Unknown Geek

Net neutrality is the principle that Internet providers like Comcast & Verizon should not control what we see and do online. In 2015, startups, Internet freedom groups, and 3.7 million commenters won strong net neutrality rules from the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC). The rules prohibit Internet providers from blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization—"fast lanes" for sites that pay, and slow lanes for everyone else.

John Oliver on the danger of ending net neutrality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOEoRrHyU

On what ending net neutrality means for us:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/fcc-moves-to-roll-back-net-neutrality?utm_term=.ds0OQ5QM#.djMoxJxy

Friend, I 100% agree. But if you want to work towards stopping it, you need to not shop on Thanksgiving. Maybe you by yourself may not mean much, but enough people together refusing to do business with companies on Thanksgiving will greatly discourage corporations from continuing the practice.

sleep deprivation due to early school start times

the economy

oppression

high tensions between different political/social/racial/etc groups

technology/social media means constant updates on bad news

politics, made worse by the aforementioned constant updates

the state of the environment

education as it is right now not preparing us sufficiently for the outside world

pressure to grow up very quickly

parenting/teaching/etc trends in the previous generation(s)

competitiveness in schools, social media and other aspects of life

the world in general that the last few generations have constructed for us

NOT reasons my generation is so depressed:

But I’ve never just written a slice-of-life story about a disabled character.

And I actually really, really, want to. Because you’ve seen books like Wonder or books by authors like Jodi Picoult and they’re…okay. But they’re also written by abled authors who are trying to inspire and teach. I just want to write a story about the way things actually are. And as someone with multiple disabilities who had to get through high-school with said disabilities, I know what it’s actually like. I’m not saying that all of the experiences are going to be mine but I at least have the background knowledge to make it seem realistic.

So hear me out:

A fictional middle-grade series called The Disabled Diaries that’s just what it sounds like. It follows Max, a disabled kid who’s just starting high school. There’s not much more to describe so have some excerpts:

September 7th:

So here’s what happens when shit hits the fan on your first day of school.

And the walls. And the floor. And the desks. And that one kid who picks his scabs when he thinks nobody’s looking and didn’t seem to notice the screaming ninth graders stampeding towards the door like they were about to kill Mufasa. I think his name is Richie? Sorry, Richie.

But let me back up. Before I tell you what happens when shit hits the fan, let me tell you why the shit hit the fan in the first place. Well, technically it’s because I backed up to stand next to the classroom fan but as far as there being an excess amount of poop—

It all started when my doctor was like, “Hey, you’re going to start high school in a few days. This seems like the perfect time to try this new experimental drug. It could help you have a regular bathroom schedule. It could also cause your intestines to explode. Your insurance isn’t covering this.”

Yeah.

Thanks, Dr. Crenshaw.

And I know this sounds crude but there’s a reason I want to get this crude. Two reasons actually:

1.) I can have a moment like this:

September 7th:

You probably think this is going to be some whimsical story about how I overcame my disabilities and became an inspiration to all as my mother, played by Amy Adams, gets praised for helping me see that I’m just as worthy of life and happiness and blah blah blah.

Dude, I just spent like ten pages talking about my own poop. This isn’t going to be one of those stories. Cause the truth is that when you’re disabled, you don’t get a lot of days where you succeed at being a person as the music swells and the audience cheers. A lot of days are bad. A lot of days are embarrassing. A lot of days are smelly. A lot of days are all three. 

2.) If you’re abled and you’re five pages into this book, you’re going to get nothing but secondhand embarrassment. If you’re disabled and you’re five pages into this book, you’re going to get secondhand embarrassment, potentially painful flashbacks, and advice on what to do the next time you have an accident in the classroom. Because I hate to admit it but that’s a reality for just about every single disabled child out there. It’s going to happen. And when you literally become an author just for the sake of giving representation, you realize that said representation includes representing the negative times. It makes people feel like they’re less alone when something bad happens. But I digress! Have some more excerpts:

December 13th:

So my doctor woke up in the middle of the night and decided to make a list:

What Makes Children Popular?

Urine? ✘

Bags of urine? ✘

Children carrying around bags of urine? ✓

December 16th:

Here’s what you absolutely shouldn’t do when you’ve been tasked with carrying around a bag of your own urine:

Dump it on your bully’s head

Here’s what I absolutely did when I was tasked with carrying around a bag of my own urine:

Take a wild guess.

So now I’m sitting in the principal’s office, listening to my parents gasp and groan. I know I’m in trouble. A lot of trouble. All because my bag of urine happened to open above my bully’s head. Accidents happen. I should know, I’m one of them. I guess I should be worried about getting in trouble but the thing is…what can they really do to punish a cripple?

Put me in detention—a room where I can hang out and write instead of going to physical therapy?

Put me in OSS—a separate room away from my classmates?

Suspend me? Oh no. As a sick disabled child who’s had fourteen surgeries, it’s not like I’ve ever had to miss school before.

What could they possibly—?

Oh.

Turns out they’re making me give a public apology.

Huh.

Well played.

January 19th:

Here are all the times when it’s okay for your body to spontaneously spaz:

?

??

???

Here’s a hypothetical time when it’s not okay for your body to spontaneously spaz:

When Alex, the best-looking student in the entire grade, passes by your lunch table and you think you’re just gonna say “hi” like a normal human person but you’re also holding a carton of chocolate milk and your body decides ‘jazz hands’ and your arms go wild and you spill chocolate milk all over yourself and it’s been hours and I’m still not okay and also on a side note:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

January 20th:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

January 21st:

Actually, I think I’m over it.

January 22nd: 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

And before anyone asks, no, gender isn’t important in this story and neither are physical descriptions. The whole point is to make it a blank slate for disabled readers to insert themselves/their lives into. We all have a Dr. Crenshaw. We all have an Alex. We’ve all been Max. And we’ve all wanted to dump our bags of urine on our bully’s heads (…um…right?).

Over two years ago, I dated a boy for around 5 or 6 months. Let’s call him X. Ultimately, I broke up with X because he routinely sexually assaulted me, cheated on me, threatened to tell my mother horrific and untrue things about me if I left him, and many other things of that sort. We don’t talk regularly, but every time he likes a girl he’ll pretend to text me accidentally and tell me about it in an attempt to make me jealous. I have a friend who X talks to regularly, and this friend will then tell me the name of the girl he’s crushing on.

Every time this happens, I send the girl a DM. I tell her that I heard that X has been crushing on her, and that she’s free to make her own choices about dating him, but before she should do so she should know the kind of person he really is. I then tell her the truth about what he did to me, sprinkling in some old screenshots I’ve saved just for this occasion. I make sure to include that it’s entirely possible he may have changed, but should they date she should look out for those warning behaviors. I ask her to please not share any of the information I’ve given her, as he could still tell my mother many of the thing she threatened to before (not that she would believe him).

So far, I’ve done this with 4 girls. None of them have ever said anything, and all of them have unexpectedly stopped talking to him out of nowhere (according to the mutual friend). He posts on social media all the time about how he can never get a date, and occasionally rants about how women are so picky and choosy and always flake out halfway through a flirtatious relationship.

i thought i’d make an faq filled with every excuse in the book about reposting, for those who still don’t understand why it’s bad…or for people who don’t know what to say in retaliation to these! so here we go. 

first of all, an artist doesn’t even NEED to explain themselves. in the same way with someone who says “dude, make sure that soda is diet” or “please don’t tickle me”. they don’t want you to do it. you don’t need to test them by ignoring them. the reason doesn’t matter: it’s the person’s wish with THEIR things. if you had any respect for others, you’d just take it at that. 

BUT for some people, they don’t want to respect others at face value, and want their reason. (which, i might add, is rude.) so let’s get into that: 

but i’m giving you exposure! isn’t that good?

no. 

you’re not giving artists exposure. for people like myself, freelance artists, you’re hurting us. about a year ago, i sent my portfolio off to an indie game. in it, i had a piece of work that had been reposted (that i didn’t even know about). i was told much later that they “looked into it” and saw that my work was posted by someone else, which means now they have no idea who the artist was, and THEREFORE can’t be sure my work was legit. i lost a potential job to a repost. 

doesn’t matter if you say “i didn’t draw this”. sometimes, they don’t even look. they just look to see if it’s on any site other than your own. and that’s terrifying for artists. so don’t endanger our livelihood for instagram likes. 

besides, you’re not even giving exposure if you didn’t credit, cropped out the signature, or somehow made the resolution so low to where you can’t even see the signature. which brings me to…

but i credited you!

some people still don’t want it reposted even with credit. the last answer should show you one of the many reasons why. 

you’re dictating what i can/cannot put on my page! this is MY page!

and it’s MY art you posted. you can’t take something i did and do whatever you want with it. imagine if you took someones drawing, photocopied it, and spread it all around the town without their permission. they’d have every right to be angry, right?

but you posted it online, which means anyone can do anything with it. so if you don’t want it reposted, don’t post it online!

i have to post my art onto my websites to build a fanbase, something crucial to an artist. it shouldn’t be on ME to not post it in the first place, it should be on YOU to not repost it. you’re just echoing victim-blaming arguments. 

you’re basically saying “if you don’t want to be bullied, don’t exist.” which is a terrible thing to teach people, rather than “be nice and respectful towards others.” yes, i know our world isn’t perfect. but that’s no excuse to contribute to vile things. 

well i would be honored if someone reposted my art. and my friend doesn’t mind reposts, so why should you?

good for you! good for them! but did you know there’s more people in the world other than just you and your friend? we have wishes and feelings too, so you don’t get to project your own emotions onto what WE should be feeling as well. i love peaches. some people don’t like them. that doesn’t mean that now they have to eat peaches because i don’t mind them. 

what an artist creates automatically belongs to society, though. 

go steal the mona lisa and tell me how that works out. 

everyone can VIEW it, yes. artists want others to view their work! we just don’t want you to do stuff with it we asked you not to do. 

WELL THEN SPEAKING OF THAT, since i can’t put your work on redbubble and sell it for myself, why do you have an umbrella of the starry night?? huh?? you STOLE van gogh’s work! (yes people have legit said this to me) 

putting my work on items and selling it is totally illegal. van gogh’s work is owned by companies now, who have authorization to print it on things. and i’m just ONE freelance artist who is, you know, still alive and not giving permission to do that. you can’t compare a dead artist from the 1800s to a digital artist in 2017. apples to oranges, my dude.

well i SAID “credit to the artist” so i DID give you credit!

because saying “the artist” really tells people who i am and lets them visit my websites! thank you so much! 

but all sarcasm aside, that doesn’t do anything other than show you were too lazy to find the artist. same thing with “source: the internet” and “who drew this xD” or misspelling my url on purpose or putting the credit under a cut. OR cropping the image to cut off my signature! you didn’t give me credit. 

it wasn’t on the website i wanted it on! you should have more social media.

i’ll have the social media i want to have. not up to me to make more accounts on more things just so you won’t disrespect me. 

but i don’t remember where i got it. besides, i reposted SOOO much work and saved it all a long time ago. how can i find it now?

reverse google image search is so great.

also, if you didn’t know the artist, that’s a HUGE reason not to repost it in the first place!! you didn’t even know if it was okay since you never got to see their position on that!!

take down your video with stolen fan art. take down your entire fan art twitter account. i don’t care “how hard it was to save those images” or “how many views you have now”. you got all that attention from someone else’s hard work. searching for art will never be as hard as making it. if it were that easy, you’d be drawing all the art yourself. 

but i asked the artist and they didn’t say anything! i assumed it was okay. 

yeah, i feel you. it’s the same thing as when you ask your mom if you can borrow some money, she doesn’t answer, so you just steal it from her purse. no answer means the answer you want to hear, right?

wrong. don’t take “unresponsive” as a yes. that’s disgusting. 

well i honestly don’t care. artists are just selfish. i’ll repost their art if i want to, just to show them how much i hate their stance on reposting. and (insert another really edgy statement here from someone who only says things to get a rise out of people since their life is empty) 

one day you’re gonna come across an artist who has no chill and wants to sue, and can actually do it, since some people put their work under HEAVY copyright. and i’m gonna kick back in my chair with a nice capri sun and watch it all happen, since you have that kind of attitude towards people. 

yes, this whole thing seems a bit. well. “salty”, as some would put it. and i have every right to be irritated over this. all these questions are asking “WHY should i respect their wishes? give me a reason” or “but here is my excuse rather than just taking it down”. time after time, artists are villainized just for telling people not to repost. 

like i said, the artist not wanting you to repost it SHOULD be reason enough! we’re so tired of having to fight people just to have respect for our art. we have to deal with tracing constantly, so can you please take reposting off our plates? i know bad things will always happen, but that’s no reason to make it worse by contributing. 

artists are generously putting our art out there for free. if you want to keep seeing our art for free (btw we don’t HAVE to, all the big artists could just up and leave and go to patreon), maybe show us some respect? because we get pretty dejected when we see strangers getting attention from something we did, and it makes us want to remove everything we show you guys. you say “don’t post it then!” but would be mad if all fan art disappeared. 

Faucets, door handles, curtain rods ripped from the wall… all the repairs started to add up.

“Look, I didn’t mind having an ethereal roommate, but I can’t afford to keep fixing all this shit. Here’s a pencil and some paper. Just write what’s bothering you–I doubt you could put anything that would be more expensive than having a plumber come out to replace all the faucets again.”

The next morning there’s a scrawl line at the top of the page that devolved into an angry scribbling mess that tore through the page. Two cupboard doors were entirely ripped off.

“I don’t want to get someone in to banish you, but this is ridiculous. Just tell me what you want.”

The second piece of paper is ripped into shreds and several knives are embedded in the wall.

A careful examination of the paper scraps show that it had the same scribbles as the first piece.

A quick trip to the library and a stop at a store later, there are kindergarten workbooks on learning to write spread across the counter.

“Look, I don’t know if you’re just being difficult, but I hope not. So I got an audiobook on learning to read and write, and here are some workbooks for kids–don’t get mad–to teach them their letters. Just press play on the stereo, and work through the books at your own pace. I’ll get more when you finish.”

The first workbook is half-completed before being ripped to pieces, but at least there was no other damage. Replacing it is significantly cheaper than replacing cupboard doors.

It takes awhile, but eventually the workbooks progress to a fifth grade level. These ones are starting to be more costly (they’re bigger, for one thing), but it’s not even the money anymore. Little notes scrawled in a shaky hand appear on the steamy bathroom mirror

Have A gooD dy

Or written in ketchup on the counter (that was a frightening sight the first time)

You R out of MLK

And then one day there’s a message taped to the fridge. The spelling and penmanship isn’t the best, but it’s legible and even signed.

Dear Occupente,

I have haunted this spot for ovr three huner hudre 300 years. My bones are dust and I am fergotN. I do not have wants to trap me. I am here 4 ever.

I am bord. Lonly.

I am sorrY 4 breaking things.

We be frends?