ga(y)mer

“Everyone I've ever cared about has either died, or left me. Everyone fucking except for you ! So don't tell me that I'd be safer with someone else because the truth is, I would juste be more scared.”

[timeslord]

IN MEMORY OF NAYA RIVERA

Naya Rivera was a mom, a sister, a daughter. She was an actress, a singer, a writer, a model. She was a latina woman who went through a lot in this life. She was always vocal and open about important issues such as homophobia, racism, toxic relationships, sexism, motherhood, abortion. Her character in Glee was probably one of the most influential and important representations for the LGBTQ+ community and she always talked about how Santana was important for young LGBT people and how proud she was for being able to represent something good. If Santana ever helped you, Naya was so proud of that and of you. She changed lives.

Thank you, Naya. You’ll be remembered and missed. 

[hheartoutt]

no matter how much we all shit on the show, glee played such a huge part in so many of our teenage years. i know, personally, i cried so much when i heard the news about cory back in 2013. losing naya 7 years later, AND on the anniversary of cory’s death, hurts so fucking much.. i’m in literal shock. 

[ratherembarrassing]

so.

i don’t even know how to begin.

glee meant so much to me, and then nothing, and these days it’s somewhere in the middle, but none of that ever touched the place santana lopez has in my heart, and by extension the person who brought her to life. how could it, when you grow around a thing. it’s there forever.

no one who has come into themselves after glee will ever understand what a true precipice naya stood on with santana. how could they, when everything that came after was so much for the better because she went first, and it was for keeps.

she did that. thank you, naya.

[misguidesghost]

Always Brittana 😭❤️

[lesbian-french-kiss]

 I have not fallen in love with another couple since these two dorks. I fell in love with them while they were falling in love with each other. 

[littleoases]

I remember being 22 years old, overwhelmed by my first year of teaching, terrified to come out of the closet, living my life on shaky ground. I watched Glee as a form of escapism without really caring about the characters or their storylines. Then one night in March of 2011, I folded laundry and watched the episode where Santana confesses her love for Brittany. I froze and tried to steady the wild thumping of my heart, but it was like someone had reached through the screen and squeezed my chest until everything inside spilled out. I felt suddenly and irrevocably seen.

Santana’s journey to embrace her sexuality was life changing for me and many other young women who were struggling to know and love ourselves. We have Naya to thank for that. She knew her own worth and she knew queer women’s worth. She took a throwaway background character and poured spirit and spark into her until Santana was real and revolutionary and so very human. Naya was intentional and generous with her performance. She didn’t have to take up the mantle of queer representation, but she did, and she changed lives by doing so.

I started writing about two girls falling in love because of Santana and Brittany and the online fan fiction community that sprang up around their romance. It was a way to uncover the workings of my heart in a safe and intimate but still revolutionary way. There would be no Her Name in the Sky, no Late to the Party, no She Drives Me Crazy, without those early Brittana fanfics that I wrote from a place of emotional and spiritual starvation.

Sometimes readers tell me that a character I’ve written makes them feel seen. I understand, because Santana made me feel seen. Naya did that. So please know that when you read my novels about young women falling in love, and when you feel seen by them, that it’s only because another brave young woman made me feel seen first. I am gutted by her death and I will be indebted to her forever. I hope the collective gratitude of the queer community reaches high into the heavens and cradles her in love. I will be praying for her family and sweet little boy for the rest of my life.

I didn’t know her, but through her heartfelt work, I came to know myself. Rest in love, Captain.

[brittana-karmy-vauseman]

[louisandthedagger]

💔

[teafish]

“What I love more than acting is being Josey’s mom. So I wanna be there for him and I don’t want to miss anything.”

— 1987-2020, Naya Rivera

[brittanacedes]

“[Naya’s] like the funny ring leader. She’s sorta the one that’s always standing in the center of the group, making people laugh. People love her.” - Jonathan Groff

[gleerant]

in case anyone tries to tell you otherwise:

it’s possible to respect the privacy and grief of naya’s family and friends during what is undoubtedly a tragic, heartbreaking time in their lives, while also acknowledging the impact she’s had on your own life as well

we obviously didn’t know her personally and I cannot even begin to fathom the hurt her family and friends are experiencing. but I think a lot of us are here, together, because of her influence. I can only speak for myself but my life is better and enriched in so many ways because of the work Naya has done and the immense talent and humor she graced us with. this doesn’t even begin to address her influence on the LGBTQ+ community

very importantly, she brought me to everyone here. and the friendships and bonds I’ve made here were life-changing.

don’t feel guilty for being sad. we can all be sad here, together

[themostrandomfandom]

My heart goes out to her family members and friends in their grief.

My heart also goes out to anyone for whom her art and advocacy have been important.

She helped to tell a story that mattered profoundly to many people—that changed, bettered, and, in some cases, even saved lives. Her respect for the real community whom Santana and Brittana represented never wavered. She was generous with her voice, her time, and her talents. She went out of her way to make her fans feel valued and seen.

Her life’s work made a difference.

There is more love and compassion in the world because of her. 

Thank you, Captain, for everything. There is so much love here for you. Always.

[riovidalll]

i just need a place to let this out and these seem like such small, trivial memories but:

thinking about how i auditioned for my college a cappella group (one of the most influential experiences of my life) with “valerie” because i was absolutely obsessed with naya’s version. 

thinking about all the times i listened to “smooth criminal” and cried to “someone like you / rumor has it” and how often i STILL think about those songs because they’re so fucking good. 

thinking about all the songs she sang about or to brittany that i latched onto as a teenager but didn’t quite have the words for why yet. 

thinking about how much it broke me when she said the words “i’ve tried so hard to push this feeling away and keep it locked inside, but every day just feels like a war. And i walk around so mad at the world, but i’m really just fighting with myself. i don’t want to fight anymore. i’m just too tired. i have to just be me” because it resonated so much. 

and i’m also thinking about how naya was so proud of that role for what it meant to so many lgbtq+ people and the grief of so many that’ll go brushed aside because “you didn’t actually know her personally.” 

thinking about josey and how fucking tragic this all is. thinking about how she died keeping her son safe. thinking about the absolute fucked up way her body was found on the anniversary of her castmate’s death. fuck. 

we joke about how much of a trainwreck glee was but shit, so many of its great moments were thanks to naya rivera.

[leightum]

[harleyquinzel]

the way it should have been.

[westlife]

Naya Rivera doing the ‘Naya dance’ in Hawaii.

[michaun]

no matter the year, circumstance, or strifes everyday you’re alive is a blessing. make the most of today and every day you are given. tomorrow is not promised

[brighttaylor]

rest in paradise, naya rivera. we won’t forget you.