Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)

@pixielauren

queer & genderqueer 💖 Associate Professor 🎓 creative writer 📓 backpacker 🍄 knitter, spinner, sewist 🧵 leftist ⭐ I teach LGBTQ Studies! 🌈 fuck AI forever, read a real book 📘 rural Ohio, USA 🍀

976 Folgt1.307 Follower3.001 Posts

Bluesky

lesbian trans

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Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· 29d

Not the main point by any stretch but ... ladies, no pantsuits I guess? 😬

A screenshot from the reservation page for the Bovino Nazi-fest: "Dress is business professional: suit and tie for men; dresses for women."

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Jul 7

Hey Stephen King, Legitimate question: How many rapes does a man have to commit before you won't vote for him? "Trump's a rapist, so we need a rapist politician, too" is NOT the winning opinion you think it is, jesus f*cking christ 🙄

A screenshot of a gross and ugly misogynist rape-apologist tweet from Stephen King. It reads: "Graham Platner may drop out. (I hope he doesn't, but.) Meanwhile, the Abuser in Chief just keeps on keepin' on."

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Jul 6

Oh he's saying that the rape allegation is Israeli propaganda. Here's a similar response to someone who simply shared the Politico piece:

some gross misogynist rape-apologist piece of sh*t posts "Just more
AIPAC money finding pockets of those willing to lie."

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Jul 6

The comment I saw just before yours, which caused me to instantly block her, was this: 😐

A rape-apologist nightmare woman who calls herself "Wendy" -- and who suffers from incurable internalized misogyny -- posts "No offense, but I am tired of only Democrats pulling this 'must drop out' stuff. We have a convicted rapist as president of the United States. We have to stop being the only party that punishes before proof."

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· May 30

One more finished object for the #LightItUpMAL 💜 I am #knitting a pair of socks every month this year. I got this one off the needles just in time!

A pair of hand-knitted socks sit on a champagne-colored silk tablecloth. The socks are a superbright tonal purple. The socks have a subtle lace pattern and ribbed knitting around the instep.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· May 25

I'm posting & pinning this #MoodBoard for my novel-in-progress so I see it every day. I need to have a productive #writing summer 🩷 #AmWriting #WriteEveryDay

A moodboard for my novel draft which contains rows of pictures. Images include a journal, a woman with a girl, a watercolor sketchbook open to a page of sketches of trees, a beautiful remote island, a weird fruit, apple blossoms, a painting of two people of nonspecific gender, a douchey-looking hiker, a stopwatch, a cat, maps, and stone-carved hieroglyphics. There are two text-boxes on the moodboard. One text-box reads "THEIRLAND. When a disgraced professor discovers a lost utopian civilization, she must earn the trust of its people to protect them from a scheming billionaire who seeks to exploit them." The other text-box reads "A retelling of HERLAND, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1915 feminist utopian novel."

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· May 18

I knitted a quick project that's been in my knitting queue forever, to celebrate the start of summer! This is the Victorian Lace Collar by Kristen Orme 💜 #knitsky #knit #lightitupMAL

A lavender dress hangs on a hanger. Around the neck of the dress is a hand-knit lace collar. The collar is in an ecru color and has a single pearl button closure.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· May 15

This post is for #academicsky 💜 because you probably can relate when I say this was the worst academic year of my career. I feel like it's going to be impossible to shake it off. But I'm off contract officially today -- god, finally -- and I just found this:

A photo of my hand holding a large four-leaf clover. In the background is my lilac tree in bloom. Maybe everything is going to be okay.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· May 8

Always willing to soothe anxieties with cats ♥️ See alt text for kitty deets!

Artemis, the weirdest cat, in her winter coat. She is a longhair tabby with green-orange eyes. She is sitting on a table staring directly into the camera with a dumb face. She is cute in spite of being so weird and dumb. Behind her is a mint-green wall.

A very old cat named Woody. He is a short-haired black cat with yellow eyes. He is looking very irritated in the photo because he's wearing a scarf I knit out of multicolored wool yarn I spun myself. He does not enjoy modeling the scarf.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Apr 30

It's #PoemInYourPocket day! This year I am carrying this poem from @uncannymagazine.bsky.social by @marissalingen.bsky.social -- it's SO good ♥️ 🐺 #PocketPoem

A photo of my hand holding a small piece of paper. On the paper is the poem THE TRUTH ABOUT WOLVES by Marissa Lingen.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Apr 30

Here's where we learn a little more about my main character having faked her research! (Which leads to her losing her job as a professor in the beginning of the story) 😬 #CRPBeeMine #CampRevPit #ScavengerHunt

A snip from my current manuscript:

"No, that's not what I meant," Leo said. "I hear you've had some troubles with academic integrity."
"Oh. Shit. That's direct."
"You misunderstand me." Leo leaned in. "I find it so compelling. You're the sociologist: why do people cheat? Why do people lie?"
"Assuming I did."
"Assuming you did."
"Well, it's complicated." I turned to Jeffy. "Get me more wine?" I wanted him away from the table so he wouldn't hear what I was about to say. Jeffy, ever accommodating, left the table to fetch my wine.
To Leo, I said: "I did it because I'm a bad person. I did it because I don't care about anything at all."

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Apr 29

Oooh I just made a moodboard! I'm not sure it addresses the plot twist but it does give vibes! Here it is: #CampRevPit #CRPBeeMine #MoodboardTwist

A moodboard for my manuscript THEIRLAND. There are photos of a journal, watercolor sketches of trees, an island, some fruits and trees, a cat, ancient hieroglyphs,maps, a man, a pocketwatch, and a painting of two people of uncertain gender. The text of the moodboard reads: "THEIRLAND: When a disgraced professor discovers a secret utopian society, she must earn the trust of its citizens to protect them froma scheming billionaire who seeks to exploit them. A retelling of Herland, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1915 feminist utopian novel."

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Apr 24

Here's a snip of dialogue that tells you a lot about my narrator, and about some of the themes in my book: #CampRevPit #CRPBeeMine #DialogueDrop

Quoted dialogue from my manuscript:

"The driver -- Steve, according to the plastic name tag pinned to his shirt -- gestured for me to hand him my bags. I steered my carry-on toward him, and he lifted it into the trunk. I kept hold of my backpack. “This all you got?” he asked.
“Uh huh.” I was tired and disinterested in conversation, or maybe I was trying to act like I rode in private sedans all the time.
“Usually, ladies bring every outfit they own. You know, just in case.” He winked at me.
“It’s too early in the day for misogyny, Steve,” I said.
“What?”
“Oh – nothing, Steve.” As an academic – former academic, I thought with a wince – I was practiced at the script of the righteous feminist, but I could barely go through the motions any more. Especially now. What was the point? I knew how the world worked, which means I knew that actually, feminism was pretty fucking useless, just a cudgel I could pretend would make Steve feel bad – that is, if he had heard my remark, or if I were brave enough to repeat it.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Apr 3

Hey @nytimes.com do you SERIOUSLY ACTUALLY have this headline on your website right now? ??? ??? Just -- just -- I'm so speechless. It's beyond parody. How do ANY of you sleep at night? 😬

A completely batshit bonkers New York Times headline that reads "FEMA Official Says He Teleported to Waffle House. Experts Are Dubious."

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Mar 31

You made me think of the BEST thing I saw online during NO KINGS:

The iconic director John Waters, wearing funky orange sunglasses, a black surgical mask, a big red-and-black scarf and an oversized red-and-black checkered flannel shirt, holds a scruffy bent piece of cardboard. The cardboard is his political sign, and it reads, in all-caps Sharpie marker, "TRUMP RUINED BAD TASTE."

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Mar 16

Very big "we can say retard and pussy again" energy

A screenshot from the Financial Times. "'I feel liberated,' said a top banker. "We can say 'retard' and 'pussy' without fear of getting cancelled ... it's a new dawn.'"

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Feb 27

I haven't done #finishedobjectfriday in a bit. Here is one of my latest FOs: Mittens from a kit my partner brought back from a visit to Norway years ago. The instructions were Norwegian so I had to work off just the chart, so this was hard! I knitted these for the #Ravellenics #knitting challenge ♥️

A pair of knitted mittens. They are knitted in black and cream yarn. They are worked in stranded colorwork; the pattern on the backs of the mittens is a scrolling abstract pattern, and on the front of the mittens there's a diamond-and-cross pattern.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Feb 19

And while I've hijacked this thread I just have to share my favorite campus "please do not" sign ever, in a classroom: (and yes I have absolutely opened this window)

A sign taped to a window in a university classroom. The sign says "Please DO NOT open these windows. Birds and squirrels come in!"

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Feb 19

Hahah it's still there!!! (The staff who now occupy that office think I'm very weird for taking this picture)

A yellow wall and a light switch. The light switch has a note taped to it: "Please leave in on position." Above the light switch is a post-it note that says, in all caps, "DO NOT TURN THE LIGHT SWITCH OFF!"

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Jan 24

This you? 🧐 🙄 😐

Screenshot of Senator Kim's statement on why he voted to confirm Kristi Noem as HS Secretary. Kim writes that he had "several" "conversations" with Noem and that "we both agreed" to "communicate and engage directly with one another." In other words THIS IS TOTAL FUCKING BULLSHIT.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Jan 23

Today's #FinishedObjectFriday is a shawl from 2021. This pattern uses the mosaic technique, which was invented by Barbara Walker. Walker was a knitting genius who wrote scores of books in the 60s and 70s. I just heard today that she died. Thank you, Barbara Walker ♥️ #KnitSky #Knitting

A knitted triangular shawl is draped on a wooden deck. The shawl's colors are bright, with three yarns used -- orange, purple,and a cream-colored speckled yarn. The shawl has a mosaic knitting section -- where the purple and cream yarns are used together. The shawl's edging is a wide lacy pattern, using the bright orange yarn. I knit this shawl in 2021.

This image is a close-up of the knitted shawl. In this close-up, you can see the speckled cream-colored yarn in stripes and mosaic patterns against the purple yarn. This photo also highlights the orange lace border of the shawl.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Jan 9

For #FinishedObjectFriday I'm sharing a blanket I started in the early 2000s, when I was struggling with a lot of big & heavy & terrible things. I didn't finish it ... until 2021, 15 years later. The lesson: You can keep going even when you think you can't ♥️ and you can survive hard things ♥️

A crocheted granny square blanket is spread out on a couch with some throw pillows. The blanket's squares are pink, gray, turquoise and yellow. The squares are bordered in white, and the whole blanket has a white crocheted scalloped border.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Jan 2

It's #FinishedObjectFriday! Here's my most recent finished object: Christmas socks for my partner. The pattern is Helen Stewart's Ex Libris. I used them for a group challenge on Ravelry -- the theme was "fungi," so I'm also sharing color inspiration, turkey tail from our woods 💜 #Knitting #KnitSky

A pair of socks that I hand-knit. They're a beautiful periwinkle purple color and they have a floral lacy pattern on the front of the sock.

A photo of turkey tail mushrooms that I took last year. The mushrooms are on a log. They're striped in various shades from pastel purple to deeper purple to tan and brown.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Jan 2

Two pages in my journal today. Write today, friends ♥️ #WriteEveryDay2026 #WriteEveryDay #WritingCommunity #AmWriting

A page from my handwritten journal. At the top of the page is today's date: Jan. 2, 2026. Some of the writing is redacted for privacy so that my family cannot mock me any more than they already do.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Jan 1

My heart isn't feeling very kind these days but I'll take it

A screenshot of the Merriam-Webster 2026 Word gif. In the gif, a list of words is rapidly cycled through. Merriam-Webster says to take a screenshot, and whatever word is in your screenshot, that's your "Word of the Year." In this screenshot, my word is "kind-hearted."

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Dec 20

So it's #finishedobjectfriday, and this week I am sharing four socks I knit this year from the Secret Sock Society (Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade) -- I love all of them! ♥️ #knit #knitting #knitsky

Four hand-knitted socks are arranged neatly on an antique table. The leftmost pair is avocado green with a cable pattern; the next pair is a lavender speckled pair with a pattern of purl-stitch ridges; the third pair is a minty green pair with a pretty lace stitch on the front of the sock; and the fourth pair is knitted in a tonal rosy yarn, and it has a loopy all-over lace pattern. I knitted these pairs of socks this year.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Dec 19

This is Artemis being INCREDIBLY NAUGHTY

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Dec 17

LITERALLY! What my partner and I call "mud season" now runs from December until May. [After which we immediately transition to cracked-earth drought.] Mud season used to be just the month of March. Chore boots are caked. Can't keep the floors clean. Ducks look like we dipped them in chocolate:

A white Pekin duck named Bulldog is standing in front of a plastic duck fence. The duck is filthy dirty, covered in mud from his little webbed feet to the top of his head. His feathers are muddy. His face is muddy. His bill is muddy. One of his webbed feet is actually buried in mud, and you can see that the grassy area he's standing on is swamped with mud.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Dec 17

Literally what the f*ck are you doing quoting Reagan, who famously ignored the AIDS crisis because he wanted gay men to die. There is blood on his hands. Also he fucked over the working class. Haven't you seen this chart you absolute assclown:

A chart titled "Income Gains Widely Shared in Early Postwar Decades -- But Not Since Then." It has an arrow indicating where Ronald Reagan's presidency falls. Before Reagan, all income groups were sharing in economic gains. After Reagan, the top 5 percent (the wealthy) begin seeing exponentially more income gains than the median or bottom 20 percent of Americans.

Lauren Merry Vale (they/she)@pixielauren· Dec 16

Congrats!!! Enjoy your break -- it's been a rough semester for all of us in higher ed and we NEED it. I am submitting grades today -- they're due at midnight. And here I'll get the pet pictures started, this is Artemis in the snow!