Rocks Rock 🤘🪨

To repeat something that has been said a lot over the past few years, JK Rowling is not just some boomer on Twitter with stupid opinions. She has the equivalent of the entire population from Rwanda following her and is the creator of one of the most culturally significant works of fiction of the 21st century. She is hailed as a literary and cultural icon. We have seen that she has a direct impact on policy in the UK. And that's before getting into the fact that she is a billionaire who can and does donate insane amounts of cash to transphobic causes.

So when she tweets blatant misinformation and nastiness about asexuality, a sexuality that is already misunderstood, underrepresented and mischaracterised, it is for a good chunk of her audience one of the first times they've heard of asexuality, maybe the first time for a number of them. As an ace person, it is not comfortable knowing a significant number of people went from not knowing my community exists to viewing us as self-absorbed wannabe victims with no real oppression or problems. And while they are not passive victims of Rowling's manipulation, her incredible influence means she is bringing asexuality into the mainstream under this light.

So no, there is no "just separate the art from the artist", nor do I feel I can sit back and let her yell into the void when the void has 14.5 million people in it, actually many more who aren't on Twitter. I don't know what the so-called "correct" action to take would be, but it isn't brushing her off as just an old biddy who doesn't know what every pride flag means. She shapes how communities are viewed by wider society and is wielding this power to harm us.

an appalling number of marginalized people in this upcoming generation appear to be under the impression that saying they're "reclaiming" a slur gives them a free pass to use that slur in a derogatory way towards other marginalized people in their communities that they dislike or think are annoying. maybe it's just the people i've had the misfortune of encountering in the wild, but it's getting bleak out there, folks.

like the other day i encountered some cunt using the fucking R slur to refer to an autistic person stimming in a way they found annoying, and when confronted about their ableism, they replied, "oh, i have ADHD, i can reclaim it." and it's like, no, you jackass, you absolutely the fuck cannot! that is not what that means! if the way you use a word is indistinguishable from the way a fucking nazi would use that word, then you're not "reclaiming it" anymore, you dumb bastard!!! you're just using it the same way the damn nazi does!!! shut the fuck up and be kinder you ass!!!

Reclaiming a slur means applying it to yourselves as a badge of honor. It needs to be used with a positive connotation. That is what reclaiming means!

If you are not talking about yourself, it is not reclamation.

If you are not talking about the group kindly, it is not reclamation.

You reclaim a word by making it from a weapon into a way to connect with your own community positively. That is what reclamation means.

i miss my wife tails

Since watering means giving something water but milking means extracting milk from something that must means that water's default is to give but milk's default is to take. So water must be inherently kind while milk is cruel

💧to🥛:

The thrilling sequel to "that's not body horror, that's just a regular injury": "that's not a 'fate worse than death', that's just ableism"

we have all noticed that "self-care" basically ended up as a replacement word for "pampering" in a marketing lexicon and not as an active set of behaviours intended to allow the body and brain to adequately rest and revive in the face of the ceaseless crushing grind of capitalism yes

Original comic by Rasenth

Leelah Alcorn was a trans girl, a teenager, who sadly committed suicide nearly 10 years ago. I'm happy that her comic touches the hearts of so many people, years after her death.

I saved screenshots of her blog and last message to the world. Her parents had a lot of control over how she was perceived after her death, but it was also to prevent deletion by Tumblr itself. Even back then, Tumblr has been shadow banning trans women on this platform.

My heart goes out to all trans women who are struggling with society's expectations of who they are supposed to be and who they are allowed to be. May you find peace, growth, and respite from whatever you're going through. You deserve happiness, most of all. Thank you for living, thank you for being here with us.

every now and then the internet decides it should revamp the ole “stop texting first and see how many friends you lose” when in reality you could literally just communicate that u feel bad that ur the only one texting first

mfs are legit assuming that their friend isnt texting first because of how little they care abt their friendship when in reality they literally just dont know ur upset and didnt realize there was a problem in the first place. just talk to ur friends its not that hard and if they’re a bitch just tell them to kick rocks

Gorgug means a lot to me as a mixed kid with a racist parent.

I once saw someone on here refer to Gorgug and his parents as an allegory for transracial adoption and I've never forgotten that. It felt so true to me the second I read it. Gorgug growing up being physically different than his family but also perceived differently. Digby and Wilma had to cut off their family to protect Gorgug from their racism. How does that feel for him? Being seen as dangerous and big and scary? It rings so close to being a black man in a white family. Being scared of embracing being a barbarian, talking more white, slouching. Convincing other people you aren't like other orcs, that you aren't like them. Gorgug doesn't rage, he worries. He sings a song when he's mad. And yes that's mostly because Gorgug just isn't an angry person. I believe that. But do you think there's a part of him that doesn't hit back or yell because he knows there will be severe consequences? Do you think he knows that people will look at him, hulking, at seven feet tall and punish him first? And do you think that maybe his parents knew that too, that that's part of why they taught him the song?

The op I'm referencing also pointed out that while Wilma and Digby clearly love Gorgug, they fail him in some ways. And that hits just as hard. These well meaning white people defended their son, they took him in and they love him so much. But they never told him why all of his things break. They never got a bigger house or changed his room. They didn't sit down with Gorgug and talk him through his fear of anger. Of being too big and too scary, of hurting people. They didn't know to. Because they aren't orcs. They'll never understand that part of him, no matter how much they love him. So maybe they just ignored it, maybe they thought the problem would go away.

Something sticks in my chest when I think about Gorgug and his relationship to being an orc. When I think about this giant green kid, in a tiny home with tiny gnome parents. This kid who asks everyone he can find if they're his dad. Because something is missing, even with these parents he loves more than anything . Who love him more than anything. This young person who wants so badly to be an artificer because his gnome parents may not be in his genes but they are a part of him. And he is told that he can't be, that he's too angry and too big and too strong. He won't be able to think in battle. He needs to choose. He needs to decide between his innate rage and his passion for tinkering. But he doesn't decide, because he wants to do both. And he knows he can. He's done it his whole life.

USERNAME LORE GIVE IT TO ME NOW YOU ALL

an aroace, aro, or ace person saying “aro/ace people can still be in relationships and have sex”

non aro/ace person saying “aro/ace people can still be in relationships and have sex” (they’re about to use it to justify shipping/discriminating against aro/ace people)

people in my replies arguing for their fav white guy???

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS:

1. Do you think a post pointing out an issue with fandom racism and misogyny is an appropriate place to bring up your favorite white male character? Why or why not?

2. Did this post call you racist for relating to a white male character? If you thought or think so, consider why you got defensive.

3. Think about the disproportionate amount of art and writing about white male characters in fandom spaces. Do you think this is, across all boards, due to them being written better or more relatably than the POC protagonist?

a. If so, consider why you notice the writing of white male characters more often. Are white male characters written "better" than the POC protagonist, or do you have an internalized fear of relating to non-white characters that you need to work through?

b. If not, consider what ingrained biases might lead to this phenomenon in fandom spaces.

c. If you read a. and thought that white male characters literally just are usually or always written better than the POC and/or female protagonist, accept you are wrong and consider some self reflection.

4. Have you researched how to write and draw characters that are non-white and/or non-male? If not, does this limitation lead you to gravitate towards characters you feel "qualified" to make content about, therefore inflating the issue?

5. If people are telling you to reconsider your point of view in my replies section, did you stop to consider what they said apart from your human instinct to be defensive? Have you considered that arguing against those trying to educate you about fandom racism and misogyny, which can be difficult to see in yourself, in the notes of a post talking about fandom racism and misogyny, might be short-sighted and counterproductive?

6. If you are inclined to defend your favorite white male character, pause. Are all of your other favorite characters also majority white? Are they majority male? Are they either of these and NOT the main character of the show, movie, or game they originate from?

a. If not, this comic is not for you. Please move on and give it a reblog if you're feeling generous.

b. If so, consider this pattern. If you want to break it, ask someone for a reccomendation for characters or media similar to your favorites. Expand your horizons, and engage with your community rather than fighting against them.

Acknowledging that “critical thinking” means “thinking about things in a thorough way from different perspectives” and not “finding every flaw in a thing and fixating on it until all the joy is gone” is so liberating.

It’s supposed to be about intellectual curiosity, not about finding ways to devalue things that aren’t perfect or that we personally dislike.

As someone in and around their 30’s it has been INSANE to see feminism in popular media descend through

his swagless mental breakdowns this, his homoerotic patterns of grief that. what about HER grief-stricken moments of extremely poor decisionmaking? what about HER incredibly alarming isolation and trauma-driven life choices?!?!?!