#i might be biased and overly defensive

[thedreammweaver]

People comparing watcher to dropout is pissing me off

Collegehumor was still releasing videos after dropout was made they didn’t go we have a streaming service now okay bye bye fuck you all who can’t pay to see us anymore.

To my knowledge dropout had mostly new content on it and wasn’t just shows people already had for free suddenly being behind a paywall

Also collegehumor/dropout had a bunch of layoffs happen in 2020 and it’s a much bigger operation. To my knowledge Watcher isn’t in danger of going under.

They have a ton of unique content with dozens of talented people, they’re releasing new projects all the time that are heightened from a bigger budget and don’t just feel like youtube videos you have to pay for.

Like to me it’s very different. Just compare Dropout’s 5th anniversary video (edit: actually compare it to the dropout announcement video) to the melodramatic goodbye youtube video. Dropout feels way more in touch with the people who enjoy the content.

To me dropout is way more justified in being a streaming service and feels worth $6 a month and plus like actually respects it’s fans and didnt say bullshit like “oh everyone can afford the subscription price”

A lot of watcher content is just the guys talking about things so what does a higher budget add besides fancy visuals or sets??

[simphornies]

Hi i was wondering if you could do a Vox X Angel Reader. If you don't mind of course. I understand if you say no.

A/N: Again. But this might be a two parter again. Or three. I don't know this one was super fun to write though!

Word count: 4.3k (4,232) Contains: SLOW burn, Alastor is your friend, Charlie being Charlie

part 2, part 3, part 4

Summary: Vox approached you with a deal too good to be true. He hid his ill-intent only to find him playing too far into the lie to the point where he began to doubt his true feelings. What was he really doing this for?

Deal breaker [Vox x Angel! Reader] Part 1

Your curious and overly empathetic nature mixed with your passion for justice always had the seraphims and other archangels keep their eyes on you. They tried to prevent you from rebelling by limiting your access to information.

You grew to be a well-known and respected angel in heaven so when word came out that you decided to stand by Charlie's hotel idea during the trial, more than half of heaven stood by it too. You were the furious version of Emily during then. You were enraged and demanded the information to be leaked to which Sera rejected immediately.

You threatened to spread the truth yourself and with that you were ordered to leave Heaven and join Charlie, never to set foot back in Heaven with such threats. You accepted being a fallen on the condition that they give the hotel a chance if you were to win against the extermination. Emily was more than happy to agree to be the joyful messenger to report good news and fix the stereotypes that they held on the souls of hell.

Sera went against this idea but Emily threatened to join you in Hell otherwise. You watched as Sera, a high seraphim, was backed into a corner by a fellow seraphim. The other angels argued amongst each other but were instantly persuaded by your opinion due to your reputation. You swore that you will win against the true fools of the battle, Adam and Lute.

You gave aid on Charlie's side against the early extermination by working to heal those who were gravely injured and protecting the weak. Ultimately winning in the end, a surge of arguments within the heavenly community led to an uprising in defense of the hotel. This very reason ended up with you falling like Lucifer. You weren't a seraphim but you sure as hell had the social status of one. With Heaven unable to condemn every angel that joined the uprising against the extermination so they settled with you. The fight, however wasn't won without casualties.

During the broadcasted fight, your power caught the attention of the overlord Vox. He was in shock that someone in heaven actually gave a shit about the people in hell. Soon after the war you received word that he wanted to have a meeting with you to discuss collaboration with VoxTek and Hazbin Hotel. Against Alastor's obviously biased protests, you agreed to meet with the infamous overlord alone.

"Vox, a pleasure to be meeting with you. I'm sure you've heard but my name is Y/N. Fallen angel, representative and advisor of Hazbin Hotel." You formally greet him, holding out your hand to which he shook.

"Y/N, I've known you since the last extermination, quite a sight. Please, sit." He pulls out a chair for you. How gentlemanly. "I've arranged this meeting to discuss possible collaborations with VoxTek despite our standing with your host, Alastor." His voice distorted when he said his name. It was a mystery to you as to why they despise each other so much, but it wasn't your place nor the time to know of the reason.

"Ah, yes. He protested against my decision to meet with you today, however and I am quite curious as to what you have to offer considering Hazbin Hotel needs not for what your company usually provides." You sit up, placing your interlocked hands on the table. "You are well aware that cameras and technology of that sort don't quite mix with our dear Alastor. So please, what do you have that we need?"

"Influence. I believe I can spread the word and convince sinners to attempt redemption better than Alastor's radio broadcasts." Vox noticed your eyes glisten with interest. "I know the hotel's against forcing so I won't use my hypnotism on the advertisement."

"Alright," You nod, "That's a decent offer. What do you request in return if I were to agree to this?"

A grin spreads across his face, "I want you to protect me and my company against future threats. That and I want you in particular."

You cock an eyebrow at his half ridiculous request, "Me?" You almost scoffed out loud, "What do you want me for?"

"Why, I would love to get to know you. You're more of a mystery than that radio demon and well, as an overlord, I have to know exactly who you are."

"And how do you propose this idea to work? Surely I am not worthy of such...curiosity. I have proven myself to not be a threat to the people of hell."

"Well, let me put this in simpler terms." He leans back in his chair, "I am interested in courting you."

You blinked in disbelief. An overlord? Courting a fallen angel? "Now wouldn't that be a conflict of interest? And if your courting fails, how are we to know that the Vees won't become a bigger threat to the hotel?"

"You're a fallen angel, you hold more power than the overlords and stand side by side with the king of hell. Not to mention that you're best friends with Princess Morningstar." He watched the subtle changes in your facial reaction, slightly amused but also slightly worried that you'd actually say no. "You are by far much stronger than Adam, who by the way shot laser beams from his fingers. We pose no threat to you."

"Ah but you are aware that I can be hurt with angelic weapons. You work with Carmilla Carmine, an angelic weapons dealer. So I ask again, how do I guarantee my safety alongside the hotel?"

"How about we make a deal then?" He proposed.

A deal? An angel, fallen or not, making a deal with a demon is not something you typically see, well, ever. You pondered and thought about the offer, humming softly.

"3 days." You finally spoke, "I'll need 3 days to consider this offer on the condition that you stay in the hotel. If you're truly willing to collaborate with us, you need to stay, see and understand the hotel in its full glory. In return for your approval of this condition, I will give provide you protection from Alastor and, may I be as bold to say it, force his cooperation."

Vox was a little skeptical but considering you are stronger than Alastor, he agreed. "Alright then, 3 days. When will this start?"

"I will let you know as soon as I speak with the staff of the hotel." You get up from your seat. "Is that alright with you?"

Vox gets up and shakes your hand, "Great. I'll be waiting."

You gave him a smile before teleporting yourself back to the hotel. As soon as you left Vox basically starts breathing hard as if he was holding his breath the entire meeting. The presence of an angel freshly fallen from Heaven is a heavy one. He composed himself before calling Velvette and Valentino to the room.

Back at the hotel you call for a staff meeting with Vaggie, Alastor, Charlie, Lucifer and Husk. You tell them about the events of the meeting. They, with the exclusion of Charlie, were all understandably skeptical and untrusting of Vox's word. Especially Alastor considering he hated this demon's guts.

The room distorts slightly due to his anger. "As the host of the hotel, I disagree with this deal. I say no. I do not collaborate with technology in the slightest and I will absolutely not collaborate with Vox." He hissed out. "That is a terribly foolish idea. I cannot comprehend why you would consider such a proposal."

"Yeah that guy literally tried to spy on us with Pentious as soon as he learned that Alastor was here." Vaggie crossed her arms, "As rare as this is, I agree with Alastor. I trust him more than I trust Vox."

"You guys, I think the proposal is a great idea!" Charlie defended, "He can get us more reach and other people aren't as..." She glanced at Alastor who tilted his head to the side in response, "...afraid of him. And! This hotel's all about redemption and giving chances, we can't turn our backs on something as big as this."

"My dear, surely you aren't considering this preposterous idea?" Alastor questioned argumentatively.

"Yes. I am. I stand with Y/N on this one. I think we should give him a chance."

"And what if he tries to fuck shit up here at the hotel? Then what?" Husk asks, "I'm not cleaning up after any more walls that get blown up." He grumbled, taking a swig out of his bottle.

"I hear your troubles and concerns regarding the idea but did you all truly forget," You glanced at Lucifer. He understood your cue and in unison you both reveal your six wings and the eyes that covered you both, "This hotel is under protection of not only the infamous radio demon but two high-ranking fallen angels."

"I agree with Y/N. If that little overlord tries to pull any stunts, I won't hesitate to fuck him." Lucifer proudly, and loudly, states.

Everyone, in response, stared at him.

"It's 'fuck him up' dad." Charlie whispers, "I told you this last time."

"Wait what did I say?"

You laugh at the mistake in phrase, "See? There is nothing to worry about."

"Okay but why does he want to do this? What exactly does he want in return, Y/N? I feel like you left that out." Vaggie asks as you and Lucifer put your wings away, reverting back to your usual forms.

"Well, he said he wanted protection and..." You trail off. All eyes are on you as they waited for what comes next. You take a deep breath in, "And he wants a chance at courting me." You calmly state, a nervous blush covering your poker face.

Husk spits out his drink and everyone, in unison, screams. "WHAT?"

All at once, protests, thoughts and opinions were thrown at you.

"All this nonsense for a chance at courtship? Foolish!" Alastor scoffed.

"The big bad overlord wants to fucking hit on you and you considered it?" Husk screams before reaching for another bottle to chug. "I'm too fucking sober right now."

"Ooooooh~ Y/N caught the attention of an overlord. You know what he wants-" Lucifer elbowed you before humping the air with a teasing look on his face, "Bow-chicka-wow-wow."

"HE WANTS TO DATE YOU?" Vaggie yelled.

"OH MY GOSH. HE WANTS TO DATE YOU? THAT'S SO CUTE." Charlie squealed in excitement, of course.

You sigh and rubbed your temples at the onslaught of statements. You patiently waited for them to all stop talking at the same time before continuing. You took this time to think this one through. You hardly knew the guy and he was willing to agree to spend 3 days in the hotel even with Alastor here. If that wasn't a commitment, then you don't know what is.

The arguing dies down and you get up, "I didn't state that I will enter a relationship with Vox. I simply said I'll consider his conditions of collaboration. Protection against future threats is something I can handle. The second part came out of the blue." You sigh, "Alastor. I am more than well aware of your indifferences and feelings on him but if you truly want this hotel to get more reach, you need to be able to put your feelings to the side and be more open-minded. Besides, if he were to fail here and in courting me, wouldn't you want to be there to see it?"

Alastor hummed, "Mmmm...You make a good point there. Fine. I'll agree to it. I won't harm him for a chance at seeing him fail." He grinned menacingly, his words covered with his radio static effect. "Though if he doesn't fail, what shall I get?"

You deadpanned and sighed, once again, "I'll bring you foolish prey that talk shit about you so you can let your anger out on them instead of him." You offered to which he decided to reluctantly settle for.

After you all came to the agreement, you send a paper notice to Vox telling him that tomorrow will be the start of his 3 long days at the hotel. Vox received the note you sent him while he was with Velvette and Valentino making him grin.

Velvette rolled her eyes, "All that to hit on the angel bitch? That's a weird-"

"-And pathetic-" Valentino added.

"-fucking move for power, Vox. Did you hit your fuckin' head or something? Do you need an update?"

"Pathetic? We get angelic protection equal to the protection of Lucifer. That would give us such an easy path to conquer this whole fucking ring!" He exclaims, laughing menacingly, "If an angel fell for that dumbass reason, there's no fucking way she's smart enough to see through the fact that she's the one that's going to be getting played."

.

The next day rolled around and the hotel lobby was decorated with basically every decoration everyone could find. There was even a sign that says "It's a boy!" on the wall? The same one they used for Lucifer's arrival. You shook your head, laughing a bit.

"Alright, Alastor. Remember, be nice." You remind him as he rolled his eyes.

"Yes yes, your highness." He rolled his eyes, sassing you. Though this idea was a crazy one, you and Alastor were friends. You had helped him gain a bit more of his power that was constricted from his mysterious chains. When you saw him bleeding in his old radio tower, you shared your powers through the means of a deal. A deal that he would trust your decisions and become your friend.

"Don't you sass me, Alastor." You joked, "Very unbecoming of you."

After a couple minutes of waiting, a knock sounds at the door. You open it to reveal Vox standing with pride. Confetti blasts behind you as you welcome him into the hotel.

"Welcome, Vox. To the famous Hazbin Hotel. I truly hope you enjoy your stay with us and we thank you for taking this opportunity."

"I don't thank him for shit." Alastor mumbled.

You side-eyed the radio demon before holding out your hand for Vox to take so you can show him around. He takes it and gives the back of your hand a kiss, earning an eye-roll and a couple of gasps.

"First things first, I shall introduce you to the staff." You walk him over to your friends.

"Hi! I'm Charlie. You probably already know me but welcome to the hotel!" She squealed, shaking his free hand, "You're going to love it here! You get to play our trust games today! Oh! And this is my dad, the king of hell, Lucifer!" Charlie grabbed her father to which he waved and just said, "Pleasure."

Everyone made their rounds introducing themselves to Vox and it was time for you to properly introduce the two rivals to each other. Vox came face to face with Alastor. Alastor squinted, his aura darkening and in response Vox starts to angrily glitch.

"Now now. A reminder that you two are to get along for the next 3 days. Or, at the least, not kill each other." You calmly state, "Or, I will do it myself." You threatened, your angelic eyes sprouting on your hair as you smiled at them sweetly, your hands gripping their shoulders a little tight. They pettily turn their heads away from each other.

"Now that introductions are done, I shall escort you to your room. Right this way."

You lead him into a room that you requested be ready for him. All rooms around it are covered with jammers strong enough to prevent him from doing anything sketchy or interfering with technology from his room, as per Alastor's request, but weak enough to allow him to properly function. You briefed him on this expecting him to protest but he just agreed without a fight.

His room was designed entirely on what you saw in his office, color scheme and all. Neon lights that he can control and change lined the walls and the corners. You decide to temporarily move into the space next to his so if anything were to go wrong, you'd be the first one there.

After settling in, Vox was subjected to Charlie's games and events that she had planned for the day. She purposefully pushed the two of you into pairs when given the chance, anything to get you two to become close. Alastor surprisingly behaved himself, too focused on his more important rivalry with Lucifer to truly care about Vox's presence. Vox, of course, took great offense to this and tried to pick fights with him which led him to getting punished.

By Charlie.

In her own Charlie way.

Apologies.

Anyways you end your day at the bar, speaking with Husk about his day. You listen to him grumble away at his irritations, giving advice when needed or asked but mostly staring at your cup of wine. Growing up in Heaven, you were only allowed to drink wine with levels of alcoholic concentration so low it's practically still juice. This made you a lightweight in the beginning but with enough time spent around Angel Dust and Cherri, your tolerance went up.

You were working on finishing an entire bottle of wine when Husk stopped his stories, grumpily walking away to pretend to do something. Vox had sat next to you.

"Hello, are you here for a drink?" You asked, offering some of your drink to him.

"Sorry, I'm more of a whiskey and rum type of demon." He declined, lifting his glass full of what looked to be rum. "Today I chose rum."

"How's your first day? Tiring, is it not?" You ask before pouring yourself another glass, "I'll be heading to bed as soon as I finish my bottle."

He laughed a bit, "You're finishing that whole thing by yourself? Never expected the angel to be an alcoholic. You getting used to Hell or something?"

You roll your eyes, "I like to indulge every now and then, Heaven is such an uptight place for angels like me. Indulging in alcohol was never a chance. The 'wine' there is quite literally juice. Ask Husk, he was disgusted." You pointed at the winged cat demon who nodded in response.

"Nastiest shit I ever tasted."

While you, Husk and Vox conversed you failed to notice Charlie sneaking up on you the moment you finished the last drops in your glass. She jumped as soon as you finished the bottle and smiled.

"Y/N! Vox! Since you two are more acquainted and you live next to each other, why don't you two walk together for the night?" She winked at you, egging on the idea of you and Vox dating.

"That's not necessa—" You begin before getting interrupted by an overly excited Vox.

"Gladly!" He grinned as he put his glass down. He extended his arm out to you for you to hold onto. You walk past him, declining his offer without a word. Your rejection at his attempt of affection sparked a flame within him. It definitely hit his ego.

"Catch up now, or I'll end up walking alone." You say, almost in a teasing manner.

Charlie gently pushed Vox after you to which he ran to catch up. While you two walked down the lobby and up the stairs, it was awkwardly silent. Vox's damaged ego made him break the silence first.

"So...What does an angel do...at night?" Vox internally slapped himself at the horrid attempt at conversation. You raised an eyebrow at him, befuddled at the odd question.

"We...sleep? Go into slumber?" You giggle slightly, "That was an amazing attempt at conversation."

Your giggle echoed in his head, replaying for a while until you spoke again. Vox was confused at his own reaction and decided to ignore it. He held his hands behind his back as he walked next to you down the hallway towards your rooms.

"Well I don't typically talk to angels. You're one of the three only angels here. Unless you count the dead one." His humor wasn't something he expected you to laugh at but you did. He was surprised. "Anyways. I'm allowed to try and court you while I'm here right?"

"Hmm. I suppose." You nodded, "Though, I have my doubts in your abilities to successfully do so. But you have my best wishes for your endeavors."

Your best wishes? That phrase almost made him scoff in response, holding back only for the sake of his facade. Though he did feel challenged.

"Is that a challenge, Y/N?" He asked, a mischievous grin on his face as he looked at you.

You finally reach your door which was right before Vox's, "Take it as you will. I will not condemn you from attempting." You smile at him, "Have a good night, Vox. Don't fall asleep too late."

"Whatever you say." He definitely took it as a challenge. "Good night, angel." He said as he opened your door for you. You thanked him before entering your room, shutting, but not locking, your door behind you. It didn't take long for you to get ready and fall asleep after.

Meanwhile in Vox's room, he took a look around. Double checking every nook and cranny for a sign of distrust like listening devices and cameras but to his surprise there were none. He was about to let his guard down until Alastor slid under his locked door using his shadow.

"Hello, old pal." The sound of his radio voice made the fellow overlord jump. He turned and made eye contact with the radio demon himself, menacingly smiling at him.

"What do you want, fuck face?" He hissed, his own voice covered with his stereo effect almost as if trying to one-up Alastor.

"I don't know what your intentions are here but I am almost completely sure you are up to no good. So we shall heed you a warning."

"Why did you say 'we' instead off 'I' or 'me' or something."

Alastor's grin widens as he unlocked the door for Lucifer to get through. Vox looked down at the surprisingly short king of hell.

"My daughter's formed a close bond with Y/N and if anything happens to her, you'll have to deal with me. And I don't think you'd want that." Lucifer threatened, eyes briefly turning red, "That's all I have to say!"He smiled as if nothing just happened and left to go to his room.

"And our dear, Y/N is a part of this hotel now." Alastor examined his staff before staring down the TV demon, "Under no circumstance for these next days am I to harm you but I will tell you this. Watch your intentions."

Alastor disappeared as quickly as he came, leaving Vox alone. He rolled his eyes at the warnings Alastor gave him, only really caring about Lucifer's. Right as he was about to settle into bed, a knock came at his door. He groaned in frustration.

"What now?" He complained, opening the door a bit too furiously, "What do you want—Oh. Hello, Y/N..." You stood in front of him in your pajamas. Which was a nightgown you got from Angel Dust as a present, it teased the dirty mind of whoever saw it but you honestly thought it was just a regular nightgown. Your cleavage threatened to spill out from the top at any wrong move and the shape of the dress partnered with the extremely light fabric meant that a breeze could easily blow it up.

It was a sight he wasn't expecting to see and if he was being honest, it flustered him to see you, a renowned angel, in such revealing clothes in front of his room at night. He awkwardly cleared his throat to snap himself out of his brief trance before hiding his nervousness behind a wide smile.

"Yes, Y/N? I was just about to go to bed. Do you need anything?" He leaned against the door frame, arms loosely crossed, "Or did you come here to tease me~"

You shook your head before handing him a box. "I forgot to give you this, I had left it on my nightstand and saw it before I laid to rest." You smile, "It's a welcome gift. I shall be heading off now. Good night!"

"Wai—" He spoke but you were already heading towards your room. He watched you walk away, eyes scanning the shape of your body as the nightgown landed on your curves. And he stared at your ass.

He goes back into his room to open what you'd given him. It was a bow tie that had the iconic Hazbin Hotel eye on it. Under it was a note.

'I made this myself. Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel! I hope you enjoy your stay! -Y/N'

He felt himself warm up at the gesture which felt weird to him. He was there to try to win you over with manipulation, trick you into forming a deal with him and taking you for himself away from the hotel. And now he's blushing?

"What the fuck..." He whispered to himself, having mixed emotions on his original plan. He shook it off and headed to bed. He only had 2 more days after all.

[pong03]

Leo kurosagi analysis

this was requested but tumblr wont let me post to their ask so: Okay, Leo is selfish. I'm not gonna deny all the bad things people say about him, or even deny he is a bad person, but he is a GREAT set up for a character. I would like to say that Tokyo debunker is giving set up for growth from each character, Leo is just the most Jarring, for the fan base. full disclosure, I did not like Leo or even consider liking him until I saw the HATE on here, I'm not just trying to be quirky by liking the most disliked character either. I tend to just want to see the good in what most people dislike. I like kpop and I tend to bias the most criticized or least biased members of a group, because I think it's an amazing feeling to give love... Although I understand it's cathartic to hate too, and that's probably why the Leo hate is so strong. I also still don't LIKE Leo, but I really do want to explore his character and I probably will make more posts as we see him more and as I experience him more myself. The Leo cu*king tho, is maybe my least favorite "trope" in TBD fanfic rn... but I don't k*nkshame y'all :*

I also would like to say Sho is his friend, not his victim or Rapunzel. There is some value to Leo in Sho's eyes and I think we shouldn't degrade that because we see that if Sho doesn't like someone he will not engage i.e Ren. Sho is a sweet character and I think he might be friends with Leo because he wants to see the best in him or knows his more repulsive behaviors are a defense mechanism or explained by other reasons we the MC are yet to see. Why I think that is even tho the weird blob guys in the mystery diner suck at making food he still wants to see the best in them, and that very scenario could be a cheeky analogy from the writers themselves, about Sho and Leo. Obviously Leo could be blackmailing Sho, I know that is a commonly held belief, but I do have some perspectives that could debunk that thought. Leo doesn't Garner blackmail on his peers. I think Leo is nosy, and invasive, but he is also incredibly capable, implied by his contributions to the vagastrom group case. If he wanted to figure out who Alan killed he could with his hacking prowess, but instead he asks Mido himself. In invasive ways yes, but he could just have found the information himself, whether by hacking or asking the countless witnesses of the clash. Rather he asks Mido face to face, and, correct me if I'm wrong we can't say he wouldn't have taken no for an answer because Mido just gets mad at his antics and never gives him a straight up no. Again I could be wrong so let me know if Alan does give him a straight no. It's been a while since chapter two for me.

Right now I want to explore some possibilities for his character given the information we have about him ATM. I mentioned above the fact his little nasty, mean, degrading comments could be a defense moreso that he wants people to try and push past that to see if they're viable as his friends. Especially because he is micro-influencer he might be protective of himself because of that. As well as being a chronic liar online he may want to know if he can trust you not to expose him online. I think exploring his past would be amazing because even his stigma makes him seem like an overly cautious person, as well as invasive. Cautious? I feel like its cut and dry that wanting to hear what people say when you aren't around could hint to him being quite anxious about what people think about him. like idk I also feel like the jealousy we see towards Sho might also be more about people finding Sho more approachable. I think because Leo wants to be more involved with people in power he might have not been trying to scare Subaru away because "Sho is mine >:(" and actually could have been jealous that Subaru noticed Sho first and not him. Still awful right? but also like I said I don't see Leo as enjoyable but more so a lot of room for redemption, or explanation. Sympathy or empathy might be something we feel for him a lot if he is properly explored.

Obvs these are just possibilities right :) I actually find him very cute and I like his catty behavior, especially because in comparison to other nasty ghouls he is like a kitten hissing at you, harmless. Like dude Taiga shot me, and you're just a nasty baby, I smell your fear on the inside, you just want to be loved like everyone else. He's a true tsundere and not that "I swear I don't like you!!" shit and I appreciate that. I hope nobody misconstrues this as defense of his toxicity more-so that the point of tokyo debunkers focus seems to be everyone is demonizing these teens who seriously are just teens, and sometimes teenagers are catty are toxic, but they're still learning. Especially when the adults suck too... if not more because they are adults. AND LEO IS HATED FOR BEING STINKY AND MEAN BUT TAIGA AND ROMEO ARE LIKED BUT SO MUCH MORE MORALLY DECREPIT... so idk that especially irks me. I still would like to know what people think and if you are also excited to see the exploration of the ghouls especially Leo, and what theories you may have on him yourself.

[coolfire333]

Genuinely really loving the rap/music discourse going around...let's all expand our perspectives a little but for the love of god some of you (not anyone I follow) are literally so stupid

Disclaimer: I am a little worried since it's easy to throw stones at "boring white girl music" which makes me wonder if this is just going to end up dunking on women in a veiled-sexist manner in general a la the "pumpkin spice white girls" trend that was popular a while back that basically was just making fun of women for having harmless fun under the guise that they were "basic white girls"

HOWEVER everyone in the notes of posts that are even slightly rude or poking fun at popular white musicians getting all up and arms because some (likely black) blogger poked fun at their (likely white) precious punk music or girlypop diva are really showing their ass on this one

As someone with a background in music and music history I can confidently say that nearly every popular genre in mainstream music would not exist without the innovations of black (usually American) musicians. And I think that's super neat! Ragtime, jazz, gospel, soul, r&b, blues, rock, pop, hip-hop, rap, all uniquely American genres that came largely, if not entirely, from the ideas of black Americans.

I'm undoubtedly missing some genres (I'm a bit old-school at heart so I don't know what's trendy now or where exactly it came from) but if you're American and on this website, doesn't that give you a form of national pride? That all those years ago people from your country were able to create new musical styles that have, for the most part, persisted and spread around the world? Honestly it brings a tear to my eye sometimes listening to old music and realizing how impactful it was on modern music genres.

Instead of going "ewww I don't like xyz" why not ask a fan of that kind of music why they like it and maybe what recommendations they have for someone who doesn't listen to that genre. And if you really don't gel with a genre for whatever reason, at least treat it respectfully and recognize its impact on the genres of music you do listen to.

"Ohhh but rap is just sex, drugs, and violence," I hear some of you saying. Well, keep in mind that that same critique has been used for pop, rock, jazz, ragtime, and pretty much every other "new" (keyword "black-influenced") art form so you really want to be careful labelling an entire genre as that. Controversy sells, so think about why exactly "mindless" rap might be the rap you're exposed to or most familiar with from the radio instead of more serious or contemplative rap songs.

Also realize that the songs you like probably also discuss drugs, sex, and violence, but perhaps less directly or in a way that's somehow more tolerable for you. Explore why! Why is it ok for (insert genre you like here) to talk about mature or "dark" themes but when rap does it it's suddenly offensive to you.

It's ok to have biases and be working on them! Also, if someone is trying to criticize a group you're part of for being biased, and they're trying to do it respectfully and seriously, don't joke around like "oh LOL that's so me" and don't get overly defensive either. Be serious and respectful back and genuinely listen to what they're saying.

Literally just don't be a jerk to music and art of marginalized communities! Is it really that hard to have respect for other people even if you don't 100% understand the culture from your perspective?

[anemoi-i]

I'm probably just dumb and too young to get it, but why is portraying Venti and Zhongli as begging for mora gross? I really don't get it at all, but I'm usually too dumb to get stuff, so i thought I'd ask and see if I could understand it.

Mora comes from Zhongli, how can he be broke? He just forgets his wallet because he is not used to living as human yet and since he can make mora, he's used to doing so and not having to worry about carrying the coin. There's no evidence that suggests that the exchange of his Gnosis would prevent him from making Mora, or else he would not have given it up so easily, even if it is a contract. If there is any evidence to refute this that I've missed, please feel free to correct me.

According to this post (not made by me) that's from Kaeya's Hangout, Venti brings his own mora for drinks and passes when he does not have enough. He doesn't mooch off of others but won't pass up another drink if it's offered to him which is two entirely different things. It is very possible that Venti can acquire his own mora in a normal way.

Reinforces the idea that Venti and Zhongli are dumb and not old gods that have existed for eons. The whole "beggar" personality given to both Archons is a dangerous stereotype for obvious reasons and on a personal note, it makes me uncomfortable and most likely makes anyone who has ever struggled and has had to beg uncomfortable as well.

I'd just like to add for the sake of anyone who thinks I'm being biased just because Venti and Zhongli are my two favorite Archons so far, that a lot of the fandom does this with Mona as well and I have not seen no defense for her as well. As much as the fandom loves her, they seem to dumb her down as well.

Mona works for The Steambird Newspaper from Fontaine and does an Astrology Column. The 2.8 Golden Apple Archipelago reveals that she does make enough to make ends meet, however, she loves to buy overly expensive equipment for astrology which leaves her with less mora than she'd like. The issue here is that Mona just makes bad financial decisions.

You might be wondering if it is all that serious and maybe it isn't, but it's like beating a dead horse & I think the fandom needs to get better material and/or pay attention to the story instead of wishing for a skip button to be added every patch.

[arabian-batboy]

in your opinion, which stans of the Batkids are the most toxic?

Short answer: All of them, when a character has hundreds of thousands of fans online, then there bound to be a portion of them that is toxic. They might be a small percentage of the over-all fanbase, but their toxicity makes them appear larger in numbers than they really are, but for the most part there’s really not a huge margin between how toxic different fans of the Batkids can be.

Long answer: I have been in the fandom for a couple of years now and I have interacted with my fair share of people across the fandom, so based on my own personal experience, from most toxic to least toxic, they are:

1- Tim’s stans:

To be fair, when Tim’s fans are cool, they’re REALLY cool and very fun to interact with or talk about comics. Unfortunately though, cool Tim’s fans that don't take themselves seriously are hidden gems and a huge amount of them are very very very obnoxious and their shortcoming is that they view Tim through main-character-lenses where everything has to be centered around him and everyone else is a secondary character.

The biggest reason that makes them #1 in my ranking is that they have a serious issue with thinking that Tim is simultaneously the best character to exist while also being the most oppressed character to exist, even though he’s definitely neither of those things and its just really annoying to hear someone go on about how their favorite character is so perfect and better than everyone at everything, while also crying about how their favorite character doesn’t get any love and are constantly mistreated (especially when in reality they actually get more love from DC than anyone in Gotham beside Batman & Harley)

2- Dick’s stans:

If you asked me this question a couple of years ago, they would have definitely been way lower in the list, but I don’t know what happened in recently years that made Dick’s fans so overly-defense and hostile. I understand that fanon Dick has done more damage than any other fanon interpretation of any Batkids, but attacking everyone who make the smallest light-hearted joke about Dick isn’t it.

There’s also those who are so desperate to portray Nightwing as an A-class superhero who’s a master at everything he does and is a total loner edgelord who doesn’t need anyone or has anything fun or cheerful about him and...... just stop, what you’re doing isn’t that much better than fanon portraying Dick as overly-bubbly and I know you think it makes Dick sounds cool, but in reality you just make him sound like a discount Batman.

3- Cassandra’s stans:

They’re very similar to Dick’s fans in that they used to be chill, but in recent years they decided to make their dissatisfaction of DC’s treatment of Cassandra to be everybody’s problem, which includes them popping up to anyone who’s makes the smallest complaint about how their favorite character is currently being treated to yell: “YOU THINK THEY HAVE IT BAD??? LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO CASSANDRA!!!” even if the character they’re talking about literally has ZERO things to do with Cassandra’s character.

Basically their anger is always misdirected and rarely has any positive results or discussions coming from it.

4- Damian’s stans:

I’m a Damian’s fan myself, so I might be biased, but its honestly hard to judge them because I feel like Damian’s fanbase has the most “variety” of any Batkid’s fanbase and it reached a point where some groups stan completely different versions of the same character with each group being toxic in their own special way, so I decided to put them in the middle.

I’m not gonna talk about each of them, but I feel like what all of them have in common is that they tend to over-react to things, even if they are in the right about something, they usually end up pushing too far in the other direction to the point where it blows out of proportion (but to be fair, if you leave them alone, they generally will not bother you)

5- Barbara’s stans:

Lets talk about the elephant in the room from the get-go.........almost all toxic Barbara’s stans are DickBabs shippers, I don’t know why that is and I don’t think everyone who ship them is inherently toxic, but boy are they a loud minority.

If we’re just judging Oracle’s fans then they would probably be the lowest in the list, but stans of Batgirl!Barbara and DickBabs shippers really pumped them up, especially during TT’s run of Nightwing.

6- Jason’s stans:

You know what, I never noticed this before I sat down and wrote this list, but have you noticed how most Jason’s stans are surprisingly very chill? There might be some inner-fighting going on between them, but for the most part they usually stay in their lane and don’t bother anyone unless you came for them first.

7- Duke’s stans:

Again, for the most part they are very chill and usually have great takes for all characters equally, but I feel that just like Dick’s fans, their frustration about Duke’s treatment can get the best out of them and sometimes they might go off on someone who didn’t deserve it because they didn’t like what they were saying.

8- Stephanie’s stans:

I don’t have much to say about them, but I mean come on, when was the last time you saw a Stephanie’s fan-account picking fights with other fans or insulting other characters? I personally haven’t seen one do such a thing before and while similar to Cassandra’s fans, they might give you a sob-story about Stephanie’s treatment, I feel like they’re much better about directing their frustration to DC instead of random people online or other fictional characters.

[timingmatters]

Mid season 5. Idk i like Taylor im sorryyyy. Finishing ep 7 and like she is a greta journalist???? I agree good journalists shouldn’t just depend on police records and she is so smart im very impressed with how deep she investigates herself and the sources she has. She def has some unresolved trauma about something that she never found the truth about or found it too late, because of how defensive she got telling buck “the truth means everything”. Ik she did a report on the 118 that fucked them up later in the season (yes i saw the spoilers) but idk Buck can’t have his cake and eat hers too. He can’t date a reporter and then expect her to not give a report on a guy who was responsible of multiple deaths just because it might reflect badly on Buck’s team. Like obviously i care about the 118 more than about Taylor, but she’s a reporter that truly cares about her job and giving the public the truth with no filters. And I genuinely respect the hell out of that. Buck had to know that since day 1, just like for him is important to save lives, is important to Taylor to give people the full truth of things that happen.

Maybe i’ll be annoyed with Taylor when i get to it, maybe I won’t. So far, i can see how her and Buck might nor work together, but i don’t see why the fandom dislikes her. Wanting buddie shouldn’t be an excuse for people to overly judge every single female character the writers put on Eddie or Buck’s way lmao. Taylor def cares for him, and cares for her job. Them not working out does not mean she is mean. And even if buddie is better, Taylor is the only girl Buck has had chemistry with lmao. Every single girl before has just felt like Buck chasing cardboard with the lack of chemistry. Again, even if buddie is better, he has good chemistry with Taylor. And she’s a sweet smart girl. I like her a lot. Even if not with Buck, i just like her character a lot (and yes im a little biased bc i compare it to reality, where i def want my journalists to tell me the plain truth).

Edit: typed all this, clicked play to finish ep 7 bc i was on the last 5 mins, and immediately saw that Taylor very much has unresolved trauma LMAOOOO. I guess someone in her family was murdered by that doctor?? Which like my god if someone in charged of her family’s health purposely killed them how could she NOT give the full report about the guy at the 118 playing god??? Hits so close go home. I would also disregard Buck’s feelings lmao. Like she did what i imagine she wished someone had done for her case, bring attention to it and expose the truth publicly. Not boyfriend should get in the way of that. I understand why Buck is mad, but I defend Taylor from the people here!!!! All i kept seeing in spoilers is how bad she was for doing it, and even before getting to that ep i can see why its so important to her and its so valid!!!!! Y’all need to stop demonizing my girl Taylor.

[seiaobasei]

i exclusively consume and create m/m works, because im a gay man who isnt attracted to women. It's natural I would find more appeal to m/m fantasies, and I would be curious to see a breakdown of, for example, ao3 users and their sexual and gender orientations. I think part of it might be that both women who are attracted to men AND men who are attracted to men use ao3 might use ao3 at a higher percentage then people attracted to women. I would suspect that very few straight men would use the site, compared to straight women, and that might skew the numbers.

I do think it's a little dishonest to frame this as a conversation just about male/female characters, when it's surely actually referring to discussions about m/m and f/f works. These rather obviously are going to be greatly influenced by peoples orientations and sexual/romantic fantasies.

I also wonder, what would the hypothetical solution be? I can admit it's very possible that trends in fandom are subject to societal biases, but I think it's much harder to address by simply saying "make more x". Fanwork tends to be something incredibly personal and indulgent, I dont think it's reasonable or fair to demand people create works for anyone other than themselves. Because we all have little remaining biases, even when we aren't actively bigoted, a library of self indulgent works will probably always reflect that. (Though I suspect there are other forces at play, specifically wrt to the f/f:m/m ratio)

Another way I think its a little dishonest is omission of the kinds of posts that prompt these discussions. I think it's fine to express frustration at a lack of content you want to see, but so many people take it much further, that really are outright attacking people who make and enjoy m/m content. Defensiveness doesnt seem so out of proportion with that context in mind. Especially considering the history and overlap with actual homophobia, misogyny (against fujoshi), and transphobia. It's a sensitive subject, so it's understandable people might have their hackles raised when criticised in an overly aggressive and accusatory way that simply isnt merited.

like its not that serious etc but any time u express frustration or just point out wow people in fandom continuously prioritize men over women Here comes the fucking misogyny hydra

[rennyji]

How normally, you go about a therapist

So people see a doctor when they have something that bothers them or affects their functioning. Some people delay the visit to the doctor, whichever doctor, whatever the condition, for as long as possible.

It’s an adult choice, for better or for worse.

For some reason, I’m seen as so ill, that my parents, at my 35 years of age, need to get involved, and there this group of orchestrators, consisting of therapists in some shape or form, who see themselves as so saintly that they “just” want to help me- but it’s not through the normal dynamic of face to face contact where there’s mutual conversation. It’s them affecting the therapist you are seeing, and forcing them to convey their viewpoint and treatment.

Does that make sense.

Now that I think of it, yeah, this definitely comes off as a show for troubled kids.

Their input that they output to strangers, literally for entertainment, was from cameras spying on the victim. Now they have the ultimate camera. They can see deep into a persons past, ammo given by the FBI and American government.

So looking into my past, what was my biggest offense, to myself, my family, or others?

Out of their being nothing, are you just cherry picking what’s open to interpretation?

My parents are simply put, weird.

- myMom, not 2 cast spotlight on her, can be so much 2 the point that she’s blunt in a rude way. Conversely, she also has an overly sugar coating way of speaking. She might B talking 2 a customer service rep, and she’ll say U were very helpful, can I get ur name, I’ll remember U-

-when talking 2 Drs in my situation, sure she is a caring mother, but it seems like she’s avatar of orchestrators or trying 2 make a point 2 their benefit in again, an excessively caring mother sugar coated sort of way. resulting psychology is, Drs indirectly see me as trash.-

-rather than, like normal, Drs basing recommendations and treatments on your account of things, especially if ur an adult close to 40, they seem to either 1. Get their info from unlawful peering in2 life, 2. Conveying perspectives from excess info of biased orchestrators or -

- 3. Speaking in defense of their practice out of being put in spotlight, or a psychiatrist giving an explanation of how things R done when mutual conversation w/o every1 talking on top- or over U- becomes norm, or maybe even speaking in ur defense thru explanation/perspective-

u’ll hear the mother, in this absurd way, 16 years ago, & now, when I’m close to 40 years age, that it’s wrong of this country 4 medical professionals 2 see 18+ years olds without parents. Again, in ever growing picture of ur situation, there is theme of show 4 troubled kids.-

- U wonder if she’s coerced to helping to extend reach of troubled kids show, or if she is now in trouble, because of selfish and illegal ambitions of trouble kids show. What the show and other orchestrators in situation cannot accept, is that they’re operating on too much info.-

- there’s too much 2 complicate perspective and truth and objectivity. But if there is a show, they’re ambitions have now expanded to not just going past the age of 18, but also deep into a persons life vs what they saw on a camera for a month or what has to be less than a year.-

I remember an argument that was severe, with my parents when I wanted a part time job in high school. My parents mere furiously opposed because that would mean I have money to possibly do something for what counts as questionable for my parents.

I remember when I wanted to learn to drive. My parents see it as one more thing they need to worry about. They delayed it and gave me an endless hard time, tying in anxiety to the experience. 

Around that time, my mother broke her arm by standing on a tipping-over milk carton in our backyard garden.

My father somehow blamed me for the incident, as God and/or the devil punishing the family for a bad or disobedient son. But what did I do? How was I "disobedient?"

On a related note, at the beginning of my situation, as a testament to his rigid belief system, something had him convinced that he's Abraham and I'm Isaac in relation to the story where the son is almost sacrificed...I guess the takeaway is something is bothering him and this is how he is justifying it...but Isaac was never sacrificed...then he also conveys a notion that seems to be externally brought to his attention from a third party, as its like something from Harry Potter or Greek philosophy, and that's not what he's into: he says you'll be like a phoenix bird and reborn from the ashes. Sounds like foreshadowing. Imagine how horrifying this sounds to me. It means I'm going to be figuratively burned alive in some way, and, yes, I'll come out of it. Sounds like government propaganda after understanding the beliefs and naivety of my parents.

I get angry with my dad because it’s just hard being around him because of his magical thinking.

From his bedroom, recently, I heard him recently talking to someone on the phone, saying:”all we can do is endure, and forgive in these situations. If we make any effort, we risk making it worse.”

This statement is a testament to his beliefs.

Yesterday I addressed how to pray. Prayer is a tool for us to be introspective and understand what our flaws are, and make an explicit effort to ask for help in inhibiting those flaws. But my dad doesn’t want to make the effort to understand flaws, his belief is God knows what flaws are, and we just need to ask to be delivered from Satan. But will my dad ever know what’s wrong? We, as people, need to irritate our brains to sometimes have hard or frustrating conversations, to do our part, to get an understanding of the world around us.

His belief system makes me angry. Is my situation, in part lasting this long, because he’s trying to hide his flaws by pinning the attention on me and my eating habits in a stressful situation? 

Is my situation lasting this long because he doesn’t want to exert himself by trying to help me?

In terms of effort, have you, in your time over me, seen my parents so much as jog or run, even when exercising? They don’t like actual and metaphorical effort. They think all they need to do is tell GOD to do the figuring and work for them, in place of the “doing your part” and then leaving God to do the rest.

My parents mistake their part as throwing money to therapists and meds which they don’t know if works, because they’re told to ignore me when I talk about what I’m experiencing, by orchestrators proxying through and replacing my therapists actual diagnosis and opinions. This is when my parents, maybe rightfully so, feel the responsibility of understanding my concerns and what I know, shifts completely to those they provide payment to or the authority figures who claim they'll take care of everything. My parents naively think that's one less burden on their shoulders, as of course, law enforcement or school officials would neeeevvveer take advantage - considering the heat on them, they will definitely take advantage, maybe even press on negative family dynamics to screw with me...

Regarding a bad family environment, he could try listening to his children or getting to know what they majored in college or what their role was at recent employers. It would help him navigate some circles to contribute to finding a right fit in terms of profession.

He believes Satan is influencing my mother. Regarding satans grip on my mother: what does that even mean? First my mother should realize and accept a problem. My father should pray, with my mother, for divine help, not saying more than what's needed or for help ignoring certain things to avoid conflict in the home, or for a better home environment.

What’s the pattern above? Not asking for evil forces to be lifted, which is vague and not bringing conscious awareness to what actually needs to be corrected. The pattern above is to move from magical thinking and into what human beings can do, through choice and effort, to correct behaviors not conducive to a good home or a good relationship.

In my whole life, as the orchestrators have the record, what is my crime? It’s not because I’m a saint. It’s cause I had a purpose and a goal: to get through school so that I can finally have a life and live a life. I spent hours studying. Never opportunity for something bad.

Did I shoplift, did I beat someone up, did I have sex in high school, did I sneak out of my family's house in grade school/high school at night, did I get bad grades, did I go to bars and party or use fake Ids, was I spending all my time hanging out with friends instead of prioritizing school, did I hit my parents, have I - in my life - done any drugs, have I had more than 10 bears in 'my lifetime' in college or shortly after, did I so much lie to my parents during the period of my youth?

Would my parents claim that I’m somehow mean to parents? What did I say, what did I do?

So the show for troubled kids basically saw an opportunity to extend their reach to 18+ year olds with naive parents that they could manipulate. They saw opportunity to go beyond cameras and into someone’s past. 

The troubled kids show, realizing nothing was wrong,decide to, again from ring over ambitious and concerned:legally, to show how good I am.

But then the strange kids and SUNY Albany get involved.

In every hospitalization that I'm subjected to, you need to look at context before the phone call. On, I believe the 2nd to last, where I call 911, because my parents start an argument with me, stating we're going to throw away your stuff and sell the house, I got scared. My mother had a weird look on her face. When I called 911, I think they called back, reached my parents. Parents tell 911 I'm crazy and my dad helps the police track me by giving them my license plate to my car. They then take me to St. Josephs in I think Riverdale New York. They eventually release me because there is nothing to hold me on.

About my purchases in these latter years or debt: you’ve said we turned off his dominant self or you simply sedate someone to diminish executive functioning which includes prioritizing, and specifically prioritizing finances.

I know I’m going make it rich legally or for my time in this situation. I know they try to show me as a bad child (psychological abuse much?!). I’ll do things to spite it cuz I think those who find joy in my h*ll as losers not to be concerned with. I’ll walk around my boxers while believing something is relaying me. I’ll eat four waffles from a four mini Belgian waffle box.

What you’re doing is so illegal, it delusional to think if you can screw me over, overt ice cream and waffles. I also have a period while in this, where I survive off quinoa and vegetables. I take the extra effort of driving 3 hours back and forth my house from Binghamton, to get quinoa and vegetables from my house.

While diminishing my executive functioning, you want to put me on double antipsychotics and blame me for the side effects of excess hunger that I can’t suppress through the will power diminished through diminished executive functioning.

When on nothing, or on drugs like Vyvanse, and then working where you need to stack up on skills, one’s survival extinct set in. You think, “ i need this job, can’t lose this job, let me go in on even Saturday to train myself.” That survivor mentality helps with finances. 

If I had to get an apartment, which I don’t, because the house is one, I’d be concerned about bills. I’m in a situation where I’m treated like sh*t, I’ll buy what I like to add some flare to my day. It’s gets uncontrolled because prioritization and survival extinct js diminished to point where you glaze over consequences through a high coming from the combination of marijuana, two antipsychotics, an antidepressant, and benzodiazepines. You’d have be brain dead if you think I’m to blame for my one real mistake which is throwing money on overpriced necessities for work setups. It’s not like I’m using the money for cocaine or something. Shelves? Monitors? Keyboards? Questions to ask, what was he buying? Does his specific hair cream cost $30 because that’s the only thing on the market that restores oil to the scalp when shampooing daily from an oily scalp.

The orchestrators are monitoring my home. Do they just focus on me to better the family environment, or do they, alleged experts in their crafts, instead work the detected flaws of my parents to make me look crazy or aggressive?

[mythicalmongoose]

Does anyone want to read some rambling and potentially biased meta on Robby and Johnny’s relationship largely based on my own experience with shitty parents?

No? You don’t want to read me over-analyzing the silly karate show? That’s fair... I’ll put it under a cut.

So, like, right off the bat I’d like to say this isn’t aimed at anyone in particular. (No, not even you. Don’t flatter yourself.) This is something that has been bugging me since before I made this blog and was solely composing tl;dr replies about it on Reddit.

Secondly, Cobra Kai isn’t prestige television. It’s a karate soap opera that doesn’t take itself too seriously and exists in a heightened reality where kids become black belts in a month and take to the streets in rival gangs, terrorizing the innocent civilians unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire. I’m not holding it up to real-world logic or laws. I can’t. The police that exist there are mostly powerless and largely theoretical. Watching them arrest Kreese was like seeing a cryptid in the wild.

Thirdly, I’m not 100% sure who these Johnny apologists I keep hearing about are, but I apologize on behalf of no one. All my favs are problematic trash fires. I dumpster dive for my favs. I love me a mess as long as the show acknowledges them as such. Which this one does constantly. It’s fiction, and I’m really sick of seeing people make the leap that liking a character means you endorse their actions... Tangentially, I’d also argue that Daniel is his own trash fire. But, like, a classier trash fire? One that’s like a controlled burn in a metal barrel after you called the fire station and asked if it’s okay. But that’s a weird metaphor and an overly long meta post for another day.

Finally, don’t come for me, y’all? Feel free to  reply and disagree, but I just got here. This is my comfort show. It’s fun. It’s binge-worthy. I love talking meta and over-analyzing with folks, but a lot of people online seem to get weirdly heated about all of this, and I just don’t have the energy for that.

With all that out of the way... The number of people I see complaining that Robby forgave Johnny too easily kinda irks me. He didn’t, and this repeated assertion that he did feels like an over-simplification of ambiguous grief and the cycle of abuse/trauma.

Robby might be the most emotionally intelligent teen on the show. He’s pretty darn level-headed and thoughtful when he isn’t letting negative emotions dominate his decision making.

S4 feels like the writers have finally started to address that rather than the character just being, for me personally, an unlikable mess. AND NOT BECAUSE OF HOW HE INTERACTS WITH JOHNNY. Can everyone in the back hear me? He is the child in that relationship. He’s valid in feeling what he feels and avoiding who he wants to avoid.

My problems with the character stemmed from his interactions with his peers. Sam, especially. God, if I see another person act like she owed him something, I’m climbing over my desk and through the monitor I’ll do nothing. But boy will I be miffed. Watch out. I’ve got a soapbox and I’m not afraid to use it... If I have the spoons to... Maybe... We’ll see! ...but probably not.

Anyway, this is all an extremely roundabout way to say that anger is exhausting. Especially when you’re using it to put up walls.

Robby and Kenny paralleled Johnny and Robby this season. But the point wasn’t that Robby is analogous to Johnny; it’s that he sees himself in Kenny. It’s not 1:1 and it’s only their relationship in extreme miniature, but it clearly disturbs him.

The cycle of abuse that started before he was born is flashing in front of his eyes, and its weight is immense. He needs someone who understands to help shoulder that and, instinctively, he goes to his dad.

He’s giving himself permission to be vulnerable. To shed that anger and lower his defenses. I said it before, but I’ll say it again, that shit is so exhausting it’s life-destroying.

I can identify with Robby but, honestly, I can identify with Johnny more.

Both of my parents were fucking awful. When I was 14, I was hospitalized. My dad didn’t want to deal with that, and I never saw him again.

My mother, meanwhile, kept tracking me down even after I packed up at 17 and skipped town... and the county... and the state.

And, boy o’ boy, abusers that won’t stay out of your life or even acknowledge they were abusive are just the best, huh? And you WANT that relationship with them. That’s the worst part. I feel Johnny letting Kreese back in. Because you want to do what Robby did. You want to give yourself permission to be vulnerable and let your walls down and let them be the parent to you they never were.

But people like that can’t be there for you if they won’t even admit their mistakes. They can manipulate you and they can gaslight you and they can even genuinely love you and think they’re telling the truth, but they can’t be there for you. You can be there for them, and they’ll take that and run with it until you’re all used up and feeling like an idiot. And then you feel like an even bigger idiot when you give them countless additional chances. It’s, like, the slowest lesson to learn and the easiest to forget. But you’re just so desperate for that specific kind of relationship. And you’re so afraid you’re never going to be able to let go of that soul-crushing anger because you can’t get closure. They have none for you. They don’t think there’s anything to close.

Robby isn’t quite in that place yet. He has his mother that is turning her life around for him and he has Daniel who desperately wants to be for him the kind of mentor he had as a child and he has an undependable father that wants to be there for him.

They’re all far from perfect, (Johnny especially.) but they all recognize they fucked up. They’re not denying it. And, to bring it back to the scene at the end of S4, Johnny stresses that Robby didn’t do anything wrong and that he should blame him as the root of so many of his problems. We’re seeing history repeat with Robby giving Johnny another chance like Johnny did with Kreese. But Kreese is a manipulator you’ve got to drag kicking and screaming to even the smallest revelation in how they hurt you.

With Robby and Johnny there is the possibility of a relationship. There’s a chance to break that shitty cycle these guys are all in.

And, good Lord, can I extrapolate on Robby and Johnny’s relationship without people crying apologism? Because there are other factors we see in the show and implying that abuse/trauma is straightforward and easily traced back to a single, obvious root is the kind of shit that keeps kids from realizing the situation they’re in.

Shitty parents are still people. They’re still a pile of cascading failures that led to things being like they are.

The show leads me to believe that Johnny and Robby have had a father/son relationship. A consistent one? God, no. Obviously not.

But we see pictures Johnny kept where Robby drew both of his parents. We see a soccer photo on a fridge. We see that Robby wants to upset his dad and knows him well enough to do it, giving Daniel the relationship with him that he knows Johnny wants but is always failing at.

And because it’s been a minute since I stressed this, please don’t come at me with pitchforks: JOHNNY IS NOT A GOOD FATHER. HE IS BARELY A FATHER. NOT HAVING A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS SON IS HIS OWN FAULT. WE KNOW THIS. THE SHOW KNOWS THIS. IT IS KNOWN.

That said, there are contributing factors that didn’t fucking help. Shannon had an extremely unhealthy, codependent relationship with her son at the start of the series. Parental alienation happened. Shannon explicitly states that it did. We see it happening in the first season when Shannon lets it slip that Johnny wants Robby to come live with him.

Robby is actually considering it; he seems cautiously optimistic... But then he sees Johnny and Miguel hugging in a parking lot and that idea is tossed out. Which is super irrational but completely understandable for an angry teen that resents (And is 110% justified in that resentment) his dad.

And, boy, I could go off on a whole tangent about how Shannon is basically Laura Lawrence, but that’s yet another rambling meta post for another day... which has passed. That day is in the past. That is to say, it’s already on my blog somewhere.

And, yes, leaving Robby with Cobra Kai is ridiculous. So is deciding on the fate of the Valley through a fucking tournament arc. So are warring children’s karate dojos caused by Vietnam. So are all the other things we just kind of handwave so the show can get from point A to point B and let the plot happen. The show needs to go go go. We’ll lampshade it next season. First hand that child a set on nunchucks and chuck that one in a cement mixer. So many ridiculous things to do; so little time; so few ways to explain it that sometimes we just don’t. “Police? What police? Oh, right, um... Sam didn’t want to draw things out. Does that sound plausible? No? Fuck it, that’s what happened. Now go, honey. Go with the nice alcoholic, and parkour off a roof.”

And also... oh, Jesus, this is a bunch of text. This is entirely too much text. Imma stop myself here before I get started on something else and this goes from slightly unreadable to completely unreadable.

[captainclickycat]

And, ok, let's entertain the idea for a second that anon is correct. I don't think it's very likely, and the whole idea definitely smacks of classic "it was Bad All Along" revisionism, but ultimately there's no way of really knowing for sure what's going through someone else's head when they sit down at a typewriter, so let's entertain it for a second.

... What is our takeaway from this supposed to be, exactly? That people can create art that seems to be very well-crafted and thought-provoking, to be created with talent and dedication, with only sinister motives in mind? Ok. Depressing thought, but sure, I'll accept that.

So how exactly are we supposed to differentiate between art created with genuinely good intentions or for love of the craft, and art that's created with unsavoury motives in mind? Is there any 100% reliable way to do that? After all, it would be very easy for a predator to intentionally only create art with "wholesome" messages that ostensibly condemns predatory behaviour, in order to make themself seem more trustworthy, and any fiction writer worth their salt is capable of convincingly writing from a perspective that isn't theirs.

And conversely plenty of perfectly decent people with overall good intentions can write something tone-deaf or with questionable implications that they didn't take the time to really think through. But the reverse is true too - people can write stories with positive and "wholesome" messages which they fully believe and try to live by themselves, and sometimes the questionable implications in a piece of work really do reflect the deeply-held values and biases of the creator.

And that takes me to my next point. Frankly, I do not trust people on tumblr (or the internet in general) as a collective to make that kind of judgement call, because it's been repeatedly demonstrated that people on the internet collectively will cherry-pick evidence for the express purpose of painting anything or anyone they personally dislike in the worst possible light, or to gas up and act overly defensive of anyone or anything that they personally like.

There are people who delight in putting on a Sherlock Holmes hat and painstakingly combing the works of a given author under the assumption that they can deduce someone's entire personal life based on their work (or their body language, or the people they're seen leaving the pub with, or anything that seems to back up an existing assumption.) And they might be lucky enough to be proven correct once or twice, but there's a lot of potential to come to entirely wrong conclusions, which can have consequences ranging from just annoying to actively harmful.

People will come to wild, incredibly bad-faith and insubstantiated conclusions based on "vibes", often in ways that are specifically harmful towards certain marginalised groups. Most of us have, at some point or another, seen someone call something "sus" or accuse someone of being "probably a paedophile" based on some petty bullshit or reasoning they made up out of whole cloth. Which, let's be real here, makes it much more difficult when people try to draw attention to actual genuine red flags or real-life allegations, because so many people are sick of hearing "umm it's sus to write about teenagers having feelings when you're an adult" and get into the habit of just tuning out.

So, yeah. I don't think all of NG's actions - including the fiction he wrote - were all part of a nefarious scheme to take advantage of young women. I think that seems like a big reach and denies the possibility that people can have complicated and multifaceted reasons for doing things, and real-life cartoon villains who do everything for Evil Reasons don't exist any more than 100% pure good "unproblematic faves" do. But ultimately think that getting bogged down in speculating over that is a pointless exercise that won't get us anywhere. And "vibes" based on an author's work continue to not be a reliable foolproof way of determining what kind of a person they are, or what they might be capable of.

Don’t hate yourself for liking someone’s works. Something to remember is that Neil Gaiman wrote his stories to target young, vulnerable people. He was writing his stories to attract fans, and interacted with the fans to entice and groom them. Some of his victims met at book signings. All were fans of his books.

The stories were written with your admiration in mind. It’s not your fault he wants to hold the admiration of people of your demographic.

First, I don't.

Second, I think you are making up a story here bro. I think once upon a time there was a teenager in england who worked in journalism but wanted to write books, and then he was the one-in-a-million lucky soul who wrote his books and they became wildly famous and successful. and then after he accrued power and fame he started exploiting it. I'm not saying people who abuse power don't tend to try and get themselves into positions of power, but "famous author" is a pretty difficult career path and one likely to fail.

with this narrative you've concocted, you've removed his humanity from him, as well as any sort of genuine love of storytelling or creation he definitely has. like he's just as human as the rest of us, and I simply do not believe that he is a monster who only cares about attracting 20-something women and does this by crafting beautiful stories for the page and screen.

there's a concept I've talked about before, the Fetishist. as someone with a widely hated fetish, I've thought a lot about how people think people with my fetish are not humans but Fetishists, monsters who look human but only care about fulfilling their fetish, and see all other people as Objects They Can Use or Nothing. you've turned gaiman into the Predator, which is the same thing just a bit broader. the Predator is a monster shaped like a human, but unlike a human who cares about a myriad of things and has a three-dimensional personality, the Predator only cares about Preying On [usually young women or children], and every human being is, to them, either a Target To Prey On or Nothing. neil gaiman is not the Predator because the Predator doesn't exist. I don't think he had a long term plan. I don't think 19yo neil gaiman was going "hehehehe I can't wait until I become world famous so I can use that to coerce women into sleeping with me!"

turning ng into something evil is easy. because then you don't have to think about the good he's done. then you don't have to think about how he's been a supporter of queer people since the 90s. then you don't have to think about how he's supported refugees or ukraine. you don't have to think about his works of tzedakah or tikkun olam, and you don't have to think about the beautiful art he's made (and while we're here, let's think before dehumanizing a jewish man, hm?). it also handily makes it so you never have to worry about your own behaviors. because you're a three-dimensional person! so of course you could never be the Predator. or the Abuser. or the Fetishist. or the Narcissist.

until I see proof debunking this, I am going to continue believing he made the art he wanted to see in the world out of a genuine wish to be an author, and not primarily to put himself in a position of power to abuse women. maybe he always had tendencies towards manipulation. maybe part of him always knew that if he became famous then there would undoubtedly be women falling over themselves for him. because we all know that. we all know that if we became famous there would be people who we could exploit for sex. that's not a secret. part of me would like to be famous. I wanna work in the film industry. I have silly dreams, of course. but I'm not pursuing this difficult line of work in order to someday abuse people, I'm pursuing it because of a genuine love of making movies. neil gaiman was a guy who wanted to become a writer, and then he did, and then he abused that position, repeatedly. we have three examples now. I wouldn't be surprised if more women started coming out about their experience, because three is absolutely a pattern, and because claire did the brave thing of being the second one to speak out (since scarlett and the other one whose pseudonym I can't remember atm came out at the same time). and now that there's been two exposés, two podcasts, three stories total, more are going to come. I'd be more surprised if they didn't. but that doesn't make neil gaiman the Predator. it makes him a man who did shitty things repeatedly.

[galemalio]

3 Examples of Racial Bias in Animation Storytelling

It’s not hard to grasp that a white person, while not explicitly or consciously racist in the sense we might usually imagine, is still inherently racially biased because they benefit from and grow up used to white supremacy.” - Scottishwobbly, Tumblr

This is nothing new. This is something POC (People of Color) have been talking about in separate fandoms. Nevertheless, it needs to be acknowledged by those unaware.

This article is not made to say that some of the animations that I will use as examples are bad. But in the hopes that we, as consumers and creators, will do better in the future in handling characters that are POC. 

Most often, racial bias in storytelling is when the narrative treats white or light skin toned characters better than darker skin toned characters. The darker skin toned characters are often POC-coded or actual POC.

White creators often do not notice their racial bias in their storytelling as they benefit from and grow up with white privileges and white supremacy. This can also apply to light-skinned POC who have light skin priviliges. 

Some of us don’t often see it but real people who relate to the characters of color do. Especially when it reflects from their experiences with racial bias, microaggressions, colorism and flat out racism.

So when they speak up, it’s important to listen to them to unlearn the racial bias we may have in ourselves. 

I will be emphasizing “the narrative” for I am criticizing how the story treats its dark-skinned characters and not because I am criticizing the characters themselves.

This article is critiqued by @visibilityofcolor​ as a sensitivity reader once and then additions were made before publishing. If you’re looking for a Black sensitivity reader, you can contact her. 

This article is a 14-minute read at average speed so buckle up. Unless you want to skip to your show mentioned below. External Tumblr Resources will be put in the reblog.

Here are three examples that I was made aware of. 

Example #1: The Narrative Treats the Light-Skinned Character at the Expense of the Dark-Skinned Character

Steven Universe was one of the animations that pushed lgbt+ representation in cartoon media. However, there are narratives here and there that showed racial bias. 

SU creator Rebecca Sugar was raised with "Jewish sensibilities" and both siblings observe the lighting of Hanukkah candles with their parents through Skype.[1] Rebecca Sugar also talked about being non-binary.[2] 

But as a white person, she (and the rest of the SU crew) is not aware of the inherently biased values from growing up and benefiting from white privilege. 

One example is the human zoo. There are people that have spoken up about this such as @jellyfax​​ of Tumblr who pointed out that the Crewniverse mishandled a loaded topic and reinforced a white colonist propaganda where the captive humans of mostly black/brown people are naive, docile and childlike in order to subjugate the people that they colonized. .

What I’m here is how a character of color from the main cast is more obligated to the lighter-skinned character. 

In the episode, Friend Ship, one fan had spoken out about how Garnet, who had been validly angry at Pearl, was compelled by a dangerous situation to forgive Pearl. Garnet is a Black-coded character. While Pearl is a light-skinned character.  

Garnet was mad at Pearl for tricking her into always fusing with her. Then they were trapped in a chamber that was going to crush them. In this situation, they have to fuse in order to save themselves but Garnet refuses to because she was still angry at her. 

In the end, they were forced to talk it out, for Garnet to understand Pearl’s reason for wanting to fuse with her and everything worked out well.

The narrative focused so much on Pearl’s self-worth issues at the expense of Garnet’s right to be angry. 

Yes, it showed that Pearl is trying her best to make up for it but Garnet should have been allowed to work at her own anger at her own pace instead of being obligated to consider Pearl’s feelings over her own. 

I wouldn’t have noticed it until someone had mentioned it. Because it was never my experience. 

But it’s there, continuing the message that it’s okay to put the emotional labor on Black people and disregard their own feelings for the sake of the non-Black people who have hurt them -particularly light-skinned women. 

White Fragility and Being Silenced White Woman Tears

Again, racial bias in animation storytelling is often not intentional because white creators do not experience it due to white privilege. 

Without meaning to, that scene alone shows Garnet as the Angry Black woman trope that is ungrateful and rude to Pearl who then ends up in tears. Without meaning to, Pearl with her light skin, became the tearful white girl trope that had to be sympathized over.

The Angry Black Woman trope is a combination of the worst negative stereotypes of a Black woman: overly aggressive, domineering, emasculating, loud, disagreeable and uppity.[13] 

The Tearful white girl trope comes from the combination of the stereotypes of white women being morally upstanding and delicate and therefore should be protected.[13] 

Which, unfortunately, many white women have taken advantage of.

These two tropes are harmful to WOC (Women of Color) because they experience the "weary weaponizing of white women's tears". This tactic employed by many white women incites sympathy and avoids accountability for their actions, turning the tables to their accuser and forcing their accuser to understand them instead.

(Image by Виктория Бородинова from Pixabay)

In "Weapon of lass destruction: The tears of a white woman", Author Shay described that white tears turns a white woman into the priority of whatever space she's in. "It doesn't matter if you're right, once her tears are activated, you cease to exist." [11] 

White woman tears have gotten Black people beaten and lynched such as Emmett Till. Carolyn Bryant who had accused 14 year old Emmett Till of sexually harassing her in 1955, admitted she lied about those claims years later in 2007.[15]

In Awesomely Luvvie's "About the Weary Weaponizing of White Women Tears", she states that the innocent white woman is a caricature many subconsciously embrace because it hides them from consequences. [10]

In The Guardian’s article, "How White Women Use Strategic Tears to Silence Women of Colour", Ruby Hamad shares her experience:

"Often, when I have attempted to speak to or confront a white woman about something she has said or done that has impacted me adversely, I am met with tearful denials and indignant accusations that I am hurting her. My confidence diminished and second-guessing myself, I either flare up in frustration at not being heard (which only seems to prove her point) or I back down immediately, apologising and consoling the very person causing me harm."[4]

This is not to say that all crying white women are insincere. But as activist Rachel Cargle said:

“I refuse to listen to white women cry about something. When women have come up to me crying, I say, ‘Let me know when you feel a little better, then maybe we can talk.’”[3]

One of the most quoted words in “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.” is this:

“It is white people’s responsibility to be less fragile; people of color don’t need to twist themselves into knots trying to navigate us as painlessly as possible.”[3]  

When white women cry in defense, instead of taking accountability, People of Color are then gaslighted into thinking they’re the bad guy. This is emotional abuse and a manipulation tactic. 

People of Color shouldn’t have to bend backwards to accommodate discomfited white or light-skinned people who have hurt them. 

How She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (SPOP) Did It Right

Despite SPOP having good lgbtq+ representations, there are other biases in the show. Such as Mara, a WOC whose only purpose was to sacrifice herself for the white protagonist. There was also the insensitive joke in their stream regarding Bow’s sibling that perpetuated an Anti-Black stereotype which Noelle Stevenson has apologized for.[14]

But the scene I have encountered where the Black character was validly angry and his feelings were treated well by the narrative, came from SPOP.

Bow, a black character, was validly angry at Glimmer, a lighter skinned character. Glimmer made a lot of bad decisions, one of them was using Adora and their friends as bait, without their knowledge, to lure out and capture Catra.  

Glimmer tearfully apologized in Season 5, Episode 4. Adora readily forgave her. But Bow didn't. 

They faced dangers along the way but the story didn't put them in a dangerous situation where Bow has to forgive Glimmer in order to get out of it. 

This was Glimmer's words of apology:

"Look, I know you're still mad at me. Maybe you'll be mad at me for a really long time. I deserved it. And maybe... maybe we'll never be friends like we used to be. But I'm not going to stop trying to make it better. I made a mistake with the heart of Etheria. I should've listened to you and I'm sorry. You get to be mad. For as long as you need to be. But I'm not going anywhere. And when you're ready, I'll be here."

In short, Bow was allowed to take the time to be mad and not just get over it for someone else’s sake. The story validates his feelings and he was allowed to take his own pace. That is emotional respect the story gave to him.

Example #2: The Narrative Gives Better Endings or Portrayals to Colonizers than Their Victims

Avatar: The Last Airbender has handled dark themes well such as genocide, war, PTSD, disability and redemption with great worldbuilding.

However, I never noticed the racial bias in ATLA until people spoke up of the double standards in ATLA’s treatment of light-skinned colonizers compared to their dark-skinned victims-turned-villains.

The characters in question -Iroh, Azula, Jet and Hama- are all flawed and well-rounded in a believable way. But how the narrative treats them is unequal.

General Iroh is an ex-colonizer who gets to redeem himself and not answer for his past war crimes, living a peaceful life as a tea shop owner. The only reason Iroh changed was when he was personally affected by the negativity of their military subjugation -his son’s death. It wasn’t the harm of the Fire nation ravaging Earth kingdom villages or cities and affecting millions of people that opened his eyes.

Azula, the tyrannical daughter, had closure of her mother's rejection when she was a child and was able to escape imprisonment.

Jet and Hama, victims of colonization who have done bad things, did not get similar conclusions to their stories OR compensation for what they have gone through from the Fire Nation's colonization. 

Jet was given a second chance but was arrested for trying to expose Zuko and Iroh being firebenders -firebenders who were their enemies for conquering their villages. Then he died from the injuries of the person who had brainwashed and mind-controlled him. 

Hama was imprisoned for life. 

Compared to the sins of the light-skinned colonizers, the narrative didn’t give Jet and Hama the development where they could heal from their trauma, receive compensation for what happened to them and really have a chance in life. 

The dark-skinned victims of colonization just became a lesson to the viewers how they shouldn’t hold grudges for being colonized. The end. They have received consequences for their actions but there is no continuation to their stories after that. 

It almost seems like the narrative is saying that because they have harmed colonizers who have no part in their trauma (and in Jet’s case, some Earth kingdom villagers), they are therefore unworthy to be given an actual chance in life. 

While Azula and Iroh, who have actively participated in conquering, colonizing and attacking the Earth Kingdom itself, were.   

Someone once said that if indigenous people have control over Hama’s story, it would have been done differently. But the ATLA crew are white, non-indigenous people who prioritized redeeming colonizers instead.

The narrative has also affected how the ATLA fandom thinks. If most fans are asked who they would want to be redeemed, the popular option would be Azula over Jet or Hama.

Once again, I don’t think the ATLA crew noticed it due to their racial bias. But still, the harm is done and the racially biased message is continued: 

The colonizers and their descendants don’t have to make amends for the colonizers’ crimes. Or if they do, only lightly since it’s in the past (no matter how recent that past is). 

The colonized who rebel will tend to hurt innocent people and then get a grisly end for getting in way over their heads.  

I would venture as far as to say that the narrative may have the  added subconscious desire to quiet their white anxiety on the vengeance of the colonized. As I have learned when writing about Vodou stereotypes and how they have stemmed from the history of white anxiety of Black vengeance, of Black fetishization and of dissolution of the white race through intermarriages.

In @visibilityofcolor’s blog, someone asked:

 “So I saw some of the really heated debates on here and on twitter about how if Iroh and Azula can be portrayed sympathetically despite their actions then characters like Jet and Hama should've been given a chance too. Do you think that the writers understood the implications of only redeeming characters from the colonizer/fascist nation but not giving the characters who suffered because of their fascism a second chance too?”

To which VisibilityOfColor replied:

“No, because at the end of the day, the writers are white. When it comes to stuff like this, it’s no surprise when we see white writers redeem problematic characters before they actually redeem victims of those racist problematic characters. For instance, Dave Filioni, who worked on both avatar and star wars rebels, did the same thing when redeeming agent kallus who was an soldiers in the imperial army and took credit for a genocide. where as victims of the empire were still painted in negative lights. i really don’t think they understand.

They have this ‘be the better person’ view on things, which is what a lot of white people tend to emulate when it comes to people of color standing up to their oppressors. and unfortunately, these are ideas passed on to children, esp minorities. that they should forgive people and communities who hurt them and ‘be the better person’. this is why white ppl don’t need to write narratives for people of color.”

Example #3: The Narrative Favors the Light Skinned Character Than Dark Skinned Character in Similar Situations

I would like to reiterate that racial bias in storytelling is often not intentional. I am not saying the creators and the people who support them are bad people. No.

However, I encourage that once a racial bias is made known in our work, it is our responsibility to change them to stop the perpetuation of its harmful message.

Hazbin Hotel is a popular cartoon with whimsical designs and its concept opens the conversation about redemption. The creator, Vivziepop may not have noticed the racial bias in her cartoon as a white Latina [5] that grew up with and benefits from white privileges, along with the Hazbin crew. 

In the Youtbe video, "Hazbin Hotel - How Art took over Writing", Staxlotl states:

“I understand that there was a lot of time and effort put into this pilot, almost three years worth of effort. But I think most of that time was spent into the art and visuals when it should’ve gone into polishing the writing in the characters.”[6]

Once again, I’m not here to critique the characters but how the narrative treats its dark-skinned characters.

The story treats Charlie, the white-skinned, “Disney-esque” protagonist princess differently from how it treats Vaggie, the dark-skinned, more outspoken and protective Latina girlfriend of Charlie who supports the princess’ cause. 

In its pilot episode, both girls experience humiliation. While Charlie is portrayed by the story as someone the viewers have to feel sorry for...

...Vaggie is portrayed in her humiliation as the butt of the joke for the viewers.

While they both didn’t like what Angel Dust did, Charlie was sympathized over in the narrative as a moment... 

...while Vaggie’s angry but valid callouts were dismissed and ignored as part of the comedy.

While Charlie was someone that needs to be protected in the narrative... 

...Vaggie is left to fend for herself. 

Again, I don’t think the creators noticed the racial bias of their cartoon. However, this racial bias is reflected in the harmful perceptions that dark-skinned women, particularly Black women and Black girls, are more mature, tougher and need less protection at a young age.[7] 

This adultification bias perceives them as challenging authority when they express strong or contrary views and are then given harsher discipline than white girls who misbehave.[8] And this continues when they grow up.

In a 2017 study, Black women and girls aged 12-60 years old confirmed they are treated harsher by their white peers and are accused of being aggressive when they would defend themselves or explain their point of view to authority figures.[8] 

This bias also coincides with the Spicy Latina trope of a brown-skinned, hot-blooded, quick-tempered and passionate woman.

Everyday Feminism described this trope as "Although objects of desire for many, the spicy Latina may have too much personality to handle. So much so that she is often viewed as domineering or emasculating." [16]

Sounds familiar? (Look at Angry Black Woman trope above.)

Why is it that a light-skinned character, Charlie, is allowed to be vulnerable and be sympathized while the dark-skinned Latina character, Vaggie, is mocked, dismissed and expected to tough it out?

Severina Ware had to remind the world in her article that relates to the bias against dark skinned characters:

“Black women are not offered the protection and gentleness of our white counterparts. We are not given permission to be soft and delicate. We are required to exhibit strength and fortitude not only because our lives depend on it, but because so many others depend on us. Black women should not be charged with the responsibility of saving everyone when nobody is here to save us.”[12] 

As @cullenvhenan​ of Tumblr has said in her post:

“if you're a white creator and your brown/black characters are always sassy, reckless, aggressive or cold and your white characters are always soft, demure, shy and introverted you should think about maybe why you did that”

(Image above from Iowa Law Reviews’ “Aggressive Encounters & White Fragility: Deconstructing the Trope of the Angry Black Woman”)

Detecting Your Own Racial Bias

It would be hard. No matter how much you edit and create, you may miss it because it was never your experience. 

So how do we prevent our racial bias from creeping into our creations?

Listen to POC and their feedback.

As @charishjb from Instagram has shared, here is one of the things that we can do (tumblr link here) [9]:

Consider POC voices. Listen to their experiences. Hire sensitivity POC readers. Put multiple POC voices in positions of leadership in creative projects.

Then we can stop the racial bias that perpetuates again and again in the media. I hope for that future.

[butch-bitch-dyke]

Some Stuff(tm) about the MOGAI Wiki but not what you're expecting

(I was not involved in... whatever the fuck Kris did and left before that happened, I am bewildered.)

Hi! I’m not sharing my name, though you might be able to guess. Refer to me as "butch" or "dyke" and use it/its pronouns.

I used to be a MOGAI coiner, centering on pagan, lesbian, and Latin identity. I also used to be an extremely prolific editor for what is now the Mogai Wiki (the Ezgender Wiki, when I was an editor), writing 40+ full pages and editing possibly 200+. And I left because of transmisogyny. Fun.

At the time, the wiki & Discord didn’t have a single active transfem mod. The only mod who is maybe transfem was extremely inactive to the point I’d never seen them post anything in the server. This remains the case, apparently. (Can't say I'm shocked the owner left due to being overly defensive given the incident this post is about.)

The server was also very, very absent of transfems. I think there were maybe three of us total that I saw.

So, the incident that caused me to leave:

One of the (at the time) admins messaged in a chat asking if it was okay to identify as [transmisogynistic slur]. Said admin was transmasculine. A member (who is prominent in the MOGAI community) linked a Wiki page I wrote on the term, that explained extremely clearly with sources why [slur] should not be used by non-transfems. And was seemingly used to say “yes, it’s cool.”

I entered the conversation and politely asked if they actually read the article. They had.

I then said that, since they knew better—and since their first time fully deciding to use the term was after knowing better—using it would be extremely transmisogynistic.

They did not like that.

I was accused of erasing gay male history. They tried to convince me that I was wrong about the term’s origins. They refused to even at least censor the word on request if they were going to continue saying it. When I said I was the only transfem present and was being ignored which, bad look, [prominent community member] said I wasn’t. I… definitely was. I knew all the people involved were transmasc or transneutral, because I knew them personally. I was told I was doing “discourse” and ordered to stop speaking on the issue by (again, transmasc) mods.

So I muted the server for a few days, because that experience was fucking degrading.

When I finally looked back on it, i found [different transmasc admin] had pulled me in a ticket, and warned me for “biased articles” and “hateful language.”

The biased articles? [Slur]. Obviously. And one article on the black triangle that was at worst biased towards not erasing Roma experiences regarding the Holocaust, which had been up for months (and read by mods) with no prior issue. That article was from November. This issue was in January.

The hateful language? A message from the week before reading “cis people are cancelled, men are cancelled, transmascs are cancelled, this is so transmisogynistic” when explicitly speaking about transmisogny regarding [slur] a week prior. Which, I’m so sorry that I hurt your feelings by generalizing when calling out bigotry that you immediately turned around and perpetuated. Point proven for me, though. (If you “not all men me” on this I swear I will bite your legs off.)

I then found that [transmasc owner] had rewritten the entire page to almost entirely be about gay and trans men. They removed my transfem primary sources. They removed the definition’s source and didn’t bother sourcing a new one. They watered down every place I mentioned it was a transmisogynistic slur to downplay or fully erase the term’s history as one. The majority of historical context I provided was deleted without replacement. To be clear: [slur] is an equivalent slur to tr-p. Like. 100%. Which is part of what my sources discussed.

The only transfem sources they included? Naturally, transfems saying it was totally okay because “we all experience transphobia” and “the gay and transfem community are really close,” which is just… extremely ignorant of history and also definitely a minority opinion in the transfeminine community. The slur is transmisogynistic. Not transphobic, not homophobic, not femmephobic. It is a slur against specifically AMAB transfems & trans women.

So, naturally, I was fucking pissed.

I may have written a very long, very angry reply, as one does when implicitly accused of ‘tranmisandry’ for calling out transmisogyny by a transmasc. Essentially, it was pointing out the issues I said above. Then I left.

For a few days I did not unfriend the moderators. I never blocked them, and they can easily find my Discord and Tumblr. It’s been four months with no message or apology, and last I checked the page is still what the former owner "corrected" it to, so I don’t see how I could be expected to believe the wiki or people involved changed.

Currently, only two mods for the wiki were there when I was a member. Only one of said mods was involved in the issue. So I’ll give the new mods benefit of the doubt.

But yeah, you guys wonder why you don’t see a lot of transfems active in the MOGAI community? Why every wiki seems so devoid of us? This shit is why.

You all are only against your idea of transmisogyny, not committed to protecting transfems. You hate TERFs more than you love trans women.

You can’t stop talking about how TERF ideology is just as bad for transmascs when they literally want all transfems murdered—yeah, they hurt transmascs a lot, but they’re killing us. You can't stop trying to make transmisogyny about you. You refuse to analyze transmasc-specific bigotry through any lense other than comparison to transmisogyny.

If you get told to stop using one slur, get a little uncomfortable, feel like we’re being too mean? That “allyship” goes straight out of the window.

You’re more averse to speciesism than transmisogyny. You’re more upset by “kinnie” than by [slur].

Maybe treat us like you give a shit, and fucking listen. Then you might realize that, hey, this community isn’t just transmascs and enbies, and it never has been.

(on the slur censored in this post:)

[Slur], which some might have guessed, is femboy. While transmascs and gay men use it… a lot, now, it originated in the 90s as a sibling term for trap, but even more sexualized. As in, it literally came from the same discussion boards.

The main difference, and why the f-mboy is even more sexualized, is that since they’re not “deceiving” men, they can have very visible bulges. This is also why the term is extremely pornographic, reclaimed or not, and minors really need to stop throwing around.

Frankly, the whole queer men "reclaiming" it has made it way fucking worse. Conflating a slur calling trans women men with queer men is extremely fucking gross. "Reclaiming" other communities' trauma and erasing them from the discussion is gross. (And, no, "I wan't a term with history" isn't an excuse when that history is the sexualization, trafficking, and murder of trans women. Want historical terms? Scroll down.)

The movements formed around it are cool. Yay feminine men. But the use of the slur is still violently transphobic even if the culture is nice.

It feels a bit too late to stop completely at this point, but the least you (and the MOGAI Wiki) could do is not actively spread transmisogynistic misinformation on the word.

If you're looking for alternatives that don't fuck over transfems, consider:

Lavender boy - Much more history within the gay community, and more of a connection to queer men than f-mboy will ever had. Referring to a feminine queer man/masc. 1920s

Rosboy - A modern equivalent to the exact definition of f-mboy used by queer men/mascs, but this time the definition used is accurate to the term itself.

Tomgirl - Opposite of tomboy

Femme - Literally just femme. We've had femme the whole time. Just use it

Femme man, masc, guy, etc. - See femme

Make something up, or do your own research! Both are definitely options for anyone

Also, yes I have sources on all of this, I'm just not posting them publicly because I would be immediately outed if I did. If anyone involved/in the Discord wants to back me up without saying who I am or showing my user/nickname, feel free.

[arhvste]

i finally understand what you mean 🙈 so what’s atsumu’s type 😏

this is gonna be a little biased because he is 1/2 of the only kins i have and i feel like we’d go for similar types of people :0

[this is just my opinion!]

-ˏˋ miya atsumu ˊˎ-

he’s childish and unpredictable and needs someone to keep up with these tendencies. if you’ve got a short temper and/or are overly serious, your personalities are most likely going to clash and things are going to end up very stiff between the two of you. he needs someone a little laid back and outgoing to keep up with him. he can’t stand fake people and can see right through them straight away. he doesn’t want someone who likes him just for who he is on the court, he wants someone to take on his silent challenge and force him to show himself for who he really is. he isn’t always miya atsumu, star setter for msby, 2nd ranked setter for japan. sometimes he just wants someone to see him as atsumu, and just atsumu, no more labels attached to that. someone genuine with pure intentions will match well with him, he’ll know if you’re being real or not with him and he won’t hesitate to call you out if he doesn’t think your intentions with him or in general are genuine. someone with good morals and clear communication will mix well with him.

atsumu can handle dark humour but he will get defensive if you start aiming it at him more than a few times. he can take a few hits but when you’re outright only insulting him he will get fed up and possibly strop about it. he needs someone who’s going to let him bounce humour back and fourth with rather than dominate and insult him constantly. he might be a little brat, but he doesn’t need humbling all the time. however, someone sensitive may not mix well with atsumu either, because the same way he can take a few insults, he gives the same energy back and sometimes he had a tendancy to take it a little too far. he won’t always want to apologise for it either because in his eyes he’s only ‘joking’ even if you don’t see it that way. he needs someone to give and take the same energy he throws their way, an evenly matched type of energy mixes best with him and conversations flow better and become a lot more open and interesting.

arguments can be rough and he’s stubborn. he finds it hard to admit when he’s wrong and this is when his childish side becomes a little more evident. he needs someone willing to take him on and handle his attitude but still with care. you may shout at each other a little, but if you’re straight up with him and put your foot down when you both know you’re right, he will eventually back down. this doesn’t mean he’s ready to apologise though, he will most likely sulk and apologise later so he needs someone patient and willing to wait for him to snap out of it. he will always eventually apologise in the end if he knows he has to, but he won’t be thrilled to do it. this doesn’t mean he doesn’t mean it though so he needs his s/o to understand he’s genuine when he apologises because it is difficult for him to do so. he hates arguing with you and even though he doesn’t like accepting the fact he’s wrong sometimes, he’ll always suck it up and apologise for you when he knows he needs to. his prides always worth dropping when it comes to you.

not afraid of pda in the slightest. he can and will make out with you and public and give anyone around a good look. he loves the jealous stares he gets from other people, it boosts his ego and makes him proud to call you his. at home he’s equally as affectionate but a little less dominating. he may become a little whiny and clingy when it’s just the two of you at home, but that’s only because he feels at ease when he’s around you. you’re his safe haven and his escape from the media and expectations around him. dates are spontaneous and often unplanned. he has a hectic schedule but he will always dedicate time to you because while he is passionate about volleyball, you will always be his first priority even if he has a hard time proving it to you. he’ll take you out as soon as he gets home to your surprise and it’ll be as simple as a drive around to get take out or walks through your local park. he doesn’t want to take you somewhere where people can bother the two of you because alone time is precious to him. falling in love with atsumu is like waking up in bed and feeling the sunlights warmth flood over your skin through the peeks of the curtains. it’s welcoming and safe. his love makes you warm and you feel at home when you’re with him. be patient and understanding, but clear and genuine with him and he’ll be sure to fall for you

[brawlingdiscontent]

Yes! It's so bizarre to me!

We don't see ANY evidence of Louis stalking Lestat in season 1 - and yes, it's told from Louis' POV, but whenever we're getting an overly biased recollection from him, either he or Daniel catches it and points it out. Later in the episode, Louis concedes that Lestat's version of Claudia's turning was more correct - he doesn't do this here. We also see the vehemence of Louis' denials when Lestat makes this claim, but after all the work the show does to make this visible, we're still just supposed to believe Lestat over him?

Even if Lestat feels there's some truth to what he says a) His POV is absolutely warped as the show has shown us over and over again (he literally kidnapped and threatened to kill Claudia in an attempt to make Louis happy!) and b) the show is super clear that regardless of any intentions, the effect of Lestat's claims that Louis stalked him is to incense an anti-Black crowd that wants to lynch Louis! No one outright says, this but it couldn't be clearer contextually that this is the meaning the show's makers want us to take away as an audience - Claudia's reactions to this moment in particular highlight this.

Why defend THIS moment? It's not even the worst thing that Lestat has done/said (and one could even make the argument that this didn't come from Lestat and he might have been made to say it by the coven). Are these folks also trying to defend Lestat's terrorizing of Claudia, his dropping of Louis, etc., etc.? (And, if so, why/how??) Do they just not see these actions as the horrific violations that they are?

The defending of Lestat here just feels very gross and anti-Black! Like in doing so people are literally siding with the trial narrative that the show clearly paints as deranged, racist, and unfair. And I wish folks would stop to examine their own reactions/assumptions and consider these possibilities instead of being so defensive when this gets brought up!

Louis stalking Lestat when he first arrived in New Orleans is such a blatant lie, the Trial episode doesn’t even bother to dignify it with a reenactment and YET we still have people doing Olympic level reaches to somehow justify how this might be true in some way, and fucking why???

It’s not a secret Louis was attracted to Lestat back in Storyville! The only benefit you get from agreeing with Lestat’s “testimony” at the Trial is painting Louis’ attraction to Lestat as inherently predatory, which given the way this fandom has treated Louis in his relationship with Armand, I have to assume I’m not far off the mark 😒

[feministfocus]

Cautious, Vigilant, Fearful: On Being Asian American

Art by R. Kikuo Johnson

By Cynthia Lin

The mother and child wait for the subway. The mother grips the hand of her daughter tightly, her other hand raised to check the time. A simple illustration, yet the mother’s and daughter’s eyes catch my attention. They are cautious, vigilant, fearful.

I realize what else makes me uneasy. The mother wears a turtleneck sweater beneath a long blazer and wide black pants. And tennis shoes. The sneakers clash incongruously with her formal attire—why wear sneakers with a blazer? Unless you fear you will need to run.

The New Yorker’s recent cover, “Delayed” by artist R. Kikuo Johnson, comes at a time in which racial violence against Asian Americans has surged. Just a few days before, a man was filmed kicking and stomping on a 65-year-old Philippine-American woman while onlookers from the nearby building watched. One even shut the door in her face.

It’s simple to blame the violence on the pandemic and the subsequent xenophobic rhetoric, but it’s not as if racism against Asian Americans did not exist before—it’s just that the public is finally made aware of it. It’s difficult to argue that racism is just overblown paranoia when there is widespread video evidence of the harassment.

For a while, I used to debate with myself whether someone was being racist towards me. Is it all in my head? Why am I making a big deal of this? Am I too sensitive? Can I not take a joke? It is exhausting to constantly question whether or not an action is racially motivated. I did not want to be so overly sensitive that every slight I experienced came down to race. You start to doubt yourself—is it not worse if you think it is racially motivated when it is not? Am I being hampered by my race, using race to excuse others’ treatment of me when it is just their reaction to me? But then again, my Asianness is written all over my face; how can you react to me without reacting to a core part of my identity? So there must have been some part of that action that was racist, even if it was mostly ignorant.

But it is easier to wonder what you did that made you seem so foreign, so “un-American” to warrant that might-be-racist action. You start overanalyzing your past actions, and you turn silent and reclusive, thinking it best that you should not bring more attention to yourself, but then you realize that by being quiet you are contributing to the Asian stereotype of meekness. You wish that there was a clear line distinguishing what is racist and what is “all in your head.” But that is the issue, isn’t it?

When the news first broke, I think I might have even believed the narrative the investigators spun about how the spa shootings in the Atlanta area were not racially motivated. In my mind, I hovered between calling the shootings a “hate crime” or a “crime.” It did not strike me until I read the words “sex addiction”—the excuse the shooter used to explain his murder of the eight people, six of whom were Asian women—that I realized the label “racial motivation” contributes to the falsehood that there is a distinct line separating what is racist and what is not.

“Racial motivation” is the covert label we use for the obviously racist. But the phrase doesn’t take into account the subtleties, the dangerous norms we have adopted to mark what is foreign and what is “American.” Or even more relevant, the generations of popular culture over-sexualizing and fetishizing Asian women. Perhaps the shooter’s alleged sex addiction is not inherently anti-Asian, but depictions of Asian women in film and television have dehumanized them into objects of desire, generalized them as “docile,” “demure,” and “obedient.” Easy targets.

But why this compulsion to explain the actions of the perpetrator? This desperate grab for a motive every time a racist crime is committed? Whether or not the shooter’s intent was racist, the ramifications still exist. Asian Americans, especially the elderly, do not feel safe in America. I worry about my grandparents’ recent move from Brooklyn’s Chinatown to Staten Island, where they are cut off from all that is familiar and comforting. After living in America for over twenty years, is it not their right to go on an afternoon walk without fearing for their safety?

Anti-Asian sentiment in America has not recently materialized; it’s only resurfaced in our collective attention span. Lately, I have been digging deeper into Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history, approaching it with the intent to examine the longevity of the community’s residence in America, not just the well-taught immigrant story. Asians have been here before many Europeans immigrated through Ellis Island, but even to me, these “newer” Europeans seem to fit better with the American mold. How can they not, when U.S. history lessons consistently depict Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as foreigners and national security threats? When the few times the curriculum touches on Asian American history, it focuses on Chinese immigration in the mid-19th century, the subsequent Chinese Exclusion Act, and the internment of 120,000 people of Japanese descent during World War II? The Asian Americans I learn about in history class seem to exist solely in the backdrop of exclusion, which only serves to highlight their “otherness.”

What of Larry Itliong and his efforts in organizing the Delano Grape Strike? Or Patsy Mink, the first Asian American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives? Why is it that these milestones in Asian American and Pacific Islander history aren’t taught more? By acknowledging the multifaceted and ever-changing nature of the Asian community in the U.S., we acknowledge the progress made and what we have yet to achieve. Instead, I learn about AAPI history through an antiquated lens—depictions of Asian Americans have remained stagnant, fixed in time, and painted in broad strokes of homogeneity. The diversity of the AAPI community has often been forgotten, pushed aside for the ease in generalizing one collective group of people. This has not only perpetuated the harmful myth that most Asians, being the “model minority,” have attained success in America, but has also led to blame on the whole AAPI community for the pandemic.

In high school, race was a political topic, one made so controversial that even now, there is still some ingrained part of me that hesitates to voice my opinions for fear that I would “get it wrong.” It was only through my college search that I realized a major like “Ethnicity, Race, & Migration” even existed. And if I, someone who plans to study race, feel this way, how do others —students, teachers—even begin to broach this topic without fear of controversy? Focus on eradicating the stigma behind racism without fixating on being politically correct? So, besides a reevaluation of curriculum, we must also change the culture of avoidance we have fostered in schools, end the mindset of avoiding uncomfortable conversations.

Perhaps during the first discussions, we’ll stumble over a few social faux pas, reveal some implicit biases we’ve kept locked away under niceties, but it is better to acknowledge these societal problems than pretend that ignoring these issues will make them disappear. Uncomfortable conversations elicit defensiveness, but they can also be an opportunity for growth, a way to find empathy for others who at first seem entirely unlike ourselves. Having these conversations can help make true social change, can even help materialize a world in which a mother doesn’t have to fear for her and her child’s safety while doing something as mundane as taking a subway.

Chen, T. (2021, March 22). Asian women are Hypersexualized, so don't tell me the killings In Atlanta aren't about race. Retrieved April 20, 2021, from https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/asian-women-fetish-racist-atlanta-shootings

Fan, J., Hsu, H., & Park, E. (2021, March 19). The Atlanta shooting and the dehumanizing of Asian women. Retrieved April 20, 2021, from https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-atlanta-shooting-and-the-dehumanizing-of-asian-women

If the mass killing of six Asian women isn't a hate crime, what is? (2021, March 18). Retrieved April 20, 2021, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-03-17/killing-six-asian-women-hate-crime-atlanta

Mouly, F. (2021, April 13). R. Kikuo Johnson's "Delayed". Retrieved April 20, 2021, from https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2021-04-05

Waxman, O. (2021, March 30). Why the Asian-American story is missing from U.S. Classrooms. Retrieved April 20, 2021, from https://time.com/5949028/asian-american-history-schools/