jinkies, zoinks, and jeepers

Grace, Rocky save stars.

Maybe stop using "virgin" as an insult.

It's not some holy or divine or pure experience that everyone needs to try.

It's not some dirty or disgusting or impure thing to be ashamed of.

It's just a god damn thing some people do and some don't.

Who cares if someone sleeps around a lot. Who cares if someone doesn't want to have sex at all. WHOOOO CARES.

Worry about your own sex life, stop calling people virgins as an insult, stop calling people whores for having multiple partners/sleeping around more than you, and stop treating sex as some otherworldly experience that has to be universal for everyone.

"You just need someone to be brave for."

And the person he needed to be brave for was his best friend. It wasn't a lover, a partner, a romantic interest. It was his best friend.

And honestly this isn't even specifically about aroace grace- Rockys story could so easily be a romantic one. He's been completely alone trying to finish an impossible mission without his crew for years. And then an alien comes and they learn how to communicate. And with that alien they both save their planets. Rocky gives Grace fuel with no hesitation, even if in the movie it means he will get back home 6 years slower. 6 years longer to see his mate. And he still does it without hesitating for even a second.

That kind of devotion and story could have so easily been romantic. Two aliens who help save each other, who are both the most important people to each other, but they're not lovers.

"Just buy the books!" Books aren't released everywhere in the world or in every language and, as many people outside the US have pointed out, book prices often aren't changed to fit local currency. A book that is $20 in the US could cost someone else's entire paycheck in another country. This has been pointed out again and again but a lot of Americans simply do not want to hear it.

I mean, armando gives medical attention, breakfast in bed, watches over you while you sleep, and is super smart... highkey boyfriend material

a shared song

We have got to stop framing our oppression in ways that promote the idea that other people cannot relate to our struggles. Not only does it isolate comrades in the struggle, it actively diminishes recognition of other struggles--often including those even more horrific than what we are at risk of. And this happens especially between Gay and Black struggles.

"when have straight people ever had to check what states were safe for them?" Sundown towns are still a thing. Starlight tours. What states have abortion access? What states have open carry? What states have stand your ground? What states have 3-strike rules? Women, people of color, disabled people, immigrants, and more have had to be abundantly cautious where they travel to. Straight trans people have much more travel risk right now than gay cis people.

It's a new iteration of the same tired question: "imagine if straight people weren't allowed to marry" interracial marriage in the US is younger than my parents. We disgrace people of color by forgetting their history and contemporary struggles, and we abandon queer people of color, Black queer people, by segmenting their overlapping fights.

Why is it that the unbelievably dangerous scenario always ends with the characters scratched up, but relatively alright? Every time? Every single time? Why is it that the worst thing that might happen to a protagonist is scarring (but in a tragic and badass sexy way, and nothing that isn’t appealing), and maaaaybe some PTSD.

“It’s for storytelling purposes,” yeah okay and maybe I’m absolutely exhausted of it being for storytelling purposes, for the drama, for whatever. Think for me on why consequences are not allowed to exist in your story. Why is it that the protagonist always manages to heal from devastating wounds perfectly in record time? Why are they just okay after having all the bones in their fingers broken? Why do you pride yourself on your realism, but get cold feet when a character has a severe concussion for the thousandth time?