#adulthood 101

[101suouexpressions]

"One step closer to adulthood" my brother in christ my baby boo my sweetie you are 16.

[projectadulthood]

39 Best Websites to Find Free Textbooks, Research Papers, Study Guides, and Books

Whether you’ve just received a long list of textbooks you need for a specific uni class or are looking for a particular book/research paper for a high school project, books (and journal subscriptions) can be expensive.

The good news is that there are plenty of resources online where you can find free PDF versions of most written materials, starting with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology and ending with Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Note that although some of the websites below provide access to copyright-free texts only, or texts that publishers/authors have agreed to share freely, others have been accused of internet privacy.

However, many people see open access practices as morally acceptable, especially considering the unsustainable prices of academic textbooks and papers.

To quote a recent paper on the topic:

"Since shadow libraries are a product of the cooperation between scholars, who contribute texts and other resources (such as donations, volunteer work, etc.), shadow libraries represent a ‘bottom-up’, radical approach to open access: a physical approximation of the Platonic ideal of knowledge sharing that would exist if there were no legal, economic, or institutional barriers to the circulation of scholarly knowledge."

Free Textbooks

Library Genesis

Library Genesis, or Libgen for short, is a shadow online library website where college students can find academic books (including those that are hard to find/very expensive) and scholarly journal articles.

The site also hosts general-interest books, audiobooks, comics, magazines, and images.

Z-Library

Z-Library is another shadow library website that hosts college textbooks, scholarly journal articles, and general-interest books. It calls itself “the world’s largest e-book library.” It mirrors Library Genesis.

The front page also features some of the most popular books at the time. When we viewed it, these included “Thinking Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and Harry Potter the Complete Collection by J. K. Rowling.

You can also use the right-hand navigation menu to see the books that have been added most recently, as well as sort through books based on category.

Use the Book Request option if you can’t find a book you’re looking for. There’s no guarantee your book will be added, but community members look at requests to see what books to upload (you can also upload books).

PDF Drive

PDF Drive is an online library with a ton of free ebooks and PDF textbooks in various categories, including academic & education (but also lifestyle, personal growth, art, linguistics, etc.)

ForCoder.su

Forcoder.su has lots of online textbooks on programming. It also provides free access to online courses, like Apache Kafka for beginners and object-oriented programming with Python. Currently, there are hundreds of free courses available.

Online Mathematics Textbooks

Online Mathematics Textbooks is your source for free digital textbooks on all things math. It’s just one page featuring 77 textbooks.

Tech Books for Free Download

Tech Books for Free Download is where you’ll find free science and engineering books on topics ranging from data mining to general relativity.

There’s no way to search for books easily. However, the site is divided into books on Linux, Java, Microsoft, C and C++, Perl/Python, Science, Networking, Database, Security, and Assembly.

Free Tech Books

Free Tech Books is an open textbook library. It provides access to free computer science books and textbooks, plus lecture notes. All the books and lecture notes listed on this site are freely available on authors’ and/or publishers’ sites.

You can browse books by category (computer science, mathematics, supporting fields, operating system, programming/scripting, miscellaneous), author, publisher, or license.

Directory of Open Access Books

Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) is a website that indexes and provides access to academic, peer-reviewed open-access books. All disciplines are covered, but there’s a particular emphasis on humanities, social sciences, and law.

Ubiquity Press

Ubiquity Press has been an open-access publisher of academic, peer-reviewed books and journals since 2012. It was founded by University of College London (UCL) researchers.

Research Papers

Sci-Hub

Sci-hub has the most expansive collection of research papers. Its mission is to “remove all barriers in the way of science.”

Directory of Open Access Journals

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is an online directory of open-access, peer-reviewed research journals covering humanities, social sciences, technology, science, medicine, and art.

The directory indexes journals from different countries and languages. DOAJ is supported financially by publishers, libraries, and other organizations.

Wiley Open Access

Wiley Open Access provides peer-reviewed open-access journals across topics like biochemistry, economics, sociology, mathematics, and law.

SpringerOpen

SpringerOpen publishes open-access journals across a wide range of areas, mainly STEM.

Elsevier

Elsevier publishes open-access, peer-reviewed journals. You can search for journals by title, keyword, or subject (dentistry, nursing, decision sciences, etc.)

Springer Link

Springer Link provides access to ebooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and other resources (mostly scientific).

BASE

BASE is a search engine for academic texts, including journals, digital collections, institutional repositories, etc. You can access about 60% of the indexed texts for free.

Study Guides

Bibliomania

Bibliomania has study guides to the most-read books, like “A Hero of Our Time,” “Animal Farm,” and even Irish politics. It also has over 2,000 classic texts, book summaries, author biographies, and more.

Books

Open Library

Open Library is an open library catalog of more than 3 million new and old books. The project was created by the nonprofit organization Internet Archive. It has also received partial funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation and the California State Library.

You can read old books without an account. However, for new books, you’ll need to set one up (it takes just a few minutes).

Internet Archive

Internet Archive is a digital library of ebooks. It also has free movies, music, and software.

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is a famous site where you can find lots of free books. There are more than 60,000 books in its collection.

Standard Ebooks

Standard Ebooks take public domain texts and make them as nice as new books. They fix typographical errors and typos, create cool cover art, and format the text for e-readers like Kindle and iPad.

Planet eBook

Planet eBook is where you can download free PDF copies of classics like Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

What really makes Planet eBook stand out is its UX. It’s one of those rare sites that are super easy to navigate and actually look good (aesthetically speaking).

The Ultimate Book Search Engine

The Ultimate Book Search Engine is an ebook search engine that includes 350 open directory sites that relate to ebooks. It was created by the Reddit user u/NotoriousYEG.

Classic Bookshelf

The Classic Bookshelf is a site where you’ll find lots of classic novels, everything from Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy.

Literature.org

Literature.org features classic works of English literature, both fiction and non-fiction.

Bartleby

Bartleby is a site that features both fiction and nonfiction books.

Fiction.us

Fiction.us has a ton of books, including fiction, short stories, children's picture books, poetry, books on writing, and plays.

Classic Literature Library

As the name suggests, Classic Literature Library is where you’ll find classic literature works.

Ideology.us

Ideology.us is a site that has ebooks on philosophy, psychology, sociology, politics, and education.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare is where you’ll find all of Shakespeare’s work. The site is run by The Tech, the largest and oldest newspaper by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

Read Books Online

Read Books Online has around 6,000 ebooks, including novels, short stories, poems, essays, plays, and non-fiction.

Public Bookshelf

Public Bookshelf is a site dedicated to romance novels.

Categories of ebooks here include contemporary romance, romantic suspense, historical romance, regency romance, inspirational romance, vampire romance, western romance, general romance, and fantasy and paranormal romance.

The Perseus Project

The Perseus Project is a digital library created by Tufts University with books from Ancient Rome and Greece, published in original languages and English.

Chest of Books

Chest of Books has books on a ton of different subjects, including animals, finance, real estate, science, and travel.

The Literature Network

The Literature Network has books by authors like Anne Bronte, Lewis Carroll, and Lord George Gordon Byron. It also features forums, literature summaries, and quizzes.

The Online Books Page

The Online Books Page is a site by the University of Pennsylvania that houses books in categories like philosophy, history, medicine, science, agriculture, music, anthropology, and more. The site also links to the following:

Banned Books Online: A directory of books that were once banned and links to places where you can read them in full.

A Celebration of Women Writers: A directory that lists online editions of literary works by women as well as resources about women writers.

Prize Winners Online: A directory of prize-winning books.

Many Books

Many Books is “your friendly neighborhood library.” It houses over 50,000 books in genres like romance, mystery, young adult, horror, and non-fiction. You can read books online or download them to your device.

Authorama

Authorama turns public domain books on sites like Google Books and Project Gutenberg into HTML format, making it easier to read them.

Audiobooks

Librivox

Librivox has free audiobooks that you can listen to from any device.

[shelivesingalaxies]

I don't think I know how to keep a friend. With all the grief days, the work exhaustion and the keeping my guard up and keeping to myself most of the time. There were times I had to step a bit because I was draining too fast and people need me still. There were times I was no longer as rich or available as before so people I thought were friends who turned family disappeared. In this life, I lost a lot. But I also gained a lot. I gained myself and people to protect. I gained new dreams and new goals. I gained a new kind of future I never would have expected to be available as an option.

Is it worth it? I hope so. I'm trying to make it so.

But if you let yourself be kept anyway, thank you :) Please remind me you are one every once in a while. And maybe along the way, you can help me learn to be a good one.

Thank you.

And to the friends I will make, I look forward to encountering you :))

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

Lately I've been thinking about the ways that families, and society, just aren't taught to celebrate queer people.

Probably the most significant life change that my sister experienced as a young adult was getting married to her husband. They are both lovely people, and their marriage was celebrated by an expensive formal ceremony surrounded by friends and family. There was catering and beautiful clothing and a hired band and dancing and photographers. My sister and her husband were surrounded by people who loved them, and were expressing their love and their joy. It was considered normal and natural for the occasion to be marked, and marked well.

The most significant life change I've experienced to this point in adulthood has been coming out as trans. Like my sister, I bought outfits for the occasion (but wardrobe essentials rather than a wedding dress). Also like my sister, I filled out paperwork to change my legal name (although the process was significantly longer and more expensive in my case, and the change was met with confusion and annoyance rather than congratulations). The similarities ended there. There was no party. No one congratulated me. There was no sense of celebration. Just the relief of "Thank hell the paperwork's over with," and the exhaustion of having to repeatedly remind disinterested relatives about names and pronouns and Gender Studies 101. Years later, most of my family still misgenders me behind my back, and frequently to my face. Not "on purpose." They just don't care enough to learn.

But hot damn, coming out means something, motherfucker. Queer self-discovery is hard and it is long, and it is an achievement. It deserves to be recognized, and to be celebrated.

Looking back, I wish I had celebrated. I wish I had dressed up and insisted on a family dinner at a nice restaurant. I wish I had told people to send me congratulatory greeting cards. I wish I had demanded to be celebrated. But it didn't occur to me, much less to my family members. That's the extent to which we are taught to ignore the significance of queer experiences. I went through a journey that transformed my life, and it didn't even occur to me to celebrate.

And even if it had, I would have had to celebrate alone, at least in spirit. Because the same people who were so excited to show up and celebrate my sister's marriage, this major milestone of her adulthood, just fundamentally did not care about the milestone I had reached. They barely acknowledged it; it didn't match their own experiences, and so they didn't recognize its importance. Crucially: they didn't offer me congratulations or celebration, because they were never taught to. And that's a pile of rubbish. All this to say:

Celebrate queer family & friends with the same gusto you celebrate cishets.

Bitch.

[emeliejeannie]

things I loved about Once upon a studio:

• Micky saying "thank you" to Walt Disney🥺

• Mirabel with a cat from Aristocats.

• Minnie covering her eyes in the men's bathroom💀

• Elsa freezing Hans.

• Prince Charming losing his shoe (ironic) Max then taking it, and Cinderella yelling "go Max, go!" after them😭

• Olaf getting called "frosty". then getting interrupted by the Genie.

• Snow White holding hands with Mulan and then the newest princess (I don't know her name, sorry. but I'll 100% watch the movie in theaters) Edit: I just found out her name is Asha!

• Tiana and Pinocchio talking🥺

• then Judy and Nick joining in.

• FANTASIA???

• Black Cauldron. (that movie traumatized me)

• All the characters in the elevator having a bad temper💀 (And I never thought I'd ever see Gothel in the same room as Donald Duck lol)

• the Peter Pan flying scene🥺

• Moana asking Merlin for help with Flounder.

• Kristoff warning the 101 Dalmatians about getting nightmares.

• Quasimodo's singing🥺

• Pooh getting dragged out of the picture frame by his friends💀

• Everyone singing "When you wish upon a star" at the end.

• MY WHOLE CHILDHOOD IN ONE SHORT FILM!!!

Anyways, Once upon a studio is such a beautiful work of art. Thank you Walt Disney for all the 100 years!

I loved seeing my favorite Disney characters interacting with each other. I loved geeking out whenever I recognized anything. I loved seeing all the precious memories from my childhood AND adulthood at once.

Disney will always and forever be close to my heart❤️

edit: 500 notes! wtf thank you????

[lalalian]

lifespans and age of riders vs dragons

date: september 22, 2024

A fundamental aspect of riders is their is link to dragons, yes, we know that, but what if one part of the link disappears?

The life of a human is a mere speck compared to that of a dragon-- do riders, a species similar to humans, age similarly to their human counterparts?

Today, I'll be tackling these questions!

dragon age

This has been bothering me for awhile-- if a dragon has a human form (cough cough, your dragon), they will appear to be the same age as you. Dragons are considered mature enough (mentally and physically) in the beginning of your second year to fly with a rider, so about maybe a 1 yr - 1.5 yrs give or take. Imagine teaching a one and a half yr old how to operate a plane or drive... riders and humans do not develop as quickly brain wise as dragons.

Dragons also don't take long to mature to adulthood. They're essentially a young adult by the time you have to graduate. Likewise, they learn fast, and many would be wise enough to support you academically (mostly with magic).

So... now that's out the way, let's get to the more interesting bits.

riders aging

The more you’re in tune with your magic, the more you’re intertwined with your dragon’s soul. After Aethergarde Academy, your lifespan will slow down drastically. Here's a short summary of the stages of life for a rider.

0-20: Pre-Rider Stage - You’re body is still getting used to its qualities in this stage. At 20, your body is about used to your heightened senses and niche (depending on when you go through an awakening).

21-100: Young adult

101-300: Adult

301-400: Older Adult - Some signs of aging may start to appear. Equivalent to your 40s (like this stage of life is considered similar to a human's 40s, but not appearance wise).

401-500: Mid-life - Equivalent to your 50-60s. You stop physically aging around here, most riders maintain an appearance of a 40 yr old because of the many sun protectant trinkets and creams.

501+: Elder - From 600 and above, if your dragon dies, you die! Keeping up sun protecting procedures will maintain your 40s appearance.

Because your lifespan's been lengthened to such an extent, I advise you to form closer bonds with riders rather than humans.

Do all riders, regardless of rank, age like this? No, only riders C and above age this way, though, the lower the rank, the more quickly your body ages. E and D ranked riders do age a little slower appearance wise, and are far more likely to live to 100. They typically don't live past 115~.

Higher ranked riders who retire tend to live for around 600 yrs. Riders who dedicate their lives to battle often die anywhere between 100-200 yrs old, though, more skilled riders tend to live well past this age.

do dragons live longer?

Dragons can be thousands upon thousands of years old. The oldest dragon that is currently alive (when you first shift there, I mean) is around 63,000 yrs old. His name is Siege, and he currently resides in the most opulent care facility in The Rookery. He has visited Aethergarde Academy a few times... he is always accompanied by at least 4 other dragons to help him throughout his trip. Siege is the only dragon who does not need explicit permission to enter Aethergarde and the other four schools outlined in the script, so he literally can just fly onto campus without reporting to Harklorn.

It is not uncommon for dragons to outlive their riders. Many may either die in battle or even be poisoned, but I'm sure you can imagine the amount of grief a dragon feels when their rider passes. Dragons often hide in their nests, or stay near their nests, for 100s of years. Dragons who have developed an extremely close bond to their riders will undergo a very deep depression, causing them to hibernate anywhere from 100 yrs to 300 yrs-- upon waking up, their body's are quite weak. Luckily, The Rookery has many many facilities for these dragons. Either workers will find these dragons and report them to The Rookery, or these dragons will simply fly to The Rookery themselves.

what if your dragon dies?

It really depends on when your dragon dies.

If your dragon dies within the first or second year you bond with them, assuming you're actively attending your magic classes, it's really hard to build yourself up magically. If your dragon dies before you undergo an awakening, you will go through an awakening soon after your dragon dies. This is due to the sudden change/disruption within your aura. Your awakened state will not be as powerful as it would be if your dragon didn't die. It's also not uncommon to get pretty ill, like I mean bedridden ill, soon after their death.

Despite your grief, it's recommended to continue focusing on controlling your mana and practicing magic to ensure that you won't lose the ability to do all forms of magic.

If your dragon dies after 4 yrs, also assuming you're attending your classes, you will not lose your ability to do magic completely, though, it's still recommended to practice casting spells or even just doing some simple mana meditation exercises to retain your skill. Not doing this can easily take you down a rank in terms of magic.

Why does this happen?

For most people, their dragon's aura makes up at least 3/4s of their supply of mana (for higher ranked riders, it's more around 50%). In terms of mana, you and your dragon essentially have a give and take kind of relationship. When one vessel dies, that mana can easily just be absorbed by the environment (some people actually don't try to maintain their skills, usually for religious or sentimental reasons).

Guiding that mana back to you will expand your mana capacity. Because those particles of mana are drawn to you due to your bond with your dragon, you can reabsorb them. This is the only way to expand your mana capacity after 20 yrs of age, though, it's not like you'll be stronger, you're just making up for the space you lost.

There is a way that you can absorb the mana of another dragon that isn't bonded to you-- even another rider-- but that is quite illegal.

dragon aging

Dragons can live for a lonnggg time if they get through the grieving process. Dragons usually die when their riders die, the mourning practices they go through is usually too tough for their bodies to handle even if they're taken care of.

This whole post is making me so sad... Honestly it's hard to continue 😭😭 Let's end this post on a less sad note with... Humans!

how do humans feel about riders' lengthened lifespan?

There is a bit of a divide on this topic-- some humans want their life to be lengthened, while others prefer to live short lives. Rider blood used to be used as an 'antidote to aging' but of course, drinking rider blood will not lengthen your lifespan or stop the aging process. It's the bond between the rider and their dragon that's keeping riders' alive for so long.

The government is always cracking down on 'youth potions' and 'death antidotes', there's always something related to dragons or riders involved in them. It wouldn't surprise me if there was like a 'youth fountain' filled with... rider piss and nail clippings.

Humans cannot drink dragon blood! Even a vial sized portion of dragon blood can cause many health issues, especially related to things like stomach acid regulation or stomach lining thinning. Oh, but some people still try this shit.

Riders actually can drink dragon blood, in fact, there are some potion recipes that do have some blood in them; however, it does have to be from your dragon. Drinking blood from another dragon typically just doesn't digest well, but it's not like it causes serious health issues (unless you drink a ton of it). Instead, riders simply get diarrhea.

If you do need a potion that contains dragon's blood, contact a potionmaker to custom make a potion. Usually, the potionmaker will tell you that a certain potion needs dragon blood. They'll hand you a vial; fill that vial completely and hand it to the potionmaker.

after reading into inzoi's generative ai controversy more, I just wanted to say that I don't use AI to write the storyline, worldbuilding, or plot of my scripts.

I do and think of everything myself, this is why everything takes so long.

The few things I have used AI for is to get ideas for names (I got Straus' last name from chatgpt) and I used chatgpt to write a summary of the scholarship Laurier offers (I didn't feel like writing that shit).

I would also like to note that it isn't a bad idea to use AI to write your scripts! It's hard to get ideas yall, I don't blame anyone that uses AI to write their scripts!!!

I do use AI to generate images for my scripts and of my DRself, so I'm not completely safe lmao😭😭

[christinesficrecs]

Not sure if this is still current, but I was directed to check out your page by someone! If you ware available to help, I'm looking for a fic that once was on ao3. Bamf Stiles and the sheriff both get abducted with some people, and they get taken to this warehouse. Stiles stays strong throughout it and it does flashbacks to the pack. Stiles e is up fighting, and BBEG ends up speaking this blurb about the BH pack. An archer that never misses, a banshee that resurrects the dead, but the most peculiar is the one who wears a red hood. I'm sorry if this has already been asked. I couldn't find it through multiple searches!

Glad you found it!

Hide Of A Life War by Etharei | 26.1K | Explicit

“We have received confirmation that there is a hostage situation in progress at a warehouse compound two hours out of Los Angeles, following a multiple-vehicle pileup on Highway 101 this morning...”

The one in which Stiles has lived to (legal) adulthood and, along the way, become a bit of a badass himself.

[horizon-verizon]

I'm still trying to see this complexity that TG has, and that's why TG stans like them?? Alicent changes her opinion and personality every hour, is the complexity of her still having any consideration for Rhaenyra? not have imagined that a war would start? or just have the same crying expression? Please....!! What complexity does Helaena have? supposedly having dragon dreams and not knowing how to interpret them? the girl doesn't say anything in 1S and everyone just thinks she's weird, she doesn't do ANYTHING! Aemond's complexity is that he was bullied and became a presumptuous arrogant who killed his nephew? and I'm not even going to talk about Aegon..... he's an abusive drunk but yes.... he's a complex character

A)

I think that "interesting" for them is actually"potential for high drama, spectacle, and foolishness just because" for some TG stans who say the greens are more interesting. Yes, the green side is actually a complex group AND they rely on fear (amongst themselves and sometimes against the blacks) & strategy...because they have to strategic in order to try to justify some of their actions or wrest the power Rhaenyra's allowed or could accrue at court. To wittle her already-given status as heir to a more passive role. And beyond-court, they wished to convince the realm that Aegon was the rightful king both before and a little after he's crowned. The greens basically had the task to work past the whole "my heir should rule after me" deal that many lords wanted to stay as solid and meaningful as possible by precedent while also arguing on the precedent set by the GC of 101...which was itself a vote based on the adulthood as well as maleness of the candidate chosen. So, again they had to be strategic and shady and underhanded. And that will inevitably give us more drama.

Funny. Ironic.

We already know that the greens were not that successful with the convincing part even with Rhaenyra at Dragonstone and their long success at isolating her, bc it is only Alicent's move to hide Viserys' body, imprison courtiers and servants, hurry to search for Aegon that enables the greens to take the throne at the end AND Rhaenyra still was able to have many more supporters fighting before and after her death for her and her sons' claims.

Which if this is why you like the greens and not bc you think Aegon deserves the throne or ay sort of leadership [bc we see how unwilling and determined he was to not allow his grandfather to actually try to rule him in canon for the very paradigm that develops from Otto-Alicent's style & aims, they created their own monster], valid. I admit, they make the perfect antagonists & foils to the blacks and they do what they are supposed to do.

B)

People, not just TGs, have cited Alicent's past affecting how she views her own and Rhaenyra's motherhood, that chain of abuse. I'm fine with this, this is true. As for Aegon, I wrote a whole master post for what I think is his "deal" HERE, which is long but you can really sum it up as him trying to prove how great of a leader and man he is in lieu of the all the years he's been on the side and Rhaenyra was Viserys' heir. Yeah his life and misery and nastiness is in part bc Alicent wishes to prepare him to become king and "peacefully" reestablish the order of patriarchal feudal primogeniture/order so she'd not have to confront her own suffering and still materially benefit from it in "exchange". This sentence in itself reflects more on Alicent's complexity than Aegon's.

Aemond? Show!him, as presented, is interesting in that he's going to show a sort of vulnerability from his inflexible role as his side's militant "guard" and his worth being drawn mostly from that. He is there to be the support to Aegon's claim. hamliet describes what I am saying well. "Love is a transaction for the Hightowers". He seeks to "prove" himself and tries to make the glory of a warrior replace real love, but it can never so he's a ball of terror.

And love is a transaction, conditional and more so than on the black side because the greens really rely on putting their children's bodies to some sort of use, from Alicent to Otto to Aegon himself and there is no recourse or sign of deep bonds where each understands the other, comforts each other, reaffirms their emotions etc., or tries to make them happy just for the sake of it formed between any green member. (prob should have made this part part of the 1st paragraph but idk how to):

Helaena's body is made into a breeding machine for Aegon's claim for Otto

Aegon is a tool for Otto's desire to move the crown how he wants and is thus not really asked to be a great leader so much as it there & take his orders/suggestions

Alicent was a Helaena for Otto

Alicent uses her kids to stick it to Rhaenyra (show & book) or else ignores them bc of the troubled context from how they existed even as she genuinely loves them

Daeron--if the show will show that dynamic b/t Daeron and Ormund--is suggested to be more of a tool for his way into high prestige behind Alicent and Aegon's own rise, which is why Daeron's sent to Oldtown in the first place, away from his own family for years...yes I know about fosterage, but I'm speaking to the effects this has on the actual bonds b/t these family member s being reduced to transactions towards their goal towards power

So this troubling, repression, and denial of love is itself intoxicating, and thrilling to people who even don't have to be part of any team. I don't blame them.

C)

This issue for me is then:

Alicent could have been a lot more coherent without the inherent benevolent sexism of her becoming Rhaenyra's only friend and underdeveloped writing that makes her a lot less rational, deliberate, & mentally vulnerable to manipulation than she was in the book....all of which undermines her "complexity" bc she becomes less active as a character much sooner than she does in the book

people say all this ethically justifies the greens' actions, determine that their moral examinations of psycho-social conditions yield the correct and only conclusions to then just reveal that they just want their thoughts to be the general thought in contrary to the evidence in text, or hide behind their real biases and need for validation of those biases through the greens

Don't get me wrong, the black side aren't angels and do heinous actions...but it is simply true that they do not create the conditions for the war to begin and are also reacting to the usurpation.

Moreover, the blacks are pretty open when they can be to be about their actions and Rhaenyra is also already the heir. But the show didn't explore her life as a mother, what her relationship to womanhood as a mother AND heir looks like without Daemon there, or her kids' development after episode 5:

Rhaenyra being reduced to her body (advertisement of "Realm's Delight"; affairs and talk of them)

her kids' understanding, more of this from episode 6 and how exactly they interacted with Alicent's sons...how does Aegon enlist them and their frustrations against Aemond and from their perspective; court interactions, including those with Viserys and Harwin or any of the Strongs; education

Rhaenyra's perceived lack of ability that really just comes from her society evaluating her gender

[book] how she forms bonds with women around her, her relationship with Daemon and their journey towards each other, her relationship with the other Velaryons (Corlys and Laenor)

Daemon as a father -> how he "settles" but not really -> how he navigates/learns to raise another life form(s) & instill pride in their heritage and family after years of his beef with Viserys and losses and his resentments he tried to allay or "make up for" through social advancement and by becoming a warrior/has moved for mainly his own validation [idk how to say this concisely]

how he met and developed whatever relationship he had w/Laena...Corlys and Rhaenys' reactions to that (yes, bring Daemon & Laena back from Essos sooner)

The blacks comparatively do not have to be as underhanded and sneaky, and yet you will also have green stans argue that they are entitled, malicious, terrible threats to a perceived order (a projection--the greens are more that bc they are going against the king's word and what I said above about heirs and precedents).

This and majorly bc of how much opportunity we lost from the writing of this show focusing on developing the greens is also why they appear as "boring" or uninteresting while overbearing, scheming, manipulative agents of destruction at the same time to some people, even though they have more than their fair share of drama and angst from the very hierarchies they are perceived to totally benefit from.

[ride-thedragon]

I see Laena casting discourse again. They really did age her up unnecessarily, and I do think it was to communicate how bad the whole picking child bride thing is while making her a suitable (young) match for Daemon. I genuinely remember the sheer disbelief that she was teen Laena.

Milly and Emily are Rhaenyra and Alicent from ages 14 to 20, respectively, somewhere in that timeline they become Emma and Olivia's versions of the characters. Nova is Laena from 12 to about 15, and then from 16 to 20-ish, she's played by Savannah, who then passes over to Nanna until 26, Laena is at best 26 when she dies. It's a less similar time frame for Laenor who , as much as I love young Laenor, should've been played by the same (teen) actor as he and Rhaenyra are the same age.

Back to Laena, I think they should've just casted younger and kept 1 Laena for youth and one Laena for adulthood like the other girls. Yes, she's younger but not young enough to need that much of a difference between episodes 1 and 5. I'm not promoting the sick comedy of Daemon and Youngest Laena, but that's the general point. You can't want to show the world we're in with Viserys and Rhaenys and then falter when it's Daemon's turn. Those actresses do not have a 4 year age gap. Even casting an older actress in both parts but changing their styling would make sense.

I'm not upset because I adore every Laena actor. They looked and found the prettiest actors they could, and they DIDN'T DISAPPOINT, but it was biased storytelling.

I think this was a case where hiring a young actress and allowing costumes and acting to tell a story would've worked beautifully.

Another way it would've worked was seeing as production and filming takes so long, hiring a young actress and filming baby laena at the start and teen Laena at the end of filming.

Are there no black 14/15/16 year old actors to hire?

I also don't like the fact that they cast Laena with much older actors when they are done with that initial point.

Nova is 14 now, and Savannah is 28. Nanna is 37.

They were 10/11, 25/26, and 34/35, respectively, while filming.

Respectfully that's insane.

They are playing 12, 16, and 26.

It's a clear oversight and is weird because yet again, they didn't consider the implication of a 16 year old black girl going after a 30+ year old prince. Or the idea of going from casting Laena with an actress younger than her age to two actresses a decade apart from her canon age.

Anyways: Casting 101

When 2 actors represent the spectrum of ages, your character is at (10 to 26), maybe cast between them for a teen version.

I don't like the inconsistent casting. I genuinely think the only reason I don't hate it more is because of the fact that the inconsistent costumes piss me off more.

No hate to the actresses again. This is about character continuity and not at all a reflection of their performances. They are our Laena's and the reasons we wish we got more of the character.

[ipsogender]

The Social Model of Intersex

I recently wrote up an explanation of the social model of intersex and here I'm gonna take what I wrote the other day and expand on it.

Exposition: Some Disability 101

The social model of intersex is based on the social model of disability so first we need to know that terminology:

The medical model of disability views disability as something inherently disordered, requiring treatment/cure.

In contrast, the social model of disability sees that what is disabling about a disability is how society treats disabled people. There aren’t ramps and elevators for wheelchair users. There aren’t enough people who know signed languages or Braille. Videos don't come with quality captions and audio description. Etc.

(image from here)

The Medical and Social Models of Intersex

The medical model of intersex is analogous to the medical model of disability. Being intersex is seen as disorder that needs to be cured. The terms disorder and difference of sexual development (DSD) are sometimes used by people who think of intersex this way. This is the dominant model that most people in Western society use to think about intersex, and similar to how the disability rights movement is resistant to the medical model, intersex people as a community want our medical model to lose its dominance.

The social model of intersex is similarly analogous to the social model of disability. It sees intersex variations as natural bodily variations. What sucks about being intersex is the intersexism - the stigma, discrimination, isolation, and shame that surrounds being intersex; the fetishization of intersex bodies (usually ambiguous genitals); the medical violence/trauma that comes from being coerced into gender-conforming treatments; and so on.

Authority and Gatekeeping

The two models have different epistemic implications, i.e, whose knowledge is important and valid. The medical model places (perisex) doctors and biologists as the authorities on intersex. Being intersex is a result of medical diagnosis, and doctors are the gatekeepers.

The social model places actually intersex people as authoritative, and what emerges from intersex communities is less emphasis on diagnosis and more emphasis on how your bodily variations have affected your life experiences.

And once you get people talking about life experiences and failing to meet a perinormative standard, it becomes apparent that common diagnoses like PCOS and gynecomastia are frequently associated with the same sorts of life experiences that people with diagnoses that everybody agrees are intersex.

For intersex people, having intersex be a big tent is an advantage. We suffer from isolation so terribly. Having more people in the community helps break that isolation. And having more community means more ability to mobilize against harmful practices like IGM.

Edit to add: the social/experiential aspect of being intersex is one of many reasons why intersex people react negatively to non-binary people saying they want to "transition to intersex".

The Futures We Want

For social model folks like me, the ideal future is that intersex people are accepted, respected, given considerate medical care that respects bodily autonomy, and given access to safe and inclusive community.

In contrast, medicalists think the ideal future is that there are no intersex people, because we have all been “cured”.

This is part of why so few intersex people find out their diagnosis is an intersex variation from their doctor (if they're even lucky enough to get and be told their diagnosis). This contributes to why so many intersex people don't figure out we're intersex until adulthood. Giving patients a label to help find social support and organize politically for better conditions just isn’t something in the mental toolkit of somebody who is stuck in the medical model.

Where The TERFs Come In

The medical model encourages the intersex community to stay fractured into different diagnoses, and to view us as rare anomalies.

This is why TERFS and other transphobes love the medical model of intersex. They cannot handle the idea of intersex being common. They need it to be rare so they peddle their narrative that biological sex is simple.

Even though the biology is clear that sex is really complicated and there is no clear line between male and female, and a whole bunch of middle ground, the anti-trans lobby isn't willing to listen.

To them, there is no middle ground. There is instead two separate categories - male and female - and with each categories you have a tiny subset of "disordered males" and "disordered females".

This is why we see anti-trans posters trying to sow doubt about POCS as intersex. PCOS is common. It affects primarily women. And recognizing hyperandrogenism PCOS as intersex is a direct threat to their messaging about sex and gender.

Summary

The medical model contributes to so much of the intersexism that intersex people face, notably from the anti-trans lobby and from doctors. We suffer from seen as being broken/disordered, from coercive medical interventions, and from the isolation that comes from being told you're uniquely broken. The social model allows actually intersex people to be seen as the authorities on intersex; and for us to find community, healing, and political power.

[101suouexpressions]

Welcome to 101 of Suou Hayato's expressions. Yes, it is sarcasm!

Suou only has like 3 typical expressions (with some exceptions in special situations) in 90 : 10 : 1 ratio, where he smiles softly x 90, is slightly surprised x 10, and is serious x 1.

In any cases, he's always very beautiful.

This blog is only made for fun and isn't a bot. All posts are manually published/scheduled, and are tagged with #101 suou expressions or #101 suo expressions (with and without the 'u'). Analysis/theory posts use the tag #wbk analysis (yeah, I do write those sometimes) and anything else will use #not an expression post.

Since the number of analysis posts is growing, I've opted to list them under the cut for quick access. Have a nice day!

Analysis posts in reverse chronological order:

Symbols of Takiishi and Umemiya in Ch.150

Symbols surrounding Boufuurin's leaders and their meanings

Boufuurin's Four Heavenly Kings and their Buddhism counterpart 

Suou, the one who values his words

[Theory] Umemiya was going to train Sugushita to become the next leader

Umemiya fostering Sakura to be his successor

How Umemiya seems to be the epitome of Suou's image of adulthood and a proper teacher/mentor

[novembermorgon]

veeerry intrigued as to what viserra and maelor mean for the dance... viserra gets a dragon? their kid gets their own faction? KING MAELOR? many possibilities

this is how i can tie all my ocs together into one alternate timeline with a little ribbon on top .

this one is tough... i'm so bad with timelines and making things slot together neatly. BUUUUUT.......... i think it'd be interesting if absolutely nothing else because there's at least one extra dragon in there with maelor's ebrion hanging around . i don't think viserra claims a dragon partially because there aren't really many around to claim but i think at least one or two of their kids get little eggs in the cradle so that's another two dragons in there .

realistically there isn't really any chance for their kids to make a claim on the throne by the time of the great council in 101 - with both viserys and daemon alive alongside rhaenys they're pretty far behind, but i imagine they'd ally themselves pretty closely with viserys especially because he's like a block of clay . easy to squish around and shape into whatever you want . maybe theyd even try to snake a marriage in there somewhere. i imagine in a situation where there are cousins present it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that daemon marries one of their children (assuming they'd have at least one girl .. i didnt think about it that hard . im sensing.... an even split with 2 girls and 2 boys with one of the boys not surviving into adulthood). would probably not be as hostile as his marriage to rhea but him marrying someone else and not being opposed to it makes the whole timeline here soooo different that it's hard to even really imagine .

if we're assuming everything is relatively the same until the start of the dance though .... at that point maelor and viserra's kids would be around rhaenys, daemon & viserys age - a little bit younger than them but like firmly adults starting to getting older. being that they were raised by parents who are definitely kind of inclined to scheme a little when given the chance & to some degree end up feeling sidelined just by being a little further down in the succession (especially when viserys decides to name rhaenyra heir over, in their eyes, more capable candidates) i think theyd be inclined to side with the greens . at least THEIR heir is a MAN which dad always said was VERY IMPORTANT . i guess they just sort of fit in better there . everyone some degree of bitter with a hate for fun.

i'm suuuper bad again at timeline crafting & pondering stuff like battles & wartime happenings but with an extra set of dragons (assuming idk one of their kids cradle eggs hatches and one of them claims maelor's dragon) i think itd be a much more even and later a much more one sided war . the greens probably hold king's landing for longer, but then shit kind of stirs up because yeah i think later on they'd be inclined to split off and make another side of the war here. clearly neither aegon or rhaenyra seem very suited to rule because the war has been a whole shitshow so why not crown someone older and more experienced . it's the pitfall of everyone in this damn family thinking 'after all why shouldn't i get to be king too'.

it gets messy i fear . theyd probably be relatively passive in terms of their involvement but after aemond and daemon die i can see them sort of trying to wrangle king's landing from either of the other factions and they manage to hold that power for a little while but the issue is they have no idea HOW to rule they just like the idea of it. and given they're sort of in an awkward spot in the succession they don't have anywhere to go like rhaenyra does with dragonstone - they're ultimately trapped in king's landing and when people start getting upset because they can't rule for shit they don't know what to do . maybe ends with a french revolution esque storming of the red keep that ends with them all just murdered . after which their dragons are left without riders and sort of fly off to wherever dragons go . manage to dodge the storming of the dragonpit because they were busy plotting when it happened

ultimately i dont think they'd live past the dance era and i dont think their line goes anywhere. sort of doomed from the start. viserra seeks help and safety with her brother so she doesn't need to marry against her will and ends up trapped in the same situation anyways. maelor is overconfident and believes himself better than he is and dies pitifully and gracelessly in the woods . their children live long enough to rise and fall but they leave behind no legacy and nobody to remember them . truly the jaehaerys alysanne kid effect

funny though imagine saera and her kids watching from lys . having a little giggle.

[barry-j-blupjeans]

If you're still accepting '101 ways to Say I Love You with Actions' prompts then 36. "Letting them lay across your lap to read." with anyone who takes your fancy would be wonderful!

36. "Letting them lay across your lap to read."

--

Lucretia has accepted a lot of things by now. She's accepted the fact that they don't (yet) know how to defeat the Hunger. She's accepted that she will probably never have a normal young adulthood. She's accepted that she's stuck rooming with Merle for now, who snores like an entire ogre in his sleep. She's accepted that she's probably gonna fuck up her wrists real bad with all this writing.

And she's accepted the fact that Magnus has decided that her legs specifically are the best place to read.

She's not complaining! Well, not out loud. Lucretia loves Magnus like a brother, but sometimes she does get the Cain Instinct. Magnus is big- much bigger than her, both vertically and horizontally. And he likes to read out loud. Never super loud, but if Lucretia was trying to read herself, Magnus's attempts at whispering under his breath were incredibly distracting. Lucretia was the type of person who could work in pretty much any environment if she gave it her all. That didn't mean she wanted to be in said environment, though.

It's never really been a problem before now. That being said, they had never been in a world with the largest library Lucretia has ever seen before now. This plane was completely devoted to learning and documenting new discoveries. In return for letting them study the Light alongside the crew, they had been granted full access to the library's services, including the books regular citizens were not allowed to borrow. Lucretia was consuming them at a lightning pace.

For the past few weeks, she'd come into the library first thing in the morning and start right where she left off. Often, another crew member would come with her. Barry and Lup, usually, if they had time between their work with the Light. Davenport preferred to check out books to read on the ship, and Merle had a temporary ban for tracking mud inside on three separate occasions (when it hadn't even been raining. Lucretia would have asked questions but by now she knew how Merle was.). Taako made a huge show of telling her that "reading was for nerds" and "I have better things to do", so Lucretia was content not bringing it up every time they came across each other on the shelves.

Magnus was kind of touch and go. Getting him to focus on something like this had always been a challenge, but with a world focused mainly on studies and books, he didn't really have anywhere else to turn. He had taken to setting up shop near Lucretia, and then next to her, and then quite literally on her. She had to move over to one of the couches because sitting at the table was not going to support both of them.

"Luce," Magnus said, poking the back of her hand. Lucretia blinked, looking away from her book.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you think they've invented fun on this plane," Magnus said.

"You're awful," Lucretia said, bringing her attention back to her book. Magnus squirmed.

"This is awful," Magnus said. "Do they even have sports? Is sport a thing? Is there a book about, I don't know, some physical activities or like, punching someone, or?"

"I'm sure there is somewhere," Lucretia said. Magnus groaned.

"I don't wanna read about it," he said. Lucretia was beginning to think she wasn't going to be allowed to read anymore. "I wanna do it."

"Who's stopping you?" she asked.

Magnus paused. He had his Considering face on, which was never a good thing. Lucretia might have just caused a terrible thing to go into motion. But after a long, tense second, Magnus rolled his eyes and said,

"I don't wanna right now."

"Fantastic," Lucretia said. "Great reason. Keep reading."

"I don't get why people enjoy it, is all!" Magnus said. "Like, the letters keep jumping around and it hurts my brain. And all of these are non-, uhm. Fiction? Non-fiction? Or is it-"

"Non-fiction is right," Lucretia said. "Also, is it like a dyslexia jumping around thing or like a, you can't focus jumping around thing?"

"I don't know what dyslexia is," Magnus said. "The letters are just wrong."

Okay. No. Lucretia wasn't going to be reading anymore. She put her (new, very fancy) bookmark on the page she was reading and shut the book, setting it aside. Magnus had already closed his book. He looked up at her expectantly.

"Okay," Lucretia said. "Tell me about the letters."

[fictitouscore]

BEST SOLOIST (MALE) IS A GRAND PRIZE AKA DAESANG AWARD!

Who's the best soloist in the fic? Meet the three amazing male artists who are nominated for BEST SOLOIST!

fictional idol soloist SEO SEJUN. former member of project boy group 1V1 (@archive-1v1). currently represented by C ENTERTAINMENT. explores themes of LONELINESS, SURVIVING ADULTHOOD, and BEING YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY. \\ @seosejun

Born in 2001 and the youngest member of Plastic Flowers, Oliver Song is a musical prodigy. Oliver was given the role of producer by the Superbloom representatives and has been working hard to emulate the success of his earlier work. In March of 2023, he also be the first member to make their solo debut. \\ @plasticflwrs

 HERO  (  히로  )  –  previously  known  as  WOONG  –  is  a  fictional  soloist  under  GLASSHOUSE’s  subsidiary,  MIGHTY  DEVIL  RECORDS.  his  solo  debut  was  one  of  the  most  anticipated  ones  due  to  him  being  wildly  popular  during  the  fourth  season  of  PRODUCE  101  (  PRODUCE  X  101  ),  where  he  ranked  SEVENTH  OVERALL  and  debuted  in  X1  as  one  of  their  members.  after  the  group’s  disbandment,  HERO  debuted  solo  mid-2021,  with  a  single  KILLING  ME  SOFTLY. \\ @anqelblccm

  ┈─★ ⠀⠀⠀CLICK HERE TO GET TO VOTING!

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

emotional angst because of a misunderstanding/miscommunication?

Definitely.

Lord knows it would be the first time by uraneia

(1/1 I 12,287 I Explicit I Sterek)

Stiles is home from Berkeley for the summer, but only because he promised the pack. He'd rather not see Derek, because whatever the thing was that they were doing, they're not doing it anymore, and it sucks.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have a choice. The betas tried a magical remedy for Derek's melancholy, and now Stiles has a three-year-old who looks like Derek. Stiles doesn't know how to deal with that, and he definitely doesn't know how to tell the betas he and Derek were secret fuck buddies for a year and a half.

Hide Of A Life War by Etharei

(1/1 I 26,105 I Explicit I Sterek)

“We have received confirmation that there is a hostage situation in progress at a warehouse compound two hours out of Los Angeles, following a multiple-vehicle pileup on Highway 101 this morning...”

The one in which Stiles has lived to (legal) adulthood and, along the way, become a bit of a badass himself.

Divided We Stand by KouriArashi

(29/29 I 156,742 I Mature I Sterek)

Derek is being pressured by his family to pick a mate, and somehow stumbles into a choice that they didn't expect and aren't sure they approve of....

[sticostudios]

Dorothy De vil

i love to introduce you all to my dark AU of 101 dalmatian street, Dorothy DeVil (art credit Danuki) (also warning this series has mature themes to it)

Let's bring you to speed to the ones unfamiliar

Let's talk bout 101 dalmatian street first 101 Dalmatian Street centers around a large family of 99 Dalmatian puppies whose names begin with the letter "D", and their parents, Doug and Delilah, the latter of whom is a great-great granddaughter of Pongo and Perdita. They often leave the eldest siblings, Dylan and Dolly, in charge while they are busy at work. The dalmatians live by themselves at 101 Dalmatian Street, located in Camden Town, London in the 21st century,with no human supervision as their owner Dodie Smith, an eccentric billionaire, left them her house and went to live on an island. Now for DorothyDeVil As the title suggests, the story is set in an alternate storyline where Cruella De Vil had not only won her fur coat but had also taken away Dorothy from her family to raise her to be just as cruel, vicious and heartless as her caretaker, thus changing her identity to a wicked vile beast that's the complete opposite of the innocent, carefree baby pup we knew and love There are six individual stories, each focusing on the characters in their adulthood, and how the tragic event had changed and affected these surviving victims.

The story mainly focuses on Devon, the pup of Dylan and Summer whos on a journey with his friends to find out the secrets of his family

More will come out but we need a good introduction for the AU i did on twitter