"OMG, it's a kids series, why are you criticizing the bigotry in it? That's so cringey!

"Who cares if a show aimed at little kids is teaching them that it's romantic for boys to sexually harass and assault girls?

"Who cares that this kids book series with over 60 entries is defending slavery and genocide??

"Who cares if there's victim blaming and rape apologism in just the second book??

"Who cares if [insert children's series] is teaching kids horrible, cruel, bigoted ideas that they will absorb and reproduce in real life?

"Who cares that the media we show to kids plays a massive role in shaping our society?

"It's just a kids series! Stop criticizing the blatant bigoted propaganda being fed to kids by conservatives who want little kids to think that being abused by their partner is the height of romance!!!"

[ID: The Garfield "you are not immune to propaganda" meme, with Garfield the orange cat's head smiling on a blue background, with the text now reading, "Children are especially susceptible to propaganda.". End ID.]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

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KOSA (Kids Online Safety Act) wants to do something like this on a national level

AMERICANS, CALL YOUR REPS

here's to all the little sacrifices we have to make as disabled people.

here's to skipping a friend's party because you were in too much pain, or because you had no energy.

here's to dropping out of clubs because they became too much for you.

here's to all the times we've said "no it's okay, you guys go ahead, i'll hang back here."

here's to all the things we've held ourselves back from just in case they hurt us.

here's to moving seats in class away from your friends because your back was getting a draft and the cold hurts you.

here's to us. here's to letting ourselves heal. here's to being cautious, being safe.

here's to the things we can do. the things we're allowed to do. here's to enjoying those things, enjoying our lives.

here's to making the most of being us.

the other thing about being disabled in academia is everyone is like "yeah we can't do much about the buildings they're old :/" as if "old" being a synonym for "inaccessible" isn't just a constant reminder that the people who built the school did not imagine that someday someone like me might study there

What are your pronouns?

my gender is someone gave me a bowl of raisin bran and my brother a bowl of cheerios, and I like raisin bran just fine, but if they'd asked what I wanted I might have picked cheerios? But I'm already a couple bites into the raisin bran and it seems like an awful fuss to switch to cheerios now, and while I've heard that some people prefer lucky charms or cinnamon toast crunch, and those do seem super fun...I'm not really willing to put in the effort of explaining my breakfast choices to people who think that everyone should just be eating raisin bran or cheerios and nothing else, especially when I don't really care if I'm eating raisin bran or cinnamon toast crunch or lucky charms or cheerios, though I do think everyone should eat whatever cereal they want without being bothered about it.

She/her's fine.

Coffee date! Cause, paraphrasing my friend "zoro takes luffy to coffee shops after class if asked"

not romantic not platonic but a secret third thing ( aggressively codependent yet emotionally unavailable )

*Kris, er, does this sometimes.

It’s called WD40 because you spray it on something, turn 40 degrees, and walk away

came up with a great metaphor for people who are not touch averse to understand why their idea that touch aversion can be "fixed" or "cured" through the power of friendship/love/sex/whatever is absolute ableist bullshit:

Would you be willing to purposefully burn your hand on a hot stove just because you really like the stove and think it's awesome?

No?

Then why do you think touch-averse people should be willing to touch someone just because we like them?

Unless there is a literal medical emergency and people will get hurt or die otherwise, I will not willingly touch anyone, whether they be family, friends, or random strangers.

I wouldn't willingly burn my hand on a hot stove just because I like the stove, for the same reason I won't willingly hold hands with or accept a hug from someone, even if I like them: I don't enjoy being in physical distress when I can avoid it.

Touch aversion is not just "having trust issues". It's not something that you should treat as something that can or should be "fixed" with the power of friendship or love or sex or whatever you think rules the world.

Just because I think the stove is awesome and works great doesn't mean I want to burn my hand on it.

Just because I think someone's awesome and a great friend doesn't mean I want to touch them or let them touch me.

"Touch averse" does not equal "has trust issues".

Insisting that everyone who is touch averse just needs to open up and stop being shy and admit they're secretly touch starved and want to be touched is ableist as hell, and shows a fundamental lack of understanding of why so many people are touch averse.

And if you spent any time actually listening to us instead of treating us like angsty writing prompts that only exist in fiction, you'd actually understand that by now.

Transcript:

COME ON MACHINE, FUCK ME LIKE AN ANIMAL.

Audio source

i get that many aroaces experience their aromanticism and asexuality as connected in some way, but it's still important to acknowledge that "aroace" and "aro/ace" are not umbrella terms for the entire aspec community. as somebody whose aromanticism and allosexuality are inextricably intertwined and can't be fully separated from one another, you don't see me using "aroallo" for all aspecs - that clearly wouldn't be an accurate reflection of the whole community! "aspec" is a good term that includes all of us - please consider using it when referring to the general community.

Must an episode of doctor who be good, isn’t it enough for it to be completely bonkers

I’m sorry but I can absolutely tell when some people online come either from a very privileged background money-wise, have never been on the working force or have never experienced an economical crisis before because they’ll do something as silly as critisise creators trying to make money off their work

this is something i’ve talked about quite a bit with a friend, but i figured i’d share it here just because i think it’s an interesting and informative mindset to look at current media with… basically, i had the chance to talk to [writer who works for major media corporation, not involved with any of the examples i mention] a bit ago and they said that when they tried to include a trans character in their story, the direction they were given from higher-ups was that “they can BE trans, but they can’t SAY they’re trans.” and i think hearing this really made a lot of things click into place for me regarding, like, queer characters as a whole?

like. i think it’s the reason that someone like captain angel in strange new worlds can use they/them pronouns and talk to spock about not fitting into boxes but can’t SAY that they are nonbinary/trans. it’s the reason those gundam girls can propose and get matching rings, but as soon as a voice actor says they’re gay, bandai scrambles to “correct” it. kirara from jjk can have a middle school class photo that looks quite masc and in the present look very punk & femme, but not say the word trans. gwen stacy also cannot say the word trans while the screen flashes pink and white and blue as she begs her dad to just see her for who she is as his daughter. galo can give lio the kiss of life and then explode into a heart-shaped flame in a movie littered with pink triangles but not be called gay.

and all of this is obviously frustrating for a number of reasons, and it can be hard to parse intent when movies and shows CAN’T be as open as their writers would like them to be, but i think it’s worthwhile to keep in mind as a viewer? i don’t pretend to know what goes on behind the scenes of course, but i’d bet that’s why we’re getting to such a point where there are stories that are laughably blatant in how queer they are but which staunchly don’t claim to be - because if they DID, they’d lose the chance to tell that story before they could even try 😭