Queerly Peaceful

Gay stuff, spiritual stuff, political stuff. This is the side blog that pretends to be my main. Oh and MASH. Quite frankly this blog is just pure chaos. Someday I will break this into more than one side-blog. @icouldwritesci is main. 21+

[radical-revolution]

[dragongirlteeth]

Some core principles I've been thinking about lately:

There are no ontologically evil people

People generally want to believe they are doing good

Under enough stress, anyone will act irrationally

When someone does something terrible, first try to look back and see "how did we get here"

[radical-revolution]

Zen is not a moral teaching, and as it is without dogma, it does not require one to believe in anything. A true spiritual path does not tell people what to believe in; rather it shows them how to think; or, in the case of Zen - what not to think.

Zen is not a theory, an idea, or a piece of knowledge. It is not a belief, a dogma, or a religion... Zen Buddhism is not interested in metaphysical theories and rituals and focuses entirely on the mindful practice of Zazen. Zen is very simple. It is so simple, in fact, that it's very difficult to grasp.

In the silence of the temple, quietly sit down, stop moving, and let go your thoughts. Focus just on your Zazen posture and your breathing. Keep your back straight. Let your ego and your unconscious mind melt away, merge with the universe.

This is Zen.

[radical-revolution]

[unteriors]

Knight Road, Smithfield (Cairns), Queensland.

[minotauri]

[louder than everyone] MAN I THINK IT DEPENDS!

[radical-revolution]

[malcolmschmitz]

I'm starting to think that a lot of fantasy writers who are writing Heroes and Wars and Quests would be a lot happier writing the magic equivalent of a sports anime.

[malcolmschmitz]

If the thing you want to focus on is your magic system, good news! You can just... do that. You don't need to know the entire history of Japan to understand why the anime boys want to win their volleybasketskateball tournament; it's no different in a secondary world setting.

If you're uncomfortable with the human cost of war and don't want to glorify it... good news, you don't have to! A tournament arc gives you all the fun of competition and rivalry and struggle to improve, without the uncomfortable knowledge that your protagonist's subordinates are likely doing awful things offscreen.

Similarly, if you like getting into your antagonists' heads and humanizing them, but don't like writing the kind of monster that makes a good high fantasy antagonist- good news! In a tournament arc, the only thing that makes an antagonist an antagonist is that they want the same thing Blorbo wants and are fighting them to get it.

Struggle to come up with a plot? Tournament arc has defined beats. Struggle with making high stakes feel cool and not corny? Tournament arc. Want to write a big ensemble cast? Tournament arc.

Tournament arc is there for you. Put Blorbo in Tournament Arc Mouth.

[thefloralmenace]

I had an interview with a local paper this week about this rock snake I started on the longest street of a nearby city (where I work) because it's bringing people so much joy:

I said something during the interview that the interviewer seemed really shocked by, so in case it's important for anyone else to hear: When asked about the rock snake and some scavenger hunts that I've hosted for adults, I said -

"We don't stop enjoying the things we liked as kids; they just stop being offered to us. And when you're a kid, fun things like art projects and scavenger hunts are always brought to you, so you're not taught to make a habit of seeking them out as and adult."

She said "Wow yeah... life is so stressful... and you don't think to... wow."

So if anyone else needs direct permission to be a whimsical adult child today, I hereby grant it to everyone. ❤️

[you-are-another-me]

[thelensart]

I love grass types

[nelson-riddle-me-this]

I bet Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies night at the 4077 goes CRAZY

[nelson-riddle-me-this]

Like do you think when Elmer comes onscreen Hawk taps Frank's shoulder like "That's you."

[nelson-riddle-me-this]

When Bugs puts on lipstick and a skirt, Radar and Klinger share a wordless conversation

[lostxanadu]

the thing about being bullied for being weird as a kid is that even if you've always embraced being weird your brain is still always looking for the line where it's too much. you can be as proudly and intentionally weird as you want and you can love being weird but your mind is still convinced there's a point where you get too weird and people start treating you like a weird looking bug again. also it feels like you reach that point 500 times a day even if everyone you've spoken to today found you pleasant and likable and even if you're completely alone in your house with nobody looking at you at all.

[depsidase]

[pastperfectcontinuous]

I want you to write for pleasure—to play. Just listen to the sounds and rhythms of the sentences you write and play with them, like a kid with a kazoo. This isn’t “free writing,” but it’s similar in that you’re relaxing control: you’re encouraging the words themselves—the sounds of them, the beats and echoes—to lead you on. For the moment, forget all the good advice that says good style is invisible, good art conceals art. Show off! Use the whole orchestra our wonderful language offers us! Write it for children, if that’s the way you can give yourself permission to do it. Write it for your ancestors. Use any narrating voice you like. If you’re familiar with a dialect or accent, use it instead of vanilla English. Be very noisy, or be hushed. Try to reproduce the action in the jerky or flowing movement of the words. Make what happens happen in the sounds of the words, the rhythms of the sentences. Have fun, cut loose, play around, repeat, invent, feel free.

Ursula K. Le Guin, Steering The Craft

[anxeious]

one thing about me is i’m gonna go lay down

[thefairytaler]

My wife pointed out to me the other day that apparently most people were literally only taught how to say Sorry and not how to Apologize or even that they are different things so here.

If all you ever do is step 1, not only did you not apologize, but people will rightfully stop believing you and start getting pissed or hurt.