long have i seen folks in the writing community write and create DNIs on their rules for folks to abide from. which, in itself, is okay! however, people often mistake a DNI as being a boundary when the reality is that they are not.
DNIs are not boundaries, they are requests.
Please understand that what i am referring to here are DNIs that are more PERSONAL to an individual.
General DNIs that most people have the same or similar names for extremely valid and warranted reasons due to their obviously hostile, toxic, and harmful behaviors are NOT what i am talking about here.
While the reasons for personal DNIs are indeed VALID for individuals, what is discomforting for me about many that i have seen are the 'make or break' attitudes that often come with them.
i do truly believe that people should normalize making boundaries for themselves without forcing it upon others and creating ultimatums or asking for requests.
People are allowed to block folks who they do not vibe with. people are allowed to set up said boundaries. But, please DO NOT gatekeep people. i simply do not believe anybody is within their right to force people's hands without being toxic.
Remember, making a boundary is allowed but there is a difference between healthy boundaries and controlling behavior. By definition, a boundary is about YOUR own actions, not somebody else's. There is also a difference between setting a boundary, asking a request, and creating an ultimatum.
setting boundaries is fine.
asking for a request is okay, sometimes.
creating an ultimatum is not healthy.
A request is: i do not like this person, do not follow them.
A boundary is: i do not like this person, if you follow them, then I will not follow you.
a DNI, which stands for 'Do Not Interact' is an explicit request for folks to NOT INTERACT with them if they write X or follow Y. DNIs are not always bad by themselves as they do often come with boundaries:
'dni if xyz because i will not engage in those subjects or want to be close to this person' (notice how the boundary given here is in bold.)
Please remember that DNIs alone are not boundaries though, they are requests. which, i cannot stress this enough, are not always bad. you are allowed to do whatever it is to create a safe place for yourself and curate your dashboard to your own liking.
you are allowed to have a personal DNI. it’s always okay to have them, and i am not saying that anybody shouldn't have them. ultimately, it is how you want to curate your space for yourself. folks are allowed to have their own social circles where they feel safe and comfortable and welcomed.
I also do believe that folks should be allowed to make decisions for themselves as well when it comes to personal relationships outside of social groups.
while you may not get along with a certain individual, that does not necessarily mean that it is the same for others. forcing another to 'pick' between you or another person is a very harmful mentality to have.
yes, you are allowed and you are so valid in whatever feelings you may have towards/about somebody, but that is YOUR relationship/opinion about that person alone, not anybody else's.
Folks really need to normalize that it is okay if their friends talk to somebody that they don't like on a personal level. its okay if your friend wants to remain a neutral party because they would rather not get involved. its something that shouldn't be and isn't going to be a subject of discussion for the two of you, and it should be respected by both parties.
you can have healthy relationships with boundaries without making ultimatums or requests from others that may put them in an awkward position, especially since personal DNIs are often just personal for yourself. at the end of the day, it is still up to you on what YOU want to do to curate your internet safe space, but please don't do it in a matter where it forces folks into a 'its me or them' decision. that is not fair and it can be controlling and uncomfortable.
i do believe people are allowed to feel safe, but they should not do it with a forced decision of another or make them feel like they have to make a choice between you or another.
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Okay, are belly button piercings "trashy," or do you just associate them with femininity, or women, or sex work and strike it down as inherently less worthy? Are 'tramp stamps' "trashy", or do you just associate them with femininity, or women, or sex work and strike it down as inherently less worthy? Is pole dance "trashy", or do you associate it with women, or sex work and strike it down as inherently less worthy?
These are examples, but I find it interesting when people link things with womanhood or femininity or - gasp! - sex work and then immediately condemn, scrutinize, and dehumanize those who even dapple a little in these things, even if it isn't for sex work or to "look trashy." It's funny how the feminine or woman is seen as trashy until proven otherwise, and it's shameful that people still hold the bias that women must prove their humanity by not "being trashy" or "acting like a hooker."
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The more I consider the "Smoky gets Frostpaw sterilized against her will" thing, the more I dislike it even on a thematic level...
This book seems to be trying to put Frostpaw through an arc of learning to trust people. Riverstar magically appears in her dreams to send her to the Park Cats who are meant to teach her this lesson, but... starting and resolving that arc more than halfway through the book was sloppy, and a waste.
Instead of Smoky forcing medical treatment on her in spite of how she tells him point blank "please no," SHE should have called for the human.
A creature that the Clan cats have never trusted, that they have great reason to fear. Caught between dying with her pride like a good warrior and taking a risk on the kindness of an unknowable beast, in spite of all the betrayal, she chooses the chance.
Play it like this; Make it so the reason she becomes chosen by Riverstar at all is because he SEES this glimmer of potential within her, because of this very choice.
Instead of that bizarre opening chapter where he seems to have magically gifted her some kind of spiritual connection as a plot device, INSTEAD make it that they were sadly overseeing the end of her life. That this was her destiny, to die as a young, proud warrior apprentice. To trust no cat, as her mother told her.
But instead, she tricks the wording of the self-fulfilling prophecy Curlfeather told her. It said nothing about trusting a human!
THEN follow it up with teaching her how to trust cats again. But make the road down this character arc be something she truly initiated, instead of the weird bullshit they did with her being mad at Smoky for violating her consent while also exonerating him for "Doing The Right Thing :)"
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'I flirted with the idea that instead of being trans that I was just a cross-dresser (a quirk, I thought, that could be quietly folded into an otherwise average life) and that my dysphoria was sexual in nature, and sexual only. And if my feelings were only sexual, then, I wondered, perhaps I wasn’t actually trans.
I had read about a book called The Man Who Would Be Queen, by a Northwestern University professor who believed that transwomen who were attracted to women were really confused fetishists, they wanted to be women to satisfy an autogynephilia. And though I first read about this book in the context of its debunkment and disparagement, I thought about the electricity of slipping on those tights, zipping up those boots, and a stream of guilt followed. Maybe this professor was right, and maybe I was only a fetishist. Not trans, just a misguided boy.
About a year later, on the Internet, I come across a transwoman who added a unique message to the crowd refuting this professor. Oh, I wish I remember who this woman was, and I wish even more that I could do better than paraphrase her, but I remember her saying something like this: “Well, of course I feel sexy putting on women’s clothing and having a woman’s body. If you feel comfortable in your body for the first time, won’t that probably mean it’ll be the first time you feel comfortable, too, with delighting in your body as a sexual thing?”'
-Casey Plett, Consciousness
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I feel like a lot of "Camila shouldnt have been a nerd, it should have been Manny and Camila should have been the neurotypical one." Criticism fail to take into account the inter generational trauma that exists in POC families especially POC neurodivergent families. Like the criticism boils down to this- "Luz comes across more of a jerk as she wasnt That lonely. Camila would have been more understanding of Luz if she was actually neurodivergent and would not have try and send her to the camp" and i am like no, no she wouldnt have. Neurodivergency in people of colour often goes undiagnosed especially if they are women of colour and especially if they are from older generation. And often times these older folks grow up to believe that the neurodivergent issues that they dealt with was a failure on their part rather than you know, them being neurodivergent. Which is how we get adult parents who say shit like, "Oh everybody has [a very specific symptom of a neurodivergent brain]. You just got to go through it [aka i did not get any support growing up and had to deal with this on my own]."
And this to me fits Camila and Luz. The way i interpret the problem was that it was never that Camila didnt understand Luz, but rather that she did understand her while not understanding herself. She saw her own self in Luz, her own isolation and years dealing with bullying and treated as an outcast but never stopped to examine WHY it happened to her. She didnt want Luz to go through what she went through so she turned to what worked for her, trying to change yourself to fit even if it meant hiding parts of herself. And this is ultimately what caused their relationship to falter. Add Manny's death and them being new in town further resulted in both of them, especially Luz being isolated and outcast, from the town and from each other. And ultimately them coming to an understanding, with Camila admitting her nerdy side to Luz and to herself was what helped their relationship and truly let Luz to discover what she truly want and thus hatching her palisman.
Should toh have had explored Luz's loneliness and isolation better? Absolutely! Did Camila try her best especially as a single mother? Yes! Has Camila contributed to said loneliness and isolation? Also yes! Camila to me is the opposite of Eda. Where Eda was the neurodivergent kid who grew up fighting the system to be herself, Camila was the neurodivergent kid who grew up to accept the system thus rejecting herself. Which was why Luz flourished much more and felt more accepted under Eda's tutelege than she did with Camila, and i wish this is the angle toh explored more.
And look i dont want to begrudge anyone who feels the other way and doesnt agree with me. They have the right to their own interpretation which are based on their own valid experiences. But i prefer this interpretation a lot more to theirs.
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Another whump prompt/idea: A rescued whumpee, who, despite the scars they have, seems to have little to no visible change to their personality... however they start behaving strangely, somewhat erratically, the longer they're away from Whumper. Caretaker shrugs it off, but eventually Whumpee breaks down completely, begging for them to let Whumpee go back because he doesn't understand anymore, saying that they tried to get used to it, they did, but friendships are so complicated and they are nothing but a mere posession, and suddenly, with one horrifying realization, everything makes sense to Caretaker about Whumpee's confusing behavior.
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