#growing up in america

[ladyy--lazarus]

Gen Z would have loved getting the dELiA*s catalog in the mail like we did in the 90s/00s. Check it out if you don't know. They're a "sub-brand" under Doll's Kill now, which makes me sad because it was about expressing yourself and feeling good/empowered, but Doll's Kill has the porn vibe I'm not into. Nostalgic for back when before Pam Anderson was exploited with her homevideo tape but was just a happy young celeb and Playboy was still considered scandalous but sexy (don't get me started on its origin and how it printed child p0rn) and porn didn't permeate the mainstream and rotted mens brains to the insane degree like today. Honestly, it wasn't that great then, but I would have never thought things would change so drastically. It was full speed rapid change once 9/11 happened. There was still a sort of innocence and naivete in childhood and culture in the 90s. I know I'm rambling but I miss my friends who died so fucking young and writing each other handwritten letters and birthday cards and talking on the phone for hours and burned cds and dvds being a new thing and dial-up internet and riding bikes all day.

[teaboot]

I don't know if you're American or not but in my experience as a person who is not American, American events and media are so incredibly loud and visible that they tend to leech into everything.

Like I'm Canadian born and raised and can name more American presidents than I can Canadian Prime Ministers. I have Canadian friends from Canada who can accurately describe themselves as Liberals but are still sorta foggy on NDP policies. Do you know what day Canada Day is? It's July 1st. Do you know what's on my dashboard on July 1st? Early posts about July 4th.

And if you're an American reading this: Or, hell, anyone else reading this: We all know George Washington was the first American President. Do you know who the first Prime Minister of Canada was? Can you name two British political parties? What are two countries that have Monarchies, not Democracies? What was the most recent political scandal you can think of that took place outside the US? What's your favourite TV show that takes place anywhere outside of America? What are your top three favourite non-american musicians? If English is your first language, how many foreign countries can you go to where you don't speak the language, but don't have to worry about it?

I said "International America Day" as a joke, but there is a very real phenomenon in countries outside of the US where the general population becomes Americanized through the prevalent American media.

We know American current events, we know American scandals, we know about American cops and American movies and American accents and American fast food chains. We have serious opinions on the American legal system and we talk about American law and American policy and American celebrities, and many of us don't know Jack Shit about what's going on where we live.

I'm Canadian. I've heard all about 'building the wall' and ICE and Jan 6th, the intentional government distribution of narcotics in Black communities and the use of Marijuana Illegalization to persecute Black and Mexican people under the Nixon administration.

Do you know what Canada did to Chinese immigrants to build the Canadian railroad? What about the Sterilization Act? Residential Schools? Do you know what a Status Card is? Does it, or does it not cost money to ride in an ambulance? Can people with breasts legally walk around topless? What's the legal drinking age? What are our biggest cities? Who was our least-popular PM? What are our allied nations? Where does the Canadian military get deployed?

"International America Day" was a goof. But Jesus, it's a little bit serious

*edit: yeah I wrote June instead of Jan my bad

[hamsternamedmarinette]

Based on a real conversation I had

[claudeleine]

this is from sept. 2022.

anyway don’t watch captain america: brave new world (previously titled new world order, which is gross). it doesn’t matter that they’re reimagining the character’s origins as a result of the backlash over the past few years, the actress is still a zionist who supports israel even while they commit a genocide against the palestinians, and the character is still zionist propaganda that fuels pro-israel and anti-palestinian/arab/muslim sentiment.

don’t give that shit your money. give it to the palestinian families in gaza and those who are trying to help them. don’t continue to normalize the violence against palestinians and israeli proganda.

EDIT: BDS has asked people to boycott this movie

[localgardenweed]

I think they’re crushing on each other your honor

[deadcrowcalling]

i feel bad for people who didn't grow up in small rural towns. what do you mean you didn't grow up shouting "cows!" every time you passed a pasture. what do you mean you never ran around in a field playing with a hose. what do you mean you've never had to pick hay out of your pockets for weeks. what do you mean you didn't catch cicadas and chase your friends with them. what do you mean you've never had a farm dog playfully chase you. like what

[wingheadshellhead]

Steve Rogers & Tony Stark in Avengers Assemble 1.25 "The Final Showdown"

[hooked-on-trout]

messy dirty messy scribbles from late night last night

[ivysos2001]

You still can’t convince me that the whole ‘Steve abandons everyone in the present to go back to Peggy’ thing was a well thought out/well developed ending for his character that made any sense for his post-catfa character arc (let alone all the time travel stuff) bc wdym none of the people who made the movie can figure out the logistics of it??

[leonardcohenofficial]

gonna start a schoolhouse rock review blog in which i rate individual songs on a scale of "incredibly catchy and would show to the children currently in my life and those to come" to "this song actively erases the genocide of indigenous americans"

[hurtcomforted]

imagine that, in the first avenger, before pre-serum steve's training montage, we get a flashback with sarah rogers to explain his perseverance. imagine that when he goes to save bucky and after losing him, we get flashbacks to them as kids.

imagine that, in civil war, instead of (or along with if that's what it takes) more of tony's daddy issues we also get to see little steve with sarah to also understand him better.

imagine we get more of steve's backstory.

[olympeline]

I was thinking about Arthur and Alfred’s relationship and it suddenly hit me: there’s potentially a really good interpretation to be had of the American War for Independence as the end result of the disconnect between a first generation immigrant parent and their second generation child. And how perfect is that with Arthur - literally a personification of the old world - and Alfred - literally the personification of America: the world’s great melting pot. I got excited thinking about it and it turned into an essay so please enjoy my ramblings 🥲

The disconnect I mentioned above is a well known problem between different generations of immigrants. An estrangement which can cause a lot of angst because both sides are trying to understand each other but can’t connect because their lived experiences are so different. The parent remembers the trials of the “old country” and sees their kid as a self-centred brat who wouldn’t know real hardship if it bit them. Meanwhile the child - through no fault of their own - has only ever known the new, better life and resents the guilt tripping over something they had zero control over. You know the classic: “When I was your age/you wouldn’t have lasted a day where I grew up/you’re so spoilt, etc.” from the parent. Answered with: “It’s not my fault I don’t know/how could I feel it like you do when I was never there/you chose to come here and have me here/do you want me to spend my whole life feeling guilty because you sacrificed for me, etc.” from the kid.

In the context of Hetalia it works because by the time Alfred gets to know Arthur he’s become a founder of colonies. But in Arthur’s past he was a colony, several times over in fact. Specifically an exploitation colony under Grandpa Rome (who wanted Britain for its large resources of tin because tin - a rare metal in Europe - is a key ingredient in making bronze), then scattered soft-settler colonies under Denmark (who started by raiding Britain for plunder and slaves but then established settlements later on because the climate was better for farming), then an exploitation colony that gradually morphed into a settler colony, that then merged with the native culture, under the Norman-French William the Conqueror.

Arthur became Alfred’s guardian but first and foremost Alfred was his colony. And Arthur’s experience with colonies was the above. So not a great model for parenting to put it mildly. Particularly the last one, which would have been freshest in Arthur’s memory. Harrying of the North. 😬 Enough said. It probably gave Arthur a very skewed view of what would constitute being a “good” parent to Alfred. Arthur left Alfred alone and expected total obedience from him for the rest of his life but, to Arthur, that was still treating Alfred with kid gloves. Just because he didn’t do things like sweep in and murder Alfred’s citizens en masse when they displeased him. Arthur drew on his own experiences and likely saw Alfred as incredibly spoilt and even outright pampered. Obviously he wasn’t, not at all, but the bar was on the friggin’ floor. It must have come as a big shock when Alfred rebelled because - in Arthur’s mind - he did everything right. More than right: he went above and beyond indulging his young charge. Treating Alfred like a son instead of ordering him around as a minion. I think that’s why Arthur broke down and sobbed on the battlefield. Angry tears of frustration and hopelessness because on top of the pain of Alfred’s “betrayal” there’s something worse: even at that critical point, in his heart of hearts I bet Arthur still didn’t understand why the war happened. Why his beloved, coddled son has turned on him like the viper at the farmer’s breast. It’s one thing to fight with someone you love because you know you’ve wronged them. It’s quite another to think you gave nothing but good only to have them turn on you anyway. Arthur is tough and used to hurt but the hopelessness and despair birthed from that terrible ignorance nearly killed him. It would be a long time before he opened his heart to anyone again.

But Alfred didn’t see it that way. Not at all. He wasn’t around for the colonial period of Arthur’s life and Arthur being…himself, likely never told him. Out of pride, trauma, pain, the shame of being conquered, etc. He kept his days of weakness a secret. So Alfred had no conception that Arthur was genuinely trying (and thought he was succeeding) in being a good and devoted parent. Which wasn’t Alfred’s fault or responsibility at all, by the way. I don’t want anyone to think this post is saying Alfred was wrong to rebel when he did. It was a totally justified reaction considering what Arthur put him through. Arthur hurt Alfred out of ignorance rather than malice but that doesnt erase the hurt. Especially from the point of view of a child. Alfred was just a scared, confused little boy who was left alone over and over again in a big, frightening world. Left to watch the human families around him love and support each other while he pined for Arthur to please, please come back and not leave him alone again. No wonder he grew up resentful at Arthur’s continuing expectations of total obedience. How dare Arthur demand so much when Alfred grew up on so little. Arthur had good intentions but they didn’t always bear fruit, which meant a lot of sadness and fear for little Alfred. At some point all those years of simmering pain and resentment bubbled over and Alfred just snapped. He realised nothing would ever change unless he forced a change and broke away from Arthur before the leaden weight of Arthur’s trauma and expectations drove him mad.

And that’s the root and lynchpin of all their issues right there: both see the other as selfish and entitled. Arthur because Alfred had a youth Arthur’s abused child self could only dream of. And Alfred because Arthur unconsciously expected him to live his whole life in the shadow of that pain.

Which is why it’s so tragic. Both of them have a point, both of them are wrong and right at the same time. No matter what Alfred thought, Arthur did genuinely do his best to give him the best life he could. He just fell short because he didn’t know what he was doing and his basis for comparison was abysmal. And no matter what Arthur thought, Alfred was never a spoilt brat who had everything but didn’t appreciate it because he grew up overindulged. Alfred was right to feel neglected, terribly hurt, and frustrated when Arthur brushed off his pain and expected Alfred to suck it up and be demure and grateful because he (Arthur) had it worse when he was young.

Doubly sad because if they’d just talked about it things could have been different. I’ve always seen Alfred as having a big heart underneath all his flippancy and boasting. Meanwhile Arthur is stubborn and a tsundere but he’s not an idiot and not incapable of change and self-improvement. And, like I said, he did truly want to do well by Alfred. Who truly wanted a good relationship with him in return. If they’d discussed all their issues it would have been a long hard road but, at the end of it, their relationship might have improved and not gone up in flames the way it did. But they didn’t and Arthur’s flat, uncompromising orders about taxation without representation was the straw that finally broke America’s back.

[mari-reads]

no bc it baffles me that ugly Betty doesn’t have the fandom it deserves especially for the first season, it’s so good like has soooo much material. Maybe getting put on streaming can revive it bc it’s golden, the Suarez family are my heart 🥺

[batcavescolony]

a MCU/Percy Jackson crossover with Bucky Barnes as a demigod. Ik your already thinking, he's a soldier so Ares obviously but he's actually a child of Aphrodite. Reasoning: before the war and when he's healed he is dressed very well. He wasn't really into war. he's never really fighting for the fight, he's fighting for someone or because he has to. He was forced to be a soldier in both instances (drafted/brainwashed). Mcu Bucky doesn't give off Ares kid vibes. So Aphrodite kid.

[loveaankilaq]

Ppl claiming it's specifically American to be racist to Asians reeks of white Europeans being like "we aren't racist at all unlike those Americans" like idk I think white ppl no matter where are fucking racist to Asians. I think Europe has done sustainable colonization to Asian countries as has America, be fucking real.

[walking-existential-crisis]

Me realising I have to actually write my whole fic and not just little paragraphs in between with no context: Fuck