I'm Struggling So Much With Who I Am It's Like Super Painful. 😃

I really wish people would understand that there are other forms of queer rep besides two same gendered people kissing.

A queer character is queer rep regardless of their romance or a lack thereof even. Ace and aro people exist. Trans people exist. Bi people exist. Queer characters are rep by existing, not just by who they interact with. If a character is nonbinary, they are queer rep whether they kiss someone or not. A bi character in a relationship with someone a different gender is still queer rep because they are still bi. Queer characters can even just be friends with one another. They can be single! And still be queer because that’s who they are not who they do!

This whole trend of deciding if art is valid representation based on romance and ships is reductive and dismissive of identities existing within individuals. And of the communities that we all need.

Just please, stop reducing entire identities down to relationships. Its all good and fun to enjoy your ships, but you have to remember the community is bigger than just romances.

I owe this man everything for all that stardew valley has given to me.

Recently a couple of the autistic kids I work with have inspired me with openly, unapologetically owning it.

Like one kid saying “if I don’t make eye contact it’s because I find that hard and it’s easier to concentrate on what you’re saying if I’m not looking at you.”

And another one asking for clarification of an ambiguous statement to check understanding instead of just hoping for the best.

And one saying “I’m going to stim now, this conversation is hard”

I have so much respect for them for being able to voice those things! It’s inspired me to try harder to do that instead of masking until I meltdown because I’m so scared of how people will react.

https://www.tiktok.com/@tylerandhistummy/video/7086509725671722286

Video description and transcription:

Tiktok by Tyler from Fig (tylerandhistummy)

[Tyler faces the camera and speaks to it.]

If this video helps even one person, it was worth it.

So, I've got a ton of ingredients that my body reacts to: corn, citric acid, gluten, chocolate, bananas, peanut oil--I'm all over the place.

It was so hard to read ingredient labels and just find food that I could eat. Grocery trips were unbearable, they took like two or three hours usually.

But I always had this idea on how to make it easier. So I quit my job and helped build an app over the past few years. And that app's called Fig.

[A phone screen showing the app interface, which Tyler scrolls through. Top text reads: "First up: Do you follow any of these diets? Dietary restrictions are complex - it's ok to select more than one!" Underneath is a checklist of ingredients and dietary restriction, including categories with suboptions.]

What makes fig unique is we're trying to help pretty much everybody that has to avoid certain ingredients.

That means we've got a ton of things that you can select from--even really specific ingredients.

[Camera briefly returns to Tyler's face again.]

And like I had dreamed of for so many years, checking ingredients is as quick as this.

[A phone camera scans the barcode on a bottle of spices. Details about the product appear, including an ingredients list and allergen statement. The ingredient "citric acid" appears in red all-caps. There is also an accompanying message that says "This product does not match your Fig."]

And finding food you can eat is as simple as this.

[The app displays a scrollable list of food items, similar to a storefront. Each item has a save toggle and is accompanied by a photo, the product brand/name, and its size. There is a search bar labeled "search for a product." There are also menus for narrowing the search; one is set to "allowed," one is set to "Whole Foods," and another unaltered menu is titled "Category."]

[The camera returns to Tyler.]

So if you know anybody with food allergies, stomach issues, other dietary restrictions, I'd really appreciate it if you shared it with them.

[The appstore listing for Fig: Food Scanner & Discovery.]

It's called Fig, it's completely free, and you can get it on iOS and Android in the US.

[Tyler smiles at the camera.]

Thanks for helping out.

Fig: Food Is Good

Food Scanner App - Fig: Food Is Good

Fig is the fastest way to find food that works for you: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Low FODMAP, Vegan, Food Allergies or just avoiding additive

floor time

get on the floor. it will cure you

genuinely so fucking tired of people leveraging the "groomer" argument against people who support sex ed because scientific literature over decades shows that comprehensive sex education starting around kindergarten actually prevents children from being sexually abused and groomed because it teaches children the correct words for their body parts and also teaches them concepts of privacy, personal space, bodily autonomy, the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching, and the fact that sex is something that only adults do. children with this knowledge are not only better equipped to identify abuse and predatory behavior and communicate that its happening to a trusted adult, but also prevent it from happening in the first place by recognizing when something is happening that shouldn't.

sex education does not sexualize children, it prevents children from being sexualized. anyone who is against early foundational sex education and claims they are doing it to protect children is a fucking liar.

Turning red being relatable to teen/tween girls and more specifically those from the early 2000s like me because:

- those friendship bracelets made of colorful yarn (do you younglings still have those? I’ve had at least one on 24/7 for several years)

- filming yourself and your friends while doing stupid stuff and thinking it’s the most hilarious thing in the world (and not posting it anywhere)

- and making elaborate choreographies/singing numbers

- boysbands… (for me it was 1D… can’t escape it)

- everyone in the gang having their boy from the band (and calling them your husbands)

- the fact that teen girls can and will run a succesfull buisness if they want to (universal to all generations)

- and that no teacher ever will find out (we had a whole underground pokemon cards trading system)

- PERIODS

- Lots of plastic jewelry, headbands, hair clips and big colorful earings

- Questionable and a little cringe fashion with lots of colorful makeup and accessories (not universal sadly - can we go back to that plz? Allow teens to be teens and to discover new ways of dressing up and being a little too mismatched and cringe but not caring and not asking them to look like adults and to be attractive. Plz let teens be teens and stop sexualizing them. I don’t want to see 13 years old dressed like 19 years old anymore)

- the vampire/werewolf phase (I was team Jacob)

- freaking tamagotchis (although it was more popular with the generation before me)

- not just for girls but having braces (do not miss those)

- that one cd Miriam copied for Mei - with the drawings made with a sharpie and everything (absolutely not legally made I can assure you - my dad was always making me copies of movies on blank cds like that; simpler times)

- having crushes. Talking about crushes. Comparing crushes. Having a new crush every week or so. Judging other people’s crush. Crushes.

- and drawing/writting cringy/horny/romantic things in notebooks (yes it’s true)

- mothers being cringe in public (at least from your point of view) (universal but to different degrees; tho I hope no mom ever goes to the extent Ming went)

- so. Many. Emotions. All the time. (And every little mishap feeling like the end of the world)

- your friends becoming the center of your world because talking to your parents feels like a reboot of the tower of babel

That’s all I can think of for now but I’m 100% sure I missed some (also I know like 50% of those applies to all generations and not just the early 2000s but what can I say I got out of control)

these are literally the only villain redemption arcs that are good, so if you’re a writer, take notes:

zuko

megamind

dr doofenshmirtz

Incredibly fucking crucial information for Americans where period tracking digitally is concerned: DELETE YOUR DATA, DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT AND DELETE YOUR APPS