#like its systemic not individual

[creekfiend]

I saw this on FB today and I wanna try and express something about it. Like, you know the curbcutter effect? Where when curbcuts are put in it benefits everyone (bicyclists, people with baby strollers etc) and not just disabled people?

There is also whatever the opposite of the curbcutter effect is. And this is that.

This isn't just anti-adhd/autism propaganda... this is anti-child propaganda.

Kids have developmentally appropriate ways that they need to move their bodies and express themselves and sitting perfectly still staring straight ahead is not natural or good for ANY CHILD.

Don't get me wrong, I was punished unduly as a kid for being neurodivergent (and other types of kid will ALSO be punished unduly for it... Black kids come to mind) and thus UNABLE to perform this -- but even the kids who ARE able to perform this type of behavior are not SERVED WELL by it. They don't benefit from it.

This is bad for everyone.

The idea that bc some kids may be capable of complying with unfair expectations, those expectations don't hurt them... is a dangerous idea. Compliance isn't thriving. Expectation of compliance isn't fair treatment.

#theres a lot of things lately that make me think of this where #people will act like theres this class of people not harmed by something #(laws undermining bodily autonomy come to mind!!!!!) #and its like -- no. the consequences will be worse for some people #but no one is ultimately served by the erosion of bodily autonomy like there is not a class of people who benefit from that #same with lack of right to privacy #there isnt a DEMOGRAPHIC of people who benefit from certain things #there are systems that do. and there may be a handful of individuals who benefit partially or FOR NOW #until those systems are turned against them #i think its important to remind people in certain privileged demographics that like #certain things do benefit them #and others DON'T #you may suffer less statistically but it doesnt benefit you! #its BAD SOCIETALLY.

[boxheadpaint]

any recommendations for analog horror that isnt a slideshow with microsoft sam telling you DONT LOOK OUTSIDE. like something unique lately

#something i really liked was the “lost media: obscure security system” one #and its unfortunate that its the only one from that individual at the moment #im giving “nocturnal chronicles” a shot but it starts off with poorly edited footage from... metropolis. #like we just put a scary face over her and had questionable glitch effects #the boiled one was cute- not exactly the most... idk compelling analog horror but the custom art and animation #can elevate a story youve heard a million times before #i am also trying to check out hit metal 17 times but Instagram

[radiantmists]

the whole "it would be kinder to kill them" exchange re-contextualizes murderbot's initial willingness-- even eagerness-- to kill other SecUnits in an interesting way, doesn't it.

#murderbot diaries #system collapse #the murderbot diaries #system collapse spoilers #murderbot spoilers #i still think a big component is that it's internalized the idea that secunits are dangerous #and that their lives are of less value than human life #but it's also like... even after it hacked its governor module it spent what. three years still working for the company? #because the idea that it could be anything but a slave who would eventually die in violence was so inconceivable #even as boundary-breaking as it is murderbot is still coming to grips with the idea that it can change the way things are #even for individuals #that killing other secunits probably feels like the only feasible way to end their suffering #even if its better judgement has always been vaguely aware there are other options #its instincts are still coming along

[varietyshiw]

a silly little comic i made about plurality & unmasking

#based on true events #if you recognize my art style no you don’t #anyway #ive recently been talking abt my plurality more #trying to be less ashamed of it #its been scary for all of us tbh #but worth it #especially with little moments like these #that make you feel validated and more recognized as your individual self #idk after all the shit i deal with being a system #i wanted to make something wholesome n happy yk? #anyway rant over! nonsense tags time :) #system #system things #system stuff #system pride #did #osdd #osddid #plural #plurality #plural pride #did comic #osdd comic #system comic #plural comic

[soracities]

Hi! So I tried not to say anything about some anti makeup posts I saw on your blog but I need to say this. I think you're very wise and I agree it's very important for us to love ourselves as we are. But some people like myself doesn't care about 'empowering' of makeup or whatever but we just have fun with it and we just love it. I say we because I know there is a lot of people like me. Yeah, we are feeding capitalism or whatever, but world is beautiful and it's also terrible so people trying make themselves feel good, have fun, ect. I see a lot of people who don't wear makeup and i'm happy for them! I didn't wear makeup until i turned 20 i think and felt good.

One thing I wanted to add is in response of post about feminine girls. I think everything needs balance and sometimes people tend to overreact in their opinion and divide everything in black and white. Personally I never cared how women around me looked and what they were wearing. But I would like to have same treatment, and not to feel silly for wearing pink or feminine clothes.

Sorry, I don't know English very well so maybe I can't translate my idea entirely. What I'm trying to say i think everyone should do what they like and leave each other in peace.

Sorry for this essay, just wanted to share my point of view.

Hi, anon! I'm sorry for the delay in getting to this, but I appreciate you writing this (and your English was fine, don't worry)

I think the main argument of those posts (and my own feelings about this) is not about makeup on its own, or even judgement about who does and doesn't choose to wear it--what they are criticizing is a particular part of the society we live in which puts a huge emphasis on women's beauty and appearance in order to fulfill an idea of what a woman "should" be, and the role that makeup plays in that as a result. Because whether we like it or not, whether we believe in them or not, whether we feel pressured by them or not, these expectations do exist. How we personally respond to them does not change that.

I personally don't have an issue with makeup or the concept of it (in almost every culture on earth, humans have been using makeup of some kind for literally thousands of years)--but what I do have a problem with is when we treat makeup, or other traditionally "feminine" forms of expression as neutral things when they are not. A comb or a hair tie is neutral--it's just a thing. Lipstick and eyeliner are also just things, but only when they exist by themselves--and in reality they don't exist by themselves: they exist in a world where we value women on their physical appearance before we value them for anything else--lipstick and eyeliner exist to emphasise parts of your appearance, to make you look a certain way--and in a society where we put so much importance on women looking a certain way, they aren't just ordinary things you toy around with for fun. You can have fun with them, but it doesn't change their role. They can't be treated as exceptions from the world they are used in.

I think sometimes people assume that being anti-makeup is the same as being anti-women-who-wear-makeup, which misses the point (and also suggests a very dangerous idea which I think, sometimes, is why people respond so angrily to these criticisms: because if we believe that being anti-makeup = being anti-women, then therefore makeup = womanhood, and this is simply not true). Whether you wear these things just for fun and to enjoy yourself isn't what is being talked about because these criticisms are not about you on a personal level: they are about looking at a society that is as image-obsessed as ours, and asking why makeup has the role that it has when 1) it is almost exclusively aimed at women--women who, as a group, have been historically marginalised, and whose value, historically, has almost always been measured in terms of their beauty before anything else and 2) the makeup that is emphasized, the trends and styles that come and go, are often not so much about self-expression (if they were, people would be freely wearing all sorts of wild colours and styles: when we talk about "makeup culture" it's not the same kind of makeup used in the goth, punk, or alt scenes for example where makeup plays a very different role) but almost always about achieving or aspiring towards a type of beauty that is valued or expected: to make you look younger, to make your eyes brighter or larger, to make your lips bigger or sexier, your cheekbones more prominent etc--again, on their own, these things may not be a big deal, but they exist in a world where having these looks means you are valued in a certain way as a woman. And when this exists in our kind of world, where the power dynamics we have automatically mean women's perceived power is through beauty, and where we insist so much on women being a particular kind of beautiful (and this starts in childhood) we have to ask and investigate WHY that is--why this type of beauty and not another? why (almost only) women? who benefits from this? who suffers as a result?

The argument of "not all women" wear makeup for empowerment misses the point of these criticism, because it is focusing on a person's individual choices in a way that suggests our choices can define the world we live in, and they can't. We are deeply social animals. Therefore, how we appear to each other and to ourselves is a socially influenced phenomenon. This applies for race, for sexuality, and for gender. How women are perceived at large, in different social structures, is a social phenomenon influenced by the societies we exist in and the values of those societies. These criticisms are about the society we make those choices in and how that can affect us. For you, makeup may be something fun and enjoyable and that's fine. I'm not saying that's untrue or that people don't feel this way or that you are wrong for feeling this way. It's also not saying that you are brain-washed or oppressing yourself for it. But it doesn't change the world we live in. Someone feeling perfectly happy to go out with makeup or without makeup, and feeling no pressure to do either, is great--but it doesn't mean there aren't a lot of women who do feel pressured into wearing it, and that pressure is a social one. It doesn't change the inequality that exists between how women's physical appearances are judged compared to men's. It doesn't change the fact that almost every childhood story most kids hear (that aren't about animals) have a "beautiful princess" (and very little else is said about her except that she is beautiful) and a "brave" knight/prince/king/whichever: the princess (or maiden or whatever young woman) is defined by how she looks; the male in the story by how he acts.

It also doesn't change the fact that so many young girls grow up hearing the women around them criticize various parts of their bodies and that they carry this into their lives. It doesn't change the fact that we expect (in Western countries at least) for women to have criticisms about their appearance and they are "stuck-up" or "full of themselves" if they don't. It doesn't change the fact that magazines photos, red carpet photos, films, tv shows etc., feature actresses who are beautiful in a way that is absolutely above and beyond exceptional (and who either have had work done cosmetically, or are wealthy enough to be able to afford to look the way they do through top-class makeup artists, personal trainers etc) but who we think are within the "normal" range of beauty because faces like theirs are all that we see--how many famous actors / entertainers can you name who look like they could be someone's random uncle, or "just some guy" (writing this, I can think of 5). Now how many actresses, equally famous, can you think of that are the same? Very, very, very few.

The point of those posts, and why I feel so strongly about this, is that we have a deeply skewed view of beauty when it comes to women, because, as a society, we place so much on how they look in such a way that it is not, and was never meant to be, achievable: therefore anything that contributes to how women look, that markets itself in the way that the makeup industry does in this day and age, needs to be questioned and looked at in relation to that. No one is saying don't wear eyeliner or blush--what they are trying to say is that we need to be aware of the kind of world eyeliner and blush exists in, what their particular functions as eyeliner and blush do in the world that they exist in, that we exist in, and how this does impact the view we have on makeup as a result. Your personal enjoyment may be true to you and others, but this doesn't change the role of female beauty in the world because, again, our personal choices don't define the world in this way. Often, it's the other way around. And we cannot deny this fact because, while it may not affect you negatively, it does affect others.

I absolutely agree with you because I don't care how other women around me choose to dress or express themselves, either--that's their freedom to wear what they want and enjoy themselves and I want them to have that freedom. But my view is not the world's view, and it's certainly not the view of a lot of other people, either. I don't care if another woman loves pink and wearing skirts and dresses--but, like makeup, pink, skirts, and dresses, are not neutral things either. They're tied to a particular image of 'femininity' which means they are tied to a particular way of "being a woman" in this world. I'm not saying, at all, that it's wrong to wear these things. But I'm saying we can't treat them as though these are choices as simple as choosing what kind of socks to wear, because they aren't. They are choices that have baggage. If a woman is seen as being silly, childish, or treated unequally because she enjoys cute tops and ribbons and sundresses, that's not because we are demonizing her choices, or because being anti-makeup is being anti-woman (again, it is absolutely not): it's because we as a society demonize women for any choice. That isn't because of anti-makeup stances--that's because of sexism.

You mentioned that you want to be treated the same as anyone else for wearing feminine clothes--but the fear that you wouldn't be isn't because of the discussions critiquing makeup and other traditionally "feminine" things--it's because we live in a society where women are constantly defined by how they appear on the outside, and no amount of our personal choices will make this untrue. Whether you are a girly-girl or a tomboy, you'll always be judged. And, in reality, when women follow certain beauty standards they do get treated better--but this doesn't mean much in a society where the standards are so high you can never reach them, and where the basic regard for women is so low to begin with (not to mention the hypocrisy that exists within those standards). This is what all those criticisms towards makeup and "empowerment" are about: it's about interrogating a society that is built on this kind of logic and asking why we should insist on leaving it as it is when it does so much damage. It's saying that that if we want everyone to truly feel free in how they choose to present themselves we have to go deeper than just defining freedom by these choices on their own, and look at the environment those choices are made in. And that involves some deeply uncomfortable but necessary conversations.

Also, and I think this important to remember, views on makeup and the social place of makeup will also depend on culture and where you are, and the beauty expectations you grew up with. And when it comes to the internet, and given American dominance online, a lot of these posts criticizing makeup and the way makeup is being used to sell an idea that wearing it is "empowering" to the woman (which is basically saying: you are MORE of a woman when you wear it; you are stronger and more powerful because, in our society, beauty is portrayed as a form of power: it tells you, you can battle the inequality women face by embracing the role beauty plays in our lives but it doesn't tell you this emphasis on beauty is part of that inequality), are based on the way makeup is portrayed in mostly English-speaking Western countries. My views are shaped by what I grew up seeing, and while a full face of makeup (concealer, primer, foundation, mascara, highlighter, contour, blush, brow tint, brow gel etc) may not be daily practice or even embraced in a place like France or maybe other places in mainland Europe (but that doesn't mean they don't have their own expectations of feminine beauty), they are daily practice in places like the US and Britain, and this is what most of those posts and criticisms are responding to.

We can argue as much as we want about makeup, but when you grow up in a society where women feel the need to put on makeup before going to the gym there is something seriously wrong. Embracing makeup and enjoying makeup is one thing, but it cannot be a neutral thing when so much of it is about looking like you're not wearing makeup at all, or when we assume a woman is better qualified for a job or more professional when she wears it. It cannot be a neutral thing when a singer like Alicia Keys goes makeup-free for a red carpet event and it causes a stir online because people think she looks sick (what she looks like is normal--I would argue above normal--but wearing makeup to cover up "flaws" is so normal now that we genuinely don't know what normal skin is supposed to look like because the beauty of these celebrities is part of their appeal: they are something to aspire to). It is absolutely very normal for me, where I am, to see young girls with fake lashes and filled in brows: it's not every girl I pass, but it is enough. I'm not saying they are miserable, or brain-washed, or should be judged. I can believe that for them it's something enjoyable--but how am I supposed to see something like that and not be aware of the kind of celebrities and makeup tutorials that are everywhere on TikTok and YouTube, and that they are seeing everyday? How am I not supposed to have doubts when people tell me "it's their choice!" when the choices being offered are so limited and focused on one thing?

I never wore makeup as a teenager and I still don't, but a lot of that is because I grew up surrounded by people who just didn't. Makeup was never portrayed as anything bad or forbidden (and I don't see it like that either)--it was just this thing that, for me growing up, was never made to be a necessity not even for special occasions. I saw airbrushed photos and magazines all around me, for sure, and I definitely felt the beauty pressure and the body pressure (for example, I definitely felt my confidence would be better if I wore concealer to deal with my uneven skintone, and I felt this for years). But I also know that, growing up, I saw both sides. No makeup was the default I saw at home, while makeup was the default I saw outside. And that does play a part, not just in the choices you make, but in the choices that you feel you are allowed to make. No makeup was an option for me because it was what I saw everyday, even with my own insecurities; but if you do not see that as an option around you (and I know for most girls my age, where I grew up, it probably wasn't) then how can we fully argue that the decision you make is a real choice?

If I wanted to wear a cute skirt outside, for example, and decided to shave my legs--that isn't a real choice. And it cannot ever be a real choice, no matter how much I say "this is for me" or "I prefer it like this" because going out in public with hairy legs and going out in public with shaved legs will cause two completely different reactions. How can I separate what I think is "my choice" from a choice I make because I want to avoid the negative looks and comments? And how can I argue that choosing to shave is a freely made choice when the alternative has such negativity? If you feel pressured into choosing one thing over another, that's not a choice. Does this make sense?

This is how I feel about makeup most of the time, and what I want more than anything else is for us to be able to have a conversation about why we make the choices we do beyond saying "it makes me feel good" and ending the conversation there. Again, I'm not saying people need to stop wearing makeup or stop finding enjoyment in wearing it, but I think we tend to get so focused on our own feelings about this and forget that there is a bigger picture and this picture is a deeply unequal one. That is what this conversation is about. I hope this explains some things, anon, and if I misinterpreted anything please feel free to message me again. x

#i think in essence what i'm trying to say is that #some things are true in a microcosm but you cannot make a universal application for them bc the microcosm isn't representative of the whole #and it is dangerous to assume that it is or that it can be bc you're erasing the bigger picture when you do that #it would be like a poc saying they never felt the pressure of skin-lightening creams which is amazing but it doesnt change the fact that a #whole industry exists selling skin-lightening products BECAUSE there is a demand for them and that demand exists BECAUSE there is an #expectation that they SHOULD be used and this is because there is a belief that lighter skin = more beautiful. regardless of how messed up #and damaging that logic is that doesn't mean it doesn't exist in the world #and therefore those industries exist to maintain that belief because that belief is what drives their purpose and their profits #and we are doing no favours to the countless poc who DO feel pressured to subject their skins to these products or who come away with #a deeply damaged sense of self-worth (not to mention the internalised racism that's behind these beliefs) bc of constantly being told they #are less than for being darker than a paper bag which is RIDICULOUS #saying its all down to choice is not far off from saying you can CHOOSE to not be affected by the pressure but like....that's just not true #you can't choose to not be the recipient of colorism any more than you can choose to not be the recipient of sexism. and its putting a huge #amount of pressure and responsibility for an individual to just not be affected by deeply ingrained societal pressures and expectations whe #what we SHOULD be doing is actually tackling those expectations and pressures instead #they are leaving these systems intact to continue the damage that they do by making everything about what you as an individual think and #believe but while we all ARE individuals we dont live in separate bubbles. we are part of and IN this world together. and it acts on us as #much as we act on it. but like.....i think i've gone on enough already #ask #anonymous

[reduxskullduggerry]

just watched shiny happy people and it was an ok docuseries overall (if you don't know it's a documentary about the duggar family and fundamentalism/IBLP/Bill Gothard more generally), but as with other documentaries in this style, it often heavily covers the aspects of misogyny, patriarchy, and abuse (which are very important to cover!), but really only minimally focuses (if at all) on the depth to which Christian fundamentalism is at its core about advancing white supremacy and white supremacist goals. Like they spend an episode talking about how the purpose of families having as many children as possible is to push them into conservative leadership (with the ultimate goal of creating Christian theocracy), but they only focus on how they want to pass like anti-abortion stuff not their assuredly racist positions otherwise. Like focusing solely on the narratives and abuse of white women (and some white men) from the perspective of these people means that you only hear their limited perspective on the situation. Which means they've grown enough to understand how this religion/cult/sect oppressed them but not anyone different from them. non-white people are almost entirely absent from the series outside of when white people go/have gone on mission trips and the documentary makers never confront the people who they interviewed who've gone on mission trips about the neocolonialism they're engaging in through these trips. Even from the perspective of you've spent your whole life hearing this narrative of Christianity that you know is fucked up and terrible for you, but then you think you've unlearned all of this enough to go give christian teachings to others without perpetuating these same narratives?? Like one (professor?) guy mentions racism all of once and it's like?? I also feel like the documentary makers in spite of how political this documentary is fail to address the politics of those they are interviewing. They interview several people close to the duggar family/are in the duggar family who are like still very conservative and present their narrative uncritically. anyway in conclusion, documentaries on institutions like iblp and the catholic church etc often focus solely on the oppression faced by white women and children in that institution without examining the larger context of white supremacy and racism that kind of patriachy is based in and they should change that

#i feel like its because the documentary makers failed to fully understand systemic oppression rather than just individualized examples of it #like they do talk about how abuse is enabled by many actors but they really tend to focus far more on the individual abuser(s) in the story #also i havent checked but the two directors are women and i would guess are likely to be white women #shiny happy people #duggar family

[takumishu]

Just going to accept that I'm gonna have a permanent "Ugh, well fine, whatever" reaction to RFTA Edgeworth because honestly the direction they took for his character works in some ways I do find interesting, and does not work in others. And by others I mean please stop comforting and reassurring him and let there be weight to his actions here narratively.

#send post #c: Edgeworth #It's not that ''character did not do specific bad thing they were accused of and the focus is more on their enthusiastic #participation in a violent status quo rather than specific individual wrongs'' can't work. Like it does work in theory. And it especially #does w a lot of who Edgeworth is as a person and professionally being affected by him being a public figure and him taking care to try and #balance a moral compass and controlling his image and his own sense of justice; him being target to an especially nasty rumour mill and thi #contributing to his drastic complete disappearance from the public eye works and makes sense. #I just feel like there's something lost if every character is reacting to him like ''but you didn't know so it's fine!'' every time he beat #himself up regarding what he's participated in? Like sure ultimately the fact that he had to leave and work on himself and he came back a #new man is the narrative saying ''yeah there was something wrong going on here'' but it undermines the feeling of This is His Fault and He #Still Did Bad when he's the only one saying it. Then to the audience it feels more like exaggerated guilt and self-hatred rather than guilt #based on something Actual that he did wrong even if he wasn't the sole perpetrator; or even a willing one! Bc yadda yadda participating in #the system as it is without inclination towards change or moving against it makes its crimes your own. #Silver-lining is he really had the worst time of his life and I love watching him suffer (affectionate) so I had that at least #I definitely put my foot down when Lana said ''It was us who acted corruptly not you'' though like we were almost there... you almost had #it and then you said this at the eleventh hour and now I have to grumble about this lol

[raytorosaurus]

not to be allergic to harmless misinfo but i am once again asking everyone to realise that gerard does not have anything to do with the netflix tua adaption - he is not a screenwriter or director! he greenlit the series, is one of ten nominal executive producers, had some initial input into casting and character/costume design, visited set a couple of times during season 1, and occasionally attends zoom meetings and that's it. he only writes the comics which are very different from the show! if gerard wrote the show believe me it would be much much weirder lol

#each has its own individual issues this isn't me saying one is problematic and one isn't or anything like that #(tho i definitely personally prefer the comics by leagues) #just bc of who i am as a person i literally cannot stand things being mistakenly miscredited ever SKDJFJDJS #i make this post every few months but every time i can NEVER find the previous ones smh what's the point of having a tagging system #tua #*

[bigsnorp]

imo the recent wave of "ai art is valid actually" discourse often misses the point of the reaction against ai art. And I think the reaction is often reacting against the wrong thing too.

The end product is not the problem. Like it or not, AI generated art is now a valid subset of art. It makes something that wasn't there before, usually has some purpose or intent in the process, and it makes people feel something. Hating it is still something.

El problema, como siempre, es el capitalismo. Just like that old man said.

Creating an AI model always involves training it on a dataset. The bigger the better, every single time. How do you do that? You write a program to scrape everything from whatever you point it at, and run it through various levels of processing until your AI reliably spits out something you want to see.

This is hard to do, so there is a lot of monetary value in creating one, hosting it, and offering it to others. At no point do you have to create anything of value, you just have to take what other people made and extract surplus value from it. And you do this while interacting as little as possible with the art you've used for this massive dataset, or god forbid with the artists that made it.

In return these artists get nothing, usually. Not so much as a note of acknowledgement in the readme.

Human artists can and do steal from, plagiarise, and piss off other artists all the time. But they cannot do it at the scale of AI art, nor can they completely divorce the original art from its context. Even when this is done for financial gain, it's on an entirely different level, with entirely different stakes. I'm not talking about copyright law or intellectual property, I'm talking about large scale labour devaluation and deskilling for the sake of corporate capitalism which is an inherent part of most of the AI generative art tools that are used by people today.

There's a lot of cool possibilities and interesting thought-provoking questions that have become immediately obvious with AI art and it's not in any rush to go away. I think spending hours debating the artistic merit of the end product of AI generated art is the wrong thing to focus on right now. Humans also make art that is uninspired or derivative or mass-produced and it can still be artistically valuable. Look at Duchamp's fountain, literally mass produced and likely plagiarised from another artist, and one of the most valuable pieces of modern art history we have.

It's about the scale. The decontextualisation. The capital gain for a generally uninterested company seeking to extract surplus value from the unconsenting labour. The picture that gets generated at the end is kind of the least interesting part of the discussion.

#long post #ai art #gay sex cats #it is possible for an individual to create and effectively train an ai model and you can argue about the artistic merit of the result #of that process if u want. when i make art it's primarily digital and i consider the stuff i made thats supported by tech to still be art #so i dont think i have a leg to stand on to claim an individual developer who made an ai model isn't an artist u feel #its how the dataset is gathered for me. and who benefits from it. #like it does kinda boil down to respecting the labour for me idk #and as an end user of someone elses ai model you have been robbed of the ability to respect the labour that went into making the data #bc it got scraped and turned into a big blob of data thats hidden from u #whats the point in attacking the individual when u can attack the system that created the situation in the first place

[obstinaterixatrix]

I really like romances that highlights a complex relationship with desire. what’s that one quote. found it, it’s the siken quote that goes “the enormity of my desire disgusts me” and “there’s only one thing I want, don’t make me say it” LOVE that. it’s so fun. denial and repression and self-loathing! some of my favorite ingredients for a romance.

#time to talk the romos #it can show up in any narrative in many ways #but the way in romance it pulls another person into the process #is SOOOOO fun for me #with romance being character-focused and with the plot tied to emotional/relationship development #(when it’s done well) you get to see it in both an individual and systemic context #how it manifests in solitude and its impact on relationship patterns #how it’s masked or displayed #whether the character is aware or unaware #whether the character is trying to break these patterns or are furiously clinging to them #fight or flight lol #anyway that’s why I just ended up rotating that one single father bl in my head for so long #I feel like writing-wise I’m kind of lukewarm on it? but themes-wise it grabbed me by the throat and shook me like a rattle #the love interest’s whole thing is how at his core he wants affection but has only gotten it through dysfunctional means #because what he’s wanted has always been dismissed or rejected or minimalized for the sake of someone else #well yknow he’s an orphan and was taken in by his maternal uncle so there’s always been resentment if he does better than the ‘actual’ son #so the pattern is #starting from his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend #is seeing affection and going ‘I want that’ and ‘stealing’ another person’s partner #and then instantly being disinterested because if it’s so easily ‘stolen’ it’s not the affection he actually wants #and since it continues outside of that context of. well essentially revenge #it just continues into solely experiencing unfulfilling relationships #so when the love interest recognizes his own interest in the main character #he’s trying to continue his cycle of ‘surely if I sleep with this person I’ll lose interest’ except by this point *that’s* the self-delusion #he’s found a person that he connects with and with whom he wants a genuine relationship #and it’s devastating to him!!!!!! #lmao I love it

[screamingay]

someone on here will literally say "encouraging plastic surgery for the sole purpose of conforming to eurocentric beauty standards isn't actually feminism" and 200 other people will come out of the woodworks and chant in harmony LET WOMEN BE HAPPY and WHAT ABOUT TRANS PEOPLE AND BURN VICTIMS as if the post wasn't clearly 1. about womens' self image & insecurities being strongly influenced by the richest and whitest of society and 2. not about trans people or burn victims at all

#ive thought about it a lot and i know the main argument is that it's bodily autonomy and also having it more widely available makes it #easier for the people who really do need it to get it #but like. first of all the industry (and it is an industry) spends SO much money convincing women their bodies look wrong #if it wasnt advertised everywhere and if the expectation wasnt there to look 'perfect' according to the most recent trends #the amount of women getting elective plastic surgery would be drastically lower #second of all. yeah having more surgeons out there means more experience and safer treatments for those who really need it.. #as long as they have the money #and for trans people as long as they have money and/or good insurance and/or all the required medical documentation and/or therapy #and at the end of the day you can criticize just part of something but not all of it. i feel like a lot of people forget that when they #start saying shit online. just stop and think and dont interact with people assuming the worst of them!! #when i criticize the beauty industry im never calling any woman who's ever worn makeup or gotten a facelift evil it's an INDUSTRY #it's systemic!!! #almost reminds me of how criticizing the patriarchy and systemic misogyny as a lesbian will get u painted as some man hating terf #i love men! i dont blame individual men for the system we're all a part of i just criticize its existence and try to work to dismantle it #and i know complaining on the internet is like a little raindrop in the ocean but still. it needs to be discussed i think

[sysig]

Your Weekly TV Guide

On Monday you can expect:

2:30 PM: Handplates

And Tuesday:

2:30 PM: Handplates

Wednesday:

2:30 PM: Star Control II - Helix +4:20 PM Bonus!: Helix shitpost

Thursday:

2:30 PM: SCII - Helix

Friday:

2:30 PM: SCII - Helix

Saturday:

2:30 PM: SCII - Helix

Sunday:

2:30 PM: SCII OCs

Thanks for tuning in! (Patreon)

#Weekly TV Guide #Hey guess what I was up to this past week #If you guessed ''Editing 150+ individual pieces to stitch together into the next Month's worth of queue posting'' you'd win the prize #Absolutely sickening amount of editing lol but I did it! #I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to since there was like - a lot lol #I realized there's like seven steps to my doodle posting wegh that's a lot of steps #But the system's been keeping things moving! Slowly but surely #I'll need to set aside a bit more time to work on my second behind-the-scenes project yet >:P #But I think I'll be able to! Patience bleh #Anyway! Finally starting to round out the Handplates stuff! #There'll still be some here and there :) #But for now the focus has shifted to Helix lol #Even right now - y'know how the queue is behind by like a month? Yeah lol #I set it down for a bit and now it's back again! It's convenient in its own way haha #And no we're still not into 2024 yet lol #Technically anyway - some of these were started at the end of last year and only finished recently!

[starbuck]

Watch Ravenous (1999) while thinking hard about the themes of Truth and Shame and maybe you’ll calm down

#or maybe you’ll get increasingly more agitated as you slowly lose your mind… who’s to say! #it’s truly soooooooo upsetting #the FIRST line in the movie is a lie told by the US military to further glorify itself #where’s that Black Sails quote about Civilization pruning imperfections from its vine (WILDLY paraphrasing)? bc that’s what it is #and then looking at each character and their relationship to Shame is sooooooooo fascinating #i’m just. #like. i couldn’t be being any more Black Sails about this but hear me out: i’m RIGHT #Civilization weaponizes shame against those it oppresses to dissuade them from finding common ground and resisting it #it encourages its subjects to view failings as the fault of individuals as opposed to systemic failings injustices and cruelties #that’s all in there if you know where to look #and if you watch the deleted scenes lol #this probably makes zero sense without them but they are Necessary #and again - i’m happy to link them to anyone - just hmu #ravenous 1999

[meatcute]

yooo there was a pharmacist walkout at cvs in kansas city a couple days ago apparently :0 thats fucking awesome i hope this is a sign of things to come. no one i work with deserves the conditions were under rn

#i dont know cvs' situation but if its anything like walgreens #then work conditions rn are actually really fucking bad #immunizers are expected to give shots every 10-15 minutes for individuals or groups of up to 6 people. #im shocked this is allowed to slide in terms of satety #also we are not being given much resources #like they just decided we have to make this happen on top of our other daily tasks. and gave us vaccines and needles #and a barebones scheduler system #that doesnt discriminate for basic context like age or pharmacist meal break #my one coworker mightve been a genius for leaving when she did ybh #screaming nightmare era

[sleepygaymerdisease]

guys i think this website is recreating misogyny

#i cant say specifics of what the media is or who the character is but like. if theres a character (who happens to be a woman) who is never #directly shown on-screen. but shes absolutely integral to the plot. and it's all with an extremely serious tone. maybe headcanoning them as #a silly ditzy bimbo wifey who believes in astrology and doesnt know anything about computers and her only interests are animals and plants #and taking care of her husband and cleaning the house and she also only wears bright pink and dyes her hair bright pink...... #maybe. just maybe. thats fuckin awful?!?!? 💀💀💀💀 #IM GOING INSANE HERE. LIKE GOD DAMN I THIUGHT I COULD TRUST TUMBLR USERS ABOUT THIS MEDIA TOO. I WAS SO WRONG. BLOCKED INSTANTLY. #also im not even going to begin to tackle the casual whitegirl racism involved with the interests listed for this character. like idk people #loooove to be vaguely spiritual without respecting a single culture who actually does these practices. 😀. #but im so mad like. i cant even say shit like 'ummm think about this for a sec!!' because the OP clearly put tons of time and effort into #their insanely misogynistic post. multiple drawings lined and full colored. like. they thought about this and thought it was amazing. 😐 #anyway... ive noticed lately that a lot of people think misogyny is a dying bigotry or that its 'not as serious' as other forms of hatred? #but sexism is a very real systemic and individual issue. drawing cismenkissing.png doesnt auto-clear the sexism allegations 🫢 #anis gaymer moments #ok sorry for the long rant im done now i prommy

[rawliverandcigarettes]

One of my big problems with The Empire of Preys is, without spoiling the details, that the crux of the conflict, the Thing on which everything else rests is.... horrifyingly mundane. It's basically just a case of cold maintenance of power and imperial pettiness. It's not particularly mind-blowing revelatory stuff; it's just kind of logical and mean in a way where it's hard to blame anyone really.

The problem is: because of this, I always had a hard time conveying that casual violence with the dramatic weight necessary to carry the energy of the rest of the story. In a way, it's almost... disappointing? It feels like it should be a huge conspiration, but tbh, it's probably something many niche journalists are already covering in-universe, a known problem for anyone with two analytic braincells living in the Milky Way at that particular moment in time. And so, for something so impersonal and systemic to be the dynamite that risks the lives and livelihood of so many characters in this story, I need to do such a good job of conveying the reach and the interconnection and the impact of everything, and it's *hard*.

I used to have the same issue back when this particular plot point was revealed in Halfway Home's first draft; knowing I would need much more time and a larger frame of reference to articulate and argument this specific point, I pushed the revelation to The Empire of Preys (very correct choice imo: Shlee is just kind of too uhh stupid and checked out of the real world to care). But now I face the same exact problem, except in a different setting.

I hope the consequences of that crux will be enough to solidify why the Problem is such a vicious one with such overreaching consequences on everyone's lives, but.... I hope it will be enough honestly. It's pretty complicated.

#personal #halfway home #the empire of preys #shlee #my writing #it's so hard to have your Big Bad genuinely being post-imperialism #and while I did give it a pseudoface it's still.... this character is still a part of the same system #chewed on and selected and carved by the system to serve it best and also suffering under its ideology #and the logic underpinning it all *is* absurd while being also inescapable #so it's really hard to pay it off in the way it deserves #(especially since IRL we also can't do much of anything about things like this at an individual level) #systemic and societal conflicts are really really hard to dissect properly in character-driven dramas #where everything needs to feel personal and close and earned #my writing is a lot about trying to reconcile these aspects but it's HARD!!!!