I now see why I struggled with showing my interests to my parents when I was a kid.
I’m listening to my cousin going on about Fortnite. The kid adores the game and is talking about the battle pass and he how hopes to get it later on today.
My mum just flatly says she doesn’t know what that means and has told him to hurry up as they go through the door, not giving my cousin any wiggle room to explain what it means. Fortnite is special to him, he wants to talk about it, he wants to engage but how can he when at that moment, the adult he’s talking to shuts him down?
Why can’t some people just take a damn minute to listen, REALLY listen to what kids are saying? He’ll now sit in the car in complete silence because his aunt isn’t interested in what he likes.
I’m not saying everyone has to be a fountain of knowledge for things like that. Hell, you don’t have to like what another person’s into but for the love of god, at least TRY and give it a go in understanding why it’s so important to that person.
“Oooh, that sounds neat! Tell me about it?” Is one of the best things you can say to a kid. (Or an author.) It matters less that you understand it than it does that they are allowed- are *encouraged*- to explain it
And also, if you’re truly lost:
“I’m not sure what that is, can you explain it to me?”
Kids LOVE getting to tell an adult something the adult doesn’t know. It makes them feel important because hey, we’re grownups! We know everything! Wait, we don’t? Wow! Let me tell you!
also if you’re like me you’ve had your family just up and say everything you like is stupid and that’s like. the worst possible thing please just fuckin listen to kids
Or if you really are in a rush say “hey I’m in a rush now but I can tell you care about this so how about you tell me later?” And then later actually follow through and say “hey so explain that thing you like to me, I have time now”. Show that you’re listening even when real life gets in the way, and teach them not only how to be patient and find good times to talk about things but also that you care about them
I'm not transphobic but there's no way the transgendered peter parker headcanon would work in the way of physical appearance, there's no way a trans guy could every achieve the muscles that are required of Spider-Man or any superhero. I'm not transphobic, but you trans guys will always have feminine builds and it isn't realistic for you to say that transgenders could look like buff superheroes or even just strong men. Sorry.
okay putting aside the fact that you are blatantly transphobic despite how much you say “i’m not transphobic” and also putting aside the fact that while peter parker does develop muscle definition he is still known for being very small and lean even after being bitten by the spider, let’s just take a look at some trans guys who will never be able to have the physique of superheroes or of strong men in general:
and that’s just a few of the many trans guys in this world, some of which are fat, or skinny, or curvy, or muscular as fuck – you know, like any other human being. can cis people stop acting like they know shit about what trans people look like.
I think about this a lot. Sometimes I look at someone and find myself assuming something about their gender. Ultimately we cisgender people need to realize that there’s nothing we can know for certain about another person’s gender simply by looking at them.
