#it's fucking MERCH

[m4rs-ex3]

tdp instagram creators try not to shit on the show for no reason challenge!! (*IMPOSSIBLE*)

You all are just trying to find reasons to whine about the Stella plush.

“Guess she was just a merch plug all along.” What? You know how long it’s been since she was first introduced as a character? You think the only real reason they did was to merchandise her? Like they were just secretly plotting and planning this entire time for her to be merchandised 3 years later and that was her entire purpose lol.

Like, I genuinely cannot fathom how people could seriously be so upset over this. I mean, I’ve even heard a lot of people say the complete opposite and how they really wish TDP had more merch. This reaction I’m seeing is so weird and I cannot imagine it being anything other than forced.

“Maybe it’s just me.” No, the problem is that it’s literally not just you. Literally every major TDP artist I’m seeing on Insta except for one is saying stuff like this, and that’s why I feel like this is a forced reaction.

Also why is it weird to get merch directly from the show? Do you think it’s weird… to support a show you like?

[stemmmm]

group therapy

[inkskinned]

the thing about some men is that they want you to remember, at all times, that you are underneath them. that with one word or look or "joke", you will stay beneath them. that even "exceptions" to the rule are not true exceptions - the commonly cited statistic that one in eight men believe they could win against serena williams.

women's gymnastics is often not seen as real gymnastics. whatever the fuck non-euclidian horrors rhythmic gymnasts are capable of, it's often tamped down as being not a sport. some of the most dominant athletes in the world are women. nobody watches women's soccer. despite years of dancing and being built like a fucking brick, men always assume they're faster and stronger than i am. you wouldn't like what happens when they are incorrect. once while drunk at a guy's house i won a held-plank challenge by a solid minute. the party was over after that - he became exceedingly violent.

what i mean is that you can be perfect, and they still think you're ... lacking, somehow. i hope you understand i'm trying to express a neutral statement when i say: taylor swift was the possibly the most patriarchy-palatable, straight-down-the-line woman we could churn out. she is white, conventionally attractive, usually pretty mild in personality. say what you will about her (and you should, she's a billionaire, she can handle it), but a few things seem to be true about her: 1. she can write a damn catchy song, and 2. the eras tour truly was a massive commercial success and was also genuinely an impressive feat of human athleticism and performance.

i don't know if she deserves the title of "woman of the year," i'm not debating that in this post. what i am saying is that she was named Woman of The Year, and then an untalented man got onstage at the golden globes and made fun of her for attending her boyfriend's football games. what i am saying is that this woman altered local economies - and her dating life is still being made into a "harmless" punchline. the camera panned, greedy, over to her downing a full glass of champagne. congratulations taylor! you are woman of the year! but you are a woman. even her.

fuck, man. write better material.

a guy gets onstage at a college graduation and despite the fact like half the crowd is made up of women, he spends a significant proportion of it warning these people - who spent possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars on their education - that they were lied to. that the "real" meaning of femininity is motherhood. that they shouldn't rest on the laurels of that education-they-paid-for but instead throw it away to kneel at a man's heel. imagine that. sweating in your godawful polyester gown (that you also had to pay for!), fresh out of 4 years of pushing yourself ever-harder: and some guy you've never met - who knows nothing about you - he reminds you this "win" is a pyrrhic one at best. you really shouldn't consider yourself that extraordinary. you're still a woman, even after years of study.

god forbid you are not a pretty woman, but if you are pretty, you must be dumb. god forbid you are not ablebodied or white or cis or straight or good at swallowing. you must be beneath a man, or else they are not a man. the equation for masculinity seems to just be: that which is not a woman or womanly (god forbid). anything "feminine" is thereby anathema. to engage in "feminine" things such as therapy, getting a hug from a friend, or crying - it is giving up ones manhood. therefore women need to be put in their place to ensure that masculinity is protected.

this is something i have struggled to explain to terfs - they are not doing the work of feminism, but rather the patriarchy. by asserting that women and men must be (on some secret level) oppositional and in conflict, they also assume that being a woman is akin to being another species. but bigotry does not stem from observational truths or clarity - that is what makes it bigotry. there was nothing in my childhood that made me fundamentally different from my brother. we are treated differently nonetheless. to assert there is some biological drive that enforces my gender role is to assert that women have a gendered role. men do not see women as equal to them not because of biological reality - but instead because the core tenant of the patriarchy is that women aren't full, realized people.

we are told from a very young age to excuse misbehavior as a single man's choice - not all men. it is not all men, just that one guy. all women are gold-digging bitches who belong in the kitchen - but if a man is mean, bigoted, or violent to you, it's just that particular guy, and that means nothing about men-as-a-whole. it is only one guy who got mad when you gently rejected him. it is only one guy who warns her this trophy is heavy, are you sure you can hold it? it is only one guy who smashes her face into the cake. it is only one guy talking into a mic about hating our bodily autonomy.

i have just found that they often wait until the moment we actually seem to be upstaging them. you sit in a meeting where you're presenting your own findings and he says get me a coffee? or you run to the end of the marathon and are about to finish first and he pushes your kids out in front of you. you win the chess game and they make some comment akin to well, you're ugly away. we can be the billionaire and get the dream life and finally fucking do it and yet! still! they have this strange, visceral urge to say well actually, if you think you're so great -

it's not one just one guy. it's one in eight.

[marklikely]

put that hot topic spider punk merch down immediately and get out your diy supplies or i swear to god

[sierraveree-art]

my illustration for the naming of the year!

[second-glass-miracle]

Absolutely fascinated by the concept of f/o's being fans/selfshiping with one's s/i

But also

Imagine meeting each other through some multiuniversal stuff and being like "Wait, you're literally my most favorite character ever... WAIT, I'M YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER?????????"

[transmechanicus]

The audacity of well established bands to only sell merch for their most recent album. You bastards, you fiends, your peak popularity was in 2007, sell me a tshirt with old album art for the love of god.

[camping-with-monsters]

I NEED EVERYONE TO STOP WHAT THEY’RE DOING AND PLEASE LOOK AT THIS GOD AWFUL TYPHLOSION PLUSH WE FOUND AT A CANDY STORE DOWNTOWN. YES WE BOUGHT HIM.

GOOD GOD HE’S SO UGLY. WE LOVE HIM SO MUCH. I THINK HIS NAME IS FINKLE.

[ataraxianne]

I'm literally crying what do you mean Blitzø was like "LOOK AN UFO" and Stolas believed it and started looking up at the sky so when he was distracted Blitzø ate his ice cream😭😭😭😭

[mcroutfits]

ULTRA RARE aesthetics: mikey's fanmade gerard/ bob shirts

[rakiah]

Everyone talk about the new Malleus figurine (gorgeous btw) that just droped but CAN WE TALK ABOUT THEM TOO??!

THEY'RE SO PRETTYYYY AAAAH

[clockworkreapers]

You know... If we could have charms, if there was a way... I'd so want them

[gravygranola]

me and my stupid superhero boyfriend (mutually)

[cute-pluto]

ok one more preview of what you can find in my shop next month :)

[heartorbit]

revstar emu save me

[engel-hageshii]

...bald Sun/Moon coin purse...

*takes a deep breath*

BALD SUN/MOON COIN PURSE!

I WANT IT SO BAAAAAD!!!

its available for pre-order on Hot Topic if you're interested!