#i THINK in russian he uses the informal you but i'm not 100% sure my ear is pretty new to the languange and not very reliable loool

[heytheredeann]

my toxic trait is that every time I rewatch my favourite movie I end up liveblogging it to people like I haven’t seen it a thousand times and like they haven’t heard every comment humanly possible about it

[celiciaa]

ELBERT GREETIA MAIN ROUTE....

CHAPTER THREE.

translations are not 100% accurate. expect mistakes.

minors and ageless blogs dni.

"The girl involved in the incident at the inn was alive."——

The good news came a few days after I went shopping with Lord Elbert.

Kate: I'm really, really glad….!

Elbert:…I agree.

I wait in front of the hospital room until my meeting with her is ready.

Today, we ostensibly were supposed to be the “police”.

The objective is to get information about the Bernard Merchants from her, a survivor of the attack on the inn.

(I have to draw the line and talk to her so she doesn't suspect anything.)

(But it's hard to change my feelings when…I'm happy.)

As I struggled to control my emotions, a sudden gust of wind ruffled my hair.

Elbert:…

A small breeze gently sways Lord Elbert’s golden hair.

I felt that his beauty, which I still adore, was imbued with a sadness that was deeper than usual.

(Oh, you were just having a long conversation with the doctor earlier….)

(Did he say something about that time?)

Elbert: Do you….remember what she was like?

Kate: I think it was a young girl with red hair...and a few freckles.

Elbert:…Even though it was night, you managed to memorize her.

Kate:…I have perfect memory. Besides….

Kate:…I think it burned into my heart that I couldn't help her from that place.

Elbert: I see…

Elbert: I wonder why you can't forget the sad things.

For a few seconds, a gentle silence descends, as if sharing the pain in one's heart.

Kate:….That’s because I am very happy today. Knowing that the girl is safe.

Elbert:….

Elbert:….Kate.

Kate: Yes…?

Elbert: You are in the hospital room——

Nurse: Thank you for your patience. She’s ready to meet you.

Kate: Ah, yes! Let's go, Lord Elbert.

Elbert:….

Elbert:…All right.

Is she concerned about us as the "police"?

The nurse let us through to the hospital room and gently excused herself.

Girl:…Are you the police?

Elbert: That’s right. ….I'm sorry for coming here so suddenly.

Girl: Hmph, I don't mind.

Lying on the bed was a girl who looked like she was only in her teens, and seemed to be a bit brave.

Her name was Daisy, and she was so calm and collected that it was hard to believe that she had been in a life-and-death situation.

Daisy: I knew the owner was doing business with bad guys. He said he had a lot of debt and started as a middleman for stolen goods.

Daisy: But the owner liked the "sea painting" that was painted by a famous Russian artist.

Daisy: I tried to make it my own, but the bad guys found out and came to get rid of me that night.

The owner's body was never found.

Daisy told me that she failed to bring up the painting….but it must have been hidden somewhere.

Elbert: May I ask how you ended up being hurt as well?

Daisy: We were told that we should keep our mouths shut or something. ….Some of the kids didn't even know about the painting.

Elbert:…Really, now.

It was painful to hear Daisy answer our questions in an orderly manner, even though we had made her talk about her painful experiences.

Kate: Thank you for telling us.

Daisy: Whatever, don’t mention it. We’re done here, right? Thank you for your hard work.

Daisy lies down on the bed as if to forcefully end the conversation.

Then, when the spring creaked, something at the bedside fluttered down to my feet. **

(Ah…!)

Elbert:…What's this handkerchief…?

Lord Elbert picks up a familiar handkerchief.

Daisy: Oh, that's right. I was told that it was mine.

Daisy: I’m not sure, but somehow I can't throw it away. I know it sounds crazy, but is it more like a good luck charm?

Daisy: This was by my side, so I guess it caught my attention.

Kate:….! Is that so….

(I’m really…really glad.)

I want to hug Daisy right now and tell her how happy I am that she is alive.

But I can't do that, so I give her a soft smile.

(I don't want to be a bother….so maybe I should get going soon.)

I glanced over to check on Lord Elbert next to me——

(….?)

Elbert:….

For some reason, his porcelain profile looked as if he was about to cry.

Thinking back, even outside the hospital room, Lord Elbert had the same melancholy that he has now.

(You were about to say something before we went into the hospital room….)

Somehow, I have a strange feeling in my chest.

Elbert:…How are you feeling?

Daisy: Eh…?

Lord Elbert's voice was careful and gentle, as if touching a wound.

Daisy: A..Ahaha. What are you, a doctor?

Daisy: I don't know. I have an infection? It seems to be a disease. It wouldn't be strange for me to suddenly change and die at any moment.

Kate: What….

At Daisy's confession, I couldn't help but voice out.

Daisy: But I have no relatives, all my colleagues are dead…and there’s no one who can mourn for me.

Kate:….

I almost tell her I'd visit her, but I hold my tongue.

(We are under surveillance. I can't just do whatever I want.)

(I can't believe how frustrating that is.)

It was as painful as the horrific scenes I witnessed.

Elbert:….

Elbert:…"I couldn't interview you properly because of your condition."

Daisy: What…?

Elbert:….Tomorrow, We’ll visit you.

Kate:….!

I look up at Lord Elbert with a smile at this unexpected suggestion.

(I heard what I needed to hear. I don't think Daisy knows any more about the Bernard Merchants.)

(I’m sure Lord Elbert knows that...and yet...)

Elbert:…Is it a no?

Daisy: Of course not….!

Daisy showed us a beaming smile for the first time today.

Kate: Lord Elbert, are you sure…?

Elbert:…Hm, about what…?

Kate: Umm, considering our position…is it okay to visit her, Lord Elbert?

Victor has told us that the interview is only scheduled for today.

If we stay too long, there is a danger that our identities will be revealed.

(But even so….)

Kate: Why did you say we would come back tomorrow…?

Elbert:….

Elbert: Because being alone when you're sad...is not good.

Kate:….Lord Elbert…

(I've been thinking about it ever since that night when I couldn't save Daisy.)

(Lord Elbert is…very sensitive to people's grief and pain.)

It is neither healing nor denying, but it is close to him.

I felt as if I had been touched by the warmth of Lord Elbert, and my heart was thumping.

Kate:…Thank you very much.

Elbert: I haven’t done anything to thank me for. // There’s no need to thank me.

Kate: Because I feel the same way as you do, Lord Elbert.

Kate: I didn't want Daisy to be alone.

Elbert:…I could tell you felt the same way in the hospital room.

Elbert: You…don't seem to be very good at acting.

A fleeting smile like a thin cloud appeared on Lord Elbert’s lips,

Through my heated chest, there was a faint sweet tingle.

The next day and the day after that, we lied to Victor and went to visit Daisy.

Daisy: I'm really lucky to have such a beautiful brother who comes to visit me every day.

Daisy: Well, it comes with an extra.

Elbert:…"Extra"?

Kate: I brought some delicious snacks for you today, but I don't think you want any of the "extras"…..

Daisy: Wow, no way.

Kate: Fufu, I'm just kidding.

Daisy: Jeez, Kate!

As usual, we spend our time in Daisy's room, exchanging pleasantries.

The first day we met, we had only one interview, and from the next day on, all we did was make small talk.

(I know I'm digressing from my mission…but I want to fill Daisy's loneliness for as long as I can.)

Daisy: Hey, these cookies are so delicious!

Elbert:…That’s good. She made it.

Daisy: Fufu...thank you, really.

However, Daisy's complexion worsened as she became more comfortable with us.

Every time I notice this, my wish for her to stay alive tomorrow becomes stronger.

(I want you to smile more. I don't want you to look sad…..)

(It's so frustrating that all I can do is come visit you….)

Daisy:…I don't think I've ever had anyone care about me like this before.

Daisy: Hey, you two, can I be selfish while I'm at it?

Kate: W…What? Tell me anything!

Daisy: Next time you come to visit me, bring me some blue poppies. I love them.

("Next time you come."….)

Kate: Yes, I understand. I'll definitely bring it!

I nodded my head strongly, happy to know that she has hope for tomorrow.

(Poppies are a common variety, and I should be able to get them at any florist.)

Daisy: Fufu, as you should…

Elbert:….

I always feel uneasy about whether I will see her again tomorrow, and the corridor at dusk feels more lonely than usual.

Kate: Lord Elbert, is it okay…if I stop at any flower shop?

Elbert: That's fine, but...

Lord Elbert stopped with a somewhat solemn look on his face.

Kate: Is something wrong?

Elbert: Blue poppies...I believe they are a rare variety that blooms from alpine regions of the Himalayas.

Kate: What?

(Himalayas….!?)

Alfons: That's quite….a bargain you've made.

Mr. Alfons, who returned to the castle in the morning and woke up just now,

He listened to our story with his chin resting languidly and laughed merrily.

Kate: Lord Elbert told me that Mr. Alfons has been playing around London all night long.

Kate: I asked him if he knew of a shop that sells rare flowers…..

Alfons: Don't talk about people as if they are playboys, Elbert.

Elbert:…? You’re different?

Alfons: Correct. But even I, a playboy who quenches my boredom with rumors everywhere….

Alfons: I've never heard of a store selling Himalayan flowers.

Kate: Is that so…

(What if we put other colors of the poppies? ….But,)

(I want to do everything I can to help Daisy remember her hopes from tomorrow onwards.)

(Are there any other suggestions….)

Elbert: Al, can I borrow your ability?

Kate:…Mr. Alfons’ ability?

Elbert: Al can make you see an illusion of whatever he says while touching the nape of your neck.

(An illusion….)

Kate: Does this mean that you can make poppies of a different color appear blue?

Alfons: Yes, think of it as a convenient hallucinogen, whether it's blue or shocking pink.

(Surely that would grant Daisy's wish.)

(But….if possible, I wanted to find the real one.)

Alfons: Although it is tempting to use my ability to deceive an innocent girl and fabricate a temporary salvation….

Alfons: Blue poppies, perhaps it can be found in El’s room?

Kate: Eh?

Alfons: I think I saw a pressed flower frame before. If I am not mistaken.

Alfons: Why don't you look for that junk tomorrow?

(In Lord Elbert’s room…?)

A confidential letter was received before Daisy's visit.

I thought of bringing a souvenir to Daisy's visit today, but I'll pick up the cookies you mentioned yesterday on the way. She seems to have a sweet tooth, so I'm sure she'll enjoy it….just like you said.

I'm sorry for making you lie to Victor.

If you have anything to say, please tell me. You have nothing to blame yourself for. — Elbert Greetia.

 ▸       [  previous / next ]

[silverspleen]

Still gently bewildered by Hadir's motivations, like, obviously not when it comes to main plot beats, I totally understand his motivations with the lengths he'll go to to ensure his goals are met, but why specifically did he encourage Alex to be in the position he's in with Farah. He is so chummy with him!

I mean besides the fact that Alex + Gaz are the two MW19 PCs so like, they are legally obligated to be actively involved in the narrative to draw in the player and keep them informed via the avatar of two very pretty military boys, and the players needs to be in a position where Hadir "Alex we're brothers now" Karim betrays you to be like "GASP but we're bros."

But Hadir, sir, that man's job is not just "killing russians" it's also destabilizing small countries for the united states government it is only by the grace of him being a MASSIVE SIMP for your sister and her iron fucking will that he's stuck around for as long as he has. Hadir wasn't even there for Alex being like "lol I'm defecting" when Laswell tried to pull him out. He was gone! The betrayal had happened! Dude you were there for the "I don't decide where I go they just send me" rooftop conversation, Alex is a third party with very ulterior motives why are you playing so niceys with him!

This man's entire job is to be here on behalf of the us government hunting down chemical weapons and you, the man who has stolen the chemical weapons with plans to actively use them against your very bullheaded sister's wishes are like, making cute lil' guns for him and your sister like :) "Alex pls tell my sister when I betray her to not freak out and try to murder me, Alex do u promise? promise to explain?" like, dude this man's entire job in your country was to hunt you down???

"Alex why did you bring her here?" (Wolf's Den) Man, first of all you clearly know Farah is going to do what she wants and it should be obvious by this point that Alex will 100% support her. Second of all this is literally his mission.

Third of all you have known this man for exactly

(checks wiki)

THREE DAYS

anyway

I'm assuming it all has to logically come back to Farah and the fact that he's her older brother. Obviously culturally I'm not sure how the older+younger sibling dynamic goes when you spend your childhood in russian prison camp and your baby sister is your CO but like, he clearly still loves her so much despite their ideological differences. And it really seems like ideological differences are not a huge deal for him. There's the fact that later he is very much convinced (correctly) that Price will help him destroy the gas factory completely based on their shared history and relationship with Farah, so like, emotions are really driving his actions. He knew Farah would hate him and he wouldn't be able to be there for her and idk he's projecting something onto Alex a little methinks. Alex is helpful for like... three days and Hadir's brain gets to thinking. Probably reading into it too much but that's what I'm gonna stick to as some kind of character analysis.

It's all means to an end but idk it feels weirdly naive of him to be so lackadaisical with alliances??? which is both charming and deeply tragic in it's own right. Like, it worked out, it was a good idea to get Alex so involved considering I'm vaguely aware that by MW3 he is still Farah's second, but like, idk dude were there not any nice ULF guys you could have gotten to replace you when you defected to the faction Farah fucking hates???? No??? This fuckin'... All American CIA guy you've known for three days is your brother now and who you're going to entrust your sister to? ok then

[drthrvn]

i'll be honest with you guys, i'm worried this whole stuation with the missiles killing to people in Przewodów, Poland might impact Polish-Ukrainian relations and not in a positive way.

as long as we trust NATO, Polish and American sources, at this point it's pretty much sure that the missiles were fired from Ukraine. and as i already wrote earlier: no one in Poland is blaiming Ukrainians for that, they were defending themselves and a tragic error might have ocurred. we are blaiming russia cause hadn't they had started the invasion, this just wouldn't have happened.

Polish officials were very careful with what they were presenting to the public, they were asking the media not to share any unconfirmed information. it actually took them few hours to give any statement - at first it seemed that the missiles were russian and later, after

Ukrainian authorities jumped to conclusions immediately, saying that the missiles were 100% russian and there's no way they were Ukrainian - and again, i can't really blame them for that. the problem is that it seems that they might be wrong and yet they aren't admitting it. i see many Poles online annoyed by that, saying that they just should admit it cause it's not like amyone here would blame them, especially since our politicians are constantly underlining how it's russia who is reponsible for all of that. i've even seen some voices that Zelensky wants to "drug us into the war" cause he's hoping that if the missiles were russian, we would request article 5 implementation (others are saying that since this war is so crucial for our region or the entire Europe, we are already part of it, especially since we've been supplying Ukrainians with weapons and helping them in various areas). so yeah, i don't think it's looking good.

i'm not saying i agree with anything with that, i just wanted to express my worries and to present how the situation looks out here so pls Ukrainians don't feel attacked by this post.

[ocpdzim]

WEIRD! NICHE! DIFFICULT TO ENJOY!

In honor of my dismay over Grubstep not being a real album, I'm recommending some of my favorite WEIRD, NICHE, and DIFFICULT TO ENJOY music to you all. I get to be weird and pretentious as a treat. Noise warning for basically all these.

The Shaggs - "Philosophy of the World" : I'm starting off with a doozy here but since discovering it from a "worst song" poll I have been obsessed w this. It's an album written and performed entirely by a group of teenage sisters with 0 musical training - they even developed their own system for writing down and reading music, since they never were taught the usual one. It's actually been fairly influential, apparently... It's certainly unique, you can tell it's very meticulously put together but in a way that you would never expect someone to do on purpose. The songs all have a very mournful undertone to them even when the lyrics are ostensibly cheerful. My favorite song on the album is "My Pal Foot Foot," about the girls' cat that got away from home.

The Magnetic Fields - Various Songs : The Magnetic Fields is a band that's always worth listening to but not always weird, niche, or difficult to enjoy. Every now and then, though, they'll put out a more experimental number that knocks you right on your ass when you try to listen to it in the middle of an otherwise fairly accessible album. I think this is a highly respectable thing for a band to do. Examples of these unusual songs are "The Day I Finally...," "The 1989 Musical Marching Zoo," "How Fucking Romantic," "Love Is Like Jazz," and "Experimental Music Love."

Captain Beefheart - "Trout Mask Replica" : It's difficult to describe what's happening in this album and I'm really not going to try. Less harsh noise than a lot of the stuff on this list but just as discordant. Fair disclaimer that I haven't looked up all the lyrics yet because it's really long and I mostly can't understand what he's saying, though. My favorite on this album is "Ella Guru."

Le Butcherettes - "Mr. Tolstoi" : This is just one song. Le Butcherettes' other songs are also awesome but not particularly weird or difficult to enjoy. This one specific song rules so hard though that it deserves a spot on this list despite being only 1 song. It's very frenetic and high energy and she's doing like, a bad fake Russian accent. It rules.

Ada Rook - "UGLY DEATH NO REDEMPTION ANGEL CURSE I LOVE YOU" : This is one of the more accessible albums on this list (?) and I debated whether to include it at all because I was thinking it is very well thought out and polished and therefore might not be weird or difficult to enjoy enough, but then I thought, I probably have a higher bar for weird and difficult to enjoy than most people, I don't think I'd hear it on the radio, and it is such a good album that I hate to ever not include it while making music recommendations. It's one of my all time favorites. It's hard to pick favorite songs off this album because every single song is a strong contender, but I guess I'd say my favorites are "Tru U" and "Gravity Weapon."

Clown Core - "Van" : Recommended to me very recently by @gr3y-heron, this one is instrumental aside from possibly some heavily distorted yelling. Lots of different instruments thrown together in really cool ways. They use clown squeaky horns sometimes. Pretty great.

Machine Girl - "Wlfgrl" : Not sure how niche Machine Girl is but I do think it's weird and difficult to enjoy. Instrumental aside from some samples of movies and things, very cut up electronic. I think it's breakcore but there are so many different names for music subgenres please don't kill me if I'm wrong. I just listen to them I'm not up on the information.

Dorian Electra - "My Agenda" : This is a lot more out there than Dorian Electra's first album, and is like, a concept album based on toxic masculinity and incel culture. This is another I'm not 100% sure is actually niche but I don't really know how to tell, to be honest. It gets pretty explicit so watch out for that. My favorite song on this album is "Ram It Down."

Cardiacs - "Sing To God" : A CLASSIC weird album. So much is happening in this album. "Dirty Boy" is apparently considered the best song on the album by a large number of people, and I do like it, but my personal favorite by a long shot is "Fiery Gun Hand."

Is my music not WEIRD, NICHE, and DIFFICULT TO ENJOY enough for you? Well, if you can do better, I'd love to see it. No, seriously. Please show me if you have any weirder, more niche, and/or more difficult to enjoy music. I like that stuff but it's super hard to find and I'm dissatisfied with my collection.

[siancore]

Hi. I was wondering, I really want to write a SamBucky fic but I'm a bit worried that I won't get their characters right. Do you have any tips on how to make sure that doesn't happen? Like, they aren't written out of character.

Hey. I hope you do write for SamBucky. We need more good fics out there.

I’ll just rattle off a few things that help me with writing these characters. The things I focus on related to canon are:

Mannerism: Bucky has a morbid sense of humour; Sam is a thrill-seeker and a little reckless; Sam is caring and helpful; Bucky isn’t trusting of people he doesn’t know; Sam is charming; Bucky can be charming when he wants to be; Sam likes to joke around, but is also very serious when he needs to be. Both are good with kids. Sam is an excellent public speaker. Bucky doesn’t speak too often unless he has something to say. Bucky prefers to be called ‘Bucky’ over ‘James’. Sam knows that he is good-looking. Bucky is protective by nature. 

Vernacular: Both are multi-lingual; Bucky acquires language quickly; Sam uses African-American Vernacular English; Bucky would not have extensive modern lexicon in English and would revert to phrases or words he would have used throughout the 30s and 40s whilst speaking English. Language-wise, he most likely dreams in Russian (unless it’s a specific memory) because of the depth of language immersion coupled with the wiping of his memory. Generally takes around 8 years to stop dreaming in your native tongue. Bucky often uses the contraction ‘ain’t’. He also wouldn’t necessarily say ‘gay’ or ‘queer’ as ‘queer’ was still considered a slur in the 40s and the widely used term at the time was ‘homosexual’.

Physicality: Sam is a slow runner (I love him for that); both are fit; both are acrobatic; Bucky uses brute strength; Bucky is taller than Sam; Sam has an ass that won’t quit. Sam initiates a lot of physical touch between them. Bucky’s wounds heal quickly. Bucky can be very dangerous as an opponent, but he isn’t a danger to those around him.

Expression: Sam smiles widely; Bucky’s eyes crinkle when he smiles; Sam folds his arms over his chest when he is concentrating; Bucky leans his weight to one side. They both routinely drift into one another’s personal space. Bucky looks at Sam with heart eyes; Bucky looks at Sam’s lips and drags his gaze over Sam’s body.

Other things: Sam was pararescue in the US Air Force. Bucky was in the US Army. Sam was serving when Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was in force. Bucky was serving when being gay was considered a mental disorder and any soldier caught with another man would face court martial; dishonorable discharge; arrest; or sent off to be institutionalised.

Now, if you want to write a SamBucky AU, to keep them in character, all you need to do is stick to a couple of the things listed above. A really easy one is Bucky’s sense of humour and Sam’s charm. They go together well. They are literally the sunshine one and the grumpy one. Describe their smiles. Sam always has the best, brightest smile, Bucky doesn’t give his genuine smiles to just anyone. Another thing that always works well with this ship is that Bucky always notices that Sam is good-looking even if it’s enemies to lovers; even when Sam is annoying him (also annoys him that Sam’s annoying face is annoyingly handsome). Always show the reader Bucky’s internal dialogue when he sees what Sam looks like. Always have Bucky pining for Sam lol

Things to steer clear of:

-          Anything that is gross and homophobic

-          Anything that is gross and racist

-          Anything that reinforces harmful racist stereotypes

-          Sam as a therapist for Bucky (unless that’s the premise of the fic)

-          Bucky using Sam to get over Steve

-          Sam being a second choice for Bucky because he can’t have Steve

-          The care being one-sided

I hope this is helpful. This has worked for me with writing for SamBucky.

Just some info about me to add context to why these are the things about them that I focus on: I am in love with Sam Wilson and I relate to Bucky Barnes. I’m queer and Black and am into linguistics and history. I am multi-lingual, have taught history and languages, and have spoken on panels multiple times about queer experience and history. Who I am informs how I write these characters and the approach I take. Sam Wilson gets nothing but love and adoration in my fics. Think about how who you are relates to them. Think about what you love about them and dial it up to 100! 

Thanks for reaching out and trusting my opinion. Happy writing!

[oscaronthegloryroad]

Story Time, kinda.

I have a co-worker (for now) that I have to talk about, lets call him Peter.

Peter is an 18 year old who came to the states from Russia when he was in middle school which leads into some funny things: 1. There is a vast gulf of popular culture that he just doesn't get, including jokes that he makes and doesn't really get. 2. While I admit that I have a warped knowledge/perception of world history I am at least aware that the united states has committed genocide, Peter refutes that the USSR/Russia has ever done anything like that. Vehemently. 3. Peter will listed to Russian comedians and podcasts on his phone speaker, no big deal, but its funny because he'll laugh at something and look over to other people and start to say something before remembering that he is the only person that understands what he is listening to. 4. His favourite word seems to be "bitch", I am not entirely sure if he knows what it means. 5. He can read and write in cursive because it was taught in his Russian school and he was kinda salty about a lot of people here not using cursive. 6. He will occasionally stop dead with a piece of gear he is supposedly to be merching and read the Russian language information off the box in a mumble.

Unrelated to being Russian/ESOL: 1. He views himself as a great philosopher and sociologist, at age 18, and thinks he has the world figured out because he listens to a bunch of philosophy youtubers. 2. If he is to be believed, which I doubt he is, he does a ton of drugs and thinks it is truly bizarre that most of his coworkers don't. 3. He thinks it is really weird that I drink alcohol. 4. He is working on a book that he claims will revolutionize modern sociology. I should state again, he is an 18 year old high school graduate with not academic study in the field other than reading random books. 5. He speaks fluently in jargon and buzzword. 6. He is into crypto and NFTs, to the extent that when two of his supervisors and myself expressed doubts about NFTs being anything more than money laundering attached to shitty art he ranted about decentralized currency for a solid five minutes. 7. He states his opinions as fact. And if you call him on it he tells you he's just saying what he thinks. 8. He compares what we do to sex work (okay) with framing to put what we do on par with sex work (alright) because he views sex work very negatively (Oh.). 9. The first time we had a shift together be basically asked me what my sexual orientation is, then tried to explain my "Bi, or, pan or something. I'm just queer." answer to me. 10. He also works at a shoe store and talks about how its better than working where we work together because there are no expectations there.

He is 100% an edgelord dipshit who calls himself an anarcho-communist. But the thing about him calling himself any kind of communist is that he has little-to-no respect for common property or things that aren't his. And maybe my concept of communism is outdated, but I think that makes him an awful shitty communist.

But I don't have to deal with him for much longer! Because he has proven to be unreliable, unmotivated, slow, and an active detriment to the workplace environment (my words, my boss just called him "fucking useless") his hours were cut. And honestly, he was lucky not to just get canned. So he got butt hurt and spent an entire shift bitching about it. Then put in two weeks notice. My favourite part about that is that he was going on about how he would have no trouble getting a job because he has good work ethic, after demonstrating the exact opposite for two months

[tlbodine]

Hi! Im writing a story that has to mix fantasy and reality, Ive always been interested in folklore, cultures, and beliefs of other people. All of these things are involved in my story, I wanted to add in a character that is Native American (Her name is Rosalie), I'm on the fence because I don't want to touch something that I shouldn't. How should I go about this? Should I change her ethnicity, Should I in someway make it my own? Or how should I write it or should I write about something else.

This is tricky. And the answer is going to be really long. Sorry. 

I want to make it clear that I am not myself in any way a representative of Native people or claiming to be one. I’m just a white lady who grew up near the reservation and have had maybe more interactions with Native American cultures than a lot of people. But at the end of the day, I’d defer judgment to people closer to the people being specifically affected. 

So, with that disclaimer out of the way. Here’s the thing. I’m not here to tell anybody what they should or should not write about. But I can hopefully give you some stuff to think about that will help you decide. 

Thing One: “Native American” is not a monoculture. There are 574 tribes federally recognized by the U.S. government. They are all culturally distinct. They each have their own histories, mythology, religion, food, lifestyle, and so forth. So before you go creating any Native OC, you’re gonna want to narrow that down to a tribal affiliation. 

You can do this one of two ways. You can choose a geographic location and then look for a tribe who lives in that area, or you can choose a tribe and then root them in that geographic location. Of course, a Lakota Sioux could live in New York, but she wouldn’t be from New York, you feel me? 

Writing about “Native Americans” without understanding their tribal affiliation and history is like writing about “Europeans” as if Italians and Russians and Greeks and Germans were all the same. 

Thing Two: If you’re going to be talking about mythology/folklore, you need to do your research while also recognizing that a lot of the most accurate and authentic information is not going to be accessible to you. 

A lot of Native cultures are “closed” cultures in the sense that they’re not going to teach sacred knowledge and rituals to outsiders. They’re just not. It’s none of your business. They’re not hiding this information from you because they want to be greedy, they’re hiding it because until 1978 it was illegal for them to practice their religion in public in a lot of the country. A lot of things from Native cultures have been erased forever or diluted by outside influences. 

So this means that if you’re writing a character whose life includes or is influenced by traditional culture, there are some things you won’t be able to portray accurately. And I personally think it would be disrespectful to just make something up, especially if you don’t make it extremely clear that you’re making it up. 

For an example of how this could work: The film Dance Me Outside is a really great mystery-thriller set on a reservation, and I heartily recommend it. But there’s one scene where one of the characters has married a white guy. She brings him home to her family and, for plot reasons, needs him to be out of her hair for a bit. So she sends him out with some of her male relatives to keep him occupied. They decide it would be hilarious to do a “naming ceremony” to give him an “Indian Name.” It’s very clear in the narrative that they’re making this up as they go along -- they are creating what they think he thinks a naming ceremony would look like, and he’s gullible enough to go along with it because he’s eager to please (and at this point very drunk). The scene is very funny and advances the plot and develops some characterization without ever actually revealing any secret/sacred knowledge. 

But in general? If something is sacred to a tribe? You don’t get to fuck around with it. You don’t get to put your own fresh spin on it or just make up stuff that “sounds” authentic. Because...

Thing Three: You will encounter a TON of fake or inaccurate information out there. Just, a ton. Because here’s the thing. White folks didn’t just commit genocide against Native people. It wasn’t enough to destroy their people and their culture. White folks have a really long history with appropriating their culture. 

So the situation is that you get a group of people whose ancestors were actively hunted like animals (there were bounties for scalps!), sent to forced re-education camps where they were frequently abused and scrubbed of their culture and language, and who were not allowed to practice their religion under threat of law. And at the same time, aspects of those religions and cultures -- that the people who made them cannot practice! -- are taken and absorbed into pop culture.

Yeah. It’s shitty. 

So when you’re researching, you need to be absolutely certain that your sources are coming from actual Native Americans from the tribe you want to write about and not from white folks who think some aspect of their culture is neat. Because, personally, I feel like cultural appropriation -- in the context of Native Americans -- is continuing to perpetuate genocide, and that feels icky. 

Thing Four: Modern Natives =/= Historical Natives. 

There is this....weird, colonialist tendency to imagine Native Americans as...living fossils, or quaint backwards people who live in old-fashioned ways, or as a thing that used to exist but not anymore. I get the impression talking to a lot of people that they think Native Americans stopped existing in the Wild West days. Like “Indian” is a category in their head alongside “Cowboy” and “Samurai” and “Pirate” or whatever. 

But that’s not, like....the case. Modern Native American people exist, and they have varied and complex relationships with their culture and history just like everybody else. Some people live on reservations and practice traditional religious and cultural practices. Some people live in small towns or cities and practice a mixture of modern and more traditional lifestyles. A lot of them are Christian. Some blend cultural aspects of their tribe with Christian aspects of religion. And so on and so forth. It will 100% depend on the individual! 

There are also aspects of cultures that get blended across tribal affiliations! This is especially true among the sort of “powwow culture” groups who dance competitively or trade crafts at powwows and fairs. 

Anyway the whole thing is VERY COMPLICATED and honestly not something you’re going to learn from reading a book. It’s the kind of nuance that’s only going to make sense to you if you’re hanging out with Native people and understand their individual lives. 

Thing Five: There are a ton of harmful stereotypes and things you maybe don’t even think about or realize are stereotypes because there is so much misinformation out there. I feel like almost every representation of Native Americans in media is bad because most of the stories are written by folks who just don’t know what it’s like to be Native, and they’re writing for a White audience. 

PHEW. Okay. That was a lot. If you’re still reading, THANK YOU. 

So what’s my answer to your question? 

I think it really depends. Why do YOU want to write a Native OC? Are you willing to put in some time and effort to research them? What kind of story are they going to feature in? I think by and large, people outside of a culture shouldn’t try to write stories about being that culture. As in, like, I don’t think a white person has any business writing a story to “illuminate the struggles” of Native people or anything like that. 

But if you want one of the characters in your horror novel to be Native because the story takes place in an area with a lot of Native people, sure. That makes sense. And if that person’s frame of reference is flavored by their culture, sure, go for it. 

But I certainly would not recommend writing a story that, for example, re-casts a sacred/mythological Native American figure as a monster (cough, Wendigo, cough), or one that creatively reimagines the mythology unless it is exceptionally clear that the mythology is being reimagined and is not meant to be accurate at all (because otherwise it runs the risk of further polluting an already almost-extinct culture). 

So...that’s my opinion. I hope this was helpful!

[steveharrington]

your dustin opinions are impeccable. also, would you mind elaborating on what your problems with the scoops troop plot? something about it has never sat completely right with me but i'm not sure how to put it into words

yeah for sure! to start out i’ll say that the scoops troop plotline was probably my favorite of the season, as in i had the most fun watching it. obv im biased because whichever group steve is in will probably be the most entertaining to me, i adore him, but it was also due largely to robin’s presence and the chemistry that i think joe maya gaten and priah all had as a group. that being said though i think the plotline was handled in a really weird, lowkey eerie way that all comes down to tone. 

stranger things started out as a drama. like, when it’s recognized in awards shows it’s in the drama category, which puts it up against shows like game of thrones, the handmaid’s tale, shows that tend to have really serious, oftentimes dark content. it fits because stranger things IS dark. it draws inspiration from classic horror movies, characters die, usually in pretty horrible ways, children are traumatized, etc. that’s not to say that there hasn’t ever been humor in the show before scoops troop, obviously there has been, but on the whole the show had a pretty dark premise and a lot of dramatic moments that are written 100% to be dramatic. there tended to be a really good balance of knowing when to keep the tone serious and when to lighten it up a bit. in season three, i personally felt like the duffers decided to try to make the show both a drama and a comedy in equal measure, and their way of doing that was to keep the dark content matter but to make the lighthearted tone more frequent, and that manifested mostly in the scoops troop. it’s made a little worse by the fact that steve, dustin, and erica are undoubtedly comic relief characters. steve’s entire character since season one has pretty much been delegated to being laughed at, dustin has always been the kid with the most jokes and the least emotional arcs, and erica was literally made a season regular based on the fact that people thought she was funny in season two. also, i think the duffers lowkey realized how ridiculous the russian plotline is so they figured adding humor and making the russian general so cartoonish would relieve some of the audiences disbelief that this would ever happen. the result you get is really fucking weird, though. 

right away it’s strange how casual they are about everything. i think the duffers were going for like “these clueless children were just having fun and they accidentally stumbled into a dark deadly secret” but it doesn’t really work when they see men with giant guns and think “okay anyways, how are we gonna get past them?” you can argue that steve and dustin have been desensitized, but robin and erica haven’t. once the elevator drops, they become reasonably freaked out and for the first time you get the since that they’re genuinely scared, but even then it’s treated as a joke. again, this isn’t the first instance of this happening in stranger things. steve has a meltdown every single season and it’s always been used for humor during a serious moment, but in seasons one and two it was just a momentary break from the intensity of whatever was happening. in season three, the jokes are consecutive. steve has his meltdown, then there’s a conversation about him liking robin, then there’s a piss joke (??) like there’s never a moment where they stop and really consider that like damn we’re trapped underground with no food or water and no hope at anyone figuring out where we are. that would all be okay if that was the extent of it, because characters on stranger things have had much worse fates than being slightly dehydrated, but then it takes a super sharp turn and becomes irredeemably dark. when i was watching the season for the first time i found it insanely jarring how fast it goes from steve being completely fine to steve being covered in blood. the duffers clearly want to keep up the routine of him getting beaten up, and they go a little harder on him every time, so this being the third time means he’s like pretty seriously injured. i would say the only scene the scoops troop gets that’s 100% serious is the one where they bring steve back to the room and robin is like “what did you do to him” and all that. that was good! that was realistic! but as soon as he’s awake again they switch back to banter and ahaha steve confuses his left and right bc he’s dumb. the thing that Really gets me is that the season 3 trailer used the shot of him getting jabbed with the needle in a very deliberate way to get people to theorize and be like “season 3 steve harrington DIES???” so like obviously they knew how dark it looked out of context. the thing is like......even WITH context it’s dark!! like the duffers were like “so at this point steve and robin, the oldest of whom just graduated high school like a month ago, are going to be tied up and drugged against their consent (after physical violence didn’t work) to get them to confess information that they literally don’t know. and it’s gonna be fuckin hilarious :) one of them is gonna almost get his fingernails removed by pliers haha” and it’s batshit crazy. 

the best way to really realize how insane it is is to rewatch the older seasons. i rewatched season one recently and when the scene where hopper is interrogated came on, i was like wait hold the fucking phone. he’s just getting tased. and it was treated SO SERIOUSLY in comparison to when steve who is at most 19 years old gets knocked unconscious during an interrogation and later says his ears are ringing and he cant breathe. the scene where nancy and jonathan are surrounded by all the lab employees at the park is super unsettling and eerie and you’re like oh shit these two teenagers just walked right into a government secret. when there are russians surrounding steve and robin with guns, they put in a joke about dustin quoting a movie at them. 

im not saying that this is Problematic or Immoral or anything like that. this isnt like a duffer brothers call out post. like i said, this was still my favorite storyline in the season. i actually think it’s weirdly fascinating. like you know when they take trailers for like, high school musical and just add scary sound effects and editing to make it look like a horror movie? it’s the same premise as the scoops troop. it’s a super dark premise but with jokes and writing that makes it seem like a fun goofy coming of age story. if the duffers were Intentionally trying to do a subversion where they’re like “look we tricked you into laughing while these children were traumatized and nearly killed” i think that wouldve been brilliant. i don’t really think that’s what they were going for, though. i think they accidentally put all their comic relief characters into one group and wanted as many laughs as they could get to break up the drama of the other groups. it just so happened that they also almost tore steve’s fingernails out with pliers :///

[larktb-archive]

Whenever I go to block a racist I've been seeing a post that claims that revolutions dont work and peaceful protests do.

These are the examples said post uses:

These are all fucking terrible examples to use and I'm gonna go in order of worse to best which isn't saying much.

Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace

Yes this did in fact end the civil war. But no one denied that peaceful protests can make momentary symbolic changes such as ending a war or gaining a country its independence. This does often happen and you can list off dozens of countries wherein there has been a peaceful response to violence which has seemingly brought about an end to that violence I should know this because after all I come from the best known example of that happening aside from India (and I'll come back to my home country eventually). The problem with saying this is that it ignores the aftermath of the "peace" and whether or not it made enough of a difference in peoples lives for it to matter; even though external visible violence has been quelled, other covert forms of violence stay in place.

Liberia is a good example of this because of one major issue in Liberia: Corruption. Millions of USD are lost every year due to members of the government pocketing the money for themselves to the extent where, according to Transparency International, Liberia is 137 out of 180 and 53% of public service users had paid a bribe within the year of 2019. Interestingly enough the OP of that post calls China and Cuba corrupt despite the fact that Cuba is 60th and China is 80th. But I guess what happens after the revolutions is successful only matters when you're talking about places you dislike.

This corruption has lead to protests in 2019 and 2020, wherein police used tear gas to disperse peaceful protesters. Something to note is the minister of informations accusation of the protests being caused by outside elite forces. Rings a bell but I'm not sure from where.

Now one of the reasons Liberia is so corrupt is because of the lack of punishment against the main actors of the civil war, in spite of the trc listing out 100+ perpetrators and recommending that they be dealt with.

Then president, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, was on this list and has admitted that she backed the civil war. She went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

Jasmine Revolution

Around 79% of people in post revolution Tunisia think the country is "going in the wrong direction", 29% of people would not vote with 48% not knowing who they would vote for, 81% said they don't feel close to a political party, 57% said they aren't interested at all in elections, only 20% believed elections would be free and fair, 45% said they disapprove of the current president, 71% said the government isn't addressing the needs of the youth, 50% of people said the government struggles with preventing political violence and I could go on and on.

But this is only 1 study with a very small sample size so by itself it's not a lot.

But when you compound that with a corruption index of 74, an unemployment rate of 15% (compared to Vietnam and Cubas horrible 3% rate and Chinas 6% rate), ~100,000 skilled workers leaving the country and a slowly increasing number of asylum applicants leads me to think that the data is not unfounded.

Suicide and murder rates also increased after the revolution, with cases of self immolation increasing threefold, such as with the case of Abderrazak Zorgui, who's death sparked protests which turned violent after the police were sent in to quell them.

At least 800 Tunisians went to fight for Isil and that's only counting those who came back from Syria. For comparison 900 returned to Turkey and 760 returned to Saudi Arabia.

Much like Liberia there has not been any justice, with the government instead introducing a law granting amnesty to former members of the dictatorship in Tunisia. A constitutional court was supposed to be set up in 2014 to speed up this process. 6 years on it still hasnt been set up.

Rose Revolution

Now this one is interesting. Georgia has a corruption ranking of 44, its unemployment rate of 11%, although higher than the corrupt, evil nations of Cuba and Vietnam isn't terrible and its Gini Coefficient is 36.4 which is pretty average.

So what's wrong with this one?

Well for starters four years after the Rose Revolution, Georgian protestors once again took to the capital to protest against the increasing amount of power, President Saakashvili, who led the Rose Revolution, was gaining.

To be more specific in 2004, legislation was passed to give him the right to dissolve parliament and in 2006 local elections were manipulated so that the government would dominate local legislatures.

And what's that? The president of Georgia blamed outside Russian influence on the protests and sent in police with tear gas and water cannons? That seems weirdly familiar familiar. Where have I heard that one before.

Here is a quote from a leader of a peaceful revolution after peaceful protests against him took place: "Everyone has the right to express disagreement in a democratic country. But the authorities will never allow destabilisation and chaos".

Interesting how after he was put in power, suddenly peaceful protest is the work of Moscow and needs to be controlled by police. Funny that. But this is totally a successful revolution guys!

And how many protests happened after this one? 3, not including the anti-homophobia protest. I think if you need to protest against the government every few years to the point where people keep calling each new protest, the Rose Revolution 2.0, your 1st revolution wasn't that successful.

Womans Suffrage

But before I talk about the relatively well off post-Soviet nations let's just do a assessment of the absolutely dumb as fuck idea that the Suffragists were more effective than the Suffragetes despite the Suffragists making no progress in the 40 years they existed prior to the branching off of the Suffragettes.

Now some historians do agree that the Suffragettes more violent methods did begin to turn men away from granting womens suffrage during their later years. Less concrete is the idea that this outweighs the net positive they had on the movement for womens suffrage.

In fact heres a contemporary source from 1906 praising the suffragette movement:

"I hope the more old-fashioned suffragists will stand by them. In my opinion, far from having injured the movement, [the Suffragettes] have done more during the last 12 months to bring it within the region of practical politics than we have been able to accomplish in the same number of years"

Who said that? Millicent Fawcett? Oh clearly she's just biased towards suffragettes?

But even if I gave evidence that the Suffragettes were indeed more effective than the Suffragists, you could easily find an opposing argument and vice versa. Ww1 happened and in the end that swift change of culture is what gave women their rights to vote (or at least the wealthy).

What can be argued is the historical reasons of why the Suffragettes became even more violent in 2nd decade of the 20th century leading to more guerrilla warfare like tactics being deployed such as arson.

Black Friday happened. Was a protests against the government caused by then Prime Minister Asquith, reneging his promise to put a bill granting womens suffrage through parliament. This protest started off as peaceful and ended up with women being physically and sexually assaulted by the police and counterprotesters with there being accusations of plain clothes police officers inciting this violence. Do I even have to say it?

In order to avoid further molestation, the Suffragettes stopped doing large gatherings with each other and went "underground" so to speak getting more and more violent.

What we should recall is the fact that prior to this Emmeline Pankhurst told the Suffragettes to stop all operations and renewed them after this traumatic event.

Prior to the suffragettes emergence the fight for women's rights had been by in large ignored by the public and it was only after their emergence that this became an issue in the forefront of the public's mind.

For a more nuanced view:

"Viewing the militant movement from the second half of the twentieth century, it is difficult to argue that violence does not ‘pay off’.   [The history of independence of the colonies, and Civil Rights campaigns in the USA shows that violence can succeed.]   It may be that suffragette violence after 1912 fell between two stools, being inadequate to force the government but sufficiently destructive to antagonise public opinion.  This writer [i.e. Constance Rover] is of the opinion that, as the events turned out, militant tactics helped the women's suffrage movement until 1912, but after that date were harmful.   This does not mean that militancy was necessarily a foolish policy.   With hindsight, one can conclude that militancy failed in the last two years before the war, but with the experience of rebellion we have had since, one cannot conclude that militant tactics are an unsuccessful means of obtaining an objective such as enfranchisement..."

- Constance Rover 1967.

I use the quote in specific because it calls the civil rights movement violent. And was written a year prior to the end of the movement. It's almost as if the movement has been whitewashed by liberals to be a completely non-violent effort or something.

Singing Revolution and Velvet Revolution

I'm putting both of these together as these states are all former Soviet nations who have became arguably more successful than others like Moldova, Bulgaria and the aforementioned Georgia.

Now in the post-Soviet Baltic states, there are a large list of things i could talk about. The high suicide rates, the mass exodus leading to a quarter of the population in each nation leaving them, the large amount of people at risk of poverty, high incarceration rates, the gutting of labour laws, the rise of anti-semitism and the glorification of Nazis within their societies all come to mind. Some of these also apply to Czechia and Slovakia.

I could talk about specific events such as the Gorilla scandal, the murder Jan of Kuciak literally everything concerning Czech prime minister Babiš and the large proportion of Soviet Nostalgia in both Czechia and Slovakia (1/3 in the former and 1/2 in the latter).

I could mention protests that have taken place after these revolutions leading to the usage of rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters who were acting non-violently. But I'd be repeating myself so I'm leaving it at that.

"But Lilly" you might say, "that doesn't necessarily disprove OPs point that these protests were successful, they did after all achieve their goals of 'political revolution/ending war/gaining womens suffrage".

And that's true. But...

TL;DR

OP used these as examples to contrast against so called failed violent revolutions with OP using violent revolutions like Vietnam, Haiti, Cuba, China, the USSR and the French Revolution as examples of failed revolutions. Anyone with a brain knows these revolutions absolutely succeeded in their short term goals of political change. There is no Tsar anymore, Cuba and Vietnam are still socialist, the aristocracy of france were decapitated, Haitians arent slaves and China has no emperor.

So where does the problem with these revolutions lie? Well according to OP:

... of course as we've just seen the so called successful peaceful revolutions are also poverty-ridden, corrupt and unstable with problems years later so what's the actual difference? There is none (aside from the historical revisionism of socialist states but that's beside the point), it's just hypocrisy and an incredibly silly gotcha to those currently arguing for violent protest.

I could continue and talk about how Haiti collapsed because of sanctions from racist countries who wanted to punish Haiti for fighting against their white masters, how Vietnam was practically always in war throughout the 20th century and how its stabilized since the end of the Viet-Khmer war, how Cuba infinitely improved the lives of all Cubans and was far more humanitarian than any western nation at the time, how the USSR and communist China turned Russia and China from poor feudal states to economic powerhouses which were far more equal in nature than the US.

But this post is way too long and I don't want to have to read through another dozen sources written by anti-communists liberals again.

Edit: the conclusion didnt save properly (thanks tumblr)

To end I'll say that the major problem with non-violent protests that is shared by every single one of these examples (apart from womens rights) is the lack of punishment towards those who caused the problems the people were protesting against. This means that said people can become president or a member of the government without any impediment and those people continue to be corrupt. From Ellen Sirleaf Johnson to Mikheil Saakashvili to the Tunisian government to Andrej Babiš. On the other hand violent revolution makes sure that those who war complicit in the crimes of the past are not able to usher in the crimes of the future, even if others eventually do.

The thing about that is progress has still been made, and even if they begin to reverse some of the gains that had been made they cant reverse all of them. With non-violent revolutions there is no change except for the ways that those in power step on the working class being more covert than overt.

You can decide which you prefer.