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fruitless-nonsense · 3 years

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Okay, so I didn’t actually think anyone would care what I had to say. I just saw a post that riled me up and I wrote that to let off some steam. That being said, to everyone who liked my post or just read it thank you from the bottom of my heart. Seriously it means so much to me that there are people who notice what I have to say. That being said, I want to do more of these cause I have a lot of opinions that aren’t widespread, and I’d like to start with a post gushing about a certain character that receives too much hate. However, seeing as this isn’t a rant out of agitation this might take a bit longer to get out. With that long introduction out of the way... Cami O’Connell!

As I said, Cami is my favorite female character in the whole of the tvdverse (Bonnie is a close second). The reason why I want to start with her instead of Bonnie or my favorite character (Marcel) is because while both were royally screwed with by the writers, there are plenty of fans online who sing their praises (as they deserve). However, when it comes to Cami the consensus online is either hatred or indifference by a vast majority of the fans (that being said there are still a good amount of people who do love her I’m not saying there aren’t, but they are in the minority). This is something I never quite understood, but I’m gonna try my best educated guess on it.

I suppose before I go any further, I have a confession to make. The way I watched both tvd and to was not a straight line. Several years ago, I decided to finally watch tvd and started with the first two season (which I really liked), then a youtuber dropped a video analyzing the pilot for to and the premise hooked me immediately so I started the first season and kept watching until finishing the third, then I decided to go back and watch tvd seasons three and four, then got bored so I switched back to finish to, and finally after a few months declared I wanted to finish what I started and slogged through the second half of tvd. Why is this relevant? Well I just wanted to inform y’all as this might’ve led to my different perspectives on many things in both shows, and it hopefully can somewhat explain my reasoning

Going back to Cami, why is she my favorite female? A multitude of reasons. Firstly, I love how different she is from other female characters we’ve seen. Characters like Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline are fun in their own right, with bubbly personalities and childish innocence. This makes sense because they’re teenagers! Even Elena’s angst comes off more like young naivety than a wayward soul. I’m not knocking this characterization, it makes sense that a show aimed at teenagers would have teenage girls as it’s main cast. Where am I going with this? Cami might be the most mature character we’ve seen in this universe that actually has a pretty big part in the cast. What I mean is that shows like this paint maturity on women as being motherly or a stick in the mud, but Cami is neither. She’s still fun and loose, but with an aura of restraint and intelligence that needs to be accumulated over time. She’s not even that old! My guesstimation puts her at 23 cause we know she’s graduated college with a degree in psychology and was already working at Rousseau’s in the pilot (you mean to tell me you don’t just get your dream job right out of college, you have to work some dead end jobs first? YA lied to me!). I don’t know how quite to describe it beyond that, Cami just feels like a real person to me, and that makes me invested in her life even more.

Secondly, is her personality beyond her intelligence. I love how empathetic and kind she is! In the span of three seasons, she had helped almost everyone in the show while never sticking her feet into the main drama. That’s another thing, she knows when something’s over her head and will step out when she can, when something is pushing her, she fights back. I love that despite how kind hearted she is, she’s not a pushover. If there’s something she doesn’t like, she will attest. She may be nice, but get on her bad side and her sass will cut you like a knife. Considering she’s only a human against these witches, vampires, and originals you would call this unrealistic, but it works because unlike most people on the show, she’s smart. I know I just said beyond her intelligence, but I just want to gush about how fun it is watching Cami get out of trouble on her own by using nothing but her brain (I just think it’s neat). Characters this complex are not usually reserved for women on the cw, which leads into my final reason.

I love how much agency Cami has throughout her run on the show! Like, her story isn’t stapled to Klaus, she does so much without him even being there. In tvd, I can’t think of a single storyline Elena had that wasn’t tied to one or both of the Salvatore brothers, Bonnie is constantly being abused by the writers, Caroline is forcibly impregnated, Hayley starts off with her own goals before being tied to Jackson and later Elijah, Davina also starts off with her own ambitions before also being shackled to her love interest to resurrecting Kol being her only storyline in season three. I’m sure there are more, but these are just ones off the top of my head. While this makes me wish she had her own storyline, I acknowledge she is a supporting character (which begs the question of why none of the women in the main cast get this luxury but I digress).

This has been very long, and we’re just getting to complaints. Unlike complaints about the ship, I have yet to find an argument about why Cami sucks that isn’t factually incorrect, so if you have one please share. The first complaint I hear is that Cami is a copy of Caroline (I’ll give y’all that have seen the show a second to stop laughing at the statement). I’ve already explained why Caroline and Cami are two very different characters (hint: one is bubble and energetic and one is calm and mature), I know they’re both blonde, nice, empathetic, and have names that start with c, but try paying attention to what you’re watching then maybe you’ll have a better grasp on it. Secondly is that Cami’s only purpose is being Klaus’ love interest. Like I stated, there’s a lot Cami does where Klaus isn’t even present, unless you’re saying everyone Cami has had a story with was a love interest (So Davina, Josh, Hayley, Elijah, Marcel cerca season two onward, Vincent, Lucien, that detective guy, and her uncle Kieran), in that case I think y’all are onto something with Cami being a Mary Sue cause she getting all the action (note the sarcasm)! That’s another thing, people say Cami’s a Mary Sue cause almost everyone loves her and she has basically no flaws. First of all, I don’t believe Mary Sue to be a character problem but a story problem, and above all an excuse to neuter powerful women lest they make fragile men uncomfortable. Second of all, we see Cami form these relationships in real time through her actions not by her existence. Third of all (not that she needs them to be a good character since other favs don’t), Cami has her stubbornness that eventually got her killed and the fact that strength wise she is the weakest character in the show by her being human.

Are you catching on to some of what I’m saying? Most of these complaints aren’t even true, yet it’s all we hear. My first inclination was to blame this hatred on klaroline shippers who were bitter that their ship could no longer sail, but then I saw posts of people who claimed not to ship them and still hated Cami because she was “just a love interest.” Which leads into the other problem with haters: the hypocrisy. Reasons people hate Cami are elements in other characters that these same people love. Never mind the fact that some of these complaints don’t even apply to her like the love interest thing. To use something that isn’t a lie, people will hate on Cami for sleeping with Marcel in season one when Marcel is Klaus’ son, meanwhile y’all seem to forget Elena not only dated but cheated on Stefan with Damon in the finale of tvd season two (spoiler: she kissed him on his deathbed while her boyfriend and his brother was searching for a way to save him, which doesn’t even go into all their kisses in season three) and furthermore shipping Marcel with Rebekah who would be his aunt (I know some people who ship them acknowledge this but damn). I also know these people jumped at the chance to attack Cami for stealing the white oak stake in season three and ignoring what she was going through meanwhile will wave past everything Elena, Damon, and Caroline did when they had their humanity turned off as “they were going through a lot” (disclaimer: no hate to either of those girls, they were understandably in much pain, just wanna expose the hypocrisy). This all made me reevaluate the reasoning as more than just shippers being bitter, this seemed much more malicious to just be that.

After a lot of thought, my only conclusion I can come to is sexism. Cami is a very different female character than what we’re used to, she’s strong willed, opinionated, smarter than the men, and more mature. I guess fans weren’t ready for a character like that so assumed it was bad or just wrote her off as too different, but that’s giving the benefit of the doubt. To be honest, I still don’t know why she was so hated and continues to be ignored by fans, but maybe it’s time we start asking that question. It’s time we appreciate characters like this so maybe we can have more of them on the cw. It’s time to give Camille O’Connell and Leah Pipes the respect they deserve!

(P.S - Can someone far more talented than me please put out some Cami x reader content? I’m starved of my girl and Leah is too pretty for my gay brain to function!)

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just-antithings · 3 years

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I kind of have a sad about how the only people willing to call out the shitty behaviour of Homestuck staff member Kate Mitchell (which was ages ago but I needed to look it up for a review) ignored her actual shittiness (among other things, Mary Sueing a character into a transphobic stereotype, promoting ableist/classist/racist bullying, and calling concerned fans "pigshit" to their faces) to whine about how she correctly said antis display radfem rhetoric.

🙄🙄🙄🙄

#mod erin #just anti things #ask

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millennialslayer · 3 years

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164 words & phrases I see the most online 2010s--now:

* aave * ableist * acab * a/b/o * and I oop * anon * anti * appropriation * aro * ace * afab * amab * ADD * ADHD * au * audacity * authentic self * austism * bean * bigot * bingo * black lives matter * block me * boot licker * braver than any Marine * but go off I guess * cancel culture * carrd * check your privilege * chile * chose violence * cinnamon roll * cishet * class war * clout * clown * colonizer * communist * conspiracy theory * copypasta * cringe * dead name * defense squad * depression * diaspora * die mad about it * discourse * DNI if * dog whistle * Doylist v Watsonian * eat the rich * echo chamber * educate yourself * enby * epitome of * fam * fan cam * fandom police * fan fiction * fast fashion * followers * galaxy brain * gaslight * gatekeep * gay icon * gender expression * gen Z * gtfo * ghoul * girlboss * go fuck yourself * go outside and touch grass * guillotine * hater * headcanon * held accountable * hellsite * hill to die on * himbo * historical gays * hits different * hypocrisy at its finest * idealogy * if __ dies we riot * I gotta stop learning news like this * I'm in this picture and I don't like it * indoctrinate * internalized * in this essay I will * __ is a slur * __ is my origin story * it's not that deep * I will never not reblog this * just say you hate women and go * just say you support __ and go * kin * kink * let people enjoy things * lgbt+ * lived experience * mansplain * Mary Sue * meta * me too * millennial * misandry * misogyny * mutual * my skin cleared, my crops watered * my truth * narrative * new __ just dropped * not a good look * __'s not going to fuck you * Nov 5 * nuance * ok boomer * op is a terf * patriarchy * performative * polycule * pronouns * propaganda * pry it from my __ hands * quarantine * queerbait * radical feminism * rape culture * ratio * read a book I'm begging you * representation * shipper * shipping war * simping * slur * smol * spread it like wildfire * stan * stay safe * superwholock * tag yourself I'm __ * terf rhetoric * thanks for coming to my Ted Talk * there's so much to unpack here * this ain't it * __ threw the first rock at Stonewall * tbh * tone deaf * trans * tw * troll * trope * uquiz * war criminal * war flashbacks * we killed another industry * white boy fave * white savior * woke * yass Queen * yes King give us nothing * yikes * you had me in the first half not gonna lie * your honor I

#words

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ouranor · 4 years

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I saw your latest hanyo no yashahime post because I followed the tag and I have to say as a victim of grooming myself, I would rather be aggressive towards the adult Sessrin shippers,I do think some of them have pedophillic tendency’s, I know you hate that word being thrown around but how else would you describe people enjoying seeing sexualized fanart/actual porn of child Rin and sesshomaru. And a ship is just a ship yes but when large amounts of people try to normalize grooming I draw the line

Dear Nonny

First of all: I’m so sorry that you had to go through such a horrible experience and thank you for sharing this so openly. I’ll do my best to explain my point of view about the current chaos and how to navigate it as best as I can. In order for me not to repeat myself too often, I‘ll assume that people reading this will also have read my previous post that prompted Nonny to message me.

About the ship itself:

As far as the ending of the manga goes, Rin and Sesshoumaru are blank slates, leaving lots of room for interpretation. What is true for both characters is that neither of them have any romance set up, because neither Rin nor Sesshoumaru are anywhere near ready for any kind of romantic relationship (no matter with who) at that point in time. Rin because she’s a child and Sesshoumaru because he’s an emotionally stunted and immature mess of a man (which is why I find the sequel‘s premise incredibly unbelievable. There‘s no way Sesshoumaru was ready to have half-demon children and this is a flat-out character assassination for Sesshoumaru but I DIGRESS). In the manga, not a single trace of romance can be found, and thus not a single trace of grooming. Giving a growing child a new kimono is not grooming, it‘s common sense.

Now, most people that oppose SessRin do immediately jump to pedophilia and grooming for multiple reasons and, while I don’t ship SessRin, reducing the ship to assumptions like these is not an okay thing to do. I firmly stand by this statement and I’ll do my best to explain why.

Now, because this will be important to understand the thoughts I‘m conveying, please remember these key points:

1) Explaining does NOT equal excusing. I will never make excuses for people that romanticize children in romantic relationships. All I‘m doing is do my best to cut through the very emotionally charged and hardened fronts in this ship-war.

2) We NEED to separate the ship from its shippers. SessRin is an extremely difficult ship to write that needs to be treated with much more care and awareness than most other hetero-ships, but because people abuse Rin as their Mary-Sue and don‘t give the characters actual care and love, you end up with terrible fanfiction that depicts SessRin as „a given / destined / Rin‘s the closest vagina in the near vicinity“. And yet: Sesshoumaru grooming Rin is not the ONLY possible continuation of this ship. I‘ll get back to this in a bit.

3) Grooming is a choice, pedophilia is a mental disorder. While the two overlap at times, they are NOT the same. I’ll broach this issue near the end of this post.

Now, to get the worst out of the way, I’ll agree to this: The interpretation coming from the loudest and most aggressive shippers (Celestia on Twitter is an excellent example) is highly problematic and, as mentioned, shows a lack of comprehension regarding subtility and a lack of emotional intelligence. They‘re very black and white and they romanticize the characters as they were left in the manga, saying (among other things) how Rin is Sesshoumaru’s soulmate and understands him like no other, in spite of being a child, and THAT raises all kinds of alarm bells. Because this is exactly the rhetoric used by predators towards impressionable children. People claiming that this isn’t the case are being willfully ignorant and I usually don’t tolerate such people and use the block button generously.

But this is the WORST manifestation of this ship. Notice how I say the worst, not the ONLY.

Unfortunately, this worst interpretation usually comes from the laziest and most aggressive shippers that simply lack the creativity to imagine anything else. I’ve read many a SessRin fanfiction that built this relationship up in a believable way, taking its time and addressing the potential pitfalls, unfortunately this type of dedication or writing talent is not easily found in a fandom as vast and trope-y as Inuyasha. But I‘ve also read a ton of fanfiction where SessRin is a „logical conclusion“ because the author is actually writing an InuKag fic and has no idea what else to do with Sesshoumaru and Rin, hence: Another pairing to make babies with, yaaaay. SessRin happens by proxy, which is a huge NO-NO. This echoes one of my mantras: In order for Sesshoumaru to even get into a romantic relationship (NO MATTER WITH WHO), there is an entire story and development that needs to be told first. The same goes for Rin because again, by the end of the manga, she‘s not much of a character at all. “Why do you even read SessRin if you don’t ship it??” I hear you ask (not you, Nonny, I mean this and the following in a general sense). Because I keep saying that every ship has its merit and I’m interested in the stories that can be told. I keep saying that all ships are legitimate and I don’t want to miss out on any potentially amazing stories, especially because those were seriously hard to come by back in the day (anyone remember the 2000’s? Anyone?). I’ve read fanfiction from literally every Inuyasha ship under the sun. So if I see the tell-tales of a bad SessRin fic, I leave the author and their world behind and move on to something else. I’ll use this short interlude to say this: It has become such a horrible trend in fandom to put the sole responsibility of one’s fanfiction-experience on the author instead of taking responsibility for the content one might consume. There’s an incredible lack of self-sufficiency, a lack of ability to just move away when people read something they don’t want to read without taking personal offense. Now, I’m not saying that you have to be like me, but at least take responsibility for your own experience. ANYWAY, back to the topic at hand.

So again: In order for Rin or Sesshoumaru to get together romantically at any point in the future, a LOT needs to happen first. A lot of development, a lot of questioning, a LOT of build-up, because this relationship needs a heck of a lot more explanation than most other hetero-ships out there, but most fanfic writers and shippers are too lazy to set this up properly, leading to problematic romanticization, sugarcoating and hand-waving away of serious subjects that need to be addressed. Most of these types of SessRin shippers I see are found on Twitter and Tumblr (many are Spanish, too, wth is up with that), as mentioned, and they are are extremely questionable, seeing no issue at all with this ship, and here’s my opinion on why that is: Given from what I’ve seen, these types of shippers equal Rin with themselves. If you read how they justify this ship, it has nothing to do with her being a child, and everything to do with the blank slate that she is (like Bella Swan in Twilight). Rin has endless potential and it’s much easier to project ones own fantasy on a character that has yet to BECOME an actual character you can write a love story WITH. Of course, shippers don‘t realize this, because projection is usually done on an unconscious level. But to someone who’s been observing in this fandom and lurking for years, this seems incredibly obvious. Neither Rin nor Sesshoumaru have any agency, because they’re fictional, and that’s why SessRin is such a ticking bomb, always has been. They can be turned into whatever you want.

Now, that’s of course what fandom is for: Fulfillment of fantasies and works depicting any dynamic from fluffy to dark. But here’s the second main problem: Because SessRin is usually depicted as your typical, trope-riddled “male is alpha, woman is beta at best” romance, it falls right into heteronormative standards. Heterosexual relationships are TEEMING with extremely lazy writing (and normalized abuse, but that’s a subject for another time) and for some reason, I’ve observed how hetero ships have this insane entitlement to “purity”. What I mean by that is that hetero-ships are much more likely to attract fans that need their ship to be canon, otherwise they can’t function. This is EXACTLY what happens with SessRin. If you just had SessRin shippers doing their thing, I don’t think we’d be in this situation. But because of the sequel and its excellent marketing strategy, SessRin shippers are full of hope and, worst of all, grasping at straws and lording their ship’s superiority over everyone else with renewed fervor. If Takahashi/Sunrise weren’t such absolute cunts (pardon the language), we’d not be in this situation. Because SessRin is now a “possibility” in the sequel, people suddenly see the fulfillment of their own personal fantasies within reach. Let me repeat: This is about the fulfillment of their OWN PERSONAL fantasy and has nothing to do with Rin. She just happens to be the female character that’s closest to Sesshoumaru. The fact that she’s a child does not factor in this particular scenario, even though it SHOULD.

So again: The ship is fine on its own, because it’s literally a blank slate that you can go in ANY direction with. It’s the people that desperately grasp for canon and have decided that SessRin is a foregone conclusion WITHOUT any build-up or explanation that are the true problem. They look to the sequel and their own interpretations to justify their lazy and problematic interpretation of the ship. They make the ship into the potential grooming/pedophilia shitstorm that many “antis” are caught up in, but that’s not the ships fault.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about the grooming and possible pedophilia.

I’d ask people, after reading all of the above, to remember this: If there is any grooming at all, it has yet to happen, because NOTHING has happened between Sesshoumaru and Rin after the manga. Hell, they didn‘t even speak to each other in the charity chapter. They are still the same blank slates now that they were back then. Whether or not grooming happens is in the hands of any creator that decides to take their dynamic further.

As for pedophilic tendencies: I will not deny that there are traces of that in SessRin shipping (some prominent people also ship Zabuza/Haku from Naruto which is telling), but I swear to you that 99% of SessRin fanfictions I’ve read do NOT depict Sesshoumaru with a child Rin (except for 1-2 dark fics that portrayed the dangers of a relationship with such a power imbalance, which are extremely important works as well imo). Same goes for the art. This again because Rin is not treated as a proper character, but as a vessel for wish fulfillment.

I have said many negative things about the shippers that are triggering the entire fandom at the moment, but people that oppose this ship need to be honest with themselves and acknowledge that them jumping to the conclusion of “SessRin ALWAYS equals grooming and pedophilia” also lack creativity and the ability to differentiate between different paths and outcomes. Accusing others of pedophilia is inappropriate and uncalled for, not matter how upset you are. I too have had to learn and accept that pedophilia is a mental disorder and needs a proper diagnosis and treatment. What happens because of a mental disorder should never be excused, no matter if it’s depression, bi-polar disorder or pedophilia, but what we can hopefully all agree on is that mental disorders are not something you choose.

So the only thing I can say to you, Nonny, is this: If you see something that looks like pedophilia or grooming to you, absolutely do report it. As someone once told me: The block button is a form of self-care. Use it! I have done the same over the last couple of days and it’s cathartic. If something triggers you, avoid it and find someone/somewhere to vent to if necessary. Your feelings are extremely valid, your aggression towards others (if you have shown any, that is) is not. Your experiences were horrific without any shadow of the doubt, but the way this possibly influences how you react to and treat others is absolutely something that is YOUR responsibility.

What I would, again, ask all of the people aggressively opposing SessRin is that you reconsider your stance on pedophilia. Its potential consequences are inexcusable, but accusing other people of being pedophiles because you’re jumping to conclusions is in extremely bad taste and leaves you not only on the same intellectual level as the shipper you’re accusing, but possibly even lower than that because you’re cherry-picking which potential mental disorder you’re discriminating against. It’s a free world, of course, but I’m sure we’re all trying very hard not to be hypocrites.

I wanted to TL;DR this entire post, but there’s honestly no way to do that without skipping over important parts. So thank you if you’ve made it to the end of this massive ramble. I understand that this is a very delicate subject and I am open to any and all people that would like to discuss this further. Special thanks go to Nonny for giving me the opportunity to talk about this more. I hope I answered your question, even if it might not have been what you wished to hear. Have a wonderful day and please take good care of yourself!

#inuyasha #sessrin #sesshoumaru #rin #hanyo no yashahime #hanyonoyashahime #hanyou no yashahime

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gcmblingdice · 3 years

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Marty Stus can fit any Mary Sue Tropes, but some are more common with Marty Stus than Mary Sues and vice-versa. Some of the most common types of Marty Stus are:

Manly Stu: Probably the most common Marty Stu and the most likely to have all or most of the Common Marty Stu Traits above. This character has reached awe-inspiring levels of manliness through pure authorial favoritism. Nine times out of ten, he is written by a male author, with variable levels of Wish Fulfillment tossed in. You won't see him dwell often on romance, if ever, since Real Men Hate Affection. Also usually a God Mode Stu.

Alt. names: Marty Stu on Steroids, Manly Man Marty Stu, Macho Man Stu

Romantic Stu: This sort of Marty Stu is much "tamer" than the Macho Stu, and is much more interested in his Love Interest. In fact, he's more intuitive to the needs of his beloved than most men in Real Life would ever be. He might be a bad boy, or Troubled, but Cute, or this may be just an Informed Attribute. Either way, he's everything a girl would dream of in a guy. He's often written by a female or written to get females interested in the story.

Alt. names: Lovesick Stu, Romance Stu, Love Sickening Stu, Romeo Stu

Uke Stu: Taking Romantic Stu a step further, there's the Uke Stu. He's the polar opposite of Macho Stu and is more than just In Touch with His Feminine Side. As the name implies, he's likely a character possessing the traits typically associated with the 'receiver' in Boys' Love and Yaoi. If he's not gay, he's probably less aggressive and masculine than his female Love Interest.

Alt: Feminine Stu

Lemon Stu: He can seduce and sleep with literally anyone he wants and Really Gets Around. This guy has the sex life most guys can only dream of. For he is The Casanova taken Up to Eleven. See the main page for more details.

Alt. names: Casanova Stu, The Genji

Lemon Stu Anti-Stu: Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Lemon Stu meets Anti-Sue. This type of Marty Stu is unattractive, rude, and often meant to be a stand-in for the male audience. Yet somehow, he manages to score with beautiful women, often resulting in Kavorka Man and Ugly Guy, Hot Wife.

Alt. names: Lemon Stu Loser, Anti Stu Casanova, Kavorka Stu

Geeky Stu: Some males realize that they will never physically meet the qualifications for your typical action hero, even though they may enjoy their adventures. Qualifications that include rugged good looks, strength, stamina, athletic ability, and a strong constitution as well as being charismatic and having excellent social and leadership skills. They prefer a protagonist that they could see themselves as. The Geeky Stu is average looking, cerebral, quirky, and probably of a scientific bent, even if he doesn't hold a degree. His strength is in his gray matter, not his myosin. He kicks ass using wit and intellect. He disarms foes with clever rhetoric and kills the ladies with dorky charm. His sidekick might be an action ready type ready to supply the brawn, but will always be taking orders from Geeky Stu, the brains of the operation. Geeky Stu considers himself an intellectual elite in a world of fools. And he is always ready to put the powers that be in their place, whether they be military martinets or bureaucrats. He will always win over "The Girl" from the Alpha Male jock because Geeks Are Sexy. Hard Science Fiction has quite a number of these. May overlap with Einstein Sue.

Alt. Names: Nerd Stu, Intellectual Stu

Purity Stu: This is the Marty Stu whose main character flaw is... His lack of flaws, which irritates the audience to no end. He is an All-Loving Hero or something similar, and may see it as his personal mission in life to be The Caretaker to everyone, whether they want it or not. He will radiate Incorruptible Pure Pureness, and this aura of perfection will often create a weird inversion of Straw Loser, as this character is just so wonderful that he makes everyone else look bad. He will either be a Technical Pacifist or an Actual Pacifist, unless of course, he actually has to fight, in which case he will fight in the most heroic way, with no one being killed. If (and this is a big if) he has any flaws, they will be so tiny that you'll need a magnifying glass to see them, or they will be cosmetic flaws that don't really affect him or the story. And those flaws will almost exclusively be "good guy flaws." He will often have a traumatic past, and may have been a bad guy then, but now he's simply good. In those cases, he's The Atoner. If he's The Atoner he may be on the receiving end of Reformed, but Rejected. On the other hand, anyone who crosses him will be Easily Forgiven, not because of an agenda but out of the goodness of his heart. He's nice to everyone, even his enemies. In some cases, he may even save the life of one of his foes, or of someone close to them, which most will see as kind but the more cynical will interpret as Passive-Aggressive Kombat. If he dies, he may ascend to Heaven/be sainted/have everyone, even his enemies mourn him/ ect. He will probably help others in a way that may come off as sweet to most, but as Condescending Compassion to the more cynical. Everyone will love him, and those who don't will be vilified. In fantasy, he may very well be The Chosen One. He may very well be able to do amazing things simply through his goodness. If a young boy, he may be a male version of The Pollyanna. He will probably love his country. He will always, always, always be willing to rescue people, even if they don't want it. Is nearly always a Good Samaritan, but very rarely runs into No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. If a superhero, he will be The Cape Up to Eleven. He will often be an impossibly good judge of character, and always do the right thing. Sometimes this happens when Historical Hero Upgrade is taken Up to Eleven.

Alt. Names: Perfect Hero Syndrome, Mr. Good Guy, Messianic Stu (in works where he takes on Christ-like qualities, not that uncommon,) Buddha-Like Stu (in works where he takes on Buddha-like qualities, also not that uncommon,) The Galahad (in works featuring chivary as in Arthurian legend).

Black Hole Stu: His gravity is so great, he draws all the attention and causes other characters (and, often, reality itself) to bend and contort in order to accommodate him and elevate him above all other characters. Characters don't act naturally around him - guys wish to emulate him and all the girls flock to him regardless of circumstances. They serve as plot enablers for him to display his powers or abilities, with dialogue that only acts as set-ups for his response. He dominates every scene he is in, with most scenes without him serving only to give the characters a chance to "talk freely" about him - this usually translates to unambiguous praise and exposition about how great he is. Most people don't oppose him and anybody who does will either realize their fault in doing so or just prove easy to overcome. Often a combination of the above Stu archetypes.

Informed Anti-Stu: This Stu is disadvantaged by society, magic, technology or any other factor owning to certain attributes that make him weak and disadvantaged...except none of those weaknesses ever come into play, while any or all of the "positive" elements of the above Stu archetypes continue to apply in the context of the story.

#which is he #TELL ME WHAT STU WOO IS

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secretlyatargaryen · 4 years

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One thing that I think is particularly interesting about Zuko as a character that I was thinking about while I was compiling the Tyrion meta is how he does work as an anti-fascist character because, unlike literally everyone else in the show, he isn’t shown to be The Best at his element. Which isn’t a knock at the other characters, I’ve seen some posts accusing certain characters of being Mary Sues but the truth is that all the characters are ridiculously overpowered and it’s kind of a thing with this show, and what makes them not mary sues is because they’re well written. I mean, despite how I joked about it before, Zuko doesn’t suck, he’s actually quite good, and he does get better at firebending after learning a new way to control it (also halfway through book one it is established that he is Secretly a Ninja), but he doesn’t become, like, The Greatest and that’s also part of the reason why it’s great that Katara wins the final fight against Azula because what better way to give a middle finger to fascist ideology AND his family’s treatment of him than to have him succeed not through having to prove his own worth by being the strongest, but through getting help from his friends. The fact that his sister’s defeat is shown to be a tragic moment rather than a glorious victory also underlines this. I’ve seen some people questioning whether he should have become firelord in the end and I’m kind of in agreement, and part of it is because of my feelings about this kind of storytelling in general - like, if you’re going to question what makes an absolute government bad then you kinda have to question whether there should even be one at all, the “new era of peace” stuff kinda makes me a little itchy (especially given the recent political context, although DAMN did this show shut down the “we’re the greatest country in the world” rhetoric like, yikes), but I’ve kind of accepted this as a tenant of the fantasy/scifi genre. My problems with him being firelord are a bit more personal because like, I want this sixteen year old traumatized kid to have some peace away from stuff that reminds him of his family’s abuse of him, but whatevs.

But like, also a big part of the theme of this story is letting go of the idea that you alone have to be the strongest or the greatest and that’s present with all the characters, but it’s also why discourse about how seeing characters like Zuko and Iroh get redemption is BAD because they were FASCISTS is just...ugh. Maybe it’s because of my own personal journey as someone who grew up conservative and having to come to my own realization that the things I was taught were wrong that I love these kinds of characters.

#jenny watches atla

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gunnerpalace · 4 years

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Hi! Same anon as the previous one. Tbh, I agree wholeheartedly with you. Y'see I do ask rhetorically,too but i could really accept and understand how and why ppl can be oblivious to IchiRuki, and somehow felt that the 'canon' should suffice, even the most excruciating of all is the fact a number found the ending even acceptable (ships aside, too). Again, I could respect that. But it's my greatest bane when ppl ask 'why' and not be clear they are asking rhetorically because I literally will

provide you an actual answer. And I get it, it’s the reason why ppl find shipping wars toxic and silly. But then again, as human, conflicts are always part of us (partly because as social psych explains so, we are gravitated to the negative for that allows us to change and survive), and the reason why “logical fallacies” are coined in the first place. Human will always debate, and argue about something; the only thing we could change is how we approach the opposing views.

Again, I dont condone any way, shape or form of abuse and harm. In some certain extent, I could perhaps understand it’s much harder for some IH to approach the actual argument being there’s either too much noise, and trapped in their own island between sea of salt. Thus becoming too acquianted w/ few IH who shared the same thought until it became their views as the only truth (see, that’s why its important to have debates! it is what keep us grounded and fair! Just like you said)

Who am I to speak though? I never ever challenged anyone anyways. And as you said, you just have to understand things in every way you could possibly think of–endless ‘whys’. Which is where I agree in your reply the most–this silly fandom wars is just the black mirror to every truth that lies beneath human psyche–the dark and the grimy. Heck, being a psych major is like staring at dark hole–at times, good, but most just plain confusing, revolting even or just heartbreaking.

Sorry it’s been long, but for the final of this ask: let me tell how glad I was with IchiRuki fandom I found in tumblr. It was the saltiest I’ve ever been (im not generally a fandom person anyways) but it’s the himalayan salt–expensive and actually nutritive it really deepened my desire to become wiser in general. And you for your wonderful essays, critiques and whatnot. I definitively would love to talk with you more not only about IchiRuki but the wonders and nightmare that us humans! Kudos!

I have sitting in my drafts a post spelling out my thoughts on “canon” (and thus, the people who cling to it) in that as a concept it privileges:

officiality over quality when it comes to validity (thus violating Sturgeon’s law)

corporations (intellectual property rights holders) over fans, and thus capitalists over proletarians

hierarchical dominance over mutualist networking within fandom

curative fandom over transformative fandom

genre over literary content

plot over characters

events over emotions

It is notable that (1) generally degrades art as a whole, (2) generally advances the capitalist agenda, and (3–7) generally advances the dominance of men over women (as the genders tend to be instructed by society to view these as A. dichotomies rather than spectrums, and B. to ascribe gender to them and make them polarities). These form the sides of a mutually reinforcing power structure (in the typical “Iron Triangle” fashion) designed to preserve and maintain the status quo.

Who really benefits from say, the policing of what is or is not “canon” in Star Wars? Disney, first and foremost. And then whomever (almost certainly male) decides to dedicate their time to memorizing the minutiae of whatever that corporation has decided is “legitimate.”

One can imagine a universe in which fan fic is recognized by companies for what it is: free advertising. (Much like fan art already is.) Instead, it is specifically targeted by demonetization efforts in a way that fan art isn’t. Why? Because it demonstrates that corporate control and “official” sanction has no bearing on quality, and it is thus viewed as undermining the official products.

In the same way, by demonstrating that most “canonical” works are frankly shit, it undermines the investiture of fans in focusing on details that are ultimately errata (the events, the plot, the genre), which is the core function of curative fandom and the reason for its hierarchical structure. The people who “know the most” are at the top, but what they “know” is basically useless garbage. And those people so-engaged are, of course, usually male.

To “destroy” the basis of their credibility, and indeed the very purpose of their community, is naturally viewed by them as an attack.

(This is not to say that efforts to tear down internal consistency within established cultural properties are good unto themselves, or even desirable. For example, efforts to redefine properties such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Ghostbusters, for the sake of a identity-politics agenda have largely A. failed as art, B. failed as entertainment, C. failed to attract the supposedly intended audience, and D. failed to advance the agenda in question. Trying to repurpose extant media in the name of culture wars is essentially always doomed to failure unless it is done deftly and gradually.)

(At the same time, this also shows what I was talking about last time, with regard to people seeing whatever they want to see. You will see people complain that Star Trek and Doctor Who didn’t “used to be so political,” which is obviously nonsense. These shows were always political. What changed was how their politics were presented. For example, Star Trek has, since TNG, always shown a nominally socialist or outright communist future, but was beloved by plenty of conservatives because they could [somehow] ignore that aspect of it.)

Of course, almost no one is seriously suggesting that one side of the spectrums outlined above be destroyed, rather merely that a new balance be struck upon the spectrum. But, as we have seen time and again in society, any threat to the status quo, whether that be 20% of Hugo Awards going to non-white male authors or the top income tax rate in America being increased by a measly 5.3% (from 28.7% to 34%… when the all-time high was 94% and for over 50 years it was above 50%) is a threat. This is why, for example, Republicans are out there branding AOC as a “socialist” when her policies are really no different at all from a 1960 Democrat who believed in FDR’s New Deal. (Which they, of course, have also demonized as “socialism.”)

(As an aside, all this ignores the fact that most of the “literary canon” of Western civilization, or at least English literature… is Biblical or historical fan fic.)

And this is when I finally get to my point.

Those people out there who denigrate and mock shippers and shipping, the people who hurl “it reads like fan fiction” as an insult, and so on, are the people who benefit from and enjoy the extant power structure. You will see the same thing with self-identified “gamers” complaining about “fake girl gamers.” Admitting that the hobby has a lot of women in it, and a lot of “casuals,” and is indeed increasingly dominated by “non-traditional demographics” is an affront to the constructed identity of being a “gamer.” They are “losing control.” And they don’t like it.

This exact same sort of population is what the “fanbase” of Bleach has been largely reduced down to through a slow boiling off of any actual quality. Of course they’re dismissive of people who are looking for anything of substance: their identity, their “personal relationship” with the franchise, is founded on a superficial appreciation of it: things happening, flashy attacks, eye-catching character designs, fights, etc.

(What this really boils down to, at heart, is that society at large has generally told men that emotions are bad, romance and relationships of all kinds are gross, and that thinking and reflecting on things is stupid. So of course they not only don’t care about such things, but actively sneer at them as “girly” or “feminine,” which is again defined by society at large as strictly inferior. And this gender divide and misogyny is of course promulgated and reinforced by the powers that be, the capitalists, to facilitate class divisions just like say racism generally is.)

(The latest trick of these corporate overlords has been the weaponization of “woke” culture to continue to play the people off one another all the time. “If you don’t like this [poorly written, dimensionless Mary Sue] Strong Female Character, then you are a racist misogynist!” They are always only ever playing both sides for profit, not advancing an actual ideological position. It is worth noting that there was a push by IH some years ago to define IR as “anti-feminist” for critiquing Orihime for essentially the exact same reasons [admittedly, not for profit, but still as critical cover].)

Which makes it very curious, therefore, that the most ardent IH supporters tend to be women. (Though there are more than a few men, they seem to tend to support it because it is “canon” and to attack it is to attack “canon” and thus trigger all of the above, rather than out of any real investment.) I think there are a number of reasons for this (which I have detailed before) and at any rate it is not particularly surprising; 53% of white women voted for Trump, after all.

What we are really seeing in fandom, are again the exact same dynamics that we see at larger and larger scales, for the exact same reasons. The stakes are smaller, but the perception of the power struggle is exactly the same.

Of course, the people who are involved in these things rarely think to interrogate themselves as to the true dimensions and root causes of their motivations. People rarely do that in general.

Putting all that aside, I’m glad that you have found a place you enjoy and feel comfortable, and thank you for the kind words, although I am not of the opinion that there is anything poignant about the non-fiction I write. It is, as I keep trying to emphasize, all there to be seen. One just has to open their eyes. So, it’s hard for me to accept appreciation of it.

Anyway, don’t feel shy about coming off of anon rather than continuing to send asks. We don’t really bite.

#Asks

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letmetellyouaboutmyfeels · 4 years

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um hi who’s steve moffat??

Oh my goodness. Okay, my sweet summer child, buckle up. I’ll try and keep this short. I assume you’re asking this since I just reblogged that post about Moffat creating the new Dracula show for BBC, so I’ll explain the particulars of why that’s upsetting as well.

So, Steven Moffat is a British television show writer and creator. He created the very popular (and well-done) comedic show Coupling, which was a take on the modern-day dating world and apparently inspired by how Moffat met his wife. He was also a writer on Doctor Who, the long-running British science fiction series, and this is where the fun (note the sarcasm) begins.

See, Moffat wrote some very very very good episodes on Doctor Who. In fact he wrote two of my favorites: the two-parter “The Empty Child”/“The Doctor Dances” (which includes my all-time favorite television moment, “Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once–everybody lives!!!”) and “Blink.” “Blink” is considered one of the best, if not the best, DW episode as it works so damn well and is so well written and ALSO functions very well as a standalone episode. Someone who has never seen a single DW episode could watch “Blink” and enjoy it.

Given Moffat’s good writing chops, everyone was super excited when he became the showrunner for Doctor Who after Russell T. Davies, the original showrunner, left, and when Moffat also announced he was creating Sherlock, a modern-day adaptation of the beloved Sherlock Holmes character.

I will direct you to this highly entertaining video that explains why Moffat’s show running skills and BBC’s Sherlock are, well, garbage.

Please do watch that video when you have the time since it’s fucking hilarious but here’s the gist of it: Moffat relies on building cliffhanger after cliffhanger and never actually delivering any climax, catharsis, or answers to the questions he gives. He makes his shows about one “super special genius” male character whose only function is to be “super special genius” and never actually has any character development and really actually is an asshole to everyone around him. And he writes female characters horribly, Irene Adler just to start. He crams in LGBT+ characters and other such “minority” characters in order to get “woke” and “diversity” points but he doesn’t actually give them any legitimate layers or nuance. The genius straight white male always saves the day and he does it while being a dick to everyone.

Yay.

Moffat’s constant reliance on twist after twist after twist without any character development, conclusion, explanation, or even logic, means that eventually his shows spiral into the absolutely absurd, as happened with season four of Sherlock. I would argue the show went off the rails in season three but that was before I saw it completely jump the shark in season four. Holy shit.

Which brings us to Dracula.

Look, vampires are sexy, I will be the first to admit that. But Dracula himself is not a vampire you want to swoon over. In the original book he is a sexual predator (the passages where he feeds on Mina are particularly disturbing and evocative of rape) who brutally and mercilessly murders people by twisting their spines and bashing their heads in until their brains burst out, sending wolves to tear them to pieces, and ripping their throats out. He literally throws a toddler to three vampires who do something so horrendous to it that Jonathan Harker blocks it from his memory.

Dracula is also, to add to all of this, a metaphor for two things a) the powerful and charismatic but “forbidden” gay relationship/love (and the shame that comes with that because this was the 1800s) and b) the racist/xenophobic fear of the “pure Aryan race” being “corrupted” by the “impure” eastern/non-Aryan bloodline.

Yeah, you heard me. The second one is pretty damn obvious and it’s a real sign of continued xenophobia and racism if you ask me that no adaptation (save for the silent black and white film Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary) has addressed this issue. Dracula literally says that he will destroy the Western race of heroes “through your women, and through them your children! I shall have them and through them I shall have you!” and basically says yeah I’m gonna rape your wives and they’ll have my children and your pure bloodline will be corrupted. This is far from an uncommon fear. It’s a repeated threat from the non-white villain in racist texts and it’s a common rhetorical trick. You even hear it in historical films when the heroic leader stands up and is like “would you have them kill us and rape our wives?” The fear isn’t just death, it’s that the “oh so pure bloodline” will be corrupted by the “unclean” race mating with the “clean” one.

AND THAT’S IGNORING THE BLATANTLY RACIST STEREOTYPE OF THE ROMANI PEOPLE AS EVIL STOOGES OF DRACULA LIKE WTF STOKER I’M GONNA RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD JUST SO I CAN KICK YOUR GODDAMN ASS–

*ahem* Anyway.

The first one is also pretty obvious given that the entire first third of the book is Dracula flirting with Jonathan up to and including making innuendos about Jonathan teaching him English by “showing him how to use his tongue” (NO I’M NOT MAKING THIS UP). Most people believe that Dracula was based on Vlad Tepes aka Vlad the Impaler but actually, while Stoker did research on good ol’ Vlad, Dracula was based on a popular actor and close friend of Stoker’s, Henry Irving. Dracula was originally supposed to be a play, written for Irving, with Irving in the title role. When Irving refused, Stoker changed it to a book.

In fact when people who knew the two read the book they all went, “holy shit Dracula is totally Irving and Stoker is totally Jonathan.” Contemporaries noted that the relationship between Irving and Stoker was toxic, with Irving being manipulative and narcissistic, taking advantage of Stoker, while Stoker was too damn in love with Irving to stand up for himself even as he knew that Irving was being an asshole.

SO THAT MEANS WE HAVE: queer subtext, racist subtext, and vampirism as a metaphor for sexual assault.

None of which Moffat has a history of handling well.

It’s a sad tradition in Hollywood to change Dracula into a sexy anti-hero, and to claim that Mina Harker, the heroine of the book who saves everyone’s goddamn bacon, was actually attracted to Dracula and wanted to be with him. Y’know, the man who in the book makes her drink his blood in a way that is explicitly worded to make it sound like she’s forced to give him a blowjob (no seriously reading those passages is genuinely disturbing). Seeing how Moffat treated Sherlock and The Doctor on their respective shows, he’ll probably turn Dracula from a monster that is legitimately scary (because y’know he rapes people) into yet another pale white super special genius Mary goddamn Sue.

Seriously, the next time someone asks me what a Mary Sue is I’m just directing them straight to the Moffat-run seasons of Doctor Who and BBC’s Sherlock.

And given how Moffat handled the character of Irene Adler by turning her from a woman who received the world’s first unsolicited dick pic and was forced to use it to protect herself from persecution by royalty in order to quietly marry the love of her life into a dominatrix whose bisexuality was used as a one-off line to show how “irresistible and sexy” Sherlock is and is beaten by Sherlock, is a villain, not just a villain but the lackey of another villain, and has to be rescued by Sherlock twice instead of being the clever quick-thinking woman who gets one over on him and teaches him not to underestimate women and that he’s not always right…

Yeah. I don’t have high hopes for how Moffat will treat Mina Harker, the meticulous wannabe journalist who loves her friends to death and has a fucking backbone of steel and memorizes train schedules in her spare time like the utter dork she is.

And even if you set all those things aside! Even if you hope that Moffat will do justice to the women in the series, that he’ll properly address the sexual, gay, and racist subtext in Dracula, even if you hope that he won’t make Dracula another annoying can’t-ever-do-anything-wrong-jackass that treats the people around him like shit but we’re supposed to think he’s cool for it and people still somehow inexplicably stick around him and forgive him for it…

EVEN IF YOU HOPE FOR ALL OF THAT

…there is still Moffat’s major storytelling issue which is that he never tells a complete story. He never delivers on any of the promises he makes to the audience. He dangles cliffhangers that promise some big revelation is upcoming, but he never actually makes good on that–he just gives another twist instead, so that you never conclude any story arcs. It’s like listening to a song but having no resolution in the music so it’s just hurting your ears. Moffat is all about sound and fury, about making things look and sound cool, but without giving them any actual substance.

Moffat has done some great writing work, but it was always when someone else was in charge reining him in and forcing him to tell a complete story. He was given carte blanche with Sherlock and look how well that turned out. Season four was so bad people actually wondered if it was a joke. Yeah. Seriously.

So, people are understandably frustrated about this upcoming Dracula adaptation and have zero hope that it will handle any of the characters or the complex issues with any kind of nuance or substance. My personal bet? The women will be treated as props who fawn over Dracula, Dracula himself will be an asshole that we’re supposed to somehow like, his bisexuality will be a throwaway thing and the men who fall for him will behave in stereotypically gay ways and God forbid he actually get a long-lasting substantial relationship with any of them, Van Helsing is gonna be a woman and be either his bitter ex or eventually fall for him, and oh yes the racism/xenophobia in the original text will never be addressed ever.

That, my dear, is Steven Moffat, and that’s why people hate him and aren’t happy about him creating a Dracula television series, bisexual vampires or no.

#mads answers things #dracula #dracula bbc #moffat #steven moffat #I'm paraphrasing the Dracula quotes because I've read that damn book ten times by now #and I'm too lazy to go find my copy to get the exact quote right #I hope this explains everything satisfactorily my dear!#apologies that it's such a long answer lol #I tried to be succinct #nalgenewhore

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reylo-garbage-can · 4 years

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Mentioned this on a different platform BUT I just find it incredibly ironic that the women and leftists who fall for anti rhetoric are essentially helping the alt-right conservative men gatekeep. Do they even realize it? They basically align themselves with the very people who loathe them just as much as they hate us. I’m talking the antis who call reylos sexist because Rey Doesn’t Need a Man are aligned with ACTUAL misogynists who vomit up Rey is a Mary Sue every chance they can get!! Isn’t that crazy!!! God I hope they feel empowered.

#star wars #star wars discourse #anti discourse #reylo

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vanimeldes · 4 years

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(I'm writing you here because you said no more got content on your main) I think what saved tros and the sequel trilogy as a whole from being an utter disaster and what made it better than got was the acting. with few exceptions such as lena and emilia and alfie and liam and maybe carice, as much screentime as she had, the acting wasn't the best, but somehow got has always been regarded as a masterpiece and this is why people are still more rabid about its ending than about the sequels ending.

From what I saw, TROS is indeed almost universally disliked by many portions of the fandom (reylos, anti reylos, poefinns, OT and Anakin fans etc.). As I made clear several times, I don't like the sequels and I don't consider them canon, but I can't not agree with you. G0T was always given so much credit, despite the many points that it failed at, and yeah, some actors were one of them. From an acting standpoint, the Disney SW is far superior. There isn't a single actor who didn't convey a wide array of feelings and didn't put depth into their characters and, most importantly, they worked hard to understand their characters, despite writing's shortcomings and the contradictions.

Whereas in G0T....Lena, Peter and Nik have always nailed every line, IMO, despite the sloppy writing. Even in the last season, when things made so little sense, they always shone in every scene they were in. Emilia had her moments in the early seasons, but she improved a lot and the last season was her best, despite what happened to her character, this is out of question. I always liked Kit, but I think this season's writing hurt him the most, in regards to giving him the opportunity to show emotions (in contrast to Emilia, whom this season's writing hurt her in terms of character arc, but allowed her to show all those emotions). And I don't blame Kit at all, alas, but what strong emotions can one pull from lines such as "UR MAH KWEEN" and "AH DUN WUNT IT" repeated over and over again? Isaac.. stopped showing emotions the moment Bran stopped being a real character and became the 3-EYED R4V3N machine. Maisie's lack of understanding of her own characters SHOWS in the latest seasons, when she apparently agrees with the consensus that Arya is a sociopathic hitman (which book!Arya isn't) or S/ansa's bodyguard and/or butler (yikes). And S/ophie....sorry, but no. Not only that her lack of understanding of her character REALLY SHOWS (just read all her obnoxious interviews where not only she refers to S/ansa as "me" but introduces her as this mastermind politician who is also a SJW woke warrior kween who must wear armour — as if this is book!S/ansa's point — and deserves to rule because she suffered the most — as if someome's worth is measured by the amount of pain they suffered, not to mention that S/ansa definitely isn't the one who suffered the most — and she will rule over a [her actual words] "democratic sort of kingdom" — everytime I read this BS, I lose 100 neurones), but her facial expressions were reduced to the one that she had for 3 seasons already and was meant to represent the Ice Queen bitch™️ (as in what Sophie herself and D&D think a strong woman should be), but in truth was something utterly deadpan. And other good actors such as Liam, Carice, Conleth, Gemma or Tobias Menzes (hope I spelled correctly) weren't even given enough screentime to increase the quality of the show.

I wasn't so involved in the ST cast, but from their interviews that I read, none of them tried to excuse or justify their character's actions when it wasn't necessary, nor they tried to tell the fans why they should like their character, and definitely nor did they say dumb shit like "democratic sort of kingdom" in a context where the form of government definitely wasn't even remotely close to democracy (because last time I checked, the form of government in Westeros was a feudal monarchy with its king having absolute power, so...the total opposite of democracy).

See, I never shied myself away from calling Rey a Mary Sue because yes, she is, IMO, and some people should learn to understand that not every criticism against female characters makes a person sexist. But while S/ansa was D&D's special snowflake and Sophie only made her even more obnoxious, Daisy's acting really saved the character in many ways and I do understand why so many people empathise with her. Daisy showed enough emotions to captivate the fans and make the root for their character despite the direction the storyline took, whereas only S/ansa fanatics are able to still feel whatever empathy and love for (at least) her show version.

I also understand why more people feel empathy towards Kylo Ren than for Jon Snow, because really, especially in the last season, Jon really was just a tired sad boi™️ whith only two lines and who end up sheding one manpain tear after cowardly stabbing his lover while kissing her (because let's be honest, D&D didn't know what to do with him at that point), while Adam's ability to convey such a wide array of emotions with his eyes and expressions and in his lines cannot be denied, whether you like Kylo Ren or not, and Kylo Ren ended up giving his life for the girl he undeniably fell in love with.

So yes, from an acting standpoint (and I would add visuals, characters and yes, writing, because nothing can outdo the G0T level of shitty writing, sorry), TR0S and ST is way better. One thing I can't excuse in none of them, however, was the treatment of the PoC. We know what happened to Missandei and that Greyworm was sidelined and while none of the ST PoC characters weren't killed off, Finn was pretty much sidelined in TLJ, Rose was introduced in TLJ and had just one minute of screentime in TR0S, and Poe, played by the Guatemalan Oscar Isaac, was revealed to be a former space narcos in TR0S, whereas in TLJ, his purpose was mostly arguing with Holdo (I really didn't like that movie and I didn't understand much of it, so this is all I can remember about him).

It has gotten really long but I couldn't help it because I liked your question way too much, but I don't want to invite people to engage with me (or attack me) in the ST/Reylo vs anti Reylo rhetoric/S/ansa rhetoric because again, I don't really care about the ST and I am done with G0T and Sandra. Hope I answered your question!

#ask #anonymous #anti got #anti tros #anti disney triliogy #anti disney canon #anti disney star wars #anti sequel trilogy

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skin--slave · 5 years

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What're your favourite and least-favourite cliches or tropes in fanfiction?

Sorry for the long post and thank you for the question bud 💚... I love B-horror, so I obviously don't mind overdone, overblown, stereotypical stuff. (You've read my fic ffs) Give me genderswaps where the names just have -a at the end, werewolves, apocalypses, ridiculous secrets, let-me-sleeps, runaways, new kids at school, magic dicks, instant trust, Stockholm syndrome, forever rebounds, backstage trysts, formulaic traumas, impossibly convenient run ins at coffee shops and terrible 2-D characters. Self-insert and Mary Sue to your heart's content. Crack everywhere, serious or not. Recycle everything. It's good for the planet.

That said, there are a few things that (for me) hit so-bad-they're-good and keep going till they're bad again. Vampire fic is hard to do well, and ancient vampires meeting teenagers who remind them of their first love (who they may or may not have murdered) is a line that doesn't work for me. I don't click on mpreg unless I know and trust the author, partly bc it's guaranteed whipped cheese and partly bc it's used by some to hide anti-choice rhetoric. Cheating hits me wrong. Cheese fluff is on really, really thin ice. 99% of the time, I won't click, and when I do, I'm ridiculously picky. Xmas fluff is a big no. And Y/N makes me crazy.

Important: Just bc I don't like these doesn't mean they shouldn't exist, just that they're not made for me. They don't squick me (yes, even I have squicks) but I'm not clicking bc I know I probably won't enjoy them. Unless I'm asked to give feedback, which I'm always willing to do, I'm just gonna stick to first day of post-apocalyptic werewolf school. 😊

#thanks bud #ask

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definitionoffernweh · 3 years

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This is a 18+ fandom blog where we will run into/discuss NSFW and problematic/taboo topics!

Keep In Mind:

𒆜 Real Life Political/Social Justice/etc stuff are allowed as long as we keep it on fandom/media/etc. FYI, I'm an Intersectional Feminist and a Pan-GrayAplAroAce + Fictosexual/Fictoromantic/Fictoplatonic.

𒆜 After some recent things I've seen that unfortunately exist, I cannot continue being civil with people who condone RL harassment over fiction so if you're a part of that or use the term "proshitter" unironically you will be blocked.

𒆜 I tend to disappear for long periods of time and then come back and blow everything up. I also switch Fandoms like crazy and only sometimes stick with one for a long period of time. I have a habit of mass reblogging/tagging, and am still sorting out the various untagged posts. I also mass follow blogs without looking at bios so I'm very willing to unfollow/block if asked in general (you do not need to have a reason!).

𒆜 I will try to tag everything so don’t worry too much about accidentally coming across something triggering/deeply upsetting. And if you're that worried about it, I usually stay in the realm of fluff, romance & familial relationships versus anything else.

ฅʕ•ᴥ•ʔฅ ʕ•ᴥ•ʔっ ʕ˵•ᴥ•˵ʔ

“Marrying the words fern, or distance, and wehe, an ache or sickness, the word can be roughly translated as 'distance sickening' or 'far woe' – a pain to see far-flung places beyond our doorstep.”

ฅʕ•ᴥ•ʔฅ ʕ•ᴥ•ʔっ ʕ˵•ᴥ•˵ʔ

To Further Clarify My Own Opinions On These Things:

Shipping is, inherently for a lot of reasons, romantic/sexual in nature. I don’t use the term “platonic shipping” for putting together two or more people in a sibling/parental/etc way because of that. If it’s platonic, it won’t be described as shipping. Also the “underage” tag is interesting to me because of what different countries and even different states would classify as legally underage, so I just boil it down to this: characters being shipped under 14 (especially if they’re under 10) and over 18 are a NO-GO. Large age gaps where both are 18+ or are around the same age in general (middle schooler x middle schooler/high schooler x high schooler, pairings like “17yr old x 19 yr old”) are completely fine.

Yes, I’m into OC x Canon. I’m a huge fan of OCs, especially making them (though personally not that big on self-shipping), and since I’m also a huge fan of shipping they go hand-in-hand. I don’t do Anti-OC rhetoric, but I do agree that Mary/Gary-Sues are a thing (just not that every OC is one). This is one of the biggest reasons why I created this blog, so I can provide help to those trying to make a two-dimensional fully rounded character. Lastly, as a nice reminder to Anti-OC people: every character is an OC, deal with it.

Concerning “Psuedo-Incest”, like Batcest (not between Bruce, Damian, Kate, Bette, Helena W.), MCU Thorki, etc; it will be in here but tagged so you don’t have to see it if you don’t want to. Psuedo-Incest doesn't bother me because it isn't actually incest and only works in AUs where the characters have never/will never see each other in a sibling/parental/etc way. Psuedo-Incest where step-family fall in love while looking at each other as “biological family” I classify as incest just because of how much of a reach creators are doing to make it truly incestuous while being unable to actually make it incestuous for some reason or another. And concerning ships like MCU Starker/Spideypool, etc; they will only show up if the canonically underage character has been aged-up or the canonically older character has been aged-down.

I don't do Real People shipping, for multiple reasons, but I'm chill with RPF (and even those non-serious compilations/edits) as long as the real people involved are okay with it. I personally believe if Real People shippers kept to their circles the shipping would never get toxic and have a lasting negative impact on the real world. I also don't do Loli/Shota type stuff or even zoophilia-esque shit; they're just not my thing.

In case you couldn't tell I'm a Pro-Shipper (aka anti-fanpol/anti-anti/etc), so I'd prefer if you blocked/ignored me instead of starting shit. I also align myself with neushippers/neufic/peacefic/etc etc, but I'm very anti-radqueer. Anyway, I have a whole tag explaining my views on this cause there is too much for one paragraph so check it out if you're curious. To give a little summary about myself, in RL I truly don’t give a shit what anyone does as long as it is consensual and I'm completely against pedophilia/zoophilia/etc etc. But in fiction, I'm both quite picky about what I read and "morbidly curious" (and maybe slightly dumb in comprehension) so I'm not huge on problematic ships or scenarios but I have and will read them. At the end of the day, I believe you can consume whatever fiction you want (as long as it's fiction, it isn't made with the intention of doing harm aka propaganda and you fully understand that's it's fictional) but most if not all "problematic" stuff won't be posted/reblogged here.

ฅʕ•ᴥ•ʔฅ ʕ•ᴥ•ʔっ ʕ˵•ᴥ•˵ʔ

Tag Index

dof-mv is the fictional world I created after I realized how much I loved vast connected universes. It’s watched over by Quintessa, the mysterious narrator/storyteller. In-universe, it is referred to as the “Omniverse" (which you can look up). dof-ov is my stories/OCs separate and non-canon to my main universe, which are also separate from each other unless stated otherwise.

guest-stars is other people's OC's "info boards" that I reblog while ocappreciation (this and ocapp are not my own tags, feel free to follow them) is general OC content. My own OCs might also show up here, not sure yet. writing-is-my-passion is advice/positivity/etc pertaining to Characters, Stories, Writing, etc etc. It can be by me or others. Feel free to ask if you want a specific topic, or if you want to submit your own.

CONTENT-WARNING ("Trigger Warnings") is the usual (Gore, Porn, etc; includes "cursed fic/ships/etc"). shipname-au (ie starker-au) is for ships being made "appropriate" (ie aged-up/aged-down, un-family-related, etc etc). batcest/thorki will be used for anyone who has those blacklisted. ___ fic/art/hcs/comic/animation for specific things.

??? is for stuff like media literacy/discussion/etc. gay-nerds is for any mention of SJW-esque stuff (queer/feminism/etc etc) revolved around media. to-be-or-not-to-be is stuff I want to find later. you-are-the-entire-circus is funny stuff. fern-is-REDACTED is my posts. kim-people-are-dying is discourse (can be positive and negative).

ฅʕ•ᴥ•ʔฅ ʕ•ᴥ•ʔっ ʕ˵•ᴥ•˵ʔ

Fanfic Collections (not mine)

DC (+Subcollections)

BNHA

Riordanverse (+Subcollections)

DuckTales (2017) + DT87/DWD91

Marvel (+Subcollections)

The Secret/Celebrity Trio

TMNT

DBH

Audio Dramas (+Subcollections)

Internet Horror (+Subcollections)

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neutralvlddiscourse · 6 years

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Sheithers shaming Lance fanons? My hot deuce on it

Okay so people who ship Sheith (and thus most likely stan Keith) love to shit on fanon Lance and Keith and how they’re portrayed in Klantis’ fanfictions. As a Sheither, I can say from my experience of being in the ship fandom that they are usually against how Lance and Keith are portrayed in these fics and at a more psychoanalytical level, critical of where these fanons stem from. for example, Klantis’ fanon Lance is close to Mary Sue while his canon self isn’t all that remarkable. I mean yeah hes a sharpshooter but overall, hes very slack, an all-rounder if im generous with definitions and ambitious with no volition. theres nothing wrong with it, thats what he is, but klantis will bemoan of ‘bad writing’ to discredit canon lance anyway so why bother.

anyway sheithers (mostly those involved in discourse only) tend to p much shit on how Lance-stanning Klantis project themselves on Lance and make him all Mary Sue and Keith dependent on him. I mean yeah thats shitty to Keith and all, but y'all writing Shiro getting cucked by the Galrans fucking Keith all the time* and are entertained and hot and bothered (positively) by it. bottomline is, both are fantasies, one’s maybe more conceited, and the other a facet of being human (unless youre ace, you do you) but y'all still shaming each other, sheithers @ klantis for projecting themselves on lance and portraying Keith as some lil’ baby that needs lance (ie the fans themselves) and klantis @ sheithers for yelling about shiro’s tits every hour or so (bc y'all thirsty).

for the latter, it’s basically just slutshaming so uh check urself. and the former... I just dont agree with the whole ageist sentiment of ‘shame these 14 yo’s for wanting to be perfect in their own eyes and execute literary and indirect vengeance against those that doubt them ie Keith @ lance’ I mean its not easy being a teen, you got all these angst and youre grappling with identities and the world is suddenly complex and you crave a black and white rhetoric. it doesnt justify abuse by anti, but it sheds some light on why they do what they do.

tl’dr sheithers are adults that shame teens for projecting/fantasizing in a problematic manner, yet they dont want klantis to shame them for expressing their sexualities that could sometime manifest into very kinky (and morally dubious, by social convention) fic. I laugh at jabs at klantis too but lets try to hold ourselves to higher standard or sth like that. or dont. suit yourself

#vld discourse #klanti #anti sheith #anti anti

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nancydhooper · 4 years

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Four Lawyers. Four Projects. One Non-Stop Year.

It isn’t news that the Trump administration has kept ACLU attorneys working at breakneck speed for the past three years. In 2019 alone, we saw historic moments and victories—from defeating the citizenship question on the 2020 census and bringing the first trans civil rights case to the Supreme Court, to blocking a wave of abortion bans and many of the administration’s attempts to dismantle the asylum system. To name a few.

Here are some of our attorneys’ takes on 2019 and the year ahead—what’s changed for the better and for the worse, and how the outcome of the 2020 presidential election will affect the fight for civil rights and liberties in years to come.

Chase Strangio

Deputy Director for Transgender Justice, LGBT and HIV Project

What was your favorite moment of 2019?

A lot happened so it’s hard to pick just one moment, but for me one of the most memorable was the October 8 argument for the Aimee Stephens case at the Supreme Court. Obviously the moment itself was historic. Working on the case was pivotal in my life and my work. But even more than the hearing itself, I’ll never forget the feeling of coming out of the Supreme Court and seeing a crowd of trans people and allies chanting to Aimee while we walked across the plaza. It’s a special reminder that it’s not about what happens in court, it’s about how we move forward.

What was the biggest challenge?

This was a challenging year. Two things stand out: The Supreme Court taking on the Title VII cases and the increasing attacks on trans people in sports.

When we heard about the Title VII cases in April, it was a devastating blow. Aimee had already won in the lower court, and we didn’t want the Supreme Court to undo her win. It’s difficult existing in this political context with so many attacks on the trans community and going up to the Court knowing that no matter what, something would be lost—whether something rhetorical or in the public discourse or in the legal outcome of the case itself.

There’s also been a rise in attacks on the idea of trans people participating in sports. It’s disappointing seeing people we’d expect to be allies side with our opponents. It’s just another context that’s being leveraged in public conversations and policy debates to argue that trans people aren’t “real” and that we don’t deserve to participate equally in society. It’s painful and the people who are going to be the most hurt are the trans youth who are being singled out and demeaned by the adult lawmakers who are supposed to protect them.

How will the outcome of the 2020 election affect trans rights?

There’s a long way to go no matter who’s in the White House. But for trans rights, the shift from Obama to Trump was drastic. If Trump loses, we’ll continue to sue the government because the government will continue to discriminate, and it will take a lot of work to undo the anti-trans agenda of the last three years. But hopefully we will have a president that is less concerned with decimating us and our lives and we can work towards rebuilding some protections. No matter what happens, our resolve to fight and defend our communities will persist.

How do you unwind after preparing for a big case?

I operate at a constant state of stress, so it’s always a struggle. Maybe I haven’t done a good job of unwinding. I do love theatre, going to shows, engaging in creative processes to get me out of my head.

What got you into this work?

As a queer, trans person with access to resources I felt that I could serve my community by working within systems of power to disrupt and distribute power. It isn’t always easy and I don’t always do it perfectly but I could never imagine doing any other work.

Brigitte Amiri

Deputy Director of the Reproductive Freedom Project

What was the biggest challenge of 2019?

2019 was the year of the abortion ban, so it’s not so much one challenge in particular but the onslaught—we’re fighting battles at the federal and state level in a rapid succession. The states have been emboldened by the Trump administration and by changes in the judiciary, and it’s been a breathless fight against their attacks on abortion and access to contraception. Some of our most important victories of the year included blocking the abortion bans in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Utah.

Still, in 2019 there were also some great legislative victories for reproductive rights. A number of states have passed proactive measures that expand access. A perfect example is Maine, where the reproductive rights and justice movement got the state to pass a law expanding who can provide abortions and not just limit provision to doctors but to expand it to advanced practice clinicians. Another new law in Maine ensures that people can access abortion with Medicaid as insurance if they qualify. States like Maine will be a haven for abortion access if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned.

What will 2020 look like for abortion rights?

The attacks on abortion will continue in 2020, unfortunately. The states restricting access have been doing so for decades. And even if there’s a change in the presidential administration, the federal judiciary has now been changed for generations, so states that want to pass restrictions are still going to do so in an aggressive manner, in hopes that the courts will uphold their restrictions. So I think 2020 will be very busy.

Most people in this country support reproductive freedom, but anti-abortion politicians have their own agenda and refuse to listen to the majority of their constituents. Restricting abortion has always been used as a political tool that has been wielded by some politicians regardless of what the public wants.

What got you interested in reproductive freedom?

Ever since I was a little girl, I was always interested in fighting for what was fair. My mom was a feminist and a stay-at-home mom who took me to political rallies, and I used to babysit for a mom who worked at Planned Parenthood. These strong women instilled in me the idea that people should be able to make decisions about their own bodies and everyone should be treated equally in society. Eventually I went to law school because I wanted to use the law to promote social justice.

Is there a particular client from 2019 who stands out?

The staff at the EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Kentucky. Dr. Marshall, who owns it, and staff are amazing people and our heroes. They make sure patients get the care they need with compassion and dignity. They’ve endured so much in addition to the legal onslaught—including anti-abortion people blockading the clinic doors and vandalizing the clinic. They are my heroes.

Personally, my favorite moment of 2019 was calling the clinic and telling them the good news that the judge blocked the state abortion ban.

Dale Ho

Director of the Voting Rights Project

What was your favorite moment of 2019?

The census win. From the beginning I thought we had the better argument, but there were so many predictions that we would lose. I understand why we got those predictions, because we were the underdog, but it was hard not to let that seep in and affect my outlook. When we won, I felt vindicated.

What was the most important legal win?

Again I’d say the census case. If we lost, representation would have shifted away from diverse states and areas, and many communities would have lost their fair share of federal funding. It was a massive case of major significance.

No one believed that the Trump administration wanted to add the citizenship question to support voting rights. The Court’s decision affirmed how much we need honesty from the government on why it’s doing what it’s doing. And the case was a test for the Supreme Court, to see whether it would stand up to the kind of lawlessness that has become standard in this administration. It was nerve-inducing that four justices were willing to go along, but the center held.

The census case was also litigated at a breakneck pace—from a trial decision to the Supreme Court in only three months. It was maybe the most significant challenge in my professional life. I’m still recovering.

How do you handle stress when you’re on the road?

I always, always buy WiFi on planes, and take my noise canceling headphones with me. Sometimes I’ll get a Bloody Mary (virgin!) so I can work throughout the flight. When I’m flying out of New York, I get the same bad Italian hoagie from the CEBO Express in the airport—something I probably wouldn’t eat anywhere else.

How will the presidential election affect the Voting Rights Project?

I don’t think the outcome of 2020 will affect our work, because most of our work is in the states. We need to modernize our states’ antiquated registration and voting systems. Those are bad now and they’re going to be bad no matter who wins in 2020. We’re going to have to do that work and also focus on redistricting after the census happens, as local, state, and federal districts get redrawn all around the country. So we have a busy 2020 and a busy 2021 ahead of us, regardless.

What do you look forward to in 2020?

Election season is always an exciting time to be a voting rights lawyer. It can be challenging because you know in advance that it’s going to be very busy. But there’s a lot you don’t know that’s going to pop up—you know things will pop up but you don’t know what. It’s challenging to stay ready for that but I feel like every election I’ve been here, we’ve done some of our best work in that emergency, rapid response posture. I’m looking forward to it.

Omar Jadwat

Director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project

What is one moment from 2019 that stands out to you?

I’ll cheat and tell you two. The first was when we blocked the Remain in Mexico policy (or Forced Return to Mexico, or Migrant Protection Protocols, as it goes by a lot of names). We knew the policy would be a disaster and we were really glad to block it. The second was when a higher court allowed the policy to be implemented while an appeal is pending. Under this stay roughly 60,000 people have been dumped in Mexico in awful conditions. Cartels are preying on them, waiting for people to get off the buses and kidnapping them immediately. It all goes to show what an awful policy it is and how important it was to challenge it. The fact that we were able to stop it briefly was an important victory. Now the litigation continues.

What was the biggest challenge?

Protecting the asylum system. The administration has a multi-pronged strategy to attack asylum and basically eradicate the system unilaterally. A major focus of our work in the last year has been taking on these policies—we’ve challenged the standard for asylum, gang violence exceptions, detention of asylum seekers. There’s the first asylum ban, the second asylum ban, Return to Mexico, and more. A whole set of cases.

How has IRP’s work changed this year?

Our team has built a new set of muscles as we adapt to new challenges—challenges that would have been extraordinary and unusual in the past, which are now the norm. The administration often announces drastic policy changes with little or no warning, and the pressure is on our team to figure out what they’re doing, to analyze it legally, and put together a lawsuit as quickly as possible if there’s a legal problem. The administration has been so aggressive with its immigration policies and the scale of what they’re trying to do is getting more ambitious. It’s caused us to be more aggressive in terms of taking them to court, and then if we win that causes them to move fast to try to get rid of our victories. Everything is happening much more quickly than usual.

What got you into immigrants’ rights?

I come from a family of immigrants, including people who struggled with getting and maintaining status. I took a class with Judy Rabinovitz in law school, and she inspired me to follow this professional path.

What do you look forward to in 2020?

The possibility of a new administration to deal with and a humane, respectful system in the future. It’s refreshing to see so much public disapproval of anti-immigrant policies, and that sentiment has strengthened in the last couple of years. I hope that the sympathy and support we’ve seen for immigrant communities will continue to carry through.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8247012 https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/four-lawyers-four-projects-one-non-stop-year via http://www.rssmix.com/

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lodelss · 4 years

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ACLU: Four Lawyers. Four Projects. One Non-Stop Year.

Four Lawyers. Four Projects. One Non-Stop Year.

Chase Strangio

Deputy Director for Transgender Justice, LGBT and HIV Project

What was your favorite moment of 2019?

What was the biggest challenge?

This was a challenging year. Two things stand out: The Supreme Court taking on the Title VII cases and the increasing attacks on trans people in sports.

How will the outcome of the 2020 election affect trans rights?

How do you unwind after preparing for a big case?

What got you into this work?

Brigitte Amiri

Deputy Director of the Reproductive Freedom Project

What was the biggest challenge of 2019?

What will 2020 look like for abortion rights?

What got you interested in reproductive freedom?

Is there a particular client from 2019 who stands out?

Personally, my favorite moment of 2019 was calling the clinic and telling them the good news that the judge blocked the state abortion ban.

Dale Ho

Director of the Voting Rights Project

What was your favorite moment of 2019?

What was the most important legal win?

How do you handle stress when you’re on the road?

How will the presidential election affect the Voting Rights Project?

What do you look forward to in 2020?

Omar Jadwat

Director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project

What is one moment from 2019 that stands out to you?

What was the biggest challenge?

How has IRP’s work changed this year?

What got you into immigrants’ rights?

What do you look forward to in 2020?

Published December 20, 2019 at 05:09PM via ACLU https://ift.tt/34DCIp7 from Blogger https://ift.tt/34NL3qo via IFTTT

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