#and then they want me idk

[radios-universe]

i just want everyone to know i just finished dear wendy by @annzhao . and when i tell you. i was in TEARS.

i could go on a long tangent about why this truly wrecked me (other than being aroace myself and connecting with jo on a spiritual level, i think) but i’ll spare you the details. i can get to the point. (warning: i proceed to not get to the point)

being out as aroace for 3 years doesn’t mean SHIT.

in fact, i think i was most proud of being aroace in my first 6 months of being out. since then? it’s … almost dwindled.

i’ve never had a stable aroace friend. well i thought i did… that got a bit shakey (i just said i won’t go into the details i’m not letting myself go on this tangent) i’ve never been able to come to terms with the idea that i might never have that companionship.

and while jo ended up having sophie to confide in, i still entirely saw myself in them. and sophie’s words by the end of the book, telling jo that ‘to accept your sexuality, you have to accept that you’re probably going to question it for a really long time, and possibly the rest of your life.’ i was sitting there with them listening to the same thing.

it wasn’t new information. i have told myself the same thing for years… i’ve told others the same thing for years. yet to see it, and all these others pieces of advice written down, for me to read and apply precisely to my own life - instead of having to piece together advice from short, stereotyped a-spec representation (which doesn’t end up holding any useful message for me, anyway) is so…. empowering.

i think it may have been the first piece of a-spec media i’ve consumed where the character isn’t actively figuring this out about themselves. that it isn’t the main storyline to this character. and more than that - it’s multiple significant characters.

surprisingly, this is revolutionary to me.

and while i may not be able to push past my constant, annoying urge for companionship, i still have so much warmth in my heart now after reading this, truly. i am absolutely in love with this book, and while i thought i did before, i think i’ve never seen myself be truly represented in media until this moment. i’ve never truly felt seen and understood from characters like me until now…

it is such a breath of fresh air to be able to have this book and to experience it. i highly recommend any a-spec folk do the same <3

[iclimbtreestofeelalive]

hey for everyone talking about jury nullification etc etc: it only works if you lie and say you dont know what it is. if youre chosen for jury duty and they ask you if you know what it is, you say no. here's an article going more in depth, and here's the cgp grey video about it.

like. just so we're clear, it's good to know about, but if you go into a courtroom and start talking about nullification, you could very well have voided your place on that jury. be smart about it 👍

[qrowpilled]

hate when you find a character whose so infuriatingly Your Type that its embarrassing like yeahg no one is gonna be surprised when i announce this is my new Guy Of The Month

[cloudcastor]

We finish this, Together.

[yuutaguro]

[papamin au 🐅] fall stroll 🍂

edit: a cute little addition courtesy of this twt user

[a-little-bit-of-ravioli]

so how about that theory that Odysseus' red eyes in Six Hundred Strike mean Ares is helping him out on behalf of Athena, huh?

[strawbunnydoesart]

✨💫Quick WIP of @kianamaiart 's lil magical girl character! I literally love her design sm (her monotone and "I'm done with life" expressions are my favorite shdgjshaksjsj) ⭐️

It's a bit messy and I need to work on the contrast more so it's easier to read,, but I think the overall composition and colors are nice :)) I might work on it a bit more but ehhhhh what if I said I don't wanna

[lemongogo]

dont forget what happened to icarus

[a0vy]

more designs yayy

[inkskinned]

because sometimes there are invisible tests and invisible rules and you're just supposed to ... know the rule. someone you thought of as a friend asks you for book recommendations, so you give her a list of like 30 books, each with a brief blurb and why you like it. later, you find out she screenshotted the list and send it out to a group chat with the note: what an absolute freak can you believe this. you saw the responses: emojis where people are rolling over laughing. too much and obsessive and actually kind of creepy in the comments. you thought you'd been doing the right thing. she'd asked, right? an invisible rule: this is what happens when you get too excited.

you aren't supposed to laugh at your own jokes, so you don't, but then you're too serious. you're not supposed to be too loud, but then people say you're too quiet. you aren't supposed to get passionate about things, but then you're shy, boring. you aren't supposed to talk too much, but then people are mad when you're not good at replying.

you fold yourself into a prettier paper crane. since you never know what is "selfish" and what is "charity," you give yourself over, fully. you'd rather be empty and over-generous - you'd rather eat your own boundaries than have even one person believe that you're mean. since you don't know what the thing is that will make them hate you, you simply scrub yourself clean of any form of roughness. if you are perfect and smiling and funny, they can love you. if you are always there for them and never admit what's happening and never mention your past and never make them uncomfortable - you can make up for it. you can earn it.

don't fuck up. they're all testing you, always. they're tolerating you. whatever secret club happened, over a summer somewhere - during some activity you didn't get to attend - everyone else just... figured it out. like they got some kind of award or examination that allowed them to know how-to-be-normal. how to fit. and for the rest of your life, you've been playing catch-up. you've been trying to prove that - haha! you get it! that the joke they're telling, the people they are, the manual they got- yeah, you've totally read it.

if you can just divide yourself in two - the lovable one, and the one that is you - you can do this. you can walk the line. they can laugh and accept you. if you are always-balanced, never burdensome, a delight to have in class, champagne and glittering and never gawky or florescent or god-forbid cringe: you can get away with it.

you stare at your therapist, whom you can make jokes with, and who laughs at your jokes, because you are so fucking good at people-pleasing. you smile at her, and she asks you how you're doing, and you automatically say i'm good, thanks, how are you? while the answer swims somewhere in your little lizard brain:

how long have you been doing this now? mastering the art of your body and mind like you're piloting a puppet. has it worked? what do you mean that all you feel is... just exhausted. pick yourself up, the tightrope has no net. after all, you're cheating, somehow, but nobody seems to know you actually flunked the test. it's working!

aren't you happy yet?

[sadagios]

drew all the lifers in my style before the year ends ! took a while but i had so much fun :> Original template by @/xmaruu11

[adaki]

Wanted to do some biblically accurate mh art

[dxkjf]

The best gift a father could ask for!

[lazylittledragon]

the real reason gale proposes so quickly

[bean-spring]

Hot take and not to be a killjoy or the shipping police but people treating Viktor or Jinx's aroace headcanons as if they were canon is not the revolutionary take people think it is.

Headcanons are always all right but we have to acknowledge that they are somehow damaging when they apply to stereotypes. It might not be the case for everyone but most of the time people unconsciously assume that disability/mental illness=asexuality. These headcanons erase the freedom of attraction from people who are already seen as unable to have sexual/romantic experiences/desires, when it's completely untrue and harmful.

You can headcanon Viktor and Jinx as aroace, but I have seen people changing their minds once Viktor is no longer disabled (s2 with all of his other forms) and Jinx is no longer as mentally ill (alternate universe Powder). And it speaks wonders of how people see these characters.

"I never thought about Jinx being able to feel romantic/sexual attraction until s2!" To believe she's actually only capable of that when she's not "damaged" is incredibly disturbing. Especially since Jinx has always had a bit of a flirty personality too.

"I've always seen Viktor as asexual, I don't know why!" That's fine. You can headcanon him as ace. But I believe there is a reason behind it, most of the time, if for some inexplicable reason the "vibes" of the disabled character are making you think he's ace.

I say all of this being aroaspec myself, by the way. Headcanon all you want but going to people's posts commenting how "it's weird for you that they have romantic/sexual plots when they're clearly aroace" is not a win at all. It's a headcanon, after all, and it should be treated as such, and that's fine. But it also is damaging to spread stereotypes like these.

Of course the disabled character is asexual. Of course the mentally ill character is aromantic. It's not as revolutionary as you might think, tbh.

Fandom is not activism and it's all right to have any headcanons you want BUT some of them are filled with damaging stuff and perhaps we should look into ourselves more before treating these assumptions as something canon.

[hinamie]

make it vicious, take a stab