#honestly Merida Y U Even Tryin

V A C C I N A T E

As an Ace I have dealt with this from time to time

JUST LET ME BE.

People messing with their textbook mini DUMP

i think the thing I most admire about this show is its sheer faith in the human spirit. in our capacity to learn from our mistakes, to heal, to grow, and to reach our full potential by helping others to do the same. It’s an intense optimism which isn’t superficial or unrealistic - it’s life, and it’s beautiful. thank you, sense8 crew.

I’m honestly so grateful for the creditless Stammi Vicino duet from vol 6 and the official bonus manga because they confirm what I thought before but wasn’t certain of because of the credits which got in the way and because we only got to see like half of Yuuri’s exhibition.

And what I’m talking about here is that Victor and Yuuri switch roles throughout their ice dance.

And yes, I mean female and male roles.

We see that Yuuri starts off in the female role as he is the one being lifted

as well as supported by Victor in moves such as this one:

But as they enter the second half of their performance together, the balance suddenly shifts and

Victor becomes the female partner in their ice dance, now being supported by Yuuri.

And, accordingly, we soon see this:

I wish I knew a professional name for this move, but the point is that when Victor leans to the side, it is Yuuri that supports him through holding his arm and balancing him out. I’ve seen this performed in ice dancing footage I found on YouTube and indeed, Victor would be the woman here, while Yuuri would be the man.

Right before the sequence transitions to Yuuri running in St. Petersburg, we manage to see this:

You’ll notice that Yuuri is leading Victor and pulling him into that spin. Although they both spin, Victor is doing the feminine spin while Yuuri does the masculine spin. The best way that I can explain this is that the one being led holds the feminine role and the one doing the leading holds the masculine role, like in most dances.

All of this we’ve seen in the anime (although somewhat obscured by the credits) and it was enough for me to determine that they do indeed switch roles and it was a very conscious choice on the creators’ side. But one thing that I kept wondering about was: Why does Yuuri not lift Victor? Surely, if he can pole dance while holding Chris with only one arm, lifting Victor should not be an issue? I justified it to myself with the fact that Yuuri is shorter, so lifting Victor on the ice would be considerably more difficult for him than vice versa.

And then the official manga came and swept me right off my feet.

Because Yuuri was clearly lifting Victor.

And when I saw this, I thought: “Wait, why didn’t we see this in the anime?”

And then it hit me - this is the second half of the performance.

And suddenly everything falls into place.

Because Victor has less stamina than Yuuri, when Victor and Yuuri were choreographing the program, they placed the parts where Victor lifts Yuuri as early as possible. And because Victor wouldn’t be able to lift Yuuri in the second half, that’s when Yuuri’s chance to do a lift or two appears. Yuuri has more stamina, so lifting Victor by the end of the program when Victor would be more tired is not an issue for him, and makes perfect sense.

And I just love this so much because it may be such a small detail but it’s so consistent with what we know about the characters and I’m just??? Amazed? Because I don’t think I’ve ever seen such consistency and wholesomeness in anything in recent memory.

But even apart from that, this single panel proves that Victor and Yuuri truly are equal in their ice dance, and by extension in their relationship as a whole.

Which is awesome because it’s further confirmation that Victor and Yuuri and pretty much all of yoi itself is a huge middle finger to gender roles and heteronormative stereotypes (not to mention the real life ice dance/pair skate ISU rules), and I love it and will never stop praising it.

桃路果子

Fear of flying, Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek

“You’re TOO YOUNG” to be ‘this’ or 'that’

- I was 12 when somebody tried to kiss me, and I thought this was the most uncomfortable thing that ever happened to ne

- I was 13 the first time I was called 'a weirdo’ for thinking that kisses were gross

- I was 14 when people laughed at my face when I said that people touching me made me uncomfortable

- I was 14 when I started to pretend and say “omg they’re so HOT” - even if I didn’t know what the hell is 'hot’ (it’s just not a word I use for people, never did) - because I didn’t want to be the weirdo

- I was 15 when people called me a 'freak’ for saying “NO” when they started saying they would fix me with some friends, because they assumed I couldn’t get a date on my own

- I was also 15 when in a game of truth or dare people laughed at me for saying that to me, making out was just uncomfortable (even talking about it)

- I was 16 when people told me I needed “to grow up” when I said that I didn’t feel comfortable talking about dating, and sex

- At the age of 19, people would side-eye me for leaving the room when the topic of conversation involved sex

I’ve ALWAYS been sure of what I liked and what I didn’t.

If I had changed in the meantime? That would be ok. But I didn’t, and this is also ok.

I’ve pretended to have crushes, and to find people 'hot’ just to fit in.

Until the age of 16, I used to pretend I had kissed 2 people, because I wanted to fit in.

At the age of 19, I was getting desperate, because I was getting old, and I still have the same thoughts I had when I was a kid.

At the age of 20, I’ve found out that it was okay.

I was alright all along.

There’s nothing wrong with me, never was! Yet, at the age of 23, I found people calling me 'toxic’, 'an abomination’, saying I don’t exist.

It would work well if I was a teen, but guess what?

It’s been a journey, but I’ve found myself. When I was young. I just didn’t believe it.