I made a survey

There are a lot of surveys for queer youth on Trevorspace, based on things like bullying and discrimination. So I made one of my own. Here is the survey.

Epilepsy Awareness Month

Well, the title says it all. I just found out today that that's what November is.

I'm not epileptic, but my dad was and my cousin is. And it's time more people like them were listened to, because they have a unique and amazing perspective that needs to be shared. So I'll be quiet right now, because it's time more people heard what people with epilepsy have to say.

Radical Neurodivergence Speaking

The Art of Living with Epilepsy

Epilepsy Warriors

My Epilepsy Story

Why the Fact that Rosie is a Sex Worker is Not Anti-Feminist or Anti-Christian

Hello all. I'm behind on my novel, due to procrastination, distraction, and my hectic life (though I made some beautiful magnets at youth retreat - one of them has a cross combined with a Star of David, symbolizing the Jewish roots of Christianity and the differences between faith and religion, and the other is Snow's face from The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod - green eyes, white teeth, red vampire fangs. I'll post pictures of them soon). BUT I have big news.

Well, first of all, my novel has undergone several title changes. It's been Vivir, What is Normal? and now Adventures of an Odd Couple in Love and Their Quest to Save the Multiverse. You can guess the plot.

Second, it's interracial, queer, interspecies romance - what else would you expect from me? Taylor is a lesbian, though her sexuality can be described better as 'I don't like penises' since her partner, Van, is nonbinary, afab, and asexual (Van uses ke/kir/kirself pronouns). That's the queer part. The interspecies part comes from Van being a dragon and Taylor being a werewolf, and the interracial aspect is from Van being Indian and Taylor being a mix of Russian and Dominican. So there's a lot of diversity and representation, and I'm happy about that. They even have a couple name - Vaylor, and I think they're perfect for each other.

And there's a new type of representation in this novel, one I've never tried before and one that some people I know would be absolutely scandalized to know I'm including.

Van's mother, Rosie, is a sex worker. She does professional phone sex, strips, and writes erotica, and it was she who passed on her love of writing to Van (Van writes fanfiction and roleplays). I see nothing wrong with this - Rosie is a mature, responsible adult who enjoys her job, and I've contacted a fellow Wrimo, Robyn, who is a stripper, so I could write Rosie more accurately. I've also started reading the wonderful sex-worker run blog, Tits and Sass, for research and fun. I feel excited about writing Rosie and her family.

BUT I know that not only will I garner shock from multiple relatives on all three sides of my family, and even anger or anger from some. I also know that I will be told that I'm not being a good feminist or a good Christian via my choice for this character's job.

What.

How is trying to dictate what a woman can and can not do with her body of her own free will a feminist action? How is slut-shaming a sign of being a good feminist? How is it feminism when women allow men to dictate what is feminine or whether a certain woman is worthy of respect? Feminism is the solidarity and empowerment of women - all women. It's not women being pitted against each other. It's not demonizing sex or sex workers. You shouldn't have to put others down to pull yourself up.

How is judging others a Christ-like action? Didn't Jesus dislike those who loved God but neglected or held contempt for His people? How is not standing up for the personhood of a marginalized group something that Jesus would ever agree with?

See, I believe that God and love are one and the same. And judgment - whether it's based on race, body type, sex, gender, sexual orientation, romantic orientation, neurotype, religion (or lack thereof), appearance, polyamory vs. monoamory, or style of dress - is not a loving or feminist action.

Some Jokes Aren't Funny

Black people are not monkeys. It's incredibly racist and wrong to say that they are or to compare them to monkeys. This is common sense, right?

Well, apparently some of the boys in my physics class don't have common sense. Or basic human decency, for that matter.

We were talking about what would happen if you shot a banana out of a cannon and how it might be possible for a monkey to catch it. And then we simulated it in real life, using a Beanie Babies monkey attached magnetically to the ceiling via a screw in its head, an electron wire, an air cannon, and a marble.

Our only problem was, somebody needed to be tall enough to actually reach the ceiling so they could attach the toy to the magnet. The two tallest people in the room were both boys, one white and one black.

And of course, this fact seemed to give the white boys in class an excuse to be racist turds (not all of them, but some) without consequence. You can guess what happened.

I hate when people are like this. What happened today sucked and should never, ever be allowed, but it did and it was. And, like the rest of the non-racist part of the class, I have no idea what to do about it. I've seen examples of prejudice, both systemic and in the form of "individual acts of meanness", at my school on a regular basis, but I've never known how to respond - even if the prejudice is  directed at a group that I'm part of.

And when the prejudice is directed at a group that I'm not part of, I'm frozen. So, because some jokes are really not funny, I want to do something about it. Any ideas? What would you have done?

Seriously? Why is She Torturing Us With This Random Poem when She Should be Noveling?

'Cause I feeeeeel like it, that's why. And I'm past 5K, so it's not like I don't have a little time to spare.



An Open Letter to Whoever Made This Meme

Obesity is a problem. Everyone knows that.
Yes, obesity is linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, angina.
Everyone knows that.

Obesity is ugly. Everyone knows that.
No. It's not true.
I used to be obese.
Just over a year ago, I weighed 196 pounds.
I was a five-six fifteen-year-old girl, struggling
Scared
Dealing with anxiety and personal problems,
Terrified of myself, convinced I wasn't good enough and was unworthy of love.
I thought I was ugly, and who better to encourage those thoughts
Than the cruel classmates who snickered behind my back,
The magazines which glorified society's crap idea of beauty,
The million ways the world laughed at my very existence.
How dare I strive for happiness, how dare I not be disgusted with myself?

Skinny
Does not equal beauty.
Skinny
Equals skinny.
Fat
Does not equal ugly.
Fat equals fat.
They are both just labels
Used to pit us against our beautiful brothers and sisters,
whether fat, skinny, or in-between.
We are beautiful.
 We are all beautiful, no matter how much we weigh.

That's why I tell fat people they are beautiful...
Because it's true.

Noveling Music Youtube Playlist

Here's mine for this year:

Stand By Me (John Lennon)

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole

Do You Want to Hide a Body - Frozen Parody

Let it Go by Idina Menzel

I Won't Say I'm in Love - Hercules

Home by Phillip Phillips

Uprising of Love by Melissa Etheridge

Freak Flag - Shrek the Musical

NaNo has Arrived!

Well, it's that time of year again. November first, and twenty-nine days from now, I'll need to have a fifty-thousand word manuscript. So I should really be working on my novel...ahem...but I'm already almost at my daily word-count goal.

As it turns out, I won't be using any of my old plot bunnies this year. I'm writing a fanfiction about this British fantasy kids' show that I used to be obsessed with, but they never showed the second season in America (or, if they did, I never found out). The canon is called Wolfblood, and my fanfiction is Vivir. The basic premise is that a teenage girl whose family was attacked by beast hunters arrives in Stoneybridge with her mother to live with her estranged aunt, uncle, and cousins, and to join the pack. Also, she falls in love with one of the canon main character's friends...but don't worry, it won't be abusive (I'm looking at you, Twilight) or perfect or insta-love.

I'm having trouble learning to write in a British accent, as well as from the perspective of a (legally) blind person, but otherwise this is going really well. I got Lili to design me a cover (because I don't know how, and we're being civil), which features a photograph of Taylor, my OC - really a picture Lili found online and then Photoshopped - in wolf form. Since she has a glass eye, only one of her eyes changes color when she turns. The effect is so cool, and she looks so freaking cute as a wolf.

I'm going to a write-in today, in Ferndale. Wish me luck, and luck for all the other Wrimos. Happy noveling!