#and to explore the psyches of fucked up people and nuanced situations

[dollopheadsandclotpoles]

OK I just discovered ANOTHER blog that blocked me this month.... that's 3 now... honestly wild

#about me #I don't care if people block me it's just that I never notice it #but this month I've come across 3 blogs that blocked me #BUT I REALISED WHY THIS ONE DID #IT'S CAUSE I SHIP STENDAN #THEY HAD IN THEIR BIO IF YOU SHIP AN ABUSIVE SHIP LIKE STENDAN DON'T FOLLOW ME #people being puritanical about fiction is so sad to me #I'm sorry you don't use fiction as an opportunity to see things from POVs other than your own #and to explore the psyches of fucked up people and nuanced situations #like yeah stendan is fucked up but you know what it's beautifully nuanced #before I watched it whenever I heard about some celebrity who was being domestically abused I was always like #why don't they just leave their partner?? It seemed so simple and i didn't get why they didn't just do that #but watching stendan's storyline really made me see how difficult it is for people to get out of such situations #and made me realise it's not as black and white as I thought it was #I love that fiction can teach me things like that #I love having those experiences #anyway I'm really bored of people who come on here and act like you're a bad person if you consume fucked up fiction #fiction isn't required to be 'morally pure' #so like... good riddance fr

[sparring-spirals]

Noticed tonight how hesitant FCG was about healing or even just stabilizing the the verdict. Like, iirc they were totally, 100% fine with leaving the rival team to die. Gonna have to go back and rewatch later to see if I actually got a good read on it but. God FCG creeps me out in a way no other CR pc has and I’m so glad everyone seems to be noticing it now

I meaaaaan.... they might not have DIED died... just like. Died a little. ....

I like F.C.G, although I get what you mean. Its fair if this particular facet of F.C.G sets you on edge a bit, because... I THINK that's the point. Honestly, I've grown increasingly fond of F.C.G the more we learn about them, and the clearer the divide between the cheerful demeanor and the underlying morals of their actions become. Previously I was a little hesitant about it, but now that I know the vibes are intentional, things open up a lot more. The vibes being: Absolutely terrifying and slightly terrible in a well intentioned, uninformed way. Which is both wonderful to dig into, and extremely true to life.

(this got a little lengthy, throwing it under a read-more. Rampant speculations and assumptions abound below)

I talked about it a little here, and the more I've contemplated it, the more I really like my comparison of an AI attempting to apply an overly specific model to increasingly nuanced situations. F.C.G means well. I absolutely believe that. The casual cruelties, and moral gaps we're seeing more and more come down to things like:

inflexible definitions- of humanity, of empathy, of people who deserve better and people who aren't worth it. "Well, I'm not soul touched, but you all are-" The whole situation with the drunkard early on. Horses having less of a soul than people. The definitions set the rules, and everything outside of that doesn't matter.

very specific rules or solutions applied to situations that they don't fit on- attempting to give couples therapy to two random strangers, asking ritual questions and providing canned lines as comfort to people who aren't asking for it. Even the mind delve from this last episode- is almost like some kind of fucked up diagnostic, I guess.

And then, as a result, some of the more jarring behavior just feels like prioritization, with very specific models and rules in mind. The Verdict are less important than the Bells, so its not really as much of a concern if they die (even if it, clinically, would be a shame). If F.C.G's priority is to keep the Bells as a whole safe, tricking Imogen to dive into her mind is a fine concession. Imogen’s wellbeing, even, probably takes a higher priority over their relationship, or even Imogen’s desire to... not have her mind invaded.

And, I've been making a ton of comparisons to AI's, but honestly, its a very real-to-life comparison too. It's every inexperienced person who learned something new and then attempted to overapply the concept to everything in their life. It's why the comparisons to "college freshman who took 1 semester of psych and is way too confident with it" make sense. It's the way someone with a very specific life experience will explore something new and run into problems when their experiences and judgements no longer translate correctly. It is why someone with a great deal of confidence in something they only have a surface understanding of can stir up problems even with pure intentions.

It is not often malicious, but it can be extremely harmful.

But back to F.C.G specifically: I think F.C.G is supposed to make you feel a little uneasy, for what its worth, at least in this context.

And it IS possible Sam is planning to go a "silently evil and plotting murderbot" route, but I'm hoping for something closer to *points above*, if only because. I dunno. I find that more compelling. Plus he's a cute lil robit who loves his friends awww lookit :'D

#and this doesn't even touch on whether fcg has a killswitch HE doesnt know about. but I was trying to stay on this specific subject #critical role #cr spoilers #c3e21 #fcg #character meta #fcg meta #speculation #spar speaks #ask away! #my meta #I dont want to be TOO mean to fcg here bc while like. yes. theyre a lil terrible I do mean that with affection. the whole party is kind of. #you know. mildly to moderately amoral. I think the dichotomy is what is really throwing people here. which I enjoy! but you know. #be nice to the robit. #that said I do NOT think what fcg did is the same as what imogen does but I think thats a separate thought and im not necessarily /angry/ #at fcg for it because like. I dont think they fully processed what was wrong with it for *waves at above post*. still terrible though

[advocaado]

Fiction does not exist in a vacuum and absolutely can and does affect reality.

HOWEVER

Before you pin on your thought police badge and march off to start attacking people on the internet for the media they consume and create, let’s take a minute to talk about nuance and identify some actual problematic trends in media which have real life consequences.

The big question you need to ask yourself before you decry a person or piece of media is: Is that person/piece of media promoting, validating, and normalizing trends or acts that hurt real people? Or is that person/piece of media exploring a dark theme in fiction/harmlessly indulging in a kink?

Below are some examples of cases where “problematic” content in fiction is a danger to real life people, and many where it isn’t. This will not be an exhaustive list. I don’t have endless amounts of time to sit here and talk about every problem in fictional media, and even if I did, I wouldn’t, because there are many more things I’d rather do with my time.

Disclaimer: No media is 100% problem free. No human is 100% problem free. Engaging with others online to discuss problems in media is totally fine. If you don’t like something, it’s your god given right to bitch about it. Bitch to your heart’s content. Just don’t be an absolute ass cloak about it.

Example 1: Huckleberry Finn

This book famously contains racism. Is this a problem? No, not really. Listen. This book is literally about how racism is bad. The message is to not be a racist piece of shit. That’s the takeaway. If you got any other message from this book you need to work on your reading comprehension. Books that teach lessons are good things and impact society in positive ways. This book does literally the opposite of normalizing, promoting, and validating racism. It’s taught in schools for this exact reason. It’s not sugarcoated and that’s exactly what makes it powerful.

Example 2: Fairy Tail

The famous complaint about this and other works by Hiro Mashima is that the women are overly sexualized. Over sexualization of women is a big problem in media across the globe, but particularly in the media that comes out of Japan. It’s a problem that absolutely does affect real women. More on that later. But is Mashima really the big perpetuater of the kind of gross male reader voyeurism that has such a fierce grip on the anime industry? Actually, no. Not really. Yes, almost all the female characters in Fairy Tail are hot and have big boobs in a way that appeals to men. However, the lens through which Mashima tells his stories is not voyeuristic. He doesn’t go out of his way to draw panty shots or sexualize female characters nonconsensually. 9 times out of 10 the women are sexy because they want to be and do it in a way that is empowering for them. There are occasional exceptions, but by and large Fairy Tail is not the big offender of female objectification in anime. Moreover, almost all its male characters are hot and have six packs and idol hair in a way that appeals to women. Everyone is hot. There is no deeper meaning here. Enjoy this series if you like to watch hot people having fun and going on adventures together.

Example 3: Goblin Slayer

Oh, boy, Goblin Slayer. Now here’s a can of worms. Many upon many have decried GS for its inclusion of rape scenes and mentions. The goblins in GS have no females of their own species so they must impregnate human women to continue their race. This sounds utterly awful and it is. But is this finally our shining example of a dark theme in fiction that is problematic in a way that is dangerous to real people? Sorry, but no. Firstly, the concept of a fantasy creature who needs to use humans to reproduce was not invented by Kumo Kagyu and is in fact common in folklore around the world. He didn’t make it up as a way to condone rape. Could he have? Sure. But that’s not the reality of the series. The assault by goblins on human women is not treated as a good thing by Kagyu. It is shocking and horrific and has big consequences within the narrative for both the goblins and their victims. It isn’t treated lightly and does not serve to normalize, validate, or promote rape in real life. The reader/viewer is meant to be disgusted by the goblins, and these scenes, which are few and brief, serve their intended purpose. Nobody is going out and assaulting women in real life because they thought it was cool when the goblins did it in GS.

Oh, but Goblin Slayer, I’m not done with you just yet. Because while it would be a huge stretch to label the inclusion of rape in the series a danger to real life people, there’s something else that you don’t need to stretch nearly so much to identify as such. Remember when I talked about the voyeuristic male gaze being a concerning trend in anime? Well, GS has that in spades. The normalization of sexually objectifying women in non sexual situations is very much present in the series. Describing in loving detail the chest size/shape of every female character often and with gusto is a big part of the light novels. Kagyu loves to describe what a girl’s boobs are doing while she’s sitting at a table eating or doing any other mundane thing for no reason other than to sexualize her for the reader. He made the intentional decision to make Sword Maiden, a rape victim, very overtly sexual for the male gaze without the character having any agency in it. Sword maiden isn’t trying to be sexy. She doesn’t own her sexuality. Hell, she’s blind. Being sexy doesn’t empower her. She’s just fap fodder for the male reader. These things normalize objectifying women and are part of a longtime trend in anime which have real world consequences for both women and men. The sexualization of nonconsenting women is a huge problem in Japan and very much promoted through their media. Anime and light novels continue to send and perpetuate the message that objectifying women is okay and natural for boys to do, and while Kagyu certainly isn’t the worst offender, he’s happily hopped aboard that trolly because he doesn’t see anything wrong with it. And he can’t, because it’s been SO normalized.

Example 4: The Birth of a Nation.

This movie, while entirely fictional, is straight up anti-black propaganda intentionally made to spread hate and fear of black people. Obviously this is incredibly problematic and harmful to real black people. This movie was designed to be that way. The message is very clear. It’s a movie meant to rally whites against blacks, and it did. Horrifically so. Typically media containing hateful messages is less overt about it today, but abusing stereotypes and caricatures of real groups of people and otherwise intentionally perpetuating harmful ideas through fiction is a shitty thing to do and should be wholeheartedly condemned. (Note the keyword “intentionally”. If an author does this out of ignorance, which is all too common, rather than condemn we should seek to educate. People are capable of learning and growing and canceling them for mistakes made in ignorance is every bit as shitty as the mistake they made in the first place.)

Example 5: Fanfiction and shipping

At last, we come to fan media. This is where “don’t like don’t read” becomes the golden rule. Indulging in a kink or exploring dark themes in fanfiction is harmless 99.9% of the time. Fanfiction simply doesn’t have the reach, and thereby the influence, that mainstream media has. If someone wants to write something really fucked up, that’s their choice and nobody is making you read it. Unless the author is outright condoning harming real people, it’s really not your business what they choose to write about. Furthermore, deciding to read fucked up fanfiction does NOT make you a bad person. As stated before, the human psyche is messy and the world is not squeaky clean or a safe place. People are drawn to dark things and there’s really nothing wrong with that so long as real people aren’t being harmed. If something makes you uncomfortable, don’t engage. Protect yourself. You’re not making the world a better place by harassing people online. You’re just being a jerk and honestly doing far more harm to real ass people than that 20 year old writer on AO3 who wanted to write a story about Sasuke having sex with Naruto’s son because of 10 years of repressed sexual impulses toward Naruto.

I could say more but I’m tired and ready to celebrate my Friday by getting drunk. Feel free to interact if you want, just do everyone a favor and don’t be a dick.

TLDR

Things that make you a bad person:

Murdering people

Sexually assaulting/harassing people

Having sex with children

Creating or indulging in porn of real minors

Harassing and sending death threats to real people over the fictional media they create and consume

Espousing, condoning, or perpetuating hate toward marginalized peoples

Espousing, condoning, or perpetuating hate toward anyone tbh

Using fiction as a vehicle to promote, validate, and normalize causing harm to real people

Generally being an ass cloak

Things that DON’T make you a bad person

Consuming media that contains problematic elements

Creating media that contains problematic elements so long as you aren’t promoting, validating, and normalizing harmful acts toward real people

Writing fanfiction

Reading fanfiction

Shipping whatever you goddamn want to ship

#there’s been so much discourse surrounding this that I finally needed to weigh in #pro ship #we’re allergic to nuance here #tumblr I love you but

[jehilew]

Can you describe some of your feelings for Rogue? You and some others in the Romy fandom have expressed some ambivalence about her history and behavior, but excluding some moments of outright bad writing, how do you assess, connect, or not connect with her?

Rogue.

This might turn into a ramble, fair warning. Because Rogue is a meaty character who deserves meaty metas.

Rogue is a character that I find utterly fascinating, in the sense of her mutation, with its potential and just the sheer as-yet-explored aspects of it (psychological, limitations, passive vs active in terms of controllability, etc). I also find her backstory interesting, and also largely unexplored. Or at the very least, not at all consistent. And that’s not even touching on just her general badassery without her powers–because you know that woman is way more than her mutation. Trained and groomed by Mystique, and likely influenced by Magneto to some degree during her time in the Brotherhood? Fuck yeah, that bitch can fight. And she can spy, infiltrate, steal, and is likely a clever little whirlwind with weaponry. Not to mention, there’s that leadership potential she’s exhibited on more than one occasion!

To go with that skill-set, though, is an interesting personality and moral code kind of at odds with it. She really is a pure-heart. She wants to fight the good fight, and she’ll sacrifice herself to see it through. She’s fiery, passionate, stubborn, a work-aholic, and just plain good. Sure, she tends to see the world very black and white, and she’ll double down on the most idiotic things, but honestly, I chalk that up to her constant struggle with her mutation. A headcanon of mine, probably, but I kind of see her latching on to her opinions, her values, her initial impressions, her intuitions, and refusing to let them go for fear of those parts of her getting lost in the sea of psyches’ thoughts, values, etc.

But anyway, I digress. I said she’s good, and yet you’ve definitely heard me tear that girl to pieces in chit-chats. A lot of things I’ve held her character to the sun over were things I’d consider very against her characterization. Like, leaving the love of her life to freeze to death in Antarctica. Like, in later issues, she’s depicted as reveling in a ‘duel for her affections’ between Remy and Joseph. Both of these situations were gross, and wildly out of character for her. Just by the very nature of her power, Rogue is incredibly compassionate–she has to be! Think of what absorbing a whole person, all the great, average, and awful parts of them, would do to you. How it would color your take on another human. And multiply that by however many people she’s absorbed. If she wasn’t so sensitive to character nuances, she’d tell the human race to eat her entire ass, and watch it all burn. With that in mind, no way would she hold Remy, with all his issues, to an impossible standard he couldn’t meet (could anyone meet them?), and Erik to a much lower one. No way she’d pit them against each other, either.

Situations like those? Where she’s actually being a horrible person? I shrug it off as bad writing, and if I’m in the mood to explore it, or rationalize it, I’ll jump through hoops and give her reasons for being that way. Other situations, though, where she’s maddening and frustrating, I tend to see as other facets to her personality. She’s not perfect, and I don’t want her to be. A lot of her less endearing traits–the running, the fear of commitment, the shutting people out, the self isolation, etc– are direct result of her background.

Think about it. She lost her parents very young. Then, she was with uber-strict Aunt Carrie (which had to be a nasty shock to hippie-dippie-commune Anna-Marie). Then…Mystique as a mother figure? Yikes. Now, factor in that god-awful mutation, where she practically kills her first crush, during her first kiss.

Boom. Love life, affection of any kind, comfort at another’s touch, all that, gone in a matter of seconds, and she’s only, what, thirteen? Fourteen? And then, she’s essentially trained to be an expert terrorist, a mercenary? Assassin? She’s trained for ruthlessness, and quality that is so ridiculously at odds with the very nature of her power?

Yikes, again.

That woman has had all forms of human comfort stripped from her, lost her parents and a foster parent young, has been trained to ‘conceal, don’t feel’, is routinely thrown under the bus by her ‘mother’ over the next several years, and the love of her life turns out to be pretty damn shady, and people wonder why she has trust issues? Why she runs so much?

Color me not at all shocked that she ran from Remy, who isn’t exactly the most trustworthy or reliable character ever created by Marvel, yet who also consistently demands things she can’t give, is scared to give, or doesn’t know how to give, to a ‘safer’ man she’s kinda had the hots for off and on for years, and demands none of these things of her. A man, who, while very against many of her morals, and who did, indeed try to kill her first lover, is also considerably more stable? Consistent? Reliable and responsible in his own way? Comfortable?

Remy was none of these things for a very long time. Even now, that boy is like trying to grab water, and he’s a wild as they come.

Color me even more not at all shocked that now, while married to Remy, after promising him she’d always find her way back to him (which, she does, I might add, more than once in MMX), she falls back into old ruts of walling up and shutting him out when he pushes and pokes at her boundaries.

Maddening? Yes. Frustrating? Yes. In character? Yes! Am I mad at her for being flawed? No! Will I continue to pick her apart when she’s being a moron? Yup!

Remy literally has half a lifetime of horrible shit, nasty habits, and piles of resentment, fear, abandonment, anger, hell, some PTSD, while we’re at it, cuz show a super who doesn’t have that, and ugly coping mechanisms to help his wife undo. All while also dealing with his own insecurities and psychological issues (you just TRY to tell me he doesn’t have any, and it’s fuckin’ on). That’s not going to happen overnight, it’s not going to happen in a year, and it surely won’t happen (believably, anyway) in a span of twelve issues covering only a short amount of time.

As for connecting with her, I honest to goodness can. I mean, on the surface, there’s the whole green-eyed Southerner thing she and I have in common (as well as a love for Remy, lmao). But on a deeper level, like her, I have a tendency to run off from scary confrontations. Now, I don’t have her traumatic backstory, but emotional and verbal abuse run rampant on both sides of my family, and my parents–god love them, they tried their best and are much better now–are products of their environments. Yours truly learned a long time ago that it’s much easier to pretend to listen, make appropriate noises, and then go do whatever the fuck later on, anyway. Engaging in arguments never ended well, and I figured out that dodging them altogether was easier. Makes for an adult who is spectacular at communication, let me tell ya!

It took putting a kid on the ground six years ago for me to grow a backbone and dig in rather than nod and skitter off (to do exactly as I pleased, anyway). I’m still not the greatest at communication, and I dread confrontation like I’m approaching my own execution, but I’m much, much better. To me, it’d be a pretty disappointing thing, and a disservice to her growth, to see Rogue rushed through this process. So, while I might lose patience with her being a dumbass in this regard, I’m actually very okay with it taking a while to work it out. Or even with it being an ongoing thing that she has to continually overcome, so long as she does, indeed, overcome it, and keep finding her way back to Remy!

@narwhallove I hope this is the sort of answer you were looking for, and I hope you like long-winded, quasi-ranty meta posts, lmao! 💗💗

#Rogue #Anna-Marie LeBeau #asks #narwhallove #meta

[mspectre23]

D&D Classes and Their Zodiac Counterparts

Ok, so this is my very first Tumblr post. Anyways, I wanted to do a list of the twelve zodiac signs and what their counterpart in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition would be. Like astrology itself, these comparisons are based entirely on my interpretations, and are surely influenced by my personal relationships with each sign as well. Also, I’m mostly dealing in stereotypes here, so please don’t be offended by the generalizations. I understand that there are plenty of people born under a sign that don’t exhibit all of or even exhibit very few of the traits that I understand the archetypes of each sign to possess. In other words, it ain’t science. Here’s what I got...

ARIES: BARBARIAN. So Aries are known for being combative and not so much for being restrained. The stereotypical Aries is an act-first, think-later kind of creature, and well, that’s the barbarian in a nutshell. The word I associate with Aries is “CONFLICT.” I’ve dated a few Aries before and I tell you I’ve seen them use their bonus action to RAGE on more than one occasion. But it’s their passion that makes them so fun, no?

TAURUS: FIGHTER. Not the most obvious choice, but your stereotypical Taurus is gonna be stalwart and steadfast, as well as rigid and stubborn. The word I associate with Taurus is “INVETERATE.” They don’t seek out the fight to the degree an Aries would but they won’t back down from one... ever. Like a fighter, they will defend their positions methodically and unwaveringly until either the opponent submits or one of them falls. Also fun to date.

GEMINI: ROGUE. I was tempted to go with the bard for Gemini, but ultimately I think the rogue is a better fit. The archetypal rogue is somewhat of a scoundrel who plays by his or her own rules and, well, who fits that profile better than your stereotypical Gemini? The word I associate with Gemini is “MISCHIEF.” Whether they’re tricksters or masterminds, Geminis seem to just have an urge to shake things up.

CANCER: CLERIC. Clerics bolster, aid, and heal their allies. Cancers nurture and care for their friends and family. The math is there. The word I associate with Cancer is “NURTURE.”

LEO: BARD. The word I associate with Leo is “PERFORMER.” Leos crave the spotlight, right? The bard makes sense in every aspect except for maybe in combat, where the play a more of a support role. But like I stated above, it ain’t science, and bards are almost always the faces of their respective parties who shine in social situations. Leos do that too.

VIRGO: MONK. Let me state from the get-go that I myself am a Virgo, so when I say that we have a quiet dearth of charisma, I do so with humility. Monks are also very humble, and their discipline and self-sacrifice is second to no other class in D&D. Sadly, like the stereotypical Virgo, they’re also just not very sexy. The word that comes to mind when I think of Virgo is “PERFECTIONISM.” Let the rogue Geminis or bard Leos do the talking; Virgos are content to stand inconspicuously off to the side and think about ki.

LIBRA: PALADIN: The stereotypical Libra is passionate about what he/she believes in, and will champion a cause or defend an ideal with an almost religious righteousness. The word I associate with Libra is “JUSTICE.” Ever fuck with a Libra’s friends? You would know if you had. So the parallel with the paladin seems pretty obvious.

SCORPIO: WARLOCK. This was a tough one. The connection isn’t totally airtight, in my opinion, but the warlock’s power-imbuing pact with an extraplanar entity seems to fit Scorpio’s intimate relationship with the darker and more taboo side of the human psyche. The word I associate with Scorpio is “DARKNESS.” Weird and sexy are traits that I attribute to both warlocks and Scorpios.

SAGITTARIUS: RANGER. So while the ranger is not what I’d consider to be a “social” class, and the stereotypical Sagittarius is considered to be a gregarious, charismatic person, most of the other stuff adds up. The word that comes to mind when I think of Sagittarius is “VAGABOND.” They love to explore and see new things. The ranger belongs on the frontier, learning the lands that few, if any, know. Plus, there’s the whole archery connection, which just sort of seals the deal for me.

CAPRICORN: WIZARD. Ok, so the word I associate with Capricorn is “AMBITION.” And wizards seem to me to exemplify ambition more than any other class. Cloistered away, tirelessly studying all of the nuances and whatevers of each spell just to have a leg up on the next spellcaster? Seems like something a stereotypical Capricorn would do. They’re rarely trailblazers, and wizards likewise seem to get their power from hard work built upon the hard work of others.

AQUARIUS: SORCERER. This one was also hard cuz it’s difficult to succinctly or concisely define what separates the sorcerer from other classes, especially the fellow spellcasters. Their power is innate, but that in and of itself says very little about a sorcerer’s character or flavor. But then, after some thought, I realized that the sorcerer’s ability to break the action economy and manipulate almost any spell into something it wasn’t necessary meant to be is what makes this class what it is. And the word I associate with Aquarius is “INNOVATION.” Aquarians (Aquarii? Aquarius’s?) are ones who rewrite the rules and do so with an intuition that that’s how they were always meant to be written. They’re hard to understand and are frequently beguiling, but in the end, they often look like geniuses. And sorcerers are the ones who so effortlessly bend magic in ways, say, wizards thought impossible.

PISCES: DRUID. The word I associate with Pisces is “WHIMSY.” And let’s face it: druids are hippies. I don’t really know what more I can say on this matter.

Well, there it is - my first post. How’d I do?

#d&d #d&d 5e #dungeons and dragons #fifth edition #astrology #dungeonsanddragons

[5llowance]

Rant: overall quality of reddit comments/discussion about China is very low. via /r/China

Rant: overall quality of reddit comments/discussion about China is very low.

For all the spotlight that China has (justifiably) gotten in 2019, most comment threads on highly upvoted China-related posts on reddit have been absolutely atrocious IMO. The police brutality in HK, atrocities in Xinjiang, election interference in Taiwan, and other issues re: Chinese politics/society are all worthy of in-depth discussion but there is very little substantive discussion, or at least very little that's visible (talking especially about in "mainstream" subs like news, worldnews, etc.).

It's like all nuance goes out the window when the subject is China; no one gives a shit about sharing real insights or constructing arguments with attention to logical validity. Instead, shallow comments dominate the upvote cycle. Irrational emotion and the entrenchment of preconceived notions reign supreme. Which I guess is to be expected given the circlejerky dynamic of reddit in general, but still. Here are some examples of the things I see most frequently:

The obligatory karma farming "fuck China" comment, with no attached discussion points. Cool. Understandable sentiment, but adds nothing of value whatsoever.

The subsequently obligatory reply of "Fuck the Chinese government, the people are all right." Thus creating the same predictable thread every time. (Next replies: "But the people support the CCP so they're complicit. Fuck China." "No they don't." "Yes they do." ad nauseum.)

/r/sino squad with its fragile ego and toxic nationalism

Random wumao and/or obsessive nationalists defending the CPC to the death despite eating up downvotes (see above)

Random alt-righters who don't know shit and don't give a shit about HK or China but love taking every opportunity to toss around the word "Commie" despite understanding neither Communism as a general concept nor the meaning of the word in the context of China's political/economic structure.

Thinly veiled racism and xenophobia - people taking potshots because they hate yellow people, not because they (aforementioned bigots) have any genuine concern for the human rights of yellow people. Alternatively, jingoists who see the Big Red Menace as a threat to Murican interests and influence (see above)

Comment from random dude who taught English for 2 years in China and is now chiming in as an expert authority on all things China, sharing sweeping generalizations about the collective psyche of 1.5 billion people. Never mind that maybe just maybe the sooooo many people they talked to did not cover such a wide gamut as they thought and maybe just maybe cannot be reliably extrapolated into axioms about the world's largest nation. That's not to say there aren't accurate or useful generalizations one could make, but holy shit are there some presumptuous claims out there that get beaucoup updoots.

Surface-level whataboutism. E.g. "sure what China's doing to Uygurs is bad, but what about Murica destroying Iraq." I don't think it's inherently wrong to discuss similar situations/policies from other countries - in fact I think it's a very interesting point to explore. But very rarely does this kind of thing seem to be brought up in good faith - instead of discussing how oppressive governments' use similar/unique tactics or how our biased media portray different countries' oppression differently, it's just a peen-measuring contest of which government is the bigger baddie.

Gross simplification of issues as black-and-white; a lack of effort/desire to understand context and drivers behind why certain people think/react as they do; inability to acknowledge people on "our side" as capable of any wrongdoing.

All right, I'm gonna stop there. Not even gonna get into the somewhat interesting (imo) evolution of this subreddit as a hub for disgruntled expats to...whatever it is now lol.

Ehh, guess I just wanted to vent a bit. /shrug

Submitted January 02, 2020 at 09:19AM by Bundesraketenliga via reddit https://ift.tt/36uTV5y

#IFTTT #reddit