magicofthepen

[magicofthepen]

So Crawford won. Elon is, as far as I know, still being investigated for ~election crimes~ in Wisconsin. Canada is still investigating Tesla's alleged fraud with rebates. Illinois just elected a bunch of Democrats for local offices. Louisiana rejected a bunch of Republican proposed changes to their state constitution. Cory Booker held the floor of the Senate for 25 hours, breaking the record of racist shitheel Strom Thurmond and in the process, listing out the sins of the Trump administration in the Senate records and delaying their vote for some other Trump asshole. And Speaker of the House Mike Johnson got embarrassed by House Republicans joining Dems in opposing him and threw a baby hissy fit and shut down the House for a week.

We didn't get Florida. But look at all that up there.

Oh and tomorrow, Tesla has to share information about how many cars it actually delivered in the first three months of the year, which unless they fudge the books, is going to be a lower number than they would like, and might make their stock dip some more. Or just drop. Forbes has provided a little graph of their sales.

Edit: and oh shit! Mike Waltz fucked up again and got caught using fucking Gmail for work discussions. Gmail. Because Google never spied on anyone. (He has a government email address.)

[magicofthepen]

Nationwide Anti-Trump Protests on April 5th, 2025

This Saturday— April 5th, 2025— will be the first truly nationwide day of protests against the second Trump administration, with more than 500 "Hands Off" events planned across all 50 states. The vast majority of Americans will have an anti-Trump protest nearby them.

You can find the protest closest to you here. You can get more information about the day of action here. You can explore the list of 150+ organizations sponsoring the day of action here.

[magicofthepen]

March 2

Hello writerly friends! 

Here we are, the official end of our first project of 2025. 

I think it was a success, but it suffered from January25 syndrome. You know what I mean? January25 syndrome really hit hard and left us all exhausted. If you got any writing done during this time, you can be fucking proud of yourself. 

In general I think the beginning of the year is a good time to start such a project (just not in 2025). And I loved the focus on discovery writing, I feel like this is something really special.

For a little look back, here are the main posts I made with some specific advice for discovery writers.

The first post, introducing the concept of discovery writing. How to start, how to let the characters lead you along, how to discover your story as you write it. Also introducing Patricia McLinn’s book “Survival Kit For Writers”. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/772463374204338176/it-looks-like-this-or-like-this

The second post is about themes. Story themes, character themes, plot themes, and so on. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/773096366765391872/january-19

The third post, going further into the advice in Patricia McLinn’s book and what we can add to our toolbox as discovery writers. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/773765493730492416/january-26

The fourth post. Introducing my favorite secret weapon, the Heroine's Journey. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/774390491671347200/february-2

The fifth post, another post about themes with the Truth Chart from K.M. Weiland's book WRITING YOUR STORY’S THEME. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/775042208871120896/february-9

In the sixth post I listed my favorite books with writing advice. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/775721108826701824/february-16-17

In the seventh and last post I introduced the Writing Excuses podcast (https://writingexcuses.com/) with conversations about the promise of the premise and endings. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/776298751471026176/february-23

I think these are all really useful resources, especially for discovery writers and I hope they will help you on your writing journey. 

Here at the WIP project, we're taking a little break before the next project. I'll let you know when the next one will start. Any preferences? What time in the year is asking for a little writing project?

For regular writing advice, follow my other blogs at https://the960writers.tumblr.com/. 

Please keep writing, keep up the habit, and write your story.

@creativelyfueled @wildswrites @pheita @koiwrites @wickedwitchofthewilds @theburnedoutnerd @fontainebleau22 @illegalcerebral @incognitajones @theglitchywriterboi @sashakielman @satashiiwrites @lilliebellfanfics @jeaniefranklins @iressails @lastelle21 @sgam76 @tryingtimi @randomquadballpun @dragonnan @mclavellan @bisexualdawnsummers @hiraethwritings @523rdrebel @thebonesongs @gewhanaa @broodwolf221 @batteredrugosa @quilleth @exceedinglyfilledwithfolly @vigilskept @drowsy-quill @i-had-bucky @direquail @jacqueswriteblrlibrary @bogunicorn @bluejay-in-write

[magicofthepen]

At the risk of sounding anti-intellectual, I think that college should be free and also not a requirement for employment outside of highly specialized career fields

[magicofthepen]

Sometimes I think about the fact that going by everything-goes Doctor Who expanded universe rules...

Ace's biology was altered enough so that she can regenerate when she was working for the Time Lords

She doesn't know that

Also if anyone has pitches for Ace II character designs, please please send them to me

[magicofthepen]

You couldn’t do a straightforward Human Nature plot set in the 12th Doctor era bc if 12 got fobwatched Clara would immediately steal his identity. Missy would also steal his identity. Absolutely insane Doctorfication possibilities.

Also, 12’s forgotten memories canonically manifest as songs AND he’s faceblind, so he wouldn’t even have a dramatic dream journal full of half-remembered portraits, he’d just be hanging out in his university office shredding guitar solos while Bill (who he just met) is like “Wow, sick riff Professor Smith!” and he’s like “Thanks, it’s called I Dreamt I Rode a Dinosaur.”

[magicofthepen]

Helloo! My neighbors have these two gorgeous cats (they're very shy, it's a miracle that I got close enough to take these pictures, I guess they felt safe enough in their yard that I could snap these through the fence) I have never seen this coat color irl before and I would love to know what it is called and if you know more about it? Thanks!

Wuh, i think that's lilac again. They look very solid, almost no tabbying, and the longhair's nose doesn't look like that of a cream. If you look at this lilac-cream tortie, the lilac parts are closer to these cats' colors than the creams for me.

Lilac is the dilution of chocolate, both of these are very rare in the general cat population (more common in certain breeds, british for example).

[magicofthepen]

Okay a couple weeks ago I started this post trying to keep track of all the stuff going on in order to help remind us of everything that’s happened when the next election comes around. Well, because there’s just so much going on, I’ve realized trying to cram it all into one post isn’t going to work. So I’m going to do a new post every month and include links to the previous ones.

So here goes…

January 2025

February 2025

Donald Trump has enforced his tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. [x]

Donald Trump has put Mexico tariffs on hold for one month. [x]

Donald Trump allowed Elon Musk to begin dismantling USAID. [x]

Congress is voluntarily giving up its power and allowing Trump to make unilateral decisions. [x]

Darren Beattie has been made Under Secretary of State. [x]

Everything that Donald Trump has done so far lines up with Project 2025 [x]

The White House is drafting an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education [x]

Elon Musk, who nobody voted for or elected, has, essentially, hacked the government. [x]

El Salvador has agreed to take US deportees of any nationality. [x]

US Representative Andy Biggs is proposing a bill to abolish OSHA. [x]

Pam Bondi has been confirmed as Attorney General [x]

Donald Trump doesn’t think Palestinians should return to Gaza. [x]

Donald Trump says he’ll use US troops to “take over” the Gaza Strip. [x]

A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship. [x]

Donald Trump has banned trans women from women’s sports [x]

Donald Trump sanctions the International Criminsl Court. [x]

A judge has paused the federal “buyouts” [x]

DOGE: Member of DOGE resigns [x]

DOGE has been given access to the Department of Energy. [x]

Miscellaneous news about Elon Musk [x]

DOGE is using AI to infiltrate the Department of Education [x]

Russell Vought, author of Project 2025, has been confirmed as Director of OMB [x]

Democrats in Congress have introduced the Taxpayer Data Protection Act [x]

Donald Trump has flagged the words “women” “diverse” and “historically” from studies done by the National Science Foundation. [x]

New Mexico Representative Melanie Stansbury has introduced the Nobody Elected Elon Musk Act [x]

Democratic Congressional leaders have introduced the Stop the Steal Act [x]

Donald Trump has called for a review of funding for the United Nations [x]

Federal agencies are barred from celebrating Black History Month [x]

Donald Trump has frozen aid to South Africa and accused the South African government of racism against white South Africans [x]

Donald Trump wants to use Leavenworth Prison as a migrant detention facility and have it run by a for-profit company known for its numerous human rights violations. [x] [x]

Trump has told the Treasury to stop making pennies. [x]

Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI) proposes the E.L.O.N. M.U.S.K. Act (which stands for Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy) [x]

Employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were told to stop all work and are now being told to stay home. [x]

Trump will impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum. [x]

Trump says Palestinians won’t be allowed back in Gaza if the US takes it over [x]

Tulsi Gabbard has been confirmed as director of national intelligence. [x]

Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA) has proposed a bill to change the name of Greenland to Red, White & Blue Land [x]

The DOJ has dropped the corruption charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams. [x]

An AP News reporter has been banned from the White House for using Gulf of Mexico instead of Gulf of America in its reporting. [x][x]

Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Angus King (I-ME) are pushing for a tax credit that would encourage businesses to offer paid family leave. [x]

Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA) has introduced the Protect US National Security Act [x]

The State Department (taxpayers) is paying Elon Musk $400 million for cybertrucks. [x]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been confirmed as HHS Secretary. [x]

Trump is conducting a mass firing of the federal workforce. [x]

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is creating a list of all the ‘woke’ science he wants to get rid of. [x]

References to transgender have been removed from the Stonewall National Monument. [x]

A 71 year old refugee living in Thailand has died because of the USAID freeze. [x][x]

Trump’s proposed tax cuts will add trillions to US debt. [x]

Trump is defying the court order to reopen USAID. [x]

Trump has stopped the CDC’s flu vaccine campaign. [x]

Trump is suing Brazil’s Supreme Court because of Brazil’s battles with Elon Musk over Twitter/X. [x]

Kash Patel has been confirmed as FBI director. [x]

Trump orders FEMA to stop their work with making homes better at withstanding natural disasters. [x]

Kash Patel will be named chief of the ATF [x]

Trump has tried to make independent agencies no longer independent [x]

$200 million of taxpayer money was used on a pro-Trump anti-migrant ad [x]

The House of Representstives passed a bill that gives more than $4 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy and cuts the budget for Medicaid by 80% [x]

Here’s a summary of Trump’s executive orders so far [x]

The Trump administration has issued travel bans for trans athletes [x]

Trump administration is telling federal agencies to prepare for more mass layoffs [x]

Elon Musk joined Trump’s first cabinet meeting. [x]

Trump is offering “gold cards” to wealthy foreigners [x]

Kash Patel names Dan Bongino as Deputy Director of the FBI. [x]

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has proposed legislation for the US to leave the United Nations [x]

Judge rules mass firings of federal workers is unlawful [x]

The Pentagon orders all transgender people to be removed from the military [x]

Representative Victoria Spartz (R-IN) was going to vote against the budget bill that would cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid; then she got a phone call from Trump who apparently screamed at and threatened her; she then voted yes on the bill [x]

Trump administration has cancelled boot camps for women training to become Wildland firefighters [x]

Here’s a link to the Project 2025 Policy Agenda that Donald Trump claimed he didn’t know anything about.*

*He only claimed he didn’t know anything about it after it proved to be deeply unpopular with the general public.

I’m also including directories for both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That way, if you’re so inclined, you can also track the individual actions of every Senator and Representative.

Miscellaneous News

Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) repeatedly uses a transphobic slur on the Congressional floor. [x]

Clarence Thomas is…being Clarence Thomas *sigh* [x]

Donald Trump fired the Chair of the Kennedy Center and named himself as the new Chair [x]

Trump said that no group of people in the history of America has been treated worse than the way the January 6th insurrectionists have been treated. [x]

Some people are impersonating ICE agents and harassing & assaulting people of color [x][x]

Trump’s mass deportation is hitting a wall [x]

The Trump administration’s incompetence is coming back to bite them. [x]

Target has been facing backlash for rolling back its DEI initiatives. [x]

Donald Trump Has Already Spent $10.7 Million Of Taxpayer Money Playing Golf [x]

The Kennedy Center cancelled a performance of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC [x]

21 DOGE employees have resigned [x]

Musk’s new conflict of interest [x]

Trump posted an AI-created video about his plans for Gaza [x]

Here’s a Washington Post story about the migrants sent to Guantanamo Bay and the conditions they’re facing [x]

Trump supporters are calling for “processing camps” and private militias to go after migrants. [x]

Representative Cory Mills (R-FL) has been accused of assault and the Department of Justice is refusing to investigate [x]

A child has died in the measles outbreak in Texas [x]

China and Russia are trying to recruit disgruntled federal employees [x]

Elon Musk is trying to force the FAA to get rid of their contract with Verizon in favor of a contract with his company, Starlink [x]

Elon Musk makes $38 billion in government contracts [x]

Trump thinks that Andrew Tate is a totally okay guy [x]

The director of the Defense Health Agency abruptly retired [x]

March 2025

Once again, please feel free to let me know about anything I’ve missed. With this era of constant news we live in, it can be easy to forget so let’s give our future selves a little help!

[magicofthepen]

The photos that NASAHubble & NASAWebb took of The Pillars of Creation inspired me deeply. I had to draw what I saw in the formation: A hand reaching into the universe. What an accomplishment for humankind and what a symbol for exploration and knowledge. Credit 2nd image: NASA

[magicofthepen]

(open pages for better image quality)

the moment I heard elphaba's delivery of "there's a girl i know..." in i'm not that girl i knew i had to draw this comic, i strongly recommend listening to it while you read for the full experience!

this comic is a companion to this piece (which was inspired by glinda's delivery of the same line in the i'm not that girl reprise).

pages 1-4 are from elphie's pov, pages 5-8 are from glinda's.

flower meanings in order of appearance:

[magicofthepen]

Painted an aquarium dress to go with the terrarium dress~ 🐟🐚🌊

Gonna paint a planetarium dress next ahahaha

Here's a short timelapse. The full hours long video recording, HD Image, and PSD file will be DMed on my Patreon on Feb 5th

the aforementioned terrarium dress

[magicofthepen]

Thinking out loud

[magicofthepen]

#like yeah romana textually hates her a little bit but the way livia always acts around romana is so charged #her asking romana to take a day off to grieve in enemy lines? #[spoilers for my mutuals who havent finished the time war audios] #the way livia kept warning romana and playing on her side during tw2 to the point of assassinating fucking rassilon #just because romana yelled at her to get a backbone #when even narvin wouldnt help her??? #her being in complete disbelief that romana could be dead in tw4 because despite everything livia actually believed in her #she literally dies in homecoming (still mad about that) to give romana and leela a chance to escape! #anyways. repressed lesbianism for your political rival for the win. (@the-oracle-of-the-lost)

if we're talking about gallifrey rarepairs today can we please talk about romana/livia because they've really been living in my brain since at least time war 2 came out.

[magicofthepen]

You won’t see this every day but making sure the system cannot proceed unless women have a seat at the table is the best possibly thing you can do in a place of privilege.

[magicofthepen]

saw some clown on here whining about other people not liking kissing and reducing it to the gross parts and that it’s indicative of a society that fears flesh (which yes it does but that’s not how to go about making the point) and blah blah fucking blah

anyway instead of being a salty bitch and getting into an internet argument with some stranger I’m gonna be a Big Adult and use my rage and spite to remind all of you that

hating kissing is okay, you’re not weird or broken or a prude,

whether you’re asexual or allosexual it’s fine if you despise swapping spit with another human being, it doesn’t mean you love them any less, and you’re FINE. love is expressed in different ways. humans celebrate each other differently, love comes in different forms, it’s fine if you only want to kiss people you’re close to or not at all or literally anything in-between, and shaming people for hating an act of intimacy is fucked up. show love how you want. enjoy the company of others how you want. you don’t have to see kissing as anything more than the gross parts, and “reducing” it to that or whatever is just as okay as romanticizing it as something more. it’s just some ritual humans made up, and we’re allowed to feel literally any fucking way in the world about it.

live your life. be free. 

[magicofthepen]