#i'm the only queer person on my moms side of the family

[soft--dogs]

sorry sorry sorry commissions are behind again, this whole fucking month has been one thing after another. my grandma has been in the hospital since yesterday, she's ok for now but she's had health problems for a while now and the doctors never seem to know what's going on :/ anyway just wanted to say i'm here and still working and everything, i might just be like a week or two behind schedule for a bit >w<

[avispraeda]

So I'm gonna admit, I had a moment of weakness when I saw the "brothers" line because to each their own, enjoy what you want, but that's not really my cup of tea if you catch my drift. But I sat and thought it over and came out the other side with an even greater appreciation for TreyRid.

And I've just!! Gotta ramble. For all the people I see saying we were robbed.

Trey seeing Riddle as an incredibly smart little brother highlights the importance of their bond in that moment--and just in general really. It's different from just being close friends, it's not often you reach that level of connection and start seeing another person as not just friends, but family without a deep trust and enjoyment of each other, especially from someone who does have actual blood siblings he also really cares about. It's not romantic (right now) but he loves Riddle so much that a large portion of the changes in Trey's dream are literally about wanting him to be happy.

He knew this kid for all of 3-ish months before they were separated, and yet he held on to his memories of Riddle for so long that he went around excitedly talking about him to all his dorm mates! You have not seen hide nor hair of this dude for almost a decade how are you still this devoted to him (it's partially The Trauma oops). And then if that wasn't enough, he spent the entire previous year trying and failing to reforge some kind, ANY KIND of friendship from square 1 while effectively treading water with managing the dorm. He didn't volunteer for this! He could've easily decided nah, screw this, I wanna support him as a regular student instead of vice and either quit the job or, if drastic measures felt needed, peaced out to Octavinelle or some other dorm! But he stayed, and he tried to make it work!

And now post-blot they're getting there, they're both aware they missed each other and that the distance was from repressed feelings rather than a bond broken. They're goofing around again, facing off in games and eating lunch together as a casual thing and just enjoying each other's company. They're letting their feelings show more often (ex: Riddle admitting to feeling like a burden in the Savanaclaw novel after Trey gets hurt). According to Cater they're often together, likely even before Riddle's overblot. There's still so much work they need to do, they're both still deeply traumatized (again thank you Cater lol mvp) and need time to come to terms with what happened. But even though it's only been a few months since they've been back on friendly terms, Trey still admits he holds Riddle to this high familial regard. Trey overtly loves and cares about Riddle SO damn much, and that's canon! Like this might be the most blatant it's ever been stated from Trey's end! Unless I'm being a fool and forgetting! Which I might be!

And here's the thing, they're both still young! Not even out of school yet! And feelings change over time. Sometimes those familial feelings do grow into romantic ones, and sometimes they remain familial. It's a slowburn ship, where as they continue to gradually pick apart and wipe down and stitch up those traumas, those feelings can morph into romance as they watch the other grow and heal. And that's coming from someone who loves exploring a romantic dynamic while they're still in school together heeheehoohoo.

Maybe Trey gets feelings as Riddle pulls away from his mom and matures, heals physically and mentally, the need for coddling fades. Maybe he ends up realizing that the way his heart races when he sees Riddle smile is different from when Chenya smiles, has always been different, and he wasn't able to recognize it until he worked through some of that Mrs Roseheart trauma. Maybe he already knows there's romantic potential there but also knows neither of them are ready for that sort of thing yet. Maybe it ends up being a lifelong queer platonic partnership. There's so many possibilities for their bond it's making my head spin.

I could go into the details of how Chenya being housewarden instead is a change made as a means to an end regarding both his yearning for his friend there to help in the previous year and how denying Riddle the role lets him be free from the pressure and weight of expectations, rather than overt dissatisfaction with Riddle's as a leader (thank you Ortho for that little addition). Or how Trey realizing that Riddle---the QUEEN---always gets the first tart slice was what helped him wake up on his own. But I think I've made my point.

TreyRid wasn't robbed, it was gifted an amazing foundation to build off of, maybe a few steps away from Trey just outright saying he wants to lick whipped cream out of Riddle's mouth.

[watchingblsnowandforever]

My (mostly regularly) updated GMMTV 2025 lineup in order of my preference: (they understood the assignment and kept only 1.5 het shows so my work is easier)

Cat for Cash: I am looking forward to this so much you have no idea. FirstKhao in a series with only fluff and found family? A literal dream come true, honestly.

Me and Thee: UNO reverse NLMG meets KinnPorsche with PondPhuwin? Consider me SEATED. I am absolutely here for this and this will become my entire personality. This is your warning <3

A Dog and A Plane: The name could use some work but it seems promising. I have a soft spot for TayNew and just getting off the high of Peaceful Property, and they have never disappointed me. The premise is a little eyebrow-raising, but it's just the pilot so lot of time for fine tuning. Also- MarcPoon.

Ticket to Heaven: This is in between Excited and Hopeful because I absolutely adore GemFourth, and they are brilliant actors, especially Fourth, but no angst for me, thanks. I do understand religious guilt, but I'm not Catholic and I didn't grow up very religious (I mean don't get me wrong my mom is super religious but my dad is agnostic at best so I grew up in this weird middle ground and now I don't believe in God, not really. As it is, my religion is polytheistic.) So I can't wait to see this but I'm also gonna gently poke at it like it's a wild bear first.

Dare You to Death: I love a good mystery, but that's not what drew me to this. JoongDunk did. From a switch in their dynamics in THK to a switch back, this got me hooked. And as I said: mystery.

Whale Store xoxo: cute slice of life fluff with MilkLove? YES. I am a tiny bit weary though, since the last time I was so excited for a MilkLove series, it turned out... well. Not as I'd expected. I still am hopeful, though.

That Summer: WinnySatang? In a Disney BL. Hmm. I wanna see how this turns out, especially for the side couple. Generally speaking, I am not a fan of the amnesia trope (they have three of those lined up like. why.) but I might just like this.

Memoir of Rati: GreatInn? In a historical BL/ period drama?...go on.

My Romance Scammer: Gay rights and gay wrongs all in one place. Need I say more?

Boys in Love: True high school fluff is what I live for. Okay, maybe not entirely true, but I really did like the trailer, and I do love my fluff.

My Magic Prophecy: Someone in GMMTV watched Agatha All Along, and used the theme of tarot cards and fortune telling to cope with Lillia's death. Jokes aside, I like JimmySea and Jimmy playing a doctor is just so funny to me, I might just watch it for the irony. And also, they deserve better after Last Twilight (why, P'Aof.)

Burnout: I will watch this if not for anything else, then the Not Me nostalgia. And Gun in black lipstick and a lip ring. I might stop after a few eps to wait out until it finishes airing though, cause Love Triangle is definitely not for me.

Mu-Te-Luv: Fortune telling, fate, tarots, blah blah blah. Some het, some queer, I'll see which ones I watch (hint: won't be the het ones). Gives me 7 Project vibes, honestly.

Head 2 Head: What in the Bad Buddy. For anyone who hasn't watched the trailers: this is a Bad Buddy rip off, but the parents want them to get along, and one of them has a weird clairvoyant thing going on. Oh, and everyone is studying fashion designing. And the side couple is exes to lovers.

Girl Rules: I see messy lesbians and bisexuals, but I also hear misogyny and patriarchy. Only Friends GL version. I didn't really like Only Friends so-

Only Friends: Dream On: Maybe.

Wu: I have no idea what this is, but it kinda intrigued me. Little bit.

Love You Teacher: Um.

Melody of Secrets: Horror or psychological thriller is not really my thing so I will mostly be ignoring this unless I find something that piques my interest.

[shalom-iamcominghome]

Shalom!

I'm on a journey to convert to judaism but I have no idea how to tell my family. I'm 26 years old so I am old enough to do things on my own and de decide for myself. But I come from a atheist family, besides from my somewhat religious grandma (christian), her very christian sister, my aunt who's more spiritual and my christian cousin (on my dad's side). But both my parents are very atheist, my mom earlier said today she knows g-d isn't real. I still am searching on what I believe and don't believe but I know I feel at home in judaism and this very beautiful community. But it's just, how do I tell them? Do I tell them?

I'll give some context and say that my dad is the only person I have intentionally told about judaism, though the way he found out was essentially through gossip. I don't have the direct experience of sitting someone down with the intention to tell them (though I have come out as trans and in my opinion, it can be similar to telling others about conversion).

So, first off, I would ask yourself why you may want them to know. That might seem like a question with an obvious answer, perhaps, but I think it's important. Do you hope that they'll accommodate your potential needs after you tell them, such as letting you observe shabbos or keep kosher? Do you want them to understand a facet of your identity? When you understand why you might want to tell them this information, you can start to understand what it is that you need from them.

There are many ways to tell them this, so I'll say: do what comes naturally to you. Do you have difficulty speaking, but writing is a breeze? You could write them a letter or email. You could talk over the phone, or have coffee. However, tell anybody in a neutral environment. Avoid revealing this in the heat of an argument, or if there's tension between you and the other person/people. They will be much less willing to be understanding.

If you decide to tell them, you may want to focus on how judaism enriches your life or makes you happy. So perhaps you could go into happy memories of how you came to judaism - they may never understand your decision, but they don't need to understand it on a personal level. If they know that you are fulfilled and happy, they may be more receptive. You don't need to defend your religious beliefs whatever they are, or what practices you keep - just emphasize how they contribute to your life or sense of self.

Finally: you don't have to tell anybody any information you don't want to. I tend to leave out a ton of information when I am talking about my personal identity with judaism. My dad, for example, would simply not care for or remember that I'm converting. He would find it confusing. As far as he's concerned, I'm religious, I'm in a jewish community, and I am semi-observant. You don't have to pour out your heart and soul to appeal to others, and if like me, you like keeping your thoughts, feelings, and identity close to your chest, you can. In the same vein, my family knows I'm trans but doesn't know I'm queer because I'm protective of my identity and I don't think it's relevant. In the exact same framework, this can apply to your journey of conversion. Use your best judgement.

Some more practicalities: try to discern what their opinions are of jews. I felt safe around my dad about my affiliation with judaism because he has been much better about religious tolerance than other things. I knew that he knew very little about jews, but that his ignorance was rather benevolent disinterest because he already has a religion and a community he feels he belongs to. Things like that can be a decent litmus test as to how they might react to knowing your affiliation with judaism. However, there are people who are accepting only if it's strangers doing it, not a loved one. That one is really tricky to figure out until you essentially come out to them, however, it isn't always a guarantee that they will be unaccepting

I wish you all the best, anon. I know you'll make the right choice for you, and I hope you are able to embody all of what makes you exactly as g-d created. You've got this, and I hope you feel welcomed enough here to come back as often as you'd like

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for telling my grandparents not to show up to my wedding?

so, my (FTX28) fiancé S (FTM27) and i are trying to sort out the guest list for our wedding. i've personally opted to not invite my extended family, simply because i've got a billion fucking aunts and uncles on my mom's, dad's, and bio-dad's sides, and all of them have at least two kids, so if i invite any i have to invite all and that's suddenly an extra ~50 people, and there's friends i'd rather have there anyway. so i want to just invite my parents, siblings, and grandparents.

this is tricky mostly because this is going to be a very queer event, both because my fiancé and i are both queer, and because a significant number of our friends that we're inviting are also queer. while i'm confident my parents and my dad's parents won't cause a scene while there, or make S or any of our friends feel unsafe at the wedding, i can't say the same for my bio-dad's parents (T and J from here on out).

T is an asshole and i fully expect him to be rude, if not openly hostile, towards people S and i care about. i don't think J would be hostile, but i do think she would be insensitive at best. i'd honestly prefer to not invite them at all, but J has been trying to maintain and repair her relationship with me for the past 10 years, and i'd feel bad not extending her an invite at all, especially since she already knows i'm getting married.

so what i want to do is plainly tell J, before i send out invites, that this is a secular queer wedding, and that if that, myself (she and T haven't seen me or pictures of me since i started HRT), S, or any of our guests are going to make her or T uncomfortable, that i'd rather they not attend, because i'm not going to abide by them making the man i love or any of my friends feel unsafe. S and other people i've asked assure me this is the best course of action, but i worry that it might be an asshole move.

WIBTA for telling her to only come if she and T can behave themselves?

What are these acronyms?

[camilitamaellard]

I am not contacting you to harass I just wanted to clarify myself: I’m not a trump supporter I said that for attention seeking purposes all I just wanted was attention wether it be good attention or negative attention I didn’t care because I don’t know how to make friends properly since all my life I’ve been sheltered /monitored by parents due to my disability

Trump imo is actually a scumbag /Rapist & a creep that gets away with his crimes because he’s rich and I saw what he said about his own daughter “perhaps if ivanka wasn’t my daughter I’d be dating her” is sick and messed up and I’m a raging liberal/hippie if you will I’m just in presence of people who support trump /My parents both voted for him I did not. Not once did I vote for that orange pig 🐽.

I despise Donald trump truly if I could’ve voted I would’ve voted for Kamala Harris , she’s not the best either but I know she’s better than trump. I heard there trying to take away gay marriage and I do not support that I support the lgbt community - I HATE TRUMP

People who willingly support trump are idiots , Not to mention Elon doing the n*zi salute and then people copying him doesn’t sit right with me that barely anybody is talking about this issue. And that Elon is trying to erase what he did Like what the actual fuck man. Trump and Elon are total scumbags and deserve to rot . I may not be the BEST person but I am no trump supporter I pretended to be one to get in my parents good graces and simply because I wanted attention be it bad attention or good attention but I know that’s wrong so im sorry for claiming to be a trump supporter I truly am not he disgusts me . I know that was stupid Of me to say and I’m allowed to have my own political views because of free will. So I’ll do my best to stay educated .. and on the left side of politics ,fuck trump & fuck the government man..

Sorry about talking about trump like he’s the “best” when in reality he’s a rotten bitter orange 🍊 I will never support Donald trump i have queer family members and a queer brother whom I fully support. He is very much accepted by me and my parents. So I’ll just do my best to stay on the left side of politics 💙 if I would vote I would’ve voted for Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris anyone is better than That POS orange orangutan mf.

Just... LEAVE ME ALONE ok? STOP SENDING ME MESSAGES!!! NO MORE ANON AND NO MORE OF YOU WITH DIFFERENT NAMES!! I don't care if you are a Trump or Kamala supporter I don't care ANYTHING about you ok? YOU'RE RUIN MY LIFE, I almost lose a very important friend because you keep sending them your crappy messages!!! When you gonna learn that your actions has consequences, consequences that affects other people, like me, don't you get it? I'M SICK AND FED UP FROM YOU!! It's been almost 1 year you keep sending me messages of hate and now this?

Leave me alone, leave Treen alone too!

I hate to been this rude but you asked for it, I've been in other fandoms, I got hate, even worse words from haters, but not this kind of harassment where I don't have a chance to block you because you create another account and write me again... the only thing worse than you is the south park fandom...

And PS: I don't know how to make friends either and I'm disabled too, I'm always with my mom because of it, because I'm alone and I even have a bully in college, and of course I want attention too it's part of my disability, but... I don't go harass people by sending hate and then apologize half a year and doing this like a loop! I don't want to lose the very few and important friends I have because they get mad, fed up and sick because of you! You want to make friends? (I'm not the correct person because like I said I don't know how to make friends either) then you can start by making 1 account with one name, without sending hate and then apologize for half a year! Not get obsessed with someone! That's not a way for make friends! You can start again but not with us, like I said just leave us alone, forget about our existence! Forget!

[mankillercalledbunny]

i'm sorry to bother you-- and you must be getting so much stupid bullshit from the piss on the poor website re: s'mores, but: how did you manage to move to the uk?

No worries you're totally good, it's mostly been reblogs/tags but just in case I wanted to head it off because I know how Tumblr is. I have kind of a long answer for you addressing both the logistics (immigration and practicality) and the personal reasons/experience side, because I love talking about this, so I'll drop it under a read more.

The immigration logistics

I originally came over for university on a student visa in 2017, and when I finished my degree I got a graduate visa which is essentially a two-year grace period to figure out whether you want to continue living in the UK and get either a work visa or an alternative visa. I got married in that two year period, so I am currently on a family/partner visa. After I spend 5 years on a family visa I am allowed to apply for permanent residency and, if I choose, for citizenship. It's a lot of visas! There are a number of fees and other requirements, both for the visa application and the immigration health surcharge, depending on the type of visa you're going for.

Why I actually ended up moving to the UK

We originally came here on vacation when I was 14 and I absolutely fell in love with Scotland. I loved Edinburgh, I adored Scotland in general, so I was very happy to find out that I could go to university here and I basically just went "right okay this is what I'm doing" and pushed for it. I am obviously very lucky in that I had a supporting family with the means to give me the chance to actually do it, but what surprised me most was the fact that the fees for international students for university were actually lower to go to university across the pond (on average it's ~£18k GBP/$25k USD a year, for transparency) than they were to go to some of the American universities I applied to (including University of California Davis, Colorado State University, and Princeton).

(Just as an aside, the University of Aberdeen offers fully online courses including at the post-graduate level, both short/individual classes and entire degrees, regardless of your actual location for one universal fee rate, if you're into that. One of my current coursemates is in Dubai, and another is in Hong Kong!)

Experience living in the UK

I no longer live in the city proper because unfortunately Edinburgh has become London levels of expensive without the corresponding pay rise, but I still love Scotland and I've always felt welcomed by the people here. Obviously I do get the occasional comment, and I had to get used to being called a Yank because that's just a general word for all Americans (nevermind the fact that the only person in my family who could be properly qualified as a Yankee according to American traditional definitions is my mom, who is actually from New York), but for the most part people are kind and understanding and the Scots are some of the funniest and most generous people that you will ever meet.

One of the other big motivators for me in moving to Scotland specifically was its LGBTQ+ rights laws. Despite a great deal of political transphobia coming out of Westminster, Scotland is actually one of the safest places to be LGBTQ+, and I don't think I've ever really had a point living here where I have genuinely feared for my safety because of my queerness/transness the way I have in certain parts of the US. I have the privilege of safety at work enough to be out and wear my pronoun badge on my uniform, and it has actually led to some really positive interactions with customers.

I had a slight advantage with regards to accent adjustment because I did my degree in linguistics and grew up watching a number of different Scottish comedians, although that doesn't stop me from occasionally being absolutely baffled by some of the thicker regional accents (Dundee and Ayrshire in particular), but the same is true of particularly strong American regional accents. It does actually make it quite funny when I have people asking me basically daily at my job "where are you from? what part of America?" and then saying "oh I've been to/I have friends from [completely other part of America]" but I think that's just to be expected when you move to a new place, and it's always a delight when people are familiar enough with American geography to actually know where I'm talking about and very occasionally I meet people who have been to my state and are familiar with my hometown, which is really cool.

This is probably way more information than you were looking for but I hope it was at least interesting!

[ceasarslegion]

Uncle story?

Oh boy!

So the first thing i need to say about my uncle is that he is an idiot. Terminally stupid and also the most self-righteous bastard I've ever met. Truly deadly combo.

I must also start by clarifying that this is not the same openly gay uncle who is a Scottish lord and ran for mayor of a small Saskatchewan town because he was bored and won and then showed up to all the official things in a top hat. That is technically my great uncle and on my dad's side. We must not smear that uncle's name due to confusing him with my mom's brother who is too stupid to realize how stupid he is and thinks the fact that no one can understand what the fuck he's ever talking about is a sign of intelligence.

So my uncle is openly gay. And he lives in the UK as a dual dutch-canadian citizen. He is engaged to an Israeli man (do not discourse on this post. I mention his nationality to highlight something else I will mention. Just some guy who doesn't even live there is not responsible for a certain conflict going on). He also grew up in Dubai but family went back to Canada for a spell around when he entered high school. He works as a travel agent last time I checked, but he can never hold down a job for more than a few months without getting fired so who knows at this point.

You're with me, yes? Gay, immigrant, fiance from another country, grew up in the gulf?

This motherfucker. Said he would vote for Trump if he were american and that brexit was a good idea. And is anti-immigration. And thinks feminism is cancer. And once tried to convince my mom that men across the UK were being arrested for "stare-rape" which is apparently when you just look at a woman in public and she can then claim you raped her with your eyes. And thinks pride is pedophilic. And thinks bisexuality is just people who want to be special and can't pick a side. And the only person he's still on speaking terms with in my immediate family is my grandma who is just as toxic as he is stupid.

My dad once said, word for word, while a few drags into a blunt: "if I ever see [uncle] again, I'm going to beat the shit out of him for what he said about my son." I don't know what exactly happened to get him kicked out of my parents apartment when they cut ties with him during a visit, but I know it was a screaming match over something to do with me. I had long moved out at that point so I wasn't there to see it. And this is coming from the mouth of the same guy from my red bull and snickers post, my dad is not a violent or scary guy and I've never seen him lay a hand on anybody.

My uncle and I used to be really close when I was a kid because he's a very artistic person, and I was too. We were the two creatives in the family. Also as a queer kid who didn't know he was trans yet I was naturally drawn to queer masculine influences. This fell apart pretty quickly when I started like, growing into my own person instead of a carbon copy of the people around me. He was steadily becoming dumber and dumber to me but it really came to a head in 2016

So trump wins the US election. I am still living in Abu Dhabi at this point and I had just graduated high school in June of that year. My boss is American. She is devastated and says she's going home early that day because she needs a few hours to process what's gonna happen now. At my desk I make a Facebook post saying that if any of the americans I knew refused to vote over your own self-righteous bs that I don't want to talk to you again because you clearly cared more about having the moral high ground than sucking it up for the people who trump will go on to hurt. This post is a big hit among my Arab majority peers.

This goes on without incident. 3 months later my uncle comments a big essay on it sucking trumps dick and saying some pseudo-qanon shit about Hillary Clinton. I respond citing actual sources and hit him where it hurts: Mike pence's then-plan to divert AIDS research funding into conversion therapy.

I go back to work (I am at work when the response happens too). About an hour later my phone buzzes on my desk. I open it to an essay twice the size in my messenger DMs from him crytyping about how I've changed and turned into such a whiny SJW, how I'm no longer the same person i was when I was 11 (damn I hope so), how I'm such a bully now (YOU CAME ONTO *MY* POST 3 MONTHS LATER???), and uh, no word of a lie, that he can't be racist because he dated a black man in high school. I. I never mentioned race in the post or my response to him. He brought that up on his own.

I ended up calling him out on it by replying to his public comment with "hey if you're gonna cry about how you're not racist in my inbox for pages and pages on end like that because someone said you were being stupid at least do it in the same place you were flaunting your idiocy, damn."

We didn't talk for a good couple years after that. And then something came up and we talked again for a bit, I don't remember exactly what anymore but we had to interact in person for it. I was willing to be civil, he started by doing the equivalent of crossing his arms and pouting until I said sorry for how mean I was to such a sensitive little muffin on the internet. Very mature guy I'm related to here isn't he. Insane how he's the uncle and I'm the nephew huh

This lasted for a good 2 weeks. Because the pokemon sun and moon leaks happened and I showed him the character models for red and blue and joked that they looked like a newlywed couple on their honeymoon in Hawaii. Pokemon was one of the few things we could still agree on at this point, so i was trying to bridge a gap with a family member with it. Thinking that he would appreciate the joke as a gay man.

He exploded at me. Like full on screaming exploded at me over that. He yelled about how homophobic I was, that i had no right to call myself queer because I hadn't been sexually assaulted or threatened to be murdered (HE HASNT EITHER??? LIKE HE VERY MUCH HASNT 😭😭😭 also you are making a LOT of assumptions about the life of someone you made NO effort to be a part of despite him giving you every olive branch you could possibly grab), that it was insulting to every gay person in the world to say that the best representation we deserved was pokemon (THATS NOT WHAT I SAID??? Also what's wrong with a gay pokemon character 😭 how is that insulting 😭😭) and that I had no idea what it was like to suffer for my identity. He said this while I was living in a place where queer people got executed for being moral degenerates btw.

Something in me snapped that day and I responded with "oh tell me more about how hard your life was in your dubai villa with an in-ground pool and a hired nanny. I'll truly never suffer as much as you have. Tell me more about how you threw the first brick at stonewall."

My parents had to stop themselves from laughing at that response and steered me out before my uncle could explode even more, and I never talked to him again.

[beanghostprincess]

Late to valentines day, but consider queer platonic strawhats.

Luffy, upon hearing about Valentine's Day ((Makino would likely have told him a bit about it as a child, but it got forgotten amidst the trees and critters and love and family and also trauma of living ten years in the woods with criminals and bandits as his company)) goes absolutely APESHIT. A day devoted to LOVE?? HECK YEAH SIGN HIM UP!!!! HE LOVES HIS FRIENDS SO MUCH!!!

Robin, Ussop, Chopper and he all settle across the deck and make crafts. Luffy is very much more focused than usual, both bc Hands Moving, Colors and Glitter Good, and also bc this is IMPORTANT so he's doing his absolute best.

He makes a card for every person on his crew. He also makes stuff for his friends all over, addressed to them by name. He can't send them, not really, because it's hard to remember the addresses (Nami helps with some of those), so the ones he can't send properly (Shanks, Buggy, Boa, etc) he throws into the ocean.

((There's a quiet moment after nightfall when he's sitting on the figurehead, holding a card he worked Extra Hard On. It's addressed to Ace, and Luffy isn't one to really... be sad. He tries not to be. He's worried about seeming weak.

The crew definitely caught on, though. Nami steps up to him, puts a hand on his shoulder. Tugs him back to the deck. She leads him by hand towards the center, where the other's are waiting. Franky is beaming.

He made a little lantern like device. It has a little pocket, and it floats up and up and up, "all the way to the heavens," he exclaims proudly. Nami mentions sending a letter to Bellemere. Chopper has one for Hiriluk. Ussop has one for his mom, Sanji for his own, Zoro to Kuina, Robin to Saul, Brook to the Rumbars, Franky to Tom. Jimbei carries a few, but merely smiles softly at Luffy.

He tries not to cry as they all load up their letters, but he feels better when the only response people have to the wetness on his face is a brief touch or side hug.

It's bittersweet, but somehow he feels better than he has in a very long time.

And with his crew around him, supportive and still there, still staying.... well, Luffy didn't think he could love them any harder. Full of surprises, the lot of them.

Late to Valentine's Day too, don't worry 🫶 And I consider Queer Platonic Strawhats every day of my life actually-

This is,,, So beautiful,,, I'm sure Luffy would absolutely love Valentine's Day to celebrate his love for his friends. Maybe Nami and Sanji tell him that's not exactly how it works, because it's supposed to be romantic, but when he asks them "Why, though?" they don't really, uhh, have an answer for that. So turns out their captain is right and they can use this day to celebrate all types of love!

I adore the idea of Luffy writing letters and cards and throwing them into the sea if he can't send them. It's just beautiful. Maybe in a bottle, pirate style. Maybe fate helps him and somehow those letters end up with the correct people. Who knows?

Also, Luffy would be extra clingy the whole day and Sanji would make a huge dinner for everybody. They'd have so much fun and Luffy would just,, Take a moment to look at all of them being happy for a second and he'd go "Now this is what being a pirate should be!" and it makes me really emotional.

Not to mention the Ace thing,, All of them sending their letters to their dead loved ones in the sky? Do you want to make me cry??? Because you're making me cry.

They're precious to me.

[bisexualpositivity]

If you haven't come out to anyone, why not? Is there a reason?

"I have not come out to my family other than my mom and sister. I’m not entirely sure of the reason. I suppose I’m just scared."

"My family is conservative."

"IRL, I have only come out to my family and one of my classmates who's also queer, and I'm a little more discreet in public. On the Internet, I'm more open, but that's kind of its own world."

"I will never come out to my parents. It will cause too much hurt on both sides."

"I’ve come out to myself, and I have mentioned it on places where I know there isn’t family or anyone I know personally. I imagine one of three things happening should I come out to people I do know: an anticlimax, like just a collective shrug (when it’s a colossal deal for me); I never hear the end of it, especially with my family, like that’s all anyone can talk about anymore with me; or no one will get it, like they won’t understand me when I say that I’m pansexual and I kind of don’t want to be anything when it comes to my gender because I know I’m not a man and the concept of femininity flies right over my head."

— Multiple anonymous users, Pride 2024: Who We Are 🌈(survey)

[etherealspacejelly]

In response to your post about how it's a shame to be transmasc and have nice tits:

I'm transneutral and I have the most Jessica Rabbit body figure if she weren't as tall. And like... it's nice in a way. Like yeah if I'm trying to present fem, I'm sexy as fuck, but on a day to day basis I'm trying to look andro or masc but NO my bazonkers and tiny waist and HUGE ass hips have my body signaling "female" no matter how much I bind or dress in men's/baggy clothes and it's like 😭😭😭😭😭 I love you body but why do you have to be so stereotypically feminine?

And the worst part?????

I'm/literally/ the only AFAB person in my family with such an exaggerated body type. On both sides. My genes wanted so badly to make me happy for my AGAB but unfortunately I am NOT my AGAB and I'd have preferred my mom's body type.

THIS IS SO REAL OF YOU ANON!! i have wider hips and bigger tits than my mum. i would be so sexy and cool if i was a cis woman. but No. i am transmasc and i cant pass properly no matter what i do because my hips and tits always show. thank you for this queer solidarity, may we both someday reach a point where we can be comfortable in our bodies the majority of the time

[kick-a-long]

spoilers for cockoo and why it is one of the best movies of the last 15 years.

disclaimer: im cis and the main actress hunter is trans, also tw sexual violence definitely/kinda??

this movie is sooo fucking good technically, writing wise, good looking, emotional, ethically complex and both personally and socially meaningful. not a misstep to be found. if you can handle spooky scary movies i definitely recommend it.

I'm not going into great detail, but the thing i like about it the most is that it is a total marriage of feminist anxiety and queer (especially trans) anxiety.

my favorite thing that I haven't seen anyone talk about is that while hunter is a trans woman, the character she plays is (in my mind) kept ambiguously queer. she might be a trans woman, trans man, non-binary, or a cis lesbian. all we know is that she is some form of queer, attracted to woman and is treated like a woman who has failed at womanhood. the setting is the 80s which is brilliant because it side steps all the formal conversations around pronouns and respecting identity, it implies there are no hormone therapies to get or operations or any way that gretchen can earn womanhood or manhood with her outer appearance/gender performance. what's left is the single implication that in some way Gretchen has failed at womanhood. it makes it clear that Gretchen might be any letter of the alphabet but regardless of which one she IS being pushed out of her own home for being the wrong type of woman, not even just for being lgbt. she's in survival mode, in a foreign country, totally isolated and continually attacked for/from finding anyone like her, dealing with grief/the loss of her emotional family, not there by choice, not there because she did anything wrong, and not afraid of being proactive to fix that situation.

the cockoo is the perfect monster for her. It's the type of femininity that looms over her as well as all woman (even her hyper feminine step mom.) it non-consentually impregnates the right type of woman, in a non-sexual procedure. It's heterosexual and performing femininity well, and controls who has children with whom like a male institution but it is a biologically female animal. it implants it's eggs, not sperm, it dresses and looks like a traditional (even antiquated) version of a woman. it's the grandma 1950s pre-feminist femininity that haunts us. so it acts as both a symbol of patriarchy like it's acting in lock step with conservative heterosexual men's values and as the specter of conservative femininity that could be terf or could just be conservative femininity generally. it even covers it's hair (in a non religious way) and wears demure cloths, solely focused on other woman's reproduction, while being ungodly powerful yet controlled by patronizing men. even it's monster power is to repeat time, literally stop people progressing by force, a literal power that conservatives want to go back in time and freeze us all there. It's so fucking smart!!

the resolution is EVEN MORE SMART!

the film points out how fucking weird all this shit is, and then makes an actual active choice to say, "fuck it, solidarity against all this violent and nonsensical philosophical bullshit!" it takes the deeply humanistic option of "i'm a freak that didn't ask to be born this way, you're a freak that didn't ask to be born this way, all these systems and gender roles are fucking you as much as me lets band together and figure out what the fuck we can do to change all this!" they only escape by using each other as shields. the girl born of hyperconservativity who doesn't want to live that life, protects gretchen against conservative patriarchy/violence while gretchen's atypical but humanistic femininity protects alma's typical girlhood femininity against ultra leftist/violent deconstruction of femininity. and then they run off with a hot lesbian who has a car. perfect!

the movie is so wonderful because it is the first film that i've seen which communicates not just the pragmatism of focusing on all woman's (any kind of woman: straight and any type of LGBTQIA+) shared interests so we can all work together to build each other up, protect each other, get each other to some place safe, but also how much more sane that is. put the violence on the horrible ideas and not vengeance against the people who uphold them, because while the ideas seem impossible to defeat, part of defeating them is facing them without becoming overwhelmed and just not listening! because they are fucking weird and self defeating, again brilliant!

there's a million more things to say but you have to see it. it's as close to perfect as any movie I've seen. i love it.

please please see it. even if you don't want to think it's a fucking fun popcorn movie and an incredibly thrilling ride.

[asurrogateblog]

Sweet! :D Are there any other characters important to the story, aside from the band, you'd like to talk about?

ooh okay!

as usual I am wholly incapable of providing a short answer.

The most interesting side characters to talk about are from Cal's part of the story (basically the epilogue, see the last slide it does require that context)*

*sidenote: I do have side-characters for the "real story" obviously, but one of the points I want to make in the story is how the main cast is so myopically self-obsessed that they don't fully process the consequences of their actions outside of the circle of the three of them until it's way too late. so as a result everyone else is a little less developed (it's on the to-do list

ANYWAY. so as mentioned in the powerpoint, Cal in the present-day owns a little record/instrument shop. And speaking meta-textually, she REFUSES to get involved in an actual plot. I have a few ideas I'm playing around with for where to take her character but usually it's like "yah I'm not doing that." given this stand-off I've resorted to a more slice-of-life style of things. I guess she deserves that. arguably. a lot of philosophical questions there about whether you're responsible for the actions of the people you used to be.

so when I was thinking of her shop, I started thinking about the neighborhood around it. and I asked myself "who would be the funniest person/people to move in next door?"

Meet Arti and Ray! They're lesbian married, they're re-opening the old bar next door, and they just happen to be Clarion Call super fans. They even have matching tattoos and their bar is called Puzzlemaster after the Clarion album. In the CC universe they're definitely on tumblr making "rpf is fine" memes with photos of Roy and Nelson.

Facts about Arti:

Mellow (read: quietly chaotic), observant, creative

Trying to finish her degree in film studies on the side. Dreams of making really unsettling avant-garde horror movies.

Introduced to CC by her mom. She doesn't really talk to her family anymore (....it's complicated), but she kept the love of the music. Nelsongirl.

genuinely really enjoys bartending; mixology master

Facts about Ray:

Energetic, competitive, loud

Works part-time at a daycare to supplement their income; loves kids, should honestly be a gym teacher

Born in the Phillpines; moved to California (bay area) as a kid

Introduced to CC by their cousins. godsend for "teenager struggling to fit in who doesn't realize they're queer yet". Roy stan.

The premise for them is analogous to this: imagine, anon, that one day you're chatting with the old woman who lives next door and it strikes you that she looks a lot like John Lennon. Now consider exactly what would it take for you to go from "haha weird" to "oh my god, I think John Lennon is still alive and an old woman and also my neighbor". And beyond that, what would it take for you to actually accuse her of this.

As they get to know each other, this is the game of psychological chess going on between Cal and Arti & Ray (of course, they'd probably think that she's secretly Izzy Riles.... which she is, but that's only a third of the story).

So that's a little introduction to them! They're a lighter and sillier part of the story and I like them a lot

(I have to stop here. I have to make myself)

[coastalwind]

1, 4-6, 11, 13, 19, 20, 25

1- Which labels do you use?

I don't really like the term labels I prefer identity, I'm a cisgender gay man

4- Are you "out" to your family and friends?

kinda. all my friends know i'm gay. I never came out to my immediate family, I just kind of stopped pretending, same with my dad's side of the family. I'm still not out to my mom's side of the family, and I don't think I'll ever be. Maybe after my grandparents pass away, but I don't really see it happening ever, really

5- Are you "out" publicly?

pretty much, yeah

6- do you wish you came out sooner? Later? Was it the right time?

it was the right time for me, but it could've happened sooner lol. most of my friends to this day are my friends from middle/high school, i came out to them when we were starting college. nowadays only one of us remains straight.

11- Favorite (or just one you love) piece of LGBT media?

you know what, I really love Jongens! it's a dutch movie directed by Mischa Kamp and it's really good!

13- Do you choose to reclaim slurs? Why or why not?

yes, but i never really thought about it as "reclaiming slurs"

if kissing boys makes me a fag than that's what i am, what about it? you, know?

19- Do you feel safe and accepted in your local community?

uhh kind of a nuanced answer... on my personal social bubble (my family, friends, events i go to and places i frequent) i do. in my city as a whole, it depends. certain areas creep me out so i just don't go there, i live in a relatively safe place but there are certain establishments (my barber for example, or other more male dominated places) where i try to hide my queerness. I'm confident enough to go on dates on public places without being afraid of kissing or anything like that, but shit happens so you gotta stay alert you know

20- Do you feel like you "fit in" with the queer/Pride community overall?

honestly i feel like it's just such a vast and diverse community that everyone can find a "niche" where they "fit in", so yes i do

25- What queer discourse frustrates you the most?

I think maybe all of them? idk sometimes it feels pointless to have all these arguments over and over again when in reality homophobes don't care. they see us all as the same and won't stop hating you cause you're x and not y, we should spend time and effort working on that instead of debating over which pride flag is more progressive

send me pride asks!!

[thevoidstaredback]

CW: Mentions/Implications of Transphobia, Religion, Aphobia

I do end up telling at everyone, btw. I'm a bit pissed off near the end.

I'm a bit pissed off still...

I think the main reason I haven't come out to my parents as AroAce is because they're both very conservative Christans (LDS). They grew up that way, and they raised me that way. While they're open minded about a lot of things, they're close minded about a lot of things, too.

Both are very family oriented, my mother moreso than my father. They both want me and my sisters to get married and have kids and I don't know how to break it to them that I don't want that.

I've tried telling them without coming out. "The best I can offer are cats." or "I'm not interested in relationships." or the one I've been saying since I was in my single digits "I'm gonna be the crazy cat lady. I can't do that if I have other people I have to take care of."

(Honestly, that last one shoulda been my first clue. How the hell did I not know until senior year of hs?)

Both parents have brushed me off or ignored me completely. On several occasions. My aunts have all done the same. Some friends have done the same. All with varying excuses that I've already mentioned here before (and on TilTok).

I think the worst part is that they're both a bit transphobic, my father moreso than my mother. Mom is a bit more open minded (at least that I've noticed). She's a bit confused, but does her best to understand. Dad is a lot less so. He's actively watching things that are transphobic in nature or in passing, though I think he's realized that shit makes me uncomfortable, so he doesn't listen to it when I'm around. Only when he thinks I can't hear. (Doesn't work very well. I've got crazy good hearing and he watches with his speakers on full blast)

I'm not trans, but I have friends who are. My thought process is, if they can't accept that people are sometimes born in the wrong body, how will they ever accept someone stepping way back from what they were raised on?

Okay, I know those two things probably to connect in the way that I'm trying to convey, but I- I don't know how to explain it?

How do I convince people that I don't fall into the norms they were raised in when they can't even accept the norms that have been since the time of gods?

Does that make better sense?

The Queer Community has been around since humans started to walk the Earth. How does one explain this to people without things going to absolute shit?

I think I've gotten a bit off topic...

How does one tell their parents (who have been dreaming about their children having children to the point of "cursing" us with triplets) that getting married or having kids is not in their plans?

How does one get past the years of (what I can only label some kind of manipulation attempts) convincing that having kids and getting married will be the best thing to ever happen?

As I'm sure my fellow Aspecs can relate or attest to, it's extremely hard to tell a heteronormative society that you don't quite fall in with them. It's equally as hard to tell s homonormative group that you don't quite fit in with them, either.

On all sides, we're being pushed and pulled to fall in love and have families and have romances and have sex and all of these things! I think the reason we (at least from what little I've seen) feel so lonely is because we have little to no support. People on all sides are telling us we're wrong. People who are supposed to be on our team are telling us we're wrong.

Do you know how much that hurts?

Straight friends, gay friends, trans friends, queer friends, even fellow Aspecs have all told me some version of "You just haven't met your perfect person yet."

Fuck you.

Fuck whoever has ever said that in their life.

Fuck whoever has said that to someone who trusted them.

That line, and any line like it, is harmful.

I'm sorry you can't look past your rose coloured glasses to see the world. I'm sorry you can't pull your head outta your partner's(s) ass long enough to realize that not everyone is like you.

Yeah, I'm yelling at all of you. No discrimination here.

....

I really did go off topic...

I guess I really needed all that off my chest...

Regardless, I don't take any of it back.

[newageauthor]

This season of Sex Education was so so so so important to me for so many reasons

Aimee's healing journey and her learning everything she loves about herself and what she needs to do to see the other side. I have always loved Aimee and saw so much of myself in her so seeing her grow so independently and her and Maeve have such a rich friendship.... it is the most pleasing thing to see

Maeve's mom funeral had me ugly sobbing. It is always so intense when you see your own emotions being shot at your face. I don't have a mom. She was neglectful and never present. I have no idea how I'm gonna feel when she dies. So Maeve's eulogy of "A mom can be a pretty shitty parent.....I hate her for everything she has done to me but I miss her with every cell of my being." (I'm paraphrasing here) struck me in the gut and I sobbed. I felt so seen it was scary. (And don't even get me started in the conversation she had with Jean oh my god a dream for people with mommy issues)

ERIC EFFIONG'S RELIGIOUS JOURNEY IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME. With how prevalent religious trauma is within the LGTBQIA+ community it is no surprise how many queer people downright hat3 Christianity and it can make a lot of other people feel like they cannot be Christian because if they are then they our outright disrespecting the shame and pain their queer family had to go through and still is going through. So Eric learning that you can be Christian and Gay at the same time is so precious to me. It is also so important how they showed how personal of a journey getting baptized is and you should only do it when you are 100% ready. I am so HAPPY that Eric is going to become a Pastor because the world needs more queer pastors