If You Ever Feel Like You Are Stuck With Whatever Choices You Make When You’re Young, Please Remember

a happy couple might’ve gotten married today 

someone might’ve kissed their best friend and realized they are gay today

someone might’ve found out they were officially cancer free today

someone might’ve finally finished their debut novel today 

lots of interesting things might’ve happening today 

we should celebrate 

Not "humans are inherently good" or "humans are inherently evil" but a secret third thing (humans are inherently social animals which means that we're very good at cooperating and being compassionate towards those we perceive as being part of our community but we're also very good at being tribal and violent towards those we perceive as threats to our community and everyone defines their community differently)

"Why didn't they just communicate?? They're so stupid!" Have you considered that communicating with someone you love and value and don't want to hurt is scary and that vulnerability takes practice and that perfect characters with perfect words make the most boring stories of all

In case you’re like me and forgot all about it, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week! If you have the means to do so, show your favorite teacher some love this week. 💟

{In general, any profession that boasts an ‘appreciation week’ is probably one that is overworked, underpaid and undervalued by society because it’s predominantly performed by women. Speaking as someone who has been a teacher before, they will be sure to receive very little of actual value from the people they work for this week, so any gesture from parents (or students!) will go a long way toward making sure they feel appreciated for the vital work they do.}

So I have read several people complaining that they can't be expected to know the "unwritten rules" of fandom. So here's what I wish people knew:

Fanfiction is fiction.

Fictional people are not real.

Fictional people do not have rights.

Fictional people cannot be abused.

Reading or writing about something does not mean the desire to do or support it in the real world.

If I find art upsetting/triggering/disgusting/outraging/unpleasant/squicky/distressing/offensive, it is on me not to read it, not the creators and hosts to remove it.

Curate your own experience. The back buttons exist for a reason.

If you don't trust yourself to do that, get someone you trust to do it for you.

Fandom is an adult space. Adults create and own and host fandom spaces. If minors want to participate, then the onus is on them and their parents/guardians/trusted adults to ensure they participate appropriately, not on strange adults to stop being adults.

You often don't know the assault status or mental health status or neurotype or race or nationality or religion or gender or sexuality or age of a creator or consumer, and they do not have to disclose to you to justify their fantasy.

AO3 is not a safe space. It is not intended to be a safe space. Proceed accordingly.

Just because you don't like something or find it offensive doesn't mean it is a "problem" that "has to be dealt with".

Most characters in anime are not white.

There is no onus on you to reblog or share anything.

Everyone makes mistakes in fandom and is less than their best self sometimes.

Persistent pseudonyms encourage long term relationships.

Ship wars are stupid.

Someone else enjoying things does not impact on your own enjoyment of other things.

Tagging and warning is a courtesy, not a requirement. Assume any fic might contain untagged content.

Rating is an imprecise art, not a science.

Don't hassle IP creators.

Most people who are in fandom are hoping to make connections based on a shared passion.

Trying to profit from transformative fanworks puts us all at risk.

No one is obligated to share your head canon or fanon.

Being kind rarely fails to pay off.

It is okay to block and remove people who make your experience unpleasant. You don't have to placate them. (Learn from my mistakes).

Britpicking is a good thing.

You don't have to justify why you like a canon/pairing/trope/kink. Sometimes navel gazing is fun, but you don't have an obligation to explain yourself, especially to strangers. I share the overwhelming desire to refute an unfair accusation, but the people accusing you are rarely doing so in good faith, so you're batting a losing wicket.

I'm not your Mum. (Well, okay, a very few of you can call me Mum or Mom, but if you are one of them you already know who you are ❤️)

If you aren't mature enough to take responsibility for your online experiences, you aren't mature enough to be in fandom spaces.

Yay diversity - keep it up Pixar!

Pixar‘s  Sanjay’s Super Team 

“For the first time, Pixar has two original films that will be released this year. The Good Dinosaur will follow Inside Out in November, and with it, a brand new short.

‘Sanjay’s Super Team’ will be the first Pixar film starring a character of color. Director Sanjay Patel drew on his childhood experiences to create the 7 minute short, which chronicles a Hindu prayer ritual with his father.

It’s also the first time religion is the subject in a Pixar film. The short concerns Sanjay daydreaming about the Hindu gods as ancient superheroes, not unlike Marvel’s The Avengers…

Patel is the third Asian American director at Pixar, joining Ronnie del Carmen, co director of Inside Out, and Pete Sohn, director of The Good Dinosaur. He was candid in describing the difficulties of embracing his Indian heritage as a boy and even into adulthood…”

Keep reading at  pixarplanet

Today I’m thinking about how Harry loves people so much and has no idea how to communicate it. (Which is, frankly, a Huge Mood.)

This is clearest at times when Ron is feeling unloved, and Harry is baffled, hurt, and angry. How could Ron possibly feel unloved, when he’s the most important person in the world to Harry? And we’re sitting there reading thinking… yeah, okay, but how… would Ron know that? Have you ever, you know… done anything to indicate how much you care about Ron? You understand Ron can’t actually read your internal narration, right?

Part of what makes Hinny such a great couple is that Ginny seems to be… better at reading Harry’s feelings than most people. Like. We really have the impression that Harry can sit there and adore Ginny, and she can tell he adores her. (One of my favorite Hinny tropes is Ginny being Harry’s feelings coach… like, Ron comes back from Australia and Ginny nudges Harry like, “Tell him you missed him.” “What? Of course I missed him.” “Tell him anyway.”)

Anyway. Harry is very sweet and sad and I love him, I guess that’s the point of this post.

If this doesn’t show how broken American higher education is, nothing will.

Happy Trans Day of Visibility everyone! Wanna remind everyone that every trans person is beautiful and no matter what gender (or absence of) you have I'm happy to see you rocking it. All my trans followers get one (1) free cookie!

🍪

Also terfs fuck off and die

Daily reminder to leave comments on fics to make someone's day after so much hard work 🥰

Kudos are great, Reblogs are great but it can feel so quiet without the comments. Even just a few words of encouragement, appreciation and deserved gratitude can go a long way!

If you don't know what to say, you can always:

say how the work made you feel: made you laugh, cry, sad, happy. Point out which parts made you feel what

quote the parts you really enjoyed or stood out to you and say why

say where you were or what you were doing when you read it and how it affected your day (there were so many instances when a great fic completely derailed my plans and I had to sneak out somewhere to scream internally and fangirl lol)

discuss characters, plot and theories, once you get talkative it will start pouring out lol

you can even use a meme!

honestly, at least just say "thank you" and how much you enjoyed it

extremely relevant bonus point: if you like the story so much that you're gushing about it with your friends and recommending it to them, the writer would love to hear all of that gushing even more than anyone 😂