Well, shit.
Added 2016-11-09 17:30:45 +0000 UTCHey everyone, I just wanted to make a quick post about the outcome of the American election since it affects Avialae a bit. Feel free to not read this, I pass no judgement on those trying to avoid the political anxiety this has caused.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, the results were abysmal. I personally lost something greater than the government turning into a conservative hellscape. I lost my faith in my country. I hoped the majority of America had a good heart, a good conscience. That hope has been replaced by crippling fear. I’m afraid for our physical health, our environmental safety. I’m afraid for my fellow queers, for our legal rights being taken away. I’m afraid for people of color, for the inequality that threatens them daily. I’m afraid for transgendered and non-binary people. I’m afraid for everyone. We were just starting to take baby steps in the right direction for the marginalized. We just started trying to make their lives better and start treating them like human beings who deserve every right and privilege as everyone else.
America broke bad in a very dramatic way. Yes, America is still a democracy and there will still be a semblance of a political system that was built to listen. But it’s not going to be easy. The fight to have our voices heard will be harder than ever. And I will be here for you in this battle. I am not an activist or a political figure. I make gay boys. But if there is anything I can do to help, please let me know.
I had planned to quit my full time job at the end of the year and begin doing Avialae as my main job. I still plan to do that. I think. It’s a lot more risky for me to do so now considering the threat of losing my healthcare. I should be fine for the next year, but who knows what will happen once Trump takes office. If shit really hits the fan I may need to get another job, but for now I’m still planning on doing Avialae full time. I deeply appreciate your support during this time and I want to let you know I’m so thankful for it.
I still plan on starting thee page a week updates at the beginning of 2017. Avialae will continue. I hope it can bring you some form of escape and happiness in these stressful times. It’s important to recognize the reality of our situation, but if I can give you a needed moment of reprieve from it all I will be happy.
A lot of my readers are queer, transgendered, non-binary, and/or non-white. I want to support you in any way I can. Even if that just means giving you the sweet release of yaoi. I deeply appreciate you, and I want you to know I’m thinking of you now and always.
Tl;dr: This fucking sucks, it hopefully won’t affect Avialae, and I love you.
<3 Lucid
PS I hope I didn’t offend anyone by writing this. I know the result of this is so much bigger than how it affects my gay bird webcomic, but I’ve mentioned the election a couple times in my announcements about doing this full-time, so I felt it was needed.
Comments
I love you and your comic!
Josselyn ACu
2016-11-11 19:05:32 +0000 UTCThank you for posting this. I have just started taking baby steps back into media after two days of staying away because of how triggering it was for me as a queer Black woman living in (what I know now to be) the Deep South. I am fearful for my safety, I am fearful for my future. I am still having panic attacks. But I am also still in school in a program that is accepting and loving of me, and I am clinging to that, and to this comic, with both hands, because it helps me to move forward in my new, KKK-endorsed reality.
Clio Henry
2016-11-11 03:08:18 +0000 UTCOf course not all republicans are extremists, but this is a very similar argument to the "not all men" defense when talking about misogyny. You can say that you aren't like that, that you do care for your fellow humans, but that doesn't excuse the fact that your party lets hateful extremists get elected. Just like men need to start taking responsibility and speak up against the sexism around them, republicans need to start taking responsibility for the actions that extremists take under their party. Trump ran on a platform that supported racism and xenophobia, and republicans voted for that even if they didn't believe in it. You need to speak up and prove to the world that you genuinely care for the good of marginalized.
Lucid
2016-11-10 18:40:14 +0000 UTCthanks for sharing your thoughts. I live in germany so I'm not directly affected but nevertheless depressed about this outcome :/ I thought that the people open their mind little by little over the time, but now I feel racism grow stronger again everywhere I look. What will the future hold for us :/ (sry for the bad english o.o)
Anita
2016-11-10 15:55:32 +0000 UTCHilary won the popular vote. More than half of America did vote for her... the electoral voting system is completely stupid!!!
CatastropheQueen
2016-11-10 06:17:06 +0000 UTCThere are very few of these types of people where I lve. Generally most republican's get sick at the mere thought of queer folk being near them at all. Your right, those people are extremists and they are not all like that. It's true. As a transgender who's already afraid for their life, I fear more now and can't even contemplate what will happen but nightmares strike me and I feel locked into something fake for others acceptance already and now it will just be worse. <3 thanks for spreading the love Lucid.
Rae
2016-11-10 05:36:32 +0000 UTCAs a republican I can assure you that not all of us are the crazy folks you see on tv. They are extremists and that's what makes them worth filming. A lot of us from what I can tell, do not support the regression of ANYONE's rights. There are some smart people in the council that I am hopeful will help Trump and Pence make appropriate judgement calls on how to care for our people. There is a lot of hate from a select group of people that I hope we can all calmly and rationally combat. There is good and evil in this world and it is not defined by gender, race, religion, skin color, or anything of the like. It is defined by the actions we take.
Jesseca Rachelle
2016-11-09 22:46:36 +0000 UTCI hope this doesn't end up as bad as it seems. I really hope he is all bark and no bite. However I think republicans holding majority in House and Senate will result in social regression regardless of what Trump does. We all will have to stand our ground and do what we can to stay strong. Rough seas are ahead of us.
2016-11-09 21:41:20 +0000 UTCI was awake at 3am when they announced it, and I'm still in shock. I just can't believe this...
Morgan
2016-11-09 18:42:49 +0000 UTCI hope you know, just seeing that you still chose to update today made me smile. I'm a PoC of immigrants and today and yesterday was hard. It's the luxury of art right now that has keeping me in a little bit of positive spirits. Thank you. :)
2016-11-09 18:41:35 +0000 UTCAs a European I hope it won't be as bad as we think, since american foreign politics always involves our continent as well, but it is indeed quite a sad day... anyway, thank you Lucid for keep doing what you and we all like
Ganimeliz
2016-11-09 18:37:25 +0000 UTCAbsolutely gutted. Watching the LGBTA MM romance novel community on facebook last night just about broke my heart. A lot of scared people. Stay safe, lovely one!
Jennifer Harvey
2016-11-09 18:37:02 +0000 UTCYou said it so well. I don't feel angry. I feel deeply disappointed and disillusioned. I thought we were better than this.
2016-11-09 18:34:08 +0000 UTCThank you. You have no idea how much your words helped me right now. I reached for comfort from a friend and my grasp reached only air. I needed this very much. I'm glad to hear you're continuing the comic as it's always the bright about my day. I woke up wondering what the world would be like today, but I find that no matter what happens, the world still has brilliant and wonderful people like you, and that we all have each other when the going gets rough. Thank you so much! 💖
PantherLion
2016-11-09 18:32:35 +0000 UTC
