#the word racist gets thrown around

[ickypuppi3]

it’s the way billy’s a scapegoat not only in show but for the duffers too like

people will spend all their time focusing on the actions of a fictional teenager rather than question the fact these two white men were all too eager to have a racial slur used against a literal child and have felt comfortable having racism in lucas’ story without it actually go anywhere all while putting no focus on him as a character

they use it as a thing, as a prop, rather than acknowledging it as the systemic issue it actually is - like they use it, have lucas canonically experience racism and then push his character to the back

it’s so blatant too, there’s nothing subtle about it but because everyone’s so busy focusing on big bad billy hargrove, racism doesn’t get discussed in the stranger things fandom the way it should because everyone’s too busy focusing on the actions of one single fictional character

[thatbuddie]

you seriously cannot make this up: you have people reblogging fic featuring a racist character as half of the main ship in the morning then trying to give morality lessons in the evening by calling others homophobic over a joke.

THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE, BABES.

[elodieunderglass]

Hi! I was wondering if you could help me out with a word I've forgotten? I'm trying to remember the name for a concept that (I think) talks about how people better understand or process Things once they have vocabulary to describe it - I've heard it talked about in regards to the colour orange, or coercive control, etc.

long story short i've just read a paper saying ancient Greeks and Romans weren't racist bc they had no word for racism and am trying to form an argument against!

(no worries if this is unanswerable, i'm aware its a bit of a long shot but you struck me as a person who Knows Things)

That’s extremely kind and funny of you. i don’t know much but i am ok at synthesis.

I think you might be thinking of the concepts loosely called the “Sapir-Whorf hypothesis”, which describes something called “linguistic determinism.” This idea has been “disproven”, as it is just too reductionist as a concept - people are clearly perfectly capable of having experiences that are tough to describe with words. There will be plenty of papers showing how this reasoning is applied.

but it is still commonly thrown around and still considered a useful teaching framework. That’s why you’ll see it referenced online as if it is fresh, new, and applicable - people learn about it every year in college. Also, elements of the framework are probably perfectly sound. It definitely seems to be the case that language shapes brains; it just doesn’t seem to be the case that humans who don’t have specific words for them can’t experience orange, or the future.

(Many things in college are taught using teaching frameworks that may not be, technically, true; the framework is intended to give a critical structure for interpreting information. Then, when we later find evidence that disproves the hypothesis, that single piece of information doesn’t destroy our expensive college education; what we paid for is the framework. This is mostly frustrating in the sciences, when fresh crops of undergraduate students crash around on social media, grappling with their first exposure to (complex concept) and how it’s DIFFERENT to what they learned BEFORE and their teachers LIED TO EVERYBODY and they’re going to save the world from POP SCIENCE by telling the TRUTH. You’ll notice that these TOTALLY NEW INFORMATION reveals map along the semester schedule. The thing here is that getting new information, or information being different from what you were previously told, does not cancel out the fact that you are getting what you pay for - an education. Learning new facts that change our relationships to hypotheses isn’t a ✨huge betrayal ✨ , but the expected process of academia. Anyway.)

You have an interesting response here, and can start by looking at the ways that Sapir-Whorf has been disproved. There will be loads of literature on that.

However, it would be interesting to look at the argument as an unpicking of the other side’s rather weird, ritualistic superstitious belief that a behavior doesn’t exist if the creatures doing it can’t describe it. It is not on the ancient Greeks and Romans to categorise and interpret their behavior for a modern educated audience. They do not have the wherewithal to do so. They are also fucking dead. We can name the behaviors we see, and describe their impacts, however the hell we like.

Sure, the ancient Greeks used “cancer” to refer to lumpy veiny tumors. We can infer that they still had blood cancer, because their medical texts describe leukaemia and their corpses have evidence of it - they just didn’t know it was cancer. But we do, so we can call it cancer. Just because Homer said “the wine-dark sea” in a flight of girlish whimsy doesn’t mean he was unable to distinguish grape juice from saltwater, which we know, because we can observe that he was an intelligent wordsmith perfectly capable of talking about wine and oceans in other contexts. We are the people who get to stand at our point of history with our words, and name things like “this person probably died of leukaemia” and “poets say things that aren’t necessarily literal” and “this behaviour was racist” and “that’s gay” and “togas kinda slay tho” despite Ancient Greeks having different concepts of cancer, wittiness, prejudice, homosexuality, and slaying than we do today.

Now just to caveat that people do get muddled about the concept of racism. Our understanding of racism from here - this point of history, with these words, probably from the West - is heavily influenced by how we see racism around us today: white supremacy and the construct of “whiteness,” European colonial expansion, transatlantic chattel slavery, orientalism, evangelism, 20th century racial science, and so on. This is the picture of racism that really dominates our current discourse, so people often mistake it for the definition of racism. (Perhaps in a linguistic-deterministic sort of way after all.) As a result, muddled-up people often say things like “I can’t be racist because I’m not a white American who throws slurs at black American people,” while being an Indian person in the UK who votes for vile anti-immigration practices, or a Polish person with a horrible attitude about the Roma. Many people genuinely hold this very kindergarten idea of racism; if your opponent does as well, they’re probably thinking something like “Ancient Greek and Roman people didn’t have a concept of white supremacy, because whiteness hadn’t been invented yet, so how could they be racist?” And that’s unsound reasoning in a separate sense.

Racism as the practice of prejudice against an ethnicity, particularly one that is a minority, is a power differential that is perfectly observable in ancient cultures. The beliefs and behaviors will be preserved in written plays, recorded slurs, beauty standards, reactions to foreign marriages, and travel writing. The impacts will be documented in political records, trade agreements, the layouts of historical districts of ancient towns.

You don’t need permission to point out behaviours and impacts. You can point them out in any words you like. You can make up entirely new words to bully the ancient romans with. You are the one at this point of history and your words are the ones that get used.

Pretending that “words” are some kind of an intellect-obscuring magical cloud in the face of actual evidence is just a piece of sophistry (derogatory) on the part of your opponent here. It’s meant to be a distraction. You can dismiss this very flimsy shield pretty quickly and get them in the soft meat of them never reading anything about the actual material topic, while they’re still looking up dictionary definitions or whatever.

[orphicrose]

I got bit by a spider a while ago and it made me come up with this request idea, imgiane Alastor x reader were they were already together and one day they come to him with a spider bite and then he aboustly looses it on Angel even tho the reader persists it wasn't him it was an actual spider and AL is like "doesn't matter! I'm not letting any spider harm you!" And Angel is like "HEY! IM A SPIDER DEMON NOT A SPIDER! AND I DONT BITE...unless ya want me too, and what are ya a spider racist?" And its a stupid argument but Alastor is still mad at Angel for a spider bite he didn't cause and Charlie and Vaggue have to break it up. 🤣

Tiny spider

This was really fun to write. Thank you so much for the suggestion

_______________𖤐

Alastor was always your night in shining armour when it came to bugs. Hearing your squeals of terror from the room next door to him, he could always safely assume it was because of some sort of mutated beetle or spider. And he was right 90% of the time. He’d swiftly eliminate the threat, sometimes letting it outside. Sometimes calling over niffty to have her fun with it. This time, though, he was too late. It got you. Seeping into your skin with its sharp fangs before you had the chance to notice it was on you.

Flinging your hand about in sheer panic, you let out a cry for help. Alastor assuming someone had murdered you, materialising into the room next to you hearing his hands. Ready to smite someone with his black magic at any given moment.

You turned, showing him the tiny red mark at the end of your finger. He calmed down, posture adjusting itself. He took your hand in his, moving his monocle closer to his eye to get a better look at the microscopic mark the even tinier perpetrator had left on you.

“What happened my love? A paper cut?” He mindlessly questioned to the sobbing face in front of his.

“It got me…” you almost wept from the panic.

“What got you, my darling” his arms slithered around your waist to pull you into an embrace.

“A spider”

His pupils dilated at the sentence, his beloved was hurt and his instincts tell him to seek justice. Arms pushed you away and within the blink of an eye, was on a search for said spider. There is was, all of its arms waving about in front of him, golden teeth bared ready to attack its next victim.

“Yeah so, now I have to work all day to make up for it tomorrow” angels arms waved around, exaggerating his story to the cat behind the bar in front of him.

“Uh huh.” He responded nonchalantly , cleaning a glass in his hand with a mouldy cloth. His face slowly lifted to see the spiders face, but his eyes widened when he saw the enraged Alastor behind him. Thinking it was for him, but almost relieved when Alastor reached for Angels neck from behind.

Angie screeched in a mix of confusion and fear, managing to twist his flexible body around in the deers clench. Soon being thrown to the floor “What the fuck are ya doing there, Alastor?” His voice was nervous, backing away as he was planted below him.

“You bit my darling y/n. Spider” he walked slowly toward the spider, before he burst out laughing. Leaving the confused Alastor with a tilt in his neck. “You think this is funny?”

Angel struggled to form a word between breaths of air. “Let me guess. Y/n got bit by a spider and you’re automatically gunning for me?” He got up, hand on his knee to help him.

“That’s a bit discriminatory to us spiders, we don’t all have 8 legs yanno?” He dusted his blazer off and wiped away a tear from his eye. Alastor losing his temper the more he spoke. Someone needed to pay for the harm, he thought.

Within seconds hell broke loose. Charlie and Vaggie rushed to the lobby after hearing something break. To be met with glasses being throw at the wall, a black tentacle slapping husk around the face, angels golden tooth glaring as he shot anything that moved and a fire In Alastors eye that said “death to all”. It was mayhem.

Before they had a chance to react, another scream came from the living room. Stopping everyone from what they were doing… except for niffty. Niffty was still cleaning up after everyone like a mad man.

Rushing to the room next door, the group stopped in their tracks to find you hiding on the mantle piece above the fire place.

“My dear? What’s the matter?” Alastor spoke first, stepping into the room.

“SPIDER!! ITS BACK TO FINISH ME OFF!” You screamed, pointing at the tiny black spec on the floor.

“Oooohh…” everyone in the door way collectively hummed, realising the mistake.

“what have you got to say to me now,huh?”Angel poked his shoulder, the demon gritting his teeth as his head snapped back.

“There’s still time to kill you, Angel dearest!”

[gettinontopic]

How am I racist? Other people are constantly trying to get through to you about transmisogyny and you instead choose to constantly try and hide behind being black, acting like that makes you immune from transmisogyny. You can still hurt transfems of any race with the way you talk about opression. You think men are an opressed class who's so so victimized by the mean women and fems of the world that you wont listen to those same actually opressed women.

Maybe if you were more willing to listen onstead of bloack a bunch of us every time we disagreed with you, you would u deratand how you're perpetuating more misogyny than any trans woman/fem whos using a few words not perfectly.

Btw, the standards you put on our words isn't fair and then you turn around and demand we be okay when your word litteraly implues we can opress you.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

How are you racist? How are you r a c i st?? You have to be kidding me! This must be a joke. Your laugh of the day. Your haha of the week.

I d not hide behind being black. Youre sick for implying that. Like many black people before me I beg my community to remember the nuances that come with my race when they talk and a bunch of them spit in my fucking face. They tell me they want the right to opress me (As if their whiteness doesn't already allow that) or they try and argue how another class of trans women is still below me in their sick opression math. They are not below me because this is not a ranking of who has it worse. Me and trans women are working together to rid the world of transphobia.

I have never on my ENTIRE blog said that men are so opressed by women. Words in my mouth moment!! I have said that the patriarcy, a system of opressions, opresses men and encourages the worst in human behavior to survive and be safe.

Those womens opression doesn't matter more than mine. All of our opression matters equal ly. We are all fighting for our rights and safet. There is no reason we need to form a line and force someone to wait a turn. I am not speaking over woman to call out the abuse to to trans men, trans masc, and other nonbinary people. Nor is it speaking over women to make sure intersex voices are included and heard when its said that negtive stereotypes and standards of men hurt them too.

Funny you claim I block all of you but you seem to have no clue how many have me blocked on the word of a racist discourse blog or who blocked me after I rightfully call out their racist remarks. It grossed me out that you assume I can't hold good faith discussion and not that maybe some of you blocked me first for talking at all. Also lmao guilt tripping me for using my block feature to keep my spaces safe and comfortable. Why, did I block your main and you've bee seething?

I'm not bothered by a few incorrect words. I'm litterally pissed at the racism, exorsexism, and blantant transphobia thats been thrown my way and the way of many other trans people at this point in an attempt to stop us from speaking about opression that affects us.

*Slow clap* What standard? The standard not to write transphobic ass shit about trans men/masc? Where you blantanly lie about our experiences ? To the point you're also lying about our nonbinary experiences? To the point where your lying about intersex and multigender and even sometimes other different trans womens experiences? I watch this happen in resl time and you have the audacity to ckme in my inbox and tell me I'm word policong you? Right before admitting you don't want us to have our word bc you still won't learn it's definition!! Fuck.

I am proud of myself. I am so proud of my beautiful nonbinary black fucking ass that you WISH you could have what I do.

[myfandomrealitea]

ok I’ll be honest, I was one of the people who approached your safe space post with the mindset “yeah, but…” like, I now whole-heartedly agree that there should absolutely be fandom spaces devoid of real world issues. We all need our spaces to rest and relax. I think I just felt weird about your post because previously ive been in fandom spaces which did operate on the (perfectly fine) rule of ‘no politics’…but ‘politics’ would also include talking about a gay ship or any queer headcannons.

That obviously wasn’t fair to you because you obviously didn’t mean that w/ your post, but I can personally see as to why some people would feel that way if they were in similar fandom spaces. I do still want to reiterate I do agree with your post and I think some of the rebloggers took it…a bit far? Like Jesus Christ some of y’all need to eat a snickers. I also think some of the wording like “bitching about world issues” and “whining about their shitty parents” might’ve thrown me off but that’s not your fault and really a non-issue 🤷🏽‍♀️

you can delete this ask if you want I really won’t mind, I think I can just see as to why there were so many ‘yeah, but…’ rebloggers.

I actually really appreciate asks like this. For a multitude of reasons, but also because it gives really good insight and outer perspective for both me and other people who are aware of or involved in the discussion.

I think what a lot of people don't yet grasp about me is that while I may hold an opposing view to yours (general, not directed), in the vast majority of cases I still very much understand why people would think the way they do and where that thought process comes from and goes.

Its very, very easy to fall into the mindset of thinking that not helping when you have the ability to makes you a bad person or however in/directly causes suffering. Its very easy to be in the mindset of one single individual making a magnitude of difference.

I fully and genuinely understand and comprehend a lot of the points being brought up.

I just don't agree with them and hold a different outlook on those issues.

For example:

Talking about enjoying a queer ship to me is not 'political' in the sense that, personally, if you're a homophobe and upset by generic conversations about queer people, I really could not give a fuck. And if you raise objections to me talking about two dudes kissing, I'm simply going to remove you from my space because clearly it is not beneficial for either of us to share it. And I made it.

Its obviously very very much down to personal discretion to decide where that line is and what that bracket encompasses, but I think the most universal aspect of that safe space post was trying to get people to understand that forcing others to suffer in solidarity isn't activism and that strangers are not obligated to allow you to use them as support and a dumping ground for your needs.

Spreading around videos of people's dead loved ones isn't activism.

Spamming taglines and buzzwords on completely unrelated posts and videos isn't activism.

Relying on complete strangers for emotional and mental support and regulation while dumping vulnerable, graphic, personal information on them is neither safe nor healthy.

People are not obligated to smother or confine their happiness because of your misery. If you're having a bad day you have no right to tell other people they can't be happy in front of you.

A lot of people, mostly white knighters and people of color took the post as "a white privileged pig saying its okay to let racism slide because you want to play your video games" (actual hate mail I received) and that's so laughably and wildly far from the actual basis of the post.

I've had bigots in my servers before. Homophobes or racists who've slipped through the cracks.

You know what happens when they say something homophobic or racist?

They're immediately removed, blocked and reported, and their information is placed in a private document I keep. I issue an apology to the members of the server for their actions, and life goes on.

People are, of course, entitled to take the post as they see fit. They're entitled to their own perspectives and opinions. I'm more than happy to simply focus on the people who have taken support, guidance and solace in the post.

[minkparched]

About Bartleby and Sonia's dynamic in Sonic Underground...

Since Sonic Underground is so hated by much of the fandom and VERY FEW fans engage with it outside of an irony-poisoned lens, there's so much subtext and interesting tidbits thrown in that got lost in the wilderness of fandom ghetto. One thing I noticed is the dynamic between Bartleby and Sonia.

Bartleby seems to embody both the "cowardly" and "loverboy" archetype, being a (for the lack of a better word) utter simp for Sonia and promising her he'll "do anything for (her), my pet. Anything" as soon as she uses her ~feminine wiles~ to change his mind into becoming more sympathetic towards her "disreputable" brothers for a scheme against Robotnik. In most of their interactions, Bartleby lights up each time he sees her and despite believing that her brothers Sonic and Manic are bad influences, still genuinely cares for her well-being..

That being said though...

In several scenes, Sonia is in disguise and she often comes across Bartleby. On two occasions, she sees her fiance on a date with another woman and she (rightfully) becomes jealous. In one scene, she's in disguise near a hair salon to investigate unrelated matters and she comes across Bartleby, which makes her nervous. Bartleby, not knowing who spotted him, becomes visibly offended at the thought of being "caught" from whatever he was doing (however, it seemed innocuous). The series sets up a punchline that Bartleby lives some kind of secret (or at the least, separate) life from Sonia and it's a reoccurring joke that shows up whenever Sonia stumbles across Bartleby doing whatever Bartleby likes to do when Sonia is not around.

This also separates him from a character that he's constantly compared to, Antoine D'Coolette. Antoine was Sally's number 1 simp that refused to move on from his blind romantic devotion to her until he faced constant rejections and in spite of all, only gave up once Bunnie showed interest in him. And unlike Bartleby, he did not try concealing anything about himself outside of excessively playing up his bravery to win Sally's affection (well, unless you count Patch as being "Antoine" but then that got retconned by Penders for an admittedly better idea). Although there are some stunning similarities among prototype Antoine Depardieu and Bartleby Montclair, which makes me think that some of Antoine's prototype character motifs did get recycled for the Bartleby character.

Anyway back to the main point. And that is Sonia and Bartleby's relationship dynamic. Another thing that is pretty funny, is how Bartleby and Sonia argue over stupid things even when they're clearly still together like in the Artifact where Bartleby refuses to believe the ball he has in his hand is an explosive sold by Robotnik, accuses Sonia of trying to sell it for Resistance, and says she used to be a nice hedgehog before her brother's corrupting influence.

Certainly, Bartleby's classist views on "peasants" and his borderline racist/xenophobic views of some indigenous Mobians (strangely, Jamaican-accented but wearing Native American headdresses) whose island he wanted to turn into a resort (in the French dub, these connotations are way clearer with him calling them "primitives", while in the English dub he calls them peasants while calling their living conditions primitive) influences his disdainful feelings towards Sonia's "unruly" brothers. It's also especially narratively potent in a canon where class warfare is an established part of the living world and 3 of the main protagonists (Sonic, Manic, and Sonia) represent the different social backgrounds.

Ngl, I live for the drama and the potential storylines that can be sprung out of this dynamic. XD I mean I'm someone who loved pre-Flynn/early Flynn Archie for this reason.

Although Bartleby does seem to get redeemed at the end and has a nice little romantic moment with Sonia before departing to who knows where, I still wonder how that would work if Sonia's new love interest was Knuckles and she dated Stripes during their downtime. Maybe if Sonic Underground continued to a Season 2, he would've officially turned from a Neutral to a Good character and Sonia would be with Knuckles.

[meichenxi]

languages, travel, identity, grief

Maybe some of you have heard of Xu Zhimo's Second Farewell to Cambridge (徐志摩 再別康橋 Translation: Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again, by Xu Zhimo | East Asia Student). It's an achingly lovely poem about a Chinese scholar who studied in the UK, and how he left so gently, taking nothing with him as he went. It brought me solace over the last year.

I thought for a very long time about how I felt about having to leave China, and what it felt like to mourn for a future that was never going to mine. I cried. How am I supposed to explain why? I'm not Chinese. I've got no family there, or a childhood to look back on. I couldn't explain it even to myself.

That pain was coupled with a type of uncertainty, a discomfort at myself for feeling so strongly. This feeling was not allowed. It meant - what? Something awful, probably. I was a racist, probably. I should hate myself, probably. Fetishization is the word that gets thrown around for white people and their time spent in East Asia at one end of the spectrum - at the other end it's just seen as embarrassing and deeply, you know, cringe. It's a self-interrogation - why do I feel so sad? Why do I feel this pull so strongly anyway, to a country that's not even mine? Why should it matter so much when I leave? I didn't feel like this grief has any sort of legitimacy. But it has taken from September - eight months after leaving - for me to pick up Chinese again.

I felt, for months, hollow and unsettled and drifting from place to place. I opened my textbook, and closed it again. The memories there were too painful. I'm not going to write about why I had to leave, but it wasn't by choice. I had loved the people in the school, even if it was for a short time. When you have no internet and are training eight hours a day, the days are coloured more sharply: bright and hurtful and wonderful all at once. We had no running water. It was in an abandoned hotel. I miss the monk at the temple door opposite the school, always on time at 6am to open it for our classes. I miss the folk at the local shop who invited me to watch films on their projector; once they killed a chicken for us. I miss the woman in the woods who gave me the chestnuts she had picked. I gave the chestnuts to the cook, and we steamed them and ate them by the lake. He wanted me to marry his son; he wanted it so strongly that he brought me pork, and desserts, and gave me paper, and promised me I could have a jade bracelet, that he would buy me a house. I miss the oldest martial arts teacher, who spoke in such strong dialect I could barely understand him. When I was sad and missing home one night, he told me that I should stay after dinner. In the silence and against the cicadas, he started to play the erhu for me. Later, my friend told me that he hadn't know what to say, how to comfort me; I was a foreigner and a young woman, after all. We had very little in common. But nobody has ever played a piece of music for me like that before.

And I miss X, my best friend there and partner in snack-smuggling crime. She is 19 years old, and a janitor's daughter, and one of the wisest people I have ever met. (She also rides an excellent motorbike, and lent me her hanfu, and we sped through the city giddy with our own daring and trying not to be caught.) We got matching haircuts; she had always wanted to cut her hair like a boy, and was too scared to do it alone. When I left, I told her to stay in touch: she shook her head. She said that some people were meant to know each other for some time, and no more. I think the death of friendship by attrition, by - as Elrond said! - the slow decay of time, is one of the saddest things of all. I deleted Wechat. I don't want to read over the old messages. By having this place - her, and the chestnuts, and the cicadas - as a memory, I can tuck it away it. I can keep it close.

I wrote a poem myself on the plane. That was the last I thought about China, the last thought I let myself have, in eight months. I kept myself away from it. It felt like a wound. And against that hollowness, there was constantly the question: Why should I have any right to miss this place? Who I am there? Why does it matter? We are all different people, wherever we go, and whoever we are with; we wear different skins, large or small. In China I was [...]. She was who I was. That name, that I introduced myself to people with - she was bright and friendly and tried to translate things just so. Everybody who goes as the only foreigner to a place - or the only foreigner that speaks the language - is a little bit self-obsessed. It happens. It's unfortunate, and something to guard against. But it also gives you its own kind of identity in a way: your identity is Foreigner. Your identity is a cultural bridge. Everyone you meet, in a country as friendly and curious as China, has questions about you. You stand with your feet in both worlds, and are not really part of either of them. That identity is easy to slip into, like cool water, like trying on new clothes. It's easier that thinking: who am I outside of that? Where am I going? I don't really know. I don't think anyone really does.

And then the second thing happens. I speak Chinese well, by this point. My accent is there, but it's slight. I am short, and have dark hair, and a generally similar build to many East Asians - so the questions I have got in the last few years have changed. Sometimes people think I have been raised here. Sometimes they think I am ethnically Russian, and nationally Chinese. Sometimes I get asked if I am half Chinese. Usually they know I am a Foreigner, 100% white - but not always. There is a peculiar rush that comes from that acceptance; from feeling the relief, just for fifteen minutes, that you belong. It's not about 'passing', or race-bending, or anything twisted - it's nothing so unnerving as that. It's just the human need to belong. Everyone gets tired of being stared at, after a while. And after a while, you start to think - I wish I understood. I wish they understood. I wish this were easy.

But then the conversation keeps going. You don't know a local word, or you misunderstand. You say something in a strange way, or you make a strange gesture, and the glass shatters, and - there you are again, naked again, exhausted again, explaining yourself again. That's the other half of it. There's solace in the Foreigner identity, because that means that's all you are. You don't have to think about your parents, or whether they worry about you so far from home; of course they do. The Foreigner is good and filial and a wonderful daughter. You can craft her into any shape you like. But it also marks you out again and again, endlessly and again, as Other.

There was a paper published a while ago that showed measures of acceptance of non-natives in native-speaking communities. It highlights a strange, but familiar experience to those who have lived abroad - the people who spoke the language to a medium level felt more accepted and less lonely than those that spoke the language to a high degree. It makes sense, and mirrors what I have found with both Chinese and German. When you speak a little Chinese, you are a wonder - a curiousity! Look at the Western girl go! People are kind, and curious, and will slow down to include you in conversations. You are thrilled with what you can access - all this knowledge, that other people don't have! Look how special you are!

And then you get better. And then you realise, cut by cut, that you will never be one of them. You don't want to be Chinese, per se; but you do want to be accepted. You are happy to be British; but you miss China like a wound, an old one, festering, even when it was never yours. How do you tell your family that you are not grieving a lost romance, a beautiful girl, but a language and a life? That there are words of majesty, of playfulness, that will never be yours? You speak well enough that people no longer bother to dumb things down, or explain them; you sit with your discomfort, smile painted on, because - you know. It's not bad. You understand most of it. And on the edge of that circle, smiling uncertainly, following the vast majority of what is being said, you are not clever enough and not witty enough to keep up with the chengyu, the cultural references, the slang, and the raucous laughter around you erupts, and you don't know what you've missed, and everybody says - she's quiet, that one. Maybe all the foreigners are? And all you are doing is sitting and feeling the distance between You and Them as heavy and as stifled in your chest as an ocean of dark.

So you go back. Back to your people. But when you sit with the other foreigners, you are apart. They laugh; what are these nutters doing? The Chinese don't make any sense. The Chinese do this - they do that. You sit there, and then there is a pressure building in your chest too, a discomfort, the desire to stand up and say - well, actually.

You are responsible for everything the Chinese teachers do, and have to explain things in a way that the students understand - Confucian thought, and Buddhist philosophy, translated in pithy bite-size adages for the West. You have no qualifications for this; everything you assert, you feel unsure. Uncertain. Someone else could explain it better, more nuanced, and you need to do more reading anyway - but here you are, and here they are, and you're the only one. And you do know. Not enough, but enough that their jokes, their pains, make you uncomfortable. You feel the need to defend both parties; to be a diplomat, every second of every day. In turn, when the students come to the teachers with problems, you have to translate their grievances in a way that the Chinese teachers will be sympathetic towards. Once I got asked: why do you never join us after class? Why are you always so quiet when you're not working? As a translator, you are always working. Every time you speak, you are working; what you choose to say, and what you choose to not say, and where you choose to intervene. You are building relationships, and disappearing, and you are becoming invisible, and you're a nothing, and you're everyone and you're nobody and nobody realises you are doing anything more than translating at all.

I wanted to stay. I couldn't have stayed. I wanted to be accepted as one of them. I wanted to be accepted for who I was. That means a foreigner. I wanted to be true to myself, which means that I would always be the Foreigner, which means I would always be apart from them. It is that contrast and juxtaposition which causes the grief. And there was never an ending to it, a resolution, a chance to reconcile myself (in China) with myself (in the UK), because all at once I had to leave. The grief comes most from the second arrow - not the pain of leaving, but the bewilderment of not knowing why I was in pain at all.

It's been eight months. Slowly, as spring comes, I feel like I am on surer ground. I can look at my old books, those painstaking notes, and I could look at new ones too and I'm starting to think, because this is what I tell my students, and maybe there's some truth in it - it's okay if you're not perfect. It's okay if you didn't achieve what you wanted to, and that the language - in its wholeness, and who can ever know that? - will never, not quite, be yours. It's the struggle and the process that means that I will know and understand Chinese in a different way, in my own way, in a slanted-to-reality sort of way, that is a treasure in and of itself. There is beauty in its brokenness too.

And there is sorrow, too. The sorrow that comes with easing yourself into a different life, and it holding you gently for a while. I sat there - I spoke to them. It's not only missing a place; it's missing a person you were, a stage of your life, for a time. It's knowing that a place has reached inside your ribs and taken root there - even if you don't return, you can never fully get rid of that again. You are two people now, with feet straddling two oceans. There are parts of you that loved and suffered and hated and grew in Chinese, not English. You can't explain that. You can't even begin. Sometimes - not often - you are a stranger in your own land. The poets spoke of that. In the age of fast travel, of the weekend break, we have forgotten the ways a place can burrow itself inside you, and find its own home.

It's not the same as the grief that someone Chinese will face. But it's still grief. I have put my life into Chinese. Maybe that is all it takes to grow love.

Now, I turn back to Chinese - as a foreigner, as Melissa, as myself. It's a bittersweet thing. I know that I cannot hold all of it. It will spill out, like the sun, and there is no way I can be that without losing myself and my history and my own green woods. But I think I am ready now. I am surer, and a little steadier on my feet.

[xclowniex]

Did you see Yuval's new video ..

I'm so fucking angry. As a person of colour, I cannot imagine bending over backwards like that. I cannot believe that even after all the antisemitic shit people said about him, he's still like "aww I'm sorry for being my evil white male self guys. I'm listening and learning to be a #better ally"

What a fucking loser, I'm sorry. I'm not saying he is perfect and above criticism but it is completely clear that people were only bothered by his video because he dared to address antisemitism and they can hide behind "oh he said civilised society" all they fucking want but the reality is that they need the evil Jews to shut up about this thing called antisemitism that they don't believe exists.

And lastly to see this weaponisation of race is horrifying because has the left really become what the right stereotypes them to be? I'm seeing lies of "Yuval is silencing a black woman and being racist" and "Yuval's fans are attacking and being racist towards her!"

Fun fact none of those things happened. The person he responded to just happened to be black and everyone immediately used that to silence Yuval the white man!1!

Then it is not an exaggeration that EVERYONE sided with that other person. Yuval got much more backlash and hate than the person he responded to (they barely got any btw) but because he is white and the person is black it HAS to be the other way around even when it's not. I'm so shocked. This is what the right mocks the left for. I'm so ashamed.

Literally this. I'll include his apology video at the end.

Like people are going "erm your use of the word civilized society is racist" when his usage of it was acknowledging the racism of the term.

Like his whole point was that society viewed Germany as the most civilized society and how it shocked the world that the most civilized society could do something so bad. That was his whole point. He was not saying that he thinks Germany was the most civilized society, he was saying that people of that time thought that. And he even mentioned in his first apology that genuinely believing in civilized society as a concept is racist, but that he was not saying he believed in it, just that people in the 1930's and 1940s did.

Like idk how people can't understand that going "this societal view that was held years ago is a contributing factor in why the holocaust was seen as so bad" is completely different to going "I believe in this thing"

Just because he was for a brief moment, no longer their perfect little token jew, he gets shit thrown at him.

I was rooting for him to let this be is his turning point. For him to realize that the face eating leopards ate his face and will do it again, yet he didn't.

Another thing we was being criticized for was "holocaust exceptionalism" which he was not doing. He went "all genocides are unique and bad in their own way" and people viewed that as him saying that it was the worst genocide ever.

People hate recognizing that jewish suffering was bad

[going-to-ikea-for-the-fries]

I've seen my name being thrown around, and I'd like to dot my is and cross my ts on this once and for all.

Gonna preface by saying this:

No one said that glossysoap, groguspicklejar or soapskneebrace told their anons "GO HARRASS THIS RACIST" - that's just, once again, y'all misinterpreting our words. All that was said was "You are a big blog that accidentally created a witch hunt amidst your followers and even though you didn't mean to, you need to realize you still have influence over them, so you need to make amends";

I also made a very big point of pointing out that when soapskneebrace posted those screnshots, they acted as if their blog was an "island" and that it was safe to make a comment like that because they believed it would stay 'contained' within their friend group or followers. And that they should've known better because this is the internet, they're 28, and they should know stuff **doesn't** stay isolated. All things can be accessed.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that soapskneebrace/Madi has admittedly a history of their followers/anons harassing people in their inbox. I don't care that the circumstances are different. They *know* their followers have done such a thing and as a creator (yes, this is not a normal social media, yes, none of us are 'influencers' with proper check marks that make giant moves on the platform, but we all STILL have an influence) they should've known better.

(Their own words below 👇)

I'm sorry for the way I spoke:

Yes, the tone I used was aggressive, cheeky and on-the-offensive and the hashtag I used was in poor taste. I could've handled my **tone** better as well as the way I tried to make my point across. I realize that now once I've had time to cool off and I apologize for the way I spoke.

I recognize that I didn't help the issue by being as aggressive as I did and, in fact, just caused a bigger commotion. That wasn't fair, and the tone I used wasn't nice or helpful.

I'm not a trained psychologist or anything, and I reacted like any normal person should/would, in my opinion. Saw an injustice that was preventable and got upset about it. I promise to thrive to not let my emotions get the better of me, nor to let my tone ever be that aggressive again.

That's not to say that I don't stand for the things I said. I don't take back what I did. I consider myself an honest person... and if nothing else, it would be dishonest of me to go back on my word. I apologize for my tone but not the message.

About Bunny:

That being said, I'd like to point out that half of the blogs currently talking about this topic (specifically @ceilidho and @391780) giving their opinions and sharing it with their followers are doing so behind 'closed doors' (aka by blocking the two of us) and doing exactly the same thing soapskneebrace accidentally did: they are accidentally pinning their followers against us by providing a retelling of events and hoping their followers go read up more on their own, despite knowing they have a huge influence and that people on the internet are not gonna do that, and are just gonna take their word for it.

And frankly I don't think that's fair. I'm not even speaking for myself. I couldn't care less about the abuse coming my way or any boycotting to my future posts or current ones.

I just wish you both/all would stop putting me and bunny in the same category. You wanna get mad at someone? Get mad at me.

Bunny handled this with not just a lot more maturity than me, but also a lot more elegantly. Bunny strived to educate and to speak respectfully and in a way that was informative when she tackled all the creators involved.

If you go read her replies to the blogs in question, they were measured, understanding, respectful, kind and polite. She made sure they understood all she was seeking from them was some form of accountability, and never meant them any harm.

It's not fair that she's being 'lumped' together with me and getting any harrassment or torment over the fact *I* was aggressive, when she wasn't.

She has always, ALWAYS strived to make her blog a positive space, a safe space too. She has always strived to keep people informed and safe, and to tackle topics in her fics that she sees are lacking in the community.

Bunny has plenty of anons who reach out to her to discuss mental health, disability and other topics of the sort because she's trained for it, and now she's not free to open her inbox anymore because people are also spouting abuse at her.

I just want you all to stop going after her. She deserves your admiration, not your hatred.

Again, you need someone to yell at? To get mad at? I'm right here and I can fucking take it.

My inbox and the anon button are not gonna ever close, just so you all still have a place to go yell at me through while keeping your precious anonymity that emboldens you so.

Kind Regards,

Kea

[genderflu1dwh0r]

Are you stupid?

You can be racist and have POC friends, Jason is way worse than Billy any day. Jason isn't the one being abused by his father everyday, he isn't poor, he didn't get taken from his home and live with a step sibling that he didn't know that well.

Jason is a horrible person and got his friend to tackle Erica, then he held a gun at Lucas. You can't tell me that that isn't racist, you can't tell me that's worse than what Billy ever did. Jason said "I thought you were one of the good ones". That. Is. Racist.

Billy got his bad traits from his father. Billy got beat by his father. Billy was crying into the phone for his mom to come home. Billy had no support system. Steve was the only person that Billy bullied and tormented, and in my opinion, Steve is a worse character than Billy.

Steve threw slurs, while Billy got slurs thrown at him by his own father. Just because you don't care about abuse victims, doesn't mean you have to spread your hate.

I think that Billy just wanted Lucas to stop hanging around because if Neil found out, Billy would be the one getting beat. Neil would probably hurt Lucas way more than Billy could have ever done. Billy was protecting Max and himself, he was scared that Neil would find out. He did care and love Max, he just showed it in some confusing ways.

Also, the Duffer brothers are racist, they wanted Dacre to say the N word. Dacre protested and it ended up not happening. Billy saying the N word isn't canon, cause it didn't happen in the show. Stop always going to that excuse for him being a bad person. He never said any slur.

People say "if the actor wasn't hot, then people wouldn't have liked him" and I disagree. His character is very interesting. He has a backstory, he has trauma, he has an actual interesting plot unlike any other character. Dacre is also a very amazing actor, he was able to make Billy even more interesting.

Dacre has said that his art imitates his life. He put his own life into the character, he didn't have a great relationship with his dad, he has said this.

Max is a horrible person too, she drugged Billy with something that she didn't know was in, almost hit him with Steve's bat, screamed at him before leaving and stealing his car. Billy could have died on the floor, he was drugged and had no car. Tell me that that isn't abuse. Just because Billy grabbed her wrist ONE time, doesn't mean it's abuse.

Siblings fight all the time, it's just what happens. Especially how their family dynamics was. I and many others have fights with our siblings. You get over it in like a day. That doesn't make Billy a bad person. He did some really shitty things, yes. But that doesn't excuse all the hate he gets. He's a complex character, no other character is like him.

That's why he's my baby boy. I relate to him, I'm an abuse victim, I love knowing that I have a character to relate to. Stop blaming abuse victims on how they grew up, they can change. He could have changed if he didn't die. He could have, but nobody let him.

Nobody tried to help him. He didn't have a support system. The people who compare Jonathan to Billy are wild, cause Jonathan did have a support system, his mother did so much. Billy had nobody. His father beat him, hi stepmother did NOTHING to stop Neil, she just watched. She was clearly abused too, but she's the adult, she has to be there for Billy. She has to get Max away from all of this, which in season 4, she did. But she turned into an even worse mom.

Right here. He was trying to get help, he was trying to get the MF to get out. He wanted someone to help him. He kept fighting, and that's how he saved everyone on the day he died. He knew he was going to die, he was sobbing.

Try to think before talking bad against Billy.

Why do people say Vecna/Henry/Jason/Troy/James/Angela are better than Billy?

Vecna/Henry literally tried to kill children and the whole world. Billy wanted to have some fun and games, he would never go to prison for killing a child. He was never going to hit Mike, Lucas, Dustin, or Will.

Troy/James made Mike jump off of a fucking cliff while wanting to take Dustins teeth out. Tell me that isn't fucked. MIKE WOULD HAVE DIED IF EL WASN'T THERE!!

Jason held a fucking gun to Lucas's head and got Erica hurt. He sent a witch-hunt over Eddie and that ended up killing that poor boy. Literally, he was poor and Jason is a rich christian white boy. Tell me that isn't classist. Jason also did this to get information out of a kid.

Angela deserved the roller skate to the face for what she did to El. I would have done the same thing, El never deserved any of what she went through there.

Anyone going to object? Cause you can't, my points are spot on. Why aren't we gonna get mad at Jamie Campbell Bower over saying he relates to Vecna/Henry? If Dacre is bad for doing so, why can't we shame Jamie for the same thing?

I would count the MF taking over Billy like that as a reference of sexual assault. His body gets taken away from him, he is crying for help, he is scared and tried to tell someone. I've talked to SA survivors and they agree.

Anyway, I am pissed at Billy antis and I am just so done with them.

[yallcantread]

Before delving into the current drama circulating, I'd like to emphasize that this controversy seems rather pointless, and people are getting upset over nothing. It's important for me to clarify that I have no personal connection with Taylor Swift or Matty Healy. I appreciate both of their artistic work. I am not being compensated by anyone to express my thoughts on this matter.

Who am I? I'm a small artist who creates music. While I have some connections with labels, I'm still in the process of establishing myself. I'm sharing this perspective using a separate account to avoid making it about me. I won't be promoting my music or seeking followers in this context.

The reason I'm addressing this issue is that no one else seems willing to provide context in these situations, not even the so-called "news" applications. TikTok and Twitter have become breeding grounds for misinformation, as people seek attention and likes. It's disheartening to witness how easily words like "Nazi" or "racist" are thrown around simply because someone doesn't approve of the person an artist is dating.

As an artist myself, it's concerning to see how quickly people believe things based on out-of-context 60-second videos or viral and impulsive tweets sourced from TikTok and Twitter. I understand that neither Matty Healy nor Taylor Swift should have to address this situation, and it's unlikely that they will.

This thread aims to offer context and explanations for some of Matty Healy's controversial and "problematic" comments. It includes discussions about the infamous "ghetto gaggers" comment and the recent ice spice comment. Unfortunately, the community on the 1975 subreddit seems unhelpful as they discourage discussions about current events, even when seeking clarity or defending the group. A very useless subreddit with useless mods. Every topic will have sources.

1. “Matty Healy is Islamophobic.”

Let's address the misconception that Matty Healy is Islamophobic. His views on religion are not targeted solely at Islam; he holds an anti-organized religion stance. It is essential to understand that his concerns lie with the principles of organized religions as a whole, including Islam. People often label him as Islamophobic because he retweeted tweets from Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a well-known Somali activist who has left Islam and openly shares her reasons for doing so. Ayaan Hirsi Ali speaks out against various issues that women and young girls face, drawing from her own experiences as a former Muslim woman.

A particular incident that left an impression on me was when Ayaan Hirsi Ali made a short film discussing her departure from Islam and the oppression faced by women. As a result, both she and the director of the film received death threats. Tragically, her friend, the director, was later murdered by an Islamic terrorist. By retweeting the account of this credible and respected woman, Matty Healy was not displaying Islamophobia.

He had tweeted:

“I saw a film about Islam the other night, with people saying things like ‘I’m a Muslim and I’m white’ or ‘I’m a Muslim and I’m an American’ or ‘I’m a Muslim and I'm a patriot.’ You didn't see any ‘I’m a Muslim and I’m gay.’ Or ‘I used to be a Muslim and I'm fine”

And

“Isis are cutting little girls heads off and you want to challenge a non-religious, humanist perspective? I don’t understand the world at all.”

Criticism ensued following these retweets, especially during a time when openly expressing any criticism of Islam was considered unacceptable. Matty Healy received criticism on Twitter for the retweets.

One individual, who was both a Harry Styles fan and a Muslim, expressed disagreement and sought to educate him on Islam. Matty Healy's response, "I resent being 'educated' on religion by a Harry Styles fan account. Not having a go at him obvs, but it's hard to take seriously," should be understood in the context of a young fan displaying bias in favor of her own religion due to her age and limited perspective.

While Matty Healy acknowledged the criticism, it's worth noting that engaging in debates with young individuals on Twitter, particularly those in the age range of 12-22, is not his preference. He rightfully points out that trying to argue with someone who lacks the necessary understanding or context can be unproductive.

In this case, it wasn't about dismissing the person's views solely because they were a fan of Harry Styles, but rather because of the combination of their young age and their inclination to defend their own religious beliefs without considering broader perspectives. It's worth noting that engaging in meaningful discussions on complex topics like religion requires an open mind and a willingness to consider multiple viewpoints.

It's important to acknowledge that many religions have historically exhibited forms of sexism and misogyny.

2. “Kissing fans/underage fans”

Don’t know where this particular rumor started but here we go.

So, in 2022 during a concert a fan who was of age (22!!) had a sign that was like “it’s my birthday be my first kiss” and kept waving the sign. Matty noticed it and kept asking her over and over again that she was of age, had a stage crew member check her ID, asked her if it was okay, and then it happened.

In another incident, he kissed a 24-year-old fan, and various individuals attempted to speak on her behalf, claiming that she felt uncomfortable. She came out and said differently.

Regarding the notion that "kissing a fan is an imbalance of power," it can be argued that this statement is overly simplistic. While it is true that celebrities kissing their fans is not an everyday occurrence, it does happen on occasion. One example is Halsey, who has been involved in such incidents (although there was controversy surrounding one instance where there were allegations of the fan possibly being underage, the veracity of which I cannot confirm). It is important to consider each situation individually rather than making sweeping generalizations about power dynamics in all such cases.

Some individuals criticized him for checking IDs before kissing fans, with one viral tweet implying that his thoroughness in verifying the ages of the fans he invites on stage to kiss suggests he has engaged in sexual activities with underage girls. However, such insinuations are unfounded and unwarranted. It is not unreasonable for him to check IDs as a precautionary measure and ensure that he is engaging with consenting adults. In fact, verifying the age of participants is a responsible and necessary action given the potential legal and ethical implications. Therefore, labeling his actions as weird or inappropriate for checking IDs is unjustified.

3. “Matty Healy is a Nazi”

No, he isn't. This particular criticism appears to be the most unfounded of them all, as if words have lost their meaning. Before addressing it, however, I want to express my dislike for certain fans who deny that he imitated a Nazi salute. It's evident that he did an imitation as a satirical reference to self-identified Nazi, Kanye West. The context is important: during a performance of the socially conscious anthem 'Love It If We Made It,' he made the salute while singing the lyric 'Thank you Kanye, very cool!' which references Trump's infamous tweet thanking Kanye for his endorsement. Matty has discussed this further in his statements.

I’m a history buff. So I know a lot about most history, but mostly fascist history. But let’s talk more about “what/who is a Nazi/what do modern day nazis believe in?”

Nothing that Matty Healy believes in. The modern day Nazi is mostly known as a “Neo-Nazi.” Neo-Nazi literally means “new-Nazi” or “revived Nazi” and it refers to people who have adopted ideologies similar to those first identified with the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany under Hitler between 1933 and 1945. “Nazi” is a contraction of the German words meaning “National Socialism”. Nazis used to be more so known for their opposition to communism and for their mastery in propaganda.

Another controversial way this song was involved in yet another controversy was when it was first mentioned that an innocent black man named George Floyd had died at the hands of a police officer (a Nazi) named Derek Chauvin.

In response to this incident, many celebrities and individuals with platforms spoke out about the situation. In a now-deleted tweet, the singer wrote, 'If you truly believe that 'ALL LIVES MATTER,' you need to stop facilitating the end of black ones.' Healy included a link to the band's song 'Love It if We Made It,' which addresses racism and police brutality through its lyrics.

Many people falsely expressed outrage and insinuated that he did it for 'views' or to 'promote his music.' Firstly, such a claim is preposterous, considering the song was released in 2018, and in 2019 alone, nearly 1,000 people were killed by the police. It is important to note that artists do not primarily generate income from streaming, but rather from touring and selling merchandise. Though I haven't had the chance to tour myself, based on the discussions I've had, it is a significant source of income for artists, covering their expenses. That's precisely why merchandise is sold at concerts. To put it into perspective, artists typically keep 85% of their touring revenue from each venue. If they sell items like shirts, hoodies, vinyls, hats, and more, at an average price of $25, selling 200-500 items would generate $5,000-$12,500 from merchandise sales alone.

If he had intended to profit from the situation, he would have done so through merchandise, using George Floyd's face or name to make money in connection with his lyrics. Sharing a link to his song when an issue arises does not make it about him; it is his way of expressing his thoughts on the crisis. I tend to ramble a bit, but with my music, I attempt to address questions in a more structured manner. I assume that when Matty shared the link, his intention was to convey 'this is how I feel about it,' as people were urging him to speak up.

He subsequently apologized and clarified his intent, stating, 'Sorry I did not link my song in that tweet to make it about me. It's just that the song is literally about this disgusting situation and expresses it more eloquently than I can on Twitter.”

4. Matty Healy watches torture p*rn of black women/C*MTOWN, The Adam Friedland show/ghetto gaggers.

Firstly, if you're not familiar with the podcast Cum Town, it can be summarized as exactly what you'd expect. The episodes of Cum Town usually ran for approximately 60 minutes and were predominantly improvised. The show primarily revolves around a collection of explicit sexual humor and political commentary. Additionally, The Adam Friedland show can be regarded as a spin-off of Cum Town.

According to Wikipedia and feedback from listeners of the podcast, a prevalent theme of the show is centered around crude puns, rhymes, and sexually explicit scenarios, often involving well-known figures like Louis C.K., humorously referred to as "Louis SeemsGay." The show also occasionally incorporates ethnic and racial stereotypes into its comedic repertoire.

The humor of the show is primarily based on dark comedy, often featuring jokes that mock racial stereotypes and those who perpetuate or believe in them. It shares a similar style to that of South Park and many stand-up comedians. However, it's important to note that if this type of humor doesn't resonate with you, it simply may not be your cup of tea. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and personal preferences. Cum Town/The Adam Friedland show are leftist shows. They use vulgarity as a way to make their point, they’re considered “Dirtbag Left.” Click orgins of this Wikipedia page and you’ll see it listed as an example.

On February 9, 2023, Matty Healy appeared as a guest on the Adam Friedland show. Interestingly, this episode gained attention as people were searching for things to criticize Matty Healy for, starting with the Nazi salute controversy. Subsequently, they discovered a podcast episode featuring Matty Healy on TAFS, which they then seized upon.

During a random part of the show, Adam Friedland brought up a story claiming that Matty Healy was caught watching explicit content called Ghetto Gaggers by a person named Olive, who had gone back to retrieve her water bottle. Adam chuckled as he shared the story, mentioning that immediately after hanging out, explicit content played on the tv via airplay mode. Matty responded by questioning the behavior of airplaying pornography and even jokingly calling it psychopathic. The following conversation is a transcript of what was said by who and when. The conversation is color coded. Adam will be red, Matty will be purple and Nick will be green. As I don’t want to keep going “and ____ responds” over and over again.

Adam goes on laughing saying

“30 seconds after the hang just hardcore pornography. I heard that story and the only thing that bothered me was the air playing”

And Matty responds

“what you text me immediately being like I need the info on this story. Like how psychopathic do you have to be to like airplay porn on the TV?”

then Adam goes on and says

“I remember when porn on the phone became a thing and everybody’s like oh this is weird and it’s like no this is what I always wanted to be, i want to be hun hunched over have the phone jammed in my face you know jacking off on my own face”

“Edging for two days”

“Yeah crumpled up”

Nick says “well you’ve been doing porn on the Apple Watch”

Matty sarcastically says “oh no way for real? :O”

“that would be so sick”

“Like images. This is how James Bond jacks off”

“yeah just a yoga class filled with fat black women and one guy just on his phone, one guy jacking off and people were like “are you jacking off to us? and they’re pleasantly surprised yeah and he’s like no there’s women of size on my watch, my Apple Watch and then they say yeah you’re fired from Apple, you’re fired from coming up with that idea”

Well i was there it wasn’t just 30 seconds it was the combination of the fact that was you’re not exaggerating it’s just 30 seconds like you guys were still waiting outside she came back in i was already flustered like i was dressed as guy who was jacking off so i had untucked shirt and i think it literally was ghetto gaggers was on the tv it’s just somebody getting like brutalized and it wasn’t like some cool sceney New York art girl it wasn’t like “oh I’m sorry it doesn’t matter “ (matty says this imitating a rough, dirty person with like rasp) but it was little Olive, who comes in” (matty starts doing a preppy British imitation of Olive) and says “I’m so sorry-“

Adam chimes in with “yeah she’s like britishly apologizing”

And matty goes non chantly “and I’m like yeah it’s fine, it’s fine it’s okay. Well 10 minutes would’ve been fine but 30 seconds was like it was kinda almost like i was worried that was offensive”

“I think when you’re a guy living alone the order of operations is you before you go to sleep you just have to Jack off”

“you said to me, you said to me”

And Adam cuts him off like “sorry I’ve got a story to tell” and he talks about a guy he used to live with(?) who brought home a girl, had dinner, he struck out she got drunk and slept on the couch he went inside his room and started blasting pornography loud hoping she’d hear it and I’m trying to sleep” and the whole group laughs at it.

Then Adam goes to speak about a product for an ad or whatever . And that’s literally it .

(38:40) is the beginning of the conversation.

It seems like the conversation between Matty Healy and Adam Friedland involved sarcasm, but certain individuals deliberately shortened the podcast clip to create a misleading impression. Consequently, people who came across that shortened clip may have started watching it without understanding the context and thus formed misconceptions.

In my personal opinion, it is evident that the story shared during the podcast episode was not genuine. Upon watching the full clip, it becomes clear that the story lacks coherence and does not align with the overall context. It seems to have been created on a whim, similar to other improvised scenes they engage in during the show. Taking the full clip into account and examining the story in its entirety, it becomes apparent that the narrative was not meant to be taken seriously or as an accurate account of events.

When Matty retells the story, he claims that Adam and Nick were waiting outside his trailer while he engaged in the act for precisely 30 seconds. It seems illogical for Adam to text Matty for details if they were already waiting outside the trailer. Additionally, if Matty was indeed watching explicit content and masturbating, it is reasonable to assume that the trailer door would be locked, making it unlikely for others to witness the act.

Overall, it is important to approach this story with skepticism. Believing that Matty watched Ghetto Gaggers solely based on this account seems unfounded and lacks credibility.

I want to clarify that I don’t believe Adam Friedland watches Ghetto Gaggers, either. My understanding of Ghetto Gaggers is similar to his, I believe. Before I explain how I even know of such content, I want to emphasize that I am not a fan of pornography in any form.

On Twitter, there is a prevalent joke or gimmick among popular male accounts, often known for copying and pasting tweets or becoming the target of jokes from their own followers. When these accounts gain viral tweets, it is common for someone to reply with an inappropriate video or picture, seeking a reaction from others. These videos are often extreme and fall into the realm of unethical pornography, deliberately posted to provoke a response.

In response to such replies, the OP hides the video from being directly seen in the replies. Another person, either the OP or a follower, then quote tweets the popular tweet with a message like “DON’T CHECK HIDDEN/DON’T CLICK HIDDEN/DON’T LOOK AT HIDDEN,” intending to entice others to view the hidden content. This is a specific aspect of Twitter culture that might not be familiar if you are not active on the platform.

can provide examples of tweets that employ this gimmick and hide content using GG (Ghetto Gaggers) if needed. A lot of the “DONT CHECK HIDDEN” with ghetto gaggers clips have been deleted or the accounts have been removed so struggling to find any account where the hidden video is that but that’s alright. Just type in “DONT CHECK HIDDEN” on twitter search bar. Also, NSFW for a lot of these examples.

1. Nsfw (look at the replies)

2. hidden reply (the account that posted the hidden comment is notorious for posting such content. I did a quick scroll and already saw black fetish content)

3. Yeah I’m not showing anymore for your sake and mine.

5. “Matty Healy trashes Ice Spice, says racially charged comments at her, said racist things about her made fun of her”

Other part to bring up was the Ice Spice thing? Ice Spice, the rapper isn’t Hawaiian or Asian in any sense, the hosts and Matty know this. Matty didn’t say anything racist about her, the hosts made the joke. I don’t believe people know that Matty Healy is British because the ones in the podcast that even make such remarks are clearly American. The following is a transcript of the conversation:

Matty: “Ice spice, you know who that is?”

Adam: “Nick does know who she is. She’s like one of the spice girls”

Matty: “She’s a rapper from the Spice Girls.”

Adam: “Inuit Spice Girl. Just this chubby Chinese lady.”

Adam: *Mimicking Asian accents* “I rap music.” Do they talk like that?

Matty:” They don’t talk with a Chinese accent.”

Nick: It’s more Hawaiian style.

Adam: *Pops mouth*

Matty: “Yeah, more Hawaiian. Welcome to Hawaii.”

Adam: “Locals only.”

Matty: “Yeah, that’s what Ice Spice is like.”

Nick: “She’s a very attractive woman who released one song, and basically everyone…”

Adam: “So, you slide into her DMs and go, ‘So what are you, a f**king Eskimo?’”

Matty: Yeah, yeah, that’s what I was like, you f**king dumb- yeah.”

That was the extent of the interaction, which was clearly intended as satire. Matty did not make any racist remarks.

It’s worth noting that Adam is known for doing impressions, as mentioned on his Wikipedia page. Mocking accents can be seen as humorous to some people, and the intention behind such humor is often to be offensive. The concept is that the joke would not be funny if it weren’t offensive. However, if you don’t find it funny, that’s okay. If you consider laughing at such corny satirical jokes as racist, then the same argument could be applied to shows like Family Guy, South Park, and others that make fun of certain beliefs. It’s important to recognize that Matty did not participate in the impressions.

In my view, racism goes beyond stereotypical accents of certain groups and involves systemic discrimination. People who grew up during the “your fave is problematic” era on Tumblr may have been influenced in a way that hyper-focuses on superficial issues like hairstyles and tattoos in different languages, while real issues affecting black people and other minorities, such as employment, housing, and food insecurity, are neglected due to factors like bad credit or minor offenses.

It’s crucial to choose our battles wisely and prioritize addressing systemic racism and inequality rather than getting caught up in trivial matters.

Regardless of personal opinions or feelings, it seems likely that they will continue to see each other. There have been previous reports and articles suggesting that they had a romantic history. One article, dated back to 2015, quoted Matty Healy discussing his troubled relationship with the press. It mentioned his connection to Taylor Swift, explaining that although nothing happened between them, the media’s interest in Swift created an unsettling presence for Healy. He expressed his discomfort with being scrutinized and judged by the world of fame.

It’s interesting to observe that people are now acting concerned about their involvement together, while they remained silent when Taylor Swift performed “The City” at one of the 1975 concerts or when Matty Healy assisted her with her album. It’s worth noting that they had a previous relationship as well.

It can be exhausting to witness Matty Healy’s name trending for trivial reasons, and it’s frustrating to see the out-of-context video from the Adam Friedland show circulating repeatedly. Moreover, labeling him as a bigot is far from accurate, as he has shown support for various political causes.

To gain a more comprehensive understanding, I would recommend watching the following videos where he expresses his views on specific political issues: there’s so much more but I CBA to find them but you can

1. Abortion

2. Gay rights/donated to LGBTQ center in England

[bloomeng]

I made a post talking about my frustration with Lxc mischaracterization and several people mentioned in the tags the adjacent fanon Lxc problem, aka the “himbo” characterization.

Himbo is now just one of those internet words that has been so overused and thrown out of its original context that to me it almost has no meaning. My eyes sort of just glaze over it, which might be why it doesn’t bother me as much. But as far as mischaracterization goes— oh definitely Lxc is not at all a himbo.

Definitions vary but in my opinion to be a himbo one must be three things:

1) Obviously strong

To be a himbo it’s not enough to just be strong, you must be visibly strong. Bimbo and himbo’s were originally negative descriptors given to hot people who were supposedly stupid. What I’m getting at is it’s a visual aesthetic. If a character’s strength isn’t immediately identifiable then they’re not a himbo. I’m not talking “has to have a six pack,” I’m talking clothing that inadvertently reveals their strength. It’s about how they present themselves the same way bimbo is about how you present yourself. To be clear the majority of characters aren’t aware of the himbo label but they are conscious of the way they dress. They’re not dressing to fit a mold they’re dressing to show off in a way they think is cool. (Ex: characters like Itto and Galo walking around shirtless for the vibe)

2) Dumb in an oblivious way

Himbos aren’t book smart, nor are they great at grasping highly technical things, but they do shock everyone around them with their emotional intelligence. This trait comes from the newer, more positive interpretation of the label that the internet has created. Himbos are no longer flat out stupid, no they’re just a little dumb but they have a big heart. It’s the simplicity in their logic that allows them to be so straightforward and cut through the bs to the humanity of any given issue. However, it also means a lot goes over their heads. The obliviousness is the key to their dumb characterization because it’s what allows them to be so open and loud about what they believe in.

3) Kind

I already partially touched on this in the previous blurb but apart of the new understanding of a himbo is their capacity for kindness. Usually himbos are written to have strong internal moral codes that are very simple, but it’s the simplicity that allows them to see past the cultural norms and politics and just be respectful to everyone regardless of their background. That’s why people often say himbos can’t be sexist, racist, etc. Which I mostly agree with, but I do think that there are levels to this. I think if we’re discussing characters, himbos are allowed some minor prejudices as a flaw that they then work through. Sokka, while not a himbo, is a good example of a character who starts a series with a flaw (sexism) that comes from a well meaning place but grows from it. The important thing is the capacity to respect everyone.

Now Lxc does have some of these traits but he doesn’t display them in a way that matches what a himbo is.

Stength:

He’s very strong both in his cultivation and physically. Too bad we can’t see that just by looking at him.

Oblivious:

Lxc’s whole thing is that he’s literally book smart. Never once is oblivious to a situation. He purposely allows himself some blissful ignorance when it came to the situation between Jgy and Nmj but that was his one selfish act. He’s well adept when it comes to handling politics more so than anyone in the book. If you think that Lxc’s internal logic is simplistic that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of his character. The dumbest he ever gets is tied to class, where he struggles to do daily chores, and even then he’s never shown to be oblivious to the social hierarchy.

Kindness:

This is probably the trait Lxc embodies the most. He is very kind. That being said his internal logic system is not simplistic at all. Lxc is a lot more morally grey than he seems at first glance. While he feels strongly about not judging others based on their backgrounds he also has a deep understanding of exactly why certain people aren’t accepted in the first place. He understands his status and accepting Jgy was absolutely a calculated move on his part. It was coming from a good place but he also understood the delicacy of the situation. If he were actually a himbo he would’ve had none of that delicacy and pitched a very loud fit over it.

All of this is to say he’s no where near the realm of himbo. I think the only types of people who refer to him as one are typically the same people who only engage with his character on the most surface level. They mean well because it’s supposed to be a compliment— which might be why I don’t mind it as much— but it’s also just fundamentally the exact opposite of his character. He’s a passive reserved artist who’s been forced into a leadership position where he has to navigate politics.

[ijichi-nijika]

i can’t fall asleep so let me tell you all a story of a little girl named iris.

when iris was nine, she went to bed one day as she always did. it was a friday, the day before a holiday, and she was excited to go to her grandparents the next day to celebrate. iris of course, never had much in common with her cousins on either side, but she enjoyed her grandmother’s cooking and just listening to people talk. of course, she would have to put up with her father, a racist, homophobic and sexist man, and he would probably get drunk and force them all to get in the car while he drove the family home. that of course being her mother and brother, and her dog, who went to event with them.

upon iris’s awakening, she was being yelled at for waking up too late, and needing to rush to get ready. she of course, was never taught how to get properly washed or how to brush her teeth on her own, having just been told to figure it out at a young age, and then her anxiety would not allow her to ask for instruction or help. so of course, iris took her time to make sure she was actually clean. this was not something her father liked, as being late was apparently more important that his daughter having proper hygiene. so as she was brushing her teeth, her father stormed into the bathroom and ripped the toothbrush from her mouth and said to hurry it up. iris of course, scared of him, simply asked for the tooth brush back. of course, her father did not like the idea that she could possibly have her own feeling about this and began hitting her for “talking back”. she ran from him and hid in her room, crying for being abused, but he followed and continued his torment. iris had finally had enough and said the only thing she could think of to possibly get him off of her, even if only for a second in shock.

so iris said “i want to be a girl”.

coming out at 9 was not something iris was sure was a good idea. she was labeled a boy at birth, with no questions asked of her own opinion on the matter, and had always thought that she never quite felt like she was a boy. of course, when she has seen girl characters in games or anime growing up she would always sympathize or cherish them, not as some crush symptom (although that did develop later) but as a form of jealousy. so she concluded, around the age of 8 that she wanted to be girl, not knowing that she already was one.

of course, this story doesn’t have a very happy ending. saying this only stopped her father for a moment, until the beating began anew and even more harsh than before. she was dragged downstairs on the carpet and wooden floor (that she had already fallen down before and broke her arm on), essentially thrown in front of her mother and brother and screamed at. iris of course doesn’t recall the exact words said, but tears from her mother she’d and her brother looked sick a tiny bit, at least to her in the moment, it seemed that she was the cause of all of this turmoil.

upon finally all being together (and a momentary lapse in memory due to a blockage of iris’s memory of how bad it was) the family took the time to not go to her grandparents. instead, they drove iris all the way to the church that she was “baptized” in, brought in front of the stairs by her father, and told that it’s against what “god” wants from her to be a girl, and that she was disgusting and sick. and that if she didn’t take back what she had said, that things would get a lot worse. iris of course, being as scared as she had ever been in her life, pleaded with her father, that she just wanted to say something to shock him and make him stop hitting her, and said it wasn’t true and that s-she was a b-boy…

her father, happy with this news, made her swear on it (something extremely scary for the nine year old girl) and then took her back to the car, where she apologized for “lying” about this and took it back once again as a “joke” in front of her family. iris doesn’t have much memory beyond this of being happy for most of her life of course, as she spent the rest of her youth trying her best to convince everyone that she definitely was a “boy”, and ruined many friendships by lashing out.

…

iris, came out again in 2021, after the first year of the pandemic, to a few of her close friends at the time, but of course, was unsure of if she was making the right choice, and allowed them to call her the name that was chosen against her will, instead of just saying to call her the name that actually made her happy. she started hrt in 2022 at the age of 25, at the behest of her girlfriend, who is trans herself. she hid that she was on hrt for two years from her father that she was forced to still live with, until only 5 months before she escaped, with the help of many true friends.

iris has nightmares of the terrible acts committed on her by her father, at least once a week, although they have been less frequent in recent months.

[factorydefaultlu]

I'm literally gonna start gatekeeping fallout. I'm so serious I am tired of words like "pedo" and "racist" getting thrown around in the tag just because people don't agree on a ship or don't like a character.

I am so serious, the fandom had issues before but now we've invited puritans and people with white knight syndrome into the fandom and it's leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I swear to god if they start sterilizing fallout because of the new surge of people getting into it then I will personally execute Todd Howard myself.

[third-doctor]

Where's that post about dehumanization is the weapon of the enemy, we will not use it?

We don't dehumanize anyone. Anyone. No, not even those people. Anyone.

There were members of the Nazi party who came home from the day to a wife and children they loved. There are white supremacists and Nazis today who love their pets and sing bad pop songs in the shower and enjoy getting together and laughing with their friends. All of them are people and that is the scariest part. By dehumanizing them, saying that they're all inhuman monsters, we separate ourselves and the people we know from them. I can't hold anything like these beliefs, I'm a good person. I'm not like those people. My friend Paul couldn't possibly be involved in this, he's just a regular dorky dude. To paint everyone with racist, white supremacist beliefs as an inhuman Other who doesn't even count as a person is to deny our own ability to do harm and participate in these systems and beliefs.

Besides that, if someone is a monster and not even a person, then you can do whatever you want to them. Whatever atrocities you want to commit are justified. They deserve to die slowly and painfully. They deserve to be tortured. They deserve to be guillotined in the street for all to see. They weren't one of us. They hurt us, so we deserve to hurt them in return. I've seen this play out a hundred times. One group hurts another. The other group hurts them in the same way. So they hurt them again. And then the cycle just continues. The solution is never to put the boot on someone else's neck. It's to remove the boot entirely. Nobody deserves to suffer.

Also, a lot of social justice culture has a very black and white, no nuance mentality. You're a good person or you're Problematic and you deserve everything coming to you. And heaven help you if you make a mistake.

You are one mistake, one wrongly-worded comment, one bad faith reading, one twisted game of telephone and rumors, into being labeled as a racist or a white supremacist. Because when those labels make someone something Other and evil who deserves to be killed then people will find an excuse to say that anyone they don't like is these things. Anyone even associated with them is these things. We can't justify atrocities and say that they're deserved. The people who are affected by that are never going to just be the actual assholes trying to hurt and kill and oppress people. There's always going to be innocents mistakenly labeled as them.

Anyone can change and grow and learn from their mistakes. Anyone can choose to become better. We should encourage people to become better, not shove people into the Other box. Yes, even those people. You know who else that mindset hurts? Kids who grew up in those environments. People who never had a chance to question the things they'd learned. People who are coming out of those environments and trying to unlearn things but who aren't immediately perfect. We have to give people the space to learn and grow and it is never too late to do so.

To be clear, I'm not saying lay down and take whatever shit's thrown at you. Fight back. Fight to stay alive and make the world better and support the people around you. Fight the people in power and fight to change the system. But we don't take it any further.

Anyone can change. Anyone can become better. Nobody deserves to suffer.