#i feel so sorry for all the BIPOC people in this fandom

[lavnderkiwi]

So a white person on twitter just told me theo's perspective about the treatment of Wyll is far more important than every other black persons perspective on it and like...

I want them and EVERY other non poc person to realize BIPOC feelings will always matter when it comes to racism. You cannot grab one token BIPOC person and thrust them to the front of the crowd going "WELL THEY HAVENT SAID ANYTHING ABOUT BEING OFFENDED SO HUSH!" Thats not how that works.

One BIPOC not being offended doesn't suddenly mean the rest of us gotta shut up. When the BG3 fandom learn what racism is and learn to not speak over BIPOC people...we can move on as a society.

Edit: and please stop telling BIPOC that racism in fantasy is necessary. Its not. You can have a good ass plot without resorting to racism. We deal with it irl...you think we wanna deal with it the games we play to relax or have fun with?

[rainbowsky]

Sorry I've taken so long to address this, I've had a very busy day and didn't have time to finish this post (which I started yesterday).

I'm talking, of course, about the incredibly controversial situation surrounding DD right now. I've gotten some messages about it so I figured I'd give my thoughts in a bigger post so that I don't have to keep repeating myself.

(CW: racism, spoilers FPU)

I know that by now most people are aware of the situation, but I'm going to start from square one for those who are just catching up on the topic.

There is a scene in Formed Police Unit where Chinese UN peacekeeping troops need to rescue a group of citizens who are surrounded by terrorists. In order to accomplish this they disguise themselves as people from the community. This being Africa, the troops were disguised using blackface.

Yes, I am saying that DD and his castmates appear in the film in blackface.

I am not going to post a picture of that here. It's just something I can't post on my blog. I understand that many of you will want to see for yourself so I'll link a clip of the scene, which was posted on Weibo. Please be aware before clicking - this is full-on blackface. Always take care of yourselves, and if you think it might be upsetting to you don't click. You don't need to see it to be a 'good fan'.

Background

For those who may not know, this movie was filmed years ago, in 2021. During those years I have seen many anti attacks against DD, claiming that he is racist and has worn blackface. Here's the photo that was circulating back then.

At the time I thought the makeup that he was wearing was likely anti-reflective black paint or camouflage paint such as is used by snipers (which he played in the film). I assumed that he was wearing his own hoodie over part of a military costume, because he was wearing a cammo shirt and what might have been combat trousers.

I was certainly not expecting full-on blackface from this movie.

There's no getting around it - this is extremely difficult to look at.

Blackface is widely viewed as offensive and racist. It shouldn't be hard to understand why. Putting on another person's ethnicity like a costume is deeply insensitive, particularly when you consider that BIPOC (black, indigenous, and other people of color) are so frequently targeted, exploited and marginalized. For those in positions of privilege and power to put on the appearance of the people who they oppress and exploit... it's just shocking and awful.

Blackface is most frequently talked about in an American context, but it's actually a problem globally - including in China. More on all that here.

The film

I have not actually seen the film, so I don't know much about the context beyond what is being discussed in the fandom. As I said earlier, in the film a group of UN police officers need to infiltrate an area in the community, and they take on disguises in order to do so.

In promotional media this film is being presented as based on true stories from real missions*. It seems the situation in question really happened on a Chinese peacekeeping mission, and the UN troops disguised themselves as black citizens in order to infiltrate and extract the endangered captives.

*I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt on this because it doesn't change how I feel it should have been handled.

This is important context that is being conveniently left out of much of the backlash about this situation. People are outright claiming that DD plays a black person in the movie - that he wore blackface to perform a role that a black actor could have played. This simply isn't true, and people making these claims are antis and liars. There's simply no excuse for not knowing the full context.

Having said that, I don't really think it matters how it ended up in the film. I do not think there is such a thing as a palatable or appropriate use of blackface. In this day and age it is nearly universally understood to be racist, and it's extremely controversial.

I can understand if they were trying to be accurate to the mission that they were portraying, but surely there are other ways they could have accomplished this scene (perhaps with the clothing but not the blackface). 'Historical accuracy' isn't as important as cultural sensitivity, not by any stretch of the imagination. In the interest of respecting audiences they could have adapted the scene to make the use of blackface unnecessary.

I really see no excuse for anything like this in 2024.

Audience reactions

Chinese sensibilities around these topics are very different from what we are used to in the West.

According to fan repos audiences initially didn't recognize any of the actors, and once it became apparent that they were in disguise, laughter erupted around the room. In fact, most fans are laughing a lot at the photos and video even on social media (although some Chinese netizens have been upset by it and have voiced complaints to various stakeholders).

It is also being widely discussed on Chinese social media as an exciting scene of heroism in the film.

I feel the need to point out that the laughter and mockery is a huge part of the harm, here. As if it's not bad enough that these actors are performing in blackface and presenting a perversion of black ethnicity, it also becomes an opportunity for audiences to mock and disrespect black people. It's become an opportunity for social media to be filled with racist jokes and mockery.

Roadshow statements

There have been some clips circulating of PR and roadshow moments with black cast members and some black audience members who have spoken up in support of the film and to thank the cast and crew for telling the story. Here's one example.

International fans have been dismissing those statements as ignorant or coerced, which I think is offensive and deeply fucked up. There's no planet on which I'm going to - with a totally straight face - say that a black person's response to the movie is not legitimate just because it doesn't comport with my own view.

This is a complex issue and there are inevitably going to be a lot of different perspectives. I hope people won't exacerbate the problem by supplanting black voices on this issue with their own, no matter what's being said. If there's any manipulation going on, let's assume it was in their choosing supportive black figures to speak for the film rather than claim that the black spokespeople are insincere.

China has a lot of issues with racism, there's no doubt about it. It's a huge part of why so many people try to whiten their skin, or why they mock each other when their skin gets tanned/darker. There is a lot of sinister, fucked up stuff going on in China around race - both in the country and in their dealings with other countries.

But we can't claim to speak for black people in China, particularly when they are speaking for themselves! I would hope this is extremely obvious!

Where's DD in all this?

It's understandable that bystanders will react to what they're seeing and might immediately deem it unacceptable - and DD along with it. Their reactions are valid, but as fans I hope that we can look at him with a bit more empathy. I hope that we can take a moment to try to see things from his perspective.

DD has been interested in and an avid fan of black culture since he was a small child. We've all seen how much he immerses himself in hip hop, street dance and the accompanying music and fashion. And yes, he's been accused of cultural appropriation in the past for wearing locs and durags.

However, I think fans need a bit of perspective here to get a sense of where DD might be coming from. Here's a guy who loves black culture, who has close friends who are black, who regularly works with black artists and who supports black artists, in a culture where racism against black people is prevalent and often extreme.

I think DD would probably be amazed to hear the accusations of racism against him. He likely has very few people in his orbit who are anywhere near as supportive of or as closely connected to black people as he is. He likely stands out in his circle as being particularly into black culture and connected with black artists, and probably regularly faces ignorant questions or digs from people around him about his close association with black artists and culture.

Not just because of racism alone, but also due to the racist parallels the government tends to draw between black culture, street dance, hip hop, etc. and criminality/moral degradation*. It's likely that ignorant people in his orbit have expressed concern or wariness toward him because of these associations.

*That is, until breakdancing became an Olympic sport, then they were suddenly onboard with some of it.

I'm not saying that he doesn't have a lot of learning to do (and if this situation becomes what I think it might become, he'll have a big opportunity to do so), I'm just saying that his ignorance isn't mean-spirited. He's coming at this from a totally different angle than any of us are, and he is immersed in a totally different cultural perspective than our own. In his world, his interest likely makes him a bit of an anomaly.

So those painting him as a horrible racist... it's just not how I see it.

The element of choice

I've heard many people say that DD 'didn't have any choice' about this role, that turning it down would not have been an option or that he would be under some kind of threat if he didn't take this role. I don't agree with that characterization of things. I don't think it's quite as 'gun to the head' as a lot of fans paint it.

I think it's more likely that he simply didn't realize that the role would involve blackface when he accepted it, or that he thought that blackface in this context - to infiltrate a terrorist cell and save civilians - would be fine. We don't need to depict China as forcibly compelling actors to take unwanted roles if we want to make sense of this. There are simpler, more logical explanations.

DD wouldn't have been the one deciding how to depict the scene - he didn't have that power in 2021 - but I also doubt he would have had a major problem with it given everything we know.

We must overcome our Western tendency to see things only from our own perspective. This has a totally different cultural context in China, and the voices we listen to about it should not be issuing exclusively from white faces that are not at ground zero of this situation.

Final thoughts

This film has had me worried from day one. I think most people have been expecting it to be full of offensive portrayals and propagandistic fuckery. There are so many ways in which a Chinese film about the UN is potentially a sticky, tricky mess. This blackface thing is likely just one problem on a towering pile of problems.

However, I'm not going to sugarcoat this - this has the potential to be a real shitshow for DD, and I am concerned. Especially if this film gets an international release.

We need to brace ourselves, because I don't think this is going to just disappear. DD has endorsements with international brands, and this could definitely cause backlash for those brands unless the issue is addressed and the scenes removed. There's no planet on which brands like Chanel and Lacoste can afford to have one of their spokespeople plastered everywhere in blackface.

If this film gets an international release and those scenes are left intact, it's possible he will lose some brands.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that, but let's face it - things like this have consequences, and that's why it's so important for producers and artists to be sensitive about what they're portraying.

While I think there's some endorsement risk here for DD, and the potential loss of some international fans, I want to be clear about one thing: I don't think this will threaten his career overall. In China this just isn't an issue in the way it is internationally.

I do hope the film team addresses this issue in some way, ideally by removing the scenes. They just finished doing a massive edit to remove ZZH from the film, surely they can handle something like this. But let's not hold our breath...

Everyone has the right to make up their minds about DD. As I've often said, being a turtle isn't for the faint of heart. That's not just because turtles are frequent targets for bullies, or because we have to constantly live with uncertainty and doubt.

Being an international turtle also isn't for the faint of heart because there are a lot of cultural and political minefields to navigate, and many ideological differences to adapt to. There's a huge learning curve and a lot of unknowns, and turtles who want to survive have to make peace with the fact that we and the boys are from different worlds in many ways. We may never know where they really stand on issues that are important to us.

However, in this case I feel confident that I know where DD's heart is on this issue. He simply doesn't hold hatred, disrespect or disdain for black people. Quite the contrary.

I think we'd all just feel a lot better if he had a good grasp on how to be a better ally.

And while we're waiting for that, I think we should put our money where our mouths are and learn more about these issues ourselves, both in China and locally at home. We want DD to be a better person; let's be better people too.

Edit: more on this here.

[weaselbeaselpants]

Legit Bad-take/Bad-Faith Helluvaverse critics you should not trust if you see them

Interpersonal squabbles within the critical tag are irrelevant, sorry. This here is a genuine warning against users you should keep your distance from in regards to any VivziePop drama-discourse because their names may come up and you should know what it is that crossed the line.

Starlatte/Starvader/HonestHazbinCritiques/OhGodDude and Woomycritiques/RaySquid - Serial harasser(s). Long story incoming. Starlatte was/is a Vivcritical who got involved in the fandom back in 2019/2020 when she was a minor and didn't tell anyone. Her blog on tumblr was HonestHazbinCritiques where she made some good points but also managed to find/be a part of everyone else's takes in the critical community. Her relationship with several criticalblogs turned sour when she started lashing out, talking over people, being accused of faking her age, and doing stuff like arguing with irl sexworkers abt how they should feel about Angel Dust. Whatever her age actually was at the time, she was also sending her own rewrite scripts and fanwritten episodes to Spindlehorse in order to 'fix' Hazbin. In 2021 Star returned to Tumblr under the name "Oh-God-Dude" w/o disclosing to new people who she was while also starting shit. When said new ppl found out her past and got mad at her, she proceeded to block-backtalk every one of them.

Woomycritiques (twitter handle: Raysquid) is a critical blogger who stans Star and calls everyone else in the critical community an obsessed stalker while lashing out herself. She accused others of racism (unfounded), her friends of predation just for being proship (not the 'cest and underage is good'-kind, the "I like some problematic stuff in fic-context"-kind), and heckled Dirgentlemen over how much they should hate Helluva, and more.

Regardless of if you believe Woomy and Star are the same person, which ppl do, they are both -by now- adult persons who have been asked to stop and DIDN'T, which is why people don't trust them. Star and Woom were asked to tone it down, stop making accusations and even asked by many criticals to leave and stop talking about Helluvaverse as she/they seem to have nothing good to say about it. To put that into perspective, cuz I know some HH/HB fans are gonna be reading this: the people who've self-styled themselves antis and criticals begged this person to leave cuz she had nothing nice to say and was being a nuisance. I know the stans think that's all of us anyway, so let that sink in.

LincarRox aka ToyTaker - Creep. Nasty jealous stalker freak who got kicked out of Helluvaverse servers and Aminos for saying nasty shit like how he "wants to put a baby" in Viv. No really. He took his shit and grievances to BadWebComics wiki under the name TheToyTaker while also seemingly trying to get work at Spindlehorse in order to have access to Viv directly and to 'fix' her show. He did so by faking his animation portfolio. BWW did eventually catch on and kick him out but yeah....bad. May or may not still be going under his old pseudonyms, but regardless if you see someone talking weirdly sexually abt Viv while saying they were "let go" both by SH and BWW, get out now. That's probably him.

Animation Call-Out - Bigoted shitlord. Twitter user who rags on Vivz' controversies w other people but also hates gays and BIPOCs. Admitted to submitting one of the anonymous reviews against Spindlehorse "for fun" amidst legitimate ex-employees. All of the reviews, even the ones that seem the most validating/believable should be taken with a grain of salt I believe especially since they are coming to us anonymously, but when a racist person admits to def being one of those fake reviews for "Lolz" sake, that's def when shit's hit the fan.

DoodleToons - Also bigoted creeperlooser. Altright white kid who hates BIPOC existing in anything and admits to hating Viv's stuff for their LGBTisms and 'demons'. Yes, there legit are bad-faith critics who are homophobic. Just because Viv and her crew have a way of saying that's EVERY critic of her work doesn't mean there aren't shitty people out there.

[darklinaforever]

I want to say this as a black women who is not a part of the LGBT community but has been in fandom for a long time and would love to be a writer. When anyone tackles diversity, they should try their best and hope to be genuine about it. Because no matter what someone does, they will always have someone who hates it. I have adored Bridgerton, it has been fun to see a variety of women and men who aren't just white be love interests and get to wear beautiful gowns. I love that Bridgerton doesn't dive too heavily into the racism aspect. Yet, one of the many criticisms Bridgerton has is that people believe it to be akin to revisionist history. Many don't like it because they feel like taking away racism is an insult to those who suffered in the past. Some are fine with it but prefer racism was never addressed (i.e. "love conquers all"). But if Bridgerton decided that they wanted to be historically accurate and make it that the servants are black and for characters to mention the trans-Atlantic slave trade, people would've been upset as well. People would've mentioned that they no longer want to see trauma porn of BIPOC characters. Which I understand because I've been enjoying more happy and fun representation tbh.

I mean I can go on about the ways diversity in general and how it should be treated causes so much issues within so many BIPOC communities. What one person wants for diversity, is not going to be what another person wants.

The point is, I feel for book fans with the whole Michael/Michaela change. People are acting weird about how this whole thing is "no big deal" but people want what they want. Also, many people, like all humans, tend to be hypocritical. The amount of people who are part of the BIPOC community who didn't necessarily like that race wasn't being discussed (like I wrote in the long essay above), are some of the same people who are cheering on this Michael(a) situation. One of them being a friend of mine where I had to remind her that book fans are allowed to be upset. Besides, didn't she spend all of S1&2 harking about how this show would be more interesting if they addressed race and hated how it was revisionist history? A little contradictory to suddenly hate on others for a change that by her logic (and some others) she wouldn't have supported because it is revisionist history.

Sorry for the rant. It might not make sense, but diversity always gets me heated. I think it is important but people fail to just disucss with nuance and understanding that no everyone is going to think diversity should look the same and that is OKAY.

And that is me saying it as a black fan who have been annoyed by fans who've been saying that Bridgerton isn't diverse enough because there aren't enough black characters. Completely ignoring the non-black characters count as diversity as well. Before the rumors of Sophie possibly being Masala, I saw a lot of fans who originally wished for Sophie to be east asian and were sending hate to them for that because Kate being from Asia was enough representation.

Idk, diversity really has people's worst sides coming out of them.

[ca-suffit]

First of all, thank you so much for your reply. I really needed to hear that I wasn't the only one who found the lack of melanin conspicuous, cuz everytime I saw the post had more notes than the last like I thought I was tweaking.

Second, you're so right about the nature of this fandom's discourse. Most of it's just platitudes. It's all very... It’s all these ostensibly leftist or at least liberal ppl misusing therapyspeak and being downright nasty with no regard for (other) BIPoC fans' feelings (or the themes of the show), trying to cudgel ppl with how "smart" they are and how "dumb" we are.

I think the nasty thing for me is that I love what the show is doing, but then I check on the fandom and it goes ah ah ah negro you don't understand anything at all. Read Chrétien de Troyes' body of work and watch random USAmerican show #47 before you try speaking again.

I'm coming across as confrontational, I think, and I don’t mean to. Let me try again. Food for thought for the well-intentioned:

Are you really engaging with the show's critique of white supremacy if your behaviour in fandom replicates it? Using the white Western literary canon etc as shorthand for your intelligence/the worth or value of your interpretation. Are you actually egaging with the show's critique of cisheteropatriarchy if all those texts were created by and largely for an audience of cishet men? Maybe ppl don't need degrees in literary or gender and queer studies to have worthwhile insights. Maybe condescending to people while being unfamiliar with a whole host of queer Black literature when talking abt a queer Black show is at best... foolish. Maybe it weren’t for all that then watching the show would feel less like stepping on a rake. Okay, sorry, now I'm being petty (and elitist). I'm trying not to make assumptions or broadsweeping statements here.

Like you said it's all in service of not mentioning what even the blind can see. That's not a value judgement, ppl don't usually bury the subject consciously, white or BIPoC, it's our society. But that's why you gotta think and talk about race, because when you don't, you leave it unchallenged and it perpetuates.

Reading that the Utena thing at least didn't start (?) with non-Black fans did make me feel weirdly more positive about it. Anthy and Utena... Hm. Loustat is everywhere to see for the delusional. 🫶🏿

(I keep mentioning in asks that I'm very happy with the show and I hope it doesn't come across as trying to shame/police fans who aren't or sound like I'm gloating - I just wanna contextualise my specific frustrations.)

This felt productive to me.

Thank you so much for this space and especially for your time, I realise what a huge amount of emotional labour this blog must require (and here I come, shoveling more shit onto you 🫤). You've been both very thoughtful and thought-provoking. - 🦁

I'm out of brain energy to give this a better response rn but I've rly appreciated u being here and sharing what u do, and thank u so much for the compliments too. I used to have this account locked down bcuz I only ever saw anon asks and post comments and stuff allowing bullying to happen in more hidden spaces. I never thought the fandom could utilize the same things in order to be more vocal about a lot of stuff. I love that we've all discovered that this can work like this now. there's still shit happening at times but it's become a lot more positive here than it was at the beginning, bcuz ppl *want* to have these conversations.

[cafecitoeddie]

Sorry to keep this going but i just need to get this out- the thing that irritates me the most about peoples reactions to ry's thing is they only focus on the one part about him saying he and his friends say sl*rs to each other. Like they took that one line and ran with it and they ignore everything else he ever said even though the rest show his true genuine apology and good intention.

no need to apologize nonny, i'm on a roll today. and besides, i'm taking the time to re-educate myself as well about the whole situation.

i will tell you this, i was not in the 911 fandom when this was all going on but my bf was a fan of the show so i was aware of what was happening. i hate to admit it but i was entirely guilty of piling on him because i really truly thought he was just another jerkoff taking words from BIPOC with no regards to how those words have been used to hurt.

when i got my head out of my ass and took the time to learn why he said what he said and the actual context in which he defended THE ACTUAL PERSON WHO STARTED THE NONSENSE *ahem his wifey* i said damn.... okay i gotta take a step back and really examine why i feel the way i feel. when i saw that his apology seemed genuine and he humbled himself and took it upon himself to LEARN and GROW, i said okay. i stan. he's a good egg and being a POC myself i said okay, i can get behind him for sure.

if you just focus on that one little bit of his entire apology then you never gave a fuck to accept it in the first place.

BIPOC are telling you they've moved on. BIPOC are telling you he's done his time. stop disregarding them. please.

[multiplicity-positivity]

hey, most of our membs are introjects, and im curious, what pros/cons are there to seperating from your source? (being like, finding a new name and changing your looks more than just.. a slight recolor of the og media like ours are xD) like why do other do so, im curious :}

Hiya! I’m an introject! This question is kind of complex and the answer is really going to differ from system to system and from introject to introject! But here are my thoughts (I’m a fictive of Ralsei from Deltarune by the way! :3)

So for me (and I feel like I can safely say this for all my introject parts) a small amount of source separation is not only a good thing, but also healthy and necessary in order to live a happy life! Like, I still strongly identify with my source. I view myself as Ralsei and identify with the character strongly! But I recognize that I am not literally the character. I am a member in a system and not a figment of Toby Fox’s mind which only exists in a video game. I am a real person and I exist in real life! I am capable of growth and change, and there’s nothing keeping me held to the tiny box that my source has to fit in, because even though I identify with my source strongly, I am not him literally! This is source separation! And for the parts in our system, this is a really good thing! >w<

And here’s some reasons why parts in my system have chosen to source separate (whether slightly, like me, or more fully, like Cecil!)

They formed as an introject as a way to cope with trauma! And source separating happens naturally as they process trauma memories and come to understand themselves more as they are, outside of their source and the trauma that caused them to form!

They were uncomfortable with being compared to their source, treated as their source, or others assuming that they were big fans of their source material!

Their source is a different race or is from a different culture than that of our body, so they wanted to change as a sign of respect to BIPOC or those who actually belong to that race/culture!

They wanted to be able to engage with their source’s fandom in positive ways without feeling hurt and offended when people interpreted their source in ways that they don’t identify or agree with!

They just embraced source separation as it was already happening naturally!

And more! Folks can source separate for a huge variety of reasons! And every system is different, so many introjects may have their own personal reasons for source separating! >w<

As for the cons to source separation… the biggest one for us is that it sucks to source separate because others forced or expected you to! If you want to source separate, do it!! But do it for you and no one else. Feeling pressured to do something you don’t want to do can cause feelings of bitterness and resentment >_< So yeah, that for us is definitely the biggest con! And we can’t think of many more besides that, though we’re sure for some introjects there are more!

Ahhhhh sorry this got so long! I love talking about introject life and sources and source separation and all that stuff. The last thing we’ll do here is include Cecil’s post on source separation in case anyone might find it useful! :3

We hope this helps!! Best of luck to y’all with figuring out your sources and whether or not to separate from them in the future!! >w<

[five-of-cr]

here's the thing about matthias: he isn't the honorable, reformed hero some of the fandom seems to see him as.

yes, he was raised by a tight-knit family of comrade soldiers and decides to betray them in the end. of course that took incredible strength. i don't deny that. but we also need to recognize that the drüskelle are not just some rogue cult. they are a core part of the fjerdan government, who is trying to wipe out the grisha because they are seen as dangerous. that's literally just genocide. however indoctrinated someone is, this is something that is evil from every angle, even if the character can't or won't see it.

and look, i love a good redemption arc, but matthias is such a passive actor in his. he falls in love with nina against his will. she changes his attitudes toward grisha because she's beautiful and kind so all grisha can't be bad, right? this a classic example of the trope of separating the "good ones" from the rest, where you cherry-pick specific individuals to point to as exceptions to a group's nature, which is still implied to be evil. you have to do a lot more than fall in love to truly unearth and address the roots of bigotry.

tbh, this is my biggest critique of the books as a whole. i loathe the "love conquers all" trope that pairs together a character from the oppressed group and one from the oppressors, letting the one show the other through the power of love that being bigoted is not nice. it puts all the responsibility on the former to prove their humanity, and gives all the credit to the latter's ability to be persuaded to recognize it. and then it inevitably leads to forgiveness, because the character has "earned" it by changing their views, once again making the victim seem like the villain if they don't absolve the oppressor of their past "mistakes". also, it's incredibly unrealistic for someone to fall in love with a person who actively hates them and considers them sub-human. in real life, people have to work on their bigotry before that happens, not use the relationship as a plot device for character development.

i think the idea of writing a character like matthias is neat. i think portraying someone's struggle to throw off the suffocating, hateful dogma they've been fed all their life is a story we need more of. i think personal growth of this variety should be celebrated, because otherwise people would never change. but i don't think the people, fictional or real, get to do this without facing profound consequences. it is not enough to feel sorry. it is not enough to apologize. it is definitely not enough to fall in love. and i think writing that lets people off the hook like this grossly oversimplifies power and oppression, and ends up being a feel-good way to romanticize people who cause a lot of harm.

a last note: my opinion is 100% influenced by my being bipoc. matthias is a classic aryan supremacist, even if being aryan isn't the thing he's being supremacist about. my gut reaction to that type of character is always going to be mistrust, both because people in real life have given me reason to be mistrustful and because characters like these are often written in a way that makes you sympathize with oppressors. i don't think matthias earns that trust, and i don't see why i owe him my affection as a reader.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Re: Lena as reasonable conservatism - One of the most ironic things I thought the show did where they did Lena dirty (again) was when they used her as the conservative mouthpiece/foil for James’ view on gun control, where they had this one-off apples to oranges commentary with no context or nuance at all (James is railing about military grade weapons; Lena has had actual assassination attempts leveled against her and has a revolver; ofc no one ever asks Alien Gun Enthusiast Alex Danvers for any opinions because this is all about Making Lena Different). But in the same story arc, the Superfriends frame any concerns or fears about aliens with powers as purely a civil rights issue when realistically it’s an issue that has some nuances that would be similar to gun control (but the position of Lena and the Superfriends is reversed - Lena would be the one advocating for reasonable control.) And it gets worse in S6 - LBH, if your problem is potential harm to innocent bystanders, there are lots of reasons why, say, a foster home handling a lot of alien children with unpredictable powers (like one who can just mimic whoever is around them?!) might want to legitimately employ power dampeners.

It makes everything feel a little extra hypocritical and as much as the fandom discussions are so much better than the show handled it, it’s kind of interesting in fandom to watch how quite a few fans really do act like Lena having kryptonite or developing an alien detection device or whatever else is somehow the same as being a TERF or a racist? I’ve noticed it a lot in the comments on a lot of fics where Lena does feel like she’s being written as a reasonable voice of humanity, as though Lena being worried about rogue Kryptonians is somehow the same as discriminating against someone for being queer or BIPOC, and I kind of wonder how people are internalising these analogies. I was super curious to hear your views on it because I was pretty late to the fandom and your fic (Making Waves I think? Where Superman injures Lena by accident, and for a while Lena is a bit jumpy around Kara) was one of the first I read that was really willing to kind of get into some of that nuance, and it was really interesting to see. Thanks for sharing all your thoughts and sorry for the super long ask!

I think the main thing is that the show never really differentiated Supergirl from the other aliens on Earth, either in terms of identity or ability. Supergirl caused danger and wreckage, while the average alien doesn't have lots of abilities or invulnerability-- they're just trying to make a life on earth. So obviously the detection device was no bueno, because it asserted that ALL aliens deserve to be discriminated against. But there was no argument that addresses Supergirl specifically, as a target for trouble and a significantly overpowered vigilante.

But then again, SHOULD Supergirl be singled out of the many? Or should she simply be bound by the same laws and regulations every other alien needs to abide by? Because she never was that either. She acted extra-judicially, and never really faced any legal lashback for any of her actions.

Idk, there's a lot to explore.

[septembersghost]

This is the hardest week or so that I've ever had as a longtime swiftie. I saw people say this can't be worse than 2016 but it is for me because back then we were on her side and knew she was being wronged, we could defend her, but this time it's us being hurt and we can't. it's marginalized fans being upset and other fans talking over and ignoring us. I've never felt this bad and I love her and her music so much but I don't know how I'll ever look at her the same after this, and I'm not holding her accountable for that guy's actions, but that she'd be okay with it is complicity and giving him more of a platform, mouthing "ily" (barf) onstage to someone who's views are disgusting? I'm sad. I'm sorry it's been really hard for you. 😞

i'm so sorry. i'm at the point where i don't have words to express it because it's just exhausting and is crushing my heart. and i know i shouldn't even look at comments for my own mental health, but i've read a lot of things in the sub, and it's...killing me to see fans feeling this way, especially bipocs/jewish/muslim/disabled (is there a marginalized group he hasn't targeted? :/) fans, that they are not only asking these questions about her, but that they are feeling unsafe and unheard in the fandom. this post was shared with me, and it's a difficult read but it articulates a lot about the impact here, as do many of the comments.

my emotions have ranged all over the place this past week, but where i am now is this deep sense of sadness because i don't know what to do or where to go from here. she is intimately tied to her music, in an unusual way (i'd argue she's more connected to hers in ways fans know about than many other artists), which makes it difficult to separate. and yet her music is also ours and has accompanied countless fans through their lives, sometimes for many years (like i've said, fifteen in my case!), and that matters too and is extremely hard to disconnect from - music is such a profound and precious thing, it's not only sentimentality, it's in the very wiring of our brains, it's in our core memories. knowing fans are grappling with pain from that and trying to reconcile it...it hurts me so much. and there's a realization that overall, anyone struggling is still in a minority, so it doesn't make that much difference - thousands of people being upset feels wrong and terrible to me, no one should be experiencing that, and yet that's such a tiny fraction out of millions, which i think is another part of why the ones raising their voices feel a bit lost. i'm also frankly sick of seeing pushback about how fans hurting right now shouldn't be allowed to speak, because some intense double standards are at play (praise her and never criticize her is not a fair or healthy environment tbh). every fan i've seen upset is very clear about why, they're not holding her responsible for his actions, they're not confusing their reaction with real activism or social justice, they are raising concerns, and they're grieving a safe place that brought them joy and comfort before. you can't underestimate what art means to people and how valuable that safe space is, to feel like it's been shattered is a deep loss.

kelly (@butimnotseventeen) wrote a post about why this isn't comparable to 2016, and i think part of the conflict here is that, previously, it was always us with her, against the many who've torn her down and hated her unfairly. in this instance...that's not the situation. this is fans hurt and disappointed, and not being able to defend her, and it's also fans against other fans, which i think has made the anger worse. feeling attacked and shut out in a space you've cultivated and that makes you happy is terrible.

idk if we've reached the moment yet where we have to decide what we're going to do moving forward, or that moment likely will come at different times for everyone who's currently struggling. this is not something that's going to be addressed, and i think everyone needs to face the reality of that. we cannot demand anything from her personal life, and everyone knows that. if he apologizes, it will be because his hand was forced, and it won't change anything. if/when they break up, this still happened. anyone who leaves the fandom permanently is a drop in the bucket compared to how vast the fanbase is, so ultimately it's like...the decision you make should be centered on you and your well-being only. allow it to be about you, and your heart, because there's unfortunately no larger impact to be had here. is her music still meaningful to you, does it still make you happy? you're allowed to hold onto it. do you still love her and are you able to recognize she is flawed and contradictory and a wealthy white celebrity who lives in a world of privilege and never has to confront certain realities, can you reconcile that with caring about and enjoying her? because it's not wrong or hypocritical if you do. it's complicated. and if you want to step away for a while, or permanently, you're allowed that too. it truly is whatever is best for you.

selfishly, i miss coming on here and reblogging posts about her (and the beautiful things creators make) and being happy and excited, i miss coming on here and not feeling a sense of unease, and while i am in groups he targeted, and fundamentally am disgusted as a woman and human being, i cannot imagine what it's been like for bipoc fans. i've intentionally prioritized those of you who are hurt because you're important and you've been impacted in a way that taylor, who is not here seeing this, will never understand. she will never know how vulnerable fans feel. she will never have to read your pained and disappointed messages and try to counsel people through this. it makes me ache that any of us are struggling or experiencing that disconnect. i'm personally more affected by caring about other fans right now than i am by her, though i am worried about her to a degree too. we desperately need to hold onto empathy whenever we can.

her music has been such a light and carried me through so much. there's almost an irony to the fact that at any other time when i was hurt, i'd immediately turn to her music for comfort, and at the moment that's exactly where i can't go. it's very heavy and hard to say when that will fade. i just...i want you to know i've heard you and i love you and i'm sorry. i'm sorry you're hurt and sad. i wish i could do more. i wish i could predict the future and somehow tell you this will get better. i wish nobody felt this way at all. you matter and your safety and happiness matter. you can decide what brings that to you, and i hope you can keep finding it.

[littlespacestarbun]

Hello!! I was scrollin through a tf tag and saw ur post bout, indigenous coded aliens and how the fandom treats them.

I understand what coded means and I think I know what ur talking about? but if ur up to it could u elaborate on the “feral tfp op” bit cause I haven’t been in the fandom too long so can’t find what ur talking bout and I genuinely don’t understand but I would like to. if u don’t wanna answer this, it’s chill obviously.

:3 have a good day m8!

Hello! i do not mind elaborating at all!, as an native fan its a topic i don't get to speak on much so thank you!, (sorry in advance this is going to be a bit long),

to start with coding bipoc as aliens, robots, and other non-human creatures is a complex issue of itself, and it can harm bipoc people as well as to uplift us depending on the writers intentions, background details and of era of times of equal right movements,

the topics of coding bipoc as not human vary from person to person on our own lived experiences as bipoc, and i personally have many issues with coding bipoc as not human which are solely negative, the few positve were expections due to bipoc making them or simply them having some sort of positive effect on me instead of bad,

back onto the feral optimus issue, here's my point of view as a native fan,

optimus has personally been this one sort of "oh he's like us" coded indigenous character who's in a good light for me,

unlike every other coded indigenous alien in media i saw as a kid,

optimus prime is one of the few indigenous coded characters in tf as a whole, the others aren't very good due to many factors (thunderclash, wheelie, the combiner team victorion) or vague enough white fans ignore them even being coded at all or other things (omega, beachcomber, ironhide)

for me optimus was the first indigenous coded not human native person i saw painted as a hero,

he was seen as good for having his indigenous culture, beliefs and morals, it wasn't something which was used as making him evil and bad in the story, like a lot of indigenus 'rep' i had to see as a kid

that feeling is something hard to explain but i hold onto with tight hands because of how good it did me as a kid,

its why i have such deep emotional pain with how he's treated by white fans in all stories but tfp was some of the worst of it i had to see by far,

tfp optimus is full on indigenous its in your face with each moment,

to his back story, internal struggles and complex views of him from other characters (with himself and jazz being the only ones with unbias views due to being bipoc themselves),

his very writing feels like the story of a native person who made it out of force assilation and regain his cluture only to be forced into fighting for his rights again against someone who was orignally an ally, trying to assilate him into another opressive ideal,

with this in mind it makes how the jokes of tfp optimus being feral started worst,

alpha trion saying he was diffcult, he didn't fall into order right for his time not around Iacon culture, this is painted as a bad view to have by optimus,

yet the fans took this to mean because optimus lived a tribal life before that he was wild, he ran on all fours, sleep like an animal and needed to be saved from such a wild life to name some of the worst (others include nsfw and its gross),

there's a ton of aus and fanart, fics treating being indigenous to mean, he needs to be fixed, or ones painting being indigenous struggles as not real or small world issues,

these views are deeply intergrated anti-indigenous beliefs, if you look up the wild/savage native man trope and you'll see many racist movies, novels and comics painting native men as beasts who steal white women from white men, or even kill them and r-pd them because indigenous people are as savage animals,

which fall in line with how feral optimus is made with white fans, they treat his indigenous coding as fetish and use him not being human to disconnect the racism in their fanon, aus, fanart and fics,

but that disconnect only exists for them, fans of color see it clear as it is, feral optimus as a fan idea exists because of people being racist to bipoc, the concept is racist rooted in racism and race fetish spaces,

feral optimus prime stuff as fan content has been dying since we've called out on it more but its shows up from time to time and the fandom still suffers from treating bipoc coded characters badly, as a whole which i'd to touch on at some point because people don't see the issue much, and the people we kind of keep to ourselves to keep a sense mind while playing robots ha….ha,

I hope this at least gives some light onto the issue and answers your questions! not many bring it up so being able to explain it was an experience!

thank you for taking the time to ask and i hope you have a lovely day! hopefully this wasn't too wordy and made sense,

[dannythedog]

So, I don't know if you know this, or if you even follow that blog. But someone read the Danny-related discourse we were having on your blog a few days ago, talking about how unjustified the level of hate Danny gets is, etc. and they took to the gvft*a blog to complain about how stupid and asinine we and our arguments are, saying that if we're white we have no right to voice our opinions, not knowing that one of the people who were partaking on our discourse *me* is actually non-white and non-american. And I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on that?

I personally find it sad and kind of harmful that some caucasian and or/American Greta fans are so hellbent on assuming that everyone in this fanbase is white, and erasing everyone else who isn't. Like, the entire conversation surrounding Danny is 100% race-related, and since I'm part of the racial group that's 'being affected and harmed by his actions' I decided to jump in and add my two cents, but instead I just got told that I'm stupid and that my arguments are invalid, all because I said that I like Danny and that he deserves some grace, and that he was young and that he needs to learn. And I just can't help but find the whole thing extremely ironic? Like, people folks constantly say they want us to be uplifted and for our voices to be amplified... But then we're silenced when we don't say what they expected us to say.

I don't know, the activism in this fandom is just incredibly dissonant to me, they preach inclusivity but their actions are heavily exclusionary. It's becoming more and more obvious that the conversations surrounding Danny are not about us being victims of his actions, but about white folks wanting to feel like they're the main character and wanting to be right.

I sent a leghty anon to that blog. I don't know if the original person who wrote that will see it, but I guess other will and maybe that way they'll learn that there are other countries besides america and other races besides white, and that bipoc folks don't share a hive mind.

And I also wanna reiterate what my position is: I don't think Danny is an angel. He has fucked up, for sure. But he's a human just like all of us and he doesn't deserve to have his mistakes be dangled in front of him for eternity, especially when it's becoming obvious that this whole situation is more about people ego tripping and wanting to be right than it is about people wanting us to be safe.

No that’s for sure part of the issue right there. Everyone just assumes that everyone is white and cis and neurotypical. Then their excuse is always “well you’re on anon how am I supposed to know.” Maybe don’t assume?? I had the conversation because people wanted to talk about it and I have my anons and I’m willing to listen to what people had to say about it. I’m sorry that you were invalidated. Thank you for sending in your thoughts about everything

[sofipitch]

I wanna pushback against that anon saying black people are homophobic and religious zealots. There's plenty of homophobic, white religious bigots out there as well, what have we seen for the last 6 years in the US, but white, religious bigots everywhere. That didn't stop white reviewers getting advanced copies to do reviews.

It's that same backwards thinking that sees us as a monolith and prompts people to say black people aren't into fantasy or anime or gothic horror or any of these other things that we've always loved and participated in right alongside white people. The thinking is absurd and backwards.

That may be anon's experience but it's myopic and they shouldn't project it onto all Black communities. The fan reactions I've seen that have been most excited and shown the most anticipation have been from Black and brown fans. Black male YouTubers who watch these kinds of shows are geeked except for that one dude. The bigoted reactions I've seen have been almost exclusively from racist whites.

I'm sorry that post just has me heated.

Yeah I agree and I know one of the white ppl who got screeners is a known fandom bigot

I agree that it def isn't the case, it's just a very loud minority of voices who will say you aren't x enough if you are/like y. So yeah I can understand where anon is coming from, especially when you've been hurt you can feel hypervigilant against something like religion, but also it isn't the case for everyone and I think lots of black fans being super pumped for the show publically is a really good way to show that isn't true. I agree that I have seen the most excitement for the show coming from BIPOC fans. I think with marketing it can feel like nerdy and queer stuff is made for white fans, even when they aren't the only ones present, it still feels like "they matter more as the audience". So I think that is what is great about the IWTV show is that it is putting BIPOC and queer audeinces first. And I hope this show will be another way ppl will feel empowered against stereotypes/feelings of isolation if they do feel them, and by finding ppl similar to them in fandom

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Hi all! (and yes, I am absolutely thinking this in Stede Bonnet’s voice)

I want to talk about the mistake I made early on in this latest round of Dinluke Discourse and what I will do moving forward.

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have centered the dark!dinluke corner of fandom so early in my responses to reactions to my initial post. It was too easy to fall back on and retread the same well-tread ground as previous bouts of Discourse had, meaning we’d be stuck in a rut, arguing about “ymmv” and kink-shaming and fandom purity culture and pro/anti shippers and witch hunts and GOD I AM SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THAT. It becomes an “us vs. them” contest of wills and screaming matches and insults and harassment and threats, and then what? We flame out, nobody wins and nothing happens, and we go back to the status quo?

Absolutely not.

I proposed being more vocal and hostile toward harmful tropes, stereotypes, and trends that had become so prolific in the fandom. Right after that, I centered a specific group of creators and fans in subsequent posts, beginning yet another round of hostility, harassment, gaslighting, what-have-you. In doing so, I lost the intent of my original post. The narrative became, once again, about people dictating how everybody else should fandom based on what they like and dislike, which derails the conversations that should be had about how to make fandom a safer and more inclusive space for all. 

It’s basically the pro/anti shipper debate, which is one of the fucking worst things to come out of contemporary fandom. Everyone is a proshipper until you do something others aren’t comfortable with and suddenly you’re the antishipper. You call out racist and xenophobic characterizations of Din and you’re now an anti for threatening the comfort of people who don’t want to be challenged, who don’t want their rose-tinted shades to shatter, who don’t want to be accused of being That Kind Of Person. “Oh heavens me, I never meant any harm, I just want to have fun in my lil’ ol' sandbox, how dare you accuse me of these things, blah blah blah.” So what about the people who experience daily microaggressions and would like to, oh I don’t know, not see more of that shit when they also want to have fun?

When I said we should’ve been “louder and meaner”, what I should’ve stated explicitly was we should make fandom hostile to all forms of aggression, be they the more subtle everyday microaggressions (a thousand cuts) or the more blunt and stark macroaggressions (a bludgeoning). 

Today, I saw a lot of conversations about the “Luke in a dress” trope, and the harm that comes from turning acts of nonconformity and queer expression into reinforcements of heterosexual and cisnormative roles. That trope about him being the “Mom” and Din being the “Dad”? Terrible, it should die. Assigning character traits based on who tops and who bottoms? Set that practice on fire. Let these things sink to the deep dark depths of the void.

I’m not sorry if what I provoked made you uncomfortable about what you create and consume. You should feel uncomfortable. You know how uncomfortable I felt when I first read serious discussions about Pedro’s identity as a white Latine? Because I had misconceptions or simply Did Not Know That, and I had to check myself. I’m still correcting myself, I’m still learning. I’m reblogging posts and commentary from people who know these things far, far better than I do, because I know when to shut the fuck up and help amplify other voices. Honestly, I would rather reblog commentary from people who are well-versed in discussing issues with how fandom had been characterizing the dinluke ship because I’m supremely unqualified to carry deeper discussions. As someone pointed out in an attempt to shut me down, I’m Korean-American. It’s in my fucking bio. I’m also ace and AFAB. And I fucking care about my fellow BIPOC and queer fans. It’s called solidarity. 

I found this twitter thread a few days ago. Stitch is speaking specifically about racism in fandom but I think this is incredibly relevant to how we should approach these issues in the fandom (any fandom, really) and how we should make this space a safer place. I don't expect toxic tropes and trends to be completely eradicated because that’s just not how anything works, but I am interested in diminishing their presence in the dinluke tags. I'm interested in centering more interesting, creative, and less harmful interpretations of these tropes and trends in these discussions and fanworks. 

I’ll probably keep anon asks off for at least another week and take some time to draw and write. Somehow got myself so pumped up about dinluke again. Sorry, outline to that OFMD fic. You’ll just have to wait a while.

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. I personally would be more willing to excuse the constant art mistakes and issues in LO if it was actually just Rachel doing it all herself. The fact the reality is actually her only sketching it out at best while her team of 4-5 people do the actual art is just inexcusable. The biggest selling point about it too is it's supposed to have great art, so why can't it even keep basic features correct? This is just ridiculous. How do you get more people working on it and it's only worse for it?

2. I think its PJO that said Gods can easily change how they appear (PJO Aphrodite for example looks how the viewer finds attractive, while PJO Persephone's looks change off the seasons) but that's all established and confirmed very early in the series and has in-universe explanations. LO has none of this minus "emotional hair" (???) so there is really no excuse Rachel & her 5+ person team can't even keep Hades' nose right. It's honestly a bit ridiculous how art issues are more frequent than not.

3. IDK why Rachel keeps pushing for Hera and Persephone to be the same person bc not only does that imply Hades wants Hera but is using Persephone to replace her, but Hera sucks?? She's an elitist jerk, she's racist against nymphs unless they're "one of the good ones" (🤢) she claims to be so loyal yet cheats on Zeus with his BROTHER, she neglects her kids to were her 8 year old has to act like an adult, she lies to her own sister, etc. Why would you want Persephone be ANYTHING like her?

4. About that thing about the kings using a fertility goddess (Gaia, Rhea) to gain power... did Rachel entirely miss that the kings themselves ARE fertility gods? Cronus is straight up an earth god, Uranus and Zeus are both sky gods (=rain)

5. sorry, no amount of "thats just the angle!" or "that's just the lighting!" can excuse rachel's piss poor character designing. the character's whole faces, bodies, and skin colors shouldn't change literally every other panel unless its copied and pasted the same panel, which even then theyre still often redrawn to look different and thus off model once again. There's no part of the story confirming their have fluid looks, so it looks even more ridiculous it can't keep even basic things on model.

6. You fools.  Clearly the more creepy and controlling he gets about Persephone the longer his nose grows. Why do you think he looks even more like a swordfish now? I’ve cracked the code. 

7. I’m not saying bad faith critique of LO doesn’t exist but I’m really disturbed over how the stans act like BIPOC readers, LGBTQ+ readers,  SA survivors, Greeks, etc critiquing it’s very real flaws and issues that are sold to literal children is just lumped under that same bad faith argument or “being an anti”. Like?? We’re not arguing about stupid ships, we’re critiquing how it sexualizes a girl that’s barely legal, a story that frames the poor as the real oppressors to the rich and powerful, a story that uses sexual assault to push a creepy, power imbalanced ship along, a comic that spits in the face of the culture and stories it’s butchering and profiting off of, a story that (I will hope unintentionally) has very real implications of racism and antisemitism, a story that frames a slave owner and potential groomer as the best man ever, a story that took a famous bisexual god and made him the abuser to a poor little straight girl, a story claiming to be feminist yet is deeply rooted in pushing misogynistic messages, and the list goes on and on. That’s not “anti” behavior, it’s being able to critically consume this media and not being blinded by marketing and the bright colors it can’t keep consistent. 

8. I feel so bad when I think about the fact I wasted all my time and energy into Lore Olympus fanart, fanfiction, fandom (discussions, theories and even arguing), compared to when I used to be in other fandoms. Like... League Of Legends fandom, yeah, that boring and ugly moba game, has made me feel much more fulfilled and welcomed, especially because of how many amazing story and world building related things they provide from time to time.

Yes, Smythe doesn't have much money to provide the fandom with interesting animations, or exclusive music videos or just basically anything other than doodles and memes and concept art... But still for some reason I feel so cheated. The amount of love and time I dedicated to Lore Olympus feels heavily one-sided.

Now it's a matter of time until another fandom will pull me in and I leave Lore Olympus behind for good. I just don't understand what kept me here so long. I suppose it's my need for closure is why I still stay. I just need to know how it ends because I don't want this whole time I wasted on this bad piece of media to be in vain. 

9. I think In trying to make the comic more “serious” Rachel seems to think adding more complicated plots and “twists” makes it better, but it really doesn’t. There’s nothing wrong with telling a simple story and that’s it, especially when the hymn is pretty straightforward in what to do with it. Idk why she thinks adding plots about Kronos, Leto, Eros, Daphne, Echo, AOW, etc would somehow improve a story about HxP getting together, yet here we are. 

10. Not only is Hera a Fertility Goddess despite Rachel's lack of world building, Hera also has a huge overlap with Zeus in terms of powers, such as herself being able to control the weather, cause storms, and crumble empires if she saw fit. There is a reason Zeus and Hera were paired and it wasn't just their for spicy romance, it was also the fact he was the strongest god and she was the strongest goddess. Rachel very purposely nuked Hera of her real power and still thinks she's "empowering" her!

[dalishious]

hi ! im sorry if this comes off as sudden & weird, but i just wanted to say that i'm so relieved to have come across blogs like yours when i was getting into the series. fell in love with the games a while ago, however, i still recognize all the problematic (for lack of a better term to describe everything) shit in the writing especially thanks to sources like ur own posts ! it sucks though that plenty of people on datwt (where i'm mostly on) can't seem to understand that. i've only recently joined this year and it's already hell. all the whitewashed art, stans whining about people disliking their fave white boys for very valid reasons, people gen stanning the devs, calling people's diff opinions + criticisms from bipoc (like myself) 'discourse,' white fans making slavery jokes, etc. it's like walking on eggshells there when u call out those sorts of behavior or just... minding ur own business. which is why i'm grateful that despite your clear enjoyment, you're able to criticize all the issues both within in-game & fandom and amplify voices from other marginalized fans. i just wish that some of us on twt could do the same without getting attacked or in/directed as "haters just stirring drama."

Yeah I avoid Twitter for all kinds of reasons (mostly because I forget I have an account) but the reason I forget is because it feels like 90% of the Dragon Age community there is even worse than Tumblr, which says something.

Sorry you've had to deal with such bullshit. I can sympathize.