for a predominantly english-speaking community to use. but, i don’t think that’s a get-out-of-jail-free card. i am absolutely not a person who likes to consciously write myself into my stories, to be clear. that being said, i do ask myself, “what experiences or knowledge do i have that deserve representation?” we write our stories for ourselves but, frankly, i would venture many of us have internalized messages that make us devalue our own backgrounds or doubt others will be interested in content outside of the often white, often western mainstream. in my experience, the royal simblr community places high value on researching and replicating the norms of contemporary western european royalty—particularly the british royal family. the truth is that same care and respect could be put into other histories and perspectives, if the motivation existed to do so.

so, another approach, beyond drawing on your own experiences, is doing the research to respectfully depict or be inspired by a culture that isn't your own. the onus for representation cannot be squarely on the most marginalized of us, even if we'd likely produce the best version of it. if i had chosen to write a story about a fake british royal family, i'd have felt guilty about not writing a story full of brown people from the americas; that representation wouldn't really exist if i wasn't making it for myself. consequently, culture shifts require everyone to do their part, whether as creators, collaborators, or readers. i'd also venture that most of us appreciate when outsiders believe our cultures are valuable and beautiful—when they want to know or experience our clothing, food, and music in ways that are not fetishizing, exploitative, or appropriating. that's part of why tumblr is filled with guides and tutorials to writing characters from all walks of life, from ethnicity to disability to gender; the resources exist, and people want to see them used. it doesn't even have to be your entire story ! individual characters or plot lines can give good representation if you make that a priority.

in my own story, i've blended the two approaches. i think about my own, my family's, and my friends' experiences of indigeneity in what's currently the united states; i've also blended it with my interests in iberian and latin american histories, especially indigenous mexico, among other elements closer to u.s. history. my story isn't a direct replica of any real world place or people, but the culture is based on imagination, research, and feedback. if someone has a critique or feels offended for whatever reason, i want to be humble enough to accept it and make changes. one of the amazing things about this corner of tumblr is that our community loves to help others. learning in public—experimenting, sharing parts of yourself, being creative—is never easy, but it's easier to do when you're part of a community that offers grace and encouragement. my opinion is also that people are more willing to share their expertise and welcome your work if you demonstrate, not just good intentions, but that you've done your homework to the best of your ability.

i want to be clear, too: there's a place for storytelling as conscious critique of the institution, and there are storytellers in this community whose cultures happen to be the ones that are overrepresented. this isn't an indictment of the good stories and good fun people are having. i'm just taking this as an opportunity to offer constructive criticism and give people the encouragement or permission to try something different. why not use your creativity to incorporate other sources of inspiration—or to imagine a different and better world, even?

at the end of the day, everyone can do whatever they want with their hobbies. we can't all be doing social justice on simblr dot com and, frankly, probably shouldn't be ! it is nonetheless true that some of us don't get to enjoy our hobbies uncritically. we can't log onto tumblr and scroll through sims stories and be blissfully unaware of the politics of representation. "royalty" doesn't just connote pretty tiaras and fancy titles for all of us. people who are marginalized in the real world are part of this community. its representation signals to us how welcome we and the stories we have to tell really are.

most or all of us are imagining our countries to be part of the same fictional world. it's just my personal opinion, but i don’t think that world should be mostly fake europe plus specifically the settler colonial parts of fake non-europe. my challenge to everyone would be to think about whether your story could or should meaningfully contribute to a fuller, more realistic representation of the world we've created as a collective within this community.

[nicosraf]

Hello Hello! While going through your site to buy ABM (which Amazon won't let me get on ebook TT), I stumbled across "The River Boy". As a Mayan, I just wanted to say I felt really seen. It wasn't a major part of the story but it was healing to see anything about us represented like that. It's also just beautifully written, I'd love to read more of your work ^^

As for my ask, what type of research did you do for that story? Are you Maya yourself or did you decide on the setting at random or something? Thank you and have a good day!

Ahhh this just made my entire life, thank you so much for reading! I'm really happy you liked it and that you found it healing. I'm so glad :')

I'm not Maya, but I'm Mexican with roots in the center of the country (Puebla) that gave me a big interest in Mesoamerica, which was a big chunk of my Latin American Studies degree (yes, I have a Latin American studies degree sksks). One of my courses was on ancient Maya culture and writing, where I wrote a big research paper on the rituals of Maya royalty.

I actually thought the setting was a huge part of the story! I love the way the ancient, and many contemporary, Maya conceptualize time as such an integral part of the universe with its own dedicated deities who are in charge of carrying it (the four "year bearers" though I learned them to be "time bearers"). The glyphs of the deities carrying time have really stuck with me; I just love the concept of time being such a physical thing.

Divine royalty isn't something unique to the Maya, but something that really caught my interest is the rituals and responsibilities associated with divinity. A lot of people will focus on the bloodier stuff (the blood letting), but personally I was more interested in the perpetual "birthing" of the universe that was the responsibility of kings and princes. I imagined a spoiled, beautiful prince who might want to run away from all that stress and pain.

The language barrier in the story was also inspired by the different Mayan languages today and how reconstructing the ancient language is so tough. That said, during the Classical times, there was probably already significant linguistic differences between Maya territories, so I don't think it's inaccurate in the story, just a bit exaggerated perhaps. The couple Maya words in the story are a mix of ancient and modern words. For ex, k’altun is an ancient word, while dios bo’otik is modern Yucatec Maya.

Oh! And just another fun fact - the river in the story is the Usumacinta river, and the prince is from Yaxchilan! There's actually a stone monument in Yaxchilan which depicts a queen pulling thorns through her tongue, which is referenced in the story!

Sorry for rambling, but there's like an absurd amount of research in this little story! I also wanted to depict the more "common" way of life by making the protagonist a non-royal, but there's so little about common-folk (unsurprisingly) so I struggled a bit to find sources that would help me paint an accurate picture. On that note, most of my sources were the same JSTOR articles I used to write my research paper, my university museum, and my poor Maya professor.

I haven't really looked at the story in a while so I re-read it just now and I'm really happy with it :') I think Maya history is one of the coolest things ever, and I'd love to write a full book about a Maya prince one day. But historical fiction is difficult, even when you add magical realism like I did.

Anyway! Thank you again for reading! If you're having trouble downloading ABM, I'll literally send you the file for free if you want sksks Just ask! I'm very touched by your interest. Thank you!! :))

[walriding]

character info sheet.

Name. Miles Luis Upshur Ramírez

Name meaning. Miles -- Latin, soldier. Luis -- Spanish, famous warrior or renowned fighter. Upshur -- English, literally just means 'from the upper shire', but the fun fact significance is that Upshur was the middle name of the famous American journalist Bob Woodward. Ramírez -- Spanish, wise / renowned ruler / counselor

Alias.( ses ). Fun Mount Massive nicknames: the Host, the Apostle, the Witness, Little Pig, buddy, etc. As far as actual aliases, he's used various combinations of his four names on fake IDs before -- i.e. Luis Upshur, Miles Ramírez, etc.

two pictures you like of your character.

The money shot, the big cryptid moment, the only third person view we canonically have of Miles:

2. Probably what I consider to be the definitive Oscar-as-Miles photo, one of the things I saw and was instantly assured of my FC choice. It might sound stupid but Oscar is such an irrevocable part of Miles to me. I can't see him any other way, and having such a strong visual representation of him has always been a huge help in making him feel real for all these years:

three headcanons you never told anyone. Disclaimer that I have probably mentioned all of this at some point but it's been seven years of writing this guy and I fear I'm out of completely new material lol

He's never been much of an exercise buff but Miles used to be into running. He had a set circuit when he lived in DC and tried to keep a consistent schedule even when traveling for work. Never got to marathon level but did a lot of 5 and 10Ks, even a half marathon here and there. But it's not something he does anymore largely because there's... really no point. One of the benefits of being possessed and also kinda dead is you don't need to workout! Yaaaaay! Unfortunately without the endorphins and the satisfaction of exertion, running has lost its luster.

Prior to Mount Massive, Miles had a long-term boyfriend from college until they were in their late 20s. The last couple years of it were a tumultuous on-and-off-again relationship that started to deteriorate after he lost his staff reporter job and had to travel more. Prop 8 meant that same sex marriage was off the table, but they talked about engagement and building a serious life together. If Miles hadn't lost his job he probably would've proposed. But, then, if he hadn't lost his job a lot of things would've been different.

Miles is genuinely obsessed with roadside tourist traps -- giant balls of twine and other objects, weird architecture, fake alien sites, that sort of thing. The kitschier the better. If you're roadtripping with him and he spots a funky sign, he's pulling over.

three things your character likes to do in their free time.

Listen to music -- he's almost always got tunes on in the background but will sit down and really get absorbed in an album when he can.

Read -- mostly current events articles, sometimes a good nonfiction book.

Drive -- loves driving around the middle of nowhere to clear his head, even though it's not quite the same without the Jeep (rip).

three people your character loves.

Not technically a person, but the Walrider. Judge him if you want, but after a decade he's accepted that they're fucked up soulmates that were always meant to be <3. It's been a slowburn enemies to lovers journey, but over time he's adapted and stopped hating it for things that weren't really its fault. He's gone from denial to acceptance to tolerance to feeling genuine affection for the Swarm. Maybe it's too complicated to really define as love, but he can't think of a better word.

@mslangermann in some form in all verses always.

People with conviction. People who stand up for themselves and the things they believe in. People who are thoughtful and who care about something bigger than themselves.

two things your character regrets.

Not being a better son and brother before everything went to shit. His life choices and the prideful stubbornness with which he committed to them drove a wedge between himself and his parents, which trickled down into a strained relationship with his sisters. In hindsight, they were just worried about him and only wanted what was best for him -- but he was too absorbed with his career and trying to piece it back together to see that. He regrets arguing with them so much. He regrets not making the most of the time he had when he didn't know it was running out.

Somewhat verse specific, but he very deeply regrets what happened with @mslangermann's husband Blake after Temple Gate. Murkoff picked him out of the wreckage and brought him to another facility -- Miles found him while trying to dig up whatever he could about the cult. Blake was completely catatonic, and probing around in his mind revealed that there was nothing left of him mentally, either. Rather than leave him to suffer in Murkoff's hands, Miles elected to put him out of his misery. And still hasn't told Lynn. He doesn't regret doing it -- truly, there were no options that would have saved Blake -- but he regrets not being honest with her. He also blames himself a bit for not finding him sooner and possibly preventing tragedy.

three phobias your character has.

the dark

confined spaces

heights

tagged by : @demcnsinmymind ty!!! tagging: @cyberpawn, @slidethirtysix, @paramnesias