takeninbadfaith - Tumblr blog

[takeninbadfaith]

PSA regarding tumblr’s latest Censorship Nightmare

For those of you who haven’t seen this announcement, tumblr recently made some changes to the iOS version of the app, purportedly to comply with Apple’s content guidelines. These changes took effect on Dec 21, starting in version 22.5.1 of the iOS app. As some of you may recall, Apple’s strict guidelines were the driving force for the infamous Great Purge of 2018, which coincidentally also happened around this time of year, but it seems banning all of the female-presenting nipples wasn’t good enough for Apple.

Below is a summary of the important changes. Note that these changes technically ONLY affect those using the iOS app. If you’re accessing tumblr through a different app or operating system (Google Chrome, Android app, etc) it won’t affect you directly but it will affect your followers who use iOS so you should definitely be aware of it.

The list of banned tags has been expanded. As before, there’s no way to know which words or phrases have been banned until you try searching for them, in which case you’ll either get no search results or the following message: “This content has been hidden because of potentially suggestive or explicit content.” You may think this doesn’t concern you if you don’t post explicit material, but do not make the mistake of expecting the banned tags to be logical or reasonable. I’ve already encountered multiple completely innocuous posts (random fandom gifsets) that seem to be hidden on iOS for no discernible reason.

Blogs that have been flagged as explicit can no longer be viewed. Previously, flagged blogs just had their posts hidden from searches, but if you knew the username you could still visit it after clicking through a warning about sensitive content. Now you can’t access it at all.

Likes and reblogs from blogs that have been flagged will no longer show up in your notes. This one won’t affect most people’s user experience as much as the others, but it does mean you may be missing notes. It’s unclear if likes and reblogs from flagged blogs will still count towards the overall note total (and only be missing from the activity feed and note viewer) but I suspect that’s the case.

THE BIG ONE: ANY POST TAGGED WITH A BANNED TAG WILL NO LONGER SHOW UP ON YOUR DASHBOARD. Previously, if you tagged a post with a banned word or phrase (even if the words were used inside another tag), that post would not show up in searches, but your followers would still be able to see it on their dashboard. Now those posts are hidden from your own followers as well. This includes both original posts and reblogs. And if that wasn’t bad enough, here’s the real kicker: even if you don’t tag something with one of the banned words, if the OP used a banned tag, any reblogs of that post will not show up on anyone’s dashboard (on the iOS app). The only saving grace here, and I hate to even call it that, is that the blocked posts are still visible if you visit a blog directly or if you have post notifications turned on.

As usual, tumblr was extremely unclear and evasive about all of this in their official announcement. Not surprising, of course, since if more people were aware of these new draconian tactics I can’t imagine there wouldn’t be more of an uproar about it. Tumblr claims that these changes are somewhat temporary and that they are currently working on something that will allow for a less restricted iOS experience, but they refuse to say what that something is and when it will be implemented. And let’s just say, considering their track record, I’m not hopeful.

All of this is horrible and infuriating for many reasons, but the worst part is how insanely counterproductive it is to creating the “safe” environment tumblr (or more specifically Apple) supposedly wants.

Tags have always been used for both blog organization and filtering purposes. Tagging posts with triggers and content warnings is a common practice that gives users the ability to filter out content they may find upsetting or just don’t don’t want to see for whatever reason. By choosing to ban a bunch of unlisted “sensitive content” tags, all they’re doing is encouraging people who want to share that kind of content to come up with alternative less well-known tags or simply not tag that content at all anymore if they want it to show up on their follower’s dashboards, thereby making it more likely for someone to encounter it when they didn’t want to.

So really, with all of the alleged concern for safety and “protecting the children,” all they’ve done is make tumblr less safe for everyone. Typical.

[takeninbadfaith]

The “Thou Shalt Nots”

and the “tip” that could have replaced all of them.

AKA the “No Shit Sherlock” group

AKA Did you need these tips? is that why you put them in? Aside from taking pot shots at She-Ra?

16: If the only gay man in your work is a faupish diva, you’re a huge turd.

No shit.

My gods, did this really need to be said? 

The only thing i’m questioning is what show is this in reference to? because damn near the rest of these are about characters in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. If you know, please tell me so i can find the diva and love the heck out of him. 

on a more serious note, while, yes, if your only gay male character that one has in their work aligns with the limp-wristed, lispy fop stereotype, then one does need to examine their writing and how they write characters, because gay men come in all personalities. If one of many MLM characters happens to be more femme, then that’s not a problem, as femme gay men can and do exist. 

17: If the only lesbian in your work is an abusive ragaholic with vague angst issues and a codependent relationship to a protagonist, you’re a huge turd.

So. This is a dig at She-Ra, and at the character of Catra in specific. Though, even then it’s a poor dig, becuase, ya know. Adora is also a lesbian or bisexual. Making Catra not the “only” lesbian character. Also there’s Netossa and Spinerella who are in a relationship. 

Diregentleman also pointed out that this list of characteristics also near perfectly describes Vaggy from Hazbin Hotel, a show that Orchard likes. So. The problems for her seems to not be with the stereotype of the angry lesbian, but with the fact that She-Ra and the Princess of Power existed.

18: If your only nonbinary character is a nonhuman shapeshifter, you’re a huge turd.

Dig at She-ra again, this time aimed at the character of Double Trouble. 

One the one hand, yes there is a problem of non-normative genders being only in non-human characters, but Double Trouble was ground breaking in a lot of other ways. For example, they were a non-binary character who was voiced by a non-binary voice actor. 

Also, I wonder if Orchard realizes how much shape-shifting can be a power fantasy for someone who is non-binary. I’m non-binary, and I would love to have shapeshifting powers. 

19; If your only autistic character is an ethically challenged number fetishist, you’re a huge turd.

Three strikes at She-Ra. the target this time is Entrapta. 

I don’t think that she is canonically autistic. Anyone can feel free to correct me, but while Entrapta is written to be autistic-coded, i don’t believe it’s been stated anywhere that she is autistic. 

Pulling from Diregentleman again, but Orchard’s contempt here seems to be aimed at She-Ra for existing, as her favorite character on Steven Universe is reportedly Peridot, whom can also be described as an autistic-coded, ethically dubious number fetishist. 

While there is something of a point that most autistic characters in media do lean towards being mathematics savants (Mass Effect Overloard DLC, Rain Man, etc) the specificity of this complaint, and the personal insult, render any point to be derived from this nigh useless.

20: If your only black character is a volatile hyper angry brute, you’re a huge turd.

21: If the only black woman in your cast barely has any screen time except to be fetishized or its rule 20, you’re a huge turd.

What is this an attack at? Is this aimed at Star Wars? if it is, what Star Wars did you watch, because neither Finn or Lando could be described as “Hyper Angry” or “Brutes”. If this is a dig at She-Ra again, then uhhh.... there’s at least? 2 characters who are black. More than two even. 

And there are also at least two black ladies in She-Ra, if this is an attack on She-Ra. 

Like with earlier ones in this sub-set, the specificity and personal insults render it really hard to pull out the very true crumb of a salient point that is here. which is that if you only have one black character in your work and that black character is written in this highly stereotypical manner, then you need to do some self examination.

22: If the only trans woman in your cast is a Drag Queen in all but name, you’re a huge turd

Proof that Lily Orchard has never watched RuPaul’s Drag Race, and also that she has no knowledge of Drag culture at all. There are, after all, trans women who are Drag Queens: Gia Gunn, Kenya Michaels, Monica Beverly Hillz, Kylie Sonique Love, Jiggly Caliente, and more.

Of course, what Orchard likely means by “Drag Queen” is “Man in a Dress”. which is, frankly, insulting to the men, women, and nonbinary people who do wonderful artistic work in the world of Drag. However acknowledging that insult would require nuance, and social media - Twitter especially - is where nuance goes to die. 

73: The best way to avoid tokenism is multiple characters.

This point, and the fact that Orchard wrote it in as if it was something separate to the seven others that were presented at the beginning at her list, seems to prove that the other seven really were attacks at specific shows and specific characters, rather than the universal “tips” that she tried to hide them as. It also renders them all moot, because this is how you would write those earlier seven as a general writing tip: the best way to avoid stereotypical writing is to have multiple characters who could fall into a certain marginalized identity. For example,  have a group of gay men, one of whom could be described as a foppish diva, but also with many more who aren’t. or, if you do have only a single character who occupies a marginalized identity, then make sure that character is a fully realized person, and not just a quickly slapped together stereotype.

A wonderful example of this in the professionally published world i can think of of the top of my head is the “Society of Gentlemen” book series by K.J. Charles which is about a group of upper class men whom all are men who love and have sex with other men (some could be described as bisexual in modern language, but the series is set in the regency period in England). One character, Mr. Julius Norreys, is a foppish diva, primarily concerned with his clothing, and stinging others with his rapier wit, but in his own book - A Fashionable Indulgence - and the others, delve quite deeply into his character and history to show why he is how he is.    

Go read and be inspired.

[takeninbadfaith]

Credit Where Credit is Due

Given that my plan is to rip into this list with as much bad faith as good faith, i do feel that i have to give Lily orchard some credit and say that there are a couple items where I, as someone who is a writer and constantly in the process of writing, actually find as crumbs of decent advice. 

28: Don’t try and “do what Avatar did.” You can’t. Even the people who made Avatar can’t make another show do what Avatar did.

While I do wish the phrasing here was more positive, there’s a boiled down crumb here that is useful. Namely that, as much as ATLA was a seminal work that had so much influence on the world of western animation, it is not he be all and end all. You (general you) can make something that is different and yours and potentially even better than ATLA. 

Or it can be that you are just you, you are not Bryke and the team of editors and story boarders and animators that all worked behind them, so don’t expect big studio quality out of yourself because you are a single person, so be forgiving of yourself and any faults or slights that you find within your work.

31: World building is like salt. A pinch can make it better, 10 cups of it will not.

I watch a ton of cooking contest shows (Top Chef, Master Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, etc) and based on how those high level chefs talk about salt and other seasonings, find salt to be a great metaphor for the use of expository world building in a story. Some foods won’t need a lot of salt because they already are inherently have a salty flavor, others need a lot of salt to bring out the best in them. In both cases, if you use too much you’re going to make a dish that no one can eat. So it goes with how much world building can enhance your story. It may be a story where you don’t need to add a lot of it, it might need more. but if your story is only world building, then it isn’t that much of a story. 

79: “Feature Creep” is a problem in storytelling as well. You don’t have to cram every single idea, reference, and homage you can think of into a story. You can save ideas for another time.

You can always make another story.Too many things packed into a single story can make something too complicated than it needs to be. Or you end up with Ready Player One. and no one wants that. 

[takeninbadfaith]

i wanna respect everybodys opinion but some peoples opinions are just so terrible

[takeninbadfaith]

I recently saw your post about lgbt+ language with the history of queer and stuff, and is the phrase “we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it” also a result of a response towards those radical lesbians you were talking about, as well as society as a whole? I have no idea how or where I even saw that phrase and I don’t even think I’ve seen or heard it in over a decade, but it has that prolific sort of protest-y feeling and I’m curious

Ah, no. That one's not from conflict within the LGBTQ+ world, it's from our struggle with the world around us. It's the battle cry of a community trying to convince the world around them that LGBTQ+ people were:

A real and non-trivial part of the population, and could not be made to disappear

Human beings who deserved to live, even if they kept participating in "the homosexual lifestyle"

Dying at horrific rates of a disease nobody understood or had treatments for, and

Going to fight like HELL for their survival.

On a previous post of mine people got talking about the AIDS crisis, and the contributions made it better than anything I could do alone. I think it's very worth reading. But one thing I want to highlight is:

The Die-In. It was a tactic ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) used in the late 1980s and early 1990s to push AIDS into the public consciousness. Activists would rush into a public place like a traffic intersection, a busy train station, or the entrance to a government building, and "die", laying down and bringing things to a grinding halt. They held up signs and tombstones airing their grievances; they chanted slogans aimed to bring about the very particular political point they wanted to drive forward.

[Image description: ACT UP protesters outside the FDA headquarters in Rockville, Maryland on October 11, 1988. They demanded the release of experimental medication for those living with HIV/AIDS with slogans reading: 'Never Had A Chance.' 'I Got the Placebo' and 'I Died for the Sins of the FDA.' Source. End image description.]

AIDS deaths involved so much stigma and isolation. Fear of contamination meant that hospitals were reluctant to treat patients with HIV/AIDS, medical staff hesitant to touch them, and ordinary people afraid of so much as using the same toilet seat or water fountain as them.

And then, like the post I reblogged a couple days ago, severe illness and death meant that many people's estranged families suddenly re-entered their lives, because they were often the only ones with the legal rights to visit them in hospital or dispose of their effects, and wanted to hush up their queerness. Bury trans people under their deadnames, write obituaries of gays and lesbians that failed to mention their significant others or cause of death.

So that's... the context in which Queer Nation arose, and the environment in which "queer" was reclaimed. "Queer" was useful because it was inclusive and easy to put in a chant, and also because straight people did use it as a pejorative.

Mainstream liberals would literaly argue that sure, they guessed gay people had the right to exist, but did they have to be so blatant about it? Did they have to be such fucking queers? And sure, AIDS was terrible, but those activists were so unpleasant, and anyway, it's a totally preventable disease: Just don't have gay sex ever! Problem solved! (Spoiler: Gay people will not stop being gay; nobody deserves to die for having sex; and straight people can get HIV too.)

So ACT UP also staged "kiss-ins", which also involved occupying a public space, but this time to prove that people can be gay in public and the world will not end and society will just have to DEAL with its inherent disgust or moral outrage or whatever.

That's where the chant came from. It's stepping out defiantly into public space in a marginalized position, and warning the world that we are not going away. We refuse to go away. If, as many claimed, God himself designed AIDS as a punishment for the sin of homosexuality, and meant it to wipe gays from the face of the Earth? He must feel pretty sheepish right now, because it didn't work.

We're here. We're queer. Get used to it.

[takeninbadfaith]

Redemption or...

The first of the Orchard “writing Tips”/secret fandom purity culture manifesto that I will address is this one:

4. Victims of abuse moving away from the negative impacts of their abuse (ie Zuko) and becoming healthier is not a “Redemption arc”.

On the one hand, she is entirely correct. If a character’s arc within their story is unlearning how any abuse they suffered has made their view of the world or themselves faulty, that story arc is not a redemption arc.

On the other, Zuko’s story arc within Avatar the Last Airbender is so very much a redemption arc that it physically hurts to see it not described as that. Zuko is set up as antagonistic to the GAang, but he also is shown to have antagonists of his own that he works against, sometimes even working with the GAang to fight them. His interactions with Katara, Sokka, and Aang in the later seasons are him working to make amends with the people that he had wronged when he was chasing them around the continent. He earns his place in the GAang by proving that he has changed as a person and in his goals.

Zuko is a textbook example of a redemption arc. 

Underlying this tip though, there is a lot of implicit biases that are also threaded through out the other items on the list (which i’ll show on other posts). There is the implication of how what is or is not a “villain” and how roles, even genres, are supposed to be set in stone, and immoveable. Here, it is that abuse survivors are never “villains” and thus do not need redemptions arcs, and so Zuko, who has survived familial abuse and ended up a "hero”, had to have been a “Hero” all along, and never a “villain”, and did not need to be “redeemed”. 

I’ve heard it said in other critiques of this twitter thread that Redemption is a “dirty word” to Orchard. If that is a true reflection of her worldview, then it is shown in this rule because of how she has tried to twist the application of the trope away from a most obvious example of it.

[takeninbadfaith]

I hate when people say "they are just kids, it doesn't matter" when referring to some 13 or 17 year old that is acting like an asshole online. Responding angrily towards someone who makes unfair accusations about you based on what art you create, or that sends you hateful messages, should be an acceptable response regardless of the age of the other person. Just because someone is young doesn't make them harmless, like, a rock thrown by a 15 yearl old or a 35 year old has equal chances of hurting

--

People can learn to behave, or they can go sit in the corner for a time out like the sulky babies they are, yes.

[takeninbadfaith]

The next original posts that will be here are going to be a look at that “100 simple writing tips/rules” that Lily Orchard posted and deleted about a year/year and a half ago. I know that there have already been other, bigger blogs that have gone through it, and i have transcribed the list itself from Dire Gentleman’s video on the topic. I think i have a different spin i can add to the internet analysis 

For this series, I’m not going to be examining the list as legitimate writing advice, but as a fandom purity culture manifesto that is disguising itself as writing advice. Some posts while focus on 1 rule/tip, while others will be a grouping of very similar rules/tips (anyone who has seen this thing will already know that there are plenty of them that are the same thing/similar things but worded slightly differently). 

I’m also doing this as something of a presentation in specific from the POV of someone who is involved in fandom cultures and has watched the rising tide of purity culture, TERF, and RadFem talking points with worry.

... and because i take issue with some of the Dire Gentleman’s comments about fandom and their devaluing of fanfiction and their characterization of fanfic writers as “amateurs who have done nothing”. 

anyway. hope ya’ll enjoy the series. 

[takeninbadfaith]

queer is literally a slur. like you’ve never been called that in a derogatory context like most lgbt people? you think your experiences escaping homophobia make it okay to justify the use of a homophobic slur?

queer is an identity.

it has also been used as a slur. there is no denying that. but using a word as a slur does not make it a slur. because before queer is a slur it is an identity. before it is derogatory it is a label. the use of queer as an identity is infinitely more important than the use of queer as a slur because the people who identify as queer are infinitely more important than the people who use queer as a slur.

say a lot of people decided they hated me. despised me. were disgusted by me to the point where my own name became a slur. would you tell me not to say it? would you tell me i could no longer be helena, and instead must come up with a euphemism for the name that belonged to me decades before it belonged in the mouths of bigots?

because that would make you an enabler.

you would tell me i can’t say my name anymore because some lowlife decided he could use it to insult me?

you would tell a gay man that he can’t be gay anymore because some teens in the early 2000’s started calling everything they didn’t like “gay”, and now he has to say “same sex oriented male identifying individual”?

does that enrage you? because it should. that’s exactly how you sound.

you are telling me i cannot use my label. you are telling me that when my great-uncle shouted until his face was red and he spat tobacco and the word queer at my feet, he was right. he was right to insult me, and i was wrong to say my name.

you are shitting on every single one of our predecessors. you are slandering every person who fought for their rights to exist and and be tolerated and be celebrated in their countries, every person who was lost to the aids epidemic, every person whose country criminalizes love and gender expression, every child whose parents abandoned them for straying from the norm, every person who was born and will die in the closet longing to be themselves. the queer umbrella is a safety net, a security blanket, the comfort of being known without being pressured to tell. it is near and dear and important as fuck to every member of the lgbt+ community and you are a blight upon the earth you walk.

how dare you speak upon my experiences with homophobia. how dare you disguise your own homophobia as activism. and how fucking dare you have the audacity to come to my blog and hide behind an anonymous ask and preach to me about how i’m oppressing myself. go look at the fucking wikipedia page for queer and read about how 1980s lgbt+ activists, especially lgbt+ people of color, fought to call themselves queer in a world that still hates peculiar things. and here you are forty years later spitting queer back at their feet.

i don’t give a fuck if people start using my name as a slur. my name is still helena. i will not change it. i chose it, i like it, and it belongs to me. it does not belong to bigots no matter how badly they want it. your discomfort with my identity is not my fucking problem.

i am helena. i am queer. die mad & go fuck yourself

[takeninbadfaith]

"But some people don't know how to exclude/filter tags or forget to or don't want to!"

Then that's not my problem. It's not my job to make you comfortable if you aren't wiling to do the bare minimum. As a writer, it's my responsibility to make sure my content is correctly tagged. As a reader, it's your responsibility to be excluding/filtering tags that will make you uncomfortable.

[takeninbadfaith]

After censorship, book burning is the next logical step

Spotsylvania School Board orders libraries to remove ‘sexually explicit’ books

“I think we should throw those books in a fire,” Abuismail said, and Twigg said he wants to “see the books before we burn them so we can identify within our community that we are eradicating this bad stuff.”

[…] But Abuismail said that whatever processes are in place “haven’t worked” and demanded an immediate audit of all school division library holdings.He said he doesn’t like the idea of Rapp’s book being on school division library shelves for one more night and that the fact that it is in a school library means public schools “would rather have our kids reading gay pornography than about Christ.”

[…]

Twigg said he would like to broaden the criteria for identifying objectionable books.“There are some bad, evil-related material that we have to be careful of and look at,” he said, without elaborating.

And this is why I am against censorship. Any and all censorship. You can ALWAYS broaden the meaning of “bad stuff” and “bad, evil-related material”. First it means A only, then B is added, then two more steps and suddenly materials about your identity are “evil” and “bad” - about lgbtq+, about disability, about your legal rights. No censorship. No, not even for “this terrible, dark, disgusting subject”.

“Where they burn books, they will also ultimately burn people.” (Heinrich Heine)

[takeninbadfaith]

Somewhere in my notes in the last few days I saw someone add some tags that I’ve been thinking about ever since. I wish I could find them again (or that I’d just saved their post at the time) because I think they made a lot of sense.

They were talking about how fanfic is becoming more and more mainstream while still remaining largely transgressive. It’s such an interesting dichotomy to think about!

On the one hand, you have sites like AO3 and realities like widespread high speed internet access being more and more accessible to larger and larger groups of people. This makes it incredibly easy for anyone at all to find and read fanfic.

On the other hand, you have the roots of fanfic. It was born out of marginalized groups such as women, people of colour, and members of the queer community deciding to take the stories that had been aimed at a largely male, white, heterosexual audience and inverting them into something they could enjoy and relate to. To this day, fanfic is a place where people write the kinds of stories that don’t get made into movies and TV shows. The kinds of stories that don’t get published or end up on the New York Times bestseller list.

Fanfic used to be written and shared in secret. People used to hide it. People still do hide the fact that they read or write it. But it’s becoming something that more and more people are becoming more and more aware of.

So now there’s a spotlight starting to shine on fanfic. People who aren’t looking for transgressive works are finding them where they always were. People who think the status quo is fine are getting upset when they enter a place where the status quo is constantly being upended.

The tags on that post that I can’t find made the point that popular media is curated and sanitized and stripped of most of its controversy in order to appeal to the widest possible audience. But that also makes that audience expect all media to be curated and sanitized in the same way. When they encounter the messy, controversial, ugly, radical, difficult things that people write in fanfic, they’re unprepared.

Fanfic isn’t big media. Fanfic authors aren’t being edited and filtered and polished - and nor are their works. The clash between the expectations of people new to fanfic and accustomed to popular media and the realities of what fanfic is and what it’s being written for - that’s part of this struggle that fandom is going through right now. It’s been going on since the beginning of course, but it’s getting louder every year.

I’m still thinking my way through this, but it really does make a lot of sense to me. If those were your tags, please let me know so I can credit you with the ideas at the core of this post.

And if you have any ideas for how we as fans can better introduce the newbies to the culture and expectations in fandom, I’d love to hear it. The better we can guide people into our space, the better they’ll fit in when they join it.

[takeninbadfaith]

Historical fiction in general.

-cracks knuckles in anticipation-

okay so I love historical fiction, historical fantasy? even better. But! I can see where someone who has been mired in purity culture and the anti mindset would take issue with it.

Historical fiction is on the same wibbley-wobbley timey-wimey spectrum as Real Person Fiction, aka RPF. Is all historical fiction RPF? yes and no. Is all RPF historical fiction? yes and no.

Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters book series (Phoenix and Ashes, The Serpent's Shadow, Steadfast, etc.) are historical fantasy, but not RPF. Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson is historical fiction, but not RPF. The American children's TV show Liberty's Kids is historical fiction and RPF. Maplecroft by Cherie Priest is historical fantasy and RPF (also I highly recommend reading it. Lizzie Borden and her axe versus lovecraftian nightmares). The musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda is RPF (kinda), and shows the fine line between historical fiction and historical biography that can crop up. The Obama Biden Mysteries book series by Andrew Shaffer (Hope Never Dies and Hope Rides Again) are RPF, but not historical fiction.

Yes, that last example is real. You can find them in book stores, on Amazon, and on bookshop.org.

The same wibbley-wobbley is present in RPF that is published by fans on places like AO3. For the most part what's there is pure RPF: see the fandoms around various pop music groups and idols, or see various fandoms around adult actors like the hype that was the Fassbender/McAvoy craze when X-Men: First Class came out.

The issue that comes up with fan groups is when they start "tin-hatting" and insisting that the internal story that they've come up for themselves is accurate, or trying to force the celebrities to confirm their conspiracies. That is, from what i've seen, universally known as people going too far within the RPF-focused fandoms.

A grey area is when people write pure RPF about underage people who are alive right now, and those stories stray into erotica. I myself don't quite know what to think of it. On the one hand, so long as it's written, not actively pushed to the subjects, and there's no one being harmed, it's fine. On the other hand, I personally find the idea of writing about the private lives and/or sex lives of modern-day celebrities, let alone underage ones, to be fairly squicky and straying into a morally grey zone. Not my cup of tea, so I don't read it.

But that last line is where Antis and the like will take a crusade that can sound fairly legitimate because of the involvement of real people rather than just drawings of people, and where they can make a break through infection becuase they can point to underage RPF and say that that is "CP" or "CSEM" because a real person is featured. of course it breaks down because it all still words on a page or screen and not actively hurting anyone unless someone is purposefully showing it to the subjects of the RPF. And, as stated earlier, everyone knows that that the later is something that you just don't do.

[takeninbadfaith]

Submission Call!

You, yes you! can help a new blog out. 

Please fill my inbox and submissions with any item of logic that people taken in by purity culture have said made ships or characters “problematic” in one way or another while I find the next couple of topics. (I’m thinking I’m going to look at the classic Lily Orchard deleted thread of writing “tips”, and scouring for reasons why people dislike Adam from SK8 The Infinity.)

[takeninbadfaith]

The bizarre idea that trigger warnings mean that the author supports whatever has been tagged and that the ONLY reason why a work might be tagged "mature" is that it has sex in it (not, you know, that it involves killing bad guys and blowing stuff up).

So we have two paths of logic here, and ones that I don't quite think are inter-related, except as both items being things that the 2D pixel police believe to be true (and the later holds true for a lot of americans)

Extending the logic of point 1: if you tagged a work for a thing, that means you know what the thing is when you see it, which means you think about the thing and if you think about the thing it must mean you want to do the thing. It's thought crimes all the way down. Never mind that there is not a monkey see, monkey do thing with fiction, or any of the people who might be using fiction to cope and are warning others that here there be dragons.

extending point 2: this one is harder to extend, becuase there isn't quite a logic to it, its a society thing and a what is in the current media thing. The TV is full of shows that are easily accessible to almost all ages where violence is just a matter of course. Law and Order was on the air for, what 20+ years? and nearly every episode was some sort of murder and dead body. Violence is just permeated in (American) culture. ... And also sex is a special thing that is not as imbedded in society and the sexuality of women and other afab folks must be controlled by outside forces because they cannot control their own sexuality (except for the person that is saying that sexuality must be controlled, of course they! are the exception!)

[takeninbadfaith]

You know, it’s a good thing that they didn’t make a hard and fast list, as it would cause controversy. But that means we at Bad Faith will, because that’s what we do here. 

so the main thrust of the complaint here is a “critique” of power dynamics in relationships, particularly of age differences (never mind that the ship specified is the most wholesome one in the fandom) and of socio-political differences (never mind that in the ship specified Edelgard was not the emperor that ordered Petra to be taken as hostage, and never mind that Edelgard treats Petra as an equal once she is emperor). 

So, for the safety of all, let us ban hammer all f/f ships in Fire Emblem Three Houses that have an age difference of over 1 year, and are from differing socio-political classes.

“Problematic” Ships (194 total)

Byleth/Edelgard - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Edelgard was 17, Byleth is a commoner and Edelgard is noble, and Byleth was Edelgard’s teacher.

Byleth/Bernadetta - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Bernadetta was 17, Byleth is a commoner and Bernadetta is noble, Byleth was Bernadetta’s teacher.

Byleth/Dorothea - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Dorothea was 18, and Byleth was Dorothea’s teacher.

Byleth/Petra - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Petra was 15, Byleth is a commoner and Petra is noble, and Byleth was Petra’s teacher.

Byleth/Mercedes -  Byleth was Mercedes’ teacher.

Byleth/Annette - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Annette was 16, Byleth is a commoner and Annette is noble, and Byleth was Annette’s teacher.

Byleth/Ingrid - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Ingrid was 17, Byleth is a commoner and Ingrid is noble, and Byleth was Ingrid’s teacher.

Byleth/Lysithea - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Lysithea was 15, Byleth is a commoner and Lysithea is noble, Byleth was Lysithea’s teacher.

Byleth/Marianne - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Marianne was 17, Byleth is a commoner and Marianne is noble, Byleth was Marianne’s teacher.

Byleth/Hilda - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Hilda was 18, Byleth is a commoner and Edelgard is noble, Byleth was Edelgard’s teacher.

Byleth/Leonie - Byleth was Leonie’s teacher.

Byleth/Flayn - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Flayn was over 1000, and Byleth was Flayn’s teacher.

Byleth/Manuela - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Manuela was 36.

Byleth/Catherine - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Catherine was 27, and Byleth is a commoner and Catherine is noble,

Byleth/Shamir - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Shamir was 25.

Byleth/Anna - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Anna was 25. 

Byleth/Constance - met when Byleth was in her early 20s and Constance was 18, Byleth is a commoner and Constance is noble, and Byleth was Constance’s teacher.

Byleth/Hapi - Byleth was Hapi’s teacher.

Byleth/Judith - Byleth is a commoner and Judith is noble,

Byleth/Rhea - met when Byleth was an infant and Rhea was over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop of the land’s dominant religion. 

Edelgard/Dorothea - Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria. 

Edelgard/Petra - Edelgard is 17 and Petra is 15, Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria, and Petra was a political hostage of the empire

Edelgard/Mercedes - Mercedes is 22 while Edelgard is 17, and Mercedes is an impoverished noble Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria

Edelgard/Ingrid - Ingrid is an impoverished noble, while Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria

Eledgard/Bernadetta - Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria

Edelgard/Annette - Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria

Edelgard/Marianne - Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria

Edelgard/Hilda - Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria

Edelgard/Constance - Constance is an impoverished noble and Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria

Edelgard/Lysithea - Edelgard is 17 while Lysithea is 15

Edelgard/Leonie - Edelgard is 17 while Leonie is 19, and Leonie is a commoner while Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria

Edelgard/Flayn - Edelgard is 17 while Flayn is over 1000.

Edelgard/Manuela - Edelgard is 17 while Manuela is 36, Manuela is a commoner while Edelgard is the emperor of Adrestria, and Manuela is Edelgard’s teacher

Edelgard/Catherine - Edelgard is 17 while Catherine is 27, and Edelgard is the emperor of Adrestria.

Edelgard/Shamir - Edelgard is 17 while Shamir is 25, and Shamir is a commoner while Edelgard si the emperor of Adrestria

Edelgard/Anna - Edelgard is 17 while Anna is 25, and Anna is a commoner while Edelgard is the emperor of Adrestria

Edelgard/Hapi - Edelgard is 17 while Hapi is 20, and Hapi is a commoner while Edelgard is the Emperor of Adrestria

Edelgard/Judith - Edelgard is 17 while Judith is an adult, and Edelgard is the emperor of Adrestira

Edelgard/Rhea - Edelgard is 17 while Rhea is over 1000.

Bernadetta/Constance - Constance is an impoverished noble, while Bernadetta is not.

Bernadetta/Dorothea - Bernadetta is a noble while Dorothea is a commoner

Bernadetta/Petra - Bernadetta is 17 while Petra is 15

Bernadetta/Mercedes - Bernadetta is 17 while Mercedes is 22. Mercedes is an impoverished noble. 

Bernadetta/Ingrid - Ingrid is an impoverished noble

Bernadetta/Lysithea - Bernadetta is 17 while Lysithea is 15

Bernadetta/Leonie - Bernadetta is 17 while Leonie is 19, and Bernadetta is a noble while Leonie is a commoner

Bernadetta/Flayn - Bernadetta is 17 while Flayn is over 1000.

Bernadetta/Manuela - Bernadetta is 17 while Manuela is 36, Bernadetta is a noble while Manuela is a commoner, and Manuela is Bernadetta’s teacher

Bernadetta/Catherine - Bernadetta is 17 while Catherine is 27

Bernadetta/Shamir - Bernadetta is 17 while Shamir is 25, and Bernadetta is a noble while Shamir is a commoner

Bernadetta/Anna - Bernadetta is 17 while Anna is 25, and Bernadetta is a noble while Anna is a commoner

Bernadetta/Hapi - Bernadetta is 17 while Hapi is 20, and Bernadetta is a noble while Hapi is commoner

Bernadetta/Judith - Bernadetta is 17 while Judith is an adult.

Bernadetta/Rhea - Bernadetta is 17 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop of a powerful religion

Dorothea/Petra - Dorothea is 18 while Petra is 15, and Petra is a noble while Dorothea is a commoner

Dorothea/Mercedes - Dorothea is 18 while Mercedes is 22, and Dorothea is a commoner while Mercedes is a noble.

Dorothea/Annette - Dorothea is 18 while Annette is 16, and Annette is a noble while Dorothea is a commoner

Dorothea/Ingrid - Dorothea is a commoner while Ingrid is a noble.

Dorothea/Lysithea - Dorothea is 18 while Lysithea is 15, and Dorothea is a commoner while Lysithea is a noble

Dorothea/Marianne - Dorothea is a commoner while Marianne is a noble

Dorothea/Hilda - Dorothea is a commoner while Hilda is a noble

Dorothea/Flayn - Dorothea is 18 while Flayn is over 1000

Dorothea/Manuela - Dorothea is 18 while Manuela is 36, and Manuela is Dorothea’s teacher.

Dorothea/Catherine - Dorothea is 18 while Catherine is 27, and Dorothea is a commoner while Catherine is a noble. 

Dorothea/Shamir - Dorothea is 18 while Shamir is 25.

Dorothea/Anna - Dorothea is 18 while Anna is 25

Dorothea/Constance - Dorothea is a Commoner while Constance is a noble

Dorothea/Hapi - Dorothea is 18 while Hapi is 20.

Dorothea/Judith - Dorothea is 18 while Judith is an adult, and Dorothea is a commoner while Judith is a noble.

Dorothea/Rhea - Dorothea is 18 while Rhea is over 1000. rhea is also the Archbishop of a large religion. 

Petra/Mercedes - Petra is 15 while Mercedes is 22.

Petra/Ingrid - Petra is 15 while Ingrid is 17.

Petra/Marianne - Petra is 15 while Marianne is 17.

Petra/Leonie - Petra is 15 while leonie is 19, and Petra si a noble while Leonie is a commoner.

Petra/Flayn - Petra is 15 while Flayn is over 1000.

Petra/Manuela - Petra is 15 while Manuela is 36, Petra is noble while Manuela is a commoner, and Manuela is Petra’s teacher. 

Petra/Catherine - Petra is 15 while Catherine is 27. 

Petra/Shamir - Petra is 15 while Shamir is 25, and Petra is a noble while Shamir is a Commoner

Petra/Anna - Petra is 15 while Anna is 25, and Petra is a noble while Anna is a commoner.

Petra/Constance - Petra is 15 while Constance is 18. 

Petra/Hapi - Petra is 15 while Hapi is 20, and Petra is a noble while Hapi is a commoner

Petra/Rhea - Petra is 15 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop

Mercedes/Annette - Mercedes is 22 while Annette is 16 (and they met when Mercedes was 20 and Annette was 14), and Mercedes is an impoverished noble, while Annette is not.

Mercedes/Ingrid - Mercedes is 22 while Ingrid is 17. 

Mercedes/Lysithea - Mercedes is 22 while Lysithea is 15, and Mercedes is an impoverished noble while Lysithea is not.

Mercedes/Marianne - Mercedes is 22 while Marianne is 17, and Mercedes is an impoverished noble while Marianne is not.

Mercedes/Hilda - Mercedes is 22 while HIlda is 18, and Mercedes is an impoverished noble while Hilda is not.

Mercedes/Leonie - Mercedes is 22 while Leonie is 19 ,and Mercedes is a noble while Leonie is a commoner. 

Mercedes/Flayn - Mercedes is 22 while Flayn is over 1000.

Mercedes/Manuela - Mercedes is 22 while Manuela is 36, Mercedes is a noble while Manuela is a commoner, and Manuela is Mercedes’ teacher.

Mercedes/Catherine - Mercedes is 22 while Catherine is 27, and Mercedes is an impoverished noble while Catherine is not. 

Mercedes/Shamir - Mercedes is 22 while Shamir is 25, and Mercedes is a noble while Shamir is a commoner

Mercedes/Anna - Mercedes is 22 while Anna is 25, and Mercedes is a noble while Anna is a commoner

Mercedes/Constance - Mercedes is 22 while Constance is 18.

Mercedes/Hapi - Mercedes is 22 while Hapi is 20, and Mercedes is a noble while Hapi is a commoner

Mercedes/Judith - Mercedes is 22 while Judith is nebulously older, and Mercedes is an impoverished noble while Judith is not. 

Mercedes/Rhea - Mercedes is 22 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop.

Annette/Ingrid - Ingrid is an impoverished noble while Annette is not. 

Annette/Hilda - Annette is 16 while Hilda is 18.

Annette/Leonie - Annette is 16 while Leonie is 19, and Annette is a noble while Leonie is a commoner

Annette/Flayn - Annette is 16 while Flayn is over 1000.

Annette/Manuela - Annette is 16 while Manuela is 36, Annette is a noble while Manuela is a commoner, and Manuela is Annette’s teacher. 

Annette/Catherine - Annette is 16 while Catherine is 27

Annette/Shamir - Annette is 16 while Shamir is 25, and Annette is a noble while Shamir is a commoner

Annette/Anna - Annette is 16 while Anna is 25, and Annette is a noble while Anna is a commoner

Annette/Constance - Annette is 16 while Constance is 18, and Constance is an impoverished noble while Annette is not. 

Annette/Hapi - Annette is 16 and Hapi is 20, and Annette is a noble while Constance is a commoner

Annette/Judith - Annette is 16 while Judith is an “adult”

Annette/Rhea - Annette is 16 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop

Ingrid/Lysithea - Ingrid is 17 while Lysithea is 15, and Ingrid is an impoverished noble while Lysithea is not.

Ingrid/Marianne - Ingrid is an impoverished noble while Marianne is not.

Ingrid/Hilda - Ingrid is an impoverished noble while Hilda is not.

Ingrid/Leonie - Ingrid is 17 while Leonie is 19, and Ingrid is a noble while Leonie is a commoner.

Ingrid/Flayn - Ingrid is 17 while Flayn is over 1000.

Ingrid/Manuela - Ingrid is 17 while Manuela is 36, Ingrid is a noble while Manuela is a commoner, and Manuela is Ingrid’s teacher

Ingrid/Catherine - Ingrid is 17 while Catherine is 27, and Ingrid is an impoverished noble while Catherine is not.

Ingrid/Shamir - Ingrid is 17 while Shamir is 25, and Ingrid is a noble while Shamir is a commoner.

Ingrid/Anna - Ingrid is 17 while Anna is 25, and Ingrid is a noble while Anna is a commoner.

Ingrid/Hapi - Ingrid is 17 while Hapi is 20, and Ingrid is a noble while Hapi is a commoner.

Ingrid/Judith - Ingrid is 17 while Judith is an adult, and Ingrid is an impoverished noble while Judith is not.

Ingrid/Rhea - Ingrid is 17 while Rhea is over 1000, Ingrid is an impoverished noble while Rhea is the Archbishop.

Lysithea/Marianne - Lysithea is 15 while Marianne is 17.

Lysithea/Hilda - Lysithea is 15 while Hilda is 18.

Lysithea/Leonie - Lysithea is 15 while Leonie is 19, and Lysithea is a noble while Leonie is a commoner.

Lysithea/Flayn - Lysithea is 15 while Flayn is over 1000.

Lysithea/Manuela - Lysithea is 15 while Manuela is 36, Lysithea is a noble while Manuela is a commoner, and Manuela is Lysithea’s teacher.

Lysithea/Catherine - Lysithea is 15 while Catherine is 27.

Lysithea/Shamir - Lysithea is 15 while Shamir is 25, and Lysithea is a noble while Shamir is a commoner

Lysithea/Anna - Lysithea is 15 while Anna is 25, and Lysithea is a noble while Anna is not.

Lysithea/Constance - Lysithea is 15 while Constance is 18, and Constance is an impoverished noble while Lysithea is not.

Lysithea/Hapi - Lysithea is 15 while Hapi is 20, and Lysithea is a noble while Hapi is a commoner

Lysithea/Judith - Lysithea is 15 while judith is an adult.

Lysithea/Rhea - Lysithea is 15 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop.

Marianne/Leonie - Marianne is 17 while Leonie is 19, and Marianne is a Noble and Leonie is a commoner

Marianne/Flayn - Marianne is 17 while Flayn is over 1000.

Marianne/Manuela - Marianne is 17 while Manuela is 36, Marianne is a noble while Manuela is a commoner, and Manuela is Marianne’s teacher.

Marianne/Catherine - Marianne is 17 while Catherine is 27

Marianne/Shamir - Marianne is 17 while Shamir is 25, and Marianne is a noble while Shamir is a commoner

Marianne/Anna - Marianne is 17 while Anna is 25, and Marianne is a noble while Anna is a commoner.

Marianne/Constance - Constance is an impoverished noble while Marianne is not.

Marianne/Hapi - Marianne is 17 while Hapi is 20, and Marianne is a noble while Hapi is a commoner.

Marianne/Judith - Marianne is 17 while judith is an adult.

Marianne/Rhea - Marianne is 17 while Rhea is over 1000, adn Rhea is the Archbishop

Hilda/Leonie - Hilda is a noble while Leonie is a commoner.

Hilda/Flayn - Hilda is 18 while Flayn is over 1000

Hilda/Manuela - Hilda is 18 while Manuela is 36, Hilda is a noble and Manuela is a commoner, and Manuela is Hilda’s teacher.

Hilda/Catherine - Hilda is 18 while Catherine is 27.

Hilda/Shamir - Hilda is 18 while Shamir is 25, and Hilda is a noble while Shamir is a commoner

Hilda/Anna - Hilda is 18 while Anna is 25, and Hilda is a noble while Anna is a commoner.

Hilda/Constance - Constance is an impoverished noble while Hilda is not.

Hilda/Hapi Hilda is 18 while Hapi is 20, and Hilda is a noble while Hapi is a commoner.

Hilda/Judith - HIlda is 18 while Judith is an adult.

Hilda/Rhea - Hilda is 18 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the archbishop.

Leonie/Flayn - Leonie is 19 while Flayn is over 1000.

Leonie/Manuela - Leonie is 19 while Manuela is 36, and Manuela is Leonie’s teacher

Leonie/Catherine - Leonie is 19 while Catherine is 27, and Leonie is a commoner while Catherine is a noble.

Leonie/Shamir - Leonie is 19 while Shamir is 25

Leonie/Anna - Leonie is 19 while Anna is 25

Leonie/Judith - Leonie is 19 while Judith is an adult, and Leonie is a commoner while Judith is a noble.

Leonie/Rhea - Leonie is 19 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop.

Flayn/Manuela - Flayn is over 1000 while Manuela is 36, and Manuela is Flayn’s teacher

Flayn/Catherine - Flayn is over 1000 while Catherine is 27.

Flayn/Shamir - Flayn is over 1000 while Shamir is 25

Flayn/Anna - Flayn is over 1000 while Anna is 25.

Flayn/Constance - Flayn is over 1000 while Constance is 18.

Flayn/Hapi - Flayn is over 1000 while Hapi is 20.

Flayn/Judith - Flayn is over 1000, while Judith is an adult well under that.

Flayn/Rhea - Rhea is the Archbishop.

Manuela/Catherine - Manuela is 36 while Catherine is 27, and Manuela is a commoner while Catherine is a noble.

Manuela/Shamir - Manuela is 36 while Shamir is 25.

Manuela/Anna - Manuela is 36 while Anna is 25

Manuela/Constance - Manuela is 36 while Constance is 18, Manuela is a commoner while Constance is a noble, and Manuela is Constance’s teacher.

Manuela/Hapi - Manuela is 36 while Hapi is 20, and Manuela is Hapi’s teacher.

Manuela/Judith - Manuela is a commoner while Judith is a noble.

Manuela/Rhea - Manuela is 36 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop.

Catherine/Shamir - Catherine is 27 while Shamir is 25, and Catherine is a noble while Shamir is a commoner.

Catherine/Anna - Catherine is 27 while Anna is 25, and Catherine is a noble while Anna is not

Catherine/Constance - Catherine is 27 while Constance is 18, and Constance is an impoverished noble while Catherine is not.

Catherine/Hapi - Catherine is 27 while Hapi is 20, and Catherine is a noble while Hapi is a commoner.

Catherine/Rhea - Catherine is 27 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the archbishop.

Shamir/Constance - Shamir is 25 while Constance is 18, and Constance is a noble while Shamir is a commoner.

Shamir/Hapi - Shamir is 25 while Hapi is 20.

Shamir/Judith - Shamir is a commoner and Judith is a noble.

Shamir/Rhea - Shamir is 25 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop.

Anna/Constance - Anna is 25 while Constance is 18, and Constance is a noble while Anna is a commoner

Anna/Hapi - Anna is 25 while Hapi is 20

Anna/Judith - Anna is a commoner while Judith is a noble.

Anna/Rhea - Anna is 25 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop

Constance/Hapi - Constance is 18 while Hapi is 20, and Constance is a noble while Hapi is a commoner.

Constance/Judith - Constance is 18 while Judith is an adult, and Constance is an impoverished noble while Judith is not.

Constance/Rhea - Constance is 18 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop

Hapi/Judith - Hapi is 20 while judith is an older adult, and Hapi is a commoner while Judith is a noble.

Hapi/Rhea - Hapi is 20 while Rhea is over 1000, and Rhea is the Archbishop

Judith/Rhea - Rhea is the archbishop.

Acceptable Ships (13 total)

Bernadetta/Annette - only a 1 year age difference, both are nobles, and both are students. 

Bernadetta/Marianne - Same age, both are nobles, and both are students.

Bernadetta/Hilda - only a 1 year age difference, both are nobles, and both are students

Dorothea/Leonie - only a 1 year age difference, both are commoners, and both are students

Petra/Annette - only a 1 year age difference, both are nobles and Annette is not Adrestrian, and both are students.

Petra/Lysithea - same age, both are nobles and Lysithea is not an Adrestrian noble, and both are students

Annette/Lysithea - only a 1 year age difference, both are nobles, and both are students

Annette/Marianne - only a 1 year age difference, both are nobles, and both are students

Ingrid/Constance - only a 1 year age difference, both are impoverished nobles, and both are students

Marianne/Hilda - only a 1 year age difference, both are nobles, and both are students

Leonie/Hapi - only a 1 year age difference, both are commoners, and both are students

Shamir/Anna - same age and both are commoners

Judith/Catherine - of similar age (I cannot find an age for Judith), and both are nobles

Some Final Thoughts

There are more “Acceptable” ships than I thought i would end up with going along the three lines of “power” that I was extending the logic of. And some of them are even kind of interesting. However, one can easily see how the logic here is ridiculous as, for example, all ships with Byleth and Edelgard are “problematic” and fan favorite ship Petra/Dorothea is deemed “problematic”.