#but having it be that a marginalized people who are clinging to their culture for their senses of cultural identity

[orcelito]

Ok playing veilguard as a shadow dragon elf. Aka an elf from tevinter. Which I do wish that was like... addressed more. In general. But Also makes all the elf dialog kind of weird??? Bc I dont think my elf would've been raised with any of the elven god stuff. So anytime Bellara talks about how we're fighting "our" gods, I'm just like. Not Really, for me... I wouldn't say that to her even if I could but like. Still feels weird.

But ALSO this framing of the elves as somehow culpable for all of this??? I know it's just Bellara's hyper-empathy so she's feeling guilty, plus she's Dalish so she hasn't dealt with the shit that city elves do... but it REALLYYYY feels like this game is sweeping all of that under the rug. Like what happened to all the bigotry we saw against the elves for several games??? Does the city elf origin in origins mean nothing to you???? This idea that A: the elven Gods are actually evil, so the modern elves are stupid for worshipping them and trying to keep their culture alive despite adversity, and B: that elves as a whole are somehow even POSSIBLY responsible for anything their gods do (thus feeling like the game is going Well, Actually, the bigotry was justified the whole time)

It SUCKS!!!!!! I hate it!!!!!!!!!! And I know this game takes place outside of Ferelden so things are different this time, which especially makes sense for how mages are treated, but we've SEEN how badly elves are treated regardless. Does Fenris mean nothing to you!?!??!?!?!

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 like I'm having a lot of fun with this game but there r a lot of plot points that are just like. Must we?????

[deityoftherain]

redhot anger - Snowbugs Wild Life Session Three Fanfic

there are wild life session three spoilers because it takes place then

Rating: Gen

Relationship: M/M

Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Status: Completed Oneshot

Word Count: 2,028

Summary: It's Wild Life Session Three, and Tango is (rightfully) frustrated, stressed, annoyed, and angry- everything was going wrong and he could only contain himself, his emotions, his /fire/, for so long before everything boiled over... luckily, Scott is there to help (takes place around the time Tango is GRAJFHDSJKHFSDJ-ing as his base burns)

Full fanfic underneath the cut! Please reblog, leave kudos on the AO3 fic slash notes/likes here on Tumblr, comment either place, and etc if you enjoy the story :D

Tango saw red.

He did! Promise!

And Tango didn’t mean that he saw red in the metaphorical way, like people often claim to when they are very angry, though, well– he supposed that interpretation wasn’t necessarily wrong either, but still! He was furious and stressed, and he was having to pierce his tongue with his fanged teeth to bite back the long string of swears threatening to escape his lips. 

Ugh, why did Grian insist that they attempt to stay PG while playing a death game?

He knew the answer, but that didn’t mean he cared for it, but Tango tried his best to not argue and abide by them anyway. It was a small price to pay to be included.

Tango was a blazeborn, and because of his heritage, his vision literally became tinted with red the more extreme his emotions became. Doc theorized that it was something related to how red his eyes were, but seeing how very few blazeborns even attempted to live a full life away from the nether and their birth Pyre, there was little information on them in the overworld, and the goat-creeper hybrid hadn’t gotten around to attempting in-depth research on blazeborn anatomy or culture before getting to know Tango.

Anger simmered violently in his stomach, threatening to boil over as he tried (and failed) to manage his stress and frustration. Everything seemed to be going wrong for him, and it was all piling up, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could tolerate it all! His hair grew in both size and temperature as he stalked away from his murder snail and complained about the actions of others. Even while actively moving and talking, it was difficult to think clearly, difficult to focus!

The extra energy and adrenaline that pumped through his veins were the result of territorial instincts every blaze had ingrained in their code, aiding them as they protected whatever they thought of as theirs. If Tango lived his life like most other blazeborns have the last who-knows-how-long, then perhaps he could have cultivated his fury to be a mighty asset to his Pyre, likely tasked to guard a nether fortress from invaders, but that life wasn’t for him. Tango knew that for a fact, and even if he wasn’t as sure, he doubted his old Pyre would welcome him back with open arms after functionally deserting them. 

Even if they would accept his return, Tango didn’t plan to crawl back to his old Pyre and prove them right, that he would regret leaving his home. There were times where he grew uncomfortably needy, desperate for a Pyre’s connection, but he’s learned to soothe himself by seeking out his friends. They were his Pyre now, even if he hadn’t expressed such a concept to them yet. They didn’t need to know the exact reason why he was suddenly clinging to anyone who would let him after emerging from working on redstone the past two weeks.

If the involuntary response had any uses for the life he led now, he didn’t know them. All Tango could see were downsides, his genetic coding maladapted to the world he was currently living in. Whenever his emotions got the best of him, he attempted to control himself, he really did, but it wasn’t like the fragility of the overworld could handle any margin of error like the nether could. Tango struggled often to tame the fire and bloodlust within him when every fiber of his being itched– screamed– to destroy, destroy, destroy!

Such an instinct may have been a strength to his ancestors, but it wasn’t to Tango, and he learned to despise this part of himself over the years. The willpower he had to gather in order to hold himself back– to prevent himself from becoming as hot as a dying star– was astronomical, and maintaining it was sickening. 

When Tango’s vision went red, he would make senseless choices and take irrational risks, but there wasn’t much he could do. It wasn’t like he had a say in the coding of his genetics! It wasn’t his fault that he was hardwired for a much warmer climate, one where he could let off steam when it got this bad without causing irreparable damage! It wasn’t–

Do it, a voice in the back of his mind tempted. Burn bright and fierce. Show them how dangerous you really are. Make them fear you, Tango! Don’t let them view you as weak.

Tango shook his head as if to physically dismiss the thought, trying to bring himself back into the moment. If his friends were speaking to him, he wasn’t registering a thing they said. He knew that he needed to calm down, but the quickest way was to burn off steam, but it was too risky, it was too much! Too much, too much, too much–

He could accidentally hurt someone, which may have been fine if he was permitted to kill, but he wasn’t a red name yet, and he couldn’t break the rules like that without consequences, and he didn’t want the others to hate him or kick him out of the game... Tango didn’t want to lose his friends, his Pyre! He had worked too hard to get to where he was just to let it all slip through his fingers like grains of sand!

Smoke and fumes billowed off of him, unable to prevent their existence any longer. The rational part of his mind ordered him to jump into the water, to extinguish himself before this whole section of the map looked more like a meteor landing site than a base, but his body refused to obey. His body seemed to move without him consciously aware of what he was doing, and he could hear himself talking, but he couldn’t make out what he or his friends were saying. Focus, Tek! Focus!

Tango had to stay calm– try to stay calm– the normal way, even as his body was trembling with the effort. Even as he jumped around the base he hadn’t even managed to finish before someone (cough, Scar) took a flint and steel to it, attempting to outrun Tangastrapod, his snailificatior of death! Even as various snarls, growls, and irritated cries spilled out of him…

Everything was just building, building, building, and he braced for his will and spirit to finally Snap! under the pressure, and, and– it never came. 

Instead, something pleasantly cold took Tango’s hand in their hold. The contrasting sensation seemed to snap Tango out of whatever funk he had entered, the red that flooded his senses clearing up as his consciousness was fully returned to his body. Tango blinked rapidly, encouraging his eyes to focus on the owner of the cold.

“It’s okay, Tango, just breathe,” Scott instructed serenely, tone even and touch soothing. “Big breath in, deep breath out, just like that. Good job, firefly, you’re doing great. Just like that, keep going, keep focusing on breathing and the sound of my voice.”

Tango did his best to match Scott’s exaggerated breathing, though he couldn't bring himself to maintain eye contact. As the blinding irritation eased, shame and self-consciousness took its place. Tango’s gaze fell to his right palm, the hand Scott was cradling gingerly.

Using his ice abilities, Scott traced designs made of ice on his up and down Tango’s arm. Because of Tango’s abnormally high body temperature, the ice designs didn’t last long, melting and then promptly turning into steam, but Scott didn’t complain. Instead, Scott simply acted as if the evaporated ice just gave him more of a canvas, replacing the designs as soon as the previous ones dissipated.

As Tango surrendered to the tranquil and pacifying nature of his boyfriend’s chilly touch, his emotions settled and his body temperature lowered enough for the flame on his head to shrink. Tango’s code prevented his fire from charring anyone or anything under a certain degree, which is part of what made his raging emotions so hazardous to those around him. 

The ice designs Scott created began to last longer, Scott’s magic able to hold itself together against Tango’s typical range of heat. This meant that Scott’s canvas wasn’t renewing itself as fast, but that didn’t deter him. Instead, Scott expanded his canvas, trailing the artistry from Tango’s arm over his shoulder to spread the ice to his chest and then down his other arm. 

Tango may have described it like a warm hug, but, well, it was quite the opposite, and it was fantabular, just so everyone was aware of that fact. He cracked a weak smile at the silliness of his mind, but it dropped after only a heartbeat of time as embarrassment took over as his primary emotion.

He slumped forward into his boyfriend, resting his forehead against Scott’s shoulder and sighing heavily. Scott wrapped his arms around him, pulling him closer to his chest. His boyfriend was so pleasantly cold that Tango wanted nothing more than to curl up in a comfortable bed and allow Scott to small spoon him, but that wasn’t an option right now… It wouldn’t be until the games were over. They were a part of different factions, and the session was still running, meaning they couldn’t stay still much longer or those stupid jerks would catch up, even though they seemed to have moved a decent bit away from their snails.

“Thank you,” Tango murmured, breaking the quiet peace sooner than he wanted, but he had already taken enough of Scott’s time. He knew it was important to Scott to play these games fair and by the rules, and the rules instructed against outside-the-game-earned favoritism, and Tango hadn’t done anything to earn Scott’s favor since Wild Life started. With how things have been going for him and his team, Tango was sure he’s done the opposite and he doubted that would change anytime soon.

“Of course, lovebug. It’s the least I could do.” Scott continued to rub gentle circles on Tango’s back as he pressed a chaste kiss against his forehead. Void, Tango loved him. “Feeling any better?”

Tango raised his head so he could look up at his boyfriend, forever grateful that Scott loved him back. Instead of a verbal answer, Tango reached up to cup Scott’s face with both his hands, gently guiding him down a few inches so Tango could kiss him. Scott allowed Tango to take the lead with the kiss, though he pulled away before it became too deep.

“I would love to stay here and kiss you breathless,” Scott started, sneaking in the flirt with a teasing gleam in his beautiful blue eyes, “but I don’t think our snails will leave us alone for much longer. I don’t know about you, but I would love not to go down a life when I could have prevented it.”

Tango’s tail straightened in alarm, spinning on his heel to look at where Scott had glanced. As expected, Tangastropod and whatever Scott’s snail was named were crawling dangerously close to them. 

Scott interlocked Tango’s fingers with his before breaking into a mild run, pulling Tango behind him. “Come on! If they get too close, they will leap forward!”

Tango squeaked in surprise as he stumbled after his boyfriend, struggling to gain his footing at first, but he refused to let go of Scott’s hold, not yet. An amused laugh escaped Tango’s lips as he and his boyfriend ran away from their snails of death together, the humor not lost on him now that he was feeling better, and Scott joined in on his laughter, which was always music to Tango’s ears. 

Scott hadn’t magically taken away his all-consuming emotions, of course… and Tango was sure he would become victim to them again, that much was to be assumed, but, well… Scott had been there for Tango when he had needed him, when he had needed an anchor to ground him to reality and help him regain control of himself, and that was more than enough for him. Tango knew it would all be okay, as long as he had his friends, his loved ones, his Pyre by his side.

[aicosu]

Hey, just saw your post about Veilguard - do you mind me asking what it is that put you off? Thanks!

I can start by saying I've not played it. I'm not going to at this point. But basically, every cutscene and dialogue option and plot point I've watched. And for those of you that don't remember I was hugely critical of Inquisition despite my love for it. And I downright hated Trespasser. So this shouldnt be shocking.

And its a lot of stuff I dont like. I can make a short list of major things below, obvious spoilers.

Please dont read this if it will make you angry okay? This is a lot of angry ranting.

1. I said this with inquisition and trespassers but veilguard seals my hatred for the decision to center the entire plot of ripping apart the dalish culture and religion. I'm sorry I just don't think this is compelling. It's icky to create an oppressed and marginalized race with parallels to most indigenous cultures in the real world, and basically call them wrong and stupid for clinging to their culture and history. I don't care that validating the Enuvanris existance means also invalidating the maker and the tevinter reiligions too, or even the dwarven: the game centers this narrative on the DALISH. The entire implication that its their fault all along or they sold themselves into a cult and slavery is gross. The game could have easily done this but centered it around the Maker. Andraste as the blight corrupted crazy deity or spirit whatever the fuck. Makes more sense with how much Chantry has been shoved down our throats since origins, and given how much wider spread it is after literal genocides of the dalish, qun, etc it would just mean a lot more to target the oppressors/majority religion directly. And look listen, I'm a pretty hardcore athiest and even anti thiest. I hate all religions, I find stories about dismantling religion compelling but to couch it histories of marginalized people like... its just not great. Not to mention twisting their gods into systematic greedy people or shoving their "bestest god" into a human woman and trying to make her prostheltize at me. I don't like it!

2. I get why old decisions dont matter. The world is too big, sure. I dont mind that at all, actually, even with all the problems, it gives people invested in those choices. Im happy to accept it. But then... make the actual plot less beholden to it. Why bring in cameos at all, then? Fuck man set it 50 or 80 years later. But if you cant cause everyone wants closure in the DA fandom then give us closure. If not personal closure with wardens and hawkes and etc cause its all too variant — lore closure. We arent going to talk about how darkspawn were thinking and talking? Blight was always just a random elvhen weapon? What apparent the tevinter magisters then? What about the architect? What about the idea of darkspawn becoming their own race and culture? What about the old gods themselves they were just always enuvanris? How do magisters actually feel about that? Why did those who worshipped corypheous or the black church follow Elvhen gods, their most oppressed and hated enemy aside from the qunari?

Speaking of, what about all of us who wanted to confront Minrathous and Tevine for the atrocities we've built up about it for 3 games. Slavery? Off screen solved before we get there? Dorian fixed it all? I had a heated debate with Dorian about him saying how slavery wasnt all that bad "They like being slaves!" And so many conversations with Fenris about how horrible it is. Rape and murder and submission? We don't as players get to finally confront that?

How about red lyrium being sentient. How about it being a tool the elvhen then used to murder titans, but not its alive and unstoppable? How can anything be unblighted? Because plot?

What of the calling? What of it really? What of those in The Calling who were unblighted? nothing?

Not even a deep conversation about the murky ethics of liberation/slavery when it comes to the Antivan crows stealing children? I'm to forget that?

How about anything all to do with the Qun? How about that burnt in memory I have of Saarabas immolating himself in service to not just the system of his culture but his belief in his faith. We're writing him off as a terrorist and not as an example of the Qun? Lets be really real; they have been retconning the Qun every game till now them being a fully gender and sexual accepting society.

How about the changes of mages vs templars if and maybe they walk free now? As if that entire conflict wasnt the brewing boiling point for three games?

What about the elvhen rebellion they so rightly started after centuries or murder and racism? Can we stop pretending that rebellion isnt an act of violence and has to be? Can we stop erasing the idea that systemical upheavel can be anything other than radical? Hello? Anders is one the phone asking for you?

How about that ending, the veil isn't even torn? Spirits don't walk the earth as intended. Why not solas' plan? Why not restore order. Why not join or dissuade him as he asked us to in trespasser?

It just all feels washed off, Thedas. I'm allowed to be angry and upset that they spanned all of these topics and asked me to engage with them on a deep ethical and moral grounds only to never mention them again. I dont think making your player base feel stupid for caring is great.

3. On personal levels, Solas has been ooc since trepasser. And frankly, the explanation of his relationship with Mythal is disgusting. Made the first slave and turned from his true nature into a tool of war—and reaffirming his subservance by making it that only Mythal could stop him? How is that not a toxic dynamic, and they fram it as loving and romantic? Imagine them trying that Fenris who can only be talked down by Danerous. Come on. It should have been Lavellan — or it really should have been not at all. Let him. The devs want to destory Thedas and start over? Let solas reset time and recreate the earth and tear is all down and erase most of the history. Do it you cowards. Give me an unrecognizable DA5 where spirits and mages rule and the elvhen thrive and war with each other. Give me slaved humans and a topsy turvy all that changes remains the same reality. Why not if you want to illuminti titan everything anyway.

4. I dont believe in the veilguard, I should have a choice not to. I should have a reason to care about it or my companions or fewl some sort of reason we must all work together aside from "theyre adorable". All the other games you had companion parties in organic and believable ways. Rook is leader cause.... ? What if I dont want to be? At least my Dalish inquisitor fought tooth and nail not to be called a christian messiah. Hawke had FRIENDS. And the warden found those who knew what a blight meant. And many of all of us disagreed. Vivianne got not sympathy from me. Why should Neve? Fenris will leave your party if you waste your time when the Magister comes to town. I dont want to coddle Harding about her stupid chantry. I do not to talk to Lucanis happily about the crows. Maybe I dont want to be friendly all the time. Maybe I hate everything Bellara is doing. Or taash.

5. The writing was on the wall in inquistion hoenestly. What with Iron bull letting me decide is he mass murders his found family or not. But jesus these new companions are like 10 yrs old. I don't know you decide. Your a fucking adult. I cant take a single one of them seriously. Even Sera screamed and yelled at me if I challenged her. Solas and I almost broke up mutiple times arguing about tradition and purpose or that damn Mythal well (again and no wonder he would object to doing anything akin to being emslaved by her, only to submit himself in this game. As if the well mattered at all. As if morrigan matters at all.) I just don't feel as though I'm bonding with anyone, I'm babysitting. Im being told what a great person I am that I can teach everyone elementary school behaviorial learning. I dont want to, I dont even want to be "good".

6. Petty stuff:

I hate the art style both in the UI and the models. I hate it. And the expressions are so poor compared even to Da2.

I hate all the armors. Everyone is bulky. Hate it.

Ugly combat.

Cant control or walk around as my companions and try out other classes.

CC cant change eyes or facial structure much so all rooks heads look the same and kinda... everyone looks like a dwarf. Sorry. Imo, imo, every rook I have seen looks like a dwarf.

Dont like the music.

Dragons are ugly.

Morrigans outfit makes it look like she has 4 titties.

I hate this elvhen "steampunk" tech when so much of their magic was shown to be earthen and mystic. Dumb. No explanation as why it would become this way it just is now.

Blood magic erasure cause the devs are scared of us being cool I guess.

I hate the humor. Every joke doesnt land for me. And there are simply too many.

[creature-wizard]

What advice would you give to someone new to witchcraft or curious about starting their journey?

Quite a bit, I hope you don't mind a long post!

Make sure your ingredients and stuff aren't toxic to you or your pets. Essential oils, certain stones, many herbs, and so on can be extremely harmful if used improperly.

If you're going to use candles, research candle and fire safety.

Certain mystical practices/views can potentially create issues with certain mental illnesses. EG, anxiety can make you prone to thinking everything is a sign. OCD can make you prone to worrying whether you've offended the gods/spirits. This doesn't mean you shouldn't practice, it just means that you should be aware of how your mental illnesses impact your beliefs and thoughts.

Nothing is absolutely essential. Anyone who tells you that there's some item or herb you must have is probably trying to sell you something.

Aesthetic is cool and also useful for getting into the right headspace.

There are many models and theories of magic. Some people are very certain that their model is the One True Model, but there's always going to be someone whose own experience says otherwise.

Magical practitioners of the past improvised and made it up as they went along, too. (I say "magical practitioners" because very few of them would have actually called themselves "witches.")

Be aware that you're going to run into a lot of pseudohistory. The witch cult hypothesis had a huge influence on the modern witchcraft movement, and some people still cling to it. There's a lot of people still claiming that Christmas and Easter were stolen from pagans. Many people anachronistically project modern magical models onto the past. Some people believe this because it's just what they heard somewhere; some people believe it because they're conspiracy theorists. You can't entirely avoid it, but you can learn to recognize it. YouTube channels like Angela's Symposium, ReligionForBreakfast, and ESOTERICA are great places to start learning about actual religious and occult history.

You can also get better at recognizing conspiracy theories by learning their most common tropes. I wrote about them in this post and this post.

The whole concept of cultural appropriation isn't about policing what people do, and anyone who tries to use it that way is being a dick. It's about respecting marginalized cultures' boundaries and not depriving them of money, goods, etc. See this post for more information.

[schafpudel]

free yourself from the desperate dire need for the author to confirm your reading of the text and just sit back and go "well Timmy Tanaka from GoRetter (1987, Inkei Studio) resonates with me as an autistic polyamerous gay transmasc because of how i see my own experiences in the text, and art appreciation is an act of interpretation." instead of begging strangers to confirm your headcanons and getting mad or forming conspiracies when the author says they dont see their own story in the same lens as you.

the very anal need to have things be *explicitly confirmed* to be valid interpretations isnt new in fandom, but i have seen a shift where it was once predominantly associated with conservative fans using "they never UNAMBIGIOUSLY SAID shinji and kaworu are gay therefore they arent" to shut down yaoi, and also any marginalized perspectives; now it's the people who were bullied by that side of fan culture, clinging desperately to the idea that god will come down from the heavens and tell them they were Right All Along and that this will banish the Bad Fans, anxious that anything less than explicit is The Dreaded Baiting. death of the author has been abused and misused and its meaning distorted beyond recognition in fandom but also it exists in accademic discussion for a reason. knowing at least a little of the author's intent is useful to understanding *why* a text is what it is, but if you cling to authority to hand down validity onto your reads you are doomed to self-deception and misery

[spottheantisemitism]

Days of future past and the paper thin allegory

Of all the X-stories stories to hit you with the “this is an allegory for racism”, Days of Future Past is usually not one. Instead it’s more focused on the apocalypse and oppressive dystopia than how we got here and how do we change history The prequel however focuses on racism and tyranny and focuses on Kitty/Kate Pryde as her world falls apart. Making a young Jewish woman the lead in a story about a country falling into tyranny was indeed Claremont’s vision and the intended allegory (he does the Jews-Mutants parallel with Magneto as well) but what is never explored is the implications of that allegory nor any actual Jewish culture. The prequel fixes that

If you follow me at my main @gerrysherry you’ll notice the last panel is my banner. For good reason. This comic was make during a surge of racism and antisemitism in the summer of 2023.

There is a long running joke in the fandom that Xavier and Magneto in fighting each other rather than the anti-mutant bigots is allegorical for how real life marginalized people fight each other instead their oppresors.

In the prequel Magneto makes the metaphor quite clear. He speaks not of his worries but also his experience as a Holocaust survivor. And the writers managed to in one sentence change what “days of future past” means. It’s no longer “days of future past” in the sense that Kate is reliving the past (as was the case for the 80s original story) but that society is a whole is returning to 1940s era bigotry and oppression.

notice also how when it’s a ghetto the sign is green when it’s turned into a camp the sign turns red. I thought that was clever.

I never understood this scene when I read it last year but this year I can sort of understand. If you spent years pushing me out of your activism and scapegoating me, I’m not joining your coalition to fight the president now.

and yes Stryker’s administration is clearly commentary on the 2016-2020 Trump administration down to him being a demogogue figurehead serving with no term limits and it’s his cronies that run the country. Marvel isn’t predicting the future it’s just that second verse is the same as the first. Again the future is the past.

Kitty’s wedding to Peter in Chapter 2 is officiated by her Rabbi who sneaks out to perform a ceremony in secret. Historically many Jewish weddings were performed in secret and I’m sure the parallels are intentional.

they are also marrying in the rubble of the X-mansion symbolizing them clinging to the past. But this is done not simply out of nostalgia but also because they have no where else to go.

Magneto’s dying words are great. Days of Future Past Magneto post internment is a lot more calm and pragmatic than his 616 comics counterpart but he still feels like Magneto (even moreso than recent comics which mellowed him out TOO much). And the fact that it’s Yiddish rendered in Latin script (as opposed to the Hebrew alphabet) rather German like in X-men ‘97 or Polish like in X-men Apocalypse really speaks to the thought the author put in. Yes Magneto is a German-Polish Jew but do you really expect me to believe he sees either German or Polish as his native language? “This is a Holocaust survivor who just spent the last years of his life interned, he will not see freedom but his fellow prisoners will, what language shall his last words be in? Yiddish obviously”

What I love about this comic is that this comic uses past horror not exploitatively but in a sense that past events form patterns and can recur. Those who do not learn history repeat it.

the past informs and warns the future and in the convoluted time travel set in place in the comic, the future can inform and warn the past.

[transmascpetewentz]

if you think atheists are the enemy you have more in common with conservative christians than you'd like to admit, and of course we'll treat you as such. "marginalized religions" often have overwhelming abusive power within their communities or in areas where they're the majority, in much the same way christianity does in the US if not worse. cope harder and keep clinging to your lies, someday we will all be free of religion.

My problem with people like you isn't your atheism but rather your insistence that religion and culture are bad, and something to remove from society instead of something to celebrate and let multiple groups coexist. I don't think atheists are an enemy, I think that atheists who think I am their enemy are antisemitic. Because you are.

[metanarrates]

Okay i drafted this in docs when i saw the barbie movie yesterday against my will with my family. The Barbie movie isnt bad for what it is per se (summer hollywood blockbuster) but set it against any higher standards and it falls short in almost every department. There's a lot of incredibly tasteless leftist political jabs about the status quo and a comparison of the smallpox genocide that claimed millions of indigenous lives to Patriarchy (because it's not mainstream feminism if we don't elevate the oppression of women at the expense of other marginalizations). The choreography and costumes were nice but in regards to its messaging i cant find a whole lot to compliment. It amounts to "humans establish gender hierarchies because we dont know to think of any other way society could be arranged :( let's all pinky promise to work towards the eradication of ALL sexism***" which is massively reductive and fails to address a plethora of issues, including the fact that patriarchy as an institution is foundationally violent 🫠

***Ken's whole arc is about him resorting to establishing a superficially patriarchal system in Barbieland because he didn't have any other outlet to claim agency for his own person. The role reversal of Ken, the "man", being an accessory who can't exist outside of Barbie, the "woman", was likely intended to highlight gender inequality in a way that would be easier for regular people to sympathize with. Unfortunately I can't help but disagree with the idea that we cling to male supremacy simply because we lack the insight to seek other methods of liberation

Uhmm anywya. I dont even particuarly care for this cultural bandwagon i just needed to be a hater for a minute. If my opinion matters at all

your hater opinions ALWAYS matter to me :) we love thinking about how movies are ideologically messes here

i was talking to a friend last night abt this, but it sounds like the messaging here is very confused. it tries to make a statement abt sexism, but since there's the aforementioned issue of the writer not understanding that patriarchy is a violently enforced system of power, it comes across as the movie ending up positing that men are just Inherently Susceptible to being patriarchial and women likewise are Inherently Susceptible to being victimized by patriarchy. which is um. BAD!

also wtf is up with that smallpox comment. it sounds fucking evil!!!!!

[proofwhisky]

regarding the post i made earlier; i was told that cillian murphy is a problematic face claim to use as he himself is a white man and not romani in any way, and i said i would be removing all content involving him from my page. this is an update on that. please read it so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not you continue to follow or interact with me.

i completely agree with the sentiment that tommy was miscast and agree with the fact that romani people are regularly pushed out of media spaces and misrepresented when they are included. i agree that peaky blinders is not at all an accurate source of roma culture or people and, in fact, i think the show is blatantly harmful in many aspects when it comes to romani representation. i agree that all representation is important and i agree that i, as someone writing a fake british man for free on the internet, do have some degree of responsibility when it comes to accurately portraying a roma character.

i have done, and will continue to do, as much research as possible when it comes to even the smallest details of tommy's roma heritage and culture. i have always, since the beginning of this blog, included the fact that tommy is roma and all that it entails in his own life as often as possible in every thread, headcanon and verse. i have never dismissed, denied or even downplayed his being romani. there has always been a section in my rules about roma culture and my portrayal of it, which i have recently updated to include my opinion of the way peaky blinders treats roma culture and people. i do not use slurs and only reference prejudice or racism as a necessary part of tommy's story, not as some arbitrary plot point or source of conflict.

that said: i will not be remaking my blog or discontinuing my use of cillian murphy as a face claim for thomas shelby.

i recognize that, when confronted with an opinion from a member of a culture about something in my portrayal that is wrong, it is my duty to fix it and continue on, not repeating the mistake. i have done this and will continue to do this. i also recognize that, due to the context and culture here on tumblr regarding things like callouts and cancellation, anything other than complete and utter obedience to any demand or accusation from a member of a marginalized group will be met with some kind of blowback. i recognize that many will assume that this is me desperately clinging to or defending a conventionally attractive white man even though this post is not about the face claim, it's about the culture that has even made this an issue in the first place. i also recognize that it will likely be considered as me dismissing or ignoring the voice of said marginalized group of people when i say, emphatically, that i have not made any sort of harmful mistake.

the person who approached me about this is roma and stated extremely valid facts about (and their issues with) media representation as a whole. i agree with their grievances about this whole heartedly. this person has also stated that they are an avid supporter of only necessary callout posts, not the airing of personal opinions. i hope that my response will not be considered fodder for any kind of callout.

i have been on tumblr under the same pseudonym, gami, for over 14 years, and have never once been involved, even passively, with any sort of drama or problematic behavior. unfortunately for all of us, i have as much a right to be here as anyone else. i will not hold it against you if you cut ties for your own health and safety in the event that a callout or some such involving me does happen, but i will not be going anywhere either way.

the single issue with which i was confronted lies with the fact that a white man was cast for a romani part. the fact that he was cast was and is wrong. i acknowledge and agree. the fact that his entire family was cast with white actors for romani people is wrong. i acknowledge and agree.

that does not change the fact that they were, unfortunately and wrongfully, cast. it also does not change the fact that i did not cast them. i did not produce or write peaky blinders. cillian murphy has never said anything harmful regarding romani culture or people. he is not profiting financially from this blog. i am also not profiting financially from this blog. i am not officially affiliated with peaky blinders in any way. i have always done, and will continue to do, my absolute best to respectfully portray tommy's race and culture and to do better than the source material did.

i do not personally believe that using the only content available to me, through no fault of my own, while frequently and vocally disagreeing with much of the source material's content here and on discord is wrong. i am not any kind of influencer, i have never claimed to be someone who is a source of romani culture, nor do i claim to be an authority on anything, including what is and is not problematic.

if my reaction or this post has made you feel as though you would rather not be seen interacting with me, i understand completely and i wish you the best. do whatever you need to do to keep yourself comfortable and safe. all i ask is that you block me on everything and do your best to tell people the truth about me if they ask.

happy holidays.

[hussyknee]

some advice. turn off anon. actually insta block suicide bait, dont post it, bc thats literally exactly what they want. anti and proship are american terms for babies who cant tell reality from fiction, and babies who argue with the babies who cant tell reality from fiction. i seriously do not get why you people insist on punishing yourselves. it cannot be healthy to read and respond to suicide bait so often. grow up and be happy .

Unfortunately you can't grow up out of complex PTSD and mental health issues. I hope you never have to experience what it's like to be helpless in your reactions. Suicide bait is meant to trigger, and being unable to stop yourself engaging with it is exactly what a trigger is and does.

Counterargument: the proship-antiship discourse is in fact, the battleground of the systemically traumatized and marginalized; hurting people looking for other vulnerable people to hurt. Antishipping is the culture of acceptable targets and the perpetuating of abuse cycles. Proshipping is the moral stance that life giving you shit does not give you allowance to fling it like a monkey. It is in fact important to speak out against bullies and bully culture. And yes, it would be great if we could all refrain from negative online engagement and self-harming behaviour. However, the more vulnerable you are, the less capacity you have to simply walk away and choose what gets to you.

Apologies if this is unclear, but I'm now post my fourth ECT session and my brain resembles the inside of Dante's Inferno. If I wasn't desperately clinging onto the fact that this state is supposed to be temporary I'd probably be walking into traffic about now. As it is, considering you are a nice, mature, grown up person who have full command over themselves, perhaps you would find the compassion in yourself next time to refrain from sending ableist, sanctimonious asks to extremely mentally ill people who clearly can't disengage for a host of systemic reasons.

It's great that you're above all of this. Now fuck off.

[karthara]

Ok, first of all, uncharitable take here. Fuck you. Don't bully queer people you think are 'weird'. Calling a group weird and obsessive and suggesting that they were once harry potter fans at some point if they are like this is mean. You are implying a threat to cut them out of the queer community by phrasing it like that. Exclusionists suck, don't be one, queer people have enough enemies. Now that I have that out of my system.

While I hate that woman as much as the next queer person, why do you have an issue with using a cultural touchstone as a way to understand the self and connect with other people? Maybe I'm getting caught up on the 'for preteens' bit here. It feels a bit too much like all the people who think you should quietly exit fandom once you hit the 20-25 age range and settle down and pop out and raise babies for the rest of your life instead of having interests and hobbies. I understand a dislike of commercial properties and not wanting to be chained to someone who can be easily swayed by profit margins, but I feel part of being in fandom spaces is delving into the stories and world building and picking up bits you love and letting ideas that may be new to you expand your understanding of the world. To me it doesn't matter if the stories in question were written a long time ago and some 'smart educated' people decided they were worthy or if it's some fan fiction someone threw up on the internet on a drunken whim. If you find a story that evokes thought and feeling, isn't that a good thing? Maybe it's my mental health issues, but I don't see any problem with clinging to something that brings you joy if you're not hurting someone else. Maybe because I was bullied a lot as a child I'm overreacting here, but just… why do you feel the need to needle people you think are being 'weird'? I know we all feel like we're safe here under our rock on the tumblrs, but it's still a public forum. The things you say do reach other people. Honestly you sound like someone who just turned 18 and is desperately trying to prove how 'adult' you are by setting aside anything fun. Why do you feel the need to try and lift yourself up by putting other people down? Because that's what you are doing here. Good for you if you're 'too grown up' to get into 'children's stories', but please don't shit on those of us who find something to enjoy. If people want to find or make a flag that is specifically for their lived experience, is that harming anyone? No. Let people have fun with things.

do you think that a certain genre of queer person is so obsessively weird about pride flag discourse becuase their flags fill the gaping hole in their personality where a hogwarts house used to be

[makmalaon]

Writing For The Sake Of Writing

I don’t know why I write anymore. There’s no broader goal for me in the grand scheme of things. At some point, I wanted to have a self publishing empire and I wanted to get traditionally published. Nowadays, I just write whatever comes to my head. Maybe it’s therapy for someone like me who can’t afford it but I don’t feel any sort of relief or any emotions when I write. Therapy doesn’t even really work for me and I’ve tried so many types throughout the years. I don’t enjoy writing although it’s not uncomfortable or unlikable.

Too many writers trap themselves in toxic thinking patterns that keep them from doing the work they want. They worry about what others will think or whether their writing is good. The average writer is bitter and hates seeing others within their craft succeed more than them. The average consumer or reader is entitled, annoying, overly opinionated, snarky, jaded and hateful. No matter how good your writing is, there will always be someone to tear it down for whatever reason. Some people criticize writing as a form of content because they’re incapable of creating anything worthwhile themselves or they’re starved for attention and need validation. It’s rare to have people legitimately critique something and have it be worthwhile. 

I’ve been writing as a hobby since I was 13 and I’m now 33. I don’t even think about writing most days and I just do it. Whether it’s on the notes app, a google docs or with a pen and pencil, I have a compulsion to write. It never goes away. I don’t want validation anymore. It’s not important for me to be a “good writer” or to have an audience of people who adore me. I’ve self published some works and get mostly positive reviews but the average person’s opinion whether it’s good or bad makes no difference to me. 

I know that given my marginalized identities, most people won’t take my writing seriously regardless of whether or not I’m talented and if my writing is high quality. I’m boxed into these categories that I don’t really even identify with. When you’re an Asian American writer, it seems like the only appropriate things to write about if you want to get published are about the Asian American identity, the disapproving and unsupportive parents, the cultural alienation from both the western and Asian side, white romantic love interests and other things I either don’t care about or don’t identify with at all. It seems like a cruel rib by publishers but it’s also because that’s the type of content people from that demographic care about. 

Being Asian was never something that was important. I spent years online joining discussions and talking to people about it but it’s always a dead end. The label isn’t useful beyond political organizing and anyone who clings on to it too much or uses it to gain a following is some type of narcissistic and egotistical social climber.

If that wasn’t bad enough, I’m homeless, poor, asexual (grey ace), aromantic, non-binary but assigned male at birth and I follow the left hand path. 

These things are too much for people for the average person to wrap their head around but even in the woke circles where I’m usually boxed into due to these intersecting identities, I see those people as mostly no better than their counterparts and they’re often just as hypocritical so I tend to be just as critical towards them. 

I don't feel like creating "high art" because it's usually for pretentious white people and it's typically made by lame white males with inflated egos. The critics and community of people who enable those types of individuals are white or non-white social climbers desperate for white validation. I'm not at all interested in making anything for those people.

I never want to get boxed into a category. People all throughout my life and even in the present day try to put me in those traps. It’s great seeing them squirm and try so hard to control me. I don’t know why I intimidate some people so much. There’s no reason for anyone to feel any type of way about someone or to try and control them unless they were afraid. 

I’d be lying if I said I never wanted any of my novels to be traditionally published because the vast majority of writers do but I don’t think a publisher, literary agent or editor could ever share the same vision for anything I write because they would try to box me into a category and they would do the same for the characters or topics I write about.

I will create that romance and smut empire one day even if it’s the last thing I’ll do. I’ve written 2 romance novels years ago and I deleted every single one of them. The process and journey was enough for me.

It’s a foreign concept for most people to do things for the sake of doing them, especially in the west where everything is about ego, validation, power, social status or financial reward but what I’m describing is Karma Yoga. I meditate quite often but I don’t think that’s what got me to the point where I write simply for the sake of writing. It was through repetitive action and letting go of my expectations. On the days where I get writer’s block, it’s often because I overthink things or start to put assumptions about writing. 

I don’t do any marketing for certain works I publish and those are often the most fulfilling things for me to write about. I have a novel where I have a marketing plan and I will try to get an agent because I’d like for it to be traditionally published. This work doesn’t feel as fulfilling as when I publish things just to do it.

[orcelito]

While dragon age veilguard is so fun, I must admit. I do miss the earlier games.

(Under a cut bc I unintentionally rambled a LOT...)

It's so. *Polished*. Blatantly very beautiful. And it does have some fun conversations. I don't like the fact that you can only have 2 companions with you at a time though. I miss the inventory management stuff too... which is smth I never thought I'd say, but it does feel kinda. Low-stakes in terms of item consumption. No matter how rough a battle gets, every resource I use will regenerate given a bit of time and/or a trip to the lighthouse. The EXP system is also so strange. I love defeating enemies that are well above my level bc it usually grants me a Massive amount of exp (for the level I'm at) so it gives me a giant boost. In this game, I beat two champions and a fucking revenant like 15 levels lower than them and what did I get for it??? Some items I don't use, a bit of exp, access to a few places I couldn't go otherwise...which are nice I guess, but not rly that worth it??? I'm still fighting them bc I find it fun, but it does kinda suck a bit of the satisfaction out of it. Also fights giving exp per encounter and not per enemy??? Like if it was exp gained at the end of an encounter calculated by what you fought, that'd be fine. But it'll grant the same amounts of exp no matter how many enemies are in these fights. Really, most of the exp weight is in completing missions. *massively* more exp there. Which kinda makes me sad, bc im the type who does enjoy grinding via fighting enemies and getting stronger. (But also I like the Fast Forward option of fighting BIG things for extra boost, mentioned above). Also, no body looting?? At all??? Sometimes they drop stuff, but rarely. Most of my average item drop grinding is from breaking every box and barrel I see (which is really quite funny for how no one Ever reacts to it). Ultimately, it's lots of fun, but it's missing some of these key rpg experiences that I enjoy that earlier dragon age games Did Have. So that's kinda a bummer.

I also just. Miss the stakes of the earlier games. Like we have world shattering stakes here etc etc oh no another blight but this one's Different... it's like they forgot that you don't have to keep shooting further upward to make things interesting. Like there's only so much gravity of stakes before it starts to feel kinda... idk, boring to me??? I don't care about all this Fighting The Gods shit. I don't like how they did this plot point anyways, specifically with them establishing that the elven Gods were actually all tyrant mages that enslaved the elves & the vallaslin (an important culutral symbol to the dalish identity) were actually slave markings. It feels so massively disrespectful & dismissive of polytheistic cultures, bc they're saying the elves, a group of marginalized people with some clinging desperately to their old heritage, are all mistaken about their gods. And it's only the True god (the Maker)(100% just Christianity in a fantasy setting) that is a real actual god. Or something. I just HATE IT.... and also how they're portraying Tevinter and Antiva, especially with the rewriting of the Crows being some noble and familial order instead of conductors of child torture etc etc. And Tevinter keeps going on about the magisters and the venatori and the slaves and it talks about the Shadow Dragons' work but we don't actually. See much of anything??? At least not yet. They just look like they're sitting there twiddling their thumbs. Would love to actually participate in a slave break or something. See stuff more overtly instead of all the slaves talk being just talk??? Idfk it's Tevinter, smth that has long been a boogeyman for the series bc of its evil mages and slavery, but like... we don't even see any slaves around. They're mentioned Plenty, and they show iconography of it, but it just feels like the true horrors are off hidden... somewhere. Somewhere else. I mean aside from the stuff in like. The underwater prison, where we saw the effects of the blood magic experimentation, but EVEN THEN, slaves were only mentioned. It's like they were too scared to ever show a single actual slave. And after knowing and loving Fenris for so long, it kinda feels insulting??? Feels like the slaves are being denied their personhood. They can only exist as concepts, not actual people for us to see and know their pain. It's reductive, honestly.

Which, that's a good word. That explains this game in a lot of ways. It's Reductive. With the Crows, the magisters, how they present and have us handle the Gods + veil situation... even with all the death and destruction, it doesn't feel like there are any real stakes. Just oh no, more people are dead. I played the Treviso vs Minrathous choice today, chose Minrathous, and I was surprised by how... anticlimactic that fight was??? Like I guess I'm also pretty damn strong and that dragon was pretty challenging even for me. But not That challenging. And I didn't even get to finish the fight. And ALSO they mentioned something about the venatori marching on the magisterium or something?? But then I didn't get to do anything about it??? Just, oh fight's done, let's pop on over to the other city now. Other city is wrecked bc they just couldn't get the dragon to come down... which I know it's bc Rook has the knife that the dragon comes down to fight them, but *surely* they could've shot at the dragon with arrows in Treviso... for it to get low enough to blight everything??? And they couldn't do Anything?????? So like it does suck, there are definite stakes, I hate seeing Treviso overrun by blight like this and it's interesting that they had named characters die from it. I'll miss Heir bc I kinda liked her (WHICH IS WEIRD GIVEN SHES A TRAINER FOR THE CROWS AND YOU KNOW WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT TRAINING IN THE CROWS BEFORE?!?!?! But not this trainer don't worry she's niceys :3)(🙄🙄🙄🙄). But EVEN STILL... It just. It all just felt so anticlimactic. It wasn't a hard enough fight to merit it completely wrecking the other town like that. And the fact that i literally sent half my team to help out the other place!!! The literal only difference is that I had this damned dagger!!! It seems like such a bullshit small excuse to make me make some big difficult choice. Also the dagger being the idol that they found with Bertrand in da2???? That feels so weird. Something about purifying it or whatever but idk it just feels so *weird*.

Idk I miss the earlier games where it felt like things actually mattered. The romances were deep and complex. Again, with Fenris, we got to see how his trauma fucked with him in so many ways and how it took him literal *years* to feel ready for romance. And the passage of time!!!!! Like origins was wonderful for a classic epic rpg story kinda thing, a very good game, but da2 was amazing for how it spanned very little actually, but felt so *important*. It was just us living out a decade with this guy in a fucked up city with his fucked up friends. Everything felt like it *mattered*. It felt like we were actually part of the world.

Which that's another thing, isn't it?? The immersion, the feeling like I'm Part of the world... inquisition also struggled with this in a similar way to veilguard, though to its credit veilguard does try to tie in character backstories more... but we still don't *see* that. In origins and da2, you get a preview of your life Before everything happened. So you see how you ended up how you are. You also got to see your backstory characters at the start of the game, instead of them tossing some characters in front of you and going "Oh yeah, you know them :]" like no I dont???? Idfk it just makes it feel like it matters less.

AND ALSO!!!!!!!!!!!

The mages vs templars thing was such a central part of the games prior to this, and also the stuff on the treatment of elves. I got *one* dialog thing about how hard it must've been growing up in Tevinter as an elf (since I'm the shadow dragon background + an elf) but besides that??? Barely any mention at all. And there's next to no mention of mages with this, which I guess is largely due to the game being set in places other than Ferelden and Orlais....... but idfk man I feel like the world wouldn't be *this* different, minus like. Tevinter, obviously. Even then, we barely see mention of how elves are treated Even In Tevinter, where they are literally largely *enslaved*. I don't know if they've even mentioned that the slaves are all elves. I don't remember it at least if they did mention it (and I have a good memory). And fuck me, I do miss the mages vs templar thing, if only bc of how central it was and how Weird it feels for it to be a nonissue now. Even with us being in a different region of the world, it feels like we've just. Lost touch with the world's key influences. And reduced them all to just... oh no, here's some more death and blood magic. Which is awful, sure, but it feels like Everything awful in this game is just chalked up to death and blood magic and blight. I keep discovering letters in the field and I know they're gonna be dead. Like every time. Go out to find someone? Oh, they're dead now. Or blighted. Or they're dying and we get to hear their last words. I think the only exception for this was when we found the younger cousin in the Crows... which. Even Then. His elder cousin, who we were going after, was found dead. Where's the complexities!?!??!?! Why is everything just death and destruction!??!?!?!? There are more fucked up things to do with characters than just killing them or throwing darkspawn at them!!!!!! It's exactly this kind of thing that's desensitizing me to it in this game. Like oh no more death. Oh well, let's keep on exploring. 🙄🙄🙄🙄 it is, yet again, Reductive.

Now ALL THIS BEING SAID.... I am still obsessively playing veilguard and am having a ton of fun with it. But it just... doesn't Really feel like a dragon age game to me. It's fun, but only really when you assess it on its own. If you look at it in the context of the world at large and the earlier games, its writing just feels so, so weak. I've rambled for forever now and I still have more things I could complain about, but I will not. Because this post is long enough.

I just really miss origins and da2....

[miniar]

regarding a recent record release full of half-assed rage-bait by a washed up has-been...

Once upon a time there was an artist in the music scene that gained substantial cultural relevance.

Debates about the quality and nature of his work did exist and opinions were "mixed", but at the end of the day, fame or notoriety, he garnered a lot of attention and with them a lot of wealth and stature.

And then... he faded away, at least for the most of us.

A long time ago he played on the radio and Mtv and all that, but the reaction to his new album were, at first, "oh, he's still around?" even before the conversation regarding the contents of the lyrics started.

And while I haven't given it a listen personally, the general consensus so far has seemed to be one of profound underwhelm.

The man played for shock value back in my youth, and so, even people belonging to the marginalized community he seemed to have decided to come for were expecting him to spit some fire only to walk away somehow disappointed that all he appeared to manage was to dribble down his own chin.

If you don't know who I'm talking about yet, that's fine, it's not really important, and while I want to draw attention to the attempt to target trans people, as a trans person, who the target is isn't really important either.

The point I'm circling around isn't about him, or us, specifically, but about what he's essentially doing and how he's not the only one who does it. Sure he's a very recent and notable example (though not for the reason I suppose he's hoping for) he himself doesn't really matter to the conversation...

... which is why the album exists.

Fame is fickle, but incredibly powerful. It elevates a person quickly and to staggering heights, and this elevation is what corrupts a person, whether they're elevated by pure wealth, by pure political power, or by the social leverage given by adoring fans, or any combination there of.

A person thus elevated will inevitably begin to feel as though their position isn't just earned, it's deserved, it's natural, it's fated, it's their destiny.

But fame... is fickle.

And the rising star sometimes falls.

And from that fall is born a human being desperate to avoid a return to obscurity.

The lyrics sounds as though he doesn't know what he's talking about because he doesn't, he doesn't have a stake in the game, he doesn't really have an opinion, all he has is a desperate cry for attention.

He shouts out for Gen Z to cancel him because in order to cancel him they must first notice him, see him, acknowledge that he exists, treat him as though he has some, any, however slight, cultural relevance to the youth that he's desperate to reclaim.

He shouts out to be cancelled for speaking out against trans people in a desperate plea for transphobic people to elevate him like they've elevated other champions of their hateful cause before. He's not making that call because he stands with them of course, that's apparent by how phoned in and bland his statements on the matter are, they're less spicy than mayo on plain white bread tbh. He's making that call because he's desperate to be noticed, to be seen, to be treated as though he's got some, any, however slight, cultural relevance at all.

He's a younger Gen X member who's desperate to feel young and hip and with it again, who's already faded part-way into obscurity despite his name being known by nearly every millennial on the planet.

He's a perfect case study of the phenomenon.

His recent addition to his body of work is thus nothing new, not for him, not for anyone, it's the same thing others have done before him and others will do after him. He's seen what gets a reaction on the internet and he's trying to go viral.

He's basically a white guy with a podcast.

He's an author with no original ideas left but a desperate need to remain relevant.

He's a politician with zero policies trying to cling to their seat in a society that expects them to do the work they were elected to.

He's a washed up celebrity trying to relive the glory days of having fans, any fans at all.

He's a sad human being faced with the reality that he's no more important than the next guy and unable to come to terms with the fact that he's not special, fated to be above the rest, destined for greatness.

And at the end of the day, his name doesn't matter. None of their names matter.

They aren't worth the attention they're begging for.

None of us are worth the sort of attention we'd be willing to sell each other out for. That shit's not worth any of us either. That shit's toxic.

All of them, all of us, can do better than that.

When we do better, we get better, and deserve better.

[sappho114]

So why are you too lazy to mass report back? You get that it literally works the same for everyone right? You get that's why there's a lot of right wing idiots on here talking up that they got previously banned in their bios right?

Is this in regard to me mocking people who say Tumblr isn't transmisogynistic? I'll assume this is in good faith albeit with a bad understanding of what I wrote.

I did happen to say the automoderation tools target trans women unfairly and Tumblr staff has a clear and present bias when human interaction from them is present. Did you also happen to forget CEO Matt's meltdown and how many trans women have been erased since then? Tumblr staff actively melts down trans women's accounts into a sludge to keep the gears running at this point so to disregard that kind've makes any point on "report them back!!!" an anemic knee-jerk in the same vein of "vote blue no matter who!!!!" because it isn't actually addressing the active problem.

It may come to surprise you that I have little social capital amongst hate groups who make it their daily poison to try and get trans women killed, banned, deactivated, or to kill themselves and it's not only a dick move but actually kind of shitty to expect trans women to be the only champions for trans women and engage in similar levels of obsessive hateful behavior. These are our enemies, bigots, but very few to none of them are trans women and that colors the entire interaction - the unique intersection of transphobia and misogyny.

If your implication with this message is that "why don't you just hit back," I understand your sentiment. The problem there is that I do and others do as well. Disregarding that, the problem I have with that sentiment anyways is twofold:

It is extremely deleterious to trans women's mental health to sift through and organize campaigns to raise awareness of or the reporting/removal of terfs alone or by themselves. They are not doing it out of a sneering sense of hateful joy and misguided justice. A trans woman doing it is like how they made rage chimps in 28 Days Later. It actively melts your brain, it hurts you in ways that terfs organizing mass reporting or hate campaigns just don't experience.

It should be the broader responsibility of everyone - especially so-called allies of trans women - who have a statistically higher chance of gaining support, sympathy, and a means of communication with social media staff and the average citizen to report and manage their spaces so they are free of active hate campaigns. This is why I don't believe that only black people should manage antiblack behavior, nor only muslims islamophobia, asians anti-asian shit, et cetera.

Disregarding those points, the majority of trans women online that have been successfully targeted have been poor, neurodivergent, oftentimes barely clinging onto stability (be it financial, mental, or physical) and as such prone to self-harm or a mental health crisis. They often have been on Tumblr for years, sometimes half a decade or more, and as such heavily-rooted in familiar and safe online communities because of transmisogyny in meat space which actively could result in their deaths.

Reporting back is fine, and I actively encourage it but no marginalized group should fight alone. No marginalized group should be the only ones organizing and managing this kind of clean-up. It is a clear and present failure of a corporation's moderation policies, company culture, and staff management if the funny robot moderation just sorts trans women explicitly into a grinder like a Willy Wonka machine while it takes heaven and earth itself to get one nazi reported in a timely fashion.

It doesn't work the same way for everyone and that's what's actively wrong with Tumblr - I don't think I've seen any other website that explicitly eradicates trans women with a needle point specificity regardless of if an active harassment campaign is ongoing. I encourage you to look up the HRC case that Tumblr lost because of similar shitty practices and re-familiarize yourself with CEO Matt's bullshittery and what followed, never stopped, and continues happening on an almost weekly basis.

[lookwhatilost]

I think it's worth the effort, when it comes up, to separate the bath water of annoying "woke" culture war and tedious policing of art, language. and etiquette that most people dislike from the actual questions and issues they stand in for (social rights and equality). The culture war has a bad way of framing language and argument and factions so that people feel obliged to, or unable to distinguish, between the two – or mistake the former for genuinely serving the latter – and this advantages the right. For a lot of ignorant people who get their worldview from TV talking heads or Facebook, there is no distinction – their sole experience of, say, trans people is a cherry picked and disingenuously framed clip most annoying, outrageous histrionic and petty scolds, or just lies.

I think the majority of people are chill with "I just want to do my thing and go to the bar and chill without getting beaten up, I don't want my life and identity policed by the state" – the right "anti woke" narrative flips this against trans people, makes them the cops. The extent to which people cling to the affectation and performance based liberal pseudo-politics of the 2010s, as largely inconsequential as it is functionally, only helps reenforce this narrative and surrenders opportunities to counter it. I think you can build a majority consensus around, functionally, "cultural libertarianism" and that's the best bet for peaceful coexistence, fostering mutual understanding, and establishing and safeguarding the safety, rights and equality of minority groups of all types.

I think the focus around performing one's political affiliation creates an anxiety around nuanced expression and drawing these distinctions. The right has free reign to exploit the worst of "woke culture" and use it as a straw man for the actual question of civil rights because any attempt to draw that distinction, to separate the baby from the bathwater of cultural liberalism, risks being conflated with a right wing attack by those too preoccupied with superficial in-group signaling. But I think outside marginal circles these people are an inconsequential minority and should not be feared. Their power, cancel culture, is the emperors invisible clothes, at least unless you're in certain niches of media and academia. But hey, most of us aren't.

You can't actually be cancelled for anything so inconsequential, unless you let yourself be, unless you're foolish enough to take it at face value and seriously. And I think disregarding that subculture will help create a better public face for social issues. Because most of the time, when I encounter this kinda reactionary "anti woke" backlash in the wild, it's not ideologically committed transphobes or TERFs, it's people who's only exposure to the issue is exaggerated, fictitious, and/or decontextualized outrage bait. It feeds into something we all suffer from, which is the incentive of social media to constantly show us the cherry picked, decontextualized or fictionalized worst of the Other. Even the ones who are ideologically committed have completely lost the plot where it concerns sense of scope.

Also, I suspect it's probably necessary for one's own good to be free of the puritan demands of liberal culture war – to be x group without the obligation to be somehow a paragon or role model, to express yourself free of the moralist obligations of "good representation".