Tagged: @the-ever-chaos-collective (Thank You~ 😌🙏✨)

Want an awesome Star Trek Backpack? Want it for free? Then this is the post for you!

It’s been a bit since my last giveaway, and I know everyone really likes the backpacks, so I thought I’d give one away!

There will be ONE prize: A custom backpack with the fabric of your choice! Or, if a backpack isn’t quite to your taste- any other bag in my shop! Awesome right?

To enter you are allowed ONE REBLOG and ONE LIKE per day. Each note gets you one entry and I’ll use a random number generator to pick the winner. (I’m not responsible for any tumblr fuckary i.e. lost reblog’s or likes.)

You do not have to follow me to enter- however, if you like Star Trek enough to wear a one of these backpacks, I’d say you have a good chance of liking my blog. Also if, when I select your name, I see you’re following me, you’ll get a little extra in your package!

And speaking of something extra: if you place an order between now and the deadline, use the coupon code 10STARTREK at my shop and get 10% off your order! 

The giveaway will close on Saturday June 22nd at 9PM PST. The winner will be tagged in a post and I’ll also send an ask, so be sure yours is open. The winner will have 24 hours to respond to the message. If I don’t receive a response within 24 hours, I will select another recipient.

Good luck!

Happy Valentines Day from Buff!

So apparently Chris Hemsworth (George Kirk?) gets straight-up murdered in this installment of the Cadfael Chronicles.

Dear LGBT community members who don’t think asexuality should be allowed “in”:

I’m biologically female, and I’m not attracted to men. Society told me I was supposed to be, but it never happened, and I spent years of my life feeling broken and wrong. The other option presented to me when I was young was being attracted to women. I watched girls closely, trying to figure it out, but that wasn’t working for me, either. Wanting to be sexually close to another person just baffled me. I swore everyone else was making those feelings up. But they weren’t, and I got older, I realized that and it sunk in that I was just one big weirdo. I was in college when I learned the word for it, and had a breakdown of panic and relief. I can’t begin to put into words how it felt to discover I wasn’t broken–that I was a part of a group of people who felt in their hearts and souls the way I did.

Then came the process of coming out. My friends were a mixed bag, but friends you can pick and choose from if they aren’t supportive.The vast majority of my friends were cool about it, even if they didn’t quite understand. There were assholes, and one suggested “showing me” I was wrong (creepy creepy creepy), but mostly my friends were neutral to positive.

After some select friends, I came out to my family.

My parents told me I was wrong.

It was like being run over by a truck. To this day, I can’t talk about my asexuality around those I love most. It caused one of the only serious arguments I’ve ever had with my parents (I love them and they’re wonderful about 99.9% of the things in my life, but this is one place they weren’t). I was told I just had to find the “right person”, and I would change. That I was too young to understand my feelings (I was in my 20s) towards boys. That I shouldn’t put labels on myself that would make men not want to date me. Because god forbid men not find me attractive! Because clearly, from my conversation with them, what I wanted most of all was to find a man who wanted to get in my pants! Yeah!

Yeah.

It’s not really their fault. We live in a world where happiness is defined as falling in love, getting married, etc. Not wanting another person in your life as your “other half” is an alien concept. Media is flooded with messages of heterosexual normalcy, and now in very small pockets (hopefully growing, because it should! <3), a homosexual option for partnered normalcy. It’s shoved in our faces CONSTANTLY. Our society and government have even set things up to benefit couples financially. Which is fun now that I’m in my 30s and trying to save up for a future family, all by myself. And thankfully, even though they still avoid the word, over a decade later my parents do seem on board with the fact that I’m not pursuing relationships and are supportive of my life choices to save for a family by myself.

Listen. I am by no means saying that I am oppressed as a person the way people attracted to same-gendered people are. I’m not saying I’m oppressed the way the trans community is. I’m not saying any of that. But I AM dealing with a world where who I am is just not “okay”. Where who I am is wrong, where who I am needs to be fixed. Or, in many cases (most cases), where who I am DOES NOT EXIST. I don’t belong in the heterosexual world. I’m an outsider to it. But I’m also an outsider to any world that involves sex and attraction. And as a youth, I had NO WORD to use to describe who I was!

So when asexuals advocate for asexual inclusion in the LGBT community, it’s not because we want to weirdly steal thunder from anyone in your community, or because we want false pity for oppression we haven’t faced the way you have. It’s because we don’t want others to have to grow up the way we did.

We don’t want the world to continue not knowing about our existence. We want asexuality recognized publicly–both so asexuals can learn about themselves in an honest way, and so non-aces see us as legitimate humans. The LGBT world seemed like the natural place for us to go to to ask for inclusion. The place where others might understand what it’s like to grow up in a heterosexual world, as someone who is not. It’s who I first turned to when I discovered the word for myself, only to find immediate pain, rejection, and even mockery. I was horrified.

But I didn’t give up. I couldn’t give up. In 2005, I was in college and gave a talk at my university’s LGBT club. They had never heard of asexuality before, despite being part of a huge liberal university. It was the scariest thing I’d ever done in my life. I had to introduce the concept, and represent the entire community. And then answer a barrage of questions. Personal, personal questions, about my body, my life experiences, everything. And at the end, there was a long period silence. Until one brave person said:

“Wow. You have gone through the same things as us. You said you had some pamphlets about it? Can we put them in our office? People need to know about this. I can’t imagine growing up not knowing about homosexuality. As scary as it was for me, at least I had a word for it.”

I broke down crying and gave them all the pamphlets I had ordered. Many of them started crying, too. We became a blubbering mess in that meeting room. In that moment, I thought I had found a community who understood after all.

Did I? I suppose that’s up to you. But please, take some of this into consideration before you say that asexuals shouldn’t have a letter in your acronym, or should make their “own, separate” community. We’re unknown and invisible in so many ways, but nevertheless hurting in ways I think many of you can sympathize with and understand. It’s not that we’re attracted to the “wrong” sex or gender. It’s that we’re not attracted to the “right” one. And holy crap, the world just isn’t super friendly or understanding to people like that. Like us.

Thank you.

500+ FOLLOWERS UNLOCKED!

In celebration of that milestone, plus Pacific Rim being released on digital download, I am running a giveaway!

  GIVEAWAY ENDS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 9AM EST PRIZES: Hard-copy PROOF of the finished coloring book!

  There will be 3 winners! I am making a physical version of the coloring book — it will contain all the pages I have currently and will in the near-future release, plus BONUS CONTENT that I won’t be posting online.

  The book will be printed old-school style on newsprint and bound with a soft cover. (A proof is a physical mockup of the entire book, made either by myself or the printers. It will pretty much be as authentic as the real-deal.)

  HOW TO ENTER: Reblog this post, that’s it! I will pick winners at random November first, and send out the proofs when they are created, probably late November.

This the first you’ve heard of the coloring book? Check out the pages I’ve made so far here:

Cherno Alpha Pilot Gear

Gipsy Danger

Herc & Chuck Hansen

Tendo Choi

Mako Mori & Raleigh Becket

Leatherback & Otachi

Max

Hannibal Chau

Cherno Alpha & Crimson Typhoon

Hermann Gottlieb

Newt Geiszler

11 Questions Meme

I was tagged by startrekmania. (Oh God, I've never been before and I'm all flustered about it.) It's a question game! Here are the rules: Answer the questions. Write 11 new questions. Tag 11 people. Let them know they’ve been tagged and…GO!

1. STAR TREK???

I'll take one in every color. *expectantly folds hands together* I’m a new Trekkie, just sat down to my first TOS episode earlier this year in fact, but I've fallen hard and I'm so far gone. Like, picking out my Starfleet uniform pajamas gone. I intend to see all of it, though, in order of publication.

2. Pick your favorite character from your favorite book, movie, or TV series and explain why! No, it does not have to be Star Trek.

Mm, well. Choosing absolute favorites isn't exactly my thing - no one and nothing ever occupies those spaces for long, alone at least. It's a temporary position, we'll put it that way. But! For Star Trek, it's always been Spock. AOS, TOS, every possible iteration; all his imperfections, his irrationalities, his mistakes, and the other sides of those coins. I just flat-out love him.

3. What stereotype would you stereotype yourself as?

Hm. If we go all TVTropes here, The Quiet One? Either that, or Defrosting Ice Queen with a generous shot of Hates Small Talk.

4. What is/was your favorite/best subject in school?

Thankfully I'm well and truly out of it now, but it was English. I was one of those insufferable advanced track underachievers it came naturally to. I had just enough raw talent to maintain and even sometimes surpass the expected level of performance in my classes without much effort - sat through a few awkward heart-to hearts with teachers who thought that with further application I could have a future as an author, in fact - but I was honestly never more miserable than when I was writing. And that still holds true. So it was my best, yes, but never my favorite.

5. What’s your dream job?

This is unimpressive. But anything that totals around thirty hours a week, is done solitarily, requires constant physical exertion, and is never taken home after hours suits me. Extra points for low stakes and midnight shifts. You know, office cleaning, overnight retail ... I'm not ambitious, and I don't dream above what I consider my desserts.

6. How has your blog transformed from when you first created it?

When I first joined up just over a year ago I had no intention of running a blog of my own - my account was strictly a way to keep tabs on the artists, writers, and other fandom creatives whose work I wanted to follow. Even so, I was terribly self-conscious about everything tumblr at first;  I didn't even click like on all of the posts I genuinely liked for fear of drawing attention to myself. It took a few months for me to brave interacting with other users (my first foray into that venture was my entry for the I'm the Real Project), and a few more to start posting anything of my own. I'm still not what you would call an active poster, but now there's at least a bit to see on my page. Check out my art tag, if you want?

7. Android, iPhone, oldPhone, WindowsPhone, BlackBeret (Blackberry), or other?

iPhone. My S.O. received one as a gift from his father, and before you could say "hailing frequencies open" I had it nestled between an off-brand screen protector and a Spock-themed hard case, bursting with bookmarks and notes on fic reccs. It's more of a portable slash fiction library than a communication device, really, as far as I'm concerned.

8. xBox, PlayStation, PC, Wii, or other?

xBox, PlayStation, and PC! I've got a first-gen box and a 360, as well as a PS1 and 2. Besides that, I've got a NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, GameBoy, GBA, DS, DSiXL, 2DS, Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast. I ... might have a bit of a habit.

9. What career would you have in Starfleet and why?

I'd be stunned more than anyone if I managed to snag a berth in Starfleet of all places, but knowing me it'd have to be something maintainence-related; haven't got the education or experience for anything else. I'd be the one scrubbing down the corridors, polishing the bulkheads, sanitizing the replicators. Unglamorous, maybe - but I don't live my life at work.

10. More specifically, what would you love to do in Starfleet and why?

I'm kinda delighted that there's a distinction made between what you'd actually do and what you'd love to, haha - refreshing. Call me crazy, but if I could choose I think I'd be proud to don a redshirt and do my level best to protect and serve my fellow crewmen phaser in hand, even if it would very likely mean my death. I've always been a crack shot, oddly enough, and I've got a decent danger sense. Call it intuition? Frankly, having the opportunity to bend any skill I have to service other than my willingness to singlemindedly work where other people just won't for once (if you can call that a skill) ... would be interesting.

11. What’s your biggest fear?

This questionnaire doesn't pussyfoot around, does it? *shuffles feet* I'll come out and say it, though; the thing I'm most afraid of is losing my significant other to death. It terrifies me so much to think about that I can barely bring myself to type it out - we've been together eight years and understand each other so well, leaving even the love aside - that I can't help but believe I'll never find anything to rival it again. I'd unironically call the man my t'hy'la ... so, um. Yeah. I'll play myself out.

Oh, but my questions!

1. List your top three vices. 2. Now, your top three virtues. 3. Any personal quirks you're fond of? 4. What was the last thing you were really surprised by? 5. Lay out your favorite outfit, and tell us why it's your favorite. 6. And your favorite meal? Take us all around the plate. (Bonus: give recipes.) 7. What was the first thing you can remember being a fan of, i.e. your first fandom? 8. Is there anything you've always wanted, but would be embarrassed to actually own? 9. Can you recite anything from memory, like a poem, or a passage from a script or book? 10. Would you rather be caught in a lie, or realize that someone's been dishonest with you? 11. If you had to choose between a new television adaption, movie, or novelization of your favorite story, which would you go with?

As for my tags, because I'd love to see their answers, I'll go with: sionid, sunderlorn, wiggleofjudas, needlesslycryptic, trashhqueen, and maketreknotwar. Hope you don't mind, tag-ees!

But I confess I don't actually have enough tumblr acquaintances to completely fulfill the last bit of this meme. So if you're seeing this and would like to make a go of it, consider yourself tagged by me!

As hard as it may be for you to understand how I cannot feel sexual attraction, please respect that it is equally difficult for me to understand how you can.

Scrapbook #8: Anglica (Click for full-size image.)

Other entries in this series: 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Hi everyone!!! This is an art supplies giveaway for me reaching an amount of followers I said I’d do a giveaway at!

Here are the things you’ll be getting, as you can see from the photo!

6” by 10” Sketchbook for both wet and dry media

A bottle of ink, you pick the color, I’ll order it from a specific site

A fountain pen that comes with the ink from the same site

11 colors of Cotman Winsor & Newton watercolors

3 brushes

A drawing of a subject of your choice to go on the first page! You might want to check my art out if you’re unfamiliar with me to see what types of things I usually do

And that’s that.  I don’t use any of those watercolor tubes anymore, as I’ve replaced them each with higher quality tubes, so I thought: why not give them away?  And I like the fountain pen I’ve been using so much that I think I’d like someone else to try it, too.  I’ve also replaced the three brushes I’ve included here, so I don’t need those, either.  And a drawing for good measure.

Here are the rules! Please follow these:

No giveaway blogs.  I want more people to actually see this and have a chance at getting something; a lot of artists don’t have a lot of money…

Reblogs enter you, and a Like helps.  You can’t just like - but you can do both to double your chances of just reblogging (if it falls on someone who liked it, I’ll check to see if they reblogged it)

I’ll be checking the blog that wins to see if you’re an active blog.

You gotta use these after they arrive! I obviously can’t enforce this, but I want to see people not being timid! Make art! That’s what these are for.  I know a thing that stops a lot of people is being scared they’ll mess up and waste expensive supplies… but if this is a gift, that shouldn’t matter!

This ends on May 24th. If I send an ask and you don’t respond within 2 days, I’ll ask the next person, and so on.

I will ship anywhere. I’ll pay the shipping.

I think that’s everything.  Have fun!!! Good luck!

Nocturnal/Diurnal - Fired

(Nocturnal/Diurnal - Unfired)