#but i would say regarding the fandom or the writers being racist it is most definitely both

[thecapturedafrique]

I think the hate against Alya is intertwined with how white Marinette looks, too. If we hadn’t been told Mari is part Asian, I don’t think anyone would have known at all until they saw her parents. White leads are always given the benefit of the doubt, and even the hatred of Marinette is levied as a point against Alya. In a hierarchy of racism, it’s Adrien (none)<Marinette (some)<Alya (almost all).

It’s like any character that’s not explicitly white has to be 1) stereotyped and 2) slandered. I mean, there’s the most recent thing where the writers had Alya hold Marinette’s arms down so Adrien could give her a kiss. I saw discourse about how unhealthy that is, which yeah is true, but there were also people blaming it on her being an “aggressive black girl.” At that point it’s like, is the fandom being racist on their own or did the writers make Alya that way out of ignorance or outright malicious stereotyping?

Sorry, I’m not sure where I was going. I just got worked up bc I saw people shitting on Alya again when the problem is that the writers keep twisting her character and the fandom is full of assholes.

Sorry it took so long to answer your ask anon (which was sent in response to this post for those who may have missed it) but yeah it can get rough in this fandom. :/

On the point regarding Adrien continuously trying to greet Marinette with a kiss on the cheek (which is a standard French greeting), I will say from the lens of the narrative, Alya trying to force Mari to accept it about forcing Mari to stop denying her feelings. It’s not about violation, even if it can be perceived that way by the fandom.

But irregardless, Alya is “pushy” because that’s the sort of wingman the show decided Marinette needs (as this post highlights), which is a common enough trope in shoujo manga. The reason why it feels maliciously done is because she’s also the embodiment of the Black Best Friend trope.

What bothers me the most is how Alya haters have no trouble recognizing tropes are to blame for when their faves behave problematically (i.e. Marinette’s “stalkerish” behavior towards Adrien) but somehow when it comes to Alya, those actions become character flaws. She is another example of how characters of color, particularly Black ones, are always held to higher standards by fandoms.

The racist slandering and stereotyping you mentioned often starts to really come about once the double standard has done its job of validating the haters’ dislike of the character. After all, no one hates Alya because she’s Black; they hate her because she’s pushy and a know-it-all and doesn’t respect Marinette’s feelings and is a horrible friend.

Yet when you point out how these conclusions are directly contrary to the narrative the show itself is telling, suddenly the textbook racist claims that “it’s not about race!” emerge. Because if they have to acknowledge the roots of the depiction of Alya’s character, then they have to confront how their interpretation is indeed biased af.

#my asks #anon #miraculous ladybug #multiplication #ml fandom salt #alya cesaire #hopefully i didn’t stray too far from your original point anon 😭 #but i would say regarding the fandom or the writers being racist it is most definitely both #the writers for using the black bff trope and the fandom for denying its usage

[xerith-42]

Stop blaming characters for bad writers

Seriously, stop fucking doing this. While this is a post that could certainly be applicable to MANY fandoms, I'm mainly directing this whole rant at my target audience which is mentally ill minecraft obsessed freaks.

If a character is written badly, gets badly fumbled by the creator, or has the ball dropped in regards to their arc in some way, a lot of people will blame the character, as if they're a real conscious person making these decisions. When they aren't. They're a block man literally being controlled by two people who just aren't very good writers and one or both of them are incredibly sexist, kind of racist, ableist, and just bad writers in general.

Yeah, Laurance does some pretty shitty things through out Season 2 of MCD, actively crossing lines he wouldn't have previously crossed. We as fans can cope by saying something something calling, or just saying Laurance is a bad abusive person, but the reality is that the writers wanted to force the series to fit a specific vision and as a result were willing to do anything to get the series to that point. In order to make Aaron the most favorable suitor for Aphmau, her previous suitors need to be out of the picture, or clearly inferior options.

Garroth suffered the out of the picture, being mostly absent outside of a few cutscenes here and there until episode 81 of season 2, but episode 81 is the culmination of the writers goals to make Aarmau happen. By the time Garroth has returned to the series, the damage has already been done. He's not getting the life he wants. And Laurance is written out of the picture as well, but only after being shown to be inferior because Jesson were pushing an agenda.

Laurance didn't deteriorate as a person due to neglect of his physical and mental well being after a severely traumatic experience. He deteriorated as a character because the writers stopped giving as much of a shit about him and instead were using the series as self indulgent fanfiction of alternate versions of themselves. That's not Laurance's fault.

And this applies to any character who was completely fumbled in MyStreet due to this similar focus on wish fulfillment from the writers. Jess has stated that the relationship between Aphmau and Aaron in Phoenix Drop High is reflective of her relationship with Jason, we all know this. This means that any characters who come off as total fucking creeps in that series (namely Gene), are not actually acting on the whims of their own autonomy or desires as characters. They are acting in service of telling a predetermined story that they are retroactively being added into for author fulfillment.

In this regard I fully support fandom cope and say that you should rewrite your little guys to your hearts content. But if you're going to criticize these characters for their actions, don't criticize them. They didn't do anything wrong. All characters are just puppets in service of the story or themes a writer is trying to push. If a character acts in an objectively terrible way, especially a way that isn't in line with their previous characterizations, that is a failing of the writers, not the character.

And I feel like largely a lot of us can and frequently do this. We're actively criticizing Jesson for being terrible low-key bigoted writers all the god damn time, it's like half of the content here. But when we get into character discourse I feel like some people cling onto bad actions of the canon too closely and I've seen more than a few posts presume some pretty terrible interpretations of characters based on these actions. Obviously Laurance is a character I and a lot of others are fixated on so a lot of discourse revolves around him, and it was seeing some... interesting takes on him that prompted me to start writing this post.

But this happens to everyone. Quite personally based on the character I was shown in MyStreet, it feels really weird that Garroth would make an insensitive comment about his brother's weight. Yeah siblings poke fun at each other and often cross lines, but if that was something Zane was seriously insecure about (which it seems like he might be) then it does make Garroth come off as a really insensitive brother, which just doesn't gel with how hard he tries to bond with Zane despite their tense relationship. And I don't think Garroth should be criticized for making those comments.

Whoever wrote those lines (Jess and/or Jason) should be criticized for writing a scene where a character is mocked by their older sibling over a physical insecurity even if said sibling would not normally do that. It's not Travis' fault that Jesson never decided to give him more of a character beyond "funny pervy guy" that's not funny in every anime they've watched until Season 5 of MyStreet. It's unfair to try and say Travis should be scrutinized for his borderline sexual harassment of some characters when it's not his fault that happened, he was written by writers who don't think this sort of behavior isn't all that bad if they make it out for comedy and punch him in the face.

And god dammit it's not Laurance's fault that his jealousy became the most prevalent emotion he felt. Laurance has always been a character to give into his vices and yet fight against them at the same time, it's what makes him compelling. If they were going to pull on those vices in order to make him a less appealing love interest, he never had a chance to really be his own character after a certain point. Because at a certain point in Season 2, Jesson stopped caring about the character they had been writing for over a hundred episodes at that point. They just wanted to canonize their self insert ship and were willing to do anything to get it.

Laurance isn't an abusive angry person who would have killed Aphmau if they got together. He's a flawed character being handled by incredibly flawed writers who are prone to making some of the worst decisions you have ever seen a creator make in regards to their character writing. He was caught in the crossfire of the adoration he received from a very dedicated fanbase, and the creator who would rather pretend he and his previous arc didn't exist for the sake of her fun. It's not Laurance's fault his arc was stilted, jerked around, and ultimately ended with him completely face planting. And yet still reliably dragging his bloodied body up at just the slightest glimmer of hope (Void Paradox).

It's deeply poetic and tragic that I can describe his character in universe and in the meta-textual sense that way, but we should never blame Laurance, or Aaron, or any other characters for things being like this.

They didn't write the show. Jess and Jason did.

#minecraft diaries #text post #aphblr #aphverse #laurance zvahl #garroth ro'meave #minecraft diaries laurance #mystreet #mystreet garroth #mystreet travis #bad writing #fandom discourse #fandom discussion #character discussion #character discourse

[teaveetamer]

Regarding the last rb: I think most of us can recognize how patently ridiculous it is to just blanket accuse someone of misogyny or queerphobia for, idk, thinking that starting a war is bad. It's an annoying and unfounded accusation, but it's ultimately something most of us can shrug off.

But like... I really don't think the people making these accusations are aware of how badly that plays when the criticism you're trying to defend against is calling out bigotry.

Now, let me elaborate.

A few days ago I was on Twitter and happened to see that Edelgard was trending. So I figured I'd go see what that's about because it was probably a shitshow (since there hasn't really been anything official lately that would explain it, e.g. a FEH alt or a figma or something. So, obviously, drama was afoot).

Color me surprised to see there was a lot of criticism about Edelgard's treatment of Petra in canon (primarily, how she keeps Brigid a vassal state and holds that over Petra's head the entire war, instead of immediately granting Brigid independence when she obtained the power to do so). In sum, just discussing the racism inherent to the writing (for tiptoeing around that and definitely not condemning it like it should have) and often inherent to the fanbase (for justifying everything Edelgard does, including this)

And I was seeing two main "rebuttals" to this point.

It's not her fault because she was just a poor wittle girly who is just soooo powerless (nevermind the fact that she spends five years in a position of absolute power over the nation that is currently holding Brigid hostage. And, also, she's a grown ass woman for the entire time skip and events of the war phase), and even if she did it it's not her fault because society just raised her like that (nevermind the fact that people can grow and learn and you aren't stuck with the values your society forced on you when you were a child).

Accusing the people raising these points of misogyny and queerphobia

We could debate exactly how to approach this criticism (a mark against the character? The writers? Both? Was it intentionally written to be racist? Is it a product of social conditioning and unexamined biases on the part of the writers? Some combination?).

But you know what you probably should NOT do in, like, any circumstance? Deflect responsibility for the actions because "she was just a poor little girl who doesn't know better" and accuse the people raising these concerns of misogyny and queerphobia.

This is the kind of shit people are talking about when they say the FE fandom has a lot of unexamined racism. Your first response to someone bringing up racism is to basically say "Okay, but the reputation of the White Girl PNG I Like is more important than your feelings about racist writing/handling of PoC characters. So it's not her fault, and even if it was, you're just a bigot so you're wrong"

And just, like, there's this implicit elevation of the struggles of (white) women and (white) queer folk as more important, valid, or worthy of being defended than the struggles of people marginalized on the basis of race. Let's not even get into the fact that many of the people raising these criticisms were queer women themselves, and it's entirely possible to be a queer woman and also be prejudiced (it happens ALL THE TIME. The queer community and the feminist movements have a LONG history of explicitly excluding people who are not white. E.g. the whitewashing of Stonewall and white feminists excising black feminists from the movement to try and make feminism "more palatable" to racist white men).

Not to mention the double standard here. They'll be so quick to call out racism if it's a character they don't like, but the second it's their fave? Crickets.

Hate to break it to you, but if you only care about pointing out potential racism when it involves a character you don't like, then you're not an ally. You're an opportunist leech co-opting the struggles of real people to win petty internet arguments.

Inb4 someone accuses me of having a double standard for the Dimitri/Dedue relationship, as if Dedue following Dimitri completely of his own free will because he cares about him and believes he can help rebuild Duscur is in any way comparable to Petra being a literal hostage who risks the annihilation of her entire country if she steps out of line (and she knows it). There's definitely racist elements to Dedue's writing (I've even talked about some of them) but specifically his relationship with Dimitri/Faerghus is NOTHING like Petra's with Edelgard/Adrestia.

[maddy-ferguson]

honestly byler side of the fandom (specifically mike fans most of the time) made me realize it can be really racist without intention especially regarding how they ignore lucas's character often times in favor of propping mike or mike's relationship with other characters. idk i don't even think the ga does this. if you asked them what is the relation btwn mike and max will be in the next season they'd say mike is gonna support lucas and el emotionally, like as a friend. no one with their mind would think mike's gonna interact with max or will be able to find or save her like wtf.

i know like lucas doesn't get that much in canon you're gonna take what little he has from him and make it about mike instead? lmao. i remember last summer someone on sttwt said they couldn't love lucas and max's relationship because it felt one-sided and everyone was like how dare you say this worry about byler instead etc etc but they were literally RIGHT, billy abuses max and dies, they have lucas comfort her and her dealing with her complicated feelings surrounding its death its own (great) storyline, billy assaults lucas and is racist to him and he gets...nothing? okay, he gets a blink and you'll miss it hug. you know how people are always like "has el ever said she liked anything about mike?" and stuff like that? is a single heartfelt lumax moment about lucas and not about max? and i'm not implying max doesn't have as much affection for him or saying he should have done less for her and i totally understand her situation in s4, i'm saying that the writers center max and sideline lucas in his own relationship. when they literally invented lucas first. they don't think about him. it's like @/googoogagaeyes said a few weeks ago:

Anyways, the fact that Mr. Davies "made up more stuff than [he] took from the show," for a character that has existed since S1, should signal that there is a writing problem. Although Lucas is lovely, he is also underwritten. That is the result of the Duffers and the writers room.

and i would love to have faith in them on this topic and to think that It's All Intentional or to let myself hope that they'll do better in season 5 but they won't! and not hoping for it might sound counterproductive because it's like letting them off the hook right, if no one wants white writers to do better how could you expect them to do better, but also i'm just me lmao. they won't do better or they would've done better already.

so yeahh that (black) sttwt user who got jumped by (mostly white) lumax stans DEFINITELY had a point and that incident made me stop seeing lumax stans as "the most peaceful and mature part of the fandom" lol. stans all the same at the end of the day. disregarding valid criticism because you think it's ship hate is crazy. all that to say that yeah, when people look at max, whose most meaningful connection in the show is lucas by a mile and go hm...what about mike? it does come off as "racist without intention". which is how racism tends to manifest unless you're like a white supremacist who proudly admits to being a racist lol. what about mike? while everyone's free to like some dynamics better than others and while lumax, ship so often hailed as the best one of the show, the one without flaws (even if you ignore everything i'm saying, it's not flawless, they're 14-15 and obviously struggling, if they were perfect they wouldn't be interesting), definitely has flaws, most of which can be traced back to the racist writing...looking at them and being like but what if max's most meaningful connection was MIKE, with whom most of her interactions are fights. they're best friends. don't they just NEED to bond, don't they just HAVE to be best friends, woulnd't it be SO GREAT for him to fight to get her back in s5? never mind that she has someone reading at her bedside and hoping she'll wake up any minute whose priority in season 5 is definitely gonna be to get her back. will said mike's the heart of the party so god forbid he's not the most important person in the room at all times. idk, maybe i'm just being mean right now. you're so right in saying that most of the ga would definitely never do this, they'd probably exaggerate their worst moments and say that they hate each other but i couldn't blame them when we see them argue wayyy more than we see them be bffs. because we don't see them being bffs at all.

people thought the writers had forgotten how to write mike and stopped paying attention to his character for a second after volume 2 and then realized that they haven't and that they didn't but they never knew to write lucas with all the complexity, depth and nuance they allow their white characters to have. when mike gets a conformity storyline about queerness it hits because he can technically choose for himself, either pretend to be straight and be miserable or be himself by accepting and admitting that he's queer because it'll make his life harder in a lot of ways but it'll make it worth living. lucas gets a conformity storyline that ends with a banger line, normal's just a raging psychopath. but it's not like lucas can exactly be a racist society's version of normal in the way jason is, right? he can be popular but being black isn't exactly something you can hide. being accused of trying to act white is definitely a thing when black people are seen as betraying their culture in an attempt to succeed in a predominantly white society but that's...not something i'd trust the writers to portray, especially because the thing lucas does to try to blend in, be more popular and lessen the bullying is join the basketball team, which is literally a racial stereotype. his storyline in season 4 leaves a bad taste in my mouth because their version of telling lucas to keep being a himself and a nerd sounds like having him learn to know his place. it's not the intention but him saying he "never should've knocked" literally gives that impression. and while we're on the topic of lucas in season 4, you should definitely read The Antagonism of Blackness in Netflix's Stranger Things, it's a shame this article came out in june of last year because i would have loved to read their thoughts on volume 2.

you would have to be very naive to trust them to do lucas (a character that's been here since day one!) justice, and with the fandom it's kind of like the classic "women are badly written that's why i don't care about any of them" excuse but for black characters instead. imagine this max scenario but instead of her black (ex-)boyfriend who held her as she died being intent on saving her, it's...mike? is just so "racist without intention". what is lucas doing in the meantime. the (byler/mike fans side of the) fandom is definitely not better than the writers in that regard. are fandoms ever better than the writers they love to claim aren't as progressive as them?

#threw mike stans under the bus again anon made me #lucas sinclair #ask

[esther-dot]

So to jump in regard to the 'hot chick with a dragon' ask. GRRM's depiction of Drogo and Dani is one of those things that fandom can't wrap their head around because, yet again, they fail to see that Martin is not the woke writer they think he is and fail to remember that he conceived of this plot in the 90s. I feel like a lot of the fandom isn't well versed in scifi/fantasy books written by white men in the 80s/90s - those books are very, ummmmm....how do I put this....let's just say a lot of those writers used their fantasy books to explore certain taboos and fetishes for titilation, not necessarily as a woke moral lesson in their fictional world. I am in no way saying this makes them bad people, or that they would act inappropriately with women/minor girls in real life, because fiction is fiction, but yeah...

The Dani/Drogo relationship is literally that swords and sorcery trope from the 80s/90s where Hot Nubile Princess gets 'sold' to Hunky Barbarian, they proceed to have a ton of hot sex, and then fall in love. The fact that Martin couldn't even bare to make Dani at LEAST 16 (which still would have been disgusting) makes me side eye him a lot. But people thinking he meant for this relationship to be some dark psychological exploration of stockholm syndrome is hilarious. Do I think there might be some amorphous critique of girls being sold into unwanted marriages? Yeah, sure. But a lot of that relationship is just straight up the Hunky Barbarian trope that's why the wedding night is a 'seduction.'

A lot of discussions about these books would be easier if people just admitted Martin is a little bit of Freak when it comes to his depictions of relationships and sex and uses the fact that 'WelL ThIs Is tHE mEdIeVAl WoRLD' to depict minors in situations like this not because he's critiquing the patriarchy or whatever, but because it's taboo and therefore titilating. A lot of fans really like this series and don't want to admit a series they are really into has super problematic elements especially a series that is 30 years old which I think is silly. People can enjoy it while critiquing the author.

(about this ask)

The fact that from the inception of the story Martin was gonna have a hero/heroine engage in some fauxcest says at a minimum the man is a lil…quirky. Actually, no, I think most Jonsas would say he’s a little freak which is why we still think he’ll go for it. 😂

You’re right about the tropes of the era and having to accept problematic elements in the older generation of writers. Stephen King infamously wrote a sex scene with eleven year olds. Writers sometimes write weird shit. For something that’s finished, people can memory-hole the weirdness, for us, we have to wrestle with it a little more. I don’t like to be publicly critical of fellow Jonsas because we have nowhere else to go. The rest of the fandom has radically different ideas and have pointedly excluded us, but I don’t see a problem with voicing criticism of Martin here. It has no impact on him, his feelings or career, whatsoever. It’s tumblr, we’re not even in danger of something trending and a journalist asking him a question that breaks the wall between fandom/creator. I like reading all of the metas and different ways of analyzing ASOIAF our fandom comes up with because I don’t feel like I alone have cracked the code, but there is a danger of kinda, white-washing Martin’s problematic choices. I didn’t fully appreciate that before.

Actually, back to the tropes, I was reading some Angel Carter recently, she was an important feminist writer, but she too wrote one of those young girl & “barbarian” stories which has beats that are similar to Dany/Drogo. I’m not gonna read that one because it sounds even more racist, and grotesque in how it handles rape than ASOIAF. Long review that explains some cultural and literary context for it. People can write fucked-up, deeply offensive things and also write things we like. 🤷🏻‍♀️

#grrm critical #fandom critical #dot chat

[thefirstknife]

so, i have a question regarding the whole "rat" discourse regarding Drifter and Eris. people keep saying it's racist of Eris, but... isn't Eris literally southeast Asian too? i'm struggling to find it but i could have sworn you had a post about her being Asian.

i definitely agree with your points that the nicknames have been handled badly and definitely should stop (especially being used by non-asian people in fandom), but i feel like it's not as black and white as people have been treating it when it comes to the actual interactions between Eris and Drifter (i say all this as a woc; i absolutely don't want to defend any of the potential bigotry behind it, but it seems like a lot of people are spinning the harshest bad faith takes on it when Eris is literally also Asian and the point of her calling him "rat" was really clearly supposed to be about the fact that he lives in the basement and is generally a shifty character.)

I'm not sure about Eris; it's really hard to tell. There are HCs that she might also be South East or East Asian, but we don't have any definitive proof. I definitely like HCing her as such but we can't really prove it, not to my knowledge at least. If there's conclusive evidence please drop it my way!

Either way, even if she is, I think the problem is still about how this is perceived by the players. A lot of players aren't comfortable with it, and wouldn't be comfortable even if Eris was Asian herself. There's also the issue of who wrote it at Bungie; white people writing Asian characters using slurs is kinda icky. But I don't know the identity of all people who are in charge of writing it so there's that. The issue still remains though, in how it's perceived by the players that are affected and also those that aren't.

Most claim it's not an issue at all, if they're even informed on it, so you have a lot of non-Asian fans just perpetuating it over and over in fanart, fanfics and elsewhere in the community which leads to Asian fans having to listen this term being used casually outside of the game. That's a bigger issue in my opinion, rather than the mechanics of Eris and Drifter using it in the game.

I think that current writers at Bungie are simply not informed about it (because after the initial usage in Arrivals, they stopped for 2 years) and don't understand the bigotry behind the term and are trying to use it for Drifter being a shifty character and Eris using that as an insult. I am very confused when they try to pass it off as a cutesy petname because Eris is clearly using it to annoy him and he doesn't like it. So I cannot for the life of me see the "cute" in it.

For what it's worth, I do genuinely believe it's just people at Bungie not knowing; I don't want to assume that someone is doing it on purpose to be anti-Asian. I think they possibly saw the stuff from Arrivals and wanted to emulate it and they personally see it as something cute without knowing that the term has nasty connotations against Asian people when used on Asian people. Even if used by other Asians; non-Asian people will certainly repeat it when they hear it. And ofc, in this case, Eris and Drifter have no agency of their own since they're characters, so they do and say things that their writers direct them to do and say. If those writers aren't Asian themselves, then whatever Eris is doesn't really matter.

I think that for the sake of safety, the best would be to just not use it. That includes Bungie as well, though I don't know if we can get them to do that. So the next best thing is that we as a fandom refrain from it. Not everyone minds it in the same way, but some are genuienly hurt and put off by it so it really costs us nothing to refrain.

#destiny 2 #drifter #eris #ask #also saint was the first to call him that. so there's that #not sure why they went with that specific animal. orin previously called him snake. and he has snake imagery #using 'bad' animals is not the best either way but at least snake would make more sense because of his personal branding? #and also i'm still really not buying the whole 'it's a cute nickname' when it's obviously used an insult and he dislikes it

[chinchillinator]

It’s not just fiction. It’s not curating your fandom space. It’s not scrolling past things you don’t want to read. Nothing we do exists in a vacuum, and that includes fandom engagement.

That old adage about writers telling the readers more about themselves than their characters really has been speaking to me of late. It’s true, I’ve been reminded that it’s true many times in rereading my own work and in looking back at what I’ve written recently. I cannot craft a story that is devoid of myself. Simply because every word I write is colored by my own world views. I think it’s very strange if any writer were to claim to be the exception to this.

Based on who I’ve had the joy of interacting with online because of my writing, I know that most of the people reading my work and engaging with it share at least some of my views. Seeing as what I’ve written is impossible to divorce from those views, they must come through in what people read. So if someone enjoys what I’ve written, it must be because they agree with my stance on certain things and have a similar perspective regarding certain things. I know this is definitely true of the things I’ve read, as well. Which is to say, if I do find something in a piece of work that feels at odds with my views and perspective, I will click out and move on. As I imagine many others will if they’re in a similar situation. This leaves me with a community of fellow readers that share my views and perspectives and are happy to have those ideas reinforced and reiterated in what they read. It’s a lovely place to be as both a writer and a reader.

Where this created community becomes insidious is when the views and perspectives being reinforced and reiterated are deeply racist, antisemitic, homophobic, misogynistic, or discriminatory in any other way. When there is a group of people reading works that are written by others to include these discriminatory tropes. When there is a writer allowing their discriminatory views to color their writing and when their views are harmful to the perception of real life minorities. This echo chamber that’s been created is only perpetuating deeply problematic stereotypes that are both symptoms of and root causes of real life discrimination.

It’s not just fiction. It’s ideas and views and perspectives you’re carrying throughout your day to day life. And it’s not a question of whether or not you’ll act on those things, because you already are. You’re reading and supporting things that echo those harmful views. You’re writing things that perpetuate those harmful views. You’re putting into the world further discriminatory imagery that may catch the attention of someone new and pull them into this community. Where discriminatory tropes and stereotypes are suddenly on display openly, repeated again and again until they no longer seem harmful or wrong. Until they just seem normal.

You’re not creating something in a vacuum. You’re normalizing ideas that cause real, true harm to minority groups. Ideas that have led to our rights being taken from us, our bodies being attacked, and our lives being ended. Because those of us who don’t share these ideas are already avoiding your work. We’re already curating our online spaces to see as little of it as possible. We are not the ones being constantly shown these views and accepting them as the norm.

This is not the norm. This cannot be the norm. This is why conversations about discrimination in fandoms, and in all fictional works, need to be held by those open to creating a true dialogue that can initiate change. You are allowing yourself to see racist stereotypes as “okay” because “it’s fiction.” You are allowing yourself to excuse someone who is putting out blatantly discriminatory messaging. You are allowing this to become your status quo.

The next time you see a brown person stopped at the airport security checkpoint, ask yourself if you would accept that as “okay” were you to see it written into a novel. If the answer is no, consider why you’re accepting this.

#signing off to watch trust and paint my nails besties #yelling into the void etc etc

[opinated-user]

Hey Op-user. I'm having trouble finding the exact instance -that Lily is now saying she never did bcuz of course she is- where Lily Orchard explicitly calls RS a nazi?? Not saying it didn't happen, I'd believe it but as someone who'd set out to avoid LO as much as possible, coming into this drama and finding out where it started is confusing. I want to personally sift through the facts and fiction, if that makes sense, is all. Srry for asking you to backtrack.

the problem with this question is that LO is counting on you making it and counting on me having to tell you that she doesn't explicitely call RS a nazi, because then she can say that all of us accusing her of antisemitism regarding Sugar are merely disgruntled fans who're still mad at her disliking our "favourite" show. to clarify, has LO ever said the explicit words "Rebecca Sugar is a nazi"? no. however, if you do watch her video about Steven Universe and completely eliminate her conclusion about how "i wouldn't blame you if you thought that Sugar was a nazi sympathizer", would that have ever been a thought you had on your own? even after all the lying, misrepresenting and work LO did to pull you into a very specific conclusion, if she haven't said that, would you honestly have reached the idea that Sugar is a nazi/fascist sympathizer on your own? i wouldn't. many people who even agreed with LO's critique never even thought of that. why do you think even on SU critical spaces you won't see that very specific claim outside of LO's blog or from very devoted fans of her? at most people on those spaces will say that Sugar is an idiot or a talentless hack writer or even that she's (her actions are) racist, but the nazi sympathizer/fascist accusation has exclusively only come from LO's direction in the first place. the whole video is pushing you to reach that conclusion. LO went out of her way to plant that idea as the only and the most logical conclusion after her diatribe and then washed off her hands from it with the flimsy excuse "i didn't say it, but i wouldn't blame you if you did." she tried so hard to push for this narrative onto the fandom and the fandom didn't actually pick it up, which didn't stop LO from keep responding "anons" (that nobody can prove LO didn't write herself) and MO talking about Steven Ubermensh (a name that is meant to bring back a nazi reference and relate it back to the show), from insulting the jewish hair of Sugar, insisting that her having Holocaust survivors as her grandparents doesn't mean she couldn't sympathize with nazis (even though that was literally the biggest defense she has about Magneto, "he is a holocaust survivor"). if she doesn't mean for people to take away the idea that Sugar is a nazi sympathizer/fascist, then why she's so desperate to keep bringing nazis/fascists up when discussing sugar? btw, here's LO explicitely calling Sugar a "nazi apologist": https://lily-orchard.tumblr.com/post/187499148320/sugar-is-a-nazi-sympathizer-not-necessarily-a

here's still pushing for the "i didn't say it... but if you did thought that Sugar is a fascist then that it's entirely her fault and not my own for pushing this narrative" (which, again, didn't actually caught on and LO has been frustrated about it ever since). Sugar wrote the story she wrote, but LO has been imposing her reading of it as the only one that matters this entire time and thus the only logical conclusion being that Sugar is a fascist or a nazi sympathizer. https://lily-orchard.tumblr.com/post/187499148320/sugar-is-a-nazi-sympathizer-not-necessarily-a here's another post where i showed a receipt where LO said "what if i called Sugar a nazi? what are you going to do about it? cry?", which is a pretty mask off antisemitic moment if i ever saw one. it absolutely matters when you accuse a jewish queer woman whose family was on the Holocaust of being a nazi or being okay with nazis, especially talked about being harassed by nazis in the past. it does matter when you insult her and her heritage by using a cartoon show as your evidence. the only people who think it doesn't are those who don't care about antisemitism (or "forgets", like it's LO's case), weaponize it the second a jewish person does something they don't like (like LO does) or doesn't think antisemitism is an issue worth talking about at all (again, LO's case). as far i could search on her blog, this post has been deleted. luckily we have screenshots and archive links!

lastly... she conflating fascist and nazis as if they were the same thing is also entirely ignorant from her part, something that both fans and criticis of the show have call out multiple times. fascism is a way of making government by force, but nazism is an ideology with a very real body count that affects people and communities to this day. to compare nazis to the diamonds is a complete disservice to what nazis have actually done through out history and diminish the entire word until it stop having any meaning. it's a dangerous practice and LO does not care despite many people talking about this for years.

#lily orchard #lily orchard is an antisemite

[clonehub]

How do you persevere with Star Wars? I've seen you post about the harassment you get. I've seen all the posts regarding Disney and Lucasfilm's issues with color--from the whitewashing to the colorblind casting to the harassment to the poor writing and vision. How do you continue to "enjoy" or engage with Star Wars? (/gen)

At this point the fans truly have ruined most of star wars for me--and the parts the fans didn't ruin, star wars writers w all their antics ruined it themselves. My fave childhood show (tcw) was ruined by racism in basically every season. And yeah I got racially/sexually harassed to hell and back, and stalked and had my blocks evaded and lied to/about. And I see how after like 7 years of there being a loud and aggressively racist portion of the star wars fandom, hardly anyone on the official star wars team is saying anything about it except to tack onto what Ingram herself said about being harassed--and I'm pretty sure that if she hadn't said anything, nobody would have. It's reactive, not preemptive.

It's why I hardly talk on here anymore. Did y'all know how much of the survey was filled with people who stalked my twitter and Tumblr yelling at me about something i posted? I have this paranoia that if I say the wrong thing, I'm going to get a mile long anon in my inbox or a DM or a call out or some kind of thinly disguised vague that completely misconstrues what I said, and I won't be able to defend myself. Idk how many of you follow my twitter, but people in that corner of the fandom can be so sensitive that they'll dogpile or start yelling at people for simply not liking the same thing they do. Beyond that, clonetwt is incredibly boring. I basically put up a front that makes me appear more patient w tbb and less critical of its many writing flaws, racism aside.

Wish I could say there's a Renaissance that'll bring me back the way the promise of s7 did, but not only is star wars mass producing very shitty or otherwise uninteresting projects rn, a lot of the story just....doesn't interest me. Idc about the EU or the OT or the ST. I've always been like this. Actually learning about writing and what makes a good story has really made me picky when it comes the stories I get into; a good idea doesn't equal good execution, and that's what like 99% of star wars is like lol

(it also doesn't help that I'm just picky in general: prequel era -> tcw -> clone troopers, specifically. I'm watching Kenobi out of boredom and minor curiosity)

the constant harassment that I and others faced, all the white people bearing down on me and my friends is what got one to leave the fandom and the other to delete entirely. Some are still here, idk how to reach out to and be friends w the newer people in the fandom (but I love your OCs mwah, and you all seem v cool), and some of the OG Milf brigade (long story) is still sticking around, but I can sense their protracted frustration with star wars as a whole and this fandom in particular. Star Wars fans are a genuinely unpleasant group of people. I only grudgingly describe myself as a fan and I've outright stated irl that I don't like star wars.

Which is a shame because it's the reason why I even wanted to be a writer and creator. But oh well.

#ask #yeah i started drifting for a while #tbb was the nail in the coffin #lack of new content + racism on all fronts #damn mobile really fucking me over by not letting me read the tags uve written

[samatedeansbroccoli]

I posted 8,416 times in 2022

706 posts created (8%)

7,710 posts reblogged (92%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@satan-incarnate-666

@risingphoenix761

@little-boats-on-a-lake

@dreydel-fatale

@inthetags

I tagged 3,350 of my posts in 2022

#thebroccolitalks - 301 posts

#thebroccoliresponds - 184 posts

#hot damn op - 115 posts

#call of duty - 114 posts

#<< prev tags - 55 posts

#future ref - 46 posts

#thanks khushi! - 44 posts

#wow callout - 41 posts

#modern warfare - 25 posts

#hotd - 24 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#if it’s plot relevant then maybe a’s parents are pressuring them to have kids and b is like ‘nah we good without them’ and then a and b kis

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

This game is honestly such a gem

From Deadpool (2013) played by RabidRetrospectGames

70 notes - Posted May 23, 2022

#4

Soap: I made tea.

Ghost: I don’t want tea.

Soap: Not for you. This is my tea.

Ghost: Then why are you telling me?

Soap: ‘Tis a conversation starter.

Ghost: That’s a lousy conversation starter.

Soap: But we’re conversing anyway. Checkmate.

76 notes - Posted November 7, 2022

#3

Likely to no one’s surprise, @/smokeywhalee / smokeyshawarma isn’t the person she says she is. I was going to stay quiet and let people choose their friends, but after I heard about all the people she’s wronged in the past, it’s no longer something I can ignore. Over the past year, Smokey has:

•Bullied others for their race

•Compared minute fandom problems to real racist political agendas

•Failed to properly credit using other’s ideas and words in her works

•Paraphrased other’s posts without acknowledging the original poster

•Ignored triggers and squicks of others

•Condemns others of vaguing but proceeds to do the same

And many, many more.

Although Smokey is no longer relevant to the Call of Duty fandom, what she has done to others surpasses the fandom. This is more than just about her. This is about those who’ve stayed quiet because they felt she had too big of a following to say anything.

To those that were affected, please add your story via a reblog. To those that weren’t, please listen to the voices of others.

It’s time we speak up like we should have long ago.

102 notes - Posted February 12, 2022

#2

IMPORTANT: DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN WATTPAD'S OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST

I won't waste your time: it's a scam. And as someone who participated in the contest on its debut and loved participating in it, this year's contest is nothing but a horror show waiting to happen.

If you don't want to know the reason behind it, that's all you need to know! Feel free to keep scrolling. If you'd like to know more about what's going on with Wattpad, please continue reading.

This post does not have a break due to the potential severity of the contest.

What is the Open Novella Contest?

The Open Novella Contest (ONC) is a yearly Wattpad event in which writers are tasked with writing a story between 20K-40K words in 12 weeks, basing their story around a set number of prompts created by Wattpad. For the past five years, the ONC has been received well among the Wattpad community, with tens of thousands participating. Some of the stories would later be sent/picked up by publishing companies, and with Wattpad's recent Premium update, authors are allowed to publish their stories through Wattpad.

So what's wrong with that?

Well, it should have been nothing. Previously, there was wrong with participating and having fun. This year, however, Wattpad decided they'd change the rules up, the first change being that mature stories are no longer allowed. Wattpad has always had strict guidelines regarding mature stories, and yet the platform is also a hotspot for mature stories. Previously, this was fine as long as it didn't break creative legal rules (ex. pornography) , This year, any mature story is likely to be disqualified from the contest.

But that's not the fun part, the publicity grant is:

Straight from Wattpad's rules:

Entry in the Contest constitutes permission for [Wattpad Corp.] Sponsor and its designees to use each entrant's and Prize Winners' Entries, as well as entrant's name, [Wattpad account] or other social media handle or ID, biological information, address (city and state) and likeness, for advertising and promotional purposes, in any manner, in any and all media now or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity, without further compensation, notification, or permission, except where prohibited by law and as otherwise provided herein. The preceding expressly includes, without limitation, any video associated with any winning Entry.

That's a lot to read, so let's break it down:

"Entry in the Contest constitutes permission for [Wattpad Corp.] Sponsor and its designees to use..."

By entering the contest, Wattpad and others associated with the contest can...

"...each entrant's and Prize Winners' Entries..."

Every entry is now Wattpad's and you don't have control over your own work.

"...as well as entrant's name, [Wattpad account] or other social media handle or ID, biological information, address (city and state) and likeness..."

Wattpad may use your real name (might not be preferred), your Wattpad name, your social medias, your birth date, your gender, your address, and all things needed to sign up for a Wattpad account...

"...for advertising and promotional purposes..."

Wattpad will use all of the above for "promotional purposes."

"...in any manner, in any and all media now or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity..."

Your name, address, social medias, and all others will be advertised freely and you'll have no control on which corners of the world it will reach.

"...except where prohibited by law and as otherwise provided herein."

If there's a law that will stop advertising, congrats. Your name, address, social medias, and all others won't get promoted there.

"The preceding expressly includes, without limitation, any video associated with any winning Entry."

Wattpad allows writers to add a video to your chapter which can help set the tone of the chapter. Basically, they're saying here that if you put Billy Joel's "Piano Man" with your writing, they don't care about the copyright. They'll still promote the story, which also breaks copyright rules in the music department. And if the company behind "Piano Man" decides to sue, the author takes the blow.

It doesn't stop there: let's talk Intellectual Property (aka copyright):

Straight from Wattpad again:

Each Prize Winner grants to [Wattpad Corp.] Sponsor and its designees the exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, sublicenseable right and license to use, perform, exhibit, reproduce, and/or otherwise exploit their winning Entry in any manner and in any and all distribution channels, venues or media no known or hereafter devised, without further notice or any compensation to entrant. The preceding grant of rights is subject to any rights retained by a social media operator in its social media platform. Each Prize Winner further waives any "Moral Rights of Authors" or similar natural rights of ownership they may have in user content. Each Prize Winner further agrees, upon Sponsor's request and without compensation of any kind, to execute any additional documents so as to effect, record, or perfect the grant of rights contemplated by this subsection.

By participating, entrants acknowledge that Sponsor may be working on or receive other Entries (or Sponsor's employees or third party independent contractors may create materials on their own), that are similar to identical in theme, format or other respects to that summited by entrant. By submitting an Entry, Sponsor does not waive any rights to use similar or related ideas previously known to Sponsor or developed by its employees, or obtained from sources other than entrant. Sponsor shall not have any liability to entrant for any direct, indirect, contributory, vicarious, secondary or other infringement or protection of any copyright in or to entrant's Entry.

See the full post

109 notes - Posted January 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I think it's important for people to see just where the bombings in Ukraine have taken place. Just to show that this is even bigger than I think most people outside of Eastern Europe realize.

Source

146 notes - Posted February 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #Ohhhh that’s mildly embarrassing #Two callout posts in one roundup

[pale-silver-comb]

So I know absolutely nothing about Leverage except what I've been seeing you post lately and I have to admit you're making it look tempting to watch! Can I ask what are some of your favorite things about the show/reasons you would suggest people watch it? And is there really a poly relationship that is canon?

Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I am going to do my best not to just “asdfghkjl” at you and answer coherently.

In a nutshell, Leverage is about 5 people. 4 are criminals (Parker, Hardison, Eliot and Sophie) with different and unique skill-sets and 1 is an ex-insurance investigator (Nate) who, at one point or another in his career, has tracked down (or at least attempted to) the other 4. The whole show is essentially: man reluctantly reforms 4 criminals to use their criminal powers for good and 4 criminals move into man’s life and stubbornly refuse to leave because, goddammit, now they have morals. 

I’ve got a lot of favourite things about the show but the main ones are as follows:

1. Found family. And I’m not talking about loners who come together to fight crime and happen to co-exist to the point where they realise they happen to have found themselves a family. I mean, Nate and Sophie are the Drunk Uncle and Wine Aunt who somehow become Mom and Dad to 3 beautiful criminal children. Mom and Dad love their criminal babies and the kids love them (as well as each other, but we’ll come to that in a moment). You get amazing family moments such as: Mom and Dad packing the kids lunch before sending them out to kick corporate greed’s ass; Mom and Dad giving the kids ridiculously expensive and personal Christmas presents causing their most Grumpy Kid to go very very quiet and soft as he runs off to gleefully play with his new murder toy; the kids interrupting Mom and Dad’s big Movie Style Kiss to ask if they can please keep their new underground layer and huffing and puffing when Dad tells them no.

2. Found family: the OT3 edition. To answer your question, the OT3 is indeed canon, confirmed by the creator. Now, usually, “confirmed by the creator” infuriates me because most of the time it’s a way for a creator to be seen as “progressive” without doing anything to actually be progressive. That isn’t the case here. The OT3 are built up carefully and while it is obvious the creators didn’t originally intend for all 3 of them to become a relationship in the romantic sense, by mid-season 5 we are given a very clear picture of where Parker, Hardison and Eliot are heading in their relationship. There aren’t any kisses at the end to signal this but there are solid marriage vows in not only one but two episodes. (And by marriage vows I mean literal equivalents of marriage vows: “for better or worse” and “’til death do us part”. I’m not even exaggerating). The OT3 also doesn’t need explicit romantic narratives to convey how much they love each other. Their love is laced through the whole show, from the way they teach each other things to the way they respond to each other and work as a unit. The way they fiercely protect and admire each other. Like someone once said, if you need characters to kiss or say I love you to let the audience know they love each other, you are writing them wrong. 

Aside from that, each of the parings in the OT3 are just. Gah. They are so well done, with friendship being the solid basis for them all. The creators never expect the audience to assume anything about them or fill in the gaps. They give us their relationships on screen and reference many things off-screen to show us how these relationships continue to build in between episodes.

Hardison and Parker are a canon couple and date in the show: it’s approached slowly and they are so goddamned sweet. They are basically every fluffy slow-burn trope with a healthy dash of mutual pining in the mix. They are basically that quote “love is patient, love is kind”. (I would like to add their romance never becomes the focus of the show or overrides the importance of any other relationship they have with the other characters, especially Eliot.)

Hardison and Eliot are the Old Married Couple and from day one are already bickering and looking at each other/making comments that are found in every UST fic ever (not to mention Hardison has a very good knack for making Eliot grin like a little kid, when usually he’s basically an Angry Little Chef Man). They argue, they play, and love each other plain as day. 

Parker and Eliot are more subtle but every bit as wonderful. They have an unspoken connection and understand each other on a level no-one else can. Parker and Eliot are not good with giving themselves over to affection for different reasons (and Hardison plays a central role in helping them realise it’s okay to want it and have it- that boy has endless patience) but there is something so beautiful in the way the two of them come together on their own and develop their own special bond that works for them. Parker and Eliot are that trope where the characters don’t need to speak to understand each other perfectly. They just do. Their love language is a lot of the time non-verbal but speaks volumes. (Parker also likes to annoy the hell out of Eliot and Eliot....just.....lets...her. Because he’s soft. The softest, grumpiest boy.) 

I could go into so much depth for each pairing and their dynamics as a 3 but that's for another post.

3. Subverting stereotypes. There is the occasional hiccup in the show regarding stereotypes but ultimately, Leverage gets an A+ when it comes to writing characters and making them 3 dimensional people who are not defined by certain characteristics or events. Nate could so easily fall into the White Man Pain trope where he uses the trauma of losing his kid as a reason as to why he is entitled to act like a dick. Nate is a dick but he doesn’t use his pain to excuse it and I appreciate that. Hardison is a black man who is soft and nurturing. Easily the most empathetic and patient of the group. He’s nerdy, an actual genius, and has the biggest heart of all the characters. Nate is maybe the glue but Hardison is definitely the heart. Media’s usual aggressive, amongst other, racist stereotypes can fuck right off. Parker is canonically autistic (I am sure this was confirmed by one of the creators) and she is not defined by it. It’s not written as some kind of singular personality trait. It’s part of what makes up Parker but it’s only one facet of who she is and not once is her actions, thoughts or feelings treated like a joke. Sometimes people don’t understand why she does and says the things she does but it’s met with patience and fondness over the course of the show. Equally, it’s not met with over-caution. Parker is just Parker. No-one tries to change her. The other nice thing is Hardison, who always makes sure Parker knows she’s amazing because of who she is and not in spite of it. Finally, Sophie is in her 40s. She’s not treated like she’s past her prime. Ever. She’s sexy, smart and never is she pitted against or compared to Parker (who is younger) for anything. Sophie is amazing and there’s never even a conversation of “I may be older but I am still *insert adjective typically associated with younger women here*”. Sophie is possibly the first female character I’ve ever seen who isn’t just unapologetic about her age but has never had to apologise for her age. It’s a non-issue and that’s that. The women on the show are written so well, right down to secondary characters and it’s beyond refreshing.  

4.) It’s just fun. The show has a “monster of the week” type format. Except instead of a ghoul or a ghost, the monster is some corrupt wealthy and powerful individual or organisation. The show draws on real-life individuals to do this and therefore closely parallels real-life people and events. It addresses important political, economical, social and environmental issues while at the same time remaining fun and light-hearted. The characters constantly get the chance to play dress up and by GOD do they have fun with it. You get to watch Eliot beat up bad guys in the most delightful of ways, usually after a witty non-sequitur and with a weapon you’d never think could be a weapon. The dialogue and back and forth between the characters is everything. And finally - my favourite thing- the team can never resist striking a dramatic pose after they’ve taken down the bad guy, making sure the bad guy sees them. I mean, they COULD just walk away, satisfied they’ve taken the person down, but nope. They gotta be dramatic bitches 24/7 and pose like they are models for every single month of this year’s Criminal Calendar.  

5.) Competence Porn. So. Much. Competence Porn.  

Honestly, I could list a thousand reasons for why Leverage is amazing but to list them would to be spoiling so many amazing moments you’d get to discover for the first time on your own if you do choose to watch it. It’s the kind of show you can watch with an eagle-eye and sink your teeth into. But it’s also the kind of show if, you would prefer, put on in the background for something entertaining while you do something else. Each episode is about the job at hand but it’s made up of so many moments between the characters that show how much the creators and writers care about them. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll do whatever it is you do when something Soft and Wonderful happens that makes your heart melt. I am so beyond grateful for Leverage. It’s everything I always wanted in a show. Nearly every show I’ve watched in the past 10 years has disappointed me in some way, usually either because the writers run out of steam or characters who I love are treated poorly or given some kind of unnecessary “shock value” arc. Leverage doesn’t do that. Leverage is what it says on the bottle. Fandom isn’t something I joined because I needed canon fix-its. Fandom only enhances and celebrates an already excellent canon. 

#leverage #leverage ot3 #parker #alec hardison #eliot spencer #sophie devereaux #nate ford #talk leverage to me

[chainofclovers]

Ted Lasso 2x6 thoughts

I felt like the physical embodiment of a series of iconic reaction GIFs while watching this episode. I felt like Higgins gagging on air and right and wrong choices. As an invested, non-casual Ted Lasso viewer, I feel quite absorbed in the experience of every episode, but I’m not usually a LOUD non-casual Ted Lasso viewer. At one point last night, I shouted “This is the wackiest show ever made!” at @bristler, and that doesn’t even sound like something I would say. And by “wacky” I just meant “all the emotions are happening at once.”

This episode was absolutely great and I knew that every single Rebecca Welton feeling I have would intensify because of this episode and that is exactly what happened.

This is me bravely writing down my episode thoughts after only one viewing (just like last week) and a bad night of sleep! Copious spoilers and emotions ahead...

This show goes all in on hats! A lot of bad hats for giving bad relationship advice and making bad decisions! Feel like you’re gonna do something correctly? Just put on a bad hat, that’ll snap you right out of it. Just had a revelation that you are almost certainly in an abusive relationship? Your girlfriend is hiding in the parking lot with a terrible hat for you! (I love this show.)

Dark forest dark forest dark forest dark forest.

I truly, truly, truly do not mean this to sound judgmental of any other fan, but it’s taking everything in my power not to just type “dark forest” in the comments of every person who is outraged that LDN152 is not Ted.

Gonna get my initial thoughts on the Sam=LDN152 reveal out of the way. I honestly like this choice.

First, I like this choice because of who LDN152 isn’t. I think about how awful it would be if she’d matched with Rupert and realized she’d been manipulated by him and charmed by him all over again, and how, when she gets the same reveal the audience already has, she would end up retraumatized by having been charmed and taken in by Rupert all over again. I think about her matching with Nate (if he’d redownloaded the app) and the inadequacy of her assertiveness advice and how Nate is one of the only non-Rupert characters who’s used sexist language against her and how Nate’s insecurities would be like water trying to co-exist with the oil of Rebecca’s insecurities. Nate and Rebecca are fond of each other and seem to want to be in each other’s lives, but a romantic squishing together via dating app would set them both back lightyears. I think about her matching with Ted, a man currently on a parallel-to-Rebecca trek through a very painfully dark forest, a man swinging wildly between performative attempted wit and utter panic. A man she trusts with her professional and personal challenges. [Her challenging mother comes to town and Keeley and Ted are the people she wants with her at lunch.] Ted and Rebecca, with all their current limitations, and with all the ways the forest obscures the view, are trying to be there for each other in their real, non-romantic comedy versions of their lives, and the discomfort of matching on an app seems like the kind of thing that would make them rear back from each other instead of bringing them even closer together. It is not time. It is so profoundly not time that I would have been furious if the writers had continued the “maybe it’s Ted?” line of thought for another second longer than they did.

Second, I like this choice because of who Sam is. I know. He’s not an appropriate match for her. The power dynamics are all messed up and their ages are all wrong. But this does introduce a potentially interesting parallel between Rupert and his younger women and the scrutiny Rebecca would risk herself and Sam experiencing if she goes for it. Rebecca seems to have tried to put away her Rupert-related trauma, but the specter of Rupert is lurking, and I do see that being a good person making an ethically complicated decision with another good person is very different from being an abuser setting out to take advantage of multiple people...but there are parallels she might have to reckon with. Also, Sam is a kind person with a strong ethical center and a well-documented interest in Rebecca. He and Ted helped each other feel more at home in London during a time of deeply missing other homes, and Sam has internalized a lot of Ted’s ways of living in a way that might genuinely appeal to Rebecca even if she doesn’t fully realize why. The writers on this show don’t write messes for the sake of drama. They write messes because life is painful and complicated and also very funny. I’d be shocked if, however this Bantr thing plays out, it isn’t painful and complicated and also funny.

(I am already a little worried that whatever happens next is going to activate some very ironic fan reactions given this is a show whose thesis statement is about withholding judgment. This fear is based not on Ted Lasso-specific knowledge but on unfortunate patterns of fandom, but...you can fear the impact of racist, sexist, and ageist tropes on two beloved characters without embodying those tropes as a viewer. You can watch characters make decisions that could subject them to harmful scrutiny without performing that harm yourself.)

Ted Lasso is a fictional character who tweeted about the joy of eating out (you know...at the Crown and Anchor) the day before 2x6 launched and during 2x6 Rebecca invited him to eat out at the Crown and Anchor. (I love this show.) I am so, so, so fond of all the little lunch-y things in this episode. Ted can’t bring Henry his lunch because he’s “at work” aka living in London. Ted and Beard surprise each other with secret sandwiches on Fridays. Rebecca is overwhelmed by her mother’s visit (her mother’s performance of a harmful pattern) and wants Keeley and Ted there. The scene at the Crown and Anchor, as painful as all the divorce/separation feelings were, was also so homey and lovely in terms of these characters being friends, being at home in a place despite the very not-at-home feelings emanating from Deborah. The Bake-Off viewing! Ted being the designated driver (probably a good thing on this particular day)! Rebecca feeling discomfort but not shutting down! Also cute British pub feelings. Evidence that Rebecca has talked to her mom about Ted! About personal things about Ted!

Naaaaaaate. His bursts of confidence and insight. The pain and insecurity and anger almost literally bubbling under the surface.

I cannot say enough good things about Higgins. He’s grown so much, and his decision to be honest with Beard regarding his concerns about Jane was absolutely impeccably done. Many, many trusted people in Higgins’ life told him not to do it. They are all good people, and they were all wrong. Sometimes one human being’s honesty makes the difference for someone who is struggling, and that’s exactly what happened here. Beard truly heard Higgins. And of course he didn’t immediately break things off with Jane. But he heard Higgins, and when Jane showed up Beard’s face looked different than it ever has, and Higgins words are with him as he walks off into the night with Jane and that might save him. And Rebecca witnessed it.

And I’m so glad she witnessed Higgins’ choice in the midst of this very difficult experience of a) trying to find Ted because she knows he’s in pain and being unable to and b) watching her mother repeat a pattern that Rebecca herself was able to break. It taught me so much about Rebecca. The way she was punished (and described the experience using the language of punishment) for having an honest reaction to her mother’s decision to leave her father the first time. The way she was taught that love is conditional, that love and reconciliation are things you can purchase with gifts. The way her mother uses the language of self-help without internalizing what it would take to heal, and probably has little use for actual therapy. The way her mother drinks alcohol as a way to feel free.

I don’t even know how to think, much less write, about everything with Roy’s coaching and his image and how Ted feels about it and all the fatherhood things Jamie brings up and all the fatherhood things Ted is missing w/r/t Nate and everyone except for Rebecca taking at face value (or willfully deciding to take at face value) the idea that Ted’s panic attack is actually just him needing to go barf up a fish pie. Ted hugging his backpack in Sharon’s office. Rebecca trying to find him, and Sharon being the one who does. The words “I wanna make an appointment” being the words that conclude the episode at the exact midpoint of the planned-for show. Halfway through the middle season. The moment Ted realizes he’s never going to be okay if he doesn’t give therapy a try.

I also can’t say enough good things about the moment with the team and Sharon, the way she agrees to one drink, the way it’s clear that she adores them all. Sharon is exacting and professional without being cold and calculating, and everything she does in this episode is such a gorgeous model of assertiveness, patience, and moderation...three things Ted struggles with the most.

What a dark forest. What an excellent group of humans.

#ted lasso #ted lasso s2 spoilers #ted lasso 2x6 #meta by me #a lesbian watches ted lasso

[bigskydreaming]

man that point about white writers racebending characters to talk abt racism is so true. like, in the first place as a POC i tend to find fanfic that uses characters as mouthpieces about racism to be really tasteless? and w batfam fic specifically, like you mentioned, a lot of the time it's white writers racebending white characters to have them make points that a) end up sounding performative, and b) if you REALLY needed to, there are characters like cass and duke and damian and dick (1/2)

who are there and already POC! and on top of that I know a lot of latines/Black people have expressed discomfort with specifically racebending jason esp. when coupled with his background and family circumstances. a lot of the time making [author's fave character] poc just starts to feel like a gotcha, esp when there are other characters of color who racism would /actually/ affect but whom the author doesn't want to explore lol (2/2)

*nods* Yeah I can't even imagine how frustrating that must be. I don't want to go too indepth here because I try to balance acknowledging and talking about the various issues like this in fandom while staying in my own lane as best I can, and that of course doesn’t mean I always manage to actually pull that off. But yeah.....this is definitely a thing, and the number of times I've seen white authors racebend Jason and Tim and make them front and center in stories that touch on racism and systemic injustices while sidelining not just Dick, but as you said Cass, Duke and Damian too (or often its having Jason and Tim bond with Damian OVER stuff like racism while ignoring the impact of these things on the other three).....its extremely gross, not to mention tone-deaf, given the claimed aims of most fics like this.

And I do think white authors in this fandom in particular, and in regards to Dick, need to do a lot more educating themselves about colorism and the fact that it is 100% an intra-community discussion for people of color that we have no place in, because all I can really say on that is there are a ton of fics BY white authors who nevertheless try and launch into some kind of point on colorism by writing Dick as white-passing and from there making a value judgment that the racism he endures is not that significant compared to his other siblings of color or his racebent siblings.....

But then at the same time, peppering their fics FULL of the g slur, when every usage of that by a non-Roma person, is LITERAL RACISM IN ACTION.

Like whether or not Dick is white-passing in anyone's eyes is utterly irrelevant to the racial and ethnic based discrimination he faces in someone's own fic, if they're habitually writing the g slur being dropped around and about him. They're literally writing him being subjected to racism based on the fact that everyone in Gotham knows who he is and where he comes from regardless of his appearance, and saying people in Gotham or the media and tabloids are using racial slurs in regards to him because of that knowledge.....and then often these authors are trying to at the exact same time minimize this as being not that bad, and saying Dick doesn't face that much actual racism because of his appearance.

What the actual fuck?

Anyway, Roma posters all over social media have asked time and time again that non-Romani NOT use the g slur, I know I reblog these posts at least every couple months, and I see them hardly ever reblogged from me or present on other Batfam blogs, and its fucked up that white bloggers and writers in this fandom are more comfortable implicitly engaging in takes on colorism in their fics than they are signalboosting Romani voices literally begging people to stop using the g slur.

Again, that's as far as I feel comfortable weighing in on that aspect of things in particular, but there needs to be a hell of a lot less anti-romanyism in Batfam fics and a lot more signalboosting of Romani voices and issues if fans have themselves convinced that their own racist takes on a Romani character aren't an issue because is he even really a character of color like racebent Latine Jason or Asian Tim? Etc.

And yes, back to what you said specifically, MANY black and Latine posters I'm familiar with have repeatedly expressed discomfort with racebending Jason as such in particular. There are of course certainly fans of color who racebend Jason and Tim to represent their own personal ethnicities because they're personal faves, which is why again as a white fan I'm certainly not advocating for other white fans to go around making a stink about this on the specific posts and fics of authors whose own ethnicities they don't actually know.....this is aimed purely at asking other white fans who read this to examine just their OWN PERSONAL CHOICES in regards to this kind of thing in fics.

Hope I didn't take this in a direction you weren't looking for it to go, I'm perfectly happy to just publish and boost your own points in asks along these lines if preferred, just lemme know.

[tweedstoat]

im sorry, but reading ur last couple posts it kinda sounds like you think Ned should have been more overtly racist and bc he wasn’t grrm is racist, but on the flip side giving arya prejudice thoughts also makes grrm a racist and a bad writer? like grrm for sure has dodgy bits but you’re giving him a bit of a no win scenario here. if he had made the targs black like originally planned do you think that would have been better or worse? (1/2)

ok im going to address this point by point because there is a lot of reaching and misunderstanding here

1. I am not here to present a ‘win’ scenario for GRRMs writing. I am discussing the shortcomings of the way he writes racism and yet uses racist tropes. A lot of these are as you state ‘no win’ scenarios because he decided to craft a world where racism exists while having extremely few characters of colour in important positions, AND while using racist tropes. There are many no win scenarios simply because of this tension.

2. I dont want Ned to be a more vocally racist character? And please point out where I said that Grrm was racist because Ned wasnt portrayed as having overt anti-dornish sentiment? I stated that because GRRM created a world where racism exists everything now has to be analysed bearing that in mind. It’s the same as stating that because misogyny exists in universe male characters are possibly (and likely) somewhat misogynistic and their interactions with with women and the way they treat female characters must be analysed in such a way.

Me stating that anti-dornish racism could have been a possible reason why Ned reacted less vehemently to the deaths of Elia and her children is me analysing it within the frame-work that GRRM set up. I’m using this to point out that when white authors add fantasy racism into a story they dont see the raicst implications of what they are writing because they dont understand the way racism impacts almost everything in real life.

For example in our world when non-white children or women go missing or are murdered their deaths are much less publicized than when white women or children get murdered or go missing. So yes racism affects the way that people are treated in such scenarios and when you decide to include fantasy racism in your story you have now included all of this extra stuff and need to do work to make sure that what you are writing does not perpetuate or enforce racism.

3. I literally never said arya having racist thoughts made GRRM a racist and bad writer. I have no clue where you got that. I used Aryas remark to highlight how anti-dornish sentiment clearly exists in the North because 9 year old children dont develop racist ideas in a vaccuum.

4. Where did I ever state that everything that happens to the martells was a micro aggression? I’m also confused as to where you got the word “micro” from??? Because idk about you but things like characters not really caring about the rape and death of a non-white woman and the deaths of her biracial children, a child being shunned because they “smelled dornish” and dornish women being hypersexualised in the narrative are some pretty macro aggressions.

5. Finally you deciding to ‘not discuss the essoss stuff’ is missing one of the main points of what I am trying to say. GRRM’s writing isnt racist because sometimes bad things happen to the Martells. The combination of his writing of the dothraki as savages with no introspection when compared to the free folk, the brutal killing of many martells for shock value, the contrast between the way he portrays Lyanna and the way he portrays Elia, the exotic/erotic trope he uses when writing dornish women, the fact that he hasnt named the princess of dorne while all her male counterparts have recieved names AND backstories and the fact that he made a white character the centre of the essoss plotline and a whole host of other decisions combine to make his writing....kinda racist. If it happened one time it may be a coincidence. If it happens about 10 times its a pattern.

Would it be racist if the Starks were written as inuit and then split up? Probably - given the history of murder and brutal seperation indigenous families have faced! Would making the more visibly indigenous stark children plainer while making the more white passing stark children better looking be racist? Probably - considering the way that eurocentric beauty standards are still upheld! With GRRM his issue is that he doesn't use 1 or 2 racist tropes in isolation. That could be a mistake. He uses several in succession.

Regarding the Targaryens being Black I think that if he wrote them in exactly the same manner (unlikely given how he treats other characters of colour) it likely wouldnt be racist but that the fandom probably would take it as an excuse to be racist.

So now that weve gotten through all of that straw-man criticism about my “take” I’m actually going to suggest some ways that he could have still written about fantasy racism without accidentally perpetuating it

1. If he is going to brutally kill off Elia he needs to AT LEAST have more discussions surrounding her death. Who Elia was as a person (dont just make her a sad cardboard cut out - I want to see some background on who she was outside of being an abandoned wife and mother). One story about Elia by Oberyn isnt enough. I also want to see more societal shock about Elias death because theres a weirdly small amount. The rape and murder of the crown princess shouldve been an extremely huge scandal and should have horrified many more people.

2. Theres no real way to kill off two non white children and have their white sibling be a prophetic hero without dicey implications so Aegon needs to survive and be the actual Aegon and not a secret blackfyre. We dont know if he is a secret blackfyre or not so this may just be a case of the fandom taking an excuse to be racist and running with it

3. Have more Dornish characters that dont die brutally for shock value (Elia, Oberyn, Quentyn). Furthermore when you only have 2 povs of dornish characters,,,,and you kill one of them off, yes that is not a great look

4. Dont introduce the only WoC pov in the whole damn book nipple first and as a blatant play on the brown seductress when she has legitimate political concerns and greivances

And thats only the dornish characters! With the dothraki and most of essoss just.....anything aside from what he’s done would be better. But of course im sure none of this is actually racist writing decisions. No its simply complex characterisation of course!!1!

#grrm criticism #asoiaf criticism #fandom racism #dont queue want me baby

[camelotsheart]

Hey. I kind of need some guidance. Someone on Tumblr said that i was being misogynoirstic for believing that Arthur loved Merlin more than Gwen and Gwen loved Lance more than Arthur and saying that I liked Merthur and Gwencelot more than Arwen. They mentioned that Merthur had toxic dynamics and Arwen was healthier. Do you think my beliefs are bad? Sorry for the long post. Any advice would be helpful. :)

Hello anon, thank you for this ask! Initially, I was going to reply with a simple "everyone is entitled to their own opinions as long as they're not communicated in a disrespectful or harmful manner" but my emotions go the better of me. So. I'm digging a grave and putting my discussion underneath.

First of all, I need to prelude that these are my opinions only and is in no way meant to dictate what people in the fandom should or should not do.

Since I'm both a multi and polyshipper, I think we can bypass the "ship and let ship" discussion and go straight into the one about misogyny and toxicity.

I'm actually proud that the fandom has gotten to the point where this is not the norm - that people seek help when someone is calling them misogynistic or other terms on the basis of their shipping choices or takes on the show, because from the things I've heard about the fandom back when the show was still airing (and a few years after), terms like 'homophobic', 'racist', and ‘misogynist’ were thrown around way more than it is now in the ship wars that ensued.

And you know what? Some of the comments really did fit those terms, especially in regards to the hate on Angel for being cast in the role of Gwen, how Gwen didn't deserve to be with Arthur, or how people called Merthur shippers disgusting. But I think a great majority of takes we see on tumblr today (I can only speak for tumblr since I'm not on other platforms. I know twitter is more of a hellsite in regards to merlin shipping these days) are not misogynistic/racist/homophobic. Whether they be pro or anti Merthur/Arwen.

Do I get frustrated sometimes by the character bashing that ensues? Would I prefer that no hate on characters existed? Of course, but these takes do not have misogynistic, racist or homophobic undertones - they are merely subjective views people have on characters based on how they act in the show. And that is a natural part of fandom. We will always have clashing opinions caused by our different backgrounds and philosophies. I've seen Merthur being criticised based on their characterisations as much as I’ve seen Arwen criticised based on their characterisation. And I’ve seen posts addressing the toxic aspects of both Merthur and Arwen. There is never a one ‘correct’ reading in literature or media, and fandom needs to learn to accept that.

This is in no way saying that internalised misogyny/racism/homophobia doesn’t exist, and that you should always make a conscious effort to ensure that your dislike towards a certain ship or character is not based on these views. This is also in no way disregarding the concept of misogyny/racism/homophobia existing in a show and how that feeds into the misogyny/racism/homophobia of the fandom, nor disregarding people’s takes on what the writers may or may not have implied happened between Arthur, Gwen and Merlin in the show itself (writers who, again, will have their own biases that feed into the show). But what I’m trying to say is - terms like ‘misogynist’, ‘racist’ and ‘homophobic’ should not be ones that are casually thrown around just because of people’s takes on a show. Merlin tumblr has done a good job migrating away from that, and it shouldn’t be something that is brought back again.

So no, your beliefs are not bad, as long as you’ve evaluated that your position doesn’t come from a point of internalised misogyny and/or racism. And the person who called you misogynystic should evaluate whether they’re calling you that because they truly believe so, or they’re unnecessarily perpetuating hate because of your personal takes on the show.

I hope that answers your question, anon! I’m in no way a professional on these matters (no. seriously. i just scream and spiral about this show most of the time) so if anyone wants to contribute to this answer please feel free to do so!

#bbc merlin #merthur #arwen #merlin #asks #anonymous

[shelobussy]

I know you talk abou st*cky in the interracial ships stuff, but can we talk about st*ny? Iron husbands is literally right there, but I also always sees Rhodey as Tonys moral support only. And ik Tony is very shippable with most characters, but the fact his ship is Rhodey is one of the lowest ships in ao3 (ironstrange, winteriron and god forbid stark*r all had more fics in ao3).. It's pretty telling this side also has racism problems...

I'll go ahead and answer this here, but letting y'all know that I do have a marvel sideblog if you want to hit me up there (@themarvelarchives).

Hey, I'm going to ramble for a good minute.

So after I posted my very incoherent, controversial take on St*cky vs SamBucky, there were a ton of ppl who came onto anon saying that St*cky shippers were racist. I think I only answered a few, but y'all were pretty insistent on it. I personally have not observed that St*cky shippers are so I'm not calling anyone out on that side of the fandom for that.

I also did not call out anyone on this side of the fandom bc that's not what my meta was about. I think I mentioned maybe once or twice in the whole post that there was underlying racist in the fandom, but since you asked, we can talk about it here.

Covert Bigotry In Fandom Spaces.

To understand what's going on in the MCU, we have to first look at what I call "woke-queer" fandom.

So "Woke-Queer" Spaces is the phenomenon where certain fandom members like to call ppl out on their bigotry, while covertly harboring their own queerphobia/racism/etc. An example of this that we're all familiar with is TERFS and how they like to claim that they are progressive and woke, while also claiming that trans women are fake and trans men are sexist.

How this translates to fandom, however, is the hypocrisy that is cancellation and callout culture.

For example, Supernatural in particular is a fandom that likes to call out the writers on their homophobia and racism, and yet, somehow, the fandom is chalk full of homophobia and racism. If you want to read more about this, here is a truly excellent article from the perspective of a queer woman of color.

Moving on, I've also talked in a previous meta post, on the internalized acephobia that exploded in 2019 after Good Omens was released. Rather than reiterate everything I said in that post, I'll just leave it at this: the controversy in the Good Omens fandom can be summed up by the fact that queer audiences are claiming that Ineffable Husbands is the wrong kind of queer. The hypocrisy oozes off the screen, doesn't it?

A final way this viably translates to fandom, is in how the Doctor Who fandom evolved over time.

So Steven Moffat takes over as head writer and showrunner in 2010. It's a new series, a new Doctor, a new Tardis, and new branding. He steps up the action, changes the color grating, and raises the stakes. Women are sexier, the Doctor is smarter (and more of an asshole, but that's another meta post), and every companion comes with their own impossible mystery that makes them Special™.

Series 5-10 got tons of woke points for having lesbian characters, an episode where the Doctor is homoerotic with James Corden, and an underlying trans narrative with the Master's reincarnation. What a lot of people forget, however, is that his series was incredibly sexiest, incredibly lesbian/biphobic, and basically turned the Doctor into everyone's fantasy sex-object.

This, unfortunately, brought out the worst of the fandom. There was RTD Era vs Moffat Era wars exploding in certain corners, TenxRose shippers vs ElevenxRiver shippers.

What does this have to do with covert racism in fandom cultures though?

Hnnngng ok, so back in RTD era's we get Martha Jones, the Actual Best Companion On The Entire Show. Except for the fact, of course, that she is written to be in love with the doctor. She's a brilliant character--smart, sassy, flawed, funny, flirtatious--and her entire plotline is reduced down to a school-girl crush on a white man.

She doesn't do well with fans, they scrap her after one season.

We move on to Donna Noble (The Other Actual Best Companion On The Entire Show) and RTD's era ends with them scraping her too and regenerating David Tennant's Doctor.

It will be five more series (not seasons, SERIES) until Doctor Who will have another black companion--who gets extra points for being gay--only to fall victim to "bury your gays" at the end of the season (but not really bc no one stays dead on Doctor Who).

The fandom's reception of Martha Jones was historically bad. The comparisons to her predecessor, Rose Tyler, were rampant and everyone was finding a reason to hate her.

The fandom's reception to Bill Potts was also historically bad, as everyone was screaming that she was being written for more "woke points" and that they wanted Clara back.

Fandom has a historically bad reputation of being problematic and, I would argue, the majority of it has to do with these toxic undertones of bigotry that slip under the radar. "Woke-queer" spaces, as I call them, are these instances above where spaces that claim to be inclusive of gender/orientation/race are covertly bigoted.

Marvel and Cancelling

Now is an excellent time to talk about the MCU.

Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson) has recently come under a lot of criticism from fandom members for shutting down shipper speculation.

"The idea of two guys being friends and loving each other in 2021 is a problem because of the exploitation of homosexuality. [...] something as pure and beautiful as homosexuality has been exploited by people who are trying to rationalize themselves."

I can't find the rest of the quote, but Mackie goes on further to say that it was important to him to portray "a sensitive, masculine figure" without insinuating that there was romance involved.

Woke culture lost it's shit. Everyone was suddenly claiming that Mackie was calling them exploitative for shipping a gay ship as a queer audience, which could not have been further from the case.

Mackie actually makes some very excellent points in that sensitivity is not gay/queer. Woke culture loves to rag on Toxic Masculinity, but the minute someone plays a character who is loving and sensitive with no queer narrative in mind, they are immediately canceled.

What Am I On About

Okay, let's actually address what your ask was about, Nonnie. You pointed out--rather truthfully--that it is unfair to call-out racism on one side of the fandom, while ignoring it on the other side.

Well, I've gone back through my St*cky vs. SamBucky analysis (which is incoherent at best, I apologize for that) and I see maybe once instance where I called out fandom members for being racist. Here's what I had to say about racism:

"[...] Iron Husbands is a rarepair, probably because it’s an interracial ship."

"[there is] nothing wrong with shipping two white men, but it does become a problem when you ignore/bash POC/interracial ships to the determinant of your own white ship."

And then there was the post you brought up where I addressed interracial ships in the fandom. That one is probably more relevant to this topic, to be honest, as I actually addressed fandom racism there. I assume that your reason for bringing up Stony is because it's a ship that is more relevant to my side of the fandom, HOWEVER, the reason I highlighted Stucky instead was because I was comparing the fact that they've both been around the same amount of time and are relationships that feature the protagonist and their best friend.

You brought up St*ny in the ask, however, so I'm going to talk about St*ny for a minute.

As someone who never has nor will ship St*ny, it never even occurred to me that some of the problem behind the Iron Husbands tag being so small is because everyone ships the white, boring ship. You brought up a very valid point, but because I was never in that part of the fandom, I can't really speak to any possible underlying racism there, besides what I've already said above.

I would be interested in hearing a St*ony shipper or ex-St*ony shippers thought on this, but sadly I don't know any. If you have any more thoughts regarding this, Nonnie, pls drop back into my inbox.

You do make some excellent points in this ask though, and I would like to talk about racism on my side of the fandom.

So back to Mackie and his Twitter cancellation. Notice that Disney made him address the rumors and not his co-star, Sebastian Stan. Anthony Mackie is put on blast and made to answer fan demands and receives backlash, while Sebastian Stan gets to fly under the rader. This is not, by the way, a criticism of Stan, but instead of the blatant racism Disney has been displaying over the past few years.

How this ties in with the rest of my post has to do with my "woke-queer" spaces bit. The outcry across the MCU fandom over Mackie was swift and unforgiving. He was cancelled on charges of homophobia and bigotry--all the while these same fans turn a blind eye to any queer interpretation of other interracial ships and discourse in their own fandom.

The racism that I'm speaking about, of course, is an almost passive racism. Of course if you don't ship a specific ship for reasons other than their race, it's perfectly fine. It's okay not to ship Iron Husbands or SamBucky or any other interracial fandom ships. However, the distinct lack of shippers in the fandom IS telling because there are people who would ship that exact ship if not for the fact that one of men is black.

I don't have much more to say about this except to thank you for bringing it up and for listening to my long rambling post.

(Feel free to bug me about Tony Stark, MCU ships, MCU Meta and anything you want to talk me about on this blog and @themarvelarchives.)

#this got long sorry #iron husbands #sambucky #james rhodes #tony stark #sam wilson #anthony mackie #doctor who #moffat critical #my meta #ash does meta #ash does fandom #marvel #mcu #fandom critical #fandom criticism #long post