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nabulsi · 1 year

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In light of the bigots coming out of the woodwork to make their voices heard, I thought I should do the same. Only, in the opposite direction of course. (I hope you don’t mind!)

I’m also a Palestinian Arab. I’m queer. I’m genderqueer. I’m brown. I was raised Muslim. I live outside of Palestine. I want to live in Palestine, but a free, safe Palestine. I speak Arabic, I retain my culture, I struggle with the effects of the many colonial powers in today’s society, and the diasporic struggle for a semblance of identity, and the gentrification of an education that makes proficient English speakers and American-learned Arabs but loses the Arab. The very particularity of the queer Arab Palestinian is lonely in itself, because wherever you go hostility will surely await. The neocolonial situation from a diaspora of a settler colonial background is so interesting, and so isolating.

But it doesn’t have to be. Community won’t easily discard Arabic, or the culture, or the love of it all. Finding it is difficult but not impossible, to feel secure and whole when the upbringing told of anything but. Part of that perpetual recovering state, I found, was to see people like you who wear my same skin and then I feel so incredibly happy. Palestinian Arab, anti-Zionist, queer, diaspora, a writer, a fan, etc. etc. A whole person with one identity that doesn’t contradict itself, because we’re not contradictions but existences, is proof of life to me. If that makes sense. It’s enough for me to know that I am not a nagging singularity, and that this existence repeats itself and encapsulates a spread-out and doubly oppressed community… but a community that still exists all the same. You exist, and I hope you don’t mind my saying that you’re very much like me. The fact that you exist as you are has brought me joy, and your own expressions of joy has doubled it.

What I’m trying to say, and forgive me because I can’t be incisive, is that your existence and pride has brought me happiness and pride in myself a little too. The fight is so important, but the mundane, simple lived experience, reblogging on Tumblr and joking and writing and words that were written very obviously with a smile in mind, is so so special. Over everything, thank you for existing in that way. The very real, authentic, and fulfilling way. The way that writes fanfiction, and pokes jokes at the horrific reality of hate thrown in the face of our existences, and existing anyway. It’s so small, and I know very silly and the slightest bit cheesy and also perhaps weird given I’m a stranger, but honestly I mean it when I say it’s so great that you are. We are. And now my Tumblr has cut off my message and I can’t see anymore so I think somethings funked upuhh so the next part probabblyyyy won’t make any sense as I can’t access or see it but… sorry for rambling!! Thank if you read my long half-sensical shit!! (From the river to the sea Palestine will be free <3) rant,, ❤️

Aaaaaa forgive me if I'm not quite as eloquent in my reply. But your words made me so happy 😭 you've put into words a feeling i think most queer diaspora palestinians share and honestly I am glad to hear my silly little existence has positively impacted other queer palestinians.

and i stay silly 🩷

i appreciate this so much 💖💖💖💖💖💖 tysm for reaching out.

#flaccidbonestm #paptalk

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aseriesofunfortunatejan · 4 months

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Yes there are situations in which you can't boycott a brand. And I'm happy to take my turn to tell the tumblr girl* guilt trip guild to shut up. (I keep coming back to it but my reaction is generally informed by what I posted about guilt in activism earlier.)

*I'm pointing out tumblr because this platform is like home to me. But I know for a fact this is an issue portrayed all over social media.

I'm glad you're participating in boycotts for possibly the first time. I personally have been boycotting multiple brands for a long time. Because of my experience, I've had time to figure out that

you can't possibly boycott everything that's bad in some way (you must survive and live)

not everyone can boycott the same things you can

It doesn't matter how strongly you believe a brand must be boycotted if you aren't (and can't be) the person responsible for purchases in your household. It doesn't matter how much you want to boycott a grocery store if it's the only grocery store accessible to you, be it geo-locally, monetarily or within the context of disability. And when we're talking about long-term boycotts, it doesn't matter if every grocery store around where you live is evil in some way - you need groceries.

Yes, and I say that as someone who continues to boycott many brands and has largely not encountered issues with doing so, it is possible that someone can't boycott a brand.

It is completely useless to insist that they can and blindly get mad. We have to acknowledge that fact and figure out what can be done.

If there are brands you can't possibly boycott:

This doesn't mean you can't do anything right! Make sure you continue to boycott the brands you can indeed boycott. You can also help the causes you care about through other means.

There is no hypocrisy in informing others about the boycott even though you can't participate. The fact that you can't do it could in fact inspire you to convince even more people to join your cause to compensate! You can acknowledge your shortcomings and still try your best.

If you can't boycott the brand right now but could join the boycott at a later date - assuming it is still going - then don't hesitate to! It's never too late. Just because you weren't able to help in the past doesn't mean you should bar yourself from doing so in the present.

Make sure to uplift the voices of those who are participating in the boycott! Try not to let yourself get defensive, and continue to speak positively of the boycott. Try not to spend too much time justifying yourself and use your time wisely.

Hell... If you weren't a customer in the first place and never meant to become one, you can't possibly boycott a brand. It is a simple fact that not everyone can participate in a boycott, and that it must be accompanied by other acts of activism to work.

While I focused on concrete reasons why someone may not be able to participate in a boycott, it is unfortunately a fact that some people will refuse to boycott a brand for seemingly subjective reasons. If someone tells you "I'm ready to boycott everything else, but not this one, because this specific drink/game/food/location is my safe place mental health wise", you can't decide for them that it's not the end of the conversation. Because it is a fact that guilt tactics and negative practices such as name-calling have a negative impact on getting people to participate in activism, all you can do is extend understanding, try to advise them to participate within their framework, maybe suggest ways to make things work (boycott temporarily, buy less instead of not buying at all if that doesn't seem like a plausible option, speak to the brand about your upset as a customer...), and if it still doesn't, then focus on encouraging them to boycott the other brands they can indeed boycott and on convincing other people to participate.

#boycott #boycotting #i. really care about these things #boycott amazon please and thank you............................. unrelated to current events that's my lifelong battle

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theirloveisgross · 10 months

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For my part it all started here on tumblr. I had one where I used to reblog sporadically about my favorite tv shows, pictures of cats and nature and such. And then one day, around the beginning of 2021, a picture of Harry in that beautiful blue dress from the vogue photoshoot came up on my dash and I was like 'damn he's so fucking pretty, who is he??". Imagine my surprise when I realised he was harry from 1D, aka the boyband my little sister was a fan of when she was 13 (it was around 2012). We're 6 years apart and didn't get on that well at the time so she stayed away from my interests and me from hers. Imagine my surprise when discovering that the pretty boy in the blue dress was the same as the little curly boy I remember from my sister's bedroom posters. Anyway from here, I watched a lot of youtube videos starting from 1d mvs and then compils of 1D funny moments which made me fall in love with the boys and finishing with fimq's videos which made intensified my curiosity and growing love for louis and harry's bond. I still rewatch her larry crackvids sometimes, never fails to make me smile. At the same time after following a bunch of people and only lurking, reading masterposts on all blogs ect. for a few days, I finally started a new blog to join the fandom. Needless to say from then on I wasn't just "sporadically" on tumblr anymore lol Half my free time is split between tumblr and ao3 because of these two and I regret nothing. 😌 The sad thing is my sister was thrilled when she learned I'd 'finally' (to quote her) become a fan of 1d and even more of louis and harry but I quickly discovered that I couldn't rejoice that much myself? Like she loves the boys but she's a much more casual fan than I am. She doesn't do her own researsh so she easily believe stunts stuff if she comes across it on twitter (she's on twitter user and tumblr feels like an obscure concept to her while I'm the total opposite). She's like "louis and harry were/are really cute together" but that's all, they must be finished since they don't ever interact and we never see them together. Freddie is louis' son for her and 'look they are so cute'. I don't have the energy to argue with that and it's not my job to convince her otherwise anyway. Anyway it was a bit frustrating at first as I had hoped to be able to share my fandom experience with someone irl through her but I've made peace with it. On the positive side, I'll have company to see louis in october! She was the one to offer me tickets to see him for my 30th birthday~ And that's was for my origin story! Keep them coming people, I'm enjoying reading them!!

Hi!

Oh my, this is so soft! The fact that you found Harry in a dress first. 😭 Reminds me a bit of me watching the music video for Lights Up back in late 2019, because a friend showed it to me, and I knew Harry was in 1D, and I simply saw his queerness and gave him props and that was it. IF ONLY I had looked further then... *sigh*

The relationship with your sister sounds a lot like mine. Sadly, she was a fan of the Jonas Brothers and not 1D, so I barely knew about them. We get along better now and we're both queer af so that also helps, hahaha.

FIMQ's videos are forever! They're gold! I need to rewatch soon... it's been a few months.

I love that you found them on tumblr, so to say, and stayed here as well. It is my favorite community, for sure!

I'm so glad you're here! And yeah, I wish I had people that get it irl, and I went through the phase of wanting to tell everyone close to me, but it just gets tiring, the side eyes, the polite smiles, which is FINE, but I need you to get. it. Hahjasha. Because if you don't care, you won't get it. Like, you have to care so much to do that amount of research and stick with them. It's fine, there's always people here that get it, and when you finally meet some of them irl it's like... it's euphoric! I hope you get that soon!

Also, have the best time at Louis show! I'm so excited for you! This tour is INCREDIBLE! Like I always say, nothing will beat what LTWT means to me... but FITFWT is bigger, better and he's so much more relaxed, and happy and just... it's such a joy seeing him grow like this. Hoping to get a job soon and maybe I can be crazy and also see him in October.

Anyone who sees this and has joined the fandom in the last year or so, send me a message if you want. I’m so curious what was your starting point, what made you go “Larry?” and then “OMG LARRY!”, hajdhahs.

#larrie births

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awek-s-archived · 2 years

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i started following you recently during the whole twt/tumblr situation and i’d like to say you have such an impressive mindset when it comes to tackling people who approach you that way. maturity is such a rare occurrence these days and i am glad to see so many people among your friends and other accounts here utilise it. on a lighter note i would like to announce my friend was a managing staff & filled in for one of the dance troops with the sabers in jungkook & fahad al qubaisi’s dreamers performance and she was so happy to be able to work with him 🥺 i’m extremely proud of her because she’s always handled a lot of events & organized them (ever since highschool) so it’s like a mom moment seeing her take part in such a huge occasion like the world cup; despite me not being a huge fan of football/soccer or kpop. and it just makes me extremely happy seeing her happy about what she’s passionate for and the absolute joy in her eyes when she met people she admired was heartwarming. i hope kids these days realise that it’s okay to not be able to experience something for themselves yet still be happy for their friends & vice versa. you can be happy experiencing or partaking in something that is special to you without your friends by your side and still have their support. the whole streaming and voting argument stating that that’s what gets these musicians to be popular is like saying that i am to be credited for my friend’s achievements despite me just being there to support her through it all; not only is that statement undermining their hard work and talent but also insinuating me riding on their success as if it were mine to gain popularity or approval. and forcing someone else to do the same makes you come off as even more shallow of a person, not a supportive and loving one.

hi -- thank you so much first of all! it feels really weird to know that not a lot of adult people seem to be that mature in these spaces but i do try to surround myself with them as much as i can (as long as i think they're actually nice people, and there are plenty around who aren't). i'd be happy any time to rec any people i'm friends/mutuals with that i think are very intelligent and mature and also permanently losing their minds over their interests on here <3

i'm so happy for your friend!!! that's a huuuge achievement and i'm always happy to see people finally realising their dreams and furthering their careers like that!!! i have a few friends in events who have gone quite far as well and you do swell with pride at that kind of thing. it makes me more excied to reach a point in my life when i achieve something that significant in my career as well!

and you're so right, i do hope kids (and adults alike tbh) will understand this concept but i think that they're too busy taking that achievement for their own because of the support. i've always said (about the popularity of the piece of media in particular) that if that media didn't exist then there would be nothing to support, so at the end of the day mass-voting or mass-streaming or any kind of mass-consuming it doesn't mean anything. it's not organic. and if you've been in that position yourself you'd know that while it feels good at the beginning it soon becomes expected and doesn't have the same effect anymore. i'm 100% sure it means nothing to them after a certain point.

anyway, you're completely right!!!! i'm glad to see someone else sharing that view particularly since a lot of ppl are reluctant to talk about it at all -- one thing abt this website/app is that false positivity thrives in a lot of circles so any kind of serious discussion like this tends to be painted as negative and avoided. thank u!!!!

#asks

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ghostlytidalwavephantom · 9 months

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@ms-demeanor: don't mind the link, just trying to keep it organized.

First, I can guarantee I'm not familiar with how you've discussed the topic elsewhere. For me the limit of reasonable discourse is "quick skim of first three pages in case others were already discussing it." A lot of times I'd really like to engage someone and can barely scroll half a page without seeing calls to violence I really cannot reblog. Honestly the length of your response alone gives me nostalgia for the kinds of debate it was possible to have in forum days.

Second, hi. Not really used to introducing myself, mostly due to aforementioned paranormal experiences. I'm glad you replied, and feel pretty good about the screenshot since it feels like the opposite of censorship (which I've sorta come to expect). I'd say more, if it were relevant to the topic.

Third, I don't feel comfortable using your phrasing since knowledge isn't something we can afford to dismiss.

Society is crumbling. The erosion of the middle class isn't a process with a lower bound; it doesn't have a reason to stop, and we can't expect "safety nets" to hold if it all relied on the middle class from the start. Journalism is critical to the security of literally every possible kind of society, and democracy especially is widely criticized for how awful its performance gets under ignorance. We can't expect the systems we've erected to mean anything if the critical knowledge of operating them vanishes in a moment of crisis. The laws of tomorrow conflict with our present, and we weren't doing too well with servicing our rights in the present as it is. One missed story, one journalist censored, one threat we didn't see in the paper because they weren't ready to speak out, is justice destroyed.

You can't call it knowledge in one breath and pretend it's worthless to talk about in the same breath, having not even finished typing the sentence. Moments which altered history, 'cuz someone decided their life wasn't more important than letting people know what was actually happening somewhere in the world. We don't live in a censorship-free society where all the really important stuff definitely makes it to our dash, and anything which isn't "officially sanctioned, sponsored content" is automatically fake and wrong. We have to decide for ourselves what to think and feel and believe, and we can't delegate on it. Sure this is reactionary, except how else could it possibly work? (Gonna have to rant on anti-reactionary rhetoric later)

So the idea of vilifying a common behavior, and one which is rooted in the pursuit of knowledge, can't be a real path forward.

We haven't achieved the ideal where a journalist isn't at fault for keeping their source anonymous, where whistleblowers are defended, where rights and the spread of knowledge are the main focus in any controversial publication. We still have a lot of work to do filtering corruption out of our institutions, figuring out what kinds of FOIA requests pose as necessary checks and balances on the viney federal executive branch. We need people who can see in ways we didn't know to look.

Trust isn't working. Especially when half the "reputable" links are straight up copying from each other. Fact-checking is pretty much a dead science for the current market. I really don't mean to conflate anything you're saying, it connects with fake news the exact moment profit comes first. We might all be operating on the same fatigue: Too many facts.

I don't feel closer for anything you've said. I'm still over here with paranormal experiences I won't see documented for fear of hoaxes, and you're still "over there" with journalism and blind positivity and all the personal accountability which I have to guess looks pretty simple for anyone subscribed to The Right Media Companies™. I'd love to share, and honestly maybe the opportunity will exist if I actually make this post.

Thanks for replying, it means, well. The last couple hours writing this.

#Debate reply #conspiracy theories #social information

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tomiokasensei · 1 year

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oh oh ohhh~~ 🎅🎅 hello hello dear marilyn! another week went by and we are so close to xmas day by day 😊😊 are you getting excited? is it your holidays coming up or did they started already? may you get lots of rest and fun on your holidays marilyn! hope your week has been treating you well! ah thank you very much, it's beginning to get more organized and hopefully next week i can take some time off to chill and pass some quality time with my family 🥰🥰 btw! i finished your christmas gift yesterday, i am definitely very satisfied and happy how it turned out! hopefully you too will love it marilyn! 😊 i'm so glad that i got you excited from my expercience on italy! i too hope you will have an amazing experience when you get the chance to go there and to your soon travel to japan too! their traditions, food, places are full of goodies and beauty i'm so excited for you and i can't wait to know and see of your time you've spent there marilyn! ^^ oh god i surely need to start watching blue lock, since my break is coming i hope i will get some time to watch it ^^ i see so many people talking about such awesome stuff of the anime so it gets me more and more excited to see 😆😆 it's always so awesome when we have THE anime that we associate and have that feeling of belong!! everyday i thank myself and my sister to get into anime, cause it's such a cool quality time to watch it and it seems not like it but you do learn some stuff from it!! i thank community of japan for making anime and mangas! thank you! 🙏🙏🙏 when you start watching let me know your thoughts!! i'm super curious how you will give your feedback about it 😊😊😊 oh wow marilyn! we have the same major then! that's amazing! when i was reading your reply i was seeing myself in uni xDDD so cool! i'm happy you are having fun with your major and i felt like you're having so much fun to learn more new softwares!! ^^ your dream job is wonderful it's similar to mine too! i recently started working on what i've always worked for, to be an illustrator! but like you said, i wanted to be illustrator by doing art of my free will and ideas! i'm working for someone so i basically draw what they give to me every week, so i'm kinda feeling a bit meh cause of the ideas my boss has.. but i hope with the help of her i can one day open a new door experience to start working on my own and my own bussiness ^^ hopefully we two can do that in the future marilyn, i'm rooting for you! 🥳🥳🥳 you deserve all happiness and all your dreams come true! we have similar dreams so i know how you're going through and i bet you will do a wonderful job! i would be so happy to see your art! 🤩🤩🤩 you're welcome marilyn i'm always so happy to know that my messages bring you a smile to your face, it just shows how you have fun talking with me!! i too am having such an awesome time to know you bit by bit and thank you everyday for animanga having another secret santa this year! it's such an amazing way to know more people, bring more positivity and do more friendships! we need more love and happy times on this website! thank you again for being so lovely and amazing marilyn! i too smile so much whenever i see your replies! thank you sharing everything with me! 💕💕💕💕 wish you a continuation of a great week! see you soon marilyn!! 😘😘😘😘

hello once again, secret santa~! ! ! 🤩🥰 christmas is just around the corner and so close to exchange our gifts all around tumblr!! very excited for that and to see all the creative edits and art ppl have made 💜 i hope you are enjoying yourself with your family and friends as the holidays are almost here~💕and i know i will love the gift you have made for me, i can tell through your messages that you have poured so much love and enthusiasm into it and i cannot wait to see it!!! 💜💜💜

definitely! i am also very grateful for the wonderful japanese community to have brought us anime and manga! a true blessing for sharing with the rest of the world their creative art! it has been a big part of my life since childhood and seeing how it evolved in both animation and storytelling is so amazing and inspiring... it was because of that my love for art and the pursuit of a creative career has been realized! was your passion for art and illustration similar for you? as you have went into uni and gained the experience into the work of illustration, has there been an anime influence or perhaps your ideas in your work have ventured into new routes?😊 and thankyou for your encouraging words on my journey to achieve my dreams in art! i, too, am also interested in seeing your artwork, secret santa! maybe i could commission you sometime soon?🥰

i agree that it is events like this tumblr has been more engaging, if i am being honest there has been a lack of that lately and i've noticed ppl have been getting so discouraged in creating due to the lack of interactions and interests... but nonetheless i am positive that things could get better and more friendships can be built from this site!💗definitely more happy times here! 💜💜💜

i am so thankful for all your wonderful messages, secret santa, and it is so nice that you have enjoyed spending your time to get to know me as i have also learned about you in the process!🥰just how so much we have in common is so cool!! stay positive, happy, and healthy as the weekend continues! until next time 🎅~ ! ! ✌️😃

#animangasecretsanta #asks

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randomluck-ofthe-universe · 3 years

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it's a long ask, but I hope you'll read this bec the ending of it is especially for you all. A bit personal in the middle, which if you'd like you can skip, I include that because I know nobody of my life would get it. So here goes nothing.

Why is it always one step forward, two steps back. Just as we get to have a sliver of hope, something new takes it away.

The fandom doesn't know who I am, so I'm comfortable saying this, but I can't say this to the people of my life. My life has been a mess since December last year, but being here on Tumblr used to make me feel happy and safe, nobody knew me here, nobody I know is here. Since January, I was forced to distance myself from this last safe place that I had. But by March, I decided to follow this till the end. It may sound silly, but mostly because I thought maybe if I'm unable to control the things in my life, maybe focussing on something that I have no access to (i.e. his life), might help me escape. Perhaps, there was another aspect to it. Maybe I thought it'll help me believe again that life is just and fair, I feel so naive now. It may sound like I've lost hope, but I haven't. Deep in my heart, I wish to see things clear for him, obviously for his sake and his kids' sake, but also for my own faith in the idea of EGBA. I feel I am projecting my own life and hopes onto this. It's funny because alot of the bigger messups that happened in my life, happened right around the same time in his. But today is a sad day, both for him and me.

That being said, I just want you guys to know that every morning when I wake up, and I open Tumblr, the gifs, jokes, pics and videos that you guys share give me some respite and help me smile. EVERY MORNING. So maybe some of you may be feeling lost/sad/angry, idk. But I want you all to know that little things that you guys do, as simple as making a cute edit, is helping someone far far from where you all are, and this is my way of showing gratitude. I wish I could do it without being an anon, but I'm not ready for it rn. Maybe one day I'd openly start to talk to you people without hiding behind this anon button. Until then, THANK YOU TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU. I don't care about those who think I'm crazy to believe in something that they believe is a lost cause, but my hopes is as strong as their conviction is. But even when hopeful, we're allowed days we have less hope than usual, but as long as we spring back, I think it's alright.

Thanks for entertaining me.

I would like to find enough words, and definitely better than these, to express what I feel right now but believe me, I'm not be able at this moment.. your message touched me so deeply, I really feel so shaken and overwhelmed that I can’t think correctly and rationally enough.

You don’t know how much everything you wanted to share here is so close to my own experience, it made me enormously glad that you did and no matter if you did as an anon... yours is a positive message, true and so sincere, and it says so much about the beautiful person you're and the richness of your emotional life. Life often puts us so fuckin hardly to the test I know, but in the times when we think are the worst always comes something that throws us an anchor to save us and to move on, in one way or another you know, and I feel that you and I are both sharing the same anchor.

If you'll ever want to do that, feel free to contact me by private message, in any way feels you more comfortable.. it would give me an immense pleasure. I don’t care who you are, the most important things about you, and the only ones that really matter to me, I already know and that’s enough for me.

Thank you wholeheartedly for your beautiful words to all of us here in fandom, I’m sure that each of us will be deeply happy.

Love you, whoever you are. ❤️❤️❤️

#egba 💫✨

#anons #fuckin emotional

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nerdygaymormon · 3 years

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Hey, it's national coming out day and I wanted to tell someone I'm girlflux. Sometimes I feel really masculine but never like a boy. I feel sort of comfortable about it but I'm still getting used to it because it means I'm not cis. I won't come out to the family I live with bcuz they won't understand. Pls tell me it's okay to not be cis bc I think have some trauma around the idea of not being cis. Thanks for reading😊

I'm honored you chose to share this with me on this important day. Coming Out is sort of like your queer birthday (except that you were queer when you were born, so I guess your actual birthday is your queer birthday, but you get what I'm trying to say)

We’ve always had non-cis people, they can be found in history. It’s a natural variation of the human condition. We know that non-cis people were honored and respected members of communities in the Americas, Pacific Islands, and in Asia. Some societies even had multiple classifications of non-cis people.

I'm glad we're finally at a time where we are developing the language to describe how people experience the world and we're moving slowly towards acceptance and inclusion.

Your Heavenly Parents love you as you are and for who you are. You are precious to them.

This church teaches that we’re each entitled to pray and seek revelation and confirmation. You can pray to ask if God loves you, all of you. You can seek confirmation for decisions on your path.

We are that we might have joy! That is a beautiful teaching. Find joy. Take steps towards it.

There is a difference between guilt and shame. Guilt is what you feel if you do something bad. If you don’t feel guilt for an action, chances are it’s not “bad.” Shame is what you feel about yourself. You should not feel shame for who you are, for the things you’re dealing with and for having the life you do. It's the difference between "I did something bad," and "I am bad."

I know there's harmful teachings in this church about queer people, and we receive those messages before we even realize we are queer. Those messages come from an institution and people we respect and even love. They find a home in our head and our heart. That makes those words difficult to overcome when we come to understand we're queer.

Keep in mind, the people teaching these things, they are not queer. They don't have any knowledge of what it is like to be us. They see themselves as the norm and the rest of us as abnormities. That is incorrect.

When you hear or remember unaffirming words, replace them. Speak or think positive words about yourself, your gender identity, and your worth.

If we want to know God, we should look at what God creates. Look around you, the world is diverse. Queer activity has been observed in practically all species of mammals. Surely queerness is a natural, beautiful, and necessary part of this world. God loves wild meadows of diversity, not lawns of sameness.

What you wear and things you display in your room can be ways of affirming yourself that won't out you from the closet. Mormons have a lot of expectations regarding dress and appearance, but it’s okay to do things your own way.

Btw, I didn't know there is a girlflux flag! It's beautiful. The girlflux flag has varying colors of pink and red representing the fluctuating intensity of the female identity, and a tan stripe in the middle to represent agender, or a lack of gender.

Something you may not know, but Tumblr has been a very important part of queer history. Many of the different Pride flags we know and celebrate were first shared on Tumblr.

In 2015, a Tumblr user created the terms girlflux and boyflux to describe their gender identity. Their post had ideas for girlflux and boyflux flags, but people ultimately settled on the one I shared with you, maybe because using the horizontal stripes helps people know it is related to the group of non-binary, agender, bigender, polygender, and so on.

Much love to you on National Coming Out Day 2021. Thank you for being brave enough to share with me.

#national coming out day

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watayaaratamblr · 3 years

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I read a past ask in your blog and thought of sending this too. I used to love and gush about Taichi so much but that changed over time because most fans can't seem to take constructive criticisms against his character like a good sport. Sure, Taichi is a great creation of Suetsugu, but he has a fair share of flaws too. It went downhill for me after his confession. It's hard because I like Taichi and I want to talk about his flaws without getting eyerolls or defensive flames from fellow Taichi fans mistaking me as an anti. How uncomfortable it is to share a completely honest constructive opinion only to receive heavy backlash from ppl I'm supposed to share the same interest with. I expected more from them but sigh, that's the toxic side of fandom for you.

I still love him. But now, not as much as I love Arata. The way some Taichi fans put him on a pedestal like an indefeasible god and the way they keep on commenting "Omg no Taichi :(" in every chapter that doesn't have him (because duh the focus of the arc isn't Taichi ffs) irk me so. From my experience, Arata fans are calmer and more openminded. Now I mainly interact with Arata fans and lurk in Arata fandom spaces and my experience has never been healthier. Truly, Arata fandom >>> Taichi fandom. Thank you for this blog! It's a breath of fresh air.

Thank you very much for this ask, for sharing your feelings and for selecting us to share them with I am really really happy ❤( *´艸｀)❤

I'm so glad to know that we are one of the parts of this fandom where fans can feel safe and enjoy the wonderful story of Chihayafuru ❤

And I understand your feelings perfectly, I myself have loved some characters in the past which when I approached their fan-bases I discovered that I was an "anti" according to their definition I was very dumbfounded. (Sakura Haruno is my most recent one (;o;))

You know, someone else told me a very similar story to yours, he called himself over the net: "Mashima Taichi" because he feels a striking resemblance with this character.

Now that I mention him, I'm a member in a Facebook group for Arata fans, if anyone wants to join, they'll get this question: "If you are a Taichi fan, and for a safer place for everyone, please know that we love Arata most here so we might be less sympathetic towards Taichi and most might ship Chiharata, ARE YOU OK WITH THIS?" (or something similar)

I asked the guy I mentioned above who became an admin there (& who is also helping me sometimes with this tumblr account) and he told me that he added this question because he understands the intensity of Taichi fans's obsession, that he was initially his fan but like you described, not in the way of so many others. still, as he tried to share his thoughts with them he discovered that they can't hear what he has to say because they love Taichi "above reason" so it's safer for a non-Taichi-fan to discuss Chihayafuru (mainly Taichi) with only those who can understand why some fans have less sympathy with this character than them and also who CAN tolerate Arata & Chiharata because apparently it's what triggers most of the aggressive fans.

I think it's true, we get blinded with our love sometimes haha and we are inclined to feel defensive for the simplest of reasons.

My close friend is a Taichi fan, I like to tease her sometimes but I also like to tell her the positive news about Taichi before anyone else.

I'm not a very fan of Taichi tbh, but I think, we can have a wonderful experience with Chihayafuru by focusing on the right people and the right things, I for one feel really happy when I see my close friend fangirling all over the place because of Taichi... She seems happy, our moments become light and fun, it's because of Taichi and it makes me also happy.

I wish the whole fandom becomes like this too...

Speaking of which, I want you to find people who love Taichi as much as you do and have as much fun as you can so I want to recommend an account here (@formashimataichi), I admire the person who runs this account, I feel like they have a very big heart & a large mind; I want to talk to them sometimes but like?... Do I feel shy? (i'm stuuuupid!)

so at least, I hope you can find a precious place to exchange your thoughts about Taichi there,

and of course, we are here for you too (We might be boring though because I sometimes feel like I am an Arata-Baka (●≧艸≦) and I feel so ignorant when I meet someone else who pays more attention than me to other things in Chihayafuru lol)

so let's be positive & always share what we love and enrich this unpopular fandom with our fluffy feelings at least ^^

And let's be friends (Ɔ ˘⌣˘)˘⌣˘ C)

#I feel really happy #thank you anon #you made my day #beautiful fans #chihayafuru #chihayafuru deserves beautiful fans #Suetsugu sensei deserves beautiful fans too #wataya arata #I want to tag Mashima Taichi too but I don't want this to be read by the wrong fans

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time-to-write-and-suffer · 2 years

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Hi Eff! Your blog is probably one of my favourites on tumblr. It's really interesting hearing about your story writing processes and how you also share with us your wonderful ideas and characters. I was wondering what has been your process with writing if? I'm currently trying to come up with a new idea since I have lost quite a bit of interest on my other wip and have decided to shelf it for now. How do you come up with such creative ideas? Honestly I've been trying to come up with something for months but like my two braincells can't seem to come up with anything. Any tips would be appreciated. Also I would like to thank you for running this blog for so many years despite some rude anons you have gotten. (looking at you SJM and TWC fanpeople 🗿). It's really fun to read your blog and you seem like a genuinely kind person, and your writing style from what I have seen along with your characters are great. I wish you all the best with your wips and everything else. Please do continue sharing with us your wip processes and ideas, they're honestly really interesting and fun to read. Sorry for the long ask lmao, but hope you have a great day. 💕

Hey Nonny! No need to apologize for this kind and sweet message! <3 It's made my evening for sure and I'm glad you enjoy the blog, I think running it been a positive experience overall even if I've made mistakes and/or stepped in doo-doo every now and then.

Now, for your question about writing IF, aka interactive fiction (which I assume is your main question, sorry if I misunderstood). I don't actually have a process yet, since this is pretty much my first time ever attempting anything like this. This means that I'm entirely the wrong person to approach, unfortunately, but I can share what I've learned so far and hope that it's helpful in some way!

Rambling under the cut.

Fundamentally, writing an IF is very different from writing a novel, and I'm a planner-type writer who needs outlines and a pretty firm grip on my world and characters, especially my protagonist, whom I always try to make the most interesting person in the story for obvious reasons.

With an IF, you don't have that level of control. You have to, to some degree, give up a bit of your authorial power over the narrative and give it to the player. But I would say that this also gives you the freedom to explore different paths that your characters and your world can take. For me, this means that I'll have to write different versions of the same characters depending on what path the player chooses to pursue, which can be treated as a sort of character study but on a more involved level. For example, I have one character that serves as the main antagonist in every route but his own, where he in turn becomes the love interest. This means I have to figure out a way for him to both be a convincing villain and a romantic partner, in a way that's faithful to his character fundamentally.

I tend to prefer IFs with a more limited scope and fewer customization choices where the author's intent is more clear and the experience is more guided and linear, it usually makes for a more interesting story and feels a bit more gratifying than just having a vast, expansive world and generic characters that you can customize to the tiniest degree but which ultimately has little to no impact on the story at all. This is also my justification for writing such an IF, where I still get to be in charge for most of the time while offering controlled narrative options.

Obviously, you'll always be in charge ultimately, and you should write what you want to write instead of forcing yourself to give the hypothetical player choices that you don't feel are as interesting as the others. I think it's better to have a strong artistic vision that limits the player's input than to give the player the power over nearly every thing that happens in the story and end up losing a lot of that strong storytelling and emotional impact.

(Now, I'm not saying you can't have both, but it's a lot more difficult and not something I myself personally think I could, or would want to, handle.)

As for how I come up with things? I don't. I let other people come up with things and then twist them around to something I like even more. Good artists borrow, great artists steal. I'm not calling myself a great artists, because I'm not, but the idea is that you take something that exists and make it yours. I've played TWC and liked it at first, but then realized I was disappointed by many aspects of it. I also really love vampires in general, and lately I've been enjoying What We Do in the Shadows. So I got the idea to write my own IF where you can romance vampires who are a bit goofy and weird and lovable, who also follow some of the more traditional vampiric lore that I personally find compelling and feel is often ignored by modern vampire literature because it's not "sexy" enough for vampires to have silly weaknesses.

So I've got the baseline idea to write a vampire-centric IF from TWC, the tone and character inspiration from WWDITS, and my own love for vampire lore to inspire the worldbuilding. This idea is a conglomerate of existing media. It's not original at all, but it tickles my pickle and makes me happy to write it, which is the point of creation methinks.

I also tend to approach most of my writing ideas like this, where I find something I think I can improve upon and/or do better, something I love and want to emulate, and something I don't see enough of and want to add to. That might be a good starting point for you, maybe?

Another thing that convinced me to try writing an IF in the first place is the fact that I'm fundamentally a romance writer, and a lot of my stories involve romance to some degree. But the bad thing about writing romance is that you have to pick one story only, and for me it also means that I only write the romance between two characters (I'm not polyamorous nor do I write it, though I might try one day, who knows). Writing an IF means I get to explore different characters and how they would exist in a romantic relationship without having to come up with new worlds for them to exist in or write sequels or prequels or side-stories. I can just write it and it'll be just as canon and valid as the others. I don't have to pick a favorite to write about, and can instead leave that choice to someone else. And this is just ... fun? Like, it's fun to write this stuff, for me. So I wanna do it more.

So just grab some ideas you like from elsewhere, stitch them together in a fun way that makes you excited to make it exist, and go for it!

Hope you got something useful from this answer, and good luck! <3

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bright-eyed · 4 years

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hey. maybe this is dumb idk. but I'm going through more or less the same thing that you're going through right now, i think, and I have for a long time. This sort of absolute lack of a life in any meaningful way, and an almost hard-to-believe lack of friends or affection of any kind. And uh, It's been getting very slowly better, but I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be able to stand it. Just wanted to tell you that you're not alone, cause you make me feel a bit less weird and lonely so I

so I wanted to return the favor. your blog is not a waste of time I don't think, not for me. I think it's cute and I like reading it. I'm gonna go on a limb and assume that, if you're like me, you were probably told a million time that you're like, bright and have unrealized potential and some bullshit like that. so like, I'm not gonna tell you're gonna have a great future or any of that cause I don't know you. (you definitely do though). Actually I don't have anything to tell you. Just that

Just that like, I'm a body thousands of miles away from you that's vibrating in synchrony with you. and hopefully that makes you feel something. I dunno. Take it as you will. You're cute. I'm a lesbian but i'm pretty sure you'd be hot as a guy as well, i think? anyway.

omg this isn’t dumb at all! i know i haven’t always been very receptive to messages in the past and i have talked maybe too much about the inadequacies of cyberspace connection, so i might have made people think i don’t want messages like this or that i think they’re silly, but honestly, knowing that this blog thing i spend so much time and energy on not only actually reaches people but makes a positive impact in people’s lives is like one of the best things i’ve gotten out of having one. and while i’ve talked about how connections in this little cyberspace might not be a very good solution to the chronic loneliness that i (and also you) experience, i don’t think that the connections that we make online are intrinsically worthless at all. tumblr is kind of like we’re reading each other’s diaries, at least the way i use it. so it means a lot to me that my thoughts mean something to you!

i’m sorry you’ve been lonely and haven’t gotten enough love in your life, hopefully you’re getting more of that now or will be soon. i wouldn’t worry so much about a meaningful life, i’ve wrestled with that beast for a very long time and my hands are still empty. i think once we find love and connection and other things we need, then meaningfulness of it all just kind of flows in or maybe just becomes easier to see. normal everyday things that now we think of as empty and soulless become imbued with meaning. but when you’re struggling with sadness and loneliness and other forms of starvation, it’s impossible to find it and impossible to stop looking for it or be content with the life you have. obviously for justifiable reasons. so i get it but it’s like the only thing that can really be done is to try to get better for right now

i’m glad it’s getting better for you, or that it might be? i know that like chronic loneliness is really truly a form of starvation, so just like how when you’ve been starved, eating is painful at first, when you’ve been lonely, then the first connections you make will be very painful in the same way. so i’ll just ask that you keep standing it. like gritting your teeth through it because the pain like anything is temporary and i want you to find connection and meaning and so on. it just takes time, because like how everything worth anything takes time/effort or something (i can’t remember the quote ughh)

i’m also glad that i’ve helped you in any way !! i never really mean to i feel like i just kinda empty my heart onto here so i’m glad that that meant something to you regardless

and thank you 💛 it always kind of shocks me when people say that i have a bright future because it’s really hard to see it through like the fog of depression and all that so i’m flattered by that ! and also inspired !

thank you for sending this message.. it’s amazing how many connections are possible, and how many different types, and how they happen in the places you don’t expect and sometimes entirely on accident! so you dunno but i DO know and i’ll take this as the incredible thing it is

and fnjfjd thank you for the compliment 🥰 i’m only somewhat feeling the guy part of me today but next time he makes an appearance within the next year or two he’ll be glad you said that lol it’s complicated 😭

happy new year! i hope you find all the things you need soon

to synchronicity !!!! 🥂🥳🤩✨💫✨💫✨

#if you ever want to message me off anon feel free because i’m curious about who you are #but if you don’t want to dwbi #if there’s anything i can do for you on or off anon please don’t hesitate #i know there’s really not much i can do from thousands of miles away but sometimes something is better than nothing #not always but sometimes #💛💛💛💛💛💛#kennapost

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grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales · 6 years

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Hey! I'm the anon from slavicafire's blog asking about Yugoslav witchcraft traditions. I;m a child of recent immigrants from the ex-yugo regions and I'm trying to reconnect w/ my roots. Could you give me a very basic outline of simple traditions that might be common from the region? Hvala puno (:

Hi anon! Glad to see somebody interested in our traditions, that is always amazing. I hope this helps you.

Disclaimer, I’m not professional. This is just stuff pulled out of my own amateur research and love for balkan lore. Anybody with better understanding please pitch in.

First, to reiterate what likely everybody told you, Slavic traditions are very variable and unique, depending on which country you are looking at. While there is obviously much similar things, not all Balkan countries have same lore. So I would suggest looking up where your ancestors are from, and then digging in research ( sometimes there are differences even between like, villages in same country, which makes things both beautiful and amazing and irritating and bothersome).

Second, I am sorry to say that information can be kinda hard to come across when searching for Balkan sources. As result of most countries being ‘’still in development’’, (at least when compared to West), decades of communist regime which didn’t care much for spirituality, big influence of Christian church and being kinda small in population, there isn’t lots of people interested in such things, at least not openly. There has thankfully been revival and rise of interest in last years but ah still takes lots of work to find like minded people. You should have some luck searching through Tumblr and Reddit.

Rest of info under cut, keep on read more so we wouldn’t bother people with big wall of text.

Now, I want to say ( in case you aren’t already aware, in which case excuse me and forgive for taking up your time) that if you do research in Serbian or Croatian for veštica you will most likely come upon fantasy books, fairy tales and such. More folkloric stuff will talk about things like selling your soul to Devil, eating hearts of your family, soul leaving your body to do misdeeds and similar. Rather interesting stuff, which could be used for interesting if little dark path, but less easy to put in practice and being generally very Christian story about evil monsters ( I assume you can’t leave your body in shape of moth so you would cut up your neighbors and relatives and eat their insides but hey what do I know, that might work for you). If you are interested in hearing about that though please send me ask again!

What I assume you are looking for, and is generally much more likely to be practiced ( today too in some villages) are činjarice and vračare. These words while literally meaning something like charm-doer/maker and similar, are more like village wisewomen, cunning folk and similar, people who practiced mixture of magic, medicine, old Slavic lore and Christian beliefs, midwifery and superstitions. If you ask your parents, grandparents, relatives and similar, I’m sure they would be able to tell you of encountering or at very least hearing about at least one weird old woman who claimed to be able to read your fortune, help with fertility, protect you against evil eye… If you ever meet such old woman, remember they will most likely be very insulted if you call them witch. Some wouldn’t even call their workings magical, and many are very intensively Christian.

So, some advice which I hope will be useful. Traditionally those women (and probably some men, though I didn’t hear of it happening. Probably happened but people don’t like talking about such things because people are dumb) worked alone. I assume one witch was enough for one village. This doesn’t mean that you can’t join a coven or work with friends and learn from others, simply that solitary path is open to you and that lots of those witches worked on their own, combining superstition, tips passed to them from others and their own knowledge and thoughts. There is no hard tradition to stick to, you can freely experiment, and don’t listen to people who say you need witch’s blood or some nonsense like that. You only need your will and heart and what works for you.

Then, remember those people lived in villages and most likely worked at farm, in fields, with cattle.. They likely lived together with their families ( unless they were of course widows with no nearby relatives or spinsters). Point is, they didn’t have fancy stuff, because they had to take acre of cows and dung and carrots, so you shouldn’t feel bad about not buying athames, wands, cauldrons and such if you can’t or don’t want. You can repurpose normal ordinary stuff around you in magical tools. As Granny Weatherwax would say, witch can use kitchen knife to do magic and make a bread. Some would argue it is still good to have separate tools for magic, or regularly cleanse and charge your cutlery so energy wouldn’t get too muddled, and that is good approach too. Look what works for you. Suggestions for tools: mirrors, candles, knives, threads,stones, scissors.

If you want to get ideas for how to incorporate everyday things in your practice, look up tag cottage witchcraft, or hearth witchcraft, which is based on idea of making your home practices in magic. Remember that you don’t need to define yourself as anything but witch, or even that, if you don’t want. Think of ways how your passions and talents could be used as outlet for witchcraft. Sing your spells, paint your sigils, however you want. Balkan witches let their craft go out through ordinary stuff too.

Research herb lore! Living in villages and near woods Slavic witches always worked closely with herbs. That seems to generally be witch thing, as herbs were for long time basis of spices and medicine. Research what herbs you can get your hands on (spices and weeds are easiest I’d say) can be used for, both magically and as teas, tinctures and similar ( remember that herbs should never be used instead of actual medication, and that you don’t need to bother with them if you don’t want to). Some starting points-generally, oak is associated with Perun, strength, protection and ancestors and was heavily respected and venerated. Walnut is associated with darkness, death, misfortune and evil witches and spirits so I’d say it would for example be good for curses. Hawthorn was used as means of protection against demonic spirits and evil creatures, especially vampires.

Research correspondences! People for example believed that certain workings should be undertaken only on certain days, such as holy days of saints, or that magic was best to be done on Friday. Water has different powers depending on day and place it was taken- frozen water or melted ice is used for spells of forgetting, but generally water is used for healing and purification, though time and place and way you collect it can charge it differently. Salt is of course as always amazing for protection and cleansing. Colours are also good start- black for death darkness misfortune, red for life and protection especially against spirits, white for purity cleansing contact with dead and positive energy and so on. Some things require really weird steps. For example to protect yourself from plague you needed to pull over yourself a shirt made by several naked old woman outside during Saturday night ( which I hope you will never need, and have serious doubts for how successful it would be)… If you are in for more ritualistic path it may work for you.

Spells, often called bajalice ( I’m not sure how to translate, except it vaguely means something like murmured song, or chant I think) were either passed down, picked from folklore, or straight up invented. They consisted of several lines and often rhymed, in fact many of them sound like nursery rhymes. Some are full of seemingly nonsenses, others call upon saints.

They also often had psychical component, a piece of paper, poppet, anything…Those were used as anchors for spell, and if you were casting for other person, closer those objects were to them spell worked better. Good luck and blessings were often in form of amulets person carried on themselves, curses often required burning object or burying it in victim’s backyard.

As with all witchcraft I’d say, sympathetic magic is one of basics. Hair, nails, blood, names, images, all those are often necesarry to work magic upon another. Be careful what is done with yours.

There is strong focus on body with Balkan witchcraft (especially hair). If you feel comfortable explore it, learn about it. Your body is wonderful and reveling in it can be very beneficial not just for magic but for your health, in flesh and mind both. Just stay away from things talking about stuff like putting menstrual blood in potions or anything unsafe. If you want to explore blood magic take care. Just cutting or pricking yourself isn’t good at all.

Look out for superstitions. Most of them contain ritualistic roots. Think and ask why they are done, and how can they be used in practice. Knock on wood for good luck or to prevent bad things, it calls out to spirits. Pinkie and index finger pointed on person is used for casting curses of evil eye variety. And so on…

You don’t have to work with dead, but as amazing zmija already mentioned, there is always something undead. Graveyard dirt is powerful. Look out for ghosts and similar creatures. If you want, try to connect to ancestors or tend to graveyards. Forty days after birth and death are when such forces are most active. Our dead are always with us, and those who have passed on often frequent and play with those who replaced them.

Treat nature well. Remember that it is full of spirits ( some of which may be similar to undead-is rusalka a water nymph or drowned girl, domovoi entirely spiritual caretaker of home or ghost of distant ancestor ). Try to connect with them, to reach out if you feel safe. Dragons, vampires, fairies ( zmey, vampies/upyrsi, vilas in english sources) were most important to Balkans, as well as creatures of wilds like snakes and wolves.

Spaces American side of tumblr would call liminal are important. Thresholds, crossroads and watermills are folklorically connected with magic a lot.

Balkan Traditional Witchcraft by Radomir Ristic from what I heard is very good book, if little awkward to read as it is translated in English. Journal for the Academic Study of Magic from what I have heard has some stuff on South Slavic magic in issue 2 and parts of it are put up online, such as The Human Body in Southern Slavic Folk Sorcery Andrija Filipovic and Anne M. Rader. Solvenska Mitologija ( The Slavic Mythology) by Nenad Gajić is great start if you want easy to understand and comprehensive list of Slavic creatures, beliefs, lore and so but I don’t know if you can find it out of Balkans. Belgrade publishing house Metaphysica also apparently has some stuff, no idea if it is good.

If you know Serbian or Croatian, I would suggest websitehttp://www.starisloveni.com/index.html, which is pagan site and also has forum (you need to be registered though). I have also found several threads of that topic on https://forum.krstarica.com/ and https://www.ana.rs/forum/ though they require digging, especially for good stuff. Site is also bit less modern. I have recently came upon https://thewitchandwalnut.wordpress.com/, a Wordpress blog of Balkan witch from Canada which seems very informative. @everett-the-mage is very awesome blog with lots of content on Croatian folk magic and lovely Etsy shop and lots of recommendations for reading.

I hope this helps at least a little! Good luck with your journey!

#slavic mythology #slavic folklore #paganism #slavic paganism #balkans

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thehouseofgrey · 5 years

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Personally, I think the feminization of Alec (or Magnus for that matter) only happens in one part of the Fandom who I think is less and less popular each day. The viewers at home don't do that, for example I'm a gay guy and my boyfriend loves Alec because he says he identifies in him so much as a masc gay who is just there to do his job and at the same time is proud of his sexuaility.

I’d really like to believe you’re right. That the fetishizing side of the fandom is small and getting smaller. They’re very loud though and exhausting to listen to. They write so much of the smut and it shows. As both a mlm and a wlw (genderfluid) i guess i just get tired of playing roulette when I open Twitter, Tumblr, AO3. will i be reading a post or a fic that should have nothing to do with sex and see some reference to how demure and effeminate one or the other of them is? maybe not but i can never be sure. will there be a fight in the mentions of an SHTV post about clizzy between wlw who genuinely keep getting shafted and Straights™ who insist on reminding us that S*zzy is endgame (a lot of sizzy shippers are fine people but just as many of them are fucking asshats and you may quote me on that)?

and while that side may be waning in this fandom, it doesn’t really solve the overall trend in fandom which was the case well before I entered fandom and will be for the foreseeable future.

I love this show to the death of me because it’s broken some of those stereotypes. Seeing a bisexual character treated with such respect, never being accused of cheating or being greedy or just being in a phase is so refreshing. To see that same character spit in the face of gender roles, to see him present so androgynously and be so fully confident in who he is, it’s so nice. And, like you mentioned, to see such a clearly masculine young gay man come into his own and be in a position of power and prestige on his own merits, neither helped nor hindered by the fact that he is gay? iconic. an interracial gay power couple? god tier. getting to see the vast and complex inner workings of their relationship? groundbreaking. it makes me cry on the regular to see a gay couple to not only be the main couple on the show (i said what i said) but treated so normally.

so, it’s not really the fault of anyone but this deep-seated fan-culture phenomenon that this small loud group of women exists. you make an excellent point about the rest of the fandom not being like that and for the most part i’ve managed to curate both my twitter and tumblr experience so that i don’t experience the grossness of this small section of the fandom. but there’s not way to filter for them on AO3 really and I think that’s where it gets to me most. I hate that queer voices get buried in the avalanche. i know if i want wlw content at all i probably have to write it myself because there are so few wlw writers. and i know that if i want malec fic written by mlm i have to go hunting for it. and it seems unfair to me that they get to be the loudest and often the most influential even though there’s so few of them. (like few enough that i could name you authors to avoid when looking at fic in general but smut especially)

I’m glad your bf identifies with alec. and at the end of the day, that’s what makes me love this show despite its issues. it’s giving real queer people real representation and that’s a gift.

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pickledchickenetti · 5 years

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(pt 1) I'm a woman and am happily married to another woman and I don't understand why everyone was so upset at Krista. She openly supports marriage equality and has defended it. She has close LGBT friends (I know having black friends doesn't make you not racist but in my experience people that have been opposed to my sexual orientation stop being friends with me) and advocates for LGBT persons to be included in the church and conservatives to accept us.

Hi friend, thanks for your thoughts! I don’t know your background, so I hope that my answer doesn’t come across as condescending or rude as that is certainly not my intention. My opinions on Krista’s stance on gay issues are strongly colored by my experiences, which I have no problem admitting. I’m sure plenty of other LGBT folks have different feelings, which is totally fine. For what it’s worth, I saw more people upset with Krista over her posts about abuse victims not remarrying after a divorce than I have over any of the LGBT posts she’s made, but I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t regularly made critical comments about her LGBT posts/stances here.

In order to be fair to her, I decided to go back through her blog (on Tumblr, not her other blog) and re-read her posts on gay issues in order to make sure that I’m not taking other people’s comments about her or vague memories I have of old posts and projecting my own frustrations with other conservative Christians’ opinions onto Krista.. I’m going to do my best to source anything I reference via links to that post, but I apologize if I miss anything.

I will also be focusing on issues regarding people who are sexually attracted to the same sex (using the blanket term of “gay”, which also represents bi/pan/etc.) for this post. I am cis myself, and your question references your same-sex relationship and family, so in this case it feels appropriate to stay in my lane and not offer opinions on a cis person’s stances on gender issues as another cis person. I do not mean to exclude gender nonconforming people from the overall LGBT community in any way.

The oldest about posts I can find from Krista about anything gay-related are anons asking her opinions. I’m fairly sure that this is the first one, where she essentially gives a fairly neutral action that could be interpreted as “I don’t think being gay sends you to hell” or as “I think gay people can go to heaven too as long as they repent of that sin along with the others”. She does not make it clear what her opinion on same-sex attraction specifically is, as another anon then pointed out in this post. Does her tone in addressing the anon bother me? Yes. Does she have the right to call out people she feels are being rude to her? Also yes.

Early on in the post she says “First, you missed out on a lot of people. It’s actually LGBTQIAAP.” (likely referencing the anon saying LGBTQIA), and it’s just a personal pet peeve of mine for straight people to try to act like they have any authority on things like the acronym, but I realize that that’s just me and she also has no way of knowing the anon’s sexuality so perhaps it was one straight person (sarcastically) informing another straight person of a perceived shortcoming. Perhaps not. She then goes on to defend her refusal to give a “straightforward answer” by, in my opinion, continuing to dodge the question.

Further down she brags that she “was actually named best advocate at a national moot court competition this past year arguing that Title VII protects against sexual orientation discrimination”. Now maybe I’m wrong, but it’s my understanding that moot courts aren’t typically events where you’re expected to defend your own personal beliefs, but events where you are assigned a stance and have to argue it regardless of what you believe. If that’s the case, mentioning that is irrelevant. If it is not the case and she was able to choose that stance, bragging about it for some sort of ally point is, in my opinion, arrogant.

She ends the post by saying that her LGBT friends “are entitled to all of the rights, privileges, and safeties that I enjoy as a straight woman. Who you love and who you’re attracted to does not change your place in society or the rights that you have or opportunities you should be able to pursue.” Sure, your sexual orientation SHOULDN’T change your place in society or your rights, but it DOES. It absolutely does, and to say that LGBT folks are entitled to the same rights as straight women is, at best, misguided. Krista is a lawyer who has, in theory, interacted with multiple members of the LGBT community, so she should realize that regardless of what should or shouldn’t be true, LGBT still DON’T have the same rights as her in many states, and even in states where legally we have the same rights we still live with fears she will never experience.

As for the claim that Krista is “not only tolerant of my family but accepting” and that she “accepts me and defends my rights”, here are my thoughts. I don’t want to be tolerated. If you’re cool with just being tolerated then more power to you, but as someone who is merely tolerated by a number of Christians, it really hurts and feels extremely de-humanizing. I do feel that “tolerates” is an accurate word for Krista’s stances on gay people (with the possible exception of the gay friends she claims to have). I do not feel that Krista “defends” gay people and our families beyond her belief that she is legally obligated to uphold the law. She has said that she is “totally fine with gay couples adopting”, which is a positive. She has also said she feels families with same-sex couples should be treated like “any other couple”, which again, is a positive. I guess I just don’t feel like that’s the same as defending. She recently admitted that she has never voted for a Democrat, and while I understand why someone from Vermont might see third-party candidates as viable (because in many Vermont races they are), she has to realize that voting third-party for president is throwing away your vote in the current political climate. Beyond voting, what is she actually DOING to “defend” gay people? Nothing she has ever said makes me think she’s using her privilege to truly defend us to her conservative Christian circles. Unless proven otherwise, I can’t help but feel that she’s able to talk a (vague) big game about being supportive without actually doing any supporting.

I have recently said that it is my belief that she thinks gay sex/acting on same-sex attractions is sinful, even if our marriages should be legal. I will admit that I formed that opinion largely based on a private conversation I had with her, and which I will not share publicly without her permission. In going through old posts, I came across this post, which I feel also supports this opinion. An anon says that they can’t see any good qualities to overcome “when the thing they disagree with is gay rights/gay marriage/that being gay is a sin”, and that they’d “say the same about someone who identified as a Nazi or a white supremacist”. In Krista’s response, she literally says “But, by the same token, you and I are talking right now, and hopefully, I’m not reminding you of a Nazi”. That statement seems to imply that she falls into at least one of those categories or else why would she remind the anon of a Nazi? In another post she also says that “I do believe that all people are responsible for their sexual BEHAVIOR”, which seems to imply that there is something sinful about sexual behavior between people of the same sex.

If we want to get down to it, this is the post that was the cause of my initial feeling that Krista was not a safe person for gay people. If someone asks you if you think being LGBTQ+ is a sin and your answer is to tell them they are trying to “stir division”, it is only fair to assume that you think they won’t like your answer. If I ask someone their belief on that subject, I am asking because I want to know their opinion. This anon echoes the same sentiment. If she’s really worried about “stirring division” she should have just ignored the question.

To anyone still reading at this point, thanks for sticking it out with me. Honestly Krista’s recent posts (paired with some events in my life offline) have really got me thinking, and I have a lot of things weighing on me. I’m glad that you are able to feel that as long as she believes you deserve the same rights as she does it’s fine. I hope you continue to feel safe in that. Unfortunately, many of us aren’t that lucky. Many of us have lived too much of our lives feeling disgusting and broken and worthless because of teachings that that same God she worships and we were brought up to worship disapproves not only of any relationships we have, but of an inherent part of who we are. The biggest reason that I continue to speak out against Krista’s posts is because I just need any scared or confused young gay teenagers in the church to know that they don’t have to settle for being tolerated, and no matter who thinks they’re sinning, they’re not.

Krista’s posts (in the context of the rest of the blog) would have devastated me at one time in my life. When I speak out against them, I’m usually saying the sorts of things I wish someone would have said to me then.

#Anonymous

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chikkou · 6 years

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as a 15 year old who is into homestuck rn, your post was interesting! every once in a while i do feel like i missed a reference, but for the most part i feel like i'm getting the experience. i am insanely curious though: what could have possibly been going on in the fandom that inspired the trickster arc?

first of all im glad u liked my post!! i honestly just got really into my thoughts and i had to share it…. im a fake deep hoe LMAO

now to ur question! its a VERY gud one… but unfortunately the answer is kind of troubling. essentially, the short answer is “kids who were pro-social justice.”

to expand on that, u may need some background. homestuck during this time (2013) had a notoriously garbidge fandom, which was well known for being full of infighting. homestuck drew a lot of different fans from a lot of different backgrounds, and it caught on really well with kids on tumblr in the age range of 12-18.

during that time, social justice was getting really popular online, so i can safely say that most of the kids that were homestuck fans were also in support of sj. those who werent were usually intensely anti-sj, and rejected any notions of it, especially where homestuck was concerned. that might seem unrelated, but it actually plays a big part in a lot of problems that came about later on.

one of homestucks biggest positive points was the kids being aracial. hussie made it explicit in tweets and such that the kids were intended to be without race, so readers could fill in whatever they wanted. fan artists really liked that bc it meant they could draw the kids however they chose, and it would technically be canonically accurate. thats a very difficult thing for a webcomic of all things to do, so it was exciting to have the ability to make the kids super diverse, in any sense of the word!

unfortunately, the problem with this is that a lot of those fan artists were still making all the kids white. it didnt help that, in early pages, there were references to the characters being white (specifically bro, though if memory serves, john is also referred to as white), and much of the official merch also depicted them as white, like as the tarot cards that were released a few years back. even though hussie claimed to be dedicated to the aracial concept, there was a lot of pretty damning evidence that suggested he was really just depicting them as white.

pro-sj fans hated this, because even though the kids were TECHNICALLY aracial by the comics standards, it was clear that a bias was there. anti-sj fans defended the comic with their life against that criticism, saying it was the authors choice, and all sorts of similar things. that problem wasnt made any better by the introduction of kankri, a clear parody of Those Awful SJWs and a character which made it seem like hussie was siding with the anti-sj fans after all. at the time, i remember people trying to excuse it away by saying that kankri was an affectionate parody, or that it was only targeting Bad SJWs, or any other sorts of justifications.

it all came to a head in the beginning of the trickster arc tho, which, if you werent aware, originally had jane say this. it didnt help that he then went on to have ALL of the alpha kids appear in the same skin tone, and later made a tweet (that has since been deleted) saying that all of the trickster characters were white. it became pretty clear that the trickster arc, for all that it does contain some plot relevant stuff, was really just an excuse for hussie to isolate and mock the people that made up the majority of his fanbase.

though at the time i didnt fully understand that, looking back, it was a pretty swift knee to the gut for fans whose main reasons for enjoying homestuck had to do with the aracial aspect. on top of that, it was insanely audacious for hussie to even do something like that knowing that he was targeting a pretty sizable amount of his readers. to this day im not entirely sure what possessed him to do it.

naturally, though, there was a MASSIVE backlash, and people were fighting about it for days. a lot of people i knew at the time stopped reading homestuck because of it, and those who stuck with it but dropped it later on cited the trickster arc as the reason why. it got so bad that, soon afterward, he edited the page to the version thats still up, which says “peachy” instead.

the racial aspect aside, even the stuff that happens in the arc proper is pretty clearly based in stuff that was happening amongst fans. in the arc, all the tricksters (except dirk) want to marry each other and have “a zillion babies.” it was a pretty clear joke about shippers in the fandom (especially since the arc ends with dirk and jake breaking up, and they were a fan favorite couple until that point).

lastly, the fact that the arc just skips to the kids being in their respective moons, waiting to go god tier, seemed to be (in my humble analysis) a response to people who complained about the slowness of act 6. the trickster arc speeds the events of the story up considerably, to the point that we dont even see the path they take to get to the moons. they just. end up there. super hungover LMAO

but yeah tl;dr the trickster arc, or the handling of it anyway, was mainly a means of making fun of the pro-sj fans who rightfully addressed the fact that homestuck was failing as an “aracial” story, since there was a clear bias in favor of the kids being white. said mockery bombed spectacularly, cause, surprisingly, making fun of ur target audience is a bad idea.

#anya's anons #long post #thank u for giving me yet another undeserved platform to yell about homestuck #i appreciate it and i thank u very much #i hope u enjoyed my tedtalk #homestuck

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