#if tumblr crunches my quality i will kill it for real

[ppeanutz]

more like deadpool/wolverine amirite

more art + WIPs on my ko-fi

[silence-l]

I find that as a social worker, I have to constantly be consciously examining my own views and holding them accountable to myself and my beliefs. I cannot effectively operate as a social worker in the modern era if I hold any biases that may modify my ability to work with someone in a negative way. Even though I am a stark leftist and a quite loud ACAB type in my personal life, I have to provide the same care to cope and bigots that I would to my friends, because that’s what ethical practice dictates I do.

I’m not here to be all “I’m just a social worker, I can’t legally kill someone and get a paid vacation for it and I spend way more time holding my implicit biases accountable than cops do”, but I am here to say that even though I spend as much time and effort being on top of that aspect of myself as I do, I still find myself developing new implicit biases based on my experiences. A running joke in college was basically “fuck everyone doing (unnamed degree”, it stemmed from many people doing that degree coming from a place of privilege, actively being allowed to break rules the rest of us weren’t because they bought the school and college so much money, and generally being loud and obnoxious at all times, and even though it was a sincere joke at the time I still find myself thinking more negatively of anyone or thing that might be associated with that degree in ways that surprise myself.

I cannot imagine the insane degree of implicit biases that exist in law enforcement and legal practice that are just allowed to flourish because the people therein are not expected to unpack their shit. Among most people it doesn’t really matter, but if your job can positively or negatively affect the quality of life of others, you should be continuously unpacking your shit and working through your implicit biases. I can nearly guarantee that the actions of nurses who go unchecked regularly lead to poorer medical treatment and even deaths on the regular because when it comes to crunch time and you’re burned out as fuck because you’ve been working 16 hours straight on a nap you took in a broom closet, the people you’re going to prioritise care for are the people you don’t have implicit biases or prejudices against. Same goes for other fields where it’s way more obvious; cops regularly kill people who appear black way more than they kill people who appear white, people who appear and behave Christian or catholic regularly get lighter sentences in court compared to people who don’t (intersectionality and other factors do apply here though), hell facial tattoos alone, regardless of what the tattoo is, what it’s cultural significance is or how well it’s done, regularly leads to worse treatment across the board. One of my personal favourite examples, purely because no one ever thinks of it, is that real estate agencies in the state I live in are far more likely to cater to young, white passing het couples with kids and offer them lower prices when buying a house than they are any other demographic, even though it‘s specifically illegal in this state for rental agencies to discriminate against sex, gender, race, age, pregnancy, and a list of other factors.

Anyway this got kinda off topic because I started infodumping, and the formatting is fucked because of the gift of tumblr mobile, but anyway

TL;DR: implicit biases exist in every field, they can fuck up life for many people, and everyone can become a bigot even when they’re actively trying to not

Lost followers after reblogging that whole thing about JKR being radicalized over the years, and that disturbs me.

Like if you think saying that people can be radicalized and manipulated into hate is somehow justifying it, yikes. And if you think that people are somehow just good or evil and that you are not at risk of buying into propaganda, have I got some very red flag news about that!

Idk if its because I am an older Millennial maybe (most who unfollowed were younger) but I watched a ton of that generation slide from one of the most progressive to the far right before my every eyes. Hell, my dad fought alongside his black friends in the Detroit race riots and now he watches Fox News 24/7 and talks about the border wall. Yet still claims he could never be racist because of how he used to be. He doesn’t even realize what he has become.

JKR isn’t a deluded old woman or innately evil, but in fact THE prime example of how well-meaning ignorance and privilege can be weaponized and encouraged down a pipeline, until it turns into a force of hate, and should be a cautionary tale about why educating and being open about these issues are necessary. Because there are those out there who will use those divisions and ignorance to their own ends. And just digging in our heels and saying “that could never be me!” is the very thing that puts you more at risk. I’ve lost so many loved ones down that pipeline and it is more slippery than most realize.

Stay alert, stay compassionate, stay humble, and make sure you move through life guided by reason rather than reaction. I love y’all and don’t want to see your passion twisted to get used against the world.

[sim-borg]

right, its complain about sims 4 time

i just watched a simmer erin video about how broken the game is and she made Several Points the only thing is, i know for a fact that sims 4 is never going to get fixed its not going to make EA any money so they won't do it. instead they'll just milk us for more money until the game is so bloated with content and they're ready to move onto sims 5 im very attached to sims 4 because i spent my money on it, so despite sims 5 coming i wont move onto it until its got a lot of content in it  (and also i learned my lesson. i will be pirating lmao) the only solace i get is that whether i spent money or crimed sims 4 it would still be unplayable so at least theres that the problem is, definitely, that the sims team is too small and too temporary. lemme make some Points

1. EA is a capitalist company. theyre only going to do shit that will generate maximum profit. where did that billion that the sims 4 make go? directly into the higher up's pocket

2. nothing is going to change because EA doesn't give a shit. the only thing that would make them fix their business practices? if there was a mass strike among devs across multiple games/franchises. however, devs are unlikely to do that because their livelihood is at stake. they make good money, and aren't willing to give that up. i dont blame them for that. there's just too much hesitance and risk for such a mass strike to happen unless EA does something really shitty like wage cutting, mass layoffs, or crunch, similar to what happened with Telltale. 

as an aside i had to pause my rant to find out what game company just went under lmao took forever but yeah it was telltale

3. speaking of the sim gurus, i also can't blame them that much for sticking with a shitty game. they probably have little choice and are making the most of it, making the best of what they can with what resources that EA gives them. by that i mean they'd prefer not to rock the boat and risk losing their job. its a competitive world out there for creatives wanting to work full time on a big project such as the sims. if they left it might take them a while to find a position with the same amount of creative control and leadership roles, aside from starting an indie game, which is HARD AF on its own. Of course they'll get defensive over something they think they worked hard on, even though the outcome is.... less than stellar. 

not that we shouldn't keep criticizing them though. unfortunately the only way players can *try* to get their complaints across are through the sim gurus. EA wont hear directly from us

4. lots of the teams working on packs are temporary and on contracts. they simply aren't as motivated to put their heart and soul into the game. again, they are also just employees, and temporary ones at that. to them its just another job on the rotation and they're only looking to get paid. they're only looking to get by and dont care much about what happens after their contracts are up. this is not their fault. EA has the money to hire people full time, and to encourage better quality control and passion for their work. but they dont, why? because that's too much accountability for such a shitty company. I can bet you my game that they don’t have a permanent team dedicated to bug fixing. 

5. the people who are permanently working on the game arent given enough resources to work on bug fixes (which players seem the most concerned about right now) but only given time to work on stuff that will generate immediate profit. the problem with the sims games (over all!! not just s4) is that they aren't built to last long. so EA is just killing time right now. they aren't concerned about how much money they'll make from the game once its run its course. all you need to do is look at sims 3 for proof of that.

6. my theory is that the vast majority of sims players arent "gamers" and they arent avid players. it may seem like, on twitter, on tumblr, youtube or the forums that there's a lot of players who have lots to say about the game. i dont think so. sims and simulation games are generally seen as "not real games" and "casual games". i think most people arent as dedicated to this game as people think. the majority of money that EA makes off sims 4 are the kind of people who noticed that the sims basegame was on sale/free. they are the kind of people who only play "casual" games for a small portion of their time and dont really care about the problems it has. they are always very silent about the issues that dedicated players have with EA and the game, and honestly dont play it very much. I had a brief conversation with my coworkers the other day about this, and they didn't seem to be aware of the game's issues, just oh yeah, “i bought the sims and played it for a bit”. I think a big portion of the profits come from players like that and parents gifting games to their kids, who don’t have critical thinking yet. but thats just a theory.... a gAmE tHeOrY

on a happier note my favourite manager made us all in the sims because he missed us. hes my only valid manager and thats because we are both gay. solidarity.