#where she grew up in this very conservative environment

[goldenstorm0]

shout out to that one time my mom was struggling to not accidentally misgender a student.

The kid presented very non binary and had a unisex name. This was right after election and understandably a lot of kids were stressed, so if someone just couldn't handle the day they were told to chill in a different classroom for as long as they needed (all special ed, idk what gen ed was like but this isn't uncommon for them, just higher volume than usual). So she had this kid, and my morman ass mom who does her damndest to be an ally, first tried to guess their pronouns by asking the kid's name. And when that didn't work, looked them up in the system but then realized that wouldn't be accurate. So she tried asking around the different teacher aids but no one had worked with this particular kid before.

So by the end of the day, she admitted defeat and finally just. asked. but she was so tired and not thinking straight. So finally she said:

"so sorry to ask, I don't want to come across rude, but are your pronouns she/him or he/her?"

All of the queer people I've told this to think its the cutest thing ever, my poor mother is mortified by it, and I promise to never let her forget

[sandinmybed]

can i be fr for a minute?? sending abuse to people online for holding different views than you is not activism and in fact actively hurts your cause. most people are not extreme in their viewpoints, you can give them a new perspective if you're willing to spend some time explaining shit. if someone is saying something you disagree with and you rush in there to condescend to them and call them disgusting and subhuman and dont even TRY to explain calmly why their views are harmful, they're going to shut you out instantly and double down on their views.

most people are simply genuinely ignorant to the issues they're talking about - they just pick their views up from the news and the world around them and express opinions because that's what every person does. if you run in there and tell them they're scum for it, what then? if someone does that to you, are you going to think "maybe i should do some research" or are you going to think "this person is an asshole, im blocking them." a lot of you think you're activists and then refuse to do any kind of actual WORK to support your cause.

[disco-troy]

I don't feel like people have a nuanced enough view of Kory what she thinks about killing. She's not blindly wanting to murder criminals, nor is she delighted by the actions of murder. She sees murder as a necessity because of her upbringing in the middle of an existential war, and also as a way to regain autonomy on her life. Autonomy is a key theme in many of the people Kory chooses to kill.

The idea of autonomy over the body and her life is extremely important to Kory. This makes sense, Kory spends six years in slavery, her life not her own, and grew up knowing her planet could lose its own autonomy and freedom at any time.

When she was a slave, the few times that she was able to control her life in those times. Her first kill was her kill of what would become her last master, starting the chain of domino that would result in her freedom.

Note her words: "His very touch sickened me". It wasn't just about her imprisonment or her anger, but about her body, her autonomy. She couldn't handle being touched like that anymore, and killed knowing that it would solve nothing, knowing that it would lead to more punishment for her later down the line.

Her next kill allowed her to escape, securing her freedom and her own autonomy.

To escape she must pretend Kory has completely given in to her captors. That she is fine, even happy with the Gordonian touching her. But by doing this she is bringing him close, giving him the illusion of control over herself to secure her own freedom.

She is pretending to be a slave, while affirming to herself that she is still a soldier.

In this way we can see a dichotomy that has ruled Kory's life until now. On one side, you have succumbing to subjugation, which involved a loss of bodily autonomy. On the other side you had her claiming her freedom and her autonomy which comes with the need to kill or be destroyed.

In addition to this, you need to think of the context of Kory's upbringing. Of course Kory is used to killing her enemies. She grew up in a climate of fear in which there was a real possibility of total annihilation. Millions of her people died in the war that eventually lead her to being sold as a slave.

She grew up during a society that could have been destroyed in war, where everyday killing was not a questions but an existential threat. Killing and war was literally the only way for her people to conserve their autonomy.

This disconnect between Dick/Donna and Kory is not because Kory is an alien, but because the Titans are living in a world where they are superheroes and Kory is living in a world where she is a solider. Would a Kory that didn't kill even been able to come out alive from war? From her enslavement? To her its about her autonomy and her independence, she doesn't have the luxury of morals, of thought, of choice.

Later we see Kory not change, but shift. She realizes that killing will never be easier for her again.

This makes sense! her interpretation of killing has changed a lot because she's been exposed to a new environment. On earth she is not facing a literal war, she has real power, she has backup, she doesn't have to fight every second for her freedom and autonomy.

I think this is demonstrated in an incredibly narrative compelling way in Titans (1999) when Kory kills to give another character autonomy over her own body; Adaline Kane. Adaline is about to die, but her blood can still be harvested for Vandal Savage's experiments. She begs for death, instead of living that fate.

Kory gives it to her.

(much like Slade gave Joey in Titans Hunt but this post only has the space for one parallel right now)

When it comes to protecting the greater good, and especially when it comes to bodily autonomy Kory is not only willing to kill, but sees it as her duty.

She's never stopped being a soldier, she's never stopped being the Tamaranian who was forced to kill and see her people die to preserve her home, but more than that, she never stopped being the little girl for whom killing was her only way of reclaiming her autonomy.

[firewasabeast]

I’m gonna try to keep this short (oops I didn’t) and not focus solely on the fictional side of things, but it’s painfully obvious some of you have never had to deal with people who make you feel unsafe with being yourself. and, I mean, good for you! but that’s not everyone’s reality. I grew up in a very religious environment with so many “gerrard’s” (but, like, Christian versions which are worse) and there is no way I, to this day, would feel comfortable being myself around those people. I saw a post saying that tommy could have had what the 118 has now if he would’ve been a better person and that’s just… not true? Not while gerrard was in charge. And it’s clear that he was a better person by the time bobby came around. He joined in on those family dinners and was close to hen and chimney at that point but it just wasn’t where he was meant to be. Whether that’s because he wanted to be a pilot or because that place held too many bad memories, it’s clear he didn’t feel like he was meant to stick around there.

I know those posts mainly come from people who only want buck and eddie together and hate on anyone else, but it saddens me that some people don’t believe that you can change. I was a crappy person when I was younger. So judgmental, stuck to the Bible word for word, and hated so many people. I was old when I realized I myself was bisexual. I was old when I started doing my own research, making sure to clear the history on my computer because- even as an adult- I didn’t trust that my privacy wouldn’t be violated and my truth be found out. There were many times things were said around me where I should have spoke up, but I didn’t because sometimes you cannot safely do so and that is just reality!

I, to this day, am working through religious trauma and guilt and self hatred. There are still people in my family that I don’t feel safe around (distant relatives, thankfully), there are secrets I will hold with me until my mother has passed away (I love her, but she’s conservative so make of that what you will).

Anyway, I definitely did not keep this short, but I’m just trying to say I think Tommy’s storyline is very important for more than him being Buck’s first boyfriend. I was who Tommy was, I am who Tommy is, and I hope I’d get the forgiveness that chimney and hen showed to him instead of whatever it is I have seen on my dash today.

[justanotherhh]

something i haven't seen much of so far is analysis of charlie's journey from the perspective of someone who also needs to change how she engages with others (vaggie too, but that feels more obvious as she's an ex-angel/exorcist and a sinner)

when charlie tries to help angel by confronting valentino it's been built to in the other episodes, because it's made very clear that she doesn't respect sex work -- she's got that "we need to save them from themselves" type attitude you see a lot with people who haven't done critical analysis into their own biases from a position of mildly-to-severe privileged disgust and haven't engaged with the perspectives of sex workers as people who can frame and understand their own experiences (whatever work they engage in and why they do sex work to begin with). same for her opinions on addiction

the scene where angel has to do a reenactment with sir pentious frames addiction as

something to be judged

something pitiable

something predatory

which isn't exactly a great way to bring angel onboard with the programme/make him feel less like shit. meanwhile the anti-sex + weirdly heteronormative attitude is also present in that scene by having sir pentious dress up as a virginal young girl in an anime-type school uniform with a big lollipop (the irony of this being practically indistinguishable from a porn setup feels very intentional), who declares that "she" won't be having sex before marriage as the great crescendo (sidenote, monogamy in the afterlife sounds.... like a long time to be monogamous......... yzma voice: "why do we even have marriage??")

angel, up until his duet with husk, is having it made clear again and again that the people seemingly helping him find the essence of his being inherently gross. he likes sex -- yeah there's the performance/face he has to wear to get through the day, but i think the bdsm club was a sincere suggestion and vaggie literally calls it disgusting/shoots it down without thinking about how to do so respectfully (again, she's an ex-angel/exorcist, she has biases of her own to contend with, but also the implications that nobody in heaven is having fun sex or negotiated kink and bdsm... tragic. do they even have a sex club called consent up there?)

charlie is a fairly conservative person at the beginning of the story. yes, she wants to help, but her framing of what "help" looks like doesn't take into account her own biases; presumably she grew up with the idea that "sinners are bad people" as much as anyone else did, if not more considering lucifer gave up on the sinners and that's been her environment from birth -- cut off from the people she's supposedly in charge of, but "hearing stories." (in both the pilot and happy day in hell she clearly has a fondness for the sinners, but it's as an outsider, someone who does not relate to them, and generally there's that overtone of "royalty doesn't know shit about what anyone is going through" which, charlie being a ruler, i wonder if that will be a focal point or just something to accept, it's not a dealbreaker for me, just something i noticed, esp as helluva boss has poked on power dynamics in hell along those same lines). the yearly murdering of demons is, likewise, something that is simply status quo and so even getting to a place of "hey maybe we shouldn't do that" is big and was inevitably going to create more cracks in the logic of black-and-white heaven-or-hell, so it's cool that that's where we the audience get to first meet her -- right as those threads are about to start unravelling

but at the very beginning, in some ways she echoes elements of characters like adam and lute (who are of course far more in-your-face, being villains) in her original assessment of what makes someone "a bad person" -- it causes her to create a system that doesn't actually work, and then of course the hotel is destroyed, but next time they'll build it to be better! (metaphor *jazz hands*)

why is angel in hell, is the question later asked. is it because he was/is an addict? because he drinks? because he does sex work? because he likes sex? (it may be because he's killed people/was in the mafia, but we don't have all the context yet, for now those are the things people know in the story itself) at the beginning charlie isn't asking the right questions, questions that would need her to go into herself and challenge her own biases, but throughout season 1 she goes from merely proclaiming that "everyone" can be saved, to sincerely challenging the idea of "needing to be saved" from things that shouldn't be judged in the first place. "if angels can do whatever and remain in the sky." yeah, how are we stipulating what's allowed and what isn't hmmmmmm? stay tuned for s2

(and youknow, apologises to angel for overstepping his boundaries, so it's not like angel doesn't know that she does care for him, ep4 gives a lot of development for their relationship as well -- it's the tipping point for a lot of what comes next)

interested to see how that challenging will continue in s2. she's gone from "we have to make you into a good person by cutting out things that make me (and others) uncomfortable from a conservative/purity-based judgemental framework" to "why do we have these systems of judgement in the first place?"

tl;dr angel changed a looot in s1 but so did charlie. she understands better now that the work she's doing is going to look very different from what she'd first anticipated, and poking at her own biases in relation to angel helped that journey and brought her closer to actually understanding and relating to the people around her

(there's another element here about charlie and vaggie as queer women in this particular universe, but it's a slight tangent so... different post)

[jigsawwrangler]

I've considered making a more in-depth post or a few here and there, but for now I'd like to jot down that I've had Thoughts on it being kinda interesting to look at things like queer HCs and gender themes with regards to the Baker siblings through the lens of the fact that: • They're a couple of millennials in the same age group that a lot of current-day RE fans on the fandom side of things are, and so, 'ey, extra easy for a lot of people, with a lot of those people being LGBTQIA+, to relate to, although that's an obvious point. • They grew up in a fairly conservative family who loved them and raised them as best they knew how as flawed people with their own dysfunctions, but never really "got" at least one of them, who was clearly chafing and growing bitter in an environment where people weren't prepared to work with the ways he was noticeably "different". • They both wind up officially turning away from the family and preparing to break free and go their own ways when it becomes not only literally toxic, but warped into a pitch-dark morbid parody of old-fashioned nuclear family dynamics and driven not only to act them out, violently exaggerated versions of behaviors they'd already exhibited within those dynamics and all, but to force others into conforming to them/being part of their performance, all according to the vision of a literal child who has been given no model of healthy or actually realistic expectations of what families are or should be like - just a simplified programmed dollhouse "ideal" that she's supposed to want. • One of them is clearly understandably bitter and sad about it and will always miss her family and her relationship with them as she remembers them, but has accepted that it would be actively dangerous and/or ultimately compromise her ability to be who she really is if she stayed (Zoe's notes in the trailer mentioning that she feels like she's getting closer to winding up like Jack and Marguerite), and is trying to lie low and keep a look out for potential opportunities to get help leaving home safely.

• The other one, who's been on the receiving end of toxic masculinity-influenced behavior that's already been going down an internalization chain (I love Joe but as has been discussed in others' recent posts, the fact that he did bully, including physically bully, Jack when they were kids is very easy to interpret as having contributed to Jack's issues and behavior as a family man later in life, and I know I certainly interpret it as having done so), has taken to "playing the part" he's expected to while he waits for his own big opportunity to run away - and non-critically eating up and loving the room and opportunities he has to feel like he's dominating others and bending others to his rules for a change as he does so, in what could arguably be taken as a way to "turn around" his otherness or "cut through" any weight anyone might think it has as something to use against him with a sawblade to the face by playing into his own standards/validations of superiority and power. Meanwhile, he's out cheerfully spouting lines that very much sound like him ironically/flippantly parroting things he was probably told by the father he never liked or respected ("You've got to earn your way, Ethan!" "It's how you deal with hardships in life that makes you a man, Ethan!" - this isn't one of those lines, obviously, but there's also that "PROVE YOU'RE A REAL MAN" note re: Get The Key From The Deputy's Body) to the people he's specifically trying to dominate; and he will throw his sister's efforts to break free of the dynamic they're locked in under the bus if he thinks it even might compromise the feeling of effective untouchability he's gotten directly from it even as he is still trying to break free and be his own person himself in a "trying to have his cake and eat it, too" deal.

[vicciouxs]

⠀⠀⠀⠀Hannah Doyle, 24. she / her now listening to she's a monster by exhibit decay...

⠀⠀⠀Hannah is the middle daughter of 7 siblings and they lived, with her parents, on a farm located in a small town. Her parents were extremely religious, as was the town, so Hannah grew up in a conservative, closed environment, where she didn't feel accepted. In the same way that being the middle child she felt that no one paid attention to her, she felt like a shadow or sometimes even like a ghost that you only notice when she does something wrong. In conclusion, her childhood was mostly solitary, which led to a personality that was somewhat closed and complex to access, because in the town she didn't have many friends, except for a neighbor who spoke with her out of her parents' obligation, but she didn't consider her either a friend. However, when Hannah was around 8 years old, her parents hired a maid from the church who would later become quite close with Hannah.

⠀⠀⠀Throughout her growing up Hannah showed a certain fascination with food, she loved to eat and was always hungry; but soon that hunger would turn into something more, something more twisted and deeper that she couldn't explain. Food was beginning to seem boring to her, she loved it, but it was boring, it satisfied her physically, not emotionally, and that frustrated her. How could something she loved so much make her feel so empty? Her response to that was to eat more, in the vain hope that if she was full she wouldn't feel empty. For religious reasons, her family used to practice fasting and they were very strict with food, so she had no choice but to beg the maid, Lola, for something to eat, she didn't care what it was, she just needed something else. But when her parents sent Lola away, Hannah began to feel more and more anxious, sometimes even acting aggressively toward her parents or siblings because something inside her desperately needed to eat and she couldn't control it.

⠀⠀⠀During one of the meals, one of her older sisters, Elisa, gave Hannah her food when she saw that she had even begun to trim her nails; and that's what they did day after day, during every meal, until their parents noticed. From that moment Hannah barely remembers anything, everything is blurry in her mind, she only remembers the sound of the plate crashing against the wall and her mother's screams just inches from her face. They were ashamed of her, she was clear about it and that's why they took her out of the house, so that she could reflect on her behavior; but she did everything but that.

⠀⠀⠀She wandered around the farm like a lost soul, listening to her stomach growl and her head spin, she had to eat, she needed to eat and suddenly a heavy breathing caught her attention. It came from her neighbors' farm and as if that breath was calling her, Hannah sneaked into the plot through a hole in the fence. She walked for a few minutes until she ran into a small rabbit, that was on its deathbed, perhaps because it had tried to escape and had been injured in the process, not knowing that this would cause its death. Hannah knew very well that when an animal was injured it was best to sacrifice it, so she crouched down next to it, ready to do the same thing she had seen Lola do with the chickens many times, but this time it was different. She barely remembered what happened, everything became dark when she began to feel the hot blood descending down her throat and how the small animal was losing heat between her hands. What came next were the horrified screams of her neighbors and the widening eyes of her parents; but none of that mattered to her, the important thing was that she no longer felt hungry, she was satisfied.

⠀⠀⠀Her parents didn't know what to do with her, they tried to take her to priests, use penance, punish her, they even tried to perform an exorcism on her, but nothing worked, Hannah didn't seem to regret her actions. So his last option was to put her in a convent, where her life would change forever. There she ate once a day and if she dared to escape to look for something else they punished her with lashes and even more fasting, on one occasion they even locked her up which caused her to completely embrace madness.

⠀⠀⠀She was isolated, she didn't talk to anyone, no one talked to her, the only thing that accompanied her were the voices in her head and the roar of her stomach that made more and more noise with each day that passed without eating. But as if something had heard her hunger, a young novice, who took pity on her, tried to help her, a big mistake. Her name was Sophia and she would always remember the fear she saw in her beautiful blue eyes. The young woman opened the door to give her something to eat and when she did, Hannah, who was bigger and stronger, pounced on her. She began to devour her by the throat, so that she wouldn't scream and what happened next is in black, she doesn't even remember what she did with the blood or the body, but once the door was open, Hannah escaped from there and again she felt satiated, she was no longer hungry.

⠀⠀⠀She left a note behind her, she and Sophia were lovers who had escaped together and so no one would deign to look for them beyond that horrible convent.

[nevis-the-skeleton]

So in “The Polar Star”, what would’ve happened if Arcee and Bee saw the files instead of Smokescreen?

I was reading and randomly had this thought

It’s indeed a good question, I apologize in advance if my answer is a little messy, sometimes it’s not easy to completely reimagine a scenario XD. It's true that Smokescreen really wasn't the best bot to find out the truth about Starscream, especially because of his more than inappropriate words about Cold Constructions.

Additionally, Starscream and Smokescreen are both very impulsive, which creates a torrent of chaos. We also saw what could have happened with Ratchet, and the result was not better, if not worse, due to his status as a doctor (here). But with Arcee, and especially Bumblebee, there is a possibility that the outcome could be much less dramatic.

*

First of all let's talk about Arcee, we must already put their current situation in context: the two are in a fairly cordial understanding, although they both made mistakes at the beginning, when Starscream had just joined the team, they managed to put their differences aside to work better together.

And, Arcee also has a huge advantage on her side: she's a Caminus. So this may seem like a super strange reason, but you should know that in my AU the Cold Constructions were only persecuted on Cybertron, and not on the other colonies, in particular Veloctitron and Caminus.

Caminus was the only planet to oppose the Caste System, and the Mistress of Flame also showed great disapproval of the treatment of Slaves and Cold Constructions. So the fact that Arcee grew up in an environment such as Caminus may make it easier for her to gain Starscream's trust, unlike Smokescreen.

But Arcee will still have to be careful. She'll be facing a terrified and cornered Starscream, and it's truly the worst thing that could happen with him. Both are impulsive, so if Starscream tries to fight, she won't hesitate to fight back. It will really be up to Arcee to defuse the situation, by starting a conversation directly.

I already think that, unlike Smokescreen, she won't hide what she discovered from Starscream. She will show him what she found, ask him if it is true, waiting for his reaction. Of course, the Seeker's reaction will be bad, and Arcee will have to be very quick so that it doesn't get out of hand. But it's definitely possible.

This will also be an opportunity for her to talk about the Autobots' real goal, which was never to reestablish the Caste System, as Starscream thought all along. Indeed, the Seeker must surely have wondered for a long time why a Caminus had joined the Autobot camp, when her people were against the Cybertron system.

In this alternative of my story, it would therefore not be Ultra Magnus, but Arcee who would tell Starscream about the existence of the Sentinels.

*

Now let's talk about Bumblebee, he is at a much greater disadvantage than Arcee, due to his age (which is the same as Smokescreen) and the fact that he is a Cybertronian who was raised by the Autobots. That really doesn't work in his favor.

But, Bumblebee was raised primarily by Optimus, Ironhide, and Ratchet, and the three never wanted Bumblebee to fully know Sentinel Prime, knowing full well that he really wasn't a good influence, and that his speeches were the more often inappropriate and disrespectful.

So, Bumblebee grew up in an environment where he was taught that every life was important, and that no one was worth more than the other, while Smokescreen was with a conservative and strict Creator, who viewed Cold Constructions as defective waste and Slaves as disposable robots. So, it is indeed not the best setting to have a fair point of view.

Bumblebee also has the advantage of being eloquent, despite the lack of his voice, and his empathy can greatly help him defuse the situation with Starscream. In Part 2 (spoiler alert if you haven't read it yet), when Starscream has a panic attack, it's Bumblebee who goes to see him and speaks with him. He's also the one Starscream confides in about what happened with Smokescreen, no one else (end of spoil). And it’s quite simply because despite his young age, Bumblebee knows how to listen, he manages to put himself in the other person’s place.

So, if he discovers the truth, it will be natural for the young Autobot to start a discussion with Starscream. He will know how to find the right words (or rather beeps) to calm the Seeker and put him at ease. And if Starscream asks him not to tell anyone, Bumblebee will promise not to (and promising is something very important among Transformers).

*

So, as we saw, it was really bad luck that it was Smokescreen who discovered the truth about Starscream. Arcee would have had the advantage of her origin, and the fact that she and Starscream have been getting along better for a while, while Bumblebee will have his empathy to help him.

Although, honestly, the best scenario is when Bumblebee finds out the truth, because unlike Arcee he is not impulsive, so there would be no risk of fighting, unlike with Arcee.

[nonebinaryleftgender]

Hey there! This here is my introduction post! so everyone can know me before following. Minors please don't interact! Let me know if I'm following you and you are a minor so I can unfollow!

My basic infos:

Name: Kaz

Age: 29yo

Location: Brazil

Languages: PT-BR and EN

Pronouns: Avoid pronouns, use my name instead

Gender: Trans masculine non binary

Orientation: Demisexual and demiromantic (though I often say I am basically aroace with very few exceptions), very sex favorable

Relationship: Ambiamorous, in a monoamorous relationship since May 2021

Main interests:

Biology (mainly zoology, ecology, and conservation)

Gaming

Game Dev

Animal keeping/husbandry (pet pics and stories under read more with light tw of animal death and rescue situations)

My stances:

Anticapitalist - I believe in a fully money-less society, moved by empathy and/or compassion, where we take care of each other, because everyone is deserving of a good life no matter what

Anti-bigotry - including, not not limited to: racism, xenophobia, sexism, misogyny, queerphobia, transphobia, transmisogyny, exorsexism, homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia, panphobia, acephobia, arophobia, amatonormativity, classism, elitism, ableism, religious discrimination, antisemitism, supremacism, nazism

Free Palestine - I am against all kinds of genocide, and I believe in punching back against oppression

Anti Generative AI - It's theft and harms the environment

For now that's all I can write, maybe later I'll add more stuff here!

Open the read more for pet photos!

Ciri, my calico cat who I rescued from a car's engine in Sep 2020, quickly bonded to me. She is a literal baby and nurses on her own tail (second photo). She literally saved my life and is the reason I work so hard! I want to give her the best life possible!

Buda (DMH color point) and Biscui (DSH void), brothers of the same litter, bonded with each other. Their status as "my" cats is debatable as I don't think my mom will allow me to take them with me when I do move out, but they live in my heart nonetheless

Niko, a love bug who loved belly pets and showering with the humans. He lived from Fev 2021 until Dec 2021. His life was so short because the rescue didn't inform us of his FeLV+ status, so we only found this out when he had too many complications from it.

Pixel, my corn snake, adopted out to me because he had some bone deformities as a hatchling and would be culled, but ended up growing healthy and strong!

Anansi, my mystery species tarantula, adopted out to me because the previous owner got bored of her and was going to release her outside if no one wanted her. I had her for almost 5 years. In Oct 2024 she passed away from old age and her body was donated to my university to be preserved and used in education.

Noir (black and white), Blanc (beige and white), and Wolfy (all beige). Noir and Blanc were brothers who were "feeder bin rescues", as there was no pet rat breeders in my city, but they were given to me for free after the breeder learned they would be pets. Noir was a love bug who followed me around the room and learned several tricks, Blanc was more chill and chose to hide among my shoes or clothes to nibble on everything. Wolfy came some months later when a pet rat breeder accepted sending him from a couple of towns away. He made it his life mission to be impossible to photograph without being held at gunpoint 😅 They all passed away in different months of 2020.

Toddy (boxer) and Kira (viszla mix), my parents dogs. Kira came from a very bad situation, so she and all her siblings were rescued at only 1.5 week old by a family friend. Toddy was rescued at 3 weeks old as he was byb and his mom had health issues that lead to her being unable to nurse and then passing away less than a month after birthing.

Baby is the only pet from my childhood that I was able to find photos as of now. She was gifted to me on my 4th birthday and grew up with me until she passed of old age in Dec 2016.

[polarbearcub-seven]

Here are my religion headcanons involving the pokemon bw characters!! Note: I do not know everything about all these religions so if I get something wrong, please let me know!!

I headcanon Iris to be spiritual but she isn't a fan of organized religion. Her bio mother is Muslim and her bio father is christian. She went to mousqe services a couple times but she never enjoyed it. She just doesn't like being told what to believe. I also headcanon that she DESPISES evangelicals.

Cilan to me is a prodestant christian. He was raised to be conservative but he still accepting of other beliefs and ideas even if they aren't what he believes. He still takes his religion very seriously though as he reads and recites bible verses every now and then. However, Cilan never talks about his religion with other people with the exception of family since he doesn't want to leave the impression that what he believes is superior to what others believe.

I like to think that Trip grew up Catholic however unlike Cilan, he wasn't taught to be as accepting of minorities which is why he was so arrogant to others. When Trip became a teenager, he finally decided to stop going to church and break free since he didn't like what he was being taught there. Now that he left that environment, he is friendlier and more accepting of others. I headcanon that Georgia helped him break free.

Bianca and her father are members of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints (they are Mormons). I headcanon this since Bianca wears long skirts and speaks in a high pitched voice. (I'm not trying to stereotype anybody who practices this branch of Christianity, I'm just sharing why I headcanon this.) While her and her father are conservative, they are accepting of and very friendly to everyone including minorities. Bianca as well as her father take their religion seriously but not to the point where it's their whole personality. Like Cilan, Bianca and her father never talk about their religion to others.

Stephan I think is an atheist. While he is ethnically half-Jewish, his parents never made him go to church or read any religious text. He is very glad that his parents never forced a religion on him. However, while he isn't religious, he is incredibly accepting and supportive of his more religious friends.

Burgundy to me is Jewish (Reform). And she takes her religion seriously as well. She enjoys going to synagogue as she has all her life and she does Torah studies with her family once a week. Like many other Jewish children, she had a baby-naming ceremony when she was 8 days old, attended Hebrew school, and had a bat mitzvah when she turned 13. I actually headcanon that the preschool at her synagogue is where she first met Georgia. While she is very religious, she is still quite liberal and has many LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent friends. All in all, I can see Burgundy as an Ashkenazi Jewish girl.

Like Burgundy, Georgia is an Ashkenazi reform Jewish girl, but she doesn't take Judaism as seriously as Burgundy. Like Iris, she is spiritual but she isn't a fan of organized religion. In fact, she didn't enjoy synagogue so she quit going after her bat mitzvah at the age of 13. Georgia and Burgundy attended different synagogues but Georgia ended up going to the preschool at Burgundy's synagogue since Georgia's parents didn't like the preschool at the synagogue they attended.

So these are all my headcanons involving the Pokemon bw characters religions. If I said something wrong or if I upset anyone reading this post, please let me know <3 I shared these since I wanted people to know some of my hc's which might be helpful for reading certain fanfics of mine in the future ;) Please feel free to share your thoughts on these headcanons!!

[tobiasdrake]

Part of the reason I love Ken's journey is just. Like. As a conservative-raised AMAB with gender stuff and something something aroace spectrum, I get it. I've been where Ken's been.

I come from very conservative roots. My family voted for Bush twice and was proud of it. My family believes the Iraq War was a national badge of honor. My dad married his best friend's daughter as soon as she graduated from high school. My mom voted for Trump because she was mad that the Mexican family down the road had a nicer truck than hers and wanted retaliation.

This is the environment I grew up in. This is where I come from.

And I remember being a 16-year-old boy living in my grandparents' basement. That's where I lived through high school because me and my dad's wife (three years older than me) didn't get along. So my grandparents' home became my home, and the basement became my room. I had the entire basement to myself.

It was nice. My friends were over constantly, and that was how I lived. I just had my own space where me and my friends could play video games and watch movies and hang out and be happy. I loved every minute of it. I was so happy in that basement. It was all I really wanted out of life.

But it wasn't enough. Because I also had all of these pressures. This can't last forever. You're at that age. You have to start making some changes to your life. And these weren't external pressures; Nobody was telling me things. They were just. Like. Things that I knew were right, because that's what I'd been taught. There's a roadmap from childhood to adulthood.

Can't watch Sailor Moon anymore. That's for girls.

Can't play Tomb Raider. What are you, gay? That's for girls.

Can't stay in this basement with your friends. You gotta get a girlfriend. You need to get married some day. Doesn't matter who. Find a girl.

That was the big one. That one had haunted me for most of my childhood. Find a girl. Doesn't matter what girl. Just find one. If you can't find one then you are a failure as a man. Back when I was in kindergarten, I was already trying to convince the girls to be my girlfriend. I didn't even know why I wanted one. I just knew that it was what you're supposed to do. You're a failure if you can't.

It should come as no surprise that girls didn't like me much in school. After all, I treated them like Romance Prospects, not like people. And that, in turn, made me not like them very much either. Made me rather hostile to them, in fact. I was angry. I was hurt.

"Why are you DENYING me my validation as a human being!?"

I could easily have fallen down a Manosphere rabbit hole, just like Ken did. It wouldn't have made me happy. It didn't make Ken happy. It doesn't make any of those Manosphere bros happy; They've just accepted a cultist ideology to justify why they're so unhappy.

I'm 36 now.

Do you know where I am?

I live in a two-bedroom apartment with friends that I love. We have our own little social group that comes in and out of here, as well as our own little corner of the world that's just for us. A space where we can play video games and watch movies and just hang out, with no further expectations or obligations or social requirements.

And I am very, very happy.

It took a lot of looking inward, a lot of self-improvement, and a lot of personal growth. But I found my horses. I hope Ken finds his some day.

[yoccult]

Here’s a lengthy retrospective on how I grew up in an environment that was a lot more accepting of trans people, and how that left a positive impact on my views and beliefs today.

I think my first introduction to transexuality was in 2004 ish. I was 9 or 10 and there was this commercial on a filipino tv station for what I think was a phone provider. There was an older lady, along with who I assume was either a drag queen or a trans woman, dancing and singing a catchy jingle together. of course I was just a kid, so I thought, “huh, that’s kinda funny. Why is that man wearing a dress? How silly.” But I didn’t really think any further than that. I heard this commercial many times growing up, I even have the melody memorized to this day. I never once felt disgust or hatred for the “guy in a dress,” I just thought the commercial was funny. My parents never felt the need to explain it to me or shield my eyes or lecture me about gender roles whenever the commercial came on. They just treated it like a normal commercial. It was just a fun time with two people singing and dancing to a jingle about phone providers. Nothing deeper than that.

The next memory I can recall was my first time learning about transgender men. I think I was maybe 11 (so 2006 ish). There was a TV special on whatever channel my mom was watching where they interviewed an older trans man, who talked about his childhood growing up as a girl and why he decided to transition. Again, my mom didn’t like.. freak out or anything. She treated it like it was just another show she was watching. She didnt make any rude or disparaging comments about the guy, she just found the whole interview interesting. As for me, I was intrigued by this man’s story. First off, I was mind blown by how this person, who was born female, looked and sounded so much like a man. I didn’t think that was possible, but now I knew it was. Once again, I felt no hatred or fear or disgust. Just curiosity. I watched a bit of the interview, then got bored and carried on with whatever I was doing before.

Then when I was either 12 or 15 (I honestly can’t remember whether it was 2007 or 2010) I had my hair rebonded by a hairstylist in the Philippines. The hairstylist was an out and proud trans woman. She was recommended by my aunt, and my parents had no reason to object to her doing my hair. I didn’t talk much to the hairstylist, not because I was uncomfortable with her, but because I was just a shy and unsocial teenager lol. But my mom and my aunt had a great time talking to the hairstylist. Though I couldn’t understand much of what they were saying, it definitely sounded like they were all getting along. After the stylist left, my mom didn’t make any negative comments about her to me. And I once again never felt any kind of disgust towards her. She was just my hairstylist for the day, and that was it.

When I learned about transphobia later on in life, I was disappointed but not surprised. Obviously it was just another form of discrimination, which didn’t sit right with me. But it wasn’t just mere bigotry that bothered me. It was their reasoning. Every time I see a conservative or transphobe complain about how trans people are corrupting the youth or indoctrinating kids, I just think back at my childhood. Maybe it’s because I was introduced to transexuality in a very neutral manner, or maybe it’s because I was still young and politically unaware, or maybe it’s because my parents weren’t hateful bigots. But I never saw or heard anything negative about trans people growing up. As far as my young mind could comprehend, they were just people wanted to change their gender. Thats hardly a reason for them to be hated, and yet, conservatives find a way to hate them.

I’m someone who wants kids in the near future and I just know im gonna get hate from conservatives who think im “brainwashing” my kids by teaching them that different genders and sexualities exist. Because in their mind, I would be “forcing” them to learn “against their will.” But they couldn’t be more wrong. I’ll simply do what my parents did and approach it as if we’re a normal subject. Were my parents “forcing the trans agenda” onto me when they allowed the phone commercial to play? Were they “forcing the trans agenda” by letting me watch a non political interview of a trans man? Were they “forcing the trans agenda” by letting a trans woman rebond my hair? Obviously not. But if they had shielded my eyes, if they had made rude comments, if they had forbid the hairstylist from doing my hair, I guarantee it would have instilled some type of fear in my young and impressionable mind. I likely would not have grown up as accepting of trans identities as I am now. And I feel like that is what happened to most transphobes.

Looking back, I’m so grateful for my parents’ nonchalant attitude towards different gender expressions. I truly believe hate is taught, and it never once crossed their minds to teach me to hate another person for the way they express themselves. Considering they had catholic upbringings, they could have easily taught me to be uncomfortable, hateful, or even fearful of transgender people. Similar to how a lot of conservatives are today. My parents aren’t perfect, and like all of us they have their unchecked biases. But it gives me comfort that when I eventually become a parent, I have a good blueprint to follow.

[triviareads]

Trivia's Monthly Book Round-Up: March 2024

Definitely a better reading month this March! I had a lot of fun with the historicals as well as the contemporary romances I read this month (including some pretty out-there finds like Beg For It by Megan Hart which I ended up adoring. I also got to read some fabulous ARCs like The Mistress Experience by Scarlett Peckham and You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian (reviews to come).

Daddy Crush by Adriana Anders

Exactly what it says on the tin, just a really well-executed age-gap romance that's tender and sexy and has a daddy kink; Jerusha grew up in a rural conservative Christian environment and moves out because she never could quite fit in with her family. She develops a crush on her new neighbor Karl and ends up asking him for sex lessons. I love how unapologetic and joyful Jerusha is about exploring her desires after not being able to do so in the past, and Karl provides her with that safe space all while feeling juuuuuuust enough guilt about being an old lech (he really isn't) to provide further entertainment for me.

Also, I appreciate the realness of the way Adriana describes their bodies— the softness, stretch marks, dimples. It's one of those things I wish we saw more often in romance novels that weren't specifically advertised as having fat rep.

Beg for It by Megan Hart

A super hot femdom romance; Corinne and Reese were in a relationship for in their early twenties, but he eventually left her to move to the Big City. Now they're middle-aged and Reese is a successful businessman looking to take over the company Corinne is CFO of. I loved reading about how the D/s dynamic just clicked for them when they first met in a flashback scene. As with all great second chance romances, their mutual resentment upon reuniting is real ("I'm not your boy anymore!"), but they're also grown-ass adults who know how to handle themselves.... for the most part. You get the sense that while both of them technically moved on, they were never able to get what they wanted from later partners; Reese loves to serve Corinne and gets off on punishment just as much as she enjoys making a meticulous (mental) list of infractions and doling the punishment out. Also, I do appreciate a book where pegging isn't treated as a one-time *special* thing (or worse, a bonus scene).

The Duke's Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley

At long last I decided to retry Jennifer Ashley and I ended up adoring this book! After years of no contact, Eleanor approaches her ex-fiancé Hart to inform him someone is threatening to leak his nude photos. Hart is a gruff, growly SCOTTISH duke who's trying to become Prime Minister so.... this is inconvenient. For all of Hart's posturing, he never got over Eleanor and the man is Obsessed with her. There's so much I loved about this story— there's such a valid reason as to why Eleanor broke off her previous engagement with Hart and I feel like they both learned and grew from it in the following years. BUT that doesn't mean the chemistry isn't there— it was always there (as shown in the flashbacks) and it will always be there, and it's bonkers hot. Like, Eleanor hoards Hart's blackmail nudes in her Hart Scrapbook (I know) and when she's found out, she asks for more nudes (which are taken. in a veeeery hot scene that is very female gaze-y). Obviously he asks for hers in return, which he also takes, eventually.

Rules for a Proper Governess by Jennifer Ashley

@mermaidsirennikita had already put this one my radar, so when the hero Sinclair McBride aka The Scots Machine aka BASHER McBride was teased in The Duke's Perfect Wife in that specific way where you know he's a future hero because he made the current hero (Hart) jealous, I had to read about this hot blond widower barrister next. The heroine Bertie is a pickpocket who tries steal Sinclair's pocket watch but he catches her and she ends up stealing a kiss instead. Then she highkey stalks Sinclair because she's FASCINATED by him and accidentally ends up as his children's governess. In classic The Sound of Music style, she gives the kids an unorthodox but well-rounded education, and on the side she's adorably seething when a widow tries to put the moves on Sinclair. She and his son successfully cockblock him and what follows is the most EROTIC finger-sucking scene I've read like, this man fully shoves 3 of her fingers in his mouth and goes for it. It's so great. I'd absolutely recommend.

The Home Wrecker by Sara Cate

I'm gonna be real, I was not impressed by the last few books Sara Cate put out, but I actually ended up really enjoying this one. Kudos to Sara for actually writing cheating into the romance, and I also thought she handled sensitive subjects like Briar and Caleb's fertility struggles (and the decision they make by the end), Dean being a sex worker, and homophobia in conservative Christian families, quite well. And the emphasis she put on family (lost, found, estranged, having children) was actually really moving by the end.

And on a romance level, the cheating stuff worked— It was kinda great to read both Caleb and Briar being galvanized into acting once they've both been with Dean, especially when you see their their intense apathy towards one another earlier on with this super cringy sex scene. I also like how we were given three distinct personalities with distinct viewpoints in the three main characters; it's something I felt was missing with the throuple in Madame. Here is my full review.

Out of Office by A.H. Cunningham

This is suuuch a sensual, tropical romance split between Panama and Miami and it's out on April 23rd. Here's my review.

[highliqhts]

🎬  just  announced,  rowan delaney has  been  cast  as rikki chadwick  in  the  upcoming  h2o: just add water  reboot.  the  twenty3  year  old  is  trending  as  people  are  debating  if  the  scouring the local thrift stores for the cutest knitted tops, giving their manager serious heart palpitations by going on instagram live rants about how big corporations are ruining the planet at 2am, being weirdly good at tiktok dance challenges, trying to cook for people despite being terrible at it and being completely unable to keep a phone screen protected without cracks   that  they  are  known  for  is  enough  to  make  them  as  good  as  original.  a  quick  google  search  shows  that  their  fans  call  them  free-spirited,  but  internet  trolls  think  they’re  more  brash.  i  guess  their  newest  interview  for  variety  where  they  talk  about  how they almost had an accident trying to swim with a mermaid’s tail as a child  will  let  people  to  know  them  better. 

hii, besties !! <33 i am daisy and genuinely so excited to be here ?? fair warning that it's been ... probably about a year since i last tumblr group rped, so i might be a bit rusty but this one brought me back from my retirement. this is rowan, who is a brand new muse of mine aka they're definitely still a work in progress but i'd absolutely love to plot with everyone and figure out all the missing pieces !! anyway, hope u enjoy, mwuah !

basics.

name:  rowan delaney.

nicknames:  ro.

gender:  demi woman

pronouns:  she/they.

age:  23.

date of birth:  january 23rd 2001.

astrological sign:  aquarius.

place of birth: brisbane, australia.

nationality: australian.

ethnicity: mauritian, italian.

occupation:  actress.

sexual & romantic orientation:  pansexual, panromantic.

character.

positive traits:  free-spirited, accepting, spontaneous, passionate, independent, loyal.

negative traits:  brash, aloof, stubborn, fickle.

likes:  the beach, having conversations about things that actually matter, finding that piece while thrifting, traveling, chai latte, pistacchios, surfing.

dislikes:  small talk, people who don't care about the environment / animals, authority figures, rules that don't make sense to her, fake niceties.

biography.

if there ever were two people who absolutely should be parents it's rowan's moms. their lovestory is one for the ages, as they had met in the australian wilderness, ciara an italian backpacking tourist and lauren the australian who saved her from some kind of poisonous snake ( or if you believe lauren a totally non-threatening, non-poisonous snake but she would only contest it if ciara isn't around ). what followed is neatly documented in the photo albums rowan grew up looking through, their mothers on their travels through the entire country, lauren having joined ciara for ' protection purposes '. one thing led to another and the two of them fell in love, something that was completely unthinkable, both with the distance and with ciara’s very catholic and conservative family back in italy. there were simply too many obstacles, it couldn’t work out, right ? with heavy hearts they said goodbye after almost an entire year spent constantly by each other’s sides. that is until, due to a sudden storm, ciara’s flight didn’t take off, leading them to have yet another conversation … after all, wasn’t this fate telling them not to part ? in the end ciara never left australia to go back to living in italy, instead taking the leap and staying in australia with the woman she excitedly calls the ‘ love of her life ‘ even to this day. 

rowan was the last puzzle piece to their perfect little family, in addition to the two dogs, one cat and the stray duck all living with them as well. nobody really knows how the duck ended up there. they do know how rowan did though, after years of careful consideration she was about the most wished for child you could possibly imagine. and so she grew up, surrounded by love and support. that being said, for a while it wasn’t easy for rowan to cope with the harsher realities of life outside their little house. while at the delaney’s family home it was alright to express yourself and your feelings however you wanted, the outside world was less accepting of that. therefore school wasn't easy for her during the first years. rowan was a bit of an outsider during those years, spending most of their free time at home with the pets and their mothers. it wasn’t until she grew up some more that she found friends who would accept her as she was. 

once those years came around however, her life was better than ever before. alongside their friends they spent a lot of time exploring the beaches and city around them. their mothers, being the free-spirited and encouraging women they were, mostly encouraged them in this, paying for their first surfing lessons right alongside the first acting classes. initially they had only signed up for those because a friend of theirs had. surprisingly enough though, rowan soon figured out that acting was something they were not only rather good at but also loved to do. though ciara would later say she never thought it to be all that surprising, with how much rowan had always loved listening to and sharing stories. especially during those younger, more lonely days, where it was mostly books keeping her company. the last years of high school were spent acting in local theater productions, having bonfires at the beach and surfing with their friends. 

life was good for rowan during those times as she started considering what to do after school. it was at the beginning of her last year in high school when she saw an open audition for neighbors and decided to simply shoot her shot. never in a million years did they think this would actually lead them anywhere,that was until they got callback after callback, eventually sitting down to do chemistry reads. they were seventeen, a month into their final year when they got the official offer. sitting down with their parents, they debated. how would she finish school, when filming would take place in melbourne ?  was it even feasible ? could she move there on her own ? in the end they found a solution that had her living with a friend of the family in melbourne during filming, studying with a tutor when she was there and still attending school whenever she was in brisbane. it was a stressful year and it’s safe to say their final grades were not much to be proud of but they did it, they graduated. afterwards she was lucky enough for her minor role to stay permanent, gaining some importance in the show’s plotline, leading to her being able to continue to stay on the crew and work in melbourne. 

they kept their very first television role on neigbors for about 3-4 years, before finally saying their goodbye to the australian soap. due to the relative prominence of the show in australian television, they had earned a decent level of exposure through it. in australia, this would have definitely lent itself to quickly gaining further job opportunities and she definitely debated this with her moms for quite some time. in the end it was them that pushed her to aim higher, to try her luck in the us and move to los angeles at 21. the move was probably the hardest thing ro has done to this day, leaving was tearful not only because they’d miss their family but also because they’d miss their home and they were fully aware they might just be leaving for nothing. for the past two years ro has mostly been getting very small appearances for an episode or three in multiple tv projects ( imagine patient on grey’s or a lost plotline in riverdale or smth, i’ll have to figure the exact projects out ). only recently did she get her first real breakthrough when she was cast as rikki in the reboot of h20: just add water, an australian classic ! they’re about to start filming season 1 and it’s safe to say that ro couldn’t be more excited, having been an avid viewer of the show as a kid.

tl;dr: basically she's born to two very loving lesbians whom i gave an unneccessarily sweet backstory. she grew up in australia, loves the oceans and animals and always had the loving support of her family. she started acting at 17 and moved to the us to further follow that career at 21. h2o is her first lead role.

headcanons.

rowan sometimes refers to the pets that were in the house while they grew up as if they were their siblings, which can be confusing to some people 

ro’s style is very much sort of boho inspired, she loves cute knitted pieces and wide flowy pants and dresses or jeans shorts as well as sporting the most pieced together yet somehow strangely working assortment of jewelry 

she has a decently active social media presence, which is mostly used for an unpredictable mixture of silly on set tiktok challenges or passionate calls for action, mostly for environmental protection 

they’re very much a beach and oceans enthusiast and they WILL shut you down for leaving any kind of trash on the beach but also for supporting environmentally damaging companies 

ro has a decent amount of houseplants at home and tries to keep them alive so desperately ?  but honestly, they’re really not a natural at it. 

she loves doing her nails herself, including cute and intricate nail designs 

when they were 19 and at a party they got a tiny tattoo of an octopus done on the left side of her hip

[libbystcwart]

MERROCK TASK • GET BOLD

TW: brief mention of death.

WHERE DO THEY FIT IN

financial / class status: wealthy | middle class | poor

grew up: wealthy | middle class | poor

health / wellness: fit/healthy | moderate | disabled | ill

education: below high school | high school | college | beyond

legalities: clean record | has a record | trouble / prison

town status: local | new in town | somewhere in between

lives: downtown | suburbs | coast | countryside

FAMILY LIFE

parents: alive | deceased | unknown

came to be: blood | adopted | other

siblings: multiple siblings | one sibling | only child

extended family: large (aunts, uncles, cousins) | small | none

children: none | has children | wants children

relationship status: single | complicated | taken

if taken: dating | relationship | engaged | married

if single: looking | not looking | whatever happens

pets: no pets | has pets | wants pets

DEATH TW: Libby has had a child and considers herself still a mother, even if her child has passed. She still wants to have another child in the future.

PERSONALITY STUFF

extroverted | introverted | somewhere in between

organized | disorganized | somewhere in between

close minded | open minded | somewhere in between

calm | anxious | somewhere in between

easy to get along with | not so much | somewhere in between

cautious | reckless | somewhere in between

patient | impatient | somewhere in between

outspoken | reserved | somewhere in between

leader | follower | somewhere in between

empathetic | careless | somewhere in between

optimistic | pessimistic | somewhere in between

traditional | modern | somewhere in between

hard-working | lazy | somewhere in between

cultured | uncultured | somewhere in between

BELIEFS AND IDEALS

are they: religious | agnostic | atheist

do they believe in ghosts / spirits: yes | no | unsure

the afterlife: yes | no | unsure

reincarnation: yes | no | unsure

aliens: yes | no | unsure

astrology: yes | no | unsure

fate: yes | no | unsure

political alignment: conservative | liberal | independent | other

are they: pro-choice | anti-abortion | unsure

are they: pro-death penalty | anti-death penalty | unsure

are they: pro-euthanasia | anti-euthanasia | unsure

are they: pro-legalized drugs | anti-legalized drugs | unsure

Because of her grandparents, she grew up in a nondenominational Christian environment but she doesn't really follow/practice any kind of religion as she's gotten older.

SEX, ROMANCE & RELATIONSHIPS

sexuality scale: allosexual | in between | asexual | other

romantic scale: allromantic | in between | aromantic | other

experience: virgin | very little | moderate | experienced

number of partners: 0 | 1-5 | 5-10 | 10-25 | 25+

number of relationships: 0 | 1-5 | 10-25 | 25+

preferred partners: men | women | any gender | other | none

relationships: monogamous | polyamorous | other | none

with others: relationship person | casual sex | other | none

in bed: traditional sex | adventurous | kinks/fetishes | other

ABILITIES AND SKILLS

cooking: good | in between | bad

cleaning: good | in between | bad

musical ability: good | in between | bad

artistic skills: good | in between | bad

driving: good | in between | bad

athleticism: good | in between | bad

swimming: good | in between | bad

horseback riding: good | in between | bad

fishing / hunting: good | in between | bad

gardening: good | in between | bad

communication: good | in between | bad

handiness: good | in between | bad

handwriting: good | in between | bad

technology: good | in between | bad

HABITS, GOOD & BAD

alcohol: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

smoking: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

pot/weed: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

drugs: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

shopping: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

gambling: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

sex: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

[yegarts]

I Am YEG Arts: Heather Shillinglaw  

Mixed media artist Heather Shillinglaw expresses her Indigeneity and familial oral histories through collages that employ sewing, painting, and sculpture methods. She grew up in Ministik near Cooking Lake and now lives in Edmonton and has a strong connection to the land and to her heritage; Nêhiyawêwin /Cree, Dene/Chipewyan, Salteaux/Ojibwe, and Scots/French. Over the course of her career, she has shared land-based teachings in art workshops with thousands of students of all ages, taken on activist work to highlight the importance of the natural world to inspire others to preserve what is left, and has exhibited her work extensively. In this week’s I Am YEG Arts feature, we get to know more about Heather Shillinglaw.  

Tell us about your connection to Edmonton and why you've decided to make it your home. 

Growing up outside of Edmonton, we would come into town to do our shopping, and all that kind of stuff. And I always thought it was so fancy, and a fantastic place to live with all these great shops and beautiful river valley to pick berries or whatever. It maintained a consistent interest for me to live here and settle here. Now that I have my family, my husband and my two daughters, we call it home. And it's not far from the place where I grew up, and my family. So, we're kind of surrounded within Edmonton. I also have an ancestral connection to the land in that they harvested medicines, mostly berries here, which I'm very glad to say that saskatoons grow prevalently in our River Valley.  

What is your creative process like? And what motivates you as an artist? 

I started out mostly as a mixed media artist, project based, so when I make art, I'm very material based.  There's kind of a relationship with the material that I start building a language within the work I'm creating. It's either through symbolism, the materials, or the project base -- the goal -- which is talking about the environment, preservation of what's left, to creation of the piece itself. Right now, I'm obsessed with sewing, and I'm sewing on hides and then I'm sewing on big florals. I collect and harvest like a mouse. That's my animal spirit and I see things large and giant, and I'm very humbled by the land. 

In my pieces I’m using anywhere from three to six different types of sewing machines to create the work. When I'm sewing, I'm thinking about that kinship and relationship to the landscapes, like the maternal landscapes. It's all nature based and it's all about the healing plants and medicines that are in our land. 

How do you choose the materials you work with?  

That's a tricky one because I'm constantly collecting like a mouse. Another aspect in thinking about conservation of our land and not causing problems, I use a lot of recycled materials and mediums. In the body of work that I'm still creating, ᒫᒥᑐᓀᔨᐦᒋᑲᐣ ᑯᑖᐄᐧᐤ mâmitonêyihcikan kotâwîw, – my mind digs in the soil like a turtle -- an exhibition that's happening right now in Halifax at the Mary Black Gallery -- I'm sewing on to hides and it's kind of an eagle eye’s perspective. Through that I'm doing tufting, beading, and sewing into bodies of water that relate to the landscapes of where my ancestors hunted and harvested. Inspiration sources come from here, there and everywhere. So, you know, I'm a mouse that acts like a magpie. 

Top: Detail of ᑮᓯᑌᐳᐃᐧᐣ ᓵᑳᐦᐃᑲᐣ kîsitêpowin sâkâhikan cooking lake by Heather Shillinglaw. Bottom: Gravemarker Bison from the Whiskey Script Series by Heather Shillinglaw.

Where does your inspiration come from? 

The inspiration comes from the land itself. For a lot of my projects, my inspiration source is my mother: through storytelling about the land, and her memories from our Nohkums, our grandmothers, and how they harvested from the land, right down to the specific berries, or the relationship that the moths share with the trees and how it provides a kinship relationship to the land itself. Then through that, I'm taking oral stories and I'm also looking at other forms of research, such as archival research. I've worked with ethnographer Ruth McConnell and I've been working with Elder and Knowledge Keeper Lynn Desjalais/Lush from the Sandy Bay Reserve (she's a relative of ours, I think that's an added bonus). And Anne Cardinal, who's from Saddle Lake Reserve. There's a cultural connection, an artistic connection, a research base. So, there's many different platforms in my resources and where I make my art from. 

Marilyn Dumont is another source of inspiration. Marilyn is a Métis poet, and we share common lineages in where our inspiration sources come from. I've been sewing her poetry into bodies of water, and I sew my own poetry now because she's given me a lot of strength to do that. So that's another aspect of my work – using poetry and prose to talk about what's going on in the art. I'm so honoured that she said she's willing to work with me and we continue to work together on projects. 

You've had the opportunity to exhibit your work nationally and internationally as well as participate in residencies abroad in Paraguay and Argentina. How was your artistic practice influenced by these cultural exchanges and how was your work received? 

That was so much fun. 2009 was a bit of a banner year for me. Beatriz Ventura , who is the Canadian consulate located in Buenos Aires, for Argentina and Paraguay, connected with me and we talked about medicines, and she talked about her ancestors and how they hunted and harvested. Through that I sat on panel discussions, I exhibited my work, and then I did a little bit of a residency. I was quite excited and engaged by what was happening with the Indigenous people out there and how it was almost like going back 200 years for their discovery of the oil rights in the land. I gave some advice, from my ancestors and their trauma and problems that we've had in the past. I got invited to go around with an anthropologist in Mendoza and she took me up into the mountains, and we met the Indigenous tribes there. It was a phenomenal experience.  

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to talk about plant sustainability, which is in my practice today. Then I got invited by a conference attendee from Paraguay, Asunción to stay in her home. I got a chance to meet all these wonderful people there, networked with them, created workshops for the conference that I attended, gave a panel discussion presentation of my work, and then I also got a chance to work with the UNICEF school out there as well. I kind of became a little bit of a political activist. I'm not in your face in my politics; there are political statements within the art itself. And the more I create my work, the more I'm concerned about the land and preservation, because our oil and gas industry is affecting our water tables, it's in our system and there's some relationships of what Industry Canada is doing to our land that is very disconcerting. As an artist, your job and your role is to make sure you carry your message through your art, so that's where art becomes an activist statement. And I don't want to be in your face. I want people to want to understand. And that's where you can access more of a deeper, profound way of understanding the art, understanding culture, and understanding our planet and preservation. 

Top: Gravemarker Fox from the Whiskey Script Series by Heather Shillinglaw. Bottom: Painted Red by Heather Shillinglaw.

What would you say is your greatest strength as a creative? 

I have taught many artists and residencies over the years, and I worked at the Art Gallery of St Albert as their first Indigenous Visual Arts Programmer; I take pride in that. Whenever I'm teaching, I take it upon myself to inspire people. That’s important and supports my practice. That's another hat that I wear as an artist. Through my Elders, I've learned that a big part of our culture is sharing, and you share with humility. Like, the information that was given to me, you hand it down for the next generation to inspire them. And they're probably not going to make the same work that you're going to make; the goal is to inspire, and that’s why I teach.  

Tell us a little bit about what you're currently working on or hoping to explore next. 

At the Centre of Contemporary Craft of Nova Scotia there is an exhibition of my work right now, it closes on July 2nd. I will be going to see the exhibit and attend a series of things going on out there. It’s a body of work called ᒫᒥᑐᓀᔨᐦᒋᑲᐣ ᑯᑖᐄᐧᐤ mâmitonêyihcikan kotâwîw, – my mind digs in the soil like a turtle, and it's basically large landscapes and a body of work that showed here last year at the Alberta Craft Council. It does come back here in the fall, in September and October at the Art Gallery of St Albert. We're going to be doing some exciting activities, workshops and talks.  

In January, I have an exhibition at the McMullen gallery. I'm going to be doing some workshops and artist talks and events. And as a sneak peek, for Gaagige Giizhig - Ishpeming (Forever Sky) (the Sky Above) I'm going to be turning the gallery to space! Those are works are on black panels, and there's thirteen of them, and they're not small either -- some of those panels are larger than me, so maybe like 8' x 5’ ft. MSHKAWJI GIIZIS (FREEZING MOON) – OCTOBER for example, is one of them, it’s the frost moon, so they're really different.  

And then I have another body of work, it's called Whispers in the Forest, and it's going to the Esplanade Gallery [in Medicine Hat]. It's part of a larger group exhibition. In 2026, I have a solo exhibition at the same gallery and I'm just working through that. I'm going to be focusing on learning ancestral languages from language keepers: Saulteaux Denesuline language, Anishinaabe language, and Nêhiyawêwin Cree. It's going to be a massive mouse trap, a life-size mouse trap that focuses on live, eat, sleep, repeat.  

Detail of MNIDO GIIZIS (SPIRIT MOON) – JANUARY by Heather Shillinglaw.

Tell us about a local artist group or organization that is doing great work in the community that you think more people should know about. 

I would start off by saying CARFAC Alberta is fantastic and great to work with because they do a lot of programming to help artists survive as artists. There's a lot of versatility in the art world, but it's challenging to survive as an artist. They do all kinds of workshops to help people, anywhere from writing grants, to what's next, or how to ship your art internationally and that sort of thing. So, there's lots of opportunities for artists to learn from them.  

And then I would say the Art Gallery of Alberta is fantastic. I’ve shown my work there, I sell my work at the art rental sales, and I've had opportunities to work with them and be a special guest artist, teaching workshops for them that a benefactor had paid for. There are phenomenal opportunities for artists to connect with them. Outside of that, there is the Art Gallery of St Albert. Emily Baker and Leah Louden are fantastic. They also sell my work out there, and they do amazing programming that is so unique. You can go in by donation and still access a lot of the arts just in that space itself. So those are some really good places that do so much in the community. 

The Rowles and Company Gallery also sells my work. I'm saying support our local galleries because you know, they really struggled to get through COVID, so it's really important to share that message with others. 

And I didn't even mention the Edmonton Arts Council, that they offer so much programming, so many grants and possibilities for artists themselves. I've been honored to be a recipient of those grants and organizations for money to create my works.  

I am also so thankful that I have been inspired by Shirley Norris Shillinglaw, who's my mother, and my family that supports me. Keith Macmillan and my daughters tolerate bits of thread and my messy nature. They’ve been very generous to allow me to do that. 

About Heather Shillinglaw 

Heather Shillinglaw is a project-based artist adapting art materials using sewing, painting and sculpture methods. Growing up in Ministik near Cooking Lake, she now lives in Edmonton, Alberta. Shillinglaw is proud of her heritage; Nêhiyawêwin /Cree, Dene/Chipewyan, Salteaux/Ojibwe, and Scots/French. Shillinglaw shares land-based teachings in art workshops to thousands of students of all ages, throughout her career. She becomes an activist, her voice in sharing through art she hopes to inspire the importance of the natural world to inspire preserving what is left. Exhibiting her work nationally and internationally, she is humble in acknowledging the awards and Grants that help her projects, inclusive of a recent award Leighton Studio stay at the Banff Center for the Arts; the Gerin-Lajoie Studio. Previous exchanges abroad in Paraguay and Argentina working with anthropologists, medicine women of Tobian- Guarani and Mapuche healers in South America, and other shows/cultural connections abroad. You can learn more about Heather here.