parasolya

well-intentioned rtc fans i want you to imagine how not-fun this fandom would be if a large section of the fandom didn't understand what noel's sexuality was supposed to be. like, if it was widely understood that he was some flavor of Not Straight, but the average rtc fan didn't know enough about LGBTQ+ stuff to even understand what the word gay means or how a man could be attracted to other men. and so even when people were preaching about how Representation Matters and not trying to erase rep, every fan depiction of noel was just loosely based on whatever non-gay sexuality the individual fan happened to be most familiar with, or more often a conglomeration of various identities & stereotypes with no actual thought into "wait, so what is noel's sexuality". and whenever anyone actually realized "hey, LGBTQ+ is a broad spectrum, in order to accurately explore noels identity we need to know the specifics of how exactly he is Not Straight" ... they would somehow come to the conclusion of "it was problematic and lazy for the rtc writers to just show noels sexuality in vague and unrealistic ways like 'he says hes gay' and 'he kisses a guy' rather than coming up with a specific identity to give him". and it was popular to headcanon him as bi or aroace* and these headcanons were seen as like, fleshing out the things that canon was vague about or actively fixing bad representation. and nobody seemed to understand that canon actually did both show and tell us specifically that noel is gay because people would rather ignore things they dont understand than do Any Research and also this is a hypothetical universe where "gay" is somehow an extremely little known identity even among queer communities. okay isnt that a fucked up scenario youve imagined. now imagine that was how the fandom treated the disabled character with a neuromuscular disease. now imagine a cat in a fedora doing a little dance. thats not relevant to the point im trying to make its just a little treat as a reward to the people who read this whole long post

*i do understand that sexuality is complicated and headcanoning one identity doesnt have to mean erasing another identity and you can be aroace and gay at the same time. however please understand that the hypothetical fans i have invented for this scenario, who are so clueless that they dont know what the word gay means or why a man would kiss another man, absolutely do not understand the nuance of queer identities and would be doing this in rep erasing way

I'm sorry I keep posting my tiktok comments but please. What does this mean. What do people THINK shipping is for anymore???

AO3 authors in the lab creating ships purely for research purposes:

Creating ships for the tax write-off

Creating ships to get that fucking whale.

okay i'm saying it outright now. i want to challenge this fandom's taken-for-granted idea of "rtc was never really good disability representation anyway". rtc has always been flawed, of course, all things are. but the actual problems with rtc's disability rep are discussed exclusively by 2-3 insane disabled people on tumblr who are ignored whenever we do, and when the average person says "it was never good disability rep" they seem to mean it exclusively in the context of "it's wrong to depict a person with a neuromuscular disability who experiences ableism. disability rep should only depict the 2-3 disabilities i'm vaguely familiar with that i've decided are Not That Big A Deal and should portray abled people as flawless saints"

look i do not want to be the designated defender of the "butchering a character to remove the disability rep because a disabled actor spoke up about being mistreated" musical. even focusing in on the pre-2022 script i can't say i particularly want to be the designated defender of the "character who can't speak due to dysarthria communicates through "strange gestures" (?) in a language his parents made up (???) because they took a vow of silence (???)" musical. i just feel like we all need to get on the same page wrt "neuromuscular disabilities are not somehow Bad or Problematic to depict in any capacity" before we try to criticize rtc on the representation front. because atp when someone casually mentions how Of Course RTC Is Ableist Anyway it is usually not about a specific issue that exists in the musical and is instead about their own ableist discomfort with ricky's entire concept

i strive to not be one of those "criticising the musical im obsessed with is a personal attack on ME" fandom people. discussing the ableism in rtc is important. um, i'd just feel a bit better if absolutely anyone was interested in any sort of discussion about any of the specific issues that exist in rtc, instead of just vaguely using "well youknow it wasnt good representation anyway" as a way to excuse disability erasure and then insisting, without so much as a google search, that a character being unable to speak & using mobility aids & experiencing ableism is Unrealistic

atp it's not even about whether rtc Is problematic it's like. well look i can't say i think of rtc's gay representation as being particularly groundbreakingly wonderful, but if i went into this fandom and saw a large section of people butchering noel's character and explaining it with "well canon was homophobic anyway, like it so bad that it just makes sense to ignore everything canon says about noel" and their reason for thinking canon was so irredeemably homophobic was like "i've met a bisexual woman, and she isn't like noel AT ALL. the idea of a man being attracted to other men is honestly disgusting to me, and the idea that REAL queer people are like that is just a harmful stereotype" then i would surely find myself becoming the designated defender of this musical's lukewarm ass representation. and also becoming the joker

it's not that rtc doesn't Have Problems it's just that the vague concept of "problematic" is so regularly used as a bludgeoning tool against valuable discussions that i'm getting the urge to become a tyrannical ruler of the fandom and force people to name at least 3 specific problems with rtc before they casually mention how Of Course It's Not Good Rep. if one of your problems is "ocean exists" or "he can't talk AND uses crutches when those are two completely different disabilities" then you get put in a medieval trebucket and flung to somewhere or other

it's all so tiresome

the thing about colonialism (or any form of oppression really) is that colonizers might often be perceived as “the reasonable ones”. to them, the issue is not as important and relevant, they’re happy to say that “everyone has their own truths” and “we can be friends despite political disagreements”. meanwhile for the oppressed it's often a matter of life and death, and when it comes to that, people will be angry. learn nuance, don't find yourself valuing collected demeanor above radical righteousness

From Russia with love 🫶 😅😂 ✴️ 1904 to 1905 - war with Japan for supremacy over Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula ✴️ 1917 to 1921 - war against Ukraine and its efforts for independence ✴️ 1918 - invasion of Azerbaijan ✴️ 1918 - invasion of Finland ✴️ 1918 - occupation of Belarus ✴️ 1918 - occupation of part of Moldova ✴️ 1918 to 1920 - war against Latvia ✴️ 1918 to 1920 - war against Estonia ✴️ 1918 to 1919 - war against Lithuania ✴️ 1918 to 1920 - war in Ossetia ✴️ 1919 to 1921 - Russian invasion of Poland (Russo-Polish War) ✴️ 1920 - invasion of Azerbaijan ✴️ 1921 - invasion of Georgia ✴️ 1921 - invasion of Mongolia ✴️ 1921 - suppression of the Armenian uprising ✴️ 1921 to 1922 - suppression of the uprising in Karelia ✴️ 1924 - another military intervention against Georgian nationalists ✴️ 1929 - the first military intervention in China ✴️ 1937 - the second military intervention in China ✴️ 1937 - invasion of Azerbaijan ✴️ 1938 - invasion of Japan again ✴️ 1939 - invasion of Poland ✴️ 1939 to 1940 - invasion of Finland (so-called Winter War) ✴️ 1940 - annexation of Estonia ✴️ 1940 - annexation of Latvia ✴️ 1940 - annexation of Lithuania ✴️ 1941 - invasion of Iran ✴️ 1941 to 1944 - continuation of the Russian war against Finland ✴️ 1941 to 1945 - use of the consequences of World War II as a pretext to occupy Eastern Europe, Central Europe and the Balkans ✴️ 1944 - annexation of Tuva ✴️ 1944 - invasion of Albania ✴️ 1944 - war operations on the Chinese border ✴️ 1944 to 1956 - military intervention in the Baltics ✴️ 1950 to 1953 - military participation in the Korean War ✴️ 1953 - bloody suppression of the uprising in the GDR ✴️ 1956 - bloody military intervention in Hungary ✴️ 1960 - active participation in the war in Laos ✴️ 1955 to 1961 - active participation in the war in Vietnam ✴️ 1962 - military participation in operations in Algeria ✴️ 1968 - bloody invasion of Czechoslovakia ✴️ 1969 - China attacked again - Damansky Island ✴️ 1969 to 1970 - military support of Egyptian Islamists against Israel ✴️ 1970 - active participation in the war in Cambodia ✴️ 1971 - Russian military participation in the Indo-Pakistani conflict ✴️ 1972 - active participation in the war in Bangladesh ✴️ 1974 to 1990 - military participation in the war in Eritrea ✴️ 1975 to 2002 - intensive military support of monstrous regimes in the Angolan civil war ✴️ 1977 to 1978 military participation in the war between Ethiopia and Somalia ✴️ 1979 to 1989 massive invasion of Afghanistan and subsequent war ✴️ 1988 - invasion of Azerbaijan ✴️ 1991 - military intervention in Lithuania and Estonia ✴️ 1991 - invasion of Georgia ✴️ 1992 - a new invasion of Georgia ✴️ 1992 - bombing of Ingushetia ✴️ 1992 - Russian military intervention in Moldova ✴️ 1992 - new military intervention in East Ossetia ✴️ 1992 to 1997 - military intervention in Tajikistan ✴️ 1993 - military participation in the Georgian civil war ✴️ 1994 - Azerbaijan again ✴️ 1994 - military intervention in Dagestan again ✴️ 1994 to 1996 the first war in Chechnya ✴️ 1998 - again Georgia - Abkhazia ✴️ 1999 - Dagestan again ✴️ 1999 to 2009 - the second war in Chechnya ✴️ 2008 - war in South Ossetia, invasion of Georgia ✴️ 2009 - another military intervention in the North Caucasus ✴️ 2014 - annexation of Crimea, invasion of eastern Ukraine ✴️ 2016 - bombing of Syria and occupation of several key places (military presence still today) ✴️ 2022 - full-scale attack on Ukraine

assorted buttons, european c. 1800s.

Hey i’m a fashion design student so i have tons and tons of pdfs and docs with basic sewing techniques, pattern how-tos, and resources for fabric and trims. I’ve compiled it all into a shareable folder for anyone who wants to look into sewing and making their own clothing. I’ll be adding to this folder whenever i come across new resources

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16uhmMb8kE4P_vOSycr6XSa9zpmDijZSd?usp=sharing

Updated just now with new hand sewing resources (mainly buttonholes) and textbook pdfs on fashion history, fashion illustration, and thinking through designs!

OP I owe you my life

OP you are the greatest person currently in my life. You beautiful, thoughtful creature.

A true blessing

Damn, that is useful!

I feel like when I say ‘relatable’ what I really mean is ‘resonant.’ I don’t want characters who I feel are like me, I want characters who have emotions so strong I can feel them through the page.

I think this is important because a lot of us forget the power of stories to make us feel things about characters who are not like us, who have experienced things that we never will. The purpose of listening to someone else's story should not necessarily be identification, but understanding.

Gentleman Thief Watson AU. During the great Hiatus, Watson began a criminal life out of depression and poverty. One day on a revisited trip to Baker Street he found Holmes’ enormous notes about criminal techniques and methods. He followed those notes and created quite a name underground and in Scotland Yard. But what happened when he found that Holmes was alive and returned to him?

This au features Raffles and Bunny from crime and cricket

one thing I feel is really important to understand about John Watson is that, apart from clearly being no fool whatsoever, especially not in Holmes' eyes, he is also not... a fan? what I mean to say is - yes, he admires and adores and even, on occasion, worships Holmes, but it is an admiration of equals. just as he is not a bumbling buffoon, he is not a blind follower, and is quick to voice his own opinions, which frequently clash with Holmes'. he will be his cheerleader, but he will also be his critic. they're both the better for it