All Shall Love Me And Despair

there’s sixteen Colorado counties that their most searched was “wolf furry”, plus thirty-odd counties (not counting either Arapahoe or any of the ones marked here as “Insufficient Data”) which may well have had plenty of searches for “wolf furry”, just fewer than for whatever they’re labeled here

and “skunk furry” searches in Arapahoe County outnumbered “wolf furry” searches in the entire state of Colorado

and we will say "When I was YOUR age, fruits and vegetables came from a supermarket and they were bred to get shipped 1000 miles in a truck and sit on shelves for weeks, and they tasted so sour and watery it was like eating paper compared to these ones. It wasn't even legal in some places to grow your own food"

and they will roll their eyes like yeah yeah just because everything was miserable in the 20s doesn't mean I have to have a smile on my face standing in the hot sun while you listen to that one guy talk about his bees FOREVER

And many other people have been just spitting, foaming at the mouth fucking FURIOUS. How dare I have the audacity to imagine a future where things get better?

Don't I know how BAD things are? Am I not aware of the TERROR and DEVASTATION of climate change and fascism and biodiversity loss? How dare someone be so bold, so callous, as to imagine something other than misery and suicide. How dare someone suggest it will get better. How dare a person propose that there is a future where we will be okay, in the face of so much terror. Hasn't she seen the abyss opening its jaws before us?

Well? What do you think?

there were kids who stayed inside because of the black plague and went on to help cure it.

there were women who sat at home and cleaned the house and dreamt up a world where they could vote and have jobs.

there were kids in the mines who thought up a life outside of it. there were children who hid in annexes and wrote a diary where they prayed for a future without a terrible man in control

there were slaves who wanted freedom so badly and had hope that it would get better

there were gay people who hid in the corners of clubs and fought back for a future where they could walk down the street together

do you know what all of that has in common? they had hope that things would get better and they made that change. they looked at the world in its cruel ways and fought back.

so now, there are kids and teenagers and young adults and new adults who dream of a world so beautiful and the only amazon their grandchildren know is the rainforest

and it is in everything we do that we find this hope. wishing on dandelions, counting the stars, making our own clothes out of crochet or knit or sewing it, watching the sunset, going to the farmer’s market, feeding the birds, planting seeds.

The issue comes when people try and claim theyre NOT canonically aroace. Its fine to be like "This character is aroace but im making them X for this fic". Weird but fine. It is not okay to say "actually character is not aroace theyre actually X canonically idc about the source material". The second one is erasure, plain and simple.

Most important to address is the hypocrisies. IF YOU WOULDN'T DO IT TO GAY OR LESBIAN CHARACTER WHY ARE YOU DOING IT TO AN AROACE?

That needs to be addressed; do you value aroace people less? do you see our identity as less worthy of respect or acknowledgement? is there a reason you would change a canonical idenitiy when its an aromantic or asexual idenity, but you would loose it if someone shipped your favourite yaoi with a woman or yuri with a man?

Why is that any different? Both are identities acknowledged in the media are canon, and they show no attraction/attraction to women, so why is me shipping Shane with a woman "so bad and gross" but shipping an aroace character is "normal and fine"?

Is it maybe because you value these identities differently?

Something to consider, that's all.

I really just have to summarize Thomas's entire life:

He was in a committed relationship with a male swan named Henry for 18-24 years before a female swan named Henrietta showed up and mated with Henry.

Thomas was initially jealous of the pair and attacked them, breaking 2 of the 5 eggs Henrietta had laid. However, once the remaining eggs hatched, Thomas warmed up to them and helped raise them.

Henry couldn't fly because of an injured wing, so Thomas taught the cygnets how to fly.

When they needed to reduce the goose population in the pond where Thomas and the swans lived, they dyed Thomas's feathers red so he wouldn't be separated from Henry.

Henry, Henrietta, and Thomas remained in their happy throuple for years and raised 68 cygnets before Henry died in 2009. After Henry's death, Henrietta found another swan and flew away, leaving Thomas alone.

Thomas finally met and mated with a female goose in 2011 and had his own babies. However, another goose named George stole them and raised them himself.

As Thomas grew elderly and blind, he was relocated to a wildlife center where he raised orphaned cygnets.

His caretaker at the center described him as "pretty high maintenance."

Thomas died in 2018 at the age of around 40. He had a funeral that included a small coffin and a procession that was led by a bagpiper. He was buried under the stone where Henry was buried, the two finally reunited in death.

Here a some ways on how your characters could become/could've become friends.

"School & Childhood" Friends

Sitting next to each other on the first day of class

Being assigned as lab/project partners

Having the same teacher and complaining together

Sharing school supplies

Being the only two people who don’t know anyone

Riding the same school bus

Getting seated alphabetically near each other every year

Being in detention together

Letting the other cheat off of them

One person defending the other from bullying

Meeting at recess or on the playground

Competing on the same academic team

Being roommates in college

Always sitting next to each other in the library

Staying up late talking in the dorms

Helping each other study before exams

Meeting during orientation week

"Family Connections" Friends

Their mothers/fathers being friends

Being cousins close in age

Growing up as neighbors

Family friends who vacation together

Parents arranging playdates

Siblings introducing them

One family helping another during hard times

Their families attending the same religious or community events

Becoming friends because their kids are friends

Meeting at weddings or family reunions

Dating each others' siblings

"Neighborhood & Everyday Life" Friends

Living in the same apartment building

Seeing each other walking dogs every day

Sharing a fence/backyard

Helping shovel snow or carry groceries

Meeting at a local park regularly

Frequenting the same café

Running into each other during morning commutes

One person helping after a car breakdown

Being regulars at the same store

Sharing a laundry room in their apartment building

"Work & Professional Life" Friends

Starting work on the same day

Complaining about the boss together

Working late on the same project

Covering shifts for each other

Sitting beside each other in the office

Traveling together for work

Bonding during training sessions

Accidentally getting trapped in endless meetings together

One mentoring the other

Quitting the same toxic workplace

"Shared Interests" Friends

Joining the same sports team

Playing in the same band

Meeting in an online game

Joining the same fandom

Taking the same art/music/dance classes

Going to the same gym

Meeting through cosplay or conventions

Attending book clubs

Participating in hobby communities

Posting in the same niche online forum

Volunteering for the same cause

Meeting in a run club

Following each other online

"Through Other Friends" Friends

“You two would get along”

Becoming the last two awake at a party

Mutual friends inviting both people repeatedly

Being added to the same group chat

Becoming friends after a breakup divides the friend group

One friend “adopting” the quieter person

Meeting through double dates

Their two friend groups mixing with each other when two people start dating

Becoming roommates through mutuals

"Random Coincidences" Friends

Missing the same train

Being stranded somewhere together

Wearing the same outfit or shirt

Reaching for the same book in a library

Accidentally texting the wrong number

Dancing next to each other at a concert

Sitting together in the airport during a delayed flight

Sitting next to each other on the train/plane

Getting stuck in an elevator with each other

Meeting on holiday together

One person dropping something and the other helping

Surviving an embarrassing moment together

Laughing at the same thing no one else noticed

"Funny & Unexpected Situation" Friends

Mistaken identity leading to conversation

Fighting first and later becoming close

One stealing the other’s seat

A shared hatred of the same person

Both pretending to understand something they don’t

Meeting because of a lost pet

Becoming friends after a minor car accident

One person overhearing the other say something unhinged and agreeing

Meeting through a heated conversation in a comment section

Accidentally attending the wrong event together

Competing against each other and gaining each other's respect

More: Friendship Masterpost (Prompts & Advice)

The documentary includes a brief clip of a 1954 televised newscast about the rise of homosexuality. The host of the program interviewed psychologists, a police officer, and one “known homosexual”. The “known homosexual” is 22 years old. He identifies himself as Curtis White, which is a pseudonym; his name is actually Dale Olson.

So I tracked down the newscast. According to what I can find, Dale Olson may have been the first gay man to appear openly on television and defend his sexual orientation. He explains that there’s nothing wrong with him mentally and he’s never been arrested. When asked whether he’d take a cure if it existed, he says no. When asked whether his family knows he’s gay, he says that they didn’t up until tonight, but he guesses they’re going to find out, and he’ll probably be fired from his job as well. So of course the host is like …why are you doing this interview then? and Dale Olson, cool as cucumber pie, says “I think that this way I can be a little useful to someone besides myself.”

1954. 22 years old. Balls of pure titanium.

Despite the pseudonym, Dale’s boss did indeed recognize him from the TV program, and he was promptly fired the next day. He wrote into ONE magazine six months later to reassure readers that he had gotten a new job at a higher salary.

Curious about what became of him, I looked into his life a little further. It turns out that he ultimately became a very successful publicity agent. He promoted the Rocky movies and Superman. Not only that, but get this: Dale represented Rock Hudson, and he was the person who convinced him to disclose that he had AIDS! He wrote the statement Rock read. And as we know, Rock Hudson’s disclosure had a very significant effect on the national conversation about AIDS in the U.S.