#not only is this one of my biggest pet peeves

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

You know I like to think of myself as a pretty open-minded person. Fanfiction, in my opinion, has always been about exploring whatever you find interesting within your fandom. You're allowed to write about anything that you want and if someone doesn't like it then they don't have to read it. But let me tell you, this mindset has been severely tested by some of the Quaritch content I've seen. I'm totally fine with fics that portray him as a villain and person at the same time because even bad guys brush their teeth and all that, but guys. He is not a good person. I want people exploring him as a villain, not as some redeemable or misunderstood person. That's not what anyone working on the movie intended for him. The way he destroyed Hometree without a second thought? The way he obeys a horrible corporation mindlessly? The way he rubbed Neteyam's death in Jake's face? The way he had literally no problem killing and hurting those around him in order to find Jake and his family? The deaths of hundreds of people both na'vi and human rest on his shoulders! You don't get to justify that with "oh, well he's just misunderstood".

I try and find the good in everyone but I just can't see anything good in this man. Anyone who causes the type of pain he caused and feels no guilt (or even worse: thinks that they're justified in their acts of hatred or that the other party are the people deserving of punishment) has no good in them. And that's okay! People are allowed to acknowledge a good bad guy, and I think Quaritch is pretty interesting as far as bad guys go and there is a lot of fic potential for that very focal point. But that's it. There is no excuse for his actions and no redemption in his future and the day karma finally catches up with him (again) will be the best day in movie history.

I am very curious as to what fandoms you've been a part of before if this is the first time you've seen this phenomenon. By that, I mean the phenomenon of a fandom excusing the actions of a (typically white and male) villain. I find it to be pretty common. To me, it's one of the scariest things in media and fandom today. I've made a ton of posts about it, but I like to call it the Darth Vader trope. The idea that one good act or one scene of past trauma can wipe a slate clean, with no regard for the systematic harm caused, no reparations, and no work done to actually change and evolve as a character. I find it to be a really dangerous thing to show. The idea that so many people can rally around these actions just being swept under the rug, that they will get mad at you for even reminding them they occurred, is really terrifying to me. Media does not exist in a vacuum, and if so many people are that eager to move past genocide in fiction? It is for parallel reasons so many do in real life.

Trauma is not an excuse, it is an explanation. Change is a long process, and with serious, real world issues such as the ones Quaritch represents, time and effort are owed to the marginalized groups affected. If Avatar is really supposed to be a movie inspired by the beauty of indigenous cultures and the horror of what happened and is still happening to them, then I think fans excusing Quaritch are really doing something quite disgusting in ignoring that.

(If you want to spend as much time freaked out by genocide as I do, Genocide Watch is the place for you! They don't have the US on alert rn, but they fucking should! Also they're a lOT Pro-Israel in their alert on that, but there aren't many places to keep up on current genocides sorry).

[idolomantises]

I always feel like the worst kind of character redemptions (other than redemptions where a character immediately redeems themselves after one conversation) are ones where the villain is betrayed and so they switch sides, and it's treated like they've become a better person.

[badnewswhatsleft]

absolutely fucking huge win for me: finally found a full clean copy of the sing-off 2014 holiday special that patrick was a judge on😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

this was such a grail for ages. i'm literally so happy.

look at him yapping about a cappella.

[alhaithamcore]

ok but i am so TIRED of some of y’all reducing kaveh to just “sad broke babygirl who lives with alhaitham” when he is literally one of the top geniuses in sumeru AND one of the most famous (and brilliant) scholars from kshahrewar

“a genius nigh-unparalleled in the last few decades” “engraved his name into the history of the akademiya”

LET IT SINK IN

also alhaitham literally considers kaveh his equal and thinks of him as “an excellent mirror” so idk where y’all are getting the idea that haitham thinks kaveh is beneath him academically.. 🤨

[astrobydalia]

I wish

everyone that reposts pac readings without disclosing which pile they chose

a very pleasant day

[adriancatrin]

i don’t remember which but there’s some iconic fic in our fandom that used the word ‘auspicious’ in a double-speak kinda way and now no one here knows what that word means IM SORRY i just have to say it. if something is auspicious it means it’s GOOD. an auspicious thing is the opposite of suspicious. it gives a POSITIVE outlook

[chaoticbug]

rewatching 911 and its absolutely insane that chimney and christopher interact one on one before eddie and chimney interact one on one

[jinouchibhue]

do yall not "yes and" your friend's headcanons and whatnot? Even, no, especially ones you don't even really particularly see or whatever??? I feel like that's basic Fandom 101 but I could be wrong.

[thatgirl4815]

You most certainly are gonna die if you keep taking your eyes off the road!

[chaseprice]

every time an american website stops me from accessing it bc im outside of the us i cannot help but yell out loud to myself oh fucking get over yourself

[gothsuguru]

i love muting people on twitter some of you bitches are very dumb

[goldensunset]

amazing to me how sometimes i'll be scrolling and i'll see a really cool post and then someone has replied to it with an add-on that reads to me as super tone deaf and rude and annoying and op has replied to it in the chillest manner imaginable. i'm like man that's awesome that you weren't bothered by that thing at all and thought it was reasonable bc i would have bitten their head off

[ink--theory]

YOU SILLY GOOSE (derogatory)

[molkolsdal]

ayeda.luxury

[hergrandplan]

YR ask - if you could change one thing in the show without changing the overall plot, what would it be?

- dreamyelectronicmusic

I love this question. Also because it's the easiest to answer as in, I knew the answer the minute I read the question.

I would make Wilmon remember that they do in fact have laptops, and that they'll be able to chat with those laptops (text, call, even video call!) once phone hour is done. And that they don't need to be miserable because they supposedly barely talk to each other. Alternatively but related, I'd get rid of that whole "no phone" story line, because I don't think being able to communicate more often would change anything about how they handle the struggles they face. They'd still be there, and they still wouldn't know how to handle them properly, and we'd still get that pressure and ending of episode 5. But it would make them happier and I mean... grounding Simon was enough if they really wanted some barrier. The no phone line was ridiculous (also because again... laptops exist. And they OWN them.)

[cooliestghouliest]

can someone please tell me WHY the sound of other people coughing or clearing their throats is SO fucking irritating to me like omg