Heart Gold, Soul Silver @politoke - Tumblr Blog

12 x 12 wood block print, white speedball fabric ink on cotton blend shirt.

Reblogs appreciated, likes do not get my art shared into the community ;)

Once when I was in undergrad, someone described something as “problematic” in class and our professor was like, “That’s cool, but ‘problematic’ doesn’t really mean anything. It means that the thing you’re describing has a problem, and in and of itself that’s not bad. Art, especially, should always have problems, or else it’s not interesting and not art, either. It sounds like you’re trying to say that this is bad, but you don’t want to say ‘bad.’ Is that right?”

So from then on whenever one of us called something problematic, he would make us talk it out until we could name the “bad” thing we were hinting at. In this particular class, 7/10 it was some type of oppression, and the remainder was like, “I’m uncomfortable because this is very new/confusing/pushing boundaries that made me feel safe.”

Once we stopped calling things “problematic” and stopping at that, class got way more interesting and... we all had to say, like, “that’s racist” or “that’s misogynistic” or “ew capitalism gross” out loud, which a lot of us had never done in a classroom before. Or we had to be like, “Uhhh... I’m not sure what’s so bad?” and confront our own beliefs and that was maybe even more useful.

Anyway. Whenever I see the word problematic, I can’t help but think of this professor being like, “Good starting point, now let’s get specific.” I think when we have to commit to saying “that’s ___” it requires a lot more careful thought about the truth and impact and complexities of whatever we’re claiming. Sometimes there really is some bullshit afoot, and also sometimes it’s art, and it should be full of problems, because that’s what art is.

hypokeimena

#'this is present in the text' is often a good first step #but those second and third ones (naming it; describing its function) are vital (via @elucubrare)

softichill

I think abt this tiktok all the time

thesadcyborg9million

Diversity hire bryson ur absolutely slaying

gentlewordsdaily

There is a very specific kind of sadness in realizing your parents loved you, and still did not always know how to meet your emotional needs.

Because it is confusing. It would almost feel easier if there was no love there at all. But sometimes there was love. In the way they tried to protect you. In the sacrifices they made. In the ways they worried about you, cared for you, wanted a good life for you.

And at the same time, there were still things missing.

Maybe comfort did not come in the way you needed it to. Maybe your feelings were not always understood, or noticed, or handled gently. Maybe you learned to keep certain parts of yourself quiet because it felt easier than trying to explain them.

That kind of hurt is difficult because it does not always come from cruelty. Sometimes it comes from people who loved you deeply, but did not know how to emotionally connect in the ways you needed. People carrying their own wounds, limitations, fears, or ways of surviving.

And you are allowed to acknowledge both truths at once.

You are allowed to recognize their love and still grieve what you needed but did not receive. Those things do not cancel each other out.

Forgiveness, for a lot of people, is not pretending nothing hurt you. It is slowly accepting that someone can love you and still fall short of understanding you completely.

That does not make your pain dramatic. It does not make them monsters either. Sometimes it just means everyone was trying with the emotional tools they had, and some of those tools were not enough.

And I think many people quietly carry guilt for still feeling hurt by parents they know tried their best. But being loved imperfectly can still leave wounds. It makes sense that it affected you.

At the same time, you do not have to stay trapped only in anger forever either. Sometimes healing looks like understanding that your parents were human before they were parents. People shaped by their own experiences, their own upbringing, their own emotional gaps.

That understanding does not erase your feelings. It just softens the sharp edges around them a little.

You deserved emotional safety. You deserved gentleness. You deserved to feel understood, comforted, and emotionally close to the people raising you.

And if they could not fully give that to you, it is okay to mourn it.

But I hope you also know this: the love you needed is still something you can experience in your life. Through other people. Through chosen family. Through the way you learn to treat yourself now.

The story does not end at what you did or did not receive growing up.

You are still allowed softness after all of it 🤍

escuerzoresucitado

kitinharru

the worst thing is when you have crumbs in your bra

kitinharru

also when there are crumbs in your keyboard and the keys wont work right

kitinharru

the two most important things in every girl’s life

the boobs and the laptop

official-boob-posts

I dropped an entire taco down my shirt last night at a bar and spent the rest of the night fishing bits of it out

also my bra got stained by the salsa and I only own three of those things

foone

Important rules for the "age verification" era of the internet that we're living in:

1. Do not do age verification.

2. If you have to do age verification, cheat. Do not under any circumstances give them your real ID.

very-gay-alkyrion

The tool presents users with a 3D model they can then manipulate to, the creator says, bypass Discord's age verification system.

Oh no I dropped my link, what a horrible thing! Sure hope this doesn't get reblogged until it reaches users from the UK and Brazil!

And remember to not make a second account just to test out what works best when verifying your identity

asksanguinius40k

A reminder that we still dont support Age Verification bullshit.

flower-crowns-and-combat-boots

Paywall removed here

stjohnstarling

It will leave you happier and more at peace if you stop trying to monitor and control other people's behaviour online. In an indefinitely large open space like Tumblr, it is simply not possible to have community standards, because you are, in fact, not in a real community with almost any of the people you encounter on this website. There are potentially upwards of a million people on Tumblr alone, and it is a completely porous space, the idea that we are any kind of coherent group is nonsense. On the same point, the idea that any random selection of people who happen to share an interest, fandom, or hobby in a large open space like this make up any kind of real community is also nonsense. The more you can focus on the actual, individual people you interact with online, the people it is possible for you to know and care about, and not trouble yourself with the behaviour of strangers, the more mentally free you'll be (by all means study other people like bugs, though.)

sebright

Houndoom

bisonwares

Sockeye Salmon, made with 100% wool felt 🎏

telekitnetic-art

🗡️🐲 Crown Upon The Brow

Original piece, made with acrylic markers and a green onyx cabuchon on a thrifted cutting board.

If you're interested in this piece, I'll be bringing it with me to Fur-Eh in July :>

gasteracanthacancriformis

have i ever shown u people my hand sofa

gasteracanthacancriformis

my prized possession is this loveseat I bought from a divorced dad who couldn’t tell me anything about it and in the years i’ve owned it i’ve never been able to find out who made it or where it came from. it’s got nails and finger creases and palm lines but they’re all kinda hard to see in this pic.

sepdet

emeraldwhale

kleefkruid

professionalchaoticdumbass

littlestpersimmon

whale fall

creekfiend

healthcare executives should have to live in my torture dungeon where the amount of pain that they are subjected to is equal to the amount of pain that their least supported customer is experiencing at any given time