Set The Sky Ablaze

max, 31, they/them, whatever catches my interest

[fullcolorfright]

Relax! This Book is Just a Phase You're Going Through: Gay Comics from Christopher Street, by Charles Ortleb and Richard Fiala, 1978.

[e-the-village-cryptid]

There’s a particular attitude I often see on the internet that goes something like “If you aren’t part of a particular marginalized group, then you could never understand their experience, so don’t pretend to relate.” And while obviously you’re never going to relate to every aspect of that identity unless you are also of that identity, I feel like this attitude really diminishes opportunities for finding kinship and bonding in similar experiences even if those experiences aren’t exactly the same and/or are the result of different identities.

For example, I’m white and neurodivergent, and I was talking to a Black neurotypical friend about masking, and how I feel like I have to change the entire way I present myself in order to not be considered weird in public. She responded with “Oh, some of that sounds kind of like code-switching— how I have to switch away from using AAVE in white-dominated settings in order to be accepted.” And then we bonded over how frustrating and ridiculous it is that AAVE and stimming are both considered unacceptable in “professional” settings.

Another time, a straight Jewish friend was telling me about a book she had just finished reading, which was written by a Jewish author and had a Jewish main character. She was saying that it was really nice to read a book written by a Jewish author, because even when gentile authors do their research and write a pretty accurate Jewish character, they never quite feel Jewish— you can always tell the author was a gentile. And I said “Oh that sounds kind of like when I read queer characters written by straight authors— you can always tell the author was straight even if they do their research and get things fairly right. So even though I’m happy when any book features queer characters, it’s really especially nice to read queer characters written by queer authors.” And we bonded over this similar experience, and we were both excited that the other understood even if we were coming to this experience from different angles, and then we swapped book recommendations. This conversation is also a great example of when that internet attitude DOES apply— when someone outside of a particular group is trying to understand that group’s entire experience well enough to accurately write the world as seen through their eyes. They’re never quite going to get it right, and that’s ok! It just means it’s important to also have Own Voices authors writing those types of stories also.

Sometimes it seems like people who have been in internet circles exhibiting this attitude for too long are afraid to ever try to relate to the experiences of anyone in any groups other than their own for fear of causing offense, which is honestly pretty counterproductive. Understanding each other and bonding across groups should be the goal! Relating to each other is not a bad thing!

[philosopherking1887]

If you’ve got an entire morality based on empathy and compassion for the suffering, especially for people who have historically been oppressed because of their differences from the dominant group, you’re going to create problems for yourself if you start insisting that it is impossible for members of the dominant group to empathize with the oppressed because they are just too different.

[pairs-studio]

[thunderstruck9]

Salman Toor (Pakistani, 1983), The Reader, 2022. Oil on linen, 18 x 24 in

[probuccalfat]

who want me? lol we’re running out of time

[sapphling]

let's all have a fun time looking up new words when we encounter them to see what they mean before incorporating them into our vocabularies

[wileycap]

[phantomsofyourformerself]

girl who finally is going back to reading by finishing one book: now i'm going to read all the books in the world.

[omtai]

Man I miss free the nipple. Its getting warmer and we don’t even have free the nipple anymore

[gramarye]

feminism has backslid so hard in recent years people don't even know what free the nipple means anymore

[jaubaius]

[nabi3000]

[narcissistcookbook]

the second eel at the end in its little cuck shelter 💜

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

eel deets from @whitefangthefightingwolf

[reikomakoto]

[onionpainter]

Yellow Onion and Skin  Oil on Linen Panel 5"x8"

[onionpainter]

Apples 2025 Oil on linen 18"x29"

[onionpainter]

closeups

[onionpainter]

Red Onion and Shallot 2025 Oil on Linen Panel 6"x8"

[kooldewd123]

four chapters into the murderbot diaries and so far every single time someone has tried to talk to murderbot its response has been either "i was spacing out and didn't realize they were talking to me" or "thank god i wasn't spacing out that time and actually managed to respond." yeah i think i can see why tumblr latched onto this character so hard

[scoutology]

#crysobbing

[boymounter]

my dad bought a cnc and is going wild

[crabussy]

I bet it feels real good to be a sailing ship when they tighten the rigging

[crabussy]

wrong. everyone get more perverted about marine vessels now and I'm not kidding

[crabussy]

this post reaching Actual Ship Captains is beyond delightful holy moly

[allsadnshit]

I want to want something really bad then get it

[zedogica]

ok. i survived 25 years outside the international space station. who gives a shit

[biglawbear]

Technically most moss is outside the international space station

[davvvd]