#-the credentials to fix it

[queer-crusader]

I am so sick and tired of being in pain for no discernable reason

[ereborne]

Song of the Day: March 15

“Over Yet" by Hayley Williams

[streetslost]

...the juvie idea might be exploding some things but in a good way. not changing immediately, got a lot to mull over, but this will keep me from getting to drafts this week most likely while i try and sort out all the thoughts in my head. ...ugh rewriting cat's backstory for the 2093842904 time is going to be a THING

[nikatyler]

i'm gonna go commit crimes at the ea headquarters

[steelycunt]

hi!! i love your writing style so so much. do you have any tips??? thanks<33

hii darling!! ok ill be honest i have been staring at this in my inbox all day. firstly thank u so much!! i would never ever claim to b in any position to give writing advice to anybody because i never, ever know what i'm doing, but i will do the best i can!! sorry if this becomes a little generic :-)

-> very generic, i know, but!! reading really is so so important. like i know everyone says it, but that's because its true!! read fic by writers whose style you admire, read published literature by writers whose style you admire, because the more u do that the more u will pick up on why you think certain techniques/styles are so effective, u will be exposed to more techniques, u will expand your vocabulary, and all of that impacts ur writing!! have said this b4 but my style is 100% just a hastily patched together quilt of every writer's style that i've ever enjoyed. the same goes for writing honestly in as much as: both reading and writing consistently makes you a better writer. its inevitable!!

-> something i try to keep in mind a lot when im writing is the details in a scene!! and this comes purely down to personal choice and style, but i find it makes my scenes n settings a lot more vivid. just, like, the brief inclusion of small details about a scene, like a prop or something in the background. just little marks of humanity, even if they aren't massively relevant...they can also be very useful to reflect a character's mood/personality or heighten the atmosphere in a scene :-) using all the senses and bending language n metaphors n imagery...i think one of george orwell's writing tips was never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print, and i am no george orwell and i definitely break that rule more than i want to but i think it's a good aim to keep in mind :-)

-> everyone edits differently but i find redrafting from scratch sooo vital. which again is probably quite basic advice but honestly its such an important part of my writing process i cannot emphasize it enough hjahcjgdfsdbh the first draft is just getting it down! even if there are bits that don't work even if you're experimenting with ur prose and it doesn't always go the way u want, the first draft is the chance to do that. and then however happy i am with a scene, i will always open a blank doc and put them side by side and rewrite it--once immediately after finishing the scene, and once when i rewrite the entire fic as a whole. even scenes where i actually felt i was already pleased with them n i was tempted to just skip rewriting them, if you write it out from scratch rather than editing the existing text i find you end up having soo many more ideas and improving it in ways you weren't even thinking abt before. you cannot underestimate the transformation it will go through during a rewrite!! especially if there is something wrong with a scene and you don't quite know how to fix it.

i feel like those are the major things?? sorry if this was not helpful at all gfhcdgbfhdg but honestly!! just write and have fun writing and have fun trying things out and write things which are really vague and big-picture and write things which are sooo small and specific!! write loosely n dont think abt it too much because that can all come later!!

[krisiverse]

btw so its not hidden in the tags of that last post: if ANYONE wants help with getting to sleep more consistently/fixing their sleep schedule, message me or send an ask.

[hsllfirescoopsreblogs]

╰┈➤ 18+ none of these stories belong to me! this is a masterlist of all spencer reid stories i’ve read and reblogged! just thought it would be nice to have them all in one spot! (if your fic is on here and you wish not to be, please let me know!) some will have summaries if provided <3

MASTERLIST 🦋 CRIMINAL MINDS 🦋 05/11/24

♕ @/deactivated account

♜ blurb

♕ @judeswhore

♜ easy fix

♞ after spending weeks searching for ways to ease the burden of his headaches, spencer has finally found a solution. you.

♕ @theonewiththefanfics

♜ heartbeat

♞ For seven months Y/N, the newest team member of the BAU, has been missing, kidnapped by an unsub they were hunting. But when the search comes to an end, Spencer doesn’t know how to feel.

♕ @januaryembrs

♜ i can see you

♞ Spencer may or may not have a little thing for the desk jockey on the floor below, and she may or may not have a thing for their silent elevator rides together.

♜ black cat girlfriend

♞ the team meet Spencer's new girlfriend and she doesn't look quite like they'd imagined.

♕ @rreids

♜ practice run

♞ going on a platonic date with spencer (for him to know what it's like) that becomes very real.

♕ @sweetestspence

♜ and then there were two

♞ the bau recruits a new agent whose credentials arguably match their very own boy wonder’s.

♕ @violetrainbow412-blog

♜ hearts pt2

♞ an intern pesters Spencer to get his attention and you help him get rid of it a bit, benefiting in the process.

♜ bolinus brandaris pt2

♞ Reid loves the gift you just gave him and the whole team can notice.

♕ @reiderwriter

♜ request

♕ @luveline

♜ don’t think i don’t like you

♞ Spencer calls you drunk and in need of rescue. You confess a few secrets to him while he won’t remember them (or so you think)

♜ bombshell!reader

♜ married!reader

♜ bombshell!reader

♜ shy!reader

♜ bombshell!reader

♜ bombshell!reader

♜ roommate!reader

♜ roommate!reader

♜ bombshell!reader

♜ badass!reader

♜ roommate!reader

♜ bombshell!reader

♕ @tlou-reid

♜ visitors list

♞ when spencer goes to prison, his visitor's list seems to be missing a name.

♕ @cerisereids

♜ please don’t have somebody waiting on you

♞ spencer reid is your best friend. you’re in love with him, he wants someone else.

♕ @rynbutt

♜ safe

♞ You were pregnant but JJ had just left the team and they needed you. You hadn't told anyone; you hadn't even told Spencer.

♕ @atlabeth

♜ take my breath away

♞ you help spencer train for his fitness exam. he kind of just wants to kiss you.

♜ pretty boy

♞ spencer walks in one day with a new look. you handle it pretty well.

♕ @reidsdaisies

♜ adorkable

♞ spencer just looks too irresistible in those damned short-shorts.

♕ @dr-spencer-reids-queen

♜ you already said yes

♞ Spencer comes home to find your wedding ring on his office desk, and his thoughts run wild.

hopefully all links work, let me know if not <3

[dear-ao3]

hello and greetings to all my friends moving into college dorms this time of year!!!

while it is a well known fact that college dorms are often not cleaned at all between people, it is important to tell the administration about things that are absolutely Abysmal.

for example: things that are beyond broken, extremely dirty conditions, clear evidence of vomit/bodily fluids, anything that plain doesn’t work, etc.

to be clear, i am not talking about things that can be fixed with a bottle of clorox wipes, some disinfectant, or a screwdriver. these are things that are either a health hazard or are not in proper working condition.

my credentials on this matter: i was a resident assistant for 2 years. i’ve seen some shit.

here’s what you can do!!!

do not try to talk to anyone in person ESPECIALLY on move in day. all administration that can deal with your problems are probably dealing with bigger problems. move in day is an absolute mess. don’t try and bother res life on move in day unless you physically cannot move into your room for some reason (like there’s a clear cut maintenance problem). you can try to talk to someone, but chances are it won’t get you anywhere other than frustration. it sucks, but that’s the reality of it.

take before and after pictures!!! document everything!!! make sure your pictures are clear, take photos, etc. you will need these. show what you did to clean/fix the problem if necessary.

send a long and detailed email to the following people: the director of residential life, the head of facilities/ building management, the office of accessibility/ student services/whatever it’s called on your campus (even if it is not an accessibility issue usually these people are the fastest to respond), and the college president (often they won’t respond but it gets everyone else’s attention). if applicable you can also send the email to the head of campus safety/security and student health services/ health center). include your photos and make the email as long and detailed as possible. send this email ASAP. you need a paper trail. if you got get a response in three business days send a follow up email and go down to the res life office (often they will say they are busy and no one can speak to you, but sometimes you just have to annoy the crap out of them)

tell your ra. tell them multiple times. a lot of the time they can’t do anything about it, but they can tell their supervisor about it.

keep pestering people until you get an answer. don’t feel bad about it. you should not be paying tuition to live in a shit hole that violates health codes. a lot of the time they can’t move you elsewhere, but the school should still know about the problem.

get your parents involved as a last resort. generally offices hate dealing with parents but if you’ve exhausted all other avenues then go ahead and do it.

i wish you all the best of luck, remember that you are in college to learn and learning how to deal with stubborn administration is definitely one of those things. a little dirt is normal, but sticky carpets, broken glass, broken thermostats, etc, are not. you’re paying to go there, get someone to fix it.

[hotfuss]

Ideal job is me researching photo credits or higher resolution pics of my little silly musicians I'm interested to

[transmutationisms]

an issue people like to point to in a lot of public discourse is that many people have never been given the tools to evaluate the reliability of information---this goes for scientific studies, news reports, information disseminated by doctors or think tanks, &c.

liberal efforts to combat this problem tend to start and end at advice to "find and listen to a trusted authority"---by which they mean, someone with a professional and/or academic credential. the obvious problem with this strategy is that many credentialed people are also full of shit, and credential-granting institutions themselves have ideological purposes and ends. that is, an md or a phd or any other expert certification is not value-neutral or apolitical. teaching people to defer to authorities and experts is not the solution here.

the secondary liberal response, if you can walk them up to this point, tends to start and end with "teach people how to evaluate which experts are trustworthy"---but of course, in the liberal imagination this education must always and only take place under the aegis of a suitably credentialed and officially approved institution. it's like an endless redux: "ok, this particular authority might be bad and propagandistic actually---let's find the correct authority to fix that!"

as long as you're not giving people the tools to evaluate, engage with, and challenge expertise themselves, all you're doing is continuing to replicate the same power structures but with different faces swapped in as the source from which the ultimate epistemological authority emanates.

[torturedpoetemotions]

People miss the point about Dean's interaction with Marta the post office lady in 14x13 so hard and it's FRUSTRATING.

No, it's not a reversal of the running gag about older women finding Sam attractive (which is gross anyway because it usually involves playing his obvious discomfort at being touched without consent for laughs). It is also not just Dean trading on his looks and flirting to get what he wants.

The point is to illustrate a significant difference between the brothers!

Specifically how they interact with the community of Lebanon, and what that says about their characters.

At this point in the show, Sam and Dean have now lived in Lebanon for like, six and a half years. And yet Sam approaches this woman like he would approach any stranger or witness in any random town in the country. And she reacts to him like any witness would to a strange man asking questions--with caution and some level of suspicion. It is incredibly clear that they don't know each other at all, despite how long they've been living in the same community.

But Dean knows her! And not just by sight and in passing. He's on a first name basis with her! He asks about her grandson and she readily answers! She knows his first name, too! They very clearly have an established report and have talked many times, enough times for her to have complained to him about her "spoiled little jerk" of a grandson!

This scene establishes that Dean is a known entity to at least some of the people of Lebanon. A known and LIKED entity. Trusted, even! He has truly put down roots there in a way that Sam has not, despite them living there for the same amount of time. He's bonded with people he sees regularly. He has little interactions with them offscreen all the time. That tells us something about Dean as a character!

And if it's a reversal or play off of anything, it's 1x11 (Scarecrow) when Dean fails to convince a couple who is in danger to let him fix their car so they can leave town sooner. Dean assumes (incorrectly IMO) that it's because HE specifically comes off to "normal people" as abnormal and dangerous, whereas Sam would be able to convince them with just a sincere look. In reality, of course, it probably has more to do with Dean being a total stranger, with no obvious credentials for car-fixing other than his word, in an unfamiliar place, than it does any inherent quality of Dean himself.

Because the key is, Dean isn't putting in any special effort in either scene. The way he approaches the couple is a contrast to how he usually handles cases. There's no costume, no subterfuge, and no alias. He isn't trying to fool either the couple in 1x11 or Marta in 14x13 into liking and trusting him. He's just being himself and telling the truth in both scenes (maybe not ALL the truth, but the essential basics). It works on Marta because she already knows and likes him. It doesn't work on the couple because he's a stranger to them.

So in 14x13 (and at other times in the show too) we see that Sam is not any better with people than Dean, especially when he makes no effort. He in fact gives off somewhat alarming vibes to strangers when he doesn't present with some kind of subterfuge that engenders immediate trust (i.e. being an FBI or insurance agent). (Think of Amelia's initial reaction to him in season 8 for example.) And this is true even for people who have almost certainly seen him around before, in the town he's lived in for over half a decade.

And the fact that he has made no effort to get to know his neighbors is telling in itself. Sam isn't any more automatically trustworthy to regular people than Dean unless he puts in specific effort to be. Costumes and aliases, fake credentials, even that specific face and voice he uses to talk to witnesses are all effort he has to put in. And that effort is not something that comes naturally to him or occurs to him outside of the context of a case. (I think we also see in season 6 exactly how much conscious effort those things require of him, given that without a soul he not only lacks personability but is downright impatient with and insulting to people.)

It's actually Dean who's good at building bonds, establishing casual report, and eliciting trust from people. And moreover, it's Dean who thinks to make the effort to do so. Sam is better at leading hunters specifically, but that's a whole different story and meta.

[signedkoko]

I saw Charlie and Vaggie in your masterlist but there's no writing for them yet?? Well then I'll be the anon to change that!!

Could you do a plaronic oneshot/headcanon with Charlie and Vaggie (separately or together, whichever you prefer), where reader is the first resident at the Hotel? Think they were there before even Angel. Something about why they went there, how they get along with the others, etc. I'll leave it up to you!

Charlie X Reader X Vaggie [Platonic]

In which the two are happy to invite you to the hotel as their first resident. Reader is genderneutral.

It was an honest mistake

When Charlie was first looking for a spot, the hotel fell into her hands after being owned and neglected by the family

And in its disrepair, they needed someone who could help get it to hotel standards

That's where you came in! They saw your ad for interior design on TV once, and Charlie was quick to call you in to ask for your help

Vaggie wasn't so sure on the idea—not that you could do anything messed up—but she figured something as simple as interior design couldn't be that hard, right?

Either way, they had a lot on their hands, and Charlie was convinced hiring you would get a lot off their plate

When you arrived, you came prepared!

A huge book of samples, another with hundreds of paint colours, wood finishes, and inspiration booklets

But most curious of all, you were kind

You sat down with the two and asked all about their hotel—the first time Charlie had ever been prompted—rather than having to start first

Not only did you think it was a wonderful idea, but you offered to do the consultation free since it counted as 'charity' work

You were a self-owned company, and there was no such thing as 'charity' in hell, but you didn't need to tell them that; they seemed so full of hope

That evening, the two offer you a room to stay the night in, so you can get a feel for the vibe of the place

Unfortunately, when you awakened to several emails from your landlord saying you were being evicted for being past due, you realized you'd be on the streets

The worst part was telling them after they'd been so kind to you, and that's when Charlie offers for you to stay until you can get back on your feet

" It's okay! I mean, we can still hire you to work on the hotel, right? It's a long-term project! We can fund you until you finish! "

Besides, your prices aren't terrible, and they were already going to hire you, so why not?

It was a slippery slope from there, you helped them get all the rooms in order, helping customize as the 'first' guest, Angel, came to stay

Slowly but surely, it was assumed that you were also staying to get clean as well

Though it was called into question several times what exactly made you such a bad person in the first place?

" To be honest with you all, I was never an interior designer. "

You were just a talented scammer who lied about credentials to get a job

" Not that I planned on scamming you guys! I just, usually I'm hired by the wealthy, and you know... But I really do like interior design! I just never studied it. "

It comes as a surprise to most, but it explains a lot

In the hotel, you are closest to Charlie; who isn't! You are both creatives, and she was the one to welcome you so warmly

Vaggie is also a sweetheart, as much as she hesitates to get close to you

Though your muse is Alastor

He handles a lot of the transformative aspects of the hotel, and so you get used to making detailed maps and plans on how a certain area needs to look so he can fix it up for you

Of course, he always adds his own spin, which leaves you huffy

The only time you hadn't designed something was the mess of a bar, which Alastor insisted was 'state of the art' in his time

You let it slide, but very begrudgingly

Overall, you've become something of a 'permanent' designer for the hotel, mostly handling the customization of rooms

While your title of 'first guest' is in the air, the others still consider you such, and you do your best to stay out of trouble for Charlie

Besides, with the money you made, you're able to run your business from the hotel and can start working on getting certified as a designer!

Author's Note - I love these two! I agree, finally I can add something under their names on the list 🖤 Thank you so much for requesting!

[sassypantsjaxon]

Fuck it. UA instructors as...things the staff from my college have done, I guess?

Because it's been three and a half years since I graduated and I miss that place every single day

Principal Nezu

Principal Nezu has everybody's names, faces, and quirks memorized before the first day of school. This is never acknowledged.

(Recovery Girl also learns everybody pretty much right away, but she interacts with them a bit more directly than Nezu, so it doesn't seem quite as weird)

Somehow Nezu manages to both be so chill and yet have no chill.

Nezu once texted Mic to ask if he was available for a call about some program at school and when Mic didn't answer within 15 minutes because he was DRIVING Nezu just called him anyway and was like "is this a bad time? I can call you back :)" Like, no,no, We're both here now, let's have this conversation now. Go ahead

One time Nezu pulled the Big Three out of their classes and brought them into his office to sit them down like he was about to have a Big Serious Conversation, and then he just says "Do you think...it would be possible for you to visit the first year hero classes...and tell them about your experiences? :)" Mirio and Nejire are both going "yeah, sure", while thinking why did we have to get pulled out of class like this was something really important? Amajiki is hyperventilating.

Power loader

Power Loader is like some kind of cryptid.

He just shows up when things need to be fixed, fixes them, and then disappears again. He never says a word. Don't question it, just be grateful and let him stay in his hiding place

Random knowledge. Whenever the rest of the staff has some random question that no one else can answer. Ask Power Loader. He knows. He always know. Don't question that either, he's just one of those kind of people

Power loader and All Might are the only two teachers who were asked to come to UA instead of having to apply

13

Actually 13 falls somewhere inbetween applying and being asked to join the staff, because she kind of created her own job.

She just had a meeting with Nezu one day to be like "Your students need an Unforeseen Simulation Joint! Here's what that means and why you need it" And Nezu went "... :) You're hired!"

All Might

Toughest person anybody knows. Can not handle spicy food.

Everybody loves him. Anybody who doesn't isn't cut out for hero school. This is not bragging, it just happens to be true.

All Might once listed one of his credentials as BAMF. (Izuku absolutely lost it that day)

While discussing I Island with Izuku, All Might very casually stated "My ex husband lives there" as if that isn't an Absolute Bombshell to drop You can't just Say That and NOT ELABORATE WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE AN EXHUSBAND!?!!???? (Izuku lost it even more that day)

Present Mic

Mic has a bad habit of talking a little too fast. Nobody's ever 100% sure what he said.

Also he swears. Like. A lot. Like, he would get in trouble as a student for swearing.

There is a drawer on Mic's desk that's labeled 'Present Mic's Top Secret Hiding Place' and anybody who notices it is just like ??? because it's clearly labeled and Not a Secret. But Mic is very scatter brained and will lose anything as soon as it leaves his eyesight. Having a specific place to put things help with that.

EraserMic

Married. But they don't really talk about it, and they don't act married in front of the students, so a lot of them don't realize it

It's actually surprising because they have pictures of them and their kids on their desks. All you have to do is go to the teacher's office. It's not a secret. It's right there.

There's a class for the second years on like, heroism and personal lives or something. Eraser and Mic get to teach part of that unit because they have experience being married heroes.

One year when Aizawa says that he's married to Mic one of the students asks him why

That same year, when Aizawa reveals that there is one teacher he will never be friends with (like, even more than all the other teachers), just because they have nothing in common other than working at UA, and the same student asks him if it's Mic

People assume Mic gets special treatment as Aizawa's husband. This is not true. If anything, he's more likely to get the short end of the stick and be asked to cover for Aizawa.

Eraser Head

Aizawa forgot that there was supposed to be a chaperone for the remedial licensing training and said he would probably be the one doing it. He was not. He sent Mic. Thus proving the previous statement true.

Bad at interpersonal relationships

Has a bad habit of mumbling. Students are never 100% sure what he said

At some point, the people around him start referring to doing anything overly rational as 'pulling an Aizawa'. Yeah. ...yeah...

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Do you do “cuteness”/safety ratings?

I do not. I am not a fan of the concept of “ratings” blogs in general, honestly. There’s a couple of reasons for that.

Firstly, I am a Tumblr Old, and every ratings-type blog I’ve ever seen that existed to tell people if animal content was okay or not has imploded over time. Sometimes that has been related to their content/topic of choice, sometimes not. It happened when the first blogs like that showed up, and it’s still happening now. Either way, they seem to be a direct path to endless drama, and I want none of that, thanks.

Second, ratings blogs have to be really, really tightly curated to the expertise of the blogger in order to be trustworthy, accurate sources. And when you’re in a position of being seen as an expert on animal stuff by the internet, it’s incredibly tempting to step outside your area of expertise to pass judgement on things. People like your opinions and want to hear them! You’re respected for your knowledge! It is a seductive, seductive path to being far too comfortable speaking outside your wheelhouse.

This is actually part of why the blog slowed down a few years ago and eventually went on hiatus for a while: as it got more and more popular, people wanted me to cover more and more things, and I ended up kinda paralyzed by the need to do so much research in order to respond to those requests. I didn’t want to spread misinformation, but it was so hard to just say no and not try to answer questions. I’m much more comfortable now setting boundaries for myself about what I know enough to address and what I don’t have the appropriate credentials for.

Third, to do any successful science communication - which is what running a rating blog effectively is - you have to know what you don’t know! This is something that comes with time and professional experience in a field. You can’t speedrun it or skip it. And if you don’t know what you don’t know on a topic you want to write about, you’re at high risk of spreading misinformation. Guess what? I know this one from experience! There were times I overreached in the early days of WADTT, either because I didn’t know I was unaware of something, or because it just felt so good to have people want to know what I thought! (My goal is to find the time to go back and share those posts with updated, corrected content and commentary).

As mentioned above, I do a lot of work to be comfortable with not knowing things. I either do the research needed to find an answer when I run into an unknown, admit I don’t know and can’t answer, or simply don’t engage with the topic if I can’t contribute productively. This is where a lot of ratings blogs run into issues, as they generally reflect just the individual knowledge of the blogger(s) writing them. There’s a big difference between having an opinion that you discuss with your friends, and having an opinion that you share with thousands or tens of thousands of people. If you’ve shared an incorrect opinion about something in a way that’s amplified across tumblr, even if you fix your mistake publicly, there’s no way to stop the earlier misinformation from continuing to spread.

And fourth, there’s that word I keep using: authoritative. Content that provides a rating is very black-and-white. This is bad. This is good. Do support this, don’t support that. Unfortunately, there are so, so few situations involving animals are actually that clear cut. This is especially true when we’re talking about recorded animal media, like photos, videos, and even documentaries, because a lot of the context has been removed. So that authoritative perspective? It’s really just someone on the internet telling you what you should believe.

I’d rather teach people how to think about animal content and draw their own conclusion. People gain so much more knowledge from engaging with the concepts themselves. If you just give someone an answer about a video being ok or not, for instance, they don’t learn how to assess the next one themselves. But if you teach them what questions to ask, how to work through what they want to learn, how to assess context, and where to find the information they need, they’re able to do it themselves with content in the future. Teaching and encouraging independent analysis of animal media is a much better way to stop misinformation or unethical content from spreading compared to just telling people some stuff is bad and they should stop sharing it.

So nope, no ratings here. Sometimes I’ll comment on things that my professional background allows me to be comfortable having an authoritative opinion on (e.g. the danger of unmonitored interactions between dogs and babies) but most of the time, I’m going to tell you what I see, what I know, what I don’t know, and what my thoughts are and why. My goal in running this blog and teaching people is about the journey, not the destination.

[csuitebitches]

I apologize for the long ask and if this question is a bit juvenile but objectively, how can one “gain” pretty privilege/gauge how they are viewed? I’ve done well in career pursuits for how early on I am ( I graduated in 2020) but started noticing that the invites to events/opportunities where one can really establish themselves not only professionally but socially, I was getting passed over by some higher up colleagues. In speaking to a female mentor who is related to my field and the same background as me (Black), she alluded that while my race may play a small factor in it, it’s more so my appearance that may be holding me back as the personality and poise is there. Some coworkers of mine who are brilliant and POC have similar credentials and positions as I and while we are all wonderful and hard working, they (who I feel are more beautiful and put together looks-wise) have discussed privately to me they have noticed a difference in treatment between us. While it’s not right, I am adult enough to know not to let things that can be fixed hinder the life I want. Your page is a wealth of information and I appreciate how encouraging you are!!

well. I’m going to be very blunt.

it’s all fun and games to say “oh fuck the beauty standards they’re terrible and they shouldn’t exist” yes, true, unfortunately they do exist and they play a bigger role than we imagine it to be.

the first thing you have to get right is your mindset.

you need to be strong enough to admit that you need changes in X, Y, Z area but not in A, B, C area. You also need to be a little loyal towards your racial identity (for the better or worse) because that’s what is going to make you stand out.

if you have a sensitive, overly emotional mindset and you get hurt very easily / become obsessive by nature, I highly recommend you to STOP reading now.

Understand what is considered pretty in your country and area. Even in one country, beauty standards can different from the north and south. Don’t exactly try to become attractive for the opposite sex but understand what they find attractive because these guys are your primary responders to your pretty privilege. Women will be kind on the surface and so it can be difficult to get constructive criticism from them.

Understand what YOU consider pretty. Who are the women who you think are crazy beautiful? What do they look like, dress like, how’s their hair and their make up, can you replicate any of it? Rule of thumb when it comes to hair and beauty - look at influencers / celebs who are of your racial background for the best fit.

there are always a few things that are universally considered “respectfully attractive” not “you wanna fuck me attractive”- semi modesty/ modesty outfits (my father always told me that when in doubt, go for a more conservative look), hygiene, well kept hair, clean nails and toe nails, soft skin, natural make up, natural hair colour, perfume, clothes that fit, skin care, a workout routine.

pretty privilege is not just the art of looking pretty. It’s also bringing in something of value on the table. Value = money / connections / knowledge/ humour / being the fun social person / whatever value the target group considers to be the most important for you to be relevant to them. Work on your soft skills. It’s better to look half baked but have solid soft skills than to look amazing and not know how to converse.

things that one normally notices when meeting someone new:

Skin - is it clear, is the make up overdone?

hair - is it messy or does it suit your face structure?

how you smell

teeth, when you talk - and dental hygiene

shoes - are they filthy?

shirt/ top - does it fit you well (always check that the seams on your shoulder and your actual shoulder line up), the colour of your clothes

body type, posture, how you carry yourself

start with incremental changes. Make a list of things you think you could improve on (this is not a list of “ugly” things, it’s an “improvement/ potential” list). Sort them according to ease of improvement (is this going to be expensive and difficult or affordable and easy?) and time (can this be done overnight or will it take some time).

Use point 1 and 2 only as launching pads. You do not have to look like Beyoncé, you’re simply understanding what her MUA and hair stylist does for her that could work for you. After a point, you have to ensure that YOUR identify sticks out and is still there, you’re not born to imitate someone else and also, it’s very obvious when someone is trying to be someone they’re not.

again. I repeat. If you’re going to get obsessive and make yourself sick over this it’s NOT WORTH IT. If you’re not mentally capable of making these changes, do not go through it.

[emeraldspiral]

Imagine Zim doesn't give up on his mission before he and Dib are out of skool like he does in a lot of ZADR/ZADF fics. Like, they've transitioned into a new life stage, but he's still trying to take over the earth in an adult setting.

Every week he's getting a new job, not because he needs one since he's still getting a military salary, but because he thinks he's "infiltrating" every job to learn its secrets and access a means of enslaving the human race. He goes to college just because some of the places he wants to infiltrate require a degree and 5-10 years experience and it just doesn't occur to him to forge his credentials. Eventually the Tallest cut him off, his base falls apart and he can't afford to fix it, so he has to move into a shitty apartment and get a steady human job for real. He dreams of one day being able to afford to build a new base. Unfortunately, the cost of those kits has skyrocketed, along with the type of fuel his Voot Cruisr takes and the cost of shipping food that's actually edible for Irkens all the way out to the Space Boonies, and the side-gigs he takes up to earn space currency just aren't paying the bills. Until he discovers he can make bank posting feet pics on Space OnlyFans.