#how does one explain without backlash?

[frostytheduck]

That feeling when your conservative (ignorant mostly) parent is watching a political video on the TV and it's filled with Transphobia and they're agreeing with the video...

I don't have the spoons to explain why an attitude like this is dangerous and thanks to algorithms the only content he gets is more conservative crap and nothing from a different perspective than the one he has.

[nothingtoseehere00-00]

Just imagine Steve figuring out he's bisexual and realizing that when he dates a girl, at a certain point into dating them, he's gonna have to tell them that he's also into men. Of course since it's the 80s, the chances of them being okay with that is probably slim. They might think he's disgusting or that he's just gay playing straight.

So he tries dating guys instead, thinking that's safer. And he ends up meeting a great guy named John at a gay bar who he really likes. Things are going strong until they started talking about past crushes and first loves. Steve casually mentions celebrity crushes on women and having loved Nancy. And thus Steve gets his first ever experience of the rampant biphobia in queer spaces. John accuses Steve of being confused and trying to hold onto his "straightness". Steve tries to explain himself by saying that, no, he really does like women, but that only makes things worse. John now believes that Steve is just going to eventually leave him for a woman, if he hasn't already been cheating on him. John ends up storming out leaving Steve devastated.

He goes crying to Robin and explains what happened. He's horrified to realize that no matter who he dates, there's always going to be the risk of them not accepting him, guy or girl. But he can't hide that part of himself, it's too big. It's who he is. Robin is there to reassure him that if someone can't accept him being bi than they don't deserve him. It's able to cheer him up a little, but the damage has been done.

Steve is now very reluctant to date anyone. And if he does manage to bring himself to go on one, he gets complaints of being very emotionally distant or having a fear of commitment.

When Steve inevitably falls for Eddie, he's scared out of his mind. It's clear that Eddie is gay based on his hanky, but, again, that doesn't mean he'll accept Steve's bisexuality. One night, while the two get so high in Eddie's trailer that Steve has to stay over, they argue about sleeping arrangements. Eddie keeps insisting that Steve would probably be more comfortable with Eddie sleeping in another room for some cryptic reason and Steve, who gets incredibly clingy while high, keeps shooting back with them sharing a bed being fine. When Steve keeps asking why they can't over and over again, Eddie blurts out that it's because he's gay. Without hesitation, Steve's says he knows and points at the hanky on the dresser by the bed. Staring at Steve for a moment, Eddie then asks how he knows about the hanky code. This time Steve hesitates. For awhile. It honestly scares Eddie for a moment, thinking he's been vecnad. If Steve hadn't been high, he maybe would have been able to think of an excuse, some way to get out of this conversation, but he can't. So he admits that he likes guys.

Eddie very excitedly starts asking a bunch of questions and talking about how they finally found something they have in common, who knew? When he notices the tears in Steve's eyes, he stops, confused, and asks what's wrong. So Steve tells him. He's not like Eddie. He's bisexual. And he braces himself for the backlash. For loosing his best friend and crush.

But then he feels a hand grab his. Eddie tells him that they still have something in common because he's also bi. Steve points out that he said he was gay, though. Eddie asks if he has ever told anyone that he was bi before, specifically gay men. Steve nods. Then he asks if it went well. Steve shakes his head. Eddie tells him that's why he said that. He's explains how tiring it is to have to explain his existence to people who won't get it and/or react badly to it. So he just tells guys that he's also gay. It just makes things easier. And Steve gets it. By God, does he get it. They spend the whole night exchanging stories and experiences, for the first time able to talk freely about their love life.

And by the end of the night, they stumble over each other trying to ask the other out. They laugh and both say yes.

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

I have gotten so many messages from folks who see what's happening to Jews right now, how literally any statement from us that isn't straight up "death to Israel!" "tear it down!" "river to the sea!" etc. - no matter how tempered in other ways or critical of the Israeli government it is - anything even mildly supportive of the terrorism victims/their families in their grief and/or Israelis deserving to live is getting dog piled to an absurd degree. And yes, that primarily targets Jews (because we're the ones primarily speaking on it) but it definitely is also hitting anyone not Jewish who says this as well. Immediately, overnight, the left has made any position that respects everyone's human rights and allows Jews room to grieve our murdered and missing family and friends without telling us they deserved to die in terrible ways completely radioactive. Like literally even the most milquetoaste statement attracts numerous hysterical commentators. And because it's so toxic, people are afraid to speak up.

And I've now heard from a lot of gentiles that they had no idea how deep the rot of leftist antisemitism went, how they've been seeing this unfold with horror, and are afraid to speak up.

Here's what I'll say: those messages give me a lot of strength, because they help me remember that I'm not insane, that this is horrendous, and we are seeing in real time exactly who would have helped the Gestapo find us if they were sufficiently convinced that this is "decolonization." That yes, the backlash really *is* that bad. I hear that affirmation and I appreciate it, and I understand your fear, because it was mine too. I myself strongly considered at the beginning not saying anything about this until I could do so without being harassed. (I decided against that because I am physically incapable of shutting up when it pertains to my people, but I understand the sentiment.)

Here's the thing: this is never going to end - those people who take seriously the question "are Jews people?" are going to be the vocal minority unless and until we all speak out. Jews are 2% of the US population and 0.2% of the world's population - there are literally more self-identified Nazis in America than there are Jews. I would honestly be surprised if there weren't more horseshoe theory leftists in the world than Jews also.

That being the case, we really do need our allies to speak up with us. I think if we all spoke up at once, it might be enough to break the silence-taken-as-agreement and shame everyone but the avowed antisemites (rather than the thoughtless and opportunistic ones) back into keeping their antisemitism under wraps. Which does have the effect of bringing the mob under control. Jews have faced a ton of mob violence in the form of pogroms throughout our history and backlash to Jewish victimhood. (Tl;dr - "How dare you make me consider how I might have benefited from or been complicit in hurting Jews? This is actually the fault of the Jews." is a disturbingly common thought process.) (You may also be wondering what I mean by "opportunistic;" I can explain in another post if people are interested.)

I know it's scary. I am well aware that you might lose friends from this. I personally decided that if those "friends" valued Jewish lives so little, they were never my friends to begin with, but it's different for non-Jews. They may genuinely be your friends. I'm not demanding you do this for me or my community, but I am asking you to consider what your line is for your friends. And if you are able to talk to them, to ask them what makes this group different from all other groups in terms of deserving compassion and human rights, it may just help us to quiet the mob.

And, if nothing else, just privately reminding those of us who are speaking about it that we are grounded in reality and compassion helps combat the mass gaslighting going on.

[worriedvision]

NPC behaviour - Wanderer

Gender neutral reader, reader and wanderer were basically scripted to be together and it was rolled back due to backlash. For obvious reasons, this is solely a hypothetical. Angst ending for reader. Short compared to what I was going to write, as I don't really know how to not make it sound too complicated tbh lol!

--

"Hey, Wanderer, who's that?" Paimon asks, tilting her head as she spots you running towards Wanderer. He groans, knowing what you were about to do but not stopping you as you tackle him into a hug. "Hey, I get why you'd not trust him but-" Paimon protests, assuming you were attempting to hurt Wanderer.

"Don't worry, I'm dating this one." Wanderer tuts, you kissing him on the cheek. "...why do you look so shocked?"

"Well..." Paimon starts, whispering to the traveler to speak for her.

"...you didn't strike us as the lovey dovey type." The traveler starts, changing their pose. "Happy for you, though!"

If only the players agreed. Your NPC was programmed to stay in the one spot, gushing about your plans with your partner.. the development of you was to be the opposite of Donna.

Unfortunately, you are gushing so much without being able to help it that players would make fun of you. Pulling up characters they ship with your partner, attacking your NPC (doing no damage) and you'd even hear some people discuss how you were not worthy of dating the Wanderer.

When you were able to have the rare moments of offline time with your partner, he reassured you he isn't dating you because he felt guilty, or he feels like he needs something to keep the other side of the bed warm.

"Don't forget, we have our promise rings." He states, pulling out the ring he puts in his pocket every day. You trace the ring on your finger, and you smile warmly at him for the gesture.

...if only that wasn't a scripted event, one where the traveler eavesdropped.

Your next "scene" was your boyfriend pulling out the ring that he had in his pocket, smirking devilishly at you as he makes his way towards the edge of the port. Your character runs, begging him to explain what happened, but he only chastises you for being so silly to think you were going to be together long term. You try to explain you want to have a proper discussion - even if it does end with a break up, you'll at least know what went wrong.

The music fades when he throws the ring, you rushing to grab the ring only to be stopped by the Traveler who holds you back from jumping in. You hear your now ex-partner walk off, laughing as your character begs for another chance to no avail.

You could swear when you next saw him offline, he looked guilty, but you quickly brush it off as he returns to his no longer living you face.

While you were tired from being in scenes where your boyfriend needed you for character enhancement, it was much more humiliating to be the NPC with a well known line.

Your characters voiced line is stuck at a whiny "Maybe I need to give up on love".

[victoriadallonfan]

I don't agree with a lot of Sanderson's politics - and they aren't, in fact, based in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints doctrine, but rather Utah culture - but it also makes me pretty uncomfortable to hear you badmouthing the church I'm part of?

I badmouth religious organizations in general, Catholic Church included (in which I was raised) because they tend to be overwhelmingly corrupt and abusive towards their own church members (and especially towards people outside of them)

Mormonism in particular is especially bad for how being part of the church requires “tithings” from paychecks plus their treatment of women, minorities, and even men in ways that are almost so explicitly manipulative and cultish that it feels like it comes out of parody.

(For example, I simply declared, “I am no longer catholic” and that was it. Done. You cannot generally do the same in LDS without incredible backlash and slander by its members)

And it’s very obvious when it shows up in fictional books by a lot of Mormon writers, because it’s so conservative that it’s a step or two behind the times.

It’s not as bad as Westeros Westboro Baptist Church or Scientology, but that’s not a high bar to clear.

If your time in the church was different, I’m happy for you, because it means you likely avoided the worst parts of their abuse.

Still, if you have the time, I’d suggest watching these videos (in no particular order):

Why I Left Mormonism - Video covering the creation of the channel “Cults to Consciousness” and her abusive home life under the church

The BITE Model - Simple PowerPoint explaining the reoccurring factors of cults

Ex-Mormon Cast Reacts to Mormon Debates -Cast of ex-Mormon members react to a Mormon debate and highlight various lies and falsehoods presented, as well talk about teachings/history Mormon Church does not want revealed publicly

How the Mormon Church ‘Help Line’ Hid Child Abuse - Exactly what it says. Survivors speak out and the church has done nothing for them or worse.

If you don’t want to watch these videos, if you can’t stomach the testimonies, ask yourself and others these questions:

- How often are you allowed to preach about Heavenly Mother?

- How often do you see women in power within the church, as in, deciding doctrine and not just playing piano or making food for the men?

- How often do you see minorities in power within the church, as in, deciding doctrine or being treated as a token?

- How often does your church talk about the incredibly high suicide rates for children and how it’s associated with its practices?

- How come when a racist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic etc Prophet speaks its “the word of God” and doctrine, but then another Prophet can simply claim it was mere “policy”. Was ‘God’ lying to the prophets? Were the prophets lying about God? How can you trust what is their words and what is God?

- How come the church hid $30 Billion dollars from the public and even its own lower members?

- How come the founder lied about what was on the Egyptian papyrus, claiming it was a translation from God, but people who can actually read Egyptian pointed out he was lying?

- How come you get treated differently for asking these supposedly easy to answer questions?

I do not go after Brandon or you because you happen to be religious. I think belief in a higher power is one’s own choice and prerogative.

I instead care far more about the religious system that is using well-intended people like pawns for goals that pretty much boil down to money and power.

[dolleminas]

I just saw this video of a GNC woman asking a genuine question to the trans community about gender stereotypes. And despite her apologising so much for fear of being cancelled, she made some great points. But some of the replies made me go like HMMM.

Okay, but what does a woman feel like? What is a womanly feeling?

This woman legit spent 1/3 of the video begging not to be cancelled and she didn't want to be labeled as transphobic, she just asked a question. Who is she pestering here? She didn't even go to a trans person's page, she uploaded a video asking for input from the trans community because she wanted to understand.

????! How is this not problematic? This is absolutely giving me religious vibes. You aren't allowed to question ANYTHING, you just need to accept it without thinking about it? How is that not terrifying? Blind faith?

Okay, but if you can't explain it then how is it real in the first place?

I think this is my biggest issue with this community. Because you aren't allowed you question, you just need to accept it. You can't ask about it, because then you're pestering. No one can explain what it is, but nevertheless it's real and if you don't think so you're transphobic.

I genuinely think that is very flawed and creates a culture where people are too scared to ask about it in fear of backlash. And furthermore creates ignorance. This legit feels the same as 'god has a plan for us so we should never question it.' And to me that's terrifying.

[getvalentined]

The Big Patreon Breakdown

Okay, Patreon's Discord Q&A ended on the 16th, and I've been waiting to see if anything else happened—like maybe a a public announcement from Patreon instead of emails sent exclusively to creators and a video hidden on the CEO's personal YT page—but nothing has happened, so I'm gonna do a breakdown of what we're looking at.

This is an EXTREMELY long post. I am not putting it behind a cut. I'm not sorry.

Short attention span version here.

—

I. The iOS processing fees are a smokescreen covering up the actual devastating changes that Patreon is forcing creators into.

The iOS fees are trash, 30 percent is extortion and we all know it—but that's not the biggest issue at hand here. Patreon is using this event as an excuse to change the entire structure of the creator side of their platform, and blaming Apple to avoid getting backlash.

They tripled their platform and processing fees in 2017, passing it on to patrons without notice, and the subsequent hemorrhage of paying users forced them to walk it back. They tried to force everyone onto their rolling billing model in 2021, and the entire community pushed back so hard they were forced again to walk it back.

This time, they're doing both and insisting it's Apple's fault, and everyone is taking that at face value because Apple sucks. And Apple does suck, but Patreon is getting what they've wanted for years by catering to Apple.

Oh, also, they're forcing creators to notify their patrons of the billing model changes (with a suggested template that explicitly refers to it as a decision made by the creator, even though nobody is making any decisions here except Jack Conte) rather than doing it themselves.

II. Patreon is not going to change course for any reason. This is set in stone.

There are multiple proofs for this, including but not limited to:

One-on-one calls between the platform's top earners and the CEO, Jack Conte, wherein the vibe was apparently not "What can we do to support your business in order to retain your place on our platform?" but rather "We know that the only way this works is if we don't do it, but how can we keep you from complaining about it any more than you already have?" One creator explained in granular detail how they run their business through this platform and why changing their billing model would ruin literally everything, and Conte responded with "Is this an essential part of your offering?"

The Patreon Team on Discord has continued to shut down all discussion of alternative options with assertions that Apple won't allow it, even if those alternatives were suggested based on legal precedent set by lawsuits against Apple, and the declaration that they will not be allowing the app to be removed from the App Store no matter what because it's the single most important and integral avenue of creator growth on the platform. (Put a pin in that.)

The platform's top earner is on the pay-per-creation billing model, the one that is going to be hit the hardest; creators on this model stand to lose literally 90 percent of their income overnight. This creator and his team were as blindsided as the rest of us, and they've been offered no assistance except for a complex math equation to try to calculate how much they should be charging people on fixed-price tiers, and no assurance except "the iOS app is the platform's highest source of engagement and is necessary to help you continue to grow."

Pay-upfront (PUF) and pay-per-creation (PPC) billing is going away for new accounts and anyone who doesn't opt out via Patreon's convoluted backend before November 1 of this year, and anyone who doesn't manually switch over to their rolling billing cycle will be automatically pushed into it on November 1, 2025. This means that PUF creators no longer have the promise of a steady paycheck when they need it, early enough in the month to pay rent and bills, while PPC creators are losing their entire business model all at once, which has resulted in a loss of 75 to 90 percent of income for multiple PPC creators who have tried to switch to the rolling billing structure in the past. They are killing these people's livelihoods and they know it, they have seen the data to prove it, but they will not be swayed.

III. Patreon claims the iOS app is the highest source of engagement on the platform at 40 percent—but will not define what "engagement" means, and staff refuse to share detailed analytics or data on the revenue share coming from the app.

Several creators, some with a couple dozen patrons and some with thousands, polled their audience to get a feel for how many of them used the app. Consistently across every creative industry, genre, and form of media, the answer was 2 percent or less. The average across a dozen-plus polls of actual active patrons, numbering into the thousands, is that around 85 percent of patrons access the platform exclusively via the web, whether on desktop or mobile. The majority didn't even know there was an app.

Further, Patreon would not explain what "engagement" means, but did not deny the possibility that dismissing an app notification on your phone counts as an "engagement."

When Patreon was asked for data on how often people pledged to support a creator via the iOS app, the only response was the claim that information is "sensitive to [Patreon's] business" and can't be shared. In a creator-exclusive server. With the people who bring that revenue onto the platform in the first place. And have our own analytics that we can look at individually, which show an average of 0 to 0.5 percent revenue from the iOS app.

IV. Patreon does not have a refund policy in place to work with Apple, and has given no implications of intention to work with Apple to shorten the time it takes for funds from iOS purchases to be paid out to creators, which is currently 75 days.

Yes, you read that correctly: at the moment, it takes 75 days before creators can cash out funds processed via iOS. On top of that, Apple's refund policy is 60 days, and the creator is not involved in the process whatsoever—if a malicious actor pledges to your page, downloads all your work over the course of a month, and then pings Apple for a refund? Apple gets to decide whether or not they get that refund.

Patreon's general refund policy is that it's up to the creator 99.9 percent of the time, with very rare cases of fraud requiring Patreon's intervention. In the case of pledges and Commerce sales via iOS, the creator has no say, and Patreon currently has no policy to protect them. They've stated that they're working on a refund policy that will work with Apple's guidelines to keep everyone happy, but at this point we all know what that means—they're just going to use Apple's refund policy.

They also wouldn't say whether or not creators would be on the hook for Apple's added processing fees, as is usually the case with other big payment processors, but it sounds like we are! So if someone pays $14.50 on the iOS app, the creator gets $10, can't pay it out, and then the malicious actor can call for a refund weeks later and the creator will owe $14.50—in spite of only ever having seen $10 and never being able to pay it out because the 75 hold hadn't passed. Sounds great!

V. Patreon's own graphics meant to explain why this is necessary and how the new fees work are not correct.

I'm gonna let these mostly speak for themselves:

The sale price listed on this graphic is $10, but adding together the three fees listed gives a total of $11.35. This is likely a copying error, as 4.35 is clearly not 30% of 10, but the lack of attention to detail on one of the only two pieces of official material that we have which refer directly to the numbers on which Patreon is signing away our livelihoods is slightly concerning.

This one totals up to 103 percent! (Actually closer to 104, since I rounded Android and Mobile down by about a quarter percent each.) The 40 percent figure on the iOS bar is based on the figure given to us by Patreon staff, and was used to place the markers to denote individual percentages on the other three.

Patreon made these and gave them to us with the assertion that they were proof that the iOS app is indispensable—why should we trust anything they say about numbers if the charts they gave us are literally impossible?

VI. Patreon refuses to offer any promises to 18+ creators that they will not be removed from the app in order to adhere to Apple's content guidelines.

Instead, Patreon staff's response to this request for reassurance is "We have no plans to remove 18+ creators from the Patreon app." You may note that's phrased very specifically, and leaves a hole big enough to drive a freight train full of iPhones straight through. They have no plans to remove 18+ creators from the app. When asked for clarification on this, confirmation that they would not be removing us from the platform if Apple pushed them to do so regardless of whether or not they have plans, this sentiment was simply repeated in more words and with more apologies, along with a reminder that Patreon has had to change their terms for 18+ creators several times already in order to keep up with laws and competition.

VII. All the features Patreon is insisting are integral for creator growth are inaccessible to 18+ creators, and questions about this were either dismissed, redirected, or ignored.

Remember how the iOS app is the single most important and integral avenue for character growth on the platform? Well, 18+ creators are not discoverable on the platform, regardless of the avenue of access. We are not visible on the app unless you have it installed, are logged in, are already following us on the platform, and click an external link to be directed to our pages from somewhere else via a mobile web browser. There is no way to find us on the platform itself.

Other features that staff insist are necessary for growth to which 18+ creators do not have access:

Patreon creator search (on web, Android and iOS apps)

Mass post editing (now called the "Library," which reads as "Something Went Wrong" for me and other 18+ creators who tried to get to it)

On-platform video hosting

Built-in cross-creator recommendations

All on-platform "commerce" features (both digital and physical goods)

The ability to market ourselves by linking to Patreon from our social media and vice-versa (we're basically not allowed to do this or risk being banned)

Yeah, about that first and that last point. We're hidden from searches on the platform, and we can't link to our pages from social media or risk permanent suspension. We cannot grow in this fashion at all, and in fact 18+ creators are getting all the downsides of this switch (except maybe for the app fee, since you can't fucking find us to pledge on the app) with none of the benefits. Nothing they are doing here will help us grow, because they've kneecapped us already. Now they're going after our capacity to obtain a steady paycheck at the beginning of the month, too.

VIII. Patreon's iOS app is currently (as of August 18, 2024) in violation of Apple's guidelines for app ratings; staff did not state any intention to become compliant by raising the app's rating as needed to maintain their 18+ creator community.

The App Store guidelines on creator apps state that they must be rated equal to the highest rated creator content on their platform. In spite of hosting 18+ content, which requires a 17+ rating per Apple, Patreon is rated 12+ in the App Store. Increasing the rating to 17+ would cut out the entire market of wealthy teenagers with iPhones, and since everything else being done here is intended to please Apple, it's unlikely this will be the point that Patreon finally gives an inch for its creators. The exact response from staff on this was "We hear and acknowledge your inputs on the app rating and are exploring our options there." Their "options" on this are to increase the rating, or to remove all 18+ content from the platform. That's it. Those are their options. Why do those need exploring, if they really give a shit about the 18+ community?

I know a lot of people out there are going to say that it would be nice if Patreon would "get rid of the porn," but you need to understand something: 18+ content is not all sexual.

18+ content can and does also include:

Horror (particularly body horror, which is explicitly or implicitly banned on all current adult-specific creator platforms, leaving me nowhere to go when Patreon kicks me)

True crime (murder, violence, theft, etc., is all 18+)

Health (blood/discussion of blood is 18+ regardless of context)

Education (what if you learn about war? that's 18+)

Trauma recovery (the word "r#pe" makes everything around it 18+)

Profanity (ko-fi marks creators 18+ for saying "fuck")

Languages (because you might learn profanity)

Weaponsmithing (because weapons are dangerous)

Leatherworking (because leather can be a fetish)

Shoemaking (feet can also be a fetish)

...even more I'm not bothering to list here.

Implying that they somehow didn't know about this extremely important part of the guidelines—which are being used as an excuse to force the top earner on the platform to ruin his entire business model—is absolute nonsense. Patreon knows about this requirement, they haven't taken any steps to comply based on their current creator population, and I will be shocked if they do. Much easier to just kick us all off, since we can barely use the damn platform as it is.

—

The entire thing makes no sense. Patreon is losing out on so much money by doing this—they're crippling all their highest-earning creators to keep the iOS app running, and it's going to hurt everyone except for Apple. The only reason I can think that they would refuse to budge on this is that there's something else going on behind the scenes between Patreon and Apple. That, or the company is intentionally throwing itself into an extremely drawn out death spiral. But we all know which of those is the more likely scenario here.

[velvetvexations]

I don't wish to hide behind a Native friend in voicing my opinions on the matter, but I asked said friend, Trickster Kisses, for permission to quote him so I can give context for why I have the stance that I do.

Here's him explaining it to me for the first time a few years ago:

Here's his tags on that post I reblogged yesterday:

Here's a post he made shortly thereafter:

And from a conversation we had last night:

Doubtlessly some Algonquin people disagree, but I've seen multiple say the controversy is silly, and like. Yeah. Saying "wendigo" is not going to summon evil spirits to possess you and turn you into a cannibal, it was a metaphor for greed. Natives are generally aware that the world doesn't work on Beetlejuice rules. Even if a few may insist on it, others find it deeply condescending to be treated like village peasants who cross themselves and warn the smirking white protagonist about the forest being filled with goblins and ghouls, except without the part where they turn out to be right because these things aren't real.

And it's different from creating images of Mahoumed, because (a) that's about respecting the single most important figure in the Koran short of Allah Himself, not being in fear of one particular mythical creature that got it's name popular with white people, and (b) non-Muslims depicting Mahoumed is literally only ever done purely to spite Muslims.

I even feel, as my friend does, that the necessary accuracy point is debatable, as other cultural beliefs include vampires, elves, and the Greek gods, and those are often distorted far beyond what the people that did or do believe in them would recognize, but in that I'm willing to concede more than my friend and say, yeah, getting something right and not just going with the pop cultural flow is almost literally the least you can do for a still very vulnerable and hurting group that's been done repeated catastrophic damage by your own group. You should, in fact, in my white opinion, just name your deer monster something else, and in that I "disagree" (it's more like a deferring perspective) with Trickster Kisses whose stance is much more relaxed.*

And I think if it were just "name your deer monster something else, be accurate if you actually use the wendigo name" a lot more people would be on board, that was the position of the Algonquin person on that post yesterday, but white people going all "stop it Patrick you're scaring him!" about it is really weird at best.

*from having asked about engaging with the wendigo in my own writing, a sequel to a story by Algernon Blackwood which got it very wrong:

Depends honestly, if you're not worried about backlash you can honestly just be like, whatever, sometimes vampires sparkle, it'd be cool to see more from the original myths but then you have to get into 'okay but like, which tribe's myths' ngl follow your heart in that regard, I personally consider all of them solid & acceptable

my own decision was to take it in a somewhat meta direction and directly address the fact that the Blackwood story was inaccurate

Okay, so like. This is the ask that prompted me to go to Trickster Kisses and ask him for permission to quote him, and in particular I asked if he could give a response to you specifically.

Listen. Anon. I truly did not expect him to be so angry. Like, I'm not kidding, I sincerely feel bad for you right now. This tongue-lashing is not coming from me. All I can tell you is that this is how an Algonquian person feels about it:

@gromlyn

Trickster Kisses, again four years ago:

[heartsteellerr]

How they comfort you during a scandal

Request; Hi! I see that you’re requests are open! Can I get a reaction of Heartsteel member’s s/o feeling insecure about dating a celebrity, seeing false dating rumors about the members they are dating and just generally worried about idol scandal stuff because of them? how would the member comfort them about it? A/N ✎: Hi nonnie!! Sorry this request was taking FOREVER for me to do but 🙏 I got some of it done! I decided to split the request into parts for (partly) MY SAKE cos lately i've been busy and I didn't exactly want to prolong it, and also because I didn't want the post to be that long?? So hopefully you're fine with that! Enjoy! Content; Hurt/Comfort, leaning more towards hurt Warnings; GN reader, reader isn't an idol Characters; Ezreal and Kayn

It's honestly on him for not being discreet about your relationship, or 'the' relationship that no one knew about (aside from the other Heartsteel members) until a photo leaked of him with someone. He didn't seem to mind it though, brushing it off as something that'll soon blow over eventually with the media news. But you on the other hand, did in fact mind it ⎯ more than him actually. As you weren't a famous, sensational popstar like he was or had any social status within the media, you were just... Someone standing beside him, and that sort of mindset grew onto you the more you looked into the false dating rumors circulating around him. Seeing the pictures of numerous celebrities that people speculated were in the photo with him and then comparing yourself to them, or the way some fans were picking apart the 'mysterious partner' as someone not worthy of being with their bias, or⎯ but then your phone gets snatched right out of your hand. Taken and tossed aside as he held you in his arms.

Ezreal

He'd be pissed at himself for being so careless and even more pissed at seeing you degrade yourself when he loves you so. No words can properly explain how he feels in that moment, or how he wants to convey that he was a big giant idiot for not taking your feelings into account ⎯ but with the way he held onto you, unmoving and refusing to let go so you wouldn't be able to see his face, it's clear how much he regrets putting you in this position.

In a way, it's almost laughable to him how you'd think of yourself as unworthy of him when that's how he feels when he's with you. Idol or not, you can easily express yourself without a care of the media attacking or slandering you for your comments, or the way you dress comfortably for yourself and no one else, even the littlest details about you were so... loveable to him, that he does find himself to be a bit envious of you sometimes.

How he chooses to handle the scandal will depend on what you also want him to do; ideally he'd want to make it public that he's taken but won't (ever) be revealing his partner's identity for personal reasons (obviously) and would make a serious comment that the public and his fans shouldn't dictate who he dates ⎯ it's for him to decide, and the person he chose is you.

Kayn

He's an idiot. He'll say it out loud and not-so proud for the whole world and even the media to hear because truly, thats who he is. He really didn't see that this whole thing would blow up in his face, especially when he was so in the moment of loving you to even notice the backlash he'll be getting ⎯ which, incidentally, was totally and completely on his part. But could you really fault him for it? Somewhat. BUT in his defence it genuinely felt that way, like being with you for hours when it only felt like minutes for him.

He'd say something like how you made him feel like a normal human being instead of a freak, or an idol put on a pedestal by his fan ⎯ and even though it was good at first, it limits so much things he wants to do. An easy example: Loving you.

Again (like Ezreal) when he makes his statement to the public it also includes what you want him to do with your relationship; he can come out public with it or keep it under wraps, saying everything was false, all while making sure his anger was very present ⎯ because for one, how dare they butt into his business and two, for making you think so lowly of yourself.

[olderthannetfic]

This NaNoWriMo stuff with AI is largely unsurprising to me. I don't know how many people have gone beyond reading the viral clipped out bit about classism and ableism, but there was a follow up statement on that, in which they claim to take a very neutral stance. That their initial intent was apparently trying to curtail harassment of those who are using AI and they at least apologized for their confusing and unthoughtful wording of their original statement. Which seems legitimate enough to me. I'm sure they are sorry, considering the swift and unforgiving backlash they received. What I find kind of bizarre about this whole thing is, like, if you are running an event surrounding writing and making guidelines for what is and isn't okay in general-- then wouldn't it be a perfectly reasonable addition, to set out some level of encouraged practices for how one should or shouldn't use AI for during said event. Guidelines that are encouraged, that follow what everyone believes to be the spirit of the event (sitting down and actually writing a little every day for a month) would seem like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, to me. Like, am I off base here? With the rise in AI this seems like the natural progression. Even if only in spirit, not allowing generated works specifically seems like it would be a completely understandable guideline that keeps the event fair to those trying to do it the way it's meant to be done. And if you wanted to be neutral about it, it could be presented alongside a more lax policy around using AI to say, generate a plot bunny when experiencing writers block or create names for places/characters. People have been using tools like that for ages so there's precedent to allow "thoughtful" use of AI for these purposes. Anything at all, even if it can't be completely enforced, seems like it would have been better. The random endorsement of AI for people in certain circumstances from their follow up statement, and how it can be life changing, if one were to take their meaning in the most charitable way possible, does not feel like it's on topic here. Like, all this effort to be "neutral" on their part is not really coming across that way it's all just so damn clumsy. I try to always assume positive intent, not attributing to maliciousness (such as capital gain at the expense of creatives, which is one of the major problems with AI generated work) what can be better explained by ignorance, but even taking all that they've said in such a fashion, it largely feels like they didn't want people arguing about AI but also didn't want to have to make rules around AI that they would then have to, even if only in spirit, enforce. I can sort of understand that, considering it would be (most likely) impossible for them to differentiate between generated work and stuff that was written by a person. But again. They could have just said that it wouldn't be possible for them to police AI usage, blah blah blah, honor system (which again is already part of how NaNo works-- an honor system) but that targeted harassment campaigns of individuals for any reason would not be allowed within these spaces, up to and including suspected use of AI. Like there were so many different ways this could have been approached to accomplish what their stated goal was. Without??? Accidentally taking a very strange and not well thought out direct stance on AI that they later had to halfway walk back and apologize for. I don't think NaNoWriMo ever intended the message to be "We allow AI generated works now" (unless there's something I missed) -- That's not explicitly something they said, but rather the at large and reactionary interpretation of it. Now, I just have to wonder, what the hell happened to their September update post from last week, that was apparently addressing other issues. One thing I'll say for this whole mess, is it's at least amusing to watch the absurdity of their slow motion collapse hitting the speedrun stage toward total implosion. The org has had major internal problems for years now.

--

Honestly, I think the reaction is at least as much about longstanding issues with the organization as about people's fears of AI. Poorly thought out corporate idiocy feels in-character.

[chaifootsteps]

https://www.reddit.com/r/HelluvaBoss/comments/1dxrsmw/message_from_viv_herself/

I feel like the subreddit keeps circling the wagons with 'be patient!' and like... that's not the issue? future episodes could address the main issues people have right now, but there are problems with apology tour & full moon that no future episode will be able to stick a bandaid on

framing Blitzo as the bad guy for yelling in FM

spending the whole next episode framing it like he should apologize for yelling

having Stolas bring up Western Energy and taking the opportunity to "explain" that Blitz assumed he wasn't easily hurt instead of the rebuttal anyone with a working brain would give there, which is 'I literally sent my employees to help and I told you my daughter needed a shot, you ungrateful self centred asshole'

the unnatural script where absolutely no one points out that the two were not dating so Stolas is not his 'ex' and also Blitzo was coerced into sex by him and Stolas is acting like he's the more wronged party after only just apologizing for that

ignoring how the deal was actually formed in Murder Family

Stolas taking this long to realize maybe he did do something wrong after all only to walk it back and be a total dick to Blitz the second time they talk, like usual

the continual gaslighting on Stolas' part

etc.

like yeah, it'd help if the next episode saw Stolas actually admit he's done wrong and actually say the words 'I'm sorry' and not frame it in some weaselly way like he's just oblivious or insensitive or something, if only because it's cathartic

but it wouldn't change the fact that sitting through Apology Tour is not just frustrating, it's insulting and disgusting to see Viv attempt to 'both sides' this when the wrongdoing of either side is nowhere near equal or comparable. it's bending the narrative to suit the character who is vastly more rich and powerful and I think there's enough of that kind of unpleasantness in real life without seeking it out in fiction.

Suppose the whole season was out and this hypothetical future fix it episode actually addressed most of these problems (unlikely, but let's say it does). Then it would just make Apology Tour feel like baffling bad writing to sit through as part of a full season, because it 100% frames it like we should be sad Stolas might move on from Blitz, that it's all Blitz's fault and that it's so tragic that he missed his chance with this totally not at all predatory and gaslighty bird

(also...did the Blitz KYS shirt and literal hanging man pin not make it clear Viv might just have been lying to minimize the backlash when she claimed both sides were in the wrong and would be treated as such in the show? at this point it's gonna be a miracle if Stolas gets any heat for his behavior in universe, let alone anything as harsh as apology tour)

They can circle all they want, they can double down until the end of time, but it's not going to make this show any more coherent or less horrifying. Only Viv can do that.

[beansnsoup]

Luigi with S/O who is a princess that was forced to have an alliance with Bowser and no one wants to trust her but Luigi does see that she’s good

Love this sm 😭

☆

"I don't think you're evil, I think you're great."

Summary: As long as you can remember, you've had to have an alliance with Bowser against your will, of course. No one ever wanted to take your side until he came along.

Relationship: Platonic, some romance implied

Warnings: bullying???, fluff, tiny angst, fem reader, lmk if there is anything else

*Also, this is kind going off the plot of a movie, but just a tad, I'm changing it around a bit for the request, also Mario and Luigi already live in Mushroom Kingdom as this takes place.

You couldn't even walk around a different kingdom without people eyeing you down. This is why you hated going to different places for royal meetings, especially when it was about the man that you had to comply with.

Ever since you were crowned you were told that you were to have an alliance with the relentless Bowser, you had zero say in the matter.

So, when you were sent the letter that Princess Peach needed help and an army you knew instantly what it was about, and you couldn't just not go, that would make you look worse.

The guards hesitantly let you into the castle, watching you intently until you turned the corner to the meeting room. The room was full of toads and other kingdoms rulers, it went silent after you walked in.

'Wonderful.'

You walked to the corner of the crowd and looked down, fidgeting with you dress, praying for Peach to start talking.

Like it was a miracle, all eyes were averted from you as she started to talk, she went on about how Bowser was going to soon take over Mushroom Kingdom. You started to feel squeamish, you knew that you would also be blamed for this, anything Bowser would did would also be backlash on you.

You wanted to walk out of there, but that would be too petty and self-centered, then you would really be blamed for the action occurring.

You tilted your head up to listen to what Peach had to say until you heard whispers coming from behind you.

"Why did she even come? It's not like she can do anything to help."

"Not that she wants to help."

Those whispers turned into hushed giggles, you began to look down again until the doors burst open, causing you to bolt your head up.

Luigi and Mario, Mushroom Kingdoms heroes, ran through the entrance,

"Sorry we're late Princess! We got caught up with business." Mario explained, Peach nodded and smiled, signaling him to stand anywhere to listen to her plan.

You locked eyes with the taller brother, his face went a light shade of red as he waved, you sent a small wave back, not enough to bring attention to yourself.

You bring your attention back to the princess, scared for the whispers to start back up.

Peach wrapped up her plan, catching you before you could leave, Luigi and Mario stuck behind, waiting for her to get done with whatever she was about to do with you.

"You know you don't have to come to these." She started.

"I know, but I want to find ways I can help as well, even if there isn't much I can offer."

She sighed, "I appreciate it, I truly do, but think of what affect that would have on the kingdom."

You knew she wasn't talking about the kingdom; you knew she was talking about herself.

"Oh." Is all you could muster out, you couldn't let out a thank you or a sorry, you turned away and walked out.

It's not like this was your fault, you had nothing to do with what Bowser decided to do. As you walked out of the kingdom you got more stares than you did when you were walking in, it's like they all witnessed the conversation you just had with the princess.

When you had reached the tunnel that led to your home felt a presence behind you, you look back and find a wheezing Luigi. He's so out of breath you have to give him a minute to catch his breath.

"I've....been.... chasing...you...for.... 20....minutes."

You had a surprised look on your face, "Really? What for?"

He was finally able to catch his breath, "I lost you in the crowd, I wanted to walk you out, but the princess had to talk to Mario and I."

You smiled at this, "Were you coming to tell me that I'm no longer welcome at Mushroom Kingdom?"

He shook his head violently, "Of course not! I'd love for you to come back, it's really a wonderful place."

"Not when everyone around thinks your Bowsers evil side kick."

"I don't think you're evil, I think you're great."

You both went silent, you decided to finally break the tension, "Nobody has ever talked about me in that way before."

He gasped, "Really? Not even your own people?"

"They're not too keen on being in a forced alliance with Bowser either."

Your face faded out. He could tell you were overthinking, so he wanted to get your mind clear from Bowsers' treacherous ways.

"Would you like to sit with me and watch the sunset?" He asked, you looked up into his eyes, smiled, and then nodded.

He led you over to the grass patch next to the tunnel and you both sat down, he then grabbed your hand while still viewing the skies, you sighed and laid your head on his shoulder,

"Thank you."

I loved writing this!!

[bamboobooshark]

BASIL STITT X READER

𓍢 ⌨️˖࣪ ∿ ࿔ LESS THAN THREE (1) : 807 WRDS

A/N : Yes this is inspired by the song Less Than Three by Disko Warp, no I don’t care that it doesn’t fit Basil’s canon personality! !!Warning: Obsessive behavior (nothing intense, just clingy and overthinking about you), mentions of knives, mentions of death (assumptions)!!

Basil is freaking the fuck out.

You haven’t answered him for an hour. An entire hour. You always let him know ahead of time if you have something to do at work that’ll cause you to be unable to respond to his messages. Now that you weren’t saying anything without any warning, he can’t stop himself from worrying. What if you’re hurt? What if there’s some guy talking to you? Does he have competition? Are you going to go out with that guy and not be able to message him once you’re home? Fuck, this can’t be happening.

He can’t keep himself calm. He never can. His hands start to shake. His face grows hot and begins to throb with a headache. His breath is erratic, like a feral animal’s. “No. No. No! Answer me! Please! I need you,” Basil whines at his bright computer screen. His eyes are glued to your activity status, patiently awaiting a green circle to appear near your icon. His nails painfully dig against the table in expectation and concern. After sitting there impatiently for a few minutes and not getting anything, he begins to flare up with nothing but worry for you. “I said answer! Talk to me! I need to make sure you’re okay, baby. It’s all I need. It’s the only thing I need. Just come online! Please,” he continues as tears prick his eyes.

 

You are stuck at the register today. Unfortunately for you, you’re currently dealing with one of the worst customers of your life. She slams her fist against the counter, which causes you to jump a bit, but nothing more. “I am not leaving this horrid establishment until I can speak to a manager,” she childishly demands. Your jaw is clenching arguably harder than her own. You try your hardest to speak in your customer service voice to stay calm and not lose your job. “Ma’am, I told you that all of my higher ups are in a meeting right now. Unless you’re willing to wait anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, I suggest you come back tomorrow,” you explain for the third time in a row.

“Are you dumb? Like, seriously,” she retorts while giving you an ugly look. You swear you see the light of the afterlife once you hear a faint beeping. Your shift is over. You display a genuine smile toward the woman, showing how relieved you are to get away from her. “Oh! I’m so sorry, miss. You’ll have to speak to one of my co-workers. My shift has just ended, and I don’t work overtime,” you beam as she begins to growl gibberish out of pure rage.

Thankfully, your co-worker Bec is clocking in for the rest of the night. He is a godsend. The manager has known him so long that his actions have no backlash; he treats customers as they treat him. You know damn well he’s going to have a blast with the lady at the counter. You walk over to him and tap his arm lightly. “Hey, Bec! I just wanted to let you know there’s some girl who can’t seem to grasp the fact that our higher-ups are in a meeting right now. She’s tried everything in the book to talk to the manager or anyone who doesn’t work in our position,” you explain with a slightly anxious tone. Bec smiles softly at you and shrugs. “Kid, you know me. You know how I act. That lady is about to get everything she deserves,” he reassures you while patting your back. “Have a good night,” he adds as you start walking away. “Good luck with yours!” you chuckle as you leave the establishment.

 

“They have to be dead. That’s the only logical explanation for this. Oh, my god. They’re dead,” Basil cries. He’s been distraught for the past two hours without a message for you. He isn’t tracking you. He isn’t stalking you. He has no way to know where you are or what you’re doing, but his mind always fleets to the worst-case scenario when you leave him be. His tears make his vision blurry, but he can still see the shiny surface of the knife he had stuck in his desk. He might as well trash his flat again! This is the second major incident this month, and he can’t mentally bear it. “Fuck this! Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it,” he growls as he reaches for the knife still stuck to the table. He’s more than ready to further splinter the tabletop’s wood once more. He can feel his heart stop for a moment as he hears the sweet sound of a ping from his computer. “They aren’t dead,” he mumbles to himself. “They aren’t dead,” he repeats with a level of excitement he hasn’t felt in so, so long.

[antiyourwokehomophobia2]

what's the point of discussing the way other women manage their body hair? if i tell you i shave because of this or that reason you're going to tell me i'm lying and that i just want societal approval (when nobody anywhere in society has seen my uncovered skin in over 20 years). it's a perpetual stalemate where feminists think they know every thought that happens in every other woman's mind and non-feminists get defensive because people generally don't like being told that they're lying.

Are you asking me what the point of discussing human behavior is? I mean. I can't explain that to you. Either you're curious about why people do what they do or you're not lmao. If you don't care about how society influences behavior then that's not something I can fix. Why discuss it? Because women need to build conciousness. Women need to stop lying about why they shave. It has nothing to do with cleanliness or any other reason. Nobody thinks hairy men are dirty. It's not because they "like smooth legs". Why are they fine with touching mens hair? Why don't men, on a large scale (meaning don't tell me about the two men you know who shave), ever shave because they like how smooth their legs get? Any reason a woman lists for shaving, I have to ask why don't men shave for the same reason. Why do so many women shave but so little men do? Why aren't men as effected by sensory issues or the appeal of smooth legs like women are?

I discuss this because I want women to be aware of the fact that shaving is bullshit lmao. The fact of the matter is that women not shaving comes with societal backlash. "Hairy woman" is an insult. Daughters get grief from their family for not shaving. Parents have been known to refuse to take their daughters out if they don't shave. Do you hear me? Girls get punished for not shaving. They get told that nobody will love them or want to be around them if they remain hairy. They get coerced and shamed and ostracized from their family, and you want me to say nothing when those girls grow up and say they shave for themselves? No the absolute fuck they do not lmao. I discuss this because women and girls having all these cutesy reasons for shaving takes people off the hook. Girls shave for themselves? Then society doesn't have to take any responsibility for the pressure they put on girls to shave! Girls and women don't realize how insane it is that they get grief for their body hair. Why would they? Every woman they see is hairless. So what happens? They internalize the idea that their parents and peers are right and that they're the ones who are in the wrong and are being difficult. Every other woman conforms, why shouldn't they? But of course they don't admit this. They say stupid shit about liking smooth legs and having sensory issues because they don't want to admit they're terrified of societal backlash.

I discuss it because nothing will get better if I don't. If I never raise the question as why women are expected to do things that men aren't, how is anything ever going to get better? If no one ever discussed the bullshit that the world has to offer, what kind of progress would be made? The personal is political. Shaving is not some innocent thing. Women continuing to shave perpetuates the idea that women should shave. Women being expected to take time out of their day to make sure they're absolutely hairless is insane. Hair continues to grow for the rest of your life. These are hours and hours of time WASTED on removing something harmless. Something men are not expected to. There are men who go their whole lives without putting a razor against their legs, meanwhile women are expected to do this every few days. Does that sound neutral to you? Does this not ring your sexism bell? Shaving is just another way that women's bodies are policied.

Even you, anon. If nobody sees your body anyway, why shave? Does that not strike you as odd? Why preen an area that nobody sees? What is it about your hair that makes you want to remove it? Why is it so upsetting to you to leave it alone? Do you think any man feels similarly? Could it be that you're scared of a scenario where your clothes ride up and reveal your body hair? So you take extra precaution jussst in case? Obviously I don't know you, but if you're gonna be vague then I'm gonna work with what I'm given.

Furthermore, hair is a sign of puberty. Does it not strike you as a bit fucked that women are expected to appear like they have not gone through puberty? Why is body hair seen as manly and not womanly? Why are women expected to look like girls? If you don't want to examine these questions, that's fine, but don't act like I'm weird because I do.

Also, I'm not saying that all women are lying about why they shave their body hair. I only said that there's no way that, of all the women who shave, so many of them can have some genuine reason outside of their control (like sensory problems) or what the fuck ever. The grand grand grand grand majority of women shave because that's what's expected of them.

Yea, people don't like to be told they're lying. Maybe they shouldn't lie then. Defensive feelings doesn't mean I have to shut my mouth. If women were honest with themselves about how fucked society treats them is, then there would not be an issue.

[purrple-sectors]

I didnt really wanted to come back to this topic, but after some reflection I've came to some conclusions that I think should be talked.

No matter the outcome of last weekend's race, after that 2nd pitstop, Lando would always be torn to shreds online, but for different reasons

Let me explain,

If Lando Norris refused to do the swap, then it's obvious how he would get hate, for stealing his teammate's win. I'm not going to explain much this outcome bc it's quite self explanatory and I want to focus more on the other ones.

If Lando ended up crashing regardless if he had let Oscar pass or not, he would be heavily criticized, since he is considered by many as a contender for the WDC and shouldn't be crashing for that exact reason. Now if he didnt switched with Oscar and then crashed it, the hate he would get would be worse but still, people would be accusing him of being an horrible driver even without the position drama mixed

Now onto the one I'm more intrigued in. Many people (and most of the haters) say that if Lando had let Oscar pass through before and then they battled on track, then none of this hate would have been happening, bc then "if Lando was so worthy of the win he would show it", what if I say it may not be completely true?

If Lando had straight away swapped with Oscar, it has been revealed that the team WOULDNT let them fight on the track, which means Lando would never have the chance to prove that he could be worthy of the win. He would get called as "weak" and "without champion mentality" for bending so easily to team orders.

Lastly we have what truly happened. Could have Lando reacted and acted better? Tbh yea I agree that his behaviour wasnt the best. But like I said before we need to recognize that he was put in a situation he didnt asked to be put into.

McLaren basically made his bed without his permission and forced him to lie on it. Its weird

And regardless what he did, he would get some sort of backlash, he was truly put between the sword and the wall

I'm saying this as an Oscar fan, so pls dont come after me for "hating Oscar", I'm truly happy he won and I'm very proud!! I do think he deserves it!!

Still I think this situation is a bit fucked, and I find so uncomfortable how some people go after every little thing Lando does to hate on, while other drivers also do sometimes things that aren't very good either and are let out of the hook much easier.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

You: *writes two small essays clearly, cleanly, and thoroughly going through issues you have with the writing in Miraculous, and how they affect what the show is actually saying vs what the writers are going for vs what the audience is taking away from the show, without treating the characters as autonomous people who actually exist a single time*

Someone who pisses on the poor: 'oh so you think this abused child, who was magically created from a feather, deserves to be maliciously lied to by his lifelong romantic partner and fellow 14 year old? After everything he's already been through?'

Media literacy classes should be a requirement everywhere

Thank you for your kind comments about that post. Comments like yours have been very validating after what was initially a really disheartening series of events.

I was quite pleased with what I wrote and thought that I had done a good job focusing on the writing and emphasizing that I was talking about the big picture of the narrative, not chastising or praising specific characters for what the writers had them do. But after I had multiple people go off on rants defending Alya and Adrien, I started seriously questioning my own sanity and communication skills. I even looked up the definition of betrayal to make sure that I wasn't somehow misusing it since that word really seemed to upset people. In case anyone was wondering:

Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict

After verifying that I hadn't been using "betrayal" wrong for well over a decade, I got a little annoyed and did my angry rant in the hope that it would save me from further backlash.

While it has been super validating to see that my two initial essays did in fact make sense to a good number of people, that last post did go a little viral, which I didn't see coming, so I want to take a moment to make it clear that I DO NOT want anyone go after the people who did the rants that spawned my rant. Nothing they did or said was worthy of any sort of pile on. They were just expressing opinions and that's fine. I even get it to some extent because a lot of people have unfairly salted on Alya, acting as if she's the problem and not the writing. And that can be really upsetting when you like her because she doesn't deserve those pile ons any more than Marinette does. They are both victims of bad writing!

I get the desire to treat fictional characters like real people, I really do, but Miraculous is frankly not a good enough show for you to do that. The hand of the author is far too blatant, making characters do whatever the writers want instead of what makes sense for what has been established. One of my favorite quick examples is that the writers gave us a full episode where Gabriel "proved" that Adrien wasn't Chat Noir only to have him figure out Adrien's secret identity because he heard his son use the words My Lady as if that's a super unique pet name that would make Adrien's secret undeniable.

It's all nonsense, which is why I focus on the writing issues, treating the characters like the tools they very clearly are. I simply can't do the kind of character analysis you can do in well written shows where the characters feel real and their actions make sense in the established narrative.

I'll close with this statement to explain how I try to run this blog: the characters in the show are fictional, the people you're talking to on here are not. In the grand scheme of things, nothing about Miraculous is bad enough to be worth fighting over. That's why I enjoy talking about it. With all the truly important fights going on in the world, it's nice to come on here and relax by talking about writing - a topic I adore - without having to care if people agree. It's also why I have this as a side blog. I want people to be able to avoid my content if it upsets them as my goal is first and foremost to have fun dunking on a show that is bad in interesting ways. If I only ever got upset replies to my posts, then I would not run this blog because Miraculous is not worth being miserable over. No piece of fiction is.