vern

🦭🦋🪲🕷️

[glowcowboy]

without arts & crafts we are in hell

[loveridden1999]

doing things at the right age is literally a made up concept. you can start/pursue anything at any age. btw.

[loveridden1999]

remember remember

[epicallyepicnerdery]

[sheshallfromtimetotime]

Reblogging with a link to the artist, Emily K., who's based in Philly and is firmly anti-AI! You can print this piece (and some others) for free for use at protests and such!

[khazafi-deactivated20260131]

hi here is a condensed telling of the Sudanese genocide and the history behind it in video form since a lot of you seem to have no clue what’s going on and have just been saying ‘free sudan’ for a couple years. you can use it as a foundation and expand by researching further from there.

this Twitter thread explains in depth how the uae is directly complicit in Sudanese genocide.

here is a link to a page with gofundme campaigns of Sudanese individuals and families. this Twitter account does the same thing

this fundraiser helps to keep twelve community kitchens in the khartoum state area functional. this one keeps a community kitchen in omdurman functional

this initiative provides displaced people from el fasher who have arrived in tawila with food, clothing, medical supplies, menstrual products, etc. it is also funding a community kitchen in el fasher

you can donate here to help disabled Sudanese people in the nuba mountains

you can donate here to provide menstrual pads to Sudanese in displacement camps. one donation of $5 provides them to one person for an entire year.

this fundraiser is raising money to provide evacuation, healthcare and more for families in the gezira state.

this one is raising money to help families rebuild their homes

and darfur women’s action group is raising money to educated displaced children in Sudan and establish / maintain women’s centers

an estimated 25,000 children have been killed by the uae backed rsf [x]. tens of thousands are missing (kidnapped). hundreds of thousands in el fasher are at risk of starving to death in an engineered famine. Sudanese people are being massacred in hospitals, forced to bury themselves alive, raped, hung, starved, and tortured. the rsf are terrorists, the uae are masterminding the genocide of black people, and the absolute very least you can do is know what’s going on when you say ‘free Sudan’

[willgrahamscock]

I cannot believe there's absolutely no way to watch free shows and movies anymore, there are too many paid streaming platforms and pirating websites have viruses and ads preventing you from watching it uninterrupted((.)) id rather follow the rules and purchase media moving forward because it is too inconvenient. Seriously, free and no ads or viruses with 1080p streaming is DEAD.

[part-time-zombie]

Exactly! It's freaking annoying when I want to watch movies but I would have to subscribe to like 24 different services . Just to watch the shows that I like.

[someones-here-for-sure]

Oh and wouldn’t it be nice for cartoons? Just anything animated. I just wanna stream things without getting conned. Must I be cartoonless forever?

[tinypaperwindmill]

i like using streaming apps but there are waaaay too many and they're all stealing my data .i wish there was a secure and organized way to have millions of shows and movies available one one app. but alas. we've truly gone full circle back to cable + now it spies on you. its a real shame. i dont want to fill my device storage with tons of boring and stupid cash grabs.

[ultraviolethorror]

since snap benefits are being threatened i wanna share the single resource i can atm which is the woman behind Dollar Tree Dinners. for years now she has consistently provided filling, healthy recipes that really push the envelope on good meals from dollar tree ingredients. especially since next month will involve lots of family meals regardless if you celebrate the holiday, people should be pleased to know she puts together videos showing how to make a holiday meal on a budget.

dollar tree dinners on tiktok

youtube

facebook

instagram

[what-even-is-thiss]

“Cats don’t actually love you”

A cat is a small creature in the middle of the food chain that is fully aware that you are a very large thing that could stomp its head in at any moment and yet it chooses to rest its tiny little head on your leg for a nap and spreads out on the floor near you exposing its belly and its most sensitive organs. It brings dead mice and bugs to you to share food.

Don’t you get it? This tiny thing trusts you. It wants to help you too. It licks your leg thinking that it’s helping. It kneads on you to find comfort. It shares its body warmth with you in the cold and gives you your space in the heat. It hisses at other mammals it sees outside including other cats in an effort to protect its family.

Cats love you so so much. But they will keep trying to eat plastic.

[ceilidho]

em dashes are a hallmark of fanfiction the same way the infamous "Oh. Oh." line is and don't let any loser tell you otherwise

[stinkyfreakazoid]

cw: kidnapping

I don’t know if this is just a southern American thing but we look at our friends with boats like Gods. Oh, you have a pontoon boat and it’s mid July? Suddenly you’re the funniest coolest greatest person I’ve ever met. Let me on your boat. Please I’ll do anything.

Anyway I feel like that’s Johnny.

Simon accidentally mentions owning a boat and every week Johnnys been bothering him about taking him out on the river.

Anytime he brings it up Simon will pump out the lamest excuse you’d ever heard.

“It’s a fixer upper, thing barely drives.”

“Weathers bad this week.”

“Thing gets terrible GPH. Costs too much to take ‘er out.”

One day Simon locks his keys in his truck and calls Johnny for a help. He makes the mistake of saying, “I owe ya one,” and Johnny’s eyes light up. Simon gives in, tells him to meet him at the docks at 5 for an evening ride.

When Johnny sees the rig, he’s immensely surprised. It’s nothing like he imagined. The way Simon explained it, this boat was run down and barely afloat. The house boat in front of him now is anything but. Potted plants in the front, kayaks tied to the sides, freshly polished and pristine. It wasn’t until Simon pushed off and they were in the middle of the river did Johnny get why he was hesitant to have him over.

With a beer in hand, he opened a door leading to a bedroom and froze when he saw you.

You, wrists bound together and ankle tethered to a chain connected to the bed. A cloth gag stuffed in your mouth, fat tears spilling down your red cheeks. Your speech was muffled but he knew what you were saying by your eyes. ‘Help me.’

Simon cleared his throat. Hand on his hip when Johnny turned to look at him. Simon had his eyes locked on you. “Ain’t she pretty?”

Johnny looked back to you then looked away. He couldn’t bare it. “Simon- I….”

He shakes his head, moves past Johnny to step close to you. You whimper as he pulls your head to his side and strokes your hair. “This is my girl. I meant to introduce you but- well, she’s been bad. Anyway, let go back to the hull. You wanted a nice boat ride, eh?” Simon laughs and pats Johnny on the back hard, leads him out of the room.

You’re convinced that this mystery Johnny will help you. He had kind eyes, a nice kind face. He’d call the police and save you from this bizarre life with Simon.

All hope is lost when Simon brings Johnny to say goodbye to you. “Be nice to him, yeah?” He chastises, then looks to Simon with a wink. “Might have to get me a rig now.” Then he’s off, leaving you with your captor who turns and looks at you like he’s the luckiest man in the world.

[selenekallanwriter]

John Oliver gets it, as usual. AI Slop is one of the best episodes of Last Week Tonight I've seen so far. Gen AI is theft. Those who use it are not authors or artists, they're grifters profiting from real creatives.

[ralfmaximus]

This should be required viewing for anyone defending AI as "helping normal people create art".

[stinkyfreakazoid]

When you get pulled over for going 60 in a 45, you don’t expect to see the burly, bad attitude officer who clocked you ever again. Why would you? You don’t always drive through his jurisdiction, plus his intimidating demeanor was enough to absolve you from a life of crime ever again.

Looking back on it, you realize you should’ve noticed the signs earlier.

A police charger starts regularly parking a few cars down from yours near your townhouse. You wonder which unit a cop moved in to. Your once barren, small town suddenly seems a lot busier. You used to be able to drive for miles without seeing a car but now it seems like there’s always one 15 feet behind you. Your kitchen seems to creak a lot more when you’re trying to sleep. You should probably call the maintenance man, maybe the pipes are getting old.

Then one day, some of the pieces click in to place. It takes half of a muddy shoe print in your doorway for you to come to. It’s a man’s shoe, a ridiculously large size. You try to excuse it on the maintenance man, but you were here when he came in and he definitely didn’t leave that.

The creaking in your kitchen no longer sounds like pipes. You excuse it for anxiety but you swear you can hear heavy footsteps. You lock your bedroom door every night when you start thinking you can hear deep breaths from down the hall. Sometimes, the door is unlocked when you wake up.

Flowers start appearing on your doorstep. It’s endearing at first with sweet little notes that read like a schoolboy crush. Then they turn in to poems. Then they turn in to promises. Then they turn in to threats.

“You look beautiful today,” turns to, “I will be there for you forever, darling,” turns to, “I promise you a beautiful life with me,” turns to, “If you ever talk to that man again I will fucking kill him and tie you to the bed until you know better.”

Your heart sinks a bit every time but you continue to brush it off. Maybe an ex boyfriend or a prank from your friends. Nothing really malicious has happened and you were probably hallucinating when you swore you felt the corner of your bed dip down in the middle of the night.

When a Polaroid picture of you smiling awkwardly at a man who’d hit on you while you were out arrives on your door along with a detached, bloody human finger and another warning note, you cave and call the police. They send an officer out and he arrives in no time.

And it’s him.

It’s the tall, brooding officer who pulled you over for speeding. When he first pulled you over, he had ridiculed you so badly that you had to wipe away fat tears with shaky hands. This time he’s anything but mean. Now he’s all open arms when you turn in to a blubbering mess. He holds you close to his chest as you explain the whole situation, how scared you were. Squeezes you tight and promises that you’re safe, you’ll be okay, he won’t let anything happen to you.

He leads you to his squad car and fits you in the passenger seat. He even takes the time to delicately buckle you in. When he drives, he takes your shaking hand in his and rubs soothing circles into your palm. A little peculiar for a stranger, you think, but you’ll take any form of comfort you can get.

You’re so trusting of the behemoth of a man that you throw all caution to the wind. He’s an officer of the law, of course, so why would you pay attention to where he’s taking you? Maybe it’s a little weird that he knows what your favorite food is- promises to get it for you sometime soon- but maybe he’s just a good guesser. And when he tells you that he has to stop by his house to grab some stuff before he takes you to the station? Well you definitely don’t ask any questions. In fact, you’re so ready to free yourself of the distress of the past few weeks that you trust him completely.

He’s able to lure you inside and shut the door behind you before even an ounce of suspicion twinges up your spine, and that’s only because he’s pulled you into a tight hug with a rag up to your nose.

[krasnoarmeyets]

anyway you should always remember that all those foreigners you see dying on the news are just as real people as you are who have just as much interiority as you do. there is nothing about you that makes you more important and it is by pure chance that you are not in their position. in fact, this holds for all of history. every person, no matter the horror of the fate that befell them, had just as much interiority as you do. i feel like some people haven't fully internalized this.

[eowynstwin]

One thing I’ve noticed about AI users is that they are completely repulsed by the notion of feeling bad or frustrated for even the slightest moment

[eowynstwin]

Been trying to figure out how to phrase this nicely but tbh. I don’t care. If you’ve ever made a consistent effort at anything, you learn to enjoy and even look forward to discomfort.

Exercise. Writing. Drawing. Gardening. Anything that requires your physical effort is going to require discomfort in one way or another and you have to find a way to enjoy that discomfort, otherwise the best thing for you, and I’m gonna hold you hand when I say this, is to just give up.

Any creative can tell you that they’ve thought about quitting more often than not, but when you make it through that discomfort, when you work hard to figure out what you’re doing wrong/what you don’t know how to do, you start to anticipate discomfort because it you KNOW represents an opportunity to level up. It’s exciting to have a hard time with something, because it means you’re going to get really, really good at it as long as you persevere.

And idk, I’ve thought for a while now that AI users think they have some sort of right to avoid all of that. That they have the right to never ever feel bad at anything they try. It’s why I think “making something is more rewarding” is never really going to work as an argument against AI use, because AI users can’t make it past the fear of discomfort and difficulty.

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

"I know chatgpt is bad but you just don't really have any choice" you literally do. Don't use it. Have some moral backbone.

[birdsareblooming]

it's been like 2 years. i havent touched it. never needed to. "you don't really have a choice," are you so swift to forget the recent past? Bitch i still use itunes to download mp3s to so i have them forever and any song i want, then my sister burns them to CDs. When boycotts rolled out my other sister got no thanks to scan what products we shouldn't buy. i still use corded headphones not because "its older" but because it's easier. a fool criticizes those who buy candles 200 years after the invention of the electric light until the power goes out. become ungovernable. you are not immune to propaganda. you've never had Chatgpt forced upon you, the only thing forced upon you is the idea that Chatgpt is forced upon you. why claim you need something today that you didn't need yesterday. little bitch.

[teophan]

[strangewomanlover-deactivated20]

somewhere out there tonight a girl is having painfully mediocre sex with a man in a ghost face mask.... everyone lets bow our heads and give her a moment of silence for a second .......

[del-stars]

Appalachians need help.

hi everyone. i don't usually make posts like this, but as some of you may know, much of my home state of nc was recently torn up by hurricane helene, especially our beautiful mountains. entire towns have been washed away, there is no internet or phone service, and roads are badly damaged. i've heard that there's currently only one route for the entire region to evacuate through. this is one of the poorest regions of america. mountain towns like these are not equipped to deal with this kind of extreme weather, and moutain flooding can happen quickly and without warning. i grew up going to appalachia, it is very near and dear to my heart, and the people there are some of the kindest and most genuine souls. it is a truly beautiful part of our country, and it is so often forgotten. i know a lot of people are suffering in the south after this storm, and i hope we keep all of them in our thoughts, but please do not forget about appalachia/wnc.

if you're able to, please consider donating to hurricane helene relief:

I support the American Red Cross

Support the American Red Cross today. Please visit our website to donate now. Financial donations of any size help fund our mission.

Appalachia Funders Network

The Appalachia Funders Network creates catalytic opportunities for funders to collaborate, connect, and drive progress across the Appalachia

[merrybitchmas91-deactivated2019]

Why "doing something relaxing” does not help your anxiety

A lot of the time when people give advice intended to relieve anxiety, they suggest doing “relaxing” things like drawing, painting, knitting, taking a bubble bath, coloring in one of those zen coloring books, or watching glitter settle to the bottom of a jar.

This advice is always well-intentioned, and I’m not here to diss people who either give it or who benefit from it. But it has never, ever done shit for me, and this is because it goes about resolving anxiety in the completely wrong way.  

THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO when suffering from anxiety is to do a “relaxing” thing that just enables your mind to dwell and obsess more on the thing that’s bothering you. You need to ESCAPE from the dwelling and the obsession in order to experience relief.

You can drive to a quiet farm, drive to the beach, drive to a park, or anywhere else, but as someone who has tried it all many, many times, trust me–it’s a waste of gas. You will just end up still sad and stressed, only with sand on your butt. You can’t physically escape your sadness. Your sadness is inside of you. To escape, you need to give your brain something to play with for a while until you can approach the issue with a healthier frame of mind. 

People who have anxiety do not need more time to contemplate, because we will use it to contemplate how much we suck.

In fact, you could say that’s what anxiety is–hyper-contemplating. When we let our minds run free, they run straight into the thorn bushes. Our minds are already running, and they need to be controlled. They need to be given something to do, or they’ll destroy everything, just like an overactive husky dog ripping up all the furniture. 

Therefore, I present to you: 

THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT DO WHEN ANXIOUS

–Go on a walk

–Watch a sunset, watch fish in an aquarium, watch glitter, etc.

–Go anywhere where the main activity is sitting and watching

–Draw, color, do anything that occupies the hands and not the mind

–Do yoga, jog, go fishing, or anything that lets you mentally drift 

–Do literally ANYTHING that gives you great amounts of mental space to obsess and dwell on things.

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO WHEN ANXIOUS:

–Do a crossword puzzle, Sudoku, or any other mind teaser game. Crosswords are the best.

–Write something. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. Write the Top 10 Best Restaurants in My City. Rank celebrities according to Best Smile. Write some dumb Legolas fanfiction and rip it up when you’re done. It’s not for publication, it’s a relief exercise that only you will see. 

–Read something, watch TV, or watch a movie–as long as it’s engrossing. Don’t watch anything which you can run as background noise (like, off the top of my head, Say Yes to The Dress.) As weird as it seems, American Horror Story actually helps me a lot, because it sucks me in. 

–Masturbate. Yes, I’m serious. Your mind has to concentrate on the mini-movie it’s running. It can’t run Sexy Titillating Things and All The Things That are Bothering Me at the same time. (…I hope. If it can, then…ignore this one.) 

–Do math problems—literally, google “algebra problems worksheet” and solve them. If you haven’t done math since 7th grade this will really help you. I don’t mean with math, I mean with the anxiety. 

–Play a game or a sport with someone that requires great mental concentration. Working with 5 people to get a ball over a net is a challenge which will require your brain to turn off the Sadness Channel. 

–Play a video game, as long as it’s not something like candy crush or Tetris that’s mindless. 

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO DURING PANIC ATTACKS ESPECIALLY:

–List the capitals of all the U.S. states

–List the capitals of all the European countries

–List all the shapes you can see. Or all the colors. 

–List all the blonde celebrities you can think of.

–Pull up a random block of text and count all the As in it, or Es or whatever.  

Now obviously, I am not a doctor. I am just an anxious person who has tried almost everything to help myself.  I’ve finally realized that the stuff people recommend never works because this is a disorder that thrives on free time and free mental space. When I do the stuff I listed above, I can breathe again. And I hope it helps someone here too. 

(Now this shouldn’t have to be said but if the “do nots” work for you then by all means do them. They’ve just never worked for me.)

[lovelyplot]

This would’ve been great an hour ago