Current Status

Hufflepuff, Acting Major

for science: reblog this with your hogwarts house and major/field of studies in the tags

Billie Joe Armstrong literally wrote a song about coming out as bisexual as a teenager, and then like two years later wrote one that was pretty much all about dressing up in drag and getting fucked by/fucking guys, and y'all STILL say he’s a “straight ally” because he married a woman??

level 1 autism isn't just being quirky. saying that it is is confusing for people who also have level 1 and then think "no i must be high support needs" because they keep getting fired from jobs, or can't manage their own finances, or lose speech sometimes, or struggle to communicate anything beyond the literal.

like my diagnostic paperwork says "level 1" on it. i'm not a huge fan of flattening autistic experiences into homogenous "tiers" but like. there's a big difference between someone like me, who can hold basic conversations and work full time in competitive employment, vs someone who is nonspeaking and cannot work.

but that doesn't mean i'm "quirky." my parents literally tried to put me under a guardianship, on the recommendation of a doctor. strangers know i "have something wrong with me." i've been nearly expelled from two different universities. i struggle to convey nuanced and subjective information to like. employers and doctors and landlords. everybody who knows me knows i have communication issues. my motor skills impact my ability to feed myself--i.e. move food from my plate into my mouth without getting it all over the table and my clothes. not just "oh i don't know what to cook tonight uwu." i spent 2 years in high school in a social skills class where they tried to make us memorize facial expressions on flash cards, and had to take us on weekly outings to learn how to ride the bus and order at an ice cream shop.

this kind of framing of level 1 autism as being "just quirky" is harmful to all autistic people, because it means that level 1 autistic people like me, who are disabled by autism, will see this and think "well i'm not just quirky, i must be level 2 or 3" and then start talking over people whose disability from their autism is more pronounced. we see this with people who lose speech sometimes calling themselves nonspeaking. or with people who live with roommates calling themselves "high support needs" because they "can't live alone."

it's hurtful to all of us to pretend that there exists any autistic person who is "just quirky." what separates "autism" as the clinical diagnosis from "autistic traits" as in the thing that most people have a few of, is that if you're actually autistic, your autistic traits cause a disability. "just quirky" = does not have autism.

Prince Merlin’s chaperon After the sudden engagement, Balinor and Uther insisted that Kilgharrah keeps an eye on the two princes to uphold morality. More prince!merlin requested by a lovely Anon. Part 1

y’all know how i know that spideychelle is rly THAT ship ??? bc it’s heterosexual but it doesn’T make me wanna gouge my eyes out

I don’t know if anyone has done this yet. But this is like Luther anytime anything happens in the show.

P.S I’m obsessed with the Umbrella Academy

There are two types of specific people who hate Dream and you’d think they’d want nothing to do with one another and yet. 

On one hand you have the alt right freaks who hate that Dream ‘gives into cancel culture’ they don’t think he should apologize for anything. The conservative upbringing and past that Dream is ashamed of and has apologized for and says he will continue apologizing for and growing from is what they want him to celebrate. I have seen them call him a cuck for changing his political beliefs and I have seen them call him an sjw and get pissed when Dream says things like ‘welcome to the boys’ to trans fans that ask him to for example. They hate his fanbase for how inclusive and diverse it is. They hate that Dream is trying his very hardest to make sure everyone feels included and safe. So they do their hardest to make them feel unsafe. 

Every fan of Dream I know has been sent hate by an anti that was targeted at their gender, sexuality, race, religion anything we might have mentioned the antis use to mock. And it is because of how much they hate us for not being cishet white men and they know Dream’s replies will be filled with minorities they could attack. People started intentionally sending an old racist clip to Dream’s black fans and when those black fans pointed out it’s from 8 years ago when Dream was 14 and he apologized and has shown growth they swapped to calling those black fans slurs because they couldn’t hurt them like they hoped to. And you see it in the way they call Dream homophobic and ableist slurs and they try to make it known any discussions of his sexuality are not okay. Dream says he likes women and men and gets inundated with homophobic slurs and threats. Dream’s little corner of the internet is one he is actively trying to shape into an inclusive and accepting place and these circle jerks bigots hate that so much. 

And on the other hand you have radlibs who have never had a coherent political belief in their life. They preach some insane purity of thought culture where if you were not born and raised in a leftist environment and have had modern to 2022 beliefs your entire life you are a horrible human being. They actively undermine any activism that real leftists try and do. Dream is a pretty good example of what we’re trying to do. He was raised in the early 2000s in Florida in a conservative household where he was incredibly sheltered. His beliefs as a teenager reflected this. He started Youtube at 19 going on 20 years old. One thing Dream has said he likes about the internet the most is the ability to speak to and hear from people of all different backgrounds all around the world. He’s even said that what he and his fans can do best is listen to each other and learn from each other. Which is true if everyone stays in their own bubbles there is no learning and growth and there is no chance of social and political reform if everything stays the same. 

By age 21 Dream was speaking out for BLM during the protests and speaking out against racism. He was apologizing and holding himself accountable for his past that he has stated again and again he’s not proud of. Dream wants to be held accountable and for us to bring to his attention anything that might be worth addressing because he wants to do better and be better. Dream wants to make people happy and build a community that is safe and accepting and comforting. In June of 2021 despite a very popular lie he was able to raise 37k over the course of the month with various podcasts where he encouraged people to donate. And with one big charity stream at the end 53k more and he donated 50k himself. $140,000 was donated to the Trevor Project (a suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ kids). And this is brushed aside real lives of queer people are dismissed by these fake activists who just want to hate Dream. The fake activists are the same ones who looked at Dream’s tweet about liking women and men and called him a liar, who told him he is still straight, who said he will never be accepted into the community. And when Dream was hurt by this and responded to this invalidation he was told to shut up and take the homophobia in silence. 

I am not saying if you hate Dream you’re a conservative or you’re a radlib. What I am saying is it is not normal to dedicate so much of your life to negativity because that makes you naturally more vulnerable to radical ideologies. It is normal not to like people. Sometimes you just don’t vibe with them that’s fine you don’t need to justify it. Or maybe you are a minority who can’t forgive Dream’s past and you don’t want to support him that is completely valid and I am sorry for the hurt you faced. There is so much bigotry in this world I understand not wanting to interact with people who previously used to hold these beliefs. Dream himself said if you can’t forgive him or support him then you can’t, he understands too. But there is no benefit in constantly bringing up old things over and over again to try and insist he hasn’t changed when he has so visibly. And spreading around blatant lies and un-fact checked claims isn’t helping anyone either. You will be happier to just ignore him I promise you. 

BONG JOON-HO accepting Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Golden Globe Awards for PARASITE

@jedi-enthusiast

Okay so I’d like to apologize’

In reading this post and re-reading the original one, I have realized that I completely misunderstood & misconstrued what you were saying. And that the very detail of ‘your argument’ that I had issue with, was not the point you were actually making.

Beyond that though, I also found that in re-reading my comment, I found it very poorly phrased. And I can understand how it could be misconstrued as to carrying the implications that this post addresses. I was not I intending to say or imply in any capacity that ‘people shouldn’t call out antisemitic rhetoric in fandom’ or that “you shouldn’t compare real world discrimination to fictional stuff.”

I absolutely encourage recognizing and drawing those comparisons. Especially since Star Wars is art that was literally designed to reflect & respond to very real history, events, cultures, and people. Beyond that, all art created by people is responsive to our culture (and it’s biases), and trying to strip art of its real world context in an attempt to isolate it in fiction is not only wrong, but also impossible to actually do.

Antisemitism, like all forms of bigotry and discrimination is unfortunately present (through both conscience & unconscious bias) in every area of society, including fandom. Calling attention to it is essential to recognizing & dismantling (or at the very least disengaging from) systems of oppression and discrimination.

As you pointed out so clearly in this post, “[your] point in that post wasn’t- “since this is based off of a real world culture/religion, you can’t criticize it.”

And that is definitely what I had read and what I was attempting to caution against.

I think because the post started & ended with in your opinion, that “there aren't really any criticisms that can be made about the Jedi” I misunderstood that the Whole Post was not working to make that point. And failed to realize that each of the sections was not a building argument, but three completely separate points.

A while I do disagree with you that, “there aren't really any criticisms that can be made about the Jedi” —likely bc I accept Filoni & other non-Lucas canon — I absolutely agree with your point about antisemitism and bigoted rhetoric. We should always be aware and checking for our conscious and subconscious biases and making sure we are not perpetuating harm or spewing hateful rhetoric when handling fiction or anything else. (especially fiction that is reflective of minority groups)

So yeah, I am so fcking sorry. I completely misunderstood and then failed to communicate my own point effectively and ultimately blundered this entire thing.

Thank you for taking the time to put out this thoughtful response and for not allowing my mistake to go unchallenged.

@confusledqueer apologizes for not responding sooner, it’s been a busy couple days and—honestly—I forgot for a bit.

Moving on-

—————

Me equating some of the things that anti-Jedi people say to antisemitism and, sometimes, outright Nazi-esque rhetoric is not “wild” or “a stretch,” as you’re implying.

Justification of their genocide, denial that it actually was a genocide, a belief that the genocided party “caused” their own genocide, and a belief that they genocided party were wrong or “led astray” while one person was sent to make things right- (via either making them change their ways or outright destroying them/their culture) -are all things I’ve seen people say about the Jedi…

…but they’re also things that people have actually said about Jews.

Take the example I put in the post of someone denying that the Jedi Purge was actually a genocide, and how—by changing “Jedi” to “Judaism” and “Force-religions” to “Abrahamic Faiths”—it sounds verbatim to Holocaust denial.

Or, as another example, people claiming that the Jedi “kidnapped kids to brainwash them”…don’t you see how that sounds like Blood Libel?

So me pointing out that a lot of stuff anti-Jedi people say sounds like antisemitic rhetoric isn’t a stretch, not when a lot of it sounds verbatim to what people are saying with the rise of antisemitism and stuff they have said in the past.

—————

Now, I’m not Jewish, but it’s not just me, your neighborhood White Girl™️, who’s pointing this stuff out.

Actual Jewish people have pointed out the alarming similarities between anti-Jedi rhetoric and straight up antisemitism. So, if you wanna argue about- “you shouldn’t compare real world discrimination to fictional stuff” -then you should probably take that into account.

Go ahead and try telling Jewish Star Wars fans to stop calling out antisemitic rhetoric in the fandom, I’m sure that’ll go down real well.

I also find it hilarious that you’re telling me to be careful about the rhetoric I use in a thread about how I shouldn’t point out that some of the rhetoric other people spout is basically antisemitism rebranded.

And my point in that post wasn’t- “since this is based off of a real world culture/religion, you can’t criticize it.”

My point was- “since this is based off of a real world culture/religion then you need to be careful about how you criticize it, otherwise you might unconsciously be spouting bigoted beliefs and antisemitic rhetoric because you don’t recognize that that’s what it is because you’re saying it about a fictional culture.”

By all means, I get that some people just don’t like the Jedi, that’s their prerogative and we all have our own tastes.

Criticize them, if you feel like it, but don’t go around spouting rebranded antisemitism to do it. I’m sure you can come up with plenty of things to complain about them for without doing so.

—————

Now, I can understand why you might be worried about the slippery slope from this to shit like actual censorship—which, I think we can all agree, is a bad thing. Or how you might think criticizing this could lead to the whole “fandom purity” debate.

My thing is, it all comes down to does it actually harm people?

Perpetuating harmful stereotypes via saying stuff like the Jewish based characters “steal children,” or “lost their way,” or “they caused/deserved their genocide”—that does cause actual harm.

Think about why the “angry black man” stereotype or the “cheating bisexual” stereotype are bad and people- (rightly) -push back against them. It’s the same thing here.

Shipping a problematic ship, calling a fictional serial killer “babygirl,” writing about dark topics*, headcanoning characters as gay or trans…none of that is actively harming people.

(*obviously when writing about dark topics you should tag appropriately so people can avoid triggers, but that’s another topic for another day)

That’s the difference.

And, for the record, I think letting people spout bigotry just because they’re saying it about something fictional is the more dangerous mindset than calling it out.

Books you’ll probably read in high school

Basically what they are

Romeo & Juliet: for the love of GOD just COMMUNICATE

The Scarlet Letter: if you ignore the old English, it’s just the author making fun of puritans, Hester Prynn being a badass, and two men who literally drive each other crazy. Bravo

Julius Ceaser: tf Brutus. Shit bitch friend.

The Grapes of Wrath (by Steinbeck): wow this is depressing

Of Mice and Men (also by Steinbeck): wow this is super depressing

The Pearl (guess who): is John Steinbeck okay?

The Crucible: you can say that Abigail was the antagonist but fuck you. She’s the unsung hero. Like, 16 years old and gets taken advantage of by a grown ass, married man. I WISH I had the power to start the chaos that was the witch trials, basically rule the town, and then rob my uncle and run away to Boston. An icon. I stan.

Death of a Salesman: can we read something that doesn’t make me feel suicidal

The Great Gatsby: *sigh*

Macbeth: I’ll tolerate this because witches

Beowulf: is Beowulf a dick or do I just tend to hate these protagonists

Hamlet: the lion king was better

Lord of the Flies: also depressing BUT the author was a teacher at an all boys school and got sick of them and the sudden rise of the “British school children go on adventures” genre pissed him off so much that he wrote a book about them absolutely LOSING IT (“the degradation of society”) and EVERY CHARACTER IS BASED OFF A KID IN HIS CLASS AND IF THAT ISNT THE FUNNIEST SHIT YOUVE EVER HEARD THEN IDK WHAT IS