#human expression truly

[nourishedbybeauty]

This is genuinely art in a way. A true journey through the limits of human imagination. Inspirational and aspirational. Unironically

Nigel and Marmalade

[bonefall]

I was thinking about your tags, and while I understand the caution, it feels like it would still be a stretch to baseline equate common traits among the clans with eugenics. I know that humans can rly quickly go from everyone has biological differences = there are innate qualities that are "good" and "bad", and there's a quality of fascism in that, but when the clans are fairly isolationist, it seems like it'd be natural for there to be trends among its members.

this is also just me prompting for your thoughts on biology and politics surrounding that, since i appreciate your thoughts on fascism in warriors overall.

I think you're missing a piece in your takeaway that I'm more conscious of-- it's not that I'm wary of population genetics and natural trends; it's that the Clans have an obsession with "blood purity" paired with that.

When you introduce "subspecies" Clans to that, cats who are truly biologically suited to a particular environment, you are inevitably narratively connecting the rhetoric to this worldbuilding fact. Unless you're going to massively overhaul the theme and setting of Warrior Cats, to me it's like looking at xenophobic characters that say "mingling with out-groups is bad" and announcing, "I AM GOING TO GIVE THEM PHRENOLOGY BUT REAL."

Even canon is wise enough to not do this-- Graystripe shows in TPB that it's the oily diet that makes RiverClan's fur so water-resistant. WindClan's lanky legs never get more extreme than a general population trend; enough Clans have skinny warriors that you wouldn't "clock" mixed cats like Jayfeather and his siblings.

But in making those Clan differences MEGA extreme, suddenly, you have taken the irrational social bigotry and turned it into a potentially legitimate practical concern about adeptness in an environment. Not just against an individual, but against that individual's population.

As an example of what I mean, imagine if RiverClan had special, extreme adaptations to living in water. Let's say they're webbed-foot cats who can close their orifices like seals and their coat is twice as thick to keep the water out.

Outcrossing to another Clan means hybrid kittens display the opposite of hybrid vigor-- hybrid depression.

Without webbed feet, other cats are always slower swimmers than their counterparts

Hybrids have thinner fur, making them lose heat in cold water much faster, requiring them to eat more to stay healthy or get sick more often.

They may not have the same muscles to close their orifices, meaning they're more likely to damage their senses by swimming in dirty water.

You can reduce disadvantages with accessibility technology in a more advanced setting like BB, but... they are still born significantly disadvantaged, compared to a ""pure blood"" RiverClan cat.

Doing this also says something you might not have realized you've said at all; Your population is proof of evolutionary pressure. Highly specialized genetics like this (not just trends but HIGHLY specialized) implies there's been something preventing the genetics of other Clans from intermixing with RiverClan.

Which has two implications;

The hypothetical RiverClan cats achieved a positive goal by self-inflicting a selective breeding program onto themselves. (...eugenics. that's eugenics.)

The hypothetical RiverClan environment is so harsh and demanding that it will naturally, swiftly eliminate unfit phenotypes. (The river totally cancels out any secret outcrossing)

(as a side note, ppl tend to misunderstand evolution. Darwin wasn't totally right with "survival of the fittest," I prefer Bill Nye's description of "survival of the good enough." But that's a topic for another time)

Either way, I find those implications DEEPLY unfitting for BB. This is a project which has major themes of exploring bigotry, showcasing its irrationality and digging into how it's perpetuated and exploited in spite of that.

I think BB's themes have a better clarity of purpose if the physical differences between Clans are kept subtle. Never more extreme than what you'd see between ethnic groups-- with frequent reminders about how culture, environment, and politics shape behaviors more than genetics do.

Don't misunderstand me-- I'm not saying that every setting with physical differences between races/sapient species is doomed to this. I actually have good things to say about certain artworks that lean into it (Steven Universe, Beastars, Oren's Forge). I'm saying this specifically about WC and my work within that context.

If you're curious though, I actually have a loose set of "rules" in my head to try and keep my Clans' population differences within my own critiques! I've given a lot more thought to this than I've shared.

There are no "unique" Clan mutations, any trait could appear within any hypothetical kitten.

It's a matter of prevalence. ThunderClan is like 80% Sweetness Tolerant and the other clans are between like 15% - 60%. It's not a sign your mate cheated on you if your kitten likes honey.

But it is something that an accusation can be based on, if your mate is insecure or the Clan's politics are going sour. A "pedigree" RiverClan cat could still have a mane, and it can get used against them.

Some traits do help or hinder ability slightly (ex; thick tails making RiverClan cats better at steering in water), but typically not significantly. I Just Keep It Reasonable.

Most importantly, I just make an effort to have most traits be based on social behavior. Reflect enough and eventually you sorta train your brain to think differently. As a bonus, it helps with cultural worldbuilding.

Related: If you found this insightful, I also dove into fascism and TigerClan in a way that's relevant to this.

[the-woman-upstairs]

It’s just…so painful to watch Armand readily submit in order to obtain the love he so desperately craves. And while it’s most assuredly a manipulative tactic, it’s still one borne out of fear and desperation. He cannot lose this person he’s come to love and so will become whatever they want, do whatever they want just so they’ll stay with him. But it won’t be enough. No matter how much he acquiesces or seeks to control (himself, others, the environment), he won’t be able to make Louis stay with him in the perfect life, perfect self he built in the hopes of finally being loved. It will all crumble with Armand left alone in the rubble of what he created, the author of his own abandonment.

[coachbeards]

beard: Ted is my best friend, he is my savior, he is my rock. I will define my life by servicing him as his assistant and I will drop my entire life in the span of three days just because he asked me to. My biggest regret that still haunts me years and years later is that I betrayed him, and I have been punishing myself ever since. He’s an agent of good, I follow him like he is Jesus and I am just a simple worshiper. I love Ted. I have ruined relationships because of my devotion to Ted, my own girlfriend turned wife hates Ted with a passion due to her jealousy. I am constantly having to pick between my girlfriend and ted.

ted: this is my best buddy beardo :{D

[thatwasntverycashmoneyofme]

aggy ass boys who fell in love with you ever since you ‘beat his ass’ for touching your hair.

We know as young black girls raised by our mothers they always tell us to never let anybody touch our hair—never🙅🏾‍♀️.

So fast forward to you telling him to stop twice after tugging on your hair, who doesn’t take heed to your warning tugs on it again extra hard, harder than the other times, your arm comes barreling forward, palm connecting with his face.

“I told you to stop so many times just leave me alone.” You scurry off not wanting to be caught and punished leaving him behind, who’s face turned red for two reasons that day.

After that he never touched your hair and followed behind you quietly wherever he could, face turning a peach shade whenever you side eyed him. That was the day he knew he fell in love.

Bakugo, Inasa, Sanemi, Inosuke, Eren, Connie, Reiner, Hanma, Sanzu, Arthur Boyle, Aoi, Gojo

𝗌𝗉𝖺𝗆 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾𝗌, 𝗋𝖾𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗀𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌. 𝖣𝖮𝖭𝖳 𝗌𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗅, 𝖼𝗈𝗉𝗒 𝗈𝗋 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝖾𝗅𝗌𝖾. ©𝖼𝗂𝗍𝗒𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝖺𝗅

[an-actual-floof]

he’s my silly android friend so I get to choose his weird gender!

[malaidarling]

31.7.24 // updates?

hello lovelies! i am back and i make no promises on staying.

i went to ireland

i am going to run away to ireland one day

i moved into my shed (the housing market is no joke)

i am dropping linguistics to study literature (dante is really cool)

as for languages, i don't know where i am anymore! i'm no longer taking chinese in uni after failing last year, but i am buying books for irish and italian and japanese and. and. and.

i may be losing my mind

[bajablastflavoredsaxreed]

i saw the most beautiful people at the mall yesterday. drawing doesn’t do them justice i was walking and just gripped with absolute abject joy for like two seconds and i hope they have great days.

[acepalindrome]

You guys talk about wanting enrichment, and listen, one of the easiest ways to do this is to try new genres of art you haven’t experienced before. Try new genres of music and movies! Read books by people who have almost nothing in common with you! Look at art that uses mediums you never considered before! You won’t like all of it, but it’s genuinely so good for you to be exposed to new kinds of art.

[eury--dice]

crowley and aziraphale bond through humanity. they are -- should be -- fundamentally, diametrically opposed on all things relating to the divine plan. (they aren’t, really, though aziraphale would say they are.) the drinking, the bookshop, arguing about what’s moral or holy, are all things that demons and angels do as affectations of human life. but crowley and aziraphale live the experiences of humanity. and so there is nothing ambiguous about what they share, as long as what they share is human. a brunch at the ritz can’t be dressed up as something else -- sharing food between two divine beings is collaboration, plain and simple, whether it is beelzebub and gabriel or crowley and aziraphale. demons, angels, all these beings don’t have to feel things in the way that humans do. they don’t have to express love as humans do. it doesn’t have to come down to getting wet and staring into each other’s eyes and vavoom, kiss, all done. love can be something different, divine, unutterable. but in a last-ditch moment, a pure act of desperation, crowley kisses aziraphale. the devotion is not new, the partnership is not new, but it is a declaration all the same, a statement that aziraphale cannot misinterpret: there is nothing ineffable between us. we don’t need to do this the way humans do, crass and tactile and unmistakable. but i will. if you won’t listen to me on divine grounds i will declare it to you on human ones. a kiss is undeniable. it shifts the tone from theoretical, theological, to something intimate. they could have been partners. they could have been a team. this, this romance -- this is what they could have, as plain as it appears.

[235uranium]

"loki is akechi's hate" "loki is destroying akechi's psyche" you're all cowards. loki is akechi's anger and outrage at being trapped and abused. and that is NOT a bad thing

[lunarharp]

some illustrations/vibes from my uhh 29k memory trauma/disability focus orufrey fic, into the deep end.

[blitz0hno]

I WILL NEVER HAVE THE LIFE OF A CIS MAN

I WILL NEVER HAVE THE LIFE OF A SINGLET

THE MORE I ACT LIKE I CAN THE MORE MISERABLE I WILL BE!!!!!!

[lanternlightss]

sighs. oh how the human and inhuman meet together in their understandings of one another, we’re really in it now …

[maydainsula]

The light now poured out of the doorway along with the final words of Rick Astley's “Never Gonna Give You Up.” In that door stood a small person […] so full of “fuck the world” energy that there was absolutely no one else it could possibly have been.

-Hank Green, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, 2020

[suns-diary]

I will always indulge in the prospect of a parasocial relationship i fear. no matter who the artist might be. the fact that I exist and i love this person and their work must mean that they love me too. for the mere reason that I see their existence. they might not know of my existence but it still means something, because it connected to anothers