garethlyons

[garethlyons]

Blue Lives Don't Exist .

Stop drawing equivalence between racial identity and a job.

Your career is a choice.

Being Black isn't.

[garethlyons]

You made an amazing impact on so many lives. It’s tough just to know that you’ve passed. But at least you are no longer in pain.

Rest in Peace, Chadwick.

RIP King

[garethlyons]

Unplug.

So after having some accounts compromised, I wanted to pop in and say hello. I haven’t been active at all, but life has been hectic and while I’ve been interested in FFXIV it’s not worth it with the currency exchange so no I haven’t been playing it.

Between health problems and being out of work I needed to find myself preoccupied with something other hoping for roleplay. This isn’t to say that I don’t still RP, but it’s a lot less and it happens before a new expansion.

Yet I’m not here to pressure anyone into RP. That’s not my thing. So I’ve unplugged for a bit and may check in from time to time just to see how some are doing. Cause I do care, it’s just some things can drain my energy a hell of a lot faster than others.

I’m not here for drama. 

Currently in game you’ll see that Gareth no longer is in a guild. It’s due to me being indecisive on even being in one anymore. His original purpose was misconstrued and I’d prefer having him how I know I want him.

But enough about that. I’m still playing WoW, just not as much. I’ve gone back to other forms of writing and some other things to help get me back into more creativity and get better with digital art.

So, with that being said, I’m focusing on other things in life for now until Shadowlands is here.

[garethlyons]

sometimes self-care is putting on a cloak and wandering through the woods at twilight

[garethlyons]

Damn, these women are gorgeous!

^Photographer: @lillianliuphotography Model: @theresafractale Make-up: @ladyfreakshow​ Hair: @iamdhair_stylist Designer: @lindafriesen.couture

^Photographer: @topheroriel Model: @micaburton

^Photographer: @agnieszka_lorek Model: @theresafractale Designer: @lorysunartistry

^Photographer: @maria_lipina Model: @normila17

^Photographer: @defotograafsanne Model: @modelsensi Make-up and costume: @candymakeupartist

^Photographer: @anniebertramphoto Model: @theresafractale Dress: @maria.heller.designs Earrings: @vespermoth Crown: @nomenjewelry

^Photographer: @thewitchinghourphotography Model: @tee.pimentel

^Photographer: @anniebertramphoto Model: @theresafractale Dress: @feuillemorte.costumery Halo: @mywitchery Earrings: @vespermoth

^Photographer: @simplysavannahart​ Model: @shiennegh Designer: @itisknown

^Photographer: @anniebertramphoto Model: @theresafractale Korset: @royalblack_couture Make-up: @isabellakiefer_makeupandhair

Keep reading

[garethlyons]

I got tired.

I haven’t been around much. Then again the past month has been shit for many of us. Financially I was screwed over without a month of income.

Tumblr is excruciatingly draining. 

Depression sucks.

Anxiety sucks.

The downward spiral only continued.

It’s all I’ve got to say.

[garethlyons]

your first and most pressing concern should be for the safety of black people. it should be for justice. it should be in making this not just a moment but a reshaping of cultural bias.

this is not a fun little game for you to trot around flipping off cops and making light of a situation you were never effected by. it is not your chance to have a little bit of adventure in the middle of a quarantine. i am speaking as an author and i am telling you to stop fucking making this about katniss or harry potter or whatever - you can be shaped by media, sure, but this is not and has never been about you roleplaying your favorite action heroes. this is not another “disaster of 2020″. this is not a quirky instagram post, it’s not a chance for you to meet up with your friends, it’s not a tactic to get your tiktok trending.

this is about racial injustice. this is about the entire system that is built on that injustice and grows fat on that injustice. don’t get distracted. the police force is not the only systemically racist organization.

black lives matter. and we do not stop until every organization recognizes that and actually acts on it.

[garethlyons]

Black activists on Twitter have been sending this link around today. It’s a long document with anti-racism resources geared toward white people who want to effectively help their Black neighbors in the fight against white supremacy.

Note: I did NOT compile these resources, I am simply sharing them.

[garethlyons]

Clarification

The first post was long, and I don’t necessarily want to edit/reblog it with this clarification, so I’ll post it here because I also feel like this needs to be said. I don’t want it to get lost among that big post, either.

The reason I felt I needed to make that post was because of the recent post by @bluexepher about her experience in the Succulent Tarts. I wanted to provide my support to her and the others who have voiced their concerns. Even though many of the Tarts have been welcoming and have been great friends to me, I think it’s important to examine this behavior and make a conscious effort to change. That is what I deeply and truly hope will be the outcome of this situation. I hope that Xepher and other BIPOC can feel safe and welcome, and that the white community can make sure that we feel valued and heard.

[garethlyons]

I support BIPOC

If you read nothing else of my post, please take note of these links.

Donate to Black Lives Matter

Donate to Black Visions Collective

Donate to Communities United Against Police Brutality

Donate to Campaign Zero

Donate to Innocence Project

I don’t really know how to talk about this concisely. I guess the first thing I can say is that I feel heartbroken for just a lot of reasons. I’ll try my best to get my thoughts out. I don’t even exactly know what I’m trying to say.

I wish to issue a statement of support to BIPOC. I wish to condemn not only racism, but colorism. I want to share my experience as a non-black POC. I don’t even know if I’m allowed to call myself that as someone who is biracial. I do not wish to detract from the struggles of the Black community. Rather, I want to share my experiences with the understanding that I still have a lot of privilege, but I also have a desire to stand in solidarity. Maybe this will be informative and help others to understand the pervasive nature of racism, and how tiring and hurtful it is.

I will be discussing racism, internalized racism, police brutality, and abuse.

I’m half Mexican. I haven’t really told more than a couple of people on here that. I’m white-passing by virtue of damaging myself. For decades I hated my skin. I thought I was ugly. Unsophisticated looking. I didn’t look like my white family members. I didn’t look like the white community around me. The only person who looked like me was my father and my eldest brother, who I had little social contact with. I have not gone into the sun for decades. I tried to bleach my skin. An endocrinologist told me that my vitamin D levels were on par with someone with severe malnutrition, and I had to be put on medication. Now I am pale in the way someone sick is pale. It mitigated some but not all racist comments.

I no longer live with my white mother. That’s a good thing. She had nothing but contempt for me on several levels. That’s weird, isn’t it? I think she liked my father by virtue of how whitewashed he was made to be. In the 1950s his family lived in a U.S. Naval base in Peru, though they were of Mexican origin. His first language was Spanish. They moved to America in the 1960s. He was made to assimilate into white culture and stop speaking Spanish. He doesn’t speak it anymore. My mother says it’s not a "pretty language.”

My father worked overseas for most of my childhood. I was raised by my white mother. My paternal grandfather died long before I was born, and my paternal grandmother died when I was young. We called her “Grandma Tina.” No one ever told me her real name. I found out it was Eutimia. I guess that was too ‘ethnic’ for people to say. No one ever told me I was Mexican. I just looked different and I didn’t know why. I hated everything about how I looked.

My father became chronically ill in the past decade. He requires daily medication or he will quite literally die. A few years ago, he was having a medical crisis and trying to get home. The police pulled him over and arrested him for driving under the influence, despite the fact that he was not intoxicated and had passed their breathalyzer test. He was taken into police custody. My mother took me in a panic down to the precinct to collect him or at the very least give him some of his medicine. It was midnight. We arrived and the police officer regarded my mother with a smug smile. We could not visit my father because visiting hours were over. We could not bail him out because of the time of night. He would not allow her to give him the medicine, and assured us there was a medical facility on location. My mother tried to yell at the cop. I had to pull her away. I was afraid of how things would escalate, and how she could have made things worse for my father. The medical staff did not tend to my father. When we bailed him out the following morning, he was nearly dead. Much longer and he would have gone into organ failure.

Yesterday, my mother made a bigoted facebook posts condemning the BLM protests with no self-awareness about the abuse of power that had nearly cost my father his life. I spoke out against her publicly. I’ve always been scared of her. Even though I no longer live with her. She’s more abusive emotionally and mentally than I feel like I’ve even letting on. I feel like I can’t say she was truly abusive because she only beat me with a hairbrush once, and I feel like I deserved it. I am still closeted as gay and trans IRL out of fear from my family and the state I live in. I guess I’ve been closeted about my ethnicity in-game too. My character is pale, but my face claim is a white-passing man of Mexican descent. Maybe that’s self-insert-y but I feel a connection to it. I don’t know how to explain it. But I do know that I want to speak up.

I want to say this now. Even if it makes me uncomfortable. Even if it makes others uncomfortable. I feel like it needs to be said. I know that as someone who has the opportunity to pass as white, I have certain privileges and a duty to speak out against racism. Silence is Violence. I plead with the members of my community to do their best to hold compassion and openness for the BIPOC around them. I hope that people keep an open heart and a willingness to change behaviors that have been harmful to the BIPOC in their communities. 

For the past three months I’ve been working 6 days a week with no end in sight due to COVID-19. I may not be completely available all the time, or completely in the loop about things. I am sorry that I have not spoken up sooner. I don’t know if this enough, or if it’s appropriate. I just want to put it out there. If anyone wishes to speak, please feel free to message me.

[garethlyons]

I’m working on a much larger post about related issues, but like - this has been percolating in my brain with all of the petitions and such floating around.

One really helpful thing to do right now (in general, too, but especially right now) is to contact your government officials.  Not just leaving angrygrams for the president or the senate majority leader - I’m talking about contacting your city council, your ward representatives, the mayor and your  county and state government officials.  (Note: I live in the US.)  These individuals work directly in your communities and government, despite what we’re frequently bombarded with given it’s an election year and what’s on the news, starts small and local.

How do I contact them?  

-UC Berkeley has published some excellent tips on how best to get your messages across when contacting local and state representatives: 

https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/ContactingOfficials/Tips 

-Also, you can set up a lobby meeting with these individuals to talk about issues in person if desired.  The ACLU published some excellent tips on how best to go about making these appointments and how to effectively follow up:

https://www.aclu.org/other/tips-meeting-your-elected-officials

Who do I contact?

-Find your mayors here: https://www.usmayors.org/mayors/

-Find county government officials here: https://ce.naco.org/

-State governors: https://www.usa.gov/state-governor

-Other state legislators: https://www.congress.gov/state-legislature-websites

-Local elected officials: https://www.usa.gov/local-governments

[garethlyons]

I’ve written, rewritten, and then deleted posts since the protests started. I kept feeling like I couldn’t ever find enough of the right words.

Black Lives Matter.

We need to change the systemic problems in our country that contribute to those lives not mattering.

We have to be better. For ourselves, for our neighbors, and for future generations.

It is our privilege to ignore problems. We must stop hiding behind that privilege. We must stop looking away. We must do the hard thing. We must speak up when we see injustice. And more importantly we must Listen to the voices that have not been heard.

We must vote. We must make the change we want to see happen because

Black Lives Matter.

I can’t physically participate in any of the protests due to other factors. But I have contributed funds and I will keep contributing funds until we see more change for the better.

We’re taking the first steps, but the road is going to be long and we will have to have those uncomfortable and difficult conversations to get moving down it.

This election is even more important than any other, get out and vote. Vote for your city representation, your county representation, your state representation, and then finally for the president.

To those of you out there protesting, keep up the fight. To those of you who are or have suffered in the past, keep up the fight.

I don’t know what else I can say, my motto has always been Be Kind. So I leave you with that reminder out there that even when you are having these hard conversations, you can still be kind.

[garethlyons]

ASK; What can you do to help?

In regards to @bluexepher​‘s post.

I’m far from perfect. I’ve grown up in a racist family. I’ve been irritated by all of the words and ways that white privilege can drown out voices of those that should and NEED to be heard. I want desperately to change this.

White Silence needs to STOP. You NEED to step up and be a better human being. You need to understand that shrugging it off only gives the vibe that it’s not your problem.

Instead of shrugging it off, ASK how you can change things. 

WHAT CAN I DO TO SUPPORT YOU? 

Don’t be silent, because you’re not going to be helping anyone who needs that help.

It’s time to break the fucking cycle. You have two options.

You can either go to the top of this fucking post and click the link? Or you can continue scrolling.

Which - by the way - is going to her post anyway. Because avoiding it is NOT the answer.

I expect to see more likes on her post than mine. Because if I suddenly have more likes here then you’re going to have another fucking problem on your hands.

So - GO TO HER POST.

https://bluexepher.tumblr.com/post/620668535628267520/enough-is-enough

[garethlyons]

Enough is enough

I have been a member of Succulent Tart on WRA since roughly early 2017. My character Xepher has always been a performer and spoke well of the troupe in character. Whenever people asked me about the guild ooc, I told them to apply if interested and when events were. I partook in events whether performing, bartending or supporting and even purchased art to donate for raffles. But the reality was there was something else going on behind the scenes. From onset, I noticed the dreaded clique mentality that we all hate to see in rp communities. Especially when it comes to the elf circles. I remained quiet and watched, assuming that in time things would get better. When I did speak up, I was silenced or told that my points were irrelevant. Time went by and nothing got better. 

What became increasingly frustrating for me was the guilds interaction with people of color and their cultures. The way it was erased from certain themed events they hosted or completely trampled over in other events. No one spoke up. No one said a thing. And when I looked around I saw that Succulent Tart people were everywhere, presenting this guise of pristine reputation so fans believed they could do no wrong.  I recall a conversation in guild chat about why Black face references should only be used for Orcs or Trolls since there was no such thing as black elves. Meanwhile, I have ALWAYS roleplayed Xepher as a brown elf whose face reference is a black model from France. Not a single officer said anything to those people nor did someone speak up. That was just one instance of the many microaggressions that would go on in this guild. I couldn’t say or do anything about it because my point would be invalidated or I was told to be overreacting. And if I went to the public about, well then I was just a hater seeking to start drama. 

What many of you don’t know is that Succulent Tart made those posts about BLM because I spoke out about it in general chat. Prior to all of this, nothing was mentioned in guild chat to let people know they were welcomed in this space. It was just assumed as white privilege has a funny way of doing that. The assumption was all felt safe in the guild from the perspective of many white members and officers. This gallery will showcase what happened in its entirety, from start to finish. The lie that so many in the guild cared and loved me when in reality they never wanted to hear my voice and never supported my endeavors. The chat images can be found here  https://imgur.com/a/o12Y6NX . And the conversations after here https://imgur.com/a/JOoQM02 . 

Some of you will recall I wrote a post about the new skin colors for elves and what this meant for the bigger picture. In the gallery above, a person attempted to make reference to my post as though the guild had done something so amazing for POCs in reblogging it. The irony of that reblog is that  guild members spoke about it as though it was me giving them permission to roleplay black elves without guilt. They completely missed the point and did not understand at all what I was talking about. Also, I want to get something straight, that post was created as a direct response to something that occurred within the guild. Bella, an officer, stated that the lack of ducks in WOW was just as important as the new skin colors. Bella is someone who runs another guild called the Howling Owl and that wasn’t the last time she said something like this. I was provided screenshots of her response to a very real problem that is going on in the guild. All the proof can be found in this gallery. https://imgur.com/a/NhNkJwM

Furthermore, it should be understood that this presentation of understanding and support is meant to save face. This is why you all are seeing their BLM statements on the menagerie, fire fest, and guild tumblr pages. How can they speak to supporting black people and wanting to empower their voices when within their own guild they quite literally ostracized one? The post for the Fire Fest had a pride flag that didn’t have the brown and black stripes. A change that only occurred because I brought it up and it was later argued that it’s relatively new so people may not use it. If anyone looked at the menagerie post for BLM you will see there is a quote from Angela Davis. Just the day before, I posted the same quote from her as she is someone I not only follow in philosophy but met and had discussion with in real life. So not only is there a silencing problem here but there is also a lack of credit? Of all the quotes to choose from you pick Angela Davis and that one of her many? Yeah right.  

On June 5 I was approached by an officer from the guild to speak about what changes could happen. This was Alastren, the only officer who made a public statement to do better. The only one who came from a place of wanting to grow rather than defensiveness and fragility. This is an officer of the guild (who has now left) that said the group’s echo chamber is problematic. I will include the gallery of our conversation because it speaks for itself. https://imgur.com/a/htamCSp

I will also include links to the guild leader Dice’s post and Alastren’s post for those of you who haven’t seen it for context. You can find Bear’s post on the twerk off and Rhillia’s post about the ‘Uldum Nights’ here for reference.

It was stated earlier that this guild shouldn’t be “condemned for a mistake”, the problem is this isn’t just one mistake. This is a deep rooted mindset that has been maintained for a very long time. The only difference is that now it is coming to light. There was an instance of someone calling the COVID-19 the Kung Flu and no other discussion was had about it after.  So no, I’m not just going to sit tight and hope they change. Alot of people in that guild have privilege to not be concerned with what is going on and to try to just act like this will go away. I do not have that allowance. I never had and never will. Being in this guild was not a positive experience when all I did was give support and content to the guild’s purpose of entertainment and performances. I will not let this get pushed under a rug or forgotten. This shit is real and I’m exhausted. I will no longer have anything to do with Succulent Tart and the Menagerie Boutique. You do not deserve my support when you can’t even earnestly support the cause of many.  

@succulent-tart

[garethlyons]

“Good cops”

[garethlyons]

This fucked me up for a good 20 minutes.

My anger was my own heart standing over the beaten-down part of me and saying "You may be too whipped to feel it completely right now, but this situation is not okay and how they are treating you is not okay, so I am going to watch your back until you can protect yourself again."

I've been told hanging on to my anger is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

No. It's me realizing I had the right to stand up from the table and not drink the poison I was being told was the only truth. It's me reclaiming the power I ceded to others in a desperate attempt to survive.

Never. Again.

[garethlyons]

here is a google doc of resources to support george floyd, ahmaud arbery, roy stoddart, and the many, many, many other wrongfully murdered black people in the united states — as well as the black lives matter movement in general

please share this link or post to anyone and everyone