Okay reblog if you’re an artist who STRONGLY PREFERS reblogs with commentary

deadcatwithaflamethrower:

dogmatix:

thesnadger:

bogleech:

People are apparently under the impression that reblogging someone’s art and adding a comment is frowned upon and that can’t possibly be true, every artist I know of sees a reblog-comment as like the ultimate definitive reward for their hard work.

Obviously don’t feel bad for NOT adding a comment if you’re shy or just don’t know what to say, but if there’s something you would like to say about a drawing you’ve liked enough to reblog, I’m pretty sure most artists crave hearing it.

This applies to art, fic, dumb theories, whatever! I totally love reading tags and commentary!

Definitely re-emphasizing that ALL reblogs, likes, etc are awesome! So don’t feel bad/feel obligated to add something if you don’t want to, but don’t hold back if you DO wanna add something because you’re worried it’s rude.

Well, I can only speak for myself (and probably @norcumi and @deadcatwithaflamethrower), but if you have stuff to say on any of our art/theories/fics, either in tags or in comments, YES PLEASE. 😀

(and yeah, don’t feel pressured if you don’t have anything to add – reblogs/likes are awesome, and I’m happy to know that ppl like stuff.  But if you want to comment/tag, that is also awesome! )

Seconding (thirding?) all of this.  Liking, reblogging, discussing, messaging about, commenting via tags = ALL AWESOME.

The only thing not okay is taking someone else’s work and claiming it’s your own. That’s what we in the biz refer to as a dick move.

FWIW, I totally agree.  I don’t art, but I do fic, and when people reblog it, it’s amazing.  When they reblog it and add commentary, either via tag or post addition, that’s SUPER AMAZING.  Even if it’s just this tag: “#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  That tag always makes me smile and do happy kicky-feet because I assume I’ve reduced someone to squeaking incoherently and flailing and that makes me so happy.  ^_^  (Alternatively, that tag accompanied by these: “#D:”, “#TT^TT”, “#;_;”, “noooooooooooooooooo” conjures up a wholly different, yet equally welcome image of a different kind of flailing.  ;D)

communified:

The Phantom Menace (1999)

brolinapproved:

rawdibunu:

phantasmsystem:

armadillo:

its kinda scary how your whole life depends on how well you do as a teenager 

oh my god No it doesn’t don’t put this kind of pressure on people??
you can absolutely fuck up in your teen years and continue on to a good
life just fine. you can drop out of school, get a GED, still go to
college and finish your degree as late as you want. i know people in my
school who still haven’t graduated and they’re 26. some older. you can
always transfer someplace else, always build yourself up from the
ground. after a certain amount of college credits, a lot of schools
really don’t care about your high school GED or your SAT scores anymore.
if you fuck up in your teenage years you are not a failure!! you can
ALWAYS re-invent yourself, always start over. there is always a second
chance.

Reblogging this for my followers freaking out over art
school/college. I dropped out of high school and never thought I’d get
into college as easily as I did. You will be fine!

Fun story my biology professor just told us:  When he was 23 he was
married to his wife and worked two jobs to support them since she was in
college: gas station attendant and construction worker.  He worked
these two jobs because that was the only work he could get since he was
at the reading level of a third grader.  

One night he was writing something and his wife noticed he was
writing from right to left.  Since she was studying occupational therapy
she realized he had a learning disability and started working with him.
 He slowly began to learn to read, and at 26 got his GED and went to
college.

His first year of college he took the lowest level math course he
could take, 001.  Over the years he worked on learning what he needed
to, ended up graduating with a biology degree.  He then went on to get
his masters and PhD, graduating at the top of his class.  He is now an
extremely accomplished biologist and professor.

So don’t let anyone tell you that you’re future is based on your choices as a teenager.

I’m a college professor, too.  Before that, I was a veterinarian.  I injured my back three times while working as a vet.  Now, let me tell you, there is an immense level of panic involved when you realize that the thing you devoted YOUR ENTIRE LIFE STARTING FROM WHEN YOU WERE 12 is now no longer a thing you can do.  It’s terrifying.  But you know what?  I found something new to do.  And I love it.  You CAN change your mind.  You CAN make up for “lost time”.  (And don’t get me started on the fact that no time is truly lost and no time is ever truly wasted, either.)  You can do it.  It’s OK.  Breathe.  ^_^

glamaphonic:

#THAT’S ALL REY’S EVER WANTED#FOR SOMEONE TO COME BACK FOR HER#AND ALL FINN WANTED TO DO WAS GET AS FAR AWAY FROM THE FIRST ORDER AS HE COULD#BUT THEN THEY TOOK REY AND HE HAD TO GO BACK FOR HER BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT HE DOES#AND ALL FINN’S WANTED IS TO BE ABLE TO EXPRESS HIS COMPASSION AND EMPATHY AND LOVE FOR OTHERS#AND REY DOES THAT WITH HIM#SHE THROWS HERSELF INTO HIS ARMS#AND IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW THESE TWO ARE LITERALLY MADE FOR EACH OTHER#THEY’RE THE ANTIDOTE TO THE OTHER’S PAIN AND NOW IM IN PAIN

OK, but you know what else is going on in this scene that bears mentioning?  I didn’t even catch it until like… the fourth time I saw the movie.  (I’M A BIT SLOW SOMETIMES, OK.  -.-;;;)

Rey understands Shyriiwook.

I can’t imagine that many Wookiee hang out on Jakku.  Desert climate + permanent fur coat =/= happy Wookiee.  And Rey doesn’t get off Jakku much.  😛  So where did she pick that up, I wonder? 

I mean, it’s certainly true that the peoples of Star Wars tend to be multilingual.  I just think that’s an odd one for her to have picked up.  So she either learned it REALLY quickly upon leaving Jakku, or she already knew it (and somehow retained it) from when she was a young child.  And I want to know more.

transdimensionalboundaries:

dirtybetanerd:

kedreeva:

8bitrevolver:

This was meant to be a quick warm up, but it turned into a comic that I’ve wanted to draw for a while. This is something that is extremely important to me, and I appreciate it if you read it.

A while ago, I heard a story that broke my heart. A family went a cat shelter to adopt. The daughter fell in love with a 3-legged cat. The father straight up said “absolutely not”. Because he was missing a leg. That cat was that close to having a family that loved him, but the missing leg held him back. Why?!

Many people have the initial instinct of “nope” when they see an imperfect animal. I get it, but less-adoptable does NOT mean less loveable. 9 out of 10 people will choose a kitten over an adult cat. And those 10% that would get an adult cat often overlook “different” animals.

All I want people to do is be open to the idea of having a “different” pet in their lives. Choose the pet that you fall in love with, but at least give all of them a fair shot at winning your heart.

Don’t dismiss them, they deserve a loving home just as much as any other cat. They still purr, they still love a warm lap, they still play, they still love you. Trust me, next time you are in the market for a new kitty, just go over to that one cat that’s missing an eye and see what he’s all about!

Let me tell to you a thing.

This is Lenore. I first saw her in a little cage at the Petco I frequent (I used to take my parents’ dog in for puppy play time), and she looked like the grouchiest, old, crotchety cat in the world, and I fell instantly in love. She was cranky, she was anti-social, hanging out at the back of her cage. Her fur was matted because she wouldn’t let the groomers near her.

She was perfect.

But I didn’t have a place for her. I wasn’t living in my own space yet, and where I was, I wasn’t allowed cats. So I pressed my face to the bars of her cage and I promised that if no one had adopted her by the time I’d bought a house, I would come back for her.

I visited her every week for over six months while I looked for a house. At one point, they had to just shave her entire rear-end because the mats or fur were so bad. They told me she clawed the heck outta the groomer that did it, screamed the entire time, and spent the next two days growling at anyone that came near the cage.

A couple of weeks later, I closed on my house. I went back and I got an employee, and I said: “That one. I need that cat.”

They got the paperwork and the lady who ran the rescue that was bringing the cats in told me that Lenore (at the time, Lila) was 8 years old, had been owned by an elderly lady who had died, and brought in to a different rescue, who’d had her for six months on top of the time I’d been seeing her at Petco.

This kitty had been living in a 3×3’ cube for over a YEAR because she was older and “less adoptable.”

I signed the paperwork, put her in a cat carrier, and drove her to my new home. I had pretty much nothing; a bed, an old couch, a couple of bookcases, and a tank of mice I called “Cat TV”. I let her out of the carrier and onto my bed, and I told her “I told you I would come back for you when I had a place. It’s not much, but it’s yours too now.”

Lenore spent the next three days straight purring non-stop. She followed me around the house purring. Sat next to me purring. Slept next to me purring. Leaning into every touch, purring, purring, always purring. She still purrs if you so much as think about petting her. She’s amazing, and I love her.

So, you know, if you’re thinking about adopting, and you see a beast that others consider “less adoptable,” think about Lenore.

FUCKING IMPORTANT

The STORY THOUGH.

PETA

dear-tumb1r:

dear-tumb1r:

i-n-m-h:

testingforcake23:

dear-tumb1r:

testingforcake23:

dear-tumb1r:

you guys remember when PETA stole people pets off their porches and euthanized them?

you guys remember how it came out that PETA kills about 90% of the animals it takes in, including healthy and adoptable puppies and kittens, stating “

We could become a no-kill shelter immediately. It means we wouldn’t do as much work”?

you guys remember when PETA advocated killing all pit bulls for the crime of being pit bulls?

you guys remember when PETA handed out these comics to children when there were no adults looking?

you guys remember when they made a porn site and then filled it with videos of animal abuse, and (also in that link) claimed cats should be vegetarian?

you guys remember when PETA lied about sheep shearing, got caught, and defended the lie as true even after they admitted the sheep in their picture wasn’t even real?

you guys remember when they tried to excuse their horrifying ways by claiming that the person who exposed them was manipulating the facts by taking them and putting them in the wrong context?

Because I remember. I remember everything. 

And I’m gonna make sure everyone else remembers too. 

Why would they kill pit bulls they’re sweeties

Because PETA does not care about animals. they do not care that these dogs live and breathe and feel and want love like every other dog. they do not care about the history of human/dog bonding and co-evolution, they do not care that dogs and human beings have relied on each other for millennia, they do not care that its cruel and morally repugnant to put down an animal just because you can, they do not care about animals. 

PETA cares about money and publicity, its a corporation run by a psychopath who is afraid of pitts as it states in the link: she was apparently bit by one, and now she hates them. 

PETA doesn’t give a rats ass about animals. They just want to kill and make money off of idiots who fall of their spiel.

Some celebs support them

ah c’mon, dear-tumb1r, I think you’re being a bit harsh. I mean, okay, PETA’s done some questionable things, but it’s not like they’ve also

–spread false information about milk causing autism based on outdated bullshit information

–used holocaust imagery to compare the meat industry to concentration camps (no pictures)

–used a young man’s brutal death as a way to say “yeah that’s awful but it happens to animals every day and nobody cares about that” (tw: no pictures but the way the guy died is described and it is really horrible)

–dressed up in KKK robes and protested outside of the Westminister Dog Show to protest breeding/pure bred dogs (tw: racism)

–offered to pay the water bill for literally the poorest neighborhood in Detroit if and only if they all went vegan for a month (tw: self-righteous shitheads)

–and they definitely didn’t have two of their workers accept perfectly healthy animals from an animal hospital, with the implication that they would give them good homes, clarify that these animals were all healthy and well-tempered, and then euthanized them all in the back of a kill-van before dumping their dead bodies behind a grocery store (tw: PICTURES OF DEAD ANIMALS, animal death)

–and they totally didn’t get off pretty much scot-free for it because PETA has loads of money and lawyers to defend themselves, which coincidentally might be why the Cerate family hasn’t seen justice for their kidnapped and murdered dog, Maya. (tw: animal death)

Nah. PETA’s not that bad.

(/the heaviest of all my fucking sarcasm, I am salty as a fucking winter road, lord do I fucking hate PETA)

Did you think i was fucking joking, PETA?

I will make sure everyone fucking remembers what you’ve done. 

Bringing it back, because it’s charity season and people need to know NOT to give charity to these fuckers. 

willowenna:

microbewrangler:

quasi-normalcy:

knightfrog1248:

black–lamb:

I know it’s illegal but whenever I get antibiotics from the doctor I save a few and give them to friends or coworkers who don’t have insurance so that when cold season comes they might be able to shorten their illness

That is not good- that’s not quite how antibiotics work.

Antibiotics kill some bacteria, but don’t manage to kill other bacteria. Just like when you get a particular sickness (or a vaccination), your body can protect you from future infections, any bacteria that came into contact with the antibiotic is protected from future doses of that antibiotic. Bacteria are very virulent breeders, so they spawn more resistant bacteria.

If you take the full dose of antibiotics, your natural antibodies can deal with the cells that are resistant while the medicine kills off the bacteria that isn’t resistant. If you don’t take the full course of antibiotics, then your body has to deal with both the resistant and the non-resistant strains of bacteria, and it can become overwhelming. Also, most bacteria are able to pass on genes between still-living cells, so that previously non-resistant strains become resistant, and you have inadvertently cultivated a stronger strain of bacteria.

Furthermore, colds and the flu are viral infections, so antibiotics don’t work against them anyway. The best protection against viral infections are vaccinations, as there are not many viruses that we have developed anti-viral medication against, once you already have the disease. If there are anti-viral medications, it is even more important that you take the full dose of the medication, because anti-viral medication is even harsher against the body than antibacterial medication is.

How antibiotics work

How antiviral medication works

Spread this around; antibiotics are not candy

Yeah, not how it works at all. I get your intent there with health care access, but that’s literally worse than not taking any antibiotics for your friends, on pretty much every level.

Sharing is not caring when it comes to medication
It is risking the health of everyone involved

Dear College Students

ardatli:

battlestardidactica:

bobbityhobbity:

(In the United States, that is.)

This is a reminder that, statistically, half of your professors are adjuncts, which means that they work part time, at an average of $2500 per course (not per credit hour, per COURSE, for an ENTIRE SEMESTER), which in some areas amounts to less than minimum wage. In order to make ends meet, many adjuncts work at multiple campuses, teaching up to seven classes at a time. They have to be re-hired every semester. They have to wait until the registration period is over before finding out if they will get any classes to teach. They make up substantially more than half of the instructional workforce at some institutions, but they have no role in governance, no voice with the administration. In many cases, they have no library or computer privileges, no professional support, and no office in which to meet with you.

Adjunct faculty are disproportionately women and people of color. 

If you think this likely has an impact on the quality of the education for which you are paying increasingly exorbitant tuition, then you are correct. You and your parents owe it to yourselves to find out what your university’s adjunct hiring practices are. If you are a high school student considering higher education, ask administrators for this information and let them know that it matters to you. Support the efforts of adjuncts to unionize. Universities in the US increasingly operate on the retail model of education. They see students and parents as the customer, and the best way to get them to change is to let them know that the customer is not happy. 

from what i was told by contract professors, my university took student course evaluations very seriously and they had an impact on whether professors’ contracts would be renewed or whether they had a chance of moving into a tenure track position. i don’t know if this is the case at every institution. but by my third year of university, i established a personal policy of giving glowing course evals to any adjunct/contract professor who wasn’t a complete dick or completely incompetent (and in so doing discovered that the complete dicks/completely incompentent profs that i encountered were, without exception, tenured and on the sunshine list).

even if the contract prof who taught my class was only so-so, the question i always asked myself was always how did this professor perform relative to their below poverty-line wages? and the answer was literally always 15 out of 10, how the fuck did they manage to pull this off with this much grace and humour?

what i wish i’d learned much, much earlier in my university career: if you have an adjunct professor that you love, ask them if there are ways you can best support them professionally, whether it be filling out course evals or signing petitions or making sure to email them 72 hours before you need an answer or putting pressure on the university or showing up at the picket lines when their union is on strike! you might be surprised by the small low-effort practical steps you can take to make their lives a little easier.

This is absolutely correct. 

I am an adjunct, have been an adjunct for years, and my student evals + my union seniority are the only thing keeping me on the hiring list. I am SO FUCKING LUCKY to have a union here that works for me, and knowing what can happen even with that formal support system, I cringe at the thought of what non-unionized part-time academics have to deal with. 

Honestly good evaluations and letters of support are absolutely invaluable. If you even take two minutes at the end of a semester to write a ‘thank you for teaching’ email to a professor you liked, that can go in their hiring file and be used to support applications later on. 

Seriously. Even something as simple as “I wanted to write and thank you for the essay help you gave me this term. It was really useful” or “Thanks for being there during office hours – loved being able to stop in with questions” or whatever true thing you appreciated can make a huge difference, with minimal effort.

As an adjunct, I can attest that this is 100% true.  I’m actually not sure how much my university counts its student evaluations, but I know that my boss definitely takes student opinions into account when deciding who to offer classes to the next semester.  So, yeah, positive student evals are definitely helpful.

As for the other, over the past several years, I’ve had several students ask if I’m teaching the next level course to the one I currently had them for and then be disappointed when I told them ‘no’.  As flattering as that is, though (and it is, don’t get me wrong!), a quick email to the department head who decides who’s teaching what, telling them that you really felt you benefited from this professor’s teaching and would love to sit another class with them would go even further than my being flattered. 

But even if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, please at least let your professors (especially adjuncts) know if they mean something to you.  Because at the end of a long day in a longer week in an even longer semester, getting paid crap money to work long hours for little to no thanks, and being in a constant state of worry that I may not have income the next semester… hearing a student tell me that I’ve made a difference for them goes a LONG way.