#rev is on their soapbox again

[janeromeroshow]

cw misogyny / negativity

sometimes i see people in the rpc say " oh i just don't see my muse interacting with that many female characters " and i am so very tempted to ask them why that is. why wouldn't your muse talk to 50% of the fucking population. because like 2% of the time there's an actual valid reason ( you're rping a character from an extremely male-heavy cast, your character is specifically in a situation where they would not be around women ) and the other 98% it's just misogyny. idk i just think if you have an aversion to literally every female character in a given media then maybe it's a you problem.

funky little faq

" my character is a gay man. " cool! gay men can still TALK to women. rp interaction is not inherently romantic ( again, if you ONLY roleplay romance this doesn't apply to you!! do whatever tf you want!! )

" i don't see any female muses. " i promise you we exist. like. literally this exact blog is one. i have a multimuse with 10 other female muses, as well as three other blogs each with female. muses. please like, look in roleplay tags and engage with people bc i can guarantee you there are hundreds, if not thousands of people.

" i don't like the female characters in x canon " ok! please do some inward reflection onto why you feel like that. are all the female characters in your media bad or are you just viewing them through a lens of misogyny, internalized or otherwise?

[wisteriasymphony]

Warning im gonna ramble: I’m happy someone is saying it out loud! This is always a trend when it comes to feminine men I think- I’m not a man, nor have ever been one myself, but when it comes to deconstructing male mental health and how we view femininity, I think making Adrien transfem/genderswapping them only works in a context where they are slowly regaining agency or are the ones regaining autonomy! More of marinette’s role in the narrative if that makes sense. And while it can be funny, I dislike it when it’s portrayed that Marinette will be the one to realize that they’re trans tbh. Like??? This guy is oblivious, but he’s also always stuck in his own thoughts? Let him be the one to analyze himself and conclude her own gender! This is true for any genderfluid Adrien tbh, even transmasc. I know ur a deathnoter, so I’m gonna draw on a death note fic here; “I think I was born blue” by anon (it’s fantastic give it a read if u want!). That fic has a lot of the repression that I think Adrien would struggle with esp as a trans person. Throw the sentimonster stuff in there and there’s no way in hell he’d confront it unless he had truly mentally reclaimed himself from the order to be his parent’s perfect boy. Same also applies to cis-swapped Adrien! When you make her a girl, you also have to appropriately grapple with the implications! (This is also ignored with Kagami, if to a much lesser degree.) If your female characters existence survives on the idea that she cannot live for herself and your story still claims to be centered on promoting feminism, that’s weird! I like knight princess yuri a lot, think rev girl utena, but the princess cannot just stand there and be a doll! The princess must also have thoughts! Also- how come Adrien gets this the most? I know it’s partially bcs he’s a “feminine pale boy “twink””, but even when you suggest characters like Nathaniel could be trans, it rlly just doesn’t pick up! I am a certified fudanshi and love yuri, but I need ur yuri to allow both female characters to participate in being people with a mind! TLDR: I love transdrien and I love yuri <3 (kiss ur girlfriends ppl), but analyze why one specific guy gets the fem beam! Analyze why a guy can’t show “feminine” traits and still be messy and masc and not get hit with the purity beam! Analyze why when a person is without agency why they are seen as a perfect partner! And if ur gonna write transfem Adrien, pls be more creative with names y’all! “Adrienne” is lame she would name herself either something simple (Marie idk) or smthing cool af ( Ysée). Ok thank you for the soapbox I will be back if that’s fine :3

You're welcome! I think some of the people I've talked to tend to say that Adrien would keep the name "Adrien" regardless of identity, which I think is cool as fuck. "Adriana" is also popular but I'm not a fan of it because it's so transparently just "Adrien + a" (as in common feminine modifier in English names). Like, come on guys... At least Adrienne is French.

I do think going the route of examining how repressed Adrien is and directing that towards transfem Adrien is an extremely cogent interpretation and also super valid. Like you said, it would just have to coincide with some self-reflection that the show only lets Adrien have in breadcrumbs.

I don't know, I'm aware that calling these things into question can be seen as trying to "debunk" theories or headcanons and I don't want to ruin anyone's fun, which is why I am so hesitant to discuss it. That's never been my intention. I just want people's ideas on them to be good and thought-out. That includes picking up on the implications and broader context.

God. Okay I'm finally over this I don't want to discuss it again. Every single time I feel like an awful person for bringing it up

[dyed-red]

is there any chance of you getting back to Desiderata?😔

This is not @ you specifically anon, but I am getting a little tired of answering this question, and I'm going to be a bit snarky about it.

Yes, I am getting "back" to Desiderata, insofar as I ever "left" it, which I haven't. It's been about 10 weeks since the last update, or 2.5 months, which honestly isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, as much as I very genuinely understand the impatience of waiting for an update.

What I genuinely don't understand is why there's become this default assumption that it's abandoned. You're the third comment *this week* starting on the assumption that I've left it aside or am not planning to finish it.

I've said repeatedly in the comments and on here that I'm finishing it. I was always going to finish it. Its not marked as on hiatus or abandoned. If you look at the original post date to most recent update, it's clear the fic has been posted slow (actually in fits and starts) between updates, so this is par for the course, here.

I won't meander into personal stuff, but the reasons for why posting slowed are personal irl crap and not creative lapse. Another 10k+ words of the fic are already drafted and I've mapped out the core pieces that aren't already written, even if some of those may be re-written and/or strung together differently as I finalize the final few chapters.

And look, just wanting to repeat that this vexed tone of mine isn't @ you specifically, it's just that you were lucky caller 100 and I got a bit annoyed with repeating myself. But if you are open to the suggestion, I do recommend you ask authors about updates without starting from the assumption of abandonment. Not all authors feel the same about questions about updates so take that with a grain of salt, but at least in my case, a question like "any word on the timeline of an update? 👀👀" is more fun than "any chance of you getting back to this thing which I assume you've left? 😔"

More generally, most advice you see floating around is that if you want more of a thing you like, hype it up instead of being sad or demanding about it. Instead of asking for updates (which, again, I don't personally mind! It's the assumption of abandonment of a mostly completed story that irks me), the usual advice is to write a comment on ao3 about what you enjoyed about the story, maybe highlight a line or two, or even one each chapter. That can reinvest an author's energy (if it has indeed lapsed) by drawing their attention back to the parts of the story that are loved, and their attention to it is half the battle sometimes, getting them revved up from there as they re-experience the story from the reader's point of view.

If that's too much work, drop a compliment about the fic in the author's inbox instead of just a question. "Loving this story, [insert genuine compliment about plot, style, scene, characterization, or etc here]. I couldn't find it in the fic comments or your tag for the fic here on your blog, so just checking if there's any word on future updates? Either way have enjoyed it so far!"

Boom.

All right I'll stop soapboxing now. I try not to get grumpy with readers. I love how much you guys love this fic and I never in a million years expected half this much interest in it, to be honest. I literally had the draft open last night, it's not abandoned. I'm here with you, nonnie, wishing it wouldn't take so long but on the journey to see it finished anyway.

[fitzefitcher]

faction conflict soapbox, pt. 2

school 2: I’m tired of faction conflict, in general

@alldepressednshit​ said: To be honest, it feels overdone. Also, it keeps getting sidelined by *insert world-threatining asspull* BfA could’ve been great if it was an actual civil war. Like a baron zemo type setting out to destroy the horde and alliance from within.

@ashyteg​ said: I wish we could all hang out and play hearthstone

@baenling said: annoying as fuck. should have been over in mists of pandaria. literally zero reason for the faction war to continue

@swampgallows​ said: i just like being a zombie lady with a conscience and an ability to be hugged by huge monster people who are my family and would never hurt me

Anonymous asked: I wish people would stop bickering over which faction is worse, admit both factions are problematic and stop trying to morally high road the other for faction pride.

Anonymous asked: Hi yes I have come to talk about Horde vs Alliance. Honestly I use to be a big fan of it back in the day. Two big factions, warring over resources that would occasionally have to realize there are bigger threats. Thought it was fun, had faction pride in grinding up PVP reps to be like: Yes FOR THE HORDE. I just think things took a big downturn in Mists. Before it felt kind of balanced, sure Garrosh was "bad" but at the time i thought: well Varian started the war back in Wrath. 1/?

Having the war break out across the continents when before it was sort of like a cold war with a few active fighting spots was cool! I didn't think the Horde was being portrayed as 100% evil! But after that... I don't think the Alliance has really been shown ever in the wrong or negative. And that's just fucking boring. Not to mention literally punishes half the player base for preferring one faction. The Horde has so much creative potential but they never use it. So really sours it. 2/2

so I think the core issue with this is probably less that the faction conflict itself is happening, and more that it's happening but without any sense or meaning, and that it's happening in such a way that feels extremely unbalanced on either side. faction conflict, when it's done well, can be an extremely rewarding and memorable experience.

 like, anybody that's played vanilla will tell you how fun an experience the scarab wall event was, and I myself remember how fun the thunder isle event was. and I think what worked for those events was that they were less like. Dark, Gritty War Conflict, and more played like a high school field day. Like there's certainly competition, and faction pride, but it's actually fun because it's more focused on Achievement than it is on Active Conflict. Like, people meme on the Argent Crusade Sponsored Renaissance Faire, but tbh that's some the most fun I've had with wow, and it ended being a really memorable experience for me and many of the people I was playing with at the time, in part because it was so light-hearted and silly and campy. in my opinion, wow is at its best when it leans into the stupid, silly camp, and that's why hearthstone has a better handle on warcraft and its characters than wow does lmao.

But I will acknowledge that this doesn't always work beyond just gameplay mechanics and overall experience- I love the argent tournament, but as a story, it's dumb as fuck, and at the time, felt extremely out of place for the wrath storyline. Like, we did naxx, then ulduar, and we were revving up to do ICC, which was (and still is, for the most part) regarded as one of its most serious story arcs, and it held a lot of gravity to it in terms of buildup, and the sort of consquences it would have afterwards. Whether or not those consequences were actually addressed afterwards are another issue entirely, but the point here is, ICC is an extremely memorable raid, and was very rewarding as an experience and story end (for the most part, let's stay on topic though), and it absolutely would not have worked if they had leaned into the campy silliness that worked for other things in wow. Here, the grim seriousness does work, because there was plenty of setup and payoff for it. like, even well before we get to ICC, or even wrath, there's buildup for the scourge starting in vanilla, and even in w3.

I think the wrath expansion in general was very very memorable, bc it was an expac where the stakes were pretty well-balanced in terms of alliance and horde content. like, the alliance's bone to pick with scourge is fairly obvious, and while the horde's was less so, the forsaken's was even more obvious, and there was planting and payoff of how the horde needed to go, both because the forsaken are their ally and this is their time of need, and that the scourge are a threat to everyone. truthfully, the alliance side of things I don't remember quite as well, but it was more staged as like, the alliance sort of acknowledging that Arthas (and that many aspects of the Scourge including KT and the cult of the damned) are very much problems that stemmed from the Alliance, and that they had a sort of responsibility to take care of it and make things right, even if they weren't necessarily Directly responsible for Arthas himself. So, there's equal setup in place for both factions, and equal stakes, even if they're not the same, and what faction conflict that does happen within the storyline has a setup and payoff. like, let's look at the wrathgate: a rogue faction of forsaken unleash hell on everyone at the battle of the wrathgate, whether they be scourge, alliance, or horde, and there are immediate consequences afterwards for each faction that feel engaging and meaningful. horde-side, you have to drive out the traitors that turned against your ally and retake one of your core cities, and alliance-side, you're taking immediate action against a faction that just completely fucked you over at a really key battle against a mutual enemy, a particular part of that faction that was already on thin fucking ice to begin with in terms of like. doing morally questionable, reprehensible things. and the ending, while daunting and honestly a little emotionally frustrating, neither punishes nor rewards either faction, and amps up the conflict in a way that feels realistic given the circumstances. And I think that this was really memorable as a questline, and as an expansion, because again, there was setup and payoff, but also, the prior two expansions weren't super focused on the faction conflict as much as wrath had started drumming up.

yes, there was conflict, obviously, but it wasn't so all-consuming as to make it tiresome or overwhelming or frustrating, and didn't feel particularly unbalanced or unfair. I think it should also be noted that faction conflict had never taken the spotlight so strongly in this way before, so it was this novel thing still being explored, and again, working off of things that had previous setup, felt like reasonable or realistic consequences, and above all, were balanced in what sort of story beats were being explored for either faction. wrath for the most part felt like a very natural, very organic step forward in the wow storyline overall, and while I don't agree with every decision made with it, particularly towards the end, I cannot deny that it was definitely one of if not my favorite expansion, and was extremely formative for how I engage with wow, and with stories as a whole.

all that being said, I think it's a fairly reasonable conclusion to draw that faction conflict in recent years has been souring the game for a lot of people, and I can't really blame them, as I, too, have a bone to pick with it. bofa in particular was pretty rough for a number of reasons, but I think the number one reason is how unbalanced it felt in terms of storyline for either faction. bofa imo sortof works as a synopsis for why Horde Bias(TM) is such a huge point of contention between horde and alliance, in that the horde faction spent most of the expansion losing characters, whether that be to character death or death of character development, watched their faction tear themselves apart for what feels like dozens of times now, and basically felt as though that the Evil label was being forced on them, and that they had no choice in the matter for any of this. The alliance faction, meanwhile, didn't really get much of anything. Kul Tiras isn't really as rewarding a leveling experience as Zandalar is in terms of the individual zone stories being strung together, the allied race factions they got didn't feel as fun or varied as the ones the horde got, and seemingly had no actions, issues, or consequences with any sort of serious examination. It's hard to have fun or get any sort of emotional satisfaction from a story that doesn't really let you do anything, and doesn't really show that your actions have any consequences at all, whether they be good or bad, and seemingly is spending all of their time and attention on the other faction. Like, the horde is suffering, and that suffering is definitely, wholly unfair, but the alliance seemingly isn't getting any sort of attention, at all. But because they're not constantly getting a bat to the head story-wise, horde players (including myself) just get really frustrated when accused of favoritism, because like. There is literally no benefit whatsoever to having blizzard's attention, when all blizzard does is take away everything you love lmao. This, I would say, is a matter of violence vs. negligence. Both are forms of harm, but they are radically different in terms of how they hurt you, and neither is inherently more hurtful than the other.

I think if I were to propose a solution to this, I think that the first step should be to pull back on faction conflict as a major component to the story, which they have at least partially. But I think the next step is to give a fairer distribution of attention to characters. Like, I complain about the Horde losing characters, and I'm not taking that back because it's True, but it would be remiss of me not to touch on the fact that, for how many dozens of characters the alliance has, the only ones who really get the attention are like. Human Males. In particular, Anduin. And if they're not Anduin, they're usually characters within Anduin's immediate peer circle. And then the characters that aren't human men and do get attention are usually ones that are getting shafted, somehow, or are getting painted as Wrong and Violent and Stupid for Disagreeing With Anduin- i.e., tyrande. And before Anduin, the only character that really got any sort of serious attention was Varian, which is probably why alliance players as a whole took his death so hard. It's hard not to feel some kind of way about losing a favorite toy when that toy is damn near the only one you functionally have lmao.

I know shadowlands as an expac has been pretty polarizing to people in terms of experience, but tbh I think this is a good step forward in resetting the stakes, and making things in either faction feel a little more balanced. I do think that the consequences of the conflict in bofa has to be addressed Eventually, and I'm honestly a little afraid of what they're going to do next, but this is alright for now.

[instapicsil3]

″Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today,” Stan Lee declared back in 1968, the year that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. His message — a pointed condemnation of racial, ethnic and religious hatred — would resonate across decades. The comic book visionary’s words again resurfaced Monday as news spread that he had died at 95. Near the end of Lee’s 1968 message, which appeared in his trademark monthly column, “Stan’s Soapbox,” he offered this wish: “Sooner or later, if man is ever to be worthy of his destiny, we must fill our hearts with tolerance.” These words are part of Lee’s long legacy of confronting and denouncing bigotry — a legacy that is inextricably linked to the stories told in Marvel comics. (Photo by Matt Sayles/AP Photo) https://ift.tt/2POXQp5