#whats not okay is enforcing your opinion onto others

[evrensadwrn]

if u cant handle a simple disagreement then ur immature

[avephelis]

okay. jrwi fandom. sitting you all down. i need everyone to hear this. all sides. okay? ready? the discourse is stupid. (TLDR: block each other)

making a dichotomy out of what is a nuanced topic, and enforcing it on EVERYONE with an "us versus them" mentality, is stupid. boundaries and fandom activity are not a black and white moral issue, and you are all harassing each other over having different personal opinions. and forcing that discourse onto everyone else.

you CANNOT and WILL NOT "win" an online argument by harassing people. if you group people up, and ostracise/villainise that group, those people are going to LASH OUT. and DOUBLE DOWN. they are not going to magically agree with you. it's frustrating, but that is how the internet works.

boundaries and fandom are complicated topics. jrwi boundaries, especially, hinge on a message from 2021, which has since been contradicted by the source material. it is a grey area. but REGARDLESS of your stance on that, the point of boundaries (about fictional media and fictional characters of age) are to protect an INDIVIDUAL, and what THEY see and interact with. not to create a code of rules for everyone. and as far as i'm aware, nobody has been making the council interact with nsfw content.

FURTHERMORE. people are ALLOWED to have their own boundaries. people are ALLOWED to be uncomfortable with sensitive content, and to choose whether to engage or disengage with it based on the information they are given. making fun of people (ESPECIALLY minors) for being uncomfortable with a complex situation, and for disengaging to look after themselves, as well as acting intentionally obtuse, is not counterculture. or a "ha, gotcha". it is not cool. it is immature and needlessly cruel.

and, while it is important for people to have safe spaces, jrwi is a piece of adult media. it is fine if teens are interacting with it and the fandom space, but you cannot expect everyone to cater to your personal comforts in that space. and i don't mean this condescendingly, but everyone NEEDS to be responsible for catering their experience to best look after themself and others. because social media by design is a hostile environment.

block tags that are uncomfortable. block people you are uncomfortable around. and the people creating said sensitive work? TAG IT so we can avoid it. rate it appropriately. it is not funny to intentionally expose people to content you know is triggering for them.

and as for callouts. if there is nobody being actively hurt (which there were not in recent events), you can handle it privately. otherwise you are actively exposing uninvolved people to content they are probably trying to avoid. which isn't productive.

please just be respectful and take care of both yourself and others.

[kitkatopinions]

What made you don't like coco? Other than the Nazi allusion of course which is fucked. No hate btw, just curious of your opinions. I only follow RWBY proper and don't read the spinoffs, I don't give a shit about her either way.

So outside of her allusion being Coco Chanel, there are a couple of problems with Coco in the canon content of RWBY that made me think she was an over-rated character even before knowing about her allusion, reading Before the Dawn, and seeing the Chibi skits with her in them.

She told Velvet to just... not fight in season 2 when Vale was attacked by Grimm. It was a pretty serious thing where civilians could've been hurt, and it could've resulted in a much larger fight if it didn't get contained, but apparently Coco didn't care about that as much as she cared about being flashy with Velvet's weapon later for some reason.

Coco's fight with the Grimm is one of the worst fights of the first three seasons, she seemed very stationary and took like five minutes to take down one Grimm which she took her sweet time to do and like, clunkily clumsily hit it with her purse and kicked it in the crotch (which is such frat-boy humor tbh anyway.) And it was all while this really high energy song was playing and us as audience members were supposed to be like "whoa cool, look at the upperclassmen!" But like... Comparing Coco's fight to any other main character's early fights, she looks much less impressive. This wouldn't be so bad if we weren't clearly meant to think she's super cool in that moment.

Those were just a couple of small things that made me a bit annoyed with her because I just couldn't see the appeal in a character that didn't seem to take a Grimm attack seriously and then seemed to not be that good at fighting when that was like all there was to her besides a vague idea that she liked fashion and was confident, two things you could get from other characters easily.

Then there's the books. I didn't read the first one, but I read the first like fifteen chapters of Before the Dawn and tbh I thought Coco was so annoying. Here's why.

She's super judgmental towards people she doesn't even know. She basically decides she hates Sun and that he's a talentless loafer and a horrible leader the first time you ever see them interact, and every time she thinks about Sun, she takes the least generous outlook of him and is making assumptions and thinking rude things about him. She also judges a girl Reese for the way she dresses.

One of the things that Coco takes issue with in Sun was him needing help fighting off a group of like four powerful adults who he saw stalking a woman and tried to help with that to make sure she was okay, and Coco assumed he must've been like hitting on her or something? And also made fun of him for needing help instead of just beating them, which to me felt also hypocritical as well as judgmental considering we saw Coco be unable to hold her own against one teenager when she was fighting with Yatsuhashi in the Vytal Tournament, like Merc was literally running circles around them both, and then she's like 'oh the guy who went onto the finals must be so much worse than me because he can't take on four powerful adults on his own!"

She is super prideful tbh in a way that's icky for a future badge carrying law enforcement officer. Three things that come to mind is one time she stood up and people fell silent and she inwardly reflected on the fact that it felt good that people were afraid of her, another time she inwardly reflected that one of her problems with Reese was that she'd put things to a vote with her team whereas Coco just made choices and didn't need any other input, and one time she went to save a civilian and when he protested that she called him helpless Coco threatened to abandon the guy to get attacked and one of her friends proudly thought about how she was super sadistic and it was cool.

Another thing that isn't cool in a future badge carrying law enforcement officer is that Coco seemed to really detest having to follow... Any sort of rules, and in fact a 'clue' that one of her teachers was possessed or something was that the teacher was doing things like telling Coco she couldn't do things she wanted to do and didn't have the authority to just walk around doing whatever she wanted. I don't remember all the details, but there was this strong element of them not wanting accountability or rules and being frustrated every time they had to follow rules.

Also I can't remember anything specific right now, but she kind of thought some weird stuff about people from Vacuo sometimes that made me be like ??? and in the first book (though I haven't read it) she does things like name the nightvision glasses Velvet gave her 'BunnyVision' which is a yikes, and especially coupled with her Nazi allusion, it makes her venom towards Vacuo born Asian Faunus Sun seem more than a little suspicious.

So yeah, those were reasons I collected to not like Coco from the book. Then there's Chibi.

In the Chibi skits, Coco calls Velvet "Bun Bun," which just makes their already uncomfortable dynamic worse and feels very microaggression-y.

In all Coco's skits, it was painfully obvious that whoever wrote them really really REALLY wanted EVERYONE to think she was just so so so cool. Like, they read like 'everyone clapped' reddit stories, and they specifically had like 'cool' rwby characters desperately trying to be as cool as she is, and everyone was fangirling over Coco who just couldn't care less. And it was just super annoying, like the more they hype up Coco and try to convince me that she's cool, the more that I look at her stupid Nazi-themed outfit and her bad personality and go "Huh?" Like maybe instead of trying to convince me to like her, the writers should've made a better character. XD

Aaaand the last reason I don't like Coco is because she has some of the most annoying fans in the entire rwby fandom. The glorification of Coco as some girlboss queen and 'great lesbian rep' who just cannot be removed from the RWBY lineup is just wildly off the charts. One time I made this post that was like "shouldn't we want more from our queer representation than a Nazi-inspired character? Shouldn't we be trying to get Rooster Teeth to retire Coco for the sake of the Jewish fans who are rightfully uncomfortable and tell them to make Velvet openly queer so she can head this extra content instead?" And people got furious with me, and I think I might've even got death threats for that. Also, the amount of times I've seen Coco stans attack Jewish people for complaining about her being based off of a Nazi... Like the response is always "you just hate lesbians," to Jewish queer people! Also, this is less important than the antisemitism but a Coco stan once got annoyed that my sister said not only should Coco never make fun of what another girl is wearing but that it was bold coming from someone who also doesn't dress in a way that's traditionally considered fashionable, and they started picking apart my sister's fashion sense and appearance. I'm sure there are some fine people who like Coco, but on a general whole they tend to be bad news, and the venom they defend their Nazi best girl with severely put me off of the character even more than normal.

So yeah, outside of the allusion, it's a combination of her just being not well done in her first appearance and yet framed as really good, her having a bad personality in the book I read where I didn't think she was fit to be a badge carrying law enforcement officer, her Chibi skits trying to make her the coolest of the cool in a really forced way, and her fans sometimes being terrible people. XD

[thegayneurodivergentagenda]

hi hello pran autism anon here again!! i just watched ep 4 again and i noticed at the scene when pat comes to give pran his earphones, and lets himself in, pran repeatedly expresses his distaste at the fact for two reasons. yes, he doesn’t want pat infringing on his privacy or messing up his meticulously arranged living space. but it's the other reason that intrigues me when looking at pran through an autistic lens. he repeats that pat entered without being let in. he's very bothered not only by pat's actions, but also the fact that pat is breaking a social norm. as an autistic person, i find that i tend to feel uncomfortable when i see other people not follow social norms, which i feel is because i've had to consciously learn these and remind myself to follow them for years. i feel like pran is having a similar internal experience here, where he's seeing pat do something that isn't considered 'socially acceptable', which bothers him because he has a script in his head that he's built up over the years, and this doesn't follow the script that he uses to dictate what is and isn't okay to do, what does and doesn't get him acceptance from his peers etc. he then comments that pat 'has no manners'. i think this is a pretty common thing that many autistic people have experienced, being told we have no manners because we unconsciously broke an unwritten social rule we never learnt about. pran, in my opinion, can't help but project the rules he's learnt to help himself fit in and mask onto other people. it might be a very small detail to focus on, but it's something that really got me thinking.

thank you for reading my rant about literally three lines of dialogue!! hope you have a great day!!!

I love you anon.

I know you didn't technically ASK me to rant about Pran's relationship w his room but I have too much to say and I hope you're okay w that.

So

Pran and his room: from the lens of autism

1. As someone with autism, social rules and norms that we agree with are set in stone. So your analysis about Pat breaking a social rule makes a lot of sense. Especially when you see the other interactions at the food stall and music shop (you're not supposed to sniff people????????????)

2. It's also likely that he's very transparently present in his room. For people with autism, our rooms are our safe spaces and worst nightmares because they reflect so much of who we are. If they are messy, It's our mess. If it's organized, It's customised to our space. Rooms, dorms and other living spaces are basically a self portrait.

Which is why when Pat dares enter and sneak a peak at his barest self, lit with fairy lights and faces telling him how to smile, rituals along every curve and table, he feels scared. What if Pat notices his smilies and thinks he's still a child (he should have overcome the hyperfixation by now? Will Pat understand?) What if Pat notices his coffee stained couch and calls Pran on being an imposter who only pretends to get angry at messy stains. There's so many ways Pat could see behind his carefully constructed masks.

His apprehension from pat entering could be from not letting Pat see him.

And that's also why he holds the social norm of asking before entering so close to his daily functioning; revels in the safety of enforcing this rule rigidly.

[I sometimes liken this to the idea of a nest in the omegaverse where it's extremely personal and reflective of the person making it. I also love the omega verse so much because it takes a lot of neurodivergent traits and makes them seem normal and that's just another post altogether]

3. When Pat and Pran finally get their shit together Pran let's Pat change his room and make the space theirs. It's the biggest declaration of love if I've ever seen one. He let's Pat put up photos and shares his bed and doubles the Pillows and makes space for Nong Nao. All because he's ready to allow Pat in his space. Across the rituals. Inside his safety.

4. The fact that the most crucial of the moments (The Kiss, The Bet, The Ming) happen away from the safety of his room goes along with this and his canon OCD.

If you're living with OCD, safe spaces can turn into compulsions at the sight of threat. And the fact that he was so adamant on keeping the relationship behind closed doors felt a lot like stemming not just from his anxiety about his parents but also his imposter syndrome: It's a glitch in the matrix that Pat likes me back and we should not test the matrix lest it remind Pat I'm an annoyance that he rather not deal with.

If you have autism, the safety of your room provides familiar and clear cues that could be helpful if an emergency is to arrive (I could just start talking about the rotting food if conversations get tougher// I could go to my own washroom and pretend to take my time if I feel overwhelmed). These safety nets are not present Outside.

And it is through his autism that Pran shows his love to Pat.

He let's Pat break his rules constantly. Not because they don't cause him discomfort. They still do. But his love for Pat is just greater than that.

He will let Pat drag him outside. Let Pat post photos of him. Let Pat make a mess on his kitchen table. Go with Pat to an unknown room.

As Anon said, these rules and norms and safe spaces are all in place because of being reprimanded for being neurodivergent by the neurotypical system builders. They are precautions to avoid being hurt or being called out on the fact that they don't belong.

But Pran doesn't feel hurt in Pat's presence. Because regardless of if they are friends or enemies, they've always belonged together.

[gossip-girl-of-middleearth]

Please tell me what you think of Rings of Power. I am deeply suspicious of it (haven’t seen it yet) and yours is the only opinion I trust

Okay, so, is it a greatly-written fantastic show that lives up to Tolkien’s books and Peter Jackson’s adaptations in terms of quality? No. Is it as shitty a hellfire that it deserves to rot in a dark damp cell as we previously thought it would be? Also no.

The writing sucks mostly and it comes across a little contrived where I think they’re going for “deep” and “insightful” in some cases, and they really have some weird ass storylines developing (they basically wrote Celeborn out with a “idk man he went to war and never came back anyway what you doing later tonight g” line) but I can almost understand that as they don’t have rights to a lot of the source material.

The dialogue is cheesy and feels like CBS-level writing sometimes, but honestly if you don’t take it too seriously a little cheese is good for the soul.

The characters themselves are actually pretty good. They didn’t just go for the classic “elf falls in love with mortal girl” trope that could otherwise be applied to a thousand terrible fanfictions, but rather “immortal elf shares deep mutual respect and affection for mortal woman and doesn’t enforce said emotions onto said mother and her son, but rather respects their boundaries and presents himself as an otherwise great partner and healthy step-father figure to this young soldier boy), and other relationships are also well done, such as Elrond and Durin.

Elrond himself in this adaptation is actually fantastic despite the short hair and is so genuinely hitting all the marks that he almost reminds me of book Elrond more than Hugo, but both are amazing in the roles for the different parts of Elrond’s life they’re depicting.

Hated Galadriel at first because she was your typical overly-done girlboss but she’s gotten some good development towards the end

Adar is a dilf and fuck everyone the man makes some political sense, he’s just the accidentally elected leader of his people and is tryna find a home for them, go off king but uh the volcano is a bit much

Nori is essentially Frodo in this timeline but she’s cool and I dig her vibe and every big story needs that Luke Skywalker boy from next door character to ground it so I really like the Harfoot story

Uhhh im running out of things to talk about

Oh yeah everything happening in Numenor is awesome, the set looks great and the characters are fantastic. BRB crying about Isildur knowing what happens to him but he’s so young and optimistic and full of life in this story, also just realised he’s totally gonna meet Elrond in this show because they become lava buds later

Idk if this is actually a helpful answer anymore I’m just ranting while I wait for my tea to cool

Halbrand is hot and I’m sincerely hoping he’s Sauron like everyone thinks he is

But look, at the end of the day, Amazon has got so much money they’re gonna keep making this thing. They’re already filming season 2.

The season finale is this week and there’s only 8 episodes a season all together. It’s accessible (from a piracy point of view) and a nice little break every Friday you can treat yourself to

The world already sucks so if you wanna escape into fresh scenes of Middle-earth just tune in every Friday, fuck what everyone thinks man you just gotta do you, if you wanna watch it, give it a go, it’s not great but it’s not terrible either

[huggingtentacles]

Intimidation via Swagger (w/hatemail)

So invade these three guys at Crumbling Farum Azula. The host and his password summons instantly try to rush me down in an enclosed space, so I get the fuck outta there. I jump down onto the next choke-point without realising that I can't jump back up. So I just start waiting for them to progress the level.

As you might've already guessed, that didn't happen! They just stood there on that ledge for 15 minutes refusing to play the game, as I stood there as a lone invader. And so began the grind.

I started shooting at them, throwing magic at them, I poisoned them, rotted them, and one of the guys even got blasted off a cliff twice. It was really sad to see because I kinda wanted to test out my combos on this new faith build I'm practicing.

But then! A hero appeared! The phantom that got blasted off a cliff finally took a stand and jumped off to engage me. But then! gasp A betrayal! The host and the other phantom just stood there on the cliff, watching their friend get slaughtered. They didn't even bother to try and help. They just watched. It is truly a tragedy.

So they stood there for another 15 minutes, they didn't even show their faces now. One last time the host caught scarlet rot, and it was all over. And by over I mean he cried to his mom to pull the plug on their WiFi router, disconnecting from the session after letting his friends die 4 times and not gaining an inch of ground.

I found it quite hilarious. Because they tried to seem like they're not intimidated and threw disrespectful gestures at me, I succumbed to my dark side and shot the host a DM, resulting in this hilarious conversation between two totally mature people.

CW: gamer rage, racial slurs, might be homophobic too I'm not sure

^btw this is huggingtentacles lore. the tentacles family only fucks the winners

Ah yes, Gamer™ talk. By the way I was literally on the floor from this conversation, I thought I just hit a salt mine. But then!

I tried to shame the guy for letting their friend die alone, which in my opinion was the worst thing the host has done. Like I would not wanna be friends with the guy who would leave me for dead to save his pride.

grandmatentacles strikes again with her rambles about the Good Old Days ™

After which the host hit me with an ultimate gem that prompted me to make this post:

That last sentence absolutely destroyed me, I was on the floor ugly laughing. You have to have SOME kind of talent to make this up, right?

Okay now real talk.

I do not recommend you do this. Don't go out of your way to message people after an invasion. I understand that we as invaders do a little trolling, and it can be harmless fun, but this is really not what the game is about. I don't want invaders to be defined as these griefers that just go around being all overconfident and snobby. Invaders are just a force of nature, a counterbalance to the host's overpowered co-op. We are here to enforce the game mechanic that makes co-op playthroughs unique, risky and fun.

Yes some of these players have it coming, especially those who violate the rules of the game. But I gently recommend you to stay humble. It's just healthier this way, I think.

[peachyteabuck]

I definitely wanna know your opinion on it

okay, I waited to do this until I had some down time at work and HERE I AM!! so here is the really long in depth discussion about whether cis authors should be able to write trans characters:

first thing, I feel the need to set parameters about what is being asked. Similar to the "should ace people be allowed at pride" argument, I think a lot of the confusion comes from how exactly we enforce that. A lot of people see transness as something very overt which...is often not true? I've been "out" for about 10 years, I am very open about my transness, and maybe people I've known for months have said they didn't know I was trans. This becomes an even more complicated quandary

In essence, framing this question in this way asks all authors to be "overt" about their transness, regardless of their own comfortability and safety. Their overtness also needs to conform to The Masses and how they perceive that person. There are plenty of trans people who are out but "stealth," meaning they are often not outwardly perceived as being trans. Is it their responsibility to correct the hegemonic discourses surrounding their gender? If it is, why?

It also assumes all trans people are experts in how they write trans people, which is....so much not true. In the way that Buck Angel has an informed opinion but not an expert opinion about gender affirming care of trans minors/kids, trans authors may be an expert in their own experiences but not the experiences of the people modelled after their characters

(There is, of course, some problematizing here when it comes to fantasy writers--but this post has to stop at some point, so I'm displacing fantasy elements of stories for now)

I think this is a good place to mention Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, because I think it handles these issues so well. I harken reading that book to biting into a crisp apple or a perfectly toasted baguette. It not only discusses the white characters' literal stealing of an Asian woman's writing, but also how said Asian woman often stole stories of others as well. It's a different context, surely, but the Asian character is described by many to have taken traumatic stories told to her and farmed them for content, as well as acted parasitically towards the trauma of other Asian people.

Obviously the white author's plagiarism is cut-and-dry morally, but the Asian author provides another layer onto the issue that we can map onto this one.

Specifically, one trans person may not be the best person to tell all trans stories. Cis people are not the best people to tell all cis stories.

Additionally, we need to ask of ourselves "what is a 'bad' trans character?" What does poor representation look like in a world where we want characters to be flawed?

Anyway: I guess the TLDR is that there is no hard and fast rule, and it is more of a question of nuance that need to be tailored to the specific instance rather than preventative measures

[sixthwater]

Hello 2023 and welcome to one of the new series that will become a regular on this blog~! I won't be focusing on any celebrities in particular, but more so the themes within pop culture, the entertainment industry, the world around us, etc. It's nothing new, but it's something that I always enjoy peeking at.

Chapter One's Subject (a request actually!): Will Celebrities Ever Stop Oversharing Online

Deck's Used: Mystical Mondays, Luminous Spirit, Astrological

X of Cups, IX of Wands Rx, X of Swords

Immediately heard ‘I’m bored’, how cute. Obvious signs of a cycle ending and starting a new one, but I think it’s similar to how fashion trends are picked up and cycled through. I don’t think they’ll stop oversharing but they’ll change the way they do it – at least for a good majority of them. What I’m seeing here is a mix of their label / company enforcing that ‘fanbase is a community/family’ idea, and also the actual influence of their family. So for some it can be that what their family members involve themselves in can cause them to pull back from media: they get into controversy because if their relatives do this then obviously you aren’t exempt in some form, they get tired of fighting because you can’t win every battle and you aren’t perfect, constant persecution, going offline unless you’re needed. For others, their fanbase get too comfortable and feel like there are no boundaries and if the artist tries to enforce them after a period of time, they get shit for it, and if they don’t others see them as weird – it sort of circles back into the same thing. For others (cause I only really pulled for general energy), it could be that something else grabs their or their label’s attention. Parasocial relationships are always a moneymaker but a lot of artists had to make their songs go viral on TikTok because that was quick cash, so it’s sort of like that. The celebrity themselves could honestly find more fulfillment offline (which will Still end in criticism, this is media) or another way to get clout will pop up that Doesn’t involve constantly being logged on. This X of Swords doesn’t necessarily feel like pain or betrayal it feels more like someone being pinned down to stay there and they’re not really fighting it, like they’re turning away from the situation and they’re okay with that, and they look just like the person in the IX of Wands.

King of Wands, Princess of Swords, The Devil Rx

Yeah, I can see the cycle will rewind again. They’ll be big and flashy but not without seeming out of touch or saying stuff that won’t catch legitimate criticism. Right now celebrities are, supposedly, trained in great PR. They’re supposed to relate to us and they can’t do that because you just can’t possibly do that once you get transferred into a different lifestyle. You may remember how you started which is fine, but you don’t live that way anymore, which is also fine. However the best image is always the approachable and relatable celebrity, everyone chases after it in everyone they follow even if they deny it. That’s going to go away, which means they no longer have to watch their filter or care for how much money they dropped on a pair of shoes. All the opinions you have of people who ‘aren’t as ethical as your fave’ might fall onto…well your fave, if they’re still around for this, I have to check timing hehe. However I think those battles of who is better than who will also thankfully go away with The Devil here, there’s no longer an obsession with these people because the perception of them has been shattered so while yeah, they’re big celebrities, it’s also like “oh yeah we are from two different worlds, their music is great though”.

Timing: VI of Pentacles Rx

Not gonna happen for a bit, but when the change does happen it’s dragged out? Like some people will still try to cling onto how things are being done now, but I feel like it’s more the label or company trying to keep the train going the same so they don’t have to rework images or anything (VII of Pentacles; yeah a lot of work behind the scenes to either rework a botched image or to figure out where to go after events have taken place).

Anything in particular to cause this?: VIII of Pentacles, The Magician Rx, Queen of Wands

Hm. Don’t like that lol getting a strong feeling that it deals with someone either being very vocal about how they’re very hands on about their work/production only for someone else to come out and tear them to shreds with evidence (hate this but it feels very much like whatever happened with the Beauty community on youtube but not…messy). The Queen didn’t really want to come out so I don’t think they’ll speak up immediately if this is what happens but when they do they’re gonna be pissed. Or another way to see it is someone seen as being very honest with their work and it turns out they’re sleazy (Venus) Hm Okay this is why I don’t like hollywood lol. I mean yeah this can stand for art, but with the Queen and then Venus I think this female energy is being taken advantage of (either their work or legitimately) by someone who has that ‘kid next door’ charm and then the ball gets rolling from there. Since I didn’t like this energy I just asked if everything will turn out okay and I got the VI of Cups. Mm because of the imagery it feels like an issue that gets solved over time (Justice isn’t here but like I’m assuming if it’s over time then legal issues, or if it’s emotional or mental issues then obviously-), and the other interpretation was that they have people in their corner that they’ve worked with before or that are really close to them that have their back so that makes me feel better.

That’s all! Thank you for reading and I hope to see you next time!

[flo-milli-shit-hoe]

MEGA ATSV SPOILERS

okay, so, im using this post to coalesce all my thoughts about this movie character by character, and no this is not proofread/edited

LAST WARNING FOR SPOILERS (also this post is just long asl)

Miles:

MY DAYS!!!! he is such a cool character. his entire struggle is about trying to fulfill others expectations and growing to find himself despite those expectations. AND GOD if that is not the teenage struggle. he doesn't want to disappoint his parents, but he also want to live up to being spiderman. AND he's still struggling with the grief of not being able to see his ppl (gwen, peter, etc) again bc they're in other dimensions.

ALSO, I love how his character represents the struggle of morality (get it? morales, morals- nvm). everyone in the world has different morals and different ideas on how to enforce right and wrong. a major point in this movie is what happens when you force your morals onto everyone else

Gwen:

ALSO ANOTHER COOL CHARACTER!!! like im still mad that she kinda betrays miles by never telling him the whole story. BUT OMG her character is such an interesting exploration of identity and trust (and also how much hurt you cause even when u think ur doing the right thing; bc girl why didnt u tell miles what was going on).

her dad unknowingly hunting her the whole time is such a cool part too. like it speaks to how parents can make their children feel unsafe with uninformed opinions and biases, aka all his comments of how dangerous spider woman is even though he doesn't know the full story (i.e. spouting homophobic things around you child not knowing they're gay; or supporting the criminalization of things like weed despite stats showing that such a petty offence is used to put undeserving ppl behind bars (btw these r just random examples))

Hobie:

ISTG I LOVE HIM SO MUCHHHH!!!!! his character is such a good tribute to what a punk ACTUALLY is. especially in a time where skinheads and sharps are such a pervasive problem in the community (also fuck all the yt ppl who ruined the term skinhead, you appropriated british-jamaican culture and put it with nazis, i fucking hate you). despite all the disdain everyone held for him and his idc attitude, the one thing hobie was consistently is KIND. he barely knew miles for more than 20-mins and still helped him when shit went south bc that's what punk is meant to be. its community support, kindness, and righting the wrongs made by the establishment.

Pavitr:

I ALSO LOVE HIM TOOO!!!!! his character is so happy-go-lucky and positive (and honestly the opposite of most peters that we see). im sad we didn't get to see more of him and his universe except for setting up the plot of spot and miles being an anomaly.

Miguel:

THIS BITCH!!!! I LOVE AND HATE HIM!! he's such a well developed antagonist. esp bc he's not actually a villain, he's just another spiderman. he's such a good analysis on what happens when a person thinks that suffering is inevitable/is required to develop as a person.

AND YES WE FUCKING KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BREAK CANON! i keep seeing analyses of his character that keep asking 'well how do we rlly know what happens?' he tells you, the movie tells you, EVERYONE TELLS YOU what happens. the only reason he is the way he is, is bc he broke the canon and got punished by the narrative for it. now, this isn't to say that what he's doing is right (trading lives for one another), just that it makes sense from his perspective.

Jessica:

another adult that i kinda hate.

but i get it, she has a baby and her own home dimension to protect. but damn, this isn't the way to do it. she's another wonderful example of what happens when ppl believe that suffering is necessary (like yes, suffering happens, everyone will suffer; but the whole thing about being a hero is to prevent suffering when you can!!! not to enforce your ideal of what morality is).

both her, peter, and miguel represent one major part of the generational divide between gen x and gen z. SO MANY ppl in gen x (jessica, peter b, miguel, any other older iterations of spiderman) believe that struggle is required, and that things shouldn't improve so that future generations have to struggle like they did. but ppl in gen z (miles, gwen, hobie, pravitr) are suffering from decisions we didn't make, being tasked with fixing these problems so future generations DONT suffer like we have to.

Peter B:

my dude, you fucked up, you have to accept that before you keep trying to apologize. stop shoving your fucking baby in everyone's face

once again, a perfect example of why you can't try to enforce your morality on everyone (except he's not as clear cut as jessica and miguel bc he switched sides in the end). i think he (and gwen) knew what they were doing was wrong lowkey. but didn't understand just how cruel it was until it happened to someone (miles) they cared about personally, which is a whole commentary in and of itself. and honestly, i think he still wouldn't have realized it if miles went along with it instead of fighting to save ppl.

Mile's parents:

they act just like my caribbean father and aa mother istg

they are the best outcome of 'your parents are ppl too'. they sacrificed so much to get miles to where he is and want to make sure he doesn't waste his opportunities in life. they're the perfect example of well-meaning parents, and im SO GLADDDD that they start learning to listen to miles. im so excited to see how their relationship with miles develops in the next movie.

Gwen's dad:

a perfect example of what happens when you jump to conclusions like its the olympics.

(like most cops) he doesn't investigate the other factors to peter's death and just goes with the most obvious lead, spider-woman. which, eventually, costs him his daughter (quite literally... he fucking shoots at her). BUT, it was SOOOO refreshing to see him grow because he realized that his job was ruining his relationship with his daughter.

The spider ppl of the first movie:

(this category is like penny, noir, spider ham, etc.)

you sometimey bitches pmo. like the first movie was a wonderful example of how to fix the spiderverse w/o all the shit miguel is doing. yet, here yall are betraying miles.

i have nothing else to say

if you made it this far

SHOUT OUT TO THE WRITERS OF THIS MOVIE!!!!

ESP BC THIS CAME OUT DURING THE WGA STRIKE. YALL DESERVE ALL THE LOVE, YOUR JOB IS SO HARD. AND YOUR WORK IS SO IMPRESSIVE!!!

SHOUT OUT TO THE ANIMATORS TOOO!!!! YALL PUT SO MUCH LOVE AND CARE INTO THIS MOVIE. ITS PHYSICALLY PALPABLE HOW MUCH YALL CARED ABOUT GETTING EVERYTHING JUST RIGHT.

(though it does suck that you can't watch this movie if ur photosensitive, which def defeats the 'everyone can be spidey' thing and it's just ableist)

[hardtruthsfromsoftcats-blog]

This isn't always the case, but it sure seems to be true on a number of issues. The problem isn't that they want to discuss the problem, but that the insistence of a discussion is all that they have to offer. Be wary when you're trying to solve a problem and people are trying to slow you down.

This reared its head, in my opinion, in the AI community recently with the AGI letter. Here are a bunch of, shall we say, "machine learning influencers" (I can't believe that's a thing) insisting that we pause training something "more powerful" than GPT-4. And maybe that's a good idea! I think we are not, as a society, keeping up with the technology. But also, like, bruh, is that all you have to offer? I won't get into the details of why this was such a boneheaded petition from a pragmatic perspective, at least not in this post (How would you even verify it? What does it mean when the only organization that has something like GPT-4 isn't signing on? How would you enforce participation? etc. etc.). The point is, though, there are a number of things we could lobby for right now that would, through the policy, align the effects of AI tools with what society wants. But these talking heads have nothing to offer --- they simply punt the question back to you, the reader of their petition, pat each other on the back and declare victory.

No, I lied, it's worse than that, because when challenged, a lot of them dug in their heals and dogmatically pushed back. As just one example, Gary Marcus, the guy who simultaneously says that deep learning doesn't work but also that AGI is imminent and a threat to our society (??) went so far as to foist future blame of the end of the world on people that didn't sign the petition. As if that was going to solve the problem; I don't see him presenting real solutions.

(So as not to be the guy who complains and does nothing to help the problem, in an upcoming post I'll suggest a bunch of possible actions we could take to help improve the symbiosis of AI development and society.)

I've seen this phenomenon with a few other areas, like "we need to have a discussion about stem cells" or "gun control," or "CRISPR"; if you want to have a discussion then start the conversation, don't offload responsibility onto your peers.

Honestly, I think people are just too afraid of being wrong. But as long as you aren't dogmatic about it, you can always change your opinion. It's okay to be wrong! But take a stance, pick a side, make an argument, and be ready to change your opinion based on the other arguments brought before you. Only by taking a stance will you set the groundwork for discussion and actually have one. Otherwise, you'll just be distracting people from the top of the fence.

[gun-witch]

Common Red Flags when joining a new Witchcraft community

I've been into witchcraft on and off for most of my life now, and I've been through my fair share of witchcraft and occult related communities (mostly discord servers, but a few in person groups too). In that time, I've been on the receiving end of a lot of toxic behaviors, and participated in many myself. I've learned a lot, and while these aren't absolutes, here are some behaviors from established members that I tend to look out for.

Claiming one's own UPG is objective or unquestionable. It's very common to value your own UPG over the UPG of someone else, you experienced it so you can trust it more. It's also pretty normal for communities to have accepted and shared beliefs or moral rules. What isn't okay is when things that can't be verified are expected to be taken uncritically.

Normalization or engaging in cultural appropriation. Now, I know many on this site abuse this term in some pretty backwards ways, so let me clarify. Cultural appropriation is when a person takes superficial elements from a culture they don't understand, or when they try to engage with closed practices uninvited. Learning from a closed practice to create your own rituals is usually fine as long as it's done respectfully, but many go much further than this. It's a hard thing to identify, but usually people who do this will have something to say about cultural appropriation as a concept, usually in an angry tone with some very unsubtle bigoted statements attached.

On the other end, abusing the terms of cultural appropriation in ways that are often racist. Commonly white supremacists will mask their beliefs in progressive language, claiming people of certain minority groups are invading their culture. Sometimes though someone well meaning will try to make a decision on the behalf of a marginalized group. A more recent trend I've seen is people claiming something is appropriation of their culture, when it's actually the original practice their culture took from. Usually though, these people are very easy to spot, especially when they tell people not to work with spirits who reach out to them, or demand proof of someones heritage. When in doubt, talk to people from the culture in question, multiple people ideally since opinions can vary. Learning from cultures you're not a part of is a difficult subject and you should always tread carefully.

Strict gender roles, or claiming of "gendered energy". There are some belief systems where energy is aligned with genders, but this idea is often appropriated to push conservative views on gender and gender roles. Especially look out for stuff about women existing to give life, men existing to fight, or anything that sounds like it could be transphobic or homophobic.

Really, just any kind of bigotry should go without saying. If you think someone's a white supremacist or anything of the sort, and the community is cool with that, save yourself the stress and get out of there.

Trying to enforce the rules of one religion onto practitioners of another. Most cases are easy to spot, like how certain Christians will insist things are sins and harass anyone who does those things. However, it can be a little sneaky when you're new to witchcraft and don't know something isn't a universal rule. This is most common with the 3 fold law, which is specific to Wicca but often pushed on witchcraft as a practice.

Historic revisionism, particularly in trying to deny the historic validity of practices. This happens a lot, but the most common I've seen has been people who claim Satanism didn't exist prior to Anton LaVey's church. This is often used to claim one's own religion is older under the belief that this makes it more valid. On that note;

Claiming that a religion being older makes it more true. Many of the religions involved in witchcraft are very new, but this isn't a bad thing. In trying to find truth, new things are often discovered, which means many practices change, and sometimes new ones spring up.

Erasure of electic, secular or atheistic practices. Many witches don't subscribe to any one religion, follow any gods, or even believe in any gods. There is nothing wrong with this.

Similarly, the insisting that witchcraft is only Pagan. Christians are usually singled out here, along with many other monotheistic religions. Fact is, witchcraft is a practice, not a religion, anyone can do it.

Finally, aggressive "skepticism" or overt hostility toward alterhuman (therian or otherkin) identities. I don't think I need to explain what's wrong with attacking someone's identity like this.

I apologize if this is at all disorganized or anything, I wrote this in one go with no real proofreading, it's just stuff I though should be shared based on my own experiences. If there's any takeaway though, if a community makes you uncomfortable with their demands that you conform, you should just find a new community.

[betteradvice]

Eliminating Negativity From Your Environment

Overcoming Single Mom Stigma:

The chances are you’re feeling a mix of excitement, anxiety, and maybe a bit of “tell me this gets better?” Let’s chat about navigating the sometimes choppy waters of single motherhood, dealing with those pesky stigmas, and coming out on top!

Identifying Toxic Relationships

First things first, let’s talk about the people in your life. You know, those people who leave you feeling like you just ran a marathon after a five-minute conversation? Yeah, those are the toxic ones we need to address…so draining!

Toxic relationships are like that one pair of pre-pregnancy jeans you’re holding onto – they might have fit once, but now they’re just making you uncomfortable. Look out for signs like feeling constantly drained, disrespected, or like you’re walking on eggshells. If someone’s always trying to control you, criticize you, or isolate you from your support network, it’s time to reassess that relationship. When i say reassess, you know I mean distance yourself if you can.

Remember, a healthy relationship should make you feel supported and respected, not like you’re auditioning for a role in your own life. Stop doubting yourself or putting everyone else’s needs before your own. You’re growing a human – you deserve all the support and respect in the world!

Setting Healthy Boundaries

Think of boundaries as your personal forcefield – they protect you from energy vampires and keep your sanity intact.

Start by getting clear on what you need and what you’re willing to accept. Maybe it’s telling your mom that unsolicited parenting advice is off-limits, or letting your friends know that 9 PM is your new “do not disturb” time. Whatever it is, communicate it clearly and calmly.

You have to enforce those boundaries. It might feel uncomfortable at first, especially if you’re not used to putting yourself first. But trust me, it gets easier with practice. Plus, setting boundaries now is great practice for when you’re teaching your little one about respecting others.

Overcoming Social Stigma

Social stigma is a classic "elephant in the room". Unfortunately, some people still have outdated ideas about single moms. But guess what? Their opinions are about as relevant as last year’s celebrity gossip. I heard someone say this once "your opinion of me is non of my business". I loved that.

Instead of hiding away or internalizing that negativity, let’s flip the script. Educate people about the realities of single parenthood. Share your story (if you’re comfortable). Show them that single moms are awesome and that some of the greatest people came out of single mom families like Barak Obama just to name one.

Building a strong support network is key here. Surround yourself with people who lift you up, not drag you down. And remember, you’re not alone in this. There are millions of single moms out there doing it tough every day.

Navigating Co-Parenting Dynamics

If the baby’s father is in the picture, navigating that relationship can be… interesting, to say the least. The key here is communication, communication, and more communication. (Did I mention communication?)

Talk about your parenting approaches, how you’ll divide responsibilities, and your plans for the future. Remember, it’s okay if dad takes a little longer to bond with the baby – everyone’s journey is different.

If things get rocky, don’t be afraid to seek professional help. A counselor can give you tools to communicate effectively and focus on what’s best for your little one. And while we’re on the topic, it’s worth brushing up on your legal rights as a single parent. Knowledge is power. Above all though, drum this into your baby fathers head "it's all about the child and not about you two".

Fostering Positivity at Home

Your home is your sanctuary, so let’s make it a positive place for you and your little one. No, I’m not talking about a Pinterest-perfect nursery (although if that’s your jam, go for it!). I’m talking about creating an atmosphere of love, respect, and encouragement.

Start by showing appreciation for the little things. Maybe it’s thanking your belly for growing such an awesome baby, or praising yourself for making it through another day of morning sickness. Encourage teamwork, even if it’s just you and your bump for now. Use phrases like “We’ve got this!” to reinforce that sense of unity.

And hey, while you’re at it, why not make your physical space as positive as your mental space? Open those curtains, add some plants, and declutter. A tidy space can do wonders for your mood.

Cultivating Mental Strength

Last but definitely not least, let’s talk about building that mental muscle. Being a single mom requires resilience and a positive mindset – think of it as your superpower.

Start by practicing positive thinking. I know it sounds cheesy. But neuroscience backs this up – you can actually rewire your brain to be more positive over time so that's pretty cool.

Create a “positivity reservoir” by focusing on the good things in your life, no matter how small. Approach challenges with an open mind, and remember that setbacks are just temporary speed bumps on your journey.

Conclusion:

Being a single mom isn’t easy, but it’s incredibly rewarding. You’re showing your little one what strength, independence, and love really look like.

Don’t let anyone make you feel less than amazing for choosing this path. You’re not just a mom – you’re a teacher, a provider, and a nurturer all rolled into one fabulous package.

So hold your head high, set those boundaries, surround yourself with positivity, and remember that you’ve got this. You’re part of an incredible community of strong, resilient single moms who are changing the world one diaper at a time.

Here’s to you – may your mocktails be sugar-free, your naps be long, and your journey be filled with love, laughter, and lots of baby cuddles.

Cheers,

Alex

[forhopeandhealth]

disability

DISCLAIMER: this is my personal opinion based on my life experiences. if you have a different viewpoint, opinion, or experience that is okay!, I am just sharing my perspective :)

since I have started experiencing pain and have become "disabled", there have been many changes to my world and my belief systems. the biggest change, that is somehow worse than the ableism, is the identity crisis I have gone through. disability affects all moments of my life. I didn't know what to think of my new experience at first, but my identity was then defined by such. I was disabled.

I started identifying with "being disabled" the angrier I got with our society and my situation. I have taken on that term as if it is the only thing that defines me, as it is the only thing i'm being shown that defines me. I have always been taught to use person-first language but at this point in my life, I know it's a copout. created by and for an ableist society. why is being disabled so bad and awful that it's "incorrect" to refer to someone as a disabled person? it does not matter whether i'm a "disabled person" or a "person with a disability". the way I feel will be the same. the way i'm treated will be the same.

recently I started thinking deeper about my ties to being a disabled person, and why it was so important for me to identify as such. I have decided I need to remove myself from this belief. being told you are disabled changes your entire perspective, and believing you are disabled traps you even further. it warps your experiences, your relationships, your insights. disability as a term has been created and used mainly by abled bodied individuals and able bodied society to categorize those they feel are inferior to them. in order to heal we must disown this concept. we must remove it from our identities and others perspectives of us. we must break free from the ties we hold ourselves in because "we are disabled". we are not "disabled", we are just human beings living our experience. we as a society and as a human species need to move past this internalized belief and onto something greater. we are all "able" in our own ways and the only one that has told us we are not able is the general population. disability is strictly meant and enforced to put those with different experiences down. we must rise against this concept and start taking back our experiences. we cannot let ourselves be defined by the masses who are truly trying to put us down.

I implore you to think about your use of the term "disabled" and to remove it from your vocabulary. avoid the traps that were set for us and feel free, be free.

to healing,

hope x

[gemscales-and-tea]

🔥 fanart?

Send me '🔥' for an unpopular opinion.

Okay so this is probably actually an unpopular opinion on my end but...

You CANNOT hope to release a big project onto the internet, with full fledged characters, and expect or demand that no one make suggestive or sexual art of it. Well, I guess you CAN demand it but how you bank on having that enforced is beyond me.

Look, I get it. I really, really get how seeing suggestive or sexual art of your characters could be uncomfortable, especially if you're going for a certain feel. But the truth of the matter is that... this is the internet. The internet is perpetually horny. When you create a piece of media that is meant to be consumed by others, you are going to have to contend with the fact that other people ARE going to make art you don't agree with.

They are going to make art and fanfic you won't like. They're going to thirst for your characters, no matter how horrifying or monstrous you make them. You could make the most fucked up, twisted, terrifying piece of fictional media known to God and man and I guarantee you that someone is gonna think it's hot.

I have never seen the point of releasing a piece of media that is meant to be consumed and is going to be consumed... and then getting in a tizzy because the people aren't playing with or portraying your characters the 'right' way.

We've literally had this whole situation with people like Anne Rice and she was actually able to SUE people and you know what happened? People still did whatever the fuck they wanted with her characters, they were just sneakier about it.

My point being:

If you CANNOT handle the fact that someone, somewhere, is going to look at a fictional thing you created and feel some kinda way about it-- whatever that way is-- ... then it's probably better for you and everyone else to make that thing more private than public.

Because you are NEVER going to be able to have full control over how people see or play with your characters in their art or fiction.

You're just not.

[distortedwhite]

searching for yuurin on here was a mistake

it was rinyuu. now shut up with "the name ordering is homophobic" or whatever, for some relationships it just. really matters. and this isn't even about a sexual context either. like no i don't want to see a canonically headstrong character reduced to being meek and weak just because their partner happens to be tall and/or strong and/or muscular.

like i'm going to be controversial here, but the "okay the second character that's named in the ship name is more passive/submissive of the duo" while the second character Also happens to be the shorter/more petite one like 90% of the time just makes me think that most people unconsciously enforce traditional gender roles. "the feminine one is submissive!" "the tall and sexy one is obviously dominant!" and that just makes me really uneasy

idc if you like that kind of dynamic, in fact i support you, you go my regent live your dreams. now idk about anti circles, but i've seen this kind of preference in Every non-anti circle i've been in, and it makes me wonder. is my head broken??? is that what's going on?? i dunno but when i talk to someone in a discord server about my preferences in a ship and they're like Reacting but not really, because the moment someone arrives with The Dynamic that reminds me of traditional gender role enforcement, the person i was talking to is Very eager to ignore me in favor of the other person. which is fine. humans flock to people who share their opinions and yknow good for them. but when they look at you with distain because you raise a new dynamic onto the table i'm really questioning how far away the "ship and let ship" motto has gone

it just doesn't really feel like a community anymore and it's just really frustrating. "i will treat people with respect but the moment we have different preferences i don't want to talk to them" kind of thing. i'm aware people are different from me, but if i see someone who does the specific dynamic i'm repulsed by, i still want to support them you know? like fandom is all about sharing your creativity with the rest of the community, and i would be very frustrated with myself if i mentally told someone they should stop doing whatever the fuck they do

[diloph]

Diloph, since the only Avatar related thing you've reblogged is the Yautja killing the N'avi, I'm curious what your opinion on the blue elf movie and how it's becoming relevant again with a sequel.

Haven't seen the sequel at all, but I remember the first movie. I thought it was okay, considering that I was much younger and didn't put much though into stuff like themes or whatever.

Naturally, I thought the film looked nice enough, but I wasn't very convinced about the world. If the bad guys were the standard evil and ruthless Weyland-Yutani types, why did they just... you know, leave after being beaten in ground combat? They could have easily bombed the planet into rubble, or hell, avoided all conflict in the first place by digging under the Na'vi's trees to get to the Unobtainium (sigh).

What had them go down the middle as bad, but not so much as to cause problems for the script?

I understand that for the narrative to work, they needed to be arrogant and aggressive, yes, but they either didn't commit to it fully or took every opportunity to fight for no real reason. Just snapped their fingers and went "Aw, shucks, guess we're beat. But we'll get you next time, Avatars, just you wait!" then went home.

You could argue nuking the site from orbit is overkill and needlessly evil, yeah, because somebody somewhere presumably has some standards. But after negotiations failed and their next response was an all-out assault with missile-armed future gunships against foes they dismissed as uncivilized and primitive, why wouldn't that be their next move? It didn't make sense.

Still, I do remember having one very distinct opinion of the film at the time. One comment raised my ire back in the day, when James Cameron said that his new creature, the Thanator, was apparently capable of easily killing both the T. Rex from Jurassic Park and the Queen Xenomorph from Aliens.

It's then, very anticlimactically, quickly stabbed to death by the main bad guy company enforcer in a mech with a large-ish knife.

Now, that evidence alone makes me laugh said claim out of the room, but I'm of the opinion that you don't insult those two iconic horror monster ladies of film and expect shit like that to fly. Both beings were very capable of taking hits; a creature evolved to deal with ceratopsian horns far longer and sharper than the knife or a creature with above-monster intelligence and highly-pressurized acid for blood would have made far shorter work of Quartrich than the new monster, but it's a thing I'd like to highlight.

A very common and aggressive form of hyping up a creature used in a film, is to compare it to others previously established in canon or out, setting them up as a rival or superior... and that is something I absolutely despise when it comes to monsterdom.

Rather than have it have its own merits, or forge its own legacy, it stands on the shoulders of titans and claims it made the mountainous climb all by themselves. There are certainly some things I like that do that, versus concepts like AVP that I enjoy, but the fact is that most of those I like had the monsters build themselves up, then start making noise.

Going hand in hand with that is the distressing modern trend of marketing/writing in movies nowadays to have a new, tougher monster, kill the old one to establish how badass the new creature is. Then usually have it killed in a way the original one would have shrugged off or just "and then they shot it to death", which is so unimaginative it hurts.

Whiiiich leads me onto the Predator (as in the creature, not the bad film where that stupid thing happens).

Spaghettibastard's art of the Predator killing the Na'vi is, in my mind at least, an extension of that or one of the insulted franchises striking back at said comments. If Cameron's words were true and the Thanator could kill Xenomorphs (HA), then naturally, the Yautja would set up shop there and have a grand old time, their hunts decimating Pandora's landscape when the occasional hunter was downed and activated his self destruct device.

Even when they're being careful, they could easily devastate the planet because of its interconnected ecosystem, which again considering the snide comment against the Predator's favourite rivals who are akin to a living cancer and would topple such a system, bears keeping in mind. They're jerks and glory-hunting killers, but they have a system in place to ensure that they don't cause irreparable harm, contrasting them to the "sure, we're evil, let's mass kill sometimes but not all the time" villains of Avatar.

You could also look at the meta commentary of the images. I'll preface this, given that I'm not learned on the subject and a white European guy about to hit thirty, my words should definitely be taken with a (gratuitous) pinch of salt.

Cameron's Avatar films have been slammed for appropriating Indigenous American cultures and themes, including many themes and tropes that are considered patronizing to said cultures. I've not looked into this as much because I'm not a fan of the franchise, but as far as I'm aware, there's been moves to protest and boycott the films for these transgressions. Opinions of the people that apparently inspired the Na'vi and their world are very dim towards Pandora and they aren't afraid to make that known.

The recent Predator film, Prey, on the other hand, was praised for its ties to the Comanche actors that gave the film its characters and world, even releasing an Comanche dub. Despite the fact that the killer monster is murdering numerous members of Naru's tribe, the Comanche protagonist ultimately wins out against a vastly tougher and better armed foe by using her wits, the environment and everything at her disposal, as a sensible protagonist should.

Better, smarter people than I are more capable of addressing the themes and likely will, but my reasons for reblogging the pictures were the "settling the score" dynamic of monsters I mentioned, rather than any criticism of said themes or dislike of the franchise, which I have little to no investment in.

Will I see the new film? Probably not, unless it's on TV one day or I get the notion to investigate it. I saw a giant reptopanther being stabbed to death by a middle-aged army guy in a mech suit after the director claimed it could get past two of modern horror's most infamous set of fangs and claws without issue. I think I've seen all I needed to.