#ecuadorian food

[fattributes]

Seco de Pollo

[fieriframes]

[No! No, no, no, no. I'm here in West Des Moines, Iowa, on a warm summer day right off the 235 freeway. And of all places, I'm in a strip mall, 'cause I hear they're serving up the bomb Ecuadorian food.]

[probablyasocialecologist]

Scientists have uncovered the Amazon’s earliest and largest example of farm-based city-like settlements high in the foothills of the Ecuadorian Andes. The thousands of mounds, plazas, terraces, roads and agricultural fields — revealed for the first time in their fullest extent by airborne laser scans — necessitate a rethinking of just how complex ancient civilizations of the Amazon may have been, researchers report in the Jan. 12 Science. Over the last decade or so, the use of light detection and ranging, or lidar, in archaeology has led to significant discoveries in tropical climates, where ancient settlements often lay obscured beneath dense jungle (SN: 12/4/23). In 2018, researchers released scans of remnants of Mayan settlements in Guatemala, followed by Olmec ruins in Mexico in 2021 and Casarabe sites in the Bolivian Amazon in 2022, all which have been revealed to be metropolitan-like settlements filled with complex infrastructure (SN: 9/27/18; SN: 1/6/23; SN: 5/25/22). “It’s a gold rush scenario, especially for the Americas and the Amazon,” says Christopher Fisher, an archaeologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins who has scanned sites throughout the Americas but was not involved in the new research. “Scientists are demonstrating conclusively that there were a lot more people in these areas, and that they significantly modified the landscape,” he says. “This is a paradigm shift in our thinking about how extensively people occupied these areas.”

[...]

Beneath the tree canopy was a massive network of roughly 6,000 mounds — once homes and community spaces — clustered into 15 settlements and connected by an intricate road system. The lidar data also revealed that the open spaces between settlements were in fact agricultural fields that had been drained to grow crops such as maize, beans, sweet potatoes and yucca. Within the settlements, the researchers found tiered gardens that would have kept some food closer at hand. Put together, the results show that the valley wasn’t simply a series of small villages linked by roads, but “an entirely human-engineered landscape” built by skilled urban planners, Rostain says. Dating from several sites suggests the area was inhabited for roughly 2,000 years beginning around 500 B.C. by at least five different cultural groups. A next step will be to calculate how many people might have lived there.

[cognitivejustice]

Food as a catalyst to rebuild a community

Ecuador’s Project Iche houses a culinary school, restaurant and food lab that aims for social good

The initiative aims to impart ancient culinary traditions to a new generation of Ecuadorian chefs and curious diners, while also empowering the local community and creating a stronger economy.

Ask any Ecuadorian about their country's favorite local cuisine, and the answer is almost always the same without exception: Manabí, a coastal area known for its traditional cuisine. In 2016 the Manabí region was devastated by an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. More than 650 people were killed, over 16,000 injured and more than 35,000 homes were leveled.

Project Iche began as a response to rebuild Manabí by using food as a catalyst for growth. If there is one thing that brings together the Manabitan people, it’s food. And at Iche, they are bringing together tradition and innovation. The project touches on food in a myriad of ways: from growing vegetables and fresh herbs in the garden, to serving dishes in the restaurant. From product development in the laboratory, to teaching young chefs new skills and ancient cooking techniques, the project captures ancestral knowledge and recipes that until now, have primarily been conveyed by oral tradition. At Iche, students are taught the fundamentals of sustainable food production, and how to acknowledge their responsibility in upholding patrimonial food traditions. Lessons focus on how food provides a means to develop a strong economy that is built around ecotourism and gastronomy.

“Food can be a powerful tool to reactivate the economy, increase people’s self-esteem and unleash hope and creativity.”

Iche was founded in 2021 by Orazio Bellettini, a Manabí native. Bellettini was the executive director of Quito-based Grupo FARO, a think tank conducting research on how to build a more inclusive society. When the 2016 earthquake struck “the local economy was completely destroyed, and people were left without homes or hope. I felt a strong responsibility to help” Bellettini explains in an interview for National Geographic. He invested heavily into Project Iche, a one-stop-shop for developing and preserving Manabí cuisine. 

[cha1cedony]

I should be sleeping but I’m thinking about Rebecca again…. blinks innocently 😇 So many old headcanons resurfacing today!

(This turned into a longer ramble than I anticipated so um. Tee hee)

Anyway I always wonder how big Swallows Ice Cream really was. I know they had a storefront, but I’ve always imagined it to have started as a mom-n-pop place and maybe expanded into a local chain that sells in stores, too. She DOES call it an “ice cream empire,” after all. I wonder how recently it became so successful o_o How old were Normal and Hero? Did they see their parents (+ Lark) struggle as kids, and did they see the business take off (maybe post-Vinny fiasco, when Normal’s parents were actually working in the shop, and which definitely convinced Normal that his mascoting was the reason for the business’ success lol)? They’re not ever mentioned to be rich like Taylor, so maybe not that successful…? Idk. Food for Normal childhood thoughts ANYWAY ANYWAY

Anyway. Back to the reason I made this post lmao. I wonder if Rebecca was the one to make the ice cream first. She probably was, since she FOUNDED the aforementioned ice cream empire. Maybe when Normal and Hero were growing up, Rebecca would spend all day making new flavors: weird stuff, like lavender and basil and thyme and Grape-Nut (at Henry’s request). I was Googling Ecuadorian desserts once for an (unfinished) fic and discovered espumillas—fruit merengue in an ice cream cone—and imagined her making that for the kids :) !!!!

And maybe, when they expanded to a small handful of storefronts in LA and selling in a couple of local grocery stores, the family made a routine of going around town to try the new ones. Rebecca and Sparrow had already tried and approved everything for quality control, of course, but Normal and Hero grew up on this stuff! And when their mom isn’t the one making it, it’s just not as good! >:( That’s not the REAL Swallows Vegan Ice Cream, yk? Even when they had enough money to hire new employees, Normal BEGGED his mom to keep making the ice cream at the original San Dimas shop herself.

…And now he’ll never eat her ice cream again :( She’ll never let him experiment with mixing his essential oils in the soft serve machine to make a new godawful flavor again. When Normal is missing Carlos, Rebecca will never be there to make guava espumillas and blackberry helado de paila again (and Sparrow knows the recipe, too, but it’s just not the same).

Hero has sworn off ice cream ever since she rejected her role as ‘chosen one’; it leaves a bad taste in her mouth (literally). But after Rebecca dies, Hero finally feels its cold absence. Maybe she gets her sweet tooth back :)

So! Anyway! How are we all doing tonight 😄

PS: My friend (hi if you’re reading this) and I tried vegan ice cream by accident the other day, and it was sooooo bad (to me). The coconut milk made everything taste like coconuts 😭 and it was so sweet. I hate coconuts AND sweet stuff. Bleh. But I believe Rebecca’s ice cream is better ☝️ I have to believe… lol okay byeeee

[vomitdodger]

Cartel hitmen utilized a food photo posted on Instagram to hunt down an Ecuadorian beauty queen and murder her in broad daylight, according to police. Investigators believe that the 23-year-old model was gunned down because of her previous relationship with a married drug lord.

I’ve always said don’t post to social media in real time.

Clueless dumbass: “Look at me, I’m drunk at this bar right now”

The world: “ so no one is at your home and you’re drunk and vulnerable…hmmmm”

[pyporapy]

hey there pyporapy

What's the favorite food of your oc's? And also, what is the food that they ABSOLUTELY despise?

Hello!!!

Both Grisha and Viktoria Really like soup (solyanka and shchi respectively), but it’s kind of because of different reasons. Grisha needs whatever pick-me-up he can get so he likes his sour soup, and Viktoria prioritizes reliability, so if she can make her soup fairly easily and freeze it to take wherever she goes she will do that. So, that being said, Grisha doesn’t like anything Too bland and Viktoria still can’t get used to meals that are too elaborate.

By virtue of being 100% British, Laura hasn’t exactly won the cuisine lottery (/j), but she really enjoys Scottish cuisine and, specifically, cullen skink, aka smoked haddock chowder (hehe, more soup). It’s quite a simple dish and it’s actually more of a starter, but what she likes is precisely its simplicity and good taste. On the other hand, and not to disgrace her home city, but Liverpool cuisine is…… interesting….. so, she can probably eat it, but she would rather not doing so.

In Felix’s case, he has Actually won the cuisine lottery by virtue of being ecuadorian (🙌🦅🔥🇪🇨), but even with all the dishes that ecuadorian cuisine has to offer, he prefers the little things in life, so patacones are his favorite. You can do just about anything with verde, and you can make it be the only thing you eat the rest of your life (even though you probably shouldn’t…), but in the UK that shit is expensive!! So patacones can be an actual delicacy!!! And he treats them as such!!! They’re pretty reliable too; they’re quick to cook so you cook a shit ton and you can take them anywhere, eat them with anything, and they can be quite fulfilling. He’s the type of person to try any food put in front of him but if I wanted to say he didn’t like a food….. he looks like he doesn’t like fish. Idk he just has that vibe…

I’m gonna be honest I can’t picture Cain eating. Either he just photosynthesizes or has a cigarette and bong water for breakfast idk. If he’s ever desperate enough he probably just eats a handful of communion wafers, pretends he’s eating paper (which tbh isn’t That hard), and moves on with his life. In all seriousness he just has the vibe of someone that doesn’t play about breakfast. Does that make sense.

And Gabrijel…… he probably eats some weird expensive shit unbeknownst to all of us normal people with real tastebuds. Because of his Czech roots, he really likes pork, but he can probably only eat like. Iberian pork. Nothing more and nothing less. Also if I gave him ají he’d probably die but that’s another topic

Thank you for your ask, this was fun to do!!! I’m hungry now hehehe

[pitualba2015]

💐 once you receive this lovely bouquet of flowers you have to mention five things you love, publicly, and send it to 10 of your favorite followers if you want. SPREAD POSITIVITY! ⛅️

Sorry it took me so long to answer this. As for the things I love, there are many.

First my kids, doesn't matter they are adults now, but they will always be my kids. ❤️❤️❤️

Second music. I have a HUGE file with different types of music genres in english, spanish, some italian, some korean, etc 🎶🎶🎶

Third food. There is no better pleasure than eating a well prepared dish. I specially love tex mex, ecuadorian, italian, some japanese, different dishes from european countries. BBQ wings, a good hamburger, New York hot dogs and pizza 😋

Forth reading. Since my junior high years I always lost myself in books. I had a lot of fiend, but when a good book landed on my hands, everybody, including family, knew not to bother me.

Fifth watching either movies or series. Though I'm running behind, but I hope I'll catch up soon.

I want to tag @lemonluvgirl @mega-aulover @norbertsmom @jlalafics @xerxia31 @jroseley @itskeisy @periwinckles @broken-everlark @dandelionlovesyou

[coochiequeens]

Ladies please reblog to spread the word about these ladies and their fight to protect their homes from the destruction of the Oil industry

BY NEMONTE NENQUIMO AND NONHLE MBUTHUMA

DECEMBER 15, 2022 7:00 AM EST

Nenquimo, co-founder of Amazon Frontlines and the Ceibo Alliance, is a Waorani leader who has won the Goldman Environmental Prize. Mbuthuma is a leader of the amaMpondo people in South Africa and spokesperson of the Amadiba Crisis Committee, a collective that defends her community’s rights to steward their ancestral land.

We are two Indigenous women leaders writing from the frontlines of the battle to save our oceans, our forests, and our planet’s climate. We have good news to share: We know how to beat Big Oil.

From the Amazon rainforest to the shores of the Indian Ocean in South Africa, we have led our communities to mighty victories against oil companies who hoped to profit off our territories. In September 2022, we succeeded in getting a court to revoke a permit that would have allowed Shell to despoil Indigenous farming communities and fishing grounds along the pristine Wild Coast of South Africa. Just a few years earlier in April 2019, we organized Indigenous communities deep in the Ecuadorian rainforests to resist the government’s plans to drill in pristine rainforests and were victorious, protecting half a million acres of forests and setting a legal precedent to protect millions more.

Both were David vs. Goliath victories—and both were opportunities for us to learn where to point that fabled slingshot.

Big Oil has the deepest of pockets and a horrific track record when it comes to corruption, scandal, and environmental crimes. Across the world, Indigenous and local communities know that once the industry gets a foothold in our lands, it leaves ruin in its wake. For instance, the A’i Cofán people of Ecuador’s northern Amazon have borne the brunt of decades of oil industry contamination, deforestation, and health impacts. And the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta have lost their fishing and farming lands to polluting oil operations, and have seen their leaders threatened and murdered when they dared to speak out.

As frontline communities, we must work together to stop Big Oil before they enter our lands. But this, in itself, is no easy task. The industry offers alluring promises of “progress” and “development.” And they have people—in government, the military, police forces, shadowy paramilitary groups, and sometimes in our own communities—who are willing to intimidate, harass, and even kill leaders like us who have the courage to stand up to them. They also have billions of dollars riding on getting permits to suck the oil out of the ground and sea.

So, how did we stop them?

First, we kept our communities together. We fought against the industry’s “divide and conquer” tactics by grounding our battle in our own sacred connection to our lands. Our ancestors and elders understood, as we do today, that Mother Earth is sacred and worth fighting for. We are connected to her through our breath, our stories, our dreams, and our prayers. She gives us everything: water, food, medicine, shelter, meaning. And in return, we protect her.

We also helped our people cut through the false promises and threats by exposing Big Oil’s lies and abuse around the world. That is, we made sure our villagers could learn from the A’i Cofán people of Ecuador, the Ogoni of the Niger delta, and the countless other frontline communities that have suffered at the hands of Big Oil.

As Indigenous women leaders, we know that if we can keep our sacred connection to the land and keep our people united, then we have a fighting chance against any oil company in the world.

We also have the law on our side, which makes Big Oil really vulnerable. In 2007, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which recognized our right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) for any activity that affects our ancestral lands. Our shorthand is “Nothing About Us Without Us.” We, Indigenous peoples, the ancestral owners of some of the most biodiverse, carbon-rich places on the planet (the places that the oil industry wants to get their hands on more than anything), have the internationally recognized legal right to decide what happens on our land.

In South Africa, we were able to protect 6,000 square miles of pristine marine ecosystems off the Wild Coast, saving dolphins and whales from deafening seismic blasts on the ocean floor while also protecting local communities and our planet’s climate from the threat of ramped-up offshore drilling. And on the other side of the world, in Ecuador, we leveraged our internationally recognized rights to protect some of the biodiverse rainforest in the Amazon, jamming the Ecuadorian Government’s plans to drill across millions of acres of Indigenous territories.

But the law alone isn’t enough. To move courts and politicians—and to create legal exposure and reputational risk to companies—we need global community support to keep going.

That means getting financial resources to the frontlines, so that we can protect our leaders, organize our communities, and secure our rights. Only a fraction of 1% of all climate funding currently makes it to Indigenous communities on the frontlines of the climate battle. We need to change that.

It also means sharing our stories and shining a spotlight on our struggles, so that local courts and politicians know that the world is watching. Public solidarity not only prevents corruption and back-room deals, but it also energizes our grassroots campaigns.

We need to continue to pressure governments around the world to finally adopt our internationally recognized right to decide what happens in our lands in their national laws and constitutions. Our peoples have been putting our bodies on the line in the battle to protect Mother Earth for centuries. It’s not only a moral imperative that global governments finally recognize and respect our right to self-determination, but it is also one of the most urgent and effective climate strategies—it’s no coincidence that we are the guardians of over 80% of our planet’s biodiversity. In the Amazon rainforest, half of the remaining standing forest is in our territories. Without us and without our territories, there is no climate solution.

To have a fighting chance of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, we can’t afford to be opening up new oil fields in the lungs of the earth. We need to keep our forests standing. We need to transition to renewable energy.

We are writing this because we see that world leaders, businesses, and NGOs are only making slow, incremental progress on climate despite the urgent existential threat we face. Instead of getting frustrated, we’re doubling down on sharing our formula with other Indigenous guardians on the ground.

We know that time is not on our side—but our spirituality and our rights are. So here’s one idea from two Indigenous women leaders that beat the oil industry, and protected our oceans and our forests: Listen to us for a change.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 8.4

Holidays

Administrative Professionals’ Day (India)

Air Force Day (Ukraine)

Assistance Dog Day

Backgammon Day

Barack Obama Day (a.k.a. Obama Day; Illinois)

Bartlett’s Quotations Day

Beirut Port Explosion Memorial Day (Lebanon)

Bhoto Jatra (Katmandu Valley, Nepal)

Bowser Day

Coast Guard Day (US)

Constitution Day (Cook Islands)

Cycle to Work Day (UK)

804 Day

Esther Day

Fiestas de la Virgen Blanca (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain)

Founder’s Day (Ghana)

Freedom of the Press Day

Great American Outdoors Day

Hooray for Kids Day

International Clouded Jaguar Day

International Day of Solidarity with the Belarusian Civil Society

International Owl Awareness Day

Johnny Cash Day (Arkansas)

Loch-mo-Naire Pilgrimage (Scotland)

Matica Slovenská Day (Slovakia)

National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day (Australia)

National Architect Day (Chile)

National Day of the Dahlia (Mexico)

National I Got My Happy Back Day

National Guard Day (Venezuela)

National Journalist Day (Colombia)

National Olivia Strong Day

National Owl Day

National Parks Free Entrance Day

New Brunswick Day (Canada)

Nicole Robin Day (US Virgin Islands)

Port of Beirut Explosion Anniversary Day (Lebanon)

Psychic Day

Quotations Day

Railroad Workers’ Day (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia)

Revolution Day (Burkina Faso)

Satchmo Day

Saturday Evening Post Day

Single Working Women’s Day

Sinjska Alka (Croatia)

Skynet Online Day

Transport Workers’ Day (Kazakhstan)

Venn Diagram Day

Viking Pilgrimage (Spain)

World NTM Awareness Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

American Supermarket Day

Champagne Day

Kentucky Fried Chicken Day

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

National Lasagna Day

National White Wine Day

Poppin’ Fresh Day

Raisin Bran Day

Independence & Related Days

Ahmedland (Declared; 2009) [unrecognized]

Cabuyao Cityhood Day (Philippines)

Constitution Day (Cook Islands)

Corennica (Declared; 2010) [unrecognized]

Krzakacja (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

NZRE (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Revolution Day (Burkina Faso)

1st Sunday in August

American Family Day [1st Sunday]

Blessing of the Sea [1st Sunday]

Day of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Ukraine) [1st Sunday]

Day of the Railway Worker (Russia)

Dé Domhnaigh Crum-Dubh (a.k.a. Crom Dubh Sunday; Celtic/Ireland) [1st Sunday]

International Forgiveness Day [1st Sunday]

International Friendship Day (India) [1st Sunday]

National Doll Day [1st Sunday]

National Friendship Day [1st Sunday]

National Kids Day [1st Sunday]

National Peacekeepers' Day (Canada) [Sunday closest to 9th]

Pilgrimage to the Llyn a Fan Fach in Dyfed (Celtic Book of Days) [1st Sunday]

Psychic Day [1st Sunday]

Reason Day (Northeastern Cross-Quarter; Aretéanism) [1st Sunday] (Independent Critical Thinking)

Selaks Wines’ National Roast Day (New Zealand) [1st Sunday]

Sisters' Day [1st Sunday]

World Meditation Day [1st Sunday of Every Month]

World Naked Kitchen Day [1st Sunday]

Weekly Holidays beginning August 4 (1st Full Week of August)

Exercise with Your Child Week (thru 8.10) [1st Full Week]

International Assistance Dog Week (thru 8.10) [Begins 1st Sunday]

Knights of Columbus Family Week (thru 8.10) [1st Full Week]

National Farmers Market Week (thru 8.10) [1st Full Week]

National Fraud Awareness Week (thru 8.10) [1st Full Week]

National Health Center Week (thru 8.10) [1st Full Week]

National Motorcycle Week (thru 8.10) [2nd Week]

National Smile Week (thru 8.10) [2nd Week]

National Stop on Red Week (thru 8.10)

Rock for Life Week (thru 8.7)

Single Working Women’s Week (thru 8.10) [Week containing 8.4]

Weird Contest Week (thru 8.10) [2nd Week]

Festivals Beginning August 4, 2024

Andorra la Vella Festival (Andorra)

Ecuadorian Food Festival (Los Angeles, California)

Folklorama (Winnipeg, Canada) [thru 8.17]

Heritage Fire (Louisville, Kentucky)

Jackson County Fair (Jackson, Michigan) [thru 8.10]

Latin Festival: Tacos & Tequila (Monmouth Park, Oceanport, New Jersey)

Medieval Week on Gotland (Visby, Sweden) [thru 8.11]

NY Now Summer Market (New York, New York) [thru 8.7]

Smukfest (Skanderborg, Denmark) [thruu 8.11]

Feast Days

Aphrodite’s Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Aristarchus (Christian; Saint)

Buckwheat Day (Pagan)

Charles Addams Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Culhwich (Celtic Book of Days)

Dancing in Your Underwear Day (Pastafarian) (Writerism)

Dominic (Christian; Saint)

Dominic (Christian; Saint)

Euphronius (Christian; Saint)

Fairy Drying-Out Day (Shamanismvb

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (Artology)

Frédéric Janssoone (Christian; Blessed)

Hedda Sterne (Artology)

Is and Her Companions (Christian; Martyrs)

John Henry Twachtman (Artology)

John Mary Vianney (Christian; Saint)

Knut Hamsun (Writerism)

Laura Knight (Artology)

Loch-mo-Naire Magical Powers Day (Everyday Wicca)

Long Jane Silver (Muppetism)

Luanus (a.k.a. Lugud or Moles) of Ireland (Christian; Saint)

Manzoni (Positivist; Saint)

Mead Day (Pastafarian)

Molua (a.k.a. Lua; Christian; Saint)

Nicolas-Jacques Conté (Artology)

Paul McCarthy (Artology)

Percy Bysshe Shelley (Writerism)

Raynerius of Split (Christian; Saint)

Robert Hayden (Writerism)

Sithney (Christian; Saint) [mad dogs]

Vigil of Oswald (Christian; Saint)

Zuni Corn Dance begins (Native American) [thru 8.7]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Anaconda, by Nicki Minaj (Song; 2014)

The A-Tom-inable Snowman (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1966)

Babe (Film; 1995)

Barnyard (Animated Film; 2006)

Beauty is Only Skin Deep, by The Temptations (Song; 1966)

Billboard Hot 11 (Song Ranking System; 1958)

The Case of the Screaming Bishop (Phantasies; 1944)

Coyote Ugly (Film; 2000)

Dick (Film; 1999)

Galaxy Express 999 (Animated Film; 1979)

Holiday Inn (Film; 1942)

Hound Dog, by Elvis Presley (Song; 1956)

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (TV Series; 2005)

King Ottokar’s Sceptre, by Hergé (Graphic Novel; 1938) [Tintin #8]

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (Film; 1950)

Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run (WB Animated Film; 2015)

Magnificent Obsession (Film; 1954)

Pink Tuba-Dore (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1971)

Pornografia, by Witold Gombrowicz (Novel; 1960)

Rocket-Bye Baby (WB MM Cartoon; 1956)

Sex, Lies, and Videotape (Film; 1989)

Ship A’hoy Woody (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1969)

Space Cowboys (Film; 2000)

Sunset Boulevard (Film; 1950)

Super Fly (Fim; 1972)

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Film; 2006)

The Tao of Steve (Film; 2000)

Young Einstein (Film; 1989)

You Really Got Me, by The Kinks (Song; 1964)

Today’s Name Days

Elizabeth, Johannes, Rainer (Austria)

Ivan, Tertulijan (Croatia)

Dominik (Czech Republic)

Dominicus (Denmark)

Veera, Veronika, Veroonika (Estonia)

Veera (Finland)

Jean-Marie, Vianney (France)

Berta, Elisabeth, Else, Rainer, Ulrich (Germany)

Eskakoustodianos, Maxmilian, Violeta (Greece)

Dominika, Domonkos (Hungary)

Francesco, Nicodemo (Italy)

Edmars, Romāns, Romualds (Latvia)

Domantas, Gerimantas, Irta, Milgedė (Lithuania)

Arna, Arne, Arnhild (Norway)

Alfred, Arystarch, Dominik, Maria, Mironieg, Protazy (Poland)

Maria (Russia)

Dominik, Dominika (Slovakia)

Juan, Rubén (Spain)

Arne, Arnold (Sweden)

Bohdanna (Ukraine)

Barack, Barak, Domenic, Dominic, Dominica, Dominick, Dominique,Reuben, Ruben, Ruby (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 217 of 2024; 149 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of Week 31 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 2 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Ren-Shen), Day 1 (Geng-Zi)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 29 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 28 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 7 Purple; Sevenday [7 of 30]

Julian: 22 July 2024

Moon: 0%: New Moon

Positivist: 20 Dante (8th Month) [Manzoni]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 12 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 46 of 94)

Week: 1st Full Week of August

Zodiac: Leo (Day 14 of 31)

Calendar Changes

蘭月 [Lányuè] (Chinese Lunisolar Calendar) [Month 7 of 12] (Orchid Month) [Earthly Branch: Monkey Month] (Qīyuè; Seventh Month)

[fattributes]

Encocado de Camaron

[cornelius-of-lykia]

Research Statement / Introductory Post

Hey folks! As part of my work for school, I must write a research statement that encompasses who I am, what my work entails, what influences me, and ultimately what I want to accomplish while I am at the University of Connecticut. This is honestly a pretty good opportunity to take stock of who I am as an artist, and why I am doing the work I am undertaking, and so I’d like to share my research statement here.

Personal Background

My name is Christian Romero, I am a 3D artist and game designer of Ecuadorian and Irish heritage, born and raised in the Hudson Valley (NY). I first studied game design at Drexel University, and while there’s a thousand things I would’ve liked to have done differently in undergrad, my work and experiences there are ultimately what led me to becoming an MFA graduate student here at UConn. Overall, I’m pretty happy with where I am right now.

I’ve been very interested in game narratives since I was a teenager, but I didn’t know what I actually wanted to do for a career – all I knew was that I wanted to make games. I didn’t consider myself an ‘artist’ when I was starting out in undergrad – I couldn’t paint, I had no confidence in my drawing skills, and I had no idea what 3D modeling entailed. While I have my criticisms of Drexel University as an institution, their game design track got me to engage with all the major components of game design, which gave me a much better sense of what each discipline entailed. While I did a lot of work with 3D modeling at Drexel, it was only a couple years after graduating that I ultimately decided to go all-in on my 3D art. It took me a while to realize that I really had a knack for modeling and rendering, and even though I struggled for a while to find meaningful work after graduating, I look back fondly on all the art I made in the intervening years. I honestly think a lot of it is pretty dope.

I came to the University of Connecticut to learn as much as I could about 3D art and game design, but these haven’t been the only things I sought to learn about while studying here. UConn’s Deparment of Digital Media & Design has a big emphasis on projects pertaining to the Humanities, and I wanted to explore what sort of work was being undertaken in this regard. To that end, I have learned a good deal in the past year-and-a-half I have been here.

Thesis Project

For my stay at UConn, my MFA thesis project is a narrative point-and-click game called The Festival: Eastoria. In it, you play Nishma Mauranyan, a girl who is trying to put on a food festival in a country that just got out of a civil war.

Its themes and quests are about how people come together to rebuild their lives and their societies after the massive upheavals and trauma that come with war. The game’s setting and story are based on a project I have been working on since 2019, with the protagonist being based on a character sprite I made all the way back in 2015.

There is a lot I still have to unpack and explain about this game, but I will do my best to summarize several key components about it here.

Artistic Vision

While a good chunk of my artistic vision and philosophy can be summarized as “I like making art of stuff I like”, what I ultimately want to do is make art that has something to say. I want to explore complicated themes and say complicated things in the games I make. We live in a very messy world, and live very messy lives, and the stories that have stuck with me the most have been the ones that helped me make sense of it all. I know I may come up short when trying to write something meaningful, especially with The Festival, but it’s very important that I try to do what I do with as much earnestness and sincerity as possible.

Having gone through much turmoil and hardship in my own life, I want to help others make sense of their own struggles by exploring these things in the stories I write. If I help even one person understand themselves better through my works, then I know I will have done my job.

Artistic Influences

In preparing to come to UConn in December 2021, which was also the time I started formulating the concept of The Festival as a game, I fondly listed Anthony Bourdain and Guy Fieri (yes, seriously) as two of my biggest influences for conceiving the game’s premise. What inspires me about those two (Anthony Bourdain moreso) is how they chose to explore different communities, regions, and cultures through their food. While Mr. Fieri is more focused on the food itself, Anthony Bourdain (God rest his soul) used food as a springboard for talking about a region’s history, politics, and culture(s). I was always intrigued by his approach to these subjects, and it’s ultimately what inspires me to make The Festival as it is: a game where food and festivities are used as the starting point to engage with serious topics.

In a broader sense, I have always had a deep interest in history, politics, culture, and religion. I love learning about other peoples’ cultures, and the different ethnic groups found in The Festival are all based on a variety of different real-world groups that I have a deep respect for, who you don’t see often portrayed within media (e.g. you don’t see a lot of fictional portrayals of Armenian culture in pop culture). Ultimately, the titular festival that you spend the whole game working towards is itself a springboard for exploring the larger world of Eastoria and its people, along with exploring the very complicated and heavy subject matter that comes with life in post-conflict societies. To this end, I hope that the worldbuilding I incorporate into The Festival reflects my own innate curiosity and passions.

For video games that inspire me, I have three key games I would like to cite – each of which I have been liberally cribbing design elements from. Those games would be Fallout: New Vegas (2010), Disco Elysium (2019), and Pentiment (2022).

To give a very rough overview of what I am taking from each game for use in the Festival, I am inspired by how they handle their rich worldbuilding, their complex and nuanced narratives, and their incredibly well-written and relatable characters. I’m taking many notes on how New Vegas and Disco Elysium each handle their politics, how Disco Elysium and Pentiment handle their point-and-click gameplay systems, and how Pentiment handles the passage of time in its quests and stories. Lastly, I am also taking note of how each game handles moral ambiguity and uncertainty in choices – both of which I intend on being major components within the different quests of The Festival.

Themes and Subjects

The Festival: Eastoria is a game about putting on a food festival in a country that just got out of a civil war. As such, it will be exploring the complexities of post-conflict societies, and about how people rebuild their lives after suffering through major traumas. Even so, like with the three games I mentioned before, I want to tie in the large-scale political conflicts with the small-scale personal stories, and show how one influences the other. I want to show how people reclaim their lives, and how they process such heavy trauma and grief, having survived a thousand different horrors.

Expanding a little further on my last point, I want to incorporate ambiguity into both the moral choices the player must make, as well as the choices on what the player focuses on to bring the festival to fruition. While this will be incredibly difficult to pull off, and will require a lot of time and careful writing, I strongly believe it’s a critical component of the game. What may be morally upstanding may not benefit you or your festival, and you may have to do a few underhanded or questionable things to make sure you can pull off your festival.

Evolution of The Festival

The world of The Festival is based on a project I first started working on in September 2019. It first started life as a shooter based off the mechanics of Mount & Blade: Warband (2010), made in conjunction with a couple other aspiring indies like me. While I made a lot of art assets for this game, ultimately we all had to move on from it, especially once the pandemic took its toll on our lives post-2020. While I’m not against revisiting a war game in this vein in the future, I think for now The Festival is the most appropriate and achievable version of the sort of story I wish to tell. The war game I initially envisioned was also centered on the themes of people rebuilding their lives after conflict and trauma, while trying to convey the human cost of war. The premise of the game was that you would be the one to reunite the war-torn country of Eastoria by building an army large enough to topple the squabbling dictatorships that dominated the country.

However, once the war game was mothballed, I searched for other ways to explore the world I spent the past two years working on, and by late 2021 I decided it was best to focus on a story where, rather than working to reunify the country yourself, you skip right to the end where the country has already been unified, and now you must work to bring people back together in this new era of peace. While I can’t recall exactly how I decided to base the game’s story on putting on a food festival, I know that by the time I sent in my application to UConn in January 2022, it was an idea I was beginning to mentally flesh out.

And here we are today!

Creative Process / Materials and Techniques

For this portion of the statement, I will focus exclusively on the art side of things, and how I make the character models and assets I have produced. There is more I can say about my interest and research into the political and humanitarian issues of life in a post-conflict society, but I would prefer to expand upon that at a later time.

As a 3D artist by trade, my preferred art application is Blender, an open-source 3D application. For modeling characters, I have two character bases I have been using since 2020 for a variety of different characters, including here for The Festival. The male version is nicknamed “Cor Boy”, after me, and the female version is nicknamed the “Erik Girl”, after my friend NitroGlyde, who helped me produce her. I try to keep all my models in a low-poly art style using mostly flat shading, as it is an art-style I have grown very fond of since first starting on this project in 2019.

I originally used exclusively Photoshop for texturing, which I still rely on for certain textures. Ever since coming to UConn, however, I have been working extensively with Substance Painter, which I consider to be an absolute godsend for texturing 3D models. As for the game engine itself, I am making this game in Unreal Engine 5.3. These past two weeks (as of February 25, 2024 as I write this), I have been reviewing and learning as much as I can about the basics of Unreal’s blueprint system to implement the code I want, and I have gotten surprisingly far. I will be sharing a video showcasing my work on that front soon.

Course Goals

My ultimate goal for the Spring 2024 semester is to have a rough prototype of the game’s pilot quest, which I have dubbed “Hemmingward”. It is about Nishma’s attempts to solve a decade-old war crime for a village in an attempt to secure their famed recipe for her festival. If I can have a playable quest for this story by my thesis defense in mid-May, then I know I will be in a good position for my final year.

Currently, I have locked in the very basics of my point-and-click mechanics – locomotion, interactivity, and dialogue system. I will be showing those off in a future post soon; the locomotion and interactivity I was able to piece together from various tutorials, while the dialogue system is a plugin called Dialogue Tree by Unraed on the Unreal Marketplace. I’ll need to polish and experiment with the system a little more – and eventually resume work on art assets for this game – but I’m making headway, slowly but surely.

Production Timeline:

Here is a rough timeline of what I expect to have done within the coming weeks for the rest of the semester.

Feb 26th to March 8th – Polish and lock in point-and-click functionality, get very simple dialogue camera working the way I want.

March 9th to March 16th – Spring break; review Hemmingward script for further revisions. Set up levels to be explored, and begin greyboxing scenes.

March 17th to March 23rd – Finish greyboxing environments. Implement note/diary system (which will be used to review documents relevant to the quest).

March 24th to March 30th – Implement basic cutscene functionality, including transition from cutscenes to gameplay, and vice versa. Have first wave of Hemmingward script revisions completed.

March 31st to April 6th – Begin implementing the actual script into the game; set up cinematics, dialogue, and events appropriately.

April 7th to April 13th – Continue implementing the script content into the game.

April 14th to Apri; 26th – Complete implementation of script into the game; finalize alpha build of quest for presentation to committee during Thesis defense.

Closing

This is as much as I have to say for my research statement right now. Thank you dearly if you have read this far.

There’s plenty I wish to talk about more, with both The Festival and my own journey as an artist. For now though, I’m just excited to say that I’m getting a lot of good work done, and I have many exciting updates to share in the coming weeks.

I hope you have a lovely day, dear reader, and as always - Solidarity Forever!

[bonbonshideout]

Alex and Leo interactions

❗️this is not a ship❗️; Leo belongs to @foressfaction

♤ Let's clarify!:

Alex and Leo are not of the same universe; Leo belongs to the slenderverse, while Alex is just living in his own universe. My only reasoning for this is because on occasion Toby (Leo's creator) and I talk about how they would interact with one another.

♡ Context on Characters:

Alex:

Alex ran away from home at age 17, he was given a gun for his safety by a friend of his dad (who passed away), his mom was sweet while the man who forced himself into their family wasn't.

Alex is of Ecuadorian, African-American decent.

He dyed his hair pink (mainly in spite of his step-dad)

---

Leo:

Having witnessed his parents passing in a shooting, he was made to move in with his aunt and uncle, while his aunt was alright, his uncle and cousin were horrible, rude and simply making Leo's life a living hell, both at home and at school. As he continued to grow, due to things from the past, Leo struggled with many things, one being tortured by a poltergeist who's referred to as Julia. Eventually going mad and killing his uncle and running off

Leo is of Canadian and Russian decent

First meeting:

Alex was walking around looking for a good place to stay the night until Leo jumped him and tried to attack, however, Alex's weapon is a gun, as he drew his gun he accidentally shot Leo in the leg; Alex panicked and started apologizing profusely while healing Leo.

Later on:

♤ Eventually, they're sticking together, but not for many reasons:

Alex stuck with Leo due to wanting company. He didn't care if they spoke or not. He just didn't want to be alone, also free sacrifices.

Leo stuck around Alex due to him having food and water and being of some use to him with his magic.

♡ They insult each other religiously. It can be about literally anything, their hair, their styles, their interests, etc. As well as having nicknames for each other— simply to add to insults.

Leo: "Hey, cotton candy, you better watch out for the—"

Alex tripping over an exposed tree root: "for fucks sakes.."

Leo staring at Alex while trying not to laugh: "You know what, never mind, looks like you can handle yourself, cotton candy"

Alex: "Shut up, will you? undead looking ass."

◇ They, for some reason, would have opened up, probably as a means to 'trust' each other enough while they stick together. They leech off each other one way or another and use the information shared as a way to add salt to the wound.

♧ Leo bullies Alex for being gay (not being homophobic), but every time something happens with a girl— when Alex gets more food & drinks— Leo makes fun of him for it because of Alex's reactions. Sometimes Leo jokes about being lonely and saying he wants to be with a woman while Alex just scoffs.

Alex returning from a gas station: "Dude, some girl tried flirting with me just now— I think— either way, what about me screams straight?"

Leo: "Imagine being queer though. I want to be with a woman."

Alex scoffs and crosses his arms: "as if anyone would wanna be with you, let alone a woman."

Anyways, that's it. Blame Toby and I playing roblox around 1am and dressing as our oc's 💀💀

[isadora-greenhall]

Hii! 😺🍫 for Glenn or Henry :D hope you have a nice rest, Isadora

hello countless! thanks for the ask 🥰

headcanon asks

Glenn

😺 An animal related headcanon

Nick Jr is not the first rat in Glenn Close's life! When he was a teenager, and spending months on end without seeing his dad, he found a small next of rats in the back of his closet and decided to look after them until the babies were grown. He emptied an old shoebox and put some warm winter scarfs in it to keep them cozy, came up with names for them all, and imagined them as a family on the run from the government who was trying to persecute them and he was the kind soul who sheltered them on their journey. He had a whole elaborate backstory for them. He'd strum his guitar for them when they were sleepy and accidentally conditioned them to fall asleep on him when he starts playing 😭❤️ when they got too big (and when he found out bill was on his way home) he took them to the local golf course to release them on the next leg of their journey. He saluted them as they left. He cried. A lot.

🍫 A headcanon about food

99% of meals glenn has ever eaten have been fast food. He's an horrendous cook. However, the one thing he can cook at home is rice, in the ancient rice cooker he inherited from Christine. She always told him to have rice in the house, and it's the one lesson of hers he actually internalised. When days when he can't be arsed reaching for his phone to order uber eats he'll just eat a plain bowl of rice and think of his mum ❤️😌

Henry

😺 An animal related headcanon

i can't get over the moment after the for knights tournament when the prize giving dog refuses to get pats and henry scoffs and says "that's dogs for ya" with sooo much disdain ahaha. so! i think henry isn't really a dog person (he's a WOLF person ;P). they only got laserwolf fartblaster because the boys wanted a dog, so he had to put up with it. i think that this stems from his youth in the forgotten realms, as all things do for henry. Horsy Sy'Oak had a minion called Pup Py'Oak who was one of those yes men kinda people; they were too chicken to pick on beay ry'oak's kid on their own, but they were more than happy to stand behind horse sy' and go "yeeeaaahhh" and "ooooohhh" every time horse sy' insulted henry.

🍫 A headcanon about food

i have a couple, but i'm gonna put the second under a readmore because it involves eating disorders; i won't go into detail but i know that can be triggering for some people so heads up ❤️

first, i did research a couple of months ago about ecuadorian vegan food and apparently there's not a whole lot. so when the oak-garcias visit their family in ecuador they rarely go out to eat, they make a lot of homecooked food so they know what's in it. mercedes brings a new vegan recipe to ecuador every time she visits, and her favourite cousin has a cookbook full of them so she can practice them between visits to feed mercedes and her family 🥰❤️

henry often had food restricted for him in oakvale as a punishment from barry, so he has a pretty unhealthy relationship with food that he has worked extremely hard on with love and support from mercedes ❤️ his beautiful boys have full access to food 24/7, and once at a party someone made a comment to lark when he reached for another cookie about how many he's already had and henry went absolutely apeshit on them.

[https-lawrenceslittleone]

MORE PJO OC STUFF!!! CUZ I WANNA!!!

VALENCIA HADAWAY-

⚒️ Daughter of Hephaestus, camp counselor of Cabin 9.

⚒️ Cisgender girl, lesbian, she/they pronouns.

⚒️ Very playful and fun energy. Gets along very well with pretty much everyone, but if she doesn’t like you, she’s not afraid to let it be known. She will be mean to you if she wants to. But she only does that to people who really deserve it. Mainly people who upset or hurt her friends.

⚒️ Half Ecuadorian and half European-American. She can speak Spanish quite well. Sometimes she’ll try to have conversations in Spanish with Leo and. It won’t work. Because of the drastically different dialects. But she’s picked up some of his lingo and he’s picked up some of hers.

⚒️ Dating Petra. Everyone is quite shocked at the pair, considering Petra is a daughter of Ares and Valencia is a daughter of Hephaestus, but the two work really well together.

⚒️ Valencia doesn’t usually wear skirts or dresses or really anything impractical, because she needs to be able to move around and get her clothes dirty. She is an engineer, after all. But sometimes, like on date nights with Petra, she likes to go all out.

⚒️ Wants to work for NASA after she gets her degree in New Rome. Is currently working on and has been working on ways to put the first person on mars.

⚒️ Very scientific! Loves space. Like I said, she wants to be the one to put the first person on mars. She’s a dedicated astro engineer and is very passionate about it.

⚒️ When it comes to age regression, she’s a flip with a slight caregiver lean. She can surprisingly be very mature when she needs to be, and often turns important lessons into fun games or actives or something like that. She’s also good at comforting. But, when she’s little, she regresses to around four or five and is incredibly mischievous. Petra is her caregiver. She helps babysit pretty much anyone and everyone too.

ESMARIE SIDNEY-

🕊️ Daughter of Aphrodite, camp counselor of Cabin 10.

🕊️ Trans girl, pansexual, she/they pronouns.

🕊️ Also has very playful and fun energy! She’s very easily excited. She loves her friends a lot and is extremely loyal. She likes to play dress up and do make up with her siblings and she’s really good at entertaining the younger campers and other age regressors!

🕊️ French and English! Born and raised in France. Her grandpa was English and her grandma was French. She speaks French better than English but she does speak both languages fluently still.

🕊️ Loves playing matchmaker with her friends. She’ll happily set her friends up on blind dates or try to get two of her friends together when she knows they both have crushes on each other or something. She constantly tries to get Leo and Floraline together because she can tell they both like each other, but Floraline is INCREDIBLY shy and Leo has no clue what he’s doing, so. She struggles.

🕊️ She herself had a crush on Apollo, specifically when he was in his Lester era, as much as she hates to admit it. His pathetic loser energy attracted her and she threw a little temper tantrum upon realizing her feelings. He wasn’t even at Camp that long! How did she catch feelings that quick?! She doesn’t understand. But she does tell Piper about it. Piper giggles. Esmarie does not.

🕊️ Esmarie becomes close with Apollo really fast, and eventually follows him on his little quests along with Meg. She wants to help him! She can tell that he can be better, that he is better than how he’s acted in the past, and that he just needs a little help and some support. Finally kisses him when he returns to Camp Half-Blood, fully a god again, but in his Lester form, just to say goodbye.

🕊️ After dinner, when you’re supposed to throw some of your food into the campfire as an offering, she instead puts poems she wrote for Apollo into the fire as her offering. They’re mainly about how much she misses him. 😕

🕊️ Like most other children of Aphrodite, Esmarie loves to dress herself up and go all out. She loves the Mcbling/trashy y2k style and it takes her like an hour and a half just to get dressed and do her makeup everyday.

🕊️ Interested in modeling! Like! Heavily! Has been modeling for a couple years now and plans to do fashion shows when she’s a little older. She loves loves loves fashion and she’s extremely good at anything related to it.

🕊️ Watches Hello Kitty with Piper sometimes. Has a very close relationship with Piper. Piper is her favorite sister and they have a really close bond. Esmarie shares everything with her.

🕊️ Little! Regresses quite often, usually to around four or five. Is quite bossy and puts on little fashion shows for her friends. Her main caregiver is Piper, but some others help babysit too. Apollo takes care of her when he’s able to. :)

[saveme-storybrooke-potc]

This is just one big rant of mine because I am just tired at this point.

Can the newer (just now rising to fame) Hispanic/Latino actors PLEASE stop trying to gaslight young Latinos by telling them that there are little to no Latino content out there?

I am so sick of this "Diversity" ideology that is out there, people are acting like just because there are shows out there with a White cast that it's bad when it isn't.

Things don't have to have a bit of EVERYTHING just to be good.

and I'm not saying that we shouldn't see things like poc or lgbtq (but I'm mainly talking about poc) but I want to see things more naturally and NOT meant to be there as a way to say "I LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU AND YOU MATTER"

because guess what? We were fine with the media we had beforehand where we just had a show that had a multi-cultured cast and it wasn't treated as a big deal it was just enjoyed. And there can still be lessons on why some people may not be treated equally but I want the media to treat us like we are actual human beings and NOT some marketing tool or used because now you won't be eligible for the Oscars unless you have a good majority of minorities in the cast.

But back on Hispanics, there is this new show called "Oye Primos" (Which is the best example on why we don't need any more "diversity" in the media) and when people pointed out that there was a problem with the spelling the creator behind it went on to say "Spanish isn't even the Mexican language it is the language that we use now that we've been colonized" (I will fix the quote but it was from a video so I don't remember it word for word) But SHE is choosing to make the show about Mexico after Spain happened. Also, Spain colonized Latin America hundreds of years ago so I don't get why she's the one complaining, if she really wanted to do something then she should have made a show or movie to "educate" people on the history.

But she also says (Which is just straight up BS):

“As a kid, I didn’t see myself or my culture represented onscreen,” Kline recalled. “So I’m excited to share my family dynamic through these new Disney characters and stories.”

Which chica Disney is NOT the place you want to work for to create your Hispanic heritage into content.

Some people are complaining about the "stereotype" of "big Latino family small house" (which I can't really comment on because that's literally my uncle and his kids) I don't really like the word "Stereotype" when it refers to something you see every day (like if you were to say "How dare they use the stereotype that Asians are hard at studying" which is only an example of how people complain when it comes to it but that isn't really a harmful stereotype on how people look at Asians it's just a difference in culture and behaviour compared to white folk because even Hispanics or at least people in Ecuador are hard at studying) But I WILL comment on the kid's names because good Lord are they atrocious. Listen I know that kids' shows choose to give the kids weird ass names to describe their personalities (violently side-eying Ever After High, and Descendants here) but those names are like what Mexicans cook on Cinco de Mayo celebration I don't know about any of you but we've never given each other nicknames after food (my cousin's was literally "The Tank" and she was a fucking child) What are you going to do next? introduce a kid named Empanada?

Do you want to know an amazing Latino show?

George Lopez THAT is a show that is about Latinos (and other minorities), all laughs reminds you all the time that he is Mexican married to a Cuban but it's still not rubbing it in your face. This is an old show that should never die because it is perfect because it pokes fun at everyone and everything while also teaching great value to different everyday struggles.

Please can I stop being told that I am not represented as a Latino in the media, hell I'm from Ecuador and I don't complain about there being hardly any Ecuadorian content other than (as far as I am aware of) Miguel Diaz from Cobra Kai which of course I enjoyed to see but that was only a small detail about the character that wasn't made his whole character and that's why I watch the show. And yes I always joke about wanting Disney to make a movie about Ecuador (before I even consider watching Encanto yet) but like it's not that deep to me.

We literally have our own channels so half the time we really dgaf about what Hollywood is whining about go touch grass if your main concern is there "aren't enough poc" in the media over any other important issue in the world.