#like. it was a tangible reality!!!!!!!!!!!

[thekoldun]

Ok I feel I should lay out my perspective about the Harry Potter parody Dimension 20 season as someone who watched it: It is an unabashed, completely merciless critique not only of the franchise but of the inability of the culture to move on past HP as a concept. The plot of Misfits and Magic, the season in question, is about how the conception of magic has become so irrevocably tied to the shitty wizard school books that the merest idea that anyone could do magic and interact with magic completely fractures the manufactured structure sustaining the isolationist magical world. If it was just a generic wizard school then the majority of what it was actually trying to accomplish as a critique would not work, especially when wizard schools as a concept have become so completely dominated by HP's imagery. And even then the second season does exist at a distance from the imagery and ideas it was lampooning in the first season, because it at every point is is engaging with ideas of fantasy, of magic, of existence, that are new and fresh and weird and fun. One of the islands in the arcane archipelago they visit is made up of the remnants of the now broken wizard society who are cannibalizing their own magical relics in a desperate effort to hold onto the conception of the world as it used to be, destroying their identities in order to hold onto a perfect nostalgic reality that is being drip-fed them by an island of illusion in exchange for them destroying every bit of tangible magic they have. To tie it irrevocably to the shitty wizard books is to miss the point, where the whole season is about moving away from those concepts and towards a new understanding of magic and fantasy. Now, where I absolutely agree with the above: The degree to which trans women aren't represented on the platform is completely true. To a degree it seems like the company sees drag queens and trans women as essentially interchangeable to the degree that it'll not have all that many trans women at all involved in the process. Plus the cultural touchstones they tend to refer to even for queer media is mainly shit like Drag Race. What also sucks is how often shitty transphobic jokes slip in with the cast members seemingly completely unaware. During A Starstruck Odyssey Brennan straight up made a "guy pulls on a wig to pretend to be a woman in a women-dominated organization" joke and it was only Ally, a transmasc, who actually voiced any kind of protest at this. But then again, Brennan also helped create this absolutely beautiful narrative with Persephone Valentine about trans womanhood so it really demonstrates how much better things get when you actually involve trans women in the process. I'm absolutely not going for an aggressive defense of Dropout. In many ways it is completely tiring how it falls into the same-old pitfalls you see on far less progressive platforms, I just wanted to take the time to lay out how some of the particular criticisms seemed ill-aimed.

the problem is, i am actually the type of person who is totally primed to be all about Dropout and their various shows & content. and i always said i WOULD be into it if they actually started featuring trans women outside of One Off Tokenistic Appearances. and then… they just never stopped doing that, all whilst landing more TME queer people in recurring roles, platforming people who are transmisogynists, making transphobic jokes about transfem NPCs in d20 etc.

and so i never got into Dropout! it just really is a shame, considering how much of tabletop rpg culture & history was built off of the backs of trans women’s work. really disappointing for a group of people who keep jerking themselves off about how much they hate terfs, JK Rowling and Harry Potter, and how much they love uplifting marginalised voices, to not actually put any effort into representing some of the most marginalised voices around their table. 🤷‍♀️

[feminism-of-course]

Was going to reply to this post because I realised I was misunderstood, but OP turned off the reblogs (which they’re totally free to do). The topic is important to discuss, though, so I wanted to clear up what I meant. @vaspider you’re free to reply to this but no pressure, I just wanted to clear up some misunderstandings. I’m going to write with the assumption that anyone reading this has read the post and replies.

It’s not that only women experience misogyny, or that the type of sexism you experience is always defined by your actual gender or sex. There was a misunderstanding there. Sexism is shaped by what gender or sex you are perceived as. Generally that will align with your actual gender, since most people are cis and present as such. How nonbinary people, intersex people and other non-cis people experience sexism is shaped by how other people view them. A cis man could experience misogyny if he’s perceived as a cis woman, but when a boy is told he ”throws like a girl”, him being a boy as opposed to a girl has relevance.

The whole point of sexism is to uphold male-on-female domination, so it will work differently depending on who it’s targeted against. Defining misogyny as something that people perceived as men can experience obscures the reality that there is a purpose to misogyny. It’s not just hostility towards the feminine or that which is associated with women, it is tangible thought and action that seeks to subjugate female people. Sexism is the wider system of male-on-female domination; misogyny is the tool used to force the female portion of the population to fall in line with this system. Some forms, like restrictions in reproductive rights, target physical femaleness (and so may affect others than cis women), and others rely on socially perceived femalenes (and may affect transwomen, nonbinary people, genderfluid people, trans men, and many others).

Men absolutely do experience sexism, and this needs to be adressed. But we weaken our understanding of sexism as a wider societal system when we think misogyny is just denigration of the feminine or of women. When cis men are mocked for being feminine, it’s to pressure them into the male role in the sexist dynamic. To pressure them to dominate, to oppress, to subjugate. It is inherently different from what people who are or are perceived as female experience. And we can’t forget this, can’t deny this, because then we will be worse equipped to dismantle sexism and that helps no one.

[an-ivy-covered-summer]

and if i tell you i’m about to cry at my desk bc of a canceled concert then what 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[mumpsetc]

Stick in the Mud

[hekateinhell]

Remembering Anne Rice on the second anniversary of her death:

What does the word "vampire" mean to you? The vampire for me is a metaphor for the outsider, the outcast, the predator in all of us --- the lonely one, the heart and soul that feels immortal even when it knows that we all die. Vampire characters help me to talk about reality. They always have. When I'm with Lestat, and Armand and Louis, and Gabrielle, I'm in the real world. All colors blaze bright and music soars to Heaven and I'm not lonely for a while, I'm safe. And that's why I write about them and through them and with them.

X

[riddlerosehearts]

okay azul having a dream where he like... apparently just wasn't bullied and so he never became friends with floyd and jade, never went to NRC and eventually became super successful and beloved and popular in the coral sea? is fascinating to me because based on the previous dreams where for example lilia and idia's loved ones still suffered and kalim was still causing trouble for jamil, i didn't think the spell they're under would be able to completely erase traumatic experiences like that. jade even explains that he knows azul couldn't be who he is in reality without those experiences--and that's why they're all so shocked to see that he's a star athlete in his dream, because they had just been trying to guess what the azul they know would've been dreaming about! instead they got a version of azul that makes no sense! and i guess it's because as they explain in-game, azul just has such a strong imagination that he's able to carefully construct something like this. which is also fascinating to think about in the context of so many of the other dreamers who just couldn't imagine what their lives would be without the people and experiences that have shaped them, and had dreams that weren't nearly as far from reality than this or were off in very different ways. like vil is literally a mega famous and talented professional actor, and even he couldn't imagine his life without neige around but here we have azul dreaming about his entire life and personality being the complete opposite of who he really is... and not only that but he invited a group of land dwellers to a party just so he could humiliate them for no reason?? azul ashengrotto may be an asshole and yes he may have done terrible things to try and be better than his bullies--but that's the thing, the real azul does want to be undeniably better than them, not just stoop down to their level. so it's just really unsettling to see him like this.

[the-paris-of-people]

The past couple days online have been... interesting. I consider myself a leftist, think capitalism is corrupt, and think that it needs to be seriously reformed/overthrown. I admit that while I've thrown around phrases and terms like "burn it all down" and "the revolution needs to come" out of frustration without actually thinking about what a revolution entails: excellent organization, unity, and strategy to defeat the United States, the world's largest military superpower which has inflicted political and social destabilization across the majority of countries around the world. There also needs to be superb infrastructure and community to support the disabled, elderly, and poor populations who rely on government assistance and programs, healthcare, and accommodations while this so-called revolution rages on.

All I've received from the far leftist movement are lectures from condescending intellectuals who rattle off academic citations regarding ideological theory rather than practical, tangible steps to advocate for change in our local and regional communities. I have not seen one of them actually discuss conversations they've had with their friends, family, or Americans about what they want to see reflected for the future of the country. I have not seen one of them discussed how destructive, detrimental and traumatic a Trump presidency was for social prejudice and morale in the United States. I understand that for many marginalized groups they've been living in a facist state for centuries so the possibility Project 2025 doesn't galvanize them to see the two parties differently, but I don't think it is fair to white leftists falsely equivocate the election of both parties for the entire American population at all??? Or like at least specify the issues you're referring to in which you view both parties as the same????? Literally one TikTok creator who I used to follow talked about how true leftists are so much better than liberals because they aren't waiting for a presidential candidate to save the world NOW due to the accelerated apocalypse due to climate change but when asked how to change the world they suggest sharing ideas of your future utopia with other leftist groups. How the fuck is sitting around talking about living in a walkable community is great considered "saving the world now"? How are you going to dismantle and restructure American infrastructure to create these communities? How are you going to remove existing racial and social tensions to create a community where everyone lives happily side by side? Do people not consider reality at all?????

And is it not wrong for people to have a fucking sliver of optimism and hope at incremental change that's achieved within the corrupt bipartisan system of American politics, even if they know it's propaganda??? Is it wrong for people to have a singular fucking moment of relief in feeling like their values, beliefs, and lives will be better protected and THEY can advocate for change better??? Is it wrong when there's a couple months until the most pressing election in recent history for people to make the choice they feel will reduce the most amount of harm???

[lavellane]

who do i have to seduce at bioware to guarantee a moment in veilguard where lavellan gets to tell solas to grow up. just point me in their general direction and i'll take it from there

[shodansbabygirl]

Ohhh. I'm like crazy for real okay. Well that's not very good! I thought I just had a little psychosis and now I come to find I have a lot of very detail oriented psychosis!

[will80sbyers]

Something similar to the shadow theory is so real and "Vecna knows the future" because his conscience will be sent back during the last battle in s5 when he "dies" and he will become part of the shadow in the Dimension X (but the shadow was initially just a neutral alien with powers imo) that later on will possess himself and make him become Vecna guiding him to that without him knowing, so he split his conscience and Henry was fighting against a part of himself... Until he became "ONE" again.

It makes so much sense and it's like a time loop, it probably will get started by Will that's using his own powers after he gained them when Vecna put that vine in his throat in S1 changing his whole DNA + he's gonna use the light to do it because if it's true that the light works as a gate maybe this gate connects past and present easily... maybe that's why it allows people to talk through the dimensions 🤔

It would be a simple time loop & obviously inspired by Arrival too, perfect conclusion without all the mess of sorting out real time travel or many timelines stuff in one season

[tosahobi-if]

You want more character asks?? WELL IF YOU INSIST

Considering where the story is going to go: how much do the ROs believe in the supernatural?

they all do! the story itself is explicitly a fantasy, so the supernatural exists alongside the real world. things like fantastical creatures and demonic forces are a reality (the great calamity literally received its name because the dead rose from their graves HAHAHA)

[crescentfool]

the day when i can draw persona 3 stickers / sticker sheets it is OVER for all of you

[sierradeaton]

it's so sick that even in "liberal paradises" like cali it's so hard to even get rent control passed bc landlords lobbied against it or outlaw prison slavery which should be obvious morally.

[d3vilishd00dles]

if I shifted to i.e. a Marvel DR and practice witchcraft, would I be able to do like legit bippity bippity boo, sparkles and glitter out your hands, magical creatures and gods showing up in your bedroom type magic since that's a reality where that kinda magic exists?

[xannerz]

you ever see a callout post for a user you've never heard of, and so many of the listed issues consist of the most sensationalized 'ok, yes... and-?' bullet points so you just keep scrolling like

[psalmsofpsychosis]

whyyyyy is it that movie criticism is always written by deadbrain cynics who have not felt a single emotion in 65 years and almost exclusively write about movies and genres that they hate