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ursulav — Enlightenment
Published: 2007-03-09 04:45:50 +0000 UTC; Views: 53160; Favourites: 576; Downloads: 398
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This is absolutely true, and furthermore, I am NOT the only one who discovered the existence of homosexuality in such a manner.I actually can't say it was a bad thing--certainly it led to a lifelong tolerance on my part. At the time, however, it was one of those "Whoa. What? That happens? Dude!" It wasn't that I was against it in any fashion, it was that it had never even occurred to me. For some reason, I had gotten most of the way to being a preteen in complete ignorance of such things. Sheltered life, I guess. I actually flipped pages checking repeatedly to see if there had been a series of typos before it finally clicked and I had the brief sense of the universe realigning itself around my skull.
The only possible conclusion one can draw from this is-- Parents, you may wish to explain this to your kids BEFORE the telepathic white horses do. (Or not. Like I said, it turned out okay for me.)
Prints are available for anyone who had a similiar moment of enlightenment. $10 and $20 for small and jumbo, plus shipping--send a note or visit [link]
(By the way, in case anybody's getting ready to get bent out of shape, "That's an option?" is in no way indicating that I believe being gay is a choice, etc, etc. I'm sorry I have to even say such things, but we all know there are those who luuuuv to get offended out there....)
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Comments: 377
[insert obligatory "Me, too!" comment]
Books teaching tolerance. One character at a time.
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Actually, for me, I think it was Anne McCaffery. (God rest her Awesome Soul) But this would very much be the truth for my little sister. I gotta show her this. ^__^
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I just showed this deviation to my (younger) sister, expecting to get a giggle. She looked at it and said 'Yeah, me too!'
Given that I introduced her to Mercedes Lackey when she was a mid-to-late teen (and also given that one of my dads cousins is gay and has been in a long term relationship for as long as I can remember) you could say I was somewhat surprised....
For myself, I can't remember ever not knowing
But like you said, if you're going to learn about it from a book, Lackey books are a good choice!
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Not... exactly the way it happened for me. But I love it.
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to my daughter youre welcome, yes there all types of options...... I also think weare who we are...
Theres also a collection by Flewelling.....
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Not the only one, aye! My father was very intentional in reading the Vanyel books with me when I was young.
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"(By the way, in case anybody's getting ready to get bent out of shape, "That's an option?" is in no way indicating that I believe being gay is a choice, etc, etc. I'm sorry I have to even say such things, but we all know there are those who luuuuv to get offended out there....)"
For some of us, the opposite sex is the option. Just sayin'.
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Oh man, this made me laugh out loud, so funny ad so true. I managed to slip Valley of the Horses home in a pile of books in my 'horsey phase'...
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oh my god, I love Mercedes Lackey! You just made my day <3
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I still love Mercedes Lackey novels to this day. Sure they're a bit simpler now that I'm no longer 10 and reading them but they will forever remind me of how I became a fan of the fantasy genre in the first place. <3
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Could have been worse (or better?) ... could have been the Darkover series.
At least Vanyel didn't go in for foursomes.
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Why is eeryone bashing her later books? I have to admit, Aerie was slightly lacking but on the whole, I enjoyed the Joust series. Nyeh.
The Magic trilogy was the first book of her's that I ever read...yes, it came as a set, just one gigantic blue book. I loved it to death. 
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Though decent when I was thirteen, as I got older I found he books to be didactic and rather over moralizing. The main character was always right, and anyone who was important to the story always agreed with said main character and backed them up. Tamora Pierce is occasionally like that too.
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That was one I already knew by the time I started reading her books (we had interesting friends growing up)Which just made the books that much easier to read.
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Im about 20 year older than the generation you speak of... by the time I read Lackey's novels they it were just a good fluff bus ride reads... but I did giggle like an idiot coming upon those parts...
hummmmmmmmmm... I dont *think* I discovered homosexuality from a book... tho at that tender age Robert A Heinlien's books firmly assured me that how I felt was 'good'
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I laughed so hard when I saw this!! This is so true for me! It's brilliant!
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I would totally buy a print of this if it weren't gender-specific.
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Lol, I was in elementry school and reading 'hardcore' novels of both the gay and straight assortment. You see,I had free access to all of my mother's bookshelves. All of them.
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its the same for me. wishing i could find this to read on the computer. i don't have the books anymore (stupid dad) and i really want to read them again.
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I just wish I could fave this more than once. It's so true. She's still my favorite author (despite having read many more books of higher quality) because she helped me be honest with myself, and she helped many of my friends do the same. Plus...I like telepathic white horses. lolz.
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*starts laughing* OMG "Parents, you may wish to explain this to your kids BEFORE the telepathic white horses do" is the best line ever! Ans yes, I was quite amazed & happy to find her books cause of that fact...plus Companions are cool.
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Interestingly,I have never read the Last Hearld Mage series - my introdution to Lackey was through the'Owlflight' series, the 'Magic's Price' or something like that series and Brightly Burning. Never read vanyel, but I do remember Firesong and Silverfox (that was the names, right?). It didn't introduce me to homoseuality, but some work of fantasy surely did. So I understand the sentiment perfectly. Loved the expression!
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Herald Mage Vanyel....loved those books.
Great image you have here. I like this series.
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You mean I'm not the only one? My parents are non-denominational, but my grandmother was Catholic, so I had actually never even imagined the possibility until a friend of mine introduced me to the Mercedes Lackey books (for a book report no less!) and it was like 'Wow, my world just inverted itself' 
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I grew up in San Francisco, so when I found out that some people cared what your sexual orientation was, THAT was the big shock for me. My parent's friends were of every type imaginable and I grew up knowing that Uncle Mike and Uncle Steve loved each other just as much as Mommy and Daddy do.
What blew my mind was being called a "Christ-killer" at age six because I was Jewish, finding out that Uncle Mike had been beaten nearly to death at sixteen for being gay, and that there were people out there who thought that we were "sinners" and going to a hell I'd never heard of.
Your cartoon is damn funny and I am suddenly deeply grateful to Mercedes Lackey. I had come to feel a whithering scorn for her, based on her later books, but I take it all back.
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i cant blame a book, i blame my first college roommate and the lack of a lock on my clothing drawers.
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^_^ This wasn't *quite* my experience (as my parents are enlightened themselves), but certainly the first real evidence I had that queer people had sex...
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LOL I remember reading a book and doing the whole 'whoa typo thing' back in the day. Good times.
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It was the strangest thing. Accidentally grabbed the second book in the storm trilogy instead of the first, and suddenly there were guys making out in a hot spring. It was a similar experience. I still find it surprising that I could have gone about 14 years without the possibility occurring to me.
Anyway, to the picture. Very nice, clean lines, and the color theme somehow works really well. Very nice.
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LOL - you too, huh? I forget how old I was when I first read Magic's Pawn, but that was ... well, I won't say that I'd never heard of homosexuality before then, but it had never really clicked, and after that I was never able to get into that "gay is sinful and they're evil and God hates them" thing that some of my family members got into their heads.
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I laughed myself silly over this.
And there are few things I hate more than people (of any "kind") that seem to like nothing more than being offended -.-
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My best friend is bi, so I thought it was all very natural XD
Also, Lackey rocks. But, uh, the white horses scare me. I dunno why. O_O
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My first encounter with polyamory was in a book called Bedlam's Bard, by Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon.
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Yeah...I knew how homosexuality existed, just not how it worked.
But I can thank South Park and Wicabeth for tainting my once semi-virgin mind...nyeh.
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omg that is priceless i think we all at one time or another uttered that phrase "you mean that's an option." or "wait you can do that?"
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You know, now I have to go back and read all of those books... because by the time I had read them, I'd already known about teh homo-sex-you-alls... now I must go look for the stuff that I glossed over, ha. Thanks for making this picture, by the way *grins*
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That's totally wonderful, and was me too... Except, now that I think about it I was in 8th grade or so. Wow, was *I* sheltered... LoL But I agree, it's helped shape my feelings on the subject. There are worse ways to figure that stuff out than to be shown the '
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So true! Except my discovery was more along the lines of, "Oh, it's OK?" (Yay for growing up in a conservative area.)
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...you know...i agree! I think she was the first author who introduced any form of sex to me...and my mom didnt think it was a romance novel at all! haha
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i'm totally blown away that there are people out there that don't know mercedes lackey. i learned about the gay by becoming close friends with a guy that seemed refreshingly non-threatening. was puzzled to learn that he was gay. have found they (gay men) make more secure friends than "normal" men. don't know any nice gay women. sad.
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My only dissapointment in homosexuality was the bond my ex-girlfriend shared with her schmut. It really made me jealous of her love her gay porn. I just felt left out...She never wanted to kiss me either
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I actually had a similar reaction when I learned about homosexuality. Only I didn't learn about it from a fantasy novel, but from a news special about a cop who was persecuted for his sexuality >__>
I didn't think much of it at the time, other than seeing how wrong the cops that persecuted him were...
Then I grew into teh gay myself. Lawl.
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