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shesey · 1 year

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Excerpts from Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race

I can no longer engage with the gulf of an emotional disconnect that white people display when a person of colour articulates their experience. I just can’t engage with the bewilderment and the defensiveness as they try to grapple with the fact that not everyone experience the world in the way that they do. The words hit a barrier of denial and they don’t get any further. Watching the Color of Fear by Lee Mun Wah, I saw people of color break down in tears as they struggled to convince a defiant white man that his words were enforcing and perpetuating a white racist standard on them. All the while he stared obliviously, completely confused by this pain, at best trivializing it, at worst ridiculing it. So I can’t talk to white people about race any more because of the consequent denials, awkward cartwheels and mental acrobatics that they display when this is brought to their attention. Who really wants to be alerted to a structural system that benefits them at the expense of others? Trying to engage with them and navigate their racism is not worth that. I cannot continue to emotionally exhaust myself trying to get this message across. I don’t have a huge amount of power to change the way the world works, but I can set boundaries. I can halt the entitlement they feel towards me and I’l start that by stopping the conversation. Thinking about power made me realize that racism was about so much more than personal prejudice. It was about being in the position to negatively affect other people’s life chances. Entire lives sustaining constant brutality and violence, living in never-ending fear. I wondered how often history would have to repeat itself before we choose to tackle the underlying problems. If all racism was as easy to spot, grasp, and denounce as white extremism is, the task of the anti-racist would be simple. He might look at the white kids he went to university with and watch them effortlessly transition from student booze-culture-loving lager louts to slick-young-professional status. We don’t live in a meritocracy, and to pretend that simple hard work will elevate all to success is an exercise in wilful ignorance. How can I define white privilege? It’s so difficult to describe an absence. And white privilege is an absence of the negative consequence of racism... It is an absence of funny looks directed at you because you’re believed to be in the wrong place... Trying to convince stony faces of disbelief has never appealed to me. The idea of white privilege forces white people who aren’t actively racist to confront their own complicity in its continuing existence. White privilege is dull, grinding complacency. It is par for the course in a world in which drastic race inequality is responded to with a shoulder shrug, considered just the norm. But there simply aren’t enough black people in positions of power to enact racism against white people on a the kind of grand scale it currently operates at against black people. Are black people over-represented in the places and spaces where prejudice could really take effect? The answer is almost always no. I tried to encourage her to consider the suspicion and anger of a person who has suffered racism their entire lives. Everyone is complicit, but no one wants to take on responsibility. You learn to be careful about your battles, because otherwise people would consider you to be angry for no reason at all. I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate... the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of a tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action,”... shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. He is the kind of white person who will do that unlearning and unpicking. I only have a few white people in my life like that, and I couldn’t be in a relationship with a white person who wasn’t. I think what made me feel defensive is that I was embarrassed that there was a chance that someone knew something that I didn’t. On some level, maybe I could sense that accepting whatever that person was saying would open a can of worms. It was a combination of embarrassment and panic. I can’t put my finger on exactly what I was trying to protect or defend. I think it was an indignation. I’m trying to do more things in my ordinary day-to-day life that aren’t in activist spaces, to bring issues up when they’re relevant at that time. Because I don’t know what the other people in the room are thinking, but if I’m thinking about that and no one else is saying it, then it’s on me to say something. Being accountable for that, really only to myself. Doing things when there’s nobody there to see it, because it’s not really about somebody witnessing it or patting me on the back for it. Racism bolsters white people’s life chances. It affords an unearned power; it is designed to maintain a quiet dominance. It looked like he just wanted silence, the kind of strained peace that simmers with resentment, the kind that requires some to suffer so that others are comfortable. When they make it about offence rather than their own complicity in a drastically unjust system, they successfully transfer the responsibility of fixing the system from the benefactors of it to those who are likely to lose out because of it. Tackling racism moves from conversations about justice to conversations about sensitivity. The imaginations of black Hermione’s detractors can stretch to the possibility of a secret platform at King’s Cross station that can only be accessed by running through a brick wall, but they can’t stretch to a black central character. There is an old saying about the straight man’s homophobia being rooted in a fear that gay men will treat him as he treats women. This is no difference.

Even though I wrote about my experiences with so much contempt, feminism was my first love. It was what gave me a framework to begin understanding the world. Being at feminist events was a relief; to be in a space where people just got it - the shared anger, frustration, the burning will to do something, anything, to change the messed-up world we live in. People’s knowledge was very varied. But we were all kind of describing the same hurts, the same frustrations, and the same anger-inducing moments. That, to me, was just absolutely powerful. Women of today are still being called upon to stretch across the gap of male ignorance and to educate men as to our existence and our needs. This is an old and primary tool of all oppressors to keep the oppressed occupied with the master’s concerns. Now we hear that it is the task of women of colour to educate white women - in the face of tremendous resistance - as to our existence, our differences, our relative roles in our joint survival. This is a diversion of energies and a tragic repetition of racist patriarchal thought. I choose to reappropriate the term “feminism,” to focus on the fact that to be “feminist” in any authentic sense of the term is to want for all people, female and male, liberation from sexist role patterns, domination, and oppression. The modesty expectation is just as limiting and judgemental as the compulsory bikini-body one. Both obsessively focus on a woman’s looks and how covered or uncovered her body is in determining her value, as though her body belongs to a male gaze before it belongs to her. There are always external factors influencing the way a woman dresses, but the ultimate decision should be her own. This isn’t about good men or bad men - binary notions that we feel comfortable enough with to slot into neat boxes - but about rape culture. We should be asking why, when children and women speak up about being raped or sexually assaulted, there are always people around them who bend over backwards to try and find the ways to suggest that she incited or invited it. The taboo in discussing these crimes isn’t about race, it is about men. Predatory men. Every woman who has ever been a teenage girl could tell you a tale about an encounter with a predatory man, men who smell youth and vulnerability, and seek only to dominate. [Feminism] will have won when women are no longer expected to work two jobs (the care and emotional labour for their families as well as their day jobs) by default. The mess we are living is a deliberate one. If it was created by the people, it can be dismantled by the people, and it can be rebuilt in a way that serves all, rather than a selfish, hoarding few. Above everything, feminism is a constant work in progress. We are all still learning. I have always loved feminism’s readiness to viciously rip into the flesh of misogyny, to stick its chin out defiantly and scare the living daylights out of mediocre men. Demands for equality need to be as complicated as the inequalities they attempt to address. Men inhabit different spaces. Some face racism. Some face homophobia. Even if we as feminists decide to put the differences between men aside, does equality demand parity with people who have always had a disproportionately large share of resources. I don’t want to be included. Instead, I want to question who created the standard in the first place. Women in general aren’t supposed to be angry. Women are expected to smile, swallow our feelings and be self-sacrificial. The ‘angry black woman’ phrase says more about maleness and whiteness than it does about black women. Often, there will be no one fighting your corner but yourself. It was black feminist Audre Lorde who said: your silence will not protect you. Who wins when we don’t speak? Not us. We need to see how it seeps, like a noxious gas, into everything. Structures, she said, are made out of people. You don’t have to be the leader of a global movement or a household name. It can be as small scale as chipping away at the warped power relations in your workplace. It can be passing on knowledge and skills to those who wouldn’t access them otherwise. It can be creative. It can be informal. It can be your job. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you’re doing something.

#racism #feminism #reni eddo-lodge #why i'm not longer talking to white people about race #feminist book #black feminism #inclusive feminism

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uglyducklingofthe2000s · 6 months

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Passion Hurts Pt 1 - LN

Summary: Y/n Vettel has made it to F3, pressure is there being one of the only girls and the younger sister of a legend leaves her feeling pressure she hoped to avoid. Dating an F1 driver doesn't help with the scrutiny. However, reality likes to slap people in the face even when it's the last thing they need.

Lando Norris x little sister Vettel!Reader

Part 2 is up!

Warnings: Crash, career altering event, Lando in complete meltdown mode

(I know this gif is Stroll at Monza, but it's a similar crash to what the crash in the story is going to be)

"This is the first time you're going to be openly out and support y/n, are you excited to be watching her race?" Sky sports asks as Lando sits in the F1 press conference.

"Yeah, I can't wait. I think Spa is always an interesting race. She's been here before, although it was in a much slower race."

"And how is she feeling?"

"I mean you should really be asking her." Lando laughs then shrugging. "She's excited. Really excited. I'm mean she's sitting second in the F3 championship and there's only two races left for them including Spa. I think it's certainly looking promising. I'm proud of her regardless and I know her family is too."

Lando made sure to go down to y/n in the pit lane. It's still a while till she needs to be in the car and y/n is talking to her engineer ahead of the race.

Her body adorned in the white fireproofs on her upper half and the Prema red racing suit. Which he just loves seeing her in, mainly because all he can think about is race celebrations which consist of getting her out of that suit. Although he has voiced several times that he strongly believes that she'd suit papaya much better.

"Hello, baby." Lando greets making her turn looking at him with a bright smile.

"Hi." Y/n smiles but when it doesn't reach her eyes, Lando frowns at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I just...feeling a bit of the nerves." Y/n smiles nervously before none other than her older brother appears.

"You have nothing to worry about, these cars are much safer than when I drove them." Seb smiles while inspecting the car as Lando hugs the 20 year old tightly. She's on the older end of the spectrum of the F3 drivers, but it's no surprise with her being a woman that she had to wait longer to make such an achievement.

"Easy for a world championship to say." Y/n murmurs making Seb look at his significantly younger sister. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"You are going to be great, you could easily be a champion of F3 and then of F2 and be the first woman in modern F1." Seb states earning a look of little faith but they all know if it wasn't pre-race nerves kicking in, she'd agree with him. "I will leave you with Lando, hopefully he can talk some sense into you. I need to go make sure I have the best seat to watch from."

Lando waits for Seb to leave, knowing that Seb prefers to dodge seeing Lando kiss her because it triggers his older brother complex.

"What's wrong baby? Why are you so nervous?" Lando asks softly making her sigh and look up at him swallowing thickly. "What is it?"

"I'm just feeling some pressure after that stupid headline from Sky about me being in the top two." Y/n admits slumping a little.

Sky had been giving headlines to grab attention and "Vettel's little sister to attempt outliving his shadow, will she succeed?" was one that got a lot of attention and has meant during her time here at Spa there's been a lot more fussing over her than previous races.

"Hey, don't worry about the media. They'll write whatever they want and thing that they're doing the best thing with their time. But they're not."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I'll be fine. Now you need to go so I can get into race mindset with no distractions."

"I'm a distraction?" Lando fake gushes as she laughs and rolls her eyes at him. "Alright, love you. Good luck. I'll be there to congratulate your P1 at the finish line."

"Don't get cocky, I'll see you later. Love you too." Y/n smiles kissing him quickly before she moves away from him back to her very patient engineer.

Lando sitting next to Sebastian Vettel while they both watch y/n was never a situation Lando imagined himself in. But here he is and he couldn't be happier.

"I think she'll win, you know? I saw her practicing Spa on the simulator and she was getting times that you'd never expect from an F3 car."

"She doesn't realise it, but she is better than I was at her age." Seb admits despite knowing he had his seat in Torro Rosso when he was 20.

It's the sprint race and qualifying went pretty well. She's done enough to get P3 for a start. Across 12 laps, she could easily get herself into P1. So long as her nerves don't get the better of her.

After the formation lap, Lando sort of holds his breath for lights out and when the race starts. He feels his body buzz as she immediately manages to get into P2 by turn 1.

"Come on, baby." Lando murmur to himself when she peaks around too look for the opportunity to over take. She's got the drive and skill.

"She'll get it. It's not the last lap don't worry." Seb states from beside the younger man who smiles since he knows Seb isn't wrong.

It's the 10th lap when y/n finally goes for the overtake and it couldn't have a worse outcome if they had wished for it. Her car ends up airborne when the other driver makes a last second manoeuvre catching her tyre. The front wing digs into the ground suddenly and she is flipping around still in the air as she hits the barrier.

It feels like it happens in slow motion but no one can react fast enough. No gasp of horror comes out fast enough. No standing up as if it will let them see better.

The hushed whispers around the paddock, scared to voice what they're all thinking. Y/n just died doing what she loved. But she died too young. She died with too little experience and not enough time to prove herself. She died and didn't even get to see the end of the race.

"Red flag. Red Flag." The engineers to those who are still in the race are the main voices heard. "Respect the delta...It's y/n."

Lando and Seb are both at the pit wall demanding to know what's going on, though Lando is significantly more aggressive than Seb.

"We're not getting a response on the radio." The engineer states to the team principle.

"You-You're not getting a response at all? Keep trying!" Lando exclaims before feeling Seb's hand on his shoulder to try and calm him but it does nothing to distinguish his outrage.

"Lando, the medics are on their way. The marshals are trying to help." Lando is reassured. "She'll be going to the hospital straight from here."

Lando and Seb follow the ambulance but even waiting for any news is like trying to get water from a stone. No one is telling them anything. Though Lando isn't even considered next of kin meaning that the nurses won't directly tell him anything, instead they tell Seb who passes it onto Lando.

"Mr Vettel?" A doctor questions finally appearing making Seb stand but when Lando stands with him Seb finally decides he doesn't want to be the one who passes on information.

"He should be hearing all of this too." Seb states sternly earning a slightly uneasy expression but she nods.

"Y/n has some serious injuries that...she'll take a while to recover from. Her ribs did break and she punctured a lung which required emergency surgery and the other is showing signs of severe damage. There's hairline fractures in her spine from several shunts of impact. She's still unconscious but her CT scan showed that she certainly has signs of a very severe concussion. Though we won't know the extent of it all until she's awake."

"That's a lot. that's a hell of a lot. Why are you talking like these are minor things not to worry about? This could change her life forever." Lando states getting louder and louder before he storms away not able to contain his emotion any longer and needing air.

Seb gives him a couple minutes to cool off before going out.

"Lando, you have to get back to the paddock for your own part of the weekend. I will make sure you are the first to know, but you know she wouldn't forgive you for missing anything." Seb assures him while reminding him that y/n not only wants Lando to put F1 first but expects no less from him.

"I don't care if it's mid-sprint shootout or mid-sprint race. I want an update sent to me and I'll be back here as soon as it's all done." Lando states earning a small nod and smile from the older man. Though Seb can't entirely hide his fear and concern for his little sister.

Seb has had his crashes and race incidents, but nothing like this. Nothing that has landed him with such injuries, in fact he's hardly even required the medics attention.

Lando's return to the hospital consists of him not uttering a word after getting out his car. He finished 5th in the sprint and took part in the debrief via phone on the way to the hospital.

His team understand the seriousness of why he's not following the usual routine.

Seb is talking to a groggy looking y/n when Lando walks in and feels an overwhelming slap of emotion at the sight of knowing she's ok. A little bruised and maybe more exposed thanks to the tubes and wires laid around her.

"Oh shift handover." Y/n jokes with her voice nearly unrecognisable with exhaustion and a croakiness that almost lowers her voice. "I'm ok."

"She is not. She is lying for your benefit but I will tell your the truth. She is in a lot of pain and they can make her comfortable but it would probably knock her out and she wanted to see you. So she said she'd deal with it." Seb states while pulling on his jacket then turning to y/n and sighing as he leans down to kiss either of her cheeks. "If it gets too painful, please get a nurse or doctor."

"I will. I promise." Y/n smiles before she is left with Lando who is still verging on tears. "Maybe I'm not ok, but I'm alive."

"You are. You are alive. I'm so so so fucking happy that you're ok." Lando states breathlessly as he sits down taking her hand carefully since there is an IV in the back of her hand. "I think everyone thought we'd lost you."

"I remember it...I tried to reply on the radio but it hurt to breathe. Then I guess I passed out from the pain." Y/n murmurs, then leaning back and shifting as she seems to feel a new wave of pain. "It's a couple months of recovery...guess I've lost the championship."

"How's your back?" Lando asks making her sigh.

"It hurts. They said it's essentially a lot of little cracks in most parts of my spine. I don't know exactly what I wasn't really listening." Y/n states while Lando nods. "How did the sprint go?"

"I got P5."

"That's not too bad...given I know you would've been ready to drop the whole race entirely for me. I'm glad you didn't." Y/n smiles but a sudden twinge of pain strikes making Lando decide while he wants to speak to her for hours to settle the feeling of momentary grief that he felt when she crashed.

"I'm getting a nurse to get you something for the pain. You need to rest anyway." Lando declares while she sighs softly to herself.

"I'll be at the race to watch you tomorrow."

"No, baby. You need to stay here." Lando states earning a frown but he just kisses her softly to keep her quiet. "I won't be long."

Y/n shoots him a smile before he leaves and she lies back closing her eyes to try and relax her body from the pain that is making her bones scream at every movement.

"Hi, sweetie. I hear you're finally going to give your body a break? She was determined to wait it out for you." The nurse states turning to Lando as she speaks. "I'm glad you're in a better mood."

Y/n frowns at Lando who just smiles awkwardly clears while she looks at him in some disapproval.

Once y/n has been relieved of her pain, the exhaustion really did kick in and she is completely exhausted. Lando sighs seeing her completely pass out.

"She will be ok."

"I know, she's the strongest woman I've ever met." Lando admits softly earning a smile and a pat on the shoulder. "Is there any point I have to leave?"

"No. You can stay as long as you need. Although I was told by Mr Vettel that you do have an important event tomorrow and you need to be well rested."

"I'll make sure I get some sleep."

"I'll set up the sofa bed for you, lovely. I'd say you could lie with her but with her injuries, it's just for the best that she lie on her own till she's better recovered." The nurse states earning a nod.

As accurately predicted, y/n couldn't get out of hospital short of another lung collapse. Though she promised she'd be watching the race from her hospital bed with Seb there to accompany her.

"So P7 after an understandably hard weekend. I spoke to Seb earlier after he was apparently given the ok from y/n to make a statement to the public. Those are some nasty injuries." The Sky reporter states as Lando does his post race interviews. "It is the summer break after this, will you just be spending time with y/n and helping during her recovery?"

"I'll definitely be trying." Lando states while frowning since he hates talking about her crash already.

"We saw you were watching with Sebastian and we saw you at the pit wall looking very angry. What was happening that had you so upset?"

"They were just saying she wasn't responding and I guess I wasn't accepting that. I didn't want to think that the worst possible outcome was what happened." Lando explains before shifting. "She's really not well right now and it's definitely going to be a hard recovery, but she's alive and that's what matters for me. I definitely needed her to be able to see and speak to her again."

They ask a few questions about his race before he heads off or the debrief where the whole team can tell he's struggling to focus, texting Seb and y/n about plans for when she can discharge. She'll be there for at least another week before she can at least leave the hospital. Nevermind consider the matter of how she'd get back to Monaco.

"Lando, you get going for the day." Andrea instructs making Lando look up in confusion. "Go on, y/n needs you more than you need to be here right now."

"Thanks. Thanks boys for everything today. I'll see you soon. Enjoy the break." Lando smiles standing up and heading out.

He probably gets to the hospital with some speed limits ignored, but there's some things that are just more important.

Seb does send a message to Lando requesting him to stop by any store or to-go food places to grab some stuff that he thinks y/n would really like. Which does make his journey only ever so slightly longer.

"Hey, beautiful." Lando greets when he walks in for meal time and the expression on y/n's face is easily some cause for concern.

"Oh thank god, another shift swap. She will not eat." Seb exclaims clearly frustrated with his younger sister who looks at him with a frown.

"It hurts to eat." Y/n argues sounding only slightly better than the other day. It's then that it dawns on Lando that she sounded so different yesterday because of the pain she was in.

"They have said she needs to eat if her body is going to work to heal." Seb sighs while Lando nods and sighs mumbling that he'll try and that Seb can get his hotel.

"You know why you won't eat this stuff?" Lando sighs while placing the bag down by the side of the bed while she swallows thickly thinking she's about to be lectured. "It's because hospital food always sucks. Lucky for you, your brother knows this and made sure I picked up some food that you will actually like before you

"You are the best...and I'll thank Seb later." Y/n smiles brightly while Lando carefully begins to unload the bag of food.

"No problem." Lando nods while she smiles brightly at him.

Lando was sleeping in the hospital despite still having his hotel room. After 10 days y/n finally got discharged, flying back to Monaco to stay with Lando since Lando didn't give her much other options to go anywhere else.

There's already a doctor due to be waiting for them when they land just as a precaution for her. Something that Lando is really trying to dodge.

"Are you sure you're comfortable?" Lando asks as she sits down.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She nods then smiling at him just to give him some well needed reassurance.

Belgium to Monaco isn't the longest flight in the world but he's fussing and wants to make sure she's completely alright.

"Can I cuddle you yet?" Lando asks softly after a while of being in the air which makes y/n chest thump in guilt. She hasn't rejected him but knowing he's been holding himself back from really touching her in fear of causing her pain.

"Of course you can. The doctor said I should be fine so long as I'm not overexerting myself. I don't think a cuddle with my boyfriend counts."

"Well so long as it's not leading to anything else." Lando smirks while she looks at him deadpanned and rolls her eyes. "It's not. I promise, even if I know you can't resist me."

"Idiot." Y/n laughs before smiling when he moves to hug her, being careful of the position and how tightly he's holding her. Really he wants to smother her with love. But that's just going to make matters worse, so it's not on the cards.

"Are you comfortable? Not in pain?"

"No. I'm alright." Y/n smiles kissing his head which does make an ache shoot down her back but she hides any sign of the pain.

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cheriladycl01 · 1 month

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Baby It's Cold Outside - Carlos Sainz x BulgarianOlympicSkiing! Reader

Plot: You take your new husband skiing with your friends Alexandra and Charles.

Credit to bjeanesthings for the GIF

"How do you do this as normal training baby! I can barley do it two winter breaks in a row!" Carlos shivers looking around as you strap your gloves on.

"Come on! I want to get to the big slopes early so I can practice! Then we can have fun with Charles and Alex!" you smile at your husband as you pull your snow boots on that were at the edge of the cabin.

"But Alex and Charles get a lay-in why don't i?" he complains pouting at you and giving you the puppy eyes.

"Because you decided to marry me, and that doesn't lead to lay-in's on a Ski holiday!" you giggle.

"Okay, but over the summer you are coming with me to Mallorca and we are having lots of cuddles and lay-in's and walks along the beach and lots of morning sex!" he grins cheekily making you slap his chest.

"Okay, well lets go Skapi!" you smile taking his hand.

You guys headed first to the large slopes where you could go down and practice for the Olympics that were to be held in Milan in 2026. You practiced for around an hour, going at high speed and cleaning up your turns and corners.

Then Carlos decided it was time to head back to the log cabin you guys were sharing with Alex and Charles and ask them if they wanted to join you for lunch. You took a leisurely ski through the wooded ski area that was just a general skiing area rather than the specific slopes used.

He reached out for you, holding your hand as you both used one pole to change your directions as needed.

"It's a really nice day today!" you say after pulling down the bandana you had wrapped around your mouth currently. Usually you'd wear a full balaclava but where you were skiing with friends you wanted to be able to talk to them without shouting.

"Yes, the sun is bright!" he says looking around the white snow that if you both took the skii masks off you'd for sure be blinded by the dazzling white expanse.

"Mmm, so how do you feel about the rest of the year?" you carefully ask your husband. You had tiptoed around the subject of him having to leave Ferrari. He understood why they'd jump at the opportunity to take on a 7x World Championship when this year they had a car that was consistent and contending with the Red Bull, that didn't mean it didn't hurt though. You'd only found out a few days ago from Charles himself.

He'd found a true friendship in Charles and Alex, just like he had done with Lando. It didn't mean he would no longer see Charles but they were arguably one of the best pairing on the grid when it came to team-work and wins.

"Well, Audi have said they'd like to take me on in 2026, but that would mean a year out. Red Bull have also spoke to me about removing Checo, but I want a championship and with Max as Red Bull golden boy I don't think it would be feasible. Then obviously there's Mercedes but their car was so bad this year, so it really depends!"

"Well, whatever happens you know you'll have me right?" you say, slowly coming to a halt and pull him into a hug.

"I don't know what the best decision is, but I'm just going to try perform my best this season with Ferrari!" he offers and you nod, pulling him in.

"If you do go with Audi and have an off season in 2025 that means we'll have the whole year together!" he smiles at what you just said.

"Mmmm maybe we can travel without the stress of me racing each time!" he grins pulling you in and kissing you, your masks clashing together making you both laugh.

You walk back in to the cabin to find Alex and Charles cuddles up on the sofa under a fluffy blanket.

"Hey guys, want to go get some lunch?" you ask looking around.

"How on earth do you survive with it this cold!" Alex shivers looking at the snow that falls off yours and Carlos' boots as you slip them off.

"You are all from warmer regions. Mediterranean people" you sigh with a small laugh.

"Sorry we aren't Slavic or Balkan like you and can hold up in your insanely cold winters, I'm guessing that's how you got into skiing?" Charles chuckles.

"Yeah, my dad would take me up the mountains each winter and go skiing! It's how I got into it competitively!" you smile, remembering all the memories from when you were younger.

"It's amazing what you've achieved not only for yourself but your country!" Alex smiles.

"Thank you guys! Going for Gold in 2026 though! You guys will come support me right?" you ask, already planning to give them VIP seats where they could watch from.

"Of course!" they all reply while Carlos comes behind you and picks you up throwing you over his shoulder and launching you onto the part of the sofa next to Charles.

"Carlos be careful" you laugh at him, holding one hand on your chest and another around his neck.

"Just an hour of chilling? Then we'll do lunch and more skiing?" he asks using those big brown eyes off his.

"Alright fine" you smile, pulling him in for a hug as you tune into the show Alex and Charles had on.

You could 100% get used to this life.

y/user

Like by carlossainz55, charles_leclerc and alexandrasaintmleux

y/user: Holiday with Ferrari Family! Forza Ferrari <3 also Charles stole my phone :<

Tagged 3 People

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scuderiaferrari: We love our Core 4! Happy Holidays!

carlossainz55: mi amor you showed us all up, don't recommend a Ski Holiday with a Silver Medalists!

-> fan1: I was at the slopes and saw her helping Alexandra, was the cutest

-> fan2: not mans complaining about his literal wife's achievements!

formulasantander: Alex and Y/N repping the red! We love to see it!

charles_leclerc: I look good no?

-> y/user: no lol, jk don't cancel me

alexandrasaintmleux: love you my best friend! <3 thank you for the ski lessons.

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lokativa · 9 months

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People calling Hobie×Miles (punkflower) shippers proshippers as if we didn't ship them for longer than the movie even came out will always be crazy to me.

I've seen lots of people sending threats, or reporting people because they made punkflower, goldenflower (pavxhobie), ghostbyte (gwenxmargo), flowerbyte (margoxmiles), etc, arts or videos. Going to assume that it isn't because most of these ships are POCs ships, there's just literally no point to do that.

First of all, there's no confirmation of hobie's age. If ur basing urself of that one interview, then it was of the CONCEPT of hobie, and even so remember it was only one person who said it. Its heavily implied thats he's a teenager throughout the movie. (Also in the art book, its said that he's slightly older than Miles).

For the thing about him going to the pub and all, minors can and will go in pubs, (not saying that its always legal) are yall living under a rock or just dense on purpose? Teenagers do wtv the fuck they want, even when theyre not allowed to. Youre all going to tell me teenagers respect the rules of not drinking and go to clubs becuz theyre underage? Come off it. Also hobie literally merked his president and u think he'd draw the line at drinking alcohol as a minor? HA.

Aside from that, to be fair to everyone, the directors keeps on changing what they're saying about hobies age, one day they'll say and imply he's a minor and the next second say he's an adult. It's like they all have different idea of this character's age. So, nothing is really comfimed, and his age is really up to interpretation.

Now that we're past THAT point, the other kind of people talking about his age are people saying "oh but he looks old" "that man is most definitely 30yo" "there's no way he's underage" things of the sort, u get it. And I'm just over here like??? Why is it impossible for you to think that this guy could be a teen? Is it the air? The wrinkles? What makes it seem like for you that there's no way he could be around the other teens' age? And 30??? Cmon. People often assume black people are older than they look, which is a universal experience for all of us. Did none of u ever see a blk teen who doesnt have a baby face? Because thats literally what hobie looks like to me. To others we can seem too "mature" for our age, or just look too "old" to be the age we say we are, so is it really impossible for him to be a teenager? Think about it.

(Speaking of him being black, this discourse turned into some kind of racist thing that honestly was not unexpected at all. Yall come over here shitting on people talking and educating u about a character they relate to cuz hes like them, and the representation is making them go bonkers. I don't know why yall can just sit ur arses and listen for a bit, its not that difficult tbh. And dont get me started on the mischaracterisation of his character. Marking him as "an angry black man"? Really? Be. Fucking. Original.)

Same goes with Margo?? Yeah in the comics she's in college, but cmon now u guys know damn well she's a teenager in atsv😭. Gwen is also much older in the comics but i never see anyone talk about it, so what does that mean???The only reasons I can see that you all don't want Miles & margo to be together is because you're all stuck on the milesxgwen ship. News everyone, other ships exist, not everyone is going to like the same ships as you, so either move on or stop being on the Internet.

Also, the thing about pav being 13 is bonkers, where'd u even get that from? I need to know asap. "Oh, but he has a gf!" Yeah? Well he has two hands. (Idk why u all act as if that has ever stopped anyone)

Everything just seem like a race thing to me tbh.

The movies might be inspired from the comics, but not everything is going to be 100% the same. For exemple: gwen is 2 yrs older than Miles in the comics, but in movies she's only 15 months older, Jess Drew is white in the comics and black in the movie, Miguel O'hara is white passing in the comics, compared to his version in atsv where he has brown skin, lyla's disign is also different.

You get it? Things are going to differ as much as things are going to be the same, because (get ready!!) this is the multiverse! Just as earth-616 is just one universe in all the marvel comics, atsv is another universe.

All in all, im not saying u can't view them as adults, or wtv u want, thats ur interpretation, but don't go around being pissy at people around u cuz they have different point of views.

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the-cat-and-the-birdie · 4 months

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Can we give it up for guys with hair like Hobie please?

Can we get a round of applause for the black men in the chat with freeform locs? Or unkempt dreads? Or thick unlocked afros?

Because there's something we need to talk about -

Hobie's Hair: Representation, Reality, and Internalized Racism within Fandom

Here we are again - an essay about Hobie and racism. But this time - it's not coming from outside the house. Oh no, no no no.

The racism is coming from inside the house.

We need to talk about Hobies hair, how we treat black hair as a community, and the deep internalized racism that is revealed when Hobies hair is brought to reality.

[A LONGish essay about Hobie, Race, Hair, and the HEAVY internalized racism towards 4C hair. This essay doesn't explain much about black hair, but it's more a conversation of self-hate and representation]

Like Hobies hair is beautiful and it's genuinely heartbreaking to see so many people in the fandom be like 'yeah I love his hair but I could never date an actual guy with hair like that'

Or cringing at guys with nappy hair, or overall speaking about how off-putting their hair is.

Hobies hair is beautiful, but the amount of people that like it in canon - and only canon - is too high.

They'll say that for some reason, when it comes to real freeform locs - they can't find it attractive. That they for some reason, they still have the idea that people with freeform locs don't - or even can't, wash their hair, even if they know that's not true.

And like.. come on, guys. Come on.

There are actual black men with hair like that. There are HOBIE COSPLAYERS with hair like that.

and they're in the fandom too.

In fact, I'd say a good majority of black men have hair like Hobie - we're just forced to shave it off.

For us, anything longer than a high top that isn't an afro with nice defined curles is considered unruly, unkepted, or outright dirty.

People will just straight up call it dirty or say they don't wash their hair.

Just because their hair looks weird.

Because really that's all it is. It LOOKS WEIRD. And because it looks weird - and because it's something inherently exclusive to black people, it's admonished as being disgusting or ugly.

White men are able to roll out of bed 365 days a year and take a shower, leaving the house with barely even any hair gel.

That's considered normal, average. Boring even.

A black man rolls out of bed the same 365 days, washes his hair the same way, and leaves the house - and he's unkempt.

Why? Because his hair naturally locs up.

And because it locks up, it looks weird, and since it looks weird it's inappropriate for the workplace, it's unattractive, eww do they even wash it?

It's so SAD. Like genuinely sad. Especially in the Hobie fandom.

I think it needs to be highlighted that Hobies hair AREN'T wicks. Wicks are formed using tools. Wicks are locs - but they're manipulated locs. They take styling to look that way.

HOBIES HAIR is freeform. As in, that's just how it grows from it head. That's not a hairstyle like hair spikes, or Gwen's undercut.

That's just his hair.

And it's the only hair type on earth that's ubiquitously known as ugly.

So ugly in fact that men who have it are encouraged to either 1) shave it and maintain that shave at risk of ridicule or 2) invest lots of money and time into maintaining a detangled manicured afro of 'reasonable' size and shape or 3) get it braided and maintain those braids at risk of ridicule- you see where I'm going with this.

For people like me and Hobies, those with 4C hair: We're told quite early, even by the black people around us, that our hair as it is is unpresentable.

We're expected to manipulate and manage our hair every day of our lives, because if we don't, even for a week or two - we're suddenly 'unpresentable', unemployable, and straight up unattractive. Even the sight of our new growth is a sign we need to 'get our hair done'.

For us, hair growth isn't exciting. It's just anther reminder we need to go back to the salon or barbers.

And y'all - it's EXHAUSTING. Physically and mentally exhausting.

That's why Hobie has hair like that.

Because it's exhausting, it's unfair. And it's accepted. Even in this fandom.

Hobie does it because it's not right.

He, as a person, understands that he has a right to exist anywhere he pleases - in his entirety, regardless of how disruptive you see him.

Hobie wears his freeform hair because he doesn't want to physically manipulate his hair - and he doesn't want society to manipulate his hair either.

It's a noble cause.

And you know what, the dudes you see with hair like this - the ones you think might be dirty or ugly - they're wearing it for THE SAME REASON.

The reason men like The Weeknd and Jay-Z chose to wear their hair this way is because they are literally the only black men in society who can wear their hair like that and still keep a job. I'm so serious.

If you are a black man, or a black person in general - you better have 'fuck you' amounts of money if you'd like to have freeform locs.

Because your chances of getting a job hit the floor. The number of people interested in dating you - or even seeing you as attractive, drops like 95%.

All because your natural hair is visible to other people.

And they find that so distracting or so unattractive that it calls your very hygiene - or housing status - into question. (Yes, I have heard people say that they suspect men with freeform hair are wearing it only because they are homeless.)

And now that we have a character like Hobie - this attitude, one that we're all taught, is something we have to face head-on.

Because it fucking SUCKS to be told all your life that your hair is ugly and inherently more dirty than all others to the point that the only option is it's rigorous rearrangement or straight up removal.

And then you get a character like Hobie Brown, such good representation!!!

Only to turn around and see the fandom going 'Yeah, Hobies hot. But guys with hair ACTUALLY like that? Uhhh, no thanks. Sorry, I'll pass. Respectfully, no.'

And you wanna know the most fucked up thing about it? Huh!?

A large portion of the black people - black women in specific - who say they don't find freeform hair attractive, or hair like Hobies attractive -

THEY HAVE HAIR LIKE HOBIES TOO.

So many of y'all who say this would absolutely have hair like Hobies if you didn't detangle it.

The statement in itself - age the critique of freeform hair - is one of self-hate.

So many of the women I see say this have 4c hair themselves.

But because of the stigma and discrimination we received as children, many of us don't even know what our hair looks like unpermed, undamaged, without being detangled once a week.

If you are a black woman and you wouldn't date a guy with hair like this, please candidly ask yourself:

If you didn't detangled your hair for a year - would your hair look like Hobies?

Because I'm pretty sure for a good deal of y'all the answer is yes.

For the majority of us, if we didn't detangle, decondition, oil, cut, or shave our heads - if all we did was wash or hair - we'd have hair like Hobies.

It would stick out and stand up and clump together and that's FINE.

In fact, it's better for your hair.

Ever wonder why we have to moisturize and detangle and condition and use oil treatments and-

Because our hair naturally wants to loc. When it locs like Hobies hair, the oils from the root of your scalp can coat the strands easier, like a rope sucking up water.

A single piece of string can't move or suck up much water. But a thick thick rope can.

Just the same, when your hair is detangled - it's hard for the hair to move or suck up the oil. So it sits on the scalp and builds up. Like a single string.

When your hair is loced, the oils can move from your scalp down (or rather for us, UP) your hair way easier. Like a rope sucking it up.

Making your scalp cleaner, your hair more moisturised and overall more healthy.

At that point, you don't NEED conditioner. Or oil. Or aloe or whatever the hell the beauty supply got.

You just need to wash it, and your locs help regulate your hair. The help keep your oil production even and your hair moisturized.

Because your hair can self regulate. Just like everyone else's.

I'm learning this myself. As someone who just started their semi-freeform locs a couple months ago: My hair is as clean and as soft as it's ever been in my life.

My whole life I thought my hair was oily as fuck.

If I breathed too hard I'd get build up. Parting my hair physically hurt and almost ever hair style I ever tried was sensory hell. I'd shaved my head 8 years back and have kept it low for that long, simply because dealing with my actual hair was too tedious and painful.

And so I went freeform - because of Hobie.

For the past three months the only thing I've put in my hair is water and shampoo.

Maybe a little salt water if I wanna tighten up the locs a bit. But nothing else.

My hair is cleaner.

It's completely conditioned.

The curls found their own pattern and loced up without me even needing to part my hair. Like my head knew where each loc was gonna go.

Honestly, I barely worry about it anymore. In fact, if I don't touch my hair every other day or so, just lightly touching each loc end - the locs would combine more, getting thicker, and then I'd REALLY have hair like Hobies.

And my hair looks a fucking mess.

That's the hardest part now - not dealing with my hair. Dealing with people who see my hair.

I've learned idea that locs are inherently more dirty or harder to clean is actually the opposite of reality.

Detangled hair is absolutely harder to clean and maintain.

The reason detangled hair takes so long to manage is because you strip the oils off the scalp because it can't get down the strands of hair. Since every strand is separated, the oil just sticks to the scalp. So you wash it out.

But now that you've got no oil your hair and scalp is dry so now you need conditioner. But conditioner isn't enough. You need oil. But oil can cause buildup too so maybe use pink gel. But pink gel is too processed so do a hair mask- ETC ETC ETC for forever and ever and ever.

All because we are always, without break, fighting against our hairs natural instinct to loc.

Why? Because it looks weird. Because we are so used to constantly treating and cleaning and managing our hair that a lot of us genuinely believe that if we were to stop for even a month our hair would become ratty, smelly, matted messes no matter how much we showered.

At least that's what I believed.

But if we let ourselves and our hair be - in reality, both us and our hair becomes stronger, more healthy, and less stressed.

That's why so many people call it a Locs JOURNEY. Cause it truly is a journey of self-care, and unlearning self-admonishing ideas about our bodies and hair.

We as black people - like everyone on this Earth - have hair genetically evolved to manage itself on a reasonable level.

The amount of labor and thought that black people are required to put into their hair on top of that - even when it's 'NATURAL' - is not reasonable.

That's why there will be people in the natural hair community, with natural hair - who still think freeforms are ugly and nasty because they themselves choose to detangle and condition and the works to their hair. Even people with manicured locs believe this.

Because there is the believe that healthy black hair = lots of black labor. And they value natural hairstyles that require more labor.

Many don't believe that black people can have natural and healthy hair with minimal work - just like every other race.

But it's true. It's just so happens that when it does, it 'looks weird'.

And when it comes to Hobie - it kills me to see this.

To see people consuming Hobies messages of punk and politics, but never of race. His racial solidarity and displays of blackness.

Even us as a black community.

GAH sometimes I feel like he'd hear the stuff some people say about freeforms and be like

Hell, Hobie would hear that shit ALL THE TIME.

I imagine it really really hurts to see a character that represents a part of you often demonized and discredited - only to turn around and see the fans of said character still think what he's representating is nice in theory, but ugly in practice.

Especially if you're say.. A Hobie cosplayer.

Hobie wears his hair that way because it's his hair - it's not a hairstyle - is anything it's the opposite. And it has a right to exist.

That's the reason why Rastafarians wear locs - freeform locs. Not because they're hippies. Because they love the black form and allow their bodies to grow and manifest in the world without unnecessary manipulation from outside forces - including themselves.

Their hair is their hair. And it has the right to exist as much as any other part of their body.

For Hobie and the real-life men and women who have this hair it's a concious social risk that effects almost every aspect of their life from work to romance, friendships, who will sit next you on the bus and who'll avoid the hell outta you for no reason.

And they do it out of love for themselves and the beauty of black hair.

And because of that, they are considered less attractive, less clean, less 'normal'.

To black people with freeform hair I love you. To the black people with hair like Hobies: Your hair isn't ugly. You aren't dirty.

You're resilient and confident as hell and the realest mfers on earth.

If you're considering getting locs or going freeform. Do it. Absolutely do it. If you want proof you can be cute as hell with freeforms check out this YouTuber named DomiBoy.

He makes videos documenting his locs journey. He has Congos, which are very very similar to freeform. He makes great videos plus he's adorable and funny okay

If you're a black person without locs or freeforms, please - question what your hair would look like if you didn't manipulate it.

Have you ever gone a period in your life where you haven't detangled, conditioned, parted, braided, gelled, permed your hair etc?

What do you think it would look like if you didn't? How do you think people would treat you?

How do you feel about your hair when your roots grow out? Or your braids get loose? Do you know what your hair looks like untouched?

Question what do you think of freeforms? And why do you think that?

No matter who you are, you should ask yourself -

If a guy said he found curly hair ubiquitously ugly, and questioned if curly haired people were clean, wouldn't it be odd and messed up?

Have I heard myself or others refer to 4c locced hair as ugly? Or questioned their hygiene?

Do I think freeform loced black hair is ugly? Would I date someone with this hair? Why or why not?

Start a discussion with yourself.

As someone with 4c hair and starting a loc journey, I feel like this had to be said. Because it's something that affects and influences a lot of us.

There has beauty in Hobie and there is beauty in black hair. We just have to unlearn a lot of things to see it.

Anyway Hobies hair is hot. Freeforms are hot. I love black people. The end

#no proofread you know what I meant 😭😭#CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT THIS #The disgust towards freeform hair is crazy #chances are YOUR HAIR does what Hobies does #spiderman #atsv #spider man #marvel #across the spiderverse #hobie brown #spider punk #spiderpunk

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hobiebrownismygod · 6 months

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Analyzation of Hobie Brown's sexualization on Tumblr (Also a little bit of ranting cuz it pisses me off like crazy)

Summary:

I'll be going over different stereotypes but I'll focus on the sexualization of black characters in the media specifically. Then I'm gonna relate it back to Hobie Brown and give a little lecture/stern-talking to at the end.

TW: Mentions of sex and sexuality, stereotypes, some mentions of pedophilia

Hobie Brown is not the only hyper-sexualized black man in the media. Almost every attractive black man from a TV show has been turned into a toy for fan fiction writers, including Prowler Miles/Earth-42 Miles (That's a whole other post). The same thing happens with POC characters like Miguel O'hara.

The hyper-sexualization of black characters has been around since the beginning of the integration of POC characters into the media. However, racist perceptions/stereotypes of African-Americans and other POC people in general have been around for even longer, results of white supremacy and "white man's burden"-based imperialism.

African-Americans specifically have been subject to stereotypes such as "being unable to control themselves" since the 1500s, during which black men in particular were being characterized as almost "animalistic." This translated into stereotypes which are still common today, like the stereotype that black men have more sexual prowess than other races.

Bell & Harris (linked below) find that many of these modern hyper-stereotypical images of Black folks have historically depicted them as violent, involved in criminal activity, deadbeat drunks or drug-addicts, or unable to control themselves sexually, financially, or physically. These images render the Black middle class invisible and reduce Blackness merely to pejorative categories. Such descriptions of Black masculinity are problematic for media consumers and emasculating for Black folks. For media viewers, such images relegate Blacks and/or Blackness to the role of being “the problem” and Whiteness as what is normal, typical, and ideal in comparison. Further, portrayals of Blackness juxtaposed against the backdrop of “Whiteness as the ideal” are problematic. They enable the media to influence how audience members construct and/or “view” members of various cultural communities and impact how traditionally marginalized community members may view themselves.

So in summary:

Black characters are sexualized because of stereotypes that have been around for centuries, results of extreme prejudice and blatant racism, which people continue to spew today. By sexualizing black characters in the media so freely, writers are emasculating their black readers and being casually offensive without even realizing it.

By writing about black characters like they're objects, especially black men, you are disrespecting the image of African-Americans in the media, and harming the media's interpretation of them, which eventually leads to worse stereotypes and worse situations for them to have to deal with.

Now let's specifically talk about Hobie Brown.

Why exactly is he so sexualized on Tumblr? The same reasons listed above. He's an attractive black man, so many fan fiction writers find him fair game to create their stereotypical smut-ridden stories, and completely disregard his entire character.

Despite him having zero romantic interests and not even being displayed as a sexual character, people are automatically assuming that he would have a high sexual prowess and would be very sex-motivated.

Do you see the similarities? Blatant racism.

The stereotype that black men have a higher sexual prowess is translating into Hobie Brown's character, which is why there's so much smut written about him. This is also the reason why there's not as much fluff written about him. Because according to these stereotypes, African-American men don't have emotions. They're so masculine that they would never talk about their feelings. They're sexual toys and nothing else.

Do you see the problem with this?

Now this is all without even addressing the fact that his age isn't confirmed. He could be anywhere from 16-25 years old. I personally think he's a teenager, because of the fact that he hangs out with Gwen and Pav who are canonically 13 and 16, and because he looks like a teenager and acts like a teenager.

Overall, the message of this post is-

The hyper-sexualization of black men in the media has to be addressed. Hobie Brown is only the latest victim of sexual stereotypes and this isn't okay. No character should have their entire storyline, plot and characterization stripped down to their sexuality. It's disgusting.

The writers spent a lot of time and put a lot of effort into Hobie's character. By stripping him down to his looks and his sexuality, you are disrespecting the writers and you are feeding into stereotypes. Don't be a supporter of casual racism. Don't be a supporter of stereotypes. Don't be a supporter of sensualizing characters. Don't be a supporter of casual pedophilia.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. Here's a pretty picture of Hobie.

He looks so done 💀. Me after seeing people continue to write smut about him.

Note: I'm not African-American, so if anything I said needs editing or if any of the stereotypes I mentioned are inaccurate in any way, please reach out to me! I'm trying to be a better writer and any type of feedback would be very helpful <3

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10057104

Bell & Harris:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17513057.2016.1142598

https://fabulizemag.com/adults-thirsting-over-underage-characters-is-weird/

@ignocubo

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hollowed-theory-hall · 13 days

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Magic and Genetics

So, this is not like 100% finished and will be more musings than a full theory. The main reason is that we, as humanity, just don't really know that much about genetics. Like, we get the gist of it, but we can mostly only say: "it's complicated" about it.

Which is true. Like, the idea of dominant and recessive traits the way most people are familiar with (like the eye color chart for blue eyes and brown eyes) is super oversimplified and inaccurate. Like, there are 2 major genes that affect eye color and then there are 8 more genes that affect eye color, hair color, and skin color, but we aren't really sure in what way. We just think they do from observation. Usually, genes behave in a way that is in line with the dominant and recessive traits charts, but there are exceptions to it. Again, we just don't know much about this field.

Because of this, I can't really come to conclusive conclusions regarding exactly how many and which genes affect a person's magic in the world of Harry Potter. What I can do is use the book evidence to try and create a pattern of how magic behaves genetically.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, nor did I study genetics in any professional capacity, this is from online reading and self-study. And most importantly for fun 😊

Why do I think magic is influenced by multiple genes?

So, JKR stated in an interview she thinks of magic as a single dominant gene. This is impossible, since if that were true squibs and muggleborns wouldn't exist and the chart for the likelihood of a child being born with magic would look like this:

And that's just not what we see in the books...

This is all without mentioning how squibs like Arabella Figg can see dementors while muggles can't:

“A Squib, eh?” said Fudge, eyeing her suspiciously. “We’ll be checking that. You’ll leave details of your parentage with my assistant, Weasley. Incidentally, can Squibs see dementors?” he added, looking left and right along the bench where he sat. “Yes, we can!” said Mrs. Figg indignantly.

(OotP, page 143)

This means that squids do have some magical genes that muggles don't.

Additionally, from what we know about wizards as a species they have other differences from muggles that would effect their genetics in less obvious ways, for example:

Wizards heal faster, so cell regeneration is different than muggles.

Wizards have a completely different set of illnesses than muggles, so their white blood cells are also different.

Their brain cells likely live longer since they have an overall longer life expectancy.

Since they can see magic, like dementors and the Leakey Cauldron, we know the sight receptors are different.

Their nerves likely also function differently since they can sense magic in a way muggles can't.

To name a few.

And this is all without going into the fact wizards can reproduce with other species (goblins, veela, and giants to name a few) which actually implies a common ancestor to all of these races, but I'm not going into that can of worms.

What I am going into is how magic works genetically and how predictable it is. As in, if I know the magical status (pure-blood wizard, half-blood wizard, muggleborn wizard, squib, or muggle) of two human parents, can I tell how likely their child is to be a wizard, a squib, or a muggle?

What are squibs?

We don't know of many squibs in the books, these are the list of the known squibs:

Argus Filch

Arabella Figg

Marius Black

Dolores Umbridge's brother

Molly Weasley's second cousin

Squibs aren't a subject wizards like talking about, even not wizards who don't mind muggles like the Weasleys:

"Er — yes, I think so. I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

(PS, page 73)

The definition of a squib is a child without magic born of a magical parent. If we look at the list of squibs above, all of them except Umbridge's brother are pure-bloods. This is kind of important because of the limited genetic pool of pure-bloods.

I tried calculating the inbreeding coefficient (basically how likely it is that a specific genetic trait is identical in both parents. The number ranges between 0 and 1) of the pure-bloods in the Wizarding World. We don't have much information on most families, but even looking at the Black family tree, they aren't really inbred (except the Gaunts). The closest relation there is the marriage between second cousins Walburga and Orion. So the inbreeding coefficient of pure-bloods would be above zero, but not high enough to cause serious health detriments for the most part. But, this doesn't mean wizards don't have a problem with a limited genetic pool even without close inbreeding.

Looking at that same Black family tree, we see a lot of familiar names: Flint, Crabbe, Burke, Potter, Crouch, Longbottom, Weasley, Prewett, Malfoy, McMillian... Basically, all pure-blood wizards are related. Some more closely than others, but they are all related. It means that among pure-bloods there is less genetic diversity which tends to cause illnesses and weakness in children over the course of multiple generations.

Such illness can, for example, come in the form of a squib. If the child just isn't capable of having full access to magic, due to their limited genetic pool, they will be born a squib.

But what about Umbridge's brother?

Well, here's the interesting thing. When looking at accounts of children of a pure-blood and a muggleborn, they are all always magical (and usually quite powerful, but more on that later). Umbridge's mother though is muggle. I believe a muggle parent would also have a higher chance of a squib offspring since they don't have magic. Essentially, Umbride's brother received some of the magical genes from their father, and some muggle genes from their mother, leaving him somewhat capable of interacting with magic, but not casting it — a squib.

Essentially squibs have a higher chance to be born from two pure-bloods (due to lack of genetic diversity) or from a wizard and a muggle. If we look at the books, we actually never see a squib being born from a pair of two wizards where one of the parents is half-blood or muggleborn (since they bring new genetic diversity and make the offsprings much likelier to be magical).

What are muggleborns?

So, we covered that squibs are rare and are caused by the lack of genetic diversity in the pure-blood families or by receiving non-magical genes from a muggle parent. But what about muggleborns? How could they genetically exist?

Well, I discussed here the actual percentages of different blood statuses across the Wizarding World. And the percentages looked like this:

57.5% Pure-Blood and Most Likely Pure Blood

22.5% Half-Blood

15% At Least One Magical Parent

5% Muggleborn

And as I covered here and here, I believe magical Britain is approximately 0.01% of the muggle population. This means that muggleborns are incredibly rare in the muggle population and have an overall very low chance of being born. But under what circumstances would muggleborns be more likely?

We know, for example, that the brothers Colin and Dennis Creevey were both born magical. It means, that their parents had genes that make them more likely to have magical children. This means Petunia had a higher chance of being born magical than, say, Vernon, it was still a low chance, but it was more likely.

Now, I'm not the first to raise this theory, but I believe these muggles that have a slightly higher chance for magical children like Mr. and Mrs. Creevey are descendants of squibs. We know that:

"Squibs were usually shipped off to Muggle schools and encouraged to integrate into the Muggle community. . . much kinder than trying to find them a place in the Wizarding world, where they must always be second class..."

(DH, page 136)

So, squibs have been sent for generations to live among muggles. It means that there are multiple "muggles" running around that are actually squibs. They might be able to see dementors or notice something odd around the Leakey Cauldron, but not enough to produce magic. But they still have magic in their genes. And when they have kids, sometimes, through a fluke of luck and genetics a muggleborn can be born.

This means all muggleborns are distantly related to wizards in some way, but still the muggle blood adds some much-needed genetic diversity that makes them less likely to have squib children.

What would magical genes look like?

So, we talked so far about how to predict the likelihood of a child having magic or not. But we also know not all wizards and witches are magically equal. You have crazy powerful individuals like Voldemort, Harry, and Dumbledore. Hermione is an incredibly skilled and talented witch, often the first in class to get spells right. And then you have wizards like Crabbe, Goyle, or Merope who are barely more magical than squibs. Then you have unique magical gifts like being a parselmouth, metamorphmagus, or seer are all inherited, and therefore genetic.

So, let's start with the power/talent difference between wizards that we see. I think this, like squibs, is correlating to the lack of genetic diversity. Sure, you have pure-bloods that are magically powerful or average, but if we look at the most magically powerful wizards in the books — Harry, Voldemort, and Dumbledore — they are all half-bloods. They all have a higher genetic diversity.

Hermione and Lily, are also examples of this added genetic diversity raising the likelihood of magical talent. Both muggleborns, both referenced as talented and bright multiple times. Snape, another half-blood is also referenced often as an incredibly talented wizard.

Actually, Nymphadora Tonks is one of the best pieces of evidence for magic weakening over pure-blood generations and becoming stronger with the new blood from muggles or muggleborns.

The Black family had the hereditary magical gift of being metamorphmagi. This gift has been lost for multiple generations, the first Black to be born with this gift in recent history is Tonks. And it makes perfect sense, Andromeda, a pure-blood with the genes for being a metamorphmagus, marries a muggleborn, Ted, who has the much-needed genetic diversity, so their daughter is finally durable enough for the metamorphmagi magic to kick in.

The Gaunts are another example of just how much the lack of genetic diversity affects a wizard's magic. All three, but especially Mereope, are portrayed as barely skilled with magic, almost squibs. But then we have Tom Marvolo Riddle, magically gifted so much beyond most wizards because he had the added genetic diversity from his muggle father.

Parseltongue seems to be a more dominant trait than the metamorphmagus ability. As even an almost squib in the Gaunt family can speak it. That being said, the Gaunts are implied to be incredibly incestuous, so perhaps it's just a matter of both parents speaking Parseltongue that causes this gene's apparent dominance.

We also know these genetic traits are only passed to wizards. So a squib from the Gaunt family, would not be able to speak Parseltongue. So, while it is a separate gene, it is connected to the other genes that affect magic. That's why a muggleborn born from a Gaunt family squib line, could potentially be a Parselmouth. They won't necessarily be a Parselmouth, but they have a chance to get the gene.

Conclusions

So, let's put all of it together into a series of rules* to how magic seems to work genetically.

*Rules is not exactly the correct word. It's more like, how it would usually behave, but there are flukes to genetics and everything is possible.

Two magical parents would almost always have a magical child. Pure-bloods are more likely to have squib children than half-bloods or muggleborns due to lack of genetic diversity.

A child of a muggle and a wizard has a higher chance of being born a squib than two magical parents. (The chance is still pretty low though and the child is more likely to be magical)

Muggleborns are the result of at least one parent who is a muggle that descended from squibs and has magical genes.

If both parents are squib-descendant muggles, all their kids might even end up magical. (Like the Creevey brothers)

Being a parselmouth, metamorphmagus, or seer are all unique genetic traits that are passed in a separate gene but dependent on other magical genes. Each one of them behaves differently as a gene.

Genetic diversity promises a higher chance of naturally magically gifted children. (It doesn't promise they will be more gifted, just makes their chances better)

Blood purity and a limited genetic pool cause magical children born to these lines to be overall weaker. (Again, there are exceptions, this is just about chances)

#harry potter #harry potter thoughts #harry potter theory #hp theory #hp #wizarding world #hp thoughts #hollowedtheory #wizarding world of harry potter #wizarding population #wizarding society

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polyamzeal · 8 months

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got any polyam book recs

How many time do I need to reccomend the Smart Girl's Guide To Polyamory by Dedecker Winston! I feel like I never shut up about it and still people have never heard of it! I am just going to create a quick list of all the polyam books I have read. Because when I was first learning about polyamory it felt like you were required to read certain books before you could get your polyamory license yet so many other people haven't read any books! One day I might write out longer reviews for these.

The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships & Other Adventures by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy- This is one of the first ever books focused on polyamory. As such it is a bit dated. Despite that I think it is still a good book that people can get a lot out of. Just keep its age in mind.

More Than Two: A Practical Guide to Ethical Polyamory by Franklin Veaux and Eve Rickert - When I started learning about polyamory this was the holy bible of polyamory that everyone insisted that everybody must read. I honestly liked The Ethical Slut better though. Since then though the book has been utterly condemned by the community and people are now very quick to scream how nobody should read this book because Franklin Veaux was revealed to be abusive in his relationships so now suddenly the book is a guide to teach people how to be abusive in relationships. I guess??? Eve Ricket has put out multiple statements about the book about if people should still read it or not but I am sure I will miss something if I dive into that. Like more The Ethical Slut, just keep in mind it might have some problematic aspects. But I personally think there is still some good stuff in it that people might find value in. It has been a while since I read it but I don't remember it being problematic, just a bit dry and boring.

The Smart Girl's Guide To Polyamory by Dedecker Winston - I'm skipping right to this to say this is my favorite polyamory book! It is very unfortunate that that the title isn't great. And indeed it is written to be aimed at women but honestly I found very very little in the book to feel exclusive to women and not apply to me (a cis-male) just as much. I love this book so much that I re-typed up a passage from it, had it printed on a large poster, and framed.

Sex At Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha - This is another book that used to be worshipped in polyamory circles and wholehearted reccomended. I am so glad that it is now mostly forgotten. Why? BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A POLYAMORY BOOK! This is a very scientific anti-monogamy book. So I was waiting for all this set-up to talk about why polyamory fixes all these problems of monogamy it has taken so long to explain. Spoilers! Polyamory is only briefly mentioned in the epilogue of the book in a half-hearted, "Maybe this solution works for some people". Let's be clear, this is not a bad book. It is a very good book at using scientific evidence to point out flaws with monogamy and can lead to interesting discussion. But it is not a polyamroy book and shouldn't be recommended as such.

Love's Not Color Blind: Race and Representation in Polyamorous and Other Alternative Communities by Kevin Patterson - Another great book that is highly underrated. But note this is not a Polyamory 101 book. I consider this a "next-level" polyamory book. And to be clear I am white/Caucasian and I learned so much from this book and really love it! It opened my eyes in so many ways.

The Polyamorists Next Door: Inside Multiple-Partner Relationships and Families by Elisabeth Sheff - This isn't a bad book but I also didn't really find it to be a good book either. It feels neither pro-polyamory or anti-polyamory. Just a whole lot of stories and facts. I think it might be most interesting for a monogamous person to read.

Polyamory by Marissa Blake - Worst book I have ever listened to and I am pretty sure it is plagiarized. Been meaning to do a project where I research that claim but just haven't been interested in doing so. it is utter garbage.

The Polyamory Breakup Book: Causes, Prevention, and Survival by Kathy Labriola - Another advanced level polyamory book. But I think an especially important one for everyone to read. When you date more people you have more breakups. And when "cheating" is far less of an issue it is becomes hard to understand when you should breakup.

Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Nonmonogamy by Jessica Fern - The new holy bible of polyamory that everybody in every polyamory group will recommend immediately. It is a good book but honestly I think it is overrated. I think it is aimed at a very certain kind of person struggling with polyamory but it didn't resonate a whole lot with me on a polyamory level. I thought Secure Attachment was very interesting but I felt the actual polyamory aspects of the book were a little lacking to me. I do recommend the book but maybe not as someone's first polyamroy book. I think there are better polyamory 101 books. To note I have not read Polywise yet, the authors sequel book that just came out. I think I have higher hopes for that one though.

Ready For Polyamory by Laura Boyle - Most recent book I read and I had wanted to write a full review but I forgot. This is a fairly good book. I feel like it doesn't stand out much from the other Polyamory 101 books but overall solid. The one place where I give it the most praise is it has the most up-to-date definitions of terms which over the years have evolved and changed over time. The spectrum of polyamory styles I think is especially important for people to read. Older books didn't mention this at all or it was only Parelle VS Kitchen Table. Now we have a much wider spectrum and I often see a common mistake for newbies is for 2 partners to be at different point of the spectrum and never acknowledging it.

Do you know of any polyamory books I missed that I should read? Please let me know!

#polyamory #polyam #nonmonogamy #Books #Reccomendations #Book Reviews #Book

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hylialeia · 7 months

Text

thoughts on the Daevabad Trilogy, short version: holy shit that was good

longer version:

holy shit that was good.

I adored the writing style, the imagery, the worldbuilding, the characters, the character dynamics, and the pacing all the way through. I first picked up this series because of how Global Medievalism talked about it as a stepping stone away from Eurocentric medieval fantasy and it definitely delivered. this is tied with Spinning Silver for my favorite recent reads--which is even more impressive since SS was a standalone, meanwhile this series kept up a consistently high quality across three separate books.

after Fourth Wing masquerading as a rich, complex adult fantasy and then being What It Actually Was, this was an immensely satisfying series to pick up. it skirts the fantasy staple of the Inherently Evil Race/Species that so many works fall into (even asoiaf with the Others) and instead opts to explore in-depth religious and racial prejudices, revolutions, bigotry, power, and privilege in ways that can be frightening for a lot of authors (and readers). I can see why this series would frustrated a large swath of fantasy fans and not just because it steps completely away from the Europe-but-slightly-to-the-left settings that they're so familiar with; people looking for escapism and a palatable black-and-white conflict definitely wouldn't find it here.

that said, I also think the narrative did a fantastic job of showcasing the brutality of oppression, as well as cycles of revenge and violence, without turning into a sermon about how anyone who fights back is Just As Bad as the oppressor. you can sympathize with any faction within the trilogy while still seeing that there's a clear hierarchy. this is a series that asks the reader to be open minded and to sympathize with a variety of people's suffering while still condemning heinous actions, crimes, and ways of thinking. portrayals of violence, swearing, and sex aside, this is where I believe the adult label is earned. the Daevabad Trilogy outshines Fourth Wing in its entirety, actually following through on promises of depth, complexity, and exploration.

I don't think the series reaches into absolutely flawless territory; on reflection, there are a lot of scenes I wish we'd seen happening in the moment rather than summarized or briefly flashed back to. this goes especially for the end of the last book, Empire of Gold, which would have enhanced the pacing quite a bit. there's a bit of rushing through the final battle, and though it's still quite fantastic and follows through on a deal of foreshadowing and character build-up, it definitely feels over too soon. there are also a few loose ends and potential conflicts when it comes to the characters themselves that the series felt too tired to actually flesh out by the end. I can forgive that chiefly because of just how well-rounded and consistent the characters themselves are, even despite those instances.

and holy shit did I adore these characters. I've only seen the barest tip of the iceberg of discourse this series caused (which I'm sure was insane when it first came out), but thankfully the 10 million+ Way More Problematic Characters (that I also love) in asoiaf has made me immune to whatever the hell was going on over there. I also couldn't get involved in a ship war if you paid me.

I think the first book made a good call only having Nahri and Ali's POVs not just from a technical standpoint (Dara's POV wouldn't have added much, and may have even spoiled some meaningful twists) but also in priming the reader for what is the heart of the entire trilogy: their dynamic. Nahri and Ali carry the series whether they're young, platonic best friends who should be enemies, awkward ex-friends who still get a long way too well, or best friends who are deeply in love which each other but too traumatized to admit it. they both stand incredibly well as individuals (evidenced by the fact that they don't even meet until over the halfway mark in the first book), with Ali being a particular favorite of mine from the very beginning. their opposite upbringings yet similar interests made them a fantastic duo, one where it made sense the impact each one would have on the other's journey. there's something so incredibly endearing about their inability to legitimately dislike each other despite their circumstances, one that makes sense based on their already established personalities; they propel the series' most meaningful moments.

for the elephant in the room: as frustrating as Dara's POV could be I found it a worthy and fascinating addition in the later books, one that I think a lot of people missed the weight of if they were too busy excusing him/hating him. his perspective, biased and misguided as it often was, provided so much rich exploration of the trilogy's overall themes: militarism, religious fanaticism, prejudice, free will, just war, revolution, cycles of violence, conditioning and abuse, etc. that so much of this seemed to fall to the wayside in a strive to decide if he was excusable or not (and thus a viable love interest or not) is a huge shame. his ending was, to me, profoundly satisfying; not redeemed but finally allowed to act of his own free will, no longer bound by outside magic or internalized religious obligation. I never violently disliked Dara and Nahri's romantic entanglement so much as I knew it was doomed from the moment Ali had a POV chapter.

the secondary characters were no less engaging for me, especially as their prominence grew throughout the books, antagonists or otherwise. it was refreshing to see Muntadhir and Jamshid's individual characters (and thus their relationship) become a more prominent aspect of the story--again, especially after the tokenism in Fourth Wing. side characters always seemed to have deeper personalities and roles to play, with even early character deaths like Anas having lasting impacts for our main POVs. their presence was as vital to the immersion and depth of the world as much as the setting and imagery--which are also aspects that completely blew me away. from character, technical, to thematic standpoints, the Daevabad Trilogy absolutely amazed me.

final thoughts and rating: if you give me a book where two married characters are in love with the other's brother and expect me not to give it a high rating you're insane. 8/10. maybe even 9/10. go read these books.

#spoiler warning for people who want to read this series (which you should)#thank you chakraborty for Thee character dynamic of all time #ali love of my life. apple of my eye. <3 #the daevabad trilogy

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mrsbbradshaw · 2 years

Note

can you write something for maverick? maybe some domestic fluff? tg1 mav or dilf mav, both are good

Mornings of Spring

Pete "Maverick" Mitchell x Fem! Reader

Warnings : Top Gun spoilers, a pinch of angst, both fluff and domestic fluff

Synopsis : She fell first but he fell harder

Reader's callsign : 'Gucci' (she's always known for her bold red Gucci purse)

Reader's lastname : Reyes

Pete "Maverick" Mitchell was the hardest person she could ever crack. The first time they met was back in 1985 when she was the only female pilot to enter Top Gun.

She had eyes for him the day she entered the Fighter Weapons School. They spoke a few times, greeting each other here and there, making small talks, they were friends, sometimes going to bars together with Nick Bradshaw.

"20 bucks if you can pull a girl from here, tonight, Mav" she teased, getting a 20 dollar bill from her red Gucci purse which earned her, her callsign.

"Will I still get it if I pull you ?" He cocked a brow, smirking at her.

The young female lieutenant pushed her friend playfully when in fact, it made her heart race. Sadly, it was a joke.

What's more sad was that she was his 'advisor' during his relationship with Charlie. Goose and her was always his wingman (not literally), but mostly, it was her since she's knows alot of 'girl stuff'.

It all turned after Goose passed away. Pete had no wingman and she was assigned as his new one. She noticed the distance between them after his best friend died.

He no longer talked to her as he quit Top Gun abruptly. He only came back during graduation, with his eyes focused on her in her white military uniform.

She smiled at him, even after he practically cut ties with everyone. He was confused at her, how is it that she's pretending like nothing had happened.

And as time passed, they worked together as partners, it took a while for Maverick to get over his mourning period.

Y/n "Gucci" Reyes stood beside him, offering him her shoulders to cry on, the two of them cried together sometimes, it was hard to swallow that their best friend was dead.

The guilt that ate Maverick was bigger than it did to y/n. She wasn't there that day, she didn't see him die. But he did.

It took him a long time to open up to her, he was the hardest person to talk to for a time being. As his relationship with Charlie was declining, she had told him to do what he thinks is best, she'd thought that he didn't listen to her, but to her surprise, he did listen.

They broke up.

she never left him after that, she didn't care how harsh he was to her, she knew he needed someone to talk to so she became that person.

They grew closer over time, he became more comfortable with her, the two grew closer.

It was spring, when they had a heart-felt conversation after a long time.

"Why is it that you're always smiling ? What's with that look on your face that's always pretends like mothing's ever happened ?"

"You think I smile alot, Pete ?" He nodded as an answer, taking a sip from his beer as they sat on the porch, outside of her home, the sun was set and dinner was done.

She looked at the plants that have begun to grow again. The fresh leaves and flower started to reappear.

Y/n took a sip from her booze, wrapping herself around his jacket.

"I'm not really a public person when it comes to my stories,"

"Why ?"

"I mean, you saw me cry, you saw me blow up like there's no tomorrow but," She let out a deep sigh

"People are already living with a lot on their plate, I just don't want to add more....burden by telling my story"

"Don't do that" He eyed her so tenderly that the look on his eyes was one that she would never forget.

"huh ?" she blinked twice

"Don't call yourself a burden, you'd always tell me your story about what happened-"

Gucci pursed her lips

Then he realised it, all the times they were together, she never talked about any of her problems, she never told anyone about her family, they were always talking about what had occurred inside the navy.

Maverick was always the one venting and opening up, she was just a listener.

Guilt.

He felt guilty, a part of him thought that he was a douchebag for not asking about her life.

"I want to know you"

"you do ?"

His eyes were so different in moments like these, more soft than she knew eyes could be. The soldier was gone and instead it is the eyes of one who cares deeply.

"I thought you didn't want to, you were always busy with....her" she chuckled, breaking off the eye contact that made her cheeks burn, she eyed the plants on her balcony.

'Shit' he thought to himself, all this time he was blind.

She gave him so many signs yet he didn't realise it until this very moment when he thought that what she said just now was the missing piece to the puzzle.

Everything was perfectly clear now, how she rejected dates with Iceman every time he tried to ask her out, how she was always beside him, smiling, listening. Maverick would always notice the looks she was giving him, yet pushing her away indirectly.

She just told him that she likes him.

Even after such a long time she still likes him ?

Y/n let out a deep breath,

"Well, it's getting dark, you should get back, we have an early day tomorrow"

She was stop by his hand grabbing her wrist, he stood up from where he was seated, she gazed into his green eyes, figuring out what stunt he was trying to pull.

"Pete ?" She called him

He was so focused on her eyes that he had ignored for so long yet only came to realise after everything she has gone through. She did not even notice how much closer he was now.

It was her.

It was only her, the sole thing left in the universe, eyes shining like two worlds only for him, visible only to him, and her eyes that always drew his attention. It was her laugh, her personality, her trademark smile, the way she whispered his name. It was her, it always was, and it always will be.

He cursed at himself for being blind, he cursed himself for not listening to Goose when he told her that Gucci might like him.

"Pete" She repeated with a soft and quiet voice.

He took a step closer, cupping her soft cheeks while her fingers brushed the hem of his white shirt : worn cotton and old. She must have seen him a thousand times in this shirt, but she had never seen it so close before. It complimented him well, playing against the world of his eyes in a way that visibly appealed to her.

Maverick began to see even more of her face under the darkening blush. He was looking down on her — really looking, and all the nervousness he was so prone to feeling washed out of him like a tidal wave, flooding from the tips of his fingers and crashing out of his mouth as it parted in the slightest way, almost invisible. But he knew it was, for her eyes fluttered down to it.

Neither knew who took the final step, but someone did, and they were no longer two people with two stories and two minds, but one.

She finally noticed how close he truly was when his lips enclosed on hers; soft yet immersive, gentle yet powerful all the same.

Just as quickly as her hands laced with his, She responded with such enthusiasm that he was taken aback at first, but regained his composure and reminded himself of what was happening

He was really kissing her, she was really kissing him, and the world around them was meaningless.

It still wasn't clear if she dreamed this moment to life, but there was raw emotion in the way his fingers curled around hers. Maverick kept his eyes half open, sneaking a guilty peek at her every time he came back for air, just to make sure this wasn't a product of his imagination.

He wasn't sure if nature rooted for this moment or if his mind tricked him into a perfect present, but every breath he took smelled like jasmine and for the first time since he'd known himself, he didn't feel shy. If anything, the warm feeling of her breath, although destabilizing, was inviting. This time around he draped both arms around her small frame and met her lips again halfway.

He took a step back, heat rising to his face, still putting a soft smile on his face

"Is it okay if I stay the night ?"

----

On spring of the year 1990, they were known as Mr & Mrs Mitchell.

----

Present Day.

Spring was always her favourite season.

It was the season where she met her husband for the first time.

Spring was the same season that she got married with her husband.

Ever since, she had always loved waking up beside him, every single morning for more than 3 decades.

When she found someone to love and wake up with that person a lot, she forgot about her previous loneliness. It just evaporates.

She just gain a sense of fullness and purpose. Everything comes together and many wild things seem possible.

He's just finish showering and is looking for a specific white shirt.

"Hey honey, have you seen my white shirt, the one I used uhh two days ago ?"

He walked into the bedroom half naked, a towel covering his waist and below. He stops immediately after seeing his wife still asleep.

He adores watching her sleep. How her face was calm, quiet, while her breathing was peaceful and patient. He always strokes her hair, and watches her sleep. Even when she was asleep, he thinks that she`s gorgeous. Watching her on his side of the bed makes his soul peaceful.

He would sometimes think about the outcome if he hadn't married her. Looking back, he thought that it was one of the best decisions of her life and he knew that Goose would be proud of him.

It was a morning routine for him.

Kissing his wife's forehead, whispering "Good morning, love" and lightly squeezing her hand before starting his day.

"huh ?" She slowly opened her eyes, squinting to the sight of her husband half naked.

She wiped her eyes twice before letting out a yawn,

"Good morning, Pete" She gave him a smile.

"I ironed your shirt yesterday, it's there..." She pointed to the hanger. She had prepared it the night before, somehow getting the gut feeling that he was going to wear it.

"you're one of a kind" He placed another kiss on her cheeks

"I'm gonna go an work on the plane,"

"hmm, alright"

With the sun peeking through the blinds of their room, she get up from bed and opened the windows of their room to a clear morning sky that appeared for the first time in a few days. The smell of her fresh tulips greeted her for the morning.

Y/n Mitchell got dressed, changing out from her pyjamas into one of his shirt, slipping it over her head and watching it settle down near her thighs.

She stepped into the kitchen to cook breakfast. Taking out a few ingredients from the fridge, she had decided to cook waffles, then bringing two plates out for them.

Their kids, the twins, Maisie and Garren were on a camping trip, so they had the house all to themselves.

A small smile would appear on her face looking at him fixing his plane, he looked so focus yet with his biceps on display, it a sight that she never got tired to see.

He had noticed her presence and called her out, "Are you gonna stare forever ?"

She brought the plates, placing it onto the glass table near the plane, he took a seat across her and looked at her for sometime.

There was a moment of silence as the two as they made eye contact. If it were anyone else she would drop her gaze, but with him she's drawn in closer, always wanting more.

It's the look that she had on her face, she would look at him like she would look at her garden filled with breathtaking flowers on a beautiful day. Lost in the thoughts yet so present in the moment. She had this little grin on her face that he loved so much whenever she watched their kids laugh at something she said and she looks at them like nothing else mattered in this world.

He couldn't help but look at her like she was the most beautiful and unique work of art of all. When she decided to retire as a naval aviator, he had never gave so much support, assuring her that it's a decision that would have a great change.

He was jealous of her sometimes, he was jealous that his wife's rank was higher than his.

VICE ADMIRAL Y/N "GUCCI" MITCHELL

He was always getting into trouble, Iceman and Gucci were the ones taking him out from them. She had told him that even if he was captain, everyone respected him. The navy had no one else like Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.

So when the news of her retiring from the navy arrived, everyone around her gave her a warm hug of goodbye. Her husband was the most supportive of all.

He took a deep breath, trying to look away, but he can't. He's so involve with her and mesmerised with every single feature on her face. He fell harder than she did.

It was the same look he gave her that night on the porch, outside her home more or less 30 years ago.

"What" she spoke, breaking off the silence

"Nothing, I'm thinking of how lucky I am"

"Lucky ?" She questioned

"How lucky I am to call you my wife."

A/N: Hey Anon ! Thanks for the request, I thought of writing for both Tg1 & 2 Mav HAHAHA, I hope you liked this one :)

#top gun fanfiction #top gun #top gun maverick #maverick x reader #pete maverick mitchell #pete mitchell #maverick x y/n #top gun fic #maverick x you #top gun movie #pete mitchell x reader #Pete maverick Mitchell x reader #tom cruise #tom cruise x reader #tom cruise top gun #tom cruise x y/n

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duchessofostergotlands · 11 months

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To be honest I haven't liked the things Catherine has been saying about mental health lately. First that talking therapy doesn't help everyone, now this. For a royal to say a short sentence or two about mental health... it can easily come across the wrong way & doesn't show nuance. Yes, talking therapy doesn't help everyone, but her saying this could discourage people from trying it out. Not everyone who feels anxious has a medical condition and needs medication, but some of us do!

Let's look at what she said (and buckle up, it's a long one):

Quote number 1: At an art therapy charity. Someone said writing music had been an easier way to get their feelings out than talking in a clinical space. Kate responded: "Talking therapies don’t work for some people, they’re not for everybody. It’s so important to have a range of therapies." She then followed it up by talking about how many people won't respond to talking therapies because of their own preconceptions about clinical spaces and so it's important to let those people know that there are safe alternative spaces like this charity where they can come for help in a way that works for them.

Unless you're asserting talking therapy does work for everyone and alternative therapies shouldn't be offered, I can't see what the issue is. It's 100% truthful. An analysis by the Child Outcomes Research Consortium found that only a third of children had recovered (i.e. they were no longer above the clinical threshold) by the end of therapy. About 40% responded they'd experienced no change at all. For adults it's slightly better but NHS Digital report only 50% of adults who access therapy have recovered by the time it's over. That's before we even get into the fact that talking therapies were built by and for predominantly white westerners and so large chunks of the population find them completely unhelpful, even actively damaging. There's an article here on that. So it's accurate to state that they don't work for everyone - for a variety of reasons - and alternatives need to be accessible for those who have reason to not trust professional services, or who had therapy and haven't recovered. In fact, this is a big problem in therapy because people often go into it thinking it'll fix things and then ending treatment without being "cured" is extremely difficult for them. And that issue is caused by precisely this unwillingness from the public and some professionals to be honest and acknowledge that talking therapies won't work for everyone.

Quote number 2: I can't find the full quote but essentially she said that normal anxieties should not be over-medicalised.

I wrote a whole thing about this, read that. I'm going to illustrate with an example from Drag Race. A few years ago there was a contestant who wasn't popular, I can't really remember why, but in their sob story episode they opened up about their clinical depression. And the reaction all over social media was "who cares? Everyone has depression!" But the thing is... they don't. In the US, where it was filmed, 2/3 of people don't have depression in their lifetime. We have created an environment where instead of normalising mental illness so those who have it feel accepted, we've overcorrected. And now it's cool and trendy to make stress into Anxiety Disorder, to making lying into gaslighting, to make your dick of an ex boyfriend's behaviour a Personality Disorder. All of which means that people who genuinely do have mental illnesses are taken less seriously and for conditions like mine (I have BPD) stigma is worse than it's been at any point since I was diagnosed 8 ish years ago. And that's not to mention medications for mental illnesses can be heavy duty. She was at an event for children and it's perfectly reasonable to question whether a doctor giving a child meds after a five minute appointment because the child said they were anxious is a sensible and healthy choice. It's there in the name - over medicalising. It's like any medical procedure. No one is saying you shouldn't cut someone's arm off if they have a serious infection and it's needed. But you shouldn't cut their arm off just because they got a paper cut. PS something slightly outside the scope of this because Kate can't be partisan but we talk about this a lot at work, the link between over-medicalising and poverty. A good article on that here.

I understand what you're saying about the fact that sometimes quotes are clipped out of context and royals need to think about what the headline will be but even taken out of context, all of her statements are accurate. And actually in my view it's the first time I've ever seen her be nuanced! I've always found her mental health work patchy because I feel like she unintentionally contributed to a lot of the issues I've outlined above but she's finally talking about things that are not talked about as much, even amongst professionals. I get your perspective because I was there a few years ago. When someone first mentioned the concept of over-medicalising to me I thought it was denying mental illness is real etc. But then I realised that knee jerk reaction was coming from my insecurities about my illness and my past experiences of struggling to get care, it wasn't actually about the concept itself.

#ask #anon #kate middleton #british royal family #mental health #mental illness #again having bpd is a really helpful diagnosis for this #because there's a huge movement within the bpd community to remove the diagnosis entirely #i don't completely agree but there are lots of people who believe that bpd is largely diagnosed amongst women who have experienced trauma #and so it's medicalising a normal human response to something traumatic

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noroi1000 · 8 months

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❝𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐮-𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐢❞ Chapter 05

Satoru-Sensei | ←Previous chapter • Next Chapter →

Summary: "Sensei, is there an important occasion coming up that senpai are coming back from overseas?"

The white-haired man knew lazily in his chair, his legs propped up on his teacher's desk. His mouth visible behind his high collar.

He had nothing in his hands. He wasn't looking at anything. His face was facing forward. Up slightly. As if he was looking for something with his eyes. As if he was looking there. Even though there's nothing there.

Sensei of the two guys looked very thoughtful and very dreamy.

His lips seemed to smile slightly. But it wasn't very noticeable.

He remembered something. Today is a certain day...

Something happened two years ago. It was the second anniversary of this event.

His mind raced through memories of what had happened then.

Today was the second anniversary of the time he took you to your island. Second anniversary of this event. And he loved that it's been two years since you've been with him like this.

This is exactly the moment today. Maybe you should celebrate it somehow? His little ex-student deserves something good. You can make a date at home.

I'm sure you won't refuse. You are no longer the same person you were before. With him, you open up and behave very differently. As if you were a different person. Your face is full of emotions. Full of smile. You don't hide your emotions. Maybe you're still not a very wild person and you're quiet. You smile at him whenever you can. That is, constantly, because no one forbids you to do it. Being together won't cause you any trouble.

You were so quiet. you still are. But it's different now than it was before. Now your life is different and you don't have to be afraid. You are not emotionless. Your eyes are still filled with sparkles. And so it has always been. So no one could ever say there was anything wrong with you. Because you were a normal girl who is just shy. And it's just that some people couldn't find those sparks.

You were looking for someone who would understand you. The right person. And your Sensei was just such a person. You talked to him about everything, even though you had no chance of beating him in conversation.

You were just so sweet with him. Only with him you had such a sweet smile.

Every time you go out with people in freshman year, he was there, but in the back. More distant. You were happy but it wasn't the peak of your dreams. You were quiet and just silently enjoying the moment, not speaking. You didn't want to spoil anyone's fun. That's why.

He remembers that moment when you all went out together, you agreed with everything just nodding your head. Without a word. And when you were just with him, suddenly a slightly different person appeared. You were talking to him and smiling.

You opened your heart to him.

He saw that you are an innocent and sweet girl who cares about important things. You cared about making people smile, even if something could be worse for you. You didn't argue. You were a quiet person. You were so small and innocent. So shy. In this world you would be crushed. Such a cute girl. He couldn't watch it.

You were perfect. Nice and lovely. You didn't think anything bad about him. You honestly believed in him. You ignored his flaws. And you were just there, showing that you were his ray of light.

The sun has strength. But the warmth it gives is very nice. Just like you.

You were his ray of sunshine.

You dispelled all the darkness that was in him.

He's not innocent... For as long as he can remember, he's been learning how to kill curses. He killed people. Was it supposed to be something innocent?

And even though you had to be able to do it too, you were an innocent ray of light to him.

And he, like a desperate man in the dark, wanted that ray of sunshine.

To cherish it and take care of it. Keep it for him because he loves it.

He never meant to hurt you. He would never be able to do that to you. He didn't want to scream. He didn't want to force you. But he wanted you to be his. Now and forever.

He loved you for being an innocent and sweet girl. You believed in him. You didn't see him as a monster like the others. You weren't afraid of him.

Someone invincible and untouchable? Someone who conquers death and can live with the awareness of death? Monster.

You didn't run away from him. You were the most innocent person he'd ever met. Your innocence was priceless.

He wanted you to want to go with him of your own free will. That's why he gave you a place. He didn't force his feelings on you that much.

And at one point he couldn't stand it. That's why he kissed you. He was absolutely jealous. But when he was afraid of going too far, he wanted to give you space so you wouldn't hate him.

That's why you were there to calm him down.

Because for his kindness and caring for you, he received your love.

And now he could happily think about what he had received.

Your smile appeared in his mind as he thought.

The dreamy expression on his face deepened.

Your cute face when you smile at him? Your face when you blush? It's so adorable and lovable... He must see it because it is the sight he loves most in the world.

Until suddenly someone interrupted him in his dreams of your lovely character.

His two disciples watched his behavior. Incomprehensible dreamy smile?

"Sensei!"

His eyes lowered to see the two teenagers entering the room.

Their brown hair was combed as always. This is what distinguished them from their sensei.

"Nantō-kun. Hokusei-kun." He replied with a smile.

Jishaku Nantō and Jishaku Hokusei. Jujutsu high first years. Twins with magnetism technique. One of them can attract anything with metal in it, the other repels it. When close together, they can control metal and float. Attraction is combined with repulsion, and they can lift objects as if it were telekinesis.

"Did you know Senpai were coming tomorrow?! Why didn't you tell us?" Nantō exclaimed, sparkles in his dark blue eyes.

His brother's red eyes looked at him and he pulled away from his brother with too much eagerness.

If Gojo were to compare them, Nantō is like Yuji. Hokusei is like Megumi.

"I won't be able to prepare anything to surprise Itadori-senpai!"

Every time he looked into their eyes during their technique training, he was looking for what he saw in you. But he couldn't find it.

Because only you had such a cute twinkle in your eye. A twinkle in the eye that was beautiful.

For you, it was uncertainty combined with determination to improve something.

They were different.

Even when they combined their techniques, when Hokusei's right eye turned blue and Nantō's left eye turned red, he couldn't see anything as amazing as you in it. You were perfect.

His disciples took their places but wanted to continue the conversation.

"Sensei, is there an important occasion coming up that senpai are coming back from overseas?"

"...I have no idea." He replied with his finger on his chin.

The first time he thought about it, he didn't know what it was about.

However, now that he thought about it, there was something...

For you and him today is your second anniversary of your relationship.

Some time ago it was the second anniversary of your "death" where your old friends always visited your empty grave.

A/n: Nantō and Hokusei have their own meanings.I've never been good at creating side characters, but I made them! What do you think?

Taglist: @mc-reborn ; @yihona-san06 ; @yerinsshi ; @erisfayred ; @tohsri

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #gojo satoru #gojo x y/n #jjk x you #jjk x reader #gojo #gojo x reader #Satoru-sensei

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