Photos For You @darkraincore

“what’s your five year plan” bro i wake up every day confused by the fact that i’m even alive

In honor of the winning bugs of the Hemipteran bug race! In first place we have the loud and proud cicada, in second we have the springy and spirited leafhopper, and in third we have the threateningly named assassin bug! Here are close-ups of the bugs with their medals!

Thank you to everyone who voted! ❤️❤️❤️

Bug race, but it’s true bugs only

Cicada (photo by Shannon Potter on Unsplash)

Leafhopper (photo by Mariusz Dabrowski on Unsplash)

Stink bug (photo by Erik Karits on Unsplash)

Wheel bug (photo by Steven Van Elk on Unsplash)

Assassin bug (photo by Gustavo Fernando Durán on Flickr)

woodwatcher

I made a little animation

[Image description from alt text: An animated gif of someone with a white mask with antlers and a black cloak unfolding one black wing, then folding it back up. The background is a misty forest. End ID.]

Mascot Madness definitely involved some madness

For those who have been following Oakie the Acorn, round 3 of the college mascot tournament poll they’re in ended with their opponent being withdrawn by the school, Stony Brook, because students cast “excessive votes,” probably using bots.

So Oakie has moved on in the competition, and we will continue with our art posts for Oakie. (If you vote for Oakie and like this post or otherwise let us know, we will post art)

Semifinals are today (12pm) until Friday (3pm).

We’d appreciate support for our acorn!

suny.edu

Final Four - SUNY

Please play fair, but it is explicitly in the rules that you can vote every 12 hours during a round!

[image description: The words “I’d rather be cringe than mean” in rainbow block letters with a drawing of a group of kids cosplaying underneath. The characters the kids are dressed as include Foxy from Five Nights at Freddy’s, Naruto, Sonic, and others. End ID.]

be free!!

🐛 caterpillar - the returning champion of the 2023 race at 41.6% of the votes

🐌 snail - runner up of the 2023 race at 38.3%, only 3.3% behind the caterpillar.

🪱 worm - placed last in 2023, with only 20.1% of votes

🪲 beetle, 🐞 ladybug, and 🐝 bee are new competitors!

Remember: Other people’s pain does not negate your own, even if their pain is “worse.” The reverse is also true: your pain doesn’t negate anyone else’s. While in some cases it might be upsetting to hear other people complain about “problems” that seem minor to you, saying things like “you haven’t really been hurt” is counterproductive; if a person says in good faith that something is painful to them or a struggle for them, it is. Comparing issues based on who has it worst usually leads to more hurt.

The queer community is full of hurt people.

This can lead to a knee-jerk reaction when we hear someone else say "I am hurt". We look at them and say "shut up, you're not as hurt as me because you have X privilege".

This leads to femme afab queers being told "you can pass and hide as cishet, you're not as hurt as queer women who look queer, you're just complying with the patriarchy's ideals for beauty, you're hurting the queer community, you're anti feminist."

It leads to masc afab people, whether trans men or nonbinary or genderqueer etc, being told everything from "you're not as hurt, you can pass as a cis man" to "you have no desire to transition, you still look like a girl, shut up".

It leads to trans amab people who are nonbinary or genderqueer or agender etc, who still dress or look "masculine", being told that they are "unsafe" for queer spaces, that they don't belong at a "women and nonbinary meeting", that they are "basically just cis men trying to escape accountability".

It leads to asexuals being told "you don't even feel sexual attraction, the thing we're ostracized for! how could you possibly be oppressed? You're just straight and a prude" and aromantics being told "you're just straight and like casual sex, get over yourself" and both being told "you're just a cishet who wants to steal resources".

I have heard every single kind of queer person say "I have been harmed and ostracized by the queer community". Lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and mspec people, trans people, aroace people - every single one of us has expressed feeling ostracized by our own community.

On the plus side, this means you're not alone. Your group isn't the only one facing this. You have allies!! Other queer people who have gone through what you've gone through!

We need queer unity. We need to stop attacking each other. If you feel the urge to say "shut up, my group has been hurt MORE", go take a walk. Remember that every single one of us has been hurt.

Thank you @anyconstellation for voting for Oakie! We made this as a traditional piece and edited differently for color/contrast/etc in the two photos.

(If you see this post and want us to post more art like this, vote for Oakie here and reply, message us, or like the post linked here to let us know!)

@afoolandathief thank you for supporting Oakie! Here are some bird sketches from my ornithology class last summer.

(If you see this post and want us to post more art, vote for Oakie here and reply, message us, or like the post linked here to let us know!)

Hug your local bug! (Metaphorically as they are small)

made some blinkies [here]