#but i had to get it off my chest

[o3o-lapd-o3o]

i like to imagine that as soon as the words "someone arrived today, they said they're taking you away" left calypso's mouth, odysseus "sat at the beach every day for 7 years crying for his wife & son" of ithaca immediately jumped up wiped his tears away

then swiftly (without a glance at calypso), walked over to a bush/foliage near the beach and grabbed all the stuff he had been accumulating for 7 years during his prison stay, ready for the day he can leave this place.

[myenterpriseisparked]

I'm generally not a hater. The list of media I actively hate (vs what I simply shrug at and go "its not for me") is fairly small. I don't usually talk about hating media online. I don't find it constructive or a meaningful use of my time.

That said, I will get this off my chest: I hate Star Trek Picard and the way it has made me feel bitter towards TNG. I hate the fact that it gets so much praise when the writing was so objectively shoddy, while Prodigy, which was well written and executed, got canceled because it was a "kids show." I hate how much nostalgia PIC threw to the masses to cover up poor writing. I hate the fact that it worked. I hate that people are petitioning for even more of the same style of show in Star Trek. I don't hate people that loved Picard, it's okay if it *was* your jam, but I am personally very bitter about the show and how it changed the face of Star Trek as a whole.

[derrickwildsun]

The obsession with wanting "consequences" to TOTK's ending are infuriating and shallow. (Massive TOTK Spoilers ahead)

"Why did they have to change Zelda back?"

Because her kingdom NEEDS her. Everyone, not just Link, is fighting together to get her back. NPCs tell you about things she did in between BOTW and TOTK to help them, stressing her importance as a leader. One of the schoolchildren waits outside her house every day in anticipation of her return. Speaking of which, Zelda was able to take her nerdy interests and love of learning and channel that love into bringing improvements to Hyrule via establishing a school and a research team. The kingdom is worse off without her. The title "Tears of the Kingdom" is important because the tears are Zelda's, and she IS the kingdom since she's all that's left of the royal family. It's kind of like the story of the Fisher King: the King is the land, and if the King is sick/ailing, so too is the land.

The main theme of the game is community. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi had this to say about the game's core theme:

Everyone working together to push back the forces of evil and save their homeland. It's emphasized that Link (and many of the characters, especially the sages) can't do the job alone; he needs help. This even extends to the ending. Link's Recall wouldn't have been sufficient to change Zelda back; Rauru and Sonia amplify his power the same way Sonia and Zelda amplified Rauru's light beam in the Gerudo Invasion memory. Likewise, Rauru and Sonia couldn't bring Zelda back because Link had the necessary ingredient: a motive in the form of his love for Zelda. Just like how Zelda found the necessary motive to unlock her powers and save Link in BOTW, so too does Link accomplish the same in TOTK.

Leaving Zelda as a dragon would have contradicted her character development in BOTW, which amounted to her learning to move past her failure and loss from the Calamity. She also, um, can't figure out "what kind of person she's going to be and what she is going to say" if she's a dragon. The end of her arc amounts to her taking up the role of leadership and restoring her kingdom with the help of Link, the sages, et al. Again, the theme of community, connections, and working together to overcome obstacles.

"Why couldn't she come back with dragon features?"

To quote Mr. Garrison: "That's fucking stupid."

Sonia explains that Recall recalls an object's memory, meaning the only result of the Literal Triforce of Link, Sonia, and Rauru using an amplified Recall on Zeldragon was to return her to the state she was before she ate the stone. This is why her stone is tied around her neck at the end. She couldn't have leftover dragon parts because she was never a dragon to begin with. Also, the greatest loss one could suffer from becoming a dragon is, as emphasized by Mineru, the loss of self, not the body.

"Why does Link get his old arm back?"

The amplified Recall restored it. Also, thematically, it works better for Link to grab hold of Zelda's hand with the hand with which he initially failed to grab her at the start of the game.

"Changing Zelda back nullifies her sacrifice."

No, it doesn't. She fully accepted she would never change back. She wasn't thinking about the possibility of Link saving her because as far as she knew that was impossible; she made her decision out of love for her kingdom and Link. In the end, she succeeded in her mission (as did Link). If she made the sacrifice with the assumption Link would save her, then I could see this argument holding water. But Link was never going to give up on her because he LOVES her. Even she's in disbelief at having changed back (and very thankful because now she's home). In the secret ending, she says, "I never thought I would stand in this place again." We feel the weight of her sacrifice in the final memory, and the ending provides an emotional release because we the player repay her for all she did to help us and because she more than proved her heroism. I liken it to the ending of Pinocchio (1940) wherein the Blue Fairy changes Pinocchio into a real boy as a reward for giving his life to save Geppetto's.

"Her not remembering being a dragon is a copout."

Mineru explains very clearly that becoming a dragon means losing one's self. You lose all your memories and indentity; you cease to be the person you were. So, yes, she wouldn't remember being a dragon flying around for centuries. But you know what she would remember because it happened before she lost all sense of self?

Though not outright stated, it's clear from the character animation that Zelda was in immense pain as the transformation began to take effect. Also, you can tell she was absolutely terrified in that moment. She knew what she was doing was necessary to save her kingdom, but she's thinking, "Shit, these are my last few seconds before I lose myself forever. I'll never see my loved ones again: Link, Purah, Robbie, Riju, Sidon, the schoolchildren in Hateno, etc. And I'm doing this all on a MASSIVE gamble and act of faith that Link will find me, reclaim the Master Sword, and destroy the Demon King." That's not the kind of traumatic event you'd easily forget. She'll probably be contemplating "Wow, if Link hadn't been so determined, I wouldn't be here now and that would have been my last moment alive," for some time. And no, you don't need to see her suffering psychological effects in-game; that's best left up to the viewer's imagination; there's only so much story they can cram into the game before it's overstuffed.

"Why did Rauru and Sonia come back to restore Zelda?"

Because they loved her, and Zelda loved them. From the moment Zelda met them, they promised to find a way to return her home to reunite with Link. They have an emotional (and familial) connection to her. By helping Link restore her, they're extending a final act of love to the princess they adore so much. It's a beautiful sendoff to them, because unlike Zelda's biological parents (Zelda's mother died when she was six, and Rhoam was too busy being a king to actually be a father to her), they were able to provide for and help her on her journey. It would have been a mistake to not bring them back to wrap up that plot point.

I think a lot of nerds suffer from Cinema Sins/TV Tropes brain: only able to deal in the most literal without any room for meaning. "Punishing" Zelda for her sacrifice wouldn't have added anything to her arc, as the whole point of her character isn't to be a stoic symbol for her people to mindlessly obey. The game deals in second chances, not just for Zelda obviously but also for Link. Link gets a second chance at the end to catch Zelda to make up for not catching her at the beginning; that's parallel storytelling with actual deliberate meaning behind it. Otherwise, the story amounts to, "He fucked up and there's nothing he can do about it." Remember that much like Zelda, Link had enormous pressure placed on him from a young age. He was expected to carry his duties out lest the entire kingdom be DOOMED FOREVER. But with TOTK's ending, he can realize that he doesn't have to worry about that pressure since no one's forcing it on him anymore. He can shape his own destiny and bounce back from a mistake; he doesn't have to lose Zelda forever.

I've already explained that the power Link, Sonia, and Rauru use is just an amplified Recall, but technical explanations aside, it's mainly the sort of scene that's driven more by emotions than by "logic." A good example of a scene that relies on the emotions of the story to carry it is the climax of Disney's Dumbo (1941). Animation critic/historian Michael Barrier writes:

If you're the sort of person who questions why Dumbo is able to fly without the "magic feather" or how Dorothy Gale goes home just by clicking her heels and repeating the mantra "There's no place like home," you probably shouldn't be watching movies.

Special thanks to @avalypuff, @blueskittlesart, @thecagedsong, @aquaticpal, and @nolongerapileofashprobably for their posts on the subject; all of you made some excellent insights on the ending and how it ties in with the game's themes. I'll go ahead and link to said posts for further reference:

[ilurvjohnoliver]

john oliver doing this pose makes me crazy

the jeans, his legs, his huge cock, the unbuttoned shirt, the smile ughhh he’s just so fine 😋

[rogerdeakinsdp]

so i've fallen down a rabbit hole of watching videos of foreigners travelling and/or moving to russia, and i need to rant bc even my mom is tired of me talking about, every time we're in the kitchen together she's like "have you found another one?" and i'm like "yeah 😔" ........ anyway

i'm not saying there's something inherently wrong with the people who choose to come to russia, especially after february 2022, but i'm not not saying it. i definitely don't trust them, and i assume they're right wing until proven otherwise. most of the people who come stay in moscow/st petersburg, none of them travel outside of the european part and GEEE I WONDER WHY. none of them are poor and most of them have questionable politics to begin with

there's this one american guy who tours TYPICAL/LUXURY supermarkets in russia and out of all of them he's the most popular right now. and even if he understands the concept of currency and how the exchange rate actually works, most of the commenters don't. "a liter of milk is only 80 cents" first of all, that's 950ml AT BEST, could be 800 or 750, and that's not cheap. "coffee is only 5 dollars" 450 for instant coffee is a lot. "look at these shelves in the middle of all those sanctions. does it look like the people are starving????" if you don't understand the details of sourcing produce don't draw stupid conclusions. like sure there's bread and milk and local meat because it's local, there's less variety and everything is more expensive, but there's still some stuff. you have to look at cosmetics, cleaning supplies, fruits and veggies, oils, cookies, drinks, alcohol. the first wave of sanctions that really hit the stores was in 2014 and you weren't there my guy. and even now like the pads are so expensive, and you get chinese brands that aren't as nice, and i can't get my favorite oral b dental floss anymore

there's another american guy who went to the grocery store to buy some pastry, 2 fruity drinks and 3 bottles of water. "omg just 11 dollars" 1100 is expensive!!! you can get like 25 different kinds of pasta that will last you months! "had lunch. only 30 dollars" 3k for a lunch that's just some vareniki and pirozhki?????? are you insane???? "just 30 dollars" fuck off. and the people he meets.... there was one girl from krasnoyarsk, and he asked "is that in the asian part of russia?" and she was like "that's in the middle of russia, asia is far way" GIRL WHAT THE FUCK???? you should know better. nobody thinks of western siberia when they say "the middle of russia" they mean central russia and you know it. krasnoyarsk is in the asian part of russia

there's another american guy who moved to russia to raise his family because russia is more like what the god intended, and they respect family values here and all that right wing bullshit. he sold his what looks like a $400,000 house in the states SO OF COURSE EVERYTHING IS CHEAP HERE YOU STUPID FUCKING SHIT!!!! "they have organic food here, no gmo, even the milk here isn't pasteurized" all milk in stores is pasteurized you dipshit!! "there's no racism here, they treat immigrants really well" because you're american!!!! they don't treat people from central asia, or indigenous peoples, or people from the caucasus the way they treat you!

there's a dutch guy who was surprised that russian people wash their hands when they come home and i don't know what to say????? you don't wash your hands???? gross

there's a japanese guy who also doesn't understand currency. "everything here is cheaper than in japan or finland" yeah i wonder why russia is cheaper than those first world countries, is don't even know why....... and he went to crimea in the last two years.....

there's a korean girl who mostly just vlogs about going to museums, and going to cafes and making food, and it's pretty boring, and she even acknowledged that her experience of russia is different from someone who lives here and it all depends on your economic situation, age, social status, your circumstances, and i just watch her videos looking for something inflammatory which is ?????? but there will be something 👁👁 why did you come girl???

there's another korean girl who went to the red square in a fur coat and no hat in december, which is suspicious........

there's a number of pretty unmemorable foreigners who are like "all my family told me not to come to russia, yet i'm here anyway, i'm gonna try to survive here because i like a challenge" go solve climate change if you like a challenge! knowing that living like me, better than me, with more money than me, is a challenge to someone is truly something..... GO HOME!

many of these people say "there's no restrictions on freedom on speech or freedom of expression, the media lied to us, i'm just a normal guy who wants to live my life with my family, i don't care what the government is doing" you're so stupid. you're so privileged. the commenters on these videos are full of right wingers, people are openly racists in them. it's just a cesspool of awful people.

"people are so nice and welcoming" because you are from the west!!!!!!!

JUST GO HOME!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE????

[localguy2]

Dragons Rising Lloyd rant

Okay okay, I think we can all agree that Lloyd in Dragons Rising is done really well, it's his best characterisation yet and it feels like a natural progression of his character in Seabound (not saying crystalized, just no, I hate crystalized Lloyd and a lot of other characters as well)

Wildbrain Lloyd's character was "attempting to be responsible while also being sort of irresponsible at very rare times", that's the vibe it gave off at least

But in Dragons Rising, his character is more of "Responsible and relatively healthy young adult" type, because for all his skills and expertise he is still learning new things, particularly about beint a mentor and Master for Arin and Sora

The most obvious example is not being able to properly grade Arin's and Sora's performances on the Course, he's trying to use Wu's methods but it's ultimately not working as well as he had hoped

Most importantly tho about his characterisation though is that... He's just having fun

Like no really- in most times where he's surrounded by the ninja or Arin and Sora, you can see the smile on his face, and the occasional chuckling as well, it's not that big of a detail but it just, such a brilliant detail in my opinion!

Because although it doesn't say it, it shows us that Lloyd has grown A LOT in the years since (and probably before) the Merge.

You know it sort of almost feels alien, seeing him go from his angry, and somewhat snappy self in Crystalized (weather his anger was justified or not in some situations is a topic for another time), to his... Much calmer, relaxed and stress free self in Dragons Rising.

And seeing him acknowledge how he and the other ninja were sometimes a pain in the ass for Wu, and understanding where Sora and Arin are coming from when they snuck out to the Crossroads Carnavel is just such a fantastic way of actually showcasing his character

Because yes while Arin and Sora disobeyed him, he and the others disobeyed Wu as well, a LOT more Arin and Sora currently

And the best part is, it all worked out in the the end, since they ended up busting Dorama's operation

TL;DR

Dragons Rising Lloyd is a perfect example of how you should further progress an old character in new intertsing and natural ways, either directly and obviously through dialogue and tone and method of speech, or through indirect and subtle ways such as small details and expressions

[koolaidashley]

Hmm thinking of it bc of a tweet I saw so I’ll say it rq just in case even thought I’m not sure it’s relevant bc it’s important to me

04 Leo blindness will not be reversed or taken away or healed or anything at any point in the plot. I know some media’s like 2 give a character a disability then “heal” it later as like a victory point or reverse it to have some emotional moment or whatever but ..I don’t like that :/

Being blind is just a part of being Leo. I’m not gonna take it away from him 🤧

[rosaaeles]

tw: mention of sexual harassment

yesterday i found out that a person i considered a friend (ill call them J for convenience) told someone on our uni course (ill call them k) about sexual harassment i faced last year.

i didn’t want J to tell anyone, especially not K seen as K and his friendship group were literally there when i got sexually harassed and bystood the whole event.

i keep trying to make sense of it but i cant. i cant rationalise it.

i told J about this confidentially. it told them about something super traumatic that happened in my life and now they’ve taken it and discussed it with someone who they know bystood the entire event and didn’t step in to help me whilst i was being harassed.

it makes me sick. J came up to me and told me yesterday and said “i know it wasn’t my thing to say, hope it’s okay that i did.” and it’s like???? if you knew it wasn’t your thing to say why did you? i made it explicitly clear that i didn’t want to talk to K or his friendship group. i’ve been ignoring them all year for a reason. i can’t look at them without panicking or feeling sick. i associate them with what happened to me, and i truly feel nauseous whenever i think about how none of them stepped in to help me or comfort me afterwards.

it feels like something has been taken from me. a trauma that should have been my own to decide what to do with now belongs to people i never wanted it to. only K knows for now i think, but the rest of his friendship group will soon and then all of them will know and i hate this so much. i feel so sick thinking about it.

i trusted J with something so personal and they used it as gossip fodder to become closer friends with K. i trusted J with an awful event and they fucking told one of the people that i directly associate with it.

it also feels like J never really cared about how deeply i was affected by being harassed. or like, they didn’t attach much weight to it and therefore thought it would be okay to talk about it. i’ve spent months trying to tell myself that what i experienced was serious and i wasn’t overreacting in the aftermath. it’s so devastating to feel like it’s all very trivial and just gossip.

i feel so distraught. i feel like im crazy. i can’t imagine doing the same to someone else. i dont know why J thought it would be okay.

idk if i’m making much sense rn, everything feels like a mess

[i-only-know-fandoms]

Carlos's mention in the wedding special and how they handled it was disappointing and vague and, in my opinion, leaves the door open to either fate

Context

So I took a peak at the Barnes & Noble bonus chapter of Melissa de la Cruz's Beyond the Isle of the Lost and Mal and Evie and Jay and Ben and even Doug are there but there's no mention of Carlos, and I don't know, that really upsets me. The Core Four aren't going to be in the movies anymore, (Disney, though intent on making more movie, at least hasn't sunken as low to recast Cameron, and Dove, Sofia, and Booboo won't return without him) they still exist in the universe (Mal's portrait, this bonus chapter, etc). And it just seems to me, as long as it's not on screen and they're continuing the franchise, Disney should include Carlos in any future books they might appear in

(Which I also believe they should do to continue Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay's story. They're intent on continuing the franchise, they've made that clear, and so tossing aside the characters that created it seems callous. Obviously there can be no more movies with them, thus, books. Also, these theoretical books could be for the YA fans of the original trilogy and thus get into the grittier details of the Isle, not the watered down happy ending that made no sense canonically in D3. As many are pointing out, Rise of Red will be for a new generation of fans)

I, personally, think that if they're set on continuing the franchise they should honor they characters should still be used (again, offscreen in books) to continue their stories and the legacies of the characters and the actors who created them, especially Cameron, as this is really his only legacy character. It also gives another way of keeping his memory alive, if they dedicate the books to him, and raise awareness for his foundation by including an page promoting it in the books.

It also seems callous to me to just toss all the work of those characters to the side, like they don't mean anything now that they can't be used in movies.

But, I am also worried want wanting this (or even asking Disney this, though I doubt they'd pay attention) that I am also just using Cameron? I just, I miss him so much, and this would keep him alive (similar to Chadwick Boseman through T'Challa. Like, they had him die in the movies as to not recast him, but there's still all the Black Panther comics and merchandise that he lives through. Yes, it's not necessarily his iteration of the character, since it did exist before him, but he's still connected with it). But should this stay in the fandom through fanfics and fanart, and not touched by Disney? But they're continuing the universe, so feels like this is just forcing him to disappear? Idk, I did another post about this after the Wedding Special, because I don't know if I'm being insensitive by wanting this. I don't think I am, I don't mean to be, but that doesn't mean I'm not.

So I set up this poll, (and set it before my rambling since who wants to read all this, lol) to get some wider perspective. Should I keep asking Disney to try and get the Core four's stories continued in books (if you're on Instagram, yup this is me) or am I being insensitive towards as them by asking for this

(The utter hopelessness of asking Disney and if I should give up because of it isn't in question, I have nothing better to do with my life than scream into the void. But if it's morally wrong.... I trust the fandom for an honest opinion on this and tumblr is the best place. And now we have polls, so......)

[m-awile]

RAMBLING IDEA TIME YAY

Twitch accidentally gets displaced in another timeline where the Autobot and Deceptcion war is going on. BUT she replaces HERSELF in that timeline who was born during the war and is part of the Deceptcions.

as for the another Twitch (named Firewatch) they find themselves with the Maltos, completely confused as to how they got here. and where is Shockwave or Soundwave or even Starscrea-

aka, canon Twitch and Deceptcion Twitch (Firewatch) swap places on accident and no one knows why or how

[ikram1909]

well culers aren’t really shit at defending players lol when gavi was getting hate they’d chant his name every match and everyone on this app defended him everyday pedri isn’t from la masia so they don’t care about him

Okay see now you're confusing fans who go to games and social media fans (especially the ones on twitter) there's a huge difference between the two. When I say culers suck at defending our players I mean the second type. The ones you say stood up for Gavi would do the same for Pedri. Hell, Pedri is probably even more loved or they're at least on the same level. Moreover, I don't think the situation Gavi was in when they started chanting his name and Pedri's are in any way comparable. Context matters. Gavi literally had an entire institution with their players, their coach, their huge media power doing everything in their power to destroy him mentally. They attacked him, they slandered his character and made him seem like a monster (his image is yet to recover to this day btw), they made up lies about his family and the list goes on. And like that wasn't enough, his contract just had to go and be unregistered by la liga because when it rains it fucking pours and the media launched their campaigns of fear mongering saying he won't play anymore or that he'll be a free agent and clubs were seeking him out etc I'm just a fan and I was stressed out imagine being him. A KID finally living his dream and suddenly everything is falling apart and he's getting booed in stadiums because people ate up the media campaigns. Like I think people don't grasp the gravity of what he had to deal with just because he dealt with it better than anyone in his situation could have. Because surely you wouldn't be begrudging him his name being chanted if you understood what he was going through. At least I hope you wouldn't. As for the social media type, Gavi is literally our most disrespected player on sns. And he's far from being protected, culers literally joined the hate train against him last season and some are still on it now. He was literally blamed for Jules' injury just a couple of weeks ago. I don't know about you but I wouldn't wish the way Gavi is treated on my worst enemy nvm my favourite player so bringing him up as a point of comparison made no sense to me.

All that being said, I can't say I disagree that culers are biased towards la masía kids I'm guilty of it too and I don't think that's a bad thing at all. These are kids who grew up dreaming of wearing the barça shirt and that have spent their childhood away from home fighting every day to keep their place. Not just anyone makes it out of la masía, it's a very competitive environment perhaps even unhealthy for kids to grow up in but they still do so we love them and enjoy their success because we have an idea about what it took for them to get here and that's okay. They also have Barça in their veins and it's nice to see that your players are as in love with barça as you are or maybe even moreso. So yes there's a bias towards la masía players sure but I honestly think Pedri is the player that's affected by it the least among all our non la masía players (along with Ronald). Culers literally love him so much they managed to convince themselves and everyone else that he is in fact from la masía 🤣🤣 he's a la masía graduate in our books and no one can tell us otherwise. He's very loved, don't let the twitter trolls convince you otherwise.

[yeetus-deletus666000]

Things have been difficult recently since I have been on that computer. I think I saw something interesting it looked like a lot of files. A lot of files with pass words. But I think one of the computers is very odd. It asked me if I wanted to talk. I said no as I didn’t feel comfortable talking to a computer as it would make me look like I’m insane.

I had a strange dream last night also. I was walking through a forest of some kind. I came across a wrecked car and I saw myself. I was just lying there and… I don’t know what to think but I touched my own corpse! I knew it was my own corpse as I saw my blonde hair although I have a tv head. I remember my own face still. I touched the corpse and it was cold. I decided to go to a building and I sat at the step and I looked up and I could see darkness.

I don’t know why I keep having weird dreams! I hope I can get better dreams. But this dream made me question my existence here. Also I went to the abandoned house on a map I found after digging outside of my yard. Yeah long story short I bought a shovel and dug outside of my house and found a map after noticing that someone buried something there. Weirdly enough the place was abandoned or so I thought but I met another human! He either was a homeless guy but he had a surprisingly normal dog, he didn’t have a name but his dog was named Johnny Cash. I admit it I actually have a car and I do listen to Johnny Cash on the radio. I’m surprised that at least the music is normal unlike the neighborhood. The homeless guy actually was the one who buried the map because he didn’t want anyone to see it so he gave it to me. Really nice that he knew the radio girl Charlotte but he was already planning a way out of the town.

I decided not to mess with the tapes yet since I don’t know if they are damaged as one of them had an unknown substance on the box or if they are very useless actually. But I have a multiple vhs tapes of Batman The Animated Series for some reason along with Adam West’s Batman. Maybe the god likes Batman for some reason!

But that’s all I can give right now! I hope I don’t miss an update as things are taking longer than usual.

[ifindtheartifacts]

Y’all I gotta be honest about something. I didn’t join swiftie tumblr until rep came out. And then I got last minute tickets to tour. And someone posted that she was heard sound checking Mary’s song and I thought it was legit and was like “I don’t know this one so I have to study” and I think about that whenever y’all talk about it

[inseparableduo]

I think my new pet peeve is muns insisting their muse is better than yours at like,,,, everything. I'm not really talking about god modding? But more like you're talking to them ooc and they just keep almost bragging? how if their muse went thru what ur muse went thru they would handle it differently and be 'better' at it or just avoid the situation all together or they commentate on some of your threads how if their muse was involved they would just do it better like,,,,, it just really annoying and don't even get me started if your muses do have some similarities

Like of course it's ok to make those kinda comments every now and then but constantly? i'm gonna debate on blocking you tbh. Especially if the vibes are off

[coldgoldlazarus]

Getting repeatedly pestered by terfs now, and I keep going to their blogs to block them, and it's deeply frustrating.

Because I'm gonna be honest. In regards to issues of sexism, mistreatment of women, and patriarchy and mysogyny still being dominant in our culture? I'm right there with them. There are a lot of things that we still need to work on, and don't get enough focus.

But it all falls apart when the blame for all this winds up falling on trans people and other queers, (and sometimes, revealingly, racial minorities) instead of the people actually responsible, actually in power.

I've read receipts, and half of them, yeah, I don't condone. I will certainly agree that some trans people lean on that to excuse acting shitty, and there are plenty I just wouldn't want to interact with. But that's because they're being crappy people, not because they're trans, yet terfs constantly refuse to make that distinction.

Furthermore, the other half are easily researched as misinformation, (the gal who poured tomato juice on Posie Parker said she would "drop more juice" if given the opportunity; this was sensationalized as "I would assault her" on radfem blogs.) people blatantly lying to villainize trans women and paint them all as pedo rapist monsters, and trans men infantilized as naive victims of some terrible cult.

That selection of a scapegoat group, and using individuals' bad actions as an indication of the whole? That's bigotry. Intentionally painting the rest in a worse light to further that narrative? That's targeting.

No group is a monolith, and I do believe there are radfems out there who are more openminded, who genuinely try to live up to the "feminist" part of the ideology. As tempting as it is to say Posie Parker accepting Nazis at her rally is indicative of the whole, I have heard about many who have begun rethinking things in response to what happened at Melbourne.

But at the same time, the fact of the matter is that there were Nazis in Melbourne, supporting Posie Parker. My girlfriend and one of my best friends both live there, and were terrified to go to work nearby in case the Nazis felt emboldened enough to freely attack people. And if you're going to try to excuse or downplay that, or if you feel that allying with them against queer people is more important than fighting against the mysogyny engrained in their own ideology, than you are not a feminist. You are just playing pretend.

But to those of you who are as put off by their presence and support as everyone else, I think that's an important sign to reconsider where your priorities lie. Is hate and fear what you want to base your movement around? Is it more important to you to attack and punch down at queer people and only view them through a lens of mistrust, or is your goal to uplift women (whomever you choose to aknowledge as such) and meaningfully fight back against the sexism, mysogyny, racism, and homophobia that you have discussed?

This is an open invitation to put your money where your mouth is, and focus on the real threats to women; the frantic efforts of facism to reassert itself by using queer people as a scapegoat, and the systemic patriarchal sexism that continues to pervade much of society. This should be our fight together, if you truly believe what you claim to believe. If you are better than siding with literal Nazis, then please show it.

[spacefarer]

I just want to thank all the fandom adults I’ve somehow managed to cultivate across my various social media accounts who understand that fiction is a place to safely explore a variety of subjects, some of them really taboo and fucked up, and who also understand that if it’s something they don’t like, the block button exists.

I swear I left fandom for a decade and came back to find all the simple, common sense measures we used to have in place - tagging, trigger warnings, etc - just went out the goddamn window