Yeah, it's definitely hard to tell. My impression as someone who's been lurking since day 1 is that a large percentage of users here are unironic China/Xi-stans.

Yeah in-jokes are like that I guess. We may have the immortal science, but that doesn't mean "Papa Stalin" or "Papa Xi" isn't super strange from the outside, even from the perspective of other comrades. I'm certainly guilty of this as well. (Especially with our favorite Cuban revolutionary himbos) I'm not even sure what the correct direction or idea to take from this would be.