#putting this in the tag just in case anyone knows some resources

[igotanidea]

Single parent struggles : father!Dick Grayson x mother!reader

THAT!!! PICTURE!!!!!

summary/request: single Father Dick Grayson x single Mother reader? Where at some kids birthday party also can the kids be between the ages of like 3 and 4.

A/N: writing this was just so cute and heartwarming and pleasant and fluffy. I think this is going to be my new verse, so if anyone ever get any ideas in that - please ask me to write more UwU <3

***

„Thomas, please stop running around!” Y/N laughed happily when her 4 year old son slipped on the floor and run into her legs. She was quick enough to catch him, before he actually landed on his bottom and started crying.

“Sorry mum!” he grinned with the cutest smile there was, and not paying much attention to his mother’s admonishment regained his balance and followed the friends that he was chasing. “Wait for me!” he yelled before disappearing.

Her son was invited to a birthday party of his kindergarten friend, and obviously, she happened to be a tag along. Helping with the service and acting as a supervisor.  Not that  she complained. Being a single parent was rewarding, but also happened to be her bread and butter and she didn’t have many occasion to go out the house and spend time with actual adult outside of work. Sure, she loved Thomas with all her heart and never regretted the decision of having him, even when his failure of a father took off running the second he found out about the pregnancy, but sometimes she was just tired. And having an opportunity to hang out and relax and watch her son being so happy around other kids were simply heartwarming. Thomas shed too many tears and experienced sadness asking about the other parent and Y/N swore, that to the maximum of her  abilities, she would protect him from that pain.

“God….” she muttered to herself, gathering the fruit bowl from the counter. “I swear the kids never get tired……” her son’s energy was exhausting, but the serene expression in her eyes were showing the truth feelings behind the sigh. Lost in her own thoughts Y/N turned around not noticing the man standing right behind her, bumping straight into the sculpted chest, immediately being caught by two strong arms, the bowl serving as some sort of airbag.

“I know, right?” the man let out a laugh still holding onto her “I’m dealing with the same problem with my daughter. Don’t know who said that girls are quieter and more polite than boys but it does not apply in this case.”

“Hello Richard.” Y/N tilted her head “didn’t see you around for a while.”

Richard Grayson, more often than not called “Dick” was the treat for all the mothers. Handsome, well-build, kind with charming, boyish attitude and most importantly, single father. Rumor has it that the mother had some mental problems and one day escaped the hospital where she and the daughter were getting some treatment and observation, took the kid and left it on the threshold of Dick’s house before disappearing herself. Despite Dick’s attempt to locate her (and boy, that man definitely had the resources, being the son of the Bruce Wayne) he never succeeded, giving up after some time.

And that gave the soccer mothers plenty of opportunities to get him involved in all possible kids’ activities. Kindergarten play? Picnic? Cinema sally? Birthday party? He was pretty much everywhere. Much to all the husbands’ displeasure.

But, since both he and Y/N were the only single parent and  the subjects of many rumors that gave them the opportunity to get close and become really good friends. After all, there’s no one better to understand the struggles of raising a kid alone.

“Yeah….” He scratched his head awkwardly, letting go of her arm “I’ve been running after Abby, making sure she does not get in any troubles. But it seems like the fire is fought for a moment and I can finally catch a breath. “

“Really?” Y/N mocked putting the bowl away, crossing arms over her chest “guess the apple does not fall far from the tree, right? Abby takes a lot after you.”

“Are you calling me a troublemaker?” Dick caught his chest and his eyes widened in a fake shock. “Me?”

“Yes.” She teased “Aren’t you?”

“Maybe a bit” he muttered taking a step forward. This made Y/N take a step back and in no time she was trapped between the kitchen counter and his body. “But there’s one more thing me and Abby have in common.”

“And what may that be, Mr. Grayson?” she raised an eyebrow, observing his face carefully and impatiently awaiting the answer.

“We both happen to like the member of the l/n family.” He smirked, grabbing her waist and pulling her towards him closing the distance between them.  Her hands found a way towards his neck, locking around it and bringing his lips down for a kiss. It’s been a while since they had any opportunity to be alone, and they were not going to miss it. Even if that meant making out in a messy kitchen in someone else’s house, hiding from their kids. They were acting like teenagers, sneaking around and trying to keep their relationship a secret. And despite the fact that they were both adults this courtship was gentle, careful, soft. They have been hurt before and the cautiousness was making them both take it slow.

But obviously it didn’t mean that there was no passion between them when Dick grabbed onto her tighter, wanting her closer, his hands travelling around her back, sneaking under her shirt, craving to feel her skin, but still keeping the slow, loving pace.

“Behave….” She mumbled into the kiss, but not really stopping him. “Someone can see us…..”

“Oh, please…” he fought the urge to roll his eyes, moving to brush her cheek, jaw and neck in the teasing attempt to make her whine for him  “you can’t keep your hands to yourself either.” The bastard was right since her fingers were playing with his hair, pulling lightly.

“I can stop….” She started withdrawing her hands but he was quick to grab her wrist keeping it in place.

“Don’t.” his soft whispers and touches were literally making her melt. “I missed you, Y/n. I missed this…. us……” God, how she loved his attention, even when he pulled back and stopped kissing her, instead looking her straight in the eyes. “I .... wish to have more of you just for myself…..”

“I know. I feel the same.”  She smiled and her eyes glistened. Before she met him, after Thomas’s father left, she didn’t believe she could find love again. But life can be surprising and even if they haven’t really said the L word to each other,now she was trapped in the arms of a man who did love her with the undying passion and with whom she felt save and taken care of us as never before. And every time they stole a kiss or a secret touch or just talked or spent time together she felt like crying because of that warm feeling inside her chest and belly. This time was no different as  few tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Crying again?” Dick cupped her face, brushing those drops away with his thumb “don’t cry on my account princess.” He brushed his nose over hers, forehead meeting forehead, eyes closing, breathing each other in.

“How can I not?” she sighed deeply, unable to hold back everything he was making her feel. “Dick, I….”

“I know, baby. Trust me, I know.” he planted a chaste kiss on her forehead, rocking her gently to the sound of music coming from the garden causing her to smile again.  

He knew.

He knew the heartbreak, the pain, the unanswered question why. He’s been through it all. And it was not his intention to play around with Y/n’s emotions and feelings or to hurt her. Ever. Not with everything she’s been through.

“I’m not like him…..” he whispered, almost inaudibly and she had to swallow the lump in her throat.

“How long do you think since one of the mums start looking for you to move the chairs or ask for another stupid favor?”

“Y/N Y/L/N. Are you jealous?”

“And what if I am?” she twirled a strand of hair on her finger, eyes fixed on his.

“Well, than I’m flattered, but you have no reason for that, baby.” His hands intertwined with hers, caressing tenderly “I lo…..” he almost said it. Almost.

“Daddy?” a quiet, girl’s voice cut him off and it took massive amount of energy to muffle the annoyed groan. Of course it was kids who interrupted him.

“Yes, sweetheart?” he pulled back

“I cut my finger….” Abby pouted, her gaze switching between her father and Y/N. “what are you doing?”

“We were just getting some fruits for you.” the older girl smiled “I’m gonna go and let your father take care of you, little one. See you around, Richard.” She moved away from him and with one final lingering secret brush of hands left him, still aching for her, not able to ever get enough of her presence.

“Daddy?” Abby asked again once Y/N was out of sight.

“Yes?”

“Do you like Thomas’s mum?”

“Do you?”

“She’s nice and pretty. And gives the best hugs. “ the girl frowned, thinking deeply “so yes, I think I like her.”

“That’s good to know.” Dick smiled pecking the top of Abby’s head.  He was not going to let this woman out of his life and his daughter’s acceptance was very important for the future purposes.

#dick grayson x reader #dick grayson x you #dick grayson x y/n #dick grayson x oc #dick grayson #dick grayson imagine #dick grayson fanfiction #dick grayson fluff #dc fluff #father!dick grayson #dick grayson x mum!reader

[serialunaliver]

My response to this post about the possibility of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley's mom being charged with involuntary manslaughter I was tagged in (putting it in a separate post because I don't feel like starting shit with anyone):

The case here being used is unique to other shootings. Typically mental illness is not actually the primary deciding factor for violence. Media coverage of school shootings has caused more school shootings than mental illness. A large amount of school shooters were inspired by the ideology of other school shooters. If Columbine wasn't treated the way it was I have no doubt there would've been less shootings.

When it comes to negligence involving mental health I don't actually see a big increase in surveillance or institutionalization as some are claiming though. The fact is parents can already use mental health as an excuse to force their kids into abusive 'treatment' with no consequence. It happens in every psych ward. It's also already used in legal cases as well, that happened to me and it did in fact lead to being forced into harmful treatment, so really the precedent and incentive is already there for those who choose it in my opinion. Meanwhile there's the opposite case where parents would rather their kid cause destruction than admit any mental health issue exists regardless of consequence. Logic is thrown out the window for the most part.

Now the defense of Ethan's mom is claiming he is a manipulator and not mentally ill. While anyone who follows me knows I despise the mental health argument about school shootings, it's quite clear this kid's actions prior to the shooting were at the very least a cry for help. He didn't try to make this secretive and even drew pictures of it. If his parents didn't care about this, it's possible he's neglected in some way at home, which can actually lead to antisocial behavior and acts of violence or threats of them, because, well, one would assume your parents would finally give a fuck about your well-being in that case. I'm diagnosed with a cluster B personality disorder partially due to "manipulative behavior" in the past which seemed horrible and illogical but was literally the only way I thought anyone would know I was hurting. Obviously I don't know if this is what's actually going on in Ethan's case, but what everyone can agree on is the parents' response to all this was not normal or acceptable and doesn't exactly paint an image of a well-adjusted family. And I do wonder if the "manipulator" argument comes from the (most common) perception that anyone with this behavior was just born evil.

ANYWAY, here are some articles/resources on common causes of school shootings and how media coverage and environment impact them, both to spread awareness and to point out that you should not in fact paint anyone as born evil or a future shooter just for certain issues.

• Bullies, black trench coats: Columbine’s most dangerous myths

• Violence has grown since California's incel shooting

• Who is most likely to get bullied at school?

• School shootings and student mental health (Includes more detailed statistics but some are misleading - the one on bullying is based on public perception of shootings, not actual cases, and the one on violent video games has no real correlation. Let this be a reminder to research your own sources!)

#school shooting #seriousposting

[idontknowreallywhy]

Practical Suggestions for supporting people with RSD in the workplace

Am reposting my response to this excellent post because of course tumblr never shows reblogs in the tags view… and I’d really like as many thoughts as possible!

RSD and the Workplace

Been searching for things to help explain this to my new boss without it sounding like “I am a sensitive little flower please don’t ever criticise me.”

It’s tricky… the last thing I want is for people to withhold professional feedback because that just feeds into the fear that “I’m getting it all wrong but they are too polite to tell me.”

But at the same time I need to explain why sometimes I may overreact… why a minor issue might be the end of the world for a while and why I will fixate heavily on correcting a mistake (or, more frequently obsess an unhealthy amount over perfecting something just in case there is a mistake that I have missed because that would trigger aforementioned end of world).

Anyone else have any experience in this area? I can’t find many resources from an occupational health perspective and I have a meeting with HR soon to discuss putting something in place. The last slide talks about understand and acknowledging but how does the supportive environment look?

My ideas so far

- it’s not that we don’t want feedback! It just needs to be done in a way that doesn’t prompt the SHOCK chemical reaction in my nervous system. Perceived negativity arriving out of the blue is like being jumped out on from the shadows by a knife-wielding maniac in a clown mask. Receiving feedback in a predictable and expected way is more like approaching an angry dog (having put on protective clothing and made a plan for how to deal with each of the two or three things it might do)

- If you want to discuss something with me please explain exactly what it’s about in the request. “Can we chat later?” will result in every moment of the time between the request and the actual chat being consumed by me overanalysing my every action of the last 12 months and not actually doing any work in the interim. If I know what it’s about I won’t be as highly reactive when the revelation comes (and I will be more able to focus on what you are actually saying as my brain won’t still be lingering on ALL the other non-issues I have tormented myself about in the intervening time).

- Maybe a regular catch up time for informal feedback would work? Don’t wait for issues to get bad before raising them?

- Please be aware that my initial defensive response isn’t a rejection of the feedback, or stubbornness. I might splurge a list of reasons you are wrong or I might shut down and need to take a while to process it. Either way I will eventually come around and take the constructive bit on board.

- One of the silliest things about RSD is that even neutral feedback can feel highly negative at times. (Sort of like how we all accept dropping from “Kind regards” to “regards” is the ultimate professional burn, even though the it’s not written “with deep antipathy” it reads it!!) This is particularly the case with emails actually. I’m not saying fill your emails with smiley faces but if requesting a change of task / focus / adjustment to something or just giving the next instruction, it’s worth knowing that slipping in the slightest acknowledgement of previous work being satisfactory, even a complement or a brief “thank you for doing the previous thing, I’ll look at it later” changes the entire tone and tells the primitive brain that “this is a positive interaction, dial down the fight or flight”

- Finally - FOMO is a thing. But the fear is that you are not included because THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU / YOU ARE NOT TRUSTED OR VALUED rather than concern at missing out on a pleasurable thing. An easy way to deal is to check with your staff whether they want copying in on things or not - some may find constant emails about things they don’t need to engage with overwhelming. Others may see other team members being included and worry about why they are not and what should they know and what if they miss something that causes them to make a Mistake later?) This was a big deal for me as old boss was very kindly trying to avoid overloading me but I spent months assuming she valued everyone else’s opinion over mine.

Obviously I need to condense these a little to make them HR friendly. But.. what else? Can tumblr RSDers (or anyone who works with them) chip in any more practical suggestions?

#rsd #adhd rsd #rejection sensitive dysphoria #autism #autism rsd #neurodivergence #neurodivergent #neurodiversity

[sexlessrpmemes]

Hey, you're a goddamn rp prompts blog! Rebrand or stop putting the gross political shit on main! Stressing people out who are actively engaging in a RECREATIONAL hobby is a bad look.

Now I was tempted to just delete this but I feel like I have to respond.

I am assuming that this is because I recently reblogged exactly one post about a political bill that would gut encryption and subsequently cause issues with Rp (and other internet activity.) I plan to delete it at the end of the month, when the bill can no longer be passed. I did just realize that I'd forgotten to tag it with "not a meme" and have done that, so you can filter that tag and not see that stuff.

As for other "gross political shit" I have reblogged a few about changes to tumblr so people can know what is going on, and a few things with links to stuff like resources that could help someone out.

Now I have just went through my archive and did delete a few things that must have gotten posted on here by accident when I was planning to put them on one of my other blogs. However, that may happen again and if it bothers you then unfollow.

This blog is not a super active one, I tend to just use it to keep memes for my own personal use, and have barely posted anything in the past year. I keep it up so people have access to the resources and edited memes, and if you don't want to see whatever I post on here that may be non meme related (like tips for the RPC and things like that) then just unfollow.

Also, just in case anyone is wondering what kind of "gross political shit" I'm here believing in:

Trans rights are human rights

Trans women are women, Trans men are men

Women should have the right to choose what happens to their bodies

Climate change is real and a problem

Cats are an invasive species and should be kept indoors

Police should not have unfettered power and should be held to a higher standard of behaviour than

Everyone should be housed and fed and able to live with dignity no matter their ability to work

Vaccines are good and work, and people should not be able to work with the most medically vulnerable people if they are unwilling to do what they can to protect them. (aka nurses/doctors should get their vaccines because they're supposed to be helping sick people, not carrying plague)

Also capitalism is a plague and billionaires should not exist.

Thank you anon for your comment, and have a lovely day. I will not be changing my behaviour on this blog, apart from trying harder to remember to tag things. I might get some more memes posted, I might not, but either way feel free to unfollow.

#politics mention: cw #not a meme

[frociaggine]

hi! I've been doing some worldbuilding for a hypothetical Tenth House for oc og Lyctor reasons, and I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the subject? how would you go about it? Sorry if this is a weird ask :)

This is a super interesting idea to consider! I'm throwing it in the main fandom tags and if anyone has anything to contribute please jump in.

I'd never considered this until today, but some thoughts off the top of my head:

History: Since the Houses are named in the order they were founded, I think the OG founder(s) should be a second generation Lyctor & cavalier pair, born in the Houses. The reason why I suggest the OC should be part of the founder group for this Tenth House, rather than just a necromancer from there (like how the Seventh House existed when Cytherea was born; she didn't found it) is because we know that Anastasia DID found the Ninth, and the Tenth would've presumably come after.

Location: the Tenth House installation shouldn't be as far out as the Ninth, for two reasons. One, because the Ninth's whole thing is that they're from the ass backwards middle of nowhere, and them having a close neighbour would cause too many ripple effects that I'm not sure you want. Second, for logistical reasons - I think it's easier to get a House up and running in the limited time between Anastasia establishing the Ninth (or beginning to) and the Lyctors ascending and leaving the system, if they're closer to the rest of the population and have more immediate access to resources.

My suggestion would be to put the Tenth House near Juppiter (Fifth) Saturn (Fourth) or on Ceres (asteroid belt, between Juppiter and Mars/Second House.)

In the first case, the Tenth could be a off-shot of the wealthy and influential Fifth House, or alternatively a Fourth House splinter group. Both of those are gas planets, so presumably the Fourth and Fifth are also based on satellites, but there are so many satellites to go around there that you're spoiled for choice.

In the second case: Ceres is a dwarf planet with a rocky surface, which makes theoretically possible to build an installation on it. It's in the middle of the asteroid belt (so there'd be some difficulties navigating back and forth with whatever resources you need to build a liveable installation) but relatively close to the Fifth / the Second / even to Earth, which is a plus in terms of actually packing up said resources. wikipedia tells me that it's pretty stable in terms of tectonics.

What does the House DO? That would depend on what you need your OC Lyctor to do, in terms of necromantic specialty and any other stuff. If it's an off-shot of the Fifth, maybe something soul / blood / spirit related; if they schismed from the Fourth, a different interpretation of thanergetic fission? If it's in the astreroid field, maybe the House is involved in training up pilots for the Cohort, or stele travel. But I think I would reverse-engineer this part depending on what you need for your OC

#Anonymous #tlt worldbuilding #tlt #ask

[faintvibes]

I have. Been dragged into TAG thanks to piracy, so I've decided to throw the masterdoc I've been compiling into the wind, in case anyone's interested in it :)

It has:

Profiles on the brothers/Kayo/Parker/Penelope/Cpt. Taylor/Brains/O'Bannon/Jeff/Grandma T/Moffat/Col. Casey/Lucy

Profiles on each of the Thunderbirds

Information about Tracy Island (incl its location)

Misc facts about the world

Facts I have thus far acquired about the timeline

*Note that my doc isn't finished yet. I've fully scraped season 1 for info, but I've only casually watched seasons 2 and 3, so there are likely a fair few details I still need to add, particularly regarding the timeline and worldbuilding. It's also worth noting that I started this with the intention that it would be a resource only I would use, and so hadn't put much effort into referencing sources, since I'm pretty good at just remembering those details. However, certain sections are largely taken from the wiki (I make a note of these sections when they begin in the comments), but I haven't gone through the effort yet of properly crediting things. I'd like to ask if it's possible to know which editor added what to a page? If so, that's the level of detail I'd aim for in citations.

Regardless, I hope someone finds some use in this resource! I don't know how much of this is common knowledge, so it could all be very simple things everyone knows… excuse my recent entry into the fandom if so…

#thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbirds are go

[namorthesubmariner]

About Namor x Shuri

I’m not here to rain on anyone’s parade, ship what you ship and tag appropriately is my fandom motto, if there’s something I don’t want to see then it’s up to me to not engage with that.

I am Namor x Shuri neutral, I don’t love or hate it. I am just here to put this post together to address the Fandom and make sure that some information isn’t lost in the chaos that has become the Namor tags these days.

1. Please do not harass the actors or the production crew. Yes, I am speaking to you, I don’t care how valid you think your ship is, I don’t care if you think it should be canon. Don’t harass the cast/crew or other fans. Don’t do what Reylos and MCU fans have done in the past and just a reminder in case people forgot: Reylos have been extremely racist and harassed the actors and other fans all for the sake of their ship. MCU Fans harassed the fans and the actress Emily VanCamp during the Peggy vs Sharon discourse. I’m not here to argue this and I’m not going to provide receipts, the information and past actions are there if you want to go looking for them. Edit to add: I was speaking in general terms of what I know about these discourses, but I do understand there are Reylo fans who are chill and I was not pointing out anyone specifically. I just wanted to share the observations I knew of in a general way.

2. In a Rollingstone interview Tenoch Huerta has stated that the intentions for the Namor and Shuri relationship was not romantic. Please read the full interview, this role and the movie’s themes mean a lot to the actor beyond shipping.

On another note, some viewers felt that there was romantic chemistry between Namor and Shuri when she was in your city. Did you play that romantic chemistry deliberately? I don’t feel it was a romantic touch [between them]. I think it was more a human, intimate touch. I mean in the history of their kingdoms, the history of their people, they share the same root, and the threat comes from the same place for both of them, for the same reason. They both face threats from Western countries like the United States and France in the story, because of vibranium, natural resources. I think they connect in that aspect.

I mean, when you meet someone and you have a good relationship, whether this person is the gender that you prefer or not, you always have this ambiguous relationship. It’s normal. It’s human. So, I think this happened with both of them. If that can evolve into a romantic relationship or not? I don’t know. It wasn’t our intention. It could happen or not.

The beautiful part of this relationship is, it doesn’t need to be romantic to be deep. It doesn’t need to be romantic to be beautiful and bright and intimate. And this connection between a man and a woman in different levels doesn’t need, necessarily, to end in a romantic relationship. And that’s beautiful, you know? Because I hate the romantic love. I think it’s poison. [Laughs] These characters, they create something… I don’t know. It was magical, but not necessarily romantic.

3. in an interview by Newsweek  with film editor Michael P. Shawver this was written:

On Shuri’s Bond with Namor One thing that has stood out amongst fans since the film was released is Shuri's bond with Namor, and whether there is any potential for romance between the pair. When they first meet, Namor urges Shuri and her mother Queen Ramonda to work with him to retrieve the scientist responsible for making a Vibranium detector, Riri, or face the wrath of Talokan. Later, when Shuri goes to Talokan with Riri, the Talokan leader tells the Wakandan princess of his history, and how his people came to establish the underwater nation after being oppressed by Spanish colonizers. Namor shows Shuri his kingdom and she comes to realize how similar Talokan is to Wakanda and this has inspired some fans to believe a romance could be on the cards for them. Shawver explained that idea was something that was discussed during the film's creation process, and was even something they tested, but ultimately Shuri's bond with Namor felt like it should be something different. "I think what's really interesting is there were takes where there was some connection there," Shawver said. "And at one point in an early cut we discussed like, 'Hey, do we leave it there? Do we just put it out there? Let's just add some complexity to the relationship.' "But, then, you've got to watch out for portraying, for example, Shuri flirting to get what she wants as opposed to being a diplomatic leader and becoming the leader that she needs to be, that she'll get to at the end."So what we ultimately focused on was Namor's line where he says 'only the most damaged people can be truly great leaders', and that's planting the seed of the shared trauma that she realizes at the end [of the film]."But that's essentially who they are, they're trying to lead and be a leader of their nations with all this pain, carrying around this heavy heart." The editor explained that Namor "sort of became [a] big brother" to Shuri "because of the similarity she saw when she saw their world and hearing the story." He added that there is "obviously a shared cultural trauma between his people and her people" and "what she lost at the beginning he started to fill that void, and that felt the most genuine to the characters." Even so, that didn't mean that the editors and Coogler felt the pair were completely unsuited to each other, because Shawver said: "They relate, and I think that anytime we can relate to somebody there can be undertones of that kind of thing, you know what I mean?"Referring to how Namor gave Shuri his mother's bracelet in the film, the editor added: "Honestly, we've got to keep ourselves sane and laugh a lot, especially with the tougher moments or the serious moments, so we would always joke that when he gave her that bracelet they were married now, and she didn't know it."There's a whole different movie where she's like, 'wait, what, I'm the queen of Talokan now?'"

However Production Designer Hannah Beachler has already stated that the interview was taken out of context and that there was no romantic scene between them.  (source, source)

Nope. JS never shot a romantic scene with them.

I think Shawver was taken way out of context.  While there was a curiosity & seemingly a mutual experience of loss, never any scenes that would be considered typical "romance" or physical intimacy filmed. Shawver is a good dude. Media recreating something where there's nothing.

MCUDirect has already updated with an edit to include Beachler’s response. Again please read the full Newsweek article because there is more there about Honoring Chadwick and other things about the film.

4. Yes, there is a lot of scenes cut and I am just as excited to see those scenes released as anyone but please do not do what Snyder Fans did and harass the crew with #releasethetalokancut that I have seen pop up recently. Hopefully once the DVD comes out we will get all the extra scenes and commentary.

5. The Mary Sue wrote an article about their views on the Namor x Shuri ship parallels and Namor’s background (source) the reason I’m linking this is because it also talks about how Namor is not Mexican even though the actor is, but the Character of Namor is a Mayan/Mesoamerican Native/Indigenous. Please remember this in your fics/headcanons. Namor would not speak Spanish, he would speak his native Yucatec Mayan.

6. White/Light washing, there are many new Namor x Shuri Fan Arts out there and many of them have lightwashed Namor’s skintone to the point of him being white. Please ask artists to consider what white/light washing does to harm Fans of Color and also erases Characters of Color. There is NO EXCUSE for this, and artists should do better. I’m not here to call out artists but to point out that the issue is there and to be wary of it. The actor Tenoch Huerta is very vocal about how racism/discrimination against darker skinned actors in Mexico has affected him and other actors like him.

7. Fandom Racism. It’s there, it’s all over the tags, it’s in the fics. I am not only speaking about Namor x Shuri but about the Namor x Reader fics that have exploded in the tags: Namor is NOT a Noble Savage or a Rapist or a Pedophile. The incident with DeltasStories (discussed here) has sparked outrage in fandom however it was inevitable with the way fandom and specifically white fandom engages with Men/Characters of Color in Fandom. Men/Characters of Color are highly sexualized and you all should educate yourselves on why writing a Character like MCU!Namor who has dark skin tones in this manner is highly racist. Comic!Namor also is painted with this Exotic Lover Rapist brush when it comes to the NamorSue ship, even though he has never done anything like that and Comic!Namor does not mess with kids (source). So the next time you want to spread Fanon!Namor stop and think about how you are perpetuating racist stereotypes.

Shipping is for the Fans. Not the Cast/Crew/Canon.

It won’t be canon, because we all know Namor kills Ramonda. However it doesn’t mean fans can’t ship, just be sure to be respectful of the characters, other fans, and the cast/crew. And for the Antis please shut up about the Age Gap, you aren’t helping your crusade. If you don’t like Namor x Shuri then block/blacklist. I shouldn’t have to say this over and over but the “Immortal Lover” trope is an old trope in romance media, the whole Vampire/Human romance genre is built on this as are other types of fantasy pairings, there’s so many ships centered around white/non poc character that have this trope, this is nothing new so don’t pull out this outcry because all you are doing is infantilizing Shuri and making Namor out to be a predator. Namor is NOT a sexual predator.

This post will be updated with edits as time goes by when new information comes out.

#namor #mcu namor #shuri #namor x shuri #x reader #black panther: wakanda forever #interviews #tenoch huerta #letitia wright

[oceanofmusings]

𝐏𝐎𝐂 𝐅𝐂𝐬 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒.

hello! just putting together a little resource which is by no means comprehensive, but can be used as a quick reference for some poc fcs with good resources and links to some of their gif hunts. though i’m not an rph, i had made this list already for personal reference and wanted to share in case it brought anyone else inspo. i know there are probably a few of these posts already, but i think the more ways to get people looking at poc fcs, the better! there are so many good poc fcs out there, that it’s a shame we don’t see them more, especially when some have a shocking amount of resources. some of these fcs are already popular, but i figured i’d add them in anyway, though i did try to list out more fcs i don’t see as often. 

i tried to include 2-3 good hunts per fc (most were found using this site/link since tumblr tags are a hot mess as usual) and i take no credit for any of the resources linked either. thank you to creators who’ve made such good gifs for these fcs and if you use their hunts, please like/reblog their posts and be mindful of any denoted triggers. hopefully this gives a wee boost to some more underused fcs as well.

adeline rudolph (one, two, three)

aiysha hart (one, two, three)

alperen duymaz ( one) 

amita suman (one, two, three) 

anna diop (one, two, three)

arden cho (one, two)

aubrey plaza (one, two, three, four)

daniel henney (one, two, three)

darren barnet (one, two, three)

davika hoorne (one, two) 

david castaneda (one, two, three)

deepika padukone (one, two, three)

dev patel (one, two, three) 

diane guerrero (one, two, three)

diego luna (one, two, three)

diego boneta (one, two, three)

gemma chan (one, two)

gong yoo (one, two, three)

greta onieogou (one, two)

han so-hee (one, two)

issa rae (one, two, three)

jamie chung (one, two, three)

jordan fisher (one, two)

jung eun-chae (one, two)

justice smith (one, two, three)

justin h. min (one, two, three)

karen fukuhara (one, two)

lewis tan (one, two, three)

manny jacinto (one, two, three, four, five)

may calamawy (one, two, three)

medalion rahimi (one, two, three)

melissa barrera (one, two)

michaela coel (one, two)

michael b jordan (one, two)

natasha liu bordizzo (one, two, three) 

nathalie emmanuel (one, two, three)

nishi munshi (one)

pedro pascal (one, two, three)

quintessa swindell (one, two, three)

rachel hilson (one, two, three)

raymond ablack (one, two)

ritu arya (one, two, three)

ross butler (one, two, three)

sarah shahi (one, two, three)

sean teale (one, two, three)

sobhita dhulipala (one, two, three)

sonoya mizuno (one, two, three)

yahua abdul-mateen ii (one, two, three)

zeeko zaki (one, two, three)

zion moreno (one, two, three)

#resource #gifs #poc fcs #poc #fcs #rp resources #rph #long post tw

[kleefkruid]

polyam ask anon here. Thank you sm for that extensive explanation! I was trying to look on my own but didn't know where to start. I don't have any questions rn (mostly because I need to let the information settle first) but I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to type all that out. I'm a little hesitant to try polyamory even with toe dipping because I'm very inexperienced relationship-wise in general (haven't been in one before) and I'm a little afraid of what my family would think (I love them dearly, but they don't understand polyam at all and think you "don't love that 1 person enough if you need more")

I'm definitely interested in learning more, though. Are there any resources I could use? Books or anything, like you mentioned?

No rush in starting relationships, I had my first one at 24 and that happened by sheer chance as well. And I'd say experience is overrated because every relationship is so wildly different to the previous. You get better at filtering out some types of people but you will always be bumbling trough each and everyone of them and that's fine, really.

Hmm, book wise I just own Opening Up by Tristan Taormino, which was a gift by a more eperienced polyam person when I was starting out. It's not a light read, it's more of a resource guide to all kind of open relationships and it has chapters on for instance starter things like "turning your mono relationship into a polyam one" all the way to chapters on things to consider when buying property, planning a family. It's one of those books you open when you have a specific hurdle to cross. It's a pretty good guide book in my opinion, for the parts I have read. Not to much 'you must do this' and a lot of 'but consider this'

@ BoldlyGrow is a youtube channel that's now inactive but the videos on there have some explanations of polyam terminology and also go into the benefits but also the harder things about polyamory and questions to ask yourself before getting into it. That might be a useful tool for you, I'd recommend looking into that first and maybe you go "yikes, not for me" without having spend money on a book.

I have seen 'the ethical slut' also be recommended as a resource a lot but I haven't had a chance to read it so I can speak for it personally but I'm adding it bc other people seem to like it?

Another great resource is of course always just making polyam friends, on feeld there's a lot of people who are also (or exclusively) looking for friends bc it's nice to have likeminded friends who understand your lifestyle (I don't have to tell the queer website that). If you have polyam friends they can give you advice thats personal to you or you can just see what they're up to. Lot's of people I hang out with are much less mystified by polyamory after a while bc it will be just as boring as anyones elses relationship haha

You can also look for other poly people in the tags over here but good luck bc you have to block about 500 fanfiction writers (half of them from the bts community, fun fact) before you can see any personal posts (we really need a different dedicated tag it's a mess)

The polyamory subreddits I'd avoid because I mean it's reddit, their relationship advice is bad universally

when it comes to parents, ah, you know, my parents don't understand it fully either but they see I'm happy and they like my partner a lot so that helps. It's generally easier when they can put a face to it. there are a lot of polyam people who aren't 'out' to their families but my family is very much of the 'as long as you're happy' variety so I can't give much advice if that's not the case with you :)

#poly #polyam #polyamory

[keldabae]

Excuse me while I dump all of my Tales of the Empire thoughts here. I’m not tagging it because this is just me ranting so my loved ones don’t have to listen to it. Not here to ruin anyone else’s good time. Proceed with caution under the cut.

I found Tales of the Empire to be some seriously gorgeous animation with very lackluster writing. It did a lot of the same things as Tales of the Jedi in that it more follows two characters on the outskirts rather than showing us more about the faction and how it’s shapes these people. The problem for me, I think, is that neither Morgan nor Barriss were strong enough characters to carry a story with such loose structure. We knew way more about Dooku and Ahsoka, so jumping around to singular points in their journeys didn’t hurt as much. We could still understand the impact everything was having.

I do not understand Morgan Elsbeth any better than I did after seeing her in Mandalorian and Ahsoka. Why did her tattoos fade but Merrin’s didn’t? Does that mean anything? Why would she, a woman apparently driven by anger and revenge alone, create a type of TIE meant to keep pilots alive? Are we supposed to believe she cares about the pilots? The long-term morale among the ranks? She’s a magistrate, which seems to mean she’s a city or planetary leader on Corvus. I get that she’s an engineer but a she’s also a civilian who sees her own people as disposable so why is she making something as tactical as a TIE with shields? If she’s somehow just a genius at starships then why the hell did Thrawn leave her on Corvus to bully a bunch of factory workers instead of putting her to work doing more of that design shit? I don’t know what about helping the Empire will soothe her, or why she thinks it will soothe her. I don’t know who she wants revenge against. Grievous is dead. Does she want revenge against the whole galaxy? That’s fair enough and I’ll accept it but it has to be made clear that that’s what we’re working with because that’s all we get for motivation. But again, if that’s the case, why does she design a safer TIE? Why wouldn’t this very angry character instead create something with crippling power or some devastating effect?

Then there’s the whole issue of Filoni basically taking Thrawn’s major storyline, or at least the inception of it, and handing it to one of his OCs. In just a few seconds of screen time he just breaks so much. We know Thrawn created the TIE Defender. We saw him fighting for its funding in both Rebels and Treason. Also, resources for the TIE Defender project played a major part in the final Rebels arc and now we find he didn’t need to use that planet? If he had a backup planet where an ally has already subjugated the population where he could get the same resources, why the fuck didn’t he use it? Or a planet from the entire LIST of resource-rich planets he’s known about since back when he was an Admiral? Sure he’s confident in his ability to handle rebels but why would he decide to put all his eggs in one basket when the basket is absolutely not secure and is under constant fire? He’s still fighting for funding for this thing against Krennic, and apparently he could have just built the factory on Corvus and let Morgan handle it while he dealt with Lothal for Pryce? That suggests that Thrawn is an idiot who decided to use a volatile planet frequented by two Jedi as the hub of his endangered pet project for the flex.

While I’m complaining about canon barely clinging to existence, it makes perfect sense for Thrawn to create the TIE Defender because he’s a tactician. He lives and breathes space warfare. He understands the way the rebels are fighting and how to meet them on their own ground. What’s more, we’ve seen an in-depth look at his culture. The Chiss keep the military and political forums largely separate (and they turn down an ugly path when that begins to change). The Chiss military does not believe in wasting resources, especially their warriors. A TIE Fighter that would allow for an elite squadron of pilots who could survive many missions, get very good at hunting rebels, and use their same brand of mobile warfare is absolutely something a Chiss military genius would design. Zahn puts in endless work to tell us who his characters are and why they do what they do and he’s very careful to keep the canon in tact and I’m so tired of Filoni just ransacking it.

Barriss came off a little better since her story didn’t really branch into any other canon. I personally never liked the Wrong Jedi character arc in Clone Wars. She wasn’t fleshed out enough first and we only got to see her in one prior arc. I’m fine with a Jedi being disillusioned and even turning traitor on the Order. I just want to know why. That being said, I loved Barriss as a character and I dearly wanted her story to make more sense, so I was super excited to get her back and see more. I was really hoping for an origin episode like everyone else has gotten, to see her as a Jedi slowly losing her way. We could have seen her distancing from Luminara, questioning the Jedi’s increasing role as warriors, or her friendship with Lyn to drive home why she fought so hard to save her in the end. But instead we see her become an Inquisitor and then abandon it on what seems like was probably her first mission.

Barriss still thinks and acts like a Jedi. The Inquisitors put in almost no work to indoctrinate her. Did they think they didn’t need to since she left the Order? She was a teenage idealist and they thought that the barest level of training would make her cool with slaughtering a village? She doesn’t have to come to terms with anything, she doesn’t struggle to get herself back to the Light, she never even does anything questionable in this show save for killing a peer in a life-or-death fight they were forced into. It’s the same problem I had with the Wrong Jedi arc— I don’t know why Barriss used such an extreme and violent form of protest. And I don’t think the writers know either because she becomes an Inquisitor without ever coming across as a character who would plant a bomb, kill both civilians and people she knew, and then blame a friend for it, much less slaughter innocent people. Instead she comes across as so naive to the actual job of an Inquisitor that I don’t know why her boss was even sending her on missions yet.

3 15-minute segments that are essentially single events in these characters lives are simply not enough to be fulfilling if they weren’t fully fleshed characters to begin with. I started the show knowing nothing about why Morgan does what she does, why she’s so dedicated to Thrawn, and what role being a Nightsister even plays in her life since originally we didn’t even know she was one. I started the show with very little idea why Barriss was driven to bomb the Jedi temple, what kind of headspace she’s been living in since then, what her life in Imperial prison is like, and the toll that being an Inquisitor would take on her. I didn’t get answers to any of that. And when there were so many stories they could have told, both for Morgan and Barriss and a ton of other Imperial characters, it feels like a waste and I’m a little frustrated.

[fountainpenguin]

Can you share some of what your planning process for long fics is like? What kind of outlines do you do or what prep do you do to get in the zone?

Thanks for the ask! [Tagging #ridspoilers for minor plot outline, birthday, and alien planet calendar spoilers for Origin of the Pixies, Frayed Knots, and Factor It In]

---

I write on Google Docs; it might not be for everyone but it's what I've found to work well for me after a lifetime of writing (Ex: When I was a kid, I used WordPerfect and Dropbox and it would take hours to sync my documents before a long road trip... I travel between two locations a lot, so these days I just pop open the Google Docs app on my phone or use the Edit Offline extension on my laptop and it's always up to date, which works great for me!)

I also like Google Docs because I can link between documents and have lots of open tabs [along the top of the browser] in "one tab" [along the bottom bar], which isn't something I was able to do as a kid or with Microsoft Word, and it just helps me feel clean.

---

Masterlist Doc [1 per fandom]

I keep all my Fairly OddParents 'fics in a doc titled FOP 'Fic Masterlist. I have my most important resources at the top and they're all broken down with clear labels and doc links.

This way, even if I haven't accessed a doc in a while [meaning it doesn't come up when I type its name in the URL search bar], I always know where I can find it. Also, thanks to my edit offline extension, all I need is this one link and I know I'll be able to open any doc I need.

I have a lot of 'fics, so this doc is several pages. If you've ever read my FFN or AO3 bios and saw that note about how I keep a queued Tumblr post containing links to my unfinished 'fics in case I unexpectedly die, that queued post links to this doc!

You'll also notice that I have distinct scrap docs for Origin, Knots, and the 130 Prompts. I change or cut a lot of stuff and it's nice to keep the old WIPs in case I ever want to look back on them (each of those docs is 25k words just of scraps). Sometimes those scenes get recycled, but usually they just sit there. It's a lot easier to cut things from a story when you have a place to put them and you're not deleting them forever.

[Cnt'd under the cut]

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Table of Contents Doc [1 per long 'fic]

All my long 'fics have a table of contents doc, which I highly recommend for anyone doing a large multi-chapter project. I always slap the cover image, a height chart, or a character reference on top to make it pretty, then the doc will contain some notes I might need. For example, Origin's doc has two height charts:

and this-

Makes it easy to know where to find things. Also, you don't have to draw your own height charts, but I recommend keeping a list of heights on hand. Even if you don't tell the reader someone's exact measurements, it's always nice to get a feel for how characters compare to others and whether they should be looking up or down.

Come What May's doc has this screenshot comparison on it, which I put together by measuring different characters who appear next to each other as carefully as I could, and it works too:

Obviously Kevin and Molly never appear in the same episode, but since they're about to become step-siblings in Come What May, it was important to me that I knew how tall they were, so I measured Molly against Timmy and then Timmy against Kevin. Same for Mrs. Crocker, who I measured against Timmy to get a feel for how tall Kevin is compared to his grandma.

I know it's a fanfic so it doesn't really matter, but you have to do self-indulgent things sometimes :)

Frayed Knots also has Sunnie's character reference [i.e. Anti-Cosmo's patron nature spirit, the water dude], which I just want to show off because this is still really good art for something I drew in 2017:

Other things I keep in my table of contents docs are lists of episodes where certain characters appear, random notes that I need to keep track of (like any canonized character addresses or allergies), and chapter title ideas. I also keep track of the starlight levels [i.e. which season it's bright outside vs. dark], school year reminders, and Anti-Fairy migration season.

I keep my Vatajasa name chart in Knots too:

Factor It In's table doc contains a list of villains who appear in the 'fic (Red for ones who don't appear, green for those who do). It also links to the Wiki page for the Evil Villains Association so I can remember which villains are and aren't in it. It also has my timeline details:

---

Timeline Notes

Factor It In is set in 1998, and my table doc has all the notes I used to narrow down to that date (ex: I originally planned to set it in 1987 because I felt that the late 80s fit the technology level we see in the show before I re-watched the episode "There's No V In Team," which specifically refers to the year 1987 as having happened in the past).

One of the reasons I liked using 1987 originally was because Factor It In is a story about Kid Math training under WordGirl, and it takes place shortly after the Kid Math episode, which aired in 2014. Factor It In opens in early January, so I like the Easter egg that the 2015 calendar would be the same even if we took its airdate literally. 1998 was the only year in the 90s that also matched the calendar, so that's what I ended up with.

I like keeping my timeline notes around so if I take a hiatus, I can always come back and remind myself why I picked stuff. Also it's way easier to expand your worldbuilding if you kept your notes... it's awful if you threw your math away and have to start over (I once redid an entire timeline because someone said I'd messed up the dates on my chart, and I believed them and redid it all, only to realize several months later when I ran into a timeline problem that my math had actually been right all along :') Don't be like me. Record your work and leave notes explaining why.)

[I always use THIS calendar website when I'm planning timelines. It tracks moon phases, which was important when @zachbrightside and I were working on the FOP timeline and heavily relying on moon phases as a guide, and you can easily type any year and month into the URL bar so it's super easy to navigate.]

---

Birthday Notes

I also kept all my notes on determining birthdays (very important for long 'fics with lots of characters that take place over several months! One of my FOP resource docs is specifically for birthdays and annual events, ranging from parades to anniversaries to carnivals).

My headcanon for Becky Botsford's birthday is July 28th. We know she starts the series at age 9 and has a birthday in Season 1 episode 4, meaning she's 10 for much of the series. There are at least two episodes where she cites her ages as "10 and a half," and we saw that in her next birthday episode ("A World Without WordGirl"), her cake had 11 candles on it.

Show canon implies that time IS passing and that the show doesn't exist in a timeless void (see also, Timmy Turner wishing to freeze time for 50 years), so it was important to me that I nail down her birthday. I knew I wanted it to take place after Rhyme and Reason if possible since there are no more birthday episodes, though I would also be fine with having "Rhyme and Reason" shortly after her birthday [to ensure she stays 10 and 11 for the majority of show canon].

Here are some of my notes on her birthday for anyone interested (Hopefully they're not too squished):

^ Like I said, I switched 1987 to 1998, but yeah. Rex's birthday comes out to June 13th, 1989 and Becky's is July 28th, 1986.

Clickable links for Rex and Becky on the age calculator if you're curious... Important for me since one of Rex's math powers is to always know how old someone is to the day.

Fun Fact - I deliberately gave Rex June 13th as a birthday so he would share a birthday with Foop, who is also a Season 7 Episode 1 debut kid over in Fairly OddParents :)

---

Having birthdays planned is also nice for when I want to write multiple 'fics in the same world, even if they're not the same 'fic. In my story "Flypaper," which takes place in early June, Rex is eagerly awaiting his 17th birthday and Becky muses on how she'll be turning 20 at the end of the summer... Just a nice detail not only to set the scene, but also to help the story feel grounded and realistic since one of the themes of "Flypaper" was that Becky felt time was slipping away from her.

It's also important to note that Rex and Becky are always among the youngest in their school years since they have summer birthdays. Tobey is 12 for most of the time Becky is 11... Little details that don't take a long time to plan for, but can really help a story feel like the author put effort into the world.

Again, I highly recommend leaving clear notes to yourself about why you're doing certain timeline things. I much prefer having the breakdown of the episodes I looked at over simply leaving a note to myself that Becky's birthday is July 28th!

---

Character Arc Notes

Before planning the events of the story, it helps to get an idea for what themes and character traits you want to focus on. Frayed Knots is about love and betrayal- it's about Anti-Cosmo pushing for what he wants even though it hurts his loved ones (appropriate theme for a villain backstory 'fic).

I want to show some notes I have for Factor It In because I think they're interesting. Factor It In is my first attempt at doing a story that deliberately focuses around two protagonists and their separate but equally important character arcs, and I'm excited :)

Everything that's in my doc is the "tell" part of "show don't tell." The story tries to show what I have in my notes:

Rex arc - Lack of Stability / Lack of Control - Failing, getting tricked, being unwanted, not good enough, not understanding things. Being in foster care is scary. Unfamiliar planet is scary Show Kid Math always being super inquisitive. He always wants to learn. He knows the most, he is the best, he gets upset when he's fooled or when he fails. He was 2nd best in school. He feels lost when he doesn't know what's happening in his future. Gets upset when WordGirl doubts his decisions. In the opening scene of Factor, he's mind controlled by Mr. Big. Literally has no control Kid Math clings to his superhero certification / Hexagonian education. He was raised by his aunts and has basically no relationship with his parents (though he tries to hide the fact that this hurts him). He feels like a burden; he feels like his mom considered him "too much work" and that his father considers him "not worth bothering to visit." Rex constantly struggles under this fear that he's a burden. He wants to prove himself a good superhero so that his education (and life) aren't "a waste." Conflict: Kid Math has already spent his entire life feeling like he's no one's first choice; that he's only "second best" (because he was second to top of his class in school). He understands that he and WordGirl are sharing the city, but it's important to him that he's considered an equal. He wants people to like him. It hurts when WordGirl comes on too strong and makes it obvious she lacks faith in him, because he feels like a burden: his worst nightmare. Throughout the story, Rex internalizes his successes and failures. He cannot separate his superhero identity from his civilian identity. He always sees himself as "Rex, who trained to become a superhero." He calls himself Rex and has no distinction in his mind. His secrets slip, he uses his powers when he's Rex, and he expects people to attribute KM's failures to Rex (Ex: school kids laugh at how he falls for tricks as Kid Math and it upsets him as Rex). Rex values control, and will do all he can to avoid losing control. His deadly sin is Wrath, but he has a lot of emotional control and will try to remove himself from the situation. As long as he has his safe space and his comfort things, he's okay. We get several scenes of him wanting to break stuff when he's upset but he holds back... with the underlying tension of wondering how long he'll last before he snaps (pitting his nightmare of losing control against Becky's nightmare of losing his friendship).

I want to highlight the part about how Rex cannot separate his two identities. This is something I showed even back in "AlgoRhythm" - Rex always calls himself "Rex" inside his head, even when he's dressed as Kid Math. However, when I write from Becky's POV, the third-person writing swaps between calling her "Becky" or "WordGirl" depending on how she's dressed.

I also have notes about how Rex's character arc relates to the story's finale, but that's spoilers. Since Rex's character arc is about how he hates not having control, then the worst thing that could happen to him is not having a say in things: hence why the plot about bouncing between foster families is such a hard thing for him to go through. Eventually, he'll also be put in a position where he needs to think about who he is as Rex vs. who he is as Kid Math, and we'll see that in the story climax.

Becky has a fun arc too:

Becky arc - Loss / Change - People being hurt, losing her friends, hurting or losing her family. Fear of change. Show WordGirl being upset when relationships fracture, even with people who aren't super close to her. She struggles with the idea of Kid Math befriending her villains or losing her position as a hero and getting replaced by Kid Math. Put simply, WordGirl is a control freak who refuses to admit this to herself. WordGirl struggles to relinquish control to Kid Math (which is where they come in conflict since he ALSO feels stressed when he doesn't have control). WordGirl is a bit of a helicopter mentor; she hovers around Rex, interferes with his work, and just generally gets in his way (which is pretty funny imo since Rex never got in her way during "Kid Math"- he's capable, he just causes problems with social interaction and not with the actual fighting... WordGirl gets the social interaction part but definitely gets in the way). Conflict: WordGirl doesn't enjoy having Rex around, but she can't tell him that because it might hurt his feelings and that would cause her "loss and change" pain. She would feel guilty and sad. Rex being Exposition Guy's foster kid is a big source of conflict between them, as Rex believes he should "get dibs" on info EG shares. WordGirl stresses when Rex doesn't do things "her way" and Rex gets frustrated that she doesn't trust him. Tensions keep rising because WordGirl starts seeing "the bad" in Rex; she keeps seeing Miss Power traits in him and she worries that Miss Power might have been his teacher back on Hexagon. Her nosiness strains Rex's trust in her and he starts pulling away emotionally... sending her into a spiral about change and loss (especially as more and more villains and civilians grow familiar with Kid Math and start to think he's cool). Lots of resentment towards Kid Math for "replacing her" even though she NEVER admits that to herself; she still has trace amounts of jealousy towards him in later stories like "Flypaper..." WordGirl doesn't mean to be jealous or greedy, but it's always been one of her flaws (i.e. someone else getting a key to the city, or when she snapped during Miss Power special about Chuck getting a collectible unicorn, wanting to show off a bit during "Invisible Hand"). She's a very nice person but Envy is absolutely her deadly sin.

So yeah! Fun times ahead; I'm excited.

We've already started seeing cracks form between her and Chuck... In Chapter 4, Chuck confronts her, asking if WordGirl is retiring and if he'll still get to see her. Chuck has his own little character arc in the background, which is that he broke his foot a few days before the story starts- he has to sit on the sidelines watching the other villains get "WordGirl time" while he has to watch Kid Math go through hero training.

A lot of other characters have small arcs too, though Chuck's and Victor Best's are probably the most notable-- Chuck and Victor are both characters who struggle with being "the second best" compared to a more successful sibling, so they resonate heavily with Rex's character arc.

WordGirl's arc is about control, so Mr. Big and Tobey (mind control and robots) are pretty obvious choices for her, along with Dr. Two-Brains... but actually, Granny May and Eileen are two villains I really wanted to look at in Factor It In. Granny May's life hinges around being a "people person" (to the point that she had an episode about how she could be way more successful with a different schtick; she just likes talking to people too much to trade that for success).

Granny May is super calculating and manipulative and she also struggles with little losses of control in her daily life (getting on in years, mobility issues, and the episode "Granny's Book Club" where the Evil Villains Association tried to force her to retire). I like Granny May because she looks like this sweet old lady but she also, like. can fly and has a robot suit, which is SO funny.

With her cold, calculating patience and her manipulative ways, Granny May represents the worst of Rex AND Becky at the same time, which is great. I'm excited to get to her chapters. Eileen is also a fun villain to juxtapose Becky because she's the embodiment of envy, which Becky struggles with, so I'm looking forward to that too.

A lot of characters are also working on school projects, so they always have "something to do" or "something that is causing them stress." Mapping out the background character arcs and conflicts can help the story feel more alive, and I think that's a useful part of outlining :)

---

Once you know your character arcs ["What is my character's biggest fear, what is something my character will do wrong, what event forces them to face their fear, and how do they resolve this situation in a way that shows them growing as a person?"] then the story sort of writes itself :)

Make sure you have a goal or a problem and make sure there's a reason they can't achieve the goal or solve their problem in the first chapter. Here are some examples from 3 of my long 'fics:

Origin of the Pixies - Fergus (i.e. H.P.) fears being responsible for others... His father wants him to study psychology and take over the family therapy business (Wish Fixers) even though carrying the weight of others' emotional problems sounds like the worst fate imaginable... so Fergus cuts ties with Dad, drops out of the Fairy Academy and runs away from home. Now he only looks out for himself, can start his own business if he wants to, and he can drink and party all the time. What could be better than that?

Fergus's nightmare of being responsible becomes unavoidable when he (a pixie) starts reproducing asexually... during a time when no one really knows what pixies are and Fairy World has a baby ban in place. Fergus pursues a life of business and money-making, fighting to provide for Sanderson and the rest of his clone offspring (some of whom are predisposed by their genetics to kill him when they come of age, which is fun). Things get even worse when Fairy World and Anti-Fairy World go to war... Being responsible for kids during a time of peace was hard enough, but war? Forget it.

After successfully navigating the chaos of war, Fergus is ready to settle back into a peaceful life, but tumultuous politics keep him on his toes. His best friend - the leader of Anti-Fairy World - gets overthrown by hotshot Anti-Cosmo, and Fergus is forced to re-evaluate his friendships, priorities, political alignments, and personal needs if he wants to maintain political piece between the Pixies and Anti-Fairies.

While raising his pixie clones, Fergus has always kept them at arm's length and called them "interns" or "employees" or even "nephews" to avoid calling them his sons. The older he gets, the less he's able to do the things he liked to do in his younger years - goof off, wrestle, attend parties - and the more he needs to think about putting his pixies first. As death looms nearer and nearer, Fergus grows increasingly desperate to ensure his pixies will still thrive without him... and he'll do anything, regardless of who it hurts or how badly he endangers the magical world, to ensure they do.

-

Frayed Knots - Anti-Cosmo fears being unloved; his father isn't in the picture, his older brother is aloof, and his mother isn't kind to him. He's desperate to not grow old without a soulmate by his side. When he fails to match with a partner during a betrothal ceremony, he lies his way through it and tricks his peers into believing Anti-Saffron is his fated match.

As the centuries pass, it becomes more difficult to maintain the lie and Anti-Cosmo begins questioning whether maintaining his relationship with Anti-Saffron is even worth it. Breaking things off in a society that believes in luck and fate, however, is incredibly risky and could get him labeled as an outcast for the rest of his life.

Anti-Cosmo struggles to balance his dying feelings for Anti-Saffron with his growing feelings for Anti-Wanda, and things get trickier and trickier as his friends realize he's been lying all his life and start pushing him away. Finally, Anti-Cosmo has to choose between his comfy lies and his betrothed or else throw away everything so he can chase after Anti-Wanda... who might abandon him too, just like his friends did, and leave him alone and unloved.

Anti-Cosmo maintains his lies as long as he can, hurting his loved ones in the process, and struggles to pick up the pieces left behind. Even if no one else forgives him, he can't keep living in the past; he has to learn to forgive himself if he hopes to be approachable and trustworthy again. Being an evil villain, though, I guess whether or not he grows as a person is up for some debate...

-

Factor It In (Rex) - Rex values his personal achievements; he finds joy in superhero work and regularly brags about himself, his schooling, and his home planet Hexagon in general (right down to the fact that his planet has "the tastiest raisins in the universe.") Unfortunately, he's stuck in a cycle of giving his all but never feeling satisfied with his achievements because he's "never the best." One of his greatest fears is being confronted with evidence that he really is a burden and a failure, which would absolutely crush his spirit.

Rex doesn't love the way that Becky pushes him around; she's not mean, she just tries to guide him towards foster care even though he doesn't want to go. He doesn't speak up about it because he wants to put his faith in her and believe that he can learn from her and become a better person (since "being a good person" is the one thing he values above personal pride). He still feels inexperienced and overwhelmed in the early chapters, so he's hesitant to speak up and explain why he doesn't like what Becky's doing... up until she starts crossing his boundaries and then he has to draw the line.

Rex's desire for independence leads him to trust very easily. He puts his faith in Victor, Tobey, Chuck, and Granny May, who steer him down a wobbly path of moral grays. Becky keeps pushing him further away, so Rex continues bonding with the villains because he feels safe with them. Obviously this doesn't end well and he has to face the consequences of choosing the villains over his friendship with WordGirl.

In his determination to mend things with WordGirl, Rex accidentally lands both of them in a terrible situation and puts them (and therefore the rest of the city) in danger. In order to fix this, he has to push through his personal pride (Ow), accept his mistake (Double ow), and go against his training (which became useless while Bad Situation is in effect) so he can find a new way to save the day.

-

Factor It In (Becky) - Becky values her identity as a superhero and how much work she puts into protecting the city. She fears that Kid Math will be a worse hero than her (endangering people) but also fears Kid Math will be a better hero than her (blow to her self-confidence).

She can't resolve this problem in Chapter 1 because she's scared of hurting his feelings and would rather try other options to avoid direct confrontation; instead, she deals with her concerns by trying to "fix" Kid Math. She trains him and pushes him towards foster care. As long as she feels like she's helping him, she's assuaging both fears: she's proving she's "better" and she's helping him not be worse. Ergo, she "no longer has a problem."

Becky's already on a path that puts her in conflict with Rex, who desires control over his own life and has to deal with her pushing him around until he can't take it any more. Conflict arises when Becky oversteps boundaries and breaks Rex's trust in her. Things get worse when she makes a mistake that sours the city's attitude towards her. Her worst nightmare is coming true: she's "not as good as Kid Math" and people might get hurt without her.

As things keep getting worse for the city and Rex is struggling, it's obvious that she and Kid Math need to team up again. That means repairing their friendship... which she can only do if she proves that she really does trust Rex to do things by himself. Therein lies the pickle...

---

Anyway, I really rambled on there, but... Point being, a lot of fun stuff goes in my table docs, and this is the type of outlining I like to do for characters and story plots.

I highly recommend having a table of contents doc for long 'fics. You don't need to bog it down with all your worldbuilding notes (Hopefully you have a separate place you can put those, like a Tumblr blog or other docs), but for things that you know you'll definitely need and are worried you might not be able to find again, I highly recommend keeping them in the table doc.

You shouldn't normally be editing your table doc after you've done your outlining, which means you're less likely to accidentally delete important notes (compared to keeping them in a story doc) and you won't bog your story doc down with stuff you need to scroll past.

---

Chapter Docs [1 per chapter]

I have links to all my individual chapter docs (important to me since my chapters are normally 10k+ words... Can't fit everything in one doc or it would be a pain to navigate and take an age to load).

Here are some snippets of my outlines. As you can see, the descriptions I have in my table docs are loose and vague:

This is from Come What May:

Come What May is special because it takes place over just a few days (while my long 'fics span months or even thousands of years). It's based around Kevin's appearances in Fairly OddParents Season 10.

I wanted to share this because even though my notes for "Cold Shadow" are basically nothing, it still gives the info that's actually important for me to know when returning to this project after a hiatus: "Here's exactly what day it is in the timeline. This episodes shows kids turning in a homework assignment on the founding fathers, which means we need to see Kevin doing this homework assignment (or at least acknowledging it) in prior chapters.

Regardless of the weird supernatural stuff Kevin is dealing with in this 'fic, it's still intended to be canon compliant, and I know that's a detail Future Me could easily forget but would want to know. It's like what I said earlier about birthdays and timelines: leave yourself clear notes. You'll never regret having too many notes, especially if you intend to return to a project after a long hiatus.

-

Origin - I unfortunately scrapped my descriptions for all previous chapters of Origin and Knots so forgive the "spoilers," ha ha

Origin was originally drafted in a single document, which I later split into separate chapter docs. That's why I have notes like "Hawkins hand scene." I know exactly what that's referring to and my table of contents doc helps me remember which chapter it got moved to.

-

Knots - I wanted to show these to emphasize how vague some of these are:

Even though they're vague, you can get a good sense of the direction the story is going. Outlining doesn't have to be a painful, in-depth process. You can knock out the basics in a single afternoon if you just sit down and do it.

I picked one chapter and opened it at random ("Fox's Folly") and it has 8k words in its draft right now. "Tipping Scales" has 15k. At the time of making this post, Frayed Knots only has 34 chapters posted in public, so we're at least 1 or 2 years away from getting to this point, yet there's already a lot of draft info I can go back to. I've added a lot of bits and pieces to these chapters over the years and sometimes I just open them when I'm in the mood for reading something fun.

Having the documents already set up in advance brings you one step closer to opening them and throwing stuff in them and I highly recommend that.

-

Factor - These chapter outlines are more detailed (minus the early ones... the first 3 chapters were drafted as 1 chapter originally). If you've actually read Factor thus far, however, you'll notice that the scenes in my outline don't match perfectly with the finally chapters. And that's okay! The outlines are just guidelines and the final chapter can be different:

Lots of screenshots but I feel like my Factor doc is the most authentic look at my outline process (since it's recent while Origin and Knots were outlined like 7 years ago). I use black on my initial draft and red for things I change on a later sweep.

There are little notes to myself and sometimes I switch the order of things around. Also, "Torus" was written from scratch (no outline) since I came up with ideas for it later, and the nice thing is that I felt comfortable doing that without feeling like I'll write myself into a corner or wreck the pacing.

Having a story outline and all these separate docs means I already know where the story is going and I can jump in and write from anywhere in the timeline when the mood strikes. I think having a lot of options on what to write is the best way to fight writer's block, so this system works well for me.

Origin was drafted in 2016 and Knots in 2017. I create new scenes all the time (and scrap others), but a lot of the early story beats are still the same.

That about covers what I do in my outline process :) Thanks for asking and hopefully this was a fun and interesting read!

#Fairly OddParents #FOP #WordGirl #ridspoilers #ridwriting #asks #Anon #Origin of the Pixies #Frayed Knots #Factor It In #Satirical vocab alien child show #FAIRIES! #apparently art #I'm wasp dad trash #writing #The bat with the hat #The toughest tag #WIPs #Cedar toothpick #Sanderson is neat #Long post #Becky Botsford #Nice words

[melodygatesauthor]

Hey Mel I have questions. You seem to know things.

First of all, do you know anyone who like...designs blogs? I want mine to look better but I hate that crap.

Secondly, your new layout and everything looks super rad. I'm not bugging you about it btw, you are a busy creator - I'm just curious if you can pass along info.

Next, what would you say is your favorite way for your readers or ... art viewers to show appreciation? Do you like reblogs most? Reblogs with comments? Or tags? Or mainly replies. Both, all?

I used to be a serial liker way back when (I know, I'm Satan) but once I realized how important rb'ing was (thank you, educational posts), I started doing it all the time, and I try to interact, which has turned out to be lovely and so much more fun! Anyway, what's your fave feedback method?

Omg hi babe!!!!

Thoughts below the cut:

You give me too much credit with "you seem to know things" hahaha. I TRY, but this hellsite is a challenge!

Firstly, thank you SO MUCH for the sweet compliment on my blog. I have gone through MANY different styles and different schemes before landing on this one. For me it was VERY trial and error and I definitely like this one a LOT.

Designing your blog is tough, and despite having my BFA in graphic design, I sucked at it until I started figure out what works best for me, the writer, and for my readers. The thing I discovered that works best for me personally is the simplicity, but I did have it set up much more complex (and I'm in the process of switching my masterlist to the simpler style STILL)

I don't know anyone who designs them, though I wonder if that's something that people would do? Do they charge money for it? If anyone reading this has any thoughts on that, let me know!

A couple of resources I recommend are:

Canva.com (for the actual design)

Colorpalettes.net (for coming up with color schemes you like)

Pinterest (for photos if needed)

For your second point, I'm ALWAYS happy help anyone with anything I can <3

For your next question, I've talked about this previously but I'm always happy to take the mic when someone hands it to me to discuss this further. Reblogs with comments will always be mine, and most, creator's preferred form of support/appreciation.

- Side note: Financial support is technically the best way to show support/appreciation for most artists but I don't ever want to charge money for fanfiction because that opens up a whole can of worms that I don't think most fanfic writers would really want, despite it sounding good in theory. - For example, most fanfic writers are writing out of passion, emotion, and just raw feelings. As soon as you start charging money, it starts being more of an obligation for the writer (less fun). I also like that you don't HAVE to have money to enjoy creative works like fanfiction, you can enjoy it for free. It's a community that thrives off of my providing the stories that my brain enjoys coming up with, to people who enjoy reading them. - Though I will say that if someone sends me a tip or something just to show support that's AMAZING. I just mean, I don't think putting fanfiction behind a paywall is something we want inherently.

That being said, the LEAST anyone can do, is reblog. I also used to be a serial liker, not knowing how important reblogs were. Let me paint the picture and tell a story lol:

Person 1 sees Artist making art and says "I like this." The Artist is happy and says "Thank you that's so sweet of you. I hope others like it too," but before they can even finish their sentence, Person 1 is gone. Person 1 never tells their friends about the amazing art they saw. Person 1 doesn't even tell the artist WHY they liked their work. (And in some cases, Person 1 says "I like this. Hey can you make me an extremely complicated commission for free so I can have it and also not tell my friends about that?") - Person 1 is a "serial liker" and an asshole entitled reader. We hate Person 1, they're an asshole.

Person 2 sees Artist making art and says "I like this." Now, they go to their friends and say, "I saw some art. I liked it," and they don't elaborate. So their friends, might go see it, but Person 2 hasn't really done anything to "sell" your work to their friends. So YES it's SO MUCH better than what Person 1 did, but Person 2 could still be better.

Person 3, our queen, our beloved, sees the Artist making art and says "I like this." Then Person 3 not only tells their friends about how amazing it is, but they also tell the artist why they liked it so much and the things about it that made them happy. Their friends can see how excited Person 3 is about the work, thus inspiring them to check it out and spread it to their friends by reblogging as well.

All of this to say, Person 3 is the ideal reader, they reblog, they engage with you, they're spreading the word, and sometimes that can be the difference between an artist continuing or ending their time on tumblr. I've seen it happen twice, and it's fucking heartbreaking.

Just something to think about for others who don't understand why we push for reblogs so much!

#melody answers #melody gives advice #thank you for coming to my ted talk #writing advice on tumblr

[carlatsukinamistolemyhamsandwich]

Alright last post before I disappear (save for some reblogs that I've scheduled). In case anyone missed the tags in the post I made a while ago, I've stopped writing for DL. Before I did, I had also taken a stab at writing out the Alchemist result for my fantasy AU quiz. Because of who the LI is for that one I got carried away with it and it ended up being a lot longer than it should have been even though I didn't actually finish it. Given that I'm releasing all of my fantasy AU content into the wild, I've decided to paste what I did write below.

Fair warning, the ending is a little abrupt so I've added a little summary I wrote while planning the AU under the drabble (i.e. what the plot would have been had I ever developed this into a proper fic).

"What were you trying to do to me, alchemist?" The man above you hissed, the blade of his dagger pressing into your neck, his knees digging into your hips as he kept you pinned. Even with one eye covered by an eyepatch, his glare was no less fierce for it, his single iris almost glowing gold in the dying daylight.

This, you swore, was the last time you tried to help someone.

"I told you, all I did was give you an antidote!" You strained away from the metal at your throat but the hard earth beneath you offered nowhere to go. Casting your eyes to the side, you could see your spear just out of arm's reach along with a couple of your more potent concoctions, any one of which would have been enough to blow the guy on top of you away. 

In hindsight, it'd been a bit stupid not to keep your weapons next to you when treating some random stranger you'd found passed out next to the road. Admittedly he hadn't seemed like much of a threat at the time, his pretty features covered with a sheen of sweat and his breathing labored as the lord's-bane poison ran its course. There were a dozen or so lacerations over his body, several of which coated in a telltale dark blue sheen. You hadn’t heard of there being any bandits in the area, let alone any with the resources needed to acquire one of the deadliest brews known to man, so you couldn’t imagine how he’d ended up in such a state.

It was an extraordinary stroke of luck that you happened to have the ingredients for an antidote on hand, one which you’d wasted no time cooking up and coaxing down his throat. Of course, had you known he’d pounce on you the second he regained consciousness, you doubted you’d have gone to the trouble.

"Don't bullshit me, you're all just a bunch of lackeys for that no good King Karlheinz, so spill it before I start spilling something else." There was a sting as the dagger cut into the skin of your neck, blood welling up over the blade.

"I swear all I was trying to do was heal you, I'm not even a formally qualified alchemist, I'm just a trainee!" Albeit an overqualified trainee who'd been putting off their exams but you decided whoever this stranger was he didn't need to know that but.

"A trainee?" His eye remained narrowed in suspicion, but you could see him looking over your dark red robes, devoid of the gold embroidery worn by those formally recognised by the King. "Huh."

He made no move to climb off you but you felt the pressure against your throat lessen and nearly sobbed in relief.

"If you're a trainee that means you haven't sworn any binding oaths have you?"

And just like that the relief was gone. Upon gaining formal recognition, all alchemists were required to enter into a pact that forbade them from revealing any alchemical secrets to those outside the royal order. Trainees were a bit of a grey area, usually studying the basics under a master of their choice for a couple of years before joining the order themselvesーthe general consensus was that although more knowledgeable than the common man, they didn't know enough to merit the resources required for the magical pact, and instead would face a severe but mundane punishment if found to step out of line.

It was something you'd always been slightly in fear of, enough so that you'd spent a long time coming up with excuses to avoid the even harsher, magical threat of the pact.

"Well, technically, but一"

"Shut it, that's all I needed to know." The man finally clambered off you, but before you could dart for your weapons, he tossed a heavy tome into your lap. 

"Can you read that? And don't even think about lying to me, because if I decide you're no use to me, there's no reason for me not to stick a blade in a you."

Swallowing nervously, you ran your fingers over the thick leather cover. The royal seal was emblazoned in bright gold over the cover, marking out whatever was in here as property of the King and those in his service. How the stranger had gotten a hold of it, you had no idea, but you were starting to understand how he might have ended up in the state you found him in. 

You looked up, and upon seeing him watching you like a hawk, you carefully opened the book. Instantly you understand why he'd asked you to read it, the whole was written in complex alchemical script that was a struggle even for you. In fact had you not spent far longer as a trainee than most, you doubted you would have been able to read it at all. Bit by bit though, you managed to piece the contents together, and as you did, you felt your blood turn ice cold.

"Well?"

"It'sーIt's about the creation of an artificial disease, I think they named it Endzeit…"

"I know that," he scowled at you. "What does it say about a cure?"

You hurriedly flicked through the pages, scanning the complicated script.

"Um, there's a lot about the creation and testing, how they designed it to target a specific bloodline and… Ah it mentions a cure here, so maybeー" you turned to the next page only to freeze as you took in the torn off paper hanging from the edge of the spine. "The errーthe page is missing."

"What!" The man snatched the tome from before throwing it to the ground with a snarl. "Damnit! Those filthy no good alchemists, I'll gut the lot of them!"

You flinched back. A more sensible individual would have grabbed their things and run the moment he was distracted, but the sight of the book on the ground held you still, curiosity all but devouring your common sense.

"Who are you exactly?"

"Hm?" The man turned towards you, fingers still curled like he longed to wrap them around someone's throat. "The name's Shin Tsukinami. Ring any bells?"

Tsukinami. The fallen empire.

-end of drabble-

Summary of what the story would have been:

In this AU, rather than being demons, the Tsukinamis are human but one of their ancestors was a great demon and their bloodline became famous for having powerful magic users. Shin didn’t inherit much of the magic but Carla did and is a skilled wizard (Cordelia was a sorcerer). 

Karl’s family also mingled with inhuman entities but has sorcerers of the undead bloodline, including Karl himself (or maybe he’s a wizard idk). As per canon Gies was jealous of Karl’s power and declared war but rather than fighting him, Karl tasked his head alchemist (Carnelian Brecht?) with developing a live agent that would target only those with the infernal bloodline (i.e. Endzeit). Endzeit got unleashed and upon hearing that the royals were dropping like flies the people fled and those that didn’t got captured by Karl’s armies. The Tsukinamis were driven to one of their country estates. Giesbach’s died and Carla is now showing symptoms of the disease. 

To try to find a cure, Shin decides to hunt down Carnelian and the alchemists that worked with him (many of whom followed the disease to monitor their work). He manages to find some of them and kills a couple. One of them has some notes on how they made Endziet and partial information on a potential cure but it’s written in alchemical script and one of the alchemists taunts Shin that he’ll never be able to read it and even if he can, no alchemist with royal certification will help him because they know they’ll get banished by Karl.

Shin trudges onwards but realises too late that he was poisoned by one of the alchemists (too soon to be Endzeit) and collapses. Enter Reader.

On Reader's way to visit their family from where they’ve been apprenticing as an alchemist in one of the large cities, they run into Shin near death on the road and help him as they can make an antidote. They heal him up, Shin mistakes them for one of Karl’s alchemists and gets aggressive but they’re able to clear things up before Reader gets their head cut off. They reveal that they can read alchemical script and have been following the progress of artificial diseases because they found the idea interesting but they didn’t realise they’d actually made this much progress.

Shin works out that Reader might be able to make the antidote and thinks that they’ll be weak enough for him to bully into doing it even with the threat of Karl but jokes on him because they disagree with Karl’s way of governing things and am happy to go along with it (in other words Reader gets kidnapped but doesn’t quite realise).

At some point Shin and Reader encounter some sort of monsters. They get separated and Shin deals with his lot and then thinks that he’ll have to save Reader only to find them with a bunch of smouldering monster corpses (and along with that comes the reveal that they're not just a healer). Queue a slow burn romance featuring the Reader, i.e. the oblivious idiot, and Shin, there’s no way I can have feelings for some soft dumb alchemist Tsukinami.

#warning I haven't edited this at all so if there are errors then my bad #this may be the last thing I ever post featuring Shin #which is sad but I definitely picked the right time to move on #right back into the ether I go #take care all!

[orange-orchard-system]

Full disclosure that this post is 100% going to be me rambling, but fucking uhhhhh trying to figure out PD shit is hard

I know something is up with our personality, and it's probably disordered in some way. Problem is that it's really hard to find anything that like. Actually makes sense for us? Like there's a handful of PDs where we've looked at common experiences and diagnostic criteria and we've been like "maybe that's us", but at the same time it's just "maybe that's us", ya feel? (And before anyone says something like "go see a professional", yes yes, we're trying to do that, but we're in the middle of changing both psychiatrists and doctors, so. Kind of in a tight spot for that rn.)

And so much PD stuff, esp on Tumblr, is like. Here's this experience I have because of my PD. Which PD? You'll never know, because I have cross-tagged with every single PD you could think of. Half of the posts in the specific PD tag you're looking in are like this. Maybe if you're lucky you'll find some vague venting.

And even when that's not the case, it's a little hard to figure out just what makes similar experiences unique to each PD (like, when people with PD 1 have similar experiences to people with PD 2, there's not a lot explaining exactly how these experiences compare and contrast). Like, for example, I don't have any clue what all these names for (x) Person mean or if they're different at all so I'm just gonna keep on using the specific name I came up with for "my" Person and hope to hell that I'm not accidentally using a term from a specific PD community and causing confusion.

It's one of those situations where I wish I could just stumble across one specific disorder that would hit all the buttons and I could immediately take to the doctor to get tested for, but even putting aside how unlikely it is for a doctor to just order me those tests off the bat, I know PDs are often a "buy 1, get 2+ free" deal. Which sucks! You're telling me I probably have to figure out multiple of these little fucks??

Anyway if anyone has like. Good tips or resources for figuring this stuff out, that'd be appreciated. Might delete this post later if I get self-conscious about my late-night ramble.

#front soup.txt

[chaotic-archaeologist]

I posted 2,004 times in 2022

1,024 posts created (51%)

980 posts reblogged (49%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@chaotic-archaeologist

@archaeologistproblems

@micewithknives

@saintartemis

@invisible-goats

I tagged 1,758 of my posts in 2022

Only 12% of my posts had no tags

#he speaks - 938 posts

#he answers - 622 posts

#archaeology - 265 posts

#archaeology humor - 145 posts

#20 questions - 103 posts

#academic advice - 91 posts

#academic humor - 76 posts

#life advice - 62 posts

#he learns - 57 posts

#history humor - 54 posts

Longest Tag: 104 characters

#i have several asks in my inbox right now that are a barrage of questions and it feels very overwhelming

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Can you be kinda chubby and be an archaeologist? I’m working on my health and fitness, but I’m still kinda chubby and not really cut out for field school yet. I read this article saying fat people can’t be archeologist and it kinda crushed my dreams. Because I know it will take a bit to get rid of the weight, but I feel so out of place after reading that..

Hi there, dirtling, this makes me so insanely angry. I am incandescent with rage. I would like to find the author of that article and rip them from limb to limb.

You can absolutely be fat and be an archaeologist.

I am so sorry that I have to be the one to tell you this. I am sorry that you have not received support from other members of my community. I am sorry that someone's ignorant fatphobia has crushed your dreams. Please let me try to convince you otherwise.

I have had the privilege to dig with dig with several fat people, and in each case they were an asset to our team. They were just as capable of excavating as those of us who were carrying less weight, and each of them brought special skill sets and unique capabilities to the table that we would have been worse off without had they not been working with us.

You do not have to lose weight before going on a field school. You know your body better than the writer of that article ever can. If you feel like you are capable of performing the manual labor required during an excavation, then I believe your self assessment. There is no maximum weight limit for participating in an archaeological dig.

Even if you don't feel like you're physically able to go on a dig, there are other archaeological opportunities for you! As someone with a disability who can't do a ton of manual labor, I do a lot of lab work because it allows me to be sitting down. There is so much more to archaeology than just digging stuff out of the ground, and there is absolutely room for you in this field of study.

Here are some resources that I was able to find about obesity and archaeology.

The Fat Archaeologist

Who decided it was bad to be fat— Sapiens

The Archaeology of Obesity: Discourse Analysis and Implications for North American Obesity Research

I did actually try to find the article that you mentioned so that I could take apart its argument piece by piece, but I wasn't able to locate it easily. If someone could direct me to it, I would be more than happy to rip it to shreds because it is categorically false and actively harmful. In my personal opinion, that author can suck it. Sorry, not sorry. I'm mad.

-Reid

1,007 notes - Posted June 12, 2022

#4

How to write a diary for future historians

I began keeping a diary at the beginning of the pandemic to document what was going on and how I felt about it in case someone from the future ever reads it. For anyone looking to get started, here's the "diary recipe" I use.

You will need:

Pen with black or blue ink. Ink stains the paper whereas pencil just puts pigment on top of the paper. This means that most of the lead can be brushed off or fall off over time. Black and blue ink are important because they're the most stable over time. Other ink colors might fade or otherwise degrade over time.

Acid free notebook. This is once again a conservation thing. Acid free paper is exactly what it sounds like, and is thus less likely to chemically degrade/disintegrate over time. I personally use a moleskine notebook, but any other acid free paper will do just fine.

Why should I write? Because your perspective matters. You don't have to be famous or important to deserve to have your voice recorded. The fact that you are alive right now and experiencing events as they happen is enough. Your thoughts and feelings and the details of your daily life will be of great interest to future historians.

Isn't it sort of late to start? Absolutely not! The best time to start journaling is always now. Don't worry about having missed anything important. Whatever happens next is going to be important too, and having your unique perspective is vital.

What do I write about? Whatever you want! It can be world events or what's happening in your life or anything else that's on your mind. There is no one right way to keep a diary, and whatever you choose will be an important addition to the historical record.

How do I write? The great news is that there's no rules for this either! You don't have to write long entries if you don't have the time, energy, and interest for that. You can do a couple of short sentences. You can do bullet points. You can copy down headlines that you feel are notable.

How often do I have to write? It's totally fine if you don't write an entry every day. Write whenever you have the inclination to, even if it's only every couple of weeks or months. Don't feel bad about the frequency of your updates— sporadic entries are still better than no entries at all!

History doesn't just have to be written by the victors, it can be written by all of us. Add your voice to the record to make sure that it includes the things you think are important. Your perspective matters.

1,634 notes - Posted April 12, 2022

#3

If i found a ancient coin hoard buried in my backyard could i keep a coin or two when i donate it to a museum?

Absolutely not. I think that this is probably a joke, but depending on where you are, it's also illegal.

I am against private collections and the desire to own the material past. Keeping any item from a discovery is incredibly unethical and would earn you the permanent animosity from archaeologists, museum workers, archivists, curators, restoration specialists, and pretty much anyone else who belongs to a scientific study of the past.

I know that you probably meant this as a joke, and that this was not the answer you were expecting. My firmness is not in any way personal. I cannot stand for the humor about topics that are essentially looting, because humor serves to legitimize the act.

-Reid

3,114 notes - Posted January 17, 2022

#2

This is why fieldwork safety is of utmost importance. I've been in situations where it felt like my safety was not the primary concern, and I constantly worried about things like this happening.

OSHA guidelines are written in blood. They're there for a reason. Don't ever let someone convince you to compromise on your safety. (link to tweet) (link to news coverage)

3,129 notes - Posted July 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

BOOK OF KELLS BOOK OF KELLS BOOK OF KELLS BOOK OF KELLS

49,776 notes - Posted April 12, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[kikun]

tagged by: @caduceuss (hiss hiss fall in love) tagging: @wendeiwisp, @fatuispolaris, @scarleiji, @dottoray, @mmriesoftvat, @voyage-inferno, @erabundus, @momijiba, @bitbrumal and anyone else who wants to do this ! (sorry if you've been tagged already,, )

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬.

name.      akihiko. age.       older than your mom. birthdate.       jan 3rd. species.       n/a. gender.       he/him  (previously they/them). orientation.       speculated bisexual leaning male (placeholder tbh). profession.       wanderer.

𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬.

hair.     short-length, straight, indigo locks with light streaks that cover his ears. eyes.     indigo accentuated with red eyeliner. skin.     pale that borders being ethereal. height.     5’5 in the morning; 5’4 at night (beating the short allegations). weight.    by some divine intervention he can be as heavy as a tonne or as light as a feather.

𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲.

siblings.    arguably raiden. parents.   you know who. grandparents.   yae (old foxy mama). other relatives.   n/a. pets.   this bird keeps following him. partners.    [redacted].

𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬.

resourceful. akihiko knows where items are in his days of wandering. he knows how to obtain them and how to make use of them. survival is certain by his side. most perishables are not required by akihiko either, in this case locating these items ensures they are passed to his travelling partner at the time.

knowledgeable. in his centuries of travel, the puppet has collated numerous stories and teachings. he possesses a vast encyclopaedic mind regarding many nations, cultures, and people alike. including teyvat’s yet to be uncovered mysteries and the ancient civilisation that is barely whispered in society these days. the divine is also a territory the former harbinger is well-acquainted with. he also carries intel from numerous organisations that would put a bounty above his head, much too large to comprehend.

he is a fighter. not just an amateur or well-trained one, but a truly horrific and worthy adversary. though his technique stems greatly from inazuma, there are little modifications that indicate movements akihiko has picked up on from his experiences in teyvat’s nations. even from the occasional individual he simply comes across by chance or by fate.

he is essentially artificial intelligence and have you seen the havoc they can cause. exactly.

𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬.

colors.   red. smells.   the aroma of tea; the bitterness still finds its way to his palette which pleases his senses. textures.  aside from the warmth of skin canvasing the beat of a heart, he is not particularly fond of a specific texture. he has a tendency to flex his fingers and run them across items he is curious about their tactile feel. despite whether it is artificial or alive. drinks.   as it is not a necessity, there are no selected beverages that come to mind. someone should take him drinking.

𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬.

smokes.   he owns a kiseru but it is rare to see him with it. typically, teyvat is asleep when he does. drugs.   enhancers in the past for undisclosed purposes. see: the fatui. driver license.   who needs to drive when you can fly. ever been arrested.   on a technicality; numerous times but he has evaded capture each time.

#( since these diversions are so fun ... i think i'll join in ;; dash games ) #( neither mortal nor god nor fate itself is qualified to be my judge ;; headcanons ) #this was so fun ngl #i will probably expand on it later #starting my return the right way with a fat analysis of wanderer the skrunkly