Enjoyer of Portal games and steam powered robots

Wait--are romcoms as invalidating for other aroaces as they are for me?? I thought that was just the unfortunate combination me being a trope-hating pedantist and aroace...knowing it's not just me makes me feel better, actually. bell hooks and the Oppositional Gaze stay winning!

Oh absolutely. Hallmark movies, Disney movies... the whole thing bothers me because romance is a foregone conclusion. I used to be afraid that my friends would get it in their heads I liked someone, and once that happened there would be nothing I could do or say that would convince them otherwise. Even worse, no matter how much I'd protest I would eventually change my mind and somehow, inevitably, they would be right. There's a show out right now called It's Not Like That, and I hate that I know just based off the title that's a romance. Phrases like that have become a shorthand to say that it will be like that. There is no denial of feelings that cannot be used to foreshadow feelings in a romance. Consequently, there is no way to say no that does not secretly mean yes. Once romance has been implied, it cannot be taken back. Once a character is being teased by their friends, it is too late for their arc to end in anything else. And that gave me, a child, a genuine fear that if I unintentionally tripped certain social cues it would be too late for me.

resurrected dead wife watching her own montage: wow I looked so hot in that

reblog this if you're fine with your mutuals sending you asks unprompted

chat reminder to just write whatever the fuck you want. write that overused trope. write that obscure shit that no one will have heard of. just. do it. your writing is yours stop depriving it of that.

honestly in the era of AI slop it is more important than ever for you to write or draw that incredibly niche/strange/unpalatable thing you want to make. the world needs the unique weirdness of people more than ever

you're allowed to draw. draw badly even. draw and then delete it. draw and rework it and then delete it anyway. draw only half of it and the other half three years later. in one style or another. in different styles in the same week. traditional or digital. you're literally allowed to draw however you want