welcome to my fandom hodgepodge

As a former music teacher, I can also say that "learn the fundamentals first" is the death knell for a vast percentage of beginners, especially adult learners.

I've run into this with drawing several times, where some well-meaning artist has lectured me on needing to study anatomy properly or not use shortcuts like CSP brushes. And oh, believe me, I know. I know exactly how to learn an artistic discipline in a structured way. I just...don't want to!

The thing is, I'm not aiming to be a professional artist. I want to draw my gay little anime guys. I would undoubtedly improve at art much faster if I approached every gay little anime guy drawing as a study exercise. But I would also have quit drawing a decade ago if I couldn't just let myself enjoy drawing imperfect fucked-up little guys with whatever shortcuts I needed to body myself across the finish line.

With my adult piano students, my approach was always "What's your goal?" If their goal was to learn exactly one Elton John songbook to play at parties, then...that's what we did. We'd put tape on the keys to label the notes, and just fuckin go for it. Learning exactly one Elton John songbook is a good and noble musical goal, full stop.

Some of my students needed and enjoyed a more structured approach to learning; if they wanted to be able to play classical music, then yes, scales were going to have to enter the equation at some point. And yet others would learn the Elton John songbook, catch their white whale, and realize they wanted to explore more of the ocean. The scales were still there for them to learn!

Often the choice isn't between "learn art well" and "learn art imperfectly" - the choice is between "learn art imperfectly" and "don't do art at all." To which I say, learn imperfectly! Or, what the hell, don't 'learn' art. Just do, and enjoy the doing of it.

It is absolutely immoral, completely counterproductive to the goal of learning things, and turns out incredibly subpar work.

i love you Black trans women. i love you Brown trans women. i love you Indigenous trans women.

trans women above 5'7 or above 5'9 or above 6'0ft. trans women with broad shoulders and big arms and big frames and short legs.

trans women with deep voices. trans women who can't or won't voice train.

trans women who won't or can't take estrogen. trans women who do take estrogen and experience its effects [subjectively] slowly or insufficiently.

trans women who are not comfortable in traditionally feminine clothes. trans women who won't or can't use make-up.

trans women who are not comfortable with or can't have natural, pretty, long hair.

trans women who don't shave or don't have the capacity to shave.

trans women who can't have a 'feminine' strut/style of movement because of mobility issues.

trans women who don't show their emotions on their faces or trans women who experience the "serious" emotions over the "sensitive" ones.

trans women who like dominating sexually and trans women who want to feel like women when they do it. trans women who like being dominant bottoms.

trans women who like men. trans women who don't like women.

trans women who aren't 'girl-mess' or 'deer in headlights' or 'a little dumb' or any of the other stupid little things you're forced to learn to do to be 'coded' as who you are.

start being comfortable posting Black people's words in your blogs, the same way you'll reblog posts about transness, gayness, disability, because these specific topics can affect you

"trans woman should never want to associate with men" -> trans women who are into men or have relationships of any kind with men

"women are good but men are bad" -> multigender trans women, genderfluid trans women, trans women who are part of a system/collective

"no trans woman wants to look [anything other than white western standard of pericis woman](have a mustache/facial hair, have muscles, have a deep voice, have short hair)" -> intersex trans women and gnc trans women or simply trans women with a style that goes against the above

"no trans woman is ever thought to be a girl at birth or as a child" -> intersex trans women and perisex trans women who did have that experience

"trans women should know better than to adhere to beauty standards" -> trans women who enjoy things that are thought to be stereotypically feminine/adhere to beauty standards

"trans women are either straight or lesbians, you dont see trans women going around claiming to be gay for men/vincian/turigirls" -> trans women who are gay for men/vincian/turigirls

"trans women are defined by their dysphoria around their body and being seen as a man" -> trans women who dont have dysphoria

"no trans woman actually refers to their pre transition self as a boy" -> trans women who do feel like boy was an important part of their identity before coming out

I dunno, it just makes me sad. Because pointing out that some trans women do think/feel/want those things is seen as a sign that they're not "real trans women" or heavily misguided/manipulated instead of just. Trans women who exist as multifaceted and unique human beings.