Random deep conversations I had with my Mexican internet friends

 I only have like two friends in real life but I have a bunch of internet friends and most of them are Mexican. I wanted to tell y'all about some random conversations I had with them that really stuck with me for some reason. 

I. Hyperromantic Cultures 

One of my Mexican friends is like 60 years old or something like that and teaches Danza Azteca and is fluent in Nahuatl. He tends to have interesting and unconventional views on love. Anyway, he told me that he thinks something that Indian and Mexican culture have in common is that they are "hyperromantic." I was telling him about how romantic and passionate Hindi love songs are. The lyrics go to extreme heights of emotion that I have never heard expressed in English lyrics before. My 60 year old maize-eating fren was telling me that Mexican love songs also tend to capture the feeling of obsessive, passionate, chaotic love. Not only do Mexicans and Indians relate to the struggle of misestimating how much flat bread they need to finish their food with, they would also both kill and die for love. My fren said that youth from "hyperromantic cultures" are more likely to have unhealthy and unrealistic ideas of love. There is probably some truth in what he is saying, though I believe I am not just bonkers because of my culture but also because I am just like this. If an Indian and Mexican person fell in love with each other, they would end up having a legendary epic poem written about their love or something. 

II. Purpose

 One of my other Mexican friends is like 30, and he is a high school history teacher. One day he straight up asked me "what is your purpose in life?" This is why I like talking to internet people, because irl people never randomly ask me stuff like this. They are just NPCs who say stuff like "How's it going?" or "Nice weather we're having today, eh?" and other cringe stuff. Anyway, I told him I believe my purpose in life is to learn everything I can about the cultures I like and have a huge creative output (including stories and drawings). He told me that purpose comes from groups and that I should think about what my role in the community is. He said his purpose was educating others. That's a purpose he got from being part of a community. As a teacher, he has to stick to a curriculum but he is also allowed to include other stuff as long as he covers all the requirements. So he tries to bring in more stuff about Latinos, Native Americans and Black people in what he teaches. I told him I do not want purpose or meaning that is derived from other people. This is because I do not really want to be part of society. I want to be a recluse. The only people I truly care about helping are family members. 

I think he thought I sounded really bitter and resentful, and to be honest I kind of am. I wasn't always like this. I used to be naive and overtrusting and see the good in everyone. I am literally a cliche because I am the character who goes from being overtrusting to getting hurt really badly and then never trusting anyone again. It's honestly really sad if you think about it, but I don't really know what to do about it. 

Anyway those were just some random thoughts. Perhaps there is some truth in what these wise Mexican frens told me, but to be honest if there is then I am too stubborn to accept it. I will continue believing that Bollywood has perfectly normal and realistic portrayals of love and that I would rather be a recluse than talk to people irl because everyone will hurt me and is evil and is out to get me. 

Goodnight now, frens! 

Excerpt and Synopsis from my Upcoming Novel "Deus ex Mexicana"

Synopsis

How do you build a country when all you have to guide you is an unfinished manifesto and the wisdom of your ancestors? This is the question that Ce Tepuzmachiyopilcac must answer after he is chosen as the leader of the people of Cemanahuac, a confederation of indigenous nations formed after an uprising in what was once known as the American continent. Ce's people are finally free after over five hundred years, but new enemies have sprung up all over the world and even within the very borders of Cemanahuac itself. The future of his country is in Ce's hands as he learns a very important lesson: the revolution was the easy part.


Excerpt 

Ce was handed a golden chalice by the Elder. It had been carved with a design of two birds, the mighty eagle of the North and the condor of the South, the emblem of the new nation.

“When you indulge in that luxurious chocolate elixir and then proceed to sit on your extravagant throne, beware! Don’t be fooled. It will seem like the most comfortable chair in the world at first, but it is really a seat of pain. You were chosen by the people because they thought you would be strong enough to endure struggle throughout your reign.” The Elder declared.

Ce drank deeply from the golden chalice, taking care not to spill a drop of the frothy chocolate drink. It was sweet at first, but the aftertaste was bitter. Then Ce felt a burning sensation in his mouth, because it just wouldn’t be complete without added chili powder. Every ingredient had been a metaphor, of course. Ce had to be careful not to let the childish thrill of being huey tlatoani consume him, just like he couldn’t expect the chocolate drink to be sugary and sweet throughout. He could become corrupted with his power, and his subjects could end up feeling bitter towards him. Even though the Land of the Eagle and Condor had survived many hardships, it still had many dangerous and powerful enemies all over the world, but mostly in Europa. 

Anticipated release date: sometime in February

The Mexica (Aztec) version of the bulletproof vest

Alright fam, so you've probably heard of Kevlar, a high-strength material used in bulletproof vests. It was invented by Europeans of course... without a doubt. However, here's a fun fact. Did you know that the Aztecs actually came up with bulletproof vests too? This was completely by mistake. Here's a picture I stole from Mexicolore, which is a really cool website that you should go on. I think I might add that to my link list. 

As you can see, it's basically thick cotton padding that was worn by soldiers. The cloth frame would be soaked in salt water to maker it really hard and then "paper-mached" into a thick vest and left in the sun to dry. You'll be surprised how effective this was. It could stop spears thrown by the atlatl and later they found out it could also stop the Spanish musket shots too.

In case you didn't know, the atlatl was basically a device used to make spear throwing more effective and deadly. It wasn't invented by the Aztecs but it was used a lot by them, and the word atlatl comes from the Nahuatl language. It's actually a super old invention from prehistoric times. The Australian aborigines also had their own version of it called a woomera (I may do a post on them soon lol as an off-topic fun post even though they're not native american. They're kinda my second favourite culture now). So yeah, the atlatl/woomera can go like 80 miles per hour xD . That's what the vests were originally meant to stop. But then they found out that they were bULLeT ProOF too! WhOa!

So anyway, the Europeans began to use the same type of technology. They found out that this type of bullet proof vest was also more comfortable than their steel armor. Armor was changed forever. 

You can learn about other epic Aztec innovations in this Ted talk I did: http://youtu.be/1DVWVlkAKuA
Note: copy paste the link into your browser if it doesn't work :P thanks fam. 

The Legend of the Piasa Bird and a rant on pseudo-historical "theories"

Have you ever heard a pseudo-historical 'theory'? This can be like someone claiming the Olmecs were black just because those Olmec heads supposedly had African looking features. Yeah right xD I don't think so. Other hilarious pseudohistory includes claiming that various ancient civilizations were descended from aliens or saying that everything that happened in the Bible is fact.

All 17 of the colossal Olmec stone heads found have chubby cheeks and flat noses. Many Mexican people still have those features today.

Now, aside from being laughable because they aren't based on any evidence, most pseudo historical statements are actually really racist and people who promote them don't realize the damage they are doing. By saying that the Olmecs were black you're offending Mexicans and other indigenous people by taking away a part of their heritage. You're also making it seem as if Africans don't have plenty of other things they should be proud of. The same is true when you insult an ancient civilization by saying it had something to do with aliens. And people who think everything that happened in the Bible is fact? At least consider that the Bible has been modified and translated for hundreds of years. There's no way everything in it is even what was originally intended to be there.

Oh yeah and lets not get started about what race the ancient Egyptians were. Why does everyone have to say they were either all white or all black? Can't we just accept that Kemet was mixed?

So why did I start off my post with ranting about pseudohistory? Well because I've noticed that Native Americans never really get anything out of pseudohistory. There are plenty of eurocentrics and afrocentric theories, but no indigenous-centric theories. I hate ALL pseudohistory of course, but I suppose they are good for getting a good laugh out of and writing fanfiction and alternate history on. The danger only comes when people actually start believing in the interesting fantasies as truth. So if we're going to say that pseudohistory is valuable because it allows us to be creative, then I suppose we should add some indigenous-centric "theories" to the pile. Yay!

I've discussed this with a really good indigenous internet friend of mine, and she seemed to approve of the idea. So lets do this!

So lets say that the Mexica/Aztec god Quetzalcoatl was responsible for introducing civilization to the Old World. This is why some of the art and mythology of the Middle East totally resembles the Piasa bird:

I mean this obviously looks like a griffin or a sphynx or a dragon or something, right? Ugh the only reason why no one is believing this theory now is because I'm saying Native Americans were the original people who came up with this. If I reversed it, people would be more okay with it. 

All jokes aside, here is the legit myth behind the Piasa Bird... 

Just because the religion/spirituality of indigenous people was more scientific, doesn't mean they didn't have some cool mythology :D This one comes from the Illini people from the upper Mississipi River valley.

Alright so the Piasa bird was this huge scary creature with deer antlers, wings, fish scales and eagle talons that was said to have come from over the eastern sea (omg this actually helps support the pseudohistorical theory I came up with). Its name means "bird that devours men" in the Miami-Illinois language. It was said to have terrorized and sp00ked everyone in the early days of the Illini confederation until a brave archer named Terahionawaka and the village chief, Ouatoga, figured out how to defeat it. Ouatoga told Terahionawaka that the underside of the dragon-bird thingy's body was completely unprotected by its scales. So Terahionawaka fired arrows dipped in poison at the birb and then the birb died R.I.P. 

Our sources for this myth

Murals were painted of this creature on limestone cliffsides above the Mississipi river. These no longer survive today thanks to the Mississipi Lime Company from the 1870s (that really really sucks ugh because the old mural was really epic and was older than 900 CE and was created possibly by the Cahokian civilization). However, a replica mural has been painted in Alton, Illinois based on descriptions of the original murals which is open as a tourist attraction today. The first European to see the original mural was the French explorer Jacques Marquette in 1673, who came up with the pseudohistorical theory that Native Americans could never have been the ones who painted it because apparently the painting was soooo good that even French artists would find it difficult or something like that. In 1836, the professor John Russell was able to find out more about the Piasa bird, including the story behind it that local indigenous people told. What really sucks is that some folklorists believe John Russell made everything up. So who knows?

By the way, here is an AMAZING DeviantArt drawing by LittleFireDragon that shows how the dragon is the most universal mythological creature: http://fav.me/d47yd2r make sure you read the description.

It's so beautiful *_* 

Have a gr8 day!~ 

Random post about axolotls + the possibility of starting a youtube channel soon?

This is really random and deviates away from the history theme of this blog, but then again, everything that I've posted recently does. In fact, Aspen's guestposts were more relevant than mine (the first crusade version was my favourite. Deus Vult! Ave Maria! No Nobis Domine!)  Sorry to everyone who followed because they were expecting legit serious posts about history and Mexica things! 

Cute creatures that I want as pets! 

Alright, so I'm going to start off with something that DOES vaguely have to do with Mexica things. Here is a gif of an axolotl. 

AWWWWWWWWW LOOOK HOW CUTe IT iS *SCCREEEEEEEEEEEAMS* 

The axolotl is also known by name "Mexican walking fish" and is SupER CutE. It is an amphibian that is closely related to the salamander. Sadly, this creature is in danger of going extinct. There are more axolotls today in captivity than in the wild. A survey done in 2008 had found 100 axolotls per square kilometer in the Lake Xochimilco habitat. BUT NOW THEY'RE ALL DEAD.  

Want to know something c00L about Lake Xochimilco? The place is a UNESCO world heritage site because it was once a very important agricultural center of the Mexica/Aztecs! 
>the feels when you've always wanted to go to Mexico 

RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPpppppppppPPPPPPPPpppp 

Aspen has managed to make me obsessed with sneks too, so I also really want a pet snake. Snakes are sooooo cooool because they were such important creatures in so many mythologies! One of my Danish internet friends who I met on DeviantArt 5 years ago drew a really really epic drawing once that had both Quetzalcoatl and Jormungandr in it! At that time, I wasn't really obsessed with Norse mythology, or I would have appreciated it a lot more... but I did think the Quetz was epic! 

Wait I managed to find a blurry af version of the drawing: 

It was one of her most popular works. I hope she doesn't mind that I'm sharing it. She deleted her DA account though so I can't even give her proper credit :( . 

It's sooooOOO beauTiFuL omg 

I also think that sneks are really affection8 pets and majestic af. 

Currently, I have 2 cats. But one of my German internet friends had lots of cats and snakes and kept them all together and they got along fine so maybe I'll be okay. I'll probably get a really small breed and nothing too exotic, perhaps a garter snake. 

All Aspen has are a bunch of sea monkeys and she's obsessed with foxes but she probably can't keep them. They make terrible pets and it's not good to keep wild animals in captivity anyway. I feel her though because I used to really want a pet bat but bats get really terrified in captivity and rarely survive more than a year, so I guess I'll stick to cats and tiny sneks! Perhaps I will get some sea monkeys like Aspen! 

This is a list of animals that should not be kept as pets. Some types of sneks, as well as fockses and bats have made the list! Beware! 

http://exoticpets.about.com/od/choosinganexoticpet/tp/TopTenAnimalsThatShouldNotBeKeptAsPets.htm  


By the way, should I start a YOUTUBE CHANNEL? 

I do currently have a youtube channel. But it's a really stupid one I use to upload things for school projects or Agar.io gaming sessions... or 7 second pieces of trash like this that don't deserve to exist: 

I made that to annoy Dral while we were doing a project on Slavic mythology! 

But I want to make a NEW youtube channel that will actually have legit educational videos to go up there with the greats like Crash Course or Extra Credits. 

I don't have an animation studio or the video editing skillz though. I mean, I couldn't even run a successful webcomic :( but maybe I could get squad people like Dral or Bren or Aspen or Vickyish to help me out. 

My webcomic on Serbian nationalism was supposed to change the world! Instead it did absolutely NOTHING but annoy Aspen a lot! 

Oh welp. 

My new years resolution was to be less annoying to my internet friends and to focus more on my writing, but hey, if I have time, I'm definitely going to start a youtube channel. It doesn't have to be fancy. I could start small. 

Also, I think it's time for this blog to get a new layout and colour scheme or something like that, so I'll be trying things out. In the mean time, have fun! 

That's all folks!