Astrid's Place

I am really committed to being a better ally for people of colour

Reading and listening to people of colour, specifically workers of colour, not just those class traitors who have joined the ruling class, and are now bosses

Making friends with people you wouldn't usually

Maintaining friendships you might not usually

Including people in our spaces and groups who are new, trying to help them feel comfortable

Being aware of the default state of this system being racism, all people are conditioned to be racist and have a lot of unlearning to do. We cannot ignore it and pretend it is solved.

People of colour do not need a white saviour to speak for them, to save them, or to tell their stories: they can do all of that and are doing all of that if you listen. You can use your privilege to share and amplify and stand with what they are already doing and saying.

Being open to being wrong. Knowing I will make mistakes, and some people will not forgive me or want to continue a relationship with me afterwards, or the same kind of relationship, and that can be very difficult and confusing. It may seem really sudden and unexpected. I accept their decisions. I know I am innately lovable. I will never abandon myself. I will be okay, and each day I get wiser. I know I am strong enough to keep going and keeping showing up with love anyway.

Knowing that people of colour often have trauma, don't take it to heart if they seem wary. Respect people's boundaries and choices. You are not entitled to anything from them, especially if you have no existing relationship!

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable, gradually expand where and who I feel comfortable with

Call out racism for what it is, when you see it. It's as simple as saying "that's so racist."

Be kind to myself and give myself grace. These things take time. Building relationships take time. I'm never going to be perfect. Love, accept, and trust myself.

stereotypes tend to hover around similar concepts regardless of what group they're about. they paint an entire community as inherently one thing. we're conditioned to think them and reproduce them in our conversations and art.

sex: as sexy and beautiful or non-sexual and repulsive, as a fetish or kink

exoticism: like another species: foreign, weird, and novel, especially when it comes to hard culture, like food, clothes and art

danger, violence and crime: as scary villains and criminals, or submissive victims in need of saving, as okay to police, kill and jail

work: as suited to certain jobs, as okay to hyper-exploit with low pay and terrible conditions

drugs and alcohol: as addicts and abusers

money: as rich, clean, powerful and aspirational or poor, unclean, weak, and homeless

gender roles: as feminised or masculined

intelligence and education: as superior, academic and intelligent or inferior, stupid and uneducated

emotional expression: as more emotional or more rational

civilisation: as animalistic, closer to nature, or less civilised

all of these are myths spread by media, used to control and oppress communities of people, to justify the specific role they are forced to play within capitalism.

I trust my writing. I believe in my writing. I accept my writing with all its flaws.

I trust myself. I love myself. I accept myself with all my flaws.

If other people's works are lovable and worth sharing with their flaws, so are mine.

I had a mild existential crisis and thought about what might happen if I died tomorrow, and I didn't want the things I've written to go to waste

a chart of the gendered connotations of words used for homestuck classes

analysis under the read more!

time: rules, mechanics, constraints, grinding, fps

space: setting, ui, controls, simulation

light: the main quest, goals, tutorials, cutscenes, progression, story games

void: glitches, bugs, speed running, un-intended playstyles, skipping story

breath: open world, exploration, play, side quests, single player

blood: npcs, multi-player, teams, dating sims, social games

life: player stats, lives, hp, save files, inventory, rewards, ranked, resource management

doom: hazards, game over, balance and difficulty, challenge modes

mind: visuals, style, graphics, and audio

heart: roleplaying, dialogue options, choices matter, the emotional experience

hope: immersion, escapism, genre

time: the plot, structure, pacing, editing

space: setting, worldbuilding

light: exposition, character relevance, information onscreen, canon, answers

void: ambivalance to the plot, b-plots, side tangents, breaking of story convention, what’s off screen, subtext, mystery, questions

breath: character freedom and agency, exploration and fun and journey, the middle of the story, the hero, the protagonist

blood: character relationships and obligations, secondary characters

life: character goals and backstory, starting circumstances, beginnings

doom: character obstacles and arc endings, resolution

mind: character choice, options, pov, demeanours, internal monologue, style and presentation, acting in a wide range

heart: character identity, internal conflict, nature, truth, dialogue, acting authentically and consistently, motivation, what’s underneath

hope: character beliefs, tone and theme of the story, genre, comedy, fantastical

this phone I’m typing on is a psychological weapon designed by the ruling class to divide and conquer us!! it’s working!

I’m typing this here, to no-one, instead of actually talking to a person about it (at least for now)

we need face to face, real world interaction and community now more than ever, it’s the only way to survive this