Stop Acting Like The Minecraft Movie Is Redeemed

Watching a video on aphobic memes reminded me of something...

It was basically like "Asexual and aromantic people don't face systemic oppression!"

And... we do. Take a look around at how much value society places on sex and romance. Many systems rely on the expectation you will fall in love and get married. We've all heard the meme about getting married for tax reasons. Romance is even used as a measure of happiness. I'm in therapy, and my therapist will sometimes have to use certain charts and templates with me. A good chunk of them always involve discussing romantic life. I'm blessed that she is perfectly accepting of me being aroace, and we've even discussed how harmful it is that there's so much pressure. I've heard of other people in the community who had their asexuality/aromanticism treated like a problem in therapy.

Or, in the medical industry: I was having severe abdominal pains and went to the ER. The nurses were absolutely convinced it was an STD, despite me swearing I'm not sexually active. They only focused on the idea of an STD. It later ended up being an intestinal issue. They pressured me into doing a pelvic exam, then used the wrong size instrument so I was screaming in pain the whole time. All because they couldn't believe there was a patient who did NOT have sex. Who was NOT in a relationship. The expectation was that teenager = sex.

We are continuously taught this idea that everyone has sex and falls in love. All of our systems are built around it. Our whole society expects it. If you are not in any relationship, you are stereotyped as lonely and/or crazy. If you are in a purely sexual relationship, you are stereotyped as being vain and sex-crazed. If you are in a purely romantic relationship, you are stereotyped as leading your partner on and incompatible with others.

I'm fortunate enough to have grown up surrounded by people who loved and supported me for my identity. I love myself for my identity. But even I have still faced discrimination and harm as a result of it. I still get anxious when a doctor touches me. I still feel left behind when I see my friends getting into relationships. But I don't want to change myself.

I want to change the world around me. We deserve better.

Art is beautiful because it exists.

Art is a process of decisions. Color choices, medium, subject, style, basically everything in art is a choice. And that's what makes it so beautiful. Being able to look at a piece of art and go "I wonder why they chose to use such a bright green here?"

That green could represent so many things. It could be the color of the grass outside that day. The color of their favorite toy. The color of their friend's hair. The color of the trees. Their favorite color. Their most hated color.

Maybe its about a message. Some part of their identity. It could be an injustice they experienced. Something unfair they saw. A victory they claimed. A fight they had. Joy they once felt or still feel. A protest piece. An important act. A source of motivation.

Or maybe there is no reason. Maybe they just felt like using it that day.

Even if art is not made to have a particular meaning, you can still look at it and see every stroke. Every line. Every intention. There was love put into this. A soul was mirrored. A little piece of that artist wound into the picture.

There is nothing there in generative AI images. It is a machine. It does not decide, it does not represent. It makes a collage of images fed to it from a database.

It does not make art. It makes images. Sure, a human prompted it. It told it what to do. But they did not make that art. If I told an artist "draw me a tree" and they did so, would I claim it as my art? I gave the prompt, but the artist created the art. Someone gave the prompt, but the machine generated the image.

There is one benefit: it has made me appreciate art far more. I wonder more when I see art just what the artist was thinking about. I like to think about each choice they made when they created it. I think about what I do in my own art.

I think I'm going to use green today.

Im curious because this happens to me. By repeat dreams, I mean you've dreamed multiple times of the same place. It doesn't need to be real place, and different things can happen each time. Only the location matters.

I got 1 literally the first wave/round of the whole Big Run. I was not prepared to go Sonic speed

when you're supplied 2 or more grizzco rollers during a wave

Reposting old art so I can legally call myself an artist, starting with one of my favorites: the Caiden and Jaiden drawing used to make their irl doll

My brain randomly spun the "fixate on this OC" wheel, so here's Eli! His full name is Elias. I posted some old art of him, but decided to tweak his design a little. He has powers with electricity, which he has pretty good control over. He's not perfect, though.

I have a doll from Budsies. They make some genuinely good stuff. I'm so happy to see them doing this

The company budsies, which specializes in making custom stuffed animals and making duplicates of old or lost plushies, is currently offering to recreate the beloved stuffed animal of any kid who lost theirs in the LA wildfire, free of charge.

Their instagram post said to share this, so please spread this around so that families who've lost everything can receive just a little bit more hope in their lives 🥺

Went to my first Green Day concert

They played my favorite songs (St. Jimmy and One Eyed Bastard)! I got merch! A drunk guy fell on me! Billie was super funny! They had the inflatable plane from Dookie!

12/10 experience, would definitely go again!

I am so ready lol. This is gonna be my first Green Day concert!! It's not until August, but I was just too eager to wait

Drawing class introduced me to charcoal, and I've started experimenting with it in my regular style