#more white trash telling (mostly) poc how to feel!

[willowsallen]

let me just talk about it.

i ruled an poc rp only once and we had that family that should be indigenous, exclusively. it was a fantasy roleplay, we weren't using anything from cultures but creating some inspired on this show that we liked a lot. so we had this indigenous family, this spanish family, this brazilian family, this black families and this argentine family. we were hanging out. i'm from peru, lived in south africa for 6 years, peru for 8, brazil for 7 and argentina for 5. currently here now. all bc of my dad's job.

i'm not indigenous myself. my grandfather was mixed, half indigenous man, but we were never proud of it once my great-grandfather literally stole my great-grandmother from her family and tribe, so we were never connected about it. we never talked about it. it IS HARD.

but once i created this roleplay and i wanted to make sure that i was doing right at least roleplaying. and i reached natalie out for having some help, because i didn't want to offend anyone. and i think it was for the worse.

i was talking to natalie on anon and i felt like trash. i don't have any experiences as an indigenous, i do not consider myself indigenous once my family was mostly made by white people and this died with my grandfather and his lands, because i don't feel like I have priority on this, so i wanted to make sure that I was doing it right.

natalie really did made me feel guilty for not "rescuing" my ancestors or my story, but how could i if the first indigenous was kidnapped and the only person that could talk to me about it died when i was 12??? and then, when i took bravery to talk about it and explain the indigenous characters we had this massive anon hate for not being truly indigenous. i wasn't understanding if i was supposed to put this diversity inspired on a tv show, or if i shouldn't because I'm not indigenous???? what was more offensive???? IT SHOULDN'T BE THAT PERSONAL. another famous gifmaker was also shading me but I'm not bringing this up. they were friend if I'm correct.

the rp was closed before we could even open. and i played this indigenous fc for a CANON character and i gave me so much anxiety that i literally stopped roleplaying for months. and i hated indigenousrph, i hate everything you were creating. I do apologize for that, I am really sorry. but I feel, for real, that natalie was a great piece for this massive hate and avoiding of indigenous faces and games: we were afraid and panicking all the time.

i don't know if this is making any sense I'm nervous and terrifying of being recognized. I just want to finally talk about how I feel. I'm sorry for causing this trouble, and I'm sorry for not being aware of my ancestors. but honestly I shouldn't be sorry. this is shit.

i want to start this off by saying that i understand the reasoning why you don't consider yourself indigenous, but if that's ever something you wanted to explore or learn more about, please know you have every right to do so. before i actively started reconnecting, i would only ever say i was native if i was specifically asked, but usually i would tell everybody i was irish and italian. it was something only mentioned every now and then in my family. (granted, my grandpa's house was decked out in dreamcatchers, photos, plaques, etc. but we just didn't actively talk about it!) but when i decided to make the leap into simply learning more about where i came from, my mindset on it switched. that's just MY experience, though. i wanted to open that up for you if that was ever something that crossed your mind! you have every right to do what's best for you, of course. now onto the natalie shit. simply... fuck her. such an ugly soul, like truly horrible. i apologize that she put you through that and ever made you feel that bad. especially to the point of not even wanting to write anymore. this is just a note for ANYBODY in the rpc but: play indigenous muses! it's nothing to be scared about (now)! all you have to do is not give them some tigerlily greywolf name, and not give them all the indigenous stereotypes (lives on a poor rez, gambles, drinks, etc.) and you're good! same with any other ethnicity, you just... PLAY THEM. but back to you - thank you for sending this in. i hope saying this give you a little bit of comfort, and heals you! nothing was your fault, your family's history is not something you are to blame for? what she did was not fair to you or to other people trying to learn more and ensure they're being respectful.

[vaveyard]

Centering yourself in the conversation as in painting every ask calling you out for racist, ableist, queerphobic or simply bad writing or questionable behavior towards fans as "people hate on me for attention", while at the same time answering those asks with snark/memes and letting your fans make fun of the POC and Queer people that wrote them. You are not a martyr. You are a white liberal author who supports and profits off a racist and queerphobic system. No one forced you to sign those contracts, or to not share the money with other, struggling authors. Some authors even donate their advance or royalties to greater causes. And they're not even rich, while you are. At least admit that you don't care about struggling authors, as long as you get to be a millionaire for writing mediocre books.

There's a difference between "accepting support for my writing" and "becoming rich while the authors I pretend to care about starve". You're just being obtuse on purpose.

Authors like Jemisin could write Red Queen or Realm Breaker in their sleep and delete it all as trash when they wake up. Yet you think you deserve all the money you make, while they have to fight for every dollar?

#PublishingPaidMe really taught you people nothing. The industry chooses a mediocre, white author to splurge on and hype, while better authors are left on their own. Every contract authors like you sign, INEVITABLY means authors of color, Queer, disabled, marginalized in any way getting close to nothing.

Just one hour ago I saw a comment on YT about BookTok saying that YA has become "the fast food of literature" and I can't help but agree. The same ingredients over and over, the same recipes, the same packaging. And the same white authors producing them, for a mostly white audience that will hype them on social media.

Creativity and skill have become the exception, the outsiders.

It's perfectly within your rights to only care about yourself, but at least be honest about it and don't pretend to care about and speak for oppressed authors.

Before you and your fans have an aneurysm, yes, I am the same person behind the previous ask about centering yourself (quite obviously).

That doesn't mean I'm the only person criticizing you.

Am I also the anon who sent the selection/hg ask that I just saw? What does my syntax say? 🙄

You're also implying that all the POC criticizing you about the ethnicity issue (I don't know how else to call it) have the same syntax 🙃 which is just great...

Again, your issue is with the publishing system, it is not with me. And I must point out that your message is really undercut when you lead with your problem regarding my...existence as a published author. I'm not sure how else to put it. But saying that I should refuse contracts or donate the money I make to support my family and our future really clouds any other valid points. I'm not really sure what you want me to do? Go back in time and tell 22 year-old Victoria to turn down the only publishing deal she was offered? Tell HarperCollins, no, don't make my debut novel a lead title, a thing I didn't know existed at the time? To turn down contracts now, when I don't have a guarantee of selling another book (because there are really no guarantees, and I'm a terribly superstitious person).

You are, of course, welcome to tell me I don't deserve my job, that I should not be a published author, and that I should not be able to continue pursuing my passion and what feels like the only thing I'm meant to do on this planet. That's your opinion to hold and voice. And I agree, NK Jemisin (and a huge amount of other writers) is far better at writing books than I am.

We absolutely must talk about privilege in publishing. I support that conversation, and I will continue having that conversation. There are...a shocking amount of authors who come from what I see as immense privilege, who do not talk about it at all. Far more than most realize. And it is a constant frustration of mine. And we absolutely must continue pushing for change in the publishing industry, support marginalized authors, and bring more diverse voices into what is an extremely white industry on the publisher side.

Your dislike of me (and my writing) has been made immensely clear. That's fine. That's part of the job. But I don't know what this is doing to advance any of the valid issues, or allow for meaningful discussion. When you start out by saying "you shouldn't have your job because you don't deserve it", it presents the entire message in a less than productive light.

At the end of the day, you're right. I don't have to answer anything. I don't have to post anything. Many, many people have told me to shut the inbox down again. But I find this useful, for myself to read and respond to, for followers to see, and for you to feel heard. Does it paint me in a good light? Probably not. I'm guessing this is a net negative for me. If I wanted to to appear perfect, I certainly wouldn't respond to anything that shows me as anything less than. But that isn't truthful or realistic. So here I am, for however long.

Once more, I ask what it is you realistically want from me? From my perspective, it seems you want me to stop working, or at least stop existing in your space. That just isn't something I can do, and I can't control what spaces you exist in either.

(I should also point out I responded to one long anon message about how I shouldn't tell people my background with a gif/"meme", after responding to that same message many, many times with no productive discussion, that person clearly does not want to listen to any response from me and so I do not understand continuing to send me messages - if you want to run with that as me responding to multiple asks with memes and snark, fine, it's just not accurate to the situation, and again, doesn't help your cause to obfuscate what is clearly shown on my page)

[darrowsrising]

About Darrow/Red Rising antis:

I always presume people have seen my stances on Red Rising, but because there are a lot of new faces, I decided that it is better to explain myself.

In my previous post, I wrote a scanthing remark about Darrow antis without much else, aside from a parting of ways in case they wanted to send hate or vagueblog about me as they did in the past. To give a bit of context, I have found in the tag anti-Darrow content, you have probably seen it too, I won't get into details.

Just wanted to get this out there (please read if you are interested to see why I have a problem with Darrow/RedRising antis ):

If you don't read, I want to wish you as well everything that is good! Howl on!

I have nothing against people disliking this series for any reason at all from not vibing with it to feeling hurt by the representation. Never had. I love it, adore it and consider it one of the best series ever, but I am not blind or stupid or ignorant to the fact that it has problems and I have been vocal about it in the past (far past and recent past alike). Pierce Brown has improved his racial representation with every book, yet he should and can do more and I have spoken about this and reblogged posts of poc readers wanting to see more. He has also made gay burial in his latest book, there is no denying that, on the contrary there have been discussions around this subject and I have reblogged them, especially because lgbtqia people gave opinions on that and they expressed everything better than I ever could. As for Darrow himself, he has sexist views and grows out of them as he progresses in the first book and I have never denied that either. It's a matter of world-building - Reds are manipulated by the patriarchal nature of their Society and Darrow is not immune to propaganda. He doesn't disrespect women, but he has sexist conception about them and about the world itself. Again, I won't go into details about it, I have spoken about it before. Thing is, the idea that Darrow being like this through 5 books, or that the author is like that because Darrow is...not ok.

Ok, now that I have cleared the air, here's what my problem/experience with Darrow antis is:

They are just misinterpreting Darrow. This is not a case of 'reading him differently', it's blatantly labelling him as a something he isn't or labelling Pierce as something he isn't because of Darrow or because he writes problematic characters.

They are cross-tagging - deliberately spewing hate in the tags under the guise of "criticism", but they don't want an open conversation about it, they just want to hate on Red RIsing and accept no other opinions, but their own, because we are some brainwashed sheep that will just excuse or deny problematic stuff. Some even go in the tags with hate and tell fans to not interact.

If you tell them that what they just said exists in text...doesn't, they just invented it to hate on the book, because of some misguided sense of justice, they vagueblog about you.

They are part of the squad that reads mostly YA and have YA checklists of things a book should be, hence why their criticism of most books is TRASHFIRE, because the checks are nor met. Some are warranted, I agree, but if you read N.K.Jemisin, you'd understand clearly the difference - what the author wrote about (sexual violence, corrupt societies with some kind of class discrimination that echoes racism, slavery and other atrocious things) is not what the author believes in or promotes as good. They do not understand that and that is a problem.

Pierce Brown is actually trying to highlight how downright horrible the Society and the pyramid system is and HIGHLIGHT that a human being is a human being regardless or genes. The fact that they are trying to spin it into something it isn't just to hate on it out of some misguided, self-rightous anger, is simply not fair and I refuse to stand for it.

Just because I love and adore a series and I consider it great, doesn't mean I expect the same of you. I recognize the problems it has and I do love it and I demand better of Pierce at the same time. It's not mutually exclusive. I don't insist you do the same, so don't insist I hate it or call me trash if I don't. I am critical of this series, but I also love to speak about the parts that I love, which are many. I am not critical every 5 minutes, so don't call me trash for it.

Also, I would truly take the many, many so called criticisms more seriously if it didn't come from misinterpretation - not 'reading it differently', blatant misinterpretation where you can actually tell someone read a white girl 'critique' and hate-read the books with the intent to hate on them without checking for bias - confusing the world-building with the author's beliefs, even though it's a freaking dystopia.

Basically, their attitude helps absolutely no one, not the young, impressionable readers they want to 'help be aware of what they read', not the other authors, not the author himself, not the fans, not the marginalized people they are claiming to speak in the name of or about, it just makes them feel better to be right and when they aren't, they act as if they've been attacked.

I am not saying all antis are the same, some just disliked the book and the critics are valid, they don't do any of the above. It's just that this was my experience with them and I think some of my mutuals know what I am talking about. I don't want anyone to attack anyone, I don't want to point fingers at anyone in particular, I just wanted to explain why I was downright rude in my previous post. I am not claiming to be always right about Red Rising, I always point out that my takes are mine, as close as I can get them to the intent. I am not claimimg any authority over how to interpret the books, how to understand them or how you should feel about them. I have never done that, I will never do it or if I do, point it out and I will rectify and apologize!

That all being said, I wish you everything that is good and use the block button on antis, it's great!

Howl on!

[buckevantommy]

'(Un)Happiest Season' review

Simply put, it wasn't enjoyable as a romance or a comedy or a Christmas flick. It failed on many fronts, but this reviewer from Salon.com puts the thing into words for Happiest Season's main failings: 

What's bad: There were two main criticisms of "Happiest Season." The first being: Can't LGBTQ audiences have a holiday movie where the main plot isn't about mining the anxiety and trauma associated with coming out, being closeted and casual homophobia? Then there's the fact that Harper really is just kind of the worst. After pushing Abby back in the closet, Harper ditches her in a town where she doesn't know anyone to go drink with her ex-boyfriend until two in the morning, then proceeds to call Abby "suffocating" when called on it. It's a pattern of s**ty behavior that is pervasive and present throughout the movie, so her redemption arc doesn't feel super genuine. 

Why can't we have main queer characters in Christmas movies without their presence being all about their queerness? We want fluffy festiveness, dammit! They could've made Harper less selfish and more attentive while still playing into the *I'm not out yet Because Reasons so we need to hide our gay relationship* trope, but they didn't. Who knows why, but what a waste. 🎄👩‍❤️‍👩☃️

^ Look at that trailer and tell me you don't expect Misunderstandings with fun and tropey antics + Domestic Christmas Shenanigans + Comfort for Hurt! You will be sorely disappointed. 😞 

NOTE: The flick does have a few good moments. And it's probably worth the watch just to see what's missing/mishandled when it comes to queer characters and queer romances in mainstream movies. 

But it's not really fun or funny or heart-warming - where are the snowball fights? Insightful conversations? Christmas elements like eggnog/spiced wine, candycanes, mistletoe? Where are the many colourful side characters and the hungover brunches? We get one scene of ice-skating for a few minutes and it's wasted on sibling rivalry bs rather than, say.. Abby and Harper skating together but not being aloud to touch—omg the tension!! 😍 

There's just not enough comfort for the hurt Abby (Kstew) goes through; the film wholly lacks those warm-n-fuzzy Christmas vibes; there's just way more wrong with it than is right with it - which sucks, because this had the potential to be such a great movie if only Harper was written as less ignorant/selfish and we'd gotten more enjoyable family interactions and more festive fun - like a celebration in town. Instead we get a few limited shots of the adorable town, a crappy bar, and an OTT fancy Christmas party for performative rich white folk on a career path for power and "perfection" (ie. wholesome family values). 

The story they went with was definitely better suited for a dramatic film, so in a romcom setting it really didn't work. Plus the side-characters were flat; we needed more depth from the supporting characters, more meaningful interactions. 

^ Look at those intro credits!! Look at all the domestic happy moments and tell me you don't want to see a movie filled with such fluffy festive goodness!! Well, if you don't want to see such moments, don't worry because you won't. I naturally thought we were going to get this kind of romantic-and-non-romantic happiness dispersed throughout the entire film, but no. Not a one. There's 5 minutes of Happy Couple at the start, and that's it 📸☹️ (unless you count a photo collage of the happy ending and year that follows stuffed into the end credits). 

BTW: That intro song is the most Christmasy song in the whole movie. The soundtrack features modern pop songs which 1) don't help set the festive vibe and 2) are really fucking annoying; the song choices are grating, not pleasant, not enjoyable, and they overpower the scenes with a whole lotta noise. I really wish we'd gotten more tunes like the one above. 🎶 

About the image below—Abby is actually miserable the entire time, getting worse by the day, barely a smile seen on her.. while Harper is the one schmoozing her family and contacts with teeth bared, so.. this image isn't what you'll get, just fyi:

(also: the only POC actors they had were the perfectionist-stone-faced-bitch's husband and his girlfriend - wife + hubby being secretly separated.) 

The things that the Salon reviewer liked are the same things I did (see below), but imho even those elements weren't enough to save this film from being: 

an infuriating 102 minute-comedy of errors buoyed by a healthy dose of gaslighting 

More cons of the flick are pointed out by denofgeek.com: 

Some of its issues come from the structure of the film, which shoehorns very real queer struggles into wacky rom-com tropes too fluffy to contain the stakes at hand. Meanwhile the choice to have one half of the lead couple be so aggressively and repeatedly cruel—while her high school ex Riley, played by the ever-perfect Aubrey Plaza was standing right there having all the chemistry in the world with the other romantic lead—was a fatal one.

It really was a dramatic plot idea crammed into a fluffy narrative. You can see the conflicting genres fighting to stay alive and they both die a slow, agonisingly dull death throughout the film. The whole *Abby being converted to loving Christmas by Harper inviting her to spend the holidays with her family* thing, only to have Harper force their relationship + Abby into the closet. Straight conversion much? I'm 100% sick of heteronormative bs in my queer Christmas films. 

For the most part, when you're not feeling for Abby's harsh treatment by her would-be fiance and everyone but Riley ignoring her completely, you will be bored af from the lack of festive cheer - not just twinkle lights and boisterous seasonal music, but those good ol' homey family Christmas vibes. With the Harper house + family members, everything's a performance, so that lack of sincerity and warmth makes for a depressing viewing experience: 

^ Jane (one of Harper's 2 sisters) is the only character allowed to be consistently genuine in the narrative (aside from John, but he's restricted mostly to phonecalls, and Riley - but even she's keeping Harper's secrets). Jane is the only character who is naturally vibrant and reminds us of some of the reasons we get excited about Christmas movies: to feel joy and to enjoy the company around us during the holiday season! 🎄☃️🥳 But rather than give us a fun day out with Jane + Abby, we get Abby + the second sister (i don't even remember her name, just BitchFace) which leads to more bad treatment of Abby - this time by two spoiled af no-smile rich kids. *le sigh* Jane carries the spark of honest joy for the entire Harper clan and that is TOO MUCH to expect of one character, let alone a side-character. 😪 

There are so many ways the story could've been tweaked to make more sense and be somewhat enjoyable, including: 

The orphan!Abby thing is just bad. Rather than give Abby a voice, chances to let her personality shine, almost everyone interacts with her to merely briefly express their condolences for her long-dead parents 🙄 

Abby is a pet-minder, ie. she's an animal lover, yet at no point do we see her interact with animals! Not a dog or cat or hamster, no reindeer at the petting zoo, nothing. 🐕🐈🦎🦜🐠

Riley + Abby getting together (even just a kiss) 👄 

Abby + Harper separating so Harper can get her shit together - and then we get several flashforward shots of them separately living their lives (Harper especially), and then meeting back up again - maybe the next holiday season, after some much-needed time apart 🏃‍♀️🤸‍♀️ 

side characters who engage with Abby in a sincere, meaningful way instead of ignoring her (again, we got Riley, but she was outside of the family dynamic) 😊 

MORE FESTIVE CHEER! where were all the staple Christmassy passtimes, the smile-inducing season-specific experiences??? 🎉 

More from denofgeek: 

Where the script gets into trouble is that it doesn’t distinguish between Harper being closeted and her poor treatment of Abby. The two are separate issues and treating them as one does no favors to Harper, nor others struggling with the closet. As Dan Levy’s beautiful monologue late in the movie alludes to, the closet is a safety mechanism—but it’s not a free pass to treat people like garbage. [...] 😟🏳️‍🌈

Even a brief conversation teasing out that being in the closet doesn’t justify how Harper acted, and that plenty of people in the closet don’t treat others like trash, would have been important. Instead once Harper is out (which the movie takes pains to make clear only happened because Harper’s sister Sloane outed her), and a gesture so small it could never credibly be called grand is made, all bad behavior is washed away. [...] 😤🙅‍♀️ 

The jarring underlying issue is that 'Happiest Season' attempts to apply the standard rom-com and made-for-TV-holiday-movie tropes to queer life. So Abby having to go back into the closet isn’t framed as a painful regression or being forced to deny an essential part of herself, but rather a fun twist, in the vein of “but the guy she insulted on the plane is the owner of the ornament factory she has to impress to win the Christmas contest!”🚪😒 

All of Harper’s behavior adds up to making her feel like something the audience wants Abby to be free of, not someone Abby should be fighting for. Once Riley tells Abby about Harper’s cruelty in high school, where Harper outed Riley and mocked her rather than standing up for her or finding an excuse that protected them both, it becomes incredibly difficult to root for the lead couple to get back together, or for Harper at all. 👏💃 

With this information, Harper’s other transgressions go from frustrating to part of a larger pattern. Sadly, it’s a pattern Harper repeats when her sister outs her and she throws Abby under the (lesbian) bus. 🤬 

FAVE THINGS: 

all interactions between John (Dan Levy) + Abby (he's witty, honest, and 100% the most entertaining element of the entire film; i wish we'd gotten more of him) 😆 

Riley (Aubrey Plaza, Harper's ex) + Abby's scenes together because CHEMISTRY, both between the characters and the actors 👩‍❤️‍👩

Notable between Abby + Riley scenes include 3 instances of Riley comforting Abby's hurt: outside at the fancy party (Abby feeling excluded/ignored/not worth anyone's time due to the way they treat her even though they don't know she's gay), at a gay bar in town (sandwiched by scenes where Abby's made to feel like crap by Harper), and at the fancy home Christmas party where Riley gets Abby something stronger to drink after hearing Abby was going to propose to Harper (but it's been a helluva shitty week and those plans are dead) 👭 

Every scene with Riley was blessed relief from the hurt and discomfort and boredom of the rest of the time with Harper's family. 🤩 

Sister Jane, for being a genuinely fun character 🤗 who was written starkly different to her family and treated somewhat like an outcast 

Aubrey + Kstew killin it in various pantsuits 👀 

In contrast, Riley connects Abby to queerness, bringing her to an LGBTQ bar to decompress and enjoy a Christmas-themed drag performance. It’s the most relaxed and comfortable Abby is on screen since the opening scenes, a chance to glimpse Abby’s authentic self before Harper summons her back to heterosexuality, and where she once again ignores and disappoints her. Riley actually talks to Abby at the various holiday parties whereas Harper keeps leaving her to please her family, especially her father. It’s not hard for the natural chemistry between Plaza and Stewart to take over

I wouldn't watch this film again. For a hopeful Christmasy love story I'd just watch all Abby + Riley's scenes: 

In closing, here's a batshit article title from observer.com that just makes you go, huh? 🧐:

‘Happiest Season’ Isn’t Happy, But That Doesn’t Make It a Bad Rom-Com

Um.. yes, yes it does. 

Rom-Coms are supposed to be fun, light-hearted stories about love even when the plot deals with lying - The Proposal, Sweet Home Alabama - so a movie that leaves you hurting more than comforted in sympathy with one of the main characters because the (apparent) love of their life is treating them like shit, then it doesn't deserve to be in the genre of Rom-Com. 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨💞🎬

In summary, Abby and Harper got 5 minutes of happiness in the beginning, and an eventual happy ending after a super rocky middle. The journey was painful and unenjoyable, and it made their happy ending unbelievable and, for Harper, undeserved because of her behaviour through 90% of the story. 

In short: it was not, in fact, the happiest season. 😕👎

[starsbythepocketful13]

Dash and Lily ep. 5 thoughts aka my longest one yet

• Netflix skipped right from the end of 3 to 5 and I didn’t even notice

• what is this and why is it Japanese

• ngl watching the mochi-making is relaxing

• also I really love how this show could have just been about a white girl and a white dude having a Christmas romance while interacting with their mostly white friends and family, but they said no, we’re going to include POC. Way more reflective of modern day America and I am here for that.

• DIVERSITY ❤️

• I legit love this dare. Mochi making. I wish I could do this.

• both of these dares look hella fun

• the audacity of this Japanese granny throwing out his attempt at mochi (but is she wrong, nope LOL TRASH)

• “he looks rude.” Very on the nose.

• last time I’ll say it: I WOULD LOVE for someone to take me on a date featuring these dares

• Lily, breaking shit is fun. You should try it.

• Mori-Novak? I’m realizing I don’t actually know either of their last names. Literally the only last name I know is THIBAUD.

• actually yeah you do sound like a stalker.

• Edgar, there are nicer things (or just things) to say other than “you’re weird” and variations thereupon

• this man (boy, I guess) seems very patronizing

• don’t ever say the word bourgeoisie again.

• I wanna say that it’s cute that he still has her bracelet but he still seems like a douche and they are n o t endgame

• NYC you are gorgeous at Christmas. God, I miss pre-pandemic life

• I feel bad for thirsting after Dash a bit since he’s technically a teenager in the show

• awkward......could have been worse tho. Legit thought he was naked under the robe.

• bReAkFaSt At TiFfAnY’s

• someone tell him to put on another cable knit sweater for dinner

• lowkey love the phrase “eternally fraught”

• STOP RIPPING OUT PAGES LOL

• stop fighting Benny and Langston it’s making me sad

• geez this apartment is b e a u t i f u l. Lily and Langston’s apartment: goals.

• LANGSTON SHUT UP.

• YEAH YOU SHOULD BE SORRY.

• bro your dad is just old you. Exactly the same. Good on him for landing the hot microbiologist tho.

• so that’s who he called for dinner

• um because books are great, dad

• “sometimes the best answer to a problem makes itself heard, but only if your mind is quiet” wise words lily

• aww Lily got to him. Made him soft ❤️

• I want that green birdcage

• POOR INNOCENT SNOWMEN but also I guess she heard my suggestion 😂

• oh I guess it’s time for Edgar to get his

• kinda feel bad for him. He was a stupid kid and now he’s getting yelled at for being a stupid kid haha

• we were all stupid kids once

• i’m sorry, but the only one who actually looks (kind of) like a high schooler in this show is Lily.

• oh of course she’s moving back

• MALLOY? These names.

• OH SHIT OH SHIT THIS IS GONNA BE CRAZY. wait never mind they’re definitely going to meet next episode, NOT this one. MB.

•I’m excited and nervous as hell bc the book meeting was TRAGIC for Lily



[lucidpantone]

Hey, lucid! Regarding your commentary on the kynicole’s YouTube video comments.

I have to say that after the massive car crush season 4 was (I am literally getting angry at Wtfock as I am typing this) there is at least one thing that i am glad for and it is the conversations that have happened and still happening regarding representation in the media, accountability of creators to the audience and also accountability of the audience to the pieces of media they choose to consume.

There was a lot of animosity in the way the fandom treated each other during that time and that was painful to see but saying that I am glad that finally voices that were shut down before, were heard. People came forward and spoke about the pain that comes with creation of such insulting content. And those voices reached the ears of white male board members who are used to make decisions behind closed doors with money as their only motivator. And they didn’t achieve their goal. And I glad for that. Because they didn’t get the level of financial gain they were expecting and they were forced to listen.

I only wish that the fandom didn’t start expressing that aggression towards each other but rather gather that energy and target the advertisers which are the soft spot of Wtfock. I wondered why no one ever reached out to them. Why no one just said hey what you are endorsing is creating a massive uproar and it hurts people. If there is a lesson for us as a fandom to learn is next time just reach the sponsors. I have been in a fandom before where that really worked. If you wanna make a production company pay for their insulting content hit them where it hurts and stop making the fandom a lions’ den where people are afraid to express opinions.

The fandom has to be a safe space where even wrong opinions are met with educational response and not a stone attack. Because no nothing changes with shooting. It is not about people who already know the truth to just discuss between each other, it is about those people educating, opening the eyes to the ones that choose or are too previleged to see.

Take the movie Fight Club for example. The solution to fighting an oppressive situations is not coming by becoming a rebellious aggressor who fights just for the sake of fighting.

Thoughts after the cut

Thanks for this anon it really hit home because it took me back to the beginning of s4. I think its been a long enough time where I feel I can talk about this and be frank. I think s4 really exposed some of the ugly truths that were happening in the wtFOCK fandom. I think before s4 they were definitely cliques. I remember a period of time where those quizzes would go around and it was the same top group of blogs that were in on the joke. That never really happens now and a lot of those people left the fandom. Those cliques felt very evident going into filming s4 and I blame wtfock for this.  Because most people that extra-d weren't going into filming thinking they would have to harbor this secret for wtfock that Moyo had been passed up for Kato. It also created this extremely weird vibe where all these extras that were mostly young white women stepped in to defend wtfock and their decision to cast Romi without actually knowing what the season would be about.I kinda of get it to ya know? Imagine you have a good friend and they make a questionable decision you tell your friend what you think but you also wish them well and hope for the best. So I get why so many mostly young white women felt the need to defend wtFOCK but there is defending a casting decision and asking your mutuals to give it a shot and then there is silencing the effected class of people that were offended. I also saw a lot of condescending attitudes concerning people that brought up why utilizing Kato as a vehicle to tell a story about racism was deeply tone deaf and in the current climate and that it felt like a slap in the face. Instead of listening people fought back saying “you can be white and still experience aspects of racism”. Yea we get that but that's not what people were saying. Perfect example Ava/Mailin storyline happening in Druck now.People were saying using whiteness as a vehicle to explore a topic that is deeply penetrating society and a campaign for change did not need “whiteness” to validate it. It was a story that should have been told via the eyes of a party member of the effected class. PERIOD. I just think people, particularly those who extra-d and hard core stans couldn't imagine that their fav remake would create something like this..... I really do believe they believe they thought that wtfock had a better moral compass then they actually did and so they followed them blindly down the path of self destruction and in turn paid a price. It was sad to see how prominent the divide between the defenders and the critics became and it got really ugly but I think it got really ugly because the defenders wouldn't listen they kept hope going for too long they got sucked into this vicious cycle. In the end a lot of people left the fandom, a lot of people took a hiatus off tumblr and honestly I dont blame them. I am not here to defend people that literally belittled the voices of poc who had valid critiques of the season but I saw some stuff that made me really sad. Like I was on twitter and one of the big players on there shamed someone via their government name and I was like really? and it got so bad I just felt like people wanted blood at no cost and I just thought like guys stop already. Stop kicking this person while they are down. Like their fucking name was everywhere on twitter, insta and here and its like I think they got the point. You wanted to bury them and you did. So just stop now. Like you said anon I dont want to be part of a space (virtual or not) that makes others feel unsafe and s4 made the fandom very unstable because of the divide it caused. I like you am also happy that wtFOCK paid the price mainly because if this season would have even been slightly good those white dudes would have never got the wake up call they deserved but it makes me sad for the cast (which were obviously upset) and certain crew members (that I heard spoke up and were ignored). I hate that those people had to be collateral damage so a bunch of white dudes could realized that maybe they do indeed still harbor racist tendencies and suffer from inflated egos and am sad that s4 basically tore the fandom apart but I will say this. I really like the vibe of the tag now. I think its funny other skam remake stans come into the tag talking trash about wtFOCK s4 and am like people we talk more shit about s4 then other remakes do like aint no one defending s4 in the tag. Most people get triggered even seeing Kato’s face in the tag and I also think everyone took their rose colored glasses off and sees wtfock for who they are versus who they hoped they would be. 

[mikmaqs]

so i took the plunge and watched promare (2019)

this morning i set out on something i have intended to for some time now, ever since seeing the very mixed opinions on the film. here's my take as an indigenous person, viewing indigenous/minority representation in this movie.

i will add that i am not jewish, which seems to be what most parallels get drawn to. this is just my view as an indigenous person w a long history of myself and my people dealing with oppression, so if jewish people have anything to add, absolutely feel free to do so, because i could have very well missed some things. that being said, let me compile my thoughts.

so, to begin with, i'll state my positive feelings on the movie to get out of the way the things that i did find enjoyable. then, i'll touch what i thought was...eh. less good, or downright bad.

first of all, the animation and color scheme of this movie really was beautiful, and a pleasure to look at (i.e. lio's volcano rage sequence, the promare itself, etc). interesting stylistic choices and enjoyable animation are, i hear, relatively intrinsic to the studio trigger brand. i can't verify, because i haven't ever viewed a studio trigger film before this to my knowledge, but that's what i get through the grapevine. the use of vibrant colors is very pleasing to look at, though it could probably be used as a murder weapon for anyone with color sensitivity or epilepsy, which is...less good, but the appeal was there. just know that it's very bright and a little flashy before viewing.

secondly, i enjoyed the character design more or less...except for, uh, a few things i'll mention later. generally, it was nice, and not an eyesore.

thirdly, the soundtrack was pretty good. i did find a few songs got reused a lot, but that's not exactly a this specific movie problem anyway, and generally not even much of an issue. it didn't unground me or anything, just was noticable enough to make me note it during viewing.

basically, as a whole, the aesthetic value of this movie is very good! credit is given where credit is due, so, yeah, i can say i did enjoy that part.

now, there's...a fair plethora of issues with this movie.

what i gather from this is i can, like...kind of see what they were prooobably trying to do here. like, i doubt they FULLY intended to make such a horrible approach at issues of social justice and racial equality, but, uh. yeah. it wasn't good. and i hear they've done similarly distasteful things, so who knows what the inner workings were with this. at best, it reads as insensitive and uneducated, which is not really what you want in a movie. the aesthetic value is not much if the storyline is sort of trash.

first thing i notice is that the minority group (the burnish, for those who have not viewed) is given a destructive ability and, apparently, an innate urge to........burn things down.......because........the promare......speak to them. like maybe that was just poor thinking, but the first thing you should not do is make the minority group inherently violent and destructive with the whole "the flames talk to us and tell us to burn shit so that's what we do" thing. personally, it reads to me as "oh these poor people inherently violent and horrible" and it's. um. unsettling. of course, the burnish hold pride in never killing for no reason, which makes this a bit more salvageable, but not good.

especially when part of the next scenes of the movie include lio (the leader of the burnish) losing his shit and having to be stopped by the white savior trope. like. well. this is unfortunate now isn't it. of course, i can't be positive galo is white, but i'm referring more to the "majority saves minority from...being a minority" thing that plays out here. like. imagine john smith stopping pocahontas from going into a rage and spearing people or whatever white people think we do. yeah that's basically what happens here and it's................yeah!

the only truly enjoyable characters were the burnish honestly. like. my dear fellow indigenous/minority i'm so sorry you have been subjected to this badly written movie. lio fotia i'm so sorry. you were the only character i liked.

and theeeen the parallels to the holocaust come in, and this is where it gets, uh, uncomfortable. more than before.

so this guy named kray foresight (what a name, huh) has an insane little superiority complex and thinks he's jesus or something. come to find out, he's a burnish — way to villainize the minority but without the "but they're people too" redeeming part, studio trigger — who is...doing experiments, human experiments, on the burnish to power his spaceship.

it's as weird as it sounds.

but the point right now isn't mr foresight's silly little spaceship adventure, it's the parallels to the human experiments conducted at concentration camps (promare has those too, by the way, but they're more of jail cells here) by doctors working under the nazi regime. most know by now about the horrific experiments conducted on people during the holocaust, majorly jewish people among other smaller percentages of other groups (poles, yugoslavs, actually mostly any minority the nazis could find and didn't like). the parallels to jewish oppression are staggering and impossible to ignore or not notice, for me anyway, and this is from someone who isn't even jewish. i'm sure watchers who are notice it even more starkly.

did i mention the whole symbol surrounding the burnish is a pink triangle?

gee. i wonder where we've seen triangles to identify a minority group before.

oh yeah. the identification tags used to separate jewish people from non-jewish people the nazis created.

funny how that works out.

there's also the way the star of david appears throughout the movie. or the several other parallels that exist within the film.

and the "genocide cultivation beam", whatever the fuck that means.

and the way the movie ends with the burnish just...not being burnish. identity: gone, white: savior, hotel: trivago.

yeah. the whole conflict of "the burnish keep setting shit on fire" gets solved by "well, we'll get rid of what makes them burnish as if we couldn't just settle it in another way anyone with a brain could think of". but, you know, plot is apparently more important than respect..

and all that aside? there's still more issues.

like the incredibly racist caricatures of Black people, y'know? the whole "big bulky deep voiced animalistic" racist rhetoric? yeah. yeah, they got that too. it takes about half a brain cell to notice it, and it's so hard to stomach, as a bipoc. i'm a poc, and even when it's not my race, it's so difficult to watch these poor, distasteful portrayals of real life oppression and real life people.

tl;dr, promare is a very well animated movie with a nice soundtrack, but that does nothing to wipe away the VERY large issues within it. if you are going to be interested in the characters and media, i IMPLORE you to remain VERY critical of every flaw and never excuse it. be sensible about your interests. i enjoyed lio as a character, but do i condone the issues in this film? fuck no, and i feel bad the poor guy had to be part of it. fork over the rights to lio fotia to me i'll treat him better than studio trigger ever did.

as always, be critical of your interests and listen to people affected when they bring something to your awareness. you can like characters without excusing the grossly evident issues of a piece of media. none of it is okay or excusable, regardless of what the intent may have been.

like i said, if anyone has anything to add, please do feel free to do so, and let me know — i'm always ready to listen and look at different viewpoints, especially of those affected by this media. ❤️

[cutebutstillsingle]

I’m going a little out of order on the photo numbers today, but that’s because I encountered this exact situation last night and now, Jay S. from Hinge, you’re being put on blast.  

Dear Hinge Online Dating app, 

You really should allow your users to maintain records of all conversations we have with any matches, so that when they say outrageous and hateful things, we can screenshot the conversations and send them to you in order to get racist and hateful individuals blocked from your app. Or so that just in case any of these psychos choose to act out their hateful ideas, we have a written record to hold these crazies accountable.  

Jay S. literally said the governor and mayor of our state should get lynched, and was fiercely anti-BLM.  As a woman with a good heart, I think I can speak on behalf of all the other women on hinge with genuinely good hearts-- we don’t want that crap polluting the dating pool.  

 TBH strong political opinions are probably something you should not even delve into within the first month of getting to know somebody you’re trying to impress. Keep it reasonably neutral in month one, as if these people are your work colleagues.   Stick to the current events every adult should know,  like “did you hear about this happening?”.  You can discuss other basics like “do you vote?”  or “did you watch the presidential debates?” to try and get a read on how clued in the person is to current events and adult goings-on.  But there are ways to discuss current events while remaining neutral in the strength of your opinion.  Like, let that person answer how they’re gonna answer and say something like “thanks for sharing”. Then tuck your own mental judgments away for yourself to decide the compatibility between you two. 

Every adult should be reasonably in the loop of basic political information because whether you choose sides or not, certain individuals in positions of power are making decisions that run the country we all Iive in.  Like it or not.  So to make yourself a slightly more conversation-fluent dating prospect, maybe you should read or watch enough news just to know the very basics of what other adults are talking about even if you don’t have any strong political leanings or opinions personally.  Other than knowing that Trump is an absolute nightmare, and being anti-prejudice, my foray into the world of politics is extremely limited.   

 Never be afraid to share critical values, as well, without getting too off the wall; and I strongly encourage you to remain calm and sane the entire time you share. Things like “I really loved President Obama”, “I believe in healthcare for all”, “I’m pro-choice”, “I have gay friends and relatives whom I love dearly”. Those kinds of things are never wrong to share and you are not putting harm into the atmosphere telling others those things.   Whether they agree or disagree is up to them.   The people you are dating DO need to get to know who you are; and you should not hide the important parts of yourself when these conversations arise.  It’s when things start getting aggressive and hateful that it creates a problem.  

Jay S. from Hinge literally said he was pro-lynchings, guys.   I would have screenshotted our conversation and posted it on this very blog had I realized the entire thing would disappear when Jay disappeared from my match quiver.  Jay S. was a blonde haired, blue-eyed mostly white man from the east coast, with maybe a thimble of POC blood in him, allegedly, according to him.  I obviously did not run a 23 And Me analysis on Jay S.  So he could have been lying for all I know.    

But I do have enough very peaceful guy friends to know that peaceful men never say hateful, violent things towards or about others.  Please understand that, ladies.  Peaceful men have opinions about life because a peaceful man is not necessarily a pushover.  But trust me when I say that peaceful guys rarely to never say hateful things directed towards others or wish violence upon others in any way, to any degree, in thought, speech, or action.    Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.   So if homie is saying hateful things, that’s who he is in his heart.  

 In the face of Jay’s absurd remarks, I very clearly established my values and limits immediately, as every quality woman should.  Ladies: any hateful remarks a guy ever makes should be checked on the spot.  If a male ever  openly admits that that he has these angry, judgmental, biased, and ugly feelings about anybody or about you, it is an undeniable sign that you’re dealing with a guy who is insecure, and may have anger mangement issues, or maybe even a hidden violent streak.  

I told Jay that I was anti-lynchings and anti-violence; and that as a woman of color the BLM movement and equal rights matters to me.  I said that if he was not someone who valued racial equality, I certainly didn’t want to waste his time.  

He had said that he was allegedly part POC, but mostly white; and I told him if it was the (insert his ethnicity here) Lives Matter movement, he probably wouldn’t say such a thing.  Other groups of color are marginalized just like Black people, it’s just that as of Spring 2020, Blacks were the face of a national outcry of awareness that we still have a long way to go towards equal rights in America.  

And then of course Jay S.  disappeared back into the ether of Hinge, to try and drag down somebody else’s vibe.  Ladies, left swipe racist, violent-undertones Jay S. from Hinge.  #Trash.  

Jay S. would not be the first individual I have met from an online dating site and spent some time dating before eventually realizing the guy clearly was insecure and very hateful opinions and wishes towards others.  Sometimes it takes a few encounters before prejudice and hateful comments start coming out.  And when they do,  walk away and do not look back.  

If you are a racist individual, you deserve to remain single.  Or if you believe that any marginalized people in American society, deciding to have a peaceful protest to improve human rights or protect their culture, is something that is stupid, dumb, sheep-like, etc.  then you better educate yourself, grow up, and change your attitude.  ... Or prepare to remain single.  

But if you remain hateful, unkind, racist, and single, and it eliminates any chances to procreate and clone yourself one day, hey, the world is not complaining. 

[redwhiteandbruised]

mobile-friendly rules

BASIC INFO

❔ tracking #redwhiteandbruised

❔ semi-private:  aka mostly mutuals only; very happy to meet new folks to rp with.

❔ exclusivity:  not happening, don’t ask for it.

❔ multi-muse, side & personal journals:  i will usually not follow you back if you run a multi-muse blog/rp from a personal; i need to limit dash clutter in order to be able to focus (thanks, ADD + autism). i’m happy to rp with multiple & side blogs, but I will not RP with personals.

❔ crossovers:  limited to what i know; please check with me first. if we’ve written together a lot and have a rapport, i’m way more likely to jump into things i’m not as familiar with for you.

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❔  you must have rules or, at the very least, your age stated somewhere on your blog. i will always read your rules before interacting, and i ask that you please do the same.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

❕  est 31 March 2016

❕  strictly 21+. non-mature themes only if you are 18 or over; i will not rp with anyone under 18 years old, no exceptions, regardless of content & your geographical location’s ‘legal age.’ please have your age somewhere on your blog; ‘mun is 18+’ is fine; ‘mun is of legal age’ means nada (fun fact: legal age can be anything from 12-25 depending on your country).

❕ safe space:  staunchly inclusive. i make a point of avoiding ableist or bigoted language and terminology. please come talk to me in chat or send an ask and tell me if i screw up.

❕ triggers:  i will tag genuine triggers when asked (please don’t conflate squicks with triggers). triggers will be tagged ‘triggerything tw’ or ‘triggerything cw’.

❕ formatting:  usually small text +/- 100x100 icon, sometimes with light formatting; will try to match your style. if you need any special formatting to make it easier for you to read (ie unformatted large font etc), lemme know.

❕ pre-established relationships:  sure, once discussed.

❕ readmores:  used for explicit dubcon/noncon content, common triggers, & graphic nsfw.

❕ memes:  love ‘em! send me as many as you like, as often as you like, and as many prompts as you want from a multi-prompt meme. i do my best to observe reblog karma but don’t expect you to; it’s all good.

❕ open posts:  for mutuals new & old; i don’t mind how many people have already replied or how ancient the open is. i’ll generally repost your reply in a new post with my reply to make it easier to track. let me know if you’d like something different.

❕ shipping:  multiship; not ship exclusive. shipping is dependent wholly on muse interaction and never guaranteed. james has a complex, traumatic past & is not going to have an easy time with his sexuality in canon verses. he may not always be aware of his own sexuality; in verses that he is, he will generally identify as bisexual. he may or may not be open to poly setups depending on verse. nsfw threads aren’t going to be that common and will generally, though not always, fade to black. happy to discuss. note: 616-verse stucky is not going to happen. mcu stucky is great.

YES PLEASE

✅  duplicates, multiple ‘canon’ realities, AUs, cross-fandom, What Ifs

✅  crossovers, especially within Marvel & DC

✅  AUs: love, love, love. give me your tropey coffee shop au; better yet, give me your research-worthy ww1 au, time-travel au, etc. i’m utter trash for sentinel!verse (and if you don’t know what that is, come at me).

✅  plot-development, complex characterization

✅  conscious, intentional, creative abuse of grammar/syntax

✅  any gender identity/lack thereof; sexual orientation/lack thereof; neurodivergent characters; disabled characters

✅  LGBT+, non-cis/het, POC, or other minority versions of canonically white cis straight Christian etc characters

✅  female versions of canonically (cis)male characters

✅  dark, edgy, angsty themes up to and including psychological & physical torture, abuse, & character death

✅  complex & conscientious portrayals of trauma and mental health issues

NO THANKS

❎  self-insertion &/or only looking for nsfw

❎  pages of ooc

❎  pages of graphic porn

❎  you rp nothing but smut of a variety that squicks me, such as (below) and don’t put it behind readmores:

1) A/B/O, especially if it involves ‘mating’/'breeding’, pregnancy

2) BDSM that uses an abundance of misogynistic language like 'slut/whore’; 'daddy/mommy’ themes; pet play; romanticizing unhealthy abusive relationships ('50 Shades of Nope’ comes to mind) by framing them as consensual BDSM. (note: mun is active in the BDSM scene, so please do bring on your consensual kinks)

❎  consistent grammar/spelling errors (happy to help)

❎  lots of family/baby/child content

❎  'child of’/'sibling of’ & non-canon family member/friend characters

❎  anthropomorphic, furry, or 'real people’ characters

❎  Supernatural, Dr Who, or anime crossovers

❎  gatekeeping, canon-snobbery, constant negativity

❎ erasure of any minority group (ie male versions of canonically female characters; suspiciously white FCs for canonically POC characters, etc)

If you feel like it, send me your favourite trope as a way of letting me know you’ve read these. I’m not going to ask for any sort of specific symbol, codeword, etc to prove it, but I will presume you have and act accordingly. If you feel compelled to acknowledge any specific parts that jump out at you or query something that doesn’t sit right with you, we’ll probably be bffs.

[janiedean]

Fandom and politics, that's the topic of this message and a request for your opinion on fandom and politics. In recent days in polish fantasy fandom one of the prominent figures, a writer, asked why can't we all just talk and be fandom and leave politics behind, like in "good old days". And explained how he and the wolę fandom just doesn't like ideology pushed at him in media. (1/2)

(2/2) The problem is, what he calls ideology, is often media not being as racist, sexist or homophobic as usually (i.e. the feminist head of the team of writers of The Witcher netflix show, black Heimdall in "Thor" etc.)Or women in fandom demanding to do sth with t-shirts that was sold at one convention, with a print that goes sth along the lines of "I love burning villages and raping virgins". Because those are the prominent scandals of polish fandom.

hmmm the thing is, I think that fandom shouldn’t meddle with politics when it comes to fans period and when it comes to authors, it should but to a certain point. what I mean is:

when I say fandom shouldn’t be meddling with politics when it comes to fans I mean that whole part where you’re judged as SOMETHING just out of your fandom preferences. I mean, people saying you’re homophobic because you don’t ship the slash ship, people assuming you’re racist because you ship two white guys or the likes, people thinking you’re pro-pedophilia because you ship underaged characters and so on. that imo is a thing that regardless of the media in question should die in a fire because you cannot judge people on their fictional preferences. no one should assume I’m okay with incest in general if I ship thor and loki, no one should assume I’m racist because I like stevebucky better than stevesam and no one should assume I’m homophobic if I ship a m/f ship and so on. especially when it comes to people who ship/like problematic stuff for whichever damned reason and they get told they’re monsters when they just wanna do their thing. like that imo is a thing that has to die in a fire right now especially when it becomes a fandom-wide thing and you get people basically going like ‘if you’re white you can’t engage with a fandom with black/poc characters because you’re gonna be racist anyway’ and then complain when they get zero content. or worse, the star wars lists of problematic people that you need to avoid because they ship rey/lo and are therefore *insert problematic word here* and such things. fandom should be a place where fans are free to do whatever they like and explore whatever subjects they like without being judged for it. obviously if someone fucks up MAJORLY (see: the infamous j2 haiti fic of doom) calling them out should happen, also because it means that if they’re ignorant they’ll learn, and using fandom as a platform to learn stuff about people different from your social/ethnical background is always great, but people shouldn’t be shamed for what they do in fandom as a general rule. that is my general opinion when it comes to fans. you can’t go on and judge someone on whether they like noncon in fiction or not. like. no.

what you’re talking about instead is the media itself being more progressive, and in that case I don’t agree with the *good old days* thing because more diversity is good and honestly if someone’s problem is that heimdall is black in a marvel movie that isn’t even accurate per se because in theory thor and loki aren’t even odin’s sons then like, you need to get over yourself.

and like, one thing is having reservation over a shirt such as what you said and another is telling other women they can’t like kink or m/m porn, so like that is a kind of politics that needs to be discussed and absolutely should, but that’s not what I mean when I say I’d really like politics out of fandom space. one thing is fandom space, one thing is the original content. I’m entirely down for diverse original content of whichever kind, what I don’t think should be done is fans engaging with it just looking at the politics and judging it based on the politics only and not on the plot, and mostly judging it on whether it’s progressive enough or not and judging other people for liking it if they don’t think it’s progressive enough, not fans asking for more diverse stuff in general and/or wanting to feel included in fandom spaces, and I think creators should acknowledge that.

like, the polish fantasy writer obviously doesn’t care for diversity - but no one forces him to. but saying that FANTASY IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS WAS JUST WHITE PEOPLE is also ridiculous bc diverse fantasy has been around for ages like ffs.

what I mean is that we absolutely should have politics - if by that you mean more diversity - in the original media we consume, though I don’t think authors should be forced to do that because you get better things when the author actually wants to write them, and fandom should engage with more diverse media absolutely, but fandom can’t also judge what people in it do all the time based on how *they* engage with the content in case, because everyone will like different things and you can’t force people to engage with that specific thing just because you think it’s woke. and you also can’t trash the author for things you might perceive as problematic but actually aren’t.

examples of what I mean: I, author, write a fantasy story.

not so ideal case of politics in media: I, a white cishet female author, decided to write a fantasy story. I don’t know much stuff outside standard fantasy and I don’t feel like writing people who aren’t what I am. I write your usual standard lotr-ripoff, everyone is white, cis and hetero, there’s one romance, a couple bromances, no social or political hidden commentary. it has a good story. it’s an okay book. the fandom most likely will ship the guys in the bromances. no one feels challenged. tumblr declares me problematic for not writing diverse stuff and then ignores me.

ideal case of politics in media: I, a white cishet female author, decided to write a fantasy story. I don’t want to do the same usual lotr rehash and I know that diversity is important and I want to make a good job. I make my character list. I decide who’s white and who’s not, giving a decent balance. I make some of them non-straight. I don’t see many trans characters in fantasy, so I decide one of them is. I spend months talking to anyone belonging to the aforementioned categories asking them what they think of my approach - ie I find a number of trans people to discuss what I want with the trans character, I talk to a number of black people if I want the character to be black possibly not all from the US and I pick people from all over the place. I write my book. I make sure every character has a meaningful relationship with the others so that all their interactions are interesting. I try as much as possible to not have stereotypes. I get a bunch of betas and I change anything they find improvable. my book gets published. everyone loves it.

now, ideal fallout of the above which is what I mean with healthy fandom consumption: I get a fandom made up by diverse people because I have a diverse book. people enjoy that I gave everyone some space. they might interact with me on twitter and asking me ships headcanons. I tell them that they can ship whatever they like write whatever fic off it they want. every character gets some fic or moodboard and everyone enjoys whatever they like in whichever dynamic. not-trans people who had never run into a trans character in fantasy might go like ‘wow I hadn’t realized that’s how it felt’ and might get informed. if I based it on some specific historical period people might get informed on that. people belonging to the minority categories educate the others in fandom about what they might not know, nicely. everyone writes all the porn in the world. everything is great. if someone asks me why I have black/lgbt+/etc people in my book I reply them that minorities exist so why shouldn’t they be in my book and that’s the most twitter hate I get. life is great. my publisher wants more. that book becomes a series. rinse and repeat.

not so ideal fallout, ie what I mean with fandom shouldn’t be about politics: somehow, there’s a fanon ship that gets most fans for a reason. it happens to be idk, bisexual white guy + gay white guy who are not together in the book. they get more fic than dunno, hetero black woman with hetero asian guy. people start calling the first group problematic because they don’t ship the poc couple and THEY’RE RACIST. the trans character isn’t a stereotype/isn’t *good enough* for fandom standards so they decided that idk, feminine straight guy I put in because feminine straight guys exist is actually the only trans one because HEADCANONS and suddenly all fics with a trans character for that book are about the headcanoned character that’s actually a stereotype if you go for that, not the one I actually spent six months researching, and if you don’t agree you’re suddenly a transphobe. someone sends me a twitter message asking me what I think of HEADCANONS and I answer that I’m okay with HCs but I put canon characters that aren’t white, straight and cis for a reason and suddenly I’m THE MOST PROBLEMATIC AUTHOR EVER and people decide that my efforts aren’t good enough and that as a cis woman writing gay men is problematic and everyone in fandom who writes m/m and is a woman is shit. then people decide that shipping the black cis bisexual guy with anyone white is racist and writing porn where he’s on top is racist but then another side says that if he bottoms it’s racist (guys LOOK AT SW FANDOM I DIDN’T MAKE THIS UP), so no one ends up touching the black character out of fear of being dissed. six months after the book is out, the only thing there’s a fandom following for is a problematic as hell crackship in between two cishet white guys that hate each other and barely interacted because it’s the only fandom space where people don’t get shamed for what they like.

I, the author, look at all the hate messages I get on twitter and think fuck it, next time I’m just doing high fidelity 2.0 just with cishet white female protagonists so no one can tell me I did it wrong since I’m white, cishet, female and I hang out in record stores all the damned time or at least I used to when I was younger and they existed. I never write a diverse cast again. I never write a trans character again because that wasn’t what I wanted to do, I just wanted people to have fun and enjoy a more diverse cast of characters without fans murdering each other over it.

like, that’s what I mean with politics shouldn’t be in fandom that much, not that politics shouldn’t be in fandom spaces/in the media we consume period XD ;)

[ramesees]

TLJ

IM GONNA TAG THIS POST AS SPOILERS and there WILL be spoilers but most of them save for a few are going to be pretty vague!

My main takeaway from this movie is that I actually like Kylo Ren as a villain now.  Emphasis on the “as a villain” part.  There’s... definitely some r*ylo fanservice going on, but by the end of the film it all comes off as super creepy and abusive.  In particular there’s a scene where Kylo Ren tells Rey that she comes from nothing and is nothing, but not to him (his exact words) and it’s... so... so awful and I was so, so scared they were going to try and play that off as being a romantic gesture as opposed to the horrible manipulative emotional abuse tactic that it is but they do not and it’s awesome.

The scene comes off as really uncomfortable and disturbing and it’s the moment that breaks any kind of mutual understanding they thought they had whith each other, which was really validating honestly considering how creepy that relationship was starting to look in the film.

So on the r*ylo front:  If you’re worried about it happening, they basically tease it and then slam dunk it into a trash can.

Unfortunately, they kind of do the same thing with finnpoe?  Except without the teasing.  One of my biggest complaints was the forced romance between Finn and Rose, who’s relationship I really enjoyed right up until it became awkwardly (at least one sidedly) romantic at the end.

Rey and Finn, despite not having like any screen time together, were super cute tho.

Luke was a little bit OOC and one part of this movie in particular that was sort of a huge plot point felt like something he would never really do.  He was bad ass as fuck tho so like?  I don’t know, I’m undecided.  His personality was fairly reminiscent of ROTJ!Luke which I didn’t love, but if that’s you’re favorite Luke you won’t be disappointed.

I was actually really happy with Poe’s role in the movie though?  I think I’ve seen some discourse about that re: white women lecturing POC people and that’s definitely valid af but he got a huge ass role in this movie, a ton of screen time, and arguably the most character development??  And I was pretty into it.

I also really liked Rey in this movie?  I think they could have done more with her.  I obviously wasn’t into her scenes with Kylo but I understand the purpose they served in the narrative, but I liked that we were allowed to see her openly angry and frustrated and fucking powerful as hell.

Another thing I really liked was the scene with her and Kylo Ren fighting off the Red Knights like that video of Daisy Ridley being like “she’s so much stronger than him” is real as fuck she was killing it left and right and even saved baby Kylo’s ungrateful ass from a choke hold like god damn girl.

Anyway I’m a Rey stan now.  I’m also a Luke Skywalker stan but that’s nothing new.

I’ll definitely have to see this movie again just because my first reaction to a movie is always, always sensationalized, but I overall really enjoyed this movie.  There are a ton of great narrative twists (a few that fall flat as well but it’s mostly good) and the while there are a lot of uncomfortable sweaty close ups of people’s faces, the cinematography is by and large really gorgeous.  There’s one scene in particular that I just lost my fucking shit over it was so dope.

I’ll write another update once I’ve seen tlj again but I don’t think too many of my feelings are gonna change.

[mild-lunacy]

The Fan Rebellion and the Status Quo

I've talked about people's problems with endings before in a more general sense, but I think the issue is twofold. One, people are often frustrated that the narrative ends too abruptly, and every single t isn't crossed, and the i not dotted. Usually this is about a lack of emotional 'resolution' or emotional pay-off for the audience, though essentially this is about a lack of fluff. Two, people complain that the resolution they *did* get was OOC or stylistically and genre dissonant. That is, something about the series changed too drastically for them to allow or enjoy.

I guess as a bonus, there's three: disapproving of the story's final ethical judgment or the social stance inherent in the narrative (mostly to do with issues of minority and female representation and the lack thereof). Sometimes people suspend judgment until the end, and then some magical diversity quota fails to be reached. Fandom's answer at that point is either to canonize a transformative reading that's not actually factual (as I ranted about recently), pretending the series is actually better/different than what is actually canon (see: POC!Ronan Lynch or gay!Sherlock), or to decide it's always been pure trash. To be clear, my issue isn't disagreement with the underlying readings or their ethics, necessarily, but distaste for moralistic immaturity and the absolutist, black and white thinking involved.

In general, fandom seems to think it's a great idea to have the characters talk about their feelings a lot, especially after big plot things happen. I'm not really surprised, 'cause this is a natural emotional need in people, especially many women, and it's related to the discussion about the typical 'warm fuzzy' type of reader, as opposed to the more understated 'cold-prickly' aesthetic. I just can't help but note that many of these fans are writers themselves. Surely it's still clear to more analytical readers or viewers that some things are good to leave for the reader to figure out or imagine by themselves, given there's all the necessary tools and hints that were previously established? Surely it's an accepted fact that the audience should be able to think for themselves, even if emotionally we'd prefer 'warm paste'? Well, apparently not.

At the same time, I don't want to completely discount people's manifold concerns as the desire for 'warm paste', as Gatiss had at one point. As I said, with HP and Captive Prince, the overly definitive fluffiness of the epilogue was a problem for some (even though the story didn't overly process any feelings nor over-explain any plot developments). Naturally, it's not that you're ever somehow obliged to enjoy the epilogue and/or the resolution of any story, whether or not it's definitive (and either way, people will complain). I guess fandom is the space where complaints naturally go to be processed, so I just see more of it than there would be in the overall reading public.

I'm just interested in how people process fiction, and I enjoy seeing patterns in it. Fans (even experienced and analytical fans) seem very invested in stylistic consistency to a degree that seems a bit over-the-top to me, though, considering that change and development is part of the nature of fiction. However, not liking the fluffiness or definitiveness (or alternatively, abruptness) of the ending is one thing. Being so disappointed that in one's judgment, the story *failed* somehow rather than not being to one's taste is a different thing entirely. Basically, even sophisticated and analytically-minded fans are frequently of the mindset that ignores a story's own goals or direction in favor of their own needs and personal headcanons when making judgments. Surely the idea of what's 'in-character' in the first place becomes hard to hold on to when one can't trust oneself to be making even a somewhat impartial analysis.

Aside from my own subjective frustration as a fellow fan and meta writer here, I really am interested in the underlying competing ideas of what kind of resolution is necessary and 'right'. Clearly, there's a lot more of an established idea that there should be a lot more talking after the big plot denouement, or fans tend to think the worst of a beloved character (which definitely happened with John in Series 4). We read a lot of fanfic, where such warm-fuzzy style talking is the point, and I think we *prefer* it to the point where 'normal' or professional writing seems inadequate rather than just different to many fans. That's probably why people are so quick to say they know the characters better than the creator(s), and fic in general is better than the show. The preference for open endings that some fans have for fanfic purposes, and the reason the HP epilogue was so unpopular, is actually related even if it's contrary to the desire for more overtly verbalized emotional resolution on the surface. Either way, it follows from the idea that the fanfic aesthetic is superior. It's easy to mistake one's preferences for some kind of natural rule of writing, especially because writing and acting isn't a sport or science, and has no obvious objective measure.

The preference for consistency is definitely a typical fannish thing even outside Tumblr fandom. Fans always rebel when the creators reboot or adapt anything differently, kill off any characters or change their roles, etc. Fans tend to prefer the status quo (unless the improvement is social justice and diversity related: then the response will usually, though not always depend on one's political orientation). Creators tend to live to mess with it. And never the twain shall meet, I suppose.

[rebelliousrejects]

Mormon Girls Camp-Shayla

So I’ve been in this relationship with this guy named Jose from the Spanish ward in my stake aka Silver Spring Stake MD, well since July 13. People in that ward kinda disapproved of me being his gf some people there actually liked me. Well since I was the only white girl who would actually go talk to them and try to be their friend unlike other people in my stake who were mostly white. This stake is in two counties Prince Georges County which other counties in Maryland except Baltimore like to say it’s ghetto and trashy; and the other county is Montgomery which is nicer apparently and full of the white Mormons. My stake is mostly from Montgomery, so we have more white people in our stake then other races. But remind you again Me (Shayla) and this band are from PG where there’s barely any white people there which is quite nice to me, I like the POC here anyways. They’ve always accepted me. When I met the Spanish ward kids I felt more accepted in the church because they were like how I’m used to at home and before in the  church, I never felt accepted at all.

Well here comes girls camp....

First Day:

The girls ask me at the stake center while we were waiting for the bus if me and Jose were really going out. I said yes and some showed awws and some showed me disgusted looks. Then I try to ignore it and we change the subject, then I keep getting this vibe that I’m not being accepted by some of them which gets me feeling in a deep depression and makes me have a lot of anxiety on what I’m doing wrong. The girl who gives this vibe off to me the most is named “Ally” or “Alejandra”. Me and her were always friends but ever since this year I’ve felt like she hates me. On the bus no one sits with me so I’m glad with that because I have an anxiety attack. But I hide myself in my pillow so I don’t get called an “Attention Seeker”. Some of the Spanish girls asked if I was ok and I lied and said “Yes I’m ok” while hiding myself in my pillow. I then pull out my blade but quickly hide it from everyone else as we go in the Taco Bell to use the bathroom. When it became my turn to use the bathroom, I locked the door and basically self harmed my feelings away. I put the blade away and but I accidentally left some of my blood in there;but no one noticed it. I end up hiding my face until camp. At camp, I was already done dealing with people. So around night time I’m wearing my night gown “I’ll start working when my coffee does”... All of my friends at camp were POC....Yea btw Sophie isn’t my friend tbh...So my friends were saying I looked nice while everyone else just gave me death stares for wearing it. I actually got into a argument with a Molly that night about it...really pissed me off so i was like Fuck you to her.... So it’s night time, I’m in my tent with Alejandra,America,and Yenny. They are all in the same ward as my bf. So they were talking about my bf little did I know that my bf used to have a major crush on America to the point he texted America’s mother saying that he was deeply in love with her. But apparently her dad always is outside the sunday school room so he doesn’t talk to her. Hearing that made me so insecure so I texted him asking him about it, he seem confused so I ended that convo...

2nd Day:

It was the service project/Hike. I was with my friend Elena and Mimi who were 3rd years and btw I was a 4th Year. We basically had to walk and pick up trash but the head of camp was supposed to be my step mother but this lady Sister Willis threw a pity party to not get released so they were supposed to be sharing it. But it turned out that Sister Willis like over stepped my step mother. Btw she is Sophie’s mother. She always hated me but she also didn’t like the spanish girls. This was the first day my anger started to build up. We had to make our own dinner this day, so I didn’t eat any of it because well I didn’t like it. Also in the morning I drank coffee i brought and I shared some with Elena. Also during the day my step mother heard that Sophie (the other white girl in my year aka very molly) was saying to her older sister Lucy who was our WCL that we weren’t up to her level and that she was sick of us. So her mom of course let her sleep in with the WCLs Madelyn and Icky (The only POC WCL at camp). Lucy was like me a bit with the mental issues. Lucy was also trashed by her mom behind her back to her sisters at camp. But Lucy slept outside in a canopy.  I went and told the girls what Sophie said and we were all mad about it. At that point it was like we all hated Sophie and Madelyn. The reason Madelyn was because she was a bitchy WCL and did was Sophie did and treated us less than her. Icky hated them too. Icky and me met like when I was a 2nd year. She was fun we ended up swindling a leader out of 20$.

3rd Day comes:

Me and Elena we are just getting really tired of people at this point. Like from the drama from the girls or from the leaders. In the early of the day we both had anxiety attacks but she coughs up blood. But I ended up self harming. The nurse who is Dominican helps us both and we talk with her. Me and her both walk to the dock to talk, We discuss my issues. When I get back to camp I get yelled at by my leader to where i was and I was like I was with the nurse. At this point I get really upset and pissed cause they’re like cherry picking me. So me and Elena were able to skip the talk at night and stuff and we ended up being bad and fucking things up. Also we learned that day that Ally doesn’t like anyone at all that she just likes to trash people ever since her parents got a divorce.

4th day comes:

So it’s around dinner time and it starts pouring and thundering after we went to the pool. Remind you this at the pool I’ve cussed so much that day in front of Sister Willis cause i didn’t care anymore. I went with Elena to her tent to help her move her and everyone else’s stuff away from the walls in the tents. While I was doing that a leader yells “Is Shayla in there?” I go “Yes but I’m helping Elena with her stuff” then they go rudely which pisses me off “ WELL WE DON’T CARE ABOUT ELENA, YOU NEED TO BE AT STAKE” Right at that moment they fucked up and i yelled back “WELL IF YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT ELENA THEN I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU OR ANYONE ELSE DOWN THERE. YOU ALL CAN GO FUCK YOURSELVES. I DON’T CARE ANYMORE FUCK YOU ALL!” After that Elena and me go to the bathroom to stay there. My step mother is in there but she turns out to be in there with Sister Willis’s oldest daughter back from her mission. And I’m just telling my step mother why I’m so pissed and she tells Elena to stay with me in the bathroom to cool down. But the major problem was that leaders kept coming in the bathroom along with the WCLs that I hated telling me i have to be at stake. They like came right at the moment when i was about to be calmed down. The 7th leader that came in the bathroom with her older daughter to tell me that I need to be at stake I just flipped out on them saying “LOOK YOU GUYS NEED TO LEAVE US THE FUCK ALONE! CAUSE IF YOU GUYS KEEP COMING IN HERE TELLING ME THAT I GOTTA BE AT STAKE IMA END UP CUSSING EVERYONE ELSE OUT! IM ALREADY ON THE EDGE OF SNAPPING!” The leaders left mortified and in shock. Elena was there with me trying to calm me down. Strangers from the camps near us also helped me calm down and i told them what happened.

last day comes:

Still pouring and I was done with everyone’s shit. The girls took my phone and the next day try to tell my bf i tried to expose him. He believed me but he couldn’t take the drama so he dumped me. But he told me he still loves me. The end and this was my worst year at camp.... -_-

[queerandpresentdanger]

i’ve been really into keeping my room clean lately

it’s a very, very new development and was a very sudden shift. the other day i did my laundry over night, and in the morning when i left i didn’t have time to fold and hang my clothes. it was on my mind until i was able to come home and put them away. i wasn’t able to relax.

i’m grateful to have many friends-- mostly women of color-- who are so brilliant i feel lucky to be in their presence and hear them speak. the other day i was hanging out with one such friend, and she was telling me about her mother’s tendency to hold on to things. she had just returned from seeing her family for the holidays.

we were in my room and she was remarking on how clean and organized it is (now). she said when she saw her mom she tried to get her to let go of shit. she said, “mom, i want to give you more shit, but i can’t, because there’s too much shit here. you need to get rid of shit so i can give you more shit!”

i told her how i had realized the other day i generally dislike receiving gifts. that usually people give me things i don’t necessarily want, but because they are given to me i have a sentimental attachment to them, and then i told on to them forever. i don’t want to give it away, because it’s meaningful to me because someone gave it to me, but i also grow to resent it because i usually don’t want it.

these quickly became metaphors for emotional baggage and our mental/emotional space.

the next day i was talking to another such friend, a fat poc, who is dealing with a friend they have romantic feelings for dating a skinny white person-- a relationship my friend feels disallows their friend to care for them in the way they want. a dynamic i am all too familiar with.

i told them about my clean room revelation and that they need to clean their room out. the room in their mind with their friends name on it.

i said you need to do deep cleaning. move furniture. vacuum. clean the windowsills and dust the blinds and behind the ceiling fan. throw away the trash. get in the corners and behind all the furniture and all the places that junk builds up and we never see. and i said that that doesn’t mean the room has to be closed forever, or at all. and their friend can be welcome. but she has to respect it. she has to take her shoes off when she visits, and put things back where they belong. she can’t just move in and make herself at home.

i was talking a little bit to myself, too.

i feel like i have cleaned out the rooms in my mind. and now the only things left are the things i want. i have gotten rid of all the shit i don’t want and i’m only accepting gifts that i want and only from people i want them from.

i’m keeping my physical, mental and emotional rooms clean and clear of clutter. and i’m only welcoming people in who can respect that.