joy is not made to be a crumb

ID: Animated pixel art of a snowy forest. A winding river flows through the middle, the water reflecting the orange and pink sky and the soft yellow sun. In contrast, the riverbank and trees on either side are mostly colored cool shades of blue, fading into purple in the distance. Snow gently drifts across the scene, changing colors as it catches the sunlight. Occasionally, a leaf or two falls and drifts down as well. OP’s signature is on the bottom right. End ID

[Image ID: Tweet from cathartes (no one under 18 emoji) on Jun 14, 2026 reading: "why dont you ship-" it doesnt move my heart or my boner idk what to tell you. i dont choose where i end up. /End ID]

"den Umständen entsprechend" is one of my favourite german phrases of all time. Ich sag dir nicht was die Umstände sind, wenn du die nicht kennst ist das dein Problem. ultimate boss of nuance. "it is what it is" but 10 times more german. Ich geh mich jetzt den Umständen ersprechend aus dem Fenster werfen

[ID: a still life of two glass bowls filled with deep red cherries, some scattered on the white tablecloth below. The environment is bright – sunbeams against the white wooden slats of a house behind them – almost cloying sweet /End ID]

[ID: a digital drawing of Inquisitor Adaar from Dragon Age Inquisition drawn from the waist upwards with her head turned slightly to the right with a soft smile. She has long, grey hair that's shaved at the side. Her hands are clasped in front of her chest and her hands and upper part of her face are painted black with white stripes. Her horns are curving back and are also black. She's wearing a furry vest. End ID]

[ID: art of a scene from Starfleet Academy in which Jay-Den sits at the center with his eyes closed, cross-legged and a bowl in his lap. Sam and Genesis sit to his left, Darem and Caleb to his right. The entire scene is colored in warm hues of brown and orange. End ID]

for real tho it feels exhausting that ive seen this whole "woman should be allowed to abstain from X beauty standard" -> "i perform X beauty standard, am i evil? do you think im evil? please forgive me i came up with a dozen excuses 🥺" since like 2015 (and i know its been going on longer than that) like girl thats not the poiiiiint

look me in the eyes. repeat after me. "i face societal pressure to perform this beauty standard. i should not face that pressure. i conform to this standard. i am rewarded for performing to this standard. i need to respect women who do not perform this standard. this is not about whether or not i am a sinner for wearing makeup."

[ID: a digital drawing of modern day Dragon Age Awakening characters sitting in a small room with a bunk bed. Anders is on the top bunk on the left side of the picture, smiling with his hand held out, pinky and index finger extended. Nathaniel sits on the bottom bunk looking grumpy and holding a notebook. Sigrun is lounding on top of a drawer with a smile while Velanna sits on the floor in a bra with Ser-Pounce-A-Lot on her lap. She looks angry and holds up her index finger towards the cat. The entire picture is colors in shades of brown. End ID]

sometimes i talk about how awful it was to feel trapped by my daily makeup routine and how i couldn’t leave the house without putting on a full face and it played a major role in the misery of my high school experience because i had to spend so much extra time getting ready in the mornings and that followed me into my early 20s as well and it was hell and it was so incredibly liberating to go through the slow and uncomfortable but ultimately essential process of getting my bare face back and having makeup be an optional accessory instead of a mandatory uniform. and the response always tends to be ah yes of course, because of your trans and your masculine. and it’s like aha so close! actually! I think if I ended up being a feminine cis woman I also still would not deserve even a second of that shit! I think trans women and nonbinary people and every human alive should have the option to leave the house without a single cosmetic product ever touching their face! but thanks for playing!

and when I say people should have the option obviously I do not mean “yeah you can but everyone’s gonna treat you like you’re frumpy and weird.” I also kinda don’t even mean “you’re beautiful even without makeup!!” because like. well of course i think many people are. some of the most beautiful faces i have ever seen in my life have had not a drop of makeup on them. and that’s awesome or whatever. but it’s also kind of irrelevant to the overall point I’m actually making. really what im saying is it shouldn’t fucking matter if you are beautiful or even pleasant to look at at all! you should be able to just be, all the time no matter what. everyone around you should just treat you like a person who is worthy of respect and fair treatment regardless of what you look like. I am of course keenly aware that that is not presently actually how things work much of the time. but that end goal is what my stance on makeup is informed by. you should never ever ever fucking need it to be treated with decency.

[image description: the tapestry appears to be slightly larger than an A5 piece of paper. It shows three hobbit houses, positioned like rolling hills. The sky is blue and has white clouds stitched onto it. The weaving has smooth, flowing lines, with knots detailing trees and flowers and stitches for other details. End ID]

[ID: a digital drawing of Dulcinea and Protesilaus from the Locked Tomb books. Protesilaus' arm is wrapped in a chain and he's looking left with a forlorn expression. Dulcinea is looking at the viewer with a straw hat held in front of her belly. Behind them is the ocean in pale green with a silhouette of the First House in the background and the Seventh House skull above them. End ID]