#This should be the norm not the exception

[that-ineffable-devil]

I'm processing a lot of emotions tonight and I keep being drawn back to Good Omens--not just because it's the new hyperfixation or because it's so good. That's what I thought it was, at first.

But this year--hell, the last 3 or 4 months especially, I finally started taking steps to accepting and being myself. I'm rapidly approaching middle age and I'm only just now beginning to feel like I'm allowed to be me. I came out to the people in my household, a few select friends, and a few select family members--most of whom were wholly supportive. I started testosterone injections. I stopped trying to be someone I'm not. I stopped hiding who I am and who I love.

What does this have to do with Good Omens? Nothing. But also... Everything.

So much queer representation is in characters vastly younger than me--and that's good! I want queer kids to feel safe and loved and accepted in ways I never did. They deserve better than we had. And it gives me hope for their futures. I bawled like a baby when I watched The Owl House with my son and he was totally unphazed by the queerness. It's just how people are to him.

But when something like Good Omens comes along and not only grabs every opportunity to show average, everyday old(er) queer representation... It just. I've never felt more seen. More accepted. More hope for all our futures. And season 2 just knocked that out of the fucking park. And the nonbinary, genderfluid, and genderqueer rep? My God.

And it's not subtext, it's not it's own separate plotline where they're fighting for acceptance or dealing with hateful bigotry... It's just... Accepted. It's normal. No one questions it. No one even comments on it.

It's people of any age (even millions of years old) being unapologetically themselves and loving who they love openly and fully (with one notable uncommunicative group of two ineffable idiots, but they'll get there).

I just.

I can't express how grateful I am to see older queer rep at this time in my life. It's been a rough year, and I expect it'll get rougher before it gets better. But I've never been happier in my own skin, and it means the absolute world to see my literary and media heroes like Neil Gaiman, David Tennant, and Michael Sheen (and Terry Pratchett and everyone who worked on Good Omens, honestly) making this beautiful, messy, adorable, excruciating, wonderful, heartbreaking, ethereal, down-to-earth tale.

There aren't enough words in all the languages of the world to express how I'm feeling. "Thank you" just feels... Insufficient.

I just hope they know how much it means to people like me, especially after a lifetime of buried subtext and overt queerbaiting and media ridicule and general lack of acceptance, to experience this story with them.

[onebillionghosts]

man i remember when nevermore first came out i was sad it was so underrated.. but now after all the drama, i wish it had stayed underrated, because a big fanbase (especially one with a lot of minors) ALWAYS brings drama

[cannedpeachlover]

hello to like 2 other aries fans

[summergoodwife]

"If you want well-written women/queer representation/nuanced character arcs/less wish fulfillment/etc. just consume something other than shounen" completely misses the point of the original complaint. Like no, I don't just want representation. I want representation in shounen, the genre that I otherwise love but that never seems to respect people like me. And shounen can have representation. The idea that there's somehow a contradiction between those two things may come from a different place when it's shared by underrepresented people themselves, but it ultimately arrives at the exact same conclusion as anti-woke dudebros who think trans people and women existing is an assault. I have had too many other marginalized folks recite anti-representation, anti-diversification, pro-identity-based-gatekeeping arguments to me word-for-word without seeming to realize the logical end of what they're saying.

[smileyobrien]

one day I will make the gifset that lives in the back of my head about how mike mcmahan said on lower decks everyone is baseline bisexual (not today. but one day)

[francisforever2014]

streaming is actually so fucking evil like i’m so mad about it. binge watching shows is so boring like where’s the community where’s the anticipation where’s the payoff. i cant live like this i should’ve been in the crowd of people watching the seinfeld finale in times square and instead i’m HERE

[mango-nectars]

The increase of spaghetti/woody chicken makes me consider vegetarianism so much lately. I truly cannot imagine the pain associated with having your muscle degrade and fall apart inside your own body. It's fucking cruel ??

[warmothered]

i'm just collecting bits and pieces of information here but i like that even though there's one (1) father everyone kinda knows/assumes is ashe's biological father it doesn't matter because what matters is all 5 of them (for my own reference, they're called yrael, grimshall, logren, ereen and rorn) swore themselves to her mom and to raise and protect ashe and they did and they're all her dads and i just think it's neat

[look-better-in-gold]

one thing i think one piece fans forget is that for most of the characters in it having the d initial doesn’t mean anything. we don’t find out it’s anything to think about until skypiea while robin is talking to gan fall (who met roger) and he says “d.? i see. one letter of his name… that can’t just be a coincidence!!!” and laughs. we only know what we do bc luffy’s the main character. i guess you could argue kureha saying roger’s name is gol d. roger at the end of drum counts but it’s brushed off and you’re not like. encouraged to think about why it’s different. she only knows this bc she’s a REALLY old lady who was around when roger first set out. and gan fall met roger. law knows about it from cora, Who Used To Be A Celestial Dragon. nobody who knows about it is a normal citizen. the world government wants it to be a secret. they successfully wiped out 100 years of history. “the will of d.” or those “eat like a d.” jokes are NOT something everyone is making!!! GUYS. WE ONLY KNOW BECAUSE WE’RE THE VIEWERS. WE’RE WATCHING THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. NOT EVERYONE WILL KNOW WHAT THEY DO!!!!

[fawnydoe]

not trying to diminish the work and effort put into these works but three works two of which had massive following prior to their pilots and one which was produced by a studio with the actual cash to make it should probably not be considered representative of the whole of indie animation and seen as the standard to reach to

[nulfaga]

do you ever have an exceptionally crisp depression day after a very long interval without. Feels like my soul just smoked 4 packs dude. -_-

[frilledshark-enthusiast]

Hot takes but it’s just me being autistic

[e77y]

Seriously need to make more friends or go outside more (both things are easier said than done) bc I am a little bit tired of relying on content creation for attention and connection :(

[victimized-martyr]

Do you, like, get criticized on how u draw them? That's what drove me off of the fandom... Like, apparently i have to draw them a certain way for it to be 'postable' and respectable???🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ (I'm talking about Kyle's hair) ... Like, sorry ladies, drawing curly hair curly enough to ur taste is just soooo ??? To me. Why y'all commenting huge ass essays on my art about... this dude's Hair??

Lmao, 2020 was wack.

But like, seeing u be chill here and stuff has kind of made me peek back in the fandom a lil bit. So, like. Kudos to u, man!

I understand that point of view, where it’s important to portray characters as they appear instead of homogenizing their design since doing so risks erasing important features of their ethnicity. Even worse when those decisions to homogenize defining features are defended on the basis of “efficiency” or it simply being “easier” for the skill level of an artist, implying that western features are more accessible and easier reaffirming it as the default. ah but it gets so long to get to these talking points and blah blah all that political talk— Ultimately it’s up to the artist how they want to interpret in what’s basically Peanuts level of simplicity in character design.

It’s the harshness which ppl convey the first talking point above is like totally uncalled for. That I’m not okay with. I’m sure most artist are unaware how these features could be drawn, and giving them the encouragement to do so from a place of inspiring them to improve on their art instead of like, “correcting ignorant decisions” yields better results. Ppl don’t like bein told no esp from internet strangers smh ppl gotta learn how to talk to each other. Yea it would be cool if ppl learned how to draw a variety of noses so when the time came to draw kyle, he’d have a believable nose, but also if the artist ends up drawing a Sorthand Default Button Nose it’s like… it’s not the end of the world? So yeah, I’m sorry you faced that backlash nony, i’m sure you didn’t come from a place of harm. You just wanted to express your love for a character in the way you know how!

sorry jfkfkf random ramble aside, I haven’t faced criticism and maybe it’s bc I strive to stay close to the established designs of the show. Even when I do aged up art, it’s usually within the style of sp. I just like seeing how I can translate south park’s graphic art style into something more dimensional! I’m glad my chill presence has been some kinda help in ya comin back to sp. It’s the silly goofy offensive raunchy paper cutout show! Straight Hair Kyle is not as bad as stan canonically jacking off his dog. like. I think we’re okay jfkfkfjf

[nerdygaymormon]

The LGBTQ community has seen controversy regarding acceptance of different groups (bisexual and transgender individuals have sometimes been marginalized by the larger community), but the term LGBT has been a positive symbol of inclusion and reflects the embrace of different identities and that we’re stronger together and need each other. While there are differences, we all face many of the same challenges from broader society.

In the 1960′s, in wider society the meaning of the word gay transitioned from ‘happy’ or ‘carefree’ to predominantly mean ‘homosexual’ as they adopted the word as was used by homosexual men, except that society also used it as an umbrella term that meant anyone who wasn’t cisgender or heterosexual. The wider queer community embraced the word ‘gay’ as a mark of pride.

The modern fight for queer rights is considered to have begun with The Stonewall Riots in 1969 and was called the Gay Liberation Movement and the Gay Rights Movement.

The acronym GLB surfaced around this time to also include Lesbian and Bisexual people who felt “gay” wasn’t inclusive of their identities. 

Early in the gay rights movement, gay men were largely the ones running the show and there was a focus on men’s issues. Lesbians were unhappy that gay men dominated the leadership and ignored their needs and the feminist fight. As a result, lesbians tended to focus their attention on the Women’s Rights Movement which was happening at the same time. This dominance by gay men was seen as yet one more example of patriarchy and sexism. 

In the 1970′s, sexism and homophobia existed in more virulent forms and those biases against lesbians also made it hard for them to find their voices within women’s liberation movements. Betty Friedan, the founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), commented that lesbians were a “lavender menace” that threatened the political efficacy of the organization and of feminism and many women felt including lesbians was a detriment.

In the 80s and 90s, a huge portion of gay men were suffering from AIDS while the lesbian community was largely unaffected. Lesbians helped gay men with medical care and were a massive part of the activism surrounding the gay community and AIDS. This willingness to support gay men in their time of need sparked a closer, more supportive relationship between both groups, and the gay community became more receptive to feminist ideals and goals. 

Approaching the 1990′s it was clear that GLB referred to sexual identity and wasn’t inclusive of gender identity and T should be added, especially since trans activist have long been at the forefront of the community’s fight for rights and acceptance, from Stonewall onward. Some argued that T should not be added, but many gay, lesbian and bisexual people pointed out that they also transgress established gender norms and therefore the GLB acronym should include gender identities and they pushed to include T in the acronym. 

GLBT became LGBT as a way to honor the tremendous work the lesbian community did during the AIDS crisis. 

Towards the end of the 1990s and into the 2000s, movements took place to add additional letters to the acronym to recognize Intersex, Asexual, Aromantic, Agender, and others. As the acronym grew to LGBTIQ, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIAA, many complained this was becoming unwieldy and started using a ‘+’ to show LGBT aren’t the only identities in the community and this became more common, whether as LGBT+ or LGBTQ+. 

In the 2010′s, the process of reclaiming the word “queer” that began in the 1980′s was largely accomplished. In the 2020′s the LGBTQ+ acronym is used less often as Queer is becoming the more common term to represent the community. 

[beemovieerotica]

it's so wild when people complain about religious inclusion like "oh so you think THEY should get special privileges/accommodations to do x, y, or z??"

and the things they're talking about are like. exceptions to rules or norms that in themselves shouldn't exist. yes Richard, we actually should have diverse meal options at work events to accommodate people with different diets. yes, people should be allowed to take time off to be with their family during whatever holidays or life events they so choose. yes, people should be able to wear clothing that makes them comfortable. nobody should be happy about these restrictions existing. stop bitching about the singular jewish or muslim person in your workplace and realize that everyone deserves better.