watching the leftism leave their body when you tell them that making the world a better, friendlier place for children is the responsibility of everyone. everyone. even if children are annoying to you, even if you dont ever want kids or you got whatever associated trauma, you have to figure out a way to make your encounters with children a good experience for them. its not optional. its a duty, like eating food or taking the trash out. as soon as you exist in their periphery, you are defining their world for them. you are helping to sculpt their idea of reality. which is, among other things, one of the best reasons to be really weird or really gay or really lesbian or really trans or really whatever-unrepresented-minority you can be while in public. because you are showing them what a person can be and thats both really important and really cool
- she/her, Shark if we don't interact
- sharkaeopteryx.neocities.org/
Sharks are cool and comfortable!
Elden Thing | Back & Body Hurts Platinugggggh Rewards Member
Profile pic and banner credits: sharkaeopteryx art by @superkiak! eggbug by eggbug! Mash-up by me!
[Alt-text for pfp: a cute sharkaeopteryx sat on the ground with legs out, wings down, jaw ajar, and hed empty, looking at eggbug and eggbug's enigmatic smile.]
[Alt-text for banner: a Spirit Halloween banner with eggbug and the sharkaeopteryx that Superkiak drew for me looking at it with inscrutable expressions]
I'm a Vietnamese cis woman born and currently living in the U.S. You may know me from Sandwich, from Twitter or Mastodon (same username), or on Twitch as Sharkaeopteryx. I do not have a Discord or Bluesky account.
Ask me about language learning/teaching, cooking/eating food, late diagnosis ADHD, and volunteer small business mentoring. Or don't, I'm not the boss of you.
I think people deserve to be young, make mistakes, and grow without being held to standards they don't know about yet and are still learning. So, if you are under 22, please don't try to strike up a friendship or get involved in discussions on my posts.
Please don't automatically assume I follow/know/co-sign someone just because I reposted something from them—sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Also, if you think being removed as a follower when we're not mutuals is a cardinal sin, please do not follow me.
in reply to @chirasul's post:
Genuinely being visible queer can be so important to making the world a better place for kids and teens and I can give a real life example.
I was in a situation where I was helping calm down a teen and their friend who I had just seen got into a big fight with their mother (Their mom called the cops and I sat with the kids until the cops came and told me to leave :/). The two teens were obviously tense and scared. One of them noticed the pin on my purse and asked "is that a pride flag?". After that the situation was so much less tense. They became super talkative and started calling each other by their correct pronouns. The whole situation sucked, but I was so glad I was able to put them at ease for a little bit. While not a situation where I got to be "cool" exactly, it is something that sticks with me, that something as small as wearing a flag somewhere on my person can make others feel safe.
hell yeah! being queer and happy in public where kids can see you is a more powerful sociopolitical action than any post on any website
