one thing about me is that if a friend of mine came to me frantically explaining that they were trapped in a time loop i would believe it no questions asked i’ve been waiting to be the quirky supporting character in a time loop plot my whole life i will do whatever to break that curse up to and including falling in love
kids are so fucking funny. we made pride flags with the elementary schoolers and a fifth grader added a gray stripe to the progress pride flag and when i asked him what it was for he said “for the emos”
Oh this is brilliant!!
13 year old me appreciates this
(As the resident dorky ace demi bookworm who got adopted by the wacky emo goth MCR Green Day fan and who eventually adopted the style herself, I stan this!!)
Go and think about what kinds of relationships you want. Don’t think about labels like romantic or platonic or sexual, think purely about what relationships would make you happiest.
When I realized I was aromantic, I was asked things like “Would you still date? Would you have a QPR? Will you ever kiss?”
But the aromantic community didn’t ask that. Instead, they focused on “What do you want in a world where anything is possible?”
And I realized I want to be alone, surrounded by friends and family I love who are close enough, I can bring them fresh baked scones when I overbake.
They asked me “What do you want?” and the question was so broad, I could weigh labels in my hand like queerplatonic partner and nonpartnering and significant other. I could look at these and shrug and say, “What I want is to not worry about questions I don’t care about.” I could shelve these indefinitely. Maybe even forever. And just enjoy being myself.
The aromantic community celebrates exploration. Tells people asking if they are aromantic, “This is a personal decision. Your personal decision. If this label helps you, take it. If this community helps you, stay as long as you need. You don’t have to be labelled anything, aromantic or otherwise, unless it would bring you comfort. You don’t have to be anything you aren’t.”
It’s a good community with good philosophies born from a unique experience, not rooted in missing out, but in being forced to consider what you want when you don’t want what’s expected.
“take me to the book that you wish you could reread for the first time”
Omg librarian’s and library workers and volunteers are so precious and adorable about books. I have found my people. We don’t stan them enough for what they do. Libraries are awesome.
*valid does not mean healthy, or good, or to be privileged above common sense and kindness
A distinction for anyone who is young and hasn’t figured this out yet:
Youareallowed to have whatever emotionsyou want. No one can control your emotions. Emotions are healthy responses to things.
You are notallowed to have behaviorsthat are harmful just because you have certain emotions. Your behaviors are what you can control, and they are far easier to control than your emotions.
You can be jealous about someone or their talents until you turn green, but it is harmful to yourself and to that person if you try to sabotage them because of it. You can be so angry you can literally feel your temperature rise, but this does not give you permission to rage at others.
Your emotions are valid. They are always valid. You are a person of value. However, you behaviors are not always justified just because of those emotions. You may not be able to control you emotions, but you can certainly control your behaviors.
and this one, i beg you to learn before you become right-wing fundamentalists: just because something gives you revulsion feelings does not mean it’s morally wrong.
you may be sex-repulsed; that doesn’t mean sex is dirty and bad. maybe you were bullied by teenage girls; that doesn’t mean teenage girls are a force of evil. perhaps a villain in a work of fiction reminds you of someone who abused you; that doesn’t mean people who enjoy that character or that fiction are abusive. your feelings about those things are absolutely valid, and it’s not right for people to tell you you shouldn’t feel that way. but it’s also not right for you to act out against others based on those feelings.
that instinct to generalize served our species well when we were hunter-gatherers living in small bands in a hostile wilderness. you nibble a delicious-looking berry, you throw up, you know that berry is BAD and you make the yuck face whenever you see it so the other hominids know it’s a bad one. but in the modern world, in the information age, there are so many complex things you might encounter, you’re going to have badfeels about a lot of things that aren’t actually across-the-board bad.
you need to not be ruled by your hominid yuckberry instinct. that’s where bigotry comes from.
That last line deserves to be an iconic tumblr quote.
