#the things i'd do for this to become real.

[sparrows4bats]

If Jon falls first, he would be so awkward at first. But the moment Damian reciprocates or shows any sign of feeling the same? All restraint is gone. Jon Kent is a simp and not afraid to let anyone know. He is gonna prove to Damian Wayne that not only is he an amazing boyfriend but he will be an even better husband.

He is giddy. Everything Damian does makes him blush and stutter. It's not just because Damian is cool and smart and handsome. He is all of those things, a degree of gorgeous and competent that leaves Jon in awe.

But he realises he likes Damian when they are arguing, and no matter how angry Jon gets, Damian never flinches at his red eyes. He never wonders for a moment if Jon will hurt him. Because Damian Trusts Him.

Jon thinks it may be a crush when Damian protects him after he is sent flying into a building during a mission, and Jon knows that even if he is Superman, Damian will always see him as Jonathan Kent.

Jon realises he is in love with Damian because of how kind he is, watching him with Lizzie and his pets. Even though Jon knows how hard it can be for him sometimes. It makes his chest ache with sweetness.

He decides to do something about it after he notices he's not the only one who has noticed how amazing Damian is. Kids at school, people at galas, and even other heroes look at his Robin like he's something they can have. It's unacceptable.

So he asks his Dad for help, and Clark explains some of how he convinced Lois Lane to marry him. (Clark Kent still considers it the best and hardest thing he has ever done. It doesn't stop him from laughing at his son for 10 solid minutes when he tells him. Bruce is going to be soooo pissed when Jon succeeds. It'll be hilarious)

Jon starts small. He invites Damian on missions and listens for any animal related emergencies Robin can come to. His Dad helps by distracting Batman while Jon sneaks into the Manor. (Clark trusts his son to call if he needs help, not that he would ever willingly put Damian in any real danger) Damian is confused by his change in behaviour but is happy to come along.

After long missions, Jon invites him to stay the night with him at his apartment or the farm. He delights in Damian wearing his clothes and being all sleepy and vulnerable. They share his bed, and Jon wakes up to Damian asleep on his chest. (Jon wants to wake up like this forever.)

So Jon starts to touch Damian more outside of half conscious cuddling. He hangs around his personal space like a cloud. Jon had thought Damian would hate it but accepts the closeness with ease, in fact, he melts. He doesn't hug back as tightly but leans on Jon in a way that makes Jon feel stronger than his powers ever have.

Next, he starts to do little things for him, like drop off coffee, and when Damian starts working to become a doctor, Jon makes sure he eats and sleeps between studying. Jon doesn't take in much information during Damians' study sessions, too focused on how Damians nose scrunches when he's concentrating, and how he blushes whenever Jon praises him.

Jon starts giving Damian little gifts; trinkets from wherever he travels, and pretty daggers he finds thanks to Diana. Damian receives each one with a smile and soon starts giving Jon gifts, too. Pieces of art he drew or food he finds in Gotham that he thinks Jon might enjoy. (Each drawing and painting is carefully framed in heat vision proof glass.)

Surprisingly, It's Damian who kisses him first. After Jon gives him a kitten that Clark saved from a tree. (Bruce said Damian couldn't adopt any more pets he said nothing about accepting them as gifts). The kiss is soft but full of passion, and Jon can't help but deepen it.

"I love you." Jon tells him when they pull back to breathe.

"Good, because if we do this, I couldn't bear it if you left me."

"Never, I'd fight the world to stay with you."

"And I'd defeat death to keep you at my side, Habibi." Jon kisses him again because he finally can. (Damian is even more handsome when he is under him, and Jon sends a silent thank you to whatever God is listening for letting him see it.)

(Clark was right, Bruce was pissed when he found Jon naked in Damians bed the next morning.)

Damian names the cat Clark after his future father in law. (Bruce will get his revenge, he swears, on BOTH Supers, eventually.)

[whitehairandtraumatized-bracket]

White Hair and Trauma Brawl Round 1, Poll 54

remember, voting is based on swag, trauma, and favoritism!!

trauma and propaganda under the cut!

Trauma! 

Thancred:  He feels as though he is responsible for the death of his adopted sister's father and therefore tries to always protect her, until she sacrifices herself to save another world, and then he has to be a parent to her reincarnation

Ozpin: TL;DR: he's the reincarnation of a guy with an abusive ex (who is currently an active threat to the entire world) and a really messed up form of "immortality" involving repeatedly being reincarnated into someone else's body, slowly merging with their soul, and losing his own sense of identity while eroding that of his host, without any real control over it.

Once upon a time he was a brave hero who rescued a lonely princess from a tower, and they fell in love and got married and things were fine until he got sick and died, at which point the princess angered the gods in her desperation to get him back, leaving her cursed to be immortal in a destroyed and empty world. The gods then decided the immortal they'd created was a problem, actually, and offered his soul a choice to return to Earth in order to protect the world and unite humanity, conveniently leaving out the screwed-up way they were going to return him. So he accepts because his wife is now immortal and he wants to be with her again. He wakes up disoriented in the body of a man with white hair and goes to find his beloved, and at first they live together seemingly happily and they start a family. He and his wife are the only people left with magic, so she decides to use it to take over the world, and then when their children start developing magic, she hatches a plan to destroy non-magical humanity and replace them with their "superior" magical lineage. At this point he finally decides to take the children and leave her, attempting to sneak away in the night, but she catches him and starts a battle to the death, killing him and all their children. He's reincarnated into someone else's body again, and again every time he dies, at first sharing a body with the person he's reincarnated into but slowly and inevitably absorbing their soul into himself, at the same time losing touch with who exactly "himself" is supposed to be. Not every incarnation has had white hair, but several of them have, including the most recent incarnation to become part of the collective, who goes by Ozpin.

Propaganda!

Ozpin: I  think Ozpin's reincarnation curse is really interesting and also something I wouldn't wish on anyone. It's existentially horrifying especially because new people are repeatedly getting swept into this painful cycle and burdened with all this trauma, losing their individual identities without getting any choice or control in the matter. It's implied that Ozpin grows to care for each person he reincarnates into, but is then forced to destroy them in a way through merging, and forced to saddle them with all his lifetimes' worth of trauma and guilt. It happens over and over again, but I'd imagine it would be freshly painful each time, because he's a new person, in a way, each time.

I love Ozpin because he keeps trying to do good, yet feels guilty and personally responsible for the mistakes of every past incarnation of him, every person he's had to become, and because he somehow keeps a sense of fun and whimsy despite everything (he's facing the horrors but he stays silly), without losing touch with the seriousness of his mission and what he's up against. 

[Thancred did not receive propaganda. rip.]

[soangelbaby]

love love love your writing 𖹭.ᐟ

idk if you've done this before or not and i missed it somehow but if you haven't could you maybe (only if you want ofc) write about how ur bro!rafe and dad!rafe are afterwards? like does he act like it didn't happen until it happens again, does he stay afterwards, does he see other people while also being with her?? your fics have given me so many thoughts and i'd love your insight

wtf nonnie tysm for picking my brain i literally luv u for thiss bc the psyche behind these characters is everything to me 😣 <33

bigbro!rafe ; at first, he ghosts. not completely, not physically — he’s still in the house, still around, still acting like the ‘normal’ big brother — but there’s a distance now... like he’s afraid of what he did… afraid of what he’ll do again. and sometimes you’ll catch him watching you from doorways, then quickly looking away. brushing past you in the kitchen but flinching like your skin might burn him.

but it doesn’t last. the silence makes him sick. the guilt festers into obsession. he starts spiraling inwards, convincing himself you wanted it, needed it. replaying the way you said yes, moans ringing in his ears, the way your eyes rolled back, the way he felt inside you, the way you clenched around him. he twists it all in his head until he believes you’re the one who ruined him… and now? he’s addicted.

he stays though. not right after the first time… he might disappear, go fuck someone else, try to scrub you out of his head. but he always comes back. and when he does? he’s softer than you’d expect. of course rough during, violent even, but after? he’s cradling your face. kissing your neck. whispering “you just make me crazy, sissy. i can’t stop thinking about you.” lingering like a shadow. like a secret wrapped around your throat. you’ll wake up and he’s already in your bed. he won’t say good morning. he’ll just pull you under him again like it’s the only thing keeping him sane…

dad!rafe ; oh, he’s a nightmare… he’s not leaving. he’d keep you close, keep you protected under his thumb, until it becomes second nature. he doesn’t feel guilty, no.. he acts like it should have been happened. this is rafe at his most twisted — like, you were born to be his. he’s waited, raised you to be soft and good and loyal. for him.

and if you cry? if you say “but you’re my dad��? he just wipes your tears and says, “and that’s why no one else will ever love you the way i do.” he might keep up appearances outside the house, trying not to get caught… but inside? he’ll walk into your room like he owns it. like he owns you. he’ll brush your hair while you’re studying, kiss your cheek, call you “my good girl” and stroke your thigh just out of sight.

but once he’s marked you, it’s hard for him to share. if he hooks up with anyone else, it’s a mental game. it’s about keeping you in your place, knowing he can still get whatever he wants from other women, but you are his real possession. no one compares. he’ll tell himself that he doesn’t need anyone else — he’s got all he needs right here with you. deep down though? he’s torn. torn between his need for you and the twisted sense of self-righteousness that comes with the control he has over you.

[adobe-outdesign]

In honor of the Drackonack avatar being fixed (for real this time), could you do a review of them?

The Drackonack is a fun petpet in my opinion. Not only does it have that classic Darigan look, but I really like the expression and personality of this guys—he is 100% going to bite you because he thinks you're cheese. I also like that it's just an odd little Skeith-ish creature that's just its own unique thing instead of just being a specific animal.

Drackonacks are also reasonably popular on-site. They don't get as much attention as some petpets, but they do have their own fun avie as well as a few backgrounds and caption contests dedicated to them. To me, this is THE Darigan petpet, so I'd say the attention is justified.

Favorite Colours:

8-Bit: The fact that it's not actually 8-bit aside, I like this one a lot. I don't know how good people who know how to sprite would consider it from a technical standpoint, but I like the pose and the shading looks nice. It also just the right amount of detail without being too busy.

Faerie: I do wish the spikes were a different colour (maybe a nice dark purple or orange to match the wings?), but I really like the pose here. It's adorable and malicious all at the same time, and I always appreciate petpets getting new poses for specific colours.

Fire: Nothing too unusual, but the fire concept works great for a Darigan pet and the stripes becoming flames is a nice touch. I also like the contrast between the dark black body and the red/orange/yellow accents.

Least Favorite Colour:

I'm actually going to cheat and leave this one out, just because most of its colors are either basic recolors or not bad at all. I will instead use this space to say that TNT needs to release a picnic Drackonack that's cheese-themed and name it the Drackosnack.

[theseerasures]

(left: November 2008; right: March 2019)

when i try to explain why Katie's Glinda is so special my default words tend to be "weird," or "alien," or "fucking look at her. just fucking--why is she LIKE this." of course i stand by all that, but if i were to doff my facile and irreverent hat at last i'd probably say something like: Katie's Glinda, to me, represents a kind of artistic transgression which can never be fully captured by the institution of Wicked. she might as well be Frank fucking Abagnale given how hard the show has tried, alternately banning or legitimizing what she's done; this kind of granular approach, though, is never going to work. like--yes, it was the individual gestures and line reads which got her in trouble (according to her. it's possible Joe Mantello did a frown in her direction once), but in isolation those things mean very little. the whole of Katie's performance, which drives and always exceeds the sum of its parts, comes down to how Glinda is simultaneously the woman behind the curtain, and the curtain itself. Glinda is shallow artifice at the same time Glinda is complex depth. it's all truth; it's all real.

(it's all lies; it's all pretend. how could it not be? she's the one telling the story. she's the only one here.)

over and over Katie's Glinda feels sharply and just as sharply rejects the feeling; papers over it, squares it away. the Wizard's chamber scene in 2008 is one of her starkest approaches to this. Glinda knows exactly what is happening. what's more--Glinda knows better. (Katie has never allowed Glinda the grace of not knowing, or not knowing better.) she has a strong enough moral compass to react to the Wizard's offer with revulsion and horror, almost as if she were...oh, eighteen years old and intimately discovering she lives in a fascist regime built on a mountain of subaltern corpses. but she only shows it once the Wizard has finally turned away from her and even then, only for an instant. once she catches sight of Elphaba she wrenches herself into damage control mode, and the most important thing, the ONLY important thing, becomes getting them both out of here no matter the collateral.

Glinda in the same scene in 2019 is...pretty different! any disgust or moral conflict is completely wiped, and if Glinda has any feelings pertaining to what just happened it's relief and delight that they can get back on track after all that unpleasantness. even the reach for Elphaba at the end has changed in tone: now she's more authoritative--maybe even a little impatient--for Elphie to get with the program.

on the one hand it's like: okay, well, Katie's Glinda is normal now. she's the MOST normal Broadway Glinda during this period, and this is the typical way for Glindas to behave during this scene. even weirder, more conscientious Glindas aren't as bold about showing their moral quandaries as Katie's Glinda was in 2008, so we can read this as part of 2019 Glinda's overall deal, which is that she is very normal and her actress is very thankful she was invited back to make Wicked levels of money.

on the other: said actress is 👏🏼KATIE👏🏼ROSE👏🏼CLARKE, who has taken to straight up telling her directors she's never going to do the same thing night-to-night. so obviously she couldn't even swan through her (hopefully lucrative) Wicked victory lap without turning yet again into some bizarre outlier. part of this was done by digging Normal Galinda up from her shallow grave, but the other, larger part comes from what has stayed the same. because Katie's Glinda in 2019 remains, at her core, Katie's Glinda. she's the same person from 2008. still sensitive, still trusting, still smart in a way which only brings her grief, because once again Katie is not interested in letting Glinda off that particular hook. still autistic and gay as hell. 2019 Glinda is better at masking; maybe because she learned earlier that her preternatural charisma can only get her so far, and sometimes you HAVE to conform. 2019 Glinda comes from a more cynical world, even before she came to Shiz, which makes her more suited to accept the cynicism to come.

but not more suited to actually live in it, because the significant adjustments to 2019 Galinda's behavior become kinda irrelevant right around the time she changes her name. technically this is something we already know: from the moment she descends in the bubble in NOMTW, 2019 Glinda is just as miserable as she had been in 2008. (Act Two demonstrates that if anything 2019 Glinda might be even MORE miserable, but we'll get there when we get there.) and she's not even really better at hiding it! if Normal Glinda is emotionally devastated in the exact same way as Space Alien Glinda at the end of it all, then why change so much of the lead up? what does it even matter?

well. it's Glinda, so (appropriately) it matters because it's the way you're viewed. while we're inside the Wizard's chamber it matters, which is why even 2008 Glinda tries very hard to at least pretend she's onboard with all the scandalacious villainy. and outside of the Wizard's chamber--in Glinda's present, as she tells the story to her real and fictional audience--it matters, because it tells us how to feel about Glinda, and how Glinda feels about Glinda.

in 2008 Glinda beseeches empathy. the visceral sharpness of her body language and facial expression feels like an implicit interjection from Glinda the narrator: she was so scared. what else could she have done? what could you have done, had you been this scared? but in 2019 the same moment--with almost entirely the same Glinda, doing almost entirely the same motions--is treated so unsparingly it borders on self-abuse. Glinda in 2019, looking back on what happened, recounting it; alternately framing, hiding, and exposing her past self; within and between texts, says: who cares what she felt? who cares what she believed? this is what she DID. and look how good she is at it! if she had been pretending she's only getting what she wanted. this is what everyone saw. this is the only truth anyone should know. how in Oz can her feelings matter in the face of all she has done? all the harm she's dealt? all the people she's abandoned? all the bodies left in her wake?

how could anyone forgive her?

[yanderenightmare]

silly question maybe, but any tips/rules for how to write reader-inserts? like how far can I take reader characterization, perspective, and such

On Reader Inserts

Really good question! Here are my thoughts!

The basic, safe, unassuming reader

This reader doesn't have any visible characterization, personality, background, or perspective, and usually, they don't even have dialogue.

With readers such as this, most of everything relies on the characterization of the other character, where their inner thoughts regarding the reader and their interaction with the reader are the only things that actually make the reader exist at all.

Here, the reader is treated like more of an object than anything else.

It's quite difficult to make such a reader work. And I'd say it's nearly impossible to keep it up for longer stories, even short stories. But it is quite common to see in drabbles and headcanons.

There's nothing wrong with using this type of reader, but it is very limiting. You sort of have to be an illusionist to make it work. Misdirection really is this type of reader's best friend, as the focus always has to be on something else and reflect back on them in order to include them in the story.

I'd say some authors are experts at it. But other times, I think it comes forth as a little boring, at least in the long run.

The plus side of this type of reader is obviously that almost anyone can picture themselves completely as they are in real life.

But that's really the only good thing about it.

And to me, at least, making sure reader inserts are completely chameleon isn't all that important. People aren't strangers to putting themselves in others' shoes, and I think a lot of the joy that comes from reader inserts is exactly that—the opportunity to be someone else for once.

Further in this post, I'll go over the other reader types, ranging from this type of unassuming reader to more brazen readers who gradually become more and more aligned with what some might call an original character, and the ups and downsides to this.

It's alive!

One of the most common readers you'll see will almost be like the one above, but with a few brain cells of their own.

Call it Frankenstein's monster.

Here, the reader will have dialogue and reactions, but nothing too wild that might alienate people and make them say I would never do or say that!

This type of reader is still very much playing it safe. But different from the completely unassuming reader, this reader might go to college, might work a part-time job, might have parents and friends, but never anything too specific, and no type of personality that might warrant a description.

As you can probably guess, Frankenstein's monster is also quite limiting, so it is more common for shorter stories, as well as drabbles and headcanons.

Author's perspective!

This type of reader is also very common, where the reader will carry the same voice and perspective as the text has—i.e., the author.

The reader is still very much unassuming regarding what they look like and many of the details of their life, but their personality is decided, as the reader and storyteller share the same voice.

Here, as the author, you really have to trust that your perspective is something that'll appeal to the readers.

Common to this is a very "talkative" tone throughout the text, including a lot of thoughts and observations made by the author-reader. It's also common that the text has a somewhat humorous or sarcastic tone.

@yandere-daydreams especially uses this type of reader. Their texts always have a type of tough, smart, self-reflective reader whose perspective is central to the story.

But they're not the only one. Plenty of authors use this type of approach as it's their default to simply write the reader with their personal mindset and personality. I do this as well from time to time.

The downside to the author's perspective is obviously that it won't always translate as an all-inclusive type of reader. Meaning, it won't really be unassuming or reader-friendly.

The other downside is that the perspective will solely rest on the reader and the reader alone. Meaning, there isn't any sneak peek inside the inner thoughts of any other character, just pure speculation made by the reader-character. In other words, the story is only seen from within the reader's head, with the reader-character as the only storyteller, fully dominating the perspective.

Of course, you can always shift the perspective, but it can come across as awkward if the storyteller's voice suddenly changes.

Standardized reader!

Standardized readers usually turn up at the start of the post—I like to write them in the trigger warnings.

Not everyone does this. But I like to, at least when I'm finished writing something, only to notice that the reader has a distinctive personality or distinct features that might not be that reader-friendly.

It sort of works like a disclaimer.

Here are some examples of readers standardized by personality:

♡ CRYBABY reader ♡ MORALLY GREY reader ♡ SASSY reader ♡ BULLY reader ♡ BORN-SEXY-YESTERDAY reader ♡ NAIVE reader

They can also be standardized by body trait or other physical features, like this:

♡ FLAT-CHESTED reader ♡ CHUBBY reader ♡ PETITE reader ♡ SHORT reader ♡ STRAIGHT-HAIRED reader ♡ GLASSES-WEARING reader

Or, the most common, by gender, ethnicity or species:

♡ FEM reader ♡ M reader ♡ GN reader ♡ POC reader ♡ FAIR-SKINNED reader ♡ BUNNY reader ♡ OMEGA reader ♡ ALPHA reader

The OC reader!

The OC reader is, believe it or not, the most common type of reader.

This reader has history. They have hopes and dreams for the future. They have fears and issues. They tend to have a specific career or go to college with specific courses. They have parents, siblings, and friends they talk to on the phone. They live somewhere they pay rent. They might have a roommate. They have ex-boyfriends or people at work they dislike. They have certain interests and hobbies. They have a taste in wardrobe and music. They have a makeup routine. They prefer flats over heels and have other such preferences. They shave. They work out. They might even have pierced tits.

Yeah, they're basically fully-fleshed characters that are still relatable enough for readers to easily step into without it feeling all sorts of wrong.

When writing the OC reader, it's paramount that the author really sells the narrative. If the reader doesn't relate to the OC, then the author must make them assume the OC as themself, regardless, as quickly as possible.

In other words, the reader shouldn't even be able to tell they're an OC. It should feel natural. This can be hard to do, of course, but I'll say the most interesting x reader fiction features an OC reader.

The impossible task!

It is impossible to cater to everyone. We're all different sizes, different heights, and have different capabilities—we're different all around. So it's impossible to write anything that's completely reader-friendly or totally unassuming.

So, to answer your question about how far you can take characterization, there really isn't any answer.

You can go for the unassuming reader I listed at the start, but then you'll most likely end up with a boring story with minimal character interaction. Or you can go for the OC reader and upset those readers who find stepping into another pair of shoes impossible.

I say just write what you want, and list those possibly triggering creative liberties you've taken in the trigger warnings. It's impossible to please everyone, so just make sure you're at least pleasing yourself.

[theaskscenter]

How to start life when basically you had no life at all just 20 years of pure blank how can I start living now?

Coming back to the room works best. A lot of things happen in your head and they shield you from seeing life. I'd say getting out of your head and back into the room.

Not being a victim is a close second. It's so easy to think everyone is attacking you and sometimes when people are in fact attacking you, it's never that serious. Like okay they don't like you yeah that sucks but what will they do about it. Important to know just because something feels like a threat doesn't mean it is. You're not as much of a victim as you feel you are, and a huge part of gaining your power back is this. Okay it's scary but is it real?

Taking control of your life is actually in the small tiny things. I have a post ab this on my telegram. It's not as much sid figure business as it is making your bed and not using your phone after you wake up.

Getting out of freeze. Most of us aren't fight or flight baddies we're freeze baddies. You've been stuck in the freeze part and to step out I feel like Google gotcha. I could tell you but if I tell you everything how will you become independent?

Extending from above learn to do things and to rely on yourself. Just basic tiny everyday skills. Independence is living. You should be able to do it. Simple step is don't ask too much try to find out for yourself.

Let bitches bitch. A lot of us spend so much time entangled in other people especially abstract people like people on the internet don't exist. It's not important to you who is beefing with who in entertainment those are celebs their emotions shouldn't affect you if someone is being shitty you can always just block them or ignore them. Even in real life. Probably not living your life because you're living everyone else's life. My man says dogs bark. If you're not one why are you?

Do things with your body that require you to use muscle and move. Go for walks work out swim take up skating you're a mammal and mammals are hedonistic by nature. Wind in your hair sun on your skin muscle movement. A lot of depression lies here.

Have boundaries. It's pathetic to hold others to boundaries if you can't hold yourself to them. Have boundaries with yourself then with others. Yourself first. Then others will respect them.

Be pretty be healthy (mid BMI) be respectable be make money mind your own business.

dont engage with people in arguments don't argue as long as you're concerned they are right you are wrong. You're sorry you had a brain of your own they absolutely owned you there. Arguing is such weird behavior it's never about facts it's about power play. Submit and go home. ESPECIALLY with people that don't matter. Your child and partner are the only people that matter. Like I said arguing is sibling and HUSBAND (not bf) or WIFE (not gf) privilege. Everyone else is right. You're wrong . Apologies for being stupid thank you for schooling me .

Go to therapy or get a life coach. I'm pro therapy on the condition you can see TANGIBLE results in two months. Feelings are not results no one cares about those. In two months if you take a look at your life and see no tangible results drop out. With a life coach that's one month. In one month no tangible change take your money where it's useful to you.

Pick one and follow. *WHaT iS riGtFoR mE* nothing. Pick one and go. Indecision is where all your time and energy goes just make a decision band go

Fear men. When you have free time use it to fear men.

Master your masculine before your feminine. Masculinity is the art of survival.

[keydekyie]

Here's another video I think is helpful.

Anyway. Creationism is a big, sad lie. I would know because I was once a die-hard creationist.

I went to a classical Christian middle school that by all accounts was very good, and many of my classmates went on to become successful students. Heck, my best friend has a PhD in microbiology. So when I tell you my school tried its best to make me a creationist, I want you to realize that they weren't being stupid. They were extremely good at their jobs.

I was spoon fed every argument you can think of, and I ate it all up. The stuff about eyes, DNA, bats, radio carbon dating, complexity, "kinds", taking the bible literally, all of it. In my school, evolution was treated as a laughable (and simultaneously diabolical) deception. Whenever they talked about it, it was with a great big eyeroll. "Secular scientists are soooo dumb, look at this, they don't even take into account that dolphins are mammals that look like fish! Haha!" (yes this argument was on a poster in my 8th grade physics class room. I'm not joking)

I've always been fascinated by animals, particularly the way their forms and functions interact. Even as a little kid I was obsessed with bones and organs, teeth and their shapes, locomotion and its mechanisms, the ways creatures were made, and all the reasons animals were shaped the way they were. My school told me god did all that on purpose, and I believed it. I was filled with awe and wonder for it all.

Then I took a public high school biology class.

I was insufferable, but I got straight A's. In fact I got such a good grade in Bio it was something like 110%. Someday I should go and apologize to my poor teacher. He had a lot of patience for my... apologetics.

There was an evolution unit.

Here's the thing: I had always had some nagging doubts about what I was taught in 6th grade biology, but the way it was taught to me made me feel like I'd go to hell for having questions. I was compelled to always put my faith before any real criticisms. They really built a shell around my intelligence and curiosity, trying to tamp it down, confine it to what they could control. And the moment they weren't around to keep their grip, it began to crack.

I read about synapsids and diapsids and why they're called that. I read about theropods and birds. I dissected a pigeon and spent hours after class carefully investigating the placement of its air sacs, the structure of its bones. I learned about DNA sequencing and the amounts shared between related species, including humans' and other primates. I learned how mutations occur and about fitness.

And after all that, I did a little project for myself.

As a thought experiment, I sat down and mapped out a speculative evolutionary tree for a reality in which humans had evolved from a tree-dwelling cat instead of a primate. I drew each stage, imagining it as a discrete animal that had to function in its environment (rather than as a half-baked wretch, which is how creationists imagine transitional animals).

As I imagined all this and sat with the thing I was doing, I became filled with a terrible, swelling shame and dread. What I was doing was a sin. This was what they'd warned me not to do. Sacrilege, blasphemy. This would destroy me.

But then, the years passed, and a dawning, beautiful clarity seeped into my brain through this imagined little evolutionary tree. I kept coming back to it, imagining the ways humans would be different if we were carnivorans instead of primates. I researched carnivore evolution, the structures, the history. Fossils, relatives, trees. Everything we knew about the ways carnivorans function in their environments and adapt to change. I learned about seals and weasels and racoons and wolves and dogs, I learned about hyenas and mongooses and the ways we have categorized "dogs" and "cats" and why. I learned about carnassials and retractable claws and how cats can't taste sugar and...

The shell broke.

It made sense. It all made incredible, glorious, perfect sense. More perfect and divine than anything taught to me about creationism. It was as though for years I'd been stumbling through my understanding of science with my eyes closed, and I'd finally opened them.

Evolution isn't a system, life isn't a process. It's simply the result of a thousand billion trillion rolls of the cosmic dice. Many of those dice rolls fail, but some don't, and the ones that don't keep marching on down the line until they either fail or succeed again, and so on. Everything is the way it is for a reason, but sometimes that reason is "if it ain't broke, don't evolve it." Which is how we ended up with optic nerves on top of our retinas, a laryngeal nerve that loops around our aorta, and an inability to produce our own vitamin C. None of that makes sense through the lens of creationism, but it makes perfect, terrible sense through evolution. And there are many other examples, so many it becomes overwhelming. I was overwhelmed, and when I was, I stopped believing in creationism.

The world is an amazing place, and the power of life is something that continues to astound me. There is much out there left to discover, but there's so much we already know, as well! If you really care about this incredible planet (and universe) in which we live, you should give it a chance to speak to you, without the self-imposed filter you cling to. It's holding you back, confining you.

Take a breath, open your eyes. There's nothing about knowledge that can hurt you. It can only set you free.

A inconvenience for paleontology

The “Lazarus taxa,” they appear alive in populations today and in ancient sediments (supposedly 1/3 of a billion years old). The horseshoe crab, damselfly, coelacanth and gar fish, lobsters, Andean tapir, magnolia flowers, Wollemi pine, and many others.

Does this bring up a conflict in geologic dating?

[necroticblue]

a new fun idea for @amazingphil and @danielhowell: read homestuck in its entirety! fourteen and a half years after it started! it's gonna be fun trust me! : )

[free-luigi-mangione]

Damn you’re delusional. The second a luigi supporter is accepting and is aware he committed the crime, you libtards are quick to say we’re licking boots and not real supporters. Luigi would hate you guys. Alright, I’ll see you in the future when he isn’t with us or when he gets convicted, sadly.

you anon i need you to both hold your horses and hold your vicious tongue. i'll spell this out for you since you have worse reading comprehension than the average person on the piss poor reading comprehension website.

even if Luigi himself says he did it, he deserves a fair trial. he deserves to be presumed innocent. because both of these are rights afforded to him by the constitution of his country. and because even if he did in fact do it, he hasn't said that and he has pleaded not guilty, the prosecution has to actually prove he is guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. and from what we know of the evidence there's plenty of reasonable doubt. moreover Luigi has nowhere not for a single second tried to kill himself. if he had indeed done it and he wanted to kill himself, he had to have had plenty of time before he got arrested – five whole days in fact. he has never shown himself to want to be a martyr or a symbol of a resistance movement that the people of his country can't even organize properly/very effectively. if he did want to make himself a symbol or a martyr like the way you want him to be, he could have simply given himself up to the authorities after the deed was done. he could have confessed everything to the cops, then or at the time of his arrest or anytime in between or even in the future. but that hasn't happened and that won't happen. Luigi and his legal team are fighting the charges and will continue fighting the charges until it ends with him being killed by the death penalty (extremely unlikely at NY), or rotting in prison because of LWOP, or getting acquitted due to a number of reasons. moreover he does not want to die and has clearly shown that he in fact wants to live, and it doesn't matter if he did it or not. he should be able to live. his right to life should not be taken away from him. it is the most fundamental of all human rights. death penalties are the most barbaric tools still kept alive in the modern society to enforce organised violence from the people in power. Luigi also deserves the right to live properly, not just survive somehow in LWOP. because like people like you think, he did it but you support him for it. so clearly you should also be wanting him to be free and to be able to live the life that he wants to live?? but of course not. y'all are dumb that way. also making Luigi a martyr or a symbol of a revolution that will probably never happen (at least not in a country like USA where there has never been a successful revolution in history because the majority population does not know how to organise at all) is absolutely useless. Luigi would lose his life for nothing. the dumbass population which would benefit from his alleged actions (and are already benefitting now) does not really care whether he lives or dies. and most importantly, like i said, he doesn't even want to die, he's never wanted to die. even in prison, he's written in a letter that the lorax is such a fundamental story that it “will be so critical to read to my kids”. the quoted part is me directly quoting that letter word by word by the way. so like how dare you want to take away his life all while saying you support him?? if you truly wanted to support him you'd understand that the letter of the law doesn't matter for his case even if he did it, only the spirit of the law matters and anybody on the jury should judge his case only by their hearts and not their heads. and since you seem to be the sort to think that the letter of the law is an absolutely fundamental aspect and nothing else can come out of it, you seem to be the libtard to me, the sort of person who'd say well he murdered a man and i can never justify it so he should die, an eye for an eye. let me tell you anon, an eye for an eye only works until everybody is blind. and everybody would soon become blind if an eye for an eye is actually followed everywhere in real life. also because you seem to be too dumb to understand a lot of things about how the law actually works, i'd request you to find out what is jury nullification and exactly how it works, you of all people need to learn that lesson because you seem to not at all understand the concept of laws without morals being useless.

[northwest-by-a-train]

Oh this is scathing

[plushie-lovey]

FINALLY!! At long last, I've gotten my hands on a Pumpkin Kitty, after a whole year of wanting and waiting.

Her name is Latte! (Short for Miss Pumpkin Spice Latte) You can also call her Miss Spice!

[vaguely-concerned]

I don't know what I love more, the fact that as rook you can make a statement in NO uncertain terms that you are NOT responsible one way or the other for the theological implications of the shit you're discovering in the 'regrets of the dread wolf' memories. not my jurisdiction. quite simply none of my business. not my chantry circus not my chantry monkeys. irrelevant to the matter at hand here we'll kill that god if we get to him he can get in line. or if the best thing about it is seeing the lone little 'lucanis approves' that pops up right after choosing it. corvid with a knife about to commit deicide keeping it real and sensibly, pragmatically, wilfully agnostic with me here in this magical lighthouse today

[tittyinfinity]

Really though.... my city's local facebook group is getting to me. I was off that website for over a year for many reasons and I still don't wanna be on there when meta is Like That. But after multiple posts by different people taking pictures of my transfem NB friend out in public... I can't get myself to stay off that fucking page. They were jumped in public by strangers TWICE in the past 6 months and have had at least 3 people post pictures of them out in public in the past year.

I've been able to get a couple of them to delete their posts. For example, after sending this message to someone, she immediately deleted her post, blocked me, then left the group.

It sucks that you literally have to threaten these people into shutting the fuck up. But arguing with them gets you nowhere. They want to argue. That's their goal. No amount of information or witty comebacks will do anything.

You HAVE to be there for your transfem friends right now. There's no way for them to respond to these situations on their own without further risking their safety (at least, not in conservative areas). It's so fucking dangerous out there. I'm legitimately worried that my transfem friends might get fucking murdered. And as much as facebook enrages me, I can't just stand by while that risk is there. God fucking damn it.

[iknowwhereyousleepatnight]

almost january which means it's almost st sebastian's feast day which means it's almost light yagami's death day which means it's almost february which means it's almost valentine's day which means im six months behind on all of my projects

[summergoodwife]

Gonna say it again, "Just stop consuming the genre" is THE WORST POSSIBLE RESPONSE to someone complaining about the lack of representation in their preferred genre!! And "Consume other stuff too" is not much better!!! I don't care how much you think varying media consumption is a Good and Holy lifestyle, not everyone wants to do that! There is no obligation to do that and there should not be! Because it's fucking entertainment. It's not a college major.

And! And and and. I would be remiss to not point out that when you tell someone, "If you want well written (minority) just get out of (genre fandom)" you are, regardless of your motivations, rhetorically aligning yourself with the exact same bigots who just want the pro-representation crowd to shut up and go away.