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Me: *is the writer*

Me, after I write a twist: oh shit! I did not see that coming!

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1x08

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“Brown eyes are so plain and ugly you can’t even compare them to gems like emerald and saph-”

Stop.

Staurolite

Tiger’s Eye

Cairngorm

Cassiterite

Smoky Quartz

Zircon (brown)

Sard

Diaspore

Dravite

Dark Brown African Smoky Quartz

Axinite

Onyx

Rutile

That’s not even all of GORGEOUS BROWN GEMS THAT EXIST IN THIS WORLD. Just like there are a lot of beautiful brown gems they’re a lot of BEAUTIFUL BROWN EYES. BROWN IS A GORGEOUS COLOR. Start treating it like one. 

!!! When I first made this post the only dark brown gems i used where Cassiterite and Cairgnorm! There were so may others who felt that their eyes were still ugly because i failed to include darker brown gems. That’s why I edited this post with more ranges of brown eye colors because no one should feel like their brown or black eyes are ugly. They’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.

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@whynotpretty-and-weird @wing-dingy

IM CRYING

Instagram @elchadsantos​ 

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some fucking resources for all ur writing fuckin needs

* body language masterlist

* a translator that doesn’t eat ass like google translate does

* a reverse dictionary for when ur brain freezes

* 550 words to say instead of fuckin said

* 638 character traits for when ur brain freezes again

* some more body language help

(hope this helps some ppl)

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in theory its super bad when straight dudes go “hey ur a lesbian? we both like girls we’re the same!” but in reality this has happened twice and most recently was today when a guy i was training in the frame shop went “oh you’re gay?” “yea” “that’s cool. it’s cool that you told me. we both like girls and star wars so it’s nice that we have a shift together :)” like god damn it brett you’re so respectful and thoughtful with your goddamned words

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@whynotpretty-and-weird

whats your hoard

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@thebloodyvoid @whynotpretty-and-weird @wing-dingy @ragingxwolf

Jewish holidays according to me, an Orthodox Jew with 12+ years of Jewish day school education and a healthy sense of humor

Rosh Hashana:

We’re too cool for goyish January 1st so we need our own date, preferably right at the beginning of the school year so you don’t have time to get acclimated to a schedule before getting food drunk again. But oh yeah judgement is scary! Better eat now before your fate is sealed happy new years :)

We eat very weird food as symbols for blessings-

Carrots

Leeks

Beets

Fish/Sheep heads (When I was 9, I read in an encyclopedia that fish eyeballs are a delicacy. They taste like licking the ocean floor, do NOT recommend)

Also, mmmm apples and honey

Sukkot:

Try explaining this one to any non-Jew, they will look at you like you’re crazy. It doesn’t help that this one has basically one sentence in the Torah as a basis.

Alright, kids, try to follow along-

We live in a wooden hut (with branches for a roof because you need to be able to see the sky when you look up) for 8 days that is adjacent to your actual house, but nope don’t you dare take a BITE of that brownie unless you go out into 40 degrees and windy weather.

Special guests include-

Abraham

Isaac

Jacob

Joseph

Moses

Aharon

David

Conveniently debuted cold, rainy weather

Bees

Moths

Plastic silverware and cups blowing around like this is a hurricane or something

Featuring- a bitter lemon with a special hat that you must not remove and a tree branch that you have to wave around in the same fashion as the macarena

Hoshana Raba/Shemini Atzeret:

Holidays bandwagoning onto Sukkot, they think they’re special but they’re not.

Simchat Torah:

Imagine hundreds of sweaty men on their second day without a shower dancing and singing badly in a way-too-small social hall with various children high on sugar zipping around. Fun holiday! Great for introverts.

Chanukah:

Ooh, our first non biblical holiday. That means that even though it’s 8 days long and we got saved for persecution, you only get one day off of school. Don’t worry, though, teachers will give you definitely not homework anyways because finals season is soon!

But anyways, the oil lasted for 8 days so let’s eat cylindrical hash browns and donuts because we’re Jews and we love food.

I have 2 favorite parts of the Chanukah story-

Jewish heroine Yehudit seduced a very important dude with wine and cheese and then cut off his head to hang at the gates of the city

One of the Maccabee brothers (like the Jonas brothers of ancient times, but there’s five of them and they fight Greeks instead of sing) got trampled by an elephant in battle because those were apparently everywhere, which is hilarious to me

Tu B’shvat:

Trees got jealous of rosh hashana and demanded their own holiday, largely characterized by a song in which we declare that the almond trees are ripening. Also known as the holiday where everyone pretends that dried fruit is good for a day.

Purim:

“Hey, let’s get drunk on an empty stomach! This will go great!” -everyone, immediately regretting that statement.

Easily the pettiest holiday, we listen to a guy read about how the villain paraded the hero around on a horse (which HE suggested as a reward for himself to the king) waxing praise about him, and getting garbage dumped on himself by his own daughter. Hilarious. Plus, he and his ten unpronounceable sons also got hanged on the gallows that he made for the hero. Karma is the devil. Oh yeah, and we boo very loudly every time his name is said. Petty as all heck.

Halloween on steroids- we go around and give food to other people, instead of them coming to us, and then you strategically plan where to hide your stash from your siblings so it’ll last long enough to be satisfactory, but not too long so you have to throw it all out for Passover cleaning a month later.

Pesach:

Another 8 day food holiday, Judaism is predictable. Most people already know about this one, but I just want to talk about the Seder because the whole concept of it cracks me up.

So you sit down for a meal at 8:30 pm, but you only actually eat a vegetable dipped in tears for the first hour and a half. So by the time it’s ten, everyone is STARVING but first, eat a ton of cardboard and some lettuce dipped in chopped up apples and cinnamon and walnuts.

Afikomen- at the end of this very long, drunken meal, you have to go on a scavenger hunt for one last piece of cardboard matzah dessert (that nobody actually wants to eat). Judaism!

This holiday gets real old real fast. If you ever want to appreciate carbs, just go eight days without eating anything resembling bread or pasta. How people do Keto amazes me.

Shavuot:

Stay up all night learning, decorate your house with flowers, and eat a bunch of cheesecake. What’s not to love?

Comes at the end of a seven week countdown (or, excuse me, count up) where you can’t listen to music or get a haircut, so everyone’s pretty happy to do whatever by the time Shavuot rolls around.

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Trends...

I've noticed white people being referred to as colonizers a lot more recently, and as someone of mostly Maya heritage I have to say I am not a fan. This is doing nothing but further seperating us as part of the human race. It is dehumanizing white people, like we have been dehumanized in the past.

I also don't like being referred to as 'POC/Person Of Color'. I am just a person, a living being, human. I do not need me own special category. To me this is the same thing, seperating us and making us turn against out fellow human.

Why can't we just call each other a person? Why do we need to further seperate ourselves from one another?

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Listen, my ancestors literally had gods made of skeletons, bees, and a feathered serpent. If that's not horror movie material then idk what is.

Give Au Puch Mayan a google image search. You're welcome for the nightmares. Also try Ixtab and Ah Mucen Cab, deities I was named after, a look. Ixtab is the goddess of violent and suicide deaths. Ah Mucen Cab is a bee god.

Ah Puch can be depicted as a violent savage becausr he freakin is, however Ixtab ushered those that died a violent death or from suicide to the afterlife and fed them awesome foods under the world tree. So these are not the same types of gods and should they be adapted for a movie setting, I would be miffed if Ixtab were depicted as evil.

My point is, my indigenous roots have some freaky ass shit. As Christian/Jewish, it's a wild ride to read about my ancestor's religion. And for like six months I was afraid Ah Puch was going to eat my toes.

And we have some weird ass prophecies man. I guess my point is, my ancestors believed in some wild and scary shit, and if adapted respectfully and correctly is horror movie material.

could u imagine if ppl talked about catholicism the same way they talked about like… indigenous ppl’s religions….

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Things food snobs are wrong about

“Organic” isn’t better for you or for the environment. It actually means nothing of any significance at best and is sometimes even the more wasteful, more hazardous option.

A shitload of “natural” food including a lot of imported produce is grown and harvested through slave labor in inhumane conditions.

Pizza, fried chicken, french fries, fast food, candy bars and chips ARE nutritious. They are loaded with good things. Just because they have an abundance of excess fats and might not be healthy as a staple doesn’t mean they are “nutritionless” or that their calories are “empty.” Those are hokey buzzwords pushed by the people in charge of how much you pay for the alternatives.

Eating healthier costs more. Much more. Looking down on people for their reliance on cheaper food is extremely classist and expecting everyone to be able to live off fresh veggies and cage-free meats is insultingly unrealistic in the modern world.

“Processed” literally only means the food went through some kind of automated process. This can be literally the exact same thing a human being would have done to the food for it to be labeled “unprocessed.” Being processed does not make something less healthy.

Chemicals with long, scary names are part of nature. An apple is full of compounds you probably can’t pronounce. A shorter ingredients label only means they didn’t bother listing all 300 things the product is actually made of and HAS to be made of.

Preservatives, artificial flavors and other additives are not the devil. Most are harmless and in general they are part of the reason you haven’t already starved to death or died of a food borne illness.

MSG is not bad for you at all.

The fact that something might be made of “scrap” meats like pig snouts or chicken necks only means one thing: that we didn’t waste perfectly normal, edible meat.

I DON’T KNOW HOW I FORGOT THIS IN MY FIRST VERSION OF THIS POST BUT GMO’S ARE NOT DANGEROUS TO EAT. GMO’S ARE SAVING LIVES. YOU’VE ALREADY EATEN GMO’S BEFORE YOU EVEN KNEW THE TERM. IT’S FINE. EAT THEM.

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it’s really fucking interesting that accusations of inaccessibility never seem to be levied against The Hard Sciences

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I LOVE THIS MOVIE

eXistenZ (1999)

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Sacred Vows

“The role of the sacred warriors is thus: You will abstain from mortal and Realmain desires. Your life be devoted to holy war and prayer.”

The sacred virtues, often called the sacred virgins, were an elite military squad made up of members from every element realm. Through dedication, prayer, or being chosen by the Lord, Realmain took the sacred vows and dedicated their lives to fighting in the holy wars.

After the sacking and rape of the Phoenix Realm, the sacred virtues that survived were disbanded, and the vows fell out of fashion quickly, as Realmain citizens were expected to marry and breed. No war since has seen the same level of devastation, yet the realms have yet to recover their numbers.

For those seeking to join the ancient order of virtues, the commandments are as follows:

Your life cycle will be completed in the second while being a virtue. You will not gain the capability for breeding or lustful thoughts.

Your life will be devoted to prayer and war. As such, you will lose any abilities in healing.

You will leave your family and home life, your new home being the sacred temple in the Phoenix Realm.

You will abstain from strong drink. Virtues may only drink flower and berry wines prepared for them by the Nature Ruler.

Your clothing will only consist of natural fibers, such as cotton, silk, wool of Oviues, and hemp.

Your food may not be processed, and only eaten fresh and raw. Meats consumed will be that of fallen Oviues, only when Vespa and Scorpius are present.

Temple duty will begin at dawn and end at dusk. You will provide services for the inhabitants and visitors of the realm.

At dusk you will begin military training. This will be taught by senior members.

Sleep will be during designated times after temple services and before training.

Only donated fruits and vegetables may be consumed.

You will not covet what others have or their life.

You may kill only in battle and will take no joy in the deed. To take joy in death is to sin against life.

No untruthful words may come from you. To knowing lie is to sin against the word of your Lord.

You are under the order of the Lord. No Ruler may command you.

No one may change the commandments of the virtues. To do so is an affront to your Lord.

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This is why I’m afraid of men, and especially afraid to say no in most circumstances. They’re so fucking fragile, violence is the first response and only solution.

Being bi-gender, it carries a huge risk that while I am a male, because my body is female, I could be attacked.

Not all men are like this, but you don’t know the ones that are and aren’t. It’s a scary gamble no one should have to face.

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Some aesthetic playlists for writing

For when you’re in an 80s teen montage

For when you’re in a jazz coffee shop in NYC

For when you’re on a quest to find the fae queen

For when you’re in a teen road-trip scene

For when you’re chilling on a spaceship hopping from planet to planet

For when you’re running along the roofs of renaissance Italy

For when you’re a farmhand taking his lunch break in the meadow 

For when you’re a high end classy ass art thief

For when you’re kicking butt with the beauty and sass of a k-pop star

For when you’re attending a coronation ball for the crown prince 

For when you’re going on an adventure

For when you and your best friends are trying to figure out life together

let me know if you want me to add more!!!

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Representing Culture in Fantasy (Korean)

murphysoutlaw asked:

Hi! I’ve been writing a high fantasy book about a world completely separate from our own. It’s on a demi-plane of existence, and basically all forms of life were originally from another world, but this ended centuries ago. The place I’ll be writing about is basically a melding pot. My main character has to struggle with being born with necromancy (this isn’t genetic or based on race, it’s magic) and still being a good person. I also always imagine her as Korean, or descended from originally Korean people.

I have studied Korean with 4 native speakers for about a year now, both language and culture. I am torn because 1) I don’t want to erase her culture or language if that would be disrespectful 2) I don’t want to cop out of addressing racism but also 3) I want to create a world as escapist fantasy where anyone of any sort can read the book and not feel like they’d be discriminated against in the world and 4) I don’t want to take over the narrative of being a Korean woman or erase/not clarify that the main characters are different races and not just all straight, white, and cis.

So it seems like this question is a little bit less about Korean culture specifically and a little more about how to write real life cultures appropriately in fantasy fiction.

There are a multitude of approaches to this. Some authors make it very explicit (like historical fantasy fiction) while others go for more coded approaches. I would recommend that you read or watch fantasy fiction made by creators of color who have managed to worldbuild and represent diverse cultures in a fantasy setting. It may give you some insight into the approach you’re most interested in taking.

Some authors might take the approach of having that no-longer-existing-world be Earth specifically and find small ways to drop hints about it. In that case, you’ll have to figure out how you want to approach cultural shift and history - when only a small group of people remains and they’re not all of the same culture/race/background, what of Earth customs will they keep? Will they feel a bond to one another as former Earth folk?

World-building has to make sense, as does your mythos. So coming up with a system or a very basic history of how Earth peoples have survived in this demi-plane of existence (as well as what culture they’ve created) may help.

Other authors might take the approach that your character’s current culture is similar to Korean culture of a specific time period or region. In that case, coding is more likely to fit.

It’s not only the way people look that creates real and respectful representation (otherwise having racist roles for actors of colors would be sufficient representation). So I appreciate your desire to preserve rather than erase customs and culture. But Koreans aren’t a monolith. In fact, if your character is more closely modeled after Koreans living in Korea, many Korean diaspora living in the West may not identify with your character at all. So I think being specific in your own mind about what you’re preserving or representing is important.

I wish there was an easy, clear-cut answer (“You cannot do this” “You must keep this in”) but there really isn’t. I would recommend getting sensitivity readers to beta read for you. Some of the problems that may come up in your text won’t be obvious until you have the work done and someone is beta-reading it, if that makes sense. Not all of this work can happen before writing!

Check out our world-building tag as well as our coding tag! There are a lot of answers in there that may be relevant to what your story.

Hope that helps!

~Stella