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evilwickedme · 1 year

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It's very frustrating to talk about fridging bc the original point of it was like a very specific criticism of how minorities are treated in comic books in particular and it's now been universalized so much people think it means "killing a woman off because she's a woman" or "killing any character to motivate another character" (the definition according to tvtropes fyi, kill it with fire kill kill kill kill). Fridging isn't bad because you're killing a character as motivation, and it's not bad because you're killing a minority off, it's bad because it's a pattern of behavior from an industry overrun by white men writing and drawing and editing those stories. You're allowed to kill a woman off if it suits your story, but the issue was that women are constantly getting hurt or depowered or raped or killed off to motivate other, non-coincidentally male characters.

The problem that stood behind the original women in refrigerators website was that the narrative that the comic book industry at large was telling was that the purpose of female characters was to get hurt in order to motivate some other guy. Kyle Rayner's girlfriend gets stuffed in a fridge, we're not sad because her life got taken from her too soon, we're sad because Kyle Rayner just lost his girlfriend. Gwen Stacy gets killed by the Green Goblin, we're not sad because she didn't get to live a full happy life, we're sad because she didn't get to live a full happy life with Peter Parker. That is not to say that the story doesn't still get told. Peter going after the Green Goblin is horrific and terrible and amazing and leads to some great plot and character development. But the choice was not to hurt Peter himself, not even to threaten his loved ones but not actually harm them, the choice - CHOICE! - the writers in the comic book industry consistently made was to hurt a character who was already part of a marginalized group, and to do that for the benefit of a (presumably) white male cishet able bodied main character's narrative.

I speak mostly in past tense because once fridging took hold in the collective popular consciousness it didn't disappear completely, but it did fall out of favor in being used so blatantly. It became isolated cases rather than the main feature of one of the best selling batman books of all time. Characters get killed off occasionally, and those characters are even sometimes members of minority groups, and biases still inform those writing choices, but I'm struggling to remember reading a comic in the last couple of years that specifically fulfills the criteria for fridging.

Anyway if you're reading this in context, you know that at the end of this month (may 2023) Marvel is planning to celebrate the most famous fridging of all time by absolutely not learning their lesson and fridging another character. They're being lazy about it, too - they've decided to do it to Kamala Khan in Peter Parker's book, two characters that mean close to nothing to each other, and being extra awful by making it a Pakistani Muslim woman being killed off during AAPI month, and so far the information we have doesn't even involve Kamala's own friends and family and superhero team mourning her at all. It's supposed to motivate Peter, because it's part of his book, and it's also supposed to parallel Gwen Stacy, and they chose to do... This. Kamala is a wildly popular and beloved character who deserves better, and frankly Peter deserves better too. If you're going to fridge, at least do it well.

But I'm also already seeing white men, who supposedly agree with me and think this is bad, saying, well it's for MCU synergy, not "because she's a female" or "because she's not a white character" (direct quotes don't @ me). And firstly, ok, way to assume the rest of us didn't also catch up to the obvious conclusion that marvel comics is doing MCU synergy, AGAIN. The thing is that those aren't separate concepts at all? Or well, they are, but they don't negate each other. They're trying to do MCU synergy and make Kamala into a mutant, but they could've done that a million other ways, just as cheap and not as offensive - a simple retcon would've sufficed, they just did that a few years ago with Franklin Richards.

They chose to do it by killing her off, and they chose to kill her off in somebody else's book to motivate him rather than tell a story about her, and they chose to do it while celebrating Gwen's fridging for some fucking reason. This is context that, when removed from the situation, makes the whole thing meaningless. And you can say a lot about Gail Simone, but that she didn't have a Goddamn point is not one of them.

#how do I even tag this #fridging #women in refrigerators #kamala khan #ms marvel #spiderman #peter parker #gwen stacy #comics #marvel comics #marvel #sexism #racism #gail speaks

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mdverse · 2 years

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thoughts on middle blocker santana? <3

oh god i'm so sorry to that author but middle blocker santana is the worst glee volleyball take i've seen so far and maybe i just have strong feelings about which positions the glee kids would play but also. no. to quote bob the drag queen, "mama this is garbage". santana would not be a middle blocker and let me tell u all why i say that because i really need to get it out of my system.

the first glaring issue there is that santana is rather short. canonically, at least, she's about my height and while i may make them all slightly taller in my own fic, i don't think that's what ote's author did. and even when playing with a women's height net, I feel pathetically short when i'm up close to it, which middle blockers often are. i don't want to say for sure that she would be too short to be a good middle blocker, but being taller would certainly go a long way. especially because if you look at most teams, the tallest players there will most likely be MBs (and they can be huge). and sure, short people could probably still be decent middle blockers (ie hinata in haikyuu) but it just does not make sense to put a short person in that position. middle blockers, more than anyone else at the net, are constantly switching between offence and defence. you pretty much always have to be ready to block the ball, or to go in for a fast-paced spike. it's a very hectic position to be in and, because you're jumping more than anyone else, height is crucial in getting to blocks quickly. a short person could in theory keep up, as hinata does in hq, but they'd be using a whole lot more energy running around everywhere, they'd have to jump extra high and get the timing right, etc. it's a lot of hard work. and they'd probably be suited to other positions anyway. and i'm not saying santana couldn't do it - i'm sure she could if she really wanted to play MB. but that leads me into my second point.

santana would hate being a middle blocker. maybe i'm biased as someone who has played mb maybe once or twice in games and absolutely hated it lmao but also. i see santana as someone who has much more of an offensive playing style. girlie loves sending a good, strong spike right past the opposing block, and having the time to wind up to it. you don't really have that as a middle blocker because things can get so hectic in the middle of the court. she'd hate having to make that switch right at the net. i also reckon she wouldn't be a great blocker generally, y'know? like she's not a terrible blocker, but it's probably her least favourite play. not to mention middle blockers don't actually play in the back row - once they're done serving, they get swapped out and the libero plays defence in the back until they've rotated back to the front row, and then the MB comes back onto the court. and i just don't see santana liking that. if anything, she wants to spend as much time on the court as possible and she loves the opportunity to attack from the back row. she's great at receiving, too. being a middle blocker would just end up being really frustrating for her. honestly, if i didn't see santana as more of an offence-leaning player, i might've considered making her a libero. clearly that didn't happen but it is a possibility i'd be more inclined to think about than middle blocker santana.

for what it's worth, if i had to rank the positions based on how likely i'd be willing to give them to santana, i'd say:

outside hitter (left side)

opposite hitter (right side)

setter

libero

middle blocker

1-2 are interchangeable, and 3-4 might be as well. but either way middle blocker is always dead last. like i never even considered it for her because it's such a weird choice, so imagine my shock and horror when i found out that was the position she got in ote. so much disbelief and a lil bit of rage.

in conclusion, MB!santana is garbage and anyone who tries to tell me otherwise would need a really compelling argument bc based on both her physical attributes and her personality, i could never see her enjoying it. thank u for coming to my ted talk <3

#ask md #mist <3 #vb au asks #can u tell i think about all of this way too much lmao #the technicalities of choosing vb positions for the glee kids are actually so interesting imo #like would they be good at it? would they like it? what kind of playing style would they gravitate towards?#many thoughts for them all #anyway u know who could've been a solid mb? brittany #but i much prefer her as a setter and tbh i don't think she'd really love being an mb either #but mb!santana... i'd say it's the worst thing to come out of ote but we both know that statement is false #it's easily the worst volleyball take to come out of that fic but there were many worse aspects to it all

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bloodfcst-a · 4 years

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the last few mornings i’ve had hanging out with @sailorrmood have been absolutely incredible for my self-esteem and energy. thank you always for being ready to hang out to dismantle sexism, ableism, racism, and all the other shenanigans we see on the internet in the name of virtue signaling and performance activism.

i’m attempting to return to tumblr, but one of the things that really grinds my gears is the pseudo-authenticity and one-time performance activism via a reblog of a semi-relatable post. i say semi because while there are good intentions in many of these posts, people often just click like or reblog without considering the lack of intersectionality that was in the main post, or figure “i did my part” and expect everyone else to move on without recognizing that the situation lies beyond your simple text post. just because you moved on from knowing people are being unfairly incarcerated and dying at the hands of actual criminals weaponized by the ‘ justice system ’ doesn’t mean i have, or will.

today i really read someone with their whole chest say “i just learned about racism this week. wow. i’m white and i should do something about things.” and i can’t even imagine what it’s like to live in a world with so much privilege that you can really go 20+ years of living without recognizing the world around you and without noticing inequality or injustice. caucasity is a hell of a thing. meanwhile i’m an afab nb black & native so truly there’s never a time i’m not reminded of all the privileges i don’t have. i get so annoyed seeing people on tumblr say something completely ignorant and then use an excuse.

just two days ago i saw someone say “it’s sexist to ship clerith and not cloti, i’d know, i’m a womanist.” << which is not womanism, this is truly white feminism at its peak. i’ve also seen “this is my opinion and to critique me and my opinion is transphobic because i’m trans and you’re missing my good intentions.” this is both fragility and performativity to overrule an actual discussion, claiming bc of some label they know to be a haute keyword that their opinion is right. if you were truly an ally, you’d be willing to accept that your opinion is lacking the inclusivity you claim to hold. for womanism was birthed from the lack of intersectionality and critical thinking, for those outspoken or overruled or considered inferior by radical “feminists.”

( if someone were truly womanist, for example, both aerith and tifa would both be validated as women, because they both have worth inherently because they were born, and it cannot be invalidated based on a perceived gender role that they may or may not fall into. they inherently have the right to comfortable in the position that suits them best and that they have chosen of their own accord. to consider aerith inferior because she is ‘feminine’ or tifa inferior because she is ‘masculine’ or any other adjectives which could stereotypically fall into either of those categories is an explicit rejection of the acceptance ‘feminism’ claims to advocate for. )

and being trans is a valid identity but it is not a suitable response if you use that as a way to silence others or invalidate any other person’s experiences.

i recognize june is considered pride month, but it’s also juneteenth... ironic, given that this month is supposed to be celebrating the proclamation the emanicaption of slavery to the remainder of those who were still held in captivity six months after the declaration had been legally issued... and yet here we are, 150+ years after the fact and still fighting for the right to live under the same oppressors by a system created to capture the slaves freed by the emancipation proclamation.... but y’all aren’t ready to see the big picture. but you need to be. black people have been. and that’s why they’re fighting for their lives now.

we all still have plenty of work to do, myself included, with dismantling biases taught to us by society and the social spheres we interact in. there should never be a time where you think “ah, i’ve learned enough about this subject” or “i’ve heard enough stories.” even when something is presented to you, you should possess critical thinking skills and learn to take nothing at face-value. raise questions to everything you see, especially presented by the media, and prepare to be made uncomfortable if your assumptions are wrong ( because more than likely, they will be ). who is the person mentioning the subject? what other opinions do they have? are there people presenting counter-arguments? how does their identity influence the way they interact with the information mentioned? to who is their audience? for what purpose are they interacting with said audience? if that seems like too much work... congratulations! you’re quite privileged to acknowledge the inconvenience of having to look at someone’s words and think more than 0.5 seconds about it. and if that’s hard for you to do with one post, imagine someone having to do that with literally every interaction for their entire lives. that’s the reality of black people, and other people of color, and any person that has a label that has defined them as “other.” remember, too, that these labels do not exist independently of one another, that they stack, and that a person can easily have multiple privileges, or on the flip side, things to be persecuted over, multiple injustices to face.

is it hard? yes. scary? certainly. but you should bravely face it head-on, as i am and my ancestors have before me. for those of you who claim to herald truth and freedom and the equality of all humans, who recognize there is no place in a just world for superiority and supremacy, you should invoke your strength as well. use it in times where you may need to be corrected for your decisions. do not hide behind one of your identities to prevent yourself from doing the hard work of re-evaluating yourselves and the information you share. if you’re to claim you’re an ally of anyone, that first and foremost means to listen to other’s stories and to provide them the platform to be heard, to not erase their voices when they are the most affected by it. learn about new perspectives and then dare to journey into a new world with those ideals you claim to hold together.

i have the honor of leading anti-racism workshops this week at my job, but you don’t have to be an anti-oppression coordinator to do this important work. you just need to actually put some real effort into what you’re saying, thinking, believing. remember to be inclusive. remember to listen. and remember to love. and if you can’t do that, you can certainly unfollow me so i can get you the hell off my dash lmaooo. thank you mutual checker!!

so in conclusion... just do better, y’all. i’m tired of seeing fake woke folks. everyone can learn to be a better ally to each other. and most importantly... CLICK THE LINK BELOW.

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

kay thanks!!!

#♝ mun.

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