#we're all just people

[artist-issues]

I don't know if your still active or not, but here goes. I'm an American born and raised in america. My skin color is brown light. Every time I hear the word black people all I see is dark skin Americans from me. When I saw a character that was brown skin light like myself I saw no problem with it until someone on twitter said it was racist and made them darker. Why is that? Also I hate the little mermaid movie, I grew up surrounded by white people in schools, stores, everywhere. Not once I experienced racism. I refuse to join the whole "let's hate white people parade" and I hate when white skin Americans are starting to hate themselves. Sorry if my wording was wrong.

I think there's probably lots of reasons for people making everything about race. For one thing some people like to complain needlessly because it gets them more notice on social media. For another, some genuinely believe the lie that race matters.

Race doesn't matter. We're all people. Doesn't matter what shade of skin color you have or I have or anybody has. Geez, I don't understand why that has to be said so often.

It's like if somebody had a smaller pair of ears than most of the people in Hollywood and we all went, "well unless I see an actor in that role with ears as big as mine, I can't relate to them!"

That's just silly. It's just silly.

(Now obviously, when people have an issue with a "lack of representation in media," as they term it, they don't normally defend it as "I have to have someone of with some of the same physical attributes as me onscreen, in a lead role." What they really mean is not an emphasis on physical attributes, but an emphasis on a kind of person--a person who has some of the same experiences as them. Ancestrally, socially, ulturally--usually assuming there's some link between the physical and the experiences. Which is also silly. Because one, that's not a good correlation to make, and two, you don't have to have the same exact set of experiences as someone else to relate to them, or even to empathize with what they're experiencing.)

If you can relate to an insecure animated lion in the Lion King even though you're not a lion; if you can relate to a robot looking for love in Wall-E even though you're not a robot; if you can relate to a kid waking up with incredible spider powers and learning how to take responsibility in any Spider-Man movie, even if you're not a kid waking up with incredible spider powers--then maybe it's time to acknowledge that some things are just universal, and more important, than others.

We're all humans. That's the important thing for characters to represent.

You can relate to insecurity, to looking for love, to learning how to take responsibility--because all humans can. You don't need to relate to an outward appearance. You don't even need to relate to a culture--again, you're not a lion living on a ceremonial rock ruling over animals (like Simba.) You're not a robot built for cleaning up a higher being's mess (like Wall-E.) Yet you can still somehow relate to them--because humans can relate to anything that feels human.

Including each other, even when we aren't lions--or black--or white--or brown--or robots--or have ancestors who were oppressed--or have ancestors who were oppressive--

We can empathize with and relate to one another, because we're all made in the image of the same God.

People should stop zooming in on what makes their own experience different and alien from everyone else's, and then insisting that everyone LOOK AT IT in the form of "representation." Why do they want to scream the same "nobody understands how this feels except for people who are in the exact same racial-socio-economic-gender-political-age situation as me!"?

Why do they want to do that? Because being a victim, being different, being special, doesn't make you more relatable. It just raises you up higher than everybody else. It says "give me special attention, without accusing me of wanting special attention."

We don't want to relate. We want to be special.

We don't want to focus on what makes us similar anymore. We want to focus on what makes us different. We don't want to unify; we want to divide. We don't want to love each other in spite of past wrongs or current wrongs and differences--we want to hate each other for those things.

And if we're not in the people-group that everyone is calling "special" at that particular moment, we want to at least be associated with their "struggle" by calling for "representation."

That's the main reason why, I think, people cared about the shades of skin in casting enough to call one another racist.

[nochd]

"Nudists are the most non-judgemental and accepting people on the planet!"

No we're not. We're just people like everyone else.

We are the most non-judgemental to fellow nudists and most accepting of fellow nudists on the planet. So, just like every other group.

Before I was a nudist, I was an Evangelical Christian. (Some people are both of these things at the same time, but they didn't overlap in my life.) I can tell you that to Evangelical Christians, fellow Evangelical Christians are the most accepting people on the planet -- despite how very different they look from the outside.

---------------

When I was eleven, a group of twelve-year-olds at my intermediate school took it upon themselves to deconvert me from Evangelical Christianity and, in particular, to cure my Christianity-induced phobia of sexuality and nudity. They told me they were Satanists, and they were going to drag me into the girls' toilets and force me to look at girls' bodies.

I was terrified beyond words, to the point that I couldn't bring myself to go outside at lunchtime that day, and when a teacher told me I had to go outside I broke down in tears, and this led to the twelve-year-olds being yelled at and made to apologize (in very blasé tones, I might say), and the threatened intervention never happened.

At the time, of course, what I thought was "What horrible people non-believers are! How they hate us! And how blatantly they revel in obscenity!"

---------------

But, you know, it's really strange. As soon as I left Evangelical Christianity, suddenly there were hostile Evangelicals everywhere. Members of my former church followed me down the street haranguing me about my salvation.

On the internet, which was becoming a Thing around that time, it was even worse. Suddenly the Hateful Right-Wing Christian Fundamentalist wasn't the baseless stereotype we'd always assured each other it was.

There wasn't social media then, but there were forums for getting into arguments with strangers on. Christians arguing with atheists lied and obfuscated, spouted insults and threats of violence.

It almost came to seem as if Christians were the horrible people and the non-religious were the nice ones.

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On any side of any kind of dispute, people have this ingrained idea that their own side are better, nicer, more moral people than their opponents.

It's maybe clearest and funniest with shipping wars in fanfiction. I swear, I have seen people say, in full seriousness, "Zutara shippers don't abuse and threaten others. Only Kataang shippers do that."

It makes me want to buy a megaphone and yell in their ear, "Your own side don't abuse or threaten you, but that's not because they don't abuse or threaten anyone, it's because you're on their side."

And now I've figured that out, I can't un-figure it out. I see it in every political dispute at every level of importance.

This is why (e.g.) so many Evangelical Republicans can't believe their fellow Evangelical Republicans did the January 6 insurrection -- because from their point of view, Evangelical Republicans are the good guys, and the good guys would never.

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Nudists, naturists, whatever you want to call us, are no different.

Six or seven years ago, the naturist organizations where I live had some kind of falling-out with each other. I've still never heard the full story of what happened; I only know that one side invited me back to their events and the other didn't.

Not long before that there was an international falling-out in the world of naturism when Sieglinde Ivo got voted out as president of the International Naturist Federation, only to have the vote overturned the following year.

This is not how the most accepting people on the planet would behave. It's how averagely accepting people behave.

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The We Are Good And They Are Bad mindset is on track to kill us all if we let it. And I'll admit that We Are Good And They Are Meh is not as bad as that. But I think it's better to practise thinking We Are People And They Are Also People.

[emberthedragon8]

Long read but very worth it

I have a folder called Time is a Flat Circle in which I collect evidence of humanity. Here is most of them.

[thepileofclothesonyourdesk]

the idea that men and women are super different to the point of almost being different species has never made sense to me cuz ive always been androgynous

like if men and women are so different why do people have to constantly ask me if im a boy or a girl

if theyre so different shouldn't people be able to tell?

[liquidstar]

Yes, Greece still exists, we didn't all die 2000 years ago. Yes, people speak Greek. You people are so fucking stupid for real. So many of you claim to love ancient shit but can't even acknowledge the actual living culture of the people whose mythology and classics you romanticize. You keep leaving annoying comments about how you just forget Greek people still exist, thinking you're being quirky because you love ancient stuff soooo much that you forgot about the people it came from. You think about it so little you don't even realize that an actual Greek person has to read this shit, making it clear how little you actually care about the culture beyond the romanticized (and westernized) mythology. Don't claim you love Greece, don't use our mythology anymore if you can't acknowledge that we're still around without making it about how little you think about us. It's mind boggling that you'd think a Greek person would read this and think you're anything but obnoxious. Explode.

[embraceyourdestiny]

to any americans who feel "paralyzed" and "dont know what to do" to help with gaza:

reading a fucking book. i beg of you.

in a time of knowledge suppression is it your duty to arm yourself with knowledge.

read about americas occupations in the middle east.

read about 9/11 from outside of america and see how they inflicted senseless harm and violence to countless amounts of people and have been suppressing your rights for the past 2 fucking decades.

read about any of the countless wars from the past 30 years. especially from a civilian's. and the victims and survivors' perspective. listen to the horror stories and do not plug your fucking ears as to what your country is doing.

and read about fucking gaza and palestine and keep up with what is happening no matter how "sad" or "uncountable" you might get.

dont look away from this.

you dont have the right to be comfortable during countless active genocides.

if you're knowledgeable, you're powerful, and our current state doesnt fucking want that.

you have the power to change things if you open your eyes and scream to the world.

wake the fuck up.

Edit: please check the reblogs there are readings and ways to help

[puddingvalkyrie]

"We're just people," said Nanny Ogg. "Everyone's just people."

~ Terry Pratchett

you guys are so annoying. why do i have to see discourse every year that's like "was tolkien really a woke king or was he your conservative uncle?" the guy was a devout catholic and a genteel misogynist who maintained lifelong friendships with queer people and women, and this isn't even paradoxical because that was part of the upper-class oxford culture he was immersed in. tolkien told the nazis to fuck off (and in doing so demonstrated a real understanding of what racism is and why it's harmful, beyond simply "these guys are bad news because they're who my country is at war with right now") but his inner life was marked by internalized racism that is deeply and inextricably woven into the art that he made. he foolishly described himself as an anarcho-monarchist, and it's kind of crazy to see people on this website passionately arguing that he likely never meaningfully engaged with anarchist theory, because...yeah, no shit, of course he didn't. tolkien didn't have to engage with most sociopolitical theory because as an upper-class englishman of his position, he was never affected by any of the issues that this theory is concerned with. what is plainly obvious from reading both his fiction and letters is that tolkien's ideal political system was that the divinely ordained god-king would rise up and rule in perfect justice and humility; he didn't want a government, he wanted a king arthur, even though (obviously) he was aware that outcome was impossible. why is it so hard for people to accept that he was just some guy! his letters aren't a code you have to crack. no amount of arguing or tumblr-level analysis is going to one day reveal a rhetorically airtight internally consistent worldview spanning jrrt's fiction, academic work, and personal writings, thereby "solving" the question of whether he was a woke king or your conservative uncle. his ideology was extremely inconsistent because, at the end of the day, he was just some guy.

[maeamian]

Part of the reason that Republicans are so desperately acting like they will never lose again is because they are deeply terrified that this is their last real chance to win. The big orange dipshit came in and gutted the party of everyone who wasn't a loyalist, which left it full of nasty little gremlins who have gaping voids where charisma and human decency is supposed to go.

They still hold a lot of power, but if we stop them this year the next presidential election may not be the Most Important One Of Your Life™, that's not a guarantee or anything, but if they don't win here and now their future looks grim, this dipshit is the only guy they have left and he's extremely diminished and has his brains leaking out of his ears at this point. We can beat him into the ground.

So that's what we're gonna fucking do. We're gonna break these fucking fash. They will crash upon us and we're gonna break their fucking necks. When they come for us they will lose because they're fucking losers and we have each other's backs which is something they fundamentally are incapable of comprehending.

[aashiqeddiediaz]

you know what boils my blood.

over the last 2 weeks, i've seen countless patients walk into my urgent care center, symptomatic for so many things, refusing to get tested for covid and flu, citing that they don't want to knowingly bring it to their holiday tables. i had a patient tell me, verbatim, "i don't want to test for covid, because i don't want to be the asshole who brings it on a plane."

i understand that - i understand that holidays are times where people look forward to meeting loved ones that they might only see once a year, or where they get a break from the hectic back and forth of their lives.

but here's the thing - whether they get tested or not, they will bring whatever they have to their holiday tables. it's pure recklessness to know that you're sick, and walk into someone else's house spreading the disease.

today, january 2, i saw 91 patients, many of them who have tested positive for covid and flu. many of these patients are the same ones who didn't want testing 3 days ago, until their events were over, and now, they will have to reach out to everyone they know to let them know that they were positive because they were showing symptoms well before their event.

the next week or two? we're going to see many, many more, all people with symptoms that started around christmas. these are the only two viruses we test for rapidly in our office, but they are potent and can be fatal in many people.

so here's why i wrote this post, and maybe it's a little late, but - if you care about your loved ones, please get tested if you know you're sick. it doesn't have to be at a clinic if you don't want it to, because the over-the-counter tests work just fine too (if you test within 5-7 days of symptom onset). just...please don't try to run from the knowledge that you might have covid, because immunocompromised people, elderly people, people with co-morbidities like asthma, pregnancy, diabetes, etc...many of them may not recover. and they may not be sitting at your holiday table in the future because of it.

[tourettesdog]

I am begging people to be normal about completed fics, and in particular one shots.

I am begging people to stop demanding more from authors, and insisting that one shots need to be longer or have sequels.

I don't think yall understand how many fanfic authors are one more "where's the rest of it?" comment away from throwing out any plans they might have had to continue an idea.

Unless an author like specifically says they might write more for an idea, just-- assume something marked as completed is complete, and respect it as it stands, please.

[captainjonnitkessler]

Do you guys notice how when Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union, started planning a general strike, he did it by a) targeting his messaging towards unions with the ability to safely and effectively strike in large numbers, b) laid out a clear, actionable plan for those unions to follow (setting contracts to all expire at the same time, since many unions cannot strike while under contract), c) is using union contracts to set clear, actionable demands that can be met in order to gauge success and provide an end goal, and d) started organizing FOUR YEARS before the proposed strike date to give people the chance to plan accordingly, because it takes a really freaking long time to get tens of millions of people organized?

You notice how he didn't do it by slapping a message on Twitter saying 'hey nobody go to work on Monday, that'll really show 'em'?

[rocketbirdie]

face value

[doyou000me]

I don't know what it is you do, and I know my opinion doesn't matter, but I'm impressed. It sounds like you worked hard and so you deserve to be proud of your achievements. I'm feeling a little nugget of pride, just reading this from all across the internet.

If I knew you, you'd be getting hugs and I'd tell you how impressed I am, and how cool it is what you do, and that it's okay to be tired of it all, and do you want some chocolate?

You know being transmasc after a life of growing up as the sole "girl" in male-dominated areas gives you a weird and complicated relationship with gender identity.

Like... being told straight to your face, "you're naturally bad at this cause you're a girl", "you're naturally weaker cause you're a girl", "you can act tough but you'll always just be a girl", "stop acting like you can keep up with the men", and even the well-intentioned, "Yeah women are like that, but you don't count, you're basically one of the boys"...

It leads you to this weird space where it's like. "Fuck you, women kick ass," and then busting yourself up to prove that you, a woman, *can* keep up, and not only keep up but do it better than anyone else, and taking pride in your femininity because it's not a fucking weakness, but at the same time knowing that... You're not a woman.

You're not a woman. You're not a girl. People just see tits and curves and decide that nature made you delicate, and then all of a sudden it's your responsibility to prove that you're not fucking weak, women aren't weak, while also saying, "I'm not a woman, though."

It's... bizarre.

I'm not a girl. But so long as I'm interpreted as one, I'm still gonna be held back by the same stereotypes. But if I ever stop being interpreted as one, then all the hard fucking work I put in to excel in my field is going to go down the toilet as "just something you can do because you're a man".

And fuck that. That's stupid, too. Guys shouldn't have their effort taken for granted like that, and it stings extra hard because you remember people just naturally assuming you suck and earning respect only to lose it immediately the second you step over to the "man" side. Because you've worked your whole life for something that as a man you'd just be expected to have naturally.

You SEE that shit staring you in the face, and worst of all people still walk around you in plain view and still talk about how women can't do shit and conveniently forget that you've BEEN ONE. "Because you were a man all along" or "because you overcompensate to prove yourself", whatever they think of to justify the cognitive dissonance that keeps their narrative going.

Nobody seems to consider that I'm not really different from women OR men, because those differences don't exist.

I'm not "naturally better" than women because I don't identify as one, and I'm not "worse than" men because I wasn't assigned the title by a third party. I'm just a person. We're all just people.

I'm just tired, man.

[devflamme]

begging you people to just be normal about today's episode. "oh we did not get an agathario kiss" "i dont care about billy" "worst episode ever"... but we did get a gay kiss in a MARVEL show on fucking DISNEY PLUS. isnt that something to be happy about? that we're getting more queer rep in marvel? or are people just watching the show for agatha and rio? fuck the lore then? fuck the storytelling? fuck everything? oh please

[vaguely-concerned]

the strength it must have taken for illario to not immediately go full 'lmao since when have you even had a kiss hello lucanis' sibling violence mode during the café talk. inspirational. rook and lucanis really were doing all that right in front of his salad huh

[pigswithwings]

kind of interesting to me how people are only now figuring out (?) rediscovering (?) finally understanding (?) that chinese people are actual? people? like its really fun to see more chinese stuff come across my dash but some of the comments keep reminding me of what people were doing before this happened. "people are learning chinese and figuring out that chinese people are actually funny" thats great dude we were always funny. because we are also humans who have the capacity to joke around. quick question what did u think of chinese people before u downloaded 小红书 im so so curious