#look its a full spectrum of lesbians

[matlab-exe]

something wrong?

[actualmermaid]

It's been three months since I made this post about Saints Sergius and Bacchus, John Boswell, classical Western homoeroticism, and Christian homophobia.

Since then I have read both of Boswell's books on the history of gay/queer people in premodern Christianity (Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality and Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe), familiarized myself more fully with the spectrum of charges against Boswell and his scholarship, and realized that he's been the subject of ideologically-motivated smear campaigns by just about every political/religious/academic faction you can imagine. My conclusion: Professor Boswell is a saint, martyr, and important queer elder who does not get the respect that he deserves, and I'm in awe of the sheer volume of the massive genius brain that was somehow crammed into his little blond head.

ANYWAY. This is an official followup to my original post, now that I've read Boswell's work.

I take back my hunch that Boswell's work was not intersectional. He was, in fact, a pioneer in the field of medieval social history, and utilized a wide range of critical lenses in his work. He was inhibited by the lack of documented evidence about some groups (for example, he was frequently criticized for not writing more about lesbians, but he was open about the difficulties of researching lesbians in history and explained what he was doing as a scholar and as a teacher to mitigate this) but he constantly called attention to issues of class, gender, and other social factors wherever they were relevant.

I was RIGHT in noticing that the slight difference in rank between Sergius and Bacchus seems to be an erastes/eromenos indicator! Boswell spoke at greater length and with greater sensitivity about erastes/eromenos dynamics in history, so if you want a deeper look into that, you should read his books.

I was also probably right in noticing that the legend of Sergius and Bacchus is seeded with various forms of Byzantine propaganda! I really wish that I could talk to him about it. :(

Both secular queer theorists and religious queer theologians seem to be most uncomfortable with the fact that Boswell was reporting on historical facts and observable social forces, not idealized concepts of queer people as somehow being more ethical or spiritual than the straight majority. He included evidence of things like abuse, prostitution, and exploitation not because he thought they were cool, but because they were part of the material reality of queer people's existence in the past, just like they were part of the material reality of his own 70s-80s gay subculture.

That was his bottom line: gay/queer people are a normal human variation, and as a historian, he could provide hard proof of their existence and what their lives might have been like. If his work seems "shallow" or "dated" to some more modern queer researchers, it's only because so many people were willing to dismiss his scholarship, reject his work, and abandon his research leads after he died. But, he was actually super smart and his scholarship was actually meticulous, so even his most dedicated critics have been unable to "debunk" him. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality most recently had a 35th-anniversary reprinting, and he is still being cited as an authority by more recent scholars.

Even though the full strength of the Church and the Academy were leveled against him, his work has proven its own worth. He still deserves to be read and discussed by both professional scholars and enthusiastic hobbyists. And, the Open and Affirming movement in Christianity wouldn't be as strong as it is without his confirmation that "gays and lesbians are normal," as he put it, and not simply a construct of modern society.

Rest in power, Professor Boswell. We won't forget you.

Since I made that post, I have also opened a sticker shop with a bunch of queer Christian saint icons, including Boswell and some of the queer saints he discovered/wrote about. They're pretty cool. You should buy one.

[goofyarbuzik]

hi cookie run fandom.

There is a serious topic I'd like to talk about.

tw/cw for opinions

(and lil warning for possible grammar mistakes, english is my second language ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ)

You may disagree with me, that's completely fine, but don't force your opinion on me.

So, what I wanna talk about is extremely childish and toxic behavior of this community.

For the whole time that cookie run exist there were a lot of completely USELESS and CHILDISH conflicts about any kind of ships and other people's headcanons for any character's sexuality. Especially nowadays, which always give me a lot of negative emotions.

Usually these arguing happens in the english part of cr community(which I'm not even surprised about), but it also happened in any other part of the fandom. Which always looks completely ridiculous and childish, don't you think?

y'all literally act like a walking circus or kindergarten whenever you fight over headcanons/ships

please understand that Cookie run franchise does not have any confirmed queer characters. The only exception is Cookie's with different genders, like bigender, non-binary etc.

And I'm so upset that I really have to explain this.

Cookie run's main focus is it's story. It doesn't focus on romance almost at all. Y'all fighting for no fucking reason

You can headcanon character's sexuality in any way you'd like, you can ship any character with each other (AS LONG AS ITS NOT PEDO/ZOO ETC, THAT'S DISGUSTING)

just don't force your, not gonna be sorry for saying this, shitty opinion on others. You shouldn't attack any person just because "YOU SHIP A (non) CANONICAL GAY/LESBIAN WITH THE OPPOSITE GENDER!!!1!1!!"

just stop making a fucking circus because of SOMEONE'S ON THE INTERNET, WHO YOU SEE FOR THE FIRST TIME opinion. I recently had a situation where I've received an insult simply because I ship red velvet with pomegranate, which made me not want to post any content with them in any other socials than my telegram channel

I was so insecure about sharing my comfort ship FOR A LONG FUCKING TIME, and after I finally felt confident enough I DONT WANT TO DO THAT EVER AGAIN.

Im starting to feel very disgusted and uncomfortable in this shitty fandom, because I can get accused of "being homophobic" just because I don't share the same headcanon with another person.

Again, cookie run focuses ON IT'S STORY, NOT ROMANCE, which means that people have full freedom to headcanon and ship characters in any way as long as it's not problematic

And if a character feels attracted to the same gender that DOES NOT mean that they're gay/lesbian, REMEMBER ABOUT BISEXUAL SPECTRUM FOR ONCE, GUYS.

I'm really tired of people fighting over COOKIE'S WITH ALMOST NO CONFIRMED SEXUALITY, I'm tired of people get hate for ships that are not that bad, JUST STOP THIS INSANE SHIT ALREADY.

[izziessogay]

More tenderness for transness

I have something to say about how transness is being dealt with lately. There has been a lot of controversy, but I ask you to put your pitchforks down for a moment and listen:

Transness is delicate like all forms of queerness. And recently we have allowed queer sexuality more freedom and space than queer gender. We’ve realized that labels are often restricting and don’t always allow us to view a full queer perspective. We realized that our mothers are sometimes really bisexual, our grandpas a little gay and our darling historic icons always a bit queer. We also realized that that’s totally okay and that it is in no way harmful to recognize queerness in our elders or peers even if they themselves have not recognised it. It isn’t meant to label, it’s meant to understand eachother and eachother’s experiences.

So tell me, why do I get shocked looks from my queer peers whenever I mention that my father is transfeminine. The guy who would kill and die for Janis Joplin, the guy who cried when the military cut his long hair and who hasn’t cut it in the almost 40 years since then? Why is that outrageous? Why is it outrageous to recognise transness in people who haven’t explicitly stated their exact gender identity?

Finding and seeing eachother has always been crucial to queer survival. To this day it is often still not safe nor desirable to announce your identity freely, especially for trans(feminine) people. On top of that trans spaces are still hidden and not easily accessible for anybody (for good reason). So it takes an invitation. Someone to know you before you know yourself.

I do not like the language we use when it comes to spotting our own kind. Both clocking and egg cracking seem out of place for the gentle way that we see our own mannerisms, behaviours and struggles reflected in a complete stranger. It sometimes happens in such subtlety that we ourselves don’t notice it: remember that friendgroup in school that started out as fully straight, but by the time you graduated everybody ended up being queer? What about flocking to queer artists and music (Take Me To Church had an impact on so many of us before we even knew what it stood for)? What about the lesbian aunt that we felt a strange connection to? We’ve always known how to find eachother, and it has never been malicious.

It is no crime to recognise your own self and your community in someone, even if they are a complete stranger, even if they don’t consciously recognise it themselves and even if they have already passed. To conflate this gentle and harmless practice with the misogynistic trope of the crazy fetishising (cishet) fangirl that will go to the point of obsession, harassment and stalking of someone to “prove” their queerness seems out of place and quite conservative. We as queer people cannot forget that we all suffer from queerphobia and applying a conservative rhetoric to the queer people we don’t like/understand won’t save us from said queerphobia. It’s not evil to treat transness and its spectrum delicately. It is not evil to assume someone’s queer gender. In many cases it will even be helpful to them, with discovering themselves, finding answers to their struggles, integrating into a community and many other things. And even if none of that applies, it helps us understand them better and see their lives through a lens that isn’t often graced by sunlight.

Lastly, I want you to ask yourself one thing: Who truly gets harmed if a cis person is called trans (in a non-harassing way and without pressure to come out)? In my opinion it is not trans people and definitely not cis people.

[correctproseka]

Ok but- and I am saying this with respect for your point of view bc I think you are correct on a wider societal level- I keep seeing this argument of 'There is more m/m fanfic therefore this fandom is lesbiphobic and misogynistic' and it has bothered me for a long time. As a queer girl myself, asexual and somwehere on the aro spectrum, who has many wlw ships and enjoys looking at art for them... I don't enjoy reading wlw or straight fics bc I subconsciously project myself into the relationships too much (this is also why i generally avoid reading straight romance books lol). When I read mlm fic, there's a degree of separation from me that means I can enjoy it without getting anxious about imagining myself in that position.

I'm not trying to be like 'oh woe is me i cant read yuri', im just explaining my own reasons, and trying to get across that other people have their own reasons for what they enjoy- ranging from long winded explanations like mine to 'idk I'm attracted to guys and I like writing about them'. People have preferences, and that comes across in most fandoms, even in heavily female casts like prsk. Like I mentioned, lack of wlw content IS an issue.... when it comes to mainstream media. But when it comes to fanfic... the majority of writers are queer, many are women, hell, some of the most prolific writers of mlm fic I know are lesbians. People have their own reasons for writing what they like, and they do it for FREE. I think it's silly to say a fandom is misogynistic when most of these fandoms are full of queer female writers writing what they want to write.

And again I say this with respect because I do see where you're coming from- instead of saying 'write less mlm', because absolutely one will listen to that.... say 'write more wlw'. Write what you want to see in the world! More fics are always a good thing!! And if you don't want to read about guys, that's what the ao3 filters are for lol.

If you actually read all this, thank you, I really appreciate it. Sorry for yapping in your ask box LOL I just wanted to express my opinion on this topic bc it's something that I care about a lot. Also, like I said, while I don't read fic for it I still love wlw ships so..... ANHANE YURI FOREVER 🌈🌈🌈🌈

See, the thing is, i agree with you, but is that really the only reason for A LOT of people?

What im advocating is not for people to write less mlm, is for they to look at themselves and wonder why they like it more, i know a lot of people who claim to like the boys more for this reason or that, then turn around and act completely misogynistic 5 seconds later, some of them in this fandom, even.

Im just saying that in a fandom with way more girls than boys, it makes not much sense how much more content of the boys there is.

The ao3 filters exist, yes, but they dont stop me from having barely any content even on bigger wlw shipps, from rereading the same fics over and over again because that's all I have for days/weeks, months even on the leoni/mmj side of fandom.

Sincerely, I have myself over 50 prsk fics, only one includes mlm and that one is a multi, focused mainly on platonic ships, and is still somehow my most famous fic.

I see your point, really, and I agree with it, but it only comes so far in a fandom like prsk where there's way more girls, or Alien Stage, that my friend got me into and the girls have been canon for so long but the boys have nearly always been more famous, even before they became "canon". As a wlw enjoyer its tiring to see this over and over again in every fandom im in, you know?

Plus, its not just not writing girls, its how the fandom ACTS with them. Saki as just a fodder for Tsukasa angst, Honami might as well not even exist, Mizuki themselves exist only to be a friend to Rui to a lot of people, An and Kohane? They're only backgrounds on Akitouya, that is when An doesn't get in between the ship, of course. Emu can't even be shipped with one of the boys, because she's a child obviously, but she can be shipped with Nene, just leave her to the side its alright.

Its a lot of double standards, and not only "not writing fics", the fics are just a quick way of showing what I mean.

[thepringlesofblood]

pls help me figure out what pride flags these are

so i've been making a pride flag index just for my own personal reference and several of the picrews i've been messing with lately have pride flag backgrounds that i just can't place. i've tried looking them up, with mixed success, and i figured I could use tumblr scrying as a last resort.

putting em under the cut bc pictures big but ill link the relevant picrews ofc

important: no one make fun of or do discourse about any of these identities/flags or be mean to the picrew ppl. I just want to know the the identity(s) associated with these flags bc I enjoy knowledge. might post my full index when I can.

also. there are many (good!) online flag indices. none of them have these. i just gotta solve the mystery

from this picrew:

1 (found! it's a boyflux flag!)

2 (found! it's the ace-spectrum (or acespec) flag!)

3 (found! this is a pomogender flag)

4 (found! it's the demiboyflux flag)

5 (found! it's a disability pride flag)

then from this picrew

6 (found! it's a relatively new sapphic lesbian flag by a biracial lesbian named Lydia - 7 is the original, 6 is a variant she made to look more aesthetically pleasing)

7 (this is the original, and the above is a variant rearranged for aesthetics)

this one. has many flags. i legit couldn't get through them all. i'm choosing to just try to find these 3. it's like a ball so i extended the flags a bit to make em more recognizable.

8 (found! it's the cenelian flag!)

9 (possible identification: a combination of the toric and trixic flags?)

10 (found! it's an abroromantic flag)

lastly, from this one

11 (found! it's the new polyamorous pride flag)

will update w answers if I find them. thank you for your service picrew creators o7

UPDATE: thanks @hernymills for letting me know that 11 is the new polyamorous pride flag, and 5 is a disability pride flag!

UPDATIER UPDATE: thank you so much to @allexistencevoid for ID'ing all of these! the only mystery remaining is if 9 is indeed intended to represent both the toric and trixic communities, or if it has a different or additional meaning. @allexistencevoid identified that a combo of the toric and trixic colors were used, but neither of us have found this specific flag on its own.

I found a bunch of other flag indices through googling all of these identities too! god i love information lol

[popculturelib]

In honor of Juneteenth, we are featuring four books in our collection by queer Black and African authors. Descriptions of the books are below the read more.

Lez Talk: A Collection of Black Lesbian Short Fiction (2016) ed. by S. Andrea Allen & Lauren Cherelle.

Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happy Ever Afters (2022) ed. by Jessica P. Pryde

The Black Imagination: Science Fiction, Futurism and the Speculative (2011) ed. by Sandra Jackson and Julie E. Moody-Freeman

Meanwhile: Graphic Short Stories about Everyday Queer Life in Southern and East Africa (2019) by the Qintu Collab

The Browne Popular Culture Library (BPCL), founded in 1969, is the most comprehensive archive of its kind in the United States.  Our focus and mission is to acquire and preserve research materials on American Popular Culture (post 1876) for curricular and research use. Visit our website at https://www.bgsu.edu/library/pcl.html.

Lez Talk

A necessary and relevant addition to the Black LGBTQ literary canon, which oftentimes over looks Black lesbian Writing, Lez Talk is a collection of short stories that embraces the fullness of Black lesbian experiences. The contributors operate under the assumption that "lesbian" is not a dirty word, and have written stories that amplify the diversity of Black lesbian lives. At once provocative, emotional, adventurous, and celebratory, Lez Talk crosses a range of fictional genres, including romance, speculative, and humor. The writers explore new subjects and aspects of their experiences, and affirm their gifts as writers and lesbian women.

Black Love Matters

An incisive, intersectional essay anthology that celebrates and examines romance and romantic media through the lens of Black readers, writers, and cultural commentators, edited by Book Riot columnist and librarian Jessica Pryde. Romantic love has been one of the most essential elements of storytelling for centuries. But for Black people in the United States and across the diaspora, it hasn't often been easy to find Black romance joyfully showcased in entertainment media. In this collection, revered authors and sparkling newcomers, librarians and academicians, and avid readers and reviewers consider the mirrors and windows into Black love as it is depicted in the novels, television shows, and films that have shaped their own stories. Whether personal reflection or cultural commentary, these essays delve into Black love now and in the past, including topics from the history of Black romance to social justice and the Black community to the meaning of desire and desirability. Exploring the multifaceted ways love is seen--and the ways it isn't--this diverse array of Black voices collectively shines a light on the power of crafting happy endings for Black lovers. Jessica Pryde is joined by Carole V. Bell, Sarah Hannah Gomez, Jasmine Guillory, Da'Shaun Harrison, Margo Hendricks, Adriana Herrera, Piper Huguley, Kosoko Jackson, Nicole M. Jackson, Beverly Jenkins, Christina C. Jones, Julie Moody-Freeman, and Allie Parker in this collection.

The Black Imagination

This critical collection covers a broad spectrum of works, both literary and cinematic, and issues from writers, directors, and artists who claim the science fiction, speculative fiction, and Afro-futurist genres. The anthology extends the discursive boundaries of science fiction by examining iconic writers like Octavia Butler, Walter Mosley, and Nalo Hopkinson through the lens of ecofeminist veganism, post-9/11 racial geopolitics, and the effect of the computer database on human voice and agency. Contributors expand what the field characterizes as speculative fiction by examining for the first time the vampire tropes present in Audre Lorde’s poetry, and by tracing her influence on the horror fiction of Jewelle Gomez. The collection moves beyond exploration of literary fiction to study the Afro-futurist representations of Blacks in comic books, in the Star Trek franchise, in African films, and in blockbuster films like Independence Day, I Robot, and I Am Legend.

Meanwhile

The lived realities of young queer people in African contexts are not well documented. On the one hand, homophobic political discourse tends to portray queer people as 'deviant' and 'unAfrican', and on the other, public health research and advocacy often portrays them as victims of violence and HIV. Of course, young queer lives are far more diverse, rich and complex. For this reason, the Qintu Collab was formed to allow young queer people from a few African countries to come together, share experiences and create context-specific, queer-positive media that documents relatable stories about and for queer African youth. We see this as a necessary step in developing a complex archive of queer African life, whilst also personalising queer experiences and challenging prejudicial stereotypes. The Collab is made up of eighteen queer youth from Botswana, Kenya and Zimbabwe, two academics, three artists and a journalist. We first worked in small groups in each country through a range of creative participatory methods that focused on personal reflection and story-telling. Young people created personal timelines, and made visual maps of their bodies, relationships, and spaces. We then had group discussions about themes that emerged to help decide what to include in the comic works. At the end of 2018, we all came together in Nairobi, Kenya, for a week to collaborate on this comic book, and a set of podcasts on similar topics. We worked through various ways of telling stories, and developed significant themes, including family, religion and spirituality, social and online queer spaces, sex, and romantic relationships. Each young person created a script and laid out the scenes for a comic that told a short story from their lives. They then worked one-on-one with an artist to finesse those ideas into a workable comic, and the artists thereafter developed each story through multiple rounds of feedback from the story's creator and the rest of the group

[thessalian]

Thess vs the BBC

This is going to need to be two rants - one personal, one more ... indicative of the increasingly fascist-leaning hellscape in which I live. Sorry to fans of Doctor Who and a whole bunch of other terrific programming; today we’re flagging up the issues with the BBC.

The British Broadcasting Corporation actually reached its 100th anniversary last year. Well, at least as a private entity. It became a public organisation of the sort it is today in 1927. And ... y’know, they’ve been censoring shit for nearly as long. Back in the day, they wouldn’t refer to Prohibition at all, and pretty much pretended no one existed but the UK. Which ... y’know, still the Empire at that time, eye-rolling but about right for the time period. Thing is, they also shu down discussion of items of local and national politlcal controversy, because the government got upset. So I guess this current situation is old news.

This is ridiculous on so many levels for a country that seems to love its monarchy, however many bags of dicks its monarchy is and how functionally useless said monarchy is in the day to day. See, the internet has been my enabler in one fairly big thing, and that is when I want to figure out how something works or why it is the way it is, I poke at its foundations. Something I’ve been doing since being a kid and taking apart every piece of electronics in the house out of sheer curiosity ... or, like, my own brainspace with the help of coping mechanisms I learned in therapy. For everything else, I have Wikipedia and other stuff all over the internet. Why I’m bothering to go into that right now is because I was desperate to find out what the BBC’s official creed was. Because it’s not going to be written down as “We will do whatever the government says like good little mouthpieces” ... right? Right, actually. I’ve had a look at the BBC Charter as provided by the royals (which mostly waves people at Ofcom, the Office of Communications) and the accompanying document that clearly states that the editors of programmes are entitled to make decisions without influence from the owner.

Thing is ... ownership of the BBC is a bit tricky at the minute. Thatcher privatised a lot of it in her day, and the license fee freeze awhile back had to have also hurt. Hell, the BBC’s space on the politlcal spectrum’s been in question for a very long time. Usually it’s been left-leaning individuals thinking that the BBC is full of right-wing types and leans very right in its reportage, while Tories from Thatcher on down insisisted that the BBC was very culturally left-wing and that the establishment was “fighting against it”. Which ... is honestly kind of good, if you think about it. If the left thinks it’s right-leaning, and the right thinks it’s left-leaning, that suggests some kind of impartiality or at least lack of favouritism.

Well. Here we are in 2023 and even that nod to impartiality has gone out the fucking window.

First there’s the transphobia thing. Because, seriously - it keeps apologising to Rowling any time it isn’t purely complimentary or supportive of her TERF bullshit, and then there was the “We’re being pressured into sex by some trans women” article, which was literally, “lesbians feel obliged and pressured into having sex with trans women” with a skew towards “trans women aren’t women so lesbians shouldn’t feel obliged to have sex with them”. That one did at least get looked at by the complaints department, but despite the whole “your sample size is too small and thus your data is inconclusive” nature of the poll this shit was based on, it still exists at the moment. So ... yeah, sorry, BBC’s perfectly happy to keep this transphobic bullshit going.

This was over a year ago, when focus was a bit more Covid-directed, and it wasn’t specifically focused on acts of censorship and direct pandering to the current party in government. Now, though ... now we have serious pandering bullshit. So let’s talk for a little bit about Gary Lineker. I mean, there’s not that much to talk about - he used to play football (for the North Americans, just assume that I mean ‘soccer’ whenever I say ‘football’; it saves time), he has also been the face of our biggest-name potato chip brand, and has been presenting a football programme - Match of the Day. (I can’t think of an American version exactly but the best comparison I have is Hockey Night in Canada.)

Thing is, he also has a Twitter account. And opinions about the UK government’s unlawful (by ECRH standards and UN standards) treatment of asylum-seekers arriving in small boats. Apply the second to the first, and you have the BBC apparently cancelling him. Like, literally said, “Okay, you’re critical about the government’s policies, you can’t present a football programme until you’re back in lockstep”. To which Lineker and his co-presenters and a lot of potential incumbents said, “Okay, then we won’t present”. So currently the BBC will be having Match of the Day with out commentators. So if you happen to see a lot of jokes about Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg sitting on an obvious set for a TV programme ... that’s why; the jokes have been huge about getting only the rightest of right-wing pundits to present the show because apparently that’s what the BBC wants right now.

And no, that’s not even really joking, given the post I made yesterday about the BBC refusing to air a David Attenborough nature documentary series because of the potential for “right-wing backlash”. Apparently we don’t want anyone worrying about climate change because that’s not in the interests of the right wing at present. Sooooooo ... yeah, that’s a thing.

Honestly, never been so unhappy to have paid my TV licence in my life. I don’t even really need one; I don’t watch anything on the BBC, or live television at all. I only pay the fucking thing just in case I one day might want to watch live TV and because the constant hounding letters from the TV licence people give me anxiety. Which is probably the plan at the end of the day, which pisses me off. See, that’s where the BBC gets all its money - from our licence fees. And of course, the government sets the value of the TV licence. So you see where the government has the BBC by the short and curlies, and you kind of have to wonder, have the Tories already applied pressure, or is the BBC just rolling over pre-emptively? Either way, most of the ‘independent’ (or rather, non-government-funded) news organisations are owned by Rupert Murdoch, who’s also excessively right wing. So suffice to say that a whole lot of our news is skewed that way for one reason or another. Living here is getting a little terrifying.

[scrapcheese]

MY PERSONAL HEADCANON OF THE DRAGON MAID CAST’S IDENTITIES

For context, Dragon maid is the first show i saw that has a same-sex couple in it as the main characters, so i have an emotional attachment to it. However, it is definitely filled with dubious stuff and things that make me uncomfortable!! (thanks coolkyoushinja (sarcastic))

Which is why i have created a version of dragon maid in my head that basically rewrites the series by taking out all the bits of canon that I don’t like and replacing it with my own interpretations! And that’s the version that all these headcanons exist in. 

also i'm sorry that i made like almost all of these characters sort of aroace im projecting!!!

======================

My personal hc for Fafnir and Takiya’s identities are that they are both somewhere on the aroace spectrum but care about each other a lot, so my interpretation of their relationship is mostly platonic but also can be read as romantic because i toe the line between platonic and romantic interactions really closely lmao. Basically they don’t do much PDA, and the closest thing to “romantic” that they do regularly is cuddle with each other. I say cuddle, but its more like they sit really near each other and like... pile. idk how to explain it but you get the idea

Fafnir is aroace and also agender (He doesn’t really think about it until he meets Takiya, but he does deeply care for this human and would not mind being in a “relationship” with him, whatever that is. Also he typically presents in a masculine way but i really think he would not care if he was something else. Gender just isn’t a thing that matters in his mind)

Takiya is asexual and bi but in the most arospec way you can imagine. I don’t think he would label it but it's probably closest to bi-grayromantic and asexual (he’s very sex-neutral and also has a preference for men) Also he definitely still looks at things and think “oh that's pretty” but doesn’t really feel anything much other than that Also personally I like to think that he’s trans and has been ever since he was in like primary because I can and he’s just like me frfr

“They’re just friends, why can’t people be normal about it” well because i really like their relationship with each other and its really domestic and i think it can be read as more than just a basic “they are bros, pals, buddies”

“Why so many specific labels, just do asexual or bisexual or something” Because this is my headcanon and I get to be as specific as i want.

Kobayashi is demiromantic lesbian because i feel like she definitely knows she is attracted to women but when it comes to forming a romantic bond? would take some time with her actually getting used to and opening up to people (I mean that’s how she expresses her love for Tohru in the manga as well, took her a while to reciprocate and that’s only after she gets closer to Tohru!!) Also we’re ignoring anything that happens in canon. I like transfem kobayashi headcanon as well!! Her and takiya are both mlm wlw and ftm mtf solidarity i don’t make the rules

Tohru gives me unlabeled but really really likes women for sure, also she’s probably polyamorous. 

Personally, I like to think Lucoa is aromantic and also on the ace spectrum (This one is entirely headcanon (as in no canon input); she’d still have a pretty flirty personality, i just think she really likes trolling)

Elma is full on demiromantic and demisexual with a touch of pan, also she is definitely polyamorous! Did you see her marriage arc in the manga (ch 106-111)?? She’s absolutely poly and personally her conversation with tohru in ch 111 really makes me read her as arospec teehee

Kanna and Saikawa are both children so i won’t speculate on their identities too much, but they are definitely not straight, especially Saikawa

Same reasoning with Shouta, but I think he is straight for now.

[raisinchallah]

vriska ^_^

First impression

well u chose violence today i see :3 interesting i recall liking her and finding her fun but oh my god it was 10 years ago i read it i feel like i cant actually remember a strength of emotion or anything on that first read i think i was simply overwhelmed by the onslaught of new characters

Impression now

iconic untouchable insane girl fail girl pathetic sad terrible launched a thousand discourses

Favorite moment

is it mean to say when she got stabbed by terezi was iconic and rearranged my youthful brain cells?

Idea for a story

terezi and vriska watch naruto (with running commentary)

Unpopular opinion

i mean this is just a loaded question to ask about vriska i think every possible opinion a person could have about vriska is probably unpopular like you could just create a computer that generates new baffling vriska takes like the entire spectrum in an attempt to study and construct the entire world of vriska opinionology but it would not get at the full breadth of vriska opinions created by humans on our little internet and also everything it would spit out would be unpopular

but heres my take you really have to thread the needle with like levels of patheticness and like terribleness i think people either assume shes extremely evil the worst ever or like oh shes my pathetic little self insert character because ur also an insane lesbian or something and i dont think anyone understands her essence or the correct level of modulation on their vriska takes in the vriska discourse but also again this is both a universal vriska opinion and also one that everyone in the world hates so you know

Favorite relationship

i mean what else could a person say except again the original brain damage itself the cause of everything wrong with me etc vriska and terezi i just think its fun how they are like tormented by like the standards of troll society and both view themselves as the fuck up and the other as the one succeeding but also like hate the other for this and like have been driven apart but nobody understands them better than each other and like how they then play insane murder games with little human boys as their puppets like their insane ethical conundrums that terezi has to view vriska as a bad person to be able to kill her and also to be able to feel like she herself is not a bad person despite participating in most of vriskas shit and that you know terezi literally reset the universe to get to see her again after living for three years with the guilt of killing her you know normal stuff

Favorite headcanon

shes a scene girl thats why her hair looks like that

[merrysithmas]

With that post talking about same gender attraction being what gay and bi are… i gotta ask… given genders are culture … do you think it is cultural to be gay or bi or straight … or do you think orientation evolved and gender is evolved too? If so does that mean sex stereotypes evolved as real…? Does it mean “homosexuality” in other nonhuman species isn’t actually homosexuality because we are just going off of sex and not gender…? Or is there cultural orientation (gender based) AND innate orientation (sex based) in humans? And then other animals with sexes just have the sex based ones.

hm i'm a little confused by this wording and not sure what post you are referring to?

but in my opinion gender and sex are both spectrums.

gender is one's internal sense of self, sex is one part of this. both of these things are a fixed identity that simply interact with how any specific society defines its roles and who in that society enforces these standards. and sex is a very complicated concept and not at all binary.

sex is an amalgamation of hormone levels, phenotypes (first and secondary sex traits), physiology (corpus collosum shape/size/branches etc), cell chimerism (certain organs with more of one parents genes expressed and others with the other parent), possible inclusion of DNA from absorbed twins in utero, chromosomes (many variations possible), crossing over in meiosis effecting receptor site gene expression (SRY gene can be muted during crossing over in gamede creation aka sperm/egg. a muted SRY gene for example will make an XY person not develop testosterone-based features in utero, but still have XY chromosomes etc). this combined with natural personality, etc this is all what sex entails plus much more. and all these traits are different levels inside EVERYONE therefore:

sex is INFINITE. my guess as a queer scientist is that there is likely a bell curve of various sex expressions which can be grouped as "cis" or "trans" or "other" in any give societal space. and that this bell curve of infinitely complex sex expressions in any given society has an influence on (but its important to note this is not the only influence in one's life) who is perceived as "cis" or "trans" within that society.

and of course this is regarding gender (who we are) not gender expression which can vary widly regardless of being cis or trans. for example, a cishet man can just like make up and pink and dresses and want to express himself that way. and why not? perfectly great. a trans woman can want to dress in a masc way and that's great. a lesbian can want to be high femme. whatever. that is merely aesthetic perference. you can't judge a persons sex or gender on their clothing, hair, or what have you.

gender (who you are), sex (what your body is doing), gender expression (how you choose to look), and sexual/romantic attraction (who you want/love) are four entirely diff categories and can be put together in infinite ways.

basically, as the Vulcans say, the world is full of infinite diversity in infinite combinations

and whoever someone says they are: they are.

so when i say i am nonbinary i know my internal body, my physical and mental brain, and my abstract soul are not describable by Western /society's limited categories of Man & Woman. i as an entire human body and soul dont fit in those categories as defined, often erroneously & with political/religious agenda, by Western Society. my internal physical identity i believe is different than what a "cis" woman or man would be.

for example, there have been numerous studies which suggest nonbinary people have different shaped corpus collosums than binary trans people or cis people. the corpus collosum is the structure which connects the two halves of one's brain. in cis people women have a web, men have columns (indicating women are better multitaskers and interpersonal communicators), binary trans people's CCs fit with their cis counterpart - so a trans woman will have a web/trans man will have columns, and nonbinary people have a mix of webs and columns. this is just one example.

plus i genuinely believe souls/energies/essences are genderless and we have access to all forms of energy in our physical forms via my buddhist beliefs. to me, the shape and form of our bodies are irrelevant.

as for sexual attraction yes people are gay, straight, bi, pan, ace, omni, etc etc etc! sexual attraction is complicated because sex is a spectrum! our language is just catching up to it which is why i think Queer is becoming a big great term meaning an identity or relationship: not cishet, not status quo (rejecting both sex binarism and gender binarism as per current society).

it is up to the individual how they view their personal sexuality. all those identities absolutely exist. some ppl may be attracted to bodies, others dont care, some are attracted to certain things and not others.

that is up to the individual how they wish to define themselves, but all those identities very much exist naturally in all forms of nature.

the over all lesson is all queer people are valid and their identities are true and who we say we are. and society just needs to catch up to us and let go of such rigid rules about every facet being run by its defintion of binarism and straightness. inclusivity of all will bring freedom to all.

[glimmer-gremlin]

I posted 14,710 times in 2022

That's 13,328 more posts than 2021!

141 posts created (1%)

14,569 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@red-revival

@cat-boy-tits

@yharnamsnewslug

@haboat

@vaspider

I tagged 2,179 of my posts in 2022

#homestuck - 41 posts

#drugs - 37 posts

#psychonauts - 15 posts

#my art - 14 posts

#unreality - 13 posts

#dragon age - 12 posts

#queer - 12 posts

#antisemitism - 10 posts

#cultist simulator - 10 posts

#oh no - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#no op sorry im still going to read “a hasty toilet” as “i cocked my ass and fired it like a gun into the chamber pot shattering it instantly

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

How Do you Do Fellow Cultists?

I made a uquiz to find out what your main Principle would be if you were a character in the cultsim world >> https://uquiz.com/8wxELS <<

blease enjoy

81 notes - Posted April 11, 2022

#4

tryna act normal during an enlightenment ascension

94 notes - Posted April 8, 2022

#3

So I just found out that there’s been some confusion between the Genderqueer flag, and the old UK suffragette flag that’s been co-opted by TERFs. Rather than give up our nice flag to the people who want us silenced and dead, I figured I’d offer up a temporary solution :)

See the full post

257 notes - Posted March 3, 2022

#2

Hiii ok so!!! Folks!!! When people were saying Don't Interact With Corporate Accounts because they will try to emulate tumblr culture

⬇️ This Is The Sort Of Posts They Were Telling You Not To Interact With ⬇️

This blog started posting in june of this year and 100% of their posts are totally straight-laced ads for switch games and promotions. Almost all posts are complete flops with under 10 notes with a handful getting up to maybe 200 notes. This post that mentions bowser's hot balls is the only one to break past that (for obvious reasons). Most of the notes on this one are people being reasonably incredulous "is this a parody account??" "they knew what they were doing" etc. I get it, but Don't Do That.

They are testing the waters and trying to figure out how to get ads past your adblockers. When you reblog a post like this for any reason, they succeed at doing this to every one of your followers.

Do Not Engage Means: Do Not Fucking Engage!

1,254 notes - Posted November 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

If I can get tooth-rottingly sincere for a second? TERFs and radfems are destined to lose in the end. A movement centered on hating others- especially a demographic that is and always has been present in every culture and group throughout history, and always will be- is utterly unsustainable. It is forced to prey on the vulnerable in order to recruit, and that kind of hatred just... weighs on you, colours your perceptions and makes you unable to engage with the world in a healthy way, drains you until you’re just an empty husk. If every trans person were wiped off the face of the earth today and every mention of us redacted from all history, there would still be kids born tomorrow who look at their assigned gender and go ‘hm. don’t like that’ and do something different. They would find people just like themselves and we would persist. I have no idea what the world is going to look like when I am long gone, but I know for certain that there will be trans people in it, just as there will be gays and lesbians, there will be bisexuals, aces, aros, nonbinary folk and EVERY infinitesimal point within the queer spectrum, because its simply not possible to expunge us from the world without eradicating all of humanity. That’s the thought that keeps me going, you know? Even leaving aside gender stuff- the urge to self-create and self-express, and the urge to love ourselves and love each other- it’s woven into our very natures! No matter what happens, that light can’t be snuffed out. Thank you for your time, and stay hydrated.

6,270 notes - Posted March 4, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[cyarskj1899]

22 Shows & Movies That Are Almost Too Dirty For Netflix

July 26, 2017

There may not be any actual porn on Netflix(there are other sites for that!), but there are several shows and movies that cut it pretty close. Sex/Life, an erotic drama series about a woman who takes a fantasy-charged trip down memory lane that leaves her torn between her husband and wild ex-boyfriend, went viral in 2021 for featuring a full-frontalscene of a character’s extremely large, uh, member. Meanwhile, the beloved (and tragically canceled) sci-fi show Sense8features multiple orgies. Suffice it to say that there are some shows and movies that are almost too dirty to be in Netflix.

Rather than question how these projects passed the site's censors, take it as a sign to give your “Netflix and chill” nights new meaning. Whether you’re watching alone or looking to turn up the heat with a partner, these shows and movies will definitely leave you craving some sexy time – and may even give you some inspiration to try something new. Just don’t think about what they might be doing to your algorithm preferences…and maybe delete them from the queue if you happen to still be on your family’s Netflix account. Read on for the 22 sexiest shows and movies Netflix has to offer.

Love this list? Create a Likewise account to save these recs to your own watchlist and follow Bustle for more. You'll always know exactly what to watch next.

1

Duck Butter

Frustrated by the dishonesty they’ve experienced in dating, two women – Naima (Alia Shawkat) and Sergio (Laia Costa) — decide to fast track their relationship by spending 24 hours together – and having sex every hour. Shawkat and her co-writer Miguel Arteta told Vulture that they wanted to create film that was funny and tender with “lesbians as far as the eye could see.” But the movie is also very sexy; the chemistry between Naima and Sergio is fire.

2

Altered Carbon

Based on Richard K. Morgan’s 2002 novel of the same name, Altered Carbon is a cyberpunk odyssey set in a future where human consciousness can be transferred to available human bodies called “sleeves.” The show is full of action, following political operative Takeshi Kovacs as he takes on missions and searches for his long lost love Quellcrist Falconer. But there is also a lotof nudity and sex.

3

Orange Is The New Black

Centering around women imprisoned at the fictional Litchfield Penitentiary in upstate New York, Orange is the New Black has been widely acclaimed for its humanizing depictions of inmates and nuanced explorations of race, sexuality, and gender. But it is also a show about a bunch of horny women stuck in an enclosed space with not much to do. Naturally, hookups ensue.

4

Sense8

Hailing from Matrix directors the Wachowski sisters, Sense8 follows eight strangers who suddenly discover they’re psychically and physically connected. The sci-fi series features of plethora of complex characters of different races and countries and across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. It also includes a ton of very sexy sex; yes, this is the show with that orgy scene you’ve heard so much about. 

5

Amar

An intimate Spanish romantic drama, Amar traces the experiences of young couple Laura (María Pedraza) and Carlos (Pol Monen) as they fall in love for the first time. Their relationship is full of passion and sex in the beginning, but a year later find themselves in a much different place.

6

Lust Stories

Hailing from prominent Indian directors, this 2018 collection of short films explores intimacy, sex, and love through the perspective of four Indian women. One confronts the fallout of a passionate affair, another discovers self-pleasure.

7

Ride Or Die

This edgy Japanese film is about two childhood BFFs: Rei (Kiko Mizuhara) and Nanae (Honami Sato). After learning Nanae is in an abusive relationship with her husband, Rei, a lesbian, decides to kill him to show her love for Nanae. Nanae is horrified, but Rei feels no regret because it meant saving her friend. As the two struggle to reconcile their conflicting emotions, violence (and sexiness) ensues. 

8

Outlander

This period drama has so many sex scenes, there are numerous lists ranking the best ones. It’s based on Diana Gabaldon’s popular novel series of the same name and follows a World War II nurse who accidentally time travels from 1945 to 1743 — where she subsequently meets the love of her life and has lots of hot sex with him. 

9

Bridgerton

Speaking of sexy period dramas, we’d be remiss not to mention Bridgerton, the Shonda Rhimes-produced Netflix series that exploded in late 2020. It’s based on Julia Quinn’s bestselling romance novels and follows the eight siblings of the powerful Bridgerton family as they attempt to find love in Regency era London. Come for Regé-Jean Page’s abs, stay for the sharp writing and scandal.

10

Elisa & Marcela

What’s hotter than forbidden love? Based on a true story, this 2019 romance film follows the love story of Elisa (Natalia de Molina) and Marcela (Greta Fernández), two women who meet and fall in love in 1885 but have to keep it a secret. Eventually, one of them poses as a man so that they can get legally married. It’s both incredibly romantic and very sexy.

11

Newness

After meeting on a dating app, Martin (Nicholas Holt) and Gabriella (Laia Costa) begin a whirlwind relationship. They begin to test each other’s emotional and physical boundaries — including hooking up with other people — making this 2017 romance drama particularly steamy.

12

Sex Education

The title says it all, doesn’t it? Netflix’s hit British comedy stars Asa Butterfield as Otis Milburn, a shy teenager who just so happens to know a ton about sex (in theory at least, less so in practice) thanks to his sex therapist mom. His crush Maeve (Emma Mackey) sees this as a smart business opportunity and convinces Otis to open a sex therapy consulting business for their fellow classmates. The show features honest conversations about discovering sex for the first time, so its portrayals of sex are more awkward than some of the other entires on this list, but there certainly are plenty of them.

13

She’s Gotta Have It

Spike Lee’s work is known for being politically charged, but there are also plenty of sexy moments in this spinoff of Lee’s iconic 1986 film of the same name as Nola Darling (DeWanda Wisse) juggles three lovers.

14

365 Days

This Polish erotic drama has been widely condemned for depicting a non-consensual relationship: a Sicilian man kidnaps a young woman from Warsaw and imprisons her for 365 days, hoping she’ll fall in love with him (spoiler alert: she does). If you’re willing to look past the problematic conceit of the plot, the sex scenes are insanely hot — and explicit.

15

Riverdale

Riverdale puts a dark, twisty, and very adult spin on the beloved Archie comics, which were originally known for being pretty wholesome. The CW show has a reputation for being over the top, following Archie (KJ Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart) and the gang as they track down serial killers and try to survive other dark forces lurking around their town. This is still high school, though, so there are a lot of hookups, breakups, and love triangles in between the violence and mystery-solving.

16

Easy

Set in Chicago, this Netflix anthology series follows various characters throughout the city as they navigate love and life. It's a voyeuristic and honest portrait of how people navigate intimacy, and while it’s not explicitly about sex, there is a great deal of it throughout its 25 episodes.

17

MILF

Three women in their 40s are dealing with life and heartbreak. While on vacation in the south of France, they begin steamy affairs with much younger men who all work at a local sailing club. The plot itself is pretty flimsy, but if you’re just looking for a light, fun, sexy watch, this should fit the bill.

18

A Perfect Ending

After admitting to her two lesbian best friends that she and her husband only have sex once every six months — and she’s never had an orgasm — Rebecca (Barbara Niven) enlists the services of a high-end female escort named Paris (Jessica Clark). Rebecca’s experiences having sex with another woman — which includes plenty of onscreen nudity — helps her to finally learn the true meaning of “The Big O.”

19

An Easy Girl

The winner of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival SACD Award for Best French Language Film, An Easy Girl(aka Une Fille Facile) is a sensual coming-of-age story centered on 16-year-old Naima (Mina Farid), who spends the summer with her sexually adventurous cousin Sofia (played by Zahia Dehar, a model who was involved in the 2009 underage prostitution scandalwith France’s national soccer team). Just as an example: one scene shows Sofia teasing two horny teenagers by seductively caressing and discussing the softness of her entire body.

20

Bonding

While moonlighting as a dominatrix to put herself through school, Tiff (Zoe Levin) enlists her best friend Pete ((Brendan Scannell) to be her assistant. His entreé into the world of BDSM is awkward and comedic, but ultimately freeing — and good fodder for his stand-up comedy career. The show is mostly a comedy about friendship, but particularly in Season 2, it helps to demystify some of the stigma surrounding sex work.

21

Sex/Life

If you’ve heard anything about this steamy Netflix series, it’s probably that there’s a full-frontal shot of Adam Demos’ character’s massive penis about 20 minutes into Episode 3. There are five sex scenes in the first episode alone, plus a sex party and a scene in which Brad (Demos) eats melted chocolate off of protagonist Billie’s (Sarah Shahi) butt. Needless to say Sex/Life gives 50 Shades of Grey a run for its money.

22

After

Yes, this is the movie inspired by Harry Styles fan fic.Shortly after arriving at college to start her freshman year, Tessa Young (Josephine Langford) meets a dark and mysterious boy named Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) with whom she begins a torrid relationship — and has a lot of sex.

This article was originally published on

[unraveling-gailee]

The World in Technicolor

When you are young you are full of color. You see the world as it is, even painting it into your own version of a fairytale. But as you grew older, your eyes start to strip this ideal world into its reality. As a chubby kid, you really need to lose weight in your teenage and adulthood years because as they say, the eyes love first. Boys should never wear make-up, cry, or even claim their weaknesses. The childhood interest in playing cars should be outgrown by a girl because if not, she will most likely be lesbian later on. These are words that I have grown to hear and to be honest, sometimes I cannot help but believe in them. I grew up with a really low self-esteem, even doubting my own ability because they told me that fat is ugly. And probably, to some of the youth out there struggling to find their identities just like I am, being gay is a sin.

Is this really the truth of the world? The cold, hard to swallow, and distant reality that despite of the openness we have now, there are still instances that I doubt its authenticity. It even comes to a point where I ask myself, “Do I deserve this prejudice?” Am I really limited because of my weight? Is it really wrong for my friends to love someone of the same sex? Most importantly, will we let society restrain our uniqueness just because we don’t fit into its status quo?

No. We will not.

Now more than ever, I feel represented. In spite of all the labels casted on us, we should embrace who we are and break the stigma that taints our colors. I only have one body and I will do everything to take good care of it. Yes, it pains me to see the numbers reflected on the weighing scale. But I will not aim to lose weight for the sake of fitting into a body prototype the media feeds us with. Because I want to be healthier and be more at home in my own skin, I will strive to integrate exercises in my current lifestyle.

Although I am straight, I would still express my support and acceptance for people who choose to love differently. I do believe that this deviation from the girl meets boy troupe should become a societal norm wherein no one would be castigated for choosing a girl meets girl or boy meets boy type of romance. Certainly we can attest to the fact that we have come a long way from the openness of being gay in our society as compared to past generations. I have friends who shared with me that they are not embarrassed of who they are, but rather they are scared that by just being themselves, deep familial ties would be severed. Truly, although there is a wider acceptance when it comes to the LGBTQIA+ community, we still can’t deny the fact that inside conservative homes, the strong opposition regarding one’s sexuality still exists. It will still take a lot of effort to finally receive an acceptance. That may be the case, I suppose just hearing the words, “I understand” or “I am proud of you” will make everything worth standing up for. This is because being gay does not make you less of a person. You are still capable of hurting and sometimes, just the reassurance that you are understood provides the greatest sense of security.

If there is anything being in the medical field taught me, when dealing with our patients, we should look into the value of their lives in order to understand where they are coming from. Being sick may alter a person’s personality and attitude towards life. But despite the change they are undergoing, as their healthcare provider, we must be patient enough to walk with them into betterment. This is the same value that I would like to apply to all my future patients. We all have our insecurities, thus we all need the understanding and patience so that we can once again reignite our potentials. Fat, thin, dark, white, gay, lesbian, queer, or whatever you may be in the broad spectrum of colors into this world, we deserve to standout in our very own shade.

When we were young, we see the world in technicolor. And now, it is still possible to view the world in the same way without having to dim your own spotlight. Possessing the confidence and accepting yourself by boldly making your own statement will not ever be attributed to you being less of a professional man or woman. As my mother would always tell me, “Beauty is seen in the eye of the beholder.” Only this time, we do not need anyone’s eyes to see the beauty that beholds us, but rather through our own eyes we become courageously gorgeous. Real beauty does not come in labels, but in accepting our uniqueness.

Be bold, be brave, be the best version of you. Paint the town with your soul because you owe it to yourself to see the real you in this society of photoshopped pin-up posters.

[geneticmisfit]

Lesbians? I think you mean ‘bi with HEAVY preference for dudes’ am i right RPC

[a-queer-seminarian]

so ya wanna know about autism: masterpost

I give this google doc link out to individuals a lot, and realized it might be useful for a lot of people if i shared it more widely. It’s a masterpost of a whole bunch of Autistic Stuff -- here’s the link to the actual doc, but i’ll also post it all here on tumblr (under a readmore after the table of contents).

(edit: if the hyperlinks aren’t working for you, here’s the google doc url that you can copy and paste into an internet browser to access everything: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16BqhRv4IlZ6KcElGAEZOx8sFYwRs4W1jF-ddY_XKYnE/edit?usp=sharing )

Please spread it around (including sharing the google doc link outside of tumblr wherever you want). Feel free to comment with more resources, tumblr posts, articles, etc. that you find helpful! And if any links are broken, let me know.

It can be a major challenge for adult autistic folks to find content for us and by us, because so much ��official” content is 1) ableist and harmful and 2) geared towards parents of autistic children. So I’ve compiled just about every resource I’ve got that discusses autism by and for #actuallyautistic folks.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

- ORGANIZATIONS AND SELF ADVOCATES

- DEFINING AND DESCRIBING AUTISM

misc.

Metaphors and images for autism

Disability models

Issues with Functioning Labels, ideas of “Mild” - “Severe” autism

- AUTISM AND INTERSECTIONALITY

misc.

Autism among women

Autism and race

Autism and LGBTQ

- STUFF ON SELF DIAGNOSIS

misc.

Is it ADHD or Autism??

Tests / checklists

- STUFF ON PROFESSIONAL DIAGNOSIS

- AUTISTIC PRIDE / CULTURE AND HISTORY!

misc.

Autism / disability history and culture

The Neurodiversity Movement

Person first vs. identity first language

Cureism

- AUSTITIC TRAITS (BEYOND THE ONES COMMONLY DISCUSSED!)

Misc. - samefoods, lists, needing to know what to expect, etc.

Stimming

Communication stuff - misc. - Verbal/nonverbal - Infodumping - echolalia - Prosopagnosia - Aphasia - Eye contact

Special interests / hyperfixations

Auditory Processing Disorder

Sensory issues / Sensory Processing Disorder

Meltdowns and Shutdowns and Burnout

Executive function

Emotion stuff

- MASKING / PASSING / SCRIPTING

- WHY AUTISM SPEAKS AND ABA ARE SO BAD

- MISCELLANEOUS

Suicide

Allyship / for allistics - For parents of autistic persons

More non-speaking autistic self-advocates

misc.

_________________

SOME ORGANIZATIONS AND SELF ADVOCATES

ASAN!!

The Autistic Woman and Nonbinary Network

Amethyst Schaber’s “Ask and Autistic” YouTube full of videos on various autistic stuff

Lydia X.Z. Brown / Autistic Hoya 

Dr. Nick Walker

Mrs. Kerima Çevik

“Non-Speaking Autistic Speaking” - Amy Sequnzia’s blog

“The thinking person’s guide to autism”

The How-To Wiki for autism is actually really helpful! 

Ollibean blog .

DEFINING AND DESCRIBING AUTISM

Video: “What is autism?”

“About autism”

“What being autistic means to me”

Myths about autism .

Metaphors and images for autism - “Autism is a sundae bar” - “Autism is purple” - “Understanding the spectrum” comic - Another visual on the idea of a spectrum - And another visual on the spectrum - not an on-off switch .

Disability models - Understanding disability models - Video: models of disability discourse .

Functioning Labels, “Mild” or “Severe” autism - Article on functioning labels - “What’s wrong with functioning labels? A masterpost” - Another article on problems with functioning labels - “I don’t experience my autism mildly; you experience my autism mildly” - A non-speaking autistic who is labeled non-functioning discusses labels - “Most people would consider me low-functioning, but I hate that word” - Tweets from actual autistics on functioning labels - How the same person may be labeled low or high functioning at different times - “Mental Age Theory hurts people with disabilities” .

AUTISM AND INTERSECTIONALITY

Article on autism in communities of color + in the LGBTQ community

Autism, intersectionality, and STEM college outcomes

Articles on intersectionality on The Art of Autism .

Autism among women - A reminder about talking about differences in autism in “females” - “I thought I was lazy: the invisible struggle for autistic women” - “The women who don’t know they’re autistic” - “The gas-lighting of women and girls on the autism spectrum” .

Autism and race - “Being Autistic, Black, and Femme” - “Black and Autistic: Is there room at the advocacy table?” - “Autistic, Gifted, and Black” - “I, too, am Racialized” - Autistic Hoya on being Chinese & a transracial adoptee - Video: “Growing up BLACK in a neurotypical legal system” - The Autism Wars: Mrs. Kerima Çevik’s blog .

Autism and LGBTQ - “Autism and gender variance - is there a cause for the correlation?” - “The intersection of autism and gender” - Issues being transmasc and autistic - “Gendervague: At the intersection of Autistic and trans experiences” - “I’m an autistic lesbian and no, I don’t wish I were ‘normal’” .

STUFF ON SELF DIAGNOSIS:

A self-diagnosis masterpost!

Autistic self-dx is valid

“Reasons why self-dx is good from the pov of a professional” 

Some reasons why autism may go undiagnosed 

“Five reasons I am self identified as autistic”

“Beware of gatekeeping”

A masterpost of “resources for women who believe they might be autistic”

A therapist who’s never met an incorrect self-dx-er .

Is it ADHD or Autism?? - Links to information on the intersections between autism and ADHD - A list of things that are more ADHD, things that are more autism, and things that are both - Science: decoding the overlap between ADHD and autism - The concept of neurodivergent “cousins” .

Various tests / checklists: - ASD Checklist - List of inclusive autistic traits - Book: I Think I Might Be Autistic: A Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Self-Discovery for Adults .

STUFF ON PROFESSIONAL DIAGNOSIS:

Privilege in being able to get a diagnosis

Pros and cons of getting one

Someone answers the question “Was it worth it for you to get diagnosed as an adult?”

Professional diagnosis can get some people deported :/

This person’s journey from self-dx to pro-dx .

AUTISTIC PRIDE / CULTURE AND HISTORY!

The wiki how-to on accepting your autism

The wiki how-to on autistic strengths 

“7 Cool Aspects of Autistic Culture”

“I’m autistic and proud of it”

“You are not a burden” 

“What is self advocacy?” .

Autism / disability history and culture - Video: “Is autism a disability?” - A google drive “disability library” full of amazing content - A tumblr tag full of posts with autistic history - Book - Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking includes essays that explore the history of autism and of autistic self-advocacy - Book - Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity .

The Neurodiversity movement - The neurodiversity paradigm - Video: basic terms and definitions - Video: what is neurodiversity? - Liberating ourselves from the pathology paradigm .

Person first vs. identity first language (“person with autism” vs. “autistic person”) - ASAN on identity first language - Why it matters - Video: Autism ACTUALLY Speaking - Science: a study on what labels actual autistic persons prefer - An image showing the difference between person first and identity first language .

Cureism & seeking causes of autism - Video: “Autism and the disability community: the politics of neurodiversity, causation, and cure” - Video: Self advocacy in a culture of cure - An analogy against cureism - It’s okay that some autistics do want a cure - Quotes on Truth Is by Julia Bascom about not needing a cure - Cureism is eugenics - “If a cure is found, no one will force you to take it” .

AUTISTIC TRAITS (BEYOND THE ONES COMMONLY DISCUSSED!)

“Thinking about patterns of opposite extremes among autistic people” (e.g. how we tend to be sensory avoidant or sensory seeking, extremely gender conforming or extremely gender nonconforming, hyper-empathetic or hypo-empathetic)

An essay on inclusive autistic traits

This tumblr is dedicated to answering people asking about whether various things are autistic traits!

This person lists the reasons they think (know) they’re autistic; the list includes a lot of traits that often aren’t talked about 

“Some autism things” .

“What are samefoods?” - “Why do autistic people tend to samefood?”

It’s okay if you don’t like certain things / avoid certain things because of your autism

Wanting/needing to know how long something will last, what to expect .

Stimming! - Video: what is stimming? - Video on self-injurious stims - Video: autobiographical look at stimming and its role - More than a coping mechanism - A masterpost of examples of various types of stimming - Video on vocal / verbal stimming - Examples of vocal stimming as communication - A tumblr blog with a tag full of examples of body stims .

Communication stuff - Trouble with volume modulation; repetition; inconsistent talking habits - Autistic idiolects - Autistic dialect? - Autistics communicate differently amongst each other! . - Verbal/nonverbal - - Selective mutism - - Semiverbal communication - - Different amounts of access to speech - - A person on being non-verbal and using AAC - - People who are nonverbal still deserve to be listened to .

Infodumping - What is infodumping?

Echolalia - “Autism and Echolalia: what you need to know” - What is echolalia? - A tumblr blog’s tag featuring examples of echolalia

Aphasia and autism

Prosopagnosia (Face blindness) - Science: a study confirming that some 67% of autistic persons have some degree of facial recognition difficulties - Science: a study offering theories for why this is!

Video: Autistics and eye contact - Science: Researchers explore why autistic people avoid eye contact

Tendency to overexplain .

Special interests / hyperfixations - Some info on hyperfixations - Video on special interests - Emphasizing the intensity of these things - “What’s so special about a special interest?” - “Why we love what we love and why it should matter to you” - Not every autistic person knows everything there is to know about their special interest - “Interest hopping” - Dividing our life into “eras” of special interests .

Auditory Processing Disorder - Examples of APD - “You might struggle with auditory processing if…” .

Sensory Processing Disorder - Video: What is sensory processing disorder? - Video: a virtual experience of what it’s like to be at a party as someone with SPD - A post about some of the weird sensory stuff that many autistics experience (such as feeling nauseated when your real issue is a headache) - Many sensory issues aren’t just annoying, but physically painful - Difficulty in explaining autistic hypersensitivities - Auditory sensory musings - Trying to describe sensory overload - Not noticing when we’re hungry - Weird tolerance for big pain, intolerance for small pain - Science: “Unseen Agony: Dismantling Autism’s house of pain” - Tumblr blog with a tag of other posts about sensory issues .

Meltdowns and Shutdowns and burnout: - Meltdowns vs. shutdowns - Video: “What are autistic meltdowns?” - Video: “What are autistic shutdowns?” - A description of meltdowns - Signs of a shutdown in autistic people - How to support someone having a shutdown - Science: “Autistic shutdown alters brain function” - How to avoid meltdowns - “Dealing with meltdowns” - “The protective gift of meltdowns” - Video on autistic burnout - Article on burnout - Science: Autistic burnout described by a researcher - An article on autistic regression (burnout) - “Help! I seem to be getting more autistic” - talks about how things like burnout, aging, new environment, being around other autistics, and more can cause this .

Executive function - Video: “What is executive functioning?” - A chart describing the different aspects of executive function - “Executive functioning problems - a frustrating aspect of being autistic” - Autistic inertia .

Emotion stuff (including empathy) - Our emotional regulation is different - Article: (some) people with autism can read emotions, feel empathy - Video on misconceptions around autism and empathy - “Double standards: The irony of empathy and autism” - Science on the “double empathy problem” involving relationships between autistics and non-autistics - Not a bad person for not having empathy - More musings on autism and empathy - “Autistic grief is not like neurotypical grief” .

Alexithymia: - Science: Overlap between autism and alexithymia - Video: what is alexithymia? - “I don’t know how I feel”

MASKING / PASSING 

Video on passing

An infographic on autistic masking

Another video on masking / “hiding” in a neurotypical world

We are not obligated to mask or “act less autistic”

When you mask less and get told “you’ve been acting more autistic”

Getting called high-functioning because you mask/pass well

Scripting: - Video: what is scripting? 

WHY AUTISM SPEAKS AND ABA ARE SO BAD

A guide to identifying good autism organizations (and how they can improve!)

Autism Speaks:

Some facts and statistics 

An AS masterpost

Another AS masterpost

Video: What’s wrong with AS?

Video: a non-speaking autistic’s response to discussions between Autism Speaks and GRASP

“Enough with the puzzle pieces”

“I resign my roles at Autism Speaks”

“Responding to Autism Speaks” .

ABA:

Video: what’s ABA? 

“Studies find thin evidence for early autism therapies” 

Masterpost of why ABA is harmful

More on how ABA is abusive even if a kid “seems to like it”

An autistic describes ABA’s “quiet hands” method

And another post on how ABA is harmful

Trauma and autism

Alternatives to ABA

MISCELLANEOUS 

Suicide - Video: Speaking to suicidal autistics - Science linking autism and increased suicidality - Video: “diagnosis saved my life” .

Allyship / for allistics - Video: How to be an ally - Resources for supporting autistics during Autism Acceptance month and year-round! - Autistic accessibility needs - “How to be a friend to autistic people” - 15 things you never say to an autistic person - What to say / not to say to an autistic adult - Video: what shouldn’t I say to autistic people? - Video: Things not to say to an autistic person - Video: “Isn’t everyone a bit autistic?” - Don’t talk about “mental age” - “To those who tell autistic persons ‘everyone experiences that’” - Why it’s not helpful to say “well I don’t think of you as disabled / as autistic” - How to support a loved one who’s gone temporarily nonverbal - How to support someone having a shutdown - Help reduce meltdowns in a loved one - Don’t restrain an autistic person having a meltdown - Understanding why autistics seem “so picky” - Making communication easier for your autistic friend - Avoiding ableism against AAC users - How to protect your autistic employees from ‘no script found’ situations” .

For parents of autistic persons - “Don’t Mourn for Us” - “You don’t ‘lose a child to autism’” - Advice from autistic adults on treating your autistic children with respect - A masterpost of advice for “autism parents” - It’s okay if your kid doesn’t hug you or say “I love you” - “They keep publishing these violent articles” - “When you’re autistic, abuse is considered love” - You don’t have to tell everyone who comes across you and your kid in public that your kid is autistic / you don’t have to constantly apologize for your kid! - Your kid isn’t bad / uncooperative just because they have certain differences - Don’t tell autistic adults we are “nothing like your child” - A tag full of more tumblr posts about / for “autism parents”

More non-speaking autistic self-advocates - Video: “In My Language” by Mel Baggs - Mel Baggs: “Don’t ever assume autism researchers know what they’re doing” - Lysik’an: “You don’t speak for low-functioning autistics” - Film: Deej

Autistics and the idea of “getting out of your comfort zone”

Autistics accommodate allistics far more than the other way around 

It is icky when autistic persons are only valued when we’re “productive” 

Parents who are themselves autistic

Autism as genetic? - Science: “Autism Genetics, Explained”

Science: links to some studies on autism and gastro-intestinal issues, autism and caffeine, autism and sleep, autism and stimming, autism and queerness, autistic strengths, and more