Hey Friendly Reminder Tchaikovskaya Is Pretty Anti-sex Work And To Stop Putting Her On My Dash

no, you would pass as Leo tho

hey gays

let me guess your sexuality by seemingly random questions

A white person learning another language in the United States is a person looking to build a résumé.

A person of color learning English in the United States is a person looking to be treated like a human being.

It is not the same thing.

Books to #ReadWithPride

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month, everyone! 🏳️‍🌈

Seeing our identities and the world around us reflected in the books we read is vitally important. This Pride Month and all year long, we’re excited to spotlight some incredible LGBTQIA+ stories and creators. 

Check out some YA books to dive into and #ReadwithPride!

You Should See Me in a Crown

A joyful book about a queer Black girl who runs for Prom Queen to win a college scholarship…but then finds herself falling in love with one of the other girls in the competition. Start reading here!

Here the Whole Time

A body-positive YA love story between two boys who must spend 15 days living with each other over school break. Start reading here!

The Bridge

Two teens. One bridge. Four ways their story could end. A powerful novel about mental health, identity, and how our choices shape the world around us. Start reading here!

The Ghosts We Keep

After their brother is killed, Liam faces the world without the person they loved the most. Their brother’s best friend is the only one who knows what they’re going through…for better or worse. Start reading here!

Zara Hossain is Here

Zara’s family has waited years for their visas to be finalized, but now that dream is in jeopardy. Zara seeks justice to stay with her girlfriend and in the only home she’s ever known. Start reading here!

Follow Your Arrow

When bi influencer CeCe breaks up with her famous girlfriend and starts dating a boy who is very much NOT online, she’ll find out what it means to speak her truth. Start reading here!

Girl from the Sea

After Morgan is saved from drowning by a mysterious girl named Keltie, everything they’re each trying to hide will find its way to the surface. Start reading here!

Heartstopper

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out. Start reading here!

Where We Go From Here

A story about three boys whose lives will become intertwined in a story of HIV, friendship, love, and self-acceptance. Start reading here!

Technically, You Started It

A hilarious, snarky, and utterly addicting book that explores friendship, sexual orientation, mental health, and falling in love (even if things might be falling apart around you). Start reading here!

The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali

When Rukhsana’s conservative Muslim parents catch her with her girlfriend, Rukhsana’s carefully planned future begins to collapse around her. Start reading here!

I Wish You All the Best

After Ben comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they’ll move in with their estranged older sister and find friendship, love, and acceptance along the way. Start reading here!

The Music of What Happens

Over the course of one summer, two boys will have to face their biggest fears and decide what they’re willing to risk – to get the thing they want the most. Start reading here!

Openly Straight & Honestly Ben

This heartfelt series follows two boys, Ben and Rafe, who struggle to find who they really are in the midst of falling for one another. Start reading here!

Lie to Me

A pulse-pounding novel about love, betrayal, and a serial killer that features a bisexual protagonist. Start reading here!

Muted

A riveting story of ambition, music, and innocence lost - and a deep relationship between two girls who could be something more on their quest for stardom. Start reading here!

Tarnished Are the Stars

The Lunar Chronicles meets Rook in this queer #OwnVoices science-fantasy novel that features asexual, bisexual, and lesbian characters working together to put an end to a deadly epidemic. Start reading here!

The Witch Boy

In Aster’s family, all the girls are raised to be witches and the girls are raised to be shapeshifters. But Aster is fascinated by witchery–can he find the courage to save his family and be truly himself? Start reading here!

King and the Dragonflies

A story about loss, grief, and finding the courage to discover one’s identity. Start reading here!

I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain

A powerful novel about navigating death and navigating life, at a time when the only map you have is the one you can draw for yourself. Start reading here!

Y’all be safe playing among us. I now its a social game but like don’t give out your name or what school you go to. Like I’m sure people might Not track you down using that information but im 23 years old and I grew up during a time were they made us fear strangers and putting information online.

What is happening in Colombia right now?

Originally posted by @sweetcache on twitter

If this happened in the United States, people would be outraged. Internacional media is not talking about this. Please, reblog this! Let the people of Colombia be heard!

If you’re queer and a Disney fan, you’ve no doubt watched the new Pixar movie Luca and have picked up on the HEAVY queer-coding between Luca and Alberto. 

Here’s my take on why I don’t think it’s ‘coded’ but rather blatantly queer.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

So, yes the director has stated he didn’t ‘plan’ for it to ‘come across like a gay romance’ but keep in mind that most people who work at Disney can end up under very strict rules in regards to discussing LGBTQ+ topics publicly. Disney parks actors are reportedly not even allowed to say ‘gay rights’ or ‘happy pride’ so it’s understandable that the people involved in creating Luca refuse to openly say it’s a gay story.

But the fact of the matter is IT IS. And here is my argument as to why.

First of all it’s obvious right off the bat when you begin the movie that it is serving strong Little Mermaid vibes. Alberto collecting human objects, Luca dreaming of going to the surface and his parents saying no and forbidding it. All things from the classic Little Mermaid. But how is The Little Mermaid queer you ask? I’ll tell you.

The Little Mermaid, the Disney film is obviously based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale and Hans Christian Anderson was a bisexual man who put blatant coming out metaphors into his original tale. Then when Howard Ashman came along to write the Disney adaptation he also put heavy queer elements into it. Ashman was an openly gay man suffering from AIDS during the AIDS epidemic and those themes definitely showed up not just in The Little Mermaid but in all his Disney Renaissance films. And of course, Ursula was modeled after a drag queen. 

How else was Luca a queer masterpiece? The entire narrative parallels the coming out experience. When Luca’s parents learn he’s been going to the surface to spend time with a boy there they decide to send him away to ‘The Deep’ a horrible dark and desolate part of the ocean to help him ‘straighten out’ this is an OBVIOUS nod to conversion therapy, a tragedy that befalls many queer kids/teens when they try and come out to their parents. We also see parental rejection in Alberto when we learn that his father abandoned him. 

When Luca runs away with Alberto they then of course have to hide who they are from everyone around them because sea monsters have been vilified by the town. Again, this is an obvious metaphor for homophobia. Showing that Luca and Alberto can only be their true selves when they’re in private.

Also, speaking of their true selves, their sea monster colors combined make up the colors of the men loving men (mlm) pride flag. 

Alberto also soon shows tell tale signs of jealousy over the fact that Luca begins to spend time with Giulia alone. It is clear it is not the kind of jealousy one holds for someone they only view as a friend.

Later in the film when Alberto shows Giulia that he is a sea monster he hopes that Luca will join him in this (again OBVIOUS) metaphor for coming out. But Luca is terrified and treats Alberto like a monster, going along with the societal expectation to condemn sea monsters.

Later, when Luca lets the rain fall on him, exposing his true sea monster self in order to save Alberto this is the ultimate expression of true love. Then when the two stop to help Giulia after she’s hurt, we see that while many people in the town still hate and distrust sea monsters, many people, including Giullia’s dad who up until this moment had also shown hatred towards sea monsters, realizes the mistake in his long held prejudice and having grown to know Luca and Alberto he openly accepts them for who they are.

And in one of the most beautiful and heartwarming shots of the entire film, we see a couple of elderly women that had been in a few scenes as background characters, let their umbrellas down so the rain can fall on them and reveal that they too are sea monsters. And clearly, sapphic women.

In the second to last scene we see Luca, Alberto and Luca’s family celebrating with Giulia’s family. A beautiful found family scene that so many of us queer kids either had growing up, or desperately wish we had. We learn that Luca’s mother fears (and has always feared) that Luca will essentially be a victim of a hate crime because she knows how awful the world can be towards sea monsters. The same way that even today so many people are so hateful to queer people. But Luca’s grandmother assures her:

“Some people, they’ll never accept him, but some will. And he seems to know how to find the good ones.”

This is such a beautiful encapsulation of what it is like to exist in the world as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Not everyone will see you as a whole person and accept you for who you are. Some will be downright hateful. But some will be loving and wonderfully supportive. The film Luca shows what it is like to finally find those individuals who stand by you no matter what.

Lastly, the ending is one of the most obviously romantic scenes ever. With Alberto and Luca sharing a tearful goodbye as Luca tells Alberto he can’t go without him and Alberto assures him he’ll be okay. Then Alberto holds Luca’s hand, chasing after him for as long as he can.

People have argued this isn’t a gay movie because they’re kids and to insist that they’re gay is inappropriate because it’s a children’s film. This is an incredibly ignorant and homophobic argument. Many people have childhood loves. And to insinuate that putting gay characters in a children’s story is somehow inherently bad and not suitable for children to see only continues to invalidate LGBTQ+ youths, and children who have queer parents, friends, family members. Luca and Alberto are at an age the director described as ‘pre-romance’ they are finding themselves, discovering who they are and what it means to form a true and intimate bond with someone. They are at an age where it is normal to question your feelings and sexuality. It is perfectly normal and okay and BEAUTIFUL for these two boys to be gay and feeling childhood versions of love and the early stages of what could one day become a budding romance toward one another. 

No one would ever argue that Peter Pan and Wendy weren’t in love even though they were kids. So ask yourself, if Luca’s character was a girl would these homophobic viewers still argue there was no budding childhood romance written into the story? No, they wouldn’t.

Also, they released this movie during Pride Month. I mean, COME ON.

So that’s my take on why Luca is a blatantly gay movie. I am so happy that kids will now have this movie to watch while growing up. I wish there had been a movie like this for me when I was a kid. A beautiful film that normalizes and celebrates queer kids and queer love. 

Happy Pride Month everyone.

anyone else think the timing of this whole queen dying shit is a little bit convenient considering if she actually kicks it all the media is going to be talking about for the next however many months is her funeral and the new monarch instead of. yknow. the fact the government is in the middle of taking our human rights away. anyone else feel like this just a little bit too perfectly timed to not be blanket coverage

(EDIT) y'all are doing my fucking head in in the notes lmao like you really missed the point here, just ignore my mostly joking accusation of staging the queen's death for a sec here and maybe think about how even if they didn't do that, they are definitely going to take advantage of the situation as much as possible to distract from the fact that millions of poor brits will starve and freeze to death in their homes this winter whilst what little money they have will be spent on her solid gold coffin. if it's not a conspiracy already it's going to become one. they will take any opportunity they can to make sure the media and the government and by extension WE don't have to talk about the worst cost of living crisis in decades and our increasingly fascist leadership. they WILL make sure this is all we hear about as they continue chipping away at our rights and our wallets throughout autumn and winter and beyond. making jokes and celebrating her death is all well and good and we should be glad she's dead but this is only going to make matters worse for the poorest and most vulnerable people in our country. the tyranny she oversaw and was complicit in will not end just because she's dead. they'll use it to get away with even more shit

Since once in a blue moon I actually discover a decent rule for adulting, and since I know I have followers a few years younger than me who are just entering the workforce, I want to tell you about a very important phrase. 

“I won’t be available.”

Imagine you’re at work and your boss asks you to come in on Saturday. Saturday is usually your day off–coming in Saturdays is not an obligation to keep your job. Maybe you were going to watch a movie with a friend, or maybe you were just going to lie in bed and eat ice cream for eight hours, but either way you really, really don’t want to give up your day off.

If you consider yourself a millennial you’ve probably been raised to believe you need to justify not being constantly at work. And if you’re a gen-Z kid you’re likely getting the same toxic messages that we did. So in a situation like that, you might be inclined to do one of three things:

Tell your boss you’d rather not give up your day off. Cave when they pressure you to come in anyway, since you’re not doing anything important.

Tell your boss you’d rather not give up your day off. Over-apologize and worry that you looked bad/unprofessional.

Lie and say you’ve got a doctor’s appointment or some other activity that feels like an adequate justification for not working.

The fact is, it doesn’t matter to your boss whether you’re having open heart surgery or watching anime in your underwear on Saturday. The only thing that affects them is the fact that you won’t be at work. So telling them why you won’t be at work only gives them reason to try and pressure you to come in anyway.

If you say “I won’t be available,” giving no further information, you’d be surprised how often that’s enough. Be polite and sympathetic in your tone, maybe even say “sorry, but I won’t be available.” But don’t make an excuse. If your boss is a professional individual, they’ll accept that as a ‘no’ and try to find someone else. 

But bosses aren’t always professional. Sometimes they’re whiny little tyrants. So, what if they pressure you further? The answer is–politely and sympathetically give them no further information.

“Are you sure you’re not available?” “Sorry, but yes.”

“Why won’t you be available?” “I have a prior commitment.” (Which you do, even if it’s only to yourself.)

“What’s your prior commitment?” “Sorry, but that’s kind of personal.”

“Can you reschedule it?” “I’m afraid not. Maybe someone else can come in?”

If you don’t give them anything to work with, they can’t pressure you into going beyond your obligations as an employee. And when they realize that, they’ll also realize they have to find someone else to come in and move on.