Speaking Of Linguistics, There’s One Particular Linguistic Tick That I Think Clearly Separates Baby

Two sign memes in one day! Wow!

in guarani there's a standard greeting that literally translates to "are you happy" (ndevy'apa) and the natural reply is "i'm happy" (avy'a) and as americans learning the language we were so distressed like "but what if we're not happy....." and our teachers were like "that's so not the fucking point"

we kept trying to think of any other way to reply but our teachers kept trying to get it into our brains that it's an idiomatic greeting, it literally is not the time or place to traumadump, and as usamerican english speakers we are not some special exception for saying "what's up" with the reply being "not much" instead of "the ceiling"

but anyway while i was working in paraguay -- the country with the largest population of guarani speakers -- i got sent an article by some friends back home like "look! they're saying that paraguay is the happiest country in the world!"

and the methodology was "we went around and asked paraguayans if they're happy and recorded their responses" and i was like. oh. of course you did. and of course you got a 100% positive response rate.

Nothing like sitting in a Catholic chapel and going through the Angelo Colasanto/Jack Harkness tag on ao3 while waiting for Mass to start.

I can understand why people want to think the coffee was laced or something but the answer is a lot more simple. It was a thought out, calculated manipulation. The Metatron took Aziraphale away from his home and the one person he trusts. He begins to praise him, saying he’d be a much better fit to lead heaven. He used Crowley as a bargaining chip. Well we can bring him with us of course! He can be forgiven and you two can be happy and safe! Of course Aziraphale wouldn’t see past that. He wants nothing more than to do good and be with the person he loves the most.

It wasn’t coffee that made him do what he did, it’s being stuck and a toxic and manipulative relationship with Heaven. He took the first chance he got to go back because it’s what’s familiar to him. Even though he knows how bad it is. He thinks, if I can just change it, it can all be better! It’s a parallel to toxic human relationships. The idea that you can change the other for the better, but in doing so you sacrifice everything important to you.

Hope this made sense (not the best at writing my thoughts down)

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one line in the book that drives me nuts is vincent saying that he was born in a poor family and raised as a boy because they're more prized than girls. which reads to me that his family had expectations for him and that's why he was raised as a boy. probably not in the "expected to carry on the family name" cuz that's not how Philippines does it sexism. though as part of Manila's urban poor, vincent might be expected to either go to school, get an education and a decent job so he could financially provide for his family. that or be "katuwang ng magulang" and go straight to work, hustling in the streets of Manila.

it reads estragement from his family which is probably why he left and never looked back for 30 years. becoming a priest probably disappointed his parents and goes against the plan they have for him

every so often im struck by the memory of one of my college professors getting very angry with our class (art history of pompeii 250) because when she excitedly detailed the ingenious roman invention of heated floors in bathhouses via hearths in small crawlspaces, we asked who was tending the fires. she said "oh, slaves i suppose. but that isnt the point". and we said that it actually very much was the point. she had just told us that in roman society there were dozens of people, maybe hundreds, who spent every day of their enslaved lives crawling in cramped, hot, smoky tunnels to light fires to warm pools of water (which they were not allowed to swim in). how could that not be the point?

she wanted us to focus on the art, on the innovation of heated plumbing, on the tiles and decorations of the bathhouses, and all we wanted to do was learn more about the people under the floors. and she didn't know anything more about that. in fact, she said she thought we were focusing too much on superfluous details.

it feels almost hokey to put too fine a point on the idea im getting at here but i will anyway: There are a lot of people who are still under the floors. all these beautiful, convenient, brilliant innovations of modern society (think fast fashion, chatgpt, uber, doordash) are still powered by people working in inhumane, untenable conditions.

the people who run these systems want you to focus on the good - who doesnt love warm water? - but if anything is going to improve or change in our lifetimes, you need to examine these things with an attentive, critical, and empathetic eye. and for fucks sake stop ordering from amazon

furry jesus with pope yaoi

Ineffable Husbands really is that ship that has it all. They’re married. They’re divorced. They’ve never been together at all. They’ve been pining for 6000 years. They’re gay except they’re also not at all. They’re technically enemies to lovers but they’ve never been enemies nor lovers. Name any fanfic trope, they’ve probably been there, done that and they were entirely oblivious about it. Incredible ship.

“i see a man who makes it home alive but its no longer you” jack-ianto in children of earth - or whatever