my_thestral (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
my_thestral) wrote2014-07-08 08:45 pm
my_thestral) wrote2014-07-08 08:45 pm
Entry tags:
Pottermore, a second take at sorting, football and such
Wow, that Pottermore article sure produced some heavy black smoke! I thought my Twitter page was going to catch fire with the speed of the new update on the Potter & co. rolling in! :P
I had to see that, so I dug out my ancient Pottermore username and I went to read it - and I really like the evil style it's written in.:) There's not much new info and what there is it's written through the eyes of the "lovely" Skeeter woman, so it's not exactly the Bible, but it was fun to read nevertheless.
Aaaand while I was at the site, I noticed that I never did the sorting there, so I said to myself - oh, to hell with it, why not, god knows when I'll wander out here again. I did one sorting once already, but not on this page and back then I got sorted as Gryffindor, which I found very suspicious, because I had the same amount of points for Hufflepuff house, but the wacky site insisted I was part of the red-and-gold lot, so I eventually came to accept it. I wouldn't mind being a Hufflepuff, actually, courage is not really a personal trait I admire, but being able to work hard definitely tells a lot about someone's character.
So - I went into sorting fully convinced that the "official" site will be able to rectify the mistake and put me in the Hufflepuff house at long last. Like hell it did.
Slytherin here, apparently. :P I don't even know how to comment that. I should have suspected a snake-pit ahead when another "which HP character are you?" quiz pointed out that I was a bit crazy and that I'm definitely alike Bellatrix Lestrange. Right. Erm... The harmless ol' me? Honestly... ;)
It's a good thing, really, that I don't take it too seriously. :) (My secret identity is definitely one of a house-elf. We have a different kind of magic. Or possibly a thestral. It is impossible to see me for who I am without knowing some destruction.).
Aaaanyway, tonight we see who will play Dutch in the finals ;) <-- how's that for confidence! - and my sons' Messi and Neymar jerseys are mysteriously getting washed so the little traitors can cheer for whomever the hell they want - but they'll do it in orange clothes, like all good Dutch half-lings.;) Aaaand I'm definitely suffering through another game with hideous orange earrings tomorrow, so there's no way in hell the Dutch won't make it to the finals after a sacrifice like that. Throw a virgin in the flames, I don't care, you've still got nothing on me and my dread-inspiring earrings, that's how god-awful they are!:) Did I mention I promised to wear them to work if the Dutch win the finals? And I will - I just might remove the little cardboard pieces with a Dutch flag on them first. Hawaii looking orange plastic flowers are quite vomit-inspiring enough, thank you very much!;)
And - heading sideways again - I'm finally busy writing the last fic I still have unfinished. And I'm cursing with it profusely enough to make the crowd of the Exorcist movie blush, because the damn thing is confusing me out of my tiny brain. After I wrote 150 pages of it, I let it chill for almost 2 years and I have no idea where it was headed back then - so now I'll have to invent a whole new course of the story if I want to wrap it up. Hopefully it will not end up being complete and utter crap, but it's likely. Oh, well, it's not like my other work shines in the dark, does it? :) It'll be just another quiet disaster and let's hope it can merge to the background of my other piss-poor stories and fall forgotten pronto. But I will finish it, just because I'm a mean bitch, who just doesn't give up - and a Slytherin at that, apparently - and I hate loose ends. Even disaster has to come to an end once - and this one will. ;)
Oh, yeah - a gypsy stopped me today in front of the shop and offered to read my hand (mother of god, who still does that?!) and when I tried telling her I don't care about her Sybill Trelawney vudu, she said: Think of one wish and I'll read your palm about it - and I barely stopped myself from saying: Oh, how are my prospects of getting Rupert Grint gift-wrapped doing today? ;) Seriously?! :) In the end I just showed her my completely happily empty wallet and offered to give her the 1 cent coin I dug out and I think she felt sorry for me, cause she told me to keep it. So I shop with cards. And I'm broke. How splendid is your life? ;) :)
Yep, that's it for this edition of pouring my heart out - stay safe and whatever you do, wear orange tomorrow! ;)
I had to see that, so I dug out my ancient Pottermore username and I went to read it - and I really like the evil style it's written in.:) There's not much new info and what there is it's written through the eyes of the "lovely" Skeeter woman, so it's not exactly the Bible, but it was fun to read nevertheless.
Aaaand while I was at the site, I noticed that I never did the sorting there, so I said to myself - oh, to hell with it, why not, god knows when I'll wander out here again. I did one sorting once already, but not on this page and back then I got sorted as Gryffindor, which I found very suspicious, because I had the same amount of points for Hufflepuff house, but the wacky site insisted I was part of the red-and-gold lot, so I eventually came to accept it. I wouldn't mind being a Hufflepuff, actually, courage is not really a personal trait I admire, but being able to work hard definitely tells a lot about someone's character.
So - I went into sorting fully convinced that the "official" site will be able to rectify the mistake and put me in the Hufflepuff house at long last. Like hell it did.
Slytherin here, apparently. :P I don't even know how to comment that. I should have suspected a snake-pit ahead when another "which HP character are you?" quiz pointed out that I was a bit crazy and that I'm definitely alike Bellatrix Lestrange. Right. Erm... The harmless ol' me? Honestly... ;)
It's a good thing, really, that I don't take it too seriously. :) (My secret identity is definitely one of a house-elf. We have a different kind of magic. Or possibly a thestral. It is impossible to see me for who I am without knowing some destruction.).
Aaaanyway, tonight we see who will play Dutch in the finals ;) <-- how's that for confidence! - and my sons' Messi and Neymar jerseys are mysteriously getting washed so the little traitors can cheer for whomever the hell they want - but they'll do it in orange clothes, like all good Dutch half-lings.;) Aaaand I'm definitely suffering through another game with hideous orange earrings tomorrow, so there's no way in hell the Dutch won't make it to the finals after a sacrifice like that. Throw a virgin in the flames, I don't care, you've still got nothing on me and my dread-inspiring earrings, that's how god-awful they are!:) Did I mention I promised to wear them to work if the Dutch win the finals? And I will - I just might remove the little cardboard pieces with a Dutch flag on them first. Hawaii looking orange plastic flowers are quite vomit-inspiring enough, thank you very much!;)
And - heading sideways again - I'm finally busy writing the last fic I still have unfinished. And I'm cursing with it profusely enough to make the crowd of the Exorcist movie blush, because the damn thing is confusing me out of my tiny brain. After I wrote 150 pages of it, I let it chill for almost 2 years and I have no idea where it was headed back then - so now I'll have to invent a whole new course of the story if I want to wrap it up. Hopefully it will not end up being complete and utter crap, but it's likely. Oh, well, it's not like my other work shines in the dark, does it? :) It'll be just another quiet disaster and let's hope it can merge to the background of my other piss-poor stories and fall forgotten pronto. But I will finish it, just because I'm a mean bitch, who just doesn't give up - and a Slytherin at that, apparently - and I hate loose ends. Even disaster has to come to an end once - and this one will. ;)
Oh, yeah - a gypsy stopped me today in front of the shop and offered to read my hand (mother of god, who still does that?!) and when I tried telling her I don't care about her Sybill Trelawney vudu, she said: Think of one wish and I'll read your palm about it - and I barely stopped myself from saying: Oh, how are my prospects of getting Rupert Grint gift-wrapped doing today? ;) Seriously?! :) In the end I just showed her my completely happily empty wallet and offered to give her the 1 cent coin I dug out and I think she felt sorry for me, cause she told me to keep it. So I shop with cards. And I'm broke. How splendid is your life? ;) :)
Yep, that's it for this edition of pouring my heart out - stay safe and whatever you do, wear orange tomorrow! ;)
no subject
Also, you should know that "gypsy" is actually a racial slur in English - we'd use 'Roma' as a description but "gypsy" is a racist insult.
no subject
Now when I think of it - you probably wouldn't call them that to their faces here either, but the word (and the people, we have many of them here), is so integrated in our society it soft of lost its edge. There are songs, played on the national radio using the word, it appears in the literature without anyone blinking (and not in the same way as the word "nigga", which is clearly meant to be deregatory) and when you walk the street, you could easily say: "oh, look, the gypsies!" without anyone batting an eye and calling you rasist. You wouldn't do it, when you want to be politically correct, though - I remember it caused quite a stir when a right-wing politician did it a few years back in a public debate, but it was a stir because he spoke of them as of "less" than proper Slovenes.
I suppose it comes down to cultural differences - here it's not derogatory per se, it's more a description of certain behaviour. I would call myself a gypsy when I used to travel a lot and wasn't home much. I don't know how many Roma you have there and how are they integrated in your society, but here there are plenty and the only thing that distinguishes them from the local population, is their behaviour. If they want to integrate in the society, they can and no one would be able to tell the difference (you'd probably call those Roma without ever thinking of it) - but if they behave the way that lady did no one here would call her Roma (though that's what she is), but gypsy, without ever really meaning anything bad.
Was it always a bad thing in English or did it ever describe a certain group of people with a certain type of behaviour? As an anthropologist I'd be interested to know.:)
no subject
Gypsy is... well, traditionally it's a description for the Roma, and yeah, a description of behaviour/culture. But it's weighed down with a lot of unpleasant baggage, so it's not a neutral descriptive word here (though not as bad as nigger or anything) but derogatory. Like, to "gyp" means to cheat someone. So it's tying being Roma together with all those sucky ethnic stereotypes.
no subject
Thanks for looking out for me - I would have inevitably embarrassed myself in the civilized company by using this, without actually meaning anything bad. :)