Most people, when talking to you, are only talking to their perception of you.
This may not always be accurate.
Their perception of you is altered by their own history, tendencies, opinions etc.
They will alter their perception of you to fit their reality and feelings.
You have to be okay with this. You may also do it to other people, but try not to.
Remember that memories are not entirely accurate and your mind can and will skew them so that they fit in your chosen paradigm.
I’m saying this because there are people who will not be able to deal with you, no matter what, who seem to remember or recall a completely different person when dealing with you.
Don’t stress. That’s on them. Be you. Don’t aim to hurt feelings. Be nice. Care about people.
But understand that people are going to see you differently than you see you, and sometimes the person that they see is largely someone they made up.
Don’t get bent out of shape about it. It’s just the way things are. You exist beyond someone else’s perception.
This is still true.
Month: March 2016
Tiny Salmon and an older Theo!
Finally wrote some more tonight. Fishsticks is at 55,424 words, which puts it at 74% complete. I have less than 20k left to write. :O
(( Cats are smart. They are people. He absolutely knows. ))
I THINK YOU’RE RIGHT. And the other cats seem to be in on it, too. My precious babies are trying to take care of me. ;-;
And I will never get over how Benj greets me at the door and follows me around until he can crawl into my lap. Aaahhh. Cats! <3
Just drawing
Exciting weekend for Zootopia! For those of you planning a repeat trip to see it again, see if you can find these little paintings of mine in the backgrounds. They can be pretty hard to spot!
I’m sorry if this question is unwelcome but I’ve been worrying about this for a while, I am a non POC, and I never know what to do about headcanoning race of characters, as well as making ocs. is it racist for me to hc characters as non white and to make non white ocs? always want to be inclusive but idk where the line is I’m really sorry if this is insensitive I’ve always been worried about this but idk who to ask about it, also thank you so much for talking about this kind of stuff thank you
Okay, Anon, I want you to first caaaaaaalm down. It’s absolutely okay to defer to somebody who has lived experiences that you have not. You aren’t bothering me: I chose to publicly open up my own opinions for discussion, which means I’ve now created a conversation that you’re free to join. You aren’t being insensitive if you ask these questions so you can better yourself and take care not to hurt others.
I’m not a social justice or activism blog. This is a personal blog. However, if you want my opinions, know that while I don’t speak for anyone else, I am actually older than most other people on fandom tumblr and I do actually know what I’m talking about.
As a POC and a creator of media myself, I feel that it is actually quite necessary for you (a non-POC) to headcanon fictional characters as POC and create fictional POC of your own. This lack of equal representation in media must be combated by all of us who have a stake in the betterment of mankind. In the ‘chocolate raisins analogy’, Annie helping Betty and giving her some of her raisins helps speed up the equalization process. Your contribution does nothing bad for the cause.
However… I’d like to implore you to always be aware of your power as a non-POC. Inevitably, your own voice will be heard above ours, and to be a true ally you have to work to uplift our voices and make sure that the TRUE stories, not just the FAKE GUESSWORK stories utilizing POC as a tool for white benefit, are heard. Hypothetical example: say you have a hijabi character. Instead of using this character to gain power yourself, I’d encourage you to accurately represent the Muslimah culture as best you can, and when push comes to shove, use your place of power to uplift the hijabis that you ask for reference or guidance in your creation and handling of this character.
Here are some positive white role models that I consider to be upstart allies:
– Matt Fraction, who has publicly stated that he would cast fellow Marvel creator Annie Wu as Kate Bishop
– E.K. Weaver, who spent copious time in researching how an Indian family would realistically behave for TJ and Amal instead of going for the easy, racist Kwik-E-Mart depiction (and actually had Amal speak real Telugu with his family)
– and Zach Weiner, who is so dedicated to representing diversity in his webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal that it’s almost like he spins a gradient wheel to randomly assign his one-off characters random skin and hair tones for each strip.
Consulting your POC friends, fact-checking, always being self-aware and deferring to those who don’t have the same privileges as yourself is the best way to be a helpful, respectful and admirable white creator. The same would go for any marginalized group- if you’re straight, do this for the LGBT. If you’re rich, do this for the poor. If you’re abled, do this for the disabled. It’s all about how you use what power you do have for the greater good.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you and I can help create a better world.
There are characters you like but then there are characters you end up thinking about in the middle of the night with a cosmic ache in your chest because they resonate with you so much