obviouslystillfuschia

one time I went over to a friend's house and their housemate was making paper in the living room, and we saw this big tub full of water they were using to dissolve old scrap paper into a slurry, and everyone was immediately like "oh, you need scrap paper?" and started turning out their jacket pockets and producing expired coupons and bus tickets and crumpled receipts and old shopping lists and whatever else they'd been carrying round with them for no good reason, and passing it all to the paper-making housemate to make sure it was suitable before it got torn up and dropped into the tub, while people took turns stirring the slurry with a big wooden stick. it was strangely ritualistic, like presenting an offering to some kind of temple elder for inspection before placing it in a watery shrine to be devoured and reformed. pulp for the pulp god.

My dad told me that he has a coworker who’s a trans woman. She was married to this girl before her transition and they remained together after it. Everyone at work respects her pronouns. My dad is in a chiefing position at his office and he told me that nobody jokes behind her back. She and her wife have two cute dogs together and I felt like I should share this story bc I want everyone to know that this positivity and respect exists and you deserve it. Don’t ever dare think that you don’t because you do.

Update: they have three dogs now

There is a non-binary person I work with who uses they/them pronouns. Their pronouns are in their email signature and the only time I’ve heard someone not use them was one person who had previously worked with them at a time they used different pronouns, and he immediately corrected himself mid-sentence, looked embarrassed, and proceeded. I’ve never heard him or anyone else not use their pronouns again, and my workplace runs the gamut from eighty-year-olds to twenty-year-olds. No one ever discusses their pronouns or anything about their identity behind their back unless it’s to choose a bar or restaurant to hang out (in non-pandemic times) and say “no, we can’t go there, that place doesn’t have a gender neutral restroom for them”. They have been married to a delightful person for ten years and (in non-pandemic times) she would often join for social activities. They have a toddler who is the cutest thing on this earth. They’re an absolutely brilliant engineer and I have learned a great deal from them as they’re much more experienced than I am, and I appreciate how patient they’ve been when I’ve made mistakes. Again, positivity and respect exists and you deserve it every bit as much as these people. Don’t ever forget it.