Akasketch - AKA, Sketch

Oh my gods I’m crying this is so pretty! Thank you!!

Fanart for “A Time for All Things” by @akasketch

I never got into Harry Potter, but if you were and miss the feeling of the world without giving any credit to a certain author, try this story about finding your family and transing your gender with magic

In this world, the magic is real but so are the books, which were written and published by a witch who altered events to make a “better” story

I HAVE A DATE ON TUESDAY

I think it’s a date

I said “it’s a date” and he hearted it

I think that counts as a confirmation from her?

My crush like me bacc hehe

Am hap

YES-SUH

WELL FUCK I WOULD HOPE SO

This right here. Masculinity is “sweet goofball” energy and I will not be taking notes at this time.

Women are cool as fuck, but I also like when men do cute things.

I like when they're gentle and patient with animals or children.

I like when they do something masculine and get all excited and proud of themselves and look to see if you were impressed.

I like when they have a dumb (but largely harmless) idea and spend all day making it happen, then either fail hilariously or succeed in spite of common sense and jump around hooting and hollering with the boys.

I like when they completely derail a conversation with a well-placed dad joke.

I like how a man can be a smart sensible person, but the moment you put him in a room with a bunch of other dudes he gets along with, they all form a hive mind collectively sharing one brain cell.

Basically, men are cute in their natural state, but too many get brainwashed into being heartless controlling monsters and then spend their lives angry and lonely when they can't form an honest intimate connection with anyone.

Like, fellas, all you gotta do to be attractive is just be a sincere, caring human being, with all the limitations and flaws that come with that. You can still be a big masculine badass if you want! Doing your best to protect and lift up those around you in spite of your weaknesses and flaws is infinitely more attractive than being successful at everything but hurting everyone who gets close.

Anyway, huge props to all the men out there who put in the work to unlearn all the toxic bullshit they're told all the time about how "real men" act. Y'all are brave and handsome and cool, and the world is better with you in it!

That includes trans men, gnc men, non-binary men, and all other men who don't fit the traditional definition of "man"!

Keep being fantastic fellas! 💖

Happy Leland Melvin Day!!

Happy Leland Melvin Day!!!

ok fine maybe community notes was a good idea

Please.

If you consume fanfic on ao3 and are 18+ and American I need you to lock in and call your senators saying you oppose a federal porn ban. This would effectively ban ao3 and being queer in public, among many other things, due to the intentionally vague language of the bill. I’m counting on queer tumblr and fandom tumblr to help me get the word out that you have to call your senators

The Parable of the Wolf

On a fine spring day, an errant young Wolf wandered away from his pack and, in a sunny forest glade, encountered a Hunter.

"Please don't kill me!" said the Wolf, as the Hunter raised his gun. "I'm not here to hurt you!"

"I don't believe you," replied the Hunter. "Everyone knows that wolves are vile, dangerous creatures. You have claws that rip and tear - how can I possibly trust you?"

"If I pull out my claws," said the Wolf, "will you let me go?"

"Of course," said the Hunter. "Why would I lie to you?"

One by one, the Wolf pulled out his claws. The Hunter watched with a lazy smirk, and when the Wolf was done, he lowered his gun.

"I believe you now," said the Hunter. "You're free to go."

"Thank you!" said the Wolf, who tottered home on bloody paws and told his pack of the Hunter's benevolence. "It's only clawed wolves that the hunters don't like," he said. "So long as we remove them, we'll never be shot." And though some wolves disagreed with this, the most fearful of them listened, and soon a third of the pack was clawless.

A month went by, and in due course, the young Wolf found himself once more alone in the forest. A twig cracked behind him, and when he turned, there was the Hunter, his shiny gun at the ready.

"Wait!" said the Wolf. "I've got no claws, remember? I'm not dangerous!."

"I'd like to believe you," the Hunter said, "but last week, I heard that a little girl was mauled by something with big, sharp teeth, and your teeth look pretty sharp to me."

"If I pull out my teeth," said the Wolf, "will you let me go?"

"Of course," said the Hunter. "Why would I lie to you?"

One by one, the Wolf pulled out his teeth. The Hunter watched with silent intent, and when the Wolf was finished, he let his gun droop low.

"I can see you're a well-behaved pup," said the Hunter. "Go, be on your way."

"Thank you!" said the Wolf, and lolloped home, his jaws dripping blood, to tell the pack of the Hunter's caution. "Something with fangs has committed a terrible crime," he said. "So long as we don't look like them, we'll never be mistaken for monsters." And though the eldest wolves exchanged worried looks, the younger ones listened, and soon a third of the pack was toothless, too.

Another month went by, until one day, drinking at his favourite part of the river, the Wolf realised he wasn't alone, and raised his head to see the Hunter walking towards him, his gun once more at the ready.

"This stream is in my territory," the Wolf said, panicked and puzzled. "What are you doing here? I have neither claws nor teeth, and pose no possible threat to you."

"You don't, it's true," said the Hunter, "but many among your pack have both teeth and claws. How am I to trust your good intentions when you associate with such creatures?"

"If I chased away the toothed and clawed members of my pack," said the Wolf, "will you no longer be afraid of me?"

"Of course," said the Hunter. "Why would I lie to you?"

"I'll do it, then," said the Wolf, and when the Hunter gave the nod, he hurried back to his pack, assembled all the obedient wolves, and told them what had to be done. Though some were troubled by the Hunter's presence in their territory, they all agreed it made no sense to have sacrificed their claws and teeth while still associating with those who hadn't - after all, their stance was a principled one, and what good was principle if it wasn't firmly applied? With that, they banded together to chase the other wolves away, and when they were finished, more than a third of the pack was gone.

His task achieved, the Wolf returned to the river, where the Hunter was patiently waiting, and told him the good news.

"It's done!" he said. "The only wolves left are those without claws, or those without teeth, or those without both, like me."

"I'm glad to hear it," said the Hunter. "I hope the others didn't give you too much trouble?"

"Some of them snapped at us, it's true," said the Wolf, "and others swiped at us with their claws. It was frightening; I understand now why you were afraid."

"That's good," said the Hunter, and tipped his hat as he strolled back the way he'd come.

That night, as the remaining wolves lay sleeping, the Hunter and his fellows snuck up on the den and started shooting. The Wolf awoke in terror and confusion to the sound of gunshots and the howls of his dying friends. Desperately, he tried to fight back, but his toothless jaws found no grip on the limbs of the hunters, and his clawless paws left not a dent in their sturdy coats. All too soon, he was knocked to the ground, and as he lay there, panting in fear, the Hunter came and stood over him.

"Why are you doing this?" cried the Wolf. "I did everything you asked!"

The Hunter shrugged. "At the end of the day, a wolf's a wolf. We never could've trusted you."

Horrified, the Wolf asked, "Then why did you have us pull out our claws and remove our teeth and chase away our friends?"

"Because you were strong together," came the reply. "Like this, you're weak."

"But you said you weren't afraid of us!" begged the Wolf.

The Hunter smiled, and sighed, and raised his gun. "Oh, little pup," he said, "this was never about fear. Why would I lie to you?" And before the Wolf could answer, he pulled the trigger.

I’ll say it can also be funny and revealing:

My first job was with this weird dude (we’ll call him Andy) that ran a telecom subcontracting business; I was effectively a cable monkey with a bit of extra computer knowledge. To give you an idea of who this guy was, he was a family friend from church (I was raised in a Fundie household) and was the kind of guy that, when the CDC put out the “everyone has to have a cloth covering” mandate during COVID, he wore a cheesecloth mask, even though my friend (also working for him; he knew this) had to go home to a VERY immunocompromised father.

We were on our way to a job site somewhere relatively far (like an hour or two), and I was in the passenger seat where he was talking to me about all the people he’s hired and passed on.

Now, for context, I was barely shaking eggshell off at this point; if a queer person that I felt safe around had asked me, “hey <deadname>, are you—” *hand tilt*, I’d have responded with, “eh probably? I can’t transition bc of family and gf though, so…”

AAAAAnyway, Andy turns to me in the car and—almost bragging, I shit you not—says, “did you know I’ve never hired a woman? They just don’t apply.”

In my head I go “hehe—stelth,” but I just nod my head and also think, “yeah I don’t think that says as much about women as you think, buddy. I think that says more about you.”

Honestly I wish I’d been brave enough to say that in that moment. But I was an egg in an unsafe space sitting next to my boss in a job I needed, so I didn’t advocate the way I should have if I’d had a spine.

we talk a lot about how damaging trans women’s experience of being around men who think there are no women around, but i rarely hear talk about how exhausting and alienating it is to constantly have to interact 1 on 1 with men who think theyre talking to another man. its damaging and draining in a dfferent way.

Gods I need this like I need air

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