#to exist. anyway all this to say don't take it personally and i tag liberally you can blacklist if you don't like it

[yukipri]

Following from your tags on the Galidraan post, there's actually a canon(-ish) source that states that the Darksabre was chosen by VIZSLA as their symbol of the Mand'alor: Tor Vizsla's in-universe Ba'jurne Kyr'tsad Mando'ad, which is included at the end of the real-world book, The Bounty Hunter Code. Direct quote is: "To ensure we would be led by the most powerful, we decreed that any could challenge the Secret Mand'alor for leadership of Death Watch. And, as our symbol of authority, we chose the Darksaber, an ancient weapon liberated from the Jedi long ago." (Please ignore my editing in the image.)

(The whole text of the Ba'jure Kyr'tsad Mando'ad is on google sites: https://sites.google.com/view/bajurne-kyrtsad-mandoad/title-page)

Yep, I have that book, it's actually a really fun reference, all the books in that series are! <3

But yup, see, this is another part where I see how Legends doesn't quite match up with current canon. The info in this book is Legends, specifically Legends as published in 2013. But in New Canon, given how the Darksaber is treated in Rebels and now in the Mandalorian, I feel like it being solely the symbol of "the Secret Mand'alor" is kinda BS—it's much more treated as the symbol of ALL of Mandalore.

Of course, one could interpret all of this through the lens that Clan Wren is part of House Vizsla so all of Sabine's story is biased (I'm still not happy they made that association...), and Bo-Katan used to serve Pre so of course she's got Vizsla bias, and Din was rescued by Death Watch + Paz is in his covert so presumably his covert also has strong Vizsla/Death Watch bias.

New canon is so incredibly Vizsla/Death-Watch centric, perhaps "Vizsla's Mand'alor" is the only Mand'alor that matters anymore. Which. Ugh. But kinda feels that way.

Anyway, while it isn't based on anything official, I do feel like if the Darksaber existed when Open Seasons was written, there might have been some more history with it there. Because keep in mind, even though they're both Legends, Open Seasons still predates the Code book by over a decade, and much of Legends isn't consistent.

My own take is that IF we go by the premise that the Darksaber is the symbol of the rightful leader of all of Mandalore and NOT just Death Watch, then it should make sense that at different points of time between the Darksaber becoming the symbol and the "present," it would have passed between different clans, especially since modern Death Watch is an extremist terrorist organization that has not been depicted as being the rightful anything tbh.

Therefore to me, the Darksaber is more interesting if it's a neutral symbol planetary leadership, which may have originated from Tarre Vizsla, someone who is not synonymous with Death Watch of the Clone Wars~onwards eras. Vizsla may claim that it's only a symbol of them and their Mand'alor, but again then that makes a distinction between that and a leader who unifies all of Mandalore.

It's more interesting if Jaster and Jango once had the Darksaber and were recognized as leaders, and perhaps that too was part of why Tor Vizsla was so determined to take them down, if he felt they were unfit to wield it. His underhanded tactics in getting rid of them would then mean that he didn't win the saber in fair combat, which means that when Pre presumably inherited it, its current presence in his family isn't rightful in the first place, and perhaps he never knew. That then leads to the question of whether any current claim to the Darksaber is legitimate if the last true wielder was taken down by Vizsla manipulating Jedi from the shadows, never lifting a finger himself. That kind of moral debate of honor, of understanding the messy past of Mandalore...that kind of juicy drama, I am all for.

To be clear, I'm biased, and none of the above is me saying "this is the right way to interpret this media." This is just how I, personally, am choosing to internalize it. I don't like Death Watch and don't think they have been depicted as honorable in ANY media they're in. It does not make any narrative sense, at least to me, to put them on a weird pedestal while stripping Boba, Jango, Jaster, and the other True Mandalorians of all historical and cultural relevance. IF the Darksaber is a symbol solely of Vizsla leadership, then I cannot imagine WHY anyone would want to make it into a cool fun symbol to build a franchise around and give to a hero character. So I'm hoping that canon will eventually lean a bit towards my personal interpretation, even though I have little faith that it will.

If it doesn't, eh, that's alright! I'm more than capable of making my own lil stories and entertaining myself!

Anyway, this response went a bit longer than I expected but yeah, those are my thoughts on the Darksaber and how I've personally chosen to combine Legends + New Canon!

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

[purrincess-chat]

The reason why I sent you that ask was because I’m actually very baffled by the fandom’s response. Ladrien has had been continuously trashed on since day one and people always had some sort of BS to add. And I just keep seeing people say that ladrien is bad because the show doesn’t like it either. Like hello, we forgetting canon? Yes, I agree that the show doesn’t utilize the side ships as much as it should, but saying that the show favoritised every other side instead of ladrien is such a BS take. No, the show didn’t favoritize other sides. Marichat and ladrien were equal. It’s just that fandom will pull things out of their asses to justify why they only ship one side while hating the other side, even though they’re the same two people.

Ladrien has always been over-hated. And funnily enough when Ladrien stans got pissed and pushed back, MC stans tried to claim we were the ones who were being mean and MC was the ship that got hated on for no reason, despite the fact that every ladrien shipper I've ever met likes MC, they just hate the attitude some of the shippers have toward Ladrien bc it doesn't make sense.

Hating any side of the square doesn't make sense because, yeah, they are the same two ass people. The problem this fandom has is that people tend to treat them like they aren't. That's where a lot of the discourse comes in. That's where a lot of the bafflingly wrong takes come in. And it's been like that from the beginning.

As a certified Ladrien shipper that's been in this fandom way too long, I can honestly say that I've seen it all at this point when it comes to this debate, and I say I've seen it all bc the arguments have been the same since the beginning. These Ladrien-hating MC shippers share one brain cell, always have, and they just pass it on to the next generation that will pretend they invented the true selves theory and are the biggest brains in the fandom. It's all bullshit, and I shake my head every time I see it bc how many times do we have to teach them this lesson? 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ I just block people now when they bring that nonsense into the tags.

Each side has a purpose in canon that is working toward the same goal of the two of them being together. Each dynamic shows us different sides of the same coins and that no matter which way you flip them, they still complement each other. They are still made for each other no matter what costumes they have on and no matter what roles they're fulfilling. But logic is never the popular choice, so. 🤷‍♀️ Do what I do. Block idiots and prosper. I have literally never regretted a single block. Not one.

Don't get me wrong, they're still annoying to find every now and then, but I see it like catching a bug and releasing it outside. They're free to continue existing, just not in my house. And I don't have to look at them anymore. Fandom got a lot quieter and more pleasant for me when I got liberal with the block button a few years ago. Most of the stupid takes are sent to me by anons for commentary as of late. I don't personally see too much fuckery these days, but I also don't really go into the main tags. Just the ladrien tag every so often bc I'm a psychopath whose queue is set through NEXT September. 😅

Anyway, yeah, I agree it sucks and is stupid, but as a Ladrien elder, I've just kind of come to terms with it at this point. It's me and the 10 other Ladrien lovers in this fandom steering this ship, and by God we're steering it.

[apatosaurus]

My year in review, with some additional notes not included in the template.

I posted 773 times in 2022

That's 422 more posts than 2021!

433 posts created (56%)

340 posts reblogged (44%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@iheartvelma

@khealywu

@dduane

@geopsych

@brostateexam

I tagged 347 of my posts in 2022

#clueless gardening - 213 posts

#gardening - 206 posts

#harvest report - 127 posts

#garden - 81 posts

#cats - 61 posts

#bee friend - 46 posts

#dinosaurs - 10 posts

#adult lunchables - 5 posts

#sewing - 5 posts

#baltimore - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 96 characters

#the percent of people my age who know the song is probably higher than the population in general

(Additional review note: This was in reference to Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car," which a many-noted post suggested that not everyone knows the song, but people whose parents have lesbian-adjacent music tastes do. I *am* the lesbian-adjacent parent. The lesbian I am adjacent to is my partner.)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Happy fifth night. Stay as warm as you can, friends.

23 notes - Posted December 22, 2022

(Additional review note: I think this got more notes because I actually tagged it, which I don't bother to do a lot of the time.)

#4

Today’s harvest 11/6/22: 11g arugula, 54 cherry tomatoes

23 notes - Posted November 6, 2022

(Additional review note: My harvest report posts got more popular this year. I realize that 20-something notes is not exactly viral, but it's a lot for me. Harvest reports with photos actually in the garden did not get nearly as many notes as the ones with my vegetables arranged neatly on a kitchen towel. I started doing the neat arrangements last year or the year before because it was easier to go back and count things in case I wanted to keep a proper garden journal and take note of what kinds of things were ripe in which part of the season. Anyway, glad people enjoyed.)

#3

Still thinking about using “family” as code for LGBTQ+ folks, and wondering how it added layers of beautiful complexity when there started to be an increase in openly same-gender couples raising kids together.

(As we all know, queer people have always been here, there have always been queer parents, and true marriage equality does not yet exist, especially for people with disabilities- I’m talking about increased cultural recognition, not “we all lived happily ever after.”)

I remember when I was in grad school in the Bay Area at the turn of the 21st century, one of my queer professors was relating a learning experience of meeting young grad students who didn’t themselves personally identify as LGBTQ but knew LGBTQ history and culture because their parents had been openly queer from before they were born. “We’re family,” the students would say. And before you get the pikes sharpened up for gatekeeping, keep in mind that these are young people who grew up with the constant threat of the state tearing their family apart, they had a stake in Queer liberation. The idea that we can pass on our culture and values to the next generation within our households was a world-changing delight to this professor.

Our kids are 12. They are still figuring out who they are. But they know that justice is personal, not only for people they and their parents share identity with, but all of us have a responsibility to work toward collective liberation for everyone. And there are history and culture details we make sure they know. The other day we were out with the kids when Melissa Etheridge’s “Christmas in America” came over the loudspeaker. I stopped and made sure the kids knew who was singing, because every kid with two moms should be able to identify her voice. They know about Stonewall, and about the Bi Manifesto, and why bodily autonomy is a thread that connects several justice movements. I’m not sure they think of those things as being “family” though. I think they think of it as being human.

28 notes - Posted December 13, 2022

(Additional review note: This one seemed to resonate with people I don't know in a way that surprised me. Since most of my notes come from the same dozen or so people, I assume that most readers know our story already. But sometimes they don't.)

#2

Today’s harvest 8/17/22: Two cucumbers, 25 cherry tomatoes (333g), 323g beans

30 notes - Posted August 17, 2022

(Additional review note: This one is tied for first place with the octopus post. I think the grid pattern on the towel made it more appealing to aesthetic bloggers even than the usual harvest reports. My garden is so little. It is a source of personal amazement to me, but I always assume that my tiny harvest is unremarkable to others. It is nice that other people have enjoyed the harvest posts.)

My #1 post of 2022

30 notes - Posted March 9, 2022

(Additional review note: Dinosaur-adjacent news was one of the main purposes of this blog when I started it in 2008. Interesting that none of the top posts are directly about dinosaurs, but this one comes closest. Octopuses are cool, too.)

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[finalshaper]

tumblr for newcomers as someone who took a year hiatus from the abandoned clown factory and spent time in the clown slaughterhouse (tiktok)

hey guys it's your Pal Nova and i've been trapped in this hellhole since 2017 here's my experience to contribute to the funny welcome to tumblr thing people r doing and some of these may be hard pills to swallow but take a big gulp of water and swallow as hard as you can if you're going to be happy on this platform. Also derived from other posts i've read of a similar topic!

Tumblr is a great place, but there is an unspoken etiquette here. As always, be respectful to people. color coded and bolded like a video game text box for reading ease, also includes other information.

Always reblog artist's work. Likes do nothing and is frankly a useless feature that Staff should either do something with or get rid of entirely. Reblogs let an artist know that their art is being spread around, and that more people are seeing it! It's like leaving comments and/or kudos on someone's work on ao3! It encourages artists, writers, editors, etc to make more!

We don't use "moots" or "muties" here. Just call em mutuals or Tumblr Pals like I do. But this one isn't exactly concrete.

Use tag filtering LIBERALLY. You can do this by exploring your settings (which you should do anyways so you're well-acquainted) and finding the section that says "filtered tags," pop a tag in there for something you don't want to see.

On that note, not everyone is going to tag shit. You cannot demand them to tag specific things (i.e certain fandom or very specific things you don't want to see) because it's their blog, their rules. But usually folks are nice and will tag things for you. But they're human, so they may forget. Don't be a jerk about it. Usually standard things (like gore, nsfw, etc) is tagged and should be tagged.

There is like, no filtering algorithm here and what there is of one is very finicky and weird. It's not like Tiktok's where you'd get flagged constantly for posting something entirely innocent. it's much more lax. yes, you can swear on here. no more "frick" or "unalive," we say "fuck" and "die" like the heathens we are here.

Don't reblog things with unnecessary additions. leave those in the tags or comments (if they're on).

Tumblr relies heavily on boundaries, because there's no ability to really private your blog or sideblogs. If someone says they don't want you viewing their blog (i.e their NSFW blog) don't throw a fit about it.

if you see a nsfw post nobody wants their notes full of "what is this😭" or "what😃" or "NAH💀" because it's annoying on Tiktok and it's annoying here too. Get over yourself, people post that all the time here. Just move on like the rest of us. so what if someone posts nsfw, you can do that here. as long as it's tagged and posted in the correct community section it's fine.

"there are minors on this platform"/"THERE'S KIDS HERE"/"you're posting openly on a platform that's made for minors" doesn't fly here and would get you laughed off the platform. tumblr is literally marked as 17+ on the app store. if anything you are a minor in a space that's full of adults. Also ties into respecting boundaries, and the above. throwing fits over people posting NSFW content (as long as it's not immoral ofc) is petty, and frankly, annoying.

Block button exists. If someone's bothering you, just block them. and if you're extra weary of someone just logging out to harass you, turn off anonymous asks. I'd also personally suggest setting messages/DMs to only blogs you follow.

You can post a carrd, but you don't have to. I have one, but I don't expect people to read it or force them to.

You are responsible for cultivating your experience here on tumblr.

Customise your blog and have fun with it! You can find themes on blogs like theme--hunter or just google! Explore your settings and the like. If you wanna take the challenge, you can screw with HTML yourself and make yourself an Awesome Theme.

Block corporate accounts and do not engage with them, even if you think it's funny. they're the death of our platform.

Familiarise yourself with some of the Bad Users on this platform and what they've done, not to get involved with drama but so you know who to block. if you're going to get cancelled on tumblr you'd have to be a super fucking bad person.

If you're on PC, download the Xkit extension (it gives you fun dashboard tools) and shinigami eyes (flags bad blogs i.e terfs as red, and good blogs i.e anti-terfs as green). It will save you some hassle, trust me.

tumblr is a great platform full of very respectful people. It's rare to find alt-right bigots n shit unless you somehow end up on the wrong side of the platform, but usually people are good.

Don't waste your time on petty drama.

tumblr has a long and rich history. you will learn it in time, young one

anyways this is a long ass post but this covers all my personal bases, if anyone wants to make any additions feel free.

[freakwiththeknifecollection]

I wanna say, I know sometimes my Chestervelle posts/memes are kinda pointed and bitter (and that is just coming from a place of frustration from being on this site and blogging about them for so long) but my goal with those posts isn't directed at anyone in particular or to hate against other ships involving Dean and Jo. I just want to create content that's validating to other Chestervelle shippers, because even though we keep in our circle and don't start things, sometimes people go out of their way to come into our spaces to belittle and invalidate our ship.

I'm not making memes and posts as a huge middle finger to people who don't ship it. I make memes and posts for other Chestervelle shippers to say that you are valid. You're not wrong and you have just as much right to take up space in this fandom as anyone else.

[kirobsi]

Addendum to Searching for Stars in the Void

If you haven't, you should read this for context. And just for good measure, small content warning for: mentions of fat in a positive manner

Anyway, I still am not great at making new friends who also like making comfy, asexual fat art. But hey - something's clearly different! That's not the kind of thing I'd have considered saying just a short week ago, but here I am admitting that I create art based at least partially upon the specific inclusion of overweight people.

I'd like to ignore the elephant in the room. I mentioned last post that I highly dislike my past self, and I'd rather not address the obvious connection that could be made here. That said, yes, I like fat! I'm almost a little proud of it, honestly. It's been a long road, about a year now of proper attempts at self-acceptance for this, and I've gotten to the point where I've decided to just be open about it. I've spoken about it pretty freely in streams for a few days now. It's quite liberating actually.

Does this mean I'll go posting a link to my "alternate internet presence" on my main accounts? No. But I'll probably link here from that, since... you know, the concern doesn't really apply the other way when I'm no longer worried about people knowing about this at all. Does this mean that on my main accounts I'll publicly post the writings I do on this subject? Probably not! Although I guess if at some point enough people were to ask about it, I'd probably do so. As mentioned last time, it's something I've refrained from not for my own sake, but for the perceived lack of acceptance and potential ostracization I'd receive from others. (Which, by the way, simply hasn't manifested. [Yet?] I actually just never would have guessed this outcome.)

Of course, this isn't going to be a long post, it's just a small update to be "officially" open about the subject. But yeah, I occasionally write cute, comfy fluff about fat people cuddling and stuff. It is, however, not porn! As I've alluded to before, I am quite against sexualization and sexual things in general. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that the vast majority would perceive and/or enjoy it for that exact reason, which... is kinda gross to me. Being told about it is gross, anyway - if I don't know about it and it doesn't affect me, I don't really care what people take from my work.

I'm still a little worried that saying this publicly is a bad idea? In some manner? I certainly feel weird for it. I don't feel like an absolute disgrace for wanting to get fat someday, sure, but I still feel like an "other." I dunno - my main hope is that this fact can kinda just exist, and it doesn't matter to those who it holds no relevance to. The work on my Youtube channel will stay the same even if I can talk about this kind of thing, and I won't shoehorn it in. I doubt it'll ever have a natural place in a video I'll work on, at least not in the foreseeable future. But it's nice to be able to say it! It's nice to be able to say I like fat. That I love fat. (not too much of it though... past like 150kg/330lbs - which is a pretty generous estimate - it starts to get kinda grotesque and extreme.) I'm free to express how it is, for whatever reason, an important part of who I am and the art I create. It's pretty great!

Not gonna bother to proofread this or anything. It's not a 'real' post, so to speak. I'll still tweet it out though! Out of obligation, kind of, but it'll be tweeted nonetheless. (And no tags, due to the personal and odd contents. Sorry if this was a bit uncomfortable! But... sadly that discomfort will just crop up every so often if you follow me all that closely.)

Thanks for reading!

~Kiri

[colorisbyshe]

Hi- I've been following you for a bit and have seen you comment on posts that try to include asexuals as part of the community, but I'm not 100% clear on why you feel that they shouldn't be (just that you do). Would you be willing to share your thoughts or direct me to something that maybe you've shared in the past? I'm bi but I'm not super active in the community and I don't know of others that share your viewpoint. Just trying to educate myself. Thanks in advance!

I just got an ask congratulating me on being out of ace discourse but fine I’ll give you the short and long of it.

The LGBT community is a community that exists to address the issues facing Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals (and any other MGA person who falls under the bisexual label, even if they do not use the bisexual label themselves), and Trans people (and any other person who does not identify with their agab, even if they do not use the label trans themselves).

The issues facing Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexual, and Trans people stem from homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia. As systems of oppression, these all come from the same institutions and modes of thought--that is to say, there is significant overlap in how we experience oppression, even between a cis lesbian and a straight trans man.

Part of this is because historically (and even currently), gayness and transness were thought to be the same thing and were referred to as “sexual inversion.” For example, a gay man is acting as a woman would because loving men is something only woman do. Therefore, he’s assumed to “want to be” a woman, ie he’s like a trans woman. Even more recently, we had the pseudo science saying “gay people have the brains of the opposite gender.” A woman who loves women has the brain of a man because loving women is a Man Thing.

Ergo, homophobia and transphobia have assumed the same forms. Sodomy laws affect gay, bi, and trans people alike. Marriage equality is a gay and trans issue because in a world where straight trans people are misgendered, legally they cannot marry their SO because they are treated as a same gender couple. A trans man only into women is seen as a lesbian by transphobes. Likewise, laws dictating how much clothes you had to wear of your gender/not of the “wrong” gender targeted gay and trans people alike.

Throughout history, Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, and Trans people have faced the same hardships, created the same culture together, and have the same legal woes. Between our groups, we share the AIDS Crisis, Stonewall, Lawrence v Texas, etc etc.. There’s a reason why Stonewall wasn’t just cis gay men and cis lesbians--it was a diverse space full of the L G B and T, all there taking refuge in the same spaces and fighting against the same oppression.

We are allied together by our fight against our mutual oppressors--cisgender straight people and cisgender aroace people.

Cisgender people all benefit from transphobia. Straight and aroace people all benefit from lesbophobia, homophobia, and biphobia.

Ergo, cisgender straight/aroace people do not belong in LGBT spaces.

They have no role in our culture, history, or activism outside of being the oppressors who inspire it. Cishets have been trying to glom onto LGBT culture for validation, resources, and to feel cool for decades now--starting with kinksters, going onwards with allies (especially allies who obfuscate their cis/hetness to continue this), and now here with the first publicly successful batch--aces.

I don’t have to bow to that. I don’t have to bow to their harassment campaigns. I don’t have to bow to a community first started on an article complaining about how jealous they are of LGBT pride while bragging about how better they are for not wanting sex. I don’t have to bow to a community whose most popular meeting space is AVEN, created by a man who proposed the acronym be changed to “LGBTTQQPFAGIBDSM” (Spot the slur!), said the a is for ally but allies are “queer anyways,” and then shat out a bunch of homophobia over the years.

A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose and a cishet is a cishet. And a cishet by any other name would smell as oppressive. Heteroromantic. Demi-grey hetrom. Hetero ace. Ace who is attracted to the opposite gender and only the opposite gender but somehow they’re not straight. Whatever.

Cishet is cishet.

And a cishet is not L G B or T. We share no culture, no activism, no strife, no love, no anything. And while they may hack away at liberal groups that never really did much for anyone anyways and win out on “inclusion” which means some groups will mention aces are welcome but never really do anything ace specific because aces don’t really need specific resources beyond just feeling included... I don’t have to subscribe to that bootlicking mindset. I’d much rather invite a thousand wellmeaning allies into LGBT spaces because at least they’re there to help us instead of demand we help them.

Fuck it. I have no respect for the ace community, in all 20+ years of them existing as a coherent (well, sort of) community, they have done exactly zero activism besides being a PR machine for their relationship to sex. No activism for rape victims. No lobbying for anything. All they do is tell teenagers is that tis’ okay to have sex with people they aren’t attracted to, which is just reiterated rape culture.

They are the inverse of the sex positivity movement--telling people unhealthy sexual behaviour is fine and is a new identity without ever really dismantling rape culture besides playing lipservice to “rape is bad.” Which isn’t even an LGBT issue--it’s a feminist one. It’s misogyny.

They have nothing to offer the LGBT community. And I wouldn’t want it even if they had something. Because the only ones not included in the LGBT community by virtue of their actually LGBT identities are just my oppressors (cishets and cis aroaces) and oppressors demanding access to resources and spaces created by those they oppress are just furthering their oppression. We tell cishet women to fuck off all the time and cishet women actually are oppressed by gender things you could arguably connect to homophobia and transphobia! There’s no way in fucking hell I’m gonna bend over backwards for other cishets who aren’t even oppressed by just feel a bit lonely because their relationship to sex/dating isn’t what they see in movies (hint: no relationship to sex/dating is accurately portrayed in the media).

I’m over it. I’m done. Cishets fuck off forever.

Let this be my last longform ace discourse post. My ace discourse tag is full of thoughts and regurgitation but let this be the summation of it all.