#the real scientific method

[the-untalented-photographer]

[bookwyrminspiration]

if I asked very nicely would you all be willing to take a one minute anonymous survey for my linguistics class. if the answer is yes, please click here. thanks :)

(sharing for a better response size would also be very appreciated)

[macabrity]

art 🤝 biology

[dw-companion-bracket]

Bit late now but I think separating classic who and new who would have been a good idea and a bit fairer.

well yeah, but also that would have been kinda less interesting, i've loved watching certain classic companions narrowly gain victories from what i thought would have been obvious nuwho sweeps (thinking especially about the ian/clara match) and also seeing which classic characters have ended up being winning and iconic (hi ian). tbh if there was one thing i'd change going back to the start, it would be not putting four characters from any category through, because that's what made it possible for there to (technically only potentially but probably certainly) be an rtd-only semifinal and final, although that's also in part a problem of assuming equality across nuwho eras and classic who eras as two broad categories, and then splitting every group across the four corners of the bracket rather than, say, putting two rtd characters into two of the semifinal feeders. idk, there's lots of ways it could have been done differently, but the "unfair" results are also part of the interesting bits for me

[enbycrip]

I was chatting to some folks on Discord about how many calories are in a tooth and if you still measured calories by burning and temperature increase like in high school chemistry.

And remembering that and that the most notable thing that sticks with me about that is “Burning hair stinky”.

And then realised I was being very unfair there; experimentation is totes how you learn stuff, and a certain amount of that learning process is setting fire to hair and melting pens, and in this age of AI we should fucking CHERISH that.

I’m very much in the humanities side of higher ed, but I’m hearing from the STEM side that a depressing number of students get to uni with perfectly solid knowledge and enthusiasm about everything from biochemistry to electronics but they do *not* have the practical familiarity and comfort with really basic scientific lab procedures like titration and aseptic cultures because schools have been pressured to basically have kids watch YouTube videos of people doing them instead for time and safety. Because people *do* actually learn valuable stuff by fucking about.

You get further and further from the halcyon days of early science of folks blowing sheds up and having fifty decomposing flasks of their pee lying around their lab. And something *does* actually get lost. Because people get further and further on the emotional level from “learning shit by fucking about and realising the schema they’ve been taught about the universe *doesn’t* fit the stuff they’ve discovered by fucking about”.

There’s some really interesting discourse out there about both capitalist corporations and increasingly authoritarian governments pushing STEM in higher ed so much because the humanities are causing them so many problems by teaching people things about media analysis and how to recognise the basic logical flaws in things you’re being told.

But ofc those same skills are actually *essential* for actual scientific discovery and pushing the boundaries of knowledge.

And STEM is also *genuinely* suffering for it.

(And ofc a lot of other things like “politicians not having a basic understanding of statistics” and thus preferring to risk the entire future of our species, for things that *will* affect them in their lifetime, rather than challenge populist arseholes).

[heckmate]

Not even kidding when I say that if I were to hypothetically make it big as a video content creator I’d never ever post reels on Facebook. What is it about that site that attracts the biggest tar pits known to man

[theorderofthetriad]

i'll be like "idk if ghosts are or aren't real" most of the time but if i'm watching a paranormal investigation show i become quite certain that ghosts are Fake actually

[ghoul-haunted]

solas babygirl do you not have an opinion on whether we should side with the mages or the templars in this close the breach storyline. as the theoretical physicist of this group, I feel like the advisors should be asking you, the one who stabilized the mark, about which is the smarter choice, instead of my inquisitor, mr. I Dont Remember Anything.

[tgcg]

bad mouther, hole master

TG: kissing with tongue is gross as hell

CG: COME THE FUCK OFF IT.

TG: what

CG: I'M SAYING SHUT UP.

TG: oh

CG: IT'S NOT THAT WEIRD. IT'S LIKE THE NATURAL PROGRESSION OF REGULAR KISSING TO EVENTUALLY INCLUDE THAT. IF YOU HAD ANY SEMBLANCE OF ROMANCE GHOSTING THROUGH THE DEVOLVING REMNANTS OF YOUR THINKPAN YOU'D APPRECIATE WHAT IT BRINGS TO THE NUTRITION PLATFORM OF ANY CONSENTING CONCUPISCENT RELATIONSHIP!

TG: youre talking about it like its a goddamn military weapon or some shit

TG: some kinda scientific fuckin method to fondle a dudes mouth with your own mouth thats

TG: thats gross

TG: this isnt supposed to be a debate before fuckin congress on the pros and cons of getting your mack on

TG: its i would say a reasonably personal thing to react about and thats just my reaction man you dont gotta arbitrate it

TG: and like why the hell do they have to linger on it so long in these movies do they really want me to immerse myself in people necking each other that much

TG: roll the sounds around in my earholes like im swilling a fine fuckin wine

TG: well my professional opinion is that shit tastes and sounds mad gross and tbh i havent seen a single movie where it was close to being any kind of necessary

TG: its just a cringy waste of everyones time

CG: YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, AND I DISAGREE WITH EVERYTHING THAT COMES OUT OF YOUR IGNORANCE GASH, YOU LUMP OF TIGHT-LIPPED CLUELESSNESS.

TG: did you just homestar me

CG: FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT, SINCE YOU'RE APPARENTLY DESPERATE TO START SHIT WITH ME RIGHT NOW: HAVE YOU EVER EVEN DONE IT?

TG: hell no

CG: THANK YOU FOR PROVING MY POINT.

TG: proving your point--

TG: bro have uh

TG: have YOU???

CG: EXCUSE ME? HAVE I WHAT?

TG: come on

TG: i walked into this stupid conversation with a fucking shovel and by god am i digging myself a damn hole big and wide enough for every dave across time to squeeze in so i might as well get cosy in this shit before we all start collectively shoving dirt in our mouths

TG: bet your ass im taking you down with me though

TG: grab your spade and get digging man

CG: GRAB MY WHAT????????

TG: just tell me

CG: ???????!!!!!!!!

TG: karkat

CG: NO!

TG: f-

CG: WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!!!!! WHAT PART OF "SHUT UP" DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND????

TG: wait no

TG: oh my god dude

TG: you can spin that shit all you want but you can do it the hell away from me

TG: i do not need to be hip to your weirdo foursquare fantasies

TG: patently not my business

CG: STOP RIGHT THERE. JUST SHUT IT. I AM PUTTING US OUT OF OUR MISERY RIGHT NOW. I AM CONDUCTING AN ACT OF MERCY ON THIS INSANE FUCKING CONVERSATION AND YOU ARE GOING TO ZIP YOUR LIPS AND TAKE IT.

CG: HERE IT IS: YOUR SINGLE OPPORTUNITY TO PRETEND YOU NEVER SAID THAT TO ME. I AM GOING TO FORGET YOU MADE A COMPLETE MOCKERY OF ME AND MY CULTURE THIS ONE TIME. AND LET YOU CONTINUE TO DIG YOUR STUPID, SHITTY HOLE.

CG: AND DAVE, I AM BEGGING YOU NOT TO WASTE IT.

CG: TO ANSWER YOUR SHOCKINGLY INAPPROPRIATE QUESTION, NO I HAVE NOT DONE IT.

CG: WHO GIVES A FLYING FUCK.

CG: HAPPY?

TG: ……..

TG: way to defuse the situation solid work

TG: real gold star effort grabbin that lit wick and blowing on it

TG: ok first of all you asked me first so dont act like im the one being a weirdo about this

TG: second of all i didnt mean it like that and you know it

TG: THIRD of all what the hell was the point of engaging the knightly theatrics then if you cant even verify that shit

CG: WELL FUCK, SORRY DAVE! I GUESS I'M JUST A FUCKING ROMANCE ENTHUSIAST! I GUESS I GIVE A MAJOR SHIT ABOUT THE THING YOU'RE OPENLY MOCKING TO MY FACE! IS THAT SO IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO WRAP YOUR THOUGHT SPONGE AROUND?

CG: AND IT WAS COMPLETELY REASONABLE FOR ME TO ASK YOU THAT, YOU CONGEALED FETID NOOKSTAIN! MY STATUS ON THE MATTER HAS LITERALLY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE POINT EITHER OF US IS TRYING TO MAKE.

CG: TRY TO KEEP YOUR NUGBONE FROM CAVING IN ON ITSELF WHEN I DROP THIS BOMBSHELL: I'M ALLOWED TO HAVE OPINIONS ON THINGS I ACTUALLY KNOW ABOUT, EVEN IF I HAVEN'T DONE THEM! I DON'T JUST GO TROUNCING THE FUCK ABOUT LOBBING MY UNFOUNDED OPINIONS AT PEOPLE LIKE I KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING. UNLIKE SOMEONE WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE INVOLVED IN THIS CONVERSATION WE'RE HAVING RIGHT NOW!

TG: youre

CG: I’M TALKING ABOUT YOU BY THE WAY. THE SOMEONE IS YOU.

TG: oh gimme a break

TG: bro youre going apeshit over something you havent even done

TG: you know what that sounds like to me it sounds like an overcompensating fake fan who doesnt get any

TG: you heard of troll napoleon complex

CG: AT LEAST I ACTUALLY FORMED MY OPINION BASED ON CAREFUL CONSIDERATION --

TG: -- oh yeah i bet huh

CG: -- INSTEAD OF JUST BANKING ON NUBJERK --

TG: -- not a real thing you just said

CG: -- REACTIONS AND WRINKLING MY SNIFF NUB AT ANY SIGNS OF GENUINE PHYSICAL INTIMACY!

TG: stop saying nub

CG: YOU EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED BULGEWAD

TG: not too much worse than being a perpetual fountain of emotional diarrhea

CG: DON'T YOU DARE.

CG: DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO USE THAT AS A "GOTCHA", YOU--… YOU! FUCK!

TG: dude did you actually run out of insults

TG: okay this is getting concerning

TG: youre the international dude of verbal dunks

TG: that can not be happening

CG: AAGHRJRGHJRGRHJAGHRJGRHJAGRHJRGRHJRGRHRJR

TG: you cant run out of em youre like the ultimate peddler of hate

CG: YOU DON'T THINK I'M CRITICALLY AWARE OF THE HOOFBEASTSHIT I'M SPEWING NIGH FUCKING CONSTANTLY?! I AM PAINFULLY COGNIZANT OF HOW MORONIC EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS IS!!!!

TG: feel like ive done some damage here

CG: ESPECIALLY MYSELF!

TG: alright bud time to calm down

CG: YOU CALM DOWN!!!!

TG: okay whatever!

CG: WHATEVER!!!!!!!!

TG: jeez

…

TG: here

…

CG: UGH.

TG: yeah

TG: really glad stuff like this happens in private

CG: YEAH. SAME HERE.

CG: JEGUS, CAN WE GO BACK TO BEFORE WE HAD THIS CONVERSATION? I DON'T ASK YOU MANY FAVORS, SO SURELY YOUR SLURRY OF ILL-DEFINED TIME POWERS CAN ALLOW YOU TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

CG: JUST LIKE, WIPE THAT WHOLE THING OFF THE SLATE.

CG: LET'S START OVER. SAY, FIVE MINUTES AGO. HOW DOES THAT SOUND?

TG: what conversation?

CG: OKAY, GOTCHA.

[narcissistshandler]

giving miguel head while he explains complicated concepts of the multiverse. 😳 at first he chuckles when reader requests this, but he starts to struggle and lose track of what he was talking about. his voice becomes more desperate as he tries to explain all this stuff he knows to reader with his talons gripping at his love’s skull and his voice shaking and melting into pretty breathy moans until he can’t think of what he was talking about and instead fucks reader’s throat til he’s an overstimulated, sobbing mess

𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗠𝗘

✧ 𝖯𝖠𝖨𝖱𝖨𝖭𝖦 gn!reader x miguel o'hara

✧ 𝖶𝖠𝖱𝖭𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖲 blowjob (reader giving), deep throat, slight overstimulation at the end, reader has no gender or genitalia mentioned, a little of blood

✧ 𝖠/𝖭 This was in my drafts for two weeks and honestly I don't remember what/how I wrote half of it, but still, this request was delicious

"—Are you listening to me?"

You blinked, seeming to come back to reality and looked into Miguel's judgmental brown eyes.

"I've been speaking Spanish for the last ten minutes," he continued before you had time to speak.

"I am," you insisted. Your first instinct was to lie. The truth was no, you weren't paying the slightest attention to any of all that complicated science and physics coming out of Miguel's mouth, even though from the beginning your focus hadn't left his lips framing every complex and long word, occasionally rising to appreciate that expression of concentration on his usually serious face that shouldn't be so erotic to anyone but you.

Miguel's eyes fell to your lap, as if he could see through the pillow you were holding, his brow immediately frowning in that way that indicated his bad mood.

"So what is the simple concept of what constitutes a Multiverse?" he questioned, sounding so much like a hot, strict teacher that you felt your sex throb in response, too distracted to even try to think of an answer. "What are the ways to overcome the barriers that separate our world from other universes?" Silence. "What happens when there is a divergence in events? Where does the variety of these universes originate?"

You knew the answer to some of these questions as someone who had heard more than enough about this subject: the multiverse was nothing more than the aggregate of parallel realities and bla bla bla. But that wasn't what Miguel wanted to hear, he wanted concise, long and scientifically coherent answers and that's why you preferred to keep your mouth shut.

"You weren't listening," he concluded with a sigh.

"Keep talking, I'll pay attention this time."

Miguel looked into your darkened eyes, noting the warm innuendo in your tone and then once again, his attention fell to the pillow that covered your lap. "You're excited," he observed, then continued seeming disgusted and irritated: "Why? Physics does that to you?"

“You do this to me,” you said. Miguel's expression seemed to become even darker. "You always seem so focused and intelligent while talking about these things I can't understand, it's sexy."

"You were the one who asked me to teach you, I didn't know this was a fantasy of yours," he pointed out.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," you asked soflty as you got up from the sofa where you sat next to Miguel and fell to your knees in front of his feet, your hands running up his bare legs until they slid under the hem of his shorts. "Continue teaching me, please? I promise I'll pay attention this time."

Miguel half growled at you, not seeming too willing to indulge in your fantasies even as his legs opened in pure muscle memory to give you room to fit between them and desire flashed in his eyes.

"How are you supposed to pay attention to what I say with my penis in your mouth? That doesn't seem like a very concise teaching method." Even with you kneeling in front of him on the floor of the apartment's living room, Miguel seemed genuinely concerned about teaching you some real knowledge about multiverse.

You rubbed your hand against the bulge in his shorts to bring him to hardness, laughing a little at how genuine Miguel was sometimes.

"You talk, I listen, then you can test me to see if I really learned something or not."

Miguel opened his mouth, looking ready to retort with some argument, but your fingers fitting into the elastic waistband of his shorts was enough to make him swallow back his words. “Okay,” he agreed finally, lifting his hips off the couch to let you pull his shorts down his legs and discard them on the floor.

"Without underwear?" You inquired teasingly, your fingers closing around Miguel's thick cock that was slowly getting hard for you and pulling him into slow, steady thrusts.

Miguel sighed at the sudden touch, a light blush coloring his cheeks at the teasing.

"Back to the beginning," he started to say, ignoring your words. "When we talk about the Multiverse, this refers to a conception of multiple universes or parallel realities existing simultaneously. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy..."

Your tongue trailed in a wet line from the base to the head, interrupting Miguel's speech as he trailed off with a soft sigh.

That usual satisfaction made you smile between the licks you dragged along his length, feeling the pulsation of the bulging veins against your tongue, your fingers keeping his dick firm at the base. Your lips parted, gently sucking the side of the bulbous, red head where drops of precum were beginning to leak.

Miguel let out the most beautiful moan, one of his hands falling into your hair.

“Oh,” he sighed softly, voice already falling into that deep tone that always did things to you. You looked up at the same time you slid your tongue over the slit leaking from his cock; Miguel's eyes met yours, warm and shining. He took a deep breath and continued speaking: "In the concept of multiverse, a scheme is imagined in which... all universes aggregate each other across an infinite vastness..."

He looked so composed even with your mouth on his dick and you wanted to break that composure of his until it became nothing, until his mind stopped working and the only coherent thought he had left was fucking your throat.

Miguel doesn't stop talking when your fingers tighten around his length in a grip that borders on painful and your mouth opens so you can take his length. His cock filled your mouth, the warm, smooth skin sliding over your tongue and inward in a delicious, welcome weight that made your skin tingle. Almost instinctively, you searched for more, leaning forward and taking him deeper, your free hand feeling Miguel's thigh muscles tense under your touch.

Saliva pooled in your mouth and as soon as you pulled your head back, spit slid down his length to his heavy balls and a wet line ran down your chin, a mess you knew Miguel liked. As expected, his breathing stuttered and you saw him losing his train of thought at the sight of your saliva-glossy lips stretching around the thickness of his dick.

"...In addition to the state superpos- superposition property, there are many other phenomena that occur as quantum-scale systems, such as quantum tunneling, quantum e-entanglement..."

The firm fingers tangled in the strands of your hair suddenly became sharper, like thick needles scratching your scalp. The threat of the grab hung in the air, filling your stomach with a tense heat as you realized they were Miguel's deadly talons, which could penetrate through the fragility of your skin in seconds and even an accidental scratch could draw blood. This realization shook you to the core and a moan rose in your throat.

"... So you can connect gravity and the other three forces in an apparently firm way?" he panted, sweat glistening on his forehead. "Dios mío."

It took you a few seconds to understand the jumbled words that came out of his mouth, but when you did you knew that you had achieved your objective, as the argument didn't seem to fit into any part of the multiverse theory.

Tears blocked the corners of your vision, jaw opening wider to take Miguel's cock deeper, the tip slapping against your cheek and tongue before going deeper, and then more and more. The salty taste of precum, sweat, and something else you could only describe as Miguel's taste rising in the back of your throat, clouding all your senses and pushing away the urgency burning between your legs. All that mattered was Miguel.

At that moment, your entire world was just Miguel's body contracting on the couch under the heat of your mouth, the heavy leg he had thrown over your shoulder and his heel digging into your shoulder blade in an attempt to bring you impossibly closer. There was a distinct feeling of discomfort growing in your body, Miguel's grip was strong and painful, his rationality seemed to have dissolved under the pleasure.

"[n-name] [name] [name] [name], por favor." The beautiful moans of your name in his voice echoed through the room in repeated, stammered repetitions.

The gag reflex kicked in, the bulbous head of Miguel's cock pressing past the tightness of your throat. Your eyes closed in an attempt to fight the immediate instinct to choke and suffocate, the desire to give Miguel everything he wanted was stronger. You willingly obeyed the grip of the talons on your head keeping you still, your mouth falling open and easy for the deep thrusts.

Resisting him, the urgency with which his hips undulated, as if he needed the pleasure to breathe, felt equal to having at least one pulled muscle and a deep cut left behind.

Fortunately, fighting him was far from your intention.

You could feel as his dick twitched inside your mouth and the thick, salty liquid filled your throat, which rose and fell as you swallowed. Your eyes opened, tears running down your cheeks, you closed your lips around Miguel's pulsing length, sucking. Miguel's reaction was lascivious, his thrusts becoming erratic, whole body shaking violently, his talons sinking at least a few centimeters into your skin, until it breaks under the pressure.

Hot liquid ran down the back of your neck, the pain was a distant thing in your warm body, your fingers digging into the soft skin of Miguel's thighs as you pressed the nose against the curly hair of his groin. Miguel whimpered as his cock continued to spurt small jets deep down your throat, tears glistening in his eyes and fangs sinking into the lower lip.

You had lied again, you hadn't paid attention to anything he said, but it didn't matter since you doubted that Miguel remembered what even was a subatomic particle now.

[jinjeriffic]

DCxDP Prophecy Universe Part 3

Part 2

Tim reached up to rub at his temples and groaned. This was getting him nowhere. Normally he enjoyed going down the research rabbit-hole but this was ridiculous! Paranormal sciences were a bad joke. Most of it was conjecture, hearsay and unprovable theories with just enough scientific sounding jargon peppered in to confuse a layperson. Peer-review was practically non-existent, not to mention a proper scientific method. Francis Bacon would be rolling in his grave!

The slight hiss of the elevator doors opening interrupted his thoughts.

“Hey Replacement, you missed dinner!” Jason called, sauntering over with a loaded plate in hand. He set down a sandwich next to Tim’s elbow. “Alfie says he’s cutting off your coffee supply until you get some damn sleep. I’m pretty sure he’s gonna start prepping the knock-out gas soon!” he quipped, leaning his hip against the Batcomputer’s console. “Research on the League giving you trouble?”

“I wish.” Tim sighed, reaching for the sandwich, “The Assassins have actually been pretty quiet recently. I found some leads on suspicious political donations in Italy, but nothing I can tie to them directly. Talia’s in Paris as far as I can tell, working at an investment firm for God knows what reason. Probably money laundering related. And the ones holed up in Nanda Parbat have been quiet as murderous little church mice.”

“Ra’s isn’t up to anything? Colour me shocked.” Jason drawled sardonically, “You sure he’s not cooking up a new batch of demon spawn in that mountain of his?”

Tim shook his head. “You know Bruce destroyed his cloning labs after the last… incident. And I’ve found no records of the League procuring the necessary materials or equipment to restart production.” he wrinkled his nose, “Of course it’s possible that they used a shell company we haven’t come across yet, but I believe the odds are pretty low.”

“So what’s got your panties in a bunch then?”

Tim’s mouth twisted in a frown. “Ghosts.”

“Ah.”

Jason stared off into space and Tim took a bite of his sandwich. Egg-salad, score! The Cave was silent for a while, only disturbed by the noise of the actual bats heading out for their nightly hunt.

“I can’t tell you for sure if ghosts are real or not. I don’t remember anything from when I was… dead.” Jason said haltingly, and Tim stilled. “But we’ve seen people come back under pretty weird circumstances. So why not ghosts?” Jason shrugged.

Tim chewed and swallowed before replying. “Because it’s one thing for the physical body to be restored, but some kind of nebulous ‘spirit’ lingering? Why don’t we see ghosts all the time then? Why don’t people come back? Why not…” Tim broke off.

“Your Dad?”

Tim nodded and dropped the remains of the sandwich back on the plate. It suddenly looked as appetising as cardboard.

“I don’t know, birdie. We still don’t know why I came back.” Jason snorted “Maybe the universe just has a sick sense of humour.”

Tim’s lips curled up in a mirthless smile. “Maybe the universe missed your terrible puns. Some of those still haunt me.”

Jason barked out a surprised laugh. “That was terrible!”

“The universe clearly made a grave mistake.”

“Stop it, I can feel my brain cells dying!” Jason groaned and gave Tim a light punch to the shoulder.

“Well we can’t have that, you have so few already!” Tim snarked, then quickly leaned to the side to evade Jason’s attempted noogie. Jason huffed and stepped back, crossing his arms.

“All right mister teenage genius. What have you dug up about ghosts then?”

Tim rolled his eyes. “There’s obviously tons of folklore from all over the world. Pretty much every mythology has stories about the spirits or souls of the dead returning to haunt the living. But if there’s a scientific basis to all this then it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Even the supposed leaders in the field are hopelessly biased.” He pulled up some documents on the screen. “Take these for example. The Doctors Fenton are supposed experts in the field of ‘Ecto-Biology’ as they call it, but their research papers would never fly with a proper scientific journal. A lot of it comes across as blatantly xenophobic towards the entities they are supposedly studying and their research methods seem geared towards confirming what they view as foregone conclusions. And most of their peers operate on the same track.”

Jason hummed thoughtfully as he skimmed one of the articles in question. “Do you think there’s anything to this, or is it all just a hoax?”

Tim snorted. “If there is, they haven’t offered any conclusive proof. Though they certainly seem to have made it work for them. The Fentons have a series of patents for weapons and defenses against these supposed ‘ecto-entities’ and it looks like there’s plenty of people gullible enough to buy them. I haven’t taken a closer look at their products yet, but a lot of it looks like something out of a pulp sci-fi movie.” He pulled up the image of what looked like a bazooka with green glowing parts. Jason whistled.

“So, con artists or mad scientists?”

“Could be both. Their financial records are all over the place and they’ve had some large transactions with what I’m pretty sure are shell companies in recent years. They live and operate out of a small city in Illinois.” Tim said, pulling up the relevant documents on screen.

“Amity Park?” Jason read aloud.

“Supposedly it’s ‘The Most Haunted City in America’. Seems on brand, doesn’t it?”

“It probably helps them stay in business. It looks like they have kids?” Jason pointed at the tax returns. Tim typed some search queries into the system.

“Two. One in high school, one just started her first semester at Metropolis University. With a full scholarship to boot.” He spent a few more minutes hacking into the university’s systems. “Here we go, Jasmine Fenton. Looks like she’s going for a psychology degree. And… hm…” Tim trailed off. Jason quickly realised what had caught his attention.

“‘The Damaging Effects of Envy Towards Metahumans? That’s a hell of a topic for a freshman-year essay.” Jason remarked.

“Yes. I wonder…” Tim drummed his fingers on the keyboard. “She might have some insight into her parents’ research.”

“And at a cursory glance, she didn’t drink whatever Kool-Aid her parents were serving.” Jason finished for him. “You wanna go pump her for information?”

“I might as well. If nothing else, maybe we can shut down a couple of mad scientists before they become a problem.” Tim stood up and stretched. “Time for a field trip!”

Part 4

[voidartisan]

you know i was thinking about it and since both the force and the inner workings of the human mind are arguably non-observable phenomena i think force-based academia should look a lot like psychology. current arguments and achievements of note include:

are the living and universal force actually different???

are the living and universal force actually connected at all???

those two factions of academics who hate each other's guts and theories and methodology (feat. pragmatists who figured out that the theories work together really effectively when practiced??? just saying)

FIGURING OUT WHY IT WORKS IS SECONDARY TO THE FACT THAT IT DOES WORK, JOCASTA

YOU CANNOT JUST DO THINGS WITH THIS METHOD WHEN YOU CAN'T ESTABLISH ITS SCIENTIFIC VALIDITY, YODA

that one researcher who accidentally won the space nobel prize in physics while trying to figure out how it is Physically Possible for the Jedi to do That One Thing

we have no empirical evidence that "the force" exists and therefore we can ONLY make conclusions based on observable events--- (loud angry yelling)

incredible amounts of popular misinformation and pseudoscience being distributed to the public still somehow

psychometric abilities: discrete or dimensional?

look. this experiment was completely unethical and we would never do anything like it today BUT---

this used to be true but then we told people about it and it changed as a result of that awareness. no we're not lying to you----

everything can be 100% traced back to a biomedical source

nothing can be 100% traced back to a biomedical source

force abilities are actually linked to overarching social factors like socioeconomic status of parents and--- *yelling from the back* OKAY BUT WHAT DO WE DO WITH THAT

look. listen. 60% applicability is golden in this field. you're a hard science researcher you wouldn't understand how hard it is to study an invisible energy field with a mind of its own

and, of course, the interdisciplinary argument staple

that isn't actually a real science :/

[headspace-hotel]

don't want to sound like i think i know everything, I do not, but i feel crushed by college class formats. I know how to learn, to do research, to seek information, to think about whether a source is good, to write and express my ideas, to come up with questions and test them.

I want to be in an environment that engages with me on this level so I can increase my ability to learn and ask questions, rather than being told "ok here's how you use the library" "ok here's how you write paragraph" "here's the basics of the scientific method"

It's not just my impatience with the level of classes I'm having to get through, it is the approach within those classes. I had a professor say "see, this is a peer-reviewed journal article, peer-reviewed journal articles will be printed in two columns on the page like this" but being printed in two columns isn't the key characteristic of a peer-reviewed journal nor is it a very good indicator.

we keep doing rushed, meaningless assignments where we have to come up with a website to cite for a forum post or presentation within a short class period, giving no time to closely examine sources.

we are doing elementary school level "experiments" that are just a proxy for learning to put data in an excel spreadsheet and analyze it, but being rushed the way we are and having no patience for the real complications that come up with even a simple experiment or research project, my classmates don't appear to think it matters if we make sloppy measurements or fudge data a little bit because it's just a stupid activity to learn about putting data in a spreadsheet. But integrity in research is something we SHOULD be practicing and learning about

the assignments are on the level of "repeat what the source says to receive good grade" and there's so many of them it's impractical to try to do anything else.

But in this level of education we should be learning how to question a source and ask if it is a good source or not! "How does this guy know what he's talking about" "What does this author WANT us to think and why might he be trying to make us think that"

i've even had a professor tell us we can use chatgpt for assignments, it's awful

[questionprompts]

1. If your OC could live anywhere they wanted, where would they choose?

1a. If their ideal location is not where they currently reside, what is preventing them from moving there? Is it financial, situational, scientifically impossible, etc.?

1b. Have they ever been to this location before? If not, is it a real place they've read about/seen pictures of, or is it a hypothetical place they daydream about?

2. If your OC does not have any particular place in which they'd like to stay, do they prefer life on the road?

2a. If so, is that a lifestyle they currently enjoy, or are they stuck somewhere and wish they could take up traveling?

2b. If not, what is their preferred living situation?

2c. If they travel for work/obligation but don't enjoy it, would they enjoy it more if the traveling was on their own terms or through a different mode of transportation?

2d. When traveling, does your OC have any favorite spots they like to revisit when they can?

3. What mode of travel would/does your OC prefer? (Ex: RV, spaceship, hiking, train, etc.)

3a. How common is it for their setting? How would someone make arrangements to travel by this method (is it expensive, cheap, free, exclusive to a contract, etc.)?

4. How many times, if any, has your OC moved [to live somewhere else]?

4a. What were the circumstances?

4b. What is the longest they have ever lived in the same place? If they have lived in the same place their whole life, how old are they?

4c. If applicable, what is the shortest amount of time they've stayed at a place?

5. When moving or traveling, how many belongings does your OC typically take with them? What do they consider essential?

5a. Who else, if anyone, is with them? Are they agreeable traveling/living companions, or do they not get along? Do they travel together often or rarely?

5b. Who else, if anyone, would your OC prefer to have as a traveling/living companion?

[ryanmarshallryan]

Experimental Vore Study - another gay vore story by Ryan Marshall

Theo often wondered how or why he had developed his vore fetish. He was happy experiencing it but always thought it would be interesting to better understand what in his brain decided that getting swallowed whole was equal to prime sensual elation.

The perfect opportunity arose when he was referred to join a well paid scientific study relating to understanding the brain patterns of those experiencing sensual arousal in relation to various fetishes. After filling out some forms to verify he’d be a good candidate, and sending some of his self written vore stories for context of his fetish, he was invited to participate officially.

The first time Theo visited the facility for research testing, his experience focused on doing scans of his brain activity and other vitals while talking about his vore fetish, reading vore stories, and viewing photos and drawings depicting vore.

Theo expected to do a bit more of the same thing on his second time visiting, but was surprised when he was called into a new area. An attendant put a couple monitors on his body, but Theo wasn’t really paying attention to what they were doing as he could hear odd sounds coming from nearby. In one direction down a hallway he could hear what sounded like a whip, in another direction there were strange crunching noises. He thought he even heard sensual moaning. Were they having research participants arouse themselves or something?

Theo was so focused, trying to figure out what he was hearing he didn’t notice the head researcher standing in front of him, beaconing him to follow.

They entered a large brightly lit, entirely unfurnished room.

“We’ve been processing all of the tests we’ve run analyzing your brain and are ready to move on to the next phase of testing,” the researcher began, “Theo, I’d like you to meet your results,” he said, shifting his gaze over Theo’s shoulder.

Theo turned around to see an incredibly large and handsome man. The tall man had a wide face and square jawline, framed by his medium-short black hair, and adorned with bushy eye-brows, a stylish goatee and a remarkably large mouth. His shoulders relaxed backward, with his gargantuan gut ballooning out in front of him, looking as though it could fit a yoga ball if stretched out a bit. He had thick thighs, and Theo could tell by the black hairs sticking out between his shirt buttons that the man was also well covered in hair.

“Oh wow, you’re hot,” Theo whispered to himself, then realizing he had been staring at an unfamiliar man’s body for far too long, tried to catch himself, “Sorry, hi - I’m Theo, what is your name?”

Theo reached his hand forward and the man grasped it firmly and pulled Theo in incredibly close, reaching his other hand around Theo’s shoulder and whispering in his ear “I’m your fantasy.” The man smelled amazing too, as though he were wearing Theo’s favorite citrusy body spray.

Theo, though aroused, pushed backward and stumbled a few steps towards the head researcher. He looked back and forth and processed, saying “What do you mean meet my results?”

The researcher gestured towards the big handsome man in front of them and explained “We have developed a method of simulating a person’s sexual fantasies to see it play out in real time.”

“You hired an actor, to seduce me?” Theo looked puzzled from the big man to the researcher.

“I’m not an actor, I’m your sensual desires brought to life,” the man said.

“He’s not a real human, he’s a synthetic recreation imitating one’s behavior and body form, but with unique abilities to stimulate your specific sensual desires,” the researcher continued, as though this made all the sense in the world.

Theo looked again at the big man, “Well whoever you are, what’s your name?”

The big man smiled and pondered for a moment, “Let’s see… as I’ve gone back through your memories and feelings, there are so many names to choose from. Perhaps that gainer you dated a few years back? Or hmm… no what about that vore pred you used to roleplay with online? No… might as well be something generic then…. What about Brian?”

Theo stared at the big man, or Brian, in confusion. Had the researcher hired an actor and shared lots of personal data with him?

Brian, as if reading Theo’s mind continued, “Let me introduce myself beyond just a name. I, Brian, just started existing a couple days ago. I’m loaded with information about your interests and sensual desires, and that helps me better help play out your fantasies in reality. I thought maybe we could start with a feeding session, and then I’ll swallow you down for real.”

“Swallow me down for real? I’m sorry I don’t know if I’m comfortable roleplaying with a random actor I just met, I usually like to roleplay with people who are into vore aswell -” Theo started saying.

“Oh, don’t worry, He is literally created for your pleasure. So eating you is perhaps his only interest right now,” the researcher began, “he’s basically a not-human man-eating garbage disposal, who is only hungry for you.”

“Excuse me” Brian began, somewhat offended, “I am more than just a human garbage disposal… I also have a really cute butt!”

It was true, Brian did have an incredibly aesthetically pleasing butt.

“I can see our boy, Theo, here isn’t believing that I’m really what I say I am, so how about a demonstration,” Brian remarked. As Brian began walking forward, Theo reflexively moved out of the way, not sure if this strange man was about to attempt to eat him. But to Theo’s surprise, Theo was never the intended target.

Brian took the clipboard out of the researcher's hand and tossed it to the side, “You won’t need that where you’re going.” The researcher’s eyes widened as Brian lifted him off his feet and pulled him towards his now gaping maw. Brian didn’t waste any time with the stunned researcher, lubricating the researcher’s face with saliva, and swallowing hard, pulling the researcher’s entire upper body into his throat in mere moments. Theo, as shocked as the researcher, reflexively reached out his arms as if to help the researcher, and then noticed he was getting a bit hard.

Brian swallowed again and again, and the researcher fairly quickly got sucked down his throat. Brian’s shirt buttons were exploding off his shirt one by one and landing across the room. Theo watched as Brian swiftly untied the researcher’s shoes and ripped them off. Theo blinked and the researcher was entirely out of view. Brian’s stomach was indeed massive, that fleshy yoga ball was stretched and taught.

Brian gave a great big belch and turned to Theo, “Now what do you say? I’m still pretty hungry. Maybe you could feed me some snacks from that buffet over there.” Brian turned and gestured behind him. Theo glanced and noticed that the once empty room now had an entire table adorned with steaming hot dinners, drinks that looked remarkably like gainer shakes, chocolates and sweets, and more.

“How did that get there?” Theo exclaimed, “And how did you - ? Is the researcher all right?”

Brian approached Theo and patted his meaty hand on Theo’s back, “I told you, I am equipped to provide anything that will aid to your sexual fantasy, like food for you to feed me.” Brian guided Theo towards the table as Theo processed what just happened.

“You just summoned a table of food out of thin air? And the researcher -” Theo continued, stopping in his tracks to turn and face Brian, placing both hands on either side of Brian’s gut and jiggling it. Brian’s gut, or more likely the researcher, responded with wiggling and muffled noises of confusion.

“Well obviously. I’m hungry. I wanted food. Food appears. There you go - and don’t worry about my old creator, he’ll be fat - I mean fine… he’ll be fine,” Brian explained with a warm smile, interrupted by a belch in Theo’s face that warmed his whole body.

“So you’re magic or something?”

“Magic is only science not yet understood by the masses, is it not?”

There was a moment of silence and awe as Theo stared at Brian, his squirming belly full of another human being, and the table of food.

Brian handed Theo a plate, “I may provide the experience for the ultimate fantasy, mate, but you gotta participate for this to work. C’mon fill ‘er up and get this food in my belly!”

Theo took the plate and turned to the food, continuing to stare in mild confusion. Brian shook him out of his daze, literally by gut checking Theo, bouncing his belly against his side and knocking him off balance for a moment, “C’mon then, or I’ll have to skip the feeding session and eat you right now.”

Theo caught his balance and began piling food onto a plate, mashed potatoes, baked chicken, penne and turkey meatballs, and assorted cheeses. “You can’t eat me! Not - well, I mean it’d be hot for sure - but it’s a fantasy - like what are the mechanics of this, like is the researcher being digested?”

Brian slid his warm hands onto Theo’s side and pushed his belly up into Theo’s back a bit, dropping his voice low to say “Only if you want me too… I know the stories you’ve written…” Brian’s mouth was so close to Theo’s ear now, Theo could feel his hot breath down his neck and shivered, feeling like in a split second he could be gliding down that gullet if he wasn’t careful. “You want me to digest you, don’t you, Theo.”

“I never said that,” Theo turned abruptly, reaching up and pulling slightly on Brian’s goatee for him to open his mouth, and using the other hand to tilt the plate piled with a feast inside. “Start with this before you try to eat me. We’ve got to discuss things first. Sure I’ve written lots of vore stories with digestion… but I’m always around to write another one, so maybe I’m into reformation? I don’t know - but in the real world I’d probably like something safer. You know? Like maybe you should fill up on bread before I go in to neutralize stomach acid and let me out later?”

Brian swallowed the pile of food in his maw, and smiled, “Fill up on bread before you go in? Sounds like you know you’re going in then… how about… I'll fill up on you first!” Brian knocked the plate out of Theo’s hand, grabbed his shirt, rent it open, and leaned forward to give a great long lick with his tongue from Theo’s belly button up to his face.

“Oh my!” Theo exclaimed, shivering again in arousal, as Brian was undoing both of their belts, and pulling their shirts off.

Brian pushed Theo up against the table with his belly, mashing Theo against some warm gravy and mashed potatoes that were now stuck to his back. Theo felt the massive weight of the man pinning him and knew he had to think quick to delay Brian, who had shoved Theo’s face in between his nipples and was scooping mashed potatoes of Theo’s back and eating them and moaning.

“Yurgh knor whergh aia wangh!” Theo shouted.

Brian pulled back abruptly and playfully, “You want me to eat you right now and digest you into belly fat? That’s what I thought I heard - all right, in you go!” Brian said all of this very fast, while putting a hand on the back of Theo’s head and shoving it into his mouth against his tongue.

Putting swiftly lifted a finger into the air in front of Brian’s field of view, and waved it scoldingly at Brian.

“All right, all right, you’ve got my attention,” Brian said reluctantly, folding his arms and resting them with a “hmph” onto his belly shelf, which squirmed, gurgled loudly and kicked at him.

“Okay so you know my favorite vore fantasies then? Well you’re missing two very important factors. You think you’re all that, Mr. Omniscient Vore Genie? You’re not even arousing me correctly,” Theo taunted.

Brian melted into a sarcastic smile, but focused eyes rapt with attention and hears ready for feedback.

“One. I’m more of a fan of one on one, usually romantic vore. Maybe I’m selfish, but I want the whole house to myself if you know what I mean. Plus I don’t think the researcher really wanted to be in there and you know consent is the sexiest.”

Brian sighed knowingly, “All right, I suppose I could let him go… After all, you are the reason for my existence, Theo. I suppose I have a soft spot for you.” Brian poked his belly slowly showing how soft his belly fat was. He waited, intently watching Theo for a reaction.

“Nice pun, but I’mma need you to actually let him go please… before he digests,” Theo stated, seriously.

“Anything to get you in here, Theo,” Brian replied, lifting his fingers up and snapping forcefully into the air. Theo blinked and noticed Brian’s belly almost deflated a bit, and behind Brian, back by the door, the researcher appeared out of thin air on the ground, soaked in saliva and remnants of some of the food Brian had just eaten.

The researcher stood up abruptly, then slipped on some mashed potato. Brian turned around and snapped his fingers again. Just like magic, the door to the room swung open and the researcher was blown out into the hallway like he had been struck by a sudden gust of wind. The door swung closed and locked itself.

Brian turned back to Theo, as his gut rumbled in protest at how suddenly empty it felt. Brian looked back and forth between Theo and his growling belly, “C’mon man, how can you deny such a mournful cry from such a beautiful belly? Don’t you have any empathy for it? All my stomach wants is to knead your soft skin, warm you up in it’s fleshy hot tub, squeeze and embrace your sexy curves, and brutally digest you and melt you into belly fat. Is that so much to ask?”

Theo lifted his eyebrows. “... Yes.”

“Okay…” Brian said with a downward inflection signaling disappointment, strolling over to the table lined with food. He began grabbing handfuls of cheese and crackers and throwing them back into his mouth and swallowing them all whole, “If you’re sure…” He picked up a large casserole dish and proceeded to drop the entirety of it’s contents down his throat without even motioning a swallow. “I guess I’ll just have to fill the void in my stomach with normal, boring food…” He started juggling buttered corn cobs, then one by one tossing them down his gullet, sliding easily into his belly, “Since you’re too afraid to live out your ultimate vore fantasy,” with this final verbal jab at Theo he picked up a comically large spread of pizza, rolled it into a ball and shoved it into his mouth, choked a bit, then pushed it in with his hand. Theo watched the large pizza ball distend Brian’s neck and chest until resting, gurgling and stewing inside Brian’s massive paunch.

Brian turned to Theo, getting close and belched in his face once more, this time leaving his mouth wide open for Theo to see inside. It was impressive not seeing a single piece of food left inside his mouth.

“You still haven’t cracked the code to eating me yet,” Theo said, placing one hand on his hip, and the other, tauntingly prodding the giant’s belly in front of him.

Brian rolled his eyes, then did a funny motion like he was a robot malfunctioning. “Does not compute! Does not compute!” he said in a funny, droning voice. He switched back to normal “Only joking, I’m not a robot… I’m not a human either though. Well you know, actually I suppose you don’t, but ugh come on!” Brian in his frustration picked up a pitcher of gainer shake and chugged the whole thing in one gulp. He picked up a box of melted ice cream and chugged that as well.

“I can’t believe you still haven’t figured it out. What’s my favorite food? What’s my favorite roleplay fantasy?” Theo urged Brian on. Brian looked stumped. His stomach seemed to lurch and groan more than normal, almost as if his stomach knew before he did.

“Oh come on, I only know everything about you, how am I supposed to know what you -” Brian paused and Theo could’ve sworn a literal light bulb seemed to go off in the back of Brian’s throat. “Ice cream.”

“Now you’re getting somewhere.”

“You love ice cream. And you love to imagine a pred covering you in ice cream, warming you with their tongue as they taste you and can’t get enough so they eat you!” Brian fist pumped into the air, lunged forward and pulled Theo into a great embrace and began dancing around the room with him chanting and repeating in a low sing-song voice “Covered in ice cream, I’m gonna eat you, this ain’t a vore dream, you’re nothing but food!”

They tripped over themselves, laughing as Brian fell onto his back and Theo flopped onto his belly and jostled around on top for a few moments.

“Well, I’m not just food, but I appreciate the flirtatious sentiment,” Theo mentioned.

“So you ready?” Brian said, raising his eyebrows in excited hopefulness. Theo smirked and nodded.

Theo was still laying on top of Brian’s belling and smiling at his face, so he was quite surprised when Brian reached his arm out and grabbed a tub of cookie dough ice cream out of no where.

“Where did that come from?” Theo asked in awe.

“Doesn’t matter where it came from, only matters where it’s going. Where you are going,” Brian said licking some ice cream off his fingers, then grabbing a chilly handful and dropping it on Theo’s skin.

Theo rolled off Brian as he shivered with the funny sensation of the cold ice cream on his skin.

“Oh no! Are you cold? Let me fix that for you,” Brian said playfully, licking up ice cream off of Theo’s chest, while simultaneously scooping more ice cream onto all parts of Theo’s body. Theo laughed as he got tickled, and moaned at moments of sensual pleasure. Brian licked all the way down to Theo’s toes, and remarked “You know, this ice cream tastes good, but you taste better.” Brian slipped Theo’s toes in his mouth and sucked them into his throat, moaning to show agreeable taste.

Theo continued to laugh, as Brian worked his way up Theo’s legs moaning and groaning in hunger and approval like he was eating for the first time in a week. As Brian got to Theo’s hard on, he put extra pressure to knead the member with his throat, and squeeze Theo’s balls tightly in his esophagus. Brian reached his hands forward and massaged Theo’s chest and nipples, working his hands down to grab Theo’s hands and slide them into his mouth alongside Theo’s waist.

“What is happening?” Theo remarked in awe and ecstasy as he felt himself reaching climax elation. Theo’s body writhed and relaxed as Brian pulled his entire torso into his maw. Theo felt his feet plunge into a whole stew of partially digested buffet foods, and kicked around, surprised at how roomy everything was inside. Brian jerked his head back a bit to coax Theo’s shoulders past his jaw, then paused for a moment, tasting Theo’s neck and looking one last time into Theo’s eyes. Brian smiled with his eyes and did one final swallow, sending Theo completely into his fleshy dome of dinner soup.

Theo panted and felt around his surroundings, feeling the clammy walls of Brian’s stomach, growling and creaking as it reacted to his touch. He felt a sudden jostle and knew Brian had slapped his gut and was now rubbing and caressing it from the outside. Theo could see a faintly dark outline of Brian’s massive hands rubbing back and forth against the red tinted light faintly emitting through Brian’s many layers of stomach muscle and fat.

Brian jostled his belly, and Theo rolled around inside, getting comfortable and feeling the stomach walls tighten and release around him, like a strange fleshy hug. So this is what vore really felt like. He could feel his skin tingling a little bit, but with all of the other food inside the gut, the stomach acid was quite diluted and he felt fine.

“Brian! So what happens next? Are you gonna snap me out of here before I get digested? Like the researcher guy? Or have you decided to turn me into belly fat?” Theo called from within.

“What do you think? This is your fantasy experience, remember?” Brian replied, giving a great big belch and throwing his arms around his belly and hugging Theo tightly, “I’m made for your fantasy, bud.”

“I’m thinking…”

[carriesthewind]

"Although hired as a consultant by Washington County in this case, Baird had a long-standing independent agenda: helping foster parents across Colorado succeed in intervening and permanently claiming the children they care for. Often working hand in hand with Tim Eirich, she has been called as an expert in, by her count, hundreds of child-welfare cases, and she sometimes evaluates visits between birth families and children without having met them. Baird would not say how many foster-parent intervenor cases she has participated in, but she can recall only a single instance in which she concluded that the intervenors should not keep the child. Thinking that particular couple would be weak adoptive parents, she told me, she simply filed no report."

"With the supply of adoptable babies dropping, foster children were becoming a “hot commodity,” he said, and he and his colleagues (among them Tim Eirich’s law partner Seth Grob) realized that attachment experts could be called into court to argue that foster children needed to remain with their foster parents in order to avoid a severed bond."

"The judge ruled in favor of Eirich’s clients, a social worker and a real-estate agent. “Court found [Baird’s] testimony credible. She has significant experience,” the judge said, adding approvingly that Baird’s analysis had “focused on primacy of attachment over cultural considerations.”"

"Was Baird’s method for evaluating these foster and birth families empirically tested? No, Baird answered: Her method is unpublished and unstandardized, and has remained “pretty much unchanged” since the 1980s. It doesn’t have those “standard validity and reliability things,” she admitted. “It’s not a scientific instrument.”

...

Had she considered or was she even aware of the cultural background of the birth family and child whom she was recommending permanently separating? (The case involved a baby girl of multiracial heritage.) Baird answered that babies have “never possessed” a cultural identity, and therefore are “not losing anything,” at their age, by being adopted. Although when such children grow up, she acknowledged, they might say to their now-adoptive parents, “Oh, I didn’t know we were related to the, you know, Pima tribe in northern California, or whatever the circumstances are.”

The Pima tribe is located in the Phoenix metropolitan area."

"We found that — leaving aside the question of whether attachment theory should even be used as an argument in these cases — Baird’s assessments of foster children’s relationships aren’t just unscientific. They barely touch the surface of a child’s life.

“I don’t know these children,” she testified in one 2017 case, adding, “I have not met anybody.” Still, she said, she “strongly” recommended that those children’s birth parents’ rights be permanently terminated and that the kids be adopted."

"She also regularly uses terms like “mirror neurons,” “neurotoxins,” “synapses,” “hormones,” and “encoded trauma in the central nervous system” to justify her conclusions about children’s family relationships. (Baird is not a neuroscientist.)"

______________________

The New Yorker article focuses on possible legislative solutions, but I think these articles point to something more pernicious and more difficult to address. Judges - in all kinds of cases - routinely give credence to professionals and "experts" who are biased, bigoted, and testify far outside their expertise (if they have any expertise at all). These professionals have credentials (like being a police officer or social worker) that are validated by institutional hierarchies. Their frequent systematized interaction with the legal system is mistaken as experience that makes their subjective beliefs more credible, when in truth they lack any objective expertise. They are considered credible and unbiased because they conform to, and validate, systems of hierarchical oppression, while the people they hurt - often poor, marginalized, and most frequently, not white - are viewed with inherent distrust.

The ProPublica article focuses primarily on Baird. I'm more concerned with the judges who believed her, who used her to justify funneling children away from their (safe and loving, but poorer and frequently browner) birth families. She was only able to do so much harm because of the the power given to her by courts, and the judges inside them.

The ProPublic article ends with the line, "This past fall, with Baird’s help, the foster parents were granted full custody of the baby girl through her 18th birthday." It names Baird as a force that led to the theft of this child. The passive voice hides the judge who made the ultimate decision.