#if you are going to be charitable

[level20mallow]

PSA: Insisting other people give resources to lazy selfish people who don't want to learn or work or contribute to the zeitgeist of humanity in no way is a good, moral or just thing.

There is a huge difference between helping those who genuinely need help and enabling people who have explicitly argued that they don't want to do any meaningful work and would rather live off of the backs of everyone else.

To do otherwise takes away all meaningful incentive to do anything for yourself, because why bother when you all can gang up on and rob/exploit the one guy who actually makes his own stuff while offering nothing in return. No, your mere presence or hobbies are not anything meaningful in this context, you have to actively do something the person who is giving you money wants to get money in return.

Like, you might not know someone's intentions at first glance, but once you do -- and it'll usually be by them actively refusing to get a job or do anything for themselves as they overstay their welcome -- you are committing a serious moral crime by continuing to allow them to do so.

Enabling an able-bodied person to not work when they actively don't want to is an inherently abusive act. That's money that should go towards you and yours, not some stranger you barely even know who only takes and takes and takes. That's what people who keep child abusers around do and you should be better than that.

#there are a lot of parallels to people who actively give resources to those who can work but refuse and those who enable child abusers #they both decided that total strangers who are bad people are more important than their family or friends or those around them #they actively expose the people around them to harm #and that's really fucked up #that's one of the few things I agree with the right on #if you are going to be charitable #you have to be smart about it #and you have to accept that not everyone should get help and that help has to be conditional on good behavior #enabling lazy people harms not helps

[sysig]

Something old and borrowed (Patreon)

#Doodles #UT #Handplates #Sans #Papyrus #Gaster #Gaster is visiting again - and has once again ended up in Sans' crosshairs #Papyrus knows about it but there's only so much he can really do - reminders are good! He sees you both! #It's never really brought attention to once Gaster is back that Papyrus is wearing his childhood scarf :0 #To be fair there's a lot going on at the time lol - what they're wearing is definitely low on the list of priorities #Realigning with reality > what are my children wearing #And they're wearing all of his hand-me-downs! Unwittingly but they were all his clothes other than the stuff they found and made #But the scarf was from Gaster's childhood - has Feelings attached #Not that he's getting any of what the boys have claimed as theirs back haha #It's kind of sweet that it's living a new life with Papyrus :) Sweet children wearing cool scarves! #Obviously Sans would not interpret any of Gaster's reactions charitably haha - deservedly! #But he's just looking because he's reminded of himself! Actually that probably wouldn't be taken well either lol #Can't help what he feels - and it's generally harmless :) #As long as he's good about it haha #Just avoiding another lecture by not bringing it up haha #He's learning! #Drawing little Gaster was fun too ♪ Stripes for kids! A cute little lad #Sans also disengaging - they're both improving :) - mostly because if Gaster's not up for the fight then why expend the energy #Conserve his energy in case he does and otherwise for when Papyrus gets back

[bonebabbles]

What IS a redemption arc to these writers, exactly?

Because the ONLY thing that Clear Sky has changed about his behavior, by A Forest Divided, is that he's not actively murdering people. He's controlling. He's a bully. He's misconstruing the words of the StarClan cats to create a justification for why he should be in power.

He's even physically abusive again when he gets upset, later. And that's not even counting his sadistic, self-absorbed behavior in sequel books.

We keep getting passages like this;

Which keeps turning his murder and abuse into "Just A Little Mistake," explicitly PART OF LIVING.

Ghosts are tumbling out of the fucking heavens to powder his ass, forcing his mom to forgive him for absolutely nonsensical reasons, saying that killing Rainswept Flower was "predestined" and "just an accident" and he had no control over it, anyway(???). And now, here is the hollowed-out shell of Storm, who was driven out of the Clan while pregnant because Clear Sky's actions were getting innocent cats MAULED AND KILLED, insisting her abusive husband's behavior never drove anyone away and they just had their own paths to walk.

So what IS a redemption arc supposed to be to these writers?

If Clear Sky was NEVER actually that bad, in the 5 books we saw where he's a controlling, power-hungry monster who constantly resorts to physical violence, that what IS the change he needs to make? If it's both a mistake he's totally learned from, YET ALSO he's never done anything wrong??

Do you SEE how these are contradictory ideas? They can't exist together. It's like the writers are just grasping at whatever insane bullshit they can think up and throwing it on the page, because at the end of the day, what they do is write Fundamentally Good and Fundamentally Evil characters.

Because Clear Sky is one of their Fundamentally Good cats, he has nothing to confront. They try to say "the guilt is the worst punishment for him!" and also "He shouldn't feel guilty for anything he did!" and it leaves us with absolutely nothing.

#Im ngl. I think if youre a clear sky defender you can't think critically. #Or you haven't actually read this arc. #This is the most BULLSHIT thing I've ever seen written #I can't believe people actually accept this. I started off trying so hard to be charitable here #But I can't do it anymore I don't understand how people don't see this #they blamed his fucking mom for his cruelty #they blamed a WOMAN FOR HER ADULT SON'S ACTIONS #Im going to have a stroke #dotc hate #bones reads dotc

[belligerentbagel]

even Atlas has only two hands

vent art

#this one's for all the teachers out there #horror cw #hands cw #draws #after 2.5 years of caution and masking everywhere; i tested positive for covid on wednesday morning (first day of fall semester) 😔 #at earliest; i can be back in the classroom on monday #wednesday itself was an absolutely horrible 24 hours (but admittedly the anatomist side of me has been going 'ah! physiological data!') #but thursday and friday were a grim indicator of how much capitalism has rotted my brain #because after getting through 24 hours of a MASSIVE illness with undetermined long-term effects; i felt compelled to return to the #6-hr-sleep 18-hr-waking cycle that i was accustomed to; out of GUILT for falling behind in work #(note: i was NOWHERE near 100% back on thursday. i could have charitably been put at 50% - still headaches & fatigue & productive coughs) #a friend had to very sternly tell me 'you cannot solve structural problems through constant 80-hour-week heroic measures' #'you especially cannot do this when you are recovering from a debilitating illness which has the potential to remain a - #- serious lingering problem if you overwork yourself' #like. gods. yeah. it's not my fault that my classrooms are stuffed to the student maximum that our union has valiantly maintained #it's not my fault that the district only gave us one pre-semester prep day; meaning that my room & plans were left unfinished before day one #and - even bigger; it's not my fault that public health in the US is careening into 'can we pretend hard enough like nothing's happening' #my students will have a milquetoast start this fall semester. that is fine. #their teacher might not be able to stand and talk for longer than ten minutes at a time #i will do what i can. i still care about them. i am reading their introduction emails and smiling a bunch. #but i refuse to allow myself to be consumed in order to keep this fire lit.

[willowcrowned]

man it’s so weird that people are always at their most incompetent and deserving of ire when I have to wake up at 6:30 AM. surely this is a strange coincidence that is 100% their fault and not because I didn’t sleep enough

#at the same time ‘’you should make a google doc and share it’’ babygirl what the fuck do you think the rest of us were doing during class #what the fuck did you think we were typing in #you spent all of class doing the group work and did not notice ONCE that the rest of us were actually putting together the submission? #Jesus CHRIST what the fuck is going on with you!!!! #willow’s wastebin tagxon #as you can see I’m feeling very normal and charitable today

[buccellato]

Vash, who is functionally homeless but for once isn't completely penniless: Oh no kids, don't bother this man...his ass is broke 💔😔...he's a pauper 😥😢....he stacks no paper 😬🤢...you need to find a grown-up with a real job 😒😑

#trigunbookclub #trigun #my crack headcannon is that this is the *real* reason Wolfwood gave him that backhanded compliment 2 pages later #because you can't go “Hey aren't you poor?” to someone in the middle of a charitable act!! It's rude!!! #or maybe I'm just projecting because my grandma keeps giving me grief about using my xmas gift to buy stuff for other people idk #also I keep forgetting but shoutout to Trigun Overhaul for these squeaky clean caps!

[spider-man-2o99]

remember when lyla just kept threatening people with Increasingly Excessive Violence while miguel was busy dealing w/ spider-man stuff that had him out of the house a lot... miss this era of unhinged behavior from her

#talking tag #spider-man 2099 #spiderman 2099 #gabriel o'hara #lyla #marvel #comics #comic panels #mig is out having what i wwill charitably call Some Kind Of Awakening with the punisher 2099 dont worry about it. #i think it;s really funny that lyla low-key seems very happy 2 go sicko villain mode #lyla voice YOURE IN MY WORLD NOW TIMMY TURNER. AND YOULL DIE IN MY WORLD. YOULL DIE LIKE THE PIG YOU ARE

[nyxokal]

"Don't you dare reply to this post with 'git gud'" then why did you tag it as the game. You're actually just inviting people to make fun of you

#textpost #yea I'm talking about that person in the Elden Ring tag #if you tag a post you're inviting people to see it even people who won't be charitable #if you just wanna complain then do it I did it a lot too #but don't go into the circus and say “NOBODY DARE HONK THEIR NOSE”

[wanderestlest]

whenever i see posts going on about how punk can be [insert non-offensive pro-social act here] or fantasizing about 'academic punk' (wearing combat boots to your professor's office!) i want to ask people why they need to be 'punk' so badly. what is it about actual punks that makes you want to be like them? or, are you okay with the idea that some birthday parties aren't your birthday party?

i think it would be healthy for people to understand that subcultures aren't the same as identities

#when i'm being charitable i want to remind people that they shouldn't be anxious about showing up to a show without looking the part #i've retyped this post like 10 times in an effort to be nicer #i think the 'birthday party' comparison is going to be useful to me #this goes for radical street politics too #you don't get black bloc clout without being in bloc #and the thing about bloc is that we actually do know each other. lol #and we all spy the wannabe radical influencers who slink out of sight when it's actually time to have a confrontation #punk #mine

[xiyao-feels]

the way so many people default to calling him MY.........

#I don't care about your clear preferences #I disapprove of your life choices and your family so I'm not going to use the name you fought so hard for #and which finally acknowledged your legitimacy #I mean obviously I wouldn't dream of doing it do someone who was actually legitimate! #that's their name! #-_- #I'm not being super charitable but I do think this is one of the ways (of many) #in which fandom seems to take for granted the legitimacy of like—wielding of power #to the characters who were born properly into the system #and deny it from JGY

[coldresolve]

So I've read a lot of your posts and replies about torture apologia and I wanted to ask you what you think the best way to educate people is without throwing books at their faces and how best to signal to readers that you're writing unrealistic torture.

I'm asking this as someone who is moderately educated on torture and its effects. But I do enjoy reading and writing some of the more outlandish tropes like brainwashing in over-the-top settings for a variety of reasons I'm not going to mention here because explaining that would take ages and risk my anonymity.

Because there is a way to tell people that you're writing erotica that shouldn't be used as educational material for safe sex or bdsm etiquette (because its purpose is to be fantastical and unrealistic) and while it's going to be way harder with torture since people are less educated on it, there should be a way to go about it, right?

for the record i'd prefer the torture discussion sorts of questions to go over to @dark-audit, but im too tired to copy this over rn lol

i'll say this: if you're going to knowingly perpetuate myths and/or make themes that inadvertantly justify the use of torture, a good handful of which are so accepted in public discourse and fiction, a good portion of your audience believes they're factual long before they read a single thing you've written - you better make sure you signal that that's exactly what you're doing, and systematically shut down any suggestion that treats your depiction of torture as realistic, or, yknow, thematically moral in the context of real world politics. one thing is disclaimers, another is having regular conversations with your readers about how torture actually functions, which means you're gonna have to dip your toes into reading up on the topic. this is the bare minimum for handling this sort of thing responsibly imo. the current conventions for depictions of torture are misinformation and justifications. if you want to change that status quo while sticking to harmful narratives "for a variety of reasons I'm not going to mention", you're gonna have to put some serious effort in out-of-text. apologies but you dont get the good boy points for free lol

the better option would be to maybe perhaps not indulge the myths, no matter how compelling they are to you? it requires a bit of effort but if the alternative is turning a blind eye to apologia, maybe it's worth that effort. imo torture is an interesting and cathartic thing to write about even if you stick to depictions that are in line with reality. there are so many facets to it you could dive into, i don't really see the point in engaging with war on terror/reeducation rhetoric. but maybe thats just me

#asks #torture discussions #ppl are so desperate to cling to the brainwashing. why. ask yourself why please #full disclosure i read the “reasons im not going to mention” as #“im unwilling to engage with the question of why i like this bc it makes me uncomfortable. so im going to pretend i have legit reasons” #which is uncharitable sure but yknow. id love to know your reasons then #shoot me a dm if you want. ill keep your anonymity. we can talk about it #maybe youll change my mind on how charitable i should be in convos like this. i sincerely doubt it but who knows #dms are closed rn so if you want to dm send an ask abt it and ill open nw

[mxtxfanatic]

I see your anons abt 7s's mistranslations and i just knocked myself tf out in anger bc i saw someone saying the br translation was inferior to 7s's for *checks notes* translating from scratch, using the correct name of wwx's cultivation, having an EXTENSIVE glossary (50 entire pages on worldbuilding and cultural context) and hefty cultural footnotes, exactly six typos, having lwj use imperative verbal mode when giving out orders, and having a slower publishing time that is actually *fairly normal* in publishing, 7s was just cutting A LOT of corners there shdjdkkfg the ONLY leg up en version has is custom en version cover art rly, we have taiwan cover iirc.

People want to justify 7seas’ messiness because of brand loyalty or (from certain stans) because it confirms their biases towards the novel or just not being used to the concept that they don’t have to just meekly accept trash just because it’s stamped with “official” on it. But the 7seas translation is also (supposedly) from scratch, so idk how that would make the br version inferior lmao

I personally love long glossaries that teach me about the culture the book was written from and the nuances that I would miss otherwise due to being from a completely different culture, rather than smoothing things over as if cultural barriers are impermeable so we must (in this case) Americanize everything. I love the svsss official translation, but I am sad at the removal of most of the Chinese internet slang that I learned about through the fan translation. That doesn’t make anything more or less superior than the other, but changing things to mess with tone, characterizations, and readers’ understanding of a story’s core themes on the other hand…

Also, saying that a company overworking and underpaying its employees to put out subpar products at record speed is a praiseworthy is 🙃

#mdzs asks #anon #i say ‘supposedly’ because I remember one translation comparison saying that #the 7seas translation mistranslated a section in the same exact way exr did while no other translation made that same mistake #which made me go 🤔😬 #but again I’m not in the mood to be charitable #take from that what you will #but the rest of this goes back to what i was saying with that other ask #that there is a cultural attitude disparaging thoughtful translation #so that people putting care into translations are mocked to uphold a shit product #imagine living in the bad timeline where that’s a thing #oh wait—

[ironwoman359]

Hey question does being a hetromantic ace means youre a straight cis person who doesnt have sex right? Bc that describes my cishet parents very well.

(I am a gay transmasc who knows very little abt asexuality but ily!! 💛)

No, being a heteromantic ace means I am a person who doesn't experience sexual attraction but am romantically attracted to the opposite gender. Being asexual has nothing to do with whether or not a person has sex, plenty of asexual people do have sex, just as there are heterosexual people, including your parents apparently, who do not. Attraction does not equal action OR inaction.

#asks and answers #ace things #honestly anon imma be real i dont trust this ask one stinkin bit #it REEKS of bait #but im going to make the charitable assumption that you are both young and inexperienced on tumblr #and therefore dont know the history of 'ace diskhorse' on this site #nor do you realize how this ask comes across #however if my gut instinct that this is some aphobe in my inbox trying to make me get all defensive turns out to be right #then i will block you so fast that your head will spin #<3 #taylor talks

[cookinguptales]

Okay! So, January charitable giving round-up.

I wrote about this a fair amount in December, but one of my NYRs for this year was to be more open about the donations I make to charity. I laid out my reasoning in the post I linked, but the long and short of it is that talking about charitable giving publicly is difficult for me, but I want to get over that mental hurdle because I learned that talking about charitable giving publicly leads to more charitable support.

So this January my donations were:

My regular monthly donations:

Philabundance (food aid in Philadelphia)

Immigration Equality (provides legal aid to queer and/or HIV+ immigrants seeking asylum)

my local community fridge (google to find one near you)

My monthly donation to a charity that seems timely:

Palestine Children's Relief Fund (medical aid for children in Palestine)

Women for Women International (currently focused on supplies for women in Palestine)

And then the third kind, new this year and kind of fun, is in honor of this poll, which inspired me to make a donation each month to a charity that one of my favorite characters would support.

For my first character, I chose my very beloved Guillermo de la Cruz, everyone’s favorite vampire-loving vampire slayer from What We Do In The Shadows. There were a lot of directions to go with this (I seriously considered a blood drive, lmao) but I think in the end I’m going to go with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America for my January donation.

In s4 of WWDITS, we found out that Guillermo had been raised by a single mom who had to work a lot throughout his childhood, making him feel really lonely and forcing him to grow up far too fast. (And arguably making him more than a little weird and codependent.) He was really focused on making sure that Baby Colin never had to raise himself the way he had, and he wanted to make sure that Colin had good support, a safe and loving home, and proper socialization with other kids his own age.

So I think choosing an organization designed to support kids coming from home lives that are less than ideal would be something he’d like. They create safe spaces for kids to learn, grow, and socialize, and they provide mentorship opportunities to kids who need adult support that they’re not getting at home.

#charitable giving #(is the tag I'm using in case you wish to block it) #I was going to do these at the beginning of the month #but I realized that I tend to hold onto my 'timely' donations in case of a natural disaster or something #so later in the month is probably a better call #I made my choice for this month's now tho so it gets posted now #so I don't forget lmao

[bittersweetresilience]

Does Felix's actions in his debut episode (mainly him trying to kiss Marinette) ever made you feel awkward shipping them together?

nope this scene does not exist to me 👍

#okay i am going to continue giving your tone the most charitable interpretation so in case you were genuine #i think the showrunners wanted to communicate a good message about consent and boundaries #and they picked some evil twin dude to do so when they had an opportunity #but they then developed that twin into an important character who though morally complex was ultimately to be enjoyed #and i do very much enjoy him therefore i choose to dismiss this scene as poor planning #if you look at prétention you can potentially weave a cohesive narrative around félix and boundaries #but the motives are so weird and frankly i'm just not interested in explaining