#im not in the community but I understand how important representation is

[sunshineandlyrics]

❤️🤍💙 Red, White and Royal Blue. Representation matters

[karmathehalflander]

Why both Eddie and Venom are autistic and how the movies are actually a metaphor for neurodivergence

Includes some of my personal headcanons and concepts that I’ve been thinking about and need to share.

BE WARNED!!! This post is a bit long (and also a cringy, rambling, nonsensical mess) full thing under cut.

Some quick notes before we begin: when I have one of their names at the beginning of a section it means anything in that section only applies to one of them. (Idk, I couldn’t figure out how to organize this, you’ll see what I mean)

I don’t know much comic lore, all of this is based off of the movies. Though the movies are a different universe so I don’t think it will matter too much.

Also I use He/They/It pronouns for Venom.

In the end, Im just one guy with a hyper fixation please take everything I say with a grain of salt and feel free to add on or correct me about stuff. Especially if I say anything stereotypical or offensive about nurodivergance/autism a lot of this is based on some personal experience and I absolutely make mistakes and generalizations.

Alright enough of my yapping let’s get to it.

Overall big picture stuff

Applies to Both of them

the whole concept of them being “losers” together is kind of autistic coded. Autistic people are often viewed as incompetent or childish or useless. And I like to think they are connecting over that shared experience.

Noise sensitivity!!! Both of them have noise sensitivity! I probably don’t need to elaborate that much but that one scene in their apartment was some of the best overstimulation representation I’ve ever seen overstimulation guitar scene

Venom

Venom comes across as unfeeling because they don’t emote in a “normal” way.

They’re very blunt and literal.

Venom sometimes has a slightly higher-pitched voice when excited or angry. Which I’m going to attribute to him masking. He wants to appear tougher and scarier. This is important to its species and Venom, who is already perceived as weak by their peers, intentionally deepens his voice a bit to blend in. (This is definitely a headcanon but I love this concept so I don’t care that the real reason is that the voice modifier they use does silly things)

This is also why I think it’s so concerned about Eddie and him “looking bad” Looking weak was dangerous and they trained themself to hide “weakness”

It’s always “How does Venom affect people” and never “What does Venom need and how do other people’s actions affect them”

Venom prefers to express its thoughts and feelings through mental connection with its host and then have that person relay the information to whomever they are “speaking” to. Nonverbal communication!

Venom not understanding humans (social interaction, conventions, etc.) is kind of autistic coded.

Eddie

Edie kind of disregards a lot of social conventions. Still hangs out with his ex-fiancé AND her boyfriend. He also doesn’t seem to mind talking to Venom out loud.

Eddies is just kind of anxious in general.

Eddie struggles to find full time employment.

On that vein, he also struggles to maintain relationships.

Eddie's sense of justice. Eddie has a strong sense of justice and morals that often don’t align with generally accepted values and he follows this view of justice and morality to an absurd degree and it often gets him in trouble. Aka, the entire plot of the first movie is because Eddie has autism.

He wears the same clothes all the time.

Specific moments that I think about

Venom

Venom chewing on the tire swing (they both have oral stims btw)

Sand between his toes. Idk I just thought it was cute and chose to believe they like the sensation.

Say it with me. Tater tots are a safe food!!!

Venom rocks back and forth a lot.

This is a stretch but when Venom is like “look at all these weirdos, my kind of people” it’s a metaphor for him being queer but I’d argue it also kind of fits with neurodivergence. Neurodivergent people often connect with “weirdos” (other neurodivergent people)

Likes organization “Pile of bodies, pile of heads”

Eddie

I’ve been told Eddie chews on his necklace at the beginning of the movie but I can’t find the clip and can’t do a rewatch right now so take that with a grain of salt… (I chose to believe this happened though. Also his bracelets are stim heaven)

When he says “Oh, I have a parasite” to Mrs. Chen he had no clue what to say here. He just said the first thing that came to mind and panicked instead of explaining.

Also the way he says things funny. Ex: “✨It’s a treeeee✨” supa, supa, fhasstt” “Heee…. has. one. up. hi’s. Ass toooooo” “ET. Phone home. Aliens? 😃” I chose to believe they are vocal stims (I also attempted to find a compilation but I couldn’t find any. Maybe I’ll make one sometime)

Eddie also makes sound effects a lot.

Eddie writes notes on pen and paper instead of digitally.

He apologizes an excessive amount. Like he says “I’m sorry” to people actively trying to kill him. Which is so real.

“I just bit that guys head off” “I, uhhh, yea I’ve been there it’s not fun” 😕

Eddie also rocks back and forth. Which can be seen in this scene

Quick segment into why I think Venom was rejected by other Klyntar (it’s because he has autism)

Venom doesn’t adapt as quickly or as efficiently as other Klyntar. It doesn’t handle change well.

All of the normal Klyntar weaknesses are turned up to 1000 with them. Instead of just certain frequencies, the range that hurts him is larger and is also affected by loud noises. As shown by: “Venom” car alarm scene

instead of just fire, heat also bothers it. Also doesn’t adapt to light well. (Just a headcanon)

Can’t create weapons out of their body like other Klyntar. struggles with “simple” skills.

Much more emotional than other Klyntar and develop attachments (also purely a headcanon)

Just overall didn’t fit well into their society.

Just headcanons

Venom and Eddie are so compatible because their brains work the same way.

“I wish I could just mentally project my thoughts and feelings directly into your brain. Oh wait, we can do that!”

Venom also has temperature sensitivities. He gets hot.

Venom likes to stim to low key music, mainly jazz and lo-fi. Does the one song on repeat for three hours to wring all the happy chemicals out of it like a dish rag thing.

Venom also absolutely loves cheesy pop music (unrelated to anything here but I’m right and I needed to include it)

Venom functions as a weighted blanket for Eddie when he’s anxious. Maybe even hides under his shirt and stuff and becomes an extra weight.

Eddie stims with his jewelry.

Venom likes to sit in the freezer. Sometimes they visit Mrs. Chen's walk in just to chill (lol)

Purely my opinion but I think Venom also has some light sensitivity for a bit because it’s not used to being in such a bright environment. He gets used to it eventually but every once in awhile he finds the city lights overstimulating.

They are both very tactile. Touching things. Love a good texture.

Venom is super particular about food for someone who eats out the garbage but certain textures and flavors drive them crazy.

Venom hates vegetables. (Except for celery because it likes the crunchy and stringyness of it)

How all of this makes for a great metaphor!

Feeling like an alien in the world is probably the most relatable thing for a lot of nurodivergent people. Like there’s a manual for being human you don’t have. And just the concept of a literal alien showing up and struggling to navigate in a world not made for it is so relatable!

The way they both immediately connect to each other because they have the same weird brain stuff and weren’t accepted by their respective societies is so adorable and wholesome.

“We’re not so different, you and I” This line lives rent-free in my mind at all times. It’s my favorite quote. I think it perfectly encapsulates their relationship and why it’s special. They have autism and are bonding because the other is the first person who truly understands them! (Cries, screams, throws up)

In conclusion

They are in love and have autism. And they cling to each other because they are the first people to truly understand each other. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

Also I listened to UFO by Smith and Thell on loop while writing this. It’s very autistic symbrock coded so give it a listen if you’re a fan of inde-pop.

[loucifersbitch]

you posted it the tags of a post recently but I relate so hard knowing odds are bucktommy will eventually break up but i will be so happy if im wrong, i really enjoy buck and tommy so much (like i could imagine buck cooking for tommy in his apron and babysitting Jee-yun and live blissfully forever) and i just so deeply enjoy the sheer queer joy and community that i’ve come across with the bucktommy corner of the internet i’ve found myself in, your blog included!

you get it! bucktommy has taken over my heart and the majority of my thoughts in the last 2-ish months. i do think they have the potential to go the distance! i will be very sad if they eventually break up, but if that's where the story goes and it makes sense, i'll understand. and yeah, just thinking about their potential future together, the soft domesticity and tender looks and even obstacles they could overcome because of or with each other? that's the good shit

also, i just want to say, i've never experienced anything like this before. the giddy queer joy and absolute happiness i feel every time i remember just how important and impactful this kind of representation is and will be??? history in the making

thank you so much for the message and kind words 💚 i hope you have a great day

[lazagnalovingcat]

Okay small rant but I really don't understand the point of tagging x reader fics where you specify on the looks of the reader likr for example chubby!reader or short!reader like unless that actually matters to the plot of the fic or drabble youre writing why include it? I get the fact that they want to focus on a group that are normally overlooked but I don't think I've ever read a fic where they specify on the tag itself the looks and body of the reader and if they do for example write things like "her pale white skin" or "Her bony back" then I can say with chest that, that is shit writing the whole point of x reader fics is that everyone can insert themselves into the plot but the looks of the reader neverrr should have mattered, it could be the actions of reader or the readers background in relation to the character but IT WAS NEVER ABOUT HOW THE READER LOOKS. Beauty is subjective so if the canon character said "youre beautiful" to the reader it shouldnt matter what the reader looks like AND THATS THE POINT. The worse part of these tagged fics is that they say reader is chubby or black or petite or stuff like that and only mention it ONCE if ever, like for example for a chubby reader they would write stuff like "He pinches her chubby waist" AND THEN THATS IT. Bro what is the point of tagging reader as something when at the end of the day it isnt gonna matter to the plot! For an x reader simply saying "He pinches her waist" is enough! Because no where else does the fic imply what the readers body type is! I really don't understand it because its not like tags like witch!reader or vampire!reader or forager!reader because these are non physical traits and actually change the plott! And even if you say there are certain traits assigned to certain reader tags that stuff can still be debatable like if a vampire has really pale skin or just ordinary skin tone like in castlevania. Anyway my point is if youre going to mention a physical trait it better matter in the plot and if not then why bother?? Why tag it as x reader when the oc tag is available! Im talking about purely physical traits not stuff like adhd!reader or mentallyill!reader because those things can show up in different ways and are not purely objective, physical traits are! If its representation youre aiming for youre doing a shit job if the only time its mentioned is in the tags and offhandedly in the dialouge where the noun or adjective can literaly be changed with any other noun or adjective with no change to the plot. As a south east asian woman I would love a fic that specified the ethnicity of the reader and it happens to be the same as mine but I dont just want "She ate [insert cultural food], and shared it with [insert character] and he really enjoyed it!" BRO THAT MEANS NOTHING TO MEE. If you cant tackle complex readers with cultural, historical and physical attributes other than shallow traits then dont do it! Believe me the people you want to represent would much rather enjoy a good x reader fic that doesnt focus on physical attributes than one that does but only offhandedly or doesnt even mention it!. Anyway the whole point of this rant is to say that if you cant write an x reader fic that remains engaging but vgaue on the readers physical traits so that everyone can insert themselves in the fic(the whole purpose of x reader fics) then youre not a good x reader fic writer and you should just stick to oc writing. Yes writing is a form of expression but I hope if you are for example a black writer that you express yourself better than just "she brushes her 4c hair" okay? BE CREATIVE EVERYONE DONT JUST RELY ON TAGS TO REACH A COMMUNITY QUALITY REPRESENTATION IS STILL IMPORTANT!!! thats all.

[9w1ft]

How do you find LGBTQ+ people are viewed in Japan? Is it safe to come out?

i think it’s a bit of a mixed bag

on the one hand, laws and civic setups are still pretty antiquated (gay marriage is only recognized in several cities, still very common for forms to provide man/woman as the only options for gender, etc) on the other hand, even as we move at a snail’s pace, ending discrimination is, in general, a publicly communicated goal for the country, and many big businesses have proactively adopted lgbtq+ friendly policies without waiting for the government (gender inclusive bathrooms and uniforms, access to family benefits for partners regardless of gender, etc).

there is definitely representation of a variety of lgbtq+ people in media both in fiction and also news/variety tv though it can get a bit trope-y at times especially with effeminate stereotypes. still, there is a history of gender swapping / adopted gender presentation in theater (kabuki, takarazuka), and many known famous historical figures having same sex suitors and confidantes, so i think that more than in some countries people are predisposed to the idea of gender as a concept and the existence of gay people who have done important things. its also not incompatible with religions indigenous to japan, so there’s not so much a “you’re going to hell” vibe to the prejudice, its more of a “why do you insist on being different” prejudice if that makes sense. not great but it could be a lot worse.

i was part of a lgbtq+ circle at university and a gay friend of mine told me there’s a phrase that goes something like “it’s okay to be gay as long as you have a wife and kids” so once again just this idea that older generations value maintaining a public face for the sake of the group, whereas gayness is considered a subculture or private part of oneself.

so i think in terms of coming out i think it really depends on your situation, like my understanding (based on the stories of japanese friends i have) is that in general you would closet during your school years to avoid potential bullying for being different (maybe be out to close friends) but it’s much easier to come out in university or to move to a bigger city as a young adult. easier to find your people. but you might be careful when dating and stick to places where you know gay people are. you might closet at your company as well depending on the industry, and it’s a bit of a don’t ask don’t tell vibe socially among strangers, but it’s not necessarily something you’d hide.. if that makes sense. in my case i flag at work and i definitely know lgbtq people because they flag too and i know they know im flagging. but we don’t really talk about it. we just vibe and are extra kind to one another.

in terms of if it’s “safe” i’d say once again it depends but that there’s less (not zero but less) of a physical safety issue than many countries. even so, irl harassment exists and internet harassment is also a thing especially for out public figures. you might hesitate to come out to family or friends just so as not to ‘upset the order of things’ or to chance making people you love uncomfortable. over time your parents might ask why you won’t marry or won’t have kids like so-and-so’s daughter or so-and-so’s son.. these social pressures and tensions, especially in important relationships, can lead to depression and because mental health is also not that progressively talked about here, this is the part that is most dangerous, in my opinion.

just as a footnote this is all my impression of the generation of my age group and the ones above it and i think things are a little more relaxed or open for the next generation. but i think it’ll take one or two more generations to get to the point where it is in the US where everyone’s like, out and proud and colorful at school and work and among strangers. so once again, it’s not great, but i feel like things could be a lot worse.

[aortaobservatory]

im VERY interested to hear your thoughts on the blood aspect... its one that i think is taken very much at face value, and is somewhat limited in the traits often ascribed to it (responsibility, heritage, friendship).

Though we have canonical explanations for the Aspects, you're correct in that they often get reduced down to face-value. It was a problem I encountered myself in my early analyses; human beings are multi-faceted, and thus, so are these aspects which are meant to represent many concepts within humanity as a whole. That was something I had to learn to ascribe to my classpect analyses.

My analyses now use four keywords I whittled down from the canonical descriptions as well as the wider concept I understood it to convey. This is an attempt to portray these aspects as multi-faceted as opposed to what is commonly done in flattening them down into only one concept. (IE, "Blood = Friendships, Breath = Independent, Light = Smart, Mind = Logic, Hope = Religious, Rage = Anger", and so on. These words aren't necessarily wrong, but they're definitely not right either, and they definitely don't fit everyone within those aspects. They do not encapsulate the full scope of the aspect as a whole, which means they do not encapsulate the full scope of whatever classpect they are applied to, which then provides a flat, confusing, or biased classpect analysis.)

From The Extended Zodiac, I pulled these keywords from the Blood Aspect description. These would be the "canon" traits; they are what I adhere to when analyzing, but it should also be understood that this concept encompasses much more to do with than these keywords. Its "vibe", if you will, is much more than what is written.

TEZ Blood Keywords: Bonds, trust, camaraderie, groups, inspirational, relationships, friends and allies, charismatic, uplifting, magnetic, (sullen, unkind, set-in-their-ways)

None of the above traits are inherently good or inherently bad. The Blood Aspect, like all the other aspects, is inherently neutral; it is neither good nor bad, but merely a representation of a concept we experience as human beings.

I will say that responsibility is definitely a core trait of the Blood Aspect, but the aspect should not just be limited to that trait and its synonyms. Responsibilities, promises, relationships, camaraderie, community, bonds, connections; these things are what Blood is about. The ties that bind and the blood of the covenant are strong themes for the Blood Aspect.

I would personally say that Blood is what drives humanity, community, and many cultures. That is not to then say that Breath, its inverse, has no place in humanity either; too much of anything is never a good thing, and these aspects have inverses to balance them out accordingly. This is also part of why I so strongly believe inverse classpecting is important to consider as well, as you must be aware of how you should balance to be able to balance, but I digress.

Blood does not just value the relationships they have. They can also be the core of their friend groups, the thing keeping their family members together or in touch, so on and so forth. I believe that particular concept is termed "Unity". They bring people together, which is very powerful.

This is why Karkat, as a Knight of Blood (Active Utilizer), was able to bring twelve extremely different and difficult people (including himself) together long enough to succeed at an extremely convoluted, long game session. Kankri on the other hand, as a Seer of Blood (Passive Knower), was not experienced in his aspect and wasn't able to bring his friend group together a long while before they decided to scratch, but that did not mean he wasn't trying; as inane as Kankri's rants were, they were founded from his understanding of Blood as someone who only understood it from the point of view of the Breath aspect. Had Kankri reached godtier as a Seer of Blood and fully properly understood the Blood aspect, I believe he could have succeeded in the same fashion Karkat was able to.

This got quite long, my apologies. I did not think I would have this much to say! I hope it was intriguing for you.

[mar64ds]

I think what really gets me about Thomas (the toontown character we are talking about toontown) is that even if he has not been 'confirmed' to be aromantic the way they are written IS very clearly aromantic. Let me explain

A lot of my complains about implied aromantic characters or confirmed outside of story is that they barely show anything related to their aromanticism, if anything at all. It can be one comment, or it can be absolutely nothing but just trust me guys this character is absolutely aromantic. And that just... barely means anything to me

With Thomas, i haven't seen the team making a big deal about him, like 'look guys this is our aromantic character!!!!' Thomas is just quietly sitting in their office, and when you talk to them, they don't tell you 'by the way i'm aromantic'. They just tell you about their life, about their work, about their relationships and you realize oh... he is aromantic. Because aromanticism is a huge part of who they are, even when they are not directly talking about aromanticism itself. Being aromantic impacts the way he is, the way they think, the way they feel.

Thomas is someone that likes their alone time, he likes taking care of his plants, talking to them and keeping them company. He has a brother who is the most important person in his life and they would do anything for. Thomas talks multiple times about how he doesn't get romance, they are not interested in things like that, they have never dated anyone and have no intentions of changing that. He doesn't participate in the office gossip about coworkers having crushes on each other and he doesn't get why people do it, he doesn't judge based on who likes who. They don't understand the marriage the brother has with his wife, he believes she is not a really good person (and yeah he is right) and they don't understand why his brother stays with her. Thomas talks about how she doesn't bring positive qualities to the relationship, so why else would two people stay together? (very relatable aromantic situation). Thomas vents about how his brother used to always be by his side, but now he has a wife and he always talk to her and he barely talks to them anymore. Their brother was always the one person to talk to them, without him, he only has his plants. Thomas has started interacting with some of the new hires at least, but the way he words it was very satisfying for me. His lack of interest in romance doesn't mean he doesn't like interacting with other people. This could easily have been worded in a way that would be harmful to loveless aros like 'i dont feel romantic love but i still feel love so im not a bad person!'. Thomas worded it in a way that was mindful, intentionally or not, of loveless people, who are part of the aro community too

Everything that encapsulates this character has to do with aromanticism. He enjoys being on their own, but they also feel isolation. They care about others, like their brother, but his brother puts his priorities on his romantic relationship. They don't get situations that are related with romance and they state over and over that they are not into romance.

This is how you write a character that is implied to be aromantic. Intentionally or not. Although i would be shocked if it wasn't intentional considering this game has plenty of lgbtqia+ representation and you can even wear an aromantic flag lol Also the fact that it's so obvious what Thomas is trying to say

And i found it really fascinating because, a lot of times either a character is very openly aromantic or they are barely an aromantic character but the creators say they are. Thomas is a different case. He is a character that, to my knowledge, the creators have never openly stated in a tweet or on a stream that yeah he is aromantic, but the way this character is written is just... very clearly aromantic, without a doubt. Not vaguely implied, not one sentence, just everything that makes him himself

It made me think that we CAN have representation where the characters don't really need to say the word aromantic, but they can talk about aromantic experiences. I still want more characters and stories that state the word aromantic and that explore aromanticism further, but I would be happy seeing characters like Thomas too, especially since just like them, I have always been aromantic even before i knew the word

[femciolente]

Tiqqun cursed me to Intellectual Depression...

By : Santiago "Weebu" Pemo

As a French reader, I am much more impacted and attached to French philosophy and its theorists than most people. I feel a deep connection to the language I grew up with and these theories that so deeply resonate with my being, some ideas and vague concepts I have had since the dawn of my political consciousness, that also appear to be fundamental for these intellectuals, way before my time. There is something truly eye opening about finding deeply avant-garde theory in your language, that has also pretty directly impacted the politics of your own country, to a certain degree. Tiqqun for me is the representation of the search for ideals, the insatiable pursuit of knowledge that I experience, and will experience. Dense and complicated, pretentious and critical, Tiqqun's works have everything to be categorized a million times by fruitless adjectives, but the only one truly fitting for such a titan of theory is "impressive".

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Tiqqun was a French philosophical journal, even if i would categorize it more as a periodic publication and recollection of intellectual texts. It was actively published between 1999 and 2001, supposedly dissolving after the 9/11 attacks for fear of repression and a needed break from the political world, as some claim. Why would they do that? Well, Tiqqun was THE most radical publication France ever got a hold of, but specially because the tradition it subscribed into was not a typical one. Insurectionary Anarchism, Situationism and Communization (In both a general and specific manner, we will go over that later), as well as the large French school of Post-Structuralism and Post-Modernism, Tiqqun is a beacon of modern French radical philosophy. And for how complex what the journal propositions can be, It is no surprise that this lovely piece of theory has gone severely unnoticed for the average "leftist". It's a literary piece at heart, a several hundred pages long poem, it's a work of passion to the world of philosophy and theoretical politics. And that is what makes the publication one of the most beautiful yet disheartening concepts to read, as well as being absolutely groundbreaking, and a read that will challenge anyone's unprepared views about many topics, since it introduces complex notions of the "Invisible Party", "Metaphysical Critique Exercices", "The Theory Of Bloom" and of course, their own spin on "Communization Theory".

"Communization" is a complicated topic, a theory not for the weak minded, something pretty much existent in the own confines of our exhausted and depressed intellectual capacities, but it still manages to be fresh enough to be adaptable to everyone. The lack of dogmatism in the writing, the synthesis of concepts and the post-post modernity of its analysis is unlike anything you can currently get your hands on. But the core concepts are understandable, and can make you rethink your own base ideology from the ground up. At least that is what happened to me. Communization, as the theory that rejects the DOTP from a marxist understanding of revolutionary action and procedures, is not a common piece of thought even in online discourse. Im not here to explain in depth this concept (as it is the case for another article of mine), but what Is important here is how Tiqqun took this theory, very marginal Left Communist piece of theory, and built it, almost single-handedly, from the ground up once again. The revolution that Tiqqun brought by explicitly importing Insurrectionary Anarchist ideas, as well as a general anarchist ethos too, to a concept that wouldn't necessarily hold it, was the stepping stone towards the erasure of "Anarchist"and "Statist" labels in the ultra left, leading to a much more fluid interaction and development of ideas, breaking the dogmas that can follow the Meta-Narratives of certain strains of "left wing" ideology. Meta-Narratives that still hold a lot of theorists back when it comes to the full liberation of their brain, towards a greater understanding of the world, even if that might come with far greater consequences, like absolutely breaking your hope and desire for the world, but not in a very Nihilist way, but a purely emotional sense. Tiqqun is very emotional, and more than anything, it appeals to the individual's understanding of them, and what that said individual wants to take for their own personal benefit. It's what I would call some kind of very well executed decentralized communal thought process.

And this is key In my personal development, as I originally came from a much more orthodox Anarcho-Communist conception of ideology, with its own dogmatism and ingrained fallacies that even back then bothered me, this fluidity and lack of strict structure that the ideas of Tiqqun have allowed me to break down the walls I imposed on myself. And that is what makes their version of Communization so specific. Not only they detail and talk about the general concept that an author like Dauvé could have, but they go further than him. They always do. That is the magic of the journal, going as far as it is possible to think. Their analysis is clean, including some fairly (and sadly) forgotten theories like Situationism at the heart of their vision, specially when they mention anything to do with the "invisible party". Avant-Gardism is the core ethos of what Tiqqun wanted. They did not want to be comprehended by the general population, they didn't write for us to use our texts as proof of the subjective validity of our ideology, but a job. They had a specific vision of the world, a ruthless one, one that did not spare any badmouthing of any concept as long as it fit their worldview, one that is marvelously constructed. A worldview Guy Debord would have been proud to read.

But you simply cannot just read Tiqqun for enjoyment, as that would be too complicated for anyone with less than 50 degrees on philosophy. You read Tiqqun to experience the whole thought of the "Invisible Party", and you do so with an aim : to criticize your ideas. Tiqqun, for the more well read and fundamentally built reader is primarily an exercise for contrasting metaphysics. The variety of the texts, and the diversity of what they are able to deal with in those gives a complexity to their thought I have barely seen anywhere else. Tiqqun is not a manifesto, Tiqqun is a collection of the greatest thoughts of the french ultra-left of the 90's, one very much involved with all the social movements of its time but retaining its "armchair" critique typical of other strains of Left Communism. But why would anyone listen to them? Why care for Tiqqun? Because the modernity of their ideas is something that will put you in a state of "intellectual depression".

No, this is not a Deleuze reference (even if it might as well be). It is simply a statement to the greatness of Tiqqun's writings, ones that challenges you so much, you stay in a state of perplexity that is hard to achieve with most theory collections. Tiqqun made me depressed, because it challenged my traditional views so much, that I could never conceive traditional modern theory the same way. It radically affected my relationship with not only political and philosophical texts, but also with the politics that affect my day to day life : parliamentary politics, for example. I no longer trust what I used to, I no longer want what I wanted, and I no longer seek what I tried to find when i first embarked on the world of politics. Nothing feels enough, I want more. Satisfaction became a secondary need, but reflection and constant upgrading of my own ideas is what I aspired to, like I mentioned at the beginning of this article. Even my actions, at the scale of my fairly boring small town changed, the discourse I have with people interested or not on politics has changed so much, to the point that I feel as my ideas are exclusive to me. Exactly what Tiqqun is all about, but that does not mean it's a concept full of positives, specially living In a world where our action is necessary and important, even if at times fully pointless.

Holding radical positions in pretty much any aspect of thought is exhausting in the stage of deceiving and worse than before social democratic compromise reformist policies of the present day, one that does not even serve the petty bourgeois it sought to protect to begin with. Repeating the same things, same concepts, theories and ideas over and over again to people oblivious to them is the greatest challenge an active militant or passionate anti-capitalist can face. But the breath of fresh air Tiqqun's expression and interpretation of the classics, as well as an introduction to the newer theories that SHOULD take a larger part in our new theoretical and practical developments is very much needed in the modern day landscape. It's the best of both worlds, In a style you can hardly dislike. Why? Because of the variety of it.

As I mentioned at the beginning, Tiqqun is a collection of texts, but it didn't exactly end in 2001. The publication of several and very complex, pretty much full scale books around 2004-2010 revitalized the scene, specially taking into account how un-finished their work can seem to some. It is not a fully developed program, a truly new political ideology or thought model, but simply good theory, and these newer additions completed an already rich project. But what was important about Tiqqun's post-mortem publications is not anything published under their name, but more so an associate group that can very much be the same people that conformed the original secret council of the Tiqqun redaction, that being "The Invisible Committee". As many of you know, this neo-Tiqqunist collective made one of the most important works out of the modern french scene, named "The Insurrection To Come", a book so popular, it was the object of all the far right moral panics on an international scale, doing ravages to the brain of Fox News redactors. But what really mattered there was how it affected my perspective, as it was one of the first texts of the sort that i ever had the opportunity to read, and is considered a cornerstone of the insurrectionary movement as a whole, revered globally and by a large variety of individuals, on and outside of internet discourse. Yes, it is not Tiqqun, but its closeness with the original intellectual group makes it a product of the original thought of the Invisible Party.

Game changing, In every aspect, even on terms of rights and politics, on domains of repression of radical thought, even. In November 2008, Julien Copat, one of the known members of Tiqqun's redaction was arrested by french authorities under pretext of "Participating on a terrorist action that derailed a train" In a small locality in the rural center of the nation (Tarnac, hence giving its name to the "Tarnac Affair"). And this case, that lasted until around 4-5 years ago, caught enough traction for my young and impressionable brain to know about it, years later when the case resumed after a long break. And this was the first case I ever saw where radical thought leaders were attacked falsely based purely on the radicality of their writings, something pretty much without precedent at that time. And it was the reason why I even know about the publication to begin with, and so was the case for a large amount of young teenagers, who got a newly ignited passion towards these ideas, brewing ever since the intellectual rebellion of May 68, bringing more air to the scene than any other project before. It has been one of the few judicial cases I went deep in, and that exposed more clearly than any other case in modern times, how the punishment great thinkers receive under the rule of the bourgeoisie. It was an event that radicalized me indirectly.

The reason why I consider Tiqqun to be so heavy on my brain is because of how real it is. Never had I seen a fusion of extremely theoretical and technical philosophical theory mixed with a focus on praxis without precedents, specially in a time where political actions from the proletariat are ramping up in power, intensity and frequency once again, like a clock. Tiqqun represents the non-nihilistic view of revolutionary action, with the sadness that comes with knowing the truths behind the movements and the ideas that power them. That is what brings sadness to my soul. It was a necessary step in my development, and I feel as if it's just a reflection of what the general population can feel about the exploding liberal status quo, but the people on our side of theory know the reasons why. Tiqqun gave me the keys to understand better the world but also the revolutionary thought that i wholeheartedly stick to, and at the same time, Tiqqun amplified my Capitalist Realism to levels I had barely ever seen before. Tiqqun, In all its greatness, doomed me to intellectual depression, and I will not recover this time.

Thank you Tiqqun, really.

[canonicallyanxious]

Im fully bought into the heart/li ming relationship at this point and a huge part of that has to be the scene where li ming took heart to the mass for the deaf. Like I think it's one thing to be two deeply isolated boys (each in such different ways!) forming a fragile but profound connection with someone who seems to understand you and help you feel less alone, and it would be understandable to some extent for their age and circumstances to leave it there but the fact that li ming saw how deeply alone heart is and not only extended his own friendship but also took steps to introduce him to a community of other people who he actually can speak with in his preferred language and who can more fully understand his experiences, giving heart a chance to build a support network beyond just what they have, is so SO good and also makes so much sense in terms of li ming's own background and how important he knows community can be. Li ming seems to be aware he can't be everything for heart but what he can do is support him and help give him the opportunities to engage in the experiences he actually wants to engage with. We love choices that make character and narrative sense as well as being just all around good things to do for people you care about!!!

And then li ming asking the father for advice on how to treat heart - he wants to do right by him but he also doesn't want to put all the burden of educating on heart so he seeks other resources! The research he must have done to find this place! - and the show reinforcing the specific ways in which heart's deafness affects his experiences (I can't speak to the specificities of the deaf representation itself but I did like the details such as talking about physical touch as a way to more explicitly show your presence as opposed to relying on normal speech) but also he should be treated with respect and dignity just like anyone else. Great scene all around and gold star for li ming also for being Best Boy

[bye-bye-firefly]

Goood evening!! What’re your thoughts on dream sequences?

Welllllll you know meeee.........i write a lot of dream sequences. if im not writing dream sequences the character is falling in and out of sleep. BUT i do understand how that can get annoying. overall dream sequences should be able to convey something to the reader, that there is something going on in this character's psyche that they cannot face in the narrative right now or ever. what can you gather from a dream? and at this point i fall off the deep end soooo. more under the cut

they can be very important to the story Ya Know. most of the time im having a character confront some kind of mental block or real life issue in a dream. dreams communicate fears. dreams communicate mounting pressure- dreams can BE that mounting pressure. dreams can also communicate acceptance. dreams can be characters in and of themselves!! but dreams have to consistently represent something. i would suggest like. maintaining one or two different meanings for dreams but this generally goes for ALL symbols. telling a story is inherently enforcing some kind of narrative. joan didion's belief was that writing was a hostile act, describing it almost as if it was violating the reader. to be specific, she said:

In many ways writing is the act of saying I, of imposing oneself upon other people, of saying listen to me, see it my way, change your mind. It's an aggressive, even a hostile act. You can disguise its qualifiers and tentative subjunctives, with ellipses and evasions —with the whole manner of intimating rather than claiming, of alluding rather than stating—but there's no getting around the fact that setting words on paper is the tactic of a secret bully, an invasion, an imposition of the writer's sensibility on the reader's most private space.

do i necessarily completely agree with joan didion? No. but i do think she was getting at something and it was something very important about writing. when you are telling a story, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, there is some underlying narrative going on there. there will always be some hidden meaning because people dont walk around without them. even the nihilists have a hidden meaning they want to share with you: there is NO meaning. writing is a philosophical experience and a deeply self-analytical one, which didion also believed was part of the reason why she wrote if not the sole reason she was a writer. she described it like she didn't know what she was thinking until she wrote it down. she didn't know what was happening with her mental state until she wrote it down. i dont believe she did that expressly to impose a narrative upon a reader, to persuade them necessarily, but YES there is a part of every writer that wants to make you see it OUR way.

but this feeling is not specific to authors. other forms of art find themselves trying to make you see what they see, whether it be simply through their own memories of an event or a scene, or quite literally an artists interpretation of politics and history. an artist trying to convey to you what an event did to them through their medium of choice. a piece i love so much is félix gonzález-torres' 175 pound piles of candy that guests are encouraged to take from, forcing them to participate in the art piece. not only do you get to view it, but to get the full experience, you must participate and pick up a candy and eat from it, the representation of félix's and his lover's body, both taken away by aids. the horror of it is forced on you and that visceral emotional reaction feels like an invader suddenly entering your body. everything about it hits you like a freight train while you're eating a cellophane-wrapped candy. what can you get from that? what exactly can you interpret from it? what thought does the author have? can you feel it being forced on you?

i mentioned this before in a note but i said that at the time, i was following the oscar wilde method of writing, which was to write without communicating a moral to the audience. while i still identify with this- in no way am i trying to teach you some kind of lesson when you read nameless- there is a mix here that i think is important when talking about what you choose to write and what you choose to symbolise. dreams are not just a gateway into a character's mind but YOUR mind and what you associate with certain things. writing is displaying art and because of that, people can interpret your art in any way they want and there is no wrong way to view it in my personal opinion. even if you put it out there with a vision and a goal, people can choose to make it personal to themselves and there is NOTHING you can do about that. this is part of the medium. you dont control how people interpret it if they feel deeply about it.

a good example of that is sun yuan and peng yu's "can't help myself." you probably already know about it: a machine that sweeps up liquid that looks like blood. sun yuan and peng yu intended for this to be a more political piece, trying to evoke imagery of war, surveillance, and land disputes. these concepts were not just randomly chosen for a random exhibition; the guggenheim museum specifically sought out yuan and yu for the "tales of our time" exhibition, which had a focus on locations and geography. where the artists lived, their idea of utopia, an interpretation of modern borders. even the title was a play on lu xun's book "old tales retold," which, as it says on the tin, retold old tales but in a way that critiqued society and highlighted issues specific to the era. so, when "can't help myself" was created, it was an interpretation of the state of border politics.

looking at it with this perspective, the "blood" the machine cleans up leaves red streaks across the floor as the only evidence it was ever there. the machine gets little breaks and dances and interacts with the audience like a nation's figurehead on tour, waving to citizens in the audience before immediately returning to the bloodshed. and when the blood gets too much, they dont have as much time to appease the crowd or to do a little dance or wave. theres too much to mop up, and then the blood becomes the centrepiece. no matter how much the robot sweeps up, there is always more. and the machine sweeps up blood until it cant anymore, and then the blood is left to sit for everyone to see. its the inevitable end of empires. it is what war will do to a nation. when the power struggle that leads to wars that leads to death en masse become too much, people will be unable to ignore the bloodshed and there is no amount of dancing or waving a nation can do to save them from their demise. the machine lays down and dies. the empire falls.

or...or its exemplary of a country trying to control immigration. it pulls the blood back in, but there are streaks left of it on the floor- people still get out and they never come back. blood gets spattered on the walls and is, therefore, unable to be swept back up. what is a nation without its people? and that is why borders and the inherent function of the machine is important. the machine is not leaking the fluid; the fluid has been poured into the space and the machine sweeps it into an arbitrary border. when it flows outside that border, its sensors go off and drag the fluid back in. that brings in the idea of mass surveillance. bringing those who step out of line back in. its an orwellian image of a machine dancing and waving to the audience, putting on a jovial performance, before punishing its subject for stepping out of its contrived boundary in front of its company.

the art piece briefly fell out of public knowledge before being discovered again through what little video we have of it while it was being shown. and some of the people who found it were not given the context of the guggenheim exhibit, nor did they get to view it during the time it was in action. some were not residents of china, yuan and yu's home country and the area-specific politics "can't help myself" was reflecting on. because of these holes in knowledge, people began to interpret it as a rat race sort of commentary. the fluid representing money, or the machine's life force, or joy flowing out of the machine and trying to be gathered back up by this anthropromorphised version that was created. it dances and waves and puts on a brave face, all while fighting to maintain these important things. some people interpretted it as people pleasing, where the machine would dance and then go right back to struggling to stay alive, perhaps struggling with depression or other kinds of mental illness. it would wave to make people happy and interact with the audience, all while bleeding out on the floor. people felt for it and identified with it.

and while you could argue these interpretations are "tainted" because they don't know what the piece is actually about, it doesn't make any other interpretation any better. in fact, my interpretations of "can't help myself"- even with the assistance of context from the guggenheim website or my limited knowledge on chinese policy and history or the assistance of the artists themselves, articles from people that saw it in person, what few translated articles i could stumble across in my early search- is tainted by the fact that i have only ever lived in the west. i don't truly know what chinese immigration policy looks like or what the chinese government is telling its citizens, what narrative is trying to be pushed. i only know what narrative my country is pushing. i am assuming that, maybe, the chinese government is saying the same things as the west, but i don't truly know and i won't know until i meet someone who lives or lived there, but i haven't. as logical as my interpretation is, there are likely holes because of my view on the government which has been shaped by living where i do, just as this piece is shaped by sun yuan and peng yu living in china.

and even if they don't know the context, that doesn't make their interpretations any less evocative. there is something to be said about the performance the machine puts on because its an important part of the piece. there's something to be said about how you are an observer peering into a glass box at the spectacle that is happening. you can stand there and have blood flung at you because of the work the machine is putting into maintaining its borders. there is something to be said about the way the machine appears to be bleeding, even if that's not what's actually happening. these are amazing things to think about and the fact that people think about it at all is amazing! i think thats fucking beautiful!!

and you want to know why that's so amazing? because art like this is MEANT to be provacative. it's MEANT to spark a reaction. it could be reactions in the political sense, like inspiring people to be activists or to question their governments and representatives, or reactions in the emotional sense, like fear or intrigue or sadness. "can't help myself" is poking at you and begging for a reaction. the machine dances and waves and tries to entertain you between sweeps as if it's begging for you to look at it, to analyse it, to figure out what it's doing and why it's doing it, and why you are trapped behind the glass, stuck watching it. regarding "can't help myself," sun yuan told artsy, "we see how the robot and the liquid finish by torturing each other."

with this, we return to didion and her belief that writing was a hostile act. sun yuan and peng yu went into this project hoping to communicate a strong political message that was essential to the museum that commissioned them. the museum wanted the view they could provide. from the start, this is about politics and geography and borders and immigration- so how did people end up seeing themselves in that machine? its a matter of the artists releasing the ability to maintain context. even with people learning the context of the piece, there are still those that identify with it because their interpretation means so much to them. this piece has a life of its own outside of what the artists intended for it and this inevitably happens to every piece of art. those who care about it will interpret it in a way that relates to them. if they are politically minded, they might interpret it in a political way, and for those who aren't, the piece becomes deeply emotional.

i might try to insert a piece of myself into every piece of writing i do, but there is nothing i can do to stop people from interpretting my art however they please. i find IMMENSE joy in this because its so interesting to see what i wrote and finding different versions of it inside the people it touches. dream sequences can be deeply personal for the character, but you will never know because you will never be them. for the simplest of dream sequences, the most straightforward, the most complicated, the strangest, there is an interpretation out there that blows my expectations out of the water. im constantly searching for different interpretations of stories ive read in the hopes i will find a deeper understanding of it, which is really all this post is about. dream sequences are good and people's interpretations of them make them even better and IN FACT every single piece of writing is made better by being able to turn to other people and ask them what they thought of it. understanding a piece is understanding the people around you and how the art affects them, not what the artist specifically intended by making the work.

[alarrytale]

As a closeted person myself, hearing almost daily how H & L should just come out already or like your previous anon mentioned what they did. I’m tired of people invalidating and excluding closeted people from their own community. Do people understand how hard it is for a closeted person to come out? First you have to figure yourself out, which is not an easy journey in itself but then secondly you have to decide who you are safe enough to share that part of your life with. Me as just an ordinary person has had a difficult time navigating all of this, I can’t imagine a celebrity. I think we forget that they are people too. Yes they are privileged in many ways but something as delicate as their sexuality they are just as vulnerable as other people going thru the same exact struggle but on an even bigger scale. This is not only a fandom situation but on a much bigger scale when you factor in the general public. And I’m sorry but even their own fandoms aren’t accepting of the possibility of them being straight, imagine how cruel the general public would be. Whether people are closeted by outside forces or within themselves, it doesn’t matter. It’s about safety and the world hasn’t changed as much as believed outside the Larrie (or some solo fans because some would be accepting or already believe they are lgbtq+) bubble. Don’t invalidate closeted people, regardless of their privileges because that privilege doesn’t apply to sexuality. Every closeted person goes thru a journey that shouldn’t be judged because it’s not going according to someone else’s timeline.

*This isn’t at all aimed at you Marte. That previous anon just pissed me off. And im sick of people in this fandom who pretend to be supportive but then invalidate a whole set of the lgbtq+ community because celebs aren’t doing what they want them to do on their own selfish timeline.

Ok, sorry my rant is over.

Hi, anon 🧡

You can rant as much as you like and i mostly agree with you. It's just important to not project your own feelings of insecurity to people in a whole different postition than yourself.

For queer progression and normalisation in society we need people to be brave and come out. The people in the best postion to do that are people who are in supportive environments, and don't risk losing jobs, opportunities, money, friends and family or their lives. Celebrities are role models and most of them are usually in a position to be able to come out. They should come out. It's safe for them.

It's also important to differentiate between someone closeted of their own will, and someone forcibly closeted. There are not many people in the last category, but H and L are in that category. They want to come out, they're hinting as much as they can, but they're contractually not allowed to come out. With proper seeding, it's safe for both H and L to come out.

Nobody should be forced out of the closet. But queer people need representation and somebody needs to take the first step for others to follow. If it's isn't safe it isn't safe. You know best if it's safe for you to come out or not 💚

[mxmorbidmidnight]

HI i saw your post and wanna ask!! im writing two disabled characters [one with chronic pain, and the other with chronic fatigue]im able-bodied myself, and i wanna be respectful with how i write them! so, do you have any do’s and donts?

Hello dear! first and foremost thou art on the right track! please do consult me with thine questions. Because I am rather new to understanding my own disability and therefore depicting it in my writings my knowledge is not entirely extensive. From the perspective of a disabled person, these are things I notice and see as important. 

1. Interact with the disabled community: to understand how a disability affects a person you must speak to the people themselves. Write characters with compassion that depict their lives in their true form. This means understanding and inquiry. Listen to disabled voices and take feedback as often as you can. Having a beta reader who experiences the disability your character does is incredibly helpful. This I am happy to do. 

2. Write from a disabled perspective: a frequent issue with depictions of disabled people is they are written from an abled perspective. There is more going on behind the wheelchair or the cane. It is about looking beyond what is typically seen, and into the characters mind. When it comes to disability often disabled peoples stories are told by abled people for abled people. Often resulting in descriptions such as “she was stuck in a wheelchair” or “they couldn’t go anywhere without that cane” “he was such an angel to marry her with everything she's got going on” Instead it is important to focus on the inner feelings of the person with a disability. How it affects them, how they feel about it. eg, 

“He felt nervous using his cane in public because of how people stared”

“it took so long to get the wheelchair, she was glad to have it so she could finally get around again.”

2. disability in its true nature: often people shy away from depicting aspects of disability that are considered undesirable or cannot be romanticised. My fatigue results in issues with maintaining hygiene such as frequent showers. These aspects are a part of life with a disability. Censoring such things further pushes the idea that disabled people are to be hidden away, never to be seen. 

3. Emotion: often disabled people are used in text only for inspiration. Many will be familiar with the idea of “the good disabled person” they’re inspirational, they give a speech about never giving up to the protagonist, they’re always kind and they can do anything. The reality is disabled people are people first and foremost, being faced with something that causes pain. This will come with sadness, anger, fear and isolation. 

4. Person first: Just as one would with any other character, a strong personality must be developed. Disability will obviously affect their interactions and how they live their life, however it is vital that a character is depicted as a person first. Without a disability is this characterisation still sound? what makes this character recognisable? if I didn’t write their name after their dialogue could people tell that its them speaking? Disabled characters can often become vessels for representation and nothing more. People with disabilities are people, therefore characters representing them must also be people. 

3. Research: this is very important. It is important to understand the sytoms of disability to correctly write a characters experience as well as to avoid operating of stereotypes. 

Good luck dear!! thank you for thine question. 

(if you are a disabled person reading this, I implore thee do add any other do’s and dont’s you have)

[bonesandthebees]

hi, on the topic on through a glass divine (which is absolutely amazing by the way) and it’s religious themes, sorry if im over sharing a bit but i wanted you to know that this fic is incredibly important to me personally because it’s the first time i saw religious practice as something healthy and meaningful in a way that i could understand. i grew up atheist and had a lot of bad experiences with religious institutions in my life (both from people around me and my country’s government) and even after learning more about religion and seeing actual people talk about their practices i still just never got it. but tagd legitimately changed the way i see religion. power of art i guess

I sincerely hope you mean the deathlings religious practice is the healthy representation and not whatever tf is going on with wilbur and clara lmao (even then I'd argue not all aspects of the deathlings worship is healthy but that's mostly with tommy)

either way it means so much to hear that! I'm sorry you had bad experiences with religious institutions, I certainly did as well and it left a bad taste in my mouth about religion as a whole for a very long time. but as the years passed I was able to understand how religion can be a genuine source of comfort and community for so many people. I'm jealous of people who can put their faith in something like that because it seems like such a reassuring thing to always be able to lean on. with glass I definitely didn't want to push a narrative like "anyone who is religious is a dick atheism is the only way" bc that's just not true and I really dislike atheists who have those kinds of superiority complexes. I wanted to show in glass that religion is different for everyone. the relationship between someone and whatever/whoever they worship is first and foremost always going to be between them and them alone, and I wanted to emphasize that kind of individuality if that makes sense? and also just show both how religion can be weaponized to harm people, but also can empower them as well.

[jellyfilledeyes]

i just realized that i never made a proper goodbye post for toh so this is it but its just me rambling why luz is important to me

i feel like one of the biggest reason why luz is the best main character to me is her neurodivergence and the fact its THE biggest part of ger character being the reason why she turned to the boiling isle by choice and the reason why she’s able to connect with so many characters and the series never makes fun of her for her quirks no matter how ‘weird’ they are so often you see neurodivergent characters getting belittled due to their neurodivergent traits but the owl house doesn’t do this it just says luz does thing differently than others and thats ok and these means alot growing up i was made fun of both by other children and adults due to my autism and said there was something wrong with me due to learning differently so getting to see these traits being showed as a good thing means alot more to me than it should i also love how they don’t just let her be the sunshine character who’s never sad because she is she’s been throught alot of trauma due to peers in the human realm and things in the boiling isle(BELOS) and they let her react to these thing normally  and the fact that shes both bi and afro latina mean so much as bi  brown latine its very rare to see representation latinos that aren’t extremelly pale or slightly tan so seeing someone who not only LOOKS like me ACTS like me and even has the same sexuality as me being able to grow learn and find a girlfriend and a community who love her for herself and understand her its extremely healing to see im so used to having people like me and luz getting shoved to the sides or just simply ignored over some white straight neurotypical protagonist so to her be the head of the show means so much in short thank you dana for this series for these character and letting people like me feel seen and heard thank you owl house

[tragediaandcomedia]

Where are my bitches in the Moongirl and Devil Dinosaur fandom?? That shows 20x better than the owl house ever was but the fandoms tiny! More people absolutely need to watch it tbh its so progressive and powerful, with such fun and unique characters and well written relationships, its a visual treat and the soundtrack is incredible and just. Mwah! Chefs kiss best Disney show since Ducktales (2017) ended.

I am not a person of colour nor would i ever claim to be an expert on the issues and hardships faced by people of colour, but i hold personally deeply socialist views having been raised in predominantly "lower class" poor suburban areas a majority of my life while intermingling with the comfortably rich in my education, and as such this show speaks to me and my voice in a way not many others have, by landing expressly on the side of the people and in particular the repressed and minority. Its a show about black voices, queer voices, religious voices, female voices, neurodivergent voices,latin-american voices and pride in community and lifestyles, its a show about the importance of community, and its all in a god damn marvel show. Its so unlike anything to have come out in years, all while being fun, with fantastically choreographed action scenes and incredible visuals, its bright and colourful and yet knows when to pull its punches, slow down and convey the importance of the themes and messages of the episodes.

So many episodes as well speak to issues that i have never faced in my life, and yet the show and its characters are so charming, and so expressive and fun that anyone can come to understand and empathise with the issues it presents. A highlight to me is the episode on black hair, again as someone whiter than the milk in your coffee i have never experienced the struggles and discrimination associated with black hair, and yet. The episode inspired me to learn about it, all the gorgeous ways it can be styled, the different hair types, which has not only been huge for my creative character designs but inspired an even deeper appreciation than before for a form of art i didn't even know existed (and trust me. Hair styling is an art form when done well). The show introduces new [most likely, predominantly white] audiences to these facets of black life and culture that previous childrens media never quite tackled before, while equally remaining relatable and friendly towards the People of Colour who watch these shows two, never talking down to them about black issues but rather treating them as the experts and authorities, its honestly incredible and i just cant go back to watching most other shows with how respectful and mature Moongirl is, its brilliant.

Overall, i know im just one silly little guy, rambling about a show he thinks deserves far more love than its getting, but in a post Owl House disney TV world, i really think Moongirl and Devil Dinosaur deserves equally as much love and attention as that show got, perhaps even more for just having relatively better POC representation (from what i understand hearing from other voices, anyway, if I've gotten that wrong please feel free to correct!)

In conclusion. Go watch Moongirl and Devil Dinosaur or I'll lick your doorknobs /lhj/nsrs/nf/pos

[lightningmonarchda3]

no bc i legit didn't know homosexuality and the lgbtqia+ community existed or it was even possible until i was like 12-13.

the only time i saw a gay couple before that was in a comedy movie me and my family were watching when i 11 and two men kissed. calling each other husbands. it was weird and new for me, however i didn't thought it was wrong.

my homophobic parents never told me about the lgbtq+ community. and now that i know about lgbtq+ AND am part of it, they keep telling me it's not normal, it's against nature's laws, etc bullshit.

i got lucky that the pandemic happened when i was 13 and i got my own phone (my dad's old phone, to be exact) connected to the internet, bc otherwise, if i hadn't started exploring fandoms and pinterest and reading articles and pdf books from z library i would have never found out im a lesbian, that im genderfluid and demi-sexual. if it wasn't for representation in the media, i would still think that im gonna be the cool single aunt who doesn't need boyfriends and is constantly traveling. (keep in mind my homecountry is considered one of the most homophobic and religious countries and keeps banning books, movies, apps, website, and general media)

now what im gonna say is gonna blow your mind. and it shows how important representation and talking about subjects like this is.

when i first came across the term 'transgender', i couldn't find a good explanation or if i did, i couldn't understand it. they were usually written in a complicated manner an di was 12 and english was my second language. my english wasn't so good like it is now back then.

i thought that being trans and transitioning was biological an you're body starts transitioning by itself and grow/remove body parts without surgery and hormone therapy. heck! i didn't even know what the fuck hormone therapy was!

i kept thinking that a trans man's boobs will disappear and get smaller and smaller by time and that he will grow a dick.

i kept thinking that a trans woman will grow boobs and her dick will turn into a pussy.

the fuck was i thinking? idk.

bottom line, representation fucking matters. in the hopes of future childern getting the right education.

Yeah you're right. It WOULD be pretty fucked up if you were a swan but you were raised by ducks and you grew up never seeing another swan or even knowing that such a thing as a swan even existed so you just thought you were a duck with something super wrong with it.