I'm a little bit Anglo-Saxon on both sides of my family. In short, my blood can also be traced back to the part of the United Kingdom called England. Well, it shouldn't be that surprising; America was originally a British colony, the official language is English, and I love English humor, but more on that in a moment.
Oddly enough, I've never developed a taste for tea. Never liked it. So that's one cultural trait I couldn't have inherited.
Some of you may be aware of the trope, "British Stuffiness." I'm not going to link that, because it seems to overlap with Germanic Depressives, which I already mentioned. (Although British Stuffiness does mention how the noble class back in the day avoided showing emotion, and my knowledge of that has helped me in writing Ask Rachel Alucard.) However, I will point out Stiff Upper Lip. The expression comes from the phrase, "Keep a stiff upper lip" which, although American in origin, seems to apply to the British more frequently. In Metal Gear Solid 3, Major Tom discusses this concept with Snake, saying it's something an American soldier like him should practice. Basically, it means even if you are in a serious situation, keep your cool. This is another thing I believe I got from my parents. Under most (not all) stressful situations, I tend to look composed on the outside. I may sound distressed at first, but I'll try to solve the case without outright panicking. Example (based on a true story):
"The locks on my car doors are jammed, and I can't get it open! Damn! I'm in a tight spot! (gets composed) Whenever I unlock the door with my remote, the door immediately locks itself. Why is that? Wait, remote . . . I can always unlock the door with my key. Maybe that will work? (uses key) Aha! With the key in place, the lock can't override! I'm in! Rule Britannia! (Wait . . . I didn't say that last part.)"
Not only that, even if your arm gets hacked off, it's nothing to fret about, for it's only a flesh wound, after all.
But yeah, unlike a lot of my peers, I get British humor. One of my favorite live-action sitcoms is As Time Goes By, a superbly acted romantic comedy series. I have a little familiarity with Monty Python, and can understand why they are so revered. When I sampled Doctor Who clips for one of my Type-Moon fanfics, the humorous bits often had me in stitches. Also, I am a fan of Ashens, especially his "Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of." videos. I love his delivery.
Also, you can thank my parents for introducing me to the British Rock Invasion of the 1960s. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, I'm a fan of all of them.
By the way, I saw on The Colbert Report that, despite hundreds of years of separating from one another, all of the peoples of the British Isles are said to be descended from the same people. The people in my family were from England, but this would technically also make me part Irish, part Scottish, and part Welsh, even though no one in my family identifies as such. I think I'll cover this in a later article.
3 down, 4 to go. (Though the last one is just an epilogue.)
