#but at a certain point its just like. ok one of these groups is saying 'hi please acknowledge i exist' and one of them is saying

[gibbearish]

discourse protip: if you made an entire blog dedicated to telling a group of people they either don't exist or don't actually experience oppression, you're probs on the wrong side of things. just by and large

[deadsnakey]

𝐒𝐋𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐆 —> 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏

GENRE —> FLUFF

characters; Mattheo Riddle, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise zabini, Lorenzo Berkshire, Draco Malfoy.

You've been accepted into the friend group, the longer you're with everyone the more you build bonds with each one.

Inspired by @girllblogging777

✩ You and mattheo are definitely best friends and are the closest out of the whole group.

✩ Lorenzo sees you as a little sister and you see him as an older brother, but mattheo and you radiate the most sibling energy; you both have curly hair probably, bonus if it's also brown.

✩ You and blaise study together since the rest aren't helpful or they're just a distraction…mattheo and draco specifically. At least theo isn't too distracting even if he’s bored.

✩ chaotic, certain duos or trios are worse then others.

✩ Pansy and you always do girls night together every friday or Saturday depending if someone busy or not. masks, doing nails, crafts, make up on each other, trying products out theatre weird, movie marathon with snacks, etc. its a blast and the boys always complain because that seems so fun omg????

✩ the boys love teasing the shit out of you because they think its entertaining but will back off if they realize they're taking it too far

✩ you probably teach most of them how to correctly treat a women and things not/to say and not/to do, etc. give them a little reward for becoming gentlemen to keep motivating them. (they're dogs.)

✩ they listen to you most of the time

✩ tbh if you're studying or sum that needs a lot of focus and is serious to you, they will let you work and help as much as they can if you ask for it.

✩ they are probably really protective over you.

✩ most to lease? Mattheo, Draco, Pansy, Theodore, Lorenzo, Blaise.

✩ mattheo, Draco and Pansy is the worst of it, will fight for you.

✩ Theodore and Lorenzo are more verbally abusing someone and Blaise has a sharp tongue when he wants too, he is not afraid to be an ass to someone when it comes down to it.

✩ Lorenzo and Blaise are the nicest in the group not including you. They are still assholes but more toned down.

✩ Pansy and you team up on them allllll the time and they sometimes hate it, so they do it back to you cause they're petty little shits.

✩ when you're throwing up, they'll rush over to get your hair out of your way as quickly as possible.

✩ will try their best to comfort you if they find you crying or upset or sum. Theo and Mattheo are ones who immediately pull you into their chest to protect you; holding you firmly.

✩ they all give really good hugs, but Lorenzo's are probably the best.

✩ they make sure you're eating enough, drinking enough water, not over exhausting yourself and overall just watching over you to make sure you're taking care of yourself.

✩ if they find out you're not taking care of yourself like you should be, they will constantly be on you about it to the point it starts getting annoying.

✩ anytime y'all have classes with one another they will be pestering you asking if you drunk water today and if not, "ok, here's some water now drink, love.", like they will shove food down your throat so please just take care of yourself, its not worth the annoyance and hassle.

✩ crackheads, always getting into some shit and dragging you into it unless you don't wanna be apart of it. (though they'll beg you to agree lol.)

[alphajocklover]

This is me currently and I’d absolutely love to be turned into the straightest, douchiest, big and beefiest jock you got! Thank you for the stories 🙏🏻.

So you want to be a straight, beefy, douchebag jock, right? Actually, scratch that, if I remember correctly you want to be the straightest, beefiest, douchiest jock possible? You aren’t content to be just a jock. You want to be the biggest, best jock around. A real alpha male. That's a good start. All jocks need to be ambitious, especially alpha bro douchebags. I can definitely help you. Well, more accurately, the Douchebag Revolution can help you. I checked a couple of things and I’m absolutely certain that you’re a victim of SAD, a douchebag jock that was turned into a gay nerd using time travel. I’ve talked about both SAD, the Society Against Douchebags, and the Douchebag Revolution before. The revolution are the people who gave me my time machine after all. So this is going to be less about turning you into a douchebag jock, and more about turning you back into the douchebag jock you were always meant to be. Now, there are a few different methods that the Douchebag Revolution uses to help those changed by SAD. One I showed in an earlier post is a serum that combats the effects of the nanobot SAD injected you with. It also includes a pretty strong dose of testosterone and some steroids from the future, so even if you weren’t already supposed to be a douchebag before this will definitely make you into one. Not that someone who doesn’t have those nanobots inside then should use the serum though, that could mess you up. Another is, of course, the time machine. This one is very complicated, because while using the time machine would mean they’d get the chance to stop SAD from changing you at all, if SAD noticed them your entire life would be transformed into a battle between the two groups, and trust me when I say that that can get messy. Time travel is already complicated enough without starting a time war, so usually they avoid that method. The final method would probably be best for you. It’s called Douchebag Rehabilitation. It’s not an instant fix like the others. It’s sort of a… program.  How it works is that the Revolution takes you to a secret facility somewhere in the far future. They use a mix of drugs, specialized training, and seminars that could turn the nerdiest gay guy into a raging douchebag. It usually takes about a week or two, a month at most, and with time travel it’ll appear instant to anyone watching from the outside. They’ll take you away, and five minutes later, the new you will be back and ready to have some fucking fun. This method does take longer, but from what I’ve heard it's actually really fun. You get to spend a whole month working out, meeting fellow douchebags, and banging hot bimbo volunteers. So, let's get you on your way! If this is what you want there isn’t any point in putting it off. I hope you have fun at Douche Rehab!

Ok. Yeah you… definitely had fun, didn’t you. I can tell from the cocky smirk on your face, and your now massive muscles, that the program definitely did its job. How long did you stay there, a month? You’re big even compared to most douchebags! I wonder how many girls you fucked. I hear most fuck at least 20 girls during their stay but I bet a stud like you got up to 40 or something. I’m glad I was able to help you become your true self. I kind of wish you and the other douchebags would stop referring to me as ‘that fag reporter’ though.

[charbies]

I love your coloring style! I struggle so much with painting color, do you have any advice for cohesive color schemes, or how you go about picking what colors and values to use? Do you always use references?

Yes!!! Ok so for a long time I struggled with color too, I would get stuck and give up on whatever I was working on because color just didn't make any sense

truth is, I don't think you can get very far with figuring out color without first figuring out VALUES

So when we color first and then desaturate the left pic, we get a very boring, flat pic, limited values. Middle pic and right pic are 2 examples of grouping values by foreground, midground, and background to create more contast & dynamic layouts.

Case in point; contrast shows our eyes where to go. Our eyeballs like having clear focal points, it makes a good drawing that much more satisfying to look at within its borders.

2 layouts for values that I personally like are dark foreground on light background, and light/dark foreground on midtone background.

once I have a value study I like, I start laying color in by applying a gradient map. Drawing programs will have presets, but I highly recommend learning to build your own gradient maps. From there I'll tweak the hue around until I find undertones I like (more on that later)

NOW LETS TALK LOCAL COLOR. I define local color, aka "flats" as the color your character is "made out of." Basically ask yourself what colors are your character, if your character was sucked into a vacuum where there was no organic source of light/shadow/sun/etc that would influence the local colors.

Once I have local colors, I use a new layer set to overlay and "lay" the local colors over the gradient. Local colors we want + gradient undertones + dynamic values = cohesive colorssssss

Now one thing I want to mention about color in general is, when I started doing digital art, my brain would "icon-ify" colors and pick colors based on an object's "information" (e.g. frogs are green). As a result, I'd pick a lot of saturated colors in the upper right quad of my color picker, and this would limit my color pallets quite a bit.

Now that I'm more well-versed with values, I've intuitively gotten better at picking local colors in other quads and on parts of the color wheel that go against object "info." In general, I like picking local colors that are warm & earthy.

Additionally, you can always use overlay to create cohesion if you're trying to go for a certain look/feel that's tricky to manually pick out on the color wheel!

Last 2 things I'll mention are I avoid using a large amount of default digital "white" in artwork. This white literally does not exist in nature, it's like a vacuum to the point where these "clouds" just look like holes in the pictures here. I highly recommend looking at examples of traditional underpainting & using undertones, this was a gamechanger for me since I learned how to carry a traditional technique into digital art and it greatly improved my digital art

References I always use references, for 2 reasons: 1) I have a tough time conceptualizing whole ideas in my head and can't draw most things from memory (womp womp). 2) I legit do not practice anything ever, oops, I am usually learning at least 1 new thing every time I draw, so basically it'll be like "ok time to learn how wolves work" and this requires references lol. I'll use photos or hostages (ie my partner lol) for anatomy & poses, pinterest & posemaniacs are fantastic for this.

Anyway that's every silly little thing I could think of to say lol. I've done digital art for 10ish years, I'm fully self-taught, take that as you will lol. Thanks for asking this, hope it was helpful! :+)

[tht0nesimp]

Yandere Losers Club Headcanons

tw; kidnapping but like...less organized and only mentioned a little bit, manipulation, violence, drugging, hypochondria, forced religion,

-he is much to his dismay like his mom

-He's like a constant nurse, even when you promise your fine! Hitting your knee on a rock hurt for sure, but its not like your going to die..well hopefully not, maybe he's right? thoughts like those will become common as he worms his worries into your mind

-He's willing to share, but only with the club, he continues to promise that its what's best for you when he gives you a prescription of Cyclobenzaprine, just enough to not give you too much serotonin syndrome, but a little extra joy is normal! Not being able to get up just means he needs to get you another prescription or eight! You trust him, dont you?

-Eventually when you try to distance yourself, all the drugs hes been giving you, all the prescriptions you now dont take will come crashing down on you. Hes not going to necessarily mock you when the kidnapping happens and you go through extreme stress and withdrawl...but this wouldn't have happened if you!-

-He gets along best with stan and mike, since all three want what's best for you

-He has his problems with, surprisingly, bev. She got you hurt once and he still hasn't completely forgiven her though he will back her up when you try and vent to him about her manipulating you

-Your overreacting! hes hurt you think she would ever spread rumors about you when she was bullied herself. shame, shame, shame on you

-Manipulation to the max, she will make you want to spend time with her. There is no other option

-She's one of the more patient of the group though, when you finally start to distance yourself she will calmly help create a plan to help bring you home. You will inevitably be back after all whether its due to drug dependency or the loser club knocking you out on your way back from a party, is up to the universe

-She wouldnt hurt you to a certain point, if she believes its for the greater good then your tough out of luck. But she prefers to just make you feel guilty and dependent

-she gets along best with stan and ben, as the other two are too scared to stop her

-Hes...trying

-Its not that he doesnt want you to not be a tad scared of him, but you make it so difficult! I mean, hes the worst at hiding his tendencies about you

-He doesnt fully get why you get bothered when he curses out your crush? What could possibly be wrong?

-Dont worry, he would never hurt you EVER. Well, not on purpose, a few scrapes on an adventure is different!

-He gets along best with mike and bill, as they both enjoy going on adventures with you as well

-Eddie and him clash sometimes, mainly just because of eddies naturally overprotective nature around you getting hurt

-Mike is a bit more gentle, hes one of the few who feels guilt about what hes doing

-Hes also very jealous of the others at times, and although hed never take it out on you..sometimes he gets clingy when he thinks you might be prefering the others over him in any capacity of the sense

-It goes without saying that he wouldn't hurt you, but he cant bring himself to rat on the others when the kidnapping happens. He locks the guilt even further back in his mind at that point and refuses to acknowledge when you call them crazy

-He gets along best with eddie and bill, all three are deeply concerned for your safety just about constantly

-Pomegranate??? When he's especially feeling in debt to god for giving you to him, he encourages you to pray! before bed...when you wake up...before eating....whenever you feel like leaving him...yknow when you should be grateful for things!

-If your not super religious he's...ok with that. Sometimes he may wish you were willing to engage with that stuff but he tries not to bring it up too much

-Besides that, hes somewhat tame. But he doesn't feel guilty

-He goes with the vibe of the group so if you do something wrong or when the kidnapping comes around and they feel you need repercussions he's not going to stand up for you but he wont be cruel to you

-He gets along well with bill and mike, theyre all pretty chill with you

-You wont know hes a yandere unless they kidnap you, he's a scrawny little guy with a stutter who is barely keeping on after georgie's death...do your really think hed ever do stuff like that?!

-You help him with his stutter, your one of the big reason he tries to overcome it when hes a bit older

-Theres not much he does besides a bit of manipulation about him feeling guilty for what happened to his brother, after all, who wouldn't feel bad for this poor guy!

-He gets along best with bev, they both like each other...and you so it works out for them to share you

[hero-israel]

The lies and mistruths that Jews "invaded" and "colonized" Palestine, coupled with the lies and mistruths that everyone lived together in harmony with no violence, combine to say that therefore any Jewish anxiety about a post Zionist landscape where there's a very real possibility of Jews being a minority is illegitimate. It is indistinguishable from white Boers fearing retribution, or Americans discomfort with the idea of indigenous sovereignty.

But when you whitewash your own history and gaslight Jews from dawn till dusk, of course you can make them look like whiny entitled brats who just don't want accountability and are fearing "war crime tribunals" (ok girl). But Jews are unique. This would be the one time where the "colonizer" actually has a basis to fear being the minority. There's historical precedent for it, not just from Europe. It's undeniable.

And yes, Israel's Arab neighbors probably have no intentions of wiping it off the map (Iran is a different story), and Hamas is not powerful enough to massacre all Jewish people in Israel no matter how hard they try. The West Bank is not nearly as violent as it used to be. The situation is not hopeless, and regardless Israel can mobilize millions of well trained well armed reservists with state of the art weapons the backing of most Western powers and of course nukes.

Israel is safe... but even with the knowledge that Israel is safe it doesn't matter if we're talking about a peaceful negotiated Right of Return for Palestinians and they are the majority without a single bullet being fired. And also, think of the Jewish People like abuse survivors. Someone can be physically safe, but they still do not feel safe. They need constant outside assurance that what they're experiencing is real and that they have support. Trauma takes time to heal, a long ass time on an individual scale and who knows how long on a societal scale.

It's not "centering ourselves" or being whiny or duplicitous or crying antisemitism when Jews request over and over and over again that Palestinians and their allies do the simplest fucking task of calling the murder of Jewish civilians the atrocity that it is. They can't even do that, let alone say they embrace having Jewish neighbors, that they see Jews as equals, that they would protect Jews, that they view the Jewish People as their cousins who should share the land and all its abundance with them.

They never stop and think about why these are not really concerns for 8 millionth generation German Americans, and why they are for Jewish people of all colors and backgrounds. If they're not putting in that barest baseline of work then at a certain point we can say we tried and we're going to prioritize our safety at all costs.

Excellent comment. Thank you.

I would just say that it absolutely is about centering ourselves, that centering ourselves is a wonderful thing and we should do it more, there's a reason why "The Giving Tree" is sad and disturbing.

Probably the most tragic element of this awful October is that it was all based purely on psychology, not on politics. Hamas is not actually going to destroy Israel. It was meant to trigger Israeli Jews (and I deliberately use a word that has been eroded to snotty meaninglessness by Internet trolls, since that is the mentality of these ISIS-style groups; the cruelty is the point) and shatter their sense of safety, and then put them into a position where they had to respond with overwhelming force so as not to look weak in a rough neighborhood. It will gain nothing real, nothing tangible, for Hamas, for Palestinians, for anti-Israel dead-enders; it was an act of pure spite. And the West's Useful Idiots for death and racism sign onto it eagerly, because of their psychological need to see Jews get taken down a notch (via lots and lots of dead Arabs).

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/750157841851203584/httpswwwtumblrcomolderthannetfic749685852364?source=share

i'm sorry i slipped up on the pronouns, i've been having trouble following this, but given that others also slipped up in replies like, does it make my points moot?

i also think people are missing the point about "being descended from an aristocrat who lost their head" i'm well aware that many other people in france lost their lives in the reign of terror, that it cut a broad swathe of society and included a lot of non-aristocrats and people who were in favor of the initial revolution as its victims, including, eventually, ringleader robespierre himself.

i don't know what exactly happened and if they're stanning robespierre that shows a poor undestanding of the revolution regardless. but it's not "because the people who are calling them out are french" that is the issue. it's "because the people who are calling them out know their history and xjz is being offensively wrong about it" that's the issue. like, if xjz WERE french, would their robespierre fandom somehow be ok?

i just think we need to think more critically about why certain historical events are considered to "belong" to particular countries over others, or why being part of a culture is considered a form of expertise on a historical event sometimes and not other times. an event that is out of living memory, though, and where there's no documented psychological history of generational trauma (which generally only happens with a genocide that wiped out the majority of a particular population, or a centuries/generations-spanning event - which apply to the holocaust and american slavery respectively, which have evidence of generational trauma, but neither of which apply to the french revolution. also the holocaust remains within living memory, and at the very least people who personally directly knew holocaust victims will continue to be alive for some time, but that is not true of the french revolution)

and i mean, even referring to these previous events.... i've seen jewish people say obviously wrong things about the holocaust and black people say obviously wrong things about US slavery and seen people who weren't those groups correct them, and (on tumblr, of course) had the first people try to claim they can't be wrong because of X identity group. don't we agree that's kind of goofy?

at the end of the day, while certian events are more sensitive to some groups than others, you're right about history because you KNOW HISTORY and not because of your ethnicity or nationality. and i'm going to reiterate: french people in 2024 have no particular personal connection to the french revolution, at hte very least that wouldn't apply to lots of people in other countries who are also descended from or related to its victims lol. but you know maybe after a certain point, just being related to someone who was persecuted there doesn't give you some special magic blood connection. maybe it's meaningful if that was a big part of your personal family history, but that's a case by case basis and can't be "decided" just by knowing some fact about it. i have a friend who is related to marie antoinette and she found this out by searching her family name on wikipedia and finding out they were aristocrats in her country of origin and one of the married into the hapsburg family. i don't think that is a particularly meaningful connection.

and i also just think we need to be more critical as progressives whenever people get overly touchy on blood/nationality/ethnicity as the ultimate marker of anything, for reasons that hopefully should be obvious

--

[akgaereporter]

꩜ briizes: seunghan/wonbin/taro main dancer discourse 🤕

tldr: an ot7 account made a big thread on why seunghan is vital to riize's lineup, talents and visuals wise. they explain why his dancing is needed to balance the team but some taro/wonbin stans took it as shade towards their biases dance skills and ended up seeming lowkey ot6..

so everything started with this ot7 user posting a thread in korean about how seunghan is vital and unreplaceable within riize. they mentioned things like how his visuals and proportions blend the group properly, how he’s the mood maker and has good sense in variety and comedy contents, etc. very well written thread btw, here’s the link to read it if u havent already !

anyways, the issue started bc of the part where nomad talked about seunghan’s dance position within riize. they praised him for his flexible movements in contrast to shotaro and wonbin’s “rough street dancing and standard styles.” they also said that after watching the member’s fancams, seunghan is the member best at “using his upper body” and “highlighting the details of the choreography.”

here is the whole translated paragraph transcribed from the ss:

“Additionally, in order to widen the range of performance types that a group can handle, it is best if the specialized styles of each dance member do not overlap too much. While Shotaro and Wonbin's characteristics are rough street dancing and standard styles, respectively, Seunghan's style, in contrast, is very flexible and allows him to control the strength and weakness well. Also, by analyzing the members' fancams, we can conclude that the member in Rise who uses his upper body the best is Seunghan, and more importantly, Seunghan is the member who is the best at highlighting the details of the choreography among the members. In this way, the three dance line members are already the best combination, complementing each other's shortcomings, so if even one of them is missing, the quality of the performance will inevitably decline.”

this thread sparked a lot of seunghan praise:

now idk abt yall but after reading all these, the first thing on my mind isnt “ok but what about x member..”. this is clearly about seunghan, how he affects the performance/stage/vocal dynamic of the group, and what they lose without him. this is for seunghan and about seunghan, RELATIVE to the other members, not comparative. but some people clearly have other things in mind..

things got kinda messy from here🤕

and some people just straight up revealed they dgaf about him fr☠️

and youll never guess whats in shawty's bio..??

like hmm?? if 2+2 is 4.. how can you support an ot7 riize if you think he doesn't bring anything to the group? that hes not vital in anything? that they're doing fine w/o him? like im genuinely curious but anyways..

some people clocked how weird these reactions were but the damage has lwk already been done bc this is such a strange discourse to have at all🤕

☆ my opinion

again i just think its crazy how u can call urself ot7 when u dont believe he’s indispensable to the group? the whole point of nomad’s thread was to showcase what seunghan brought to riize, and why this ot6 body isn’t bringing out their full potential as vocal&performance artists. there are so many things to take into account here:

because one member is good at a certain aspect of a skill doesn’t make another members’ any less than..

the thread was to show seunghan’s unique differences from any other member, and highlight what the group loses by not having him. not to say “hes better at x than y member,” but to say “this is how seungan’s skill contrasts any other member and creates a better result.”

riize is a team, teams have members, members are going to have distinct styles that they execute best. shotaro is obviously the main dancer as he's very versatile and can cover a wide range of movement, but that doesn't change the fact there are details & aspects of seunghan’s dancing that he makes most noticeable, & that differ and contrast shotaro’s in a good way. those differences make them look better as a group. like yes taro is a pro dancer, but he has a more "x" style while seunghan accentuates more "y" movements, and "x" and "y" work together perfectly with the rest of the members on stage. its not about who is better, it’s about how they look together as one.

i feel like some taro/wonbin stans are referring to individual skills, which explains why they're bringing up taro's past as a dancer. individual skill is a whole different story, and again, that wasn't the purpose of the thread, it was to show what riize loses as a group by not having seunghan.

the “better at moving his upper body” part is one of those details seunghan highlights, but that comment is an opinion on nomad’s part, so ofc u can disagree with it. however the undeniable fact is that seunghan is very talented at dancing with his upper body, and whether x member is better than him or not isnt the point - it was included to show how he and only he executes it differently than others to create an enhanced look on stage. i think its funny how theres literally a part of the thread where wonbin is agreeing that seunghan has the most flexible upper body in an interview but some milkteas were still acting like nomad saying that is a snub to taro??😭

getting mad at a seunghan praise tweet for praising seunghan is odd behavior. u can of course have preferences, but to call it “discrediting” shotaro is a huge stretch. no one is downplaying shotaro’s skills as a dancer, in fact nomad’s thread is one of the only threads ive seen actually articulating and placing focus on seunghan’s dancing, so to say it was “objectively untrue” is crazy and i think we should just let hongjjangus have nice things. if u disagree, and think taro is better at something, gone ahead and make ur own thread like this user did (maybe with a less shady caption🤕) instead of creating a space for people to feel comfortable demeaning seunghan's skills comparatively to other members.

like who was speaking on him??😭😭 some people have definitely lost the plot but at least its a minority.. unrelated to these screenshots but theres srsly an epidemic of briizes who are lowkey moving ot6 but claiming its in the name of supporting riize's active members so be careful who u call oomf & stay strapped in these streets😕🙏🏽 seunghan WILL be home soon trust me ladies.. im psychic

[c l o s e t a b ?] ◀ ⇨ akgaepop.com

[ausetkmt]

When Donald Trump talks about undocumented immigrants, he often brings up genetics.

Immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” he said at a rally last year.

“Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they’re now happily living in the United States,” he said earlier this month. “You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.” 

The former president’s language underscores a larger trend, experts tell STAT. The eugenics movement is once again taking center stage in the U.S. — both in the immigration policies and rhetoric promoted by Trump, and through a rise in race science in academic literature.

Eugenics — the pseudoscientific idea of fixing social problems through genetics and heredity via policies ranging from selective breeding to forced sterilization and genocide — was popular at the turn of the 20th century, before the devastation of the Holocaust quelled public support for it. The reasons for its resurgence include an increase in funding of race science from private donors, as well as proponents of scientific racism and white nationalists manipulating the push to make science more public. 

Even well-intentioned scientists have fed into this shift by promoting genetic determinism — the idea that genes are the primary driver of traits and behaviors — and by platforming problematic work in the name of academic freedom. 

“I wasn’t surprised that people are being demagogic about this stuff, but I am a little surprised that they’re so clearly not even hiding [it],” said Paul Lombardo, a professor of law at Georgia State University who has done extensive work on the legacy of eugenics. “This is not just saying the quiet part out loud. This is coming up with quotations in which, instead of using quotation marks, you’ve got swastikas at each end of the sentence.”

‘Bad genes’ and the birth of eugenics

Trump is frequently accused of racism, but the fact that he is embracing eugenic thinking has not drawn sufficient attention, according to Shannon O’Brien, a political scientist at the University of Texas, Austin, who has written a book on eugenics in American politics. 

While racists harbor hatred for others because of their ethnicity or the color of their skin, eugenicists take it a step further and “like to legislate people out of existence,” O’Brien said. “They are OK with sterilization. They’re okay with extermination, and they believe that certain groups are superior and it’s OK to enact things that make it difficult for other ones to exist. I find that far scarier than racism.” 

Asked about Trump’s rhetoric and the eugenics movement and his remarks about “bad genes,” Karoline Leavitt, the campaign’s press secretary, told STAT, “President Trump was clearly referring to murderers, not migrants.’’

The former president also has a history of statements suggesting that certain people are genetically superior. A 2016 documentary pointed out Trump’s father, Fred, introduced him to “racehorse theory” as a child — the idea that “that if you put together the genes of a superior woman and a superior man, you get superior offspring.” He’s used this idea to promote his own intelligence as well. “I had an uncle who went to MIT who is a top professor, Dr. John Trump. A genius. It’s in my blood. I’m smart,” he told CNN in 2020. 

This way of talking about genetics is rooted in a long history that begins with the English anthropologist Francis Galton, who took his cousin Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and applied it to humans, first using the term eugenics in 1883. The nascent field of eugenics matured into a full-fledged field of study in the United States. Much later, in the 1990s, the sequencing of the human genome inadvertently created a new surge in eugenics — emboldened by the idea that scientists could isolate genes responsible for complex behaviors, like poverty, crime and intelligence. 

How companies like 23andMe bolstered genetic determinism  

Those affiliated with the Human Genome Project hoped sequencing the genome would end notions that genetics created significant differences in different groups — “that it would lead us to this post-racial world,” said Aaron Panofsky, the director of the Institute for Society and Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles. 

“But it turns out that both scientists and the public spend all their interest in the 0.1% of genetic variation that makes us different, not the 99.9% that makes us the same.”

In promoting their research to the public and getting research funding from the government, geneticists often hyped up the role genes play in people’s lives. The Human Genome Project “was a huge public undertaking,” said Emily Merchant, a historian of science at the University of California, Davis. “It was almost $3 billion and took more than a decade to complete. So it needed a lot of popular support. The scientists who were trying to generate that popular support did it by promoting genetic determinism.”

This sentiment persisted in ensuing years because of popular genetic testing companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com, which marketed its products with the premise that an understanding of genetics held the secret to good health and could quantify people’s sense of belonging to racial or ethnic groups. 

In the early 2010s, there was another shift in how mainstream academic circles discussed ideas that intelligence was genetic or that race had a biological basis. Richard Lynn, a psychologist who claimed that people from certain countries had lower IQs, promoted a biased dataset on IQ differences between countries that became increasingly widespread in academia. Another theory, called “differential K theory,” began to circulate around this time, stating that Black people have lower IQs and are more aggressive. 

“The national IQ database, differential K theory, they should have died the death bad science deserves to die. They have no scientific merit,” said Rebecca Sear, an evolutionary behavioral scientist at Brunel University who has documented the resurgence in eugenics in demography. “They’ve both been extensively critiqued. They are both currently thriving in the academic literature.”

While controversial among the scientific community, ideas like Lynn’s continued to spread in academia, in part because of the ethos of academic freedom — the idea that scholars should be able to research and debate any issues in their field, and that rejecting a paper based on problematic findings is tantamount to censorship.  

“That’s a very, very problematic argument, but I think it is quite widespread,” Sear said. “Academic freedom isn’t the freedom to say literally anything in an academic forum. It’s the freedom to say anything with a sound methodological basis.” 

While these ideas lacked scientific rigor, Sear explained, they were often not intended for other scientists. “Scientific racism really is not aimed at academia. It’s aimed at the outside world. And this, I think, is why it’s so often such bad science,” Sear said.

The appropriation of open science 

The open science movement around this time also proved to boost the spread of flawed research on race, ethnicity, and genetics. Academic journals increasingly were publishing papers without paywalls, so anyone could access them, and often requiring the data underpinning research to be available. 

Some scientists had also begun posting early drafts of their work, called “preprints,” on public forums. By doing science in the public square this way, people with explicit political agendas could access, manipulate, and reinterpret published research in a way that sometimes took academics by surprise.  

Online, white nationalists used popular genetic testing websites to prove how white they were, and reanalyzed scientific data with a bent to affirming biological differences between races. They also seized on uncertainty among biologists about how to discuss race in the academic literature. Discussion forums on the subject might lean on anti-science conspiracy theories, but users could sometimes make sophisticated arguments about statistical uncertainties or the distinction between correlation and causation.

“They read both against and with the scientific literature, and that’s the way in which it becomes a very complicated dance that they sometimes make,” said Panofsky, who has studied the ways that far-right movements weaponize genetics. 

The solution to the weaponization of genetics isn’t gatekeeping research, experts studying the issue agree. But, they say that academia hasn’t confronted the ways science can be used to embolden bigotry. 

“We have basically a metric for how much Nazis like your research,” said Jedidiah Carlson, a population geneticist at Macalester College who led an analysis of how preprints circulate among right-wing extremists online. But it’s not a feature many are interested in. He wants to see researchers more attuned to the long-term impact of their work. 

Incentive structures in research are also responsible for the continued popularity of research on topics like the links between genetics and intelligence or educational attainment, Carlson said. It’s “easy to get money for it, because you can say this has immediate policy implications for education and immigration policy … It’s just treated as this generic ‘apolitical’ research when it never has been.”

Challenging the idea that genes are ‘in the driver’s seat’

The failure to deeply engage with the dark history of eugenics and the way it’s informed a number of academic fields is linked to current political hostility directed toward immigrants, according to Marielena Hincapié, an immigration scholar and lawyer at Cornell University who hosted a symposium on the 100-year legacy of eugenics and the Immigration Act of 1924. 

She points to recent attacks on immigrant communities carried out by people that believe in the Great Replacement Theory, a conspiracy that posits there is a concerted effort to diminish the power and influence of white people in the United States. The gunman behind one such attack, in Buffalo, New York, directly cited genetics research in his thinking.

The incident sparked some soul searching within the genetics community, which has also pushed back on problematic use of its research. In one case, a genetics consortium challenged the use of its data by a private company to screen embryos. On another occasion, a now-defunct app claimed it could test users on whether they had genes associated with same-sex sexual orientation, drawing on a paper published in Science. That prompted a protest petition signed by more than 1,600 scientists. 

There’s also growing interest in the scientific community in how social determinants, such as economic policies, racism, and climate change, shape people’s health, and in the field of epigenetics, which studies how the environment affects gene expression. These paradigms open up an understanding that “genes are not necessarily in the driver’s seat, but they’re in an interactive relationship with a whole bunch of other factors,” said Panofsky. “They seem to open a door to a post-deterministic biology and genetics.” 

Even so, the field has yet to truly rethink its buy-in of the idea that genes play a central role in people’s abilities and behaviors, Panofsky said. That thinking can inadvertently support the kind of problematic rhetoric Trump has applied to immigrants. While much of the U.S. has moved on and forgotten about its eugenic past, the country hasn’t done the work to refute the ideas it made so popular. 

“We presume that we’ve done the work of rooting these matters out of our society,” said Michele Goodwin, a professor of constitutional law and global health at Georgetown Law. “But that presumption is proving to be quite thin and weak in these times.”

Just over 100 years ago, eugenicist Harry Laughlin testified before the U.S. House of Representatives that “The character of our civilization will be modified by the ‘blood’ or the natural hereditary qualities which the sexually fertile immigrant brings to our shores.” His argument wouldn’t be out of place today.

[partyanimal167]

Hi! I heard you wanted ideas to write for Law!

I have one! Terribly specific hope thats ok!

How about something along the line of a extreme fluff ? Like Reader helps to nurse the crew back to health after loosing the ship and perhaps during a separation moment ( reader stays behind to fight the marines or something? Up to you!) And then at some point the following exchange happens:

Reader: " its not goodbye, I still want to see the submarine again! "

Law, being carried away by Bepo: " I ... I will find you! I will get you back!"

Reader:" I will be back, for as long as you want me to!"

Maybe a few tears here and there?

Thanks! Hope this helps!

Hi! I appreciate your request. I'm not the best at fluffly moments, but I will try my best. Thank you so much for the details. I'll see what I can do~

See You Later- Law x GN!Reader

CW: fluff, soft moments, comfort, non-graphic action

I'lll be right back okay! Just keep going ahead!

Law would say he was confident in his ability to keep adapting as situations called for it. You have to be when dealing with the Strawhats, of course. However losing your ship, getting ambushed by Marines, and knowing your lover is fighting can cloud one's mind.

It really wasn't supposed to go this way. In a rare spur of luck, the Marines were able to track down the Polar Tang when the crew needed to restock, and the news didn't travel fast enough. Law made the ambitious call to the guys on watch to go out to sea while the rest would wait it out and call for escape when appropriate.

Everyone had been running around with their respective mini groups trying to hide in the shadows and find ways to not draw attention. Things were going well for the first two days, but then more naval reinforcements came. The group was meeting in an abandoned warehouse when the ambush occured.

You wiped a bit of blood from the corner of your lip before putting up your fists again. You scanned the building again--ready for more opponents.

"Captain! I think we're safe for now." Bepo announced aloud.

The group seemed to collectively let out a breath as they saw either knocked out soldiers on the ground or a few retreat in a haste.

Law sheathed his sword. "We need to be cautious. There's no telling when-," the man then sunk onto a knee before going into a coughing fit.

You looked over at him before gasping at the sight of blood on his shirt. "Law, your wound is reopening. We need to get you back to the ship."

Though a knowledgeable doctor, Law was still a stubborn man. He wouldn't leave without being certain that everything would be okay. "I'm fine. We just need to find a new place to hide, and-"

"There's no need to find a place to hide. We need to escape before more Marines come. We're near their base. We'll be safer at sea." you argued.

"But there's no way we're all going to make it out right now. There's too many of us." Law groaned. There was a more reasonable solution, but he wasn't going to consider it.

You, however, weren't going to allow things to drag on. You shook your head. "Some of us can stay while you go on ahead. There's enough of us to hold off our enemies while the others escape to safety."

"I'm not leaving you. As captain, I"

"As a nonmember of the Heart Pirates, I do not care what their captain has to say." you rebutted sternly. It had been one of the things you two talked about in the past. There was always the possibility of a conflict of interest with you onboard. With your life as a outlaw before joining, you knew what to expect. Yet, you couldn't let go of all your freedoms. You didn't really need a reason to bring it up before, but Law needed a reminder. You were not an underling who needed protecting. Moreso, you were looking out even for his greater good.

"Bepo," you stated while giving a strong look.

He seemed to understand what you meant and saluted. "Aye!" he paused and looked at Law, "Sorry Captain!" Law was thrown over the shoulder of his friend which shocked him before arguing.

"Wait! No! Y/n, I'm not leaving you. I'll-," Bepo started running away while a few other members followed.

You smiled gently and waved. "This isn't goodbye at all. I'll see the Tang again."

"I... I will find you! I will get you back! All of you!"

"I'll be back, for as long as you want me to!" You beamed before running out the warehouse in the opposite direction along with Shachi and the others. "Let's keep Law and the crew safe for now."

~~~

You quietly hummed a tune while wringing out a towel. You dampened it fresh hot water before placing it on your patient's forehead.

"...I'm still mad at you."

You chuckled. "I'm sure you are." you continued to redress Law's bandages. "Too bad though, I get to play nurse."

"You shouldn't have done something so reckless."

"I think you forget which one of us had a bigger bounty when we met." you teased.

"I can't lose you." you paused after hearing that confession.

It had been a stressful couple days for Law after separating from you. His group was able to get back on the Tang, but by the time they tried to reach for you, your lot was already engaged in another battle. It took awhile and periods of no communication before it was safe for you to steal a boat and meet the crew out at sea. Law was quick to get the submarine to surface and you all onboard. You were safe with minimal injuries, but it seems you underestimated how much Law worried.

You caressed his cheek and smiled. "That stress is going to put you in a grave before any battle will." you paused and sighed. "You can't get rid of me so easily, Law."

The man scoffed before closing his eyes and enjoying your touch. "You're too stubborn to give up." he joked weakly.

You chuckled, "Precisely why you love me." You then kissed his cheek. "I love you too. I won't let anything go between us."

~~~

Thank you for requesting! I liked how this turned out--simple and sweet. Please share your thoughts. I appreciate you reading this

[nhi-theuserof-this]

Noir hcs!! (+punknoir!)

These are based on BS and nobody can stop me because I’m the author >:)

Ok so this list also doubles as self promotion but we aren’t talking about that right now ✌️

Also content warnings! I’m keeping it light but like general warning for noir having poor mental health, nothing terrible or explicit brought up and hcs end on a light note

-he’s recruited to the spider society specifically due to basically his entire life getting shaken around like those little glitter water jars

-the events of itsv changing his mentality ->therefore changing how certain events were supposed to go

-he near exclusively shows up to use their infirmary

-he doesn’t get sent on missions due to not having a no-killing rule

-he primarily starts going by ben at first(not only as a differentiator for author) because he’s quite detached from his own identity as a person and needed a fresh slate so to speak

-now he just likes going by ben since hobie is the one that started it

-he goes to therapy with spider therapist. The bill goes straight to miguel

-he’s aroace, he has no fucking clue what the terminology actually is, just knows he’s got no romantic intention when kissing and holding hands

-punknoir. Need I say more?

(yes I need to say more.)

-he and hobie getting together is simultaneously a gradual thing and also just absolutely random. They get closer as time passes but there’s absolutely no beating around the bush when it comes to saying their feelings to each other

-he starts growing a pot of flowers shortly after they get together and is going to gift them to hobie when they start to bloom so they can plant them in his(hobies) universe

-hex codes. Something about them

-there’s a group in the spider society that write a newsletter about what he gets up to because people were interested and a little worried about him when he joined

-he does not know there’s a newsletter about him. There’s probably a subplot about that going on its merry way right about now

-he’s trans he’s so trans literally the most trans of trans look at him and his misery and tell me he isn’t trans

-on that topic he does not like his face

-he also loves hearing his own voice, he’s not gonna go out of his way to talk all the time but he’s really proud of the general control he has to get it that way. I’d be proud too actually

-continuing, he just passes so well when I think about it. Deep ass voice, pretty tall, and whatever his build may look like, he’s got a fire ass fit with that coat and hat and stuff

-speaking of the hat, he’s quite fond of it and has had it for a while, he likes to personify it for bits and quips sometimes

The post is getting a bit long so I think I’ll make another part at some point, if you enjoyed any of these I greatly recommend reading my series!! [Link] I put my heart into it and I want you all to love it too! Things are getting a bit busy but I’m working on another main work as well as outsiders pov with more of the newsteam

Take care all! <3

[greyfongschemmenti]

overall thoughts on tdp??? Now that you’re done watching, which season/story-line/character (besides our iconic queen General and Aunt Amaya 👑) was your fave? Any moments throughout that you really felt or really spoke to you?

The dynamic of characters in this show is so interesting. The theme throughout the whole show is something that resonates with me because it's how I live my life. Despite what you hear about a certain group of people you should have an open mind. This is just some of my thoughts and opinions on some of the characters. There might be spoilers so read at your own risk.

I love Seasons 1-3 and if it wasn’t for the wedding preparations and scenes with Amaya. I wouldn’t have watched season 4. I felt like the whole season was complete filler. The series could’ve ended at the 3rd season and be solid. Season 4 didn’t really get my attention compared to the previous seasons. I hope the story picks up in season 5. I just need more Amaya 😭 lol

Callum starting as a kid who doesn't know where he belongs because he isn't a fighter or have anything useful to help the kingdom. He is the stepson of the king. Turns out he is a mage and he instantly knows that he wants to be a good light mage and nothing like what his former crush, Claudia is. Speaks on his character and reminds me a lot of his mom.

Ezran, such a baby doll, is quirky and awkward. Has a difficulty talking to people and has a special connection with animals. He has a kind heart and sees the good in people. He doesn't allow outside comments deter his judgement on a person. He reminds me so much of Antonio from Encanto. He is a fave for sure. He is a type of King that I would love to see in the real world.One that rules with kind and compassion instead with a drive for power or holier than thou.

Rayla being a moonshadow assassin. While Rayla claims to despise humans, on the inside she doesn't truly hate them. She doesn't see them as lesser beings than herself, unlike the rest of the elves. It causes this inner turmoil on her belief as a moon shadow assassin verses her morals. She constantly checking her morals and doing better. Willing to put her life on the line to do the right thing.

Claudia, her development was scary, I know there's some good but she continues down this dark path, that its sad. I was so hoping that she would run away with Soren. I really hope there is some way she can redeem herself in the upcoming season but I feel like she's so far down the rabbit hole that it's too deep a hole for her to come out of. The reason why I say Claudia's development is scary s because she knows she is becoming darker. Each season she is at a point where she pushes that morality further. She crosses that limit and instead of realizing ok that's enough. She knows it's bad and accepts it with no regret. Only to surpass it again the next time. There is nothing that will stop her to get what she wants.

Soren, at first I didn't care about him because he was this jerk who constantly picked on Callum, but Soren definitely grew. The first season I feel like the creators wanted us to see Soren as this idiot jock that heavily relies on his physical strength. It also didn't help that Viren and Claudia also treated him as such. As the series goes on he is so much more than that. His development throughout the series is one of the best, imo. He has this emotional intelligence that came to a surprise. He does have silly moments where he acts first but then he realizes his mistakes and changes. When Soren realized how he was manipulated by his dad. He went against his dad. This is so hard to do. He loves his dad and his sister so for him to renounce his loyalty from his family and follow the crown. Then on top of that having to go to war and the person you're fighting is your own father and sister. That hits the heart in more ways than one. His redemption arc is honestly chef's kiss. Soren is a good boi.

Amaya, my my my Amaya. She is wife. Once she appeared on the screen I had heart eyes immediately. Like I was already shopping for rings! I think I have a thing for strong stoic types who are really big softies. She's both an immovable object and an unstoppable force in battle. Amaya is thoughtful, honorable, compassionate and smart. Brutal, driven and capable. Pragmatic and adaptable. Her character design and fight choreography is stylish af. I could watch her fight it's like watching a dance. Her shield is honestly really cool and interesting design. Even though she's a tough person that flips switches so fast once she's with her nephews. She turns into this big softy that is so adorable and honestly is why I fell hard for her. She has a heart of gold and isn't afraid to jump into the line of fire to protect the people she loves. Her nephews, Gren, Janai, her soldiers, her kingdom. I could go on about Amaya.

Bait, Bait is the best. I can't get over him. He has a range of emotions and is the bestest boi. He deserves all the tarts.

Bonus:

I can't get over the fact that Amaya threw Bait in a perfect spiral throw. Bait is beauty. Bait is grace.

[scrapcheese]

DRAGON MAID THEORY: Kiyama is Takiya

OK WE ARE DRAGON POSTING AGAIN. HEADS UP THIS IS A VERY LONG POST AND I WILL BE POSTING ANOTHER ONE VERY SOON.

==============

1. First, before we begin, I just want to say that this kid just straight up looks like Takiya. Like look at the hair, the hairstyle matches. Especially the bangs, they look identical!

=====

2. Kiyama is a fake name he made up on the spot. However, the name "Kiyama" is literally just Ta(kiya Ma)koto -> Kiyama

=====

3. The kid in the oneshot is obsessed with some sort of anime series and stays at home playing video games all day, which matches Takiya's otaku tendencies

=====

4. And the thing the king says to him about "crafting a strong outer image, a mask to connect with others" is basically the same thing Takiya says to Shouta

=====

5. In the oneshot, they defeat a water dragon that speaks in olde english by cutting off one of its horns. Does that description sound familiar to you?

That's probably because the dragon is most likely Telne! In ch 133, we see Telne follow Takiya seemingly because she thinks that he's the one Elma likes, but when she confronts him, she points at her horn (which she is missing one of, most likely because it was cut off by "Kiyama"), then Takiya reacts with suprise and starts apologizing to her. Why else would he be reacting like that if he wasn't the one who cut it off?

=====

5.5. Also this highschool girl teaches her to dress cute, which implies that this is the reason why she dresses the way she does in the main story.

=====

6. At the end of the oneshot Kiyama says that if he ever makes a bond like their group had, he'll try to preserve it the same way the King kept their party together.

And that is basically Takiya's role in most of the story so far. For example, he invites everyone to the hot springs in ch 33 and when asked by Fafnir why he did it he said "to make a community". Elma also notes that he is like the oil in the cog that makes relationships run smoothly".

=====

7. Author said that the oneshot will have relevance to the future arcs and shows Takiya at the end. Like come on. He has to be related somehow and this is the way that makes the most sense.

=====

Bonus: Also I'm certain that king Obayashi is in some way related to Kobayashi, which is why Takiya is really close with her. They have the same hair color and it would explain why Kobayashi has this high affinity for magic and otherworldly things if one of her parents is directly connected to the other world.

Also probably explains ch119 quite a bit and why he looks so nostalgic/like he's reminiscing something the whole time.

===

THAT'S ALL FOR THIS DRAGONPOSTING THEORY, READ MY OTHER ONE IT'LL BE UP REAL SOON.

[acmoorereadsandwrites]

How to Stop Spinning Your Wheels and Write

First: mental health is real. If you are in burnout, take care of yourself because if you push yourself in burnout, you can prolong it. You might want to try some of these things to keep being creative during burnout, but don't force yourself.

Take care of yourself.

Try more creative outlines. I don't outline the way most people think of it. I outline with moodboards that nobody but me can understand, including main characters, relationships, side characters, and aesthetics. It makes sense to me and, when I look at it, I know exactly what I want each picture to do and say and why it's in the space it's in. If you are more visual, you can try that or a Pepe Silvia-esque string board. You can even try a playlist that is one song per chapter to convey the mood and repeat songs as needed. Don't take forever to do this; spend no more than a day or two and then get to writing.

Instead of a character sheet, writing the same scene from the POV of every character in a given chapter so you learn more about them. Character sheets can get some of us really in the weeds and we focus so much on whether or not our characters like punk vs classical music and certain fashion tastes that are ultimately not going to be on the page. That's not to say knowing these things are bad, but you can also get to know your characters by writing how they view each other and certain situations and by doing that, you also learn their motivations in each scene.

Just write 100 words a day of the project. That's it. Or a page in a notebook or 15 minutes of a sprint. Give yourself a small, reachable, tangible goal where you can see your writing grow. 'But I don't know where the story is going!' That's OK! It doesn't have to be perfect. You can write four pages and realize it's going nowhere and then cross it all out and start again. Pros do that, too.

If you're writing SFF, identify if you have Worldbuilder's Disease. What is this? It's when you spend all your time building a world for a story and you never get around to the story because the world isn't 'finished'. Tolkien didn't finish building his world. Last time I checked, GRRM never created more than 7 words of High Valyrian; David J. Peterson did for GOT. If you have Worldbuilder's Disease, make a checklist for what you absolutely need and if you have 75% or more done, you write and worldbuild on alternating days until you have what you absolutely need. By then, you should also have a better understanding of your characters and plot. If worldbuilding is your passion, you don't have to abandon it; but if it's stopping you from writing the story you want to tell, at some point, you do need to stop focusing on the worldbuilding and on the story.

If your perfectionism is the problem and you feel that draft one has to be perfect, this is going to be harder for some people than it is for others. For some people, accepting that draft 1 isn't going to be the end result is by calling it 'the shitty draft'. For others, it's by doing a draft zero, which I believe comes from screenwriting, and you write an unstructured draft with all your research and pants the hell out of it. For some people, that is draft one, for others, its a way to trick their brain into not putting too much pressure on themselves. Let yourself infodump in the draft if you have to. Get a cheerleader or enabler.

Get yourself an accountability buddy. Find someone in your friend group who also has a novel they want to write or a piece they want to learn how to play or a game they wanna finish, set a date for when it needs to be done that is reasonable, and check-in with each other. New Years' Resolutions don't work for most people, but cheering on a friend and them cheering you on and having someone who will ask you 'how's the book coming?' and listen to you when you talk about the best and worst parts of the week can be really effective to stopping yourself from going back to spinning your wheels.

Get a critique partner. Can be someone you met in fandom if you both are coming from the fanfic world or critique circle or a writing group in your area. If what you need is feedback, put yourself out there to get it.

Carrot method. If what you need is a treat, find a treat within your budget. Some people get a cupcake on Fridays if they met their writing goals four days in a row. Others treat themselves to a literary magazine subscription or a new hardcover book if they hit their goals for the month. If what you need to do is watch an episode of your favorite TV show after writing 800 words that night, do it. My personal variation of this is writing 500 words of the main project before I can work on other projects. Some days, I never get to the projects and others, I breeze right through and then get to do a whole short story I've wanted to write all week.

Fill in the blank method. My strongest points are dialogue and dynamics. If I forced myself to do internal things and description and sensory details down to the last detail on the first draft, nothing would ever get done. I give myself leeway and write the dialogue and dynamics and add the things I have to later. The more I practice internal aspects and description, the more I just do them, but I don't pressure myself. Pressuring yourself is not the answer.

Start in the middle. Starting is hard; many writers start in the wrong place, especially on their book. Some people do have a better sense of where a story should start than others, but some people have a better idea of what a strong finish is than others. Maybe your strength is the finish line. It's OK to write the last half of the book first and then add the first half. The first few chapters are almost always the chapters that are rewritten the most; that's why they tend to be the strongest and tightest.

[brandileigh2003]

Ok. But like?

I'm cool with remus not being traditionally beautiful. But Sirius still thinking he's the best thing ever. I think that he has certain attractive features, but he's def not some rockstar and most ppl don't take a second glance. But you need that to see the shade of his eyes, his crooked smile. Sirius loves him and finds beauty because of not despite of his scars. Bc they show strength and tell a story.

Mid level I think someone put it. Sure, I get why that can be a thing.

But. I think he can have sex appeal in other ways. His smile, his voice, a look in his eyes, muscles in certain places that defies him being otherwise skinny.

I'm fine with sirius being super intelligent and quick. Its canon after all. I love how him and James have this quality. But I don't think that means that remus liking to read or studying a lot takes that away from Sirius. I think that he likes academic validation, and he needs to read and study to stay caught up. He wants to prove he's worthy to be at school and has to work for it. I do think that he's smart though, and adds to group dynamics.

I don't think that he's just a downer and boring persay, otherwise why would they want to be with him. I think that he'll do the research maybe on the great idea that Sirius and James had and they will later carry it out flawlessly. Or sees some kind of gap in the plan and can think quick to help patch it up.

I do think he probably gets so hyperfixated on things which some people can't stand. but sirius loves to hear him talk about it. Just like remus is obsessed with everything sirius has to say. He's totally a nerd but I don't think he's just pathetic or a loser. Or maybe I just don't see those words the same as the recent posts have been using for him.

I think he's extraordinarily kind. he worships sirius, who in turn thinks remus is also the best. He's not rude to him even though I really do think they fight. But can't stay mad at each other long.

I do think that he can be angry, but I also think that a lot of times it's just at himself or crappy life circumstances. He's normally careful to keep any anger controlled bc he's worried about perception.

he's shy and and awkward and deals with a lot. He loves to help the younger students, and he uses above hard earned study methods to help them bc everything doesn't just come naturally or can share how he overcame it.

If everyone has a crush it's not bc he's completely hot or any of that. He's a soft boy with big comfy sweaters that gives good hugs. He's a good listener, a good teacher, shares anything he has, especially the chocolate that seems to be never ending in his bag. Bc he believes that it'll make you feel better. He has a kind word or compliment and can make you feel better.

I think he can be a momma's boy. And wants hope or poppy to hug him, and give him a space to cry and be weak. Otherwise I think that he likes to try to hide his pain bc he doesn't want to be a burden.

And ... That all said. I think that CR remus is different than a lot of this and hes absolutely perfect and I love him and I'd do insane things for this fictional man. It's one of my favorite ways to read about him. But something that carries over there from everything else I said is how enamored he is with Sirius Black. And how much he loves his inner circle. How he has this sacrificial love.

But anyways, I could go on about CR but that's totally not the point. Ive just seen a few things and wanted to say some things about how I see him a lot. And maybe the posts that have me feeling kind of sad talking about him are actually saying some of the same things I'm just negatively associating some words or ideas bc I know personally I can also interpret things completely the wrong way or not read into the subtext well enough

Let me know what you think. But if you think this is wrong; be kind.

And the people who like to come all up in my inbox about hating Sirius-- this isnt that. To be clear. I don't want remus to take over any traits of Sirius or whatever else you accuse me of. This has to do mostly with remus except me saying that sirius sees something in remus that a lot of people don't, that they're in love and adore each other.

I do in fact love Sirius Black and think he's wonderful. And you're missing the point if you think I hate that man. But I want to talk about remus rn and if you want something talking about Sirius, so many other wonderful people on here do that, so let's find that instead and let me hyperfixate and talk about remus.

Other random things I'll probably add to that really are prb just me.

-he is a horrible dancer. But he'll do it for sirius

-he'd do almost anything for Sirius.

-he's a music snob. But he'll read anything

-he is super annoying in class bc he shakes his leg or taps his quill. Sirius thinks it's adorable though.

-he needs a cane around the full. But he doesn't like to use it.

-the man loves weed. Him and hope smoke together.

-he has no idea how to take care of his hair

-to me he's associated with chronic illness, pain or disability in every universe. Or some mix or variation. (Ofc authors have free choice it's their story and I have no right for demands or anything) but I write him that way, hc him that way, get stupidly happy when I read it bc I feel so seen, search AO3 tags regularly for these portrayals.

-remus has no sense of style. But sirius doesn't care, he's so soft and cozy with his sweaters. The only thing about that is that I'm personally convinced hope bought remus a leather jacket, he shows up wearing it on the train, Sirius somehow gets his hands on it... Remus' eyes pop out of his head, maybe drools a bit- and it becomes Sirius' trademark

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Hair for the brown ask game?

Thanks for the ask!! (From this world building ask game).

Answering for Alium, the alternate dimension in The Secret Portal.

HAIR - What kinds of discrimination are there? Are they the same as reality?

Oh. OH THIS IS A DOOZY

Ok alright.

The world in terms of culture is all pretty happy to co-exist. There are 10 Sectors but no one really cares where you're from. It's not uncommon for people to be of various cultural descent and you can go anywhere in the world and it won't have a completely monogamous population. So for the most part, racism/xenophobia/any kind of discrimination of culture or origin isn't really a thing.

Same goes for homophobia/transphobia/sexism. Not really a thing. I've kind of in the process of fixing surnames so women don't have to change their names in a M/F relationship and the children can have the names of either parent or both. I did make it a little patriarchal, but I'm working on it.

This isn't to say no one in Alium holds these prejudices. It's just not widespread or institutionalized.

Now ableism - that's the big one. In terms of disabilities that actually exist, there's a lot of technology available for accomodation. Stairs aren't a thing, so people who couldn't use stairs to begin with will be fine. There are gloves/sleeves/etc to help translate gesture-based languages to speech - though they are completely optional to the individual and not enforced. Any real-disability accommodations actually are taught to be entirely up to the individual, who can reject them and not be shamed or mocked for doing so. There's no push - they're just there.

But then come the powers. This is where the root of the discrimination is in TSP.

There are ones specific to a power - such as stereotypes. Telepaths, for example, are stereotyped to be mentally unstable, and most psychological hospitals are populated with telepaths. Telepaths often have to wear dampeners in certain locations. Teleporters can also be warded off. As soon as they're identified, chronokinetics (time manipulants) have their time traveling power suppressed, limited to only smaller changes.

The Class system for power rarity is also sometimes misinterpreted as a hierarchy by those who want to be seen as better for having a more rare power. In general, there are individuals who believe Their Power, or only specific powers, are superior. People with flying and intangibility and other less practical powers can be seen as inferior. Same goes for differing Levels of power - some people don't have the potential for higher abilities.

There are also traditional jobs they are expected to take. Those with superstrength should go into physical work and terrakinetics into construction.

But the most prominent is the Inutilia - the name given to those who never develop powers. If you know your Latin roots, you'd know this means useless. This is a relatively recent mutation where an Alii never develops powers - and in this society this is seen as a disability. This is where the ableism comes in. Society doesn't see a point to them.

The Big Conflict is the prejudice of the Inutilia. After decades of violence toward them, one group had enough and decided to basically attempt to overthrow the oppressive governments of the world and replace it with a new one. Another group was like "hey, how about we try to solve the prejudice without violence!?" And now the two sides are pissed at each other to say the absolute least.

Second group is the focus. As the series goes on, I deconstruct the bias in its leadership and actual more productive ways to counter the prejudice and promote equity. A lot of power corrupts themes. Hehe good luck to me lol.

So that's the basic overview of it? That was a lot. Working on this is super hard but super interesting. Figuring out all the social implications, bias, etc is a LOT. A lot of research too.

Hope that was a sufficient answer lol.

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @fairy-tales-of-yesterday