…..not even six hours later i got an offer of a well paying full time long-term job with free room and board in queens in nyc, allowing me independence and a way to escape an abusive situation and an unhealthy environment
likes charge reblogs cast, folks, this is the good luck post
the last time I reblogged this post right before I got a great job, in a permanent work-from-home position, with benefits, retirement, and a salary literally 3x what I was making before, doing something I really like.
So me and my dad took a call today and he was showing me the plants he was growing in the backyard, what he's gonna do in the next season, and automatic sprinklers yadayadaaayada
And in the middle of it, the tiny lightbulb in me head went off and was like OMG, he's playing Stardew Valley in real life!!!
At risk of sounding like a hater and an asshole this looks like AI and if its somehow not, the editor who reworked images and sharpened them up made it look like AI
This is the actual image (from a 6 year old reddit post so def not AI). Either someone asked AI to recreate it or AI, being the plagiarism machine it is, was asked for a pic of dogs finding humans in the snow and just ripped off the first image it could find. Another reminder that AI doesn't actually create anything. Also real cute dogs.
Some amount of months ago, Jocelyn mentioned that this November would mark the fifteenth anniversary of Rain. I made a note to have a comic about it, and when I learned she was going to put out the call for folks to celebrate, I was like… “oh heck yes.”
I'm Still Alex - Webtoon | Tapas | Linktree | Patreon
There’s something so special about Rain’s journey through her senior year of High School that felt like an analogue experience for me to live myself; a look into what things might have been like if I began my transition in my late teens instead of at thirty-five.
Not that I would have transferred schools or anything, but a view through a window into the past where I didn’t just realize what my gender questioning meant, but had acted on it.
I had made a comic a while back discussing Dana Simpson, the author of Ozy and Mille (and Phoebe and Her Unicorn, which I still need to read!!), and how she was a major influence on me growing up, both as an artist and as a queer kid. Having the opportunity to meet and chat with her was a colossal experience and she is every bit as wonderful as I imagined.
I’ve had the opportunity to chat with Jocelyn ( @lynnsenpai ) as well. It’s been so awe inspiring to connect with these absolute titans of influence in my life. As her work suggests, Jocelyn is patient, kind, caring, and just an amazing person. I wish I found her work sooner.
I’d like to also shout out the comic artists (and writers!) shown in the third panel.
Michael Terracciano introduced me to the world of webcomics with Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, planting the seed of my love for the medium. It was through the DD forums that I heard about…
…El Goonish Shive by Dan Shive ( @danshive ) ! Without giving too much away, EGS heavily discusses gender identity from the perspective of High School students, and as that’s what I was at the time of finding it, it had a similar effect to me as a teen as Rain had to me as an adult.
Ozy & Millie is the most adorable, endearing comic in all of human history and I loved it so much that I wore my O&M tee shirts until they were literally falling apart (see here!):
Penny Arcade and by extension, Mike Krahulik, was the single biggest influence on me in terms of my development as an artist. Through the patience and kindness of my friend AC, I’ve been working on not negging myself anymore, and actually saying that I am an artist and what I make is art. My two year semi-break from drawing unintentionally allowed me to refocus and improve my artwork.
I’ve been studying new artists to keep developing, but there is an element of Mike that will always be a part of my artwork, so thank you, Mike.
Other shout outs relevant here:
@tigergirltail for her hilarious comment on not being surprised by Penny Arcade influencing me.
Larissa Frost ( @lariumbreon ) for her amazing work as the voice of Rain in Rain: The Animated Series!
I love you all and I’m so fortunate to have experienced the amazing art you create.
I stumbled across Rain a couple months ago and instantly fell in love with it and the cast of loveable goofballs so much. It's my go-to comfort comic now. Thank you for making Rain @lynnsenpai :)
PS. this is my first attempt at digital art (and fan art), if it counts. I drew it on paper and painted over on Photoshop with a drawing tablet :)
When trans women are mocked and made into jokes in the media, I get very upset, and I am often told “Kay, you can’t go through life getting offended every time someone makes a joke.” And I sputter and object but they don’t hear me. So I want to be clear for once, about why the jokes make me angry.
I learned to hate myself for being transgender before I knew I was transgender. I laughed at the jokes in stand up comedy routines, and prime time sitcoms, and animated comedy shows, and in the movies, and in books, and in games, laughing at trans women for existing, about “men in dresses”, about people who “got their dicks chopped off”, and I learned to think that was worthy of ridicule.
And then a day came when I felt a pang of envy at what my female classmates were wearing and I repressed it, and felt guilty, and a day where I felt incomplete because I had no breasts and I repressed it and I felt disgusting
And a day when I realized the only images of romance that made me feel anything showed two women together and I repressed it and I felt like a monster
And a day when I realized I felt sick when I looked at myself in the mirror after every shower before work and couldn’t bear to look at my own face, and I hated myself.
And then there came a day when I hated myself so much, and I thought I could never understand why, and so I just wanted it all to end. And it was just a miracle that I swerved my car back into my lane in time.
And all of it started with a joke that I heard on TV, and then kept hearing from all the voices from the ether, over and over and over, worming an idea into my mind before I was old enough to realize I was absorbing it, the idea that a man in a dress is funny, and that changing your body parts makes you a freak, and that women who have penises instead of vaginas are liars and hurt men. And they’re still making these jokes. And somewhere out there right now, just like all those years ago, there is a little girl in a t-shirt and cargo shorts with buzzed off hair watching the TV, hearing that joke and absorbing it without knowing it, who will someday have to pry herself apart to tear it out of her head, just like I did.
I know this is a really heavy post but if you read it and you appreciated it, I’d appreciate it in return if you reblogged it. This is really important to me and I want people to read it and understand it. Thank you.
ARE YOU GUYS LOOKING FOR LGBT+ REPRESENTATION IN MANGA THAT ISNT EXCLUSIVELY YAOI/YURI BECAUSE I GOT SOMETHING FOR YOU
its called Shounen Note!! its a really beautiful series about a junior high kid, aoi yutaka (who is heavily coded as autistic), joining competitive choir as a boy soprano! it has a really great cast of characters (most of which are female!) and in the later half of the series, a trans boy is introduced and his problems are looked at in a serious light!
the mangaka is kamatani yuhki, who is also nonbinary !! theyve also made nabari no ou and shiminami tasogare (please check out those as well…)
Pride Month Week 4 Recommendations: Broader Horizons
I really wish there was more weeks in June so I could recommend more things, but we're nearing the end already, so I can't give every genre/aspect the attention they deserve. Though similarly, a lot of non BL/GL manga is missing from the NA industry, so sadly there's not a wealth of series to talk about. But! I hope that with the limited licenses we have, and the ones that I recommend, people will buy more of these titles and encourage publishers to bring more of them over! So, with only a little further ado, the recommendations for this week.
As I just said though, the further ado first. This week's charity is Outright Action International, a charity focused on LGBTQ human rights violations at a global scale
Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon
An office romance with an incredibly fresh perspective? A series about a romance between two women that isn't overly sexualized? The check list keeps growing and growing with this story that explores the challenges in regards to romance for both the working women that lead this story. Hinako is all over makeup and the latest trends and trying to find a boyfriend, but can never convince herself that she's in love. On the other side, Sato is a woman who throws herself into work and taking care of her younger sister, never leaving another thought for the concept of love or attraction. But what happens when this pair that can't fit the normal definition of "love" cross paths?
It's a really beautiful story that keeps expectations low, and wonderfully explores the challenges of not just adult romance in society, but romance that exists outside the norms. Not just in regards to two women loving one another, but how they love each other. How they express it, how they struggle with it, what they feel is right or wrong with how they're with each other. It's an incredible story about exploring asexuality and attraction, and does so in a very heartwarming and positive manner.
Our Dreams At Dusk
Tasuku is a teenager that desperately wants to keep his sexuality under wraps, but struggles because of a crush he has on his classmate. Through his anxiety, and wandering through this new city he's moved to, he's discovered by "Somebody", who owns "The Lounge", a gathering area for LGBTQ+ people. Within this small community, Tasuku explores his own sexuality while learning about the experiences and challenges that others have faced.
I was recommended this story by a friend ages ago, and decided to pick it up without knowing anything. I read it all in one go, and then read it all again a week later. In just four volumes, this story explores so many different forms of gender identities and sexuality, and does so through incredibly beautiful metaphors, and endlessly important (though very realistic and potentially painful) interactions and conversations. If there's a single queer manga out there that people feel like they should pick up, it really should be this one.
Last Gender
Bar California is a space for people of all different genders, orientations, interests, and sexualities to gather and shed the forms that they carry through daily life in society. Whether it's to explore themselves, or enjoy a night free of inhibition, Bar California is frequented by many customers, and this manga details the stories of those patrons.
Similar to Our Dreams At Dusk, Last Gender explores a plethora of characters through uplifting, challenging, emotional, and unresolved stories. Repression and lashing out, working up the courage to tell your loved ones, finding the right person or experience for you, it's stories about the realities that LGBTQ+ people face in their lives, and the stress and emotions and challenges that stem from it. It's a very mature story, as it features nudity and sexual acts, but in doing so refuses to avoid the harsher reality of a lot of these stories. Because of that, if people want something that takes a deeper and more grounded look into LGBTQ+ people and communities, this is a great starting point.
Boys Run The Riot
Need I say more? This list wouldn't be complete without Boys Run The Riot. A harsh but incredibly powerful story about the journey of a high school student named Ryo, and their outlet through fashion to express themselves and their story.
It's poignant, it's very candid, it doesn't shy away from truth or issues within the LGBTQ+ community, and it brings the story into society. It doesn't separate Ryo's journey from what's around them, but rather allows their journey to build upon and grow alongside the other characters that form their friend group. It presents it as another story of this world, rather than something that's separated and isolated from what's considered "normal".
X-Gender
X-Gender is an autobiographical manga about the author's journey in exploring their sexuality and gender identity through their adult years, with a dash of comedy, and a healthy helping of adult content.
Relatively straightforward, it details their experiences in coming to understand themselves and who they feel the most comfortable as, and is really informative for both people that are in the process of questioning themselves, and those that lack understanding of these types of experiences. I think it's a really great look at a candid retelling of learning the ins and outs of sexuality and gender identities, and finding the labels and banners that someone is most comfortable associating themselves with, so I definitely think people should give it a shot.
And that's all I've got for this week. In the realm of manga that exists outside of BL/GL, there's a world of information to cover, and I'm super glad so many titles cover vast swathes of information. But at the same time, I feel like there's a very large vacuum in regards to these stories in "typical" settings. A lot are informative or autobiographical, and it's only outliers like Doughnuts Under The Crescent Moon, or the super outlier Boys Run The Riot, that the approach is fictional and more traditional. So I really, really hope that people will pick up these titles (and other similar ones not listed in this list) and show publishers that we want more of these types of stories!
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