#but solely bc of family tree lore

[fluffypotatey]

Probably helps ody is Hermes grandson

is that so? that explains so much

[destinysbounty]

Ok how do u explain Lloyds hair color. Bc I'm pretty sure blonde hair isn't a dominant gene, and both of Lloyds parents have brown hair. Did he bleach it??? How??? Where would he get those resources he's like 8 in S1 and also homeless. Actually on that note what color do u think the FSM's hair was. Because ONE of the siblings has a different one than him. I've always thought the FSM's hair was blonde, bc when it greys out it's so pale, and also because angst in the way of Garmadon being different from his family from the start, but like. How would Garm have gotten the brown hair. Do they have a mom or did the FSM perform mitosis???? AND ALSO Garmadon's hair whites out and doesn't grey out despite him being a brunette (and later having black hair but that's bc of the Venom Influence) so. What's up with that. Also why does Wu's hair go white so early we know he was born with blonde hair. And why doesn't it apply to Lloyd too. What's happening. Where am I.

Right off the bat, lets dispel a common genetics misconception. Yes, its true that when a dominant and recessive gene get paired up, the dominant gene will be presented. You're also correct that blonde is recessive and brown is dominant. However! Like all things in biology, its a bit more complicated than that.

To simplify a surprisingly complicated science to the best of my ability, think of it like this. Although you will typically present based on whatever is the most dominant genes you inherited, you are still a carrier of sorts for the recessive genes. So Garmadon has brown hair, but his father and brother are both blonde, which means he has the potential to be a carrier for the blonde gene.

Then there's Misako, who is also a brunette. We don't know what her parents looked like, but lets say one of them was blonde. Even if she presents as brunette, she could still carry the recessive blonde gene.

When both parents are carriers for the same recessive gene, there's generally gonna be a 1 in 4 chance of their child presenting recessive rather than dominant. So, if we assume one of Misako's ancestors was blonde, then Lloyd being blonde is entirely likely.

This is a depressingly oversimplified summary of the situation, but I'm too lazy to get into the nitty grittys. Feel free to look up 'punnett squares' if you wanna learn more!

You do present a fascinating question, though: where did Garmadon get his brown hair?

Scientifically, the only explanation I can think of would be if Wu and Garm had a birth-mother of some kind. But i personally don't like that explanation because it just makes canon way more complicated than it needs to be. Tangentially, I'm also an "FSM Asexually Reproduced" truther all the way. I refuse to consider the possibility of the FSM having procreated with another person. That man either laid an egg or did some kinda mitosis shenanigan and you absolutely cannot convince me otherwise.

Luckily, we have the luxury of considering nonscientific alternatives.

To understand a more magic- and lore-based approach to the question of the hair colors present int his family, let's first take a look at the family tree:

FSM - blonde (as far as we can guess, at least). Half-dragon, half-oni. Also has godly powers of Creation and Destruction.

Garmadon - brunette. Has inherited the powers of Destruction.

Wu - blonde. Has inherited powers of Creation.

Lloyd - blonde. Has inherited a power very similar to the FSM, in that it's Creation-adjacent (listen, if you have a better way to describe Green fucking Energy, then by all means correct me).

Do you see where I'm going with this? Within the context of the FSM and his bloodline, it would not be entirely unreasonable to assume that blonde hair is in some way affiliated with the draconic half of their bloodline, whereas brown hair is more so affiliated with the oni half of their bloodline. So an individual's hair color may not necessarily be determined solely by standard genetics like a normal human would, but rather by which part of their bloodline they take after more strongly.

In this interpretation, Lloyd being blonde can be seen as a visual shorthand to represent how he has taken more so after his uncle/grandfather in terms of powerset and moral alignment.

Personally, I think both of these explanations are equally valid. That being said, it should be noted that a lot of this discussion operates on the assumption that Ninjagian genetics work in any way similar to ours. For all we know, blonde could be the in-universe dominant trait and brown could be recessive. The possibilities are endless.

I mean, c'mon. It's a fantasy story where the world was created by spinning around really fast. Lloyd canonically has shapeshifting powers, for crying out loud. I feel like him being blonde is completely within the realm of possibility, even without the scientific explanation. I feel like holding this series to any standard of scientific fidelity is just downright silly.

Anyway, thanks for the ask! Hope those answers were to your liking <3

[cottoncandyjester]

Little HC I have:

☆Monday keeps Rin all dumb and drooling just so he won't bother with his horniness while they do important stuff, poor BB has to take care of that stuff.

Monday would totally use this to get Rin to do things like helping with chores, if you clean I fuck you until you can barely walk.

☆When Wednesday helps someone he makes them kiss him at least 5 times before he starts making his damm job, is his way to get energy, tbh at this point he just acts like he is everyone's boyfriend.

☆Friday and Thursday make everyone watch anime with them, Im sorry if they don't want to see JJBA or Princess Tutu, they have to now, and when is their turn to put some music they would make everyone listen to Vocaloid.

☆BB gets a lot more of help now since Monday makes everyone on his team help with chores, even he helps, things like cooking, cleaning, taking care of someone who is sick, etc.

Since Sunday is the most calm and since he is not very fond of violence he is the one that helps BB the most, he won't shut up about how sweet/beautiful BB is.

☆When Saturday is not doing his clown act he likes to sit in Tiny's lap and tell him all the gossip he heard that day, judging people, making fun of them, is just his way of bonding!. (Well fucking with the gang is another way of bonding I guess).

☆Clover is Friday's perfect nap buddy, he would make her take naps with him after lunch, she is so soft and warm, is not his fault, but I don't think anything sexual will happen bc Friday is asexual.

Rin being the horny monster he is would absolutely take Monday up on all his offers to fuck, he just really likes sex. As far as doing chores yeah he would be super pouty and bratty about it being like “as leader this isn’t fair” but he will still do it cause good dick makes rin kinda stupid.

Wednesday would annoy the absolute fuck out of bubbles with all the small kisses so instead of five kisses he’ll just grab him by his shirt and just give him one very steamy kiss and probably be like “there,now help me. Right now.” I’m talking like sloppy passionate kiss then he’ll just leave him right when it’s getting really good. Tiny would absolutely lose his mind after the second kiss getting all shaky and flustered before hiding his face.

I can totally see all the members watching anime with Friday and Thursday. Rin would adore JJBA solely for the violence and big buff men, bubbles would question everything, clover wouldn’t really understand but she’s happy that everyone is together and enjoying it, poor BB would be so confused with the family tree that he has to write it all down just to understand..it would be an adventure.

BB would absolutely love all the help he can get since he treats everyone, cooks, cleans and make sure no one kills each other. Clover helps but she is pretty ditzy and tends to grab the attention of the other members so she’s usually busy..entertaining them. Whoever is helping BB will absolutely receive so much love and care like he is showering them with affection and praise even if they mess up. He’ll say things like “I really needed you” or “you’re truly amazing, know that?” Just sweet wholesome stuff

Sunday would break BB with the praise, he would be so flustered and wouldn’t stop grinning and laughing shyly at the praise since he’s so used to taking care of others he’s not used to receiving praise. I can totally see him rewarding Sunday with soft cheek kisses and sweet words of praise and love. He’ll definitely want Sunday to help lore often

Tiny absolutely loves to listen to Saturday talk and he’ll just pet his head and let him rant, he’ll chime in if he has something to say or is asked something but if not he’s usually silent. He adores having Saturday in his lap and when he has low energy he’ll find the male and just hug him close wanting him to just talk or just sit in his lap again

Clover being the chubby beauty she is would be so soft to nap with, like so warm and just cuddly and she always smells sweet and good. She will absolutely take naps with Friday when she’s not busy, totally see them cuddling together just sleeping all day.

[cryptid-called-ash]

stupid incoherent Arthuriana based story ramblings i had to shove somewhere. tbh it’s insane, but funny enough that i thought i’d at least share the ideas.  (brandy bottle knighthood and other classic hijinks, 1/?)

please note this is in no way, shape, or form even trying to pretend to by accurate to the text. this is a crack fic for the sole purpose of good ol’ fashion feel something again entertainment. 

debating on posting/continuing to write this thing based off Arthurian legend. will absolutely be buck wild and only use the most bizarre lore/barest minimum recognisable stuff (half of which is stuff pulled from the Disney vers plot/the one movie i think is just called ‘Arthur’?). like dead-ass pretty much only names and obscure powers. and it is really queer, i mean like pretty much every character is some flavour of LGBTQ+. 

for a general idea of the tone, there are 4 working titles; brandy bottle knighthood and other classic hijinks, the queer antics of the round table rebels, the many tales of the rebel king and his beloved knights, (and finally) a series of increasingly ridiculous happenings centred around the Pen Draig twins roughly coalesced into a maddening but mostly tangible plot. (the last one’s my favourite)

one last point i need to mention, ya’ll cool is we briefly let Kay and Arthur think Ector set them to get fucked (read executed for treason, it’ll make sense later i swear)? absolutely not permanent, i’m a slut redemption arcs, but just for the narrative knife twisting, you know? 76% of this is found family fluff, the angst has to go somewhere. (hurt/comfort drawn out for two chapters. don’t worry, they work it out; ‘Of family and rainstorms’ and ‘The storm breaks, we are safe and warm’. sappy titles, eh? they get worse trust me) stans please don’t hurt me, i’m only doing this bc i love you

(alrighty, with all the crack fic warnings out of the way, last chance to back out, i am just gonna info dump all the insane jot-notes directly from my notebook, of which half i don’t remember writing down.)

all set? good, let’s get this show on the road i guess.

weird random shit it would have include(but is in no way limited too):

[background info/prologue?]

-Uther had wed a woman named Westenra(sounds pretty and i could not be bothered to look up his wife’s actual name. we’ll just say her real name is the one she used in a public setting). 

-first huge change, Wes is fae. (why? bc i said so.) Uther is fully aware of this and is loving it. “pretty lady and she could rip me apart without even lifting a finger?” 0////0 

(don’t get attached to this tho, they both die like 14 years before the story even starts.)

-unimportant fact #1: wes is like a foot and a half taller than Uther. none of this matters but it’s important to me you know this. okay back the mess of bullet point i called ‘plot relevant’

- royal couple with baby! two actually. yes big change two is Arthur and Morgan are twins and no other siblings. i like them the best, the others can be fae encountered later. maybe.  

-oh, and are like half fae too, i guess. (yay for drawing purposes bc pointy ears and tails! no i didn’t think through how Arthur’s gonna hide these traits for like 14 years, i’ll figure it out later)

-babies arrive, but oh no treason! 

-so the king’s dead now, that’s fun. kingdom get uspered (idk, pick a villain or make one up, all the same. will be referred to as King Man Person or KMP until further notice) 

-newborns get shunted off onto the closest loyal attendants for safe keeping, Wes promptly goes wrathful fae queen, wrecks shit, but gets mortally wounded. 

-she jams Uther’s sword (fancy wedding gift from the lady of the lake) in that churchyard rock, binding it to her bloodline so only the twins can wield it, takes husband’s body into a forest, whereupon she dies and the bodies turn into an oak tree bc magic i guess. 

-kids get pawned off to separate them (think the luke & leia, for their protection kinda thing) . the usual Ector adopts Arthur stuff. Morgan gets raised by the witches of Avalon. 

- time skip and we’re ready to actually start taking plot...

...in the next post. this one’s already really long.

[reversecreek]

clicks onto the dash wearing kitten heels n coyly holding my bang....... hi. me again. it took me so long to select a gif to use on cricket’s intro n i settled on this one bc he looks so unsure abt his smile n it’s rly his essence <3 u can find his pinterest board here n his (work in progress) spotify playlist here. hmu to plot!!! 

* alex wolff, cis male + he/him | you know cricket donahue, right? they’re twenty-two, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, all of their life, on and off? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to should have known better by sufjan stevens like, a million times this year, which slipping on wet leaves to photograph a tree struck alight by lightning, delivering a tedtalk to your own reflection to hype yourself up to buy groceries, hiding your hands inside of your sleeves in case you grew an impromptu megan fox thumb overnight thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is october 1st, so they’re a libra, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt, she/her )

HISTORY:

cricket ws born to a couple tht lived in lilac ridge. their trailer was tucked closest to the woods n always fell under the shade. it was like the leaves wanted to pretend they were a perpetual hanging cloud on the family n that was kind of fitting. their only reason fr having him in the first place was a kind of shrugged like........... we’re under the income bracket we’d get child benefits so why not! may as well try it to rake in some extra cash! needless to say they didn’t rly think it thru or anticipate all of the responsibilities tht came w children n wound up seeing him as an extremely large burden n boy didn’t he know it!

(child neglect & abuse tw) i’ll try to keep this part vague n brief but things were Not Good for cricket growing up. people in lilac ridge didn’t like his parents n it was for a gd reason. he remembers foggy things. being little n wandering around combing the grass with a stick to search for wrappers to suck on bc he was hungry. feeling uneasy when the front door opened. finding out his name was cricket bc the insects used to crawl into their trailer thru the vents n his parents liked to squish them into the carpet -- his mum told him as much once. i think this says a lot. to excessively trim the fat of the story he wound up entering the system at around 8 after his latest and most serious hospital visit. his parents hd to deal w the authorities n last he heard they bounced to evade charges.

(anxiety & violence & trauma tw) cricket sustained a few lifelong injuries from his time in lilac ridge. his knee didn’t heal right which meant he had (n still has to this day) a limp n he’s partially deaf in one ear. he’s always been an incredibly insecure n anxious person so this mde him rly self conscious going into a strange n new environment tht wld b difficult fr any kid to adjust to, nvm w these added worries. he jst felt like something weird to ogle at honestly. he probably wld have felt like that no matter where he was or what he looked like. he cld be in a huge hall of 200 people all wearing the same uniform n he’d still feel like the odd one out. needless to say this didn’t rly help him make friends

cricket’s coping mechanisms were romanticising the things tht other people found ugly or embarrassing or painfully ordinary. he liked it when the rain hit clunky drops against school windows n forbid everyone from playing outside bc he could feel the vibrations through the rubber soles of his shoes n it was a little bit like hearing all of the world at once fr just a moment. he liked medieval fantasy lore about stout gnomes w crumbs in their beards n cheeks red from ale. he liked fallen nests with the remnants of hatched eggs still dirty from the branches n soil they’d hit on the way down. he liked the way the sunlight leaked thru the leaves of the trees in the woods and how, when he sat very still, he could tune into the ringing that was always in his ear n pretend it was coming from the same place, that light thru the leaves, that the angels were trying to talk to him.

he spent a lot of time in the red room at his high skl (i’m begging u this is not a 50 shades reference) (after googling i jst realised it’s called a darkroom bt i’m leaving this fr the sake of sexy bimbo authenticity) n felt quite at home in there. he borrowed a camera whenever he cld (maybe he did yearbook) n photography became his way of immortalising the world as the romanticised version he wanted it to be. his memories were bad bt his photos were beautiful. maybe if he took enough they’d paste over n bleed into each other. maybe bad cld be replaced w beautiful if he tried his very best.

he got placed into fostering w a family once bt apparently didn’t meet the vibe check of their tastes so he wound up returning to the group home he’d initially been placed in. overall this is where he grew up n he aged out the system rather than getting adopted. there was a sense of floundering/isolation/not feeling gd enough in tht bt cricket made do the best he knew how. 

that said there were some gd points! (shocking i kno bc his life hs been so fking bleak so far bt please it’s ok........) (is it?) (🤔). basically he interned as an assistant at this local photography studio during high skl working under this kind of whimsical yet endearing old man. suspected wizard possibly in cricket’s eyes, as an avid fantasy genre reader. for one of his bdays said old man / his boss bought him his very own film camera n cricket cried bc he’d never been bought a bday gift. this ws rly embarrassing bc this old man didn’t know how to emote n neither did cricket so he ws jst sort of sat wiping his eyes n sniffling saying he wasn’t crying as the old man pretended to suddenly clean his lenses. when cricket graduated he offered him a full time position there. they do like. wedding photographs n family portraits n all kinds of things...... pay isn’t huge bt it’s something n he Loves taking photos so it’s sexy <3

PERSONALITY:

SUCH an anxious person it’s actually unreal. overthinks absolutely everything he’s ever said. one morning he might hv put green socks on n for the rest of the day he’s nervously looking around like omggggggg they’re all looking at my socks probably thinking im a little green sock boy thinking i’m a fool n a jester this is all everyone’s probably thinking about i hv to hide my green socks..... even tho literally no-one cares

once saw a girl eating a chicken wing n in his head was like ok she likes chicken good future gift idea..... n turned up at her house with an entire rotisserie chicken

probably thinks WAY too hard abt what to write in bday cards n googles like generic ideas that he can use.... u open a card from cricket n it always says smthn weird like “Warmest wishes and love on your birthday and always!” or “You deserve everything happy. Wishing you that all year long!” tht he got off google

nervously fiddles w things a lot. literally anything. his hair. the cuffs of his sleeves. a thread on his bag. u name it

struggles w eye contact sometimes............ it’s like. he wants to talk to ppl n make friends bt he’s honestly so bad at it. he’s fumbling thru life like a nervous headless chicken

ALWAYS has his camera on him. like always. will tke a photo of u bc he thinks u look nice then be like im so sorry im so sorry...... bowing his head shakily holding his camera bc he doesn’t even kno what possessed him he jst thought it’d be a nice photograph bt boundaries exist. probably breathes very heavily over this later in his room panicking thinking he nw seems like hannibal lecter

probably more confident online bc he has time to think abt what he says more.......... i can see him hving a group of online friends tht he’s more confident w. honestly he’s pretty witty at heart he jst has a hard time verbalising things so ppl overlook him sometimes bt once u get to know him more / he’s more comfy he can b a funny little man.....

loves photographs where he cuts something out of them. loves missing spaces n voids. thinks it’s a rly interesting concept when something that isn’t there becomes the focus of a photograph where everything else is. probably loses his mind fr a collage like a front row 1d stan. likes experimenting w light n perception. pretty artistic honestly hs probably made a stop motion film in the past bc that’s just an extended form of photography in his mind bt i doubt he showed anyone

ummm...... very sweet bt like. he reminds me a lot of this quote. “he had the awkward tenderness of someone who has never been loved and is forced to improvise.” feel like tht sums him up quite nicely

WANTED CONNECTIONS

someone he met at a wedding: cricket probably ws forced to photograph a wedding fr his boss one time n it cld b interesting as a place to meet from that....... like. i can imagine either it being rly awkward maybe he accidentally spilled a drink on ur muse n was stuttering rly apologetic n it ws just a train wreck. or mayb they took pity on him or even (in a shocking turn of events) a shine to him n invited him to drink n dance. omgggg the thought of cricket trying to dance makes me wna die n probably mkes cricket wna hyperventilate bt idk maybe he went wild n let loose. mayb they wound up damaging the camera somehow. mayb they had to scramble to get another one n ur muse covered the cost n it was a strange late night excursion tht cricket thought about a lot since. cricket probably vowed to pay them bk somehow no matter what. idk. we can work things out. lots of diff options here. doesn’t have to b a wedding either can b any event tht required a photographer

ppl he went to school w: pretty self explanatory i suppose...... maybe they were frm completely different worlds..... mayb ur muse was popular n cricket was definitely not but they got paired fr an assignment n had to work on a project together....... mayb cricket asked ur muse on a date one time n it was completely embarrassing bc he didn’t realise they had a bf n it haunts cricket at night still bc he’s rly dramatic.... mayb ur muse felt sry fr him n ate lunch w him n inducted him into their group like a lost puppy finding a home.... world’s our oyster

neighbours from his brief time at lilac ridge: not to reference taylor swift but i’m gna reference taylor swift n say we cld do a seven inspired plot here. sighs a little..... then sighs a lot. he was here ages 0-8 so idk. we cld work out childhood plots perhaps....

sickening simp: i mean.............. cricket probably gets crushes on ppl so easily like just. anyone who’s the slightest bit nice to him.................. he’s a disgrace. ok i take it back. bt also please get it together freak............... i didn’t say that. he’d probably b extra nice to this person n try n pay close attention to things they liked so he cld get them little gifts. just a bit embarrassing n lovestruck bless his heart. wldn’t expect anything back tho honestly that just isn’t something he tends to do.

let’s go gays: cricket’s bi but he probably was rly in his head abt liking boys n tried to sort of squash it internally during his younger yrs...... i think he’s more comfy w it now MAYBE idk bt back then i picture him having a friend tht ws kind of like. similarly loserish as him perhaps (no offence to ur muse potentially filling this plot or cricket bt let’s face the facts) n they’d hang out n play games a lot n one time it jst kind of happened n he was like............. *struts in looking around sharply* What going on here? except not. bc it’s cricket. more like *shambles in looking around anxiously* What’s, uh... What’s... the happenings? S--... I’m sorry. (immediate apology for saying what’s the happenings bc nobody talks like that n it was an impulsive panic bc he didn’t know what else to say)

those who grew up in the system w him: maybe at the group home or i’d also like the family that fostered him n said sayonara. honestly i imagine the parents just thought he ws a bit too much of a handful / had too much baggage which is rly quite merciless n terrible but. if u think that aligns w ur muses home situation hmu......

um. can’t think of more bt just anything honestly. jst go wild.......

[noctomania]

On Warren

so the whole e. warren claiming to be part Cherokee/native american is a long running mess of a story in which she isn't entirely innocent in her choices, but it can't entirely be proven that it specifically ever benefited her. First of I want to clarify there is a difference between lineage/ancestry and heritage.

Quickish run through of what happened. In the 80s90s, Warren admittedly listed herself as a "minority" on the directory for Association of American Law Schools, which people have claimed she did as a means to help her get in the door to the jobs she held. Warren's explanation for listing herself as such is she was wanting to use the association as a means to connect with others like her working in law with background in native roots. However up to this point Warren hadn't any tangible proof beyond family lore of her lineage. This is a bit of a double edged sword now it seems since, as she clearly knew, the amount of blood quantum she'd have wasn't very significant and besides that it speaks not at all to one's heritage, which is was really determines how much one belongs to any community. She has stood firm that she never used her lineage to get ahead though, which has been backed up by the timeline of events as investigated by the Boston Globe:

"In sum, it is clear that Warren was viewed as a white woman by the hiring committees at every institution that employed her."

Now though she has done a DNA test, but primarily as a response to Trump's relentless racist slurs regarding her claims to native ancestry and ahead of a 2020 run. He said he would contribute 1mil to a charity of her choice if she took a test. So she did. And now he has claimed he never said such a thing...despite there being video evidence of his disgusting personality shinning bright in its arrogance before a large crowd of the idiocracy.

Warren remains getting backlash from both sides however. Mind you, besides the association she also had listed herself as "Cherokee" in a cookbook called Pow Wow Chow and supposedly the recipes contributed are questionable as well (likely because she is not so much of native heritage but rather lineage at best but also I have not looked so much into the cookbook as i did her legislation work... priorities yanno). I've seen criticism of Warren for claiming the lineage while doing nothing for native communities which is actually untrue, if you look at her legislative work there are records of 14 sponsored & cosponsored bills dating back to when start started in congress in 2013.

She did go speak to the national congress of american indians and in that speech she said:

"I get why some people think there’s hay to be made here. You won’t find my family members on any rolls, and I’m not enrolled in a tribe.

And I want to make something clear. I respect that distinction. I understand that tribal membership is determined by tribes — and only by tribes. I never used my family tree to get a break or get ahead. I never used it to advance my career."

She also reasserts she never used her lineage to get ahead on her site in her family story. I would reckon if such a lineage could be used to get someone's foot in the door that those with a stronger lineage and heritage to native communities would have done just that.

I absolutely understand native people being wary however. The primary concern i have is the origin point of her native lineage. She herself admits you wouldn't find any sort of documentation of her lineage, which is not uncommon regarding matters around native communities namely due to intentional erasure by colonialists, but also if it had been a matter of rape of course there wouldn't be record of it (i haven't looked into it but i know it isn't unheard of and in fact all too rampant).

Furthermore she had supposedly, prior to DNA tests, and when family lore legitimacy had quoted an aunt as having listed her grandfather's high cheekbones as evidence of their lineage. Mind you, that is just Warren regurgitating the lore from another family member, but to even bring that up in the question of legitimacy is borderline - if not entirely - offensive, since facial features have been used in various ethnically discriminatory practices, including but not limited to native american people, to either disqualify or to exclude. A different example can be witnessed during the Vietnam war when Asian people were being targeted in the US due to war tensions and long standing tradition of anericans to be racist af during any time of conflict.

I don't think Warren is solely in it for the attention, I think she keeps hold of the story because - perhaps - she does care. Caring doesn't always irradicate ignorance or even arrogance, but it's certainly a step above not caring. And the fact that she has made several legislative efforts over the years to help native communities on a variety of issues does speak loudly for itself. However it is vitally important native voices come to rise because without others who give a damn her legislation wouldn't budge. At the very least she has recently been uplifting the voices of native women who are running. I haven't looked into whether any similar efforts have been made in the past namely bc im writing this all at work on my cell which is tough to navigate 20 different links and apps and pages at once on.

I do think she overestimated Trump's earnesty and likely should not have bothered doing the test and dropped the whole matter. One can be an advocate without being directly connected to a community. Cis het folk can ally queer fam. White folk can ally black and brown folk. However, if Warrens lineage is true it's not entirely irrelevant to have it be known since her parents experienced discrimination due to the native lineage.

So now we have her test which shows, yes, she has lineage, but that it is an incredibly small link. Regardless it doesn't negate her story, and does further expose Trump as a liar. But then again what's new? In the end I think it might've been a waste of time if not detrimental to her run, even though she admits to knowing belonging to a community is based on heritage not just lineage, the media will twist it any way they can and people will selectively read as they see fit.

[shioritsumi]

SO......fun fact, the first trans characters I ever created for original stories, I did so in my freshman year of high school. Still coming out of the fresh weeb phase, still trying to figure out how to fully flesh out characters and make them feel like real people. 

I was 14, and it was probably a little over 10 years ago now, and that was the year Macy Albright and Aire Winters were born. 

Macy Albright never had any name set out for her other than Macy. She was supposed to be a dork who lived and breathed horror movies and ghost stories and supernatural lore, but could never watch the movies alone or with the lights off. She’d be on the couch with the lights on in the middle of the night, wrapped in a warm blanket. She was that kind of dork who wore knee-length stretchy skirts and cowboy boots. 

Macy had confused parents. Her mom was supposed to be disappointed. Her father was supposed to be frustrated...but supportive. But he was frustrated only in that, see, he was well-off and well-connected, but Macy was scared. Her dad would offer her options to transition properly, but she’s terrified of any and all doctors for no discernible reason. (Her dad thinks it’s bc of all the horror movies she watches.) So she just dressed the way she wanted and went to school and work and lived just fine while her dad waited for her to finally come home one day and say “I want an appointment with a doctor to talk about actually transitioning.”

I liked Macy. She was supposed to be a sort of quirky fun redhead. She wasn’t the main character of her story, so she wasn’t dwelled upon as much as she could have been. But in retrospect, that’s okay. It made her a part of the normal world around the unusual plot. Like, there’s a tree, there’s a fence, there’s a squirrel, there’s a trans girl, there’s a house with a blue door...she wasn’t supposed to be something that stood out. Macy was just...there. Like any person was. 

Aire was....a little more complicated, bc I didn’t have a full grasp on how to accurately portray the situation I wanted to show him in. Macy was a side character, but Aire was the absolute main character of his story. Which meant I needed details on him. I couldn’t wash over parts of his character bc he was always in the limelight. 

So let me try to unwind Aire. First of all, the Winters family was supposed to be crazy wealthy. Aire is the sole heir to the family. Or rather, as his parents keep insisting, Ruberia Winters is the sole heir. Aire chooses to ignore that, attend a boarding school originally founded to give students in struggling financial situations a place to live and study. As such, the school has lots of opportunities and financial aid for students coming out of the high school years. Making Aire probably the only student to ever attend the school who needs zero financial aid. He honestly doesn’t care- the school has a good reputation for having excellent teachers and counselors who genuinely listen to their students. (But their image as accepting poor kids did negatively impact what high class people like Aire’s parents thought of it.)

The plot centered around Aire being super wealthy, arriving with his loyal best friend/butler Jasper and living with his new roommate Maximillian Masters. Max is also a difficult subject. He was meant to be a sort of foil to Aire, coming from a single parent home with limited funding and financial struggles every day as well as....differing physical traits. (I’m done dancing around it, hermaphrodite is the scientific term for Max’s biological makeup, and I don’t know how to phrase it otherwise.) The point is, Max came from a home with next to no money but endless love, support, and acceptance. Aire came from a home with nothing but money, and found love, support, and acceptance primarily only in his butler. 

Also Aire had a fiance who was similarly rich and attending a fancy school, but kept coming to visit Aire even after Aire came out as trans and declared his full intention of transitioning. Bc they grew up together and he legitimately loves Aire, and will continue loving and supporting Aire no matter what. If Aire chooses to return the love and affection romantically, HOT DAMN. If platonically, HOT DAMN. If not at all, HOT DAMN. He has unconditional love for the boy. Max is jealous. Aire is reluctant to return any sort of feelings bc as a girl liking boys was the norm, but boys liking boys wasn’t, so now he can actually be a boy can he still like boys, or....? He’s, like, 16 and still has no idea how to figure this out, give him a few years. 

ANYWAYS. The point is, I was 14 when I made these characters up. I was 14 and I decided I needed characters like this. Did it affect me? Not really. (Well, in the sense that creating any character does, yes, but that’s something else.) But I sat down and decided I NEEDED trans characters. Make something a normal part of my character creation pact. ‘Are they a boy/girl/other, check, are they cis, check, are they-’ Not everything needs to go into the story or be mentioned outright. Macy’s status as a trans girl hardly ever came up in-story. There’d be a nod now and again, like Macy coming to work and complaining about shaving or something, but otherwise they’d try to not make a big deal out of it. It wasn’t something they felt was this big plot thing-it was just who Macy was, they didn’t care. They had more important things to worry about. They had long since normalized it. 

Normalize this, guys. Just....normalize it. Make it just...normal.