#will add more tags in a reblog

[astraltrickster]

What frustrates me about disability advocacy is that...of all the people I've seen talk about it, 99% of them - even ones who are disabled themselves - have eventually proven that their support has limits. Really stupid and arbitrary ones, at that.

You support disabled people...but if you see an adult with a DIAPER BULGE in their pants in public it's ON SIGHT, get your kink out of my face! Actually, even if it's not a kink, that's still gross and, like, it's not like the diaper exists to CONTAIN waste, you're a biohazard! Just stay home!

You support disabled people...but, ugh, you're so sick of masks, they feel so icky, the CDC isn't advising them anymore so really how bad can it be, if you don't want to be permanently disabled even worse than you already are then why don't you just stay home forever?

You support disabled people...but if you see anyone using a non-conventional straw that someone's billed as "anti-aging" on TikTok you proudly declare that you'll smack them, because what do you mean it might be a motor control or sensory thing?

You support disabled people...but no one is REALLY so disabled that they can't manage their lights conventionally, clean their homes by themselves, or hold a pen for extended periods of time or at all; that's just something people make up as an excuse for Bad Tech and exploitative luxury services.

You support disabled people...but, god, control your by-definition-uncontrollable tics, they're SOOOO annoying and rude!

You support disabled people...but when someone stops masking or runs out of spoons and starts speaking in a choppy, hard-to-understand way, it's a joke.

You support disabled people...but AAC is, like, sooooo annoying and hard to understand, learn to talk like a normal person instead of pointing like a baby or whatever, geez.

You support disabled people...but you hate image descriptions and video transcriptions because they're, like, sooooo ugly and transcriptions SPOIL things. (Not to be confused with "frequently not having the spoons to translate images and videos into text, which is a skill; one which everyone should try to develop, but a skill nonetheless" - I get that, it happens to me, but if you take issue with OTHER people adding them to your posts for Aesthetic Reasons, you're...kind of a dick! I'm not sorry for saying it!)

You support disabled people...but you think teehee funny joke annotations are a much more valuable use of caption tracks than, you know, actual captions are.

You support disabled people...but you still concern-troll people with armchair diagnoses of heavily stigmatized disorders for harmless weirdness, or try to paint them as icons of some kind of horrible social ill.

You support disabled people...but you're still convinced that every asshole is mentally ill, probably A Narcissist, and what do you mean that's a loaded thing to call someone when a heavily stigmatized disorder is rudely misnamed as such too, isn't it easier to, like, change the name of the disorder throughout the whole system than it is to just stop using that word as your go-to Bad Person Pathologizing Word, which you definitely need? (Or worse, you see no problem with this clash because you're convinced it IS Bad Person Disorder...)

You support disabled people...but you see someone mumbling to themself on the bus and you get as far away from them as possible because it's "scary".

You support disabled people...but you constantly try to pull "gotcha"s about people telling you not to touch people's assistive devices.

You support disabled people...but someone being okay with their delusional disorder and talking about that is BAD and PROMOTING SELF-HARM.

You support disabled people...but your body positivity still focuses exclusively on "people can be healthy and fat at the same time!" as if people who ARE fat because of health issues and/or have health issues BECAUSE of their weight don't exist or deserve support.

You support disabled people...but you declare that advocates who want us all to have more access to things that improve your quality of life are the REAL ableists for acknowledging that those things that you currently can't do tend to improve quality of life.

You support disabled people...but your advocacy for yourself involves distancing yourself from people with more support needs than you.

You support disabled people...but you treat addiction of any kind, or use of anything with known addictive tendencies, as a moral failing.

You support disabled people...until the accommodations they need clash with your own, then it's not just a benign incompatibility that sucks just as much for them as it does for you; no, you are an innocent victim and they are a horrible ableist.

You support disabled people...until it's too inconvenient. Too weird. Too scary. Once that line is crossed, it's not a disability issue anymore, they're, conveniently, just a Bad Person.

It's fucking exhausting and I'm sick to death of it.

#disability #serious tag #bitching #and even after i posted this i keep thinking of more shit people have said #not gonna edit them in because this post is long and has already been reblogged a couple of times #but might keep track of them in the tags or add more in a reblog #because. i can keep going.

[sykloni]

Dannymay 2023

15. Full Hazmat AU & 23. Rogue Gallery

#danny phantom #dannymay2023 #full hazmat au #rogue gallery #(the thing I love about full hazmat au is that unless Danny shows his face) #(it would be totally reasonable to assume that he is an adult) #(especially if you don't want to believe a child beat you) #comic #(just gonna add this here since it seems to be coming up a lot) #(This is not a fan art of any specific fic!) #(When I do fanart of fanfiction I always link the fic and tag the person who wrote it) #(I know this is not that original idea and people have already linked multiple good fics in reblogs) #(And I'm sure there are probably even more with similar concept) #(BUT this is still not fanart of any of them)

[megatraven]

My gift for @miraculously-dumb-bitch for @mlsecretsanta this year!! I hope the holidays are treating you well, and that your new year will be fantastic! :]

#miraculous ladybug #alyanette #mlsecretsanta #renabug #rena rouge #ladybug #marinette dupain-cheng #alya cesaire #i actually have some more doodles for you but they're not finished yet #so if u dont mind i'll probably post again (or reblog this and add more) and tag u when theyre finished #but i wanted to at least post this part on time #my art #megatraven draws

[gammija]

he would not say that, podcast/book edition:

#thin martins.... #joos yaps #now that this post has a few reblogs: its fun to read the tags #most fun ones are where its clearly personal taste #ill add a few more petty ones of my own; #elias does not have eye earrings. he has eye cufflinks at best otherwise he dresses like the boring bureaucrat he is #used to be for emo/grungy jon but i was worn down and will now begrudgingly accept it as a phase in uni #(though he was Not In A Band. i stand by that) #for all of the latter ones i hope its clear i dont personally mind if people make fanworks which disagree. but they're wrong/j #thin martins are annoying on another level which ive gone into before and wont do now #oh right blond hair/blue eyed martin. no. #and any jon with a small anime nose isnt jon #again want to be clear: apart from thin martin this is all a matter of taste and in good fun plz keep drawing ostentatious eliasses

[army-of-bee-assassins]

it's been said before and i'll say it again: image descriptions are not meant to be added later by other people. they are meant to be written by op and included within the op.

#when people add descriptions in a reblog - that's just a stopgap measure #it's not the goal to do it that way forever #the goal is for as many people as possible to write their own image descriptions #accessibility #glad we're all feeling angry about ids today together #accessibility has to be promoted by everyone - not just a tiny minority #this is also why we are constantly asking people to edit ids into the original post #if you rb my id to say thanks i assume you're unintentionally ignorant at best (i am hoping you will read my blog description) #and at worst i assume you know and you are just too ableist to edit the id in #(sorry i keep editing the tags i just keep thinking of more things i wanna say)

[godhelpmeimdescendingintomadness]

#these are genuine screenshots of posts from the day and im putting these here both 1. for peoples enjoyment but 2. to archive it because the #y all live on my old ass computer which may croak it at any moment #this is a snapshot of the day none of these are my posts (obviously) and i feel really bad that dumb younger me didnt get peoples urls in #the screenshots #but on the bright side you see peoples customised blogs?? yay??? #also all the twitter screenshots were taken by other tumblr users and posted in the tag on the day #i dont and didnt use twitter back then so theyre also tumblr vintage #i have more but i hit the image limit and im scheduling this post to be on the day and i cant figure out how to reblog and add more until #november 5th #nov 5th #spn #supernatural #destiel #destielputinelection

[cyncerity]

people really liked the tits clip apparently, so here’s a clip of the theater breaking down and being unable to play the movie properly

#hey if you’re part of this fan base and reblog please add more specific tags i have no idea what people use for this kind of stuff #also his shirt has rats on it which i didn’t see until i was literally less than half a foot away from him #i didn’t say hi cause i was at the merch table and he was behind it gathering his own stuff and i didn’t want to bother him #especially cause he was about to do a meet and greet but yeah they’re rats and that’s awesome #will wood #will wood and the tapeworms #wwattw #chris dunne #the real will wood #trww #the real will wood live

[whatisgoingoninmyhead]

saw an anti ace-spec people post on the asexual tag today so I wanted to make a post:

for anyone who fits anywhere on the ace spectrum, no matter how you define sexual attraction and how often you feel it, no matter your past, no matter your other orientations, and no matter how confident you are in it. Have a happy international asexuality day, this day is for you :)

#aroace posts #aiming for a positive post #asexual #ace-spec #acespec #i don't know all the acespec tags so if you reblog with more I'll probably add them here #grey ace #gray ace #ace #international asexuality day #iad #1k #i talk

[ramblingandpie]

#obviously feel free to reblog and add more info in the tags #I'm genuinely curious #I am not a huge history nerd except for a few things #And this fits into the things I'm a nerd about

[r0semultiverse]

#using 'them' because obviously not all transfem folks (myself included) use she & her #add this one to one of my more super hot takes even if it's true #stop canceling trans women over stuff you absolutely get it up for #also making this because of recent events & no I won't elaborate even if you ask me to #and no I won't debate the ethics of adults playing pretend with you as that's silly; a waste of my time #and is also just not what this post is about; you'd think that'd be obvious but watch people not care anyway #feel free to send asks though It's up to me whether or not I want to answer them #this double standard is never done in good faith & is most assuredly transphobia 100% #marking this post as all of the things because I know the people on this site can't behave; I've seen it before #yes you should reblog this btw; this also happens on twitter & reddit I'm sure though I have no twitter #mine #op #fauxcest #sibcon #step mom #siscon #brocon #sibcest #trans memes #transgender memes #cw adult things #cw adult stuff #tagging all of these just to be safe

[mzminola]

This is not a perfect analogy but I am making it anyway to try to convey what being online has been like for me lately.

Seeing people say "Oh, Jews are fine, I just hate zionists!" is like seeing "Oh, women are fine, I just hate feminists!"

Zionism and feminism are both very broad socio-political movements that have changed focus over time, that ostensibly have some very basic core tenets but you really need to ask the specific person you're talking to how they personally define it to be sure.

Both have been subject to legitimate criticism, and hostile reactionary bullshit. Had waves, sub-movements, splinters, people with damn near opposite views sharing the term and people with seemingly identical views rejecting it.

You can give working, broad definitions like these:

Feminism is the belief that all people should be treated equally regardless of gender, with a focus on women's rights due to systemic oppression.

Zionism is the belief that all peoples have the right to self determination and safety, with a focus on Jewish people finding it in Israel.

You can also give different definitions! Many people give different definitions! Many people also hold these beliefs but use different names for them for various reasons.

There are self-described zionists who are jingoistic, racist, etc, and who attribute those attitudes to their zionism. Just as there are feminists who are misandrist, bio-essentialist, transphobic, homophobic, and so on, who attribute those attitudes to their feminism.

There are also incredibly selfless, compassionate activists working for positive change in the world who consider themselves zionists and feminists.

It has been very jarring to see people, who I respect, uncritically reblogging posts or headlines that use "zionists" as a stand in for "bad people", just as jarring as it would be to see them sharing things that use "feminists" that way. Especially when those posts contain easily debunked conspiracy theories that I know you'd have seen right through if the OP said "Jews" but because they said "zionists" you swallowed it whole.

I am not asking anyone to stop sharing important information, petitions, news articles, resources, and so on. I am asking you to slow down and stop spreading inflammatory language that paints a broad socio-political movement for Jewish self-determination as inherently bad. The same way I would ask you not to spread inflammatory language that paints gender equality & women's liberation as inherently bad.

If the information is important, please look for other, more neutrally worded posts. Or verify the links yourself and make a fresh post! There is no situation online in which the only way to share information must be to spread such language.

#antisemitism #being critical of zionism is not automatically antisemitic #just as criticizing the feminist movement is not inherently misogynistic #but the way a LOT of people have been talking lately...it has been indistinguishable #please slow down #being Jewish in America #and online #I have so many filters and yet I cannot escape this even in fandom spaces #''Jews control the media'' repackaged as ''zionists'' or ''the Israeli government'' has been the one I've seen the most #but there's been some outright blood libel too #and of course the usual banking bullshit #when you accept a term like this as synonymous with ''bad people'' you swallow the lies more easily! you swallow the exaggerations! #you fact check less! you reblog from psyops and bigots who've found keywords! #and it doesn't have to be this way #please stop making it be this way #editing tags to add #zionism #I think I left it off originally to stay out of the tracked tags

[drmslastmorning]

you asked for this

Characters: refer to fic tags

Words: 42k (on-going)

Warnings: refer to fic tags

Techno breaks Dream out of prison. But what even Dream barely remembers is that prison was much more grotesque than he thought it was.

Awesamdude and Quackity stress out about how to get their runaway toy back, without alerting the entire server of the abuse that was going on inside those walls. All while Tommy fears the very monster he still has in memory.

A slow-burn DNB fic, very centric on characterization and gruesome sexuality.

Chapter 1: grasping at the little I control.

Chapter 2: that meant good, that meant right.

Chapter 3: the kindest thing is to never leave you alone.

Chapter 4: trust me, just like I trust you.

Chapter 5: one foot in front of the other.

a c!dnb fic ! heavily wip. extremely graphic, please read the tags.

#c!dream #dreblr #c!rivalsduo #c!dnb #c!techno #please like & reblog :) but please do take the tags seriously! #c!sam #c!quackity #dddne #going to edit this post whenever I add more chapters

[jurassiccraft]

So… 8 years, huh?

#urple….. #our (yes. all fans’) child is growing up! wow! #5 years of Irene anniversary fanart #technically. more. but I don’t have those sketchbooks anymore :( #art #my art #digital art #aphmau #mcd #mystreet #minecraft diaries #aphmau fanart #irene #I love when it’s an Irene piece and for tags I just press add like 300 time #will queue to reblog in like 10 hours lmao

[blancium]

Omegaverse tropes that I noticed in Episode 1 of Tadaima, Okaeri:

Hiding omega status from acquaintances/coworkers 👀

MPREG!! 10 month pregnancy!!! 🫃

Mating bites (or like. What I’m assuming is a mating bite scar) 🐺

PHEROMONES 👃

#will be reblogging this weekly with updates as a fun lil thing for myself :) #obvs there were more and pls feel free to add #but these are just my favorites that i noticed on my first watch #gonna watch it again later tonight and maybe i’ll find some that i missed #tadaima okaeri #tadaima okaeri spoilers #talk tag

[promptsforyourwhumpfic]

Whump Prompt #1351

@des-pa-cee-toee asked:

Inhuman whumpee who’s distant because they’re afraid that they’ll be shunned if they told their friends the truth? Do you have any ideas about situations I could make to force them to admit it :)? Thanks

Off the top of my head:

Truth potions/spells.

Forced to reveal the information or their friends get hurt.

Forced to reveal the information so their friends are freed.

“Go on, show them who you really are!”

An illness that makes them more likely to reveal their inhuman attributes.

Artefacts that force the whumpee to show their true selves,

Forced to take on their inhuman form so they can protect everyone (if their more powerful when not suppressing their image)

An argument that turns sour and they accidentally use one of their abilities.

Someone pulls a prank on them causing them to reveal themselves.

Someone pulls a ‘prank’ to purposefully get them to reveal themselves.

#tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you :( #feel free to add more in the replies/reblogs #whump #prompts #writing #ideas #angst #revelations #inhuman whumpee

[llyfrenfys]

"Rule Britannia is out of bounds" - How England invented Great Britain

("Rule Britannia is out of bounds"- Life on Mars, David Bowie, 1971)

As promised, here is a more in-depth exploration of Wales' relationship to indigeneity or colonised status. And how England created the (political) concept of Great Britain when it formally annexed Wales in 1542. This is a long post but I will try and be brief where possible to do so. I graduated with a degree in Celtic Studies last year from Aberystwyth University so it's time to put that to use.

In my last post, I went over the groundwork for this conversation - so if you haven't read that one yet I strongly suggest you read that one first then come back to this one. In that first post, I establish the stickiness in claiming or applying the status of colonised onto the modern nation and people of Wales. I also explore how claims of indigeneity (intended to legitimise Welsh nativism through dubious claims of descent from the Iron Age Britons) are weaponised in modern political contexts.

With all that said - how does one categorise the suffering of Wales/its culture and language without straying into the language of the colonised?

Early Medieval English Imperial desire for Wales:

Very often, you will hear people make the claim that Wales was 'England's first colony' and that the other nations bordering England were guinea pigs for Britain's later colonial empire. My previous writing on this topic has established the difficulty in applying colonised as a term to Wales and its context. Which leads to the question of what do we describe it as instead?

For this, we need to make a distinction between colonialism and imperialism.

The two concepts are very similar (and do overlap slightly) but they have crucial differences which allow us to be more precise and succinct with our wording which aids both communication of the subject and quells misunderstanding through language which doesn't fit the situation.

Put simply, Imperialism is when one country, people or nation desires to extend power over another (usually a close-by or neighbouring territory) - especially (but not solely) through the means of expansionism.

Colonialism is also when a country, people or nation wants to extend power over another - but primarily through invasion and typically (but not always) against territories that are further afield and not immediate neighbours).

A lot of the way in which we view early British history in Wales is tinged with a kind of exceptionalism for what happened between England and Wales. Very often, what was done is framed as uniquely terrible for the time and held up as a poster child for the unique evil of England's expansionist desires. Yet all over Europe at the same time this was happening - other European nations and peoples were engaging in the same subjugator-subjugatee relationship. The exceptionalism present in framing Wales as uniquely suffering in this period is, unfortunately, borne out of the same British imperial culture which was thrust upon it and has become irrevocably entwined with culturally. It is a kind of British arrogance (which ironically crops up in anti-British arguments in Welsh independence activism) which presupposes nobody could have suffered the same or worse than they have, which demands the active ignorance of other, contemporary examples of that which they claim to oppose.

Wales was the first victim of English (later British) Imperialism - not its first colonial victim.

The build-up to and annexation of Wales by England:

Wales was annexed twice - once before the age of states and once shortly before that age dawned. The concept of states (as in, sovereign countries) didn't really exist until after the Treaties of Westphalia (1648). In which the concept of non-interference in the religious affairs of other countries (and other domestic affairs) was established and international relations was born. This is relevant to Wales' situation - as what England did to Wales happened long before the age of states began.

There was the Conquest of Wales by Edward I between 1277 and 1283. (Before that, the Norman Conquest of Wales by 1081). (However, the latter being conducted by the Normans is not necessarily equatable to the actions of England the country, which itself had only just been invaded by the Normans). And then the Laws in Wales Acts which formally incorporated Wales into the realm of the Kingdom of England in 1542.

The Conquest of Wales by Edward I overran the territories of the last Prince of Wales (from the Welsh monarchic tradition), Llywelyn the Last and divided the territories into Welsh Principalities and Marcher Lordships. This setup remained until 1542, when Henry VIII passed the Laws in Wales Acts and formally annexed Wales and made it (in all the legal senses) a part of England.

By the time international relations was in its infancy (i.e. shortly after the Peace of Westphalia) Wales had been absorbed into England for just over 100 years. The relevancy of this is that Westphalia had been about religious liberty - Henry VIII's incorporation of Wales into the Kingdom of England was partly informed by religion. Henry VIII had just broken away from Rome and established the Protestant Church of England, whereas Wales was still largely Catholic. The Laws in Wales Acts also replaced the language of the courts in Wales with English, cutting off monolingual Welsh speakers from legal representation. The language of worship became English instead of Latin. Wales was culturally assimilated into England over a long period of time. And that meant ensuring Wales followed the 'correct' religion and spoke the 'correct' language. After the Peace of Westphalia, these actions by Henry VIII to bend Wales to his new religion and to assimilate Wales into England would have been in poor taste or decried in light of the new Westphalian system that was developing in Europe. Alas, these events took place before then and temporally speaking, Wales was locked out of this recourse.

By contrast, Scotland was unified with England into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 (after the Peace of Westphalia). England committed numerous acts of cultural erosion and destruction against Wales and Scotland at this time - but its Union with Scotland differs to that with Wales. Wales was incorporated into England, whereas Scotland was 'invited' to join a union between England (which then included Wales) and itself. Simplifying it greatly - like a marriage proposal in which the two spouses are *supposed* to be equals. After the Act of Union with Scotland, the whole island of Great Britain was 'unified' and thus the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed from two states - England (inc. Wales) and Scotland into one state.

Welsh Nationalism and Nationhood as separate from Statehood:

Wales and Scotland were the victims of English imperialism in many similar, but also many different ways.

Wales, having never been a 'state' was unable to acquire this status since it had long been incorporated into England by the time the concept of states had developed. Wales was unlucky in this way, because other nations on this island such as Scotland had managed to establish themselves long enough to survive into the age of states and thus became one. Because of this, Welsh nationalism cannot look to an era in which it was a free state because that did not happen. Instead, Welsh nationalism very often looks back with rose-tinted spectacles to Wales prior to Edward I's conquest and/or prior to Henry VIII's Laws in Wales Acts.

But nationhood and statehood are not the same thing - and it is the conflation of these two concepts (like the conflation of colonialism and imperialism) which has led to much of the confusion on these topics. Nationhood is acquired by a group of people who share several of these things: a common language, history, culture and (usually) territory. Not all of these things are required, but most nations have all or almost all of these qualities. Wales has a language (Welsh), a common history, culture and territory (Wales). Statehood is acquired by an association of people who have most or all of these things: formal institutions of government, laws, permanent territorial boundaries and sovereignty. Wales before 1283 very loosely had government and laws (monarchy and Laws of Hywel Dda) but had no permanent territory due to the conquest and lost some sovereignty in 1283 and total sovereignty in 1542.

Even if Wales had met all the criteria for a state in 1283, it would not have been eligible to become one - no nation in the world was able to do that yet because the concept (or proto-concept) for it would only be invented in 1648. Even England did not qualify for state status yet. Put simply, Wales got very unlucky with history and geography in such a way which prevented it from having a historical statehood post-1648 like neighbouring England and Scotland.

Naturally, when Welsh nationalism attempts to recall a past in which it was a 'state' - it is always an imagined and romanticised history. A fantasied history which generates ideas of the persecuted 'indigenous' Cymro where it shouldn't really be (in all seriousness, the injustices inflicted upon Wales by England are enough - extra additional injustices reliant upon a claim to to 'nativeness' do not need to be invented in order to be taken seriously). In the modern world, claims of nativeness in a European context are fraught, misguided, in poor taste and often copy the homework of the indigenous peoples those same European powers marginalised or colonised. In the modern world, a white Welshman claiming indigeneity is doing so in a postcolonial world and there really is no escaping that. Succinctly - the Welsh nationalist who relies upon a created sense of nativeness can only do so by drawing upon the work of marginalised native peoples living in parts of the world formerly colonised by Great Britain. To claim native status as a Welshman is to misunderstand and misappropriate history while wielding the language of the genuinely colonised while contributing nothing to it. It is purely extractive and a slap in the face of non-European native peoples everywhere. The pining for this return* to a prior point in Wales' history where it was a fully functional, sovereign nation populated only by 'native' or 'indigenous' Cymry is an alarming and ahistorical fantasy that all too easily slides into ethnonationalism and nativism -ancient or modern.

(*the choice of the word 'return' here is no accident - the desire to 'return' is inextricably linked to the alt-right dogwhistle 'retvrn' and it it is frighteningly common to see elements of that subculture crop up in Welsh nationalist calls to return to a point in Wales' history where it was 'sovreign'.)

Welsh nationalism which isn't vigilant to this kind of thinking very often will find itself arguing blatant untruths. For example, on the milder side of fake history, I've come across Welsh nationalist groups claiming symbolism from Owain ap Gruffydd's coat of arms - despite the fact he lived before the age of heraldry and he never used these arms because they were attributed to him later.

What next for Wales after 1542?:

Since Wales was fully and formally incorporated into the Kingdom of England by 1542, English colonisation of the Americas prior to 1707 naturally included Welsh colonists as well as English colonists. After 1707 Scots joined in with the now British colonisation of the Americas (both as/for/on the side of the Brits and as Scots fleeing Scotland after the Act of Union decimated Scottish Gaelic traditional culture). The Welsh, on the other hand, were more intimately involved with the colonisation of the Americas before that.

Though England spearheaded its colonisation of the Americas, Wales was not an unwilling participant dragged along by its association with and incorporation into England - Welsh colonisation, like Scottish colonisation, was often motivated by religious or cultural persecution - of which colonisation of another land was a possible solution to cultural loss in their home countries. Pennsylvania was settled by many Welsh Quakers and the idea of a Welsh Tract was floated to the Welsh settlers in 1684. The idea was to create a county which would operate in the Welsh language and serve as a vehicle for the preservation of the Welsh language. This attempt was not as successful as Wales' colony in Patagonia, Argentina in which native populations there were displaced at the behest of the Argentinian government - who needed the land settled and cleared. Welsh colonists took up this mantle and created Y Wladfa colony there in 1865.

Returning to the 17th Century - Welsh people were active colonists in the Americas during this time - motivated by saving the Welsh language and freedom of religion (especially the developing Nonconformist denominations of Protestant Christianity developing at this time). It was not so much that England was forcing Wales to participate in its colonialism, but that Wales has its own wants and ends for colonialism and was motivated entirely on its own grounds.

Back at home, Wales was still hard-done-by due to England - but two things can be true at once. Wales was a victim of English imperialism, but was also a perpetrator itself of colonial violence against Native Americans. England was no such victim of imperialism of any kind and the power dynamic for England had always been one rooted in absolute expansionism.

Summary and Conclusion:

With all of that said - if you were to ask point blank if I feel it is appropriate or okay for Wales to claim it was colonised by England and that Welsh people are in some way, more indigenous to the island than any other people living here - my answer would be no, I don't think it's okay.

I can't stop people from thinking otherwise, but I can reason that perhaps we shouldn't appropriate the struggles of people marginalised by the very nation we are talking about in order to craft a victimhood which is entirely unnecessary. Wales was a victim of English imperialism - but Wales was also an active colonising European nation. In the modern world, people are thankfully more willing to listen to the wants and needs of victims of colonialism - particularly victims of British colonialism in the Americas, Oceania and Asia. But I would warn against Welsh nationalism which seeks to capitalise on that increase in indigenous visibility in order to add legitimacy to itself (necessitating the crafting of an 'indigenous' narrative which did not exist there before). We live in the modern world where indigenous peoples are being taken more seriously than in centuries past - but that does not mean the only peoples hard-done by being taken seriously are colonised indigenous populations.

I believe it comes from a deep seated insecurity within Wales in which it is not uncommon to feel like Wales is being left behind because of all of this advancement. And this insecurity manifests as rejection of anything not obviously Welsh or demonstrably 'home-grown'. It's the national equivalent of a survival mechanism - but this is detrimental not only to the cause of Welsh nationalism, but to Wales itself. I've had people say to me (and I have read in historical sources from the last 100 years in Welsh) that the LGBTQ+ movement is actually an English invention created to erode Welsh traditional culture. Or variations on that rhetoric in which it is immigrants or other minorities which are made into this boogeyman come to destroy Wales and all Welsh ways of life. And it is so demonstrably not true but also bitter to see from the hearts and minds of my fellow Welsh speakers/Welsh people. Who have been hurt so much by the historical erosion of their culture that they confuse non-threats for threats and can only resolve to obtain some more legitimacy by appropriating the language of nativeness and colonisation in this ever changing world which, right now, is listening to native peoples for once.

It's difficult to put into words, even with all of the background knowledge above - but Wales is valuable and legitimate all on its own and doesn't need to rely upon things which isn't serving it - like ethnonationalism and nativism.

I want to live in a Wales which is uncompromising not only in its own fight for recognition and respect - but for other nations and peoples' fights for the same as well. I want to live in an independent Wales which is an ally to all those who share Wales' struggle and a Wales which rights the wrongs of its past without hesitation or compromise.

Would you rather a Wales for the few or a Wales for all who call it home?

#cymraeg #welsh #wales #cymru #ethnonationalism #cymblr #nativism #indigenous #native #indigeneity #nativeness #tags for relevance #celtic nations #celticist #I know there's so many more things I could say or could add but this post is so long already #granted it's evidence this conversation sorely needs to happen #so if you have any additions or thoughts please reblog or reply in the tags #and reblog this post so that more people have a chance to read it #diolch pawb #long post