fall apart and redefine

i do feel like at the core of my beliefs there's a small and fragile "why can't we just be nice?", and every intelligent or structured thing i say is building layers of protection around that ideal to make it stronger and more logical in the eyes of people who would otherwise call it naive and childish

Racism against Indians is actually a little insane when you consider how widespread it is even among liberals and leftists . Even people who consider themselves to be progressive will laugh at call center or tech support jokes. All scammers are inherently indian. It’s okay to laugh at jokes making fun of Indians for their feelings towards animals or how they drive. India is inherently backwards and dirty so it’s okay to make jokes about getting food poisoning from even looking at indian food

with love. you have to fact check shit. yes you. you still have to fact check shit. a lot of people are great at fact checking stuff they don’t want to be true, but somehow are still absolute ass at fact checking stuff that’s rhetorically convenient to them. even people my age, who I KNOW grew up doing internet/bibliography literacy workshops, and being warned not to believe anything that isn’t reliably sourced, people who DO harp on fact checking conservative output or whatever, are still kneejerk sharing unsourced shit that is partially or wholly untrue or misleading, because it suits whatever narrative they’re pursuing in that moment, without even a “take this with a grain of salt”. fact check!!!!!! look at the sources!!!!! yes it’s a drag!!! do it!!!!!

im not saying we shouldn't be calling out hypocrisy but i do think it's important to be aware of what i call the Two Different Guys Fallacy. and that's that whenever you're thinking to yourself, oh how come X group claim they want this thing but also support that other incompatible thing. take a moment to stop and consider whether it could just be Two Different Guys that think each thing

are you “adaptable” or are you just willing to subject yourself to existing in low key background-level ambient misery

these are different things btw. actual adaptability means not dealing with being miserable long term. and being constantly mildly annoyed/frustrated with a situation but being “able to deal with it” counts as ambient misery. btw.

let this be your sign to make your life just a little more livable. get a dollar store trash can for your bedside so Cup City’s invasion plans fall through. block a tag or post that makes you grind your teeth every time you see it. get some grip pads so your bed stops sliding across the hardwood a little bit every time you get in it. tell that person you need a little more support. if you get annoyed at a situation more than a couple times, change it. don’t be content with being miserable.

i think there’s a disconnect in fandom spaces between the general fan attitude of “i want more fic all the time with the exact concepts i’m interested in executed exactly the way i think is best and i want it to be 100k words and i want 25 chapters and i want a new chapter every day” and then also “i can’t believe the writers i was treating like a machine to create the art i want to consume as if it came off an assembly line used a machine to do it :/ who could ever do this” and like yeah obviously not everyone is in that first group but it’s an extremely pervasive attitude in newer, younger, popular fandoms. i don’t think it’s an “excuse” to use AI but i think the attitudes and environment that create that also create authors who feel they have to use AI to keep up with demand or authors who feel that their work is being consumed as factory-line commodities so why bother putting in effort? everyone wants fast food. everyone wants shein. if you want to be in an environment where art is created by artists the environment needs to be one that values art and creation and the process rather than just end results and numbers.

ok but i still think we should shame bigots.