TheMagnificentMorado

A few days ago I made a journal entry in which I casually mentioned how I don't tend to talk about political things on this site, as it is somewhat of an escape for me. I wrote that journal mere hours before I heard about what happened in Charlottesville. As a minority and an ally, the past several days I've had this anger and sadness grow inside me as I debated talking about it here. I've talked about it on my other social media accounts (which I've purposefully never disclosed on dA), but surely, as an artist, as a WRITER, I should say something about it, right?

But...

What exactly would I--would YOU--accomplish from me writing a furious rant about white nationalism and what the current US president should or shouldn't have done? What would either of us have to gain from dealing with another person talking about how disgusted she is with what happened? 

So instead, I'm taking this energy of mine to do something else. Something to defeat those emotions that hate groups want to instill in me. Something that shows that there's still hope in this world. Something that proves that taking steps backwards isn't the only option. Let me tell you a few stories.
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The year was 2014. I was a sophomore in high school and the period was World History. As intrigued as I was with the class, it wasn't my strongest subject, as the teacher liked to just regurgitate what was written in our textbook without much explaining. She wasn't the nicest teacher, but she wasn't exactly mean either. 
I was sitting next to one of my friends, and unsurprisingly, we occasionally chattered during class and shared notes. But we were both silent on the day our teacher casually finished her lecture--on the Renaissance, if I remember correctly--and spoke about the essay we were to write. Of course we were going to write about that time period, right? 
Not according to this teacher. She passed out instructions and then proceeded to tell us that since we had been hearing about the Renaissance in some essence for years, she was going to make us do something the regulations had "forgotten" to add to the list of cultures in world history.
The assignment? Use class time to research African empires over the course of a week, then write an essay about the achievements about three of them. This teacher refused to let our world history only extend to Europe and North America. She would then proceed to teach us about Central and South American cultures in reference to what we were learning for the rest of the year.
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Only a few months after this event, I saw a friend--the same one I sat next to in World History--being confronted by someone that wasn't a friend of hers, but was friendly towards her. They were asking my friend what she felt about the fact that one of her closest friends was gay. I immediately understood why this was asked, and why so many people in the hall had slowed their steps to hear her answer. Her friend, a mutual friend of mine, had recently come out, and the confronted friend had a reputation as the School Conservative and had recently admitted to being Catholic. She had admitted to me her political views not too long before this encounter, aware that my views are very different from hers. 
But the average person in our mostly liberal school didn't know what I knew about her: she was what both she and I had dubbed a "real Conservative," in reference to what being Conservative used to mean. Instead of being against change, this friend desires a small government, collective liberty, and, well, conserving America's basic values. Our classmates didn't know how much she despises extreme nationalism, and how she had tried to at least understand, on some level, what minorities were going through.
She looked at the person who had asked her about her opinion, then she shrugged, saying "It's none of my business." She then had a protective look in her eyes, and then she proceeded to warn this person, who had been known to not make the most sensitive comments, that if they ever called a gay individual the f-word in her presence, she would proceed to attack with her fists. I found this somewhat funny, as she occasionally said things that weren't too socially acceptable, like this physical threat on school grounds, but I also felt relieved. She then spotted me and she left that spot so we could walk to the cafeteria together.
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This past Sunday, my family was at Church. Our pastor, who had just finished congratulating me and another church member for becoming adults and going off to college soon, began to read the announcements and thank the two musicians who had come last minute. One of these musicians, the pianist, was our pastor's daughter, and as any proud father would do, he spend a good portion of the announcements simply bragging about his daughter and how talented she was, much to the horror and embarrassment of said daughter. He spoke of how she had always been drawn to music, like the rest of the family, and how happy he was. 
During the summer, services are held outside, so several people were helping stack the chairs used. While my father and I helped stack them, a woman who had been part of the service for just under a year spoke to us, and the conversation turned to the daughter. She commented on how she compared my height to hers, commenting on how we were both tall women. "But not nearly as tall as her!" she exclaimed. She then continued to talk about how interesting it was that a woman, the daughter, could grow to be so tall, standing around six feet. When she walked away, my father and I had to stifle our laughter, as we realized that she didn't know what the rest of the Church did.
The daughter is a transgender female who had come out a year ago.

I'm usually not one to spread the word about something (you won't believe how many political things I've wanted to address but decided not to), but this is a somewhat special case because it doesn't involve getting angry at someone.

So if you watch the anime side of YouTube, you might have heard of The Anime Man. He made a video explaining his reasons for doing this, but basically he wants to know what the international opinion is on the best anime series out there. And by international, he means INTERNATIONAL. He wants a ranking system to expand beyond his audience of 1.1 million subscribers. 

So here's the deal: I already filled out my choices. Fill out the form with up to 5 of the anime series you think are the best, then spread it to your friends/followers. 

The poll: goo.gl/forms/ofd80PVBQdIZRDG63

Let's unite, fellow anime fans!

Tagged by 

1. Say ten of your favorite characters from different fandoms
2. Tag ten people
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ALL THE FAVORITES
1. Harry Dresden from The Dresden Files
2. Revy from Black Lagoon
3. Garnet from Steven Universe
4. Wonder Woman/Diana from DC Comics
5. America Chavez/Miss America from Marvel Comics
6. Ritsu from Assassination Classroom
7. Sans from Undertale
8. Cinderella/Cindy from Fables (comic)
9. Kaywinnet Lee "Kaylee" Frye from Firefly
10. Kate Marsh from Life is Strange

Tagging(I'm not even trying am I)-




I've officially given up on finding people that won't murder me for tagging them.

Today, I learned about the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. When I heard about the 49+ dead and 53 injured, my heart just...stopped. What exactly are you supposed to do when you hear about a tragedy like this for the umpteenth time? Just shake your head and say, "Not again?" Honestly, I tried drawing something, then writing something, but it was a big flop. I just kind of decided to not mention it.

But then I remembered all my LGBTQ friends. Despite living on the opposite side of the country, I can't help but think about the possibility of them getting hurt or worse due to their gender identity or sexual orientation. I've made it pretty clear before that I support gay marriage and, yes, the law allowing transgender people in the bathroom of their identity, and homophobia disgusts me. The attack in Pulse was a hate crime and act of terrorism. This isn't about the weapon this murderer used. This has nothing to do with Islam. This isn't even about this monster's pledge of allegiance to ISIS. This is about homophobia and transphobia, and how we have a long way to go. This is about how these families have been impacted. 

But at the end of the day, June is still Pride Month, dammit. For the victims' sakes, for their families and friends, we need to remember that. We need to give our support. If you're in the area, donate blood. If you can, donate money. If you can't do either, just give your support. Express your pride as part of the LGTBQ community. If you're cis and straight like me, just show how much you care.

John Oliver said it best last night when he saw the line of people ready to donate blood: "It kind of reminds you that that dish*t terrorist is vastly outnumbered." We're strong together, and if we ARE together, we can show just how strong we are.

#prayfororlando 

Hello, magnificent people of DA! Well, it’s that time of year to look back on some awesome and godawful things I’ve put on this page.