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angleofmusings · 2 years

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happy pride month everyone! i have a hypothesis that you can tell what timeframe someone had most of their interaction with queer spaces/terminology based on how they refer to the community! obviously there are some exceptions and a teen whose exposure is from terfs will use different terminology than a teen whose exposure is from reading archives of queer theory, but in general (alphabetically ordered):

gay — up through the early 21st century, or from rural communities

GLBT — before or during the height of the AIDS epidemic

LGB — 21st century trans-exclusionary radical feminism

LGBT — after the height of the AIDS epidemic through some time in the 2000s–2010s

LGBT+ — mostly used in contrast to LGBTQ+, or by “queer is a slur” radfem-adjacent types

LGBTA — tbh i think the only time i’ve seen this used is the LGBTA wiki (z”l)

LGBTQ — mid–2010s

LGBTQ+ — late 2010s–present

LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+ — late 2010s–present, but slightly more online

LGBTQIAAPP+, LGBTQQIP2SAA+, etc. — late 2010s online discourse and cancel culture

queer — late 1960s–present, though not as much from anyone immersed in cancel culture

obviously none of these are concrete, just anecdotal observations, and should be treated as such, plus there are always exceptions!

if anyone uses this post to start discourse i’ll hunt you down and put a tiny speaker inside your phone, set to occasionally play a persistent hum at about 8 KHz, quiet enough to almost blend in with background noise but loud enough to be annoying

#also this is USAmerica-centric sorry #queer #lgbtq #lgbtq+#lgbtqia #lgbta #lgbt #glbt #terfs dni #radfems dni #pride month #angelofmusings lives up to their url

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heliopauseentertainments · 3 years

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Can I take another turn and ask IDW OP? Sorry I have one mind track

Pick a character I’ve written and I will explain the top ~three to five ideas/concepts/etc I keep in mind while writing that character that I believe are essential to accurately depicting them.

Nonsense, you can have as many turns as you want.

It took me a long time to really like IDW1!Op. I always thought he was interesting, but it took me awhile (and exposure to your love of him) to really appreciate him.

I also don't write him as much as I should and I need more practice but I gotta get started on MegOp Week 2022 stuff so, opportunities are inbound. Anyway, here's the stuff I like to keep in mind.

Slight disclaimer: I have not yet finished reading the Op ongoing. I promise it's in my stack of things to read. OP #1 is literally the next thing.

1. Privilege

One thing about IDW1!Op is that he comes from a place of privilege in his society. He's forged, he's from Iacon (the cultural center of cultural centers for Cybertron), he's at list a good way up the caste chain, he's an excellent cop (whatever that means, good or ill), he's respected by previous Primes, and his privileged position in society is further bolstered upon receiving the Matrix of Leadership and all of the responsibility/respect/etc. that comes with it. He's the Cybertronian equivalent of an upper-middle-class cishet white Protestant guy (yes, this is USAmerica-centric for privilege, but bear with me).

This puts Op in a unique position in this continuity compared to most other Ops. He started off fairly high and without a lot social mobility barriers. That privilege clouds his judgement and often interferes with how he understands others. Functionism worked for him, so even if he became opposed to it and the actions of the Senate through his interactions with Megatron early on, he is still receiving the benefit of those systems and can't necessarily see the full of extent of the problems and harms, despite his good intentions.

2. Compromise

Optimus is down for compromise, which is part of what can make him a good leader. Now, whether or not he's good at compromising and actually ceding ground is another discussion, but he is for the idea of compromise and offering a hand to come to an understanding.

Sure, sometimes it's kind of... not great, like when he told Megatron they could end the War with a handshake. In real terms, that wasn't a compromise, but due to Op's privilege-induced blinders (see point 1), he thinks it's a compromise, because they're talking, they're not fighting. No one is getting hurt, never mind the fact that the Cons are starved, stranded, and Megatron is his prisoner (albeit they address this and he lets Megatron free to at least sit down). He sincerely believes they can come to some sort of amicable agreement, especially after some of their story-swapping in Chaos Theory.

Optimus actively seeks common ground with an opponent even if he sometimes misidentifies what the common ground could be.

3. Interpersonal Callousness

This is another one of his flaws that I find really interesting. He loves people. He cares about people. But he cares about people as an abstract concept. PeopleTM. He cares, but due to point 1, among other things, such as his relative lack of close friendships, he's not actually super observant of other people's emotional needs. He also tends towards being paternalistic. All of this leads to him being/seeming callous and making callous decisions.

While he does care about individuals, sometimes, he does it in a way that makes sense to him and not necessarily in a way that reflects or addresses the needs of the people he's caring about. For example: he regularly ignores and talks over Rodimus, someone who looks up to him and respects him. He cares about what happens to Rodimus, he cares about what happens to Megatron, he cares about what happens to Windblade. He just responds to their needs inappropriately: "So you're just going to ignore me," "I pour out my spark and you're taking notes," etc.

Occasionally this bleeds over into that PeopleTM category too (see his paternalistic annexation of Earth because he cares about humans, but neglects to take into account their agency and needs)

4. Hope, kinda

G-d, this man is so full of hope. Sort of. HopeTM. Not real hope. The hope isn't something he holds for himself. He espouses it and gives it to others. It's a facade that he projects loudly to everyone else. He knows he's a symbol of hope to the entire Autobot faction.

But that hope isn't for him. He hopes vaguely that the War will end, that it will end peaceably, etc. He doesn't really hold much personal hope though. He doesn't know what the end of the War would mean for him. That's part of why he runs off as a freelance merc after the Chaos Event (but being burned in effigy is also a good reason to nope out). But he gives hope to everyone around him and clings to that teeny tiny hope that if he projects enough of it, some will reflect back on him. Maybe. Faking it till he makes it.

5. Self-Doubt

Look. Re: point 4, Optimus does not have much hope and incidentally, he doesn't have a lot of confidence in himself either. This self-doubt is something that he seems fairly adept at hiding from others, all as part and parcel of his image as Prime. Some are aware of it though, those that have known him for ages like Ratchet, Ironhide, etc. Even Rodimus eventually. It's not ever really admitted in front of Megatron, but Megatron knows. A few humans even know, thanks to a self-imposed timeout he put himself in in the earlier run of comics.

Behind the image of stalwart, infallible leadership he's put up over the years, Optimus is plagued by self-doubt and is always second-guessing himself.

#ask #ask meme #queztalpapalotl #optimus prime #maccadam #idw1 #long post

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tog-resources-archive · 3 years

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I’m Albanian Muslim myself, and while I’m “technically” white (to Americans) I related to Joe a lot. And Nicky. People from the Mediterranean often are ignored, or horribly stereotyped in fandom. Joe and Nicky ARENT but people in this fandom are ruining that. Joe is turned into a religious renaissance man who has no flaws, and Nicky is often portrayed as some idiot. It demonstrates a huge lack of knowledge or care in either character, and then they also go and obsess over position. It’s ridiculous.

But I can’t say anything without having people hurl accusations of racism to me because, to them, I’m white. Doesn’t matter that I’m Muslim. Doesn’t matter that I am seen as “less” because of where I am in Europe. The American/British/Canadian/Australian view of race is that I am as white as they are, and therefore my ethnicity doesn’t matter. An American woman knows more about Mediterranean identity (because joe IS from the Mediterranean) than I, somehow who can literally see the Mediterranean from my house does.

I’m sorry for ranting at you, and you don’t have to publish this. But you seem like you’re thinking about this stuff, and not just deciding that anyone who doesn’t agree with you is racist. The whole fandom is making me not want to create anything, and I LOVE these characters.

Hi anon! So I had to think about this one because it IS a bit of a thorny subject isn’t it? And don’t feel bad for ranting! Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is vent your frustrations, and I’m very honored that you’ve chosen me to rant to! XD

So, diving into the heart of the matter... I highly recommend reading what @lucyclairedelune (here and here) and @youneedasoultraveller (here and here) have posted on the issues of Anglo-centrism in fandom. They run amazing blogs and I definitely recommend going to them with any questions that you have too!

Honestly though, I think the worst problems we’ve faced in this extremely volatile fandom in the last few months stems from the USAmerica-centric mindset that’s literally all about black vs. white, and allows for very little nuance. The issues in Europe are not the issues of America, which are not the issues in Africa, and so on, and it’s extremely insulting to bunch them all together and slap the same label on every problem.

Are there problems with racism in fandom? Yes. Is the issue top/bottom sex positions of an interracial mlm couple? Mmmmm, yeah I don’t know about that one. Seems to me like a more nuanced approach is needed.

Because you’re right, Joe and Nicky AREN’T stereotyped at all. They’re beautiful, diverse characters in a cast filled with other beautiful, diverse characters, and I hate to think that people are losing the love they felt for The Old Guard because of nonsense like the top/bottom content gap statistics. Especially when I don’t think the OPs of the “statistics” said anything compelling by publishing their “findings.”

Honestly, my most earnest wish for you would be to block the people who make you uncomfortable and focus on what drew you to this fandom in the first place. (Charlize Theron’s arms for me, thank you XD) Fandom should be fun and interesting and shouldn’t make you want to bang your head against a wall day after day. I hope you’ll find the motivation to create, and I hope you’ll DM me when you do so I can promote you on my blog and cheer you on!

#my post #my ask #This was an interesting one #I hope this helped #I can't recommend those blogs enough though #They're very entertaining lol and VERY educational #lucyclairedelune #youneedasoultraveller #what a mess this fandom is #I swear

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