#I know how easy it is to get frustrated

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Hey, I don't normally make my own posts about this, but.

Do not argue with an anti on their own terms.

Don't get me wrong, I get it. You see the hypocrisy. You see the way they take aim at your favorite ships or characters or tropes while enjoying something similar. And you think "if I can point out to them just how hypocritical and idiotic they look right now, everyone will see our argument, they'll see that the anti is wrong and a hypocrite, and then maybe more people will stop harassing the people who like my thing. Maybe the anti will see the light and stop being a hypocrite."

But it will not work. It will not work.

There is an extremely high chance one of two things will occur:

They will double down on their argument, and ignore what you've said. (Ex. They might say "This relationship has an age gap. That's p3dophi1ia. That's dangerous." And you might say "well you ship something with the same age gap. Is it not p3dophi1ia and dangerous when you do it?" And they will just double down and say "This ship is dangerous. The shippers are grasping at straws to make their p3d0 ship normal.")

They will agree with you, but in the worst way possible. (Ex. Someone says "Ew your ship are basically siblings because they're childhood friends and grew up together. 1nc3st apologist." And you might respond "And yet we allow our most popular ship in this fandom to be popular? They grew up together as childhood friends and were inseparable. Why is that not inc3st?" because you think they'll gain a sense of perspective here. But then that person responds "People who ship that popular ship are freaks too then." Maybe they believed that before the convo or maybe they didn't, but the point now is that (while not your intention or fault by any means) some people have gone on to harass shippers of a ship that aren't doing anything wrong. What you think will bring clarity ends up raising tensions between shippers instead)

Do not meet them where they're at on their preconceived notions. You will not make them believe that they are wrong or hypocrites. Do not concede to their heavy assertions of abuse, p3dophi1ia, 1nc3st, etc levied against the thing you like for the sake of arguing that they are a hypocrite, or with intent to make them feel dumb for inadvertently labeling 80% of a fandom with said labels. They will not "see the light". The best thing you can do, if you have to say anything, is double down with "I'm not hurting anyone and it's fiction. I can do whatever I want" or "I don't give a shit what harmless things people like as long as it's tagged and I can filter out what I dislike" (especially if this is your stance). Then block and move on.

Antis, like trolls, thrive on engagement. They want you to argue so they can continue to point at you or lie about you or make you look bad.

It is in your best interest to pick your battles, and to try to sus out the difference between a friendly argument or standing up for yourself versus feeding the trolls. You won't make the right choice every time, all of us are human after all, but I promise you that ignoring and blocking bad faith actors, deleting their hate anons, etc, is not the coward's way out. Sometimes you don't need to fight. Sometimes keeping yourself from platforming bad faith actors and giving them nothing to go on will do the job (because there are more antis that are just small blogs with little power to do anything than you think, the kinds of people whose inflammatory posts will die if no one touches them).

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[smilesrobotlover]

I really hate how comfy people have gotten with saying how much they hate LU. I understand the frustration towards the fandom and stuff, but I feel like almost EVERYONE, the fandom and the haters, forget that this is one person’s au. An au they hold near and dear to their heart. It’s not something created by a big team of people, it’s not something created by a corporation, it’s something created by a single person who has their own headcanons and ideas with the games. I don’t think it’s polite or ok to say how much you hate the au and how much you hate the interpretations of the characters and how much you hate the designs or stupid stuff like that. I do understand the frustration of seeing it everywhere, cuz I def feel that for sure, but that’s not really Jojo’s fault and it’s not ok to suddenly attack her artistic ability or storytelling cuz of that. Because she’s one person who’s passionate about Zelda and wanted to share a story. That’s it.

And it’s not constructive criticism, nor is it really criticism. It’s ok to not like something, but when it comes to this type of thing, it’s just unnecessary hate. Keep it to yourself. Jojo is a human being with feelings. She probably doesn’t see any of the stuff people say, which is for the best, but I know if I saw people saying stuff like that about my au I’d be devastated and would probably give up on everything, cuz hateful words sting.

[rouge-fauna]

Normally, I wouldn't really say anything about the drama and stuff, because that's not what I'm here for and honestly I feel like a lot of it is just none of my business. But, it just feels so close to home for me that I can't help but say something. Because here's the thing people aren't going to talk about and probably don't even realize, but I think so much of this drama actually has to do with Dream being autistic.

Just notice the themes of what Tubbo said about Dream being weird, inappropriate, not considering the social boundaries, not communicating, coming across wrong… etc these are all things that can be attributed to Dream literally not knowing better because of neurodivergence. That’s not an excuse but an explanation to know the difference between Dream texting Tommy’s mom out of being manipulative versus not understanding how that breaks a social boundary. That’s not to say Dream should get a free pass to do whatever but I think in the same way we take into consideration other people’s ages and their naivety and obliviousness and inexperience into consideration, Dream’s neurodivergence should be considered too. It is valid. It makes a difference between manipulative and malicious intent versus simply not seeing it the same way.

And really the sad thing is, that I think people will always dislike Dream. At the end of the day, I think that will never change, because even if he was the most perfect person people would still dislike him because of an underlying subconscious response to him not being like the rest. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he is made the villain in real life and in the dsmp, because it is simply a psychological fact that people inherently dislike autistic people. It’s not because they are ableist it’s just we don’t act like they do so that makes us weird and therefore unlikeable. And it’s hard to understand us because our brains our literally different and as has been said throughout history what we don’t understand we hate, we fear, we see as evil, we attack. Why does Dream get canceled and attacked over and over again? Not because they are true and it proves a pattern that he’s shitty, but because society is so desperate to find a more tangible reason to hate him other than the fact that they just do. Because his behavior breaks social rules he didn’t realize existed. Because he’s easy pickings. Because in my opinion it all comes down to autism and honestly until that piece is actually taken into consideration nothing will probably resolve.

[owl-nerd-13]

So, I’m finally getting around to properly reading Conclave, and Lomeli keeps. insulting. the food. It’s overcooked, it’s dry, it’s congealed. And as someone who has worked in food service, and has had to prepare meals for over a hundred people, I am mentally hitting him with a fucking shoe like BE NICE TO THE NUNS THEY ARE WORKING HARD and STOP FUCKING COMPLAINING YOU ARE EATING FUCKING VEAL AND CHICKEN CORDON BLUE (or something similar) DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THAT IS TO PREPARE FOR CROWDS I’M ASSUMING ITS PRETTY FUCKING HARD

[itspileofgoodthings]

did you guys know that my next year’s roster for my world lit class was so over-full that I had the scheduler come to me and be like “you have to help me decide who’s getting into your class because every time I cut someone I get an email protesting vigorously but there just isn’t room for them all”

[skunkes]

Nooooo that sad little smunkler has broken my heart! Wtf Talon stop being so mean to him for no reason!!! >:[

its okay, he just has bad days sometimes

[ohbutwheresyourheart]

as might be gleaned by the recent tommy crumb posting, I recently started re-reading the mirror and the light and I had completely forgotten how panicked riche is during his first king's council meeting. absolute perfect representation of the "accidentally became important at work" meme. boy does NOT want to be there.

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[izzy-b-hands]

horror movie set on the prairie once again immediately ruined by a lack of historical research into A. the sort of houses that would be out there and B. the protections they'd have with those houses that would keep wolves and other creatures out.

Like, first off, where is the sod house that would be accurate to this time period? And two, I know there's meant to be a supernatural aspect at some point (per the redditors who recc'd this) but like. Those are normal wolves; nothing has been established other than a poor initial storyline with acting that is...acting because it occurred on camera and I can tell they did their best. They're clearly trying and that's good of them bc the dialogue and overall plot aren't helping so they've got a Task on their shoulders (carrying this movie as best they can.)

[yoccu]

I’m having a straight up terrible time drawing two environments for Dyskrasias AMV but I’m being really brave about it!

[rustedhills]

My opinions on genAI are too complex to write in a snappy tumblr post BUT if my university just, say, updated its AI policy and released its OWN AI PROGRAM

And also values its reputation as an academic and research university (I hope)

And generally wants its student body to do Good Academic Work

Then THIS

Is a WILD thing to say when the AI is supposedly SPECIFICALLY FOR THE STUDENT BODY

"Oh yeah we released a new does-work-in-an-academic-setting machine"

"It's just got a significant error rate and shouldn't be trusted lol"

"lmao"

"Also we're laying off a bunch of staff and instituting budget cuts university wide"

"But tuition's still 50k a semester"

"ppppbpbbptpbpbpbpbpttttt"

[pangzi]

can we just talk about how incredible wandee goodday is with their narrative devices though? the foreshadowing is incredible. there's symbolism everywhere. the oyeicher/yakdee juxtapositions are so good. even though their words and actions might contradict each other, everything gets spelled out for us so clearly, it's beautiful.

[zackcharine]

I need to try harder to get out of bed but augh

[ambrosiagourmet]

I enjoy Mickbell as a character but WHAT is up with the propaganda going on about lately. He and Kuro aren’t just people who don’t know how to communicate but secretly mutually respect each other. And Kuro definitely Mick’s older brother or dad. He might think is. But Mickbell is 4 year older than Kuro, and he comes from a race that ages faster. Kuro doesn’t speak common or have enough context to understand or easily learn that Mickbell is an adult.

Like imagine if it turned out that the troubled 17-year-old paying you in scooby snacks turned out to actually a 30-year-old man.

[beevean]

Lenore: [Carmilla] showed me her maps. I made her angry, I think. She showed me maps of the world. Hector: I know, I know. A giant human pen from here to Braila. I've had the lectures. Lenore: Not anymore. Hector: She's been scheming. Lenore: And she showed me maps of the world, Hector. Hector: The world. Lenore: The pen was about securing our survival and safety for centuries to come. It was an insane idea, but we could stretch and make it work. But now she sees weakness everywhere. And we were a strong and stable community in a world that lost many of its vampire leaders at Braila. Hector: So what you're saying is if it's there, she's going to drink it. Lenore: She said she had one plan: to annex land from here to the sea. She promised me that was her plan, and then she was left alone, and then I made her angry and she showed me her maps. I think she lied to me. Hector: Just the way Dracula lied to me.

So this is another way S4 forcibly pushes a connection between Hector and Lenore for the sake of making us sympathize with her.

Lenore is panicking about Carmilla's new plan. In theory, she's worried about the kingdom's stability and Carmilla's sanity, but I'll come back to her true reasons for protesting. For now, the point is that Lenore, in her circular reasoning, somehow went from "we left her alone, and she started scheming beyond her original plan" to "she was lying to me, and only revealed the truth when I made her angry: if I didn't, she would have kept the lie". Now, this doesn't make sense in any way: why would Carmilla lie to one of her closest allies? Even if Lenore is useless to her plan, she is still an ally and a friend (allegedly), and it would be both disadvantageous and impractical to keep her in the dark. The framing is very much that Carmilla went mad and got hungrier for power and her plan morphed in those six weeks between S3 and S4, and she just happened to choose that moment to rant.

(hilariously, the dialogue is extremely contrived too: Lenore just says "Please, would Dracula have kept [Hector] around in his own castle if he were that dangerous?" and that spurns Carmilla to completely forget about the issue of Hector behaving suspiciously and talk about the castle she didn't get, which wasn't even remotely Lenore's point. yeah no she didn't reveal the plan out of anger, but out of writing convenience lmao)

Now, I could concede this as the character being wrong. Lenore is allowed to be wrong, and the bias she's expressing make sense: the situation is making her feel insecure, unneeded and perhaps unwanted. Remember: this is the same scene where she appreciates Hector for not making her feel bad about raping him into slavery "wanting to listen to her", unlike everyone else in the castle. She is lost and confused and can't trust Carmilla anymore, and as I pointed out she is incredibly self-centered, so fine, I buy that she interprets her behavior as malice against her.

But the framing is not that. Because then Hector remembers he is a human being with a brain and says the only meaningful response to Lenore's rant.

lmao i can't take that frame seriously it's literally surprisedpikachuface.jpg

And this is bullshit.

The two situations are not comparable from this angle. Carmilla is being set to be Dracula 2.0, that much is true: an insane old woman who has lost her way, consumed by pain and hatred, and is no longer thinking about the consequences of her plan, risking the safety of her underlings. But that's the extent of it. Carmilla actually cares about her sisters, in her own way, even if she makes fun of Lenore for her love for animals. Lenore perceived Carmilla as getting angry at her, but in reality she simply got worked up, and had nothing against her if not her incompetence in making Hector work, which got resolved anyway.

We don't know how the other three got roped into her council, but there is zero indication that Carmilla ever used bold-faced lies like when Dracula promised Hector that they'd work to cull mankind when in reality he wanted to exterminate everyone, something he even admitted to do because "he's easy to lie to". He did not change his plan between his hiring of Hector and his death! He deliberately lied to him from the get-go!

Hector and Lenore have the similar situation of being considered the weaklings of the group for their softness and misguided ideas of mercy. They could bond over that. But Hector's situation was still far worse: he got taken advantage of precisely because of his softness and his pathological need to be loved, something Lenore cannot share because, even with her soft façade, she is too cunning to be tricked, lives her comfortable life as one of the queens, and she was considered integral to the group until now. Hector was betrayed by Dracula, only the first of many instances: he got convinced that Dracula planned to kill him too, and we don't know if he would have done it, but the story seems to believe so. And that's not mentioning how this betrayal was the catalyst for all the hell Hector went through, which incidentally included Lenore. We see with our own eyes that Hector's reaction to being powerless is fawning and clinging, while Lenore's reaction to feeling powerless is exerting her power over creatures beneath her.

You don't get to pull the 🥺 face on me, Lenore. You don't get to create a "you're just like me fr fr" moment by twisting the narrative to look more of a woobie than you are. Especially not right after you shushed Hector down when he dared to complain about being raped. You are not the victim here, you can't fathom the heartbreak Hector went through because of Dracula, Carmilla and you, and the relationship between you two is built on nothing but lies, both of your telling and of the disingenuous story itself which at this point is a bigger liar than all three of those characters.

And yes, this is a lie from the story, because this feels like a deliberate retcon! Lenore in S3 was a complacent cog in the machine. She agreed to help Carmilla, she admits in that very scene in S4 that she saw the original plan as a way to secure stability which is what she cares about the most, and all of her gaslighting, manipulations and sexual abuse were for the main purpose of turning Hector into the perfect tool to proceed with that plan (the pet part was a nice bonus). There is the theory that she didn't like the plan much based on one frame where she frowns, but as usual, other expressions of hers betray her:

She seems quite happy with it! She just apparently didn't like Carmilla's "self-replicating food" joke, for reasons I don't understand - she too treats Hector like an animal, so I don't see why she'd be miffed at the dehumanization. Sure, Carmilla's joke darkly implies the humans would be forced to breed, but why would the residential rapist care? Or maybe it's just her being not very amused at Carmilla's sense of humor in general. the joke was pretty stupid, tbh - all organic food is "self-replicating", your evil speeches need some serious work girl

Even if I believed that she is acting here, and was always secretly uncomfortable with this livestock plan and all that it entailed, she clearly did not protest much, and accepted to go along for the sake of the security that the plan would grant her. In fact, resorting to abuse and rape for the sake of a plan she didn't even approve doesn't make her much better.

Actually, while I'm at it, it's very noticeable to me that Lenore, who was introduced to us as such an animal lover that she'd tear up the castle to find a splinter for a spider, shows absolutely zero compassion for all those "animals" bound to be caged and bled to death for her survival, and only makes it about how useless she'll be. In fact, let's go back to how she introduces her new subject of whining!

[...]

It's one thing to point out how diplomacy would be dead in Carmilla's vision of the world, which would be all based on conquest and subjugation, which is a reasonable, selfless concern. Were she mainly worried that the times of peace are coming to an end and she's scared of all the needless bloodshed and misery Carmilla is going to cause, I'd buy this - she does say, in S4E2, that "I will never be comfortable with the idea that the best way to end war is to kill most of the people and cage the rest" (notice, however, the word "uncomfortable" in this context. Not that it's morally appalling, just that it makes her upset. mhh). But clearly, her main issue is that she'd be out of a job and she'll feel useless in the council. It's all about her and her poor feelings.

When we humans hear about animals being slaughtered, like baby seals or elephants, we tend to be horrified for them. This is the equivalent of hearing that slaves in Congo are dying en masse to mine cobalt, and only being concerned that the prices of iPhones might go up. Much kindness, many morally grey.

And say what you want about Hector's own lack of empathy for humans, but his reasoning did stem from his love of animals and seeing his own species like animals as well, animals who deeply hurt him and therefore needed to be controlled, while also providing food to vampires who to him were yet another species of animals! It's a terrible reasoning that he should have grown out of, but it is a twisted form of compassion! Lenore just wanted the comfort of easy food and an easy job! Lenore is boohooing now because her self-esteem is on the line, but she's not saying anything that can be equated to Hector shouting that he doesn't want to paddle in the blood of children, a moral concern he had once he started to realize Dracula's plan entailed more bloodshed than he wanted!

Unlike Hector who apparently didn't think much about the aftermath and honestly thought he would do a good thing in his naiveté, Lenore was fully aware of what Carmilla's idea entailed and went along with it for her own comfort. Carmilla just expanded her view later on! But of course, if we now say that Carmilla lied to Lenore and the story doesn't stop to remind us of what happened one season prior, Lenore suddenly becomes innocent, because see? She's better than mean Carmilla! She only raped Hector for his own good, but she didn't mean to harm mankind! It's literally the same logic that neutered the ring: everything must be sanitized to paint Lenore as this innocent, tragic figure.

Again, what irritates me is that the parallels are there. Carmilla is going insane like Dracula, yes, and she is endangering the kingdom. Lenore feels the black sheep of the group like Hector was (although he never realized it, even though Isaac always talked to him like he itched to call him the R-slur). They have traits in common! Use them! But no, this plotline is nothing more than the writers yelling "PLEASE FEEL SOWWY FOR THE WIDDLE RAPIST SHE DID NOTHING WRONG IN HER LIFE LOOK AT HER CUTE FACE 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 CARMILLA IS THE TRUE MEANIE HATE THAT BITCH NOT OUR LENORE WHO IS JUST A POOR GIRL AND NOBODY LOVES HER 🥺"

[owlyspirit]

just realized that maybe being constantly tired for years to the point I have no free time and the only time I am awake is when my adhd meds work isn't normal and can't just be attributed to my depression since I did try out a ton of anti depressants with it..............