#not tagging this as anything

[consceleratuswrites]

Some fabric studies with added dustings of spicy but NOTTOOMUCH

[mapofyourstars]

Recently, one of my gifsets involving Erik reached various sides of tumblr, and rightfully so because of how what he said relates to what's happening in the world right now (looking at you, America). I'd like to share with you some tags on the post because I truly have seen them all, and I'd also like to have a little bit of a discussion behind supporting a character while acknowledging the nuance behind his character. If you wanna talk about any of this with me, my asks are always, always open.

I'm going to start with the supportive tags that's made me laugh.

Now, onto the supportive tags that were a bit more sobering but good to see, nonetheless.

Next type of comment/tag I'd like to discuss are ones like this:

I feel like anyone who recognized the movie in the gifset and also recognized Magneto know that he was/is a Holocaust survivor - it's the biggest part of his characterization, and the films especially do not let you forget that. So comments like these just seem to be missing the mark - the gifset/scene doesn't make any sense unless you know his story, so clearly the 15k people interacting with the post have not forgotten. In fact, I'd say it's a common fact that makes the post even more painful, hence people's guttural reactions to it. And I've seen some comments like these:

I can assure you: There are many, many, many people that state "Magneto was right". And again, 15k people at least interacted with the post to show that, yes, they too believe Magneto is right. Just an odd thing to say.

But primarily, the whole point of me rambling here is draw attention to a smaller group of people who have commented/tagged their opinions. I'll share them below, and then, I'll talk a bit. Some of this conversation might be triggering, as it talks about Erik's character flaws and brings up zionism; so if this isn't your flavor of discussion, I'd part from this post.

These statements are permitted to be correct. In fact, you'll probably find many, many people who believe these statements to be true. I can firmly say that I hated when Erik abandoned Mystique, and the discussion of creating a mutant state sometimes can go the wrong way and sound exactly like what Israel did.

However.

When comments like the above are stated, it feels as if people are not seeing the forest among the trees - there is a bigger picture here. Erik is a character. He has a rich backstory and a very complicated characterization that stretches years back, post WWII. This character has flaws and has undoubtedly done many things that many people will never agree with. That does not - and should not - undermine the importance of his words. You are permitted to like a character, hate what they do from time to time, and also agree wholeheartedly with various things they say. The quote in this gifset is more powerful than Erik's characterization and much more powerful than anything he's ever done. Erik was just the mouthpiece for that quote - there have iterations after iterations of other characters or other people saying quotes exactly like that. Just because his actions may be morally incorrect, that does not make his words less valuable.

There needs to nuance when digesting media and art, and you can both hate the character but also agree with what he says. Especially when the words transcend the character. This is how we think about media from a critical standpoint and resolve some dissonance that we may face from supporting a character who may be all the things listed above while still stating that he is right - right because of the words he stated at a time in a film that exists as an allegory for every political, social, economic, etc. struggle.

I'll let the last round of comments/tags speak for me because these people understand what I discussed above.

You are permitted to say "Magneto is right" and understand the value in that phrase as it relates to past, present, or future issues while simultaneously not agreeing with everything he did. That doesn't undermine the fact that his words are accurate, relatable, transcending, etc.

Lastly, I'll leave you with these comments/tags as thought-provoking bits:

If you've made it this far and you've read everything, I love you. If you want to continue this discussion and talk about Erik or media consumption or nuance or any of the other things I mentioned - or you just wanna yap about anything really without getting too heated - I'd love to talk. The gifset all this came from has really opened my eyes to fandom discourse and media consumption, and it turns out I have a lot to say. And also, feel free to tell me that I'm wrong, that my discussion regarding the different types of comments/tags is shit. As long as you're willing to have an open and understanding conversation, I'll gladly talk about it.

[deimosatellite]

i could make a huge post abt this but im lazy and tired but tbh as a queer person who participates in literary spaces it's honestly really weird how normalized it is to write off queer readings of texts as being completely wrong/bad faith and even worse cringey because like yall know how you sound right. i literally have a degree in this shit but w/e guess i just love playing "pretend queer people have existed forever" for funsies ig 🧍‍♂️

not to mention having explicit queerness in a work somehow makes it more cringey and unserious like baseline to a lot of people without knowing why (because its against the norm so obviously the writer isn't a real academic and doesn't understand what they should be doing i.e. using the Norms put into place) anyways.

[thedndgoblinwholivesinyourwalls]

*holding my hands out like I’m a victorian child* do ya’ll have any good fictional podcasts that I could listen too,,,

[schnuffel-danny]

OK FINE YOU WON- HERE'S THE PREGNANT VLAD IMAGE

NOW STOP ASKING

the context is that I drew this for the AU where Dani is Jack and Vlad's daughter xD

[pup-pee]

timber stamps 4 @mbirnsings-71

+ bernard & tim gummy pixals!

IF ANY1 WANTS 2 USE THE STAMPS FEEL FREE BUT IF U WANNA USE THE GUMMIES PLS CREDIT MEEEEE <333

[irritablepoe]

listen, i really love when ranpo calls poe "ed" or sth of the sort, though the reason i don't write ranpo calling poe "eddie" is just bc i always think about the guy from national lampoon's christmas vacation and i think i might die bc of this fact

[kara-zor-els]

it's hard out there* for a gal like me**

*tumblr

**is interested in jon kent as a character but doesn't ship jonjay or jondami

[empyrean-demise]

... Are we having a fictionflicker of Angel??

Why does my wings feel more like Angel's own, and WHY DO I HAVE EAR WINGS?!

[sonicbooom]

happy late valentine’s day to all my other aroaces out there. we made it

[ariel-s-awesome]

Mama Mia they-a whitewashed the Italian

[b3ndy]

"I beg of thee, have sympathy for me"

Why do these slugs haunt me so .

[valdotpng]

an accomplice turned victim his apology, long overdue

[jamjoob]

HAPPY DUNMESHI THUR- *gunshoits*

[violetsandshrikes]

I met a girl when I was fresh out of high school in undergrad who frankly, annoyed me quite a bit, but I also had an inkling to continue to be compassionate to her given a few things about her life/background/family

I ran into her two years ago. Last week, her daughter turned 1. This girl, let’s called her “P”, is a really good example of why I never feel comfortable mocking trad wives

Her perfect trad husband, who was a shining young figure in the local religious community, volunteered in all sorts of groups, well loved in his workplace and everything else, beat her up at 1 month post-partum. I reached out to her after seeing her desperately asking for a stroller on a page, confused and slightly concerned knowing both of them came from wealthy backgrounds.

The reality for lots of tradwives living “perfect lives” is this: P was immediately ostracised. All the wealth of her husband and her family meant absolutely nothing if she wasn’t in favour and doing what she was told. Her child and her well-being didn’t matter. P, at 25 years old, was basically deemed an oopsie, and left on her own to figure out how to pay for herself, a baby, find housing, and every other task you can think of.

Having known many of these women (and supported many of these women), another factor most people don’t consider is this: they are intentionally raised to be helpless. When I immediately offered my support to P, she really needed it. This young woman needed to be guided through how to apply for government assistance, how to weigh up rentals and apply for them, how to apply for jobs, how to sign up for childcare. How to sign up for your own power and internet, and how to connect them.

It wasn’t that she was “stupid”, or incapable, or spoiled. While it looks like they’re being sheltered, in reality, these women are practically being held hostage. Sure, they might be allowed to learn things that are expected of them (see: basic cooking, baking, cleaning, child rearing, women’s bible studies, hosting, and so forth) but they are heavily controlled from family life into marriage life, and they are never given the opportunity or the reality of what many of us would consider basic adult tasks.

She’s doing okay now. Her daughter turned 1, is happy and healthy. They live frugally, but they have a roof over their heads and the essentials. I often babysit for her so she can attend counselling, or go to a woman’s support group. She is painfully aware that she has so much to learn about how to live as an adult.

I don’t envy tradwives, but I don’t find any joy in mocking them either. Even when they live the most picturesque lives, they’re also practically living a real life Jenga game. If (and often, when) it comes tumbling down, they’re screwed too, and they often have 0 skills to help themselves or find community (that again, isn’t carefully curated).