#european identity test

[distantdarlings]

BY THE FIREPLACE // t. nott

RATING: PG-13 / 2.9K WORDS

Theodore Nott x Fem Reader

+ SUMMARY - *Requested - based on this* You have been an Animagus for around a year now. You have quite a knack for learning everything you need to know about it quickly and Professor McGonagall really likes you. However, a fellow classmate, Theodore Nott, does not like you. And you couldn't care less. Both of you are in for a surprise when you accidentally meet in the library. (Fluff?, sort of Comedy)

+ WARNINGS - Language, nothing else really

+ MUSIC (listened to while writing) -

Fantasy - Mariah Carey (don't judge me)

---

“And, ladies and gentlemen, please remember: ten inches of parchment on the side effects of incorrectly transfiguring a toad back into a human!”

Professor McGonagall’s voice pierced the slight murmuring that had started amongst the crowd of students. You suppressed a groan at the assignment, knowing well enough that you’d be putting it off as long as possible. It wasn’t that you weren’t grateful to be here, it was just rambling on about the properties of toad warts left over on humans after unfortunate experiments didn’t really get you going, at least, not like they did Professor McGonagall. 

You had found a kind of special liking for her after you had put yourself through the very exciting—albeit brutally difficult—process of becoming an Animagus. It had been your absolute dream since accidentally discovering that your mother was also one. You had been wandering around the garden during the summer between first and second year and had come across an absolutely beautiful doe. You had stopped in your tracks, taken aback by the creature’s beauty. Just as you were going to hold your hand out to the creature and offer it some of the grass blades clutched in your fingers, the creature before you changed entirely. Its long, graceful body curled into a small flash of light and then, without so much as a breath, your mother was back. Standing in the place of the deer. You could hardly believe your eyes.

Your mother was an Animagus and you thought you should be as well. She had warned you of the difficulties and hardships of the process and how annoying it was to have to get registered with the Ministry of Magic but you didn’t care. The wonder that had been in your eyes when you’d seen your mother transform surpassed all the cons of becoming one. You were going to be just like her. And now you were. Well…sort of. You were an Animagus but, much to your disappointment, you did not transform into a beautiful doe. You were a cat. Not a sleek black cat or a graceful Sphinx. No. You were a large, overgrown, long-haired European Maine Coon. At least, that’s what you were pretty sure you were. You hadn’t exactly performed a DNA test on your Animagi identity. You wondered if that would even work. 

The crowd of students urged you towards the door and out into the grand hallway just outside the Transfiguration classroom. The light poured through the gorgeously carved stained glass windows along the stone walls and illuminated everything in its wake. You absolutely adored the castle and its beauty and reckoned you didn’t stop and admire it as often as you should. 

A body bumped into you roughly, nearly making you lose the books clutched in your arms. You gasped at the sudden shock that went through your body when you realized you’d nearly missed a step down the staircase, your heart dropping through your ribcage.

“Hey,” you shouted. “Want to watch where you’re bloody going?”

The culprit turned with an annoyingly charming smile printed on his lips. His darkened eyes found yours amusedly and sent you a single wink. Your blood boiled.

“Sorry, darling, I’m in quite a rush,” he smirked.

“Doesn’t mean you can break through crowds like a giant,” you retorted, rolling your eyes. “Maybe you should take a second to think about the other people in this school and not just yourself for once, Nott.”

“Bite me, love.” 

Asshole. You watched the back of his head disappear amongst the rest of the students as they waded around you as if you were an island in the midst of an ocean. You could not stand that boy. He and his stupid friends had been nothing if not the most obnoxious people you’d ever met. Even from your first day, he was rude, loud, and annoying. No matter how handsome he was, he couldn’t just steamroll over people. And yet, because he wasn’t ugly in the slightest, everyone just let him do whatever he wanted. Him and all his friends. It made you so angry. 

Your eyes found your watch. You probably—erm, definitely, needed to get started on the paper for McGonagall’s class. That’s what pointed your feet toward the direction of the library. The thoughts of the warm hearth and those plush green chairs that hovered around it were calming the worries for this assignment. The library was—in your opinion—one of the most comfortable areas in the entire castle. It oozed comfort and warmth, much like your dorm room. It just felt soothing. You had noticed the amount of time you were spending in there was increasing as the days got colder. The fireplace in the dorms and common room were just as warm, of course, but those areas tended to be more populated during the day. And if you were going to get this paper done, you likely shouldn’t be surrounded by friends. You could be quite talkative when it came down to it—especially when it came down to procrastinating an assignment. 

One of the large wooden doors to the library came into view slowly as you sauntered down the stairs just before the entrance. You could practically feel the warmth radiating from the vast room. Sweetened chills broke out over your arms and a small shudder passed down your spine. You clutched your books a bit tighter to your chest as you pushed past the threshold and felt the warmth on your skin. 

You smiled gently as you made your way toward your usual fireplace. The smile on your face seemed to grow exponentially as you realized nobody was even in the general vicinity of your favorite spot and…thank Merlin…the tea cart had been brought around. The silvered, intricately designed cart that the librarian left out for wandering and cramming students sat right beside the fireplace. On it sat a few tea cups, a large, enchanted teapot that filled itself back up as soon as it was emptied, two sugar bowls, a large cream pitcher, and a few crumpets and cream horns. You might have died and gone right to the afterlife. 

You set your bags and books in your favorite armchair—the one on the left—and made your way over to the wonderful cart. You shivered in delight as you prepared yourself some tea, just the way you liked it, and grabbed a cream horn—or two. Wandlessly, you conjured the wool blanket that sat upon the foot of your bed and snuggled in amongst the cushions. This was absolutely delightful. Between the tea, the snacks, the warmth, and the dim lighting, your homework was the last thing on your tranquil mind. Your books and bag remained untouched. 

Once finished with your snack and beverage, you found yourself closely watching the curls of flames dance in the fireplace. Soon enough, absolutely without your consent, you were gently lulled to a deep sleep. Your eyes fluttered shut and your breathing stilled, your hands were curled against your chest and your knees were brought up against you. 

-

Theo rounded the corner of the main stairway just before the library. He had an enormous amount of work to do and figured he wouldn’t get anything done if he stayed with his mates. He watched his feet as they jogged down the stone steps, his bag jostling on his shoulder every few moments. 

Once past the doorway, his eyes found that set of green armchairs in the corner just in front of the fireplace. There appeared to be no one in them and he smiled a bit. Hopefully he’d be able to complete all of his work without any interruptions. 

He set his bag down beside the armchair on the right. He reckoned he should start on the paper for McGonagall’s class since it was likely going to be the most difficult way. He should probably just get it out of the way, then everything else would be a breeze. 

As he began to rummage through his bag for the appropriate materials to get started, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A white wool blanket lay spread across the other armchair and an empty tea cup, plate, and school bag were discarded beside it. He figured someone had been working there only moments ago and had slipped away for a quick bathroom break or something of the like. A groan began to build up in his throat as he realized he likely wasn’t going to be alone after all. Whatever…as long as they were quiet. 

Finally, his fingers brushed his quill set and the Transfiguration book. He pulled everything out and settled himself in the chair, preparing to get to work. A thought popped into his head as he spread everything out comfortably. He wondered who had been sitting there. If it was someone he didn’t know, he’d likely have no issue ignoring them. He kind of hoped it was none of his friends, though he could have sworn he’d seen that bag before. Maybe it was Enzo’s?

An hour or so of straight working went by before Theo came to a pause and set his things aside. He stood from the chair and pulled his body into a sweeping stretch that popped a few joints along the way. He groaned at the pleasurable release, grateful that he wasn’t so stiff anymore. His hands shoved in his trouser pockets and he began shuffling in place to try and work some feelings back into his legs. 

The person who had been there previously, he realized, had never come back. Being as curious as he was, he glanced around the library, spotting only a few fully concentrated students with their heads down. Whose stuff was this? He nonchalantly wandered over to the items and squatted down next to the bag. He picked it up gently and rolled the fabric around in his hands. He wasn’t trying to be too nosy, just wanted to see if there were any embroidered initials or names. Quickly, he flipped the top flap open only to discover a messily scrawled name imprinted over the white tag near the top of the bag. It was, much to his dismay, your name. That obnoxiously uptight girl in his Transfiguration class. Every day, in and out, rubbing everyone’s nose in the fact that you were bloody awesome at McGonagall’s class and everyone else was just shit. He wondered if you were cheating or doing some favors for other students. No way you were that good at that boring class. 

A slight movement out of the corner of his eye shocked him away from the bag. His hands frantically dropped the material and he backed away quickly, not wanting to be caught snooping. Yet, he saw nothing. He glanced around wildly trying to find the culprit of the movement but not seeing anything. He could’ve sworn he—

Another movement. From the center of the white blanket. A cat. A rather large one, at that. Yawning slightly and stretching its little limbs out. His heart nearly melted. 

“Aw,” he smiled, “hello there, love. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

He slowly slid his hand over the edge of the chair’s cushion and rubbed the back of his first two fingers over your head. Unbeknownst to him and your sleepy state, both were blissfully unaware of who was touching whom. You yawned once more and curled into his touch. He laughed softly at the movement and began petting your head with a full hand. A deep rumbling purr radiated from your chest at his movements. 

You weren’t sure what about this dream was so real, but bloody hell was it comforting. An unknown character in your dream was ever so gently sliding a hand over your head and occasionally scratching under your chin. Maybe it felt odd for them to do that, but it was so relaxing you didn’t care.

He stood back up and gently scooped your curled figure up, keeping the blanket wrapped softly around you. He took a seat in your armchair and placed you on his lap. His fingernails ever so slightly scratched over your head and smoothed the hair along your back. Your thick, bushy tail curled lovingly against his chest ever so often. 

Something that you didn’t know and something that Theo didn’t know, either, was that you had the subconscious tendency to transform into your Animagi identity when sleeping. Whether as part of a dream or mumbling in your sleep, every once and a while, you would slip down to your smaller self and remain curled up as such. It had been going on for a couple of months now and you had yet to notice it. Your roommates most definitely had but they had said nothing as they assumed it was a purposeful action. They figured it would be nice to sleep as a cat as well. 

The purring emanating from your soft chest rolled against his leg as he continued to brush his fingers through your fur. Your head occasionally curled further into his stomach at these gentle actions. This might have been the most relaxing dream you’d ever had. 

“Hey, man, been looking everywhere for—”

“Shush!” Theo berated the loud voice. Mattheo came around the back of the armchair with a look of confusion plastered on his face. He glanced down to see the feline stretched across his lap, an eyebrow raised.

“The baby is sleeping,” Theo whispered, smiling gently. His hands never stopped brushing you. 

“Did you find him—?”

“Oh my god, shhhhh!” Theo repeated. Pansy and Enzo followed the same path that Mattheo had. And just like him, their eyebrows cocked awkwardly. All three of them glanced at the other.

“I told all of you I was going to the library to get some homework done,” Theo whispered.

“Yeah, it sure looks like you’re getting a ton done,” Pansy rolled her eyes.

“I was...,” Theo insisted, “before this baby wandered up. Isn’t she just the cutest?”

“Yeah, adorable,” Mattheo mocked, a smile building its way onto his face. “I’d love to have McGonagall Jr. sat on my lap, if you know what I mean.”

Enzo and Pansy’s faces blended from blank to confusion to realization to stifled laughter. Theo was extremely confused and becoming a little irritated. 

“Ew, what is that supposed to mean? I don’t think all cats are related to Professor McGonagall—wait, she’s not even really a cat, she can turn into one. I don’t think she’s really related to any cats,” Theo argued.

“Yeah, man—not what I meant,” Mattheo laughed. His two companions began to laugh with him. “Whose bag and stuff is that?”

Theo glanced down at the bag and snack plate that had been left behind as he refrained from rolling his eyes. He probably shouldn’t admit he knew who the stuff belonged to as he totally figured it out by snooping, but they didn’t necessarily have to know that.

“That’s that really irritating girl that’s in McGonagall’s with us, you know? The one I ran into this morning and was like ‘Why don’t you watch where you’re going, blah, blah,’ do you remember?” Theo spoke.

“Yeah, I remember,” Enzo giggled. “It’s almost like she's still in the room with us.”

“I know, that’s her stuff,” he nodded in the direction of the things left behind. “I was wondering when she was going to come back and get it but it’s been like an hour and she hasn’t come back.” Theo shrugged and returned his focus back to you who still remained curled comfortably in his lap. His thumb brushed over your closed eyes and ears. 

“Did she ever leave?” Pansy laughed. “Maybe she's still here.”

“Maybe so, I didn’t go looking for her, though,” Theo responded, brushing a finger down the slope of your nose.

“Yeah, she was acting kind of catty earlier,” Enzo spoke. The three students burst out laughing, clutching their stomachs and flicking tears from their eyes. Anger rose up the side of Theo’s neck.

“What is your deal? Is something funny? Anybody want to fill me in on the joke?” he asked. They remained laughing as hard as they could, almost as if they wanted to annoy Theo further.

“Whatever, me and my new friend are going to study elsewhere. At least she doesn't laugh at me,” he harrumphed and grabbed his things, keeping you cradled tightly in your blanket in his right arm. The three students didn’t stop laughing the whole way as Theo stomped off, taking you with him, and touching his nose to yours with a smile. 

“Oh, Merlin,” Pansy chuckled, a tear falling from her eyes. “So we all knew that she's an Animagus, right?”

“Yeah, she told me last year when her acceptance letter from the Ministry came in. She was pretty excited about it.” Enzo struggled not to start laughing again. “She's really nice and really smart, I think Theo can be a bit much sometimes.”

“Yeah, I agree with that….” Pansy responded. There was a few moments of silence before Mattheo tilted his head towards the other two.

“So, we’re sticking around for when she wakes up and realizes she's sitting on Theo’s lap wrapped up in a blanket like a child, right?” he laughed. The other two chorused a variety of ‘yes’ and ‘absolutely,’ as they made themselves comfortable at a table near the one Theo had assigned as his. This was quite possibly going to be the best thing that ever happened.

Part Two!

[headspace-hotel]

I hope I can express this properly and sensitively, but I think oftentimes people need to have Categories and Identities and to be healthily exploratory and playful and elastic about them, else they can get vulnerable to some negative things, sometimes really awful things

I wish I could remember where I read it, but there was something that wrote about whiteness in America as an abyss.

Whiteness is something that sheltered white Americans' ancestors, and at the same time devoured them. They used to have a distinct medley of heritages: Irish, German, Scottish, Italian. "Whiteness" ate it up, the languages, the cultures. There were privileges if you destroyed it, and punishments if you held onto anything that was "Other." In a white supremacist society, white people wanted to be "white" first before any other possible identity or connection they could have.

Yay! You're white. You're on top. You win...what? Turns out the prize for "winning" is just that you get to perpetrate the violence of the game instead of being on the receiving end of it.

And that's the nasty twist—there is no prize. The deeply embedded vice of "Southern pride" is not just what the Confederate flag stands for, but also why they've got to cling so hard to that symbol of traitors and losers: they need to be on top of something so bad that even a pile of shit will do. My ancestors were ultimately dirt poor, loads of them ending up in prison or breaking their bodies down doing hard labor, but they were white. Their reward, and their pride, was being stepped on by the violence of poverty only, instead of also by the violence of white supremacy.

"White pride" is all about hate because white supremacy didn't give these folks anything to be proud of. It stripped away the culture and heritage their ancestors had in favor of "whiteness." All those jokes about how white people have no culture, well, it's true isn't it? This shit is how we ended up a primarily monolingual nation. And what looks like happened is that white Americans wound up just...scavenging most of their culture from those they oppressed. Food, music, all of that stuff. Our white ancestors didn't GIVE us anything that was their own to start with.

And this is something that really strikes me about the white supremacist and fascist movements nowadays: the starvation and hollowness behind them. These folks are empty inside. They were given nothing by white supremacy except a very vague sense that they deserve something, and they see people of all different cultures celebrating and flourishing in their unique heritages and identities, and they feel like...they've been cheated.

Equality is so threatening when you're in this situation because it feels like you've got less than everyone else at the end of the day. Not just because of comparison to previous privileges, but because your whole identity was "person that gets to step on everybody else" and your whole inheritance was "shit stolen from everybody else" and in a world where all is set right, you have no identity and nothing. You are nothing.

Anyway I was looking just now at a blog that seemed really white-supremacist-leaning and it was 99% about like, Norse and Proto-Indo-European paganism and "traditionalism" and that's what got me thinking about this again.

This person had apparently done DNA tests on themselves or something, and were really fixated on figuring out their Norse and Germanic ancestors and separating out their genetic and racial identity at a level of precision that seems really pointless that far back in time. And honestly all the paganism stuff seemed like totally arbitrary speculation as well.

And how to become satisfied as a person like this? I am just as much Germanic or Norse as they are, but I don't believe that distant ancestors determine who you are to such an extent that I have some sort of innate cultural tie to Vikings or Visigoths or what have you. I know what percentage Celtic or Anglo Saxon or Norse I am—zero. I learned about those things in books the exact same way I learned about all the cultures and past kingdoms of the world that I presumably don't have ancestors from.

I feel like the experience of being a baby ally and obsessing about apologizing for being white is the same kind of thing in another direction, or another outcome of the same process. Some people seem to get really twisted up for a time over how to stop being guilty about being white.

It's part of the same thing as this guy who is trying to genetically identify his ancestors from like 3,000 years ago. It's the emptiness and meaninglessness of "white" identity apart from white supremacy.

I talk about deradicalization sometimes and I've had the notion a few times that fascism appeals to people who are hollow and starving in terms of identity, and if it wasn't for the sense of emptiness and hunger, they would be less easily radicalized. But it's also a little bit awkward to talk about the deeply unsatisfying nature of white supremacy, because...well, that is pretty low on the list of things bad about white supremacy.

I think this concept is worth talking about in general, though: People want to feel like they come from or are part of something meaningful. They are drawn toward Identities and Categories and Belonging to groups. This is something I think is commonly true about humans, I think it is normal and not a bad thing, and I think we could stand to be a little more upfront about its reality.

I think this means that wanting, and seeking, a sense of cultural identity as a white person (particularly an American) needs to have some kind of non-horrible outlet for it. Because right now, it's nothing but a way to get radicalized, and the dominant other option people take (becoming the Guilty White Person) is liked by no one and helps nothing.

And maybe it doesn't need to have anything to do with race or culture or your ancestors or any of these things that can lead a person down such terrible paths. Maybe more of us should be furries!

As just another thing to consider, I'm reading the book Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and the author of the book uses the word "cracker" not like, with the gravity of reclaiming a "slur" or something like that, but seemingly because that is just the word she most strongly identifies with, the word that best articulates who "her people" are. This feels very solid and levelheaded to me, something that comes from someone with a good sense of themselves.

Personally I've thought a long time that more people should reclaim "redneck." Not in the sense of reclaiming a slur exactly, but in the sense of putting it in neutral usage among the folks it always referred to, instead of letting it increasingly be associated with any Southerner (regardless of working class background) that is the sort to wave a Confederate flag around. The very idea of gatekeeping "redneck" away from racists is just absolutely hilarious to me, I won't lie.

[magnetothemagnificent]

been thinking about this question and hopefully this won't be too awkward to ask. since judaism is itself an ethnicity and religion at the same time, imagine you have ancestors from like idk portugal who converted to judaism centuries and centuries ago and so their descendants are all jewish but don't know about the conversion part. can they call themselves ethnically jewish?

A person becomes part of the Jewish ethnicity when they convert to Judaism. Ethnicity is more than DNA, it's about your peoplehood. As a student of anthropology I honestly don't like how the rise of at-home DNA test kits have put into people's minds their identity is a complicated equation of DNA percentages. People are not math problems. If you were born Jewish you are 100% Jewish. If you converted to Judaism you are 100% Jewish. DNA tests only measure the genes you're more likely to share with certain populations, and even then they're not completely accurate. Ethnicity isn't about blood quantum, at least it shouldn't be.

Here's an example, using myself:

I've never taken a DNA test, and don't intend to, but if I had to guess it would probably give me a result of something like: 58% Ashkenazi Jewish; 25% Northern European; 15% Sephardi Jewish; 2% Northern African.

What does that tell me about my ethnicity? Nothing. It tells me percentages of DNA I have that are most likely shared with certain populations of people from certain geographic regions (haplogroups), but my ethnicity is 100% Jewish and I don't need a DNA test to tell me that, because I know I was born Jewish.

DNA tells you your haplotypes. Peoplehood tells you your ethnicity. And peoplehood is defined by the people themselves.

So yes, the descendents of converts are ethnically Jewish. All Jews are ethnically Jewish.

[apricitystudies]

what i read in aug. 2023:

(previous editions) bold = favourite

race, gender, sexuality

the blind side was always trash

he’s the trans son of an anti-trans influencer. it's his turn to speak

'the eurocentric fallacy': the myths that underpin european identity

is there a sinister side to the rise of female robots?

i call myself a spinster, but that doesn’t mean l’ll be single forever

politics & current affairs

the land beyond the drug war (usa)

how torture, deception and inaction underpin the uae’s thriving sex trafficking industry

wa mp james hayward found guilty of child sex abuse, disqualified from parliament (australia)

a north korean defector captivated us media. some question her story (usa)

history, culture, & personal essays

loneliness: coping with the gap where friends used to be

inside barbados' historic push for slavery reparations

ahead of time: on poetry and mourning

dreaming of water with tiger salamanders

i stole my neighbour's tragedy to write a short story

nuclear tech: war, power, & oppenheimer

the cautionary tale of j. robert oppenheimer

315 nuclear bombs and ongoing suffering: the shameful history of nuclear testing in australia and the pacific

revisiting hiroshima in iran (journal of international security, open access)

japan releases treated wastewater from fukushima nuclear plant into pacific ocean

spectre of maralinga hangs over aukus nuclear waste for indigenous communities (aus/us)

the dark history oppenheimer didn't show

don't let the victors define morality – hiroshima was always indefensible

if you're interested in more peer-reviewed resources on the american bombings of hiroshima/nagasaki please let me know!

[callimara]

So I want to start off this by saying that I also fully, 100% support the freedom of Palestine, and I don’t want this to one off like I do. I know that saying “don’t be antisemitic while talking about Palestine” is a big Zionist dog whistle, but… that doesn’t mean we can just be antisemitism in our defense of Palestine, y’know?

Israel does not have control over mainstream media. They have some control over what information comes out of Palestine, yes, but they don’t control the mainstream narrative, and saying that they do is was to close to the old “Jews control the media” conspiracy theory for my comfort.

The reason that mainstream narratives support Israel is because America (which is deeply antisemitic and islamophobic on its own) profits off the continued existence of Israel, and any country allied with America is going to be motivated to agree with america on international issues like this. Israel has very little influence on it. Israel hold very little power outside of what western governments give it.

Anyways, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, but we don’t have to be antisemitism to get there.

This is so important because it's absolutely right. What Israel is doing doesn't make it ok to be antisemetic or incite hate on Jews because Israel does not reflect on all Jews.

A lot of Jews, including many Holocaust survivors, have been protesting for Palestine's freedom because this isn't a war of religion. What Israel is doing violates MANY Jewish laws and many of the politicians don't give two shits about Judaism unless it's to claim indigeneity so that they can justify their apartheid regime and colonialism. Because the fact is, Zionism is completely secular.

Part of Israel's marketing scheme to sell the idea of The Jewish Homeland to Jews and get them to immigrate and settle in Palestine is conflating religion with race and erasing the unique identities of Jewish people from different cultural backgrounds. What they love to do is claim that every Jewish person in Israel are Mizrahi (and thus have always belonged there), when many of them are actually Ashkenazi. But they don't want to acknowledge that, because it makes them seem less indigenous. (And perhaps that's why ancestry tests are so heavily regulated in Israel. Like, you are NOT allowed to take one just for fun.) Let's also not forget that if you are not Ashkenazi (like Yemeni or any other non-European Jew, for instance) you are more likely to be marginalized.

So in a way, they are erasing their own cultural identities in order to justify their colonialism, which is fucked in itself.

And regarding Israel's dominance in mainstream media, yes, this person is also correct. Western media is heavily biased towards Israel because their countries directly profit from Israel's existence as a western foothold in the middle east. I especially love the statement, "Israel hold very little power outside of what western governments give it." because it's true, and it makes it even more fucked up because the western governments COULD have said something about what Israel is doing. They COULD have stepped in and stopped all of this from happening.

But they chose not to.

Which means they should ALL be held accountable for what is happening in Palestine, not just Israel.

[jessaerys]

five hyperspecific near headcanons?

(THIS IS SO LONG SORRY. YOU KNOW WHAT I AM!!!!)

gonna take headcanons here to mean “stuff that is entirely not canon” so these are (varying levels of unfounded) personal canonverse facts i’ve come up with as i write him: 

i.

has special interest in space / cosmology / astrophysics / astrobiology / space exploration etc etc etc. (extremely self indulgent of me but i love to have fun) it used to be very all-consuming when he was little and not afraid to want things. 

it was eventually demoted to the backseat as his focus shifted towards his studies so by the time we meet him in canon it has been fully repressed into something he considers childish (though i’d like to think he found an excuse [perhaps through a case] to keep correspondence going with the brightest minds at the SETI institute and they have ocassional videocalls where he pokes holes in their theories on the origins of life he insists it is simply mantaining connections that may one day prove relevant. it is a productive use of my time agent gevanni do not question my methodology) 

when i think of near i think of saint-exupéry’s the little prince and his watercolor illustrations of a little boy on a little round planet -- actually, a lil exerpt:

near is very little-prince coded in his curiosity and love for humanity and golden heartedness and deep mysterious melancholy – he is sad and he doesn’t know he is sad!! to be a cosmonaut is to be an observer, unmoored from the world, not quite of this earth. which actually leads me to,

ii.

he is from nowhere/belongs to no-one/ has no past and no land to return to.

he was in a couple different orphanages since he was a newborn and any paperwork he could’ve had got lost in the shuffle: it was roger who named him nate river just to have something on the records; his oldest memories are from wammy’s, the first person he ever loved was L, there’s never been anything else for him.

i know “has no racial identity” seems like a cop-out but i actually find it interesting to set him up so that he is unlinked from such a basic experience of community in modern society. because of his albinism there isn’t even a melanin scale to point him in the right direction; his looks are very racially ambiguous (ie. 3a/3b curls, very slight/partial double eyelids, etc), his parents untraceable. if he ever took a dna test it would confirm a thoroughly mixed background of many different ethnicities due to european immigration – but he has never taken a dna test because it would mean he cares which means he would have to think about what other people have and he doesn’t which would mean mourning a loss. and there is no use having feelings about that which he cannot change; no use looking back. mello looks back, and look where that's landed him--

(tangent: in contrast mello’s troubled background in the wartorn balkans until he was relatively older (5-6) and his reconnection with his birthplace in croatia after he left wammy’s is a crucial and defining pillar of his identity (personal canonverse courtesy of local mello phd haver @firebuggg) so this is yet another contrast between them. but we do not have time to get into that)

(tangent number 2:

L to mello in private: why does it matter? the war is behind you. looking back slows you down

L to near also in private: how can a detective know anything if he doesn’t first know himself?

near and mello ages 5 and 7, in their minds: i am the only one who understands L)

actually near's john silver slay is thee most important characterization touchstone for me tbh whenever people give him a backstory it just weirds me the fuck out

what do you mean he remembers his mother that would mean being An Individual and Not A Child Soldier !!!! he is wammy's perfect little grooming blank slate thank you very much

iii.

as a baby he was SO cute SO round SO feral. beautiful glowing cherubic marmalade-eyed biting screaming wildchild. wary as a cat with a talent for finding hiding spots inside the walls and so very autistic. an enfant terrible!! this is possibly why he moved through so many foster homes before wammys. 

for a couple of years until age, like, 5, the only people he felt comfortable enough around to speak to in coherent words were L and later mello* 

his method of communication with the rest of the teachers / caregivers / other children was opening his mouth and unleashing the most terrible banshee shriek a 3-4-5 year old could unleash upon god's green earth

through the rest of their childhood known annoyingest older brother on earth mihael "mello" kheel was ocassionally able to figure out how to unlock a Near Nuclear Meltdown, though it was a very rare occurrence as soon enough near graduated to going stiff and heavy on the floor wherever they tried to make him do something he did not want to do. and good luck getting him to move without lifting him corpse deadweight style. garden. hallway. classroom floor. middle of the stairs. he is and has always been a willful little thing !!!!!!!!!

i'm protected under the awning of this readmore so this is My City Now here are some exerpts courtesy of @firebuggg and yours truly

(sequential)

(not sequential)

*(unfortunately, this meant he was accidentally straight up accidentally twilightzoning mello for at least two years after being introduced to each other because what mello kept hearing was [functionally mute kid who usurped your number one spot, exclusively when nobody is around to hear it]: No One Will Ever Believe You) 

iv.

this one’s kind of stupid but i think it’d be funny if wammy’s DOES adopt kids out occasionally possibly from the bottom half of the L successor ranking in order to keep the facade of being an orphanage and not an unethical human child experiment (perhaps to wealthy people who want to skip the bureaucracy of going through the proper channels. you know how it is) (it also makes such a good boogeyman: if you don't get in the bath roger will give you out for adoption !!!!!!)

anyway once feral baby near escaped containment when there were prospective parents over browsing the (available) children and a couple was completely charmed with him and they, as is the fashion of wealthy people to do whatever the fuck they want, took him out for a lovely walk/car ride/park visit/ice-cream sundae, all sunny and warm and sitting on the young woman’s lap, getting loved on, hearing, “would you like to come live with us little one?” 

when they bring near back they are informed that unfortunately near is very much NOT up for adoption (someone definitely gets fired over that one) (dfsddfsdjfdfj)

this gets LEGENDARILY joked about by mello and matt and their popular kids entourage until they leave wammys. this definitely did not give near any complexes whatsoever

anyway once when the three of them are adults it comes up when they’re in the middle of joking around and it triggers yet another round of relentless Unadoptable Near teasing until matt and mello drive the joke right into the ground where it wheezes a last breath into an increasingly awkward silence as they Realize,

v.

ok lighting round:

had L survived as near grew into his teens they WOULD have had an EXTREMELY contentious mother-daughter relationship

much like mello he too has a deep well of unaddressed (repressed) rage within him (like sam winchester. sorry for bringing supernatural into this)

people often write that near only eats bland/white(?) foods but i think being vegan suits him also it's funny as hell. not out of any ideological motivation he was just an extremely picky eater and also do you think that frail body could handle meat. if he could get away with it all he would it is raw fruits and vegetables (chopped into small cubes)(note: this is not bland, just insane)(it’s the scampering rabbit in him) 

extremely at risk of developing a smoking habit. that boy can fit so much tension in his little body do you think his developing teenage brain would not immediately latch onto the treacherous instant clarity and peace of nicotine

5. did i mention repression. did i mention the absolute terror that seizes him at the thought of experiencing desire/hunger/longing/want. if you made it this far have a reward:

[doberbutts]

Hey Dobe guy, would those looking for companion pets be better off avoiding lines with European blood? Or are the European dogs significantly healthier and less high strung to make them a better choice?

I think most of the "differences" between American and European dogs are a bunch of hooey. The standards are basically identical. A correct dog is a correct dog. In temperament, and in structure.

Truly, it depends what you mean by a "companion pet". If you are just looking for a calm companion that you maybe walk on the weekends and don't pursue much of any sort of training with, I think a doberman in general is not right for you. If you are looking for an active pet that you like to train and work with, I think a doberman could work for you provided you understand the demands of the breed, and I don't think country of origin matters too much in that case.

The majority of the difference that actually matters is whether or not the dog is bred to work in a protection setting. There are plenty of people in all of the various lines that tell a good tale of how great working dogs they have and they are not telling you the truth. There are also people in all of the various lines that are genuinely working nice dogs.

Stylistically, I prefer the European dogs. Technically speaking, the American dogs have the most robust health testing, and the lowest statistic for DCM. You can find annoying and hyper dogs in any line out there. You can also find a decent pet provided, again, that you understand that you have a pet doberman.

[steadfvsthearts]

TUTORIAL: cutting beta editor posts while mobile on android

hello everyone !! i stumbled upon this super easy and straightforward method to cut posts in the beta editor while mobile for android users and wanted to share !! it requires the installation of a mobile extension compatible browser (firefox or kiwi) and then everything else is done natively within the mobile browser version of tumblr itself. it uses the exact same process with xkit rewritten as the desktop browser site — no need to toggle back and forth between things. after the set up, you can use tumblr to roleplay on mobile almost identically as you do on desktop !! this method is currently only feasible on android. the bottom of this tutorial details what my friend and i tested on iphone for those interested in troubleshooting this for ios further. read on for the tutorial on how to set everything up !!

tldr; if you're an android user, you can install a mobile browser that will let you use xkit rewritten. this essentially lets you perform the same workflow as desktop on mobile to cut posts.

keywords: mobile rping, beta editor, cutting posts on mobile written 12.19.2023. edited 12.27.2023.

**WARNING** ANDROID ONLY TUTORIAL

this does NOT work with ios. this tutorial was written by a samsung galaxy user so all screenshots are specific to that phone, but it should all look very similar for other android users.

Step 1. Install a Mobile Extension-Compatible Browser

this method hinges on using a mobile browser that allows for the usage of chrome or firefox extensions on mobile.

firefox on android allows for use of many of their extensions on mobile, including xkit rewritten. there are also other integrations between their web and mobile interface as well. the european browser kiwi browser allows for installation of many google chrome-based extensions on mobile. it does not integrate to google chrome in any other way. if you choose kiwi, make sure the icon is of kiwi the bird not the fruit (shown below). 12.27.2023 edit. on my phone ( samsung galaxy ), i've found that formatting is a little easier in kiwi. italics, bold, and strikethroughs all transfer from my notes app when i paste into kiwi ( but not when i paste into firefox ). also, in kiwi, when i press and hold and select "select all" the floating text dialogue disappears and i'm able to easily select the small text tumblr option. the floating text dialogue in firefox doesn't disappear when you select "select all" which makes using the tumblr formatting options difficult. however, you can still achieve small text in mobile firefox by going into html mode and adding "<small>" to the beginning of each paragraph. pick whichever you like. i've tried both on my phone and in terms of mobile tumblr browser and xkit rewritten they appear to function identically for purposes of cutting posts.

Step 2. Install & set up XKit Rewritten

for firefox...

click the kebob menu (three vertical dots) in the upper righthand corner. click "add-ons". scroll to the bottom of the page that pops up and click "find more add-ons." search for xkit rewritten and click add to firefox. (sidenote: i also recommend picking up ublock and privacy badger while you're here).

once xkit rewritten is installed, go to tumblr.com in firefox and log into your account. we will now set up xkit rewritten. click the kebob menu and click "add-ons" again. there should be an arrow next to "add-ons" this time. clicking it will open the list of extensions added to firefox. find xkit rewritten and select it. this will open the configuration menu for xkit rewritten. scroll until you see the trim reblogs option with the green scissors icon and toggle it on.

for kiwi (google chrome extension compatible)...

navigate to the chrome extension store (https://chromewebstore.google.com). you may have to type this in manually or head to google and search for it. in the extension store, search for xkit rewritten. you will be taken to the usual chrome extension installation page as you are on desktop browser. go ahead and click 'add to chrome'.

go to tumblr.com in the kiwi browser and log into your account. we will now set up xkit rewritten. look for the kebab menu (three vertical dots) in the upper right hand corner of your screen and click it.

you will now see the browser settings. scroll all the way to the bottom. find the xkit rewritten option and click it. if after clicking the menu, you only see options for a new tab, incognito mode, settings, etc, make sure you are actively in a tab, not on the page that allows you to navigate between tabs. clicking xkit rewritten will open a configuration menu similar to the one on desktop browser. scroll through the options and toggle on trim reblogs, the one with green scissors icon (as well as any other desired xkit rewritten settings).

for both browsers...

refresh your tumblr page and navigate to your original posts. at the bottom of your posts you should now see the trim reblogs' scissors icon.

Step 3. write and cut a post

the set up is now complete !! you should now be able to write, draft, and cut a post as you do on desktop browser. a refresher : write your reply, draft/queue/schedule your post, navigate to where you drafted/queued the post, click the scissors icon, make sure the first box is checked, and click "trim!" . if you would like a more in depth tutorial on how to step through the actual cutting process with xkit rewritten's trim reblogs, check out my other beta/xkit rewritten tutorial here. images of how things look on mobile are below. you are also able to paste in a gif with the image link and remove the hyperlink text as you do on desktop.

this ends the tutorial portion !!

Notes on iOS

it appears this method will not currently work with ios as apple restricts things with third party extensions in its app store. ( sorry iphone users, we really tried to make it work. take up complaints with apple ). here are the things my friend i tried to get xkit rewritten installed/working on an ios mobile browser.

1. firefox is not able to provide their extensions in ios. the mozilla support page notes: "Apple has created a proprietary iOS extension system which is incompatible with Firefox add-ons and extensions for Android, Mac, Windows and Linux." 2. the kiwi browser that shows in the apple store is not the same one as the one in google play. it should be an icon of kiwi the bird, not kiwi the fruit. the fruit one does not work. 3. we tried the orion browser on iphone and were able to get pretty far but no dice. they were able to install xkit rewritten through orion's firefox extension library but while the configuration menu showed, the xkit rewritten changes did not take on tumblr mobile browser. orion does admit not all extensions work at this time and this may change in the future. 4. another potential method is to get access to xkit rewritten by using chrome's remote desktop access (a tutorial here), but we did not try this.

if anyone is able to figure out a way to install and execute xkit rewritten on ios please feel free to write your own tutorial and please let me know — i would be happy to link it with this one. kindly, please also consider linking this one as a tutorial for android users in it as well.

this concludes the tutorial !! please give this a like and/or reblog if you found this useful. thank you for reading and happy rping !!

[typhlonectes]

World’s largest water lily is a species of its own

An artist’s observations, two botanists’ suspicions, and DNA tests uncover a case of mistaken identity among giant water plants

When 19th century European botanists came across majestic water lilies with leaves bigger than a pingpong table, they first thought these South American plants constituted just one species. 

Soon they realized the Victoria genus—named after the contemporaneous British monarch—comprised two species, V. amazonica and V. cruziana. 

Now, researchers have discovered there are really three species, and a specimen of the newly indentified species, V. boliviana, growing in La Rinconada Gardens in Bolivia, holds the world record for leaf size at 3.2 meters across...

Read more:  https://www.science.org/content/article/world-s-largest-water-lily-species-its-own

[lulu2992]

Exploration of the now-offline Far Cry 5 official websites

Part 4: Game Info (Europe)

Recovered content

The European website was first archived on October 9th, 2017, almost five months after the announcement and before the release of Far Cry 5. On the home page, after an image of the “key art” (see under the cut) and an invitation to watch this video...

...there was the ABOUT THE GAME section:

FREEDOM Set in beautiful Montana, an incredible Open World. Hope County welcomes you to the Land of the Free. FAMILY Led by The Father and commanded by The Heralds, Eden’s Gate preys on those hopeless folks who have fallen into economical and psychological despair. FIREARMS From shotguns to slingshots, this toy chest is stocked, locked and loaded with every piece of steel you’ll need to take down the Cult. Lead a resistance against a fanatical cult in small town, U.S.A., where Freedom, Firearms, and the Project at Eden’s Gate rule above all else. Lead a resistance against a fanatical cult in small town, U.S.A., where Freedom, Firearms, and the Project at Eden’s Gate rule above all else.

Clicking “More Info” took you to the GAME INFO page, which wasn’t archived before March 10th, 2018, and looked like this at least until February 7th, 2020 (last available archive):

FREEDOM, FAMILY & FIREARMS Welcome to Hope County, Montana, home to a fanatical doomsday cult known as The Project at Eden’s Gate that is threatening the community's freedom. Stand up to the cult’s leader, Joseph Seed and the Heralds, and spark the fires of resistance that will liberate the besieged community. In this expansive world, your limits and creativity will be tested against the biggest and most ruthless baddest enemy Far Cry has ever seen. It’ll be wild and it’ll get weird, but as long as you keep your wits about you, the residents of Hope County can rest assured you’re their beacon of hope. Join the Resistance on March 27th, 2018, with Far Cry 5. Available on PlayStation 4 system, Xbox One, and PC.

The FREEDOM section was mostly about the open world and game mechanics, but the others were about the Project and the Resistance.

Here is FAMILY:

PROJECT AT EDEN’S GATE The Project at Eden’s Gate, led by The Father, believes The Collapse is imminent. They’re on a mission to save your soul – whether you want it or not. JOSEPH SEED – THE FATHER “I am your Father. And you are my Children.” FAITH SEED – THE SIREN Once you fall under Faith’s spell, you’re a goner. As Joseph’s voice, Faith acts as a divine instrument of chaos to keep the congregation in a state of bliss. JOHN SEED – THE INQUISITOR John will use intimidation, faith and violence to secure resources vital to the Cult’s survival - be it a home or a person. JACOB SEED – THE SOLDIER As the Cult’s recruiter and former Army marksman, big brother Seed’s main duty is protecting the Project at Eden’s Gate.

The four red buttons redirected to the Character Spotlight videos about Joseph, Faith, John, and Jacob posted on the Ubisoft UK YouTube Channel.

Here is FIREARMS:

THE RESISTANCE Throughout the hills, valleys, and townships of Hope County, civilians of all walks have joined forces to resist against the cult, and rid their land of its chaos once and for all. But it wouldn’t be as fun if new toys hadn’t been brought along the way. Boom boom boom boom! ♫

Clicking “More Info” opened a pop-up window with a video and a description for each character; I will detail all of that in future posts.

Commentary

Sadly, the European website was archived way less often than the American one. It seems it was also rarely updated, as it apparently said we could still “pre-order” the game... in 2020. But since it used to exist and wasn’t identical to the American version, I decided to include it in these posts too!

Under the cut are all the available source files, saved directly from the website, of the images you see in the screenshots:

But first, here is the site’s version of the “key art”:

And now the images that actually are in the screenshots:

(The icons became red when you hovered your cursor over them)

The three icons below are not the source files. I couldn’t find them so I simply took and cropped screenshots:

I will upload the pictures of the Resistance (from the FIREARMS section) in the posts dedicated to each character.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Det sted man er fra er alltid pent, det er fedrelandsfølelsen i det små, hjemmefølelsen.*

- Knut Hamsun

*The place you're from is always beautiful, it's the sense of country in a small way, the feeling of home.

Most of us have heard of Lapland, but we’re not supposed to call it that anymore. The correct term these days is Sápmi - i.e. the land inhabited by the Lapps (or, rather, the Sami - as they very much prefer to be known). And, fair enough: they’ve got every right to assert their own identity, especially after centuries of domination by their southern neighbours.

Some of those neighbours are now keen to make amends for past injustices. For instance, the Swedish government made a point of using its presidency of the EU Council of Ministers to celebrate Sami National Day.

I can only imagine that it was worded with the best intentions, but if you read any of the Scandinavian press and media, it’s clear that it hasn’t gone down well with everyone. The problematic claim is that the Sami are “the EU’s only indigenous people” (my italics).

For a start, what is meant here by ‘indigenous’? According to most dictionaries, it’s the property of being original to, or characteristic of, a particular part of the world. In which case, there are all sorts of European peoples who could claim to be indigenous to Europe. For instance, the geneticist Razib Khan points out that the ancestors of today’s majority-Swedish population have been in Scandinavia for at least as long as the ancestors of today’s Sami.

The Norwegians and Swedes originated from the Norse people. The Norse people in turn originated from the Proto-Germanic peoples who migrated to the area of northern Germany, Denmark, southern Scandinavia. The Proto-Germanic peoples in turn originated from the Proto-Indo-European people whose homeland lies in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, the area around Ukraine and southern Russia.

Likewise, the Sami are not quite indigenous to the area either. The Sami originated from the Proto-Uralic people, whose homeland was around the Ural mountains (and was therefore close to the Proto-Indo-Europeans and resulted in interactions between their protolanguages, resulting in lexical borrowings). The Proto-Uralic peoples, just like the Proto-Indo-Europeans, slowly expanded and migrated, but in their case they expanded to the northwest and the northeast (with the notable exception of the Hungarians who ended up in Hungary). The Proto-Samic people, a subgroup of the Proto-Uralic peoples that gave rise to the modern Sami, were said to have displaced or merged with a much earlier indigenous Paleo-European group that was already in northern Scandinavia. This is evidenced by substrate words present in the Sami languages that derive neither from Proto-Uralic nor from Proto-Indo-European.

In any case, if Europeans are going to have a competition as to who was in Europe first, then it might be won by those with the most Neanderthal ancestry - because, as genomic testing has revealed, millions of us carry Neanderthal genes.

But perhaps the Swedish government is using indigenous to mean something more specific. According to Merriam-Webster the word relates to “the earliest known inhabitants of a place and especially of a place that was colonised by a now-dominant group”. This extra element of oppression by outsiders sharpens up the definition. However, while it applies to the Sami people and their history, it doesn’t do so uniquely. There are many ethnic groups in Europe that have been around for ages and which have been maltreated by foreign overlords. Just ask the Welsh, for instance, or the Basques.

It could be argued that the Sami are in a special category because of where they live (i.e. the most northerly reaches of Europe) and how they lived there (e.g. by reindeer herding). To have maintained a traditional culture for so long into the modern era surely sets them apart. But, again, this is debatable. While there’s no doubting the distinctiveness of the Sami, other Europeans can also lay claim to ancient traditions that have survived against the odds. To take a topical example, the Ukrainians are literally sacrificing their lives for a distinctive culture, language and history that Putin wants to erase.

Progressives ought to think twice before making an issue about who is and isn’t indigenous in Europe. While the label might play into the victim/oppressor narratives of the woke Left, it can also be exploited by the far-Right.

At a time when populism is a constant threat, telling people that they’re not indigenous to a place where they and their ancestors have lived for “time immemorial” is less than helpful. I’m sure that the Swedish government meant well, but it’s pulling on a dangerous thread.  

When language is allowed to become dissociated from meaning or the map from the territory, then fractional strife and chaos awaits. Orwell understood it perfectly from his observations of Stalinists: control language and you control expression; control expression, you control dialogue, and eventually the political narrative.

[magnetothemagnificent]

Hi, I've been trying to learn on my own regarding this subject but I've been having a lot of trouble. Is there some sort of cultural disconnect between Jewish Westerners (esp Americans) and Jewish Easterners (esp Eastern Europeans but Middle East as well)? I had the weirdest conversation the other day with a Jewish American who didn't seem to think Ukrainian Jews counted as Jewish? Am I insane, or did I stumble across a cultural or political divide I wasn't aware of? How do I even go about researching something like that? thank you for your patience and help, and I hope people are kind to you.

So, they might be referring to the fact that not all Ukrainian (and any formerly USSR country) Jews are matrilineal Jews.

According to traditional Jewish law, in order for a person to be Jewish they either have to convert to Judaism or have been born to a Jewish mother. This law of matrilineality comes from a time when Jews were being exiled and scattered around the world, and preserving Jewish identity was extremely important. Before DNA tests, you really couldn't be 100% sure who a person's father was, but you could for their mother cause y'know......there would have been people witnessing them being born. Thus, it was decided to make Jewish descent exclusively matrilineal.

The USSR was very good at eliminating much of Jewish life and identity. Jewish documents were destroyed, so many people now don't have a reliable paper trail proving their ancestry and Jewishness. Additionally, some may be patrilineal Jews, but not matrilineal Jews, and therefore not considered valid by some Jewish denominations.

Now, I wouldn't quite say this is a "West" versus "East" issue, since many Israeli Charedi and Dati Jews feel the same way as American Orthodox Jews do. According to Israel's current Right of Return, people from former USSR countries qualify if they have even just a Jewish grandparent. This policy has allowed many lives to be saved during the Soviet era. With the war in Ukraine and a new influx of refugees, many Israelis are suspicious and don't want non-Jewish Ukrainians to be shown deference, and they are wary of Ukrainians who claim Jewish heritagr because they think they're lying just to have access to Israeli resources.

The situation regarding Jews and those descended of Jews in former USSR countries is pretty unique, and the "controversy" has more to do with interpretations of Jewish law than global location.

[halalgirlmeg]

Battle of the Hijabs (Under read more because this got longer than I thought and I started ranting about why representation in media fucking sucks atp and why the TV show Quantico is the worst):

Coming in at number 1, getting the gold: LITERALLY ALL THE HIJABIS IN WE ARE LADY PARTS like the variation in hijabs alone is so beautiful I love it, iykyk, Stream Bashir with the Good Beard. Like very real to life with different styles and personalities, don't you just love when shows actually treat hijabis as real human beings

All the hijabis from every version of Skam (except Italy fuck you)

Goldie is like next bc the actress isn't a hijabi but like I feel like they depicted being a hijabi really well for the most part like with her thinking she wanted to take it off and realizing everything about herself was nice it was very complex and well done imo

Qadri's next cause tbh I liked her style and the fact that she wore al Amira hijabs. I know everyone's like oh those are for little girls or they're ugly but tbh it makes sense bc I feel like being that she's training to be a surgeon and it is very convenient cause who's trying to be calling a code and fight with some chiffon or jersey material?? Not me! (They lose points for that one scene cause you mean to tell me she's only going to use her hijab to stop the bleeding and nothing else?? Come again?? She's in a hospital!!)

Next is Adina from The Bold Type, tbh idk how to feel cause she's a lesbian and played by Nikhol Boosheri and I was excited at the time but tbh some of her choices def had me scratching my head and I feel like they could've did a bit more to showcase her identity ykwim

Marjan from 911 Lone Star cause bro what the hell was the praying scene, did y'all talk to one Muslim? Download the Learning to Pray app on your phone I'll send you a link like be SO FR, then them saying her masjid kicked her out bc her hijab accidentally came off (which happens so much in television) like...again did you talk to anyone, I could see backlash yes but I just *sigh* again which Muslims did you talk to like idk about y'all but a stiff tug or strong wind has tested my hijab before like it happens, we cover back up and move on

Bottom 2 but not thee bottom, Nadia from Elite (hear me out cause the bottom of the list will make sense) obviously its so low because she wore hijab and they had some decent commentary at first, and then removed her hijab, and for Guzman ol racist crusty lip ass like, this who you risking it all for??? GIRL??? Like if Vic Mensa asked to see my hair I'd let him see that and much else (I'M KIDDING, I'd marry him first ok, astaghfirullah) no fr like but it's even that like they made it that she's more confident without her hijab people like her more, like it's obviously same old song like hijab is removed and suddenly liberation like they could've showed it in a more tasteful way if they wanted to but what did I expect from Europeans esp Spaniards like

And coming in Dead Last Raina Amin, tbh girl its not even about you...WHO WROTE THIS. Cause I watched it back in the day cause you know representation but like *pauses before I sip my coffee* hold tf on. Like where to even begin, the cop propaganda? What do you have to prove, cause they tried to get me i would've been like get tf off my porch. Like and the FBI? How did they even recruit the twins? The government watchlist? Blair Imani slid up in the masjid to snitch? I mean, what the hell? And this show had so much talent to be so extremely questionable (and that is putting it mildly). But we're discussing the twins rn. Raina specifically. So it doesn't even stop there. Like so much was wrong, so you mean to tell me she's in love with a man who used to be an IOF soldier, who helped them actively target Palestinian women for God knows what (the show implied certain things), like WTF is this, like everyone wants to talk about her removing her hijab and kissing him but like we have bigger fish to fry, that is like at the bottom of the problem list. Like did we see the man they put her with and she still loved him later EYE. And then two more things and then I'll shut up. Okay so they were working for the Government to infiltrate terrorist cells whatever bc they were going to attack American soil. No mention of how terrorist groups like the ones they're depicting mostly target minority sect Muslims and lead to their deaths that usually go unnoticed by anyone who is not them, Iran and Nigeria, if I remember correctly are where a lot of the casualties are from. I hate propaganda cause its the same old shit like we really pushing the agenda huh? And hijab removal scene again worst part cause you know what I hated after this other stuff cause red flags with major red lights and a bullhorn. But there was something where they had to change their look because their twins but like as one person but one is a hijabi, the other is not. So they were like we have to find a middle ground, someone who's easily targeted because they're muslim but also loose (I'm paraphrasing but you see what I'm saying?) Like fuck y'all. Fuck whoever wrote this. Like from head to toe Quantico is like an absolute clusterfuck of everything terrible people do with hijab characters (not to mention the rest of the cast but that would be even longer) but dead last because like maybe some of the others on this list at least tried if they're not terribly misguided but this depiction is like dangerous, it's a reminder why we don't just get all our info from TV and other fictional narratives, we talk to real people and we learn real things because this is absolute bullshit to say the least

[runwayrunway]

No. 23 - Icelandair (With an Aside on the Role of Flag Carriers)

Sure, let's talk about Icelandair! I think they fit in pretty well with the conversation that's been slowly playing out with other European flag carriers Lufthansa and SAS about the evolution of liveries as we stumble in to the 2020s proper. (As for the second half of this ask, hold that thought for just a minute.)

Unfortunately, Lufthansa snuck its nasty little face into this post as well, and I do sort of want to give a brief content warning, as a...certain sordid point in Germany's history is alluded to, though not lingered on. Because flag carriers are sort of important. They're propaganda - and in Icelandair's case, that's okay!

Icelandair is not a concept that needs much explanation. It's right there in the title. It is an airline, and it is from Iceland. If you want a little more information, here's a summary written in 1997 by John K. Morton for his book "Jetliner Glory". (Scan mine)

As you can see, Icelandair was, at this point, rocking a supersized nothingburger of a livery. With just a cheatline and some paint on the bottom of the nacelles to accompany the logo and wordmark it feels less like SAS's belly stripes or Tibet Airlines, where it looks like a plane painted white, and feels more like they just forgot to add the rest of the livery.

While I do slightly prefer this older take with the more faded colours, the bare metal underside, and the contoured down-sloping cheatline, it's still pretty nothing.

Oh no. Oh nonononono don't do that please don't-

Thank you. That's much less worse.

The blue-and-yellow livery was adopted in 2006. I don't like this but this feels necessary. What stands out to me about Icelandair, above any individual feature of their fleet, is that they are fundamentally incapable of departing from whatever the most simplified and common design trend of the time is.

70s and early 80s. Single rule cheatline, large font wordmark, bare metal lower half.

80s and early 90s. All over paint, text moved forward to just behind the forwardmost door. Beginning of strict adherence to Eurowhite en masse.

Aughts to late 2010s. This is an era of somewhat refined Eurowhite. This allows very specific colored parts of the airframe: a block of color on the underside, a detached floating tail, colored winglets, and colored nacelles.

My opinion of this specific livery is that it is nearly identical to Delta's. Similar dark blue shade, exact same layout. The only difference is that Delta's blue engines make the livery look more coherent and Delta's logo is far more distinctive. I consider Delta to be the platonic ideal of this type of 2000s Eurowhite, and Icelandair uses the exact same layout.

I will say...it could be worse. Icelandair does not fail the Star Alliance test, so I cannot give it an F.

It's getting a D, for Delta.

But hey! Great news! They literally just unveiled a new one! And they've given me a nice webpage describing their thought process. I keep seeing more and more airlines do this with their 2020s livery releases and I think it's awesome.

image: icelandair

And they're jellybeans! I make no secret for my love of jellybeans. These come in five colours: boreal blue, magenta, sky blue, yellow, and green. Each of them is meant to represent a different aspect of Icelandic natural phenomenae, which I would expect at least partially stems from the response to their widely beloved Hekla Aurora and Vatnajökull liveries.

The two colours not pictured above: boreal blue (left) and green (right)

I really like these choices of colour. I think my favourite is ultimately magenta because of how striking its contrast is with the main blue, but none of these look even a little bad.

I do wish there was a little more integration of the jellybean colours into the rest of the livery (maybe the winglets or the engine nacelles, or as an outline on the wordmark, or extended to the underside of the plane), but the concept itself is solid and each colourway is pleasing. While I think this is a welcome change from the earlier yellow-and-blue scheme I am very happy that they kept a yellow variant.

Red engine SAS livery jumpscare in the background.

I would say the main thing I dislike about the new livery is the billboard wordmark. It's fine in theory but I utterly despise the typeface they've chosen and I find that sans-serif typefaces look fine when they're small but get uglier and uglier the larger you make them. It's a very boring downgrade, especially compared to the tasteful little serifs on the very tips of the old one. They were a minor aerodynamic touch but they were very nice compared to this, which is giving corporate brochure in a way I can't stand. At least it keeps the middle fuselage from being blank, I suppose.

I do like it a lot better on the Dash 8, though it's a little too low to the bottom for my taste. They could solve this by just making it slightly smaller, but they've apparently fully committed to a font that is, in my opinion, too large and widely spaced.

I feel like they also missed an opportunity with their logo. I've seen people say that it's a stylised 'F' to represent the company's first name, Flugfélag. I've heard someone else say that it reminds them of a stylised aurora, and I agree with them. I think there was a lot of room to play with both of these, and that it's a shape that's simple enough and dynamic enough to lend itself well to livery design, and that they could have created something so much better had they made more use of it - especially with the jellybean colours.

The final thing I want to point out is the tail. It's very blatant that the 2020s equivalent of the detached tail is the slightly-integrated tail, which loops down and just prevents the tail from being detached while still leaving the majority of the fuselage blank white without really adding much visual interest or presenting much in the way of creativity.

SAS and WestJet are two other airlines from those I've covered which do this. Now, they could both be a lot worse - WestJet has a nice wordmark and I've already talked about why SAS does a lot that's more interesting than the tail - but I can't deny that I dislike this trend. It fixes the ugliness of Detached Tail Syndrome but without adding much. It is the bare minimum. It is an upgrade from bad to nothing. And I think it's worth noting that both of these airlines, and indeed the majority of airlines with slightly-integrated tails, used to have detached tails. The Lufthansa clone of the 2020s is the Delta clone of the 2010s.

But I think Icelandair's new livery requires comparison to one 2020s livery more than any other - our old 'friend', Lufthansa.

The reason I point out Lufthansa is that unlike SAS and WestJet it does not feature a curve, but a straight line downwards. It also features more than one colour on the tail itself, sort of - I mean, it has the contrasting white stripe.

I don't think I particularly need to linger on why I like Icelandair's livery so much better than I like Lufthansa's. But I will point out one aspect in particular. The descriptions of the inspiration behind Lufthansa's livery focus on how sleek and modern it is. It occasionally mentions nebulous 'German values' (a phrase which in context refers to Europe's obsession with the most hideous sans-serif fonts on the face of the planet and soul-sucking minimalist white design but which sort of makes me shudder as a disabled bisexual Jew, a set of traits seemingly min-maxxed for being a target of...well, you know) but beyond that is wholly and almost gleefully corporate, scoffing in the face of the fact that flag carriers are almost by design intended to be unprofitable, to provide air transport to residents of their country and to serve as propaganda.

Air France lost heaps of money on Concorde, Alitalia went fourteen years without turning a profit, and do you think carriers like Rwandair or Air Niugini, which just don't have the demand to operate planes filled to capacity, are able to make money? Of course not, but they operate anyway because people need to get places and it's a statement for a government, especially one without the means of a massive European power with centuries of stolen resources at its disposal or an ultrawealthy Gulf state, to put their names on a plane and say that this is a service they are providing to the people they are, on paper, meant to provide for.

This is not a feature unique to airlines - just think about the way high-speed rail in China and Japan are inherently tied to their national identities, as something these countries have built as a service to their people and as something which makes them better places to live. Think about the Space Race, which was a dick-measuring contest more than it was for science. The US government is notorious for its unwillingness to fund science projects but if it means sticking it to the reds it's worth a couple billion to put a man on the moon.

Any sort of project which invents or builds by necessity becomes a symbol of national power. Sometimes these things are useful, like high-speed rail, and sometimes they advance science, like reaching the moon, but, like...did Ferrari World need to exist, or is the UAE willing to spend a bunch of money to say "look how awesome we are, we have the fastest roller-coaster in the world"? Did the USSR need the Tu-144? Of course not - luxury air transport wasn't a thing, they couldn't charge a premium, and there wasn't anywhere safe to release a sonic boom over, and it was rushed out in a state that couldn't really be considered airworthy just to serve for less than a year while diverting resources from actually useful aerospace projects. The Tu-144 set back Soviet aerospace engineering by decades but it was worth it for the chance to say they built the first supersonic airliner, which will remain technically true forever. Countries are chomping at the bit to displace people and abuse labourers and waste money and resources to build stadiums that will lie derelict for the rest of time just to get to say they hosted the Olympics.

These things are worth losing money for. To say 'we are willing to lose money to give our people transport and to have our own airline with our own flag on it'. Flag carriers do not need to be profitable. If they happen to turn a profit that's a good thing for the country but it's not meant to be the point. That the US has never had a flag carrier feels like a very pointed statement to me - no handouts, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and build your own damn airline. While many large airlines elsewhere have their own founders with their own marks on history and large personalities, none of them have the cultural capital that Juan Trippe or Howard Hughes do. Icelandair's equivalent of Juan Trippe is the aurora.

I cannot imagine a carrier which reflects its national identity less than Lufthansa does. Perhaps they want to forget that they are a flag carrier and by this nature propaganda. After all, despite being largely a different entity, they bear the name of a flag carrier founded by the Third Reich. They had an easy out of this. They could have stuck with their initial name, Luftag. They could even have taken the name and branding of Interflug, the East German flag carrier, but better to be founded by the actual Third Reich than by the Communists, from their perspective. It's probably better to lean as far away from what they were made to be as possible. And from their point of view to be as corporate as possible is actually probably a reflection of what there is to love about Germany, given that this is their background. I find that incredibly sad. If I were German, this would make me furious. There is so much more to Germany than anything Lufthansa has ever been. It is insulting not just to my eyes but to the idea that it is meant to be part of German identity.

Meanwhile, Icelandair's inspiration is Iceland: the natural features which make their country worth visiting. They are aware of this - they actually used the Hekla Aurora livery to promote the fact that they offered free week-long stopovers in Iceland. Their website explicitly lays, interspersed with images of aurora over snowy mountainous landscapes which seem to stretch on forever, that this is what Iceland has to offer.

And since we spend so much time in the sky, we drew inspiration from what we see in front of us, and what we see in our country from above. [...] By extending our color palette, we have a chance to bring the vibrant Icelandic spirit to the world, and to show the world the diversity of our people: The Icelandic spirit is available to anyone and everyone who wants to share in it.

At the end of the day, flag carriers are a form of propaganda. That word normally has a very nasty connotation, but it doesn't have to be things like war crime coverups and attempts to quell rebellion. In this case, it can be an encouragement for Icelandic people to be proud of something about their country as well as an attempt to drum up tourism. Is it still a calculated attempt to sell you something? Sure. But it's an attempt to sell something Icelandic people are proud of, because they live somewhere with beautiful features that don't exist anywhere else. I really want to visit Iceland, and have for years, for the exact reasons outlined in Icelandair's material about their new livery.

And does this livery actually overtly communicate these things? No, not really. I think it's something you can see when you have it explained to you but wouldn't notice at a glance. But the fact that this was considered at all, much like condor's justification for their flying striped nightmares, keeps me from feeling the same sort of disgust I do for liveries like Lufthansa's.

So, Icelandair could do a lot better. But they're doing a lot better than they ever have before. And they have succeeded, fundamentally, at being Icelandair.

I leave them with a final grade of C.

It could be better. Far better. But they're at least using the right equation to get the wrong answer. If they ever get the courage to design something which doesn't follow the dominant trends in whatever the decade's particular flavour of Eurowhite is as if it's copied from a template, I think Icelandair could come up with something really great, and I hope I live long enough to see it.

And, as a final note on their commitment to their national identity, I will be discussing their three non-crossover special liveries: Þingvellir, Vatnajökull, and this blog's first twice-requested livery, Hekla Aurora. But they will get their own post, because this one is already preposterously long, so get ready to see a lot more Iceland very very soon.

(...I really want to visit Iceland.)

[the-perfect-wagnerite-again]

Hello! Why didn’t you like guns germs and steel? I was thinking of reading it but I just wanted a heads up. Thank you a lot!

So it's not that it's a bad book exactly, but it's certainly not great. A good comparison would be the narrative of the American Revolution that you learned about in elementary and middle school. The particular facts, dates, and rote recitation of individual events is probably mostly correct, but the narrative structure that enframes and coheres those isolated nodes of information is entirely without historical merit.

In Diamond's case, the narrative that he chooses to use to interpret all facts and events that he considers relevant to the story of human development is geographical distribution, to the explicit exclusion of any other vector of influence. To this end, Diamond onboards plainly incorrect assumptions about the human species (such as the assumption that all human beings are neurologically identical) and begs the question on the material causes of nonmaterial developments (religious practice is an outgrowth of material circumstances, the reverse is never mentioned).

A particular peeve I have with Diamond is his out-of-hand dismissal of IQ as a legitimate measure of intelligence. In his introduction, he glibly slides past IQ tests as unimportant trivia quizzes, as if the reason the natives of New Guinea perform poorly is because such tests are asking subjects to identify Bach fugue subjects or determine mathematical operation orders. Diamond is well aware, as is anyone who has ever taken an IQ test, that such exams measure abstract cognitive power through such problems as pattern-recognition and spatial reasoning, problems utterly divorced from cultural influence or environmental factors. There is, to date, no measure of cognitive aptitude as accurate and correlative with intelligence as IQ - which is precisely why we use it. Those who assume a priori that all human beings innately have identical neurological profiles are obligated to ignore this fact, because the reality of performance disparities between groups is politically inconvenient for their emotionally-informed assumption. It is with this dismissal of reality that Diamond can assert such absurdities as "New Guinea natives might actually be smarter than most modern Europeans" (this is based, as far as I can tell, exclusively on Diamonds personal experience with the local tribesmen of Papua New Guinea during his excursions there).

With that in mind, every relevant fact that Diamond selects as a necessary step in the development of human societies is "true" in the sense that, in a vacuum, there is mostly likely a positive truth-value to the individual assertions he presents. Most inventions are accidental. Most technologies are spread through cultural exchange. Most agricultural developments depend on beasts of burden. All of this is true. In aggregate, Diamond takes these facts as excuses to explain away the poor development of sub-Saharan Africans and reframe the advancements of Europeans as the products of chance, accident, and luck.

I would say that the biggest flaw of the book is Diamond's position that geographical distribution is the ONLY factor in human development, rather than one factor of many. The spiritual drive of a people, its native psychometric capacity, and its coevolutionary characteristics are every bit as important as its access to material resources, if not more important ( e.g. as regulatory vectors for those resources in the first instance). Read it with a heaping pile of salt.

[kemetic-dreams]

Where did Native Americans come from before they came to North America?

Native Americans were originally a mix of Siberians, East Asians and Ancient Northern Europeans. They migrated from Siberian into the Americas:

Native Americans carried Y-DNA Q which originated in Siberia and a minority of Y-DNA C from East Asia. They carried MTDNA from East, South and North Asia.

In human population genetics, Native American ancestry refers to the theory that genetic ancestry can trace a relationship back to one or more individuals that were Indigenous to the Americas. However, there is no DNA test that can prove someone is Native American and cannot pinpoint specific Native American tribes.

Genetically, Native Americans are most closely related to East Asians and Ancient North Eurasian. Native American genomes contain genetic signals from Western Eurasia due in part to their descent from a common Siberian population during the Upper Paleolithic period.

In the United States, levels of what commercial DNA companies mark as Indigenous American ancestry (distinct from Native American identity, which is based on kinship, citizenship, and cultural ties) among non-Natives differ, but in general are extremely low. The genomes of self-reported African Americans averaged to 0.8% Native American ancestry, those of European Americans averaged 0.18%, and those of Latinos averaged 18.0%.

Geneticist Kim TallBear (Dakota), author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science, has written about individuals discovering what they believe to be Native American ancestry through DNA testing, who then self-identify as Native American in general, or as members or descendants of a specific tribe. She notes, however, that not only is there no DNA test that can indicate a tribe, but "There is no DNA-test to prove you're Native American". and that this group mostly continues to identify as white. She also stresses that Indigenous identity is not about one distant (and possibly nonexistent) ancestor, but rather political citizenship, culture, kinship, and daily, lived experience as part of an Indigenous community.

Hispanic families in Latin America may be of Native American, European, African, or Asian ancestry; many Latin Americans descend from two or more of these ancestral population