Unlearning How White People Ask Personal Questions

http://www.samefacts.com/2014/05/culture-and-civil-society/unlearning-how-white-people-ask-personal-questions/

He's just a little inmortal dude living his best life

the weird thing is, when I view my job as some sort of background extra it becomes much more palatable. people go to a library and see me shelving a stack of books in my cardigan and glasses (now with glasses chain!) and they go "yeah, that's exactly right. that's how it's supposed to be in a library." and for some reason, that's comforting? the work is whatever, and the customers are customers, but sometimes it feels like I'm being paid just to make sure this places looks right, and I find that very fun.

May the only Let's Play on YouTube of the game you're currently obsessed with be a guy with extremely poor pattern recognition who repeatedly commits the exact same basic blunder and shouts loudly in surprise and dismay every single time it fails to work.

hbo max blocks screenshots even when I use the snipping tool AND firefox AND ublock which is a fucking first. i will never understand streaming services blocking the ability to take screenshots thats literally free advertising for your show right there. HOW THE HELL IS SOMEBODY GONNA PIRATE YOUR SHOW THROUGH SCREENSHOTS. JACKASS

Hey btw, here's a piece of life advice:

If you know what you'd have to do to solve a problem, but you just don't want to do it, your main problem isn't the problem itself. Your problem is figuring out how to get yourself to do the solution.

If your problem is not eating enough vegetables, the problem you should be solving is "how do I make vegetables stop being yucky". If your problem is not getting enough exercise, the problem you should be solving is "how do I make exercise stop sucking ass". You're not supposed to just be doing things that are awful and suck all the time forever, you're supposed to figure out how to make it stop being so awful all the time.

I used to hate wearing sunscreen because it's sticky and slimy and disgusting and it feels bad and it smells bad, so I neglected to wear it even if I needed to. Then I found one that isn't like that, and doesn't smell and feel gross. Problem solved.

There is no correct way to live that's just supposed to suck and feel bad all the time. You're allowed to figure out how to make it not suck so bad.

Rant time!

I'm so, so sick and tired of seeing AI "art" everywhere on my dash. There is no escaping it.

The awesome art noveau building front? AI. The gorgeous porcelain flowers? AI. The fluffy mushroom armchairs? AI. The supercute pre-war Steve and Bucky fanart? AI. The beautiful embroidery of blooming flower meadows? AI. The fun lettuce bed? AI. The gasp-worthy stained glass furniture made from "recycled" plastic? You guessed it: Fucking AI!

To be clear, I'm not calling out people who have unknowingly reblogged AI "art"—it's happened to me, too. Several times even. All I'm asking is that people who feel they absolutely have to share their AI "creations" with the world stop pretending and instead clearly label them as such so that others can make an informed decision as to whether or not they want to have them on their blogs. Nobody has time to put in 10 minutes of fucking detective work to ensure the authenticity of an image every time something about it seems even slightly suspicious.

I'm aware that many of the accounts that share things like the above are aesthetic blogs churning out 50 posts a day and they do not give a fuck. I am also not naive enough to believe that all this can be reversed—that we can somehow put AI back in its box. That ship has sailed. It has taken off into space, never to return.

But maybe we can at least stop lying about it? At least in our fan communities?

So. I am directly addressing the people who pass off AI-generated fanart as their own work. Please stop. Have some respect for your fellow fans. Have some respect for the many artists who have spent years teaching themselves to draw, and even more years to improve their skills, to find & perfect their personal styles, and who spend days or even weeks working on their creations. Have some respect for the new artists who are just starting out and who are still struggling and feeling insecure about sharing their work, which may not be technically perfect, but which they have put so much heart and soul into.

Have some respect—maybe at least for yourself—and stop lying.

Important hot tip for literally anyone purchasing art

If an artist you rly like doesn’t have a public commission sheet or perhaps you have an odd but reasonable request your best friend will be “I will gladly compensate you for your time.” Literally the moment an artist sees that you’re actually going to pay them for whatever weird request you’ve got, they’re like a million percent more likely to respond positively to whatever your weird request is. For example: I love birds, and I was seeking out a nice state bird cross stitch pattern that wasn’t too complicated. I found one I liked on Etsy, but it was actually selling the finished product (a gorgeous quilt for about $2000) and not the charts, which was what I wanted. No problem! I messaged the seller and said “hi! I love your beautiful quilt, but I am actually interested in the cross stitch charts. Do you still have them? I would be more than happy to compensate you for the trouble.” I have no doubt that this lovely woman has been demanded for free labor countless times. It has happened to every quilter on planet earth. She told me that she would mail me HER ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN CHARTS for about $30, since she drafted them herself and wasn’t planning on making another quilt. I gladly sent $50 her way and told her she could just scan them for me if that was easier for her. Artists are, by and large, lovely people who want to help you. Please, just promise them that you will fucking compensate them for their time and labor.

“why would you write fics for small, unpopular fandoms? you’re not gonna reach that many hits in fandoms not many people know about” ?? because I’m not writing fics for hits or kudos, I’m writing them for me because these characters are my blorbos and I have so many ideas, so much thoughts about them that my brain might explode if I don’t write them out.

no no. you don't get it. the reason I injure my blorbos until they can't walk is because that's the only way they'll ever let someone else carry them. the reason I curse them to be sick and feverish is so that they'll finally open up about their emotions while delirious. the reason I force them to overexert themselves to the point of exhaustion is so that when they pass out they can finally rest.

I'm doing this for their own good.

"I don't want to read this" is totally valid.

"This is disgusting to me" is totally valid.

"I don't want to read this because it is disgusting to me" is totally valid.

"I don't think anyone should be allowed to read or write this because it is disgusting to me" is authoritarian.

feeling called out today

credit: _ADWills

reblog if you’ve read fanfictions that are more professional, better written than some actual novels. I’m trying to see something