Happy Old Gnoll

happy old gnoll

The Glade ----- Old art from 2014~

tfw no werehyena gf

Sex isn't enough i need to hunt someone down in the woods

Poorly drawn Hondour line

"it's not enough to just be nice to those who "deserve it"; you need to practice at least a baseline of respect towards everyone whether you personally (with all your limited knowledge and unconscious biases) think they "deserve it" or not"

Absolutely <3

You never know when you'll fall into the 'other' group to someone, and feel the sting of rejection and hatred for no reason other than existing, because of their pre-conceived notions of what you are. Be kind, even -especially - when it's difficult.

While "don't be an asshole to people if you don't want them to dislike you" may seem like obvious advice, the thing is people generally don't act unnecessarily unpleasant to those they fully respect as fellow humans. The sort of casual cruelty we think of as "asshole behaviour" tends to originate from a contempt for the target; the idea that they're a lesser being which ultimately deserves to be treated like this. The idea that the target might have a problem with it isn't even considered, and if said target tries to protest then actually they are the asshole for forgetting their position and disrupting the proper social hierarchy.

That's the fundamental problem with social advice that boils down to "Just try to be niceys :) ". This sort of behaviour doesn't exist in a vacuum and is at least heavily influenced by the power dynamics of social relations (both real and perceived). You can observe this on a macro scale when it comes to bigotry, with structural oppression strongly influencing interpersonal relations, but similar forces operate on a much more localised social-group scale as well. That's not to say that this behaviour is good or natural or inevitable, but the forces at play here must be recognised before we can effectively attempt to change them.

If you're serious about "not being an asshole" then it's not enough to just be nice to those who "deserve it"; you need to practice at least a baseline of respect towards everyone whether you personally (with all your limited knowledge and unconscious biases) think they "deserve it" or not. Otherwise you'd be better off devoting your life to all the petty politicking and gossip and performative cruelty necessary to ensure you stay on top and don't find yourself on the receiving end of such contemptuous mistreatment. If basic respect and decency is a privilege, then you'll always be at risk of losing it