#learn some fucking media literacy anon

[jynjackets]

Do you think Jyn and Maarva would like each other?

tl;dr: no <3

I don't think Jyn would get along with maarva as she is a source of Cassian's issues with self-worth and guilt, similar to how Saw is a source for her fear of abandonment. Maarva doesn't even like her own son so who knows who's good enough for her lol.

a long rant below the cut

Jyn being someone who knows exactly what it’s like to be adopted and re-abandoned, her seeing Cassian's mother be consistently disappointed in her drugged n kidnapped adopted son is a whole other level of fucked up parental issues. Maarva opting to be with her her town instead of Cassian in her last days and also disbanding his actual family, it would be very difficult for someone like Jyn to see past these actions.

There's also no real justification for Maarva's treatment of Cassian (because he doesn't do his capitalist ferrix job? because he brings girls home? because he still lives with her even though he takes care of her?). AND even after her death, the last thing she wants him to remember was “hey, you’re a big fuck up, but that’s okay <3”.

Maarva has done nothing but live her life from her fuckass couch and yet had the audacity to tell Cassian that he needs to stand up, that he needs to rebel or get a job. Even after when he fought back and went to child prison after seeing his adopted father hanged. So not only did you get ripped away from your parents, but also the person that supposedly chose you felt like they got more than they bargained for, Cassian therefore feeling ultimately undesired by both the biological and adopted family.

But being a parent is complicated, is she at fault?

Compare it to Saw abandoning Jyn. When Jyn grew older he was forced to choose between his daughter and his life's mission. Abandoning her is, without argument, fucked up. While it created irreparable damage, we can understand why he did it. Not only was it traumatizing for Jyn, but it was THE ultimate sacrifice he was making from himself. The thing that shifts some blame away is that it gutted him to do this, and he did it from a place making sure she was safe and alive.

So with this in mind, what is Maarva’s sacrifice in being constantly disappointed in your adopted son because he isn’t like everyone else? What does she gain when she tells him to forget about Kenari, that there’s nothing left? Imagine being adopted, being told as an adult that, no, you can’t be looking for your biological family and that they’re nothing now, and that even trying is useless. The only thing I can see is that she just wants Cassian to fit her image of an ideal Ferrix citizen, which isn't amazing and isn't enough to justify her actions.

Moreover, as someone who has lost a parent, the last moments you have with them hold a permanent memory that weigh differently than everything else, and imo require its own sort of grief. On Maarva's last days, she made him leave without her, even when she knew she was going to die by not taking her meds. She would rather spend her last days being memorialized as a hero on Ferrix than being with her only son. And at the end of your days, you want to go home. You want to be with family for as long as possible. For Maarva, home was Ferrix and everyone else there, not Cassian.

So Maarva sucks because she was a terrible mother at the benefit of literally nothing. Where Saw was the insurgent leader of the extremist cell that made major attacks against the empire; and not the best father largely because of his life's work but also still wanting to do his best to keep his daughter safe. But look who gets more villainized than anybody else and who is more celebrated as a hero?

On a tangent now, I believe Jyn and Maarva would be comparable to Cassian and Saw's relationship: you don't feel all warm and fuzzy inside meeting the [person you care about]'s greatest source of trauma.

All that Cassian knows about him is that he adopted her, then abandoned her. Upon seeing him on Jedha he almost draws a gun to protect Jyn (doing that before THE guy, THE supposed terrorist and Empire's most wanted, mind you), unsure where their relationship stands. Saw of course, would protect his daughter in turn, not knowing who this guy is.

I would believe Jyn would see Maarva in a similar light on a dramatically smaller scale. That "I hate my MIL and our interests are only mutually aligned around what's best for Cassian", but of course what that means is totally different things. Maarva sees Cassian and believes he needs to change. Even when she’s fucking dead he still needs for things to come together in order to be unstoppable, or whatever vision she had in mind for him and that him on his own is not enough.

And so the rest of this is how I interpret the implications for Rogue One: that the lessons both Jyn and Cassian took from their adopted parents can be mutually shattered as they see each other for who they are and not what they've been molded to believe.

As we know with Jyn, she has a complex moral code. When she sees a stormtrooper she feels the reflex to kill. When she sees a war-torn child, her reaction is to risk her own life to save innocents. And this is what she continues to do when she meets Cassian. She has every reason to shoot him and steal his ship. But on Jedha, seeing him agreeing with her that she was perhaps worth saving after her deed of saving the child, she sees him in return when he shoots the partisan. They see each other for their actions, for the better parts of each other, despite their words and even their own personal doubts. Jyn continues to risk her life for him over and over again and vice versa. She doesn’t want to change him at all and she inspires him to fight in ways he perhaps has forgotten or never knew was possible.

In fact, the reason she’s angry with him on Eadu is because he lied to her. Revealing the intention to kill someone’s dad easily put your anger in the right, but while she is mixed up with grief, the bigger part of her knows he was incapable of doing it and doesn’t revel in the fact of who he could’ve been if he killed her father or even combined with terrible things he's done, but just sees the present man that didn't and instead came back for her. Even Cassian is thinking how she was going to kill him for it, when he hadn’t even committed the crime. He’s caught up with the impression and perception of the kind of man he is, the narrative that he’s been fed his whole life that he’s committed atrocities that deem him unworthy.

Jyn and Cassian offer each other a break from narratives and reputations that they've tried to sound out their whole lives. And although both characters have a lot of integrity, being told the same thing over again through life lessons, you begin to believe it yourself. It's where we meet the two of them at their lowest points. That for Jyn, she wasn't someone worth returning to, that there isn't hope amongst war. And for Cassian, that he's not a good person for things he's done, that war is endless, and he has to follow orders or do things for others in order to belong. As the events of Rogue One unfold, we can see how they come to understand each other. They create a bond by feeling seen for the first time.

IN SUMMARY:

Maarva is like the exact opposite of Saw Gerrera in all the worst fucking ways, I tell you. Instead of being family friends with and saving the child that he later abandons, she kidnaps the child away from their actual family and then holds them hostage on her planet to force-assimilate and take care of her in her old age. And instead of actively rebelling through extremist insurgencies, she sits around and berates her son to go be a rebel, and yet disappointed that he doesn't have a job or doesn't do what everybody else does(?).

Jyn would hate that bitch like. Every Life Day would be an ordeal. The irony of how she fucking dies doing nothing when Saw Gerrera is barely held together by oxygen tubes and yet outlives this couch potato. Andors versus Erso-Gerreras it's first-planet problems versus outer rim problems. Yeah they're both traumatic but the biggest difference is one of these is entirely avoidable if you just weren't a piece of shit.

[eldrith]

omg heyyyyy guys!!! <3 tldr for those of you who aren't the stupid cunt still spewing shit in inboxes: thanks for being kind & supportive and fucking normal. appreciate you beyond words, genuinely. my inbox is always open to you.

but to whom it may concern,

i am so fucking serious when i say that you, anon, need to grow up and start talking to real life humans for once in your life.

this isn't a joke. i'm so so so fucking embarrassed for this imbecile who stalks mutuals and any writer or account with decency in this fandom. you're so embarrassing. you are so clearly out of touch, there is something so clearly wrong in your tiny little pebble brain. it's a miracle you can even type words onto a screen because you're so inconceivably obtuse. (btw, you may need to reel in the extent of your lexicon - if you know what that is - for some of the things im about to say)

not only are you so impossibly, functionally incapable when it comes to media literacy - sorry, literacy at all - but you actively seek out to make incorrect points and its so troublesome... you need to learn context, subtext, implicit bias, nuance - honestly, grab a dictionary and look up what the term 'critical thinking' means too. you are SEVERELY lacking. you are deficient in communication and even worse with inference. i could laugh, and i have before.

despite the fact that this is all fictional - the truth is that we are all just people on here who enjoy writing or maybe enjoy a character from a fictional show that isn't even about romance in the first place.

anyways, i digress: the truth is that every single one of my friends on here has gotten this person's weird fucking obsessive comments in their inbox and as pathetic as this person is, i will say this directly to them: you treat writers or other blogs like some sort of sad therapy and you're being embarrassing.

i'm embarrassed when i see the cringey, out of touch shit you say. you act like a minor. i genuinely think you are one. you act like someone who has never had a personal relationship, let alone conversation. i don't think you've had an emotional connection ever. you act like a fucking baby who just crawled out of a sewer to see light for the first time in your life. it's so fucking sad. i would never care enough to say i feel bad for you, but i feel bad for anyone who has ever interacted with you, myself included.

it's so astounding to have to say this, but: WRITERS AND BLOGGERS ARE NOT YOUR FUCKING THERAPISTS. WE ARE NOT A HOTLINE FOR YOU. here, you’re so stupid you probably didn’t catch that: WE ARE NOT YOUR FUCKING THERAPISTS. YOU ARE BEING A FUCKING CHILD.

i beg you - i implore you to fucking block me, to block all of my mutuals who you come to whining in their inboxes, because NONE OF US FUCKING CARE what you have to say. pick up a book. talk to a man irl. ask someone how their day is and try to use empathy for once.

anyways, i love every single person on here who takes the time to be kind, or funny, or care. i love all my writers, all of my friends on here, moots or not - sorry to say this but im tired of pretending that i'm nice to childish pathetic cunts. lol

[ryuichirou]

Hi, Anon! Sorry for the late reply.

And sorry for cropping your message. We are aware of everything that you’ve mentioned, even witnessed some of the situations ourselves, but we don’t really want to touch some of the more sensitive topics carelessly.

We totally get what you mean! There have been a lot of sick and disgusting situations on twitter, a lot of cases of mistreatments of artists, and in general there are a lot of hateful groups that jump on the bandwagon of harassing people for all sorts of reasons, for their art and fictional things as well. But the thing is, it doesn’t only happen on twitter. I feel like when everyone was leaving tumblr and the majority of fandom youth migrated to twitter, the situation there got worse, because the vocal minority that has nothing better to do got louder.

These days, ironically, I feel like it has gotten somewhat better. Maybe it’s because some people are leaving twitter, maybe it’s because people got sick of being harassed over bullshit and started to push back, maybe it’s because all the kids occupy tiktok now. It’s probably the combo of all of these things, but especially the latter. To be tiktok seems like the most needlessly aggressive place…

But on twitter, we have a much better time these days, surprisingly. It used to be much worse for us. Tumblr is more mad at us I think lol

What people need are good lessons in media literacy and… nope, scratch that, what people need is to learn basic manners. And finally, fucking learn that people on their monitors are still real life people, and your default attitude towards them should be neutral and respectful, not aggressive and antagonistic. But this is much more difficult than to attack strangers, even if they think that they know these strangers because they are creators/authors of the things that they watch.

I hope what I’ve said makes sense.

Thank you so much for your support, and thank you for appreciating things that we do! <3 It means a lot.

[lostcauses-noregrets]

Lost, how have you managed to keep your sanity while being in the aot fandom? I'm almost going insane because of all the vitriol, especially on Twitter. I know Twitter isn't the ideal place for fandom experience, but I spend a lot of time there for the fanarts, and I can't seem to avoid the toxic side of it as the algorithm keeps suggesting reposts of people with similar interests (mostly Erwin or Levi or Eruri) about some toxic takes antis have. And, of course, I find myself engaging and making it worse for myself. Should I just block everyone and everything and keep myself sane? 😭

Learning to set boundaries in fandom, or indeed any area of your life, is never easy and it's made all the more difficult by fucked up social media algorithms. I always recommend blocking and muting people who bring drama onto your timeline, but that will only get you so far. You also have to learn how to disengage, to take active steps not to consume content that you know will upset or enrage you. It's very easy to get sucked down the rabbit hole of negativity and outrage, and I'm certainly not immune. Whenever I find myself doing this I try to consciously think "do I really want to spend my precious time reading this bullshit?" The answer is usually no, so I look at the pretty fan art instead. Figuring out what your own boundaries are and learning how to maintain them is critical to navigating not just fandom, but the world at large, and it's a constant practice that requires attention and determination.

I came across a really interesting paper last year in the Association for Psychological Science journal called Critical Ignoring as a Core Competence for Digital Citizens, by Anastasia Kozyreva, Sam Wineburg, Stephan Lewandowsky, and Ralph Hertwig. The abstract alone makes salutary reading:

Low-quality and misleading information online can hijack people’s attention, often by evoking curiosity, outrage, or anger. Resisting certain types of information and actors online requires people to adopt new mental habits that help them avoid being tempted by attention-grabbing and potentially harmful content. We argue that digital information literacy must include the competence of critical ignoring—choosing what to ignore and where to invest one’s limited attentional capacities. We review three types of cognitive strategies for implementing critical ignoring: self-nudging, in which one ignores temptations by removing them from one’s digital environments; lateral reading, in which one vets information by leaving the source and verifying its credibility elsewhere online; and the do-not-feed-the-trolls heuristic, which advises one to not reward malicious actors with attention. We argue that these strategies implementing critical ignoring should be part of school curricula on digital information literacy. Teaching the competence of critical ignoring requires a paradigm shift in educators’ thinking, from a sole focus on the power and promise of paying close attention to an additional emphasis on the power of ignoring. Encouraging students and other online users to embrace critical ignoring can empower them to shield themselves from the excesses, traps, and information disorders of today’s attention economy.

I don't know if that helps Anon, but I hope you find a way to continue enjoying fandom while avoiding the worst of its excesses.

[w98pops]

Still cant believe a fucking terf is in fallout fandom intecacting with trans creators and drawing her ugly stereotypical twink transmasc character. You should be ashamed

What is even happening to my inbox anymore. Idk if it's the same person that asked about Sharky or not, but it really makes me uncomfortable.

I don't know where the TERF stuff even come from, but I'm very open with my political views and yeah, I was a radfem in 2019 or something. I also was a very vulnerable sad russian teenager. I know not a lot of people on tumblr aware of all the intricacies of russian internet scene, but I assume you, anon, have some knowledge, because you called me a TERF in the first place.

There's an internet phenomenon called "alt-right pipeline" and I fell in the simular thing called "TERF pipeline". This shit is inevitable for every single afab person that speaks russian. It's a really big thing. I don't say it's an excuse to be a bigot, but I was 12 when i first touched the internet. I was insecure, very fucking poor and spiteful. Also I had and (still have) some hormone problems and was generally a pretty ugly girl so coped with it by drawing ponies and hating on elusive and mysterious "men in skirts" these smart twitter girlies always talked about.

To be perfectly honest, I genuinely don't understand what russian TERFs are fighting for or against, I was in this shit for solid few years and still have no idea. I mean, now it's illegal to be transgender in Russia (a real law), but it wasn't a win for these angry teenage girls, it was a win for genocidal bigoted russian government, the same one that legalized domestic violence (also a law. its officially not a real crime in this country). I went off the topic and started ranting about my frustrations with the government again FUCK 😭

I tried to say that russian internet is genuinely a fucked up place, but I lived in the middle of Siberia in a village, ideologically only had my orthodox grandma, racist older brother and TERFs on the internet. I only started to learn english a few years ago, so i didn't have enough options before that. Or, to better words, didn't have enough knowledge to be a better person.

I'm really really and sincerely fucking sorry for that. Like, truly. It was really fucked up and I'm ashamed of stuff I said and supported blindly. I now have resources and have some media literacy in my disposal and basic understanding of english to educate myself about the topics I'm talking about. I'm trying my hardest to show support and love to all my queer friends and mutuals, and as an artist I do all I can to be inclusive, not because I feel the need to, but because I want to.

I have no right to speak about trans people and their issues and I won't. I don't know if Sharky is as bad as anon described, because I'm biased (this is my character after all) and not educated enough to acknowledge all the stereotypes associated with transmasculinity. I would really enjoy to hear opinions of my fellow transmen. To address some of my choices regarding his design and writing:

- He wears pink, because it's a quirky color that doesn't show up much in Fallout. Never meant to de-masculate him or to ridicule him. It's my favorite color, after red and brown, which are the primary colors of Wendy.

- He has a silly personality and a carefree attitude because 1) I'm projecting and 2) Wendy needed a character to balance out her awkward and moody autism

- He's a girl's boy and has wives. I didn't have the reason to make him not like girls. I wanted him to be an example of positive masculinity and solidarity. He is a straight dude who loves women. Not just sexually attracted to them or sees them as pets. They are his partners. With their own personalities and lives. Also I wanted to make a full circle 😭😭😭 I'm asexual and bi-romantic. I like boys, girls, all between and beyond boys and girls and don't really think sex is a big thing for me. Aletus likes boys, Sharky likes girls and Wendy likes when there's no sex. Pretty simple, I think.

Hope this explains why Sharky is the way he is. Would still really appreciate an opinion from a trans person. Or any kind of feedback really, because I've been feeling really fucking bad lately and can't objectively reflect on my choices. Also more questions about my OCs are very much welcome. There's a lot of stuff that made me feel like I've been misiforming people, including this anonymous message, and I will specify anything you want to know. Thank you all a lot.

[sams-venting]

I need to get this off my chest before I blow up at somebody 

But I know I did not just fucking watch someone try to say a fictional incest ship is worse than several real-life people getting groomed. Are you fucking serious. You are so lucky your ass was on anon motherfucker I would've hard blocked and reported your snide ass

I don't give a shit which 'side' you're on. I don't care what you think about whatever drama of the week is going on. I know my ass, who has actively had to report CSEM photos to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Cyber Tipline, did not just fucking watch you compare a disgusting ship, to actual teens being sexually coerced

I can't fucking believe you. We out here really prioritizing fictional characters over real breathing human beings

Get this, I am completely against pro shipping. I am just as repulsed by people looking at siblings or parents and deciding they should fuck for the silly dynamics of it as the next guy, it's fucking despicable. But I know I did not just your ass saying it's more harmful and creepy than your friend over there diddling real people almost half his age. Are you fcuking kidding me. 

And, before you start assuming shit, I again am on 'no side'. I don't give a fuck about the entire situation outside of people once again, conveniently dragging the victims of the gore anons into more bullshit. 

I am not blind to the fact none of this would've went down had a stalker not went digging for shit. No one would've known about the original doc a year ago had a suspected gore anon not stirred the pot after the callout post that got sent to the VAs. That was purposeful manipulation. No doubt about it. They wanted to pull up anything and everything on one of the few people that was trying to defend those that were getting harassed because of the big blogs. You'd have to be either really young, or really stupid to not've seen that bigger picture 

I also don't fucking trust ANYONE that makes a callout / awareness post for ANY REASON. I don't care who you are. As a quotev veteran of 7 years, someone who watched their friend get dogpiled on by big blogs 3 years ago in the Sonic fandom bc how dare a minor be uncomfortable with public porn of minor characters on tumblr, seen kids purposely catfish adults in the MHA quotev fandom so they could frame them for pedophilia any time their advances were put to a stop, the entire Revie and Jasper situation in the FNF vs Sonic.exe corner of twitter where one adult was partially framed once again by a kid that couldn't handle being told no, meanwhile the other had legit CP on their computer come to find out and was the Actual danger in the fandom 

So imagine my reaction of trying to escape to the fnafsb fandom and to tsams. Here 👏 we 👏 fucking 👏 go 👏 again. It's like everyone was born yesterday and baby spanking new to the Internet. How has No One learned the consequences of their actions. Adults included btw, just as childish if not worse than the teens that haven't learn basic internet etiquette. What the fuck is your excuse you're in your 20s, how is your media literacy This low mf. Smh 

All I can say is thank God I've decided to grow and mature as a person. And by that, coming to the conclusion that everything is ultimately ✨none of my fucking business✨ 

Bc guess what, it ain't. Just bc people airing out the dirty laundry does not mean I need to get involved and throw myself to the drama wolves. Sometimes, I don't need to have an opinion. Sometimes, if I do have an opinion, I know to keep it to myself unless I'm asked for it by my therapist or friends (and not anons guys I am begging you to not get baited by trolls please for the love of all things holy. Assume good faith in strangers, but never in anons. They use innocent questions all the time to pull a gotcha) 

Ultimately? All sides are guilty of some level of shit, end of discussion. 1) I already had beef with with the whole 'ur pd is showing' on a personal level. I will never forgive for that. In no scenario with strangers is that ever fucking okay. 2) I ain't gonna let the little fibs slide. I've seen the screenshots in the newest doc, I've compared the posts. A liar is a liar. 3) I personally don't like nor trust em. Didn't originally, definitely don't now. But again I acknowledge that's a personal decision. 4) I did not fucking like seeing people stalk the gore anon victims once again just so they can dig up scraps to support their persecution of their past abuser. 5) I am in no way denying the abuse they did infact go through. It was horrible to see, and I can only empathize with my own trauma from abusive relationships. 6) I am also however acknowledging that trying to drive them off of social media is not a realistic solution and is infact anti-recovery. So some of you are infact a hypocrite for wanting to abolish prisons and then pulling This kind of shit. Revenge is not justice. 7) if you wanna cut someone out of your life, you have to stop talking about them and 'looking out for their potential victims' or you're just going to feed the flames of drama. Be the bigger person and put down the stick if you're tired of the burn. This goes for everyone btw. 8) for the record I would not be Nearly as on the fence as I am rn if it weren't for [redacted] having learned this behavior from also being a victim of somebody else. It is incredibly common for those that have been groomed and/or abused in the past to then continue to seek out those same types of relationships. Especially if they never learned the why or how said relationships were fucked up in the first place. 

9) it is no one's place to decide if other people are allowed to give someone a second or third chance to be a better person. Idgaf if they're a victim or not. You do not have the right to dictate who talks to who. That is red flag toxic yaoi shit my dear friend. I, do not agree with a few of my mutuals chosing to befriend or forgive them. But I also know it is not my fucking place to tell them to do different. It is not my place to control who is with who for whatever reason. I don't like it, I don't agree with it, but I ain't gonna start shit talking left and right, throwing my opinions all about, and force them to do as I do. 

This is where the maturity clarity thing comes in btw. I don't like it. I have a bad feeling about it. I don't agree with these decisions my mutuals have made. But you know what? ✨It's none of my fucking business✨ and I mean it. That means, after I'm done venting here I'm dropping the topic. That means, just bc I don't like them that I'm gonna start bad mouthing to my mutuals about their friend. You don't go to your bestie and shit talk about their boyfriend right to them, that's messed up af. And this is no different 

Also, sidenote, fuck all y'all for using stranger's posts on the internet to drag someone else's name through the mud and reposting them to a doc without consent. Which Did happen to me with the big blogs vs confessions btw. I am still, very much not okay about that and I can't believe that's happening to other ppl too but for a different call-out. 

but fucking, trying to compare a fictional ship and saying it's worse than people who got groomed?

You are on razor thin fucking ice. Pull your head out of your ass, shut up, and sit the hell down before you spout any more stupid shit for the love of God. That about pisses me off more than anything right now I'm so livid. And I've been silently seething with rage since August so that's not to be taken lightly

----

[P.S. thank you to mod for being a place ppl can go to, idk what I would've done since I don't have therapy till next week. Sorry if I don't make any sense whatsoever btw, I am tired, it is 1 am, and my bpd ass is extremely emotional rn with no viable outlet except here. I am aware that reality is not what it seems past midnight as I am prone to delusion, so I'm genuinely not allowed to *talk* talk to ppl this late at night for everyone's well being, including myself. So again: thank you. Hope you're doing well, in spite of everything going on. Drinking water, petting cats, monching bread, etc, and letting the small things in life into your heart to spread wonder. Have a good night]

.

[beardedmrbean]

[Huey Zoomer Anon]

For a love of…okay I ain’t saying they might been connection with lion king and Kimba in the early stages. A lot of people don’t understand many Disney animated movie stories can be in gestation period for a VERY long time. Frozen is the most infamous as I heard WALT HIMSELF worked on a extremely early version of it

Okay BP was pulling from TLK(black writers ain’t slick) but the thing is

EVERY FUCKING FEDUAL BASED SOCIETY HAVE AT LEAST ONE STORY ABOUT A USURPER AND THE RIGHTFUL HIER HAVING TO RECLAIM HIS BIRTHRIGHT

Hmmm, Horus vs Set is a good example buuut Isis did screw over Ra to force him to make Osiris the pharaoh. There are versions of Set being one of Ra’s Lieutenants so he was probably pissed with how he did have a chance to be chosen. Court politics baby!

Also about pop culture because the lines post you reblog…the writers were PULLING from classical literature. IE I heard Pokemon Mewtoo is heavily inspired by the phantom of the opera

Like one of the reasons why a lot of modern media writers don’t work because “classic literature is too bigoted and problematic!”

Aaaaw you learn that everyone is a by product of their society? Because believe me, a lot of progressives shit is going to age baaad?

But like fantasy, because their idea of fantasy =shit the boomers popularize.

They don’t want to use the Yoruba, the Mali, or other African kingdoms and empire as inspiration for their fantasy worlds

Also like someone I said if a black person don’t like MCU Wakanda, a McDonald’s version of African cultures, a coon

It like me with my black chimerians, I’m using the Massachusetts Regiment, Harriett Tubman, George Carver, Bass Reeves, Tuskegee Airmen, and even some of my family members as inspirations

But I notice it like “it wasn’t in the American pop culture or us shitty education system, than those cultures are worthless!” It VERY common among Hollywood modern writers these days

Like shit y’all only had McDonald’s growing up? Assassin Creed is pop culture (so I’m wondering how the hell shadows is revisioning history…please go away, the Templar Cross in ac lore is the fucking Mark of Cain) but it explores eras and such (while milking some when needed) that Hollywood isn’t too interested like the 9th century Baghdad or the Holy Roman Empire Witch Hunts which the 2026 games AC Hexe is seemingly going to be

Sorry…I’m just shocked about the lack of media literacy we got these days…

Also about pop culture because the lines post you reblog…the writers were PULLING from classical literature. IE I heard Pokemon Mewtoo is heavily inspired by the phantom of the opera. Like one of the reasons why a lot of modern media writers don’t work because “classic literature is too bigoted and problematic!”

Clueless that I mentioned last night was a retelling of Emma by Jane Austin, which was undoubtedly inspired by something else.

They don’t want to use the Yoruba, the Mali, or other African kingdoms and empire as inspiration for their fantasy worlds

Problem with this, as I've noted before, is that most people can't really differentiate the various ethnic and cultural groups in Africa, hell they have trouble with it in their own country, massive minefield where getting things wrong can generate way more negative press than you want

But I notice it like “it wasn’t in the American pop culture or us shitty education system, than those cultures are worthless!” It VERY common among Hollywood modern writers these days

The market creates what the buyers buy need to figure out how to get people to buy the good stuff, which can be a challenge for sure.

Especially with people that seem to want to tell us what we're supposed to enjoy. Nice to see it when that fails like mindy's sad attempt at Scooby Doo without Scooby.

[rigginsstreet]

that anon i got this morning that was like "i saw you talking about how billy was stripped of personhood but so was will and HES NOT RACIST"

like.... first of all, more than one person can go through a fucked up situation. if you step outside or read the news you will see this

but more importantly, literally no will isnt lmfao

i dont even remember what post they were even talking about but if i had to guess, i was probably talking about how NARRATIVELY billy is robbed of being SEEN AS A PERSON, which is truth. hes not treated as a person. even before the possession he was treated as some ghoulish monster instead of the child he was in the situation he was dealing with

and this person deadass thought i was talking about billy being possessed, because they were like "will was possessed too!"

girl....learn some goddamn media literacy before talking to me. everyone FOUGHT FOR will. why? BECAUSE THEY VIEWED HIM AS A PERSON WHAT IS NOT CLICKING

like i cant tell if the stranger things fandom is really this stupid or theyre being intentionally dense because they know their reasons for hating billy/his fans are so fucking dumb

[danieldrivesfast]

i do not get why you're still repping daniel if this is how you feel. if he has faith in himself then why are you here raining on people's parades? it's fans like you who feed into the narratives his haters spread (which now has reached 'credible' journalists, like that knob will buxton). fuck you honestly.

And anon asks are off again because of dumb cunts like this. And the other ones in my inbox.

Unlike the "sources," I will openly say this is only my thoughts based on what actual people from the team have said and vibes. Do you know what those words mean? Or is the literacy crisis worse than I thought? The fact that multiple people are in my asks so fucking upset over the thoughts of an admitted nobody is wild. I didn't know I was so important. This is a good example of people getting whipped up because they have no idea what a valid source of information should be.

PETER BAYER has said that the Red Bull shareholders are putting pressure on the team to have certain drivers doing certain things in the VCARB seats. Not "a source." Not some website. The fucking CEO of the team, in a press conference.

DANIEL HIMSELF has said, and I quote, "Maybe I’m at a point where it’s just like, what will be will be" and “I’m just going to put everything I can on the table for effort and performance, and if that is good enough to secure me a seat, great. If not, then OK, I did everything I could.” Those are the words of a man who is working his ass off while knowing his work might not even matter because there are shareholders/non-racing people meddling in racing decisions. Is critical thinking and reading comprehension really this far gone that people aren't getting this?

"But this website shared the Checo's seat rumor!!!" How fucking new are some of you? ALL OF 2023 the rumor was that Daniel was taking Checo's seat at the next race. Guess what happened? Absolutely nothing. Because Checo has huge money sponsors tied to him being in that seat, and unless the terms have significantly changed in his new contract, that's what's going to keep him in that seat. (And as I said, Daniel's sponsors could be what keeps him in the VCARB since shareholders look at bottom line.) The Checo's seat rumors are the exact same BS as the "Lawson is taking Ricciardo's seat next race!" rumors. The media knows Daniel's name sparks a lot of emotions, and they're fucking playing you both ways.

I'm not some delusional fan who ignores reality - and there is a big gap between delusion and hoping for the best, which I always do. As it stands today, based on words from the team, existing contracts, and on-paper results for the shareholders, there is no seat in the Red Bull organization for Daniel next season. At what point did I ever say I want that to be the situation? Nowhere. Did I ever say that Daniel is "washed" or doesn't have the talent? No. In fact, I said the opposite. Did I even say it's a guaranteed thing that's going to happen? I did not.

But it's sure a lot easier to acknowledge the situation, hope that Daniel is okay and happy with whatever outcome happens, and keep fingers crossed that something works out while keeping reasonable expectations based in reality. I WANT to be wrong. I want the team to be all "lol gotcha!" and give him three more years. I want Horner to rip Checo out of his seat as he drives by and let Daniel leap into it and run off to win a bunch of races. Today, as it stands, based on what the team has said and done, that's unlikely. When you've been a fan this long, of any sport, you learn that the good guys don't always get their reward and the fairytale endings don't usually happen. It's a business. It's a hard lesson, I get it.

One day, the children will grow up and realize that acknowledging reality, being objective, and even calling out issues with your fave isn't "being a hater," it's maturity. "Being a hater" is calling Daniel old, washed, ugly, claiming he's a shit person, laughing when he has a poor result. It's not "Daniel is likely going to get forced out because of corporate politics, I don't want that to happen because he's still fast and I love him, but I hope he's okay if it does."

You're all so busy being enraged, you can't stop and process what people actually say. It's fucking sad.

So, in conclusion, fuck you, anons. You're just more illiterate, spineless pieces of shit to add to the pile. Grow up, or at least grow a backbone and put your name to the shit you talk about people. 🩷

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

Oh, I'm so sorry!

I'm not accusing Marinette of being an abuse apologist piece of shit.

I'm saying you are.

Terribly sorry the writers had Marinette's relationship with Adrien mirror Gabriel's in every way.

Not my fault you can't engage with that at all.

Did I say shit about her? DID I SAY SHIT ABOUT HER!?

No, I fucking didn't.

I said shit about you. Fucking coward who can't even go off anon.

Learn some media literacy and shut the fuck up about how much lying to a child abuse victim is so good for his girlfriend's character development.

[rosethreeart]

Accusing someone of pedophilia over drawings of teenagers is harmful and cruel. There is a difference between disliking someone and wanting to keep your distance and just lying. Thought crimes aren't real, drawings are not conscious beings and have no human rights. Porn and kink have been coping methods humans have used for all of our history and accusing people - most often than not survivors - of something as horrible as pedophilia based on what they get off to in the safety of fiction brings more harm to REAL PEOPLE than any drawing of an underage fake boy ever could. Hopefully one day you'll be able to see how stupid it is to treat drawings with more respect and humanity than real people.

Anon I dare you right now to go and tell your loved ones or employers you think it’s okay for people to get off to child porn. Go ahead. I’m waiting. :)

pedophilia isn’t a kink it’s a federal and moral crime :)

Also I’m not lying. neon has drawn copious amounts of art where England is underaged, extremely infantilized, and groomed by older and more mature looking men like his brother.

“ Thought crimes aren’t real “ only applies to people who experience things like intrusive thoughts, and as someone who HAS those i find your use of that as an excuse extremely vile. Intrusive thoughts are NOT things you want to engage with OR get off to, and if you do, there’s a bigger issue at hand here. Don’t use an actual mental issue to defend pedophilia. How Disgusting and (quite frankly) ableist of you .

If you think that art has no moral or political implications I BEG you to developed some media literacy skills and to learn how political cartoons and caracteres of people, especially people of color, can lead to bigotry, violence, and even death to / murder / genocide of those groups.

When people say that drawing art of underage characters doing “risqué” things/poses, it’s out of concern for real human people not the characters being drawn dumbass. Seeing art of this type of thing as a minor can make it seem like adults viewing you in romantic or sexual manners is normal, because you’ve been exposed to seeing it romanticized so often. This type of thing DOES do harm to people, and I say this as someone who WAS exposed to this type of normalization (especially in fandom spaces) as a really young teen.

I understand that people can use this thing as a coping skill but A) it’s an extremely harmful one (and you can’t tell me that those don’t exist) B) doesn’t excuse any damage or harm they can cause to people who get exposed to it C) doesn’t prevent them from becoming like the people who harmed them. I also beg you and anyone else who thinks that “coping” is an excuse to post child porn to question why someone who went through something so horrible would Ever want to post those things in places where people, who are just like their abusers/assaulters, can easily access and get off to that crap.

Also how DARE you assume that I am saying this out of distaste for this person rather than actual concern I have for actual people and victims.

“Fiction doesn’t affect reality” my fucking ass.

I hope your ignorance and refusal to see or understand this doesn’t bring harm to someone you know or love.

[enbysiriusblack]

( this isnt aimed at u btw i just need to rant )

FREE REMUS FROM THE DUMB ALLEGATIONSSSSSSSSSS like omg. he was a professor and a GOOD one at that!!!!!! the best DADA professor harry's year level ever head !!!!!!!!! he was literally a prefect as well like idk what to tell people who get mad when remus is portrayed as smart in fics like . he literally is canonically smart jdghkjdfghk and it just fits with his character to work tirelessly to build up his intelligence anyways because he knew there wouldn't be job opportunities for him anywhere else but academia (writing journal articles etc.) like omfg media literacy is so dead i hate marauders tiktok End Of Rant

you are very much right, anon.

i think a lot of what people get annoyed at (at least from what i see) is more when remus is smart, but sirius and james are dumbed down. like they were 2 of the smartest kids in their year without even trying but a lot of the fandom seems to keep making remus the smartest, and them sorta,, not. i haven't really seen anger that is actually towards remus being smart (maybe because im not on maraudertok? idk)

but yeah, remus is also extremely smart. (and peter tbh. like i could rant for hours anout how people dont seem to understand that peter was still so fucking smart and talented). he is The academic character. being smart is so important to him, he wants to do well in classes, to be a professor, and he thoroughly enjoys it.

so like,, i think i'd get mad at any of them being portrayed as dumb... they're literally some of the most talented wizards, they all do extremely impressive things.

remus is a bookish, academic, tweed wearing, briefcase owning, school loving, library dwelling person. he loves learning. he loves essays. he is smart.

smart marauders fr <33

[katyspersonal]

FUCKING THANK YOU jesus christ i was literally just thinking the other day "if i see one more 'bloodborne is about womanhood uwu' take i'm gonna rip my fucking hair out." altho i personally took it more as a social/class commentary than a statement about playing god so to speak, but i do think there are elements of all three- it's just that saying "it's about violence against women" is extremely reductive and ignores like...half of the game (and so does saying it's just a criticism of religion imo, which is also a take i've seen)

POV: You hoped for the better than puddle-deep takes on such an interesting game:

fdshsgdfds Honestly, I did want to add that themes of mob mentality and corruption of elitists and power of any kind are also very prevalent in the post :^) You think good, and fuckin huntsmen screeching at us for being a beast when they are themselves halfway transforming into one over this hostility, Beast Patients shown covering in fear before raging Old Hunters, Djura's character whole point, Suspicious Beggar's whole point... yeah, all of this is a brilliant commentary on humanity. There were plenty of reasons for the nerds of the setting to deem human nature "beastly idiocy" and wish to transcend (if not discard) it, after all! Soulsborne games love rubbing salt in the wound about how you're losing no matter what and you just choose to what extent you want to struggle for your own dignity as no matter what humanity has is imminently going corrupt. And attempts to pull the rest of the society with you towards "the better way" just will never, ever, EVER end well, no matter how sympathetic your motivations are!

Bloodborne is about several things at least, and whichever you see as a focal point, it should be something to prompt debates and more observations! I talk very confidently about my understanding of the story sometimes, but this search is never really over- like you can see even more questions prompted right here, right in this reply! But unfortunately some people don't like to have a discussion, they only like being "right" and act petty and codescending. Because their self-esteem as fans is supported not by their passion, but by their delusion of "being the only one with media literacy in the trying times of poor stupid uneducated fandom that is yet to learn what harm they're causing on society by not seeing a masterpiece as one-dimensional in the worst way possible". The 'Bloodborne is about horrors of misogyny uwu' squad is the most vicious, though, because THESE guys' attitude goes onto territory of personal attacks and stirring up petty dramas, if not gatekeeping the source material from ""wrong"" type of demographics. In a way.. THEY are those half-beast huntsmen screeching at anyone who isn't from their circle. xD

All in all, it is a matter of both 'arguements towards reducing the story to something this simple don't work' and 'there are other themes that are much more prevalent' 🤔 Also please don't rip your hair out anon dfshfhd

[magioftheseas]

(le same anon) yeah, despite how vocal fandoms have gotten about getting good at media literacy and also in understanding characters that aren't made to be super mega marketable and self-projecty, it's all white noise. ppl and fandoms still go for the cookie cutter marketable characters and tumblr still gets flooded with horrendous takes that you can't even fathom how someone could be so confidently incorrect in a public setting. You just know that these ppl will not interact with anything they don't find cute and act like i interacting solely with bottom of the barrel mainsteam media is all they need to be "smart".

Anyway, gracias for listening to my TED talk. lmao.

I feel like this issue has a lot of complicated factors to it, like people's need for validation and the clinging to the escapism of media. It's still exhausting as hell, but I know that critical analysis is actually a skill that you need to develop from like...a learning environment. Such as school. Or SparkNotes. Everyone just thinks they can do it because they have a lot of thoughts. It's also why writing is such an undervalued skill. Everyone thinks they can do it when it actually requires some amount of technical knowledge and education. I think people would really benefit from understanding that if they want to contribute to fan discussion. Like sure I'm not expecting college-level analysis from randos, but some people exercise so little skill that you question their basic sense of literacy. But that, like I said, is a complicated factor. There is also how people want to be palpable as if that'll make their lives easier. Spoilers: it sure fucking doesn't so just own your messes and trash. And look, that's going to be an ongoing struggle...one made far more difficult with the fucking bullshit discourse about which media is more "morally pure" or what the fuck ever that even means. Arghhhhhh. Again, it's complicated. There are a lot of complicated factors. People are fucking exhausting and the internet often encourages them to be shittier and stupider. We are living in miserable political turmoil. A lot has been fucking happening. It's a lot to deal with.

But also the backlash against SU was SO FUCKING OBVIOUSLY DEEPLY BIGOTED ON EVERY LEVEL. IN A LOT OF FUCKING WAYS from good ol' misogyny to transphobia to racism to ableism. There was even anti-semitism. People really fucking went disgustingly rabid at this funky lil diverse queer show. It was truly horrific and people really ought to be more disturbed.

[not-poignant]

hello pia! feel free to delete this if it’s too personal but i’d love to hear about your degree, what you learned from it, and how you think it has informed the way you write (whether it has or hasn’t!). i’m studying for a different degree, still humanities, but i’d love to hear about your degree since i.. well when i was in hs i didn’t know that it was an option. also if the above is too personal, please recommend some texts to learn abt mass comms .. thank you!

Hi anon,

I did my degree/s (Media Studies + Mass Communications majors, Scriptwriting (Drama, Film, Short Film) + Creative Writing (Poetry, Short Story, Literature, SFF) minors) back in 1999, so honestly, some of the information I learned then is out of date, and you're definitely better off looking at a university curriculum now for decent texts on mass communications. Even the Masters I did over 10 years ago, lol. I am an old.

You have to understand when I was in university for Mass Comm, the internet as we know it, and social media, literally didn't exist. And though 'Rupert Murdoch still owns a ton of Telcos' is still true, things like Wikipedia didn't exist, lol. The 'please don't use Wikipedia as a reference' didn't exist as a sentence, because Wikipedia just...didn't exist.

The media landscape has changed.

I've kept up with aspects of media studies that interest me (representations of mental health in the media, for example), but since the university texts still often cost hundreds of dollars, I can't get a ton of them every year and read them. You might be surprised what you can find in university bookstores in the clearance section, because books aren't in the curriculum anymore but are still likely to be 15 years more up-to-date than what I was taught with, lol.

I don't really know how to answer your specific questions though. There were a lot of different units within the degree, so I learned a lot from it, I don't know how to condense that down.

Probably the most important things I took with me are that media (fiction) does not have a 1:1 correlation with reality, and that we are not all mindless vessels with an inability to negotiate the media we watch (otherwise we'd buy everything in advertising ever), people who believe 'high art' is better than 'low art' are elitist ignorant dicks who don't actually understand art at all (if you've ever disparaged reality TV or soap operas, you are in this category, with soap operas giving you a side order of heavy misogyny to boot), media literacy is crucial and needs to be taught and prioritised on par (if not higher than) english fiction literacy (kids engage in more media than books, they should have more media literacy than book literacy), and that it's always important to know the politics and values of the people who own the news media you're watching (and that almost all news media is homogenised).

The biggest gift it gave me was to entirely remove my shame over watching or consuming any kind of media. I don't know what a guilty pleasure is, because guilty pleasures are a sign that you have some more work to do on unpacking your issues (often internalised misogyny believe it or not) over watching certain shows or listening to certain music etc. and finding joy in it. I feel NO shame in anything I watch, rewatch, love, get the most out of. Anon, I have done assignments on Big Brother and gotten high distinction/s for it. I've watched Misfits and gotten high distinction/s for it. I'm in the Golden Key Society because I watched a lot of Studio Ghibli and a lot of romcoms. Media studies does what creative writing doesn't - unpacks all your shame over enjoying different genres (sadly creative writing teaches a lot of that shame and can genre shame as well, it's extraordinarily outdated in many curriculums in that way).

It is so liberating to just watch whatever the fuck I want, and listen to whatever music I want, and not give a shit whoever knows I watch or listen to it. Like, I just... literally who cares. It's all art. It all means something and then I get to choose its further meaning. I get to decide what media I won't consume and why (usually around the politics and actions of the creator/s or actor/s, JKR can go to hell, or just not liking the show - I also feel no shame not liking things that everyone else likes), but it's never a choice based in shame or guilt. It is...truly, such a wonderful feeling when you realise there's literally no reason on this earth to have a guilty pleasure if you can think for yourself and understand why you've been conditioned to feel 'ashamed' for watching certain genres (surprise, it's usually racism or xenophobia or misogyny!)

Like, I did a unit called Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Cinema (Psych Psych and Cinema as we called it), which was a tremendous amount of fun and let me know that psychology is literally in everything but that representations of psychology in literally everything tends to be not great lmao. I did a unit called Postmodern Wetlands which literally analysed the relationship between swamp representation in mass media (particular horror films as relating to the monstrous feminine) and what that means for environmentalism which changed my entire relationship to my body and the environment permanently. Idk how to describe that unit to anyone who hasn't taken it, but it was literally life-changing, lol.

It definitely influences my writing style, partly because I write serials based off of like... scriptwriting techniques I was taught for television drama back then. In terms of how media studies influences it - well mass communications probably not so much, and then media studies a whole lot, lol. (Mass Comm =/= Media Studies. One focuses on telecommunications/telcos/ISP providers/internet cables even, politics and the vehicles with which we spread mass media, the second one focuses more on the analysis of the products/works/pieces of art that end up on that mass media. One is a lot more discussion of 'which television stations do China / Fairfax / Murdoch own' or 'how are those internet sea cables going and how's the terrorism around that?' vs. 'what messages does the TV on each of these stations send').

But media studies influences my writing a ton, but I couldn't tell you how anon, aside from those two units I specifically mention above lol. Oh and the fact that we had to take a mandatory philosophy unit called Critical Thinking, which should be mandatory for every degree. That definitely taught me how to think critically, which...a lot of people don't know how to do! I probably couldn't even tell you the rest of how it influenced me, if you asked me 2 decades ago when I was actively studying it. I'd like to think it just makes me a more nuanced writer, and absolutely Teflon when it comes to fanpol / antis / anti-shippers, lol. But who knows!

I still think looking at current university curriculums for Media Studies (also known as Media Analysis in some other countries) is probably the best place to find recs. But you can also check out the books on media in my Goodreads list and go by star rating.

[sapphire-weapon]

To add on to your last anon, I'm really surprised when people say that they perceived RE2make as romantic, I see it so much that I begin to question my own media literacy.

I went into RE with no ship bias, but I still saw RE2make Ada manipulating Leon. The kiss seemed like a very calculated and very clever way to rob him of his trust. She wasn't necessarily doing a horrible, awful thing but she needed the situation to work in her favour, that's why she did it. They weren't true romantic intentions, she just needed him to quiet down and allow her to carry out her work. Further leading to how hurt and betrayed he becomes. Why he has such massive trust issues in RE4make and is now being lead into an arc where he learns to make allies and trust his own instincts. It's how I've always perceived the story, but the shippers have me thinking I'm dumb sometimes! That Aeon is actually just two people that miraculously fall in love or whatever while completely ignoring eachother having conflicting morals, connections and end goals... despite the game never actually showing that at any point. We're supposed to swallow it down as a good story, just because somebody occasionally suggests it via a quick cameo.

Whenever I read fan sources, they just say things like "oh yeah, he completely ignores her crimes and involvement in bioterrorism, despite sniffling about how that very thing ruined his existence and kills innocents, it suggests that he's in love" and I find myself staring at me screen completely dumbfounded, wondering where on Earth that comes from and why anybody would find this inticing or believable?

Personally, I'd love a breakdown post of retconned Aeon so that I can certify that I'm not just filled with biased brainrot, because I still can't piece together how the ship became a thing at all, lol.

Also, quick apology that you have to constantly address it, it must be super annoying. You're just one of the seemingly few people that understands how characters and stories actually work outside of "well... this five minute scene vaguely suggested, so ignore all of the other canon present".

Chris and Piers legitimately have a more believable romantic connection and they're not remotely canon! Lmfao.

i mean the ship became a thing in OG because OGRE2 has actual declarations of love between leon and ada, and the kiss that they have is one that's actually meaningful and not manipulative. it was then compounded on by a softness to their dynamic in RE4 culminating in the "she's like a part of me i can't let go" line. damnation confirms that they fucked at some point off screen, and RE6 is literally a game about leon believing in and fighting for ada when literally no one else will.

it's all completely fucking garbage in its execution and it character assassinates the fuck out of leon and it turns ada into a pair of tits and legs with eyes, but. that's how the ship became a thing.

i was thinking of getting RE2make on PC, and if i do, then i'll do the breakdown post. because it's going to require a lot of screenshots from both games and comparing the scenes that made it into them vs their OG counterparts. it's gonna be a whole thing, man.